Journeys (3e/5)
Title: Journeys (Table of Contents)
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Nothing you recognize is mine. I gain nothing of material value from this.
Part I a b Part II a b c d Part III a b c d
Daniel had never gotten lost on Abydos. Now, especially, with his mind clear with intent, it was simple to find Kasuf's dwelling, but Kasuf wasn't there; Sha'uri was.
"Sha'uri," Daniel said.
She jumped and whirled around. "Dan'yel?" she breathed. She looked around himself, as if expecting some trick. "What--is it you?"
"It is," Daniel said. "I am as Shifu was when you last saw him." Her eyes widened in understanding, and he added, "Your son is well, Sha'uri."
"Good," she said, a little faintly. "Then..."
"Where is Kasuf?"
Sha'uri swallowed, looking out the doorway as if to see if anyone else was around, then said, "My father is old. He has been ill in recent days. He is resting now."
Oh. Daniel hadn't expected that, for some reason, even knowing that Kasuf was middle-aged by Tau'ri standards but a very old man by Abydonian ones. Janet and a medical team, had helped to improve sanitation and some basic practices here, but modest improvements could only do so much. People who worried about having enough food to feed the village for a whole year didn't think too hard about what foods were more nutritious and what work was less dangerous.
Keeping his face carefully clear, Daniel said, "Then you govern here now? In practice, at least?" Sha'uri nodded once. "I need you to call the full council. Abydos is in danger."
"What are you saying?"
"Anubis, Sha'uri," Daniel said, watching her stiffen. "You know of him?"
"All Goa'uld knew of him," she said softly.
"Then you know there is little time."
She took a breath and nodded. "I will gather the elders."
"Bring Skaara," Daniel said.
She stared at him for a moment, knowing that there was only one reason he would want Skaara at a council meeting. "We cannot defeat a Goa'uld like Anubis with weapons, brother. Even the Tau'ri could not do it."
"Trust me," he said, and wasn't sure whether or not he was lying as he continued, "I would not lead Abydos to its destruction. Send messengers, call the council, and bring Skaara with you. I will return and explain when everyone is together."
...x...
There was a space behind Sam's lab for storage. Daniel moved immediately to the depleted devices that had been found in the secret chamber of Ra's pyramid on Abydos. He didn't think the Eye of Ra was in here--surely a jewel with a wedjat on it would have been noteworthy--but everyone had been very preoccupied with Jack's disappearance on Edora at the time. It wouldn't hurt to take another look, and he also needed to find the Eye of Tiamat.
He'd moved on to the storage area near the archaeology office when--
[Dan'yel,] Sha'uri said. [What is it you have to tell us?]
[Dan'yel?] Kasuf added; he was sitting with the elders, too. [Are you there?]
He checked the shelves behind him one more time, and then left.
...x...
"...said that Abydos was in danger," Sha'uri was saying when Daniel stepped into a dark corner of the hastily-erected tent, set in unclaimed territory between Nagada and the next largest town.
"How can you be sure you saw true?" said Itet of Kalima. "You told us yourself that Dan'yel of Tau'ri was no longer in our world."
"If my daughter says she saw Dan'yel," Kasuf spoke up, "then she did."
"Then where is he?" Skaara said.
Daniel stepped out and pulled back his hood. "I am here," he said. All eyes fixed on him. Skaara made a movement as if to get up, but Daniel continued before he could. "There is not much time--listen carefully. The Goa'uld Anubis has become the most powerful of the false gods. He is seeking a device that will make him too powerful for any to defeat."
"Why would he attack Abydos?" Kasuf said. "We have nothing he wants."
"You do," Daniel said. "The device he seeks is here, left somewhere on our land by Ra. He will come soon, and when he does, he will crush any who stands in his path until he finds it. You must stop him."
"We?" Skaara said. "I have heard of Anubis. We cannot win against him."
"We cannot let him win," Daniel countered. The faces around him looked uncertain--few of them were fighters, much less knew what it meant to face a Goa'uld like Anubis--and he added, "I believe in Abydos. We are a strong people, and we can stop Anubis from taking the Eye of Ra."
Skaara sat straighter. "The Eye of Ra? Then, could it be...our chamber--"
"Yes," Daniel said, nodding once. "It must be there, and you must find it. O'Neill and his team will help you, but I need you to show them the way. When Anubis comes..."
"We will fight," another man said, raising his chin. Daniel didn't know his name, but he was the chieftain of one of the tribes that never settled--they knew hardship, but they were known for their pride, as well. "We will die before we surrender to another false god."
Itet nodded. "Our lives are meaningless if we do not stop him from finding what he seeks. There is more to think of than only ourselves."
Skaara was trying to catch Daniel's eye. Unwilling to let anyone else distract him, Daniel watched Kasuf, knowing that this decision lay ultimately with him, not Skaara or even Sha'uri. Finally, Kasuf said, "We will take the women and children to the caves of Kalima. Skaara, you must return to Nagada and gather all those capable of fighting."
All those willing to die, Daniel thought, but Skaara was looking at him with such faith that he couldn't bring himself to say it. He summoned a small smile and nodded once, pained by the determined smile Skaara gave him in return. He thought about how many people he was betraying in this last effort and wondered if this was how Jack had felt every time Daniel had accused him of not thinking of the collateral damage and the morality of their actions.
"Go," Daniel ordered. "It is a long journey to Kalima, and there is no time to waste."
