Despite the years of neglect, the road was easily followed. Time had not yet been able to fully reclaim the hard packed soil left by years of foot traffic and travel by carts and wagons to and from the stronghold. Traces of the old thoroughfare were still discernable to the trained observer. With the eager pace set by the two scientists, anxious to get as much out of the Colonel's time limit as possible, the team was soon in sight of what must have once been a most impressive fortress. Even underneath layers of vines and surrounded by overgrown trees and shrubs, the place was a thing of beauty. Sun glinted off the slate roof, and gave the building a surreal glow. Towers and parapets added to a storybook feeling, and it was easy for the four travelers to imagine what the place must have looked like in its heyday when it still had colorful pennants and banners adorning the walls. In spite of the bracken and weeds now choking the pathways around the building, one could still see the outlines of what must have once been a breathtaking formal garden behind the castle's outer walls.
Surprisingly, the crushed stone pathway from the outer gates to the still lowered drawbridge was clear of growth, despite the fact that thorny bushes and vines had sprung up around the base of the building and clung to the walls as if trying to consume the place. More vines choked the wide, deep defensive ditch that surrounded the fortress, Sam wasn't sure if the thorny plants had been intentionally planted there or not, but in either case the protective barrier was complete. No one would try crossing that deep gully except by the drawbridge, which luckily was open and appeared thick and sturdy.
The team paused in front of the bridge, taking in the size and scale of the place, and Sam took the chance to collect soil and gravel samples from the vegetation free pathway. She also took samples of nearby plants, including the abundant thorn bushes. That last sample was a bit of a challenge. The plant was tough, the whole thing seeming to tremble as she sawed off a bit of it with her knife while being careful not to get scratched by any thorns. Just as she'd severed the piece she'd wanted off from the main branch, Sam was startled when she suddenly noticed empty eye sockets staring out at her from the dense shadows of the underbrush.
"Eungh!" she cried, jumping back and dropping the bit of plant and her knife to bring her P-90 up to bear. Behind her, The Colonel and Teal'c reacted, bringing their own weapons up, and Daniel's hand strayed towards his Zat.
"Carter?" Jack questioned in concern, his position not giving him a clear view through the foliage at what had startled his second without putting her in his line of fire.
Sam gave herself a mental shake, stepping off to the side the others could take a look and waving in the direction of the skull that had startled her. "Looks like the castle defenses were pretty good sir," she commented, letting go of her weapon to edge nearer for a better look. The skull hung suspended at eye level, the bones bleached smooth with the passage of time. Tendrils of plant grew out of one of the eyeholes and mouth, and the lower jaw was missing. All the upper teeth were intact. Further down into the dense growth, she caught a glimpse of metal, what seemed to be a sword with part of a skeletal hand attached and a ring. Even though rusted, the glint of jewels was visible on the hilt, making her think that the bones must have belonged to someone of importance.
"Eeuww," remarked Jack, peering over Carter's shoulder. "Guess the gardener didn't get out here much," he said while rubbing his hand surreptitiously on his pant leg despite not having touched anything.
"Um, here's another one," observed Daniel, having wandered over to the other side of the bridge. He was peering intensely into the densely packed shrubbery, his brow furrowed in thought.
Jack frowned, "Can't say much for the welcoming committee," he muttered, shaking his head slowly.
"Perhaps the bodies were left to deter future forays against the installation," Teal'c speculated.
"In any case, we should probably keep our distance," Jack decided, with a speculative look at the old fortifications.
Sam bent quickly to retrieve her knife and plant sample, returning the former to its sheath and placing the latter in a bag. The plant definitely was worth further study, though it was more likely that the owners of the bones were brought down by defenders on the above parapets and like Teal'c had said, left there to deter future attacks. "You finished Carter?" Sam looked up at her CO's face. He still looked keen to check out the place, and beside him, Daniel looked even more ready to get inside. Teal'c glanced over his shoulder at the rest of the group, before returning his gaze back to the surrounding area, even more alert for threats in this otherwise peaceful place.
Hastily, Sam stowed the carefully bagged and labeled specimen with the rest of her samples, and nodded. "Ready sir," she replied, her composure regained, finding she was just as eager to check out the inside as Daniel in spite of the gory remains outside, maybe even partly because of them. Someone had found in worth getting into the highly defensible fortress despite the odds.
Removing his sunglasses, Jack turned the move into a gallant wave, his unflappable cheer returning. "Ladies first," he said with a hint of teasing, his lips twitching near the corner of his mouth.
