CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The next day, they received an unexpected visit from Warrick, who wanted their help in winning a race. In exchange, he would see to it that the SGC got to study his ship's ion propulsion engine.
"How long will you be gone?" Egeria asked Daniel after he told her about the mission.
"That's hard to say. The race isn't until tomorrow, and it's several hours long, so at least two days."
"I will miss you."
Daniel smiled. "I'll miss you, too." He caught her eyes, so very tempted to kiss her. But this was most definitely not the right time for that. "Well, I need to get ready for the mission."
Egeria nodded. "I will see you off in the gate room."
Half an hour later, SG-1 was off on their mission. Egeria left the gate room, intending to go to her lab. She'd made it only a few feet down the hall, however, when she thought of something. A smile coming to her lips, she turned around and went to General Hammond's office instead.
"Egeria," he greeted with a smile. "Please come in and take a seat. How are you settling in?"
The woman settled in one of the chairs. "Very well, thank you. I am pleased to be here."
"Good. I'm glad you stopped by. There are some things we need to discuss now that you are officially a part of the Stargate Program and will be living here on Earth. For one thing, we need to set up an identity for you, birth records and other things like that. Now, I am assuming that you want to keep the name of Egeria, but we have to come up with a middle and last name for you as well."
"What is the purpose of the middle name?"
"I couldn't tell you what the original purpose was, but, here in this country, it's just an additional way to identify someone."
"I would wish, then, for my middle name to be Arria, to honor my last host."
"All right. And the last name?"
"I do not know what last names exist."
General Hammond pulled out a phone book and handed it to Egeria. She scanned through it, randomly flipping pages, looking for one she liked. She smiled when she saw the name Gates, recalling that Daniel and others here sometimes called the Stargate simply the gate.
Hammond gave a little chuckle when she told him which name she'd chosen.
They worked out the rest of the things, like Egeria's birth date, the names of her parents, where she was born, her schooling, etcetera.
"All right, I think that should do it," the general said. "We'll have all the necessary identification papers created for you."
Egeria frowned slightly. "Will I need these papers before I can leave the base again?"
"No, not as long as you're accompanied by a member of the personnel."
"Good. There is someplace, then, that I wish to go."
Egeria smiled down at the two items lying on the bed. She stroked the green material of the one on the left. She had feared that the dress would be gone when she got to the shop and was quite pleased when she found that it was still there.
Her eyes went to the other dress, the one she had spied on the same rack as the green one. As she tried it on, she had imagined what Daniel's reaction might be to seeing her in it. She would make sure that they were quite alone when he did, for her intention was that the dress would not remain long upon her body.
Was she assuming too much? Was it wrong of her to be planning this seduction? Now that nothing was standing in the way of them being together, her desire for him was growing too powerful to push aside. Last night, she had dreamed of them making love in this very room, their bodies mated in wild passion. Whenever she thought of that happening in reality, a delicious flush of heat washed through her body. She wanted to possess him utterly and for him to possess her in equal measure. He already utterly possessed her heart.
After hanging the dresses up in the closet, she went to her lab. That lab was something about which she would eventually have to talk with the general. Though, for now, it would do, she did not want it to be hers permanently. For her permanent workspace, she wanted a room on the next level up, the level upon which Daniel's office was. Not only would it put her closer to him, it would also make it easier for her to work with him and the rest of the linguists on translations needing her knowledge. She smiled when she thought of Daniel's reaction when he learned that she wanted to be placed upon his staff. When he was her slave, she was his 'boss', and, now, she was seeking an arrangement where he would be hers. She let out a laugh at the thought of it.
Oh, how happy she was. Within her grasp was the dream of spending the rest of her life with Daniel. No, it would not be the thousands of years that she had imagined back when he was with her before, but she knew that every year they would have together would be filled with the joy of a hundred years. Of course, that would only be if he came to love her as she loved him. If she had to wait for that love to grow in his heart, then she would. It would be worth the wait.
A small smile came to Daniel's face as he and his team stepped out of the event horizon and onto the metal ramp. Home. It was funny how Earth felt so much more like that to him now. This planet had been his home for the majority of his life, yet seldom since the death of his parents had he felt like he truly belonged anywhere on it. Now, that sense of belonging was quite strong, and he knew exactly why he felt that way.
