Longships
Part 6
The next day I woke up early, since Idona had told us
some basic facts about her people we had decided the best
thing to do was take her home. Even though it would break
my heart, I decided to go along with her trip home. It was
most likely we would never see each other again, I would
miss her strangely enough. She was already up, she was
packing up the books I had went and bought for her. She was
actually intelligent, most races we had met were sewer rats.
Her race though was an exception, they were more advanced
then we were. She looked up, she was happier then I had
ever saw her. But of course she was usually happy, she
stood up. She had apparently brushed her hair out, and had
washed up. She smiled at me as usual, and ran straight
through the wall. She hugged me which was shocking, I had
not expected her to hug me. She must consider me a dear
friend, I noticed when she let me go that she had tears in
her eyes.
"Thank you Daniel, my people will be thankful. I have
missed them so much, they must be worried. Thank you for
your help, but I want to know. Will you stay for a little
while? I want to show you the far reaches of my solar
system, I want someone to know about the worlds of my
people. We are going to die, in less then 10 years you
might as well know all our secrets. I want someone here on
earth to see the world of my people before we die out, I
want them recorded. Maybe slyly hidden in a book like
this."
She handed me a book, it was Cosmos by Carl Sagan.
"Of course I'll stay awhile if you wish."
She lighted up, I had never seen her so happy. She rushed
back through her wall and grabbed a bag, it was a plain army
backpack but it held all of her stuff we had given her. We
had all given her something like books, or something to keep
her entertained like a small radio. She could not use that
radio on her planet though, since they had no radios. Since
all the Crimson Ladies could hear radio waves and the such,
they had took apart their radio transmitters and put them to
better use searching the stars.
She had learned some while staying here on earth, I
hoped she treasured her memories of this world forever. I
had came to become sort of close to her, and I held her a
special rare place in my heart. Who could not, when she
smiled she lit up the entire night sky. I had never seen
her like this, she even looked half-way nervous. When we
approached the stargate, instead of the usual handshake she
gave General Hammond a hug and a peck on the cheek. He
turned beet red, but of course she only giggled. She then
turned to the stargate as the gate opened, she rushed to the
front of the line and pretty much ran straight into the
portal. I shrugged at General Hammond's expression of
horror, and ran into the portal myself.
I heard absolute silence as I passed through the
wormhole, the whirl of colors was absolute. I closed me
eyes, but I could still feel the whirl. I opened my eyes,
the lights we were swirling by were stars. We were moving
at super-human speed, going faster then the speed of light.
This was a man-made rift in the space time continue. I
braced myself as we neared the end, and out we went. Idona
was being greeted by her people, she took a hold of a child
and hugged it. Apparently she was a good queen, she cared
for her people and played mother to her subject's children.
That was always a good trait in a ruler, her people smiled
at us. Soon they left when the queen said she needed to
show "the Godslayers" where she stayed, she turned over to
Sg-l and said "Welcome to the kingdom of Drandamere."
We walked along the tree-lined path, the trees did not
look as beautiful as they did in the night but they were
still exotic. They smelled of heavy perfume, I had never
before smelt something so alien. It scared me of course
that I was on a different planet far more advanced then
earth, yet they had not ruined their planet in the rise to
power. They were above polluting the air, they still did
not ruin their planet even though it would be destroyed
sometime in the next ten years. The queen led us to her
home, the towering castle seemed smaller and far more lovely
in the light then it had been in the dark. It shone white,
making it look awfully serene. She led us through the heavy
doors, that seemed so light now that she could easily swing
them open. Had it all been a trick of my imagination?
Idona led us to a hall, and progressed up it until she led
us to another door. She opened it, in the room there stood
a throne. This must be her throne room, it was richly
decorated with hanging banners and swords. Her guards stood
along a liner azure carpet that stretched from the door to
her throne, they raised their swords to acknowledge her
presence. They all looked relieved to see their queen
again, and even more relieved to see she had brought the
godslayers to their dying system. She walked in front of us
to her throne, which was the same golden-blue as the trees
outside. A thick rich stream of cloth hung behind her
throne only showing the very middle of the wall, on that
wall hung a sword that looked crimson. A stone was lodged
in the hilt, a stone that shinned redder then the sun
itself. (*note to readers* dying suns are red that's why
they call them red giants. Ask me, and I'll tell you all
about them)
She reached up to the wall and took the sword down, she
held it lovely like it was a favorite plaything the stone
looked like she was it's favorite thing too. Idona looked
so happy holding her sword that no one bothered her,
apparently the sword came in third after her people and her
world. She probably did not care for herself, she only
cared for what was her responsibility. I had often heard
her cry at night, from her dreams of having to punish one of
her people who had murdered another. She did not like to
have someone killed, but she did what was necessary even if
it did go against her own wishes. She finally looked up and
spoke up, "This is the sword of my planet and my blood, the
first princess to hold this was a mighty warrior. This is
why the Asgard chose to give us this sword in its present
form, in honor of what she did to Hathor. I am the only one
that can touch the stone, or the sword. They know me, they
have since my birth."
She smiled and put the sword back on the wall, "come I
will show you to your rooms." She rushed down the carpet,
and out the doors. She led us through the twisting turning
halls of her home, and soon came to a carpeted hall. Along
that hall there were many a door, she showed everyone a
room. There were startled gasps of the beauty of the decor,
as people went into their rooms. She smiled as she led me
to mine last of all, a stunning room of azure. Carpeted,
and furnished to royal expectations. She left me there, and
went off to her people. After a hour or so, I went over to
the window to conquer my fear of great heights. I saw Idona
outside with her people gathered around her, she was holding
a baby. I then heard her words from down below, "this child
shall be called Bella, may her days be blessed forever."
She prized her people more then anything, if only
leaders on earth were like her. If they ever could, imagine
what we could accomplish. We probably could achieve world
peace, or something very close to it. She smiled handing
the baby back to the baby's mother, offering congradtations.
She looked up and waved seeing me, I waved back and closed
the curtains. I had turned beet red, but that was nothing
unusual about me doing that around her. I was starting to
fall for her, but it was a impossible love. How could I
love someone who's heart was consumed with love for her
people? And her people only, she loved them more then she
loved her kingdom.....her world.
