Chapter Two:

February, 1998

Jack O'Neill walked into Dr. Daniel Jackson's office. "Hey, we've still got to do those two days of physical assessments that was postponed after our little….oh no! Not again! Daniel!"

"Jack," Daniel said turning around. "After Catherine and Ernest left yesterday, General Hammond gave me this video from 1981."

"Yeah, and?" Jack asked in annoyance, walking further into the room. This was almost exactly like it was last week when he came to get Daniel for their physical assessments and discovered him looking at video from 1945. Which, of course, led to their little mission to rescue Dr. Littlefield with Dr. Langford tagging along.

Jack looked back up at the screen Daniel was staring at so intently and saw a young girl turning the stargate manually with all her might. "Ah, so this is the colonel's daughter," Jack announced in understanding.

Daniel swiveled in his chair to face Jack. "What? You mean you know about this?"

"Yup. Back in '81 a colonel was stationed here and his daughter came to work with him. The general in charge of the mountain at the time really got chewed out from what West told me. I'm pretty sure he retired right after the incident…."

"Jack!" Daniel cried in frustrated anticipation. Jack was getting off-track and Daniel was dying to know who this girl was.

"Oh! Right!" Jack said, looking back up at the screen. "She worked with Dr. Langford for the summer and apparently figured out how to work the gate. I guess she thought it was a time machine and one night she stayed on base and went through it."

"Are you serious?" Daniel screeched. "Why…why was I not told of this? If she got the gate to work in '81, then why did it take until '96 and me to get it active again?"

Jack shrugged. "Don't know. The girl's notebook was found in a closet, but she didn't write the coordinates down. McKay used some of her notes to come up with the dialing computer. I guess the girl was a genius, it's a shame really, she would have been a huge asset to the program."

"Ya think?" Daniel replied, stealing one of Jack's phrases in his dismay. "I can't believe a girl figured out the stargate. No wonder General Hammond gave me this tape. After rescuing Dr. Littlefield…."

"Can you see the coordinates?" Jack cut in.

"No, but with some of the newer technology, it can probably be cleaned up and enhanced like we did with the tape from 1945."

Five days later……

"Have a seat," General Hammond ordered, walking into the briefing room.

Col. O'Neill, Dr. Jackson, Dr. McKay, Major Ferretti, and Teal'c all took their seats at the table.

"What did you find out, Dr. Jackson," Gen. Hammond asked, his face paler than normal.

"They went to Abydos!" Daniel blurted out.

Everyone turned shocked gazes to Daniel.

"Abydos?" Jack said as he cocked his head up in disbelief.

"Yes," Daniel replied and turned on the television. He used the remote to stop as each symbol appeared on the screen. "Abydos!"

"Dr. Jackson, you were on Abydos for over a year…..did you ever see the colonel or his daughter?" Hammond asked in a quiet, disbelieving tone.

"No. I'm sorry. Everyone on Abydos was of Egyptian descent. I was the only white one there."

"Any stories, mentioning of other white people?" Jack prompted, waving is hand in a come-along gesture.

Daniel shook his head. "No, none. I'm sorry."

McKay snorted.

"Do you have something to add, doctor?" Hammond asked in annoyance.

"No," McKay replied, but then continued. "It's just, does anyone really think they're still alive?"

"Dr. Littlefield was very much alive, Dr. McKay," Teal'c's monotone voice carried throughout the small room.

"Well, yeah, but he was completely alone. If the colonel and his daughter went to Abydos, can anyone really expect them to be alive?"

Jack noticed the general's eyes turn to a venomous gray as the man glared down the table at the obnoxious scientist. "Jacob Carter was a trained soldier, and his daughter was a genius, they have a high probability of surviving."

"Oh, pah-lease, general! A genius? She was a little girl who thought the stargate was a time machine!" McKay scoffed in his obnoxious way.

"Uh, didn't you use some of her work to create the dialing computer?" Daniel asked, pushing his glasses up his nose.

McKay rolled his eyes. "Her little scribbles were a little girl's fantasy, doctor," McKay shook his head and waved his hand around as he talked. "I will admit, a few of her ideas were practical, but come on! She was a little girl who convinced herself the stargate was a time machine! Most of her theorems were full of flaws."

General Hammond sighed. "Well, obviously we have no way of knowing whether they are alive or dead out there, but thank you, Dr. Jackson, for at least figuring out where they went from here."

"Your welcome, general. Uh, when Abydos unburies their gate in a few more months, perhaps we can go there and ask around?"

"We'll see," Hammond replied with another sigh. "Dismissed."

Everyone stood up around the table and started shuffling out of the room, leaving behind the general and Col. O'Neill, who was lingering at the table.

When everyone else had cleared the room, Jack looked up at his commanding officer. "You knew the colonel?"

The general turned his steely gaze to the younger man. He diverted his eyes for a few seconds as he considered telling the colonel the truth or not, finally meeting his eyes again, he replied, "Yes. In fact, I knew them both…quite well. Jacob and I served together for a long time, years ago. And, his daughter was in school with mine. She was at my house a lot, sleepovers, movie nights, pool parties." The general diverted his gaze from the colonel down to the stargate through the window. "Especially after her mother died. She spent a good three weeks with us before they moved out here. Jacob thought a change would help bring her back around. She took her mother's death really hard."

