Brotherhood (19a/27)
Title: Brotherhood ( Table of Contents)
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Nothing you recognize is mine. I gain nothing of material value from this.
Pairings: Gen
Chapter1 Chapter2a-- 2b Chapter3 Chapter4 Chapter5 Chapter6 Chapter7 Chapter8 Chapter9 Chapter10a-- 10b Chapter11 Chapter12 Chapter13a-- 13b Chapter14 Chapter15 Chapter16a-- 16b Chapter17a-- 17b Chapter18 Chapter19a-- 19b
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Absence
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13 January 2000; Cimmeria; 1820 hrs
The Asgard were the most powerful of all their allies. Perhaps more importantly, Thor liked Jack. Daniel and Teal'c had decided these were good reasons to try Thor first, after a quick trip to base to pick up uniforms and get final instructions. In the rush, Daniel just barely remembered to tell General Hammond about the Abydos secret chamber and to ask for SG-11 to take a look before he left for Cimmeria with Teal'c.
"This way," Teal'c said. when they stepped out of the Stargate, ignoring the scanning beam of Thor's Hammer and heading directly through the surrounding woods.
As they made their way toward the pillar that would take them to the Hall of Thor's Might, Teal'c told him more about what had happened: about the naquadah that had hardened over the Edoran 'gate like an iris, about the particle accelerator Sam was building based on Sokar's past tactics, and about the only way to get to Edora through the Stargate, which seemed to be...
"You're going to dig through rock and...and solid naquadah by yourself?" Daniel said. "On a limited oxygen supply?"
"Indeed," Teal'c said, not looking concerned. Daniel decided he'd just be concerned enough for the both of them put together. If they got a ship to use, they wouldn't have to resort to that.
When they reached the monument that would transport them inside the Hall, Teal'c palmed the stone, and the transportation beam engulfed them.
They were both ready with their flashlights this time, and their eyes adjusted quickly to the darkness. Teal'c's light found the stone at the other end first. Daniel watched it, beginning to feel frustrated with the wait, until finally, the hologram of the Viking warrior appeared.
"I am Thor," the hologram said. "You are brave to come before me."
Daniel waited for Jack to roll his eyes and tell the hologram to move it along, please, we're on a schedule here. Teal'c breathed quietly beside him. No one moved or spoke. Daniel sighed.
Once the floor fell away from in front of them, Daniel tried to break the silence by saying, "This was the test of...what was it...true selflessness and bravery, wasn't it? Will it count as being selfless if we know it's not real? I mean, it's just an illusion, right, or does it actually somehow sense intention, as well? I mean, it's not just going to let us walk across, is it?"
Teal'c paused, then stepped onto the narrow ledge. "It is unimportant. Follow me."
When they were near the middle, Teal'c bent down, picked up a pebble, and threw it over the edge. It clattered and fell...and fell...and fell...
"Okay," Daniel said nervously "Maybe it's not just an illusion and it only reverts to being solid ground if we pass the test, and we only pass the test if we show true selflessness, and if we already expect it to--"
Teal'c jumped off the edge.
"Teal'c!" Reacting on instinct bolstered by a jolt of terror, Daniel dove toward him and grabbed frantically at Teal'c as he began to fall over the edge, both of them already being pulled over...
He landed on solid ground, trembling with adrenaline and holding Teal'c's ankle in a death grip. The illusion-but-not-illusion-but-actually-illusion disappeared.
Teal'c pried his fingers away from his ankle, sat up, and regarded him calmly. "Your intentions are honorable, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c said. "However, I would advise against such a maneuver in the future; my weight would undoubtedly have killed us both."
Daniel gaped at him, furious.
Thor's avatar reappeared. "You have shown true selflessness and bravery..." the Viking started.
"I thought you were going to die," Daniel said, ignoring the hologram. "On purpose. I can't believe you did that on purpose. We could've just walked across!"
"We accomplished our task," Teal'c pointed out. Daniel glared at him, then glared at Thor's hologram, which was still talking. "I apologize," Teal'c added, sounding only a little remorseful. "I did not wish to take the risk of simply walking across if intention is indeed judged, and I trusted you to act as you did."
