Author: quikshadow a.k.a Quick-demon
Disclaimers: I could fill this space with legal stuff but its quite obvious I don't own Stargate and a merely write this story because I enjoy the show.
Genre: General, Action/Adventure, a little humor
Season: Seven. After Evolution 1 and 2 but before Heroes.
Spoilers: Um none at the moment.
Summery: SG-1 finds a weapon that is most advanced in Ancient technology and it seems quite attached to Daniel and it seems to be grown on him.
"This looks like a temple from the Ancients" Daniel murmured
Daniel wondered around the room his eyes intent with reading the writing on the walls. His mouth slightly ajar and his head slightly tilted upwards. He had a book open in his palms and often glanced backwards and forwards. He was completely oblivious to Teal'c, who was standing just in the door frame, on guard and silent protection for his troublesome friend.
Teal'c held his stoic face and stood straight with his staff weapon in hand, guarding the only entrance and exit. But he was relaxed and looked around the palace with observation, if not curiosity. The medium size room was made out of polished stone and the perfectly printed writing was engraved into it. It was empty except for a beam of light in the middle.
"Oh that's interesting" Daniel muttered as he stepped closer to the wall.
"What is it Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c inquired
Daniel frowned at the wall then looked down at the book in his hand and then back up at the wall, "Well, uh, it says here that this place contains great evil"
"Perhaps a Goa'uld" Teal'c suggested
Daniel quickly jerked his head at Teal'c before turning back, "I thought of that too but there's nothing here to suggest there is a Goa'uld trapped here"
"Then perhaps you should keep searching"
"Yeah" Daniel became in grossed in the walls again
They came to P4X-Y25 a few hours ago. It was just a routine mission. Sam went to collect soil samples with Jack and Daniel went to explore the nearby ruins with Teal'c. They radioed in every hour unless there was a problem and luckily there wasn't any so far.
Teal'c watched the archeologist hover about a certain part of the wall referencing the language when he could. He pointed at the wall then touched it to follow the line he was concentrating on. He was quietly muttering to himself before his fingers slid down wards then following another line. Daniel jerked towards the beam of light that was created by a hole in the ceiling, before turning back to the wall.
"Did you find something Daniel Jackson? Teal'c inquired wanting to know the explanation of his current behavior
"I think..." he frowned to the wall then jerked to the adjacent wall. He quickly strode over and his fingers traced over the writings.
Teal'c raised an eyebrow but patiently waiting for Daniel to answer him fully, knowing Daniel's mind is trying to work out something. His fingers slid back up then stopped to rest on a letter.
Suddenly remembering he didn't answer the Jaffa so he continued, "I've found a weapon"
"What kind of weapon?"
"I don't know..." Daniel frowned
Daniel applied pressure to the letter his fingers were on. The letter gave way and a square was sucked into the wall. Daniel stepped back as the place gave a low rumble. Teal'c immediately tensed and readied himself for action. A square groove appeared in the middle of the room, where the light was shinning. The square rose up shaking and rumbling as stone grinded against stone. It rumbled and groaned from the thousands of years of sleep. Soon a large rectangle prism rose to the light like a pedestal.
The two men stared at it in wonder and curiously (and, for Teal'c, caution) as it stopped and a small part of the top opened up to reveal a silver, what looked to be metallic, bracelet. It had an opening at the bottom for an object or a wrist to enter and be clipped on. It seemed to float in the serene light.
"Wow" Daniel blinked, in surprise to what he had done.
Teal'c pushed the radio to his mouth, "Colonel O'Neill it is Teal'c"
"Yeah go ahead" the Colonel's voice came
"It appears we have discovered an Ancient Weapon within the ruins"
"Alright on my way"
Teal'c released his radio, it slid back into place on his vest and resumed observation of the room. Daniel was now circling the pedestal and then at the book. He made a quick sketch before turning to his pack and pulling out a video camera. He taped the writings on the wall before he turned and filmed the pedestal. There appeared to be writings also on the stool as well engraved on the silver clip on bracelet.
