"There
are two bases of pillars with trilingual inscriptions in
Old-Persian,
Akadian and Elamite cuneiforms." Daniel spoke into his
tape
recorder as he examined the writings on the dusty surface,
"Serious
damage has been inflicted to the bases of the pillars,
particularly
their inscriptions. The writings are so effaced that they
are now
very difficult to decipher."
He leaned forward to
carefully study the carved words on the old,
dilapidated wall, "An
evil force of incommensurable power, one which
is possessed, not
by men, but only by Gods came through the ring of
darkness, with
eyes that glowed like burning coal, a sinister gleam,
the color of
death. They brought destruction and desolation to the
people of
the Ahmead. Destroyed the homes of our ancestors, ravished
our
sacred land. Ultimately they took all away, our very own
souls."
Daniel's eyes almost popped out of his head as he
read on, "It tells
the story of how this city was destroyed
and their people enslaved by
the Goa'uld, but whoever had survived
and built this temple is
probably long gone by now. The temple and
the rest of the city look as
if they've been deserted for a quite
long time."
Keeping his flashlight primed on the walls
and his camera recording it
all as he went, Daniel went slowly
down a narrow flight of steps
leading to the lower levels of the
monumental old temple, "Although
for how long I won't be able
to tell until I can make a deeper
analysis of the... Oh..."
Daniel's mouth went slack and his eyes
opened even wider as he
took in the large room that opened up before
him, each wall filled
with more of the ancient text.
"Oh... God... Apparently
this is some sort of historical monument,
some sort of legacy
telling the story of the people that lived on this
planet. How
they lived and how they died. Seems the deeper I proceed
into the
temple, the further into their history I go." Taking in all
the
knowledge engraved on the high walls from top to bottom, Daniel
just
stood there for a long moment, awestruck, like a kid in a
candy
store. He just couldn't believe his eyes and the greatness
of the
treasure he'd found.
"It's amazing!"
oOo
"Daniel!" Yelled
the Colonel into his radio, trying to be heard above
the blasts
bombarding him and the rest of his team, "Dammit,
Daniel!
Respond!" but only static came through. Concern for
his friend took
over and he snapped his radio off. He was
muttering his frustration
under his breath when a booming blast
exploded at his side, sending a
shower of debris cascading on top
of him.
"Dammit! Carter!"
"More are
coming through, sir! We have to leave., now!" she shouted
back
from her hiding spot a few feet away from him.
"Daniel isn't responding, Carter!" Jack shot back.
The look of
shock that came over her was plain to see as she continued
to fire
at the advancing Jaffa.
"Maybe the walls of the temple are blocking radio waves."
"I don't think so, sir. Not unless," she faltered then.
The Colonel squinted at her warily, "Unless what, Captain."
She met his
penetrating look with her own apprehensive one, "Unless
he's
gone to the lower levels, sir."
"Oh... for crying out loud, Teal'c!"
"Yes, O'Neill?"
"Cover
me, I'm going to go get Daniel and by God, I swear, if he's
moved
into the damn lower levels I'm gonna skin him alive!" and
with
that, he sprinted from his hiding spot to the entrance of the
huge
ramshackle building a short distance away.
When he
burst into the room there was nothing but dust and cobwebs in
the
old empty chamber.
"Daniel" he hollered, but there
was no answer, only the echo of his
desperate calls. That's when
he saw the deep embedded boot-prints in
the dirt ridden floor
leading to the forbidden lower levels of the old
crumbling
temple.
Jack followed the trail and in complete exasperation,
hissed under his
breath, "For crying out loud, I'm gonna kill
that kid!"
oOo
"Wow, I've never
seen anything like this before, it's just amazing.
The cultural
resemblances of this society to some of the earlier..."
Daniel's
ramblings were cut short by a heavy hand grasping him by the
scruff
of his neck and hauling him to the bottom of the stairs leading
to
the upper level.
"What the hell do you think you're doing
here when I expressly told
you not to come near the place!."
Daniel tried to squirm free of
Jack's vice-like hold, but the
Colonel had a death grip on his jacket
and he was no match for the
irate Air Force trained Colonel, so he
opted for a different
approach instead. He tried to use reason.
"Jaaaack! Waaait!" Daniel screeched.
Who knew his voice could go that high?
"Shut up, Daniel! Rest assured, we will talk!
Only not now and
certainly not here!"
"Believe
me, not as important as what's going on outside, but of
course,
you wouldn't know, would you? While having been completely
isolated
from the rest of the team in this little room of yours for
the
past few hours, transfixed by the walls and ignoring direct orders
by
the way, it's completely understandable you don't have a clue
what's
going on in the rest of the world, Danny-boy." Without
giving
him the slightest chance to utter a single word, Jack
slapped his
radio on while keeping a firm grip on Daniel's
Jacket.
"Carter, I've got him. Dial us out of this Godforsaken rock, now!"
"Understood, sir." the
radio went silent and before Daniel even knew
what was happening,
Jack was dragging him up the steps and to the
entrance of the
temple.
"Wait, Jack! We can't leave yet! There's--"
"Not another word, Daniel."
