The Immortal Spacemonkey
Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate or Highlander. If I did, I wouldn't work in the public school system. Any characters from either show what you many recognize belong to their respective owners. Any characters that you don't recognize belong to me. I promise to return the borrowed character once I am done with them, though they will be a bit scuffed.
Warning: Potty language and violence
Chapter 11
SG-1 and 6 was surrounded, thoroughly searched for weapons (Daniel's and Jack's holdout weapons were found and confiscated – these were not simple, superstitious villagers), and quickly taken before the local magistrate, located in a near-by governmental building.
The magistrate, despite the late (or early - depending on how one looked at it) hour, was dressed resplendently, as befitting his office. A fine linen tunic bleached white as the snow, draped his tall, thin figure. Over the tunic was a simple yet elegant royal purple robe. His thinning gray hair was cropped short. His dark, piercing eyes that stared out from his lined, weather beaten face, was set off by the gold seal of Janus on his forehead.
"Who are you and why have you come? Are you agents of the ones who defy our gods? We have been warned about strangers coming through the Chappa'ai, ones who seek to destroy our god," he barked in a powerful, but low voice.
Jack, Teal'c and Daniel looked at each other, recognizing the language that the man spoke was Latin, with Goa'uld influence. Jack and Teal'c learned Latin when they had been caught in the time-loop fiasco. Daniel had learned the language God only knew when. Sam, Harris, and Abbott, having no knowledge of the language, stood there and looked pissed.
"We are peaceful travelers, seeking alliances and friendship with other cultures. We are also looking for a friend of ours who disappeared. We are worried about her and would like to know what has become of her," Daniel said, assuming his role as the meet and greeter of the group.
"They and several others came through the Chappa'ai," a guard spoke up. From what Daniel could see of the man, he assumed that he was a captain of the Legion and a follower of Janus due to the emblematic tattoo of a gate on is forehead. "We have the other human already in custody. The sensors sounded when they walked through the Great Pool. We'll capture the others shortly."
"We have been told about you of the Tau'ri," the robed man said. "Yes, we know who you are. They say they seek peaceful relations, but we know better. They deny their gods. This one," he gestured towards Teal'c, "is the legendary Shol'vah. The great Janus will be pleased when he learns that we have captured the meddlesome Tau'ri, those that defied Apophis and Ra."
"Apophis and Ra are no gods," said Teal'c. "You are a fool and a disgrace to the Jaffa people for helping the Goa'uld to enslave our brothers and sisters.'
"Oh yes, didn't you get the memo? They're dead. We killed your so-called gods," Jack laughed, being his usual witty self.
Daniel smiled sarcastically. "So sorry, wait, no I'm not." Despite their differences, Jack and Daniel easily fell into their familiar pattern of banter with each other and baiting the Goa'uld.
"Blasphemy! Throw them in with the entertainment. Let their lives end in some sort of meaningful way," Janus' First Prime spat.
"Why does that make me feel not good?" Jack asked, as they were hauled away.
"What just happened?" Carter asked, not understanding a word just spoke. However, she understood, by the tone the Go'uld used, that they were in trouble.
"I have a bad feeling about this," Teal'c muttered, quoting a line from his favorite movie.
SG1SG1SG1SG1SG1
"Daniel, what the hell?" Jack asked after they had been locked in a jail-like structure located not far from the Coliseum. He wasn't too worried about SG-3 being caught. They were in close proximity to the Gate and knew that if the situation got too tenuous, they were to return to the SGC. They might be Marines, but they were far from being dumb.
"This doesn't look good Jack," Daniel said, sitting down on a wooden bench.
"What about Miller?" Carter asked, concerned for the woman.
"I'm here," she called from a dark corner. "Apparently we are going to be center stage tomorrow over in the Coliseum."
Miller stood up and joined the members of SG-1 and SG-6. She looked okay, though she was worn out, sporting a black eye and a split lip. She had put up a good fight when she had been captured.
"Somebody speaks English here?" Carter asked.
Miller shook her head. "No ma'am. I grew up in a traditional Catholic family and we went to a Latin Mass every Sunday. I never though that it would help me outside of church and in Latin class in high school. Plus the basic Goa'uld class of Dr. Jackson helped some."
"Are you talking gladiator type fights?" Daniel asked, paling slightly. He remembered seeing some of the fights while he was in Rome, centuries ago. He had not liked them then; he liked them even less now.
Miller nodded solemnly.
"Crap," SG-1 said in unison.
"Danny? Anything else you'd like to tell us?" Jack asked as stood over the archeologist's seated form.
"I hate spinach, I forgot to vote in the last election back home, and my feet hurt," he quipped.
"No smart ass. I mean about this pseudo-Roman society that wants to feed us to the lions," Jack snapped.
"Well, if they follow Roman tradition, we'll be marched out into the arena in the afternoon. Our deaths will be the entertainment for the day. There should be tunnels that will take us from this prison to the Coliseum, they'll arm us, and we'll go out to the center, face the local ruler, salute and fight. And if we're really lucky, Janus will make an appearance to witness our deaths."
"Are they expecting us to fight each other?" Teal'c asked his face impassive.
Daniel shrugged. "Gladiators fought gladiators, but I can't see them expecting us to fight each other. I am sure they understand how morale would be affected if they had compatriots fight one another. It'd probably affect ticket prices," he said sarcastically.
"What about this January guy? Know anything useful about him? Either of you," Jack asked Daniel and Teal'c.
"Very little O'Neill. From what I know, he was a peripheral figure among the System Lords," Teal'c growled.
"It's Janus, Jack. He's the two faced god of doors, gates, beginnings, and doorways, thus explaining the gate symbol on the Jaffas' foreheads. There was a special gate on Earth in the Forum called the gate of Janus Geminius. The gates always were open during times of war to welcome the army back and," Daniel began but was cut off.
Jack hissed and began to rub his temples. "That's too much info at once Danny! You're making my brain hurt. Let's get some sleep for now. Tomorrow, we'll see what we'll face in the arena tomorrow. Maybe they'll give us something we can work with," he said out loud. Inside he was screaming that they, possibly excluding Daniel, were truly and completely fucked.
A/N: Well? What do you think? Be a pal and hit the shiny review button and let me know.
Also, thank you for reading my stuff it. Also, thank you to those of you that have put me on your alert and favorites lists. That is incredibly kind of you to do so and is very much appreciated.
The stuff on Janus came from A History of Civilization by Winks, Brinton, Christopher, and Wolff and a site about mythology (can't remember which one).
