Dawn ran to pick up the ringing telephone, dressed in only a towel, and hoping that it wasn't a telemarketer that had pulled her out of her bath. "Giles residence."
"May I speak with Dr. Rupert Giles?" asked the voice on the other end.
"Doctor Giles?" asked Dawn.
"Yes," said the voice. The slight lag before his response, as well as his accent told Dawn that this was probably a trans-Atlantic call. "This is the home of the Rupert Giles who used to be a curator at the British Museum, isn't it?"
"Uh, yeah," said Dawn. "I just never heard him called 'Doctor' before."
"May I speak with him?"
"I'm sorry," said Dawn. "He's not in right now. Can I take a message?" She reached for the pen and note pad that was by the phone.
"Uh, yeah. Could you ask him to call Dr. Daniel Jackson?"
Dawn wrote down his name and the phone number he gave her. "That's back in the States, right?"
"That's right," said Daniel. "Colorado."
"Cool!" said Dawn. "That's Mountain Time, right? Wouldn't want him calling you at 4AM."
She could here the smile in Daniel's voice. "That's very considerate of you."
"So what's this about?" asked Dawn.
"Some colleagues of mine have found some temple carvings similar to ones that Dr. Giles wrote about in a paper in 1995," said Daniel. "I'd like to consult with him about the translation."
"Oh yeah?" asked Dawn. "Where did they find it?"
"Uh, Latvia," said Daniel.
"Never been there," said Dawn.
"Neither have I," said Daniel. "Um, I'd also like to send him some photographs of the engravings they found. Does he have an email address?"
"Giles?" asked Dawn. "He's a major league technophobe. You can send them to me though. I'll see that he gets them."
"I guess that will work," said Daniel. "What's your name, and email address?"
Daniel was preparing to send off the package of photographs from P3G-823—stripped of anything that could indicate that they were taken on a different planet—when his phone rang. He picked it up. "Dr. Jackson."
"This is Major Davis, Dr. Jackson."
Daniel winced. Why would their Pentagon Liason Officer be phoning him? Paul Davis was a nice enough guy, but he tended to only show up, or call, when there was trouble. "How can I help you Major?"
"You put through a request for a background check on a Rupert Giles?"
"Uh, yes, I did. Is there a problem? He came back clean."
"I just need to know why you put through the request," said Major Davis.
"He wrote a paper about a temple on Earth that contained carvings like those we found on P3G-823," said Daniel. "I want to consult with him about them."
"You aren't telling him about the Stargate program," said Davis.
"Of course not," said Daniel. "I'm telling him that some colleagues of mine found something similar in Latvia."
Daniel could almost hear the wheels turning on the other end of the phone. "Go ahead," said Major Davis. "That shouldn't be a problem."
"What is it about Rupert Giles prompted this phone call, Major?" asked Daniel.
"I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to say, Doctor," said Major Davis. "Let's just say that Rupert Giles came in contact with another top secret operation a few years ago. It probably left a very sour taste in his mouth, where the military, and government are concerned."
"What happened," asked Daniel.
"I already told you that I can't discuss that," said Major Davis.
"But it's still okay to send him this information?" asked Daniel.
"Oh yes," said the Major. "As long as its origin is properly masked, Mr. Giles will probably draw a completely erroneous conclusion about where you really found it. Good day, Dr. Jackson."
"Good day, Major." Daniel slowly replaced the receiver of his phone in its cradle, wondering what that conversation had really been about. He shrugged and sent off his email to Dawn Summers.
"Honey, we're home!" called out Buffy as she came through the front door of the converted manor house that had become the new Watcher headquarters, near Westbury.
"Was that really necessary?" asked Giles, as he followed her through the door.
"Wouldn't want to surprise some Slayer wandering around in her underwear would you?" asked Buffy.
Xander was following Giles through the door. "Actually…" He saw the look Buffy was giving him. "…no, I wouldn't want to do that."
"In here!" called out Dawn's voice from the direction of the library.
Buffy made her way through the house to its large library. The walls were lined with bookshelves, containing copies of all of the world's foremost volumes on demonology. She saw that Dawn was seated at the table in the center of the room, with several open books, and papers spread out around her. "Where is everybody?"
"Willow's off with Althenea, and Kennedy took the Slayers for a run," said Dawn.
"What's up with you?" asked Buffy. "Some new apocalypse?"
"Nothing like that, I don't think," said Dawn. "An archaeologist back in the States phoned looking for Giles. Asking questions about a paper he wrote way back in the '90s. I thought I'd do a little research."
Xander looked at all the books. "A little?"
Dawn looked around, as if noticing for the first time just how many books she had out. "Uh…I guess I got carried away."
Buffy grinned at her sister. "You don't say."
"By the way, Giles, since when were you a Doctor?" asked Dawn. "This guy was looking for 'Dr. Giles'."
"Um…Dr. Giles was a little overqualified to be a high school librarian, so I never mentioned my advanced degrees when I applied to Sunnydale High." Giles went to the table, and picked up one of the sheets of paper. "Who was looking for me?"
"His name was Daniel Jackson," said Dawn. She waited for some response from the new head of the Council of Watchers. She didn't hear one. She looked up at him. "Giles?"
Giles was looking at the sheet of paper in his hand. It was a printout of one of the pictures that Dr. Jackson had sent to her. His face had gone white. "Oh dear lord!"