Later that night she summoned me, it was nighttime. I
was to meet her outside, I went obediently to where I was
suppose to meet her. It was just off the path in front of
her home, she was there looking up at the stars again. She
had finally changed clothes, she now wore something other
then red. She wore a rich silver dress, it flowed behind
her trailing on the earth. She wore a azure cape, that
shone with all the light of the stars. It was just like her
violet eyes I find so attractive, her flowing black hair was
studded with little gems all along it's length. They were
little sapphires, she still wore her silver circlet. She
was the most beautiful lady I had ever seen, and I knew
there would never be another Idona.
She pointed out at the stars I saw a golden glow, that
wasn't issued from the large glowing moons. It must of been
the planet she had spoke of yesterday about this time, she
had promised me if I stayed for awhile after we brought her
back that she would show me the star. Her eyes filled with
tears and she let out a sob, she ran over to me. She flew
into my arms, all I could do was pat her on the back while
she sobbed and say "there, there."
I woke up the next day before dawn, the sky was still
only lighted by the five separate moons that hung in the
night sky. I sighed and got dressed and shaved for the
first time since this had all began. I finally finished and
went out the door, I walked through the halls now lit with
torches to cover up the now receding darkness of the night.
I still heard Idona's cries echoing, haunting me. I hadn't
been able to sleep because of her, today Sg-1 team would go
up in space and she would guide us to a couple of her
favorite planets in this rich system. She had still not
told me the system name, but I wish she would. Somehow that
is always how it is, to never know something. I had a
feeling though that when this system dies part of me will
die also, it would happen sometime soon. I wish she would
listen to me, but she wouldn't. She had chose to die with
her people, burning in the flames of her worlds dying sun.
She would burn, I could not imagine her burning like a
witch. I didn't want to lose her forever, because I loved
her. Of course she could never find that out, because that
might make her life a little bit difficult. No one who
cares for a person, makes their life difficult. I finally
went outside, walking along the strange trees. I reached
the end of the path and veered off of it, the stars were
going out one by one by the light of the close moons. It
was a lovely view as the night grew at first darker then the
sun started to rise, and the rays of sunlight gently met the
land for the first time that day. The sun was red, like
someone had spilled blood all over it's surface. But of
course it was a red giant, her people were wrong that star
could go nova anytime. It was at that point already, the
fiery rays of the sun shot through the skies of Kalestra.
Making the sky burn with hidden fires, through the blaze I
noticed up in the window of the highest tower stood Idona.
She knew how far along the sun was, she knew her death was
closer then her people could ever know.
She knew all of it, she knew that her people would go
into a state of sadness if they ever knew they were about to
die. The sun could go nova anytime now, we were in danger.
Idona had put us in danger but I was no snitch I would never
tell anyone this, no one would find out. Only my team would
know and her of course, no one else would ever know that her
homestar was about to blow. I would not allow it, she
noticed me off in the distance and her expression
immediately sobered. She had never wanted to hurt me or my
people, only I knew why no one would ever know the secret of
her heart but me.
When everybody was finally up, she led us down to a
breakfast hall in which were all sorts of odd combinations
of food. She was practically glowing, as she sat down next
to me. She spoke up
"Your people and you are going with me to the stars today,
the ship is already ready. All you have to do is eat before
you go, I have already fixed the ship to go to where I want
to show you to. We are going to one of the moons, and a
couple of the better planets. The moon we are going to is
Jangladesh, the planets Terramore and Dragona. Both planets
contain carbon based lifeforms and are capable of inhabiting
human life for long periods of time." Finally we all
finished our breakfast and we rushed out, the ship was up in
a really tall tower. But luckily they had installed
something like an elevator right there, so we did no have to
even take a step to walk up those steep long stairs. When
we stepped out we were met with the most advance technology
we had ever been exposed to, the room was a white one. With
only white-clad people and a ship in the middle of the room,
the ship was sloped off to a single point in the front. The
wings were sloped back to allow almost light-speed or
possibly above it. Maybe sort of like a hyper drive that
right now the Goa'uld pocessed. The ship was silver in
color, it was not all that big but it was big enough. Idona
led us onto the ship, we all followed her movement. Like
strapping in and the such, she started to flick certain
switches. We noticed the people left the tower filing into
the elevator, then we felt the rumble of the engines. A
flight window opened in front of us, all of sudden the room
was filled with flame. We then took off toward the moon
Jangladesh, in less then a hour we reached the planet sized
moon. It was rich with life, mostly birds. It must be
exactly like the planet Terramore, I could see why this was
her favorite moon. It looked almost like the jungles of
South America, with all the flora and fauna and the
waterfalls.
We landed at a marked space, Idona apparently knew how
to drive one of the ships perfect. The ship must be there
equivalent to a car, she unbuckled her seat belt and hopped
out of the now open hatch. We all did the same, to our
surprise there was a path leading into the jungle. She
signaled for us to come, we followed her the path was a
quiet one. A lovely one at that, surrounded by all sorts of
flowering greenery. The flowers were of all types of exotic
colors and fragrances, some were even a little bit narcotic.
She bent and picked a strange one up, it was a pink flower
that looked sort of like a bloom off a tulip tree. She
smiled holding it in front of her, I heard a rustle in the
bushes ahead of her. There stood a tiny person of about a
foot, it looked like what we would call a fairy. The fae
was wearing a strange little green overcoat, it's hair was
red and scattered everywhere. The little creature started
to made strange noises, that could of been a language but
the sounds did not escape it's throat right. Idona smiled
and motioned with her hands, with elegant symbols. This
must have been how they communicate, she laughed as she
moved her hands and motioned for us to come on behind her.
We looked at each other, Sam, Jack, and Teal'c looked
uncertain but Idona assured them with a smile. We followed
her through the wooded path. We ran through the brush, the
brambles catching on our clothes.
