Prologue.
Daniel finished talking. General Landry and the rest of SG-1 all sat around the table in the conference room looking back up at him. Nobody spoke.
"Soooo…." he said, expectantly.
'Er…" Mitchell frowned slightly. "you're sure that this temple place is going to be worth it?" His gaze was drawn again to the last slide which Dr Jackson had left up on the screen.
"Definitely!" the archaeologist nodded excitedly. "SG – 4's report was very positive – several large statues inside and three walls covered in well preserved hieroglyphs. They thought that it looked like Asgard writings, but couldn't be sure."
"Asgard, hmm?" Landry still didn't look convinced.
"I suppose, sir," broke in Colonel Carter, "that if it is Asgard then it may well be useful to check it out. I mean, anything that can help us use the Odyssey to the best of it's ability can only be good."
Vala groaned when she mentioned the Odyssey. Even Teal'c quirked his lips down in a grimace.
"That flying piece of junk," grumbled the space pirate, laying her head on her arms. Landry looked askance at her but let it go.
"It's just…" Mitchell couldn't pull his eyes away from the screen. He gesticulated vaguely in the area of the enhanced photograph which was displayed there. "It's just…kind of…"
"Soggy?" finished Vala, glumly.
They all looked back at Daniel, who smiled tentatively.
"I'm positive it'll be worth it," he said encouragingly. He looked over his shoulder at the last picture – of an impressive looking pyramid/temple, made of attractive chocolate brown brickwork, beautifully preserved, with neat, grassy borders outside. Several friendly looking natives of the planet stood smiling on the edge of the photograph. Everything about it looked lovely. Everything - except the fact that it was in the middle of a large muddy bog, on a small squelchy planet. The cheery looking folk on the screen were swathed in what looked like leather sou'westers, large ponchos and galoshes. The puddles around their feet were the size of small swimming pools. The sky above them was a leaden grey colour and the rain coming down was so heavy that the camera had been able to capture the individual drops.
Daniel looked back at his team. Mitchell and Sam both had resigned looks on their faces. Vala's head was still on the table. She caught his eye, stuck out her tongue and looked the other way. Teal'c was impassive. He was remembering several trips up to Jack O'Neill's cabin for supposed fishing trips, when the only bites that he'd had had come from large and vicious mosquitoes. This planet made the weather at the General's place look positively pleasant. The Jaffa sighed inwardly. He looked up at Daniel, standing so hopefully at the front of the room.
"It'll be fun!" said archaeologist. Teal'c inclined his head.
"Indeed."