Spinner's Palace
The team travels quickly across the surface of Maere, the glass-sand running alongside the ridge of volcanoes ringing the planet until it reaches a high valley, carved between two peaks. Here, the sand suddenly stops and recedes, leaving them high and dry on a rocky outcrop. Jack steps off Aelix's cloak and glances behind him, expecting to see the storm roll away but there is nothing, the sand has returned to the ground and all is still and quiet.
Aelix points at the valley ahead. 'This way.'
The team moves off, scrambling carefully over the sharp rocks to the valley floor, avoiding the deep drifts of glass sand. Here and there they find traces of an old path, warn smooth into the rock. Very slowly the ground begins to climb up towards a jumbled collection of what look like silvery rocks in the centre of the valley floor.
'Look!' Gail points to the nearby rocks which have strands of silver running through them. 'Does that look familiar? Like the disc?' As they get nearer the outcrop the strands of silver get thicker, like rope running through and over the ground until they reach the base of the rocky outcrop. Here, the path is almost carved through a thick tangle of these silver ropes twined together like trees and these are festooned with layers of web, from single, fine strands to large branches, all of them hung with drops of water, reflecting the light and sending it dancing over every surface. What looked like rocks from a distance is a giant, intricate, silver web.
Daniel runs a hand along one of the threads, feeling the water running along it to the lowest point. 'Mist catchers. This web is catching any moisture in the air and funnelling it back down towards the centre, ingenious!'
'Looks like a fairytale palace.' Gail adds. 'I'm guessing this path is the doorway in.'
'And I'm guessing you have just rung the bell.' Aelix points to the thread, still trembling from where Daniel's hand has been.
Jack leads the way into Spinner's palace, carefully avoiding touching any of the silver threads. Aelix, Gail and Daniel follow with Teal'c at the rear. Moving deeper into the web, they can hear the sound of the water, first dripping then running, turning into streams. Every now and then the path travels over one of these torrents, a fast running channel of inky water. The path leads them through corridors with intricate fretwork walls, all made of silver thread, depicting forests and mountains and then into vast chambers, full of vaulted ceilings and ornate floors, past fountains and waterfalls cut into walls and on until they reach a huge central hall, lit by light bouncing off giant cobweb trees holding up a deep blue ceiling, studded with bright stars. It takes the group a moment or two to realise it is, in fact, the sky they are looking up at. In the centre of the room is a deep pool, fed by a wide canal of the inky water as it glides like glass past them. Beyond this pool sits Spinner, quietly watching them with at least four of her eyes.
'Now that ' Jack whispers under his breath, 'is a very big spider.'
At SGC:UK
Agnes stares at her ankle, heavily strapped and sighs. Just her luck to be stuck on Earth while the rest of the team are off-world on an adventure. On her desk in front of her are photos of the now spinning disc. If Aelix is right and it's part of a giant chariot, how did it end up buried in the cliff? While it might have been there for thousands of years, there should be some record of the events leading to it's burial, even if it is only as a myth or legend. Agnes knows that before history books there is a great treasure trove of stories, handed down buy word of mouth stretching back into the mists of time. An oral history pre-dating books. She switches on her tablet and calls up the internet and types a single word into the search engine: Giants.
After a lot of sports listings, two things catch her attention. The Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland and just how worldwide references to giants are. All over the globe there are myths and legends associated with them, even reports of giant skeletons being found. She clicks on a link for the Giant's Causeway and starts to read. She had always assumed it was a naturally occurring geological feature but now, with the disc spinning outside, maybe it was a paved road for a chariot instead.
(Author's note : Thank you for reading my story so far, with Christmas approaching, I shall be taking a break from writing the story for a few weeks, hope you will return in the New Year for more chapters. Wishing you all a happy holiday, a Merry Christmas and a Peaceful New Year.)