Daniel thought he might have thought of something else with time, but time wasn't something he wanted to waste at the moment, so he conceded, "Fine." He marched to the stone at the other end and touched it to cut the hologram off mid-sentence. The room dissolved around them.
Once they rematerialized, Teal'c said, "Are those the same runes we encountered last time?"
Daniel ran a cursory eye the runes on the wall. Thurisaz, pertho, algiz, hagalaz. "Yeah, same thing," he confirmed. "Three, fourteen, fifteen, nine--the circle."
Teal'c found the wall with geometric shapes and drew a line through the circle. Daniel watched impatiently as the circle faded away to reveal a red stone, and Teal'c reached in to grab it. Movement caught their eye, and they looked back toward the platform to see...
...the hologram of the Viking warrior.
Looks like you got the answering machine, Jack quipped in Daniel's head.
"You have become a great people indeed," Thor's hologram said as Daniel fumed silently next to Teal'c, whose face was frozen in a frown. "I know now of your wisdom and will--"
"Thor, are you there?" Daniel tried yelling. Thor's hologram ignored him, finished talking, and raised an imperious hand. "Oh, no..."
He landed back outside in the Cimmerian forest, watching Teal'c glower. They'd forgotten to take into account the fact that the Asgard lived in another galaxy in the middle of another war. However powerful, they were the least likely to be available; Thor, in fact, had used the only ship available to bring them a warning during the Protected Planets summit last year, and he, the commander of the Asgard fleet, must be even busier than most in wartime.
"We will ask the Tok'ra next," Teal'c said, turning away and already moving off toward the Stargate. "You have interacted with them before, Daniel Jackson. Perhaps you should speak with them; the Tok'ra still appear to be uncertain of Jaffa."
"Is this why you came to Abydos to get me?" Daniel asked, following. "To talk to the Tok'ra."
Teal'c glanced at him. "No."
"Oh," Daniel said. "Thank you."
...x...
13 January 2000; Vorash; 2000 hrs
"Unfortunately," Garshaw said once she'd taken the Edora 'gate address and figured out where it was in relation to Vorash, "the Tok'ra do not have the resources to spare for such efforts."
Lantash was there, too. Martouf most often took control, as the calmer of the two--unusual but not unheard of among the Tok'ra--but Daniel supposed the fact that Lantash wasn't yelling at them already was a sign of good will. "Consider," Lantash said. "Even when we believed Sokar was close to victory, the best ship we had was a damaged teltak. Colonel O'Neill's situation is regrettable but not a high enough priority for us to abandon our current missions."
"Since it was the actions of Colonel O'Neill and his team that saved your own life and killed Sokar, Lantash," Daniel said stiffly, "we hoped you would find his continued survival a priority."
Jacob had taken control from Selmak--usual for them while dealing with the SGC--and said, "Daniel, if there were anything we could do right now, we would. Selmak and I would, ourselves. The fact is, we have very few functioning vessels, all of which are away, and some of which are deep undercover. There is literally nothing we can do."
"Nothing?" Daniel asked.
Apologetically, Jacob said, "Eventually we might, but I don't think you realize how big the galaxy is, Daniel, or how far away Edora is."
"But...hyperdrives--"
"Hyperdrives still aren't instantaneous. Even if we had the resources, which we don't, it would take over a year to get there. It's just not feasible right now. You understand?"
Daniel swallowed. "Yes, sir."
"The Tok'ra appreciate the efforts of the Tau'ri," Garshaw added, "but there are some things that are simply not in our power. We will, of course, inform you immediately if a solution becomes available to us."
"We understand, Garshaw," Teal'c said.
"I am sorry about Colonel O'Neill," Selmak said sincerely. "We hope you find him."
...x...
13 January 2000; Orban; 2100 hrs
"No, we do not have interplanetary travelling capabilities without the Stargate," Kalan said. A boy they didn't recognize stepped forward. "But we gain knowledge and progress quickly. Please explain these 'ships' to Loman."
