Disclaimer: I dunno why we do these things but oh well… I dun own anything Stargate-related; i.e. SG-1, the SGC, the Goa'uld, etc., etc., must I go on? I reap no profits from this story, but any donations are always welcome. XD
Mission fic, so no relationship stuff. Straight up adventure. Pre-Season 8, so O'Neill's still on the team. The episode referred to in this chapter is 'Emancipation' from Season 1.
This will hopefully be my only author's note in this fic but if you want to hear that kinda stuff and see what I've got planned, etc., check out my livejournal (the link's in my profile). w00t. That's kept up-to-date with everything you need to know.
Feel free to tell me whenever you think someone from the team is OOC. This is my first Stargate fic so my grasp of their characters is still a tad shaky. And feel free to point out anything else that's wrong; with either my writing or my facts. You can even flame me if you feel like it. I don't mind. Flames just help to build my character. ;p
And without further ado, my likkle fanfic… enjoy…
:: lost but not found ::
"Natan, do you know where Colonel O'Neill is?" Carter asked the young boy as she turned to face him.
"You need to talk to the Fathers," he stated as though that answered her question, "Come with me." With a bow to the group, he turned and walked into the forest on the path that O'Neill had pointed out mere minutes before.
"We don't want to talk to talk to the Fathers until we know where Colonel O'Neill is," Carter said, her voice frustrated. She turned to Daniel and Teal'c. "Let's fan out and see if we can find the Colonel-"
"You're not going to," Natan said, having stopped a short distance away when he realized they were not following him.
"Then you know what happened to him?" Daniel asked with a gentle tone born from previous experience with questioning children.
The boy didn't answer and began walking down the path again.
"Sam, I think we should follow him. I think he knows what's going on," Daniel said and with a sharp nod, Carter agreed and the remainder of SG-1 hurried to catch up with the boy.
As they walked, Carter turned to glance at Daniel. "Did you see him go?"
Daniel shook his head. "No, he was just there one second and gone the next."
"Is it not possible that Colonel O'Neill was transported to another place with technology such as the Goa'uld transport rings?" Teal'c asked.
"Yeah, or else he could have just wandered off," Daniel offered.
Carter gave him a look. "Daniel, you're the one who does that. Not the Colonel."
"True," Daniel agreed.
"Okay, I want everyone to keep an eye out and stick close together," Carter ordered. "I don't want to lose anyone else."
"You won't," Natan said, glancing back at them, his eyes shining innocently.
"Well, it would help us to understand if you told us why no one else is going to disappear."
"Don't you already know?" Natan seemed almost confused.
"If we already knew what hadhappened to Colonel O'Neill, what would be the point of our asking you?" Teal'c asked. The boy nodded in acknowledgment of Teal'c's logic and looked forward again as he continued walking.
"Natan, will you tell us what happened to O'Neill?" Daniel asked.
"If you do not know, then it is not my place to tell you. That is for the Fathers."
"I don't think we're going to get him to tell us anything," Daniel said to Carter. "We're going to have to wait until we meet these 'Fathers'."
The boy stopped on the top of a hill and gestured for the members of SG-1 to join him. As they reached the crest, he gestured expansively in front of him and said in a happy tone, "Home."
Sprawled out before them was a city of wooden houses, all one-story and dully colored with little variety between each. However, springing out of the center of the city was a giant pyramid, which towered hundreds of feet over the little houses. "That must be over five-hundred feet tall," Daniel said, his voice amazed. "And its condition is amazing. When was the pyramid built?" The question was directed towards their unofficial guide.
Natan thought for a moment, before shrugging. "It has been here forever. It was Mother's gift to us before She left."
"Mother?" Daniel repeated, his tone inquiring.
Natan shook his head. "Again; the Fathers will explain." He began descending the hill and SG-1 followed him, having really no other choice if they wanted to locate O'Neill. The inhabitants of the city watched them with curious eyes as they walked by and a few called to Natan, asking him the identity of his new friends, but the boy did not answer their calls and SG-1, taking the cue from their guide, also chose to remain silent and not answer any of the peoples' questions.
