Disclaimer: All the characters from the "Magnificent Seven" T.V. series are property of Trilogy Entertainment, The Mirisch Group, MGM Worldwide. Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of MGM, Gekko, Double Secret Productions.
As a general rule, mornings in the Larabee household were nowhere this hectic. However, when one had a wife who happened to be the editor of the Clarion News and a son who was readying himself for the school day, Chris Larabee decided that it could be forgiven that pandemonium was presently running riot through his house. The gunslinger and lawman watched his wife with mild fascination, the same way a man watching a twister across the desert might be mesmerised by the awesome fury of nature at its most prolific. At the moment, there was little difference between the two as cyclone Mary rampaged through the kitchen like a blur of colour with the soft rustle of her skirt following her around as she moved to the music playing inside her mind.
Chris chose to stay out of harms way, taking position at the head of the kitchen table, nursing his cup of coffee as he watched her moving through the room, running from little task to another. He pondered briefly how she managed to keep it all in memory, the things she had to do. Finally, Chris decided that it was one of those secrets known only to women and incomprehensible to men in general, even if they were so kind as to explain it, which they were not.
Mary was busily preparing breakfast and Chris savoured the aroma of eggs sizzling on the pan, along with the tasty smell of sausages cooking in its fat that seemed to seep into the walls of the kitchen and would remain there for most of the morning. It was a good smell, Chris had readily decided. It reminded him of all things wonderful and warm about his life in this house. His best memories of Sarah had been of the food she cooked and how it would travel through the house and remind him the moment he walk through the door that she was waiting for him. He was pleasantly surprised when the memory returned to him following the first morning of his married life to Mary Travis, reminding him in that overwhelming scent of hot coffee and warm breakfast that things had finally righted themselves in his universe.
She paid little attention to him as she worked, her thoughts locked in a place only she could see as she fulfilled each little task in her mind. Still, Chris marvelled at how she could do all the things she did with a pleasant smile of contentment on her face as if everything was under control and it only required her singular concentration for it to remain that way. He sipped his coffee quietly and did not offer to help. He had learnt early on that she preferred him to be just where he was, out of her way so she could get things done.
As Mary had once put to him so clearly, "If I need help, I'll ask for it."
He supposed that it was her way of keeping her independence, which was very important to her, even though she was a married woman now. Chris could not begrudge her that. His life was one of uncertainty even though he had placed himself in the domesticity of a wife and child, he was a still lawman in Four Corners and that meant death was something he faced daily. Should anything happen to him, Chris did not want Mary as helpless as she had been when Steven Travis had died and left her alone. He continued drinking his coffee, observing silently as she served the hot food onto plates and placed them on the table.
"Chris, put these on the table mats please?" She asked hastily as she headed towards the door of the kitchen and peered up the stairs leading to the upper floor of the house.
"Billy Travis, if I have to tell you again that breakfast is ready, you'll go to school hungry!" She barked and then turned on her heel and returned to the kitchen. She paused a moment, taking note that Chris was smiling at her.
"What?" She asked suspiciously, wondering what that curious expression on his face was all about.
"Nothing." He shook his head affectionately. "Got a big day planned?"
"Something like that." She found his smile infectious and found one stealing across her face as well as she realised how she must have sounded. He probably thought that she was mad even though his steel coloured eyes twinkled in warm affection. Mary wondered what Chris was thinking when he watched her silently like this, keeping counsel to himself as she flew across the room like a hummingbird, trying to fit so many chores into a few short hours. A lot of the time, Mary believed he was humouring her even though he was never less than encouraging in most of her endeavours, unless he believed that there was some genuine threat to be had.
"Everything will be fine." He assured her as she poured a glass of milk for Billy and placed it next to her son's plate. "Sit down for a moment and catch your breath. I'll get Billy to school myself if need be. You do whatever you got to do."
"Thank you," she said gratefully and leaned over to kiss him gently on his lips, wondering how she could have stumbled upon such a wonderful man hidden behind the hardened exterior of a notorious gunslinger. Mary sat down just as they both heard Billy's heavy footsteps running down the stairs, becoming louder as the boy approached them.
"I've got a pie made already," she instructed as she shook her folded napkin out and smoothed it on her skirt as they prepared to eat. "All you have to do is warm it up for lunch. I should be home well before evening so supper is not a problem."
"Okay," he nodded obediently, deciding he might surprise her by getting Inez to do something for that meal to save Mary from the chore when she returned home that evening. "I'll keep Billy with me for the rest of the day once school is out."
"There's no need," Mary countered quickly. "Apparently, some of the children are going to the creek after school so I wouldn't expect him back before supper."
"I'll be at the jailhouse or the saloon," Chris replied. He knew that she would prefer him to be in town if she was going to be away from it for a few hours, in case of any emergency that might occur with Billy.
Normally, Chris would spend the day out at the shack with Vin and Buck, continuing their work on the new venture of horse ranching. For the last week or two, they had been hard at work building stables and corrals for the horses they had yet to buy and knew that it would not be very long before the venture was up and running. It had been relatively quiet in Four Corners, with no signs of outlaws or any kind of criminal element that might require the attention of all seven lawmen. Of course, there were always routine things that needed taking care of but with careful management, Chris had seen to it that the work was shared evenly. However, with Mary's trip out of town today, Chris had decided that it might be nice if himself, Buck and Vin took a break from the work.