...x...
He returned to the archaeology archives to look for the Eye of Tiamat, and his frustration was just beginning to mount when something caught his eye.
A tablet lay on the shelf--'Ra's Ancient tablet,' he'd always called it before. He'd struggled with the translation before putting it aside. Now, though, what it said was clear. The tablet was written by the Ancients, and it told the story of their Ascension.
The Others--or, at least, the first of them--were Ancients.
He'd gotten so close to the answer so many times--he'd even found out that Morgan le Fay, an Ancient, was also now an Ascended being. He'd known there was a connection he had been missing, and it even explained why some of Anubis's technology looked like some kind of Goa'uld-Ancient hybrid. If the Others wanted to hide something about Ascended beings they disapproved of--Anubis, perhaps, or even some larger, darker faction--it might explain why they had refused to let him learn about the Ancients, the first people to have Ascended.
If only he had put the pieces together sooner...
Before he could finish reading, a light flickered on overhead. Daniel turned around and found himself face to face with Jonas Quinn of Kelowna.
"Um...hi," Jonas said. It wasn't until his eyes flicked briefly down and back up that Daniel realized he still appeared dressed as if for the desert. "How did you get in here? Who are you?"
"I'm an Ancient," Daniel blurted, still thinking about the tablet.
"Sure you are," Jonas said, clearly not believing him. "Let's try that again. Who are you and what are you doing?"
"No, uh...no, sorry," Daniel said, wishing that he'd been faster or that someone else had been the first to see him here. "Jonas Quinn, I'm Daniel Jackson." He started to extend his hand in greeting, then thought better of it.
Well. This wasn't the time for pleasantries, anyway.
"You're...wait a minute," Jonas said, his eyes suddenly widening. "Then...but you're--"
"Call Jack," Daniel said, recovering and returning to the matter at hand. "Or Sam or Teal'c. No one else."
"Okay," Jonas said warily, backing up two steps. "Uh...I'll, uh...I'll just--"
"Don't touch that," Daniel said, not wanting to waste time, and Jonas slowly pulled his hand away from the alarm near the door. "And don't raise your voice. Phone. Call your team. Only them."
"Okay," Jonas said again, and, without looking away from Daniel, moved to the closest phone, dialed, and said, "Sam, good, you're there. You...um, you need to come here. The--it's--you really need to see this for yourself.... No--no, right now.... Yeah.... Them, too. Right. Uh, thanks." He hung up the phone.
"You believed me?" Daniel said, a little impressed.
"Sam has a picture of you," Jonas explained. "I've seen you before. Sort of. And there was that thing with Martouf, so whatever doubts I had... Also, there's no projector around, so you're not a hologram, and your foot is sticking into the wall."
Daniel extracted his foot. "Right." As they waited, he asked, "Do you know what the wedjat symbol is?"
"Ye-es," Jonas said, his tone making it sound like a question.
"Draw it."
"What?"
"Draw the eye of Ra," he repeated. "For reference. It'll save me from having to describe it to the others."
"Right," Jonas said, and slowly found a legal pad. "Uh...so, listen. Aren't you dead?"
"No," Daniel said, and turned back to the artifacts.
"Oh," Jonas said.
A hand went through Daniel's arm. "Don't do that," Daniel said, still looking at the shelves.
Jonas snatched his hand away. "Sorry," he said, looking embarrassed. "That's pretty amazing, that whole--not the dying," he said. "Or almost dying. But the...you know, the..."
"Ascension," Daniel filled in.
"Yeah," Jonas said, deflating.
Daniel glanced away momentarily when Jonas continued staring once he'd finished sketching. "I was sorry to see what happened to Kelowna," he said. "And the fallout--I wish I could have done something. But you've done a good job here, so thank you. For watching their backs."
"Whoa," Jonas said. "That's...a little creepy. I mean, yeah, sure."
Jack's voice in the office called sharply, "Jonas? You all right?"
"Colonel, we're in here," Jonas said.
Daniel turned around just as Teal'c stepped in with a zat'nik'tel, Jack and Sam both behind him. "That won't do you any good," Daniel said, nodding to the zat, but even as he spoke, it was already being lowered. "And I'll thank you not to zat my artifacts."
"Oh my god," Sam whispered.
Jonas swallowed. "He said he's--"
"Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c said.
"Sam," Daniel said. "Teal'c. Jack. I need your help. Abydos is in danger, and soon, Earth will be, too. Do you remember the Eye of Tiamat? Well, there were five others, each very powerful on its own, but to use them in combination increases their power tenfold. Anubis wants them. He already has most of them, but he's missing the Eyes of Tiamat and Ra. He'll head for Abydos soon to look for the Eye of Ra. Now, either it's still there, in the secret chamber--you know the one I'm talking about, under the pyramid--or we brought it back without realizing it."
"I don't think it's here," Jonas offered.
"Yeah, I'm getting that impression," Daniel agreed. "There's not a lot of time. Anubis can't get the Eyes of Ra and Tiamat. If he does, he'll be unstoppable--"
The sound of a throat clearing stopped him. "Hey, Daniel," Jack said casually, sticking his hands into his pocket and taking a few steps forward. "How're you doing? Long time. How are things on the higher planes?"
Daniel bit his lip and stared at the floor until he lost the urge to do something the Others couldn't help but notice.