We walked for what seemed forever through the endless
forests of this moon, till we came upon a tree so large that
even in a human's endless mind the tree pushed the limits of
imagination. Idona smiled at our obvious wonder and
curiosity over a mere tree, no matter how large it was it
seemed not to matter to her. It did not rattle her mind
with unanswered questions and the such, but it gave an
opportunity to explore deeper into the human psyche. Which
was still much unexplored, the human psyche was the real
challenge not space as we used to call it the final
frontier. Only the human mind was unexplained, for it lead
us on levels unparrell to any other creatures mind. That is
other then the other races we had found, like the Nox and
Asgard. Who were part of an ancient alliance with the
Ancients, who had already explored their own souls and
minds. They knew what they had to know, and they ended it
at that.
We were greeted by more of the creature's people,
little fae-like people. They smiled up at Idona, it looked
like every sentimate race in this system knew her by her
first name. It must of been how she made everybody love
her, at least that is how I looked at it. It seemed like
nobody here did not know her, everybody seemed to be her
friend. She seemed to be more then a mere protector, she
seemed like she wanted to be part of their lives. She
wanted to be part of their hearts, and she had accomplished
this is relatively short years. She had accomplished peace
in this system, and she had done nothing other then make
friends. She did not meddle with their minds, or their
ways. She did not meddle with their lands, she did not
meddle with their cultures. It would be a major loss to
humanity when this whole system would be destroyed, either
it was a matter of years or a matter of months. This wealth
of worlds, and their many wonders would be lost forever. As
would be all of the fabulous lifeforms, and the flora of
these lands that system possessed. We would lose
information of their industries, and medicines. Who knows,
maybe they had a cure for AIDS of cancer. Later that night
we were sitting by the fire, at our little spot the people
had set up for us. We were contented enough, except Idona
expected me to sleep in a tree. I shuddered at the thought
of it, but I said nothing. I made a point of it to, so Jack
would find no reason to complain.
"Idona what will happen to all the information, all
that this system has learned. Do you store it somewhere,
where it will not be destroyed?"
She looked up from her meal, curious I suppose but you could
never tell with Idona.
"Yes, I keep all the knowledge in a time capsale which
floats like a satellite around the outer-most planet in this
system. It is in no danger of being destroyed, like the
many races that accompany this system."
Another of the little people came over to our fire, this one
was a old-one. I suppose this is what they called an elder,
because this one looked wise and withered with old-age.
"What do you call this race, on Earth we would call them fae
or fairies. Maybe even sprites, they look like a something
out of one of our many children's tales."
"We call this race the Shanar, they would be what you call
fairies but much more intelligent. They hold many of the
secrets of the universe, Daniel Jackson. They hold secrets
unheard of by earthlings, unheard of by even the Goa'uld.
The Shanar are old as time itself, they were among the first
race to rise from the trees. To walk upright, they were the
first of many to come. They are even older then the Goa'uld
or the human race, that came from its beginnings on your
home-world. This is one of them, his name is Dajas. He is
what you would call the oldest of his kind, he is well over
one thousand years old."
I looked at Dajas, he did not look over a thousand. He only
looked about in his hundreds, the years staggered through my
mind. If Dajas was that old, he was older then the rise of
humanity. The rise of knowledge, not just walking or making
simple tools. He was almost as old as the slave rebellion
itself, only a couple of thousand years younger. He had
been alive when the first European explorers first sailed
the seas and the oceans, he had been alive probably during
the fall of the Roman Empire. He had been here to feel the
reign of great emperors, that had rose and fell. He had
been here to know when men first took the steps to the
stars, and he had known about it all. For this system had
been observing Earth the whole time, we had never been
really alone and never would be. Maybe this was the race
that first planted the thoughts of being free, maybe they
had spread democracy. Who knows, it would be in the many
records sailing in the orbit of the last planet of this
system.
We soon left, Idona said her good-byes to all of her
friends. And we came back to her ship, she got in and
buckled up once more. She beckoned for us to do the same,
soon we were in orbit of the planet. She then took a lever
or some sort of stick, then we heard the roar of the
engines. Followed by a energetic blast into space, we were
going faster then ever before. I could almost feel the
pressure pushing on me in my seat, as we flew at incredible
speed into the further reaches of space. Sam's eyes were
opened wide, she was after all the scientist. Who had once
believed that no one could survive the speed we were now
going, we were going faster then light. Soon we arrived and
started to circle around the planet, which was among some of
the most beautiful sights ever to bless my eyes. This was
the lush jungle planet of Terramore, which was suppost to be
something to see. I could tell from here that this planet
was among the wonders of the universe, and had to be the
most lovely sight in this system. We circle the planet for
awhile, Idona letting us get our fill of the stars and the
planet. After awhile she did something with the controls
and we started to go through the atmosphere, this was quite
different going through a whole planets atmosphere not like
a moon. I felt the heat starting to build outside, and saw
the droplets of sweat falling off Jack's nose. We were
passing through a sunset of such beauty that it swept us all
away, this was even more stunning then the sunsets of the
Hawaiian islands, it looked as if the sky was a giant
flickering flame. The clouds blushed golden in the light of
the sun, and the sky set on fire right before my eyes. Soon
we came further down into a lush area of jungle, I saw then
the incredible ecosystem this planet possessed. All of the
animals here were unique and truly spectacular, with the
birds and various types of felines this planet was one of
the more exotic I had seen on my voyages. When this system
would destroyed there would be a mass loss of information,
one of the most greatest losses of the universe. The sheer
magnitude of what would be destroyed compared with the
losses of the library of Alexandria and the loss of the
Mayan codex's back when Christianity destroyed at all costs
anything that had to do with pagans.
We landed soon in a cleared part of the jungle, even
though I had been taught about deforestation when I was
younger I had no objections about this. Without this
landing pad here, there would be no place to land or even
think about it. Idona was the first to get out, apparently
she knew her way around this place, she turned to us here
ebon hair falling in her face as she waved for us to come
on. She showed us around the planet with its lush beauty,
and as soon as night time fell we were lead to a sort of
house in the jungle. Actually it would be what you could
call a hunting cabin on Earth, but this cabin was empty of
everything except supplies and bedding. Idona went over to
the fireplace and started a fire and soon sat down in front
of it, I sat down next to her. The others left the cabin to
look outside, I looked over at Idona who's eyes were
accented by the flames. To make her eyes look as if they
were on fire, she smiled over at me again as if apologizing
for what had happened on her planet. I let her do so, but
soon I asked her about the ancients.
