Chapter Four: Beneath the Surface, part II
The Colonel stepped up quietly behind him, brow furrowed beneath his black ball cap. He eyed them both with a bit of impatience and irritation in his voice as he asked, “Is this a significant find, you two?”
“Absolutely,” Daniel answered quickly.
Sam eyed her CO with barely leashed excitement. “It could be the single most significant find in all of human history, sir,” she announced quietly. She swept an arm toward the panels and added, “If Daniel’s right, these are all Stargate designations, which means there’s an entire network of them across the galaxy.”
Obviously, the colonel didn’t share her excitement. “That’s great, Carter, but it means squat until Jackson finds the address to get us off this rock and back home.”
“He’ll find it, sir,” she replied with certainty.
Daniel’s stomach chose that moment to growl, as if in response. He pretended he hadn’t heard, but it was obvious from Sam’s expression that she had. She tried to smother a grin, and failed miserably. The colonel’s eyebrows lifted in silent question. Daniel ignored him.
Teal’c spoke up from his other side, startling him, since he hadn’t heard the man approach. “Among my people there is an ancient myth. It states that all humans were created on a single world, before the gods scattered us throughout the galaxy. This ancient home, if it still exists, has been lost to us.” He touched the glyphs on the nearest panes and gazed upward, an almost dreamy expression on his face. “I had hoped one day to discover it here.”
“Well, I’m not sure Earth is what you’re lookin’ for,” O’Neill told him, “but you’re welcome to come back with us.”
Teal’c inclined his head in a gracious nod of acceptance of the offer.
Daniel pulled a small notepad from a vest pocket, a pen from another, and began to write, carefully copying down each character in what he hoped was the address home. Once he had everything drawn, he studied and compared several of the groupings until he was fairly certain his previous conclusion was correct, wanting to be absolutely sure before reporting anything. He strolled over to the colonel to share his findings.
Six symbols to describe a point in space, he reiterated to himself, and a seventh to determine point of origin. Each stargate bearing a single unique symbol, identifying a point of origin for each world. The symbol for that planet on the left side, with the address they’d dialed to get there on the right. Logic indicated the single symbol was a name or label of some kind, while the six glyphs were the location. The alien text underneath was probably some kind of description, a catalog of the most important information about that world.
He wanted to read that message so badly it burned inside him like a lit fuse, but he couldn’t. He needed a Rosetta stone of some kind, a key to the code, and so far they hadn’t found anything like that. Daniel put his curiosity away as he glanced up from his notes to meet the colonel’s eyes.
“Well?” asked O’Neill, looking up at Daniel, arms crossed and resting on his knees as he sat on the floor, back resting against the wall.
“Found it,” Daniel said with a small, proud smile.
“You sure?”
Daniel nodded, smiling broader, never more certain of himself than at that moment. “I’m positive.”
“How do you know?” O’Neill demanded, one eyebrow rising in doubt.
“The order of the groupings on the panels gave me a starting point,” said Daniel. He hurried over to the first crystal panel. “This,” he said, reverently touching the inscription inside the first cartouche, “is the address home.” Moving to the last row of panels, he put his hand on the lone glyph on the left. “The DHD we saw has a single unique glyph on the dialing panel, which I extrapolated as the symbol for this world. You’d need it to dial out to anywhere, which makes it the seventh symbol, the point of origin. In the panel on the right is the six-character address we used to get here. Each of these cartouches is the name and address for every possible planet in the stargate network. All we have to do is dial the six glyphs next to the symbol for Earth, then add this planet’s unique key, and we’re done here.”
A rush of triumph mixed with hunger made his cheeks flush hot and his head spin. He waited for O’Neill’s reaction. The colonel got slowly to his feet and strolled over to take a closer look at the key inscriptions.
“Hot damn!” crowed Ferretti, getting to his feet and giving Freeman a high-five. “We’re goin’ home!”
“What’s more,” said Daniel triumphantly, looking at Sam for confirmation, “the constellations on the Stargates, except for the unique identifier on each ‘gate for the point of origin, are all drawn from Earth as the reference point. Serpens Caput, Virgo, Gemini -- if you looked at any of those arrangements of stars from this planet or any other, they’d be in a totally different pattern. Earth is the key to the Stargates, the place where all this started.”
