Disclaimer: 'Stargate SG1' and all the characters associated with the show belong to someone who isn't me. As I doubt that the owners would be willing to trade their rights for some magic beans that aren't in any way magical, this is not going to change at any point in the foreseeable future.
Chapter Eight: The Lord of the Mirrors
The keening swelled as the people around them prayed, with Publius hogging the limelight, sobbing his grief and beating his fists theatrically.
"They don't look too happy."
Jack glared at Jonathan, who had made the half-joking observation, before reaching out and hauling Publius to his feet - no easy task given the man's bulk. "Come on, it's okay. Get up."
"Woe, woe and treble woe!" Publius wailed, seemingly oblivious to Jack and his attempts to calm him. "We have failed in our duty to protect the sacred mirror, and we are doomed!"
"For cryin' out loud!" General O'Neill snapped impatiently. "It's not the end of the world."
"The angry words were able to jolt the hysterical man back to reality, his eyes brimming with tears as he gaped at the general. "But it is!"
"If a sacred mirror has been forever lost, then our world is doomed." A voice from the crowd spoke up.
"Doomed as in…" Jack suppressed a groan. Why did these things always happen to him?
"Oh boy." Jonathan's eyes were wide. "I guess seven years of bad luck was an underestimate."
Deciding that if they spilt up they might have better luck with getting some information out of the locals, or with finding out what was going on on their own, Jack gave the order for his extended team to pair off and learn what they could.
Partnered with General O'Neill, he had not expected that they would have much luck winning anybody's confidence and thus far he had not been proven wrong; all they had been able to get out of anyone so far was that the planet was doomed.
No details had been forthcoming.
His expectations were understandably low when they regrouped but he had been pleasantly surprised to find that Sam and Samantha, together with Jonathan and Dr Carter, had between them managed to calm Publius considerably, enough to be able to coax at least some information out of him.
"The Great One came here over a thousand thousand years ago." Publius told them, sniffling. "Further back than our history records."
"A Goa'uld?" Jack mouthed the question at his second in command but Sam shook her head decisively.
"Go on." Dr Carter said encouragingly.
"He built the holy temple, and a maze that nobody has dared explore and He crafted the sacred mirrors, hundreds of them."
"Hundreds?" Sam asked eagerly.
"Yes." Warming to his theme, Publius became animated. "Mirrors that could show the past, and the future; mirrors that had the power to defend against evil, mirrors that could travel the galaxy and traverse existence itself; mirrors that could see into your very soul."
"Where is this 'Great One' now?" Jack asked, resisting the urge to rename the mysterious figure 'Oz'.
"He has never been seen." Publius responded, surprised by the question. "But His mirrors protect us… or they did." His plump face quivered and his eyes filled with fresh tears. "Now that one of His sacred mirrors is destroyed, the link is severed and we shall surely perish!" He dissolved into frenzied sobs and they could get no further sense of him.
"Daniel?" Leaving Publius to Jonathan and Dr Carter, Jack made his way to the entrance of the temple, motioning for Sam to join him. Samantha had moved to General O'Neill's side and the pair were speaking quietly. How she could put up with the other man, Jack did not know.
Daniel, who had been scrutinizing the carvings on the doorway and on the side walls of the temple, barely spared them a glance. "Hi, guys."
"Find anything interesting?" Jack asked with forced patience.
"I'll say!" Finally dragging his attention from his work, Daniel looked up at his friends, an excited smile on his face. He pointed towards a line of writing. "Does this look familiar?"
"Isn't that…"
"It is." Daniel cut Jack off, grinning, not surprised in the least by the fact that the other man had recognised the script – he had been able to write it for a short time, after all. "This is the language of the race that built the stargates."
"I say we lock them in a room together."
"Excuse me?" Major O'Neill was taken aback by Jonathan's suggestion.
"Him." Jonathan jabbed a finger in Jack's direction before pointing towards the four Carters, who were clustered together, deep in conversation. "And her."
"You want to lock Colonel O'Neill and my wife in together?"
"Okay, not her. Her." He pointed at Sam. "Those two are practically walking around with blindfolds. I can tell that she likes him and as for him, he's basically us. Enough said."
"Maybe they just need a nudge in the right direction." The major suggested. "God knows that Sam and I did. Luckily, Kinsey was nice enough to give it to us."
"Should we try to get in touch with this reality's Kinsey and see if he can help out?"
"I don't know if that'd work." Major O'Neill said dubiously. "Colonel O'Neill didn't seem to think very highly of him. I think he might be a bit of a jerk here."
"What if we told him that those two getting together would practically guarantee him a place in the White House? Or that all the worlds we've encountered where the Jack and Sam there aren't together seems to be doomed to destruction at the hands of the Goa'uld?"
"We haven't been to any other worlds besides this."
"I know that and you know that." Jonathan said slyly. "But he doesn't."
"Good point."
"Do you have any ideas?"
"Handcuffs."
Jonathan raised an eyebrow. "Kinky."
"What are you two talking about?"
Seeing one of the subjects of their discussion approach, both men schooled their faces into appropriately innocent expressions.
"Fishing." Major O'Neill said without hesitation, looking as though butter wouldn't melt in his mouth.
"I was telling him all about the new fishing pole Sam helped me rig up." Jonathan continued. "It has motion sensors and everything."
Jack shook his head, tutting disapprovingly. "That'd take all the challenge – not to mention the fun – out of it."
"Since there aren't any fish in the pond, that's rather a moot point." Jonathan countered triumphantly. "You're just jealous that all you have is a plain old ordinary fishing pole."
"I'm not." Jack protested immediately. Nonetheless, he made a mental note. 'Remind me to have Carter rig up a cool fishing pole as soon as we get back to Earth.'
Later
"Based on what little I could translate, and what we've been able to learn from the locals, I would lay odds that there are other quantum mirrors inside the temple." Daniel told the group. "Whoever this 'Great One' was, he seems to have had more than a slight obsession with them."
"So we head in, borrow a mirror and bring it back to the SGC." Jack suggested. "Or send everybody home from here if they prefer. What's the problem?"
The group winced collectively as Publius commenced a loud, very shrill tirade.
"Out of the question. Such a thing has never been allowed – never!"
"That's the problem." Daniel finished dryly.
"I thought that you were all doomed anyway?" General O'Neill snapped. "What difference does it make?"
"It is sacrilege. One mirror was stolen from us and is now lost forever. We will not risk the others."
"Hang on," Jonathan spoke up, extending his hands in a pacifying gesture. "Who said anything about lost 'forever'?"
"You told us that the sacred mirror had been broken."
"Actually, he told you." He gestured towards Jack. "And nobody ever said anything about the mirror staying broken." He put an arm around his fiancée. "This lovely lady here can fix just about anything – and there are another three to help her. Let us borrow a mirror, and we'll drop it, and the other one, straight back."
"Nobody can repair a sacred mirror once it has been broken." Publius said, his voice wavering at the words of hope.
"That's what you think." Jonathan looked solemn. "But in our world, we have a marvellous invention for situations just like this."
"You do?"
"We do." He grinned. "It's called 'duct tape'."
TBC.
Author's Note: I couldn't resist adding the bit with the duct tape. Please review.
