Chapter II: Latvian Gambit
For Daniel translating the message had been the somewhat easy part. Tau'rian had never been one his major languages, but he had managed pretty well. Unfortunately it wasn't enough to have translated the message because he now needed to find the code hidden in it.
It was there. He knew it like he knew that if they let Cam run the engine room by himself again, they'd all probably be floating in zero-G-- and once had been more than enough for everybody. He knew this, because during his brief time studying with Oma she always told him to look beyond. Well, he was looking beyond; he was looking so beyond that he could practically see Lantea on the other side of the galaxy.
This was frustrating. Infuriatingly so.
Not that he was really all that surprised. Oma herself had always like to see him sweat- enlightened my ass, he thought. Always talking in puzzles and codes when he knew she didn't have to. She just liked messing with him.
We look beyond to find the answers that lie at our feet. Oma's voice suddenly rang through his head. Look beyond to see what's right in front of you, he repeated it over in his head like a mantra. Looking at the message he shook his head in disbelief. It was right there! He had been so busy trying to decipher the message, looking for hidden clues that he didn't realize the clues weren't hidden at all. It was right there- 'Cast in an ancient stone'.
The words were normal, simple really; as a linguist he was used to translating language and adjusting for the little things that were lost in the translation. So the capitalizations of certain words and letters, he had just thought was one of those things, but no it was anything but. It was the answer.
'CAST IN AN Ancient stone.'
CASTIANA. Castiana.
It was right there, spelled out for him. Shaking his head again he acknowledged Oma's simple brilliance- okay, maybe enlightened did apply.
Going over to the com, he called the bridge. "Jack, I know where we have to go."
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Sam Carter looked over at her best friend as he described his breakthrough in deciphering the rather cryptic message they had received a couple of days ago.
"Well, after I translated the message, which was actually the easy part, I had to understand what it was trying to tell me. A lot gets lost in the translation, especially if you don't have a sophisticated understanding of the said language. The phonetic rhythm can get lost for one thing and that could lead to mixing up key elements of the flow in the terminology. Dialect is also important- words can mean different things in certain places, and certain words also have unique etymologies, different roots, which can lead to completely different connotation if you use the wrong root. "
"Daniel! That's great, really. But what's the point?"
Sam had to suppress a laugh at that; Jack was never one for Daniel's sometimes, okay usually, longwinded explanations. And Daniel never seemed to get the hint, or chose to ignore the fact that in his torture of Jack.
"Wha.." At Jack's look, Daniel just rolled his eyes. "Fine, well the point is…"
"Finally", muttered Cam, only to receive a glare from Daniel and a couple snickers for the other occupants of the room.
"The point is that we need to go to Castiana."
"Castiana?" Sam knew of the planet, it was one of the many held buy the Protected Planets Accord, but it was also a dead world. Nobody had lived there for centuries. It also wasn't that close. "That's in the Cerise quadrant, it would take us a week to get there."
"I know I already checked it out. Look, I know it's pretty far, but if you see here there's seem to be a temple right here on the north side of this continent." Pulling up a table map Daniel pointed to what was a prominent structure on the northern most continent of Castiana.
Sam leaned over to get a better look at the topography of the planet. There was definitely a structure there and a pretty big one, but if Sam was reading it right it looked like it was on a jetty and half sunken into the surrounding ocean. Glancing over at the date when the satellite picture was taken she saw that it had been several years ago.
"I dunno, Daniel. If I'm reading this right, and I'd like to think that I am, the structure is probably half in the ocean by now, if not more. Are you sure? Castiana hasn't even had any human inhabitants in years." Sam could see the excitement in her friend's eyes, but she also needed him to know the odds of the situation.
"Look, I know how it sounds- a fool's errand, but Sam… I … there's clearly something there and it wouldn't hurt to check it out. And if I'm right and we do find the knowledge of Excalibur, we could be well on our way to stopping Anubis and the Goa'uld. Tell me that isn't a chance you would take?"
"I'm not disagreeing, I'm just letting you know the probability of success. I mean we got this message under pretty strange circumstances."
"Thank you! That's exactly what I've been saying." Jack exclaimed, and Sam knew he didn't like the idea of going on a wild goose chase because of a rather obscure message. While Sam agreed on several levels—what if Daniel was right? This could be a major impediment of the Goa'uld power over the galaxy.
"Sir, while I agree it's risky, I think it's also a significant opportunity. If Daniel is right," Sam sent a quick grin to her friend, "and he usually is about this sort of stuff; this could mean stopping Anubis and I think that's a risk to take."
"Hey it's not like I'm not saying this is a great, grand, fantastic…whatever opportunity, I'm just asking if you all are willing to go. This is big and I will not commit to it if anybody objects to it. I may be the captain of this boat, but we all live on it." Jack looked over at all the crew that had gathered for this rather epic meeting as the conference room was very rarely used (at least for meetings- there were bi-monthly poker nights held in it).
At that Daniel let out a sigh. "Jack's right. I'm sorry all of you, I shouldn't commit you to this if any of you feel uncomfortable." He looked remiss and, worst of all, pouty. Sam sighed, and knew it was over- the 'puppy dog Daniel eyes' were coming out full force. If Daniel ever understood the power they held nobody in the universe would be safe.
