AND NOT TO YIELD  BY DARCY & SAMI-J

Chapter 15

A million thoughts ran through Jack's mind as he wound his way through the corridors of the SGC the next day. He and Daniel had arrived at seven this morning. After a quick breakfast in the commissary Daniel had gone straight to his office with Rothman and Lee hot on his heels.

Jack had spent the morning checking in on each member of his team. He liked to spend a few minutes with the men individually before a mission, to get a read on their readiness and address any doubts or concerns they might not be comfortable sharing with the entire team. Brown had been his usual fearless yet cautious self. Porro was in good spirits though he often fingered his lucky St. Christopher medal as if confirming it still hung from his neck. Reilly was smiling, barely able to contain his excitement, while Rogalla was deadpan, not giving anything away. Freeman displayed his 'ready for anything' attitude and Ferretti joked to cover his nerves. Kawalsky had been serious, preparing for a variety of possible scenarios. Jack was satisfied they were all primed and good to go.

There was still one more team member he needed to check on. When Jack peeked in on Daniel, the boy was alone, sitting at his desk and looking more like a thirty-year-old scientist than an eleven-year-old boy genius. The kid was so intent on what he was reading he seemed unaware he had company. Jack knocked on the doorframe so he didn't give the kid a heart attack.

"Oh, hi, Jack! I'm going over my parents’ notes on the snake language and I'm brushing up on my hieroglyphics and ancient Egyptian."

"Good idea." Jack tried not to laugh.

Brushing up on hieroglyphics? One didn’t hear that phrase very often. Jack had a hunch he'd be hearing a lot of new phrases in the not too distant future. They were going through the Stargate. Tomorrow. To another planet. It still gave him chills.

"I'm on my way to a pre-mission briefing and we’d like you to come by and give us your thoughts on translating the symbols on the other Stargate. What do you say?"

"To the General and the soldiers?” Daniel's eyes were wide in disbelief or nervousness. Jack couldn't tell which.

"Yeah, the General will be there. And if by soldiers you mean Kawalsky and the rest of the team, yep, they'll be there, too. Why? Do they make you nervous?"

"Maybe a little." Daniel looked down at his book.

Jack waved his hand in the air. "There's no reason to be nervous around them. I've known most of them a long time and they're good guys. Just a bunch of goofballs, really."

Daniel chuckled at that. "Is the briefing now, Jack?"

"I have to be there in a few minutes but we won't need you until..." he checked his watch. "Fourteen hundred hours, or two o'clock . We have to go over a few other details about the mission first that don't involve the symbols." Things like weapons and ammunition and fire power. Not to mention bombs. Daniel didn't need to know any of that. It would crush him.

"Oh, good, I have time to prepare!" The boy let out a huge sigh of relief.

"Prepare, huh? A few highlights will be fine." He hoped Daniel would remember why it was called a briefing and not a... droning. The kid was already scrabbling through the books on his desk. "See ya in a little while then." Jack smiled and shook his head.

“’kay.” Daniel didn't look up from his stack of books, and Jack’s smile widened as he walked out.

The briefing proceeded as planned with talk of weapons and supplies and Plan B's and C's. The bomb talk would take place later between Jack and Hammond. They wrapped it up around two o'clock as scheduled and began talking among themselves. All heads turned at the knock on the door. Hammond called "Come"; an SF opened it and Daniel strolled in. Jack was pleased to see he was only carrying his notebook and a pen.

"Hey, DJ, what do ya say?" Ferretti joked.

Jack's hopes for a quick briefing faded when Sergeant Waring followed a few seconds later carrying a stack of thick, heavy books.

"Where do you want these, Daniel?" she asked.

Daniel smiled with relief when he spotted the empty chair Jack had intentionally saved so he'd be close enough to offer moral support.

"Right here will be fine, Sergeant." He slid into the seat beside Jack as Sergeant Waring set the books down on the table in front of him.

"Thank you, Tr... Sergeant." Daniel pushed up his glasses and smiled as his favorite Sergeant left the room.

Jack refrained from groaning when Daniel opened up a folder and passed around several hand-outs covering a variety of symbols and odd-looking words. The kid was nothing if not efficient. Other members of the team weren't as polite or didn't possess enough self-control to refrain from commenting.

"What's this? Are you going to teach us how to speak this language?" Ferretti asked as he flipped through the papers. "I have to tell you, Daniel, it all looks Greek to me.”

Daniel seemed confused but took Ferretti at his word. "Some of it is Greek, Captain. I'll be sure to point it out when it comes up."

Ferretti looked as if he might bust a gut. It was all in good fun but Jack was afraid Daniel wouldn't see it that way. General Hammond came to the rescue.

"This is a briefing, gentlemen, let's conduct ourselves accordingly."

Jack was sitting close enough to see Daniel’s hands trembling. The kid was nervous as hell but trying hard to keep it together. Jack shot them a stern look and that, along with the General’s comment, persuaded the soldiers to hide their amusement.

"Let's see what you have for us." Jack winked at Daniel and the kid relaxed and began his lecture.

"Throughout their three-thousand year history, the ancient Egyptians used three kinds of writings to write religious and secular texts:  hieroglyphic, hieratic and, from the 25th Dynasty on, demotic.”

"Demonic, as in demons?" It was Ferretti again.

Jack licked his lips, sighed and gave Ferretti the look he normally reserved for Charlie on a bad day.

"What, Colonel? I'm serious," Ferretti defended himself.

"Actually, I was wondering the same thing, sir," Kawalsky added.

Daniel took a deep, patient breath. "It's demotic, Captain. Not demonic and so it has nothing to do with demons."

"Ah." Ferretti and Kawalsky said simultaneously.

"Are we ready?" Jack asked.

"Please continue, Daniel," General Hammond said. His pale blue eyes moved around the table and everyone quieted.

Twenty minutes passed and Daniel was still going strong. Jack spent his time glaring at his subordinates, silently daring them to interrupt with a smart-ass comment. No one was foolish enough to accept the challenge.

Daniel was in his element and happily oblivious to it all. "Hieroglyphic writing is the basis of the other two writings. Captain Ferretti, this is the part that might be particularly interesting to you. It's the part where the Greek comes in."

Jack nearly choked on his water and tried not to look at Kawalsky who was busy clearing his throat. One look at Daniel and the urge to laugh vanished. The boy was sincere and trying hard to get everything right. Jack could only hope his men saw and appreciated Daniel's efforts as well. They must have because after Kawalsky cleared his throat the room grew quiet.

Jack gave Ferretti extra bonus points when the Captain managed to say, "Do tell, Daniel," with a straight face.

The kid didn't waste any time launching into an explanation. "It's named hieroglyphs because when the Greeks arrived in Egypt , writing was mainly used for sacred inscriptions on temple walls and public monuments. The word 'sacred' in Greek is 'hieros' and the word inscriptions is 'glypho.'”

Daniel looked in Ferretti's direction and the Captain, God bless him, nodded agreeably. "Thank you for clearing that up."

Smiling with pride, Daniel continued, explaining that hieroglyphic writing was used on monuments and temples and tombs and sarcophagi and coffins. Then he moved on to hieratic, which, according to Daniel, was as old as hieroglyphic and was used mainly for religious writings on papyrus or linen.

Daniel again deferred to Ferretti as he went off on a tangent to explain that the word came from the Greek word 'hieratikos' meaning priestly. Aside from Kawalsky having another coughing jag, Ferretti feigned interest and Daniel happily launched into his views on demotic writing, “...which, as we all now know has absolutely nothing to do with demons.”

Ten minutes into the demotic lecture General Hammond took pity on the team and interrupted.

"Thank you, Daniel. That was very interesting and informative. But I'm afraid we're going to have to end this briefing right here to give everyone time to gather their supplies and get packed and ready."

Daniel looked disappointed at being cut short but didn't argue. General Hammond disappeared into his office and Jack dismissed the men with orders to prepare, mentally, physically and emotionally. Tomorrow was the big day.

After the room cleared Daniel turned to him with concern. "I didn't finish, Jack. I still needed to talk about the dynasties and which kings were in which time periods so they'd know better what to expect. I was going to show them some important symbols to be on the lookout for, too."

Jack gave him a wink. "Don't worry about it, kiddo. That's why we're bringing you along."

"Oh. Right!" Daniel's smile widened and then faltered.

"You okay?" Jack tousled the blonde hair, wondering if now that the moment was at hand, Daniel might be getting scared. Who wouldn't be?"

"What if I can't do it, Jack?"

It figured. Daniel was worried about the rest of them. That, and failure.

Jack put his arm around the boy's shoulders. "You'll do the best you can and I'm sure it will be more than enough. Remember that no matter what happens, no one on this planet would be able to do a better job than you."

"Really, Jack?" Daniel looked up at him with a hopeful expression.

"Yes, really. And we're a team. We're in this together. And besides all that, I have every confidence in you."

The glow in Daniel's eyes let Jack know he'd said the right thing. "Now go pack and get your gear together. I'll come by in a few hours to doublecheck it all."

"Okay." The boy jumped out of the chair. His enthusiasm was back in full force. He stopped in the doorway. "Do you have to check my gear because I'm a kid?"

"I check all my men's gear before a mission. Better safe than sorry, right?"

"Right. Good idea.” Daniel smiled happily.

“Scram.” Jack pointed toward the door.

Daniel's smile widened and he started out, only to hurry back. “Don’t worry about that,” he said, pointing to the pile still on the table. “ Tracy 's going to come by and pick up the books and take them back to my office for me."

Of course she was. Jack grinned proudly as the kid took off, racing down the corridor with his notebook and pen in hand.

Normally, on the night before a mission Jack was able to go to bed early and will himself to get some rest, but he doubted he'd be able to manage much sleep tonight. 'Normally' didn't apply. Normally he was going to another country, tomorrow he was going to another planet. His heart raced at the thought and he was grateful when Sara walked into their bedroom and interrupted his thoughts.

"Ready for bed?"

Despite the casual question she was looking at him strangely, and Jack wondered how he'd been able to contain his excitement around her for this long. From the stare she was leveling at him Sara must be picking up some of what he was feeling. Thankfully, she knew better than to ask questions.

"Almost, there's just one more thing I need to do." Sara smiled at him when he nodded toward the hall. She knew he'd never leave without saying goodbye to Charlie.

The boy's door was only partially closed and Jack pushed it open the rest of the way. The lump under the blanket that was his son was still but that didn’t stop Jack from entering the dark room. Charlie would never forgive him if he left without saying goodbye.

"Charlie, you awake?"

"Yeah." The lump emerged from under the covers and rolled over to face him.

Of course Charlie was awake. He was a worrier like his mom. Jack sat down on the edge of the bed and touched his son's shoulder. "I want to say goodbye. Daniel and I will be gone by the time you wake up."

Charlie nodded and sat up and Jack turned the light beside the bed on dim. "And I have an idea I want to run by you."

Jack had been racking his brain in an effort to come up with something special for Charlie's birthday that was only a few weeks away. Something for just the two of them, to make up for missing the special night at school and for taking Daniel on an adventure while Charlie stayed home with Sara. The boy didn't know where they were going but he knew it was big and it was military and top secret, and that was more than enough to fuel his son's active imagination.

For awhile Jack worried he'd have to wait and think up an appropriate gift after he and Daniel returned home. Then yesterday at work he overheard one of the SF's talking about a rafting trip he'd taken during the summer. Perfect! Jack had always wanted to take Charlie whitewater rafting but had been waiting until the boy was old enough to really enjoy it.

Despite how crazy it had been the last few days, after hearing the SF talking yesterday he had taken the time to peruse the Internet and print out a few brochures after settling on a three-day trip through the Royal Gorge on the Arkansas River. One of the runs was called "The Gauntlet". Charlie would love that. The trip included everything from meals to activities that included fishing, hiking, rock climbing and horseback riding. It was expensive but Jack figured it'd be worth it to spend some quality time with his son. Besides, he had saved a bundle on the cancelled Fantasy Sports Camp Week. He grimaced at the memory. Maybe this could make up for that and help Charlie forget some of the trauma of the past few months.

"Your birthday's coming up and I was thinking that you and I should go on an adventure together. What do you think?"

Charlie stared intently at him before looking down at his hands twisting in his lap. “You don’t have to, Dad. I, um, I understand I can’t be part of whatever you and Daniel are doing...” he stopped with an audible gulp, then went on in a rush. “I’m okay with it.”

Jack looked at the bowed head, fighting the temptation to put his arms around his son. He knew the boy wanted desperately to come with him on the mission and was trying so hard to be calm and matter-of-fact and mature.

Charlie didn’t realize it, but his words proved he was growing up. Pride filled Jack but he knew better than to give in to emotion. Charlie was trying to be cool about the whole thing so Jack decided to play it cool, too.

"So you don't want to go on an adventure with me?"

"What kind of adventure?" Charlie's curiosity got the better of him and he looked up.

"You know how we've always talked about going white water rafting? Well, I think we should finally do it."

Jack was glad he had taken the time to investigate and print out the brochures. He didn't want to just say it. He wanted to have tangible proof that it was a done deal. They were really going as opposed to the trip being in the talking stage. Just in case –  He stopped himself, not wanting to think about the ‘just in case’ part.

A smile spread slowly across Charlie’s face. "What does Mom say?"

Jack stifled a laugh. It was funny how Charlie always asked that question. He hadn't mentioned it to her yet. Not on purpose, he just hadn't gotten around to it with everything else going on. It didn't matter, Jack knew what she'd think.

"She thinks it's a great idea. Wanna see the brochures?"

"You have brochures?" Charlie appeared excited for the first time.

Jack chuckled. "What? You don't believe we'll do anything unless I get a brochure to prove it?"

Charlie shrugged as he snatched the pages Jack had printed out and reviewed what the Royal Gorge had to offer. "If we do the rafting do you think we'd have time to do the rock climbing, too?"

That was the spirit! "Yep, because I was thinking we'd sign up for that three-day adventure and stay the weekend. Maybe leave on a Friday and come back Sunday night."

"Really? Wow, that'd be awesome! Do you think they'll let us do the expert rafting run? It's called..." Charlie scanned the page again, “‘The Gauntlet.’ It'll probably be the most exciting because it's says it's not for beginners or intermediate rafters."

Charlie's eyes were sparkling. The worry and anger and fear of the past few days had vanished. Hah, Sara wasn't the only person in the house with great ideas.

"We'll work our way up to that expert run, but yeah, I'm sure we can manage it.” Jack grinned at the thought of him and Charlie shooting the rapids together. Springtime was a long way off but it gave them both something to look forward to. Another reason to come home safe and sound.

"Do you think Daniel will be nervous? He wasn’t exactly near a lot of water growing up."

Jack scanned Charlie's features but could find no trace of anything but sincerity.

"I thought this trip would be for just you and me."

"You don't have to do that, Dad. If Daniel wants to come it's okay with me. I know you'd take me on your mission with Daniel if you could."

No, he wouldn't, but Charlie didn't need to know that.

