Chapter 7

Thwack. Flurrrr. Thwack. Flurrrr. Thwack. Flurrrr.

Daniel glanced across the cell and pursed his lips. Sighing, he turned back to his wall.

Thwack. Flurrrrr. Thwack. Flurrrr.

"You know," he said, without looking at Jack. "I'm trying to translate something here."

Thwack. Flurrrr. Thwack.

"When are you not trying to translate something?" Jack answered, without looking back at Daniel.

Flurrrr. Thwack.

"And besides," Jack swiveled his wrist, showing Daniel, "This is keeping me limber—in fighting mode, you know—so we can escape, should the opportunity arise."

"I still can't believe they let you keep that."

"It's a toy, Daniel."

"It's annoying, Jack."

Flurrrr. Thwack. Flurrrr. Thwack.

"So very, very, very annoying." Daniel muttered—very much not under his breath.

Flurrrr. Thwack. Flurrrr. Thwack.

"Hey, T?

"Yes, O'Neill?" Teal'c sat, unmoving, eyes closed, in the adjacent cell.

"Did you get the idea that these 'Three' that the non-Goa'uld was talking about didn't have anything to do with the shoes or the wand?"

"Indeed." Teal'c gave a slight nod, but did not open his eyes.

"What do you think that they are?"

Flurrrr. Thwack.

Daniel stopped reading the wall for a minute and turned back towards Jack. "Why don't you think that they have anything to do with the wand and shoes, Jack."

"Because," Sam said from the doorway. "They have to do with you."

The rest of SG-1 immediately stood and crossed their cells to where Sam stood at the front of the room.

"Sam!"

"Hi, guys," She smiled, "Hi. Sir."

Jack just stared back at her. After a moment, he was able to smile back—almost. She was in a dress. A really blue, really girly dress—and he could see her—oh damn—and so much skin—he licked his lips and sighed.

So it was up to Daniel to ask, "Where have you been, Sam?"

"I got put in a different room."

"Have you seen anyone else? Any guards around, or other people?"

"No—just the woman who I'm assuming is the sister."

"And she talked about what mission she wanted you to complete here?" Daniel pushed his glasses up higher on his nose.

"Yeah—did she come talk to you too?"

"We got a visit."

"And she discussed all this with you

"A bit of it, Sam. She didn't tell us everything."

"The woman—for want of a better word—and I had a little chat about it too, Sir. She told me that I have to do an errand of some sort for the Oracle. Now, I can only venture to assume that this Oracle must be the Ancient device—there really isn't another explanation that I can think of. I took the opportunity to look around while I was looking for the three of you, and all I found were empty rooms, except for the one that I ended up in, and then the room where the Ancient device is, and–what?"

She'd been searching the walls for a switch for the force field, when she'd gradually become aware that she was talking into silence. She turned to look at them. "What's wrong?"

Finally able to function again, the Colonel let his Yo-Yo fly. Flurrrr. Once at the end of its string, it snapped back up into Jack's big hand. Thwack. But his eyes never left his second in command. "Major Carter."

"Yes, sir?"

"Why aren't you wearing SGC regulation BDUs?"

Sam noticed that he was fidgety. He always played with something when he was thinking or disturbed. That was why they never had mission planning meetings in her lab. Something always ended up broken.

She had a good idea what was making him fidgety this time.

"Oh. This. Well." Carter smiled wanly and glanced down at the blue gown. "I woke up in it. I had the conversation with the snake lady—"

"Snake Lady?" Daniel asked, eyebrows practically drifting into this hairline.

"Long story—Snake Lady says I have a job to do, something about Uniting the Three and Consulting the Oracle. Oh, and then I have to deliver the Shoes and Wand back to Snake Lady and then Fill the Void."

"In that order?" Jack wasn't looking anywhere near her eyes. There were way too many other interesting things to examine.

"I don't think so." Sam turned back towards the wall. "And unless I'm mistaken, this is—" she depressed a tiny engraving the wall, "the switch."

With a tiny hum, the force shield blipped once, and then disappeared.

"And what could be the reason why Colonel O'Neill, Daniel Jackson, and myself would be involved with such concerns?"

"I don't know." Sam nodded towards Daniel. "But you said that you had translated something?"

"Yes, I did." Daniel nodded, and then pointed to some carvings on the wall next to the window. "These writings seem to be a history of sorts—"

"Of sorts?" Jack snorted. "It's either history or it isn't."

