Well...Nance...Thanks for proofreading and reviewing! And Matthew72 for reviewing on HoC.
Really beginning to wonder where everyone went...Kind of sad. Anyone out there? I see about 100-150 readers per chapter, let me know what you think! My muses LOVE feedback!
Ok, enough whining. This chapter still sticks with Stargate episode 9x20 "Camelot" * denotes the transcripts used. (which is a lot of it, twisted to add characters.)
"SG-1. Welcome aboard the Odyssey."* Colonel Emerson smiled in greeting.
Merlin looked around and noticed they were now on the bridge of a ship. He saw the planet they had just been on, highlighted on a screen nearby.
"Colonel. What's going on?"* Mitchell asked. There had been no prior warning for their sudden extraction off of the planet, which could only mean bad news.
"Change of plans."* Emerson explained, directing their attention to the display screen on the wall. "We received a subspace transmission from a Jaffa vessel near P3Y-229. They were investigating some unusual energy readings. This is what they found."*
Pressing a series of buttons on a remote, the image changed from the planet below them to a vast region of space. SG-1 stared at it, trying to figure out what they were seeing.
"When we enhance the image…"* The commander of the Odyssey needed no other words as a magnified view of the region became clear.
Carter's eyes widened. "A fully formed Supergate."*
"My orders were to pick you up and proceed immediately to the Supergate. Unfortunately, the Daedalus is still in the Pegasus Galaxy, but the Korolev will be joining us as soon as possible."*
"I didn't think it was operational yet."* Carter mentioned skeptically. The Korolev was the most recently built ship of the Tau'ri fleet. During recent negotiations, outside of the IOA's watchful eyes, an agreement had been reached to give it to the Russians.
"It's been rushed into service. We're to meet up with as many Jaffa and Tok'ra ships as we can muster, and destroy that thing by whatever means necessary."* Emerson turned to a man sitting at a nearby console. "Set a course."*
"Wait a minute! We can't go yet."* Daniel exclaimed
"We don't have any more time, Doctor. By all indications, that Space Gate's operational. There's no telling when the Ori are going to start sending ships through."*
"Then, leave us behind." Arthur suggested. "Merlin and I would be useless on board, while you are focusing on the Ori Gate."
"Speak for yourself." Merlin snickered, even though he agreed with his friend. He gave Arthur a cheeky smile.
"Colonel." Daniel pleaded, "I believe the key to defeating the Ori is on that planet. I know it."*
Carter studied the three men offering to stay behind. "Daniel, even if you're right, the villagers are never going to let you back in the library."*
"I'll get us in there." Merlin stated confidently.
Emerson considered their suggestion for a moment. "Alright, you get one more chance."*
"I'll go with them."* Mitchell shrugged off Daniel's questioning glance. "A little quality time...and that Black Knight might show up again."*
"We'll have the Russians swing by and pick you up on the way through. You have until then."* Emerson agreed.
(*~*~*~*)
"Carter!" Gwaine's voice carried through the corridor.
She paused and waited for him to catch up. "Hey, Dallon. What are you doing here?"
"SG-3 got back just before the intel came in on the Supergate. Landry gave me permission to come on board and help out, since some of the crew went to the Korolev." He glanced around, hoping to see Merlin or Arthur.
Sam noticed his wandering gaze. "They beamed back down to the planet with Daniel and Cam. They think they're close to finding the weapon." She explained how the Russian vessel would be picking them up, on her way through.
"Damn." If he had known, he would have been on the bridge to meet them, and gone with them back to the planet. It was ridiculous, all this jumping around, trying to play catch up with everything. He knew he was being impatient, but he was sick of trying so hard to fit in somewhere in the SGC structure. His new Commanding Officer, Reynolds, was a great guy, and Gwaine got along with the SG-3 team well enough, but he knew even that was just supposed to be a temporary assignment.
The planned mission to PX1-767 was going to be like old times. Courage, Magic, and Strength...back together again...along with the members of SG-1.
Carter chuckled and nudged his shoulder. "Come on, you can help me out in the lab." She offered sympathetically.
