I'm back....
Just Sam and Jonas in this one and maybe a few answers and teasers..........
Thanks for your patience, it's been a long journey and there is still a way to go yet.
If you are interested (I know, I'm waffling) this story was drafted on the car journey back from Spain to Blighty, so thanks to DJ Sammy for keeping us going (I'll never be able to listen to that CD without images of sun, sand, sea, air con and toll booths).
So, disclaimer still stands as before.
Thanks to CT xxxxxxx
Thanks to all those who have reviewed.
In the year of the scavenger, season of the bitch
Sashay on the board-walk, scurry to the ditch
Just another future song, lonely little Keats
There's gonna be sorrow, try and wake up tomorrow. Diamond Dogs - Bowie
============
Sam leant in the doorway watching Jonas work oblivious to her presence. She smiled warmly at the confusion of open textbooks and paper that was scattered across the broad desk, while Jonas scribbled studiously, looking from one bit of information to another. She tapped lightly on the doorframe, the Kelwonan looked up; she raised her eyebrows in question, "is this 'taking it easy'?"
He gave her a puzzled frown and then smiled disarmingly, "I'm just getting a few notes together, to take to Doctor, um Daniel."
He laid the pen down on the desk as she walked across and perched on the corner, "how did the psych test go?" She asked.
Jonas relaxed back into the chair but crossed his arms, "I think I was Doctor Booard's first alien," he enlighten with a small smiled, "he was a bit nervous."
"Yeah," Sam agreed, "I guess he gets a lot of people through his door claiming to be from another planet, it must be strange to actually interview one who is."
The Kelownan nodded and collated a few sheets of paper together by gently tapping their sides with his fingertips, "he's with General Hammond now," he informed her, not making eye contact.
"So it's still not a sure thing that you'll get to join Daniel and the team on the dig," she replied, looking down at his notes.
Jonas shrugged, "I think it went well," he lied, but it was as transparent and fragile as rice paper.
"Jonas..." She began.
"Sam, can I run something by you?" He asked with soft pleading eyes that begged her to change the subject.
She gave him a concerned smile and pulled up a chair, "okay, shoot."
Jonas rolled his chair nearer the table and brought a few of the textbooks closer to hand. He made a mental check before picking up his pen and tapping it lightly on his open note pad. "Okay, okay," he said quietly to himself and looked up at Sam excitedly.
"You checked with the Tok'ra to see if they had any references to Khnemu in their records?"
It was a rhetorical question but Sam answered anyway with a nod of her head, "they drew a blank."
"Okay, um, I've been working on Daniel's 'shopping trip theory'..."
"Jonas the Tok'ra had no record of that either."
"But we do," he continued, eagerly.
Sam looked at him slightly astounded, "we do?"
"Yes," he replied tapping an open book with his pen, "it's here in the Legend of Khnemu and seven years' famine."
Sam looked doubtful and Jonas smiled, "just follow me on this," he implored.
She smiled and nodded.
"The inscription tells of a King of Egypt who went to Khnemu's temple to pray for the Nile to flood. There he was visited by Khnemu who promised the King that he would end the famine if he would provide the god with resources from the province and build a temple and shrines in his honour."
"Jonas I don't see how this..."
The Kelownan held up his hand and started to turn over the crisp pages of the book searching for a specific text, "I found this in the translation, it's Khnemu talking to the King, 'I bestow on you ores with precious stones since antiquity that were not worked before to build temples'", he quoted.
"At first I thought it was just the god emphasising all that he had done for mankind as the passage starts with, 'I am Khnum, your creator, my arms are around you, to steady your body, to safeguard your limbs, blah, blah, blah."
'Blah, blah, blah?" Sam repeated, oh that was so O'Neill.
Jonas blushed but carried on breathlessly, "but then I got to thinking what if he was actually giving the King the materials to build the temple with, only it wasn't a temple he wanted built it was a mothership? Sam the 'precious stones' could be a reference to Goa'uld information crystals," he ventured. "You, you have to remember that the legend was chiselled into the rock many years after the event and with the understanding at the time."
Sam shook her head, "I, I don't know Jonas, it's a bit of a leap."
He took a deep breath, flicking over the page, quickly. He looked up at her and then down to the italic script on the page reading again from the translation. '"All fishermen and trappers and hunters on the water and lion catchers in the desert, I impose on them a duty of one tenth of their catch.
'"All the peasants working their fields with their labourers and bringing wager to their new and high-lying lands, their harvest shall be stored in my granary.
'"Moreover one tenth of the gold and ivory and the wood and minerals and every tree stem and all things which the Nubians of Khent-he-nefer bring to Egypt shall be handed over together with every man who comes with them.' Sam the whole inscription reads like a shopping list."