Rolling his eyes Jack echoed Sam and Daniel's sighs. "Oh, for god's sakes Daniel- you don't need to apologize… Now look here everybody, now you know what's going on, so just be honest. I know it's asking a lot."
Cam looked over the room. "Let me get this straight, if this works we stop Anubis and Goa'uld from doing whatever the hell they feel like with the galaxy?"
"Well.. Yes, but…" Daniel started before Cam cut him off.
"Okay then, when do we leave?" Ever since his sister's death, stopping the Goa'uld had been Cam's major driving force. Something he sometimes followed too enthusiastically.
"Cam…"
"We're with you, aren't we?" After a resounding chorus of affirmatives Jack nodded.
"All right then, Danie,l give the coordinates to Walter. We're going to Cantina."
"Castiana."
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Katana was a planet of traders. Every city, every town was over run with trading post and open market; all of them full of jewels, furs, weapons, and naquahdah in every form. Everything you could think of was traded, naquahdah and weapons being the most lucrative of the bunch. Vala had always loved it. The smell of cooking spices at the food stands, the colors of the tarps that merchants put up to attract customers, the people and their noises; the planet was so full of life, albeit sometimes crooked life, but Vala loved it all the same. Unfortunately today it felt as if a cloud hung over her, it made everything seem greyer and lifeless.
She looked over at Teal'c and let out a small, practically imperceptible sigh. Her friend was not happy with her, not that she really blamed him. Before, on the ship he had asked if she was okay after her return from her room- she had lied and said she was. And he knew, and she had known he would, which had them leaving the ship with this new tension between them. Vala was not used to this. In all the years since she and Teal'c had met back on Selenis they had always gotten along well. Sure she probably annoyed him a bit, but she had never really lied to him before- not like this. Vala knew she could deal with a lot of the shit that people threw at her, but having her best friend disappointed (and probably a bit angry) in her was not something she liked. Sighing, she stopped and touched his arm.
"Teal'c?" He turned towards her raising his eyebrow in movement #41: I'm listening. "Can we have a talk when we get back to the ship?" Vala hoped he understood. He just looked at her and Vala felt her anxiousness increase ten-fold.
"Very well, my friend." Vala let out the breath she had been unconsciously holding. With a wide smile she looped her arm around his as they headed over to the meet. All better, for now at least.
As per usual the meeting spot was an old building of Li Chen's choosing. Today it seemed to be an old storehouse of paper goods. With a quick assessment of the building and the surrounding area Vala dropped Teal'c's arm and stood straighter; alert, and ready. Li Chen might be a good employer but that didn't mean he was to be trusted.
Teal'c and Vala shared a quick look before they entered.
Inside the storehouse was empty save for Li Chen, two of his men, plus the three other ones that were hiding in the rafters and the back. Teal'c gave her a nod signaling that he acknowledged their extra company as well. Showtime.
"Li, darling. How are we?" Vala was bright and bubbly; not letting Li know that she knew he was nervous- extra muscle was never a good sign.
"Do you have it?" Yep, definitely nervous, normally the old man would quip and joke with her, but today he kept looking around as if there was something in the shadows waiting to jump out at him. Well if all he wanted was business today, he was going to get it. Straightening herself Vala gave a quick nod.
"Of course."
Li's beady eyes sparkled with palpable greed that had Vala wondering what had gotten the usually composed man so unbalanced. "Good, good. Give it here."
"Well now darling, I'd love to give this to you," Vala waved the disc at him, "but I think that we need to see our compensation for the trouble we went to get this. Then you can have it."
"Yes. Of course, here you are." The summon minion placed a medium sized case on the table in front of them, then opened it to give Vala a good look at the very agreeable amount of naquahdah that lay inside. Lovely. Just as she moved to grab it, two things happened: staff blast cut through the building and Vala felt herself being tackled to the floor. When she stopped rolling she looked to her attacker.
"Muscles?" Confusion and pain flitted across her face; it had not been a soft tackle at all.
His answer was quick and hushed. "Jaffa. Baal's forces it appears." And that was Vala all needed to hear. Cursing, she scrambled up to get some cover. All around her staff fire and gunshots were being exchanged. Quickly pulling off her scarf she tossed it over to Teal'c, who promptly tied it over his tattoo. The last thing either of them needed was for Baal's troops to recognize him. Firing over at the Jaffa, Vala eyes found Li Chen and the naquahdah case; he looked to be holding his own…Bang! Never mind. She zeroed in on the naquahdah.
"We need to get that naquahdah." Teal'c gave her eyebrow #36- 'You're kidding me, right?'
"We need it for the ship and if we do decide to take the message seriously…" Vala trailed off and hoped he would take the bait.
"You will need to cover me." He gave her a look that clearly said 'I know what you just tried to do, but I will do as you ask', and like hell she wasn't going to take it.
"I gotcha."
