Hello to everyone! Well, here it is, one of the last slow(ish), but necessary, chapters I hope! This has been an amazing journey for me and I hope you are all enjoying this story. I've been working on this for quite some time. I look to have several (like 5 maybe?) more chapters up by next weeked, I just have to connect a few dots : ).
I appreciate reviews, and thank you to everyone who has already commented on the story, hugs for you all : ). Your reviews help me greatly so that I know whether or not I'm presenting this well, you guys keep me on track!
Now, back to the story...
THE MOUNTAIN
Morning light was pouring into Sam's bedroom as she tried to rub the sleep from her eyes. The smell of breakfast was drifting in the open door. She rose and pulled on a robe and headed towards the kitchen.
"Morning."
"Morning," she replied with a yawn.
"Sleep well?" Jack turned around from the stove with a skillet in one hand and a spatula in the other and began to divide the scrambled eggs between two plates that already had sausage and toast on them.
"I always sleep good when I'm with you."
"Even with the snoring?" Jack smiled as he handed her a plate.
"Even with the snoring. Of course I already put up with that for seven years of missions so…" Sam was now seated across the kitchen table from him.
"So what's the plan?"
"Well my flight is in about an hour and a half. Daniel's going to meet me at the SGC to talk about something, I honestly wasn't paying attention to, and then I'll be at the midway station sometime early tomorrow morning." Sam got out in between bites.
"Sounds like, a plan. Oh, I uh, put your bags in the hall already. They seem to have multiplied by like a honkin' amount by the way."
"Oh, they're not all mine." Sam said unconcerned.
"Not all yours?" Jack looked up slightly apprehensive.
Catching his glance Sam quickly explained. "No, they're for that girl I was telling you about the other day. Before you got back the other day I did a little shopping and got her some cloths so she doesn't have to wear BDU's or baggy hand me downs. I thought they may help her feel more at home."
"Lizzie, right?"
"Yeah, you were listening!"
He got up and placed a kiss on top of her head, "It happens occasionally." Jack said walking to put their now empty dishes in the dishwasher. "Which reminds me…" He now walked out of the kitchen and down the hall, returning swiftly with a book in his hand which he handed to Sam as she stood up.
"What is this?" She was looking intently at the glossy book he had just handed her.
"Well, you said she can't talk…so I figured that maybe she could use that." Jack said nonchalantly.
"It's a sign language book. Jack that is really sweet! When did you have time to get this?"
"It's not 'sweet' Carter, it's….thoughtful at most. And I had my secretary get it for me yesterday before I came home." Jack was trying hard to take away from the gesture.
"Well, I'm sure this will help a lot. I can't believe I didn't think of it myself…" Carter added the last bit to get a reaction.
"You know, I think I'm starting to wear off on you. That could be dangerous, for the world." He couldn't help but grin as her face lit up with a smile.
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"Well, there is definitely a change," Dr. Keller stated as she reviewed her tablet computer and her newest scans of Lizzie. The patient lay sleeping in a hospital bed near by, exhausted from the day's activities.
"What kind of change, Doctor?" Shepherd asked efficiently.
"Well, not one I expected. You see, I thought when you first described what happened that she had begun to have some memory replay; perhaps that her body kinesthetics were becoming somehow uncovered in her subconscious. But the brain scans I did aren't what showed the change that I believe accounts for her sudden….athletic talent."
"Which scans do then?" Ronan enquired.
"Well, her brain scans do show an increase in synapse response and firing time, which is good. But there's still no significant increase in the majority of the areas that we would like to see it. Memories and vocal formation are still going to be a problem…" She paused when she saw the look from Ronan that told her she had rambled off topic from his question. "In my opinion the scans that account for her reaction when she was sparing with Colonel Shepherd are her full body scans that I did with the Ancient diagnostic equipment."
"What would body scans have to do with her fighting skills Dr. Keller? I understand that it is the body that acts, but is it not the mind that controls these actions?" Teyla was presenting a question that they all were wondering about.
"Yeah, definitely. But like I said earlier, there are some things in her mind that are still available, and I think that these 'skills' may be part of them, like the work she's been doing with Dr. McKay. The body scans however, show why she is just now using them if they are memories. Come look at this." She led them over to one of the larger display screens and pulled up two separate x-ray-like images. "You see this scan here? It shows Lizzie's physical state when you brought her back initially. This scan however," she indicated the newer image, "Is the one we just took. It shows an astonishing change in her body composition. She was fairly healthy when you brought her here, but now she's in even better shape. Muscle tone is more highly developed. And these scans indicate that her strength is…strong."
