Daniel had just returned from a mission to P3X-742. SG-2 and SG-7 had been helping the locals get back on their feet after the Ori forces had left. When some ancient ruins had been found, Daniel had been sent to investigate. He had ended up staying almost 3 weeks, going through the ruins and deciphering many of the inscriptions. Now he was finally home again.
Unlocking the door to his apartment, he scooped up the small pile of mail that had accumulated during his absence. He threw it on the sofa table, intending to look at it while eating the pizza he had picked up on the way home.
A little later he tiredly sat down on the sofa, munching on a slice of pizza. He started going through the mail. Most were bills or junk mail, but then he saw the big brown envelope. He hefted it slowly - it felt as if it contained documents, or perhaps photos. Looking at the sender he immediately recognized the name. Jeremy Jameson. They had been friends - but that was years ago. Like so many others he had not believed Daniel's theories about the pyramids and the connections between various cultures. Eventually they had become estranged.
The envelope was postmarked in the United Kingdom. Idly wondering what Jeremy was doing there and why he was sending him something, he opened the envelope and poured out the contents on the table. Lots of pictures, as he had surmised. Grabbing another slice of pizza, Daniel began reading the accompanying letter.
"Hello Daniel,
You are probably wondering why I am contacting you now, after all these years. I believe the pictures will interest you, and perhaps explain why I am writing you. They show some of the artifacts we have found in a sealed room north-west of Hastings Castle, in southern Britain. The layer, as well as other findings in the dig are consistent with the late 12th century England. Carbon dating of clothing found in the sealed room fits the time period as well. The artifacts do not. Take a look and contact me as soon as possible. One note of caution if you should chose to come here - Professor Richard Johnson is in charge!
-Jeremy"
Putting down the letter, Daniel picked up the pile of photos. The first one showed the room itself. Then followed pictures of various artifacts. He had only looked at the first few when he reached for his phone with an alarmed look on his face.
-
Later that evening, at an emergency meeting at Stargate Command.
Vala, Mitchell, Daniel, Teal'c, Landry, and the leader of the newly formed British team, Captain Adams, were seated around the table in the briefing room. Daniel handed them each a folder with copies of the pictures he had received.
"Doctor Jackson, would you explain why this meeting has been called at such a late hour?" Landry said.
"Yes." Daniel took the folder in front of him and opened it. "The pictures you have been given were sent to me by...an old friend...Jeremy Jameson. He is currently part of a dig in southern Britain, near Hastings. Everything they have found dates to around the late 12th century, including - as far as they can tell - the artifacts in these pictures." He picked one of them up. "However if you take a look at them you will see they are somewhat out of place..."
"They are of Goa'uld origin." Teal'c stated, after looking at a couple of the photos.
"No kidding, muscles! This is a hand device!" Vala waved one of the pictures in the air.
Daniel nodded. "Yes, as strange as it sounds, we have Goa'uld artifacts in southern Britain..." he shuffled through the photos. "While that is unsettling, this is what warranted immediate action..." he held the image up for them all to see. It was a canopic jar - or more likely, a stasis jar.
"Is that thing...um...inhabited?...and if so, by whom?" Mitchell wondered.
"Probably - as for who is in it? No idea. If there is writing - which is likely - then it is on the other side. As you can see, there is no obvious text or other identifying markings on this side."
"Terrific." Mitchell grimaced. "I assume we'll be sent there to pick it up?"
"Exactly. You leave in an hour - the British already have special forces there, but they want some experts sent in...you will accompany Captain Adams." Landry said.
Vala moaned. "But at this hour? I need my beauty sleep..."
"You'll have to get that on the plane - you're going in one hour!"
"The problem is...the envelope with the photos arrived almost 3 weeks ago, but since I was on P3X-742...well, I didn't see it until this evening...and who knows what has happened to the stuff during that time..."
"So we're leaving immediately..." Mitchell sighed.
-
Next day. Early afternoon. SG-1 had just arrived at the dig site.
Vala yawned as she jumped out of the jeep that had driven them to the archaeological site. "Tell me again...why do I have to go out here into this...mud hole..." She quickly pulled back her foot from the mud on the path and looked for somewhere else to put it down, "...just to look at some old Goa'uld junk!"
"You're part of SG-1, remember?" Mitchell said, grinning.
"Yeah - I wonder what I was thinking?" she grumbled in a low voice - then hurried to catch up with the others.
