TIMES ARROW

Chapter 2: History Revisited

"But surely that's not possible!" exclaimed Sam. "Every StarGate address requires at least six reference points and a point of origin."

"That's true," Daniel replied. "However, that assumes that you actually need to USE the Gate. What if this directory belonged to someone on Earth? The reference to their own address would be their point of origin. Maybe Horus was based here on Earth."

"I believe that your assumption is incorrect, DanielJackson," the deep rumble of Teal'c's voice filled the briefing room. "Goa'uld history indicates that only Ra ruled the world of the Tau'ri, and he was more cautious than most when dealing with others of his kind. Ra left after the rebellion, leaving four other Goa'uld behind. Hathor and Seth were stranded on purpose, but Isis and Osiris were thought to be dead. That was the last contact that any of the system lords had with the people of this planet, until the StarGate was reactivated."

Daniel pondered this for a moment. "Uh. well, there's only one way to find out if I'm right." Turning to General Hammond, he continued "General, I think I should go to Akrotiri to investigate this further."

All eyes turned to the head of the table. "Agreed. However, I'm also sending the rest of SG-1 with you. Our primary concern here is to prevent this information becoming more public than it already has. Dr. Jackson, do you have any idea of who else has been informed of this discovery?"

"In her letter Jeanie said that she hasn't mentioned this to anyone else, not even the Greek government. She only wrote to me because I was the best translator of Egyptian hieroglyphics that she knew." Daniel paused for a moment, then continued, "She doesn't want to lose control of the situation, General. If she approached the Greek government with this, they would probably take it away from her and hand it over to someone they considered more capable. She trusts me. She knows that I won't steal her discovery. Considering how important a find this is, she's doing what I would have done. She's being careful."

Hearing this, Jack leaned forward clasping his hands together with a serious look on his face. "You DO realise that we are going to have to take this away from her anyway, don't you?"

A pained look crossed Daniel's features as he replied "Yes. I know that. However, I also know that, while it can't be made public at the moment, Jeanie will get full credit for the discovery. And it would be better coming from me, someone she knows, as opposed to some faceless bureaucrat."

"General," Sam queried, "how should we handle this? The U.S. military doesn't exactly have any jurisdiction in Greece."

"That's a good point, Major," said the General, thoughtfully. "This should be kept as low key as possible." He glanced up at the rest of SG-1. "Any suggestions?"

Almost before General Hammond had finished his question, Daniel raised the index finger of his right hand and blurted "Jeanie has actually supplied us with just the excuse we need. She invited me to come and help translate the tablet. I can travel there to do precisely that! The rest of SG-1 could travel as my associates. Teal'c could help me translate the tablet and anything else we might find. As a doctor, Sam can pass herself off as a knowledgeable amateur archaeologist." He paused to look at Jack, then continued, "And I'm sure Jack will be useful, too."

Rolling his eyes, Jack groaned softly, "Just peachy."

"OK, people," the General concluded, "let's get to it."

-----

The rumble of the aircraft engines did nothing to soothe Daniel to sleep. Fidgeting in his chair, he remembered the last time he was with Jeanie as if it was yesterday. It was in 1986, near Giza. They had just uncovered the tomb of an advisor to a minor Pharaoh when Jeanie had received an invitation to join the ongoing excavations at Akrotiri, on the island of Santorini. Jeanie had always preferred Greek archaeology to Egyptian archaeology. She never forgave him for staying behind in Egypt, effectively ending their post-graduate relationship.

Daniel thought about the events in the years that had followed. He felt more than a small measure of satisfaction that he had taken on the burden of his parent's quest and succeeded beyond his wildest dreams. He glanced down at Jeanie's letter in his hand and wondered if fate had been as kind to her as it had to him. Having graduated together, Daniel was slightly envious that Jeanie had landed the position of site manager at such a young age. Well, at least she could publish her findings.

Putting the letter aside, he continued to read his other documents about the Akrotiri dig. They were easy to come by, but focused mostly on the snapshot of Akrotiri life at the time of the volcanic eruption in 1538 BC. The Minoan people of Akrotiri were a highly advanced civilisation. A wealth of beautiful wall paintings revealed a highly artistic and peaceful culture. Unearthed objects showed a society of rich merchants plying their trade throughout the Mediterranean, spanning what are now Southern Europe, the Middle East and Northern Africa. Their technological achievements were just as impressive. Four storey buildings, hot and cold running water, and indoor plumbing were just a few of the many wonders that this ancient city held. It was hard to imagine that only five percent of the city had been excavated to date!

