Unity Chapter 3 – Close Council
Disclaimer: PG
Disclaimer: I don't own any characters that appear on the series. I just take them out every now and then to play with them….
Authors note: If you're interested in vikings and their gods, check these sites out. It's pretty much where I got my information from; http://www.viking-z.org/vikg.htm. http://www.feri.com/dawn/religion.html
http://www.student.oulu.fi/~trimpine/relig.html. http://www.geocities.com/lokis01/index2.html
Three days later, and I don't think any of us had truly understood the concept of just how far away we were going. We'd talked to Thor – and what a success that had been. Mr Aloof had told us pretty much nothing. Then Carter and I had gone exploring and found some kind of display. Speed, current trajectory. That sort of thing. She'd waxed lyrical on how fast we were going, how impossible it was supposed to be, and how long it would take us to get where we were going. I didn't pay all that much attention but to sum up, tomorrow we were going to arrive on the original Asgard home world.
"What, the one I went to a couple of years ago, when I downloaded the Ancient's knowledge?" I'd asked her when she'd figured out what the display actually said.
"No sir. Remember, that was still within the Stargate System. This is further than that. We actually passed that region of space about two hours ago."
"Carter. That was over three million light years away from earth." I'd reminded her.
"I know, sir." She'd replied solemnly.
So we sat. We paced. We cleaned our lovely shiny medals. Worse fact of all this? I was still in my dress uniform. Forced to stay in the thing until we returned. Yes, Carter and I had taken our jackets off and untied the top couple of buttons, but it's still not a comfortable uniform. You have to trust me on this.
I heard Daniel and Carter talking quietly on the other side of the room we'd appropriated as our own. I couldn't quite hear what they were talking about, but it sounded serious. I got up and walked over to them.
"What's up, kids?" I asked, sitting up against the wall beside Danny.
"We were just talking about the physics of travel at this speed, sir."
"What do you mean, Carter?"
"Well, sir. We're traveling at an amazing speed right now."
"Ludicrous speed even." Daniel put in helpfully, with a bizarre grin on his face.
"What are you guys talking about?"
"We never proved it possible sir, but it doesn't mean it can't be done. Is being done. This ship is traveling so fast, we can't even see the stars as we pass them."
"So?" I was confused.
"We're almost seeing plaid." Daniel added gleefully.
"Will you stop with the Spaceball references?" Carter growled and then turned to me. "Well, it's been theorized that traveling at this kind of speed is a way to create a time-hole-" Carter started.
"A time hole? As in, time travel?"
"Yes sir." Carter confirmed. "We won't be able to confirm it until we get back to earth, sir, but I think one of two things may happen when we return."
"And what are those, Colonel?" I raised an eyebrow, my arms crossed across my chest.
"Well, sir. We could either return almost immediately after we left Earth, or we could return years, decades later. I'm not sure."
"Decades later." I repeated. "You're kidding me, right?"
"No sir. I just don't know enough about this type of travel to be able to predict the amount of distortion in the time-continuum for us."
"It could explain how the Asgard are so long lived. They do a lot of traveling." Daniel put in.
"Well, lets hope that isn't the case, huh? We got a war to fight when we get home."
"Yes, sir."
So we paced, and sat some more. Teal'c meditated and Carter continued to speculate on time-travel. Daniel and I played flick-ball. The game we'd invented about three years ago, when Jacob and Carter were fixing the hyperdrive on the Mothership we'd apprehended. Ten hours of literally nothing to do. So we got a piece of paper, scrunched it up and played flick-ball. Juvenile, simple, but it was something to pass the time.
Thor came in at one point, which surprised the heck out of me. We hadn't seen him since the first hour of our little trip. I stood up, relieved that he was saving me from being soundly beaten in flick-ball by a measly archaeologist.
"I apologise for my absence, but this ship requires constant vigilance, when traveling at such a speed."
"No problem. So, what are we going to be doing when we get where we're going?" I asked, not really believing I'd get an answer.
"Once again, O'Neill, it would be unwise of me to give you any false impressions. Sif and I believe that you will be better equipped without any prior knowledge."
"Dammit, I just want to know if we're heading into danger!" I'd cried.
"I cannot say. It is possible that your lives may be at risk. However, it is my hope that this will not be the case. Please excuse me, I must return to the Durich, to oversee the final approach." Thor had then bowed and walked out.
So now we were waiting. According to Carter, we were about two hours away from our destination, but the ship hadn't slowed down as yet.
"They must have some serious brakes on this baby."
"Yes sir." Carter agreed with me. I had the feeling she was just humoring me. I didn't dare ask her to confirm it.
"I suppose we'd better put our jackets back on." I glanced at mine, laid over a flat surface on the other side of the room, scowling.
"It's not their fault, Jack." Daniel said in response to my look.
"Yes. It is." I replied. Okay, so it was sulky, but I was in that kind of mood.