They had only walked a short distance when an angry man with greying red hair came jumping out of a nearby tent. A younger man followed quietly behind him. The older man immediately started yelling at Daniel. "You miserable idiot! I told Jeremy he shouldn't send the photos to you," he turned to the younger man, "...and now there are fucking SAS here!" he turned back to Daniel. "I don't know what kind of stuff you are involved in - and frankly, I don't care...I want you and the meddling military goons gone now!"
Daniel was trying to shield himself from the spittle that was flying all over from the agitated man, and looked slightly ashamed at the rest of his team. "It's good to see you too..." he turned to the others, "...fellas...this is Doctor Richard Johnson...he was one of my professors when I went to the university. As you may have guessed we had some...disagreements."
"Disagreements! The moron thinks the pyramids were used as landing platforms by aliens! He probably told you something ridiculous like that our artifacts were left here by Martians or what do I know!"
"Yeah...about those...could we see them?"
"You've got some nerve...coming here, bringing in SAS - and what are you - US Air Force?...trampling all over the place, scaring away my people - and now you want to steal my finds?"
Jeremy Jameson stepped forward now. "Calm down, professor. I'm sure Doctor Jackson has a good explanation...right?" he turned to his once-friend.
Mitchell was quickly loosing patience with the bickering. "Cut the crap, will you? Take us to wherever you store the artifacts you wrote Doctor Jackson about - please? The faster you show us, the quicker you get rid of us."
Grumbling, the esteemed professor motioned for them to follow him and they walked over towards a large tent.
"I thought you had ignored me when so long had passed and I hadn't heard anything from you - we didn't exactly part on good terms last time..." Jeremy said,
"No...no, we did not." Daniel agreed. "Actually, I didn't see your photos until yesterday evening. I have been...out of town for the last three weeks."
"...and now you show up with the military? What do you work with these days? You dropped out of sight completely - several years ago. We haven't heard a thing from you..."
"Well, you know...I've been around..."
Jeremy looked strangely at him. "What is it with these artifacts? Do they really have something to do with aliens?"
"I thought you found my theories ridiculous? Why did you contact me?" Daniel hoped it was not too obvious he was avoiding the question.
"Actually...we ended up agreeing to contact you, despite what professor Johnson says. We are really clueless about this find...even more now than when we mailed you..."
By now they had reached the tent. Inside it were several tables with various finds. One of them held the artifacts found in the sealed room.
Daniel went to it immediately, picking up part of the ruined lid from a stasis jar - which it was now obvious it was. He looked down into the now empty jar. Beside it sat a modern container with some liquid, but nothing else.
"Jeremy, did this...um...canopic jar contain anything else besides the liquid? By the way...how did the lid break?"
"You have seen them before? I suspected as much! We found it lying on the floor, partly tipped over. It still contained some sort of liquid, but nothing else. It is obviously no ordinary canopic jar. It has a strange lining, and there even seem to be some sort of mechanism inside it, perhaps a power source. We have never seen anything remotely like it before! There were none of the usual remains in it."
"Jeremy, this is really important. When - and how did it break?"
"Not long after I sent the envelope to you - a day or two after I think...or was it just before? I have no idea how...we just found it like that when we came back to work Monday morning."
"OK...OK. Did you notice anything strange about anyone? Did they behave differently? Perhaps someone went missing?"
"No..." Jeremy thought about it. "No, nothing odd about anyone...and no one went missing. Well, Tanya didn't show up today, but I'm not blaming her. She probably came here and saw all your soldiers and got scared away."
"And you are sure there was nothing strange or just different about her behaviour these weeks?"
"No. Everything was normal." He sneezed. "Damn it - figures. The pills don't work."
"What pills? Oh, yeah. You have hay-fever - like me."
"Tanya told me she had found these great pills. She has allergies as well, and they worked great for her. She didn't have any more problems at all. But they do nothing for me . Typical."
Mitchell had been listening to them. "Do you have her address - and a picture of her?"
"Avv..come on. You don't think the girl is a Goa'u..." Vala started, but was stopped when Daniel put a hand over her mouth. He shook his head.
"Yes...we do." Mitchell said. "Seems you are going to play an important role here. With Colonel Carter halfway to Pega...you know where...we will need your...special abilities in tracking down the...escapee."
Jeremy gave them all an odd look. "You should talk about behaving strangely! Yes, we have her address somewhere. Just a moment," he left.
