Episode Three: Inversion Reversion, the Sister and Brother Gods.
"Yes…Yes…YES! RIGHT! Go for it!" The Doctor screamed up the stairs as he pointed the sonic screwdriver at a junction. Jack flipped several switches, twirled a doily on the control panel and typed in on a number pad several codes.
"Doctor ejection in progress…"
"All right Mitchell, reversion in three…two…"
A strange sucking sound occurred, the Doctor's face along with everyone else's seemed to stretch and for a moment it seemed that everything was going to turn to taffy when the Odyssey squeezed into open space and the outer side of the Tardis squeezed back into the cargo bay.
"Temporal Drive has been ejected, please stand by…"
"Mitchell, set up temporal shei…"
An explosion ripped through space sending a temporal inversion field at the Odyssey and the Tardis, the phased planet, and Earth.
**
Sam hit the sonic screwdriver, not knowing what setting it was on, pulling it from her pocket and pointing it at Anansi. At this exact same time a thunderous shaking hit the planet and all of the guards and captors disappeared, leaving Anansi and Sam alone in the room.
"Heeehhsshhh….What have you done?" The curtains that covered Anansi ripped from their hangings as the octopi like creature squirmed and flailed in anger.
"Nothing, I have done nothing, and with out your servants, I think I'll be taking my leave." Sam smirked and ran out of the room and down the hall.
"GrrrrRRAAAHH! COME BACK WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH MY SLAVES." Anansi slimed after Sam barely getting through the human sized entry way. Sam evade the god by ducking into what looked to be a computer control center that was just out of sight of the main hall. To her surprise it wasn't a computer center, but a fighter bay. Several ships were in disrepair, others phased. Running along the different lines of ships she came across the same Ha'tac that had originally attack the Odyssey.
**
The Odyssey stabilized as the energy wave passed, gaining an orbit around the Earth.
"Sir, we have a problem." The ensign spoke to Mitchell who was fighting the Odyssey's controls.
"What is it?"
"We're receiving no radio telemetry from Earth. There are no radio signals at all."
"That can't be right."
"Mitchell," The intercom echoed slightly, "Thor has detected that we have experienced a temporal shift. The temporal drive has caused us to travel backwards in time."
"Is there any sign of the planet?"
"No sir." The radio crackled again.
"Do a complete sensor sweep of the planet, try to determine how far back in time we went."
"Yes sir."
**
"HANG ON!" The Doctor yelled to Martha and Jack. The Tardis whirred as the temporal energy flowed into its core.
"WHAT'S HAPPENING?" Jack yelled back.
"THE TARDIS HAS FULLY RECHARGED…" The Doctor yelled again, as the whirring became ear splittingly loud.
Moments later the blue box whirred onto the middle of a cobbled street.
"Well then, I think we should go have a look, see where we are."
"What about the Odyssey?" Jack peered over the pilot's chair as he got off the floor.
"We'll get back to them, after all I do have a time machine. No harm in exploring."
"No harm…he says no harm." Martha smiled as she opened the door to the Tardis and stepped out and on to the street.
"Where are we then, come on."
"I don't know actually." The Doctor looked around "It looks like a small burrow…er…"
"It's Chicago." Jack pointed to a poster on a brick wall of a tavern.
"Chicago. Oh yes…right. Chicago?" The Doctor crimpled into a slight frown as he came up to the poster, followed by Martha.
"Come One Come All to Midway Plaisance and See the Wonders of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition " The Doctor read the poster out loud,"…and look, Harry Houdini's performing"
"Harry Houdini? Like the escape artist?" Martha peered at the poster. The title in stylized fonts captioned "Houdini the Man of Mystery. Watch as he escapes from a straight jacket at death defying heights."
"The one and the same. I always wanted to meet him…"
"I'm stunned," Jack prodded at the Doctor, "I would have thought you had met him already."
"Oh come off it…I can't go everywhere."
**
"It would seem we're somewhere around the fifth century." Teal'c had taken the controls of the Odyssey as several crewmembers fell ill to temporal sickness. Mitchell and Daniel were already trying to find a place to hide.
"Well the problem is, is that by staying here we might just change time."
"But didn't you guys already do that, with the traveling back in time to the sixties?"
"Yes but that was an accident."
"Well isn't this an accident. Maybe we're supposed to do something in this time."
"Just like Hammond?" Teal'c spoke as he maneuvered the ship behind the moon.
"It could be possible, we should consult Thor." Daniel looked to Mitchell who gave a shrug. With that he turned and walked off the bridge to head back down to the engine room.