As Teal'c ran forward to get the naquahdah Vala tried her best to make sure that none of the Jaffa or Chen's men got close to her partner while simultaneously trying not get herself killed. And she had to admit this was getting rather annoying; with their armor, the Jaffa were very well protected against her bullets so it meant her shots took longer as she tried to zero in on their weak spot. Dodging what would have been a nasty staff blast, Vala hid behind a post.
"Next time we're bringing zats! I don't care what planet we're on!" Getting no answer form her friend Vala felt her worry increase. "Te--Muscles!?" She only remembered at the last second not to call Teal'c by his given name, in case of the Jaffa got curious. Thankfully, this time he did answer.
"I have acquired the case." Vala let out a sigh, looking over she saw that while it was true that he did indeed have the case, but grabbing it had left him in a vulnerable position- he was pinned down and Vala had to helplessly watch as he was struck down.
"NO!"
Rushing over to her friend Vala cursed herself, if he died… no! She couldn't think that way. How she got to him without getting shot herself she would never know, but there he was and Vala could see the blood seeping out of his shoulder.
"Teal'c?" she whispered. "Muscles?"
"I am well Vala Mal Duran. It appears to be only a flesh wound, but I would suggest that we leave the premises." His voice was strained and Vala knew he was mostly appeasing her; Teal'c could have ten arrows sticking out his body and would call them all 'flesh wounds' as well. Helping him, Vala moved them behind a large crate for protection form the chaos around them.
"Yea.. Let's go. There's the back way, do you think you can make it?"
"I believe so. Let us go." At that Vala moved to grab the case only to have Teal'c fight her for it.
"You're hurt, let me take it."
"I am capable of handling this, and you will need to make sure no more bullets reach me." He was joking with her, but Vala was still upset, she had almost gotten him killed.
Vala frowned. "It's not funny."
"Our work has always been dangerous, Vala Mal Duran." And almost as if fate wanted to remind them of that fact, the man Li Chen had on the rafters fell next to them shot dead. "I believe now would be a suitable time to make out escape."
"Read my mind." With that they headed towards the back, keeping low to the ground avoiding as best they could the Jaffa that seemed hell bent on taking out Li Chen and his men. Apparently they weren't that interested in Vala and Teal'c, something they were grateful for at that moment. When they got outside they could still hear the staff blast and gunshots, but they didn't dwell on them as they rushed back to the ship. If the Jaffa won this, which it was looking like they would, and one of Chen's men talked, it was very possible that Vala and Teal'c could be looking at some trouble they desperately did not want.
When they got back to the ship Vala headed straight for the cockpit. They needed to get out off Katana fast; she wasn't going to take any chances. As soon as she got them into the air Vala made a decision and put in the coordinates for Dakara. Teal'c was her friend but she was not going to commit him to something that could very well get him killed; she would not have his death be because of her. She grabbed their med kit and headed back to the cargo bay.
Teal'c was sitting on crate, applying pressure to his wound, the naquahdah case at his feet. Vala went over and sat next to him.
"Now let us have a look see." The bullet was still in his shoulder, which meant Vala had to get it out. This was not going to be fun, but at least afterwards Teal'c would be fine- his symbiote would help heal him several times faster than most humans. It was only in moments like this that Vala was grateful for snake in her friend.
"Okay big guy, I'm going to have to get the bullet out, so just try and sit still—this is going to sting a bit. Ready?"
"Yes." To his merit Teal'c barely even flinched as Vala tended to the wound. After it was cleaned and dressed they sat in silence until Vala abruptly broke it.
"I've set the coordinates for Dakara." At Teal'c's look Vala continued, rushing the next part out. "I'm dropping you off." She hated the look of confusion and hurt that crossed his face.
"Am I correct to assume this is because of the message we received, which that you shortly after lied about." Okay, ouch. Well Teal'c had always been blunt and she did deserve it, hell she was currently practically kicking him off their ship.
"No…" Vala sighed; she didn't want to lie to her friend. "Yes…the message… that message was form somebody from my planet." Teal'c just gave her a look of confusion but did not speak, "not from the actual planet—that's long gone as you know. This came from Kheb, more specifically the priestess of Kheb. Kheb is a planet that certain members of my homeworld would go to study the ways of the First Ones, the path to Ascension. The Priestess that sent the message was originally from my homeworld, Tau'ri."
Teal'c did not miss that Vala spoke of this woman in the past tense. "Was?"
"Caught that, did you?.. Yep, was, because if I'm right, the fact that she sent the message means that something must have happened, something bad. The Priestess of Kheb is trained to be a solitary person; no attachments-- 'to know the universe you must separate your self from the world that binds you, for only then you can become one with it' crazy things like that."
"You seem knowledgeable in this matter."
Vala shrugged, "Yeah well, I always was a good student."
"What do you believe occurred for this message to be sent?"
"I honestly have no idea, but the message basically said that it was time for me to buck up and go find an ancient power that has the ability to stop Anubis and the Goa'uld."
"I see. But how does this require my leaving? I would believe that my assistance would be useful in this search."