The original discoverer of Akrotiri, Spiridon Marinatos, had died in the early 70's, at which time Professor Doumas took over. When Daniel and Jeanie were still at university, Professor Doumas gave a seminar about modern Grecian excavation techniques. Daniel had earned a few blunt comments from the professor when he pointed out that the excavation methods being used were, at best, a bit dated. At the memory, he chuckled out loud, disturbing Jack.

Jack's irritated growl of "Daniel! Go to sleep!" emerged from the seat across from him.

"Jack, you know I can't sleep on long-haul flights," Daniel replied softly. "Don't worry. I'll be fine."

"It's not you I'm worried about!" was the short response, as Jack rolled over in his seat trying to get comfortable.

Feeling the pulse of a headache behind his eyes, Daniel closed them for a moment and pinched the bridge of his nose. How could he persuade Jeanie to turn this section of the dig over to them? How could he convince her that he wasn't out to steal her glory? It was precisely this point that led Jeanie to come to him for help and not the Greek government. "Brave woman," he muttered.

"Daniel?" Sam's voice floated across the aisle.

"Hmm?" said Daniel. "Oh. Sorry. I was just thinking about Jeanie."

"Oh."

Daniel hesitated for a moment, then elaborated further, "I was thinking about the risk she's taking by not presenting her discovery to the Greek authorities. After all, they pay her salary. They could just fire her and replace her with someone else."

"I meant to ask you something else about the tablet." Sam leant forward and lowered her voice even more. "Has anyone else at the dig seen it? Her co-workers or associates?"

"I wouldn't think so. She sealed the room until she could get a specialist on site. She only took enough time to take a few photos."

"Do you think she'll mind if we use any of the equipment we're taking?" said Sam, her eyes lighting up with anticipation.

"Well, it's bound to be more advanced than anything she'll have on site."

"Oh, for cryin' out loud, guys!" Jack's grouchy voice interrupted the quiet. "Listen. It's one a.m. in Colorado and we don't arrive in Greece for another four hours. Can't you forget about talking shop and get some sleep!"

Daniel bit back a sigh, thinking about the very long four hours ahead of him. "Uh. sorry, Jack." Somehow he managed to keep the frustration out of his voice. Standing, he continued, "I think I'll go and stretch my legs." Putting the papers down on his seat, he moved towards the back of the plane (and the coffee).

Jack muttered a derisive "Scientists!" He then glared briefly at Sam before covering his head with a blanket. Sam just gave an apologetic grin. Jack was obviously not happy with the exchange that he and General Hammond had after the briefing was finished. It was a disgruntled Jack that boarded the transport in Colorado. He felt like he was suffocating under a mass of historical mumbo-jumbo that he would have to bluff his way through. At least they had taken the time to flesh out their respective parts a bit more. As an 'excavation specialist', he could be part of the team without having to worry so much about the historical stuff.

-----

Daniel, Jack and Teal'c busily loaded the equipment into the rented Huey while Sam folded her civilian pilots' licence back into her wallet. "I'm glad I kept up my civilian licence," Sam mused. "I thought it might come in handy one day. It's good to get back in the air again. especially in one of these old birds!"

Jack glanced up, then broke into a wry grin. "Think you could give us a hand here?" he asked sarcastically, as he gently loaded a small crate of explosives into the helicopter.

The team made quick work of loading their gear and was airborne with little delay. It was a relatively short flight from Athens to Santorini. As they approached the island, the view from the air was magnificent. A large, crescent shaped island partially surrounded the volcanic cone in the centre. The remnants of the outer rim could be seen in the two slivers of barren rock that nestled between the points of the crescent. Before the eruption, the island had gone by the name Thera. One could only imagine what Thera had looked like before being destroyed by the biggest volcanic explosion in recorded history.

As Sam deftly piloted the Huey to the helipad near the dig, they could see a solitary figure standing nearby. "That must be Jeanie," Daniel shouted, his comment almost drowned out by the noise of the rotors. A few moments later, the helicopter touched down to a soft landing. Sam cut the engines before everyone started to pile out, Daniel being the first one out the door. Covering his hat with his arm, he strode towards the waiting figure.

Jeanie was a petite woman with short, brown hair. Dressed in khaki shorts, a loose white shirt, a wide brimmed hat and sunglasses, she was obviously comfortable with the particularly hot climate of Greece in late August. Clutching a clipboard to her chest, she smiled as Daniel approached. "Hey. it's been a while," she said, spreading her arms to give Daniel a hug.

Daniel returned the hug, nearly losing his hat in the process. "It must be more than ten years," he replied.

