And of course I pick this week to start posting! (sigh) Hopefully that'll be the last major problem for awhile!
Thanksto all who read and reviewed, you make my day! :)With luck I'll be able to post on a more regular schedule now.
Disclaimers, summary, rating, etc. in prologue.
GOING HOME
Chapter 2 -- Revelations
Sam sat in the briefing room, wondering what this was about. Teal'c was in his usual seat, then Daniel and Asheron came in. Asheron was carrying a stone tablet and greeted her absently, very different from his usual courtesy.
They waited a few minutes for O'Neill, but Asheron remained standing, looking off into the middle-distance at nothing in particular.
O'Neill then entered from his office. "The president says hi, and that he's very curious about your mission, Malek. But he's not going to let Jacob out for a few more days yet. Sorry." He sat down and looked at the empty table in front of him. "What, no briefing folder?"
"I will give you the information." Asheron turned slightly to address everyone. "All of you know pieces of the story, but none of you know everything that I am going to say. So, I ask your indulgence, while I explain why this --" he held up the tablet and then set it on the table carefully, "will let us find someone long lost and vital to the continuation of our people."
O'Neill frowned slightly. "You know we already found the lost city of the Ancients, right?"
Asheron smiled, humoring him. "This has nothing to do with the Ancients, O'Neill. Only the Goa'uld." He settled into his stance that seemed so similar to parade rest, with his feet apart and his hands behind his back. Sam suddenly wondered if he had once had military training before becoming a host. That could explain the leadership charisma that he exuded.
"More than two thousand years ago," he began, "while Egeria was still free, one of the other major system lords was Marduk."
"Killed him," O'Neill offered.
Asheron ignored the interruption. "Marduk slew his own queen Tiamat to take power. He was so insufferable that his Jaffa and priests rose against him. They were helped by Tiamat's daughter Ishtar, who then took Marduk's place among the system lords. You have already encountered her territory - a minor Goa'uld in her service was Shak'ran, who was awarded the planet Pangar after a battle with Ra. Ishtar always held a core of several worlds as her own, which never passed into the hands of her enemies. One of those worlds was Inannar. Ishtar hated Ra, and so did Egeria. The two queens were not allies, but they did have a common enemy. And Ishtar was so powerful that Egeria doubted that Ishtar's world of Inannar would fall to Ra."
He picked up the tablet. "This describes what happened next. " -- and so the lady of the fountains, goddess of flowing water, traveled through the lake of the moon and the tunnel of night to the place of Ishtar's radiance. She walked in secret, carrying her precious burden, the sleeping daughter she would hide in the shadows of Ishtar's glory to keep her safe from the sun.""
"The Stargate," Daniel murmured. "The lake and the tunnel, must refer to the Stargate and the wormhole. And Inannar is another way to say 'Ishtar's radiance'."
But Sam started quivering with excitement, as she jumped to the more important part of the story. She sat straight, staring at Asheron. "Are you saying that Egeria hid a daughter -- another queen -- on that planet?"
Very gently Asheron set the tablet back on the table. "Yes," he answered simply. "On Pangar, Egeria was able to tell me that a daughter once existed, but she could not recall where. This tablet tells me."
"So where is it?" O'Neill demanded.
Asheron blinked once and one corner of his lips lifted in a rueful smile. "Inannar is the name of my homeworld. The hope for the Tok'ra has been in a place I have not seen in more than twenty years."
"You want to go find the queen, I take it. And you need Daniel because...?" O'Neill asked.
"I know much of my people's history, and I can read our ritual writings. But I do not have the training to find her that way. Daniel does."
O'Neill tapped his fingers, thinking, while everyone else was silent. Sam thought it was amazing that there might be hope after all for the continuation of the Tok'ra.
"One more question. Let's suppose you find her -- what then?"
Asheron ducked his head and Malek spoke, "Then she becomes the mother of the next generation of Tok'ra."
