STARGATE SG-1 29 Hall of the Two Truths Read online

  Sam, however, was not smiling. “Daniel, you try it.”

  Obligingly, Daniel pressed one of the two remaining unlit panels. Nothing happened.

  “Hey, at least we know it’s not just you, Carter.”

  Daniel glimpsed Sam’s face before she turned away to check the readings on her scanner. Seriously, was Jack going out of his way to be an ass, or was he just being stupidly oblivious?

  “Jack —”

  There was a click. Jack had pressed yet another panel.

  “Um, maybe we should quit while we’re ahead,” Daniel cautioned. “After all, we still don’t know what this thing does. I think we’ve learned that lesson enough times, don’t you?”

  But he was too late. Jack had pressed the remaining panel and the device began to vibrate slightly, as some internal mechanism creaked to life. Two panels slid back above the control pad and the dome-shaped core, about a half-meter in diameter, slowly rose through them, humming loudly as it broke the surface and stopped. It was hard to tell with the sun still visible, but the dome seemed to be glowing with small pinpricks of light. It began, very slowly, to rotate.

  “Pretty,” commented Jack. Daniel and Sam both ignored him. Sam was walking around the device, studying it from all angles, consulting her scanner. Jack waved his hand over the top through the minute rays of light.

  “Should you be doing that?” asked Daniel, warily. Jack withdrew his hand at once.

  “It should be safe. As far as I can tell it’s just — light,” reported Sam, puzzled. “No radiation at all, that I can detect. No other kind of energy, either.”

  “Not like that other light-thingy — the one that made us all a little nuts?” Jack asked. Daniel had just been thinking the same thing.

  “No, sir. This is just — light.”

  They all stared at it.

  “So. I’m thinking, Ancient disco ball?”

  Daniel rolled his eyes at Sam, only she was giving Jack a peculiar look. He recognized a light bulb moment when he saw one.

  “I’ll be right back!” She took off at a quick jog toward camp, returning a few minutes later with a tarp, and Teal’c trailing behind her.

  “Daniel, how high do you think this building was originally?”

  He thought for a moment. “Based on the size and shape of the stones, I’m thinking it was —”

  “Domed,” she supplied.

  Daniel nodded, surprised. “Yes. How did you know?”

  “Just a hunch. How high, would you say?”

  Daniel did some quick figuring. “Probably about six meters, give or take, at the center.”

  Sam was nodding. She began unfolding the tarp, giving each of them a corner. At her direction they held it over the top of the device and then stretched it out, lifting it over their heads.

  “Carter?”

  “We can’t simulate the building exactly, sir. We don’t have enough height, obviously. But this should test my theory. Or, your theory, actually.”

  Jack looked surprised. “You mean it really is an Ancient disco ball?”

  Sam smiled the first genuine smile Daniel had seen on her all day.

  “Not exactly, sir. But close. This would probably work better after it’s completely dark but — Everyone hold it as high above your head as you can.”

  Daniel stretched his arm up over his head, and for good measure balanced on his toes. The others did the same.

  “Now, look up,” Sam instructed. Daniel did his best to balance his position and tilt his head back. The pinpoints of light were shining on the underside of the dark green surface, but not in a random pattern or a perfectly ordered one, for that matter. Instead, they were clustered in different groupings. It looked familiar. He’d seen this before.

  “Constellations,” he said. Then it dawned on him. “It’s a planetarium — or, at least, the Ancient equivalent of one.” Of course. If the roof were domed it would be exactly like the ones on earth. The slow rotation of the device showed the progression of the stars as they ran their course in the night sky.

  “A planetarium?” repeated Jack, incredulously. “We came all this way to look at a planetarium?”

  “So it would seem,” replied Teal’c, calmly.

  “What about the ‘great power’ and ‘gods doing our bidding’ thing?”

  “Well,” Daniel replied. “I mean, it’s pretty obvious isn’t it? To an unsophisticated civilization, the ability to reproduce the stars and emulate their movement across the heavens would have seemed like making the gods of the sky — the constellations — bend to their will. They would have probably considered that fairly powerful magic.”