"Idona, has the ancients ever visited your planet?"
"Why do you ask this Daniel?"
"Because its important to me, and my people. I seek the
answers, and the answers are held by the ancients."
"They once visited my planet years ago, before our dawn of
technology and showed us the ways of science and
mathematics. They showed us how to be better people, and
taught us how to survive in such a odd world. We were
aroused with curiosity the same curiosity that you humans
had before you rose from the ashes of the slave rebellion,
the same that caused Earth to rise from its pitiful misery
into something great. One of the greatest civilizations to
come from the depths of slavery was yours, and mine. We are
one and the same Daniel Jackson, we are both humans so there
is no need of fear or hostilities. I am so sorry that I had
to kidnap you to tell you of my system, and to warn you of
the longships. We had hoped that the Earth would remain
ignorant to the ways of the universe for just a little
longer, but nothing ever works out the way you want it to
be."
Her eyes glossed over with the flames were full of emotion,
they glowed violet even in the flames. They were also full
of tears, she looked up and smiled faintly. She spoke in
her soft voice then.
"It will not be long until my world will be destroyed, until
the system will be destroyed Daniel promise me that you will
gather the information of all of this system before this
system dies. I want Earth protected, even though my world
and life is not anymore. This is the only way the human
race can survive and overthrow slavery and submission, Earth
is the key to this. Oddly enough I can feel it deep down in
my soul. I used to believe only in what I could see and
feel, I never used to believe in having a soul or a destiny.
Now that this has happened I believe not only in destiny and
having a soul, but I believe I was born only to serve a far
greater purpose. I was born to help save this world, and
this system but I have no way. I wish there was a way to
save this beauty of all beauties from being destroyed, not
only this world but all others. Daniel I want Earth to
promise me you will stop the Goa'uld before they destroy the
universe."
I could see the wisdom in her eyes, I did believe her
it did seem that she was only born for this purpose and this
purpose only. I knew once I left this system the system
would soon die, and Idona along with it. Oddly enough this
made my heart ache, I like her more then I am willing to
admit. I nodded and laid my head down to sleep, Idona fell
asleep right beside me as I found out once I woke from my
dreams before dawn. My dreams had been about her, I
realized then at that moment looking down at her sleeping
form in the darkness. I was falling in love with her, this
love was forbidden by the laws of her people and by the laws
of the sword. It was also against the laws of my nation,
and most likely the rest of the world. Even though logic
told me to forget and go back to sleep, I could not do it I
could not shake this feeling. I walked over to one of the
windows in the cabin and stood there the rest of the night
and watched the copper in the atmosphere react with the
nitrogen making a bright green pentacle sort of like the
northern lights on Earth, but much more exotic. I heard
footsteps behind me, and a hand touching and then resting on
my shoulder. I turned to she Idona, her eyes reflected the
lights making them appear to be both emerald and violet at
the same time. She looked into my eyes, but said nothing or
did nothing her arm falling back to her side rather
gradually.
Finally she spoke the first words, "I am sorry for
scaring you Daniel, I just thought you might like company."
Her eyes drifted downward to stare at the floor, I felt a
lump rising in my throat. Apparently she liked me to,
because she was becoming all of a sudden shy around me. I
brought my hand up to the bottom of her chin, lifting her
face upwards to look at me instead of the floor. And did
what I had wanted to do all night, I kissed her. Afterwards
I promptly stepped backwards, she smiled at me.
"It's okay Daniel, you do not have to be afraid of me....."
"I'm sorry Idona, I should not have kissed you..... It was
my fault....."
She smiled up at me, she made my heart beat..... she made
me feel the feeling I used to have for..... All of a sudden
before I could complete that thought she pointed up at a
shooting star, out loud she pondered how fast and how far it
had gone..... "I estimate that it once was going about the
speed of light, it could of if it had been spewed from an
early born star. The speed of light is suppost to be
186,000 miles per second, which at the rate of a minute
light travels 11,160,000. At the rate of an hour light
travels 669,600,000 miles, at the rate of an day light
travels 16,070,400,000. Which means roughly a light-year is
5,865,696,000,000 miles, which means light travels about as
your people say 63,000 AUs (Astronomical Unit.) Which is
equal to 93 million miles, the distance your planet is from
your sun. I suppose I should compare your AU's to our PQ's
which stands for Point's Quantum in your language, what you
call a parsec is called a WarpLock in our language." She
smiled over at me to see me gapping, she had just equaled up
the distance light covers in a year inside her head in less
then a minute. I stared at her amazed at how fast she could
compute inside her head, only then did I see how vast her
knowledge of everything in this universe was.
The next morning we skipped over the next planet, we
went back to Idona's homeworld instead. We had just
received a message from General Hammond, he requested our
return to Earth as soon as we could. He gave us 1800
hundred hours to come through the gate, during this time
Idona requested me to come to her privately. I did so, she
stood up and smiled up at me. Her violet eyes showed a
different story though, they were full of sadness. She did
not want me to leave her, she wanted me to stay here
forever. Oddly enough I regretted coming back to Earth, I
wanted to stay there by her side and be with her. But I was
ordered to come back, I could not pull off the same trick I
did on my very first trip through the stargate. So I was
forced to kiss her goodbye, and secure in my head the
knowledge of her people. She smiled sadly as we left,
waving goodbye to us. Right before I left she whispered in
my ear "I love you Daniel Jackson, please take this and keep
it close to your heart always....." She gave me some
strange pendent, only after I came back home did I open it
and a disk fell out into my palm. Several others followed,
they fit perfectly into a computer. I realized then she had
put all she knew on several high-compactly disks, but did
they run on Earth's computers or would I have to raster
until I found the perfect super computer?
Well how did you like this part of the Longships? This
was close to four months in the making, so please I beg of
you review tell me what you think! I have had the worst
case of being uninspired I have ever had, so please take
mercy and tell me should I write a part seven of the
Longships? Well please review and thanks for reading this
part ta ta!
