The four men trudged through the soft, wind-swept dunes, hoping they were going in the correct direction. The sand storm had removed all traces of their previous trail.
As they topped a hill, O'Neill dropped suddenly to the ground and his men followed. Even Daniel could make out a colossal pyramid where the smaller pyramid had been. The colonel peered through his binoculars and saw lights scattered throughout the object.
"What the hell is that?"
Daniel wasn't sure who had said that, he was too stunned to care. All O'Neill knew was that the men he'd left at base camp were nowhere to been seen. He cocked his weapon and stood to approach the unknown object.
Lt. Brown turned to Daniel and handed him a gun. "Here you might need this."
"Are you sure it's such a good idea to give a gun to a blind man, Brown?" asked Kawalsky.
"As long as he doesn't shoot us."
"My point, exactly!"
"I know how to use a pistol. We all carried them on digs. Snakes and wild animals, you know." Daniel took the weapon, secured his binoculars over his eyes and flicked off the safety.
They entered the temple at a quick trot to find some of their equipment, but no sign of the missing GI's. The soldiers took cover behind the sturdy columns while O'Neill found spent shells in the sand. Signs that the men had been in a fire-fight. O'Neill and Daniel ducked behind one of the pillars as the colonel spotted an oddly shaped shadow on the wall and then a brief glimpse of a creature with the body of a man and the head of a large bird.
A fight began as the strange creature fired at both Brown and Kawalsky, apparently killing both of them. Daniel peered around to see who was shooting at them. His curiosity drove him to find out what it was.
O'Neill's hand snaked around his chest and yanked him back just as the creature fired its weapon at the spot where Daniel had been standing.
Maggie kept quiet during this and just followed Daniel, too confused and frightened to know how to help him. Both dog and archeologist ran after O'Neill through the maze of pillars as he headed away from the battle.
"Where are we going? Why are we going to the Stargate? I can't make it work!" Daniel yelled at O'Neill as they dashed down the ramp leading to the Stargate chamber.
O'Neill lit a flare as they entered the dark chamber. "Stay right here and shoot anything that comes down that ramp," he ordered Daniel as he headed to the FRED.
"What are you doing?" Daniel grabbed Maggie's harness as she tried to nudge him away from the open doorway.
"Just cover me."
Daniel knelt down at the entrance to the room and looked back up the ramp. With light entering from outside, he was sure that anyone who came down would be backlit and he'd see their form.
O'Neill opened a compartment of the FRED as he activated the electronic key. "It's gone!"
"What is?" Daniel walked over to O'Neill.
At that moment, a shaft of light appeared from an opening in the ceiling and a series of rings dropped into the chamber. Daniel turned to the light and raised his weapon. Maggie stood next to her master, not willing to let anything happen to him. Her hair stood at attention up and down her spine as she shifted her body into attack position.
Daniel could make out the form of a man emerge between the floating rings. But this man was over seven feet tall and the silhouette of his head was misshapen. Once again, Daniel was reminded of the Egyptian gods, with the body of a human and the head of an animal. It seemed to carry a staff as long as it was tall. Daniel tightened his grasp on Maggie and raised his pistol to the "man."
O'Neill watched as two other "men" walked down the ramp, armed with the strange energy weapons. "Put it down, Jackson." He knew they had no chance against three men who already pointed weapons in their direction.
The next thing Daniel knew, they had rematerialized within a set of rings and were being pushed off a platform, through a hall resembling an Egyptian palace. O'Neill watched as the guard used a blue gem on the back of his hand to control the rings.
Daniel stood in the center of the hall, gaping, as the walls seemed to slide way, allowing the sunlight to spill into the golden hall. The guard behind them shoved them forward again, causing Maggie to growl softly in warning. Daniel quickly hushed her, fearing the alien might kill her.
Suddenly, a guard from the side whacked Daniel behind the knees, forcing him to pitch forward onto the polished marble floor. Maggie bared her teeth, but refrained from making a noise. She nosed Daniel gently to make sure he was okay. O'Neill she ignored. He could take care of himself. And besides, he wasn't very nice to her Daniel.
Once again, walls seemed to vanish, revealing another room and a somber procession advanced down the steps leading to a throne. Daniel guessed from the shapes that several of the people were children and that the largest figure was most likely the ruler.
Once the "pharaoh" was ensconced on his throne, two young men crossed between the Earthlings and the alien, carrying a litter with a pile of metal pieces. They set it on the floor while the alien spoke.
Suddenly, Daniel realized what O'Neill had been looking for in the Stargate chamber. "That's a bomb, isn't it? What the hell were you thinking?" Daniel was totally disgusted with the colonel and the military mindset. Kill anything you don't understand! God, no wonder human history is riddled with wars!
"What did you come here for?" Daniel suspected that O'Neill had never intended to return to Earth. He had planned to blow up the planet no matter what they found. The people of Abydos. Skaara. Sha're. Oh, god, Sha're!
O'Neill continued to ignore the civilian. What Jackson thought was of no consequence. They were both likely to die soon anyway.
The alien gave a signal and one of the guards touched his bird-head, which folded up into itself, revealing a human head. He turned to the two kneeling men, snarling, while the other guard's human head appeared. A noise from the throne brought everyone's eyes back to the pharaoh and O'Neill watched as the ruler's human head appeared, complete with eerily glowing eyes.
O'Neill knew this might be the last time he'd have a chance to do some damage. He grabbed the staff weapon from the nearest guard, knocking him down, turned the weapon on another guard and fired. The third guard fired on O'Neill, but Daniel jumped in front of him, taking the energy discharge that was meant for the soldier.
