Embedded Files
Part One
I did my best, it wasn’t much
I couldn’t feel, so I learned to touch
I’ve told the truth, I didn’t come all this way to fool you
Leonard Cohen – Hallelujah
The mist was curling back up into the temple, chill grey tendrils wrapping themselves around the feet of SG1 and their guest as they continued to wander through ancient stone archways, exploring the Furlings’ temple in the hope of finding Maybourne’s promised weapons cache.
Jack sighed and fixed Maybourne with a malevolent glare. His feet were cold, his butt was numb; his kids were happy, but he was swiftly reaching zero tolerance point.
“Anything yet?”
Daniel, camera in hand, turned reluctantly away from the altar in the open courtyard and moved back under the archway. His eyes continued to rove, drinking in every aspect of form, structure and markings that were visible. He looked at Jack standing under the arch on the far side of the temple and shrugged.
“The temple seems to have been constructed by the Furlings, Jack. All the carvings are in their script and…” Daniel trailed off in frustration.
Jack pulled a face in commiseration. The Furling’s language was one of a very few that had not surrendered to Daniel’s talents and the tantalizing enigma of the hidden knowledge it must contain was a constant challenge to the SGC’s galactic linguist.
Teal’c wandered in from patrolling the pathways around the temple, the long cold wait for developments beginning to show in his bearing.
Daniel was peering closely at the script carved into the side of the archway. Jack glided behind him and breathed in his ear, “What’s it say?”
“Only the righteous shall pass,” Daniel supplied, his best poker face on behind his glasses.
“Very funny, Doctor Jones.” Jack got the hint and went to stand by Teal’c where it was safe from frustrated scientists.
“Carter?”
Sam turned from the panel she had uncovered over an hour ago. “Sorry, sir. I still don’t have much of an idea how this works. I think we’ll have to use the key.” Her eyes slid to where Maybourne lounged against a wall, triumph lighting up his face.
Jack let loose another theatrical sigh. He’d known it would come down to letting Maybourne activate the field hiding the weapons but was uneasy with the former NID man being the only person with the knowledge. Still, if it got his butt back somewhere warm it was worth the risk.
“Oh, wait a minute. I want to get some black and white shots of the panel before you activate it,” said Daniel. He stepped over to Carter’s side, juggling camera, notebook, pen and the clips on his vest. His pack thudded into the bare earth behind his feet.
Maybourne straightened up and strode over to the panel set into the pillar beside the archway, his patience at an end. Before Daniel could finish stowing his gear and retrieve the still camera, Maybourne was reaching around Carter and with three swift moves engaged the key in the panel.
Nothing happened.
“Wait a minute,” Daniel protested from his position crouched over his open pack.
Maybourne shot a confused look at Jack. “Well, it’s supposed to turn on.”
“Why did I know this was all just a sham? Carter…” Jack gestured with his P-90 for her to take another look.
And from there everything dissolved into chaos. Maybourne stepped back, Carter stepped forward, Maybourne snatched the zat from her holster, fired and she was falling in sizzle of blue static. Maybourne leaned over her before she had even hit the ground, grabbed the key and yanked it from the panel. With a hum and a zing the archway to Daniel’s left lit up a bright golden field of light. As Sam’s body hit the ground, Daniel turned his alarmed gaze to connect with Maybourne and the zat swinging up to point into his face. The look of apology on Maybourne’s face did nothing to help the matter.
Daniel automatically dodged away from the zat, his legs powering him up from his crouch, but almost instantly defeated in the move as his left foot caught in the open pack, sending him lurching towards the shimmering doorway of light. He barely had time to bring his arms up to protect his head before connecting with the field. A violent sucking force gripped him by the head and shoulders and he was swept away, the pack going along for the ride, dangling from his foot.
An outraged howl came from Maybourne: “I am not going to spend my retirement in the company of an archaeologist!” The moment’s pause was his undoing. Remembering the rest of the team, he turned the zat towards them, timed perfectly to catch a zat blast from Teal’c and a bullet in the shoulder from Jack. Off balance from the double impact, he slumped back against the pillar and the remnant energy of the zat blast danced from his body and into the panel.
