AUTHOR'S NOTE: Rated M for some language and mature themes and some off-screen violence. My apologies to any German speakers if I got the language bits a teensy bit wrong. Google Translate is not always the best. On that note, some of the things expressed here are NOT my opinions, feelings or anything of the sort. My apologies if anyone is offended, but sometimes one needs to tell the rough stories, no?
DISCLAIMER: Stargate, Stargate SG-1, and its related characters and setting are not my property and I'm only borrowing them for a little while for some free entertainment. No infringement is intended.
Chapter Two
Each intrepid step drove the team deeper and deeper into the hulking mass of a dead city. Here and there, languishing and long forgotten, there sat the wreckage of what could only be described as a ground car. Closer investigation of the vehicle revealed very little beyond the fact that there was no pilot. A tiny mechanical clicking echoed loudly as Monroe snapped pictures of the wreckage for later study. "I hope the library is still intact, Major." Monroe excitedly sang. "So far we still have no idea what these people even looked like."
Godfrey sighed, having to admit that the lady was right. "Well, for the moment, let's just worry about not finding a subway by accident." Tenbaum chuckled to himself.
Turning sharply on the Major, Monroe scowled. "We have yet to even see any indication that these people possessed any form of an Underground. Nor do I care for the implication that any of us would be so clumsy."
"Lighten up, Doc." Godfrey relented. "You're right, but we don't have a sign that they didn't either. It's hard to say how sturdy these roads are after all this time." Godfrey looked around in a full circle and frowned. "We don't even really know how old this place is."
Two hours and a lot of fruitless searching later, the team found themselves standing before a tall, columned building of near regal grandeur. Taking up nearly half of a city block the building stood, seeming to dare nature to encroach upon its unyielding walls. Nature had not been so intimidated as evidenced by the vines that crept and wound their way over the walls, a million probing fingers hoping to find even the slightest breach. Flanking the grandiose marble steps, now withered and cracked with age, there stood a pair of statues.
Unthinking, Monroe approached the statue to her right, the nearest to her, and reached out to lay one trembling hand upon its cool stone surface. The creature depicted by the statue seemed to evoke the sense of a wolf by its shape and demeanor, though none of the humans could quite account for a wolf ever rearing back as these creatures were cursed to do until they finally fell to dust. The lady was nearly climbing the walls in her excitement. "Major, I think we've found it!" she cried.
Godfrey frowned, unconvinced. "What makes you so sure, Doc?"
The rest of the team stood in a loose semicircle staring at the enormous columns and grandiose architecture of the place. Lynn made only a light-hearted frown to her superior and began to reply as she mounted each gleaming marble step. "I'm not entirely certain, Major. However, do you not agree that this structure would seem to fit the idea of a library?"
Godfrey shrugged and gave the doctor no answer as he had none to give. Even in the brief time that the team had been in the city, Alan was getting the creeps. "Hold it, Doctor. Let's see if you're right. Kel, Wally, check the door please." The pair moved immediately as they were told to do, slinking smoothly over the deteriorating steps of the massive building. Weapons tracked from right to left even as their eyes did the same, seeking out the slightest chance of danger.
Finding none, Tenbaum waved back to his CO, "All clear, Major!"
Nodding slowly, Godfrey gestured to Monroe, "After you, Doc." At this bidding Monroe bounded up the steps with the eagerness of a girl on Christmas morning. Smiling in spite of himself the Major turned to Finn, jerking his head in a friendly fashion indicating it was time to follow.
"What is that!?" inquired a harsh voice behind Klaus Werner. Werner could only shrug in answer. None of his team had ever seen anything like this odd wheeled machine that seemed to stand guard between themselves and Heaven's Gate.
The machine was squat, perched securely upon its six tires, unmoving. However Oberstleutnant Marx had no intention of discovering this strange device to be some form of Devil's juggernaut. However, this ridiculous impasse could not be allowed to continue indefinitely. They had achieved their prize; the Reich would not wait.
To Marx's right a soft voice spoke, smooth contralto belying the truth of the woman's heart. "Mein Oberstleutnant, it does not look like any sort of machine we have seen the Devils employ. I don't believe it is theirs."
Marx was far from convinced. Turning steel blue eyes into his subordinate's harsh green eyes, Marx scowled. "Who then, do you think possesses such a device, Hauptmann Geller?"