Fine. He could play this game.
"Hi, Jack," Daniel said, imitating Jack's casual tone and drawing the others' incredulous stares. "I'm great. How--how are you doing?"
"Fine," Jack said, shrugging. "Just fine."
"Oh, good," Daniel said, smiling in a way that he hoped conveyed his deep annoyance. "Good. So...what's new?"
"Um...actually, a funny thing happened to me today," Jack said, raising his eyebrows. "I'm getting off the elevator, and Teal'c grabs me. Says something funny's going on in the archaeology office, and I thought, what could possibly happen in a boring old archaeology office?" Daniel pressed his lips together. "But when I get there, an old friend of mine--someone who...never calls, never writes--"
Daniel rolled his eyes.
"--just shows up," Jack went on, "and tells us about this very important and apparently urgent mission that needs my attention."
A glance away showed that Anubis's fleet was in the midst of ransacking one of Marduk's old planets, but soon, they were going to put the Eye of Tiamat aside and start looking for Ra's planets instead. "Are you going to help," Daniel said, annoyed, "or--"
"No, wait, wait," Jack said. "Let me tell it--it's good. You see, this friend of mine has...Ascended. To a whole new level of existence." Daniel nodded slowly. "Do you see the irony? He's asking for our help, and he's this great and powerful being."
"Jack, we've been through this," Daniel said. "I can't actually do anything. Just talking to you is a violation."
"What, like jay-walking, double-parking..." Jack said.
"Wait a minute, Colonel, you've seen him before?" Jonas interrupted.
"Uh..." Jack shrugged. "Yeah, actually. Wasn't sure at the time, but, yeah."
"I also have seen Daniel Jackson before now," Teal'c said.
"Yeah, me too," Sam said, looking surprised. To Daniel, she added, "That's why you wouldn't talk to me! Because it's a violation of some kind?"
"I didn't know that," Jonas said, though he looked more curious than disappointed.
"Well, you got here first this time," Daniel said impatiently. "Was anyone listening to the part about Anubis? I really, really need your help."
"Didn't you say you were an Ancient?" Jonas said.
"What?" Sam said.
Daniel found Ra's Ancient tablet again and waved at it where it lay on the shelf. "Yeah, I just found out. Not...not me, but the Others like me--they're the Ancients. I sort of suspected, but I never knew..."
She stepped closer to join him in peering at it, as if he'd never left at all. "We never even considered that possibility. Is this Ra's tablet from Abydos? What's it say?"
"That..." Daniel skimmed the tablet. "...the Ancients were a race of humans who lived long before we did. They were destroyed by a plague--many of them learned to Ascend, and the others died out. And...and it talks about a lost city." A chilling thought struck him. "When Anubis comes here looking for the Eyes of Tiamat and Ra, you can't let him take that tablet. If he finds the lost city of the Ancients before you...then the war's over and we lose."
"Why would Anubis look for the Eyes here?" Jonas said. "He doesn't know Earth has one of them. Right?"
Daniel continued staring at the tablet until he could be sure his expression was completely blank when he looked up. "Don't underestimate him," he said without answering the question. When Jack started to narrow his eyes, as if in suspicion, Daniel added, "Anubis is Ascended."
"What?" Sam said again, her eyes wide.
"Or...half-Ascended or something in between," Daniel said. "The Others sent him back, but not all the way because they...they couldn't or wouldn't--I don't know, I don't really care. The point is, he's obviously found a way to keep a physical form, which does limit him, and he's under some restrictions, but he's a lot more than you think he is, too. Do not underestimate him."
This tablet wasn't all--it was just the first piece of a puzzle. This one told of the Lost City, but it would take some more searching to find where the City actually was. He'd never seen it before and suspected it was one of the things the Others didn't trust him with, but if Daniel looked for it specifically, now that he knew what he was looking for and he knew who the Ancients actually were, he was certain he could find it. If nothing else, he could ask Ganos Lal under the guise of still being curious about the Ancients and then somehow find a way to lead SG-1 to the city.
"So..." Jack said. "A partially incorporeal force of evil with superpowers is collecting the pieces of a super-weapon."
"That's one way to put it," Daniel said. "He's going to start by tearing Abydos apart, and if he gets his hands on the Eyes before you do, he'll come here and destroy Earth."
"Where exactly is the Eye of Ra in that secret chamber?" Sam said cautiously.
"I don't know," Daniel said.
She raised her eyebrows. "You don't know?"
"See," Jack said, gesturing with a hand, "I'm starting to think this whole Ascension business is a bit overrated."
Me too, Daniel thought, but pointed out, "If I'd died instead, you wouldn't have had any warning before Anubis came this time."
"So do something about that," Jack said.
"If I take any action on my own," Daniel repeated slowly, "Oma will stop me to prevent the Others from stopping her and all of her followers. I'm walking a very fine line already. I can't jeopardize what she does for people, and she wouldn't let me."
"So, what," Jack said, "we skip on over to Abydos and look for a...what does it even look like?"
"Uh...like this, I think," Jonas said, picking up the quick sketch he'd made.
Daniel glanced at it and nodded, satisfied that it was a decent approximation of the wedjat. "Think of what the Eye of Tiamat looks like," he said. "It looks similar, but with that symbol on it, possibly some Goa'uld writing on the side. It's--"
[Dan'yel,] Sha'uri said. [Where are you?]