Their walk ended at a small house where Natan opened the door and entered inside, gesturing for SG-1 to follow him. "Marak?" he called out, "I have strangers with me who must speak with the Fathers."
A tall man with long dark hair tied back at the nape of his neck and blue eyes looked up from where he sat at a table and stared at them in obvious surprise. "By their clothes alone, I can see that they are strangers. Where did they come from?"
"The Water," Natan answered.
"But they are men." Marak seemed as confused as Natan had been when this same information had become known to him.
"This is why they must meet with the Fathers," Natan said. "This and one of their companions has been taken and they do not know for what purpose."
Marak stood from his chair, his expression reflecting shock. "He has been taken? And you do not know why?"
"Um, no," Daniel answered, his brow furrowed. "Can you explain it to us? We want to find our friend."
Marak shook his head. "It is a hard thing to understand. Here, we know of it from birth to death and need no explaining. The Fathers would do a better job than I." He bowed. "I will go and request an audience with them immediately. Natan will attend to any needs you have in my absence." Patting his son on the shoulder in encouragement, he walked hurriedly out of the house.
"Do you need refreshments?" Natan asked, turning to face Carter, Daniel and Teal'c.
"I'm thirsty, actually," Daniel said, taking a seat in Marak's vacated chair.
"Yeah, me too," Carter added, joining Daniel at the table.
Natan turned to Teal'c. "You as well?" Teal'c shook his head and Natan bowed to the group before exiting the room, presumably to fetch something to drink.
"Daniel Jackson;" Teal'c turned to look at the archeologist, "did you observe that all of the inhabitants of this city appear to be male?"
Daniel nodded. "Yeah, I didn't see one woman. I also didn't see any really young boys; no babies or toddlers."
"This better not be anything like that one planet we went to in the first year the SGC was operating and I had to dress up in that horrible blue dress and that Abu kid traded me off for his girlfriend," Carter grumbled.
"C'mon, Sam. You looked good in that dress," Daniel said, grinning.
"From what we have observed, I believe it would be best if these people continued to believe that Major Carter is male," Teal'c stated.
Daniel thought for a moment, his grin fading from the serious implications of their situation. "Sam, I think he's right. If these people have some strong taboos against women as the people of Abu's planet did, then revealing that you're a woman might get you into trouble."
"Not that it's a bad idea, Daniel, but won't they be able to tell?" Carter asked.
"As long as you wear bulky clothes, I don't think they'll notice," Daniel said with a shrug. "They already think you're a man anyway. Maybe they're used to seeing pretty boys."
At this moment, Natan entered into the room, bearing a platter of fruits and cups in one hand and a pitcher of some drink in the other. He placed the platter on the table and poured the drink into the cups. Setting the pitcher down, he walked to the side of the table opposite of Daniel and Carter and sat down.
Daniel picked up one of the cups and sniffed the liquid inside hesitantly. "Smells like apple juice," he remarked to Carter and took a sip. He nodded approvingly and drank some more of it. Carter picked up one of the other cups and took a sip of the drink. Daniel studied his cup closely for a moment, turning it around in his hands, before he set it down and looked up to meet Natan's gaze. "Why are all the buildings in your city made of wood except for the pyramid?" he asked the boy.
"Stone is the bone of Mother. It is holy. Only Her buildings are allowed to be made of it," Natan answered.
"Mother Earth, you mean?" Daniel asked and Natan nodded and said, "After Mother destroyed the wicked city before, She erected that temple to remind us of the evil we must fight within ourselves."
A knock sounded on the door of the house and Natan stood and walked over to open it. Outside stood a boy, about Natan's own age, who was dressed in a tan uniform of some kind. He bowed deeply and said, "The Fathers request you and your guests' immediate presence at the Temple."
"That was fast," Daniel commented as he and Carter stood.
The messenger boy smiled at the archeologist. "As soon as the Fathers heard you came through the Water, they sent me here, assuring me that if I did not run all the way, they would make sure that I would regret it for a very long time, and that if I did not return with you, I would not live to see the sun set."
"Well, I think that settles it," Daniel said, adjusting his glasses.
Carter nodded in agreement and said to the messenger, "Lead the way."
