Time and Motion
Chapter Four
Daniel rolled his eyes and sighed, "It's a game, Jack."
Jack eyed the small silver orb that rested in Zahur's hands with deep suspicion. This wouldn't be the first time the team had run into a seemingly innocuous object only to have it blow up in their face. Shifting his attention away from the orb and back onto Daniel, he could see the archeologist's eyes brimming with anticipation and wonder, one hand slightly outstretched but holding back slightly knowing he hadn't been given permission to touch yet.
"A game we know nothing about, Daniel," Jack cautioned, bringing a hint of wariness into his voice.
Withdrawing his hand and lifting a finger to tap at his chin, Daniel shook his head and let out a soft sigh. "Zahur told me that the orb has been part of Lhavanian lore since before they had written history. The true nature of the object has been lost, but every year the men of the village compete to see who can decipher the riddle etched on its surface."
"So," Jack threw his friend a lop-sided grin, tapping the side of his P90 lightly with the tips of his fingers, "they have no idea what this thing does but they're willing to hand the thing around every year just in case it actually does something for someone? Have I got that right?" Jack shook his head in despair and pursed his lips, "Does anyone here not see how stupid this is?"
Daniel turned towards Jack, effectively shielding his body from the view of the village leader. "Jack, no one has been able to decipher this thing in over a millennia, I hardly think it's going to happen now. For all anyone knows, it's probably harmless."
Jack gave Daniel a flat, hard look. "Daniel!" With one word, Jack managed to convey the depth of his scepticism. Shaking his head, he ignored his friend's pointed finger, and got straight to the point. "Ahht! Now, tell me, why you need to look at this object?"
"Jack, come on! Why?" Daniel's hands flew in the air, his eyes flashing with indignation. "From what I've managed to see, the script on the orb is similar to that of Minoan Linea A. Jack, the language is largely undecyphered because there have been so very few fragments of the language ever found. What we find here could be invaluable to understanding the Minoan culture and its language." Holding his hands out wide, Daniel added, "I just need you to trust me."
"Oh, I trust you, Daniel. I just don't know what relevance it has to this mission. Remember the mission? The reason we came here for?" Folding his arms across his P90, Jack waited for Daniel to plead his case. A brilliant linguist, Jack understood the vital role Daniel Jackson played, and he was grateful. As a soldier, the colonel struggled to alter his mindset, a civilian scientist had no right stepping into the line of fire. That was Jack's job, and he was damn good at it. One day, he knew, Daniel's words would fail him, and it niggled under the colonel's skin like a cancer.
"Please, Jack, this could be important." Daniel turned and threw a look back over his shoulder at the gathered crowd. "The game is about to start and this is the perfect opportunity for me to take a look at the etchings."
Nodding his head slowly, Jack reached up and unclipped his P90 from his vest and handed it to Teal'c, "You want a look at this thing, fine, but not without me." Shrugging his jacket and vest up, he threw a warning look in Daniel's direction, "We all know what happens when you touch something."
~oOo~
Sam pulled the collar of her jacket higher up her neck, hoping it might trap in some meager warmth and protect her from the howling winds that were ripping their way down the gully. Jumpy, her nerves on edge, Sam forced herself to calm down. After parting with the colonel, she had let her imagination run wild. "Calm down, Major! Check for the target and concentrate!" She'd been lucky so far. Either they were truly as inept at tracking their prey as she'd hoped or they were far more cunning and were hiding their presence well. Whichever way it was, Sam knew she had no choice but to keep going.
Rounding a small bluff she caught sight of the top of the Stargate, its usually dull-grey Naquadah form bouncing off the last rays of light from the twin suns of the Lhavanian system as they started to set. "So close," she whispered to herself, suddenly aware that the remaining distance to the Stargate would have to be crossed in the rapidly fading light.
Winding her way through the undergrowth and trying to keep in the shadows of passing trees, Sam saw movement off to her left. A flash of red darted behind a nearby outcropping of boulders. Instantly she dropped to one knee, bringing her P90 up to her shoulder and focusing her vision through its telescopic scope. "There you are," Sam muttered, allowing a small smile to grace her face, "not totally useless after all." Taking a quick survey of her surroundings and immediately discarding her first option, the direct route to the gate, she chose a second. Off in the distance she spotted the remains of a settlement. From the tall beams that she could make out through the telescopic sight on her weapon she guessed that some of the buildings must have been at least two stories high, their once proud walls now fallen away under the constant battering of the high winds. Moving the P90 in a small arc away from the settlement she tracked her way back to her current location, noting several ideal places that she could hide if her pursuers chose to attack.
"Guess this is it." Tightening the straps on her pack and gripping her weapon close to her body, Sam hunched down low and slowly made her way left towards the battered settlement, keeping her attention split between the gate and the boulders the Lhavanian's were hiding behind. "Just be good and stay where you are, nothing to see here."
Half an hour of ducking and shuffling through the dense groundcover and battling the once again building winds, Sam found herself approaching the first of the ruins, battered husks of buildings that had had their outer skins peeled away to lay scattered across the terrain. Warped metal beams had twisted under the relentless pressure of cyclonic winds and lay almost flat on the ground. If there was any wooden panelling it was long gone, and the only true remains were large weather-worn bricks that looked like they'd been tossed about with abandon by children.
Sam realized she'd lingered too long looking at the dreary spectacle when she heard the sound of voices carrying over the din of the wind. "They don't know I'm here." She turned in the direction of the voices, trying to pick out human shapes amongst the dust that was being thrown into the air. Seeing nothing, she chanced setting off at a jog, grateful for the generous tail wind that was helping to propel her in the direction of the Stargate.
