A/N:Reviews are welcome!
Chapter 3 –The Library
"So you jumped down from up there were Daniel was standing?" asked Jack king Minos.
"Yes. But I stood one story higher. I climbed up there first, and I fought the Ashrak. But the stupid bastard took my blade before I had a chance to use it. Then Daniel climbed up the roof too, and he distracted the Ashrak. Daniel was apparently the bigger threat to the Ashrak, because he let go of me for Daniel. And I nudged him over the edge where he was lying."
"And then you jumped after him. From three stories high?"
"Yep."
"I saw him jumping and he didn't even seem to have trouble landing." Added Daniel.
"Daniel, no-one would have trouble landing. The only problem is not breaking anything in the process." Countered O'Neill. "But how did you not break anything in your landing?" he asked king Minos.
"Reflexes. Plus I did not fall as hard as Daniël wants you to believe. It wasn't that high..."
"It was three stories up! That's fairly high, I'd say." Said Daniël
"Nope it wasn't. But what about our alliance?" asked King Minos, deliberately changing the subject. "I do say that I am interested in an alliance between our two worlds. An alliance without any specific goal, other than to be friends. Protection, trading and visits can then be taken care of afterwards. That would go a lot faster if we were allies."
"So you're interested in an alliance between the people of Avalon and Earth?" asked O'Neill.
"I am. But I take it that you must contact your superiors with the offer?"
"Yep. We have a scheduled contact in about... "O'Neill looked on his watch "three hours. But we can call in earlier if you wish."
"Both times are acceptable. Is there anything you wish to see while you're here, or would you like to call home?" asked king Minos.
"If you have time, I would like to learn more about your culture." Said Daniel.
"That's ok with me. Come to the library in the palace. There is a large collection of ancient tales and stories present."
"Your highness, would you mind if Carter and I didn't join you to the library? We would like to explore the town a bit, and see what's for sale on your market." Asked O'Neill
"That is fine with me. But be careful. Don't get lost in the streets. You can always ask one of my guards the way back to the square."
"Bye guys" said Daniel, as Carter and O'Neill walked away to the market square. "Are you coming, Teal'c?"
"Very well, Daniel Jackson. I will follow you and indulge in the local myths and legends. Perhaps I can render assistance in deciding the origin of the story."
"Are you coming?" king Minos asked.
Together they walked towards the large palace. The library was situated behind one of the larger doors in the large hall in the palace. Daniel watched in awe as he saw a massive library appear before his eyes. There were big shelves situated everywhere in the library, and there was an enormous collection of books lying on them. The books appeared to be from various ages, some written on thick rolls of a parchment-like substance, others were made from stone tablets with marks carved into them. He also saw some books that looked modern, like they were made by a book press.
He watched in awe as young king Minos led them between the shelves to a large open area with a few tables and chairs. There was no one sitting on the table, but there were a few stacks of neatly arranged books and scrolls.
"This section of the library contains most of the ancient tales and myths that were written down. If you have any questions, you can always ask me." Said King Minos. "I'll stay here." He added.
"The only question I can imagine asking is: 'where do I start?'" said Daniel Jackson.
"I'd suggest that you start with those scrolls over there." He pointed to a pile of older scrolls that were neatly stacked on top of each other in a small pile. "They contain various stories surrounding king Arthur of Kamelot. Your commander mentioned that you have similar tales on Earth."
"That's correct. On Earth, King Arthur was believed to have lived over fourteen hundred years ago, as the king of Britain. Britain is a large island in front of one of the main continents on Earth. He defeated the Saxons that ruled Britain in those times, and established an empire on Britain and the surrounding lands. He had help from a mighty wizard called Merlin, who helped Arthur in finding the magical sword Excalibur. Arthur then used Excalibur to defend his empire from conspiracies from within. Some sources say that Arthur pulled Excalibur from a rock to see if he was the heir of the previous king of Britain, Uther Pendragon. Other sources say that he obtained the sword from the Lady of the Lake. That is in short, the story of Arthur."
"That is ... interesting..." said King Minos. "You will discover many similarities between your stories about king Athur and ours. You might uncover something new by using both our mythological tales about Arthur."
"I will see if I can uncover anything new." Answered Daniel Jackson.
