Chapter 6 Like Warmth from the Desert Sun

1965

The sun felt different in Egypt—not so much warmer than it did elsewhere as simply beaming straight through him, burning off the impurities of the outside world. Abydos' sun once burned even cleaner against Daniel's skin. For so long, home was this special quality of sunlight that only the desert sun had ever seemed to provide. And now, with the sound of his father's voice in his ears for the first time in 5000 years, Daniel couldn't believe he'd ever called anything else home.

His father's long speech finally concluded: "Well, what do you say, Dr. Jones?"

Daniel nearly smiled at his own joke, knowing if his team were here, Sam and Jack would already be laughing and Teal'c would have at least cracked a smile at the Indiana Jones reference. "I'd be honored to be a part of the Abu Simbel rescue. I'll talk to Walter Leeds tomorrow and see if he can get me attached as a physician on the expedition, Dr. Jackson," Daniel smiled and shook his father's hand to seal the deal.

"Terrific! And call me Melbourne," his father enthused.

"And please call me Samuel," Daniel offered in return.

Melbourne nodded, pleased. "Now Claire isn't actually due for another six months, and we hope to be in Cairo by then, but I'd still feel better knowing a doctor with your experience was nearby."

"And I'll be happy to act as a physician, but as I mentioned before, my primary interest is in the work itself. I'm a bit of an amateur archaeologist myself." Daniel couldn't help but to lay the groundwork just a little more.

"Ah yes. I'd heard about your work with the Temple of Kalabsha. Martin Davis spoke very highly of you, and to be truthful," Melbourne leaned his head a little closer to Daniel's, "Martin Davis rarely speaks highly of anyone."

"I love the work," Daniel confessed. "It's an unprecedented time, having so much international support for archaeological studies. I just wish it could have been under better circumstances."

Melbourne Jackson shook his head. "The High Dam is going to destroy so many archaeological sites—just think of all the ones we'll never discover! How much history is going to be lost?" Melbourne bites his lip in a way Daniel used to recognize in his every day. "I hope the dam is worth it, but I'm not sure it will be. The say the floods will still come, after all. Just not as often or as bad."

"Egypt breathes with the floods. She'll miss them, but the people won't," Daniel spoke confidently. "This is the best thing for them right now. Maybe in another hundred years they'll think of something better, but for now, the dam will help a lot of people. Still," he tilted his head. "You're right. It is a shame those pieces of the past will be lost. But we can still save the biggest portions."

Melbourne smiled as if he'd been thinking the exact same thing. "Speaking of which, have you heard about Micah Vlanovich's latest find?"

"Micah?" Daniel quirked his head. "No. What's he been working on?"

"Ah." Melbourne raised a single finger. "Now that's a more interesting question than you'd realize."

And the desert sun continued to blaze against Daniel's skin as his father's voice flowed about him, every word and every beam of light speaking of home.

S

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1

1965

"Again," Daniel's voice hardened even further to his student. "You miss this combination, you lose your head."

Murphy stood swiftly, not bothering to brush the back of his pants where he'd landed. He circled Daniel more broadly this time, sword in the prescribed loose but steady grip, stare glued to Daniel's with unwavering intensity and just a tiny touch of hate behind his eyes. It would have worried Daniel except he recognized that hate from every single student he'd ever had—remembered feeling it himself, for Persuem especially, but also for Ramirez and Li and Vanya. The fact that the hate was there meant that he was doing his job. That there was only a small bit of it meant that he was doing it well.

Murphy took his time in the larger practice circle, and Daniel allowed it because his student kept his guard up this time, sword poised in both hands, centered with his body mass and balanced with unconscious precision to each shift in his weight. Murphy stepped closer to Daniel, his sword angling slightly upward with every step he took. Finally, Daniel struck. Broadsword high, he attacked Murphy at the shoulder of his dominant arm. Murphy pulled his sword up to counter, then forced the base outward and ducked and rolled, finally managing to force Daniel's sword up above his head and away from his body. As he regained his footing, Murphy pulled up his sword, base over tip, to counter any blows Daniel could make to his left side. The clang of metal on metal as Daniel did just that jarred both their swords, but Murphy kept a handle on his blade this time.

