The High Priestess of Caelur
Title: The High Priestess of Caelur
Author: Celtic Lady
Genre: Adventure, SciFi
Pairing(s): None
Characters: Stargate SG-1general cast plus an other character named Kintana (AKA Kinta)
Rating: M (age 13+), Sexual situations, some explicit language.
Summary: SG-1 visits a new planet where they encounter the Caelurians, a warrior race who descend from the surviving daughters of Boudicea, the Iceni Queen who rebelled against the Romans in AD 61.
Author's Note: I sometimes will make a music recommendation that can be played while you read a particular section. Just Google the song I recommend and you should be able to find it online to listen to. This story introduces my back story for Kinta, which includes Stargate SG-1, and will eventually progress to the Stargate Universe series before I'm finished.
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters so please don't sue. If the real owners want to use anything from my story (yeah, wishful thinking), go ahead, you can have it for free. :-)
This story begins sometime late in Stargate SG-1, Season 5:
In the beginning . . .
Kintana, known primarily as Kinta, lived among the descendants of the two surviving daughters of Boudicea, the Iceni Queen who rebelled against the Romans in AD 61 on Earth and was ultimately defeated. At a young age, Kinta was abandoned by her mother on the moon Aedin and raised by the inhabitants living there. The moon, Aedin, was the modern, technological center and Caelur was the backward, medieval planet which Aedin circled. The King and Queen made periodic pilgrimages to the planet for special occasions like the solstices and eclipses where they hosted the celebrations. Other than that, the two civilizations had no contact to the point where those from Aedin have no resistance to the illnesses of the planet and are required to get inoculations before traveling there. Because Caelur is primarily technology free, citizens of Aedin only visit there to hunt the prized saber-toothed tigers that roam there free. The meat, however, cannot be imported into Aedin and must be left on the planet - only the fur can be imported after being radiated first.
In Kinta's young adult life, Aedin was struck by a meteor and the inhabitants had to quickly flee to the planet Caelur for safety while the moon was completely destroyed. Not having received immunizations for the virus' that prevailed there, all became ill and 80% perished, including King Bacauda, leaving the survivors in the minority on the planet where brute force was the normal way of life. Queen Penarddun and her daughter, Tegan, did their best to merge the two worlds where only her title offered her some salvation but she knew tradition would wane if she did not prove herself a leader. With no technology available, they must play the local's game.
The Caelurian tribes resented the Queen's intrusion and had begun a method of thinning the weaker Aedin warriors from their ranks by utilizing a sacrificial alter to the goddess Medb. Medb's alter rested midway up the hillside in an alcove that had been cut out from the rock. It consisted of a 10 foot metallic disk about 8" deep which contained ancient markings and rested horizontally on a pedestal. When a warrior was seriously injured in their war games, he was stripped naked, tied to this alter, and left overnight as a sacrifice to Medb. If she favored him, he would survive the night and be healed, otherwise, he would be found torn apart by the saber-toothed tigers. Queen Penarddun quickly realized that anyone left bleeding on the alter overnight didn't stand a chance.
About this time, Princess Tegan was seriously injured and everyone feared her death was imminent. While the princess lay in a dirt-floor hut dying, Kinta could no longer keep her abilities secret and cautiously approached the Queen confessing that she was able to heal individuals by laying her hand on their bare skin. Desperate, the Queen allowed her to demonstrate on Tegan and was amazed to find she told the truth. With her daughter saved, Queen Penarddun brought Kinta into her confidence and together they worked out a ploy to save the surviving Aedin warriors. At this point, Kinta also admitted that she could also read minds – a feat which the Queen decided to take full advantage of.
Shortly thereafter, Kinta accused a local warrior, Gobhan, of being her father to the point of disrupting the tiny village they lived in. With complaints accumulating, Queen Penarddun had no choice but to exile Kinta from the village. This quickly freed her to guard the overnight sacrifices left on the alter for Medb. At Kinta's request, the Queen altered the sacrificial process slightly by requiring the person wear a golden helmet thus blindfolding them and greatly reducing their ability to hear as she said, to spare them from viewing their impending horror.
Meanwhile, Kinta had taken refuge in a hillside cave where she had installed a heavy wooden door for safety. With free time on her hands, Kinta began enhancing the alter with golden wall panels she inscribed with religious inscriptions and soon Gobhan began mocking her by referring to her as a priestess. The other villagers followed suite and the whole ordeal became a joke at Kinta's expense. But Kinta persevered and after installing the panels on the rock face wall, was able to dig from within her cave and carve a hidden passageway, with one of the panels acting as a secret door. This gave her access to the alter undetected. In time, she was able to enclose the area more with a covered pavilion encircled by a rock pillars and installed a fire pit which offered warmth to the person tied down.
It didn't take long, for the surviving warriors to begin speaking of their experiences and how Medb had healed them and offered words of wisdom for them to follow. Intrigued, Calum, the leader of the Caelurian warriors ordered one of his men to allow himself to be injured and placed on the sacrificial alter so he could report back what took place.
This was what Kinta and the Queen were waiting for. That night, Kinta visited the warrior and using her telepathic ability, made him believe that Medb was speaking directly to him. She was able to implant a pale, transparent image of a robust, red headed woman with a boisterous voice who was not too pleased with the way things were playing out between her people. She cited deceit and treachery as her enemy and demanded that it stop. Kinta then healed the man while Medb ordered him to carry that message back to his leaders. The message did not go unheeded and there was some improvement but the Aedin warriors were still looked on with disdain.
