AUTHORS NOTE: These events are happening over three weeks sooner than the events of Reckoning occurred in the TV series.
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
For a change, the SGC was able to get in touch with the Tok'ra right away. Apparently, they'd been anxiously awaiting what intel SG-1 obtained. They were disturbed by the news that Anubis was back in the game. The next off-world allies to be contacted were the rebel Jaffa, who were also alarmed by the news.
It was three days later that Daniel woke up with a bad feeling. He knew this feeling, was, unfortunately, quite familiar with it.
"Something is going to happen," he told Jack and his teammates that morning in his office.
Jack looked at him sharply. "As in. . . ."
"Something very bad."
"Can you be a little more specific?"
"Not at this time. I haven't attempted to take a peek into the future yet. But. . . ."
"But what?" Sam asked.
He met her eyes. "It's never been this strong before, Sam, not even before Anubis attacked Earth. Whatever it is that I'm sensing, it's really bad, bad enough that it's got me . . . a little scared."
Daniel's confession deeply disturbed everyone in the room. If this was bad enough to scare Daniel, then it must be bad on a galactic scale.
"Do you think it has something to do with Anubis?" Jack asked him.
"It might. That would be my first guess. But it's just a guess at this point."
"Well, I'm thinking that you might want to go poking your nose into the future and take a look-see."
Daniel nodded. Though he knew Jack was right, he was afraid to look, afraid of what horrible things he might see. But they needed to know what lay on the horizon.
Daniel was in the process of preparing to take a look into the future when the warning lights out in the hall started flashing, and the announcement of an unscheduled off-world activation came over the speakers.
"Now, why do I get the feeling this has something to do with your bad feeling?" Jack said.
They all hurried to the control room, arriving just as the wormhole established.
"Receiving IDC, General," the technician said. "It's Master Bra'tac's code, sir."
"Open the iris," Jack ordered as Teal'c, Sam and Daniel headed for the gate room.
A moment later, Bra'tac came through. He greeted the three members of SG-1.
"I bring grave news about the rebellion," he said.
They all went up to the briefing room, where Jack joined them.
"The news that Anubis has returned has shaken the confidence of many in the rebel movement," the Master Jaffa said. "Unlike the other Goa'uld, Anubis is truly immortal, a being who cannot be killed. His escape and return to power have convinced some that he is also unconquerable," Bra'tac glanced at Daniel, "even by Dan'yar. The defeat of Lord Yu's and Amaterasu's combined forces has strengthened this belief. For every Kull Warrior of his that falls, many more take its place. Many Jaffa do not know how we can possibly win against him. There is talk of abandoning the fight." Bra'tac noted the severe frown on Teal'c's face. "I cannot say that I do not understand their emotions, Teal'c. With his return, Anubis had proven himself to be an enemy that cannot be defeated for long."
"Okay, so the Jaffa need a morale boost," Jack said. He looked around the table. "Any ideas? Do you think it would do any good for Daniel to talk to them?"
"That I do not know," Bra'tac replied.
"There is one thing that may strengthen the faith and confidence of the Jaffa," Teal'c replied.
"Which is?" Jack asked.
"We must capture the temple at Dakara."
Bra'tac was clearly shocked. Seeing the expression, Teal'c stated, "Everything we have fought for hangs in the balance."
"Yes, but Dakara?"
"Capture it, and we will show that even Anubis' power can be weakened."
"Okay, what is Dakara?" Jack asked. "What makes it so special?"
"The temple at Dakara is sacred to all Jaffa," Teal'c replied.
"It is rich in historical significance," Bra'tac said. "Legend tells it is the place where Anubis rose from the dead."
"It is also the site of the first Prim'ta ritual."
"It is that rite of passage that has bonded us in servitude ever since. For thousands of years, the Jaffa have viewed Dakara as the holiest of sites, the very cradle of our existence. It is the place where the Goa'uld first gave Jaffa their strength and longevity."
"It's more than that," Daniel said, frowning. Everyone turned to him. "That temple was built by the Ancients. Inside it is a device they used to recreate life in this galaxy after the plague decimated everything."
Daniel's announcement stunned everyone.
"Daniel, how do you know that?" Sam asked.
"The moment Bra'tac said the word Dakara, I just knew. I think it came from the Ancient knowledge in my subconscious." Daniel looked at everyone intently. "That device is the single most powerful piece of technology in the entire galaxy. With it, all corporeal life in this galaxy could be wiped out, made nonexistent."
"My God."
Daniel started to get excited. "But it could do something else as well. The settings on it can be changed, altered to affect different kinds of matter. I think that, if it was set right, it could kill Anubis' supersoldiers. Any within range of its effect would be instantly destroyed."