"Hello?" Jack said, waving his arm through Daniel's chest. "It's...?"
"I have to go," Daniel said distractedly.
"Now? Where?" Sam said, her eyes widening.
"I've told you what you need. Don't...don't lose that tablet about the Ancient city; I'll help you with the translation when this is done"--Jonas was already starting to take it from the shelf, wrapping it carefully and setting it aside--"and get the Eye of Tiamat from...your lab, Sam, or Area 51, wherever you put it. Keep it close. And Abydos--"
[Dan'yel, are you there?]
"Daniel?" Sam said.
"Anubis cannot get the Eyes," Daniel said, looking at Teal'c, because whatever the others thought or felt, Teal'c would remind them that there was a serious risk-benefit ratio to consider for this mission. "I told Skaara to meet you when you go to Abydos. He'll brief you on their situation then. Uh...oh, and extra artillery wouldn't hurt."
"Daniel!" Jack snapped, but by then, he was already on his way.
...x...
Sha'uri was in the empty house where Daniel had used to live as a child. Sounds from outside said that there were still people here, in the village, but a quick look showed him that most of the Nagadans had already evacuated and were on their way to Kalima.
"Has Kasuf gone ahead?" Daniel said when he arrived.
She spun around to face him. "Yes," she said. "I am to lead the last group."
"Then go. Hurry."
"No," Sha'uri said instead, any of her previous surprise or awe dissipated into firm protectiveness. "Warriors from other villages have come to join the fight, but if Anubis is coming here, then fleeing to the mountains will not save any of the Abydonian people, no matter how many try to oppose him. There is not enough time for all of us to leave through the Stargate, but if we are to fall, we would die fighting, not hide to wait for our slavers."
"Anubis does not care about Abydos itself," Daniel said, hoping he was right. "I will make sure that he has another goal he cares about more. You only need your fighters to buy enough time for the Tau'ri to play their part here."
"To play their part," Sha'uri repeated, staring at him. "I know you, brother. You are hiding something--if not from us, then from them, and if not that, then from someone else. Are we also only playing our part in your game?"
"This is not a game," he said, even though she was right in many ways. He would simply have to finish it before he had a chance to feel guilty about it. "You know me, Sha'uri--trust me. Everything I have done since leaving this world the first time was try to keep Abydos safe."
She nodded and looked down. "I know," she said. "We will fight on your word. But Dan'yel, you have lived on a world that knows a woman can fight beside her brothers."
Daniel had almost been expecting something like that from her, after all she had seen and done. "Skaara's men were trained; most of the women are not. We need each gun in the hands of someone who at least knows how to use it."
"What about me?" she countered. "I know more of war than any of my brother's men."
"Skaara can command warriors, but he does not know how to lead a world," he said. "You were taught to follow Kasuf as leader. Abydos will not be left unharmed, Sha'uri. When Anubis comes, we will need warriors. In the days after that, you will need leaders. And I...would like to know that someone who understands will watch over our people after this."
She narrowed her eyes. "Where will you be?" she said, sounding suspicious.
"I will be with those who stay and fight," he said and didn't try to guess where he'd be afterward. He couldn't say much for the fate of the ones who stayed to fight, and even though he knew it had to be this way, he hoped she could forgive him for what he was sending her brothers into. "I am not saying this only for you, sister. They need you."
"And they believe in you," she said quietly. "Do not give us hope and then take it away."
Daniel took a breath. "But they won't survive on hope alone. You can help to give them the rest. Please, Sha'uri. You have to go now."
"The people would do almost anything for you," she said.
"Not for me," he said quickly with a pang. "Abydos has had enough of following the words of people who claim to be more than men. Let me be part of your history. Lead them to Kalima so they can be free, in their own name."
Sha'uri nodded, looking satisfied with that answer. "Promise me you will return," she said. "I have lost enough brothers, and I will have lost more before Anubis finishes here."
"I promise," he lied, because he would have promised anything to speed them along. He might not know what would happen to him afterward, but they would be safe by then, and Sha'uri and Kasuf and the others would push through, no matter what. He had not lied when he had said Abydos was strong. "Anubis will be here in days, maybe less. You must leave now."
...x...
Daniel waited and watched and waited until he was sure everything was going to plan. When the preparations were underway on both sides, he slipped into Anubis's hatak. This time, he went directly to the peltak, where Anubis sat on his throne.
The First Prime strode in. "My lord," he reported, "we have turned the hatak toward Abydos."
Anubis didn't move at all as he said, "Good. We can seek the Eye of Tiamat again once we have the Eye of Ra."
The Jaffa hesitated for a moment, as if unsure whether to stay or to go, then finally bowed to Anubis's back and left.
"You won't do anything to Abydos," Daniel said once they were alone.
Not turning, Anubis said, "And you will stop me?"
"I can," Daniel said. "You know I can."
"What I know," Anubis said, turning to look at him, "is that you can do nothing but stand there and utter empty threats, and that you will stand by and watch as I destroy your world."
Leaving no room in his mind for apology--or for imagining the look on Jack and Sam and General Hammond's faces--Daniel said, "The Tau'ri will find the Eye of Ra before you."
Anubis fell silent for a moment. "You told them," he said, almost disbelieving. "What about the Others?"
"Like you said, Jim," Daniel taunted. "Sometimes, someone has to take a risk. You won't tell them, will you, Jim. I'm pretty sure you're the one person they like less than me."
