STARGATE SG-1-19-23-Ouroboros-s08 Page 9

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Guerilla Archeology

  DANIEL made his way through the ruins, following a track that might, by a generous interpretation, bring him back to the main camp. He went slowly, stopping often to look at broken inscriptions, automatically fitting them into the picture he was beginning to build of the city’s history. Emege was old, that was the main thing. He counted at least four different styles of Ancient inscription so far, and even assuming a somewhat different development in the Pegasus Galaxy, that put the founding of Emege close to the arrival of the Ancients. If that was the case, this might be one of their first settlement points, one of the first place humans were seeded.

  He glanced casually over his shoulder. Still in the line of sight from the guard post, though the marines seemed to have gotten used to his presence. He eased himself to his feet and followed the line of a fallen column, craning his head to read the words that spiraled around it. They were mostly proper names, and the column ended in a shattered stub before he found anything to indicate what sort of memorial had been intended.

  But at least he was now completely out of sight of the guard post. He paused, scanning the ruins. The center of the city was where he expected to find the sort of information he needed, confirmation that Janus had in fact worked here, rather than just leaving his name on some of the equipment. He didn’t really think the latter was likely — it wasn’t Janus’s style, exactly — but he didn’t think it was going to be easy. Not only was Emege old, but it had been destroyed a very long time ago. The ground had risen around and over it, thousands of years of dust and shifting stones slowly covering the wreckage; he guessed that what he was seeing, the bone-white shards of stone and metal, was only the top of the most prominent of the city’s original buildings. There would be far more beneath the surface, and if Janus had had a laboratory here, they’d need to dig for it.

  First, though, find if there was one. If there was anything left of the Ancients’ usual archive, it was going to be buried too deeply for him to find it today. That left looking for the most likely place for a lab, and that was somewhere along the perimeter — possibly there, where the dull red walls marked out what was left of an eight-sided tower. There were towers like that on M3R-273 and on P2Y-229, and, in both cases, they’d been the formal entrance to a scientific installation. It also looked as though it rose a little higher from the beaten ground, a possible indication that it was newer than some of the other ruins. Janus would have been here toward the end of the Ancients’ tenure in Emege.

  He checked the guard post again, making sure he was still both out of sight and un-missed, then struck out along the line of a grassy ditch that he suspected had once been a major thoroughfare. He was tempted to stop and cut a little way through the turf, see if he couldn’t find signs of paving or some other markers, but he knew there wasn’t time. His priority had to be finding Janus’s work.

  The red-walled tower was a mess, the roof and walls fallen in on themselves to create a miniature mountain within the octagon, slabs of stone overgrown with patchy grass and clumps of tiny blue-white flowers. There were dark gaps between the stones, and Daniel pulled out his flashlight, lying prone to shine the light into the largest openings. There was definitely some space under the rubble, but none of the breaks were big enough to let him crawl through.

  He was going to have to come back with shovels or, better still, heavy equipment to get through there, and he pushed himself to his feet. On M3R-273 there had been a second entrance about fifty meters beyond the tower, and — yes, there were slabs of stone there that looked as though they had been part of the same complex. A little further, the ground had slumped in, possibly after a heavy rain, and a sinkhole opened between two of the larger slabs.

  That was promising. He reached for his flashlight again and went to his knees, testing the edge of the opening before trusting his weight to it. The gap wasn’t very large, but he could feel air moving through it, a faint cool sigh from under the earth. And that was a good sign, a sign that there was a bigger space and enough air. He lay flat and wormed his way cautiously forward, until head and shoulders were well into the opening, and flicked on his flashlight.

  The beam carved into the darkness, sweeping across consoles and bits of equipment that he didn’t recognize, picked up glints like metal from a floor about fifteen feet down. Halfway across the room, there was a partition, and the flashlight’s beam bounced back from it as though it were glass. The layout was the same, he thought, and brought the light back to sweep across the consoles again. Yes, that was the same pattern, the same way the consoles had been laid out on P6T-847.

