Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate SG1. If you recognize a character it belongs to the Franchise. All that belongs to me is this specific plot and my characterization of the Furlings.

Author's Note #1: I am very sorry for the extremely long delay in posting this chapter. College life keeps me very busy. I hope to be able to get a number of chapters posted on this story before the summer is over.

Author's Note #2: I will never beg for reviews or threaten to withhold story chapters if you, my readers, do not review, but I would really appreciate if you did review. A review does not have to be long and complex. I appreciate constructive criticisms as well as notes that tell me that you are enjoying my story.


August 5, 1998 (Earth Reckoning)
Gaia
Milky-Way Galaxy

Morning came much too soon in Daniel's opinion. Once Ohper had returned the previous evening from escorting Lady Sujanha and her bodyguard to the Stargate, Daniel and his Nox hosts had eaten a quick supper. (Daniel was very hopeful that the Furlings were not vegetarians like the Nox: he was getting rather tired of only eating fruits and nuts and vegetables and the like. He missed the steaks that his teammates and he would get at O'Malley's sometimes.) Then Daniel and Ohper had talked for many hours about the questions that the long conversation with Sujanha had raised, most importantly the answer to the we she had spoken of in reference to the Furling High Council. Daniel was quite surprised when Ohper had revealed that Lady Sujanha sat on the High Council herself. That helped explained a little, Daniel thought, why she had brought bodyguards with her onto a friendly world. With these and other matters to discuss, it was well into the night before Daniel and Ohper retired to rest.

It seemed to Daniel as he awoke to a bright, new day that he had just laid down to rest. The birds were singing outside, and bright sunlight shone through the entrance to his hut. He could hear Lya humming a low tune as she made breakfast. In the background came the sound of Nafrayu bounding around the small village: the boy seemed to brim with energy no matter the hour. With a sigh Daniel dragged himself out of his bed and changed from the spare clothes the Nox had given him into his BDUs.

Lya greeted Daniel with a friendly smile and a kind greeting as he exited his hut, "Good morning, Daniel."

"Good morning, Lya," Daniel replied in kind.

"Come and sit," she said, motioning to a large log beside the cooking fire, "breakfast will be ready in just a few minutes."

Daniel took a seat. He was not sure if he actually wanted any food. The meeting of the Furling High Council taking place later that day would determine his future: where he could go, what he could do, what steps he could take to find and free Sha're and Skaara. As a result his stomach was filled with a bundle of nerves. He did, however, gratefully accept the cup of tea that Lya passed him.

Within a few minutes Anteaus, Nafrayu, and Ohper joined them, and Lya passed around wooden bowls full of porridge sweetened with crushed berries and a thick sweet substance comparable to honey on earth. Daniel picked slowly at his food and managed to eat about half of it by the time the others had eaten their fill.

"We should leave for the Stargate as soon as we are all ready," Ohper said, "to make sure we reach the homeworld of the Furlings in plenty of time for whenever we are called to speak at the Council Meeting."

Daniel looked up from his contemplation of his porridge and nodded his assent.

"We will very likely have time to walk around, but it is better to be early than late," said Ohper.

Daniel nodded again. He did not like to be late either, though he had a bad habit of getting lost in examining a new artifact or working on a new translation and then being almost late or actually late to a briefing with General Hammond and the rest of SG1.

After saying goodbye to Anteaus and Nafrayu, Daniel together with Ohper and Lya left the small village of the Nox and headed through the hill country toward the Stargate. The walk took about an hour. Omoc, who had come from the Tollan settlement, met them at the Gate. Ohper pulled the light-colored stone that served as an auto-dialer from a pocket of his clothes. Just as on the previous day, the stone began to glow with a yellowish light. Then the event horizon on the Stargate instantly formed without the usual kawoosh.

"Are you ready?" Ohper asked Daniel kindly.

Daniel took a deep fortifying breath. "I hope so," he replied, looking towards where Omoc and Lya stood waiting in front of the Stargate.

"Then come. Let us go." Ohper said, putting a fatherly hand on Daniel's shoulder.

Seeing Daniel and Ohper start to approach, Omoc and Lya with a ripple in the blue event horizon stepped into the wormhole. With Ohper's steadying presence beside him, Daniel too stepped into the Stargate, continuing on the path started the previous day that would change his life forever.


