STARGATE SG-1 29 Hall of the Two Truths

by Susannah Parker Sinard

  “While this is true,” she acknowledged, “there are those in this galaxy who would not have missed an opportunity to strike down an enemy, even at the cost of a treasured … comrade. It would be, by many standards, an acceptable loss.”

  “Well not by mine.” Jack let his irritation get the best of him.

  “So we have seen.” There was that appraising look again. “As I said, it was a most valuable lesson. For this, we thank you.” Tayet leaned forward and for a disturbing moment Jack thought she was going to kiss him as Khemy had Daniel. Instead she whispered, “I have seen the depths of your heart, Colonel, and I know what lies within. Deny it to others if you will, but do not deny it to yourself.” She stepped back, and with a pointed look at Carter added aloud, “You have my envy — and my pity.”

  Bowing slightly, Tayet rejoined the others.

  Jack struggled to keep his indifferent expression in place, although he felt like someone had just jolted him with a cattle prod. So, maybe she had managed to dig a little deeper into his head after all. He just hoped…

  Risking a sideways glance at the rest of SG-1, Jack was relieved to see they merely looked bewildered. For once, that was a good thing.

  NebtHet, mercifully, drew everyone’s attention back to her. “These witnesses have spoken on your behalf and provided testimony as to your character. We will conclude, now, with the rite.” She turned and, with the six witnesses, walked back up the steps and resumed her position on the dais. NebtHet placed the upside-down stovepipe thing back on her head and clapped her hands twice. Nearby, the Ammit stirred slightly and inched forward. It looked hungry.

  “Now wait just a doggone minute —”

  “Just… hold on, Jack.” Daniel put his hand on Jack’s arm. “Give it a minute.”

  Jack glared at him. “We might not have a minute, Daniel.”

  Daniel’s look was patient. “Look around,” he said. “Do you see a single weapon, anywhere?”

  Jack’s annoyance level ratcheted up another notch. Maybe there wasn’t a zat or a staff weapon in sight, but that didn’t necessarily mean anything. Zats were entirely concealable. And Goa’ulds had other, less obvious weapons. The Ammit wasn’t exactly a lapdog either.

  “What’s your point, Daniel?” One of the minions on the dais was hurrying toward NebtHet carrying a pillow. There was a white feather on top of it.

  “What I’m saying is, if they really meant to harm us, don’t you think they’d have taken away your P90 and Teal’c’s staff? The only people in here, at the moment, capable of doing harm are us.”

  “You sure about that?” Jack growled. “Then what’s that about?” He jerked his head toward the dais where NebtHet had placed the feather on one tray of the enormous set of golden scales. The tray dipped ever so slightly, but the balance remained intact.

  For his part, Daniel had the decency to look confused. Jack saw Teal’c’s grip on his staff weapon tighten while Carter was studying the scene as if was a puzzle. She had that look of concentration on her face she got when she was in the same breathing space as her high-tech doo-dads, although what that meant, at the moment, Jack wasn’t quite sure.

  He was more concerned with that feather and the fact that NebtHet had turned once more to face them.

  “Now that each of you has completed your journey and been admitted to the Great Hall, one final step remains.”

  Yeah. That’s what he thought.

  “Oh I don’t think so.” Jack had his weapon up now. Teal’c too had raised his staff again. “You’re not touching a single one of my people. And you’re definitely not weighing any of our hearts on that thing there.” Jack jerked his head in the direction of the scales.

  NebtHet had become very still. There was enough arrogance in her to not actually look afraid, but he could detect the sudden tenseness in her stance. Good. At least now he had her attention.

  “Jack, I think —”

  “So help me, Daniel, if you tell me one more time that we ought to just let this play out —”

  “Actually, sir, I think it’ll be okay.” Carter’s words caught him off-guard. Even more so when she stepped forward. “I’ll go first,” she told NebtHet.

  “Carter?” For a second he considered ordering her back, but there was something in the tentative half-smile she threw him that said she knew what she was doing.

