Chapter Nine

On Earth at SGCUK

As the doors to the express lift open, Daniel and Agnes are confronted with scene of frenzied activity across the main floor of the underground SGC. Daniel grabs a passing soldier and asks 'Hey! What on earth is going on?'

'The Medical evacuation team have bought in Bob Bowden in a critical state and there has been a massive energy spike detected somewhere in the vicinity of Stonehenge, the Professor is looking for you both, Sir, he's in the medical isolation unit' The young soldier salutes them and carries on his way.

'That spike was probably caused by us. We had better go and explain what we've found.' Agnes guiltily holds the coin tighter in her hand as they head off for the isolation unit.

Inside the Isolation Unit

'Ah, here you both are! Events have moved on since your breakfast upstairs, where have you been, sightseeing perhaps or souvenir hunting?' Professor Peter Cromwell glares at the pair of them, his manner is brusque, hand outstretched as though waiting to be given something. Agnes, sensing a certain amount of antagonism in his tone which seems to be lost on Daniel, replies quickly before Daniel can put his foot in it. 'After working on a theory over breakfast we went out to test it and were successful, we found the gate. I think the power spike you monitored was us testing it with this...' she drops the coin into his outstretched hand.

'You've managed to translate this coin you removed without permission from my command centre?' Peter glares at Daniel who finally works out they are in trouble. 'Oh, yes, I see... sorry... but um, we don't have to translate it as such, the gate doesn't have a dial...'

'Stop, not in here! Put your findings in a report, you can brief the team at 1300 hrs., meeting room one. You must understand this is a highly classified, sensitive situation. The general public does not need to be alerted to our work here, hence our base being secret. Please, no more working breakfasts, jaunts out or removal of classified material without, and I cannot stress this enough, without permission from me...' The professor breaks off as a howl from inside the plastic isolation tent in the centre of the room makes all the hair stand up on the back of his neck. A medical team are working quietly at the far side of the room and nearby Teal'c and Commander Jack O'Neill are watching intently the occupant of the tent.

'Don't worry, he's quite secure,' Jack nonchalantly pats the plastic tent wall, 'Meet Robert 'Rob' Bowden, or as I'm calling him... the amazing lizard man.'

Daniel and Agnes step closer and stare in shock at the sight before them. Strapped to a medical gurney is Rob Bowden looking nothing like his picture now. His skin is ashimmer with a roiling coat of sea-green and silver scales moving as though in time with his spasms as the fat and flesh beneath turns to sinew and muscle. His nails are growing as they watch, curving like talons, scratching on the rails of the gurney. On one of his fingers is the ring with its dragon motif, one of the few remaining distinguishable features on his body. As they watch, mesmerised by the slow transformation, the heart monitor alarm triggers and the medical team rush over to start working on his body through the tent arm apetures as Bowden's heart stops beating.

'We're losing him...charging... stand clear... ' The doctor applies electrical paddles to Rob's chest and his body arcs under the current but the ECG stays flat. The doctor tries twice more but the ECG resolutely displays a flat line and the doctor shakes his head at Peter Cromwell and says, 'Too much for his heart, I'm calling time of death at 11.47am.'

Agnes is visibly shocked by what she has just witnessed and Teal'c lays a calming hand on her shoulder. 'It is perhaps better for Robert Bowden he did not survive his torment. Who knows what he would have become.'

Meeting Room One

Promptly at one pm Daniel and Agnes present their findings from the morning to Teal'c, Jack, the Professor and his team. As Daniel talks, Agnes reflects on the horrible death she witnessed earlier. Any anger at being told off for leaving SGC without permission had been quickly quenched by the agonised death throes of poor Rob Bowden. For the first time Agnes can see the need for a secure, secret military operation like this, to protect the public and keep them safe. It wasn't all science fiction and fantasy, it was the very real matter of life and death.

'And so... I.. we think the four sets of coins each point to a different planet beyond the twin star of Thuban, maybe all in the same galaxy. The labyrinth symbol on the coin being a pictogram of the Stargate vortex, the coin itself must act like a pre-set radio channel tuned in to the coordinates and opening the gate automatically... like a remote control... Interestingly enough, this labyrinth symbol has been widely found across ancient Europe and further afield, often on coins, perhaps a collective memory that found its way into popular culture or as an attempt to emulate these coins...'

