SD-Chapter 2
I choked on a piece of pie; my laugh drawing more than a few glances.
"You didn't! Oh Jack I wish I could have seen his face!"
Jack was regaling me with tales about his recent fishing trip with my dad. It seemed he had initiated a bet involving who could catch the biggest fish. Dad had won (of course) and at his smug smile, in typical Jack style, Jack had pushed him from the boat and left him to make his own way back to shore.
I howled again, tears threatening to spill onto my cheeks. I wiped at my eyes.
"Oh that is a classic! I bet the look on his face was priceless."
"Sure was." Jack practically drawled. "He didn't talk to me for a week though."
My shoulders shook with yet more laughter and I realised how good I felt. I looked at this good, familiar and much loved man in front of me and I felt a lump in my throat. Spending months alone on a planet gave you too much time to think, something I already did too much of. It did, however, make you realise how much you could miss someone.
Jack was just starting another tale when Sam strolled in and motioned for us to go with her.
"We're getting everything together. Be ready to go in 10 minutes."
By the time we stepped through the gate and were welcomed by the natives, tiredness was steeping through me. With a brief glance at my watch I realised that now was my usual nighttime and I stifled a yawn.
'You are fatigued, Captain Simone.' Teal'c's deep voice sounded behind me. I grinned, knocking my fist against one of his sturdy arms.
'I'll be fine. It's more important that we get settled first.'
With a nod and an approving smile Teal'c turned away, and I followed him from the room. It seemed this planet's gate operated from within a pyramid.
Man, I thought as I stared at the elaborate hieroglyphs and the statues that adorned the walls, who knew that I would spend so much time in ancient buildings? It always struck me as amusing that I used to dream about Egypt, ancient civilisations and discovering new ones, and now here I was standing in a whole other world looking at an ancient language so familiar.
'Man, oh man.' I muttered under my breath as we were led into a small room. The man who had welcomed us turned to me, his small, beady eyes lighting on my own, a respectful smile on his comely face.
'You are Captain Simone? You are to study this?'
His voice was surprisingly strong, and I smiled even as my eyes followed his gesture to the device pushed against the wall.
It was of adequate size, roughly the size of a rugby ball, and was obviously alien technology, looking so out of place in this world of sand, ochre paint and gilded statues. It appeared to be made out of some kind of alloy, and when I tapped it I could feel how solid and strong it was.
It was shaped in a rough oval, and if it had been made of natural material it might have been mistaken for a giant rock, though one decorated in crude, almost childlike, symbols.
I crouched down, pushing my hair from off my forehead, my eyes locked on the object in front of me. Considering the material it was constructed of I would have instantly classed it as one of the Ancient's inventions, but the crudeness of the symbols on it belied this theory. When I turned it over I almost laughed when I saw the childish images painted on its base.
'Look at this.' I called to Jonas. 'See these images?'
Jonas squatted down beside me, leaning over my shoulder so that I could feel the warmth of his breath on my cheek.
'Is that a heart? And people holding hands?' His voice was incredulous.
'Yes.' I found myself laughing. 'This is fascinating. Obviously a more primitive culture discovered this.'
I turned to our guide.
'Your people found this only recently?'
He nodded his bald head emphatically.
'Yes. When the Jappa Eye blossomed, the walls shook and fell. This was found in the rubble.'
I nodded. Standing to get a birds eye view of the thing. 'Interesting.' I murmured to myself.
'Ok.' I raised my voice slightly, addressing the team. 'Will someone help me lift this?'
Jack stepped forwards, pushing his gun behind his back.
'Sure thing.' He hunkered down, slipping his fingers under the object, waiting for me to take the other side.
I crouched down once more, and placed my hands against the cool sides of the object. It seemed to me that I felt it tremble, and as I raised my eyes to Jack, a bright light flashed before me bathing the world in hot reds and pinks. It felt like something went deep into the core of me, pushing burning hot fingers into my body. I think I may have cried out, and then everything went black.
