[Jack] My Big Mouth (open tag)purplerhinoJuly 13 2006, 21:54:57 UTC
Jack was listening to the conversation as he examined the inner workings of the pillar besides Daniel. Daniel was fun to flirt with, as he never really took it seriously either. No harm in making the offer, but Jack knew when to step back from bounderies.
"There's always someone to do the job." Jack offered up to the conversation. "Look, I've known agents to die in little backwatert planets thousands of years from their own timeline. I'm sure the cases of being forgotton or unreachable is pretty rare. No one snatched me before I died. I don't remember much about being dead, but there was no lingering trauma."
Jack shifted. "This thing has a crystal matrix. Energy crystals like this are not native to earth any more than this tech is. Wonder what they do when they run out of batteries?" Jack switched topics easily enough to talk and keep working.
"Anyway, I figure there's always someone to do the job. Plummer, waste management, Reaper. Even in nature, someone or something fills in where needed. It isn't worth brooding about." Jack hadn't actually touched anything yet. He was more getting a visual feel of the equipment.
[Daniel] Staying on Task (open tag)island_musesJuly 14 2006, 00:51:11 UTC
Daniel tuned out the extraneous conversation. His focus was translating the Ancient language, hoping to figure out the code. He did hear Jack's comment about the crystals. "I'd say that they probably don't use this method often enough to worry about it. Or, they've got a contact. The latter is actually a good thing."
"How so?" Ash piped up. "It means the bad guys can call for reinforcements."
"Exactly," Daniel nodded. "But it also means that the reinforcements *can* get here, temporal flux and every other bit of oddity aside. If there's a way in, there is also most definitely a way out.
"But right now, we just need to find a way *in* to the women." Daniel pushed several plates in slow fashion. Nothing happened, not even a buzz or a whirr.
"Instead of seeing ghosts, I need to see the future," Daniel mumbled.
[Jon] Staying on Task (open tag)sophiedbJuly 14 2006, 12:28:23 UTC
"No no no, you do not wish for a freaking brain tumor just so we can get wherever we're going more quickly. This is a Post-It free zone, even if we do seem to have two Reapers gunning for us," Jon responded darkly, finally reloading the firearm. Jonas had been an over-enthusiastic pain in the ass, but near-death was too high a price for those visions he'd had.
He shrugged at George apologetically. It wasn't her fault she became undead (apparently) and at least Ash hadn't automatically translated that into 'zombie'.
"I don't suppose your grim ju-ju extends to y'know, disabling the enemy, kiss of death or anything like that?"
"No!"
Cringing, Jon lifted his hands in surrender as he wandered back over to the pillar. He needed to get that foot out of his mouth real soon. "Sorry. Just checkin'. Uh, Daniel - that gene thing. Is that likely to be any help here?"
[George] Naughty Thoughts (open tag)sinanjuJuly 14 2006, 19:59:08 UTC
Watching Jon walk away, George thought about the question. Despite her immediate denial, she wasn't quite so sure about that. If she yanked someone's soul out when they were still alive, what would happen?
She knew it could be done, Roxy had done it once. George had never managed to get the full story out of Roxy or Rube, but Roxy had been in the doghouse for a while for doing that. It wasn't something George was willing to experiment with on people she liked, but--in an emergency, face to face with the bad guys?
[Daniel] We're Wasting Time (tag Jack, open)fikgirlJuly 16 2006, 01:40:06 UTC
An hour passed. An hour passed and Daniel was no closer to figuring out the riddle of the pillar than he had been an hour earlier. Random combinations did nothing; Jon tried touching it, interacting with it in the hopes that the ATA gene would affect it but his efforts proved futile as well. Jack was ready to dismantle it with the hope that reverse engineering would enable them to figure out the proper coordinates, or the last coordinates punched in. All in all, everyone was growing frustrated and annoyed or just plain bored.
Daniel was beginning to think that they should pack up and move over ground, particularly since they'd long ago lost the element of surprise.
"We should continue the rescue above ground," Daniel told those still below ground with him. "It's great if we can find some way to get this pillar to work, but we're losing time while trying to figure it out. We know that we have a guide to the women, one that we can take over ground. Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea for half of us to go that route, and a few to remain behind with the pillar.
"Jack, do you think that you or the Doctor could rig a way for the two groups to remain in radio contact? Maybe re-wire a few cellular telephones?"
