The Stargate stood in the small clearing, the trees leaning in closely on either side. Thick soft snow lay on the ground, undisturbed by all except the tiniest feet. Ahead a range of mountains arose from over the trees and nestled in its foothills, a temple stood.
The Stargate began to whirr. All seven chevrons locked into place and the event horizon shot out like a plume of water then recede to form a shimmering watery mirror. Four figures emerged abruptly and the mirror disappeared, leaving only the ring.
Slowly the figures picked themselves up and then COLONEL JACK O’NEILL sighed.
O’Neill: Why are there always trees? Does no one ever build these gates anywhere but in the middle of trees?
The other members of SG-1 didn’t answer. They knew that the Colonel didn’t really want one. They proceeded to unload the equipment they had bought with them.
DR. DANIEL JACKSON looked around him with surprise.
Daniel: Wow, snow.
He bent down and picked up a lump in his gloved hands. The child in him awoke. Daniel patted the snow into a ball and slowly straightened up. Jack’s back was towards him. Pulling back his arm Daniel hurled the snowball through the air. It connected with a solid thump into the Colonel, sending sprays of snow down his back and into his hair.
"Who the hell threw that," demanded Jack, turning to face his team. Everyone looked back at him blankly. Then Daniel pushed his glasses up onto his nose. Jack knew then. Balling up some snow of his own he threw a ball straight at Daniel. It caught the archaeologist-linguist full in the face, leaving him spitting snow.
"Serves you right," Jack admonished him.
Daniel smiled then went back to watching the rest of SG-1 and surveying the sights before them. He huddled deeper into his coat. At least the snow made change a from water. It always seemed to be water or trees. Daniel wasn’t sure which he hated more. Oh course it was still cold. At least the deserts of Abydos were warm. Roughly he pushed the image away. It still hurt too damn much.
CAPTAIN SAMANTHA CARTER looked around her as she began to unpack the equipment that had come through the Stargate with them. She was certainly glad of the change of scene. And it was nice that they got this chance to view this planet before the team went on shore leave. She hoped they could find something in the temple that the UAV had shown when it had passed over. Hopefully they could use it against the Goa’uld. Jack’s voice broke into her thoughts.
O’Neill: Right campers, lets move out if we’re to get to this temple before nightfall. Teal’c, you take point, then Sam and Daniel. Let’s move out.
The team picked up their packs and rifles and headed off towards the temple that stood above the trees like a beacon. As they proceeded, Jack and Teal’c kept an eye out for any natives but heard only the chatter of small animals in the trees. Soon the group reached the clearing in which the temple stood.
The late sunlight caught the gold brick of the building before them. The trees grew closely to the walls, and before them the entranceway rose imposingly. Daniel tipped back his head to take in the full height of the building.
Daniel: Wow!
Teal’c: I concur, Dr Daniel Jackson, it is most impressive to behold.
Cautiously the group moved towards the doorway. Daniel reached out his hand and ran it lightly over the bricks. Glyphs were marked into the walls and Daniel leaned closer to read them. Pushing his glasses further onto his nose he read: Here is light in the darkness.
O’Neill: What the hell does that mean. It’s some kind of light switch?
Daniel: I believe it is referring to its standing in whatever community was once here. Like in Christianity when the Christ is supposed to be the light in the dark.
Jack nodded sagely, not understanding.
O’Neill: Let’s see if anyone is home?
He doubted it somehow as the only village the UAV had shown looked deserted and was at least a days march away. Still, you could never be too careful. Slowly the team moved their way into the main hallway of the temple. A staircase spiralled above them and four doors led off to other parts of the complex. One pair of doors lay to the team's right, with a third in front and the fourth lying opposite the two on the left. Statues stood in alcoves, with more glyphs on the plinths on which they stood, and two large figureheads guarded the staircase.
Jack signalled to the left and the team headed through the doors. Shortly they arrived at what appeared to be cells. In each were a bed and a small window. More glyphs were carved into the walls. Daniel took out his notebook and proceeded to copy them down trying to translate them as he did so.
O’Neill: Anything interesting?
Daniel: (frowning) I’m not sure really. These are harder to read than the ones outside but these appear to be some kind of holding cell. I’ll have a better idea when we get back and can get the linguistics team on them.
Finally Daniel stopped scribbling. The other members of SG-1 had been examining the cells but found very little. They retraced their steps and when they reached the main chamber the group decided to split up. Daniel and Sam investigated the ground floor while Teal’c and Jack went upstairs.
Sam and Daniel decided to split up. Daniel took the room to the left and Sam went straight on. Daniel walked the short way down the corridor and found himself in seventh heaven. The room was small with what appeared to be a desk in the middle. Shelves filled with books lined the room's wall. Excitedly Daniel pulled one out and began to read. He became lost in the translation and was startled when Sam appeared in the doorway behind him.
