At Stargate Command

By the time the team arrive back at SGC, the Chinook and the team of soldiers are gone and the big silver disc is resting gently on its cradle at the bottom of the old quarry where the tunnels lead back into the base. Teal'c and a team of technicians from the base are busy setting up an electrified perimeter fence around it.

Now it is out of the cliff, it is possible to see the full size of the disc with a diameter of 7 meters and a depth in the centre of 2 metres tapering to about 30 cm at the edge. Apart from a thick layer of mud on one half, the surface seems smooth, unmarked as though new, a sparkling sheen over its silver surface making the chalk walls of the quarry shimmer in reflected light.

'We might want to build a shelter over it.' Jack remarks, joining Teal'c and helping with the perimeter fence. Stop it attracting attention.' He points upward and Teal'c nods in agreement. 'There is camouflage netting in one of the store rooms. We can build a tent over it.'

'Good, I shall leave you two to organise that and to set up CCTV on it, there are already cameras in the quarry you can utilise those. I want it monitored at all times. Now, Gail, if you and the General follow me, we'll find you an office you can work from and give you a quick orientation tour.' Peter guides Gail towards one of the tunnels and The General obediently follows after them.

Daniel and Agnes walk slowly round the disk, taking in its full size. 'We need to get the rest of the mud off it and try and work out what it is made of.' Agnes remarks, almost to herself.

'I think it's too big to have come through a Stargate.' Daniel rests a hand on the disk, it feels warm to the touch in the sunlight.

'I was thinking the same thing. I'm going to organise a team to help me clean this thing, we'll treat it like an archaeological dig, try and conserve anything of interest that might lie in the layer of mud and shale as we remove it. It will take some time though.' Agnes thinks back to her days at the Museum, conserving up old coins was a painstaking procedure. 'How long do you think it was buried in the cliff for?'

'Pre-dating all historical records I think, there is nothing I know of that matches this object, in any Earth mythology.' Daniel shakes his head.

'A cover stone of some kind? From a burial maybe?' Agnes stands with her hands on hips, taking in the full scale of the object.

'I'd expect there to be some kind of markings, plus the fact it isn't of any known metal. It must be extra-terrestrial in origin.'

'How about a meteor?' They are joined by Jack and Teal'c.

'A meteor?'

'Well, if the cliffs were once an ocean perhaps a meteor would deform into this shape after hitting the water, you know, like a stone skimming the surface.'

'It is a possibility but I've never seen a meteor so perfectly smooth.' Agnes replies.

'Worn smooth by the tides?' Jack tries to expand on his theory.

'Tides...it's like the moon...' Daniel says, half to himself.

'A full moon.' Teal'c adds.

'I don't think I am going to find anything worthwhile in the libraries on Earth and it looks as though Professor Overton has the UFO aspect covered here...'

'Are you thinking what I'm thinking?' Jack pulls the golden Royal Doublet coin from his jacket pocket and holds it up, the glyph for Avalon glinting in the sunlight.

'The library in Tower of the Magi?' Teal'c suggests.

'Exactly!' Daniel nods.

'You had better let Peter know where you are off to!' Agnes smiles at their enthusiasm. 'I'm going to stay here and get this thing cleaned up.'

'Oh,' Jack slips the coin back in his pocket, his excitement crushed by Agnes's reminder of the chain of command. 'Cromwell isn't going to let us go, is he?'

'Well, he seems to be too busy to disturb right now...' Daniel observes, 'Agnes could let him know where we've gone...' He smiles hopefully at her and she rolls her eyes as she answers. 'Go on then, I'll let him know where you are if he asks but don't blame me if you have a ton of paperwork and a telling off waiting when you get back!'

Fifteen minutes later, Teal'c, Daniel and Jack pull up in a jeep at the Stargate pool at Blick Mead. The bare ash trees and scrubby woodland form a hedge around the pool, hiding it from anyone who passing by. Jack takes the coin from his pocket. 'How do we get back?' He asks, pausing for a moment. At his side, Daniel pulls another Royal Doublet from his inside coat pocket and holds it up. 'Celestia. This is for our return journey to Earth.' He slips back into his breast pocket and pats it.

'Am I the only one who did not borrow a coin without asking?' Teal'c asks, shaking his head.

'Ah, but you bought your Ma-Tok staff, Teal'c'

'Yes, but it is not a coin.'

'But to travel through the wormhole we all have to hold onto something together and that will work very well.'

The three of them hold on to the Ma-tok staff as Jack flips the glyph coin deftly into a wide arc over the pool. For a moment nothing happens and then the vortex whirls up in front of them and teh three of them step into the swirling water spout.

Aelixor the Magus looks up from the heavy tome he is reading at the old wooden table in his tower. Something is affecting the Sands of Time, he can feel it deep in his subconscious. The Stargate!

The thought bubbles up to the surface of his mind and he smiles and jumps up. Perhaps it would be his friends from Celestia. For a moment his smile clouds over. This time, Ninian would not be there to guide him on another adventure but he pushes the thought away and reaches for the hood of his blue cloak, pulling it up over his head and carefully closing the book he was reading. the he makes his way to the landing stage jutting out from the library's portico where a coracle is moored, floating on the silver sands of time surrounding the tower. Aelixor casts off and dips the small boat's rudder into the fast flowing sands, steering a course for the gate dais, hidden in the mists of Avalon, a league across the silver ocean.