“He’s right, sir,” added Carter, nodding. “When we got here, we looked at the glyphs and they were all identical to the Earth ‘gate, except for the point of origin key. The only possible explanation is that it was designed with Earth as the focal point of the entire network; not necessarily at the hub, but as the base for the network design.”
She glanced around at the other glass panels, all filled with cartouches bearing six symbols between the linear borders. “If the other ‘gates follow that same pattern of logic, then Earth history, the legends behind the constellations, should also be a common point of reference in cultures we come across. Did you find other data to suggest any additional connections to Earth?”
“The people here speak a strange derivative Spanish,” Daniel told her proudly, “and the god they worship is named after an Earth constellation.” He was exhilarated, giddy with success. Even if no one else recognized it, he knew he was right. He’d made an important discovery, perhaps the most important archaeological find in all of human history. The only problem was, he couldn’t tell anyone outside the Cheyenne Mountain base about it.
He put a hand to his spinning head. This had gone way beyond a growling stomach; he was trembling, desperately in need of food to replenish the energy he’d used earlier. If he didn’t eat soon, he’d pass out, but he didn’t want to appear weak in his moment of success.
“You okay?” asked Sam, touching his shoulder to steady him.
“Blood sugar’s probably in the basement,” he whispered, flashing her a fragile smile. His head was killing him, and his hands were shaking. He tucked them against his ribs, arms crossed against his chest.
“Are you diabetic?” she inquired, concern in her big blue eyes.
“No,” he returned with an embarrassed shrug. “Just been doing a lot of alchemy.” The room started to tilt, and Daniel stumbled backward. Hands gripped him and lowered him gently to the floor. “Hungry,” he mumbled. “Need to eat.”
Four energy bars were quickly thrust at him. He took them all gratefully, and tore into the first one. “Thanks,” he said between bites.
“Your energy output must be phenomenal,” said Sam, squatting down beside him.
He nodded, not really wanting to discuss the subject. “Mmm-hmm.”
O’Neill crossed his arms over his chest. “Let me know when you’re ready to move out,” he said quietly, “and we’ll head for the ‘gate, see if we can locate the rest of the team and get the hell outta Dodge.”
Daniel nodded, glad for the chance to rest. He could’ve used a nap, too, but was aware that Kowalsky and the others might have been injured or taken captive. The sooner they returned to base camp and got out of there, the better.
As he started on the second bar, he looked up and realized the Jaffa was standing next to him, his body positioned as if on guard. “Teal’c, can I ask what made you decide to help us?”
Teal’c didn’t make eye contact, turning his gaze to the crystal panels instead. “Years ago, I began to question whether Orion and the Immortals were true gods. They have great power, but they can also be very cruel. Until now I have remained silent, because I knew of no one I could trust with my doubts.”
“If Orion is so terrible, why do your people worship him?” Ferretti asked.
“The Immortals would have us believe that we are their creations,” Teal’c replied. “We are taught from birth that there was never a time without them. Written records on every world I have visited speak of them ruling over humans for thousands of years.” He clasped his hands behind him and lifted his head. “But here, in these ruins, there is evidence of a human civilization greater than any I have ever known. My people live simple lives, yet those who once lived here knew much more than we do.”
“They knew more than we do, too,” Sam agreed. “This was a very advanced civilization.”
Teal’c’s voice deepened with anger. “As O’Neill has said, it makes no sense for those who live now to know less than those who came before -- unless that knowledge was somehow taken from us. We are slaves to the Immortals… but perhaps it was not always so.”
“Reverse evolution,” she murmured. “I suppose it’s possible.”
“Now that I have seen the power of a trained, adult alchemist, I begin to understand why alchemy is forbidden, for the gods themselves do not wield this power. If they cannot bend matter to their will, then they cannot be all-powerful. And if they are not, what other lies have we been told? I wish to know the truth, and I believe I have finally found allies who can assist me.”
“Takes a lot of guts to go up against a god, even a false one,” the colonel said with an approving nod. “You’re a brave man, Teal’c.”
Teal’c inclined his head gracefully, acknowledging the compliment. “When I saw the courage and strength of will of your soldiers, particularly that of DanielJackson, I wished to know what manner of world values such magic. I wished to go there, to learn, and to be free.” His chin lifted higher. “I wish one day for all my people to be free.”