Through the course of healing warriors more frequently, Kinta had discovered that it was an exhausting experience for her and that it drained her frequently of all her energy requiring she sleep for days to recuperate. She wasn't sure how much longer she could continue but was determined to serve her Queen to the best of her ability. One night, the warrior Trevor was laid upon the slab, whom Kinta had feelings for, and she took the Medb illusion a step further by making love to him under the disguise of being Medb. To her surprise, she found herself energized rather than drained and was elated to discover a solution to her problem although it was slightly unorthodox. Kinta was also surprised when she experienced a vision about Trevor which later came true – she thought it best, however, to keep that ability to herself out of fear. The Caelurians were quite superstitious and she didn't want to be burned at the stake or hung for being a witch. By this time, Kinta had read quite a few minds and learned quite a few secrets about the people of the village – a tool that proved quite useful to the Queen. There were also a few times when the Queen ordered Kinta to let a warrior die who was a threat to the well-being of the kingdom or to herself. Although this disturbed her greatly, she did as the Queen asked. On these occasions, Kinta slept little throughout the night as she pictured the victim, helpless on the alter, being ripped apart by the ferocious tigers.
Kinta had also learned quite a lot about the art of fighting by reading the techniques the warriors used and practiced them in the privacy of her cave. She knew it was a harsh world and she needed to be strong now. She had elevated herself by becoming a confidant of the Queen, something which would have been unheard of on their former moon, but she knew all too well that it could end as suddenly as it began. The villagers still saw her as an innocent girl and if the Queen should die, all she had obtained would be gone. Things had changed greatly in her life, but she had no idea how much her world was going to change yet again when four strangers walked through the chappa'ai.
The shimmer of the Stargate turned off as the SG-1 team walked down the platform and onto the ground. It looked like they had just missed a rain shower which didn't help the chill in the air as the mist of each exhaled breath was visible.
Teal'c, with his keen sense of observation, was the first to speak, "It appears this path has not been used in quite some time O'Neill."
The other's followed his gaze to the overgrown path that lead across the large open field and into the dense forest.
"Well, if nobody's home, we'll just leave a note." O'Neill quipped in his usual sarcastic manner.
Everyone knew the drill. They were going down the path no matter what so there was no reason to believe otherwise or complain. Someone had obviously been here so they might as well go see what they were looking at.
After about an hour, Teal'c motioned for them to stop as they all listened. Voices - there was life here after all.
"Now the fun begins," O'Neill whispered to himself. He had done this dozens of times and each time was different. Some villages gave no thought to them while other's totally freaked out. They continued on until they reached the edge of the village and then stopped to assess the situation.
Dr. Jackson looked around intently, "Looks like iron or bronze age weapons and tools." This meant the village was backward and they had to be careful of traditions and superstitions.
As they continued onward, the villagers stopped what they were doing and starred as the strangers walk into their town. O'Neill gave them a little nod hello.
When they reached the largest structure, a stout dark-haired woman emerged. She was wearing an animal skin cloak and long blue dress accompanied by two men beside her. She smiled, which was a good sign, but her language wasn't English as she held up her hand to greet them. "Deit mat oh."
Daniel, can you tell what they're saying? Carter asked.
"I think it's a dialect of Briton. But I'm not totally sure," he explained.
The woman motioned them inside and spoke to one of the men who hurried away. Once inside, they were seated in a central area and given food and drinks.
The woman tried in vane to communicate with them and finally just sat silently as she watched the door. It wasn't long before a young lady entered also cloaked in animal skins but wearing pants and boots. After a brief exchange of words, the young girl sat down to join them.
She motioned to herself, "Kinta." She tapped her chest to try and indicate her name was Kinta.
Daniel was elated and in turn pointed to himself, "Daniel Jackson." He then pointed to the rest and gave their names: "Teal'c, Samantha Carter, Jack O'Neill." Each one nodded as their name was spoken.
The girl gave a surprised look, "O'Neill. Good name."
Daniel's eyes widened in surprised. "You speak English?"
The girl held up her hand to stop him as she gazed into each of their faces. "I learn your language now." She focused on them for several minutes with her hand raised and then finally lowered it. She turned to the woman next to her and spoke at great length between themselves in their native tongue.
Finally, she turned back to Daniel and motioned to the woman next to her, "I present Queen Penarddun of Caelur. We are very happy to meet you."
Daniel picked up the slight Gaelic accent as Kinta spoke which seemed to confirm his original suspicion that they were of Celtic origin.
For the next hour, questions and answers were exchanged between the two groups at great length. As the questioning continued, Kinta's grasp of the English language improved. Then, she turned to the Queen and focused on her for several minutes after which the Queen was able to converse with them in English as well.
"How did you do that?" O'Neill pointed between Kinta and Queen Penarddun.
Cautiously, Kinta replied, "I am telepathic."
This brought more questions and finally the Queen alluded that only Kinta had this gift so they would have to bear with the limited communication between their people. Wanting to change the subject, the Queen continued with questions.
"From what world do you come?"
Daniel quickly responded, "Earth. We come from a planet called Earth and many people call us the Tau'ri."
She offered her own planet's history as well, "We once lived on the moon, Aedin, but it was destroyed by meteors and all of our people's had to merge together on this planet of Caelur. We were quite advanced on Aedin but that is all gone now." The Queen looked at the guns they were carrying and pointed to O'Neill's. "I see you have advanced beyond bows and arrows as well."
O'Neill smiled slightly as he raised an eyebrow. The Queen seemed quite observant and he was concerned that she focused on his weapon. "Yes, we've done well."
She then offered him a word of advice, "We have been thrown back into the stone age and the native Caelurians frown on any weapon other than the sword or spear. Those of us from Aedin are still considered outsiders because we no longer had use for such weapons. The Caelurians will not take it well if you fire your weapon in this village therefore, I would suggest you carry a sword should you have need to defend yourself."