Once the post-mission exam was done, he skipped taking a shower and went straight to a certain lab on Level 19. He watched Egeria for several moments as she sat at the computer, an expression of concentration on her face.
"Hey," he finally said.
With a little gasp, she turned around.
"Daniel! You are back!" she cried, a smile brightening her face like sunshine.
"Yep." He stepped into the room.
"How did the mission go?"
"Pretty well. There were a few tense moments. I'll tell you all about it later. I just came by to say hi before the debriefing."
"I am glad that you did."
Daniel nodded his head at the computer. "So, how is it going?"
"Very well. I have learned that the information I provided on weapon systems is going to be used to create weapons for your ship named Prometheus and your F-302s."
"Already? That was fast. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, though."
"From what I understand, they intend to use knowledge they gained from studying the newer weapons of a Death Glider and Al'Kesh to improve upon what I have given you."
Daniel nodded. "Sam told me once that, though they could probably manage to backwards engineer the weapons they got off a Death Glider, it wouldn't do them much good because they used liquid Naquadah, and the little that we managed to scrounge from staff weapons wouldn't be enough to power more than one or two."
"Yes, I have heard that the knowledge I provided for that was quite welcome."
Daniel smiled. "I bet." He glanced at his watch. "Well, I have to get to the debriefing. Would you like to have dinner together?"
"Very much so."
"Okay, I'll see you in a while, then."
All during the debriefing, Daniel got the feeling that Sam wasn't completely happy with how everything turned out. He decided that he'd have to ask her about it later.
"Good work, people," Hammond praised at the end. "Now, normally, I wouldn't discuss your next mission at this time, but I decided to go ahead and do so. Now that things have been settled with Egeria, I believe that it is time that we turn our attention back to those Ancient ruins on Egerania. Doctor Jackson, what do you think is the likelihood that there are extensive ruins beyond that ridge?"
"Well, if those ruins we examined were a school, it wouldn't make sense for it to be the only thing on the planet, and we saw no signs at all of other ruins in that meadow. Now, what I figure is that the school was something similar to one of our boarding schools. The kids lived there as they were being taught."
"Which could explain why it's isolated," Sam said. "Many boarding schools here on Earth are out in the country."
Hammond gave a nod. "Very well. If there are no objections, I will schedule your mission to return to Egerania for 0700 day after tomorrow."
"That works fine for me," Jack responded. "So, has anyone put any thought into how we're going to get to the ruins if they exist? It would be a pretty steep climb if there isn't some kind of pass. And, even if there is a pass, it would be a very long walk, two days at least."
"We will discuss that if we determine that the ruins justify closer examination."
"Yes, sir."
Sam left the briefing room a little ahead of Daniel, and he had to hurry to catch up to her. Upon inquiring about her air of discontent regarding the mission, she admitted that she was unhappy about how the race turned out, disappointed that she and Warrick didn't win. She complained about the other racers being a "bunch of cheaters." When Daniel asked what she was going to do, she replied that, next year, they were going to kick butt. The reply amused him, and he hoped that she'd get the opportunity to do just that.
Sam looked at the smile on his face. "It's really great to see that."
"See what?"
"You smiling and happy. It's been a very long time since I've seen you truly happy."
Daniel shrugged very slightly. "After Sha're died, there was rarely a time when I felt like I had a good reason to be really happy. Now, I feel like I do."
"I'm glad, Daniel. You deserve this."
Daniel thought about the day he decided to tell everyone about his trip back in time. "You know, all of this came very close to never happening. I almost didn't tell you guys about my trip back in time. After I printed out the report, I got to thinking about all the pros and cons. I worried about what might happen if the time device was brought back here. I came really close to shredding the report. Now, I think about how different things would be if I'd done that. The Tok'ra wouldn't have a new queen, we wouldn't be getting all that information about Goa'uld history and technology, and the children of Egerania would have kept on dying."
"And you would never have been reunited with Egeria."
Daniel smiled. "Yeah. I have to wonder what else would be different."
"And what will be different. There's no telling how different our future will be from what it would have been if you decided to shred that report."
