Stargate SG-1: Broken
by mirwalker
Chapter 2
As if their greeter to the alien world's having an Earth nation's name wasn't unsettling enough, the "you're never leaving" implication of his repeated welcome was downright worrying. All four travelers passed furrowed brow looks with one another.
Their leader spoke first, backing up the revelations a little. "Whoa… Your grandma thought the Germans brought her here?"
"This surprises you," Britain confirmed, as he continued to realize the hopeless implications for their confusion at encountering him. "You were not expecting to find us. To free us? You haven't beaten the Ger-men?"
"He must be talking about one of the World Wars," surmised Carter.
"So his grandmother thought this was a German concentration or POW camp?" added O'Neill.
"And so does he apparently," concluded Jackson, still squinting at the enigma before them, now with growing pity for him.
Britain actually stomped his foot and staff at being talked about, rather than to. "Blind and deaf are different! I am standing right here; you needn't talk as if I wasn't. Who are you?" he repeated yet again, this time with a clearly growing suspicion.
Daniel realized the disrespect he too had played into, and stepped forward to shift the conversation to something more mutually productive. They needed to get information from the man, not antagonism. "We're sorry; this is just a little confusing for us as well. Please let me introduce us. You've met Colonel O'Neill. I'm Daniel Jackson." He pointed to his remaining teammates in turn, indicating that they should speak.
"I'm Major Samantha Carter."
"And I am Teal'c."
"Britain," Jackson resumed his introductions, "we are from an American military organization, one called Stargate Command. We're explorers. The War your grandmother was talking about ended more than fifty years ago. And yes, the Germans were defeated by the U.S. and Allied forces."
"Then why did you not come for us sooner?" Britain asked, crestfallen at what seemed to him some type of admitted abandonment.
Carter grimaced, and O'Neill pursed his lips, leaving Jackson to continue breaking the news. "We didn't know that you were here," with enough remorse in his voice to suggest it was an apology too. "And, I don't think that the Germans sent you here."
"It's not just me," Britain corrected. "There are many others. Different others…"
As if conjured, a shaped dropped from atop the ravine walls to a spot behind the team, trapping them between it and Britain. They reacted immediately, circling back-to-back and bringing up their weapons. With clattering above suggesting there were additional presences nearby, O'Neill and Carter managed to land their lights briefly on a large, reptilian figure as it darted around them in the starlit canyon.
Britain stepped forward, raising his hands to stop the spiraling eyes and tensions. "Rors, wait! They are no threat; they are of my people!"
"We saw the Ring's light, but no signal from you," came the croaky reply, as the SGC flashlights tracked instantly on Rors' scaly face. The lizard-man's eyes darkened against the light, but he did not lower the ragged blade he held.
"We were speaking…" Britain tried to explain.
"Two pairs?" the new arrival cut him off, "This is not as usual."
"Nonetheless, they are here. And they are armed."
Rather than escalating the situation, that the SGC was not helpless actually seemed to please Rors. "They have good weapons? That will help."
Gloating cheerfully at the turnabout cut-from-conversation, O'Neill half-feigned hurt, "Excuse me. We're standing right here…"
"Of course," Britain realized, and gestured as he made introductions. "This is Rors, the leader of Menagerie. This is United States Stargate Command's Colonel Jack O'Neill. Major Samantha Carter. Teal'c. And Daniel Jackson, their speaker."
Unimpressed, Rors continued to address only Britain. "We will take them to the village. You will finish your watch."
"But, they must be sorted and are of my people," Britain protested.
The reptile bent down to his face, knowing he may not be able to see the proximity, but he could feel, hear and smell it. "They do not seem broken to me, and so are not of your people. The Broken are Watchers, so you will watch! Sort later."
Unwilling or unable to win against the larger, louder leader, Britain simply looked down in concession.
With a call to the unseen others above, Rors motioned the SGC Team to follow him. Pushing his way unnecessarily through Britain, who was moving to step aside, the tailed ruffian set out without another word or look.
Not liking the change in the welcome's tone, the Team was nonetheless more intrigued by the apparent community, and mystery, into which they stumbled. Checking his watch, O'Neill noted they had some time before they were due to check-in; and so, with some attention to the path they were taking from the Gate, they could afford a little deeper investigation.
As they filed past the still downtrodden Britain, he caught Jackson's arm, and whispered, "Daniel Jackson, my watch is done soon, with sunrise. Rors will likely leave you at the village center; I will find you there."
Noting a lightening in the sky in the direction toward which they seemed to be heading, Daniel nodded, before realizing he needed a more tactile acknowledgement. Clapping his hand briefly on Britain's, he agreed on his team's behalf.
