Stargate SG1: What Dreams May Come (1/21)
All disclaimers, notes, warnings and summary are in the Master post: What Dreams May Come
Chapter One
"Daniel?"
The end of his search, and yet only the beginning. He'd found the way to save her; all he had to do was find her. He needed only to bring her to this place. She would be with him again. This time, forever would last for an eternity.
But his only hope of saving her had been destroyed as suddenly as it had been discovered. The most painful blow was the knowledge that the destruction had been done by his own hand.
"Daniel!"
The secrets of the universe swirled above his head-the undeniable truth of their existence. Four great races communicating with each other on a level that, while so elegantly simple, was so far beyond his comprehension. Spinning and dipping, they taunted and teased him. They filled his mind and would have stolen his life, but his sacrifice would have brought understanding. A universe of mystery waited to be deciphered, willing to reveal itself only to him. He had only to stay, to watch ... and he would learn.
But he had turned his back and walked away. Their legacy crumbled into oblivion and took his hope with it.
"Earth to Dr. Jackson? Come in, Dr. Jackson."
Centuries of pain, uncertainty and fear, tempered by love, came crashing down with one word of truth. After thousands of years spent searching for answers, the one that was received was the only one that hadn't been wanted. The love of his life, his only reason for living, would never return to him.
But what if she did?
He could have taken her to the Hammer and driven the demon from her eyes, but he had destroyed it. He could have studied the writings at Heliopolis and learned from them how to save her, but he had walked away and let them fall into the ocean.
"Daniel! For crying out loud, open this door!"
He couldn't seem to get his thoughts in order anymore. Where did he end and Nem begin? Where did Earth and Oannes diverge? Were Sha're and Omaroca bound to the same fate? What had become of Belos?
Glowing eyes danced before him, eyes that stared back at him from his own face. A darkness hovered above the body that he had once called his own, and he watched in horror as the hand-his hand-reached out for them, his friends, his family. He saw the lightning flash from his own fingertips. He heard them cry out and watched them fall, one by one. There was nothing he could do to save them, nothing he could do to stop it.
His body moved and breathed, though he was no longer in it. He watched the scene through his own eyes, but not from behind them.
He'd killed them!
What was happening to him? Why was he seeing these images of Jack, Sam and Teal'c lying dead at his feet? What had Nem done to his mind?
As his confusion grew he heard a pounding, a beating as if of his own heart. But it was too loud, too slow, and out of sync with the pounding he felt in his head. His mind swam, then filled, then exploded with pain.
"Oh, God!"
Jack and Teal'c stood in the corridor outside Daniel's quarters. They exchanged anxious glances when they heard the anguished cry. Jack stepped aside quickly and gestured for Teal'c to step forward. Teal'c lifted one foot and kicked; the door broke free of its lock and swung open. Jack was through it and on his way to Daniel's side before Teal'c's foot touched the floor again.
Daniel was sleeping-that much was immediately obvious. He was lying on a metal-framed bed, wearing a pair of fatigue pants and a black T-shirt, tossing his head back and forth. The muscles in his arms were taut, his legs flexed and straightened quickly, and his movements made it appear as though he was pulling against restraints that were holding him to the bed, but there was nothing there.
Jack crossed the room in seconds and knelt on the floor beside the bed. Teal'c followed close behind him but remained standing.
"Daniel!"
"I can't!" Daniel shook his head vigorously, his voice shaky and filled with pain. "I can't! God, it hurts!"
"Daniel, wake up!"
A strangled cry of, "I killed them!" was Daniel's only response.
Jack grasped Daniel's forearms and shook him. "Daniel!"
Daniel's eyes snapped open, wide and glassy with fear, and he gasped in a deep, quivering breath. Sweat matted his hair to his forehead and beaded on his upper lip. He closed his eyes, and shook his head slightly. When he opened his eyes again, the panic of his sudden awakening had been replaced by confusion.
"Hey, Jack. Teal'c." The soft words of greeting sounded groggy to Jack's ears. "Um ... what's going on?"
Jack glanced up at Teal'c. "Actually, I was just about to ask you that."
"Huh?" Daniel's confusion was obviously growing, and he looked back and forth between Jack and Teal'c. "What do you mean? I was sleeping."
