Chapter Twenty-Five

"So,"

Daniel glanced up from his report, "Jack," he said.

"So," said Jack, again, "you got shot at." He stepped into the room, hands deep in his pockets.

"Yes, I got shot at, these things happen when you're blowing up someone's cargo pods. Why are you here anyway? Aren't you supposed to be off doing General stuff?" Daniel flicked his hands out as if to say, just because he couldn't think of any 'general stuff' to do didn't mean there wasn't any.

"I'm on leave," said Jack defensively.

"And you came here? Wait a minute aren't you the one that's always ordering me to get a life?"

"Actually, I ordered Carter to get a life, multiple times, but still she's winging her way to that science-fair in DC with Dr Lee."

"Yeah, Bill was really excited about it, they don't get to present the full extent of their findings but, still it's nice to mix with like minded people outside the mountain once in a while."

"Is that your oh, so subtle way to reminding me that because your work requires physical proof of findings that you can't even present any part of what you've discovered without comprising the secrecy of the program?"

"Nope," said Daniel, "but that's a good point though."

"I talked to Landry, Teal'c has gone off-world visiting, and Mitchell is taking Vala, why I don't know, to his high school reunion. That just leaves you and a certain promise."

"I'm on a plane to Oxford in," Daniel checked his watch, "six hours."

" Oxford?" asked Jack surprised.

"A friend of mine promised me a tour of a few sites I've had my eye on."

"Didn't you just spend a month in England doing King Arthur research?"

"That was work, this is fun."

"I'm sorry. I'm not seeing a difference."

"Well, work is something that you have to do, like researching ancient myths in the hopes of finding veiled references to super powerful alien weaponry. Fun is something that you do for pleasure, like touring the English countryside with a friend and researching local myths and legends, getting drunk and making general fools of ourselves."

"Oh, well, when you put it like that," said Jack, "Have fun, and don't get too drunk." Jack headed for the door.

"Yes, mother."

"I heard that!"

Daniel left his friend Jake sleeping off his night before at the hotel. It had been fun, catching up, reminiscing about their days as Oxford youths, but Daniel found he couldn't quite connect with that past anymore, like it was a dream he'd had a long time ago, a pleasant dream, but faded with the layers of nightmares that had replaced it. He left the near-comatose Scottish Archaeologist snoring and went to pursue one of his side projects for the morning.

The university special collections building was peaceful and cool, and filled with that unmistakable odour of aged ink and paper, a haven from the world and a perfect place for Daniel to relax and have fun doing a little research. Daniel sat down at a table with a sigh of contentment. A couple of hours later, Daniel glanced at his watch and decided he should call Jake and rouse him from his stupor.

He hung up his cell phone, having extracted a promise from his friend that they would meet for a proper English breakfast, around two. He decided to take one more pass at the collection.

Daniel pulled a reference from the shelf, and revealed a young woman on the other side of the stacks.

"Doing some research?" she asked.

"Yes," said Daniel, "Hi," he said looking up smiling at her, but then he frowned. "Do I know you?" he asked.

"I don't think so," she said.

"I'm looking for any Aramaic translations of pre-Judeo Pagan hymns, hopefully in lithograph form. Am I in the right section?" The woman just blinked at him smiling, "You don't work here do you?" The woman shook her head.

"Perhaps we could look together?" she smiled at him.

"No it's okay, I'll ask at the enquiry desk, they probably have it locked up," Daniel turned to go, but turned back unable to shake the strange feeling he had. "Are you sure we haven't met before?"

"I can assure you Dr Jackson, we've never met," she put her hand on the shelf between them, and Daniel saw her ring. He took a step back. "I'm Venta," she smiled.

"Tell me," he said, "if we've never met, how is it you know my name?"

Venta smiled, in spite of her slip, "Where I'm from you are a very famous man."

Daniel licked his lips and flicked a glance at the exits, calculating angles, trajectories and casualties as a security guard walked by and two new students entered the room. "Then you must be from out of town," he said, "I'm nobody here."

"Oh, I'm from way out of town," said Venta waving her hand upward with a smile.

"Why don't we take this outside?"

"You read my mind, after you, Dr Jackson," Daniel nudged the shelf with his mind sending it tumbling over the woman and ran out of the building into the street, but Venta was one-step ahead, literally, as she materialised in front of him.

"How did you do that?" she asked aiming the ring weapon first at him and then at a boy passing behind.

"Like this," said Daniel holding out his hand for the weapon to fly into, "interesting," he said, "This is not a design I've seen before, a custom job?" he asked.

"How?" cried the woman, before she began to furiously hit buttons on her gauntlet, and vanished. She reappeared behind him with a knife at his throat. "Move and I will cut your throat," she hissed into his ear, Daniel swallowed painfully and they disappeared.

Cue evil maniacal laughter! HeeeHeeHaaa! I know I'm mean, but I haven't had nearly enough opportunities for a cliff hanger in the story and really really like them!

Later Cynic