Unable to hold her superior's gaze Belinda Geller lowered her eyes as her cheeks flushed with shame. "I do not know, sir. None of the cultures which we have encountered utilize a device such as this. I suggest that we disable it and bring it back with us." Returning her eyes to his, now filled with cold light, Geller spoke up before Marx could say anything, "I will volunteer."
Without waiting for permission, the formidable young woman crept out from the bushes that hid her team from the device's possible view. Taking two cautious steps forward, she stopped in a half-crouch, waiting for it to spring to life and cut her down where she stood. Marx found himself impressed with Geller's vigor, but also a heightened sense of caution regarding her reputation for ambition.
The rest of her team left behind with barely held breath, Geller continued forward. Step by painstaking step, her weapon pointed at the infernal thing crouched stoutly before her. Still it had not moved or made the slightest indication that it acknowledged her existence. There were no obvious markings upon it that she could tell, but that was of no real account. If the thing was of alien origin, was it reasonable for her to assume that she recognize any markings?
Still, the thing sat as inert and unfeeling as ever, one gangly appendage coiled above the body like a snake poised to strike. Geller circled the thing slowly, neither her eyes nor weapon leaving it for a moment. After making a full circuit around the device, she slid her rifle over her shoulder and knelt beside the thing. Who would make such a monstrosity and then just leave it sitting here for anyone to find, wondered the young woman. That was truly of no concern to Geller. Whatever it was, it belonged to the Reich now. Withdrawing several small tools from her web-belt, Geller began to dismantle a small section of the thing's housing...
"Will this take much longer, Doctor?" inquired a very grumpy second in command.
Without looking up from the disorderly spread of books around her, Monroe answered softly, "That's hard to say, Captain." Pausing in her reading to take a quick sip from her canteen, Lynn leaned back in a chair that was obviously not designed for the human form. "Some of these symbols are familiar, but I can't quite seem to make heads nor tails of them."
"Familiar how?" a very inquisitive Ashley wanted to know. "I mean, I know linguistics isn't really an exact science, but surely some concepts are similar no matter where you go, right?"
Lynn smiled at the eager young woman and answered, "That would perhaps be so, on Earth. Unfortunately that may not always be the case on another world. Still," Monroe rubbed at her sweating forehead with the back of one hand, "that really is the best place to start, nearly always. To answer your question, I can't quite say how they seem familiar; only that I feel like I've seen them before."
Her curiosity left unsatisfied Ashley returned to her own book and tried desperately to help. To Ashley Finn it seemed a logical thing to get in a little cross-training if she could. Finn knew that she'd never be anywhere near Monroe's ability, but anything that she could learn would increase her usefulness to her teammates.
Meanwhile, Godfrey and Keltit were busied with searching for alternate exit points from the building and other bits of low-grade reconnaissance. "You know Major," the Tok'ra's husky voice proclaimed softly as they left behind yet another useless room, "I would like to apologize to you for any discomfort my offer may have caused. It was not my intention to immediately begin sowing discord within the group."
Stopping short, Godfrey hung his head a bit and scuffed at the loose plaster on the floor with his boot. Keltit's lack of intent was certainly obvious to him. "I know, Kel. It just surprised me, just as I imagine it surprised the others. It's not really something that's come up in discussion before."
"Naturally."
Godfrey looked up to see Keltit, through her male host, smiling quite sweetly at him. Frankly, Godfrey found that a little more unnerving than the offer from last night. "Look, I'm not about to say that I'd be the first in line to say you could just hop on in, but I figure that's really a decision to be taken up with each in their own way. I'm not saying that I wouldn't do it either."
Her smile brightened. "That is kind of you to say Major, even though I know that you don't really mean it. Besides, it would not be another male of the species that I would be seeking anyway. You know why."
"I do, but that doesn't mean I'd sit back and let you die with Durann if I could help it." The Major stood a little straighter, looking into Keltit's eyes, hoping that he looked as sincere as he really was.
Keltit continued walking, poking her head around an open door frame as she spoke, "Captain Tenbaum seemed particularly distressed when I brought it up last night. He wouldn't admit it I'm sure, but the tension was there none the less."
Allen took the next door in the hallway as he thought of an answer. "Yeah, I would say Wally wouldn't do it even if his life depended on it. Pity, really." Godfrey flashed Keltit a charming smile of his own as she approached. "You're a pretty nice gal and I'd hate to lose you like that."