While they ate dinner, Daniel told Egeria about the new mission that had been scheduled. She was disappointed that it would be coming so soon, especially when she learned that SG-1 might be gone for several days. With a silent sigh, she accepted the fact that her plans for Daniel would have to wait.
The next day was Daniel's day off. He had been intending to get caught up on some of the work that was piling up, but, upon arising, he decided instead to see if Egeria would like to go do something with him. However, when he went to ask her, he discovered that she wasn't in her quarters nor in her lab. He asked around and learned that she had left with Sam a short while ago. Curious, he called his female teammate.
"Hey, Daniel," she said upon answering her cell phone. "I figured that you'd probably be calling."
"So, what are you two up to?"
"Shopping."
"Again?"
"Well, we only got three outfits for Egeria last time, and she certainly needs more than that now that she's staying."
"Ah. Right. So, I suppose you're going to be gone all day."
He had thought that he'd hidden the disappointment from his voice, but, apparently, he hadn't quite succeeded.
"Would you like to meet us for lunch?" Sam asked. "Around one o'clock? We should be done by then." She started to grin. "Then you can have Egeria for the rest of the day."
"Okay. Sounds great."
They decided on a place to meet, then ended the call.
Sam turned to the woman beside her. "He'll be meeting us at one o'clock."
They returned to the mall, and Egeria wanted to go straight to the book store. Sam watched in amusement as the woman just about went nuts going through the books. They left an hour later with a bag crammed full of reading material.
"I shudder to think what you'd do if I took you to Barnes and Nobel," the major remarked.
"Barnes and Nobel? What is that?"
"Um . . . never mind," Sam replied, thinking that if she told the woman about the big book store, they'd never get their clothes shopping done.
As they drew near the clothing store where they shopped before, Sam thought about the green dress.
She smiled as she said, "You know, Egeria, there's no reason for you not to get that green dress now."
"I have already purchased it."
"You have? When?"
"While you were gone on your mission." A little smile curved her lips. "I purchased another one as well."
"Which one?"
Egeria described the dress to Sam.
"Wow," the major said. "I remember seeing that one on the rack. I toyed with the idea of having you try it on, but I was afraid that Daniel would have to be resuscitated, if you did." Sam began to smile. "We need to get you some other things to go with those dresses."
"Other things?"
The "other things" were some very sexy lingerie and a pair of black shoes with stiletto heels that Egeria didn't know if she would ever be able to walk in without stumbling.
"You'll just have to practice a lot in your room while we're gone," Sam told her.
The black-haired woman sighed. "I hope that you will not be gone too terribly long."
Sam's grin returned. "Eager to model those new dresses for Daniel?"
"Very much so."
The tone of Egeria's voice made Sam wonder if Daniel would manage to take the woman out on a date before she pounced on him.
At one p.m. they arrived at the restaurant where they were supposed to meet Daniel. Sam almost laughed when they walked in the door and found that he was already there, waiting in the lobby. Daniel was actually early? He really did have it bad, didn't he. The smile that lit up his face upon seeing them confirmed Sam's diagnosis. But then, it was no less dazzling than the one on Egeria's face.
All three of them enjoyed this lunch a whole lot more than the last one they had together, the conversation light and casual and not overshadowed by the thought that Egeria would soon be leaving.
After the meal, Sam said goodbye to Daniel and Egeria, telling the former that she'd see him in the morning.
"So, what would you like to do?" the archeologist asked his companion.
Egeria was very tempted to reply that she wanted him to take her to his home, but she decided against it. When that day came, she wanted it to be when he wasn't going to have to leave on a mission in the morning.
"I would like to see a movie," she said instead. "Sam told me about your movies and television, and they sound quite interesting."
"A movie, huh? Any preferences?"
"Something with a romance?" Egeria replied with a smile.
Daniel looked up the listings of all the movies playing in town, a frown coming to his face when he didn't see anything that he thought Egeria might like. Then he got to the listings for a budget theater that showed films that were released several months ago. He smiled when he saw Maid in Manhattan on the list, recalling that Sam said she took Cassie to see it, and they both loved it.
