Daniel Jackson
October 1995
I watched Jack go through the Stargate, and seconds later, the 'puddle' vanished, leaving me standing inside the great Pyramid of Abydos, surrounded by my new 'family'.
A few seconds after the puddle disappeared, it really hit me what I had just agreed to.
I was alone, on an alien planet with a language I could barely speak.
I turned to face Sha're and felt a wave of love and gratitude for this quiet but brilliant woman. She smiled at me in return. A smile like no other.
And I knew I'd made the right decision.
Our small caravan now trekked across the Abydonian desert. Kasuf had quite wisely order the bulk of the Guerrilla Army to return to the City as soon as victory over Ra had been assured, and the Stargate buried, with only he, Sha're, Skaara and the boys staying behind to say goodbye to Colonel O'Neill's team.
Our journey was mostly silent. Sha're was shy about talking to me when other people were nearby, and the others still gazed at me like I was an animal at the zoo. My every action still fascinated and amused them.
As we walked, I did ask them a few questions about their world.
"Is it all desert?"
"What is desert?" was Skaara's response.
"All this sand," I answered, picking up a handful.
"What else would there be?" was Skaara's perplexed reply.
So that was clear. These people knew nothing other than desert, and they had quite likely never seen a forest, or a lake, or the sea.
That was something that really boggled my mind. Almost every person on planet Earth knows what a desert looks like. What a forest looks like. What the ocean looks like.
Even the 'Uncontacted Tribes' of the Amazon trade with their fellow 'Contacted' Tribes and wear football tops and flip flops, so it's a safe assertion that some sort of print media's made it's way to their villages to show them what the rest of the world looks like (and it's probably part of the reason they've decided not to engage with the rest of the world).
This revelation about the Abydonians was one of a number of things I realised would take some getting used to.
The silence for the rest of the journey allowed me to really let the last few weeks sink in.
Was it really less than three weeks since my peers had finally turned their backs on me and my crazy theories? Less than three weeks since Catherine had given me an offer she knew I could not refuse?
I had nothing on earth, except for a few battered suitcases, a ruined reputation, and my dignity.
I had lost almost nothing by deciding to stay on Abydos, but I had gained more than I thought I ever could.
It was stunning to me at first, to realise that an old lady agreed with me. I agreed with the scientific angle of my work, but as no-one else agreed with it, I could never agree with what I was writing with all my heart. But I felt my spirits soar when I realised Catherine may believe me.
My spirit felt a little chilled however when I realised she'd done a background check on me.
Nevertheless I'd taken her up on her job offer and before long I was being escorted through the corridors of a secret military complex.
She explained they'd found artefacts that predated Ancient Egypt as the world knew it. She also explained that no linguist, and later, paleolinguist they had on board had been able to make heads or tails what the hieroglyphs meant. That was easy – because one look confirmed to me that they weren't hieroglyphs.
Who on earth had they been hiring?
For two solid weeks I had focused solely on the Stargate – who on earth translated that as 'Door to Heaven'? – and ignored the various jibes that came my way, such as "he's full of shit", courtesy of Colonel O'Neill.
Finally – and accidentally – I cracked the code, and I was brimming with confidence that I could do the same on the other side.
It was only I'd opined that it would be a piece of cake that the reality of what was going on had hit me.
The Stargate could go to another planet.
And the Stargate worked.
At the very least that meant humanity at some point in the distant past had been to another planet. But where had the technology come from?
From the Aliens I'd theorised used the Pyramids as landing platforms!
Aliens existed!
We were not alone!
All the while my ego reminded me that it was me who had proved aliens existed.
Now we were going to another world! We could be meeting those aliens.
I mean seriously! Me making first contact!
I'd had a momentary thought of it making the news, and myself going back to my old academic stomping grounds and rubbing peoples' faces in it when it also hit me.
No-one's ever going to know about this.
The US Military was in charge. They would deny everything.
And there was no way I could return to Earth and live a lie.
So, after I'd ensured I'd be picked for the mission, it had always been at the back of my mind that for me at least, returning home wasn't my only option.
I'd been happy beyond reason when we made it through the Stargate. We'd trudged several hundred yards through the sand and seen only sand, but we turned back to see a massive pyramid, perhaps even bigger than any on Earth, and this one was crowned by a halo of three alien moons.
I was ecstatic, which was a hard thing to be in a baking desert surrounded by whining military men.
First Contact was certainly memorable.
Yes, First Contact was with a Mastadge – an alien Yak-like thing that loved chocolate…and attempted to drag me through the sand dunes to death, and then lick me to death.
Still it was our first interaction with a bona fide alien, and it did lead us straight to the mine, so all's well that ends well.
Of course, that led us straight to the Abydonians, and Colonel O'Neill being Colonel O'Neill just expected me to able to speak to them.
The talking didn't come later, until after Sha're had been 'gifted' to me and had shown me where the stone tablet was with Earth's address.
I still can't believe a man would 'give' me his daughter.
I still can't believe I've accepted. Never in a million years would I think I would do something so… fundamentally wrong, and have it feel so right.
But Sha're.
Wow.
Just…wow! I've never clicked with someone so quickly. She's is amazing. Stunning in every way. And when her eyes meet mines, I want to want to melt into a puddle.
Yes, I've got it bad.
I'm looking forward to my life with Sha're, and I know we'll have a happy one.
The city might be a bit of a mess, the Abydonian's ways a bit archaic for most peoples' liking. But these people have been enslaved for god knows how long. I'm looking forward to seeing what they'll accomplish now they've been given a change. They're very resourceful – they're thriving in the middle of a Sahara-like desert, and that is no mean feat, even for modern people on Earth.
I'm looking forward to learning from them, and hopefully them learning a little from me. I want to be a full part of their culture, not merely an observer.
I also don't want to simply step back and watch. I'm worried if I do, I may grow homesick.
Who knows? I may even go back there someday – and hopefully Catherine would have figured out from the necklace that I was still alive.
More worlds must be inhabited other than just Earth and Abydos. Maybe other – hopefully nicer – aliens will come by.
Maybe the Stargate goes to other places?
Maybe I'll just need to have a look round this new, ancient world, and find out.