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 ten

Shortly before dawn they were disturbed by a knock on the door. They had been awake and ready for some time, waiting to see what the day had in store for them. Anadryl stood there holding a white robe with gold trimmings, offering it to Daniel.

'This is the appropriate clothing for your entry into the Holy Place as ordained by the Ancient One.'

Daniel took the garment with a surprised look and withdrew into the inner room of the building to change.

'Love the dress,' Jack muttered sarcastically as Daniel emerged.

'Thanks Jack, I'll ask if I can keep it and next time we go out I'll have something to wear,' Daniel replied dryly.

'O'Neill I think you misunderstand the garment Daniel Jackson is wearing,' Teal'c interrupted. 'It is a ceremonial robe.'

'It was a joke, for crying out loud - you know, ease the tension and all that. A joke.' Jack rolled his eyes in exasperation and proceeded to follow Anadryl and Daniel out of the house and to the centre of the village.

Daniel, with a quick glance at Jack, walked through the massive double doors and into the single room of the Holy Place, leaving the rest of SG1 outside with the Elders.

Daniel's eyes immediately focussed on the objective of this mission: the artefact was resting on a pedestal in the centre of the room, the force shield protecting it could be clearly seen shimmering through all the colours of the rainbow. Daniel walked slowly towards it, trying to locate the power source or figure out if there were any clues about what he might be letting himself in for.

The room was completely empty, there were no other items of furniture, pillars or even any kind of markings on any of the paving slabs or walls making it one of the most unusual temples he had been in.

Daniel reached the edge of the shield and walked all the way around trying to determine if there were any differences anywhere. He also took a few moments to study the artefact: it was almost completely spherical, except for the flat base on which it sat. It was jet black in colour with a hint of something sparkling under its surface, but the moment he focussed on it the sparkle seemed to disappear and he was looking at the deepest shade of blackness.

Taking a deep breath, Daniel extended one hand and reached through the shield. A tingle went all the way up his arm and he could feel the hairs standing up. Pulling his arm back out, he studied it closely but could not detect any damage. Squaring his shoulders in determination Daniel walked slowly through the shield until he was standing on the inside, right next to the platform. He could feel a faint buzz throughout his body but that feeling was fading quickly and he took a step forward, then another until he was able to reach out and grasp the artefact.

It was in his hands, felt cool to his touch and strangely heavy for its size. There were no markings on it and nothing to indicate why it might be of so much importance to Machello. Of course, the object itself may not be worth anything, it may just have been the honey in the trap to get the goa'uld here to kill themselves. Well, it hadn't killed him yet and from what he could tell, the shield was designed to keep goa'uld out and any that came didn't get through to this side at all. So far so good, Daniel congratulated himself.

Just then, Daniel's attention was diverted from the object he was holding. A shudder passed through the building, the floor no longer felt steady beneath his feet, and was that his imagination or did the walls look like they were moving too?

Daniel's fears were confirmed as a stone, broken loose from the ceiling, crashed down narrowly missing him.

I can take a hint, Daniel thought, I am so out of here. Even though he was aware of the danger he was in, he couldn't help but smile as he realised he sounded so much like Jack - he definitely needed to spend more time away from him.

Daniel headed for the door, dodging stones and falling masonry as he went. He had nearly reached the door when a gaping hole appeared in the floor immediately in front of him, he moved to one side to get around it, right into the path of a falling stone. The stone glanced off the side of his head, stunning him momentarily. Gathering his scattering wits about him he moved as fast as he could to the now open doors where he could see Jack and Teal'c coming towards him. They each grabbed one of his arms and hauled him away from the building where Sam and the Elders had moved back to where the rest of the villagers had gathered.

The collapsing building gathered momentum, the noise getting louder and louder, until after the loudest crash yet, silence fell, disturbed only by Jack's voice.

'Daniel.'

'Jack?'

'You went and touched something didn't you?'

'Jack!'

'Ok, ok, let's see what you got then.'

As Daniel held the artefact Jack snorted in disgust.

'It's not even one of those rocks you're so fond of. It's nothing but a damn' paperweight!'

'Sir!' Sam's voice came over urgently and Jack whirled to stare where she was pointing.

Hundreds of objects were hurtling into space from within the ruined building, Sam frantically trying to determine what was going on now. Jack, on the verge of directing all those present to hot foot it back to the gate immediately so they could try to get to safety was halted in his tracks by Sam, who now had her familiar smile back on her face.

'Sir, it's ok, I think I know what's going on.'

She was interrupted by three white flashes, which winked abruptly and then there was nothing but blue sky again.

'And that confirms it - I suspect those were goa'uld ships in orbit. Those objects are some kind of defence network to surround the planet. Kind of like the force shield, they're designed to keep the goa'uld away from the planet. For some reason, Machello wanted that object…'

'Paperweight,' Jack interrupted.

'Whatever. He wanted it to be found before he protected the planet in this way. It must mean something, we just have to figure out what.'

'Carter, that should be whatever SIR.'