"Daniel?" a familiar voice called
Daniel looked up to find Jack at the door next to Teal'c, looking at the thing in the middle, "What's this?"
"Well, uh, apparently a weapon"
"A weapon?" Jack raised his eyebrows
At that moment Sam came in and spotted the weapon. She came in and looked at it more closely.
"What is it?" she asked missing Jack's question before
"A weapon" Daniel answered
"What kind of weapon Daniel?" Jack ask a bit annoyed at his non-specific talking
"I'm not sure. It says its a powerful armored weapon"
"This?" Jack raised his eyebrows at the skinny bracelet
"Probably its a remote of some kind sir" Sam put in now right up close to the floating silver, "This looks like to be made out of plain iron"
Jack looked at the two scientists then at Teal'c in a new thought then back at the scientists, "Where did it come from? I remember this thing not to be here before" He gestured to the pedestal
"Well, I..." Daniel started
Jack put his hand up, "Wait, don't tell me... you touched something, didn't you?"
"Well, I..." Daniel started again
"You did! I knew it!" Jack growled interrupting again, "I specifically told you not to touch anything!"
"Well, I..." Daniel tried to explain
Jack turned to Teal'c ignoring Daniel, "Teal'c, you're suppose to ensure that he doesn't touch a thing!"
"I am deeply sorry O'Neill" Teal'c's deep voice came
Jack sighed. Some things never changed.
"Well at least nothing happened" Daniel pointed out
Jack stared at him.
"Bad that is..." Daniel added
"Sir, I'm getting readings of trace amounts of naquada" Sam reported, interrupting the team's squabble.
She pointed a gadget at the bracelet slowly moving it forward and around and checking for readings.
"So?"
"So it looks to be durable and its harmless. It looks to be no more than a child's jewelry, sir"
"A child?" Jack raised his eyebrows in question, "You sure Carter?"
"Well probably for the Ancients. But from what I'm getting, yes"
"So this thing is a just remote to power weapons?" Jack asked
"It would seem so sir"
"Sweet"
Daniel reached out and picked up the bracelet from its floating space. Jack shot him a look. Daniel ignored him and held it in his finger tips, between his two hands. Daniel squinted in concentration at the small writing carved within the metal.
"What's it say?" Jack asked seeing Daniel was giving no information
"Instructions" Daniel replied
"To put on a bracelet?" Jack asked raising his eyebrows
"Yes and how to work it" Daniel replied, "It roughly translates: 'to access the weapon of power, think and seek with in, and feel the way through'"
"What is that suppose to mean?"
"Well it has no buttons or any other instructions..." Daniel trailed
"But it did say 'think and seek within'" Sam finished looking at Daniel
"Which means?" Jack asked knowing the two were hand in hand with this
"That this works with thoughts and feelings" Daniel explained
"What?" Jack blinked
"Think about it. The Ancients built powerful weapons. If they fell into the wrong hands, like say the Goa'uld, then we all would be in big trouble. They'll need an access code or a safeguard to stop that from happening and one way of doing it would be to fine tune it to the owner's thoughts and feelings so no one else but them could access it" Daniel expressed his theory
"So this is completely useless to us unless we had the Ancient that programmed it here to do it?" Jack tested the theory
Daniel flicked his eyebrows up before shrugging, "Its possible"
"Sir, I think what Daniel is trying to say is that this probably had a safeguard against the Goa'uld. If this is a remote to a weapon or weapons it probably it could detect the naquada in the host's blood or even the protein marker and simply wouldn't work for them" Sam supported Daniel's theory
"So where is this weapon?" Jack asked looking around expectantly at the empty room.