"Maybe...some other time," Daniel said, uncomfortable in their presence.
"Do you want to see the playground?" Kalan asked enthusiastically.
Teal'c looked just as discomfited. "We cannot. Our time is short."
...x...
13 January 2000; Tollana; 2230 hrs
Daniel wanted to try the Nox homeworld--their Stargate had to have been unburied for Lya to attend Skaara's Triad. On the other hand, it was also possible that the Tollan simply had very long-range communications devices, and the Nox had unburied the 'gate for that short time only. Teal'c suggested that they not try it and risk being smashed to death.
So by the time they arrived on Tollana and Narim escorted them to stand before High Chancellor Travell, Daniel was ready to scream. "It will take a year?" he said. "But...Your Eminence--"
"We have been experiencing difficulties of our own," Travell said, looking down from her seat above him. "We cannot spare all of our resources at the moment."
Daniel was aware of Teal'c's subtle shift, a brush against his arm telling him to stay calm, and Teal'c took a step forward to say, "Colonel O'Neill and his team saved your homeworld. You said that you owed the SGC a debt; we are asking that you help him now."
For some reason Daniel didn't really understand and didn't really care about at all, Travell's usual unfeeling smile had been replaced by a thoughtful expression. "You are saying that Colonel O'Neill has been cut off from your Stargate," she repeated.
"From our Stargate and from all other interplanetary travel or communication," Daniel clarified. "The last time we were here, Colonel O'Neill acted for the wellbeing of the Tollan people, Your Eminence, despite many accusations. Now his life may be in danger, and we need your help."
"Please wait here," Travell said, standing. "I will consult with the rest of the Curia."
When the door slid shut behind her, Daniel crossed his arms and watched the door, wondering how long they'd have to wait for it to open again. Behind him, Teal'c was asking Narim, "What are the difficulties of which High Chancellor Travell spoke?"
"Are they more difficult than having your ion cannons explode while you watch a Goa'uld try to kill all of you?" Daniel said snidely. Teal'c frowned at him. He looked at his feet but didn't feel like apologizing.
"Your question is understandable," Narim said. "However, they are affairs of the Tollan."
"I just don't understand why it would affect your ability to help Jack," Daniel said as politely as he could manage. A guilt trip or verbal sniping were the wrong tactics for dealing with the Tollan. "Surely your ships have hyperdrives that could reach Edora in less time?"
"A number of our ships have...sustained damage, you might say," Narim said. "That is all that I can say for the moment."
"Major Carter is attempting to build a particle beam generator to free the Stargate enough to reach Colonel O'Neill," Teal'c said. "Can the Tollan help us in that matter?"
"We do not possess such a device," Narim hedged.
"But it would go faster if you helped her build one, yes?" Daniel said.
"We cannot help to develop technology," Narim reminded. "It is against our policy."
Daniel bit his tongue when he heard Jack's voice in his head ranting about stubborn, pig-headed, cocky, arrogant, ungrateful...
The door slid open. Travell entered again, this time holding something in her hands that reminded Daniel of the device that had served as his summons to Triad. "The Tollan cannot immediately provide the aid you need to retrieve Colonel O'Neill," Travell said. "In a few weeks, we should have a vessel repaired that can be sent to search for him, which would reach Edora less than a year after that."
The Tollan were the last people they could ask. "Please," Daniel begged. "If your ships aren't ready, please at least help us to build the technology needed to free Edora's Stargate."
"The particle beam generator will be built, with or without you," Teal'c added. "Your help would only change how long Colonel O'Neill must be stranded."
Daniel wanted to drop to his knees, clasp his hands, offer something to show that he was willing to do anything if they would do this one thing for him. For Jack.
But the Tollan respected propriety and dignity and composure more than emotional appeals. Daniel knew that--knowing that was his job when they were in the field--so he straightened his spine, looked Travell in the eye, and said, "Please, your Eminence."
Still, his voice must have betrayed something, and, for once, her expression softened. "The Tollan have reached our current level of society by being uncompromising of our principles," she said gently. "We cannot change that now, regardless of the situation, but we will send a ship to Edora as soon as we are able to do so. Your personnel are, of course, welcome here at any time."
