Chapter Seven
Vala sighed in frustration for what seemed like the thousandth time today.
Why did everything the Tau'ri write in their procedures have to be riddled with codes she didn't understand? How did they expect an alien such as herself to decipher any of it? Shouldn't someone be with her to make sure she understood it? Or that she didn't wander and explore the base? Sure, they had put a guard detail on her, but she could easily shake off the two young men. She briefly wondered if they knew how to interpret the mess in front of her but decided to torture Daniel instead.
It was much more fun that way.
She hopped off her stool and skipped over to the Airmen and smiled flirtatiously at them. "Do you know where my Daniel is?" she asked them sweetly.
They remained stoic, which bummed her out a little, but consoled herself that she soon would bug Daniel to bits – it really was a fun thing to do.
"Sorry ma'am, but we don't," one of them answered.
"Hmm," she hummed thoughtfully to herself, tapping the papers she held in her other hand. "That's unfortunate," she retorted. "Well, I'm going to go get something to eat!" she informed them cheerfully and skipped out of the office.
But she wasn't going to the Mess (why did they call it that anyways? Such an odd term), instead, her plan was to ditch the guards the General insisted she have with her. It was easy, child's play to her, and all it took was a perfectly timed elevator ride. While there were other ways for her to lose them, this was probably the easiest of them all, and an opportunity presented itself, so of course she took it.
Vala was able to hop in the elevator just before the doors closed all the way, leaving her two guards hurrying behind her. She smiled to herself. She knew they would call it in and it wouldn't be long before more guards would be on the lookout to find her, but it would give her enough time to find Daniel…hopefully. The elevator stopped on the next floor, and she smiled at the newcomer. She wanted to say he worked in the control room and was the man who yelled out which chevrons were encoded or something.
Turning to him, she smiled again. "Hello! It's Wallace, right?"
The man looked a little nervous. "Walter, ma'am," he corrected.
"Walter," she amended. "Do you know where Daniel Jackson is?" she asked nicely.
His face scrunched a little. "I believe he's in the briefing room."
She knew where that was. "Excellent!" she chirped. "Thank you!"
The elevator dinged at their floor and they both exited, heading in slightly different ways. As she approached the briefing room, she thumbed through the thickly bound pages to find the spot she was having a hard time understanding. She wanted it to be ready in case Daniel was upset with her for shaking off her guard detail…and in case she was interrupting something, which she was sure she was, given his location, but if she ever wanted to go off world again, this was part of the process.
She heard his voice talking as she climbed up the spiral stairs and as she got to the top, she began speaking, not caring if she interrupted, "Daniel, darling, I'm having a difficult time understanding what this means," she said as she stared at the procedure.
"Vala, what the hell?" Daniel snapped.
Vala looked up and frowned. "You told me to ask you if I had any questions," she reminded him and lifted the procedure as evidence, "and I have questions…loads, in fact."
"Can't you see we're in the middle of something?" Daniel asked tersely.
"Where the hell is your guard detail?" Jack interjected, looking behind her, waiting for them to appear.
Vala shrugged nonchalantly and stared at the screen they had all been staring at before she had walked in. She wondered how she missed the fact that the lights had been dimmed significantly. She tilted her head at the projected image. "That's Galvarian technology," she stated in surprise, gesturing to the image.
Sam perked up. "You're familiar with this technology?" she asked curiously.
"I wouldn't say familiar," Vala humbly admitted, "I've had some experience with their technology, but you don't see much of it anymore. They're hard to find these days."
"You said Galvarian?" Sam questioned and when the alien nodded, the Colonel turned to Teal'c, "Teal'c, have you ever heard of them or come across them?"
"I have not," the Jaffa answered.
"The Galvarians died out a few centuries ago," Vala informed them.
Daniel stared at her intriguingly. "How do you know about them?"
"About a year ago, I acquired a couple of Galvarian artifacts. In order to get the best price for them, I did research and met with specialists on the subject. However, most of what is known of them comes from old myths and legends, so what I know might not be entirely accurate," Vala stated.
"What do you know?" Daniel inquired.
Vala shrugged a little. "Not much. They were an advanced race, but were peaceful and mostly kept to themselves, which is why their technology isn't widely known but still coveted."
