CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
As they stepped out of the wormhole onto Dichar this time, Daniel felt no nervousness. He knew that Bendrak would not be coming after him. The Gorrum was a prisoner within one of the very things that he'd used to steal the lives of others, and, soon, he would be gone forever. Daniel had no compunction against killing him. Bendrak was as evil as any Goa'uld and was responsible for the deaths of thousands.
SG-1 headed for the village. SG-3 had remained there, helping the Dicharins clean up and rebuild their homes. They had been joined by SG-5. As SG-1 came into view of the village, they saw that lots of progress had been made. The village almost looked whole again.
As the villagers caught sight of SG-1, they all stopped what they were doing, every pair of eyes on Daniel. Then, all at once, a hoard of them came forward and started touching, embracing and kissing him. Totally embarrassed by the display, the archeologist blushed furiously, repeatedly insisting that there was no need for this. His teammates just stood back and watched, grins on their faces.
At last, Gennae pushed forward through the crowd. He engulfed Daniel in a tight hug, then stepped back, holding the younger man at arm's length. "Daniel, we have heard of how you stood against Bendrak and destroyed him, nearly forfeiting your own life for our sakes. There are no words, no deeds that can repay you for this wonderful and courageous thing you have done. My people are free because of you, and we will be eternally grateful. From this day forward, our Insharras will speak of you to the people, passing on the story of what you did. You will be a hero of the Dicharins for all time."
"Thank you, Gennae, but I did no more than what I felt I had to. There was nothing especially heroic in my actions. And I certainly don't deserve all of this." Daniel waved his arms about at the gathered villagers.
A quiet voice drew his attention. "You are the only one in this place who believes so," Ayarla said. "Are you, then, more wise than all of us put together?"
Daniel looked flustered. "Well, I obviously can't say yes to that, now can I."
A smile lit the old woman's face, a wicked glint in her eyes. "No, you cannot."
Daniel smiled and shook his head. "I'd love to have seen what you were like thirty years ago, Ayarla. I bet you were really something else."
The Insharra stepped closer to Daniel and pulled his ear down close to her mouth. "If I were thirty years younger, dear Daniel, there is a certain young lady who would be fighting me for your affections."
Shocked, Daniel whipped his head around and stared down at the elderly woman. She winked at him, which made the archeologist blush again. Laughing, Ayarla gave him a pat on the arm and stepped back. The rest of the crowd wandered off and got back to work.
Jack came up beside the linguist and lightly nudged him in the ribs. "She's a bit old for you, don't ya think, Daniel?"
"Yeah, you're right, she is," Daniel agreed. "Maybe I can interest her in you." Then he walked off.
"Hey! Remember what I said before, Daniel! You'd make a good broom!" Jack shouted after him. Then he chuckled and shook his head. He turned to Sam. "Come on, Carter. Let's go make ourselves useful."
SG-1 spent the rest of the day helping out in the village and talking with the natives. Later in the afternoon, Daniel asked to see the crystal that contained Bendrak. He had not told the Dicharins that the Gorrum was alive within the abikar. They believed that Bendrak's life power had been pulled into the abikar and that he was, therefore, dead. Not wanting the Dicharins to worry, Daniel didn't correct that belief.
Alone in the hut where the Vault of Life was kept, Daniel stared at the abikar. To his surprise, he could faintly sense Bendrak's presence within it. That realization made him feel uneasy. He quickly placed the abikar back in the vault, along with the blue one that he'd brought from Earth, and locked the box.
That night, there was a big feast to honor Daniel and to celebrate the Dicharins' freedom from Bendrak. Being the guest of honor, Daniel was treated like royalty, which thoroughly embarrassed the modest archeologist. Throughout the evening, he kept insisting that all of this really wasn't necessary. Nobody paid any attentions to his objections.
It was late in the evening, after the villagers had retired for the night, when Sam saw Daniel slip out of the guest hut. She watched from the doorway as he walked a few yards away, his form lit by the bright moonlight filtering through the trees. Jack came up behind her.
