Title: Sandy Planets
Author: PapayaK
Category: Spiritual, Hurt/Comfort
Spoilers: Heroes, minor ones for several other episodes.
Summary: An interesting encounter with complicated results
Disclaimer: Don't own 'em. Just having fun.
Sandy Planets
oO0Oo
Tuesday Noon
oO0Oo
In the control room Harriman sensed the General arrive behind him as the kawoosh settled back into the event horizon. He announced that SG-1 had just dialed in and were returning early. Hammond was about to question him when they heard Major Carter's voice over the comm, "Medical Team needed immediately. The Colonel is badly injured."
Before she had finished her sentence, Teal'c came through the puddle holding one end of a laden stretcher with Daniel at the other end. Then Major Carter herself, appeared.
The General took in the scene as they paused at the foot of the ramp. You wouldn't know it to see him now, but he had seen more than his share of active service and knew a doomed man when he saw one. If this were a battle, the medics wouldn't even try to help Jack, choosing instead to work on those they could save. But this wasn't a battle, and the SGC had the finest trauma team on the planet – several planets.
Teal'c looked up at the General, and inclined his head at the General's nod. He had every intention of meeting the med team half-way.
oO0Oo
Monday morning – 36 hours earlier
oO0Oo
"Another hot, sandy, Egypt-y planet, Daniel?" Colonel O'Neill adjusted his sunglasses as the rest of his team appeared behind him on the Stargate platform, "Goa'uld like sand, do they?"
Daniel Jackson wisely ignored the Colonel's baiting. "There was evidence of an early Israeli village just…" He consulted his compass as Jack rolled his eyes, "3 clicks west from here."
"Clicks?!" Jack mouthed at Carter who looked at her boots to keep from giggling.
Teal'c, as usual, refused to be drawn into the team's endless teasing and started off in the direction indicated.
At the indicated distance, there was a village that consisted completely of temporary structures; tents, pavilions, and awnings. At the center of the tents was a larger, more ornate structure of beautiful fabrics draped elegantly over a series of poles.
"Daniel? Where to first?" the Colonel asked.
"Well, I'd really like to check out that central… tent. Could give us a really good idea of who we're dealing with."
"The natives may object…" The Colonel pointed out. They would have to pass through half the village before they reached it.
Daniel shrugged, "Then I guess we talk first… I'm just saying."
"Oh!" The Colonel exclaimed, "You're just SAY-ing…"
As they walked through the neatly organized tents several people did stop what they were doing to watch them. It was interesting to note there was no fear in their faces; no suspicion, not even much curiosity, merely friendly glances, even a few smiles.
"Hello!" Daniel called to one young lady who had stopped to watch them pass by.
In response, she smiled, blushed, picked up her basket of bread, and disappeared into the darkness of her tent.
"Chatty bunch aren't they?" Colonel O'Neill observed.
"Perhaps when the men return…" Teal'c added.
"Yeah." O'Neill responded.
"What?" Daniel asked, looking around. "Oh, yeah, you're right."
The only males present were older men and young boys.
"Almost seems like…" Jack observed almost to himself.
"The women do not seem concerned for men off at war." Teal'c had followed Jack's line of thinking.
So had Carter, "You're right. That sense of impending doom is missing," she said a bit sarcastically, shrugged when Jack turned to look at her, and suggested, "– Hunting party?"
"This must be the center of worship." Daniel had been making his own observations as they arrived at the central structure. There having been no threat at all, the rest of the team also turned their attention to the large tent in front of them.
It was simply beautiful. The cloth was thick and finely woven, with threads of gold and silver running through it. The poles themselves were wooden, carved and polished until they gleamed and the metal rings that held the cloth to the poles appeared to be pure gold.
"Seem Goa'uld-ish to you?" Jack asked the team as they approached the entrance.
