Woe to thee - part two

[ansostuff]

PART TWO

The next morning Daniel woke up to no sign of either nausea or backache. He’d fallen asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow and had got about six hours of quality sleep. He was now ready to face a new day. In high spirits he knocked on Teal’c’s door.

“Teal’c? You awake?”

“I am. Enter, DanielJackson.”

“Morning. You want to get something to eat?” Daniel almost bounded into his friend’s quarters.

“It would be my pleasure,” Teal’c answered, bowing his head regally. “How are you faring this day? You appear much refreshed.”

“I feel fine, Teal’c,” Daniel answered with a genuine smile.

“That is good to hear.” Daniel waited as Teal’c got ready and together they headed for the commissary on 22.

“Hey, guys,” Jack called as he almost crashed into his two team mates as the three of them was about to enter the bustling mess hall.

“Jack,” Daniel greeted, letting Jack walk first into the commissary. “Teal’c and I were just talking about heading to the gym after breakfast. Want to join us?”

“My knee’s been kind of bothering me lately… I could do some weights though,” Jack mused out loud. “Yeah, I’ll join you.”

“Good,” Daniel said. “Now, let’s get something to eat first. I’m starving.”

Jack just looked at him. “Feeling better, I see. Good. I’ll go get us a table. Get me some oatmeal, Daniel?”

“Sure. Coffee?” Daniel walked over to the drinks table, ready to get them whatever they wanted.

“Yeah, thanks. And apple juice.”

“I’ll have water,” Teal’c added as he gathered trays for them.

“Coming right up,” Daniel said, filling two mugs with coffee and a glass of apple juice for Jack, handing the drinks over to him to carry to their table. He poured some water for Teal’c and a glass of orange juice for himself. Putting the drinks on their trays Daniel and Teal’c went to stand in line to get their food while Jack went to find a table.

Daniel hadn’t been kidding. Once again he was hungry. Jack had been right to give him that curious look. If he could chose Daniel usually skipped breakfast, or didn’t eat it this early, but if he ate at this time of day he usually had to force the food down and never ate as much as he would if he had breakfast later. He hoped the nausea he’d experienced during dinner last night wouldn’t come back today. If he did, Daniel knew a trip to the infirmary was inevitable.

When it was their turn, Daniel and Teal’c got food for the three of them and together they sat down to eat.

&&&&&

It was two hours later when Sam came looking for him. Breakfast had passed without any signs of nausea and unlike the previous night he’d finished everything on his plate. After the work out Daniel had showered and was now working in the lab where he’d worked the previous night. He’d just got started when Sam called his name over the intercom.

“Hey,” Daniel greeted, looking up from his work. “Did you get some sleep?”

“Yeah, I slept like a log. Looks like you’re feeling better today too,” Sam added, noticing with amusement his still somewhat wet hair standing up in spikes here and there on his head. The paleness from last night was gone as well. “Got coffee,” She said, putting a steaming mug down on the table by the computer.

“Thanks.” Daniel said, immediately exiting the lab.

“Listen,” Sam said when Daniel had downed half the cup and she’d had a few sips of her own coffee. “I just wanted to say hi, really, to see that you’re okay. I’ve got to get back to my lab to supervise some tests I’m running. I’ll see you later. I’ll come get you at lunch time and we can catch up on the device then.”

“Sure, that’d be great. I think I should be done with unrolling the scroll then and we can scan it. Thanks for the coffee!”

After Sam had left Daniel finished his drink before he sat down again to continue his work with the scroll. If his theory about the scroll and the tablet being written in the same language was right, it would be even more interesting to see what the two documents said. Starting something with what in effect said “woe to thee” had him curious as to what the text actually warned about.

&&&&&

At lunchtime Sam knocked on his door as promised, and they joined the rest of their team in the commissary. Daniel nursed his coffee and listened to his friends talk. The more he thought about it, the surer he was that there was some form of connection between the tablet and the scroll. As he’d unrolled the scroll he’d cross-referenced the symbols he saw with those of the tablet and a lot of them were alike, meaning that many of the words they spelled contained the same letters or symbols. Perhaps the content of one would explain the other?

