CHAPTER 83
EPISODE………….CAMELOT
The other's got up normally and headed to work just like every other day. Sam and Ford got up and after their little bit earlier morning jog, they spent some time with Sally, keeping a happy face. Sally didn't want them to leave after they said they'd probably be back in a couple of days, maybe longer, maybe shorter. They really didn't know the length of time. Sam was telling her mother a few things, while in the kitchen, nothing about the mission though as Ford pulled Jacob into the other room.
"I can see you two aren't really in a happy mood." he said with his arms crossed. "Are you two fighting or something, or what?"
"No." Ford said shaking his head. "Don't tell Amy, but we got new information that the Ori have ships and they are coming with tens of thousands of troops. The ships are bigger than those Hal'taks and a hell of a lot more powerful."
"You don't think….our ships with our other allies out there can stop them?" he asked quietly.
"Seriously? I don't know." he said quickly going over some of what Vala had told them. He removed a key from his key ring and handed a card from his wallet over. "Point is, I'm not sure about a good outcome. If you haven't heard from us in a week, call the number here and say 'the password is Prime'. I don't have time to explain."
"You two better come home." he said grimly as he pocketed the items.
The other two came out with Amy holding Sally. They said goodbye and took off in separate cars. Ford mentioned something about a call he got about needing to see someone before heading to work. She inquired and he mentioned it had something to do with the future and then took off leaving her bewildered. As she was heading toward the mountain with K-9 in the passenger seat, the radio came on suddenly. She went to turn it off when K-9 stopped her.
"What's wrong K-9?"
"Nothing Mistress. The Master had me activate the radio on purpose."
"Wh…" she began asking when the announcer on the radio made her stop.
"This song goes out to a woman named Samantha. A woman who the man stated he couldn't ever live without." the announcer of the country station said as he started the sound.
She listened and even shook her head as the song, Baby you are the World, by Brad Paisley was played.
"You really know how to make a girl feel wanted. You know K-9, I have to find a way or something to make it possible for me to live forever too."
"The Master has been endeavoring to do so for some time Mistress."
"Where's the General Sam?" Mitchell asked as they were getting ready.
"He said he had to see someone, about the future." she said zipping up her vest.
"The future?" Daniel asked putting his zat in its holster.
"He didn't elaborate. Just took off quickly before I could ask anything else."
"Hey, you all ready to go?" Ford asked walking in with his Tommy gun. He set it aside and took his coat off to get into his vest and such.
"So, the future hmm. Anything you want to tell us?" Daniel asked.
"Nothing really. Other than to tell me to put some personal stuff away."
"Such as?"
"I can't really say, besides, it's personal." he said putting his coat back on. "I think I'm ready now."
"You're not going to tell us anything are you?" she asked.
"It's not important. I get messages like this from time to time. Again, you guys ready or am I leaving alone?" he asked walking out, picking his gun up before leaving.
They followed along, with Sam and Daniel muttering about how he must have been talking to his future self.
"Hey, is everything going to be okay, as to this battle with the Ori….." Daniel began.
"I don't know Daniel. He wouldn't tell me and I can't read him."
"So it was your future self." she said.
"Who else would it be?" he said as they entered the gate room. "Dial it up Walter."
"SG-1?"
They all turned to see Landry up by Walter.
"Come back safe people. I'd rather not take over here because we lost you all. I admit, the people are nice, the ideas and technology are astounding and the food is absolutely incredible, but not seeing the sun except in the morning isn't as much fun as back in D.C. where I can see it by looking out a window."
"Got it sir. Keep the team safe and bring them back." Mitchell said.
"It's that your line?" Daniel asked.
"It's not my team." Ford said as Walter started up the dialing process. "At least the in charge part."
"You know, I think I'm the only officer that gets to order a General around. As to being a lower rank." Mitchell said.
"Don't let it go to your head Colonel." he said with a small smile.
"Never General." he said waving a hand.
They walked through, looked around with weapons at ready and after seeing the coast was pretty much clear, they headed off in the direction that the U.A.V. showed people living.
"Hey, has anyone stopped to think, how this thing might possibly work?" Mitchell asked as they walked down a old dirt road. "I mean, how do you kill something that is pure energy?"
"Well, technically Merlin's research didn't say anything about killing. A better translation would be, neutralizing, or canceling out." Daniel said.
"Well, that still begs a lot of questions." Mitchell muttered. "How do you aim at something you can't see?"
"It clearly can't be a weapon in a conventional sense. Ascended beings transcend ordinary space time as we know it. This device would have to do the same thing."
"In other words, you have no idea what it might be?"
"Yeah, pretty much, that's it." Daniel said as the took a turn in the road.
"Whoa." Ford muttered as he stopped.
"What is it General?" Mitchell asked looking forward then back at him. The other's stopped and also looked.
They were about a hundred yards from a very large castle wall that had lots and lots of buildings built that were higher than the wall, which had to be more than a hundred feet high. The stone/brick buildings were very close together. The road they were on lead right up to a draw bridge that was currently and thankfully down.
"It's a castle Ford. You have seen…."
"Funny Daniel." he said with a fake smile. "Yeah, I've seen them before, but nothing of this size. Think about it, when have any of you seen something like this on any other planet, hell even on Earth."
"He has a point. Other than those few we noticed when we were in England to see Lara Croft…." she said.
"I have to admit, it is rather big. But maybe it's that way because this Merlin built the weapon to be big." Mitchell said. "Let's go say hi and see what they know. Hey, since Jackson is lost, do you have any ideas on what this so called weapon might be General?"
"Idea? Um……something that transcends the physical plane and can attack or destroy an energy based being? Hmm." he said thinking as he tapped his chin. "Well, an idea could be that is somehow saps the energy away or cancels it out somehow."
"That's a possibility. But the Ancients have so much power and can manipulate the physical plane that whatever this weapon is, must also cancel out their higher powers too." she said.
"True. Whatever the weapon really is though, I haven't a clue."
"Well, we'll find out soon, I hope anyway." Mitchell said.
They walked through the stone archway, seeing lots of people working and walking around. Carts and just about anything else you'd expect to find inside a castle was there. The people were even wearing clothes that would be found in that era. Not surprising since they probably never had contact with anything or anyone with technology, which would indicate the way they still lived. They received some stares as they stopped just inside. The ground looked like it had been rained on for days and days. There was no dry spot of dirt anywhere on the ground.
"I'm really trying not to think about everything that could be in this mud." Ford muttered.
"I can think of a few things, since I was on a farm once." Mitchell said.
"I'd rather not know, thank you."
"Well, this place looks like a place where Merlin probably once lived." she said looking around.
"I feel like I just stepped back into the Middle Ages." Ford said looking around as well as he placed his gun on his shoulder.
"And I thought you were about to say Dark ages." Daniel said.
"If fighting breaks out and we see their version of medical treatment, then I'll call it that."
"This could just be one of many villages we may have to check. Remember, the U.A.V. showed the roads kept going in other directions, which would have to mean this isn't the only village."
"I'd hardly call it a city Mitchell."
"Well, there's that over there, which may be all we need to know we're in the right place." Daniel said.
They turned to look off to their right, from where they came in to see a very familiar object. A sword in the stone. The same sword that Mitchell pulled and the same type of stone that was on Earth, design as well. They all walked up looking at it.
"We're in the right place. Want to try pulling it, again Mitch….." Ford began saying when five people came around a corner way in front of them.
Two were women and the other three were males, all in regal like clothes.
"I am, Meruik, governor of this village." the man in the reddish robes said with some fear in his voice. He opened his arms quickly with a small smile before holding his hands back together again. "Welcome to Camelot."
"Camelot? Somehow, I pictures walls of gold and silver. No excepted it."
"I think that was a myth or just part of the stories." Daniel said.
"Hmm." Ford said as he placed his gun behind his back. "My name is General Carter, this is Doctor Jackson, Lieutenant Colonel Carter, Lieutenant Colonel Mitchell and Teal'c. We're just here to explore and look around, learn more about King Arthur. Trying to locate something in the process."
The man nodded and pointed a hand toward a building near them.
"Come, let us talk and eat. If that is okay…."
"Oh yeah, it's just fine." Mitchell said.
The other's agreed it would be okay and they went in. The place was more like a bar and there was people everywhere. But there was room enough to move about. Meruik sat at the far end. Daniel and Carter sat on his left while Mitchell and Teal'c sat on his right. Ford sat at the other end.
"These must be the strangers that everyone is speaking of." a man said walking up with a smile.
