CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
Maybourne refused to say any more as they continued walking. Sam dropped back a few yards with Daniel.
"Do you have any idea what his game is?" she asked him in a low voice.
"No, but I don't believe for one minute that he's a prophet."
"Me neither. I can't believe he actually set himself up as the king here. Did you see how those women were fawning over him? It was disgusting."
"Yeah, and Garan seems to be especially loyal, not to mention pretty protective."
They were at least a mile from the village when they came upon some ruins, among which were several square stone pillars. The pillars were inscribed with Ancient writing, which, of course, immediately piqued Daniel's interest. Maybourne explained that the natives stayed away from the place because it was near the Naquadah mines, which their ancestors had been forced to work in. For that reason, they knew very little about the ruins. The ex-colonel then directed Daniel's attention to one pillar in particular. The archeologist began to read the writing upon it.
"What is it?" Teal'c asked.
"It's a record of the planet's history, covering major events," Maybourne replied. "Only some of them haven't happened yet."
Sam stared at the man. "What are you talking about?"
"They have a complicated lunar calendar. Took me a while to figure it out, but, once I did, I realized there were references in the text to things that are gonna happen in the future."
Sam and Teal'c just stared at him. Daniel, totally involved in reading the pillar, was working his way around it, quickly scanning the text.
"Yeah, I know," Maybourne said in response to the way Sam and Teal'c were looking at him. "It sounds crazy. I didn't think much of it either at the time, but then this big meteor shower happened exactly on the date the stone predicted."
"Actually, it's not as crazy to us as you'd expect," said Sam.
"Oh? And here I thought that you'd think I was nuts. My skills may not compare with Doctor Jackson's, but, over the years, I've picked up a decent understanding of Ancient writing. As a result of my translations, I predicted a major flood would destroy the village unless I could convince the elders to move to higher ground."
"And of course you told them where these predictions came from," Sam said sarcastically, already knowing the answer.
"No. Well, not in so many words."
'Right,' Sam silently said in disgust.
"Look . . . these are simple people. This stuff would mean nothing to them. I had to play the role of a prophet to . . . to convince them."
"And out of gratitude they made you king," Teal'c said in a tone of great displeasure.
Maybourne walked up to them. "Like I said, it was their idea." He and the others then turned their attention to Daniel, who had kept reading as the conversation went on.
"Well, he's partly right, anyway," the archeologist said. "It is a historical log." He read aloud one of the passages, which spoke of an earthquake. Maybourne explained that the quake happened a couple of years ago, before he arrived on the planet. He then directed Daniel to the passage that spoke of the time they were in now. It talked about the return of the "oppressors of old" – the Goa'uld – who would seek to take control of the planet again. The prophecy then went on to say that people from a distant world would come, vanquish the evil, and restore order.
Maybourne looked pleased. "You see? They come, you defeat them, happy ending! That's the prophecy!"
Sam glanced briefly at the Jaffa standing beside her, who remained expressionless. "Sorry, but we didn't come here to fight the Goa'uld," she told Maybourne. "We should get going." She and Teal'c began turning away. They were halted by Daniel's voice.
"Actually, um . . . this is interesting, and, uh . . . there's a lot here to translate," he said. He turned to look at his teammates.
Sam knew that expression and tone of voice well. Daniel wanted to stay, and she would be in for an argument if she didn't agree. And it was possible that Daniel would find some valuable information.
"All right, we'll stay for a while," she said after considering for a moment. "Let's just hope that Ares doesn't decide to show up while we're here."
As Daniel remained behind to read, Sam, Teal'c and Maybourne returned to the village.
Three hours later, Sam decided that it was time to call Daniel and tell him that they needed to go. Ironically, it was in that moment that his voice came over the radio.
"Sam?"
"Go ahead."
"Maybourne was right."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, from what I've been able to decipher, it's pretty clear. The script on these walls is a historical log compiled by an Ancient who traveled through time to study the evolution of life on this world."
"Daniel, we know the Ancients experimented with time travel but we have no evidence that they actually mastered it."
"Yeah, well, we do now. You see, to the best of my knowledge, these writings are only a couple hundred years old. Which means they were carved after the Goa'uld had already left."
"But the Ancients pre-date the Goa'uld," Sam said.
"Right, so the only logical explanation is that an Ancient traveled to the future and then back to a time not too long ago, that is unless they developed the power of precognition like I did, and we've seen no evidence of that."
Sam was still skeptical. "I don't know, Daniel."