She had her men bring each of them a sword and sheath for their use.
Reluctantly, O'Neill replied, "Thank you."
After the team finished their meal, they were shown around the village and introduced to several people of importance. Kinta returned to her mountain home and left them in the care of the Queen. Things seemed to be going well, and Daniel had lots of questions for them, so they made a brief trip to the gate to communicate with Stargate Command. O'Neill decided to spend the night and explore some more in the morning, however, the inhabitants forgot to mention that saber-toothed tigers roamed the woods. They were almost back to the safety of the village, when a tiger attacked them.
The team instinctively used their own weapons to kill the animal and the noise brought the entire village to their aid. Unfortunately, the Caelurian warriors became more and more belligerent against them because of it and the Queen found herself helpless in protecting them but not without trying.
[Author's Note: When the native Caelurians speak in their native tongue, I am putting the dialog in italics since I do not know the language and would bet that my readers do not as well.]
Calum challenged the team to a fight with swords and drew his own, ready to begin. "He has insulted our ways." The Queen quickly stepped in and stopped him. "Calum, they are visitors. They do not 'know' our ways."
She turned to O'Neill and told him of the challenge, "He takes insult that you have used your advanced weapons and challenges you to fight him by their ways. This is what I feared might happen."
Suddenly, Calum's men seized SG-1's weapons and encircled them.
"Calum, let us return to our village where the games can be properly conveyed." The Queen knew things were getting out of hand quickly but hopefully, in the village, her own warriors could keep the visitor's safe.
Calum agreed. Surrounded, the Stargate team had no choice but to comply.
They were lead to an area encircled by large stones where Calum took his place and again drew his sword. He pointed to O'Neill indicating his choice of fighting partner. Suddenly, Quinn, a warrior of the Queen, came forward. "I will fight for him." This was customary and would usually have been acceptable except this time, Calum refused.
The Queen quickly explained everything, "Calum has refused to accept my warrior to fight in your place so you will have to fight him yourself – it is out of my hands now. The first to draw blood is the winner. The looser will be placed on the sacrificial stone to Medb."
Daniel Jackson immediately picked up on the word sacrificial which worried him as he inquired guardedly, "Just exactly what is the sacrificial stone?"
The Queen answered him as best she could. "The loser is taken up into the mountains and tied naked onto the alter for the Goddess Medb where he is left overnight. The alter is what we call the sacrificial stone. If he survives the night without being eaten by the tigers, he is released."
This didn't sound good at all. Although O'Neill held his own well, he was no expert with a sword and Calum eventually thrust the blade into Jack's side. The fighting was ended, or so the team thought, as Teal'c and the rest of SG-1 came to his aid to tend to his wound. But they were violently pushed back. A group of men picked up O'Neill, threw him on a makeshift gurney, and began carrying him up the hillside. The sun was low in the sky as a procession of men brought him to the alter under the protests of the SG-1 team. His clothing was quickly removed, revealing the blood trickling down his side as he was bound tightly onto the alter with restraints. The helmet was placed on his head while drums beat out a eerily thump, thump, thump.
"We shall see if Medb welcomes the stranger to our land as easily as our Queen does," Calum announced to the crowd followed by cheers.
He then had his men drag the unarmed Teal'c, Daniel and Carter down the hill by force leaving O'Neill alone.
"You're leaving him like a piece of meat!" Daniel complained on deaf ears as he tried to break free.
Unable to escape and rescue their friend, the team thought the worst when the Queen approached them.
"Do not fear for your friend," she whispered. "Kinta will watch over him and heal his wounds. She has done it before. That is why she lives alone outside the village."
Carter quickly injected, "But can she fight off the tigers? Those things are huge!"
The Queen smiled calmly. "She has never failed me yet."
They had no choice but to wait and see but the worry was evident knowing Jack's life literally hung in Kinta's hands. To pass the time, Dr. Jackson inquired about the history of Aedin and Caelur and where they had come from before that.
Queen Penarddun was joined by her daughter, Tegan, who had also acquired the English language from Kinta. Together, they sat around the warmth of the fire as the Queen began to tell the story of Boudicea.
"When Boudicea's husband, King Prasutagus, died, a conquering race took all their land and violated their daughters so Boudicea revolted against them in a great battle. All went well but eventually, they were defeated and the two daughters, Heanua and Lannosea, were taken to the Durotriges tribe who had advanced knowledge and a way to send the girls to safety in a far off land."
Daniel Jackson briefly interrupted with exhilaration, "Boudicea. I know that name. She was the Iceni queen who fought the Roman's on our planet. She was defeated in 61 AD and no one knew what happened to her daughters. We thought they died."
This excited the Queen greatly to learn that Boudicea was of the Tau'ri race. That meant that these people were in a way related to them and possibly might help her people get back on their feet.
"Yes, she was Iceni. So it was from your planet that the two daughters came. Then you are our brothers."
This was a great revelation to Dr. Jackson as well who wanted to know more. "How did they exactly get here?" He pointed to the ground to illustrate his statement.
Queen Penarddun laughed boisterously at his enthusiasm. "You must remember, this was a long time ago before we had a written language." She took a drink of her warm ale and began to recount the stories she had heard as a child.
"When I was little, my father, Beli, once told me a story of how the Durotriges helped the two princess' escape certain death by their enemies. They had a great stone hedge which formed a circle and a box covered in gold was placed in the middle of this circle. Apparently this box contained advanced technology but we were simply told it was magical and that only the Durotriges knew how to use it. The girls and many protective followers were instantly transported to a chappa'ai where they dialed the planet Caelur and came here. Later, we also colonized the moon. I do not know how they knew the address of this planet or even how we knew to travel to the moon but we must have had that knowledge at some point and lost it."
