Diplomacy (13b/27)
Title: Diplomacy ( Table of Contents)
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Nothing you recognize is mine. I gain nothing of material value from this.
Pairings: Gen.
Chapter1a-- 1b Chapter2 Chapter3 Chapter4 Chapter5a-- 5b Chapter6 Chapter7 Chapter8 Chapter9 Chapter10 Chapter11a-- 11b Chapter12 Chapter13a-- 13b Chapter14a-- 14b Chapter15a-- 15b Chapter16 Chapter17a-- 17b Chapter18 Chapter19 Chapter20 Chapter21 Chapter22 Chapter23 Chapter24 Chapter25 Chapter26 Epilogue
20 November 1998; Kheb; 1600 hrs
Someone took a seat next to where Daniel had flopped down on the ground, not overly tired yet from the trek but glad for the respite before he reached that point. He looked up to see Jack beside him, eating something out of a cup. "You holding up okay?" the man asked.
"Yes." Shifu had been fed during the walk and was now asleep, a warm weight against Daniel's chest. He tentatively tried his own meal, then frowned at the taste. "Huh." He lifted the bag closer to see what the label said.
"What?"
"It tastes like lizard," he said, even though he knew the expression was about chickens, just to see Jack's reaction.
Jack choked. "Ah... is that a good or bad thing?"
"It's supposed to be macaroni and cheese," Daniel replied, wondering why they even called it that when it didn't resemble it at all. Sam smiled at them from over her own meal while Jack rolled his eyes.
"Another two minutes," Jack told them all. "Then we pack it up and keep going."
Daniel bent to finish his meal quickly and then change Shifu, noticing the way Jack and Teal'c sat across from each other, with Sam and Bra'tac between them on either side, so that everything in the surrounding woods would be in someone's line of sight. It was so automatic for them, and he wondered how, even with practice, he could ever hope to fit into the puzzle that was an SG team, not to mention the warriors like Bra'tac who joined them so seamlessly.
Bra'tac was being particularly vigilant--or, well...on second glance, perhaps not. He was staring intently into the distance, but it didn't look like he was seeing very much of anything.
Abruptly, the Jaffa master said to Teal'c, in Goa'uld, "There is not much time left before I can no longer carry a prim'ta."
Daniel turned to them in alarm, reassessing how old Bra'tac must be. The master was older than Teal'c, certainly, but Teal'c was a man in his prime. Bra'tac seemed more fit than almost anyone Daniel could think of; surely he couldn't be that old.
"That time is not yet upon you," Teal'c answered, apparently thinking the same thing as Daniel.
Bra'tac shook his head, but he looked more hopeful than discouraged. "If this truly is Kheb, then that time may be upon us both."
"It is not," Daniel spoke up, as if he could make it so with words alone. "No one will lose his prim'ta today. We will learn about Shifu and return safely."
Jack stood. The two Jaffa and Sam rose immediately, and Daniel followed belatedly. "Everyone ready?" Jack said. "Let's go. Get your flashlights ready, but stay close enough to see each other; I don't want to start shining lights around if we don't have to." Hastily, Daniel shouldered his pack, shushing Shifu when he stirred, and fell in again between Bra'tac and Teal'c.
"We shall see," Bra'tac said, then started off.
Daniel had only met Bra'tac once before, and he remembered spending most of that time on his knees, begging for Bra'tac's help, or grinning like an idiot after being put in the sarcophagus. It was difficult now to look at the Jaffa master without flushing in embarrassment, because he had hardly been a model of composure the last time. It didn't help that the Bra'tac who had stumbled onto Earth this morning had been nothing like the rock of strength and confidence that Daniel associated with Teal'c's tek'ma'tae, or that Bra'tac didn't seem to know what to make of him, either, except that he was Teal'c's student on Earth.
Now, the elder Jaffa asked him, "What bond do you have to the Harsesis child, Daniel Jackson of Tau'ri?"
He hesitated, searching for accusation in the sharp eyes, but there was only curiosity. "My sister was taken to be the host for Amaunet," he said finally, knowing Bra'tac would follow the explanation to its logical conclusion.
Sure enough, Bra'tac turned his head sharply and said, "The queen of Apophis. The Harsesis is her son. Then that is why Hammond of Texas allowed you to accompany us."
Daniel opened his mouth to protest, but Teal'c answered for him. "That is not the sole reason, old friend. Daniel Jackson accompanies us as a scholar."