"Look, Muscles…" Vala had known this wasn't going to be easy, she had known that would offer his help and stick by her; she had gotten lucky in finding a partner as loyal as Teal's, but this was too dangerous- even for the Jaffa warrior. Running a hand through her hair she let out a sigh. "It doesn't require you to do anything. This isn't because of some rules that say I have to this alone. I'm dropping you off on Dakara because it's the right thing for you; this is not your fight and you weren't charged with this ridiculous mission-- I was. I'm now the last person in the galaxy that can do what this will require and I'm not about to drag you into what will no doubt end up being a colossal mess."
Teal'c gave her eyebrow # 141- 'listen to me and don't argue'. "You are wrong. The ending of the Goa'uld is every free Jaffa's fight. Further more, Vala Mal Duran, am I not an equal member of this partnership?"
"Huh… of course you are." What did that have to do with anything?
"Then I believe as an equal partner I could not allow you to take a ship that is half mine. I also believe you will need my help and if it is true what you have shared with me, then I would be honored to take part in your quest, my friend."
"Teal'c…" Vala could feel the moisture build up in her eyes, "you're are one stubborn son of a bitch."
"Indeed."
Standing and heading to the cockpit Teal'c paused at the door. "What planet do we head to?"
"Castiana. It's only a day or so out."
"Very well."
As he left Vala let a soft smile cross her face, eyes still bright, and contemplated just what she had gotten them into.
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Castiana was a cold planet; well at least where the temple was situated was cold. The wind pushed the ocean roughly against the jetty where the temple stood. A large structure with tall spiraling towers and marble steps, the water splashed against its smooth walls that shone in the sun. The day was bright and cold and Teal'c wondered what they would find. His normally vivacious partner seemed equally introspective, she was outwardly worried and that made Teal'c worry more.
They had landed the ship several miles away and were only just reaching their destination. Teal'c looked over at Vala, in her heavy overcoat she seemed smaller, more child-like, ironic considering she usually tended to act child-likein life.
"Are we ready, Vala Mal Duran?"
Snapping out of her musings, Vala looked at Teal'c. "Yea… ready. Let us see what Castiana has in store for us."
Inside the temple it was cold, and not just because of the weather; the marble looked like ice and the whole place felt as if it would give you frost bite if you touched the walls. Teal'c immediately dislikesd it. It was lifeless and severe; Teal'c had always preferred warmer climates anyway. Vala seemed to look at temple with both distaste and respect, she did not want to be here but she was willing do her task.
"Come on Muscles, we have to head to the lower chambers, that's probably where we'll find the room."
"How do you know this?" Teal'c had always been curious of the knowledge his partner held from her home world, the First World, but he was also aware that she did not enjoy talking about it. This mission, however, has given him the opportunity to learn of things she would not speak to before.
Vala looked over her shoulder with a smile, "The message, beside telling me what I needed to do also held a clue as to where to go. In the message the Priestess called me 'daughter of the old', which is easily taken as a reference to Tau'ri as I am the last daughter of the First World, making it the oldest world, well human world, in the galaxy. But it was also a clue of where to go. Back on Tau'ri there was an old legend about a girl called Castiana, she was the one and only daughter of an elderly couple in a village, she had been born very late in her parent's lives. Before her they hadn't been able to have children and when she came along they loved her so much that they didn't want to lose her to the world; she was very beautiful, like all girls in legends are. Which really, I find rather annoying, I mean are we all supposed to be helpless maidens?" Vala turned to Teal'c and rolled eyes, waving her hands over the ornate carving on the temple's walls.
"Anyways, the parents. They were afraid that because she was so beautiful she would get married and leave them, and they would be childless again; so they hid her in an underground chamber in their house. When they died nobody knew she was in there until the day a thief went in to steal what the couple had left behind. Of course the thief found her and fell in love her beauty, so he stole her away too. It was a story told to teach about greed and stealing, all very maudlin. Personally I always thought it was stupid, the daughter was a fool for letting her parents to imprison her like that. She should have told them to bugger off and married some rich lord or something." Heading further into the temple Vala continued, "And, that's how I know we need to head towards the lower rooms."
"Because the daughter was kept hidden there?"
"Exactly."
"Very well." After a paused Teal'c added, "I also agree with your assessment of the story."
"Huh?"
"I too, would have encouraged the daughter to tell the parents to 'bugger off'." Giving Teal'c a big toothy grin Vala continued forward.
They walked for several minutes until they reached a set of stairs that appeared to lead to the lower chambers; they unfortunately, also appeared to be flooded. In fact it looked like the entire lower levels of the temple were underwater. Cold water.
"Well that's just great!" Vala did not sound happy, in fact she sounded annoyed and Teal'c could not blame her because he too did not like what this implied. One of them would have to swim. Teal'c did not like what this implied at all.
"So Muscles feel like join me for a swim?" Dropping her bag Vala begun to search though it, "did you bring the thermal suit? I can believe we have to swim that…"
"Indeed I did. I believed we would require it when it was obvious this temple was in such close proximity to the ocean." He watched as she pulled out a flashlight, gun and a knife, just because she was going underwater did not mean it was safe.
"Well so did, I but I had rather hoped we wouldn't need it."