Daniel spoke softly to himself, "Stone hedge . . . you must be referring to Stonehenge. The Roman's tried to destroy it by tearing it down."
The Queen shook her head in understanding. "That is why no one ever followed. It is good to meet our family who stayed behind and know that you survived."
While the Queen entertained her guests, Kinta began playing her part as Medb. She spoke to O'Neill telepathically and introduced herself. "I am the goddess Medb. For what reason do you come before me?" She demanded.
She lit the fire pit as O'Neill pleaded in a muffled voice inside the helmet, "Just untie me and I'll be on my way. No harm, no foul."
[Music Recommendation: The Battle of Stirling by James Horner (Braveheart)]
Kinta looked at his wound and knew it was serious. He wasn't going anywhere. She started a music box which played a lively Celtic tune while she removed her heavy cloak and began healing him by laying her hands upon his body. Besides the fire, the sound of the music helped relax the victim and kept animals away while she was preoccupied with her task.
In the time she had been doing this, Kinta had perfected many techniques which made the task easier. Arousing O'Neill sexually made it effortless for her to read his mind in a deeper state and for a longer period of time, otherwise, she had to focus more intently which distracted her from monitoring her surroundings including the saber-toothed tigers who Kinta had no desire to fight. She discovered that creating the illusion of beating drums and bagpipes to match the music box made the illusion more surreal. She would then massage their body in a seductive way to help them relax and ultimately surrender allowing Medb to do what she wanted with them. Once they reached a heightened state of arousal, Kinta began her process - their minds were much easier to penetrate and see details they might otherwise want to keep hidden. If they had more information she wanted to know, Kinta simply prolonged the arousal telepathically, as Medb of course, until she was finished. By doing it telepathically, they were not limited to the restrictions of their mortal body.
Since Jack O'Neill had lots of information she wanted to know regarding his technology and his planet, she kept him in an aroused state of mind for hours on end. Ignoring his moans of pleasure, she explored his world through his own experiences and what she found was amazing.
She saw Stargate Command and how vast and deep it was in the ground. She witnessed O'Neill's missions to far planets and participation in wars on his own planet. Jets flew overhead as bombs were dropped amidst clouds of smoke and debris, Jaffa troops marched on cities and annihilated civilizations with weapons and spaceships that she could never have imagined, she saw the glowing eyes of the Goa'uld leaders and their unmerciful actions towards anyone to defied them yet O'Neill's people did defy them with all the determination of warriors on a great mission. And she felt O'Neill's pain and tears as friends were lost by his side and at the loss of his own son – but she also saw peaceful scenes as he laughed with friends and enjoyed the life he had. This was truly someone who could help them. Kinta decided that allowing him to see their world of Aedin might make them curious to know more of their technology, since she discovered that was what they sought. So she placed many images of her planet's accomplishments in his mind under the guise of a bragging Medb. Although they didn't have vast weapons, she had to show him that they were technologically advanced and could learn.
After she finished, Kinta placed a heavy blanket on him to keep him warm overnight, as a slight drizzle of rain began to fall. She pulled her cloak closer around her for warmth as she prepared to stand guard over this amazing warrior. Kinta also used her telepathic ability to keep animals away – she could sense their presence and knew when they were approaching. By putting an image in their mind of a ruthless beast, she could easily scare them away without having to physically fight them. This was discovered out of necessity after leaving the safety of the village. She would have to take care of herself now with no help from anyone else although many times, she felt the loneliness unbearable.
After she saw the sun rising in the morning, Kinta watched for the procession to begin climbing the mountain indicating that it was time for her to leave. She snatched the blanket from O'Neill, waking him up in the process, and made a quick retreat through the hidden door she had made. The main entryway to her cave was much further away and far out of sight so that while the warriors were busy conversing with O'Neill through Tegan, Kinta easily crept past them and went straight to the Queen to report what she had found.
"My Queen, this race is as advanced as we once were. I detected databanks which they call computers much like we used on Aedin. They also have an advanced communication system and food is easily accessible to all." Kinta was so excited, she quickly became out of breath as she forgot to breath as she spoke. "They seek knowledge. You know, I was a technician on Aedin, perhaps I could even share my own knowledge in exchange for items we could use."
This sounded like a good idea. They had very little otherwise that such an advanced race might want. The Queen had been trying to elicit information from the visitors on what they might be searching for so she could begin a longer relationship with these people. She needed desperately to rebuild their way of life.
Once O'Neill was dressed, the group returned to the grand hut where the Queen and Kinta were waiting.
"Greetings O'Neill," the Queen announced as she approached him. "I see Medb has been good to you and healed your wounds."
O'Neill just grumbled, "Among other things!" He had already filled his team in on what had happened while they had informed him of Kinta's protection overnight. It didn't take much for him to put two and two together and realized that it must have been Kinta who had her way with him and healed him.
After eating breakfast, O'Neill, still irritated by the events that had happened, decided it was time to return to Earth. "Thank you for your hospitality, but we need to go now."
The Queen knew this was her chance. She had to play her cards right if it was going to work. "O'Neill, as you can see, we are in need of many things. We once were great and had a vast knowledge which we are happy to share. Of those of us who survived, Kinta is the most technologically gifted. I would like to send her with you in exchange for anything you can offer us."
Jack O'Neill wasn't exactly impressed with what he had seen so far and wanted nothing to do with any of them, especially Kinta. "No need for that." The last thing he wanted was a refugee. "Let me talk to my commander and see what we can do for you. But I make no promises."