  “It’s a planetarium,” complained Jack.

  “I know. To you and me, nothing remarkable, but to them —”

  “Fine. Great. We came. We saw. We missed the gift shop, but that’s okay. If we pack it up now we can be back to the gate in an hour. Tonight’s Simpsons is not a rerun.”

  “Sir —”

  “Jack —”

  “Carter. Daniel.”

  Daniel looked at Sam and knew she was thinking the same thing.

  “We can’t leave yet, Jack. There’s so much more here that I haven’t even begun to try to translate. General Hammond gave us forty-eight hours.”

  “General Hammond didn’t know it was a planetarium, Daniel. Besides. What more could we possibly learn from this?”

  They’d let go of the tarp and it drifted over the device.

  “Well, first of all, it’s obviously Ancient technology,” began Sam, pulling the tarp off to uncover it. The ambient light was fading rapidly and the pinpricks of light were becoming brighter. “And I still don’t have any idea how you turned it on. Studying it may help us, if and when we encounter future Ancient tech. I’d like a few more hours with it, sir, especially now that we know what it is.”

  “And I’ve only begun to decipher the Ancient writing on these walls, Jack. Yes, I know I can take lots of pictures and do it back at the SGC,” he forged ahead when he saw the objection forming on Jack’s lips. “But that’s never as good as doing it on-site. Besides, we’re running out of light and I can’t finish taking pictures until morning now anyway. I get too much reflection with the flash.”

  “Night is quickly approaching, O’Neill,” Teal’c pointed out. “It would be difficult to navigate a return to the Stargate without adequate light. The path to this location was quite circuitous.”

  There. If nothing more, they had a practical reason to remain, but Jack was still hesitating. For a minute Daniel thought he was going to order them back to the gate anyway, but finally Jack threw his hands up in the air.

  “Fine. Fine. We’ll stay.” He turned his back and walked away. “But tomorrow,” Jack waggled his finger in the air, “we’re out of here by noon, and not a second later. So, translate, study, take pictures — whatever. Just be done.”

  Daniel shot a satisfied look at Sam, expecting her to share his relief, but her eyes were following Jack’s retreating back, and there was a troubled expression on her face. A moment later, though, it was gone, and she turned her attention back to refolding the tarp.

  Noon. Daniel figured that would give them about six hours of good light. At the very least he could finish photographing and mapping the ruins. Even if it was just a planetarium, the Ancients must have had some reason for building it.

  Six hours. It probably wasn’t enough time, but it was what he had and it would have to do.

  Teal’c walked silently beside O’Neill as they followed the path back to camp. It had been a wise decision not to attempt returning to the Stargate now. He did not know if this planet had any orbiting bodies, but at the moment no moon was present and the darkness was swiftly descending. Trying to find their way by means of the poorly marked trail would have been hazardous at best. Remaining at camp for the night was the correct choice, even if it made O’Neill less than pleased.

  “A planetarium.” O’Neill was muttering in a low voice, his head shaking.
r />   “You do not think it is a valuable discovery.”

  O’Neill glanced over at him. “On the list of really cool things I’d like to have from the Ancients, it’s near the bottom. Right after ‘toaster oven’ but before ‘electric toothbrush’ — although, come to think of it, an electric toothbrush would probably still be more useful.”

  “Perhaps tomorrow will yield a new discovery.” Teal’c saw O’Neill give a cursory look over his shoulder at the two shadowed figures that still moved amidst the ruins.

  “Yeah. Well. Let’s just say I’m not holding my breath.”

  “You have been reluctant to come on this mission from the very beginning.”

  “You noticed,” O’Neill said dryly.

  “I do not understand why.”

  “Would you like the short list or the long one?” O’Neill pushed aside a low hanging branch with so much vigor that Teal’c heard it snap.

  “Is it because you did not believe there was anything of benefit to be found here?”

  “You said it, not me.” O’Neill took point as the path narrowed. “And for the record, I was right.”

  Teal’c followed his silhouette through the underbrush. “Are you no longer confident that we may someday discover alien technology to assist us in the fight against the Goa’uld?”