"How advanced are we talking about?" Jack asked.
Vala thought for a moment. "Have you heard of the Tollans?" Vala raised an eyebrow as the General's sudden cough weirdly sounded like 'bunch of pricks' but he nodded in response. "Based on my research, a little more advanced than them," she revealed.
"If they were such a powerful race, what happened to them?" asked Sam.
"No one knows for certain," Vala replied, "but it is believed that they were trying to extend their lives through artificial means and developed a genetic mutation that caused them to start dying at a rapid pace. Given the rate at which they began dying, it's been speculated that the genetic mutation may have been an illness, or produced one, and they hadn't been able to combat it, so even those who weren't part of the experiment contracted the illness and died as well."
"That sounds eerily similar to the Asgard," Sam commented to the others.
"Wait," Vala held up a finger, "you know the Asgard?"
"Oh yeah," Jack spoke up, "good friends of ours – allies in fact. We're the Fifth race."
Vala's brows furrowed. "I don't know what that means."
"So, they died out," Daniel cut in, getting back on track, "Isn't there any record of their existence? How come the only things you could find about them was through legends and myths?"
"They were said to live on the outskirts of the galaxy, but their home planet was never found, which is why anything related to them is priceless. The few items you can find in the galaxy have been scavenged from small outposts. Do you have any idea how much Galvarian tech is worth these days?"
"We're not stealing it so you can sell it!" Daniel snapped.
Vala put on a hurt expression. "I wasn't suggesting that!"
"Then what were you suggesting?" Daniel challenged.
She frowned at him and was about to give him a piece of her mind when Jack held up a finger and exclaimed, "Ah!" and gave them both a stern look, "Don't make me put you two in time out!" he threatened.
Daniel rolled his eyes, but Vala looked confused.
"What's a time out?" she said in a staged whisper but was ignored.
"Vala, are you able to read their language?" Sam asked, shifting their focus, and went to the next slide on the projector, "Daniel's never seen it before and can't find a comparable language for it."
Vala stepped closer to the screen. "You found writings?" she asked, taken aback slightly, "Not just the device but writings?"
Daniel frowned at her back. "The MALP found some ruins that appeared to have once been pillars of some sort near the Stargate. SG-9 went to check it out and that's when they found the device and it had the same writings as the pillars. They also found more ruins covered in writings."
Vala looked away from the screen to them. "You may have found Galvara," she told them, "their home world."
"Is this surprising, Vala Mal Doran?" Teal'c inquired.
"Yes!" Vala exclaimed, "It's been…essentially lost for centuries. No one ever knew what happened to it."
"But you said all their technology was stolen after they died," Sam contradicted, "So how was the planet lost?"
That made Vala stop and think for a minute. "I'm not entirely sure," she admitted, "It's possible only a certain number of people knew of the planet's location. It's also possible the original…businessmen may have gotten themselves into…a less than desirable situation, and any devices recovered most likely wouldn't be resold, hence why they're a hard find."
Small pause.
"It's plausible, I suppose," Sam concurred, "Vala, you didn't answer my question – are you familiar with their language? Their technology? You said you've dealt with it in the past," Sam held out the folder containing the photos on the screen.
Vala took them before her and hesitated, debating on whether to embellish or not, but ultimately decided against it. "I've only ever handled a few Galvarian devices," she confessed, looking down at the photos, "and I don't know the language that well."
"Were you able to understand the writings on the devices you examined?" Sam questioned again.
Vala held her head up high, smiling at the Colonel. "Of course, I did," she responded, "It took a while but I never give up an artifact before learning everything I can about it."
Sam raised an eyebrow and glanced at Daniel. In a way, Vala seemed to be just as stubborn and curious as he was.
"I have a question," Daniel spoke up and raised his hand, eyeing Vala as he did, "How the hell did they survive the Goa'uld?" he asked skeptically, "We know the Goa'uld really aren't in the habit of allowing different races to advance beyond a certain level, so how were they able to?"
She shrugged. "No one knows that for sure," she admitted, "It was always assumed they occupied some distant part of the galaxy where the Goa'uld hadn't yet made it to and when they did, they were powerless against them. The Galvarians supposedly had a weapon capable of destroying their ships from space, and no matter how hard the Goa'uld tried to upgrade their weapons and shields, they were never a match for them."
