** See Title Chapter for full story notes and disclaimers.
PART TWENTY-FOUR NOTES: So... Four good weeks of up to date posting. Y'all should have known better. Of course I have no good excuse for missing last week or even being late this week. So I'm just going to shut up and post. Happy reading!
To Lynette, beta of awesome, thank you for the continual support. You've never let me down. To Annie, beta mistress of the back-up, thank you for the quick assist. You both made this story a far better product. Any remaining mistakes are all on me.
As always, any and all feedback is appreciated.
Part Twenty-Four
PREVIOUSLY ON STARGATE: SG-1...
"I am willing to follow any course of action you can provide, Col. Carter." All traces of sarcasm was gone leaving the deep voice strangely empty. "Yet I can see none except to do as the Ancient has suggested and wait."
Unfortunately, even through her anger Sam had to admit her friend had boiled it all down to the main issue. What else could they do? Stuck in an abandoned Antarctic base surrounded by advanced technology neither could use there were few options available to them. "So we wait for Gen. O'Neill to come back?" If she was in the habit of describing her own voice she'd have called it resigned.
"We wait." Teal'c folded his hands behind his back in a comfortable stance.
With a sigh she let her irritation drain away and went to get another notebook. They might be there for a while.
AND NOW, PART TWENTY-FOUR...
They moved quickly through the city yet Jack felt as if they were merely strolling along. Nox of all ages and sizes soon began appearing at beautifully carved doors and windows, walking along the lanes and the arched walkways. All stayed far enough back to give Jack the impression they were wary of him, an outsider in their private city. Yet all he could see in every face was the calm curiosity he'd first seen eight years ago when he'd opened his eyes without a hole in his chest to match the one in his shirt.
Eventually, he grew accustomed to the quiet stares and the impression of silent conversations going on all around him. His skin continued to crawl as he felt the eyes on his back and he tried to calm it by reminding himself the worst a Nox could do to him was smile him to death. His own lips twitched slightly at the thought and he turned away from their onlookers to the boy guiding him. "What about you, Nefrayu? How have you been all these years?"
"I have been well, Jack, thank you." Jack could hear the pleasure in the Nox's voice. "I am studying to assist my mother in her work. She is a chronicler of our people. It is a very rewarding task."
"That's great." And it was. While it wasn't Jack's idea of a fun time, Nefrayu's obvious joy in the job was all that mattered. "So, it's a family business?"
The boy laughed, a light, floating sound that echoed off the walls around them and tugged the smile back onto his face. "In a way. My family has been among the chroniclers for many generations, but not all have followed the path of their forebears. I believe you would say it is not required."
"To know your people's history is important," Jack agreed, surprising himself with the somber thought. Once he'd gotten out of his young punk years of thinking he knew everything, he'd come to realize that truth more and more every day. "A very wise man from Earth once said 'those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.'"
"That was indeed a very wise man." Nefrayu looked almost shocked that a human could have such an understanding. Or maybe that was just Jack's cynicism kicking in. But the thought was pushed aside when the Nox stopped before the entrance to a medium-sized building. Well, medium-sized when compared to the grand structures all around them. "This is my home."
Leaving Jack to stand with his mouth gaping like a goldfish, Nefrayu stepped through the open doorway. He'd found nothing to match his expectations since his arrival on the Nox's planet and the house before him was no exception. It was the same pearlescent silver as its neighbors yet with a slightly darker undertone adding a sheen they lacked. For the life of him he couldn't tell whether it was constructed out of metal or wood. Knowing the Nox's aversion to killing anything, even down to a tree to build their homes, Jack doubted it was wood. And yet it couldn't be a metal either. No metal he knew of could be formed into such intricate, delicate designs and still have the strength to bear the load of a building. With a mental slap he brought himself back to reality. This was the Nox he was talking about. They could probably build a house out of marshmallow and make it as sturdy as steel.
He stepped over the threshold after Nefrayu, running one hand over the smooth entry. It was warm on his skin, almost pulsing with life. Jack quickly reassessed his assumptions. It probably wasn't metal. A quick glance around and the impression of serenity was all he got before he stumbled to a halt.
