DISCLAIMER: The characters mentioned in this story are the property of Showtime and Gekko Film Corp. The Stargate, SG-1, the goa'uld and all other characters who have appeared in the series STARGATE SG-1 together with the names, titles and backstory are the sole copyright property of the people who made them up. This fanfic is not intended as an infringement upon those rights and solely meant for entertainment. All other characters, the story idea and the story itself are the sole property of the author.
A Snake In The Hand Is Worth Two In The Bush
Part three
As they stepped through the 'gate they were hit by a wave of humid heat.
Rothman was struggling the minute they were through, gasping for breath as he tried to acclimatise.
Jack held back his desire to show his frustration that it was Rothman and not Daniel who was with them. 'You going to be ok?' He asked, controlling his voice.
Rothman nodded, heaved his pack more comfortably on his shoulders and indicated that he was ready to go.
'Qu'ilar's information was that the Temple is set in a ravine about two hours walk from the 'gate. The entrance is protected by some kind of code, which is where Dr Rothman comes in.' Sam reminded them.
'Ok. Everyone set?' Jack spoke lightly. 'Let's go hike then.'
A little over three hours later they reached the ravine they were looking for. They would have arrived a lot sooner if Rothman hadn't needed to keep stopping for rest and water breaks. Jack sometimes found Daniel's civilian attitude a real nuisance at times, but he also knew Daniel could keep up the pace and be relied on to protect himself and his colleagues when necessary.
'Dr Rothman, this is your show I believe.'
Rothman looked sideways at Jack - he could never make him out. He knew he wasn't the most popular person at the SGC but he sometimes felt he was being laughed at or ridiculed and being all archaeologist and not a people person hefound it hard to deal with. Still, at the sight of the markings around what was obviously the entrance to the Temple, he forgot Jack's manner and was soon absorbed in studying the information.
'Well?' Jack asked impatiently after ten minutes.
'It's written in a form of Egyptian,' Rothman glanced at Jack briefly before resuming his examination. 'See these markings here? They look very similar to those found on the ruined temple at . . .' Rothman's voice trailed off as he saw the glazed expression on Jack's face. Why could he never do anything right? Surely he could at least make a favourable impression on one mission?
'Dr Rothman,' Jack tried to remain patient. 'Do you know what it says and can you get us in?'
'Oh, er, yes. The mechanism itself is simple - see this wheel? It's like a combination on a safe - turn the dial in the right sequence and you're in.'
'And?' Rothman looked blankly at Jack. 'What's the combination?'
'There's the catch. These symbols around the dial are the code and I haven't seen anything yet to help us…' Rothman's voice trailed off as he examined the alcove they were in. It was an arch, with the lock on the wall of the main building. There were markings and writing all over the walls and the floor, but nothing which could be used to help break the code.
After a further half hour, Rothman gave an exclamation: 'Here! "Know your God and all will be revealed" That's the clue.'
'Well…' Jack said impatiently 'What does it mean?'
'Well…it has to do with Hathor and…' Rothman came to a standstill.
'You mean you haven't a clue?'
'Well, more like not much of a clue yet,' replied Rothman.
Jack threw himself down and watched Carter and Rothman doing their stuff. *In this heat it would be nice to just have a quick snooze while…* he thought to himself drowsily although his senses were still finely tuned on the area surrounding the temple, ready to jump into action at a moment's notice should the need arise.
A loud bang brought him quickly to his feet. Grabbing his gun he was greeted by the sight of Dr Rothman flat on his back after falling over one of the packs on the floor.
Reaching out a hand to help him up, Jack was surprised when Rothman waved him to one side violently.
'That's it! There's the answer - it was on the roof all the time,' Rothman explained rather incoherently that the correct symbols against each point on the dial correlated to a letter on the ceiling.
Slowly, between Carter and Rothman the code was dialled, until finally the last combination was entered and Sam indicated for Rothman to stand back while she pushed the dial into the door to activate the opening device.
The door opened revealing a vast dome inside, completely empty with walls and pillars covered in writing and symbols. Without thinking Rothman was through the door, eager to look around and not considering that there might be any danger. Jack was hot on his heels, frustrated at the impetuousness of yet another archaeologist, Sam and Teal'c following more cautiously. As they passed through the door, a bright white light swept down and over them, then was gone.
As they moved away from the door it silently swung shut behind them, with no sign of how to get out from the inside, no matter how closely Sam and Jack examined it.
'Now what?' Jack demanded as Rothman studied an inscription on the inside of the door.
'Oh. This is not good, not good at all.' Rothman said. 'This says "Prove false and the wrath of your God will be revealed." What does that mean? What's it mean?'
