A/N: Ok, so this is a bit of a massive update – I just didn't want to split it into two chapters. We're really close to the end now, but indications are that there could be a sequel… or at least some characters that come back in future fics…
Thank you all so much for the great reviews. I'm so glad that people are seeing this fic through – it's gotten so ridiculously long (much longer than I ever thought it would be) that I'm all the more impressed you're taking the time to read it! I can't thank everyone cos you're getting abit too numerous - my already bulbous notes would get too big! I must, however, thank Longstoryshort - I'm glad you liked my ethics... and I agree it's a pity that the "lying rodent" has none!
Alrighty... and we're off again!
Chapter XXIII – Spiralling ochre
Stacey was astounded to find herself in a dark, quiet, eerily-lit bluish cavern. She took her shaking hand away from the wall where it was pressed into the smooth rock and looked around. Quickly enough, she realised where she was. The two lifeless bodies lying a couple of metres away from her on the ground, the strange orb floating in the middle of the empty space, the myriad of inscriptions on almost every inch of the walls surrounding her… all these factors told her she'd unwittingly transported herself to the cavern where Jack and Sam had been trapped all that time.
Her breathing was heavy, the adrenaline pumping through her system, even though she knew there shouldn't be any danger. Turramulli was contained, and apart from Fodor, there was no-one else. Besides, she was sure Jack would be down in a moment. Despite these rationalisations, she found herself shrinking back into the wall upon hearing the slight shuffling noise of someone approaching.
"I am pleased to inform you, Major Carter and Colonel O'Neill," Fodor was speaking in the same calm voice as always as he approached the cavern, "that the naquada stores appear to be untouched-" he stopped short, realising that the woman who had frozen on the opposite side of the cavern was neither of the humans he had come to know.
For his part, Fodor also froze, remembering his encounter with the other inexperienced humans who had come through the hand-transport. "I implore you," his expression was now almost more fearful than Stacey's, "do not harm me. I am not an enemy." He waited, holding his breath, for some kind of sign from Stacey.
Stacey relaxed quickly once she saw Fodor, almost shrinking further into the wall with relief. She didn't know what she'd expected, but meeting a grey alien wasn't something that happened every day – and this was the second she'd met on this particular day. She'd expected Fodor to look more like Thor though, and his slightly larger appearance had momentarily thrown her off-guard. Quickly enough, she saw that he was actually more scared of her than she was of him. Slowly pushing herself off the wall and standing upright, she moved hesitantly towards him, trying not to cause him any further alarm.
"It's ok." She said quietly. "Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter are just talking to our superiors on top of the rock – you must be Fodor." She thrust her arm out to shake his hand, trying to stop it from shaking. In her mind, she knew there was no danger – but her instincts were still slightly cautious. "I'm Captain Stacey Hindmarsh – I just came down here by accident… I'm sure they'll be down in a second to check I'm ok…"
As she said those words, there was a low rumbling and the portion of the wall she had been touching was suddenly infused with an iridescent blue. The colour covered the section of wall before seemingly pushing outwards into a bubble. When that receded, Jack and Sam reappeared, the latter clasping the former's hand.
"Captain!" Jack exclaimed with scandalised delight. "Didn't your mother ever tell you not to play with alien technology?" He was grinning at her, not at all angry. "I see you've met Fodor," he nodded in the alien's direction. "Everything in order buddy?"
"Indeed O'Neill that is so." Fodor nodded politely. "I see there are others who, like you, have the ability to function the alien technology."
"So it would seem," Jack raised his eyebrows at Stacey. "Been keeping secrets, Captain?"
"Oh no sir!" Stacey answered promptly, not sure if he was being serious or not. "I don't know what came over me… I just…"
"You just had to push your hand into the ground, it was like being attracted to it with magnets or something?" Jack completed her sentence, knowing exactly what she must have felt – as he had felt it too. Stacey nodded in silent agreement.