"Okay say you're right, why go to all this bother? Why not just take the slaves you need?"
"Maybe this Goa'uld had very few or no Jaffa, maybe he was looking to swell his army after a defeat. Egypt was in the grip of a famine, they were looking to the gods to save them and one god answered their prayers, Khnemu. In gratitude the people of Egypt gave his temple all that they could and his cult grew. What if he took his followers and all the goods they provided to the planet that they're excavating now, to start afresh?"
Sam was still not convinced, "why did this Goa'uld pretend to be Khnemu, why not reveal who he really was?"
Jonas smiled and nodded ready for the question, "Daniel believes that the ruins are South American so this Goa'uld would not be recognised by worshipping Egyptians and Khnemu is the god who, according to myth, controls the Nile flood. When the King went to the temple at Elephantine, to pray, all our guy had to do was to appear in Jaffa armour using a ram headed helmet."
"And the flood?"
"Tok'ra tunnelling crystals?" He offered back, with a satisfied look on his face.
"Well it's a theory," Sam said, smiling at him.
He continued to look down at his notes, "yeah," he said softly. "Perhaps that's why Khnemu is referred to, in some writings, as 'the governor of the two lands'".
"But we still don't know who our guy is?" Sam asked.
"I think that answer lies on the planet," he replied, holding her gaze.
"It's not me you have to convince, Jonas," she countered, "its Doctor Booard and General Hammond."
"Yeah," he said, turning away.
"The psych test didn't go well, did it?" She pushed.
Jonas shrugged, "he thinks I have 'issues'"
"Issues?"
He let out a sigh and rolled the pen backwards and forwards with the palm of his hand, "he thinks I push myself too hard and keep my real feelings, the real me, bottled up. I think his words were something along the lines of that I only reflect what I think people want me to be."
"And you don't?" Sam asked smiling, placing her hand on his to stop him playing with the pen.
He made eye contact and returned the smile, shaking his head, "nope, I'm an open book," he responded closing the text book on the desk.
Sam laughed and stood up, "when did you last eat?"
"I..."
"Just as I thought, come on," she said, pulling him up, "its lasagne and I've asked the kitchen to cook some onion rings, especially for you, to go with it."
"Sam I was going to..."
"No, you were not," she 'commanded', "food time."
Jonas went to say something, but Sam stopped him, "Jonas I'm your friend, I care about you, you need to rest for a bit, Doctor Booards right, you do push yourself to the limit as if you still have to prove your usefulness to everybody. I know it's in your nature, this enthusiasm and excitement for knowledge, you see things, answers, that most of us miss but between this and your gift you are going to burn yourself out, you're not a computer."
The Kelownan looked down, "you're flesh and blood," she continued, "when was the last time you relaxed, did something recreational, laughed?"
He pushed two fingers between his eyes trying to think, "I, um, lasagne you say?" He looked at her with childlike eyes.
"Yeah," she smiled following him out the door, "oh you'll need a jacket, the heating's off in the commissary."
"Again?"
"Huh, huh. I think it's a cunning plan by the General to stop us spending too long in there," she replied throwing him the jacket that was hung over a chair.
A small, black plastic canister fell out of one of the pockets, as Jonas caught the jacket, and rolled across the floor stopping a Sam's feet. She bent down and picked it up, observing the Kelownan writing on the side, "what's this?" She asked looking towards the alien.
Jonas' face blanked in shock, "I, I, must have put it in there," he murmured, tapping the pocket, "I forgot, I forgot I had it, that, that Dreylock had given it to me." He ran his hand through his hair, obviously uncomfortable.
Sam opened the lid, "micro fiche," she said, examining the contents. "Dreylock gave this to you? What's on it?"
Jonas swallowed, "nothing much, just, um, just some personal reports."
Sam narrowed her eyes, he was being evasive, "Jonas," she exclaimed.
He shifted on his feet, like a child who had been caught out, "it's, it's the investigation into my sister's, mur..." His forehead creased, the word was still hard to say, "um, disappearance. With, with all that's been going on I forgot I had it," he shook his head in disbelief.
Sam looked down at it, "so you haven't viewed this yet?"
He shook his head, "no," he said quietly, "Sam, it's something I have, need to do. I need to understand."
"But you've seen Mia, you know she's happy, you know she doesn't blame you, that it wasn't your fault?"
Jonas looked down and Sam felt the blood drain from her body, "but you still blame yourself," she said softly, "do you think this is really going to give you some closure?"
He shrugged and Sam put the container down on the desk. She sighed, there were a million and one things she could say, to try and deter him but she knew her words would be wasted.