"Anything interesting or newsworthy I ought to know about?" Mary asked as Billy made his appearance in the room, dressed for school with his books in hand. Good mornings and salutations were traded back and forth as the boy sat at his part of the table and immediately dug into his food with the ravenous frenzy typical of a growing boy his age.
"Not really," Chris answered her question. "Just a few drunks in the tanks according to Josiah. Nothing that's going to top your story with Doctor Faulkner."
Some weeks ago, a group of travellers had discovered an ancient Indian site that seemed to predate most of the tribes originating in this area. The discovery of the ancient mounds underground had been growing in prominence for some years now, with more and more of these strange constructs being discovered. However, the most recent excavation was nothing like those previous sites as it was almost ten times larger than any mound found and it was almost completely buried underground, as if someone had built a fortress they wished hidden from all eyes. It did not take long for an archaeological team to converge on the site and very soon, large-scale excavation was being conducted under the very tightest rein of secrecy with the press being barred from the site.
Mary, who had an interest in ancient Indian cultures had made a chance meeting with Dr Calvin Faulkner, the head archaeologist at the site and had struck up a conversation with him during a trip into the town by the doctor to get supplies. Faulkner, an elderly man who was impressed by Mary's genuine interest in the project, since she had more than just a journalist's curiosity to exploit a story, invited Mary to visit the site and write her story, confident she could do it without sensationalising the entire subject. Chris knew nothing about archaeology or journalism for that matter but he did know that this was a tremendous opportunity for her.
For Mary, it was a chance to write about something exciting and different, not to mention that several major newspapers had approached her about picking up the story and running it in their publications, which further sweetened the whole project. Mary had not felt so inspired by anything she had written since she first started the paper and she was further gratified by how supportive Chris was by the whole thing.
"I guess not." She said feeling a surge of emotion at how wonderful he had been through all this. She had been driving him crazy with research as she formulated notes on the questions she would ask when the time came for the meeting. "Thank for you being so good about this." She replied taking his hand in hers.
"Well," Chris eased back into his chair and remarked with a hint of teasing. "I was just doing it so you'd become this famous writer and I can be a kept man really."
"You'd die of a boredom in week." She giggled.
"I don't know," Chris disagreed, still indulging the moment of silliness. "Billy and I would find something to do wouldn't we?"
"We sure will." Billy nodded. "We could go fishing, hunting and all those things people in the big city do."
"Enough!" Mary laughed as the two men in her life enjoyed their little joke enormously. "You're starting to overwhelm me with pressure."
"You can do it ma." Billy declared with the unabashed honesty that sliced through all her reservations, only a child could deliver so effectively. "Ma can do anything, right Chris?"
"You can't argue with that." Chris grinned. "He's a smart kid."
"Naturally," Mary said with a perfectly straight face. "He's my son."
"I notice that he's your son when he's a smart kid and he's mine when he gets in trouble." Chris pointed out, recalling that he had heard the same words from Sarah about Adam. "You ready for school, pardner?" Chris turned his attention to Billy who was wolfing down his breakfast like he was starving.
"Yep," Billy answered. "Mrs King said we're going to start a new book today, Peter and the Wolf."
"That's a good story." Chris agreed, having read it once himself a long time ago "You'll like it." He told Billy. "It's about a boy who goes hunting for this wolf."
"How wonderfully gruesome." Mary wrinkled her nose in distaste, wondering what it was with the male psyche that drew such fascination from hunting things down and killing it. "I've got to go now if I want to get to the dig early," she said finishing up her breakfast and turning to Billy. "You too Billy." She urged him to finish his meal quickly.
"You go," Chris offered, "I'll see to it Billy gets to school in plenty of time."
Clearly this was an idea that suited her for she did not reject it immediately and took a moment to consider her answer before replying in the positive. "All right then," she said looking at both husband and son as she planted a kiss on Billy's forehead and another on Chris' lips before sailing out of the room. They heard her pause in the hallway where she collected her basket that contained all the things she would need for her sojourn out of town, including a bit of lunch, writing implements and her notes. "I'll see you for supper. Don't get into any trouble." She called out.
"We won't ma." Billy reassured her boisterously.
"See you Mary." Chris made a similar farewell and then looked at Billy with a smile and added in a softer voice. "The only who gets into trouble around here is her."
"I heard that!" She sang out before pulling the door close behind her.
"Buck," Alexandra Styles said impatiently. "I can't listen to the baby's heartbeat if you don't shut up."
"I just want to know everything is all right." Buck whined as he was forced to stand in the corner of the examination room, hating it that he was forced to remain in place like a misbehaved child. For a moment, Buck had flashbacks of his few years in schools, where being the class clown was not as entertaining to the teacher as it was to his fellow students. Buck had been banished to the corner when both Alex and Inez Rossillos had become so annoyed by his hovering as the doctor tried to conduct her fortnightly examination of her patient that it was either that or to be thrown out of the room altogether.
"Buck," Inez glared at him from where she was lying on the examination table. "If I knew you were going to be like this when you first asked me, I would have never have let you come with me for this examination."
"I just want to be apart of it." He complained, digging his hands into his pockets and really feeling like a child now. His curiosity was insatiable in this because both mother and child meant so much to him. He already felt excluded that Inez would not marry him as should have been the proper thing to do with a child coming into this world but he was not about to miss the other aspects of the birth experience. He wanted to be there for Inez in everything, even this because his father had not been and Buck hated the idea of being thought the same way.
