The Barque of Heaven

by Stargate

  Teal'c reloaded the pack and slung it over his shoulder. He handed the staff weapon to Jack to use as a walking stick. "My thanks, O'Neill, for coming after me."

  "Any time, Teal'c, any time."

  They headed back into the trees as fast as they were able; one race over and another begun.

  Daniel waggled the zat at Sam as he crept out of the sheltering trees. She got it immediately and grimaced, reflexively pulling her feet in to her body. There was nowhere to escape contact with the metal of the cage; it was too small for her even to crouch on her feet. At least the charge would have to travel a bit before hitting her. Daniel looked up, exaggeratedly mouthing "One. "

  "Two. "

  She braced and he fired before the three-count. The arc of blue fire hit the point where the cable was locked off to the pole. Sparks spat out and, seemingly amplified instead of dispersed, the stream of energy danced away up the cable and over the bars of the cage and into Sam. She jerked as the current went through her and slumped awkwardly into one corner.

  Daniel kicked viciously at the lock and it broke apart. Freed, the cable whipped away. His hand snatched it in blurred reflex. The cage and its contents, far heavier than they appeared, sagged toward the ground. He clung on, obstinacy kicking in, and became the cage's counterweight. Sam floated gently to the ground as he rose up to the tree canopy. He dangled for a moment, hand slipping on the wet surface, then sure she was safely on the ground, he let go. The force of the fall drove him to his knees and he rolled, pack pushing painfully into his bruised side.

  Gasping, Daniel scrambled to his feet and fumbled at the cage. He released the lid and felt for her pulse. Strong. Alive. No breath left to waste, he hauled her out and dragged her backwards into the bushes.

  Sam was unconscious, but he found no other injuries needing attention. Quiet as he had tried to be, the creature was bound to come now. Daniel crept into the clearing, disabled and retrieved the Tac and returned to Sam. He propped her up and with a lot of heaving and staggering, got her onto his shoulder. He teetered for balance, then he was off, back along the path he had come.

  Slim as she was, Sam weighed a ton on his tired shoulders. Daniel was more than happy to set her down when she began to stir.

  "Hey, Sam. How's the head?"

  "Still there. Ugh. Nice shot."

  "Sorry about that. It was Jack's idea, you can blame him."

  "I'll make a point of it."

  "We should get going, if you're up to it."

  "Lead the way."

  He pulled her up and they continued on at a fast walk.

  "How long do we have left, Daniel?"

  "Two hours and twenty-six minutes. Sam, we have no idea where the next address is."

  "What about the colonel and Teal'c?"

  Daniel gave her a quick run-down on events since the blast on the beach. "I'm due for another check-in." He keyed his radio, "Jack? Come in, Jack."

  "Read you, Daniel. " Jack's voice floated out of the speaker on a cloud of static.

  "I've got Sam out. We're heading back to the beach. Should be there in about an hour and a half."

  "Good job, Daniel. " Even through the static, Jack's voice sounded strained. "Teal'c's fine, we're heading back too. "

  "Any idea where we'll find the address?"

  "Nope, not a one. "

  "We must have missed something at the Stargate. Jack, there has to be something pointing to it."

  "Roger that. Meet you there. O'Neill out. "

  Sam and Daniel traded worried glances. "He didn't sound too good, did he?" she asked.

  "No. C'mon, let's pick up the pace a bit."

  As they jogged along, Daniel voiced another worry. "Sam, did you see what took you?"

  "Yeah, it was bipedal. Big, lots of muscle, brown fur all over," she said as she paced at Daniel's side. "It wore a circle of flowers and vines on its head. Which surprised me. It was delicate, carefully made."

  Daniel glanced at her. "They're intelligent. The cage, the pit Jack found Teal'c in, using Goa'uld weapons -it all points to sentience."

  "Do you think they're natives to this world?"

  "Possibly. Or they were relocated here by Ra. Their actions definitely seem to be part of a test of some kind."

  "They could have easily killed us at the beach." Sam ducked under low branches as the path narrowed through the dense trees.

  "So, perhaps the reason for taking you and Teal'c captive was to see if you could free yourselves or if Jack and I could rescue you."

  "Another test."

  "Exactly."