"Then I will have to take the risk of destroying Earth," Anubis countered, and then laughed, sounding genuinely amused. "Ah--I understand now. Daniel Jackson, blood of Tau'ri but son of Abydos. You would let your base be destroyed in the place of your home."
You could never understand, Daniel thought. "So you're going to destroy Tau'ri, are you?" he said. "And let the Eye of Ra be destroyed with it?"
"I will find the Eye of Ra first," Anubis said confidently, "and then Tau'ri will fall."
"Then I suppose you're willing to let the Eye of Tiamat join the debris of Tau'ri?" Daniel said, and had the momentary satisfaction of seeing Anubis's armored hand tighten around his chair. "That's right--they found it when you couldn't. Turn around now. If you harm Abydos or Tau'ri, they will destroy both of the Eyes. And then I will destroy you."
"There is nowhere you can go that I will not see," Anubis said. "And the Others will stop you if you touch me."
I know, Daniel thought, and said, "You can't watch me where I go, not this time. If you watch me and act on the intelligence you gained as an Ascended being, the Others will stop you." He had no idea whether or not that was a bluff, but hopefully, Anubis was wary enough of the Others that he would err on the side of caution.
"Get off my hatak," Anubis said, finally standing to loom close to Daniel, until his mask was visible. "Or stay and watch as your home burns."
Daniel had to risk it. Abydos wouldn't escape unharmed, but Anubis would be in a hurry to get to Earth; he wouldn't take the time needed to lay waste to Abydos. They could rebuild. Daniel hoped he wasn't wrong and quickly quashed the doubt that lingered in his mind. He had to be sure of what he was doing.
"I won't be staying," Daniel said as he turned to leave. "I have better things to do."
...x...
"Lord Yu," Daniel said.
Yu whirled around. His First Prime darted in front of him, staff weapon raised and primed, but before he could shoot, the Goa'uld grasped him by the shoulder to stop him. "You," he said, looking at Daniel, surprised for a brief moment before recognition changed into anger. "How did you board my hatak?"
"If you thought I was dead, you were almost correct," Daniel said, moving deliberately so that his arm sank into part of the wall. Yu's eyes fixed on that, and his First Prime froze where he stood. "Tal bet, Jaffa. And don't call your other guards. I won't let anyone else see me, and they'll think you're losing your mind...more than they already think it, I mean."
"How dare--" the First Prime started.
"Oshu, ar'ee," Yu interrupted.
Daniel watched the Jaffa, Oshu, who lowered his weapon but didn't quite obey the order to stand down. "Am I wrong?" Daniel asked him honestly.
Part of him hoped he was wrong--dealing with the Goa'uld was complicated enough without adding senility--while the rest hoped he was right. Convincing a Jaffa to see reason, especially one like Oshu, who seemed able to see through the godlike façade and maintain a respectably tight control nonetheless, might be easier than convincing a Goa'uld.
"Of course you are wrong," Oshu lied badly, standing squarely in front of the main console. It was obvious which of them was the one in control. "Lord Yu is a god."
"Silence!" Yu demanded again. But even furious, insulted, offended, and maybe a little threatened--his Jaffa had doubts about his mental faculties already, loyalty notwithstanding--Yu was a practical person, able to bend when he had to. "What do you want?" he demanded quietly. Oshu's jaw tensed, but he didn't speak.
Daniel looked outside. "So. You've been given command of the System Lords' armies. You hope to stop Anubis at Abydos?"
"I will stop him," Yu said.
"The Asgard Supreme Commander Thor couldn't defeat Anubis's hatak," Daniel said. "Are your weapons are so much stronger than the Asgard's?"
"Anubis has one hatak," Yu pointed out. "I command many."
"Anubis has four of the six Eyes," Daniel countered.
"We will destroy him before he can find the last ones."
"Not if he destroys you first."
Yu clenched his jaw together and breathed in through his nose. "Tell Anubis we will not surrender," he spat.
"Do you really think I came from Anubis?" Daniel said, and added, to test the waters, "If not for him, I would have killed you and all the other System Lords that day at the summit--you must know that."
Yu was angry, but that didn't matter. Daniel's posturing here was for Yu's sake, but his information was for Oshu, the one in true command of the fleet. Interestingly, the First Prime's face showed as much hatred as his master's, and Daniel wondered how a man could see through his enslaver's lies and still serve as well as this Jaffa did.
All right. Then antagonizing Yu would get Daniel nowhere, but he could certainly use Oshu's loyalty. The Jaffa rebellion must seem like a betrayal of their principles to Oshu, too, if he still served the Goa'uld, which meant he could be made to cooperate by threatening exposure of Yu's weakness to the other Jaffa--some of them would desert or revolt.
"I came to offer you the last two Eyes," Daniel said. Yu didn't so much as twitch, but Oshu straightened, looking more closely at him. "The Tau'ri have one; soon they'll have the other. Anubis knows that and will seek both on Tau'ri, but you'll be waiting for him there, with the Tau'ri's two Eyes and your entire fleet."
"You deceived me once," Yu said. "You made a fool of me. How can I know you are not lying now?"
"I've been watching you," Daniel answered. "You've done more than any other to hold Anubis at bay, but you will need the SGC if you want to succeed without being killed yourself. The Tau'ri don't know how to use the Eyes--I assume you do."
