Daniel
stopped in his tracks when he realised the spiral of megaliths winding
around the trail they’d climbed up actually finished at the cave
entrance. He turned helplessly as the group piled up behind
him. “This doesn’t happen!” he snapped.
Sam
looked around and realised no one was messing with Daniel. The
colonel was in fact trying to make his way surreptitiously to the back
of the group. She shot him a filthy look and stepped into the
line of fire. All things considered, the Barre really should have
warned Daniel about the mono – sorry – megaliths. “It doesn’t?”
Sam murmured soothingly, easing forward as everyone else eased
back. Daniel had been grumbling under his breath since they’d
laid eyes on the first standing stone.
“This
is folklore,” Daniel complained bitterly.
Jack
snorted.
Sam
froze.
“Which
is entirely different to mythology, of course,” Jack back-pedalled
shamelessly, ignoring a murmured ‘wuss’ from Carter. She didn’t
have to sleep with Daniel. Jack did. When she’d walked a
mile in his jammies, she could get back to him.
“This
strikes at the very heart of all I know about archaeology!” Daniel
cried passionately. “It’s a universal truth. Megaliths are
rumoured to lead to the entrances of hollow hills so they don’t.
Not ever.”
The
group gazed interestedly at the megalith Daniel was standing in front
of, which indubitably led to the entrance of a hollow hill.
“I’ll
never be able to read the British Journal of Archaeology without this…”
Daniel shuddered, gesturing scathingly at the megalith.
“Driving
me nuts?” Jack asked before he could stop himself. Daniel’s eyes
hardened and Jack found a sound tactical reason to hide behind the
twins. He wanted to live. Daniel was handling being
stressed out by losing his temper, which was fine, except he was losing
most of it in Jack’s direction and Jack wanted to share the load.
The twins took his presence as an open invitation to watch his six
while they watched the groups six.
Jack
felt totally at home with these people in the field. They were as
professional, disciplined and skilled with their weapons as any Special
Ops solider he’d ever met, used defence strategies he was familiar
with. Only poor Grania was on about the same even keel as
Daniel. She was probably going to fall apart the moment she got
home, but for now, they were both doing okay. Okay-ish.
Jack
gestured emphatically at Carter to follow Daniel as he stormed up to
the entrance to the hollow hill, which actually had neat stone slabs
edging it. He could tell from here Daniel was taking this as a
personal insult.
Daniel
waited impatiently for Sam to move ahead of him into the cave entrance,
then followed hard on her heels. The beam of the flashlight
revealed this was the entrance not to a natural cave, but to an
underground structure cut into the rock.
Sam
noticed the sconces dotted along the walls and closed in on the nearest
to investigate. She found the sconce was a cup in two halves,
divided down the centre and open at the top, each half filled with what
looked like crystals. If they were divided…it seemed logical to
her this was a light source. Sam reached out cautiously and took
the divider in a careful grip to tug on it gently. It gave
easily, so Sam lifted it all the way. The contents of the sconce
settled, merged and lit. San turned to grin at Daniel. "Let
there be light." Daniel grinned back and headed over to the
opposite wall to repeat her experiment on the nearest sconce, and his
too lit. Sam took point, edging cautiously along the hallway,
Daniel behind her lighting the sconces.
They
hallway sloped steadily down for about a hundred metres, then hit a
dead end. A door carved with runes and two silver-sheened circles
in the centre, at about hand height. Sam looked
inquisitively at Daniel, already peering interestedly at the door,
fingertips carefully skimming the runes. She smiled and turned to
check in with the colonel.
"Come
in, Sir."
//O'Neill.//
"Sir,
it looks clear so far. There are light sources combining
crystals, no booby traps we could find, no signs of recent activity or
damage, but with stone walls and floors that's an impossibility."
Sam glanced back to Daniel. "We've run into a dead end here, a
door we need to open to progress any further. I think we'll need
the Barre to lend an assist."
//On
our way, Carter. O'Neill out.//
"The
colonel is on his way down, Daniel. Just a few minutes
more." Sam strolled over to Daniel's side, checking behind her
from time to time. Just making sure. Footsteps echoed down
the hallway and Sam had to be sure they belonged to the colonel and the
Barre. Not that she ever relaxed off-world. Sam
snorted. Not that the colonel thought she ever relaxed, full
stop. Sam was, to quote the colonel, 'tense'. She'd always
thought 'focused' but the colonel saw tense.
Sam
smiled involuntarily at Daniel, the only man she'd ever known who
didn't judge her. Daniel tended to think people were hard enough
on themselves without him getting in on the act. He could argue
with Sam, oppose her at times, but he never lost sight of who she was,
never lost respect for her even if he didn’t understand her pov or
agree with her. Daniel just tried that much harder to understand
her. Maybe that was why she loved him. Daniel saw Sam
clearly and didn’t flinch from her, didn’t label her, didn’t judge
her. He was very definitely the best friend Sam had ever had, and
the closest. She loved Janet too, raising Cassie had brought them
together in the best way, but Daniel was special to Sam.
“How’s
it going?” Sam asked, breaking Daniel’s concentration with a gentle
nudge at his shoulder. She loved the way his eyes focused on her
and lit up, the shy smile that brightened his face. Right
backatcha. “Think we can open this?”
“I
think the Barre can,” Daniel responded. “That stuff about bred in
the bone, Sam? It may not be apocryphal.”
“A
genetic marker?” Sam suggested at once. “Possibly more than
that. The panels could have sophisticated sensors to bar the
Goa’uld or outsiders from access.” Sam thought about the run
here. She and the colonel had been dead on their feet, but the
Barre looked as if they could have run forever and fought a pitched
battle at the end of it. “Maybe the Ancients enhanced even the
genes of these people. They’re incredibly strong, Daniel.
The Barre ran the asses off the colonel and me, getting here.”
Daniel
turned to Sam, wide-eyed. “You ran?” he asked incredulously.
Sam
flushed and shrugged awkwardly. “You know.”
Daniel
felt a rush of gratitude that giddied him. It always caught him
by surprise, the way his friends cared about him. Four years
wasn’t enough to undo near a lifetime of being an outsider. The
irony was, he hadn’t realised he was an outsider until he’d been
processed through the System. He hadn’t fit into a nice, neat
stereotype; he’d been a ‘problem’ from his first caseworker on.
Gifted was as bad – worse – than disaffected. He’d learned the
hard way not to want or need anything or anyone. He’d lived his
life that way, contained, until one pissy, disaffected, dead and still
moving Air Force colonel danced through his defences like they weren’t
even there. Jack had opened Daniel to himself, to Sha’uri.
And to this woman before him, his friend, a woman who understood him,
who was as close to him as any sister he’d ever imagined, closer now
than his brother Skaara. Sam, squirming because she’d been caught
out caring.
Impulsively,
Daniel leaned in and kissed Sam on the cheek.
“Your
aim is terrible, Jackson,” Sam grumbled, eyes sparkling. “The
damn thing is big enough and you still missed it!” Sam puckered
up, leering dreadfully to hide the fact she felt very close to
tears. They were so lucky they’d found him. So damn
lucky. She leaned in to snatch another quick, fierce hug, needing
Daniel close, needing him real and alive and with her, knowing the
colonel was almost on top of them and he wouldn’t share, and Daniel was
hers – Teal’c’s – as much as the colonel’s. Sam wasn’t going to
give Daniel up to the colonel. She was going to fight for his
time and attention, because they both needed the sharing, the
understanding. Maybe it wasn’t what Daniel had with the colonel,
but it was enough for them to love one another.
“You
two want to be alone?” the colonel called before Sam had a chance to
untangle herself. “We could book. Catch up with you kids
later.”
Ha
bloody ha, Sam thought, relinquishing the colonel’s ‘property’.
Nothing got him pissy faster than the faintest hint ‘his’ Daniel Played
Well With Others. “Sir,” Sam acknowledged. Bite me.
Jack
insinuated himself between Carter and Daniel. He gestured at the
door with his P-90. “Anything?”
Daniel
nodded briskly. “The Ancients were definitely planning long
term,” he said to Jack, and Grania as Jack made way for her. “The
inscription tells us that Barrecis always intended for the people of
the Dwelling Place to find and use the technology he left protected for
them until they were ready to use it wisely.”
“Now
why does that ring my bells?” Jack drawled. “Like it wasn’t gonna
blow up in their faces? Jeez, we may be petty and inferior but we
do know human nature. Curiosity killed a species and all that…”
Jack peered at the runes. The light was crappy – actually the
light was eldritch but he didn’t want to bring that to anyone’s
attention right now, not when they were huddled up at the business end
of the Hlaew. Jack glanced back momentarily to see the twins
covering everyone’s rear, swords drawn. They were good
kids. He turned back. “What’s in here?” he demanded,
tapping impatiently on the door. “Can you cut the history crap
and make with the Sesame?”
Daniel,
Carter and Grania glared at him. What?
Daniel
turned to the Barre. Anwyl and Hueil dropped back to take the
rear as the curious Ula and Una came up.
“What
is your thought, Daniel?” Ula asked, settling easily next to Jack,
eyeing the door with fascination.
“It’s
my thought Barrecis knew there was no realistic chance the peoples of
the Places would translate this inscription and get inside unless they
had the time to devote to study,” Daniel replied.