"How about you and I check it out first and take Daniel another time? Sound good?" What a great kid he and Sara had raised.

"Sounds good," Charlie readily agreed. "It'll be a blast. Rock climbing, horseback riding and of course... The Gauntlet!" He raised an eyebrow at the words and Jack felt as if he was looking in a mirror.

"And fishing," Jack added, raising his own eyebrow. "Don't forget the fishing."

"Oh, no, I'd never forget the fishing." Charlie answered sarcastically.

Jack suppressed a laugh. Where did the time go?

"Dad?" Charlie was looking up at him with moist brown eyes, a little boy again.

Instead of answering, Jack rubbed his son's shoulder and waited.

"Thanks." With the word, Charlie wrapped his arms around Jack's waist and hugged him hard. "Thanks, Dad," he repeated, still squeezing Jack's middle.

Charlie was much more physical since the kidnapping and Jack wasn't complaining, he enjoyed every second of it.

"You're only going to be gone one or two days, right?" Charlie raised his head to reveal imploring brown eyes.

Now came the hard part. The goodbye.

God willing it would only be a few hours but Charlie was remembering his remark from the other night.

“Yeah, probably just one day but it may take two or three. You never know how long things will take until you get there. The main thing is try not to worry too much."

Charlie nodded into his chest and whispered. "I know you'll be safe, Dad, you're taking me rafting."

"Yeah," he whispered, kissing his son's hair.

"Besides, it must be safe," Charlie added confidently. "You're taking Daniel with you."

Chapter 16

Twelve hours later, Jack finished buttoning his fatigues and shoved his civilian clothes into the locker before checking his watch. Thirty minutes. Time to get Daniel and head for the gateroom. He took the cigarette lighter from the top shelf and studied it thoughtfully. He had stopped smoking the day Charlie was born, much to Sara’s relief. For some reason, he’d hung on to the lighter. It still accompanied him on every mission and, though he'd never admit it, deep down he had come to think of it as a good luck charm. How he’d managed to hang on to it during his imprisonment in Iraq – Jack shook his head to dispel the memories and dropped the lighter into his pocket.

He started to close the locker door but stopped as he caught a glimpse of his reflection in the shaving mirror hanging inside. Jack stared at the uniformed, hard-faced stranger staring back at him. A feeling of deja vu overwhelmed him and he hung on to the locker door and breathed through the dizziness.

It had been over two years since he last saw that cold-eyed soldier in a mirror. There were so many bad memories tied in to that figure that he thought he’d managed to forget.

But he hadn’t forgotten.

It wasn’t Jack, Sara’s husband, Charlie and Daniel's father, he saw reflected in the mirror. It was Colonel Jonathan “Jack” O’Neill, career military, a highly-regarded officer in Special Ops. In trying to suppress the bad memories, he'd accidentally suppressed the good ones, too. That was unfair to the extraordinary people he had worked with over the years. Too many of them were gone. Then there were the missions. What he wouldn’t give to forget some of those. Lost friends, bad missions, it was all part of being a soldier. He understood and accepted it. It didn’t stop the memories, though, or the what-ifs.

The what-ifs didn’t accomplish anything and it hadn’t all been bad. Plenty of good had come out of his time in Special Ops, including friends who were still breathing, like Kawalsky and Ferretti. There had been successful missions, too. Success in achieving the objective, and just as important, getting his team home in one piece.

Jack took a deep breath and slammed the locker door closed. He needed to get Daniel and meet up with his team in the gateroom. His heart squeezed at the thought of taking his boy on this mission but he forced the feelings down. It was time to focus, for everyone’s sake.

Two floors above, Daniel was sitting cross-legged on the floor. He had one of his dad’s books in his lap and the Ra medallion around his neck. Running his thumb over the stylized drawing on the metal, he remembered the first time he’d seen the figure carved on the wall inside a pyramid. He let the medallion fall back under his shirt and coughed against the pressure in his throat. He’d been a little kid and his parents had each held firmly to one of his hands as they talked about the ancient Egyptian god.

He stroked the medallion beneath his shirt and then the cover of the book. His eyes stung as he blinked back tears. “I wish you were here, Mom and Dad,” he whispered. “I wish you could see...”

Maybe they could. Maybe they were someplace where they could see him. Maybe  they knew what was happening. Daniel hoped so with all his heart.

It didn’t seem real, even though he’d watched the MALP go through the Stargate and seen the images it sent back, images from another planet on the far side of the galaxy. All the computers in the control room confirmed it and it still didn’t seem real. Soon, he and Jack would be going through the Stargate and they'd end up on that distant planet, too.

For the first time, a thrill of fear ran through him and he shivered. It was going to be okay. He'd be with Jack. Jack would look out for him and he'd look out for Jack, just like they’d agreed. He was going to be an explorer. What would they find on another world? Memories of science fiction movies came to him. Would there be aliens like in the “Martian Chronicles”? Don’t be stupid, he reprimanded, the Stargate wasn’t going to take them to Mars. Maybe he and Jack would find Ewoks. He giggled at the thought. That would be fun.

A knock on the door startled him and he scrambled to his feet as Jack appeared.

“Time to go.”

“I’m ready.” Daniel set the book down on the table and hurried toward the door.

Jack stopped him to give him the once-over. “That looks pretty good on you.”

Daniel blushed and looked down at his uniform. “Sam got it for me. She said it’s just like yours except it fits me.”

“Yeah.” Jack’s smile faded. “Come on, we need to hurry.”

When they reached the gateroom the rest of his team was already there. Jack checked them over. Kawalsky and Ferretti bracketed the other men. Beside Ferretti stood his buddy, Brown, a husky black officer who was almost twice the size of the smaller man. He was laid-back and easygoing, a contrast to the restless and mouthy Ferretti. Despite their differences, they were good friends.

Beside Brown was the stocky Rogalla, then came Porro, Reilly and Freeman. They were all experienced Special Ops soldiers and Jack had worked with most of them in the past. Freeman was the same medic who had checked out Charlie in the forest. Jack had no doubt, team-wise at least, he was in good shape.

Glancing up at the control room, he didn’t see Hammond . The only person he could see was Captain Carter. She looked excited and at the same time subdued. He knew she was subdued because she wished she was standing in the gateroom, geared up and ready to go rather than watching. Jack couldn’t blame her. Hammond had explained to her that she was considered too valuable by their superiors. Captain Carter was the planet’s premier expert on the Stargate as well as the Air Force’s leading authority on certain top-secret scientific toys that were still in the research stage. They weren't willing to risk losing her on this mission. Jack tried to ignore the implications of that as it applied to his own expendability.

There was another point against Carter. Despite her brilliance, despite some battlefield experience, Captain Carter wasn’t Special Ops. She didn’t have the experience Jack wanted for this mission. He had offered to explain it to her but Hammond said it wasn’t necessary. The General had already explained it and the Captain had accepted the reasons. Jack wasn't surprised. Carter was a team player. She'd been there for him and his family and that meant a lot. He had no doubt she'd get her turn if she was patient.

Jack turned away from the conflicted figure to look over his team. He smiled when he noticed Daniel had taken his place at the end of the line beside Kawalsky. The kid was standing as straight as he could, except he kept peeking around the Major’s obstructing body to peer at the Stargate.

As much as Jack wanted to maintain his usual pre-mission hard-ass exterior, it was tough with Daniel standing there, shivering with excitement and anticipation and looking so small and vulnerable. He was glad Daniel was more excited than afraid but he would've happily given up his pension if it would've ensured the boy stayed home.

Damn it, he couldn’t afford to be distracted. Jack had made it clear to Kawalsky and Ferretti that protecting Daniel was priority one. He had to trust his men to follow his orders. It shouldn't be this difficult; he trusted them with his life. Trusting them with Daniel's life was proving to be a whole different story.

Movement on the periphery of his vision made him turn and he saw Hammond appear in the control room above them.

“Colonel O’Neill.” His voice reverberated over the loudspeaker. “Is your team ready to proceed?”

“Yes, sir.” As ready as they'd ever be.

“Very well.” The General turned to the technician. “Begin dialing sequence.”

For the second time, Jack watched in awe as the great alien device followed the direction of the puny human computers. This time he braced himself for the explosion of motion and sound as the Stargate opened. He noticed the members of his team lean back, their eyes wide as the gate whirled to life. Despite their cumulative years of experience in Special Ops, none of them had seen anything remotely like this.

Then the shimmering, water-like film settled across the inner part of the Stargate. Jack tightened his grip on his weapon and glanced up at the control room. Hammond nodded at him and Jack turned to his men. His heart pounded and the palms of his hands were sweating. It didn’t matter. No one knew but him. 

“Daniel,” he said quietly, “stay with Major Kawalsky.”

He moved to the front of his team and ordered, “Move out!”

With steady, measured strides, he led them up the ramp and through the Stargate.

Daniel had been doing his best to make Jack proud, but the sight of the tall, determined figure being sucked into that unearthly shimmering maw wrung a gasp out of him and he took a step forward. A strong hand caught his shoulder.

“Wait, Daniel," Kawalsky muttered. "We go last.”

“But Jack went first. No one will be on the other side to look out for him!”

"Just wait.” Though he kept his voice down, the tone of the Major’s voice was clear. Daniel had no choice in the matter.

The other soldiers were going through the Stargate now, one after the other. Daniel couldn’t see their faces but their rigid posture made it obvious they were having second thoughts about the mission. So was he. Jack was gone, somewhere on the far side of the galaxy. What if there were bad aliens waiting for him? Daniel had promised to watch Jack’s six but instead he was stuck here, waiting around like a little kid while anything could be happening to Jack.

“You ready?” Kawalsky gave his shoulder a squeeze.

“Yes!”

All last night, unable to sleep, Daniel had tried to imagine what it would be like to go through the Stargate. Now that the moment had arrived, all he could think of was getting to Jack as quickly as possible.

With his heart hammering, Daniel marched up the ramp beside Kawalsky. Before them, the strange, shimmering surface seemed to undulate, almost as if it was alive. Without thinking, he reached out to touch the other-worldly iridescence. There was something there, something not physical but a strange kind of tingling pressure that seemed to wrap around and then absorb his hand, and then, before he realized what was happening, absorbed the rest of him.

Chapter 17

He was in space!

No, he was somewhere outside of space!

He was... he was...

Dying?

Dead?

Hallucinating?

Daniel’s senses were overwhelmed with what was happening but somewhere deep inside he was still trying to understand.

He was floating.

No, he was flying.

Upside down, inside out, hands and arms flailing wildly as if it would help him regain his balance.

Flying on his back, Daniel peered down at his feet and his legs appeared to be a thousand miles long.

He cried out in shock but couldn’t hear anything.

Spinning, tumbling, reaching for something – anything – with arms and legs that seemed to be stretched thousands or millions of miles longer than their usual length, his mind searched for something familiar, something to cling to.

Brilliant pinpoints of lights surrounded him and flashed by faster than fast.

Stars.

He was in space, or inside space or outside it, or something like that.

Wherever he was, he was flying through a trillion dazzling, sparkling lights he knew were stars, even if he didn’t have time to really see them as he hurtled through space, his body elongating like a giant rubber band, traveling impossibly faster than human science ever conceived.

“Daniel!”

Simultaneously with hearing his name, Daniel slammed face first into a hard, unyielding surface. New stars exploded before him, this time accompanied by an explosion of pain.

Tears stung his eyes, not because of the shock and pain of his abrupt landing, but because he wasn’t inside-outside space anymore. He wanted the sensations back, regardless of the danger, regardless of anything.

“Daniel!”

The voice was familiar and demanding, calling him back from wherever he had gone. Daniel blinked until his vision began to clear. A face, familiar like the voice, was staring down at him, brown eyes sharp with concern.

“Jack?” he croaked a split second before the truth dawned.

Not Jack. Major Kawalsky.

Daniel started to sit up only to find everything whirling around him. He was freezing cold, too, and shivering. Strong hands laid him back on the ground.

“Stay still. You’re okay.”

A second later the voice spoke again, more quietly, and he knew the words weren’t directed at him this time.

“Stay with him.”

“Yes, sir.” another voice said. It was familiar, too, and Daniel squinted at the shadowy figure looming above him.

“Take it easy, Daniel, it’ll wear off in a minute.”

Free – something. The man’s name started with Free. He giggled, feeling lightheaded. Free was better than slave.

A large hand patted his shoulder. “You landed pretty hard. Can you tell me how many fingers I’m holding up?”

Daniel peered owlishly. “Four – no, two,” he corrected himself as his vision refocused.

“Good, that’s good,” praised Freeman.

Freeman, that was his name. Lieutenant Freeman. He was the medic on the team. It was a relief to remember and he tried to sit up again. Freeman helped him with a supportive hand against his back.

The dizziness was gone and the chill was fading. Now Daniel could honestly say what he had wanted to say all along. “I’m fine.”

“Good,” Freeman repeated. “You ready to stand or do you want to sit for a little longer?”

The Lieutenant spoke casually, like they had all the time in the world. With a start, Daniel remembered where he was. On another planet. Another planet on the other side of the galaxy!

He scrambled to his feet and Freeman rose with him. “I’m fine,” he said again. “Where’s Jack?”

“Colonel O’Neill’s checking things out. We need to wait here.”

Daniel wanted to pull away from the Lieutenant’s grip. He needed to find Jack. Now that the exhilaration of his trip through the Stargate was fading, his earlier fear for Jack was returning.

“Is Jack okay?” he demanded.

“The Colonel’s fine, Daniel. Everyone’s fine.”

On the heels of Freeman’s words, the Stargate shut down and they were plunged into total darkness. It wasn’t the dark that worried him, it was Jack’s wellbeing. He couldn’t watch Jack’s six while he was stuck over here.

Then he heard Jack’s voice and sagged with relief.

“All right, people.” Jack sounded strong and confident. “Let’s get to work.”

There was a sharp, cracking sound and an orange-white light sputtered out of a flare. In the light, Daniel saw Jack’s alert, intent face before he tossed the flare on the ground. More flares brightened the room and Daniel watched as the team unloaded the equipment cart.

Freeman joined the other soldiers by the cart who were emptying boxes and putting together various kinds of equipment. Daniel had no idea what any of it did and he grew bored. Was it possible to be bored on another planet? He knew what he wanted to be doing. Since Lieutenant Freeman was no longer beside him, he decided to take a closer look at the walls.

He moved away from the cart and looked in every direction. They were in a large box-shaped room with walls of dark stone. The stone reflected the muddy light from the flares in a way that caught Daniel’s attention. He drifted over to the wall and ran his hand across the surface. It wasn’t ordinary stone, it felt more like marble. Marble? On an alien planet?

His heart pounding, Daniel studied the wall closely. The large stones were beautifully cut and set but there was no writing, no pictographs, nothing. He moved along the wall, keeping his hands on the smooth, polished surface as he walked.

“Daniel!” Kawalsky kept his voice quiet but his tone still cracked like a whip.