While Rothman hunted desperately for the meaning of these words, Jack and Sam were using more military tactics to attempt to open the door. The door, however, appeared to be sealed shut with the only mechanism for opening it on the outside. There was no sign of a hinge or any other way to get it open.
The Temple had sufficient light coming through a series of small holes around the bottom third of the walls, enabling them to see how high up the roof was. Jack searched the rest of the room with Teal'c, while Sam and Rothman hunted near the doorway for clues on how they could get out. Ten minutes later Jack and Teal'c returned, Jack giving a shake of his head to show they had not found anything.
'We're going to die, I know it.' Rothman was starting to get edgy.
'Don't be so stupid.' Jack was quite firm, wanting to quell any signs of panic at the earliest opportunity. 'We're due to report in six hours, when we don't they'll send someone to get us out. Anyway, I'm sure…' the rest of Jack's sentence was cut off by an enormous crash which shook the entire dome, causing the supporting pillars to protest.
'Was that an earthquake?' Rothman looked around nervously.
'Unlikely.' Sam reassured him. 'The MALP reports did not show any indications of seismic activity. I don't know what it was, it felt like we were hit by…' Sam's voice trailed off momentarily, then resumed more slowly '…by a wall of water.'
'Major?' A terse enquiry from Jack.
'Sir, look at the floor.' They were standing on a slightly raised platform near the entrance to the Temple, as they looked to where Sam was pointing they could see water swirling in through the lowest of the holes in the walls.
'Where did that come from?' Sam exclaimed. 'The ravine looked like it hadn't seen water in a thousand years or more.'
'I'm not worried about where it came from, all I need to know is that it's rising fast and we need to get out of here pronto.' Jack said. 'Ok. What have we got and what do we need.'
'We have ourselves and some of our equipment. We have a building filling up with water. We need to find a way out.' Teal'c informed Jack, earning him a withering look.
'Well that's useful.' Jack retorted.
Teal'c raised his eyebrows but said nothing further.
In pairs, they splashed around the interior of the Temple, examining the walls for any signs of how they could get out. In desperation they looked at the roof, but found it too far away to make anything out.
'Ok kids.' Jack tried to sound positive. 'We have six hours before we're due to report in, it'll take the rescue team a good two hours to get here, even if they leave straight away, plus allowing time for them to figure out how to get us out. Major, how long do you estimate before this room fills up?'
'Well sir, at its current rate I would anticipate being up to chest high within an hour, a further two hours will take us about half way up.' Sam paused. 'Sir, we need to be prepared for three scenarios. If anyone were to lose consciousness then they could drown. There is a danger of hypothermia - this water is very cold. I don't know where it's come from but it obviously hasn't been affected by the temperature outside. And the holes in the wall don't go all the way up - once the water covers them, we could start to suffer from oxygen deprivation.'
'Thanks for the positive picture,' Jack muttered sarcastically, keeping a wary eye on a close to panicking Rothman.
'We need to be prepared, sir, know what to look out for.' Sam replied defensively.
Three hours later they were starting to feel the affects of prolonged exposure to the icy water. Teal'c seemed to be less affected, protected to a certain extent by his symbiote, Rothman suffering the most as the least used to extreme conditions.
As the water rose it grew dimmer in the Temple. Jack allowed them to use only one flashlight at a time, they had spare batteries but with no idea how long they would be there, even if the rescue party came through when they didn't report in, it would be dark by the time they got to the Temple and mounting a rescue would be severely hampered.
In order to maintain body heat and preserve circulation, Jack issued orders to swim around at intervals, alternately yelling at and coaxing Rothman to keep him going, but it was becoming more and more obvious that the archaeologist was failing and could not keep up much longer.
Floating on his back, almost drifting asleep, Rothman was woken by another command from Jack. He opened his eyes wide, then gasped with relief.
Jack, afraid he was ill, shook him violently, making him cough and splutter.
'Colonel O'Neill,' he said excitedly through chattering teeth. 'Look - above your head, there's a kind of trap door in the ceiling. We can get out. Can't we?' Rothman's voice trailed off as he realised the others did not greet his news with the same level of enthusiasm. 'What?'
'Robert,' Sam spoke gently. 'We've got no way of getting to it until the water rises that far. We may run out of time before that.'
Rothman suddenly realised what she was saying, looking intently into the faces of SG1 and saw the truth mirrored there. He gulped, and, surprising Jack, accepted the news by remaining calm.
The water was rising more slowly now and even seemed to be slightly warmer. Robert started to feel drowsy, could feel his eyes closing as he lay back in this nice, comfy…
'Rothman,' Jack's commanding voice reached him. 'Stay with us, fella. You're not going to die on us now. Teal'c, help me.'
Together they rubbed life back into his arms and legs, but by the blueness around his mouth and eyes, they knew that unless help came soon, it could come too late.
To be continued…