"I don't know..." Daniel replied, "This thing was suppose to be it"
"Perhaps the weapon is inside the pedestal" Teal'c's deep voice rang for the first time in fifteen minutes
"Well the pedestal did say about a 'weapon hidden within'" Daniel agreed with Teal'c
Suddenly a low groan echoed through the building. The ground rumbled and the walls shook as an earthquake was evident. They rocked about as the ground shook. Dust fell down from the ceiling warning it could collapse.
"C'mon lets go!" Jack, who was still at the door, waved his hand over for the two scientists to come
Teal'c was on his way out as Sam made it out of the room. Daniel grabbed his pack and headed for the entrance. Another wave hit, stronger and shook the building violently. Dust clouded everywhere. Everyone fell as the ground was pulled from them. Daniel lost grip of the bracelet and it was sent flying in the air. The building shook with the grunt force and threatened to cave in.
Jack saw Daniel's hesitance.
"Forget it! Let's go!" Jack waved
Another strong shake made both of them fall to the floor. Daniel pushed his arms out to stop himself from falling completely and ended up landing on his forearms. He registered something cold but another shake took his attention away.
He felt someone pull him up. He met eyes with Jack and together they manage to make it out of the building alive and hardly a scratch but full of dust.. The earthquake continued outside Jack and Daniel ran towards the gate joining Teal'c and Sam along the way.
As the gate came into view and the earthquake stopped. Jack turned to Sam, "Dial up the Gate. The Aftershock is coming"
"Yes sir" Sam nodded before running a head to the DHD
The Stargate was surrounded by ruins that was once a temple. The only thing that remains are stone columns that is made with the same polished stone as the temple they were just in. Sam made it to the DHD before the aftershocks started. She stumbled over the DHD then she regained her balance and pressed in the sequence.
The aftershock pushed in a back and forward motion making the teammate's task hard. Suddenly a loud groaning was heard.
"Sam!"
She jerked her head in alert to see a large stone column falling down. She abandon the sequence and dived out of harm's way. The stone column crashed down where she was and on top of the DHD. The device exploded in a shower of white sparks as stone broke and crumbled around it.
Jack ran to her and knelt down, "Are you ok?"
Sam nodded. She forced herself to her feet with her C.O's help, despite her vision blurring and the world spinning.
"O'Neill it is not safe here" Teal'c shouted over the rumble
Aftershocks continued and the rest of the surrounding columns became unstable. Jack saw it and nodded.
"Alright lets move out! Find some shelter"
They fled the gate area, some column's falling in their wake. As they fled the earth finally stopped its assault. The rumble died and the ground stopped moving. They came to rest in a clearing.
"Everyone ok?" Jack asked
A mutter of 'yes sirs', 'yeahs' and 'I am unharmed' filled the air. Jack nodded and looked around. The quakes had stop but they knew little of the land and how common and frequent they were to have earth quakes. They had been lucky this time but perhaps next time they might not be.
An orange glow glared from behind the mountains in the east. It cast a blood red light on the clouds as well as staining the blue skies. Jack knew it was sunset and it would be dark soon. Getting home would just have to wait.
"Alright campers, we'll have to bunk here for the night"
"But sir..." came Sam's well timed protest
"I know Carter" Jack cut her off, "It's going to be dark soon. We'll just have to dial home in the morning"
Sam knew the message. It was pointless to look at the DHD in the dark. Especially when there are unknown dangers at night..
"Yes sir" she muttered
Soon camp was set up and they all made themselves comfortable around a small campfire. Eating their heated MRE's settling in as comfortably as they could for the night. Sam only escaped with cuts and bruising while the rest of the team was lucky not to suffer any significant injuries during the quake. She only suffered a shallow scratch on her forehead and already treated it and was still a little shaky from her ordeal. Other than that she was in good bill of health.
Sam was worried about the DHD. It was their only means of getting home and she wanted to know how badly damaged it was. She raised the issue with the Colonel but he said it had to be looked at tomorrow. She hated waiting especially when she's--they all-- in the unknown. But her rational mind told her that it was pointless looking in the dark. So she had to wait.
