Daddy's Little Girl -- SG-1 - Part the Two
Title: Daddy's Little Girl
Fandom: Stargate SG-1
Rating: PG (might ramp up to R at some point, but not for a while)
Characters/Pairings: General Team fic, with appearances by Jack, Landry, Lamm and original characers
Disclaimer: Ain't mine, don't own um...just like playing with them...especially that Danny Boy...
Summary: Daniel brings DJ to Colorado for physical evidence, and some Father/Daughter bonding...
Two days later, Daniel juggled his keys and a bag of groceries as he tried to open the door to his house, while DJ shuffled her suitcase and a duffle bag behind him. “Pardon the mess. I tend to bring my work home with me, when I’m not staying on the base,” he said, dropping his keys onto the hallway table.
“The guest room is just through there.” He pointed through the living room to the half open door. “There are clean sheets on the bed, and the closet is empty. Make yourself comfortable. I’m just going to put these groceries away.”
When he emerged from the kitchen, she was browsing the pictures and artifacts that littered the surfaces of his living room. Most of the pictures were of him and his team, Jack, Cassandra, friends he’d lost. She found her way to the one he kept of his parents, with the Sphinx in the background. They were smiling and her belly was showing signs of his impending arrival. “So that’s why Egypt.”
He smiled and came closer. “Among other reasons.”
“Mom told me they died when you were little.”
He nodded and crossed the distance to her side to touch the surface of the glass. “I was young, and angry about it for a long time.”
In his mind he could see it happen, hear the sound. He closed his eyes and felt her hand touch his. He turned away, pulled his hand back, feeling suddenly more vulnerable than he liked. “Are you hungry?” he asked when he’d gotten a little distance.
She set the picture down, taking the hint without offense. “I could eat.”
“Good. I’ll get some dinner started.”
She smiled and moved to a picture of him and Sam. “So you and Dr. Carter are…”
He stopped in the doorway to the kitchen and looked back at her. “Friends. Good friends.”
She nodded. “You two look pretty cozy in some of these pictures.”
Daniel chuckled. “I suppose we do. We’ve been through a lot together.”
“So…is there someone who is more than a friend?” she asked, following him to the kitchen.
“Ah…not really.” He set about getting pasta cooking as he thought about it. “I was married for a while. Her name was Shar’e.”
“What happened?”
Daniel exhaled softly, picturing her face. “She died. It was a long time ago now.”
“How did you meet?”
He set the pot on the stove and turned on the burner before turning to look at her. “I-it had to do with my work, actually…which means I can’t really tell you about it right now.”
“Oh. That’s…interesting…I guess.”
“Don’t worry. Tomorrow we’ll get the proof that your mother was right, and that will be the first step in giving you the answers you’re looking for.”
“And you’ll tell me about this project you want my help with?”
Daniel nodded. “Actually, that reminds me. I have some of the declassified stuff if you want to take a look at it.” He wasn’t sure whether he’d brought it to test her or intrigue
her and keep her from leaving without at least having a chance to know what he did.
He left the pot cooking and went to the living room where a box lay on the floor beside the coffee table. “It isn’t much, but it includes my notebook with some rambling thoughts…” He put the box on the coffee table and pulled out a few small pieces and his notebook. “Help yourself. I’ll finish dinner.”
A little less than a half hour later, he brought two steaming plates of pasta out to the dining table. DJ was seated on the couch, leaning over his notes. “Dinner,” he announced.
“Did you really find Arthur’s Mantle?” she asked incredulously as she joined him.
“Hmmm?” His mind traipsed back over the notes. He hadn’t realized he’d mentioned that particular artifact in these notes. “In a manner of speaking, yes.” He set the plates down and returned to the kitchen for silverware.
“Are you aware that there are those who believe that Merlin was an alien?” she asked, sitting beside her plate.
Daniel raised an eyebrow as he handed her a fork. “Really?”
“Yours are not the only crazy thoughts in the realm of archeology.”
“No, I suppose they aren’t. Tell me more.”
“There are a few of my colleagues that think that all of the references to magic are actually referring to advanced technology.”
Daniel absorbed the information and tried not to show his surprise. “And how do you feel about that?”