"There are references to the time travel device itself. It's described as being inside a small ship. Now, if I'm right, it may still be here. I think it's worth a look."
"All right. We're on our way." Sam exchanged a look of concern with Teal'c. "I really hope we're not making a mistake by staying."
They quickly returned to the ruins.
"So, any idea on where it is?" Sam asked Daniel, who'd been waiting for them.
"No, but it's possible that I might be able to find it if I . . . you know."
Sam nodded. "I guess it's worth a shot."
Daniel laid his hand on the pillar over the place that spoke of the ship and closed his eyes. Within seconds, images began flashing through his mind, scenes that he realized were moments of the history of this world. Amidst them came the image of a man with dark hair, whom Daniel guessed was the time traveling Ancient. And then he saw something else that made his eyes snap open.
"Uh oh."
"Uh oh what?" Sam asked.
"Sam, do you recall that vision I had of us going back in time to Ancient Egypt?"
"Yes."
"Well, now I know why I had it when I touched that puddle jumper."
He took off, heading unerringly southwest. He and his teammates entered the woods, fighting through the thick undergrowth. They finally came to a stop before a tall wall of brush. Daniel pushed the foliage aside to reveal metal.
The three of them worked to uncover a portion of the ship. Sam soon recognized the shape.
"It's a puddle jumper."
"Yep," Daniel said, "but not just any puddle jumper. It's how we got to Ancient Egypt in that vision of mine."
Sam looked at him, seeing the frown on his face. "It's how we would have gotten to Ancient Egypt, Daniel. Considering what you saw happen, I doubt we'll ever take that trip."
They uncovered the ship's hatch, opened it and stepped inside, the lights coming on as they entered. They all noticed the device sitting in the middle of the floor in the passenger section of the ship. The puddle jumpers they'd seen hadn't had anything like it.
Sam began examining it. "I'm guessing that this is the time travel device. It must manifest some sort of energy field that encompasses the entire ship, allowing the traveler to literally fly through time."
Daniel reached a hand out to touch it, then thought better of it. He'd started the engines of one of these ships without even trying. The last thing they needed was for him to accidentally send them on a trip back in time.
"If this ship is like the ones on Atlantis, other than me, only someone with the Ancient gene would be able to run it," he said. He looked at Sam. "So, what's our next move?"
"Well, we know that these ships were designed to fly through Stargates, so, if we can get it up and running, we could take it back to the SGC."
"This vessel appears to be relatively undamaged," Teal'c said. "The engines may yet be functional."
"I'm going to have to make sure there isn't any damage. After all these years, the power source might be low or even depleted We need to contact General O'Neill about this first, though."
"Do you want us to go back and try to get Maybourne and those people moving?" Daniel asked.
"Um, no, let's all go to the gate first. He might want you to explain what you saw in that vision."
They made their way to the gate and dialed Earth.
"Hey. I was beginning to wonder what was keeping you," Jack said. "Having trouble with Maybourne? You have my permission to whack him over the head and carry him through."
"Um, sir, the situation here isn't at all what we expected," Sam told him. "And, now, we've discovered something."
Daniel and Sam explained everything to the general, who couldn't believe his ears.
"You have got to be kidding me. He's their king?!"
"Yes, sir, I'm afraid so," Sam confirmed. "After his first so-called prediction, the people were apparently so grateful and impressed that they made him their ruler."
"Under false pretenses! Maybourne couldn't predict the weather, let alone the future."
"Nevertheless, the people here adore him," Daniel said, "and they're not going to let us just take him. And, unless he commands them to, I doubt that they'd willingly leave the planet. They're positive that his prediction will come true. The Goa'uld will be defeated, and everything will be just fine."
"And do you have any predictions of your own, Daniel?" Jack asked.
"No, I haven't attempted to take a look yet."
"Now, about this ship you found. Do you think it'll fly?"
"Structurally, it seems to be in good shape, sir," Sam replied, "but I'm going to have to check and see if all the systems are functioning."
"So, you want to fly it right into the gate room?"
"I believe that there will be enough room for it to fit. It's a small ship. The railings on the ramp will have to be removed, of course."
Jack considered the plan for a few moments. "All right, let's go for it. And to help hurry Maybourne along, I think that I should come through. Daniel's going to be busy getting that ship to fly."
"Do you think that's a good idea, sir? Ares could show up at any moment."
"Carter, who was it that was right there with you guys on many a mission? It's not like I'm some soft desk jockey general who wouldn't know a battle if it bit him in the ass."
