One of my readers (thank you Cort 85!) pointed out that my last chapter was similar to the story The Guardian, by Bixata. I read that fantastic story a couple of years ago but certainly was not meaning to steal the idea – it was probably stuck in my subconscious somewhere. I'd just like to say what a great story that was (and a great Stargate SG1 writer!). Any similarity was purely coincidental although I can also say that in this case, imitation is definitely a very sincere form of flattery!
I've had a request to bring back the super smart Sam who solves impossible problems – so SamDanfan – I am bringing her back!
Reviews please! I'd really like to hear from you if you are enjoying the story – or if you'd like to see something different or something new explored in this story. I've had some great suggestions. Thanks to those who read, review and add me to their story alert!
"Have you checked this one out Daniel?" Sam asked, holding up a large book with a torn front cover.
Daniel looked up and squinting, replied, "Yeah, I think so. It was a history of the villages around here but didn't seem to have anything pertinent. I think most of it was a record of some of the families in the area."
"Well, how about this one?" Sam held up another dusty book.
"That's a book on "Modern Farming Techniques" or "How to Get Your Ass to Move". Sam I've looked through almost every book in this bloody library and I can't find anything. I've found one or two small allusions to 'the ancestors' – but it doesn't go into any detail and certainly doesn't speak about any weapon. I sometimes wonder if it was just a myth all along." Daniel wearily rubbed his hand through his hair.
"No! I won't believe that Daniel. Pere said the aliens told him they had found the weapon. Why would they say that if it weren't true? They must have found something."
"Maybe they did, but I don't think we're going to find it in here. I can keep going but I don't think it's any use. Maybe we should try something else."
"What? What else can we try Daniel? We're stuck in this place. I spend half my days cleaning and cooking for God sake and then the rest of the time going through old books. There must be something here. We are not giving up. Jack wouldn't give up on us! We will find something. What if we go over everything again?"
"We've gone over everything dozens of times. What else is there Sam? There has to come a point when we look at something else. I'm not giving up– I just don't think we're going to find the answers here."
Sighing heavily Sam sat and rested her head in her hands. She just knew the solution was there somewhere. There was some part of her – her mind or her intuition or some sixth sense – that would begin to buzz when she was faced with an impossible task. It was nothing she had ever told anyone, but ever since she was a child she had had this unusual ability to sense when a solution was tantalizingly close. She could feel that now. She knew the answer was there, just how to find it?
"Daniel, please. Just once more. Let's go through everything. It can't hurt."
Looking up at Sam, he saw the woman he had known, and called friend for so many years. She was dressed in the drab brown clothes of a slave and her hair was much longer than it had been. For weeks now, she had looked tired and depressed – much the same as he felt. Unexpectedly, however, he could see something different about her - he could see the spark that suddenly appeared in her eyes. Knowing that look from other times and places, he suddenly sat up straighter. For the first time in months he felt like maybe there was some hope, some solution– and that Sam might just pull it out of her …. uh, ear – as Jack would say!
"All right – once more – let's do it."
So, for the next few hours, well into the night, the two teammates went over every piece of information they had gleaned – or gathered – in the last four and a half months. Anything, even remotely unusual, was noted and discussed. They still did not seem any closer to finding the answer.
"Daniel – you said that the one book was about local families? Was there anything unusual about any of them? Did it speak of anything that may have happened that was different or out of the ordinary?"
"I don't think so", Daniel replied, a frown on his face as he tried to remember. "It was mostly about alliances and intermarriage – people gaining power or wealth by joining with other families, etc. There were also a couple of stories of young people who ran off together in spite of opposition. You know – the 'Romeo and Juliet' kind of thing. There was even some discussion of a 'crazy uncle' – I guess even families on alien planets have them", he laughed.
The two grew quiet, both thinking, until, abruptly, Sam sat up.
"Daniel – what do you mean by 'crazy uncle'?"
