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 fourteen

By the position of the large sun in the sky it was well after midday when they stepped through the Stargate. Clare stood gazing around in wonder at the scene that was spread out before her. She knew they'd travelled millions of miles but they could just as easily have been somewhere on Earth still.

'Amazing isn't it?' Daniel was standing next to her, slightly amused by her expression of awe, but saying nothing as he still felt like that each time they travelled anywhere.

'Yep, just when you think you're not in Kansas anymore…' Jack left his sentence unfinished, the rest of his team had heard this saying too many times to count and Clare understood what he meant. 'Well, kids, we can just stand around here admiring the view or we could go find ourselves some rocks.'

'Artefacts, Jack,' Daniel retorted out of habit, his attention already elsewhere. 'Hello - this looks interesting.'

Daniel had moved to what were obviously the remains of a large fire within a circle of stones, thirty-nine stones in fact, the same number of symbols there were on the gate.

The others joined Daniel, Teal'c studying the remains of the fire.

'It has been five or six days since this fire was lit. It appears to form part of some religious ceremony.'

'How can you know that, Teal'c?' Jack asked.

'Look, here, here and here.' Teal'c pointed out several groups of stones at one side of the large fire circle, smaller versions of the larger one. 'These would be for cooking. To use the main circle for this purpose would be a violation.'

'You know what this is don't you?' Daniel said excitedly.

'No, but I bet I'm about to find out,' Jack responded, preparing himself for one of Daniel's verbose explanations.

'Stonehenge in England is a large stone circle that was attributed to the Druids, every year at the summer and winter solstice people gather there. This is similar, it's as if they worship something about the Stargate - those markings are pretty faded though, I need to spend some time…'

'No Daniel. That's not why we're here. If everything works out fine maybe we can give you some time to play before we return, but right now we've got more important things to do.' Jack nodded at Teal'c to make sure Daniel followed them when they moved off, then turned to Clare. 'Well, this is your show, where to?'

'It's this way.' Clare said after a brief hesitation, pointing out the direction.

Jack and Daniel walked with Clare, Jack had seen the glint in Daniel's eyes as Teal'c moved him away from the stone circles and didn't trust him not to wander off for some further study when no one was watching. Sam and Jacob were just behind them, chattering away to catch up on family news and gossip with Teal'c bringing up the rear.

They'd been walking steadily for four hours when they reached the base of a steep, rocky slope.

'It's up there. About three quarters of the way up there's a cave. It's in there.' Clare explained rather vaguely. No one pushed for more details, knowing the potential problems that trying to express herself more clearly could cause.

'It looks like it's going to take us a couple more hours to get there,' Jack looked at the climb still ahead of them. 'We'll set up camp here tonight and set off again at first light.'

While SG1 busied themselves with setting up camp, Clare felt rather useless. She knew she was the only one who could guide them to the place they were going but she still felt as if she should be pulling her own weight. Jacob, seeing her indecision, caught her attention and hauled her off to collect water and wood for the fire. While they worked Jacob kept up a level of friendly chatter and Clare discovered that Jacob was only alive because of his symbiote and found out more about life with the tok'ra.

Just as the last tent had been put up and everything put in order, the fire was burning brightly with a container of water bubbling away.

'Way to go Jacob - at least we don't have to wait around for something to eat,' Jack commended Jacob.

'Actually, I think it's Clare you should be thanking, she was the one who did all the hard work.'

The conversation flowed easily as they ate their rations and the evening passed quickly until Jack decided they should all get an early night, setting up the watches through the night, taking the last one, the most difficult, upon himself.

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

Clare was woken early the following morning by Sam shaking her, none too gently.

'Come on sleepy head - breakfast's ready and waiting,' Sam greeted her.

'I can't believe I actually got any sleep,' Clare grumbled. 'It took me ages to drop off.'

'I know. When I came back in from my watch you were still awake. Now come on or we'll never get going today.'

An hour later there was no sign that they had camped there and they were making their way slowly up the rocky slope. After three hours they were all very hot when at last Clare paused.

'It's right ahead, there.' She pointed out a place on the slope ahead, Jack studied the area carefully but could not make anything out.

'Are you sure?' He asked doubtfully.

'Yes.' Clare started to move ahead again, followed by Jack and Daniel. Jack turned and realised the others were stood still watching them, odd expressions on their faces. Teal'c, appearing to gain control of himself, ran up the slope towards Clare, grabbed her and started to drag her back down to where Sam and Jacob had remained.

'What…' Clare cried out, fighting against the Jaffa who was holding her.

'Teal'c, what the hell are you doing?' Jack and Daniel had succeeded in freeing Clare, now Jack had one palm against Teal'c's chest to stop him from trying anything else while Clare moved behind Daniel.

'You must not go any further. You will be putting yourselves in danger if you proceed,' Teal'c insisted.

Sam and Jacob had joined them by this time, supporting Teal'c's argument regarding the danger ahead, the situation becoming very heated. Daniel, observing the scene, suddenly realised what was going on and spoke up.

'Jack, I think we should all move back a little and then sort this out.'

Jack glanced in his direction, saw the calculating look in his eyes, and nodded agreement, leading them a few feet back down the slope to where Jacob and Sam had been standing earlier. As they retreated their agitation was clearly subsiding.

'Would you care to explain what's going on?' Jack snapped, glaring at the three culprits.

'It's ok, Jack, I think I know what's going on,' Daniel interrupted. 'It's only Teal'c, Sam and Jacob that are affected - I don't think it's a coincidence that the only ones behaving strangely are those who are either carrying a symbiote or have carried one?'

'Your point?'

'Clare is certain there's something up there to find, therefore it must be protected in some way from a casual observer, and more to the point, from other Jaffa and goa'uld. If whatever is protecting this artefact is at the right frequency, you could have an all out battle on these slopes before anyone would find it.'

'Sir I think Daniel's right. Before, I was feeling angry and frustrated and just wanted to hurt someone, but now all I'm getting is a feeling that I really don't want to go any further forward.' Sam said. 'Er, I'm sorry about the way I…'

'No apology needed Major. Alien influence.' Jack replied, brushing the matter to one side now he understood the reason for it. 'Daniel, Clare, you're with me. The rest of you, wait here until we return. I'm not going to risk you killing each other if you come with us. Watch our backs.'

Returning to their previous course they reached the place Clare had indicated within ten minutes, still unsure as to their exact destination. Jack and Daniel stopped in front of a seemingly impassable rock face. Jack turned to Clare to ask her what they should do next, only to realise Clare had not stopped and proceeded to walk through solid rock.

'What the…?' Jack exclaimed as Clare disappeared, with Daniel following hot on her heels. Daniel paused before he disappeared too, beckoning Jack to come forward.

'It's ok, Jack. Come a bit closer and you'll see.'

As Jack got closer he was able to see what he couldn't from any other position. The rock face was in fact separated by two boulders overlapping so closely that from any thing more than a few centimetres away it would appear to be solid rock. A natural protection for whatever might be inside.

Stepping through the gap they saw Clare standing in front of a pedestal with a tablet and page-turner on top of it. Jack surveyed the cavern for potential dangers, instructing Daniel and Clare to wait before touching anything. Jack sighed to himself as he realised his warning had come too late. Daniel, without considering the danger, had reached for the tablet only to be knocked back against the wall of the cavern by some form of electrical shock.