Chapter 2 of 8

SG 7 had said the place was beautiful, but Daniel had still not expected the assault of colours and fragrances that swamped him the minute they stepped through the gate. Unlike other planets they had visited, the stargate here was situated in the centre of a gloriously vibrant garden. Warm sunshine bathed the flowers and trees, casting shadows that enticed the traveller to their shade. It was so wonderfully peaceful that Daniel felt a sudden rush of anger as the colonel urged them forward.

"No time to stop and smell the flowers, Daniel. Get your ass in gear. We've got two hours. Temple's that way." Using his weapon the colonel indicated the direction to take, and headed off at a brisk pace, Carter following close behind.

"Are you not coming, Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c queried, noticing Daniel's obvious reluctance to leave the quiet area.

Daniel looked up from his contemplation of the dainty flowers beside the pathway and caught a strangely understanding look in the big Jaffa's eyes. Teal'c saw more than they ever gave him credit for, he realised suddenly. He nodded and moved ahead, taking his usual position.

Although he had seen the recon photographs nothing had prepared him for the sight of the temple ahead. Surrounded by sand and pebble gardens interspersed with tiny little streams of water the wooden building bore a striking resemblance to the temple on Kheb, though not in its actual layout, more in the feel of the place. His pace slowed until he was stationary, just staring at the façade and wondering how he was going to make himself enter the open doors. For a brief moment he could feel again the gentle weight of Share's son in his arms. Could see and feel the sympathy of Oma as she had taken him from him. The desolation of that moment lived again in his heart. At his side his fists clenched, short nails digging into his palms. He breathed in deep and slow and let the tension release as he forced his fingers to relax.

Ahead, O'Neill had stopped, one booted foot resting on the first of the wooden steps that led up to the open doors. He turned to check if Daniel and Teal'c had caught up only to see Daniel standing stock still, staring at the edifice with haunted eyes.

"Carter," he said softly catching her eye. He nodded in Daniel's direction, an unspoken command to bring Daniel along. He'd seen that look in the linguist's eyes too many times and the only way to remove it here and now was to appeal to the scientist in him. Carter could snap him out of it – he hoped.

She trotted back to where Teal'c still stood at Daniel's side, exchanging a look with the Jaffa before reaching out to touch the archaeologist's arm.

"Daniel?" Sam's eyes rested on his, drawing him back. He caught the concern in her eyes and did his best to raise a half-hearted smile.

"Is there anything we should be aware of? Any rules we might break?"

He forced the uncomfortable memories back into the recess of his consciousness; time enough to face them when he was back on Earth, where he could be alone with his thoughts. He took another good look at the temple and noted for the first time the colonel's heavily booted foot that rested on the lowest step.

"Ah, this looks very much like a Japanese influence. I don't know much about the culture, but politeness would indicate you take off your shoes before entering. It might also be considered a sacrilegious act in some societies - and if this is Japanese influenced…" He raised his eyebrows pointedly as he stared at his commanding officer.

O'Neill grimaced and removed his foot from the step until he no longer 'defiled' the temple. "Carter, get your boots off. Teal'c and I'll keep watch out here, you and Grasshopper can go in and check it out."

"Yes sir." Sam moved to sit on the steps and began unlacing her boots. Daniel came and joined her, casting a quick glance her way as Teal'c and the colonel began a perimeter sweep. "Grasshopper?" he said sotto voce and found himself grinning at her obvious struggles to keep from laughing - and found the last of his tension dissipating.

"You remember…?"

"Oh, yeah. But I don't think I can walk on rice paper just yet, might take a little practise."

She grinned at him conspiratorially. "Well if we find any I promise to tell the colonel you floated right across it!"

There was a covered veranda that ran in either direction before disappearing around the side of the building that would have to be checked before entering. Sam headed up the steps, and walked toward the far left corner of the building leaving Daniel to take the other sweep.

He stayed sitting on the steps, strangely reluctant to move. The swish of silk on wood echoing from the top of the stairs above him startled him into swiftly standing. Turning round he stared up at the petite woman who gazed back at him with infinite calm.

She was stunningly beautiful, like a porcelain doll; her oval face with its rosebud mouth and chocolate eyes was perfectly framed by her jet black hair piled on top of her head. Her kimono was of a brilliant white that dazzled the eye with reflected sunlight and Daniel was suddenly glad that they had removed their boots when he saw her tiny pink toes peeking out from below the silk of her gown.