The 11th of Ihom, 6545 A.S. (August 5, 1998)
Furling Homeworld
Asteria Galaxy

The four travelers emerged from the Stargate onto a circular stone platform about ten feet in diameter and about four feet off the ground. Steps running around the edge of the circle led down to the floor. The hall in which the Stargate was house was simply massive. Daniel, glancing around and back in shock as his feet mechanically followed Ohper and the others down the steps, estimated that the room was at least one-hundred yards long and perhaps twenty yards across. The towering walls were made of finely cut and polished blocks of stone. Far above the heads of any passing through the room, the stone walls curved gently inwards, supported by thick beams of metal colored to match the stone, which Daniel could only see when a beam of light bounced off them.

Lining the edges of the building, at ground level, were large alcoves. Some were empty, but many were filled with beautifully carved, life-like statues from what Daniel could see in the closest alcoves. These statues depicted massive figures of various races. None that Daniel could see appeared to be human, though many were humanoid. Several had the animalistic appearance that might be typical of the Furlings. One statue almost directly across from the Stargate depicted a figure that had scales, deeply sunken eyes, a flat nose, and no ears. Another nearby statue depicted what appeared to be a human-sized version of an Asgard. Several other statues seemed to be of the Asgard themselves.

A voice broke through Daniel's contemplation. One of Lady Sujanha's bodyguards from the previous day was coming forward. It was the smaller of the two wolves, the one with black fur. Daniel thought his name was Ruarc.

"My lady Sujanha sent me here to greet you and act as your escort. Uslisgas is large, and my lady did not want you to lose you way during your time here." Ruarc spoke, ostensibly to the group, but met Daniel's eye as he spoke. Surprisingly, Ruarc spoke in English, since he had not been there for the conversation the previous day in which Sujanha and likely Ragnar had learned it. More surprisingly, his English, while not fluent, was more much advanced than Lady Sujanha had been. Daniel wondered at that change and also wondered while Uslisgas meant, perhaps it was the name of the city.

Ohper stepped forward and replied in kind, "Lady Sujanha is generous. Thank her for us."

"Of course," Ruarc said, inclining his head in acknowledgement.

"Ruarc," Ohper said, beginning introductions as there had only been the barest introductions the previous day and then Ruarc had left quickly to return to the Furling homeworld, "this is Doctor Daniel Jackson, who has requested asylum among the Furlings, and this is Omoc of the Tollan, who will speak as witness to the Council on Doctor Jackson's behalf."

The wolf inclined his head in greeting to each of the newcomers in turn. He appeared to already know both of the Nox. "I am pleased to meet you, though I wish it was under better circumstances. My lady told me of your circumstances yestereve, Doctor Jackson, and you have my sympathy." Turning to Omoc, he continued, "It is good of you to speak on his behalf, Omoc of the Tollan. My lady Sujanha wished me to say that she wished to speak to you at a later date. She thinks that there is profitable business that the Furlings might do with the Tollan."

"I will speak with her, but any agreements will have to wait until I can speak with my government."

"Of course," Ruarc agreed. After a moment he continued this time speaking to the group, "The High Council had many things to discuss in today's meeting, so it will be at least two hours before they are ready to hear your request. I can escort you to Sujanha's Headquarters where you can pass the time comfortably, or, if you prefer, I can give you a tour of Uslisgas."

Daniel knew which choice he would most definitely prefer. A chance to tour a city built and controlled by the Furlings, to talk with and ask questions of a real, live Furling, a race the SGC had only ever heard the barest mention of, was like a dream come true. He could get more information walking around for a couple of hours here about the Four Great Races than he could pouring over tablets and ancient records for days on end. Yet, he hesitated momentarily to make his wishes known, waiting to see what the others preferred.

Omoc and Ohper both stated that they preferred to wait at Sujanha's Headquarters. Then Lya said in her quiet voice that she would like to see the city, as she had not been to the Furling homeworld before. Finally, then Daniel spoke up and added that he, too, would like to see the city.

With the wishes of the party split evenly, Ruarc said, "The guards for the Stargate will be changing shift any moment. I will get one of them to escort you," motioning to Omoc and Ohper, "to Headquarters, and I will escort the lady and Dr. Jackson around the city."

