Chapter 6 of 8

It was almost a week later before Daniel thought he had a chance to carry out his plan. Jack had left the mountain only an hour before having been in and out of Daniel's room all day, in fact Jack had been a pest all week. Daniel, only partly feigning frustration with the colonel's attentions had finally almost thrown Jack out the door, begging him to let him finish his translation so that he could go home to bed like everyone else. For a moment Daniel wondered if he had somehow communicated his intentions to his team leader; Jack sometimes was too damn perceptive, but he couldn't see how anyone could guess what had been going on, let alone discover his plans. He'd made no more mention of the netsukes or the nightly disturbances that still continued. And it seemed the rest of the team had been willing to let it drop also. They'd been out on two abortive missions and Daniel had been given a huge amount of material to decipher in a script that had not been seen before. He was fascinated by the new mystery and used his work to cover his plotting.

It was nearly three in the morning as Daniel made his way up to the control room. All was quiet. There were no teams off world at the moment, the last one having returned some thirty minutes ago. SG5 was currently going through medical checks and then would be stood down until they could be de-briefed in the morning

Only one lone techie stood watch over the Stargate controls, two service men patrolled the corridors outside the Stargate room. The timing would never be better.

Earlier that afternoon Daniel had returned to the base, strolling through the checkpoint without a hitch, the netsuke nestling in the deep pocket of his comfortable old jacket. No one stopped him any more, his face a familiar sight at all hours of the day or night. Sometimes Daniel would be holed up in his office for days on end, at other times he'd leave only to return hours later when a puzzle occurred to him that only his computer at the site could provide answers to. By rights, he should have been frisked; but as nothing set off the metal detectors he had been waved through. After tonight, Hammond would insist on much tighter security.

With his most friendly smile firmly in place, Daniel ambled across the room and stood at the technician's side. "Quiet tonight," he said in a matter of fact tone. He had supplied himself with a fresh mug of coffee, and let the aroma settle in the air.

"Nothing happening until late tomorrow," came the quiet reply, even as envious eyes checked out the steaming mug.

Daniel waved his mug toward the man. "Fresh coffee, just brewed in the commissary, did you want to grab some? I'll sit here for a bit, if you'd like a break."

He could see the man waver and said brightly. "Don't worry, if the alarms start ringing I'll get help right away!"

Daniel's place on SG1, the rumours about his proficiency and the trust that everyone on the base placed on his intellect swayed the techie into relinquishing his post. "I'll be back in ten, sir."

"Take your time, I'll enjoy the quiet up here for a while." Daniel sank into the vacated chair and pulled a battered notebook from his pocket, pretending to lose himself in the hieroglyphics that skittered across the pages.

Two minutes later, when Daniel was sure that he would not be disturbed he set about programming the computer. Two minutes after that, he was standing in front of the Stargate as it dialled out. From above he could hear the vague sounds of voices yelling. It wouldn't take them long to override his lockouts, but for now he had a clear run. He pulled the netsuke from his pocket, gazing down at her serene face, then, without a backward glance, Daniel ran up the ramp and into the blue swirl of the event horizon.

Jack pulled the car to a stop outside his house and sat for a moment as the engine died. He'd been reluctant to leave the mountain, something, and he wasn't sure what, but something hadn't felt right. He shook his head; whatever it was that was bothering him would come, sooner or later.

He entered the quiet building, turning on the lights and heading straight for the kitchen. Although it was late he didn't feel like sleeping just yet, his mind wouldn't let him relax. He pulled out a beer, popped the cap and went to sit in his favourite chair in front of the empty fireplace. As he sipped at the cold beverage his mind went back over the past week's events.

After he had tailed Daniel to Sophia Brightman's house, Jack had done some research into her background. She appeared to be nothing but an ordinary woman, earning her living as a secretary and dabbling in the mumbo jumbo of the paranormal. He'd noted with interest the kiss on the cheek as Daniel had left, so maybe there was more than just this ghoulies and ghosties thing going on between them, though he'd found no hint of a prior contact between the two. He'd seen the photographs from Daniel's second visit and noted the hug. Things seemed to be progressing between them. And if that were the case then Jack was glad. Daniel had come back to too much heartbreak, and it was apparent in his face and his demeanour when he thought no one was looking. Since that second visit though, Daniel had not been back, nor had he made any mention of the strange phenomena in his apartment, and that had Jack on edge. Daniel never let a subject drop – ever. He met his problems head on and fighting. So, either this Brightman woman had sorted Daniel out, which Jack found hard to believe, or something was up.

