Looking through the skylight, one could see the pedestal that sat
directly beneath. The pedestal itself was an estimated four feet tall, made
of gleaming oak, upon it sat a dark blue velvet cushion, and upon the
cushion sat a stunning blood red ruby the size of a tennis ball. Three
lights, all at different angles, shone down on the jewel, catching its many
facets. The jewel was encased in a box of glass, so clean that it was barely
seen. One single wire unfurled from the skylight, to just a foot above the
case. A small black figure slid down the wire, with barely a whisper of
sound. Balancing at the end of the wire, wisps of smoke made the infrared
sensors appear. The apparition waited, counting to twenty five, as a small
electronic device flashed twice, and the sensors disappeared. Quickly, the
figure lifted the glass, palmed the ruby, and replaced it by a stone the
same size and appearance. The glass case was put back, and within seconds
the sensors were back. Pressing a button on its belt, the figure slid
smoothly back to the skylight, and to the roof. The figure made its get-way
into the night.
Daniel headed to the briefing room of the SGC a little frazzled. He had
been running late all morning. He had also spilled coffee all over his
shirt, while it was still hot, and had smacked his forehead into a corner
cabinet on his way to the infirmary for the burns. Now he was all patched
up, and in a foul mood. When he got to the room, he found that Sam, Teal'c,
and Jack were already there waiting for him. He mumbled an apology, and sat
down quickly. Daniel looked up to find them all staring at him. "What!" he
snapped.
Jack looked at the others, then back to Daniel, "This briefing is all
your doing Daniel, remember?"
"Right, sorry, bad morning." Daniel sighed and stood up going to the
projections at the head of the table. "We're looking at going to Ps3-546.
All of the MALP readings came back as habitable, good atmosphere, extremely
livable. Also," he continued flipping to the next photograph, "as you can
see in the background, there seem to be some ruins back here. They don't
look of Goa'uld design, but neither do they look Asgard, or Ancient. I think
that if we can ascertain that there aren't hostiles, it deserves a closer
look."
SG-1 looked at General O'Neill for several seconds before he figured it
out, "Oh right, ok then, sounds good to me."
They were packing up to go when Sam approached him. "Hey Daniel did you
hear about the theft of that ruby in London?"
"No, what happened?"
"Some ruby called the Heart of the Earth , it was on display at The
British Museum, then it was going to be on display in New York. The curator
noticed something different about the stone as it was being packed up, found
that it was a phony."
"That's odd. That museum has some of the best security. That's where
Sarah went to work at."
Daniel thought about it as he headed to his lab. He should probably call
Sarah to make sure everything was going ok.
"Hello Daniel," Sarah had answered the phone on the first ring , "I'm so
glad you called."
"Everything ok there? We read about the gem going missing."
"It's gone mad around here. First the jewel, then last night Sir William
Montgomery, one of the archeologists on staff here, was shot by something
that burned him to death." Sarah's voice got quieter, "Daniel it looked like
a staff blast to his chest!"
"A staff blast!" Daniel shouted in surprise.
"I know, that should be impossible, but Daniel, I know what it looked
like. And there's more, the area where the gem was found had familiar
writing on it Daniel, very familiar. I had just gotten permission to call
you in. He had been making noises that the ruby was more than just a gem, it
went missing, then he's killed. It's too much coincidence."
"You send through that request to contact us here. I'll talk to Jack
about coming there."
"His funeral's in three days." Sarah sighed, "I hope you get here soon
Daniel."
Kestrel Montgomery looked at the faces surrounding her father's casket.
Most were faces swallowed in grief, her father had been well loved. She saw
all of the staff from the museum there, including the new girl Sarah
something or other. There were several new faces standing beside her. Kes
looked at them with interest. A tall, muscular black man; a tall, but not as
tall, wiry older man in uniform, with graying spiky hair; a fairly tall
woman, in uniform, with short blonde hair, quite pretty actually; and a tall
man with light brown-dark blonde hair, wire framed glasses, good build, from
what she could see, and good facial features.