"No, it isn't. The Asgard don't have clothing. It isn't part of their culture. So why would Thor know that what you're wearing isn't appropriate for a mission? As far as we know, they can't differentiate between one kind of dress and another. Just be grateful they didn't pack for us. We could have ended up with all of Sam's clothes."
"There's something wrong with my clothes, Daniel?" Sam asked with a dangerous lilt to her voice from her seat with Teal'c.
"No!" Daniel spluttered. "I didn't mean it like that. I just meant that they're not right. For us. Cause we're guys. You know. Men. And different."
"Stop while you're behind, Danny-boy." I advised, concealing a grin. Daniel grunted, his lips tightly shut. There was a brief feeling of pressure in the ship, as though we were in a lift, and had reached our floor.
"We've slowed down." Carter tipped her head to the side, feeling the motion.
"Ya think?" I replied, then went to get our jackets. Four days cooped up on this ship, big as it was, had given me a dose of cabin fever. Not a big one, but bad enough. I was just doing up the last button of my jacket when Thor turned up.
"We have arrived, O'Neill. Please, gather closely together, and we will transport you down to the planet's largest city, Valhalla."
"Valhalla?" Daniel repeated excitedly as we gathered together. "That's the-." Thankfully, the transportation beam cut him off in mid sentence.
The city was big. Very big. We'd been beamed down to some sort of platform, high up in the city. We all stared like tourists as vehicles dashed by, almost silently. The buildings were all earthy tones. Rich reds, deep browns, bright rust oranges dominated the colour scheme. The buildings seemed to be metallic in material. They were also apparently windowless structures that were very tall. We were high up on this platform, I guessed over six hundred meters, and buildings still towered above us. We could see the sky, a brilliant purple, above us.
"Wow." We all said, in chorus. I finally took notice of a group of Asgard standing to one side, staring at us. There were about twenty of them, and they all had that silent look going for them. It seemed to be a race thing. They were all good at it.
"Thor? Buddy? What now?" I asked quietly to the Asgard standing beside me.
"Please, SG-1, follow me." Thor lead the way into the building the platform lead into. We followed, still doing the gaped mouth tourist impression. The hallway we entered was very wide, very open. Again, there were several Asgard staring at us as we passed. I had the urge to wave at them, but suppressed it. Carter nudged me at one point, and nodded her head. I looked over and almost tripped. There was a great chamber to one side, and inside that chamber, I caught a glimpse of some ships. Nothing surprising, right? Wrong. The majority of the ships that I saw, in that fleeting glimpse, were sail ships. Tall ships. Ships that were built for the oceans of Earth. I literally stopped walking when I stepped around the corner and I'm sure my mouth fell to the floor in shock. Aeroplanes. Lots of aeroplanes. I identified, as I stood there stunned, several DC-3's, a couple of B-52 Bombers, a few sea-planes, even a couple of Cessna's. And to top it all off, I saw an F1-11.
"Carter." I whispered, stunned.
"I see it, sir. That's the F1-11 from USS Tuscon." Carter said in as quiet a voice. "The F1-11 that went missing over the Bermuda Triangle 18 months ago, with Lieutenants' Greg Dawson and Mary Keen in it."
"What's it doing here?" Daniel asked, hearing our muted conversation.
"I don't know. But I intend to ask." I turned to talk to Thor, who was watching us with wide, solemn eyes. I counted to ten and held back my questions, then to twenty, feeling this was part of the 'thing' we were here to help with prompting me to stay quite. For now. We continued to follow Thor, and all of a sudden the wonders of Asgard technology held absolutely no thrall for me. What the hell were our ships and planes doing in a chamber millions of light years from earth? We entered another chamber soon afterwards, and Thor asked us to sit. So we did.
The chamber looked like the place I'd been 'hologramed' to after talking with Freyr. There where two Asgard sitting in the middle of the chamber and Thor walked to the chair to the left of them and sat.
"Honoured Tau'ri. Be welcome." One of them said. "I am Odin, ruler of Valhalla. This is my wife, Frigg, and Thor, whom you already are acquainted with." The small grey guy indicated the female sitting beside him, then Thor. We all muttered platitudes, but my mind was still on the planes and ships in the other chambers.
"I asked my son to retrieve you from Midgard."
"Son? Thor, buddy. You didn't tell me you had family!" I grinned, momentarily distracted. Thor's daddy! This could be fun!
"You did not ask, O'Neill." Thor replied blandly.
"True. So, Odin. Just why did you bring us here? And what's with all those ships and planes out there? You got a collection going or something?" I asked with hostility. I saw him hesitate, then lean in to talk with his son quietly.
"General." Carter chided me. I looked at her, then shrugged.
"Sorry Carter. I can't seem to help myself."
"Why don't you let me handle this, Jack?" Daniel suggested, and leaned forward. I don't think he was going to take no for an answer. "We are honored to meet you, High Asgard Odin. My name is Doctor Daniel Jackson, this is Brigadeer-General Jack O'Neill, Lieutenant-Colonel Samantha Carter and Teal'c. Thank you for allowing us to journey over the Bifrost to your homeworld."