  He pushed himself back, reaching for his radio, and stopped. Any transmission was going to be overheard by Sumner’s men and he wasn’t sure he wanted to share this with them just yet, at least not until he’d had a chance to talk things over with Jack. On the other hand, climbing down into a buried ruin by himself, with no one knowing where he’d gone… Even in conventional archeology, that was a recipe for disaster.

  But if he did try to go back, tell Sam what he was doing, he’d draw the attention of the guards at the machine gun post, and McKay had been very clear that part of their job was to stop people who wanted to explore the city. Maybe if he could find a way back to the main expedition, he could tell Jack or Teal’c, but that carried the same risk of notice, and would take too much time besides. No, it was worth taking a chance. Methodically, he unrolled the looped rope that would serve as a ladder, staked it securely to the turf. After a moment’s thought, he pulled out his bandana and tied it around the nearer stake, letting in flutter in the faint breeze from underground. And, anyway, if he got into trouble, there was a reasonable chance the radio would work. But if this was another of Janus’s machines — he had to take the risk. He took a deep breath and lowered himself into the hole.

  It was cool in the chamber, but dry, the air smelling only faintly of dirt, and when he turned his light on the hole through which he’d come, he saw the signs of recent slippage. The chamber had only recently become accessible, then; that explained why it was so well-preserved.

  It was very nearly identical to the installation on P6T-847, down to the wall of diamond — pure carbon — between the rows of consoles and the inner chamber with the golden ouroboros on the back wall. The door between the two rooms was missing and Daniel stepped cautiously through the opening, letting his light play across the walls and the central console. The ouroboros was the same, gold inlaid into the rough surface of the walls, but the main console was definitely different. He reached for his video camera, switched on its light as well, and began to record the details of the room. It was a pity he had to use the light, it would run down the batteries twice as fast, but he should be able to get a decent set of pictures before they were completely gone.

  He saw the movement out of the corner of his eye before he heard the scuffling, made himself keep filming as though there was nothing wrong.

  “Dr. Jackson!” That was the young lieutenant, Ford, but Daniel didn’t look away from his work. Two more consoles, close-ups of the controls, then one more long shot of the inner chamber —

  “I’m in here,” he called, not taking the camera from his eye.

  “Sir, you shouldn’t be here.” Ford advanced nervously to the door, the light from his P90 flickering across the consoles.

  “Don’t do that,” Daniel said. “I’m trying to get some decent pictures.”

  “Dr. Jackson, this area is off limits.”

  “Why?” Daniel kept filming, moving to the second console to pan slowly across the unfamiliar controls.

  “It’s for your own safety,” Ford said. “You’re a long way outside the secure perimeter. If the Wraith were to attack, you’d never get back inside in time.”

  “Is it really all that likely the Wraith are going to attack in broad daylight?”

  “Sir, we don’t know why or when they’re likely to attack. That’s why Colonel Sumner set up the perimeter.
”

  Daniel took a step back, began his last sweeping shots of the entire room. “Ok, point, but look what you missed by not looking just a little further.”

  “Dr. McKay probably knows all about it,” Ford said. “Dr. Jackson, we can’t stay here.”

  “Let me just finish taking these pictures,” Daniel said. “This is a really interesting installation —”

  “Does it have a ZPM?” Ford asked.

  “No.”

  “Then with all respect, Doctor, it’s not that interesting.” Ford lifted his P90. “I’m going to have to ask that you come back with me right now.”

  “Let me just —”

  The sound of the bolts going back on three P90s was very loud in the inner chamber.

  Daniel turned, lowering the camera, to see all three weapons pointed at him. “You can’t be serious.”

  “Yes, sir. I am.” Ford didn’t waver. “You need to come back with me now.”

  “Fine.” Daniel made a production of putting away the camera, hid his sigh of relief as the P90s swung away. “But we’re wasting an incredible opportunity.”

  “Sir, if you’d gotten permission and an escort from Colonel Sumner, I’m sure it would have been fine,” Ford said. “But for now — this way, please.”