"Your sleep was greatly disturbed, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c said. "O'Neill and I heard you from the corridor. You were shouting as if in great pain."
Daniel lowered his eyebrows and frowned. "I wasn't shouting."
"Indeed you were," Teal'c protested.
Daniel opened his mouth to argue further, but Jack spoke first.
"A nightmare, Daniel," he explained with the hint of a grin. "You were having a nightmare."
"Oh." Daniel creased his forehead slightly in concentration. After a few seconds of silence, he closed his eyes and sighed. "Oh," he said again, his voice heavy with understanding.
Jack shifted his position on the floor to relieve the pressure on his knees and leaned forward. "You remember what it was about?" he asked.
"Yeah."
Jack glanced up at Teal'c once more before asking, "You wanna talk about it?"
Daniel opened his eyes and shook his head slightly. "Not really, no."
"Are you in pain, Daniel Jackson?"
Daniel blinked again. "Um ... no. Not really. Just a headache. And ... um ..."
"And what?" Jack asked. He knew about the headache that had plagued Daniel since his return from Oannes. That Daniel not only didn't deny it but had actually accepted a prescription from Fraiser to combat it bothered him.
He remembered all-too-well the conversation he and Daniel had had two days earlier. Jack had asked why Nem was initially unwilling to submit Daniel to the memory device, and Daniel had shrugged and answered him very softly, "He said, ‘It could damage.' "
"And what, Daniel?" Jack asked again. He felt his initial concern for Daniel's welfare escalating as worries about brain damage began to solidify in his mind, and he tightened his grip on Daniel's arms. "Is it worse than before? Do you know where you are? Do you remember your name?"
"What?" Daniel's eyebrows disappeared under his hair and he looked at Jack as though he had suddenly sprouted a second nose. "What are you talking about? Of course I know my name."
"So what is it?" Jack demanded.
"Daniel Jackson," Daniel answered with a hint of irritation. His forehead creased and his eyes narrowed in concern as he studied Jack's face. "Jack, are you okay?"
"I'm fine, Daniel," Jack answered quickly. "The question is-how are you?"
"Um ..." Daniel turned his head slightly and looked up at Teal'c for an explanation of Jack's behavior. Teal'c didn't seem to have one to give him. Daniel turned back to Jack and said, very slowly, "I'm fine."
"Where are you?" Jack asked. He tightened his grip even more. "Do you remember how you got here?"
Daniel sighed in frustration and shook his head. "I'm in my lockdown quarters at the SGC. I'm on my bunk. I spent the morning studying the MALP images from P2A-759, typed up my report for General Hammond, and ate lunch. I didn't have anything else to do, and my head hurt, so I thought I'd catch a quick nap." He looked directly into Jack's eyes and his mouth twitched as he said, "It was quiet then."
"So what's the problem?" Jack asked. "What else is wrong?"
"Actually, Jack, my um, ..." Daniel cleared his throat and continued almost reluctantly. "My arms hurt ..."
Jack realized that Daniel had been squirming slightly throughout the entire conversation, almost as though he were trying to pull away. Jack's concern raised another notch and he tightened his grasp again.
"Why?"
"Because you're squeezing them too hard," Daniel replied through clenched teeth.
"Oh!" Jack released his grip immediately. He leaned away from the bunk and flashed a quick, guilty smile. "Sorry ‘bout that."
"Are you well now, Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c asked with a slightly bemused expression on his face.
Daniel looked up at Teal'c and smiled. "I'm fine, Teal'c. Now that my arms aren't being ripped off ..."
"Hey!" Jack protested. He raised his eyebrows, looked across at Daniel and subtly inspected him for any more signs of pain. Daniel's bright eyes and friendly smile put his mind at ease, and he teased back. "Ya know, I just might do that one of these days. Rip ‘em off and beat you upside the head with ‘em."
Daniel laughed lightly as he pushed himself into a sitting position on the bed.
"I do not understand the point of such an action, O'Neill. Would it not cause great harm to Daniel Jackson to do such a thing?"
Jack turned his head slowly and looked up at Teal'c. He raised his eyebrows in question, but Teal'c's face betrayed nothing. As usual, Jack was unable to tell whether or not Teal'c was joking. He shook his head slowly and turned back to Daniel. Daniel laughed again and leaned against the concrete wall the bed was pushed up against.
