City of the Gods

by Stargate

  Carter turned to face him. Backlit by the glow from Meztli, her hair shone like a burnished halo. The vapor from her breath curled softly around her in the windless night, adding to the illusion. She was like a guardian angel; one who'd saved them countless times. He hastily dismissed the thought and turned away from the landscape's deceptive beauty; it had no place on a world that butchered children. "What kind of culture," he said in an icy tone, "sacrifices kids?"

  "Sir, I don't think this is just about the Goa'uld. I think these people are Aztecs. From what I remember of high school, they believed that to be sacrificed to a god was to become a god."

  He shot her an incredulous look. "Why would anyone want to remember high school?"

  A crooked smile appeared on her lips. "Do you remember that bracelet Daniel found on Orban?"

  After a moment, he said, "No."

  "It had the symbol of a Mayan water goddess on it. Her name was Chalchiuhtlicue."

  "That's what the kids called you."

  Carter nodded. "And the giant alien in the Mayan pyramid on P7X-377 called himself Quetzalcoatl. The Aztec emperor, Moctezuma, mistook Cortez for Quetzalcoatl."

  "Which signaled the end of their world." Now it was Carter's turn to stare at him. He added, somewhat defensively, "I saw it on the History Channel."

  She kept staring at him.

  "Okay," he admitted. "I was in traction and couldn't reach the remote." He tested the stability of an icy outcrop, then climbed up the outside of the cave until he was facing a rock overhang. Pulling the FRED's signal beacon from his pocket, he set it securely in the rock and switched it on. Their radios might not be working but there was always a chance that, next time the SGC dialed out, they'd pick up some sort of signal. The overhang should protect the beacon from being buried by snowfall.

  When he stepped back down, Carter said, "I think the Aztecs adopted Mayan gods. One thing I am sure about was that they used the Mayan calendar, which accurately calculated the orbit of Venus around the Sun to one day in six thousand years. They also calculated the time it takes the Earth to orbit the Sun - 365.2421 days."

  Of course she would remember that; who wouldn't? "And...?"

  "And instead of leap years, every fifty-two years they had a sixday `dead' period, where time didn't count because they couldn't fit it into their calendar. Sir, every fifty-two years this moon's orbit becomes unstable. White-owl said that their Nemontemi or 'notime' lasts for six days. "

  "Sounds Goa'uldish to me. The usual `worship me or I'll destroy your world' stuff, conveniently backed up by - " A large ash cloud belched out of the volcano. "That. Carter, didn't you say the naquadah mine had been abandoned?"

  "Yes sir, but that doesn't mean these people stopped believing in their gods, especially when the cyclic orbital shift and resultant increase of tectonic activity substantiates their beliefs. It would even explain things like the `fire' or acid rain killing their crops."

  Jack frowned at the volcano. Aside from the god thing, he could sympathize. "Maybe. But it still sounds like a couple of Goa'uld are regularly paying them a visit, picking up a few Jaffa, changing hosts, terrorizing the local population. The usual stuff" He looked down at the ice lake stretching across the valley. "How long do you estimate until it's safe to dial out?"

  Carter stared at the lake and considered for a moment. "The temperature's low enough to walk on the ice now, but with all these quakes, the surface will keep breaking up. I'd say another twentyfour hours to be certain."

  He folded his arms across his P90. At any other time he would have taken the kids to the SGC as a temporary measure, then come back to find out what was going on. But under the current circumstances, they didn't have much choice. He and Carter could survive an hour's trek across the ice and a Polar Plunge, but the kids wouldn't - and there was no way he was leaving them behind.

  "Sir," Carter added. "Even if we can get these children home, and they are set free, that doesn't mean that others won't be sacrificed in their place."

  "Major, we've dealt with this sort of thing before. Once these people know the Goa'uld aren't gods, they'll stop pandering to them."

  She shot him a skeptical look.

  "So, it's a little more complicated than that," he conceded. "But this is what we do, Carter. If there's as much naquadah here as Dabruzzi thinks, the Pentagon will fall all over itself helping these people depose the local snakeheads. Cat Lips and Tonto might have ships, but if they have to change host regularly, they don't have a sarcophagus."

