SG1-24 Two Roads

by Cannon, Geonn

  “You can see why someone might think otherwise. Locking yourself up down here…”

  “This is relaxing to me! This, this, this…” He gestured at the room like a game show model. “This is… my lake in Minnesota with no fish in it. I’m an archaeologist. I study history, and for the past decade, I’ve had more history and more relics than I knew what to do with because somewhere along the line I had to become a soldier first and an explorer second. Do you want to know why no one’s seen me in eighteen hours? I’m not hiding… I’m basking.”

  Jack didn’t seem convinced, but he held his hands up in surrender. “All right, well… if you want to add a few more relics to your pile, SG-9 is scheduled to go off-world tomorrow. They have their own version of you, and according to what she saw on the MALP, it looks like the Stargate is located inside a temple dedicated to worshipping Kali. All our reports say she was one of the System Lords who backed Anubis’ play in exchange for staying on his good side when he was establishing his new Goa’uld order. Depending on how friendly they really were…”

  “You’re hoping he might have given her some lovely Ancient parting gifts in exchange for her loyalty. A ZPM, perhaps?”

  “A man can dream,” Jack said. “Anyway, the place is just sitting there gathering dust. SG-9 is confident that Kali skipped town after we wiped the floor with her buddy, so it should just be a walk in the park. And even if there aren’t loads of goodies to dig through, there should be a lot of modern-day things scattered around if you want something to compare the old junk with.”

  Daniel perked up. “Wow. Yes, that would actually be incredibly helpful. Thank you.”

  “No problem. Just promise me you won’t die on this one, huh? Every time you leave we have to sell your place, and then you get a new one when you come back, and I’m getting tired of updating my address book all the time.”

  “I’ll do my best.”

  Jack nodded and started to back out of the room. “I wasn’t kidding about that lunch, by the way. Genuine alleged government meat products. Mm-mm, good eating.”

  Daniel looked at the pile of work in front of him with the unsettling knowledge it was about to be made larger by whatever he found with SG-9. He put down his journal and said, “Yeah. I suppose I could eat, now that you mention it.” He followed Jack out of the room and hoped there was an alternative to whatever purported meat product Jack was talking about.

  Teal’c stepped away from the fire, walking until the din of conversation faded enough that he could be alone with his thoughts. They were in a wide clearing ringed by trees on an outcropping that overlooked the valley. Far below in the waning light, he could see the Stargate in its ring of stones. It seemed so very far away and, for the first time in recent memory, it was not a threatening sight. He knew that the shimmering blue surface wouldn’t deliver his fellow Jaffa clad in armor and brandishing staff weapons. He had the security of knowing he would not have to fight his brothers for the greater good. It was an alien feeling, but one he expected would become more familiar over time.

  He had stood on Dakara at the historic moment, saw with his own eyes the downfall of the Goa’uld oppressors. It was a moment of which he had often dreamed but to be there, to not only experience it but to have had a hand in bringing it to pass… His fellow Jaffa now looked upon him as an epic figure. He would have been called a “celebrity” in Tau’ri culture but he knew he had done nothing worthy of idolatry; he was merely one of the final soldiers in a long line of warriors who had striven toward their goal. He deserved no more praise than Bra’tac or the hundreds of Jaffa who had given their lives so that he could at last succeed.

  In the past few weeks, he had seen just how far his people had come in only a few short years. While many warriors remained behind on Dakara to secure it for their own purposes, he and Bra’tac were acting as emissaries to spread the word to some of the more scattered settlements. For obvious reasons, many Free Jaffa villages were isolated and kept their heads low. Even if they heard rumors of the System Lords falling, they would not simply take the news at face value. They would need someone they trusted to assure them it was the truth before they risked coming out into the open. So far they had tracked down five different villages, and all of them insisted on having a celebratory bonfire in honor of the brothers and sisters they had lost to the cause.

