(no subject)
Without jinxing myself, I'd like to comment that this one is finally coming along. Chapter 9 is mostly done. I'm thinking the whole thing will turn out to be 10 or possibly 11 chapters all together, so light at the end of the tunnel!
Title: Egeria's Legacy
Author: Annerb
Summary: Tok'ra trouble is brewing and Sam gets caught in the middle.
Rating/Warnings: Older Teens (torture and death)
Classifications: Action/Adventure, Drama, Angst, S/J
Season: 7 (AU, post Death Knell)
Disclaimer: Stargate isn't mine. Woe.
Part 8-Footwork
The briefing room was completely silent except for the irregular, but persistent tapping of Jack's pen against his mission briefing.
Tap...tap...tap.
It was irritating as hell and Daniel had to wonder if it was simply Jack's way of celebrating that he had finally been cleared for off world missions again. Teal'c was as stoically unaffected as he always was, but Daniel suspected he had simply slipped into a low level of kelnoreem out of self-defense.
Tap tap...tap.
Santos hadn't quite yet developed a mechanism to deal with Jack's bouts of 'high spirits' and Daniel saw how the Captain's eyes followed the pen's movement with sick fascination, suppressing a flinch with each impact. At times like these, he probably wished assaulting a superior officer wasn't frowned upon by the Air Force.
Tap...taptap...tap.
Luckily Daniel had no such compunctions. He was about to circumspectly nail Jack in the shins when Hammond finally reappeared in the briefing room. Jack dropped the pen to the table and Daniel almost sighed with relief.
"We just received a message from the Land of Light," Hammond explained as he took his seat.
Daniel looked up in surprise, irritation instantly forgotten. Even though the SGC often provided off-world allies with basic communication devices, they rarely used them except in cases of emergency.
"Do they require our assistance?" Teal'c inquired.
Hammond shook his head. "No." He looked down at a slip of paper in his hand. "Thank you so much for visiting us. We hope to see you again before too long. Our gratitude for our salvation is without limit."
"That's...strange," Daniel said and he could see that Hammond looked slightly suspicious as well and seemed to be watching Jack's reaction closely.
But Jack didn't react other than to shrug. "To be honest, sir," he directed to Hammond, "I think Melosha's got a bit of a thing for Daniel."
A distinct snicker came from Santos' end of the table. Daniel rolled his eyes. God save them all from Captains that appreciate Jack's humor.
Jack smirked, seemingly completely unaffected by the withering glare Daniel was now treating him to.
Hammond shook his head in amused annoyance, a particular reaction he seemed to reserve specifically for his wayward 2IC. "Let's continue with the briefing, gentlemen."
And so the topic of the strange message was dropped. But Daniel didn't forget it.
* * *
Jack gratefully closed the door to his office behind him, resting back against it for a moment. To be honest, he wasn't quite sure how he had managed to sit through the rest of that meeting. His mind was going at a furious pace, completely at odds with the slightly bored look he had hoisted on his face.
The message from the Land of Light had come quicker than he expected. Luckily SG-1 was already scheduled for an off-world mission the next morning at 0800. It should be easy enough to slip away from the others long enough to circle back to the gate.
Easy? Hell, who was he kidding? Impossible, more like. Especially with Daniel the nose hanging around. Not to mention Santos, who was honor bound to report any rule breaking. Jack wouldn't be surprised if the suspicious Hammond had asked Santos to keep a close eye on him.
As if summoned by his thoughts, there was a sharp knock at the door, causing Jack to jump. When Jack didn't answer right away, Daniel's voice could be clearly heard through the door.
"Jack? I know you're in there. Let me in!"
Jack sighed resignedly before pulling the door open, looking as nonchalant as he could manage.
"What's up, Daniel?"
Daniel treated Jack to a particular disbelieving glance that translated into 'don't BS me Jack, I'm not stupid.'
"What was that message from Melosha really about?" Daniel asked, settling himself down on Jack's chair and crossing his arms stubbornly.
Jack sighed and closed the door to his office once more. He sat down behind his desk and shrugged. "I don't know, Daniel, you're the cultural expert, why don't you tell me?"
Daniel leaned forward in his chair, refusing to rise to Jack's bait. "I think it was a message from Sam."
"I think that's a bit of a stretch," Jack replied.
"Is it?" Daniel countered.
When Jack made no move to answer, Daniel pushed to his feet and began pacing the small office. "Alright, Jack, that's it. You need to tell me what's really going on. Because I don't care what Sam might have said to you on that planet, you would have zatted her yourself and dragged her back here if you didn't have good reason to think she was safe."
"Daniel, just leave it alone," Jack warned, a little disconcerted, but not surprised, by how close Daniel was getting to the truth.
"Leave it alone? This is *Sam* we're talking about! And you obviously know more than you are letting on to Hammond."
"What I *know*, Daniel, is that before this is all done, the shit is seriously going to hit the fan. So do me a favor and stay the hell out of it," Jack snapped, angry that Daniel had managed to get him to admit more than he wanted.
Daniel collapsed back in his chair, all anger draining away from his face. "You let her go," he said in understanding.
Jack rubbed a tired hand over his face in defeat. "Yes," he admitted.
"Why?"
And that was really the crux of the issue. What had compelled Jack to risk Sam's life and his own career?
"Because she asked me to," Jack said.
Jack could see that the now silent Daniel was now running through a million scenarios, fitting all the pieces together like a giant jigsaw puzzle. Jack tried to ignore how reassuring that was.
"And now she probably needs help, which explains the message," Daniel concluded.
Jack shrugged. "She said she would leave updates with Melosha, to let me know she was okay."
"But Hammond has ordered you to detain her...," Daniel said.
Jack met Daniel's eyes across the room. "It doesn't matter."
But Daniel was pretty sure it did.
* * *
They were an hour's hike in from the gate the next morning when Jack decided it was time to make his excuses and double back. He stopped to tie his shoes, but the moment he decided to open his mouth, Daniel sighed dramatically.
"Don't be mad, Jack...," Daniel said somewhat nervously.