"Whoa," said Jack. "Okay, that alone makes it something we really need to have control of. If we could put the thing on a ship and cart it around the galaxy, we could get rid of Anubis' entire army. True, he could eventually make more, but it would take him a long time to rebuild his forces, and we could just kill them all again."
Daniel shook his head. "It couldn't be put on a ship, Jack."
"Oh. Well, it was an idea."
"So, its effectiveness as a weapon would be limited to the region of Dakara," Sam said.
"It can't be," Daniel responded. "If the Ancients used it to reseed life in the whole galaxy, they had to have a way to spread its effect beyond Dakara."
"You're right. I have no idea how that was possible, though. One lone device couldn't possibly be powerful enough to seed the entire galaxy with new life." She frowned thoughtfully. "Unless. . . ."
"What are you thinking, Carter?" Jack asked.
"I'm thinking of what Baal did with the Avenger virus. He used the gate's automatic update program to disseminate the altered virus to the entire gate network. Now, if he could do that, it's possible that he could have figured out a way to dial every gate at once."
"But Baal is dead," Daniel pointed out.
"Yes, but the point is that it may be possible to dial all the gates at the same time. If we could do that and then activate the device, the energy wave would travel through the wormholes. Theoretically, the effect might cover the entire galaxy, depending on how far beyond a planet the energy will effectively travel."
"Still wondering how you're going to get a dead Goa'uld to tell us how to do it," Jack said. "Not that he would have anyway." He turned to Daniel. "You have all that Ancient stuff in your head. Somewhere in there has to be the knowledge of how to do this, if it can be done, that is."
"I'm sure it is in there somewhere, but how do I get to it? Maybe if we contacted Thor, he could do the same thing he did before, hook me up to his ship's computer so that I can use it to find the information."
Sam nodded. "That might work. We should also contact Atlantis and have them start searching the database. The information could be in there as well."
Jack gave a short nod. "All right, we'll call both of them and see who comes through for us first."
"We must not delay in capturing Dakara," Bra'tac said. "Every day that we delay will be a day that more Jaffa lose hope that we can win."
Jack studied the man. "There has to be a catch or you guys would have done this a long time ago."
"Dakara is deep within Anubis' territory, and, under normal circumstances, it is heavily guarded. However, with Anubis' attention turned to his battle against the other System Lords, it may be that the temple will not be so well guarded and will be more vulnerable to attack."
"But our success would still depend on the element of surprise and the use of the entire rebel fleet," Teal'c said.
O'Neill didn't like the sound of this. There were way too many 'maybes'.
Bra'tac leaned forward. "Listen to me, O'Neill. If the rebellion falls, all our hopes to defeat the Goa'uld will fall with it. We must act now before it is too late."
Jack looked around at everyone. "There's one thing that hasn't been answered. Let's say that we do capture Dakara and manage to hold onto it for more than five minutes. Does anyone know how to do whatever needs to be done to that thing to get it to kill supersoldiers and only supersoldiers?"
"Well, obviously, I don't know yet how the device works, sir," Sam replied, "but the work we did on the weapons we devised from the Telchak device might be the key. If it's a matter of setting the thing to the correct energy wave frequency, I might be able to figure out the right one. I'm probably going to need help from the Tok'ra, though. They're the ones who did most of the research and work on that weapon."
"Then I guess we'll be putting in another call to them. Looks like the phone bill's gonna be a high one this month."
The first "call" that was made was to the Asgard, everyone figuring that it might take them the longest to reply. The second call was to Atlantis. Doctor Weir was very concerned when she learned about what was happening and promised to put as many people as possible on the search for the needed information. The Tok'ra were then contacted again, which resulted in Jacob coming through a couple of hours later.
As all this was going on, Bra'tac and Teal'c were making arrangements to speak to a number of leaders in the Jaffa rebellion. Word had been sent out to meet on a remote planet that was not under the control of any Goa'uld. It was night on that world when the meeting took place. Bra'tac wasted no time revealing their plan to capture Dakara. It was met with reactions of surprise. Several of the Jaffa immediately expressed their doubts that it could be done.
"What you are proposing is madness," Aron declared. "Dakara cannot be taken."
Bra'tac's gaze went to a dark-skinned Jaffa of advanced age. "Tolok, you have not yet spoken. What are your thoughts?"
"Aron is right," the man said. "We would be sacrificing countless men and ships on a fruitless mission. We should be concentrating on finding ways to counter the threat of Anubis' Kull Warriors. Without them, he will be all but powerless."