Daniel jumped and turned around to see the soldier descending on him, his features set in a forbidding scowl.

“I was just – ” That was as far as he got.

“Rule number one,” the Major hissed. “You do not, ever, go off on your own. You stick with the team at all times unless the Colonel or I say otherwise. You got that?”

Daniel glared at the man. That was silly, he’d only been a few yards away. As much as he wanted to argue he was afraid if he did Jack would take notice. Starting the mission in trouble wouldn't be good. Jack might send him right back through the Stargate as soon as Daniel figured out how to open it.

“Okay,” he muttered.

Kawalsky took a firm grip on his arm and towed him back to the equipment cart. Only then did the soldier release him but not before giving him a warning look.

Everyone was strapping on their equipment. No, not everyone. Beyond the team on the far side of the room was an open doorway. A quick glance around told Daniel that door was the only way in or out. Standing beside the opening, his weapon in one hand and a burning flare in the other, Jack was peering out at whatever awaited them.

The soldiers switched on powerful flashlights that took over for the fading flares. Kawalsky looked at the half-empty equipment cart and then gave the soldiers a quick survey. He glanced at Daniel and Freeman moved over to stand beside him as they headed toward Jack’s position.

Jack turned around and gave a thumb’s up. “Ferretti,” he ordered, “take point. Brown, Porro, you’re with him.”

Ferretti raised his rifle and disappeared through the door, closely followed by the other two soldiers.

Daniel listened as Jack sent Sergeant Rogalla and Lieutenant Freeman out the door next before he turned to Major Kawalsky and Sergeant Reilly, the only remaining soldiers. “Kawalsky, Reilly,” Jack continued, “cover our rear.” Daniel saw Jack’s eyes flick from him to Major Kawalsky who nodded. As he started through the door, Jack added, “Daniel, stay right behind me.”

It was the first time Jack had spoken to him since they came through the Stargate. Daniel tried to ignore his disappointment at the brusque tone. Jack had a lot on his mind. Even though a dozen questions pressed against his lips, he kept them firmly closed. This wasn’t the time for questions.

The most frustrating part was with Jack in front of him and Kawalsky and Reilly behind him, Daniel was essentially blind, unable to see anything. That didn’t stop him from trying.

They hurried down the dark hall and after a few yards the hallway opened into another room, this one was even larger than the one that held the Stargate. In the backwash of the flashlights Daniel spotted something that made him stop. He was standing at the edge of a circle on the floor, perhaps twelve feet in diameter.

Curiosity made him kneel for a closer look. The ring looked like it was made of some kind of metal and was actually set into the floor. Was this some kind of decoration? He didn’t see any pictures or writing.

“Move, Daniel,” Kawalsky ordered behind him.

Daniel jumped to his feet and hurried forward, a new thought made him look up. His resentment at the Major’s tone faded before this new puzzle. An identical circle was cut into the ceiling directly above the one on the floor. He didn’t have time to notice anything else because the two soldiers were close behind him.

They crossed the large room and came to an open doorway. The team paused until Ferretti, several yards ahead and a few paces in front of Brown and Porro, gestured them forward. 

Daniel gasped when he went through the doorway. This room was huge! All the other rooms they had gone through could fit in here with room to spare. He was fascinated to see that along the walls were immense decorative columns that rose all the way up to support the giant stone ceiling. The architectural style was as monumental as anything the ancient Greeks or Romans had come up with on Earth.

As they traveled across the immense room, a breathless Daniel realized the floor was gently rising. They were beginning to go uphill. More importantly, he was beginning to feel a faint, tantalizing sense of familiarity.

Far ahead on the opposite side of the vast chamber he could see the rising floor end at a steep ramp that rose up to an equally vast opening, big enough for a 747 to fly through. Everything in this structure was vast; he couldn’t wait to see the outside of it.

The soldiers moved with caution toward the opening. When Ferretti reached the top of the ramp he crouched down. Everyone dropped to the ground and the flashlights switched off. They lay unmoving and, in Daniel’s case, barely breathing.

What was happening? What was going on? He wanted to call out to Jack who was just a few feet in front of him but didn’t dare.

Everyone seemed to be watching Ferretti so Daniel watched him, too. Rising just high enough to peer through the opening, the Captain let several nerve-twitching seconds pass before lifting a hand. Surely that was a good sign. Sighing in relief, Daniel started to rise, only to have a hard hand push him back down.

“Stay put,” Kawalsky ordered, the soft speech not hiding the sharpness of his tone.

Despite his frustration, Daniel subsided and watched as Jack sprinted up the ramp and dropped beside Ferretti. They spoke briefly before Jack made a come-ahead gesture to the rest of the squad.

This time everyone, including Daniel, jumped to their feet. When they reached the top of the ramp they paused again and Daniel peered around Jack to see yet another room. This one was much smaller than the chamber they had just come through and interspersed with huge stone pillars. Through them he could see Ferretti, Brown and Porro searching the room. Rogalla and Freeman had separated and were now pacing along the opposite walls. He guessed they were searching, too.

Daniel studied the space with growing excitement. The sense of familiarity that had touched him earlier was getting stronger. It didn’t make sense. They were on another planet in some kind of alien structure. Still, he couldn’t shake the feeling.

This looked like an entrance hall, large and square like the other rooms but not as huge. The stone pillars every few yards made it hard to see Ferretti and the others as they continued to move forward. At the end of the room – his heart leaped – it was bright with sunlight!

“Hold it, Daniel.”

He found himself frozen in place, thanks to a large hand gripping his shoulder. Major Kawalsky was looking down at him and when he met his gaze, the man shook his head. Only then did Daniel realize he had started forward before anyone else. He looked down at his feet as heat flushed across his face. That was stupid. He needed to pay attention and not cause trouble.

“Sorry,” he muttered.

The restraining hand released his shoulder and gave him a reassuring pat. Daniel stood still, watching as the soldiers advanced. No one spoke; they all reacted to Jack’s hand signals. Daniel assumed Jack was responding to Ferretti’s gestures as he went through the room ahead of them.

As Daniel watched, fighting back his impatience and excitement and that niggling sense of familiarity, he was struck by the silence. Now that he thought about it, even back in the Stargate room there had only been a few muttered comments. Only Jack had spoken. Well, Major Kawalsky had spoken, too, to Daniel. He’d kept his voice down, though, even while he chewed Daniel out.

Apart from the soft impact of boots hitting the stone floor, Daniel couldn’t hear anything and his anxiety rose. He kept his eyes glued on Jack. If anything was going to happen, he knew Jack would be in the middle of it. Daniel had promised to watch Jack’s six, which was impossible when he was on the opposite side of the room. His hands clenched in renewed frustration but he kept quiet.

With the other soldiers still trailing a few feet behind him, Ferretti finally reached the sunlight-flooded entrance. Moving carefully, he inched his way forward until he could peer out. Daniel watched Jack, crouched several yards behind the Captain, his rifle raised and ready. He bit his lip as the tension threatened to strangle him. After what seemed like hours, Ferretti turned and gave them a thumb’s up.

It was strange to see how the soldiers relaxed yet remained alert, crossing the room faster than they had the previous rooms. Brown moved up beside Ferretti and looked at the equipment he'd been holding in one hand and Jack stopped beside him. As Daniel drew closer he heard what the Lieutenant was saying.

“Conditions outside are the same as in here, sir. All readings are within normal parameters.”

Jack nodded and said something to Ferretti, too low for Daniel to hear. Ferretti nodded, too, and Jack passed him to peer out through the entrance. Turning back to his team he gestured and Ferretti and Brown moved forward again, this time with Porro trailing behind them.

Advancing one stone pillar at a time, the rest of the team followed until they neared the huge entrance. When Jack raised his hand, everyone froze. Without looking back he gestured sharply, using hand signals Daniel didn’t understand. The soldiers understood and they moved quickly to obey. Kawalsky and Reilly hurried to stand on either side of the entrance while Rogalla and Freeman took up positions behind them. After a minute both Kawalsky and Reilly gave the all-clear and Jack strode to the entrance and looked out. More hand gestures sent the soldiers moving forward, two by two, with intervals of several seconds between them until only Jack and Daniel remained. Still looking outward, Jack reached a hand behind him and gestured to Daniel who moved to his side.

“Stay with me.” Jack spoke softly and led him out into this new world.

Squinting his eyes against the brilliant sunlight, Daniel caught his breath as the fierce heat enveloped him. He’d spent most of the first eight years of his life in Egypt ; anyone who could handle the unforgiving Egyptian summers could handle any amount of heat and sun. Or so he'd thought.

Now he knew better. On this planet, light years from home, there was an intensity to the sun and heat that Daniel had never experienced in Egypt . Every breath felt like it was scorching his lungs and the sunlight was so bright it was blinding. He fumbled as he removed his backpack and scrabbled around inside until he found the clip-on sunglasses Jack had insisted he bring along. Daniel hadn’t wanted to because he thought they made him look even more geeky than usual. Squinting against the unrelenting sun, Daniel was glad he had lost that argument. He clipped them on his glasses and sighed in relief.

“Put your boonie on, kiddo,” Jack said before moving on.

Daniel complied and pulled the floppy-brimmed hat out of his pack and settled it on his head, leaving the strap to hang loose. He hadn’t wanted to bring the hat along either but he had to admit the protection eased the relentless pressure of the sun on his scalp.

For the first time he was able to take note of his surroundings and his eyes widened in astonishment. They were standing at the top of a great stone ramp that led down to the sandy surface of the planet. At the bottom of the ramp were two great stone obelisks. Beyond them, in every direction, as far as the eye could see, was nothing but a vast ocean of sand. Only dunes broke the flat, unending landscape, some a few yards high and others that looked as high as mountains. High above, the sky was an intense blue and cloudless. Apart from themselves, Daniel saw no sign of life.

Most amazing of all – Daniel squinted in disbelief at the sight. There were three, actually three suns in the sky! No wonder this planet was so hot. The suns were the first real proof they were on an alien planet and despite the heat a shiver ran through him.

He made his way down the steep ramp, walking as quickly as he dared while still trying to take in his surroundings. The behavior of the soldiers caught part of his attention. They seemed to be moving in sync with no one out of step. Except for Daniel who had no idea what they were doing. Two by two, they moved down the ramp to various positions, then froze until the next pair had passed and taken up position, then hurried to take a position even further down.

Daniel was fascinated by their symmetry and would have liked to watch until he figured it out. But he was even more fascinated by his growing feeling of familiarity despite being on a new world. It didn’t make any sense but logic didn’t lessen the feeling.

When Daniel reached the bottom of the ramp he saw Jack and Major Kawalsky off to the side. He approached with caution, unsure if it was okay if he overheard their conversation. The first clear words he heard were from Jack.

“I’m going up there – ” he gestured with his rifle toward the highest dune some fifty yards away, “and see if I can see anything.”

“Yes, sir.” Kawalsky turned away and called for two of the soldiers to follow him.

“Jack!” Daniel hurried to the man’s side.

Jack stopped. “Whatever it is, tell me later.”

“I want to go with you!” Daniel pleaded.

“Where?”

“Up there.” Daniel pointed at the dune.

Jack looked at the dune and frowned. “Not a good idea, kiddo. There’s too much we don’t know right now.”

“It’s just a few minutes away,” Daniel argued. There was no way he could stand here and watch Jack walk away, all alone. Besides, he wanted to see what was on the other side of that dune.

At least Jack was looking thoughtful. That was a good sign. “All right,” he decided. “But you stay right with me, got it? No wandering.”

“I know that.” He wasn’t a little kid, after all.

Jack grinned and tousled Daniel's hair. “Just don’t forget,” he warned.

Daniel had to hurry to keep up with the man’s long strides. As far the eye could see there was still nothing but sand. If he didn’t know better, Daniel would have guessed he was in the western desert in Egypt . Except even in that stark, forbidding environment there were occasional ancient ruins dotting the landscape. Here there was nothing. Just lots and lots of sand.

The sun beat mercilessly down on them. Daniel’s uniform was already soaked through with sweat and he couldn’t help panting, though the oven-like temperature only made his lungs feel more scorched.

“Hold up.” Jack had stopped.

Daniel obeyed, blinking up at him and swiping at the perspiration that dripped down his face.

“Take a drink of water.” Jack tapped on his canteen.

“Oh, right.” Daniel fumbled for the canteen strapped on his belt and Jack helped him unfasten it. Even though they’d only been in the sun a few minutes, the water was already warm. It still tasted wonderful and he gulped it down, only to have it yanked away after a couple of swallows.

“Moderation, Daniel, remember?” Jack handed the canteen back.

Daniel was glad he was already flushed from the heat; it made his blushing less noticeable. He knew about moderation; he couldn’t believe he’d forgotten.

“Right,” he mumbled to his feet and they started walking again

Climbing the dune was an exercise in torture under the blistering sun but Daniel doggedly put one foot in front of the other and followed Jack up the steep incline. The sand wasn’t packed down so it gave way with every step, forcing him to work doubly hard to keep advancing.

“Hold it.” Jack caught his arm as he spoke.

Daniel stopped, feeling a little dizzy. The top of the sand dune was only a few feet above them. Why had they stopped?

“You stay here,” Jack ordered. “I want to take a look before you go any further.”

“Okay.” Daniel swallowed his protest. Jack was worrying about him and he didn’t like it because that distracted Jack from taking care of himself. Which made it even more important for Daniel to stay close so he could keep an eye out for his foster father.

He watched as Jack dropped to his stomach. Cradling his rifle in his arms, he crawled upwards until he almost reached the crest of the dune. Then Jack lifted his head just high enough to peer over the top. Daniel watched with hands clenched into fists as the man studied whatever lay beyond the dune. After a few seconds that felt like hours, Jack looked back at him.

“Come ahead.” He stood up.

Daniel scrambled up the last few feet, grateful when Jack reached down to give him a hand.

“You okay?”

“Fine.” Daniel's eyes devoured the terrain on the other side of the sand dune. The view was disappointing. As far as he could see, there was nothing but more sand, broken up by occasional dunes. There wasn’t even an indication of ruins. He sighed. For an alien planet, it was pretty boring. He glanced up at Jack to see him studying the same scene through his binoculars.

“Do you see anything?” Daniel asked hopefully.

“A whole lot of nothing.” Jack lowered the binoculars.

Daniel sagged a little, aware of the intense sun and heat again.

Jack seemed to sense his disappointment. “There’s a line of sand dunes out there that’s blocking the view beyond the first few miles. There may be something on the other side of them.”

“Except you don’t think so.” Daniel stated the obvious.

Jack studied the distant dunes for another minute. “I don’t know, kiddo. And I don’t like not knowing things.”

That sounded more encouraging. “So are we going to see?”

“Nope, not this time around.”

“Does that mean we’ll see later?”

Jack smiled. “I can’t answer that now, not until we finish sweeping this area.” As he spoke he turned around to look back the way they'd come. Daniel did the same, and froze.