“I
see the way you go with this, Daniel,” Grania approved, returning Sam’s
quick, knowing grin. “If we had the time for such play, then we
must be at peace and thusly worthy of Barrecis’ great gifts.” She
sighed. “But we are not, and it is my thought still we may never
be. Best we take temptation from our path and live free, my
friends.”
“Ay,”
Una agreed. “We’ll have the earning of what we know, thanking Him
and all,” she nodded at the door.
“Is
this a puzzle?” Sam asked.
“It’s
an invitation,” Daniel grinned.
“Knock
three times and ask for why don’t I go…” Jack jerked his thumb vaguely
behind him and marched smartly over to join the men as five pairs of
hostile eyes focused on him.
“I
have to live with that,” Anwyl whispered gloomily. “I love my
Grania, but…”
“Tell
me about it. I got two of ‘em,” Jack breathed bitterly.
Hueil
snorted and looked away, refusing to meet Jack’s enquiring eye.
Hueil grinned, glancing back appreciatively at Carter. Jack put
two and two together and made Carter. Or rather, he guessed Hueil
had.
“Barrecis
invites his people to seek entry,” Daniel said innocently. “If
they are deemed worthy, he’ll welcome them to His Place.”
“Deemed
worthy how?” Sam asked suspiciously. “If there’s no test?”
“He
didn’t say there was no test, he said they had to seek entry,” Jack
said casually. “They gotta play spot the runes.”
“It’s
that simple?” Sam asked incredulously.
“It
beat you,” Jack said smugly. “Didn’t Daniel just tell us the
Grand High Poobah was waiting for the locals to stop killing each other
long enough to learn that mumbo jive? As in, get quote
‘worthy’?” He glanced at Hueil. “They hate when they don’t
get it first,” he said loudly.
“Ay,”
Hueil agreed.
“I
pay attention,” Jack confided happily, “And prove it when they least
expect it.”
Daniel
was at bay in a ring of four outraged women, all armed to the
teeth. “Don’t blame me for him!” he said indignantly. “Here
and here,” he jabbed the runes, one on each side of the door.
“And touch the silver panels at the same time. I’m just going
to…” Daniel jerked his thumb and went to assist the men.
“Wuss,”
Jack greeted him jovially.
“I
don’t see any of you rushing into sword range,” Daniel observed sweetly.
“We
are guarding our w…” Anwyl bit down hard on his wayward tongue as the
atmosphere behind them got a lot more crowded.
“Way,”
Hueil said smoothly, gesturing vaguely up the hallway with the point of
his sword.
Daniel
and Hueil grinned as Sam chuckled softly behind them.
“Ooooopeeeeen…”
Sam drawled it like a drumroll as the girls touched the runes Daniel
had pointed out, then pressed their palms to the silver panels.
They crowed excitedly as the panels and the runes glowed with radiant
white light, then the doors swung smoothly inwards. “Sesame!” Sam
gloated. She touched Ula on the shoulder and moved ahead
cautiously. “Daniel, get up here,” she called.
Daniel
turned at once and caught up to Sam. The high roofed chamber was
bathed with soft light, presumably from some unseen power source set
into the roof and at key points around the circular walls. The
chamber had shelves running from marbled floor to roof, seven levels
high, with steps up to the balcony that encircled each of the
levels. Daniel was sure Penarddun had been permitted to get this
far. Without a significant proportion of the corpus to study and
compare, translation would have been near impossible. The runes
on the door, each unique and not repeated, weren’t enough to
decrypt. Without repetition, the process of pattern recognition
would be near impossible. The people couldn't have stood here and
found one rune that was mirrored on each side of the door, it took two
different runes to complete the phrase.
“It
is as our Scrinium at home,” Grania marvelled, reaching out a reverent
hand to stroke the huge table. “It is my thought the first Scribe
did build in Weylyn what she saw when she came to this place.”
“And
she did take everything,” Una complained. “There is nought to see
here.”
“Check
it out anyway,” Jack ordered. “Daniel? Booby traps?”
“I
don’t think so,” Daniel judged. “The purpose of the Ancients in
'harvesting' humans in this case was enlightened self-interest,
Jack. They withdrew when their own society fell, but their
long-term planning argues altruism in this case. I’d say another
test was more likely. Harder than the first of
course, much harder, or Penarddun would have found her way in there to
the technology too.” He stared around at the walls of the
circular chamber, seeing nothing but the stacks and the stairs.
The hallway led to here, there were no branching passages, so the key
to the technology must also be here. It was just a question of
finding it. Daniel turned a complete circle, following the
perfectly arced circular walls. Right.
Jack
closed his eyes in acute pain. “Please tell me we don’t have to
do a fingertip search.”
“We
don’t have to do a fingertip search,” Sam and Daniel sang out together,
grinning at one another.
Jack
sagged. He divided the group up, assigning each of them a level
to search.
"What
about you?" Daniel asked.
"I
thought I'd co-ordinate," Jack said calmly, looking Daniel right in the
eye.
"Really,"
Daniel said, looking blandly back.
"Daniel
is the expert, Sir," Sam announced brightly. "Isn't it a more
effective use our resources for Daniel to co-ordinate and for you to
search under his comm…" Sam made her catch obvious and went smoothly
on…"Direction?" She peered up to the uppermost level, the one the
colonel had cheerfully assigned Daniel, and smiled. "He may have
to yell a little," Sam observed sweetly.
"Thank
you, Carter," Jack scowled at his unrepentant 2IC.
"You're
very welcome, Sir," Sam said chirpily. She smiled broadly at
Daniel as she sauntered past him to the steps Ula and Una were swarming
up like monkeys. Sam sighed. She was getting OLD. She
was looking the big four-oh in the eye and she was old. She felt
like she'd been beaten by a big, ugly stick, and the only place she
wanted to swarm right now was back into Hueil's huge bed, heaped with
feathers and fire-lit skin and…Totally unprofessional to gloat, but
oy! All was very right with her world. Totally right, in a
way that made her knees buckle. The view ahead of her was great,
and the irritated stamping from behind her was just as satisfying in
its own way. The colonel did like to share the load.
Jack
stormed up the steps behind Carter who added insult to injury by
getting off on the first level, which he'd assigned her because she was
tired. He had to climb all the way to the top. Hidden
doors, priest holes and secret passages. "Very Hardy Boys," he
called down to Daniel. Jack tossed another sour glance Carter's
way. Or maybe Nancy Drew.
Grania,
Hueil and the girls peeled off ahead of him and started to
search. Strangely enough, Carter had started her search moving
clockwise, the Barre anti. He didn't know why; it just struck him
as an odd coincidence.
When
Jack got onto his level he had no hesitation in taking a breather,
first prodding then leaning thankfully against the balcony. His
knees were screaming and he and his back were no longer on speaking
terms. And talking of speaking, or speaking of talking, his
beloved was swanning round at ground level, animatedly calling out
commands - Jack knew a command when he heard one, and Daniel tended to
be somewhat emphatic in his delivery of said commands - and answering
the questions the Barre were foolishly calling down to him. They
had no survival instincts at all. Jack had learned long ago that
giving Daniel an iota of a glimmer of interest resulted in him taking
Jack's life. Vigorous suppression, that was the answer.
There was nothing that couldn't wait for a really good illustrative
textbook and a beer back home. Or slides. Jack got Daniel,
and that sometimes meant he also got slides. It was hard to
believe he hadn't figured out sooner what that meant. Maybe one
of them should have just cut the crap and put out an ad in the
personals.
He
could imagine how Daniel's would have gone. 'Wanted: pushy, pissy
Air Force colonel. Moody, manipulative, aggressive, possessive
and obsessive. Cynicism, brashness, surface stupidity and sarcasm
welcomed. Touchy-feely tolerated, vague glimmer of interest in
S.O.'s life's passion sought in vain.' Yeah. Right.
Jack looked down as Daniel moved over to the other side of the room to
talk to Hueil, then did a double-take. "Oh, Daniel?" Jack
carolled.
Daniel
turned. "Jack?"
"X
marks the spot," Jack pointed.
Daniel
looked down at his feet, then up at Jack, obviously confused.
"Wheel
of fire down below," Jack clarified impatiently. Had the man
never seen Indiana Jones?
Daniel
looked down, then Jack sniggered as heads appeared over the edges of
all the balconies. The heads all looked down and then they all
looked up.
"You
guys don't get the History Channel?" Jack asked innocently as he made
his last withdrawal from the friendly bank. He wheeled round and
scampered back down the steps, grinning fiendishly. The
grin broadened into a smile as he took in Daniel's wide, sparkling eyes.
"You're
very good," Daniel murmured admiringly as Jack loped over to his side.
"Self-taught,"
Jack announced proudly, chuckling at Daniel's totally unconvincing
scowl. He made room for Carter, decided he wasn't going to mess
with Grania and made more room, then the twins shoved him bodily out of
the way, and he slunk over to Anwyl's side as Hueil closed the gap.
"Oy,"
Anwyl sighed heavily.
"Ay,"
Jack agreed gloomily. He felt the need to mess with Daniel's
mind. "You would have gotten it," Jack called consolingly.
