Title: Tears of the Ancient
Author: Eilidh17
Warnings: None
Feedback: I'd love some.
Disclaimer: I'd love to keep them, but I'm told I have to share!
Tears of the Ancient – Chapter 1
The mother called, softly at first, to her child. Her melodic voice caressed the heavens, winding its way around the stars, always seeking, always yearning, and eternally patient. With thousands and thousands of years of practice, she relaxed her mind and spread her call down to the lower plains, like fingers, gently touching billions of minds on thousands of worlds. It had been this way for her throughout time, and it would be this way until her call was answered. In a moment of utter despair, and there were many of those moments, she sent forth thousands of tears that sang of her loss, the same song that she had sung her child. They drifted amongst the stars and rained down on worlds, calling out to the child, their gentle tune gifted for his mind only.
Once more, the mother called, and once more, her call went unanswered.
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Major Samantha Carter stared dejectedly at the small crystal housed in a containment unit on her work bench. All attempts at analysis had failed, and with the exception of the small EM field it was generating, she simply had no answers. SG-5 had unearthed the crystal while surveying a ruined temple on PC4-290 several days before and returned with the object in the hope it was the power source depicted in a badly deteriorated mural in the temple. Writings found on several partially collapsed walls at the site had been digitally recorded and passed on to Daniel for translation and Sam hoped that her team mate was having more luck than she was. As far as she could tell the crystal would make a beautiful, if not overstated, paperweight and nothing more.
She smiled to herself and wondered how far Daniel's passionate plea to let SG-1 return to the ruins had gone with Colonel O'Neill. The fact that SG-1 had been off world on their own mission at the time and had come back with nothing more than sunburn to report had annoyed Daniel considerably.
A small chime on her laptop broke Sam's daydreaming and she moved to check her in-box. High-resolution stills that had been taken of the crystal's many facets had finally been processed and she could hardly believe the picture that flashed onto the screen.
One of the faces had been blown up and enhanced, clearly showing writing engraved on its smooth surface. Writing that she instantly recognized. Daniel was just going to love this, she mused, as she reached for the phone.
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"Where you headed?" Colonel Jack O'Neill asked as he quickened his pace to catch up to Doctor Daniel Jackson.
"Sam's lab. You?"
"She called you too, huh?"
"Yeah, something about writing on the crystal that SG-5 bought back from their archaeological trip to PC4-290." Daniel couldn't quite stop a whine from creeping into his voice.
Jack smiled at him, knowing that he was bucking for a return trip.
"Daniel, I said no."
"I know."
"But you're not going to let it rest, are you?"
"Nope."
When Daniel had his mind set on a task, he was like a dog with a bone, and Jack had dismissed his passionate plea for a return trip just to prolong the inevitable friendly argument. Hammond had already approved a second archaeological dig at the site, but watching Daniel squirm in frustration was worth holding that little piece of information back.
The door to Sam's lab was open, and the two men sauntered in to find her hunched over her laptop. Daniel took a quick look at the crystal contained in the shielded glass unit and then moved to join her.
"This is amazing, Daniel," she breathed, "The writing isn't engraved into the crystal as I first thought." Peering closely, she added," It appears to be part of the crystal itself, and it's obviously engineered. The technology level required to achieve such a result is way beyond anything that we can do."
"It's Ancient," he said, manipulating the screen to get a better angle on the writing.
"What does it say?" Jack asked, now propped on one of the bench stools.
Daniel took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes before putting them back on again. "Well, it's a request, actually, more of a plea."
"From who?" Sam asked, turning her attention away from the screen and on to Daniel.
"I'm not sure." He ran a finger across the screen, tracing the words. "Tears will sing for the child of my heart whose mind alone can hear the words."
"So, it's a family trinket?" Jack pushed off lightly from the workbench and spun himself around on the stool.
"Could be," Daniel replied. "Sam, were there any other stills?"
"Yes, but the lab said they were all identical. The message repeats itself on every facet of the crystal. I have all of the stills that were taken on my laptop and I've already emailed a copy to you. Want me to pull them up?"
"No, it's okay." Daniel paused, frowning at the screen." I can see some additional markings beneath the writing, but I don't think they're related."