Circuits left unused for centuries overcharged and fed back on themselves, as zat energy crackled and began to short out the doorway’s inner workings. The golden field flickered, strengthened then flickered again.
Jack and Teal’c were already moving as Maybourne slumped on top of Carter. A look of understanding passed between the two soldiers: of acknowledgement of what Jack was about to do, of acceptance of Teal’c’s duty to stay behind and care for the remnant of his team, of farewell.
Jack took three steps, a huge breath and flung himself at the sputtering wall of light. Giant hands clamped around his body and carried him away.
The field fizzled brightly then snapped off in a shower of sparks. Teal’c stood alone, two unconscious people at his feet, anger and despair in his heart at the fate of his two dearest friends.
Daniel lay sprawled on his back, head ringing and breath catching on a myriad of unfamiliar scents in the air. He blinked, frowned, then began to push himself up. Overhead, a loud sucking pop heralded the arrival of Jack O’Neill, suspended for a long second in mid-air before plummeting six feet straight down into the not-so-welcoming arms of Daniel.
“Ooof!”
“Ow, damnit.”
“Jack?”
“Daniel. Thank God.”
“What, why, where – what happened, is Sam okay?” Daniel wheezed in Jack’s face.
Jack reached up and patted Daniel’s face gently, a big smile creasing his face. “You’re alright? Not hurt?”
“No. Well, breathing is a bit difficult. Have you put on weight?”
“What? I - NO. Oh, crap.” Jack rolled off Daniel and hopped to his feet, doing a fast three-sixty to threat assess the area. And got trees – flowers – birds – bees – Daniel. They were smack in the middle of a mountain meadow, a carpet of yellow daisies surrounding them. Tall conifers ringed the meadow, and behind them, mountains, mountains and yet more mountains. The sun’s rays were warm, the season looked to be late summer/early autumn. No ancient crumbled temple in sight. They were definitely far, far away from where they had started.
Jack extended his hand and pulled Daniel to his feet. Together they surveyed the meadow in silence. No sounds of civilization intruded on the peaceful summer buzz of insects bumbling through the flowers.
“Damn it, Harry.” Jack secured his weapon and began unclipping the harness, slipping out of vest and jacket, relishing the sun’s warmth on his arms.
“Carter took a pretty close hit from that zat. She’ll have a whopper of a headache when she comes around. Wouldn’t want to be in Maybourne’s shoes when she does.” Jack looked at him, saw the concern filling Daniel’s eyes. “T’s with her, Maybourne was secured, we had no idea where you’d gone and that doorway thingy was starting to fritz out, so I went through.”
Daniel smiled and stared directly into Jack’s eyes.
“Couldn’t leave you here on your own,” Jack muttered.
“Thank you.”
“So, just in case they get the doorway working again, why don’t we move over here a little.” Jack paced a hundred metres away from their landing site. “I really don’t want to be wearing Teal’c if he comes through.”
Daniel picked up his pack and ambled after Jack.
“I’m guessing that there really isn’t a cache of weapons here,” commented Daniel as he dropped to sit at Jack’s side.
“Oh, I’d say that’s a certainty. I knew Maybourne was up to something. Looks like he was just trying to get off-world and I gave him free passage.” Jack did his best to disguise the disgust in his voice.
“Do you think Sam can get the doorway working again?” Daniel asked softly. He started rummaging through his pack.
“I don’t know, Daniel.” Jack flopped onto his back and glared at the beautiful blue sky. “I really don’t know.”
They sat in the midst of the sea of yellow daisies for four hours. Silence hung heavily around them, underscored by the soft whisper of wind in the treetops. Birds drifted high above, on air currents that lifted them towards the distant mountains. Time ticked by, each minute making it clearer that their teammates were not going to effect a quick rescue.