Just before he had left that night, Jack had popped his head into Daniel's room to find the younger man surrounded by books, his eyes intent on the computer screen and a stone tablet balanced precariously at his elbow. The frustration in Daniel's eyes wasn't feigned, and he knew part of it was the fact that he'd been almost dogging Daniel's steps for days with no good reason, or so it had seemed. They'd gone on two missions, and Jack had kept one eye on Daniel making sure the younger man was alert and aware. Nothing had happened to ring warning bells, nothing except Daniel's sudden dropping, or at least his apparent acceptance, of the netsuke problem as Jack had come to term it.

Jack was startled from his reverie by the ringing of the phone.

"Ah crap," he swore softly, suddenly realising that this was what he'd been subconsciously waiting for.

Exiting the ring at speed, Daniel raced to the DHD and waited for the wormhole to disengage. Then, as fast as his fingers could move, he dialled out again, effectively blocking any incoming signal. He'd given himself a breathing space, not long, but hopefully enough to get some answers.

Running toward the building, Daniel noted that all seemed back to perfection. The path that he and the team had disturbed on their first visit had been raked over and even now he was marring its perfection.

He ground to a halt at the bottom of the steps and stared up into the dim portal that led inside. From its darkness the beautiful attendant glided forward then dropped gracefully to her knees to kowtow before him.

"Oh, no, no don't do that. I really don't have time. Please, get up, get up!" Daniel dropped to the steps. Putting the figure carefully beside him he quickly untied his laces, divested himself of boots and sock then picked up the carving and headed into the darkness of the large hall.

Again she was before him, sinking to her knees.

"Daniel san, thank you for returning and bringing my mistress home. Please excuse this humble person for speaking to you without permission but I am overjoyed at your return." This said with her forehead almost glued to the floor, though her form was graceful and held not one iota of humility.

Daniel spoke urgently, forcing the supplicant from the floor.

"Yes, I know, you're happy I'm back but I don't have much time to do whatever it is I need to do. Can you help me? How do I free your mistress from this?" Daniel waved the carving in front of the young woman's face.

"I'm sorry, Daniel san, I do not know," came the softly spoken reply. "When I contacted my mistress she said you would know."

Daniel paused. "How, how did you contact her." And in another moment, "The Stargate. The gate was activated right before this all started. How did you do that," he asked again.

By way of answer the white clad form hurried from the hall into the sunlight, took the path across to the cherry tree and then walked behind the petal strewn water to a door that Daniel had not noticed before. Without a backward glance she entered, Daniel hard on her heels.

As they stepped through his guide touched a panel on the wall and light flooded the room, settling soft shadows into far corners and leaving the central area awash with light. Against the walls were hung more paintings but these depicted things Daniel felt sure he knew. Pastel and bold, light and shadow mixed in strange patterns that teased his memory. As with his search for Amaroka's past, he knew that somewhere, buried deep, was the knowledge he needed to answer the puzzle and set a spirit free.

"Here, Daniel san."

Daniel turned to where a hanging had been pulled to one side, revealing a panel of black obsidian. It was not until he got closer that he saw the markings etched into the darkness.

Ancient.

Daniel felt a rush of unexpected disappointment as he stared at the control panel. Somewhere inside he'd obviously wanted to have his scepticism challenged, perhaps even proved wrong. But he was used to disappointment he reminded himself, as he quickly deciphered the writings. The gate symbols were all there, plus one he didn't recognise. He checked his watch; he had approximately five minutes before the SGC could dial out.

"How does this work?" he shot at the woman standing quietly at his side. "Do I just dial in the address?"

But his companion was not looking at him now, her eyes were closed and her face seemed even paler than before. "You must hurry, Daniel san. My mistress is failing."

Daniel cast a quick look at the netsuke still clasped in his hand, then laid it down on the panel as his fingers flew to dial in Earth's address.