"Is that really necessary?" O'Neill asked. He realized how it sounded and raised a hand as Malek took a step backward, his expression shocked. "I know you and Selmak are the last, and I'm sorry about that, but really it'll be, what, ten years or more for any of her kids to grow up?"
Sam could foresee the meeting deteriorating as O'Neill's pragmatism ran head-long into the Tok'ra's need for hope, and leaned forward. "Sir, perhaps this could help with the problem of primm'ta for the rebel Jaffa. Perhaps those unwilling to take tretonin would be willing to help the young Tok'ra."
He wasn't buying it. "That seems like a lot of speculation, Carter. Who's to say that she can even be found in the first place, or even still exists?"
The Tok'ra switched back, Malek retreating. "I cannot promise to find her," Asheron declared. "But I can promise that I will search. Unless you refuse me permission to go through the Stargate." He leveled a very flat stare at O'Neill, who pushed back his chair several inches.
"No, of course not. You're not a prisoner here," O'Neill said hastily.
"And Daniel?" Asheron asked.
"I'd really like to go, Jack," Daniel put in. "This is a living culture descended from Babylon. Plus, we don't know much about Ishtar, even though she was a very powerful system lord of the first dynasty."
Jack frowned, and waved his finger as if trying to catch an elusive memory. "I seem to remember that she's dead, right?"
"Yes. She is dead," Asheron confirmed, in a tone that left no doubt at all. "Never to return."
Sam frowned, thinking back to the story that Bra'tac had told about Ishtar's death. How could he be that sure? It was just a story. Ishtar could be stuck in a sarcophagus or canopic jar, not dead.
"And the world's safe?" O'Neill continued. "No new Goa'uld moved in?"
"No new Goa'uld that I know of has gone to Inannar. But as to the world's safety, I cannot say. Ishtar attacked the planet twenty-five years ago, with both alkesh bombardment and Jaffa shock troops. Much of it was left in ruins, and its people either killed or fled." He hesitated and gave a little uncomfortable shrug. "You heard Bra'tac's story at the Alpha Site, too. I know nothing about the planet's current state."
"Well, we're gonna need help," Daniel stated, as if it was a done thing that he was going. "I know it's been a long time, but do you think anyone might remember you?"
Asheron froze. It was not an obvious change of pose. Sam wasn't sure that anyone else noticed, but she was sitting across from him and she saw his face. Daniel's logical question had very clearly thrown him for a loop.
"Perhaps," Asheron answered, selecting his words with care. "The priests will probably remember me, though I don't know how helpful they will be, nor if any still remain alive. We may have to search the temple archives ourselves."
Sam wondered why Asheron thought that the priests, as a group, rather than one or two would remember him. Then she wondered what he was taking such pains to hide. There was something he was very carefully not saying, some secret he was avoiding. And she suddenly had a flash of a memory of Malek sitting by the fire, as still as a statue and staring into the flames, while Bra'tac told the story of a king who overthrew a System Lord and then disappeared into legend.
"It's you, isn't it?" she blurted. "The king from the story. You killed Ishtar yourself, didn't you?"
Asheron flinched and clearly wished she hadn't put the pieces together. But he answered with a steady voice, "Yes. I killed her and sabotaged her sarcophagus so she could never rise again. And then I forced her ha'tak to crash into the surface."
They were all staring at him now: Jack and Daniel with the same wide-open shock she must have on her own face, and Teal'c, when she looked, wore the expression of respect he bestowed on the very few who won his complete approval.
Asheron walked away, toward the window to look at the Stargate. "I bonded with Malek in the debris. When we went through the Stargate, I left behind all that I had been. I never told my name, even to other Tok'ra, for fear that they would connect me to the story."