======
Let me know what you think
Cheers
:0)
Just Sam and Jonas in this one and maybe a few answers and teasers..........
Thanks for your patience, it's been a long journey and there is still a way to go yet.
If you are interested (I know, I'm waffling) this story was drafted on the car journey back from Spain to Blighty, so thanks to DJ Sammy for keeping us going (I'll never be able to listen to that CD without images of sun, sand, sea, air con and toll booths).
So, disclaimer still stands as before.
Thanks to CT xxxxxxx
Thanks to all those who have reviewed.
In the year of the scavenger, season of the bitch
Sashay on the board-walk, scurry to the ditch
Just another future song, lonely little Keats
There's gonna be sorrow, try and wake up tomorrow. Diamond Dogs - Bowie
============
Sam leant in the doorway watching Jonas work oblivious to her presence. She smiled warmly at the confusion of open textbooks and paper that was scattered across the broad desk, while Jonas scribbled studiously, looking from one bit of information to another. She tapped lightly on the doorframe, the Kelwonan looked up; she raised her eyebrows in question, "is this 'taking it easy'?"
He gave her a puzzled frown and then smiled disarmingly, "I'm just getting a few notes together, to take to Doctor, um Daniel."
He laid the pen down on the desk as she walked across and perched on the corner, "how did the psych test go?" She asked.
Jonas relaxed back into the chair but crossed his arms, "I think I was Doctor Booard's first alien," he enlighten with a small smiled, "he was a bit nervous."
"Yeah," Sam agreed, "I guess he gets a lot of people through his door claiming to be from another planet, it must be strange to actually interview one who is."
The Kelownan nodded and collated a few sheets of paper together by gently tapping their sides with his fingertips, "he's with General Hammond now," he informed her, not making eye contact.
"So it's still not a sure thing that you'll get to join Daniel and the team on the dig," she replied, looking down at his notes.
Jonas shrugged, "I think it went well," he lied, but it was as transparent and fragile as rice paper.
"Jonas..." She began.
"Sam, can I run something by you?" He asked with soft pleading eyes that begged her to change the subject.
She gave him a concerned smile and pulled up a chair, "okay, shoot."
Jonas rolled his chair nearer the table and brought a few of the textbooks closer to hand. He made a mental check before picking up his pen and tapping it lightly on his open note pad. "Okay, okay," he said quietly to himself and looked up at Sam excitedly.
"You checked with the Tok'ra to see if they had any references to Khnemu in their records?"
It was a rhetorical question but Sam answered anyway with a nod of her head, "they drew a blank."
"Okay, um, I've been working on Daniel's 'shopping trip theory'..."
"Jonas the Tok'ra had no record of that either."
"But we do," he continued, eagerly.
Sam looked at him slightly astounded, "we do?"
"Yes," he replied tapping an open book with his pen, "it's here in the Legend of Khnemu and seven years' famine."
Sam looked doubtful and Jonas smiled, "just follow me on this," he implored.
She smiled and nodded.
"The inscription tells of a King of Egypt who went to Khnemu's temple to pray for the Nile to flood. There he was visited by Khnemu who promised the King that he would end the famine if he would provide the god with resources from the province and build a temple and shrines in his honour."
"Jonas I don't see how this..."
The Kelownan held up his hand and started to turn over the crisp pages of the book searching for a specific text, "I found this in the translation, it's Khnemu talking to the King, 'I bestow on you ores with precious stones since antiquity that were not worked before to build temples'", he quoted.
"At first I thought it was just the god emphasising all that he had done for mankind as the passage starts with, 'I am Khnum, your creator, my arms are around you, to steady your body, to safeguard your limbs, blah, blah, blah."
'Blah, blah, blah?" Sam repeated, oh that was so O'Neill.
Jonas blushed but carried on breathlessly, "but then I got to thinking what if he was actually giving the King the materials to build the temple with, only it wasn't a temple he wanted built it was a mothership? Sam the 'precious stones' could be a reference to Goa'uld information crystals," he ventured. "You, you have to remember that the legend was chiselled into the rock many years after the event and with the understanding at the time."
Sam shook her head, "I, I don't know Jonas, it's a bit of a leap."
He took a deep breath, flicking over the page, quickly. He looked up at her and then down to the italic script on the page reading again from the translation. '"All fishermen and trappers and hunters on the water and lion catchers in the desert, I impose on them a duty of one tenth of their catch.
'"All the peasants working their fields with their labourers and bringing wager to their new and high-lying lands, their harvest shall be stored in my granary.
'"Moreover one tenth of the gold and ivory and the wood and minerals and every tree stem and all things which the Nubians of Khent-he-nefer bring to Egypt shall be handed over together with every man who comes with them.' Sam the whole inscription reads like a shopping list."