The closest Goa'uld phrase Daniel knew for 'scholar' translated literally as 'priest of learning.' There was no word that fit exactly, and he didn't need to ask why; he knew how all scholars had been banned from Abydos under Goa'uld rule, and he supposed those values would have been transmitted to the Jaffa warrior classes. Teal'c could write and had learned the phonetic Roman script relatively easily, and Bra'tac could probably read Goa'uld, too, but only because they had both been First Prime. It was as forbidden for most Jaffa warriors as it was for human slaves.
Even Teal'c, who was respectful and even awed at times around Tau'ri scientists, held the barest hint of contempt in his voice when he taught Daniel about the Jaffa priest class. A human scholar was someone who could be highly honored, but, to a Jaffa warrior, a Jaffa who could not fight was weak, and to be weak was to be as good as dead. Teal'c never said that himself, of course, and he'd probably deny thinking it about priests, but Daniel thought he could hear the sentiment between the words.
Perhaps if Teal'c had been a Jaffa priest, Daniel would have learned instead that the warrior classes were too unintelligent to be priests or some such nonsense. The fact was that both held equal power under Goa'uld rule; he suspected everything else was a matter of personal bias. It wasn't so different between warriors and scholars of the SGC.
Sure enough, Bra'tac was frowning at the thought of a scholar who traveled with the warriors.
"Among the humans of the Tau'ri, those who devote their lives to knowledge and learning are highly revered, even above warriors," Teal'c explained. "When we travel through the chaapa'ai with such a person, the warriors may lay down their lives to protect the scholar."
"That is too simple," Daniel countered, because the disdain that some of the civilian researchers held for the military personnel seemed to apply the other way, too. "They have different roles but equal status. From what I have seen, it depends on who and where."
"From what you have seen?" Bra'tac repeated. "You do not know the ways of your own people, Daniel Jackson?"
"It was only a year ago that I first stepped foot onto the Tau'ri planet," Daniel explained, remembering belatedly that he'd allowed the Jaffa master to assume he was from Earth to gain his help in defeating Apophis and Klorel. "I was born of Tau'ri blood, but raised as an Abydon."
"Abydos!" Bra'tac said, surprised and clearly recognizing the name.
"Indeed," Teal'c said, "Colonel O'Neill and the parents of Daniel Jackson were those who brought death to the false god Ra."
"Then you are the son of great warriors," Bra'tac said. The increased interest in his eyes made Daniel start to understand just why Jack hated the convoluted myths of O'Neill, Hero of Abydos.
He shook his head, correcting, "I am the son of great scholars; they wished to end fighting, not continue it. I believe those who study knowledge and those who study battle must work together if we are to defeat the enemy."
Bra'tac cast a thoughtful look at Sam. "And so it is that the Tau'ri choose to do both."
"There are those who are both, like Sam." He pointed back to where Sam and Jack walked. "She is one of our best scholars as well as a proven warrior. I choose to help however I can. For instance, I knew from studying legends that the temple of Kheb lies to the north, and...and I think I was right!" Triumphantly, excitedly, apprehensively, he squinted into the distance. "Is that it, Tek'ma'tae?"
"I cannot believe it," Bra'tac breathed, his Jaffa eyes fixing easily on the structure that Daniel could barely make out through the night and the thick growth around them. "After so many years, I see it at last. We have truly found Kheb."
"Jack," Daniel called. The two Tau'ri pulled even with the rest of the group. "Look--the temple."
"Sweet," Jack said, picking up the pace. "Let's go."
The crackling of the radio on Daniel's shoulder made him jump, and Major Ferretti's voice came through.
"Colonel, this is Ferretti--we've got a problem."
Shifu's eyes opened, and Daniel really, really hoped he wouldn't start crying, even as they turned to watch Jack answer the hail.
"Go ahead, Major."
"We spotted two death gliders passing over our position. It looks like they were going the same direction as you."
"Crap," Jack muttered, then replied, "Were you seen?"
"No, sir, I don't think so, but they're headed your way. If others came from somewhere else, we might not even know it--there could even be some Jaffa on foot that got off those ships. We can start toward you and give you a hand."
"Negative," Jack ordered. "You'll never get here before they do. Hightail it back through the 'gate and request backup."
"Yes, sir. Ferretti out."
"Anyone miss that?" Jack asked, dropping his hand from the radio and raising his gun instead.
"We heard," Bra'tac answered, a light gleaming in his eyes. "We are nearly at the temple--let us proceed quickly and seek sanctuary there."
"You sure that's our best bet?" Jack replied.
A twig snapped.
All five of them shrank back into the dark forest, weapons rising warily. Daniel wrapped his left arm around Shifu, preparing to run if necessary, and pulled out the zat'nik'tel on his leg with his free hand. Jack was crouching on his left, Teal'c on his right, and Sam and Bra'tac flanking them on either side, and all Daniel could think was that one whimper from Shifu was going to give them all away.
