After my laptop went kerplooey, I'm up and running again. Sorta. Just a friendly reminder, folks -- go make a back up of your important stuff. Trust me, it'll save you some panic

On with the show!

GOING HOME

Chapter 5 -- The Search Begins

In the morning, after Sam had showered and dressed, she went out into the main room to find the men. The three were sitting at the dining table, which had been set for breakfast. Asheron was reading a newspaper to Daniel, showing him how to read the words. If the three of them had any conversation about her -- the brotherly warnings she half-expected Teal'c and Daniel to deliver on her behalf -- it had already passed.

Nor did Teal'c or Daniel react oddly to seeing her emerge from the same room that Asheron had. They just treated her exactly as if she'd come out of her tent on a mission.

"Morning, Sam, we saved you breakfast," Daniel waved her to the chair on Asheron's other side, laid with a place setting and in front of several covered dishes, a bowl of various fruits, and a plate of rolls.

"Elnor sent a message," Asheron told her, nodding toward a folded piece of paper by his tea cup. "In another hour, his driver will take us all to the temple where the former archivist will be waiting."

She raised her brows, impressed. "He's certainly efficient."

"I am sure he would prefer me gone," Asheron suggested dryly, "though one would never know it from the very florid language of his message."

"Afraid you're going to stick around and reveal his dirty little secret?" Daniel pulled the newspaper over to have it wholly to himself and mouth the words of a translation.

"Afraid I intend to reclaim my position and order his execution, more probably," Asheron shook his head in rueful amusement and poured tea for Sam.

She put a honey roll and several pieces of fruit on her plate. "That's a lot of temple to look in. I hope the archivist can help us find some clue."

"Well, at least I think I can help now," Daniel commented, not looking up from the newspaper. "Asheron gave me a lesson on the writing system, and it isn't as odd as I thought."

"All right. So then you two will work the archive," Sam said. "Teal'c and I will use the sensors I brought to look for power sources, although, God knows, I'll have to be on top of it with all that stone around."

Teal'c said, "I noticed there were transport rings behind the Stargate platform. Are there other sets within the temple?"

Asheron frowned. "We did not see any others except those on her ha'tak. However, a temple that size likely would contain others. Egeria could have used them to access wherever she wished. There are interior stairs as well, and many chambers. This will not be easy."

"Well, we've got at least until Dad gets here, plus some more after that." Sam took two more of the little yellow fruits that tasted like guava. "I've got to report in at noon."

Teal'c had picked up a portion of the newspaper and his attention was captured by a large photo of a man holding two sticks. "What is this?"

The question launched Asheron into an enthusiastic description of a ball game that sounded like a fast version of croquet or a variation of lacrosse.

Sam tuned it out to watch him, smiling to herself as he stood and demonstrated some of the moves to Teal'c. He was a handsome man, especially when he brightened with some passion.

"Sam?"

"Hm?" she roused out of her reverie to find Daniel looking at her, across Asheron's now empty chair, with an amused, tolerant expression.

"You've got it bad," he murmured. She stuck out her tongue at him and then tried to look somewhere else.

But she knew he was right. Asheron was taking up her thoughts and feelings, so that she felt almost giddy around him, as she hadn't felt in a long time. Her fingers itched with the urge to touch him, run her fingers through his hair and smooth away his worry.

She contented herself with reaching for the teapot, sure that he would also reach for it to pour for her. And he did, fingers closing over her own. Their gazes caught and held.

Daniel commented to Teal'c. "They're like teenagers, aren't they?"

"Indeed. It is most refreshing to watch."

Sam just had to laugh. "Okay, okay. Mind on the mission."

Asheron smiled at her, and didn't let go of her hand. "I rather like your mind where it is." He lifted her fingers to his lips, but then reluctantly, relinquished her hand. "We should get ready. Today is going to be a busy day."

The massive ziggurat loomed over the western side of the city, growing larger as their hired car approached. The sunlight's rays caught the flat top of the structure and reflected too brightly to be ordinary stone, probably glass or metal, and then the light seemed to pour down the ceremonial steps like a river of molten gold.

Not for the first time, Sam thought what a waste it was that the Goa'uld could turn such beauty to evil ends.

The motorcar stopped outside the northern gate and the four got out.

An old man, wiry and bald, wearing simple gray trousers and matching short-sleeved tunic, was waiting for them.

He was the first person whose eyes went straight to Asheron and, despite the hat and glasses, recognized him. He ignored everyone else to bow deeply. "My lord, you have returned as the goddess promised. Do you bring a message from her?" His eagerness was sparkling, and just a little mad. "Is she returning soon?"