"Captain Adams, regardless of the identity of the Goa'uld we need to capture it. Airports, harbours, and so on, will all have to be shutdown." Mitchell said.
Adams nodded. "I suppose it's time for another bomb scare. Let's make it a big one. Poor IRA!"
Daniel started looking at the various things on the table, then returned to the jar. There was very little writing on the remaining parts. A large chunk of the top seemed to be missing - unfortunately the very part where any writing or identification would have been located.
"Learn anything useful?" Adams wondered.
"Not really." Daniel put down the broken lid he had been fiddling with and pointed at the jar. "A large piece is missing. Even if it broke off when the jar fell, the archaeologists would never have thrown it out."
"Obviously. We can't loose any old potsherds. So, why is it gone? You don't think the Goa'uld took it, do you?" Mitchell asked.
"Yes. It must not want us to know who it is..."
"...or perhaps the Goa'uld want it as proof of ID?" Vala suggested.
"That is possible...I suppose it would suck to be - oh, what do I know - the great and powerful Zeus, and no one recognizes you...but they don't usually seem to have trouble being trusted...well, in that area at least. I don't think they trust each other much otherwise..."
"I assume we are going to capture this Goa'uld?" Teal'c asked.
"Oh, yeah. We're going to visit this 'Tanya' first, and if she is not just home because of the flu or something...but is actually missing, then we have a manhunt. It's a good thing we have Vala here to sense the Goa'uld."
"You know...I actually have to be pretty close for that - within maybe 5-6 feet. If you need better than that you will have to find someone with a symbiote to help you."
"The Tok'ra...I need to go call the general about the loose Goa'uld anyway, so I can just as well ask him to contact the Tok'ra at the same time." Mitchell left. Adams followed, as he went to report on the situation and make sure the British forces had closed off all airports and such.
Not long after, Jeremy returned. "I tried calling Tanya, but her cell phone is turned off. I got her address and phone number here - and a print-out of her picture." He handed Daniel two sheets of paper.
"Thank you." Daniel looked at the photo. It appeared official. Probably the picture they had used to make her ID. The woman in the picture was young and stunningly beautiful. Any Goa'uld would be delighted to take her as a host. Poor girl, she could be no more than 25. He handed the picture to Mitchell.
"Do you want me or one of the others to go with you?" Jeremy wondered.
"No. We can handle it." Daniel said.
"It may be dangerous." Teal'c added.
"Dangerous? She's harmless!"
"I am not so sure. Did you not find two hand devices? There is only one on the table."
You're right, Teal'c. There were two on the photos..." Daniel looked at Jeremy who seemed uncomprehending.
"Hand devices? What are those?"
"Eh...it's a kind of jewelry..." Daniel picked up the one on the table. "Like this one."
"Oh, yes, There were two of those...how strange...I saw them both yesterday. I am sure of it. There was also another piece of jewelry that is missing now..."
Daniel sighed. "Any idea who might have taken them?"
"None. I trust everyone here. It must be one of your damn thieving soldiers!"
Mitchel just entered the tent. "Problems?"
"A hand device - and 'something else' is missing. It just went missing today, apparently. I suppose it could be a coincidence, but we better see if someone knows something."
"Agreed."
The number of people working in the dig was not large - Professor Johnson, his assistant Jeremy Jameson, and 5 students, including Tanya Peterson.
Everyone present were interviewed, including the soldiers. It turned out that Tanya had actually shown up for work, but had decided to leave again since they were not allowed to work anyway. She had said she needed to pick up something, and had then left shortly after without being stopped. They questioned the guard, but he seemed confused and did not remember anything.
When the people from SGC were alone, Mitchell turned to Vala and Teal'c. "Do the Goa'uld have technology which can erase the short term memory of somebody, at least temporarily?"
Vala looked at Teal'c. "The hara'kesh might do the trick?"
"Indeed. It would have such an effect." Teal'c confirmed.
"Yes...I remember what that is...the ashrak used it to kill Jolinar when she was in Sam. It looks like a ring - fitting over two fingers - with three jewels or something, located in a triangle and sitting inside the hand..." Daniel ran outside. "Jeremy!" he called out.
A little later Daniel returned. "I talked to Jeremy and there is no doubt that the missing piece of 'jewelry' is a hara'kesh."