**
"COME BACK HERE! HeeeeShheeee" Carter ran to the Ha'tac cargo ship and punched several different codes into the door's command panel before the door opened. Anansi's screams carried into the cavernous holding bay.
"HUMAN! Come out…heeeehsssshhhh, there is no where to run."
Sam activated the ship turning on the force field. "Well I don't need to hide now."
Opening the cargo bay door, Sam engaged the sub-light engines and began to take off.
"ERRRRAAAAH…" Anansi's tendrils shot towards the ship only to be deflected by the shields. As the cargo ship exited the force-field holding the air in broke and a great gush of atmosphere spewed into empty space. The would-be god slunk back staring as the ship escaped.
"This is Samantha Carter to the Odyssey, any ships. I must be phased still. GAH!"
"Ding…Ding…Ding." The HUD came up as the sensors detected a ship. "What now?"
It wasn't long before she found out as the familiar shape of Thor's ship came in to view.
"To the phased ship approaching, please respond."
"This is Samantha Carter of the Tau'ri of Earth. is this Thor?"
"Yes, but I was unaware that humans of Earth had advanced to such technology."
"Wait…what? Can we open a visual channel?"
"At present no, your phased state makes this impossible. Please dephase and we shall open further communication."
"But I can't, I don't think this ship has a separate phasing module."
"One moment, please standby." Sam was transported from the Ha'tac vessel and on to the Asgard vessel. To her astonishment, the small grey beings that she had known as the Asgard were not in front of her, but much more human looking beings with only the slightest twinges of genetic manipulation visible.
"You are Samantha Carter?" One of the Asgard asked as they approached the section where she had been transferred to.
"Yes, I am, and I need to speak to Thor."
"We still need to dephase you, please wait a moment."
"Wait how are you able to see me, if I'm phased I shouldn't be able to be seen by you, or even able to speak with you?"
"We have isolated your modulate phase variance and adapted it so we can see and speak with you. However you are still phased and for you to be normalized we need to dephase you."
"Ah…I …right."
"One more moment. Dephasing completed, our scans show you're from six thousand years in the future."
"Six thousand? How is that possible…I was on the Odyssey, then on the phased planet two hundred miles over the northern pole of Earth. And now I'm here…the rumbling…but…"
"Phased planet?"
"Yes, that's why I need to speak to Thor."
"Captain Thor is unavailable at the moment, he is currently preoccupied with one of his experiments."
"Listen I know about your genetic experiments. I don't care, we have some wannabe god that resembles a Goa'uld who no doubt is wanting to kill me and who ever else is around me."
"Goa'uld…interesting. Please follow me."
**
"EXTERMINATE" Acalo ordered the few Dalek's left that had not been destroyed by their former comrades, or converted into following the Ori.
"We obey. EXTERMINATE!" Several of the Daleks surged forward firing their lasers. The Prior and his new Dalek pets unaffected their personal shields deflecting Acalo's attacks.
"You shall succumb to the will of the Ori, and we shall unite the Universe." The transformed Daleks chanted, "You cannot deny the logic. WE ARE SUPERIOR!"
"RETREAT…" Acalo turned from the battle fleeing; for once in its life the Dalek leader felt fear. Falling back to the Stargate, Acalo punched in a random series of ending it with the one chevron to use, the origin chevron. Acalo watched as his right hand Guard was blown to pieces. The Stargate locked the eighth chevron as yet another Dalek was destroyed. The splash of the event horizon coursed over head in time with the last explosion of the last Dalek under Acalo's command. Acalo fled through the Stargate to an unknown world.
**
"This is Atlantis Base," Doctor Weir spoke over the radio.
"Weir," John Sheppard came over the radio, "We have a problem. There's some creature here that just came through the Stargate. It's asking for a doctor."
"You're cleared to bring it here; we'll see what we can do."
**Part Two: The Goddess' brother.
The Doctor led the way down the street, Martha on his left, and Jack on his right. The trio walked down East 63rd street towards Jackson Park.
The park was filled with rows of vendors, each showing their unique trade and goods. Several inventions, and a small electric rollercoaster took of the end of one of the lanes, and a Ferris wheel stood as the backdrop, though it was only a few stories in height.
The spectacle at the moment was the dazzling neon lights that were sprawled in wild designs, blinking and flashing. An announcer was cat calling the crowed, "Come and see the dawn of a new age, where every house and home can have safe electric light, any time day or night." A glint gleamed off of abnormally white teeth.
"He looks a bit too happy." Jack prodded Martha as he pointed out the man with the bullhorn.
"He's not that bad looking…I mean he is just selling lights."
"I don't know I have a funny feeling about him."