After they’d eaten and Sam had scanned the now fully unrolled scroll, Daniel pulled up the mission reports from both missions. SG-13’s report was sketchy as they hadn’t been able to finish it since they’d been shipped out again immediately, but there was enough information for Daniel to get a general idea and the MALP’s initial recon pictures were good, so he had something to work with till the report came in.

Comparing the two reports he found that there was nothing even remotely similar in the ruins in the desert on P1N-552 or the high tech-looking deserted cities of P3M-789. Both mission reports stated that there was no one left to talk to and no apparent signs of recent civilization. There was no conclusive answer to why 789 had been abandoned, but there were signs of the Goa’uld having been there.

Putting the reports aside, Daniel picked up the closed cylinder containing the scroll and the tablet, laying them side by side on his desk. The tablet looked like it’d been a part of a wall at one point. Daniel passed the portable little naquada scanner he kept in his desk drawer over both objects. The tablet showed trace amounts, but the cylinder was clean. Studying it further Daniel realised it looked like the glazed, ordinary ceramic it probably also was made of. Sam hadn’t said anything to contradict this, so Daniel could be relatively sure it was ceramic. Making a mental note to do a carbon dating later, he put the scanner away and went back to studying the two objects.

Ordinary ceramic or not, the cylinder had to contain some form of technology as it could seal itself completely with no apparent seams of any kind. Neither he nor Sam had found any power source in it, but that didn’t mean that there wasn’t any, its reaction to the computer’s EM pulse was proof of that. Sam would know if the ceramic-like material had properties in its makeup that would allow for the reaction with the EM pulse from the computer. Sending her an email asking if she’d found anything that would explain the reaction to the EM pulse, he went back to studying the cylinder. Daniel sighed and rubbed his back. His theories didn’t prove anything else than what he’d already learned. Perhaps the scans would reveal something?

Daniel was pulling up the scanned files on his computer when there was a knock on his door.

“Hey, Daniel, watcha doing?” Jack sauntered into his office, picking up the cylinder, studying it. “Is this the thing Carter’s squeeing about?”

“Maybe… Probably,” Daniel answered cautiously, looking up from his scrutinizing of the tablet. “Put that back, would you? Why is Sam, um… squeeing about this?”

“Oh, I don’t know. She said something about the makeup of the ceramic or something or other. I have no idea what she was talking about.”

“She got my email then?” Daniel asked.

“She didn’t say anything about an email,” Jack said, putting the cylindrical device back on Daniel’s cluttered desk.

“I sent Sam an email to ask if she had found out anything about why the cylinder reacts to EM pulses.”

“Sure. Yeah, she said something about that.”

“So she found something then? What did she say?”

“Daniel. You know I don’t understand half of what you two say half the time.”

Daniel sighed. “Yeah, I know. I’ll give her a call later,” He turned to face Jack. “So, what brings you here?”

“How’s your back?” Jack picked the cylinder up again

“My back? What’s that got to do with anything?” Daniel raised his eyebrow, motioning for Jack to put the cylinder back down again. “And put that back down.”

“Carter tattled,” Jack said cautiously, shrugging. “I couldn’t see anything wrong with you when we were in the gym, but at least you’re not as green as you were during dinner last night, so I guess you’re not only saying you feel a lot better but actually are. Feeling better that is.”

“Yeah,” Daniel nodded. “So, Sam told on me?” Daniel wasn’t worried in the least. “Like I said to her, I think I just pulled a muscle.” They were all friends, very good friends. His back had hurt; she was worried. Jack was their friend and their boss. She had the right to tell him; actually, it was her duty.

“Yeah. So what is up with your back?”

“Nothing, I’m fine.” He was fine too. No nausea or dizziness either. He could feel he’d worked out hard by how his muscles dully ached but nothing hurt and the ache he was feeling was definitely not like the pain he’d experienced for a while the previous day, before it’d had gone away, making him forget about it till Jack brought the subject up now. If they were called out for a search and rescue now, he was good to go. No problem running around a planet shooting bad guys and rescuing good guys. He felt fine. Really. He did, didn’t he? Jack kept staring at him, so something must be wrong.

“Yeah? So why are you sitting in that awkward position then?” Jack asked, crossing his arms over his chest, looking very much like he knew something Daniel didn’t.

“Wh-what?” Annoyed, Daniel asked, “Jack, what are you talking about?”

