Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. This story was created for entertainment purposes only. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations, and story are the property of the author(s).
They found a device. Cam was calling it an Ancient PDA, but it was the missing piece. It translated the writings on the map into Gate addresses and the team was getting ready to visit the first of them. Sam and Jack had had a long discussion about her traveling through the Gate. She had made a point about things usually ending in a fire fight, but they both saw the need for her to be on site if and when the weapon was found. Finally, they both decided that she should go, but she should be careful, very careful.
It was time to go but there was a hold up in the Gate room. General Landry wasn't giving them the go ahead.
The big door opened and everyone there was shocked. Major General Jack O'Neill walked through dressed in BDU's with a P90 and a vest on.
"Howdy campers!" He exclaimed. "Is there room for one more on this trip?"
Mitchell and Carter looked up at Landry. He held up his hands and shrugged, it was out of his hands.
"Jack?" Daniel was the first to find his tongue.
"I'm just along for the ride. I feel a little responsible for finding this thing, and it's been a while since I've been through the Gate… don't worry, the old guy won't slow you down."
"Ah, okay sir." Cam always seemed tense around O'Neill.
"Relax, Mitchell, this is SG1's gig, I'm just along for the ride. You guys just do what you do and I'll watch…quietly from the sidelines."
Daniel and Sam stifled laughs, even Teal'C had a hard time hiding a grin. If Jack O'Neill was there, he wouldn't be sitting on the side lines.
"Sg1, General O'Neill, you have a go. Bring back that weapon." Landry said over the PA.
They headed up the Gate steps, Cam and Jack jockeying for last position. Two alpha males in the same pack, this would be interesting.
Seconds later Jack emerged through the Gate to see Sam stumble, bend over and vomit. He, as well as the rest of the group, rushed to her side.
"Whoa…I'm okay." She said standing up. Taking a swig from her water bottle she rinsed and spit. "Must have been something I ate.'
That seemed to pacify Cam, but Teal'C and Daniel looked at each other. Sam could eat a buffet and go through the Gate, no problem. Vala just wandered off to see where the DHD was.
Jack fought the urge to coddle her, knowing that it would not be welcomed. Out here they were co-workers, who happened to know each other very well. There was no fraternization on alien planets. He couldn't help but be concerned though.
"Ready Carter?" He asked.
"Yes sir."
"Then let's go!"
He looked around and saw the smirk on Teal'C's face.
"Old habits…Mitchell, you lead."
"Sir, it might be prudent to use your experience in these matters and have you lead the team."
Cameron Mitchell was no fool. He knew that O'Neill had meant what he said about it being an SG1 mission, but as far as Mitchell was concerned, O'Neill was SG1. This was what he'd dreamed about when offered the chance to join SG1…the experience of following a legend into battle.
Jack looked around. No one seemed to mind the change in command, except Vala. She didn't really seem to mind as much as she was oblivious to it, as she looked around for anything of value.
"If you don't mind…then let's get going. Teal'C and Mitchell lead, we need to get into town and have a look around. I'll watch our sixes."
They had sent an AUV through to scout the area and it had located a village not more than a kilometre from the Gate. It looked like it was the only set of dwellings around. They started on the trek, Cam and Teal'C on guard, Vala wandering beside Daniel and Sam and Jack a few paces behind.
"Why did you really decide to come along, Jack?" Sam asked suspiciously.
"I just wanted to be in on this. I trust you Carter. Don't read anything else into it than that. By the way, you really okay?"
"Yeah." She sighed. "It just took me by surprise."
"You want to go back"
"And throw up in the Gate Room? No, don't think so. I'm fine. We need to get moving."
Jack increased his pace. Sam matched him and watched as the rest of the group started to move a little faster. Less than 10 minutes later they were in the village. The people were about eleventh century in technology, they were also a little skittish of the new comers.
"Hello, my name is Daniel Jackson, we are peaceful explorers…" it had to work at least once.
"This is Jack O'Neill, Sam Carter, Cameron Mitchell, Teal'C and Vala Mal Doran. We come from far away and are looking for some information."
