Author Notes: I am in a great debt to my friend Chemical Nova, who lent me the first season of Stargate (woo! I'm so happy!) As such, this chapter is written and updated quicker than usual because I am full of stargateness. Thank you for your reviews! Keep 'em coming! I love them!
Chapter 16: Flames of Sapphire
Jack was impressed. If he didn't know he was on Earth, he would have to say he was on an entirely different world, where politics had no hold. The Tau'ri reminded him a lot of the Abydonian people, only more advanced. "Please wait here." Maria left them at the opening of a passageway and disappeared.
"This place is incredible, Colonel. It's so hard to believe how no one leaked information about it." Jack grinned as he watched Sam continue to express her awe; Jonas was just as bad, that insane grin plastered on his face permanently.
Maria reappeared, "Please, follow me." A small smile played on her lips.
SG-1 followed the dark-haired woman down the passageway from which she had returned. Their way was lit by flickering torches of orange flame, although for every lit torch, there was an empty bracket that was unlit. The passage narrowed, and then turned a sharp corner, instead of curving; two guards immediately faced them, guns drawn and aimed. As soon as they saw Maria, however, they stepped aside. Whoever was down this corridor was important, Jack could tell. Well, at least they were going straight to the top. He glanced behind him at Daniel, and frowned. Daniel was at the back of their group, running his fingers lightly along the rough rock of the wall as they went. Falling back slightly, Jack drew up next to him, "You okay?"
Daniel smiled softly, "This is so surreal. I haven't been here since I was fourteen, but remember everything. I can't believe I forgot."
"Yeah, about that; how exactly..?"
"That I don't remember."
Jack was about to comment, but he was interrupted by his collision with Teal'c's back, "Hey! Give a guy a warning!" Teal'c raised an eyebrow; Jack knew he was laughing.
Maria had stopped them at a dark wooden door, one of the few in the honeycomb. She knocked twice briskly on the door, and opened it, beckoning them in, "May I present SG-1, led by Colonel Jack O'Neill, and comprised of his companions Doctor Daniel Jackson, Major Samantha Carter, Jonas Quinn and a shol'va of Apophis, Teal'c. SG-1, this is the leader of our people, Master Amin of the Tau'ri."
An old man, cloaked in a dark hooded robe, stood behind a desk. He looked completely out of place in his surroundings. The room, or office, could rival the command centre of the SGC. Maps plastered the walls, covered in colours that represented matters of importance. Books and computers were dotted around, creating a bizarre mix of past and present. Worryingly, a rack of weapons decorated one wall, unlikely for decoration, and another door led off to some other part room at the back. Next to the door was another unlit torch.
Amin stepped forward and lowered his hood. He was in his late sixties, early seventies, but like Bra'tac, he did not look or act weak. He had dark leathery skin and beetle black eyes, which were creased into a thoughtful expression. He walked up to Teal'c, who didn't move, "So, the Chappa'ai has indeed been reopened. Tell me, how many years have you allied yourself with Earth?"
"I have worked beside the people of Earth for eight years, since I betrayed the false god whom I used to serve. I believed that they alone could bring down the Goa'uld, and I was correct. The team on which I serve has proved formidable, thwarting the attempts on the destruction of both their lives and that of their planet. They have freed my people."
"Aww, you're making me blush T." Jack quipped.
Amin acknowledged the Jaffa, "You are worthy of a home here, my friend."
Maria frowned, "You have destroyed Goa'uld? Engaged in battle with them?"
Daniel piped up, "Er, yeah, we've killed quite a few. Ra for one, he was the first."
Amin deftly sided stepped and looked Daniel over with scrutiny. He then proceeded to cuff him around the head, quite hard actually, "This is typical of you! You leave your people after almost getting killed countless times, stay safe for a pathetic amount of time, and then try and get yourself killed again! By the gods Dan'yel! How am I meant to keep you safe?" Amin then stepped forward and embraced Daniel heartily. Jack smiled as Daniel hugged the old man in return; he was certain he could see his archaeologist's eyes well up.
As they broke apart, Amin beckoned Maria forward, "Ask Raphael to fetch us some refreshment, would you my dear? I fear we will be talking for quite some time. We will be in the meeting room." Maria smiled and left, Amin turned to the rest of SG-1 who he had yet to address. First he grasped Jack's hand, "I thank you for keeping him safe and returning him to us, not an easy feat, I know."
"Oh yeah, attempts to die at least one a month."
Amin moved to Jonas, "You are a scholar, like Dan'yel, it is reflected in your eyes. You are trouble." He smiled and clasped Jonas' shoulder.
Amin then moved to Sam, who was clearly expecting a greeting much like that which she had received from Bra'tac. Instead, she was pleasantly surprised, "You are a warrior and a scholar. A good mix, I think, less likely to run off and get injured. You and Maria are much alike; you should get to know each other more. Anyway, enough greetings, we must speak." The old man led them to the back room, which turned out to be a lot like their briefing room. A smooth slab of polished black stone formed the long table, surrounded by carved black stone chairs, cushioned. Jack was starting to get really confused about the amount of unlit torches everywhere, for another stood in the corner. Amin offered them a seat.
