"Tau'ri?" Vala repeated, looking so lost and bewildered that Daniel immediately felt sorry for her.
"Sorry, it's just what I remember Teal'c telling me his people called the First World. My world. I seem to recall him being referred to as 'Teal'c of the Tau'ri' on an occasion or two, even though I know the name of the planet he came from is Chulak."
"So... the First World has been found?"
Daniel shook his head, wondering if maybe he'd given her too much information at once. "After they overthrew Ra, the people of my world buried the Stargate. The people who live on this world had to have come here some other way... by ship perhaps. Anyway, what I'm trying to say is, I think we can fool the so-called 'tests' into accepting us as Lillia and Adamus. There's a word next to 'blood' which basically translates to 'power stone', which I'm guessing is--"
"Naquadah," Vala concluded. "Which I have in my blood and you don't. How will that work?"
"Based on what I've read, I think Adamus and Ava were human."
"Oh. What about the speaking part?"
"Well, I'm hoping it's just referring to announcing ourselves in Goa'uld and possibly Latin." He grimaced. "I hope it doesn't call for the actual sound of a Goa'uld's voice because there's no way either of us can fake that."
His partner grinned, rising from her chair. "Leave that to me. I'll be back in no time, darling. Don't go exploring without me!" She impishly tapped his bearded cheek as she walked by, casting a long glance over her shoulder to see if he was watching her go.
Thankfully, she hadn't pressed the "kissing" issue, though he was uncertain whether he was relieved or disappointed. The one kiss they had shared was not long after they met, and he wasn't about to kid himself by pretending it hadn't been... nice. Surprising, yes, but nice. The only problem was, he had his nagging doubts that she had any kind of serious feelings for him, especially after having witnessed how much she enjoyed winding up the men at the tavern.
Shaking his head, he set about making transfers of the original tablets, grateful Father Constasis had been kind enough to give him sufficient paper for the task. Soon, he had rubbed copies of all the tablets and was carefully laying them in order so that they could be returned to the vault from which they'd come. As he placed his hand on the final one, he felt a sudden sensation of vertigo.
"I'm an Ancient."
Sam turned to look at him, confusion etching her features. "What?"
"Not me personally, but the Others like me. They're the Ancients."
A man similar in height and age to himself walked over to the table, staring down at the tablet revealed. "This is written in one of the oldest dialects of the Ancients," Jonas exclaimed.
It had all been in front of him, yet he had never managed to put the pieces together, not even when Orlin had built his own miniature Stargate in Sam's basement--something they had reminisced over before they were scolded by the Others for being too attached to the lower plane. They had always seemed to be holding something back from him, and now that he knew, it was so obvious. How could he have not known?
Lightning flashes, sparks shower... in the blink of an eye, you have mis-seen.
"I mean, I always suspected, but I never really knew for sure." But now he did, and now he had so many, many more questions.
"What does it say?" Sam asked.
"It says the Ancients evolved from a race of humans that lived long before us. They were wiped out by a plague that was sweeping across the galaxy. Many learned to ascend, the rest died out." Why hadn't they told him? What was the purpose for keeping their origin a secret? What more was Oma hiding from him? "I have to go."
"Where?"
It couldn't be expressed in terms of location, as the plane on which he existed was everywhere and nowhere all at once. "I'll be back. Don't lose that tablet; it talks about a Lost City that's more valuable than anything."
He was startled back to awareness when his forearms collided with the desk, just barely managing to regain tenuous control of his limbs in time to prevent his head from following after and slamming into the tabletop. His knees were shaking as though he'd never used them, and he quickly sat down before they completely gave out on him. Trembling, he laid his forehead against the cool wooden surface before him and tried to regain control of his racing pulse.
Once again, Daniel had discovered only more questions in finding answers. He hadn't been completely right in his guess that he'd died, it turned out. Instead, he had shed his physical form and become... something else.
"The Benu bird, it is said, dies in flame, but is reborn from the ashes," Gran smiled in her motherly way. "A painful way to die, yes, but the bird returns to life brighter, wiser, and more wondrous than ever."
He didn't feel bright, wise, or wondrous at all. In fact, he felt faintly sick, knowing somehow that the discovery he had made--the tablet he had entrusted to his friends--had come at a terrible, terrible cost.
"What have I done?" he asked aloud, but nothing in the library was able to offer him an answer.