But Oshu might not know, he realized. He watched the Jaffa, who looked uncertain for the first time as he stared back. "My lord?" Oshu said quietly when Yu didn't answer.
"Of course I know," Yu said angrily. "I am the oldest and wisest of the System Lords."
Daniel couldn't tell whether he was telling the truth or not, so he stilled the airborne vibrations near Yu's ears and said, "I can show you how." Oshu nodded very slightly. When Daniel was sure that Yu hadn't heard, he dropped his hold on the air.
"And what happens if the Tau'ri betray me?" Yu said.
"Don't worry about them," Daniel said. "Wait in orbit around Tau'ri--cloaked--and send word to the SGC. They will give you the weapons you need to defeat Anubis, and you must attack swiftly, without any hesitation, if you hope to win."
"I do not obey you, Daniel Jackson," Yu said. His lips twisted. "My traitorous lo'taur."
"You denied Anubis a place among the System Lords," Daniel said, "and you signed a treaty saying you would stop attacks on an Asgard Protected Planet. We've been on opposing sides, Lord Yu, but you have your honor and I have mine. Help me, and I'll help you. Are we agreed?"
Yu's lips were pressed together in a thin line, but he nodded. "If the Tau'ri give me the Eyes as promised," he said, "I will stop Anubis from attacking their planet. But if they betray me, I will consider the Protected Planets Treaty void." Daniel glanced once at Oshu, who nodded surreptitiously as well.
"I'll hold you to that," Daniel said, and let himself begin to dematerialize, knowing Yu and Oshu would see it as an inexplicable, glowing light. He didn't return completely to human form as he bluffed, "If you betray them, don't bother worrying about what the Asgard have planned for those who defy their treaty; I'll deal with you myself."
...x...
Once the ship was on its way to Earth, Daniel slipped into the engineering room and found Oshu waiting. After checking to see there was no one else there, Daniel walked up behind him. "This panel," he said. "Open it."
Oshu jumped, raising his staff weapon by reflex until he turned and realized who it was. "If you betray my master again..." he warned quietly.
"Open the panel," Daniel repeated. "Now. Unless you want someone else to walk in and realize your master is no longer fit to tell you this himself. And put down your weapon--you'll only damage the hatak if you try to hit me."
A muscle twitched in Oshu's jaw, but he exhaled sharply and opened the panel with a jerk.
Daniel peered inside, quickly cataloguing the crystals stored in it. He didn't have all the knowledge of someone like Sam, but, unlike her, he could see and feel the energy emitting from each part of this ship if he chose and know what it was doing. "These crystals," he said, pointing. "And those, over there. No, not--yes, that one. Do you know what they are?"
Oshu touched one of them, then reluctantly shook his head. He was the general here, not the engineer. Like most high-ranking Jaffa, he probably knew basic protocols to replace or bypass malfunctioning systems, but that didn't mean he understood the hardware and how to adapt it for a new input. "I do not," he said resentfully.
"They set your weapons' controls," Daniel said. "That is what determines the energy output. Replace your usual weapons with the Eyes, and connect them to here and here. The naquadah rims around the Eyes will serve as an interface to your ship's power, but have your engineers bring materials to bridge the connection between the Eye and the weapon. You understand?"
"That is all?" Oshu said.
And what would happen when the fight was over?
Daniel stared at the panel, imagining not two Eyes, but six. Whoever won the battle would undoubtedly salvage the rest of the Eyes from the losing side, and all six Eyes in Yu's army wouldn't be much better than all six in Anubis's army. He couldn't play with Anubis's weapons, but he held influence over someone in control of Yu's ship. And whenever energy was being produced by naquadah in a some sort of reactor, there was always a chance of overloading it just by tweaking the right things. The tricky part would be timing...
An idea forming, Daniel said, "That is all," and quickly faded out of sight.
"And if you are lying?" Oshu said, still looking at the panel as if to commit it to memory. When Daniel didn't answer, he looked up, scowled to find himself alone.
Daniel silently melded into the ship's systems. There, he hesitated--Anubis was restricted to things he could have done as a mortal, and there was no telling what would happen if Daniel broke that rule. He peeked upward, though, and saw--
[...is the core of our philosophy, Martouf,] Oma was lecturing as Martouf listened intently. [Come--I can show you the...]
Relieved, Daniel returned to the ship and pulled on the circuits, gently, creating a switch between the thermal output and the power input that would close once the weapon was deactivated. Hopefully, the overload wouldn't happen until after the battle was already won and would be enough to prevent anyone from having all six Eyes. Hoping no one had seen him, he withdrew.
...x...
Daniel looked over all of Abydos before joining SG-1 in the catacombs. They had taken the first day and night to organize the men and station them all around the pyramid, taking what little cover they could find. Teal'c was with them now while the rest searched the secret room Daniel and Skaara had found.
Finally, Anubis's mothership exited hyperspace, and Teal'c was shouting, aiming his weapon at an approaching udajeet as the men around him raised their own guns.
"Daniel!" Jack yelled from the catacombs. "We're only here because of you!"
"Jack," Daniel said aloud. They spun around to see him. "It's here--I know it."
"O'Neill, ground forces have landed," Teal'c reported over the radio. "We will not be able to hold them off for long!"
"You hear that?" Jack said, pointing up toward the surface.
"I can't do anything about that," Daniel said. He'd already stepped far, far too far.
