Chapter Four

'Thuban,' Professor Peter Cromwell uses his light pointer to pick out the tail end of the Dragon Constellation on the chart projected on the wall behind him. 'In the Draco constellation, was the original pole star from about 4th to 2nd millennium BC. Thuban, which means snake, is a white giant star and it is also a binary star, it's companion star is in a fifty-one day orbit and is probably a red dwarf. At this time, we are interested in this small group of solar systems here.' He zooms in on the star chart and finds a small galaxy hidden beyond Thuban '...'visible for the first time, with our new data from..' The professor pauses as the meeting room door slides open and Jack O'Neill enters with Dr. Daniel Jackson, Teal'c and a woman he has never seen before. 'From data... please sit, sit!... where was I ah, yes... from the new exoplanet data from our SGC Quantum Exosearch Space Telescope Mission. We have named it the Mirror Galaxy 03 or MG3. The visible star you can see here,' he zooms in closer to a small solar system on the map, '...is similar to our sun and our own solar system. This galaxy has been sitting in the shadow of Thuban's bright binary light for, well, similar in age to our own galaxy but, most curiously, this particular solar system within in it mirrors our own eclipse sequence in the northern hemisphere... leading us to postulate that a potential gate site is present or has been present on this planet in particular. We are calling it MG3alpha, and this one MG3beta...etc... and so this next equinox event on March 20th gives us a specific time frame to try and pinpoint a potential gate sight within the eclipse shadow area here on Earth, defined by the projected maps in your digital packs. I've assigned each of you a grid area to monitor, including seismic anomalies, spectrograph data, radio announcements, news, internet sightings, anything and everything... we need to make sure we are fully synchronised with all recordings and so... we have less than a month to get ready in and time is wasting! Let's get to it team!' The meeting breaks up and Peter waits as his team of twenty scientists file out of the room until only Jack, Daniel, Teal'c and the mystery lady remain.

Peter smiles at Agnes and Daniel and introduces himself, 'I'm Professor Peter Cromwell, in charge of the scientific team here, I know who you are Dr. Jackson and you are?'

'Agnes, Agnes Dale I work for the British Museum...'

'Ah yes, the coin lady, delighted to meet you. 'Well, well, I am sure you both must have a lot of questions about our work here, let's head back to my office and discuss it all with a nice cup of tea.' This way please.'

'So Thuban would have been the pole star when Stonehenge was built?' Agnes sips on the cup of tea poured by Peter back in his office.

'Yes, one of my pet theories is Stonehenge is similar to the pyramids in Egypt in the way it copies an off-world culture bought here through a Stargate by an advanced people. Stonehenge may well have been built long after the actual event as a replica of a gate, or some kind of spacecraft. I think this off-world contact is a separate culture to the Goa'uld and Ancients we have previously encountered but uses an intrinsically similar Stargate technology. Perhaps the Ancients visited their solar system or they independently developed it and thus Stonehenge remains an enigmatic glimpse of a stand-alone event of extra terrestrial contact.'

'And the coin hoard fits into all this?'

'We don't know for sure if it does but my suggestion is those coins you and Daniel have been looking into, may well pre-date Stonehenge and be from another planet brought through a gate.'

' From MG3alpha?' Daniel asks, helping himself to the last of the Professor's biscuits.

'Not necessarily. But coincidence is not something we are exploring in the quantum dynamics of Stargate events and so the emergence of these coins, the equinox event mirroring in this solar system on MG3alpha, Stonehenge being built when the nearest giant star to this solar system was the pole star here all start to add up... evidence based research is what I am interested in, we collect all and any relevant data and then, with rigorous analysis...'

'...Join up all the dots?' asks Jack

'Precisely. Now we have an earthquake as well to throw into the mix..'

'And Robert Bowden... that ring of his, with the dragon symbol, he could have other pieces, a Rosetta stone if you like, to unlock the meaning of glyphs...' Agnes reaches in her bag for her photos of the coins and spreads them out on the professor's workbench.

Daniel traces round the glyphs with his finger 'I wondered about Stargate cartouches but twelve symbols instead of six... seemed unlikely... but...'

'But?' Jack asks, feeling Daniel is about to say something of importance and slightly annoyed he ate the last biscuit.

'You said Thuban is a binary star. Two sets of six symbols for the destination around the edge. The centre symbol as the location...'

'That is genius! Does that even work as science?' Jack jumps to his feet.

'I'll get my team to look into it. But it could be possible.' Peter nods in approval at Daniel's hypothesis. 'We need to get those coins here to examine them properly.'

'What about this Robert Bowden, if he has access to significant finds relating to the coins, we should find him.' Teal'c picks up on Agnes's point. 'He might have access to the Stargate itself and he could be putting himself in very great danger without knowing it.'