He had a strange hat on that had some regal appearance to it especially with the clothes he wore, but whatever his job was, it was to hard to tell and they were a little surprised when they did learn.
"This is Antonius, the village historian." Meriuk said.
"Welcome to Camelot. Past and future home of King Arthur and his knights of the round table." Antonius said happily.
"Sorry. Future home?" Carter asked.
"Arthur was, as the legend goes, mortally wounded in his final battle fighting Mordred, but he didn't die and was taken to Avalon to eventually return and….I think the legend said come back and save England in its darkest hour." Ford said.
"Ah."
"Yes. That is the battle of Camlann, but with one exception." Meriuk said. "Arthur defeated Mordred and wasn't mortally wounded as you were told."
"After that battle, Arthur and his knights set off to find the Sangraal." Antonius said.
"That's….the Holy Grail." Daniel said.
"We're in trouble." Mitchell muttered quietly.
"That was long ago. But we know in our hearts that he will once day return to us."
"Um, what happened to Merlin after he left?" Daniel asked.
The two men looked at with, almost contempt.
"I have matter's…to attend to." Meriuk said as he got up. "Enjoy your stay with us."
"His name must be taboo." Ford muttered after the guy let.
"Did I offend him?" Daniel asked.
"Not at all." the man said quietly as he took the vacated seat. "It's just that, Merlin's name is rarely mentioned in public."
"Can you tell us why, Merlin seems to be a bad name around here then? According to our history, he was one of the good guys. But seeing as our history recorded Arthur almost dying, someone forgot to mention something Merlin did then." Ford said.
"Many believe, he was a wizard of darkness."
"Okay." Ford muttered drawing it out. "Why?"
"He may have tried to do good, but their was always potential for great mischief in his heart. Thankfully, he hasn't been seen nor heard of since Arthur's departure."
Ford lowered his head and muttered something only Carter really heard.
"This guy is beating about the bush with a twig." he said then pulled his head back up. "No offense sir, but can you tell us what he did specifically to gain this bad reputation?"
"Not at present." he said glancing around warily.
"Did Merlin leave anything behind?" Daniel asked.
"There is a library where he practiced his strange arts and they have remained sealed to this day."
"Merlin had a private library here?" she asked.
"Of course. It was his private sanctuary here in Camelot."
"We'd like to see that." Daniel said.
"I'm afraid that is impossible."
Ford tried and failed to not groan audibly.
"Is it because of a taboo or a law or what?"
"It is because of a curse. It is said that all those who enter his sanctuary, forfeit their lives to its guardian. The Black Knight."
"Well, that sounds familiar, doesn't it Mitchell?"
"You're talking about that knight I had to fight? He wasn't black though."
"Same difference."
"Thank you Antonius. Is it okay if we just look around?" Daniel asked.
The man nodded and got up leaving. The gathered their things and walked out moments later.
"Okay, best case scenario, this Curse of the Black Knight was made up by Merlin to scare off the locals." Mitchell said as they exited the building. "Worst case…."
"Is what I mentioned. A hologram in the form of a Black Knight." Ford said.
"Right. Either way, I don't see a big problem." he said then noticed a strange smile on Teal'c's face. "What?"
"Given your narrow victory over the knight in the Avalon cave, it would seem that your overconfidence is ill advised." Teal'c said.
Carter looked like she was doing everything she could not to laugh. She wasn't there, but Ford did tell her about it.
"Um, yeah, he may do better next time. I've, ahem, given him some pointers." Ford said coughing a few times.
"General O'Neill told me to watch out for that. You're laughing."
"Sorry Mitchell, but you were getting your ass kicked until that last moment. If you end up fighting it again, I'm quite sure you'll do better."
"What if I'm not doing the fighting?"
"Then I'll do a few quick slashes though its head."
"I think we're overlooking something here. The first knight was a test, designed to measure and challenge ones worth. This time is sounds like a self defense mechanism, set up to protect Merlin's research, which mean it could be a whole lot tougher, and the same rules might not apply."
"You better not be saying you doubt me." Ford said.
"Now there is something we don't hear everyday. Ego from you." Daniel said as he stopped and turned to him.
"I got trained by a five thousand plus year old master of swordsman ship. He had to do something to wait out the five thousand years and sword training was part of it. I was gone for over a year, remember. I learn rather quickly and he taught me a lot. So yes, there is some ego in there if you want to call it that."
"You know what, I think we should spilt up and look around. Me, I'm going to go this way, while you men talk about your ego's." she said smiling at them before walking off.
"Ouch." all but Teal'c said.
"She is correct, this conversation is counter productive." Teal'c said following her.
"I'm going with them."
"Let's go Jackson. Maybe we'll have better luck."
A girl of about twelve was sword fighting with a very young boy, maybe six or so. Basically they were practicing and playing at the same time. She being Arthur and the boy being Mordred.
"Yield?"
"I yield. But next time I want to be Arthur." the boy said as she lowered the wooden sword from his neck.
"I don't know if that's going to help. Especially if you keep moving around like Ed Grimily." Mitchell said as he and Daniel walked up while watching them.
The two looked them over while some of the people around them looked or went about their daily business.
"Here, let me show you something." he said un-attaching his PC-90 from his vest and giving it to Daniel. "Do you mind?"
The boy handed the sword over.
"Thank you. Try not to bob around quite so much." he said pointing the sword at him then at the girl.
She smiled at him nervously and they started sparring, though he was easily blocking her attacks.
"Nice." he said as they crossed swords in a parry. He quickly walked up and pulled her sword from her from behind before she could pull away from the parry.
"Where did you learn to fight?" she asked impressed as he looked at the two swords.
"Broom stick battles with my kid brother and the Sodan ritual of Kel Shak Lo made me the nimble warrior I am today." he said holding out the swords to them both. They took them and placed them in their belts.
"So, do either of you know where we can find Merlin's…"
"Library." Daniel supplied.
"Merlin's library?"
The two looked at each other before motioning for them to follow. It took a few minutes as they were lead through the streets to a slightly large hut, one person accommodations from the looks of it, that was near the wall to the outside.
"This is it. The door is magiked." the young lady said.
Daniel looked at Mitchell and then reached for the knob only to get shocked.
"There is a key, but no one dares use it."
"Where would we find this key?" Daniel asked flexing his fingers.
"In the village archives."
Mitchell nodded understanding what that meant as did Daniel.
"Thank you." Daniel said as they walked off.
Eventually they found Antonius who was getting food from the area of the village where it was sort of a market place for everyone. Mitchell was looking around while Daniel talked to the man. A light drizzle of rain started coming down around them, but it didn't seem to deter anyone else from doing their normal routine of daily activities.
"No." he said shaking a onion at them. "Absolutely not. I will not be party to your deaths. Your lives would be forfeit the instant you stepped inside."
The man turned away to ask about some food from one of the tenders as Daniel tugged on his arm.
"We have fought one of Merlin's knights before."
"Impossible. If you had, you would not be here to tell the tale." he said as they moved to another cart of food.
"Well, I am, because we defeated him." Daniel stated. "And because we defeated him, we acquired the treasures he had hidden away on our world. One of those treasures led us here, to Camelot. Antonius, you're the village historian. Tell me you haven't dreamt about what might be inside there?"
Later that night, Antonius agreed to take them. The storm was brewing and lightening was in the sky. Lousy weather could be seen approaching and the wind was starting to pick up some.
"No one must know I was ever involved with this venture." Antonious said as he walked them to the door with a lamp.
"Did any of you see him any other time today other than in that bar? Daniel excluded of course since he saw him earlier in the food market and then never after that?" Ford asked.
They all said no.
"Thank you." he said pulling a key out.
"We were never here." Mitchell said as he held the lamp for him.
The key hit the lock and made the shield come up and then it went down as he inserted the key and opened the door. Inside it was really dark and there was books everywhere. Same with lots of cobwebs and dust and other various items scattered here and there. Some furniture was in the small place, but most of it was covered with books too.
"Might want to watch out General."
"What?" he asked being the last one to come in.
"Spiders."
"Ugh." he said with a shudder as he removed his sword, after putting his gun behind him. He pulled his blue light out and shined it around. The other's just did the same with their lights. Daniel picked up a book and blew some of the dust off.
"Yep. This could take awhile." he muttered.
"Well, let's see how bad it's going to be in deciphering." Ford said sticking his sword into the floor as he picked up a book. "Hmm, I can read this. Interesting. And ironic."
"Why?" she asked looking at the book but unable to read it.
"It's a cook book, or a medicinal book. Maybe both." he said closing it and setting it down.