"He's a good man," the colonel murmured.
Surprised by the unexpected comment, Sam looked at him, trying to read his expression. "Yes, he is."
Jack nodded very faintly, returning his gaze to the archeologist. "A better man than me."
Sam's brow puckered. "Sir, is something wrong?"
"No, nothing's wrong, Sam." Jack didn't see the look of surprise on his 2IC's face at his use of her first name. "I've just been spending a lot of time thinking about things lately." He glanced at her. "Daniel looks like he could use some company." He then turned away and joined Teal'c.
Still puzzled by her commanding officer's behavior, Sam left the hut and walked toward Daniel. "It's a nice night," she commented as she reached him.
Daniel kept his eyes on the stars above. "Yeah, it is." Silence fell between them for a long moment, then the linguist gave a very soft sigh. "Sam, if there was something you really wanted, wanted so badly that you ached for it, but it was something you weren't sure if you could have, would you be willing to risk losing something else that's very precious to you by taking the chance and trying to get what you want?"
Sam thought about the question for a while before answering. "I guess it would all depend on which was more important to me, the thing I already had or the thing I wanted."
"But what if there was a chance, even a small chance, that you could have both?"
Sam looked at her best friend. "I don't know, Daniel. Sometimes, it's best to play it safe. But, sometimes, it's worth risking everything to go after what you want." Her eyes searched his profile. "Daniel, what's this all about?"
He finally turned to her, smiling faintly. "Just thinking about some things, Sam."
"The colonel just said the same thing to me. Daniel, did something happen between you two? Is everything all right?"
"Yeah, everything's fine. Jack and I just talked about some stuff last night, something that I guess we should have talked about a long time ago." Daniel's eyes went to the moon, checking its position. "It's getting late. I guess we should turn in."
Sam followed him back to the hut, wondering if she'd ever know what it was that Daniel had been talking about tonight.
The next morning, Daniel suddenly decided that he wanted to go to the temple. Jack's first reaction was an adamant "No way in Hell."
"Jack, there's no danger in the temple," the archeologist reasoned. "It's just a building. Gennae told me last night that they plan on tearing it down, and I'd like to take a better look at it before it's gone. There are still some unanswered questions."
"Such as?"
"Such as why was the temple built in the first place? Ayarla said that Bendrak told the Dicharins he wanted a place to dwell. Okay, so let's say that an incorporeal being like Bendrak would, for some reason, want a . . . a house. Why is there nothing there? Except for the altar, there's nothing in the temple at all. And what about the month that Bendrak would 'sleep' after the Time of Tribute? Did he stay in the temple? I'd have thought that he would want someplace hidden away. Things just don't add up."
Jack reluctantly agreed to the trip to the temple. Once they got there, it took him a good ten minutes before he started to relax. During that time, Daniel and Sam were checking the place out.
"This place is pretty big for a building that has nothing in it," Sam commented.
"Yes, it is," Daniel agreed. "Kind of makes you wonder, doesn't it? I'm going to go inside."
Deciding to check something out, Sam pulled a device out of her vest pocket and turned it on. On the screen of the scanner she could see everything in the area that was emitting an energy pattern of some kind, which, as far as she could tell, were only the devices that she and her teammates were carrying, including their GPS locators. The device was also an infrared scanner and was showing the heat signatures of her teammates.
Suddenly, one of those heat signatures vanished off the screen. Gasping in shock, Sam jerked her head up to see that Daniel was nowhere in sight.
"Daniel!" she called anxiously.
The archeologist appeared in the doorway. "Yeah?"
Sam stared at him for a moment, then back down at the infrared scanner to find that his heat signature was now show up again. Realizing that she'd just discovered something, she called to the colonel. He, Daniel and Teal'c walked up to her.
"What's up?" the colonel asked her.