“You’re leaning forward, resting your weight on your arms and your thighs.”

Now Daniel was thoroughly confused. “Jack?”

“It’s true. Look at you.” Jack pulled a stool over and sat down, mimicking Daniel’s forward-leaning position, elbows on the table, butt slightly raised from the seat of the chair.

Confused, Daniel looked at his friend, checking how he himself was sitting. Jack was right. He was leaning forward. His back protested when he sat back. Not being able to hide the small grimace that followed the motion Daniel sighed. “My back is a little tense, so what. It’s not all that strange, Jack, I’m used to sitting here for hours at the time. You know that.”

“Funny you haven’t mentioned it before then,” Jack said sarcastically.

“You’re the one who brought it up,” Daniel said, attempting to distract Jack.

“No, Daniel. My back is tense, yours hurts.”

“So it’s new,” Daniel said, not really feeling like playing hide and seek with both Jack and the truth.

“Okay,” Jack said slowly. “Well, then I think you need to sit a little less at your desk and move a bit more around,” he said.

“Maybe I do,” Daniel said, knowing Jack knew full well how much exercise Daniel got and how little he actually sat in his chair. “Or maybe I’m getting old.”

“Old?” Jack’s eyebrows rose almost to his hairline and he laughed. “Listen to you. If you’re getting old, what am I then? Ancient.”

“Fine,” Daniel spat out. “I’m getting old...er,” Daniel conceded.

Jack just laughed.

“You’re not helping. I feel fine. Truly, I do.” Daniel was starting to get angry. Why was Jack pestering him about his back? It didn’t hurt…much, Daniel thought, inwardly sighing. Darn, he’d been sure it was gone and here Jack comes and outs him without his even knowing. Daniel hung his head. He’d been busted without even knowing something had been wrong.

“Infirmary, now,” Jack commanded, rising from his own chair.

“What? Jack, that’s not necessary,” Daniel protested. “I’m sure I’ve only pulled a muscle, and I’m sure that’s all it is. So, okay it’s taken longer than a day to snap back, but I’m fine. Besides, don’t you have anything better to do? Aren’t you and General Hammond up to your elbows in bureaucracy? Isn’t Major Davis coming here today? I clearly remember you grouching about this meeting for, oh, the last week!”

“Yes, we are, and yes, he is, Daniel. But that’s not the point. I want you to get your back checked out. And if it’s only a pulled muscle, where did the nausea come from? If a strained muscle is all it is, the doc will tell you.” Jack pulled Daniel gently to his feet. “Also, you need a break from all this translating. Especially if you get stiff by sitting around,” Jack added, rubbing it in, smirking as Daniel scowled at him. “And I could probably use your help wrestling with Davis.”

“I’m sure you could. But I haven’t even got started on the translation yet! Jack, I don’t have time for this.” Daniel pulled his arm out of Jack’s grasp.

“Humor me. It won’t take long. I told Doc Warner that we’d be by so he’s waiting for you,” Jack insisted, holding Daniel’s gaze. “You know our next mission is going to be a rough one with that 30-click hike. I need you to be at your best.”

“That was low, Jack, but yeah, I guess you’re right.” Sighing with frustration, but knowing there was no way to get around this, Daniel followed Jack to the infirmary. As he walked, he realised that the pain was indeed starting to come back, but it was nothing like it’d been the day before.

&&&&&

Hours later Daniel was lying prone on the infirmary bed, stripped down to his socks and boxers. Folding his arms under the pillow his head was resting on, Daniel drifted. After going through a series of neurological tests regarding sensibility, coordination and strength Warner was now poking at his spine and back muscles, asking questions about numbness and feeling and pain that Daniel only halfway listened to. Instead he went back to thinking about the tablet and the scroll.