  “The only thing I’m confident of is that this whole thing is a huge waste of our time.” He grunted. “SG-16 was already here. Hammond should have sent them back to finish the job. They could have done it with their eyes shut.”

  “Do you not believe the expertise of Daniel Jackson and Major Carter were required on this mission?”

  “It’s a planetarium, Teal’c. Not rocket science. Hell, she can’t even get it to work half the time.”

  “I do not believe the fault lies with Major Carter.”

  “I’m just sayin’ — there are better things we could be doing than wasting our time on this half-ass Tok’ra wild goose chase.” Teal’c heard another branch snap, as if to emphasis O’Neill’s point.

  “It is my understanding that it was the liaison to the SGC from the Tok’ra High Council who provided the information about this planet, and that their interest was more academic than strategic.”

  “Anise’s experiment with those damned bracelets was supposed to be ‘academic’ too, and look where the hell that landed us.”

  “I do not believe there is evidence to suggest that these circumstances are comparable, O’Neill.”

  “Hey, just because they haven’t dropped the other shoe yet, doesn’t mean they won’t. Trust me. There’s more to this than meets the eye. With the damn Tok’ra, there always is.”

  “I find it difficult to believe that General Hammond would have agreed to the mission had he not felt it had merit.”

  Ahead of him in the dark, O’Neill muttered something, but the only intelligible words Teal’c made out were “Daniel” “Carter” and “geeks”. Even so, the context did not sound especially complimentary.

  “Have Major Carter and Daniel Jackson displeased you in some way?”

  He had noticed, for some time now, that O’Neill’s attitude toward his colleagues had become increasingly critical. Now seemed as appropriate a time to address it as any.

  “What are you talking about? No. Of course not.” The response was immediate and vehement, which Teal’c found telling. It was his experience that the more fervently humans denied something, the more likely it was to be true.

  “Your recent behavior toward them would seem to suggest otherwise,” he countered. “Especially Major Carter.” For months now, ever since Major Carter had nearly perished by O’Neill’s own hand, his manner had been brusque and distant. Teal’c had his suspicions as to why, but those were best kept to himself.

  O’Neill was silent for a moment. “Look, Teal’c.” There was a hardness in his voice that Teal’c knew hid deeper feelings. “Sometimes you’ve just gotta do the job, you know? You can’t let other stuff get in the way. It makes things… complicated.”

  Teal’c considered how best to choose his words in response. It was usually best, he had discovered, to be direct with O’Neill, particularly on personal matters. Yet in this case, perhaps a more subtle approach was required.

  “When I served as First Prime of Apophis, we were not permitted to keep our same lieutenants for more than a few campaigns. The Goa’uld feared that we would become too attached to them and that our loyalty to our brother Jaffa would outweigh our loyalty to our god.”

  “Makes sense, in that ‘me-first’ Goa’uld kinda way.”

  “Nevertheless, many of us still forged deep and lasting bonds that made us as brothers, even though we knew that if death did not tear us asunder, our god most assuredly would.”

  They emerged into the clearing where they’d set up camp. The small fire Teal’c had started before leaving to assist Major Carter was nearly out. Only a few glowing embers remained.

  O’Neill pulled up short and faced Teal’c, cradling his P-90. “And your point?”

  “If we fear to lose that which we hold most dear, then it is, in fact, already lost — as are we.”

  “And your point?” O’Neill repeated, testily.

  Even in the dark, Teal’c could tell from his stony expression that it was futile to pursue the issue further. So he simply said, “I believe my point is quite clear.”

  “Of course it is,” O’Neill snapped sarcastically, before wheeling around and stalking away. “Don’t give up your day job, Teal’c,” he called over his shoulder. “I don’t think Dear Abby is quite ready for you.”

  Teal’c watched his friend’s back disappear into his tent and shook his head sadly. If only he had Bra’tac’s skill at bringing out what was in a man’s heart. But he did not think that even the Rite of M’al Sharran would induce O’Neill to acknowledge the truth that was within him.

  “Say again, sir? I think we had a bad connection.” At least Jack hoped that’s what it was, and that Hammond hadn’t just said what he’d thought he’d said.