In the distance, a deep voice called, "Kree ko, Jaffa!"
Gooseflesh prickled at Daniel's arms as he heard answering six distinct cries of "Kel sha" and leaves rustling from where they had been only a minute ago. Gods, how many were there, and how had they not known?
A stream of orders followed. Jack glanced at him and the two Jaffa, his expression hesitant but frustrated; he needed information and Teal'c was too far away to pass it along, Daniel shifted enough until he was right next to Jack's ear. Remembering from training sessions with SG-2 to take care to muffle his sibilants, he whispered, "They heard us. Search teams."
"What Goa'uld?" Jack said, almost too quietly to hear.
Daniel turned to his other side, where Teal'c and Bra'tac had already heard and were talking with tiny flashes of fingers, the hand signals used by Jaffa warriors on Chulak that Daniel had never bothered to learn. He would learn it, he decided, if--when--they got back home. It didn't matter, though, because then Teal'c touched Daniel's arm to draw his attention, tapped his Serpent brand, shook his head.
"Not Apophis," Daniel relayed in a whisper. "Don't know." Jack nodded and gestured for total silence.
After a moment, the footsteps began moving away. When Bra'tac straightened from his crouch, Daniel took it as a sign that they were out of earshot and said quietly, "Jack, we don't know how many are between us and the Stargate, but we're close to the temple."
"You're asking me to bet our lives on something we hope might be there that might be able to help us and might not try to kill us as soon as we step in?" Jack hissed.
"Yes!" Daniel whispered, filling the word with as much faith as he could, because it was all they had now. "That's what I'm asking."
A mechanical whining sound in the distance made Daniel look up. The udajeet were coming. However many Jaffa were there now, more would land soon. Who knew how many would be coming after them then?
"Temple might be our only option, sir," Sam said quietly.
Jack exhaled hard, his face unreadable in the dark. "On my word, move toward the temple."
"They won't shoot the Harsesis," Daniel said, fear and excitement beginning to pound through him. "If I'm between you and the Jaffa, you might be--"
"Negative," Jack snapped. "They can still shoot you in the back. Stay with Teal'c and Bra'tac and follow their orders until we catch up with you. You two"--his eyes flicked from one Jaffa to the other--"lead the way and--"
"We will protect the child, O'Neill," Bra'tac said, his gaze saying he meant Shifu while Teal'c moved a reassuring step closer to Daniel.
"Carter and I'll be right behind you. Avoid detection unless you're forced to fire, and then stay low and run like hell. Daniel, cover the baby's mouth if you have to, just leave him room to breathe. Ready?"
They quieted again as a glider came into view, passing by their position but sweeping the skies overhead, as if searching.
Ready, ready, ready...
"Go!"
Daniel still started when Teal'c's hand propelled him forward, and he stumbled a little as he tried to keep up with the two Jaffa's stronger, faster bodies, hating the knowledge that they were slowing themselves for him. Shifu finally started to whimper, and, in desperation, Daniel whispered fiercely to him, "Kal shak, shek kree, kal'ma--shashan!"
Shifu obeyed and fell silent again, closing his eyes as if in sleep, because he responded to Goa'uld sometimes, and Daniel had a few, dizzying moments to think that, gods, maybe something in the baby did have Goa'uld knowledge, after all.
Then he was tripping over tree roots (how in the gods' names did the Jaffa keep their balance, on uneven ground and in the dark, no less?), only to be caught by a strong hand that pulled him forward again.
The walls surrounding the temple were in sight before them, but more rustling came from around them on all sides. "Ar'ee! Yahs!" Bra'tac hissed, and Daniel stopped and crouched low, itching to move forward and run to the temple that was almost within reach. Somewhere in front of them, a shadow moved, then paused, as if searching, then continued on. He could make out two more behind the first before the enemy Jaffa blended together and he could no longer tell one shadow apart from the other.
He turned at the sound of rustling from behind, but the way the two approaching figures held their arms meant they were wielding guns (submachine gun, MP5, he mind recited automatically from Jack's lessons) instead of staff weapons. Soon he could hear Jack's prowling steps and Sam's quiet breathing.
"Stay in two groups," Jack said, barely loud enough to hear. They shifted apart, Daniel following Teal'c's movements, with Bra'tac shadowing them both. "Make for the temple. Take cover when you can."
They rose slowly and crept toward the temple's walls. Daniel stared out into the night, moving from tree to tree when Teal'c's shadow moved and wondering how he was supposed to shoot at an enemy when he could barely see even a few meters in front of his own face.