XXXXX
14 January 2000; Briefing Room, SGC; 0000 hrs
"The Tollan can have a ship in that part of the galaxy in just under a year," Daniel told the general. "The Tok'ra don't have the manpower or the ships to make the journey right now, and if or when they do, it will take at least that long, as well."
"The Asgard could not be reached," Teal'c added, "but Major Carter has said that their hyperdrives appear to be superior to Goa'uld technology. We have seen the Asgard cross the galaxy in a short time. Perhaps we can return to Cimmeria and attempt to reach them again."
General Hammond folded his hands on the table. "There's no point in going now, unless you're going to camp out there and try every few minutes. Give it some time before you try again."
"Do we know how long it will take for the particle beam generator to be done?" Daniel asked.
"Major Carter estimates three to four months. It depends on how fast they can work and how well their testing goes," the general said. "She doesn't want to rush and make a mistake--once we use it, whoever tries to dig through the rest of the rock will only get one chance." Daniel chanced a look at Teal'c, whose expression was unreadable. "All right. Teal'c, Major Carter is in her lab--could you let her know what happened?"
Daniel checked his watch. "She is, still? It's...late."
"I will also remind her of that," Teal'c said, standing with a small bow and leaving the room.
Then the general turned to Daniel. "Dr. Rothman was enthusiastic about the Abydos research prospects--SG-11 is already there. Do you know anything about this place you found?"
The only thing Daniel's frozen brain could think of to say was, "Jack's missing."
With a sigh, the general said, "And anyone who can possibly help in bringing him back will be doing so, but this doesn't look like something that will be resolved in a day, or a week. Our operations have to go on in the meantime, Mr. Jackson."
Daniel looked down. "Yes, sir. And...no, sir, I can't tell you very much about the chamber. We took the laser sight from one of the guns and, uh...basically, there's a crystal of some sort on the wall in question, triggered to open by a focused, red light. There are a lot of artifacts inside, some of which look Abydonian, but, as I mentioned earlier--"
"There's something in Ancient there, too," the general finished.
"Yes. We'd opened it literally less than a minute before Teal'c came, or I might be able to tell you more. I did leave my notes with Skaara to give to Robert."
"Any guesses?"
Daniel hesitated, then admitted, "Not really, yet. The text on the walls suggests that Ra put them in there, not a being of some other race. Without translating that tablet or knowing more about the place, I don't know what a Goa'uld was doing with an Ancient tablet or why he wanted to hide it...and there's a lot more I wasn't able to see."
"All right," the general said. "So. What will you do now?"
He bit his lips. "There's nothing I can do for Jack, is there?"
General Hammond shook his head. "I think we just need to wait for Major Carter now."
"Do you need me here, sir?" Daniel asked.
"We certainly have a place for you," the general said. "You could resume your previous duties--you don't need me to tell you how much of an asset you are to us. But if you choose to stay on Abydos with your family instead, the SGC won't collapse, either, and we'll stay in contact."
This was it, then. As it turned out, the choice was obvious--not easy, perhaps, but simple. For all he had tried to deny it to himself--and to Skaara--he had made the choice already.
"I'd like to stay," Daniel said. "I think it was only a matter of time before I came back, anyway."
"Is this just until Colonel O'Neill's return?"
Daniel shook his head. "My brother and sister are safe. If you can use me, I think I can do more good here, at least until the Goa'uld are defeated."
"That might be a while," the general said. "Years, possibly not even in my lifetime. You'll have opportunities to go to Abydos, of course, but I need to make sure you know what you're committing to, so I'll ask again: are you sure?"
"Yes, sir," Daniel said firmly. "This is my choice." In a way, it was liberating to choose this as a job or a way of life instead of something he'd been thrown into. "I would just ask permission to check on Abydos first to collaborate with SG-11 and ask if they need my help there."
The general raised his eyebrows. "You wouldn't mind being here on Earth while a mission is ongoing on Abydos?"