With the sun on its downward slide, Jack grunted and got to his feet. Daniel scrambled up, shading his eyes to look in the direction Jack pointed – a slight thinning of the scrub at the edge of the field indicating a likely location for a path or trail. Daniel nodded, tied his bandana on his head, and they headed off, shelter, food and survival now their primary goals. Their footprints, side by side in the grassy meadow, were enough to guide Teal’c in their wake.
Yellow daisies gave way to red, feathery tipped stalks, brushing thigh-high in the lightly wooded forest. The trail was little more than a less widely grown strip of grass bearing no real signs of recent use – by animals or humans.
Daniel fell in behind Jack, content to follow, secure in the certainty Jack would find shelter for them. The silence of this place seemed to swallow them; they had barely spoken since that initial flurry of concern. Daniel’s eyelids fluttered shut, his body still following Jack like they were leashed together. He could still feel Jack’s hands patting his face, those strong, lean fingers communicating a wealth of emotion, eradicating in an instant the sensation of exclusion, being cut off from his team – his friends – that had grown silently, unknowingly, yet with insidious, encompassing isolation. How long had this been going on? Why hadn’t he realized? Or, had he realized and been purposely ignoring it – shoring up the defenses around his emotions to ward off the hurt that would be unbearable if allowed free reign to plunder his heart.
He gasped, a softly-drawn breath that fed his soul. He felt like he’d woken suddenly, and that hazy dream he’d tried to ignore was shockingly real. Months of pretending it didn’t hurt when Jack pulled away, denying him those brief touches that had come to mean so much, of biting his tongue and following the team on mission after mission to secure weapons while ignoring the trove of culture surrounding them on each new planet, of going home to a cold, empty apartment and trying not to think of times past filled with team dinners and parties and weekends spent enjoying what it was to be human and free.
Daniel opened his eyes and stared at Jack’s back, still solidly in front of him, guiding the way to safety as he had always done. For a brief moment of unreality he felt as if he were in the company of a stranger. Then the memory of those warm hands on his face returned, and the concern and worry in Jack’s face as he’d checked him for injuries began to push aside the disconnectedness.
The foliage around them closed in, forcing them to walk closer together. Standing aside to allow Daniel to move ahead of him, Jack absently patted him on the arm, then did a double-take as Daniel failed to suppress his flinch. They looked at each other, both astonished, then Daniel flushed and turned away.
“What was that?”
“What?”
“That.”
“What that?”
“That – that… flinch. Since when do you flinch away from me?”
“Since when do you touch me?” Daniel shot back before he could catch the words. He glanced at Jack for a moment, feeling flustered and embarrassed.
“I always touch you, Daniel. I touch everyone, you know that.”
Daniel was silent for way too long. Finally, sadly, he said, “You used to, Jack. The first couple of years you could barely keep your hands off me. But lately… well you don’t touch anymore. Some days I get the impression it’s all you can do to look at me.”
“No….” The word fell, choked, almost strangled, from Jack’s lips. Daniel’s sorrowful half-smile seemed to cut him to the core. “Oh, crap. Daniel, I’m sorry. I – it’s – I get… too close.” Realization seemed to come with the words. “I’m too close to you, to all of you. I don’t know how… I can’t cope if I lose you now. I – I have to pull back… be… professional….”
Daniel stared at him now, compassion filling his eyes. In response, Jack looked like he’d killed a kitten. “Oh, Jack.”
“That’s how it should be, Daniel.”
“You can’t suppress your feelings to protect yourself, Jack. That’s no way to live.”
“It’s all I’ve got.”
“No. No, you can’t stop caring about people. About us. It’s what makes you… you.”
“Too much death, Daniel. I can’t handle seeing you die again.”
“Well, I promise I won’t die.” Jack’s back was now turned to him, but the faint shake of his head told Daniel those words wouldn’t cut it. “Okay, I can’t promise that, but Jack, don’t you see? That’s why we have to make every moment, every feeling count. Burying your heart, cutting yourself off from everyone – that never works. Believe me, I know.”