  Through the tinny radio speaker, Hammond repeated himself. Jack winced. Nope. Just what he’d heard him say the first time. Damn it.

  “But sir, it’s just a planetarium.”

  “Which is why it’s of such interest, Colonel.” Hammond’s voice was firm. “Apparently it’s the only one of its kind ever discovered. We’ll redial in ten. Be prepared to receive your guest. And I hope I don’t have to remind you, Colonel, to play nice.”

  “No, sir,” Jack muttered, kicking the grass at his feet as the Stargate’s blue puddle shimmered out of existence. Wonderful. Just how he wanted to spend his last few hours on this rock: hosting the very people who’d sent him here in the first place.

  Or person. When the blue puddle reappeared, a lone figure stepped through. He was young for a Tok’ra, probably not far into his twenties. Of course, that was only the host. God knew how old the snake inside his head was.

  “I am Jenmar, of the Tok’ra,” he said, walking up to Jack and bowing slightly.

  “Jack O’Neill,” he replied curtly. “And this here is Teal’c.” The big guy returned Jenmar’s bow with his own precisely timed head nod. Birds of a feather, in an odd sort of way.

  “It is an honor to finally meet you both.” Jenmar smiled. “Your exploits are legendary among the Tok’ra.”

  Jack raised his eyebrows. “Legendary, you say?”

  Jenmar’s smiled broadened. “Quite. And now that you have discovered the Dome of Anu —”

  “Excuse me?. ‘Dome of Anu’?” Jack frowned. “Where’d you hear that?”

  The smile on the Tok’ra’s face froze for just the blink of an eye and Jack didn’t think he was imagining that the guy suddenly looked just a bit nervous. That nagging feeling that had been flitting around in the back of his head ever since this whole thing began was starting to get a whole lot naggyer.

  “I… I was only recently able to decipher some of the writing in photographs your General Hammond so kindly pro
vided me,” Jenmar explained, apologetically. “The study of languages is something of a specialty of mine.” Funny. Jack didn’t recall Daniel making any mention of the Dome of anything, although he might have missed it. He tended to tune Daniel out quite a bit these days. Still —

  He nailed the Tok’ra with his best suspicious look and noticed that the guy wouldn’t meet his eye.

  Right.

  “Yes. Well. It’s a hike, so we better get moving.” Jack waved the guy toward the trailhead with the barrel of his P90. Jenmar scurried behind Teal’c, who took point. Jack brought up the rear so he could keep an eye on their guest. That nagging feeling was still there and if he’d learned anything in all these years, Jack knew better than to ignore it. No matter what everyone else thought.

  “So. How long you been with the Tok’ra?” Jack said after they’d walked for a while.

  “I have been Tok’ra all of my life, since I was spawned of our beloved queen Egeria, millennia ago.”

  Jack was confused. If Jenmar was the snake, where was the booming baritone voice?

  “You do not choose to speak as most Tok’ra do?” Teal’c took the words right out of his mouth.

  Jenmar smiled slightly and shook his head. “We do not. Keyleb and Jenmar speak as one. Our blending is… unique.”

  “Sounds like a Goa’uld,” Jack grunted. “No offense.” Something about this guy didn’t read right. Maybe this was why.

  “I assure you, Colonel, I am no Goa’uld. But to answer the question I think you meant to ask, I am Keyleb, formerly of Wasir, and I have been host to Jenmar for what would amount to about seven of your years.”

  “I am familiar with Wasir,” remarked Teal’c. “Was it not destroyed in a battle between the forces of Ra and Cronus?”

  Jack saw Keyleb — Jenmar, whoever — tense slightly. “It was. Very few of us survived. I was among those who were mortally wounded. The Tok’ra found me and saved my life.”

  That always gave Jack the creeps. Sure, he was grateful that Selmak had saved Carter’s dad. He’d come to like Jacob a lot and he knew how much having him involved in their work, even as a Tok’ra, meant to Carter. But to willingly let a snake into your head, even a supposedly good snake? Personally, he’d die first.