"I don't care," Jack snapped. "Do something, or we walk."
There was a loud boom from the surface. "Remember that fine line we were talking about?" Daniel said, wishing Jack didn't have the ability to push him past fact and into feeling.
"Cross it," Jack hissed.
"Maybe there's a secret compartment," Sam said, distracting them.
"A secret compartment in a secret chamber?" Jonas said skeptically.
"Why not?" Sam said.
Jonas raised his eyebrows, then shrugged. "Why not," he conceded. He picked up the nearest blunt object and began tapping the walls.
"O'Neill, we cannot hold our position," Teal'c said.
Jack reached up to his radio. "Fall back to the pyramid," he ordered, then lowered his hand. "Daniel, our people are getting slaughtered. If you're the person I used to know, do something."
Daniel swallowed hard, harshly pushing down a spike of apprehension. He looked back at the other two--they would find the Eye of Ra. They were almost there. He had done what he needed to do--his part was all but done.
"All right," he said, resigned now to whatever fate awaited him. He had never been one to do things by halves. "I'll help you hold them off."
Looking triumphant, Jack said. "You two stay here--Daniel, let's go." He started toward the stairs, Skaara behind him.
"Before I go," Daniel said, making his way toward the stairs leading out of the catacombs, "you should know that I told Anubis about the Eye of Tiamat. So once he knows that the Eye of Ra isn't on Abydos anymore, he's going to make his way toward Earth."
"What!" Jack said, running to catch up with him. "Daniel, what were you thinking? How could--slow the hell down!"
"Lord Yu is waiting for you at Earth," Daniel spoke over him, not slowing. The sound of gunfire and staff weapons was getting louder. "He has a fleet of motherships that should be in orbit soon, and he's agreed to stop Anubis if you give him the Eyes."
"Not a chance in hell!" Jack yelled. "Daniel--!"
"It's your only chance!" Daniel yelled back, reaching the top of the stairs, only to find that Teal'c and Skaara's ragtag militia--the few who were left--had taken up position inside, closely pursued by Jaffa. Skaara ran to the other side and took cover. "It'll work. Hand over the Eyes when you get back. Yu has helped us before--Jack, down!"
Reflexively, Jack ducked as a staff blast flew over him and went harmlessly through Daniel's chest. The Jaffa who had shot it froze in shock, and someone's bullet tore through his side in that brief second.
Jack scrambled out of the way and behind a pillar. "Now would be a good time for some fireworks!" he suggested.
Even knowing there was no going back, knowing he didn't want to go back and had already committed himself to whatever the Others had ready for him, Daniel still hesitated, some instinct for self-preservation overcoming his resolve.
Then, Tobay screamed as a staff blast struck him, and he fell--
--and Ascended.
Daniel stared as the glowing form rose. He wasn't the only one--the Jaffa seemed stunned into inaction, Skaara had lowered his weapon, and Jack was looking at Daniel. "Huh," Jack said, turning back to the fight and taking advantage of the Jaffa's momentary shock. "All right, well, take care of him up there--"
"That wasn't me," Daniel said. "Oma's here." Recruiting, he thought grimly with a pang he couldn't afford to feel now, since she'll be losing her most recent follower. Martouf must have run out of distractions by now. One false step, with Oma watching... Out of the corner of his eye, he saw one of the Jaffa recovering, raising his staff weapon while some of the Abydons were still distracted by Tobay's Ascension--"Skaara...no, look out!"
Too late--Skaara crumpled to the ground.
"Skaara!" Jack called, ducking and making his way around to Skaara. "Carter, what's taking so long!"
"We found it, sir," Sam said through his radio, the sound muffled by gunfire and yelling. "We're on our way."
Skaara wasn't moving. Another man was shot and promptly Ascended, but Skaara was still lying there, on the ground, and he wasn't Ascending. Daniel willed him to get up--he hadn't spent years scouring reports and hoping to find a trace of information that said Skaara was still alive, only to have him die now.
"--said, do something! Do you hear me? Daniel!" Daniel turned. Jack was crouched over Skaara's body. "He's not gonna make it if we don't get him out of here," Jack called. "Whatever you're gonna do, this is our last chance!" He turned back to the fight and opened fire.
With no barriers or inhibitions remaining, Daniel took his place behind Jack, Teal'c, and the Abydons. He faced the Jaffa, closed his eyes, and let his image brighten, more and more, until everything else around him felt cold and he was standing in flaming light.
The shouting redoubled, but while the staff blasts faltered, the gunfire continued strong. Daniel opened his eyes again to see some of the Jaffa stumbling back, the rest squinting, as if they were shooting into a glaring sun.
"Keep firing!" Jack ordered. Those still alive--gods, only four left, Jack and Teal'c and two Abydons, one already injured but still firing, firing--responded eagerly, desperately, their backs to Daniel.
Stop, Oma said, whispering through his mind like a knife. Stop it.
I can't, Daniel told her. Go away. Please, Oma.
You have crossed a line, she said as staff blasts passed uselessly through him. I can try to lessen your punishment, but there is a balance. For everything you do, I must take from you in return, or the Others will take from Abydos. Stop now.
Daniel wondered what there was to take from him for holding the enemy off from Abydos, then decided that it didn't matter what they took from him. He'd called men here to die; the least he could do was make sure their families stayed safe, because if they lost now, they were all dead anyway. No, he told her. My choice.