  Naturally, Carter pointed out the obvious flaw. "And if Whiteowl is wrong and the Goa'uld come back while we're there?"

  He tossed her a flat smile. "Then we go to Plan B."

  Nicholas Ballard's eyes closed and his lips curled with delight as he inhaled the rich velvety caffeine aroma. "It is good to be alive again, although I confess I didnot miss feeling my age." He clasped the coffee mug as if it were a priceless artifact, and exhaled a sigh of unmitigated pleasure.

  Across the briefing room table Daniel smiled. Nick had been somewhat put out when Quetzalcoatl had returned all of them to their normal, solid state of existence - until his grandfather realized that he had not eaten in eighteen months. The phase shifting that had allowed him to see the Omeyocan had also eliminated the mundane needs of the physical world, like food and water. After a huge dinner, he was now on his third cup of coffee.

  General Hammond's look of amused indulgence turned curious. "Dr Jackson, do you think the Omeyocan are computer programs?"

  "More like automated caretakers." Daniel opened a file on the table and pulled out a set of photographs. "If they were alive in the sense that we think of it, I doubt they'd have nothing better to do than hang around the basement of the pyramid until someone comes wandering by, asking for directions." He scowled. He was beginning to sound like Jack.

  Reluctantly lowering the cup, Nick said, "It was wonderful at first. There was so much to see. But then I began to have my doubts." He shook his head. "I still do not know for certain."

  "Nick, the writing?" Daniel prompted.

  "Ah!" Nick's bright blue eyes opened wide. After patting his pockets, he pulled out a notepad and carefully turned the pages before handing it to Hammond.

  "Now, General, compare them to this." Daniel slid the photographs down the table.

  Hammond sat forward and examined the images. "Where were these taken?"

  "When Jack first met the Asgard, they told him they belonged to an alliance of four races that included the Nox, the Ancients and the Furlings. They also said the Ancients had left this universe."

  "Abandoning the `gate technology."

  "Until now, the only evidence we've ever uncovered of the Furlings is that writing." Daniel pointed to the photographs. "From P3X-972, where we found Ernest Littlefield."

  Hammond looked at the notepad again. "And this same writing is from the pyramid on P7X-377?"

  "It is the only alien writing in the pyramid. All other texts are from ancient human cultures." Nick's face was a picture of frustration. "So much more to learn. Can you not ask the other aliens, the Asgard and the Nox, what they know of these Furlings?"

  "We've tried," Daniel replied. "We get the same `you're too young' or `you're not yet ready' reply. General," he added, turning to Hammond, "I can't categorically state that the Furlings built the skull network, but a race that advanced would surely keep an eye on the planets they seeded - unless, like the Ancients, they abandoned the galaxy. I think they left the Omeyocans behind to maintain the network. Then the Goa'uld all but wiped them out, and the transport system fell into disuse."

  Daniel paused before adding, "The thing that's always fascinated scholars is the complete absence of writing at Teotihuacan. There are no codices, no murals, no carvings; it's as if someone had carefully obliterated all possible reference to the prior inhabitants, including what became of them. I think this was a deliberate ploy to prevent the Goa'uld Coatlicue from learning where they'd gone."

  Nick nodded
in agreement. "I, too, believe this is what happened."

  "But she found these worlds nonetheless," said Hammond.

  "So it would seem." Daniel sighed.

  Hammond's eyes took on a thoughtful look. "What about the codex that Professor Wodeski discovered? Didn't that come from Teotihuacan?"

  "Yeah, I've thought about that. It was from a tomb deep within the Pyramid of the Sun. Those who were charged with the task of covering their tracks probably didn't expect anyone to desecrate graves. It wasn't until centuries later that tomb raiding became a profitable pastime. When Coatlicue arrived, she must have ordered the city searched for clues. And I doubt that she would have stopped at digging up the dead. Assuming the other tombs contained codices as explicit as the one Wodeski found, she would have been able to figure out where everyone had gone."

  "The knowledge of four human worlds existing outside of the Stargate system would have greatly appealed to an exiled Goa'uld," said Teal'c.

