Thank you for visiting "Sticks and Stones" by Emma Nisbet (grnfield)
This is my first ever story and it's turned into a real labour of love. Please let me know what you think by reading and reviewing.
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Thursday – Day One
I had a bad feeling right from when we were standing in the gate room waiting for the wormhole to open so we could head to P7X-962. I couldn't tell you why, I just knew this mission wasn't going to end well. Even I couldn't have foreseen just how badly things were going to turn out – just how quickly things were going to go to hell in a hand basket – so to speak. There was no reason that this mission would be different to any other – albeit I admit that we do tend to get in trouble more often than most SG teams and our Archaeologist more so than the rest of us it seems.
This mission to P7X-962 was supposed to be a breeze. The MALP that we sent there a couple of days before detected traces of Naquadah and other important minerals, the atmosphere was clean and the land was dry and arid, if slightly turning to desert conditions in places. The ground was very sandy underfoot and the UAV had sent back some footage of a pyramid complex not far from the gate. Two small pyramids were guarding the path to a much larger one. The three were set out in a linear pattern similar to the pyramids on the Giza Plateau in Egypt. Obviously once Daniel saw that he was a "man on a mission" to convince General Hammond (and indeed myself) to let SG-1 be the team to go and study these fantastic monuments.
This really didn't need to be a job for the flagship team of the SGC as there were no signs of recent occupation on the planet, no signs of advanced technology or even any current signs of human/bipedal life forms. This said, Carter informed us that on one of the UAV flybys she had detected some anomalous energy readings from the direction of the pyramid complex. However it was only the once and it was generally agreed (by everyone apart from Carter that is) that this may have been caused by an error in the UAV sensors.
Whoever visited the planet would collect the remains of said dysfunctional UAV and send it back to the SGC for Carter to 'dissect'. For some reason Carter herself was reluctant to let another team get their hands on the UAV before her, she wanted to see it in situ on the planet so she could start her investigations on it as soon as possible. Therefore I now had both my 'kids' insisting that they wanted to visit P7X-962 for separate reasons.
Anyhow Daniel was extremely persistent in his hounding of General Hammond and myself, his long suffering team leader. He just 'had' to visit P7X-962 whether it be with SG-1 or SG-11. SG-11 is the SGC's resident 'geek team' which consisted of more members of Daniel's staff than any other SG team. They are generally sent to explored ruins, decipher ancient texts or whatever else they were required to do once some of the more 'military based' SG teams had scoped out the planets and deemed them safe for our civilian experts to visit.
"Just imagine the possibilities. Jack this is set up exactly like the Giza Plateau but the Great Pyramid is in a much more preserved state than the one here on Earth. There's even signs that it's golden cap may still be in place Jack only buried in a layer of sediment that's settled there over the thousands of years that it's been standing there. Imagine it Jack, it will be the first time that we've discovered such an intact pyramid from around the time that our pyramids at Giza were constructed. Who knows what wonders we may find preserved inside. These pyramids have been completely abandoned but not robbed for their rocks or indeed in the case of the largest one it's gold cap. The cap would be the first thing to disappear with the crumbling of a civilisation – especially if you think that gold appears to be a very valuable commodity on most of the planets that we've visited over the years. If the government or rulers had been overthrown I would think the first thing to go would be the gold, followed by many of the stones if a regeneration plan was in action. The fact that the cap seems to be still in place says great things for what we may find inside the pyramid itself."
At this point I decided to put both myself and General Hammond out of our misery and found myself agreeing with both my 'kids' and requesting that the General let SG-1 go to P7X-962 to investigate both the pyramid and the erroneous readings from the UAV.
Hammond agreed with me, I think more to get the two scientists off his back than for any other reason. This and the fact that he knew what I would say if he let "my" archaeologist visit the planet with SG-11. The last time I 'loaned' him to another team (SG-8) he was carried back with an ankle that was so badly broken that Doc Fraiser was concerned for the blood supply to his foot. After that I have been more than a little reluctant to let our resident genius out of my site off-world if at all possible. Of course Daniel doesn't appreciate my 'mother henning' routine – sure he tolerates it but I know it bugs the hell out of him that I don't think he is capable of looking after himself. "I'm a big boy now, Jack, I don't need my 'Dad' to look after me and hold my hand all the time. Let me go and play with the big kids – like I'm being paid to" I still do it though, I can't help it, it's in my nature – just don't let everyone know it.
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So here we are in the gate room waiting for the final 'Go' from General Hammond. I'm standing there with this almost overpowering feeling of dread for this trip of 'wonder and discovery'. Daniel is bouncing up and down on his toes in anticipation of the finds that await him at the other end of the wormhole.
Carter is standing with her hands full of notes with a bemused expression on her face – still trying to work out what went wrong with the sensors on the UAV no doubt. I know she's itching to get her hands on the damn thing so she can start to pull it to pieces. We'll be lucky to get it back through the gate in the state we find it in – I half expect Carter to start her 'autopsy' then and there on the sandy floor, where we know it finally came down. I dread to think how heavy her pack must be, she's bound to be loaded down with more tools than normal – not to mention the usual laptop and diagnostic devices that she carries on every mission anyway.
Teal'c is standing at parade rest near the base of the ramp. He has his one ubiquitous raised eye-brow and is watching Daniel with what I can only imagine to be mild frustration. I can't blame him – it is damn annoying when Daniel won't keep still.
For Pete's sake what's keeping them up in the control room? "Is there a problem, General ?" I shout up to the window. I've no idea if they can hear me or not – what with the bullet proof glass and a mountain of concrete between me and them I don't have a clue. However I catch Hammond looking down at me with a small almost-smirk on his face and I know he's understood me even if he couldn't hear me. He presses the button on the comms and says, "It's alright, Colonel, we've just finished the final calibrations that Major Carter suggested earlier. They took slightly longer than expected" He looks down at Carter when he adds the last part.
