Maleia was hunting when she caught sight of something. She dropped into a crouch and braced against a fallen log and peeked over the top. In the clearing below stood an upright metallic ring about forty-four feet in diameter. Digging her binoculars out of her backpack, she studied the structure.
Maleia frowned, lowering her binoculars, "That can't be what I think it is. They're not supposed to exist!" She didn't want to believe her eyes, but she knew the reality of what she was looking at. Below her, standing in the clearing, was a Stargate. She knew enough about Stargates to wish they were real, and to find out that they were real was beyond her wildest dreaming. There were plenty of conspiracy theories, especially the Star Gate Command Center.
With little permitted leisure time of her own, and even less to do in that time, Maleia had become quite an accomplished computer hacker and had discovered government files documenting the first Stargate expeditions. She had to be looking at one of the secondary gates, unless there were three primary gates in the Continental United States. She studied the gate more closely and studied the symbols on the ring. There were seven chevrons, just like she'd read. Stowing her binoculars, she made her way down to the Stargate. There was a free-standing DHD device in front of the gate itself, and Maleia smiled. She was pretty sure no one could find this place easily, and even then she doubted anyone on the search parties knew how to work the thing. She did, and was contemplating where she could go when she heard dogs barking in the distance. Damn! The dogs had picked up her trail after all! Cursing her sudden bad luck, Maleia punched in the first "address" that came to mind and the minute that wormhole was open, she glanced over her shoulder and dove headfirst into the Stargate. Everything blacked out and she felt like she was flying at incredible speeds in thousands of little pieces.
Daniel Jackson heard a familiar rumble and hurried to the Stargate chamber, calling Skaara and the others into position. They'd only uncovered the Abydos Stargate a few days ago, and he wasn't sure why he'd uncovered it after burying it following his first expedition after which he had stayed behind on Abydos. Reaching the chamber, he found the wormhole open.
'Keep your eyes open, boys. Something's coming through.' He cautioned the boys. Two tense minutes passed before a girl came tumbling out of the Stargate, which closed up behind her the minute she was through. The boys were fully prepared to open fire, but Daniel kept them back, 'No, wait! She's alone. The gate closed behind her almost immediately.'
'Is she one of your people?' Skaara asked as the girl lay still on the ramp. Daniel wasn't sure if she was unconscious or just trying to get her bearings before attempting movement.
He shook his head, 'She's not wearing fatigues and her gear's wrong.' Ordering the boys to hold fire, Daniel approached the girl. She didn't respond when he touched her, and he knew she'd been knocked unconscious, probably somewhere before coming out of the Stargate. His first trip through had been incredibly disorienting. He rolled her onto her back and touched her throat, 'She's unconscious. The trip through must have done it to her. Skaara, get me water and some cloth.'
'Is she hurt?'
'I don't know, but I don't think so. I just wish I knew where she'd come from.'He wondered where she'd come from, which planet. 'Dahara, did you see where she came from on the DHD?'
'Yes! These were the symbols that came up before the gate opened.' Dahara knelt and drew a series of symbols in the sand. Symbols Daniel recognized very well. He arched an eyebrow, looking at the girl again, 'Earth. But how did she get into Creek Mountain to access the gate in the first place?' Skaara returned with the things he'd asked for, Sha'uri in tow. It was strange that the Stargate would open and the girl would come out of it, everything had been fairly quiet for the last two years. Wetting a cloth, he bathed the girl's face and neck. She stirred, groaning, and he waved the others back.
Maleia regained consciousness, wondering when she'd lost it in the first place. Someone was holding her, she felt one arm under her shoulders. Something cool and damp touched her face and she jerked away on reflex. She heard a voice speak in an alien language and forced her eyes open. The room swam in and out of focus and she raised one hand to her eyes, feeling vaguely sick on top of the disorientation.
"It wears off in a while." The same voice she'd heard before spoke to her now and she turned her head, trying to gain focus in a blurry world.