…
They entered the temple at its base through a large hallway that led to a small antechamber. The messenger bowed and left them after saying that he had to go tell the Fathers of their arrival. Natan turned to them. "Please, remove your footwear and headwear before you enter the presence of the Fathers. They will be here when you return, this I promise." He took off his own sandals and set them against a nearby wall, showing that he was also required to participate in this ritual.
Used to such requests, the team members complied and put their belongings together against the wall, although Carter showed some hesitation before taking off her hat, obviously still thinking of this culture's potential hostility towards women. Daniel caught her eyes and he smiled at her, his eyes warm and supporting.
A few moments later, a short, barrel-chested man entered the room from the doors that the messenger had disappeared through. He inspected them with a dark, calculating eyes that smoldered in a face pockmarked and scarred from battles. "Do you have any weapons?" He barked out the question with authority, glaring at them with eyes that clearly said that if they lied to him, they would definitely regret the act.
"Yes," Carter answered.
"You must leave them here also." His hand settled threateningly on the hilt of a sword hanging from a belt on his waist.
"We'd rather not," Carter said, trying her best to flash a disarming smile at him.
"You must." On cue, a group of five men bearing weapons appeared in the antechamber from the hallway that SG-1 had used. The man with the sword smiled back at Carter with teeth that made her think of a shark. He was not trying to be pleasant at all as he tightened his grip on the sword at his side and once again demanded that they put their weapons with their other belongings. The tension in the air was almost palpable and Carter, Daniel and Teal'c prepared themselves for the seeming inevitable fight that was about to ensue.
Suddenly, the doors burst open and an elderly man charged into the room, his long robes fluttering widely around him as he cried out in a flustered voice, "Garrex!" His voice boomed in the small room and the man with the sword, presumably Garrex, turned to look at him in surprise. "Why are you threatening our guests?"
"Patriarch." Garrex bowed to the elderly man. "They refuse to leave their weapons here. I did not think it wise that they enter your presence armed."
"Did you explain this reasoning to them?" the man addressed as 'Patriarch' asked, his tone admonishing.
"No, Patriarch," Garrex replied, glowering at the floor, sullenly embarrassed at being caught in the wrong.
"Then it was right for them to resist your demands. But, never mind that." The Patriarch turned to face Carter, Daniel and Teal'c, a welcoming smile set on his face. He gestured towards the door. "Please, come with me."
Garrex looked up quickly, protesting, "But their weapons!"
"Oh, fine. If you're that worried, come along and bring your men too," the Patriarch said with a sigh. He walked up to the large doors and opened them, gesturing SG-1 inside. "Come! We must celebrate your arrival."
"We'd really appreciate it if you first told us what happened to our friend. We're worried about him," Daniel said as they followed the man into a large room, gaily decorated with bright cloth draped from the ceiling and immense frescos painted on the wall depicting various scenes of what appeared to be a comprehensive outline of their civilization's history.
"We must eat first," the Patriarch said with a smile, "for one must nourish the body before the mind for fear of becoming so caught up in the expansion of one's knowledge that one forgets to eat." However, the man was speaking to what might as well have been a wall for, naturally, as soon as he noticed the frescos, Daniel somehow had migrated away from the group to stand in front of the walls of the room, mumbling to himself as he began to decipher and translate the hieroglyphics inscribed nearby the pictures.
"Daniel?" Carter called out from where she stood by a table covered in food for the celebratory feast. "Daniel?" Directing a smile that was more of a grimace to the Patriarch, she walked over to where the archeologist was standing and grabbed his arm, beginning to bodily drag him towards the table as she said in a tone that was half-threatening, half-encouraging, "Daniel, come on. You heard the man; food first, research later."
"Right, right," he said in a dazed tone, his mind already having vacated the premises and taken up residence in its other plane of existence reserved solely for these kinds of moments. Carter resisted the urge to roll her eyes as she brought him back to the table where the Patriarch began introducing them to the other Fathers who were presumably the leaders of the city. She knew from experience that Daniel would now be conversationally worthless for a while except in topics relating to the frescos and hieroglyphics. But she didn't mind that as long as those topics included where O'Neill was and how they could get him back.