But since Jack hadn't heard Daniel use that particular tone in at least five years, he had a pretty good idea what the archaeologist was up to. "Daniel," he said warningly, not unaware that Captain Santos was watching the exchange avidly.
Daniel's face took on a charmingly sheepish expression and Jack had to wonder exactly when he had become so savvy at manipulation. "I'm sorry; I just don't know where my head is today. I can't believe I left my digital camera by the MALP."
Jack's face remained stonily impenetrable.
"I'll just run back to the gate and get it," he continued and Jack half expected him to trip over his own shoelaces just to make the hapless archaeologist image complete.
Santos stepped forward at this point. "I can run back with him, sir. It shouldn't take us too long."
Jack wanted to laugh when he realized that Santos was trying to deflect Jack's supposed anger at Daniel's forgetfulness.
"That will not be necessary, Captain Santos," Teal'c said. "I will accompany Daniel Jackson to the gate."
E tu, Teal'c?
Jack wasn't stupid. He was being shanghaied by his own team who thought they were somehow protecting him from breaking Hammond's direct orders. Neither of them were military, something they had taken advantage of over and over again. Jack hadn't wanted to involve them this time, but he should have known better.
"Well played, Dr. Jackson," Jack mumbled.
"What was that, sir?" Santos asked.
Jack shook his head. "Nothing." He pushed back to his feet and brushed off his pants. "Daniel and Teal'c will head back to the gate. Santos and I will scout the ridgeline. We meet back here in three hours. I want regular radio checks."
Daniel and Teal'c were gone before he even finished.
Santos stared after their retreating backs, a contemplative look to his face that made Jack nervous. "It seems very unlike Dr. Jackson to be so forgetful," Santos observed.
"He has his moments," Jack said.
Santos just raised one disbelieving eyebrow and said, "Huh."
"You got something to say, Captain?" Jack asked, putting on his best hard-ass face. The last thing they needed was someone getting curious.
But Santos just unflinchingly stared back at Jack for a long moment, before he said very clearly, "No, sir. I have absolutely nothing to say." Then he gave Jack a half smile and started up the hill.
And Jack was left to wonder why he always got saddled with young Captains that were entirely too smart for their own good.
* * *
By unspoken agreement, Daniel stepped through the wormhole, leaving Teal'c behind to watch the gate and answer any queries through the radio.
The landscape on the other side was just as Daniel remembered it, eerily dark and silent. He took a few uncertain steps down the path, not really sure what to expect. Then off to the left, Sam magically materialized out of the trees.
"Daniel," she said in greeting.
Daniel knew he was staring, but he couldn't help himself. She was actually there, standing just a few paces away. When he didn't acknowledge her, he saw her eyes dart past him towards the gate.
"I wouldn't let Jack come," Daniel finally said, mildly stung by the gesture. "Hammond's given orders to bring you in...by any means necessary."
Something flashed across Sam's face, but it was quickly hidden. "Not unexpected," she said.
Daniel took another cautious step towards her. "Have you really...been blended?"
Sam's head dropped and a moment later, Selmak was speaking. "Hello, Dr. Jackson."
"Selmak," Daniel acknowledged, more than a little disconcerted to hear that voice coming from Sam.
"It is most auspicious that you have come, we are in need of your help," Selmak said. Daniel got the strange feeling that she understood his discomfort in the face of Sam's distanced behavior.
"Anything you need," Daniel said.
Selmak nodded before her head dropped once more and he was speaking to Sam. "It's a long story, but we are trying to find the location of Egeria's Legacy. All we have to go on is a fragment of a memory from thousands of years ago. She said something, but neither of us understand the language."
Daniel nodded, tamping down on the millions of questions he wanted to ask. "Let's hear it."
"Is leor nod don eolach."
Daniel had Sam repeat the phrase a couple more times, scribbling down various spellings of the phrase. "Sounds...Gaelic," he observed.
Sam looked expectantly at him and Daniel shrugged apologetically. "Sorry, not one of my strongest languages. But it shouldn't be too difficult to figure out."
Sam nodded in understanding and pulled out a small sheet of paper. "There's also this."
The paper was covered in a rather rudimentary drawing of an oval pendant. Daniel felt a smile spread across his face. "Did you draw this?"
"Yes," Sam said archly.
"Maybe you should stick to stick figures, Sam," Daniel teased before he could stop himself.
For a moment, Daniel thought Sam was going to smile, but instead her face became very serious.
Daniel reached out one hand to her shoulder. "Sam?"
Sam stared at the hand on her arm for long moments. Just when Daniel was sure she was going to shrug him off, she turned to him bright eyes. "I've really missed you, Daniel," she said, so softly that he almost missed it.
It was easy to pull her into his arms. "Me too, Sam. Me too."
They stepped apart after long moments. Daniel gently touched Sam's face. "I'm just glad you're okay," he said.
Sam looked away, and when she met his eyes again, there was something indefinable in them. "I'm not yet," she said. "But I think I will be."
She turned her attention back to the drawing, her face blank once more, and Daniel finally understood that her distant attitude was simply her way of holding on. Of seeing this task through.
"So tell me about the drawing," Daniel said and Sam looked relieved to be getting back to the issue at hand.
"It was Egeria's. It's a silvery looking metal with a blue stone at the center. Somehow, I think it's the key to what we're looking for."
"It doesn't look familiar," Daniel said, "but if it was Egeria's it might have ended up on Pangar. I'm still going over the museum's catalogs, trying to figure out what the rebel Tok'ra wanted there."
"Of course," Sam exclaimed. "They must have been looking for artifacts associated with Egeria! We have to know if they got it."
Daniel nodded. "It shouldn't be too hard for me to set up a trip there. I've been going back and forth the last few weeks."
Sam's face became unreadable once more and she sighed. "I hate putting you in this position, Daniel. I don't want to get any of you in trouble."
"Don't be stupid, Sam," Daniel said. "We're a team, we always will be. And heck, I'm a civilian, what are they going to do? Fire the foremost expert on Goa'uld? I don't think so."