"I can imagine," Jack quietly replied, thinking of the death of his own son. "We'll keep our eyes out for anyone matching their descriptions when we're out there, sir."

"I know you will son, I know you will," General Hammond replied before giving the colonel a small smile and retreating to his office.

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Two years later……

SG-1 walked through the gate to a new planet. "Alright, so what's up with this planet again?" Col. O'Neill asked, mentally kicking himself for daydreaming during the debriefing.

Daniel walked up next to him, fiddling with his hat. "Uh, the coordinates just came up on the screen last week. It's one of the world's from the Abydos cartouche. But, it's so far out that it has taken almost three years for the computer to calculate the planetary drift."

"I knew that," Jack replied, knowing it would annoy Daniel. "Okay, let's see what this planet has to offer. Teal'c, you and Daniel head off towards that big temple the UAV picked up. McKay, Ferretti, you're with me. Let's go check out this village."

"Yes, sir," Ferretti replied, being the only other military man.

McKay just grumbled something incoherently and followed the officers.

It didn't take long before the three of them came upon the village the UAV had captured when it flew over head the day before. Jack walked into the village and looked around, waiting for someone to notice them and either threaten them, or greet them. In the almost three years they had been going through the gate, Jack knew it could go either way.

The three out-of-place men were soon noticed and a group of young men walked up to greet them.

"Welcome, strangers," one of them stepped closer and greeted. "Have you come for the festival?"

"The what?" Jack questioned, keeping his P-90 in his grasp, just in case.

"The festival of Ra," the man replied, looking curiously at the men.

"Oh, yes, of course, the festival of Ra," Jack announced sarcastically.

McKay rolled his eyes and stepped forward. "We are peaceful travelers. We came through the stargate to meet you people and to possibly set up an alliance."

"Oh," the man replied. "You are most welcome on Kor'lash. It is the favored home of Ra."

"Uh, you know Ra's dead, don't you?" Jack spoke up again, expertly searching the village with his eyes for any jaffa.

"Ra cannot die. He is a god."

"Yeah, well a dead god, maybe," Jack replied in a cool tone.

"We would know. Our leader would have told us. Ka'meel would know!" the man replied, getting irritated.

"Well, you folks are pretty far out of the loop here…" Jack continued, but was cut off by McKay.

"Who is Ka'meel?" he asked.

"She is Ra's chosen," the young man replied.

Jack's eyebrows shot up to his forehead. "Ra's chosen?"

"Yes. Ra brought her here many cycles ago, when I was but a boy. He told us she would be our future goddess and we were to care for her until his return. He will return and award us for our great care of our goddess."

"Uh, no he won't," Jack replied a little snippily and turned to gauge his men's reaction.

"Um, can you take us to your leader?" Ferretti asked.

"Of course, right this way."

The men followed the group of natives and Ferretti began a friendly conversation with them. Finding out their names and a little about their society before they came upon a large home in the center of the village.

Tor'lo, the young man they had been talking to, reached the top step of the home and knocked on the large door. A woman appeared moments later. "Yes," she asked, opening the door to see strange faces among some of the villagers.

"Maris, these are travelers through the chapp'ai. They've come to speak with Kar'men."

The woman shot a look at each man before opening the door wider for them to enter. "Come in," she announced in an irritated tone. "I shall retrieve him from his study."

Jack's eyebrows shot back up as he looked at Ferretti and mouthed, "study?"

Ferretti just shrugged and followed the others into a large room with several cushioned chairs and couches.

"Ooh, cozy!" Jack announced with a large grin before plopping down on one of the large couches.

Ferretti and McKay each took a seat in the large, overstuffed chairs while the other men nodded and departed back outside and Maris left the room to get the leader.

"Nice place," Jack said, looking around the large space.

"Yes, sir," Ferretti replied.

"I've seen nicer," McKay added.

Jack rolled his eyes. McKay rarely ever proved to be more than an annoyance on these missions, but still Gen. Hammond insisted on his involvement. The man was snarky, rude, unpleasant, irritating….well, really there were too many words to describe him.

"Welcome to Kor'lash," a male voice interrupted Jack's mental description of McKay.

Jack stood up. "Are you Kar'men?" he asked the older, mostly bald man.

"May I look around?" McKay cut in.

"I will show you around," Maris replied and directed McKay out of the room.

The bald man turned back to Jack. "I am Kar'men," the man replied, smiling and reaching his hand out to shake Jack's.

Jack was a little surprised. Most natives did not shake hands in greeting like they did on earth. Jack shook his hand, noting the glint in the older man's eyes. "I'm Jack. Colonel Jack O'Neill from earth. We've come to meet you fine folks."

"You have come at a good time. Our annual festival of Ra begins tonight," Kar'men announced.

"Yeah, so we've heard," Jack replied. "It's an annual thing, huh?"