"Yes, sir, of course you aren't. I just meant. . . ."
"I know what you meant, Carter, and I appreciate the concern, but just because I'm the commander here now doesn't mean that I'm too important to get my hands dirty."
"Yes, sir," Sam said.
"All right, I'll be there in a couple of hours. I need to go make arrangements for someone to watch over this place. Reynolds is on a mission, which might be a good thing. I think he was getting entirely too comfortable in that chair of mine. But it does mean that I need to find someone else to run this joint while I'm gone."
"Are you going to call General Hammond?" Daniel asked.
"Hell no. He'd probably steal all my fun and tell me I can't go."
"Sir, could you send through my laptop and a few other things?"
"Give the list to Walter here, and we'll have someone collect the stuff ASAP."
Sam did so, and the sergeant assured her that he'd get the stuff to her right away.
A little over twenty minutes later, the things Sam needed came through. She headed back to the ship as Daniel and Teal'c returned to the village.
"Well, Maybourne, we found the thing that made all those 'predictions' possible," the archeologist told the man. "I'm guessing that either you didn't bother reading everything on that pillar or you hadn't gotten that far yet. The Ancient who wrote all that stuff was a time traveler who came here in a ship."
Maybourne smiled. "And you found the ship?" There was a gleam in his eyes that neither of the two members of SG-1 liked.
"Don't get any ideas," Daniel said. "You wouldn't be able to fly it. Only me, the Ancients and people who have a rare gene are able to operate certain pieces of Ancient technology, and those ships are included in that category. We've already seen others like them, except that they didn't have the ability to travel in time."
Maybourne looked at him shrewdly. "You included yourself in that statement."
"Yes, I did. Because of my ascension, I can operate Ancient technology."
"Well, that's handy."
Daniel exchanged a look with Teal'c.
"There is much that you do not know, Harry Maybourne," the Jaffa stated with a tiny smile.
The man stared at him closely, then at Daniel. "What? What is it? Come on. Tell me."
"You might just find out if Ares arrives before we get off this planet," Daniel responded. "Oh, by the way, Jack's coming."
"He's coming here?" Maybourne spun around and clapped his hand. "My people! We are about to receive an important guest. Hurry! We must greet him with music. Enreth, Brandis, Perin, gather your musical instruments, and we will travel to the gate to welcome him."
The three men hurried off to get their instruments.
"Oh, Jack is going to just love this," Daniel muttered to Teal'c.
Jack exited the gate to the sight of Daniel, Teal'c, Harry Maybourne and a small group of inhabitants waiting for him. And then he was greeted with the sound of a piece of music being played by some musical instruments that were less than pleasing to his ears.
He descended the steps and headed toward Maybourne.
"Jack!" the man exclaimed in delight. "It's great to see ya! How long's it been?"
"Oh, since that time you got us stranded off-world and tried to kill me."
Maybourne chuckled. "That takes me back! Aha, I guess congratulations are in order. You made general."
"You made king!"
"Right. Well, it's, uh, not a contest."
Jack nearly winced at the sounds coming from the 'band'. "Do you mind? These guys are torturing that ditty."
"Right. Uh, take five, guys." The musicians stopped playing. "I, uh, taught 'em that expression."
"Ah."
Maybourne placed a hand on Jack's shoulder. "I'm, uh, hoping that you can stay for a while," he said as they began walking away from the group, "check out the sights."
The sight Jack had just been checking out was a pretty blonde who'd smiled at him quite fetchingly. Maybourne didn't fail to notice this.
"Take in the culture," he said. "I want you to feel at home here."
"Harry, you're aware of the fact that this place is gonna be overrun by a gaggle of bad guys soon."
"Yeah, well, maybe."
"Right. Carter and Daniel told me about this prophecy stuff. It's not gonna go down that way, y'know."
"Oh, come on, Jack. You've defeated System Lords before."
"No," the general stated firmly. "You've got to tell these people they've gotta start packing. We'll take as many as we can."
"I can't. I already told them you'd save the day."
Jack stopped walking, poking Maybourne's chest with his finger. "Lemme ask you a question."
Maybourne looked at the villagers, who'd been following at a distance. He held up his hand, indicating that they should wait where they were.
"Did this prophecy mention anything about casualties, how many people would die in the fighting?" Jack asked the former NID operative.
Maybourne glanced at Daniel and Teal'c, who were standing a few feet away, and at the people behind them.
"It's not really that detailed," he admitted in a lowered voice.
"Does it say anything about the king surviving at all?"