Sam ducked her head to hide a smile. The good mood was still infectious it seemed. "Yes sir," she answered, and stepped onto the bridge. She didn't need to hear the soft footfalls behind her to know her CO followed. Two more sets told her that Daniel and Teal'c had also stepped onto the bridge, but Sam resisted turning to check on her teammate's positions. Her first responsibility was to scan the immediate vicinity for any hidden threat. While it was obvious that no humans had been this way in a very long time, the same might not be true for animals or other threats. During her scan, Sam also took note of the building's integrity. Overhead, wide heavy timbers still supported the ceiling, and the thick walls of stone looked intact. They seemed to be in a sort of large hall or foyer. Dirty, faded tapestries still clung stubbornly to the walls in many places, but bare, lighter colored spots with nearly indistinguishable dust covered lumps beneath showed where others had given up the battle and fallen. Rugs so covered in dust their original color was indistinguishable covered the floor. The walls on either side of the room each contained a single doorway, flanked by unmoving mostly intact suits of armor, dulled and tarnished with dust and the passage of time. Overhead, large, solid wood and metal chandeliers hung from the ceiling beams, draped with more dust and the local equivalent of cobwebs.
After one more glance around her side of the room, Carter took another step in, leaves crackling under her feet. More piles of leaves were scattered around the room, obviously blown in through the open doorway. "Clear sir, and the building seems solid," she told the Colonel. In fact, in spite of all the dust and signs of decay, she hadn't seen any signs that the actual structure of the castle had started to crumble like the smaller buildings and homes in the village. The fortress had been built of sterner stuff.
From the other side of the doorway, Jack nodded in acknowledgement. "Same here," he responded. Daniel hovered in the entrance, clearly eager to get started, but was tempered by years of experience. His practiced eye also traveled over the walls and ceilings, looking for faults or cracks the others might have missed. At Jack's inquiring look, he nodded his agreement with Jack and Sam's initial assessment. Still on the drawbridge behind them, Teal'c surveyed the area at the back, calmly watching their six.
"Ok," Jack decided, satisfied that the place wouldn't come down around their ears and that nothing was going to eat them, at least not yet. "You kids stay here while Teal'c and I check out the next two rooms." Jack pointed with his head to the doorway on Sam's side of the room. Teal'c nodded in agreement and Jack headed for the door on the opposite side of the room, little puffs of dust stirred up by their boots settling in their wakes.
Daniel wasted no time in moving into the room, his camera out. While as eager to get started as her friend and teammate, Sam contented herself with watching for now, and moved to where she could keep an eye on Daniel as well as the doorways. She knew she'd have her chance soon enough.
She was quickly proven right, Teal'c and the Colonel returned a few minutes later. Jack jerked a thumb over his shoulder, as he stepped over a helmet that had fallen off the display on one side of the door. 'Won't be going that way. There's what looks like a dining hall, followed by storage and kitchens, but some shelves have collapsed across the doorway, and I don't think even Teal'c here can move them," he announced and Daniel looked crestfallen. Fortunately for them, the report Teal'c gave was much more heartening.
"The way is clear through here, there are many chambers to be found," said the large man levelly, his posture relaxed, yet alert. Daniel all but shouted for glee, his eyes shining with excitement. He looked like a kid on Christmas morning.
Sam hid her smile by digging out her scanner again, and pretending to concentrate on it. She quickly had the energy source pinpointed again, and it was much stronger. "The power signature is that way sir," she told the Colonel, pointing to the far wall opposite the entry. Unfortunately for her curiosity, there was no doorway in that wall. "And the signal is much clearer. It has to be close." Turning her hopeful gaze onto her CO, Sam waited for Jack to come to a decision.
"Well, seeing as we can only go one way, I say we try it. Maybe we can find a way to the other side of that wall," Jack pointed to the door Teal'c had taken for good measure, as if there had been any doubt about the direction. This time, Teal'c led the group having already come this way once. The rest of the team followed silently, something about the emptiness of such a large structure, obviously built to hold hundreds, kept the usual banter to a minimum.
Jack kept the team moving despite Daniel's longing looks and verbal speculations about the rooms they passed. The archeologist eagerly noted what was obviously a throne room, a ballroom, and another room that was some sort of formal dining room, which Jack replied looked more richly appointed with finer furnishings. The one he'd seen, the Colonel explained for Daniel's benefit, had been a simple affair with rough tables and benches and was probably more for the servants and such given it's proximity to the kitchens and storage.