Then the first shot rang out and he understood, because it wasn't the movements they were aiming for; it was the crackle of electricity from a priming staff weapon.
Daniel dropped behind a tree, clutching Shifu, just as Teal'c fired his staff weapon and a Jaffa in the distance dropped to the ground. "Nok," Bra'tac whispered, and they ran ahead again. They froze at a rustling sound to one side, then continued when they saw Jack creep forward and stop, signaling someone behind him--Sam--to go.
"Jaffa!"
They whirled. This time Daniel was the first to fire in the direction of an enemy's staff weapon, his zat'nik'tel discharging almost before he knew he was squeezing the trigger, but it didn't matter if he was aiming, because the second bolt of crackling blue energy lit the Jaffa's armor nonetheless. Then shouts came from around them as well, and he was forced to duck down as blasts were suddenly fired from all sides.
"Move, now!" Jack's voice called. "The temple!"
"We're surrounded!" Sam's said from several meters away. Daniel found himself caught between Teal'c and Bra'tac, firing at every distant burst of light. "They've cut us off! Herding us to--" Daniel missed the rest of the sentence as another shot was fired next to his ear and gunfire drowned out her voice
He followed Teal'c, shuffling backward between bursts of fire, and jumped when his back hit something solid. "Down, stay down," Jack said, then pushed him low again to fire over his head as bullets flew in one direction and staff energy from all others. Daniel stayed close to the ground, hugged Shifu, and raised his eyes. He snaked an arm out from around the large boulder he was using as cover and squeezed his trigger over and over, not truly aiming but not needing to when they were clumped together now and so thoroughly surrounded, until a rumble of thunder sounded and made him stop and look up.
Thor, he thought wildly, but that wasn't right; there was no Asgard ship filling the sky.
"Daniel Jackson, kree!" Bra'tac barked, and Daniel paid attention and raised his zat'nik'tel again, looking for fire and light that might tell him where to shoot...
Lightning ripped through a tree in front of him.
Daniel couldn't hold back a cry as the flash seared into his eyes, momentarily blinding him, and he lowered his weapon in favor of clutching Shifu more tightly to himself. He bent low over his baby brother as a shield, his eyes still watering from the flash, and he could feel the heat, feel the pulsing in the air like nature itself was angry. A frustrated yell came from Sam and a curse from Jack, but all other noise was soon buried in the roar of thunder and sizzling of lightning and Shifu crying and screams and screams and screams from--
--from the enemy Jaffa.
What?
A loud crash! sounded, not like thunder, but like some hard impact that literally shook the ground under their feet. Daniel staggered. His eyes snapped up in surprise.
The screams of the Jaffa were gone, he realized, and there was only the sound of the storm roaring around them and Shifu's distressed wailing next to his ear. A tiny hand clutched at his jacket, and he wrapped one hand more securely around the baby's head.
And there was an udajeet on the ground, its remains blackened and smoking. In the sudden, dazzling light that surrounded them, he could make out a shadow of a falcon. Heru-ur's ships, then. Had he found out from Amaunet where the baby would be taken? Or was this--
Wait. Light? Why was there light?
Something overhead was illuminating the night sky like a midday sun.
Daniel squinted through the whipping wind and the spots of light still dancing in front of his eyes and saw a bright...something hovering above them. No one was firing a weapon anymore, either at or from their tight group, but what had happened to the Jaffa, and that death glider, and what in the name of the gods was that thing floating above them? He tried to make out what was causing it, and...
Ay naturu.
Not 'what,' but 'who.' There was an indistinct face in the midst of the light. Whatever it was, it was some kind of being.
"Daniel!" Jack yelled over the wind, and Daniel looked over and blinked until he could see the blurry forms of his companions still standing their positions, Sam rubbing her eyes on her sleeve and Jack shaking his head dazedly. "Okay?"
"Yes!" Daniel heard himself yell back, pressing close enough to feel the heat of their bodies. "What's going on?"
"You will not be harmed," an unfamiliar, calm voice said.
Daniel had a moment to wonder at the fact that it was English before he felt his companions stiffen simultaneously, and Teal'c and Bra'tac both moved between him and this new arrival whom they hadn't noticed before. He pressed Shifu's body against his chest with one hand and raised his zat'nik'tel again, edging forward so he could see better. The bright life form didn't waver, but there was a man who stood just outside the temple walls. Daniel squinted around Teal'c's shoulder, trying to see and bring the figure into focus but all he could see from here was a blur of red against the white walls, half hidden in shadows and half obscured by the glare emitted by the bright...thing overhead.
