Chapter IX
Unknown Planet, 35 light-years from Earth
The first thing the extra-worldly tourists from Earth saw was the darkness cast by the tall trees. The beams of light from their hand-held electric torches quickly found the trail, and the four travelers advanced with caution. The last dark forest on a mission had not ended well at all. Jonathan O'Neill still had nightmares of the place, what it had done to him and his team.
As they emerged from the treeline, they saw with surprise that SG-10 seemed fine. When the flagship team of Earth's Stargate program hailed them down, an expression of sorrow crossed the other team's faces as they hurried to meet. A quick exchange confirmed to SG-1 that the others were who they appeared to be, and the reason for the former team's mission took the foreground in their minds.
"What's with the radio silence?" O'Neill asked, not outright accusingly, but not quite his normal tone either.
"They don't work, sir. None of them, not even the MALP. Even... even the GDO is not functioning."
"What do you mean, they don't work? Mark checked them himself before you left, like he always does," Carter said, confused and alarmed.
"At first we thought it was something wrong with our radios. Then we tried our flashlights. Then we tried the MALP. They're fried. Something about this place is destroying electronic devices, Colonel O'Neill, Captain Carter. Only the ones hardened against EMP are safe, and even they seem a bit glitchy after a while.
"So... there's some kind of interference in the atmosphere that is damaging electronic devices," O'Neill repeated.
"Yes, sir."
"Well, fuck. That's bad."
-o-
Gringotts Main, Diagon Alley
In Europe, Gringotts to be precise, Bill Weasley was examining an ancient tablet under a strange contraption, one with numerous concave and convex lenses of various materials attached to it. Every so often, Bill would make notations on a piece of parchment, and then resume. His visitor waited for him to finish his work, tapping her foot impatiently. Finally, he set the tablet down, and stood.
"Sorry about that, Hermione, but that artifact needed my full concentration. One slip and the decoding would have been... messy, and in a very bad way. What's up, Fred told me you had a school project and you wanted my help?"
"Research project yes, school project no. This is much more important. Listen, Bill, have you ever heard of a form of mind control where the eyes change?"
"Change?" Bill asked, suddenly very alert. "Hermione, tell me exactly. What kind of change?"
"It was... freaky. One minute, they were the normal green, and then... then a shadow seemed to mix into them, struggling to take control. I... I need your help, Bill."
Bill let out an alarmed squeak. "Shadows? Fighting in the eyes? This is bad. This is really, really bad! I- I'm going to be right back. I'm talking to my boss. She might know what to do."
-o-
Unknown Planet, 35 light-years from Earth
It had been two hours, and Sgs 1 and 10 were still no closer to finding out how to fix their situation. Immediately upon realizing their situation, they had dialed back in and thrown rocks in Morse code, spelling out their situation and warning to not send anyone after them. They had then set off to find shelter, as it was approaching the night, and to hear SG-10 tell it, the local wildlife made the Goa'uld seem cute and cuddly in comparison. And were exclusively nocturnal, when the seven stranded humans would not be able to see them coming. Joy.
"Hey, T, where's that temple you were tellin' us about back at base?"
"It is north of here, Colonel O'Neill, and is not far from the stargate. We may, indeed, reach it before nightfall."
"Well, that's good news," one of the marines proclaimed. SG-1 groaned. He had just taunted the Great God Murphy.
-o-
Just after sundown, SG-1's suspicions were proven correct. The other shoe had dropped, and dropped hard. First, the temple was in the forest, where even hours before dark it was as though it were night. Second, one of the beasts SG-10 had described was now chasing them. Third, the temple's doors were sealed shut, and they had no shelter to speak of.
The creature snarled as it stood over Colonel O'Neill, having already killed two marines and knocked Teal'c out of the fight. Captain Carter was sporting some rather nasty gashes from the curved talon on the monster's paw, and Doctor Jackson had a rather sizable bruise on his forehead. If they survived, a concussion was probably. As things stood, though, it looked like this was the end.
Suddenly, the creature yelped in alarm, and ran off. When he stood, O'Neill saw why. The doorway, previously shut, was now gaping wide. In the frame stood a young-looking man with vivid, almost glowing green eyes. In his hands rested a smooth staff, the color of platinum. Semi-familiar runes decorated the shaft, and a small opaque stone was nestled between two prongs.
"Sorry about that. I was on the other end of the facility. I only just got here." The man seemed genuinely apologetic.
"S'alright," O'Neill said. "Can you help us out? My team seems to need medical attention, and I'm not feelin' to great myself."
"Sure," the other person said with a shrug. "Let's get them inside and I'll guide you to the medical bay."
-o-
"So, where are you from?" Harry asked in the hall.
"Earth. A country called the United States, to be specific," O'Neill said.
Harry was stunned, but quickly schooled his expression to indifference. Thankfully, the other earthling hadn't seemed to notice, but an uncomfortable silence fell upon them anyways.
After a moment, O'Neill said, "So, I hear you aren't the biggest fans of the snakeheads."
"Snakeheads?" Harry asked, confused.
"Goa'uld," the older man explained.
"Ah. Yeah, no. I can't say I'm overly fond of them."
"Teal'c told us."
"The Jaffa over there?"
"Yes. How'd-?"
"I have my ways," Harry explained mysteriously. "I can also tell you that anyone who opposes the false gods is welcome here. He will come to no harm by my hand. Ah, we're here."
Two doors retracted into the walls, and the lights came on as though they had a mind of their own. Just as suddenly, five beds lowered from the ceiling, and hovered in place three feet above the ground.
"Okay, that is cool," O'Neill said in awe.
"It gets better," Harry assured. The beds moved to the group, and broke apart into four floating orbs apiece. They quickly assembled themselves into a rectangle again and suspended each person within their confines, then took them to a station.
"I want."
Harry chuckled.