"I was scanning the area for any kind of device that is emitting an energy pattern or signal of some kind. This is also an infrared scanner, and, as you can see, it's showing yours, Daniel's and Teal'c's heat patterns. Now, watch this." Sam looked up at Daniel. "Go back into the temple and behind one of the walls."
As the archeologist returned to the building, the other three members of SG-1 watched the scanner. The moment he stepped behind the wall, his heat pattern disappeared.
"Whoa!" Jack exclaimed. "What the heck?"
"Would someone like to explain to me what's going on?" Daniel asked from the doorway a moment later.
"There is something inside the temple that's interfering with the infrared scanner," Sam replied. "The second you step behind a wall, you disappear off the screen."
"Okay, that's interesting. What would cause that?"
"I'm not sure. The thing is that I could still see the signal from your GPS locator, which leads me to believe that it's not a jamming device of some kind. There's also the fact that I'm not picking up any kind energy readings except for our own stuff."
"Are you sure that the infrared scanner can work through those stone walls?" Jack asked.
"If this was an ordinary scanner, then the stone walls would block detection of a person's heat pattern, but this one uses alien technology and is very powerful. It should have no trouble penetrating stone walls that thick. Sam looked at her C.O. "Sir, we need to find out what's causing this."
She, Jack and Teal'c entered the temple. Sam then asked the Jaffa to go back outside. His heat pattern remained visible until Sam told him to go behind a wall.
"It's definitely something in the walls," the major concluded. "Something is acting as a shield, blocking the infrared scanner's ability to see anything beyond it. The only answer I have is that there is something in the walls besides stone."
Jack tapped on one of the stones. "Maybe these things aren't really rocks at all."
Daniel looked around at the walls. "Well, there's one way to find out for sure." He crouched at the left edge of the doorway. Pulling out his knife, he began chipping away at the mortar holding one of the stones in place. Jack did the same, working on the outside. Within a few minutes, they managed to remove enough mortar to pull the stone out. Daniel examined it closely, hefting it.
"Well, if it's not a rock, someone did a pretty good job of making it look and feel like one," he stated. "It has the appearance, texture and weight of granite. Teal'c, let's see what it looks like on the inside."
The rock was placed upon the ground a few yards away from the temple. Standing well out of the way, SG-1 watched as the Jaffa took aim and blasted the stone with his staff weapon. The rock shattered.
Daniel examined the pieces. "Granite, just like I said," he announced. "I've seen similar stones throughout this area."
"Okay, so if it's not the rocks themselves, what's blocking the scanner?" Jack asked.
"The only other possibility is that there's some hidden device that's generating a field around the temple," Sam replied, "although why Bendrak would want to hide the heat pattern of anyone inside the temple is a mystery to me, unless heat patterns aren't the only thing that's hidden."
They returned to the temple. As he stepped inside, Daniel's eyes fell upon the door that stood open, and he came to a stop.
"Wait a minute," he said. "You guys stay there. Sam? Keep an eye on that scanner."
Daniel stepped all the way into the temple and shut the door. The second it was completely closed, both his heat pattern and the signal from his GPS locator disappeared from the screen. He opened the door back up after a few seconds, and Sam told him what happened. She, Jack and Teal'c then joined Daniel inside.
The colonel looked around. "Okay, it's not really a bad looking place. Sort of has a primitive charm, though the decor could definitely use some work. But excuse me if I don't see anything here that's worth the trouble of hiding from scanners."
"The Dicharins are technologically primitive," Daniel said. "Except for the abikars, they have no technology at all, so Bendrak didn't do it to hide something from them. He must have had someone else in mind." His gaze lifted to the ceiling. "Sam?"
Knowing what he was thinking, Sam went outside with Jack and Teal'c and had the Jaffa give her a boost up onto the roof of the temple. Sure enough, the infrared scanner was unable to penetrate through it, which probably meant that, when the door was closed, nothing inside the temple would be detectable.