Jack smiled. "It might knock some sense into him, Teal'c," he said. He pushed himself to his feet without taking his eyes from Daniel's face. "Keep him from volunteering to have his brains scrambled in the future." He tipped his head and raised his eyebrows once more, making it clear with his expression that under no circumstances was Daniel to ever put them through that again.
Daniel shook his head and lowered his eyes to stare at his hands. He picked at the hem of his T-shirt absently. "Don't worry, Jack," he said. "I'm not planning to do it again."
"Well good!" Jack declared. He flopped heavily on the bunk next to his now-upright friend. "I like your brain just fine the way it is-scattered and all." Jack playfully smacked Daniel in the back of the head.
"Ow!" Daniel put a hand to the back of his head and shot Jack an irritated glare.
Jack leaned forward as the concern he'd felt earlier returned. "What?"
"Headache, Jack. Remember?"
Jack closed his eyes and let his head fall back, upset at his own forgetfulness. "Right! Sorry again."
Daniel looked back and forth between the two men. He tucked his hair behind his ears and picked his glasses up from the table at the foot of the bed. As he settled them into place on his face, he creased his eyebrows in confusion. "Hey, guys?"
"Yeah?"
"Why were you outside my room in the first place?"
Jack smiled up at Teal'c, whose eyes betrayed a possible hint of amusement. "You're late for the briefing, Daniel. Hammond and Carter are waiting for us. We came down to get you."
"Briefing?" Daniel looked at the ceiling as though the answer to his question was written there. "The briefing!"
Jack chuckled as Daniel launched himself from the bunk, grabbed an armful of not-quite-organized papers from a small table, and ran for the door. Jack pushed himself up more slowly and, he imagined, in a much more dignified manner.
"Would beating Daniel Jackson with his own arms unscatter his brain, O'Neill?"
Jack laughed and slapped Teal'c on the arm. "Probably not. I don't think there's enough alien technology in this galaxy to do that."
As they exited the room and Jack closed the door behind them, a disheveled head of long brown hair popped around the corner of the hallway. "Are you guys coming or not? We're late!"
"P2A-759," Daniel was saying as he rifled through the assortment of papers on the table in front of him. "Sa ... Captain Carter and I both feel that this will be an excellent next assignment for SG-1, General."
"What do you feel is of value on this world, Dr. Jackson?" General Hammond had already read all of the pertinent information the archeologist and the astrophysicist had gathered. His own pile of documentation was even larger, though much neater, than Daniel's. He asked the question more for the benefit of the briefing log, and for certain members of SG-1 who weren't inclined to be quite so informed on scientific details.
"The MALP readings are like none I've ever seen, sir," Sam Carter answered. She folded her hands on the table and leaned forward. "The area that it surveyed shows an unbelievable number of energy readings."
"What kind of energy, Captain?"
"Some electrical, some low-level radiation-nothing dangerous. But there's a third form of energy, sir, and that's the interesting one. From what we can tell, it's not giving off any recognizable signature, but the MALP couldn't really get a clear reading on it. Every time the MALP approached it, the energy seemed to dissipate. And then it would reform in another location."
"So it was playing hide and seek?" Jack's voice clearly indicated his skepticism.
Carter smiled and nodded. "That's how it looked, sir."
"So what are we talking about then? Smart energy?"
Carter nodded again and her smile faded slightly. "It's possible. It definitely seemed to be moving with purpose."
"Dr. Jackson." Hammond's voice called SG-1's attention back to him. "You feel there is a cultural interest to be served here as well?"
"Yes, General." Daniel rooted through his papers again. After a brief search, he pulled out the digital images that the MALP had returned-computer enhanced and liberally scribbled on in his own handwriting. "There's a temple about a mile from the gate. Between the gate and that temple, but much closer to the gate, are two black obelisks. Now, the MALP didn't get close enough to show much detail, but what I can see ..." Daniel's voice faded out as he focused his attention on the images.
"Uh, Daniel?" Jack asked. "What can you see?"