"Why the hell not?" O'Neill asked in bewilderment. "You killed a system lord --"
Asheron whirled back around, his face openly anguished. "She massacred my people because of me! Thousands of people -- my people that I had sworn to protect -- died, because I plotted against her. Can you imagine that I wanted to talk about it again? The only reason I am speaking of it now is for Malek and the future of the Tok'ra." He inhaled a deep breath and calmed himself. "I don't want to go back. I don't want to find out that my name has become a curse. But ..." his anger drained from him and his shoulders slumped. "I have to go home."
For a moment, there was silence. O'Neill broke it, clearing his throat. He didn't seem to know what to think of what Asheron had said. "All right, you have a go. Carter, Teal'c, you're backup. I assume your dad will want to go too, Carter."
She nodded. "I'm sure he will, as soon as he gets back."
Asheron turned around. "I would rather not wait. It will take some time to make sure the planet is safe, and if it is, to find what we need to start. Jacob and Selmak can join us when they return."
"All right." O'Neill turned to Sam. "Send a MALP first for recon."
"Yes, sir," she answered promptly, glad she wouldn't have to persuade him to let her go with. She could barely take her eyes off Asheron, impressed by what he had revealed. He had killed a system lord. He had been a king. But even more than that, he had revealed a previously hidden passion, deep and strong as any she had ever known.
Asheron pulled himself together and inclined his head to O'Neill, in a motion that Sam now thought he had probably been trained in from the cradle. "Thank you."
"You're welcome," the general responded with equal courtesy. "Dismissed."
The MALP went through to the coordinates Asheron provided.
Sam was back in her usual chair at the control room console to wait for the telemetry to come in. She was very aware of Asheron standing behind her.
"We're receiving," she announced as the screen flickered.
The interior of a large temple soon came into view, despite uneven lighting. It was a grand, empty space, mostly stone with immense female statues lining the aisles. Elaborate gold torch brackets hung like spiders on the columns, and through a dust-filled shaft of light she glimpsed a red-crystal chandelier hanging high above the floor.
"The temple of Ishtar's radiance," Asheron murmured at her ear, and she shivered. "The little queen may be there somewhere. It is the largest and oldest of her temples, and has always housed the Stargate."
She cleared her throat in order to find her voice. "It looks intact."
"She avoided destroying her great temples. I see no sign that any other Goa'uld has attempted to change the statuary or writings. Which confirms that none have taken over again. But I see no priests."
"Priests? In spite of what she did?" Sam asked in disbelief.
"Perhaps not," he murmured. "But some of them relished the power that her return gave them, and they would not have given it up willingly." He shook his head once. "No, this bothers me, Sam. If there are no priests because her religion failed, then why is it not looted? It looks the same as when I left."
She checked the readouts from the MALP, scanning the reports in case something catastrophic had happened to the world that wasn't visible in the temple interior. To her relief, she saw nothing. "The atmosphere and temperature are within the normal range. I see no indication of obvious toxins or radioactivity."
Glancing at her sharply, he let out a breath. "That had not occurred to me. I am glad it is not true."
"Me, too. Do you know, is it likely to be either very cold or very hot outside?"
"The passing of the seasons is not easy to recall. I have been away from Naritania longer than I lived there, Sam."
To chase away the shadows gathering in his face, she said brightly, "I'll recommend standard gear then and we should be ready."
He rubbed a hand over his face and straightened, more businesslike, "Tomorrow morning."
"Yes." She stood and followed him to the door. Then, before she lost her nerve, she lowered her voice so the techs couldn't hear. "I was wondering if you'd like to come to my house for dinner. Um, it might be nice for you to see something of Earth, since you've been stuck inside all this time, plus if you're leaving tomorrow --"
"Sam," his quiet voice halted her babble. "I would like to accept. But I do not believe I am permitted to leave the base."
"My dad can."
"I am not Jacob."
Their eyes met and the warmth she saw in those dark eyes made her breath catch. "Yeah, I know," she whispered. "I'll clear it with General O'Neill and come get you."
"If not, I still appreciate the invitation, Sam." He brushed the back of her hand lightly with his own and her heart rate jumped. She couldn't help watching him leave.