"Robert's the expert and the one best suited for that type of mission," Daniel said. "If I'm working here, he's my only direct supervisor until Jack...well. If Robert needs help on Abydos, I can stay there, or if he or you want me here, I can do that, too. Since he's going to be away and SG-1 is on stand-down...if you need an extra person, I'll do whatever I can. Whatever you need."
Moreover, Sam was going to be working without pause for the next three months, and he wanted to keep up to date with her progress and make sure she didn't forget to sleep, too. Abydos was safe, and if staying at the SGC would let him do some good and keep an eye on Teal'c and Sam to make sure no one else went missing, he'd take that. He wanted to be here when Jack returned, and lingering on Abydos was just going to make it harder to come back.
General Hammond raised a fist to cover a yawn, and Daniel realized the hour was late for everyone, and that they'd probably been agonizing over Edora for much longer than he. "Your belongings would be at Colonel O'Neill's house, is that correct? I'll have someone drive you there to pick them up."
"Actually, sir, maybe I could check on his house? At least...mail and things like that. If I can get a ride back to base in the morning--well, later this morning--could I spend the night there?"
The general looked indecisive for a moment, and then said, "I don't see why not. Gather what you need and get some rest while you're there. Make sure the doors and windows are locked. I'll send you to Abydos in the morning to tie up any loose ends, and you can report back when you're done."
XXXXX
14 January 2000; O'Neill/Jackson Residence, Earth; 0100 hrs
"You'll be picked up at 0800, Mr. Jackson," the man in the car told him when they pulled up outside Jack's house.
"Thank you, Airman," Daniel replied automatically. He braced himself for the cold and dashed out of the car and to the front door, still in his BDUs--his coat would be inside the house. Even going as fast as he could, the bottoms of his trousers were damp from snow and his fingers trembling when he reached the door and tried to fit the key in, although he couldn't have said whether that was from the cold or from reaction to...well, everything.
By the time he wrestled his way in and slammed the door shut behind him to trap the cold out, he decided he could use a bit of time to deal with the shivers and slid down to sit with his back to the door. The house was dark, and Daniel took a moment to panic when he couldn't remember where the light switch was. Then he noticed the snow melting off his boots and onto the floor and shook himself. He stood, locked the door, and flipped on the switch next to his head.
There, he thought, methodically taking off his boots and snow-wet socks and searching for a towel to wipe up the water. Easy.
Jack had left a mug and the coffeepot in the sink and some rancid takeout on the table. Daniel wandered through the kitchen and the rest of the house, looking for things to clean up and put away. If SG-1 had been on Edora for over a week, Jack probably hadn't come home in quite a while, and the contents of his kitchen showed it.
Daniel hesitated with the refrigerator open. Things would start to go bad in the next three months. And then, there might be other things that usually had to be taken care of over time that he knew nothing about. What did Tau'ri usually do in situations like this?
"I'll ask Sam," he said aloud to a mostly-empty and very sour carton of milk as he poured it down the drain. "No, Sam's busy. Maybe Robert." Who was off-world. "Or Ferretti. Someone will know what to do." The milk glugged at him in response. Daniel sighed and threw the carton away. The house was too quiet.
As Jack had promised, everything Daniel owned on Earth was still packed neatly in three boxes that sat in the middle of his bedroom. He'd be getting out of the Mountain even less than before with Jack gone (just temporarily), so he emptied one of the boxes and repacked it with a few sets of civilian clothes, books, and essentials.
See? Jack's voice teased in his mind. Told you. You couldn't stay away.
"But now you might be dead," Daniel retorted.
Then he had to stop and sit down on the bed for a minute to catch his breath before continuing to flip through his belongings. It was unnerving to have the house so quiet, but it still felt stupid and a little crazy to talk aloud to no one, so he stopped. He'd never been alone, and out of radio range, in a building off-world before--
He shook his head. He needed to reorient himself once again. Tau'ri wasn't off-world. Tau'ri--Earth--was a home now. This was his home, and there were things he needed to take care of.