She sighed and focused back on the casket. Kestrel had loved her father very
much, she would miss him terribly. She had already vowed to find out what
had happened, and who had killed him. He had been a good man, with many good
years ahead of him. She didn't bother to wipe the tears from her cheeks,
there was no use when they weren't close to stopping.
Daniel stood close to Sarah. She was upset about the man's death, they
had become friends since she had moved back to London. He was glad that
SG-1, including Jack were able to come with him. He didn't know how the
older man had arranged that, but it worked for him so he wouldn't question
it. He recognized some of the people standing around the gravesite, just
from articles they had in different magazines. There were quite a few high
profile people.
There was a petite woman standing on the other side of the grave from them.
Tears ran unchecked down her cheeks, he couldn't really make out her
features, due to the black veil that fell from a hat over her face. Daniel
could feel her looking at them. Her body was draped in a stylish, and
expensive black dress, flaring over full breasts and cinched into a tiny
waist. It flowed over curving hips, and down to just below her knees. Her
legs were encased in sheer black hose which ended in black high heels.
Everything about the woman was screaming money and taste. Daniel found
himself wondering what she was wearing under the dress, and chastised
himself. 'You're at a funeral you insensitive jerk. Get your mind out of the
gutter!'
The funeral ended with Kes dropping her rose on top of her father's
coffin. She pressed her arm and face onto the coffins' smooth black surface,
"I will avenge you Da." she whispered tearfully. Standing straight up she
headed for the limousine that would take her back to the estate for the
gathering that was being held after.
They pulled into the estate where Sir William had lived, and a valet
parked the vehicle. They were entering into the marbled arch, looking around
in astonishment. "Holy Hannah!" Jack exclaimed. "Nobody touch anything. It
looks too expensive to pay for. Is this some sort of museum." he looked at
Sarah and Daniel suspiciously.
Sarah looked at Jack with some amusement, "You're almost right Jack,
most of these items are museum quality, but this is Sir's Williams private
collection. Some of it is his daughter Kestrel's, she is also an
archeologist. Although, I suppose now, all of it goes to Kestrel."
"Jack." Daniel called from where he had been looking at some tablets in
a glass case, "Could you come over here please?" There was something about
his voice that drew Jack's attention, and he hurried over to look.
"Daniel, is that what I think it is?"
Daniel was about to answer, when a voice spoke from behind the group. It
was soft, with a slight British accent, "Do you recognize the writing on
those tablets?"
They turned to see the small woman from the funeral gliding down the
stairs towards them. She was still in the black dress, but the veiled hat
was gone, leaving a lovely face focused on them. Dark green eyes surrounded
by thick lashes, a pert nose, and a full cupids bow mouth. Freckles
spattered her face, which was framed by curling auburn hair that stopped at
her shoulders. She finished her descent, and walked to the tablets. "My
father spent years trying to decipher it. I think he finally gave up when he
put them on display here. Do you recognize it?" She tilted her head and
looked up at Jack at Daniel. She had changed from the heels into flat shoes,
which put her at about 5'2".
"Maybe, I'm not quite sure." Daniel answered looking at Jack.
The girl turned and walked away from them. "How ironic, the opportunity
to possibly translate something so precious to him, only coming after his
death." She stopped next to Sarah. "How are you Sarah? I'm so glad you could
come today."
"Thank you, Kestrel, I'm so sorry for your loss. I hope you don't mind
that I brought some friends with me." Sarah said after kissing the girl's
cheek.
"Not at all. I appreciate anyone who came to pay respects to my father."
She turned to the group and introduced herself. "I'm Kestrel Montgomery.
You're Americans?"
"Yes Ma'am, I'm Lt. Col Samantha Carter, my colleagues are General Jack
O'Neill, Dr. Daniel Jackson, and Teal'c." Sam said shaking the girl's hand.