Later, she realized that he had been much wiser than she, when O'Neill stared at her for a heartbeat and demanded incredulously, "Carter, you're kidding me, right?"
She resisted the urge to snap at him and answered with forced calm, "No, sir. But he's been stuck in here for two weeks. All I want is to take him to my house and feed him some food that he can't get in the commissary. Is that so terrible?"
"Carter --"
"He saved my dad's life," she reminded him, trying to make him see how important this was to her.
"Carter, I know that. But he's a Tok'ra."
"So's dad, and he can leave the base whenever he wants."
He let out a frustrated groan. "Your dad is also a major general in the Air Force. You know Malek -- Asheron, whatever -- isn't the same deal. And you know the SGC is under a lot more scrutiny these days. I have to get presidential authority for any aliens to leave the base. And I'm not picking up the red phone so you can take him to dinner."
She clenched her jaw to keep back the angry words. She wanted to ask if he'd pick up the phone if Asheron was a Tollan, or an Asgard, or anything other than a Tok'ra. Instead, she asked tightly, "Then is it all right if I bring in outside food?"
He opened his mouth, smartly reconsidered what he was about to say, and nodded. "Sure. Knock yourself out. Just make sure the SF's don't get a chance to take any."
He was joking and she smiled perfunctorily, rising to her feet. "Thank you, sir. If that's all?"
After alpha shift went off duty, Sam returned to the base, plastic bag of take-out in hand and knocked on the door of Asheron's quarters. She was thankful that O'Neill had at least decided that the Tok'ra no longer required a constant guard, even though she was aware that the hall security camera had a good view. She had to remind herself that she was just bringing him dinner, and her CO had approved. Still, she felt a little anxious.
Asheron smiled to see her and opened the door wide to let her in. "Sam, welcome."
His quarters were beginning to look occupied, she noticed, with a book on the bedstand, a computer and a stack of folders on the desk, and a small pot of African violets in the middle of the round table. She wondered who had given him the flowers, hoping it was just the commissary staff or Lee's group in thanks for his help. The tea set she had given him was turned upside down on a towel atop the credenza.
"Here, I brought Chinese." She set the bag on the table and busied herself with taking out the cartons. "They're an ethnic --" she began and then caught herself from more nervous babble, explaining more simply, "Lord Yu's people. I brought rice, spicy chicken, shrimp with snow peas, and tofu with vegetables."
"Sam, this is wonderful. Tok'ra cuisine ... well, it leaves much to be desired," she turned at the amusement in his voice.
"And the commissary isn't that much better," she laughed, and with that, her nervousness vanished.
They ate until stuffed, talking about Earth mostly, but then Sam decided to turn the discussion to something she had wanted to know since he'd talked about the mission.
"I was wondering... what will happen if we find the queen? I mean, if everything turns out for the absolute best and she can breed a bunch of little Tok'ra-lings, what will you do?" She tried to ask the question as casually as possible, not wanting to reveal how much the answer meant to her.
Asheron didn't answer quickly. He chased a pea across his plate with his chopsticks and by the time he captured it, his words were thought out with care. "I suppose that depends on your leaders. Unless, as you suggested, an arrangement can be made with the rebel Jaffa, the larva would need a tank in which to mature. We would have to be certain of its safety here on Earth or elsewhere."
She bit her lip. "That's not what I meant. The larva are going to take years to mature. What would you like to be doing in the meantime, if you could do anything you wanted?"
"Work toward the destruction of the Goa'uld," he answered promptly. "Whether in cooperation with the SGC or not, their defeat remains our goal."
"You'd go out on your own?" Sam asked.
"If I had no other alternative. But I'm sure I could find others." He shrugged a little, and set his chopsticks down precisely parallel across the diameter of the plate. "The Tau'ri are not the only people hostile to the Goa'uld. In some ways you are the most effective, but that also means that our knowledge is not as valued here as it would be somewhere else."