"Well you can," Alex replied as she continued her examination. "Just do it quietly, I need to concentrate on what I'm doing." She said as she conducted the standard tests that were required to be performed on a woman in her third trimester. Inez was almost into her eight month of pregnancy and she was no longer able to work in the Standish Tavern, spending most of her time in the kitchen since cooking was the one thing she could still manage without her physical condition hampering her movements.
"So what you doing now?" Buck inquired as he saw Alex wrapping a strange device around Inez's arm and squeezing air through the rubber tube attached to it.
"Just checking her blood pressure." Alex explained, not minding answering his questions when he was out of the way like this, instead of getting under her feet. The material around Inez's forearm began to inflate, while at the same time, the part of the device which held its readings was under close scrutiny by Alex.
"Am I okay?" Inez inquired now.
"Yes," the doctor nodded after a moment. "Its always high during pregnancy. Don't forget, you increase four times the amount of blood normally in your system, which is probably why you feel a little bloated."
"A little?" Inez glanced at her swollen abdomen with sarcasm. "I feel like water buffalo."
"You look like one too." Buck grinned.
"And here I wondered why she hadn't married you yet," Alex gave him a look. "How can she decide when you're such a charmer."
"I aim to please." He replied, taking a tentative step closer. "So everything is okay with the baby?" He asked again, trying to hide his concern behind his facetious sense of humour.
"Perfectly normal," Alex answered for his benefit as well as Inez and saw that they both let out a sigh of relief following those reassuring words. "You're in good shape Inez and the baby's heart beat is strong."
"You can hear it through that thing?" Buck gestured to the statoscope hanging around her neck.
"Yes," Alex nodded before a thought came to her. Slipping the device from around herself, she handed it to Buck and instructed him to put it on. "Go ahead," she smiled, knowing that for all his masculine bluster, the pride at being a new father was a genuine feeling for Buck. Holding the other end against Inez's stomach positioned it carefully so that he could hear the baby clearly.
Buck was not sure what he was listening for, thinking how odd the device felt in his ears at first to appreciate the raspy sounds to be any more than friction of metal against the fabric of Inez's dress when suddenly it came through like a clap of thunder. Then he heard it; loud and rumbling with a steady rhythm that seemed mire in thick fluid, distant yet so unimaginably close. As he realised he was hearing the tiny heartbeat of his child amplified for his listening pleasure, his face slipped from curiosity into that of wonder.
"I can hear it!" He exclaimed like a child unwrapping a wonderful Christmas present. "I can hear his heartbeat! God it's so loud!"
"It usually is through the statoscope," Alex pointed out even though she was pleased at his reaction but not as much as Inez who was trying her hardest to hide the emotion welling in her eyes. Despite her outward ambivalence to Buck at times, Alex could tell that Inez was deeply moved by Buck Wilmington's efforts to be apart of their child's life even before its birth. Inez still bore the stigma of being an unwed mother. There were some factions Four Corners' society that considered her to be little more than a wanton, Inez had survived the trials of her pregnancy because of the friends firmly in her corner and the man who would gladly defend her honour to the death if necessary.
"Hi Darlin'" Vin Tanner announced himself as they heard the front door of the clinic open with the arrival of the tracker.
"Hey Vin!" Buck immediately called out with excitement overflowing from his voice in elation at what he was hearing. "Get over here!"
Vin made his way up the hall after closing the door behind him and appeared a moment later through the partition that separated the examination room from the rest of the floor. He peered cautiously past the canvas first, ensuring that he was not interrupting anything by his sudden appearance. Ever since he walked in on Alex and one of her patients in the early days of their relationship, the tracker had been careful not to simply come barging in on her, having deciding that he never wanted to see another dowager's bare bottom again.
Vin kissed Alex in greeting upon entry before he turned his attention to his friend whose summons had brought him here. "What's up Buck?" Vin asked as he approached the tall man who was still transfixed by what he was hearing through the statoscope.
"You gotta listen to this." Buck declared, pulling the device from his ears and handing it to the tracker so Vin could hear for himself what had captured Buck's imagination.
"You just have to love his enthusiasm." Alex chuckled as she looked at Inez who was rolling her eyes in resignation at Buck's enthusiasm.
"What?" Vin asked quizzically as he inserted the buds of the medical instrument into his ears and wrinkled his brow in concentration to order listen to what Buck wanted for him to hear.
"Just shut up and listen." Buck said impatiently, wanting to share his wondrous discovery with everyone and deciding that since that was somewhat impractical, he would have to be content with just Vin for the moment. He had never thought something as simple as hearing an unborn child's heartbeat could be so amazing but Buck was learning that there was much about himself that he was only now starting to discover thanks to the impending arrival of his child.
"I hear it." Vin said after a second, a faint smile crossing his features as he recognised what it was Buck was trying to impart to him. He met Alex's gaze and they both shared a moment of warm affection at the life that was forming before them, even if they were not personally responsible for it. Just being apart of the whole thing made the experience all the more special, Vin found himself thinking. "Its amazing." He responded into that too soft voice of his, hinting the awe that remained unspoken by apparent by the sparkle in his cobalt coloured eyes.
"Isn't it?" Buck grinned. "My sons' got a heart beat like a stallion."
"Your son?" Inez looked at him with amusement. "What makes you think that it's going to be a boy?" She questioned as Alex gestured that they were done with the examination. She immediately started to move of the table, ending Vin's session with the statoscope. The tracker promptly handed the instrument back to Alex as Inez stood up.
"Its gotta be." Buck insisted. "That's a boy's heartbeat."
"I think having a daughter ain't so bad." Vin replied. "So long as she got ten fingers and toes and is all round healthy."