The Queen tried to insist but O'Neill was firm in his decision. She finally realized it was useless and bid him farewell.
Kinta had been watching from the sidelines and knew the Tau'ri were not going to help. She ran up to O'Neill, "Can I walk with you to the chappa'ai at least. There are still tigers running around."
O'Neill wasn't keen on the idea but decided the extra protection couldn't hurt. He certainly didn't want to go through another challenge. "Yeah, okay. But only to the gate."
As they walked along, Kinta did most of the talking. "So tell me about your Stargate program. Do you just travel around to different villages and look for things?"
Everyone made an immediate stop. "How do you . . ." O'Neill started to say.
"How do I know about your Stargate program?" She finished his sentence. "What part of telepathic do you not understand? I read minds." Kinta explained yet again but a little bit more open this time. Her sarcasm showed slightly in the tone of her voice.
She began walking again and the group followed. "So do you ever find much?"
O'Neill figured it was no use to deny anything so he just resigned to the fact that she was aware of everything he knew. "Not really. Nice people is about it."
Kinta was disappointed. "So no reason for us to consider traveling through the gate to other worlds huh?"
She continually scanned the forest for movement as they walked. "I sure would like to get my hands on a solar panel."
O'Neill and the group stayed silent and kept walking.
"I'd figure out how to alter it for our use. I just need the unit to build from. Then I could possibly power one of our tools and build some better huts to live in." She kicked a stone ahead of them with her foot. "Then lights would be the next thing on the list." She thought some more, "seeds to plant for food would also be nice. . . although we do have plenty of meat."
Kinta was thinking out loud more than anything. She knew Colonel O'Neill was not in a position to promise anything. "Electrical wiring! I could sure use some of that. Then I could wire the solar panel to a light. Of course, we don't have light bulbs so that would be kind of useless wouldn't it." She chuckled lightly to herself. "Can't have a light without a bulb."
This continued on for some time while the SG-1 team just listened and smiled. In a way, Kinta just needed to voice her frustrations on the problems she saw ahead for her people. They were so dependant on technology that without it they were completely lost. If someone would have told her she'd be living in a cave, she'd have thought them crazy. But now, having a cave to live in was a luxury.
Finally, they reached the gate and Major Carter began dialing the address home.
"Now don't get any ideas about following us home." O'Neill warned.
"I know, you have an iris covering the gate on your side." Kinta had seen this as well as their entire complex in Cheyenne Mountain.
After entering their security code, they disappeared through the chappa'ai and were gone.
Kinta stood there for several minutes hoping that maybe they'd reconsider and come back but they didn't. She did, however, glean several useful gate addresses, from O'Neill's brain. Now they had several cultures with whom they could trade so it wasn't a total loss.
A few days later, Kinta returned to the gate to find two solar panels, wiring, and a couple of car batteries waiting there. She was elated.
SG-1 Season Six:
Almost a year later . . .
As O'Neill and his team exited the Stargate he couldn't help but feel déjà vu. That's because they had been to this planet before only now they were under direct orders to bring Kinta back for an important mission.
Just like before, they traveled down the path which Teal'c noticed had received much more use than when they were previously there. Obviously the Caelurians were using the Stargate more.
When SG-1 came upon the village, they immediately noticed that it had grown in size and had a stone wall around it. He only hoped that Queen Penarddun was still in power.
Jonas, what is the welcome phrase again? O'Neill queried.
"Deit mat oh." He shook his head. It was only the 50th time he had told O'Neill. Thank God, Daniel Jackson had written it down in his notes because he was doubtful anyone else on the team would have remembered it.
O'Neill kept repeating the phrase in his head to try and remember it. When they arrived at the big hut, Queen Penarddun came walking out. O'Neill immediately raised his hand and spoke confidently, "Deit mat oh."
This made Queen Penarddun smile. She remembered O'Neill and the problems they had on their previous visit.
"O'Neill. It is good to see you again."
"Yes. It's good to see you as well. I see you've done some redecorating." He motioned to the wall.
The Queen smiled again proud of herself. "Yes, after you left, Kinta gave us several gate addresses to visit where we could trade. We were able to learn from these other civilizations and constructed a fort to keep us safe."
She showed them inside the new stone-walled great hut where they all were seated. "What brings you back here? I thought we would never see you again."
O'Neill began to explain their predicament. "Well, it seems we need Kinta's help with something and I'm hoping you might let us borrow her for a day or two."
Although she was not as desperate for technology as before, she was still interested in any help she could get to help them live a better life. "And what is in it for us, O'Neill? We still live a primitive life as you can see. What can you offer us?"
He smiled, "I think we can help you out with that." O'Neill had negotiated quite a few useful items for the Caelurian Queen which he thought would be useful. He was sure they could make a deal.
The Queen motioned a warrior over and sent him after Kinta. "I cannot speak for Kinta, but we can ask her if she would be interested."
It didn't take long for her to arrive as she came walking into the dark hut. Her eyes had not yet adjusted when she asked, "What did you need my Queen?"
She then noticed the SG-1 team sitting there. "O'Neill. What brings you here?"
"We would like to borrow you for a couple of days."
Kinta starred at him for a moment and did not speak. Then she stated, "You want me to heal someone that you greatly dislike."
She couldn't understand why he would want to do such a thing but sat down to hear more all the same.
"Yes." He should have known she'd read his mind as he continued, "We have a senator who funds our Stargate program and he's had a heart attack. He's demanded we bring you back to heal him or he will cut our funds which we really don't want him to do."
"I see." She offered no other response and sat there quietly.
Queen Penarddun then spoke in her native language, "Kinta, they are promising to help us now. It is up to you but what exactly are they considering offering us?"