"Oh! Sorry." Daniel looked up and smiled quickly. "Hieroglyphs. There are hieroglyphs on them. Or at least, on one of them. And these aren't like any glyphs we've encountered off-world yet, sir, with the exception of Abydos. These are actual Egyptian hieroglyphs-the language doesn't seem to have evolved at all by the time these inscriptions were made."
"Implying what, Dr. Jackson?" Hammond asked.
"Implying that the civilization that lived here may have been direct descendants of those that were originally taken there from Earth. Possibly even the original people themselves. But there's more than that."
"Of course there is," Jack said.
Daniel turned one of the images around so the other four people at the table could see it. "The other pillar has markings on it too. And these ..." Daniel tapped the picture with his fingers. "These seem to be the writing of one of the races from Heliopolis, Ernest's planet."
Jack's eyes widened. "So they're not the good guys, after all?"
"No, I think they are the good guys. The writing on the other pillar isn't Goa'uld. It's Egyptian." Daniel spun the picture back around and looked down at it intently. "I think that maybe this race, whoever they are, transported these people themselves."
"To what end?" Teal'c asked. "The Goa'uld took humans from this planet to use as their slaves. For what purpose would a benevolent race do the same?"
Daniel shook his head. "I'm not quite sure yet. Maybe to protect them from the Goa'uld? Maybe these people were somehow different from the rest of us. Maybe there was something about them that made it important that the Goa'uld never find them. Or maybe they just wanted to help humanity spread, to make sure we survived, no matter what happened on Earth."
Hammond paused for a moment, as if considering the implications of what he had just been told. "Can you make out what the inscriptions say, Dr. Jackson?"
Daniel shook his head. "Not completely, sir, no. I can identify a few specific symbols, but as for putting them in context, I'll have to see the obelisk up close."
"Captain Carter, does the MALP show any signs of life or current inhabitation?"
"None, sir. It seems to be completely deserted."
"That's that, then," Hammond declared. He gathered his papers as he stood. "SG-1, you have a go for P2A-759. You leave at 1030 hours tomorrow."
Jack stood up as Carter and Daniel gathered their reports and images. "So ... energy readings for Carter to play games with and a nice, musty temple for Daniel to crawl around in." Jack pretended to ignore the irritated glares his teammates directed at him. "What are Teal'c and I supposed to do for the next three days?"
"Go sightseeing?" Daniel suggested.
"There are a lot of trees, Colonel," Sam said. "Maybe you could take up alien bird watching?"
"Perhaps, O'Neill," Teal'c said, "we should stand guard over Captain Carter and Daniel Jackson, should they run into unexpected complications."
"On an uninhabited planet?" Daniel asked.
"In the past, more than one uninhabited planet has proven to be quite ... inhabited."
Carter shrugged her shoulders; Daniel looked back at Teal'c. Jack simply sighed.
"No, Teal'c, I think Daniel's probably right on this one." As the four made their way out of the Briefing Room and into the hallway, Jack made an over-exaggerated show of covering a yawn. "Prepare for three days in Carter and Daniel heaven."
At Teal'c's expression of confusion, Jack clarified, "Dirt, scribbles, and gadgets, Teal'c. Dirt, scribbles, and gadgets."
Aynad stood in the corridor as SG-1 walked past, though they could not see or hear either him or his companion.
"And so they return," he said.
"No," the man at his side replied. "They're going. They haven't been there yet."
Aynad turned his head and studied the blue eyes that looked back at him. "You delivered your warning?"
The other nodded. "He didn't understand it, though, just like I didn't. I waited too long; I should have started sooner. I knew when Jack was coming. He woke him - me - up before I had a chance to finish."
Aynad sighed slowly. "It begins again."
"No," the other answered, as he shook his head in defiance. "It's not going to happen. Not this time."
"It has happened many times," Aynad observed. "I fear that we will be as unsuccessful in our attempt as we have been in the past."
"I wasn't here then," the other said.
"In fact, you were. You have been with me for every attempt that has been made."
"But things are different every time, aren't they? I didn't have the message above the door. I only saw the eyes in my dream. I didn't have as many clues as we're leaving him."
"And the one that preceded you had more than this, and yet he still fell to the demon god."
"He's not a god," the other returned with anger in his voice. "He's not even a demon. He's a snake without a body, and he's walking around in mine."
"And so he will be again," Aynad said sadly.
