Authors Note: So here is my next fan fic offering. It is complete with 12 chapters and will be posted one chapter a day over the next two weeks. However the chapters are in some cases very short - this has been deliberate in an attempt to keep the action going. I will be giving updates as I go as I think the story will need some explanation.
I don't own the characters merely get enjoyment out of writing about them.
Chapter 1
Daniel dragged himself from his desk and wiped his glasses. He was getting absolutely nowhere. He looked down through the dim light to the enlarged pictures he'd made of the monuments on the planet Galinus. The script that was written on the monuments bore no resemblance to Old English, modern English, or any other language that he had on record. He could only surmise that the language had not originated on earth.
Normally this wouldn't surprise him but the people on Galinus knew that they'd come from Earth. They knew they'd come from England, or at least that's what Daniel had worked out from studying old maps of Anglo-Saxon Britain over the last few days.
Daniel sighed and reached to switch off the light. He was going around in circles and it had been too long since he'd slept. Time for some coffee and home to bed. He looked at his illuminated watch and decided that there was no point in going home; it was 0630 so he might as well crash at the mountain for a few hours.
Daniel walked along the corridor and made his way to the elevator, yawning as he went. There was no one else around and he quickly walked into the elevator and pushed the button for the commissary level. Strolling along the corridor towards the delightful smell of freshly brewed coffee, he allowed himself to consider what he had planned for the next few days.
The team were due back on base today - in a couple of hours, actually. They'd been given a few days of downtime and Jack had decided to go to the cabin to relax and he'd offered to take the rest of the team. Teal'c had unceremoniously declined. Daniel himself had claimed too much work, which was true. Then Sam had been given the offer. On reflection, Daniel was convinced that Sam would have loved to have gone with Jack but had turned him down because the others weren't going. It had made Daniel feel a little guilty but then he'd contemplated a weekend with Jack and Sam trying to avoid their issues and he was very glad he'd turned Jack's offer down.
Anyway, they were all due back at work today. Jack had called last night to confirm that Teal'c was returning from visiting Ry'ac. Sam had also called in. Daniel had no idea where she'd been but she was back in the Springs now. Teal'c was due in at 1000 Colorado time, so Daniel figured he could sleep for about 3 hours before anyone came searching for him.
He grabbed a bagel from the stand and his usual huge mug of coffee. He nodded to a few people as he wandered back to the elevator and headed up to his quarters. They weren't exactly the Ritz but he'd slept in worse places. He opened his door, undressed, grabbed his PJs, and collapsed on the bed. He'd later reflect that he should have taken his pager to bed and perhaps not have been as outspoken as he had been when he'd made sure that non-urgent tannoy announcements were not heard in the personnel quarters.
Three hours later Daniel's watch alarm vibrated on his wrist and woke him up. It had been a good sleep and he felt much better now than he had earlier and felt ready to tackle the niggling problem of an unrecognisable language. He washed in his private bathroom and put on fresh BDUs, before heading off to his office for his first, much needed cup of coffee.
As Daniel walked along the very quiet corridor and got into the elevator he was lost in his own world of thoughts, not even aware of the elevator arriving at his level. It was only as the door opened that he was shocked back to reality.
"Daniel! Where the hell have you been?"
AN: Ok so that's Daniel, wait to see what the others have been up to and what the problem is when they all meet up together. Any reviews, comments gladly welcomed but not demanded, would obviously prefer no flames. Special thanks to my beta who helped a great deal and came up with the title.