"So the Goa'uld got one of those as well...terrific!" Mitchell took out the paper with Tanya's address and looked briefly at it. "Let's go check out Miss Peterson's home. Perhaps there are some clues there."
-
About 15 minutes later they were knocking on the door to a nice looking house in the outskirts of the city of Hastings.
A friendly looking, elderly woman opened the door. "Yes? Can I help you?"
"Hello, ma'am...yes, we would like to speak to Tanya Peterson - she lives here, right?" Adams asked.
"Yes, she had rented a room from me for several months, while she works at a archaeological dig nearby...she's not home right now, though. Who are you, by the way?"
"I am Captain Adams of the Royal Air Force and these are some of our allies from the US Air Force." Adams and the others showed their IDs. "Do you know when Miss Peterson will be back - or where she went?"
"The Air Force! What did the poor girl get herself into?"
"Don't worry. She has not done anything wrong, but we believe she may be in danger."
"Oh, my goodness! Well, I am sorry, but I have no idea where she is. I don't interfere with the life of my lodgers as long as they behave themselves."
"...and she usually does? No problems lately?" Vala asked.
"Listen, I don't know what you think she is messed up with, but she is a very nice girl. Very helpful. Usually takes the dog for a walk in the evenings, and she even mowed the lawn for me yesterday."
They looked at each other, this was somewhat strange behaviour for a Goa'uld, but perhaps she tried to 'blend in'. Mitchell turned to the woman. "This is very important - we really do believe she may be in danger. Can you tell us anything that we may be able to use? Do you have any idea where she might be?"
"Well, the only thing I know is that she left for work this morning - just as she usually does. Took her bike. Then she came back about 1 1/2 hour later. She said the dig was closed for the next couple of weeks - something about a permit the city took some time to renew...she went to her room and left shortly after, carrying her backpack. She said she went home to her parents for at least a week. That seemed a little odd, since she just visited them a week ago - and now I think about it, she seemed...flustered, perhaps? Very much in a hurry..."
"Do you happen to have her parents address or phone number?"
"No, I only know they live in one of London's suburbs - Ealing, I think."
Adams pulled Mitchell aside. "I'll go and have the local police pay them a visit."
"OK. We'll take a look at her room and see if we can find anything useful."
Vala had followed them. "You don't seriously think a Goa'uld would chose to hide out at her host's parents place?"
"Why not? Well, I agree it's probably not very likely - she must know we will come there and search for her. No, I think we just want to talk to her parents and see if they noticed something when she visited them last week - if indeed she did visit them."
While Captain Adams went to follow the lead on Tanya's parents, Mitchell and the other managed to convince the elderly woman that they needed to search Tanya's room. It was a relatively small room, containing only a bed, a bookcase, a desk with a chair, as well as a closet and a drawer. By the bed stood a crate with a small TV on it. Everything looked normal, though it was obvious someone had left in a hurry, quickly grabbing some clothing and not caring if she knocked something over doing it.
Mitchell went to the desk. "She took her computer - laptop no doubt. The printer is still here." He started leafing through the papers strewn across the desk. "Messy..."
Meanwhile, Daniel was looking through her books.
"Find anything?" Vala asked.
"No...she has the standard works, of course...various history books..." he looked at some of the books on another shelf. "She like science fiction!"
"Obviously she has a good taste," Teal'c remarked, showing them the 'Star Wars' special edition DVD he had just found in her movie collection. "Do you think she would mind if I borrowed it?"
"Haven't you seen that movie - like a million times before? It's not that good!" Vala said.
"This is a special edition - with extra commentaries. I do not believe I have seen those before."
"Hah...will you look at this. You're famous, Daniel!" Vala picked up a book that had been lying on by the bedside. "It's one of yours, right?" she gave the book to Daniel.
"Yes, it is," he sighed. "...and infamous would probably be a better description." He did not like being reminded of how his peers had reacted to his ideas. He opened the book and read aloud a note written on the first page.
"To my dear little sister - on the hopes that it will convince you that I am right about at least one of my 'loony conspiracy theories'. Love, Patrick."
"Seems she have had some sort of dispute with her brother - he seems like he may be a conspiracy theorist, and Tanya is the family sceptic..."
"Yeah, well she may have had cause to change her mind on that..." Mitchell said.
They continued searching the room for a little while longer, but did not find anything useful. The Goa'uld seemed to be very careful. It might make it harder to catch her.