"Thomas told us what happened." Sam said quietly to Robert, as she and Daniel looked down upon the ill woman who was lying in bed.
The man merely looked at the floor. "At least she's sleeping for the moment." He said, looking towards the bedroom. "I don't know what Morrigan did to her."
"Well, from our past experience with those devices, Morrigan caused Elyn to feel much pain." Daniel explained. "I've been on the receiving end of one of those things before, and while they aren't much fun…she should be okay after she gets some rest."
Robert nodded in understanding, but Daniel's words didn't seem to give him much comfort.
Daniel shook his head sadly, "We're so sorry, Robert."
"You had no way of knowing. No one did." Robert sighed, and then led his two visitors out of Elyn's room and into the kitchen. Once they were settled, Daniel began to speak.
"Thomas said this has happened to your ancestors before. He also told us about the journal they kept. Have you ever read in it?"
The man looked up at Daniel, his eye widened in fear. "No, we were afraid to. We didn't want Morrigan to know we still had it."
"But you still kept it all this time?" Sam asked.
"I know, it sounds ridiculous. But it's a piece of our history…Elyn's history, my history. We couldn't just get rid of something our ancestors obviously felt was so important."
"Where is the journal now?"
Robert looked around uncertainly.
"Listen, Robert, Morrigan has come." Daniel said. "She's obviously threatening your people. We need as much information as possible so we know what we're up against."
With a sigh, Robert rose from his place at the table and walked into the sitting room. He moved Elyn's rocking chair aside, pulled back a cloth rug, and revealed a small metal loop embedded in the wood. He slipped a finger into the loop and pulled two floorboards loose. After a moment of hesitation, he reached his hand into the opening he'd made, a cloth bundle. Robert replaced the flooring and the chair before unwrapping the bundle and producing a small red book. The binding had obviously seen better days, and the yellow, tattered pages betrayed the book's age. The fact that the book had survived so long in tact was nothing short of a miracle. Still, the journal seemed to be in good condition for as old as it obviously was.
'The moisture and temperature of the compartment must have been just right to have kept a book this old in such good shape.' Daniel mused to himself idly.
"Here it is." Robert said, carefully handing the book to Daniel.
Daniel turned the book over in his hands, marveling at the history he held in his hands. This book was the key, he could feel it. Everything historians and archaeologists alike had ever wondered about the disappearance of Roanoke was contained in within his grasp. The very thought excited the scholar within him.
Daniel inhaled deeply, reveling in the unique musty scent books gained with age. He was about to open the treasure, when a loud moan from the other room interrupted him.
In an instant, Robert was on his feet and running into Elyn's room. Sam got up as well, but teetered a bit as she did so.
"Are you okay?" Daniel asked, concerned.
"Yeah, I just have a slight headache. No big deal." Sam shook her head a bit, as if to clear it. "I'll go check on Elyn. You stay here and read. We have no idea when Morrigan will return…and the sooner we know what this 'Croa'tan' curse thing is, and how Morrigan will spread it, the better.
Daniel nodded in agreement and turned back to the book, opened it to the first entry, and began reading.
Some time later, Sam and Robert returned from Elyn's room. Looking over the pages of the journal, Daniel excitedly began speaking of what he had learned from the book.
"You won't believe this, Sam, it's amazing! It's a first-hand account of a Roanoke woman named Elizabeth Viccars. It starts in England just before they left for America. They were waiting for…" Daniel broke himself off in mid-sentence when he looked up and realized just how pale Sam was looking. "Uh, Sam, are you all right?"
"Yeah…what else did you find?"
Daniel gave her a quizzical look, but continued. "They were suffering from a drought and were waiting for their Governor to return with supplies from England. Of course, historically, he was delayed because of war with Spain…but that's really neither here nor there…Anyways, by the time he got back to Roanoke the colony was gone."
"Well? What exactly happened?"
"I haven't gotten that far yet, but, I did see something else here that was interesting. Apparently, Elizabeth's father gave her an heirloom. He told Elizabeth it was…" Daniel paused as he turned back several pages of the journal. "Ah! Here it is: 'An Irish heirloom. It goes back many, many generations. The legend of the ring says it was given to one of your mother's ancestors by a man who was from beyond the stars themselves. The ring was given as a gift to protect the family.'"
Daniel paused to let his words sink in before he continued. "By the description she gives, it sounds like an Irish claddagh ring."
"A man from beyond the stars gave a ring to the family for protection?" Sam repeated as she slightly rubbed the back of her neck.
"Are you sure you're okay, Sam?" Daniel asked, eyeing her suspiciously.
"I'm fine. I just must've slept wrong or something. So, what about this disease?"
"I'm getting to that part now…" Daniel said, once again burying his head into the historical document.
1590 A.D.
Upon seeing the coming triangle close-up, Elizabeth realized that what she was seeing was a pyramid, much like the ones in Egypt that she'd heard about. But she had never heard about any pyramids that could fly as quickly and easily as a bird. Elizabeth stared in amazement and fear as the large structure hovered above them, encompassing the entire area around the colony…and much, much more.
She felt the urge to run, but where was there to go? In mere minutes the pyramid had flown to the colony from beyond the horizon. There was nowhere to run.
At that moment a booming voice from above her head spoke. "I am your Queen and Master, Morrigan. Bow down to me and begin the service to your Goddess. Any who oppose me shall suffer the fate of Croa'tan!"
The resonance of the voice chilled Elizabeth to the bone. It sounded as if it had come from a demon.