The villagers looked at the team then at each other. Many of them walked away but one or two stepped a little closer to get a better look.
"What are you looking for?" One of the young women asked.
"Do you know of Merlin?" Daniel asked.
"Yeah and did he leave anything lying around?" Vala added.
Mitchell, Daniel and Jack shot her a "shut up" look. She shrugged.
"Just trying to help."
Vala moved off a little trying to stay out of the boys' way. She was getting a little tired of the way these guys handled things. If she had her way, she'd have snuck in, looked around, grabbed what she wanted and gotten the hell out of there. Much less messy.
Sam followed Vala, mostly to keep an eye on her. She left Daniel to do the "let's get acquainted" speech and followed the other woman to where she was snooping into the window of a shop.
"You do know that you are pregnant, right?" Vala asked.
Sam panicked and looked around; making sure nobody else had heard her.
"Yes." She hissed. "But no one else knows."
"Not even the hunk?" Vala gestured towards Jack with her head.
"Of course he knows…the others don't and I want to keep it that way."
"You plan on hiding behind things? These guys may not be the smartest when it comes to women, but when your butt gets too big to fit through the gate, they're gonna notice."
"I plan on telling them, just not yet."
"So that's why Daddy's here? He came through the Gate to make sure you and baby come home in one piece?"
"No, he came through to see if we were going to find the weapon…the weapon who's location he came up with might I remind you. And my butt's not going to get so big that it won't fit through the Gate."
"Hey as someone who's just been there, I'm telling you, it's going to get BIG."
"Oh Vala…I didn't even think about that…"
"Never mind. I was an incubator really. How are you feeling?"
"The trip through the Gate shook me, I'm fine. Vala, please, don't mention this to anyone."
The former Goa'uld looked at her new team mate. She'd never had a female friend before, maybe it was time. She liked Samantha Carter, so maybe they could try the girlie friendship thing.
"Don't worry, my lips are firmly closed."
"Sealed…it's my lips are sealed."
Vala shrugged. The two women made their way back to the group. Daniel was still trying to impress upon the people that they were there to be friends. The villagers had started to gather around the group. Some of the woman were flashing smiles and flapping eyelashes at the men. Cam seemed to be enjoying it; he was smiling and doing some eyelash flapping of his own. Jack, Teal'C and Daniel had been in this situation too often to even notice when the local girls were trolling for fresh blood.
An old woman came through, waving away the gathering crowd.
"You speak of Merlin?" The old woman asked.
"Yes."
Jack stepped forward to speak to the woman. The word crone popped into his head and he could almost see her stirring a bubbling caldron and cackling. Shakespeare would have been proud.
"What do you know of Merlin?" She asked her gaze narrowing on Jack.
"He was a great sorcerer…a man of knowledge…"
"Who are you?"
"I am Jack O'Neill and you are?"
"They call me Nimue."
Jack looked over at Daniel who mouthed 'The Lady of the Lake'.
Jack mouthed back, 'The Watery Tart?' causing Daniel to glare and Cam to nearly explode as he tried not to laugh. Daniel nodded. There was so going to be an anti-Monty Python conversation in the near future.
"We have heard the legend of Merlin in our history. Can you tell us of him in yours?" Daniel asked.
"You must come from far away, if you do not know."
"We came through the Stargate." Daniel figured that now was as good a time as any to let them know.
The old lady looked at them with a little curiosity and lot of disbelief. She shuffled forward and looked Jack right in the pockets. She couldn't have been more than five feet tall.
"You lead this group?"
"Yes."
Then you come. They can stay here."
Jack looked at Daniel, Teal'C and finally Sam. They usually didn't split up, but he didn't think that the little old lady was much of a threat.
"Daniel here is our scholar, it would be best that he accompany us."
Jack was trying not to screw this up. He'd done some research on the Arthurian legend but Daniel was the archaeologist. He knew enough about Arthur and Camelot to get by, but there were intricacies that Daniel would be better suited to tell Nimue.
"He is your scholar? Then why do you need the rest?"
"They are all scholars…we are a group of…scholars."