[Jack] We're Wasting Time (tag Daniel, open)purplerhinoJuly 16 2006, 04:38:59 UTC
"The biggest challenge for that would be a power source. You've been preserving your radios for just that reason."
Jack then grinned and became animated, gesturing as he spoke. "But this pillar has a crystaline power source we could convert. If nothing else we can make sure no one else can use it for a while at the same time we can salvage parts. If we get Rodney working with us we can manage something."
He looked around at everything else in the room. "Might be other things we can salvage as well, at a later time."
[George] Tales...Of...Interest! (open tag)sinanjuJuly 17 2006, 01:38:56 UTC
"...so I drank the potion, said the words and here I am."
"Did you say them correctly this time?"
Verlin elbowed George, jolting her out of her reverie. "Uh...did you say it right this time?" she echoed. God, she was bored. When she hitched a ride on the Orb Express, she expected to be involved in a harrowing adventure to rescue Daisy and the others--not stuck sitting around in a dank tunnel...cave...whatever while the eggheads tried and failed to hack an obelisk.
Ash frowned. "Why does everyone always ask me that?" He sighed theatrically. "Yes, I said the words." Pause. "I may not have gotten every single syllable right, but I said 'em. Basically."
While the eggheads puzzled over the obelisk the rest of the group had nothing to do but wait. Jon had made a crack about the military not being the only organization where "hurry up and wait" was the operating principle. George thought that was an odd comment coming from a kid who was maybe just barely old enough to join the army--and who clearly hadn't because he sure as hell wasn't old enough to have finished a hitch. But it wasn't odd enough to be worth following up.
One of Ash's comments about zombies and the Necronomicon, on the other hand, had caught Verlin's attention. Somehow George had gotten drafted as an interpreter, passing along Verlin's questions. Fortunately, Ash was a long-winded guy when you got him talking about his favorite subject--himself--so George could tune out large portions of the conversation.
"Never mind that," Verlin said. "I just find it...implausible that second-rate professor at a backwoods university could have gotten his hands on the Book of the Dead. George? George!"
Oh. Right. Translate. Ash glared at where he thought Verlin was sitting, though he was off by a couple of feet. "Hey, I'm just telling you what I saw. He had the book there in the cabin and he'd recorded some of the translations. That was a really stupid move, I tell you."
"Fascinating," Verlin said. "That book was last known to be in England, in the possession of Rick adn Eve O'Connell. The Council lost track of them during the Second World War. Clearly, they must have traveled to America. I wonder..."
Verlin went on, but George stopped listening. She wondered how much longer the waiting would go on.
[Daniel]Tales...Of...Interest! (open tag)fikgirlJuly 17 2006, 02:31:15 UTC
"The O'Connell's supposedly uncovered the ruins of the legendary city of Hamunaptra, the 'City of the Dead.' Unfortunately, the only proof of this was their word, as the city could never be found again, and -" Daniel spoke as he worked on the obelisk, stopping when he realized that his words revealed that not only could he see Verlin, but hear him as well. Daniel finished by swearing in Sumerian.
"How does a common soldier know such things?" Verlin scowled. Evidently it didn't occur to the ghost that Daniel had never said he could hear the man, only that he could see him.
"I'm an archaeologist and a linguist. Which would be the reason that I am translating the writing on this pillar and the reason that I would be well-versed in matters of an archaeological nature. Legendary though it is, Hamunaptra is of great archeaological significance and personal interest," Daniel answered automatically. Then groaned. (And I'm defending myself to a ghost.)
[Jack]Tales...Of...Interest! (open tag)purplerhinoJuly 17 2006, 02:55:40 UTC
"Hamunaptra? Typical architecture of early 13th century BC, except for the booby traps, of which there were many. They actually did a lot mummification there, with one of the main temples set there for years. That's how it originally got the 'City of the Dead' title."
Jack moved back to let Daniel work. He'd salvage those power crystals as a last resort.
"That and it was one of the main treasuries, so the royal dead could be burried with full ceremony." Jack grinned. "Good vacation spot if you're into gold and silver and want to risk your neck. I always preferred galactic credits. After all, some planets have more gold than we have slate. But the statues were really impresive. Twenty feet tall. Seti never did do anything understated."
[Jack] Tales...Of...Interest! (open tag)purplerhinoJuly 17 2006, 11:26:49 UTC
Jack openly winced.
"Glad I left town before the main event. Even I know you never flirt with the king/emporer/pheraoh gender reversed significant other. Quick way to be dead or a eunuch. I can go to tenor, but never plan on reaching soprano, thank you."
