---------P3X-454 Ruins, Mid-morning, Day 5---------
Torchlight bathed the unnaturally smooth walls in a soft, yellow glow and illuminated numerous cuneiform-like hash marks scratched into the granite surface with laser precision. Doctor Daniel Jackson, a studious expression scrawled over his boyish features, stepped back to examine his latest bit of artistic handiwork. Not that it could really be called art, yet he knew it took a subtle hand to capture just the right level of detail in an archeological rubbing. Too heavy or too light and the end result wouldn't even be fit to hang up as kindergarten refrigerator scribble, let alone provide a serious tool of academic research. After a great deal of trial and error, he had finally perfected a technique that worked to his satisfaction, and this time was no exception. Crisply defined edges greeted his eager blue eyes as they roved over the tracing parchment's surface, giving him a near perfect representation of the wall it had been taken from.
"He shoots, he scores." Daniel muttered under his breath with a self-satisfied smile.
"Funny," the dry witted voice of Jack O'Neill cut through his enthusiasm like a hot knife through butter "I pictured you as more of a Jeopardy man."
"Oh, hey Jack." Daniel said attempting his old ploy of feigning surprise, and instantly chided himself for resulting to such a juvenile trick "I was…uh…just…are we leaving already?"
"WE were leaving thirty minuets ago so we could make it back to the Stargate before nightfall. You remember nightfall on this planet don't you Daniel? I believe you referred to them as neo-arctic conditions, and proceeded to curse the fates that you had left your thermal undies back home." Jack stood behind him, arms crossed and feet planted firmly apart. He looked every bit like an over protective older brother "You remember freezing your ass off don't you?"
Daniel had the grace to look apologetic as he turned away to adjust his glasses "Yeah, I remember, but I was starting to make some real progress here Jack. Give me five more minutes; I just need to get a shot of that obelisk over there and…."
"Daniel!" Jack started to raise his voice, and then visibly took control of his irritation "We really need to go. Something has come up, and we're in danger if we stay here much longer."
"What's going on?" Daniel quickly rolled the parchment he was carrying and stashed it in a protected map tube. Part of him resented being treated like a child, but it was the dynamic that had always existed between Jack and him. To Daniel, whose parents died when he was very young, it felt comfortable and familiar, so he rarely voiced his irritation.
"Oh, you know, just a few Jaffa, merciless system lords…the usual." Jack bent down and helped him pack.
Daniel froze, momentarily bewildered and sputtered "Jaffa? System lords? This planet wasn't even on the Abydos cartouche. Which one is it?"
"Keep packing." Jack tossed him a small wooden box containing various sketching tools "Some guy that tears out people's hearts on a regular basis. He used to hang around with Ra. He's name is, well, it's weird, sounds kind of like Saab, but it's got Teal'c's and Carter's backs up. His Jaffa have crocodile heads on their armor, if that helps." He shrugged "Other than that, I've only gotten overly dramatic gasps of fear. I was about to ask you if you knew anything about him."
"Neqaui-hatu? You mean Sobk, son of Hathor and Ra? Holy shit Jack!" Daniel snatched up his backpack and shouldered it quickly "If the Goa'uld is anything like the myth, we're in trouble."
"Why am I the only one who doesn't know about this Sobitch guy?" Jack groaned in mock exasperation, finally eliciting a dry grin from his young teammate "Come on, it's not panic time yet. They're still a mile and a half away from our position. We should be able to outflank them and make it back to the gate first. So what do you know about Sobk?"
Daniel paused once more to nervously adjust his glasses before dropping his pack "Well, the Ancient Egyptians called him 'Eater of the Dead'. They believed in order for a person's soul, or ka, to enter the afterlife, they had to be free from all earthly sins and duties."
"Sounds familiar," Jack frowned "but in America, we call it Catechism."
Oblivious to Jack's dry humor, or perhaps just use to it by now, Daniel only nodded enthusiastically "Yes, it's similar. All world religions, whether polytheistic or monotheistic, have some basic core elements in common."
Jack slowly closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose "Daniel…blah. You were telling me about Godzilla…."
The young archeologist blushed, thankful it was hidden in the color draining light of his torch "Yeah, sorry. Well, the Egyptians thought when a person's ka went to the afterlife, their heart was brought before Osiris to be weighed against a feather. If the decedent's heart was lighter than the feather, he or she was granted eternal life in Amenti."
"Let me guess," Jack interrupted with a sigh "if it was heavier than the feather, the person got fed to Sobk."