"Which I can safely say it is for the moment," Alex finalised her report for Inez's benefit. "Whether or not it is a girl or a boy. Just take it easy this last month and don't stray too far from town. Its not uncommon for you to go into labour prematurely, this being your first child and all."
"God wouldn't do it to me." Buck retorted, maintaining his abject belief that their child was going to be a boy. "He wouldn't give me a daughter. I'd have to stand shotgun over her and keep her from every varmint that ever slithered across the Territory. I'd have to keep her safe from... "
"Someone like you?" Vin asked with complete innocence even though the mischief was apparent in his eyes.
"Yeah," Buck mused uncomfortably at that possibility. He thought of all the angry encounters he had endured throughout his adult life from angry fathers, some who were so persistent in their determination to save their daughters from ruin and more specifically from him, that they were ready to shoot him. Any daughter of Inez's would be beautiful and he knew personally how single minded some men were when it came to the chase.
Oh no, he thought to himself, not his daughter. No way in hell was anyone getting close to her...
"You done here?" Vin asked Alex, ignoring the troubled look on Buck's face as the possibility of what having a daughter would mean to him, impressed itself on the Lothario's mind like nothing before.
"I think so," she answered with a smile, wondering if he had something in mind and so hoping that he did. It was a beautiful morning outside and despite the fact that she ought to be working, Alex would love to spend a day with Vin out of town. "Anything else you want to ask me Inez?" She asked the mother to be who was collecting her basket and the father of her child who was still dazed by the idea of daughter. "Have a good time you two." Inez replied and motioned to Buck to follow. "Come along dad."
"But I don't know anything about a girl... " Buck replied as he followed Inez out, barely noticing anything else. Inez rolled her eyes and shook her head in resignation, accustomed to all of Buck's eccentricities by now.
Once Inez and Buck were gone, Alex slid her arms around Vin and returned to his initial inquiry. "Looks I'm free for the day, cowboy. What did you have in mind?" She asked with a suggestive gleam in his eyes.
"Well Chris needs to stay in town today so we won't be going to the shack," Vin replied, savouring the feel of her against him. They had not had that much of a chance to spend the whole day together lately, what with his obligations to Four Corners as one of its guardians as well as the horse ranching venture that he, Chris Larabee and Buck Wilmington were partners. He missed their rides together and wanted to spend some time alone with her. "I thought we'd take a ride to the river or something." He suggested.
"Or something huh?" Alex beamed, liking that idea a great deal. "I could spend a day doing that." Like Vin, Alex could not remember when was the last time they had spent any quality time together and she looked forward to the day he had planned for them, enough to know that she could leave things in Nathan's capable hands for awhile. Between Nathan and Rain, Four Corners could afford to be without its resident physician for one afternoon. Besides, when it came down to it, Vin would always come first with Alex and it was with great confidence that she could safely say that it was the same for him too. After almost a year and a half together, their relationship was just as fresh as that curious day when Vin and Alex had first acknowledged how they felt for one another in isolation of Agnes Doherty's cabin. In the time since then, they had weathered all kinds of storms and Alex had come to the firm conclusion that there was no longer any hurdle that could rip them apart.
Their love for each other was eternal even if they were not.
As planets went, Colonel Jack O'Neill of SGC Team 1 had seen better places to visit since becoming an interstellar traveller.
PX250, as it was uninspiringly called was a hellish world, radiated with a rapidly decaying orbit that was being drawn to a red giant that had successfully rendered the entire planet uninhabitable. A few brave yet futile traces of vegetation still remained on the surface, struggling to survive in the ever increasing heat with no idea that doom was coming for it and the life that had been spawned in the baked soil. The analysis of what remained of the planet's atmosphere indicated that this was a world once filled with life, with enough pollution in its content to indicate the presence of a civilisation well beyond the nuclear age.
Normally, a world in such a state of ruin would not rate a second glance by the SGC Command, however, the probe sent through the gate had also detected evidence of the highly advanced species that had once been in residence here. Despite the exploratory nature of the SGC, it was still in essence a military body and as such the need for betters weapons to fight the Goa'uld threat took precedence in matters where science ought to be making the crucial decisions. The leavings of a sophisticated society who might have fended off the Goa'uld threat was nothing to dismiss without further investigation and thus armed with radiations suits and Geiger counters, SGC Command sent its best team through the gate.
"Well this is nice." Jack let his gaze sweep across the landscape and found nothing that appeared terribly inviting. In the distance, they could see the silhouette of a city with tall spires and buildings whose architectural design appeared very much Egyptian in its origin.
"Its fascinating." Dr Daniel Jackson remarked, pushing his glasses further up the bridge of his nose as he walked on ahead, seldom considering that it might be dangerous to do so.
Jack had become used to Daniel's ignorance of military protocol, having to remind himself often that the young man was by nature and trade a scholar, who spent most of his life around books while he in turn had lived his life moving from one covert operation to another. However, despite it being terribly easy to label Daniel as little more than a bookworm, Jack knew from experience that in a fight, Daniel was more reliable than any soldier he had ever served with and an even better friend. They shared a kinship in discovering the secrets of the gate together during that first mission to Abydos and since that moment, the friendship that resulted saw past their differences.
"It's the first time we've seen a truly evolved race that might have originated from the Egyptian pantheon. Normally, the Goa'uld control keeps the culture from developing but this," Daniel regarded the city ahead with almost childish wonder. "This is truly remarkable."