"As did I." Stripping of her clothes Vala held out her hand for Teal'c to give the suit. The thermal suit was an incredibly annoying thing they had gotten of a trader in Katana, black and bulky, both Teal'c and Vala hated to wear it, unfortunately it came in handy in situations such as this. When Vala finished putting the suit on she looked over at Teal'c.
"You sure you don't want to go?" She looked hopeful and teasing all at once. Teal'c merely raise an eyebrow (#24- you are not amusing), "Right, I forgot about your aversion to water. Sometimes I still can believe you can't swim, or is it you're scared of water?" Her voice was all innocence except for the undercurrent of teasing sarcasm that Teal'c fought to raise both eyebrows at.
"It is not that I am fearful of water or that I am not able to swim Vala Mal Duran, it is that I choose not too. Your helmet." Teal'c handed over the black head covering at Vala.
"Right, of course." Her voice still held that teasing tone that disappeared as soon as the helmet went over her head, becoming deeper and disoriented.
"Gods, I hate this thing. I'll be back in a bit." And with that Vala dived into the icy water.
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Being as he was second in command Cam Mitchell was the one to take Daniel, Sam and a few other members of the crew down to the planet. The cold, windy, harsh planet. It was moments like this that he really envied his brother in law. As captain, Jack got to stay in the relatively warm ship and didn't have to listen to Sam and Daniel geek out.
He usually didn't mind being the first one on the ground, but he usually had something to look forward to. A scuffle, a deal gone wrong, women after a space pilot, but today all he was doing was babysitting Daniel and Sam while they ooohed and ahhed over whatever it was they were planning to find in that temple. Personally he was hoping that finding this weapon would be more exciting, because so far walking from the shuttle to the temple in the strong wind was anything but exciting. Annoying and boring, definitely. They were almost there when Sam spoke up.
"Guys, hold on a second." Sam paused and began to turn in circles reading something from one of her little doohickeys.
"What's up?"
"This is odd, but I'm getting some naquahdah reading."
Daniel gave Sam a confused look. "Naquahdah? Are you sure, because from everything I know learn about this planet I never came across anything stating that it could be a source for naquahdah."
"I'm sure. I modified this device to locate even the smallest source of naquahdah over a 10-mile radius. And it's definitely sensing something about 5 miles that way." Turning left Sam pointed towards where the device was signaling her to go.
"Well that just great, but we're not here for naquahdah, we here to look at Jackson's temple. Let's get that done and when we're finished with this little adventure we can go check for your naquahdah. Good plan? Thought so. Let's go." Cam just wanted to get going, the wind was picking up and he wanted this to be over and done with.
"I know, but wouldn't it be great if we found a source of naquahdah that the Goa'uld or anyone else knows about; this could be big Cam. I think we should check it out."
"Yes, it would be great, but what about the temple, Sam? That's the reason we came here. What we could find there might be even more important than naquahdah." Cam didn't even have to argue as Jackson did it for him. Thank god too, because Sam was less likely to argue with Daniel than she was with Cam. Unfortunately he was wrong.
"It doesn't look to be too far. I'm not saying not go to the temple, I'm saying that I'll go check the naquahdah reading out and you guys go on."
"Oh no. Uh! I don't think so Sam; we stick together. I am not about to let you go off and wander by yourself on a planet we don't know. Nope, not happening."
"Did I say alone? Look, I'll take Ferretti and Michaels, the rest of you can go to the temple. We'll be in radio contact Cam, don't worry so much."
"Don't worry she says." Looking over at the group Cam can see that Daniel was practically bouncing in his rush to get to the temple, while Sam's eyes were doing that glinty thing they did when she possibly found something new to play with. The rest of the men were just waiting for him to appease the Geek Twins, as they were called. With a sigh Cam ran a hand through his hair. "Fine. But we're in constant radio contact and we meet in 3 hours, I don't care if we haven't found anything." He gave a final look at Sam and Jackson.
"Deal. See you." And like that Sam headed towards small forest that lay behind them, Ferretti and Michaels trailing her.
"Well now that we settled that, can we head to the temple?" Cam had a feeling that if they waited any longer Daniel might spontaneously combust.
"Yeah. Yeah, lead the way."
When they reached the temple Cam had to admit it was on hell of a thing, the marble as old as it was shone in the grey sky almost like it was made of ice. As they headed inside he could see the excitement and curiosity on Jackson's face. He knew that if it was up to his friend they'd be there for days and that was not something he looking forward to. Daniel was currently busy looking at the carved pictography on the temple walls.
"Hey, Sunshine, I know that you would love to stay here and discover every little secret this place has, but we came here for a reason, and according to you a pretty important one at that."
"I know that Mitchell, if you'd let me finish reading this I could figure out where in the temple we have to look." Daniel kept looking at walls of the temple like they were talking to him, telling him a story that nobody else could hear. "Okay, if I'm reading this right it says that the planet and the temple were named after a woman who was hidden for many years by her parents, and then rescued by a thief who then took her away from her imprisonment. It looks like they feel in love and they began stealing from people like her parents, greedy people who stashed their treasure away, they'd take this wealth and hid it underground like her parents did her, only to be uncovered by those who looked past dirt and grime."