When Sam still looked uncertain, he took her hand. "I even promise to keep Jack from breaking too many rules. Though, no promises about Teal'c. You know how he gets."
At that, Sam did smile. "Thanks, Daniel." She handed him another slip of paper. "When you have any information, send it to this planet. It won't take long for someone to order Hammond to keep this spot under surveillance; it's probably smarter to mix it up."
Daniel nodded, knowing it was a good idea. "I'll get back to you as soon as I can."
Sam stood close to him as he dialed the gate back up to rejoin the rest of SG-1. "How's Santos doing?" she asked, seemingly out of the blue.
Daniel looked at her in surprise. "He's not you," he replied as the wormhole flushed into existence.
Sam smiled gently at the automatic response. "But he's doing well?" she pressed.
Daniel shrugged. "Yeah. He's sharp. And he doesn't let Jack bully him."
"Good," Sam said.
"Sam," Daniel said. "You *are* coming home." It was a statement more than a question, but Daniel was a little disconcerted by her query.
Sam smiled and squeezed Daniel's arm. "Wild horses, Daniel. Wild horses."
She stepped back away from the Stargate. "I'll see you soon, Daniel," she said.
Daniel nodded and headed up the steps reluctantly. "Take good care of her, Selmak."
Sam's eyes flashed briefly in response and then she was gone, Daniel tumbling through the event horizon.
* * *
The mission had uncovered some mildly interesting ruins that SG-1 recommended another short term research unit be assigned to. But other than that, the mission debrief went quickly.
"Thank you. SG-1, you are on downtime for two days."
"General," Daniel said, getting up and stopping Hammond. "I have almost completed my final analysis of the Pangar museum records. I just need one more trip to verify their inventory and I should be able to finish my final report. I thought maybe you'd let me go since we have some time between missions."
Hammond looked assessingly at Daniel for long moments before slowly nodding his assent. "Take the rest of SG-1 with you. Colonel, I'd like an update on how the repair effort is going. You can leave 0800 tomorrow morning."
With that, Hammond went into his office and Jack watched Daniel disappear down the hall. Twenty minutes later, Jack burst into Daniel's office, no longer able to wait to find out what had happened in the Land of Light. Unsurprisingly, Teal'c was already there.
Jack carefully closed the door behind him. "Okay, Daniel, spill."
Daniel looked up from a large tome, pointing to a blackboard behind him with strange words on it. "Sam asked me to translate this for her and she wants me to track down an artifact." He shoved the simple drawing towards Jack.
Jack suppressed a smile at the rough drawing. "So what do you have so far?"
"Well, I can't really do anything about the necklace until we get to Pangar, but this," Daniel said, pointing at the words on the blackboard, "is Gaelic."
Jack squinted at the indecipherable words. "And?"
"Well," Daniel said, pushing to his feet. "It's actually an old proverb. It simply means A hint is sufficient for the wise."
Jack huffed with annoyance. "Well that must mean I'm not all that wise, 'cause that doesn't mean anything to me."
"Perhaps it simply means that the memory Major Carter experienced should be enough to lead us to what we seek," Teal'c offered.
"Maybe," Daniel said. "Or it supports Sam's feeling that the necklace is somehow important, that maybe it will lead us to Egeria's Legacy."
The three men sat in silence for a while, each contemplating the meaning of the clues at hand.
Teal'c eventually pushed to his feet. "There is one thing we have not considered, no matter how unpleasant, but I feel it must be said before we proceed any further."
Daniel and Jack looked up in surprise, unused to Teal'c speaking at such length.
"What is it?" Jack asked.
"If this pendant does, in fact, lead us to Egeria's Legacy, it would be unwise to give it to Major Carter."
Daniel made a sound of protest and Jack's face went hard.
"No matter our intentions, by helping Major Carter, we could inadvertently be aiding the enemy. We cannot be responsible for putting such a weapon in their hands."
"It is Sam, Teal'c. I'm sure of it," Daniel said.
"There is no way to be completely sure," Teal'c countered. "We have all been fooled before."
Jack's chair scraping loudly against the floor brought both men's attention to him. His face was stonily unreadable.
"Let me know when you have something more, Daniel," he said before stalking from the room.
"I really hope you are wrong, Teal'c," Daniel said, staring after Jack's disappearing back. "For all of our sakes."
Teal'c nodded, his face solemn. "As do I."
* * *
The area around the gate on Pangar was still home to many tents and temporary housing. The rebuilding of the ravaged land would take many years to come. But for now, the SGC was still supplying the displaced with food, medical supplies and even a small contingent of SGC personnel.
Ovron met them at the gate, looking pleased to see them, but tired nonetheless. The Senior Minister of Agriculture had been unwillingly thrust into the role of leader as one of the few survivors of the original Pangaran government.
"Ovron," Jack said by way of greeting as the older man bowed low before them.
"Colonel O'Neill, it is a pleasure," the minister replied in kind.
"We've just come by to check up on you, see how you're doing," Jack explained. "And Daniel here is almost done reviewing your museum inventory, if you would allow him access to your archives once more."
"Of course," Ovron replied. He waved over a young woman. "Bekka can escort you into the city."
Jack nodded for Teal'c to go with Daniel and the guide. "Keep me appraised," Jack called after them. He turned to Ovron and smiled. "Well, Captain Santos and I would be happy to have a tour, and you can fill us in on anything you might need."
Ovron smiled gratefully and led them away from the gate.
* * *
The path to the museum wound its way through the burned, lifeless city. Their guide Bekka informed Daniel and Teal'c that most people had left the city, choosing rather to live in the outskirts in large refugee camps. Daniel didn't blame them. The city had a spooky quality to it, what had once been gleaming buildings and bustling tram systems now lay in ruins.
When they finally reached the museum, one of the few buildings left relatively untouched, Daniel was surprised to see the door heavily guarded by what looked like soldiers. Dr. Leemar, whom Daniel had worked with in the past, was there to meet them at the door.
"Dr. Jackson," he greeted.
