I'd just like to say that Doctor Who, like SG-1 doesn't belong to me. If, after reading this chapter, and probably the next, that still appears irrelevant... never mind.
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The Odyssey had only just reached the planet when an electronic beeping could be heard from one of the consoles. Sam turned to Marks, the Major holding his earpiece into his ear. He said, looking at her in surprise after a moment's hesitation, "Colonel Jackson... we have an incoming transmission from the planet surface... video and audio."
Jack raised his eyebrows slowly. He muttered to Sam accusingly, "I thought you said these guys weren't that advanced?"
Sam ignored the General and said with a nod to Marks, "Go ahead."
Marks nodded. Moments later the view screen was filled with the image of an austere looking dark haired man wearing a bulky sheepskin cloak. Sam stared in surprise at the image. She recognised the man as the Tuweiian Chieftain from SG-1's previous excursion into the territory. The man said, bowing to her in greeting,
"Colonel Jackson of SG-1. I am Alaric of Peuce, Chief of Tuweiia."
Sam nodded. "I know who you are."
"Yes. Indeed." He paused, looking as though he was bravely stemming a huge outpouring of grief. "I would rather that I did not have to give you bad news. The Riapean scum have seized Daniel Jackson. Colonel Mitchell, Vala Mal Doran, and Teal'c have ventured into Riapean territory to extract him." He appeared grave. "However, my spies in the territory have reported that they were ambushed by Riapean forces and killed. The whereabouts of Daniel Jackson are unknown, but he is presumed dead too. Our entire nation is in grief for the loss of such exceptional people who were working to bring peace to this land."
Sam stared at the image of the chieftain, stunned and numb. Her friends were dead. Her husband could be dead. Why? For what? She remembered where she was, who was she was meant to be and she straightened up in her seat. Determination and faith filled her once again. They couldn't be dead. There must have been a mistake. As Jack came forward to stand next to her in a silent gesture of support, she said,
"Then you won't mind us launching an investigation."
Something indescribable flitted across the Chieftain's face for the briefest of moments... something akin to fear. Jack added, his hands casually in his pockets, "Unless you've got something to hide."
Alaric hesitated before saying, sounding highly affronted, "I must protest, Sir!"
"Why ever for?"
Alaric hesitated once again, the Chieftain looking panicked for a brief moment. "I... I have not made the necessary arrangements to accept guests into my domain."
Jack waved dismissively as Sam glanced at him. "Oh, whatever you had prepared for SG-1 is enough. It's not like we'll be staying the night." As he discreetly signalled to Marks to close the communications channel, he continued, cocking his head insolently, "See ya, Aladdin."
The image of Alaric disappeared, leaving a view of the planet that the ship was orbiting. Sam looked at the General, bemused, "Sir... I mean, Jack... his name's 'Alaric'."
He snapped as she got up, "Hey, if he has clues about the whereabouts of our people, he could be called Doctor Demento for all I care." He turned around as they were about to leave the bridge, stopping her from doing so. "Now this is where I step in. You're my best bud's wife. There's a code here... chiefly me not letting you put your...self on the line, or the ass of your unborn child."
She pushed the arm that was blocking her, a pained determination in her eyes. "No, I'm going... even if it counts as insubordination. My team is down there." She pushed past him to get to the ship's armoury as he stared at her retreating figure, grumpily remarking to Marks, the bemused Major now at the General's side,
"This is why someone like Daniel should never get married... the man's contagious."
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The three remaining members of SG-1 were escorted through a lavishly decorated marble palace with shiny floors. The team was led by Riape, and they were surrounded by a band of maids, ministers and envoys, their way lit by flaming torches. Cam nudged Vala a few times when she slowed down on several occasions on spotting priceless items of jewellery and upholstery. Teal'c however regarded their surroundings with the muted albeit philosophical disdain of one who had witnessed a lifetime of rulers ensconced in luxury while their subjects perished in poverty, but was too polite to say anything unless he was provoked into doing so.
Cam muttered to the Jaffa, the Colonel's eyes caught by a colourful sculpture that looked to have been made from finely spun glass, "I don't like the suspense building up here. We'll be thinking that he's hooked up to a computer or something, and he'll turn out fine... or we'll think he's fine, and he's hooked up to something."
Teal'c looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "I do not believe that the Riapeans have such technology at their disposal."
Cam glared at him. "Stop taking me so literally."
Teal'c retorted with the faintest of smirks, "Then there would be fewer opportunities to mock you."
The party stopped at a set of heavy mahogany doors with a golden lock, and handles which appeared to be made from the same metal. Riape extracted a set of golden keys from a hidden pocket in her gown and she proceeded to unlock the doors as SG-1 waited with guarded hope. Finally, the doors were unlocked, and a couple of maids pushed them, holding them open so that the party could proceed into the room beyond.