It was almost three o'clock when Daniel decided he'd finished what he could and should try to sleep before returning to work tomorrow. A quarter-hour after that, he remembered that there was a mailbox outside the house and climbed back out of bed, digging his coat out of the box. He gathered together the envelopes Jack had received and slipped them into his bag so he could ask someone on base what he should do with them, then crawled back into bed.
Then he remembered the answering machine and crawled back out.
And then he thought of the trash, by which point the bed had lost its appeal. The trash bin was partially buried in a few inches of snow, so after he got his pants wet again by treading through the snow in the driveway, he gave up completely on sleep. He set coffee to brew, because Jack wasn't there to tell him not to, and pulled his laptop out.
There was a lot of e-mail--everything circulating through Archaeo-Linguistics and messages sent to all personnel on base, to all field, research, or diplomatic personnel, or to all personnel with clearance above a certain level...everything had piled up in his account.
He settled at the kitchen table to begin skimming through a month of memos, reminders, and general comments about projects. At least, he decided ruefully as he poured himself real, brewed coffee for the first time in weeks, he'd have an idea of what was happening on base these days.
At five in the morning, Captain Hagman sent a department-wide message to ask for a second opinion on some Ancient translation he'd been working on, so Daniel responded and occupied himself in a long e-mail conversation, which turned out to be one of the more entertaining conversations he'd had with the man, mostly because they were both sleep-deprived.
'Wait are you still on Abydos?' Hagman typed in his seventh e-mail back to him after they'd settled on an answer to that particular Ancient question. 'how did you pulg in your laptop?'
'Yes, I'm still lightyrs away,' Daniel typed back. 'Didn't you hear about the internet connection Maj. Carter set up across wormholes?'
The response said, 'but theres no wormhole open'
Daniel felt puerile and snickered at his laptop as he drained his coffee cup.
'never mind, I get it,' Hagman wrote back a minute later. 'welcome back, BTW I'm putting all Ancient stuff they stuck me with on your desk. Hope you can find your desk under all the paper.'
'Thanks and you're welcome,' Daniel answered.
When a car pulled up at eight, Daniel sighed in relief, put away his laptop, and grabbed his pack and box, remembering to lock the door behind him.
XXXXX
14 January 2000; Pyramid Catacombs, Abydos; 0930 hrs
From the main chamber, Daniel could hear Robert's voice inside the secret room, but it was Skaara who noticed him first. "You look like a mastadge tried to eat you, then dragged you all the way from here to the village," Skaara informed him.
Daniel managed a laugh at the image. "What has been happening?" he asked.
Instead of answering, Skaara continued studying him solemnly and asked, "O'Neill?"
"There is nothing I can do for him now," Daniel said as steadily as he could. "Major Carter is building a machine that will help us to reach him, but it will take a lot of time."
Skaara nodded, then gestured toward SG-11, switching to English in deference to Lieutenant Sanchez and Sergeant Loder, who were both listening. "They arrived at nightfall. Dr. Rothman used the night to read your notes and talk to me. They began to work just now. And you?"
"If Dr. Rothman can use my help here, I'll stay," Daniel said hesitantly, "and...if he needs me to go back to the SGC, I'll go back."
"Ah," Skaara said, understanding his meaning. He sighed but didn't argue, only turning to lead Daniel toward Ra's chamber. "I thought you would say that. Come--he is in here."
As expected, Robert was more excited than Daniel could ever remember seeing him, although, to be fair, they rarely took in-depth research missions together, so maybe he was always like this. "Oh, man," he said once Daniel stepped in, "this is like...it's..." He waved his arms, grinning.
"Yeah, I know," Daniel said. "Just, uh, remember this is Nagadan territory. If we want to take anything, we need permission from Kasuf, or Sha'uri or Skaara if he's not around."
"I'm an archaeologist, not a thief," Robert said indignantly, but he was still looking around the room happily. "Most of the time, anyway. We'll get permission. No idea what this place is?"
"A hidden cache of...things," Daniel said.
"Oh, well, that's helpful."
"Then no, I don't really know. Listen, I need to do a few things around here--I never finished weapons maintenance upstairs, for one--but after that...do you want me here on Abydos or on base?"
That caught Robert's attention. "You're staying on Earth?"