Jack shivered. Some things didn't bare thinking about. "I was there when Queen Tuya was still in charge of the wives and concubines. I think Seti was on the throne for five years or so. Course I was there on buisiness, so didn't pay any more attention than I had to."
[Jon] Tales...Of...Interest! (open tag)sophiedbJuly 17 2006, 11:54:25 UTC
Sharing the wince, Jon nodded his agreement. "Yeh, I can see you being reeeeeeally frustrated as a eunuch.. and dead kinda sucks too."
Giving Harkness a sideways glance, Jon decided that he was bored of being bored and went in search of a story.
"Ok, I'll take the bait. What kind of business did you have doing in the depths of ancient Egypt? Don't you people worry about stepping on a bug - one of those scarabs maybe - or whatever it is that sets off the time-space-entropical warpdom?"
Re: [Jon] Tales...Of...Interest! (open tag)purplerhinoJuly 17 2006, 14:48:48 UTC
“Not when you’re trained to know what to avoid. I was a Time Agent for years. But this was after my uh… retirement. There was a bit of tech stashed there that really shouldn’t have been there. A weapon. You two might be familiar with the type. You might say it fits in the palm of your hand. Anyhow, I slipped in, retrieved the anomaly and proceeded to sell it to the highest bidder. Of course, the Time Agency tends to BE the highest bidder in these cases. Which is the best part of that kind of deal. Make them look like incompetents and walk away with their money. Of course they didn’t know it was broken until after they bought it. Just as well, it still didn’t belong there.”
Jack leaned against the wall and considered Jon. “You’re a bit young for the kind of placement you and Danny seem to be involved with. Didn’t think that program recruited until a body’s been in service for a few years and proved their character.”
"There's always someone to do the job." Jack offered up to the conversation. "Look, I've known agents to die in little backwatert planets thousands of years from their own timeline. I'm sure the cases of being forgotton or unreachable is pretty rare. No one snatched me before I died. I don't remember much about being dead, but there was no lingering trauma."
Jack shifted. "This thing has a crystal matrix. Energy crystals like this are not native to earth any more than this tech is. Wonder what they do when they run out of batteries?" Jack switched topics easily enough to talk and keep working.
"Anyway, I figure there's always someone to do the job. Plummer, waste management, Reaper. Even in nature, someone or something fills in where needed. It isn't worth brooding about." Jack hadn't actually touched anything yet. He was more getting a visual feel of the equipment.
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"How so?" Ash piped up. "It means the bad guys can call for reinforcements."
"Exactly," Daniel nodded. "But it also means that the reinforcements *can* get here, temporal flux and every other bit of oddity aside. If there's a way in, there is also most definitely a way out.
"But right now, we just need to find a way *in* to the women." Daniel pushed several plates in slow fashion. Nothing happened, not even a buzz or a whirr.
"Instead of seeing ghosts, I need to see the future," Daniel mumbled.
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He shrugged at George apologetically. It wasn't her fault she became undead (apparently) and at least Ash hadn't automatically translated that into 'zombie'.
"I don't suppose your grim ju-ju extends to y'know, disabling the enemy, kiss of death or anything like that?"
"No!"
Cringing, Jon lifted his hands in surrender as he wandered back over to the pillar. He needed to get that foot out of his mouth real soon. "Sorry. Just checkin'. Uh, Daniel - that gene thing. Is that likely to be any help here?"
Or.. am I just getting in the way again?
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She knew it could be done, Roxy had done it once. George had never managed to get the full story out of Roxy or Rube, but Roxy had been in the doghouse for a while for doing that. It wasn't something George was willing to experiment with on people she liked, but--in an emergency, face to face with the bad guys?
Maybe.
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Daniel was beginning to think that they should pack up and move over ground, particularly since they'd long ago lost the element of surprise.
"We should continue the rescue above ground," Daniel told those still below ground with him. "It's great if we can find some way to get this pillar to work, but we're losing time while trying to figure it out. We know that we have a guide to the women, one that we can take over ground. Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea for half of us to go that route, and a few to remain behind with the pillar.
"Jack, do you think that you or the Doctor could rig a way for the two groups to remain in radio contact? Maybe re-wire a few cellular telephones?"
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Jack then grinned and became animated, gesturing as he spoke. "But this pillar has a crystaline power source we could convert. If nothing else we can make sure no one else can use it for a while at the same time we can salvage parts. If we get Rodney working with us we can manage something."