"Bifrost? You know of this?" Frigg grated out in her low voice.
"Yes, Frigg. I am an historian, and as such, know much about the Asgard mythology of earth."
"That is good." Odin announced. The Asgard leader paused for a moment, and I could see him thinking. "You will explain it to these others, while we assemble the Panthion." Odin turned away after this announcement, his attention on his wife and son.
"The Panthion? Really?" Daniel turned to us, a beam on his face. "Okay, now would probably be a good time for a quick lesson on Asgard mythology." I almost groaned.
"Asgard? You mean Viking?" Carter clarified.
"Yes. The Viking gods were known as the Asgard. There were originally twelve gods, known as the Panthion. Odin was the leader of the gods, the most wise, the most powerful. Thor was his son. There are a lot of gods, but a quick run down goes like this: Frigg, Odin's wife, is the goddess of love, both eros and fraternal. Odin was associated with learning, wisdom, poetry and magic. There was also Hel, who was the goddess of a cheerless underground world where all the ordinary population was received after death. All the brave warriors etcetera were taken to Valhalla to dine for eternity with Odin. There was also Loki, a giant god who was basically the representation of evil. He had a lot of knowledge and cunning. It's thought that he was responsible for the death of Balder, who was the god of light and happiness, Loki's opposite. There were a lot of other gods, Freyr, Freya, Fenrir, Thrud. All Gods and Goddesses of various things, like the earth, sky etcetera. But the three main gods we need to worry about are Thor, Odin and Loki. They were the strongest, the most influential."
"Or at least, they were on Earth." I pointed out.
"True. Lets hope that's reflected up here."
"I believe it is reflected within Asgard society, Daniel Jackson." Teal'c told us, turning to face us after watching the three Asgard for a time.
"Oh?"
"Yes. Many Goa'uld describe the structure of the Asgard society in great detail, so that all Jaffa are aware of the dangers involved in engaging the Asgard in battle. They are held in great fear because of the number of High Lords. The Pantheon, as mentioned before. In one story that I heard many years ago, the Asgard Hel descended upon a group of Jaffa and several lesser Goa'uld who were torturing and pillaging a city. It is said that the residents of that city heard the tortured screams and wails of those captured for several weeks. It is rumoured that the Asgard Hel delighted in the pain of the symbiote."
"That could just be conjecture, Teal'c." Daniel objected.
"It could indeed, Daniel Jackson. However, there is always a burning substance where there is smoke." I opened my mouth to correct the saying, then gave it away. He was close.
"Well, I think we're about to find out what the burning substance is." Carter said softly, getting our attention. A few more Asgard had joined Thor and his family, and I rapidly counted. 12 Asgard all in a row. Deep breath and here we go.
"Greetings. I am Doctor Daniel Jackson, of Earth. This is Brigadier- General Jack O'Neill, Lieutenant-Colonel Samantha Carter and Teal'c. We ….." Daniel faded out, a frown drawing his eyebrows together behind his glasses.
"I am Freya, Jackson." One of them said, stepping forward. "I welcome you to Valhalla in the name of my cousin, Odin. I am pleased to finally meet the infamous Tau'ri."
"Infamous?" I whispered to Carter, who 'shushed' me and elbowed me lightly in the arm.
"I am honoured, Asgard Freya. You must be Freyr, sir Asgard." Daniel said to the grey guy next to Freya. He nodded his head, touching a hand to his forehead in acknowledgement. It was the first time I'd seen any Asgard make a formal salute. Interesting.
"I am Fenrir, and this is Hel." Another Asgard stepped forward. Daniel again did his diplomacy thing, but got cut off mid way through.
"Enough. We are not here to placate these Tau'ri, but to find out why they believe we should assist them in a fight that is not to our benefit." The smallest Asgard stepped forward, shoving Fenrir back into the other Pantheon members.
"Please, honoured sir. I do not understand." Daniel was handling things, so I stood back to watch.
"You Tau'ri demand that we assist you in your fight against the Goa'uld. You ask that we assist you when you have made childish blunders. You ask that we risk our own species in a fight we can ill afford to make! What have you to offer in exchange for this demand?"
"We would offer you peace.." Daniel began, but the little guy cut him off again.
"Peace?! You are actually claiming that the defeat of the Goa'uld will bring us peace?" The Asgard laughed, but I didn't think he was amused.
"Loki." Odin said from his chair. Loki turned to look at him, shaking his head angrily. At least I think it was angrily, the Asgard were a very hard race to read.
"I'll not be quiet, Odin. These Tau'ri have wreaked havoc across their galaxy, without consideration or thought to those it may effect. They come here, demanding our assistance and expect us to jump at their command."
"Now look here.." I began, but the guy cut me off again. For all his speech was slow, it was empassioned.