"Nearly fifteen, but who's counting?" Jeanie grinned, as she stepped back, looking Daniel up and down. "You haven't changed a bit. I'm surprised my letter found you so quickly. I sent it to the university, but I had no idea where you were. The last I heard was the reaction to your paper about the 'true age' of the pyramids. I haven't seen anything published by you since then. What have you been doing, living in a monastery trying to live that one down?"

Daniel grinned sheepishly, "Eh. well. I got kinda side-tracked, but I have been keeping my hand in. mainly doing research."

As the rest of SG-1 approached from behind Daniel, Jack interrupted with "So, Daniel, are you going to introduce us?"

"Um. yeah. Dr Jeanette Reay, I'd like to introduce you to my team." Daniel made an opened-handed gesture to those now standing beside him. "This is Dr Samantha Carter, our astrophysicist."

"Call me Sam," she said, offering her hand.

Jeanie took it with a smile. "Jeanie. Astrophysicist? Strange discipline to bring on an archaeological dig."

"Yeah, but we've found it invaluable to use cross-discipline techniques, especially when dealing with civilisations that made use of constellations and stellar movements in their construction." The two women grinned at each other. "Besides which," continued Sam, "I'm also a keen amateur archaeologist, specialising in Egypt."

Daniel continued the introductions. "And this is our excavation specialist, Jack O'Neill."

Jack raised his hand with a brief wave. "Hi."

"And this is Teal'c. He's one of the best Egyptian translators I know."

Jeanie laughed softly. "Wow. Coming from Daniel that's some praise indeed." She paused thoughtfully. "Teal'c. That's an unusual name. Where are you from, Teal'c?"

Teal'c noticed Jack glaring at him, before he replied, "Egypt."

"Oh," Jeanie responded. "Most unusual. I'll have to remember that one."

Daniel, in an attempt to deflect the conversation, interrupted with, "So, Jeanie. Tell me about the tablet. How did you find it?"

Jeanie started leading the group away from the helipad. "Well, I was testing out some new sonar equipment that I planned on using at the main dig site. I chose an out-of-the-way area that had been believed to be of no significant archaeological interest. I wanted to make sure it was calibrated properly for the specific local conditions."

Daniel saw where this was going. "And you found something unexpected?"

Jeanie chuckled, "You got THAT right! According to the readings, there was some sort of chamber just below the surface. But the density readings weren't what I expected at all. They appeared much more solid than what had already been found at the main site. Needless to say, I just had to investigate further!"

"I couldn't afford to take anyone off the main dig site. It's expanded so much in the last five years." She gave Daniel a knowing glance. "More up to date excavation techniques have helped a lot."

Daniel looked embarrassed at the reminder of his audacious attitude to Professor Doumas. Jeanie just laughed before continuing, "It took a few days to uncover enough so that I could find an entrance that I could use. What I found was a partially collapsed room with very little in it at all. However, just a little digging near the far end of the room revealed the tablet." She paused to catch her breath. "When I realised what was on it, my first thought was 'This is my big break!' Then reality stepped in. If I made this public now, before any translation was done, I would likely be pushed aside and not given any involvement in following this up. That's when I thought of you. By the way, what did you make of the pictures I sent you?"

"Fascinating stuff," he conceded, trying to conceal his concern over the detail of the text itself. "I'm sure my team and I can be of great help to you. We have had experience of this sort of thing before."

"Really," Jeanie commented. "Then why haven't you published anything in the last seven years?"

"Uh. well. I've had a lot of other things on my mind." Trying to keep on the subject of the tablet, Daniel asked, "Do you have any more photos of the tablet or the room itself? I'd like to familiarise myself with what you have before we take a closer look."

Noticing Daniel's reluctance to talk further, Jeanie removed a large envelope from her clipboard and passed it to him. "Same as ever. Riveted to the task at hand." She looked up at the sky. "Well, we're not going to be able to do much until early evening anyway. It's way too hot to go nosing around the room now. Unlike the main site, this place is totally uncovered." She glanced at Teal'c, dressed in fatigue pants and a black T-shirt, and said, "Besides which, you guys may want to freshen up and change first."

After a short walk, they arrived at a tent large enough for the entire team. Jeanie directed a comment at Teal'c. "Aren't you a bit hot dressed like that?"

Teal'c returned his usual stoic expression. "I am fine. The heat does not affect me."

"Suit yourself," she replied. "Here's your tent. I hope you find it suitable. The Ritz it's not."

Jack replied, "That's OK. We've had worse."

"Just let me know if you need anything else. You'll find my tent over near the main site." Jeanie glanced at her watch. "I'll be back to get you at six. See you then."