(*~*~*~*)
Merlin wavered slightly when the four of them materialized inside the library. Arthur reached out a hand to steady his friend. The Odyssey had beamed them to a spot just outside the village. The shield in the library blocked them from teleporting directly in with the Asgard beaming technology. The warlock's magic worked in a different manner and he was able to complete the journey for them.
"So, what now?"* Mitchell asked.
"My guess is we can shut down the Black Knight by inputting the correct code sequence on that control panel."* He picked up a book and motioned for the others to do the same.
"Merlin's PIN number?"* Mitchell asked with a smirk on his face, directed at Colonel Emrys.
Daniel glanced between them. "Yeah, something like that."*
"If I ever find this bloke, I'm going to be giving him a serious piece of my mind." Grumbling, Merlin picked up a book and began thumbing through it. He looked at Arthur with raised eyebrows, encouraging him to join them in searching.
Arthur groaned and picked up the nearest book. He blew across the surface, and dust went flying. He coughed and waved his hand in the air, scowling while the other men chuckled at his misfortune.
Mitchell grinned at the former king. ""You do realize we're on the clock, right?"*
"Yes, we are." Merlin responded and snapped his book shut. He scanned the vast amount of book-filled shelves. "...And there is an easier way to do this."
"Merlin..."
"We don't have a choice, Arthur." He drew in a deep breath and centered his thoughts. "What exactly are we looking for, Dr. Jackson?"
"Uh, any mention of the Black Knight would probably be the most helpful." Daniel responded, already beginning to search through the pages.
Merlin nodded, "Find the books you think will have the best chance first, and stack them in a semi-circle around me."
Arthur walked over to his friend, and took him by the elbow. "Are you sure you want to do this?"
"We don't have much of a choice."
"There's always a choice, Merlin." Arthur said. He felt overprotective of his friend, since finding out about his connection to the dying, and lost, dragon. He had seen the effects on Merlin when he used his magic lately. Even smaller, simple spells were beginning to take a toll. Transporting the four of them into the library had visibly strained him, but he pushed through. Now, with him wanting to search magically through the the volumes of text, he worried about his friend's health. Arthur hoped that once they found what they were looking for, they might have an opportunity to either rest before the Russian vessel arrived...or better yet...beam onto Leon's ship. With the sword on hand, it might give Merlin a bit of a boost.
"We have to find a way to stop this device and the knight, and it's not like we brought your sword along, is it?" Merlin said, almost as if he had read Arthur's mind.
"Whoa, what sword?" Mitchell cocked his head to the side in curiosity.
Merlin's eyes shifted to the Colonel. "Excalibur."
"Like the real deal, Excalibur?"
"Yes, forged from a dragon's breath, similar to the piece that was pulled out of Arthur by your surgeons. It is able to kill something that is already dead. It was created for fighting the real Black Knight, who was actually the wraith of Tristan De Bois."
"What?" Arthur's voice was barely a whisper, but it seemed to reverberate through the room.
Merlin cringed, "The Black Knight was the spirit of your uncle, summoned forth from the dead by Nimueh, and intent on revenge for his sister's death."
Arthur wanted to ask more, but he knew this was neither the time, nor the place. The other men seemed to sense it as well.
Daniel looked up from the book he was scanning. His voice dripped with annoyance. "The real Excalibur? Wow...you should have told us. We could have been studying it this whole time to figure out a way to defeat the Ori, if it had similar properties to the piece that was pulled out of his chest!"
Merlin chuckled, "Let your scientists study it? I think not. Who knows what those idiots would do to it. It's a very powerful weapon."
"Exactly." Mitchell tapped his fingers on the top of his P-90. "We could have been looking for a way to replicate its properties on a larger scale."
"There is more to this than just a sword. I'm not about to chance losing it, before we have the full picture."
"Yeah, and thanks for sharing a piece of that picture with us...We really appreciate it. We could have been working on the 'full picture' together!" Mitchell yelled.
"Enough!" Arthur roared, "We can argue about this later. Merlin, are you sure you want to do this?"
Merlin nodded.