Kes looked at Teal'c with interest. "It's rare I meet someone with only
one name." After shaking Sam's, Teal'c's and Jack's hands, she turned to
Daniel. "Dr. Daniel Jackson, I've heard a lot about you. My father was quite
interested in your work. He was quite a fan." She took his hand and frowned
slightly and the slight tingle that ran through them. Kes let go of his hand
and stepped back. "Please, follow me, everyone is gathering in the parlor."
She turned and began to walk away. The others followed.
They were on their way back to their hotel that afternoon when Daniel
started thinking about the tablet again. "I would really love to get a
closer look at that tablet. Teal'c, did you get to look at it?"
"Very briefly, Daniel Jackson. I do believe that it was an ancient
dialect of Goa'uld. It has been many years since I have seen anything like
it. In the time I had, I was unable to ascertain any more information than
this."
"I'm surprised you got that much." Jack muttered. He was exhausted, he
figured the time difference was catching up to him.
"Sarah, do you think she'd let us take a closer look?" Sam asked, as she
started to rub Jack's neck with one hand.
"Perhaps. I could ask. She'll probably want to know why though."
"I think I'll have our people run a check on her before we go any
farther. If she does come up clean, well, Daniel you need to be working on
something to tell her so she'll let us look at her stuff."
"Sarah, you were saying that there was a ruby stolen just days before
Sir William was killed. Did he have anything to do with the ruby?"
"Actually yes," she answered, "Sir William is the man who uncovered it.
He and Kestrel found it in a tomb found two years ago. The dig was
completed, and the artifacts were brought back recently, When the ruby was
originally found, it was enclosed in some type of metal box, which didn't
seem to open. Somehow, Kestrel managed to open it. Tests are still being run
on the box. There were three Canopic jars, all broken, filled with ash. We
sent some of the ash off to be analyzed as well. What does all of this mean
Daniel?"
"Honestly Sarah, I have no idea."
directly beneath. The pedestal itself was an estimated four feet tall, made
of gleaming oak, upon it sat a dark blue velvet cushion, and upon the
cushion sat a stunning blood red ruby the size of a tennis ball. Three
lights, all at different angles, shone down on the jewel, catching its many
facets. The jewel was encased in a box of glass, so clean that it was barely
seen. One single wire unfurled from the skylight, to just a foot above the
case. A small black figure slid down the wire, with barely a whisper of
sound. Balancing at the end of the wire, wisps of smoke made the infrared
sensors appear. The apparition waited, counting to twenty five, as a small
electronic device flashed twice, and the sensors disappeared. Quickly, the
figure lifted the glass, palmed the ruby, and replaced it by a stone the
same size and appearance. The glass case was put back, and within seconds
the sensors were back. Pressing a button on its belt, the figure slid
smoothly back to the skylight, and to the roof. The figure made its get-way
into the night.
Daniel headed to the briefing room of the SGC a little frazzled. He had
been running late all morning. He had also spilled coffee all over his
shirt, while it was still hot, and had smacked his forehead into a corner
cabinet on his way to the infirmary for the burns. Now he was all patched
up, and in a foul mood. When he got to the room, he found that Sam, Teal'c,
and Jack were already there waiting for him. He mumbled an apology, and sat
down quickly. Daniel looked up to find them all staring at him. "What!" he
snapped.
Jack looked at the others, then back to Daniel, "This briefing is all
your doing Daniel, remember?"
"Right, sorry, bad morning." Daniel sighed and stood up going to the
projections at the head of the table. "We're looking at going to Ps3-546.
All of the MALP readings came back as habitable, good atmosphere, extremely
livable. Also," he continued flipping to the next photograph, "as you can
see in the background, there seem to be some ruins back here. They don't
look of Goa'uld design, but neither do they look Asgard, or Ancient. I think
that if we can ascertain that there aren't hostiles, it deserves a closer
look."