Sam looked over at the General, "If this is the home planet of the Galvarians, this could be huge for us when it comes to planetary defenses."
"If there's anything left," Jack said pessimistically.
"You said you found ruins," Vala interjected, "Were they of a city? There may not be weapons at the ready, but maybe there's some sort of digital system that stored their plans and schematics."
"She's right, sir," Sam immediately agreed.
Jack's eyes shifted between the two women. "That's assuming you'll be able to understand anything. Fer cryin' out loud, it's in a language that even Daniel can't read!"
"Yet!" Daniel snapped, defending himself.
"Vala can read it," Sam declared almost smugly and then quickly turned to the woman, "Right? You said you translated some of it before."
"I'm not fluent or anything, but I know enough to get by," Vala replied, leaning against the table next to Daniel, "I'm sure I could show Daniel how to properly read it."
"See," Sam said, "that's more than we need!"
"How the hell could you even possibly translate such a language after only having experience with two devices?"
Vala didn't like what he was insinuating. Despite her occupation, former occupation, she wasn't stupid. "This may come as a shock to you, Daniel, but from research and hard work," she sneered. Qetesh may have known a thing or two about them, but she didn't like to admit that even to herself. "You're not the only one who can get on with languages," she taunted him in Ancient.
Everybody stared at her dumbfounded except Daniel.
"Get by," he corrected automatically. Then he realized what had just happened and he gaped at her. "Did you just..."
"Speak in Ancient?" she completed for him smugly.
Sam cleared her throat before things between them could escalate and looked over at Jack. "Sir?" she said hopefully.
It was Jack's turn to raise his eyebrows in surprise. "Really?" he asked.
Sam looked at him like it was obvious. "She has knowledge and experience," she pointed, "at least more than us."
"She isn't cleared for off world duty," Jack reminded her.
"She'll be fine," Sam said confidently.
"Your report stated further evaluation was required," he recited.
"And what better time to do that than by putting her in action?" Sam challenged and hastily added, "Sir."
"She isn't trained on weapons," Jack continued to list off, "She'll need to pass the weapons test and to demonstrate how to properly use each piece of required equipment."
"I can have her trained before tomorrow's mission, sir," Sam asserted.
Jack tilted his head and raised his brows again. "That cocky, are we?"
"Confident…sir," Sam politely corrected, "She did hijack the Prometheus with little to no trouble or resistance."
"Wait, you're talking about me?" Vala interjected.
"Shh!" Daniel shushed.
Vala smacked his arm with the folder of photos.
Jack let out a half groan, half sigh. "Oy," he said and relented, "Fine, but only if she passes all the mandatory training."
"Of course, sir," Sam said respectfully with a smile, "Thank you."
"Oh no, the pleasure's all mine," Jack remarked and looked at his watch, "Instead of listening to Daniel prattle on about a language he doesn't understand, I avoid all of that and now can head to my next meeting. Dismissed," Jack said gleefully and hightailed it out of there, feeling the glare Daniel shot his way.
"Great!" Sam said chipperly and turned to Vala, "Let's get you trained and ready."
"Sam, are you sure this is a good idea?" Daniel asked before his friend could lead the other woman out of the room.
Sam shot him a look. "Daniel, we could use all the experience on this – no matter how limited it is," she pointed out calmly, "Who knows what we could learn from these people."
"Other than what not to do when it comes to genetics?" he said sarcastically.
"Exactly. They were experimenting with genetic manipulation and who knows what else," Sam said excitedly, "Maybe we can find something that can help the Asgard with their cloning problem."
"The Asgard have a cloning problem?" Vala asked, intrigued, "Wait, they're clones!"
Sam ignored her and stayed focused on Daniel. "The Asgard owing us wouldn't be a bad thing."
Daniel hated it when she was right and he was wrong. "Fine, she can come," he reluctantly agreed.
"Like you ever had a real say," Sam retorted.
"Try not to sound too excited about it," Vala quipped, glaring at him, "You sure know how to make a girl feel wanted."
"Okay!" Sam jumped in before they could start bickering, "Let's get started on that training, shall we?"