Arthur began stacking books, like Merlin had requested. The other two looked at each other and shrugged, before following suit.
"So...why exactly are we doing this?" Mitchell asked Arthur.
Merlin was sitting in the middle of the pile in deep meditation. Arthur paused and studied his friend for a minute.
"Just watch. It's actually a rather amazing thing to behold, but we probably have only one shot at it, before the idiot passes out from exhaustion." He carefully moved around the piles, and touched Merlin lightly on the shoulder. He had only seen Merlin do this trick once, and it was more just the warlock showing off in his own library. It made a great party trick. This time, the situation was much more serious. The lives of not only the villagers, but others throughout the galaxy, depended on finding a needle of words, in a haystack of books.
Merlin spread his hands out over the piles. The others jumped back when his eyes opened to reveal molten, gold fire. The covers of the books on top of the piles flew open, and the pages began to flip rapidly. One book fell open and stopped its fluttering. "There." Merlin said. Another book did the same. "...And there."
Arthur quickly grabbed one of the open books handed if off to Daniel, realizing that it would go much quicker if they all helped out. He snatched up the other one, as well. Books on other stacks reached their back covers without pausing. Mitchell caught on quickly, and moved them off to the side, so that the next level of the piles could be scanned through. "Go-go Gadget: Bookworm!"
They soon developed a rhythm, and the stack of open books in front of Daniel grew with passages for him to read, but it was nothing compared to the pile of books that were being discarded. In less than an hour, Merlin's magic had narrowed down the vast library down to approximately fifty books worth reading.
The final book opened with a loud thud. Illuminated in faded ink upon the page, was a chalice. Arthur saw it and recognized the picture. He quickly shoved the book over to the discard pile, and closed it. Not knowing why he did such a thing, he silently blamed it on Merlin...the warlock's instinct and gut feelings appeared to be wearing off on him.
Unfortunately, the thud from Merlin, falling over in exhaustion, followed the sound of the book.
(*~*~*~*)
Daniel snapped the last book shut loudly. "That's it."*
Sitting in a chair near the door, Arthur glanced up at the archaeologist with hopeful eyes. Other than that, there was no other reaction.
The former king had taken up the position of keeping watch, when he realized he didn't understand what to look for in the books. Merlin was laid out on the floor, sleeping off his exhaustion from the overuse of magic. Assuring the others that Merlin would be fine once he got some rest, they left him alone. He was sure they saw through his flimsy explanation, but they had let it slide for the time being.
Daniel turned around and spied Mitchell. His legs were propped up on a table. His eyes were closed and his mouth hung open, with a bit of drool escaping from the corner. One of the tomes laid open on his chest. Moving over to the Colonel, Daniel dropped the book loudly on the table.
Mitchell jolted awake.
Arthur snickered from across the room. It was such a familiar scene of brotherly teasing. He glanced at Merlin and thought about the many times they had done similar things to each other. Thankfully though, Merlin hadn't even twitched from the thunk.
"Sorry, didn't mean to wake you."* Daniel said unapologetically to his teammate.
Stretching as he stood, Arthur made his way over to the table. "Did you find something?"
"Yeah, I've cross-referenced half a dozen passages that mention the Black Knight. Now, there's a series of recurring words and phrases that stand out, if you know what you're looking for."*
Mitchell came fully awake. "Are we talking access code?"*
"I think so."* Picking up a stack of books, Daniel headed to the stairway and motioned the others to follow.
"Hey, what about sleeping beauty over there?" Mitchell pointed over to where Merlin still slept.
"I'll stay here with him." Arthur said.
Mitchell nodded and jogged after Daniel.
"Are they gone?" Merlin's hoarse whisper made Arthur smile.
"Yes. I knew you were faking."
"No, you didn't." Merlin struggled to sit up. He rubbed his temples. He blinked and looked around the library. "There was a book...It..."
Arthur grinned mischievously. Making sure the other two were gone, he retrieved the book he'd shifted into the discard pile. "It was the last one that opened. When I saw the picture, I figured it might be something different than what they were looking for." He flipped through the pages and found the one he had seen previously. "Look familiar?"