"Okaay, that's great. And what does that tell us?"
Daniel just rolled his eyes. " It tells us that it's in an underground chamber, we have to head down."
"Well why didn't you just say that part first. Which why do we go?"
"That way." Daniel pointed toward the back right part of the temple.
"Right, let's go."
Daniel took another look at the pictures and the writings that covered the wall, Castiana and her thief, and felt something in him stir. He suddenly had the feeling that whatever he was going to find here was going to change his life.
"Jackson!" Cam called and Daniel snapped out of his thoughts.
As they headed towards the back of the temple they all slowed as they heard something from the next corner. Cam signaled Rylan to take a look. As Rylan stepped forward to look at what lay ahead, Cam and Daniel gave each other a glance. Nobody else was supposed to be here, for all intents and purposes this planet was dead; this was not good. As Rylan headed back he only said one word, "Jaffa."
Oh, yeah. This wasn't good at all.
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The forest wasn't all that dense and Sam felt her excitement increase at the prospect of finding a naquahdah source. All in all it was looking like a good day.
"Sam, is that what I think it is?" Lou Ferretti was one of the best members of the crew, practically fearless, he didn't get nervous at much, so the fact that his tone took a distinct edge did not make Sam feel better. Looking over at what Lou was talking about she felt her good mood drop.
A cargo ship stood in the middle of a clearing.
They were not alone on the planet.
"Shit."
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Daniel was not a born fighter like Jack or Cam but over the years he had picked up a few things. He could now shoot, fight, and in a pinch fly a ship almost as well as some of the best Lantean soldiers. In the beginning, in this line of work he had tried not use any weapon, only words; he had learned quickly that words did not always work. Still, he did not like violence, he usually preferred to carry a zat to the numerous guns that they had in the armory. He was not naïve and knew that a Jaffa here of all places was not a good thing. Looking over at Mitchell he waited for his friend's lead.
Cam signaled to Rylan and Evans to flank them so they completely surround the Jaffa that looks to be waiting by what appears to be a large set of U-shaped stairs that lead to the lower levels of the temple. Daniel did not like the thought of that, which means that some else knows about Excalibur's knowledge and quite possible the ancient weapon.
He felt somebody tap his should and turns to looked at Cam. They're getting ready to move.
"Now!" They moved forward while Rylan took the right flank and Evans the left.
Daniel watched as the Jaffa turned to point his weapon directly at him and Cam, he suddenly had the feeling that the warrior had known they were there along, but didn't do anything. Strange.
"Hold it right there, big guy. Rylan, Evans." He watched as the Jaffa warrior assessed the situation to see that he was out numbered. He didn't even look surprised at that, but he didn't lower his weapon either. Daniel looked around and noticed that the entire lower levels were flooded. That might be a problem later. He focused on the situation at hand.
"Who are you?!" Cam ordered. The Jaffa said nothing. His gun still pointed at them.
"Put the weapon down! We don't want to hurt you, but we will defend ourselves. And it's not going to be pretty." Cam frowned; this was supposed to be an easy in-and-out. "Look, just tell us who you are and what you're doing here and we'll let you go." Cam felt no love for the Jaffa race, but he still preferred not to shoot anyone.
All they got was silence. Except for the slight raising of an eyebrow.
Deciding that they were going get nowhere like this Daniel stepped forward. He lowered his gun and spoke to the Jaffa.
"Hello, hi." The Jaffa spared him a glance. "I can tell you're not working for the Goa'uld, you don't have the right outfit. We are not getting anywhere like this, we're not here to fight, we're here to.. Uh… study. My name is Daniel Jackson and we're …" Daniel got cut of by the sound of something emerging from the water near one the submerged stairways. A figure was rising out of the water, black and armored. It looked like a monster from a child's dream. It didn't appear to notice them right away.
"Oi! Muscles!" The voice was mechanic and distorted, "you won't believe…" and then it noticed the new comers, all pointing guns at the Jaffa. Immediately it springs to action, so fast that Daniel almost missed when it throws a knife at Rylan, imbedding it in his thigh. It was the opening the Jaffa needed and he moved out Mitchell's gun's way and grabbed it pitching Cam forward, while at the same time took a shot at Evans that the man barely dodged. Simultaneously the armored figure lifted its self up. Daniel tried to shoot it, but apparently it didn't work. Shit.
The figure cocked its head at him.
"Oh! Crap," he managed out before he felt the punch and kick that connected with his face and stomach respectively. On the ground he was vaguely aware of Mitchell and Evans fighting the Jaffa when the black armored warrior filled his view. Taking the opening and moving his legs, he swept the fighter of its feet. Unfortunately it caused it to fall on him. Ouch. They scrambled to separate and grab for their fallen weapons. They pointed to the others head at the same time. Something told Daniel that the helmet probably wouldn't be as tough to pierce as the body armor, especially from this distance. Stalemate. Mitchell was still fighting the Jaffa, and Evans was knocked out.
"HOLD IT!" Daniel had never been so happy to hear Sam's voice.