Teal'c and Mitchell lit the candles while Carter looked around. Daniel was looking through various books with Ford. Antonious was also looking through some books but mostly working with Daniel. They all had killed quite a few spiders so far, mostly squished under foot. Ford did everything he could not to panic when one landed on his shoulder and was about the size of a baseball. Sam noticed and quickly knocked it off and he stabbed it with the end of his sword. The fifth or sixth he'd done that too.
"All these spiders remind me of that time Lee had those big spiders on the base." Mitchell said as he kept looking around with his flashlight. Ford cringed and then glared at him, though Mitchell's back was to him.
SLIGHT FLASHBACK……timetable, a short time after Sally being born and Sam being back. Say within a month or so.
Doctor Lee and a few other scientist were researching some, things, that were brought back by SG-8 yesterday. Colonel Reynolds was acting General at the time, which was why Doctor Lee figured was the reason they were currently, researching, the specimen that was brought back. Colonel Carter and the rest of SG-1, along with Ford, didn't know what was going on in Lab 3.
"It's really quite fascinating." one of the two scientist helping Lee out stated.
"I agree. Hey check this out." Lee said gesturing at the lady to come over.
Ford had recently just gotten finished with paperwork, which was, even though a everyday routine, becoming a pain in the ass and incredibly boring to spend most of the morning or most of the night depending on how the day started and or went. He was coming down to see how Carter was doing or Daniel, depending on how busy Sam was. If Sally was with her, then he'd stay for as long as he could until called or Walter came and got him. But first, he was going to check out a strange report that Reynolds left. It wasn't strange as to strange, strange. More like the details were, fuzzy. He was going to ask Reynolds what was going on, but he was currently off base. The door was closed so after opening it and walking into the Lab 3, he saw Doctor Lee and the scientist were talking about something that they were looking at on the large metal table in front of them. Ford couldn't see what was on the table though, but something was moving on it.
"So, what are you all looking at?" he asked placing his hands in his coat pockets as he walked in and the door closed automatically.
"Oh, General, hi. We are just…." Lee said nervously.
"Looking at some interesting plants and…"
"Plants." he said with interest. "Anything that could be transplanted…"
"Nothing yet sir. Nothing that your looking for as per your request." she said.
"You're new here huh?"
"Ah yes s…right. Forgot General."
"Okay, so what's so fascinating about this plant? I hope it's not like that one Jack had to deal with. Nice plant for those growth ideas, but otherwise…."
"No General. Nothing like that. Just seems to be an interesting food source for a particular….creature." she said still nervous.
"Oh? I'm going to take a wild guess and say that this creature, which you have yet to mention…" he said walking up to the table, making them part. "Is usually carnivorous and maybe even poisonous?"
The table had some small dark hairs on it, which Ford lifted an eyebrow at, but didn't comment. And it had a half eaten plant that looked like it had a sunflowers stock and leaves that looked like rhubarb and ferns being crossed. One of the leaves was half eaten too.
"Yeah, that's about right for both guesses." Lee said nervously looking around with the other scientist.
"Is this creature…" he said walking over to a table with computers and a photo on it. "Completely herbivore and not poisonous? Interesting pictures, what are they of?"
"It's completely safe and totally friendly General. It seems to like the color back too." Lee said more nervously as Ford looked at the photo. The phone rang near the door and the female lady picked it up.
"That is one hairy leg."
He looked at the photo seeing a large slightly red hairy leg on what had to be a tree. The rest of whatever the creature was couldn't be seen. There was other signs of forestry in the background, but it was out of focus.
"Terrible picture. What is it…"
"General Carter, phone call."
"Who is it?"
"It's Colonel Carter."
He nodded and crossed the room grabbing it as the three gathered around the table talking in, urgent, hushed tones.
"Sam?"
"Hey, Sally's a little restless. I think she wants to see you."
"Sure. I was coming down anyway. Just checking on something that Lee and the others are working on. I'll be there in about a minute."
"Great." she said. "Wait, Ford! No…"
He had hung up by that point not hearing the rest.
"Well, I've got to go, but tell me this creature is safe and it's going to be returned back to its planet."
"It is, we're….almost done." Lee said glancing around.
"Good. It may not be dangerous from the sounds of things but," he said waving a finger as he turned to leave and opening the door. "Any creature will fight back if it feels endangered. I'm guessing that's why the door is also closed."
"Ah no, it's because…" the lady started saying.
"Yes?" he said seeing them all suddenly jerk.
"Ah…General. I, um…" Lee said more nervous than before as he reached for the Ford and backed off then tried again. The other two looked even more jittery.
Ford turned around seeing no one behind him, but could swear someone touched his back. He shrugged it off and turned back while also looking above for a moment. Seeing nothing on the front of his coat, he figured it was nothing.
"So what is….what are you all jumpy about?" he asked placing his hands on his hips. "I didn't see anything behind me and there's nothing above me. You've all been nervous since I entered. What the hell are you all looking at in here and where is it? Wait, are people trying to play a joke on me? Another funny prank on the new guy in charge…"
"Didn't you say that General Carter had arachnophobia?" the lady whispered to Doctor Lee as Ford glanced behind himself again.
He started to look out the doorway when he heard what the lady said. Lee was trying to wave a hand at her, Lee knowing Ford's exceptional hearing. Fords head whipped around back at them so quick they heard a few cracks.
"Wh…wh….what…did…you just say?" he asked raising a shaky right hand. His voice and eyes were full of fright. "Tell me you didn't bring…."
"Oh no." she squeaked out as Ford looked at his left shoulder as a large red haired leg came over sitting on it.
The scream that followed was heard all throughout the level they were on, the area above them and below them and a few other's that were close enough to the ventilation system. Ford didn't panic. Nope, he didn't even freak out. He went full out, ballistically, totally, completely, insanely nuts. Absolutely bonkers. There was nothing calm, cool, or even collective about him anymore. He was gone. And the worst part, he screamed like a girl. The very large and hairy spider jumped off his back, and went to the ceiling as he slipped out of his coat quicker than thought possible, while yelling. He pulled his guns, but they were taken away as a few airmen, a couple of other personal and several guards came up and got him pinned to the ground. Lee and the other scientist were trying to explain what happened as Teal'c and Mitchell came running up with weapons ready. They, along with everyone there were surprised as hell as the five or six people holding him down were literally thrown or tossed aside with a loud shout. Part of Ford's BDU uniform was torn or ripped from where people had hold of him. Even his belt was torn from the loops. He scrambled to his feet, poorly, and bolted past Mitchell and Teal'c so fast he almost knocked them down.
"Can somebody tell me what the hell is going on?!" Mitchell exclaimed after righting himself.
The spider dropped off from the ceiling and landed on his coat. And ignored the commotion.
Carter was working on a project when Ford rushed in so quick she heard him half way down the hallway. He slammed the button making the door close, with help.
"Ford, what the hell…." she began saying as she got off the stool and started over. Sally started to bawl lightly.
"There was…..it was……I…..the….." he said making gestures with his hands frantically as she walked up. "It….I….."
"Ford slow….." she began saying when his hands dropped. And so did he, unceremoniously onto the floor.
She got down quickly and tried shaking him awake, but he didn't wake up. The door was knocked on as she started to yell for K-9. She hit the button and the door opened.
"General? It's Colonel Mitchell. Don't shoot."
"Come in Colonel. He's on the floor." she said standing back up as Mitchell and Teal'c walked in looking at her then at Ford on the floor. Worry was all over her face as she picked Sally up and tried to calm her down. "Tell me, do I need to worry, panic or not bother?"
"Well, um…." Mitchell started saying.
"One of the spiders that Doctor Lee was studying jumped onto his back, without his knowing." Teal'c stated.
She cringed and shuddered. Sally must have felt or saw how Sam reacted and started crying again. Sam got her to calm down after telling her she was fine.
"Well, the alarms aren't going off so I guess the base is doing just fine."
"I do not understand."
"Ford is afraid of spiders Teal'c. I don't like them either, but I'm not as freaked out by them. But those, keep them away from me. When I was told they were on the base and was also told that they hadn't informed Ford yet, I said that when he did find out or if one got near him, he'd hit the moon."
Teal'c rose an eyebrow and Carter knew that look.
"It's a figure of speech Teal'c."
"Indeed. Knowing General Carter, he almost did hit the moon."
Mitchell told her of what he saw transpire and what Lee said.
"That explains his rather shredded clothes. And missing coat."
"Left his guns as well." Mitchell said. "And his belt."
