The group stared at the statue for a while not being sure what to say. Finally Dr. Merrith broke the silence.
"Well....the resemblance is.....surely there...."
"Indeed." Teal´c tilted his head in agreement.
Sam was still gazing at the altair. The similarity was there, no doubt about that, but still....it looked so surreal.
"So....what are we going to do with it?" asked the young archeologist, stepping closer to the edge of the cascade wall, taking a better look at the monument.
"Investigate it," suddenly ordered Sam. „That´s why we came here, isn´t it?", she took the pocket-scanner and pointed it at the statue. „It doesn´t emit any radiation or electrical waves...I guess it´s safe to go down there." She put the scanner into her backpack and jumped from the edge onto the lower floor. The others followed her.
"It´s strange though....the style of the altair is fairly different from the rest of the temple...," stated Daniel half-talking to himself, but carefully climbing down the slick ledges.
"Maybe it was brought here ...or built later," speculated Merrith.
"But why? Why would they?" countered Daniel.
"Well, maybe the old statue that was there was destroyed or they just wanted to make it more interesting....," he stopped talking when he got a sceptic look from his idol.
The group successfully climbed down to the core of the chapel. The humidity in the area was a lot more notable than in the rest of palace. Greasy moss covered most of the floor and every step was followed by a splosh. Bracken grew from walls and created in the middle of a stone pit a mini-jungle on its own. The rock-hewn sculptures silently observed the curious group who was now trying to take a closer look at the writings engraved on the pedestal.
"Doctor Jackson? Do you recognize any of the characters?" Merrith started to copy them into his sketchpad.
"No...not like-"
"Really?" Sam interrupted them. „I´m sure I´ve already seen them somewhere." She looked up to see the two men staring at her in disbelief. „Wh-what? I mean...they look familiar...," Sam slowly ran over the signs with her finger, musing to herself.
"Well....," Daniel´s thoughts were interrupted by a sudden ear-piercing scream echoing through-out the temple.
"What the hell was that?!" Merrith jumped on his feet and looked up to the entrance with a terrified look on his face.
"I don´t know....it sounded like a woman´s voice," Daniel got up to his feet and released his gun, Teal´c following his motion. Sam did the same and activated her radio. „Colonel Thurman, this is Carter. Are you okay?"
"....."
"Colonel Thurman, please respond."
".....," The response was only a buzzing noise.
Sam exchanged looks with Teal´c and turned to the others. "Okay, we´re wrapping this one up. Teal´c and I will go check the situation. Rivers, you go with Daniel and Merrith ahead and contact the SGC." The group nodded and started to climb their way up the storeyed wall-slab.
As they hurried to the top, a sound of gunfire cut across the air. They started to hurry even more, but their movement was slowed down by the slickery rim that covered the edges.
Almost at the top, when the rest of the group made their way to the entrance, Sam stopped on the last edge and tried to contact them again.
"Colonel Thurman, this is Colonel Carter, please respond!"
".....Thi.....s...wer...under f.....req..st ..kup..." then the radio went silent.
"Something is jamming the frequency...." She took a quick glance at the scanner - the EMF index was high above the average. She shouted at the group not to wait for her and jumped up to the last store. Hoping it would quicken her progress she glanced off the nearest sculpture and reached out for the edge.
The rest looked like it was played in slow motion. Her hands caught the brim but slipped under the sleek surface, and she leant over, falling all the way down to the centre of the room. Her hand reached out into space and she saw Tealc´s horrified look who turned into a smudge shortly before everything going pitch-black.
Author´s note: Well, this was the last introduction (and short) chapter.....now can the fun finally begin! Enjoy, and review if you want!