  He hoped to hell she did.

  Carter climbed the steps to the dais and seemed to know where to stand before NebtHet could show her. The Goa’uld nodded approvingly and stepped aside. A different Goa’uld came forward, one Jack hadn’t noticed before — which was a surprise, since he looked like nothing less than a Goa’uld Liberace. The gold and jewels on his cloak probably weighed a ton, and to finish off the look he wore a headpiece that resembled some sort of monkey. Maybe a baboon.

  Another time, Jack might have cracked a joke about the wardrobe and the headgear, but the somber-faced Goa’uld was unusually dignified, even if he did look like an MGM extra. Besides, that was Carter up there. Now was not the time to say anything stupid.

  “That’s Thoth,” whispered Daniel. Jack had no idea who that was, although obviously it meant something. At least he’d know what name to put on the report when he had to sort this all out for Hammond.

  If he had to sort this all out for Hammond. Whether Carter’s confidence was justified or not remained to be seen.

  Baboonhead — Thoth — was incredibly focused. Or maybe it was just hard to keep that thing balanced on his head. He positioned himself at the base of the scale and spread his arms.

  A column of light snapped on from overhead, engulfing Carter. She closed her eyes against the brightness of it and Jack saw her stiffen slightly. Very slowly she began to revolve beneath it — not because of the light, he figured out, but because the part of the dais where she stood was turning. She’d probably spotted it when she walked up there, which was how she’d known where to stand. She must have seen something else too, something he hadn’t. Maybe it had to do with that beam she was standing in. Somehow he had the feeling it wasn’t just an ordinary spotlight.

  It was taking an excruciatingly long time to make one full rotation. Carter didn’t look uncomfortable standing there, but then she didn’t exactly look relaxed either. Whatever the hell they were doing to her, Jack just wished they’d get it over with.

  As soon as she’d made one full revolution, a second column of light appeared over the waiting scale pan. It quivered for just a moment and then, within its beam, a slightly rounded object took shape. Jack couldn’t make out what it was at first, but then Daniel gasped softly.

  That’s when Jack figured it out.

  It was a heart.

  Carter’s heart.

  His own stopped for a few seconds until he understood just what he was looking at: it was a hologram. He could actually look right through it as it revolved on the scale at exactly the same pace Carter was turning in the beam of light.

  And it was beating.

  Jack could see the slightly rapid rate of its pulsations, the rhythmic contraction of its chambers. It was probably his imagination, but he swore he could almost hear it in the absolute silence of the Hall. And despite the fact that he knew that the real organ was still safe and sound inside her body, it seemed vulnerable and defenseless, nevertheless.

  He wanted them to stop. Now.

  The monkey-man had turned to NebtHet and was giving her a solemn nod. The column of light around Carter vanished and half a beat later the avatar of her heart did as well. NebtHet stepped up and guided her forward.

  “Your heart has been weighed against the Feather of Truth and you have been found to be maa-keru.”

  “True of voice,” translated Daniel before Jack could even ask.

  NebtHet was actually beaming. “Go now, in peace.” She gave Carter a final bow.

  Looking a bit unsteady, Carter rejoined them. She was pale, but her eyes were bright with discovery.

  “It’s kind of like the Asgard techn
ology, sir,” she explained, under her breath. “Only far more sophisticated. It doesn’t hurt, just tingles a little bit.”

  “Which one of you will be next?” NebtHet extended her arms in invitation.

  From what Jack could tell, Carter didn’t seem any worse for wear. If she said it was okay, then he’d go with it. With a sigh he gave Daniel and Teal’c the go-ahead.

  T went next. NebtHet led him to the same spot on the dais and a moment later he too was slowly revolving as his holographic heart appeared on the scale.

  “Your heart has been weighed against the Feather of Truth and you have been found to be maa-keru,” pronounced NebtHet. “Go now, in peace.”

  It was the same with Daniel. His holographic heart balanced the scale and was apparently found worthy as well.