Asheron stared at the priest unblinking for several seconds. When he spoke, he ignored the priest's question. "I remember you. Jabaroth is your name, is it not?"

The priest bobbed his head. "Yes, my lord. But please, you do bring word of her return, yes? The Radiant One is coming soon?"

"No," Asheron answered flatly. "Not soon."

Sam, worried that he was going to tell the priest that Ishtar was dead, grabbed his arm in warning. It never turned out well when SG-1 tried to tell devout believers that their gods were dead or false. This priest was here to help them, and they couldn't afford to offend him.

Jabaroth's head and shoulders sank in disappointment, but his gaze alertly settled on her hand on Asheron's arm. "She will not be pleased if you have a different consort, my lord."

The muscles of his arm turned taut under her fingers. In a chilly voice, he said, "I consort with whomever I wish, Jabaroth. You were brought here to help us search the archive. That is all. Lead the way."

"It has been many years," Jabaroth said, with a sly glance as if searching for incentive.

"Teal'c, please refresh his memory," Asheron stepped aside for Teal'c, who did his usual I'm-a-big-scary-Jaffa thing, looming over the smaller priest. To no one's surprise, the priest gave in.

"Oh yes, I remember. This way. The old archive is deep within the temple." The old man was amazingly spry as he picked his way across the uneven paving stones leading to the side of the giant ziggurat.

Daniel and Teal'c followed afterward, but Asheron and Sam lingered back to let Jabaroth get ahead.

"Can I kill him?" he asked, only half-joking.

"No," she answered firmly, squeezing his hand once. "And Malek won't let you anyway."

"I didn't like him thirty years ago," Asheron muttered, glaring at the priest's back.

She couldn't help laughing. He turned to look at her in surprise, a little hurt in his face. She kept his hand for reassurance, but meant her words. "Asheron, weren't you the one who said we were here for a mission, not to relive the past? I know it's hard for you, with bad memories staring you in the face everywhere we go, but try to focus on the mission. We're here to find Egeria's daughter to renew the Tok'ra. Then we'll leave and never come back."

"Is that a promise?" he asked, and there seemed to be a promise of his own in his gaze.

"It is," she confirmed, meaning more too.

She had learned there was no such thing as forever, but there was today, and today was a good promise to make. Today she had no intention of letting him go.

The archives were a series of vaulted chambers in the base of the ziggurat, lit by a string of electric lights and lanterns brought in from the outer room.

Sam sneezed, taking it all in. There were only a few sparse cobwebs, and surprisingly she saw little sign of vermin, despite the temple's abandonment. But it was going to take more than a few days to go through the records, even with help.

Bound books and rolled scrolls in boxes were shelved everywhere. There were even stone tablets stacked in the corners. She hoped the organization was less haphazard than it looked or the task might just be impossible.

Jabaroth faced Asheron. "What is it you search for, my lord?"

He picked his words with care, never completely lying but certainly shading the truth to fit in with Jabaroth's faith in his goddess.

"We believe that a long time ago, around two thousand years past, another goddess came to Inannar, through the gate to heaven."

"There are no goddesses but Ishtar," Jabaroth stated flatly. "What you seek does not exist."

Noting Asheron's clenched jaw, Sam nudged Daniel, who spoke up. "There are many lesser gods in Ishtar's service. I'm sure you must have seen at least one of them when she was here last."

"Yes," Asheron put in. "You must remember Gildaruk, with the black hair and eyes?"

Sam suspected that it was the identity taken by Malek and his previous host, since the name had come so quickly to him.

At the priest's nod, Daniel continued. "Well, this goddess was one of those. She was called Egeria. She might also be called the lady of the flowing spring, or goddess of the fountains, or something similar. She brought her daughter here to shelter under Ishtar's protection from a very powerful enemy, named Ra. We're trying to find out what happened to them."

Jabaroth frowned. "I can think of no such reference. But I am not a scholar of the texts from twenty centuries ago. Perhaps I should look in Markishan's index --" he bustled away, the archivist in him caught by the puzzle.

Sam rolled her eyes, reminded of Daniel. "Well, we knew it wasn't going to be easy. Teal'c and I are going upstairs. Have fun."

Then, because she could and because she wanted to, she pulled Asheron to her and kissed him. "I'll see you later," she murmured. "Don't kill him."

Asheron said nothing, just looked suitably bemused.

Seated at a table piled with crumbling scrolls, Daniel carefully unrolled another one. The archaeologist in him hated opening all of these ancient treasures without the proper care, but he knew it had to be done. He tried to console himself with the thought that most of this were paeans to a false goddess, of little intrinsic historical value, but it didn't really help when parts of a scroll fell off in his hand.