Maybourne's attitude grew uncertain. "Actually, there's . . . um, no reference to me specifically. I just assumed that. . . ."
"Yeah. Do you really wanna take that chance, Harry? Do you wanna roll those dice?"
Maybourne looked over at his subjects, the people who trusted him with their lives. His confidence had been replaced by worry.
"And here's something else for you to chew on," Jack said. His eyes met Daniel's for a brief moment, then returned to Maybourne. "I've learned a thing or two in the past year or so about prophecies, and one thing that's been demonstrated to me quite clearly is that when you act upon one, things get changed, and, quite often, the stuff in the prophecy no longer happens that way. You know that yourself since you kept the village from being flooded. So, have you considered how your actions may have affected how things go down? For all we know, things have been changed so much that everyone will die."
Maybourne frowned deeply, realizing that Jack was right. "It's not gonna be easy to convince them, Jack."
"You can do it, Harry " Jack clapped a hand on the man's shoulder. "You're the king. And remember . . . it's good to be king." He gave the shoulder a pat.
The two men joined Daniel and Teal'c.
"So, where's Carter?" Jack asked his former teammates.
"She's working on the ship," Daniel replied.
"And she didn't need you for that?"
"No, not yet. She doesn't need me until it's time for us to power it up."
"Well, I'm kind of eager to see the thing, so let's go on over there."
Maybourne smiled. "Yes, I'd like to see it as well."
The general looked at him narrowly. "Oh, I don't think so, Harry. What you are going to do is go back to the village with all those nice people and start explaining things to them."
"Oh, come on, Jack. Just a few more minutes isn't going to matter."
Jack held up his finger. "Ah! You may be the king here, but you're still going to follow my orders. And I'm not letting you anywhere near that ship. Knowing you, you'd try to steal it."
"Oh, now that hurts, Jack. I left those days behind me years ago. I'm a changed man."
"Uh huh. Sure you are. Does the old saying, 'A leopard can't change its spots,' ring a bell?"
Maybourne smiled. "All right, Jack. Have it your way." He called to the villagers and told them to accompany him back to the village.
"Teal'c, go with them," Jack said as the group headed away across the field. "I don't trust Maybourne as far as I could throw him. Actually, I don't trust him as far as I could throw you."
Teal'c inclined his head and joined the group.
Jack and Daniel began walking to the ship.
"So, no peeks into the future yet?" the general asked the archeologist.
"No. I haven't really had a chance. Besides, my sixth sense is already telling me that the prophecy is right about the Goa'uld returning."
"But you don't know how much time we have."
"No. It could be in two days or two hours."
"Well, I'm thinking that maybe you should take a look."
Daniel nodded and stopped walking. Jack watched the man's eyes close and his face go blank. No matter how many times Daniel did this, it still amazed him.
A few seconds had passed when the younger man's eyes blinked open.
"Well?" Jack inquired.
"I still don't know when, but they're definitely coming . . . with a mothership."
"Oh, lovely. It would have been bad enough if they just came through the gate."
Daniel looked at him. "Jack, if we're still here when they arrive, we have to decide what we're going to do."
"Daniel, I've seen you make entire Jaffa armies turn tail and run."
"Those armies didn't have a mothership backing them up from orbit."
"True."
"As long as there aren't too many, I could probably take care of the Jaffa that come down here, but if any of them managed to contact that mothership and told them what's happening, that Dan'yar was here. . . ."
"Crap," Jack cursed. "You're right. Ares wouldn't hesitate to blast this place to hell to kill you."
"Which means that I'd need to try and avoid using my abilities in a way that would reveal who I am."
"I guess all we can hope is that we get out of here before things get nasty."
When Daniel and Jack arrived at the ship, Sam was busy on some wires and cables hanging from an access panel in the ceiling. Jack's eyes were not on that but, rather, on the cylindrical device sitting in the middle of the deck.
"So, that's the thingamajig that takes this baby through time?" he asked.
"That's what we believe, sir," Sam replied.
That's when Jack recalled something. "Whoa, wait a sec. Daniel, is this the ship that starred in that little vision you had about Ancient Egypt?"
"I didn't actually see the ship in the vision, but, yes, I do think this is how we'd have made the trip."
"The trip that gets us all executed."
"That's the one."
"You know, I'm not so certain that I'm happy about this discovery now. Just don't take us on any trips back in time when you pilot this thing through the gate, all right?"
"I'll try very hard not to." Daniel watched Sam work for a moment. "So, are you ready for me to try powering it up?"