Teal'c stepped forward. "Then it is vital that we take Dakara, for within the temple is a weapon that can destroy every one of his soldiers."
That made the other Jaffa all look at each other.
"This is the truth you speak?" Aron asked.
"Indeed," Teal'c replied. "This knowledge comes from Dan'yar himself, who holds the secrets of the Ancients, the ones who built the temple and the device within it."
"Yet what you propose is an impossible task."
"Perhaps not," Bra'tac responded. "Anubis has turned all his attention upon his war against the other System Lords. His forces are spread thin throughout the galaxy. If there has ever been a time when Dakara was vulnerable to attack, this is it. Now is the time to strike."
Tolok looked uncertain. "No free Jaffa has ever set foot in the temple and lived."
Teal'c looked right at him. "Then it will be a great victory when that happens. If we succeed, not only will we have the power to defeat Anubis, many more Jaffa will join us, and all those who are filled with doubt will regain their faith in our cause."
"If we succeed," Aron said.
"I understand your concern, brother, but we must act now. If we do not, our children will know no future, let alone a taste of freedom."
Tolok focused a stare upon the former First Prime of Apophis. "Teal'c, I believe there is wisdom in what you say. However, you are aware that, if we fail, it would mean the end of the rebellion. Are you prepared to risk our entire cause on this one action?"
Bra'tac turned to look at Teal'c, as did everyone else.
"Indeed I am."
The other Jaffa exchanged glances.
"So, what say you?" Bra'tac asked.
Tolok's expression firmed. "I say we take Dakara."
Teal'c smiled slightly at the declaration.
Aron nodded briefly. "So be it."
Once the decision had been made, it did not take long for the entire rebel fleet to be assembled. By the following day, every ship under their command had been gathered into an armada. Bra'tac insisted that it was thanks to Daniel that the number of ships was so great. If it had not been for all the Jaffa that came into the rebellion because of "Dan'yar", there would not be enough ships to even hope to take Dakara.
Aboard a scout ship with a cloaking device were Daniel, Sam and Jacob, who had a special role to play in the battle that was about to take place. The first part of that role would be determining the size of the fleet protecting the planet.
"Ready?" Jacob asked.
"As ready as we'll ever be," Sam replied.
Jacob contacted the mothership that Bra'tac and Teal'c were commanding.
"We're ready to go," he said.
"We will await your return," Teal'c responded.
Jacob activated the hyperdrive, and the ship leapt into hyperspace. Ten minutes later, it exited just outside the sensor range of any ships guarding Dakara. It was immediately cloaked and began approaching the system.
"We're in range now," Jacob said after several minutes. "I'm picking up some ships on the sensors. If what I'm picking up is all there is, the rebel fleet shouldn't have any trouble overcoming them." He turned to Daniel. "Are we close enough for you to see anything?"
Daniel shook his head. "Not easily. We should get closer."
They moved in close enough for Daniel to see if he could detect anything that the sensors could not.
"I don't see any ships in hiding," he said. "Except for a couple cargo ships and a handful of gliders, there aren't any on the planet. I can't be positive that there aren't any cloaked ships, but I don't think there are. Everything seems to be as it appears."
Jacob looked at him closely. "Then why are you frowning?"
"Because I still have that bad feeling I've had since yesterday."
"Do you think it has to do with this attack?" Sam asked.
"I don't know. I just have a feeling that there's something we're not seeing, something we aren't aware of."
"So, do you think we should abort the attack?" Jacob asked.
Daniel stared in the direction of Dakara. He knew that, as Dan'yar, if he told the Jaffa to abort the attack, there was a chance that they'd heed him, but should the attack be aborted? Should they give up the opportunity to take control of that device? Daniel's sixth sense gave him the answer. Though he did not know what danger he was being warned about, he did know that taking Dakara was absolutely vital.
"No. We need to get control of that planet, and we need to do it now."
Jacob nodded. "All right. Then I guess it's time to move on to the next part of the plan. Let's hope that this cloak is enough, and the sensors of those ships don't detect the energy emissions of our engines."
Jacob took the ship in much closer to the enemy fleet, close enough that he was feeling just a bit nervous.
"Is that close enough?" he finally asked Daniel.
"Yeah, I think so."
"Okay, then do your thing."
Daniel's eyes closed, his mind reaching out to the ships. But, this time, it was for a much different purpose. One by one, he psychically entered the ships and disabled their long-range communications systems, making it impossible for them to send a warning to Anubis once the battle began.
Daniel's eyes blinked opened. "It's done."
"You did it in a way that they won't detect until it's too late, right?" Jacob asked.