Rors did not wait for them to say goodbyes at the Gate, or to sightsee in the new world, as he moved quickly down from the low, rugged mountain and across a slightly less stony plain. There was no obvious road or path to follow; so the newcomers had to pick their way carefully over rocks and rivulets as the approaching sunrise slowly lit their way.
They were not joined visibly by others; but could occasionally hear and see figures out to either side. Though he never turned to confirm they were keeping up, the unrelenting Rors clearly had them on the move under careful watch.
Finally, as enough light had dawned, the SGC team could see two notable features beyond the greenish sky itself: First, a small, low collection of structures atop the low hill they seemed to be making for; the village, presumably. And the silhouettes of tall, sphere-topped spires reaching upward in the distance in various directions.
Drawing closer and with better light, they could finally see that the hilltop town was indeed a small, simple agrarian village surrounded by a hardy stone and stick stockade. It was only remarkable for the wide variety of architectural styles present. Using the same basic local materials, the inhabitants had clearly built out the hamlet in extremely varied styles: domed huts, rectangular cottages, A-frames, even burrowed holts.
Rors had paused at the gate, likely to gather them for easier management in the town. Indeed, a half-dozen motley forms caught up to them from all sides; their escorts closed in for tighter keeping now that they had reached home.
Not giving the upright, hardscrabble gecko the chance to reset the tone, O'Neill also demonstrated that he'd not made the march inattentive to the situation. "So let me get this straight: From time to time, people and animals are sent through the Stargate to join you all here on Menagerie. And you don't know who sends them or why?" he deduced.
"Does not matter," Rors dismissed, adding a "don't care" to O'Neill's list of options. "We must survive, and can do best when we work as one."
"An admirable and apparently successful strategy, Rors," Jackson chimed in, hoping some pragmatism of the flattery would gain them something as they were led through the gate without further conversation.
The first building within the gate stood out from the others beyond it, in that it was severely dilapidated and considerably more patchwork in comparison to others. And in front of it, a figure with a missing arm, and another with an obvious disfigurement, scurried inside at their approach.
In contrast, the other villagers appeared entirely able-bodied. And while most were human-appearing, the townspeople were racially diverse and included a number of visibly non-human species. None seemed the least bit surprised by the newcomers' arrival.
Sensing the imminent shift from chaperoned travel to whatever was next, Carter tried to gather a little more information to help them make sense of it all. "Has anyone every tried to use the DHD—the device with symbols on it, to activate the Gate from here and leave?"
Rors did not stop his meander through the few streets, as residents hurried to make space for him to pass. "Leavings only hurt the community, and so is forbidden. This now is home. You ask many questions, as newcomers do. You will accept in time."
They stepped into an opening among several buildings, where several narrow alleys seemed to intersect. While not large, what looked like a few market stalls and a well and pump suggested that this was the town square.
Leading them to the cistern, as Britain had predicted, the reptile turned and spoke tersely, "I have much to do. Remain here until someone comes for you." Without further anything, he headed down a side path, and left them to face the only mildly interested, passing glances of the busy locals.
O'Neill waved after him, and awkwardly at a few passers-by who quickly passed by. "Well, I guess that's the extent of the welcome wagon."
"Have you noticed the villagers?" asked Jackson immediately, not able to wait any longer to compare notes with his colleagues. "They're from a number of different species. The Goa'uld seem to be collecting beings from various worlds…"
"But Britain said it was the Germans took his granny. They found the Gate after World War One."1 O'Neill pointed out.
"But the Germans never knew what it was or how to use it, and had no DHD anyway," Carter reminded.
"Right," Jackson ran with the history lesson, forgetting his original query. "Catherine's father didn't get it working until well after the second World War.2 Britain made it sound like his grandmother was taken during the War; she and he didn't know that it was long over."
Carter interjected more strenuously, "And, where would the Germans have gotten all the non-human species we're seeing?" She nodded surreptitiously toward a flop-earred, three-legged couple that hopped past.
"Perhaps a Goa'uld posing as a Ger-man had a way to activate the Gate, and abducted the grandmother from Earth, and the others from their worlds?" Teal'c suggested factually.
"The Goa'uld and the Nazis would've gotten along well…" Jack nodded.
"But we have no other evidence that the Goa'uld were operating on Earth that recently," Carter stressed.
"Seth was in Washington state until months ago," Teal'c reminded.3
"But he was busy building a following for himself there, not colonizing other planets," said Jackson. "He didn't have a Gate anyway; so we're back to no gate."
"What about the second Gate?4" Carter decided to push the idea to the extreme, rather than fight it openly.
"It's in Antarctica, not London. And it had been frozen over for millennia when we found it."