"Eventually." Daniel just winked at him with the confidence of a
man who had him…Jack sighed. A man who damn well knew he had Jack
just where he wanted him. "Kinda sucks the fun right outta…er…"
he glanced edgily at Anwyl. "TMI," he said briskly.
Daniel
stared down at the subtle gradations of colour in the marbled floor,
muted shades of browns, greys and creams, the wheel spiralling out from
a circle of silver, set dead centre. "Jack, can you walk out to
the circumference?" Daniel asked, watching as Jack backed off about ten
feet and held position. "Sam, you stay with me," Daniel ordered,
grinning as Sam stuck her tongue out at him and mock saluted.
"Could the rest of you follow the circle and mark the edge for
me?" The Barre headed over at once to Jack and began to pace out
the circumference, spreading out on either side, Anwyl stopping at
about the same distance to Jack's right as Una stopped at his
left. Ula paced the same distance beyond her sister, Grania moved
the same distance beyond Anwyl and Hueil took a place opposite Jack.
"Six
points," Daniel mused. He walked over to Jack, following the
curve of the cream pattern in the marble. "Sam?" Sam walked
over to Hueil, also following a curve. Daniel grinned at
Jack. "X definitely marks the spot. I think this is a
staircase, a five bend staircase. The port orientation is classic
top," Daniel gesture at Jack, "Bottom," Daniel turned to Hueil, "With
the others at North, East, South and West."
"A
spiral staircase," Sam said. "Activated by the silver disk at the
centre?"
"Presumably,"
Daniel agreed absently as he walked back to the centre of the wheel and
turned slowly, staring at each sector in turn. No silver markings
at the ports, no runes carved into the marble. "I'll head up," he
decided. "Check it out from above. Maybe everyone should
step outside the circumference, just in case." Daniel loped up
the stairs two at time, stopping at the fifth level to peer down.
The perspective wasn't right, so he climbed higher, to the top.
The pattern in the marble was a pictorial representation of the wheel
of fire, though it lacked two of the eight points usually seen in
Celtic representations on Earth. The certainty was top and
bottom. "Do you celebrate Yule at midwinter?" Daniel called down.
"Ay,"
Grania called back.
Then
Jack was Yule, and Hueil Litha, the equivalent of Belenos' Day
here. Litha, like Beltane, was a fire festival. Daniel
glanced around the empty chamber, frustrated. He looked at Hueil,
then raised his eyes to follow the same point up the length of the
wall, looking for anything. He didn't see anything until Hueil
moved to answer a low-voiced question from Sam, then he saw a faint
sheen of silver on the wall on the ground level.
"Sam?
Can you check out that disk please?" Daniel called, pointing behind
her. Sam turned and headed over to the wall, reaching up to probe
delicately at the small disc. Sam tapped on it, then carefully
pressed it, then finally pushed it to one side. It seemed to
shift easily beneath her fingers. Sam shot him the thumbs up as
the disk locked into position above a freshly revealed, familiar
amethyst crystal.
"Déjà
vu," Jack called.
Yeah.
Daniel turned and walked around his level until he was behind Jack, and
he found a disk there too. He pushed at his and found it moved
with the lightest of pressures. Daniel locked his disk into
position. That was Yule and Litha, top and bottom, so he'd find
Imbolc behind Ula on the next level down. Daniel ran down the
steps, located the disk and locked it open. "Sam?
Hueil? Could you come up and help, please?" Daniel asked.
"You're looking for the same kind of disk on the wall on the second
level, equidistant between where Anwyl and Jack are standing, and on
the third, where Anwyl is standing."
"Got
it!" Sam called back, heading purposefully back to the steps.
Daniel
climbed down to the sixth level and the Ostara disk, then the fifth and
Beltane. He met up with Sam on the fourth level at the Samhain
disk.
"Daniel?"
Sam asked curiously.
"If
the disks were placed in the correct sequence, we'd have a smooth sweep
down from Yule on the uppermost level to Samhain at ground level.
They're not, and that suggests to me the connection will be made by the
crystals," Daniel explained excitedly. "You didn't see the
crystals refract on the platform but I think the same thing will happen
here. The light would have to be powered, because we're
underground…"
"Which
it obviously is or we'd be in pitch dark," Sam agreed. "You think
the light beams will take a specific, targeted path?"
"I
do, Sam, but I think everyone should get out of there regardless, the
crystals could punch light through solid objects like a laser," Daniel
said firmly. "At some point the energy beam will strike the
Samhain disk and then I think it will complete a circuit."
Sam
went at once to the balcony. "Sir? I think everyone had
better withdraw to the hallway. We're expecting these crystals to
begin refracting once we've freed the last of them to complete the
circuit. Daniel is concerned about his experience on the platform
when the crystals erratically discharged their initial energy surge."
"Fall
back," the colonel ordered at once. “Who’s throwing the switch?”
“It
only takes one to lift the cover,” Daniel said at once.
“It
takes two to cower abjectly behind cover,” Sam riposted. “Both of
us,” she called down.
“Be
careful. Those crystals could give Industrial Light and Magic a
run for their money,” the colonel warned them as the Barre obediently
booked to take shelter immediately behind the huge stone doors.
“I
think the discharge will be immediate,” Sam speculated. “The
energy isn’t being built up, but held back. I’m going to flip
this baby up as fast as I can, then we dive for cover behind the
balcony as…”
“Fast
as we can,” Daniel agreed.
“On
three,” Sam warned, checking Daniel was poised and ready to run.
Sam set her fingertips on the disk, careful to reach down onto it so
her skin didn’t come into contact with the crystal. “Three.
Two. One.” Sam pushed the disk smoothly around, give it a
beat to lock into position then Daniel pulled her clear as power
thrummed through the room. As they tore around the curve of the
balcony for cover, Sam caught the crystal on the next level up light
and amethyst beams beginning to pierce the room. She and Daniel
dove headlong for the ground, huddled and stayed down as the thrum
escalated to an ear-popping whine and the whole chamber lit with
amethyst light. Sam patted Daniel on the shoulder to keep him
down while she moved cautiously to sit up, rubbing her face up the
smooth stone of the balcony, hesitating, then darting her head up and
over. She dropped on her ass instantly. “There was a final
crystal in the roof. The one on the top level is feeding power
into it, and there’s a big column of light dead centre, feeding light
down. The beams are all over the room, but targeted.
They’re not refracting now. I think we can risk it.”
“Okay,”
Daniel agreed. He scrambled to his knees and followed as Sam ran
along to the steps, bent over at the waist, cautiously emerging.
“Holy
Hannah,” Sam breathed. “When you’re right, you’re right.”
Daniel
stepped out and broke into a smile. The floor had fallen away to
reveal stairs, spiralling down.
“That’s
amazing,” Sam said. “To spend so much time making something of
that complexity just so they didn’t have to booby trap this place or
dispel fondly held beliefs.”
“Maybe
their imminent demise as a race focused their minds, Sam,” Daniel
suggested as they made their way down, the steps taking them safely
beneath the web of light beams. “Maybe they tried to do for the
people here what they couldn’t do for themselves. The people of
the Dwelling Place are a living legacy of the Ancients and their
culture. The parallels with Earth culture are so clear…” Daniel
broke off, knowing Sam didn’t have time for this.
Sam
skirted the staircase and ran over to the beam of light at ground
level. She turned and hollered that they were clear and the
colonel cautiously emerged.
“Don’t
touch those beams of light,” Jack warned as the twins ran across to
join Carter. Daniel was poised at the top of the staircase that
had eaten the floor, one foot suggestively planted on the first step.
“I
think the staircase will be held open until the power supply is
interrupted,” Sam suggested. “If we cap this crystal when we come
back up, the beam will break, and the stairs will rise back up.”
“The
stairs won’t descend far, Jack,” Daniel agreed. “The
circumference isn’t great enough. Maybe down a level and out into
another hallway?”
“If
this great spear is down here, then we’re either looking at something
that would fit in a purse, a back door or something so goddamn big it
needs a silo,” Jack muttered, moving over to join Daniel as the Barre
oohed and aahed. “We have explosives, weapons that can destroy or
at least bury the technology the Ancients left behind. Be sure
you want us to do this.”
Grania
slipped her hand into Anwyl’s as they walked over to Jack and Daniel’s
side. She looked up at her husband. “We’re sure,
Jack. We’ll have war else,” she said determinedly.
Jack
nodded. “If it helps, I think you’re making the only choice you
can, the responsible choice. I’d do the same.” He was aware
of Daniel straightening beside him and could only be glad Daniel let it
go. “Ula and Una? I want you two to stay here and cover.”
Jack grinned when the girls’ faces fell. “ Carter is going to
give you her radio and show you how to make it work. If anyone
comes down here, you’re to use the radio and tell me immediately, is
that clear?” Jack didn’t miss the sly sidelong glances. “Do
not get into a fight with anyone. You two got that?” he ordered
sternly. The twins raised melting eyes to his. “Don’t kid a
kidder, kids. Yes! You would. We all know you
would. So I’m telling you. You can’t.”
Jack
led the way as Carter demonstrated how to use the radio. Daniel
was hard on his heels, the other Barre hard on Daniel’s. Jack’s
radio clicked.
//Verrrry
pretty!//
“You
too, Una, now knock that off,” Jack said pleasantly.