"Okay say you're right, why go to all this bother? Why not just take the slaves you need?"
"Maybe this Goa'uld had very few or no Jaffa, maybe he was looking to swell his army after a defeat. Egypt was in the grip of a famine, they were looking to the gods to save them and one god answered their prayers, Khnemu. In gratitude the people of Egypt gave his temple all that they could and his cult grew. What if he took his followers and all the goods they provided to the planet that they're excavating now, to start afresh?"
Sam was still not convinced, "why did this Goa'uld pretend to be Khnemu, why not reveal who he really was?"
Jonas smiled and nodded ready for the question, "Daniel believes that the ruins are South American so this Goa'uld would not be recognised by worshipping Egyptians and Khnemu is the god who, according to myth, controls the Nile flood. When the King went to the temple at Elephantine, to pray, all our guy had to do was to appear in Jaffa armour using a ram headed helmet."
"And the flood?"
"Tok'ra tunnelling crystals?" He offered back, with a satisfied look on his face.
"Well it's a theory," Sam said, smiling at him.
He continued to look down at his notes, "yeah," he said softly. "Perhaps that's why Khnemu is referred to, in some writings, as 'the governor of the two lands'".
"But we still don't know who our guy is?" Sam asked.
"I think that answer lies on the planet," he replied, holding her gaze.
"It's not me you have to convince, Jonas," she countered, "its Doctor Booard and General Hammond."
"Yeah," he said, turning away.
"The psych test didn't go well, did it?" She pushed.
Jonas shrugged, "he thinks I have 'issues'"
"Issues?"
He let out a sigh and rolled the pen backwards and forwards with the palm of his hand, "he thinks I push myself too hard and keep my real feelings, the real me, bottled up. I think his words were something along the lines of that I only reflect what I think people want me to be."
"And you don't?" Sam asked smiling, placing her hand on his to stop him playing with the pen.
He made eye contact and returned the smile, shaking his head, "nope, I'm an open book," he responded closing the text book on the desk.
Sam laughed and stood up, "when did you last eat?"
"I..."
"Just as I thought, come on," she said, pulling him up, "its lasagne and I've asked the kitchen to cook some onion rings, especially for you, to go with it."
"Sam I was going to..."
"No, you were not," she 'commanded', "food time."
Jonas went to say something, but Sam stopped him, "Jonas I'm your friend, I care about you, you need to rest for a bit, Doctor Booards right, you do push yourself to the limit as if you still have to prove your usefulness to everybody. I know it's in your nature, this enthusiasm and excitement for knowledge, you see things, answers, that most of us miss but between this and your gift you are going to burn yourself out, you're not a computer."
The Kelownan looked down, "you're flesh and blood," she continued, "when was the last time you relaxed, did something recreational, laughed?"
He pushed two fingers between his eyes trying to think, "I, um, lasagne you say?" He looked at her with childlike eyes.
"Yeah," she smiled following him out the door, "oh you'll need a jacket, the heating's off in the commissary."
"Again?"
"Huh, huh. I think it's a cunning plan by the General to stop us spending too long in there," she replied throwing him the jacket that was hung over a chair.
A small, black plastic canister fell out of one of the pockets, as Jonas caught the jacket, and rolled across the floor stopping a Sam's feet. She bent down and picked it up, observing the Kelownan writing on the side, "what's this?" She asked looking towards the alien.
Jonas' face blanked in shock, "I, I, must have put it in there," he murmured, tapping the pocket, "I forgot, I forgot I had it, that, that Dreylock had given it to me." He ran his hand through his hair, obviously uncomfortable.
Sam opened the lid, "micro fiche," she said, examining the contents. "Dreylock gave this to you? What's on it?"
Jonas swallowed, "nothing much, just, um, just some personal reports."
Sam narrowed her eyes, he was being evasive, "Jonas," she exclaimed.
He shifted on his feet, like a child who had been caught out, "it's, it's the investigation into my sister's, mur..." His forehead creased, the word was still hard to say, "um, disappearance. With, with all that's been going on I forgot I had it," he shook his head in disbelief.
Sam looked down at it, "so you haven't viewed this yet?"
He shook his head, "no," he said quietly, "Sam, it's something I have, need to do. I need to understand."
"But you've seen Mia, you know she's happy, you know she doesn't blame you, that it wasn't your fault?"
Jonas looked down and Sam felt the blood drain from her body, "but you still blame yourself," she said softly, "do you think this is really going to give you some closure?"
He shrugged and Sam put the container down on the desk. She sighed, there were a million and one things she could say, to try and deter him but she knew her words would be wasted.
======
Let me know what you think
Cheers
:0)