Waiting at the bottom of the embarkation ramp, Alyssa checked her P-90 and glanced up at the control room where Sam was talking to General Hammond. Shifting her gaze to the Stargate, Alyssa watched as the address for the world they were going to explore was locked in and the familiar wave lurched from the huge ring as the wormhole was established.
It wasn't long before Jack was leading SG-1 up the ramp, pausing at the event horizon and stepping through. It took seconds for them to arrive at their destination and all stepped onto land at the same time, immediately scanning the area for danger.
Looking around, Alyssa saw nothing but trees and relaxed her grip on her gun a little. Pulling her cap down to protect her eyes from the sun, Alyssa moved to stand beside Teal'c and kept her eye on the tree line as Sam ran some tests.
"All the test results are clear," Sam informed them, putting away her equipment and taking her gun from Daniel.
"Let's explore," Jack added, heading off along a trail that looked like it had been recently travelled.
The trees stretched away from the leaf-covered floor, rising above their heads like skyscrapers and shading them from the sun's heat. The woods were eerily quiet, void of any obvious wildlife and that put the team on edge.
They had been walking for nearly an hour, when Sam pointed out smoke rising through the trees and Jack cautiously led them towards it. As they approached, they heard voices and Jack signalled for them to hold their positions. Daniel moved up and crouched beside Jack, using his binoculars to see what they were about to walk in on.
"It looks like a village," Daniel told them, "I can't see any weapons."
"Daniel, Aly with me," Jack ordered, "Teal'c, Sam… cover us as best as you can."
Everyone nodded and Alyssa followed Jack into the village with Daniel hot on her heels. The village wasn't all that big, with small wooden shacks and some sort of altar or podium in the middle. The villagers looked human, but that didn't necessarily mean that they were and Alyssa knew from experience that things weren't always as they seemed.
"Who are you?" a man asked as he approached them, surrounded by several other villagers and holding what looked like a cross in his hand.
The man before them was stocky; wearing some sort of burgundy robes that made him look important. His red beard blazed like a bomb fire covering his mouth and chin, while his beady eyes shifted from person to person.
"We're explorers," Daniel replied, "We came through the Stargate."
"Stargate?" the man inquired.
"The…" Daniel started, making a circle in the air with his fingers and motioning back towards the Stargate's location, "Chapai…"
"Big metal thing… you can't miss it," Jack added.
"Ah… you mean the gateway of the gods?"
Whispering erupted among the villagers at the mention of the gate and Alyssa saw a glimpse of fear flash across their faces, but they soon settled down.
"If that's what you want to call it," Jack stated.
"My name is Ibrak."
"I'm Daniel Jackson, this is Alyssa and that's Jack."
Ibrak bowed his head in greeting, before walking away and motioning for them to follow. As they moved through the crowd of villagers that had gathered, Alyssa spotted a small group of men looking her over and took a step closer to jack.
"It's been a very long time since anyone has stepped foot through the gateway," Ibrak was saying as they walked, "I have often wondered if the gate went to other worlds… of course, we've never tried to use it. What exactly are you looking for here?"
"We just want to learn about your ways," Alyssa explained, causing Ibrak to tense.
"There is nothing to learn," Ibrak replied shortly, "We live in the service of our Gods, we offer sacrifices in hopes that he will one day return to us and reward us for our loyalty."
"When you say sacrifices… what sort of sacrifices are you referring to exactly?" Jack asked.
"The chosen," Ibrak replied.
"Oh," Jack mumbled as they reached, what looked like, a temple of some kind and went inside.
The temple was big compared to the other buildings they had seen, its walls were covered in symbols and lit candles illuminated another altar that seemed unused. Alyssa looked at the symbols, unsure whether they were a form of writing or simply decorative, but Daniel would know.
"What's it say?" Alyssa inquired, coming to a stop beside Daniel and taking a closer look for herself.
"If I'm not mistaken, it's the story of their Gods and how they came to be on this world," Daniel told her as he studied some more of the wall, "According to this section of the text, the Gods came here to escape the devil… but it doesn't elaborate further than that."
"Maybe Ibrak will know more," Alyssa said.
Alyssa wandered around the temple and then joined Jack at the altar, where Ibrak was knelt with his head down. They had been waiting for nearly fifteen minutes, when Ibrak finally stood up and returned his attention to them.
"Would you like to see the rest of the village?" Ibrak asked.
"Why not," Jack answered.
Stepping out of the temple, Alyssa was hit by a sudden wave of nausea and dizziness. Closing her eyes tight, she took a few deep breaths and gradually it faded.
"You okay?" Daniel inquired, handing Alyssa his water canteen and watching her concerned as she took a sip.
"Yeah, probably just the heat."
The tour didn't take long and before Alyssa knew it they were heading back towards the gate to check in. Within seconds of stepping through the gate, they were back on Earth and walking back down the embarkation ramp towards the General.
"Get checked out in the infirmary," the General ordered, "De-brief will be in half an hour."
Sitting in the infirmary waiting for Dr. Fraiser to check her out, Alyssa massaged her temple and grimaced as a pain shot through her head. Dr. Fraiser soon joined her and checked her over, putting the headache or pain down to the sun on Ibrak's world.
Heading to the briefing room, Alyssa took a seat beside Jack and listened to Daniel talking about the story he had translated from the walls of the temple. As the debriefing carried on, Alyssa found it harder to focus on what was being said and had phased out at certain points.
"Aly," Jack called, snapping her back to the conversation in the room.
"Sorry, sir… What?"
"Gear up," Jack told her, "General Hammond wants us to find out more about Ibrak's Gods."
Alyssa nodded, ignoring the turn of her stomach at the thought of heading back and going to collect her gear. Joining the others back in the gate room, Alyssa stared at the wormhole and hesitated before stepping through.