"Well, you're not wrong there," Major Samantha Carter smiled at Daniel's youthful enthusiasm not to mention his typical scientific curiosity. Sometimes, it was easy to forget that Daniel saw their trips through the gate were not simply missions but scientific expeditions. "It certainly has a high concentration of Naquadah. The readings I get are off the scale. Mostly coming from a north west direction."
The blond woman looked in a direction that was not near the city even though she knew it was where Daniel wish to go the most. However, they could make a survey of the city at another time. At the moment, it was more necessary that they investigated their primary motive for coming here in the first place, the Naquadah. With radiation levels so high, they could not afford to be exposed to this atmosphere for more than a few hours before cellular degradation would began to take effect.
"Perhaps a mine." The final member of SG1 remarked. Teal'c as always said little but saw everything. The former Jaffa was just as fascinated by this world as Daniel himself, noting how it bore familiarities with his own home of Chulok, if had it been free of Apophis' rule to evolve in its own stead. Like PX250, Chulok was one of the few worlds to maintain an Egyptian influence in its social development and everything from its architecture to its belief reflected the culture that sprung from the banks of the Nile.
"No, the readings don't seem to be consistent with ore deposits." She paused and looked ahead, as if she could physical see their destination even though it was about a kilometre away from their present location. "It appears refined."
Jack left his team to ruminate as he cast his gaze over the sky and was reminded of the caution received about doing that. Staring at a red giant for too long a period could blind a person. As it was, they were forced to walk around in these cumbersome radiations suits that protected them from radiation but felt like sauna against the skin. He wanted this mission over and done with as quickly as possible. Besides, he was uncomfortable at the look of the sky. Even now, they could see the churning and bubbling heat on the surface of the sun, promising a thousand kinds of death in a nuclear fire. "Let's just get there and do the survey." Jack growled, feeling the hellish landscape before him affect his mood with just as much turbulence.
"This way," Sam replied, taking the lead since she recognised his tone all too well and knew what concerned him. As the astrophysicist of the group, she more than any of them were aware of the danger in remaining here too long. While she would love to indulge Daniel his desire to further examine the city, she was military too and her conditioning to the complete the mission overrode the scientific considerations.
They crossed the distance to the Naquadah reading in good time, since there was very little in their way to cause delays. There were traces of civilisation all the way to the location, structures that were quickly slipping into complete ruin with the heat and harsh windstorms that scoured the landscape. Natural vegetation and wildlife was all but none existent, the only survivors of the terrible climatic upheaval being no more evolved than lichens and mossy growths that required little water to survive. Most of the terrain was covered in fine dust, wind erosion having blown away the topsoil long before this.
"I wonder what happened to them?" Daniel asked as he glanced longingly at the city it was becoming apparent they would not have time to investigate.
"This culture is quite technologically superior Daniel Jackson," Teal'c remarked. "I believe they would have used the gate to escape."
"I agree," Sam added. "Whatever is happening has been coming for a long time. I think there is no one here because they left before the atmosphere became this."
"How are we for time?" Jack asked, thinking that was the perfect note on which to check the countdown to their own departure. The sky was rumbling with atmospheric discharges of radiation emanating from the sun's turbulent state and gushes of gale force wind only made Jack more eager to leave.
"Two hours." Sam answered automatically. "We're not far from where we're supposed to be Sir," she informed him dutifully. "Just over this hill."
As they crested the top of the bare hill, they found themselves looking down over the sprawling expanse of what appeared to be a structure half buried in the ground. The wind erosion had sand blasted away the soil that had covered it and the pyramid remained half exposed to the world. The indications of civilisation around the pyramid was absent as if no one wished to be near this relic that seemed as old as it was forgotten.
"Is that what I think it is?" Jack asked, staring through his visor at the thing and praying that they were not going to be facing a Goa'uld System Lord with a very big ship.
"No it is not," Teal'c spoke up for the benefit of his companions who had erroneously believed it to be a ship even though they could be forgiven for thinking so. Goa'uld builders in general did not have much imagination and their ships, their architecture and engineering followed a fundamental design. "I believe it was an underground fortress but I have not seen one for a very long time. Apophis did not favour such structures."
"It's a bunker?" Jack looked at the big man with mixture of disbelief and surprise but knew that Teal'c seldom imparted information that was not accurate.
"Its incredible." Daniel exclaimed and was already striding towards it.
"Daniel hold up." Jack ordered, disliking anything that was a surprise to him and not about to let the kid do something stupid by treading where angels feared when they knew nothing about what 'that' was before them. Daniel paused and waited for the others to catch up with him before resuming his journey towards their unexpected find.
"This is the source of the Naquadah Sir," Sam confirmed what they had all guessed already. "It's almost constructed entirely of the stuff."
"Wonderful," Jack remarked abruptly, more concerned about the threat it might pose as opposed to the design of it. "Teal'c you said you saw one of these before, when?"
"It was before I became First Prime," Teal'c answered as they approached the exposed apex of the pyramid that was jutting from the earth. "It was on a world formerly under the control of a Goa'uld System Lord that had been thought dead for many centuries."
"Which one?" Daniel asked off handedly.
"I believe it was Isis." He answered.
"Isis?" Daniel stopped and looked at Teal'c. "Really?" He was surprised even for Daniel and Jack wanted to know why.
"And this Isis was... ?" Jack prompted Daniel to explain.