"Hello. My name is Daniel Jackson. My friends and I are explorers from Earth. We came through the Stargate." He gestured behind him to the gardens where the Stargate was visible.

Even as he spoke the diminutive woman had bowed and backed her way through the open doors. Daniel turned to where Sam was now heading back to his position, waiting for her to join him before moving to the stairs to follow the ghostly figure into the temple depths.

"I thought that SG7 didn't find anyone here?" Daniel's voice was hushed as he mounted the stairs.

Sam's voice was equally quiet as she replied. "Not a sign, and no welcoming committee."

The sudden switch from bright sunlight to the comparative darkness of the reception room temporarily blinded them. Both stood still for a moment, letting their eyes adjust to the gloom. As the darkness receded Daniel stared around him in wonder. On each wall hung representations of the elements; each portrayed with a few strokes of paint, abstract and yet perfect. At the far end of the room sat a square box in front of which a bowl of water stood. Daniel knew enough about the religious beliefs to understand that this place was dedicated to the departed. He was doubly thankful that he had insisted on the removal of their heavy boots.

"No signs of technology," Sam said softly. The atmosphere of the building did not encourage either of them to speak above a suitably reverent whisper.

"I can't believe the Goa'uld would leave this place untouched," Daniel replied equally softly. He moved quietly forward, eyes scanning the walls in search of anything that might give a clue as to why this place had been spared.

Sam had moved to the door opposite to that through which they had entered, poking her head out into the sunshine.

Daniel went to stand beside her and found himself entranced by the view.

Sam interrupted his reverie. "I'm going to have a closer look at that box, might be something there."

Eyes never leaving the aspect, he said quietly, "Just don't touch anything, I think this is a shrine to the dead."

She nodded, even though he didn't see it, and left him to his contemplation. Since his return there had been times when Sam was uncomfortably aware that he sometimes drifted away from them. At odd moments he would be struck by a memory, or a feeling and she could almost see him tighten up as he fought to keep control. The pain in his eyes made her want to put her arms around him, and hug him, to try and ease some of his burden. But there was a tension between them now that she didn't understand. There were moments when everything seemed back to normal, a quip, a one liner, that was just as before, and then she would turn to find him lost in thought, or gazing at her with an unfathomable look in his eyes that he would banish with a half hearted smile.

Outside the hall was an inner courtyard that drew Daniel forward like iron filings to a magnet. Filling the space was a garden of such beauty he found it hard to breathe. A pathway ran across the gravel to a pool at the far corner, shaded by what he thought was a cherry tree in full bloom. He stepped out onto the first of the slabs that trailed between the exquisite designs that had been lovingly traced into the fine gravel, bare feet absorbing the warmth from the stepping-stones. His eyes were drawn to the still water of the pool, dotted here and there by fallen petals. As he moved closer he felt suddenly cocooned in a sense of serenity and calm that was so much more overwhelming that the sensations he had experienced on exiting the gate. Everything around him disappeared, fading into the background as he stepped closer to the water.

Colonel O'Neill was not a fanciful man, as he would be the first to admit. Neither was the Jaffa who paced by his side, his whole body radiating alertness. But both were assailed with the feeling that eyes were upon them, watching, judging. It set the hairs on O'Neill's neck vibrating, and he didn't like it at all. Not that he felt any sense of danger at this time, his radar for trouble was usually pretty reliable, but this sense of being observed was setting his hackles rising. He glanced over to the tall man beside him.

"You feel that?"

"Feel what, O'Neill?"

"Someone's watching us." The colonel's gaze swept the landscape once more. There was no hiding place big enough to hold a man. He'd checked every tree for cameras or devices of any kind; there had been nothing. Not that he thought it was surveillance of that nature, this felt more intimate.

"I believe you are correct, but they are extremely well hidden."

"Yeah."

By now the two men had almost returned to the Stargate having circled the temple in a clockwise direction. They had found nothing and yet still Jack's inner radar was giving off warning signals. His finger caressed the trigger of his rifle uneasily. Glancing down at his watch he cursed, time seemed to have slipped away somehow. He would recommend a return to this planet in his report: there was something about this place…

"Let's check out Daniel and Carter, see if they've come up with anything. We've only got another twenty minutes before Hammond expects us back." He headed briskly to the stairs beginning to climb them when Teal'c's impressive voice halted him.