Sam nodded. "I found some problems with the power going to the engines, but I think I might have it licked."
The archeologist went to the cockpit and sat in the pilot's seat.
"Remember what I said, Daniel," Jack said. "Don't go sending us back to the Alamo or something."
"That wouldn't happen, sir," Sam responded from where she stood beneath the access panel. "For one thing, that was on Earth. But, more importantly, I've separated the time device from the control circuits . . . I think."
Jack looked at her over his shoulder. "You think?"
"Well, sir, it's not technology I'm familiar with. I had to make a lot of guesses." Sam turned to Daniel. "Just focus on starting the engines."
The archeologist nodded and turned his entire attention to powering up the ship. A moment later, the controls began lighting up, the engine humming quietly. Smiling, Sam came into the cockpit.
Jack grinned and patted Daniel's shoulder. "Sweet! And we're still in the here and now."
The words were no sooner out of his mouth when all the lights in the control consoles flickered and then went dead, along with the engines.
Jack glanced about. "Uh . . . Daniel?"
The linguist tried to restart the engines, but without success. "There's no power," he said.
Sam returned to where she'd been working. The two men exchanged a glance, figuring that they might be waiting for a while.
Teal'c looked about at the villagers as they prepared for the upcoming battle. Seeing their primitive weapons, he knew that they would not stand a chance against the Jaffa who would come. Frowning, he went in search of Maybourne and found him at the table outside the hall, which was covered in boxes and baskets full of weapons and various items that appeared to be personal possessions.
Maybourne pulled an object out of one of the boxes, his eyes passing over the things on the table. "I sure collected a lot of stuff in only a couple of years. Guess I'm a bit of a packrat."
"When do you intend to address your people?" Teal'c asked.
"I'm getting to that. It's just . . . well, I'm thinking about what I'm gonna say."
"Perhaps you should consider telling the truth."
"That's one strategy."
"Whatever you decide, we are running out of time. We must leave soon."
"Yeah, I know." He met Teal'c's eyes. "I know." Turning, he strode away toward the hall, passing two men who were picking up the throne.
"No, no! Just leave that." He said, not stopping. He pointed at some other things. "That stuff over there!" The two men head over to get what he'd told them to.
From behind a column, Garan watched. She had heard the conversation, and it had filled her with anger. The off-worlders were planning on taking their king away. This could not be allowed.
She strode away through the village, intent upon stopping the off-worlders.
Sam studied the time device, making another connection.
"The primary power source is depleted," she explained to Daniel and Jack. "We need to reroute the controls to the secondary output which was originally designed to power the time device."
"Of course . . . we do," Jack responded.
A moment later, the astrophysicist said, "Okay, try it now, Daniel."
Hands resting on the control console, Daniel again reached his mind out to the ship's engines, commanding them to turn on. They obeyed his silent command, albeit a little sluggishly. But, moments later, sparks began flying from the open panel over Sam's head. She flinched away. Yet again, the cockpit went dark.
"Dammit," Sam cursed.
Jack looked down at the blank console. "Hey, here's an idea. How about if we have them send the Energizer Bunny through the gate?" Sam was in no mood to appreciate the humor.
An hour later, the lieutenant colonel made a sound of frustration low in her throat. All her efforts to get the ship's systems back online had failed. She now really wished that she'd learned something about these ships when she was on Atlantis. So much of her time had been spent working on the power generator that she hadn't had time to familiarize herself with other Ancient technology.
Jack looked at his watch and stood. "Okay, that's it. It's obvious that we're not going to get this thing up and running in time. We need to get rid of it."
Surprised and dismayed by Jack's statement, Daniel and Sam followed the man outside and around to the front of the ship.
"I'm just not familiar enough with Ancient technology, particularly these ships," Sam said, not willing to give up yet. "I need a little time."
"That is one thing I can't give you, Carter," Jack told her as he squatted and began opening his pack.
Though Daniel had mixed emotions about the ship, he recognized that to destroy it would deprive them of technology that could really help them.
"You can't be serious," he said to Jack.
Sam knelt beside the general as he pulled out the plastic case of C-4. "Sir, this technology is too valuable to lose."
"Carter, what do you want me to do? Call in reinforcements? It's not like we're throwing down with a couple of Jaffa. We're taking on a System Lord and his band of merry bad guys." He handed a brick of explosives to a very unhappy Sam. "Inside and out." When he tried to do the same with Daniel, he saw that the archeologist was looking off into the woods.