Then, motioning for the party to follow him, the wolf started striding toward one end of the great stone hall. After a few moments, he drastically slowed his pace so that the others could keep up with his pace. As they got closer to the walls, Daniel was interested to note the excellent construction of the stones. He could barely make out where one block ended and the next began. Ruarc stopped two paces short of running face first into the stone wall. He waved one great paw through a small patch of air right next to him. As he did so, a small holographic keypad, for lack of a better word, appeared in mid-air. Ruarc tapped in a long code. When he had finished, there was a humming noise that filled the air. Then there was a flash of bright white light that obscured everything. The next thing that Daniel knew was that he was standing in a totally different room. Corridor actually.

Ohper seemed unbothered. Daniel and Lya both looked and felt surprised, through it showed less through Lya's almost-calm facade. Omoc, on the other hand, only looked extremely intrigued by the show of power.

"Forgive me, if I startled you," Ruarc said, his brown eyes darting from one person to the next, "we have found it necessary over the years to keep a careful guard on our Stargate."

They were saved from having to reply, when voices, speaking the rough tongue of the Furlings, were heard coming their direction. A few moments later, two Furlings appeared around a sharp curve in the corridor. One looked like some sort of undomesticated feline, perhaps a bobcat. Daniel was not an expert in zoology, especially if the animal was not from the Near East. The other looked like … Actually, Daniel was not sure what he or she looked like. Some sort of reptile maybe?

Ruarc seemed to know them both. He called out something in Furling. Daniel was only able to understand the first word: "Katar." A name perhaps, a guess that seemed likely when the feline broke off from his companion and approached Ruarc, greeting him with a shallow bow and a fisted paw over his chest. The two spoke in Furling for a few moments, before Ruarc turned back to his waiting guests.

"Ohper, Omoc, this is Katar. He is heading towards my lady's Headquarters. He will take you there and give you over to the care of Asik, the lady's chief aid, who will see to your care."

Katar bowed again in greeting to Ohper and Omoc and then motioned for them to follow him. Ohper spoke a quiet word in Nox to Lya, and then the elder Nox and the Tollan followed Katar back in the direction from which he had come.

Ruarc started walking again but in the opposite direction from Katar. "There are many exits to the Hall of the Stargate. Katar will lead Ohper and Omoc to the one facing Sujanha's Headquarters. The exit I am leading you towards faces the Great Square and the main sections of Uslisgas."

The wolf led Lya and Daniel through several corridors that all looked exactly the same. Finally, they came to a large alcove type room, on the side of the corridor made of metal, that seemed especially bright. Ruarc made the same motion as he had in the hall that housed the Stargate. Another holographic keypad appeared, and he typed in another long code. With a whoosh of air, the alcove was revealed to be an entrance or exit and the wall of metal itself a door. A large curved section of metal slid smoothly into the wall on one side, leaving behind a large arched doorway about eight feet high and wide enough for three people to walk abreast.

It took all Daniel's control not to gasp, gape, or stare wide-eyed as he and Lya stepped outside with Ruarc. They were standing at the top of a long staircase that stretched all around the outside of the curved Hall of the Stargate as far as one could see. The steps were steep and were, Daniel estimated, at least fifty feet long. Below them for miles a neatly ordered city spread across the colorful landscape. A yellow sun flanked by two small moons, another reminder that he was on earth no long, illumined the whole city. Far beyond the city limits, rolling fields and massive forests could be glimpsed. Even further out mountain peaks shot up into the blue sky.

Almost directly in front of the long Hall of the Stargate and located a couple hundred yards away was a large great open square, which was surrounded by buildings of various sizes. There seemed to be a number of people in and around the square.

Noticing Daniel's gaze, Ruarc said, "That is the Great Square of Uslisgas or the market place depending upon whom you ask. Many people pass through it every day. It is used as a gathering place to sit and eat or talk. All the shops, I believe that is the correct word you would use, are located in and around the Square."

Motioning for them to follow, Ruarc started down the stone stairs but kept talking as he walked. "The large square building just to the north of the Square is the Halls of Healing for the lower city. All in need of healing are admitted, even prisoners of the military. There is a second Halls of Healing on the Acropolis."