"Actually Captain, it's really good we made this discovery," Sam stepped in to try and reassure the young Australian officer. "This way, you can take over the transport of personnel etc while we collect the naquada."
"She's right," Jack nodded in Sam's direction, before adding, "In fact, Carter's always right – but that's a discussion for another time." He grinned at Sam squeezing the hand that was still clasped in hers, before reaching for the Tok'ra device that he'd judiciously made sure was on his person before transporting back into the cavern.
"Sir? D'you read?" he spoke in his most respectful soldier voice.
"Yes Colonel," General Marty's voice came over the airwaves. "I take it you have located Captain Hindmarsh and all is well?" There was a glimmer of uncertainty in the General's voice.
"Oh yeah," Jack allowed a hint of amusement to lace his tone, "She was having a fine old chat with Fodor – not a care in the world."
"Uh, right." General Marty coughed. "So I imagine we can move forward with the task at hand now…"
"Yes sir." Jack motioned for Stacey to approach. "Due to Captain Hindmarsh's excellent conduct through this ordeal – and the fact that she can work this thing – we were thinking she could take care of the transportation while Carter and I scout around for the Naquada."
"Um.. Colonel?" Stacey moved towards him hesitantly, causing him to break off his communication with the surface for a moment. "I'm flattered you would consider me to do this, but I honestly have no idea how to work the transport device – I only got down here by accident!"
"It's ok Captain – all you have to do is think." Jack glanced at Sam as he said the next few words, grinning cheekily. "If even I can manage that – then you'll have no problem."
Sam rolled her eyes at Jack's attempt at a joke – she didn't know if it was just her, or whether they were actually getting lamer. "From what I've seen," she directed her attention to Stacey, who was still looking somewhat overwhelmed at being expected to operate technology that was thousands of years old, "the system forges a link with your conscious and subconscious mind, reacting most forcefully to empathic and emotional impulses." Stacey was nodding thoughtfully as Sam continued. "None of that will matter if you're just dealing with the transportation – all you have to do is concentrate on your desire to bring people in, or take yourself out."
"You might wanna keep away from the orb, though," Jack added nodding to the enticing floating object. "That's how we got into the whole mess – that's how Turramulli was let out in the first place."
Stacey looked at the orb in horror, and then moved her eyes to look at the two dead bodies on the ground, understanding what must have happened. Every time she looked at the smooth, clear sphere in the middle of the cavern, it was true she wanted to go and touch it, but until she was more prepared for the power involved, she resolved to do her best to stay away.
Jack saw her looking nervously from the bodies to the orb and back to him. He had no doubt of the Aussie's abilities, as what he'd seen of her so-far was no less than remarkable considering she'd only just learned of the stargate, aliens, and the like. He moved slightly closer to her, releasing Sam's hand from his grasp reluctantly, and looked Stacey straight in the eye.
"You are made for this job Captain." he said sincerely, "In fact, I think we'd be nuts to leave Australia without taking you back to the SGC – that is, if you want?"
Stacey nodded, feeling the anxiety drain out of her as excitement fuelled a renewed sense of purpose. If someone had told her a week ago that she would be working towards ensuring Earth's safety against a hostile alien race… well she didn't even know what she would have done, it was so ridiculous. And here she was, apparently one of the few capable of manipulating alien technology. Her mind boggled.
"Ok sir?" Jack had returned his attention to the communication device. "We're ready for the first transport. Has Jonas figured everything out at that end?"
"Yes Colonel." General Marty didn't sound impatient at the fact that he had been kept waiting. Like Jack, he had come to understand the other man's point of view and was vastly more tolerant when it came to working together. "You will be joined by the rest of your team, Bruce and Dougie – I mean, Sergeant Mayne and Mr Goonagulla – and some of my men who will take care of Fletcher and McGregor…"
Jack listened patiently as General Marty outlined the tasks that needed to be completed. He knew that in actual fact, the General was probably repeating everything that Jonas and Siler had told him should happen – but it didn't hurt to humour him anyway. After a couple of minutes, however, his patience had waned and he spoke into the communicator.