"He'll get up sometime. I'll keep a watch, with the door closed. Don't want him to freak out again. Might as well tell Walter to transfer all calls down here for the time being too."
"I'll let him know. Hey, should I have the tapes of what happened erased or…."
"No." she said with a small smile. "I want to see what happened. Besides, General O'Neill will want to."
"Let's go T. We'll be able to see it a well. Let's pick up Jackson along the way."
Jackson had a laugh about it and Ford is still looking for the tapes. When he did wake up, he stayed in that office until it was time to leave and then stayed at home next day as well. Until those spiders were off the base, he was not coming back. They were off within the hour.
"Please don't remind me. I am beginning to hate this place as it is, just because of these things. And if I scream again, you all better keep quiet."
They all nodded. He gave her a stern look, mostly because he knew she knew where those tapes were and wouldn't get rid of them. Despite the fact she denied knowing where they were and said Daniel had the tapes and that she had only seen them. Antoniuos didn't understand but nodded anyway.
"I got it, and I have to admit this place is kinda creeping me out too." she muttered looking around. "But remember why we are here."
"Yeah. So many scrolls and a lot of them ready to fall apart."
"Yeah. Might as well leave them be for now and concentrate on the books." Daniel said from where he was sitting at the desk in the middle of the room. "I think I found something of interest. There's a reference here to Merlin's prophetic abilities."
She walked up and looked over his shoulder as he kept reading.
"Merlin could time travel?" Ford asked as he looked through a book. "Since when?"
"Well, according to a myth on Earth, Merlin knew about the future because he traveled backwards in time." Daniel said.
"Backwards? That would suck." Mitchell said.
"I don't think it was meant to be taken literally. We have seen a lot of legends and folklore have a strong basis in fact, Avalon, Atlantis…."
"The Easter Bunny." Teal'c said walking up near Antonious. The man looked at Teal'c funny as he didn't understand it.
"What? No Teal'c, that is a story for children. There is no Easter Bunny, same with the Tooth Fairy and Santa Clause." Ford said barely keeping from laughing.
"Hmm. O'Neill was….yanking my chain, is the correct response is it not?"
"Yes. Jack was being an ass as usual." Daniel said.
"Indeed."
"Daniel." she said tapping the book. "Is this saying that there is time travel technology here?"
"I'm saying there could be anything around here."
"Well, I hate to break it to you folks, but all I'm seeing is a bunch of dusty old books." Mitchell said pulling on a book. The book, which was on a shelf with a bunch of others, which was in a alcove in the wall pulled back and opened to reveal a secret passage.
"Nice one Mitchell." Ford said setting the book aside and walking up. "I'll go first in case that the Black Knight is in there."
"Just take a look."
Ford nodded as the other's walked up to the door.
"What's in there General?"
"Another chamber, from the looks of it, slightly underground. Hear little, see less." he said coming back up.
"We should not go in there! We've tempted fate enough for one night." Antoniuos said in fear of some sort of retribution.
"Okay, you can stay here, besides, you were never here so that means that we never heard you give us any warning not to continue." Ford said then turned around going back in.
"I shall take my leave then." he said holding his robes closer as he left.
The other's followed behind shining their lights until the room suddenly lit up with a fire place catching fire and then a few torches that lit up down the line on the wall. Ford was standing in front of some large table like object in the middle of the room that was also lit up.
"Guess what I found?" he said putting his sword away.
"A weapon?" Mitchell asked as they walked up slowly.
"Nope. An Ancient computer. Kinda reminds me of the one on Dakara."
"Indeed." Teal'c said looking at it.
"Not as many panels as the one that was at Dakara." she said.
"If it's like the one that was on Dakara, does that mean…." Mitchell asked.
"No." Daniel and Ford said.
"Very doubtful that it is suppose to activate some large ball on top of a mountain." Ford said.
"Then what does it activate or control?"
Ford and Daniel looked at each other then at the table.
"Um…." Ford muttered.
"We have no idea." Daniel said.
"Great lot of help you two are." Mitchell muttered.
"Give us time." Ford said waving his hand.
Carter undid her weapon and set it on the end of the Ancient console near where Daniel set his.
"Can you two read this?" Mitchell asked.
"Read, yes." Ford said.
"Translate, takes time." Daniel said.
Antonious went home and once up stairs, set his lamp on the bed side table. His wife was not in bed so he started looking for her. Lightening struck outside and he turned to see the Black Knight standing by the window. It lifted its sword and came after him.
"Basically, we activate it by pressing down certain blocks or panels, whatever you want to call them." Ford said.
"No offense General, but I read the report."
"Right. I sometimes forget that I'm not the only one. Well, correct me if I'm wrong Daniel but this tile or whatever you want to call it says…."
He stopped as they all heard a woman scream loudly. They instantly got their weapons ready as they rushed out. After finding out where the scream originated, mostly from the crowd of people they saw near a house, they entered to find several people near a body. Antonius was on the floor sprawled out with a look of fright on his face. Carter knelt down and felt for a pulse as Ford knelt on the other side.
"He's dead."
"But what killed him?" Ford muttered looking the guy over while feeling the chest lightly and the head. "No trauma marks and no broken bones. No blood anywhere either."
"A zat could do the same." she muttered.
"They'd probably think we're doing dark arts if we used one."
The next morning they were back in the bar, after being summoned by Meriuk. No one else was in room with them.
"How do you explain this?" he asked slamming the book that Antonius had left with last night onto the table in the bar. "Antonius had it with him last night when he was killed."
"Meriuk, we're very sorry about what happened….." she said.
"You went into the wizard's library, didn't you?"
"Yes we did." Daniel said.
"Look, it wasn't suppose to go down like this." Mitchell said. "We figured if the knight was going to appear, it was going to appear down there with us."
"You were warned of the danger and you refused to believe. And you awakened the curse."
"The Black Knight isn't part of any curse. He isn't magical and he isn't unbeatable." Daniel stated.
"Your world as well as many countless other's are in danger of being overrun by an enemy far more powerful than you can ever imagine. They are called the Ori. And they will destroy anyone who does not kneel before them." Teal'c stated forcefully.
"A long time ago, Merlin somehow managed to make a weapon that will more or less get rid of the Ori. Suppose to somehow kill them. Point is, that library has the key or the weapon according the research that Merlin left behind on our planet." Ford said. "Like Teal'c said, we don't stop them, no one is safe, anywhere."
"We have never seen nor heard of these Ori, but we have witnessed the power of the Black Knight. Leave this village, take the curse with you."
"It doesn't work that way." Ford said.
"When you people are gone, this curse will leave. Antonius brought you into the wizard's library. He was unfortunately the first to fall to the curse, you all will be next." he said then left in a huff.
"What a moron." Ford muttered leaning against the post.
"We can't just give up." Daniel said sitting down on the table top nearby.
"Daniel, you heard him. We're not welcome here anymore." she said.
"I personally don't give a damn what he thinks. Just because this governor tells us to go away doesn't mean we are going to." Ford said in a tone that made them all look at him sharply. "If Earth was just in danger, we'd try to find another way or something. Just because that guy has superstitions doesn't mean we stop saving the galaxy. If they want to try and stop us, let them. We can stun, knock out or tie up everyone in the place if we have to. Hell, I could do it myself. We are not leaving without getting what we came for."
"But…." Daniel began.
"I don't care if we alienate this planet and its people from us for the rest time Daniel. That's better than letting the Ori take over everything."
"I can see the logic in that. But what if we can turn off the knight? Maybe then they'll let us look and maybe even give us more information."
"You think there is a shut off switch?" she asked.
"It would make sense. See if the Black Knight were to attack us in the chamber, then there would be no great public incentive to keep people out. You'd just enter at your own risk and then the next person foolish enough to go in would end up dead as well. This way, the Black Knight attacks the villagers to keep people from entering the chamber. Hence the supposed curse."
"So what are we going to do? Just leave here and go straight to the library again?" Mitchell asked mostly looking at Ford.
"How about you all let me try to talk to a few people. Maybe I can do this peacefully. If I fail, we do the other plan." Daniel said quickly.
"Well, you've had a great track record with people so far." Ford said. "It's up to you Mitchell."
"Go ahead Jackson. I'd rather a peaceful solution than fighting everyone in the village." he said waving a hand.
Daniel got up and left quickly.
"Are you serious about….that course of action if he fails?" she asked.
"We don't get that weapon, there's nothing to go home to except to sit and wait for the end. I've been able to stop a lot of things that have been physical. But I can't fight an energy being. So we don't leave without whatever we need in that place."