"Acropolis?" Daniel asked, pushing his glasses back higher on his nose. His mind jumped to the Acropolis in Athens and how visible it was. Where was this Acropolis?

Ruarc stopped suddenly and turned back. "Just turn around, and you will see."

Lya and Daniel both stopped also and turned around, careful not to slip on the steep stone steps.

"Wow!" Was all Daniel could say as he made a full turn.

The Acropolis of Uslisgas towered above the surrounding landscape. The cliff face was almost vertical and soured to a height of several hundred feet. Daniel, afraid of heights, almost felt dizzy just looking at the cliffs. He was reminded of the White Cliffs of Dover on the coast of England, although these cliffs were made of much darker stone. Parts of several buildings were visible, set somewhat back from the tops of the cliff face, though without a better pair of glasses, Daniel could not see how the Acropolis was accessible.

"How tall is it?" Lya asked curiously.

Ruarc rattled off a sentence in Furling which seemed to answer her question. He then said to Daniel, somewhat apologetically it seemed, "I don't know how to give you the figures in English."

"That's okay," Daniel replied, his attention still half on the Acropolis.

"Let us keep moving," said Ruarc after a moment, "you can see more of the Acropolis later: the High Council Building stands there."

As the three started to move down the steps towards the Great Square, Daniel finally asked a question that he had been wondering since exiting the Stargate, "Ruarc."

The Furling's head twitched in Daniel's direction, indicating he was listening, even as Ruarc kept most of his attention on descending the steep staircase safely.

"The statues in the Hall where the Stargate is, who are they of?"

"The heroes of many races who have aided the Furlings in past ages and past wars. Without many of them, as a race we would not exist as we do today, but that is a long story and better saved for another time." As he finished speaking, they reached the bottom of the long stairs. Ruarc picked a path that led directly toward the Great Square.

The hum of voices from the Square that had been barely audible on the stairs grew steadily louder as the three traversed the long path that led from the Hall of the Stargate to the Great Square. Now that they were on the same level, Daniel could see that most of the surrounding buildings around the Square were only one to three stories high.

"Who all owns shops here?" Daniel asked.

"Anyone is allowed to," Ruarc replied, "as long as they have the money and gain permission from the Governor's Office, which is not hard at all."

"What all do the shops sell?" Daniel asked, glancing around from side to side as they passed through the first row of shops. He caught a glimpse of a fountain in the center of the Great Square shooting water high into the air.

"Most anything made or grown on planet or brought in by traders from off-world. Food, clothes, trinkets, weapons, household supplies, musical instruments, among many other things." Ruarc replied.

The noise level, though never extremely loud, continued to increase as they passed through the two rings of shops into the Great Square itself. Creatures from many races, big and small, familiar and not, moved about the Square. The new arrivals garnered no attention: there were more things to draw attention than a Nox or another human. Ruarc led them on a path that cut across one corner of the Square.

"Stay close!" He told them, "the crowd is smaller than usual today, but I do not want you to get separate from each other or from me."

Scattered throughout the Square were a number of carts of varying size, displaying wares of various types. "Those who do not have the money to buy or rent a shop can gain permits to sell their wares in other manners. You can often get very interesting stories out of these traders if you ask nicely."

After another few minutes walking, they left the Great Square through an exit diagonally opposite to the exit through which they had entered. This exit seemed to be a more popular one, as there were many more people, going both ways, that passed them. "One of the main roads into and out of the city is located in front of us," Ruarc explained.

After passing through two more rows of shops, Lya, Daniel, and Ruarc stopped at the edge of this main road. Only foot traffic was visible as far as the eye could see. Daniel was surprised, considering the advanced technology that the Furlings should have had as a member of the Alliance but which was not very visible of yet, considering the beaming technology seemed very similar to that which Thor had used when freeing the Cimmerians from Heru'ur and his Jaffa.

"Ahead of us," Ruarc began, "is the residential part of the Uslisgas. Most permanent inhabitants of the city live here, though some, like Lady Sujanha, live outside the city." The residential buildings were made of a dark stone, and none appeared to be over six stories tall. Ruarc stopped talking long enough to start walking back towards the Acropolis and then began again, "Ahead of us is the first of the Halls of Healing in the City. Farther ahead and to the left are the city gardens and a small lake. It has plants from all across the galaxy and from Ida."