"Yes. That is unless one of those ships suddenly decides to call Anubis before the rebel fleet gets here."
"Too bad you couldn't knock out all their weapons while you were at it."
"I'm afraid that would pretty quickly overtax me. Besides, I wouldn't be able to do that in a way they wouldn't detect. I doubt I could do more than two or three ships before they figured out that something was going on and start looking for anything suspicious in the area."
Jacob nodded. "You're right, of course. Okay, let's get back to the fleet."
Taking the ship back out of the range of the enemy ships' sensors, Jacob reentered hyperspace and returned to the awaiting rebel fleet.
"What is the word, Dan'yar?" Bra'tac asked.
"Launch the attack," Daniel replied.
The battle was over. Though they had lost a couple ships, it was a resounding victory for the rebel forces. Fortunately, the garrison on the planet was made up mostly of Jaffa, with only a few Kull Warriors, so the fighting down on the surface hadn't lasted very long. The supersoldiers were all killed with the weapons that the SGC had supplied, the remaining garrison surrendering quickly once Daniel got on the scene and performed some pyrotechnics. The Jaffa were assured that they would not be harmed and were taken to one of the ships.
"We are fortunate that there were so few Kull Warriors," Bra'tac said as he stood overlooking the temple.
"I guess it makes sense," Sam responded. "The Kull Warriors have such a short life-span that they'd constantly have to bring in new ones to replace the ones that died. Using Jaffa is more practical."
"I have to wonder how many Jaffa still serve Anubis," Daniel said. "I shouldn't think that there would be very many. What with the rebellion being so big now, Anubis would probably be leery of trusting any Jaffa. I didn't see any at all when I was searching Tartarus."
Bra'tac nodded. "I am not surprised. It is unlikely that Anubis has any Jaffa in positions that are close to him. He would fear that some would become spies for the rebellion. Any Jaffa remaining loyal to him were probably sent to watch over planets in his domain, just as these here were."
Daniel's eyes traveled up the towering mountain of rock that rose abruptly from the desert to loom over the temple. He knew that the Ancients had used their power to cut away one side of the mountain, shaping it to their purpose. They then scooped out the large, deep circular area that lay at the foot of the mountain. The main part of the temple complex was built against the sheer cliff walls of that artificial canyon, the ruins of still more structures scattered about the area above. The archeologist in him wanted to explore, but he couldn't afford the luxury. There was only one thing this temple held that he was here for, and it resided deep within the mountain that they now stood in the shadow of.
"Do you know where the device is, Daniel?" Sam asked him.
"Yes. It's here."
"Here? In this building?" She looked around. They were presently standing before a structure that sat within a wide cleft in the side of the mountain, at the top of a big staircase. It looked as if the building and the stairs had been carved out of the mountain.
"In there." Daniel pointed up at the peak. His gaze descended to the building. "Somewhere in there is the way in."
The others followed the archeologist into the building. He headed straight to the back wall, which was covered in Ancient text. There were five circular seams in the wall, some of them overlapping, and Daniel wondered about their purpose.
"It looks like a very old dialect," Jacob said.
Daniel nodded. "It is."
"Can you read it? You're much better with Ancient than I am."
Daniel's eyes scanned the text. "Yeah. It'll take a little bit of time to translate it all, though."
"We do not know when Anubis will discover what has occurred and send ships to take back the planet," Bra'tac said, "so I hope that you are able to work quickly."
As Teal'c, Bra'tac and most of the other Jaffa went off to explore the area, a few staying behind to keep guard, Sam and Jacob watched Daniel as he got busy on the translation. After a while, he began to frown.
"This doesn't make sense," he murmured.
"What doesn't?" Sam asked.
"Actually, a lot of it doesn't, like this passage here. 'Midday, the darkness is high in the sky.'"
Jacob gave him a look. "Are you sure that's what it says?"
"Positive." Daniel's eyebrows went up higher. "Uhhh . . . okay. Either the Ancient who wrote this had been partying a little too much or something else is going on." His finger pointed at a section of the script. "This here says, 'The wind blows on the pillow,' and that one says, 'Three days to the chicken.'"
Sam would have laughed at that last one if the situation hadn't been so serious.
"Are you saying this whole wall of writing is nonsense?" she asked.
Daniel shook his head. "No, it can't be. Something's not. . . ." His voice trailed off as his head began to tilt sideways. He reached the point where he was nearly looking at the writing upside-down.
"Daniel, what are you doing?" Jacob questioned.
The archeologist stepped closer to the wall, his finger coming to rest on one part of the inscription.