"We'll stop him, Aynad," the other said as he turned away. "I'm not watching them die again."
Chapter One
"Daniel?"
The end of his search, and yet only the beginning. He'd found the way to save her; all he had to do was find her. He needed only to bring her to this place. She would be with him again. This time, forever would last for an eternity.
But his only hope of saving her had been destroyed as suddenly as it had been discovered. The most painful blow was the knowledge that the destruction had been done by his own hand.
"Daniel!"
The secrets of the universe swirled above his head-the undeniable truth of their existence. Four great races communicating with each other on a level that, while so elegantly simple, was so far beyond his comprehension. Spinning and dipping, they taunted and teased him. They filled his mind and would have stolen his life, but his sacrifice would have brought understanding. A universe of mystery waited to be deciphered, willing to reveal itself only to him. He had only to stay, to watch ... and he would learn.
But he had turned his back and walked away. Their legacy crumbled into oblivion and took his hope with it.
"Earth to Dr. Jackson? Come in, Dr. Jackson."
Centuries of pain, uncertainty and fear, tempered by love, came crashing down with one word of truth. After thousands of years spent searching for answers, the one that was received was the only one that hadn't been wanted. The love of his life, his only reason for living, would never return to him.
But what if she did?
He could have taken her to the Hammer and driven the demon from her eyes, but he had destroyed it. He could have studied the writings at Heliopolis and learned from them how to save her, but he had walked away and let them fall into the ocean.
"Daniel! For crying out loud, open this door!"
He couldn't seem to get his thoughts in order anymore. Where did he end and Nem begin? Where did Earth and Oannes diverge? Were Sha're and Omaroca bound to the same fate? What had become of Belos?
Glowing eyes danced before him, eyes that stared back at him from his own face. A darkness hovered above the body that he had once called his own, and he watched in horror as the hand-his hand-reached out for them, his friends, his family. He saw the lightning flash from his own fingertips. He heard them cry out and watched them fall, one by one. There was nothing he could do to save them, nothing he could do to stop it.
His body moved and breathed, though he was no longer in it. He watched the scene through his own eyes, but not from behind them.
He'd killed them!
What was happening to him? Why was he seeing these images of Jack, Sam and Teal'c lying dead at his feet? What had Nem done to his mind?
As his confusion grew he heard a pounding, a beating as if of his own heart. But it was too loud, too slow, and out of sync with the pounding he felt in his head. His mind swam, then filled, then exploded with pain.
"Oh, God!"
Jack and Teal'c stood in the corridor outside Daniel's quarters. They exchanged anxious glances when they heard the anguished cry. Jack stepped aside quickly and gestured for Teal'c to step forward. Teal'c lifted one foot and kicked; the door broke free of its lock and swung open. Jack was through it and on his way to Daniel's side before Teal'c's foot touched the floor again.
Daniel was sleeping-that much was immediately obvious. He was lying on a metal-framed bed, wearing a pair of fatigue pants and a black T-shirt, tossing his head back and forth. The muscles in his arms were taut, his legs flexed and straightened quickly, and his movements made it appear as though he was pulling against restraints that were holding him to the bed, but there was nothing there.
Jack crossed the room in seconds and knelt on the floor beside the bed. Teal'c followed close behind him but remained standing.
"Daniel!"
"I can't!" Daniel shook his head vigorously, his voice shaky and filled with pain. "I can't! God, it hurts!"
"Daniel, wake up!"
A strangled cry of, "I killed them!" was Daniel's only response.
Jack grasped Daniel's forearms and shook him. "Daniel!"
Daniel's eyes snapped open, wide and glassy with fear, and he gasped in a deep, quivering breath. Sweat matted his hair to his forehead and beaded on his upper lip. He closed his eyes, and shook his head slightly. When he opened his eyes again, the panic of his sudden awakening had been replaced by confusion.
"Hey, Jack. Teal'c." The soft words of greeting sounded groggy to Jack's ears. "Um ... what's going on?"
Jack glanced up at Teal'c. "Actually, I was just about to ask you that."
"Huh?" Daniel's confusion was obviously growing, and he looked back and forth between Jack and Teal'c. "What do you mean? I was sleeping."
"Your sleep was greatly disturbed, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c said. "O'Neill and I heard you from the corridor. You were shouting as if in great pain."