  Teal’c was grateful for the opportunity to share the news. It didn’t matter how often he explained how it had come about or how many times he answered the same question, the words hit him with the same force every time: the System Lords had been defeated in a decisive victory. The Jaffa were free and had delivered the final crushing blow with their own hands. No Jaffa would ever again serve a false god. They would not only die free, they would have a chance to live free as well.

  He heard the boy’s furtive approach and smiled, giving no sign he had heard until he was within reaching distance. “Hello, Rya’c.”

  He could sense his son’s disappointment and turned to look at him with a smile. The boy had grown into a respectable man, but he was still eager for his father’s approval. These days, however, he showed off by trying to best the old man. The day hadn’t come yet, but Teal’c knew that it was fast approaching. On that day he would proudly welcome his son to the ranks of adulthood, a maturity marked by the fact he would never have to bow before a false god even one day of his life.

  “Ishta is looking for you,” Rya’c said.

  “And you elected to conduct a search for me rather than remaining by the fire with your wife?”

  The boy — a young man now, though still a boy in Teal’c’s eyes — smiled as he took a position next to his father. Teal’c could see his muscles through his shirt, the coiled strength in his arms. This was no longer the child who had been used as a pawn by Apophis. This was a fellow warrior.

  “I can see her whenever I wish. It’s far more difficult to see you.”

  Teal’c’s smile faltered slightly. “For that, I can only apologize.”

  “You had greater responsibilities elsewhere. I understand that now, even if I haven’t in the past.”

  He inclined his head in gratitude to the young man. “I hope things can change. Now that the Goa’uld have been defeated, my place is here among my own people. We have survived, but true victory remains to be achieved. There will be much to do in the future if we are to avoid collapsing under the weight of our own freedom.”

  Rya’c nodded. “And your friends? SG-1?”

  He didn’t have an easy answer for that. When he left Chulak to fight by their side, he had seen them only as a military unit he happened to fight alongside. Now they had become so much more, their meaning to him so much greater. They weren’t just his unit, they were his family. It would be difficult to leave them, but he knew they would never be far away.

  “When the time comes,” he said slowly, “I will be forced to make a difficult decision. I will have to choose between my family… and those who have become my family. It will not be an easy choice to make.” He rested his hand on Rya’c’s shoulder and smiled at him. “But I have no doubt I will make the right choice when the time comes.”

  “Neither do I.” He looked back toward the revelry. “I should probably return before Kar’yn sends someone to look for me as well.”

  “A wise decision.”

  Teal’c watched his son walk back through the trees. Once he was alone again, he looked down at the Stargate below. The choice to leave the Tau’ri and his friends at Stargate Command would be difficult, a bittersweet side effect of achieving his dream. But the man who attempted to live in two worlds was a true resident of neither. When the choice came, he had no doubt which he would choose, no matter how painful it might be in the short term.

  CHAPTER TWO

  The active Stargate provided enough light for them to see, but the first probe had revealed they would be in total darkness as soon as the event horizon shut down. Colonel Joseph Getty of SG-9 was the first person through the gate,
taking a moment to confirm they were still alone in the dialing chamber before he moved toward the MALP. He turned on the lights and manually angled them to hit the far corners of the room as the rest of his team came through behind him. Their esteemed tag-along Dr. Daniel Jackson was the final person through the gate, and the shimmering pool disengaged with a quiet “chuff” behind him. Getty knew it was his imagination, but the shutdown of a Stargate always made him feel uneasy, as if an actual door had been closed. This time the concurrent loss of light exacerbated that feeling.

  The room in which they found themselves was roughly the size of a hotel lobby, the walls decorated to show off the wonder and splendor of the resident goddess. Archways stood to either side, and Getty sent his team to clear the corridors. Lieutenants Huang and Shaffer went to the right, while Captain Frances Morello took the left by herself. Colonel Getty unhooked the flashlight from his vest and aimed it at the wall directly across from the Stargate. It had been adorned with a massive painting of Kali that looked similar to what he’d seen in history books: blue skin, long tongue, multiple arms, lots of swords. Definitely an imposing way to greet guests.

