AUTHOR'S NOTE: This story came about when I got to thinking about drowning poor Jack in an effort to whump him. The basis of the story then evolved into a possible crossover as I realized that the aliens looked familiar. I just needed to come up with a way to mix the future with the present. This is what I came up with and I hope it works.
I have been sitting on this story for quite some time now, only because it's nowhere near being done and I've been hesitant about posting another WIP while I'm struggling to work on the other one I've got out there (I am working on Tangled Alliances, I promise!). But I thought I would go ahead and post this one anyway with a big warning that I may not get to this one often, but that it is next in the queue in terms of priority.
Thanks go out to a few wonderful people who answered one of my questions regarding the ancient technology in this fic (Mickey, Lee, and others), and especially to Jolene for her suggestion on how to get around the ancient technology dilemma I encountered. Thank you, thank you! And as always, major thanks go out to Diane for her beta skills. You rock, Diane!
DISCLAIMER: While all characters, planets and races that were introduced to us through the Stargate movie and series belong to the creators and producers of said movie and series, all original characters, plots, and mistakes in this story belong to me.
Chapter 1
He was called The Mariner. He lived in a world that was once filled with cities and farms on land as far as the eye could see. A world where millions of people lived on dry land, built their homes upon dirt that had been cultivated for centuries and had prospered with the crops that grew plentiful in their fields. His ancestors had battled the elements and progress alongside their neighbors, battling a war with nature that had been futile from the start.
That way of life was gone now, a part of history that mankind now believed to be only a myth.
It was only a dream now, a dream that the Mariner had long since given up on. His world had disappeared beneath the waters of melted glaciers, created by the effects of global warming. He was left to travel through this new home, hiding a secret that had been passed down through generations of his people. A secret that had to be hidden even now, his identity kept close to his heart to avoid persecution and death.
There were only a few who knew his secret - a handful of people who either found out about by accident, or who had garnered enough of his trust for him to reveal his true identity. His kind had learned the hard way over the years how to deal with the prejudice and hatred that came along with that revelation, and the Mariner had built up on the old explanations, modifying them for his own purposes. His explanations fit with the world as it was now and he told them that his kind had mutated into the half-human, half-fish people who had the ability to breathe under water just as easily as they could breathe on dry land. It was an explanation filled with lies and with half-truths that still left him an outcast among the others he met. But he relied on the lies to hopefully keep him out of harm's way. Even the rare few that he felt he could trust were told the lies. No one had to know the real truth, his lies made sure of that.
It was just supposed to be a little fishing trip. Nothing fancy, not even dangerous, but even the most innocent activities can cause major headaches, or in Colonel Jack O'Neill's case, death by drowning.
The day started innocently enough, considering the fact that SG-1 was doing a little exploring on a planet that consisted of sand and water as far as the eye could see. The Stargate had deposited them on the edge of a beach, the Gate itself resting solidly on a windswept rocky base that was meant to keep the ancient piece of technology anchored throughout time. Jack came through the Gate with the normal feeling of elation that accompanied him on each trip, but the elation faded quickly as he took in the landscape and the ocean that was the most predominant feature as far as the eye could see. "Haven't we been here before?" he asked his team, as he remembered a mission that ended with three shell-shocked members of his team mourning the loss of the fourth member, who had died in a blaze of fire. That mission had ended happily when they found out that the dead teammate was indeed alive and helping an alien determine the fate of a missing mate. But it was still something Jack did not want to have to go through again.
"No sir," Major Samantha Carter responded warily, apparently remembering the same thing, "Although it does look like the planet where Daniel was kidnapped."
"It looks a 'lot' like that planet," Jack said, unease settling in, as he scanned the horizon. "In fact it looks like this place is deserted, which means nothing to explore, which means we go home. Daniel, go activate the Gate."
"Wait - we just got here," Dr. Daniel Jackson responded, not quite ready to give up. "At least give us a chance to look around."