They all left, mostly to look around and wait till Daniel hopefully got lucky. They stopped next to the sword talking while Daniel was gone.
"Done quietly, I can easily enter Merlin's place and look around. They'd never know I was there and you could all keep watch and stop the Black Knight if he shows up again. That is I would sneak in at night." Ford muttered quietly as he fingered the sword.
"That is a pretty good plan General. If Jackson fails, I say we go for it." Mitchell said.
"I hope Daniel succeeds. Last thing we need is to end up fighting these people." she said.
"Indeed."
"The knight only shows up if someone is messing around in that chamber." Mitchell said. "At least that's what I understood from what Jackson said."
"Yeah. So you all or one of you all should keep a look out while I'm checking out that computer console. If I can get Daniel in there, he'll help me. This is all if Daniel fails." he muttered.
"Let's go look around. Give Daniel time to talk." she said.
Mitchell was walking around the sword, looking at it while the other three walked off toward the market where clothes were being sold.
"Only he who is pure of heart and true of spirit can pull the sword from the stone." the girl they met earlier said as she walked up slowly. "It is said that Arthur will not return until one among us is able to remove it."
"You ever tried it?"
"Of course not. It is for the young men who are preparing to be knights to test themselves with the sword, as my brother Ramus will as he becomes of age."
"Yeah, but I've seen you spar. You've got skills."
"I only do that to help Ramus to train. When Arthur comes back, he will need knights to help him on his next crusade. The men of this village will be ready to serve him."
"And you're not interested in that?"
"Valencia!"
She looked past Mitchell to see Meruik and other's with him coming toward them.
"Leave us!"
"Yes governor." she said with a small bow before taking off.
Daniel and the rest of the team came up behind them as the governor was yelling at Cameron.
"You abuse my tolerant nature Colonel."
"I take it, it didn't go so well?"
"Not really." Daniel said.
"These men will escort you to the great ring to ensure that you leave as requested."
"Look, the Black Knight is not a curse…." Daniel began.
"Forget it Daniel. We tried negotiations, now we do it my way. We're going back in there to get what we need. You can try and stop…."
A bright beam of light engulfed them all and then they were gone.
"Us, you'll fail…but it won't matter I guess." Ford was saying until he just mumbled. "Hello Colonel."
"SG-1, welcome aboard the Odyssey." the Colonel said from his chair.
"Colonel, what's going on?" Mitchell asked.
"Change of plans." the Colonel said getting up and walking to a large screen on his left. "We've received a subspace message from a Jaffa vessel near P3Y 229. They were investigating some unusual energy readings."
Both Carter's walked up as the screen changed from showing parts of the Odyssey to now showing a Supergate.
"This is what they found. When we enhanced the image."
"A fully formed Supergate." she said.
"Stargate Command tried to dial 229, but they couldn't get a lock."
"Evident here since no planet is on the screen. Must have been destroyed already." Ford said tapping the screen. "Took them about a month since Vala told us."
"Landry ordered us to come pick you up and proceed directly to the Supergate. Unfortunately, the Daedalus is still in the Pegasus galaxy. But the Korolev will be joining us as soon as possible."
"I didn't think it was operational yet." she said.
"It was rushed into service. We are going to meet up with as many Jaffa and Tok'ra ships that we can muster and destroy that thing by whatever means necessary." he said then turned to the helm. "Set a course."
"Wait Colonel. We can't leave yet." Ford said.
"Why not General?"
"We came here looking for a weapon that is suppose to destroy AKA kill the Ori. We need to keep looking for it."
"We're short on time. We need to destroy that gate before it is too late." the Colonel said.
"Let me stay. I'll look for it." Daniel said.
"The villagers won't let you in Daniel. And I seriously doubt Ford's going to go down and help are you?"
"Thought about it, but this is much more serious." he said pointing at the Supergate.
"What if I beam in?"
"I'll go with, for quality time and to help if the Black Knight shows up." Mitchell said.
"Best of luck then. Beam them down Colonel then we can take off."
"Yes General. I'll inform the Russians to come by and pick you up on their way to us."
Mitchell and Daniel left the bridge quickly.
"Somehow, I doubt any of our weapons are going to do any damage to that thing." Ford muttered shaking his head.
"What about your weapons General?"
"Hmm." he said tilting his head slightly. "Sam?"
"It's possible. But I don't know if your pistol will fire in open space. I know your sword would be able to cut through it with ease, but you can't get enough momentum in space to swing it hard enough."
"Hmm. Maybe if I was beamed unto the ring and found an access panel where I could force the sword in. It'd be slow and there is a good chance I'd be fried pretty hard."
"Not taking that chance. As soon as your suit ruptures, there's a chance of instant explosive decompression and you won't recover from that."
"Colonel." he said turning to the man. "Do we have a lot of any thick rubber on board?"
"That might work." she said as the Colonel smiled.
"General Carter, a word."
"Sure Teal'c." Ford said following him off the bridge.
Daniel and Mitchell beamed down into the room seeing nothing had changed. The lights were still going and no one had came into the main room.
"So, what now?" Mitchell asked as Daniel took off and headed up the flight of stairs to a second level on the wall.
"Well, all indications show that the Black Knight was activated the second that Ford stepped onto that platform. So, my guess is that we can shut him down by inputting a certain sequence into that control panel." he said looking over the large book shelf that held more scrolls than books.
"Merlin's p.i.n. number?"
"Yeah, something like that."
"So, how do we find it?" Mitchell asked pacing around.
"By…looking through these documents." he said pulling a book.
"You do realize we are on the clock, right?"
Carter was seated at the computer console on the Colonel's right with Ford helping from over her shoulder. Teal'c had left sometime ago to a Jaffa vessel to go get help after talking with Ford earlier.
"Course is plotted sir." the man on the Colonel's left said.
"Very well."
Daniel and Mitchell had been going through the books and scroll for some time now. Mitchell fell asleep in one of the chairs while Daniel had kept going.
"This would be going faster if Ford was here." Daniel muttered as he turned another page. "Well, that's it."
He turned to his right to see Mitchell passed out in the chair. Closing a thick book he held it out and dropped it on the floor. He awoke quickly and pointed his gun looking around.
"Sorry, didn't mean to wake you."
"Ah no, I wasn't sleeping." he said re-adjusting his hat. "I was Kel-No-Reeming. Teal'c taught me the fundamentals."
"Did he also tell you that staying conscious was part of the exercise?" he said making a few notes in his book.
"Yeah, I'm still working on the basics." he said then got up. "So, have you got something?"
"Yeah, I've cross referenced a half a dozen passages that mention the Black Knight. Now there is a series of reoccurring words and phrases that stand out." he said lifting a book so Mitchell could see it better. "If you know what you're looking for."
"Are we talking access code?"
"I think so." he said making another note as Mitchell patted him on the back.
They both went into the room with the Ancient console and the place lit up as they neared the computer.
"What's the matter?" Mitchell asked as they stopped near the platform.
"Well, if I'm wrong about this then um….."
"Nah. I'll worry about the Black Knight."
"Yeah, how are you going to do that again?"
"I'll pull the sword from the stone, just like last time."
"I think we've been over this before. This is a completely different scenario. Back in Avalon, it was pulling the sword from the stone that activated that knight. Here, we don't even know if they are connected."
Mitchell was adjusting his hat again as he shook his head.
"We know that Merlin put the sword there, right?"
"Probably."
"Which means that is it no ordinary sword, which is good enough for me. Besides, do we have a choice?"
"No."
He waved a hand and then they both stepped onto the platform that the computer sat on. The whole thing lit up again and they took a moment to listen and look up. Hearing no screaming or anything like that Daniel set his gun and books down. He opened his notes and started pushing the tiles in, making other come up. After a few, he stopped.
"Uh oh."
"Wha-oh?"
"Nothing happened."
"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"
They instantly heard lots of screaming and yelling above them.
"Bad." they both said.
"You stay, I'll go." Mitchell said grabbing his gun and rushing out. "Make it work!"
"Okay." Daniel said thinking as he looked at his book.
Mitchell rushed out into the courtyard area, which was still in the daylight hours. People were screaming and running around. He stopped seeing the Black Knight walking toward him with its sword raised.
"Oh boy."
The knight kept coming at him twirling his sword back and forth before stopping and holding it up in a fight stance.
"Everybody down!"
He let bullets fly for a few moments only to see that they went through the knight. He lowered the gun quickly as the knight started walking again.
"No, didn't think so."
He tossed his gun aside and rushed up sliding in the mud and just barely tilted back in time as the sword came at him. A few more dodges and he ran past jumping over a cart of logs.
