Part 3: The Cayans
It's not hard to be miserable these days, the Colonel is not here. Which means no one comes by to my lab and distracts me from my work, and I hate it. No one brings me coffee, cookies, orange juice, sandwiches, chocolate bars, comic books, lame jokes, yoyos, GameBoy and the list goes on and on. Don't get me wrong, I like the stuff that he brought along to my lab, but I miss him more. It's disturbingly quiet and gives me a sense of loss.
Daniel and Teal'c were surprised when General Hammond broke the news, but they seemed to take it well. I pretended to be shocked but I don't think that I'd fooled those guys, and to their credit, they didn't press the matter. SG-1 is on downtime until the Colonel is back, but we'll be assisting other teams if they have any problems. That suits us well, I have some gizmos to play with (it's fun!!), Daniel has some translation as always, and Teal'c has a 3 box-set of The Simpsons to go through (the Colonel thinks that the Simpsons is the true representation of an American family, and Teal'c being Teal'c, trusts him and borrowed his Simpson's videos.).
I take a deep breath, I have a piece of alien technology laying in front of me. SG-7 brought this back from P9Y T81, and the natives of this planet (they call themselves the Cayans) are almost on the same level of technology as we are, but they found some alien technology from one of their 'archaeological' sites. They found 6 metal boxes with writings and buttons on them but they couldn't figure them out. So when Major Gibbs explained that we (the SGC) had more experience in dealing with aliens' gadgets than they did (the Cayans had only put the gate in use and began exploring the 'outside' world for about 6 Earth months), they let SG-7 borrow one of the metal boxes.
Daniel had pointed out that the writing is Ancient's but he couldn't read it, because he never encountered the variation of the writing before. From the brief history lesson that the Cayans gave SG-7, they were taken by the Goa'uld and used as miners for the naquada mines. After the naquada ran out, they were left on the planet. Several decades later, an Ancient came through the Stargate and lived among them, sharing some of his wisdom with them, and that is why the Cayans are as advanced as they are now. Daniel argued that if the Ancient hadn't interfered with their development, the Cayans most likely would be in the same stage of evolution as the people of Abydos. The archaeological site where they found the metal box is believed to be the secret lab of the Ancient.
I strip the box and have a good look inside. The components that it has are consistent with the DHD and naquada generators, it is an Ancient's technology after all. Slowly, I open the cylinder that is supposed to be the core. Hmm, it is a naquada-based generator, but it doesn't seem to generate energy now. I change the core, laser, probe, electrocute, poke, stare and do everything possible that I can think of (short of actually losing it and giving the core a good smack with a hammer) and it's still ... not working. It's supposed to do something, the electrometer showed that it was emitting something, a radiation of some sort. Times like these make me miss the Colonel most, at least when he's here I can divert my frustration to him (he is more frustrating than anything I've ever faced, but in a good way). Speaking of the Colonel, where is he now? It's been 3 days and it feels like forever ... is he alright?
"Sam." I turn my head to see Daniel and Teal'c are at the door.
"Hi guys." I can always use a break from this.
"Wanna get some dinner?" Dinner? What time is it already? I look at my watch, it's 19.52. I guess the box took quite a lot of my time.
"Yes, sure. I'm just going to tidy this up a bit."
"You need help?" Daniel walks towards me, Teal'c follows behind him.
"No, I'm alright. Have you made any progress with the translations?" I reassemble the box, and accidentally my finger pushes one of the buttons.
Wham
What was that? Teal'c was thrown back, hit the wall and slumped down to the floor, like he was knocked by something.
"Teal'c? Are you alright?" I quickly run to his side.
"I am fine, Major Carter." The Jaffa gets up to his feet.
"What was that?" Daniel asks in confusion.
"I do not know. There was an invisible force that stuck me." Teal'c explained.
"Sam?" Daniel turns to me for an answer.
"Don't look at me." What? Because this happened in my lab then automatically I'm supposed to know the answer?
Daniel looked thoughtful for a while, "... maybe it has something to do with that?", he points at the alien device that gave me enough headaches for a week.
"... maybe." I say. Yes, let's just blame it on the alien box.
" ... I haven't actually finished the translations yet but one of the words that I could make out from that is 'protection'."
"And ... ?" That is too cryptic, I need more information.
He ignores my question, "Teal'c, try to get closer to the box, but do it slowly."
Teal'c raises one of his eyebrows, but does what Daniel asked him to do anyway. He walks slowly towards the box, he doesn't have to go far, after he takes about two steps forward, he is stopped by something. An invisible barrier.
"Forcefield ..." I think outloud.
"Yes, just like I thought. This is a forcefield, to give protection from the Goa'uld." Daniel smiles.
Okay, let me get it straight. I have made it work all this time? Great, I just have to make an important mental note today, don't forget to use a Goa'uld or Jaffa as one of the testing equipment in association with alien technology for further references (it could save me loads of time).
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"You made it work?" A pair of wide eyes stare at me in excitement.
"Uhm ... yes. The core of the generator is made by naquada. My guess is that the original naquada in the core had lost its power after thousands of years, and all you have to do to make it work is replace the naquada."
"I see." The owner of the eyes speaks. Her name is Servit, one of the Cayan's council members, "If you would like to excuse me, I have to inform the others about this good news."
"Yes, of course."
She raises one of her hands and a man steps forward, "This is Malib, he will be your guide in Cayan. Please do explore our world and get to know us better."
"If you don't mind, we would like to see the chamber where you found the boxes." Daniel's been nagging about that ever since he heard that we were going to Cayan. The forcefield was very good news, if we could understand how it works, we might be able to generate a giant barrier for the whole Earth.
"Yes, Malib will take you there."
"Thank you."
She pardoned herself and then disappeared behind one of the doors. We are in a common room of the Cayan's version of city council. Teal'c and Captain Hike are securing the perimeter near the gate, while Daniel and I are with the rest of SG-7, performing our duty as Earth's representatives.
"I will take you to Abel's chamber." Malib says.
Abel is the name of the Ancient.
"Major Carter, I'd like to stay in the city. To get to know the people better." Gibbs asks. If we want to have a diplomatic relationship with these people, we have to know them through and through.
"Sure, bring Trance with you. Barlow, you're with us." I give the orders.
"Yes, Ma'am."
"Can we go now?" Daniel is eager to get there soon.
"Yes, Daniel. We can go now." Now I know why the Colonel has grey hair.
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"She can make the device work."
"Then she is the Redeemer."
"What if she refuses?"
"I sensed unhappiness in her."
"Do you know what she wanted?"
"I have to spend more time with her to clear the vision."
"Granted."
"She has the wisdom. We need her."
"We shall make an offer that she can not refuse."
"You haven't answered my question, what if she refuses?"
"... Then we will perform the 'Havus'."
"But it is forbidden."
"We need her. It's my final decision."
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Jack O'Neill looked up to the dark Washington night sky. He could not see the stars but he knew that she was there, somewhere. Maybourne had an access to NID files, and NID has an access to SGC. He knew her every step, he just wished that he could be there with her. Maybourne's plan was working, Kinsey's men wouldn't ever think of looking for him here. Washington is Kinsey's home, Maybourne even managed to get a house just miles away from Kinsey's house. The most dangerous place is the safest.
He just wanted to get back to her soon. But he had to be patient, he had to nail Kinsey for good this time. He watched the sky again and whispered gently, "Night, Carter." And then he walked inside the house and closed the door.
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to be continued
AN: Please do send review and feedback as always.
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