Part 6
The next day I woke up early, since Idona had told us
some basic facts about her people we had decided the best
thing to do was take her home. Even though it would break
my heart, I decided to go along with her trip home. It was
most likely we would never see each other again, I would
miss her strangely enough. She was already up, she was
packing up the books I had went and bought for her. She was
actually intelligent, most races we had met were sewer rats.
Her race though was an exception, they were more advanced
then we were. She looked up, she was happier then I had
ever saw her. But of course she was usually happy, she
stood up. She had apparently brushed her hair out, and had
washed up. She smiled at me as usual, and ran straight
through the wall. She hugged me which was shocking, I had
not expected her to hug me. She must consider me a dear
friend, I noticed when she let me go that she had tears in
her eyes.
"Thank you Daniel, my people will be thankful. I have
missed them so much, they must be worried. Thank you for
your help, but I want to know. Will you stay for a little
while? I want to show you the far reaches of my solar
system, I want someone to know about the worlds of my
people. We are going to die, in less then 10 years you
might as well know all our secrets. I want someone here on
earth to see the world of my people before we die out, I
want them recorded. Maybe slyly hidden in a book like
this."
She handed me a book, it was Cosmos by Carl Sagan.
"Of course I'll stay awhile if you wish."
She lighted up, I had never seen her so happy. She rushed
back through her wall and grabbed a bag, it was a plain army
backpack but it held all of her stuff we had given her. We
had all given her something like books, or something to keep
her entertained like a small radio. She could not use that
radio on her planet though, since they had no radios. Since
all the Crimson Ladies could hear radio waves and the such,
they had took apart their radio transmitters and put them to
better use searching the stars.
She had learned some while staying here on earth, I
hoped she treasured her memories of this world forever. I
had came to become sort of close to her, and I held her a
special rare place in my heart. Who could not, when she
smiled she lit up the entire night sky. I had never seen
her like this, she even looked half-way nervous. When we
approached the stargate, instead of the usual handshake she
gave General Hammond a hug and a peck on the cheek. He
turned beet red, but of course she only giggled. She then
turned to the stargate as the gate opened, she rushed to the
front of the line and pretty much ran straight into the
portal. I shrugged at General Hammond's expression of
horror, and ran into the portal myself.
I heard absolute silence as I passed through the
wormhole, the whirl of colors was absolute. I closed me
eyes, but I could still feel the whirl. I opened my eyes,
the lights we were swirling by were stars. We were moving
at super-human speed, going faster then the speed of light.
This was a man-made rift in the space time continue. I
braced myself as we neared the end, and out we went. Idona
was being greeted by her people, she took a hold of a child
and hugged it. Apparently she was a good queen, she cared
for her people and played mother to her subject's children.
That was always a good trait in a ruler, her people smiled
at us. Soon they left when the queen said she needed to
show "the Godslayers" where she stayed, she turned over to
Sg-l and said "Welcome to the kingdom of Drandamere."
We walked along the tree-lined path, the trees did not
look as beautiful as they did in the night but they were
still exotic. They smelled of heavy perfume, I had never
before smelt something so alien. It scared me of course
that I was on a different planet far more advanced then
earth, yet they had not ruined their planet in the rise to
power. They were above polluting the air, they still did
not ruin their planet even though it would be destroyed
sometime in the next ten years. The queen led us to her
home, the towering castle seemed smaller and far more lovely
in the light then it had been in the dark. It shone white,
making it look awfully serene. She led us through the heavy
doors, that seemed so light now that she could easily swing
them open. Had it all been a trick of my imagination?
Idona led us to a hall, and progressed up it until she led
us to another door. She opened it, in the room there stood
a throne. This must be her throne room, it was richly
decorated with hanging banners and swords. Her guards stood
along a liner azure carpet that stretched from the door to
her throne, they raised their swords to acknowledge her
presence. They all looked relieved to see their queen
again, and even more relieved to see she had brought the
godslayers to their dying system. She walked in front of us
to her throne, which was the same golden-blue as the trees
outside. A thick rich stream of cloth hung behind her
throne only showing the very middle of the wall, on that
wall hung a sword that looked crimson. A stone was lodged
in the hilt, a stone that shinned redder then the sun
itself. (*note to readers* dying suns are red that's why
they call them red giants. Ask me, and I'll tell you all
about them)
She reached up to the wall and took the sword down, she
held it lovely like it was a favorite plaything the stone
looked like she was it's favorite thing too. Idona looked
so happy holding her sword that no one bothered her,
apparently the sword came in third after her people and her
world. She probably did not care for herself, she only
cared for what was her responsibility. I had often heard
her cry at night, from her dreams of having to punish one of
her people who had murdered another. She did not like to
have someone killed, but she did what was necessary even if
it did go against her own wishes. She finally looked up and
spoke up, "This is the sword of my planet and my blood, the
first princess to hold this was a mighty warrior. This is
why the Asgard chose to give us this sword in its present
form, in honor of what she did to Hathor. I am the only one
that can touch the stone, or the sword. They know me, they
have since my birth."
She smiled and put the sword back on the wall, "come I
will show you to your rooms." She rushed down the carpet,
and out the doors. She led us through the twisting turning
halls of her home, and soon came to a carpeted hall. Along
that hall there were many a door, she showed everyone a
room. There were startled gasps of the beauty of the decor,
as people went into their rooms. She smiled as she led me
to mine last of all, a stunning room of azure. Carpeted,
and furnished to royal expectations. She left me there, and
went off to her people. After a hour or so, I went over to
the window to conquer my fear of great heights. I saw Idona
outside with her people gathered around her, she was holding
a baby. I then heard her words from down below, "this child
shall be called Bella, may her days be blessed forever."
She prized her people more then anything, if only
leaders on earth were like her. If they ever could, imagine
what we could accomplish. We probably could achieve world
peace, or something very close to it. She smiled handing
the baby back to the baby's mother, offering congradtations.
She looked up and waved seeing me, I waved back and closed
the curtains. I had turned beet red, but that was nothing
unusual about me doing that around her. I was starting to
fall for her, but it was a impossible love. How could I
love someone who's heart was consumed with love for her
people? And her people only, she loved them more then she
loved her kingdom.....her world.