“I’ve decided not to make up my mind yet.” She said most diplomatically. “Just like I’ve decided regarding the things you published.”
“Good. An open mind is going to be very important in the next few days.”
“So, what is it?”
“What?”
“Arthur’s Mantle?”
“An artifact I’m still trying to figure out.” Daniel watched her for a moment, then turned to his own food.
“How’d you find it?”
“Dumb luck, actually. I’d never even heard of it.”
“There isn’t a lot of information about it, and what there is doesn’t make a lot of sense.”
“So I’ve discovered.”
“Well, maybe we’ll find out together.” DJ said, looking up with a smile.
Daniel couldn’t help but smile back. “Maybe.”
Daniel didn’t sleep much that night, torn between a suspicion he didn’t even want to name and a growing hope that this amazing young woman was exactly who and what she claimed to be. The skies were dark and cloudy the next morning as he drove them to the SGC.
“So basically, what’s going to happen is that I’ll sign you in and we’ll go directly to Dr. Lamm. She’ll do some basic tests, and a preliminary physical. It’s a part of the job here. Because of the work we do, physical exams are required of all team members and visitors. Besides which, Dr. Lamm has all of my medical history at her disposal, and she’ll want to compare yours before she gives us any answers. Then, we’ll go talk to General Landry.”
“And that’s when you impress on me the top secret nature of the work and get me to sign a non-disclosure form?”
He chuckled. “Something like that.”
“And if I pass all of your tests?”
“I get to show you what I do.”
“Kinda like take your daughter to work day?” She smiled again, that tongue between the teeth smile that made him want to laugh and hug her.
“So, first things first.” Dr. Lamm said, setting down her clipboard to address Daniel and General Landry. “She’s fully human, no Goa’uld or other symbiote, no signs of abnormal body chemistry, brain function or artificial intelligence.”
“That’s good.” Daniel breathed, adjusting his position nervously. “And?”
“And, I ran the DNA twice, and compared her other stats to yours, to be sure.”
“And?” Landry leaned forward, his hand gesture urging her to continue.
Lamm put her hands in the pockets of her lab coat. “And, based on every scrap of information available to me at this time, she is most certainly related to Dr. Jackson.”
Daniel sat back and rubbed his head. “You’re sure?”
She smiled. “Congratualtions, Dr. You’re a father. She’s just finishing up the last of the other tests with Dr. Michaels.” She looked at Landry. “I’ll have full medical report on your desk in the morning.”
Daniel closed his eyes and let it sink in. It was real. Which wasn’t to say it couldn’t still be some trick, but she was a part of him. DNA didn’t lie…at least it hadn’t yet. He felt eyes on him and stood. “Well. I should-I should go see if she’s done…and-“
Landry stood too. “And, bring her to my office. I want to meet this girl. Her file is impressive, and if you still want to offer her a shot here, we have business to discuss.”
Daniel nodded and gathered the files he’d been perusing while waiting for Lamm. “I’ll see you in a bit then.” Daniel wandered off, lost in a whirl of emotion and thoughts that battled for his attention. She was his daughter, a product of college romance long forgotten about. She was quite lovely, nearly as tall as he was, with a sparkling wit he was finding irresistible. There was a lot about her that reminded him of Colleen, but if he let himself he could see traces of his mother in her mouth and hands, and her eyes were mirror images of his own. Her laugh reminded him of days when he had been more hopeful, more naïve…when he hadn’t had to second guess every decision, suspect every person he met.
He didn’t know if he knew how to be a father. It had been a long time since he’d let anyone who wasn’t Sam or Jack or Teal’c close to him. He paused outside the infirmary door and gathered himself. She must be feeling out of place and unsure of herself as much as he was. He knocked on the door and entered the room. DJ looked up from a spot on the exam table.
“Have you come to rescue me?” she asked as Dr. Michaels emerged from a side room.
Daniel smiled. “If the good doctor is done with you.”
She pouted a little, then turned to Michaels. “Are you?”
The older man nodded and toyed with his stethoscope. “Yes, we’re done.”
