"This is just…incredible."
"Mmmhmm."
"I'm serious, Peter. I've never seen anything like this. Now, you're sure it's authentic?"
"That's what all the papers say," Special Agent in Charge Peter Burke said, laying a folder of official documents on the table before his team. Agents Clinton Jones and Lauren Cruz leaned forward to inspect them, while Neal Caffrey remained enthralled by the images posted on the walls.
"Why would anyone keep something like this in their home instead of a museum with the proper security measures in place?" Cruz mused to the room at large, not really expecting an answer.
Peter provider one. "The whims of the rich. They like to surround themselves with rare, pretty things."
Choosing not to acknowledge the veiled teasing of Peter's reply, Neal asked, "Has anyone found a translation of what these sigils mean?"
With a sigh, Peter said, "No, Neal. Reading the hieroglyphics is not a high priority."
"No, no, these aren't hieroglyphics…similar, but unique…."
"All right, all right. Jones, fax some of those engravings over to the local universities, see if someone can give us an idea what they say," Peter acquiesced, knowing that if he didn't Neal would find some other way to satisfy his curiosity, probably involving Havisham and some less than legal activity.
Agent Jones sighed, but nodded. Something told him it was going to be one of those cases.
And the day had started off so well, General Jack O'Neill mused, listening to the increasingly frantic ramblings of one of the Stargate Projects resident nerds on patrol. Basically, they were tasked with monitoring communications for any signs of Gao'uld, Ori or other alien influence on Earth. Apparently, this guy had found something.
"And where did you say you intercepted this?…New York branch of the FBI to Columbia University…Right…" Jack peered down at the fax in his hand with annoyance. "Good work. I'll send someone to look into this."
Hanging up the phone, Jack pondered the facts. Weird, unidentified, old jar with what appeared to be a mix of Gao'uld and Ancient carvings (the fax was pretty grainy). It had been stolen from the family who had possessed the piece for decades. The FBI's White Collar crimes unit was investigating, as they thought the piece to be a mere object of art…hmmm, they could use that, actually, at least until things proved to be something more than an art theft. He could send a couple of his people up to New York, to assist with the investigation.
Daniel was an obvious choice, not only for his field experience and linguistic ability, but because he was good at playing with others. It was obvious why some of his underlings had gone into archaeology, as they didn't interact well with the living. The Daedalus was in orbit and could easily beam him from Colorado to New York.
If Jack wasn't mired down with a mountain of bureaucratic crap, he'd join Daniel, but no such luck. SO he'd have to send someone else. Sam…out of system on the Hammond. Mitchell and Teal'c were off world visiting some of T's Jaffa buddies. Vala was out of the question.
Some of the Atlantis people were wandering around the Pentagon, having been or waiting for debriefs, which, now that Atlantis was sitting in the middle of San Francisco Bay, were long over due. After a moment's consideration, Jack decided to send Lorne to New York with Daniel. If he sent Sheppard, McKay would probably get dragged along and that was just asking for trouble. Setting aside McKay's personality, both he and Daniel tended to be abducted by enemies, even when on Earth (thought the last bounty hunter to come after Daniel had ended up under a bus). The two of them together was just tempting fate.
Major Lorne was a good choice, Jack thought. Around the SGC, he had always been a quiet, level headed guy and a damn fine officer. And after his years on Atlantis, he was used to wrangling cranky scientists, so as long as Lorne remembered not to move any artifacts around without informing Daniel, they should do just fine.
He hoped.
TBC
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