"Ida?" Daniel asked. He did not think he had heard that name before.

"The galaxy in which the Asgard live," Ruarc replied.

Lya asked Ruarc a question in Furling, and the two went into a long discussion in Furling for several minutes, after which Ruarc apologetically explained that her question had been too complicated for his limited English, though in Daniel's mind he spoke better English than many people in the United States who spoke English as a native language.

After walking for a couple more minutes in silence, Ruarc turned slightly to Daniel, who had been looking back and forth and all around, and asked, "Something puzzles you." It was a statement, not a question.

Daniel hesitated a moment before replying, not wanting to offend his hosts, "After seeing the Nox's floating city and Supreme Commander Thor's way of dealing with the Goa'uld on one of his safe worlds, I guess I was just expecting a city that was just a little more …" He trailed off. He knew in his mind what he wanted to say but was not sure of how to put it in words.

"Obviously advanced?" Ruarc offered.

"Something like that," said Daniel hesitantly.

Seeing Daniel's hesitation, Ruarc replied, "I take no offense, Doctor Jackson: your question is a very understandable one."

"Daniel is fine."

The Furling nodded his assent and continued on, "The Furlings are an old race. We number our history in many tens of thousands of years. Yet, compared to the Asgard and especially the Ancients we are very young. It was over 45,000 years ago, as we measure time, that we first met the Asgard and then some years later the Ancients and the Nox. But by that time the Asgard were already allied with the Ancients and the Nox and had been exploring outside Ida for tens of thousands of year."

Ruarc paused long enough to guide Daniel and Lya across the road and onto a path that would take them around the far side of the Halls of Healing and then began to speak again, "We are old now, but we remember when we were young and the thousands upon thousands of years it took to advance to a level even near the Asgard. We, as a race, prefer to do what we can with our own hands and under our own power rather than rely over much on technology to do our work. When we encounter things that we cannot do ourselves, we will create or sometimes borrow technology to help us."

"Thank you for such a detailed answer," Daniel said, his mind already going over carefully what Ruarc had said and correlating with what little he knew of the history of the Alliance and of the Asgard.

"You are welcome," Ruarc replied.

Coming around the corner of the Halls of Healing, a large building made of stone, a beautiful site was revealed as Daniel and Lya caught site of the city gardens about one hundred yards in front of them. Stone pathways meandered through brightly colored shrubs. Benches, available for people to sit down on and rest or admire the view, were shaded by trellises covered by vines or flowers. Massive trees with long, thick branches over shadowed all, and through a gap in the trees, Daniel could even see the lake that Ruarc had mentioned earlier. Even from where they were standing, a short distance off, Daniel could smell the sweet scent of the flowers.

"It is beautiful," Lya said.

The three wandered throughout the garden for some time, enjoying the quiet and the peace. Daniel could feel the stress he had earlier felt start to melt away.

Suddenly, the stillness of the garden was broken by a quiet chirp. Daniel and Lya stopped walking and turned back to where Ruarc was trailing at a slower pace. He had stopped and was holding his arm out in front of him and was speaking to a small holographic figure seemingly projected from the thick, silver-colored arm-guard on his right forearm. Ruarc spoke in Furling, so Daniel could not understand what he was saying.

When the hologram disappeared, Ruarc said, "We need to start making our way toward the Acropolis. The High Council will soon be ready to hear your case, Daniel."

"What about Ohper and Omoc?" Daniel asked, as the three started to walk out of the gardens.

"A message has been sent to Asik, Lady Sujanha's aid. He will make sure that Ohper and Omoc make it to the High Council Building." Ruarc replied.

When the group had exited the confines of the garden, Daniel was surprised when they did not turn towards the Acropolis but continued straight on towards a small building. The interior of the building, Daniel saw as they entered it a few minutes later, was smaller than its exterior made it seem. There was only one room, its walls made of stone.

"It is possible to walk up to the Acropolis, but the path is long and tiring," Ruarc said as he opened another holographic keypad and began typing in yet another code, "it is easier and much quicker for us to beam directly to the High Council Building."

He typed in the final part of his code and then took two giant steps backward so he was next to where Lya and Daniel were standing waiting. The same hum as earlier sounded, and then all three figures were engulfed in a bright, white light.