Later that night she summoned me, it was nighttime. I
was to meet her outside, I went obediently to where I was
suppose to meet her. It was just off the path in front of
her home, she was there looking up at the stars again. She
had finally changed clothes, she now wore something other
then red. She wore a rich silver dress, it flowed behind
her trailing on the earth. She wore a azure cape, that
shone with all the light of the stars. It was just like her
violet eyes I find so attractive, her flowing black hair was
studded with little gems all along it's length. They were
little sapphires, she still wore her silver circlet. She
was the most beautiful lady I had ever seen, and I knew
there would never be another Idona.
She pointed out at the stars I saw a golden glow, that
wasn't issued from the large glowing moons. It must of been
the planet she had spoke of yesterday about this time, she
had promised me if I stayed for awhile after we brought her
back that she would show me the star. Her eyes filled with
tears and she let out a sob, she ran over to me. She flew
into my arms, all I could do was pat her on the back while
she sobbed and say "there, there."
I woke up the next day before dawn, the sky was still
only lighted by the five separate moons that hung in the
night sky. I sighed and got dressed and shaved for the
first time since this had all began. I finally finished and
went out the door, I walked through the halls now lit with
torches to cover up the now receding darkness of the night.
I still heard Idona's cries echoing, haunting me. I hadn't
been able to sleep because of her, today Sg-1 team would go
up in space and she would guide us to a couple of her
favorite planets in this rich system. She had still not
told me the system name, but I wish she would. Somehow that
is always how it is, to never know something. I had a
feeling though that when this system dies part of me will
die also, it would happen sometime soon. I wish she would
listen to me, but she wouldn't. She had chose to die with
her people, burning in the flames of her worlds dying sun.
She would burn, I could not imagine her burning like a
witch. I didn't want to lose her forever, because I loved
her. Of course she could never find that out, because that
might make her life a little bit difficult. No one who
cares for a person, makes their life difficult. I finally
went outside, walking along the strange trees. I reached
the end of the path and veered off of it, the stars were
going out one by one by the light of the close moons. It
was a lovely view as the night grew at first darker then the
sun started to rise, and the rays of sunlight gently met the
land for the first time that day. The sun was red, like
someone had spilled blood all over it's surface. But of
course it was a red giant, her people were wrong that star
could go nova anytime. It was at that point already, the
fiery rays of the sun shot through the skies of Kalestra.
Making the sky burn with hidden fires, through the blaze I
noticed up in the window of the highest tower stood Idona.
She knew how far along the sun was, she knew her death was
closer then her people could ever know.
She knew all of it, she knew that her people would go
into a state of sadness if they ever knew they were about to
die. The sun could go nova anytime now, we were in danger.
Idona had put us in danger but I was no snitch I would never
tell anyone this, no one would find out. Only my team would
know and her of course, no one else would ever know that her
homestar was about to blow. I would not allow it, she
noticed me off in the distance and her expression
immediately sobered. She had never wanted to hurt me or my
people, only I knew why no one would ever know the secret of
her heart but me.
When everybody was finally up, she led us down to a
breakfast hall in which were all sorts of odd combinations
of food. She was practically glowing, as she sat down next
to me. She spoke up
"Your people and you are going with me to the stars today,
the ship is already ready. All you have to do is eat before
you go, I have already fixed the ship to go to where I want
to show you to. We are going to one of the moons, and a
couple of the better planets. The moon we are going to is
Jangladesh, the planets Terramore and Dragona. Both planets
contain carbon based lifeforms and are capable of inhabiting
human life for long periods of time." Finally we all
finished our breakfast and we rushed out, the ship was up in
a really tall tower. But luckily they had installed
something like an elevator right there, so we did no have to
even take a step to walk up those steep long stairs. When
we stepped out we were met with the most advance technology
we had ever been exposed to, the room was a white one. With
only white-clad people and a ship in the middle of the room,
the ship was sloped off to a single point in the front. The
wings were sloped back to allow almost light-speed or
possibly above it. Maybe sort of like a hyper drive that
right now the Goa'uld pocessed. The ship was silver in
color, it was not all that big but it was big enough. Idona
led us onto the ship, we all followed her movement. Like
strapping in and the such, she started to flick certain
switches. We noticed the people left the tower filing into
the elevator, then we felt the rumble of the engines. A
flight window opened in front of us, all of sudden the room
was filled with flame. We then took off toward the moon
Jangladesh, in less then a hour we reached the planet sized
moon. It was rich with life, mostly birds. It must be
exactly like the planet Terramore, I could see why this was
her favorite moon. It looked almost like the jungles of
South America, with all the flora and fauna and the
waterfalls.
We landed at a marked space, Idona apparently knew how
to drive one of the ships perfect. The ship must be there
equivalent to a car, she unbuckled her seat belt and hopped
out of the now open hatch. We all did the same, to our
surprise there was a path leading into the jungle. She
signaled for us to come, we followed her the path was a
quiet one. A lovely one at that, surrounded by all sorts of
flowering greenery. The flowers were of all types of exotic
colors and fragrances, some were even a little bit narcotic.
She bent and picked a strange one up, it was a pink flower
that looked sort of like a bloom off a tulip tree. She
smiled holding it in front of her, I heard a rustle in the
bushes ahead of her. There stood a tiny person of about a
foot, it looked like what we would call a fairy. The fae
was wearing a strange little green overcoat, it's hair was
red and scattered everywhere. The little creature started
to made strange noises, that could of been a language but
the sounds did not escape it's throat right. Idona smiled
and motioned with her hands, with elegant symbols. This
must have been how they communicate, she laughed as she
moved her hands and motioned for us to come on behind her.
We looked at each other, Sam, Jack, and Teal'c looked
uncertain but Idona assured them with a smile. We followed
her through the wooded path. We ran through the brush, the
brambles catching on our clothes.