'Yes sir,' she replied automatically, a smile on her face. 'That would also account for the excessive amount of naquadah I detected yesterday, there's enough there to blow up the planet like I said, there's also more than enough to keep that network in place for hundreds of years.'

Jack's attention was wandering a little as Sam gave her explanation, his eyes starting to glaze over when his gaze fell on Daniel who was looking decidedly pale and was starting to sway. He moved towards him, but Teal'c was there first to assist Daniel to a sitting position while Jack checked him over.

'What happened?' Jack demanded.

'I'm fine Jack, really, I just got hit on the way out is all.'

'Here, let me see.' With surprising gentleness Jack examined the wound, cleansed it and applied a dressing to keep it clean until Dr Fraiser could check it out properly.

Daniel let him get on with it, closing his eyes to try to regain his sense of balance and to get away from the feelings of nausea and dizziness that were threatening to take control of him.

Feeling that Jack had finished, he opened his eyes slowly and realised why Jack had not said anything further.

An enormous image of Machello had appeared right over the top of the collapsed building and was speaking in a thunderous voice. The visitors to the village could understand why the natives had been so impressed with Machello's visit so many years ago.

'It is done. My work is complete and you will soon be free once more. The Enlightened Ones must leave this place before the sun sets, go back through the Circle of Light to their own lands, never again to return to this place. My children, once the sun has set you must perform the most holy of celebrations at the Circle of Light, thus you will be protected forever from the Evil at large in this Universe.'

With spectacular effect, the figure of Machello shimmered, broke up into every possible colour available under any sun anywhere, dazzling those who watched before slowly fading away.

For a moment nobody spoke, then Jack's voice could be heard. 'Cool fireworks show. Machello certainly knows how to go out with a bang.'

Daniel meanwhile had got back on his feet and approached Anadryl.

'Anadryl, what is the most holy of celebrations?' He asked, having picked up on the part of the speech that no-one else had.

'There will be great feasting and celebration this very evening then as the first rays of sunlight strike the stone circle it will be lowered into a pit and buried forever.'

'And that would explain why we need to leave here before that,' Daniel realised.

'Ok, kids. We've done what we came to do, let's mosey on back home.' Jack, in an unusually good mood, was more than ready to return home. This hadn't been too bad as missions went - no-one had been kidnapped or seriously injured or tortured and he wanted to get out while the going was good. True, Daniel had hit his head, but he must have a thick skull or something because he seemed ok, although Teal'c was hovering protectively over the archaeologist, remembering the last concussion he had was not that long ago.

************

They were ready to leave. It hadn't taken long to collect their belongings and now they were taking their leave of Anadryl and the rest of the villagers.

'Good fortune remain with you,' were Anadryl's parting words.

'Thanks, and good luck with the burying the gate and freedom thing.' Jack glanced around at his team and SG9 and indicated it was time to depart. Halfway back to the 'gate, Jack's radio crackled into life.

'Sir, we have a situation at the gate,' came the breathless voice at the other end, also sounding slightly panicky. 'A troop of Jaffa have just come through the 'gate. We haven't been seen yet.'

'Remain out of sight, we'll be at your position in ten.'

Picking up speed they raced through the trees, stopping where they would still be concealed, enabling them to assess the situation. Issuing silent orders with the hand signals they all knew so well, Jack indicated they should begin their attack.

Jack, Teal'c and two of SG9 broke their cover and laid down a barrage of covering fire, taking out six of the twelve Jaffa before they even knew what had hit them. As their enemy turned to retaliate, Sam, Daniel and the remainder of SG9 broke from the trees opposite the DHD, dividing the Jaffa's attention. Staff blasts and zat fire were prevalent in the battle, sizzling the air with their electricity. A bolt missed the three soldiers with him and hit Daniel's shoulder, spinning him around and knocking him to the ground. Johnson ran back and covered him while he regained his feet, being rewarded with a staff blast to his leg. Daniel had recovered by this time and reached for his own sidearm.

Firing almost blindly, Daniel managed to disable the Jaffa who had been targeting them, then wasting no time he helped Johnson to his feet and half dragged him to the DHD, propping him at its base while Sam and Hillyard fought their way towards them, giving Daniel the window he needed to dial out.

Jack's group were faring better, although they all looked frazzled round the edges from near misses and were nearly at the gate as well. Teal'c took a sudden dive forwards, knocking Jack to the ground in time to allow a weapon blast to go over their heads and target a tree in the background instead. Calmly twisting from his prone position Teal'c aimed his own staff weapon and disposed of the remaining two Jaffa.

When all were safely grouped around the 'gate, Jack issued orders for the Jaffa to be checked for life signs. The villagers were going to be left alone on this planet with no protection, they had to ensure that no goa'uld legacy was left behind. Hillyard reported that all the Jaffa that had come through the gate were now accounted for, leaving the way clear to go home.

'Ok, kids, let's get out of here and go home. I could so use a shower,' Jack muttered, catching an unpleasant smell coming from beneath his arms.

'Yes sir,' Carter said emphatically, for once having the last word as the 'gate activated, their GDO code was accepted and they stepped through.