'Teal'c is right, we need to track him down and fast.' Jack is delighted at the thought of action rather than waiting around for the Professor's results. 'I'll get a team together with Teal'c and we'll start the search at first light.'

'How will we get the coins from the Museum, they won't release them to me.'

'Don't worry, the Professor here, I'm sure, will be able to organise it.' Daniel surmises.

'Call me Peter and, yes, I can pull a few strings and get the coins here for you two examine further. A binary combination could well be the key to finding a gate here before we reach the Equinox Event..'

'The what?' Agnes does not like the tone Peter used. 'What event?'

'Hypothetically, quantum entanglement vectors in space/time dimensions suggest that a Stargate could connect with another quantum linked gate in a mirror galaxy and remain open during synchronised episodes. In short, a bridge from another world to ours. Leaving us open to off-world invasion. It is imperative we find the hypothetical gate location before the Equinox.'

On the planet Epona (MG3alpha)

From her vantage point high in the rafters, Kyna stares out across the Gathering of the Kin of Epona, the Horse Chiefs already seated waiting to hear the traditional words of greeting from Tara, Queen of the Kin. There is much talking and laughing and drinking as the chiefs wait, oblivious to the now lengthy delay of their Queen's arrival.

'Can you see her?' Lore digs Kyna in the ribs and makes her shift over so he too, can get a better view.

'Watch out, Lore, you'll dislodge me if you are not careful!'

Kyna rebalances as Lore moves further along the thick wooden beam, it had been a long time since they had climbed up into the rafters of the Great Hall and he is already regretting letting Kyna talk him into it. Yes, it was unusual to call the Gathering so early in the year... Kyna's trouble is her inquisitiveness and it usually led him into trouble too. 'Why are we even here? This is none of our business, the Horse Chief will let the Kin know what the meeting is about.'

Kyna sighs in exasperation at her twin brother's lack of adventure. 'That will take for ever, I want to know now. You've seen our horses, felt the herd's restlessness, something is wrong, I know it. Look, she's here!'

On the raised dais below, Tara raises a hand as the waiting chiefs subside into silence. She stands tall, her grey hair spilling in thick waves over her crimson woollen cloak. On her brow sits the Crown of Kin, silver hands wreathed together and at her breast the white horse amulet, the royal seal.

'Loyal Kin, I welcome you to this Great Hall. May we share our fortune and future together. But I must call a halt to your revelries, I bring no good news this night. Even as I speak, the Naxen are on rise again. But this time we are in even greater danger as the Gate of the Twins will be in flux when the heavens align above us during the Shadowing. Once again the Great Shadow of Nixor will fall upon us. Once again we can only hope the seal of Epona will hold true on the tomb of Nixor, long millennia in exile through the Gate of the Twins...'

Kyna can only half follow what the Queen is saying. Nixor? Did she mean the Dragon King who devoured the kelpies and the pegasai and only left the land horses? Kyna tries to remember her childhood folk stories as the Queen continues with her speech on the dais below.

'To the south of the prairies, raiding parties of Naxen have been stealing our food and our herds and there are rumours reaching us, by way of spies and captives, of a plot to rise up and break through our defences round the Gate of the Twins, to travel back to unleash Nixor and crush the Kin of Epona...'

Kyna is so deep in thought, she forgets where she is and before Lore can grab her, she slides off the beam, her fall to the floor below broken by a particularly stout horse chief who shouts out in surprise as she lands, catlike, on his back. 'By the Wings of a Pegasai! I'm attacked!' he shrieks only to elicit roars of laughter and disapproval as it turns out to be only Kyna the horse herder and not a deadly Naxen assassin.

Tara pauses until the gathering falls silent again and then continues. 'This threat is so palpable that I am preparing to travel through the Gate with my most trusted Valkyrs and make sure the seal of Epona is not broken by a Naxen raiding party during the Shadowing.'

This revelation elicits gasps and mutters from the Chiefs and before long there is uproar in the Great Hall. No one had stepped through the Gate of the Twins for thousands of years. The queen could not leave them during such a time of unprecedented unrest. What if she is killed or became trapped on the distant planet? The arguments for and against her proposed course of action raged on for hours until, weary of the noise Tara once again raises her hand for silence. 'Enough, my decision is made, the purpose of this gathering is to warn you and to urge you to return to your herders and prepare for the Shadowing as best you can. Keep the Spirit of the Kin Steadfast in your Hearts, Horse Chiefs of Epona.' Tara finishes sharply with the traditional bidding and sweeps down from the dais, her cloak swirling out behind her. She pauses by one of her Valkyr guards and nods toward Kyna with the unmistakeable command to bring her along too and the guard salutes and makes her way through the crowd to where Kyna is being held by the Horse Chief she landed on. Up in the rafters, Lore scrambles to reach his sister before the Valkyr does but he is too late and can only follow on behind as Kyna is led away to the Queen's Hall.