Daniel shook the man's hand. "I don't remember security being so tight last time I was here," Daniel remarked conversationally as they made their way down the long hallway.
Dr. Leemar nodded. "Yes, you remember correctly. There was never the need until recently. Our people are far too busy scraping enough together to survive, so looting had not been something we were prepared for."
"Did something happen?"
"A few days ago the museum was broken into. We have since put more security in place."
Daniel and Teal'c exchanged a glance. "Were many things taken?" Daniel asked.
"No. That is the strangest part. Only one thing was taken that we can tell. And as far as we knew, it was of very little monetary value." Dr. Leemar shrugged. "But people do strange things in trying times."
"May I ask what the object was?" Daniel asked, his feeling of trepidation intensifying.
"Of course," Dr. Leemar said. "It was small necklace with a blue stone. We had just finished cataloging it, or we likely would have never even noticed its absence."
Daniel felt his stomach drop. They were too late. More than likely Keren had been on this planet just a few days ahead of them. Daniel felt himself looking over his shoulder. For all they knew, he was still here.
"When you cataloged the necklace, did you by chance create any reproductions of the object?" Teal'c asked.
Daniel looked at Dr. Leemar expectantly.
"Yes, of course. We used the equipment you lent to us, Dr. Jackson."
"May we see it?" Daniel asked, a bit more intensely than he intended.
Dr. Leemar nodded, throwing Daniel a strange look.
Twenty minutes later Daniel was tucked away in the archives with a file of color photographs. The necklace was roughly how Sam had described it, silver in color with a rather dull blue stone at its heart. What Sam's drawing had lacked, however, were the details. The pendant had more writing engraved around the stone.
"It's more Gaelic," Daniel noted to Teal'c. "Is leor don dreoilín a nead."
He pulled various texts out of his backpack and spread them around the table, flipping back and forth between pages. "I think it's another proverb," Daniel mumbled to no one in particular.
"Here it is!" Daniel exclaimed, pointing to his book. "Is leor don dreoilín a nead literally means 'The nest is enough for a wren.'"
Teal'c looked unimpressed. "What do birds have to do with Egeria?" he questioned.
Daniel shook his head. "No...it's a proverb. Kind of similar to one common in America: Home is where the heart is."
"Does this mean that Egeria's Legacy can be found at her residence?"
Daniel shrugged. "Does a Goa'uld Queen have a home?"
"It could refer to P3X-888 where the Goa'uld evolved," Teal'c suggested.
"I don't know," Daniel said. "Somehow that doesn't seem right. I mean, first of all, why is all this in Gaelic? Why not Goa'uld?"
"Perhaps it does not refer to Egeria's home."
Daniel flipped absently through his books. "You could be right. Maybe this is the language of Egeria's host. Egeria was the first Tok'ra, after all, she would have blended equally with her host. And so it is in Gaelic. And Egeria's Legacy could be on the host's planet."
Daniel looked back at the image and all of his excitement slowly drained away. "Of course, we have no way of knowing where that might be."
"What about this, DanielJackson?" Teal'c asked, placing a color photograph in front of Daniel.
It was a picture of the back of the pendant. Minuscule letters spiraled clockwise from the top towards the center. Daniel grabbed a magnifying glass. "Numbers," Daniel mumbled. "These are numbers."
"A Stargate address?" Teal'c asked.
Daniel shook his head. "I have no idea." He pointed at the picture. "This reads 17, 4, 28, 33, 9, 21."
"That seems to be a great deal of writing for so few numbers," Teal'c observed.
"Yeah...well the Gaelic numbering system is a bit complex. Instead of 33, they say (3 + 10) on 20. Tri deug air fhichead."
Daniel carefully wrote out the Gaelic words, their numerical value and their expanded values.
"There are six numbers, which would seem to correspond to a gate address," Teal'c intoned.
"Probably. Though figuring out how they correspond to actual symbols on the gate could take a while. I'm sure Sam will be able to work it out."
Teal'c made a noncommittal sound in his throat.
"Look, Teal'c," Daniel said. "I have to actually do some of the work I came here to do or Hammond will get even more suspicious. Keren was here only a matter of days ago, which means that he is that many steps ahead of us. It doesn't matter anymore if Sam is who she says she is, because we know for a fact that Keren is a threat. And like it or not, Sam and Selmak are probably the only hope we have to stop him from getting his hands on that weapon."
Teal'c was quiet for a moment before nodding solemnly. "I believe you are right, Daniel Jackson. We must get this information to her as soon as possible."
Daniel smiled gratefully and started writing a long letter to Sam.
* * *
The Stargate was a hub of activity and Teal'c knew he had little chance of using it unnoticed. But he also knew that his chances on Pangar were greater than if he returned to Earth. And as DanielJackson would say, time was of the essence.
There was no sign of O'Neill or Santos near the gate, just a small group of Pangaran sentinels.
"I wish to report in to my superiors," Teal'c said to the nearest soldier. The Pangaran nodded, more than a little intimidated by the large man who had once served the great gods.
Teal'c smiled at the man in an attempt to make him feel more at ease, but judging from the way his skin paled, he probably didn't quite achieve the effect he was going for. Teal'c shrugged and turned his attention to the DHD. He carefully dialed the address Daniel had provided him and watched the gate whoosh into life.
Just as he was approaching the event horizon, O'Neill and Santos appeared around the corner, in open view of the gate.
Teal'c barely had time to register the beat of resignation on O'Neill's face as he glanced at Santos before Teal'c flipped the carefully sealed packet of photographs, transcriptions and notes into the wormhole.
Teal'c slowly approached O'Neill, his eyes carefully watching Santos, who was now staring avidly at the nearest pillar.
"Huh...," the captain said. "I wonder if this is granite."
Jack raised a disbelieving eyebrow at the young man. "Santos?"
Santos jumped almost comically. "I'm sorry, sir. Were you saying something? I seem to have let my mind completely wander. Just such *fascinating* architecture."
Jack looked at Teal'c and shrugged. Apparently Santos was one less thing they needed to worry about.