  Finally it was Jack’s turn.

  Carter was right. It did tingle a bit when the beam hit him. It wasn’t unlike how the air was charged during a thunderstorm, only inside of him. He could almost tell the exact moment when his holographic heart appeared on the scale, even though he was facing the other direction at the time. When he revolved around to where he could see the scale, sure enough it was there.

  Jack really didn’t want to look at it. Not that he was squeamish. It was just another body part, after all, and a holographic one at that. He’d figured out by now that all this was just for show. Of course a hologram would weigh nothing. Still, he couldn’t shake the notion that his might somehow tip the scale. As hearts went, he was sure his was heavier than most.

  But when the column of light vanished, there was NebtHet proclaiming him macarena and telling him to go in peace as well. Just as he thought, all for show.

  Not that Jack expected anything less from a bunch of Goa’ulds. Even a very odd bunch, which this group clearly was.

  The show being nearly over, Jack hoped, NebtHet came and stood before them again.

  “People of the Tau’ri — and Teal’c,” she added, inclining her head toward the Jaffa. “We have learned much from you and for that you have our eternal thanks. You are now free to return to your world. Aset will show you the way.”

  The four of them stood there, confused. That was it? Three days of hell only to be patted on the head and sent home? No explanations? No apologies? Just ‘Thanks, you can leave now’?

  He didn’t think so.

  “Just hold on there a doggone minute.” Jack called after NebtHet, who had already started to leave with the others. “Nobody’s going anywhere until someone explains what the hell just happened here.”

  Next to him, Daniel spoke up. “I think what Jack is trying to say is, we’ve been through an awful lot these past few days and we really feel as though we deserve some kind of an explanation.”

  Okay. More diplomatically put, but Jack wasn’t feeling particularly diplomatic at the moment. No one used his people like this and just walked away. He’d get answers if he had to wring it out of NebtHet with his bare hands.

  For a moment, he thought she was going to just keep walking, but after apparently giving it some thought, she returned. This time she even came down off the dais.

  “You are correct, Dr. Jackson. You do deserve an explanation. Old ways of secrecy are often difficult to lay aside. Even now.” She glanced over at Aset again, who scowled slightly. “We are the Djedu.”

  “Goa’ulds,” clarified Jack. Just because they hid behind some fancy name, it didn’t mean they weren’t snakes.

  “We are no more like the Goa’uld than are the Tok’ra,” she corrected. “As they separated themselves from our common ancestor, so did we, millennia ago, although for a far different purpose.”

  “Which was?” Jack prompted.

  “Spiritual enlightenment, Colonel. We had no interest in galactic domination. We had no desire to fight in any conflict. We have sought one thing and one thing only through all these long, arduous years: ascension.”

  “A Goa’uld cannot ascend,” Teal’c pointed out. “The monk on Kheb told Bra’tac as much.”

  NebtHet smiled sadly. “And so the monk would appear to be correct. As you can see, we are all still here, despite our best efforts to follow in the footsteps of those who have succeeded in the past.”

  “Wouldn’t that be pretty hard to do?” Daniel asked. “Especially since they’re all, well, ascended?”

  NebtHet nodded once. “Exceedingly. Which is why, millennia ago, we turned to what others of our race have fallen back upon in the hope that what we could not find within, we might find without.”

  Jack had gotten lost back at “ascension”, but luckily Carter seemed to be keeping up.

  “Technology,” she supplied, nodding to herself in apparent understanding. Good. He was glad someone was getting it. “Just like the Goa’uld and the Tok’ra,” Carter went on. “You hoped to advance beyond your limitations through the use of someone else’s technology.”

  “Yes,” replied NebtHet. “We have spent our entire existence searching for technology that would unlock the secret to ascension. But nothing we have found has been of any use. Not even the technology of the Ancients.”

  “Wait,” interrupted Carter. “Are you saying that you’ve been collecting Ancient technology from around the galaxy — and that you can get it to work?”

  NebtHet nodded.