Daniel lowered his eyebrows and frowned. "I wasn't shouting."
"Indeed you were," Teal'c protested.
Daniel opened his mouth to argue further, but Jack spoke first.
"A nightmare, Daniel," he explained with the hint of a grin. "You were having a nightmare."
"Oh." Daniel creased his forehead slightly in concentration. After a few seconds of silence, he closed his eyes and sighed. "Oh," he said again, his voice heavy with understanding.
Jack shifted his position on the floor to relieve the pressure on his knees and leaned forward. "You remember what it was about?" he asked.
"Yeah."
Jack glanced up at Teal'c once more before asking, "You wanna talk about it?"
Daniel opened his eyes and shook his head slightly. "Not really, no."
"Are you in pain, Daniel Jackson?"
Daniel blinked again. "Um ... no. Not really. Just a headache. And ... um ..."
"And what?" Jack asked. He knew about the headache that had plagued Daniel since his return from Oannes. That Daniel not only didn't deny it but had actually accepted a prescription from Fraiser to combat it bothered him.
He remembered all-too-well the conversation he and Daniel had had two days earlier. Jack had asked why Nem was initially unwilling to submit Daniel to the memory device, and Daniel had shrugged and answered him very softly, "He said, ‘It could damage.' "
"And what, Daniel?" Jack asked again. He felt his initial concern for Daniel's welfare escalating as worries about brain damage began to solidify in his mind, and he tightened his grip on Daniel's arms. "Is it worse than before? Do you know where you are? Do you remember your name?"
"What?" Daniel's eyebrows disappeared under his hair and he looked at Jack as though he had suddenly sprouted a second nose. "What are you talking about? Of course I know my name."
"So what is it?" Jack demanded.
"Daniel Jackson," Daniel answered with a hint of irritation. His forehead creased and his eyes narrowed in concern as he studied Jack's face. "Jack, are you okay?"
"I'm fine, Daniel," Jack answered quickly. "The question is-how are you?"
"Um ..." Daniel turned his head slightly and looked up at Teal'c for an explanation of Jack's behavior. Teal'c didn't seem to have one to give him. Daniel turned back to Jack and said, very slowly, "I'm fine."
"Where are you?" Jack asked. He tightened his grip even more. "Do you remember how you got here?"
Daniel sighed in frustration and shook his head. "I'm in my lockdown quarters at the SGC. I'm on my bunk. I spent the morning studying the MALP images from P2A-759, typed up my report for General Hammond, and ate lunch. I didn't have anything else to do, and my head hurt, so I thought I'd catch a quick nap." He looked directly into Jack's eyes and his mouth twitched as he said, "It was quiet then."
"So what's the problem?" Jack asked. "What else is wrong?"
"Actually, Jack, my um, ..." Daniel cleared his throat and continued almost reluctantly. "My arms hurt ..."
Jack realized that Daniel had been squirming slightly throughout the entire conversation, almost as though he were trying to pull away. Jack's concern raised another notch and he tightened his grasp again.
"Why?"
"Because you're squeezing them too hard," Daniel replied through clenched teeth.
"Oh!" Jack released his grip immediately. He leaned away from the bunk and flashed a quick, guilty smile. "Sorry ‘bout that."
"Are you well now, Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c asked with a slightly bemused expression on his face.
Daniel looked up at Teal'c and smiled. "I'm fine, Teal'c. Now that my arms aren't being ripped off ..."
"Hey!" Jack protested. He raised his eyebrows, looked across at Daniel and subtly inspected him for any more signs of pain. Daniel's bright eyes and friendly smile put his mind at ease, and he teased back. "Ya know, I just might do that one of these days. Rip ‘em off and beat you upside the head with ‘em."
Daniel laughed lightly as he pushed himself into a sitting position on the bed.
"I do not understand the point of such an action, O'Neill. Would it not cause great harm to Daniel Jackson to do such a thing?"
Jack turned his head slowly and looked up at Teal'c. He raised his eyebrows in question, but Teal'c's face betrayed nothing. As usual, Jack was unable to tell whether or not Teal'c was joking. He shook his head slowly and turned back to Daniel. Daniel laughed again and leaned against the concrete wall the bed was pushed up against.