Nodding slowly, Merlin reached for the book. "Yes, it does. I was showing it to Leon, just this last week." He snickered at the way Arthur rolled his eyes.
Suddenly, screams of terror rang out through the village. Merlin quickly stuffed the book into his pack, as he heard Mitchell's heavy footsteps running up the stairs.
"Morning, Glory!" He called, noticing that Merlin was awake. "See if you can give Daniel a hand. Arthur, you're with me."
(*~*)
Being a visitor, and not officially qualified with any of the weapons, Arthur felt useless running next to Mitchell. The Colonel had his firearm ready as they rounded a corner, into the courtyard of the town square.
"Oh, boy."* Mitchell breathed out. Squinting, he scanned his surroundings and yelled, "Everybody down!"* He raised his weapon and fired at the figure of the knight. As before, the bullets passed through the holographic man in armor.
"Is that what I looked liked, when you fought me?" Arthur's eyes evaluated the knight.
"Pretty much. We need to keep him busy until Jackson can shut it off."
Arthur scoffed at the image. "That armor isn't even worth trying to win in a joust."
"Seriously?" Mitchell asked, "Big dude with sword that we can't hit, is looking to take us down, and you're window shopping?"
He shrugged. It would have been hard to explain to the Colonel at that moment. Evaluating an opponent's armor meant a lot more where he came from, than just dressing the part. The armor told the history of the man wearing it. Was it a solid suit, perhaps commissioned by a wealthy noble for a single tournament? Was it castle-forged for a prince or king, who needed to inspire his men on the field...or was it piecemealed together; each part of it won through hard work and battle?
Did the knight take care of it himself, polishing each piece by hand? Did he have a squire or a servant? Were there imperfections and scars upon its surface, silently telling of combat it had seen?
What Arthur saw didn't impress him. The armor was just for show. It looked thin and unblemished. The chainmail coifs that hung out below the helm, and from under the breastplate, were long and flimsy, not meant to provide protection. He sighed. Whoever had put this so-called knight together had certainly gone for appearances, more than function.
The knight turned towards them. He spun his long sword skillfully in one hand, before grasping it with both hands and holding it out in front of him in a ready stance. Mitchell tossed his P-90 to the side, and tried to rush past the knight. He faked to the right and then darted left, jumping valiantly over a cart, and landing with a roll on the muddy ground.
Arthur watched as Mitchell dodged blow after blow from the knight. His hands clenched achingly for his sword. He saw a few blades on a table, just the other side of where the fight was occurring. Something held him back. This was the fight he had been looking for, and he felt himself rooted to the ground.
He'd sparred against Merlin and his knights. He was a half-conscious spectator when Mitchell had fought against the hologram, based on Arthur's own combat memories and experiences. The last true fight the King of Camelot had been in, however, was the one that had ended his reign.
The Black Knight was gaining the upper hand. Mitchell's cry of pain, as the sword cut through his back, shook Arthur back to reality. He felt the will to fight stirring within him. According to these people, he had been victorious over Mordred, and escaped the battle alive. He looked up at the table across the square.
Mitchell had noticed the swords on the table, as well. He dove towards it, and managed to grab hold of one. Ducking under the knight's swing, Mitchell managed to cut back and forth across the knees. The sword passed through, just as the bullets had done.
Arthur heard the girl from their first day in the village yell, "Do something! Help him!"* Her words were directed at the governor, but the man didn't move.
A burst of adrenaline set his feet in motion. Arthur rushed through the crowd, skirting around the battle as Mitchell was hit yet again. The knight's sword left a swathe of energy in its wake. If what the members of SG-1 had said was true, the sword in the stone was possibly connected to the knight. Seeing it as his only option, he reached the stone and wrapped his hand around the grip.
(*~*)
Mud oozed up between his fingers, as he fell forward. Each blow landed by the knight sent shocks through his body, like a taser sending jolts of electricity through his system.
He somehow managed to turn himself over just as the knight held up his sword, ready to plunge it down into Mitchell's body a final time.
He closed his eyes and sent out a silent plea for help.