"This is very curious." Maram ran her hands along the treads of the MALP as she spoke. "It talks to you?"
"Not really," said Sam, a slight smile on her face. She pointed to a screen. "It puts the information here and then I can read it."
"What is it telling you?" Aeronn asked, peering fruitlessly at the charts and diagrams on the screen. "This doesn't make any sense at all."
"I don't understand most of it either," Daniel admitted, winking at Sam. "But Sam does, and she translates well."
"Right now the MALP is telling me about your sun." Sam answered, grinning fully now. "It's comparing it to our own sun, and telling me if there are any differences."
She continued to read the display, calling up other reports and setting the MALP to new tasks while continuing her simplified explanation to Aeronn and Maram. She paused suddenly in her dissertation, her attention grabbed by a certain graph. Daniel moved to look over her shoulder.
"What is it?" he asked.
"Some sort of solar radiation," Sam said, sounding puzzled. "It's in the Ultra Violet spectrum, but it's not UVA or UVB, that's for sure, and I'm not sure exactly what it means."
"Or what it might do to us?"
Sam opened her mouth to reply, but her answer was cut off by the sudden arrival of a young man Daniel remembered having seen at The Lighting the previous night. He burst out of the trees at top speed shouting for Aeronn and Maram. When he saw them, he leaned heavily against a tree, exhausted from his run.
"She's back," he gasped out, trying to get his breath back.
At his words, expressions of joy and utmost relief covered Aeronn and Maram's faces. They both immediately ran off in the direction of the town, leaving Sam and Daniel staring perplexedly after them and the young man leaning against the tree, his chest still heaving.
"What was that?" Daniel asked.
"Esser Aeronnsdaughter has returned to her family," the young man announced happily. "Come, there will be great rejoicing tonight."
Daniel followed willingly enough, but Sam cast one last look over her shoulder at the MALP. She was missing something, something she had a feeling was going to be very important, but she could not think what it was. Finally, she shrugged and shook her head slightly, as though to clear it. She lengthened her stride and had soon caught up with the others.
In the clearing, the sun bathed and 'Gate and the MALP in its alien light.
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They had not seen Aeronn, Maram or Esser in some hours. By the time Daniel and Sam had reached the town, Jack and Teal'c were waiting for them and the whole team spent the rest of the day with Zephrey. The man's attitude had lightened considerably, but there was still something sad lingering in his eyes.
"Why do you always send the children away for their coming of age?" Daniel asked, as the sun lowered in the sky. "I mean, they're gone for a week. How do they defend themselves?"
"It is too dangerous to the others if the transformation takes place in a populated place," Zephrey said. "We would have to kill them if they changed here. This way, they can go to the caves and seal themselves in. Only from the inside can the doors be opened. If they do not change, they wait for the daylight and then come home."
"Aren't there a lot of Sanoctem in those hills then?" Sam questioned. "Can't they take over your caves?"
"There is nothing for the Sanoctem to eat up there." Zephrey said, grimacing slightly. "Come, the sun is setting. We must go to the square."
The square was, if possible, even more crammed this night than it had been the one previous. This was largely because a mammoth bonfire, as yet unlit of course, and a dozen large tables had appeared. The monks again stood on the steps up to the cathedral, and this time the silence which fell over the assembled crowd was excitedly hushed.
Aeronn spoke again the hallowed words, and the light of the torches pin pointed across the stairs. Then Esser emerged from the cathedral. She was bare foot and her hair was unbound. In her hand, she held aloft an unlit torch. She stood before her father, and he said something quietly to her that Daniel was reasonably certain was not actually part of the ceremony. Then, he touched his torch to hers. With her flaming torch in hand, Esser descended to the bonfire, touching flame to each corner as she trod around it. Finally, she faced the crowd again and threw her torch to the top of the pile, which ignited immediately.
A roar of joy arose from those assembled, and the monks threw back to their hoods to reveal smiling faces. Though Teal'c could have sworn he had not observed anyone carrying musical instruments, the square was suddenly full of them. Food appeared on the tables and laughter filled the air.
Zephrey Richison waded through the milling crowd, working his way back to SG-1 to speak with Jack.
"Is it still your wish to join our watch tonight, Colonel?" he asked politely, obviously expecting that Jack would wish to remain at the party.
"Yes," said Jack, pausing only briefly to shoot a look at Sam, who nodded. "Teal'c and I will join you. That will free up two of your men to stay here."