"Ah there we are, Houdini." The Doctor pointed towards the second largest crowed that was milling about beneath the Ferris wheel. A drum role rumbled and spotlights were trained on the escape artist as the wheel began to spin upward. Houdini, clad in a full straight jacket and bound by his feet to the spinning wheel, was lifted into the air hung up by the feet. A second announcer, a fair older man, balding, plump and short spoke just loud enough for the crowd to hear him. "Ladies and gentlemen, the great master Houdini hangs above you at a dazzling five stories. The fuse is set; he only has a minute now to escape…"
"Fuse?" Martha looked a bit skeptical as silent blue smoke billowed from the top of the wheel.
"Yeah yeah, it's just to make people think there is more danger than there really is."
"Guys…guys look." Jack pointed at the base of the Wheel, a berated looking manager was yelling at the Ferris wheel's conductor.
BANG! "MARTHA!" The Doctor hauled a stunned Martha to the side just in time to keep her from being hit by the wretched steel that was now raining down on top of them. The announcer was yelling over his bullhorn. "STAY CALM! PLEASE LADIES AND .." but that was as far as he got as the realization that the wheel was falling hit him and the crowd. As people from the light's show came running to see what had happened, the crowd meant to see Houdini escape rushed back at them, screaming and yelling in an effort to convey the message.
A stunned Manager and wheel worker scrambled towards where the Doctor, Jack and Martha were.
"It…wasn't him…it wasn't…" the manager huffed as he clambered around one of the tents. The wheel met its last rotation as the damaged part finally fell in tune with the rocking of its base and was knocked completely off balance. Toppling top first, it crumpled into a heap of steal and glass onto the fairway behind where it had stood. Dust ruffled into the air and the entire power grid made for the exposition blinked off.
**
Sam looked from the lieutenant to Thor. It was not the air of lacking urgency that bothered her, but the fact that Thor was almost human looking, a very striking resemblance laid between him and Jack O'Neil.
"Samantha Carter, correct?" Thor spoke finally turning completely from the control panel.
"Yes, but that doesn't matter…I mean it does…but there is some weird creature…"
"I'm aware of the creature and it is of no threat to us at the moment." Thor interrupted Carter, "I'm more interested in how you came to be here. You are most certainly outside of your time period." Thor waved at another console which popped up. "The Chronitons display an unusual wavelength which matches a temporal rift we tracked in this area."
"A temporal shift…" Sam crossed her arms, "That would mean the Odyssey's temporal drive was destroyed. That would explain the loss of that creature's servants…possibly. Thor can you use my Chroniton wave variance and see if any other temporal trails exist?"
"Yes I believe so… you said that the Odyssey had a temporal core? Was this a ship from the planet below?"
"Yes, it is our ship. It was the Asgard, your future selves, which gave us the technology."
"Very interesting…I would imagine we had a good reason for it. We shall attempt to track any other temporal trails. In the mean time I would hope that you will make yourself comfortable in one of our spare quarters."
"I'd rather stay here and help."
"I do not believe that would be a good idea, as it may further corrupt your time line."
"I understand that! However, if we do not get to the others they won't know that they are harming our time line."
**
The grey form of Thor flickered slightly. The black orb like eyes that were a common feature to the Asgard blinked in an effort of realism. "We're stuck in the fifth century."
"Daniel, the temporal core has forced several things out of place. If the temporal wave hit Earth, the one of your time, it is possible that parts of it are out of their time as well."
"And how do we get back to find out? Without our temporal drive we can't leave here."
"It might be possible to send a transmission to the Asgard of this time." Teal'c spoke, looking at Thor's likeness.
"Yes, that would be possible. With the upgrades we have given to you, it would be only a matter of sending a transmission. You will have to contact myself, the Thor of this time. Use security code Ramis Ramis Cibra five eight seven nine four. We will need to minimize the influence we have on this time."
**
"Oh brother…brother…heeehhshhhh, I shall save you. The Katan…they shall not have their vengeance on you."
"Die…die, it is what all mortals shall fear. Fear me, for I am death, the hunger that grows in the hearts of men."
"Brother, my dearest brother, they wage war for you. Cheat for you. Lie for you. You have made this a wondrous playground." Anansi stroked the meal laid before her. The small human child cradled by hungry arms, unaware of what it was meant for. A tall door flew open, a conglomerate of radiant metal shards rained down on the brother and sister. A man white as silicate entered; his staff a crescent top and stoned bottom. "Who would enter our sacred place without permission?" Anansi cursed, for the child she was about to salivate upon was crying profusely.
"By all power there is in my bosom you shall be banished!" The man barked.
"You are the healer of my main course, yes?"