In a single instant everything he knew, hoped, wished and feared was turned upside-down. He opened his mouth to say something but closed it again when he realized he didn’t have anything to say.

“Daniel?”

He heard Jack’s voice but he couldn’t respond. He couldn’t do anything except stare, until Jack shook his shoulders.

“Come on, Daniel. Talk to me.”

Daniel blinked. It didn’t make what he was looking at disappear. So it wasn’t a dream or a mirage. It was real. Slowly he raised his eyes to meet Jack’s.

“It’s, it’s real. Isn’t it?”

Jack took a deep breath. “Yeah, it’s real. What the hell is it doing here?”

“They were right,” Daniel whispered.

“Who was right?”

“My mom and dad.”

“How did your parents know this was here?” Jack’s eyes narrowed.

Daniel shook his head and searched his shell-shocked mind for the right words. “A few months before we came to New York , they developed a hypothesis about the pyramids and the anomalies they found in several of the structures but they didn’t tell anyone because they knew no one would believe them. Dad said they needed to do more research, more study...” his voice trailed away. Tears trickled down his face and he rubbed them away.

“They were right.” He repeated the words in an awestruck whisper.

Before them stood one of the most famous structures in the world, in their world, anyway. A pyramid. That accounted for his sense of familiarity as they had walked through what they had thought was some kind of alien building. It looked like the Great Pyramid of Khufu that Daniel had explored several times with his parents. Except this pyramid was twice, maybe three times, larger than the largest pyramid on Earth.

Daniel stared in profound awe and joy and renewed grief that his parents couldn’t see this but most of all he was filled with pride. His mom and dad had been right all along.

Jack clapped a hand on his shoulder, pulling Daniel out of his shock. “I guess this is all there is to see from here. Let’s head back.”

Their walk back was a silent one, but this time it was a silence that quivered with things unsaid. As they neared the pyramid, Daniel noticed the members of the team spread out around the massive structure, doing whatever they did with the various pieces of equipment they were holding. Lieutenant Freeman was the only one standing still at the moment. Actually, he was kneeling in the sand looking through the small viewer of his fancy video camera.

They were still several yards away when Freeman looked up. “Sir,” he said, wiping away the sweat dripping into his eyes, “I believe I have a complete record of this, er, structure.”

Jack nodded. “Then you can go with Daniel back into the pyramid. He needs to figure out the symbols to open the Stargate so we can go home.”

“Yes, sir,” Freeman acknowledged as he stood up.

Daniel’s stomach lurched. He hadn’t seen any writing during their first breathless trek through the pyramid. Then again, it had been very dark and his attention had been mostly on Jack. Not to mention Major Kawalsky kept distracting him, hissing at him every time he tried to slow down to look around. He probably just missed it. There had to be something in there somewhere.

Two hours later, Daniel was struggling to resist rising panic. He had looked everywhere. He had explored each of the rooms inside the pyramid, starting with the smallest, the room containing the Stargate, and going all the way up to the huge chamber he had mentally labeled the Great Gallery. Lieutenant Freeman had been with him every step of the way, lighting the interior of each room so Daniel could better examine the walls.

Daniel had intended to hurry. He knew they were on the clock and Jack wanted to get them back through the Stargate as soon as possible. In the end, fearful of missing something, he had taken his time. During the last forty minutes Jack came in twice to see how he was doing. Both times he’d left empty-handed and Daniel’s guilt grew. He was the mission specialist. Jack had said so. Jack was depending on him – everyone was depending on him – to open the Stargate so they could go home.

Finally there were no more walls to check. With dragging feet and a heavy heart, Daniel led the silent Freeman out of the darkness and relative coolness of the interior of the pyramid into the blast furnace that was outside.

The first person he saw was Jack, standing at the bottom of the ramp waiting for him. As soon as his foster father saw him he smiled and waved before turning to gesture at Major Kawalsky. It was obvious he thought Daniel had figured things out.

As Daniel stepped off the ramp into the sand, the Major reached Jack. “Have the men pack everything up. It’s time to head back,” Jack ordered.

Daniel hesitated. He didn’t want to confess his failure in front of Kawalsky but Jack needed to know the truth.

“Uh, Jack?”

“Just a second, kiddo.”

“It’s important.” Daniel insisted.

Both Jack and Major Kawalsky turned to face him.

“What is it?” Jack asked.

“I couldn’t... uh... we can’t go back. Not yet.”

“Why not?” Jack’s eyes narrowed and Daniel felt himself shrivel under the intense gaze.

“We, I mean, I need to look around, outside the pyramid. There must be some subsidiary structures...”

“Not this time,” Jack interrupted.

“You don’t understand.” Daniel tried and failed to hide his frustration. “This – ” he gestured behind him – “pyramid is almost an exact duplicate of Khufu’s pyramid, except it’s a lot bigger – ”

“Daniel,” Jack cut him off, "what are you trying to say?"

“There’s no writing, no pictographs, no symbols of any kind in the pyramid.”

“So how do we get back?” Kawalsky spoke for the first time and he looked even more irritated than his C.O.

“That’s why I said we need to look around outside the pyramid. The writings, the instructions, whatever they are, must be in a subsidiary structure.”

Jack glanced at Kawalsky who said, “We’ve gone over every inch within the quarter-mile perimeter, sir. There’s nothing.”

“Then they must be beyond the perimeter.” Daniel looked from the Major to Jack and cringed at the his foster father’s expression.

“You sure you didn’t miss something?”

“No, Jack, I examined every wall. I swear I did.” Guilt filled him at the admission. He was the mission specialist. He was here for one reason, and he’d failed.

Jack’s jaw muscles tightened and Daniel waited for angry words. Instead the man turned abruptly to Kawalsky.

“We’ll establish base camp on the far side of the pyramid. Get a detail to bring the supplies out here.”

The Major stared at his C.O. “Establish – sir, we’re not prepared – ”

“This isn’t a discussion, Major!” Jack snapped.

Kawalsky stiffened, nodded shortly and strode away. Daniel waited for Jack to explode. To his surprise, Jack patted his shoulder and turned away without another word and walked off.

Daniel sagged under his overwhelming feelings of failure. He’d let Jack down. He’d let them all down. Now they were stuck here a billion miles away from home with no way to get back. How long could they live on this barren, dead world? How long before...

He turned to hurry back up the ramp, swiping at the tears leaking out despite his best efforts. He must have missed something. He’d look again. And again. As many times as it took. If there was absolutely nothing in the pyramid, then he’d sneak off after dark. If there was nothing inside, the answer must be outside. He was going to find it, wherever it was, whatever it took.

A sob escaped and he swiped at his eyes again, grateful no one was close enough to hear.

“Daniel!”

He started and spun around to see Lieutenant Freeman at the bottom of the ramp, frowning up at him.

“I want to – ” he tried to explain but the Lieutenant stopped him.

“Colonel O’Neill doesn’t want you wandering around by yourself.”

“But I – ”

“Come on down. You can help me set up the tents.”

Daniel hesitated, his frustration threatening to boil over. He needed to find a way to get everyone home.

“Come on, Daniel,” Freeman called again. This time there was an edge to his voice. Feeling miserable, Daniel trudged back down the ramp. He had messed everything up. Jack must be so disappointed in him.

Chapter 18

Depressed and frustrated, Daniel proved to be more of a hindrance than a help to Lieutenant Freeman. In the end, the Lieutenant told him to go sit down and he finished setting up the tents on his own. Daniel obeyed without argument, settling as far away from the others as he was allowed. It seemed as if everyone was avoiding looking in his direction and the thought only added to his misery.

“Do you believe this?” That was Ferretti and he wasn't hiding his anger. “We’re stuck on this freakin’ rock on the far side of the galaxy!”

“Cool it, man.” That was Brown.

“Yeah,” Reilly put in. “Quit being so damned negative, will you?”

“Negative!” Ferretti snarled. “You tell me what the hell we have to be positive about here, huh?”

“What’s the problem?” Porro demanded. “When we’re overdue they’ll just turn the gate on and we can go through then.”

“Oh for – ” Ferretti started. He was interrupted by the science specialist, Brown.

“The Stargate doesn’t work that way. As far as we’ve been able to figure out, the wormhole only goes one direction at a time, from whichever gate is opened. Even if they do turn the gate on back on Earth, people will only be able to go from Earth to here. We can’t use it to go from here back to Earth. Only the gate on this planet can get us back.”

Silence greeted this explanation. Even though his back was to the camp, Daniel heard every word and he tightened his arms around chest. He’d really messed up.

In the midst of his misery, something tweaked the edge of his consciousness. Daniel looked around. He didn’t see anything but now that he was paying attention he could smell something. It was faint but definite and it pulled him out of his depression. He took another sniff and wrinkled his nose. It made him think of someone in need of a bath. No, not someone. There was another scent underlying the first, maybe an animal? An animal? Here?

His heart began to pound. Not any animal. It smelled like, it smelled kind of like a camel.

He glanced over his shoulder. No one was looking at him. They were sitting in a rough circle in front of the tents, talking. It seemed clear to Daniel they were all angry with him.

His eyes burned. Blinking hard, he turned in the direction of the smell. It was coming from that direction, on the other side of the sand dune he was sitting below.

Getting to his feet, careful not to catch the eye of any soldier who might be looking in his direction, Daniel headed for the top of the dune.

Jack studied the innocuous-looking steel cylinders. All of the pieces looked innocent enough when they were dissembled. Now that he’d put them together, any military type could identify it.

He had hesitated before deciding to assemble the device. Tomorrow they’d spread out, and look for Daniel’s subsidiary structures. God willing, they’d find something that would give the kid the info he needed to open the Stargate and allow them go home.

For the moment they were stuck here, and the longer they were stuck here the more likely it was something could go wrong. Jack didn’t know what that something might be but he hadn’t survived all these years in Special Ops by refusing to think about worse-case scenarios. Better to have the device ready to go. Just in case. As long as he had the key, there shouldn’t be any problem.

With that thought in mind, he took the small square key out of the canister, trying not to think of the deadly material inside. He closed and locked the door of the hidden compartment and the equipment cart looked properly empty and innocent again. Blowing out a relieved breath, he shoved the key into the slit cut in the inside of his belt, readjusted his shirt, picked up his rifle and headed out.

Jack was almost back to the top of the ramp when a figure appeared in the entrance. He started to lift his weapon only to relax when he recognized Kawalsky. The Major hesitated, blinking as he tried to adjust to the dim lighting inside.

“Report, Major?” Jack called as he approached.

Kawalsky nodded. “Base camp is set up, sir.” He hesitated before adding, “We didn’t bring a lot of supplies with us, Colonel.”

Jack nodded and stood beside his 2IC. “Yeah, I know. We’ll make do.”

“Yes, sir.”

Kawalsky fell in beside Jack as they walked down the ramp. “Sir, as you know

we only have enough food and water to hold us for a couple of days. I’d like to head out – ”

“Denied,” Jack cut in.

“Colonel, permission to speak freely?”

Hell. Jack always hated it when a subordinate made that request but more than once it had paid off.

“Go ahead.” Maybe Kawalsky knew something he didn't.

“There may be something out there that’ll help, something we can use. It's better to look for it now, while we’re still fresh, than to wait until...”

Jack nodded. “Let’s wait on that for now. We’ll look for Daniel’s subsidiary structures first. If we don’t find anything, I’ll consider your request.”

“Yes, sir.”

Speaking of Daniel, he needed to make sure the boy was okay. As soon as he learned they’d be stuck here for awhile, Jack had gone into survival mode. He needed to make sure the poor kid wasn't blaming himself. Daniel had been brought here to translate the symbols. It wasn't his fault there weren't any symbols to translate. Jack hoped and believed they'd eventually find something for the kid to work worth.

They were in a tough spot but he’d been in plenty of tough spots during his career. Of course it'd be a lot easier if Daniel wasn’t here with him.

As he approached base camp, Jack’s experienced eye ran over the scene. The tents were ready, communication equipment had been set up and Porro and Rogalla were testing it. Behind them, the empty supply crates had been turned into a wall to provide a little more shade. Ferretti and Brown were going over the small, backpack-sized computer thingy Brown had been carrying. With a miniature satellite dish on top, it resembled a kid’s toy rather than a very expensive collector of technical data. Reilly and Freeman were going through the food and water supplies, dividing them up per soldier. Jack nodded in satisfaction. Things were as good as they could be under the circumstances. Thank god everyone on the team was experienced in survival.

Jack’s gaze swept over the camp again and he frowned. Kawalsky, who had paused to say something to Porro, moved up beside him.

“Something wrong, sir?” A grimace accompanied the question. So much had already gone wrong on this mission.

“Where’s Daniel?” Jack tried to keep it light. Someone must be watching the boy.

Kawalsky looked around the camp with raised eyebrows. “Shit!” he exploded.

Unaware of what was happening on the other side of the sand dune, Daniel stood frozen, uncertain what to do.

Only yards away stood a creature the likes of which he had never imagined. It was huge, much bigger than a Clydesdale horse, with a massive hump on its shoulders that reminded him of a camel’s hump. It’s hair, fur, whatever, was long and thick and matted. Its head was... Daniel’s imagination failed. It looked like it was part horse, part camel. Despite its huge bulk, it had the longest, skinniest legs he’d ever seen. They didn’t look big enough to hold the animal upright, much less carry it as it walked.

It also stank. Even more than its weird appearance, its smell made Daniel reel. If he’d been able to combine the worst smells he’d ever encountered and doubled the result it still wouldn’t equal the stench wafting off the creature. Daniel’s eyes watered under the assault.

All the discomfort wasn’t enough to quell his excitement. This was a living creature, an alien living creature. Fascination had drawn him this close, and the closer he got, the bigger it looked. Daniel was close enough now to see its teeth as it tore up the remnants of a tiny, long-dead bush. They were huge teeth. Just then, the creature lifted its head and looked at him. His throat went dry when he tried to swallow.

Should he say something? Should he retreat? Would it come after him if he retreated? Watching the huge jaws masticating the remnants of the dead bush gave Daniel an idea. Moving slowly, he reached into his pack and pulled out one of the candy bars Charlie had given him before he and Jack left for their mission. As he tore the wrapper half off, the absurdly small ears on the massive head pointed forward and the big nostrils flared.

“Hey, fella.” Daniel tried not to shake as he offered the candy. “Maybe you’d like some chocolate? I know it’s not good for dogs but I don’t think you have any dog in you, do you?”

He stretched his arm as far as it would go but it wasn’t long enough. Holding his breath, hoping he wasn’t giving any indication of how nervous he was, Daniel sidled forward another step and another, and one more...

The beast stretched out its neck so unexpectedly that Daniel jumped. Before he could back away, its camel-like lips snatched the candy bar out of his hand and munched happily. Daniel forgot about retreating and took a good look at the creature’s head. Almost hidden beneath the dirty, matted fur he saw thin straps of leather and something metallic. He gasped. It could only mean – 

“Daniel!”