"Well, she sat in the pantheon of Egyptians gods almost as highly as Ra. She was his consort, whatever you want to call it. Like Hera to Zeus, she was the Queen of All." Daniel explained, even more inspired that they might be finding a relic of that famous goddess. "Its explains why she built her fortresses underground as well. Isis was a goddess of fertility and motherhood; she is attributed to anything relating to growth, like Demeter who controlled the seasons. Earth mother would be the best description of her. She would have felt a great infinity to stay close to the soil because that was meant to be her domain I suppose."
"Like Hathor?" Sam inquired, remembering with distaste that particular Goa'uld.
"Not like Hathor," Daniel shook his head. "Hathor seduced men with pheromones but Isis was known to be a sorceress with great powers of cunning."
"This could have been one of her worlds." Teal'c pointed out.
"Well she hasn't been here in awhile." Jack remarked. "No way, she would let these people become what they did if she was still in charge."
"O'Neill is right," Teal'c remarked. "Like all Goa'uld, Isis would not allow this world to develop and achieve technological superiority that might be a threat. This is mostly likely one of her enclaves but I doubt that it has seen her presence for a long time."
"That's good to know." Jack replied and then turned to Daniel. "Okay kid, knock yourself out."
There appeared to be only one entrance into the structure since all others had been sealed from the outside, probably by the former residents of this world to prevent intruders from stumbling into any Goa'uld booby traps that might have been left behind. It required Teal'c staff weapon to blast an opening through the doors since the locking mechanism was damaged. Musty air from years of confinement bombarded them as soon as it was freed from its long imprisonment, briskly being blown away by the harsh winds sweeping across the globe. As Jack and Teal'c prepared to enter, Daniel studied the markings on the damaged door.
"Can you read it?" Sam asked as she peered over his shoulder as he studied the unmistakably Egyptian glyphs on the stone. Much of the inscription had been worn away and only a few clearly defined glyphs still remained to be translated.
"Not really," Daniel admitted disappointed. "Most of it is gone. The only words I can make out are Isis and Sekhmet."
"Sekhmet?" She looked at him quizzically as he turned away from the carving and prepared to follow Jack and Teal'c into the structure.
"Yes, she was supposedly sister to Hathor." Daniel explained as they allowed the darkness of the pyramid bunker to envelop them. "The powerful one as she was called, as well as the Eye of Ra. She was a warrior goddess."
Sam did not speak. Some months before, she had played host to a Tokra Goa'uld named Jolinahr. During their joining, Sam had learnt that not all Goa'uld were conquerors and Jolinahr was part of a resistance movement. When Jolinahr had been forced to relinquish his hold of her body in order to save her life, the genetic memory of his knowledge still remained inside of her. Thus Sam now had vague impressions of Goa'uld culture that was of immeasurable importance not only to the SCG but her understanding of the Goa'uld themselves. "Jolinahr remembers her," she whispered after a moment. "She's extremely dangerous, a real beast of conquest."
As they progressed down the narrow corridor, they could see Jack and Teal'c up ahead, lighting the way with one of their xenon powered torches. The powerful illumination of the lights gave Sam and Daniel a clear view of what was ahead and they soon entered a secondary chamber. Their new surroundings were strangely devoid of anything except a golden sarcophagus that sat in the middle of the room. There was no evidence of any technology or even furnishing for that matter and it only added to the mystery why everything was taken except for the sarcophagus.
"I don't get it." Jack said confused after they had activated the control panel and found the tomb like device empty. "What leave this and take everything else?"
Daniel had to admit it was confusing. Of all the technology that was at the Goa'uld disposal, this was possibly the most important piece of equipment they possessed. The sarcophagus had the ability to restore life even from a state of death. Its powers of regeneration could cure any illness and was used to maintain Goa'uld bodies for great lengths of time, even through centuries of existence. "Are the other rooms like this?" He asked Jack.
"I will go investigate." Teal'c offered and disappeared into the darkness before anyone could say the word to stop him.
"Colonel, look." Sam motioned him to where she was standing. While Jack and Daniel had been pondering the absence of any artefact other than the sarcophagus in the room, she had been making a close study of it in silence.
"What?" Jack inquired striding up to her and realised what she was staring at. The dirt on the ground was thick and until now, none of them had paid any attention to it because they had naturally assumed that no one had been inside this place since it was sealed long ago. However, what she was found was very obviously the scuffled marks of footsteps in the thick film of dust. Someone had been here and recently by the tracks on the ground.
"Uh Oh," Daniel uttered first, always underestimating the situation by a country mile.
"Someone is in here." Jack declared in silent horror, realising that Teal'c was presently wandering this place alone, with no idea that they were not alone. "How is that possible?"
"With the sarcophagus here, it's extremely possible." Daniel replied. "If they were trapped in here. Oh wow, they would have no choice but to use it."
"You'd go insane." Sam mused, unable to imagine such a terrible fate. "Imprisoned like this for who knows how long."
"I know I'd be pissed." Jack declared and started towards the direction Teal'c had taken. "Teal'c! He called out after the former Jaffa warrior. "Teal'c!" He cried out again but there was no answer, just silence that seemed all the more foreboding in light of what they now knew.
Suddenly out of nowhere a bolt of energy exploded into existence, impacting not too far from the sarcophagus. Daniel and Sam immediately ran for cover behind the Naquadah construct, knowing that it would withstand the blast of what appeared to be the discharge of a staff weapon. Jack had barely missed being hit full in the chest and landed badly as he leapt out of the way, feeling his shoulder pop as he impacted on it against the hard floor. Taking advantage of the confusion, the enemy emerged, two shadowy forms that moved quickly through the room, with no intention of finishing them off as they ran down the corridor the same way the SG1 team had entered.