"Better than a murderous thieving life such as yours." The healer returned in a
plainer voice than before. His staff was perched between himself and the two gods.
"Let me eat him brother, so I may taste the righteousness he so boldly displays."
"In due time my sister; he is of use to me. It is everyday he comes here to steal my place and banish me, and each day he bows again before me in allegiance."
"I am afraid that my allegiance is truly over for you." A small device was pulled from his robes. Black cold stone made up its form, carved pieces fitting together to make a palm sized pyramid. Several lines terraced down the sides scrawled in perfect form.
"That...what is that, some child's toy perhaps, something to amuse this one?" Anansi smiled and looked down as the Healer did so as well. It was hard to think as to when the child stopped crying, but the Healer saw the lifeless dried body that had been alive only moments before. Limp and frail and abnormally wilted, unsupported by what had been it's skeleton.
"Oh…oh look my brother he is saddened. Pity, he doesn't recognize the animal instincts in him that lie with the prey he kills."
"Healer," Anansi's brother spoke, "tell me how do you plan to banish us?"
"For a god you certainly do not know that much. How about I show you Oh highness." With that word he pushed one symbol on the pyramid and its four corners opened revealing a map. A pre-selected planet appeared.
"Ha! A map mortal; do not taunt me with mere trickery of technology."
"A map, only in a slight way, more like the end to you. The end to that which makes you so tied to this world." The Healer placed the pyramid on the ground and placed his feet to either side. "What? Brother…" Anansi pulled away as her brother was pulled, body and all, into the black abyss of the pyramid.
"BRING HIM BACK!"
"I cannot, oh goddess, do try to yourself if you can…Ha!" The healer slumped to the ground and toppled over the device empty eyes staring into the void.
"We need to see who that was hanging from the wheel." The Doctor rushed forward through the thinning plumes of dust.
"What do you mean, it was Houdini!" Martha charged after him.
"Didn't you hear the man, it wasn't him." Jack took up the rear, his song pistol poised and ready.
The Doctor reached the body first; it was covered in a brown loom sack, the signs of struggle were evident and what had, at first, appeared to be a straight jacket was clearly bleach white tentacles that were the creature's many appendages.
"Uh! What is it?" Martha crumpled her nose to the strong odor that now permeated the air.
"That…Well that is…" The Doctor pointed his sonic screwdriver at the thing and was satisfied when it beeped a few times, though the look of concern went from curious to anxious.
"That is a Dalek, similar to the humanoid ones we were so unfortunate to have met in old New York."
"But what is it doing here?" Jack asked as he skirted the Ferris wheel trying to find a method of getting to its base.
"Don't know, but I would be Harry Houdini might have something to do with this."
The Doctor bent over the Dalek and lifted the bit of sack that covered its face. "Hold on a moment, now look at that, two eyes. Dalek DNA but with two eyes, and it certainly isn't the right color."
"There's writing there along its, well the temple." Martha pointed to the side of its head.
"The bad thing about being outside of their shells is that they have no protection. Lowly humans can kill them." The Doctor looked over the body with his screwdriver once more and stopped on a small spot. A gunshot wound that was nearly healed a wound that should have been fatal.
"Though I don't think it was humans that killed it. There's a gunshot wound there that's nearly closed."
"Maybe that's why it was left to hang there. To be killed via being dropped to the ground." Martha and the Doctor stood as Jack approached.
"The base of the wheel was rigged to break. Looks like someone went to a lot of trouble to make this happen."
**
"What is it?" Dr. Weir looked over the strange creature that now swiveled about in Atlantis's medical bay. Dr Keller pulled out the rap sheet for her new patient. "It appears to be an alien of some sort encased in a metal jacket. We've never encountered this species before."
"I want to talk to it." Mitchell looked to Weir as she opened the door, "You probably shouldn't…"
"Hello, I am Dr. Weir, the leader of the Atlantis base. And what is your name?" She spoke as if the Dalek wouldn't understand.
"I am Dalek Acalo." The monotonous voice of the Dalek scratched.
"I see, Dalek, I am trying to understand what it is exactly we can do for you. You overrode our controls for the gate's iris and then asked us for help."
"Human…..exterminate….priors attacked. The Doctor…The Doctor…where is the Doctor?"
"Who is the Doctor? I mean I'm Doctor Weir, Doctor Keller is over there." Weir pointed to a two way mirror which looked over the isolated medical room.
"The Doctor…The Last Time Lord…where is the Doctor."
"Time Lord?" Weir turned to the glass and shook her head. "We haven't ever heard of the Doctor or the Time Lords. But we'll try to do what we can to find out about him. What of the priors?"