"I will not commit my people, my family, to a cause that benefits us nothing. The welfare of my family is paramount, and the defeat of the Goa'uld is not our concern."
"You're chicken." I blurted in sudden realisation.
"I am Loki, of the Asgard. I do not believe that I know this…chicken." The guy replied in a puzzled tone. I explained, as though I was talking to another Teal'c.
"You're afraid to commit to something you don't know you're going to survive."
"You are incorrect, Tau'ri."
"My name is Jack O'Neill." I told him, but he ignored me and continued to speak.
"I am concerned that my family, my children will be injured, and will die fighting a war that is not ours. We have other concerns that require our attention, and your little altercation with the Goa'uld need not concern us."
"You are incorrect, High Asgard Loki." Teal'c said, stepping forward. "The Goa'uld are a parasite that will, given opportunity, decimate your people. They are not only the enemy of the Tau'ri and my people. They are the enemy of all sentient and compassionate beings throughout our galaxy. The Goa'uld are not an enemy to be underestimated."
"But they are YOUR enemy, Jaffa."
"And yours, High Asgard. In the instant that you recognised their power over our galaxy and formed an alliance with them, they became your enemy. It has always been emphasized to the Jaffa that even the Asgard are cautious of the might of the Goa'uld."
"That is not-" Loki started, but Thor spoke up.
"Friend Loki. What the Jaffa says holds truth." Thor admitted. "In our haste to hold the Goa'uld back, to ensure our safety, we have admitted their possible dominance of the systems they hold." Thor turned to us, and nodded his head.
"Tau'ri." Odin got our attention. "We must have Closed Council on this matter. Please, we must ask your patience."
"Ahhh…. High Asgard Odin…. Where are we to go?" I asked, looking around at the huge room.
"I will transport you to my home, in Thrutheim. Please, be comfortable there." Thor offered, and we were surrounded by white light, the council chambers disappearing from view.
"Sweet." I said, looking around at the huge structure we'd been beamed to. "Daniel, where are we?"
"I think we in Bilskinir, Thor's domain. This is like his house, his…. Palatial grounds. Thrutheim was traditionally known as the place where Thor-."
"Thank you, Danny." I shut him up. "So. Now we know just why Thor brought us here."
"We do?" Daniel asked, his eyebrows dancing.
"Yes, Daniel, we do. He's having problems convincing the council, Pantheon, whatever you want to call that club back there, that the Goa'uld need destroying."
"Ah." Daniel's eyebrow quirked.
"I don't think it's the entire Pantheon that needs convincing, sir." Carter supplied.
"I believe it is Loki that is the primary detractor."
"I still want to know what the hell all those ships and planes were doing in their main hall thing." I said, finding a seat on a nearby piece of marble-like stone.
"It would explain a lot, Jack." Daniel said, undoing his tie and taking it off.
"I do not understand, O'Neill."
"It's… Those ships we saw in the Asgard hall were earth ships. Earth Planes. Craft that have gone missing over the years."
"Gone missing." Teal'c repeated.
"There's an area in the tropics called the Bemuda Triangle, near Florida. Over the past several hundred years, hundreds of ships, then planes, have gone missing in that area. The Triangle itself is over 100 nauticle miles in area, but no one has ever found any of the vessels that went missing there." Carter started to explain. "Those ships that were in the front hall were some of the ships that have gone missing. There were several B-52 bombers, that had gone missing during the second world war, and an F1-11 that went missing 18 months ago. Somehow, those planes, that went MIA just off of Florida, in the US, landed up in the hall of the Asgard home-world."
"I tell you, if they've been kidnapping our people and doing experiments on them, and haven't told us, I'm not going to be happy." Not going to be happy? I think that had to be my understatement of the year. I knew the only thing holding me back from ripping little grey heads from thin grey necks was that I trusted Thor. At least, I'd thought I had reason to.
"So what are we going to do now? Just sit here and wait?" Daniel asked, his eyes rapidly scanning the surrounding area. I sighed, then stood back up again.
"No, Danny. Thor said we were to be comfortable. I don't believe I can be comfortable until I know what this place is. I think we should go and explore." Daniel shot me a grin as my reward. It never takes much to make the archaeologist happy. Just a simple 'let's go exploring' and he was happy as a pig in mud…. Are pigs happy in mud?
"Carter, are pigs happy in mud? Or do you think they'd prefer a nice big swimming pool?" She shot me her 'where the hell did that come from' look, then thought about the question.
"I have no idea, sir." She admitted.
"Well, when we get home, look it up, will you?" I ordered her, then walked away, an evil grin on my face. I heard her mutter something, and looked back, one brow raised in query.
"What was that, Colonel?"
"Yes, sir." She replied "When we get back to Earth, I'll look up pigs in mud. Would you like me to look up pigs with wings as well?"
"Why would I want you to do that? That would be pointless research." I turned and followed Daniel, before I broke composure and started laughing. Carter and Teal'c followed a few steps behind, and I started chuckling as I heard her explaining flying pigs to the big Jaffa.