"Strong?" Rodney asked with a slight attitude.
"According to this she probably has the strength to beat you up." Keller replied with a quip.
"Well pretty much anyone could do that Doc," Ronan added.
"Ha ha, very funny."
"Look, basically what I'm saying is that her body seems to have gained physical strength without the normal human requirements. A change like this would usually require months of physical conditioning and training. But we've seen her go from scared and defenseless, to scared and possibly capable for her size. I recommend that you all continue her physical training as well as mental exercises."
"I think we can handle that." And with that the team began filing by the hospital bed that held their sleeping friend on their way out.
"Colonel." Dr. Keller grabbed his attention before he could leave Lizzie's bedside. "There is one more thing I would like to discuss with you, something that is purely opinion but I would prefer not to share it in front of the others."
"Sure."
"OK, let's see, how do I say this."
"Just spit it out Doctor."
"I have a suspicion that she may have been a prisoner for an extensive period of time." The words shot out from Keller's mouth so quickly that it took John a minute to process them.
"What led you to that idea?"
"Well basically the scan results. If her natural physical state was normally what it is now, or something close to it, then there aren't many more explanations for why she wasn't at this level when you found her. Extended imprisonment that restricted her movement and or activities would account for a decrease in muscle tone. There is one other theory that I've come up with as well, but it wouldn't explain how she got on that planet with the Bola Kai," with this memory she cringed, "of course I can't see why they would have kept her alive for that long, they tend to be bigger fans of killing than keeping."
"What is your other theory?"
"A comma."
"How is that?"
"People who suffer from a comatose state for an extended period of time lose muscle tone. That would explain her physical change, sort of. And more importantly, there are often cases of memory loss, sometimes severe."
"Well that one sounds more plausible; if it weren't for the how we found her part. I guess that's why you went with the 'prisoner' theory first?"
"Not exactly."
Shepherd just looked at her.
"Her reaction to the fight, it just seemed to be like she was traumatized by something violent, and subconsciously that may be why she ran off. For that matter the damage to her windpipe could have even been some form of torture." Keller looked at Shepherd and saw him staring down at the girl lying peacefully sleeping on the infirmary cot, hand curled closely to her face. "I'm sorry; I just thought it would be better if you knew what some of the possibilities were." And with that Dr. Keller walked away with a solemn look on her face.
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Deep within Cheyenne Mountain, Daniel Jackson sat at a desk covered in ancient artifacts. Papers were strewn all about with a strange sense of organization. In front of the archeologist were several pictures of a chiseled writing, and in his hand was a book on ancient Greek.
"Hey, Daniel." A familiar female voice called out from the doorway of his lab.
"Sam!" Daniel was up out of his seat in a flash, quickly hugging his friend in a bear grip.
"Wow, I haven't been gone that long have I?" Sam laughed as he pulled away, book still in hand.
"Compared to how much time we spent together before D.C. and Atlantis, it sure seems like it."
"I guess you have a point there." Sam said with a slightly saddened smile. It had been a long time since she had actually been in the same room with her friend. The majority of their communications had been made through e-mails and the occasional phone call for the last year or so. In fact, it was one of Daniel's e-mail's that had Sam in his lab at that very moment.
Trying to change the subject Daniel started again, "So…how's Jack?"
"He's, Jack. How's…Vala?"
"She's Vala." Daniel said quickly. "Well, I know you have to leave soon, so why don't we get done with this and then we can talk over dinner before you go?"
"Sounds good to me," Sam said slightly laughing at his attempt to change the subject that Cameron Mitchell had let her onto a few months previously.
Daniel worked his way back to his desk and Carter pulled up a seat close by.
"You see these pictures here?" Daniel pulled up the images that were scattered on his desk. "These were taken at a dig in Greece a few months ago. The writing as you can see is a rather odd mixture. The majority is in some sort of derivation of ancient Greek, but there are scattered bits of Ancient mixed in with it. That's why they called me. The Air Force had a heck of a time keeping some of the archeologists quiet, but let's just say they were eventually convinced that it was for the best. I sent a team out to take some expanded research around the area and what they found was basically why I contacted you."
"The gate address?"