Jack was making small talk among the team knowing the trouble that awaited them in the morning. It was Jack's way of coping and also to help keep everyone calm instead of anxious of what's to follow. Jack noticed that Daniel wasn't joining in the friendly conversations. At least Teal'c was open for discussion so seeing Daniel like that was a little unorthodox.
"Can you at least for once forget about those rocks of yours?" Jack said annoyingly to Daniel
Daniel didn't hear him. He kept his eyes glued to the video recorder in front of him. He was watching the playback he recorded, while he was inside the ruins with Teal'c, on the small screen. He was completely absorbed in it. It was something about it that intrigued him. Perhaps it was the untold story, or maybe the riddles that it showed on the walls, either way it was something, somehow, quite different. He didn't know why but he felt compelled to get every shred of the information presented here.
"Earth to Daniel!" Jack came a harsh and familiar voice
A pang of anger shot through his chest. How dare someone interrupt him! Daniel suddenly snapped attention giving a harsh glare at Jack, which caught him off guard. Jack's hand flinched away and Jack blinked in surprise. Daniel saw his expression and quickly turned away in embarrassment and shame. He actually felt angry at Jack for interrupting him. Even Jack didn't expect it.
"Sorry" he muttered
"Its ok. I know how you like to explore your rocks" Jack recovered but kept a suspicious look
"Artifacts Jack"
Jack smiled. He was worried Daniel was gone there for a moment but still the way he reacted was odd. Sure Daniel's back from the glowy land and Anubis is still at large with his army of Supersolders, but that shouldn't effect him should it?. Perhaps Daniel is falling back into the habit of overworking himself. When they get back Jack would make sure that the archeologist isn't going to live on coffee, powerbars and two hours of sleep again. Daniel turned off the video and stiffen a yawn. Jack saw it and he too remembered how tired he was.
"Alright I think its time we hit the sack. I'll take first watch. Carter take second, then Teal'c. Daniel you have last" Jack ordered as he looked around
Everyone returned to their tent's for the night in agreement with the arrangement.. Jack sat on a nearby log for his first watch. They all looked weary from the day. He was glad to take first watch. At least he knew they would get some sleep. He heard his team crawl into their tents and two of them in their sleeping bags. He smiled at his team as the warm firelight cast an orange glow on his soft but rigorous face.
His eyes wondered to the bright large moon in the dotted sky.
The moonlight revealed a broad man in distinct Goa'uld armor. His blond hair rustled with the cool breeze, his gold symbol tattoo shone, his face dead pan and his posture straight and solder like. He approach the temple he had been monitoring for days. It seemed to survive the last few quakes and it was time again to see if he could gain entry. He marched into the temple with two other Jaffa under his command. He entered the first chamber which was a narrow hall. Once at the end he stopped at an open doorway. He picked up a stone off the dusty floor and threw it through the door way.
Nothing happened.
His face showed nothing but inside he was pleased. Days before this entry way had a force field. He was quite sure the quakes weakened the structure and the internal security of this place. His mistress would be pleased.
He marched right in he was met with a room full of unknown writing. There was something knew in the middle, a pedestal rose in the floor. Light from the moon cast an eerie glow on the rectangle prism. It too had writing as the same as the walls. The First Prime approached and found nothing on top of the pedestal. He had to report back to his mistress about this.
He ordered his men to search the room. Once searched and found it was empty, the commander turned around and headed back to the cargo ship to report to his mistress. His men followed.
Once inside he made his way to the control panel and sat down. He manipulated the buttons and sent a transmission to the Mother ship in orbit. The screen popped up and the deep rigorous face of his mistress appeared on the screen. He and his men bowed.
"What do you have to report?" came the distorted voice of the goddess
"My lady, the temple's force field is down"
"Good. What is inside?"
"Writings that makes no sense to me and an empty pedestal" the blond man reported
Her face was pristine but filled with malice and coldness. Her long golden hair layered down her face, her liquid amber eyes flashed with anger.
