Disclaimer: The characters of Doctor Who belong to BBC Wales and those of Stargate to MGM but the words are mine.

AU/SG1/DW: The last address of the Stargate opened on a depressing, dim world full with nothing but graves and tombstones where four SG teams already disappeared without a trace. SG1 embarks to find them only to witness the opening of one tomb that holds the greatest of all secrets in the universe.

Chapter 8

"Jackson," Cameron said calmly. "Just focus on where you were before you came here and…"

"And what? I would magically reappear there?" Daniel exclaimed frustrated. He tried for so long to do what Cam told him but nothing happened. Still, what Cam explained to him made sense and it was logical to assume that when they went somewhere the others went to their place but Remiel did not go to his reality. He was still here and Daniel wondered why and mostly how.

"What?" Cam asked seeing Daniel's deep thinking process written all over his face.

"We assume the others go to our place when we come here…"

"Yes?"

"So why is Remiel or whatever still here?"

"I don't know but it is an interesting question, Jackson." Cam observed.

"What do you think happened to our bodies?"

Cam also wondered the same thing. They were inside a computer in a virtual world. It was logical to assume their bodies were somewhere else, where of course was a mystery. Actually the best assumption was their bodies were back in their reality and only their minds or spirit or whatever came here.

Of course it was not a cheerful thought either as they were familiar with a similar technology that of the Ancients. One mistake and they could be in here either for very long or very short time. The one good news was that Remiel did not make the trip to their side. This thing had a mean streak, very mean and he could a lot of damage in their reality or universe or whatever they were at.

Still they got in so there was logically a way out but Cam had tried for sometime with little success. He did everything as he did before but it did not work and he began getting worried. The resident AI that stood imprisoned here was no help at all as she soon disappeared. He figured it had to do with strong connection to a place but here he had none. Still it did not explain how he got there. With little thinking he figured he worried about Jackson and somehow succeeded in following him but returning stayed a problem.

"I was thinking..."

"Usually trouble follows that..." Daniel observed.

"I know. I tried to do it as it did before but it is not working." Cam said raising hands defensively after Daniel shot him a sharp look. He did bug him for some time before trying himself.

"Right," Daniel said. "So, we wait for the other to figure it out and come and get us."

"Yes, this would help." Cam said. "Still I think it has to do with connectivity."

"Oh, so bad signal then," Daniel noticed caustically.

"It is not funny. It is not my fault it ended this way."

"You know if our bodies are not there but here you and I are in you know what, up to you know were." Daniel said after some time of silence.

"On that we can agree." Cam observed.

Samantha woke up on the grilled metallic surface. She was alone. It seemed she passed out again. The last thing she remembered - she was with Teal'c and Vala exchanging looks beneath the column. They figured something happened to all of them and then everything went dark again. She wondered what happened to her and the others.

She sat up and then forced herself to listen. She had the distinct impression the central column hummed. A moment later, she was certain it did hum so she stood up and walked rather gingerly to it. Her feet felt as heavy as trunks. She wondered what she did before or after she blacked out.

The curious thing was the central column was almost the same but not the consoles and keyboards around. They were different from last time though they were still in the known chaos, made of different junk that made no sense whatsoever.

The humming was steady like heart's pulse that Sam found even weirder. She knew somehow it was to help her but sadly she did not understand the language this place used to communicate with her.

She stepped back. She wanted to think more clearly. Her mind was in a fog ever since coming to this planet. Everything she thought she knew this planet somehow shattered. This place was staggering, ridiculous and yet nothing in it made even a flick of sense. Had she lost something in here? O'Neill would say her mojo and she would probably agree.

She needed to find her teammates but in this labyrinth it seemed almost impossible. Still every place had its ways and if she could just find a blueprint of this one or at least understand it partially she would find it easier to reunite with her friends.

The central column hummed again. Sam faced it and uttered.

"What? What do you want from me?"

She knew it was pointless the machine could not answer back (at least she hoped not. Her experience with machines was slightly above disastrous).

And just when things seem truly impossible then they have the nasty habit of doing the very impossible thing. Some noise from one of the sinks that Sam interpreted as water fighting its way through rusty pipes produced a shaft of light that grew into something Sam was familiar with – a hologram...

"Hello Colonel Carter, it is agreeable to see you again..."

General O'Neill proceeded with caution down the corridor. He had just spotted some movement. Running in full military fashion, he directed SG8 and his team with hand signals. The movement down the corridor stopped and so they all stooped, and waited. O'Neill tried to make out the shapes but either the distance was greater than he thought or there was some fog blurring his sight.