Carter looks up from her notes, blushing and looking a little sheepish. "Sorry Sir, I know I've been a little pre-occupied by the strange readings that the UAV sent back – I just can't understand what went wrong. We can't send out equipment if we can't trust the results that it supplies. I need to get to the bottom of it so it won't happen again. Otherwise we may either go to chase energy readings or minerals that don't exist or even miss valuable data due to deficient equipment."
I somehow think that the latter is more of an issue to Carter then the former. Most of the SGC and also the NID would be bound to agree with her. I think this is probably what persuaded the General to send SG-1 to P7X-962 - the money men and their unending search for alien technology. Daniel's insistence that there maybe treasures in the pyramid must have helped somewhat, My input…probably had very little if any impact on the decision at all. I can't think of anyone more dedicated than Carter to get to the bottom of the equipment failure and Daniel is certainly the best person to investigate the pyramid.
"SG-1 you have a 'Go'" announces Hammond.
"Thank you very much Sir, we'll report back as soon as we have any news on the UAV." I shout back up to Hammond standing in the window. Then, looking at Carter, and making sure she hears me, I mutter, "It's about time too."
As the gate start to spin and the chevrons begin to lock I think, "Why am I suddenly in a hurry to get this mission underway? I just know it's going to end badly."
#
We step through the gate into the dry atmosphere of P7X-962. It's not as hot as I was expecting somehow – still warm though.
We step away from the stone plinth that the Stargate sits on and head over to a few sparse trees. If they can really be called trees any more – mostly they're dead wood now and all the areas of the planet that we've surveyed are the same. This planet is definitely getting drier as the years pass; once the trees are gone I don't think there's much hope for it really.
Carter shrugs off her pack and starts routing through it to find the doohickey that will tell her which way to go to find the UAV. I tell Teal'c that he's to go with Carter and turn to tell Daniel that he's with me. As I turn round I find him clambering around up in the branches of one of the near-dead trees trying to get a better view of the surrounding land.
"Daniel, get down from there, you'll fall and hurt yourself." I yell up to him. "There's no strength in those dead branches. Come down here this instant."
"I can see the pyramid clearly from here, Jack, it's not far at all." he shouts down to me.
"We'll go and find your pyramid in a moment," I reply. "Just come down from there…Please."
Carter finds the doohickey that she was looking for and fires it up. Almost immediately it picks up the signal from the locator beacon on the UAV. Carter points out that it's in the opposite direction to the pyramids and is also much further away than them as well.
We decide to head out to our relevant destinations pretty much immediately. Seeing as we've only just arrived and it's not long since breakfast there's no need to make camp yet and we don't need to eat or drink yet either.
Carter and Teal'c set off in the direction that Carter's gadget told then they needed to go. I turn round to find that Daniel has mercifully got both feet back on solid ground without any mishaps. He sees the others moving off and shouts "Good luck" as they walk away.
"Right then, Dannyboy, I know you can't wait to find this oh-so-exciting replica of the Giza plateau but I'll have you know that you just turned another handful of my hairs grey by climbing that old tree. Do you have no survival instincts? No actually, don't answer that – I don't know why I asked – I already know that you don't. I'm certain that you actually descend from a different race of beings from the rest of us – one that has linguistic lemming genes somewhere in their lineage."
Daniel just stares at me in disbelief, then his face breaks into a beaming smile and he chuckles.
I can't help but smile too and reach out to ruffle his hair.
"Jack, I'm not a lemming and I'm not a dog either so don't pet me!" He complains jovially.
I know he likes it really, and he does too.
"Now can we go and see the pyramids…please…Sir." He grins at the use of my title and even gives me a sloppy salute before bending down to retrieve his pack from the base of the tree that he had been climbing.
I shrug my shoulders and reposition my pack so it sits more comfortably and hold my arm out in the direction of the non-too-distant structures. "Lead on MacDuff. I'll bring up the rear, just be careful. We don't know of anyone else around here but Carter was so sure that the UAV was faulty that anything could be out there and we'd never know about it."
Daniel sets out purposefully toward his goal and I follow close behind him with my P-90 at the ready. Soon we reach the base of the first of the smaller pyramids. I radio Carter to let her know we've arrived, she reports that she and Teal'c have made good progress and expect to reach the UAV in about another 90 minutes. I tell her to check in again with us when they get there.
Meanwhile Daniel is busy examining the first pyramid that we reach – the smallest one of the three. He comments on the amount of wear and tear to the stone of both the smaller ones in contrast to the huge one. Even from this distance and to my untrained eye, that much is obvious. It is clear to see that the biggest one is in much better condition than its comrades.
I look up, trying to see the top of the largest structure – thinking about what Daniel said about the possible gold cap. It certainly looks smooth enough to be some sort of metal but it's definitely covered in years of detritus so it's impossible to tell whether it's actually gold or not.
Daniel decides that, until we know better, he's going to call the pyramids after the ones in the complex at Giza. He says it's easier than calling them the smallest, middle sized and largest one and I can sort of see his point! I suppose, as well, it makes him feel more comfortable naming them after a place steeped in happy memories from his childhood.
So Daniel starts his investigations by walking up to the pyramid of Menkaure (the smallest one). He puts his pack down, retrieves his trusty camcorder and starts filming the outside walls. I see that I've lost him to his studies for a while so tell him that I'm going to do a perimeter check round the circumference of the site.
"Don't touch anything while I'm gone, Danny." I request. Chance would be a fine thing but you can't blame an old Colonel for trying, now can you?