  "So, the reward for passing the test...?"

  "Might be the password and address for the Stargate," Daniel finished. "I just hope we're not running away from them."

  The rain returned to pummel them when they were still a couple of kilometers from the Stargate. Trying to maintain the pace he had originally set was increasingly difficult for Daniel and he gratefully followed Sam as she took the lead along the dunes. Head bent against the lashing rain, he focused on her boot-heels and pounded obstinately on. He felt like he was drowning in fatigue, his body one big ache and there was an odd, dull pain starting up in his left shoulder.

  Thoughts of his big, comfortable, warm bed at home tantalized him. Distracted, he collided with Sam as she slowed. "Sorry."

  "I think it might be easier going along the waterline now, Daniel." Sam put out a hand to steady him. "I caught a glimpse of the Stargate up ahead. Not long now."

  He nodded, breathless, and slid down the small sand dune after her. The sand along the tide-line was harder packed and made for easier running, but each step jarred his body. He angled into Sam's slipstream and staggered on.

  Daniel was drifting in a dazed fog of exhaustion when they finally reached the Stargate platform.

  "Daniel!" Sam's hand on his arm pulled him off-course and his feet caught in the softer sand. He tripped and plopped down on his knees. "We're here. Let me take this." She unfastened the pack from his vest which he had stubbornly refused to give up earlier. She pressed a canteen into his hand and dropped into the sand beside him. "No sign of the others yet."

  Daniel turned to sit on the wet sand, then flopped back, letting the rain pour onto his overheated face. Eyes closed, he fumbled the radio on. "Jack, Teal'c? We're at the 'gate."

  After a long pause, Jack's voice came through, scratchy and faint. "Read you, Daniel. We're about fifteen minutes out. Get looking for that address."

  Daniel groaned and rolled upright, too cold and tired to expound theories over the radio. "Okay."

  He looked blearily at Sam, wishing the weather would permit the use of his glasses.

  "The platform?" she asked.

  He nodded. "It's the only structure we've seen." He pulled out the small collapsible shovel and a trowel from his pack and they got to work scraping the sand away from the weathered stone.

  Nearly twenty minutes later, Jack and Teal'c emerged out of the obscuring rain. They had retrieved the two packs and weapons, stashed further down the beach.

  "You two okay?" Jack called as he limped up the sand, Teal'c hovering behind.

  "We're fine, Jack. What happened to you?" Daniel gave up the fruitless search and sat down.

  "Oh, nothing a week with my chiropractor won't cure. I take it there's no address?"

  "Nothing here, sir." Sam indicated the cleared flagstones surrounding the Stargate.

  Jack closed his eyes against the stinging rain. So much time wasted, running around dunes and trees and now here they were, back where they started, less than twenty-five minutes before lock-out and no nearer to getting off-planet. Weariness crept through his entire body, his back a steady misery.

  "Um, guys? We've got company."

  Daniel's cautious announcement sent the other three whirling around, weapons lifting. Jack tossed Carter's zat to her and trained his MP5 on the huge brown shape materializing out of the rain.

  "Jack, don't. Don't fire." Daniel pushed himself to his feet and began to
walk toward the creature.

  "Daniel, these things attacked us. Get back here."

  "Jack, they're intelligent. I think what they did wasn't an attack as such, more a test of our own resourcefulness."

  "Daniel...."

  Arms outstretched peaceably, Daniel advanced slowly on the huge being. "Hello. We're, ah, supplicants undergoing the Trial of Moons. Can you understand me?" He repeated the sentence in Goa'uld.

  The enormous brown eyes fixed on Daniel. Studying him? Understanding? Sizing him up for its dinner plate? It began to move forward, taking deliberate, long steps toward him.

  "Alright, that's enough." Jack moved to the right, clearing his aim on that massive chest. "Heads up!" He fixed the target in his sight, only to lose it as Daniel planted himself in front of his gun.

  "Jack, don't. I think it can help us."

  Pain-fuelled frustration snapped Jack's patience. "We are running out of time!"

  "I know! " Daniel yelled back at him.

  Their big furry visitor was still advancing. Carter and Teal'c slowly backed up, keeping it covered with their weapons.

  "Sir, I have a shot."

