Chapter 3: I Hate When You Say That

"I hate when you say that," said Xander.

"Giles, what's wrong?" asked Buffy.

"Where did he find this?" Giles asked Dawn.

"He said it was from somewhere in Latvia," said Dawn. "He didn't seem to want to be more specific than that. What's wrong?"

"This…" Giles waved the sheet of paper in his hand. "…is similar to some carvings found in an ancient temple that was uncovered in the Shetland Islands, over ten years ago. The archaeological team that was doing the excavation released…something…that killed them all. The Slayer at the time had a dream about it, and she and her Watcher went to investigate. They were never heard from again, and three days later her successor was called. We never learned exactly how she and her Watcher died, but it seems that she gave her life defeating whatever was unleashed there on that island. More Watchers were dispatched, I was among them; it was one of my first assignments. When we got to the scene, all we found were their bodies.

"The Council decided to cover up what had happened. We reburied the temple, hiding all traces of it, buried all of the bodies at sea, and faked a boating accident which claimed their lives. Some preliminary photographs of the temple had been sent from the island, and we found more in the notes of the archaeological team. Too much was known about the find for us to make it seem like it had never happened, so I—using my position at the British Museum—was given the task of doing the public investigation of their findings. I published my results in 1995, taking some care to obfuscate a few of the details."

"So, someone else has found the remains of this temple now?" asked Buffy. "If whatever killed them was defeated—"

"No," said Giles. "It seems that someone has found another temple. We have to find out where, before history repeats itself."


Daniel's curiosity about Rupert Giles was piqued. Why would Major Davis be interested in a former curator of the British Museum? Some of the details that he had read in Giles' file were also rather curious. Why would a man with multiple degrees in history, mythology, and ancient languages leave a prime position at the British Museum, to become a high school librarian?

Daniel's own personal history made him think that maybe Rupert Giles had come up with some theory that his colleagues thought was bizarre, or insane, but his search of the records showed that Giles' professional reputation was intact. While he hadn't published any papers since 1996, his last papers were well received, and his name still sometimes appeared in the journals, usually in letters giving thoughtful criticism of papers published by others.

Something twigged in his memory. Daniel had been feeling like he knew the name 'Rupert Giles' ever since he had encountered it the other day, and now he remembered where he had seen it before. Giles had written some letters criticizing his theories. He was one of the few people who had actually bothered to examine his evidence, and to judge his theories on their merits, rather than react with a knee-jerk 'this guy is nuts!' While Giles hadn't agreed with many of Daniel's conclusions (some of which, subsequent discoveries through the Stargate had proven to be false) he hadn't dismissed them, or Daniel's evidence, out of hand either, and had even come up with a few alternate interpretations of the evidence that turned out to be quite insightful. Giles' own interpretations tended to link the Egyptian gods with older legends of demons, rather than aliens from outer space though.


"So, who is this Daniel Jackson?" asked Buffy.

"An archaeologist in Colorado." Dawn frowned. "I thought his email address was a little weird, it's through the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, not the sort of place I'd expect to find an archaeologist, so I looked him up. He was generally considered to be a brilliant researcher, up until the 90s. Then he came up with a weird theory about the Egyptian pyramids being built by aliens, and pretty much got laughed out of the profession. A few years later he got hired by the Air Force for something or other, and pretty much disappeared. He hasn't published anything since."

"Oh, yes!" said Giles. "I remember him now. He is quite brilliant, even if some of his theories are…outlandish. He uncovered quite a bit about the Gould demon infestation that took place in ancient Egypt, even if he did blame it on aliens."

"Gold demons?" asked Xander. "Where can I find one?"

"'Gould' not 'gold'," said Giles in an exasperated tone, "And you probably wouldn't like finding one at all. They are snake-like parasites that take over a human host, much the way a vampire does. A Gould infected host has many of a vampire's strengths, such as enhanced healing, longevity, and strength, and lack many of their weaknesses, such as an aversion to crosses, holy water, or sunlight. Some of them are very powerful magic users, rivaling even Willow's abilities. They are every bit as ruthless as a vampire: they think of themselves as gods, and therefore think that they can do anything they please."

"If these things are so bad, how come we've never encountered any?" asked Buffy.

"The Gould are extra-dimensional," said Giles. "They came to Earth through some sort of portal, and enslaved much of Egypt, taking on the personas of Egyptian gods. There was an uprising of their slaves, and most of Gould were driven back through their portal, and it was buried in the desert."

"Still a few around, then?" asked Buffy.

"Perhaps," said Giles, "but the Gould that remained were unable to reproduce. They can jump from host to host, but they can not make more of their kind. The theory is that there were only a few fertile queen Goulds with the vast majority being either infertile workers, or drones: like an ant colony, or a bee hive. Slayers have encountered and killed a few Goulds over the intervening millennia. The last was in 1734."

"What's all this got to do with a temple in Latvia?" asked Buffy.