"Hello, Colonel O'Neill." The voice was as soothing as the last time he'd heard it five years ago. "I have long awaited this day."
"Lya." The Nox woman's gentle smile lit her face at her name. "Nefrayu's your son?" It slipped out before he could stop it and he winced as her smile grew even wider. So much for all of those cultural sensitivity classes Daniel had forced him to sit through. He still managed to open his mouth and stick both feet into it.
But Lya's smile merely grew brighter as she stepped toward him, hands extended to take his. Her skin was cool and dry, her grip firm. "Nefrayu has done me proud in leading you here. I was unsure exactly when you would arrive. He has waited in the glen one of your weeks tirelessly," she said, the surprisingly deep contralto weaving into his bones, displacing the last of his worry.
Gently squeezing the tiny, delicate hands in his, Jack yanked his brain back into a rough attempt at working. "You're touching me. Nefrayu touched me. Hell, even the trees managed to touch me. But I'm not really here. How is that possible?" Okay, it was a poor resemblance to working, but it got his point across.
Lya smiled broadly, lips stretching yet still hiding her teeth. "But you are really here, Colonel," she said, parroting his own words back at him.
"I thought the chair platform just sends a hologram version of me through some kind of super advanced link."
"To all other worlds it does. As I said, we have been waiting a long time for your arrival." She must have seen the growing frustration on his face because she shook her head once and gestured toward a doorway across the large airy space of the entry. "Let us sit. It is not a short story."
Hands tingling lightly from her touch, Jack watched as she and Nefrayu made their way unhurriedly through the arched doorway. At least he'd get some answers, even if they weren't all the ones he'd been searching for. Biting back a hint of impatience, Jack shoved his hands deep into his pockets and followed the two Nox.
The gentle elegance of the exterior was paralleled inside. Sweeping arches braced the roof where thin branches twined around the main columns. Splashes of color drew his eye from around the large room as he walked. He wanted to simply stand there and soak in the serenity of the place, but knew there wasn't time. Maybe he'd approve himself some leave to return when this was all over. The archway led to another open room, the high, curved ceiling similar to the one in the main room. Jack had a brief moment of disorientation as the impression of cumulus clouds filled him, the cotton ball ones Charlie had liked so much. Plants were the predominant form of decoration, delicate vines woven into low seats, their leafy green extensions telling Jack they were still alive and growing. Flowering bushes and vines covered one entire wall creating a riot of color and chaos. Nature was very much in harmony in the Nox city.
"Sit, please." Lya gestured to a vine stool and sank gracefully down across from him.
With a skeptical glance Jack sat gingerly, fully expecting the delicate looking vines to snap under his considerably heavier weight. The vines creaked softly, settling around his legs and butt then stilled. So far, so good. Ignoring the amused glances the two Nox shared, he sat up straight and cleared his throat. It was time to get to business. "How was I transported across the galaxy?"
"You jump too far ahead, Colonel O'Neill. We must go back over ten thousand of your years for you to fully understand why you sit with us today."
Ten thousand years? Jack's mouth snapped shut with an audible click. It made sense once he thought about it. Liana had been buried in the ice around that time. Jack knew she'd been killed by the plague. Two and two didn't take a genius to figure out.
Lya gave a small nod to Nefrayu who left the room, moving as if she'd given him a command of some kind. Maybe she had. The Nox had always been hard for Jack to read. "My people arrived in your galaxy quite by accident. One ship of a scientific research party malfunctioned. To this day we have no confirmed conclusion as to why. The vessel lost all power and was thrown from hyperspace, losing contact with its sister ship." Nefrayu reentered the room carrying a large square object with an air of reverence. Setting it on the elevated woven vines between the chairs, he took a seat on Jack's right, the vine chair settling quietly beneath him. "The ship drifted for many years, its passengers unable to discover the source of the problem. They had no propulsion and this area of space was unknown to them." Her mouth curved into a wry smile. "Even the Nox have their limits."
Jack smiled in return, half wondering if she'd read his mind. Despite his usual grousing during story time, he found himself following her every word, his curiosity pricked to a level he'd only felt once before-the first time he'd walked through the 'Gate. He knew people were dying, but this tale would help him save them. That knowledge kept him in his seat and patiently waiting for Lya to continue.