She nodded, understanding what he was really saying, in that polite way of his. He realized that the SGC might not let him participate in their operations, and he was too much of a leader and fighter to sit on the sidelines.
But she couldn't promise that either O'Neill or the chain of command above him would be willing to integrate Asheron and Malek. So far, their reluctance to even give Malek a lab to help with the Jaffa tretonin was not a good sign.
"Well, I can't be the only one who learned in the Academy that it's bad strategy to throw away experience," she said finally. "I'm sure they'll come around." Actually, if she had any influence at all, they would come around, because the alternative was unacceptable.
"I hope so," he murmured very softly, and she wasn't sure she was supposed to hear. Nor was she sure what he meant, and she wasn't quite bold enough to ask.
So she decided to change the subject, by handing him a fortune cookie. "Here, try one."
"Sam, I cannot possibly eat anything else," he objected. "Malek is already complaining about our blood sugar."
"It's not for eating. It's a fortune cookie. There's a piece of paper inside. We like to say it's where the Ascended Ancients get all their pretentious talk," she cracked it open to show him how. "Here's mine: 'You may receive an unexpected gift'." She rolled her eyes. "See what I mean? I may or I may not, these things don't commit to anything. Go ahead."
He glanced at the slip of paper inside his own and then his gaze met hers. "A beautiful woman demonstrates her friendship with food, and you wish there was someway to repay her, besides bringing her to a distant world of possible danger."
"It does not say that," her voice refused to rise above a whisper, trapped in the depth of his gaze. Deep within, she seemed to come alive with the buzz of anticipation and excitement.
"No," he admitted, "but it's more true. You have been very kind to me."
"I felt I knew you the first time we met," she confessed. "I don't know if it's some subconscious memory from Jolinar or what, but I don't care. I just -- I just want to spend time with you."
"I, ah," for the first time, she saw him without easy, gracious words. He looked earnest and met her eyes boldly, but the words came with difficulty. "It has been a long time -- well, you heard the story so you know what happened. So, forgive my lack of practice -- are you -- will you --"
She leaned across the table and kissed him.
Her position was awkward, so it didn't last long, but it felt right. And, out of practice or not, he was a good kisser, making her want more when they parted. She shoved back her chair and stood, as did he, and only two steps brought them close.
"I should warn you," she murmured, "There's a curse. Men who get involved with me, tend to die."
He took her hand, and slid his other hand around her waist to draw her nearer. "Entire peoples die around me, Sam. I think the two cancel out."
His breath was warm on her neck, where he hovered just over her skin. She asked, "And what does Malek think?"
She could hear the smile in his voice. "He says that we talk too much."
"So, let's stop talking," she suggested, just a little huskily, and joined her mouth to his, surrendering to the desires that had been burning inside her for days.
She discovered there was definitely something to be said for sharing a body with a two thousand year old symbiote with a lot of practice.
It was late when she fell asleep against him, exhausted but content.
Sam awoke, aware that something wasn't quite right. She knew where she was and who ought to be with her, only the bed was empty.
She leaned up on one elbow to look around. By the dim glow of the emergency exit light she saw him at the table, finishing off the Chinese food from one of the cartons. "Asheron."
"He is sleeping," the vibrations of Malek's voice filled the room. He faced her, chopsticks in hand. "I thank you, Samantha. I worried that he would not sleep this night before returning to Naritania."
"Naritania?" she repeated curiously. She remembered Asheron had used that name, but she wasn't sure what it was.
"His former land. It had the Stargate and the grand temple on Inannar," Malek explained. "Ishtar attacked there first when she returned, in order to take possession of the Stargate."
Sam remembered the story. "She hit the palace, right? And that's when Asheron's little girl died."
"Her name was Jisa," Malek said softly. "She was four years old. Asheron found her body, and then Ishtar's Jaffa found him."
She sat up, pulling the sheet with her, though it was a little late for modesty. "That's bad enough, I know, but it seems more than that. Going back -- it really troubles him, doesn't it?