He looked around at everything else in the room. "Might be other things we can salvage as well, at a later time."
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"Did you say them correctly this time?"
Verlin elbowed George, jolting her out of her reverie. "Uh...did you say it right this time?" she echoed. God, she was bored. When she hitched a ride on the Orb Express, she expected to be involved in a harrowing adventure to rescue Daisy and the others--not stuck sitting around in a dank tunnel...cave...whatever while the eggheads tried and failed to hack an obelisk.
Ash frowned. "Why does everyone always ask me that?" He sighed theatrically. "Yes, I said the words." Pause. "I may not have gotten every single syllable right, but I said 'em. Basically."
While the eggheads puzzled over the obelisk the rest of the group had nothing to do but wait. Jon had made a crack about the military not being the only organization where "hurry up and wait" was the operating principle. George thought that was an odd comment coming from a kid who was maybe just barely old enough to join the army--and who clearly hadn't because he sure as hell wasn't old enough to have finished a hitch. But it wasn't odd enough to be worth following up.
One of Ash's comments about zombies and the Necronomicon, on the other hand, had caught Verlin's attention. Somehow George had gotten drafted as an interpreter, passing along Verlin's questions. Fortunately, Ash was a long-winded guy when you got him talking about his favorite subject--himself--so George could tune out large portions of the conversation.
"Never mind that," Verlin said. "I just find it...implausible that second-rate professor at a backwoods university could have gotten his hands on the Book of the Dead. George? George!"
Oh. Right. Translate. Ash glared at where he thought Verlin was sitting, though he was off by a couple of feet. "Hey, I'm just telling you what I saw. He had the book there in the cabin and he'd recorded some of the translations. That was a really stupid move, I tell you."
"Fascinating," Verlin said. "That book was last known to be in England, in the possession of Rick adn Eve O'Connell. The Council lost track of them during the Second World War. Clearly, they must have traveled to America. I wonder..."
Verlin went on, but George stopped listening. She wondered how much longer the waiting would go on.
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*scratches head*
*wonders if squirrely time could land Rick and Eve on the island*
*snicker*
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"How does a common soldier know such things?" Verlin scowled. Evidently it didn't occur to the ghost that Daniel had never said he could hear the man, only that he could see him.
"I'm an archaeologist and a linguist. Which would be the reason that I am translating the writing on this pillar and the reason that I would be well-versed in matters of an archaeological nature. Legendary though it is, Hamunaptra is of great archeaological significance and personal interest," Daniel answered automatically. Then groaned. (And I'm defending myself to a ghost.)
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Jack moved back to let Daniel work. He'd salvage those power crystals as a last resort.
"That and it was one of the main treasuries, so the royal dead could be burried with full ceremony." Jack grinned. "Good vacation spot if you're into gold and silver and want to risk your neck. I always preferred galactic credits. After all, some planets have more gold than we have slate. But the statues were really impresive. Twenty feet tall. Seti never did do anything understated."
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Daniel glanced up. "Wrong Seti, Jon. This one was a pharaoh."
"What d'I say?"
Jack carried on without missing a beat. "'Course there was a hint that Imhotep built the place for him, threw in all those lovely tricks and treats.."
Jon muttered. "'Wrong Seti,' he says."
"..then got buried alive with a swarm of flesh-eating scarabs for his trouble. Something about doing the dirty with Seti's girl."
"Wrong Imhotep too," he conceded cheerfully. You can't use a sarcophagus on a skeleton. I hope.
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"Glad I left town before the main event. Even I know you never flirt with the king/emporer/pheraoh gender reversed significant other. Quick way to be dead or a eunuch. I can go to tenor, but never plan on reaching soprano, thank you."
Jack shivered. Some things didn't bare thinking about. "I was there when Queen Tuya was still in charge of the wives and concubines. I think Seti was on the throne for five years or so. Course I was there on buisiness, so didn't pay any more attention than I had to."
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Giving Harkness a sideways glance, Jon decided that he was bored of being bored and went in search of a story.
"Ok, I'll take the bait. What kind of business did you have doing in the depths of ancient Egypt? Don't you people worry about stepping on a bug - one of those scarabs maybe - or whatever it is that sets off the time-space-entropical warpdom?"
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Jack leaned against the wall and considered Jon. “You’re a bit young for the kind of placement you and Danny seem to be involved with. Didn’t think that program recruited until a body’s been in service for a few years and proved their character.”
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