It turned out that Egeria loved it, too. While Daniel also enjoyed the film, what he enjoyed a lot more was Egeria's hand in his, her leaning in close to him as she shared his popcorn, the smile in her eyes every time she looked up at him. There were a few times when he had to stop himself from kissing her. He was really wishing that SG-1 didn't have a mission in the morning. He'd take Egeria out to a romantic dinner, perhaps dancing as well. Would she know how to dance? Probably not, but he could have fun teaching her. So what if he got his toes stepped on a few times.
'Wow, you really do have it bad, don't you,' he said to himself.
Instead of dancing, they did some window-shopping after the movie was over. Instead of a romantic dinner, they went to a family restaurant. Then they returned to the SGC. As Daniel wished Egeria a good night, he was thinking that he couldn't wait for tomorrow's mission to be over.
"Okay. Something tells me that we're going to be here a while," Jack remarked.
The remark was inspired by the video they were presently watching, which was the feed from the UAV's camera. There in all its crumbling splendor was what appeared to be an Ancient city equally as large as the one on Vis Uban.
"So, Daniel. Could that be it? The Lost City?"
"I don't know, Jack. It's possible. I won't know anything until I take a look."
"All right. Carter, bring the UAV back. We need to tell Hammond what we've found."
Sam remotely piloted the flying craft back to the meadow from which they'd launched it and brought it in for a soft landing on the grass. They loaded it and the launcher back onto the wagon that had brought it out here, then climbed into the back with it. The driver, who'd watched most of the flight of the UAV with his mouth hanging open, took them back to the Stargate. SG-1 told him to wait as they went down to the gate.
"Well, General, the time has come to talk about how we're going to get to the other side of that ridge," were the first words Jack spoke to Hammond.
"There are ruins on the other side?"
"Oh, yeah."
"The city looks to be at least the size of the one on Vis Uban," Daniel said. "We're probably going to need a few teams here to go through it."
"The good news is that there is a pass, sir," Sam told the base commander, "although we couldn't tell from the video feed if it can be safely navigated."
"All right. Come on back, and we'll start making arrangements."
"Should we bring the UAV and launcher back with us?" Sam asked.
"Unless you think you're going to need it again."
A while later, SG-1 came through with the UAV and launcher. At the debriefing, they showed Hammond the footage that the aircraft took.
"I agree that it is definitely worth checking out," the general said. "We'll have three teams available day after tomorrow, including SG-13, whose archeologist has some knowledge of the Ancient language."
Daniel nodded. "Doctor Balinsky has a good grasp of several dialects of the language."
"Neither of the other two teams have people who can read Ancient, so I'd like you to pick two people from your staff who can accompany them, Doctor Jackson. Now, in regards to how you are all going to get there, we first need to determine if the pass is safe to travel. I will be arranging for some ATVs to be sent here. Colonel O'Neill, once they arrive, you and your team will go back to the planet and see if you can find a safe route."
"Uh, sir, how are we going to get them up the stairs?" Jack asked.
Sam frowned in thought. "They'll be too heavy to push up, so we're going to have to pull them up with ropes."
"I'm sure we could borrow a horse to do the pulling," Daniel said.
After the debriefing was over, Daniel went to tell Egeria what was going on.
"What is an ATV?" she asked.
"All Terrain Vehicle. They're small vehicles that are designed to drive over rough terrain."
"So, you will be gone several days?"
"I'm afraid so. Actually, it could take weeks to cover the whole city, but SG-1 won't be there that long. Once we and the other teams have done a quick search of the city, some archeological teams will be assigned to go through it more extensively."
Egeria studied him closely. "Do you wish that you could be with those archeological teams?"
"You know, if someone had asked me that question a month ago, I'd have said yes."
"And now?"
Daniel met her eyes. "I wouldn't want to be gone that long."
The expression that came into Egeria's eyes made Daniel want to kiss her. There were two things that kept him from doing so: the surveillance camera in the room and the open door through which anyone could look inside. He had a feeling that when he and Egeria did finally kiss, it would need to be done someplace private, for it would not be a kiss suitable for public viewing – and might lead to a whole lot more than just a kiss.