A bright shaft of light appeared from the ship and stretched out to the ground directly in the center of the colony. Then there was a brighter flash of light within the shaft as various large metal rings appeared, then disappeared. And suddenly the light shaft was gone.
Standing in its wake, were three people. Two were dressed alike in metallic armor. They bore a strange symbol upon their foreheads, and were each caring large, pole-like weapons. They were stationed on either side of the third figure, a beautiful, extravagantly dressed woman with long black hair.
Calmly the woman walked around, surveying the colony and those whom she saw within it. Finally she spoke, "I am Morrigan. Who of you are prepared to serve me?"
Elizabeth held her breath and watched as no one stepped forward.
"I am your Goddess! I have given you life, and can just as easy take it from you!" Morrigan continued to pace about the colony. She smiled wickedly, "Perhaps Croa'tan will help instill faith in the power of your Goddess."
With those words, Morrigan raised her left arm, revealing a gold armband that wrapped around her hand and each of her fingers. Elizabeth watched in horror as Morrigan's eyes began to glow and an amber light shone in her palm. Without warning, a bright light from her hand burst forward in a wave, striking Audrey Tappan, one of the other female colonists. The woman was violently thrown backwards and was now lying unconscious on the ground.
Elizabeth started to run to help her friend, but was stopped by a glare from Morrigan.
"I wouldn't go too near her. The disease I've given her would be quite easy for you, or any of the other females here, to catch."
Looking around once again, Morrigan caught site of the tree trunk outside the Viccar home. With another burst of light from her palm, Elizabeth watched as the word 'CROATAN' was instantly carved into the tree.
"This mark will serve as a reminder to you …as one by one, your wives, mothers, and daughters fall ill. You may all bow before me, and I will spare them. Or they will suffer the fate of Croa'tan."
"Oh God!" Daniel whispered as the journal slipped from his hands and landed on the table with a thud. His head sunk into his hands as he thought of the enormity and the implications of the passage he had just read.
Realization flashed in his eyes as he jerked his head up to look at Sam, only to find that she was slowly slumping forward in her chair.
"Sam!" Daniel yelped as he quickly caught her just before she collapsed completely. He looked up at Robert, who motioned towards the back of his small home.
With a nod, Daniel hoisted Sam up into his arms, carried her to the guest bedroom, and gently laid her on one of the two beds in the room.
Leaning over his sick friend, Daniel checked for a pulse, and luckily there was one. But he didn't miss the burning heat emanating from her body. She was obviously running a dangerously high fever. She needed a doctor, and soon…
Daniel's thoughts came to sudden halt. He had been so preoccupied with Sam's condition; he hadn't thought the entire situation through. If the Croa'tan really only effected females, then that meant…
"Oh God, no!" Daniel jumped up, and bolted towards the exit, clicking his radio as he tried to warn the others of what had happened.
But, he was too late.
Daniel hadn't even reached the sitting room when Robert's front door was thrust open. In walked SG-3, Jack, SG-8, and Teal'c…carrying an unconscious Janet.
Just the sight of her limp body was all it took for Daniel's knees to buckle beneath him.
Fortunately, Jack was there to steady his friend. "Easy Danny." Jack said softly.
Quickly recovering, Daniel silently led Teal'c to the back bedroom that Sam occupied. Once there, Teal'c laid Janet down on the empty spare bed.
Jack's eyes widened when he saw his second in command lying unconscious in the room's other cot. "Carter, too?" He turned to Daniel. "What the hell is going on?"
But Daniel wasn't listening. He was knelt down beside Janet and was softly stroking the back of her hand. "I'm here, Janet." Jack could hear him whisper. "Don't you worry, we're going to find a way to make you better."
"Daniel." Jack said, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder.
Daniel slowly turned, and looked up into Jack's eyes. "Morrigan. She gave the colonists a disease that affects only women." Daniel's eyes drifted back down to the floor. "We knew Croa'tan was a disease, but we didn't think she had spread it yet…and now…" Daniel shook his head sadly.
"Come on, let's let them rest a bit. Then you can bring us up to speed on what's been happening around here. Meanwhile, the medical team can do what they can for Sam and Janet."
"And Elyn. She's sick, too."
"Okay. Elyn, too."
Daniel turned back to Janet and softly kissed her forehead. "I'll be right back, sweetheart." With that, Jack and Daniel walked out of the room, leaving the members of SG-8 to check on Sam and Janet's condition.
Once they had all gathered around the table in the kitchen, Daniel managed to compose himself and began to speak. "Ah, ok, long story short. Robert gave me the journal of his ancestors to read. It's a first-hand account of Morrigan's coming to earth. To coerce the colonist to serve her, Morrigan released a plague called Croa'tan that affected only the women of the colony. She did this by using a ribbon device to implant the disease into one of the colonist. The disease then spread amongst the rest of the women. Now, when we first got here, we heard that Morrigan had used a ribbon device on Elyn Viccars. But what we didn't know was that by doing so, Morrigan was giving her this disease."
"So…now what?" Jack asked.
"Actually, I'm not sure, I hadn't gotten quite that far in the journal when Sam passed out. But, since Morrigan seems to have done exactly the same thing here, we should know more about what to expect when I finish reading the journal."
"Okay, well, Daniel, you get back to doing that. Teal'c, take SG-3 and two members of SG-8 and go around the village to see how many others have been affected by this…crouton thing. I'm gonna check to see how our girls are doing."