Jack glanced back at him. Daniel smiled tentatively and was rewarded with a slowly building, classic, warm Jack-smile. Daniel ducked his head for a moment, then returned the smile. They both nodded and then continued on, this time side by side, again in silence, but now it was a friendly, companionable silence wrapping around them. He felt the shift palpably: the previous sensations were consigned to the past as they vanished in Jack’s smile, and the surrounding natural quiet now felt peaceful rather than threatening.
The shielding trees gave way to a jumble of broken stone, much overgrown and eroded by the weather. Their pace slowed as the path led under the remains of an archway and suddenly they were in the ruins of a small village. Jack raised his P90 as they both turned in circles. Roofless mud huts, broken cook pots and stools lying scattered in the long grasses, woven mats disintegrating in pools of stagnant rain water, wooden tripods dangling long neglected clothing.
“This has been abandoned for some time,” Daniel uttered softly.
“So much for retirement in paradise,” Jack said.
“What?”
“Something Harry said, when you fell in the gate – field – thing. He wasn’t intending on spending his retirement with an archaeologist.”
“He planned this….”
“Oh, you betcha.”
“Bad plan.” Daniel shook his head. His gaze was drawn beyond the crumbled huts to the lapping water of a lake or inland sea even, upon whose shore the village sat.
The lake meandered through marshy islands, broadening into a sizeable body of water, obviously fed by the mountains gathered all around this valley, some of their tops lost in cloud, others snow capped, all heavily treed. The lowering sun kissed the water with golden ripples. A sudden crack of sound made them both start, but it was only a water bird, diving into the lake and re-emerging with a fish in its beak.
“Fish,” Jack muttered appreciatively.
Daniel quirked a little smile. “So, do we stay here?”
“Ready made base camp, lake full of dinner – I’d say that’s a yes.” Jack looked back at the crumbled huts. “A few curtains, couple of pot plants and we’ll be sweet.”
His smile sliding into a grin, Daniel glanced sidelong at Jack. “Thanks for coming after me.”
“In good company, Daniel. Besides, can you imagine if Maybourne had come through? He’d have ended up shooting you in the first week.”
They made a hut secure, fixed the roof, curtained the door, even set perimeter traps with bits of rusted metal poised to jangle if anything or anyone approached at night. By day they explored the lush forest and the marshy banks of the lake. The silence of the place settled over them. The soughing of wind on the water, clacking through reeds and rustling the trees, subsumed any need for conversation to fill their minds. Daniel and Jack walked together, fished and cooked together, sat gazing at the spectacular scenery for hours in appreciative silence. Daniel found, as the days passed, that he and Jack were falling into an almost symbiotic state – reading each other’s minds with an uncanny, but wholly comforting, ease.
*
On the sixth day Jack stood staring at one of the burbling creeks running out from the mountain behind the village. He quirked an eyebrow at Daniel and Daniel bobbed his head. An explorative trek to find the creek’s source would fill the day nicely.
Jack set a cracking pace. They strode along the creek’s path, pushed through bushes and grasses, hauled themselves up by branch and tree trunk as the slope sharpened into a mountainside. Guided by the water crashing down over boulders, Daniel followed Jack along a wide ledge, stepping around his friend as he stopped abruptly.
“Oh, nice.”
A sizeable rock pool lay at the base of a short waterfall, overhanging ferns and tree branches giving it a secluded, welcoming atmosphere. Warm sunshine slanted down, making the pool delicious against their naked skin as, clothes left behind without conscious thought, they waded into clear water only five feet deep in most places. They lost themselves in it for hours, swimming, drifting, having splashy races from one side to the other. They lay on sun-warm rocks in between dips, like two mer-men presiding over their watery kingdom, munching on fruit from nearby shrubs.
Lazy contentment would only hold them for so long, and with midday having passed Jack began climbing the rocks, seeking a way up to the head of the waterfall, naked still and utterly at ease in a way Daniel had rarely seen him. Jack turned and offered his hand, pulling Daniel up the last slippery boulder to stand beside him on a shelf of rock. Water rushed out of the cool, dark recess behind them to tumble down into the pool.