Jack can sense Daniel wandering off into one of his archaeological rambles and asks, 'So the coins are a key to the Stargate?'

'Yes... gate tokens really, not coins at all, no monetary value...'

'Gate tokens?' Peter raises an eyebrow at Daniel's name for them.

'Um.. yes. Gate tokens... or tickets or maybe...or keys, a key is a good way to...'

'More importantly, where does the ring Rob Bowden is.. was wearing fit into all this. Did the ring cause him to.. to metamorphose into whatever creature that was? And, are there any more of the creature he was turning into waiting through the gate?' Agnes' questions cuts through Daniel's' rambling and makes everyone sit up. 'Were any more dragon artefacts found out at the earthquake sight?'

'No, nor at Bowden's flat or any of the places he visited since the finding the hoard. We've done extensive signature readings for the Naquadah-like element and all we have found is the route taken by the coins and the box the ring was in. Not the ring itself.' Peter answers, checking a text message and standing up and making his way to the door. 'Robert Bowden's death has made it even more critical we find out what we are dealing with. Jack I want you to put together a team for a reconnaissance mission through the gate, take one of each coin with you just in case you need a return token/ticket thing. Schedule it for 06.00 hrs. tomorrow, I've just had confirmation of clearance for gate use from the Prime Minister. As from now we are on a security lock-down. Organise a team at the pool site to set up a mile perimeter. I'll get the doctor to remove the dragon ring from Bowden's body and we can run tests on it and him and see if there is a connection or if there is some other force at work. Now I have a lunch appointment with the Defence Minister, let's start joining up those dots team, let's find out who, where and what we are dealing with before the gate opens for the Equinox.

On Epona, at the Gate of the Twins

Tara pauses on the threshold of the low doorway, cut into the wall of her sleeping chamber, hidden behind ancient tapestries then, confident no one is nearby, slips through into the small, windowless tunnel beyond. She follows the steep twists and turns without the aid of light, knowing the way by heart, feeling the air cool as the tunnel drops down through the palace and into the maze of courtyards. After ten minutes of walking she reaches the door at he other end and gently slides the bolt back and the it swings open silently on oiled hinges. For millenia she has used this route to reach the Gate of the Twins, using it as a quiet place to contemplate, plan, simply to be alone. As Tara's eyes adjust to the light she realises the courtyard of the gate is not empty. Someone is sitting by the pool. For a moment Tara's hand drifts to her sword and she she almost draws it, ready to leap forward before she recognises who it is.

'Kyna! What are you doing here? How did you find this place.' Tara asks her sharply, unsure how Kyna would have found the gate, so well hidden in the maze of courtyards.

'My Queen, I... I was sent to fetch water from the well courtyard and lost my way... I thought this was a waterhole... but it's not.' Kyna sniffs back her tears. Tara notices her tear stained face and softens her tone. Sensing there is more to say, she prompts Kyna, 'And?'

'And I think I fell through the world... my arm at least.'

'Fell through the world? You opened the gate?'

'The gate?'

'Kyna, this pool is the Gate of the Twins but it can only be opened with a Royal Doublet, how did you get hold of one?'

Kyna stares at Tara and then at the pool. 'This is the gate to the other planets?'

'Yes, now the Doublet, please.' Tara holds out a hand for the coin but Kyna simply shrugs her shoulders. 'I have no coin, the gate opened and closed on it's own accord. Like a water spout. It scared me.'

'On it's own?' Tara draws in a deep breath, a frown appearing on her face. Kyna can sense something is wrong and hopes she is not in more trouble. 'Isn't it meant to?' She asks tentatively.

'No, it is not. Someone must have tried to open it at the other end, on a planet called Celestia. It is time for me to return there, I have left it far too long and far too late. I tried so hard to forget, to sever the ties...' Tara seems to drift off in thought somewhere else, 'I have made many mistakes in my impetuous youth, Kyna, learn from me, learn from your mistakes, do not ignore them, time only makes it worse. Come with me, there is no time to lose, tonight we will travel through the gate to finish what was started a long time ago.'