"If you turn this upside-down, it means 'sun' instead of 'darkness', which would make the passage read, 'Midday, the sun is high in the sky.'"
"Well, that would make a lot more sense, but that isn't what it says."
His gaze darting over the wall, Daniel suddenly realized what the purpose of the circles was. He put his hands on the one before him and turned it a full one hundred and eighty degrees.
"Now it does," he said. "I think these circles are some kind of combination lock. If we turn them so that the text all makes sense, the wall might open. We just have to figure out which ones to turn." He studied another circle for a moment, then turned it. One by one, he went through the circles, determining which ones needed turning and which ones didn't. As he finished turning the last one that was previously set wrong, the ground began to shake. The Jaffa on guard came running into the building as Daniel, Jacob and Sam backed away a few feet.
"Let's hope that's not a bad sign," Sam said, brandished her weapon. She gestured for the approaching Jaffa to stop as she pointed her P-90 at the wall, which began to rise. Another wall behind it splitting open to reveal a darkened room.
"Nice going, Daniel," Jacob said.
Teal'c and Bra'tac came in.
"You have succeeded," the Master Jaffa said with satisfaction.
The five of them entered the chamber, the light of Sam's flashlight coming to rest upon a device that sat in the center of the room.
"We're in business," Sam said.
"Yeah," Daniel agreed. "Sam, does this thing strike you as rather familiar?"
Sam studied it. "You're right. It looks a lot like the time device on P4X-639, the one that put us all in that time loop."
The archeologist nodded. "That one worked by setting the various panels at the correct height. This one probably works the same way."
"I'd say that moving each of these," Sam gestured at the panels, "adjusts the frequency of the energy wave that the device puts out."
"So, we just need to figure out how to set it to the right frequency," Jacob said. His eyes ran over the thing. "This could take a while."
Daniel reached out a hand and touched the device. A panel in the wall across the room slid open, revealing a viewscreen, Ancient text moving across it.
Jacob studied the text. "Daniel, correct me if I'm wrong, but, if I'm reading this screen right, the weapon uses an energy wave to reduce all matter to its basic molecular elements. It's not strong enough to disintegrate an entire planet, but it will wash away everything on a planet's surface and anything in the surrounding space."
"Yep, that's what it says," Daniel confirmed.
"Sounds pretty nasty," Sam said.
Just then, hers, Daniel's, and Teal'c's radios crackled to life.
"SG-1, this is Stargate Command. Come in."
"Carter here," Sam said into her radio.
"Carter, you guys need to get back here ASAP," Jack said. "Thor just arrived with some really bad news."
"What news?" Daniel asked.
"Well, it seems that our old friends the Replicators have somehow made themselves immune to that weapon you made, and what's worse is that they're starting to come here, to our galaxy."
The three members of SG-1 exchanged worried looks.
"We're on our way, sir," Sam said. She turned to her father. "Dad, you stay here and see if you can start figuring this thing out."
SG-1 quickly went to the Stargate and gated through to Earth. Thor was in the briefing room with Jack.
"I regret that I have come with such news," the Asgard said. "We discovered the ineffectiveness of the weapon some time ago. We have attempted to determine the reason for it, but, so far, have failed. We must learn precisely how the Replicators have made themselves immune if we hope to counter it."
"How can we help?" Sam asked.
"We must capture a Replicator."
That surprised everyone.
"And how do you propose to do that?" Jack inquired.
The Asgard turned to Daniel. "With Daniel Jackson's abilities. He has the capacity to hold a Replicator captive. Once it is immobilized, I can perform tests to determine how it is immune."
Daniel saw a problem with that. "Um, can't Replicators talk to each other? What would prevent the one we capture from sending out a distress call?"
"We must isolate a single Replicator ship that is at some distance from the others and destroy all but one of the Replicators onboard. It is my hope that we will learn the information we need before more Replicator ships arrive."
Jack wasn't liking the sound of this. "Thor, you know I love ya, but this plan of yours sounds awfully risky."
"I am afraid that I have no better plan, O'Neill," the Asgard responded. "If we cannot find a way to overcome this, both my galaxy and yours will be at risk from the Replicators."
"As if we didn't already have enough problems. All right. SG-1, go with Thor and get yourselves a Replicator, then get back here as soon as possible. Anubis isn't going to be in the dark about what's happening on Dakara forever. Oh, and, while you're at it, maybe Thor can help Daniel dig around in his copious brain matter for that info on dialing all the gates."
"Yes, sir," Sam said, hoping that, when they got back, it wouldn't be to the news that Anubis had retaken Dakara and the weapon that was their only hope of defeating him.
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