Jack shared a look with Daniel, who quickly rushed to his pack, searching through his books before whispering a string of foreign words, a few of which Jack recognised as swear words.
"I must have left it behind in the rush, I'm sorry Jack."
He didn't respond, making an annoyed noise instead as he turned back to Sam, who was staring through a pair of binoculars to the temple below. "Carter?"
She handed them over, quickly glancing at the group that was entering the temple before explaining what she had seen. "It's pretty well hidden behind a pillar, as long a they don't explore the temple during their service we may just get away with it."
Jack nodded, checking for himself that there wasn't anything else they could find. Satisfied that there was only one notebook there he changed his view to where the group was, stiffening as he spotted a pair of female eyes staring straight back at him. He calmly lowered the binoculars, unsure whether he had been spotted or if the woman had simply been looking in that direction.
"Sir?" He looked at her, noticing her concerned expression.
"I think we may have been spotted."
She nodded, remaining calm even as her position changed to one more suited to dealing with any potential threats.
Daniel noticed the change, quickly moving back to the top. "What's happened?"
"O'Neill believes we that we may have been seen."
Daniel nodded. "Maybe we should go introduce ourselves."
"And get sacrificed, I think not."
"With all due respect Sir, Daniel has already explained that they do not seem to take live human sacrifices, and they do not appear to be a violent culture. If we have already been spotted then staying here might appear impolite."
"I agree Major Carter however it is possible that the sacrifice is a very private ceremony, in which case they may not wish us to intrude."
"I think we're about to find out." Daniel interrupted, and they all turned to look, seeing a figure heading in their direction. Daniel jumped up, walking down towards them with his hands out before Jack could stop him.
"Maybe they should sacrifice him, might teach him a lesson."
Receiving a raised eyebrow off both of his remaining team members he shook his head, climbing to his feet and following Daniel, weapon pointing down, a warning that he would use violence if needed rather than a threatening gesture. Sam and Teal'c followed close behind, catching up to the archaeologist just as he began the introductions.
"Hi, I'm Daniel Jackson, from the planet Earth. This is Colonel Jack O'Neill, Major Sam Carter and Teal'c. We mean no harm, we're explorers."
The figure nodded, moving to remove their hood, revealing it to be the woman that Jack had looked at earlier. She was tall, about Jack's height, with tanned skin and deep brown hair that fell in curls to just below her shoulders. "You are the Tau'ri, Goa'uld killers." She spoke with confidence, her eyes focusing on each of them in turn, as if assessing if they truly were whom they claimed. "I am Raven, my people the Ambrosians. I am afraid that I cannot allow you to view the ceremony close up, however I am permitted to invite you back through the Chappaii to our camp for the celebratory feast. "
Daniel smiled, "That would be very kind."
She pulled out Daniel's notebook, holding it out to him. "I believe this belongs to one of your people Daniel Jackson."
"You can call me Daniel, and thank you. These are not my people though, Colonel O'Neill," he pointed towards Jack, "is our leader."
She bowed her head towards him. "My apologies Colonel O'Neill."
He waved her off. "It's not a problem."
She nodded, surprised by their kindness. "I am to escort you to the Chappaii, the others will join us once the ceremony is over."
"We can make our own way there if you should be at the ceremony, it wouldn't be fair of us to prevent you being there."
She looked towards the temple before back at them. " I do not need to be there." Her words were final, yet almost disappointed.
Daniel stared at her, not responding, unsure what to make of it.
"Alrightly then, Carter, Teal'c, go get our gear, it's time to party."
"Yes Sir."
"Indeed"
They walked silently back up the hill, leaving Jack and Daniel with their new host. She stood in silence, staring at them in awe.
"Raven?"
She blinked, blushing slightly as she realised she'd been caught staring. " I am sorry Colonel O'Neill, on our travels we have heard many stories of you and your team. I must admit I was expecting a more scary group of people."
"Scary? We can be scary, right Daniel?"
He rolled his eyes. "If you believed us to be so scary why did you come to meet us?"
"I saw that you were watching us, yet you did nothing. When the others realised we were being watched they sent me to see you. I was only a viewer of the ceremony, the rest are all priests so could not leave."
"Oh. Well we can be scary I guess when we start attacking the Goa'uld, but we would much rather be civilised, violence is only a last resort."
"One you resort to quite often." She sounded completely serious yet there was a sparkle of laughter in her eyes that suggested it was intended more as a joke.
"I take it you have no problems with the Goa'uld?" Sam asked, handing Jack his pack, hers already secured on her back, as Teal'c handed Daniel his.
