Prologue 3: Enigma

Jan. 2009

Sam, Jack, Teal'c and Daniel exit the Stargate to find a volcano erupting.

"Wow!" Sam said. "None of this was going on when we sent the probe through."

"What's this stuff in the air?" Daniel asked.

"Ash," Teal'c said.

Jack nodded. "All right, Daniel. Dial it up, get us out of here."

"No argument," Daniel said as he walked towards the DHD. He noticed something the near distance. "Wait a minute. There's something out there." He walked over to the object and found that … "It's a woman, she's alive. There's more—hurry you guys." He knelt next to the woman as Jack, Sam and Teal'c checked the other bodies.

"There's no life here," Teal'c said.

"This one's had it," Sam said.

Daniel brushed ash from the face of one of the victims. "It's just like Pompeii. Everyone died of suffocation before the lava started to flow," he said as he checked the person's arm and saw an unusual device. "What are these things?"

"O'Neill! There are two more alive," Teal'c said.

"Carter? How long before we're toast?" Jack asked.

Sam shrugged. "I don't know, Sir, I'm not a vulcanologist. It could be days, it could be minutes."

One of the victims raised his head as Sam checked his pulse. "Don't … help us."

Sometime later Sam, Jack, Teal'c, Daniel along with several medical personnel help the victims down the ramp back at the SGC.

"Move away. Give them some room."

"All right. Let's go," Jack said.

"You OK?" a medic asked Jack.

Jack nodded. "Yeah."

Hammond came up to them as Jack and Sam sat down on the ramp. "Colonel O'Neill? What happened?"

"We encountered some very severe volcanic activity, Sir," Jack said, breathlessly.

Hammond turned to Daniel who rubbed his left eye. "Who are all these people?"

"We don't really know, Sir. They were all dead and dying around the Gate. The air was highly toxic," Sam said.

Daniel nodded in agreement. "And hot."

"You better have Doctor Frasier take a look at you. We'll de-brief as soon as you're ready," Hammond said.

"Yes, Sir," Jack said.

Two hours later in the briefing room; Jack, Sam, Teal'c and Daniel had met with Hammond to discuss the survivors. "You evacuated ten people from an alien planet, Colonel. Doctor Frasier says they're all human and it looks like they're going to live. This was one hell of a rescue operation," Hammond said.

"Thank you, Sir," Jack said.

"There were no buildings in the area of any kind?"

Sam shook her head. "No sir. We don't know how far they walked, but it looked like they were trying to make it back to the Stargate."

"What do we know about these devices they were wearing?" Hammond asked.

"Well, they all emit low levels of radiation indicating an operative energy source, but there's no circuitry, moving parts or chips. We've never seen anything like it," Sam said.

"I thought at first that they were from a parallel culture but it looks like they might be way ahead of us," Daniel said. "It's possible they could be from the Alliance or the Empire we heard about before."

"We've determined humans on other planets originated here on Earth, right?" Hammond asked.

"From what little we know about the Alliance and the Empire," Sam said. "That belief may no longer be true. The Goa'uld may have taken humans from Earth, yes. But there could have been parallel evolution of humans on other worlds as well. We just don't know."

"And from what we've seen of the Empire on PX8 987 and heard of the Alliance from the Nox," Hammond said. "These people could be more advanced of us as well."

Daniel nodded. "Yes. Umm … we'd be colonizing space right now if it hadn't been for the Dark Ages. There was a period of over eight hundred years where science was heresy and anathema. Maybe they didn't have that set-back."

Just then an airman walked into the room. "General Hammond? The spokesperson for the rescued people is awake. He'd like to speak with you. All of you."

Twenty minutes later Hammond, Jack, Sam, Teal'c and Daniel entered the infirmary and walked over to the bed.

"Who are you?" the man, Omoc, asked.

"I'm Major General Hammond. This is Colonel O'Neill," Hammond said.

"Jack," Jack said.

"Samantha Carter," Sam said.

"Uh … Daniel Jackson," Daniel said.

"Where is this place?" Omoc asked.

"You're on a planet called Earth. These people saved you," Hammond said.

Omoc shook his head. "Nothing could be further from the truth."

Hammond looked over at Jack, surprised at the comment.

"Well, unless I missed something, you're … better off here than you were there," Daniel said.

"There was a rescue transport on the way," Omoc said.

"Well, half your people were already dead. I don't think it would have gotten there in time," Jack said.

"Perhaps that's more of a problem for you than it was for us," Omoc said.

"Beg your pardon?" Jack asked.

"I find it unbelievable that anyone so primitive could have deciphered the Gate system," Omoc said.

"Did you say primitive?" Jack said.

"I too am from a world very different from this one. Here life is highly valued," Teal'c said.

"Quite a statement for a Jaffa," Omoc said.

"Sir, I'd like to know who you are and what you know about the Goa'uld and if you know anything about the Galactic Empire, or the Alliance to Restore the Republic," Hammond said.

"I am Omoc," Omoc said. "Our world is called Tollana."

"And what do you know of the Goa'uld, the Jaffa, the Galactic Empire and the Alliance to Restore the Republic?" Hammond asked.

"We're aware of all of them; we don't interact with any of them," Omoc said.

"Well then, at least as far as the Goa'uld are concerned, we share a common enemy," Hammond said.

"Did I mention an enemy?" Omoc asked.

"I only meant … it might benefit everyone if your people and ours could be friends," Hammond said.

"I demand you return everything that you have taken from us and allow us to go home," Omoc said.

"Well, it could take a while for those volcanoes to quiet down. In the meantime, I'm a bit of a culture buff, I'd like to learn about your history and customs," Daniel said.

Omoc shook his head. "I've said enough. I'll say no more."

SG-1 and Hammond tried several times to get the Tollans to open up. They tried finding a planet where the Tollans could live since they looked at Earth as being too primitive. Finally Sam was able to get Narim to open up. It was during one such visit that they got some information.

"You have asked about the Galactic Empire and the Alliance to Restore the Republic," Narim said. "A little over twenty years ago, the Republic was dissolved and replaced by the Empire. Then Chancellor Palpatine was named Emperor for life."

"Were your people …" Sam started to ask if his people had been part of the Republic.

"No," Narim said. "Our old homeworld was on the very edge of the galaxy. Goa'uld space separated us from them. But traders from Outer Rim worlds, who were brave enough to travel into what they labeled the Unknown Regions, regularly brought us news about the rest of the galaxy. From what we learned from these traders, the Empire is not one that you want to deal with. It is a dictatorship. The Alliance to Restore the Republic we have heard wants to restore democracy. If they succeed you might consider reaching out to them. The Republic did not have the same qualms we have when it comes to giving out technology."

Sam nodded and smiled at Narim. "Thank you for telling me."

"You are welcome, Samantha," Narim said.

Eventually SG-1 found someplace the Tollans could go to.

The Nox homeworld.

Lya, one of the Nox they had met, came and took the Tollan with them.

After they had left Sam was briefing Hammond on what Narim had told her.

"So," Hammond said. "We could have a potential enemy if this Emperor Palpatine learns of us."

"That's what I was led to believe," Sam said. "Narim told me that the Empire was a dictatorship."

"Is it possible these traders that gave them news on the rest of the galaxy could have been disgruntled citizens of the Empire?" Hammond asked.