Sam shook her head, "Could be, but I'm not used to seeing them do anything so…"
"Elegant?" Daniel asked, "They're usually a bit more on the gaudy side…"
Jack nodded and entered cautiously. Once inside they observed that the cloth walls they had been following created a sort of fence around a courtyard. Within the courtyard there were different items – bowls on pedestals, altars, candle holders, and at the center was a taller, even more beautiful pavilion.
Daniel wandered around, examining the different items arranged around the central tent. "Definitely a center of worship. Looks like a lot of sacrifices…"
"What kind of sacrifices?" Sam asked, suddenly concerned.
Daniel shook his head, "From what I can see here- animals. Hard to say though. They clean everything up pretty well."
"Can you tell who all the sacrifices are supposed to appease?"
Daniel grimaced and shook his head, "Nope. There's no writing here… which is also rather un-Goa'uldish…"
Meanwhile, Jack and Teal'c, having assured themselves there was no immediate threat inside either – the 'place of worship' was deserted at the moment, - approached the taller tent.
"You gettin' any vibe off this place?" Jack asked.
Teal'c raised an eyebrow at him.
"I mean, places like this usually give me a really bad feeling."
Teal'c inclined his head in understanding, "What vibe are you receiving presently?"
Jack paused momentarily, studying Teal'c to determine whether the Jaffa was being sarcastic, and then shook his head briefly, "I hate to say it, but this place gives me a good feeling." He shrugged, as if trying to shake the feeling off. "Can't be right."
They reached the central tent and instinctively split, one to each side of the doorway. Jack looked in as much as he could, but it was dark inside. He signaled his intentions to Teal'c and slipped silently inside. Teal'c followed a moment later as directed. Inside there were more statues and tools of worship, but otherwise it was deserted.
It was at that moment, as Daniel and Sam joined them, that they all heard, from the other side of the curtain, a man singing.
"Not one of my favorites," Jack commented dryly, thereby asking Daniel to explain.
"It's a kind of chant." He stepped closer to the curtain that apparently divided the pavilion in two, his head tipped to one side, listening. "Definitely some sort of ritual… Sounds like…" he paused, concentrating, "Hebrew?"
"Hebrew?" Carter asked, surprised, "That's a new one."
"No. No – it's definitely a derivative - or root - of Hebrew. I'm not sure…" A light dawned in Daniel's eyes, "Of course!! I should have recognized it right away. It's almost identical to the descriptions…"
"Daniel?" The Colonel warned.
"Oh. It's the temple!"
"Doesn't look like a temple."
"No. It's from the Old Testament. When the Hebrews – the Israelites - were wandering in the desert. This was their church – their temple. Near enough, anyway."
Jack raised his eyebrows and was about to speak when the singing stopped and the singer, apparently a priest, emerged from behind the curtain.
Jack's hands instinctively went to his weapon, but he did not bring it to bear.
The priest paused, smiled broadly at them and had opened his mouth to speak when a second, older man appeared from behind the curtain.
The priest was dressed in the expected priestly robes.
The second man was wearing only a simple, homespun cloth draped about him. But this second man was clearly the leader of the two. And he was very striking.
Not striking in looks. In looks he was an elderly man with grey hair and beard, but there was something about him. He exuded power, authority and strength far beyond what his 70-something body could be expected to provide. And what was even more disconcerting to Daniel and Sam in particular, was that he somehow seemed familiar.
But this little encounter was not done affecting the participants. Daniel and Sam slowly came to realize what Teal'c, standing behind the rest, had observed instantly: The moment the older man had appeared, Jack O'Neill had gone perfectly still.
As his teammates watched, he swallowed. Then he did something the rest of SG-1 had never seen before, nor ever thought they'd see: Colonel Jack O'Neill snatched his cap from his head and dropped to his knees – without having been asked, commanded, or forced. No staff weapon had connected with the backs of his legs and no pain stick had been produced.
No. Jack O'Neill, who had difficulty showing deference to his superiors in the Air Force, had willingly dropped to his knees before a strange alien on a far planet.
TBC…