“Good.” She hopped down off the table and grabbed her jacket before joining Daniel near the door. “So, what’s the verdict, Doc?”
Daniel couldn’t help but chuckle. “The tests are still running.”
“But Dr. Lamm left when someone came and gave her some results. I figured that meant she was telling you what’s what.”
He nodded. “She was.”
“And?”
Those blue eyes glittered with excitement, with desire for knowledge. He exhaled a breath he seemed to have been holding since he’d left Lamm and Landry and felt his body sag as if he’d released a valve. “And, apparently your mother was no floozy.”
“My grandmother will be relieved.” DJ said, smiling broadly. “So, it’s settled?”
Daniel opened his arms in a surrendering gesture. “According to our DNA, you are the daughter I never knew I had.”
She hugged him unexpectedly, and his arms closed around her almost instinctually. It felt…warm, right. The moment was over quickly and she stood back, looking almost embarrassed. “So, does this mean you get to show me what you do here?”
“General Landry is waiting for us, actually.” He held out an arm to her and she took it without hesitation. They were quiet until they reached the office door. Daniel stopped and turned to face her. “Okay, this is it. Once you go through this door, everything changes. If you want to go back to your life, now’s the time to say so.”
“Why, are their aliens behind the door?” she asked teasingly.
Daniel cocked his head to the side and thought about it briefly. “Um…not usually, no. But it has happened.” He grinned and knocked on the door. She wouldn’t walk away. He knew her well enough to know that. She couldn’t. It was part of who she was, part of who he was.
“Come.”
Daniel opened the door and held it for DJ, then followed her into the room. “General Landry, I’d like to introduce you to Dr. DJ Moore, my daughter.”
Landry stood and held out his hand, which DJ took with a tentative smile. “It’s a pleasure, General.”
“I’ve been reviewing your file. Please, sit.” Landry sat and Daniel and DJ followed suit.
“I have a file? Already?”
Landry chuckled. “Yes, well, it started the minute Dr. Jackson started checking up on you…and its grown.” He held up the folder with the Department of Defense logo emblazoned on it. “College transcripts, information about your mother and her parents, standard background check, not so standard security checks.” He looked up from the file. “We’re very thorough.”
”I guess so. Find anything interesting…or potentially embarrassing? I mean, I don’t know if this new father/daughter thing could withstand naked baby pictures or anything.”
Landry laughed and closed the file to open another one. “No, nothing like that. I promise. Basically its our way of judging our security risk in inviting you to be a part of our organization.”
Her eyes narrowed, with a glance aside at Daniel, then back to Landry. “And so we come to it. I’ll admit I’m intrigued about the whole need for anthropologists and archeologists in a military compound this far underground.”
“Well, I’m sure we can tell you all about it, if you would be so kind as to start by signing this.” He passed the open folder and a pen across to her. “Standard non-disclosure form. Its required before we can go any further.”
She glanced over it and signed it eagerly, then settled back to hear Landry out. “Dr. Jackson is our lead archeologist here at the SGC.” Landry said. “He is responsible for this facility existing, in many ways.”
“So what is it you do?” She was asking Daniel, not Landry, and he seemed startled by the question.
“Travel to other planets,” he finally responded after opening and closing his mouth a few times. He shrugged at Landry. “Sometimes its best to just jump into the middle.”
“Other planets?” She squinted at him and then looked around. “What, in spaceships?”
“Sometimes.” Daniel turned a little in his seat. “But more often we use something we call the Stargate. Its an ancient device that creates a stable wormhole through space.”
“Wow.” She stood up and paced around the small room. Daniel got up too, and opened the door that connected to the conference room overlooking the gate.
“Come here.” He took her hand and led her into the room, opening the blast doors to reveal the gate. SG-8 was returning from a mission. She stood at the glass and starred as the last of the team members stepped through the event horizon. “That’s the gate. That’s SG-8, returning from a mission on the other side of the galaxy.”
Her hand rose up to the glass, and sort of touched the gate. “There are other races out there, and other human beings. Many of the cultures out there resemble and come from the cultures here on earth. The people are the descendents of slaves taken from earth by a race of people called the Goa’uld. The things we’ve learned out there among the planets we’ve explored has helped us understand our own history a whole lot better.”