SG-1 looked at General O'Neill for several seconds before he figured it
out, "Oh right, ok then, sounds good to me."
They were packing up to go when Sam approached him. "Hey Daniel did you
hear about the theft of that ruby in London?"
"No, what happened?"
"Some ruby called the Heart of the Earth , it was on display at The
British Museum, then it was going to be on display in New York. The curator
noticed something different about the stone as it was being packed up, found
that it was a phony."
"That's odd. That museum has some of the best security. That's where
Sarah went to work at."
Daniel thought about it as he headed to his lab. He should probably call
Sarah to make sure everything was going ok.
"Hello Daniel," Sarah had answered the phone on the first ring , "I'm so
glad you called."
"Everything ok there? We read about the gem going missing."
"It's gone mad around here. First the jewel, then last night Sir William
Montgomery, one of the archeologists on staff here, was shot by something
that burned him to death." Sarah's voice got quieter, "Daniel it looked like
a staff blast to his chest!"
"A staff blast!" Daniel shouted in surprise.
"I know, that should be impossible, but Daniel, I know what it looked
like. And there's more, the area where the gem was found had familiar
writing on it Daniel, very familiar. I had just gotten permission to call
you in. He had been making noises that the ruby was more than just a gem, it
went missing, then he's killed. It's too much coincidence."
"You send through that request to contact us here. I'll talk to Jack
about coming there."
"His funeral's in three days." Sarah sighed, "I hope you get here soon
Daniel."
Kestrel Montgomery looked at the faces surrounding her father's casket.
Most were faces swallowed in grief, her father had been well loved. She saw
all of the staff from the museum there, including the new girl Sarah
something or other. There were several new faces standing beside her. Kes
looked at them with interest. A tall, muscular black man; a tall, but not as
tall, wiry older man in uniform, with graying spiky hair; a fairly tall
woman, in uniform, with short blonde hair, quite pretty actually; and a tall
man with light brown-dark blonde hair, wire framed glasses, good build, from
what she could see, and good facial features.
She sighed and focused back on the casket. Kestrel had loved her father very
much, she would miss him terribly. She had already vowed to find out what
had happened, and who had killed him. He had been a good man, with many good
years ahead of him. She didn't bother to wipe the tears from her cheeks,
there was no use when they weren't close to stopping.
Daniel stood close to Sarah. She was upset about the man's death, they
had become friends since she had moved back to London. He was glad that
SG-1, including Jack were able to come with him. He didn't know how the
older man had arranged that, but it worked for him so he wouldn't question
it. He recognized some of the people standing around the gravesite, just
from articles they had in different magazines. There were quite a few high
profile people.
There was a petite woman standing on the other side of the grave from them.
Tears ran unchecked down her cheeks, he couldn't really make out her
features, due to the black veil that fell from a hat over her face. Daniel
could feel her looking at them. Her body was draped in a stylish, and
expensive black dress, flaring over full breasts and cinched into a tiny
waist. It flowed over curving hips, and down to just below her knees. Her
legs were encased in sheer black hose which ended in black high heels.
Everything about the woman was screaming money and taste. Daniel found
himself wondering what she was wearing under the dress, and chastised
himself. 'You're at a funeral you insensitive jerk. Get your mind out of the
gutter!'
The funeral ended with Kes dropping her rose on top of her father's
coffin. She pressed her arm and face onto the coffins' smooth black surface,
"I will avenge you Da." she whispered tearfully. Standing straight up she
headed for the limousine that would take her back to the estate for the
gathering that was being held after.
They pulled into the estate where Sir William had lived, and a valet
parked the vehicle. They were entering into the marbled arch, looking around
in astonishment. "Holy Hannah!" Jack exclaimed. "Nobody touch anything. It
looks too expensive to pay for. Is this some sort of museum." he looked at
Sarah and Daniel suspiciously.