The sudden growling sound startled them. The figures or shapes approached fast and it was clear they were not exactly human or anything else. They did seem humanoid but their flesh most certainly was not. Actually they were weird.

If General O'Neill did not know better he would have said the shapes or figures had just come out of the oven into the open. They were not completely baked and resembled much humanoid volcanic forms, still fuming. Of course the growling sound only helped to make them more gruesome.

He did not think though these things were friendly. The things approached and he noticed they stood joined, actually quite literally. They looked like twins but then again they were living volcanic creatures. Still General O'Neill thought it best to avoid these things and so he signalled his team and SG8 to avoid the odd and dangerous shapes approaching.

The creatures passed by them and headed in the opposite direction. Still a crazy notion compelled the general to see where they would go and so they followed using extreme caution. O'Neill got the impression touching these things would be a huge mistake. The creatures moved rather fast and so SG8 and O'Neill 1 (as Jonas dubbed it) had to keep up.

Right, left, left, left, right, right, up, left, right and O'Neill lost the direction but somehow felt going down. The uniformity of this place unnerved greatly and yet calmed the spirit. O'Neill found this contradiction intriguing.

"General," Jonas called and pointed at where the weird creatures finally halted.

It was a strong metallic door with a single window at human height. On the other side, they could perceive interchanging colours of black, blue and orange. It was an unusual combination. The strange ones took a peek then growled. Anyone listening would easily agree the sound speaks of longing.

Did they long to go in there wherever it was but more to the point why? And what was it behind this door? Was it their home? If so all they had to do is open the door. But this did not seem to be a problem for them. So what was this place?

The creatures made a final growl and then ventured left and disappeared around the corner. General O'Neill considered what to do. Does he follow the odd ones or find out what is behind door number one? So far his curiosity has paid out.

He signalled his teams to move out. He took the front, one hand at the trigger of the P90 and the other holding the muzzle. They advanced slowly until they reached the door. There was no sign of the odd ones in either direction.

Lt. Hailey took one peek through the small window then stepped back until her back hit the wall. The expression on her face said – that's impossible and at the same time – oh that's so cool! Intrigued O'Neill took a peek himself.

"What?" O'Neill stood almost speechless. The sight was breathtaking. He sought to open the door, found the handle and pressed it pushing the door wide open.

Vala's eyes flew wide open. She was not in the weird place with the humming central column. No, she was at the place of her visions. The sight was breathtaking nevertheless. She stood on a rooftop of a building with an excellent view towards some city whose lights were like little stars.

She stood alone. There was only a pod of the weird organic ship she was in the last few times she came here. She was again in black leather everything with a holster and a gun. The gun she picked up and examined. It had something close to bullets though they were more like batteries.

She pressed the trigger. The gun produced a bolt of magenta light. She aimed for the ground and squeezed again. A small hole appeared in the ground though from where she stood it only looked small. She stood impressed. She holstered the gun and continued her observation of the city below.

Sometime later, she pulled back and returned to the pod. She climbed the small stairs and took a peek. The pod had standard interior with seats, cargo space and control place, the pilot's den. The latter had two seats and controls. There were the motion controls and a screw (at least she hoped it is one).

She sat down and started poking around the controls. Soon she felt the craft lift off and then touch back down gently. A victorious smile appeared on her face and she continued in her efforts. The craft lift off and she stabilized it using the screw. She then punched the accelerator and off she went.

She quickly got in orbit and back to the organic ship. She landed in the belly of the beast. She used the pod's database to learn the names of her shipmates. There was Ka D'Argo, Rygel the Sixteenth, Chiana, someone they called Granny, Pilot, Pa'u Zotoh Zhaan, Stark, nah scratch the last two.

Vala pondered who wrote the database. With such comments she figured it was the man who looked like Cameron. It fitted the profile. She smiled – Earthers, same everywhere. She left the craft and headed to the bridge. She felt there was something important to do there.

Getting there she found the floating little menace – Rygel. He seemed eating something and did not pay her any attention. Vala focused on the main controls. There in the sensors logs she found something interesting – radiation surge. It was similar to the parallel universe jump.

She wished she was more knowledgeable in that area. She could use Sam's help here to figure its exact meaning. Perhaps she could get the current version of Cam to help out. She turned to the com system.

"Pilot, do you know where Crichton is?"

"He is in the lower level with Ka D'Argo."

"Doing what?"