Daniel knew that bellow anywhere. Without looking around he waved a reassuring hand, intrigued by the red X that had suddenly appeared between the creature’s eyes.

“It’s okay, Jack – ” He forgot what he was about to say when he remembered what the red X meant. He spun around to see Jack and Major Kawalsky and Lieutenant Brown standing on top of the dune. Jack was pointing his weapon at the huge beast. Thanks to one of Charlie’s rambling explanations during a war movie, Daniel knew the red X was from a laser on the weapon, it was for targeting.

“Don’t shoot!” he yelled. “It’s not dangerous! See?” He pointed at the creature’s head. “It’s wearing a harness! It’s domesticated!”

“Get the hell away from that thing!” Jack yelled back without lowering his weapon.

He couldn’t shoot! This was their first proof that the planet was inhabited. Maybe the inhabitants knew the symbols to open their Stargate. Without thinking, Daniel stepped closer to the creature and the red X disappeared. He winced, knowing Jack’s weapon must be targeted on him now. It was too late to stop. He couldn’t let the animal be hurt. It could lead them to the people who’d put a harness on it. It could save them!

“Damn it, Daniel, get away from that thing!”

He was in big trouble now. Holding his breath against the overpowering stench of the creature, Daniel raised his hand to pat the massive, filthy side.

“You’re a good boy, aren’t you?” He soothed the alien creature.

A split-second later Daniel realized he’d made a mistake. The creature reared back with an ear-splitting roar, spun around and ran off as fast as it could go. Daniel stared after it in dismay. He had just enough time to notice the long lead trailing from the harness before his legs were abruptly yanked out from under him and – to his everlasting astonishment – he found himself tobogganing across the sandy expanse flat on his back.

Bumping, thudding, ricocheting off the side of one dune only to smash against another, Daniel yelled incoherently at the beast as he flailed his arms in the air trying to stop his precipitous, painful, freewheeling tow across the desert.

Sand filled his mouth, nearly choking him. Sputtering, Daniel had enough sense left to close his mouth and wrap his arms around his head to avoid the worst of the bumps. Something other than sprays of sand from the animal’s hooves was hitting him in the face. Daniel was too busy trying to protect himself from further damage for analysis but at some level he knew what was adding to his misery. The Ra medallion. He’d forgotten to take it off before they came through the Stargate and now his wild ride had yanked it out from under his shirt. Great, just what he needed, something else attacking him.

Sand surrounded him, filled the air, filled his clothes. Several times during the crazy, chaotic ride Daniel found himself momentarily airborne, only to smash back down on the unforgiving ground as the creature continued to run with abandon. Wasn’t it getting tired? Was it ever going to stop? Was he going to have any skin left when it did stop?

Everything hurt, especially his ankle which seemed securely attached to the harness lead. Daniel wanted to cry out in frustration but he resisted, not wanting to ingest more sand. He tried to relax his body, tried to resist tensing every time he hit the ground again, tried to ignore the pain in his ankle, his butt, his back, his shoulders –

At first Daniel didn’t realize the animal was slowing down. Then he was afraid the creature would read his mind, realize how much he wanted it to stop, and then it would start running again.

Apparently the animal wasn’t able to read minds, at least not human minds, because it continued to slow until it came to a complete stop.

Daniel lay still, his heart pounding while the world revolved haphazardly around him. For the first time since his wild ride began, nausea stirred in his gut and he closed his eyes, hoping his stomach would settle down. He didn’t want to add the supreme embarrassment of throwing up in front of seasoned soldiers to his other blunders.

After a minute he thought it was safe to open his eyes and sit up. He was still shaky, feeling like he was about to fall apart into a dozen pieces. Glancing down at himself, Daniel saw his clothes were stuffed with sand. He looked like the Pillsbury Dough Boy gone amok in the desert.

Sighing, he began brushing the sand off his sweaty face and neck. He jumped as something wet and rubbery touched his neck. Looking up, he found the creature looming over him. Daniel wrinkled his nose against the stench.

“Get away from me.” His voice was scratchy. He was in desperate need of a drink of water but he’d lost his canteen during his wild ride.

The creature made an odd grunting sound and nudged him again with its enormous lips.

“Oh for – ” Daniel grumbled. By some miracle his pack was still on and he was grateful it had cushioned him from some of the harder bumps. There were still several candy bars inside, much the worse for wear. He grabbed a handful of them and threw them several feet away.

“There!” he exclaimed. “Go get them and leave me alone.”

Grunting happily, the animal wandered after the candy bars and Daniel was able to unwrap the lead from his throbbing ankle and stand up. On unsteady legs, he wiped the sand from his face and ears and mouth, before brushing off his uniform and shaking out more sand.

“Daniel!” A cry came from behind him and he turned around to see Jack, trailed by Kawalsky and Brown, half-running, half-staggering down the last dune separating them.

Daniel took a deep, nervous breath. He was in for it now.

Chapter 19

If Jack hadn’t been so exhausted, he would’ve shot that ridiculous, monstrous escapee from a bad sci-fi movie the minute it stopped moving. As it was, only adrenaline had kept him running in the scorching heat across the unending sandy landscape, watching helplessly as the beast pulled Daniel ever farther away.

It didn’t matter that he was exhausted. It didn’t matter that he’d outstripped Kawalsky and Brown and was now running by himself, dangerously exposed. Nothing mattered except getting to Daniel.

When he staggered up the last sand dune he saw the creature had stopped and Daniel was rising to his feet, Jack would have yelled in relief if he’d had any breath left. He was grateful the beast hadn’t dragged the boy over the next sand dune a few yards away. At least this was a small dune, no more than ten feet high. At the moment, the ten feet looked more like ten miles.

“Daniel!” His voice was raspy from all the sand he’d inhaled.

“Hi, Ja – ” The boy’s greeting ended in a gasp as Jack grabbed him.

“Are you okay? Where do you hurt? Is anything broken?”

“I’m – ” Daniel spat out some more sand, “fine.”

“Then you're in very big trouble.” Jack jerked away and glared down at him.

“I know,” Daniel gulped.

A few feet away, the creature gave a long, moaning sound, as if it was calling. Daniel watched his foster father glare at it. Then Jack released him and gestured at a panting Kawalsky and Brown who had just reached them.

They struggled up the next dune as fast as they could move, only to throw themselves onto their stomachs as they reached the top. Breathing hard, Jack dragged out his binoculars and focused them. Beside him Kawalsky did the same.

“Holy shit,” the Major uttered.

Jack didn’t blame him. All the Special Ops experience in the world couldn’t have prepared them for the sight.

“Jack?”

Daniel’s anxious voice broke his concentration. Jack grabbed the boy’s arm and pulled him up beside him then shoved him down into the sand. “Don’t move,” he ordered before lifting his binoculars again.

He heard a faint gasp from Daniel but ignored it, too focused on the sight below. From their viewpoint, they could look down into a vast canyon that ended against giant cliffs, bleached white by the sun. Crawling along the cliffs and down into the abyss were thousands upon thousands of, hell, they looked like human beings!

Jack’s first reaction to a new situation was always threat assessment. That was his job. That's where he excelled. He adjusted his binoculars and brought the scene into sharp focus. Thousands upon thousands of men. At least they looked like men, filthy, covered in rags that took the place of clothes. They crawled up and down the canyon walls and over the white cliffs on incredibly long, spindly-looking ladders.

As he studied them, Jack noted there was a method to what was happening. The men were working in large groups, some digging away on the narrow ledges that had been dug into the white cliffs while others were down in the bottom of the canyon which looked more like a giant mud pit. Without his binoculars, he thought the scene would have resembled an ant hill with millions of ants marching up and down in unending lines.

The whole thing looked wickedly unstable. At several points around the vast pit he could see evidence of past cave-ins and mud slides and he couldn’t help wondering how many of those laboring in such hideous conditions had died.

As he forced down his horror and tried to make sense of what he was seeing Jack realized it was a mining operation. Before him lay a nightmare vision of indescribable human misery that was almost impossible to disregard but he couldn’t afford to lose sight of his mission.

The mission.

He blew out some air, wishing for something clean and cold in its place as he ran a hand over his sweating face. One thing was certain, the mission had gone from difficult to major-league complicated in a matter of seconds.

Jack glanced down at the small figure beside him and silently cursed everyone responsible for Daniel's presence here, himself included. The boy should at least be back at base camp but Jack couldn’t spare a man to take him.

After seeing this mining operation from hell, Jack’s first thought was to high-tail it back to the relative safety of the pyramid. But that wouldn't help their situation. Without a Stargate address, there was no way off the planet. They needed to find the symbols that would allow Daniel to dial home and get them the hell out of Dodge.

Jack and his men could stumble around the pyramid hoping to find one of Daniel’s subsidiary structures that might contain the information they needed. More likely, the information they needed could be supplied by the people out there. Aliens, even though they didn’t look like aliens.

What were the odds that these human-looking aliens spoke English? Jack figured they must be something like a billion to one. Thanks to his years in Special Ops he knew several languages but he didn’t think any of them would come in handy here. Daniel, however, knew a lot more languages.

He made a face at the thought. Damn it to hell. Jack wanted Daniel as far away from here as possible. Unfortunately, it looked like the powers that be were right for a change, the eleven-year-old genius seemed like their best bet for getting home.

Jack checked out his boy. Daniel’s face was bright with excitement and fascination and a growing horror that mirrored Jack’s but there was no sign of fear or hesitation, which was both good and bad news.

He blew out a long breath. “Daniel, you don’t move from my side, understand?”

“You already said that.” Daniel stared straight ahead at the unbelievable spectacle. “How can they do that – why would they – ”

Jack took the small chin in his hand and turned Daniel’s head until their eyes met. “I’m saying it again. You understand what I said?”

“Yes, Jack.” He tried to draw back and Jack released his grip. “I understand, I really do. But why – ” his gaze turned inexorably back to the scene of horror below them. His voice was thick with shock and pity. “How can they work like that? It’s terrible...” the words trailed off.

Jack shook his head. This wasn’t the time. “I don’t know. We have other things we need to focus on here.” He glanced at Kawalsky who was watching him. “Let’s do this.”

“Yes, sir.” The Major stood up with Brown beside him. Keeping one hand on Daniel’s shoulder, Jack rose, his other hand gripped his rifle. He wasn’t sure why he was bothering. The odds looked to be at least a thousand to one. He supposed old habits died hard and the familiar steel was reassuring.

“Nice and easy,” he said as they began to move down the dune.

They watched their steps to avoid stumbling in the deep, shifting sand. Despite this distraction, Jack's instincts were on full alert. Within seconds of revealing themselves, they were spotted. A faint cry came to his ears and he felt thousands of eyes turning to stare at them.

At the bottom of the dune Jack tightened his grip on Daniel’s arm while adjusting his weapon in his free hand. On either side of them Kawalsky and Brown walked, weapons ready and their eyes never leaving the vast crowd before them.

The tension thickened as they neared the site. The hairs on the back of Jack's neck stood up and it was difficult to breathe. His eyes scanned the masses for any hint of a threat. What he sensed was shock, the thousands of people staring at him were as surprised to see his team as his team was to see them. When the aliens came out of their shock was when Jack would know if they were dangerous. If so, if the crowd turned out to be hostile, he and his men – and Daniel – would be overrun in seconds.

“Daniel!” he hissed under his breath as the boy tried to go faster. “Cut it out!”

Jack barely heard the soft, repentant, “Sorry,” because they had come as far as he was willing to go. Yards away from the first ragged line of miners he stopped, and Kawalsky and Brown stopped behind him.

It was impossible to watch everyone when they were this close so Jack focused on those in front of him. As much as he hated the idea, he knew what he had to do.

“Daniel.” He spoke in a calm, quiet voice, not believing it had come down to this moment.

“What, Jack?”

“Do you think you can communicate with them?”

“I’ll try.” Daniel straightened under his hand. The eleven-year-old sounded more determined than scared.

Fighting his instincts, Jack allowed Daniel to take a few steps forward. Now the little boy was totally exposed and Jack's fear was increasing with each passing second.

Daniel knew this was real but it felt like he was dreaming. How could these people be aliens? They looked human. Filthy, clothed in rags and miserable, but definitely human. Maybe if they looked more alien, he'd be scared but it was impossible to be afraid of these people, not when he wanted so badly to help them.

His gaze traveled over those who were standing closest, pausing on a particularly pathetic looking individual who appeared, under his coating of filth, to be elderly and little more than skin over bones. He wanted to reach out to the old man and he spoke without thinking.

“Hello.” Daniel held out his hands, palms open in the universal gesture of peace.

The old man started and looked around. His companions didn’t react and he turned cautiously back, ready to flee.

Were they just surprised or didn't they speak English? Daniel tried again. “I’m Daniel,” he said as he patted his chest. “Dan-iel,” he emphasized.

Nothing. Daniel searched his memory for standard greetings familiar between races on earth. He tried a formal Asian-style bow and was thrilled when several of the aliens awkwardly returned it.

“You see, Jack?” He could barely contain his excitement. “We’re communicating!”

“It’s a start,” Jack grunted. “Try talking to them again.”

Daniel studied the men, aliens, no, he couldn’t think of them as anything but men standing before them. Their dark skin and finely drawn features, visible even beneath the dirt and beards, reminded him of Egypt .

“Masa al-khayr,” he said hopefully.

The old man looked blank. Not Arabic, then.

“Essalat imana.” Daniel tried again, this time with another bow.

More blank looks greeted this attempt and he suppressed a sigh. Not Aramaic, either. He chewed his lower lip and considered what to do next. Maybe ancient Egyptian? Over a thousand years had passed since the language had been spoken on Earth so no one really knew how to pronounce it. All he could do was give it his best shot.

“Neket sennefer ado ni.” He enunciated each syllable. “We come in peace.”

Nothing. In growing frustration, Daniel tried several of the lesser known Arabic dialects, Hebrew, even Chadic, of which he only knew a few words. Nothing happened except the listeners looked more confused. He couldn’t blame them. Here was the opportunity of a lifetime, communicating with an alien race, and he couldn’t do it.

Adding to his frustration was the sweat prickling on his scalp, beneath his boonie. He raised his hand to shove the hat off his head and accidentally pulled the medallion up off his chest.

An ear-splitting scream shattered the silence and Daniel fell back in shock. Jack grabbed his arm and yanked him back but he could still see what was happening.

The old man he had been trying to communicate with was screaming at the other workers, his face transformed by terror.

“Naturru ya ya! Naturru ya ya!” He stumbled backwards, cringing away from the team as if he expected them to strike him down. Daniel’s thoughts raced as he tried to make sense of what was happening. Then it got even crazier. Before his eyes, the thousands of aliens dropped down like a great wave, falling to their knees, faces in the sand, they presented themselves in the unmistakable posture of complete submission.

“They’re kneeling,” Daniel whispered in horror. “Why are they kneeling, Jack?”

“I don’t know. What’s he’s saying, Daniel? Do you know?”

“No,” Daniel admitted. “They shouldn’t be kneeling. No one should be kneeling. That’s wrong, it’s so wrong.”