"Eventually, the ship was pulled into the gravity of a large inhabited planet. It was there we first met the beings you have named the Ancients." She opened the cover of the object Nefrayu had brought to reveal a large tome-Jack couldn't call it a book, it was simply too large-and she set it on top of the vines. She turned the first leaf gently, almost reverently, and trailed two fingers down the elegantly styled symbols. They swam in his vision, eerily similar to the extra glyphs they'd found on Methral's home planet. "With no propulsion power the ship would have crashed to the planet's surface. Shields could have kept the vessel intact, but all would have perished in the crash. The Ancients offered their assistance and we became allies.
"The Ancients' power systems were incompatible with ours and despite their best efforts they were unable to regain contact with our scientists' sister ship. The Nox of the Ha'ouri were stranded. Working together, our scientists were able to merge small portions of our technology together. Over time our friends helped us build this city and we both lived in peace for generations. Some Nox left our city to live with the Ancients on distant planets, learning, teaching." The smooth narration paused, startling Jack from the trance the story had lulled him into. He met her gaze, the dark eyes growing even more muted in her recitation. "And then the Kraea came."
The silence was total in the large room when her hands paused in turning the strangely stiff pages of the tome, her fingers caressing the words emblazoned there. Her sorrow was palpable, a living, breathing entity among the three of them. Sorrow for a people thousands of years dead and buried.
"It was quiet, patient and insidious. They took some of the Ancients at random from across their territory, trapped them in small cells, never showing themselves. The Ancients would be released in only a short time, perhaps as long as two of your weeks. Those abducted had no interaction with their abductors, had no way of discovering why they had been taken. This went on for almost one full year, Ancients disappearing from many different worlds.
"A pair of scientists finally returned with a name-Kraea."
"Neelin and Ochoa," Jack said, the names bubbling up through his memory as the story she wove played out like a video before his eyes.
Her face cleared ever so slightly, a smile trying to pierce the sadness. "Yes. Yet they were only the chosen harbingers of the Kraea's evil. Those heartless people had already infected over fifty worlds with their plague. Ancients were soon dying by the thousands from a sickness they could no longer fight. The Ancient Council-their ruling body although that terminology is not truly accurate-had previously deemed the Kraea not a threat and could not be swayed from their thoughts. They focused only on the plague and how to stop it.
"The Nox have always been a people of peace. My ancestors would have had no more idea or inclination to wage a battle then than we do now. With the plague absorbing all of their energies, it soon became apparent that our friends could no longer protect us from their many enemies. So we exiled ourselves to this world and our protected city. But we did not abandon the Ancients. Our scientists continued to work with the samples given to us from one who did not believe the Kraea were innocent, who had in fact traced the spread of the plague to the worlds where abductions had occurred."
And another dot linked itself in his brain. "Methral. He'd been right all along." Jack hadn't doubted it, but it was still good to hear he hadn't been chasing his own tail while good people died.
One finger traced gently over a symbol Jack recognized even upside down. "He was. After his brother died, he sent one final message to us here with very explicit instructions." She looked up, still touching the symbol. "Over the millennia, many of my people have wondered if we did the right thing in following his advice and remaining hidden away. Your arrival will prove that millions of our friends, the people who aided us, did not die in vain."
Jack's stomach fell straight through the floor of the strangely alive house. He was only a man and not a very good one at that. He was no one's proof. The familiar smirk fell far short of its accustomed strength as he sat back. "You lost me there, Lya. Want to back up a little?"
Understanding flooded her face, her palm flattening over the book, fingers splayed wide. "The Ancients had many wonderful abilities-healing others and an innate understanding of their technology only two of their greatest achievements. There were some few, however, that surpassed even the Nox in one area in particular. Less than one in every three million gradually developed prescience."
Jack blinked, mind whirling at the possibilities. "You mean they could see the future?"
"Not as you are thinking. It was more of an ability to recognize future happenings in the general sense. They did not receive precise visions or names, at least none that were recorded, but a way of seeing the flow of time itself."
"Methral was one of these prescient guys, wasn't he?" It wasn't really a question. His vision of speaking with the Nox Dintau had already hinted at the fact. Hearing it from yet another Nox was merely confirmation. Methral's words in the chamber where he'd died had new meaning all of a sudden.