Disclaimer: PG
Disclaimer: I don't own any characters that appear on the series. I just take them out every now and then to play with them….
Authors note: If you're interested in vikings and their gods, check these sites out. It's pretty much where I got my information from; http://www.viking-z.org/vikg.htm. http://www.feri.com/dawn/religion.html
http://www.student.oulu.fi/~trimpine/relig.html. http://www.geocities.com/lokis01/index2.html
Three days later, and I don't think any of us had truly understood the concept of just how far away we were going. We'd talked to Thor – and what a success that had been. Mr Aloof had told us pretty much nothing. Then Carter and I had gone exploring and found some kind of display. Speed, current trajectory. That sort of thing. She'd waxed lyrical on how fast we were going, how impossible it was supposed to be, and how long it would take us to get where we were going. I didn't pay all that much attention but to sum up, tomorrow we were going to arrive on the original Asgard home world.
"What, the one I went to a couple of years ago, when I downloaded the Ancient's knowledge?" I'd asked her when she'd figured out what the display actually said.
"No sir. Remember, that was still within the Stargate System. This is further than that. We actually passed that region of space about two hours ago."
"Carter. That was over three million light years away from earth." I'd reminded her.
"I know, sir." She'd replied solemnly.
So we sat. We paced. We cleaned our lovely shiny medals. Worse fact of all this? I was still in my dress uniform. Forced to stay in the thing until we returned. Yes, Carter and I had taken our jackets off and untied the top couple of buttons, but it's still not a comfortable uniform. You have to trust me on this.
I heard Daniel and Carter talking quietly on the other side of the room we'd appropriated as our own. I couldn't quite hear what they were talking about, but it sounded serious. I got up and walked over to them.
"What's up, kids?" I asked, sitting up against the wall beside Danny.
"We were just talking about the physics of travel at this speed, sir."
"What do you mean, Carter?"
"Well, sir. We're traveling at an amazing speed right now."
"Ludicrous speed even." Daniel put in helpfully, with a bizarre grin on his face.
"What are you guys talking about?"
"We never proved it possible sir, but it doesn't mean it can't be done. Is being done. This ship is traveling so fast, we can't even see the stars as we pass them."
"So?" I was confused.
"We're almost seeing plaid." Daniel added gleefully.
"Will you stop with the Spaceball references?" Carter growled and then turned to me. "Well, it's been theorized that traveling at this kind of speed is a way to create a time-hole-" Carter started.
"A time hole? As in, time travel?"
"Yes sir." Carter confirmed. "We won't be able to confirm it until we get back to earth, sir, but I think one of two things may happen when we return."
"And what are those, Colonel?" I raised an eyebrow, my arms crossed across my chest.
"Well, sir. We could either return almost immediately after we left Earth, or we could return years, decades later. I'm not sure."
"Decades later." I repeated. "You're kidding me, right?"
"No sir. I just don't know enough about this type of travel to be able to predict the amount of distortion in the time-continuum for us."
"It could explain how the Asgard are so long lived. They do a lot of traveling." Daniel put in.
"Well, lets hope that isn't the case, huh? We got a war to fight when we get home."
"Yes, sir."
So we paced, and sat some more. Teal'c meditated and Carter continued to speculate on time-travel. Daniel and I played flick-ball. The game we'd invented about three years ago, when Jacob and Carter were fixing the hyperdrive on the Mothership we'd apprehended. Ten hours of literally nothing to do. So we got a piece of paper, scrunched it up and played flick-ball. Juvenile, simple, but it was something to pass the time.
Thor came in at one point, which surprised the heck out of me. We hadn't seen him since the first hour of our little trip. I stood up, relieved that he was saving me from being soundly beaten in flick-ball by a measly archaeologist.
"I apologise for my absence, but this ship requires constant vigilance, when traveling at such a speed."
"No problem. So, what are we going to be doing when we get where we're going?" I asked, not really believing I'd get an answer.
"Once again, O'Neill, it would be unwise of me to give you any false impressions. Sif and I believe that you will be better equipped without any prior knowledge."
"Dammit, I just want to know if we're heading into danger!" I'd cried.
"I cannot say. It is possible that your lives may be at risk. However, it is my hope that this will not be the case. Please excuse me, I must return to the Durich, to oversee the final approach." Thor had then bowed and walked out.
So now we were waiting. According to Carter, we were about two hours away from our destination, but the ship hadn't slowed down as yet.
"They must have some serious brakes on this baby."
"Yes sir." Carter agreed with me. I had the feeling she was just humoring me. I didn't dare ask her to confirm it.
"I suppose we'd better put our jackets back on." I glanced at mine, laid over a flat surface on the other side of the room, scowling.
"It's not their fault, Jack." Daniel said in response to my look.
"Yes. It is." I replied. Okay, so it was sulky, but I was in that kind of mood.