"We've got company," Daniel said.
Jack and Sam instantly got to their feet, weapons aimed at something they could not see. Before Jack could ask who it was, Garan and several armed villagers appeared, crossbows cocked and ready.
"Surrender your weapons or die where you stand!" Garan commanded.
"Oh, if I had a nickel," Jack responded, thinking of all the times someone had told him that.
"Lower your weapons."
"I . . ." Jack pulled away the foliage hanging beside his face, his aim never wavering, "don't think so."
"We will not allow you to take King Arkhan from us."
"Good King Arkhan is a fraud."
"Our king is wise," declared one of the huntsmen. "He is a seer."
"He may be your king, but he's no seer."
Daniel decided it was time to step in. "He can only interpret what's been written on the pillars of the temple ruins not far from here. Now, those writings hold the prophecies, and anyone who can read them can make the same predictions."
His claim angered Garan, who refused to believe it. "That is a lie."
Daniel let out a sigh. "Why don't we just go back to the village and let King Arkhan explain everything?" Though he knew that he could easily disarm the villagers, he was hoping that this situation could be defused in another way.
The archeologist could see that Garan was considering his suggestion. She was silent for a moment.
"First, lower your weapons," she then ordered.
Daniel looked at his teammates and saw that they were not complying.
"Jack?"
"Daniel?"
"They're not gonna shoot," Daniel's eyes met Garan's, "are you." He was certain that he was reading the situation right, but he also knew that the villagers needed to be the ones to make the first move.
Garan exchanged a long look with the huntsman who'd spoke in defense of his king. She then reluctantly began lowering her weapon, the other hunters doing likewise. Seeing this, Jack and Sam lowered their weapons as well.
Jack smiled. "God, I miss goin' offworld!" He sighed in satisfaction. "Oh, yeah."
They all returned to the village. Once they were there, Daniel, Sam and Teal'c were allowed to go where they pleased, though they suspected that someone was likely keeping an eye on them. Garan hurried off, probably to go speak with Maybourne.
The three from Earth went in search of Teal'c. They found him glaring at a couple of villagers, who, though not aiming their weapons at him, were obviously there to keep him from going anywhere.
"Hey, fellas," Jack said to the men. "Why don't you run off and go find something to do."
"Garan told us to watch this one and see that he does not attempt to take King Arkhan," one of them responded.
"Uh huh. Well, the situation has changed. Go ask Garan about it. The four of us are just going to go off and have a little chat." Jack gestured at them. "Go on. Skedaddle. We're not gonna try kidnapping your beloved king. If he really has his heart set on staying, that's just fine with me."
The two men exchanged a look, then left. SG-1 and Jack walked over to a place where they could talk in private.
"So, what now?" Daniel asked.
"I still think that, with a little more time, I can get that ship up and running," Sam replied.
Jack looked at her. "And if you can't and Ares gets his hands on it?"
Daniel shook his head. "That won't happen, Jack. I'll blow it up myself, if it comes to that." He scanned the skies. "We're running out of time."
The others looked at him sharply.
"You've seen something?" Sam asked.
"Not really. It's just a strong feeling I have."
"Then there is no doubt that what you say is true," Teal'c stated, knowing that Daniel's feelings were always right.
Daniel wasn't paying attention. He was gazing off distantly, his eyes unfocused. The others recognized that look.
"Daniel?" Sam inquired quietly.
He blinked a couple of times, then turned to them, his expression intense. "We're not going to make it."
"What do you mean?" Jack asked, not liking the sound of that.
"Ares' Jaffa are going to get here before we get off this planet, unless we leave right now."
Jack nodded sharply. "Then we leave right now. We'll take care of the ship on the way. We tried our best to help Maybourne and these people. There's nothing more we can do. I'm not going to put all our lives at risk by staying. If Ares discovers our presence, we'll have no choice but to fight, and you and I already talked about what that might lead to."
Sam looked at Daniel. "What's he talking about?"
"Ares is coming in a mothership," he told her.
Jack glanced about to make sure that no one was within hearing distance. "And if he finds out that the great Dan'yar is on this planet. . . ."
"He will not hesitate to decimate this world," Teal'c finished.
Daniel shook his head. "Jack, we can't leave."
The general glared at him. "Give me one good reason why not."
"I can give you several hundred good reasons: all the people in this village. If we leave, a lot of them will die."
"Then what, Daniel?" Jack asked angrily. "What are we supposed to do?"
Daniel's eyes went back to the sky. "We've got to destroy that mothership."