Behind them, the wormhole shut off with a firm sense of finality.
They'd done their part. Now it was all up to Sam.
Next
Title: Egeria's Legacy
Author: Annerb
Summary: Tok'ra trouble is brewing and Sam gets caught in the middle.
Rating/Warnings: Older Teens (torture and death)
Classifications: Action/Adventure, Drama, Angst, S/J
Season: 7 (AU, post Death Knell)
Disclaimer: Stargate isn't mine. Woe.
Part 8-Footwork
The briefing room was completely silent except for the irregular, but persistent tapping of Jack's pen against his mission briefing.
Tap...tap...tap.
It was irritating as hell and Daniel had to wonder if it was simply Jack's way of celebrating that he had finally been cleared for off world missions again. Teal'c was as stoically unaffected as he always was, but Daniel suspected he had simply slipped into a low level of kelnoreem out of self-defense.
Tap tap...tap.
Santos hadn't quite yet developed a mechanism to deal with Jack's bouts of 'high spirits' and Daniel saw how the Captain's eyes followed the pen's movement with sick fascination, suppressing a flinch with each impact. At times like these, he probably wished assaulting a superior officer wasn't frowned upon by the Air Force.
Tap...taptap...tap.
Luckily Daniel had no such compunctions. He was about to circumspectly nail Jack in the shins when Hammond finally reappeared in the briefing room. Jack dropped the pen to the table and Daniel almost sighed with relief.
"We just received a message from the Land of Light," Hammond explained as he took his seat.
Daniel looked up in surprise, irritation instantly forgotten. Even though the SGC often provided off-world allies with basic communication devices, they rarely used them except in cases of emergency.
"Do they require our assistance?" Teal'c inquired.
Hammond shook his head. "No." He looked down at a slip of paper in his hand. "Thank you so much for visiting us. We hope to see you again before too long. Our gratitude for our salvation is without limit."
"That's...strange," Daniel said and he could see that Hammond looked slightly suspicious as well and seemed to be watching Jack's reaction closely.
But Jack didn't react other than to shrug. "To be honest, sir," he directed to Hammond, "I think Melosha's got a bit of a thing for Daniel."
A distinct snicker came from Santos' end of the table. Daniel rolled his eyes. God save them all from Captains that appreciate Jack's humor.
Jack smirked, seemingly completely unaffected by the withering glare Daniel was now treating him to.
Hammond shook his head in amused annoyance, a particular reaction he seemed to reserve specifically for his wayward 2IC. "Let's continue with the briefing, gentlemen."
And so the topic of the strange message was dropped. But Daniel didn't forget it.
* * *
Jack gratefully closed the door to his office behind him, resting back against it for a moment. To be honest, he wasn't quite sure how he had managed to sit through the rest of that meeting. His mind was going at a furious pace, completely at odds with the slightly bored look he had hoisted on his face.
The message from the Land of Light had come quicker than he expected. Luckily SG-1 was already scheduled for an off-world mission the next morning at 0800. It should be easy enough to slip away from the others long enough to circle back to the gate.
Easy? Hell, who was he kidding? Impossible, more like. Especially with Daniel the nose hanging around. Not to mention Santos, who was honor bound to report any rule breaking. Jack wouldn't be surprised if the suspicious Hammond had asked Santos to keep a close eye on him.
As if summoned by his thoughts, there was a sharp knock at the door, causing Jack to jump. When Jack didn't answer right away, Daniel's voice could be clearly heard through the door.
"Jack? I know you're in there. Let me in!"
Jack sighed resignedly before pulling the door open, looking as nonchalant as he could manage.
"What's up, Daniel?"
Daniel treated Jack to a particular disbelieving glance that translated into 'don't BS me Jack, I'm not stupid.'
"What was that message from Melosha really about?" Daniel asked, settling himself down on Jack's chair and crossing his arms stubbornly.
Jack sighed and closed the door to his office once more. He sat down behind his desk and shrugged. "I don't know, Daniel, you're the cultural expert, why don't you tell me?"
Daniel leaned forward in his chair, refusing to rise to Jack's bait. "I think it was a message from Sam."
"I think that's a bit of a stretch," Jack replied.
"Is it?" Daniel countered.
When Jack made no move to answer, Daniel pushed to his feet and began pacing the small office. "Alright, Jack, that's it. You need to tell me what's really going on. Because I don't care what Sam might have said to you on that planet, you would have zatted her yourself and dragged her back here if you didn't have good reason to think she was safe."
"Daniel, just leave it alone," Jack warned, a little disconcerted, but not surprised, by how close Daniel was getting to the truth.
"Leave it alone? This is *Sam* we're talking about! And you obviously know more than you are letting on to Hammond."
"What I *know*, Daniel, is that before this is all done, the shit is seriously going to hit the fan. So do me a favor and stay the hell out of it," Jack snapped, angry that Daniel had managed to get him to admit more than he wanted.
Daniel collapsed back in his chair, all anger draining away from his face. "You let her go," he said in understanding.
Jack rubbed a tired hand over his face in defeat. "Yes," he admitted.
"Why?"
And that was really the crux of the issue. What had compelled Jack to risk Sam's life and his own career?
"Because she asked me to," Jack said.
Jack could see that the now silent Daniel was now running through a million scenarios, fitting all the pieces together like a giant jigsaw puzzle. Jack tried to ignore how reassuring that was.
"And now she probably needs help, which explains the message," Daniel concluded.
Jack shrugged. "She said she would leave updates with Melosha, to let me know she was okay."
"But Hammond has ordered you to detain her...," Daniel said.
Jack met Daniel's eyes across the room. "It doesn't matter."
But Daniel was pretty sure it did.
* * *
They were an hour's hike in from the gate the next morning when Jack decided it was time to make his excuses and double back. He stopped to tie his shoes, but the moment he decided to open his mouth, Daniel sighed dramatically.
"Don't be mad, Jack...," Daniel said somewhat nervously.