"Where am I? What happened?"
"I can only tell you what I saw happen. You came through the Stargate from Earth, but I don't understand how you got into Creek Mountain to gain access to the Stargate in the first place. This is Abydos."
"Creek…Mountain? The Stargate's in Cheyenne now. I must…have come through a secondary gate…" she struggled to sit up, wishing the room would stop trying to move.
"I…they moved it to Cheyenne Mountain? Why?"
"I don't know. I couldn't read the entire document." She cradled her head in both hands, "My head is pounding."
"Drink some water, that might help. Did you eat anything before you came through?"
"No, I haven't eaten in six days." She wondered if that was why she was feeling so bad. What little she had eaten wasn't nearly enough to certify as a meal, and her packed rations had gone out early. She only had a few granola bars left and one bottle of water.
"That would explain your instability. We have to get something into you." The man picked her up, "I wouldn't guess you've got dehydration, too?"
"Likely." She felt heavy and tired. Leaning her head against his shoulder, she drifted off into unconsciousness.
Daniel watched the girl's eyes flutter and close and wondered if she wasn't sick. He set her on his bed and took her hand, pressing his fingers into the skin on her wrist. The normal color didn't return. She was dehydrated. Sha'uri had followed him, "What's wrong with her?"
"She's dehydrated and hasn't eaten in six days. Coming through the gate just about did her in." he looked at his wife and sighed. Sha'uri got up and vanished, returning moments later with a tray. With water and juice. There was some food, too. Daniel roused the girl, regretting having to do it to her, and helped her drink. She didn't want to eat, but Sha'uri made her eat at least a handful of fruit and bread. Once she had done enough to make Sha'uri happy, she murmured her thanks and drifted off to sleep.
Daniel removed her boots and the leg-sheath that held her knife, pulling the blankets up to her chin. As he gathered the tray, Sha'uri laid a bundle by the bed. His wife's smile told him everything. She'd left the girl some clean clothes. Judging by the condition of the girl's clothes, she could probably use them. Having done all he could, he left the curtained room.
"She said the Stargate had been moved to Cheyenne Mountain. Since we haven't had anything in two years I have to believe they've shut it down, maybe for good." He said as they left. Sha'uri touched his arm, "You worry about O'Neill?"
"The last time I saw him, I thought I'd see him again. I haven't, I wonder what became of the team, the program. Everything I started."
"When it's time, you'll see him again." Sha'uri promised, and Daniel could only believe her.
Maleia came around about two hours later, and knew she was alone in the little alcove-room. There was a pile of cloth by the bed, and it unfolded to reveal clothes. Clean clothes! Wondering who had left them for her, she stripped out of her own clothes, tossed them into a pile in the corner, and got dressed in the things provided. The ground beneath her feet was cool, so she went barefoot. She found her knife and tucked the sheath onto her belt, though she sincerely doubted she would need it in this place, wherever here happened to be. The man had said this place was Abydos, but that didn't explain where on Abydos, or even who he was. She had to guess she'd come through the Abydos Stargate, which was reputedly tucked away in an exact replica of the Great Pyramid of Giza. She found her way back to the chamber she'd been dumped out in, and found it occupied by several boys her age, all of them natives.
They wore the most bizarre assortment of clothes and military gear she'd ever seen. Some wore helmets, others fatigue shirts, and others wore ammo vests. Some wore all three, and they all carried military-issue guns. She saw pistols and rifles of assorted types, and wondered where these people had gotten such weapons. Then she realized where she had really ended up. Maleia's legs gave out beneath her and she hit the ground, completely in shock. Not only were the Stargates real, but the first mission from Creek Mountain to Abydos had really happened! That's why these kids were dressed the way they did and why they carried such weapons.
"You look confused." She heard his voice and looked up. He held out one hand to her, "You okay?"
"I think so." She let him help her up and got a good look at his face. She gasped, "Dr. Jackson! You're…."
"Alive."