Daniel looked interested in going back for his own look, but Jack shook his head. "Later," he told the man. "I want to check out that power reading of Carter's first," he explained with a glance at his second, still studying her scanner readouts. While slightly disappointed, Daniel readily agreed. He appeared just as interested in the inconsistent energy reading, which was in stark contrast with the lack of technology they'd seen so far here. They continued to look for a way to the center of the complex, finally emerging into what might have once been the queen's solar.
Heavy wrought iron framework supported warped clear glass panes, many of which were still intact despite the vines and other clinging vegetation growing on the outside, from what appeared to be a courtyard garden. Threading their way through planters holding the remnants of dead plants, long decayed to dust from lack of care and water, the group made their way to the door on the opposite side of the room.
"It's through here sir, straight ahead," Sam confirmed with another glance at her instrument. Jack nodded, and Teal'c tried the door. The knob turned easily, but Teal'c had to press his shoulder against the heavy doorframe to push the way open through the pile of old leaves and years of detritus the wind had deposited just outside.
They were definitely in a central courtyard garden. Like the long neglected gardens surrounding the castle, this inner garden still held the ghost of its former glory, even with the choking weeds and the presence of more thorny bushes like there were outside. In the center of the garden stood a small building with a domed roof. A path from the solar meandered around the building and the surrounding garden. Like the crushed stone path out front, the way was markedly clear of growth from the surrounding plants. A single door was visible; it stood open as if expecting them.
"The energy source, whatever it is, its in there sir, I'm sure of it," said Sam, pointing with her scanner.
With quick hand signals, Jack sent Teal'c in one direction around the building, while he went the other. Sam watched their backs, scanning the courtyard, and back the way they had come. There didn't seem to be another way to enter the courtyard. Daniel glanced around in interest, as Teal'c and Jack completed their circuit, ending in front of the door to the small structure. Teal'c peered around the doorway, and after scanning the inside, nodded that the way was clear. "We are alone," he pronounced.
"Ok kids, go… play," Jack announced, and Sam couldn't help the grin that she saw mirrored on Daniel's face. "Ah ah!" he stopped them on the threshold with a hand up. "No touching."
Sam smothered her grin. "Yes sir," she replied smartly, slipping past him into the room. Daniel was less respectful, and rolled his eyes, "Yes Jack," he sing-songed flippantly on his way past. Jack scowled in mock anger.
The building was not large, and contained only a single room. In the center of the room, underneath the apex of the dome that turned out to be a skylight, stood a chaise lounge. Around the circular room decorative pillars stood at regular intervals forming small alcoves or niches. Inside of each were objects of beauty, gold, and art. Vases and statues looked out into the room from their perches on shelves and pedestals. A faint tingle as she passed the threshold raised goose bumps and Sam rubbed her arms reflexively, coming to a stop as she took in the room. Beside her, she felt Daniel do the same.
"Wow," breathed Sam, not in amazement at the collection, but in the overall condition of the room. "Yeah," Daniel agreed, speechless for the moment.
"Carter?" inquired Jack, one eyebrow up.
Sam shook herself from her reverie. "The dust sir, there's no dust."
Blinking, Jack peered into the room, shooting a glance at Teal'c. Teal'c raised an eyebrow. It was clear he'd not experienced anything of the like. Jack stepped the rest of the way into the room, mirroring Carter's earlier gesture subconsciously. Daniel wandered further into the room, making his own explorations while Teal'c continued to watch behind them.
"It must be some sort of preservation field sir," went on Sam, stepping a bit further inside, and looking around in speculation. "I felt a slight disturbance as I entered the room, that must have been the field. It must be selective, because it lets in some things like people, air, or objects, but not dust." She bent her head back to her scanner, fiddling with the dials. Jack couldn't argue with the evidence. Unlike the rest of the castle, everything in this room was as bright and vibrant as if it were all brand new. The air also lacked the musty, disused feeling they'd felt in the rest of their explorations.
"Um, hello," spoke up Daniel suddenly, across the room from the doorway as he backed away from the object in front of him. It was giving off a soft warm glow.
"Daniel…" Jack growled warningly.
"I didn't touch it Jack, I swear," exclaimed Daniel, holding up his empty hands as if to prove he hadn't. Sam advanced with her scanner, while Daniel explained what had drawn him to that particular object in the first place. "I was just looking, I mean look at it Jack, see how different it is from the rest of the artifacts on display?" he encouraged with a wave of his hand to encompass the rest of the room.
Jack squinted a moment. "Well, Daniel, that might be because it's, I don't know, glowing?!" Sarcasm dripped from his tone.
"No sir, Daniel's right, look," Sam interrupted what was brewing into an argument between the two men.
"Indeed, O'Neill, this object is plain and otherwise unremarkable," added Teal'c for good measure.