But since Jack hadn't heard Daniel use that particular tone in at least five years, he had a pretty good idea what the archaeologist was up to. "Daniel," he said warningly, not unaware that Captain Santos was watching the exchange avidly.
Daniel's face took on a charmingly sheepish expression and Jack had to wonder exactly when he had become so savvy at manipulation. "I'm sorry; I just don't know where my head is today. I can't believe I left my digital camera by the MALP."
Jack's face remained stonily impenetrable.
"I'll just run back to the gate and get it," he continued and Jack half expected him to trip over his own shoelaces just to make the hapless archaeologist image complete.
Santos stepped forward at this point. "I can run back with him, sir. It shouldn't take us too long."
Jack wanted to laugh when he realized that Santos was trying to deflect Jack's supposed anger at Daniel's forgetfulness.
"That will not be necessary, Captain Santos," Teal'c said. "I will accompany Daniel Jackson to the gate."
E tu, Teal'c?
Jack wasn't stupid. He was being shanghaied by his own team who thought they were somehow protecting him from breaking Hammond's direct orders. Neither of them were military, something they had taken advantage of over and over again. Jack hadn't wanted to involve them this time, but he should have known better.
"Well played, Dr. Jackson," Jack mumbled.
"What was that, sir?" Santos asked.
Jack shook his head. "Nothing." He pushed back to his feet and brushed off his pants. "Daniel and Teal'c will head back to the gate. Santos and I will scout the ridgeline. We meet back here in three hours. I want regular radio checks."
Daniel and Teal'c were gone before he even finished.
Santos stared after their retreating backs, a contemplative look to his face that made Jack nervous. "It seems very unlike Dr. Jackson to be so forgetful," Santos observed.
"He has his moments," Jack said.
Santos just raised one disbelieving eyebrow and said, "Huh."
"You got something to say, Captain?" Jack asked, putting on his best hard-ass face. The last thing they needed was someone getting curious.
But Santos just unflinchingly stared back at Jack for a long moment, before he said very clearly, "No, sir. I have absolutely nothing to say." Then he gave Jack a half smile and started up the hill.
And Jack was left to wonder why he always got saddled with young Captains that were entirely too smart for their own good.
* * *
By unspoken agreement, Daniel stepped through the wormhole, leaving Teal'c behind to watch the gate and answer any queries through the radio.
The landscape on the other side was just as Daniel remembered it, eerily dark and silent. He took a few uncertain steps down the path, not really sure what to expect. Then off to the left, Sam magically materialized out of the trees.
"Daniel," she said in greeting.
Daniel knew he was staring, but he couldn't help himself. She was actually there, standing just a few paces away. When he didn't acknowledge her, he saw her eyes dart past him towards the gate.
"I wouldn't let Jack come," Daniel finally said, mildly stung by the gesture. "Hammond's given orders to bring you in...by any means necessary."
Something flashed across Sam's face, but it was quickly hidden. "Not unexpected," she said.
Daniel took another cautious step towards her. "Have you really...been blended?"
Sam's head dropped and a moment later, Selmak was speaking. "Hello, Dr. Jackson."
"Selmak," Daniel acknowledged, more than a little disconcerted to hear that voice coming from Sam.
"It is most auspicious that you have come, we are in need of your help," Selmak said. Daniel got the strange feeling that she understood his discomfort in the face of Sam's distanced behavior.
"Anything you need," Daniel said.
Selmak nodded before her head dropped once more and he was speaking to Sam. "It's a long story, but we are trying to find the location of Egeria's Legacy. All we have to go on is a fragment of a memory from thousands of years ago. She said something, but neither of us understand the language."
Daniel nodded, tamping down on the millions of questions he wanted to ask. "Let's hear it."
"Is leor nod don eolach."
Daniel had Sam repeat the phrase a couple more times, scribbling down various spellings of the phrase. "Sounds...Gaelic," he observed.
Sam looked expectantly at him and Daniel shrugged apologetically. "Sorry, not one of my strongest languages. But it shouldn't be too difficult to figure out."
Sam nodded in understanding and pulled out a small sheet of paper. "There's also this."
The paper was covered in a rather rudimentary drawing of an oval pendant. Daniel felt a smile spread across his face. "Did you draw this?"
"Yes," Sam said archly.
"Maybe you should stick to stick figures, Sam," Daniel teased before he could stop himself.
For a moment, Daniel thought Sam was going to smile, but instead her face became very serious.
Daniel reached out one hand to her shoulder. "Sam?"
Sam stared at the hand on her arm for long moments. Just when Daniel was sure she was going to shrug him off, she turned to him bright eyes. "I've really missed you, Daniel," she said, so softly that he almost missed it.
It was easy to pull her into his arms. "Me too, Sam. Me too."
They stepped apart after long moments. Daniel gently touched Sam's face. "I'm just glad you're okay," he said.
Sam looked away, and when she met his eyes again, there was something indefinable in them. "I'm not yet," she said. "But I think I will be."
She turned her attention back to the drawing, her face blank once more, and Daniel finally understood that her distant attitude was simply her way of holding on. Of seeing this task through.
"So tell me about the drawing," Daniel said and Sam looked relieved to be getting back to the issue at hand.
"It was Egeria's. It's a silvery looking metal with a blue stone at the center. Somehow, I think it's the key to what we're looking for."
"It doesn't look familiar," Daniel said, "but if it was Egeria's it might have ended up on Pangar. I'm still going over the museum's catalogs, trying to figure out what the rebel Tok'ra wanted there."
"Of course," Sam exclaimed. "They must have been looking for artifacts associated with Egeria! We have to know if they got it."
Daniel nodded. "It shouldn't be too hard for me to set up a trip there. I've been going back and forth the last few weeks."
Sam's face became unreadable once more and she sighed. "I hate putting you in this position, Daniel. I don't want to get any of you in trouble."
"Don't be stupid, Sam," Daniel said. "We're a team, we always will be. And heck, I'm a civilian, what are they going to do? Fire the foremost expert on Goa'uld? I don't think so."
When Sam still looked uncertain, he took her hand. "I even promise to keep Jack from breaking too many rules. Though, no promises about Teal'c. You know how he gets."
