Title: Sleeping Beauty Syndrome
Author: DizzyDrea
Summary: Only one who loves and is loved truly and well can break the sleeper from the spell…
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Takes place in Season 8, after Icon. References to Divide and Conquer and Window of Opportunity from Season 4, and Chimera from Season 7.
Author's Notes: I love Sleeping Beauty—like Jack, I prefer the Disney version to the Grimm Brothers'. I thought it would be interesting to explore the idea of a modern Sleeping Beauty, and what that might imply for what Sam assumes is true for her life. So, here you go.
Disclaimer: Stargate and all its particulars is the property of MGM, Gekko, Double Secret, Acme Shark and a lot of other people who aren't me. I am doing this for fun and for practice. Mostly for fun.
~&O&~
"Okay, campers, what's on the agenda for today?" General Jack O'Neill asked as he practically bounced into the briefing room. Dropping into his chair at the head of the table, he looked around expectantly at the faces of his premier team.
The members of SG-1, Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Carter, Doctor Daniel Jackson and Teal'c, stared back at him, mystified by his good mood.
Shaking her head, Sam was the first to rouse herself. "Well, sir, we've got the MALP telemetry back from P3J-998. We're picking up elevated energy readings that have a Goa'uld signature."
"Big honkin' space gun?" Jack asked hopefully.
"There's also a large obelisk near the gate, and the UAV showed a temple structure of some sort about a mile from the gate," Daniel said, ignoring Jack's question. "The writing on the obelisk indicates the planet belongs to Astarte."
"I'm guessing this Starter chick is a Goa'uld," Jack said, turning to Teal'c for confirmation.
"Indeed," Teal'c said. "She was a minor system lord in the service of Ba'al."
"Makes sense. Both Baal and Astarte are part of the Phoenician pantheon," Daniel said.
"She still around?" Jack asked.
"She has not been heard from in some time, though there is some disagreement as to her ultimate fate," Teal'c said.
"It's possible she gained enough power that he felt threatened by her," Daniel said. "He'd have no choice but to eliminate her."
"Either that or she attacked another Goa'uld under Ba'al's orders and was killed in battle," Sam said.
"Uh huh," Jack said, eyes glazing over. "Is there a point in here somewhere?"
"Sir, the planet appears to have been abandoned; there's no sign of recent activity near the gate. We'd like to go check it out. See if we can figure out the source of the energy readings," Sam said. "There might be something there we can use."
"Let's hope it's a big honkin' space gun," Jack said, earning wry smirks from everyone at the table. "Take Dr. Lee with you."
"But sir—"
"Aht," Jack said, raising his finger to cut off Sam's protest. "Number one, alien power sources are Bill's bailiwick, and number two, I know how you are when you get your hands on an alien doohickey. I need you focused on this mission. You don't know for sure if Starter and her minions have really abandoned the planet."
"Bailiwick, Jack?" Daniel asked, his eyebrow raising in a perfect imitation of Teal'c.
"It's a word," Jack said, defending himself.
"Yes, it's a word," Daniel said, "but not one I thought you knew."
"Daniel," Jack said, the warning clear in his tone.
"Sorry," Daniel said, ducking his head.
"Now, if there's nothing else?" Jack asked, glancing around the table. "Good. You'll leave at 0800 tomorrow. Dismissed."
Sam jumped out of her chair as Jack rose and ambled back to his office.
"So, do you want to tell Bill, or shall I?" Daniel asked Sam. At her grimace of displeasure, he said, "Right, I'll go break the news. Teal'c?"
Teal'c inclined his head towards Sam and followed Daniel out of the room. Sam stood a moment longer, thinking over what the General had said. She did tend to focus a little too well when dealing with alien technology. If her primary responsibility was the safety of her team, trying to figure out an alien power source would divide her attention, and she might not be alert to any danger until it was too late.
Sighing at how transparent she had become to her teammates—and former teammates—she shrugged and headed for her lab to prepare for the coming mission.
~&O&~
"Well, the perimeter is clear," Sam said, returning to the team. "I didn't see any other structures, so it's a good bet this planet is uninhabited."
Upon arriving on the planet, they had discovered that the obelisk wasn't the source of the energy readings. They'd followed the power readings straight to the temple structure. That had surprised them, because the energy readings were strong at the gate, meaning whatever was causing them had to be powerful.
"From the looks of things here, I'd say this place has been deserted for a while," Daniel said, looking around at the evidence of abandonment.
The temple was little more than a large three sided building with a great stone altar in the middle. There was a fine sheen of sand on every surface, probably blown in from the desert landscape beyond the entry, and the architecture was crumbling in places. The path they had followed showed no signs of having been used recently. The sand was undisturbed, and what grass there was had grown over, nearly obscuring the path from the gate. Sam and Teal'c had still walked the perimeter to be sure, and having found no other signs of life had returned to the temple.