"Aside from the glowing?" snapped Jack, irritated at the ganging up, but his eyes were considering. Sam saw when realization that they were right crossed his features. He frowned, muttering to himself, before turning back to the other three. "So… gold, jewels," he said gesturing around the room at the other objects, gilded, jeweled, or otherwise of fine craftsmanship "and glowy wood?" he finished lamely, with a last gesture at the odd wooden spike, of no particular adornment. That is, aside from the glow. "What is it?"
"It's a spindle Jack," answered Daniel distractedly over his shoulder. He'd just discovered what he'd missed as he'd entered, just to one side of the door rested a scroll on a wide pedestal. The younger man was already half lost in examining it.
"But what's it doing here" demanded Jack to the archeologist's back. Daniel shrugged, absorbed in text.
"With your permission sir?" Carter's voice brought Jack's attention again. She nodded towards the glowing spindle, already unclipping her pack. Her mind was already puzzling out the possible causes and reasons for the light and energy she'd recorded.
Jack spread his hands. "By all means Major, be my guest," he granted grudgingly since the woman was already digging into her pack. "Just no touching," he reminded sternly.
Sam looked up at that. "Yes sir, no touching," she said, probably a little too lightly, but too interested in finding out what was giving off that warm glow to care. She couldn't help but hope the light was linked to whatever it was that was generating the force field around the place. If she were lucky, the Colonel would let her maybe dismantle it if it proved harmless. If she were really lucky, it would be small enough to take back with them through the gate. The applications at home were limitless. Part of Sam's mind began to puzzle out how the field was created, while the rest dealt with her equipment. She let the data absorb subconsciously, getting lost in her thoughts, until a sudden loud thump from behind startled her.
"Ouch," she yelped in surprise, snatching her back her hand from where it had landed when she'd jumped, causing her to jab her finger on the sharp and pointy business end of the spindle.
"Carter!" cried the Colonel in concern, crossing the room in several long strides. "Let me see, " he ordered gruffly, catching the wrist of the hand that she had cradled protectively against her body.
"It's nothing sir," Sam insisted, with an ineffectual tug to reclaim her curled fist. Jack's grip didn't loosen, and reluctantly, she uncurled her fingers to display the tiny drop of blood on her first finger. "Nothing, just a prick sir… my hand… slipped," she tried to cover her verbal slip, but she couldn't stop her eyes from sliding accusingly over to where the Colonel's pack lay after he'd dropped it there moments before.
Briefly, Jack's grip tightened reflexively, and Sam couldn't meet his dark brown eyes. She looked away, and he let go, stepping back with a muttered "Sorry, Carter," before regaining his brisk, businesslike efficiency. On the other side of the room, Daniel's attention to the document in front of him was too studious to be real. Teal'c behaved as if he hadn't noticed anything. Jack ignored them both. "You better clean it Carter, it might be nothing, but who knows where that thing has been," he told her, rummaging for antiseptic wipes in his vest.
She accepted the wipes. "I'll take care of it sir," she told him, waving away the need for any further assistance.
"Uh, Guys," Daniel interrupted, frowning with concern, "What's that noise?"
Sensing what the man meant as soon as he said it, Sam lunged for her scanner. "Sir, the energy is spiking!" They could all now hear the humming Daniel had first noticed, and there was a faint vibration under their boots. Suddenly, the room was bathed in light. "It's scanning us!" she cried over the rising noise.
"I believe we should leave this place," shouted Teal'c.
"You heard him, move!" Jack cried, as the humming was climbing to a crescendo that seemed to be shaking the very walls. Daniel ducked out the door, Teal'c right behind. Jack turned back to Sam, and his eyes widened at something over her shoulder.
"Carter!" he yelled. Even as Sam instinctively moved to get out of the way of whatever it was the Colonel saw behind her, Jack was already in motion. As the sounds became deafening, Sam felt Jack's weight slam into her, knocking her to the floor, her hip making painful contact with the stone surface despite the rugs over it.
Given the Colonel's momentum, Sam expected to feel Jack's weight on top of her, and looked up in surprise when it didn't in time to see her CO fully engulfed in some sort of energy beam. For several moments that seemed like an eternity, but in which Sam had barely managed sit up, Jack's body was held upright. And then, almost as suddenly as it had begun, the beam released the man it held and Jack dropped to the floor like a stone. With a cry, Sam managed to scramble forward, breaking the Colonel's fall, and cradling his head and chest to her to prevent further injury.
"Sir!" she cried, even as her fingers flew towards the unresponsive mans throat, praying she'd find a pulse.