"I'm staying with the SGC," Daniel said, and as soon as he did, he knew that was right. The SGC was based on Tau'ri but was so estranged from most of the planet that it was a unique society in and of itself, not fully entrenched in any planet's culture. It wasn't so different from Daniel himself. "As the Abydos liaison, of course, but..." He glanced at Skaara, hovering nearby. "I can be useful there."
"Yeah," Robert said. "So--" He stopped, then went on, "Okay. It'll take a while to catalogue all this. We're gonna go through every item here and make sure nothing's dangerous, and then let the Abydons in to see what they say about the rest. Finish your other business on Abydos, stick around and help us for a couple of days, and then head back to the SGC and pick up other projects. God knows we're falling behind again."
...x...
So after Daniel and Skaara finished cleaning twenty years of dirt out of the guns, he settled back down on the floor against a wall of the secret chamber with the Ancient tablet and a flashlight, a few Ancient and Latin references and a notebook spread in front of him.
Robert seemed to enjoy ordering SG-11 around. Major Hawkins rolled his eyes but took it in stride, and for his part, Robert didn't seem to notice when someone ignored him and listened to Hawkins instead in non-archaeological matters. It was a different dynamic from SG-1's, but it worked. Skaara walked through the room, peering curiously at the artifacts. Daniel focused on his task and relaxed into the white noise of people walking and talking quietly and occasional beeping sounds from a camera.
When Robert checked on him a few minutes later, he commented, "This is really ancient."
Robert raised his eyebrows. "You mean ancient, ancient, or ancient ancient?"
Daniel almost pointed out irritably that he couldn't hear capitalized letters but instead clarified, "It looks like a really old dialect of Anquietas. Take a look?" He handed over his notebook, containing the copied Ancient script and first-glance suggestions for the translation.
After a minute, Robert said, "Well...huh. 'Anqeetta.' Same as Anquietas, you think, just an older dialect?"
"I've been assuming that for now, but gaining a final 's' over time, and a long vowel only going through half a change...I don't know," Daniel said. "Seems unnatural."
"Maybe it's not a long vowel; it could be two individual ones. Or it's just written differently."
"Yeah, I guess. Maybe there were changes in sound, morphology, and orthography. Or..." Daniel sighed. "Or it's a different word entirely."
"We've never been able to determine whether Ancient is as homogeneous as the Goa'uld language across planets," Robert said. "It could be another dialect synchronic with other Ancient samples we've found, but from another part of the galaxy. Or another galaxy, who knows."
"I think there's actually a date here, which would be helpful, but I'm having trouble figuring out what it's relative to," Daniel said. "This is...probably going to take a while."
"That's okay," Robert said, handing the notes back. "Do what you can here; there are more references on Earth to check it against. If it's too busy back on base, put that on the backburner for now. Hey, can you go check in with the SGC--just let them know what's going on."
Daniel carefully set the tablet down and left to report their progress to the general.
...x...
16 January 2000; Pyramid Catacombs, Abydos; 1800 hrs
"I'm due back on base in three hours," Daniel said two days later. Several artifacts that were clearly not of Abydonian origin were being packed onto a FRED for him to take back while the rest of SG-11 stayed to continue examining the chamber. "Can I stop by Cimmeria first?"
Robert raised his eyebrows. "Why?"
"To try to contact the Asgard again," Daniel said, turning to Hawkins. "Major?"
Hawkins pursed his lips. "Yeah, okay. Leave the FRED in the 'gate room. Loder, go with him, then bring him back here before his time's up." When Daniel opened his mouth to protest, Hawkins said, "You've got a reputation, Jackson. Stay within sight of Sergeant Loder."
With a sigh, Daniel thought that Jack would've trusted him not to run away--Daniel had only ever done that when he wasn't trusted to do the logical thing in the first place--but agreed.
...x...
Even expecting it, this time, when Thor failed to appear and his Viking hologram started to say, "You have become a great people indeed..." Daniel stuck his hand directly through the hologram's eye as he reached for the stone to beam them out.
XXXXX
Continued in Part b...