Isis knew her time had come. The boy was born healthy and human and full of memory. Her own memories led her to me, poor, small Anukis, minor of all the 'gods'. Without knowing why, she trusted me, she gave me her sons and we added "Protector of Kings" to our unwanted godhead. And then she left to meet her fate.
As reward, we condemned our beloved Isis to living entombment, but she understood. Her legacy would live on in the boy.
The boy grew and Ra became troubled. For the Taur’i had begun to think for themselves and Ra’s grip on their world was weakened.
Legends began to spread of a King descended from the gods who would come and free his people, and we did nothing to dissuade them. Harceisis, legend called him, 'Son of Isis'. We called him Horus because it attracted less attention.
In Ra’s final retreat from the Taur’i, we saw at last the beginnings of our salvation. But he commanded Seth to remain behind and told him his life was worthless if he left without proof of the Harceisis’ death.
And the gateway was buried and sealed and we were trapped with Seth on this world. And even as the last rocks were put in place, the legends began to fade.
But there are legends and then, there are legends.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Daniel hit his head against his desk. He didn’t have any pens within arm’s reach, and pencils just weren’t the same. A cup of coffee materialized at his elbow and he started to reach for it, but stopped.
“What? asked Sarah.
“Nothing, Daniel said, taking a sip. “It’s just, the last time you offered me coffee while I was stuck on a translation..."
“Right," Sarah said quietly. “You know, I wonder if Halleigh knows what it says."
“Halleigh?"
“Oh, my student. She said its been in her family for generations."
“There are Goa’uld symbols, Sarah."
“I know that. But we’re at a dead end here, Daniel. If she knows anything..."
“Call her." Daniel gestured to the phone.
Sarah reached for the receiver just as the phone rang and she pulled back to let Daniel answer.
“Jackson...Oh, hi Sam...It’s how old?...My god...Yeah, thanks...Give us a minute. I’ll call you back."
Sarah looked at him expectantly as he replaced the receiver.
“We were right. The border is made of obsidian, and Sam senses a bit of naquadah, what made you feel weird, in the silver. My guess is that the naquadah is what kept the silver in such good condition."
“She dated the obsidian?" Sarah asked.
“Yeah." Daniel replied. “I didn’t even know we had the equipment to do that here. She probably built one from scratch. Anyway, the last time any tool retouched the surface of the pendant was approximately 10,000 years ago."
“Same as the key and the jars."
“Still think your Halleigh’ll know what it says?"
“It’s all we’ve got, Daniel."
“I don’t think this is the kind of thing we should do over the phone. I’ll talk to Hammond and find out how much we can tell her, and we’ll go to Chicago ourselves."
~~~~~~
Halleigh Madisen truly loved archaeology. On days like these, though, when the sun shone and the temperature was pleasant and she was chained to her desk studying for exams, she wondered why. She kept telling herself that she just had to get through this and then she would be off to a place where it had the decency to rain during the examination period. That helped. A little.
Her telephone rang, and she welcomed the distraction. There was only so much pottery she could take in an afternoon.
“Hello, Halleigh speaking...Oh, hello Dr. Gardner...Oh, just pots...Yes, fascinating." She giggled. Pottery chronology might be absolutely necessary, but that didn’t make it any less tedious. “Um, your office?...Half an hour?...Yes, I’ll be there."
Halleigh replaced the receiver and furrowed her brow. Dr. Gardner sounded terribly excited about something, and Halleigh couldn’t for the life of her think what it might be. Probably some new reason to add to the list of why she should stay in Chicago instead of going abroad. Her curiosity firmly piqued, Halleigh got herself in order and headed to the university campus. She made her way to the archaeology building and followed the familiar path up the stairs.
She recognized immediately the man who sat in Dr. Gardner’s office. He was the infamous Dr. Daniel Jackson: brilliant mind, whacked out theories, and a penchant for dropping off the face of the planet. Her classmates often joked that she would end up like that. It was one of the reasons she was leaving for post grad; she wanted to get as far away from the Jackson legacy as she could.
Still, she could not deny the thrill of excitement she felt when she saw him. The last time he’d shown up, there had been a string of murders, Dr. Rayner had nearly been killed, and Dr. Gardner had vanished, only to return three years later claiming to have been on extended research leave. Things happened when Daniel Jackson came to town, and the prospect of that was infinitely more exciting than pottery chronology.
Halleigh knocked, even though the door was open and both doctors could plainly see her.