Jack smiled. "It might knock some sense into him, Teal'c," he said. He pushed himself to his feet without taking his eyes from Daniel's face. "Keep him from volunteering to have his brains scrambled in the future." He tipped his head and raised his eyebrows once more, making it clear with his expression that under no circumstances was Daniel to ever put them through that again.
Daniel shook his head and lowered his eyes to stare at his hands. He picked at the hem of his T-shirt absently. "Don't worry, Jack," he said. "I'm not planning to do it again."
"Well good!" Jack declared. He flopped heavily on the bunk next to his now-upright friend. "I like your brain just fine the way it is-scattered and all." Jack playfully smacked Daniel in the back of the head.
"Ow!" Daniel put a hand to the back of his head and shot Jack an irritated glare.
Jack leaned forward as the concern he'd felt earlier returned. "What?"
"Headache, Jack. Remember?"
Jack closed his eyes and let his head fall back, upset at his own forgetfulness. "Right! Sorry again."
Daniel looked back and forth between the two men. He tucked his hair behind his ears and picked his glasses up from the table at the foot of the bed. As he settled them into place on his face, he creased his eyebrows in confusion. "Hey, guys?"
"Yeah?"
"Why were you outside my room in the first place?"
Jack smiled up at Teal'c, whose eyes betrayed a possible hint of amusement. "You're late for the briefing, Daniel. Hammond and Carter are waiting for us. We came down to get you."
"Briefing?" Daniel looked at the ceiling as though the answer to his question was written there. "The briefing!"
Jack chuckled as Daniel launched himself from the bunk, grabbed an armful of not-quite-organized papers from a small table, and ran for the door. Jack pushed himself up more slowly and, he imagined, in a much more dignified manner.
"Would beating Daniel Jackson with his own arms unscatter his brain, O'Neill?"
Jack laughed and slapped Teal'c on the arm. "Probably not. I don't think there's enough alien technology in this galaxy to do that."
As they exited the room and Jack closed the door behind them, a disheveled head of long brown hair popped around the corner of the hallway. "Are you guys coming or not? We're late!"
"P2A-759," Daniel was saying as he rifled through the assortment of papers on the table in front of him. "Sa ... Captain Carter and I both feel that this will be an excellent next assignment for SG-1, General."
"What do you feel is of value on this world, Dr. Jackson?" General Hammond had already read all of the pertinent information the archeologist and the astrophysicist had gathered. His own pile of documentation was even larger, though much neater, than Daniel's. He asked the question more for the benefit of the briefing log, and for certain members of SG-1 who weren't inclined to be quite so informed on scientific details.
"The MALP readings are like none I've ever seen, sir," Sam Carter answered. She folded her hands on the table and leaned forward. "The area that it surveyed shows an unbelievable number of energy readings."
"What kind of energy, Captain?"
"Some electrical, some low-level radiation-nothing dangerous. But there's a third form of energy, sir, and that's the interesting one. From what we can tell, it's not giving off any recognizable signature, but the MALP couldn't really get a clear reading on it. Every time the MALP approached it, the energy seemed to dissipate. And then it would reform in another location."
"So it was playing hide and seek?" Jack's voice clearly indicated his skepticism.
Carter smiled and nodded. "That's how it looked, sir."
"So what are we talking about then? Smart energy?"
Carter nodded again and her smile faded slightly. "It's possible. It definitely seemed to be moving with purpose."
"Dr. Jackson." Hammond's voice called SG-1's attention back to him. "You feel there is a cultural interest to be served here as well?"
"Yes, General." Daniel rooted through his papers again. After a brief search, he pulled out the digital images that the MALP had returned-computer enhanced and liberally scribbled on in his own handwriting. "There's a temple about a mile from the gate. Between the gate and that temple, but much closer to the gate, are two black obelisks. Now, the MALP didn't get close enough to show much detail, but what I can see ..." Daniel's voice faded out as he focused his attention on the images.
"Uh, Daniel?" Jack asked. "What can you see?"
"Oh! Sorry." Daniel looked up and smiled quickly. "Hieroglyphs. There are hieroglyphs on them. Or at least, on one of them. And these aren't like any glyphs we've encountered off-world yet, sir, with the exception of Abydos. These are actual Egyptian hieroglyphs-the language doesn't seem to have evolved at all by the time these inscriptions were made."