"There's nothing to look at," Jack insisted, gearing up for an argument. Daniel was a civilian, a fact that got in the way with Jack's authority over his team every once in awhile. But Jack usually got his way when it came to the welfare of his team and Daniel would eventually give in. It was just a matter of time. "All I see is water," he continued, "And Daniel, need I remind you what happened the last time we were on a planet similar to this? You died, remember?"
"But I didn't die, Jack," Daniel replied patiently. "You just thought I did. And we're still working on a treaty with Nem," he added, probably hoping this information would be the deciding factor, "It's just a matter of time."
"A waste of time if you ask me," Jack muttered grumpily. They had almost lost Daniel forever because of that alien, and Jack wasn't one to forgive so easily.
"O'Neill!" Teal'c, the fourth member of SG-1, called out. Jack looked over at him to find him pointing off to an object that was bobbing in the water a short distance away.
"That's a boat!" Daniel exclaimed, as he took off to get a better look.
"Daniel!" Jack called after his friend, worried that he could be walking into a trap. One of these days, Daniel was going to learn to think like a soldier, if it was the last thing Jack did. Probably will be, he thought, as he hurried to catch up.
"There has to be some people around here," Daniel called back, not even breaking his stride as he hurried toward the boat. "Why else would there be a boat in the middle of nowhere?"
"The question is whether we really want to meet these people," Jack said, as he caught up to his friend and grabbed his arm to hold him back. "Let's take this slowly, shall we?"
Daniel nodded, albeit a little reluctantly. He and Jack slowly walked over to the object, which did turn out to be a boat. It was a good size boat, big enough to hold several people. There were several paddles inside the boat, which was a good thing, seeing that the boat didn't possess a motor. There were also several sticks with pointed ends and some twine in the boat, causing Jack to smile as he thought about the homemade fishing poles he used to make.
"Why do you think it's out here?" Jack asked, as he scanned the area surrounding the boat. There were no trees, just sand and water, which caused him to really become concerned.
"Maybe it was left here several days ago," Carter chimed in, having followed Jack and Daniel to check out the new find. "Or weeks, or even months ago. They left it here while they traveled over land to get to their final destination."
Jack made a show of looking off into the distance, before turning back to give Carter a questioning glance. "There is nothing out there but sand and water," he told her. "Where did they go?" A thought came to him then, and he shook his head as he told her, "Okay. We are definitely leaving here now," he insisted, reaching over to grab Daniel's arm to pull him away from the craft. "It has to be one of those fish people that kidnapped Daniel. We are out of here now!"
"There are no tracks," Teal'c spoke up, having made his inspection of the area. "We cannot know for sure who, or what, left the boat here."
"It may be humans," Daniel persisted, curiosity moving in. "They may not be far from here. I think we should at least take a look around."
"I would like to get some soil samples, sir," Carter pleaded. "It shouldn't take me too long."
"Come on, Jack," Daniel wheedled, "We aren't in any immediate danger. I mean look around you, there isn't anything out there for miles."
Jack had to agree with Daniel, and he nodded his head, although his training made him suspicious of anything out of the ordinary, like finding an abandoned boat out in the middle of nowhere. His suspicions got a little waylaid as he thought about what he liked best about boats. They kept him dry when he was fishing out in the middle of a lake.
He tried to remember his mission, even as he thought about taking the boat out for a little test, just to see if it was seaworthy. Carter could get her samples while Daniel and Teal'c scoured the beach looking for signs of humanity, leaving Jack to get in a little rest and relaxation by fishing for an elusive prey. Yeah, that sounds like a great plan, he thought happily.
His happiness turned sour, as reality set in. What was he thinking? He was on an alien planet facing possible danger, and he wanted to drop everything to go fishing? But there was no danger in just going out in a boat, he thought, as he watched Daniel and Teal'c walking away from him. He didn't plan to go far and he was an excellent swimmer, he had nothing to worry about. "Carter," he said, stopping her from pulling out the rest of the test tubes she had in her bag.
"Sir?" she asked, as she looked up at him.
"I'm just going to take the boat out for a bit," he said, all the while wondering if he was making a mistake. It was almost as if he had to do this. "I'll just be out there for a few minutes. We leave when I get back, whether you are finished with your stuff or not."