We walked for what seemed forever through the endless
forests of this moon, till we came upon a tree so large that
even in a human's endless mind the tree pushed the limits of
imagination. Idona smiled at our obvious wonder and
curiosity over a mere tree, no matter how large it was it
seemed not to matter to her. It did not rattle her mind
with unanswered questions and the such, but it gave an
opportunity to explore deeper into the human psyche. Which
was still much unexplored, the human psyche was the real
challenge not space as we used to call it the final
frontier. Only the human mind was unexplained, for it lead
us on levels unparrell to any other creatures mind. That is
other then the other races we had found, like the Nox and
Asgard. Who were part of an ancient alliance with the
Ancients, who had already explored their own souls and
minds. They knew what they had to know, and they ended it
at that.
We were greeted by more of the creature's people,
little fae-like people. They smiled up at Idona, it looked
like every sentimate race in this system knew her by her
first name. It must of been how she made everybody love
her, at least that is how I looked at it. It seemed like
nobody here did not know her, everybody seemed to be her
friend. She seemed to be more then a mere protector, she
seemed like she wanted to be part of their lives. She
wanted to be part of their hearts, and she had accomplished
this is relatively short years. She had accomplished peace
in this system, and she had done nothing other then make
friends. She did not meddle with their minds, or their
ways. She did not meddle with their lands, she did not
meddle with their cultures. It would be a major loss to
humanity when this whole system would be destroyed, either
it was a matter of years or a matter of months. This wealth
of worlds, and their many wonders would be lost forever. As
would be all of the fabulous lifeforms, and the flora of
these lands that system possessed. We would lose
information of their industries, and medicines. Who knows,
maybe they had a cure for AIDS of cancer. Later that night
we were sitting by the fire, at our little spot the people
had set up for us. We were contented enough, except Idona
expected me to sleep in a tree. I shuddered at the thought
of it, but I said nothing. I made a point of it to, so Jack
would find no reason to complain.
"Idona what will happen to all the information, all
that this system has learned. Do you store it somewhere,
where it will not be destroyed?"
She looked up from her meal, curious I suppose but you could
never tell with Idona.
"Yes, I keep all the knowledge in a time capsale which
floats like a satellite around the outer-most planet in this
system. It is in no danger of being destroyed, like the
many races that accompany this system."
Another of the little people came over to our fire, this one
was a old-one. I suppose this is what they called an elder,
because this one looked wise and withered with old-age.
"What do you call this race, on Earth we would call them fae
or fairies. Maybe even sprites, they look like a something
out of one of our many children's tales."
"We call this race the Shanar, they would be what you call
fairies but much more intelligent. They hold many of the
secrets of the universe, Daniel Jackson. They hold secrets
unheard of by earthlings, unheard of by even the Goa'uld.
The Shanar are old as time itself, they were among the first
race to rise from the trees. To walk upright, they were the
first of many to come. They are even older then the Goa'uld
or the human race, that came from its beginnings on your
home-world. This is one of them, his name is Dajas. He is
what you would call the oldest of his kind, he is well over
one thousand years old."
I looked at Dajas, he did not look over a thousand. He only
looked about in his hundreds, the years staggered through my
mind. If Dajas was that old, he was older then the rise of
humanity. The rise of knowledge, not just walking or making
simple tools. He was almost as old as the slave rebellion
itself, only a couple of thousand years younger. He had
been alive when the first European explorers first sailed
the seas and the oceans, he had been alive probably during
the fall of the Roman Empire. He had been here to feel the
reign of great emperors, that had rose and fell. He had
been here to know when men first took the steps to the
stars, and he had known about it all. For this system had
been observing Earth the whole time, we had never been
really alone and never would be. Maybe this was the race
that first planted the thoughts of being free, maybe they
had spread democracy. Who knows, it would be in the many
records sailing in the orbit of the last planet of this
system.
We soon left, Idona said her good-byes to all of her
friends. And we came back to her ship, she got in and
buckled up once more. She beckoned for us to do the same,
soon we were in orbit of the planet. She then took a lever
or some sort of stick, then we heard the roar of the
engines. Followed by a energetic blast into space, we were
going faster then ever before. I could almost feel the
pressure pushing on me in my seat, as we flew at incredible
speed into the further reaches of space. Sam's eyes were
opened wide, she was after all the scientist. Who had once
believed that no one could survive the speed we were now
going, we were going faster then light. Soon we arrived and
started to circle around the planet, which was among some of
the most beautiful sights ever to bless my eyes. This was
the lush jungle planet of Terramore, which was suppost to be
something to see. I could tell from here that this planet
was among the wonders of the universe, and had to be the
most lovely sight in this system. We circle the planet for
awhile, Idona letting us get our fill of the stars and the
planet. After awhile she did something with the controls
and we started to go through the atmosphere, this was quite
different going through a whole planets atmosphere not like
a moon. I felt the heat starting to build outside, and saw
the droplets of sweat falling off Jack's nose. We were
passing through a sunset of such beauty that it swept us all
away, this was even more stunning then the sunsets of the
Hawaiian islands, it looked as if the sky was a giant
flickering flame. The clouds blushed golden in the light of
the sun, and the sky set on fire right before my eyes. Soon
we came further down into a lush area of jungle, I saw then
the incredible ecosystem this planet possessed. All of the
animals here were unique and truly spectacular, with the
birds and various types of felines this planet was one of
the more exotic I had seen on my voyages. When this system
would destroyed there would be a mass loss of information,
one of the most greatest losses of the universe. The sheer
magnitude of what would be destroyed compared with the
losses of the library of Alexandria and the loss of the
Mayan codex's back when Christianity destroyed at all costs
anything that had to do with pagans.
We landed soon in a cleared part of the jungle, even
though I had been taught about deforestation when I was
younger I had no objections about this. Without this
landing pad here, there would be no place to land or even
think about it. Idona was the first to get out, apparently
she knew her way around this place, she turned to us here
ebon hair falling in her face as she waved for us to come
on. She showed us around the planet with its lush beauty,
and as soon as night time fell we were lead to a sort of
house in the jungle. Actually it would be what you could
call a hunting cabin on Earth, but this cabin was empty of
everything except supplies and bedding. Idona went over to
the fireplace and started a fire and soon sat down in front
of it, I sat down next to her. The others left the cabin to
look outside, I looked over at Idona who's eyes were
accented by the flames. To make her eyes look as if they
were on fire, she smiled over at me again as if apologizing
for what had happened on her planet. I let her do so, but
soon I asked her about the ancients.