"Unless the history hasn't happened yet." He crossed back to the engravings he'd mentioned. "This set here seems to be more along the lines of what is going to happen, rather than what has already happened."

"Prophecy. You're talking about prophecy." Sam followed him back to the window, her skirts swishing slightly.

"Well, of course, there isn't any proof that people can really foretell the future, but the tense structure of the phrasing here is future, rather than past."

"I wonder why." Sam regarded the writings with a thoughtful look. "What exactly does it say?"

Daniel ran a finger along the wall until he found the place he wanted. "She will step through the Ring of Light," he read out loud, "She who will steal away with time and power from the Place of Innocence. With the United Three she will Fill the Void of soul. The Oracle will grant answer and wisdom. Time and Power will surge once more before the Golden Witch has completed her concern, and returned them to the Consciousness."

Daniel paused. "Any of this making sense to you?"

Sam shook her head. "Not yet."

"I think I know what Time and Power mean." Jack spoke from his point near the door.

Sam and Daniel turned to him. "What would that be, Jack?

"Time—the shoes—the other lady used the shoes to screw with time, and Power—she was doing something with the wand thingy. Using power—you know—like those hand devices."

"Time and Power." Sam glanced back at Daniel. She cocked her head at him. "That would actually fit."

"You don't need to sound quite so surprised, Major."

"Is there more, Daniel?"

"Uh—yeah—a few mentions of grave consequence if the Golden Witch doesn't fulfill her obligations, and then of course, the requisite 'if this is not accomplished, you will die'—stuff."

"Death on top of grave consequences? Wow. Sucks to be us." Jack looked over at Teal'c, who had joined him at the front of the room.

"Major Carter," the Jaffa intoned.

"Yes, Teal'c?"

"In what way does this prophecy concern Daniel Jackson, Colonel O'Neill and myself?"

"Well—uniting the Three—Snake Lady said that the Three were already here. Since there's nothing else here except the Ancient Device—and there's only one of those—I figure that the Three must mean you."

"And how are we to be united?"

"I don't know, Teal'c." Sam glanced at the three men in turn. "Maybe that's something we won't know until we get up there to the Oracle."

"Sam—about the—not that you don't look great—but about the dress?" Daniel stepped forward, out of what had been their cell. Sam followed him away from the wall and towards the Colonel and Teal'c. His eyebrows, more than his words, asked the question.

"I can't get it off." She shrugged weakly. "There's no zipper or buttons or opening that I can see. I tried."

"Couldn't you have asked the Snake Lady?"

She grinned at that. "She wasn't helpful—gave me a lot of cryptic clues as to what I had to do, but when I told her that I still wasn't quite sure what to do, she morphed somehow—her skin went all green, and her tongue was forked. Hence—"

Daniel finished for her. "Snake Lady."

"Snake Lady. Sam affirmed. "Besides—we weren't really close. I wasn't going to ask for her help in getting undressed."

The Colonel tried to ignore those images as he moved closer to them. "So, now what?"

"I suggest that we consult the Oracle first." Daniel said, "I have been translating these writings in here—"

"I've been Yo-Yo-ing." Jack showed her. Flurrrr. Thwack.

Sam smiled, but Daniel rolled his eyes. "—And the writings do talk about the Oracle—but they also mention the shoes and wand."

"They do? That's surprising. I thought that these devices were brought here by Snake Lady and her sister."

"Apparently they're Ancient in origin. Do you still have them on?"

Sam lifted her hem and stuck a foot out. "Right here."

"Great—hold that for a minute." Daniel knelt and started studying the shoe more closely. "See? Right here. On the toe. There are tiny engravings. I can't really read them—I'd need my magnifiers."

"All of your gear is in the room with the Ancient device."

"You found our gear?" The Colonel stowed his Yo-Yo in his pocket.

"Yes, sir."

"And you didn't bring me my weapon?" O'Neill managed to pull his gaze away from Sam's exposed calf and ankle.

"Well, sir, there don't seem to be any threats around that I can see. I haven't run into anyone but you three since Snake Lady and I had our little talk." She lifted the hem of her dress even higher and showed him her side arm, which she'd strapped to her thigh. "If it makes you feel better, you can carry my side arm."

But O'Neill's mouth had gone completely cottony, and he couldn't have answered if he'd tried.