Color rose on her cheeks, male though they were, as Keltit blushed. "You are sweet, Major."
"I bet you say that to all the guys, Kel." Godfrey chuckled.
Belinda Geller finished replacing the plate she had removed, after tinkering around with the unfamiliar guts of the thing. Now its small motor was rumbling gently as it sat. Her teammates stood around, keeping a very cautious distance from it lest it explode. "It will be fine now, Herr Oberstleutnant. Whatever it is, it belongs to us now. We have what we came for and now more besides. I suggest we return home at once."
"Nein, Fraulein Captain." replied Marx. "Whoever belonged to this thing before may come looking for it and they have obviously used the Gate to come here. Before we leave, they should be stranded so that they cannot follow us." Turning sharply to the other woman on his team, Marx barked sharply, "Sonntag! Can we disable Heaven's Key sufficiently to keep these interlopers from leaving the planet?"
The girl, freshly recruited from the Bund Deutcher Madel and easily the youngest of the hard-bitten team, immediately snapped to attention and replied smartly, "No, Herr Oberstleutnant. In my estimation, any species advanced enough to create such a monstrosity as that," she indicated the rumbling machine in their midst, "would be advanced enough to repair any damage that we could cause to the Key." Choosing her next words very carefully, Leutnant Uta Sonntag continued, "I would recommend completely destroying this site as a means of egress, sir."
Oberstleutnant Karl Marx smiled cruelly. Yes, he liked the way these young girls thought. They were a pride to their race, indeed.
"Major!" Monroe called hastily, her anxious cry punctuated over the radio by the sound of shattering glass and rapid gunfire.
Godfrey and Keltit broke into a run, vaulting over several small obstacles to reach the main room. What greeted their eyes was chaos. To the left of the pair there crouched Monroe and Finn, pinned down behind an overturned desk. Off to the right Tenbaum continued to dart out from behind a large pillar, staccato bursts from his P-90 ripping into the center of the enormous room. However, this was not the most surprising thing.
In the center of the cavernous chamber, standing haughtily upon a fallen pillar, a creature howled in rage. Its snarling visage regarding the room almost casually, viscous saliva dripping from the beast's snarling maw. Vaguely wolf-like in appearance, its shaggy brown fur bristled as it crouched as though preparing to spring. Finn raised her head from behind the cover she shared with Monroe, fired off five rounds then ducked back. It seemed that Monroe, for her part was more content to use her .45-caliber, firing almost blindly towards the creature that threatened them.
Keltit wasted no time, rushing to the edge of the balcony and raising her heavy M-60 and letting loose a volley of suppressive fire. By the loud howl emitted by the beast Godfrey could tell that several rounds had struck home. Then the near unthinkable happened.
The room lit up as a portion of the pillar below the creature exploded into speeding shards of smoking shrapnel. The creature leapt for the nearest safety it could find, being the overturned desk that hid the women. But the creature's trajectory was cut short by a sharp report and flash of searing energy that left it striking the ground and sliding to a motionless lump before the desk.
That energy was not unknown to anyone on this team, though only one among them had actually seen it before. "Staff weapons!" Godfrey declared. "Get ready!" He raised his weapon in the general direction from whence the staff blast had come.
As the sound of the battle began to die, the air filled with slowly dissipating smoke and the faint hint of ozone, a new sound could be heard. At first Godfrey thought that there was another of those creatures nearby, given the ferocity of the growl. It sounded to him very much like the sound made by a mountain lion, but with infinitely more malice behind it. "Come on out whoever you are!" He called to the being or creature or whatever it was. His only answer was to see the balcony railing before him vaporize in a shower of sparks and detritus.
Without hesitation, Keltit determined the general direction from which the blast had come and answered with a frightful volley of her own. Though she despised using the tongue in this way Keltit summoned the most authoritative voice she could muster, thankful for the deep resonance granted it by her host, and shouted, "Jaffa, kree! Shak'ti'qua!?" Attention! What are you doing?