The door opened once more, revealing Maria and a young man of about eighteen, presumably Raphael. They carried small glass tumblers of an amber liquid, and handed them out. Maria then proceeded to take a seat next to Daniel, while Raphael bowed and left. Amin gestured for them to drink, "A concoction of my friend Ewan; non-alcoholic and incredibly refreshing."
Jack sniffed it tentatively, reluctant to try it. Daniel, however, had no inhibitions, and downed his in one go, along with Maria and Amin. Jack shrugged and copied them, the result being that he almost threw it back up, "Woah! That's non-alcoholic?"
Daniel smiled, "You need to acquire a taste for it."
Amin clasped his hands before him on the table, "So, you opened the Chappa'ai eight years ago, or longer?"
Jack smoothly replied, "Nine, but the program was inactive for a year before we worked out the Stargate went to more than one world." General Hammond had authorized limited information to be given, especially if the Tau'ri in Egypt were willing to set up relations, "What about you?"
"Us? We have existed since the false gods were driven off our world. We will continue our fight until all of the Jaffa are gone. No offence intended Teal'c." Maria smiled.
"So, would you guys like to help us? I mean, we both have experience to share, right? Our government is willing to let you continue what you guys do best-"
Jack was cut off by a sharp bark of laughter, "Willing to let us? My boy, they have no choice, unless they want to loose the use of the Chappa'ai. When it was unburied, my people decided to let you have it; we still had our own battles to fight. However, when the Egyptian government 'gave' it to you Americans, there was one condition. Just the one. The Tau'ri alone have true control over the Chappa'ai, and they alone may decide what it is used for."
Jack frowned, and looked over to Carter, who nodded, "Catherine told me." Seeing that Colonel O'Neill was about to dig himself into a hole, she tried to talk to Amin, "Master Amin? We would really like to establish relations with the Tau'ri. I'm, sure we would benefit each other."
Amin smiled, "Perhaps, Major Carter, perhaps. However, I only have the word of the four of you that your people are honourable. I have no proof."
Jack was about to protest that Teal'c's word was just as valid, when Daniel spoke up, "I can vouch for the SGC too, Master. I have worked with them for nine years. Even if you don't trust the American government, General Hammond, who runs the SGC, is honourable, I swear it."
"You trust them with your life, do you not, Dan'yel?" Daniel nodded, "Then I will consider their offer. Maria?"
"Ewan is outside Amin."
"Good. You are all welcome to stay here for as long as is needed. Maria will show Major Carter and Jonas around our home, and Ewan will show around Colonel O'Neill and Teal'c. Is this acceptable?"
"Err…sure. Carter, keep in touch." Jack was reluctant to leave Daniel, but knew he and the Master probably had a lot to catch up on.
The four members of SG-1 went back into the office, to be met by a man in his late forties. He had dirty blonde hair that fell over his one remaining eye; the other was closed from a long, deep scar running down the left side of his face. Jack decided not to ask.
Daniel watched the door shut behind his friends. Now they were alone, he couldn't think of anything to say. Amin started first, "It has been too long, Dan'yel. I have missed your energetic presence, we all have. Maria missed you the most. Did you know she left after you did? She went to university in Toulouse and tried to get into archaeology like you. She returned to us eleven years ago, for her mother's funeral and has stayed ever since."
"Anna's dead? How? Oh gods, I should have been with Maria."
"You could not, and you know it, do not focus on what you should have done. Anna died in a car crash she, like Maria, left after you did."
"And Luke Couture?"
Amin sighed with remorse, "You do not remember, do you? The memory still evades you. He was killed by a formidable Jaffa, saving you."
Daniel froze where he sat. A blur of red and black coloured his memory for a second, accompanied by a scream. Amin tilted his head and started to explain, in the hope of jolting his ward's memory, "It happened in a village near Cairo. You were in a patrol of five, headed by Luke. It was a simple exercise, you were only meant to be looking for signs that Jaffa may have strayed into that sector. It was a trap, the village was deserted, and you were met by twenty Jaffa." Daniel buried his head in his hands, floods of colours and sounds were flowing into his mind, "Two young ones died first, Kamala and Isaac, neither eighteen. They died instantly, staff blasts to the chest. Luke attempted to pull you and the other one out. As far as I know, Rheannon, the woman who was also in your patrol, sent out a radio signal to the garrison in Cairo. If she had not, I doubt that any of you would have survived. The details of the fight are not fully known, but I can tell you that Luke died when a Jaffa brought a sword down on you from behind, he was stabbed in the heart trying to stop the blow."
"Oh gods, Amin, how could I have forgotten? How could I have left?"