Unless it was very old, the tablet didn’t look like it belonged to a high-tech civilization like the one on 789. As it was written in the same script as the scroll, it might have belonged to the people on 552, or those who left the scroll behind there, meaning it might belong to 789 after all. That is if the people on 789 were the race that’d left the scroll on 552…. Daniel was shaking his head at his thinking in circles when it suddenly struck him that maybe the people from 789 originated from 552 but for some reason had deserted it. Perhaps the Goa’uld had destroyed their new world so they’d fled back to 552 to start anew. If what he’d been able to glean from the pictures in the mission reports it certainly fitted with the crumbled ruins of 552 and the highly advanced 789. The more he thought about it, the more he was sure the ruins and the remnants of the highly advanced civilization had several architectural similarities. As Warner hit what definitely was a sore muscle, Daniel groaned and realised what he hadn’t thought of before. The ruins looked like a less sophisticated version of the destroyed buildings on 789.

“You okay?” Dr. Warner asked, taking his hands away from Daniel’s back. “Did I find the right spot?”

“Ow. I guess so.”

“Good, let me just check this,” Warner said, continuing his exam.

Going through the motions of Warner’s test and wondering if the doc wasn’t finished soon, Daniel went back to thinking about the two planets and their artefacts. There were no evident signs on 552 of the Goa’uld ever having been there, but as SG-13 only had found this one scroll he couldn’t be sure of them never having been there. Many civilizations had records dating thousands of years back in time, most of which showed some sort of connection with the Goa’uld at one point or other in their history. He really needed to see these planets himself to find out more.

“Any of this hurt?” Dr. Warner’s voice interrupted his thoughts, pressing his palms down over a new place on Daniel’s back.

“No. Can I go now?” Daniel sat up, impatient to get back to work.

“Yes, you may,” Dr. Warner answered a little sourly at the apparent impatience and lack of concentration from his patient.

“Good, thanks,” Daniel put his pants on and pulled his t-shirt over his head.

“Just a moment, Dr. Jackson,” Warner said as soon as Daniel’s head popped through the neck opening of the t-shirt. “Colonel O’Neill didn’t bring you down here for nothing. I can’t find anything immediately wrong with your back and the x-ray shows no damage to your spine or ribs. I also can’t detect any neurological damage. Your vitals are also good. However, I want to take some blood to see if there’s anything going on that the tests we’ve done so far haven’t detected.”

“It’s probably just a pulled muscle,” Daniel repeated for the umpteenth time. “I’m fine. Really.” Why did he have to justify his wellbeing to everyone these last couple of days? He was fine. Sure his back wasn’t completely pain free, but it was a pulled muscle! It would twinge and throb now and again.

“Yes, that is likely. However, according to Colonel O’Neill, you suffered nausea last night. I won’t discount that just yet. Any headache or nausea now?”

“No.”

“Have you eaten today?”

“Yes,” Daniel answered impatiently. Seeing the annoyed look on the doctor’s face he moderated his voice. “I’m sorry. Look, I’ve had both breakfast and lunch. And everything’s staying where it should be.”

“Good. Any other symptoms or pain?”

Daniel counted to ten before answering. “No. You said I could go,” Daniel said, fastening his belt when Warner didn’t immediately continue. He knew he was being overly impatient, but this little exam had gone on for hours now and Daniel wanted to get back to work.

“Yes, and you may.” Warner looked up from writing his findings in Daniel’s chart.

“Thanks.” Daniel didn’t even listen as Warner continued to tell him to be careful and come back as soon as he felt anything out of the ordinary. If Daniel was a pain in the ass, Warner was up there with him, Daniel decided, sending Jack a sympathetic thought and reminding himself to keep the nagging down a bit in the future. The only problem was that when he got excited about something, he completely forgot about his good intentions. Speaking of which, he’d better see if he could get in touch with Balinsky to get some more information on 552. Walter would know when they were scheduled to return. Picking up the phone in the hallway outside the infirmary he called the control room.

“Hi, it’s Dr. Jackson. When is SG-13 due to return?”

“In two days,” Walter answered.

“Okay. When are they due their next check-in?”

“In about an hour, sir.”

“Great. When they call in, could you give me a call? I need to talk to Dr. Balinsky.”

“No problem, sir.”

“Thanks, Walter.”

&&&&&

“Cameron, its Daniel, how is things?” Daniel said exactly an hour later, putting the earpiece in place and sitting down at the control panel beside Walter.

“I’m fine. We’re having a blast with these people,” Balinsky said, smiling, indicating the prospering village behind him. “It looks like they’re enjoying their new home very much.”

“That’s great. Listen, I need to ask you about something. You remember P1N-552?”