Carter nodded, large-eyed as he made her point for her.
"Third gate?" O'Neill attempted to blow both their minds.
"I'm guessing they'd cut their losses after the Egyptians," Jackson dismissed.
"So if it wasn't the Germans or the Goa'uld in the World Wars with the Stargate…" Carter pulled them all along.
"That leaves… Professor Peacock in the study with the wrench?"
Both Jackson and Carter shot Jack a look, as Teal'c raised an eyebrow at the reference he understood enough only to judge it negatively.
Attempting to recover from the failed humor bomb, O'Neill summarized where the whimsical logic tour had left them. "Seriously, then we have some other aliens plucking people off the planet in the last 60 years in some other way. Hammond's gonna love that report."
Continuing to think aloud as he inspected the nearby tools and textiles, the anthropologist clarified, "Well, Britain didn't say that his grandmother was taken away through a gate, or even that she got here through one."
"That would sidestep the Earth 'Gate issues."
"But Britain seemed unsurprised that other humans are still coming through," Jackson continued. "He thought that we were just the latest batch. Which means someone's been operating on Earth, by Gate or otherwise, much more recently than we previously had known."
"Didn't I just say that?" O'Neill contributed while sniffing at a ladle from a well bucket.
Teal'c maintained his stoic observation with clear attention to his team's analysis. "Or, the humans have been pulled from worlds other than Earth. Britain seemed unaware that your world's conflict was long concluded; and so it would seem no one with that knowledge has joined the community since his grandmother. More likely, the other arrivals have been from any of a number of other worlds where the System Lords are still extracting people and resources. The technology level of this village is largely consistent with what we have encountered in those cases."
"I don't know," Carter contradicted, "it may not have been Goa'uld at all. Look at those…" She offered a pair of field binoculars she'd been using to look beyond the square, and pointed to one of tall spires visible above one of the buildings. "There are several of them scattered around the area. And I noticed what looked like the silhouettes of others farther out as the sun came up this morning."
"Anyone recognize these?" O'Neill asked as they each took a turn.
"They are not of any Goa'uld design I know," stated Teal'c.
"No apparent markings or symbols," observed Jackson, as he turned toward one further away.
"They're spaced and positioned like observation cameras," Carter reported.
"You think someone's watching the settlement, these people? Societal 'voyeurs'?" asked Jackson.
"Well, if it's not the Germans or the Goa'uld, then who could it be?"
"You two think this is some sort of interplanetary reality television show?" Jack asked, with clear doubt in his voice.
"Might it not be a collection? Like your zoological parks?" Teal'c suggested.
"Which means we need to figure out who the Zookeepers are."
"The name itself, 'Menagerie,' is French for a collection of animals," added Daniel, as the idea seemed to catch on among them.
A familiar voice called out to them, "My grandmum spoke French; she suggested the name."
They turned to see Britain approaching, with a clear familiarity with the streets of the village, despite being unable to see them.
Having apparently overheard enough of their conversation to find and identify them, Britain stepped up beside Jackson, and continued, answering their surprised and impressed expressions. "Other residents call it other things; there's been no need for any single name as it is simply where we are, not where we're from. And as you're now here, did Rors assign you housing?"
O'Neill stared at him, as if trying to figure out his out-of-place helpfulness, and whether he truly couldn't see anything. "No. He just sort of showed us in and left us here…"
Jackson explained they'd taken his advice. "We waited here as you asked."
Clearly pleased, Britain's face darkened a little as he shared what he felt would be less popular. "We have no spare spaces at the moment. Usually we only receive newcomers when there is space for them in the village. This is something new. Still, if you are willing, you are welcome to stay with the Broken until you can construct your own or something opens elsewhere. It is not much, and will not bring you any prestige among the others, but we would be pleased and honored to show you what hospitality we can."
"Well, that's awfully nice," exaggerated the Colonel, "but I don't think we'll be-"
Interrupting, Daniel shot Jack a harsh look, and placed his hand on their host's shoulder. "Thank you, Britain, we accept and greatly appreciate the offer."
Smiling, Britain nodded them to follow, and headed back toward the gate through which they'd entered.
As they walked, Jackson sticking close to their guide, as Teal'c took up the rear, O'Neill whispered to Carter, "Why do I get the sense that he still doesn't think we're leaving? Ever?"
NOTES
1. Stargate, the movie, established that a German-led dig discovered the Stargate in Egypt in 1928.
2. Episode 110, The Torment of Tantalus, established that the first successful transport—Catherine Langford's beau, Ernest Littlefield—wasn't until 1945.
3. Episode 302, Seth.
4. Episode 117, Solitudes.