Malek nodded once in agreement. "He will admit to feeling that he failed his people. He also knows that by killing Ishtar, he saved those who remain, but the dead still haunt him. Yet that is not what he fears most." He hesitated, ate a shrimp, and put the carton aside. Sam waited, noting absently how she could tell that a different mind was in control. Malek moved the body differently, similarly but not quite the same.
"As you might guess, Ishtar tortured him," Malek explained simply. "For more than two years, she invented new cruelties to break him to her will. I have done what I can, but there are memories that he holds so deeply that I cannot touch them. Now because he must go back, they are surfacing again. There are images in his mind that I have not seen since we blended. But tonight, at least, no nightmares break his sleep." He bowed his head in gratitude toward her.
Sam swallowed hard, looking at the calm face across from her but imagining him as a Goa'uld prisoner. She and her teammates had endured a lot at the hands of the Goa'uld, but none of them had been captive for two years. "How did he survive?" she asked, in a whisper. "How? How did he stay sane?"
"He would tell you he did not, and there is some truth to that," Malek admitted. "The madness of grief and hate helped to shield his spirit from her evil. Yet it was not only that, but his strength of will and mind that refused to surrender. I have never seen a human fight a Goa'uld with such bitter determination."
After a moment, he added reflectively, "In the past, a Tok'ra rarely could find a host with spirit enough to become a true partner. Some of my people did not even seek out strong hosts, preferring their own counsel. But when Asheron and I blended, I discovered Egeria was right: a sharing of two equals is stronger and wiser than either alone. It is a great sadness to me that so few of my kindred ever knew that, and now never will."
"I'm sorry, Malek. For whatever part the Tau'ri played in it, I am really sorry. I wish things hadn't happened this way." She found a small smile to try to lighten things up, and patted the empty space next to her. "Come on. You need to rest too."
"You do not mind?" he asked hesitantly, fearing her revulsion or rejection.
"You and Asheron are a package deal. I learned that with Martouf and Lantash..." A yawn caught her and she fell back to the pillow. "Come here where it's warm."
In the morning, they had breakfast together in the commissary, as had become their habit. She had to continually remind herself that unless they gave it away, no one would know what had happened the night before.
Still, she blushed when his hand touched hers as he handed her a cup of tea. He smiled at her, with a secret glint in his eyes as he too remembered.
But the moment was broken when Daniel bustled up to their table. "Good morning. I had a couple of questions for Asheron before we leave."
"Of course, Daniel," Asheron gestured him to take the other chair. "Tea?"
"No, thanks," Daniel held up the paper cup in his hand. "I'm more of a coffee guy. I was wondering about the temple." He spread out the MALP photos. "It looks to be quite large."
"It is. There are ten levels. The great hall with the chappa'ai is roughly in the center."
Sam frowned. "So it's more like a cathedral than a pyramid, since it has this huge central chamber."
"It should be a ziggurat," Daniel corrected. "Since we're dealing with a culture descended from the Sumero-Babylonians."
"I don't know what exactly you might call it. We always simply called it the temple," Asheron said with a shrug. "There is a formal staircase from the ground up to the main doors of the great hall on the outside. But there are also doors at ground level into the lower chambers."
"What's on top?" Daniel asked.
"An observation platform and a small shrine. The temple sits within a complex of lesser temples and the priest quarters. However, Malek and I believe that Egeria was not likely to pass beyond the central temple to hide the stasis jar elsewhere. She would not want to put the jar in a place too difficult to later retrieve."
Daniel frowned. "Would she have had time to do something elaborate, like create a hidden chamber?"
"I don't know. Possibly. Ishtar was not very ... attentive," his fingers tightened on the edge of the table, and Sam wished she could touch him, recalling what Malek had said about what he had endured at the Goa'uld's hands.