“The deserted desert, sure. What about it? Have you figured out that thing I gave you?”

“Not yet. While you were there, did you see any signs of there having been a Goa’uld there at one point? Or that another advanced civilization once might have lived there?”

Balinsky shook his head. “No, we didn’t find anything. It actually looked like the place had been thoroughly cleaned up. I think someone wanted to erase all evidence of there ever having lived someone there.”

“That’s strange. The ruins are still there,” Daniel said. “Perhaps that’s why they look so badly off. Maybe the people who lived there destroyed them so no one would investigate too thoroughly. Perhaps we should check them out after all…” Daniel mused out loud.

“Maybe, but you yourself said those were too dangerous to explore. Besides they were too crumpled to give us much information.”

“My point exactly. If they were purposefully ruined, we should be able to find evidence of it.” Eager now, Daniel decided that they had to go to both 552 and 789. He’d better get some serious translating done and soon! Turning back to Balinsky he asked “You said the place looked like it’d been cleaned out. Were there any signs of that having been done recently?”

“I don’t know. I just thought it looked like that since there were places where there obviously earlier had been panels of writing that clearly had been removed and we found absolutely nothing in terms of shards or broken pottery or any other signs of there ever having lived someone there. There was one wall on the ruins that looked like it had a slot where something might fit in, but the thing that was supposed to fit in there was missing.”

“You don’t suppose the cylinder you gave me would fit in there?” Daniel asked, suddenly having a thought. What if the destroyed ruins were a hoax, an illusion? Maybe this race could hide its existence from whomever they wanted to hide it from? That’d certainly explain the connection between the two worlds. And if the civilization that lived there or once lived there, were that advanced then perhaps they could be new allies? The Nox were still out there, but Daniel hadn’t spoken to Lya or the others for a good long while. Perhaps they would know something about either planet that could aid in the investigation?

“Daniel? You there?” Balinsky asked, looking intently at the MALP’s camera as if he could see Daniel through the wormhole.

“Yeah, sorry. I was just thinking. Thanks for your help. Listen, if you remember anything else about that place, let me know, okay?”

“Sure.”

“Is there anything else?” Walter asked of Balinsky.

“No, I don’t think so. We’re all good here. We’ll call back in six hours as agreed.”

“Good.”

“SG-13 out.”

The wormhole disconnected and the screen in front of Daniel went black, going back into standby mode. “Thanks for your help, Walter.”

“You’re welcome, sir,” Walter said.

Daniel returned to his office. He had a lot of work to do, and he’d better talk to General Hammond as well. If what he thought was true, there could be an advanced civilization hiding out there. Thinking of the warning on the scroll he sat down at his computer, starting the meticulous and laborious process of translating the alien text. Who’d issued the warning and was it a warning to the people who lived on 552 or 789 or to someone else altogether? If he was lucky the General was still in his office, as he too had a tendency to work very late. Picking up his phone, he called Hammond’s aide.

&&&&&

“General?” Daniel knocked on the doorframe of the general’s office, the door open as it almost always was.

“Come in, Dr. Jackson. What can I do for you?” General Hammond looked up from his computer and waved Daniel over.

“I have a mission for us, sir. If it’s what I think it is, it could be big.” Daniel walked into the office and sat down in one of the chairs in front of the Hammond’s desk.

“What is it?” General Hammond asked.

“I think I’ve found evidence of an advanced civilization in hiding,” Daniel said, explaining about what he and Sam had found so far.

“Okay. We’ll schedule a briefing for 1000 tomorrow morning. From what you say, it sounds like it merits further investigation.”

“Thanks, sir.” Daniel walked back to his office and started to write a report with what he’d found so far. With that done, he started to work on the translation itself. As the writing was hieroglyphic, he had several references he could work with. Although many of the planets they visited at one point were occupied by the Goa’uld, it wasn’t always the Goa’uld that had transplanted them to those planets, which meant that the peoples living on these planets had their original language with them when they came there. Unless the Goa’uld had wiped that language from existence, something Daniel sadly admitted often happened, the original writing often lived on as the population developed. However, not all civilizations cared about their ancient texts or architecture and destroyed it them when the population grew and they needed more space. Daniel hoped that the people who inhabited these two planets had more respect for their past.

Part three