The Barque of Heaven

by Stargate

  "O'Neill, I believe Major Carter is correct," Teal'c said, softly, insistently.

  O'Neill tightened his grip on Daniel, quelling another outburst. "How so, T?"

  "This Trial was designed to be undertaken primarily by Goa'uld or Jaffa. Whatever these Books are, they could prove harmful to someone not carrying a symbiote." Teal'c caught a glimpse of the look on Daniel's face-mutinous to say the least.

  `Noted. But, on the other hand they could be designed to harm someone with a symbiote. It may be prudent to safeguard our only asset in that regard. Nothing about this setup has been easy. Daniel can do it-but let's be on our toes for anything hinky. Okay?"

  Teal'c acceded to the request but it did not sit well. Prepared for the worst, he took position near Daniel Jackson as he stepped up to the pedestal.

  For a moment, Daniel re-read the inscriptions, then looked up and spoke the words meaning `Mistress of the Night'. "Nebt Usha. "

  The star, held in the statue of Djehuti's hand, unfolded like a flower and brightened as a violet crystal rose up from inside it. It angled around, tracking the direction the phrase had come from, until it faced Daniel square-on. The color and an accompanying whine deepened, then seemed to pulse and a tiny object flew out, directly toward Daniel Jackson.

  Teal'c reacted with instincts honed by decades of training. One large step and he crashed into Daniel's left side, pitching him into O'Neill. As the two of them staggered, Teal'c felt a sharp pain in his side, just behind the hip bone. Unbalanced, he slammed painfully to his knees.

  "Goof." O'Neill staggered with an armful of archaeologist. He set Daniel on his feet and they both turned to yell at Teal' c.

  "What the hell was that for?" Daniel got in first.

  "My apologies, Daniel Jackson." Teal'c replied. He felt odd, his self-possession compromised. His legs would not obey his desire to rise. "I feared for your safety. I hope I did not injure you."

  "I'm alright," Daniel frowned, rubbing his left side.

  "Teal'c, you okay?" O'Neill extended a hand to help Teal'c to his feet. "T?"

  "You're bleeding." Daniel knelt by Teal'c and reached out tentatively to the stream of blood already flowing from under his jacket.

  "Carter, get in here," O'Neill yelled, a split-second before she hurried through the doorway, already alerted by the commotion. "First aid kit."

  Teal'c closed his eyes and shuddered. A strange sensation was sweeping over him, from scalp to the soles of his feet. It was as if he had been cut adrift. He could barely feel his teammates' hands as they tended his wound. And he could not feel the symbiote-at all.

  "You may have been correct, O'Neill," he whispered.

  "Y'know, it does say `Colonel' on my office door for a reason." The colonel found himself with an armload of Jaffa this time as Teal'c slowly sagged forward. "Get a bandage on that wound. Daniel, did you see what hit him?"

  "No, I just got a brief glimpse of something small and purple." Daniel Jackson's voice was filled with annoyance and concern.

  They eased Teal'c to the ground and he lay quietly, trying to assess the sensations he was feeling as he listened to his teammates inspect the tiny hole in his skin. It bled profusely, but whatever the projectile was, it was deeply embedded and out of sight. After several minutes of applied pressure, the bleeding slowed. Major Carter swathed it in antiseptic and a field dressing as Teal'c began to stir.

  Chill waves swept through his body, followed by an unaccustomed surge of nausea. He looked up at his teammates anxiously hovering over him. His strength returned, slowly but not completely. There was something else, a presence or undefined otherness, just out of perception. He even glanced over his shoulder to check another person had not joined them.

  "Well?" O'Neill demanded testily.

  Teal'c concentrated inwardly and then-he knew. "I believe the Books of Djehuti have been implanted within me." He was filled with wonder as hints of the knowledge contained in the projectile made themselves known.

  Voiceless passages whispered in his brain.

  "I have words, Maa NefertRa'. `Beholder of the Beauty of Ra'. It is the password to unlock the Stargate. Also, yes, the address for the next planet."

  "Okay, that's a good thing," O'Neill conceded. "Any side effects?"