"No, it isn't. The Asgard don't have clothing. It isn't part of their culture. So why would Thor know that what you're wearing isn't appropriate for a mission? As far as we know, they can't differentiate between one kind of dress and another. Just be grateful they didn't pack for us. We could have ended up with all of Sam's clothes."
"There's something wrong with my clothes, Daniel?" Sam asked with a dangerous lilt to her voice from her seat with Teal'c.
"No!" Daniel spluttered. "I didn't mean it like that. I just meant that they're not right. For us. Cause we're guys. You know. Men. And different."
"Stop while you're behind, Danny-boy." I advised, concealing a grin. Daniel grunted, his lips tightly shut. There was a brief feeling of pressure in the ship, as though we were in a lift, and had reached our floor.
"We've slowed down." Carter tipped her head to the side, feeling the motion.
"Ya think?" I replied, then went to get our jackets. Four days cooped up on this ship, big as it was, had given me a dose of cabin fever. Not a big one, but bad enough. I was just doing up the last button of my jacket when Thor turned up.
"We have arrived, O'Neill. Please, gather closely together, and we will transport you down to the planet's largest city, Valhalla."
"Valhalla?" Daniel repeated excitedly as we gathered together. "That's the-." Thankfully, the transportation beam cut him off in mid sentence.
The city was big. Very big. We'd been beamed down to some sort of platform, high up in the city. We all stared like tourists as vehicles dashed by, almost silently. The buildings were all earthy tones. Rich reds, deep browns, bright rust oranges dominated the colour scheme. The buildings seemed to be metallic in material. They were also apparently windowless structures that were very tall. We were high up on this platform, I guessed over six hundred meters, and buildings still towered above us. We could see the sky, a brilliant purple, above us.
"Wow." We all said, in chorus. I finally took notice of a group of Asgard standing to one side, staring at us. There were about twenty of them, and they all had that silent look going for them. It seemed to be a race thing. They were all good at it.
"Thor? Buddy? What now?" I asked quietly to the Asgard standing beside me.
"Please, SG-1, follow me." Thor lead the way into the building the platform lead into. We followed, still doing the gaped mouth tourist impression. The hallway we entered was very wide, very open. Again, there were several Asgard staring at us as we passed. I had the urge to wave at them, but suppressed it. Carter nudged me at one point, and nodded her head. I looked over and almost tripped. There was a great chamber to one side, and inside that chamber, I caught a glimpse of some ships. Nothing surprising, right? Wrong. The majority of the ships that I saw, in that fleeting glimpse, were sail ships. Tall ships. Ships that were built for the oceans of Earth. I literally stopped walking when I stepped around the corner and I'm sure my mouth fell to the floor in shock. Aeroplanes. Lots of aeroplanes. I identified, as I stood there stunned, several DC-3's, a couple of B-52 Bombers, a few sea-planes, even a couple of Cessna's. And to top it all off, I saw an F1-11.
"Carter." I whispered, stunned.
"I see it, sir. That's the F1-11 from USS Tuscon." Carter said in as quiet a voice. "The F1-11 that went missing over the Bermuda Triangle 18 months ago, with Lieutenants' Greg Dawson and Mary Keen in it."
"What's it doing here?" Daniel asked, hearing our muted conversation.
"I don't know. But I intend to ask." I turned to talk to Thor, who was watching us with wide, solemn eyes. I counted to ten and held back my questions, then to twenty, feeling this was part of the 'thing' we were here to help with prompting me to stay quite. For now. We continued to follow Thor, and all of a sudden the wonders of Asgard technology held absolutely no thrall for me. What the hell were our ships and planes doing in a chamber millions of light years from earth? We entered another chamber soon afterwards, and Thor asked us to sit. So we did.
The chamber looked like the place I'd been 'hologramed' to after talking with Freyr. There where two Asgard sitting in the middle of the chamber and Thor walked to the chair to the left of them and sat.
"Honoured Tau'ri. Be welcome." One of them said. "I am Odin, ruler of Valhalla. This is my wife, Frigg, and Thor, whom you already are acquainted with." The small grey guy indicated the female sitting beside him, then Thor. We all muttered platitudes, but my mind was still on the planes and ships in the other chambers.
"I asked my son to retrieve you from Midgard."
"Son? Thor, buddy. You didn't tell me you had family!" I grinned, momentarily distracted. Thor's daddy! This could be fun!
"You did not ask, O'Neill." Thor replied blandly.
"True. So, Odin. Just why did you bring us here? And what's with all those ships and planes out there? You got a collection going or something?" I asked with hostility. I saw him hesitate, then lean in to talk with his son quietly.
"General." Carter chided me. I looked at her, then shrugged.
"Sorry Carter. I can't seem to help myself."
"Why don't you let me handle this, Jack?" Daniel suggested, and leaned forward. I don't think he was going to take no for an answer. "We are honored to meet you, High Asgard Odin. My name is Doctor Daniel Jackson, this is Brigadeer-General Jack O'Neill, Lieutenant-Colonel Samantha Carter and Teal'c. Thank you for allowing us to journey over the Bifrost to your homeworld."