"No- no bracelet was found, my lady" the Jaffa ducked his head upon seeing the eye effects
"Then they have taken it"
The Jaffa frowned to the ground, since his head was bowed. He raised his head with a stoic expression.
"Who has, my lady?"
"The Tau'ri"
How did his goddess know that? He has been down here monitoring the temples and found no activities but earthquakes. Maybe he was being too careless. Surely his mistress will now punish him severely for this failure to not see. He protected his panic with his calm exterior.
"The scout party has discovered their camp. The Chaap'ai is temporarily out of operation so they cannot escape. I want you to capture them and bring them to me alive"
"Yes my lady" the blond bowed his head lower than normal
The transmission was cut and the First Prime was determined to not fail his goddess. His master had over looked his failure and has silently given him another chance to prove himself. He will not fail his goddess. With that he stood and silently waited for the transport rings to activate in the ship, to deliver troops for the capture.
The night wore on as Teal'c settled in his place, relieving the Major from her watch. It was indeed a long night and it showed no signs of orange light. His hawk like eyes watched the darkness of the forest, often catching small nocturnal woodland animals. He never let his guard down. They were stuck here for the night, day and maybe even another night. He had to be prepared for the survival that they might face.
His ears pricked as the alien equivalent crickets stopped their nightly ritual chirping, the forests didn't squirm with the animals. Teal's brown eyes snapped towards the forest as an instinct that something was wrong grew in the pits of his gut. His eyes flicked back and forth, across the forest edge, his body rising slowly with his staff weapon at the ready.
Suddenly something snapped and Teal'c pointed his weapon at the sound. It was only a woodland animal running from its shelter from the forest. Teal'c relaxed a but snapped attention when an orange glow roared past his ear. Teal'c turned his weapon and didn't hesitate to fire. His eyes quickly caught the approaching Jaffa army. With more looking he assessed that they came in a circle around the camp. They were attempting capture.
He turned to warn his friends but he saw they were already crawling out of their slumbers with weapons at the ready. They had heard the staff weapon weapon blast previously. More orange bolts came and landed in their camp. Teal'c took over and immediately returned fire.
The Colonel rose from his tent with his P-90 in hand. He ran to an adjacent cover spot and opened fire on the approaching aliens.
"I can't even have a decent night's sleep without some Goa'uld interrupting it" Jack grumbled as he opened fire again
Sam joined Teal'c and the Colonel in the fight by taking cover behind the camp. Shooting those who were coming from behind, providing some protection for her two teammates. Daniel joined in with his own weapon providing cover for Jack and Teal'c, along with Sam.
More Jaffa came marching in firing with their weapons. Their circle was slowly creeping closer. Staff blast increased with more solders forcing Jack and Teal'c back. Their cover was deteriorating rapidly under the abuse. The same thing was happening with Daniel and Sam. Their camp site ruined and turned into a mini war zone. It was evident that the invading Jaffa were shooting to force them back instead of shooting to kill. No matter how much Jack retaliated to not be intimidated by the fire he couldn't help but moving back.
Soon the team was forced into a small group as the Jaffa circled them. It was pointless to shoot now because they were in point blank range of the staff weapons and killing a Jaffa or two will not help them to escape. Jack didn't like this one bit and neither did his friends. One solder was pushing past the circle and approached the team with his own weapon raised.
They instantly knew he was the First Prime since the Jaffa possessed a gold emblem of his god.
"Lower your weapons" he commanded
The team hesitated not wanting to give up, not to give in to surrender.
"Lower you weapons now" the First Prime barked
"Could have said please" Jack muttered before, long with the rest of his team, putting his gun on the ground
"Silence!" the Jaffa growled at the team leader
He faced his own men and spoke a string of commands in Goa'uld. The solders obeyed and took the Tau'ri back to their goddess.
Jack inhaled as pain shot behind his knees forcing them to bend. He knew his team was subjected to the same treatment as he heard the rhythm of bone hitting floor. He always thought he'll get use to the treatment but after a while he realized that he never will.