"Oh, I don't know – they talked about this man – uh Doroban, I think his name was, who used to wander around a lot, I guess spending most of his days in the forest. The author wrote of how he'd tell crazy stories of 'magical lights dancing in the sky'. In the end he could no longer even speak – he simply babbled 'nonsense'. It may have been a form of dementia. Eventually he disappeared. They figured he was killed by wild animals or something."
"Daniel – what if he wasn't crazy? What if he really did see lights?"
"I think that's reaching, Sam – and what about the 'babbling' – sounds like he really was crazy."
"Think about it – who do we know who lost the ability to communicate – and who began to speak in a way that, to anyone not familiar to other languages, would sound like 'babbling'?"
Daniel just looked at her until, his eyes getting big, he jumped up.
"Oh my God – why didn't I see it? You're talking about the Ancient repository of knowledge. You think this man came across something from the Ancients? That he found something and accessed it? The lights – you remember the planet we found Dr. Littlefield on – the lights? That could be it."
Standing up Daniel looked around until he found the book Sam had thrown down. Opening it he quickly looked through it until he found the part about 'Doroban'.
"Here it is. "The family worried about Doroban. He refused to work and barely slept, returning each day to the forest by Azra's field. He claimed he had found magic 'behind the curtain' although he would not tell us where that was. The whole village mourned for this man who had once been a leader in the village, his ancestors having been the founders of our world!" God, that's it! He must have had the Ancient gene."
"What else does it say?"
"It goes on to say that "one day he returned, claiming to have seen magic lights dancing in the sky. We knew then that he was lost to us. From that day forward he began to babble with strange sounds. He left, never to return, probably torn apart by wild animals."
"So if we're right, and Doroban discovered something from the Ancients, that means the Furllings really did find a weapon – or at least something important. All we have to do is find Azra's field and this 'curtain' they speak of. What in hell could that be?"
"I don't know Daniel – and right now I'm too tired to think anymore. Tomorrow evening, when everyone's in bed, let's come back and see if we can figure it out." Standing up to leave Sam suddenly turned around and hugged Daniel.
"We're going to do it! I just know it. We'll get out of here and we'll get Jack and go home."
Daniel gave her a fierce hug back. "Yes we will. We're gonna do it Sam!"
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"Still no luck, O'Neill, Arman?" Adia asked the two men as they returned from another 'hunting' trip.
"We were able to bring back game – but did not find anything else. I begin to think it was a legend and there is nothing there." answered Arman as he laid down his pack.
"There is still much of the forest we have not traveled", interjected O'Neill. The big man was convinced that they would find something that would help in their fight against Frotush.
"Tell Adia what we did find O'Neill", the smaller man said with a grin. "I bet she'll like it."
O'Neill nodded his head and turned to Adia. "We found a pool hidden well in the forest with a waterfall. The water looked very clean and it was a secluded spot – good for bathing."
Arman was still grinning and turned to Adia. "It looks like a great place to go swimming! I thought that one day, when the weather is warmer, we could take some of the children down and have a picnic. We all need a bit of a holiday and it's beautiful. It doesn't look like anyone's been there for years."
"Sounds nice! Now why don't you two get cleaned up? We'll be eating soon."
As he walked outside to wash and change his shirt, O'Neill thought about his life with these people. He had been welcomed by them – and made to feel at home. As much as he appreciated this, he knew he really didn't belong here. He knew he had a purpose in life – one outside of helping these people – if only he could remember.
The visions or pictures in his mind were almost constant now – anytime he wasn't concentrating on something else. Just lately, he had begun to hear voices, conversations – that accompanied these visions. One voice, more than any other, intruded on his thoughts. It was the voice of a man – a leader – he thought, in fact, it might be his leader – although he wasn't quite sure what that even meant.
Today, as he lowered his head and poured water over himself to rinse off the sweat, a name popped into his mind – a name spoken by this man. The name sounded like 'Teelk'. Who it was, he didn't know – but it sounded very familiar. He stood completely still for a moment, trying to capture the scene in is mind and make sense of it. In the vision this man was looking right at him – and was saying this name – Teelk.