Finally, Daniel ordered himself to stop wallowing in guilt over what he didn't know and certainly couldn't change. If he hadn't been able to prevent whatever disaster had occurred when he was a powerful extra-planar being, what good could he possibly do as a mere mortal? Nothing, he decided, so he should concentrate his efforts on places and ways in which he could make a difference... at least to Vala, if no one else.
He finished carefully folding his papers away and tucking them into his pack, giving the desk one last glance to make sure he wasn't missing anything he absolutely had to have. Just as he was about to turn and go wait for Vala by the monastery's entrance, a frighteningly familiar dual-toned voice stopped him in his tracks.
"Tau'ri, kree!"
In horror, he turned around to face the Goa'uld behind him... only to greet the amused expression of Vala Mal Doran. "How did...?"
"An amusing toy I borrowed from the Tok'ra," she replied, voice deepened unnaturally and echoing. "I never could figure out why they had need for it anyway."
"Turn it off."
She pouted, reaching up to the glowing yellow jewel on the necklace she now wore. As the stone's light faded, Vala dropped her hands to her hips. "Spoilsport," she teased in her normal voice.
Daniel blew out a shaky breath. "You scared the crap out of me," he admitted. He glared at her suspiciously. "How many villagers did you send running for cover before you got here?"
She pursed her lips contemplatively. "Not more than about... oh... a dozen or so."
He closed his eyes and shook his head, a smile coming unbidden to his lips. "You're a wicked woman."
"You see? I'm playing the part already." She cleared her throat. "I take it by your reaction you've heard a Goa'uld speaking before."
He nodded. "My wife was made a host, remember? Then there was the bastard who stole her, Apophis. There were probably others, too... and it was only just over two months ago when I first remembered having announced myself to be the Great Oz. I now know I also used some kind of device to record my voice and transmit it with the necessary changes."
"That's it?"
"For now. Why?"
She hesitated. "Truth be known, I'd heard of the Tau'ri before now. Learning that they're the people of the First World is very interesting, of course. I hadn't heard much, mind you, because the Goa'uld are hesitant to talk about anything which may seem to undermine their authority. A group of human rebels who have been known to thwart their rule on occasion is certainly nothing they'd want discussed."
"I can imagine not," he agreed.
Vala bit her lip. "You know, it might be best if we kept your being Tau'ri just between the two of us. We can't have people thinking you're some sort of radical, now can we?"
"Well, what about the Hans? If you've heard of my people, they surely--"
"The Hans essentially work for the Goa'uld," she interrupted. "Not directly, mind you, but in essence. I can only imagine what they have to do to get the various System Lords to agree to allow their caravans on their planets. Honestly, I don't want to know, but my chief guess is that they sell intelligence."
"Troop movements, fortress strength, that sort of thing?"
She nodded. "In fact, I wouldn't be at all surprised if the whole reason we were allowed to leave Gishoral after Baal's forces took over was because the Hans were the ones who told Baal that Yu had withdrawn his ships from the system."
"Oh." He hadn't even considered that possibility. "So I'm guessing it's a good thing we have the Hans on our side, but we really can't trust them?" The expression on her face told him he'd hit the nail on the head.
He pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration, realizing that he really wasn't cut out for trying to figure out the twists and turns of what he was only now discovering was an extremely complex game of galactic intrigue. "Okay, let's just find this Garden and get this over with. If we find what we think we're going to find, we can decide then what to do with the information. Obviously, anything which goes to the Hans could potentially end up in the hands of the Goa'uld."
"And that," Vala agreed, "would be a bad thing."
Daniel swallowed heavily. Was there anyone he could trust? Not the Hans, apparently, and while he trusted the dark-haired woman beside him with his life, he'd been given every reason to believe he couldn't trust her with his heart. Did her capriciousness also extend to alliances? In that case, her refusal to accept membership with the Hans could be indicative of her unwillingness to commit herself to any cause but her own. How strong, then, was their partnership?
He was going to have to watch what he said and did very carefully, then. No one could be permitted to know that he had once been an Ascended being like the very Ancients themselves. As he had slowly recovered memories from all other aspects of his past life, he wondered if he might also begin retrieving fragments from his time as a higher form of life. If so, he instinctively knew that that kind of knowledge should never be allowed to fall into anyone's hands.
Author's Notes:
Early 'cause I have a home expo for which to go decorate. Have I mentioned lately that I take great pride in being evil?