AN- Woo Hoo! I actually updated!!!!!! Thank you all you wonderful people who have been faithfully reading and reviewing, and thank you to my totally awesome beta, Rose of the Gate. You rock!!!!

Disclaimer- I own nothing but Kate, Torenth, Galdrona, and the planet Chandomir, where I have my summer home. lol. Ahem...Anything recognizable is not mine, but the property of the powers that be. Please don't sue, because I have no money. I have a fish and a car, and you can't have them!

AN2- I have a friend who just wrote a totally awesome Star Wars story. It's called "The Unknown Life" and it's on my favorites list. Go read it!

Any reviews are appreciated, even flames.

Chapter Nine

Arrival

O'Neill nearly choked on the doughnut he had been eating. "Apophis and Anubis?" He coughed.

Thor nodded. "I'm afraid so, colonel. They have forged an alliance against the Ancients. They believe that if they can defeat the Ancients, they can defeat you. I believe that one of the Ancients, the king's daughter, had tried to contact you, and inform you of their situation."

So that's what was so important, Kate! Thought Daniel. Why didn't you just say it? This can't be good. He spoke up. "They did...sort of," He brushed off the fact that everyone within earshot had turned to stare at him, and continued. "Her name was Katalina - Kate, as I knew her - and she never got a chance to tell me what the situation was."

"Yes," Thor replied. "She was Master Katalina Aurora, of the Ancients Order of the Sheni. She told me about having to cut her contact efforts short."

As one, O'Neill, Hammond, Carter, and Teal'c gave Daniel a curious look. O'Neill spoke first. "Care to share with the rest of the class?" He asked.

Oh, boy. Here we go. Daniel braced himself, took a deep breath, and proceeded to explain everything; from the first dream, the Voice, finding Kate, the headache she had caused, all the way up to the present situation.

By the time he finished, about twenty minutes had passed and Hammond was practically fuming. "And you never informed anyone?" He demanded.

Daniel shrugged innocently. "I figured I might end up with a repeat of the 'Machello's Legacy' incident, and you all would think I was crazy." he said, recalling the little bugs that made him see things, like a Stargate event horizon in his closet, dead Goa'uld, or a symbiont coiled around O'Neill's arm while Daniel played cards with him. Those little things had nearly cost Teal'c his life, if he remembered correctly.

Carter was starting to get angry, too. "Is that why you asked me about Kate the other day? Why didn't you tell me she might have been alive?"

Daniel raised his hands, palm out, in a gesture of surrender. "Hey, look, I'm sorry, okay?" He took another deep breath. "And to answer your question, Sam, I wasn't all that sure it was real at the time."

Carter just crossed her arms and turned her face away, shaking her head.

Daniel was about to say something else to her, but as he opened his mouth, he heard a small noise. Turning back around, he realized that Thor had just cleared his throat for attention. "Pardon me for interrupting," He said, "But you must decide who will be coming with me to the planet of Chandomir."

"And what's on this...Cha...Char...Chando...whatever?" O'Neill asked.

"You have been requested to attend a meeting of the Great Alliance,"

Daniel's eyes went wide. "The Great Alliance? As in the Four Races?"

The diminutive alien nodded. "Yes. The Asgard, the Nox, the Furlings, and the Ancients."

Carter gave a low whistle. "Well, what are we waiting for, sir?"

Hammond nodded, "I'll deal with you later, Doctor Jackson. In the meantime, I want SG units one, three and seven geared up and ready to go within thirty minutes!" A chorus of 'Yes, sir's sounded as the aforementioned teams left the gate room.

Daniel was tying his boots in the locker room when Major Sheffield of SG-3 came up behind him and gave him a good-natured punch in the shoulder. "Hey, Jackson, how're you feeling?"

Daniel looked up at the Marine. "Fine, Brad, just fine." he sighed.

"You sure? You look kind of wiped,"

"Yeah, well..." Daniel was interrupted by O'Neill's commanding voice.

"Everyone geared up?" Without waiting for an answer, he continued. "Good. Move out, people! Can't keep the little grey man waiting!"