“Alchemists aren’t exactly treasured on Earth,” Daniel corrected quietly, “but at least we’re not thrown into fire pits as children. And it’s not magic. It’s just the way we’re born.”
Sam nodded in agreement. “The people who built this city could have made weapons and aircraft like the ones you use. Where do you get them?”
“They are considered the magic of the gods,” Teal’c told her flatly, “though I know there is no true magic in them. They are only machines that come to us from other worlds under Orion’s control.”
“Do you know how they work?” asked the colonel, head cocked, hands on hips.
Teal’c shook his head. “I have flown gliders, and I have used staff weapons in battle, but I do not understand how to create or repair them.”
“Had to ask,” said O’Neill with a shrug.
“We could sure use technology like that,” Sam mused thoughtfully. She sat down beside Daniel with a thump, falling ungracefully out of her squat onto her butt.
Daniel opened the next power bar wrapper, nodding in agreement, munching away as the group fell silent, each of them lost in their own thoughts for a little while. The only sounds were the small movements of people, the air still and lifeless, the atmosphere filled with secrets so powerful Daniel could feel it against his skin like an increase in barometric pressure. There was so much knowledge to be had here, but they’d have to leave it behind them. There simply wasn’t time to explore and study the dead city, and he’d have to be satisfied with what he’d caught on his video recorder.
Once his stomach was full, Daniel felt a little stronger. He waited for the lightheadedness to pass and got to his feet, giving the colonel the signal that he was ready to go.
O’Neill nodded and rose, calling for the team to move out.
The floating globes above the city were still bright, illuminating the underground ruins well enough to give them a vague idea where they were going. Teal’c led the way, picking a path that everyone hoped would take them in the general direction of the Stargate.
No one said much, probably thinking about the continued silence from base camp. Daniel’s triumph was equally short-lived in his own mind, worrying instead about Kowalsky and the others.
It took several hours of carefully negotiating through the ruins, till they were certain they had passed below the last of the village outbuildings and were well into the woods.
On the colonel’s orders, Daniel climbed on top of a large section of broken wall, put his hands to it, and pulled composition material from the ground around him, riding the stone outcropping as it slowly rose in the dimly lit cavern until he could reach the solid earth ceiling above his head.
Carefully, as quietly as he could manage, he opened a small hole in the ground, all the way to the surface. He rested then, listening for sounds of activity above them, but there was only quiet, broken by the occasional chirping of a bird. Daniel widened the hole into a crack, then to a crevice big enough for him to climb up for a peek. Peering carefully around, he saw that the opening was completely hidden by thick ferns arching overhead. He climbed out, still listening, and risked a glance above the fronds.
Empty woods surrounded him.
He widened the hole still further, and almost as soon as he’d finished, the colonel stuck his head through it.
After checking out their surroundings, Daniel gave confirmation via hand signals for the rest to come up. One by one, the team emerged and fanned out into the trees. As a unit, they crept through the twilight woods, arriving a few minutes later near the clearing where the stargate sat.
Before they arrived, Daniel already knew what to expect, his stomach twisting up into knots, his mouth going dry. The tinny scent of blood was mixed with the odor of smoke and ozone. Three bodies in BDUs lay strewn about the campsite. Tents were smoldering rags, and most of the equipment and supplies had been smashed, broken open and pillaged, or carted away by the Jaffa, several of whom stood guard at the ‘gate. Their meager team was outnumbered at least five to one.
If only he hadn’t spent so much time underground, Daniel chided himself. If he hadn’t been so damned weak. If he’d been smarter and figured out the address to Earth faster. If, if if... Maybe the others would have been able to escape, if he’d been a better soldier. He felt sick, guilt gnawing at his insides. He’d managed to escape the worst of the action, leaving the team at the base camp to this.
Daniel would never be able to forgive himself for that.
He’d just have to make sure the survivors weren’t left behind, and turned to study Colonel O’Neill’s grim expression. There was murder in those dark eyes, fixed firmly on one of the Jaffa guarding the gate. Daniel’s lips pressed together in silent approval, and he readied himself for whatever would be asked of him next.
~~**~~
To be continued...