"They did not tell me, Officer Sun."

"Would you be so kind to call him up here?"

"Of course,"

"Thank you,"

Daniel and Cam's efforts to break free of the virtual world bore to nothing. Desperate was a word they could use but neither would say aloud. There was always a way out of any situation. Still they succeeded breaking free of the virtual cage Remiel put around them. Now Cam and Daniel focused and used their time to poke around the virtual controls hoping for a miracle. Sadly neither of them was any good with computers or programming.

"You know we could make things worse." Daniel shared.

"Yes, we could but we have no choice."

"On that we can agree."

"Daniel Jackson,"

Both Cam and Daniel looked at each other. They knew that voice. It was unmistakable.

"Teal'c?" Daniel exclaimed.

"Indeed, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c replied.

"Where are you...?"

"That's not important, Jackson." Cam interrupted. "Teal'c, get us out of here."

"I'm working on it, Colonel Mitchell." Teal'c replied.

Daniel and Cam stood patiently waiting. Time seemed to go more slowly than ever.

"So our bodies are here." Daniel observed.

"Apparently," Cam shrugged.

"How did he get here?"

"I don't know." Cam said. "I was here with you the entire time. He will tell us once we get out of here."

"There is no need to get your knickers in a twist." Daniel remarked as Cam's answer was rather stern.

"I just point out the obvious, Jackson."

"Sure. It is like before."

"Alright, already, I admit I overestimated the situation. It is not my fault it did not work."

"I only meant..."

Daniel did not get to finish off his sentence as the walls of the virtual world became blurry lines and lights and in the next moment he stood on a metallic surface that he associated with a biobed and one that felt cold. Standing over him was Teal'c with his usual cool.

"Teal'c, I'm so glad to see you again." Daniel said slowing standing up.

"Me too," Cam said from his biobed. He had stood up already.

"It is agreeable to see you both alive and well." Teal'c said.

"How did you find us? Have we been missing too long?" Daniel asked.

"I did not find you, Daniel Jackson. I was sent here."

"Sent? By whom?" Daniel asked.

"I do not know." Teal'c replied.

"Whoever it is," Cam said. "He did well to send you here."

"Yes but how do we go back?" Daniel asked.

Samantha stood blinking hard at the hologram but exclaimed happily.

"Thor!"

"Colonel Carter,"

Samantha had the urge to go and hug him but remembered he was only a hologram.

"What...why...how are you here? You...died..."

"Death is just one path among many, Colonel."

'Great, he started too.' Samantha thought. 'Just like the Ancients,' But added... "So you are...um..."

Thor smiled. Samantha found that unusual and scary but then again she either hallucinated or dreamed or perhaps both or neither. It seemed everything was possible in this strange place.

"The universe is full of wonders, Colonel and scientific impossibilities until proven otherwise." Thor said.

"Everything is quantifiable?"

"Yes and no,"

"Thor, you sound like the Ancients."

"In some ways perhaps,"

Thor's hologram walked around the central column eyeing everything with innate curiosity. Samantha got the impression he too was here for the first time. Thor spent time around the column's controls. He seemed intrigued and even touched one or two. The sounds were different and he liked them. Samantha wondered how he were able to touch them as he was a hologram.

"Thor, not to sound offensive, but why are here?"

"I came to aid you. You seem lost and troubled."

"It is this place. We lost four...well more teams."

"I see."

"We figured they are in all eleven dimensions so naturally we sent enough teams. Sadly we lost contact with each other - well SG1 got split up."

"I see."

"And top it off this place is...well...weird and impossible..."

"But interesting?"

Samantha could not help but smile. Thor had a point. Yes, this place was weird, and yes, it was crazy, and yes, impossible but it tingled all her science-y senses and challenged all her views and understandings. Thor also meant something else. Everything in the universe happens more or less for a reason. Nothing is truly random. So her team and her were here for a reason and they will find it or understand it eventually.

"Thank you, Thor!"

"It is my pleasure, Colonel Carter." Thor replied and stopped before her. "I believe, like all Asgard, that there is a solution for every problem even if sometimes it seems otherwise."

Samantha smiled again. Thor was right. One must have faith that everything will work out one way or another. The Asgard did not abandon them because they did not find the solution to their degenerative problem but because they found a different path or chose a different way and in doing so gave the humans to guard all their knowledge.

"Now I must go." Thor said.

"Go where?"

"Spoilers, Colonel Carter, Spoilers..." And with the unusal smile Thor disappeared.

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