"Colonel, we...have it..." Sam's voice said. "Oh my god."
Daniel turned to see her holding the Eye of Ra in her hand, Jonas right behind. Sam thrust the Eye into Jonas's hands and rushed past, joining the fight.
"Dial Earth," Daniel told Jonas. "You're done here. Get back to the SGC for the next battle."
"For the what?" Jonas said, moving toward the DHD.
"Dammit, Jonas, dial!" Jack yelled. "Everyone fall back--fall back!"
A sound from the ceiling distracted Daniel. He looked up to see the ring mechanism opening, a matter stream already descending from the hatak above. "Jack, rings!" Daniel called.
"Teal'c, get Skaara," Jack ordered, whirling to aim at descending rings as Daniel tried to make himself as blinding as possible to anyone who appeared on the platform. Even as he did all he could do without doing anything, the Stargate whooshed open.
"Colonel, iris is open!" Jonas called. "We have to go!"
"They have the Eye," Anubis's First Prime yelled. "Stop them!"
"Jonas, take the Eye and go," Sam ordered.
Daniel Daniel Daniel, Oma said urgently, the Others are watching. Now now now now--
"Jack, hurry," Daniel said. "Teal'c--"
Energy crackled in the air above him. Daniel looked up, ignoring Jack as he emptied his last magazine with a curse, ignoring Sam as she shouted that they had to go, sir, they couldn't hold it any longer, ignoring Teal'c as he said Skaara's pulse was faint...
Anubis was in his peltak, his hand on the weapons console as he looked down at Daniel.
Stop, Oma said.
"Don't," Daniel told Anubis, terrified, furious. "Don't you dare!"
Try and stop me, Anubis answered, and charged his weapon to fire.
"Run!" Daniel yelled. Sam was already through, Teal'c behind her with Skaara. Jack was the last, looking at Daniel--he was always the last, because he'd never leave a teammate behind--so Daniel screamed, "Now! Close the iris behind you--"
"Daniel--" Jack said.
"Jack--go!" Daniel said. He gathered everything he had and focused it upward, knowing he could stop the blast from reaching Abydos, if only they would let him--
I'm sorry, Oma said.
The blast shook the pyramid around him. Just as he felt the heat spread and collide with his own energy with a shuddering crash, Daniel's grasp was cut, and he felt himself being dragged away from where he stood. "No," he gasped. "Don't do this--"
The Others will do worse, she said.
"Nothing is worse!" he yelled, holding on with all his might. All he had ever held onto through the war was the hope that Abydos would stay safe. He had been devoted to his team and to the SGC, but they were warriors there, willingly facing the risks that all warriors faced; Abydos was their one haven that had managed to remain relatively unharmed if not unscarred, and it was all he had left to fight for. "Nothing could be worse!"
The pulling sensation paused, and he braced himself again against Anubis. Daniel... she said.
"Take anything from me," he begged, pushing, pushing, trying to force the evil that was trying to rain on his home. "Anything! Just let me do this one last thing." Heat was rising around him, pushing against his shield--Anubis had stopped firing and turned toward Earth, but there was too much naquadah in the land and the damage would be unstoppable if he let go now.
They're here, she said. The Others have seen you, they're going to take away your--
Something ripped itself violently from him.
Daniel felt himself shaking in its wake, not sure exactly what he had just lost and not completely sure where he was when it was gone, but it didn't matter, not now, so he gathered together the last bit of strength he had and pushed harder against Anubis's weapon, as hard as he could. The pressure began to lessen all around him, and--
I have to act now, Oma said, and Daniel was yanked away from the lower planes.
...x...
"What was that?" he said when he felt Oma's grip on him and they returned to Kheb. "What happened to Abydos? I didn't see everything--what happened?"
"As my punishment for the unwilling Ascension of six Abydonian lowers," Oma said, "the Others could not reverse what Anubis did."
"No--" Daniel gasped, and tried to escape her. Why wouldn't she let him see? "No! Oma?"
"And as your punishment," she continued, "they have taken your home from you."
"From...just from me? Am I exiled from there? What about my people?"
"You will never return home to Abydos again," Oma said. "Do you remember Nagada?"
"Remember what?" Daniel said. He tried to turn, to look, to see what had just happened. "I want to Descend," he said quickly. "I can choose to Descend! Like Orlin did, like...like Moros did to become Myrddin--"
"I cannot let you Descend with everything you learned here," she said, holding tight to him and not letting him turn or see anything other than Kheb. "All of that will be buried in your mind so far you may never find it again."
"Fine," Daniel said determinedly. "Fine! Let me go!"
"And--Daniel, look at me," she insisted, shaking him. "I told you there had to be a balance. What Anubis took from Abydos today in the wake of your manipulations, the Others have taken from you. That is gone. Not buried; gone. Do you remember your village--Nagada?"
"What village?" Daniel said, confused. "Oma, please--let me Descend, however it has to happen. I don't want this anymore. This isn't my path."
Her grip tightened even more. "You tricked me," she said, and he had been anticipating her anger so much that he was staggered to hear only hurt and betrayal in her words.
"I'm sorry," he said, remembering all the times she'd led him by the hand and guided him when he'd been lost. "Oma, I'm sorry. I had to."
"I know. And I'm sorry, Daniel," she whispered for the last time, and then, he saw nothing more.
Continued in Part IV: The Lost