He looked up, his eyes glazed as if looking far into the distance. Very quietly he spoke one word. "O'Neill'.
With a deep breath he returned to the present. Putting on his shirt, he turned and walked back into the house. Arman and Adia were both seated at the table, talking quietly. As he entered they both looked up and realized that something had happened to their friend.
"What is it O'Neill? What is wrong?"
"No, not O'Neill."
"What? What do you mean?", asked Arman.
"I am not O'Neill. I just saw – that is not my name. That is the name of a friend, a brother. I am called Teal'c." He didn't know how, but suddenly his name had come back to him – and it felt right. He knew that O'Neill was an important name, but it was not his.
"You remember? It has come back to you", Adia said in wonder.
"Only a small bit. I see people, scenes – and sometimes what they are saying. I don't know if more will come back or not – but I know I am not O'Neill – I am Teal'c."
"Well …. uh Teal'c – it's going to be hard to remember that but we'll try. Don't get mad if we sometimes make a mistake. We have thought of you as O'Neill for a long time."
"I understand, and I will not 'get mad'. I believe it is the name of someone whom I honor. I also believe that he was with me before I was injured. Soon, I will have to find him."
"You think he was with you? So, you were not alone when you came to Lyconia? Was it just you and O'Neill?"
"I do not believe so. I seem to remember a younger man and a woman although I do not know their names. The young man had something on his face, in front of his eyes – I believe so he could see."
At that, both Arman and Adia looked at each other in shock. Teal'c, noticing the look, immediately questioned them.
"What is it? You know something. Please tell me."
"Well – a couple of weeks ago we heard some news from Lyconia. The report was of three travelers who were captured by Frotush."
Arman had a small network of 'spies' in various villages, who would feed him information. They were usually the relatives of some of the people who had escaped to the forest. He didn't often check in with them – knowing how dangerous that could be – but did get the odd report every few months.
"Three?"
"Yes, there was an older, gray haired man, a young man with some kind of device on his face, and a tall, fair-haired woman."
"Yes, they sound like the people in my vision. But if they only mentioned three then maybe I was not with them."
"That could be – or maybe you were separated from them before they were captured."
"That is possible. Please, tell me what happened to them."
"Well, according to the report, they disobeyed Frotush' orders and were captured. I have a feeling that it was a set up, however. Frotush is terrified of strangers. I think he's worried that friends of the visitors he killed will one day return. I expect he engineered something to get rid of them."
"Did he have them killed?"
"No, if anything what he did was worse – at least as far as the older man was concerned."
"O'Neill!"
"Is that his name? Well then, yes. Frotush declared him Nogratia and had him taken to the place all Nogratia are kept. The others he had sold as slaves."
At these words Teal'c felt as if something had pierced his heart. He was filled with sorrow – and with the need to find these people – especially the one called O'Neill. Looking up at his two new friends he gave a small smile, which did not reach his eyes.
"We must find what we seek and we will rescue O'Neill and your sister – and all those imprisoned by Frotush – and then we will kill him.
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Jack had slowly made his way as far as he could, each day, mapping out the area outside of the caves. Still very weak, one of the two women would try and convince him to stay in – but he knew he had to work on escaping. He could not survive long in this place.
Although he now traveled mostly alone on his daily jaunts, the first time he had tried to leave without the children, they had raised a tremendous uproar – both of them practically hysterical with fear.
Stupid, O'Neill thought to himself. Of course they were going to be frightened! He was their world, their security in this place. After loosing their mother, they were not about to lose another person! So, for the first few times, he took them with him. It wasn't too bad, as he was only going very short distances outside the cave. As he began to increase the distance, however, he didn't want to take the children. He wasn't sure how safe they would be.
Fortunately, by that time, the children seemed to understand what he was doing – and that he would come back – so they would let him go without too much problem. According to Fulanna, however, the two would spend the whole time he was gone carefully watching the entrance to the cave.