He immediately took one of the scrolls, and started reading. Much to his surprise, he found out that the writing on the scrolls was not Goa'uld, as he had expected. It was a very old form of Latin, which he could read, although not very fast. He was joined by Teal'c, who had found one scroll containing Arthurian legends written in Goa'uld. King Minos took another scroll out of the pile, and started reading too.
Two hours later Daniel had discovered several important findings about Arthurian legends, Teal'c had learned the epic tales around Sir Lancelot, Arthur and Merlin and king Minos had read a large pile of scrolls containing several stories in different, ancient, languages.
"Hello kids. How's it going?" asked Jack, who had just came walking in. "Had a fun time?"
"Hmm?" mumbled Daniel, who was lost in translating the old texts.
"We have indeed had a 'fun' time, O'Neill. Daniel Jackson has apparently uncovered several new facts around the legends of King Arthur."
"Ah, I see." Answered O'Neill. "Daniel." No answer. "Daniel!" still nothing "DANIEL! WAKE UP!"
"Huh? Did you say something, Jack?"
"No, I screamed. You were lost again."
"But I've been here all the time!"
"I mean lost in translations. Come on. We need to report back to Hammond."
"Can't I stay here? I mean, we only need to send him a message that we're okay."
"No Daniel. We need to get back and report to him about the alliance. Then we can come back and you can bring your historical doo-hickeys."
"Sir, I don't think that doo-hickeys is a word." Said Carter.
"Yes it is. It is used to describe an object from which you do not know the exact name." Said King Minos.
"See. I'm not the only one using it!" said O'Neill.
"All right, I'm coming Jack. But I want to spend some more time here when we come back. If that is all-right with you of course," he asked king Minos.
"You certainly can spend some time here. Just make sure to eat and drink enough while translating. It wouldn't look good for our alliance if you faint in the middle of my library."
"Come, Daniel. Hammond won't like it if we're late." Said Jack.
"I'm coming." Daniel answered.
"I will send a guard to show you the way to the Astria Porta."
The guard joined SG-1 on their way out of the palace.
"Did you guys see anything interesting on the market?" Daniel asked Sam.
"We went to the market, and we walked around the streets a bit. The market appears to be well organised, as Teal'c had noticed already. The people are friendly, and they did not seem very frightened by our appearance."
"Like they had seen people from other planets more often than we guessed?"
"Yes, exactly. They were not afraid of us. Maybe that was because there were only two of us, and the colonel and I both aren't extremely large in comparison to these people." Answered Sam.
"Now you say it, they do seem a little bit larger than most people on Earth were in the Greek-Roman ages."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, most people in those times weren't much larger than five foot or something. These people are on average a bit taller than that."
"Maybe it's because they have more hygiene than the ancient Romans and Greeks? The city is not littered with garbage, and there appears to be an efficient sewage system, because I've seen no heaps of gong lying around in the streets."
"That could be. We had the same thing on Earth, and we are taller than most other aliens we have met until now. Speaking of Earth, I've discovered that they have legends about King Arthur of Kamelot that are almost similar to our own. The detail of those stories is extraordinary, and they are written in some ancient form of Latin."
"Daniel, I'm sure general Hammond is interested in your stories when we debrief." Interrupted Jack.
"Jack, if I discover more similarities between our peoples history, then maybe I can discover ancient mysteries of the past. There are countless riddles and mysteries in ancient history on Earth that beg to be solved."
"Daniel, the only riddle for me is how to stay awake."
"Ok, Jack. What have you learned from your stroll through the city?" asked Daniel with a bit of acid.
"That the people here are not as primitive as you think. We've seen a lot of fine handwork on the stall at the market, and we've learned that there must be several orchards nearby. There were lots of fruits in the market, too."
"Well.. ok. That is a bit interesting. But wait until I can study in their library. Then I'll learn more interesting things than anyone of us can dream of."
"Daniel, save the 'I have discovered something interesting' speech for Hammond."
"Guys, shall I dial home while you two continue arguing?"
"We're not arguing... But dial home anyway, Carter."
"Right away sir."
The Stargate opened with the usual 'kawoosh' and after they sent their IDC's through SG-1 stepped through the gate.