"Not according to Colonel O'Neill's mission reports, you're not."
"And how would you know anything about that?"
"Hacking, not something I'm proud of." She ducked her head, kind of glad she'd found those documents only two days before she'd run away. She looked at him again and realized something else. She'd heard him give a lecture on Egyptian culture in her Ancient World History class while she'd gone to college at the local university. Nick had begrudgingly paid her tuition for two semesters, only because he had the social workers breathing fire down his neck. He had the money to send her to college, and by god he would, and pay for all of her tuition besides. She sat down on a convenient stone ledge, "You know what, I've met you before."
"You have? When?"
"Two years ago, about a month before you lost your grants and ended up working for Katherine Langford."
"What was I doing?"
"Giving a lecture in an Ancient World History class, most of us either didn't care or slept through it."
"Creekstone College, I remember. Were you the one…"
"I'm the one who believed you and I'm also the one who chased you down after the lecture just to talk."
"Maleia…Lailokan?" he looked at her curiously, and she could see that he was remembering.
She smiled, "Yep."
"How the hell did you get through that Stargate?"
"Must have been a secondary gate. I actually ran away from home about three weeks ago to the day, and kind of stumbled across it."
"What possessed you to go through a potentially unstable Stargate? Are you out of your mind?"
"Ever been chased by snarling search-dogs, sir?"
"No."
"Ever been in a situation where you were sure if they got you, that was it?"
"Yes."
"That's what I was running from. I'd avoided the searchers for a few days, then when I found the Stargate, the dogs found me. I punched in the first address I could think of without bothering to see where I was going." She kicked at the sand under her feet, "This is where I ended up."
"Well, whoever was after you, I doubt they'd be able to find you here." Daniel looked around and she knew he was right. After all, Abydos was clear on the other side of the known universe.
Two days later, Maleia had been introduced to Daniel's guards and given a place on their details, taking her turn on watch. She was on watch with Skaara when a low rumble caused the ground to tremble. A grating followed the rumbling and Maleia knew somehow that the Stargate was opening. She and Skaara crouched out of sight with three others and waited. While the gate was active, they couldn't see who was coming until it deactivated.
A team of six soldiers in desert fatigues sat on the ramp, recollecting themselves after 'gating. They'd come from Earth, but which 'gate had they come through and why? Dahara pinpointed their leader and the others emerged, fully prepared to open fire on these strange visitors. Maleia and Skaara stood ready, Maleia on one knee sighting the strangers along the barrel of her rifle. Suddenly, Daniel appeared, putting himself between their foursome and the Earth soldiers.
"Chahare! Chahare!" he cried, raising both arms, "Lower your guns." Both sides lowered their weapons. Maleia glanced at Skaara as she shouldered her rifle, and wondered who these people were. Daniel apparently knew them, he greeted their leader by name.
"Hello, Jack. Uh, welcome back." Daniel seemed to be confused by the other man's presence in the gate room, but Maleia couldn't figure out why. Who were these people and what were they doing on Abydos? Jack caught sight of Skaara and Maleia and something flickered across his eyes. Recognition? But which one of them? Maleia didn't move a muscle as he strode past Daniel, and approached them. As he paused, she got to her feet. Skaara saluted him, fighting off a smile, a gesture Jack returned.
"Skaara." Jack looked Skaara over from head to foot a split second before he embraced the boy.
"Munier!" Skaara cried, returning the embrace with a great deal of enthusiasm, "Munier, I had not thought to be seeing you again!" Jack turned back to Daniel, who watched with curiosity.
"Daniel, how're you doing?"
"Uh, good. You?"
"Much better, now that I see everybody's okay." Jack looked at Skaara and smiled. Two other members of Jack's team greeted Daniel in a familiar manner and Maleia wondered just how he knew them. Sha'uri emerged from a curtained sector of the pyramid and was greeted by Jack.
"So, I figured it was only a matter of time before you had to tell the truth about us still being here." Daniel mused after all salutations had been made.