"Colonel O'Neill, Daniel Jackson said it could be an insult to enter the temple wearing our boots."

Teal'c tended to only use his full title when he really wanted to get his point across. Jack checked his ascent with a gruff curse that boded no good to linguists and archaeologists everywhere, and his civilian in particular. Retreating he sat to undo his laces as Teal'c calmly kept watch then picked up his weapon as the Jaffa took his place and also removed his footwear.

"I hate this," Jack muttered under his breath as he and Teal'c plunged into the dark interior.

"Where's Daniel?"

Sam had got used to that query from her commanding officer. Not that Daniel was quite as bad as he used to be for wandering off; it seemed to be more habit on the colonel's part now.

"Inner courtyard, sir." She nodded toward the opening that led into the gravel garden.

O'Neill nodded and took a good look around the bare room. "Anything?"

"Not really. Daniel thinks this is a funerary shrine of some kind. There's no technology here and no people that I have seen, still…"

"Yeah, eyes watching you?" Jack's voice sounded loud in the empty space. They had both been in too many situations to ignore their gut feelings. "I'll get Daniel, you two get back to the gate. Start dialling up. This place gives me the creeps."

Something fluttered past Daniel's face, distracting him from his almost mesmeric contemplation of the pool. Wings beating softly, a huge butterfly danced in front of his face. Red and black with a startling white mark in the centre of each design, it was, as everything else he had encountered here, stunningly beautiful. Without conscious thought he held out his hand, moving with all the care he could muster, and the butterfly descended, landing so gently on his palm that he was hardly aware of its weight. It moved slightly, its tiny feet tickling his palm. Daniel held his breath, fearful of disturbing the delicate rapport.

Daniel's eyes drifted over the elegant sweep of wings and antenna trying to absorb the beauty of the butterfly. As he stared, breathing carefully, he would almost swear that he could hear an echo of a voice. Not those of the rest of the team still within the building but coming from much closer. Slowly he turned his head letting his eyes travel around the surrounding sides of the building. Apart from the entrance he had used only one other door was visible, but he could see no one standing within the darkness. And then he heard it, almost clear in his head. "Daniel-san."

"Daniel! Time to go." Jack's voice came crashing through the stillness and Daniel started, the butterfly fluttered up and away leaving him feeling strangely bereft.

Treading carefully across the stones, Daniel stored up what he was going to say to the colonel when they got clear of the temple. He did not see the flutter of white that darted back from the door in the other side of the complex, nor hear his name called again in soft entreaty.

Frustrated, tired, and more than a little angry, Daniel made his way home that night with a simmering sense of… well he wasn't sure what. The debriefing had been less than satisfactory. General Hammond had seen no reason for SG1 to return to the planet. There had been no technology to barter for, no one to barter with for that matter, and Daniel found himself unable to mention the woman in white that he had seen. It appeared that he had been the only witness to her greeting, and somehow that made him more than a little uncomfortable.

There had been no sign of the Goa'uld, nor any indication that the civilisation that had been there was advanced in any way. Though the Ancients had obviously been there at some time in the distant past, going by the age of the Stargate. Jack had requested a return just because he had been frustrated and sure that there was someone there; that they had been observed by some means. Without the incentive of weaponry or technology of some sort, Hammond had vetoed a return. It cost a small fortune each time they fired up the gate, Daniel knew that, and he knew that Hammond had to vouch for each trip through. He sighed his frustration once again, slamming the car door and making his way up to his apartment. Something inside him wanted desperately to return, but infuriatingly he couldn't put his finger on why. Was it the serenity he craved, or… he had the strangest belief that there was something he needed to do there, something that his damned memory was holding back from him.

In the darkness he made his way across the room to turn on the side lamps, not wanting the glare of overhead lighting, it was then that he saw the scattered netsuke. Slowly he made his way around the table to where two lay on the carpet. Had he knocked them over without realising? He picked them up, looking closely to be sure there was no damage. One, a representation of a woman, seemed almost familiar now. Perhaps he had acquired these pieces after all? He stood them up once more and fell to studying them, getting no further with his recall than before. In the morning he would have to go on-line and see what he could find out about the various designs, as he was sure that nothing in his collection that would be of any help.