Daniel and the rest of the men followed the native people back to their town. Daniel noticed that it was build of stone rubble, probably the remains of the mining process. Kasuf, Daniel had heard his named mentioned several times by the natives, led them through the narrow streets jammed with people curious to see the oddly dressed strangers.
Finally, Kasuf strode up some crudely built steps to a stone platform and halted, turning back to the crowd below. He raised his arms and yelled something out. Then he and all the natives lowered themselves to the ground in reverence as a curtain was raised behind Kasuf to reveal a large golden disk, engraved with the Eye of Ra.
Daniel focused his binoculars on it in wonder. "It's the Egyptian sun god. They think he sent us here."
O'Neill looked at the people prostrated around them. "Yeah. I wonder what could have given them that idea?" He hooked a finger around the disk hanging from Daniel's neck and held it up.
Daniel turned back to Kasuf and pointed up to the great hanging disk, "Ra. Ra?"
Suddenly, everyone began rising as a horn was sounded. The people began scurrying away as the Earthlings stood in confusion. Lt. Brown lifted his radio and turned to O'Neill.
"Sir, I can't make this out."
O'Neill turned on his radio. "Ferretti, say again."
Back at base camp the remaining men were hunkered down, trying to make themselves as small a target as possible for the driving sand that was quickly burying their temporary camp. "Sir! We have to abandon base camp!" Ferretti yelled as loudly as he could through the howling wind.
"It's useless! It won't work in this," one of the men yelled back through the handkerchief covering his nose and mouth.
The men grabbed the most important equipment and dashed through the driving sand back into the temple.
XXXXXXXXXX
O'Neill saw the huge wooden gates closing and he ordered his men to head back to base camp. Damn, I knew this was a trap!
The soldiers shoved their way through the crowd and grabbed the natives who were dropping a wooden crossbar, locking the gates. Lt. Brown grabbed one man by the neck and jerked him away from the gate. O'Neill fired his rifle at the ground, scattering the natives near the gate.
Kasuf came running up, hoping to save his people from the angry representatives of the god. Daniel trailed behind Kasuf, Maggie barking at the confusion. He knelt by his frightened dog and tried to settle her down as he watched Kasuf standing between the armed men and his people.
Kasuf darted off back into the crowd, while Skaara approached the soldiers pointing up. "Yu yu."
O'Neill realized the young man was trying to get him to follow to him somewhere. Keeping his weapon pointed at Skaara, he left his position at the gate and went with him up a ladder to the top of the gate. Skaara pointed out to the desert and O'Neill saw a wave of sand coming quickly toward the town.
Kawalsky, still holding a man by his neck and pointing his weapons into the crowd, called up. "What is it, Colonel?"
"Sandstorm. Coming this way."
Kawalsky relaxed and released the native who dropped to the ground and scurried away.
"Well, that would have been an excellent reason to shoot everyone." Daniel thought that this whole mission would have been conducted much better if left to the professional archeologists and anthropologists. The term "military intelligence" truly was an oxymoron. No one could render a situation more FUBAR than the military.
"We'll stay until it's over," called O'Neill from the top of the gate.
Daniel approached Kasuf and repeated the words he'd heard. Kasuf repeated them back and mimicked the sandstorm. Daniel led Maggie off, nodding in satisfaction. He'd learned the native word for sandstorm. Not much, but a start.
Kawalsky walked up to Kasuf and softly apologized, bowing slightly to show his regret at having held the man hostage for several minutes.
XXXXXXXXXX
That evening, the natives welcomed their visitors with a feast. There was song and dance, along with foods that the Earthlings had never seen.
Daniel was crunching down on a crispy version of pita bread, when Kawalsky spoke up. "Hey, Jackson. I don't think we should eat any food here."
"I don't know. They might consider that an insult." Daniel continued to munch on the crunchy bread.
Just then, a native set a large platter in the center of the circle with some type of cooked reptile on it. The back had been slit open so that you could reach in and grab a hunk of the meat. Daniel leaned forward to examine the food closer.
Kawalsky smirked, "Well, we don't want to offend them, now do we, Daniel?"
O'Neill just looked on, amused and wondering what the absent minded scholar was going to do.
Daniel ignored them and reached into the reptile, pulling out a piece of meat. He sniffed it and took a bite, slowly chewing as he experienced the new taste.
Kasuf looked on anxiously as his guest chewed.
"It tastes like chicken." He grinned back at Kasuf, "It tastes like chicken. It's good." He flapped his arms, as he touched his tongue and clucked like a chicken. "It tastes like chicken."
Kasuf wondered if the men sent by the gods were just a bit crazy.
Daniel continued his pantomime and held up the meat. "Good," he smiled at the leader. He dug out a piece and fed it to Maggie, who had been patiently waiting at Daniel's side.