“Easy, kiddo.”

With the words Daniel felt a reassuring pat on his back but it didn’t ease his distress. Humans groveling in front of other humans – it reminded him of the worst in Earth’s history. He struggled to think of reassuring words, to calm, to convince these people they didn’t need to kneel before them. It was all wrong!

“Stay put.” Jack stepped forward.

Daniel watched as Jack stopped in front of one of the kneeling figures. Gently but firmly Jack lifted the teenage boy to his feet and took his hand to shake it. As if petrified, the boy stared at him, unmoving, and Jack shook his hand again.

“We come in peace,” Jack proclaimed. “Colonel Jack O’Neill, United States Air Force.”

The boy’s mouth opened and closed and his teeth began to chatter. Jack released his hand and tried again.

“Friends,” he started, but stopped when the teenager turned and fled through the still prostrate crowd.

“Shit,” Jack muttered.

“Colonel!” Kawalsky voice was sharp. “Four o’clock.”

Jack turned and so did Daniel. Approaching in the distance was another one of the huge creatures that had dragged Daniel. As it drew closer, he saw it was much better groomed than the first one and its leather trappings included silver ornaments.

“What’s that thing on top?”

Daniel answered Kawalsky’s question without looking away from the amazing sight. “It’s a howdah. A seat with a canopy over it. I’ve seen it used on camels.”

“Someone’s inside it,” Brown observed.

“Yeah,” Jack agreed. “Probably the local big-wig. Stay alert.” As he spoke he cradled his rifle in his arms.

Daniel heard what Jack was saying but his attention was focused on the approaching creature. The teenager who had run away from Jack reached the lumbering beast and looked up to speak to whoever was inside. When he was finished he joined the small entourage accompanying the animal and trotted alongside.

Daniel noted that the howdah was extra-fancy with windows and a door. It was too high up for them to see through the windows though he was pretty sure it was only large enough to contain one person. A glance at Jack made Daniel swallow nervously. The look on Jack’s face, a look mirrored by Major Kawalsky and Lieutenant Brown, wasn’t very welcoming.

Daniel stared in anticipation as the creature carrying the howdah came to a stop several yards away. It wasn’t easy to see because every time he tried to take a step out from behind Jack, he was shoved back. He sidled a few inches to the side and that gave him a pretty clear view.

The door of the howdah opened and a gray-haired figure appeared. With his heart in his throat, Daniel watched the old man reach the ground and turn toward them. He couldn't understand why Jack and Kawalsky were so nervous. The old man wasn’t armed. No one was armed but them.

Unlike everyone else, the man who had descended from the howdah was wearing fancy garments, dark red robes and a headdress that looked similar to the kind worn by desert Bedouins. The sight made Daniel’s heart beat even faster. Everything he was seeing reminded him of old Egypt . There had to be a connection. If only he could figure it out.

The people kneeling between the old man and the team edged out of the way to give him an unimpeded path. He walked directly toward Jack and stopped within a few feet of them. Jack didn’t move and his face was set in a stony expression that made Daniel’s heart sink.

“Jack,” he whispered, “you need to smile.”

Jack didn’t respond. The old man looked from Jack to Daniel, who tried to smile big enough for both of them. Now that they were so close, he saw the man wasn’t much taller than he was and, beneath the robes, painfully thin.

After staring at Daniel for a long, awkward minute, the old man suddenly fell to his knees and murmured something that sounded like a prayer or invocation. Nerves and excitement made Daniel’s blood roar. He leaned forward, listening as hard as he could.

“Any ideas?” Jack muttered.

“Berber, maybe,” Daniel answered. It sounded like what he’d heard earlier. “Or maybe Omotic?”

The prayer ended and the old man rose to his feet with surprising agility and gestured behind him. The great crowd, who had been kneeling the entire time, rose to their feet while the people who had accompanied the old man moved forward. Daniel was surprised to see they were female. Two of them carried large earthen cups. Another held out a soft cloth, not to Jack but to Daniel.

“It’s all right, Jack.” Daniel sensed his protective foster father was about to step between him and the girl. “I think it’s part of the greeting.”

Jack watched closely, his hands tight on his weapon, but he allowed Daniel to take a step closer to the girl. As Daniel took the cloth from her their eyes met and it felt as if someone had punched him in the stomach, knocking the breath out of him.

She was only slightly taller than he was and not many years older, in her late teens, maybe. Her eyes were a deep brown and they were warm when she smiled at him. She had taken the earthen cup and gestured with it. Daniel looked at the cloth and held it out to her. She took the cloth from him and wiped his forehead with it. Daniel felt as if his bones were melting under her ministrations. He couldn’t have spoken to save his life and maybe she sensed that because her smile softened and she held out the cup again. This time he understood and held out his cupped hands, all too aware they were trembling.

“Daniel – ” Jack warned as he reached for the cup.

“It’s all right.”

Daniel managed to smile as she poured a small amount of the water into his hands and he drank. When she smiled her approval, his knees went weak and he had to concentrate on standing upright. She was so beautiful. It was disappointing when she moved on to Jack and again offered the cloth and the cup. This must be all part of the ceremony. Jack allowed her attentions and even loosened his grip on his rifle to cup his hands and drink the water she poured. Then it was Major Kawalsky’s turn and after him came Lieutenant Brown.

When she was finished, the girl drew back and bestowed a final smile on all of them that sent a shiver through Daniel.

“Now what?” Kawalsky murmured.

The question pulled Daniel out of his daze. He looked up to meet the old man’s confused expression. They had been welcomed, Daniel understood that part. The next step was up to him. Racking his brain, Daniel recalled another method of communication. With a smile fixed on his face, he reached into his pocket and pulled out one of the mutilated but still wrapped candy bars. With all eyes on him, he unwrapped it, pulled off a small piece and stuffed it into his mouth. He made a production of chewing.

“Mmmm, good.” He rubbed his belly and offered the rest to the old man.

Caution warred with curiosity on the man’s weather-beaten features. In the end, curiosity won out. The old man took the treat, sniffed it, and glanced at Daniel who gave a wide grin and nodded encouragement. He brought the candy to his lips and took a small bite. For a minute he chewed in silence, then his expression changed from suspicion to amazement. Another, larger bite followed the first and he began to smile.

“Bonniwae,” he proclaimed.

“Bonniwae.” Exhilaration flooded through Daniel. They were communicating! He was communicating with someone on another planet!

“What the hell is boniwee?” Jack muttered behind him.

“Bonniwae,” Daniel corrected joyously. “I have no idea but we’re communicating! Isn’t it great?”

The old man ate the candy bar, relishing every bite. When he looked at his chocolate smeared hands in confusion, Daniel mimed licking his own fingers. The man followed the example and his expression verged on ecstatic. Only when the chocolate was gone did he bow low and gesture.

“He’s inviting us to go with him,” Daniel said, stating the obvious.

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea, sir.” To Daniel's dismay, Major Kawalsky was being his usual, cautious self.

Daniel opened his mouth to argue but before he could speak, Lieutenant Brown intervened.

“Begging your pardon, Major, Colonel,” Brown said. He was looking at a piece of equipment in his hand.“I’ve taken some readings of the mineral they’re mining.” Despite his professional demeanor, Daniel recognized the excitement in the soldier’s eyes. “It’s the same quartz-like substance the Stargate is made of.”

  Jack’s eyes narrowed.

“And they may know how to open their Stargate,” Daniel said eagerly. Besides all that, this was their first opportunity to communicate with people from another planet! Daniel knew better than to express that reason out loud but they couldn’t give up this chance, they just couldn’t.

“All right.” Jack made his decision. “Brown, radio base camp. Tell ’em what’s happened and what we’re doing.”

Daniel’s excitement soared and it was all he could do to keep from breaking out in a triumphant yell. Now he had his chance to do his part and find the symbols. He was determined to succeed.

Sara shifted into ‘sports mode’ when she heard the front door open and close, though tonight the entrance lacked her son's usual bluster. Jack and Daniel had left early this morning and Charlie was coming back from his Friday sports night. She had offered to go with him but he had politely declined. He wanted his dad, and his second choice would have been her dad. Charlie had said as much last night when she first made the offer.

"I wish..." Charlie had started and then stopped mid-sentence until she prodded him further. "I wish Grandpa was here to go with me."

He'd said it and then regretted it until she assured him it was fine. It was a perfectly normal wish and she wished it, too.  Mike would have come over and talked sports with Charlie and gone over the pros and cons of each sport and in the end Charlie would have picked baseball, basketball and soccer just like he always did. Mike would have made it fun and special and he was the next best thing to Jack.

Charlie had made it clear he didn't want his mom tagging along so instead, he had joined Spencer and his dad. She was probably the only one to notice the slight droop of his shoulders and it had been enough to bring a lump to her throat.

Now he was home and Sara put on a bright smile and met Charlie in the hallway. "So how did it go?"

"Fine." Charlie dropped his backpack on the floor then thought the better of it and hung it on the appropriate hook.

What are you going to be playing this year?" If Jack were here Charlie would be yakking nonstop.

"Baseball and basketball. Probably soccer, too. Coach Reed wanted me to consider joining the swim team, too, but I wasn't sure if that would interfere with basketball. And Coach Ramsey wanted to know if Dad was going to help coach baseball this year. I told him I wasn't sure.”

"I'm sure your father will help out when he can, like he always does."

Charlie shrugged. "They all asked if Daniel was going to sign up for anything. I asked him last night but he wasn't sure, I think he was too excited about going on Dad's special mission."

"There'll be time for Daniel to decide if he's interested when they get back." Sara kept her voice casual.

"Mom, can I ask you something?"

The tentative tone made Sara wonder if it was more than Jack missing Sports Night that had Charlie so subdued.

"They are coming back right?"  For the first time she saw fear in his eyes.

Sara was shocked by the question. Sometimes it seemed Charlie read her mind. He was certainly tuned into her worry. "Why would you ask that? Of course they're coming back. Why wouldn't they?"

"I don't know,” Charlie said. “Dad seemed super excited about this mission even though he tried to hide it. I know Daniel was. I wish we knew what the mission was and where they were going. It would make it so much easier."

"Yes, it would.”

There was no disagreeing with that logic. She gave her son a hug that he tolerated for about five seconds and then she asked if he wanted to pick out a movie. Half an hour later they were both sprawled out on the couch eating popcorn and watching the original “Star Wars.”

Sara wondered if she should bring up Charlie’s earlier worries about his father and Daniel, except Charlie didn’t seem worried any more so she kept her mouth shut. They were both comfortable and relaxed and when Charlie kissed her goodnight around ten o'clock she felt better. She hoped Charlie did too.

Chapter 20

The soldiers walked to the village with the people, a good three miles away. They kept a sharp eye out but there was nothing to see but sand in every direction. Daniel tried talking to anyone in hearing range with no luck. Jack kept his amusement to himself. He didn’t want to hurt the kid’s feelings but watching Daniel’s antics put him in mind of the Energizer Bunny.

Of far greater concern was the fact they were surrounded by hundreds of people he knew nothing about. They seemed friendly and pleased to welcome newcomers but Jack wasn’t about to lower his guard.

When he spotted the village in the distance he was surprised by its defenses.  He wasn’t sure what he was expecting but it wasn’t the massive wall clearly designed to keep out unwanted visitors. As they drew closer Kawalsky whistled beside him.

“Damn, Colonel, that wall’s gotta be at least twenty feet high.”

“At least,” Jack agreed.

“It looks like something right out of my books.” Daniel's eyes widened at the sight. "Wow."

“What does?”

“That!” He pointed at the huge wall. The equally massive gates were wide open and they were able to get their first glimpse of the village inside.

Hmm, maybe his eleven-year-old genius could provide some desperately needed intel.

“What are you talking about, Daniel?”

“My books on ancient Egypt .” Daniel pointed again. “That architecture was standardized for several thousand years. We could be looking at a village right out of the New Kingdom , or even earlier!”

“What about the wall?” Jack persisted. He thought he already knew the answer but it would help to get his kid’s expert opinion.

“Walls were built around villages during times of danger,” Daniel offered, his eyes devouring the sight before him.

Times of danger. Swell. Jack glanced at Kawalsky who nodded. Thank god for an experienced 2IC.

The walls towered high above them, closer to thirty feet than twenty, they noted as they passed through the open gates into the village. They were barely inside the surrounding walls when a deafening, booming noise reverberated through the air and the great doors slammed shut.

“Shit!” Jack nearly lost it as the people began shouting and pressing closer. He fired his rifle in the air and the crowd fell back, allowing him to grab Daniel as he led the others at a run toward the gates.

Barring their way was the same teenager Jack had shook hands with back at the mine. He looked terrified but determined as he waved his hands in the air and babbled in a language Jack had no hope of understanding.

It went against his grain to point a weapon at a kid but for all Jack knew they might be in danger and this kid was preventing them from leaving.

“Kawalsky, Brown,” he yelled, keeping his rifle pointed at the teen, “get these gates open.”

“Jack, wait a minute!”

“Not now, Daniel!”

“Listen to him!” Daniel pleaded. “Please.”

“I can’t understand him,” Jack snarled.

“There are other ways of communicating than with language,” his stubborn linguist reminded him.

Despite being locked in, Jack slowed down and took an assessing look around. No one else was near; the natives had backed away and the faces he studied were uniformly frightened. There didn’t seem to be a threat here.

“Keep an eye on them.” Jack gave the order to his men and turned his full attention to the teenager.

The kid was standing in front of the closed gates, wearing an expression of fear and determination. Jack glanced down at his own kid who was looking at him in dogged appeal and trust that he'd do the right thing. Great.

Communication without words. Jack pointed at the gates and raised his hands in a questioning gesture.  The teenager’s eyes brightened and he pointed up. Jack looked up and saw a narrow plank walkway that ran around the inside of the wall.

“Yeah, I see it,” he said warily.

The kid turned around and bounced up a rickety staircase that led up to the walkway and Jack followed, wincing as the steps creaked and groaned under his weight, despite the ominous sounds they didn’t collapse. When he reached the top and peered over the wall he understood.

“Colonel!” Kawalsky called up.  “What’s going on?”

“There’s a sandstorm heading this way,” Jack called back.  He looked at the teenager who was watching him with anxious eyes and nodded, grateful he hadn't made a terrible mistake. “Yeah, I’m slow sometimes but I finally figured this out. Thanks.”

His reward was a blinding smile as they made their way back down the steps.

Once he reached the ground, Jack apologized with expansive gestures.

The blossoming smiles around them were reassuring. Incomprehensible chatter filled the air and after a few minutes of listening and studying gestures and body language, Daniel offered his interpretation.

“Jack, I think they’re inviting us to eat with them.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, except...” Daniel’s eyes narrowed in concentration, “I think they want to show us something first.”

Jack glanced at his 2IC who shrugged. “Unless you want to try to break out of this place, sir, I think we need to make nice with the folks.”