Everyone was watching to see what would happen, at least those still left hanging around. Valencia came running into the courtyard through the front gate to see him fighting. The governor and the other high people that he worked with were also there watching.
Mitchell started to get up out of the mud only to fall back into it as the knight struck him across the back. He started crawling away when Daniel called through to ask how it was going.
"Ah, not so good." he grumbled and grunt back.
Grabbing a sword off a bench were other's were also sitting, he spun away from a swing as the bench fell over. The knight took another swing and he ducked and swung at the legs, but there was no effect. He managed to duck a swing but not the backhand that sent him into the mud.
"We have to do something! Help him!" Valencia cried out as she went to the governors side.
"He brought this on himself." the man said with little remorse.
Mitchell crawled a few feet then got up looking around. He turned to just barely dodge a swing but got hit in the back with next one. He rolled and dodged a few more swings as Valencia turned and ran over to the sword in the stone. People watched as she climbed up and started pulling.
"What do you think you are doing?" the governor asked.
A few quick yanks and it actually came out. Her surprise was only for a few moments while everyone else was still trying to process it. She ran past the governor and yelled at him while throwing the sword.
He dodged another swing and caught the sword quickly, then spun around and blocked the blow. He was starting to do better, blocking blows and almost getting one in when he managed to block a swing, but not the backhand.
Daniel meanwhile was pushing down more tiles and then there was a golden glow as lots of treasure was beamed into the room around him, just like back in Avalon. He glanced around and then turned to look across the table to see a old man, the same man back in Avalon.
"Greetings friend. I am Merlin." the hologram said with arms raised.
"Yes you are." he muttered.
"The prize you seek, like the pendulums swing, marks the passage of all that is before you."
"Mitchell I did it. Is the Black Knight gone?"
Merlin started over with the same lines again.
"Not exactly!" he yelled then ducked again before parrying several blows.
"I don't understand. I got the treasure, activated the hologram…."
Mitchell landed on the ground and then got up quickly moving away from the knight.
"Try a different code!"
"I've already tried all the different combinations I came up with!"
Mitchell fell down into the mud again as he took another hit.
"Mitchell? Mitchell!"
Merlin started over again for the umpteenth time as Daniel looked over the table.
Mitchell was trying his best, but fatigue and the fact he had already taken several blows were taking their toll. He spun around blocking another swing.
"If only the General was here." he muttered blocking a swing only to realize the mistake of it as he was too close to the knight and got backhanded.
The knight struck him across the back and he dropped to his knees.
Merlin was still talking as Daniel dropped down and opened one of the panels to the console near the floor. The square slid out showing several glass like disc that glowed blue. Seeing as he had no technical expertise in this area.
"Oh screw it." he said pulling his nine and shooting the disc. The light died seconds later.
Mitchell was face down in the mud and the knight was about to stick him through the back when he just vanished. It didn't take but a moment and everyone was cheering. He slowly looked up and around only to notice that he wasn't the one being praised. It was her. He tried to say something, but being ignored and passed by, he just waved a hand and dropped onto his back in the mud.
The Odyssey dropped out of hyperspace and slowly came to a stop near several Jaffa ships that were parked in a battle formation. The Supergate was in front of them, but far enough away so if the gate opened, they would not be hit.
"Sir, we are receiving a transmission from one of the Jaffa ships."
Ford walked over to the screen with the Colonel as the Colonel had whoever it was brought up.
"I am Cha'ra of the Free Jaffa. It was my ship that discovered the gate." a white man with a mustache and goatee said.
"I understand that there has been no other signs of activity?" the Colonel asked.
"None. You should be aware that we have already attempted to destroy the gate. Our combine forces had no effect."
"That's not surprising. I didn't think it would to begin with." Ford said shaking his head.
"Well, when you take into consideration that it has to withstand the powerful gravitational effects of a quantum singularity for…." she began.
"A few seconds at most before using that power to make it possible to allow a wormhole of this size to be generated. It would probably take a super nova or something of that size to break it apart." Ford said.
"Yeah, probably." she said.
Mitchell was looking at the smoking remains of the panel that Daniel had accessed and shot. Daniel was on the other side looking through another book.
"So, all you had to do was shoot the control crystals?"
"Pretty much." he said looking up from the book.
"Sounds like one of my plans." he muttered standing back up slowly, with some obvious pain etched into his face. "Why didn't you do that in the first place?"
"Well, because I had to find the access code first. If I hadn't, none of this would have beamed in and I wouldn't have been able to listen to Merlin's message." he said sweeping a hand as Mitchell walked around the table toward him slowly, only to stop at the end.
"Right. What did he say?" he asked leaning with both arms on the table and his head down.
"Well, I think it was a riddle, and I believe I figured it out." he said walking up and setting the open book on the table. He pointed at a black and white drawn picture of Merlin, one hand holding a book the other away from his body. Around the pictures neck was a large pendant.
"You see this pendant? Now, in every depiction of Merlin in his library, I've seen it. In fact, even his hologram was wearing it. But I've never seen it before, not in any reference material back on Earth."
"Okay." Mitchell said slowly while still trying to stand steady. "You think that's the device we are looking for?"
"The riddle mentions a pendulum, now at first I thought that was a reference to a passage of time like a clock, but then I realized he meant it literal, something that hangs. It also said it was right before my eyes."
Mitchell pinched his fingers on the pendant in the picture.
"I don't know. Doesn't that seem a little small?"
"Just remember, we're talking about things that transcend ordinary space time. Relative size has no meaning."
He moved his fingers to his chest to guess at what the size might be while shaking his head.
"Fine, let's start looking."
"Sir, two ships just dropped out of hyperspace."
The Colonel walked back over and sat in his command chair. Carter was still at the console on his left with Ford watching next to her.
"Open a channel. This is Commander Emerson of the Earth ship Odyssey…."
A bright light appeared in front of them all and a Asguard was standing just in front of the large window.
"Yes. I know who you are."
"Hello Kvasir." Carter said with a tired and slightly annoyed tone.
"Colonel Carter. General. There is much work to be done. Where is the rest of your team?"
"Daniel and Mitchell are still looking for the Ancient device that I told you about in our communiqué, as for Teal'c…." she said looking at Ford.
"He asked to go find help and said he might be able to convince the Lucian Alliance to come aid us. I was a little reluctant to let him go, but he had a compelling argument."
"I see. General Carter, Thor sends his apologies for not being able to deliver his gift personally."
"Gift?" several people asked.
"We have successfully reengineered the Stargazer for human use. Thor thought it best to have it brought here, in case it was needed."
"She's finished? Yes!" Ford shouted. "Thank you Kvasir. You've made my day!"
"Can you tell us what's going on and what the Stargazer is?" Carter asked.
"The Asguard are giving one of their ships, with a few things removed, to us. Thor said he had one being made for us, with more human type interfaces. I plan on presenting it to Jack when we get back."
"The ship will be yours to take when we finish here. Currently, the ship is being run by other Asguard. I believe it would be prudent if you sent some of your people over in order to allow them to acquaint themselves."
"Send whoever you feel necessary Colonel. Me and Sam are going to work with Kvasir."
The Colonel nodded as the three left the bridge.
At an area far off in space from where the Supergate was, the Lucian Alliance had a few of their ships parked in space, not doing anything at the moment, other than capturing a cargo ship that strayed into their claimed space. Teal'c was taken off the ship, his hands chained together, and brought to the bridge were the head man of the Lucian Alliance was standing and looking out the window. He turned around as Teal'c was brought before him. The other man next to him stayed at the controls.
"Flying into our territory, in an unmarked cargo ship." he said mulling over what to really make of it. "I didn't think you were that stupid."
"I allowed myself to be captured knowing I would be brought before you." Teal'c stated as he was still being held by the men on either side.
"Really?" he asked with little care.
"I have come to seek the assistance of the Lucian Alliance."
"I take it back. You're not stupid, you're insane. Kill him."
Teal'c quickly and effectively took out the two men quickly and pointed the small hand gun at the leader's head before he could do anything. The man didn't flinch despite the barrel being less than an inch from him. Men came running up from another room, behind Teal'c as he spoke.
"I should kill you where you stand. But as I have said…" he said lowering the gun. "I have come seeking your assistance. The fate of the galaxy is at stake."
