The Hunt for Babylon:
By cheekychaos
Chapter Two:
"…was destroyed by an earthquake, according to Plato's dialogues Timaeus and Critias."
Dr. Daniel Jackson sat in rapt attention as he listened to the beautiful brunette currently looking intently at her audience. Her intelligent brown gaze seemed to peer into all the corners of the room, making people sit up and listen.
Daniel was sitting at the back of a small lecture theatre at the University of Washington, listening to a lecture by the world-renowned archaeologist and adventurer, Lady Lara Croft. The subject was the myth of Atlantis and was actually rather accurate, all things considered.
"Now, contrary to popular belief," Lady Croft's English-accented voice echoed over the room. "The myth of Atlantis actually stems from Ancient Egypt. The Greek's merely changed the location."
Daniel couldn't help but smile as Lady Croft turned and began drawing on the chalk board. She had an enthusiasm for history and discovering the past that was catching – and she was probably the only archaeologist Daniel knew of who could conduct a lecture in jeans and a leather jacket and still be taken seriously.
"These symbols," Lady Croft continued, gesturing at the board behind her, "Have shown up at many of the sites around the world that also mention a lost city. Many believe that they are merely the spreading of myths and tales throughout the world. However…"
Lady Croft flashed the audience an amused and challenging smile. "…I will leave you with the thought that perhaps these symbols are not random, but are, in fact, a map to the Lost City of Atlantis itself."
Her final remarks were met with a few sceptical laughs and the occasional curious stare. "Ah," Lady Croft said with a knowing smile. "Some of you don't believe me. Perhaps, then, I shall just have to go out and find the Lost City myself."
This time the audience erupted into amused laughter and knowing grins. Everyone knew that if anyone could find the mythical city of Atlantis it would be Lady Lara Croft. She seemed to have the knack of finding the things that most archaeologists didn't believe existed: the Dagger of Xian, the Philosopher's Stone, the Triangle of Light…
There was a round of applause after that, to which Lady Croft inclined her head in acknowledgement and gratitude, before everyone began filing out of the small lecture hall. Daniel stayed where he was sitting, not wanting to face some of the familiar faces he had seen in the crowd and have his theories about the pyramids thrown in his face yet again. It never failed to surprise him just how narrow minded and petty academics could be sometimes. And he couldn't deny that is was frustrating to know his theories were right and not be able to tell anyone.
"Did you enjoy the lecture?"
Daniel looked up, startled to find he was the only member of the audience left and that Lady Croft stood only a few steps away, an eyebrow arched in curiosity. "Oh." He said. "Yes. Your theories on the Lost City of Atlantis are quite intriguing."
"That's a polite way of putting it." Lady Croft replied.
"No, really." Daniel said. "You could say I have an appreciation for the unusual."
Lady Croft smiled in amusement. "Ah, of course. The pyramids." She said. "Dr. Daniel Jackson, isn't it?"
"Yes." Daniel agreed cautiously. "How did you know my name?"
"I remember your photograph from the paper." Lady Croft explained. "I always meant to attend one of your lectures, but I was unfortunately detained at the time."
"You were interested in my theories?" Daniel asked, surprised.
Lady Croft nodded. "After some of the things I've seen in my life, Dr. Jackson, aliens using the pyramids as landing platforms are hardly what I'd call surprising."
"Wow." Daniel said. "That's the first time anyone's said that to me before. And please, call me Daniel."
"Only if you'll call me Lara." Lara said. Then she looked at Daniel consideringly. "I don't suppose you have time for a coffee, do you? I'd love to hear more about these theories of yours."
Daniel knew he would have to be careful about how much information he revealed, but it had been a long time since he'd had an intelligent conversation with another archaeologist who didn't think he was either crazy or walked on water, as the SGC personnel sometimes did. "Sure. I'd love to." He said with a smile.
"Lovely." Lara said with a smile of her own.
Two hours later, Daniel and Lara were tucked away in the corner of a nearby coffee shop and onto their second cups of coffee. Their conversation, although it could have been termed a debate at times, had ranged over many subjects, including Daniel's theories, Lara's recent exploits and the current lack of open-mindedness within mainstream archaeology.
Lara sat back, her brown eyes gleaming with warmth and humour as she sipped her coffee and looked at Daniel over the rim. "I must admit," Lara said as she put down her mug. "It's been a while since I've had such an interesting conversation."
Daniel nodded his agreement. "Me too." He said with a grin.
Unfortunately, before Daniel could add anything else, his cell phone rang. "Sorry." He murmured to Lara. Lara merely gave him an amused smile and took another sip of her coffee.
"Dr. Jackson." Daniel answered.
"Hey Danny." Jack's familiar voice drawled. "We've got a bit of a problem over here. The General wants you back as soon as possible – which means your flight leaves in 45 minutes."
Daniel sighed. "Figures. Thanks Jack." He said.
"No problem. I'll pick you up at the airport, okay?"
"Sure." Daniel replied.
"Got to go." Jack said just before he hung up.
Daniel grimaced as he hung up his end of the line and looked apologetically at Lara. "Work." He explained. "Apparently I have forty-five minutes before my plane leaves, so this seems to be where I say goodbye."