Daniel nodded grimly "Something like that, yes. There was no greater punishment, at least for an Ancient Egyptian, than to be denied eternal life, but there's more Jack. Priests of Sobk, or the Hem ka Sobk as they were called, acted as a sort of guerilla squad or ancient version of the SS. They made a point of stalking those they considered evil doers like human prey and sending them to an early judgment. As a memento or a trophy, they would take either the victims heart or liver to devour as a sacrifice to their god. They believed they were consuming the evil doer's soul in the process." Daniel paused in his explanation. "Jack, I can only imagine what a Goa'uld would do."
Jack cleared his throat and winced, clearly imagining the prospects "Yeah…. That's pretty much what Teal'c said. Come on, get your pack and let's get the hell out of here."
Colonel, we've got a situation back here. Over? Carter's voice crackled from their radios in true storm crow fashion.
"Aw Hell." Jack swore and touched the transmit button on his radio unit "Carter, I read you. What's going on?"
Sir, the Jaffa party just came under fire from an unknown source, and has stopped advancing on our position.
O'Neill's frown deepened as he touched his transmitter once more "Does it look like anyone we know?"
Negative Sir. Whoever this attacker was, she wasn't wearing any type of Gou'ald, or Tok'Ra armor I recognized. She looked human, at least from what I can make out at this distance, and was using some sort of energy weapon I've never seen before.
Daniel frowned "This world was supposed to be abandoned. MALP telemetry indicated no current indigenous civilization, human or otherwise."
Jack, however, had focused on one particular word in Carter's brief narrative "She was, as in past tense?"
She fought well, O'Neill, and the Hem ka took many casualties. Teal'c's rich voice added But she was outmatched, and eventually succumbed to enemy fire, I believe her to be only stunned at this time.
"What's our current status?" Jack lapsed into his combat mindset, instantly prepared to formulate odds as soon as Carter reported numbers.
Three Jaffa dead, two wounded Carter reported crisply The unknown attacker was taken into the forest by Croc Guards. They appear to be headed back down the path we saw them approaching from earlier. Sir, if everything I remember from Jolinar's memories is true, the prisoner is as good as dead.
"Carter, hold your position, Daniel and I are on our way out." Jack ordered sharply.
"Jack!" Daniel gaped "We can't just leave here right now. I'm only half way through with this translation, and I've found some pretty incredible stuff! This temple complex may be why the Goa'uld are here to begin with."
"Daniel," Jack replied neutrally "there's a group of highly pissed off, flesh-eating Jaffa traipsing through the forest below. May I point out they are between us and the main way on or off this planet? Somehow, I don't see them leaving it unguarded. Not only are you asking us to stay behind in a hostile situation, but you want us to hang out in the same place the enemy might be headed? Why not just send up flairs? Better yet, we can have Teal'c hand deliver engraved invitations to kick our asses. If we stand a snowball's chance in hell of getting off this world in one piece, it's got to be before Sobe's kids send for reinforcements."
"What about the woman they just took prisoner?" Daniel challenged "Can you just leave her behind to suffer god only knows what kind of torture? According to the MALP she's not suppose to be here either. Is it such a leap to think she might have come here to defend this place? What if she's the key to everything? Jack, Sam just told you that this woman single-handedly took out three Jaffa and wounded two others with some type of advanced energy weapon. She could be part of some undiscovered race that uses the gate like we do. Can you imagine what we could learn from her?"
"It's too risky, Daniel. This was supposed to be a survey trip, and we came equipped for a survey trip. We have no heavy artillery, no SG-7, and no immediate way to dial for backup or additional supplies. I can't risk our lives on speculation and hunches!" Jack growled, his impatience starting to show.
Daniel's jaw tightened stubbornly "Jack, for some reason, this world has become very important to a very nasty Goa'uld. To our knowledge, they've never been here before. It's not on any of their navigational charts we've ever translated. That means Sobk either stumbled onto this planet by accident, or…."
"Or he was looking for it all along." Jack finished, seeming to deflate a little.
Daniel nodded "Aren't you the least bit curious why? From what I've read so far, I'm willing to bet it's related to the writings in this temple."
Jack's eyes glittered menacingly "Daniel…what aren't you telling me?"
The young archeologist shook his head "It's too early to tell yet, but I think we've stumbled onto something big here…as in Ancients big. This cuneiform writing isn't the only script on these walls. Jack, I found Ancient text."
"Damn." Jack muttered as he considered Daniel's words "Ok," he finally resolved with a sigh "let's go meet up with Carter and Teal'c. We'll weigh our options, but if you can't give me anything gutsier than 'Meaning of Life' stuff, we are out of here until Hammond can send us back with reinforcements. Deal?"
Daniel nodded quickly, knowing it was the best offer he could expect in their present circumstance "Ok, deal."