Kasuf smiled back in relief. Maybe these crazy men from the gods would look kindly on his people.
O'Neill decided they'd wasted enough time partying. "Jackson, you said that was an Egyptian symbol." He pointed with his cigarette to the giant disk hanging over their heads.
"Yeah, the Eye of Ra." Daniel continued chewing on the reptile meat.
"Would you say then, that it might stand to reason, if they know one Egyptian symbol…" He took another drag off his cigarette.
"Yes." Daniel finished his bite of food and stood, crossing the circle to Kasuf. He squatted in front of the tribal leader and pulled out Catherine's good luck symbol.
Kasuf bowed his head and crossed his arms. Daniel reached out to get the man to open his eyes and raise his head. He pointed several times to the necklace and then copied the symbol in the sand.
Kasuf became agitated and swept Daniel's work away with his sandal. He stood and sent Sha're, who had been standing beside him, away. He turned back to Daniel and made frantic negative gestures.
Daniel turned back to his men. "It seems like writing is forbidden to them." That raised his curiosity. He really needed to know why.
Kasuf called out to some elderly women, who gathered around Daniel and draped him in a red cloak like Kasuf's. They began poking and pushing at him, trying to move him off of the platform.
"They want me to go with them. Should I stay?" The swarm of women continued to move Daniel away from the soldiers. Maggie followed her master, careful to stay away from the hands of anyone who might stop her. "I'll go with them. I'll go. I'll be fine." He hoped.
As the stranger passed by, Sha're watched and tried to swallow her nervousness. She knew where the elders were taking him and for what purpose.
XXXXXXXXXX
Maggie whined nervously as she watched her master being overrun by the women washing his hands and feet. She wanted to chase off the strange people, but Daniel had told her to stay and stay she would – until he was in any real danger.
Daniel stood and profusely thanked the women for their attentions, wondering what that vile odor was. They eventually began exiting the room. "Thank you. I smell much better."
He tried to look around, but the light was too dim for him to see anything, even close up. He sniffed himself and turned to Maggie. "I smell like a yak."
Maggie thumped her tail, relieved that her Daniel was not harmed. It was her job to keep him safe and she didn't plan on shirking her responsibility. She sat up and perked up her ears as she heard someone just outside the curtain draped across the doorway. She moved in front of Daniel while the curtain was slowly pulled back. No one was laying a hand on her master again without her permission.
"Down, Maggie. It's okay, girl. They won't hurt me." He leaned down and patted her as she lay back down. "They just might kill my olfactory nerves with the pungent odors, but I'm safe here."
Sha're entered and Daniel saw the movement. They'd better not plan on washing any other body parts or I will let Maggie attack. "No. No, please. No more, please." He started putting his socks back on as the figure continued to move toward him.
"Please! No more. I'm fine. I'm clean. I'm…" He looked up and could see that this was a younger woman as she lifted her veil off her face. "I thought you were one of the…other…cleaning…" He laughed in nervousness.
Sha're continued to remove her veil and began to slip the robe off her shoulders. She was scared to death, but it was her responsibility to help her father keep the people safe. And if offering herself to one of Ra's ambassadors helped, well, then she'd just have to do it.
As he vaguely saw the red robe slide down, revealing a flesh toned blur, he suddenly realized what she was doing here. She was an offering made to appease the god and he was the recipient.
He swallowed nervously and moved quickly over to her, lifting the robe and covering her up again. "No, no. No, no, no, no, no. You don't have to do that."
Maggie looked up in puzzlement. Daniel had never behaved like this before. This required some study on her part. She might learn something new about her master.
"No. No, please. Maybe you should go."
She was young and beautiful and didn't smell like a yak. She smelled like sandalwood and exotic spices. His body was reacting and arguing with his moral sensibilities as he continued to cover her up.
Jackson, you're such an idiot! Turning down a beautiful, willing woman?
She's probably a virgin. This would be wrong.
Maybe, but it would be fun. It's been years since I had relations with a real woman and I want this.
Shut up! You're not going to win this argument.
"You should go." He gently began guiding her back to the doorway.
She ducked her head and began to shiver under his hand. He doesn't want me. I'm not good enough for the gods.
"No. It's okay. It's okay. It's all right. Here let me get…" Daniel pushed the curtain aside and could sense a group of people waiting just outside. Great, this was a group activity they had planned. He listened to Kasuf, who was obviously alarmed, speaking rapidly to Sha're and she responded. Daniel feared that she might be punished by the leader if he rejected her.
"No, no. It's me. I wanted to thank you. I'm very happy." Daniel put his arm around Sha're's shoulder. "I'm very happy." He pulled her back into the room and dropped the curtain.
"Well, Maggie, what do we do now? It seems I've been given a present."
Maggie sat up, turning her head back and forth, ears perked up. She wished he could speak dog among his many languages.