"Generations ago we were slaves of them, a large number of my people attempted an escape, a few of these made it through the Chappaii, however they had no where to go, no allies. They drifted from planet to planet, settling on a few, like here, for a generation but always moving on, it is our nature. We are explorers such as yourselves, we want to meet people, learn from them, adjust our own methods if theirs are more suitable than what we previously did."
"Yet you return here every twenty years?"
"Years? I do not know that term. But yes, we do return here after a certain period of time, and to four other planets that hold our temples, to honour our ancestors, give those worthy a chance to join them."
She turned once again to the temple, watching in silence until smoke slowly wrapped itself around the pillars, seeping into the surrounding area, hiding the temple and people within. "It is time we left."
She turned quickly, the cape blowing to the side, revealing a tan brown coloured, ankle length skirt. She quickly wrapped the cape back around herself, tilting her head for them to follow as she set off at a brisk pace towards the path. The four members of SG-1 shared a look, Jack shrugging before setting off after her, Daniel jogging ahead to try and catch up with her as Sam and Teal'c followed behind.
They walked quietly towards the gate, Daniel and Raven deep in talk, Teal'c following a few steps behind, far enough away not to be intruding but close enough to protect them if needed. Sam and Jack brought up the rear, walking next to each other, each lost in thought.
"You don't trust her."
Jack looked to his left, to the pair of blue eyes staring intently back at him. "I don't not trust her, I just don't have any reasons to trust her yet."
"She's not a Goa'uld, I checked with Teal'c when we collected the packs, neither of us sensed anything. She seems very open."
"But?"
"She knows a lot about us."
"Exactly Major. We know hardly anything about her, or if what she has said is the truth, but she knows everything she needs to know about us."
They stopped talking as Daniel looked back, waving at them and smiling. They smiled back, Jack giving a half-hearted wave.
Waiting until he was deep in conversation again Sam turned back to Jack. "What are you suggesting Sir?"
"Just keep your eyes open Carter, we have no idea what customs these people have picked up over the years. We'll need to send Hammond a message before we leave, when you do, set the malp to record where we go, and what the others do before Hammond sends anyone to collect it."
She nodded, "General Hammond won't be happy, this was meant to be a vacation for us."
"It was?" He looked at her, surprised.
She smiled. "Yeah, he said it was about time we got to spend some quality time together without worrying about the NID or airforce watching us."
Blushing, she realised that she had said too much, but he only raised an eyebrow, a smug grin appearing on his lips. "He could have warned me before. Then we could have gone fishing while Daniel played with the ruins."
She laughed, refusing to admit that the thought of the two of them fishing there appealed to her.
They said nothing else on the journey; the odd shared looks saying more than any words could. Daniel however chatted away with Raven, taking it in turns to ask and answer questions on their respective cultures. Teal'c listened in, trying to find anything potentially dangerous in amongst the discussions on weddings, food and entertainment.
Reaching the Stargate they paused, waiting for Jack and Sam to catch up.
"Raven, before we leave I need to contact our people on Earth, inform them of where we are going."
Raven nodded, stepping out of the way as Sam made her way to the malp, Daniel following, dialling Earth as Teal'c 'accidentally' stood in the way, hiding Daniel as he pressed the symbols.
Jack watched the scene, watched the alien, trying to identify what it was about her he disliked. She seemed pleasant enough, friendly even, but Jack knew that there was something more, no society that sacrificed it's own people, even if it was generations ago, could not have other sinister practises.
The gate sprang to life, Sam pressing the buttons to make conversation with Earth possible.
"Hey General." Jack waved at the camera.
"Sg-1? You're not scheduled for contact until tomorrow."
"I know, but Daniel made a friend." The camera moved in the direction he pointed, revealing Raven and Teal'c to those at the other end.
"I see."
"We're going to head back to her homeworld, well the one they have for now."
He nodded to Sam, who moved into view of the camera. "I haven't got enough time to set the malp to make it back through the gate, you'll have to send people to collect it later."
She could imagine the confused look on the faces of those in the control room, and of Daniel and Teal'c, and prayed that they would understand and not ask questions.
After what seemed like hours General Hammond finally replied. "Understood. Send us a message in 24 hours to let us know how you are."
"Yes Sir."
She switched the camera off, quickly setting it to do what Jack had requested as footsteps approached.
They all turned to face the sound, gasping at what they saw.
The group of priests had appeared, hoods down, revealing their ghost like appearance. They had white skin; the sun shinning off their bald heads and they wiped the blood from their mouths with the sleeves of their cloaks.