Slowly, very tentatively, a figure stepped out from behind a far pillar. Even Keltit could not contain her amazement at the stunning figure that revealed itself from the shadows. Easily six inches taller than any of them, it stood proudly. The butt of its now closed staff weapon thrust sharply into the floor as it gazed up at Keltit. It, rather SHE-for it was clearly a female of the species, stood upon two legs that seemed entirely ill designed for the purpose; the feet elongated so that all of her weight rested solely upon her toes. What little remained of once proud Jaffa armor, now shredded and worn to near uselessness, gathered around her waist in a sort of metallic loincloth.
From behind her erect form the team could see the serpentine swaying of a tail. Tawny fur barely covered what had, at one time, been a finely honed musculature now beginning to wither. Broad, bare shoulders thrust back hard as she stood at attention before this one she probably believed to be her new God. It was the head though, thought Godfrey, the head is just...kind of freaky.
Perched atop this proud specimen was a head that bore an elongated snout with sharply stunted whiskers. Darting between what could only be described as lips, though they really bore no resemblance to such, a slender pink tongue flashed. Whether licking at her nearly drooling chops or tasting the air, none could tell. Fleshy triangles that served as ears swiveled forward and back, eager for any further words from her God. Indeed, the Jaffa looked every inch a humanoid great cat.
Godfrey turned to look at Keltit, hoping for some explanation. Her shocked expression proved only that one was not forthcoming from her. "Jaffa?" the Tok'ra inquired forcefully, receiving an affirmative nod. No one on the team could see anything, no markings or tattoos, that might indicate which System Lord she might once have served. Continuing with the Goa'uld tongue, Keltit pressed the Jaffa warrior, "What is your name and whom do you serve?"
The sounds that peeled from the warrior's throat were a jumble of growling purrs and glottal chuffs. The group looked from Keltit to Monroe and back. "She does seem to understand me, Major." Keltit's voice held a slight tone of defeat. "But I'm afraid that I'm at a loss to know what she just said."
Calling up from the ground floor Monroe answered, "Her vocal apparatus likely can't be made to form the sounds of Goa'uld. Let me try, sir." Waiting for a nod from Godfrey, Lynn stepped out from behind the desk, followed closely by Finn whose weapon was lowered but tightly clenched. The slight Englishwoman spoke softly in Goa'uld, "Don't be afraid. We won't hurt you." Pointing to her own forehead and then to the Jaffa's, "Whom do you serve?"
Without hesitation the Jaffa pointed to Keltit's host. Monroe smiled, trying her best to keep fear from her voice. "No, I mean before her; whose army were you part?" Again the Jaffa made the same growling purrs. Seeing Lynn's crestfallen expression the Jaffa lifted her staff weapon and began to scribe a symbol on the ground. Each curving line was scribed with elegance in spite of the crude device used to make each mark. Two ovals formed upon the ground, resting casually on their sides as lines dipped from the inside curves; each line coming to rest upon a crude inverted triangle.
This ensign now formed, the Jaffa returned to her former imposingly statuesque posture. Each looked upon the symbol on the ground and Keltit uttered a sharp gasp. "Bastet," whispered she. Turning swiftly, Keltit strode down the stairs to the main hall.
Monroe was quietly probing the Jaffa for more information, hoping to gain some insight into her language. Pointing to the symbol she had made Monroe said, "Bastet?" The warrior nodded and repeated a portion of her earlier sounds. "Bastet was killed some time ago. You know this, yes?" Again, the Jaffa nodded. She pointed to herself then raised her hand to cover amber eyes then extended her arm to pantomime a scrabbling creature. She tried once more to speak as she made these motions, assuming that the beings before her would soon grasp what she was trying to say.
The Jaffa was, however, grossly disappointed. As Keltit and Godfrey approached the trio- Jaffa, Monroe and Finn-the Jaffa's ears lowered back in a sign of frustration. Monroe suddenly brightened as an idea struck her. "Major! I realized that I've seen this symbol in my research here." She indicated the dead System Lord's insignia. "I believe that Bastet attacked, and probably conquered this world long ago. Assuming that the Goa'uld Bastet held to the mores of the earthly religion that followed, her temple at Bubastis and the like, her affinity for cats would make such beings an utter delight to her."
"Sounds reasonable. What's that got to do with this place?" Tenbaum asked as he strode towards the group.
Monroe resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Instead she turned to Ashley. "Could you be a dear and fetch me that last book I was reading?" She then turned back to Godfrey. "Don't you see? This woman is a descendant of the people who lived here."