"You woke up in the Cairo hospital with amnesia. You had no memory of anything. It took months for you to regain your earlier memories, and then I made a decision. Do you remember a doctor coming to you with a file of you past?" Daniel nodded, "I instructed him to read it to you. It was comprised of lies and half truths of your past, including how your parents died. That way, you would not try and remember what you thought you already knew. I stand by my decision Dan'yel. You almost died that day; I could not let you get into that situation again. You were, after all only fourteen, and fighting was never truly in your heart."
"Amnesia?" Daniel was having a very hard time accepting all this new information.
"Rheannon also survived the attack. She reported that, just before the reinforcements arrived to retrieve you both, you were thrown across the village by a pulse of air and impacted a wall."
Daniel looked up sharply, "A pulse of air?"
"She did not know what it was, and we have never seen anything like it since."
"I need some air." Daniel rose from his seat and made for the door. Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, a blue flame flared up from the torch bracket.
Jack and Teal'c were watching a sparring match between two Tau'ri men. The room that they fought in was full of various everyday implements, that each were using to the best of their ability so as to best the other. Jack had to admit that, considering they were so young, they were good. "How old are they exactly?" Jack asked as the two children bowed and cleared up.
Ewan thought for a second, "These two are training in the third stage. I believe that they are twelve or thirteen."
Jack stared, "What? But they look older. Making them fight is barbaric!"
"We do not make them fight Colonel; they are only trained to survive. They look older due to their training, please follow me." He turned back towards the entrance to the room, Jack and Teal'c followed.
They were almost out of the door, when one of the children yelled out urgently, "Master! The torch is lit!"
Ewan span round and visibly paled. Jack frowned and turned to the direction the Scot was looking. An innocent, flickering sapphire flame danced in a previously unlit bracket.
"How big is this place exactly, Maria?" The trio were walking down one of the many winding passageways in the rock.
"It is larger than it looks from the outside. It is very easy to get lost if you do not know these tunnels."
"This place is really amazing."
"Thank you Jonas. It is very old; it has been in use for millennia."
Jonas was about to ask another of his many questions, when a slight hissing pricked on the edge of his hearing, "What's that sound? It sounds like gas."
Sam shrugged, "I can't hear anything."
Maria frowned, "Gas? That is unlikely, unless-" Maria was cut of by a spark jumping in the unlit torch bracket by her ear; a blue flame sprang to life. Within split seconds of each other, the unlit brackets fired up blue, all the way down the passage.
"Why are they doing that?" Sam asked, slightly apprehensively.
"These are the warning flames. Jaffa is coming. You must follow me, and we will meet up in the office with your friends. Vite!"
Maria began to run down the passage at full speed. All Jonas and Sam could do was follow. She wound though the maze, up and down flights of stairs. Maria truly knew her home well, for they had met up with the others within a minute outside Amin's office. SG-1 rapidly lost track of what was going on when Amin, Maria and Ewan began to speak rapid…something. Jack looked to Daniel, "What the hell's going on?"
"Jaffa have been sighted near the boarder. The flames are a call to emergency protocol."
"Which is..?"
Amin turned from his conversation, "Can you shoot from afar? If so, you can help us at the wall defences."
Jack was about to answer, when Daniel cut across him, "Sam and Jack are trained, they can shoot to kill. Teal'c is trained; he's a warrior, like me. I advise Jonas goes to the second defence."
Amin gave a sharp nod, "Samantha, Jack, you will go with Ewan and take your station. Jonas, you will go with Maria-"
"Non! If Daniel fights, I do too. I will leave Jonas with Chris and meet you at the gates." Maria grabbed Jonas by the arm and led him away before Jack could stop her.
"Daniel." Jack was worried.
"Jonas will be fine; it is unlikely the Jaffa will get through the first line. Please Jack, I don't know how many Jaffa there are, but if they are mounting an assault, there will be a lot."
"Daniel, please be careful, you too Teal'c." Ewan tugged on his arm. Jack had a very bad feeling about this.
Okay, so he lied to Jack. There weren't a lot of Jaffa, there was a damn army! How they assembled this in Cairo without attracting attention he'd never know. People were dying on both sides. He could hear gun fire from above, and was glad to know his friends were watching his back. He deftly twisted and took out an Anubis Jaffa. He was stuck between two market stalls. He saw Maria out of the corner of his eye, having lost track of a mildly annoyed Teal'c long ago.
He turned and slit the spinal cord of an Isis Jaffa, but at the same time, he saw a zat charge envelope Maria, once. He scrambled forwards and took on two Jaffa at once, but froze as a blade was held to his throat. A horribly familiar orange glow filled his vision, and his sight began to fail as he blacked out. Before he did, a horribly distorted voice commanded, "Draw back, we have the female, and we have a source of information. Let the pathetic humans recover as they wish."
Oh shit. They were in trouble.
To Be Continued…
Author Notes: I hope you appreciate my dedication to this chapter, because now I am in need of sleep. I will try to update within the next two weeks, but I hope to write a short Stargate fic to coincide with Bonfire Night first. Please review!
By the way, Maria says 'quickly' and 'no' in French in that order.