Jabaroth found them possible sources, Asheron carried them to the table and then he and Daniel went through them.

The Tok'ra and former king stood before a stack of thin, inscribed stone tablets and was going through them as negligently as dealing cards. None of the tablets were breaking, but Daniel winced every time one crashed down.

To distract himself from the imminent destruction, he asked, "What are those?"

"Records of offerings to the temple. Not old enough," Asheron answered, glancing at another tablet, and then tossing it aside. Still, he continued through the entire stack and when he was finished, used his symbiote-enhanced strength to carry and pile them against the wall.

Daniel was somewhat envious of his ability to so quickly glance at the contents, when he had to unroll each scroll to look at it. "It may take some time," he cautioned. "Sam and Teal'c may get lucky long before we're halfway through our possible sources."

"If O'Neill recalls you, I will remain and continue searching. As long as it takes."

Reluctantly, Daniel pointed out, "It occurred to me that Ishtar could have found the box a thousand years ago. Even if we find a clue to its hiding place, there may be nothing there anymore."

"I know," Asheron pulled a wooden box over and began stacking the scrolls within on his end of the table. "But I must hold onto the belief that she can be found. She is the only hope of continuing the Tok'ra race. I believe we are a people worth saving, even if O'Neill does not."

"That's not --" Daniel started in defense of his friend, but Asheron interrupted.

"No, I am sorry, Daniel. You are his friend, and I shouldn't put you in the position of defending his actions to me. I am grateful that you're here."

Daniel smiled a little, deciding that Asheron deserved some teasing. "But you're most glad that Sam's here, aren't you?"

Asheron's gaze was unperturbed, as he unrolled another scroll. "Well... yes, of course. I am very fortunate that she seems to return my feelings."

"I've never seen Sam like this before," Daniel said, putting down his own scroll. "We used to have to tease her to get her out of the lab, she was so focused on work. But now, it's like now she's made a decision to live her life, and she's going for it just as intently."

Asheron nodded. "That is true for me as well. Life as a Tok'ra was fighting the Goa'uld, nothing else. But now that there are no Tok'ra, it is somewhat ... liberating, to realize that there is time to discover that my heart still exists, even though I thought it buried long ago. Arvalle -- my wife --" he explained, with a shadow of sorrow, "would never have wanted me to hide myself in her memory. I've always known that -- but making myself believe it was something else."

Daniel thought of Sha're and shared an understanding look. "The two years I spent with Sha're were the best of my life. I couldn't let her go when she was gone either."

Asheron glanced at the scroll he held open only a few inches at the top, read the heading, and let it roll back up, putting it on the stack of discards. "I don't know -- maybe that's what we're doing here, refusing to let go, even when it's over."

"It's not over yet," Daniel said, trying to inject as much enthusiasm into it as he could. "We've barely started looking. We've got a lot of hay to sort, but eventually if there's a needle in here, we'll find it."

At Asheron's perplexed frown, Daniel just chuckled and refused to answer the inevitable question, "Why would anyone search for a needle in a pile of hay?"

Sam gave her report, looking into the camera on the MALP, with Teal'c behind her. But even if O'Neill could see her, she could only hear him. At the end, he asked, "So what you're saying is you have no idea how long this is going to take?"

She shrugged a little. "Sir, we could find it after lunch or never. There's just no way to know, at least until Daniel and Asheron find another clue."

O'Neill heaved a sigh. "All right. Your dad should be back from DC in two more days, Carter. We'll see where we're at then."

"Understood."

"How's his highness handling being home?" he asked, surprising her with the genuine concern, even as he sarcastically said the title..

She hoped her face wasn't giving too much away. "Um, okay. Malek's not been talking much. Oh, I wanted to show you -- " She brightened and dug in her pocket to hold up her coin. "Look, they put him on the money, sir."

"Cool. Bring me one back. But we've got to go, unless there's anything else?" he asked.

She shook her head. "No, sir. We're fine."

"Okay, then. Forty-eight hours from now, we'll talk again. SGC out."

Switching off the radio, she watched the wormhole wink out without any signal left to keep it open.

Then she moved in front of the Stargate and turned around slowly to look through the vast empty spaces of the temple, musing aloud, "All right. I'm Egeria. It's two thousand years ago. Ishtar's not my friend, but she's also Ra's enemy, so I'm here to hide my daughter from him. I know Ishtar's not here, but she could come back at any moment. Her priests and Jaffa are here, and they see me arrive. So ... I pretend I'm one of her minor Goa'uld servants." She walked slowly down the steps, to meet Teal'c at the bottom. "And I'm carrying ... what? A present for Ishtar?" She thought aloud and then shook her head. "No, that can't be, because then Ishtar would be told about it and want to see it. But do I brazen it through, claim I'm under Ishtar's orders, or do I just bide my time until I can get away from the priests?"