“Yeah.” Jack put an arm around his kid and pulled him closer while plastering on a smile. “Okay, fine.”

Kasuf, Daniel had managed to find out the old man’s name on the walk from the mine, led them through the narrow, winding streets lined by two and three story mud brick buildings. Despite the smiling native, Jack and his men remained on full alert as they walked further into the village.

For his part, Daniel was fascinated and couldn’t shake the feeling they'd somehow fallen into a textbook on ancient Egypt . A last turn brought them to the center of the town. There, suspended high in the air between two buildings was a brilliant golden disk reflecting the sunlight in their eyes. Jack ducked back with a curse, one hand yanking Daniel with him.

“It’s okay," Daniel reassured them. "It’s Ra!”

The great disk was three feet in diameter and the surface was beautifully engraved with a figure Daniel was quick to recognize. He fumbled for the medallion hanging from his neck.

“See, Jack? It’s the same!” He met Kasuf’s anxious gaze. “They must think we’re from Ra!”

“I wonder how they got that idea.” Jack looked from the golden disk gleaming in the sun to the medallion in Daniel’s hand.

Kasuf gestured them to follow as he led the way.

The building they entered was constructed of traditional mud bricks and the room inside was a good-size, according to ancient Egyptian standards. There was a long, low table and Kasuf’s gestures made it clear he expected them to sit down. The village leader sat at the head of the table and clapped his hands imperiously. A few minutes later a large plank was brought in and on it sat their dinner. Daniel gulped when he saw what looked like a very large, cooked lizard.

Ordinarily, Daniel was happy to try unusual cuisine but there was nothing ordinary about these circumstances. To make things worse, the headache that had started after his failure to open the Stargate had gradually intensified during the feast. Worst of all, Daniel was overwhelmed with a thirst that refused to be quenched and an exhaustion that couldn't be denied. He did a good job of hiding it until the final frustration.

The team pretended to enjoy eating roasted alien lizard while Jack attempted to find common ground with Kasuf. Daniel tried to ignore how bad he felt by concentrating on everything that had happened since they'd found the mine and met the people who called this planet home. He considered the events up until Kasuf had showed them the disk of Ra.

“Jack,” he said softly, “I have an idea.”

Jack glanced down at him. “I’m listening.”

“No, watch.” Taking a page from the great golden disk, Daniel wrote a few hieroglyphics in the sand.

“Na’nay!” Kasuf responded in horror, kicking at the sand until the symbols were gone and then chattering angrily at them.

Daniel didn’t have a clue what the old man was saying but losing his best chance of communicating was the final blow to his self-esteem. He was the mission specialist and he had failed at everything. Swallowing tears, he gave up his struggle to maintain his composure and slumped against his foster father.

A few minutes later, Jack led him out of the feast, following the beautiful girl to a small, empty room just a few minutes’ walk from the feast. She smiled at them, said something, and finally they were alone.

Daniel leaned against the wall and watched as Jack rummaged through their packs. His relief at being out of the hot, noisy room and away from the nauseating smell of the cooked lizard was outweighed by guilt.

“I’m the mission specialist,” Daniel protested weakly. “You need me. Don’t you?”

He hadn’t meant to let those last words escape but he’d been thinking them ever since he failed to open the Stargate. Jack’s face softened in a smile as he unrolled the sleeping bag.

“Of course I need you, kiddo. But you’re not feeling well and whatever time it is on this planet, its gotta be way past your bed time. Let me take a shot at it. I’m pretty good at sign language. Not as good as you,” he added hastily, “but since that’s all we’ve got going right now, let me give it a try.”

“But – ”

“You remember about following orders?” Jack held up his hand.

“Yes, but – ”

“I’m ordering you to get some sleep, buddy.” Jack held out a couple of children’s Tylenol. Daniel reluctantly swallowed them down with some water, then at Jack’s insistence swallowed the rest of the water in the cup. Jack unzipped the sleeping bag to open it up and Daniel stretched out on top.

Jack brushed his hair back and Daniel felt the strong, callused hand linger on his forehead. “You’ve got a bit of a fever, maybe a touch of heat exhaustion. Let’s see how well those pills work.”

“I’m sorry, Jack,” Daniel murmured.

“Sorry for what?”

“I couldn’t find the symbols, I couldn’t get us back home. I couldn’t communicate with Kasuf and the others.” His voice was shaking by the time he finished reciting his list of perceived failures.

Jack stroked his hair and Daniel had to admit it felt good. “It’s not your fault, buddy. We didn’t know the symbols would be missing. As for Kasuf, we may still be able to figure out how to talk to him. No matter how much we prepare, there are always unknowns on a mission.”

“But I’m the mission specialist and I can’t get us back – ”

“Easy,” Jack soothed. “This is just the beginning. You helped us find these folks – ” amusement colored his words – “and you helped us make friends and begin to talk with them. Tomorrow, we’ll look around some more and see what we can find.”

Daniel was too tired to protest. Now that he was lying down he could barely keep his eyes opened. He started to say something but when he opened his mouth a yawn escaped instead and Jack chuckled.

“Close your eyes, son.” Jack continued stroking his hair. “I’ll be in the next room a while longer and then I’ll be back. You just rest.”

Daniel yawned again. ‘Son.’ It was such a simple little word yet it filled him with a warmth that had nothing to do with the little fire in the corner of the room. In spite of his failures, Jack wasn’t mad at him. Daniel sighed in relief and closed his eyes, aware of the tall, shadowy form beside him. Jack was here; he could relax.

Daniel woke with a start. He looked around the badly lit, blurry room and reached for his glasses. Once they were on his face, the room came into focus though it remained dim. It was a small, square room, mostly empty except for the pallet he was lying on in his sleeping bag, and the banked fire in the corner that gave off just enough light to see. Another sleeping bag, still rolled up, was beside his and Daniel blinked at it in confusion.

For a split-second he thought he was at home in Egypt and he opened his mouth to call his mom. Then reality rushed over him with crushing disappointment. He took several deep breaths and remembered he was on another world. The here and now was pretty exciting, too. He was on an alien planet and the aliens had proved to be friendly.

That’s how he’d ended up here. He remembered now. But where was Jack? Was he all right? What about Major Kawalsky and Lieutenant Brown? And the villagers? Where was everyone? 

He relaxed when he heard the faint sound of laughter drifting through the open doorway. Now that he was paying attention, he could hear the faint murmur of voices and one that sounded like Major Kawalsky, laughing. And there was Jack’s voice. He'd know that voice anywhere. Jack wasn’t laughing but his tone had that sarcastic, amused edge to it. Jack wouldn’t sound like that unless everything was okay.

Jack had sounded so confident about talking to Kasuf but Daniel couldn’t help worrying. The only chance for real communication with these people was face to face. There were other obscure dialects he could still try. For some reason the written word scared these people and he wished he knew why.

He sighed again. Jack had been adamant about sleeping when he'd left him in this small, comfortable room. Even what Daniel thought of as his strongest argument hadn’t swayed the man. It didn’t matter that Daniel was their best chance of communicating with the villagers. He was supposed to stay here and sleep.

Should he go back to the feast?  Daniel sat up, his headache was almost gone and he felt much better except for the tiredness and the feelings of failure. He needed to redeem himself. He imagined how Jack might respond to this plea and decided he'd most likely be ordered back to bed. If Jack was really fed up, maybe he'd pick up Daniel – in front of everyone – and carry him back here.

No way was he going to risk that supreme embarrassment. Settling back into his sleeping bag, Daniel tried to go back to sleep but he couldn't stop thinking about what might be happening at the feast. Had Jack figured out how to communicate with Kasuf?  Sign language had won them the names of Kasuf, and Skaara, the teenage boy Jack had unintentionally scared. Beyond that, sign language hadn’t helped much. At least not yet.

Movement in the doorway caught his attention. For a second he thought it must be Jack returning, only to realize this person was much smaller. As she approached, he knew who it was and his heart skipped a beat.

She knelt beside his sleeping bag, holding an earthenware cup in her hand. Hoping the dim light hid his blush, Daniel accepted the cup and swallowed some of the water then tried to give it back. Her smile widened and she shook her head. Daniel realized she wanted him to drink it all so he obeyed. Only when the cup was empty did she take it from him.

“Shukrun,” he thanked her.

Daniel knew she didn’t speak Arabic; none of her people did. But he thought that Arabic was probably closer than any other language to the one these people used. Sign language had worked with Kasuf and Skaara earlier. Here was another opportunity.

He patted his chest. “Daniel,” he said, enunciating each syllable of his name. “I’m Daniel.” He gestured at her with his most enquiring look.

“Dan-iel.” Understanding flashed across her beautiful features. She pointed at herself. “Sha’re.”

“Sha’re,” Daniel repeated, a wide, foolish grin spreading across his face. What a beautiful name. He should have known her name would reflect her beauty. The thought sent heat flooding through his face and he rubbed his cheeks.

“Sha’re,” he said again. “It’s nice to meet you, Sha’re.”

She laughed softly and a shiver of delight ran through him.

“There must be some way we can understand each other.” He had to figure out how to talk to her.

Sha’re continued to watch him with her beautiful dark eyes and Daniel had to clear his dry throat.

“We’ve come from very far away.” Maybe, since there was no one else around, she might have a better reaction to writing than Kasuf.

Leaning across the sleeping bag, he began drawing in the dirt floor the hieroglyphics for ‘friendship’, only to stop half-way through when she gasped and drew back in alarm.

“It’s all right. You don’t have to be afraid – ” he stopped as she rose and turned away, standing in the doorway with her back to him.

“I’m sorry.” Daniel sighed in disappointment. “I didn’t mean to upset you. I’m really sorry.”

He thought Sha’re had left so he started in surprise when she knelt down beside the sleeping bag again. She studied him for a long minute, her expression anxious and, tentative. Finally she reached out and brushed away his half-finished drawing. Just like Kasuf had done earlier. When the dirt was smooth again she gave him another long look.

“What is it?” It was a useless question but he couldn’t help asking. “I wish we could talk,” he said dejectedly. “I wish there was some way you could tell me about yourself and your people and...” He stopped talking when he saw what was happening.

Sha’re was drawing in the dirt. She kept pausing to look at him, as if expecting him to tell her to stop. Daniel only nodded encouragement and tried to suppress his excitement. He didn’t want to scare her.

Even upside down he recognized the symbols she drew and it nearly knocked the breath out of him.

“Earth.” He pointed at her drawing of a triangle with a small circle above it. “That’s Earth.” Shaking with excitement Daniel sat up on his knees and met Sha’re’s anxious gaze.

“You’ve seen this? You – ” he pointed at her, “saw – ” he gestured to his eyes, “this symbol?” He finished by pointing at her drawing.

She nodded, first hesitantly and then more vigorously.

His heart pounding, Daniel climbed to his feet. “Please show me – ” he tapped his chest, “this symbol.” He pointed at it again.

She studied his hopeful expression before nodding and holding out her hand.

Chapter 21

Jack O’Neill had been in plenty of unusual situations during his career in the Air Force. This should have ranked head and shoulders above the rest. In one way, of course, it did. They were on another planet on the far side of the galaxy, for god’s sake. It didn’t get any more unusual than that.

In another way, it seemed oddly familiar. There had been any number of times during his military career when Jack had found himself in a strange place, surrounded by people whose language he didn’t understand. He had always managed to communicate with them to some degree, most of them, anyway.

It was vitally important that he figure out how to communicate with these people. At the same time, it was difficult to focus when he was worried about Daniel. The boy's headache and flushed features were probably nothing more than exhaustion and a little too much sun. The kid should be fine. But he still worried. He worried about his team, too, how in hell was he going to get them back home?

Jack noted Kawalsky and Brown watching him. It was important not to convey his concerns. Confidence trickled down from the leader.

“Any luck?” He nodded toward Brown.

“No, and I’ve been trying every fifteen minutes, sir.” The Lieutenant patted the radio beside him. “Nothing but static.”

“You sure it’s because of the sandstorm?” The lack of communication with the base camp was one more thing on his long list of things to worry about.

“It was working okay before,” Brown reminded him. “It makes sense, Colonel. Once the storm stops I should be able to make contact.”

Jack nodded. When he sat back he noticed Kasuf staring at him so he plastered on another smile. The old man relaxed and smiled in return.

The feast had been going on for several hours and Jack was more than ready for it to end. He had stepped away long enough to check on Daniel a couple of times and been relieved to find the boy sleeping.

Kawalsky surprised them all by yawning. “Sorry, sir.”

“No need to apologize.” Jack had been stifling yawns for the last half-hour himself. “Let’s see if these folks have a place for you and Brown to bunk down.”

“What about you, Colonel?”

“I’m staying with Daniel.”

The yawn was a universal language. Kasuf clapped his hands and the party immediately began to break up, which was fine with Jack. He was anxious to get back to Daniel; he didn’t want the boy waking up alone.

The formal farewells seemed to stretch on for as long as the feast. Jack restrained his impatience, mimicked Kasuf’s bows and smiles and gestures and then finally he was free. He walked to the little room he was sharing with Daniel, stepped inside and froze. Though dim, there was light enough to see that the sleeping bag was empty and Daniel's jacket was tossed in a heap beside it.

Jack’s heart pounded as he bent down and picked up the jacket. The feel of the material in his hand sent a shudder through him. He gripped his rifle and spun around.

“Daniel!”

There was no response. He ran back to the hall and came face to face with Kasuf.

“Where’s Daniel?” He grabbed the old man's fancy robes, eyes blazing.

“Sir!” Kawalsky and Brown appeared in the doorway, weapons drawn.

“Daniel’s missing!” Jack pulled a terrified Kasuf closer. “Where the hell is my kid?”

“Na’nay! Na’nay!”

Jack jerked around to see Skaara running toward him, hands held out in a calming gesture. The boy looked as scared as the old man but that didn't stop him. The kid had guts.

“Na’nay.” Skaara stopped a few feet in front of him.

“Do you know where he is?” Jack released Kasuf and held out the small jacket. “Do you know where Daniel is?”

Skaara reached for the jacket and Jack allowed him to take it. The boy said a few more incomprehensible words and turned away, gesturing for Jack to follow.

“Colonel?” Kawalsky asked.

“Maybe he knows where Daniel is. Let’s see.” In Jack's mind, they had no choice but to trust the teenager.

They followed the kid outside and down to the enclosure that held a large group of beasts similar to the one that had run off with Daniel. Skaara stopped by the fence and shouted something. There was a stirring among the creatures and one of them, by far the mangiest-looking, shambled over. This one looked exactly like the one that had taken Daniel on the wild ride across the sand.

Skaara held out the jacket and the mangy creature sniffed it. The soldiers jumped when the beast threw its head back and bellowed. Grinning, the teenager opened the gate and the beast barreled out of the pen.

The creature took off at a gallop, followed by Skaara and several cheering youngsters.

“I’ll be damned,” Jack muttered. Not only did the kid understand, he was taking action.

“That’s a smart kid, Colonel.” Kawalsky was jogging beside him.