Sam was moving towards them with Ferretti and Michaels, all of them pointing their weapons at the two assailants that had the rest of them powerless in one way or another.
"Stop right there, buddy." Sam pointed her gun at Daniel's attacker, "Now, drop the gun and move away. You," Sam motioned to the Jaffa holding Mitchell in a chokehold, "let him go and join your friend."
The two individuals turn to each other before they do as she says. Daniel scrambled and moved towards Sam while Mitchell does the same rubbing his neck and helping Rylan. Evans was left unconscious, and Ferretti moved towards his friend. When they grouped together Sam motioned to the armored figure.
"Now you, in the mystery mask, take it off."
Daniel watches as the figure sighed, it sounded like dying animal, and deflated a bit, defeated, before it moved to take off the helmet. Daniel was curious to know who just kicked his ass and tried to kill him. As the helmet comes off with a hiss he is faced with an image of long dark tresses, high porcelain cheeks, full pink lips and sliver eyes.
"Well, this just got more complicated." The voice was husky and accented, rich with sultry tones.
And it is only now that the Jaffa spoke, his own voice deep and sonorous. " Indeed."
It was only then that Daniel managed to divert his gaze from the face that had just been revealed to him. And his brain sped back up to the moment, several things pass through his head: she was tough, she knew something, her and Jaffa are working together, she's not Jaffa, how come they're here, she's beautiful, she kicked me, she tried to kill me, nice eyes, what is a Jaffa doing with a human, what are they doing here, along with a million more thoughts. He asked the most relevant.
"Who are you and what are you doing here?"
The woman looked over at the Jaffa and leaned against the banister behind her. For having about four guns pointed at her, she was surprisingly calm, like the Jaffa.
"Well, darling, now those are great questions, and relatively easy to answer, at least the first one is. I am, for anybody hasn't heard of me, Vala Mal Duran, intergalactic pirate extraordinaire and this lovely Jaffa warrior next to me is my dear partner and friend," she talked fast patting the Jaffa's muscular arm and signaling him to fill in the rest of the sentence for her, "Teal'c." He spoke his name as if it held no argument, this was his name and if you got it wrong you might miss your head.
"And what are you doing here?"
"Ah! Well, darling that question is a mite difficult to answer seeing as we can't tell you." She looked cool and collected, like Daniel and his friends were mere annoyances that would leave soon. It was getting on his nerves. He pinched the space between his brows.
"And why can't you tell us?" Sam asked.
"Because."
"That's not an answer." Cam sounded frustrated, and Daniel couldn't blame him. "Sam, check out their supplies, maybe we'll get an answer then."
"You won't."
"We'll see, princess."
"Look, there's nothing in there that you'd be interested."
Daniel gave her a look. "Oh, I don't know, we find a lot of things interesting." She huffed and he felt a peculiar surge of pride.
"Whoa, what's this..." Looking over at Sam, Daniel saw poking around with what looked to be small hand-held computer.
"Sam?"
"It looks to be reading our life signs. I've never seen anything like it. I…"
She was cut of by the deep voice of the Jaffa, Teal'c. " What are you?" He stepped forward and looked at Sam like she was a fiend, resulting in everybody pointing their weapons at him. Vala looked between the blonde and the Jaffa with question in her eyes. "Teal'c?" She put a delicate hand on one her partner's arm and Daniel had the vague suspicion that it was the only reason the Jaffa man didn't advance further. These two were clearly close friends. Even though a part of him told him they could be more- he pushed that voice away. He didn't know why but that idea bothered him, so it was best not to think about it--ever again.
"She is Goa'uld. I can sense the presence of naquahdah in her."
"Whoa! Wait a minute! Sam's no Goa'uld." Cam sounded scandalized.
"What?!"
"Are you sure?" The woman, Vala, ignored them.
"Yes. I did not sense it before, for she was to far away. The device also turned on for her." Daniel looked between the two friends.
"What are you talking about? What do you mean the device turned on for her? What does it do?"
It was Vala that answered, but that did not surprise him. It was apparent that the Jaffa, Teal'c, would only speak to her if he could help it.
"It's not anything bad." Looking at Sam she gave the woman an inquisitive look and smile, "It's just a life signs detector, I modified so it only responds to me and Teal'c, but it looks like your friend has naquahdah in her, so it probably thought it was Teal'c because of his symbiote. Now the question here is why your friend has naquahdah in her system if she's not a Goa'uld, unless…" Vala trailed of and gave Sam a sympathetic look, "Were you a host?"
Sam shook her head and gave a smile to the other woman. "No, I wasn't. Have you heard of the Tok'ra?"
"Yes. You are Tok'ra?" Teal'c questioned with an eyebrow raise. Sam looked shocked that Teal'c had addressed her.
"Uh… no. But my mother was." Daniel looked at his best friend and gave her a smile; he knew how much grief her parentage had given her in the past.
"Ah! Well that explains it." Vala just seem glad to have solved the mystery, "For a second there I thought it was malfunctioning, it appears as though I still have my touch."