“Wow,” she said again, glancing aside at Daniel.
“Yeah, it’s pretty incredible,” he agreed. The gate swooshed closed, drawing her eyes back to it.
“So…the project you need my help with?”
“Earlier this year, my team and I were transported into a secret chamber in Glastonbury.”
“Where you found the mantle?”
He nodded. “Among other things. There is more…much more…” He glanced at Landry who nodded. “Maybe we could go down to my office and we can hit the highlights. I can introduce you to Teal’c, if he’s back from Tankara.”
“Came in this morning.” Landry provided. “It was my pleasure to meet you, Dr. Moore.”
Her hand came away from the glass and she nodded a little dazedly before turning to follow Daniel. “Wow.” She said again as they exited the conference room and headed down the steel gray corridor. “I expected a lot of things when I got up this morning…but…and, you…so not what I expected. Of all the rumors and…but you were…” She stopped him and looked at him with wide eyes. “Wait. The pyramids, are they…were they….”
Daniel nodded. “Yes, they were…rather, are. Most of them could still serve the function. We’ve seen it in action, actually…on a planet called Abydos, where I met and married Shar’e.”
She swallowed and turned to continue their walking. “So you were right all along….and Merlin?”
Daniel inhaled and tried to find the best way to approach the subject. “As near as we can tell he was what we would call an Ascended being…an Ancient.”
“Alien?”
“That’s still up for debate.” Daniel said. “They are the race that built the Stargate system, and they were human…humans that found a way to Ascend, to a state of pure energy. We once believed that they were a previous version of the human beings that populate this world, but recent evidence has put that into doubt.”
“Wow,” she said again, shaking her head. “It isn’t even lunch time, and I’m already exhausted.”
“We can slow down, if you like.” Daniel said, sliding a hand across her back to direct her around a turn.
“Not on your life!” she exclaimed. “I want to hear it all.”
“That could take some time. We’ve been doing this for almost 10 years.” Daniel opened the door to his office and reached for the light. “Come on in and get comfortable. I’ll see if I can get us some coffee.”
Fandom: Stargate SG-1
Rating: PG (might ramp up to R at some point, but not for a while)
Characters/Pairings: General Team fic, with appearances by Jack, Landry, Lamm and original characers
Disclaimer: Ain't mine, don't own um...just like playing with them...especially that Danny Boy...
Summary: Daniel brings DJ to Colorado for physical evidence, and some Father/Daughter bonding...
Two days later, Daniel juggled his keys and a bag of groceries as he tried to open the door to his house, while DJ shuffled her suitcase and a duffle bag behind him. “Pardon the mess. I tend to bring my work home with me, when I’m not staying on the base,” he said, dropping his keys onto the hallway table.
“The guest room is just through there.” He pointed through the living room to the half open door. “There are clean sheets on the bed, and the closet is empty. Make yourself comfortable. I’m just going to put these groceries away.”
When he emerged from the kitchen, she was browsing the pictures and artifacts that littered the surfaces of his living room. Most of the pictures were of him and his team, Jack, Cassandra, friends he’d lost. She found her way to the one he kept of his parents, with the Sphinx in the background. They were smiling and her belly was showing signs of his impending arrival. “So that’s why Egypt.”
He smiled and came closer. “Among other reasons.”
“Mom told me they died when you were little.”
He nodded and crossed the distance to her side to touch the surface of the glass. “I was young, and angry about it for a long time.”
In his mind he could see it happen, hear the sound. He closed his eyes and felt her hand touch his. He turned away, pulled his hand back, feeling suddenly more vulnerable than he liked. “Are you hungry?” he asked when he’d gotten a little distance.
She set the picture down, taking the hint without offense. “I could eat.”
“Good. I’ll get some dinner started.”
She smiled and moved to a picture of him and Sam. “So you and Dr. Carter are…”
He stopped in the doorway to the kitchen and looked back at her. “Friends. Good friends.”
She nodded. “You two look pretty cozy in some of these pictures.”
Daniel chuckled. “I suppose we do. We’ve been through a lot together.”