//Ula!//
Jack
grinned at the stiff tone. “Same difference,” he suggested
provocatively. “O’Neill out.” He picked his way carefully
down the flight of steps, relieved to see light reflecting from the
hallway that began at the bottom step. It too sloped down and
ended in a stone door. Jack walked steadily for about fifty
metres and waited for Grania and Hueil to reach out confidently to the
silver disks embedded in the door. It swung open at their touch;
then they stepped back to allow Jack and Daniel to go in.
Jack
looked up. And up. And up. There was a definite
siloey feel to the chamber and…”Unless the Ancients did an Airfix kit
for that, it ain’t goin’ nowhere. Big honkin’ space gun.
Big. Huge.” He grimaced at Daniel. “Looks like we
blow the joint.”
“Do
we have enough C-4?” Daniel asked dubiously. The great spear
wasn’t just big, it was positively bombastic.
“Hol-y
buckets!” Sam gasped as she walked into the silo. “No way we have
enough plastique to blow that phallus.” She stiffened as the
colonel and Daniel shot her hard looks. What? She wasn’t
allowed to alliterate now? Plastique, puppy? Sheesh! “Sir,
if the shield device is also in here we can’t risk damage to that
either,” Sam warned them. “I think we’re going to have to look
for a way to sabotage the spear.”
“Penarddun
mentioned the existence of other devices,” Daniel interjected.
“The First Scribe was ‘allowed’ in here by whatever knowledge she alone
had access to, but I’m guessing after the library was dismantled, she
saw the disks and the wheel just like I…”
“I,”
Jack corrected in the interests of accuracy.
“Jack
did,” Daniel snapped. “It’s possible this led her to experiment and
come down here, but without detailed knowledge of the language, the
runes, she wouldn’t be able to get the equipment to work. In the
sites we’ve surveyed so far, the Ancients always favour the activation
of runes to operate their technology. It requires a level of
linguistic expertise which is its own safeguard.”
“We
can take none of Barrecis’ wonders,” Grania said vehemently, “Lest all
come seeking the rest.”
“Ay,”
Anwyl agreed. “It is all or nothing. No Place may possess
such a ‘technology’ for all will want a share in it, and how can that
be? We are what we are,” he said sadly.
“No
easy answers, my friends,” Hueil said sorrowfully. “What may at
first do good may in the end do more harm than this big, honkin’ space
gun.”
Jack
turned on his heel and walked away, head held high as both his kids
cringed. Was it his fault the Barre liked him? He’d be
apologising for breathing next. “You gonna get this, or do we
have to catch the next space gun?” he sniped. He heard the sighs
echoing. Daniel and Carter caught up with him at the control
panel-cum-mini altar deal for the gun. “Carter, take a look
around, see what else you can find and report back,” Jack ordered
quietly.
“Sir,”
Sam nodded and turned away.
Daniel
stepped up to the control panel. “I don’t know how much help I’ll
be, Jack. I’ve told you before that it’s not just a matter of
translation; the context is vital too. This is going to take
time,” he warned as Jack hovered.
Jack
shrugged and headed off after Carter. “Carter?”
“Over
here, Sir,” Carter called back.
Jack
picked up the pace and double-timed it on over to her position.
His jaw dropped when he saw the rear wall of the silo. The
machinery for the spear and presumably the shield was dead centre, but
the wall shimmered clear, a shitload of arcane devices stacked up
neatly behind it. “Force field?”
Sam
nodded and pointed out another of those little stone control panels at
either side of the field. “Sir, I hate to be negative but I don’t
think we can do this,” Sam said softly. “It’s piling the pressure
on Daniel in the time scale we have, and I think he’s exhausted
now.” Sam knew the feeling. “If we slip up down here, the
people would be defenceless, or worse, this thing could explode and
take out everything. We have no idea what the defensive
capability of the gun is. It could be catastrophic.”
Jack
grimaced. “Suggestions?”
“Well,
Sir, Daniel is convinced the Ancients saw these people as a living
legacy, that they wanted them protected and isolated until they were
naturally ready for advancement. They have a headstart with
Daniel’s teaching, and if the rest of them are half the people the
Barre are, they’ll make it. It’ll take time, but they will make
it. Maybe enough time they’ll be ready for all this,” Sam
argued. “My suggestion is we take out the crystals, disable the
staircase mechanism permanently. We can cap the first two, and
then destroy them with C-4. Destroy them all if we want to make
sure. As the crystals power the Leth here and on P4Y-890, the
odds are good they’re irreplaceable. When the Barre can figure a
way round that, then we can hope they’re ready to use this technology
wisely,” Sam suggested.
She
was relieved when the colonel nodded approvingly.
“Let’s
go,” Jack ordered. Putting everyone out of temptation’s
way? Sounded good to him. He could always present the
option of a return to Hammond. They could sure as shit get back
in if they had to. They could, but Jack wasn’t sure if he should
even suggest it. His duty was to obtain technology that could aid
them in their defence against the Goa’uld, but he was too aware of the
consequences in this case. These were good people and a lot of
them would die if the technology got into the wrong hands here.
Jack would have to lead an army to take it from them, and that would
mean a lot of good people dying at his order. Both scenarios were
unacceptable.
What
was making Jack waver wasn’t the moral stance, or even the
pragmatic. It was the personal. Daniel. He was far
too aware right now of what the consequences would be for his
relationship with Daniel. Maybe it was childish, but Jack needed
Daniel’s respect. Jack didn’t want to be nobly forgiven for
fucking up yet again, he didn’t want Daniel making allowances, not able
to talk freely…Shit, he didn’t want to disappoint Daniel
full-stop. He’d never wanted to, but he’d never hesitated to do
his duty regardless. Jack was hesitating now. He could look
like a loveless asshole in front of a friend, but couldn’t manage it
with his lover? He had some serious adjusting to do.
Jack
stood back and let Carter go through her spiel again, not missing the
way Daniel sagged with relief at his reprieve or the warmth of his
smile when Jack piped up and again told the Barre it was their
decision. Jack let Carter take point, the Barre trailing along
behind her, then walked Daniel out, walked close, close enough Daniel
leaned a little.
“Thank
you,” Daniel murmured, smiling tiredly at Jack. The shock of
adrenaline had long since worn off and Daniel felt as if he was running
on nerves and willpower. He wanted to put his head down and sleep
for a week. Daniel was surprised when Jack grimaced.
“Thank
me later,” Jack said cryptically.
“I
appreciate you letting the Barre choose for themselves, Jack,” Daniel
insisted.
“It’s
not over,” Jack said gravely. “How do you think someone like
Simmons or Kinsey would react to my report there’s a cache of Ancients
technology here, including a planetary defence system? Do think
they’ll give a rat’s ass about the Barre? I sure as shit don’t.”
“What
are you going to say in your report?” Daniel asked involuntarily,
hating himself the instant the words were out of his mouth. He
flushed. “I didn’t mean…I know you wouldn’t…I’m sorry,” he
stammered apologetically. The argument was still heavy between
them. Jack's actions were contradicting what he'd said to Daniel
then. What Daniel didn't know was if this was pragmatism on
Jack's part in light of the impossible circumstances they were trying
to work under, or if Jack had genuinely had a change of heart. He
felt guilty for worrying about Jack's motivations, because it was yet
more proof of the impossibility of separating their professional from
their personal lives. Daniel had promised himself he wouldn't be
anything more than Jack's equal, but he didn't know how they could
disagree professionally, or worse, morally, and still sleep – and work
- together.
“I
wouldn’t?” Jack broke in on Daniel's reverie, eyes gleaming.
“Wouldn’t be the first time, Dannyboy.” He gave Daniel a rough
shake and caught up to the Barre. “Can we quit with this climbing
shit already?” Jack growled.
“Fresh
air and exercise are good for you, Jack,” Daniel said primly as he
followed Jack up the stairs. They joined Sam by the crystal at
ground level, checked everyone was present and everyone was well away
from the stairwell, then Sam reached around and down to safely unclip
the disk, using the tip of her knife to ease the disk slowly and
carefully back into place, letting gravity take it the rest of the way
as she prudently jumped back.
The
column of light dissolved, seeming to race up to the roof in a matter
of seconds, the rest of the light beams snapping off one by one.
The stairs rose noiselessly and swiftly, solidifying once more to form
the floor.
As
Daniel led the Barre clear, Sam loped off towards the stairs to tackle
the second crystal. She deeply regretted the loss of the
technology, but there was no way to retrieve it without danger to
themselves and to the locals. In the circumstances, she had to be
pragmatic. With the time constraints they had, there was no
question of even taking a time out to study the weapon or the
shield. Maybe if they could come back…Sam sighed. Even then
it would be impossible. Four days - five at the most if
they pushed the window of opportunity to its limits. Take out two
full days of walking to and from the site, a day to gain access and
seal the site…No chance unless they stranded a team off-world for a
full year in the midst of what the Barre firmly believed would be a war
zone. There was no realistic chance Earth or the people of the
Dwelling Place would benefit from this. Sam decided that was what
she would say, emphatically, in her mission report and in the
briefing. The colonel could be bullish, but this might be an
instance where he too saw sense.