But his voice was calm and controlled as he continued, "She let a hundred years and sometimes more to pass between visits. Inannar was one of her core worlds, but she never seemed to like staying there."
"Why?" Sam asked. That seemed very odd for a Goa'uld to express such an attitude about her devoted slaves.
"The naquadah mine played out fifteen centuries ago. The climate also shifted, grew colder and wetter, at least in my --" his voice failed and he sipped his tea to cover the lapse. "In Naritania. Perhaps that was part of the reason. She never told me why. Even in her presence, as long as the people genuflected and sent her slaves, she wasn't very observant. Her priests lost power to the secular rulers, so we were able to develop in her absence. But not enough." His gaze was distant. "I had twelve airplanes in military service when she returned. They were no match for the Death Gliders."
Sam was impressed. "You'd achieved flight? That's amazing for a Goa'uld-occupied world."
"This is beside the point," Asheron declared, not acknowledging her statement. "We are going to Inannar to find Egeria's daughter, not relive the past." He drained his cup and stood. "I forgot to tell Teal'c that it would not be wise for him to openly display himself as Jaffa. I will see you both in the embarkation room."
He left the commissary, Sam watching after him, worried. Any relaxation he had found last night was gone, and now the past was weighing heavily on him.
"He's not very Tok'ra like, is he?" Daniel observed, recalling her attention.
"Malek isn't talking right now. Though from what Pierce said when they were all on Raisa, Malek doesn't talk much anyway. Only when Asheron's upset."
"Yeah, seeing what they did would be tough," Daniel said. "I knew things were bad after Revanna, but I never thought that the Tok'ra would basically go extinct. Hopefully we can find this other queen."
"Yeah. It'd be awful if Asheron had to go back for nothing. He really is only going back for Malek. Which is sort of ... sweet, don't you think?"
"You two seem pretty friendly."
And even though she knew that Daniel didn't mean anything by it, she blushed and stammered, "Oh, not friendly. Just, y'know, friend friendly."
He wasn't fooled and a grin blossomed. "Sam? Is there something you'd like to tell me?"
She lifted her chin. "No, Daniel. There's not. I'll see you in the gateroom in an hour." She beat a hasty retreat, mentally kicking herself for the slip.
But on the plus side, at least it was Daniel. O'Neill would never let good taste or politeness get in the way of teasing a teammate.
In the gateroom O'Neill was waiting to see them off, as the gate turned and the chevrons locked. The wormhole opened and the event horizon stabilized.
O'Neill pulled Sam aside, as she entered. In a low voice -- which she could have told him that Asheron could still hear, if he'd asked -- he told her, "I'm sure his highness over there is going to take charge, Carter. It's his mission and his people, so he's got that right. But if something goes wrong, if there's trouble, Daniel and Teal'c will back you. So don't worry about telling him no."
She hid a smile and bit her tongue from answering that she'd already said yes to Asheron, and just nodded. "Yes, sir."
He escorted her to where the others were waiting. Sam could see the desire to accompany them on his face, before he pushed it aside. "All right, you have a go. I expect a report in twenty-four hours."
"Understood." She nodded and glanced at Asheron. He was kitted out like the rest of them, and had added a baseball cap and wrap-around sunglasses. In an odd way, it was almost as if O'Neill was coming with them, since the two were the same height and dressed the same, except that Asheron's only weapon was a zat. He had also borrowed the healing and ribbon devices from the armory and carried them in his vest. "Are you ready?" she asked him.
"Yes. Let's go." He started up the ramp, and everyone else followed. The four passed into the wormhole.
She stepped out and her mouth dropped in awe. The MALP was terrible about showing perspective, and subconsciously she must have expected a temple interior comparable in size to the hall on Abydos. But this one was much, much larger, with the gate atop a dais and still dwarfed by the height of the hall. Asheron had not been clear that the entire top half of the structure was hollow.
It was dim inside, with the only light coming through high window slits, focused on the dais' summit.