"Bifrost? You know of this?" Frigg grated out in her low voice.
"Yes, Frigg. I am an historian, and as such, know much about the Asgard mythology of earth."
"That is good." Odin announced. The Asgard leader paused for a moment, and I could see him thinking. "You will explain it to these others, while we assemble the Panthion." Odin turned away after this announcement, his attention on his wife and son.
"The Panthion? Really?" Daniel turned to us, a beam on his face. "Okay, now would probably be a good time for a quick lesson on Asgard mythology." I almost groaned.
"Asgard? You mean Viking?" Carter clarified.
"Yes. The Viking gods were known as the Asgard. There were originally twelve gods, known as the Panthion. Odin was the leader of the gods, the most wise, the most powerful. Thor was his son. There are a lot of gods, but a quick run down goes like this: Frigg, Odin's wife, is the goddess of love, both eros and fraternal. Odin was associated with learning, wisdom, poetry and magic. There was also Hel, who was the goddess of a cheerless underground world where all the ordinary population was received after death. All the brave warriors etcetera were taken to Valhalla to dine for eternity with Odin. There was also Loki, a giant god who was basically the representation of evil. He had a lot of knowledge and cunning. It's thought that he was responsible for the death of Balder, who was the god of light and happiness, Loki's opposite. There were a lot of other gods, Freyr, Freya, Fenrir, Thrud. All Gods and Goddesses of various things, like the earth, sky etcetera. But the three main gods we need to worry about are Thor, Odin and Loki. They were the strongest, the most influential."
"Or at least, they were on Earth." I pointed out.
"True. Lets hope that's reflected up here."
"I believe it is reflected within Asgard society, Daniel Jackson." Teal'c told us, turning to face us after watching the three Asgard for a time.
"Oh?"
"Yes. Many Goa'uld describe the structure of the Asgard society in great detail, so that all Jaffa are aware of the dangers involved in engaging the Asgard in battle. They are held in great fear because of the number of High Lords. The Pantheon, as mentioned before. In one story that I heard many years ago, the Asgard Hel descended upon a group of Jaffa and several lesser Goa'uld who were torturing and pillaging a city. It is said that the residents of that city heard the tortured screams and wails of those captured for several weeks. It is rumoured that the Asgard Hel delighted in the pain of the symbiote."
"That could just be conjecture, Teal'c." Daniel objected.
"It could indeed, Daniel Jackson. However, there is always a burning substance where there is smoke." I opened my mouth to correct the saying, then gave it away. He was close.
"Well, I think we're about to find out what the burning substance is." Carter said softly, getting our attention. A few more Asgard had joined Thor and his family, and I rapidly counted. 12 Asgard all in a row. Deep breath and here we go.
"Greetings. I am Doctor Daniel Jackson, of Earth. This is Brigadier- General Jack O'Neill, Lieutenant-Colonel Samantha Carter and Teal'c. We ….." Daniel faded out, a frown drawing his eyebrows together behind his glasses.
"I am Freya, Jackson." One of them said, stepping forward. "I welcome you to Valhalla in the name of my cousin, Odin. I am pleased to finally meet the infamous Tau'ri."
"Infamous?" I whispered to Carter, who 'shushed' me and elbowed me lightly in the arm.
"I am honoured, Asgard Freya. You must be Freyr, sir Asgard." Daniel said to the grey guy next to Freya. He nodded his head, touching a hand to his forehead in acknowledgement. It was the first time I'd seen any Asgard make a formal salute. Interesting.
"I am Fenrir, and this is Hel." Another Asgard stepped forward. Daniel again did his diplomacy thing, but got cut off mid way through.
"Enough. We are not here to placate these Tau'ri, but to find out why they believe we should assist them in a fight that is not to our benefit." The smallest Asgard stepped forward, shoving Fenrir back into the other Pantheon members.
"Please, honoured sir. I do not understand." Daniel was handling things, so I stood back to watch.
"You Tau'ri demand that we assist you in your fight against the Goa'uld. You ask that we assist you when you have made childish blunders. You ask that we risk our own species in a fight we can ill afford to make! What have you to offer in exchange for this demand?"
"We would offer you peace.." Daniel began, but the little guy cut him off again.
"Peace?! You are actually claiming that the defeat of the Goa'uld will bring us peace?" The Asgard laughed, but I didn't think he was amused.
"Loki." Odin said from his chair. Loki turned to look at him, shaking his head angrily. At least I think it was angrily, the Asgard were a very hard race to read.
"I'll not be quiet, Odin. These Tau'ri have wreaked havoc across their galaxy, without consideration or thought to those it may effect. They come here, demanding our assistance and expect us to jump at their command."
"Now look here.." I began, but the guy cut me off again. For all his speech was slow, it was empassioned.
"I will not commit my people, my family, to a cause that benefits us nothing. The welfare of my family is paramount, and the defeat of the Goa'uld is not our concern."