"Yeah. Why the militia?" Jack asked, looking around at Maleia and the others, "Something else come through?"
"No, we're just taking precautions. Why?" Daniel found that question as strange as Maleia did. Jack was about to say something, but he was cut off.
"Amazing! This is what was missing from the dig at Giza!" the woman with Jack cried excitedly. Maleia turned and saw what she'd found. The 'gate's control device.
"This is how they controlled it!" the woman continued, "It took us fifteen years and three supercomputers to MacGyver a system for the gate on Earth."
"Captain." Jack tilted his head slightly to one side. She wasn't paying attention.
"Look how small it is!"
"Captain!" Jack raised his voice slightly to get her attention. She turned, startled. He tilted his head to Daniel, who had one arm around Sha'uri.
"Oh, right. Excuse me." She turned away from the control device to Daniel, "Dr. Jackson, I presume?" She smiled, "I'm Dr. Samantha Carter."
"I thought you wanted to be called 'Captain'." Jack retorted. Daniel looked from Dr. Carter to Jack.
"What's going on, Jack?"
"Six hostile aliens came through the Stargate on Earth. Four people are dead, one's missing."
"One of them looked like Ra, Daniel." One of the others piped in.
"Well, they didn't come from here." Daniel mused uneasily, looking at Sha'uri, "I mean, Maleia and the boys take shifts guarding it thirty-six hours a day every day. We'd know if they came through here."
"Well, they came from somewhere, Daniel. I'm gonna have to look around." Jack was all business now.
"Right, I think I can help you figure out who it was, but, uh, it's going to have to wait until this sandstorm is over." Daniel was thinking, Maleia could tell by the way his eyes kept shifting. He looked straight at Jack, "Uh, we were about to have our evening meal. Why don't you join us?" Jack was agreeable, so they shared their dinner with the six members of Jack's team.
Jack O'Neill had been relieved to reunite not only with Daniel Jackson, but with Skaara as well. What intrigued him was the girl who shadowed Skaara. When she sat down near him for the meal, he got a good long look at her. At first glance she had passed for one of the kids, but now he saw a few differences. For one, her skin was at least four shades lighter than anyone else except Daniel, and her eyes were green, not brown. On top of that, her hair was red. She was not Abydoan, he knew that much. She took a small trencher from Skaara and got up, coming to him. She offered him the trencher with a shy smile and he hesitated, looking at Skaara, "What is it?"
"Try it." She urged, holding it out to him. He took it and gave a cautionary sniff. The stench of fermented grain just about knocked him on his back.
He recoiled, peering at the substance, then at the kids, "Moonshine?" Skaara frowned, but the girl smiled.
"Moonshine?" Skaara wasn't familiar with the term.
"Yeah, moonshine. You know, like, booze?" he prompted, then paused, "Daniel, what are you teaching these kids?" Daniel gave a slight shrug.
The girl touched the trencher, "Try it!"
He shrugged, "Alright. I'll try Skaara's moonshine." He had barely tipped it to his lips when he coughed, "Oh, god!" The others burst out laughing. What little he'd swallowed burned all the way down. He passed the trencher to Samantha, "Smooth, very smooth."
"Moonshine!" Skaara chimed. The girl passed him another trencher, and he held up one hand.
"Oh, no. No more."
"It's water." She pressed it into his hands, "Drink." Still not entirely trusting of the kids, he drank. It was water, and he drank deeply to soothe the burn of Skaara's homemade booze.
"Our little soldiers are all grown up, Colonel." Charlie Kawalski said, accepting a trencher from one of the kids.
"I'm so proud." He gasped, draining the trencher of water. Skaara tried to return his lighter, but Jack wouldn't take it back.
"I gave that to you to keep, Skaara. Keep it.'
"Thank you, Munier." Skaara pocketed the lighter and disappeared.
"He keeps calling you Munier." The girl spoke up, startling him.
"Huh?"
"He calls you Munier. What does it mean?"