"You will be returning to Egerania tomorrow?" Egeria asked, seeing something in Daniel's eyes that made her wish they were someplace private.
The archeologist nodded. "Early in the morning. The ATVs are due to arrive tonight."
A moment of silence fell between them.
"Well, I need to go talk to my staff and decide who's going to go," Daniel said at last. "I'll see you later, okay?"
He left the Egeria's lab, not relaxing until he was on the stairs going up to the next level. He had come so close to saying to hell with the chance of someone seeing them and kissing her anyway.
In the past, Daniel would have been looking forward to a mission like tomorrow's, for the chance to be an archeologist and study Ancient ruins, but, in the past, he didn't have someone here waiting for him to come home; he didn't have someone who was filling his dreams with images of making love with her. He had a feeling that however many days they were in those ruins, the time was going to drag by.
Daniel stood and stared at the ruins laid out before him. Though rocky and steep in some spots, the pass was navigable and had enabled them to cover the distance to the ruins in three hours. Now that they were there, however, Daniel could see that the job of searching the ruins was going to be quite a task.
"Well, we made it," Jack said. "Now, we get to take the lovely trip back and tell Hammond."
"Actually, I'd like to stay," Daniel told him. "There's no point in all four of us going back."
"No way, Daniel. I learned my lesson on Estrania. Never again am I leaving you alone in a bunch of ruins."
"Well, the situation is quite a bit different this time, Jack, but I wasn't suggesting that you leave me alone. Sam or Teal'c can stay, too."
Jack thought about it for a moment. "All right. Carter, you stay with him. Teal'c and I will head back to the gate. Just try to stay out of trouble, okay?"
"We'll do our best, sir," Sam replied.
"Have fun sleeping in your tents while Teal'c and I sleep in our nice, comfy beds tonight."
Jack and Teal'c started up their ATVs and roared away. As the sound of their engines faded, the silence of the ruins took over.
Unfastening their packs from their own vehicles, the two scientists found a place to set up camp. Once that was done, they began to explore the ruins. They hadn't been at it for very long when Sam's curiosity about a certain subject drove her to speak.
"So, when are you going to ask Egeria out on a date?"
Daniel glanced at her, a smile coming to his lips. "How long have you been dying to ask me that?"
"Ohhh, since Egeria came back from the Tok'ra base."
"Wow. You managed to make it five whole days without asking. I'm impressed. Granted, we were on a mission for two of those days, but it's still impressive."
Sam gave him a light shove. "Okay, so I didn't want to seem nosy."
"Well, to answer your question, I already would have if it hadn't been for this mission. I've wanted to several times, but we've been kind of busy since she got back."
"I'm really glad that things worked out like they did. When Egeria and the others beamed back down from Thor's ship, she looked so happy." Sam glanced at him. "She really loves you a lot."
Daniel smiled softly. "I know. For a long time after Sha're died, I didn't think that I would ever feel that way for someone again. It feels . . . really good to know that I was wrong."
They spent several hours searching the ruins. Though Daniel found plenty of writing, the bits that he read gave no clue that there was some hidden cache of weapons somewhere in the city. Sam was also not picking up anything on her scanner.
As they headed back to camp, Sam remarked, "This is going to take a while."
"Yeah, but we already figured that. Including us, we'll have four teams, though, so we should be able to do a quick search of the ruins in just three or four days." A slight frown came to Daniel's face.
"What's wrong?"
"I was just thinking. What if this is the Lost City and we do find a bunch of weapons? Is it too much? We're getting all that stuff from Egeria, some of which is already being built, and, now, we might get a bunch of Ancient technology, too. What if we get so powerful that the Goa'uld decide that we're too dangerous? Anubis has already proven that he doesn't give a damn about our protected planet status. Right now, he's focusing on the other Goa'uld, but if we get, as Jack might say, too big for our britches, he's going to turn his attention back to us."
"I guess all we can hope is that, if that happens, we'll have the weapons capable of defending the planet. We've been living under the threat of an attack for a long time. At least, now, maybe we'll have what we need to give us a fighting chance to defend ourselves."
Jack, Teal'c and the other teams arrived at mid-morning the next day. By then, Daniel had worked out a search pattern that would enable the teams to cover the most ground in the least amount of time.