The man didn't so much as twitch at the weapons suddenly aimed toward him.
When no one said anything, Daniel called out, trying to sound as friendly as he could while yelling and holding a weapon on the other person, "We are peaceful explorers from Tau'ri. We do not mean to hurt anyone, but..."
"You were not the aggressors here," the man said, his voice somehow carrying clearly even though he didn't seem to be raising it. "Lower your weapons."
Shifu stopped crying.
Daniel had a sudden terrible image that he'd hurt his brother, but a glance downward showed that Shifu was simply lying still against his chest, yawning tiredly. Daniel relaxed slightly.
Jack did not. "Where did you come from!" he demanded, still shouting over the storm. Daniel glanced at him, and, seeing that his gun was still raised, didn't lower his own weapon. The two Jaffa's staff weapons were aimed upward, as if ready to shoot the odd glowing form still hovering over them. "What did you do, and what is that thing? Are you doing that?"
"I have been here for some time," the man said. He must be some sort of temple guardian, Daniel decided; he would know what to do. But they had run to the temple amid gunfire, and they would need to gain his trust. "All that was done here was the work of the Mother. You are in no danger that you do not pose yourself."
There was a pause, and then Jack called, "Excuse me?"
"The Mother has been watching you. She will harm only those who seek to harm."
Sha'uri, Daniel thought when he heard 'mother,' but that wasn't right, for either her or Amaunet. Then, Nekhbet, but no, there was no vulture here, and no false-god Goa'uld who could bring an udajeet out of the sky with a bolt of lightning. Who on this planet could have such power?
He looked up again and saw the face on the light-based life form resolve slightly into what could be a woman's features. "Is that her?" he asked as loudly as he could, shaking windblown strands of hair from his eyes. "Is that the Mother?"
The man swept a hand slowly before his body. "She is everything--everywhere."
The Mother, everywhere... "Nature," Daniel whispered. He found his eyes drawn upward toward the light filling the sky, focusing on the woman's face that seemed to be staring directly at him. More loudly, to make himself heard over the wind, he repeated, "Nature! Jack, almost every culture has a patron matriarch representing nature. This must be some embodiment of Mother Nature!"
"So?" Jack said, not taking his eyes from the serene man before them.
What force was more powerful than nature itself, after all, in a land where nature ran free and wild? He glanced to the side and caught a glimpse of a line of dead Jaffa on the ground.
("...no danger that you do not pose yourself...")
Daniel retracted his zat'nik'tel and lowered it. "Cha'hari," he called to them. "Tal bet."
"Chal'ti..." Teal'c growled in warning as Jack gave him a confused, sideways glare.
"You have to lower your weapons," Daniel insisted.
"The hell I will," Jack retorted.
Daniel steeled himself, then darted forward in front of Jack's weapon and pushed it downward with a free hand, knowing it was dangerous, knowing he was out of line, but knowing they had to put their weapons down or they'd all be dead in a second.
"Jesus!" Jack swore, jerking back with his face completely white. From anger, Daniel assumed, but this was more important than having Jack angry at him for a while. Out of line, yes, but this was about all of their lives this time.
"Jack, you said it yourself--something killed those Horus Guards, and who do you think that was? If that man and the Mother have been watching us, they could have killed us at any time. They're the only ones stopping us from being struck by lightning, too, but they're giving us a chance. We have to show them we're trustworthy." Sam glanced uneasily at Jack and Teal'c at Bra'tac, but no one moved. "Please."
A clap of thunder rang out like a gunshot, sounding so close that Daniel flinched. Jack's eyes flicked upward, where the light pulsed almost angrily and drew closer until it--she?--became painfully bright.
It was Bra'tac, though, who had been waiting his whole life for something real to believe in, and he surrendered first, deactivating his staff weapon and planting it at his side. "You must do it."
Finally, Jack relented and lowered his gun. Sam and Teal'c followed.
The wind stilled. Daniel almost thought he saw the blindingly bright form--the Mother--smile before she pulled back away from them, taking the light with her, and disappeared behind the walls surrounding the temple. The clouds cleared away, revealing stars as pure as Daniel had ever seen them on any planet. His breath caught, and he glanced down to see Shifu staring upward as well, a hand snaking out of the carrier to reach for the heavens.
In the quiet darkness that remained, the monk inclined his head and gestured toward the entrance of the temple courtyard in welcome. "Now, your journey may begin."
From the next chapter (" Frater, Mater, Pater, Part II"):
"I think that was a 'welcome in,'" Jack said.
"You do?" Daniel asked uncertainly. "I thought that was a 'stay out.'"
Jack shrugged. "I say we go in."