"Egeria instructed her offspring to infiltrate the enemy in secret," Teal'c pointed out.

"All right," she nodded, going with it. "So I'm subtle. After I ditch my guards, where do I go? It would be foolish to hide my box too near the gate, too risky that someone would find it."

"Unless she had no other choice," Teal'c said. "We assume that Egeria came and left quietly, but that may not have been the case. All we know is that she came without any of the other Tok'ra."

She put her hands on her hips, and glared sourly down the dim aisle on the right side of the gate. "Okay, you're right. We just don't know enough about the situation to guess at her thinking. So let's see just what science has to say about it." She pulled out her energy scanner and turned it on. She had calibrated it to the field signature put out by the Goa'uld stasis jars back on Earth, but unfortunately she hadn't been kidding when she'd said it would have to be right on top of the box to find it. Maximum range was three meters, so searching the entire ziggurat with it would be roughly equivalent of cleaning the gateroom floor with a toothbrush: possible but extremely time consuming.

Luckily she had brought two toothbrushes. She handed the other scanner to Teal'c and demonstrated its use. Then, with slow methodical sweeps, they began to walk the aisles, paying close attention to the alcoves behind the massive statuary.

By lunchtime, they'd cleared about half of the main hall and Sam was ready for a break. Teal'c looked as indefatigable as ever, but he did not protest when she brought out the protein bars and tossed him one. She sat on the steps to the gate, ripped open her bar and munched thoughtfully.

"Y'know, I don't understand why Egeria would make this so hard. If she had time to go to some other planet and get them to write down the story, why didn't she tell her children that they had a sister?"

"Perhaps she did, but they did not survive," Teal'c suggested. "There were once many more Tok'ra. I would presume that many fell attempting to preserve her from Ra."

"Probably. I wish I knew. I wish --" she let her voice trail off, uncertain if she wanted to give voice to the thought.

"You wish?" Teal'c prodded delicately, with his polite manner of being willing to listen if she wanted him to.

"Sometimes I wish Jolinar hadn't died and had stayed with me," she said, half-defiantly, not willing to look at Teal'c and find that she had disgusted him. "There's things she knew that I want to know. Things that are just out of my reach, no matter how hard I try."

Teal'c cocked his head to one side to regard her. "I did not realize that Jolinar's loss still pained you. Or is it Malek's proximity that reminds you?"

"Both probably. I want him to tell me more about her. I knew they met, since I recognized him when we met at the Alpha Site." She flashed a grin, remembering. "By the way, I'm glad you didn't kill him."

Teal'c shook his head once. "I am not certain I could have." At her inquiring glance, he explained, "Have you seen the knife he carries in a wrist sheath? He was carrying it that day. Had he wished to, he could have killed me instead."

"Oh." Of course she had seen the knife, but she had thought it was just for this particular mission, not that he wore it all the time. "I didn't realize that. Well. I'm glad he didn't kill you either." She tucked the wrapper from lunch in her pack, took a drink of water from the canteen and stood. "Time to get back to it, I guess. I hope they're having better luck downstairs."

Lunchtime had come and gone, with neither Daniel nor Asheron noticing. Daniel continually tried to keep from getting absorbed in the history unfolding before him, while Asheron stayed preternaturally focused on searching through the volumes that Jabaroth found.

Mid-afternoon, Daniel was reading through a chronicle, and had to rub his eyes and go back to an entry as he realized what he was reading. "Here. This might be it." Asheron dropped the scroll he was perusing to listen. On the other side of the room, Jabaroth also turned to hear. Daniel quoted, "'On this day, we welcomed a visitor through the gate of the heavens. She carried a great gift for the goddess.'"

"What else?" Asheron asked eagerly.

Daniel flipped a few pages looking for further references, then turned back. "There's nothing more here."

"What year was it?" Asheron asked.

Daniel shook his head. "I don't know. Some priest kept a daily chronicle of events. It's mostly terribly dull stuff. I almost missed this. I'll need to date it by internal evidence." Which would be difficult, since Daniel had only the vaguest idea of Naritanian ancient history.

"No, let Jabaroth do that," Asheron suggested and waved the priest forward to take the bound pages of scraped hides. "We need to keep looking. We cannot even be sure that this visit was Egeria, and not Nurrti or Morrigan, seeking to curry favor with Ishtar."