-----

Shortly before six, Jeanie came to collect the team and led them to her private dig site. The scene was typical for that part of the island: light scrubland and volcanic debris scattered all over. Where Jeanie had been digging, a steep slope had been dug down about two metres; enough to allow access to the room beyond. Jeanie glanced at Teal'c. "I only made the entrance big enough for myself. I think we may need to clear a bit more to allow us all to get through."

The rest of SG-1 smiled as Teal'c just looked as stone-faced as ever. Jack, patting Teal'c on the shoulder, almost laughed as he said, "Come on, big boy!" in a husky voice. Sam broke out in hysterics, and the whole group were soon enjoying the joke.

While Jack and Teal'c enlarged the entrance, Daniel and Sam studied the photos Jeanie had taken. By the time they could all get through, they knew what to expect. What greeted them was exactly as the photos had depicted: a small, rubble filled rectangular room, two metres by three metres. Daniel walked to the far end of the room to examine the tablet, partially cleared by Jeanie. "Your photos didn't really give me any idea of its size," said Daniel, as he peered intently at the text. The tablet was less than two feet long and slightly wider.

"Have you had a chance to translate any of it yet?" Jeanie queried. "All I recognise is some of the names in the cartouches in the Egyptian section at the top. I never spent much time studying Linear B. I've been picking up as much of it as I could since I uncovered the tablet. What's puzzling me is the third column of those strange hieroglyphs. They're the same in all three sections. I've never seen anything like them before. It's like it a whole new language."

Jack cleared his throat.

"I only managed to translate all the Egyptian names," Daniel lied. "I thought if we could examine the rest of the room, we might get more clues to the rest of the text."

"Good idea," said Jack, with uncharacteristic enthusiasm. "Sam. Teal'c. Let's start moving some of this rubble out of the way."

"How about starting over here, near the tablet?" Sam pointed as she spoke. "This looks like it might be some kind of archway."

"It's as good a place as any," replied Jack.

"Indeed," rumbled Teal'c.

Within the hour, the five of them had revealed what was obviously a collapsed passageway. "Well," shrugged Sam, "I don't think we're going to be able to dig through that!" Her remarks were directed at the large conglomeration of fused rock blocking most of the entrance to what might be another chamber beyond.

With a flash of inspiration, Jack held up his finger and exclaimed, "I can do that. I can DO that!" He grinned, making his way to the exit. "I'll be back in ten minutes. I just need to get some stuff out of the Huey."

In the meantime, Daniel had paused to drink some water and wipe his face when Jeanie called to him from the other end of the room. "Daniel! Look at this." Daniel hurried over. Jeanie was holding a larger chunk of the rubble they had been moving. What she showed to Daniel had a flat face with more hieroglyphics on one side.

Daniel muttered what he could read of the partial name in part of a cartouche, "Har." He frowned. "Hey, guys? Can you give us a hand here?" Teal'c and Sam made their way towards Daniel. "I need to find the other half of this," he said, showing the fragment to the group. "If it's here, it should be among the rubble we've just moved."

Piece by piece, the four of them began to examine the rubble they had so carefully exhumed from the other end of the room. After a few minutes, Teal'c paused, examining a lump of rock more closely. Noticing his pause, Sam moved closer. "Have you found it?"

"No," replied Teal'c softly, "However, I believe that I have found something else of significance." He showed the rock to Sam, revealing a melted gouge surrounded by scorch marks. "This appears to have been made by a staff weapon."

As Sam's eyes widened in surprise, Daniel suddenly shouted, "I think I've found it!" Daniel stood up examining the two pieces of rock he held together while the rest of the group surrounded him. "That's strange," he mumbled. "This is different to the tablet." Looking up at his companion, he asked "Teal'c, how do you pronounce this name?" He handed the pieces to the Jaffa, who frowned as he read it.

"I believe that it is pronounced 'Har-sa-iset', but I have never seen that particular reference. It does not make sense."

"Interesting," commented Daniel. "That's the second time you've not recognised that derivation of this name."

"I do not understand, DanielJackson."

"Nor do I," interrupted Sam. "Daniel, what's so important about that name?"

"Well, it's not so much the name as the various translations of it. In English, it reads 'Horus, the son of Isis'. But it's the Greek translation that's far more important."

"Why?"

Jeanie stepped forward and responded, "In Greek, it translates to 'Harsiesis'."

A stunned silence descended on the room. Sam went wide-eyed, looking from Jeanie to Daniel, then to Teal'c. In a hushed voice Sam spoke what all the SG team members were all thinking.

"Oh, my God."

TBC