"Idona, has the ancients ever visited your planet?"
"Why do you ask this Daniel?"
"Because its important to me, and my people. I seek the
answers, and the answers are held by the ancients."
"They once visited my planet years ago, before our dawn of
technology and showed us the ways of science and
mathematics. They showed us how to be better people, and
taught us how to survive in such a odd world. We were
aroused with curiosity the same curiosity that you humans
had before you rose from the ashes of the slave rebellion,
the same that caused Earth to rise from its pitiful misery
into something great. One of the greatest civilizations to
come from the depths of slavery was yours, and mine. We are
one and the same Daniel Jackson, we are both humans so there
is no need of fear or hostilities. I am so sorry that I had
to kidnap you to tell you of my system, and to warn you of
the longships. We had hoped that the Earth would remain
ignorant to the ways of the universe for just a little
longer, but nothing ever works out the way you want it to
be."
Her eyes glossed over with the flames were full of emotion,
they glowed violet even in the flames. They were also full
of tears, she looked up and smiled faintly. She spoke in
her soft voice then.
"It will not be long until my world will be destroyed, until
the system will be destroyed Daniel promise me that you will
gather the information of all of this system before this
system dies. I want Earth protected, even though my world
and life is not anymore. This is the only way the human
race can survive and overthrow slavery and submission, Earth
is the key to this. Oddly enough I can feel it deep down in
my soul. I used to believe only in what I could see and
feel, I never used to believe in having a soul or a destiny.
Now that this has happened I believe not only in destiny and
having a soul, but I believe I was born only to serve a far
greater purpose. I was born to help save this world, and
this system but I have no way. I wish there was a way to
save this beauty of all beauties from being destroyed, not
only this world but all others. Daniel I want Earth to
promise me you will stop the Goa'uld before they destroy the
universe."
I could see the wisdom in her eyes, I did believe her
it did seem that she was only born for this purpose and this
purpose only. I knew once I left this system the system
would soon die, and Idona along with it. Oddly enough this
made my heart ache, I like her more then I am willing to
admit. I nodded and laid my head down to sleep, Idona fell
asleep right beside me as I found out once I woke from my
dreams before dawn. My dreams had been about her, I
realized then at that moment looking down at her sleeping
form in the darkness. I was falling in love with her, this
love was forbidden by the laws of her people and by the laws
of the sword. It was also against the laws of my nation,
and most likely the rest of the world. Even though logic
told me to forget and go back to sleep, I could not do it I
could not shake this feeling. I walked over to one of the
windows in the cabin and stood there the rest of the night
and watched the copper in the atmosphere react with the
nitrogen making a bright green pentacle sort of like the
northern lights on Earth, but much more exotic. I heard
footsteps behind me, and a hand touching and then resting on
my shoulder. I turned to she Idona, her eyes reflected the
lights making them appear to be both emerald and violet at
the same time. She looked into my eyes, but said nothing or
did nothing her arm falling back to her side rather
gradually.
Finally she spoke the first words, "I am sorry for
scaring you Daniel, I just thought you might like company."
Her eyes drifted downward to stare at the floor, I felt a
lump rising in my throat. Apparently she liked me to,
because she was becoming all of a sudden shy around me. I
brought my hand up to the bottom of her chin, lifting her
face upwards to look at me instead of the floor. And did
what I had wanted to do all night, I kissed her. Afterwards
I promptly stepped backwards, she smiled at me.
"It's okay Daniel, you do not have to be afraid of me....."
"I'm sorry Idona, I should not have kissed you..... It was
my fault....."
She smiled up at me, she made my heart beat..... she made
me feel the feeling I used to have for..... All of a sudden
before I could complete that thought she pointed up at a
shooting star, out loud she pondered how fast and how far it
had gone..... "I estimate that it once was going about the
speed of light, it could of if it had been spewed from an
early born star. The speed of light is suppost to be
186,000 miles per second, which at the rate of a minute
light travels 11,160,000. At the rate of an hour light
travels 669,600,000 miles, at the rate of an day light
travels 16,070,400,000. Which means roughly a light-year is
5,865,696,000,000 miles, which means light travels about as
your people say 63,000 AUs (Astronomical Unit.) Which is
equal to 93 million miles, the distance your planet is from
your sun. I suppose I should compare your AU's to our PQ's
which stands for Point's Quantum in your language, what you
call a parsec is called a WarpLock in our language." She
smiled over at me to see me gapping, she had just equaled up
the distance light covers in a year inside her head in less
then a minute. I stared at her amazed at how fast she could
compute inside her head, only then did I see how vast her
knowledge of everything in this universe was.
The next morning we skipped over the next planet, we
went back to Idona's homeworld instead. We had just
received a message from General Hammond, he requested our
return to Earth as soon as we could. He gave us 1800
hundred hours to come through the gate, during this time
Idona requested me to come to her privately. I did so, she
stood up and smiled up at me. Her violet eyes showed a
different story though, they were full of sadness. She did
not want me to leave her, she wanted me to stay here
forever. Oddly enough I regretted coming back to Earth, I
wanted to stay there by her side and be with her. But I was
ordered to come back, I could not pull off the same trick I
did on my very first trip through the stargate. So I was
forced to kiss her goodbye, and secure in my head the
knowledge of her people. She smiled sadly as we left,
waving goodbye to us. Right before I left she whispered in
my ear "I love you Daniel Jackson, please take this and keep
it close to your heart always....." She gave me some
strange pendent, only after I came back home did I open it
and a disk fell out into my palm. Several others followed,
they fit perfectly into a computer. I realized then she had
put all she knew on several high-compactly disks, but did
they run on Earth's computers or would I have to raster
until I found the perfect super computer?
Well how did you like this part of the Longships? This
was close to four months in the making, so please I beg of
you review tell me what you think! I have had the worst
case of being uninspired I have ever had, so please take
mercy and tell me should I write a part seven of the
Longships? Well please review and thanks for reading this
part ta ta!