“Come in, Halleigh." Sarah said, gesturing to the empty second chair. “This is Dr. Daniel Jackson."
“Yes, I know." She replied, shaking his outstretched hand.
“I showed Dr. Jackson your necklace. He was very interested in it."
“He came to Chicago just to see a family heirloom?"
“Actually," cut in Daniel, “Sarah brought it to me in Colorado, and when we couldn’t figure it out, we came here. And heirlooms are kind of our business."
“Colorado?" Halleigh exclaimed after nodding in concession to his point. “You took my necklace 1820 miles? And figure out what?"
“What it says." Sarah said calmly.
“I could’ve saved you the trouble." Halleigh said, wondering how on earth she was going to explain this conversation to her friends on Monday.
“You know what it says?" Daniel asked quickly.
“Um, yes." Halleigh faltered slightly, taken aback at how seriously Daniel was taking her. She was unaccustomed to adults treating her like this. “It’s a good luck charm. The symbols in the middle are the lucky part, and the words around the outside are some sort of ancient, actually, I don’t know what language it is. Anyway, it says something along the lines of ‘Never look a gift horse in the mouth’."
“That’s why we couldn’t translate it!" Daniel exclaimed, punching Sarah’s desk and causing both women to jump. “Idioms, clichés! They don’t make sense because thought patterns are different in different languages. I mean, in English we say ‘Once in a blue moon.’ but in Spanish, the closest equivalent is ‘Every time a monk dies’."
“So why couldn’t Teal’c translate it?" Sarah said. “He should have been able to get the words in the right order, at any rate."
“He translates jokes for us sometimes. They don’t make any sense."
“Excuse me," Halleigh cut in, a bit louder than she intended. “What is going on?"
Sarah and Daniel exchanged a long look.
“What I am about to tell you is classified under section 11C9 of the National Security Act. In 1928 , in Giza....."
~~~~~~~
If there was one thing Halleigh had learned during her almost four years at the University of Chicago, it was when not to interrupt people with the letters PhD after their names. Of course, Halleigh wasn’t entirely certain she was physically capable of interrupting this particular lecture. It was taking every ounce of will she possessed to keep her mandible attached to the rest of her skull. Dr. Jackson’s voice had lost most of its excitement, but Halleigh got the impression that he was not merely reciting by rote; very few people ever got to hear what she was hearing.
“So...you’ve been right. All along." Halleigh said when Daniel finished talking.
“Yes. I have."
“That really sucks. That you can’t tell anyone, I mean."
“A little." Daniel stammered. “But that’s not really the point. I need you to tell me everything you can about the necklace."
Halleigh looked down at the jewelry in her hands. 10,000 years old, he said. And Osiris was real, except he was an alien who, until recently, had lived in the body of her professor. And Daniel Jackson traveled to other planets.
“My grandmother gave it to me," she began, “She said that it should have been my father’s, but that he wasn’t much for silver. Then, she said that someday, someone would come for me, because of the necklace."
Daniel gaped at her.
“She was 89 and had senile dementia." Halleigh explained. “She said a lot of things. Some of which make an odd sort of sense now."
Daniel put his head in his hands and gestured that she should keep talking.
“Of course, the reason she couldn’t give it to my father was that he and my mother were killed when I was six." She paused for a second. “Anyway, when Nana died, I was the only one left from her side. I got, among other things, her diary. That’s where I read what the symbols mean."
“Do you have the diary?" Sarah asked.
“No." Halleigh said shortly. “A few years ago, one of my cousins, from my mother’s side – they’re the ones who adopted me – joined this whacked out cult in Seattle, of all places. He came home one weekend acting like a complete stoner, started a fire in my room in the middle of the night and then disappeared. About a week later, he showed up again with some story about brainwashing and how some guys from the Air For-"
This time, both doctors were staring at her.
“You need to come to the SGC with me." Daniel said. “Right now."
“I don’t know you, you’ve just told me a really far out story, and I am in the middle of exams."
“Halleigh, you need to listen to me carefully." At any other time, Halleigh would have been offended if someone had spoken to her like that, but something about Daniel’s tone gave him her complete attention. “I do not know why yet, but you and that necklace are way, way more important than you ever thought possible, and you have to come with me. Now."
There are times in life when one’s gut shouts so loudly that one’s brain is forced to accept that, regardless of how ridiculous a situation may seem, it is the absolute truth. A thousand chance events and random occurrences suddenly fell in order, and she knew.
And, to be honest, her curiosity was killing her.
“I’ll go with you."