"Indeed, colonel. It is held every year to honor Ra and my daughter, his chosen."

Ferretti spoke up upon hearing this. "Your daughter is Ra's chosen?"

"That is correct. Ra created her from thin air to become his goddess when the time was right."

Jack and Ferretti exchanged quizzical glances. "Created from thin air?" Jack asked, his eyebrows shooting up in disbelief.

"Yes, colonel. Ra created both Ka'meel and myself from thin air. He came before us and said for henceforth I was Ka'meel's father. It was my duty to look out for her and love her as a father until he returned for her. He put us on this great land and told the villagers that I was to be their leader and Ka'meel was to be treated as a queen until his arrival. If Ka'meel was pleased with her upbringing, then everyone on Kor'lash would be blessed and receive many gifts. However, if she was not pleased when Ra returned for her, she would smite the land as soon as she was goddess."

Ferretti turned to Jack. "It sounds like this Ka'meel was chosen to take a symbiote when she came of age, sir."

"Yeah," Jack agreed. "But what about this thin-air crap?"

Ferretti shrugged and turned back to Kar'men. "Kar'men, you say you were created from thin-air?"

"That is correct. I was created as a grown man so I could care for Ka'meel as my daughter. My first memory is of awakening in a golden room with Ra by my side."

"Ooookay," Jack drawled out, looking at the leader in disbelief.

McKay interrupted, coming back into the large room. "Colonel! You have to see this place! It's amazing! They've got indoor plumbing, electricity, air conditioning. They even have a kitchen with working appliances."

"Yeah, so, we've got all that on earth?" Jack replied in irritation.

"Yeah, but they're running everything off naquada!"

Jack looked back at the leader. "You know how to convert naquada to a stable power source?"

"Of course. My daughter created the first naquada generator a few years after we arrived here. Before our arrival, the people here were quite primitive. In the first year, my daughter and I showed them how to put in a proper well system, a sewer line, and how to build more stable homes. Once my daughter was able to build a working generator, she started upgrading everyone's homes with power."

"How did you know how to do all that?" Jack asked suspiciously.

"Ra gave us all the knowledge when he created us."

"Of course," Jack replied, overly dramatic.

"So, where is this daughter of yours?" McKay asked.

"She spends nice days like this at the reservoir. There is a river that dumps into a small reservoir a short walk from here. Ka'meel loves to bathe under the waterfall."

"Can we see it?" Jack asked.

"I shall find you an escort," Kar'men replied and quickly left the room.

A few minutes later, the group was walking through the woods, a young man, Sham'oos, leading them. They reached the small reservoir and all eyes widened as they took in the exposed flesh of a woman's back.

McKay swallowed, his eyes locked on the smooth expanse of peach skin. "Uh, colonel? You think when we tell Kar'men that Ra won't be coming for his daughter, he'll want to give her to us as a gift?"

"What?" Jack hissed at the man.

"Well, I mean, Kasuf gave Daniel Sha're and he's a scientist, so I was thinking, as a scientist, I should get the next one."

Jack rolled his eyes. "McKay, all we can see is her back. You don't even know what she looks like from the front."

"Ka'meel is the most beautiful woman," Sham'oos announced. "Ra created her from all the beauty in the universe so that every man who met her would love her."

Jack tossed another disbelieving look at the young guide. Were they really supposed to believe this crap? Didn't these people understand that Ra was NOT a god?

Just then, Ka'meel turned around, her naked body on full display in front of the men. Jack had to restrain himself from whistling. "Well," Ferretti broke the silent tension, "She's definitely beautiful."

"Uh huh," Jack replied, his mouth still open as he gaped at the woman, for some reason unable to look away.

"Oh! Please tell me I can have her?" McKay whined.

Jack finally looked away to glare at McKay. "What's wrong with you, McKay?" he hissed.

When he turned back the woman was gone and Jack found himself highly disappointed, and then realizing what they had been doing, his disappointment turned to shame over their voyeurism.

"My lady!" Sham'oos shouted out to the woman who was now walking towards them in a long light blue gown.

"Sham'oos, what are you doing out here?" Ka'meel's soft voice rang out as she reached the group of men.

Jack just stared. The woman was definitely beautiful. Her long blonde hair fell to the middle of her back and her blue eyes were bright against her creamy complexion. The light blue gown covered her body, but all Jack could see was the naked woman standing under the waterfall. Her body was beautiful, perfect, flawless. Jack found himself half-believing that she really was created by a god.

"My lady, these men came through the chapp'ai. They have come to meet you and your father and celebrate with us."

Ka'meel smiled a bright smile at the three men and they all melted at the sight. "Welcome. My name is Ka'meel. Please, what planet have you come from?"

Ferretti was the first to speak up. "Uh, earth. We've come from earth. The Tauri?"

"Ah, earth. That sounds familiar," Ka'meel replied.

"Do you travel through the stargate?" Jack asked in a silky voice, stepping up to walk alongside the beautiful woman.

"No, I am the chosen one. I must remain here for Ra."

"Uh, yeah, about that……" Jack replied, beginning the tale of Ra's death.

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TBC...