Kinta leaned over and spoke softly to the Queen, "It looks like they are more desperate and are willing to offer much more than before. I think we can get many useful things. The leader they wish to save is powerful and I believe it is through him that we really need to barter."
"Then I authorize you to barter on our behalf if you choose to do this." The Queen instructed.
Kinta was curious to see their world but felt a reluctance to leave her people. "O'Neill, I am willing to visit your world and discuss this. But I make no promises."
O'Neill was satisfied with those terms. He was sure once they got her back to the SGC, they would be able to persuade her to help. "Fine, when can you leave?"
"I'll pack a bag and return shortly." She then stood and left.
"I think that went well." O'Neill stated. "We'll have her back to you shortly, I promise."
As Kinta descended the ramp at Stargate Command, she looked around curiously at everything like a young child in a candy store. This was amazing – she was really here.
O'Neill made the introduction, "General Hammond, this is Kinta. She's here to heal Senator Kinsey."
She quickly corrected him as she continued to look around, "I'm here to 'discuss' healing your Senator Kinsey."
She then turned all her attention to the General, "I understand you are in charge here."
"Yes, I am. I hope we can come to an agreement." General Hammond was expecting an older, more mature woman and was surprised to see such a young lady instead.
Assuming a more formal role, Kinta then offered a gift to General Hammond. "As a show of respect, I offer you gifts from my planet." She pulled out a fur taken from a saber-toothed tiger, "In our world, skins are very important to keep us warm. I'm sure you have no need of this, but we offer it just the same as a token of our appreciation."
General Hammond accepted it graciously. "Why thank you."
She then pulled out a rock from her bag. "I don't know if this will be useful or not, but I discovered many of these on our planet. This rock glows brightly in the dark all night long. It might be interesting to someone. We've started using these as lights." She offered it to General Hammond as well who in turn gave it to Major Carter.
After a small tour of Stargate Command, which Kinta had already seen in O'Neill's mind, she impatiently asked, "Shall we now negotiate?"
She was led into the conference room, that overlooked the gate room, and everyone was seated. O'Neill began listing the things they could give her that might be useful. But she surprised everyone when she announced, "I shall like to negotiate directly with Senator Kinsey. After all, it's his life that you are asking me to save."
General Hammond raised an eyebrow upon hearing her request. It looked like this young lady was more savvy at bartering than they thought. He only hoped her demands wouldn't be too elaborate. "Gentlemen, let's take her to the Infirmary to meet Senator Kinsey."
When they arrived, Dr. Frasier was working frantically to revive the Senator who seemed to be having yet another heart attack. Kinta, seeing the urgency of the situation, rushed over to him and placed her hands on his chest and head. She closed her eyes and concentrated for several seconds whereupon the Senator seemed to be brought back from the brink of death and regained consciousness.
"Senator, it would be unfortunate if you should expire before we can negotiate an agreement." Kinta smiled satisfactorily. "You are not fully healed, but I believe you are out of immediate danger of death. I shall like to begin talks with you directly for items that my people need."
Before he could answer, Dr. Frasier checked his vitals and spoke first, "Well, he's not going to be doing any negotiating today. He needs his rest." With that said, Kinta and General Hammond returned to the conference room.
"Perhaps you could give us a list of what you want so we can have a starting point for our negotiations," offered Hammond. "It might speed things along."
Kinta agreed and after a few minutes began writing things down on a pad of paper while General Hammond pulled Colonel O'Neill aside in the hallway. "That was amazing!"
"Yes General, she does have her moments." O'Neill remembered the slab and her antics at his expense.
"And you say she's telepathic too. I wonder if she's reading out minds." Hammond asked cautiously.
"I don't have to read your minds, I can hear you." Kinta smiled to herself as she never took her eyes off the list she was compiling.
"Good hearing too I see," chuckled Hammond. He noticed this girl had a little bit of fight in her and couldn't help but wonder how she'd do up against Kinsey.
Kinta spent the rest of the morning working on her list which had grown to several pages. Finally, she was taken to temporary quarters where she would be sleeping and where she could drop off her bag then General Hammond invited her to join him for lunch.
As they both sat down at a table with a tray of food, General Hammond inquired, "I see that you have quite a long list of things. Might I inquire what you had in mind."
"Sure." Kinta gave him the tablet to read. "I've been collecting things from people's thoughts that would seem to be useful to us."
"Hmmm. Solar panels, water filtration system, portable cook stoves, generators – I see nothing that we shouldn't be able to supply you with." He was pleasantly surprised that her list was quite reasonable.
"We've come to accept that we'll never regain our technology to the level we had before. Too many of us, with that knowledge, have died. So now, it's more about conveniences." She took a bite of her food before continuing. "I can tell you are a honorable man. Can you think of anything I might be forgetting?"
He finished looking through the pages. "I'd suggest some portable heaters, small farming equipment, and distilling equipment so you can make your own fuel for the generators and other equipment instead of relying on wind or water power to make them work."
Those seemed like good ideas and Kinta quickly added them to the list.
O'Neill came into the cafeteria and joined them. "So how is your list coming along?"
"Good," Kinta nodded as she ate hungrily. "I think I'll just have one chance to get these items so I'm trying to not forget anything."
Just then, O'Neill's cell phone dropped and fell onto the floor. "Damn it." He shook it in an effort to try and get it to power back up but with no luck.
"Can I try?" Kinta reached for the phone.
O'Neill was sure it was beyond hope so he complied, "Have at it."
After she took another bite of food, she pulled out a makeshift screwdriver and began taking the phone apart while Hammond and O'Neill watched. After looking it over, she commented, "A communication device I see. I use to be really good with these things." After adjusting several components, she put the phone back together and much to O'Neill's surprise, powered on the phone.