Lya stood and stepped around the tome and its box to lay a soothing hand on his shoulder. "He was. After Mylar's death he was bombarded with visions, as if without his brother something had to fill the void." Her grip tightened as if she knew he didn't want to hear what was coming next. If Jack didn't know any better he'd think she had a little of Methral's gift. He was willing to bet it had been more like a curse.
"He knew he was going to die, that any Ancient retaining physical form was doomed to die of the plague. He would not have time to complete his search for the cure. The Kraea would return one day, would reveal themselves again when a new people gained sufficient preeminence in the galaxy. He asked the Nox to find the cure no matter how long it took, even if every Ancient had long since succumbed to the disease.
"He saw that one day, someone would reactivate the storage devices, would have the ability to comprehend all the Ancients left behind. Methral saw you, Jack O'Neill."
Standing abruptly, he shook off her hands, his own shaking with an emotion he didn't recognize. He could feel two sets of calm eyes follow him as he prowled the room, wishing desperately he was anywhere else. He didn't want to hear any more, didn't want to learn how he'd been set up so long ago even the North Star hadn't been the same.
But Lya went on, her soft voice battering at his already shaking nerves. "Methral embedded a triggered message for you in the storage device. He knew the Kraea would return but not when. Only if certain events came to pass would you ever be made aware of his knowledge."
"The Asgard took all of it out that first time, though. The whole kit and kabootle. If we hadn't found the second device the message wouldn't have been there for me to find." He didn't even wonder whether she knew anything about the second planet. Lya had revealed more obscure things in the past hour than a tiny bit of information.
"No, Colonel, they did not remove it all. They could only remove anything foreign they found."
What the hell did that mean? "What did he do to me?" he asked, his voice cracking slightly.
Clasping her hands in front of her stomach, she held his blazing eyes without fear. "When you activated the device it merged some small bits of knowledge with your brain instead of merely acquiring space. The Asgard would not remove anything that was part of your make up. Methral had to ensure you would have the necessary information to combat the Kraea."
"Why did it take nearly seven years for me to even get the smallest flashes of it then?"
"The knowledge would only begin to manifest when the Kraea once again appeared."
The spark of anger grew, feeding on itself as Jack stared down at the Nox. He knew it was irrational. He had the gene. There was nothing he could do about that. Methral certainly hadn't caused him to be born with it. Yet his chest felt like it was on fire, molten at the core and it spilled up without conscious thought. "He messed with my brain! What gave him the right to do that? I didn't ask for this ability. I'd cut it out myself if it was possible. Damn him to hell."
Lya flinched back at the curse, face blanching. "Please, Colonel, it was the only way. Methral was a good man who sacrificed everything to make sure you would find your way here one day."
"And I'm thinking he didn't have to play games to do it. Do you know how many people have died already because Methral couldn't be bothered to just tell me straight out what to do?"
"Yes, I do."
The quiet admission stopped him faster than if she'd slapped him. Lya hadn't done anything wrong. She didn't deserve his anger. "I'm sorry. I know none of this is your fault." Scrubbing a hand over his face, he took a deep breath and held it for a long five count before releasing it. "So what other surprises did he leave behind up here?"
Lya exchanged a quick look with Nefrayu, one Jack wasn't sure he wanted to try and interpret, then she continued. "Methral's final message to us was cryptic. To this day we are not certain of its meaning."
Nefrayu had been carefully turning through the pages of the tome as she spoke, obviously looking for a specific passage. When he stopped with one hand on the page, she nodded and walked past Jack to stand at the boy's back. "As it was written," Nefrayu said, eyes not leaving the symbols. "'One of my blood will come through the platform. You will know him by this act alone. He will have great need. I ask you to help him.'"
The words echoed through the room, bouncing off the arched ceiling to land square on his shoulders. Or maybe it just felt that way to Jack. He saw Lya's mouth move, saw the concern on her face when he didn't answer. But he couldn't hear her over the ringing in his ears, couldn't move from his position across the room. The world flashed white for an agonizing instant and when he could see again he was somewhere else.
cont. in Part 25...