The murky vision of the DHD loomed through the gloom of the massive storm overhead. Looking skyward, Sam could see long fat trains of clouds swirling towards a central eye that seemed to be blinking at her. Letting out a soft sigh and a spine-numbing shiver, she made her way over to the bulging mushroom shape of the DHD and started pressing down the glyphs for Earth. No sooner had her hand pressed down the glyph for Cancer than a fist-sized rock careened into her shoulder from behind, its force shoving her forward onto the face of the DHD. "What the—" she yelled, using the DHD for leverage as she turned to look over her shoulder. There in the distance she could see the ragtag Lhavanian's, their robes thrashing about in the changing currents of air, one arm up to shield their eyes whilst their other arms were laden with makeshift weapons.
"I don't have time for this," Sam muttered, resolutely ignoring her attackers and turning her attention back to the DHD. "Scutum, Eridanus, point-of-origin, come on, old girl, work your magic." Watching the inner ring of the Stargate spin and lock, Sam quickly rolled up the sleeve of her jacket and tapped in the iris code on her GDO. "Yes!" she yelped as the master chevron engaged and the wormhole formed, billowing out across the raised dais and settling within the confines of the gate.
Chancing a quick look behind her, Sam could almost feel the breaths of the Lhavanians on her neck as she turned and ran up the platform stairs and into the welcoming cold of the wormhole.
~oOo~
Jack hunkered to his knees, groaning at the loud crack. Looking up, he signed as Daniel maneuvred himself further against the wall. With a sob, the little boy threw his hands over his head as if terrified by the lightning and thunder. As a bolt of lightning lit the cave, Jack and Teal'c look at Daniel's huddled body and shuddered simultaneously.
Running a weary hand over his stubbled face, Jack paused long enough to run his fingers through his doubly grey hair. He'd been sitting in this position for the last few hours, unable to reach forward and comfort Daniel but at the same time not willing to leave. Teal'c had been an almost constant figure in this unnerving vigil. The older man had been wearing a path between the mouth of the cave and Jack's side, a look of anger mixed with deep sadness etched on his face.
"Daniel?" Jack's voice was rough, sitting and pleading exhausted him. "Please, Danny, its cold and you're hurting. Just reach out and take the blanket. I won't touch you, I swear, and Teal'c, he'll stay out of reach as well." Leaning in closer, Jack nudged the blanket towards Daniel, never once taking his eyes away from the shivering child.
"I want my… my mommy." The voice come out as barely a whisper and at first Jack wasn't sure if he'd actually heard anything over the ear-splitting crashing of thunder and lightning that was still lighting up the night sky outside.
"Your mommy?" Jack asked, keeping the level of his voice just loud enough to be heard. "I know you do, Danny, but she's not here." Jack inched his way forward, pushing the blanket in front of him, "She's not here, but Teal'c and I are, and we want to help you."
Jack stopped his forward movement when he saw Daniel's head bob up from under his arms, tired blue eyes wide and full of fear. "No," he shook his head weakly, "I don't know you. Mommy said never to talk to strangers."
"Look, kid, I know none of this makes sense to you right now. Nothing around you is familiar, but I need you to trust me." Jack shuffled himself closer towards Daniel, arms outstretched and eyes pleading. "I won't hurt you, Daniel."
"No," Daniel sobbed, a small grimace of what Jack thought was pain causing his forehead to furrow as he ducked his head back under his arms.
Jack sighed and let his arms drop back to his lap. This was going nowhere and Jack could feel his patience starting to ebb away.
Taking the initiative in this game of tug-o-war, Jack climbed to his feet and snagged the blanket into his hand, determined to at least give his friend some warmth from the chill of the cold cave wall. Taking a half step forward he immediately found himself down on all fours, as a massive clap of thunder reverberated through the atmosphere, shaking the ground with such force that Jack thought they'd been hit by an earthquake.
"Daniel!" Jack shouted, lifting his voice over the thunder that was still bouncing off the walls of the cave. Raising a palm to his left ear, he shouted out again, watching as Daniel fell forward into a heap on the ground, his limbs jerking and contorting, eyes wide open in shock.
Scrambling to his friend's side, knees screaming in protest, Jack swiftly maneuvred Daniel into the recovery position. Noting the taut muscles in his neck, Jack uttered a silent prayer that he hadn't bitten his tongue. Shrugging his jacket off, Jack bunched it up and placed it under Daniel's head then wrapped the blanket around his still shivering form.
"Come on, kid," he muttered, running small soothing circles on Daniel's back in the hopes that it might offer him some slight comfort.
"The atmospheric tremors appear to have ceased for the moment, O'Neill, though the wind speed has increased."
"Thanks, Teal'c. I think Carter was onto something when she said the weather was in some way connected to Daniel's condition." Pulling the blanket down away from Daniel's face, he motioned Teal'c forward. "Take a look."
Sliding the blanket even further down, Jack watched as Teal'c took in the form of his unconscious friend. What was, only moments ago, a child of about four years of age, was now a young boy of about ten years. Arms, legs, and torso had grown, muscles become more defined, and facial features had thinned out.
Watching as Daniel's body finally calmed and his face relaxed in sleep, he tucked the blanket back up around his shoulders and gently lifted him across his lap. "I'm a lot warmer than the cold floor, Danny," Jack whispered, knowing that his friend couldn't hear him. Sitting Daniel across his legs, his head nestled in Jack's shoulder, he reached up and smoothed away sweat-soaked bangs from his face, "Ah, Daniel, can't keep yourself out of trouble no matter what age you are."
To be continued…