"Sir? We're all ready if you are. Just let us know when everyone's in position." Jack spoke without pausing, so as not to let the General re-launch into his listing of every single detail. "Will you be coming down to have a look?"
There was a slight pause as Jack waited for the General's response. "Uh, no Colonel," came the forced reply. "I have been conversing with your technician, Sergeant Siler, and we are about to enter a video conference with some people at your SGC to speak of the cover story – which will hopefully be presented to the media at dawn. We've only got a couple of hours."
Jack smiled at this response, knowing full well that the General would do anything he could to avoid actually being confronted with alien technology – there was no way he would considering being beamed a couple of hundred metres underground.
"Ok Captain," he nodded to Stacey, "she's all yours." He waited for Stacey to move over to the hand-print embossed on the small section of wall that was free of any inscriptions.
Stacey took a deep breath as she moved towards the spot on the wall that Jack and Fodor indicated. She looked hesitantly at the audience watching him before touching the spot on the wall that seemed to be calling to her from somewhere within.
"It's ok Captain," Jack said gently, "just keep your mind focussed on getting people down here. They should just appear."
Stacey nodded that she understood, closed her eyes, and firmly placed her palm on the wall, trying to push the uncertain thoughts out of her mind, focussing instead on the task at hand. As it had happened when she had suddenly been transported into the cavern. A great roaring sound of wind rushed through her ears, threatening to overpower all her other senses. At the same time, though her closed eyelids, she could perceive a great surge in the bluish light that infused every space of the cavern. As if by magic, the sensory cascade stopped sharp, only to be replaced by the sound of four people simultaneously gasping in awe at their surrounds.
"Jee…. Whiz…" Bruce couldn't believe his eyes. One minute he had been standing under the glare of lights in the still dark early hours of morning on top of Uluru, the next it was as if he'd landed in some Bond-villain's cave.
"Indeed, this is a wondrous structure," Teal'c stated clearly, surveying the scene for any kind of danger that might present itself. Finding none, he turned to Fodor. "Thor sends his regards, Fodor." Teal'c nodded slowly to the Asgard ancestor. "He is currently transporting an alien hostile outside of this galaxy, but expressed his desire to retrieve your from this cavern to allow you to return to your homeworld."
Fodor's eyes widened slightly upon hearing these words. He glanced behind him before replying. "As much as that would please me, I do not believe it wise to leave Turramulli unguarded in this bunker – especially as it appears that certain of this planet's people have the ability to access it."
"Fodor, no one is more worried about that than us." Sam moved towards the alien as she spoke, trying tor reassure him. "The transportation site will from now on be off limits to any non-authorised personnel – and I am sure that we would be happy to guard the cavern in the absence of the Asgard."
"And anyway, I'm sure Thor's got some kinda plan." Jack added his two cents' worth, keeping his eye on the new arrivals. "We can figure all that out when Thor gets back anyway."
Jonas and Doug hadn't yet spoken, both absolutely transfixed by their surroundings. Jonas was making a slow circumnavigation of the cavern, taking note of which language appeared where, and the general gist of what it was saying. Doug was following eagerly, pointing out sections that were in Aboriginal dialects, or had pictograms for which he understood the meaning.
"This is the story of the Quinkins – good and bad." Doug was saying, passing a particularly rich section of pictograms. "And here – this is the tale of the rainbow serpent… I can't believe it's all here. This is… amazing."
"Something tells me you guys aren't gonna wanna leave any time soon?" Jack asked ironically, glancing at Sam as he spoke to the mesmerised language experts.
"Well no, Colonel." Jonas forced his eyes away from the wealth of knowledge on the walls long enough to respond. "I recommend setting up a long-term study of all this information – although I know General Marty probably won't be too happy about it."