At that, Sam did smile. "Thanks, Daniel." She handed him another slip of paper. "When you have any information, send it to this planet. It won't take long for someone to order Hammond to keep this spot under surveillance; it's probably smarter to mix it up."
Daniel nodded, knowing it was a good idea. "I'll get back to you as soon as I can."
Sam stood close to him as he dialed the gate back up to rejoin the rest of SG-1. "How's Santos doing?" she asked, seemingly out of the blue.
Daniel looked at her in surprise. "He's not you," he replied as the wormhole flushed into existence.
Sam smiled gently at the automatic response. "But he's doing well?" she pressed.
Daniel shrugged. "Yeah. He's sharp. And he doesn't let Jack bully him."
"Good," Sam said.
"Sam," Daniel said. "You *are* coming home." It was a statement more than a question, but Daniel was a little disconcerted by her query.
Sam smiled and squeezed Daniel's arm. "Wild horses, Daniel. Wild horses."
She stepped back away from the Stargate. "I'll see you soon, Daniel," she said.
Daniel nodded and headed up the steps reluctantly. "Take good care of her, Selmak."
Sam's eyes flashed briefly in response and then she was gone, Daniel tumbling through the event horizon.
* * *
The mission had uncovered some mildly interesting ruins that SG-1 recommended another short term research unit be assigned to. But other than that, the mission debrief went quickly.
"Thank you. SG-1, you are on downtime for two days."
"General," Daniel said, getting up and stopping Hammond. "I have almost completed my final analysis of the Pangar museum records. I just need one more trip to verify their inventory and I should be able to finish my final report. I thought maybe you'd let me go since we have some time between missions."
Hammond looked assessingly at Daniel for long moments before slowly nodding his assent. "Take the rest of SG-1 with you. Colonel, I'd like an update on how the repair effort is going. You can leave 0800 tomorrow morning."
With that, Hammond went into his office and Jack watched Daniel disappear down the hall. Twenty minutes later, Jack burst into Daniel's office, no longer able to wait to find out what had happened in the Land of Light. Unsurprisingly, Teal'c was already there.
Jack carefully closed the door behind him. "Okay, Daniel, spill."
Daniel looked up from a large tome, pointing to a blackboard behind him with strange words on it. "Sam asked me to translate this for her and she wants me to track down an artifact." He shoved the simple drawing towards Jack.
Jack suppressed a smile at the rough drawing. "So what do you have so far?"
"Well, I can't really do anything about the necklace until we get to Pangar, but this," Daniel said, pointing at the words on the blackboard, "is Gaelic."
Jack squinted at the indecipherable words. "And?"
"Well," Daniel said, pushing to his feet. "It's actually an old proverb. It simply means A hint is sufficient for the wise."
Jack huffed with annoyance. "Well that must mean I'm not all that wise, 'cause that doesn't mean anything to me."
"Perhaps it simply means that the memory Major Carter experienced should be enough to lead us to what we seek," Teal'c offered.
"Maybe," Daniel said. "Or it supports Sam's feeling that the necklace is somehow important, that maybe it will lead us to Egeria's Legacy."
The three men sat in silence for a while, each contemplating the meaning of the clues at hand.
Teal'c eventually pushed to his feet. "There is one thing we have not considered, no matter how unpleasant, but I feel it must be said before we proceed any further."
Daniel and Jack looked up in surprise, unused to Teal'c speaking at such length.
"What is it?" Jack asked.
"If this pendant does, in fact, lead us to Egeria's Legacy, it would be unwise to give it to Major Carter."
Daniel made a sound of protest and Jack's face went hard.
"No matter our intentions, by helping Major Carter, we could inadvertently be aiding the enemy. We cannot be responsible for putting such a weapon in their hands."
"It is Sam, Teal'c. I'm sure of it," Daniel said.
"There is no way to be completely sure," Teal'c countered. "We have all been fooled before."
Jack's chair scraping loudly against the floor brought both men's attention to him. His face was stonily unreadable.
"Let me know when you have something more, Daniel," he said before stalking from the room.
"I really hope you are wrong, Teal'c," Daniel said, staring after Jack's disappearing back. "For all of our sakes."
Teal'c nodded, his face solemn. "As do I."
* * *
The area around the gate on Pangar was still home to many tents and temporary housing. The rebuilding of the ravaged land would take many years to come. But for now, the SGC was still supplying the displaced with food, medical supplies and even a small contingent of SGC personnel.
Ovron met them at the gate, looking pleased to see them, but tired nonetheless. The Senior Minister of Agriculture had been unwillingly thrust into the role of leader as one of the few survivors of the original Pangaran government.
"Ovron," Jack said by way of greeting as the older man bowed low before them.
"Colonel O'Neill, it is a pleasure," the minister replied in kind.
"We've just come by to check up on you, see how you're doing," Jack explained. "And Daniel here is almost done reviewing your museum inventory, if you would allow him access to your archives once more."
"Of course," Ovron replied. He waved over a young woman. "Bekka can escort you into the city."
Jack nodded for Teal'c to go with Daniel and the guide. "Keep me appraised," Jack called after them. He turned to Ovron and smiled. "Well, Captain Santos and I would be happy to have a tour, and you can fill us in on anything you might need."
Ovron smiled gratefully and led them away from the gate.
* * *
The path to the museum wound its way through the burned, lifeless city. Their guide Bekka informed Daniel and Teal'c that most people had left the city, choosing rather to live in the outskirts in large refugee camps. Daniel didn't blame them. The city had a spooky quality to it, what had once been gleaming buildings and bustling tram systems now lay in ruins.
When they finally reached the museum, one of the few buildings left relatively untouched, Daniel was surprised to see the door heavily guarded by what looked like soldiers. Dr. Leemar, whom Daniel had worked with in the past, was there to meet them at the door.
"Dr. Jackson," he greeted.
Daniel shook the man's hand. "I don't remember security being so tight last time I was here," Daniel remarked conversationally as they made their way down the long hallway.