Sam
checked the Barre were out from under, took a flash tube of C-4, set
the primadet to four minutes and ran to the stairs. That was just
enough time for Sam and the colonel time to get clear and take cover in
the hallway. Sam huddled down next to Hueil and waited for the
sharp retort of her small, controlled explosion. The colonel
waved her back and took off himself to check it out.
“Get
everyone clear, Carter,” Jack called, aware of Daniel’s anxious gaze
following him.
Jack
found that not only had the crystal been destroyed, a neat hole about
35cm in diameter had been blasted into the wall. He nodded,
satisfied, and went on to the next crystal, methodically attaching the
flash tube and setting the primadet to twenty minutes. He worked
swiftly but with absolute care and attention, setting the charge on
each crystal in less than a minute, which gave him enough time to book
right out of the mountain. More goddamn running.
He
could have left this ‘til morning, but if a horde of Weylyn turned up
wanting their heads, there was fuck all he could do about it at close
quarters. They could only take so many, even with the
P-90s. Better to have this done. Jack didn’t think the
mountain would come down from a few dabs of C4 into solid rock.
Jack
reached the surface and dashed across to take cover with Daniel behind
the nearest megalith. The rest of the group was scattered along
the trail, waiting. Jack looked at his watch. Two
minutes. “Sorry?” he asked Daniel.
Daniel
looked thoughtfully at the entrance to the Barrecis Hlaew. “Could
you take out the megalith too?”
Sam
wasn’t the only one with a supporting arm round her as she stumbled
through the door of the Way Place. It was a fancy name for what
was essentially a stone hut on a bleak, exposed hillside. The
temperature had plummeted as the sun set, and Sam was shivering.
She glanced back anxiously. Anwyl was half-carrying Grania, and
the twins were almost hauling the colonel and Daniel up the last few
hundred yards.
The
moment they were inside, Hueil leaned in and kissed her hard, his huge,
heavy hand tender against her cheek. “Our thanks, Samantha, for
all you have done for us,” he said gratefully.
Sam
smiled and let herself lay her weary head on his shoulder, soothed by
just a moment of quietude. Hueil’s arms came around her in a warm
embrace that made her eyes sting, but he only chuckled when she
steadied herself and pushed him away from her. He caught her
outflung hand and kissed it, then went to tend to the fire. Sam
staggered over to the stairs to check the room above was clear, and
found the roof space was neatly divided into five curtained off
sections. This place was high in the mountains; naturally it had
to be able to accommodate a party. There were bunks in each
narrow room, and a ewer for water which suggested a well nearby.
Jesus.
Sam sighed, hefted the first and headed back downstairs to draw fresh
water. The colonel met her at the doorway, rolled his eyes and
peeled off with Ula and Una fussing over him to check out the barn and
outhouses. Sam followed, she could see a spring tumbling down a
narrow gulley behind the stable. With the force of the water, it
took her only a few minutes to fill the ewer, and Daniel met her on her
way back in, carrying out another two. Sam smiled tiredly at him
and was glad he made the effort in return. She wanted to say he
looked like she felt, but let it go.
Sam
set down the water and dropped limply onto one of the chairs at the
long table to haul out the food parcels. Rationed out with MREs
for breakfast, they should have enough to last them until they’d made
the long walk back to Barre. Sam shuddered away from the
thought. They’d completed their mission, the Barre – all the
Places were safe from Ancients technology, but exhaustion might still
beat them. The only good thing was with eight of them; they would
only have to take an hour’s watch each. They had a chance to
catch some sleep. Sam needed it, her body was shaken by fine
tremors and her eyes were leaden.
Hueil
took the ewer from her to boil the kettle as the fire steadied; then he
went out to check on the fuel situation. Sam cursed herself for
stupidity. She wasn’t thinking straight. Daniel came in
with two full ewers of water, set them down; then he toiled up the
stairs to fetch the last two. Grania joined her at the table as
Anwyl called out to Hueil and went to help with the wood. Sam sat
quietly and let the bustle wash over her, aware only of the need to not
be alone tonight. A need she hoped Hueil shared. It had
been so goddamn long since she slept with someone, actually shared her
bed. A narrow bunk would do. The colonel and Daniel would
be cosied up, no question. Sam wasn’t about to play the Martyred
Virgin Major. Martyrs were insufferable.
Jack
timed it so he could walk back to the house with Daniel and the water
while the girls ran off to help get wood. “They’re killing me,”
he confessed ruefully. “Where the hell do they get the energy
from?”
“My
hair hurts,” Daniel said simply.
“Tell
me about it,” Jack agreed bitterly. Not that they could do
anything in bed, not with half the village and his 2IC about two feet
away, but hope sprang eternal. It was just about the only spring
left in him. When they got into the house, Carter was slumped at
the table working out the rations as Grania unpacked hunks of meat and
cheese and slabs of bread. “Cool! Cheeseburgers,” Jack
grinned. “Put those MREs away, Major. We’ll never be that
desperate,” he teased. Carter made the effort and grinned back,
but Jack saw her hands shaking as she carefully repacked the field
rations. “Take last watch,” he ordered sharply. Carter bit
her lip, then nodded gratefully. “Daniel, you take first watch.”
“Oh,
but…” Daniel protested as he was slipping into his seat.
“But
me no butts,” Jack snapped. “I’ll take the graveyard shift and…”
“You
may not,” Anwyl said sadly. “Grania has taken the life of her
sister this day and we must keep vigil and be shriven. It is our
law to speak thusly of our actions, else they become wrongs to
us. I regret, my friends, but it is for us alone.”
“We
ask you to…” Grania faltered, dashing tears from her eyes.
Ula
crossed her arms over her chest and scowled, blinking hard to keep her
tears back. “It is for Anwyl and Grania alone, Jack. On the
morrow they must face Ove and speak of this.”
Una
sighed, leaning her head on her sister’s shoulder. “Better to
face her with heart and mind clear, ay?”
“Sir?”
Sam got in before Daniel, setting her hand over Grania’s.
“It
goes against the grain.” Jack looked at the exhausted faces and
thought of all these people had done for Daniel, without question,
without hesitation. They believed in their laws and he had to
respect that. Grania had no choice but to kill her sister to save
Daniel, but he had a choice to honour her loss and the ways of these
people. He nodded tightly and some of the strain eased from
Grania’s pale face. Jack dropped a rough hand to her shoulder,
then took his own chair next to Daniel.
Hueil
sat next to Sam and everyone fell on the food, eating in near
silence. The only distraction was the girls jumping up to make
the tea when the kettle boiled. Sam sat back, the edge off her
hunger, slowly sipping the fragrant herbal tea. She found her
eyes drifting to the colonel and Daniel, literally shoulder to
shoulder. In fact, if Daniel slumped any more, his head would be
on the colonel's shoulder. Sam didn’t miss the way Daniel was
focusing on Grania, and nor did the colonel. He made Daniel eat,
his rough tone and brisk orders not fooling anyone.
Sam
smiled a little. She wondered if either of the men even realised
they were as close, as knowing and intimate as Grania and Anwyl.
The Barre didn't see anything amiss, but they were passionately devoted
to one another. Same sex relationships occurred in any society,
of course, but the way the Barre viewed such relationships was destined
to be one of the many things they would walk away wondering about.
Hueil's
hand curved over Sam's thigh, gripping gently. Sam slipped her
own hand beneath the table over his, grateful for his solid,
unquestioning support. God, she hoped they got to make love again
tonight, just once. She needed him so badly. Sam
sighed. And yes, she was going to miss Hueil.
Jack
decided it was time to call it a night. Both Daniel and Carter
were punchy and they had a hell of a long haul tomorrow to make it back
to Barre. He nudged Daniel in the ribs and mouthed 'bed' when
Daniel looked up muzzily. Jack took Daniel's hand and helped him
to his feet. Carter nodded gratefully and got slowly to her feet,
Hueil's steadying hand at her elbow. The girls headed over to
refill their teacups then joined the chorus of goodnights to Grania and
Anwyl.
Jack's
last glimpse of the two was of Anwyl taking a weeping Grania into his
arms.
Hand
in hand, Ula and Una slipped into the cubicle at the far end of the
narrow hallway. Jack said nothing as Hueil led a weary Carter
into the middle cubicle. Daniel's eyebrow raised, more in concern
than curiosity, Jack thought, but Daniel was too damn tired to do more
than register.
"Bed,
Jackson," Jack ordered firmly, a balled fist in the small of Daniel's
back propelling him the last few steps to peace and privacy. Jack
was setting his weapon, vest and pack where they’d be close to hand as
the curtain was falling free behind them. He turned and batted
away Daniel's clumsy fingers, unbuttoning his jacket rapidly.
Jack went into automatic pilot, unbuckling, unzipping, unlacing,
tugging until Daniel was down to his BDUs and bare feet. Jack
shucked his own boots and Tee in record time as Daniel stood where Jack
had left him. The moment Jack returned to Daniel's side,
Daniel slowly settled his head on Jack's shoulder.
"Hey,"
Jack said gently, wrapping his arms tight around Daniel.
"Hey
yourself," Daniel kissed Jack's throat.
"You
scared the shit out of me," Jack growled.
"Ditto."
"Don't
do that again!"
"Don't
plan to."
"Love
you."
"Me
too."