  “Is that how you were able to create everything we experienced these past few days? How you were able to tap into our memories and make everything so… real?”

  Again NebtHet nodded. “The scope of technology left behind by the Ancients is impressive. Yet, ultimately useless to us. Until now.”

  “Why now?” Jack wanted to know. He knew Carter wouldn’t ask — the thought of a warehouse full of Ancient tech had distracted her completely. He didn’t deny that it gave him a bit of a rush to think that maybe, at last, they’d found something that would help them in the fight against the Goa’uld. Assuming it turned out to be all that NebtHet seemed to be saying it was.

  “Because it enabled us to study you, in ways we never could have without it.”

  “Explain.” This came from Teal’c. Jack could hear just a tinge of challenge in his voice.

  NebtHet took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly. “When it became apparent to us, after eons of research, that there was no technology which would enable us to ascend, we began to lose hope. Many Djedu accepted that ascension was something we could never achieve and they began to willingly embrace death. Slowly, but steadily, our numbers declined. We were — we are — indeed, a dying race.

  “But then we received word through one of our acolytes that members of the Tau’ri had come in contact with beings who had ascended. We learned that Kheb had been found and its secrets uncovered. We heard how the Asgard had proclaimed the Tau’ri worthy of joining the Four Great Races that once populated the galaxy. And we came to believe that you, more than any other race in the galaxy, held the key to ascension.”

  “Except, we don’t,” pointed out Daniel. “I mean, not really. I studied the temple at Kheb — I’m still studying it — and I have to tell you, there is no magic formula. It’s something that has to come from within.”

  NebtHet smiled.

  “Of this we are aware, Dr. Jackson. In fact, the more we learned of the Tau’ri the more it became clear to us that, as a people, you are completely ignorant of your potential. However, it does not mitigate the fact that the potential remains. We also learned that the very things we ourselves lacked were those essential human qualities which, as a race, we have never understood or demonstrated. At least, not very well.” She sighed. “It is the chain which has held us bound to this existence.”

  “So you weren’t trying to convince us we were dead so you could get information about ascension from us?” Carter was still trying to sort this out the same way Jack was. For her part, NebtHet looked bemused.

  “No offense, Major Carter, but your knowledge of ascension is of little interest to us, compared to the millennia we have been studying it.”

&nb
sp; “Then I still don’t get it,” Jack interjected. “If you weren’t trying to pick our brains, why all the ‘underworld’ mumbo jumbo?”

  “The journey through Duat is the final test for all who die, Colonel,” NebtHet said simply. “What better way, then, to learn the mettle of a person than how they walk toward Final Judgment.”

  “So you were less interested in what we knew than how we behaved when we thought we were dead?”

  Now, see, even Daniel was confused. Jack found that oddly comforting. But NebtHet was nodding, which meant that whatever the hell Daniel had just said must have been right.

  “Death is a great liberator, Dr. Jackson. We hoped if we freed you from your mortal concerns and responsibilities we could more easily understand what makes each of you so unique. SG-1 has, after all, had more contact with ascended beings in the past few years than has been reported by anyone for centuries. We assumed there must be a reason for this, and with the help of the technology at our disposal, we created scenarios so that we might study certain aspects of humanity which we believe we are lacking. Each of you was placed in a different situation so that we could better understand your unique qualities in ways that were concrete rather than theoretical.”

  “In other words, we were lab rats,” Jack scowled. Just as he’d thought. They could rationalize it all they wanted. It still didn’t make it right.

  “As I understand the analogy, then, yes, I suppose that’s one way to view it, Colonel. Although, if it is any consolation to you, we have found the experience to be most illuminating.”

  “I bet you have,” muttered Jack. Damned, arrogant snakes. They were all the same, no matter what they called themselves.

  “Really?” Daniel was asking, although he sounded more curious than irked. “In what way? I mean, aside from what you’ve already told us about duty and sacrifice and such?”

  Jack resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Leave it to Daniel to want to discuss the finer points of the experiment with their captors.