“So…is there someone who is more than a friend?” she asked, following him to the kitchen.
“Ah…not really.” He set about getting pasta cooking as he thought about it. “I was married for a while. Her name was Shar’e.”
“What happened?”
Daniel exhaled softly, picturing her face. “She died. It was a long time ago now.”
“How did you meet?”
He set the pot on the stove and turned on the burner before turning to look at her. “I-it had to do with my work, actually…which means I can’t really tell you about it right now.”
“Oh. That’s…interesting…I guess.”
“Don’t worry. Tomorrow we’ll get the proof that your mother was right, and that will be the first step in giving you the answers you’re looking for.”
“And you’ll tell me about this project you want my help with?”
Daniel nodded. “Actually, that reminds me. I have some of the declassified stuff if you want to take a look at it.” He wasn’t sure whether he’d brought it to test her or intrigue
her and keep her from leaving without at least having a chance to know what he did.
He left the pot cooking and went to the living room where a box lay on the floor beside the coffee table. “It isn’t much, but it includes my notebook with some rambling thoughts…” He put the box on the coffee table and pulled out a few small pieces and his notebook. “Help yourself. I’ll finish dinner.”
A little less than a half hour later, he brought two steaming plates of pasta out to the dining table. DJ was seated on the couch, leaning over his notes. “Dinner,” he announced.
“Did you really find Arthur’s Mantle?” she asked incredulously as she joined him.
“Hmmm?” His mind traipsed back over the notes. He hadn’t realized he’d mentioned that particular artifact in these notes. “In a manner of speaking, yes.” He set the plates down and returned to the kitchen for silverware.
“Are you aware that there are those who believe that Merlin was an alien?” she asked, sitting beside her plate.
Daniel raised an eyebrow as he handed her a fork. “Really?”
“Yours are not the only crazy thoughts in the realm of archeology.”
“No, I suppose they aren’t. Tell me more.”
“There are a few of my colleagues that think that all of the references to magic are actually referring to advanced technology.”
Daniel absorbed the information and tried not to show his surprise. “And how do you feel about that?”
“I’ve decided not to make up my mind yet.” She said most diplomatically. “Just like I’ve decided regarding the things you published.”
“Good. An open mind is going to be very important in the next few days.”
“So, what is it?”
“What?”
“Arthur’s Mantle?”
“An artifact I’m still trying to figure out.” Daniel watched her for a moment, then turned to his own food.
“How’d you find it?”
“Dumb luck, actually. I’d never even heard of it.”
“There isn’t a lot of information about it, and what there is doesn’t make a lot of sense.”
“So I’ve discovered.”
“Well, maybe we’ll find out together.” DJ said, looking up with a smile.
Daniel couldn’t help but smile back. “Maybe.”
Daniel didn’t sleep much that night, torn between a suspicion he didn’t even want to name and a growing hope that this amazing young woman was exactly who and what she claimed to be. The skies were dark and cloudy the next morning as he drove them to the SGC.
“So basically, what’s going to happen is that I’ll sign you in and we’ll go directly to Dr. Lamm. She’ll do some basic tests, and a preliminary physical. It’s a part of the job here. Because of the work we do, physical exams are required of all team members and visitors. Besides which, Dr. Lamm has all of my medical history at her disposal, and she’ll want to compare yours before she gives us any answers. Then, we’ll go talk to General Landry.”
“And that’s when you impress on me the top secret nature of the work and get me to sign a non-disclosure form?”
He chuckled. “Something like that.”
“And if I pass all of your tests?”
“I get to show you what I do.”
“Kinda like take your daughter to work day?” She smiled again, that tongue between the teeth smile that made him want to laugh and hug her.
“So, first things first.” Dr. Lamm said, setting down her clipboard to address Daniel and General Landry. “She’s fully human, no Goa’uld or other symbiote, no signs of abnormal body chemistry, brain function or artificial intelligence.”
“That’s good.” Daniel breathed, adjusting his position nervously. “And?”
“And, I ran the DNA twice, and compared her other stats to yours, to be sure.”
“And?” Landry leaned forward, his hand gesture urging her to continue.