"Well,
the way you love the sound of your own voice, Jackson, that's not
news," Jack teased as he manoeuvred Daniel over to the bunk. They
were going to have to lie side by side, but that wasn't as close as
Jack needed to be.
Daniel
fumbled at the covers and slid into the bunk, Jack's solid weight and
heat pinning him to the wall. Daniel found he liked the
sensation. The reassurance. "I'm sorry," he mumbled gruffly
into Jack's shoulder. Jack's response was to tighten his grip,
throw a possessive leg heavily over Daniel, and to kiss him, a soft
promise of a kiss.
"Not
now, okay?" Jack warned him softly. "I know you're thinking about
Grania and Keelin, but they both made their choices. They knew
the law and we didn't. This is not our fault, and Grania does not
blame us. They have to uphold the laws they have or everyone is
at risk. This wasn't a big moral choice, Daniel. They
didn't hesitate. If Ginebra's household was attacked with
impunity, any Chieftain's could be. Their only concern was to
stop the Places going to war. We were just caught in the crossfire."
"Aren't
we always?" Daniel said wearily.
Jack
held Daniel as he fell asleep, almost between one word and the
next. He lay awake for a little while, lulled by the low cries
and murmurs from Carter and Hueil, Grania's weeping and the beat of
Daniel's heart.
There
were worse ways to be awoken than being ruthlessly kissed back to
consciousness by a desperate colonel. Daniel slid his fingers
into Jack's hair and opened to him. He choked with laughter as
Jack's hand quested straight down to unzip and shove clumsily at his
BDUs. With his pants pooled around his hips, Daniel found himself
rolled roughly onto his back, Jack kneeing his thighs apart, his own
breath quickening as skin slid over skin and their groins ground
together as he swelled painfully against Jack, the need slamming
through him.
Daniel
pulled Jack down to him, pushing almost angrily into Jack's mouth,
driving deep as Jack thrust powerfully, jolting Daniel's body beneath
him. Daniel smiled up at him lazily, stroking his feet over
Jack's calves. He laughed softly as Jack fumbled at his thighs,
hoisting one leg high, to fall heavy across his back.
He
loved to see Jack like this, lost in the moment, his face taut and
grimacing, eyes fierce with desire and the harsh pleasure sounds
grunting low on his throat.
"Kiss
me," Jack demanded as Daniel smiled sweetly up at him. Daniel
seemed almost purring with satisfaction as he twined himself around
Jack, legs hooked now around Jack's waist, fingers ghosting over Jack's
back and shoulders, fleeting touches that made him shudder with
need. "Never…" Jack hissed, slamming into Daniel's supple, silken
body, warm and pliant beneath him. "Do…" He dropped his head to bite at
Daniel's jaw, his throat and shoulders. "That…" He hefted Daniel
for a moment; let him fall back to the bed, his ass settling onto
Jack's clenched fingers. "Again."
“Shut
up and kiss me, O’Neill,” Daniel ordered silkily, skimming his own
hands down over the contours of Jack’s back to knead his ass. He
loved how the hot, satin skin pulled tight over the powerfully flexing
muscles as Jack rocked and thrust against him, snarling at Daniel as
sweat and oozing dicks robbed him of friction to a deep, slow
glide. Daniel felt the pleasure boiling through him, needed more,
NOW, dropped his legs to brace his feet against the bunk, ignoring
Jack’s low growl. When Daniel thrust up into Jack, the growl
warmed and Jack finally dropped his head to kiss Daniel.
Jack’s
tongue warred aggressively with his, thrusting and shoving as Jack
sucked and bit, raw emotion tearing into Daniel. Lungs burning,
Daniel rode out the storm until Jack throttled back the pressure,
gentling despite himself. As the kiss drowsed, their thrusting
was becoming frenzied, Daniel slamming into Jack so hard they lifted
from the bed. They had no rhythm, only need, driving and
straining awkwardly into each other in a clash of hips, grips bruising
in desperation.
“Love
you,” Jack grated through clenched teeth, scrubbing his sweating brow
over Daniel’s.
Daniel
reared up and returned the pressure, his cheek hard against Jack’s,
shoving him back. “Love you too.”
Jack’s
smile lit his face, his cheek caressing.
They
rubbed restlessly against one another, biting lips and stifling groans
in gritted teeth as the pleasure bit deep and spiralled, dizzying
them. Daniel arched his back luxuriously as the tight pleasure at
his core shuddered through him and pulsed out, heat shivering against
his sweat-soaked skin as he came, Jack’s gloating, possessive eyes
fixed on his as Jack stilled and spasmed, coming hard and jerking
against Daniel.
Daniel
braced leaden arms to catch Jack as he fell, heavy, heaving and needy
onto Daniel’s chest. “I’m here, I’m safe,” Daniel promised, his
hands tight against Jack’s head as he strained into Daniel’s throat.
“Shit,”
Jack whispered against the flushed, heated skin. “Shit.
This was too close, Danny. Too soon, you know?”
“I
know,” Daniel agreed sadly. “It got real too quick. I’m
struggling to see my way clear. I thought…We can’t separate our
lives into nice, neat compartments, Jack. There is no work and
home, no dividing line. Maybe if we weren’t doing this…”
Not that Daniel could even imagine giving up SG-1. “I just don’t
know. There are going to be times when we disagree, when we can’t
agree. That’s going to come home with us. What happens the
first time we have a fight? Or one of us doesn’t want sex?
Will those feelings spill over in the field?”
“I
don’t know,” Jack admitted. “I’ve never done this before. I
have never, ever gotten involved with anyone I served with.” He
caught Daniel’s sudden shift. Jack took hold of Daniel’s
stubbornly tilted chin. “Never,” he insisted softly. “This
is it for me. Us. I’m not gonna quit, so we have to make it
work.” He stole a hard kiss, softening himself as Daniel melted
against him. “I don’t want to give up the Barre to Simmons and
his ilk,” Jack admitted ruefully. “I just don’t know if that’s
me, or for you. I really don’t.” He stole another kiss as
Daniel tried to speak. “I know motives matter to you,
Daniel. Hell, I try to let them matter to me.” Not that he
always had that luxury, or succeeded when he had. Jack was
supposed to be dispassionate. When he got involved, his kids got
hurt. Daniel got hurt. “There aren’t any easy answers
here. I can’t even tell you I can stop. I can’t. I
won’t,” Jack warned fiercely.
Daniel
was warmed through by Jack’s vehemence. “Never happen,” he
promised.
Jack
kissed Daniel again, and let himself accept the proffered comfort,
Daniel’s arms closing hard around him. Hell, he couldn’t even
promise Daniel they would never again have sex on a mission. He
wasn’t perfect, not even close. Daniel walked into this with his
eyes wide open. The only thing Jack could offer as a promise was
honesty. Everything else, they’d have to work at. Amusement
quivered through him suddenly. When had they not worked at this
thing between them? Even Daniel admitted their friendship didn’t
come easy. Why did he imagine it would be all hearts and flowers
now they were lovers? When did anything come easy to either of
them? “Never happen,” Jack agreed.
Daniel
kissed Jack’s bowed tenderly. “You’d really do that for me?” he
asked tentatively. “Protect the Barre?”
“That’s
not a good thing, Jackson,” Jack grumbled. “I’d feel a lot better
about us if I was hog-tying you to a horse and dragging you back to the
gate cursing me every step of the way for a loveless bastard.”
“Already
did that,” Daniel teased. “Mean horse. Kicked, bit and
shit.” He kissed Jack again. “I called him O’Neill,” he
crooned fondly. He relaxed as Jack’s lips curved against his skin.
“Prick,”
Jack complained. “Did we resolve anything?”
Had
they? Daniel still didn’t know if Jack was being altruistic or
selfish in helping the Barre, but then neither did Jack. He did
know Jack was smart enough to know it, and say it. Daniel figured
maybe it was enlightened self-interest on Jack’s part, an all too rare
occasion where his needs tallied with Jack’s ability to satisfy them,
allowing Jack to be altruistic. It also wouldn’t be without
cost. The only time Jack had falsified a report had been to allow
Daniel to stay with Sha’uri, and to protect the people of Abydos.
Hammond had called his bluff, but this time round Jack would be dealing
with Simmons. Though Daniel would make sure Jack wasn’t dealing
with Simmons alone.
“Yes,”
Daniel said emphatically. “We’ve resolved that with the time
constraints and the volatility of the political situation, we were
unable to retrieve any technology but did secure it for future
retrieval by a suitably equipped party,” Daniel quoted an imaginary
report. “Just use your imagination for equipped,” he suggested
“Lie
with the truth?” Jack admired. “That’s practically Zen.”
“That’s
what they pay me the big bucks for,” Daniel smirked.
“Like
I haven’t noticed?” Jack observed gently. “You started out
wearing my pants and now your dinner plates are worth more than my
house.”
“Don’t
be ridiculous, Jack,” Daniel sneered. “The truck, maybe.”
“I’m
hungry,” Daniel muttered.
“Don’t
be ridiculous,” Jack muttered back. He made a great show of
checking his watch, flipping and sealing the cover with
precision. “You only ate…”
“Eight…”
“Hours
ago.”
“I’m
going to faint,” Daniel insisted defiantly.
“Knock
yourself out,” Jack said callously. “I’ll just get the girls to
roll you down the mountain.”