On seeing Daniel, the team stopped, stunned. Due to their collective tenure on the team, each member knew that it was prudent to be cautious during sudden reunions like this. Teal'c wordlessly regarded the Archaeologist, stopping a relieved looking Vala from running to him. Cam said with a casual nod,
"Jackson?"
Daniel, who had been standing next to a window, looking out with the look of a man who was a long way from home, turned to his team, inwardly relieved to see them safe. He said with a nod of his own, "Mitchell... Teal'c, Vala..."
After a moment's hesitation, Cam remarked with a soft glare as they approached the Archaeologist, Vala running to hug him, "You ever do that again, boy, and I'll personally see to it that your ass gets kicked more times than UConn's did so far this season." When Vala had stopped hugging Daniel, the Colonel replaced her as did Teal'c.
Daniel asked them, concerned as he noted that they looked very much the worse for wear, "Are you guys okay?"
Vala waved dismissively. "Oh, we're fine." She paused pensively. "We will be when we get back home anyway. The Odyssey should be here by now to pick us up."
Daniel asked, worried as his friends gathered around him, "The Odyssey? You didn't tell Earth..."
Cam nodded grimly. "We had to, bud. We didn't know where you were. You just vanished. Do you remember anything?"
Daniel shrugged as he silently hoped that someone had seen fit not to inform his wife of his previous 'missing' status. "I remember some Iron Age style round houses, and then nothing 'til I woke up here in the palace." He spared them the details of how he had been tied up, not wanting them to get the wrong idea and attack Riape. "Apparently the Tuweiians tried to kidnap me, but the Riapeans got there first."
Cam nodded as Teal'c replied, "We also heard a similar narrative of events. It would appear that the Tuweiians had ulterior motives during these negotiations."
Cam shrugged, remarking, "Hey, who doesn't?" He put a hand on Daniel's shoulder. "Anyway, let's go home. I haven't heard from the Odyssey yet, which means we're gonna have to risk going back through Tuweiian territory to get to the 'gate." He turned to look at Riape. "You couldn't help us get back to the Stargate... the, uh, Ring of Thetis, could you? It's just that we have possibly your entire neighbouring country wanting to use our possible deaths as a bargaining tool with our people."
Riape shook her head and looked at Daniel. The rest of the team looked at him curiously, and Daniel, sighing, said as he closed his eyes briefly, "We... we're wanted for something. These guys have ulterior motives too. There's a reason why they and the Tuweiians are enemies. They're looking for an ancient weapon."
Cam exclaimed as he held up his hands. "Whoa, whoa, wait one cotton pickin' minute!" He looked at Riape once again. "A weapon? No can do. Our standing orders are to make peaceful allies and gain technology with which to defend Earth with. I'm not about to help you kick your own asses... you can do that yourselves."
Vala asked Daniel, curious, "Ancient weapon? As in Alteran technology?"
Daniel shook his head. "No, ancient as in 'old'... not the race. Legend has it that it has the power to bring peace to these lands, to end the bloodshed of brother against brother, sister against sister... and so on. It is said that the goddess Thetis breathed her essence into it. Thetis, on Earth, is a Greek goddess, who was the mother of Achilles. In established mythology she was only a minor sea goddess – a nymph – one of the fifty daughters of Nereus... but earlier evidence suggests that Thetis was a lot more central than that in earlier forms of the Ancient Greek religion." He gestured to a stone statue in the corner of the chamber, of a woman in Greek style robes. "The Riapeans revere her as the chief mother of their race. It is said that she brought the entire planet's population here in order to hide them from who I believe are the Goa'uld. She left them with this weapon to protect themselves, but over time, they forgot how to use it, and they split into two factions... the Riapeans... and the Tuweiians. They've been in a Cold War situation for a long while, with each professing to have weapons of unimaginable power." He looked at his friends gravely. "That's why the Tuweiians are so insistent on having us help them... they want to purge the Riapeans and take the dominion for their own, where they believe to find the fabled weapon and rule the planet."
Teal'c looked concerned as he considered the situation. Vala frowned in worry as she asked Riape, "Well... what do you need us for? We don't have the technology here and now to help you. If you let us go back to Earth..."
Riape approached them, leaving her maids behind. "There is little time and too much at stake here, Vala Mal Doran. I cannot guarantee that you will reach the Ring of Thetis alive. The Tuweiians are indeed using your apparent deaths as a bargaining tool with your people."
Cam frowned as Daniel looked confused. "How..."
"A vessel from your world is in orbit of our world."