  It wasn’t the first time Jack had seen Daniel brought back to camp under Marine escort, and he had no real hope of its being the last. Daniel looked more annoyed than anything, so maybe there was some hope it was all a misunderstanding, but somehow Jack doubted it. He pulled himself upright as they got closer.

  “Daniel? What’s up?”

  “Apparently I went out of bounds,” Daniel answered.

  “I’m sorry, General,” Ford said. “Colonel Sumner’s orders are for everyone to stay inside the perimeter unless he gives explicit permission otherwise.”

  “And the problem with that is, there’s lots of interesting stuff outside that perimeter,” Daniel said. “Except these guys said they’d shoot me if I didn’t come back right away.” There was a sharp note in his voice that Jack recognized and didn’t like: Ford’s threat had been serious.

  “You have found something, Daniel Jackson,” Teal’c said, before Ford could protest again.

  “I did.” Daniel was holding his camcorder, Jack saw, keeping it low at his side as though he wanted the Marines to forget he had it. “It looks like there’s another one of Janus’s chambers here. It’s not identical to the one we came through, but —”

  “You’re sure?” Jack couldn’t stop his own voice from sharpening. If they’d found another one of the control rooms — well, it was a lot more likely to take them home than anything else they’d come across.

  “No, I’m not sure,” Daniel snapped. “They didn’t give me time enough to examine it properly.”

  “Colonel Sumner’s orders —” Ford began again, and a stocky sergeant ducked out of the nearest building, P90 ready. Two Marines were at his heels, armed and ready, and the hairs rose at the back of Jack’s neck.

  “Is there a problem, sir?” The sergeant’s name tape read Harwood, but Jack didn’t remember the man.

  “Yes,” Daniel said. “Yes, there is —”

  “Want me to take care of this, sir?” Harwood said to Ford, his hands moving on the weapon with unmistakable intent.

  “Now, wait just a minute,” Jack said. “Sergeant!”

  “You’re not in chain of command,” Harwood said. “Sir. Lieutenant?”

  Ford hesitated, and Harwood rocked forward on the balls of his feet, an odd little smile curving across his face.

  “Stand down, Sergeant!” That was Sumner, coming around the corner of the mess hall in a hurry, and Jack let out the breath he’d been holding.

  Harwood relaxed abruptly. “Sir!”

  “That’ll be all,” Sumner said, and the sergeant saluted.

  “Yes, sir,” he said, and he and his men backed away. They didn’t go far, though, Jack saw, just back inside the doorway of the building they’d originally come from, and he willed Daniel to keep his mouth shut for a change.

  “What’s the problem, Ford?” Sumner went on.

  Ford came to attention. “Sir. Dr. Jackson was doing some investigating outside the secure perimeter, and we brought him back. No problem, sir.”

  Daniel’s eyebrows twitched at that, but for once he didn’t say anything, and Jack spoke before he could change his mind.

  “If I could have a word, Colonel?”

  “Of course,” Sumner answered. “Dr. Jackson, the perimeter is there to keep everyone safe. I’d appreciate it if you would follow the regulations.”

  “But —”

  Jack made a chopping motion, and Daniel subsided.

  “I’m at your disposal, General,” Sumner said, and motioned for them to step out of earshot.

  “Yeah, about that.” Jack paused. “Look, Colonel, it seems to me you might get a little further if you loosened the reins a little. Dr. Jackson managed to find what may be an important installation in just a couple of hours.”

  “Yeah, and I’m kind of curious as to how he did that, sir,” Sumner said.

  “It’s what I do,” Daniel said, joining them without waiting for an invitation. “Look, this could be the key to getting us back to our own timeline.”

  “It strikes me as suspicious that you could just walk up to this installation when no one else has noticed it,” Sumner said. “Unless McKay’s been holding out again.”

  “I’ve been in any number of ruined Ancient cities,” Daniel said. “I know where to look. And if you’d just let us go back there…”

  Sumner reached for his radio, no longer seeming to be paying attention, and Jack took the opportunity to glare at Daniel. This was clearly not a good time to push Sumner. Daniel glared back, and Jack wondered if he’d gotten the message at all.