Down in one of the science labs on the Odyssey, the three were working on some way to stop the gate from activating. From the possibility of destroying it, somehow maybe moving it and making it fall onto a planet, crashing a ship into it to hopefully cause enough damage to destroy it or cause damage in a way that the other's could destroy it or the current idea that seemed to have the best possible outcome seeing as they had some rather detailed scans of the gate's inner workings. Kvasir was working on computer system from his ship that had those pearl like objects. It was interfaced with their ship systems allowing him and the other two to see information on a monitor that showed the gate.
"We have been analyzing the information that Daniel Jackson and Ford Carter were able to retrieve from Merlin's phase shifting device."
"Unfortunately, they didn't get very far before the power ran out." she said.
"There was enough data for us to surmise what this so called anti-Ori weapon might be."
"Really? We couldn't make heads or tails out of it." she said.
"Really?" he said in a tone that the two didn't like. He was pretty much mocking them.
"Nothing hand held like a gun or something close is it?" Ford asked before she said something derogatory.
"No."
"Then what is it?" she asked after Kvasir said nothing further.
"It is a energy transfer device, similar to a zero point module. Except the energy is not channeled from subspace to ordinary space, but rather into the dimension occupied by ascended beings."
"And this energy is harmful to them in some way?" she asked.
"Wait, basically, it's a energy cancellation bomb, in a sense. Or another way of saying it is it could be called a E.M.P. bomb for ascending beings." Ford said.
"There is no bomb, but the analogy is correct. If the weapon works as the information indicates, we would only need to activate it and send it to the Ori galaxy. From there, it would effectively wipe them out." Kvasir said.
"How could we even send this…bomb to the Ori galaxy? We don't even know where their galaxy is much less have the ability to send anything there."
"That is were you are mistaken." Kvasir said moving the pearl object.
Both of their eyes narrowed and they looked at each other, silently communicating that they needed to talk to Thor about this guy. Though it instantly hit them at almost the same time what he meant.
"The Supergate." they said together.
"We dial out….." she said.
"Before they dial here." Ford said.
"Precisely. Of course we will need Merlin's weapon. If Daniel Jackson and Colonel Mitchell do not…."
"Don't worry they'll find it." she said.
"They won't give up." Ford said crossing his arms.
"What do you mean it's not here?" Mitchell exclaimed as he got up from a pile of treasure that was near the broken panel on the computer.
"Well, we've been through this stuff twice. It's not here." Daniel said standing near the other end of the room holding a few gold objects.
"It's got to be here!" Mitchell exclaimed as set aside a golden pot of some sort and headed over to Daniel. "Look, I once lost my apartment keys for three days…."
"Colonel Mitchell."
They both turned to see the governor and several other people with behind him standing in the doorway. Valencia was also among the group that came in and she wasn't all that surprised from the looks of it.
"Hi, um, come on in. Don't be afraid. The Black Knight isn't returning."
"It's incredible." the governor said as he looked around the room.
"Yeah. And it is all yours." Mitchell said waving his arms around the room once.
"You do not wish to claim a prize for defeating Merlin's champion?" the man asked confused.
"Well, there was one thing we were looking for but we can't find it." Mitchell said glancing at Daniel. Daniel got the idea.
"Maybe you can help us." Daniel said turning back to the table and retrieving the book to show the picture to the governor. "Do you recognize this?"
The man slowly tapped the picture and Daniel could see awe in the man's eyes.
"It is the Sangraal."
"This is the Sangraal?" Daniel asked.
"It is also known as the Bloodstone."
"Yes, blood, red, for the color of the jewel." Daniel said turning the book around to look at it closer.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait a minute." Mitchell said. "We can't be talking about the Holy Grail. The General and you said that it was a cup, every movie I have seen it was a cup. Some Doctor Jones found it and said it was a cup."
"The cup or chalice that Christ used at the last supper was thought to be a myth, but apparently there must have been something special about this jewel that made it revered…..in a way that it was thought to be the Holy Grail. I don't know. Maybe the jewel was part of the cup or something." Daniel said muttering off. "The stone itself has a history that goes back farther than the Grail itself, so the two can't be the same."
"So, we are looking for some blood red stone, that is called the Sangraal?" Mitchell asked. "Not the Holy Grail, which the General assures us is gone forever somewhere in the depths of the Earth."
"Yes." Daniel said.
"If this is what you seek, you will not find it amongst these trinkets." the governor said waving a hand around. "Arthur and his knights left long ago in search for the Sangraal."
"Do you know where they went?" Mitchell asked.
"Of course. It is said they journeyed to three distant lands mentioned in Merlin's prophecy, Castiana, Sahal, Vagonbrei."
"Any of those spots ring any bells?" Mitchell asked.
"No, but if they were part of any of Merlin's prophecies, then any one of those books could hold the key to what we are looking for."
"The books upstairs?" he exclaimed. Daniel nodded. "Jackson, that's days, weeks, to find the proper references, and then there is no guarantee that we're going to be able to track them down."
"Searching for Arthur's whereabouts in this library is not going to be necessary." the governor said waving a gently with a smile at them. He took the same hand and turned patting Valencia on the shoulder. "Now, thanks to Valencia, we have been given a sign that Arthur will return to us soon. You are welcome to stay with us and wait, as the men who conquered Merlin's curse, and a place of honor….."
Daniel closed the book as Mitchell rolled his eyes.
"Okay, look, first of all there was no curse." he wais then waved a hand at the broken computer. "This….device, it's like a flower mill or a catapult. Just more complicated. There is no magic….."
The group backed up in fear and wonder as light enveloped the two and they were beamed away. They both looked forward to see outer space in front of them through a familiar window.
"Boy, my timing is off today." Daniel stated forcefully.
"Colonel Mitchell, Doctor Jackson, welcome aboard the Korolev."
They turned to see Colonel Chekov in the command chair with other Russian officers at other stations.
The three were looking at a large computer screen that zoomed in on one part of the large ring, to bring up a small area where they had been scanning for.
"There it is." she stated as Kvasir was pushing buttons on the Asguard version of a laptop.
"Yep." Ford said. "So big an object, yet so small a part."
They turned to look at the door as it opened and Colonel Emerson walked in.
"Any progress?"
"Sir, we've managed to locate the dialing control crystals on one part of the gate." she said.
"We managed to create a new control crystal to allow us to dial out before they dial in." Ford said pointing at the crystal object in her hand.
"It just has to be inserted into the slot on the gate, but it will have to be done manually." she said waving the crystal.
"I assume you are going to do it General?" Emerson asked.
"Actually…." she began.
"We both are."
"Why…."
"I'd do it, she really wants to and I ain't letting her go alone. If something goes wrong, better someone who knows the scientific aspects of this all to finish the job."
"All right. I'll have two suits made ready."
"I would go, but you do not have a space suit that would fit me." Kvasir said.
"We have a problem. If it wasn't for the idea that you mentioned earlier General about dialing out so they don't dial in, you won't be going at all."
"What's wrong Colonel?" Ford asked.
"Doctor Jackson and Colonel Mitchell failed to find the weapon."
"Damn. I hope they found something then. Once they get here, have them beam over right away."
He nodded and left.
"You don't really…."
"I'm going Sam, if I have to use my rank."
"Is there something you're not telling me?"
"Other than the fact that even if we stop this gate, I think the Ori have a contingency plan already in the works, like maybe another gate ready to go in case something happened to this one, no, not really."
"You're leaving something out. I can tell."
"It's not important right now. Let's go get this over with while we can."
They were both in the suits, waiting for the helmets to be put on. Ford had his sword, wrapped at the hilt and handle in thick rubber. It was attached to the side of his arm within easy access. His watch was tapped to the outside of his arm, which she didn't understand and hadn't asked about yet. She had the control crystal on her. Their helmets were slowly put on and the outer and inner lights came on as Kvasir was standing by his Asguard control panel, ready to beam them over.
"The coordinates are set. Are you ready General and Colonel Carter?"
"Ready as I'll ever be."
"These things are really too confining, but oh well."
"You could stay….."
"Beam us over." Ford said before she could say anything else.
"Initiating transport."
The light engulfed them and there were suddenly now looking at a large dark grey wall before them.
"Whoa! This thing is huge!"
"We already knew that." she said reaching for her controls on her arm. "Engaging magnetic lock. Might want to do the same before you go floating off."
He did so while still looking around.
"Seeing it on a screen is one thing, but being next to something this big. Kinda cool actually. This panel right?"
"Yes." she said as she pulled the control crystal out.
He removed it and let it float away and signaled he removed it to the ship.
"Part of me was tempted to toss it at the Odyssey. Just to see how long it would take to make impact."
"Funny." she said removing the crystal. "I'm now putting ours in."
