Thanks so much for the reviews for the first chapter. Your comments have inspired me to get the second chapter posted sooner than I had originally planned. Let the adventure begin!
Chapter 2 – Mysteries Within the Temple
Sam was awake as soon as Teal'c touched her leg. Glancing at her watch, she frowned as she saw that it was an hour past her turn to stand watch. Quietly, so as not to awaken the men in the next tent, she whispered, "Why didn't you wake me earlier, Teal'c?"
"I was not tired, Major Carter, and so did not mind staying on watch longer than was originally agreed upon. I believe you needed the extra rest," he stated matter of factly.
Sam's frown deepened. What was it with the guys lately, acting like she was some green recruit or something? "Teal'c, I'm more than capable of doing my share," she reminded him a bit curtly as she slithered out of her sleeping bag and put her boots on, wincing slightly at the stiffness in her leg.
"Of that I am very aware, Major Carter," Teal'c replied, not missing the flinch. "But a good warrior knows both his weaknesses and his strengths. And in times of need, he is willing to accept the assistance offered by his comrades."
Sam looked Teal'c in the eye, marveling at both the wisdom he so often displayed in a few words and his attempt to offer help without drawing unnecessary attention. Smiling slightly, she finished tying her boots and grabbed her jacket. "Thanks Teal'c," she said quietly as she passed him, putting a hand on his shoulder to impart her gratefulness to him. Teal'c merely smiled and bobbed his head at her before lying down to rest.
An hour later, Sam could hear the men begin to stir so she set some water to boil and took out food for breakfast. Oatmeal and coffee this morning – yum! Jack exited his tent first, stretching and yawning loudly. "AHH, a beautiful morning on P7… something or other. Blue skies, warm breeze, and no pesky insects. Couldn't ask for more!" He turned to greet Sam. "Morning Carter, how are you this fine day?"
Sam smiled at him, amused by his rather cheerful morning greeting, as he was not always a morning person…sometimes quite the contrary. "I'm fine, Sir. Breakfast should be ready in 10."
"Now that's what I like to hear." He came over and sat next to her on one of the logs they had rolled over to the campsite last night. Turning slightly, he regarded her carefully, all teasing gone from his eyes. "How's the leg?" he asked without preamble. His gaze never wavered as he carefully scrutinized her for any signs of discomfort and waited for an answer.
Sam looked away for a moment before once more meeting his gaze. Knowing that the condition of each team member was essential to the outcome of the mission, she answered him truthfully. "It's still a little stiff, but a lot better than last night. As long as we're not hiking 10 kilometers today, it should be fine," she smiled at him in reassurance.
Jack gave her a smile before he slapped his thighs and stood up. "Well, no danger of that happening. We're scheduled to explore the temple for several days at least, so looks like you'll get your wish. No hiking – just looking at rocks!" he grinned down at her. "Now, I need to visit the little boy's room. If Daniel's not out in 5 minutes, you have permission to withhold his morning coffee," Jack quipped.
"That's not about to happen, Jack," Daniel called from the entrance to his tent. He ran a hand through his hair as he stood up. "Besides, Sam would never follow that order, would you Sam?"
Sam held up her hands, "Don't get me involved in this; I'm just the cook this morning."
"Heaven help us all," Jack muttered good-naturedly as he began to leave the campsite.
"I heard that sir!" Sam called after him, rolling her eyes when she heard his unmistakable laughter as he walked away.
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Two hours later, within the coolness of the temple, Sam was a picture of concentration as she set up some of her portable lab equipment. Along with studying the ruins to see if they held information that might be key in defeating Anubis or the Goa'uld, Sam had been instructed to ascertain whether there were any unusual energy readings being emitted from either the temple or the surrounding area. Her preliminary investigation in the vicinity of the temple had indicated faint energy readings along and possibly below the ravine. She wasn't certain if she was picking up the presence of naquadah or not; most likely she would have to take a trip down the ravine to find out. Something she was not looking forward to doing…or telling the Colonel about.
For now, though, Sam was running scans on the interior of the temple while Daniel was in his glory, translating the pictures and inscriptions that adorned the interior walls.
"I have never seen anything like this!" he exclaimed from the far corner of the large central room in which they were currently working. Jack didn't want any of them venturing too far initially; which was fine for the moment. The central room, about 20 by 25 feet, held enough to keep both Sam and Daniel busy for the moment. Teal'c slowly circled the room while they worked, keeping an eye on them as well as looking closely at the pictures that adorned the walls.
"What is it Daniel?" Sam asked, standing up and brushing her hands against her legs.
Daniel spared her a glance before going back to his investigation. "Over here," he pointed to the writing directly next to him, "Is an inscription in Ancient Roman. Over there, is Greek, over there; Mayan. It seems that each panel in this temple contains a separate language. Look – Egyptian!" he called excitedly as he made his way to another panel within the room.
"That's odd," Sam mused aloud. "Why so many different languages in one temple?"
Daniel spun around, his eyes bright with excitement. "My God! This could be a central meeting place, or where they held a summit! The Ancients could have come here after leaving Earth and written down what they felt was significant about each culture!"