Sam did not follow them; instead she and Daniel hurried to Jack, who had yet to get up. The colonel was lying on his side, wincing in pain at the injury to his shoulder. "Don't just stand there!" He barked at her. "Go after them!" He ordered.
Sam nodded wildly, leaving Daniel to tend to the colonel while she took up the chase. As she ran down the lengthy corridor, she could hear their voices whispering and realised that whomever their attackers had been, they were definitely female. For a duo that had been kept in virtual isolation for so long, they made it to the surface with remarkable speed although Sam wondered how long they could tolerate exposure to the radiated hell of the atmosphere. It did not help that it was difficult for her to keep up with them while she was trapped inside this radiation suit which made it difficult to move with any kind of agility.
Arriving on the surface, she saw their attackers more clearly under the bright light of day. As suspected previously, the voices belong to a pair of women, clearly Mediterranean in origin, running at top speed towards the gate. Sam aimed her gun and fired, sending a hail of bullets in their direction to stop them in their tracks. However, the sarcophagus had kept their bodies healthy even though they would be seeking new hosts because the older a body became, the harder it was for it to be renewed inside the sarcophagus. Unfortunately, they were too far out of range and all her bullets served to do was alert them to her presence. Immediately, they swung around and started firing at her since the staff weapon did not possess the limitations of her gun.
While they did not succeed in harming her, Sam had a premonition that this was not the point of the exercise. The two women who were wearing the garb of upper echelon Goa'ulds were attempting to keep her at bay while they made their run for the stargate. However, it was not just them that gave the astrophysicist concern now. As she looked at the sky, there seemed to be something brewing in the atmosphere, looking ominous as the clouds rumbled and the atmospheric disturbances intensified. Sam was suddenly felt that it was not wise to remain any longer and immediately reached for her radio.
"Colonel." Sam spoke into the receiver.
"We're right behind you." Jack O'Neill's voice returned almost immediately. "Teal'c is okay. They managed to blind side him."
"Colonel, its getting pretty nasty on the surface, I think we should get out of here now." Sam interrupted before Jack could tell her anything more. "The two Goa'uld are making their way to the gate, I'm going to try and stop them."
"Negative," Jack responded in a burst of static. "Follow them close enough to see where they're going and we'll catch up with them later."
"Are you sure Sir?" She asked and then realised this was probably the wisest course of action at the moment. They had been taken by surprise and the environment at this time was hardly the place to debate the issue.
"Yeah," he answered. "We'll meet you at the gate shortly." With that, the line was terminated and Sam found herself hurrying to follow his orders.
By the time she arrived at the gate, the two Goa'uld were already there and starting the dialling sequence. Sam made certain she stayed out of sight because her instructions had been to maintain surveillance of their destination. As she watched them converse in a language, Sam was certain Daniel could understand with ease, she noted that they were not as well preserved as she originally believed. Although they appeared healthy, it was obvious that their long confinement had taken its toll on their host bodies. She could see age catching up with them and knew wherever they were going, they would be searching for host bodies.
It was hard to distinguish between the two women since they were both of the same racial type. The Goa'uld seemed to prefer Eastern bodies and these were no exception. However, ones wore the classical robes of a Goa'uld queen while the other was dressed in leather and armour. Jolinahr's memories immediately identified the latter of the two as Sekhmet. It was Sekhmet who began the dialling sequence and to Sam's surprise, the address entered was that of Earth. They were going to Earth! Why?
On further thought, that destination made sense. After all, for two Gou'ulds who needed human bodies as hosts, there was no better destination that the source of humanity. Also, with their long confinement, they had no idea that the stargate on Earth was protected by a titanium iris that would kill them the moment they attempted to penetrate it without transmitting the proper signal to the SGC. As the last glyph on the dial home device as activated, the stargate came alive, spurting the matter stream through the circle of Naquadah before settling into a shimmering film of energy.
The Goa'uld wasted no time in taking advantage of the escape the portal offered and immediately disappeared into its rippling surface. As Sam watched them vanish, travelling to almost certain doom, she could not help but feel a twinge of pity for the death they were about to endure. After all, it was sad to think they had been trapped for so long only to find that their escape was equally meaningless.
In any case, it was too late now. The moment they had chosen Earth as their destination, they were doomed.
"This is absolutely amazing." Mary Travis Larabee remarked as she stared at the artefact before her. She could understand what all the fuss was about now that she had seen the excavation for herself. This was by no means any type of mound dwelling found in this area in recent years. As her eyes travelled over the huge circle of smooth polished rock, with its odd yet mysterious carvings inside an inner ring within the main frame, Mary knew they had stumbled upon something that was unknown to man before this moment. In fact, if she did not know better, she would think that the symbols engraved were not an ancient Indian language at all but more Egyptian even though she knew that was impossible. What on earth would Egyptian carvings be doing in North America? It made no sense.
"Tell me, Mrs Larabee," Dr Faulkner said with a smile, enjoying the young woman's unabashed enthusiasm and fascination of what was becoming the find of the decade if not the century. "What do you think those markings are?"
"I have no idea." Mary confessed, "I would have thought that they were of some ancient Aztec culture but they look almost... " She did not wish to voice her claim, knowing he would think her stupid if she were wrong.
"Egyptian?" He ventured a guess.
"Yes," she admitted reluctantly. "But I'm an amateur at this sort of thing."