  Daniel took out his own flashlight and got a closer look at the artist’s work. Getty stepped out of the way without a word so he could get closer to the wall, and Daniel nodded his thanks. Eight years getting comfortable with SG-1 and now he was the odd man out once again. He was the outsider, the scientist who had to be reminded which end of the gun bullets went in. It felt oddly like coming home. He aimed the flashlight at the artwork and focused on trying to figure out its purpose.

  The Goa’uld were narcissists who loved to terrorize, but the painting seemed extravagant even by their standards. Kali could intimidate with the Jaffa she would have had posted in front of the gate, or by using the darkness of the temple to unsettle anyone who came through. The portrait had to have some kind of deeper purpose. When he played the light against the stone he noticed a seam running vertically along the side of Kali’s torso. There was another on the opposite side, and a horizontal one across her shoulders. It was almost as if it was meant to be opened, but there was no handhold to be seen.

  “That’s strange…”

  Morello returned before Getty was forced to inquire further. “Place looks clear on this end, sir,” she reported. “There were definitely skirmishes all up and down this corridor, leading back toward the throne room. The front of the building is pretty much decimated. If I was Kali, I would have hightailed it pretty quickly, too.”

  Getty said, “Sounds like the Jaffa aren’t wasting any time turning the tables on their old rulers.”

  Daniel said, “It’s not just the Jaffa rising up, at least not in this case. Now that Anubis is gone, everyone who stood with him is going to get it from all sides. They backed a losing horse and now they’re paying the price. They have to face not only their Jaffa but the people they turned against in order to back the guy they expected to win everything.”

  “Can’t say I feel too sorry for them,” Getty said.

  Huang and Shaffer returned. “All clear, sir.”

  “Is it this dark everywhere in the temple?”

  Huang nodded. “Yes sir, not counting where the ceiling or walls have been knocked in. Doesn’t seem to be set up much in the way of lighting.”

  Daniel said, “That makes sense.”

  Morello said, “Because of her animosity with Ra.”

  He looked at her and nodded, impressed. “Yes. Kali had a falling out with Ra a while back. A while back in this case meaning a few thousand years. Anyway, when you oppose the sun god, you don’t really want his light entering your temple. So she designed her temples in such a way that Ra had no corners to hide in. And it didn’t hurt that one of her names literally translates to ‘black night.’ Having her zealots worship in pitch darkness is just her living up to her reputation.”

  Morello aimed her light at a golden sconce high on the wall. “Those could be lit when Kali or her people actually needed to see what they were doing. It would be very dim, but it worked. Plus it was easily extinguished if one of their enemies showed up at the door.”

  Daniel said, “Nice catch.”

  “Thank you. I did a bit of research on Kali when I heard this mission would involve visiting one of her palaces.”

  Getty said, “Yeah, yeah, she likes to get all educated so she has pertinent information to save our asses when we cross some line or another. She only does it to make me look bad.”

  “Not true, sir. I do it so Huang and Shaffer look bad, too.” She grinned and joined her flashlight beam to Daniel’s. “Wow. I’ve heard of vanity, but this is a little much, huh?”

  “I was just thinking the same thing,” Daniel said.

  “It’s extremely aggressive,” Morello said.

  Huang said, “It’s a Goa’uld. You expected something pacifistic?”

  Daniel was aiming his light at the painting again. “No… no, she has a point.”

  Shaffer raised an eyebrow. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but that’s par for the course when it comes to these guys. Right?”

  “No, not… no,” Daniel said. “Not Kali. She believed in treaties and peaceful accords when it came to dealing with her enemies, and once they had signed on a dotted line, she abided by the agreements.”

  “Oh,” Shaffer said. “So she’s one of the good bad guys.”

  “For lack of a better word,” Daniel said.