SG-1 exchanged glances and then Cam pressed a button on his radio. "Odyssey... this is Colonel Mitchell, come in." All that he heard was static during all attempts to contact the ship that was allegedly in orbit. He looked at Riape. "What's going on? How do you know?"
"We have been monitoring transmissions for some time now. However, the Tuweiians have disabled our broadcasting equipment. We have attempted to contact the vessel that you refer to as 'Odyssey', but to no avail."
Teal'c said, "Your technology and ours are different... how could the Tuweiians block our radios?"
"I do not know, Teal'c... but the fact of the matter remains that they have."
Daniel said, a fixed expression on his face, the Archaeologist knowing that they might never see home again, for a while at least, "I'm going to assume that they've already tried locating us by our subcutaneous transmitters. Even if we're dead, they'd try finding us at least... which means they'll come here 'cos they haven't managed to get a lock on us yet."
Cam appeared sad. "And get ambushed like we did."
Riape invited the team to sit down, and she said as her retinue appeared with refreshments, "My forces are patrolling the forest, and I now have spies in place in Alaric's settlement. I may not be able to contact them now, but they will not allow your people to be harmed." She gestured to the golden trolleys on which there were a great many food laden plates. "Please."
The team hesitated and Riape said, inwardly admiring that they weren't so willing, "Believe me when I say that had I wished to kill you, I would have done so already, and I would have done so with far more honour than poisoning one's food. Fear not."
Daniel said, his voice sounding flat, "Guys... from what I've seen already, a lot of their culture is based on that of Ancient Greece. Riape is bound by her culture's rules of hospitality not to harm us."
Riape smiled at the Archaeologist and then left the room with her maids and ministers as the team began to eat. Only Daniel refrained from doing so. Cam glanced at the Archaeologist in concern. "You okay?"
Daniel was looking down at his wedding ring, which was in the palm of his hand as he was obliged not to wear it while on duty due to health and safety concerns. He said softly, lines in his face accentuating his age and troubled thoughts, "I'm worried."
Vala remarked around a mouthful of food, "Well, that much is obvious."
Cam patted his hand consolingly. "Hey, we'll be home soon."
Daniel sighed again, closing his hand around the ring as he thought of his wife so far away. Teal'c quietly observed, "DanielJackson is concerned for the mental wellbeing of ColonelJackson during her gestational period."
Daniel said a little too brightly, changing the subject, "So... Riape's agreed to let us use her library. I've been reading a little since I've been here... their writing system is based on the Linear B script... which is at least three and a half thousand years old." He continued rather flatly, "It's amazing."
Cam asked, looking at him sceptically, "You sure?"
Daniel appeared confused. "What?"
"That it's amazing? You don't sound as keenly enthusiastic as you usually do when faced with something that appeals to your polylingual ultra-geek side..."
Daniel couldn't help but smile a little at the moniker. "I knew it." He carefully stowed his wedding ring in his pocket as Vala suddenly feigned innocence. "I knew it was you that referred to me as that." When Cam looked embarrassed, Daniel continued with a shrug, "Getting your polys mixed up with your multis... it had to be either you or Jack... but Jack doesn't usually bother getting all elaborate with his insults."
Cam shrugged. "What can I say, I'm nothing if not elaborate."
Teal'c cleared his throat. "Indeed."
Cam glared at the Jaffa semi-seriously. He then asked Daniel, "You gonna eat something?"
Daniel appeared reluctant. "I ate something earlier..."
"Hey, we don't know when we're gonna walk out here, okay?" The Colonel left the 'if' unsaid. "It could be hours, days... whatever. It looks like we're gonna have to find whatever this thing is first. You've gotta take every opportunity you can get."
Daniel nodded wearily. "I know. I guess I'm just tired." The others exchanged concerned glances, knowing that his utterance had many meanings. Daniel began to gingerly pick at a plate of food, his thoughts both far away and on their immediate situation.
Vala asked, curious yet concerned, "Any ideas about this so-called weapon?"
Daniel sighed as he tiredly ran a hand through his dishevelled hair. "I seriously doubt that it is a weapon... I hope not, anyway. There must have been something to start off the myth... and they freely admit that they had lost the knowledge of what it is. I think it's tied in with who Thetis actually was. She could have been a Tok'ra perhaps... or maybe even an Ancient like Oma. She may not have been either..."
Teal'c nodded thoughtfully. "If Thetis were a Goa'uld, she is not one that I am familiar with. And we are presently unable to contact the Tok'ra to request assistance."
Daniel stood up. "Well... we'd better get to it. The sooner we find this thing, the sooner we might be able to go home again."
Cam looked at the Archaeologist, slightly accusing. "You sure you okay?"
Daniel replied as he polished his recently recovered glasses as the rest of the team got to their feet. "I'm fine. I'm fine. You guys have had a much rougher time than I have."