"Hopefully nothing, but there were some references to something that may have been the Gould, in some of the inscriptions…I wonder if that was what drew Dr. Jackson's interest to it?" Giles didn't look happy.

"What's the problem?" asked Xander.

"As part of the coverup, I edited out all references to the Gould. Dr. Jackson may notice that."


Daniel was going over his own notes, and Giles' interpretations of the Shetland temple inscriptions in his office. "This can't be right," he muttered to himself.

Jack was sitting on the other side of Daniel's desk, with his boots up on it, idly turning one of Daniel's 'rocks' in his hands. He looked up. "What can't be right?"

"This!" Daniel shoved the folder he had been reading from across his desk, and turned it around so Jack could read it. He pointed to a line in the text. "This is the third time that Giles mistranslated something in these inscriptions that referred to the Goa'uld."

"So?" asked Jack. "It's not like he knows anything about them, is it?"

"But he does," said Daniel.

"What?"

"Rupert Giles is an expert on ancient myths, from cultures all around the world, including Egypt," said Daniel. "He knows about myths of 'snake demons' who can possess human hosts, and control them. He has referenced them in some of his own writings, even calls them 'Gould.' In some of his letters on some of my published theories, he references them."

"But he didn't recognise them here," said Jack.

"Right," said Daniel. "The only thing I can figure is that he deliberately mistranslated."

"Why would he do that?"

"That is a very good question," said Daniel. "If there is anything that can kill an academic reputation faster than theories about aliens, it's getting caught faking your results."

"You said that the people who originally uncovered this temple were killed?"

"Yes," said Daniel. "Their boat sank in a storm."

"I'm thinking that was no boating accident," said Jack. "We need to have a talk with this Dr. Giles."

Daniel's phone rang. He glanced at it. He saw the light flashing for the number that he had given to Dawn Summers. "Looks like this is our chance." He pointed to the earpiece that would let Jack listen in on the conversation.

Daniel picked up the receiver of his phone "Dr. Jackson."

"Ah, yes," said the voice on the other end. "This is Rupert Giles. You called me earlier?"

"Yes, Dr. Giles," said Daniel. "It's about your work on the 1992 Shetlands dig."

"I understand that you have found a similar temple," said Giles. "Can you tell me where it is?"

"I'm afraid I can't," said Daniel. "I don't know exactly myself. I was brought in by some researchers in Latvia, and with the situation in Eastern Europe being the way it is, they are very secretive when it comes to the locations of such things."

"I would very much like to see their find, first hand," said Giles.

"I certainly understand that," said Daniel. "I'd like to see it too. I'd also like to see the Shetland site."

"I wish that were possible," said Giles. "Unfortunately, it was lost."

"You have no idea where it is?" asked Daniel. "There's nothing in your files that gives any indications? Perhaps some photographs that show some local landmarks that can be triangulated from?"

"No," said Giles. "The photographs that survived are rather bereft of any sort of information that could be used to localize where they were taken. I know several people who have tried, and failed. Now, about the Latvia site: perhaps you could put me in touch with someone who can tell me more about it?"

The conversation went back and forth like that, with Daniel and Giles trying to pump each other for information about the locations of their respective finds, while revealing nothing themselves. They both gave up after a while, and the conversation turned to the translation of the 'Latvian' inscriptions. There they made some progress, with each of them talking animatedly about several possible interpretations.

"One thing puzzles me, Dr. Giles," said Daniel. "I've been looking over your original work, and it seems to me that you mistranslated several references to what are clearly Gould demons. I would have thought that such references, far from Egypt, would have struck you as…unusual."

There was silence on the phone for several seconds. "Oh dear lord," came Giles' voice eventually. "I can't believe I missed that!" His dismay almost sounded genuine to Daniel. They spent some time discussing what effect the addition of the Gould had on Giles' earlier translations, and in the end, came to the conclusion that it had none. Giles' earlier work hadn't identified the demons referenced as the same demons that had ruled ancient Egypt, but what little description of them that there was, was accurate. His not making the connection could be seen as an oversight…but Daniel didn't believe it.

The conversation drew to a close. "Well, thank you for your help, Dr. Giles," said Daniel. "You've made several things clearer to me."

"Happy to be of service," said Giles. "If there is anything else you need, feel free to call."

"I'll do that," said Daniel. "Goodbye."

"Goodbye, Dr. Jackson."

Daniel hung up his phone, and looked at Jack. Jack had listened in on the entire conversation, even if his eyes had glazed over when they started getting into the nitty-gritty details of the translation. "What do you think?"

"I think that Dr. Giles knows something he isn't telling us," said Jack.

"You too, huh?" asked Daniel. "I wonder what it could be?"

"I think it's time we found out," said Jack. He looked up at Sam and Teal'c as they came into Daniel's office. "You got 'em?"

Sam waved a thick sheaf of photographs. "We got 'em."

"What have you got?" asked Daniel.

"Satellite photos of the Shetland Islands," said Sam. "Including some taken by the NRO's latest ground penetrating radar bird. If there's anything buried there, these will show it."