"Stop treating me like a little kid, Jack, I--"
"Daniel, shut up!!"the
younger man jumped at the force of Jack's
command and was shocked
into silence, "Now move!" his upper body was
shoved
downwards as Jack efficiently positioned Daniel's body
protectively
behind his own, making him keep his head lowered as he
hauled him
all the way to the now active wormhole. Daniel tried to
peer up
and see what was going on, but was forcefully shoved back
downwards,
"Keep your head down, Daniel!" and a few
seconds
afterwards, they were sailing across the galaxy back to
the SGC.
oOo
Now the moment he had dreaded
the most had finally arrived. They'd had
their post mission
examinations and attended the de-briefing with the
General. Daniel
had wanted to stay and work on his translations,
research, reports
anything, but going back home with Jack to the
inevitable storm he
knew was fast approaching. But before he could
leave the briefing
room, Jack had him firmly held by the arm and had
dragged him all
the way to the locker rooms and actually ordered him
to change
into his civvies. The younger man had wanted to point out
that he
was going to stay, but one look at the Jack's deeply set frown
had
convinced him otherwise.
Jack was really pissed with him this
time and maybe he had a right to
be, but Daniel honestly hadn't
realized he'd ventured into the
forbidden lower chambers. Although
he really couldn't see why Jack
would want to stop him from doing
his job, because going into ancient,
derelict buildings was his
job and Jack's argument that it wasn't safe
just didn't make
sense. Daniel had looked out for himself for years
before this,
doing the same sort of things and he didn't have some
sarcastic
old colonel to look after him then and had managed just
fine, plus
the fact that he didn't see anyone stopping the SG teams
from
going through the gate just because it isn't safe.
No, in his
opinion, Jack was being a little… no, correction, way,
way
overprotective. But what unnerved Daniel the most, was that
Jack's
overbearing-ness was mainly directed at him, like he was
some little
thoughtless child who needed constant supervision and
it was very,
very embarrassing. Actually, it was starting to grate
on his nerves
big time.
"Daniel! Are you even
listening to me?!" Daniel was suddenly jostled
out of his
thoughts by the loud, demanding voice. He hadn't even
realized
Jack had been talking to him, was he supposed to say
something?
God, Jack looked even madder now. He couldn't help gulping
loudly
as the tall Colonel came forward, closing the distance between
them,
hands firmly placed on his hips and a murderous look on his face
that
said he was slowly losing whatever patience he had left.
"Well?"
Prompted Jack in a low, deceivingly calm voice. Daniel
swallowed
hard again, unable to help the feeling of uneasiness that
had
settled in his stomach. God, Jack was really mad this time.
"Uhm...
uh... I—uh—what was the question?" Jack shot daggers at
him,
and Daniel couldn't help lowering his head and fidgeting like
a
schoolboy. His long bangs effectively covering his face and
the
penetrating look Jack was directing his way. Damn! He hated it
when
Jack made him feel like he was ten all over again.
"Look
at me, Daniel!!" He jumped startled at the suddenness of
Jack's
shout and shot his head up instantly responding to
it.
"This is the last time, Daniel. The last time you
disobey a direct
order and put not only yourself at risk but the
rest of the team."
Daniel hung his head in shame, they had
all taken a great risk waiting
and looking for him when being
overpowered by hundreds of Jaffa.
"Don't you realize the
danger you put yourself into. When I couldn't
contact you I
started fearing the worst, that those Jaffa had somehow
captured
you and killed you."
"I didn't know about the Jaffa, Jack." came Daniel's small reply.
"Oh... of course
you didn't. You were buried under hundred's of tons
of rock
completely isolated from the rest of the team doing exactly
what I
told you not to do. Of course you didn't know!" Jack's
voice
gradually grew louder with each word, until he was
practically
shouting. Daniel cringed at the truth behind Jack's
words. Maybe he
had acted a little recklessly. But how could he
have known that they
were going to be attacked by Jaffa on a
planet they had deemed, but a
few hours earlier, safe for SG-1 to
visit. And he said as much to
Jack. And oh... boy, he should've
left his mouth shut!
"Because, Daniel. I told you
explicitly to stay away from the lower
levels! Of course you
couldn't have known we were going to be
attacked; no one could've
seen that coming... Hell, we'd deemed the
planet completely safe
before embarking on the mission. But you don't
just follow orders
when you feel like it, or when it suits you to!"
Jack's face
was now mere inches from his own now.
Jack sighed deeply, his
shoulders sagging a little as he backed away.
"Maybe this is
as much my fault as it is yours. I should've done
something about
this a long time ago."
"Wha—what do you mean?" Now, he really didn't like the sound of that.
"Well, for
starters. I shouldn't've let you get away with disobeying
direct
orders with a simple lecture. That obviously isn't making much
of
an impression. If it had been Carter instead of you pulling a
stunt
like that she'd probably be facing a court martial by now."
Jack held
up his hand forestalling his objection before it made it
out of his
lips. "I know, you're not military. Military
discipline has no meaning
to you, but that doesn't mean you'll get
away with willful
disobedience, Daniel. I going to be setting some
rules, right now,
just for you, Spacemonkey."
Daniel swallowed hard. He definitely didn't like the sound of that!
TBC