So far, he had seen nothing in his daily travels that looked like an escape route. The cliffs around them were sheer and impossible to climb. The only accessible areas were the valley floor and the area immediately surrounding the caves. He had tried to speak with some of the others who lived there (he refused to refer to them as Nogratia) but got nowhere. He didn't know if it was just him or what, but no one seemed to want to speak with him and he certainly didn't see much interaction going on.
After about the second week of his 'travel's he felt he had a pretty good, basic idea of the area. Going out by way of the guardhouse was impossible. They had the fissure and tunnel well guarded and they could easily pick off someone trying to escape. So, if that wouldn't work he'd have to find some other exit. He didn't believe that there wasn't some other way of getting out of this valley. It was a natural valley, not man-made – and he figured that there had to be be something, somewhere.
It was raining today so he sat in the cave playing games with the children. Some of his time had been spent making simple toys with the little wood and rags they had scrounged up. Hannah loved the little doll he had made from rags – carrying it with her everywhere. He'd made a simple truck for Jon, who also loved his toy. It was ironic really, as there were no such things on this planet. Oh well, he could pretend it was a wagon without the oxen.
After his daily walks, Jack would spend the rest of his days in the cave with the children. The extreme malnourishment which he suffered meant he had little energy for anything – a situation which worried him greatly. For one thing, he was concerned that he wouldn't have the stamina for an escape. The other thing was that he was not able to do anything to supplemement their supplies. Many of the men would work in the small mine that was a few kilometers from their camp or they would help the guards with any kind of physical labor needed, like moving supplies or repairing the guardhouse. Jack knew he could do none of those things.
They were in luck in that Fulanna was still nursing some of the guards who had had a rough winter so she was able to get some supplies – but that might soon end. Jack knew his time was short and that he had to get out of here before they all starved.
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"Daniel, Maya and I are going to the village centre to get some groceries. Brotius will take us. I'll be back a little later."
"Okay Sam", Daniel waved distractedly as he carefully perused one of Pere Frotush' books. "Be careful".
"I will Daniel, don't worry. See if you can find anything else and we'll talk tonight."
"Okay"
Both of them were excited by their discovery of last night and were anxious to get going. Daniel had debated whether or not to say anything to Pere – knowing the man would be ecstatic – but decided not to.
Pere Frotush was an interesting man. Not a bad man, it was true he treated his slaves quite well – but he still had them, thought Daniel. He had actually had many discussions with the old school teacher about slavery – but Pere continually justified himself.
Daniel had been right when he said that Pere Frotush had lost his sense of morality. He was interested in discovery and finding the answer that had escaped him for so many years – not really to right a wrong, but more as an academic exercise.
Daniel had tried, really he had, to get the man to understand what he was doing – and to get him to set an example by freeing his slaves. It's interesting, he thought, how quickly principles go out the door when personal convenience and greed enter in.
So, for now, he kept what they had figured out to himself. They would have to convince Pere to take them along to find the weapon – but that wasn't for a while yet!
Sam and Maya spent a pleasant morning shopping in the market for fresh fruits and vegetables. Maya had taken over the main responsibilities for cooking and the house, freeing Sam up to pursue solutions to their present situation. She still had spent quite a bit of time in the kitchen – learning to cook some delicious meals.
Jack would never believe this, she thought to herself! I'll have to show him that I can cook. A part of her wondered if she would ever have the chance, but she quashed that thought down almost as soon as it arose.
So, here she was, out shopping – when he was probably living in hell.
Just as that thought entered her mind, she heard a commotion over to one side of the square. Looking up, she saw a young girl being stripped and tied to a post.
"What is happening?", she asked Brotius. "What are they doing to her?"
"Come, we must leave. We must go home." Herding the two women in front of him the slave tried to get them out of the square, althought it was made difficult by the crowds straining to see what was happening.