Lara nodded. "Did you come by taxi?" she asked.
"Yeah." Daniel answered, then looked at curiously at Lara when she smiled.
"Come on then." She said. "I'll give you a lift."
"Thanks." Daniel said as they both got up to leave.
"Not a problem." Lara replied. "Besides, it will give us a chance to finish our discussion."
Daniel smiled, thoroughly intrigued by the woman in front of him. She wasn't what he had expected at all, and he found himself liking that even better. Although he had to laugh when he saw her car.
"I have a passion for fast cars." Lara said as she opened the door of the silver Aston Martin.
"You know, I'm not actually surprised by that at all." Daniel said.
Lara just laughed.
Daniel was still in a good mood five hours later when he got off the plane in Colorado Springs. Grabbing what little luggage he had, he went to meet Jack in the airport lounge.
"Hey Jack." He greeted.
Jack raised a curious eyebrow when he saw Daniel. "Hi, Daniel." He said, putting down his newspaper. "Enjoy your trip?"
Jack was dressed similarly to Daniel in jeans, boots and a sweater, along with his trademark leather jackets and sunglasses.
"Yeah, I did actually." He replied.
Jack grinned. "So, do I get to ask what's put you in such a good mood? I haven't heard a grumble about being called back early or the aeroplane food yet."
"Just an interesting conversation with an intriguing woman." Daniel replied.
"Oh, yeah?"
"It was purely academic, Jack, so you can stop giving me that look."
Jack just smirked knowingly in that way of his.
When they were safely seated in Jack's truck, heading back to Cheyenne Mountain, Daniel finally gave voice to the curiosity he'd had since Jack's call. "So what's up?" he asked.
"Well, we received a pair of interesting visitors this morning." Jack said. "It seems we've got a problem with some leaked mission reports that the CIA have managed to get their hands on."
"Wait, two CIA agents came to the SGC?" Daniel asked.
"Yep." Jack answered. "Apparently, those classified documents were up for auction to the highest bidder."
"Oh, boy."
"Exactly."
"So do we know what was in those reports?" Daniel questioned after a moment.
"They were SG-3's mission reports on P4X-239." Jack replied. "The agents seemed particularly concerned about the mention of someone called Milus Rambuldus. They believe the name is somehow connected to some Italian nut called Milo something."
"Milo Rambaldi?" Daniel asked, somewhat surprised. "The 15th century prophet?"
Jack shot him a sideways glance. "You know him?"
"I came across a mention of him in a text a few years ago." At Jack's curious look, Daniel added. "On Earth, not out there."
"Oh." Jack said. "Then he seemed to think of something. "Daniel, have you ever seen a symbol that looks like a circle bracketed by two triangles?"
"Sure." Daniel said. "There was a symbol like that on the ruins on P4X-239. I had the photos all over my lab for about a week. I remember, because you, Sam and Teal'c all commented on it."
"I knew I'd seen that symbol somewhere before." Jack muttered.
By the time Daniel and Jack were walking down the familiar corridors of the SGC, dressed once again in their usual uniforms, Daniel knew everything everyone else did. "Hey Daniel." Sam greeted as the pair walked into the debriefing room.
"Hi, Sam." Daniel said. "Teal'c."
"Dr. Jackson." Teal'c returned.
"I'm sorry to interrupt your trip, Dr. Jackson." General Hammond said as Daniel sat down next to Sam and Jack took his usual seat on Hammond's right.
"No problem General." Daniel said.
At that moment, a pretty brunette and a serious looking man entered the room. Both were dressed in black business suits. "General." The woman greeted with a faint smile.
"Dr. Jackson, may I introduce Agents Vaughn and Bristow from the CIA?" Hammond said.
Daniel found himself being appraised by two sets of eyes – one a curious brown, the other a faintly hostile green. "Pleased to meet you." Daniel said mildly.
"Likewise." Sydney replied.
"Any news?" Hammond asked the two CIA agents.
Once again, it was Sydney who spoke. "We've just received information regarding the location of another Rambaldi artefact. Although, we believe this artefact is different from all the others."
"How so?" Sam asked.
"We believe it makes reference to a larger artefact hidden in another world." Sydney said. "Which we can now assume is P4X-239."
"Great." Jack muttered.
"Is there any chance Arvin Sloane would have access to the same intel?" Hammond asked, ignoring his 2IC's sarcastic comment.
"Definitely." This time it was Vaughn who answered.
Hammond sighed. "How long have we got?" he asked.
"A couple of hours, maybe a day." Vaughn replied.
"Can I ask where this artefact is located, Agent Bristow?" Daniel asked.
"Call me Sydney." Sydney said. "And we believe it's located somewhere in the South American jungle."
"Alright then, I want everyone ready to move as soon as we know the exact location. Colonel, I want you and Dr. Jackson to accompany Agent Bristow to South America." General Hammond ordered. "Major Carter, I want you and Teal'c to go through all the leaked information with Agent Vaughn. I want to know exactly what Arvin Sloane knows about the Stargate Programme."
To be continued…