"Yes sir," she said, with a small smile. She knew his love for fishing, and was probably thinking exactly what Jack was thinking. He only wanted to go out in the boat to fish.
Jack ignored the smile, as he put his gun in the boat and pushed the craft away from the shore. He got into it, then picked up a paddle and began to navigate the boat away from the shoreline, intending to stop when he was far enough away to sit and think, but close enough to get back to his team if trouble showed up.
He did stop the boat at a decent distance, not too far away. He sat there in the boat, relishing in the sway of the craft as small waves rolled past him. He glanced over to the shore to see that all three of his teammates were diligently working at the tasks they had elected to take on and he felt a little guilty for being out there in the boat, even as he reached down to grab a stick and the twine.
The peacefulness of sitting in the boat seemed to lull Jack into a sense of security, which he knew was a sham. Something was wrong, he could feel it, but for some reason he was at peace. These conflicting emotions kept him alert to his surroundings and he looked toward the shore to ensure that his friends were okay. They appeared to be fine, at least from his viewpoint. Daniel and Teal'c were standing at the shore looking off toward the Stargate, while Carter was a short distance away from them gathering up samples of the soil. He smiled as she looked up at him – even from this distance he could tell she was smiling back at him.
He went back to his task of fashioning a fishing pole out of a spear, but his attention was distracted by something in the water. He leaned over the side of the boat and saw the face of a woman staring at him from beneath the surface, causing him to pull back as he recoiled in horror. Holy Christ, he thought, as he tried to control the racing of his heart. What the hell?
He looked back over the edge of the boat, hoping that the woman was just a figment of his imagination, but she was still there and this time she was smiling at him from under the rippling waves of the water. His first instinct was to reach down to grab her, but he hesitated, as he remembered that he was on an alien planet that may or may not have hostile aliens lurking about, and he had no desire to find out the hard way if this particular one was hostile.
The woman swam away from him, then disappeared from view as she swam under the boat. Jack was relieved to see that the woman had legs instead of a fin. He could just imagine the look on the General's face when he heard the news that Jack O'Neill had run across a mermaid. He'd never live it down.
Jack swiveled around so that he could look into the water on the other side of the boat. She was there, beckoning to him with her hand as he watched with fascination. There was no way in hell, he thought, just before the boat he was sitting in bucked beneath him, causing him to grab onto the sides in an effort to hold on. He looked over to the shore, hoping for help from that quarter, but only managed to yell out to Teal'c, before the boat completely tipped over, depositing him into the frigid water.
He came up sputtering and spitting, splashing around as he looked for the boat, finally locating it a few feet away, floating upside down. He started to swim for it, but was immediately pulled back, by something that had grabbed his ankle.
He yelled out again as he took one more look toward the shore, seeing all three of his teammates heading toward the water, intending to come to his rescue. It was the last time he saw them, as he struggled while being tugged down under the water.
Self-preservation kicked in at that point and Jack fought with everything he had in order to survive. He kicked and flailed; struggling with all his might to free himself from what he knew would be certain death. His chest felt like it was going to burst any minute, his lungs protesting the unnatural act of holding his breath for too long a time, but there was no way he was going to give into the welcoming arms of the woman who swam around him.
He doubled over so that he could pry off whatever it was that had grabbed him, and was not surprised when he saw that a hand held his ankle in a firm grasp. He viciously kicked at the face of the man who held on to his ankle, but the man put out his other arm to stop the assault. The other hand must have held a knife, as blood now flowed from a fresh wound in Jack's leg.
Jack was losing the fight. He ignored the stream of red that colored the water and floated upward toward fresh air, as he continued to kick at the man who was holding his leg. But his wild struggles for freedom were for nothing. Darkness settled over him, as the pain in his chest intensified, and he could feel himself drifting away from life, as he knew it. The last thing he saw before darkness took over completely, was the concern on the woman's face as she came over, took his head into her hands and stared into his eyes. Death by drowning was not a pretty way to go.