Acalo swiveled and pointed his monocular to a wall where the devastation of the Daleks he had commanded was displayed for Dr. Weir.
"The Priors of the Ori, EXTERMINATE!....Daleks are Perfect!" The words of superior smugness rung just as the images of Daleks coming out of their shells evolved and as priors themselves jerked across the projection.
"We'll see what we can do, Rodney?"
"I'm already on it…" Rodney picked up one of the tablets and one of the probing sensors and walked over to the Dalek, "This will let me determine what malfunctions might exist in your systems." Acalo spun its plunger like camera towards Rodney then turned back to Weir. "My systems are optimal, Ori have attacked, Doctor where is the Doctor? THE DOCTOR?"
Rodney reached out with the sensor which fried with in the shield matrix of the Dalek.
"EXTERMINATE…Human Scum…" Acalo spun his plunge hitting Rodney in the knee.
"Hey…ow ow ow…hey…" Rodney back peddled away from Acalo.
"That is enough!" Weir boomed, her voice carrying through out the gate room. Acalo stopped his rant, only his optical unit spun to meet Weir in the eye. "We are going to try to help you, but calling us 'human scum' isn't making matters better for you. Now let Rodney download the recording so we can analyze it."
Acalo's optical unit went dead, its blue light dimming to a bleak shadow. Rodney prodded it with the dead sensor and nothing happened. "I think its dead."
"No, its letting you access it, find connection point and get that information."
"Yeah…right." Rodney snuffed at Weir for a moment and began to poke and prod the Dalek.
****
The Doctor scrambled for the carnival manager who had now returned to inspect his damaged property. The two who were arguing were no where to be seen.
"Some stunt, goes and wrecks a nine hundred dollar machine, and doesn't even finish the night out."
"Excuse me, " The Doctor interceded the manager's rant, "hello I'm the Doctor, this is Martha Jones, we're friends of Harry's, but we have yet to meet with him today, could you point us in the right direction as to where he is staying?"
The Doctor flashed his psychic paper, just briefly enough for the man to see it.
"Friends, huh, I didn't know that man had any friends. He's staying only a few blocks from the fair grounds. In the Hampshire inn. If you see him, tell him that he owes me big for this one."
"Will do." Martha headed off as the Doctor spun and followed. "Just up that way, right?"
"It would seem so."
Minutes later, after weaving through a crowed of bewildered and stunned patrons of the fair, they found the inn. The lobby was filled with people, arguing and whispering about what transpired. Martha made it to the front desk first and rang the bell. The Doctor pushed through the crowed running straight into Jack, who after fleeing from the falling Ferris Wheel, had been carried by the crowed all the way to the inn.
"This brings back some memories. The carnival atmosphere at its best. I used to be in an act once, the unkillable man, I was called."
"Yes that's all fine and well, but where is the man of the hour, the world famous escape artist."
"Houdini? He's right over there." Jack pointed out the thaumaturge to the Doctor.
"Maybe we can get some answers then." Both Jack and the Doctor made their way forward through the crowed who were all watching the famous pick a card trick. Martha appeared after being led by the concierge to the din of people.
"Okay ladies and gentlemen, I will now find this young lad's card." Houdini pulled from the deck the Lad's card with such affinity, and then revealed that all the cards had been turned into the boy's card. The crowed clapped, as Houdini shuffled the deck and revealed it to be normal again. Yet more clapping came as the Doctor pushed forward a bit more. "Hehgm…ah…excuse me, sorry to interrupt you, big fan." The Doctor waved, "but I was curious if I could ask you a few questions. About tonight's accident?"
"I am sorry sir, but I don't know anything about what happened."
"Ah…come on…how about this, if I can fool you, the greatest escape artist, in the use of a magic trick, will you answer my questions?"
Jack and Martha smirked, inquiringly, as the stunned Houdini looked gilded. "I accept your challenge."
"Good…right…a magic trick…" The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and put it on setting three hundred and four. "All right, can I see a cigarette and one of your cards, heck the entire deck." Houdini held out the deck of cards to the Doctor and one of the gentlemen in the back passed forward a cigar.
"You will notice the deck of cards is solid, normal. The very same that Harry here just used. And I take it sir, that that cigar you gave to me is a normal cigar?" The Doctor looked to the man in a bowler hat, who nodded. "Now with a wave of my wand," The Doctor waved the sonic screwdriver over the deck of cards, "And a few choice words, Alakazam…" the Doctor pushed the cigar through the deck of cards and out the other side. The crowed looked in awe, not a sound, the quietest the room had been all night. When the Doctor handed back the cards to Harry, who then shuffled them, the crowed clapped uproariously.
"Lets talk…"