"Down?"
Daniel echoed incredulously, gaping up at the trail they were climbing.
"Down,"
Jack insisted defiantly.
“Home
run,” Daniel observed to the rocks, apropos of annoying the crap out of
Jack. Eight hours? That’s about how long Jack had been
saying they were on the home run. They weren’t on the home
anything. They were in fact Grand Old Duke of Yorking it through
a precipitous pass in the mountains after Sam had spotted a party of
Weylyn scouring the trail a few miles ahead of them and only after
three hours walking. Three. Hours. Three.
It
wasn’t anybody’s fault, but Sam was white-faced, sheer guts and
determination powering her up this pass. The difference in Sam’s
condition and Jack’s was of course microscopic and unlike Sam, Jack was
disdaining everyone’s help. Daniel had fallen back on being as
aggravating as he could manage. He was walking as close as he
dared already, but if they didn’t get a break soon, he really was going
to have to pitch a fainting fit so he could get his hands on Jack and
help him. Stubborn bastard didn’t know when to quit.
Couldn’t he see that people…that Sam was worried about him?
“I
think I just saw a goat fall off this mountain,” he complained
bitterly, eyeing Jack anxiously.
“Is
this the part where you tell me, big surprise, ha ha, you really do
feel faint?” Jack asked chattily, refusing to admit even to himself he
wanted to hit the ground and throw up, not necessarily in that
order. If the fucking gradient got any more brutal, they’d be
crawling up this mother on hands and knees. His mood was not
improved in any way by the fact the Barre were bouncing around full of
the joys of spring.
“You’re
sure this path will bring us out near the Leth?” Daniel called up to
Grania, marching ahead of them, her hair snapping in the breeze.
“Ay!”
Grania called back. “It is still our thought best it is you just
go. If there be any way we can send your things through before
the Leht returns to Belenos, we will.” She turned impulsively to
face them. “Sorry I am I did not think on this sooner, Daniel,"
she apologised, shamefaced.
"Oh,
no," Daniel called at once, distressed.
"The
people of Weylyn be within the law to have the asking of this matter
and of you, and naught Ginebra could do, else it come back on Barre in
our turn," Anwyl agreed.
“The
striving would be three full days and nights, Jack,” Hueil said
soberly. “And you would be here with us a full year for
that.” He glanced betrayingly to Sam for just a moment. “We
have enough of what you taught us, Sam and Daniel. And we will
have more of it,” he promised. “We will have it all, together, as
Barrecis intended,” he said proudly.
“Ay,”
Anwyl agreed, smiling down fondly at Grania. "It is fitting for
the price we have paid for the knowledge."
Jack
winced, glancing across at Daniel's regretful face as Carter sighed
heavily behind him. "Let's take five," he ordered abruptly.
"Hours?"
Daniel asked as he dropped in his tracks.
"Days?"
Sam muttered, sinking gratefully down onto a pile of rocks that dug
painfully into her mood. She could move or she could shoot
herself. This was not an easy choice. "I hate you," she
informed Daniel. "You got a horse."
"It
wasn't exactly a fiery steed. It kicked, bit, and shit," Daniel
complained, wounded.
"Sounds
like the colonel," Sam grumbled into her water bottle.
"Which
means it also had excellent hearing, Carter," Jack interjected
smoothly. He was sure that if Carter had the energy she'd have
flipped him the bird. Or shot him, depending on which she thought
took least effort. "Starting to feel like some Mickey Mouse
outfit," Jack complained, eyeing the twins in stark disbelief as they
scampered up the slope to check out the terrain ahead.
"Mickey
Mouse?" Daniel gaped. "We're not even making it to Porky Pig."
"I'd
sell my soul to be the Road Runner," Sam said wistfully. "Meep
Meep," she whispered to Daniel. “It would make a goddamn change
from Yosemite Sam,” she muttered bitterly, keeping a wary eye on the
colonel. Sam rolled her eyes when Daniel winced
sympathetically. “School was a joy,” she said grimly.
“Happiest days of my life my ass.”
"I
always liked Pepe Le Pew," Daniel whispered back, sidling a little
closer so if any major in the vicinity needed to lean, she could.
It took about ten seconds for the availability of a shoulder to sink
in, and then the major leaned gratefully.
"I've
always seen the colonel as a cross between Pepe Le Pew and…"
"Wyle
E. Coyote?" Daniel grinned at Sam as he accepted the energy bar she
offered. "Me too. With a wide streak of Foghorn Leghorn in
there."
"None
of whom are deaf," Jack snapped. He turned away to hide a
smile. He was going to have to use the Yosemite Sam when she
least expected it.
"Are
you disappointed about the…" Daniel and Sam asked at the same time.
"Tablets,"
Sam chuckled.
"Technology,"
Daniel said ruefully.
"Me
too," Sam agreed regretfully. "It's ironic that the one mission
it looks like we hit the mother lode, the clock is beating us.
Without a Stargate, there's no way we'll ever have the time to return
here long enough to survey that site," she used the terminology
conscientiously. It was a small thing, but it mattered to
Daniel. "Or catalogue the technology. I doubt the general
would authorise a mission given the cache is in hostile territory and
our presence would be volatile to the local political/military
situation at best."
Jack
took a long draught from his canteen, not missing the obvious quoting
in Carter's tone of voice. It seemed as if his team was on the
same page, maybe for different reasons, but his kids were both trying
to give him a graceful out here. They wanted to protect the
Barre, clear and for once very simple. There was no realistic
chance they could ever scoop up those toys without starting a
war. Jack decided to quit beating himself up over it and just
give his kids what they were hoping from him. Daniel and Carter
had both been disappointed in every other respect. Jack glanced
behind him, seeing the two heads bowed close together, a lot of quiet
talk and solid comfort shared. He shrugged. So they'd each
gotten one thing. It was still a hell of a trip for hellacious
good sex.
"Are
you sorry we came?" Daniel asked tentatively as Grania and Anwyl sat
down with them, Hueil taking the spot on Sam's left.
"No!"
Grania snapped, clearly shocked. "Much we will learn and do from
even this short time we've had with you. Do not let your thought
be different than that."
"Ay,
Grania has the way of it," Hueil agreed, dividing up his bread and
cheese with Sam.
Sam
smiled at him mistily, not worried about Daniel's reaction at least to
her sappiness. She'd had blinding sex with this man, the
strongest and gentlest lover she'd ever known, and she was going to
miss him like crazy. Her treacherous hormones wanted to right
where they were, dancing around fleeting glances and soft touches and
the promise of that hot, sweet pleasure that had her weeping into his
shoulder as she came. It had been so long, so damn long.
Sam had to go back and be alone, and right now it was hard not to hate
the colonel and Daniel because they were connected physically
now. They would…Daniel would grow away from her if she let him,
let the colonel take him.
Wasn't
gonna happen. No fucking way.
Her
choice was to keep her yap shut and be there, be with Daniel whenever
they could. Daniel couldn't know Sam knew he and the colonel were
lovers, because it would hurt him to have her hold her silence.
It was against her orders, and Sam supposed it should be against her
conscience, but that was nothing weighed against Daniel's happiness,
and the security of both men. Sam would look anyone in the eye
and lie her lily white, impeccable service record behind right
off. No question.
Maybe
she'd needed to have her eyes opened to keep her mouth shut; all
Sam knew was that she was more comfortable with herself than she had
been for a long time. This was what her life was and it was time
to go for that Hallmark moment, quit whining about her lot and grab
whatever was thrown at her, by the balls if necessary.
Daniel
watched anxiously as Sam's troubled face cleared, then headed over to
Jack with his half of the energy bar. Jack made room on his
boulder.
"If
I'd gotten down there, I doubt even the girls could have shifted me,"
Jack confessed, embarrassed, absently rubbing his knee. He took
the energy bar and scarfed it down in about three bites. "Can you
get these intravenously? Might help."
"Coffee,"
Daniel groaned.
"I'll
get Fraiser to put you on a drip as soon as we get back," Jack promised
faithfully.
"Have
you decided what you're doing?" Daniel asked quietly. He was
certain Jack hadn't missed the exchange between Sam and he. Jack
didn't miss much.
"Lie
with the truth," Jack said at once. "We fully disclose…" He
grinned as Daniel choked and looked abruptly down. "Everything
but that," he amended.
"Will
you get in hot water for not accompanying me on that walk?" Daniel
asked sharply.
"Probably,"
Jack answered casually. "Wouldn't be the first time. My
service record is bristling with reprimands and stays of execution on
various Articles." He elbowed Daniel. "General Ryan thought
I was a handful," he said proudly.
Daniel
rubbed his ribs and made suitably admiring noises. He was well
aware Jack - Jack of all people - had a bad case of hero worship for
the Air Force Chief of Staff.
"I
met him. General Ryan."
"I
know," Daniel agreed soothingly. "I met him too."
Jack
stiffened a little and stared at him. "You did? You were in
Hammond's office?"
The
slight edge in Jack's voice suggested disapproval of archaeologists who
sucked up.
"No,"
Daniel said innocently. "They came to my office."
"General
Ryan?"
"Yes."
"The
Air Force Chief of Staff?"
"Yes."
"He
came to your office? Why, may one ask?"