She tossed it back to him, "Here you go."
"That was cool," O'Neill acknowledged slowly. "How did you know to do that?"
After listening to an alien rendition of Major Carter, O'Neill held up his hand to stop her. "Okay, I get the idea. You really do know this technology stuff."
Kinta looked around the cafeteria at all the people enjoying their lunches. They seemed quite content to be there. "Do you think I could get a job here?"
She knew that was totally out of the blue and surprised even herself when she asked it. Kinta expected to sense their discomfort, but General Hammond just smiled, "Perhaps you had better add that to your list young lady."
Kinta smiled back. This was the first time she had felt good in a long time. Maybe they would consider having her work here and she could continue to supply her home world with needed items. Maybe integrating themselves in with a technologically advanced race was their only hope to free themselves from their situation. She hadn't considered that idea before but it sounded promising.
[Music Recommendation: Have a Nice Day by Bon Jovi]
The next morning Kinta awoke early and was waiting for her escort to Senator Kinsey's bedside. She anticipated that most of her requested items would be approved but wondered if Kinsey would accept her request to stay on this world for a little while and work with the Tau'ri. When she had healed him the day before, Kinta took advantage of the situation and quickly read his mind. She was able to determine that he was a untrustworthy man and could see why Colonel O'Neill didn't like him.
General Hammond arrived to take her to Senator Kinsey's bedside. "I've taken the liberty of presenting your list to the Senator so he can look it over. I hope that was okay."
"Fine, thank you."
When she arrived, the Senator was sitting up in bed and looked much better than the day before. He was wearing reading glasses and looking over her list of items.
"Senator Kinsey, this is Kinta." Hammond announced. "She's the one who saved you from death yesterday."
"Something which I am very grateful for. Thank you." He turned his attention back to her list, "I've been going over your requests and can definitely agree to all but one."
Kinta had a good guess what the one would be.
He looked up to face her, "Why do you want to join Stargate Command?"
Kinta smiled as she looked at her feet sheepishly. She was stalling so she could quickly read his mind and see what kind of answer he was expecting. But she couldn't tell.
"Well, it would certainly be something different to do." She looked over at General Hammond for any signs from him but he had a perfect poker face on so she continued, "I use to work with a lot of technology on my home planet before it was destroyed. I had a nice apartment, pretty clothes, and just about anything I could ask for."
She paused before continuing, "Now I live in a cave."
"I'm sure my technology is similar to yours and I might even be able to improve upon it a bit. I suspect you are always looking for new technology."
"That we are. But I doubt you could learn our systems quick enough to be of any real help. You understand." Kinsey's voice sounded somewhat demeaning, something that did not go unnoticed by Kinta or General Hammond.
In a similar demeaning manner, Kinta replied, "Actually, I already understand quite a lot Senator." As usual, she came right to the point. "You have maybe a year to live with your bad heart." Kinta then took a more stern tone as she continued. "I heal your heart, you give me one year to work here and show you what I can do. Otherwise, I walk out of here right now and I tell you to have a nice day."
She smiled as she slightly cocked her head to one side and though to herself 'touché'.
Kinsey's eyes widened. He hadn't expected such a young lady to be so determined and blunt in her demands. He felt his blood pressure rise a little.
"Six months. No more." Kinsey replied sternly.
"Agreed."
Kinta motioned for the Senator to lay back on the bed whereupon she placed one palm on his chest and one on his forehead. She closed her eyes, and let out a deep breath that she had been holding. In a few seconds, it was done.
The supplies were waiting in the gate room for Kinta to take back to her planet. She felt she had done well for her people and was sure the Queen would be happy. SG-6 was waiting to help transport everything to her village and then bring her back to the SGC.
Before he left, Senator Kinsey gave General Hammond a direct order. "Give her your lowest job and in six months I want her out of her." His disdain for her was evident as he added, "Do as I say and I just might fund your program for another year."
He straightened his tie then walked away without saying another word.
Although it was a bitter victory, Hammond at least had funding for one more year now thanks to Kinta's negotiations. It saddened him, however, that Kinta would not get the job she had hoped for.
He did agree that Kinta should be limited in her contact with other personnel due to the fact that she could read minds. They had far too many secrets to allow her much freedom.
That afternoon, General Hammond called Jonas Quinn into his office.
"Jonas, we have an off-world person, like yourself, who is going to be joining the SGC for six months. Her name is Kinta."
He opened a folder which contained a few notes on her. "I don't know if you've heard, but she's the one who healed Senator Kinsey this morning and unfortunately pissed him off at the same time." Hammond chuckled to himself, "Something about wishing him a nice day or whatever. Anyway, she can read minds so we want to keep her secluded a little from the rest of the personnel here due to the sensitive information we have. I was thinking about having her help you with translations. She seems to be familiar with technology similar to ours so I think she'll catch on quickly in that respect. Would you be willing to give her a try?"
Jonas was elated. While he enjoyed going on away missions with SG-1, he found the translation part to be rather tedious and was more than happy to pass that part on to someone else. "Sure, I'll put her to work."
"One thing though." Hammond added, "We can't let her name be put on anything because I suspect Senator Kinsey will be watching. So you sign off on all translations as though you did them yourself."
"Yeah, sure."
When Kinta returned, General Hammond informed her of his decision and why she was being placed in that particular job - her mind reading abilities were just too big of a security risk right now for him to put her anywhere else. He expected her to convey her disappointment and was pleasantly surprised when she didn't.
"General, I will sweep floors for you if you want. I know I have to prove myself and I'm not afraid to try anything, really." Kinta was just glad to be there.