Colonel Emerson couldn't see them, though he was looking out the front window. But he was hearing everything that they said as did the rest of the bridge crew. She placed it in and touched a button on her control pad on her arm.
"It will just take a few minutes to initialize."
"Maybe a couple of those Mark 9 naquada enhanced nukes would do….." Ford began.
"Sir, we are picking up increased energy output from the gate." the man on the Colonel's right, at the console said.
The Colonel turned around quickly.
"Sam, you see that coming at us?"
"Yeah." she said glancing at it as he stepped closer and hooked a line from his side to hers.
"Just in c…." he began saying as the strange electrical effect they saw going across the entire structure came across them. They started drifting away from the gate as their magnetic boots failed. "Colonel, we've lost footing here. Beam us back please."
"We have an incoming wormhole." the airman said.
"Beam them back, now."
"It's not working, there is to much interference." he said after touching a few buttons.
"Sam, General, report."
All the bridge heard was static.
As they floated back and away from the gate, slowly, they both noticed the gate light up. Sam had to close her eyes and tried to look away from the light only to look as Ford lightly hit her chest. She watched it come back in on itself and settle just like all the other Stargate's they'd been through and seen.
"Oh my god."
"As bad as this just became. I have to admit, that was incredible, and really pretty."
"Yeah, what I saw of it." she mumbled.
"Can you require the Carter's signals?" the Colonel asked.
"Negative. They are to close to the event horizon."
The Colonel got up rubbing his mouth as he looked out the window.
"Sir, the Korolev just dropped out of hyperspace."
"This is Colonel Chekov, what is the situation?"
Daniel and Mitchell walked up to the front window to look out.
"We've got an incoming wormhole. I'd suggest you prepare for battle." Colonel Emerson's voice said on their speakers.
Chekov got up and issued those orders in Russian.
"Here they come." Mitchell muttered.
"Kinda looks like a large lake…." Ford began saying when the event horizon rippled and they watched a large and rather ugly looking ship, that Ford mentioned later looked a lot like flying men's underwear, in some ways. Three more of the same ships came out and parked in a line next to the first one, in front of the gate.
"This isn't good." she said as they flew by them. "Those ships are huge."
"No, this is….I can't think of how bad this is. But, we do have them outnumbered.…." he said hitting a couple button on his watch with a finger that had a modified tip to it. Last minute fix he did before getting into the suit.
"What are you….."
"I only count four ships." Mitchell said.
"It could be only their first wave." Daniel said.
"Let's see what we can do about discouraging a second one." Mitchell said.
Colonel Chekov turned from them and went to his command chair spouting orders in Russian. Alarms were heard all over the ship instantly. On the Odyssey, the airmen reported that they were getting a hail from the other ships.
"It's text only."
"And what does it say?" Emerson asked.
"And those who are prideful and refuse to bow down, shall be laid low and made unto dust." the airman read.
"Is that all it says?" Chekov asked from his ship.
"Yeah, that's it." the man on Colonel Chekov's left said.
"Open a channel?" Daniel asked going to the other console. The man there nodded to say it was open. "Then did Tyles say to the people of the low plains, seek not wickedness amongst your neighbors, lest you find purchase in your own house."
He nodded to the man and the message was sent.
"What was that?" Mitchell asked from behind Chekov's chair.
"Book of Origin."
"Think it will help?"
Daniel shrugged.
"They're powering up their weapons." the airman next to Colonel Emerson stated as the Colonel took his seat again.
"Here we go then." he said hitting a button on his chair. "All batteries, open fire."
He shut the channel off as he saw missiles and the rail gun ammo come into view through the window.
"And god help us that we don't hit our people out there."
"Sir, the hanger reports that the bay doors opened for ten seconds and then closed, but they never saw anything leave."
"We'll check it out later."
Ford and Carter watched, holding each other close as possible, as weapon fire erupted from Hal'tak's, the two Asguard ships and the two Earth vessels. The Ori vessels shields visible showed up as they were impacted. Though they couldn't see the large disc like area on the front of the Ori ships, that kinda looked like the deflector dish on the Enterprise B in Star Trek, they did see a large yellow beam of energy come from the front of those ships. Even with full shields, the Hal'tak's were taken down in one hit. The ships started taking evasive maneuvers and doing a sort of strafing run at the Ori ships. The Odyssey and Korolev took direct hits on their shields from the powerful blast, but they didn't get penetrated. Though there was no penetration on those ships, there was a lot of internal damage.
"We're in trouble aren't we?" she asked.
"Yeah. Lot's of it. They might as well be trying to use pea shooters on a battleship. The Ori have us outgunned….." he said then stopped.
Neither of them could calculate it.
"Shields down to fifty percent!" the airman reported as explosions happened behind him. "Sir, we just lost sublight engines."
"Damn." Emerson muttered. "Redirect main power to the engines! Begin evasive maneuvers!"
They watched as the Ori ships moved little if at all as they fired smaller blast while still firing the main power beam that was decimating their forces.
"What are we going to do?" she muttered quietly.
"We've lost power!" a man reported to Chekov as Mitchell ran up to his chair.
"We have to scramble the 302's!"
"No, they'll have no effect against that!" Chekov yelled pointing out the window.
"We are getting our asses kicked! It's time to go all in! We'll draw their fire while you get the ship back online!"
"Go, go, go!" Chekov yelled waving him away.
Mitchell quickly ran off the bridge.
"It's no good sir! We're dead in the water!" the airman reported to Emerson. "Sir, picking up approaching ships."
Just behind the gate and above it, three Hal'tak vessels came out of hyperspace and began firing down onto the Ori ships.
"That would have to be Teal'c. Wish we could tell him to just forget it and run away to warn others." Ford said looking up.
"Hey Ford, I'm scared we're not going to make it out of this."
"So am I. But try not to worry. Remember, we're still here in the future. I'm just waiting for them to hopefully fly off, soon. And then, we can get out of here."
"And how are we going to do that? Dial the SGC after this gate shuts down?" she asked sarcastically.
"No. There's a…..ah damn. There went the Stargazer. Jack is not going to like that."
"Apologies for my late arrival." Teal'c said as he came onto the screen on the left wall of the bridge of the Odyssey.
"Better late than never." Emerson stated as his ship shook around him.
"Indeed." Teal'c said then signed off.
"Forget the engines! Give them everything we've got!"
They continued watching, still slowly drifting from the still open Supergate as the Ori continued to waste the fleet. One after another, the Hal'tak's were destroyed. Kvasir's ship was fighting on, but was loosing the battle.
Consoles and other parts of the remaining ships that were fighting were exploding. People, Jaffa and whatever races made up the Lucian Alliance were being thrown around as the ships took severe damage. Emerson's ship was getting heavily damaged, seeing as her engines were gone. The 302's still hadn't left on either ship. Mitchell was still trying to get to the hanger, as he kept getting knocked to the floor. Chekov took over the console next to him as the man that was formerly there was blown out of it. Daniel was just trying to hold onto the command chair to keep standing. Teal'c was firing the weapons on the main Lucian ship, though he could see that it wasn't doing much good.
Two of the Ori ships fired their main weapon and both impacted on the Kosolev. The shields instantly failed and there was a large explosion as the ship was completely destroyed. Ford and Carter couldn't tell if any of the ship survived, other than because one of the Ori ships had moved slightly over, but also because they were too far away.
Within minutes of the battle starting, barely any of the ships were left floating intact. They couldn't even tell if the Asguard ship had survived.
On one of the Ori ships, Vala looked out at the destruction, worry and sadness all over her face as she felt her abdomen. She gasped softly as she felt the baby move or kick.
They watched the ships power up their engines and start heading away from the gate and them.
"We lost."
"Everything. Doesn't even look like we caused their power to flicker. Let's go Sam." he said activating one of the thrusters.
"Go where?" she asked not stopping him. "There's nothing behind the gate and it looks like they are flying off somewhere else, ignoring us. Thankfully."
"Let's hope they leave us alone." he said as they passed by the gate going behind it. It had since closed down and nothing else came through.
"There's nothing…." she began saying when suddenly, just under their feet, there was a open door.
She recognized the inside to be an Ancient shuttle, or more to the point, the Time shuttle, but the time machine part missing. Once they were both inside, he closed the back and spoke a word she could swear was Ancient. He managed to remove his helmet and she followed suit shortly after.
"Let's get out of these things." he said setting his sword off to the side. "I should have just stuck this in the panel as soon as I saw that strange field coming at us. Anyway, once we are out of these, we can monitor them long enough to see if they leave and then look for survivors."
