Chapter 4: Four Calling Birds
"Communication is the real work of leadership."
Nitin Nohria
"Colonel Jack O'Neill," Jack introduced himself briskly, "and my colleague, Captain Samantha Carter." He shared a brief glance with Carter. "We 'have come'?" he queried, deciding those were the most disturbing of all the words the strangely dressed man in front of him had spoken.
"Yes. Are you not Children of the Creators?" Aurum expanded, smiling hopefully.
"That depends," Jack returned evasively. He'd never been a fan of mistaken identity but even less a fan of the negative reactions likely once the locals worked it out for themselves. "Who are these Creators?"
"Why, those who built the structure you have just emerged from," Aurum said like it should be obvious. "It is said that only those of the same blood are able to do so and since I witnessed your arrival myself you must be one of their children."
"Wait," Carter spoke for the first time, something in the man's words sparking her interest. "You said 'it is said'. Don't you know for sure?"
"Of course not," Aurum laughed. "No one has ever emerged from the Creator's structure before. You are the first."
"Of course we are," Jack muttered sarcastically under his breath. "What else do they say?"
"Please, join us back in our village," Aurum invited. "I will be happy to tell you our legends there."
"And how it was you knew we'd be arriving today," Sam added, another good question since it couldn't be a coincidence for everyone to be there just as she and Jack emerged.
"Yes, and that as well," Aurum agreed.
Jack frowned but really, they didn't have a choice. They needed the help of these people and to get it they'd have to go along with whatever twisted version of history the residents of Orentis had created for themselves. "Right, let's go then," he said decisively, waving a hand forward for Aurum to lead the way. The other man seemed to find this amusing but he fell in with Jack's unspoken command, walking a thankfully brisk pace back towards where his people still lined the streets.
"My friends, our visitors have agreed to visit our village," he announced in a loud voice as soon as they were within shouting distance.
There was more cheering in response – of the mindless and disturbing variety as far as Jack was concerned. The sooner they found out where the hell Orentis was, the sooner they could leave the 'adoring' masses behind.
The village of Orentis was much like others SG-1 had already visited since starting their journeys through the Stargate. Dirt paths between simple hut style houses made from the local vegetation – neat and tidy but primitive on Jack's 'likely to have weapons to defeat the Goa'uld' scale.
Aurum led them to a larger hut set in the middle of what was probably the main path through the village – like a town square with a roof and walls to protect from the elements.
"Please, sit," their host invited. The other two men who's walked with him had dropped back with the rest of the villagers when they'd started their walk so it was just Aurum - Jack concluded the others had been more for show than anything else. Aurum was clearly the leader and so far seemed very open to them being there.
"You mentioned legends," Jack began as soon as he'd sat on one of the benches, Carter taking a seat beside him.
"Orentis has been here many years Colonel and like any place with a long history, we have retained many customs and legends as we have maintained our way of life," Aurum began, still standing. He reached up to remove the large hat he still wore, putting it on the bench beside him with a relieved sigh. "Some less practical than others," he added with a chuckle, scratching a hand through his hair. He untied the sash on the ceremonial robe next, revealing simple attire of handwoven shirt and pants in a natural brown. "Not to mention just a little ridiculous."
"Oh I don't know," Jack smirked. "You did look very imposing … from a distance."
Aurum laughed. "Then it was worth the sacrifice in personal dignity." He carefully draped the robe over another bench before moving to sit across from Jack and Sam. "The structure you emerged from has been there as long as Orentis – longer perhaps. Our stories tell of a powerful, benevolent race who built and used it for many years before leaving it in waiting for the arrival of their children. None of my people have ever been able to get inside – a fact that is a large part of the legend. Being able to both enter and leave the structure stands as proof of your right to claim whatever is inside."
Right to claim? Jack's brow rose. Now that sounded much more promising.
"Your stories don't mention what the structure was for?" Carter asked curiously.
"No, only that the creators used the structure to continue their exploration of our world and others," Aurum explained. "We believe they intended for their children to continue that exploration on their behalf."
"What happened to these creators?" Jack asked.
"The stories say they evolved to the point our world could no longer contain them," Aurum fell silent, his expression turning wistful. "There was a battle against a long time enemy – the creators would no longer fight. Instead they took the battle with them, putting measures in place to protect our people into the future."
Measures? O'Neill's eyes narrowed. Could that mean some kind of defensive system? "Is that how you knew we were coming, because of these measures?"
"Yes," Aurum stood, taking a few steps towards the front of the room. He pointed upwards, to what Jack would have abelled as 'local art' hanging from the wall - a large circle with symbols carved all over it. "The Admoniti. It is set in place to cast forth a bright light when the children return – as it did this morning, mere hours before your emergence from the structure."
Hours. Jack ran through their movements and calculated that the device had probably gone off the instance he and Sam had appeared, as near as he would work out. "An alarm system," he murmured to Carter, getting a nod of agreement from her in return.
"Is the building we arrived in the only structure linked back to these creators?" Sam glanced at Jack as she asked the question, both of them wondering the same thing. Was there a Stargate off in a clearing somewhere too?