Lamm put her hands in the pockets of her lab coat. “And, based on every scrap of information available to me at this time, she is most certainly related to Dr. Jackson.”
Daniel sat back and rubbed his head. “You’re sure?”
She smiled. “Congratualtions, Dr. You’re a father. She’s just finishing up the last of the other tests with Dr. Michaels.” She looked at Landry. “I’ll have full medical report on your desk in the morning.”
Daniel closed his eyes and let it sink in. It was real. Which wasn’t to say it couldn’t still be some trick, but she was a part of him. DNA didn’t lie…at least it hadn’t yet. He felt eyes on him and stood. “Well. I should-I should go see if she’s done…and-“
Landry stood too. “And, bring her to my office. I want to meet this girl. Her file is impressive, and if you still want to offer her a shot here, we have business to discuss.”
Daniel nodded and gathered the files he’d been perusing while waiting for Lamm. “I’ll see you in a bit then.” Daniel wandered off, lost in a whirl of emotion and thoughts that battled for his attention. She was his daughter, a product of college romance long forgotten about. She was quite lovely, nearly as tall as he was, with a sparkling wit he was finding irresistible. There was a lot about her that reminded him of Colleen, but if he let himself he could see traces of his mother in her mouth and hands, and her eyes were mirror images of his own. Her laugh reminded him of days when he had been more hopeful, more naïve…when he hadn’t had to second guess every decision, suspect every person he met.
He didn’t know if he knew how to be a father. It had been a long time since he’d let anyone who wasn’t Sam or Jack or Teal’c close to him. He paused outside the infirmary door and gathered himself. She must be feeling out of place and unsure of herself as much as he was. He knocked on the door and entered the room. DJ looked up from a spot on the exam table.
“Have you come to rescue me?” she asked as Dr. Michaels emerged from a side room.
Daniel smiled. “If the good doctor is done with you.”
She pouted a little, then turned to Michaels. “Are you?”
The older man nodded and toyed with his stethoscope. “Yes, we’re done.”
“Good.” She hopped down off the table and grabbed her jacket before joining Daniel near the door. “So, what’s the verdict, Doc?”
Daniel couldn’t help but chuckle. “The tests are still running.”
“But Dr. Lamm left when someone came and gave her some results. I figured that meant she was telling you what’s what.”
He nodded. “She was.”
“And?”
Those blue eyes glittered with excitement, with desire for knowledge. He exhaled a breath he seemed to have been holding since he’d left Lamm and Landry and felt his body sag as if he’d released a valve. “And, apparently your mother was no floozy.”
“My grandmother will be relieved.” DJ said, smiling broadly. “So, it’s settled?”
Daniel opened his arms in a surrendering gesture. “According to our DNA, you are the daughter I never knew I had.”
She hugged him unexpectedly, and his arms closed around her almost instinctually. It felt…warm, right. The moment was over quickly and she stood back, looking almost embarrassed. “So, does this mean you get to show me what you do here?”
“General Landry is waiting for us, actually.” He held out an arm to her and she took it without hesitation. They were quiet until they reached the office door. Daniel stopped and turned to face her. “Okay, this is it. Once you go through this door, everything changes. If you want to go back to your life, now’s the time to say so.”
“Why, are their aliens behind the door?” she asked teasingly.
Daniel cocked his head to the side and thought about it briefly. “Um…not usually, no. But it has happened.” He grinned and knocked on the door. She wouldn’t walk away. He knew her well enough to know that. She couldn’t. It was part of who she was, part of who he was.
“Come.”
Daniel opened the door and held it for DJ, then followed her into the room. “General Landry, I’d like to introduce you to Dr. DJ Moore, my daughter.”
Landry stood and held out his hand, which DJ took with a tentative smile. “It’s a pleasure, General.”
“I’ve been reviewing your file. Please, sit.” Landry sat and Daniel and DJ followed suit.
“I have a file? Already?”
Landry chuckled. “Yes, well, it started the minute Dr. Jackson started checking up on you…and its grown.” He held up the folder with the Department of Defense logo emblazoned on it. “College transcripts, information about your mother and her parents, standard background check, not so standard security checks.” He looked up from the file. “We’re very thorough.”