"Yes, I spotted those." Squinting and chewing her bottom lip, Sam asked, "Think they could be imperfections in the crystal?"
"Maybe, any chance of taking a more hands on look?" he asked hopefully.
"Well, I've done every test I can think of but unfortunately we weren't able to glean any further information. However," she mused quietly, "it is emanating a very weak EM field."
"Dangerous?" Jack abruptly abandoned his stool spinning and walked over to the containment unit.
"No, sir."
"You're sure, Carter?"
"As sure as I can be with the tests that we've conducted, sir."
"Okay." He turned back to his team-mates, mulling over the situation in his mind. "But I want this lab sealed as a precaution, understand?"
Sam nodded and, closing the door softly, moved over to the containment unit and released the locks. Carefully lifting the heavy glass box away from its base, Sam groaned as she set it aside on the workbench. "That's heavy," she muttered.
Daniel made his way over to the bench, obviously eager to get his hands on the now exposed crystal. Coming within a few feet of the object in question, he stopped mid-stride, his brow furrowed in concentration.
"Something wrong, Daniel?" Sam asked.
"Can you hear that?"
Sam cocked her head to the side, listening to the noises in the room. "I can't hear anything, just us."
Daniel shook his head, as though trying to clear his mind. "Must be just me. It's gone now." Walking up to the bench, looking focused on the task at hand, he picked up the palm-sized crystal. "It's warm," he muttered distractedly, turning it over in his hands.
"Warm?" Sam repeated incredulously. "The temperature reading we took was consistent with the internal temperature of the containment unit." Her fingers flew across the keyboard, calling up the latest test results. "No change."
"Well, it's definitely warm." Daniel closed his eyes as he ran his fingers across one of the many tiny faces. "I can't feel the writing but it's as though I can sense its presence just beneath the surface. It's beautiful," he breathed. "I can hear music. Its faint but it's definitely there."
"Daniel." Jack's warning tones rang out. "You can put it down now if you want."
"No, Jack, just a bit longer."
The others watched as Daniel appeared to relax, softly humming what was apparently a familiar tune to him.
He smiled, "I remember this," he whispered.
Jack sensed something was wrong as Daniel's normally animated face took on an almost sleep-like state whilst his fingers danced over the surface of the crystal. "You said this was safe, Carter."
"Yes sir," she replied, "but perhaps he's handled it enough now." Abandoning her test results she stared intently at Daniel's perspiring face and holding the colonel's stare, said, "Okay, Daniel, that's enough for today."
Nodding and moving towards his dazed friend, Jack spoke in soft tones. "What's say I take that and put it down for you?" Reaching out his hand in an attempt to relieve Daniel of the crystal, he swore as a blue bolt of electricity arced out from the stone and threw him across the room.
"Shit!" Gingerly picking himself up off the floor, he growled, "Safe, my ass, Carter! Get a security team here now." Striding towards Daniel, and angrily pushing past her, he snapped, "Now, Major."
Jack made a grab for Daniel's arm, but stopped in horror as a bright searing light shot out from the crystal, enveloping his friend's body completely. The light appeared to have a life of its own, sending tendrils swirling around the room before finally collapsing back on itself.
"Crap!" Captivated and frozen with shock, Jack stared as Daniel stood trapped in his own light show. In a last minute effort to save his friend, Jack lurched forward and threw his arms around Daniel's torso, screaming with the unexpected pain it caused him. Writhing in agony, he felt Daniel's body slide from his grasp. "Shit," he moaned. "What the hell is happening here?"
The bright light immersed the men, turning a brilliant luminescent blue before shimmering and disappearing completely. Groaning, his nerve ends on fire, Jack struggled to catch his breath. Trying to lighten his grip on Daniel's squirming body, he looked into a pair of terrified blue eyes. "Daniel?" It took Jack's confused mind a few moments to realize that the hand his was holding on to was that of a small boy. Appearing traumatized and showing no recognition, Daniel snatched back his hand and held it tightly to his chest.
"Get a medical team in here, Carter." Jack whispered, never taking his gaze from the frightened child crouched on the floor. "Hey there, come on, take my hand." Smiling, and reaching out, Jack pulled the reluctant child close to his chest. "I'm Jack, and you are?"
TBC