"You would be correct." He stated with a smile. "They are Egyptian glyphs, hence the reason for all the secrecy."
"Oh my god," Mary found herself exclaiming. "How is that possible?"
"Mrs Larabee, this entire dig is an impossibility." The old man with the tufts of grey hair and the perennially rumpled clothes gestured to the cavern before them. Not only was it one of the biggest underground structures she had ever seen, it was explained to her that this fortress of rock was man made and the artefacts that they had been finding were the like of nothing that had ever been seen. The biggest mystery of all was this enormous circle of rock, which appeared to resemble some kind of altar.
"Look at this," he presented her with an ornate piece of wrist jewellery that was worm around the hand and coiled exotically around the wrist with an enormous blue gem at the centre of the wearer's palm. Its design was one of the most breathtaking things that Mary had ever seen as she examined it closely, she could see why this excavation was becoming such a defining event in archaeology.
"Its beautiful." Mary whispered as she continued to study it. "Is that a sapphire?" She asked of the gem in the middle.
"I would say so but its cut its beyond any technique that's ever been recorded." Faulkner answered as they continued walking past the other workmen in the main chamber. "I know I am on the verge of something extraordinary," he sighed. "But it will take me the rest of my life to find it."
"It's a worthy goal." She said warmly, still studying the device.
"You have a good eye for these things." He said truly impressed with the woman. There were not many journalists who loved the work for the stories they could tell, not the prestige of it. Mary was one of those rare individuals that wrote her stories as a reflection of the people they were meant to represent, not as sensationalist fodder in the pursuit of profit. "I would like you to continue your work with us. Record what we are doing here with the intention of a writing a book."
"A book?" Mary stared at him in astonishment. "Are you serious?"
"Absolutely." He declared. "You have an affinity for the work we are doing and I believe you truly care about the integrity of this site. That makes a great deal of difference to us here."
"Doctor Faulkner," Mary stammered, unable to believe what he was offering her. Not only would she adore being here while they uncovered the find of the century but to be given the opportunity to write about it, to be lifted out of the mundane diatribe she had been writing for the past eight years, it was almost a dream come true. "I don't know what to say." She swallowed, feeling her emotion choke the voice from her throat.
"Say yes," he urged.
Mary was about to respond as he asked when suddenly, they heard the shudder of rock slamming against rock. Immediately both of them turned their attention to the direction from which the noises had come and to their absolute surprise saw the circle beginning to move like a combination lock that was being turned and snapped into place. Mary was frozen but Faulkner and the other members of the dig hurried to the artefact, watching the inner ring of its construct sliding back and forth, pausing at certain symbols and sliding past others.
When the inner ring had reached its seventh symbol, something extraordinary happened. A gush of light exploded from the hollow of the circle, sending out a surge of something that could have been foam but she knew instinctively was not. Faulkner and the others were standing right in front of it and Mary opened her mouth to caution them away from the device but it was too late. In stunted horror, she watched the wave explode outwards; vaporising them like smoke as it washed past them. Faulkner and his team had barely time to scream as their bodies disappeared in front of Mary, withering away like one would blow away ash. By the time, the wave recoiled back into a ripple like film of gossamer over the surface of the circle, Mary knew without doubt that Faulkner and the excavation team were dead.
For a moment, she did not know what to do. She wanted to run but journalistic curiosity in all its folly kept her rooted to the spot. She was witnessing something incredible and Mary could not draw away even though every measure of sense dictated that she should. She watched the ripple in mid air, like the surface of water, standing up on its edge. It was the most frightening thing she had ever seen and the most amazing at the same time. Slowly, she took a step forward when suddenly; two women appeared from out of the strange surface.
Their clothing was like nothing Mary recognised but their skin colour and their features resembled Alexandra Styles for some reason, appearing exotic like the doctor herself. They regarded her with cold eyes before their gaze moved over the cavern. The one who was dressed in leather and what resembled armour approached her while the other took stock of their surroundings.
"Hello." Mary attempted to communicate, wondering if she was mad for still being here.
The woman in the leather smiled faintly and immediately sent a chill of fear through Mary's spine. There was something predatory about it that made the prey immediately sense danger. The editor of the Clarion backed away instinctively but it was too late. The woman's grip was strong and had her by the hair even before Mary had a chance to turn and run.
"Let me go!" She shouted defiantly. "What do you want?"
The woman did not answer but seemed to look at her with some measure of approval. She turned to her companion and spoke in some incomprehensible language. The other, the one dressed in robes and finery seemed to feign similar approval and Mary became all the more terrified for it. She struggled to break free but her captor's grip was strong like steel and Mary's attempts to escape felt childlike and futile.
Suddenly, she was thrown on the ground, face first. As she hit the dirt, Mary squinted as grains of sand entered her eyes. "What are you doing!" Mary cried out as she felt the woman's knee on her back, pinning her to the dirt helplessly like a child sticking a pin through an insect on cork. She was aware that the back of her dress was ripped away and the bare skin of neck and upper back was exposed. For a moment, she thought absurdly that this was rape and knew it was impossible. The woman's hand was holding her head down now, her grip secure by the large clump of golden hair she had intertwined in her fingers.
Mary froze when she felt something slither across her skin. Something wet and small, like a snake. Her reason left her then and she started screaming as it travelled up her spine and brushing against the soft tissue of her neck. That was one final moment of sharp intense pain, when Mary Travis Larabee felt it penetrate the skin and then everything that she was disappeared in the scream that followed.