"That's all well and good, Danny, but do you have any idea what any of these panels actually say?" Jack asked, coming up behind him and looking with interest at the walls. Usually, he didn't find this kind of thing at all interesting; quite the opposite in fact. But this, this was something rare indeed – for there were 21 different panels surrounding the perimeter of the temple's interior, all in a different language if Daniel was correct. "And are you sure it was built by the Ancients?"
"I haven't had a chance to really translate many of the panels yet, but this one," he pointed to the panel written in ancient Egyptian, his specialty, "Says that all life, no matter how varied, is sacred. Knowledge of one another will bring peace and understanding. Intolerance will bring death and destruction. That sounds a lot more likely to be an Ancient speaking than a Goa'uld, don't you think?"
Jack frowned. "Maybe, but what the hell is it supposed to mean?"
"I'm not sure, Jack, but I think this might be an attempt by whoever built this to bring about peace."
Teal'c, who had been listening intently, cocked his head in thought, then spoke. "I have heard stories about such a place Daniel Jackson. Among the Jaffa, it was referred to as a Temple of Unity. Such places were believed to be constructed by the Ancients, in the hopes of one day, reuniting and celebrating the peaceful coexistence of many races. They were rumored to hold great power."
Jack perked up at this. "Power? Like big honking space guns power?"
"I do not believe that to be the case, O'Neill," Teal'c intoned with a raised eyebrow.
"Nuts," Jack muttered. "Why are there never any cool weapons to uncover in these places?"
"Jack, this is so much more important than a weapon! This is an attempt to unite people and show them what's important! Knowledge and understanding are the keys to peace – are in fact the most powerful thing one could hope to achieve!" Daniel reiterated, his voice rising in his desire to make Jack understand the significance of the temple.
"Yeah, well, I know enough about the Goa'uld and Anubis and have no desire to "unite" with either one of them. It's not like we can bring them here, sit down, and have an intelligent, non-confrontational discussion with them, Daniel," Jack replied sarcastically.
Sam, who had remained deep in thought throughout this discussion, spoke up. "I wonder if the Ancient's had something else in mind as well." Feeling three pairs of eyes turn to her in question, she continued. "This is just speculation of course, but what if the power that Teal'c referred to is not just the power that knowledge can bring, but something different. Don't get me wrong, Daniel," she interjected quickly as Daniel sent her a betrayed look. "I agree that knowledge and understanding can be very powerful tools for peace. But I think there's something else going on here…a hidden puzzle if you will."
Daniel and Jack looked at each other in bewilderment while Teal'c just appeared deep in thought. Trying to explain where she was going, Sam walked over to the panel Daniel was standing near, the one in ancient Egyptian. "I noticed something when I first walked around the room. Each panel has a different symbol at the bottom; almost like a gate symbol really, but most of these are not familiar to me. And this small mark next to it," she pointed to a mark underneath the symbol. "This could be a numerical system, based on the subtle change from one to the next. I'm wondering if it's a code of some sort; something that they meant to keep hidden for themselves until such a time as they might need it. Or if someone else needed it."
"Like a big honking space gun?" Jack asked hopefully. "We definitely need one of those!"
Sam shot him an amused smile. "I doubt it Sir, but who knows."
Daniel looked doubtful. "I think you might be stretching here, Sam."
Sam shrugged, "Maybe. But there is something else here; my portable scanners are picking up faint energy readings from within the temple."
All business once again, Jack came over to her. "Can you tell what it is?"
"No sir, but it seems to be coming from somewhere other than this main chamber." Sam walked over to a dark corridor that branched off of the main room. She held her flashlight and illuminated the hallway. "I think we're going to have to go down these corridors, Sir. See what's down there."
Jack sighed. "Yeah, I knew you were going to say that eventually." He was rather hoping they wouldn't have to do that just yet as it meant splitting the group up. There was not just one corridor leading away from the main chamber, but two, and they were equally dark, crumbling and rather eerie looking, though Jack wouldn't admit that last fact in a million years. He sighed again. "Ok, let's take a break, then we'll explore the corridors. Hopefully we'll find something other than flowery words about peace and understanding."
Daniel grunted at that comment, then turned back to study the panels. A few minutes later, Jack called him over to eat something before they set off to explore more of the temple.
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Jack stood peering down the closest tunnel, frowning in thought. Daniel was going to stay in the main chamber in order to continue translating the panels. He wanted to leave Teal'c with him, as Daniel was notorious for getting into trouble. That meant both he and Sam went down one tunnel together, then the next, or they split up and each took one. Since splitting up was not something he was willing to do at this point, the first option was the one they would go with.
Jack turned back to Teal'c and Sam, who stood waiting patiently for his decision. "OK, here's the deal. Carter and I will explore this corridor first, come back and report, then go down the next one. T, I want you to stay here and keep an eye on Danny, but keep your radio on in case we need you."
"Jack," Daniel interrupted, "I am perfectly capable of being on my own for the 30 minutes it will take you to explore the corridors. You'll get done twice as quickly if Teal'c takes one hallway and you and Sam take the other."