  "Please." Daniel tried to stare Jack down.

  "One of these days, Daniel. Not every big ugly monster wants to make friends, you know."

  "I know," Daniel repeated, this time much more softly.

  "Hold fire."

  Soft whuffling sounds came from the creature. It looked intently at Daniel, then each of them in turn, hooting steadily.

  "Sister." Teal'c spoke up suddenly, surprising even himself. Everyone turned to stare at him.

  "What?"

  "What? "

  Teal'c indicated the creature. "I... can understand it. The language it uses-in my mind, it translates into English. Also into Goa'uld." Teal'c's eyebrows were hanging off the clouds. He uttered an experimental hoot and the being hooted back in a long excited ramble.

  "Well, I'll be." Jack shook his head but his weapon remained fixed on target.

  "It must be the Books of Djehuti, remember?" Daniel stumbled over to Teal'c. "`Perceive the birds of the air, the beasts of the land.' It's translating for you." Longing washed over his face. "What is it saying?"

  Teal'c gripped his staff weapon a little tighter. "It, she, says she is called Yerryk. She and her sister were chosen to respond when the Stargate activated and to test those who came. She is pleased that we succeeded in returning to the Stargate within the allotted time."

  "Sweet. Ask her how we get out of here," Jack growled.

  Teal'c hooted and chuffed back at Yerryk. The others stared at him; this was not something they saw every day.

  "Yerryk asks of her sister, the one who tested you and me, O'Neill." Teal'c's gaze flickered to Jack, then back to their guest.

  "Tell her we haven't seen sis since we left the pit," Jack ordered, voice unwavering.

  Teal'c considered him for a moment, then delivered the message.

  Daniel glanced sidelong at Jack. "Jack? What did you do?"

  Jack ignored him and concentrated on their furry friend.

  "Yerryk says we have earned the right to pass on to the next world. The password is 'Aken Tau-k Ha Kheru'. It means `Raging of voice'. She will dial the coordinates herself." Teal'c hooted a few words of thanks and bowed solemnly.

  "Great. Good job, I. We're outta here."

  Jack turned and marched back to the DUD. Nineteen minutes to go. Good enough. Carter, Teal'c and Daniel closed up behind him, watching expectantly as Yerryk dialed up the Stargate. Teal'c leaned over the DUD and called out the password. The wormhole surged into life, vaporizing the rain and leaving a stinging smell of ozone in the air.

  "Carter, on point. Go," Jack snapped out.

  She moved off and disappeared into the watery circle. Daniel followed close behind.

  "Teal' c?"

  "I am coming, O'Neill."

  Jack lingered, unwilling to leave anyone behind with these... people. Teal'c paused by the event horizon and looked back at Yerryk. He uttered a long stream of hoots and whistles to the creature. It-she-blinked thoughtfully at them, then seemed to sigh in resignation.

  Teal'c bowed gravely and with Jack at his side, stepped into the Stargate.

  GATE ELEVEN

  Reveler of Heat

  t was like stepping into an oven. Dry heat surrounded them; pricking at their eyes, scorching down throats, setting their clothes steaming. Sam ducked her head against the fierce glare from a sun newly risen and fumbled in her vest pocket for her sunglasses.

  "Ugh...."

  "At least it's not raining, Carter." The colonel pulled his boonie off and struggled out of the clinging poncho.

  "I get the feeling it hasn't rained here in quite a while," Daniel said. He moved carefully down three crumbling stone steps onto the sun-baked clay pan.

  Desolation stretched away in every direction. No vegetation had found purchase in the hardened ground. The land was flat to the horizon and already reflecting a shimmering heat haze. The only break in the bleakness was a cluster of strange sandstone formations grouped all around the Stargate. They sat low, no more than three feet high, and with the highest part facing into the prevailing winds they resembled a group of seals; mute sentinels protecting the Stargate and any who would arrive through it. Sam followed Daniel and knelt by one. Beneath the loose surface dust lay ancient fossilized shells-remnants of a long-lost sea.

  "We have eleven hours, fifteen minutes here, O'Neill." Teal'c jumped down from the platform, his uniform shedding flakes of drying mud.