  "Especially a Goa'uld bent on revenge against Quetzalcoatl," added Daniel.

  "And," Hammond said. "It would also have given her time to rebuild her power base without Ra's knowledge."

  Teal' c inclined his head in agreement. "Indeed."

  "The thing is, General," said Daniel. "We now have a way of getting to Xalotcan. Even if we can't find a crystal skull to get home, we can make sure Sam and Jack, and hopefully Wodeski, have enough supplies until the `gate is accessible."

  "I think we can go one better," said Hammond. "While you were away, Sergeant Siler rigged up a small video camera in a plastic housing. The footage it sent back confirms that the `gate is under ice. Although the vacuum created by the vortex caused the ice to break up, it was still too thick for the camera to reach the surface. We were planning on sending a team of divers through in an attempt to make contact with Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter."

  Daniel sat forward. "But?"

  "A submersible probe and equipment will be here by this evening. However, with the situation in the Gulf, we can't get qualified divers with the necessary security clearances until after Christmas."

  "Then let Teal'c and me go there using the crystal skull."

  "You think you can find them? It's a big moon, Dr Jackson."

  "According to the holographic map, the skulls were in the valley just east of the mountains where the Stargate is located. There has to be a structure something like the Pyramid of the Sun, or at least a large cavern with similar resonating properties, otherwise Wodeski wouldn't have arrived. Just like at Teotihuacan on Earth, there are lava and magma tunnels under the mountain. Presuming Coatlicue used the local population as slave labor, she would have needed relatively quick access from the city to the mining camp - most likely via the same tunnel Dabruzzi mentioned."

  "SG-10 saw no signs of manmade structures other than the abandoned mine."

  Daniel stuffed the photographs back into the folder. "General, until it was excavated, Teotihuacan looked like a bunch of hills. On Xalotcan, the valleys are pretty much always covered in cloud, and the infrared markers that would normally indicate signs of civilization are useless because of the geothermal activity. What we do know is that a Goa'uld, presumably Coatlicue, brought in a `gate and set up a mining operation on Xalotcan. Since Tollan and Orban are part of the same network, Coatlicue must have invaded them, too, and later been defeated, possibly killed."

  "Which could explain why the mine was abandoned." Hammond nodded, but he still wasn't convinced.

  "General Hammond," said Teal'c. "Dr Dabruzzi believed that O'Neill and Major Carter would have taken refuge in this tunnel near the Stargate. If we cannot locate the entrance from the eastern side, I believe we can traverse the mountains on foot. According to the map we saw on P7X-377 the way is not difficult."

  Well-provisioned Sherpas might not find the way difficult either, but Daniel said, "General, even assuming Jack and Sam survived the flood, they could be injured. We don't know how much time they have. This is our best hope of finding them."

  Hammond sighed heavily. A knowing expression in his eyes, he said, "All right Dr Jackson, you and Teal'c have a go."

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  ow we know who bought all those Indiana Jones props on eBay," said Jack. Thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of skulls lined the walls of the huge cavern. Every nook and cranny that did not have a skull stuffed into it glowed with golden artifacts. Aztec gold. Except for the bones - and a deep crevice in the center of the ground that glowed ominously and shimmered with heat - the place was like the fabled El Dorado. Wherever he looked, even up at the domed ceiling, gilt skulls stared back at him.

  Jack had seen more than his fair share of skull racks in South East Asia, where despotic regimes celebrated genocide. The only difference here was the scale, and the fact that death seemed to be not merely celebrated, but venerated. Even weirder, the green glow bugs had taken up residence on, and in many cases inside, the bones. Whoever had set up this place were seriously in need of counseling.

  The children filed past him, seemingly oblivious to the bizarre juxtaposition of opulence and death. "Black Beard meets Moctezuma?" Carter muttered as she followed.

  "This," declared Heart-eater loudly, "is Teotihuacan's tzompantli, its skull cave. It is many times greater than the tzompantli at Xalo, where the Emperor lives."

  "So Tea-in-a-can's zom pants are bigger than Xalo's," Jack said. "This means...?"