While the others were outside, Daniel began looking around inside. He went to the center column. The thought came to him that it was too big. The girth was much larger than what would be needed to support the roof. He stepped up to it and began to examine it. He soon noticed something else. There appeared to be a continuous crack in the mortar between the stones, traveling all the way from the top of the column to the bottom. Leaning forward to study it more closely, he realized that it wasn't a crack, it was a seam. Daniel checked the other side, and, sure enough, a seam was there as well. The seams aligned with ones that were in the altar.
A suspicion growing in his mind, Daniel started looking for something else. Very soon, he found what he'd been seeking. One of the stones of the column looked like it was loose from the mortar. He pushed on it, quickly stepping back as the column abruptly split in half. The two halves moved away from each other, revealing an opening in the floor.
"Um . . . guys? I found something," Daniel called.
The others came in a moment later and saw the opening. Jack shone his flashlight down into the hole, which revealed that there was some kind of chamber below.
"I guess we should check it out," Jack said. "That looks to be about a ten, twelve foot drop. We don't have any rope, so we'll just have to chance it. Daniel, you're with me. Teal'c, cover us. Carter, stay here for now, but we may need you down there if there's any technical stuff."
Jack lowered himself over the edge until he was hanging by his hands. Then he let go and dropped the short distance to the floor. He snapped on his flashlight and shone it about. Not seeing anything that looked threatening, he told Daniel to come on down, then he began taking a look around. By the time Daniel got to the bottom, Jack had reached one of the walls. It was smooth and appeared to be made of some kind of metal.
"It's a little dark down here," Daniel commented. "I supposed you haven't found anything that looks like a light switch yet."
"Nope."
Three seconds later, the lights suddenly snapped on.
"Whoa!" Jack shouted, startled. He looked at Daniel, who had a funny smile on his face. "What did you do?"
"I just thought hard about wanting the lights on."
Jack stared at him. "You what?"
"The systems must be controlled by thoughts, just like the abikars."
"So, all you have to do is think something, and it happens?"
"Well, I'm sure there are limits, Jack."
Jack got this look of concentration on his face for a few seconds. "It's not working," he said.
"It's probably like the abikars. I'm the only one who can control the blue ones."
"Yeah, right. The ex-ascended thing again."
The two men turned their attention to the chamber.
"Jack, does this look a little familiar to you?" Daniel asked.
"Yeah, come to think of it. It reminds me a little of the cargo bay of a tel'tak, except that there aren't any of those hieroglyph things on the walls."
Daniel walked over to what looked like a door. He concentrated on making it open, and it obediently complied. What was revealed on the other side confirmed their suspicions. They were within some kind of alien spacecraft.
"Well, well, well. So, this is the little secret Benny was hiding, eh?" Jack murmured, pleased at the discovery. He went back into the cargo bay. "Carter, you're gonna to want to see this." He then rejoined Daniel, who was looking around.
"Wow," Sam said a couple of minutes later as she entered the cockpit.
"This must be Bendrak's ship," Daniel said. "He buried it so that no one would see it."
"The temple must have been built so that passing ships wouldn't be able to detect the power from the onboard systems," Sam determined, "which would mean that whatever it is that's blocking my scanner very likely blocks other scanners and sensors as well." She looked about eagerly. "We need to find the propulsion system."
As the others looked around, Daniel walked up to the control console. There were no chairs, which didn't surprise him. After all, the Gorrums weren't corporeal, so they wouldn't need a place to sit. He found what he guessed was the main control panel and focused his thoughts on it, willing it to activate. A moment later, it did so, along with all the other panels.
"Abracadabra," he murmured under his breath. Then he realized what he was seeing. "Guys, I think I just found out what Bendrak stole." He turned to the others, an expression of excitement on his face. "This ship wasn't Bendrak's. It belongs to the Ancients."
Both Sam and Jack got the same expression of excitement on their faces and hurried forward to look at the control console. Daniel pointed at it.
"This writing is in a dialect of the Ancients' language," he explained.