Sam: Daniel you’ve got to come and see this room.
Daniel, still looking at the book replied, "Can I just finish with this. It’s fascinating. I..."
He looked up at Sam’s amused laughter. "Okay," he conceded, "I’m coming."
He replaced the book and followed Sam.
The room they entered caused Daniel to whistle in appreciation. Sam stood back and watched as Daniel reverently moved forward and reached out to touch the altar that took pride of place.
The metal felt cold beneath his hand and was dulled with age. Again, more of the strange glyphs, but this time they were scratched into the surface of the altar, more crudely drawn than the rest. Instructions of some kind, Daniel wondered as the translation unfolded. He moved slowly around making notes of what he could see and trying to decipher the words that covered the walls.
"Incredible"
In each corner of the room, more statues stood in small alcoves. They seemed to be almost standing guard. Sam and Daniel looked closely at the altar. Grooves ran along the edge at each corner, glinting as though something were inside. However neither could find a way of retrieving the artefacts. The writing that ran around the base of the altar fascinated Daniel. He could barely read it and what he could read made no sense. He would have to wait until they returned to Earth to make a full study.
As the two explorers looked up they saw faces reflected in the conical ceiling above them. Then Sam realised that it was Jack and Teal'c looking down on them from above. She waved and Jack waved back to show that he had seen them.
The two teams reunited in the main chamber where they had started their search.
Jack and Teal’c filled the group in on what they had seen.
Jack: Basically lots of stairs and lots of books. You’d love it Danny.
Daniel frowned and Jack had to stifle a laugh. He loved teasing the younger man. Sometimes he couldn’t resist especially when Daniel was in one of his serious moods.
Daniel quickly told the Colonel and Teal’c what he had discovered in both the altar room and in the smaller ‘library’ as he had decided it was.
Daniel: It’s almost as though someone lived here keeping the records I found. I don’t understand most of it but what I can figure out is that this place served as some kind of meeting place for the community. There are records of people and whom they married, almost the equivalent of a parish back home. I’d really love to be...
Jack interrupted him. He knew what was coming next. Daniel wanted to stay and read all the books and he would probably forget all about going home.
Jack: Don’t forget we only have 24 hours on this planet, Daniel. How about we set up camp here and then the good Captain can show us what you found while you go and read your books. Deal?
Daniel nodded. He understood. He was civilian while the other three were military. Although Sam shared his desire for knowledge he knew that Jack didn’t feel the same way. What Teal’c thought was a mystery as usual. The tall Jaffa’s face showed no emotion what so ever. Daniel found it strangely disconcerting sometimes. He shrugged off a shiver. If he didn’t know Teal’c as well as he did that lack of emotion would be almost frightening.
The group rapidly set up their tents in the wide-open space of the main chamber, then set about eating their rations. Everyone hated them. They had as much taste as cardboard and that was on a good day. Jack checked his watch. They had been here some five hours and it was getting dark outside. It looked like snow. He said as much. Daniel shivered. He hated snow. Sometimes he would give anything to be back on Abydos, warm and in the arms of his wife Sha’re. The memory stung. Sha’re wasn’t there anymore. She was now Goa’uld and he had sworn to destroy them. He sighed and made a conscious effort to push the image of his wife to the back of his mind. Instead he turned to one of the books he had picked out of the library and began to read, making notes as he did so.
Sam stood and stretched her back, working out the kinks. Gate travel always did this to her. Still, she thought, she wouldn’t give up what she had seen for all the gold in China. She wandered over to the walls and began to examine them, peering closely at the engravings and running her hands over the carvings that ran around the edge of the alcoves in which the statues stood. Their eyes seemed to follow her around the room and made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. Shaking off the feeling she returned to the group.
There seemed little to do. The group dozed quietly, keeping alert in case of danger, but all was quiet. Daniel fell asleep, the book still in his hand. He dreamed of warm sunshine and sand beneath is feet. He awoke to hard stone floors and freezing cold. He decided that the best way to keep warm to was to move around. He decided to see what he could find upstairs. They still had a while before they had to return to Earth. Perhaps he could find something to use against the Goa’uld.
Daniel went up the winding staircase and found himself on a landing with rooms leading off a central corridor. He decided to see do a methodical search and see what he could find that might be of interest. The first door he went through had more books lining the shelves and huge tomes on the floor. He sat down cross-legged and began examining them, making notes as he went. They seemed to tell the story of the people who had lived here. Daniel wondered what had become of them. Standing he looked out of the window just in front of him. Trees stretched as far as they eye could see. White topped and obscured by snow, the whole scene looked like something out of a fantasy novel. He looked down and something on the side of the building caught his eye. He tried to see but from the angle he couldn’t quite make it out.