"A Jaffa scholar? Interesting."
The whole group swung around and looked at Teal'C. The big guy even looked surprised.
"And you bring weapons? What kind of scholars are you?"
It was time to rethink the whole peasant idea. These people were not as they seemed.
"Lady Nimue, have you heard of the Ori?" Daniel asked.
Pitchforks went from being held at the peasant's sides to being pointed at the group. Men and women, who had gathered around the group in curiosity, were now getting angry.
Nimue glared at Daniel then at Jack. "Your kind is not welcome here. Lancelot, you and your men deal with these…scholars."
She turned to leave. The peasants began to grow even more agitated as a young man approached the group.
"Nimue!" Daniel yelled at her retreating back.
"We are looking for a device to defeat the Ori…we need your help."
The lady paused but continued on. She did whisper to a young lady walking near her. The girl nodded and scurried over to another group of men. This group then pushed its way through the crowd towards Sg1. Within minutes they were all headed towards the largest structure in the village.
Inside the building the one they called Lancelot finally spoke.
"Take the women."
"Whoa!" Jack squawked.
"Hey, no!" Daniel stepped forward.
Teal'C just looked menacing and Cam fingered the safety of his P90. They hadn't be unarmed yet and it was looking like now would be a good time to use them.
Two younger men approached Sam and Vala. They were determined to separate them from the group.
Sam flipped off the safety of her P90 and raised it above her head. Letting loose a volley that caused dust to cover everyone, she demonstrated that she wouldn't go easy. The rest of the group assumed a defensive posture around her and Vala.
Nimue entered the room and raised her hand. The group of peasants stopped moving towards the group of SG personnel.
"Arwyn, meant only to take the women to refresh themselves. Tell us why you are here…you speak of the Ori. That is not a subject that is spoken of in public."
Daniel looked at Jack who gave him the nod to answer. He stepped forward and gestured for Sam to lower her gun. She did but didn't put on the safety.
"We are looking for something the Merlin created and hoping that it will help us in our dealings with the Ori."
"Are you followers of Origin?" The woman asked without a hint as to whether or not she did.
"No, but we are interested in learning more."
Nimue showed nothing. If she was a follower of Origin a believer in the power of the Ori, she wasn't as vocal as the followers they'd met before.
"We have nothing to share with you. Lancelot will take you to Barenton and you will leave."
"Lady Nimue…" Daniel approached the woman speaking softly. "We really are scholars, and like Merlin and Arthur we are warriors. Please allow us to look at anything that Merlin may have left."
The old woman looked at Daniel, her gaze shifted to the rest of SG1 noticing that they were waiting for direction from the young man, not their leader.
"You are not followers of Origin and you search for the Gifts of Myrrdin. What do you plan on doing if you find the Gifts?"
Cam stepped forward and spoke to the old woman for the first time.
"Ma'am, where we come from, free will is sacred. The Ori want everyone to follow them blindly, and we don't quite keep with that."
"You wish to destroy them?" She asked.
"If it comes to that ma'am, we just might have to."
"Then Galadriel will show you the most sacred of our beliefs."
Nimue nodded at a young woman. The girl from the crowd had slipped into the room when no one was looking. She had with her a small chest. Inside was a brass plate covered in the same writing as the Globe that Jack had found in Carter's lab?
"You may look at the Gifts of Myrrdin."
Daniel ran to the woman who smiled at him. As he reached out to take the plate Galadriel placed her hand on his arm. She shook her head.
"We believe that many years of study and reflection is necessary before you may handle the Gift."
"Do you know what it says?" Daniel asked.
"It is written that the Sorcery of the Ori can be defeated. It is only by looking within that this may happen, but the pure of thought will prevail. This translation has been passed through tens of generations to Nimue and then to me."
Daniel pulled the Ancient PDA out of his pocket.
"May I please place this near the Gift?"
Galadriel looked at Nimue. The old woman nodded and Daniel proceeded. They weren't going to be able to remove this artifact, but at least the PDA would make a copy of it. In seconds the data had been transferred and Daniel was content, if not satisfied, with that.