All three walls of the interior of the temple were inscribed with a complex series of glyphs, and Daniel had already identified them as being Goa'uld in origin. He had immediately busied himself with recording all three walls, deciding to leave the translation for later if there was time.
"Yeah, although the energy readings are still steady," Dr. Bill Lee said. "Whatever's causing them doesn't appear to have suffered the same fate."
"Well, we know from past experience that Goa'uld technology can run by itself, sometimes for decades or more without maintenance," Sam said, glancing about to try to see if she could identify a source for the readings.
The walls appeared seamless, and there were no obvious indentations or any other indications of an access panel, which meant that there had to be some sort of secret compartment. Sam joined Daniel in examining the walls, trying to see if she could find any indication of where the power source would have been hidden.
"Still, I see no real purpose for this place," Bill said, glancing around, a confused frown knitting his brow. "Doctor Jackson?"
"Hmm?" Daniel asked, having only been partially aware of the conversation going on around him. "Oh, I have no idea. The glyphs seem to suggest some sort of religious ritual, but I'm having trouble with the dialect."
Teal'c, who had been examining part of the back wall, turned to his companions. "It is a dialect with which I am unfamiliar. It will take some time to decipher the meaning of these writings."
"Well, I guess I'll get the scanning equipment set up," Bill said. "If we can get some more detailed readings, I might be able to identify the exact location of the power source."
Bill busied himself with setting up his equipment while Daniel returned his attention to the inscriptions on the walls. Teal'c returned to the temple entrance to keep watch while Sam helped Bill get set up. Despite the General's words, identifying the power source was a tempting mystery, and she planned to be involved in solving it.
~&O&~
"You know, this place kinda reminds me of Kalimdor," Bill said, as he and Sam finished setting up the equipment.
They had some of their instruments set up on a stack of boxes, and the laptop sitting on the altar itself. Sam was busy calibrating their readings while Bill finished hooking everything up.
"I am not familiar with that planetary designation," Teal'c said from his place near the entry.
"What? Oh, it's not a planetary—well I suppose it is, sort of—since Azeroth is a planet," Bill babbled on a bit. Teal'c turned his head and raised his eyebrow, stopping Bill in his tracks. "It's a continent on the planet Azeroth. From World of Warcraft."
"World of Warcraft?" Sam asked, glancing up from the laptop.
"Yeah, it's an MMORPG," Bill said. Upon seeing confusion in more than one pair of eyes, he explained. "A Massively Multi-player Online Role Playing Game. I have a buddy who got me a beta copy of the newest release."
Teal'c still had a slightly confused look on his face, but he returned his gaze to the landscape in front of the temple. Sam smiled and glanced at Daniel, who met her gaze with a smile of his own. He then shrugged and returned his attention to the temple walls.
"Yeah, I've been playing for a while," Bill said, almost absently as he fiddled with various dials and knobs on the equipment. "It's actually quite fascinating. You see, you create an avatar—basically a fantasy likeness of yourself—and you go on quests, acquiring things or solving problems. It's a lot like what we do at the SGC, actually. Except—"
"Hey, Bill," Sam interrupted. "I'm getting a spike in the readings."
"Hmm? Oh, that's interesting," Bill said, checking the readouts. "I think—"
Anything else he would have said was cut off when a beam of energy lanced out from the wall behind the altar, striking Sam in the back. She crumpled over the laptop she'd been monitoring with a grunt. Daniel dropped his notebook and reached her just as she started sliding off the altar. He caught her easily and gently lowered her to the ground.
Bill and Teal'c looked at each other before rushing to where Sam lay unconscious. Checking for a pulse, Daniel heaved a sigh of relief when he found one, steady under his fingers.
Bill glanced behind him at the readouts on the monitors. "Well that's funny," he said.
"What's funny?" Daniel asked, almost afraid of what the other man might say.
"Well, after that huge spike, the power readings have dropped off," he said. "I doubt we'd even detect them with the MALP now."
Daniel turned around and saw Teal'c examining the wall where the energy beam emanated from. "Find anything?"
"I do not see where the beam originated from," he said, casting a concerned glance at his companions. "Is Colonel Carter well?"
"Well, aside from being unconscious, I don't think she's hurt," Daniel said.
"Then perhaps we should leave this place until we are certain we are no longer in danger," Teal'c suggested.
"Probably not a bad idea," Daniel said.
"Whatever it was doesn't appear to be working anymore, but I don't know how long that'll last," Bill said, glancing at the readouts, the worry clear in his tone.
"Okay," Daniel said, "let's get Sam back to the SGC. We can try to figure out what happened once we get there."
Teal'c stepped forward and leaned his staff weapon against the altar before scooping Sam up. He turned and made his way out of the temple, not waiting for the others. Bill closed and disconnected the laptop, tucking it under his arm as Daniel picked up his pack and stuffed the notebook he'd been using inside. He grabbed Teal'c's staff weapon, and the two men followed Teal'c out of the temple structure and towards the gate.
To be continued...