"There is something else, although in truth we do not understand its purpose and our legends do not speak of it," Aurum admitted.
"Would you show us?" Carter asked hopefully.
"Of course," Aurum stood. "It is not far. Please, follow me."
Jack motioned for Sam to talk with Aurum while he brought up the rear. Every instinct he had was telling him Orentis wasn't a threat – as he continued to look for reasons to challenge that, he discovered instead an apparently simple people clearly content with the life they were leading. It was … peaceful with an innocence he hadn't seen anywhere else, not since Abydos.
Aurum led them away from the neat rows of huts, through the surrounding trees until they came upon a clearing, lit with sunlight. On the far side was something that made Jack and Sam both straighten.
"Is that what I think it is Carter?"
"If you think it's an incomplete Stargate, then yes Sir, it is," Sam replied. "May I?" she asked Aurum, getting his nod of approval before she approached for a closer look.
"Can it be that you actually know what this is?" he asked, intrigued.
"We know what it was going to be," Jack replied, shifting to stand beside the other man while Captain Carter checked out what looked like the end of his hope there was an active Stargate they could use to go home. He'd found out in the most painful way possible that a planet didn't do well with two active Stargates. He still remembered the biting cold and the feel of Carter's breath on his cheek at the end - it wasn't something he was going to forget any time soon. "Its the device the creators used to get from one planet to another - the way they did that exploring you spoke of. We call it a Stargate."
"Astounding," Aurum looked at the sight with awe.
Segments of Stargate were laid out flat on the ground, about half of them already connected. Jack could see the inner wheel complete but there was no sign of the chevron mechanisms, nor of the dial home device. "I don't suppose there's another one of these, complete and standing upright?" he asked Aurum, already knowing the answer.
"I'm afraid not," Aurum replied. "Is this important?"
"Unless you want to be stuck with us forever, yes it is," Jack replied. He'd seen enough and heard enough to trust his gut. "Look, Aurum, I don't know anything about being the children of these creators you mentioned. Us being here is an accident, nothing more. We were investigating a device we found on another planet and it brought us here. Unless we can find one of those that works," he nodded to the Stargate work in progress, "or a way to communicate with our people, we can't go home."
"You are welcome to whatever is inside the creator's structure," Aurum reminded them. "Perhaps there is something there that will assist you in returning home. Although you would honour us if you chose to stay here."
"Well, no offence, but it's expected that we'll do whatever it takes to return," Jack said kindly, genuinely appreciating the other man's open and honest welcome. "Carter, leave that for now. Let's go back and check out that building."
Once they'd returned, it didn't take Sam long to find a control console just inside the building. After getting the Colonel to activate it much as he had the doors, she spent hours searching through the schematics – the contents of the crates all around them, before finding something that looked promising.
"What you got Captain?" the Colonel asked when she turned away from her work to update him. He'd been alternating between pacing around impatiently and talking to the leader, Aurum, about the race who'd created the structure. From what Sam could tell the people knew only what amounted to a children's story of sorts - nothing specific or useful to their understanding of what they'd found.
"It's a long shot Sir, but if these diagrams are accurate and we can locate the right crates, I should be able to construct a subspace communicator."
"We can send a message to the SGC?" O'Neill's brows rose in surprise.
"To be honest Sir, I can't say for sure," Sam admitted. "It depends on how far away we are and how powerful the transmitter is. I won't know that until I've constructed a fair portion of the communicator."
"And how long would that take Captain?" the Colonel queried intently.
"A few days, maybe a week," Sam said reluctantly, knowing her estimate would be much longer than her CO would be comfortable with.
"Are there any other options?" he asked. "What about the Stargate?"
"At this stage I think it'll take far less time for me to make the transmitter than it would to complete the Stargate," Sam replied. Finishing the incomplete Stargate would be a mammoth task, one she wasn't confident they even had the skills for. She didn't know if there would be parts for a DHD nor the power source Stargates utilised either. The warehouse was enormous and she'd only scratched the surface in searching through the catalogue.
"Talking to the SGC isn't going to help much," Colonel O'Neill pointed out. "We don't exactly have a ship they can send for us."
"We don't but Teal'c might," Sam offered. "He knows a lot about Goa'uld technology and he has ties with other first primes. It's more likely we'll get somewhere through his efforts than we will trying to make a Stargate ourselves."
Make a Stargate. She shook her head. Unless there were very detailed instructions somewhere in the warehouse too along with all the right tools, there was little chance that would ever be possible. The best they could hope for was to send a long distance message that someone back home would hear.
"Fine. Make the subspace thing," Jack ordered. "Is there anything else we can use in here? Short range radios? Basic weapons?"
"I kept my search parameters very specific Sir," Carter replied. "Given the components I did identify I think at the very least I'll be able to find something we can use to keep in touch on the planet."
"Do that," Jack ordered again. He didn't want the Captain working alone without the means of communicating with him, should she need to. The planet seemed peaceful and Aurum a good sort but her safety was something he'd never take a chance on.
Nodding, Sam turned back to the control console, ready to locate the first component.
Author's Note:
The prompt for this was 'communicating long distance'. Thanks for reading.