Authors’ note: Some ideas in this chapter were taken from the SG-1 episode “Children of the Gods,” written by Jonathan Glassner and Brad Wright.
back to Chapter Four, part I
back to Chapter One
“Absolutely,” Daniel answered quickly.
Sam eyed her CO with barely leashed excitement. “It could be the single most significant find in all of human history, sir,” she announced quietly. She swept an arm toward the panels and added, “If Daniel’s right, these are all Stargate designations, which means there’s an entire network of them across the galaxy.”
Obviously, the colonel didn’t share her excitement. “That’s great, Carter, but it means squat until Jackson finds the address to get us off this rock and back home.”
“He’ll find it, sir,” she replied with certainty.
Daniel’s stomach chose that moment to growl, as if in response. He pretended he hadn’t heard, but it was obvious from Sam’s expression that she had. She tried to smother a grin, and failed miserably. The colonel’s eyebrows lifted in silent question. Daniel ignored him.
Teal’c spoke up from his other side, startling him, since he hadn’t heard the man approach. “Among my people there is an ancient myth. It states that all humans were created on a single world, before the gods scattered us throughout the galaxy. This ancient home, if it still exists, has been lost to us.” He touched the glyphs on the nearest panes and gazed upward, an almost dreamy expression on his face. “I had hoped one day to discover it here.”
“Well, I’m not sure Earth is what you’re lookin’ for,” O’Neill told him, “but you’re welcome to come back with us.”
Teal’c inclined his head in a gracious nod of acceptance of the offer.
Daniel pulled a small notepad from a vest pocket, a pen from another, and began to write, carefully copying down each character in what he hoped was the address home. Once he had everything drawn, he studied and compared several of the groupings until he was fairly certain his previous conclusion was correct, wanting to be absolutely sure before reporting anything. He strolled over to the colonel to share his findings.
Six symbols to describe a point in space, he reiterated to himself, and a seventh to determine point of origin. Each stargate bearing a single unique symbol, identifying a point of origin for each world. The symbol for that planet on the left side, with the address they’d dialed to get there on the right. Logic indicated the single symbol was a name or label of some kind, while the six glyphs were the location. The alien text underneath was probably some kind of description, a catalog of the most important information about that world.
He wanted to read that message so badly it burned inside him like a lit fuse, but he couldn’t. He needed a Rosetta stone of some kind, a key to the code, and so far they hadn’t found anything like that. Daniel put his curiosity away as he glanced up from his notes to meet the colonel’s eyes.
“Well?” asked O’Neill, looking up at Daniel, arms crossed and resting on his knees as he sat on the floor, back resting against the wall.
“Found it,” Daniel said with a small, proud smile.
“You sure?”
Daniel nodded, smiling broader, never more certain of himself than at that moment. “I’m positive.”
“How do you know?” O’Neill demanded, one eyebrow rising in doubt.
“The order of the groupings on the panels gave me a starting point,” said Daniel. He hurried over to the first crystal panel. “This,” he said, reverently touching the inscription inside the first cartouche, “is the address home.” Moving to the last row of panels, he put his hand on the lone glyph on the left. “The DHD we saw has a single unique glyph on the dialing panel, which I extrapolated as the symbol for this world. You’d need it to dial out to anywhere, which makes it the seventh symbol, the point of origin. In the panel on the right is the six-character address we used to get here. Each of these cartouches is the name and address for every possible planet in the stargate network. All we have to do is dial the six glyphs next to the symbol for Earth, then add this planet’s unique key, and we’re done here.”
A rush of triumph mixed with hunger made his cheeks flush hot and his head spin. He waited for O’Neill’s reaction. The colonel got slowly to his feet and strolled over to take a closer look at the key inscriptions.
“Hot damn!” crowed Ferretti, getting to his feet and giving Freeman a high-five. “We’re goin’ home!”
“What’s more,” said Daniel triumphantly, looking at Sam for confirmation, “the constellations on the Stargates, except for the unique identifier on each ‘gate for the point of origin, are all drawn from Earth as the reference point. Serpens Caput, Virgo, Gemini -- if you looked at any of those arrangements of stars from this planet or any other, they’d be in a totally different pattern. Earth is the key to the Stargates, the place where all this started.”