  Teal'c frowned. Searching past the whispers in his mind, he reached out for that other familiar presence. It was barely there. He pulled his shirt free and dipped a hand into his pouch. The symbiote moved against his fingers, sluggishly, as if drugged.

  "I believe my symbiote has been neutralized in some way."

  Daniel gave a snort of exasperation. "I'm not going to say I told you so."

  "Can you move, Teal'c?" Major Carter asked.

  "I can."

  He fumbled around, seeking and not finding the strength to rise. Finally it took his three teammates to shove and haul him to his feet.

  "Daniel, you got everything you might need from here?" O'Neill asked.

  "Yes, I've made copies of the inscriptions."

  "Right, fall back to the 'gate. Carter, take point. Daniel, give me a hand here."

  Teal'c leaned heavily on O'Neill and Daniel Jackson as they assisted him though the forest, following Major Carter along the trail of markers back to the Stargate. The moon sat directly above their heads now, hanging so close Teal'c fought the instinct to duck. Its infernal light cast the dead forest into a demonic display of grotesque shapes and shadows so dark the eye skittered over them, unwilling to look too closely. He grimaced and forced his weakened legs to move more quickly.

  In contrast to the fires raging above them, the cold was even more intense, stealing into their muscles and bones, sapping their life's warmth. Major Carter maintained a slow jog, keeping to the pace of the men behind her, Teal'c's staff clutched in one gloved hand. The line of green markers loomed out of the dark, leading back to the dead coals of their fire. She paused there, but the colonel jerked his head, indicating to keep moving, no breath left to spare for words.

  Finally the Stargate rose out of the gloom, a welcome friend in this alien place with its chevrons gleaming in the flickering moonlight. They staggered to a halt and propped Teal'c against the DHD. He braced himself, relieved to find he could stand unaided.

  "Teal'c, how are you doing?" Major Carter asked as his helpers caught their breath, wheezing and puffing like two old men.

  "My strength returns somewhat, Major Carter."

  "These Books, are you picking anything else up from them yet?" asked O'Neill.

  "Vague impressions only." Teal'c placed a hand over his pouch, satisfying himself the symbiote was still there. "There is great knowledge within them, of that I am sure."

  "There were a number of legends, stories, about the Books of Thoth," Daniel wheezed. He began to walk slowly around the DHD, rubbing a cramp that threatened his left leg. "The holder was supposedly given the power to raise their Ka-see their souls. Although, how the Goa'uld have interpreted that is anyone's guess," he added wistfully.

  O'Neill sidled up to Teal'c. "What possessed you to shove him out of the way like that?"

  Teal'c straightened and glanced at Daniel Jackson before answering quietly. "I fear one day such harm will befall Daniel Jackson that I will be unable to protect him, and my failure in my duty to him will be complete." He lowered his eyes from O'Neill's gaze, troubled but unrepentant.

  "Can't argue with that. Well, I can, but it can wait for somewhere warmer." O'Neill opened his mouth to give the order, but another voice overrode him.

  "You have progressed well in your Trial. I am pleased for you."

  They whirled around to find ugly little Bes standing inside the ring of the Stargate. He blinked at them and smiled. The orange glow from the moon made him look particularly alien.

  "You again," O'Neill groaned. "If you're planning on stealing any more of our gear, think again."

  "I wish only to see you are well. I look forward to greeting you at your journey's end. It has been too long since I talked to another." B
es's big eyes peered intently at each of them.

  "You bear the Books of Djehuti?" he asked Teal'c.

  "I do," Teal'c growled. This creature disturbed him beyond rational thought, leaving him torn between wanting to cleave him in two and bow down in reverence.

  "Bes, can you at least tell us what will happen to us when we complete the Trial?" Daniel stepped forward, trying to still the shivers wracking his body.

  "You will be welcomed to the Barque of Heaven."

  "Which is... a boat? A ship, space-ship, a city, a planet, what?"

  "It is as its name describes, young one." Bes gazed almost benevolently at Daniel, the only person not pointing a weapon at him. "Its pleasures shall be your reward."

  "That really doesn't tell us much."

  "Soon. Soon. Be well."

  With a gap-toothed grin, Bes vanished as soundlessly as he had appeared.

  "Perfect end to the perfect day. That guy gives me the creeps." O'Neill motioned to the DHD. "Teal'c, get us out of here."