  "Something tells me we're going to want to be out of here quicker than that." Colonel O'Neill grimaced and walked rather delicately down the steps. "Twenty minute break, then we'll get going again." He leant against one of the sand seals and slid down to the ground. "So, Teal'c, what did you say to that thing back there?"

  Teal'c arched an eyebrow at him. "I advised Yerryk that her sister may need assistance and apologized for any harm we caused her. That our actions were driven by ignorance and not ill-will."

  "Right." The colonel tilted his head and caught Sam staring at him. "What? It was attacking us. I shot at it," he said defensively.

  "Didn't say a thing, sir." She exchanged a glance with Daniel. Despite being knocked out, kidnapped and caged, she felt no animosity toward the big, furry creatures. If anything, she wished they had had more time to talk to them.

  They all stared out into the emptiness surrounding them. Sand and sky seemed to meld into wavering brown curtains of heat. Far off, almost indistinguishable in the haze, Sam glimpsed a more solid shape. She dug a pair of binoculars out of her pack and focused on the object, eyes aching from the glare.

  "Sir, I think there are ruins or something, maybe two kilometers, over that way."

  "Let's see," Daniel murmured, taking the binoculars from her. "Looks like a structure. Not much left though."

  "It's a starting point at least. Carter, dial home. How is everyone situated for water?"

  "Daniel and I filled up at a stream on our way back to the last 'gate, sir. We're running out of purifiers though. The bulk of our supplies were in the boxes we lost."

  "You may have mine, Major Carter," Teal'c offered. "I do not usually require them."

  "Considering Junior's on strike, Teal'c, I think it might be wise to use them now," the colonel said.

  Teal'c grimaced but dropped a tablet into his canteen before passing over the rest to Sam.

  With the all-too short break over, they began the weary trudge to the ruins. For a while they walked in silence, too tired for idle chat. Wet jackets were shed and their clothes dried, making them stiff and uncomfortable.

  "I've been thinking." Sam finally spoke over the thud of their boots.

  "Again?"

  "About Aris Boch," she glanced at the colonel and went on. "He knew who we were, obviously. He knew about the bounty, about Teal'c rejecting Apophis. He knew your reputation as a, well...."

  "Pain in the mikta."

 
"Thank you, Teal'c."

  "My pleasure, Major Carter."

  "He knew I'd hosted Jolinar and had knowledge from her, however useful that might be. But what he knew about Daniel was minimal, and in one case wrong."

  "Spit it out, Carter," the colonel grunted.

  Sam caught the pained lines in his face and glanced away. "Koch thought Daniel was a medical doctor. He had no clue what an archaeologist was. Also, he didn't seem to know anything more about you, Daniel, other than you opened our Stargate."

  "What else should he have known, Sam?" Daniel asked warily.

  "Well, how about a little thing like helping raise the rebellion on Abydos and killing Ra, two events that completely destabilized the status quo among the System Lords?"

  "Oh, that."

  "Yeah, that," she grinned at him.

  "Well, Jack was there too," Daniel pointed out. "He should get half the blame."

  "Hey, I only tried to blow up the ship. You were the one who showed the Abydonians the true face of their `gods'. If anyone deserves a big price on his head, it's you, Doctor Jackson."

  "My point precisely, sir. Why isn't Daniel wanted for that as well, instead of just opening up the Stargate? It doesn't make sense."

  "News of the rebellion on Abydos and the death of Ra took some time to filter out to the System Lords," Teal'c offered. "Apophis learned of it only weeks before he journeyed to Earth looking for hosts. He was most eager to visit worlds previously under the domain of Ra. To do so earlier would have brought down considerable retribution from Ra."

  "I guess their intel isn't as good as they make out, then. Or they do know about Daniel and Boch lied, for some reason." Sam frowned. Either way, it didn't really make sense.

  "Well, not wanting to sound selfish, but I'm kind of glad they don't know," Daniel said.

  "As are we all, Daniel Jackson." Teal'c strode on ahead of him, leading the way to the structure which was slowly growing closer.

  Daniel paced next to Sam as they walked, questions he had long wanted to ask bubbling to the surface once again. She looked at him and he lost his nerve. It was such a touchy subject with her and after their blow-up in the crystal gazebo....