“He’s right, sir,” added Carter, nodding. “When we got here, we looked at the glyphs and they were all identical to the Earth ‘gate, except for the point of origin key. The only possible explanation is that it was designed with Earth as the focal point of the entire network; not necessarily at the hub, but as the base for the network design.”
She glanced around at the other glass panels, all filled with cartouches bearing six symbols between the linear borders. “If the other ‘gates follow that same pattern of logic, then Earth history, the legends behind the constellations, should also be a common point of reference in cultures we come across. Did you find other data to suggest any additional connections to Earth?”
“The people here speak a strange derivative Spanish,” Daniel told her proudly, “and the god they worship is named after an Earth constellation.” He was exhilarated, giddy with success. Even if no one else recognized it, he knew he was right. He’d made an important discovery, perhaps the most important archaeological find in all of human history. The only problem was, he couldn’t tell anyone outside the Cheyenne Mountain base about it.
He put a hand to his spinning head. This had gone way beyond a growling stomach; he was trembling, desperately in need of food to replenish the energy he’d used earlier. If he didn’t eat soon, he’d pass out, but he didn’t want to appear weak in his moment of success.
“You okay?” asked Sam, touching his shoulder to steady him.
“Blood sugar’s probably in the basement,” he whispered, flashing her a fragile smile. His head was killing him, and his hands were shaking. He tucked them against his ribs, arms crossed against his chest.
“Are you diabetic?” she inquired, concern in her big blue eyes.
“No,” he returned with an embarrassed shrug. “Just been doing a lot of alchemy.” The room started to tilt, and Daniel stumbled backward. Hands gripped him and lowered him gently to the floor. “Hungry,” he mumbled. “Need to eat.”
Four energy bars were quickly thrust at him. He took them all gratefully, and tore into the first one. “Thanks,” he said between bites.
“Your energy output must be phenomenal,” said Sam, squatting down beside him.
He nodded, not really wanting to discuss the subject. “Mmm-hmm.”
O’Neill crossed his arms over his chest. “Let me know when you’re ready to move out,” he said quietly, “and we’ll head for the ‘gate, see if we can locate the rest of the team and get the hell outta Dodge.”
Daniel nodded, glad for the chance to rest. He could’ve used a nap, too, but was aware that Kowalsky and the others might have been injured or taken captive. The sooner they returned to base camp and got out of there, the better.
As he started on the second bar, he looked up and realized the Jaffa was standing next to him, his body positioned as if on guard. “Teal’c, can I ask what made you decide to help us?”
Teal’c didn’t make eye contact, turning his gaze to the crystal panels instead. “Years ago, I began to question whether Orion and the Immortals were true gods. They have great power, but they can also be very cruel. Until now I have remained silent, because I knew of no one I could trust with my doubts.”
“If Orion is so terrible, why do your people worship him?” Ferretti asked.
“The Immortals would have us believe that we are their creations,” Teal’c replied. “We are taught from birth that there was never a time without them. Written records on every world I have visited speak of them ruling over humans for thousands of years.” He clasped his hands behind him and lifted his head. “But here, in these ruins, there is evidence of a human civilization greater than any I have ever known. My people live simple lives, yet those who once lived here knew much more than we do.”
“They knew more than we do, too,” Sam agreed. “This was a very advanced civilization.”
Teal’c’s voice deepened with anger. “As O’Neill has said, it makes no sense for those who live now to know less than those who came before -- unless that knowledge was somehow taken from us. We are slaves to the Immortals… but perhaps it was not always so.”
“Reverse evolution,” she murmured. “I suppose it’s possible.”
“Now that I have seen the power of a trained, adult alchemist, I begin to understand why alchemy is forbidden, for the gods themselves do not wield this power. If they cannot bend matter to their will, then they cannot be all-powerful. And if they are not, what other lies have we been told? I wish to know the truth, and I believe I have finally found allies who can assist me.”
“Takes a lot of guts to go up against a god, even a false one,” the colonel said with an approving nod. “You’re a brave man, Teal’c.”
Teal’c inclined his head gracefully, acknowledging the compliment. “When I saw the courage and strength of will of your soldiers, particularly that of DanielJackson, I wished to know what manner of world values such magic. I wished to go there, to learn, and to be free.” His chin lifted higher. “I wish one day for all my people to be free.”