  Under Teal'c's guidance, the Stargate sprang to life, the blue glow from the wormhole making the dead forest look even more forsaken.

  "At least this time the wormhole won't seem cold." O'Neill ushered Teal'c ahead of him.

  Pausing in front of the wormhole, Major Carter caught Daniel Jackson's arm. "Daniel, what I said-it was thoughtless and I was wrong. I'm sorry."

  Daniel managed a tired half-smile. "I know, Sam. It's okay."

  "And, what you asked-I will try."

  He nodded and led her through the wormhole. Teal'c traded an approving glance with O'Neill, relieved his teammates would not let a difference of opinion fester into bitterness. He pushed his shaky legs into motion and left the cold darkness behind.

  GATE NINE

  Knife of the Shining One

  on got a feel for wormhole travel the more you used the Stargate network. Regardless of how many times Sam insisted that time did not exist within the wormhole and therefore any illusion of the passage of time during the journey from one Stargate to the next was just that-an illusion, the sensory perception imprinted upon Daniel's deconstructed neurons was that this particular journey felt like it was taking a lot longer than usual.

  Daniel's body reassembled in the blink of an eye as he emerged through the event horizon, lungs automatically sucking in air the instant he had fully re-formed, eyes opening to see flagstones zooming up toward him. Well-honed reflexes barely had his arms up before he slammed into the ground and tumbled awkwardly over and over; hands, elbows, ribs and knees battering the hard surface. Pain stabbed through his side, sharp and vicious, leaving a shocked tingle in its wake. He finally stopped rolling and lay stunned, gasping in strained breaths, trying to regain his equilibrium.

  A chorus of yelps, grunts and curses surrounded him as the rest of the team was spat from the vortex like so much discarded garbage. Daniel finally looked up. Ignoring another warning twinge along his side, he reached out to Sam and pulled away her cap, thrown across her face by the hard landing.

  "Sam? You okay?"

  "Ow. Yeah. But, ow."

  "That felt like a really long trip this time." He coughed slightly as they dragged each other to their feet.

  "Are you alright, Daniel? You look a little pale."

  "Just a bit winded. Why did we get thrown out of the 'gate like that?"

  Duly diverted, Sam glanced at the Stargate, the wormhole already disengaged. "I'm not sure. Usually exit speed is equal to entry speed. Perhaps there was some kind of astronomic interference along the route." She pulled a face at the thought of the possibilities.

  Jack staggered to his feet and rubbed his butt. "Interference my ass. That was a really long trip down the pike. Same thing happened when I visited with the Asgard."

  Sam rolled her eyes at Daniel and avoided another round of Jack's griping by turning to join Teal'c. "Holy Hannah on a bicycle."

  Jack and Daniel blinked at each other in bemusement, then turned to see what was so exciting.

  "Well, I'll be...."

  They stood at what seemed to be the center of the largest, most exotically stocked armory any potentate could have ever imagined. Stretching out of sight in all directions were mounds of crates; boxes big, small and enormous, barrels and containers of all sizes and shapes, some stacked under opensided shelters, others piled neatly in the open. To one side of the Stargate a row of Tel'taks sat shining brightly in the sun. Beyond, partly obscured by yet more mounds of stores, four Al-kesh bombers crouched temptingly amid a virtual squadron of Death Gliders.

  Like a set of dazed marionettes, SG-1 turned slowly in a circle, trying to take in the riches surrounding them. Behind the Stargate, small mountains of semi-refined naquada gleamed in the sunlight.

  "`Great shall be the holdings of our Lord God Ra. The wealth of his land and the might of his arm shall cause all to tremble before him'," Teal'c uttered the words quietly. "We stand in Ra's storehouse, resting place for that which he plundered from the worlds under his rule."

  Slowly, almost reverently, they began to spread out through the incredible array of goods.

  "Zat'nik'tels, staff weapons, explosives.... Enough lies here to supply his army for years." Teal'c shook his head in wonder. A stack of round blue barrels caught his eye. Cracking the seal on one, he pulled out a fistful of glittering green powder. "Nezanat powder, from the planet Punt. Tempered in a furnace at one thousand degrees for five hundred days, it forms the material that is used as the core framework when building the great Ha'tak vessels."