“So, what’s the bet there’s a maiden in the cave waiting to be rescued?” Jack wandered slowly under the rock overhang. If he’d had pockets his hands would have been deep inside them.
“Or there’s a bear in there…” Daniel edged after him, the pale outline of Jack’s body swiftly diminishing in the gloom.
“Leprechaun, maybe?”
“Ogre,” Daniel countered and sped up to keep Jack within reach. Darkness enclosed them and he banged into Jack, stopped and staring at a glint from something ahead. “What?”
Jack reached back, fumbled and caught his hand. Cautiously, he led Daniel forward. A long way into the depth of the cave, a shaft of sunlight broke through a crack in the cave roof, and with uncanny precision, fell upon a vast, golden figure sitting with arms outstretched, gemstone eyes glittering with refracted rays. Awed, they came to a silent halt in front of the statue and stood, mouths agape, still holding hands, staring up.
Like two supplicants – nude and beseeching before their god – Daniel and Jack drank in the sight before them.
The sunlight tickled over the figure and gradually they began to make sense of what they saw: kneeling, the image of a woman, naked slender features, breasts thrusting proudly out at them, long hair encircled by a band bearing a golden Uraeus. The outstretched arms that had first caught their attention supported feathered wings.
A shiver swept over Daniel’s bare wet body and he sneezed, breaking the rapturous hold the statue had over them. Jack released his hand, and turned to frown at him. “Bless. What is this? And what’s it doing here?”
“Thank you.” Daniel sniffed and wandered a few steps closer. “It’s a representation of Isis, Egyptian Goddess, beloved of Osiris. I have no idea what it’s doing here. It is beautiful, though.” The finely-wrought details of the statue spoke of great skill in its creation. He gently ran his hand over the golden knees, entranced by the fine sheen on it.
“Okay…” Jack sounded edgy and unhappy. “I have a couple of problems with this. If it’s a goddess, why does it have a penis? A two-foot schlong, at that? And if she was shacked up with Osiris, doesn’t that say Goa’uld to you? Daniel?”
“A two-foot…? Must you be so crude?” Daniel glared back at him before realizing just what the words implied. “Where –. Oh.”
Well, he could hardly miss it. Rising from the goddess’s lap certainly was a two-foot long penis, erect, circumcised tip, the lot. His eyes traveled up to the breasts, then back down again.
“I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s not a traditional depiction, that’s for sure.”
“So it’s a Goa’uld thing?” Jack’s fingers were drifting around his chest, searching for the gun he obviously wished was there.
“I’d say that’s a given, Jack. But this doesn’t look like a place of worship. The statue has been hidden here, more likely.” Daniel peered into the darkness but nothing else was apparent.
“Let’s go.”
“What? Why? We’ve only just found it. I need to have a closer look.”
“And I need to put something warm on – like my gun.”
“Jack, nobody’s been here, probably for thousands of years.”
“Then it won’t mind waiting one more day. We’ll come back tomorrow with our gear. Make a day of it,” Jack said with a tempting tone. “And leave a note, in case Carter and Teal’c turn up.”
Ah. Right. Good point. They’d look a bit foolish if their rescuers came and went without finding them. Nodding, Daniel followed Jack back into the warmth and light, leaving Isis wrapped in darkness behind them.
Days passed. They explored the cave and its bizarre statue, coming away little the wiser. The surrounding jungle yielded enough fruit and tubers to keep their fish dinners interesting. Some days they roamed the marshy banks of the lake, others the tangled, varied forest. Each morning and evening they walked back to the daisy field where they had arrived, checking their markers were still in place, pointing their searching teammates toward the camp. Understanding between them had settled into that old familiar ease and they were both content with that.
Many thanks to Jb for her insightful beta and inspirational dangling of nekkid, pissy archaeologists and colonels.
Dedicated to Jmas, who deserves nekkid, pissy archaeologists and colonels every day of the week.
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