"Yes, you mentioned you modified this, but I've never seen anything like it, it's very impressive and to have it react only to certain people is very remarkable." Sam's eyes were glowing with the joy of finding a new toy to figure out.
"Oh, why thank you Samantha?..." Sam nodded. "May I call you Samantha?" Sam nodded again. "And I'm not surprised you've never seen anything like it, it's more or less one of a kind. Only one in existence, to be perfectly honest."
"Really?" Sam eyes glinted over dangerously and Daniel knew they had to get back on track before Sam and, apparently her new friend Vala started the inevitable techno-babble. Cam noticed it too.
"Sam! Can we get back to the point of the matter here? What are you two doing here?"
"What are you?" She shot back.
"None of your business."
"Well, same here."
"That's not an answer."
"Well that's the answer you're getting. Now I have a question."
"What!?" Cam was clearly getting frustrated with the woman.
Vala gave what Daniel thought was a dangerous smirk. "What are you doing here?"
"Jackson!" Cam looked ready to explode. Daniel really didn't blame him. There was something about this woman; she said so much and so little at the same time, while ironically enough, when she said very little it was too much at the same time.
"Look, just tell us what you're up to and we can just moved past this. We have things to do."
"And what exactly are those things, darling, because it's only fair to share."
"Share…? Share? You… You fruitcake!.. You just expect us to tell you everything, it doesn't work that way."
"Now, now there's no need for name calling. And I'm sorry but why should I have to tell you anything? Me and Teal'c got here first, we have dibs."
"Dibs… seriously dibs?" Daniel could not believe this woman, he had only known her for all of five minutes and she was already the most infuriating person he had ever met (Jack was going to be disappointed someone took his place). Still, he wasn't about to let her win, "Well finders keepers!"
"Exactly and we found it first!" Daniel sighed, he hated to admit it but she did have a point, but damn it, she probably didn't even understand how important this was.
"Well we were hired!" Okay that technically was a lie, but she didn't need to know.
"So?"
"So! So we have more priority, you're just here looting!"
"Well, really! I take offense to that, we do not loot, do we Teal'c? We plunder." The Jaffa gave what could be considered an amused nod.
"Semantics. We still have priority."
"Do not." She huffed.
"Do too." Daniel shot back.
"Do not!"
"Do-- "
"Hey! You two, stop it!" Sam interrupted the argument, not that it wasn't amusing but they were wasting time. "It's obvious that this is not the most ideal situation but it would be easier to work together. Who knows? Maybe we're looking for the same thing."
Cam snorted. "God I hope not! I don't think I could take more of this little Daniel/Vala Show."
"Hey!"
"You're name is Daniel?.. I like it, darling."
Again Sam chose this time to bring everything back on track. "Now, Vala, if you tell us what you and Teal'c are looking for maybe we can help you, and then you can help us. And this whole thing can have a happy ending."
"How can I know we can trust you?"
"Well, we haven't shot you and… we'll tell you what we're looking for."
Vala raised an eyebrow. "Really?"
"Sam!"
"Daniel. One of us has to extend the olive branch." Turning to Vala, "We're here to find the knowledge of Excalibur."
Out of everything that could have happened next, Daniel didn't for one second consider that Vala doubling over laughing would be one of them.
"What's so funny?"
Vala ignored him and looked at Teal'c who also seemed amused, not that Daniel could really tell, and then looked at Sam. "Well Sam it looks like you were right after all, because we're looking for the same thing."
Sam let a smile out. " I had a feeling, so will you help us?"
"No."
"What? Why not?"
"Because Sam, love, the fact that you are looking for the same thing we are make us trust you less. Very few people know about this and I don't know if I can trust you or your employer. Now if you told us who you were working for, then maybe we could talk about working together." Vala was all business now, her whole stance changed.
"Well, we're not telling you that." Cam fumed. He did not like this turn of events; the new comers now had very important information. They knew too much and they were expecting more. Sam on the other hand looked disappointed and apprehensive; she just might have made a big mistake.
"I thought not."
And finally Cam had enough of this, pointing his gun straight at the duo, his voice turned cold, "Look, Princess we just told you want you wanted to know, now it's you're turn, tell us or Big Guy here gets a nice bullet in his head. Now, I ask again why are you here?"
Vala just looked at Cam, gauging him. He was telling the truth Daniel knew, plus Cam really had no love for the Jaffa anyway.
The two strangers shared a look and kept silent. Cam took the shot.
"NO!" Vala screamed and launched herself at her friend. The movement caused them to topple over, the bullet missing Teal'c but catching Vala in the arm.
"Cam!" Daniel and Sam shouted as Vala clutched her arm in pain on the floor muttering what seemed to be "Not again..." Even after their years on the Prometheus neither of them were the soldiers that most of the crew were and even after all those years, sometimes their actions still surprised them.
Cam ignored them. "Now, I think you wanted to tell us something." Vala held up her arm as Teal'c helped her up, his eyes burning at Mitchell.
Cursing in several languages as Daniel mentally winced, Vala answered Mitchell's question her own eyes looking at him with ire, "Kheb… The Priestess of Kheb sent me."
And out all the things Vala could have said this was the last one anybody had expected to hear.