Flames of Temptation: Chapter 2 - Sleepless
"Ummm... Daniel? Is that what I think it is?!"
"Sir, they're verses of the Kamasutra carved out in stone."
"Well …at least we know they put their night time to good use." Jack mumbled.
Teal'C raised an eyebrow, "I am unfamiliar with the term Kamasutra O'Neill."
Jack opened his mouth trying to formulate an answer, any answer, "Well it… it's really …it has to do with…um Daniel?"
"Um, well Kamasutra is the name of a text written sometime between the first and sixth century A.D. The book was believed to be authored by a man named Mallanaga Vatsyayana back on Earth. It was originally written in Sanskrit verses documenting the three aims in life: dhama, artha, and kama which all loosely translate to virtue, prosperity and love. The modernized Kamasutra as we know it mainly refers to the art of love-making which describes many sexual positions... as they seem to be carved here."
"Funny, you'd think SG9 would have at least mentioned this in the mission briefing." Jack complained as he and Carter headed out of the temple.
The team set up camp near the base of the temple. They would meet with their local liaison tomorrow.
Carter settled into her bedroll, but she was far from feeling tired. Her mind wandered as she lay there awake staring at the roof of the tent. God, of all the places to travel to, I'm stuck on a planet that openly practices Kamasutra! She thought. It was bad enough that Carter hadn't been getting much action lately, but seeing those erotic carvings had her hormones raging. Easy girl. Just get through the next couple of days and you'll be fine. She told herself trying to tame the raging beast that hadn't been let out in quite some time. After restlessly tossing and turning Sam decided that she'd go see what Daniel was up to. Whenever she couldn't sleep off-world she knew she'd find Daniel up and around to either talk to or keep company until she was ready to sleep.
She climbed out of the tent surprised to see that everyone else was still awake too. "Sir, Teal'C. What are you guys doing still up? And where's Daniel?"
"Danny boy's around here…" Jack said looking over his shoulder, "...somewhere."
"We also were unable to sleep MajorCarter." Teal'C answered.
"I dunno Carter. Something about this place is so...so…"
"Sexy." Teal'C suggested.
Sam couldn't help but smile at Teal'C's perfect timing.
Jack's head snapped up. "Sexy?! I was thinking more along the lines of peaceful."
"And there's a problem with peaceful sir?!"
"No. But it's so peaceful that it makes me uncomfortable." Jack explained. "Sexy?! Really?"
"I don't know sir, I think I agree with Teal'C on this one."
"Women are sexy Carter. Cars with sleek molded bodies are sexy. How is a planet which, by the way, is made of rocks and dirt, in any way sexy?"
"Well it's not the planet itself per say, but the atmosphere. I mean the night sky has more stars than I've ever seen on Earth. It's a warm tropical planet. The temple has rose petals carpeting the floors amongst open flames… all together it creates a very passionate atmosphere."
Daniel walked over and sat down next to Sam. "Hey guys."
"Find anything interesting?" Sam asked.
"Um yea actually. On the farthest back wall there are carvings that have reference to several Hindu gods all coexisting." They waited a bit longer for Daniel to continue his explanation but he didn't.
"And that's interesting how…?" Jack questioned.
"Well that's just it – on all the planets we have been to there has always been one dominant god. On Chulak it was Apophis, on Abydos it was Rah. We have never come across a planet where Gou'ould co-existed as reigning leaders. Actually it's always been more of a rivalry than anything."
"Actually sir, that is strange. Daniel, how many different gods did you come across?"
"From what I've seen so far, there appear to be four." Daniel looked up to meet Sam's pensive gaze. "Why, what were you thinking?"
"Did the temples have any indication that one of those gods reigned over the others?"
"No they all seemed to possess different attributes with neither having an advantage over the other. The stories on the temple actually teach about justice and fulfillment. There are no indications of dominance or reverence to these people."
"So are we even sure that these guys are snake-heads?" Jack chimed in.
"Actually I'm not sure Jack. From what we know, the Gou'ould brought humans from Earth through the Stargate to other planets presumably to be used as slaves, hosts and to incubate more larvae in Jaffa."
"Unless…"
"Unless what Carter?"
"Unless they were never Gou'ould to begin with." The beginning of a smile tugged at Sam's lips. "Think about it sir. Who do we know that co-exists peacefully yet used the Stargate on Earth around the same time the Gou'ould were populating other planets?"
"That's it! The Tok'ra." Daniel exclaimed.
"But the Tok'ra use their Stargate DanielJackson." Teal'C pointed out.
"They may not have been "Tok-ra" but they may have been Gou'ould that didn't enslave their people or perhaps allowed their symbiotes to peacefully co-exist with the host without revealing themselves to the general public. According to SG9's initial review of the planet, there were absolutely no traces of Gou'ould technology or writing anywhere."
"Isn't that kind of odd behaviour? Even for the Tok-ra?" Jack questioned.
"I'm not really sure what to make of it sir." Sam was out of theories.
"I guess we'll just have to wait and see." Daniel sighed.
...to be continued...