"Implying what, Dr. Jackson?" Hammond asked.
"Implying that the civilization that lived here may have been direct descendants of those that were originally taken there from Earth. Possibly even the original people themselves. But there's more than that."
"Of course there is," Jack said.
Daniel turned one of the images around so the other four people at the table could see it. "The other pillar has markings on it too. And these ..." Daniel tapped the picture with his fingers. "These seem to be the writing of one of the races from Heliopolis, Ernest's planet."
Jack's eyes widened. "So they're not the good guys, after all?"
"No, I think they are the good guys. The writing on the other pillar isn't Goa'uld. It's Egyptian." Daniel spun the picture back around and looked down at it intently. "I think that maybe this race, whoever they are, transported these people themselves."
"To what end?" Teal'c asked. "The Goa'uld took humans from this planet to use as their slaves. For what purpose would a benevolent race do the same?"
Daniel shook his head. "I'm not quite sure yet. Maybe to protect them from the Goa'uld? Maybe these people were somehow different from the rest of us. Maybe there was something about them that made it important that the Goa'uld never find them. Or maybe they just wanted to help humanity spread, to make sure we survived, no matter what happened on Earth."
Hammond paused for a moment, as if considering the implications of what he had just been told. "Can you make out what the inscriptions say, Dr. Jackson?"
Daniel shook his head. "Not completely, sir, no. I can identify a few specific symbols, but as for putting them in context, I'll have to see the obelisk up close."
"Captain Carter, does the MALP show any signs of life or current inhabitation?"
"None, sir. It seems to be completely deserted."
"That's that, then," Hammond declared. He gathered his papers as he stood. "SG-1, you have a go for P2A-759. You leave at 1030 hours tomorrow."
Jack stood up as Carter and Daniel gathered their reports and images. "So ... energy readings for Carter to play games with and a nice, musty temple for Daniel to crawl around in." Jack pretended to ignore the irritated glares his teammates directed at him. "What are Teal'c and I supposed to do for the next three days?"
"Go sightseeing?" Daniel suggested.
"There are a lot of trees, Colonel," Sam said. "Maybe you could take up alien bird watching?"
"Perhaps, O'Neill," Teal'c said, "we should stand guard over Captain Carter and Daniel Jackson, should they run into unexpected complications."
"On an uninhabited planet?" Daniel asked.
"In the past, more than one uninhabited planet has proven to be quite ... inhabited."
Carter shrugged her shoulders; Daniel looked back at Teal'c. Jack simply sighed.
"No, Teal'c, I think Daniel's probably right on this one." As the four made their way out of the Briefing Room and into the hallway, Jack made an over-exaggerated show of covering a yawn. "Prepare for three days in Carter and Daniel heaven."
At Teal'c's expression of confusion, Jack clarified, "Dirt, scribbles, and gadgets, Teal'c. Dirt, scribbles, and gadgets."
Aynad stood in the corridor as SG-1 walked past, though they could not see or hear either him or his companion.
"And so they return," he said.
"No," the man at his side replied. "They're going. They haven't been there yet."
Aynad turned his head and studied the blue eyes that looked back at him. "You delivered your warning?"
The other nodded. "He didn't understand it, though, just like I didn't. I waited too long; I should have started sooner. I knew when Jack was coming. He woke him - me - up before I had a chance to finish."
Aynad sighed slowly. "It begins again."
"No," the other answered, as he shook his head in defiance. "It's not going to happen. Not this time."
"It has happened many times," Aynad observed. "I fear that we will be as unsuccessful in our attempt as we have been in the past."
"I wasn't here then," the other said.
"In fact, you were. You have been with me for every attempt that has been made."
"But things are different every time, aren't they? I didn't have the message above the door. I only saw the eyes in my dream. I didn't have as many clues as we're leaving him."
"And the one that preceded you had more than this, and yet he still fell to the demon god."
"He's not a god," the other returned with anger in his voice. "He's not even a demon. He's a snake without a body, and he's walking around in mine."
"And so he will be again," Aynad said sadly.
"We'll stop him, Aynad," the other said as he turned away. "I'm not watching them die again."