"You're chicken." I blurted in sudden realisation.
"I am Loki, of the Asgard. I do not believe that I know this…chicken." The guy replied in a puzzled tone. I explained, as though I was talking to another Teal'c.
"You're afraid to commit to something you don't know you're going to survive."
"You are incorrect, Tau'ri."
"My name is Jack O'Neill." I told him, but he ignored me and continued to speak.
"I am concerned that my family, my children will be injured, and will die fighting a war that is not ours. We have other concerns that require our attention, and your little altercation with the Goa'uld need not concern us."
"You are incorrect, High Asgard Loki." Teal'c said, stepping forward. "The Goa'uld are a parasite that will, given opportunity, decimate your people. They are not only the enemy of the Tau'ri and my people. They are the enemy of all sentient and compassionate beings throughout our galaxy. The Goa'uld are not an enemy to be underestimated."
"But they are YOUR enemy, Jaffa."
"And yours, High Asgard. In the instant that you recognised their power over our galaxy and formed an alliance with them, they became your enemy. It has always been emphasized to the Jaffa that even the Asgard are cautious of the might of the Goa'uld."
"That is not-" Loki started, but Thor spoke up.
"Friend Loki. What the Jaffa says holds truth." Thor admitted. "In our haste to hold the Goa'uld back, to ensure our safety, we have admitted their possible dominance of the systems they hold." Thor turned to us, and nodded his head.
"Tau'ri." Odin got our attention. "We must have Closed Council on this matter. Please, we must ask your patience."
"Ahhh…. High Asgard Odin…. Where are we to go?" I asked, looking around at the huge room.
"I will transport you to my home, in Thrutheim. Please, be comfortable there." Thor offered, and we were surrounded by white light, the council chambers disappearing from view.
"Sweet." I said, looking around at the huge structure we'd been beamed to. "Daniel, where are we?"
"I think we in Bilskinir, Thor's domain. This is like his house, his…. Palatial grounds. Thrutheim was traditionally known as the place where Thor-."
"Thank you, Danny." I shut him up. "So. Now we know just why Thor brought us here."
"We do?" Daniel asked, his eyebrows dancing.
"Yes, Daniel, we do. He's having problems convincing the council, Pantheon, whatever you want to call that club back there, that the Goa'uld need destroying."
"Ah." Daniel's eyebrow quirked.
"I don't think it's the entire Pantheon that needs convincing, sir." Carter supplied.
"I believe it is Loki that is the primary detractor."
"I still want to know what the hell all those ships and planes were doing in their main hall thing." I said, finding a seat on a nearby piece of marble-like stone.
"It would explain a lot, Jack." Daniel said, undoing his tie and taking it off.
"I do not understand, O'Neill."
"It's… Those ships we saw in the Asgard hall were earth ships. Earth Planes. Craft that have gone missing over the years."
"Gone missing." Teal'c repeated.
"There's an area in the tropics called the Bemuda Triangle, near Florida. Over the past several hundred years, hundreds of ships, then planes, have gone missing in that area. The Triangle itself is over 100 nauticle miles in area, but no one has ever found any of the vessels that went missing there." Carter started to explain. "Those ships that were in the front hall were some of the ships that have gone missing. There were several B-52 bombers, that had gone missing during the second world war, and an F1-11 that went missing 18 months ago. Somehow, those planes, that went MIA just off of Florida, in the US, landed up in the hall of the Asgard home-world."
"I tell you, if they've been kidnapping our people and doing experiments on them, and haven't told us, I'm not going to be happy." Not going to be happy? I think that had to be my understatement of the year. I knew the only thing holding me back from ripping little grey heads from thin grey necks was that I trusted Thor. At least, I'd thought I had reason to.
"So what are we going to do now? Just sit here and wait?" Daniel asked, his eyes rapidly scanning the surrounding area. I sighed, then stood back up again.
"No, Danny. Thor said we were to be comfortable. I don't believe I can be comfortable until I know what this place is. I think we should go and explore." Daniel shot me a grin as my reward. It never takes much to make the archaeologist happy. Just a simple 'let's go exploring' and he was happy as a pig in mud…. Are pigs happy in mud?
"Carter, are pigs happy in mud? Or do you think they'd prefer a nice big swimming pool?" She shot me her 'where the hell did that come from' look, then thought about the question.
"I have no idea, sir." She admitted.
"Well, when we get home, look it up, will you?" I ordered her, then walked away, an evil grin on my face. I heard her mutter something, and looked back, one brow raised in query.
"What was that, Colonel?"
"Yes, sir." She replied "When we get back to Earth, I'll look up pigs in mud. Would you like me to look up pigs with wings as well?"
"Why would I want you to do that? That would be pointless research." I turned and followed Daniel, before I broke composure and started laughing. Carter and Teal'c followed a few steps behind, and I started chuckling as I heard her explaining flying pigs to the big Jaffa.