”I guess so. Find anything interesting…or potentially embarrassing? I mean, I don’t know if this new father/daughter thing could withstand naked baby pictures or anything.”
Landry laughed and closed the file to open another one. “No, nothing like that. I promise. Basically its our way of judging our security risk in inviting you to be a part of our organization.”
Her eyes narrowed, with a glance aside at Daniel, then back to Landry. “And so we come to it. I’ll admit I’m intrigued about the whole need for anthropologists and archeologists in a military compound this far underground.”
“Well, I’m sure we can tell you all about it, if you would be so kind as to start by signing this.” He passed the open folder and a pen across to her. “Standard non-disclosure form. Its required before we can go any further.”
She glanced over it and signed it eagerly, then settled back to hear Landry out. “Dr. Jackson is our lead archeologist here at the SGC.” Landry said. “He is responsible for this facility existing, in many ways.”
“So what is it you do?” She was asking Daniel, not Landry, and he seemed startled by the question.
“Travel to other planets,” he finally responded after opening and closing his mouth a few times. He shrugged at Landry. “Sometimes its best to just jump into the middle.”
“Other planets?” She squinted at him and then looked around. “What, in spaceships?”
“Sometimes.” Daniel turned a little in his seat. “But more often we use something we call the Stargate. Its an ancient device that creates a stable wormhole through space.”
“Wow.” She stood up and paced around the small room. Daniel got up too, and opened the door that connected to the conference room overlooking the gate.
“Come here.” He took her hand and led her into the room, opening the blast doors to reveal the gate. SG-8 was returning from a mission. She stood at the glass and starred as the last of the team members stepped through the event horizon. “That’s the gate. That’s SG-8, returning from a mission on the other side of the galaxy.”
Her hand rose up to the glass, and sort of touched the gate. “There are other races out there, and other human beings. Many of the cultures out there resemble and come from the cultures here on earth. The people are the descendents of slaves taken from earth by a race of people called the Goa’uld. The things we’ve learned out there among the planets we’ve explored has helped us understand our own history a whole lot better.”
“Wow,” she said again, glancing aside at Daniel.
“Yeah, it’s pretty incredible,” he agreed. The gate swooshed closed, drawing her eyes back to it.
“So…the project you need my help with?”
“Earlier this year, my team and I were transported into a secret chamber in Glastonbury.”
“Where you found the mantle?”
He nodded. “Among other things. There is more…much more…” He glanced at Landry who nodded. “Maybe we could go down to my office and we can hit the highlights. I can introduce you to Teal’c, if he’s back from Tankara.”
“Came in this morning.” Landry provided. “It was my pleasure to meet you, Dr. Moore.”
Her hand came away from the glass and she nodded a little dazedly before turning to follow Daniel. “Wow.” She said again as they exited the conference room and headed down the steel gray corridor. “I expected a lot of things when I got up this morning…but…and, you…so not what I expected. Of all the rumors and…but you were…” She stopped him and looked at him with wide eyes. “Wait. The pyramids, are they…were they….”
Daniel nodded. “Yes, they were…rather, are. Most of them could still serve the function. We’ve seen it in action, actually…on a planet called Abydos, where I met and married Shar’e.”
She swallowed and turned to continue their walking. “So you were right all along….and Merlin?”
Daniel inhaled and tried to find the best way to approach the subject. “As near as we can tell he was what we would call an Ascended being…an Ancient.”
“Alien?”
“That’s still up for debate.” Daniel said. “They are the race that built the Stargate system, and they were human…humans that found a way to Ascend, to a state of pure energy. We once believed that they were a previous version of the human beings that populate this world, but recent evidence has put that into doubt.”
“Wow,” she said again, shaking her head. “It isn’t even lunch time, and I’m already exhausted.”
“We can slow down, if you like.” Daniel said, sliding a hand across her back to direct her around a turn.
“Not on your life!” she exclaimed. “I want to hear it all.”
“That could take some time. We’ve been doing this for almost 10 years.” Daniel opened the door to his office and reached for the light. “Come on in and get comfortable. I’ll see if I can get us some coffee.”