That
was a good question, given the general could have been better employing
his time visiting an unspecified colonel's office. "He reads all
of my reports and reviews my mission footage," Daniel beamed at
Jack. "He's a big fan," he added dulcetly. Jack glared at
him and abruptly called time, cutting off Sam as she groaned a faint,
despairing protest.
Daniel
smiled to himself as the burst of indignation got Jack up and over the
rise. He followed, wondering how long he'd have to wait before he
put plan B into action without it being too obvious. He was
certain if he dropped back to cover the rear, Jack would be right there
to cover his rear, possibly with both hands. The P-90 did come
with a harness for exactly this kind of emergency.
"If
we're out of food, you want I should go back and get that goat?" Daniel
called helpfully as Jack toiled over the crest of the pass.
"Bite
me!" Jack snapped.
"I
dunno," Daniel observed Jack doubtfully. "I think you'd be on the
tough side."
"Tough?"
"Stringy,"
Daniel amended pleasantly.
"How
many stairs?" Sam bleated.
"Six
hundred and sixty-six."
"How
many?"
"Six
hundred and…"
"I
hate you," Sam said passionately. She sat down on the bottom step
and glared up at Daniel. "Sir, I'm sorry." Sam bitterly
jerked her thumb at the stairs. "I need to work up to this, and
that's on hands and knees."
"Move
over," Jack ordered. He parked his ass and glared up at Daniel
too. "Do us a favour, willya? Try to look exhausted! It
would make us feel so much better," he drawled witheringly.
"I
am exhausted!" Daniel said indignantly.
"As
are we all," Grania snapped grimly. "Have I a soldier or my Ove
with a gun?" she asked Jack unkindly.
"Now
that's unfair," Jack protested. "Carter's the one who's been
whining."
"Me?
Try Daniel," Sam riposted.
"I
have not…"
"Peace!!!"
Grania roared. She stood before them, face stormy, one foot
tapping menacingly. "You may rest for 'five' and no more.
It will be dark and it is my thought toppling headlong from Belenos'
Leth is not the cure for what ails you!"
Jack
blew her a kiss and gloated as she smiled involuntarily.
"You
need not think to work your whiles on me, Jack," Grania said
coldly. "I am no sucker."
"What?"
Jack demanded as his kids sagged and glared at him. Grania was
technically on guard, while Jack and Carter were technically holding
the Leth against hostiles, but the truth was the rest of the Barre were
checking out movement in the tree line and Jack should be with
them. He thought he could have made it down, but he was sure they
would have had to carry him back up. So here they were, holding
jack-shit and whining. "What was that again?" he asked Daniel.
"Porky
Pig."
"Not
on his worst day, Danny," Jack said regretfully. A noise from
behind Grania brought him to his feet, locking and loading.
"Carter," he snapped tersely.
"Do
we lose range if we shoot sitting down?" Sam muttered as she got to her
feet and they stepped in front of Grania. She could sense
Daniel's frustration as Grania stood, bow at the ready. That
reminded her. "We weren't able to recover Daniel's weapon,
Grania. The small gun."
"We
will search for it down by the river where Daniel was taken from
us. If it was not among the Weylyn, and it is not by the river,
it is my thought perhaps the weapon was tried and when it failed as do
these," Grania gestured at the P-90s, "it was not kept. It would
do no harm thusly?"
"Not
without ammunition, but you should still try to recover it and keep it
safe. A man like Hueil might be able to figure out how to use
it," Sam emphasised.
"Quiet,"
Jack hissed as heads appeared at the opposite end of the ridge leading
to the Leth. He relaxed infinitesimally when he saw Anwyl and
Hueil, and the girls, plus a few other faces he recognised from the
feast the first night, and the women from the rescue party.
The
Barre moved swiftly and sure-footed across the ridge. Jack
counted twenty, and realised their decision to cross to this side was
tactical. He moved out to meet Anwyl. "Trouble?" he asked.
"Weylyn
comes in force to bring you to question," Anwyl said simply.
"Barre has led them a merry dance on the mountain but they are hard on
our heels now. I am sorry, my friend but you must be gone before
they lay eyes on you and set the blame at Barre's door."
When
Jack looked back, Carter and Daniel were backing up the steps as the
Barre took up positions, three deep, three steps apart, allowing them
to shoot over the heads of the people in front. Jack looked at
the kill-zone. The Weylyn could only cross one at a time if they
pushed it. They used to say the bow was the machine gun of the
ancient army…Jack nodded, satisfied. The Barre would hold.
"Reinforcements?"
Anwyl
smiled wolfishly.
"You
kicked their asses," Jack said smugly.
"We
were victorious," Anwyl corrected him primly.
"It
goes against the grain to cut and run," Jack told him as they walked
back to join the others. "We don't leave our people."
"Nor
do we, and until you step into the Leth, Jack, you are all our people."
Jack
watched the love-fest of fierce hugs, kisses and tears…"No sniffling,
Carter," Jack warned. "No sniffling in the Air Force."
"And
I suppose that's grit in your eye," Daniel grumbled.
Jack
winked at him. He shook Anwyl's hand. "Thanks," he said
intently, holding the man's gaze.
"It
is well, Jack," Anwyl assured him.
Daniel
hugged Grania convulsively. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm
so sorry."
"Do
not be, Daniel. It is hard, but rather my sister dead at my hand
and with my love and sorrow than my Ove dead at the hand of a
stranger," Grania's voice rang strong and clear. "I am Barre,"
she said proudly.
Sam
stood behind the archers, her eyes following Hueil who stood with Ula
and Una where they would bear the brunt of any fight. The girls
kissed the colonel, but Hueil only looked back at Sam. He nodded
once, hard and turned his back. Sam swallowed her regrets,
tugging Daniel gently after her as the colonel gave the signal and she
turned to begin the long climb.
Daniel
didn't relax even when Jack caught them up at the turn, he kept
glancing back to where the Barre stood easily on the steps, and guarded
their retreat.
"I
know," Jack told his kids softly, a hard fist knotted in the small of
Daniel's back. "I know you don't want to leave them to a fight
any more than I do, but I also know they're not safe until we're
gone. When the Leht flares the Weylyn will know we've gone, and
this could end without a fight."
Carter
looked back down at him, bit her lip, then double-timed it, Daniel hard
on her heels. Jack felt a sharp pang of pride in his kids.
He'd never served with better people, and the difference was they had
their hearts in it. Hell, even he wasn't immune. He picked
up the pace, ignoring the savage, sickening pain in his right knee, the
jarring to his back. He could have dropped the pack the girls had
shoved at him, but it held Daniel's notebook and the precious tablets,
and he couldn't bring himself to deny Daniel something he wanted so
much.
Sam
made it to the top and doubled over, spots in front of her eyes, her
head swimming dangerously. Daniel's hand settled on the small of
her back, Daniel sounding in no better state. They were on the
opposite side of from the Barre, the only way to see them would be to
cross the platform and that would trigger the device.
Sam
stiffened as a soft susurration echoed. She and Daniel
straightened up. "They'll be fine," Sam said steadily, though
Daniel hadn't asked.
"We
hope."
"Carter,
take point," the colonel ordered as he stepped onto the platform.
"We'll wait two minutes and follow, give you time to clear the
platform."
"Sir,"
Sam acknowledged, clasping Daniel's shoulder consolingly for a
moment. “I’ll be waiting.” Sam turned and headed briskly
out towards the central tower. The steady thrum of power reached
screaming pitch and the crystals flared…
Jack
watched Carter vanish between one step and the next, snatched Daniel to
him and kissed him hard. "They are not going to die.
Whatever third stringer the Weylyn can field can only get a few people
into position on the other side of the ridge, and only one at a time
could cross it. Like shooting fish in a barrel. The Barre
look after their own, Danny, and if you mean any of that stuff you're
always spouting to me you'll accept that this is their choice, and let
this go. They deserve that." Jack knew it was a low blow,
knew it before Daniel flinched and glared at him. These are
warning shots, no more. I promise,” he added. “The Barre
are no different than us, Danny," he said in a softer voice. "I
get that."
"You
always did," Daniel said obliquely. It was the same instinctual
acceptance that had Jack taking Teal'c into the team or choosing for
the Enkarans, even if the cost was Daniel's life. It was
admirable, and as dangerously naïve as Jack believed Daniel was,
another of the mass of contradictions and complexities that drove this
man he’d fallen in love with.
"I've
been wrong before," Jack admitted wryly.
"Not
this time." Daniel leaned in to snatch a kiss of his own as the
constant whisper of arrows falling faded to silence and a great shout
went up from the Barre. "Thanks," he said softly. "For the
reality check."
"And
for saving your life, and for being a kick ass tactician, and for being
magnanimous in…"
“You
can be such a prick, O’Neill.”
"A
prick who’s right, Jackson,” Jack gloated. “Time's up.
Carter should be clear.” Jack ruthlessly propelled Daniel towards
the towers. “In fact…” he began brightly.
“Did
I ever tell you Kevin Spacey made a movie with John Cusack?” Daniel
interrupted. “’Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil’. It’s the
best of both worlds. Kevin spends most of the movie ogling John,
and I usually spend most of it ogling Kevin,” he said dulcetly.
“Wha?”
Jack bleated.
The
light flared…
FINIS
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