“Alchemists aren’t exactly treasured on Earth,” Daniel corrected quietly, “but at least we’re not thrown into fire pits as children. And it’s not magic. It’s just the way we’re born.”
Sam nodded in agreement. “The people who built this city could have made weapons and aircraft like the ones you use. Where do you get them?”
“They are considered the magic of the gods,” Teal’c told her flatly, “though I know there is no true magic in them. They are only machines that come to us from other worlds under Orion’s control.”
“Do you know how they work?” asked the colonel, head cocked, hands on hips.
Teal’c shook his head. “I have flown gliders, and I have used staff weapons in battle, but I do not understand how to create or repair them.”
“Had to ask,” said O’Neill with a shrug.
“We could sure use technology like that,” Sam mused thoughtfully. She sat down beside Daniel with a thump, falling ungracefully out of her squat onto her butt.
Daniel opened the next power bar wrapper, nodding in agreement, munching away as the group fell silent, each of them lost in their own thoughts for a little while. The only sounds were the small movements of people, the air still and lifeless, the atmosphere filled with secrets so powerful Daniel could feel it against his skin like an increase in barometric pressure. There was so much knowledge to be had here, but they’d have to leave it behind them. There simply wasn’t time to explore and study the dead city, and he’d have to be satisfied with what he’d caught on his video recorder.
Once his stomach was full, Daniel felt a little stronger. He waited for the lightheadedness to pass and got to his feet, giving the colonel the signal that he was ready to go.
O’Neill nodded and rose, calling for the team to move out.
The floating globes above the city were still bright, illuminating the underground ruins well enough to give them a vague idea where they were going. Teal’c led the way, picking a path that everyone hoped would take them in the general direction of the Stargate.
No one said much, probably thinking about the continued silence from base camp. Daniel’s triumph was equally short-lived in his own mind, worrying instead about Kowalsky and the others.
It took several hours of carefully negotiating through the ruins, till they were certain they had passed below the last of the village outbuildings and were well into the woods.
On the colonel’s orders, Daniel climbed on top of a large section of broken wall, put his hands to it, and pulled composition material from the ground around him, riding the stone outcropping as it slowly rose in the dimly lit cavern until he could reach the solid earth ceiling above his head.
Carefully, as quietly as he could manage, he opened a small hole in the ground, all the way to the surface. He rested then, listening for sounds of activity above them, but there was only quiet, broken by the occasional chirping of a bird. Daniel widened the hole into a crack, then to a crevice big enough for him to climb up for a peek. Peering carefully around, he saw that the opening was completely hidden by thick ferns arching overhead. He climbed out, still listening, and risked a glance above the fronds.
Empty woods surrounded him.
He widened the hole still further, and almost as soon as he’d finished, the colonel stuck his head through it.
After checking out their surroundings, Daniel gave confirmation via hand signals for the rest to come up. One by one, the team emerged and fanned out into the trees. As a unit, they crept through the twilight woods, arriving a few minutes later near the clearing where the stargate sat.
Before they arrived, Daniel already knew what to expect, his stomach twisting up into knots, his mouth going dry. The tinny scent of blood was mixed with the odor of smoke and ozone. Three bodies in BDUs lay strewn about the campsite. Tents were smoldering rags, and most of the equipment and supplies had been smashed, broken open and pillaged, or carted away by the Jaffa, several of whom stood guard at the ‘gate. Their meager team was outnumbered at least five to one.
If only he hadn’t spent so much time underground, Daniel chided himself. If he hadn’t been so damned weak. If he’d been smarter and figured out the address to Earth faster. If, if if... Maybe the others would have been able to escape, if he’d been a better soldier. He felt sick, guilt gnawing at his insides. He’d managed to escape the worst of the action, leaving the team at the base camp to this.
Daniel would never be able to forgive himself for that.
He’d just have to make sure the survivors weren’t left behind, and turned to study Colonel O’Neill’s grim expression. There was murder in those dark eyes, fixed firmly on one of the Jaffa guarding the gate. Daniel’s lips pressed together in silent approval, and he readied himself for whatever would be asked of him next.
~~**~~
To be continued...
Authors’ note: Some ideas in this chapter were taken from the SG-1 episode “Children of the Gods,” written by Jonathan Glassner and Brad Wright.
back to Chapter Four, part I
back to Chapter One