"Yes, Danny, I know that. I also know your knack for getting into… situations. No, none of us split up. We don't know for sure if this temple was erected by the Ancients or the Gou'ald, and I am not willing to walk into a trap if it's the latter," Jack stated decisively.
Daniel looked at Sam and shrugged in acceptance before turning back to the panel he was currently studying. Teal'c handed Sam her pack before saying, "I will remain on alert, O'Neill."
"OK. We'll check in every 15 minutes and hopefully be back in 30. Ready Carter?" he asked as he clipped his weapon onto his vest and tightened various other straps.
"Ready Sir," Sam responded, taking her flashlight in hand and turning it on.
"All right then, off to see the wizard," Jack quipped as he turned on his own flashlight and led the way down the first corridor.
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"Could this place be any less creepy?" Jack asked as they slowly meandered down the long, dark corridor. Spider webs hung from various corners, stretching aimlessly across the hallway and brushing against their faces. Jack irritably brushed yet another of the sticky webs away from his face as he came to a stop beside Sam. She was leaning over, brushing at something on the wall.
"There's another one of those symbols here, sir, just like the ones at the bottom of the panels. They have to mean something," Sam muttered to herself, though Jack heard her quite clearly in the close confines of the corridor. They had made their way about halfway down the corridor in the last 15 minutes, taking the time to stop and examine the symbols that were chiseled into the walls every 15 feet or so. Jack had just radioed back to Teal'c to let him know of their progress and was relieved to hear that nothing untoward had happened to Daniel…yet.
Sam took out a small notebook and copied down the symbol, as she had done with the previous ones. Then she straightened and turned, bumping into Jack rather abruptly. "Oh! Sorry Sir," she stammered, thankful for the darkness that hid her blush. "I didn't realize you were standing right there." Jack had come up behind her to peer over her shoulder at the newest symbol and hadn't backed away in time. His hand had automatically come out to grasp her arm in order to steady her.
"No problem, Carter," he replied, looking down at her and holding her gaze a bit longer than necessary, before looking away and clearing his throat. "You ready to continue the grand tour? I'm sure there are more of these interesting symbols down the way; oh about another 15 feet or so?" He let his arm drop to his side as he stepped out of the way to let her pass.
Sam chuckled as she passed him, glad for the light-hearted comment from her CO. Though they had been working together for seven years now, they occasionally came across these awkward moments, where she felt something besides friendship stir within her at their close proximity, and she had to work hard to quell the feelings.
Jack watched her pass him and grimaced in self-recrimination. He too, had felt the awkward moment. Had in fact wanted to look into her eyes for a few minutes longer, but had to force himself back to the present. Even since her disappearance aboard the Prometheus and her recent near-miss at the Alpha site, Jack found his thoughts turning to Sam more and more. He felt more protective, more worried, and more hopeless in the face of their situation. Add that Pete character into the mix, and Jack was a bundle of nerves; spending long hours in the gym in order to work off some of the increased stress he'd been feeling lately. He was probably in the best condition of his life because of it; minus the knees of course!
Shaking himself from his reverie, Jack followed Sam on their slow trek down the corridor. As predicted, she came to a stop another fifteen feet down the long passageway. Sam shined her light on the symbol in front of her, then across at the opposite wall, wrinkling her brow in confusion at what she found there.
"Something wrong, Carter?" Jack came to a stop beside her and followed her light to the opposite wall.
"Not something so much wrong, as unusual, Sir. This corridor has symbols every fifteen feet or so, on the left side here," she began to explain.
"Yeah, I got that part Carter. Have I not been stopping while you copy the symbols in your little book there?"
Sam threw him an exasperated glance before continuing. "Yes, sir. But this time, the symbol is on both sides of the corridor; and it's the same symbol. It's got to be significant somehow," she muttered to herself.
"Well, we'll let Danny help us figure out what it might or might not mean. You just copy them down and we'll be on our merry way. Don't forget, we have a whole other corridor to explore!"
Sam nodded and went to work, quickly copying the symbol then taking a moment to brush her hand over its surface. When Jack walked ahead of her a few feet, shining his light down the corridor to see how much further they had to go, Sam crossed to the other side to more closely examine the other symbol. While they both looked the same at first glance, there were some differences. Both symbols consisted of a circle with three lines that intersected within its center, forming a small triangle. The symbol on the right side of the corridor had something additional; five small lines on the top of the circle, shooting out like rays from the sun. They also appeared to be more deeply carved into the wall.
Sam lightly brushed her fingers over the five lines at the top of the circle, one at a time, comparing their depth to that of the circle and to the symbol on the opposite wall. Jack had turned at that moment, shining his light on her, to see her hand on the wall. "Carter! What have I said about touching things?"
His sharp voice startled Sam so that she lost her balance and inadvertently pressed her hand into the middle of the circle. She pulled her hand back quickly, but it was too late; with an ominous rumbling, the floor beneath her dropped suddenly. Sam had time to throw Jack a look of panic, hear his equally panicked shout of "Carter!" before she disappeared beneath the floor and the tile closed up, covering the place she had been standing.