  “McKay,” Sumner said. “McKay!”

  The radio crackled, and a British voice answered. “Grodin here, Colonel. Dr. McKay’s — a bit unavailable, sir. Can I relay a message?”

  “What do you mean, unavailable?”

  “He and Colonel Carter are trying to track some power conduit, and Dr. McKay’s halfway down a hole,” Grodin said.

  “Well, get him out,” Sumner began, but Jack spoke first.

  “Colonel.” It was the tone he’d perfected for junior officers who were getting out of line, and Sumner stopped, flushing to the roots of his hair.

  “Sir.”

  “No harm’s been done,” Jack said. “Dr. Jackson was a little over-enthusiastic, that’s all.”

  “Jack,” Daniel protested.

  “Daniel?” Jack fixed him with a stare and Daniel flung up his hands.

  “Fine! Be that way.” He stalked off, and Jack turned his attention back to Sumner.

  Sumner keyed his radio again. “Grodin. Never mind. Just tell Dr. McKay I’ll want to talk to him when he gets back.”

  “I’ll let him know, sir,” Grodin said.

  “I’m sure Dr. Jackson will be happy to wait for an escort before he goes back,” Jack said. And the sooner he can get back there, the sooner we can get the hell out of here — He swallowed the words, made himself look as patient and kindly as he could manage.

  “We set up that perimeter for a reason,” Sumner said. “It’s for their own good. We can’t protect anything outside it, and there’s no telling when the Wraith are going to show up next. Even with men at the Stargate, we’ve got less than a minute’s warning before their Darts are overhead and the attack begins. Anybody who’s out in the open is going to die. We found that out the hard way.”

  “So can we get an escort?” Jack asked. “I’d like to see what he’s found.”

  “Not today.” Sumner’s face hardened. “I don’t have the men to spare.”

  “What?” Jack barely stopped himself from looking around in disbelief. “Look, Colonel, I don’t need more than a couple of men — I’m willing to take the chance and go without anybody, come to that.”

 
“First of all —” Sumner broke off. “With all respect, General, you’re not in your own timeline here, and you don’t get to give me orders. And you don’t know what kind of firepower you need when the Wraith come at you. You have no idea. And that doesn’t even begin to cover the locals.”

  “You didn’t mention the locals were actually shooting at you,” Jack said. “In fact, seems to me you said the opposite.”

  “It’s just a matter of time,” Sumner said. “Right now, they just watch us. And there’s damn all we can do about it. They watch, and they report, and one of these days, they’re going to try it. We’ll be ready for them, but —” He shook his head. “Weir screwed up the situation, making them think we’d jeopardize security over their superstitions, and we’re going to pay for it in my men’s lives.”

  Jack studied him for a long moment. He’d been on the ragged edge himself more often than he liked to remember, knew what stress and responsibility and the constant threat of combat could to do a man, but this — this felt different, somehow. “How many attacks have you had to deal with, Colonel?”

  Sumner sighed. “Three so far. And they’ll be back.”

  “Because you’re in the city,” Jack said. He paused. “Doesn’t that kind of indicate that the Athosians might be right?”

  “It’s the most defensible place on the planet,” Sumner said. “And it’s the only place we’re going to find the technology we need to get back to Atlantis. And, anyway, the locals said the Wraith keep coming until they wipe out anyone with higher technology.”

  “Ok,” Jack said. This was not an argument he was going to win. “Look, is Dr. Beckett back from wherever it is he went? Because I’d really like to have a word with him.”

  “No.” Sumner controlled himself again. “Sorry, General, I don’t know when he’ll be back. Maybe tomorrow.” He turned away without waiting for an answer.

  “Then I’ll want to talk to him tomorrow,” Jack said, to his retreating back. “Damn.”

  “Colonel Sumner does not seem to be a great respecter of rank,” Teal’c said, after a moment.