"Oh I don't know," Stacey said enigmatically. "Seeing as I'm the only person other than you, Colonel, who seems to be able to operate the site, that means it would probably be an Australian operation at the base of things."
"But what about Uluru?" Bruce snorted coarsely. "We can't keep it blocked off to the public for ever – the media's already going nuts!"
"So we pretend to be civilians…" Stacey answered without blinking. "Rope off the area around the transportation site as sacred – no-one allowed to enter into it… and perform the operations after hours."
"Sounds like you're coming up with a plan there Captain," Jack nodded approvingly. "But that's all for later. For now…" he looked around the room, calculating the course of action for all those present, delegating tasks. "For now, we need to find that naquada. Jonas and Stacey, I want you to stay in here." He saw Jonas about to protest, but cut him off. "You can start surveying all the information here Jonas, taking pictures and whatnot… and Stacey, we need you near the hand-print to be able to transport people in and out – keep the Tok'ra device on you." He threw the communicator over to her. "Teal'c, Bruce," he nodded to the soldiers, "I want you to explore the caves a bit, see how big this thing is, find out if there's any danger other than Turramulli we should be worried about." He finally turned back towards Sam and Fodor. "You guys are with me – and Dougie?" He turned to the aboriginal. "You should come along with us – I wanna be sure we understand everything written on the walls at this naquada store – Carter can take care of anything in Goa'uld and Fodor can help with the Ancient or Asgard, but we don't want any suprises."
"I do not believe that will be necessary, Colonel O'Neill." Fodor blinked serenely, rather taken aback by Jack's authoritative and military posture now that everything was largely back to normal for him.
"You're probably right," Sam glanced between Jack and Fodor, resting her gaze on the latter, "But we'd like to be sure, ok?"
Fodor merely nodded in assent, giving Jack the only cue he needed. In the absence of any other protest. He addressed Stacey one more time. "Siler should be on the other end of that Tok'ra doohickey," he pointed towards the communication device. "I told him to keep in contact every 15 minutes." He waited until Stacey nodded before turning around and striding off into the tunnel Fodor had indicated as the right one. "Let's move out," he added for effect, as everyone followed the orders laid out for them.
"Major Carter?" Doug didn't want to cause a scene, and approached her quietly, while Jack was striding out in front, barely waiting for Fodor as the poor alien tried to keep up. "I didn't want to say anything beforehand, but I feel a rising conflict of interest with the talk of a continued military presence at this site." He saw Sam's body language change slightly, twinging with empathy for his position, and continued. "This whole discovery is just mind-blowing – at the same time it provides incredible insight into our mythological heritage, but also, it compromises our beliefs."
Sam looked at Doug carefully, impressed at the way he was taking all the events of the past couple of days. For anyone, the discovery of the true nature of the galaxy was a shock, but for this man, it was directly relevant to everything he knew and believed. "The dreamtime was creation for your people," she nodded, grasping what he was driving at. "Admitting that instead it consisted of an alien planet must be difficult." She saw him nod silently, and felt all the more sympathy for him. "I assure you, we will do our best to ensure that Uluru is left alone as soon as possible." She placed a hand on his arm to reinforce her message. "But you must understand, that as long as Turramulli is confined here, there will be the necessity for some kind of presence, whether it be human or Asgard."
Doug nodded, relieved that his concerns were at least understood by the American. "I am grateful that you are sympathetic to my beliefs." He smiled nervously at her. "I just hope our respective governments can act accordingly."
"I understand there is some friction between your people and the Australian authorities." Sam nodded. "We'll do our best – I promise you."
Jack had slowed down and was now walking just in front of Sam and Doug. He had heard the last section of this conversation and turned around to agree with what Sam had said. "Don't worry – Jonas'll make sure we treat this whole thing with respect," he waved his arms around, referring to Uluru and everything that was within it. "He's like Daniel that way." He added quietly, looking at Sam poignantly. She smiled back at him, quickening her pace slightly so they were now side-by-side.