Daniel smiled as Murphy looked up at him, then he slowly released the pressure of his sword. Murphy did the same until they both dropped their weapons to casual positions by their sides.

"Good work," Daniel praised, watching Murphy duck his head in pleasure at the spare compliment.

Clapping off to Daniel's right caused both men to turn. "Terrific job, Henry," Gwyneth Llewelyn, Murphy's former Watcher, beamed at her lover.

Daniel turned back to look at Murphy, who was both flushed and smiling with the praise now. "Gwyn," Murphy spoke quietly, his pleasure at seeing her shining through the single syllable.

Gwyn looked at Daniel for permission to approach and Daniel nodded. He and Gwyneth still didn't have the best relationship, but she respected and appreciated his teaching of Murphy, and Daniel respected and appreciated their love for one another.

"You looked magnificent out here," Gwyneth smiled gently at Murphy and quickly ran her thumb along his sweat soaked jaw.

"You shouldn't do that," Murphy's large hand redirected Gwyn's smaller one from his face. "I'll get you all dirty."

She grinned. "I don't mind getting dirty with you."

Murphy grinned back, then blushed, looking up at Daniel. "Samuel," he said to his teacher.

"Go ahead," Daniel smiled at their enthusiasm for each other. "Normally I'd make you work until you could perform the combination several times, but it helps to have the proper motivation. I'll see you again at tomorrow evening's session."

Murphy paused, as if he were going to say something, then simply nodded. "Thank you for the session, Teacher," he said as he did every time when he and Daniel concluded a lesson. Then he slipped the glowing green pendant Daniel gave him before each session off his body and back into Daniel's hands. The pendant only had enough power at any given time to protect the wearer for forty-eight hours. Murphy knew the pendant offered protection, but he didn't know that it was only for a limited time because he'd never tested it, never tested Daniel again after his ill fated challenge when Daniel had spared Murphy and Gwyneth's lives.

Daniel nodded. "You're welcome," he said, as always. It was the only thing he could ever think to say once the pendant was back in his hands.

Daniel watched as Gwyneth and Murphy walked hand in hand out of their practice warehouse. He waited, like he did each time, for them to be out of sight before he went into the warehouse office and shut the door. Two clicks of his transporter later and he was back at the Abu Simbel rescue, back in his tent in the middle of the night.

It looked as though he hadn't been missed this time¸ but Daniel knew it was only a matter of time before he was caught coming or going. Moreover, this was not the best way to teach his student of a bare three and a half years—seeing him for only a couple hours every evening. He had to bring Murphy here, to Egypt, but could he really trust the other Immortal during such a delicate time? Daniel rubbed his forehead in his hand.

Truthfully, Daniel trusted Murphy around his parents, and it wasn't as though his parents were without protection either. They each had a lifesigns detector under their skin that would become a shield if necessary. The problem was that the baby inside his mother—the baby who was most certainly not going to become immortal—was also most certainly not Daniel as Daniel didn't share any DNA with either Melbourne or Claire Jackson while this baby did.

So where had Daniel himself come from? There was so much that no one knew about the Game, about Immortals, so many answers that Daniel actually had a chance of figuring out in six months when he was supposedly going to be born. That was the real danger of Murphy being in Egypt—not that Murphy could or would be a threat to Daniel's parents or even to the child his mother would bear—but that he could be a threat to Daniel figuring out the mystery of where they all came from.

Discovering the origins of Immortals was too important to risk for the sake of one man wasn't it? Daniel sighed. Five thousand years ago, he'd have argued the exact opposite point to Jack, but Jack wasn't here to argue with now. Daniel walked to his desk, fingers twitching above his stationary. Finally, he gave in and sat down. He wasn't sure what he was going to write until the words flowed from the pen, asking his good friend Michael Hallis to please see to the travel arrangements of his assistant, Henry Murphy, and Murphy's wife, Gwyneth.

Daniel laid the pen beside the paper, folded the missive into an envelope and sealed it before he could change his mind. Now he could only trust the gut of the man he used to be while he waited for Murphy to arrive.

TBC