Maggie flew to Daniel's side, whimpering. O'Neill dropped to his knees and turned the weapon on the alien with the glowing eyes, but he was quickly surrounded by the group of young children who had been trained to give up their lives for their master. Jack hesitated a moment too long and was knocked down by a guard.
Maggie stayed by Daniel's side, not willing to be separated from him, snarling at anyone who dared approach.
XXXXXXXXXX
The next thing Daniel was aware of was a huge intake of air into his lungs, which caused him to lurch up, gasping and choking as his lungs filled with air. He clutched his side as he remembered what had happened. He had been dead - with a hole in his abdomen. Now his body was clean and smooth as he probed the hole in his shirt.
"Maggie? Maggie, come!" Daniel listened for the clacking of her toenails on the marble floor, but heard nothing. Oh, god, they've killed her! Daniel closed his eyes and forced back the tears. He didn't have time to mourn her now. He had to find a way out of the pyramid.
He heard the grinding sound of large stones moving against each other and realized that he'd been in a mechanical sarcophagus that was now closing and he was still in it. He clambered out and stood, marveling at what little he could see around him. Damned sarcophagus healed me from being dead! It couldn't be troubled to fix my eyes while it was at it?
He watched the sarcophagus close, wonder how it was powered. Oh, well, not his field of study. He began to connect the "pharaoh" he'd seen in the other room with the story in Sha're's catacombs. This must be what had kept the alien alive for so many hundreds of years. His mind raced with questions as he wondered what other marvels of technology might be hidden within the pyramid.
A cat's soft meow broke through his thoughts and he turned to see the shape of a young boy standing in the doorway. Since the boy's armpit seemed to meow again, Daniel assumed that he was carrying a cat. Abruptly, the boy turned and scurried down some steps.
Daniel followed him and found that he was behind the throne. As he found his way carefully down the steps, he focused on the throne. He wished he could have years in this palace to explore and study. He stopped when he heard the seat of the throne meow. Amused, he reached out and was rewarded with a gentle nudge of his hand from a feline head.
A dog's whimper drew his attention across the room. The cat stood, hissed and fled back to the sarcophagus room.
"Maggie?" Daniel's breath stopped as he waited.
"Mmmoof!"
Daniel turned to his left and caught a glimpse of movement about half way down the hall. He hurried over, calling Maggie again.
Peering around the pillar, he heard a tail thump slowly against the hard surface of the floor. He dropped down and reached out. He fingers met a snout and then a tongue, as it flicked out to wash his fingers. Allowing the tears to fall this time, Daniel ran his hands delicately over her body, searching for injuries. He found one.
She'd apparently been hit on her left hip with an energy weapon and blood was oozing slowly from a large, open wound. Oh, god, oh, god, oh, god. How the hell do I help my best friend?
Daniel let panic overwhelm him briefly before he remembered the sarcophagus. He scooped her up and ran back up the steps behind the throne. He had no idea how to open it up again, but wasn't too surprised when it opened as he approached with the injured animal. He settled her in and leaned forward to reassure her as the coffin began closing over her body.
Several minutes later, it opened and Maggie bounded out – completely healed and enormously grateful to her master. Daniel was slathered with soggy doggy kisses as he tried to grab her and hug her in relief.
When two finally settled, Daniel took her harness and turned his feet back to where he'd found Maggie.
He wandered around for a short time, too overwhelmed by his opulent surroundings to focus on any one thing. Maggie whimpered and shivered, resisting Daniel's desire to go to the left. He turned to his right and was startled to discover finely woven curtains flowing over his face. He reached out, nudging them aside and found another set of curtains. He could hear water dripping beyond and followed the sound.
He entered another large chamber and watched a group of young people move in a group across the room. They merged with another group and became one large blob before Daniel's eyes. Cursing the inefficient sarcophagus softly to himself, he asked out loud, "I was dead?"
A central figure turned in his direction, "That is why I chose your race. Your bodies - so easy to repair."
Daniel crossed the room and saw his books spread out next to O'Neill's bomb when he bumped into a table.
"You have advanced much…harnessed the power of the atom." The boys continued to dress their ruler.
Daniel's stomach roiled. He had a very bad feeling about this. "What are you going to do?"
"You should not have reopened the gate." Ra held out his hands for the children to place false fingertips on him. "Soon, I will send your weapon back to your world with a shipment of our mineral, which will increase your weapon's destructive power a hundred fold!"
"Why would you do that?" Daniel didn't understand why he would want to destroy the planet that had supplied his body.
"I created your civilization, now I will destroy it." He turned his head slowly and sneered in satisfaction. The boys finished dressing him and he walked past Daniel, flashing his malevolent eyes. Maggie tried to hide herself behind a table, but Daniel had too firm a grasp on her harness.
"But before my workers question my authority, you will prove that I am their one God by killing your companions."
Daniel thought that if the alien had been a lion, he would have roared and bared his teeth. Instead, he just flashed his eyes again. "And if I refuse?"
"Then I will destroy you and all those who have seen you." He reached out and lifted the amulet around Daniel's neck. "There can only be one Ra!"
Leaning into Daniel's face, he lifted the Earthling's chin with his fingers and yanked the necklace off Daniel's neck.
Daniel cast his eyes down and understood just why O'Neill was so willing to blow up the Stargate. He would have protected Earth by destroying Abydos. A choice Daniel was glad he would never have to make.