  "Really?" Sam was by his side in a flash, unable to resist bagging a sample. "Is it only found on the one planet, Teal'c?"

  "Indeed it is. A most rare and valuable resource."

  "Valuable? How valuable?" Jack changed course and headed over for a look.

  "This one handful would purchase the entire state of Colorado, O'Neill."

  Jack whistled, suitably impressed and glanced at Carter. "Gonna need a bigger bag." He kept turning in circles, adding up the amount of ordnance around them. "Hey, how come this place hasn't been looted by the other System Lords? I'll bet Apophis would have loved to have got his hands on this."

  "The locations of Ra's home planet and most prized territories were always deeply concealed. It is possible that only a few of his trusted underlings knew of this planet's location. If they were with him when he perished, that knowledge died with them."

  Jack popped open a crate and stared at the collection of weapons within. "The JCS would wet themselves over this stuff."

  They kept wandering through the aisles of the dead Goa'uld's private repository, Teal'c pointing out items of particular interest. Huge hexagonal crystal barrels filled with fluorescent green liquid stretched for dozens of meters down one row. "Liquid naquada, probably from the refineries on Zephron."

  Daniel turned to look at the glittering mounds of naquada behind them. "Naquada from Abydos?" he asked quietly.

  "No doubt, Daniel Jackson. Rarely was better quality found."

  Daniel stared at the piled results of the Abydonian slave labor, visions quickly assaulting him of his wife, brother, family and friends, and all who had suffered in the hellish mines. After a moment he felt a tug on his arm and let Sam pull him away to trail after Jack and Teal'c. He drifted along, reading the stenciled descriptions of the goods within each stack and absently rubbing the receding ache in his side. All were weapons, power sources, minerals or spare parts for ships. Nothing held any knowledge or information. Nothing that he held as valuable.

  A faint muttering intruded on his thoughts. Believing it was Jack, Daniel looked around and found the others were a fair way in front of him. The voice was coming from his right.

  Holding his body perfectly still, he drew his Beretta, reached up with his left hand to click the call button on his radio three times, then pushed the earpiece into his ear.

  "Daniel? You got trouble?" Jack's voice came softly to him.

  Daniel clicked once for yes.

  "V
isual? "

  Two clicks for no.

  "Audio then. How many?"

  One click.

  "Hold position. Be there in ten. "

  Daniel froze, thankful for the camouflage his BDUs gave against a dusty pile of wooden crates beside him. The voice seemed to drone on in a steady, solitary monologue.

  A long ten seconds later, Jack materialized by his feet, lying flat in the dirt, weapon primed and ready. He tugged Daniel's pant leg and Daniel sank slowly down to join him. Sam and Teal'c appeared a moment later on the far side of his stack of crates, having circled around from the rear.

  Daniel pointed out the direction the voice was coming from. It rose and fell as the fitful wind carried it past them. Jack handsignaled Teal'c to take point. Silently, the big man crept along the alleyways twisting through the stacks of supplies. Jack followed, then Daniel with Sam bringing up the rear.

  A couple of wrong turns and a lot of muscle-wrenching sneaking around brought them to the side of a metal pavilion. Bright curtains flapped as the wind turned in their direction, bringing a strained voice to their ears.

  "That's English!" Daniel whispered hoarsely, brow creased in confusion.

  "...characteristics, and target vulnerability are treated in limited detail required by the mission planner... "

  "That's not English." Jack shot to his feet as if popped out of a box. "That's the Joint Munitions Effectiveness Manual -Special Operations."

  Teal'c and Daniel gaped at him, but Sam's face brightened as she recognized the voice. "That's Lieutenant Simmons!"

  "What?" Daniel exchanged another baffled look with Teal'c and scrambled after Sam and Jack.

  The four piled into the pavilion. Pushing past the billowing curtains, they found themselves in the midst of rack upon rack of control panels and equipment-the operations hub of the supply dump. The voice continued to chatter on, reciting rules and regulations from some hidden source.

  "I believe Major Carter is correct. That is the voice of Lieutenant Simmons," Teal'c said as he raked each bank of equipment, searching for the comm unit.