"Yes. Well at least partially. You see the address was in Ancient and it was seven symbols. We tried it by trading out the last with Earth's and it didn't work. We decided then that it would be easier for you to send out a team when we determined that it was in the Pegasus galaxy."
"Wait a minute. You're telling me that there was an address for a planet in the Pegasus galaxy…on Earth?"
"Yeah…"
"Daniel that doesn't make any sense, the Ancients were trying to keep the city hidden, why would they leave a clue as to where the vicinity of the city was that just anyone could read?"
"Well, that's why I wanted to talk to you in person."
"Do tell."
"I think it was the 'just anyone' who wrote this. You see I had a carbonating test done to be sure, but this writing was done AFTER the Ancients had already abandoned the city. And I'm also pretty sure that it wasn't the Ancients who returned who wrote it either."
Carter's eyes were beginning to glaze over. "Daniel, are you trying to confuse me or what?"
Daniel blinked hard and pushed his glasses further up his nose. She really had been around Jack too long. "Well first of all, aside from Greek and Ancient there are also a few other languages which we haven't deciphered and a little Goa'uld for flavor."
"Goa'uld?!" Shock covered Carter's face. "Are you trying to tell me that they're may be Goa'uld in the Pegasus Galaxy?"
"I'm trying to tell you that there is a possibility of that. But at the same time, it could be some sort of safe haven from the Goa'uld, or…quite honestly I just don't know Sam. This is making less sense than just about anything we've found, on Earth or otherwise. What makes this little mingling of languages even more confusing is what they say." Daniel shifted through some more of the papers to pull out what parts had been translated. "In simplest terms these walls that we found talk about a source of power that was, 'left to be found by those who need it most. It raised the great mountain to the ground and bestowed power to the rightful owners of Earth.' At least that's what I think it says. I'm having to do a little filling in the blanks work here, and this is just one part of everything. The rest of it talks about finding the power and how it would not be found until the future called upon it."
"Wow, someone was being vague."
"Seems that way."
"So, anything else to go on with this?"
"Not really, just thought I'd let you know and ask what your team found."
"Well, I sent my head team under Colonel Shepherd, and they didn't find anything that fits that description. All we got out of it was a lovely encounter with some people known as the Bola Kai who make some of our old enemies seem tame, and a new member of the Atlantis population."
"New member?"
"Yeah, sweet little girl. Well, not that little actually, the doctor thinks she's in her early twenties, but she can't remember anything past Shepherd's team finding her."
"Odd."
"Very. But hey, what isn't in our line of work?"
"Good point." Daniel smiled thinking about all of the amazing adventures that he and his friends had shared over the years. Even with all the danger it had been the best time of his life, and he missed it. Then he started thinking again. "So, was she a native of the planet?"
"No. We think she may have been kidnapped or something, there were no other signs of human life on the planet, and the Bola Kai seem to have just happened onto it by accident. There weren't even any ruins and from what I'm to gather the archeologists I sent after the Bola Kai were gone didn't seem to be able to find anything either."
"You don't think that she knows anything about this do you?"
"Who, Lizzie?!"
"Lizzie?"
"Rodney and John named her after Dr. Weir."
"Oh." Daniel had liked Dr. Weir. Her name made him recall hearing the news of her presumed death and he was gloomy once again. Then snapping back he continued. "Well that was nice of them. Anyways, I have a few theories as to what some of this could be referring to, and it's not necessarily all good."
"OK..."
"It talks about raising a mountain, and because we are talking about Greece, there are tons of those. However, it says, 'the great mountain' and that says to me Olympus. The mythological residing place of the gods. So, I'm thinking this 'power' may have had something to do with the fall of the Goa'uld lords who were here last. We've suspected that there were still Goa'uld on Earth even after the gate was buried, so this may have been what finally made them leave…"
"Cool."
"Very. Except for one thing."
"What would that be?"
"Well, this passage about restoring power…if the destruction of the mountain wasn't the destruction of Olympus, seeing as it is still there and in one piece…then this power could have been an attempt to take Earth, and not in a good way."
"I see. So you think that this 'power' is possibly some kind of weapon? One that may have been used to either destroy the last Goa'uld stronghold on Earth or fortify it?"
"Yeah, basically…of course we know there are worse powers out there than the Goa'uld…"
"So basically we are right back where we started?"
"Not exactly. We do know that someone on Earth about 2,000 years ago knew about the Pegasus Galaxy, and possibly had the capability of getting there without using the Atlantis gate."
"That's kind of scary."
"Very."
