A/N: *peeks head out* Um...wow, I wrote the prologue at midnight in one sitting and was I surprised when I saw eight reviews in my mailbox this morning. Fortunately for all of you, I'm still suffering writer's block (more like too much writer's imagination – I can do five/six different things and I can't choose :p) so here is the next chapter!
Disclaimer: My cat still owns me, and I own nothing but Bob my laptop
Still not BETA'd – if you want the job let me know
Chapter 1 – Sruti
"Jack, you don't understand the possible significance …"
Jack O'Neill stopped in his tracks and the following Daniel Jackson barely missed colliding with him. Jack had been heading to the cafeteria in the top-secret underground base in Cheyenne Mountain, when he had made the mistake in asking Daniel if he wanted to come along.
The archaeologist had been researching the location of a lost sect. This normally wasn't unusual, except that this group was supposed to be still on Earth rather than some unknown planet. SG1 had just visited a planet where the occupants had followed a religion similar to Hinduism, though it differed mostly by their refusal to follow the caste system. Returning to Earth, Jackson had searched through texts to find a possible Earth predecessor.
And he had.
"A little over ten years ago there was this sect known as the Shiriti'ai. From what I've read, they still practice a religion almost identical to the one discovered on PX3124. Can you imagine it, Jack? They're continuing on a way of life that has existed unchanged among other cultural systems for possibly over a millennia!"
"Daniel, how exactly does this help us with destroying the Gou'ald? You know, those nasty snake-heads who think their gods? Is this ringing any bells in your head, Danny?" Jack remarked sarcastically, continuing his walk towards food, and more importantly -- red jello.
Daniel Jackson caught up just as Jack was sitting down to eat with the other members of SG1: Major Samantha Carter and Teal'c.
"I think if we can find this lost sect on Earth it'll lead us to something that can help us defeat the Gou'ald," Jackson insisted.
Carter glanced between Jack and Daniel.
"What's going on?" she asked, ignoring O'Neill's desperate shaking of the head.
"Remember when we visited PX3124 – you said there was no traces whatsoever of advanced technology," Daniel began.
"Right. Besides the Stargate, there wasn't even evidence of Gou'ald technology."
"Exactly. There's no evidence that the people were enslaved after they were brought to the planet. Their religion supports this; they don't worship a particular deity and seek to escape the cycle of Nirvana by reaching a higher plane, so I'm sure you can see where I'm going with this," Daniel finished, looking around expectantly.
"Why don't you tell us anyway," O'Neill drawled, eating a spoonful of jello.
"Are you suggesting that they weren't colonized by the Gou'ald, but by another alien race?" Carter asked sceptically.
"Think about it. Given their level of technology, the Gou'ald could easily conquer the planet, yet they haven't. What if it's because the Gou'ald don't know about them?" Daniel said excitably. Carter smiled as she started to understand Daniel's point. Then frowned as she thought of something.
"But there's no way for us to contact the aliens that transported those colonists."
Jackson leaned forward has he reached the crucial part of his argument.
"Not necessarily. I've discovered there was a sect on Earth until ten years ago whose practices are almost identical to those found on PX3124. They completely disappeared after the death of their leader, the Puranas, and none of the efforts to discover their location have succeeded. They have been able to hide, undetected from satellite surveillance and without outside contact for ten years. In my research, I've discovered references to a 'Sanctuary' that will protect the Shiriti'ai."
"And you think the Sanctuary protects them because it contains advance technology passed down from the aliens," Carter followed, though remained sceptical. "Even if your right, how do you suppose we find the Sanctuary?"
"That's just it. The Shiriti'ai have re-emerged, in search of their leader."
"Didn't you say the leader was a little incapacitated – like, I don't know, dead?" O'Neill remarked, eyeing Daniel's uneaten jello. Jackson sighed, and surrendered the dessert.
"Indeed, DanielJackson, there seems to be an error in your logic," Teal'c commented.
"The Puranas is like the Dali Lama, and is said to be reincarnated after every death until he chooses not too. The Shiriti'ai are asking for entrance into the United States because they believe the Puranas has been reborn as an American. They also insist on meeting with…" Daniel trailed off, searching his memory.
"Ah, yes, the Keeper of Sanctuary."
******************************************
Jack O'Neill sat quietly in his office, almost wishing there was paperwork for him to do -- anything to keep him from his memories. Jack fingered the pendent around his neck.
He had waited with the body of his friend, and target, until the sun came up and the members awakened. When the group found them together, Jack half-hoped they would figure it out. At that moment, he had wanted nothing more than to die with his friend. But the Shiriti'ai had seen the pendent now hanging from his neck, and the map clenched tightly in his fist. O'Neill was the Sruti, the Keeper of Sanctuary, and the guardian of the Shiriti'ai until the Puranas was reborn.
So Jack had led them to Sanctuary. There, they offered him a place beside them – to live in peace without fear from the rest of the world until the Puranas was reborn. The place was like a dream, an oasis in the desert. To this day Jack still didn't understand how the place had come to be, but he always remembered it in his dreams. But his duty was outside of these walls. And he didn't deserve peace in the place his victim called home.
"But how can you know when or where the Puranas is reborn hiding in Sanctuary?" he had asked, confused. The group smiled enigmatically, and took him to a small temple. In the centre, a small crystal globe circled in mid-air seemingly by magic.
"When the Puranas returns to us, his light with shine and we will know him."
Carefully, a woman took Jack's hand and pricked his finger. Before he could react, his finger was placed in a crevice of the pedestal that was below the globe. Immediately, a gold ball appeared in India.
The woman pointed.
"That is you, Sruti. Now, wherever you will go you will still be here with us."
Jack smiled at the memory. This was why he had allowed Daniel Jackson to remain on Abydos after the first mission; he understood the comfort that could be found in the acceptance of another people. Daniel had deserved his peace.
The colonel's smile faded as he thought of Daniel's discovery. From what the Puranas had explained to Jack, the archaeologist's theory might not be completely off base. Jack hadn't understood then, being only an assassin, but now after having visited so many worlds he recognized alien technology.
And it was alien technology that hid the Sanctuary.
After returning from the mission, Jack spent several months going through debriefings. Several of his superior officers were positive that O'Neill knew the location of the Shiriti'ai. But they were never able to determine one way or the other and surveillance had revealed nothing.
Several months after his release, O'Neill was sitting at home while his wife and kid were out shopping when the doorbell rang. At his step, was a member of the Shiriti'ai.
In her eyes, he saw that she knew who he was. But those same eyes held no hate, or fear, or revenge. Silently, she placed a hand over Jack's heart and smiled.
"The Puranas has been reborn, beloved brother, and you are absolved of your crime. We wait impatiently for the day when the Sruti and the Puranas are with us again in more than spirit." With that, she was gone – as if she was never there.
From that moment on, Jack wasn't merely a soldier. He was the Sruti and Keeper of Sanctuary. Until the day he died.
TBC