Chapter 35

A sharp crack and loud rush was proceeded by much pain and the sensation of falling.

The planet was frigid, abandoned and desolate.

In the day since his ship had crashed, he never once saw a sunrise, any animal or other sign that would indicate there was anyone on this barren waste of a world other than him. When the ice finally stopped giving out beneath him he picked himself up, brushed the snow from his tunic and for the first time took a look at his surroundings.

It was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. It was like a temple, but unlike any temple he had every seen. The structure, seemingly built into the ice itself was adorned with colored glass and markings he only assumed were some kind of writing. As he walked cautiously out from the spot where he landed, the realization hit that this was no temple. As a man of science he could easily recognize a laboratory when he saw one. Burying his thrill he walked slowly forward gazing in almost childlike wonderment at the sights that his eyes beheld. He had heard stories of places like these. Remnents of advance civilizations long since gone whose technology would revolutionize his entire society.

He wanted to be the one to do it.

Not only for the good of his people . . . but for revenge. For the ability to right the wrongs that had been committed against him.

And his family.

His family was everything to him. A feeling not shared by the rest of his kind, who prided themselves upon backstabbing and treachery.

His parents. His brother. And now, his only son. All cut down by the flaws of his peoples own creation. By their insastiable need to conquer and destroy. He had always been different. Driven not so much for the need to destroy. To rule, as the others so blatantly called it. But to learn. His quest for knowledge and scientific discovery often outweighed his internal need to given into his less than pleasant nature. This awkward reversal of destiny made him outcast amongst his kind, a title he wore as a badge of honor. He had taken a bride in someone considered to be defective amongst his people for her difficulty in creating life. A small genetic flaw had made it almost impossible for his bride to concieve, and for this she was label a defect and shunned by all others. Considered to imperfect and unworthy of partnership.

He saw it differently.

Behind her flaws lied a brilliant mind, one almost akin to his own. One who shared his thirst for knowledge, the only true power that existed. He took her as a bride and thru much scientific research was able to bear with her a child. A son. His only son. A son now dead at the hands of the very leader who had ruled their people tyranically for so long. The leader that drove him out into the edges of space and to whom he now owed this awesome find. Unbenkownst to his enemies, he had born a daughter. Still in her infancy. Hidden and protected until he could find something, anything, to use as leverage to garner her protection and the protection of her mother. They were his family. His life. He would be lost without them. And even moreso, an entirely different, unrecognizable being.

As he turned the corner he stopped dumbstruck standing at the entrance way of a large rectangular chamber. At the center of the chamber was a large silver console he assumed was some sort of device used for data storage, an unbelievable find in and of itself. That however, was not what he was so in awe over. Surrounding the console were twelve glass coffins, each containing the body of a humanoid. From his estimations there were six male and six female. At first he thought of them as dead, until the his eyes caught the obvious life sign monitor at the side of each coffin. Not dead, he repeated, only sleeping.

Alive.

Steeling his courage, he stepped a foot inside. A blinding light overtook him and he found himself staring face to face with a tall, middle-aged looking woman of great beauty.

"Welcome friend, to Agharta."

"What is this place? And who are you?" he asked trying to hide his rising fear.

"You are in the city of Shambala. I am Morgan, guardian of The Twelve. And who my friend, may I ask, are you?"

A wide smile came across his face, a deep inflection in his voice.

"I am Anubis."

"Hello then, Anubis," she replied making an open waved motion with her arms. "Our fate is in your hands."

oooooo

"Daniel!"

Daniel shook the memory from his mind. He found himself standing at his locker, confused and staring off into space with Mitchell's hand gently shaking his arm.

"Are you okay? You kinda blanked out for a minute there. You were talkiing to Vala again, were you?"

"No," he replied smiling weakly and closing the door to his locker. "Just lost in thought there for a minute."

Mitchell eyed Daniel pensively, he was lying and he knew it. Deciding to saying nothing further, he gave Daniel's arm a reasurring pat on the shoulder.

"There waiting for us in the ring room. Lets get moving before Rodney starts annoying the away team with stories of his superior academic prowess."

Daniel merely nodded and followed Mitchell out the door. As they walked down to the ring room, his mind wandered. Had what he had just seen real? It felt real, as if he had actually lived it. Felt it. Something that disturbed him on many levels. However, his mind reminded him, he had been a host to Anubis, however briefly. Maybe there were remnants of his genetic memory still in his mind and if so, why now, of all times and places, did it chose to come to the surface?