Sweet perfume incense filled the golden room. Oil fires burned on their large bowl stands as golden tapestry adorned the room. They faced an elevated fake gold floor. On top was a throne that looked like lounge chair. It had red velvet padding as well as gold frame. On top, lounging lazily, was the Goa'uld itself. It was a beautiful woman with golden hair, lightly dusted with brown tinge, curved her face and bronze shoulders. Her dress was revealing and was in the color of gold and white cloth. Her eyes was the attention grabber of her whole body. It was the liquid amber that kept a strong stare-- as would a lion.
When can a routine mission ever go right? Jack thought. First the earthquake and then this! They were lucky so far but their luck was probably going to run out soon enough. He contemplated on an escape plan but he got nothing. If he knew where their weapons were and radios... he was just glad the Jaffa didn't strip them from their jacket or even his watch.
Sam allowed herself a brief glance around. Teal'c was, as expected, stoic, the Colonel had an annoyed expression on face as well as his eyes kept staring at the Goa'uld in front. She turned her head a bit to glance at Daniel next to her. He was facing the ground with his fists clenched. She instantly grew worried. Was he injured? Did the Jaffa do something to him? He wasn't showing any wounds or pain. It was hard to read his expression. She forced herself to look away when the Goa'uld approached.
Daniel felt angry again. He didn't know why but just being here in front of this parasite made his blood boil more than usual. Sure he hated the Goa'uld but never so passionately. It was the same sort of anger when he got angry with Jack but tem times more stronger. He clenched his fists as he looked to the floor. He didn't want to see that arrogant pig that claim herself a goddess. He had to keep this under control if they were to ever get out of here.
At last Daniel forced himself looked up and saw their host. It was the typical flamboyant Goa'uld. She may be beautiful but she had a hard face with evil glee and self superiority. Jaffa surrounded the prisonors but stood guard. The First Prime approached and bowed to the ground.
"You have done well. Leave" the Goa'uld dismissed her most trusted solder with a wave of her hand
The First Prime bowed and left. The Goa'uld just kept the smile on her face as his brown eyes flicked between them.
"I believe we haven't met" Jack said
"No we haven't. I am Maahes" the Goa'uld spoke. The voice so clear and vibrant, ruined by the distorted alteration of the parasite.
"Come to punish us for our crimes?" Jack tilted his head a little
"You could say that" the parasite grinned lazily, "How much I would love to see you suffer but I have more important matters at hand"
"What? You're diary is filled up?"
The Goa'uld overlooked the strange reference, "You recently visited the temple of the Ancients, have you not?"
"What temple?" Jack played dumb
The Goa'uld lost its smirk laziness for a cold hard stare. Her amber eyes flashed dangerously.
"Do not try my patience Tau'ri! The Temple you had entered the day before. I have been seeking the weapon hidden within the walls. Now it is not there"
"You know what's funny? There was an earthquake at the time and here's the funny part... it was lost in the quake"
"My Jaffa have searched the temple" the Goa'uld snapped
Jack paused before speaking, "Have you tried pushing buttons? Are you sure you looked in every crack, it is a very old temple..."
"Silence!" the Goa'uld roared her patience was gone, "You have tried my patience! I have been merciful in giving you time to explain your actions"
"Oh how generous and kind of you" Jack sneered
The Goa'uld flashed her amber eyes, "I am not quick to judge but my punishment is swift and brutal. You will tell me what I want to know"
Jack snorted under his breath. The rest of his team was quietly observing the events that took place.
"Jaffa Kree!" the goddess snapped with her eyes flashing, "Put them in the holding cells until they are ready to talk"
The ever present Jaffa picked the prisoners off the floor and took them to the holding cells.
To be continued...
Another day, another Goa'uld. How are they going to get out of this one? Stay tuned to find out
Reviews would be nice and supportive (wink, wink, nudge, nudge)