They continued walking in silence. According to Fodor, the cache was located even further underground than the cavern, and the descend was a long one. Doug had moved ahead of Sam and Jack, and was now talking quietly to Fodor, his expression one of anxious fascination as he probed the alien for knowledge surrounding the myths and fables that had shaped his life. Jack watched them carefully, reassuring himself that they weren't paying attention to him, before quickly slipping his hand into Sam's.
"You ok, Carter?" he said softly, keeping his eyes ahead.
Sam flinched as she felt the touch of his coarse skin on hers, but made no move to pull away. Her heart skipped a beat as she did this, but she did her best to stay professional – they were no longer trapped in a separate world. "I'm fine sir," her voice became thick as she said the words, fighting the desire to tell him how unsure she was about everything, how scared she was that he only wanted her in secret, not for real – despite everything they'd shared. Most of all, however, she was petrified that they had crossed a line that would have significant consequences for both their careers. Their actions could compromise both their positions at the SGC – something they couldn't afford to do with the continuing goa'uld threat that presided over their every move.
"Yeah, that was convincing." Jack whispered with a hint of humour in his voice, squeezing her hand. He looked at her as they walked, reaching his other hand to her cheek, turning her face towards his so she could see the sincerity in his eyes. "I know we've left a lot unsaid," he whispered as they both stopped still for a moment, Fodor and Doug continuing ahead. "But I promise that we'll talk when this is all over. I don't want to go back to the way we were before – you know that, right?"
Sam smiled in relief at these words, and had to almost mentally pinch herself to keep from kissing him furiously. Instead, she squeezed his hand back and started walking again, seeing with relief that neither Doug nor Fodor seemed to have noticed anything.
Fodor stopped abruptly at a seemingly innocuous section of the tunnel, causing both Sam and Jack to stumble in an effort not to run into him.
"What, it's here?" Jack exclaimed incredulously. "Anyone else see any difference in this particular section of wall from the other hundreds of feet we've passed in the last 15 minutes?"
Fodor paid no attention to these exclamations, and merely pointed to the relevant section. "Indeed this section of wall is different from the others, O'Neill." He motioned for everyone to take a closer look. "Where the gradations on the side of the rest of the tunnel are random, here, they are not. Instead, they announce the existence of the naquada store."
Sam moved passed Jack, releasing her hand from his comfortable grasp, to study the area indicated by Fodor. To her surprise, she saw that he was right. You wouldn't see it at first, but the seemingly random patterns of blue that covered most of the tunnel network came to form both goa'uld, ancient, and a third language – interspersed with each other. She looked more closely at the goa'uld symbols that she recognised and saw the telling phrase: 'solid blood of the spirits.' She turned to Jack, her eyes wide. "He's right sir, it says it here – this is where the naquada should be."
Jack merely nodded, taking her word for it. After all, when was she ever wrong? He could, however, see a mildly important hitch. "Ok, but where exactly? All I see is a space of wall with some mildly incomprehensible writing on it…"
"This is but the entrance to the cache, O'Neill." Fodor blinked at Jack, "it is only accessible to the Ancients – however I imagine with your demonstrated capabilities you, too, would succeed in accessing the space."
Jack moved forward, his hand outstretched, searching for the tell-tale pull of the Ancient technology to guide him. The sound of Carter's voice stopped him just as he thought he felt something.
"Sir, wait." Sam reached out to pull at his arm. "Fodor," she looked quickly to the alien. "Are you sure this is just the entrance to the naquada store, and not another transportation mechanism?"
Jack pulled his hand back even further as Sam said this. He didn't fancy being transported to some unknown location – again. Thankfully, he saw Fodor nod his head.
"I have witnessed the Ancients access the cave, Major Carter." He said. "A space in the wall opens to reveal another tunnel that leads to a cave."