"Wow. Daniel, do you realize how important a find this is?" Sam said excitedly. "The Ancients are one of the most technologically advanced races we've ever encountered. Even if we only manage to understand a fraction of the systems on this ship, it could be of enormous value to us."
"Yeah, and there's no way we're going to let the Tok'ra borrow this baby," Jack said emphatically. "You remember what happened the last time we let them borrow a ship we got hold of."
"Well, since I'm very likely the only one who could get this thing to fly, the Tok'ra wouldn't be able to borrow it anyway," Daniel said.
"Cool." Jack looked around again, totally jazzed by the fact that they'd found themselves an Ancient spaceship. "So, when do you think we'd be able to take this baby for a spin?"
"Sir, before we can even consider trying to fly it, we need to find the engine," Sam said. "It's possible that the ship is damaged, and that's why Bendrak landed here."
Daniel looked at the console. "Well, let's see if I can find out where it is." He concentrated on the control panel.
"Daniel, what are you doing?" Sam asked.
"He's thinking, Carter," Jack told her.
A moment later, the images on the screen started to change. Being accustomed to pushing and touching things to get them to work, it was strange using something that was operated exclusively through the power of thought, but Daniel got the hang of it quickly. He managed to bring up a floorplan of the ship. He led Sam and Jack back through the cargo hold to the opposite end of the ship, the door before them opening at his command to reveal the engine room. Sam's eyes widened like a child inside a candy store. She wandered around, looking at the systems.
"I can't even begin to guess how this works," she admitted, thrilled at the idea of all the hours of discovery she had before her. "We need to excavate this ship so that we can get a better look at it."
"Oh, don't worry, Major. We're definitely going to dig it out," Jack told her. "Right now, however, we need to report back to Hammond and let him know what's going on."
"I'd like to stay here and see if Ayarla knows any more about the temple and anything about the ship," Daniel said.
Teal'c remained with Daniel as Jack and Sam headed back to Earth.
"Have we got a surprise for you, General," the colonel said with a big smile as soon as they stepped out of the wormhole.
"Well, whatever it is, it seems to have pleased the both of you," the SGC commander remarked.
"Oh, yeah. I'm happy." Jack turned to Sam. "Aren't you happy?"
"Definitely, sir."
"Then I'm eager for you to tell me all about it," Hammond remarked.
They all went to the general's office.
"All right, so what is it that has you and the major so excited, Colonel?" Hammond asked.
"Well, we found a little something that Benny was hiding underneath the temple," Jack replied. He paused for dramatic effect. "An Ancient spaceship."
Hammond leaned forward over his desk, interest sparking in his eyes. "A spaceship built by the Ancients? How do you know that it belongs to the Ancients?"
"Daniel identified the writing on the control panel screens as their language," Sam told him.
"But get this," Jack said. "The whole ship is controlled by thoughts, the lights, the doors, the control screens, apparently everything."
"The thing is that Daniel is the only one with the ability to control the systems, sir," Sam said, "just as he's the only one who can activate the blue abikars."
"Well, that would cause a problem if the time came that we were able to use the ship," Hammond stated.
"Yeah, but, in a way, it's a good thing," Jack said. "For one thing, it will mean that it has to stay in our control. It would be useless to the NID or the techies at Area 51. The Tok'ra also can't ask to borrow it. In other words, we're gonna get to keep it." Jack was grinning like a kid who'd gotten the present he most wanted for Christmas.
"Sirs, there is one other problem," Sam said.
"What's that, Major?" Hammond asked.
"We're not going to be able to keep Daniel's secret anymore. It was one thing to hide the truth about the abikars. It would be impossible to hide the fact that only Daniel can control the ship."
That thought dimmed Jack's enthusiasm. For a brief moment, he wished that they hadn't found the ship since its discovery could put Daniel in danger. But then he thought about how that ship could help them defeat the Goa'uld. That was the main reason why they were all out there, including Daniel.
"Well, I guess we're just going to have to keep on our toes and watch out for any potential threats to Daniel from the NID," he said, hoping that everything would be all right.