  Getty said, “All right, as much as I enjoy playing art critic, I think it’s time we got this show on the road. Shaffer, get this room set up with lights so we’re not squinting. I don’t want to fumble with the DHD in the event someone else comes a-looting. Huang, you’re with me on the perimeter. I want to make sure we’re as alone here as we seem to be. Morello, you seem to be having a good time in the dust with Jackson. Let me know if you find anything ZPM-shaped.”

  She nodded. “Will do, sir.”

  “Check-in with the SGC is in ninety minutes. Let’s get a move on so I have something to report.”

  As the team spread out, Daniel glanced at Morello. She was taller than she had seemed in the gate room, pretty even in the darkness with long black hair braided under her cap. He’d noticed on the ramp that she didn’t seem to have any trouble with the weight of her gear, and he’d seen male soldiers grunt when they loaded on a pack. She had somehow managed to not only carry it through the gate, she’d done a quick recon and was now standing next to him looking not the least out of breath. She noticed his examination and looked at him, and he smiled apologetically.

  “Sorry you got stuck with the babysitting duty.”

  “Actually, I requested it, Dr. Jackson. I told the colonel whatever grabbed your attention, that’s where I wanted to be. I actually studied archaeology in college. You were a bit of an inspiration.”

  “Really?”

  “Well, you and Indiana Jones.”

  Daniel smiled. “Ah, yes. Him. That guy lied to us all.”

  “But look at where he’s led us.”

  Daniel nodded and examined the painting again. It had been damaged by multiple staff weapon hits that had chipped away at the stone and paint. He leaned in and tilted his head to the side.

  “Some of these gaps go all the way through. I think this section of the wall is supposed to be removed.” He tapped the butt of his flashlight against the stone. “Was there a chamber behind this wall?”

  “Not that I saw,” Morello said. A moment later, she added, “But there is space that isn’t accounted for. I’d say enough room for a twelve-by-twelve room.”

  “How could you tell?” Daniel asked, then answered his own question. “You were looking for secret chambers.”

  Morello shrugged. “Are you going to lie and tell me you’ve never looked for one?”

  “Are you kidding me? Half this job is looking for secret passages and stash rooms.” He moved away from the wall and walked toward the exit. “Let’s just hope her Jaffa didn’t find it first.”

 
; “It seems kind of odd, doesn’t it?” Morello asked. “You spend your entire life being told this person is a god, you dedicate your life to their service and their glory, and then one day someone says it’s not true so you steal from her temple and try to kill her? I’m not saying the Jaffa are wrong, I’m just saying it seems a little strange they were so willing to believe the truth.”

  Daniel said, “Jaffa never worshipped the Goa’uld the way you or I might think of the word. Most of us think of, you know, going to church on Sunday and organized religion. The Goa’uld were revered as gods, but they weren’t beloved. The Jaffa paid lip service because they had no other choice. People who followed the Goa’uld did so out of fear. They believed the truth that was presented to them: this person is infallible, this person gives you life, and it is through them that you survive. In their experience, that was demonstrably true. So they fell in line. Teal’c and Bra’tac didn’t just disprove the Goa’uld divinity, they showed their people there was another way. That’s why they took up arms so readily.”

  Outside they moved down the corridor with their lights trained on the wall. Daniel kept his eyes open for anything that looked like it might have been an access panel.

  “Once word started spreading about what happened on Dakara, the System Lords became an endangered species. The ones who didn’t leave had to stay and face the reality of a vast army who suddenly accepted they had a choice.”

  “Why would any of the System Lords elect to stay in that case? I mean, if it would only lead to their deaths…”

  “Centuries and centuries of living the lie, lording it over the little people… a lot of the Goa’uld started believing the lie themselves. When the peasants revolted a lot of them figured the rebellion would be quashed without much effort. They were gods, after all. Must have been quite a shock to realize they weren’t as all-powerful as they’d made themselves out to be.”