"Thank you, Colonel." Zephrey inclined his head, then straightened and led the way out of the square.
Sam and Daniel stood looking at each other for a moment, then by unspoken agreement made their way towards the bonfire where Esser and her parents were surrounded by well wishers. The crowd had subsided a little by the time they got there, having moved along to the tables. A tall woman bore a cup to Maram, who took it in both hands and drank before passing it on to her husband.
Maram raised her face and began to sing. Sam knew enough about music to know that the song was in a minor key, but that was about it. Maram sang in Latin and Daniel whispered somewhat spotty translations under his breath so that Sam would understand. Maram's voice rose, singing of her anguish as she waited for a daughter she was not sure she would ever see again. As she reached her crescendo, she grasped Esser's hand and her final note faded into the firelight.
On her other side, Aeronn raised his voice to sing. He sang of a father's pride and thankfulness that his daughter had returned home, and his voice was not sad. Maram raised her voice alongside his as Aeronn reached the end of his melody. They sang together, their daughter held between them as though they would never let her go again. Sam realized she had goosebumps on her goosebumps.
"Sam! Daniel!" called Aeronn, finally spotting them in the mass and waving them over. "This is our daughter Esser. She has Returned."
Sam greeted the girl enthusiastically. It was easy to tell close up that Esser was her parents' daughter. Esser was one of those children who managed to look exactly like both of her parents, even though neither of them looked anything alike. The result could not be described as stunningly beautiful, but Esser had a look that could only be described as self-assured, and Sam knew how a young woman acquired a look like that.
"Father, I need to ask you something," Esser said hesitantly. Aeronn steeled himself, as though he already knew what his daughter was going to ask him. "Where...where is Eprem?"
"Eprem has not Returned." Aeronn said heavily. Esser's face fell and her father enfolded her in his arms. "I am sorry, child."
Aeronn held his daughter, and for a few minutes, the joviality in the square seemed to dim, and the fire burn with less enthusiasm. When Esser raised her face again, however, there was a set look to it.
"Tonight is for rejoicing." She said determinedly. "Tomorrow is for...tomorrow."
Maram led her daughter off into the crowd where she was immediately beset by well wishers and swung off into the merry dance that had begun around the fire. Daniel was watching Aeronn closely, trying to think how to best word his next suggestion. He hadn't got around to discussing medical traditions with anyone yet, and he wasn't sure how Aeronn would react.
"Who was Eprem?" Sam asked while he was thinking.
"Eprem is a good friend of my daughter's." Aeronn placed only the slightest emphasis on his verb tense.
"Were they betrothed?" Sam always felt awkward saying that word, despite Daniel's insistence that, etymologically speaking, it was much more romantic than 'engaged'.
"No," said Aeronn, his eyes distant. "No, we don't trothplight children. Not because we think they are too young, no Esser and Eprem were the sort born for each other. We wait so that situations like this don't happen.
"I have only one daughter and she Returned." Aeronn paused for a moment, looking out at his happily dancing wife and daughter. "Eprem had three older brothers and now his mother keeps an empty house."
"It's genetic," Sam said without thinking.
"I beg your pardon, Sam?" Aeronn replied.
"The Sanoctem tendency runs in families," Daniel explained. "Like how Esser got your blue eyes and Maram's hair."
Aeronn looked thunderstruck, opening and closing his mouth several times without saying anything.
"Aeronn," began Sam, and Daniel knew what she was about to ask. "We have some very advanced medical technology on out planet. A good friend of mine is an excellent doctor. If you let us take a blood sample from Esser and some of the younger children, she might be able to devise a treatment."
"This is...amazing," said Aeronn breathlessly. "We would be eternally in your debt. What would you require in return?"
Daniel opened his mouth, but Sam beat him to it.
"Nothing right away." Sam said. "We might want to negotiate for trade with your planet at a later date, but you have a medical emergency on your hands. If we can help you, we will."
Aeronn tried again to speak and was again over come. He took a deep breath and finally spoke.
"I will talk to some of my friends with young children. And I know that Esser will do anything..." he didn't finish, but Sam knew he was again thinking of Eprem.
"Meet me back at your house in ten minutes, and I'll have my blood kit ready." Sam said.
Aeronn nodded and set off into the crowd with an air of excitement. Daniel and Sam exchanged a glance, both hoping they had not just touched off a false hope. Something still nagged at Sam as she left the square to set up her impromptu blood bank, but it floated annoyingly just out of her reach.
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to be continued....