The floor was red and white marble, inlaid with gold. Columns radiated off into the darkness. A massive painted stone statue of a gowned woman eight or nine feet tall fronted each column, with writing on each statue's base.
The place was deserted. A thin layer of dust lay on the floor, untouched by feet in many years.
Daniel was first to the floor to look at the writings on the base of the nearest statue. Teal'c followed, odd-looking without his staff and with a cap on his head to cover his mark of Apophis.
Asheron remained at the top.
"You okay?" Sam asked quietly, discreetly touching his hand.
"Just memories," he answered. He sighed and gave her hand a squeeze before letting it go. Walking down the steps, he raised his voice so Daniel and Teal'c could hear. "There are six aisles, forming a hexagonal space. There are numerous alcoves and tunnels in the walls. What we are looking for is a stasis box -- they are commonly found in the form of a canopic jar, but I have also seen them as decorative boxes and statuettes. This area was frequented by priests, Jaffa, minor Goa'uld servants, and Ishtar herself, so I doubt Egeria would have hidden it here. If she did, it will be either well hidden or well disguised. But I believe she must have left further clues in the archives, so I think we will be best-served by getting access to the archive vault."
He started down the aisle at a brisk, determined pace, and Sam hurried after him, waving the other two to stay back.
They reached the great doors, ten feet high but narrow. Asheron put a hand to one half and pushed. It didn't budge. He frowned. "Curious. They were easy to open before."
He put both hands on them and with the great strength available to him as a host, shoved. The doors didn't move.
He stepped back to regard the doors with his arms crossed. "They have been sealed."
"From the outside," she agreed. "That explains why it's deserted. The question is -- is it to keep local people out or gate travelers in?"
"Both, I suspect." By the look on his face he was not about to be thwarted by a pair of doors minutes after arrival. He withdrew the ribbon device and fit it over his hand with a grimace of distaste. "Stand back." She was already moving, taking cover behind the nearest statue.
The jewel glowed and a wave of force exploded out, slamming into the doors. Stone splintered like glass.
Sam ducked behind the base to protect her face from flying shards. When everything settled, she peeked again and saw that Asheron was already halfway out the hole he'd created, bright sunlight streaming around him.
She followed, ducking past broken edges of stone and picking her way through the rubble. Then she stopped, caught by the view.
They stood high enough that an amazing vista spread out before them. A city of broad avenues, trees, and low buildings stretched to the horizon. She heard a low drone and glanced up to see a small prop-engine airplane.
"It's rebuilt," Asheron murmured in wonder, just loud enough for her to hear. "It's ... beautiful."
He realized she was there and explained, "The last time I stood here, the city was in ruins."
Sam nodded, realizing that of course Asheron and Malek had left via the Stargate. No wonder he had been hit with memories on the gate platform.
"The temple grounds are also deserted," he observed, peering down the vast number of steps to the ground, at the lower buildings and the gardens within the high walls. "The gates must be closed. It seems that Ishtar's death also killed her worship, after all." He smiled, very satisfied, but the smile quickly vanished. "This may make it more difficult to find one of the priests."
"Especially without revealing your identity." She shook her head at his quick glance of surprise. "Sunglasses and a cap? It's an old ploy, at least on Earth."
He looked a little chagrined to have been figured out. "I would prefer not to be recognized. I will not stay, whether we find what we seek or not."
"You won't?" She felt a little silly by how pleased she was by that, and how much she wanted to be sure he meant it. "Even if they ask? If we're not successful, at least then you'd be home again."
"No, Sam. Naritania is not my home. I am Tok'ra now. Asheron may still live, but the king died long ago."
Watching him, tall and proud against the afternoon sunlight and looking at the kingdom he had once ruled, Sam wasn't so sure.
Go on to Chapter Three
-- and to AA, thanks. I'm glad you liked the first person of the prologue and the previous story. But this story is Asheron and Sam's story, so I wantedboth perspectives. Hopefully when it's done you'll think so too! :)