“Yeah,” Jack agreed as they chased after the traveling side show.

Sha're led Daniel outside and through the winding streets. He had no idea where they were going but he hoped she was taking him to the place where she'd found the symbols for Earth.

It was pitch-black outside. The sandstorm obscured the moon and the stars. Daniel was grateful Sha’re had thought to bring a torch. They passed the corral containing the huge, smelly beasts. One called after them in a plaintive-sounding rumble and Daniel wondered if it was the same creature that had dragged him across the desert. Maybe it wanted more candy bars.

They walked for several minutes and then stopped at a narrow archway carved in a stone wall. For the first time Sha’re seemed nervous and uncertain. Daniel gave her his most confident smile. It must have been good enough because she turned and he followed her through the arch.

His eyes stung as he followed her inside. In the torch’s flickering light it was difficult to guess at the room's previous glory but nowadays it was obviously being used as a giant compost pile. If Daniel thought the beast had smelled awful, it was nothing compared to the stench in this room, in comparison, the animal’s aroma had been almost pleasant.

Holding his breath while wiping at his watering eyes, Daniel followed Sha’re around the massive, steaming pile. Mercifully, there was another opening on the far side of the room.

Daniel's heart beat faster as they walked down a long, narrow stone staircase. He couldn’t tell for sure in this light, but it seemed like the craftsmanship of these stairs was much finer than he'd seen elsewhere in the village.

At the bottom of the stairs was a small, square stone vestibule. And nothing else. There were no more doorways, nowhere else to go. Daniel turned toward Sha’re who promptly handed him the torch and reached into the narrow space between the staircase and the wall. She murmured something and yanked. The massive slab of stone shifted to reveal a narrow opening. Sha’re slid through and gestured Daniel to follow.

They entered another small, square room that had several corridors leading off of it. Sha’re selected one and led him through. More corridors branched off in other directions but she ignored them, continuing to move forward with growing confidence.

The passage was damp and dank and closed in, the only light coming from the torch. Daniel could almost touch both walls when he stretched out his arms. The roof was low over their heads. They could walk upright but Jack would've had to crouch down. Jack. Guilt curled his stomach. He should’ve told Jack –

Sha’re spoke again and gestured with the torch. Just ahead, the narrow passage ended. There were even narrower corridors that went off in opposite directions but a quick glance showed they didn’t go far. Now that they had stopped, Daniel noticed the writing on the walls. And there, at the end, revealed in the light of Sha're's torch was a symbol that made his heart soar.

It was a triangle with a small circle over it. The sun over a pyramid. The symbol for Earth.

Daniel stared at it for a long time before noticing the other symbols. The walls were filled with hieroglyphic writing. A language that had been dead on Earth for over a thousand years, but thanks to his parents, he knew it as well as English.

“Unbelievable.” Daniel stared in amazement. 

Sha’re murmured something.

“It’s all right.” Daniel assured her with a distracted smile. “It’s good you showed me this. But why is it here? And why aren’t you allowed to use writing?"

He knew she didn’t understand but he couldn’t help asking. He took the torch from her and moved closer to the wall. Maybe the answers to his questions were right here in front of him.

Daniel pulled his notebook out of his waist band, grateful he'd thought to grab it, and fumbled in his pocket for his pen, never taking his eyes away from the extraordinary scene before him.

“Naadas yan tu yeewah.” He sounded out the words and read them out loud. “Suma’ ehmay ra ma yedat.”

Despite his excitement, Daniel sighed at the sad story he was translating. It had been the same in Egypt with his parents. Many of the stories weren't very nice, they tended to lean towards human misery rather than triumph. His father had explained that the more dire the situation, the greater the need to tell the tale. This story told how a large population of people had been forced to travel across the desert.

“Nandas sikma ti yu na’nay ashay.” Daniel scribbled words in his notebook as he read.

“Seekhma?”

He looked up in surprise. Sha’re met his startled gaze and pointed at the wall.

“Seekhma?” she said again.

She was pointing at the picture of several small figures on the wall. His finger paused over the hieroglyphic symbol for ‘children’.

“Sikma?” His excitement rose at the thought of genuine communication.

“Seekhma,” Sha’re insisted.

“Seekhma.” He changed his pronunciation and was rewarded with a beautiful smile.

He’d been right! These people were connected with the ancient Egyptian culture on Earth. They spoke a dialect of that language.

On Earth, pronunciation of a millennia-dead language had been a matter of guesswork. On this planet the language had never died and Daniel was hearing it as the ancient Egyptians on Earth might have spoken it. If only his mom could be here. She'd been a gifted linguist and no one would have better understood his excitement. By some miracle he'd stumbled across a word that hadn’t changed much over the long centuries. If he could find more words and get a better feel for their pronunciation, he could talk to these people!

Trembling with exhilaration, Daniel pointed a shaking finger at another symbol, the one for ‘god’.

“Nefer?” he tried hopefully.

The glyph, an eye over two feathers, didn’t seem to strike a chord with Sha’re who studied it closely, her lovely features set in a frown of confusion. Daniel found a picture showing some god-like characters herding the people across the desert and tried changing his pronunciation as he indicated them.

“Nef-ear? Naifar?”

“Neyoum ifar!” Understanding flashed in her dark eyes.

“Yes!” Daniel was ecstatic. They embraced and laughed in jubilation.

It was a beginning. Time passed as Daniel refined his pronunciation with Sha’re’s patient help. Eventually he felt confident enough to turn his attention to translating the story on the walls. It was a long, amazing story. A terrible story.

He translated aloud for Sha’re who appeared to be equally interested in the story. She corrected him when he stumbled over his pronunciation and Daniel thanked her each time.

“Barei bidi peesh.” This passage looked particularly tricky. “Shana? Sha’ana?” He looked at Sha’re for confirmation.

“Chan’ada,” she amended and they beamed at each other.

“Chan’ada sedma miznah, no. Miz, mir, um, mirnaz. Chan’ada sedma mirnaz, min?” he asked.

She smiled and nodded. “Min,” she agreed.

“Daniel!”

Sha’re gasped. The familiar bellow had Daniel whirling around so fast he fell back against the wall. Horrified, he sprang forward and looked over his shoulder, immensely relieved that his clumsiness hadn’t damaged any of the symbols.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Jack roared.

Sha’re looked like a cornered animal with her back against the wall and Daniel stepped protectively in front of her. He knew Jack wouldn’t hurt her but Sha’re didn’t know that.

“Jack, I can explain – ”

“You can explain why you left without a word to me or anyone else? You can explain why you ignored my orders and took off without a guard?" Jack was beyond livid. "Why you decided it was a good idea to go wandering through these godforsaken ruins in the middle of the night?”

Daniel had seen Jack angry before but this qualified as the angriest. And he had no excuse. Everything Jack said was true.

“I, I didn’t think – ”

“You’re damned right you didn’t think! Do you have any idea what I’ve been going through, what I’ve been thinking all this time, looking for you...”

Guilt swept over him. Just last week Jack had been going crazy looking for Charlie. Here it was a few days later and Daniel had done the same thing.

“I’m sorry.” He stared down at his feet and didn’t dare look up; tears were too close. He had let Jack down. Worse than that, he let the team down. Why hadn’t he thought to talk to Jack before following Sha’re? He did that a lot. Wandered down his own path without thinking. It was okay for the years he'd been alone. No one had noticed, much less missed him. It was different now that he had people to worry about him. He'd have to remember.

“Sorry? We’ve spent most of the night looking for you through this – ” Jack's wild gesture encompassed the ancient, crumbling structure. “Every time I turned a corner I wondered if I was going to find you under a pile of rocks or at the bottom of these broken stairs.”

“Na’nay!”

The voice was soft and feminine but filled with unmistakable indignation. Sha’re came up beside Daniel and put her arm around him. She gave Jack a stern look and rattled off something too fast for Daniel to understand. Her meaning was clear to everyone, she was defending him.

“It’s okay.” Daniel struggled to come up with the equivalent in ancient Egyptian. It took a minute before Sha’re calmed down and Daniel turned back to see Jack's anger was, at least temporarily, superseded by surprise.

“You’re talking to her?”

“Yes.”

“How?”

“They speak a dialect of ancient Egyptian.” Daniel was happy to explain, at least Jack wasn't yelling at him. “It’s been a dead language on earth for over a thousand years, we didn’t know how to pronounce it. Sha’re’s been teaching me, with this.” He pointed at the walls and the sight made him remember the story he’d translated.

“I think you need to hear this.” Daniel spoke quickly before Jack could remember why he was so angry.

 “I don’t have time for fairy tales.” Jack gave the wall a disparaging look. His eyes narrowed when he glanced back at Daniel. “And neither do you.”

“These aren’t fairy tales! It’s the history of how the ancestors of these people got from Earth to here.”

“What?” Jack’s eyebrows rose.

Daniel hurried to the end of the wall where the story began. “It’s amazing, Jack. According to this, these people’s ancestors were brought here from Earth, over ten thousand years ago.” He translated, pointing as he walked along the wall.

“There was an explorer, no, a traveler, from many stars away. He had great power and knowledge but he was dying, so he looked for a way to extend his life. I think... right here, it talks about how his entire world, all his race, was also dying. That’s why he was traveling.

“Finally he came to a world that was, um – ” Daniel studied the hieroglyphics. “That was rich with life. It was primitive life but with his knowledge and power it proved to be what he needed.” Daniel looked up at Jack with wide eyes. “It was Earth! And he found a boy whose body worked for him and he...” Daniel couldn’t restrain a shudder. “He took the boy’s body for his own. I think the traveler was some kind of parasite that was looking for a host. And I guess he had some way to keep the body living indefinitely.

“In his new form he claimed to be ruler over the entire world.” Daniel paused to swallow. It was the next part that shook him most. “He called himself Ra, the sun god. That’s right out of the Book of the Dead.”

What did this claim do to the culture of ancient Egypt that his mom and dad had spent their lives trying to understand? Was it all a lie? Had it all been created by an alien parasite?

“Daniel?”

Daniel started. He hadn’t realized Jack had moved closer.

“Tell me the rest.” Jack put his hand on Daniel's shoulder, the anger gone.

“Ra brought thousands of people through the Stargate to this planet to mine...” Daniel frowned at the symbol. “I think it’s some kind of quartz but I’m not sure. It’s a really important mineral, though, because it looks like Ra used it for all his technology. Because of it, he can live forever.” A shiver ran through him.

“Live forever? What are you talking about?”

“Sha’re told me when I translated this part,” Daniel continued, “that they still mine for Ra today. He’s still alive!”

“Is that the end of the story?” Jack studied the strange symbols filling the wall. In the flickering light his expression was unreadable.

“Oh, no.” Daniel pointed at another set of characters. “Something happened on Earth. After centuries of being oppressed by Ra, the people fought back. There was, uh, a rebellion when Ra was gone. They killed his warriors and buried the Stargate. That way Ra couldn’t come back. And here...” Daniel pointed at the final set of characters, “it says Ra outlawed reading and writing on this planet. He didn’t want what happened on Earth to happen here.”

Daniel spoke the last words with mingled pride and regret. The written word had enabled the people to overthrow Ra on Earth, yet that rebellion had only increased the abject servitude of the people on this planet.

He looked at Sha’re beside him. Her beautiful features were intent as she studied the hieroglyphics. Behind Jack, Daniel saw Skaara standing in the doorway.

“Isn’t there some way we can help them, Jack?  With this – ” he gestured at the wall, “I could teach them to read and once they heard the story of Ra – ”

“Colonel?”

It had been a while since anyone else had spoken and they all started.

“There’s something in here I think Daniel should see.” Kawalsky appeared behind Skaara and he looked excited.

Daniel took a step forward and Jack caught his arm. “I’ll go first,” he said flatly.

Daniel nodded and followed Jack. As they walked, the soldiers had to stoop to avoid hitting their heads on the low ceiling. Fresh guilt stabbed at Daniel and he silently promised Jack he'd be more careful to follow his instructions. Instructions sounded better than orders.

Kawalsky led them around the corner where the passage came to a dead end. A small stone pillar leaned drunkenly in the corner. On the surface of the pillar was a cartouche that reminded Daniel of the one he had translated on Earth’s Stargate.

“That must be it!” He tried to hurry forward but the hand on his shoulder held him still. “Jack, please. This could be what we're looking for.”

“I’ve checked the place out, Colonel,” Kawalsky said. “It’s clear.”

Jack let him go and Daniel dropped to his knees beside the pillar. He flipped to the front of his notepad. Even though he had them memorized, Daniel had still taken the time to copy each of the symbols on the Stargate into his notebook. Now as he dusted off the symbols on the pillar he compared them to the ones he had copied.

“Yes!” The top symbol was an exact match. “This is one of them.”

“Yeah, but...” Kawalsky uncovered the bottom of the pillar. It was broken into several pieces.

“Let me.” Daniel jumped in before the Major could do any further damage. After all, Major Kawalsky wasn't a trained archaeologist.

One, two, three... Daniel worked slowly, cautiously, oblivious to how close and hot it was. Four, five... the bottom edge of the sixth symbol was damaged but enough remained for Daniel to identify it. The seventh symbol was another story. Not only had it been broken into more than a dozen tiny pieces, it had been buried in the damp sand for who knew how long and was badly eroded.

Daniel tried for a long time to fit the pieces together. Major Kawalsky kept offering to help but this was one thing he knew how to do better than tough, experienced soldiers. For all his knowledge, in the end he had to give up. There wasn't enough of the seventh symbol left to identify.

When Daniel slumped back in defeat, gentle fingers ruffled his hair but there was nothing gentle about Jack’s voice when he spoke.

“Is the sandstorm still going on, Major?”

“Yes, sir.”

Daniel lifted his head to speak. “Sha’re says the sandstorms here often last all night.”

“Brown, still no contact with base camp?”

“No, sir,” came a voice behind Skaara.

“All right. We’ve got awhile before sunrise. Try to get some sleep. As soon as the storm is over we’ll head back to the pyramid to look for Daniel’s subsidiary structures.”

“Really?” A gleam of hope pierced Daniel’s despair.

For the first time in what seemed like ages, Jack smiled at him. “Yeah, really. We found this much. Who’s to say we won’t find the rest of it back there?”

Daniel sighed in relief. He didn’t know if Jack was still mad at him but it seemed like he still believed in him. It was amazing how much lighter the thought made him feel.

“Come on, kiddo.” Jack lifted him to his feet.

When they went back into the main hall, Sha’re and Skaara were waiting. Sha're gazed anxiously at Daniel and gave Jack a wary look.

Jack smiled at her. “After you,” he gestured.

Sha’re looked to Daniel. “After you,” Daniel repeated.

Relaxing, she and Skaara led the way back through the corridors and up the ancient stairs. Daniel followed them and Jack stayed behind him.

“When we get out of here...” Jack spoke quietly so only Daniel could hear him, “I want to hear everything that happened since you decided to go AWOL.”

On to Part 4

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