"So, I see that you two are still all in one piece," Jack remarked as he walked up to the two youngest members of SG-1. "Daniel, Egeria sends her regards. She was quite disappointed that you didn't come back with us." He fished an envelope out of his pocket and handed it to the archeologist. "That's from her."
Daniel smiled and took it. "Thanks." He put it away in a pocket.
"You're not gonna read it?"
"I will later."
The four teams separated and began their search of the ruins. It was no surprise to any of his teammates that Jack became bored within an hour. Daniel mostly ignored him, too busy with examining the writing they found. So far, none of it was of any great consequence, no grand revelations, no tremendous discoveries that would lead them to a wealth of knowledge or technology. But then, even if this was the Lost City, Daniel hadn't been expecting a sign saying, "This way to the weapons."
Upon entering a particularly large structure, Jack agreed to let them split into two teams to cover it more quickly, Sam going with Teal'c and Jack sticking with Daniel.
"So, when are you going to ask Egeria out on a date?" the colonel asked five minutes later. He noticed a little smile on Daniel's lips. "What?"
"It took you half the time that it took Sam to ask that very same question once we were alone yesterday."
"I guess I just don't have as much patience. Are you going to answer the question?"
"I'll ask her when I know that we're not going to be heading right back out on another mission. I haven't had much of an opportunity to schedule anything."
"True. We have been busy."
Finding nothing of interest, SG-1 left the building and moved on to another.
And that's pretty much how the day went. By the end of it, they were all tired, and Jack was grumbling.
"We should let the other teams handle this," he said in camp that evening. "We are supposed to be a first contact team, you know, and this," he waved his hand about at the ruins, "isn't first contacting anything."
"The problem, Jack, is that I'm the only one here who's fluent in this dialect of Ancient," Daniel responded. "Cameron Balinsky knows it pretty well, and the other two linguists I picked will be able to get by, but if any of them find something that they think is important and aren't sure of their translation, I'm going to have to take a look at it. I'm not saying that we have to be here the whole time, but I think we should stay through this initial search."
"Yeah, all right. We can stay two more days, but that's it."
A couple of hours later, Daniel was in his tent, getting ready for bed. He recalled the letter Egeria had written to him and took got it out of his pocket.
My Daniel,
I hope that you are enjoying exploring your Ancient city. I am looking forward to hearing you tell me all about it.
Though you have been gone only a day, I miss you and cannot wait until you return. I hope that, soon, you will be able to take what you call a vacation so that you can show me some of this world. Could we go to Rome? I dearly wish to see how it looks today. I am reading the book you bought for me about it and the land that is now called Italy. It sounds delightful.
There is something I wish to tell you. On Thor's ship, when I was walking toward the table where my consciousness would be removed from Ria's body and then placed within my symbiote body, a voice deep inside my soul was crying out that it was wrong, that it was not supposed to be that way. I almost did not listen to it because I believed that my future lay with my children, that it was with them that I was meant to be. But I was wrong, Daniel. It is with you that I am meant to be. I think that has always been so. I know that there must have been a timeline in which we never met, but this does not change my belief. Perhaps in that timeline and any others that happened differently, my true destiny was never able to be fulfilled, that it is only in this one that it has come to pass. If that is so, then I grieve for the Egerias of those other timelines, especially for the one who never experienced the joy of meeting you at all.
I will say goodbye now, for I do not want to keep you long from work. The sooner that you are finished, the sooner that you will return to me.
Goodbye for now, my beloved Daniel.
Your Egeria
Deeply affected by Egeria's words, Daniel read them a second time, reading the third chapter more slowly as he imagined the look on her face as she wrote it.
He had never believed in fate, being of the opinion that each person created their own destiny, which changed with each decision they made. They'd already proven that a person's destiny was not cast in stone. The trip back to 1969, the events with the Aschen, and his own trip back in time had all proven that.
So, was Egeria wrong when she believed that her destiny lay with him? He wasn't willing to dismiss her belief so easily. The truth was that he couldn't really say. There was one thing he did know, though. If Egeria's destiny was to be with him, then his was to be with her, and he could not think of a happier destiny that he could have.
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