  "Sir?" Carter's voice was stiff with suppressed emotion. She was looking inside another tunnel. The entrance was decorated with obsidian-bladed spears and exquisite gold objects. Something important was obviously kept inside, although Jack had a bad feeling about what `important' meant to these people.

  Carter's lips were compressed and her nose twitched with barely contained repugnance. "It's filled with children's skulls." Her voice fractured. "Hundreds of them."

  "Sacrifices to Tzcatlipoca." Heart-eater smiled slyly at the children, all of whom had gone terrifyingly quiet.

  Since they'd started their daylong trek down the tunnel, the kids had been extraordinarily well behaved, especially considering that they'd had to make the journey uphill just the day before. The teenagers had taken it in turns to carry the younger ones and the supplies from the FRED, while the youngsters never complained or whined. Until now. As much as Jack hated to see them frightened again, he was glad when they scampered across the ground and clustered around him. Kids should be able to act like kids, and that included crying when they were scared. But what came next shook even him.

  "Choca!" Heart-eater screeched at them. "Cry with pain so that your tears wash away the fire-rain of Chalchiuhtlicue. It is your tonali - your fate!"

  Two-water, who had been clinging to Carter's hand, stared up at her. The little girl's voice was tremulous as she said, "I will cry for you, Goddess, if that is your wish."

  Carter's face twisted in disbelief. "Oh, honey, nobody wants you to cry. And no one's going to hurt you."

  The children were tom with uncertainty. Jack might not understand the culture, but he understood people, and these kids had been brainwashed into believing that being sacrificed to some god or other was their ultimate goal in life. Where had he heard that before? "Listen to me, kids." He looked up and met Carter's eyes again. "No one's sacrificing anyone, not while we're here."

  Visibly taking control of herself, Carter bent and pulled Twowater into her arms. "That's a promise."

  "Stop him!" White-owl shouted, and, along with two of the older boys, took off in a dead run around the edge of the glowy pit.

  "Whoa!" Jack yelled when they disappeared into a darkened tunnel.

  "It is Heart-eater," White-owl called back, and kept running.

  Jack started after them. "Carter?"

  "Sir!" She was trying to extricate Two-water from her arms, but, eyes wide in silent terror, the little girl was clinging to her like a limpet.

  Seeing Carter's predicament, Jack said, "Stay here and watch the kids." Just as he reached the tunnel, Whit
e-owl and the boys ran back out.

  "That Road ofMictlan divides into three," White-owl declared. "We cannot tell which one Heart-eater took. But if what you say is true, then we must leave here, for until we reach the Emperor's garden in Xalo, we are still slaves. If Chalchi does not wish us sacrificed to her, Teotihuacan's fire priests will send us to serve Tzcatlipoca by cutting our hearts out!"

  So much for the heart and blood thing being a metaphor for Jaffa. Jack was suddenly aware of the tremendous heat climbing up his back. He spun around and looked down into the pit. It was a long way to the bottom, perhaps three hundred feet, but the sight did some interesting things to his already churning stomach. "Holy... Okay, kids, we're out of here. Now!"

  Backing away from the edge, Jack looked around the cavern for an exit. A dozen side passages offered the promise of getting completely and utterly lost. Great. "Which way?" he demanded.

  White-owl scooped a younger child into one arm, pulled a spear from the wall and pointed to a set of stone steps that led up into a darkened recess. "That Road of Mictlan leads to Xalo."

  Jack waited at the bottom of the steps with Carter, while the nimble-footed youngster's scampered up. Two-water and the toy dog stared up at him from the Major's arms. Scratching the animal behind its ears, he said, "Hey, Toto."

  "His name is Xipe," said Two-water, and hugged the animal.

  "Spiffy, huh." Weird name for a dog, but then everything about this place was a few shades beyond weird.

  "What's with the hole in the ground?" Carter asked him.

  "Neighborhood barbeque. Although I don't think it's the friendly get-together-over-a-beer kind." Climbing up the steps, he called to White-owl, "How far is it from here to Xalo?"

  White-owl looked at him oddly, but then he shrugged and replied, "Three hours, perhaps less."