"I'm not sure. I don't know their language as well as Daniel does." He looked at her, "What's your name, kid? If you don't mind my asking."
"You're not looking for me, are you?"
"Uh, no. I came looking for answers from Daniel. Why?" he frowned, "Do you have people looking for you?"
"Daniel told me I was safe here. That no one could find me here."
"Daniel?"
"Maleia's a runaway, Jack. She came through the Stargate three days ago, she came from Earth."
"You said nothing else had come through."
"Not anything you were looking for, Jack. All I know is Maleia didn't get here through your Stargate. And I'm fairly certain she doesn't want to go back to Earth."
"Jesus, kid. What are you running from?" Kawalski chimed in, having listened in on the conversation.
"My foster-father."
"A little old for the system?"
"I couldn't stay there, sir. He would have killed me!" Maleia looked at him as if afraid of something he might do to her, "It was him I was running from when I jumped through a secondary Stargate and ended up here on Abydos with Daniel."
"What's your name?"
"Maleia Lailokan, sir."
"Christ, you're Nick Parker's kid!" Louis Ferretti cried. Jack looked at the girl sharply. Word had gotten to Stargate Command about a missing child, but there wasn't much they could do about it.
Maleia looked at him, "Please, don't make me go back. Mr. Parker would kill me for running away!"
"Well, knowing what little I do about Nick Parker, I sure as hell wouldn't hand you over to him if I did take you back." Jack bristled at the thought of what Nick Parker might do to Maleia if he ever got his hands on her. He put one hand on her shoulder, "Don't worry, kiddo, I won't be the one to haul you back to Earth if you don't want to go. And since we're not actually part of the search, there's no reason for me to take you."
"She's safe here, Jack, from her foster-father."
"That's why she's going to stay here." Jack smiled. Maleia buried her face in her arms and he sighed. Skaara returned to tell Daniel that the storm was over, and Daniel offered to show them something he had found. Skaara and Maleia stayed behind with Sha'uri.
Daniel and Jack hadn't been gone very long when the Stargate opened. Maleia and Skaara took up places and waited for whatever came through. Serpent-headed aliens came through, opening fire with staff-weapons as soon as they were out. A firefight ensued, and Maleia watched her friends go down, never to rise. Skaara shouted at Sha'uri to run, but she didn't very far before one of the attackers scooped her off her feet. Skaara was cornered next, and Maleia ran at the turned back of the alien closest to her. Arms locked around her waist and she was lifted off her feet. Her rifle dropped to the ground and she kicked and fought, "Put me down! Let go! Skaara!" She watched in horror as Skaara was stunned into unconsciousness by a strange device wielded by the leader of the attackers. She landed a solid blow to her captor's groin and dropped to the ground as he let her go with a howl. She scrambled for her rifle, and brought it around to fire. Before she could open fire, one of the guards struck her with the rounded end of the staff-weapon and stars burst in her vision before everything went black in a bone-jarring jolt of electricity. That was the last thing she remembered before she was scooped up and carried through the Stargate.
Daniel knew the camp had been attacked even before he set foot in the pyramid. The wails of the women reached them before the stench of blood and burned flesh did. The gate room was littered with bodies, and the women wept over the bodies of their fallen loved ones. What concerned him the most was Sha'uri's absence. Dahara told him how they had been attacked by alien soldiers, Nikara thought it was Ra. Dahara also told him that when they'd taken Sha'uri, Skaara and Maleia had been taken, too. It was hard for Jack to convince him that the only way they could effectively go about rescuing Sha'uri and the kids was for him to go back to Stargate Command.
Making Dahara promise to cover the Stargate once they were through, to bury it, Daniel promised to try and return in a year's time. And if not with his wife, then with Maleia and Skaara. With a tearful parting of ways, Daniel returned to a world he hadn't seen in two years, swearing to himself he would find Sha'uri and the kids if it killed him to get them out of wherever they'd been taken.