Dr. Leemar nodded. "Yes, you remember correctly. There was never the need until recently. Our people are far too busy scraping enough together to survive, so looting had not been something we were prepared for."
"Did something happen?"
"A few days ago the museum was broken into. We have since put more security in place."
Daniel and Teal'c exchanged a glance. "Were many things taken?" Daniel asked.
"No. That is the strangest part. Only one thing was taken that we can tell. And as far as we knew, it was of very little monetary value." Dr. Leemar shrugged. "But people do strange things in trying times."
"May I ask what the object was?" Daniel asked, his feeling of trepidation intensifying.
"Of course," Dr. Leemar said. "It was small necklace with a blue stone. We had just finished cataloging it, or we likely would have never even noticed its absence."
Daniel felt his stomach drop. They were too late. More than likely Keren had been on this planet just a few days ahead of them. Daniel felt himself looking over his shoulder. For all they knew, he was still here.
"When you cataloged the necklace, did you by chance create any reproductions of the object?" Teal'c asked.
Daniel looked at Dr. Leemar expectantly.
"Yes, of course. We used the equipment you lent to us, Dr. Jackson."
"May we see it?" Daniel asked, a bit more intensely than he intended.
Dr. Leemar nodded, throwing Daniel a strange look.
Twenty minutes later Daniel was tucked away in the archives with a file of color photographs. The necklace was roughly how Sam had described it, silver in color with a rather dull blue stone at its heart. What Sam's drawing had lacked, however, were the details. The pendant had more writing engraved around the stone.
"It's more Gaelic," Daniel noted to Teal'c. "Is leor don dreoilín a nead."
He pulled various texts out of his backpack and spread them around the table, flipping back and forth between pages. "I think it's another proverb," Daniel mumbled to no one in particular.
"Here it is!" Daniel exclaimed, pointing to his book. "Is leor don dreoilín a nead literally means 'The nest is enough for a wren.'"
Teal'c looked unimpressed. "What do birds have to do with Egeria?" he questioned.
Daniel shook his head. "No...it's a proverb. Kind of similar to one common in America: Home is where the heart is."
"Does this mean that Egeria's Legacy can be found at her residence?"
Daniel shrugged. "Does a Goa'uld Queen have a home?"
"It could refer to P3X-888 where the Goa'uld evolved," Teal'c suggested.
"I don't know," Daniel said. "Somehow that doesn't seem right. I mean, first of all, why is all this in Gaelic? Why not Goa'uld?"
"Perhaps it does not refer to Egeria's home."
Daniel flipped absently through his books. "You could be right. Maybe this is the language of Egeria's host. Egeria was the first Tok'ra, after all, she would have blended equally with her host. And so it is in Gaelic. And Egeria's Legacy could be on the host's planet."
Daniel looked back at the image and all of his excitement slowly drained away. "Of course, we have no way of knowing where that might be."
"What about this, DanielJackson?" Teal'c asked, placing a color photograph in front of Daniel.
It was a picture of the back of the pendant. Minuscule letters spiraled clockwise from the top towards the center. Daniel grabbed a magnifying glass. "Numbers," Daniel mumbled. "These are numbers."
"A Stargate address?" Teal'c asked.
Daniel shook his head. "I have no idea." He pointed at the picture. "This reads 17, 4, 28, 33, 9, 21."
"That seems to be a great deal of writing for so few numbers," Teal'c observed.
"Yeah...well the Gaelic numbering system is a bit complex. Instead of 33, they say (3 + 10) on 20. Tri deug air fhichead."
Daniel carefully wrote out the Gaelic words, their numerical value and their expanded values.
"There are six numbers, which would seem to correspond to a gate address," Teal'c intoned.
"Probably. Though figuring out how they correspond to actual symbols on the gate could take a while. I'm sure Sam will be able to work it out."
Teal'c made a noncommittal sound in his throat.
"Look, Teal'c," Daniel said. "I have to actually do some of the work I came here to do or Hammond will get even more suspicious. Keren was here only a matter of days ago, which means that he is that many steps ahead of us. It doesn't matter anymore if Sam is who she says she is, because we know for a fact that Keren is a threat. And like it or not, Sam and Selmak are probably the only hope we have to stop him from getting his hands on that weapon."
Teal'c was quiet for a moment before nodding solemnly. "I believe you are right, Daniel Jackson. We must get this information to her as soon as possible."
Daniel smiled gratefully and started writing a long letter to Sam.
* * *
The Stargate was a hub of activity and Teal'c knew he had little chance of using it unnoticed. But he also knew that his chances on Pangar were greater than if he returned to Earth. And as DanielJackson would say, time was of the essence.
There was no sign of O'Neill or Santos near the gate, just a small group of Pangaran sentinels.
"I wish to report in to my superiors," Teal'c said to the nearest soldier. The Pangaran nodded, more than a little intimidated by the large man who had once served the great gods.
Teal'c smiled at the man in an attempt to make him feel more at ease, but judging from the way his skin paled, he probably didn't quite achieve the effect he was going for. Teal'c shrugged and turned his attention to the DHD. He carefully dialed the address Daniel had provided him and watched the gate whoosh into life.
Just as he was approaching the event horizon, O'Neill and Santos appeared around the corner, in open view of the gate.
Teal'c barely had time to register the beat of resignation on O'Neill's face as he glanced at Santos before Teal'c flipped the carefully sealed packet of photographs, transcriptions and notes into the wormhole.
Teal'c slowly approached O'Neill, his eyes carefully watching Santos, who was now staring avidly at the nearest pillar.
"Huh...," the captain said. "I wonder if this is granite."
Jack raised a disbelieving eyebrow at the young man. "Santos?"
Santos jumped almost comically. "I'm sorry, sir. Were you saying something? I seem to have let my mind completely wander. Just such *fascinating* architecture."
Jack looked at Teal'c and shrugged. Apparently Santos was one less thing they needed to worry about.
Behind them, the wormhole shut off with a firm sense of finality.
They'd done their part. Now it was all up to Sam.
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