I choked on a piece of pie; my laugh drawing more than a few glances.
"You didn't! Oh Jack I wish I could have seen his face!"
Jack was regaling me with tales about his recent fishing trip with my dad. It seemed he had initiated a bet involving who could catch the biggest fish. Dad had won (of course) and at his smug smile, in typical Jack style, Jack had pushed him from the boat and left him to make his own way back to shore.
I howled again, tears threatening to spill onto my cheeks. I wiped at my eyes.
"Oh that is a classic! I bet the look on his face was priceless."
"Sure was." Jack practically drawled. "He didn't talk to me for a week though."
My shoulders shook with yet more laughter and I realised how good I felt. I looked at this good, familiar and much loved man in front of me and I felt a lump in my throat. Spending months alone on a planet gave you too much time to think, something I already did too much of. It did, however, make you realise how much you could miss someone.
Jack was just starting another tale when Sam strolled in and motioned for us to go with her.
"We're getting everything together. Be ready to go in 10 minutes."
By the time we stepped through the gate and were welcomed by the natives, tiredness was steeping through me. With a brief glance at my watch I realised that now was my usual nighttime and I stifled a yawn.
'You are fatigued, Captain Simone.' Teal'c's deep voice sounded behind me. I grinned, knocking my fist against one of his sturdy arms.
'I'll be fine. It's more important that we get settled first.'
With a nod and an approving smile Teal'c turned away, and I followed him from the room. It seemed this planet's gate operated from within a pyramid.
Man, I thought as I stared at the elaborate hieroglyphs and the statues that adorned the walls, who knew that I would spend so much time in ancient buildings? It always struck me as amusing that I used to dream about Egypt, ancient civilisations and discovering new ones, and now here I was standing in a whole other world looking at an ancient language so familiar.
'Man, oh man.' I muttered under my breath as we were led into a small room. The man who had welcomed us turned to me, his small, beady eyes lighting on my own, a respectful smile on his comely face.
'You are Captain Simone? You are to study this?'
His voice was surprisingly strong, and I smiled even as my eyes followed his gesture to the device pushed against the wall.
It was of adequate size, roughly the size of a rugby ball, and was obviously alien technology, looking so out of place in this world of sand, ochre paint and gilded statues. It appeared to be made out of some kind of alloy, and when I tapped it I could feel how solid and strong it was.
It was shaped in a rough oval, and if it had been made of natural material it might have been mistaken for a giant rock, though one decorated in crude, almost childlike, symbols.
I crouched down, pushing my hair from off my forehead, my eyes locked on the object in front of me. Considering the material it was constructed of I would have instantly classed it as one of the Ancient's inventions, but the crudeness of the symbols on it belied this theory. When I turned it over I almost laughed when I saw the childish images painted on its base.
'Look at this.' I called to Jonas. 'See these images?'
Jonas squatted down beside me, leaning over my shoulder so that I could feel the warmth of his breath on my cheek.
'Is that a heart? And people holding hands?' His voice was incredulous.
'Yes.' I found myself laughing. 'This is fascinating. Obviously a more primitive culture discovered this.'
I turned to our guide.
'Your people found this only recently?'
He nodded his bald head emphatically.
'Yes. When the Jappa Eye blossomed, the walls shook and fell. This was found in the rubble.'
I nodded. Standing to get a birds eye view of the thing. 'Interesting.' I murmured to myself.
'Ok.' I raised my voice slightly, addressing the team. 'Will someone help me lift this?'
Jack stepped forwards, pushing his gun behind his back.
'Sure thing.' He hunkered down, slipping his fingers under the object, waiting for me to take the other side.
I crouched down once more, and placed my hands against the cool sides of the object. It seemed to me that I felt it tremble, and as I raised my eyes to Jack, a bright light flashed before me bathing the world in hot reds and pinks. It felt like something went deep into the core of me, pushing burning hot fingers into my body. I think I may have cried out, and then everything went black.