Daniel hoisted himself off of the bench and fell line with the rest of SG-1. They were considerably quiet, and Daniel got the distinct feeling that they were giving him the cold shoulder. Great, he thought, now everyone's med at me, 'cause I didn't want to be labeled "crazy" for the millionth time in my life. He looked around again. Okay, maybe not everyone, but Sam, Jack, and General Hammond are. His thoughts were interrupted by the very unfamiliar sight of Gen. Hammond in an offworld BDU. "You're coming with us?" He asked.

"If we're gonna be dealing with the four greatest races in the universe, you think I'm gonna let Colonel O'Neill handle the diplomacy?" Hammond replied.

More than a few people mumbled that it was a good point. O'Neill turned and glared at them. "Hey, c'mon, guys!" He said. "I'm not that bad, am I?"

Carter spoke up. "Do you really want them to answer that, sir?"

O'Neill's face fell, and he sighed in defeat. "I guess not..." He was interrupted by the Stargate's event horizon swooshing into the room.

"Alright, everyone!" Hammond shouted, "Let's go!"

Daniel followed Thor, Hammond, O'Neill, Carter and Teal'c through the 'Gate, and paused for a moment on the other side, stunned by the sheer beauty of the room in which he had emerged. The room was about fifty feet wide, and twice that long, with large circular pillars made of some sort of translucent blue marble supporting the high ceiling. The blue marble gave off a slight glow, as did the floor, which was made of the same stone, but grey-purple in hue. Streaks of bright silver wove throughout the stone, reflecting the glow that permeated the chamber. A path, about seven feet wide and made of a jet-black stone, still with the silver streaks, carved a perfectly straight trail from the Stargate to two large, ornate silver doors on the far end of the room.

Daniel stiffed a gasp. He was standing in one of the rooms he and Kate had passed through after they had left the roof in his dream! It's even more breathtaking in person. He thought.

Hammond and the rest of the SG teams seemed to think so, too. "Wow," Sheffield said, looking at the pillars that lined the sides of the path, and the enormity of the room. "This is incredible!"

Thor turned to them. "We are currently in the lower levels of the Great Meeting Hall on Chandomir. The Hall itself is several stories above us. This is merely a reception room. Follow me, please."

Thor started down the stone path, and the others followed. When they reached the doors, Thor simply passed his hand over a tiny glowing panel inset in the door on the left, and they opened without a sound. He led them to a large turbolift, and keyed the floor they needed on a glowing multi-layered map that was projected holographically in the middle of the lift. "We will arrive at our destination in a few moments," He said. "There, you will be greeted by King Galdrona of the Ancients." The doors to the lift opened a few seconds later, and as they all piled out, the king strode up to them.

"Welcome, friends," He said. "As Commander Thor has probably said, I am King Galdrona."

Hammond returned the greeting, and introduced the rest of the envoy form Earth. The king acknowledged them all gracefully, regarding Daniel with a cordial, yet somehow cold, look.

The introductions soon over, Galdrona asked them to follow him to the Great Meeting Hall, where the others of the Great Alliance were waiting. The Great Hall was made of the same stone as the reception room, but the sheer magnificence of the Hall put the other room to shame. Tiers made of the jet-black stone from the path in the reception room lined the walls, arranged like an amphitheater, with a speaker's podium, made of the silvery substance, stood on the floor in the center of the chamber. The walls, floor, ceiling, as well as the seats and the desks in front of them, were all made out of glowing blue stone, eliminating the need for any other light. As they entered, the king slowed down just enough to walk beside Daniel. As the others filed into their respective seats in the grand chamber, Galdrona spoke into Daniel's ear. "I'll be watching you closely, young man," He said, a slight hiss in his voice. "You'd better hope my daughter's faith in you is well founded, or I will throw you out of here faster than you can blink."

Daniel cringed mentally, but experience kept him from showing his anxiety. "Believe me, sir," He said, willing his voice to be calm and steady. "I have every intention of living up to who I am, and nothing less."

"Good answer," the king replied. "I expect this will be an interesting meeting." Then, with a still-cold look directed at Daniel, Galdrona took his place at one of the four seats standing closest to the speaker's podium.

AN- Please review!!!!!!!!!