"No, Brotius, what's going on?" Sam asked again, stopping and turning to look.
"She is being made Nogratia. She must be evil."
"Evil! What evil could she have done? She looks no more than 15 or 16."
"You must not talk about it. We must go or there will be trouble."
"No! We have to do something. Won't anyone help her." Sam was becoming angry – angry aat these people who let this happen. She turned and moved towards the girl.
"Stop it! What are you doing? She is just a girl. Let her go."
"No, Sam – stop. Please, don't do this. They will take you", cried Maya.
Just then the guards who were holding the young girl saw the crowd move aside. They then noticed Sam moving toward them.
"That is the woman we brought a few months back – the one who had been traveling with the Nogratia." Striding quickly to Sam he grabbed her and pulled her towards the young woman. Sam instantly recognized him as Lepolo – they man who had claimed to have raped Jack.
"Not satisfied with being a slave? You want to join this Nogratia do you? Well, you've got your wish." Grabbing her arms he pulled them behind her and tied them. Sam began to fight, realizing that she had made a huge mistake and had let her anger get away from her. For months she had remained quiet and had played the part of the dutiful slave. Today, however, something snapped and she couldn't take it anymore. Unfortunately, she had picked the wrong time and place.
The second guard came to the first one's help and they quickly subdued her. Throwing her into the back of a wagon, which was sitting over to the side, they chained her ankle to a ring in the floor. They then grabbed the younger woman and threw her in as well.
"Let's go! We now have two so the guards should be happy." As the wagon headed off, Sam looked back and saw Brotius and Maya standing looking at her in dismay. She smiled slightly and shrugged, knowing that they would tell Daniel. It was now up to him.
It took an hour for them to arrive at the mountain pass where they had left Jack so many months previously. The younger woman was clearly traumatized and did little but cry and shake. Sam tried to comfort her, with little success.
After they arrived, the two women were quickly unchained and taken through the tunnel. One of the guards had groped the younger girl – who had screamed. Laughing, he let her go and leared at Sam.
If he tries to touch me, she thought, I am going to rip his balls off! Luckily for his manhood he didn't try anything but simply turned and led them through to the valley. Once there, he untied Sam's hands and shoved her down on the ground.
Walking up to her he put his boot on the side of her head and pushed, causing her face to be scraped against the rocks on the ground.
"You and I are going to get to know each other better. For now you can go – but I look forward to our next meeting." He then stepped back and kicked her in the side, then turned and walked away.
Clutching her side – sure that he had cracked a rib – she simply lay there for a few minutes. The younger woman sat on the ground beside her, crying and rocking back and forth.
"There are new arrivals Merced. We go to see who they are and if we can help."
Jack looked up at Eranna, a question on his face.
"It looks like two women and one of them appears to be hurt. I will be back."
Standing up, Jack reached over and took Eranna's arm. Motioning to himself he began to walk out of the cave.
"You don't need to come Merced. You should rest."
He turned back to her with a look of disgust on his face. He was so tired of being babied by these women. He knew they cared – but he couldn't spend the rest of his time here sitting on his ass!
"Okay fine. Come along – but don't say I didn't warn you if you over tire!"
Together, the two walked slowly down to the valley floor where he could see two women on the ground. One of them looked like she was in pain, with her arms wrapped around her stomach. The other was crying.
Jack could not understand why no one ever seemed to offer help here in this place – other than Fulanna and Eranna. It was as if the humanity had been beaten out of them.
As he limped closer to the women, something began to bother him. He could feel his heart begin to beat faster and he had trouble catching his breath. Eranna looked at him in concern, noticing something was wrong.
He looked steadily ahead, focusing on the two new arrivals.
There was something …. something about one of them that seemed familiar. Stop it Jack, he thought, you are simply imagining it! But, as he grew closer, the feeling of strangeness, of panic, grew.
He was almost upon the women when one of them looked up and, without warning, blue eyes met his. In shock, he stopped.
"Oh my God …. Jack!"