Maybe if he went outside...?
He made his way back downstairs. As he passed through the main chamber he was vaguely aware that the rest of the team had moved, but he wanted to see what was on the wall. He exited the temple and made his way so that he stood below the window he had looked out of. He felt a small chill but continued on his search. As he craned his neck Daniel could see inscriptions carved into the walls. He’d noticed them on the way in but now they glinted almost as though they were inlaid rather than carved.
He held out his hand and traced them around the wall. It didn’t make much sense. Perhaps if he started from the beginning. Slowly he retraced his steps and began to decipher the inscriptions. The snow crunched beneath his feet and he could hear the animals chattering in the trees. Time passed and Daniel moved his way around the temple. Soon however his path was blocked. Large trees grew so close to the walls that it was impossible to pass. Daniel sighed. Perhaps he could continue reading from the other side. Either way he could go no further. He made to move and then noticed a small creature just above his head sitting on one of the branches.
He craned his neck to see it better. It was about the size of a lemur but was stripped like a zebra. It had sharp, deadly looking claws. Its eyes were small and hooded and seemed almost green in the diffuse lighting. It held his gaze and chattered softly. Daniel relaxed and turned to leave.
The next thing Daniel knew the strange creature had leapt from the tree and had him by the throat. The force of the creature flinging itself at Daniel knocked the linguist to his knees. Then Daniel felt its teeth pierce his skin and he cried out in pain. With a curse he remembered that he had forgotten to zip his jacket, and the thing was biting right into his throat. He couldn’t pull it off. It jaws were locked. He tried to scream but could barely draw a breath.
Inside the temple the team were looking at the strange altar room. Jack could hardly figure out what it was used for. He really needed Daniel but the young man had been fast asleep when Jack had decided to investigate. Perhaps they should go and wake him. However the illustrious doctor had disappeared by the time they returned.
"He’s probably in the library, I’ll go and get him." With that Carter headed off. Jack and Teal’c waited patiently for her to return, unaware that Daniel was at that very minute on the other side of the main outer wall, fighting for his life.
Daniel struggled to pull the little creature off him, but now he barely had enough strength to lift his arm. His vision was clouding and Daniel was finding it hard to breathe. A shiver passed through him and as the darkness closed, Daniel pitched forwards onto his face. A red stain began to spread on the virgin snow, and the creature lessened its grip.
"He’s not in the library, sir," Carter announced on her return.
Jack’s heart lurched. Why did the archaeologist never stay put?
"Well, we’d better find him. God alone knows what kind of trouble he’ll get into otherwise."
However twenty minutes of searching the building proved fruitless.
"Maybe he is outside?" Teal’c ventured. "It is the only place left."
Jack agreed, although what the world’s greatest allergy sufferer was doing outside he had no idea. And he knew Daniel hated the cold. Still, unless aliens had abducted the man...
As they reached the door and looked around, Jack saw footprints heading to the back of the building. Gesturing with his hand the team set off.
Daniel stirred. His head ached and he was cold. Groggy, he hauled himself to his feet and waited while the world completed a loop-the-loop. Daniel blinked and with his hand on the wall began to move forwards. Then he stopped. The world was still blurred and he couldn’t quite remember how he had got outside. Then he vaguely remembered the inscriptions of the wall. A quick check showed the notebook was firmly in his pocket. He must have slipped in the ice and fallen. However he didn’t have long to think as Sam, Jack and Teal’c came around the corner. Still unfocussed, Daniel realised he must have dropped his glasses. He fell to his knees and began to feel for them.
Sam was the first to see Daniel. He was on his knees with his back to her.
"Sir, he’s over here!" she announced.
"Daniel, where the hell have you been?" Jack demanded as he rounded the corner.
Daniel stood and faced them and then Jack exclaimed "Dammit Daniel, what the hell have you been doing to yourself?"
The front of Daniel’s shirt was soaking wet and a small trickle of blood ran from a cut on his head. The rest of him seemed relatively intact. The younger man however seemed dazed and confused.
"I must have slipped and hit my head on something." Gingerly he raised a hand to the bump that was forming.
"Sorry...if I caused any trouble" he apologised, noting the concerned faces.
"Okay," said Jack, "but remember not to stray too far this time," as they began to head back to the entrance.
"Find anything interesting?" Sam asked Daniel as the two of them fell slightly behind on the walk back to the Stargate the next day.
"What? Oh, yes, the inscriptions are certainly fascinating but I’ll know more when we get back to earth." He rubbed absently at an itch on his neck and then as they reached the DHD, he dialled home.