Hammond liked her outlook. "Very well then. I'll take you to meet with Master Sergeant Walter Harriman and he will get you set up with everything you'll need."
"Great!"
Harriman gave her a tour of the recreational room, cafeteria, and pointed out the areas that would be off-limits to her. He also told her that if she had any questions, about anything, she should ask him or Jonas Quinn - no one else. Having been assigned permanent quarters and given some olive greens to wear, Kinta was introduced to Jonas Quinn and left in his care for the rest of the day.
"Hi. I can't tell you how glad I am to have your help," Jonas began. He shuffled some piles of objects from one table to another in order to clear a spot for them to work. "Basically I'll be bringing you objects we find on other planets, photos or my handwritten notes and I need you to try and decipher what they say." He pulled a couple of Dr. Jackson's books off the shelf and opened them up. "This book covers what we know of the Goa'uld language and the other one is on The Ancients language." He shyly commented, "We don't know that much on the Ancients yet. But you'll be using both of these a lot and adding to them in our database."
He then took her over to a computer and handed her a piece of paper. "Here is your login and your password." He showed her how to open the software and did a small translation as an example. "Think you can handle it?"
"Yeah, I got it."
"Just print off all your translations at the end of the day and leave them for me in this in-box. They have a form that prints as a cover sheet which I need to sign. Did Hammond tell you that we can't have your name show up on any of these?"
Kinta nodded yes.
"Good." Jonas looked around the room and focused on one particular table. "These artifacts over here are the oldest and probably need to be done first. Then move on to the next table and the next. When you finish each translation, take a digital photo of the item, to include with your translation," he pointed out the camera, "and pack the artifact in a crate like you see over here." He pulled her over to another section of the room where several empty crates sat on the floor. "And add plenty of stuffing so it doesn't break."
One of Kinta's first decisions was to get a 'Samantha Carter' haircut. Her long, medium blonde hair was usually braided or pulled back out of the way. The shorter hair was much easier to deal with and she noticed many of the girls had their hair cut that way. She also sought out Teal'c for fighting lessons, with permission from General Hammond of course. She knew it was a long shot, with him being a warrior he'd probably have little time for her like the warriors on her own planet. But as she had discovered, you never know until you ask. Teal'c was so impressed by her curiosity to learn new things that he also taught her his meditation technique of kel'no'reem, thinking it might help her focus more easily. Kinta quickly learned that kel'no'reem also seemed to bring visions to her more frequently although she tried to ignore them.
Kinta was up and running in no time at all and was quite adept at translating the languages. In fact, she seemed to have a knack for it. So much so that she finished all the work Quinn had in a very short time. Fearing if she had nothing to do they would ask her to leave, she began checking out other things to see how they worked – her computer was the first to come to mind.
As soon as Quinn left on an away mission, she shut the door and began dismantling the unit piece by piece to see how it went together. Once she was finished, she quickly put it back together so no one would know. Then, she went over and did the same thing with Quinn's laptop. She knew she could improve the speed of the machines so she approached Harriman to inquire about doing so but he was reluctant to let her proceed. So instead, she asked him about having access to a lab where she could make things in her off hours. Her own little inventions.
After Sgt. Harriman ran her request past General Hammond, he showed her a small room where she could work on her hobbies. She submitted requests for items to Harriman who then secured them and placed them in her makeshift lab.
Within weeks, she had designed a hard drive that utilized a data crystal which she duplicated from a broken one they had in stock. She was able to 'grow' one under pressure by using a broken crystal as a seed to start with. The amount of space on it was significantly larger than their current computers. The computer memory was also designed from a crystal and from there she began building her own little portable computer for her own use as well as upgrading her work and Quinn's laptop as well (unbeknown to him).
By the time her six months was up, she had mastered all the languages, including several Earth languages, and wrote several software programs, including one which would automatically do the translating simply by scanning the object into digital form and letting the software do the rest. It would also calculate possible words from the existing structure of the sentence and could therefore build on itself. Quinn was very impressed when she showed him.
As her six months drew to a close, Kinta approached General Hammond's office. She had been summoned and knowing her time was up figured she was going to be told the bad news.
She knocked lightly on the door. "You wanted to see me sir?" Kinta had developed quite an understanding of the military formalities and tried to use them when possible.
"Yes, please come in." He motioned for her to take a seat which she did.
"I guess you know that your six months is up?"
She nodded yes.
Hammond noticed the sad look come over her face. "And by the look on your face, I'm guessing that you're not reading my mind or you'd be smiling."
This quickly perked her interest.
"We'd like to extend your stay for another six months if that is okay with you?"
Kinta's smile told it all.
"Yes! I mean yes sir." She forced herself to calm down. "I'm making a big effort to not read anyone's mind while I'm here. It's hard but I'm really trying."
The General smiled at her efforts. "I'd like to have you start working on something else though. I've heard you've taken just about every piece of machinery we have apart and put it back together." Kinta's smile dimmed as she realized she had been caught but it returned when she sensed that Hammond was actually quite impressed.
"I'd like to put that to good use and see if you can backward design some weapons we've acquired. You'll basically be doing the same thing but on a more advanced scale and you'll have to draw out the schematics on a computer."
Hammond continued. "I'm also going to put you on a salary but it will be under a Earth name so you need to pick one. This will allow you to buy some things for your own personal use."
Kinta was already ahead of him on designing weapons and had built several, of her own design, which she planned to smuggle back to Caelur on her next visit. Since she had much to tell her Queen, she asked for several days to visit her home world and make sure everything was okay. Hammond approved it.
Kinta had been visiting her home world less and less frequently and knew it was unacceptable. She'd have to shape up. This was her little mission – to bring them technology and she had to stay up to the task.
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