Daniel knew perfectly well -- better than Asheron -- that what he had read might not be relevant. Yet it was still somewhat disheartening to have his discovery so coolly dismissed. He sighed. "Right."

Jabaroth bowed slightly as he came up to the Tok'ra's side. "Yes, my lord, it would be my honor to do the bidding of her Glory's servant."

Asheron opened his mouth, an irritated look on his face, but just shoved the book at him. "Yes, you do that."

He glared at Jabaroth's back, as the priest took the book to a small table piled with their reference works.

Softly, Daniel told him, "He's provoking you."

"It's working." His head dropped and when he looked up, his eyes flashed briefly to give Daniel warning that Malek was now in control, even though his voice didn't change. "I will continue with this pile of scrolls. Perhaps one of us will be fortunate again."

Several hours of fruitless searching passed, with only a few words spoken.

Jabaroth returned. "My lord, I am sorry. The chronicle contains a reference to the Battle of Azikhard."

Malek explained as an aside to Daniel, "The battle which separated Kantar province into a separate country. Five hundred years too late for our purposes."

For some reason, the news seemed to make Daniel suddenly realize his tiredness. He took off his glasses and rubbed at eyes strained by inadequate light. Still he pressed on, too interested in what he was doing to stop. But finally even Malek had had enough and stood up, stretching out his back with a groan. "Time to take a break, my friend. I am certain you need food."

"Water," Daniel corrected and coughed. "I have dust in my throat. Then coffee."

Malek wrinkled his nose in distaste. "I have no understanding what the Tau'ri see in such a drink."

"I've never seen much point in tea," Daniel retorted, slinging the strap of his bag over his head. "Come on, let's go see how Sam and Teal'c have been getting along."

Malek fixed Jabaroth with an unfriendly stare. "I was told that there would be food and bedding for you in the main gatehouse. You will meet us back here, tomorrow morning, one hour after sunrise."

Jabaroth gave him an odd look, then bowed. "As you wish."

On the stairs to the upper levels of the temple, and through narrow winding corridors -- a route Malek seemed to know without thinking about it -- Daniel asked, "So how are you coping?"

"Well enough. The shock has lifted. I grieve for my kindred, but we foresaw our end long ago. This moment does not come entirely by surprise. Yet the chance to try again with Egeria's daughter is one I will not relinquish."

"Try again?" Daniel repeated curiously.

"We failed in our mission," Malek responded. "The Tok'ra fell into complacent habits, seeking to preserve stability and ourselves, not the fall of the Goa'uld. For all our long lives we learned only fear and distrust." He paused and then added, with a flash of humor, "I must admit I was one of those. But Asheron was too strong a personality to deny. I would like to teach the queen what I have learned."

"Hopefully we'll find her."

They emerged through a doorway into one of the aisles of the great hall, and went to meet Sam and Teal'c, who had already set up a camp of sorts with a sterno stove heating a pan of water.

The four shared their combined lack of news and after eating a basic dinner, turned into their bed rolls.

Sam and Asheron did not share, but her awareness of his presence was so acute that she woke up, knowing when he left his blankets.

By the dim moonlight coming through the high slits she could see that he was standing beside the DHD. And she knew by his stance that Malek was the one standing there.

Tiptoeing across the stone in her bare feet, she slid her arm through his. "Don't you ever sleep?" she whispered.

"We need less than unblended beings," he murmured, with Tok'ra modulation but barely audible even to her. "Do you remember at the Alpha Site, when Selmak and I performed the funeral rite?"

"Of course. I thought it was lovely."

"Would you stand with me when I say the words?" he asked hesitantly. "There was no way to do it on the planet where they died, but I want -- I need to do something for them."

She leaned her head against his shoulder. "Sure."

From behind them, Teal'c's deep voice was not loud but carried in the silence, "If you desire to activate the Stargate, do not refrain on our account. DanielJackson and I will join you in mourning the loss of your comrades."

She turned to see Daniel and Teal'c awake and watching.

Malek bowed his head. "Thank you." He faced the empty Stargate and raised his voice. " A reikh tri'ac te khekh. Takhmal a reik ti'ac. " Then he pressed seven glyphs on the DHD and activated the gate. The address was unfamiliar to Sam, but she presumed that it was the address of the world where the Tok'ra had fallen.

The wormhole activated, washing the inside of the Temple with bright glittering light and then settling to an underwater-like glow, variable waves passing across their faces and shining briefly in their eyes.

Warm silence filled the temple for a few minutes, lingering even after the wormhole flickered and was gone.

Next chapter coming soon...