Sarah looked at Jack with some amusement, "You're almost right Jack,
most of these items are museum quality, but this is Sir's Williams private
collection. Some of it is his daughter Kestrel's, she is also an
archeologist. Although, I suppose now, all of it goes to Kestrel."
"Jack." Daniel called from where he had been looking at some tablets in
a glass case, "Could you come over here please?" There was something about
his voice that drew Jack's attention, and he hurried over to look.
"Daniel, is that what I think it is?"
Daniel was about to answer, when a voice spoke from behind the group. It
was soft, with a slight British accent, "Do you recognize the writing on
those tablets?"
They turned to see the small woman from the funeral gliding down the
stairs towards them. She was still in the black dress, but the veiled hat
was gone, leaving a lovely face focused on them. Dark green eyes surrounded
by thick lashes, a pert nose, and a full cupids bow mouth. Freckles
spattered her face, which was framed by curling auburn hair that stopped at
her shoulders. She finished her descent, and walked to the tablets. "My
father spent years trying to decipher it. I think he finally gave up when he
put them on display here. Do you recognize it?" She tilted her head and
looked up at Jack at Daniel. She had changed from the heels into flat shoes,
which put her at about 5'2".
"Maybe, I'm not quite sure." Daniel answered looking at Jack.
The girl turned and walked away from them. "How ironic, the opportunity
to possibly translate something so precious to him, only coming after his
death." She stopped next to Sarah. "How are you Sarah? I'm so glad you could
come today."
"Thank you, Kestrel, I'm so sorry for your loss. I hope you don't mind
that I brought some friends with me." Sarah said after kissing the girl's
cheek.
"Not at all. I appreciate anyone who came to pay respects to my father."
She turned to the group and introduced herself. "I'm Kestrel Montgomery.
You're Americans?"
"Yes Ma'am, I'm Lt. Col Samantha Carter, my colleagues are General Jack
O'Neill, Dr. Daniel Jackson, and Teal'c." Sam said shaking the girl's hand.
Kes looked at Teal'c with interest. "It's rare I meet someone with only
one name." After shaking Sam's, Teal'c's and Jack's hands, she turned to
Daniel. "Dr. Daniel Jackson, I've heard a lot about you. My father was quite
interested in your work. He was quite a fan." She took his hand and frowned
slightly and the slight tingle that ran through them. Kes let go of his hand
and stepped back. "Please, follow me, everyone is gathering in the parlor."
She turned and began to walk away. The others followed.
They were on their way back to their hotel that afternoon when Daniel
started thinking about the tablet again. "I would really love to get a
closer look at that tablet. Teal'c, did you get to look at it?"
"Very briefly, Daniel Jackson. I do believe that it was an ancient
dialect of Goa'uld. It has been many years since I have seen anything like
it. In the time I had, I was unable to ascertain any more information than
this."
"I'm surprised you got that much." Jack muttered. He was exhausted, he
figured the time difference was catching up to him.
"Sarah, do you think she'd let us take a closer look?" Sam asked, as she
started to rub Jack's neck with one hand.
"Perhaps. I could ask. She'll probably want to know why though."
"I think I'll have our people run a check on her before we go any
farther. If she does come up clean, well, Daniel you need to be working on
something to tell her so she'll let us look at her stuff."
"Sarah, you were saying that there was a ruby stolen just days before
Sir William was killed. Did he have anything to do with the ruby?"
"Actually yes," she answered, "Sir William is the man who uncovered it.
He and Kestrel found it in a tomb found two years ago. The dig was
completed, and the artifacts were brought back recently, When the ruby was
originally found, it was enclosed in some type of metal box, which didn't
seem to open. Somehow, Kestrel managed to open it. Tests are still being run
on the box. There were three Canopic jars, all broken, filled with ash. We
sent some of the ash off to be analyzed as well. What does all of this mean
Daniel?"
"Honestly Sarah, I have no idea."