"But you've never actually been in there?" Jack asked, still suspicious, his hand wavering as the pull of a certain patch of wall seemed to become stronger.
"No, however I am certain you have nothing to fear," Fodor stated calmly. "You will not be transported anywhere."
"Ok…" Jack hesitated before succumbing to the sense within him telling him to touch the wall at a particular spot. He felt Sam touch his arm as he did so – no doubt to make sure they weren't separated should it actually be a transportation device.
Thankfully, there was no roaring sound of air rushing through their ears; there were no flashes of light heralding the now familiar sensation of Ancient-driven transport. Instead, there was a smooth sound, not unlike that made by the iris which covered the stargate. The sound was accompanied by the intriguing sight of seemingly solid rock shifting and moving in an outward spiral, clearing a modestly sized opening to another tunnel, much the same as all the others they had already walked down.
Everyone present let out a breath they hadn't realised they had been holding in. "Don't know what you were all worried about!" Jack joked as he stepped through the opening in the wall and moved down the tunnel, a spring to his step.
They approached the cave at the end of the tunnel with anticipation, realising that finally they were approaching their target. Sam quickened her pace subconsciously, almost breaking out into a run as they rounded the corner that led into the cave. When they got there, however…
"Nothin'!" Jack raised his hand into the air and looked around as if he would find the answers somewhere on the ceiling of the cave. "Absolutely nothing!" He whirled around to look at Fodor – what on Earth were these Ancients playing at?" He turned further to look at Sam. "Just once – once – could something be simple?"
He shook his head dejectedly as Sam and Doug moved over to study the many inscriptions that covered the inner wall of the cave. It seemed just like the great cavern – minus the orb of course; but none of that mattered considering there was apparently no naquada. He was about to order that they return to the main cavern to break the news to the other when Doug spoke.
"Hang on, Colonel," he said excitedly. "I've got something here – this is a set of instructions. It tells us where this naquada stuff is!"
"Well?" Jack appealed, his eyes wide open and his eyebrows high on his forehead. "Where is it then?"
Sam moved to where Doug was, but saw quickly enough that the language he was reading wasn't goa'uld. She saw the section he was looking at and moved in to take a closer look. "Is that where it says it?" she asked, encouraging him gently.
"Yes," Doug answered distractedly, as he was concentrating on deciphering the inscriptions. "But I don't really understand the reference, it says here that the naquada is among the birds at 'plenty of fish'…" he looked around to Jack apologetically. "That's really what it says, Colonel – I'm sorry."
Jack almost laughed at what Doug had said. "This is making even less sense than that crazy Buddhist crap that that Oma chick kept coming up with at Kheb!" He walked over to where Doug and Sam were now intently studying the incomprehensible section of wall.
As he moved across the cave, however, he passed the direct centre of the space. A strange feeling ran through him as he set foot there, causing him to pause.
Sam looked around just as the dirt on the floor of the cave started to swirl around Jack. Where before it had seemed to be normal, inactive, sediment at their feet, now it was glowing a deep ochre – the same colour as Uluru itself, threatening to engulf Jack in a localised dust storm. Without thinking, she launched herself across the small space between them and grabbed onto him, shouting at Doug to alert the others – but not to follow before knowing it was safe. No sooner had the words exited her mouth, they both disappeared from sight.
TBC
A/N: Gotta love a good cliff-hanger, don't we?
I sincerely doubt that anyone will manage to guess where they've gone – and I'd be truly astonished if someone non-Australian did. That being said, the key clue is there in what Doug said: 'plenty of fish'…
I'm going to try and update as soon as possible, but I'm working a 7 day week this week – as well as still going to classes… the thesis may be over, but after a brief celebration over the weekend, I'm back into the fray. I'm sure it won't be a whole week before I update, but we're at least looking at a couple of days!
In the meantime, please review! The more feedback I get, the more resolved I am to update quickly!