Stargate SG-1: Sacrifice Moon

by Julie Fortune

  Oh, the heavy duty of exploring the galaxy...

  Daniel was examining his glass too -not the drink, the glass. Turning it around in his hands like some kind of precious artifact - which, Jack realized, it probably was, from an archaeologist's point of view.

  "It's hand blown," Daniel announced. "Not very well made, but -"

  "It's a bar glass." Carter finished his sentence. "It stands to reason they'd make them sturdy rather than decorative."

  Which made Daniel's face light up. "Well, you'd think so, but some of the cups we unearthed at digs around Athens really showed a very high level of sophistication in manufacturing techniques, not to mention style. The sand here must have a completely different composition - most glass from this period on Earth is green, maybe yellow, but this is more iridescent... of course you get iridescence with age and oxidation, but °"

  "Kids," Jack said. "Take it outside if you're gonna geek out. Teal'c and I are trying to maintain our dignity."

  He could have sworn the Jaffa smiled. Or quivered a lip, at least.

  Daniel looked offended. "Geek out? Jack, we're here to observe, record, learn - "

  "Like I said. Geek out." He didn't mean it; it was part of their established patter, and it helped keep everybody from tensing up. Including Daniel.

  Daniel probably would have continued the verbal duel, but he was interrupted by the approach of a large band of well-dressed, wellscrubbed men in long robes.

  "So, they're not togas?" Jack muttered. "Look kinda like togas."

  "Tunics. Actually, they're chitons, Jack. Oh, or peplos, and that guy with a cloak, that's a himation,"

  "Chitons. Isn't that insect skin...?"

  "That's chitinous."

  "Oh, sure, and there isn't a connection... T'

  Daniel just stared back, thrown. Jack gave him a thin smile and stood up to greet the newcomers.

  Daniel recovered and blurted out the standard universal translator greeting, we come in peace or peaceful explorers or take me to your leader. He needn't have bothered. It was pretty obvious that the guy Jack was facing was the leader, or at least high level enough to make decisions.

  He was tall, broad-shouldered, a little older than Jack's age, apparently; thick silver-gray hair, worn in long curls, fastened here and there with gold pins and clips. Dark eyes. Jack didn't normally meet a lot of men in eye makeup, but he'd hit a run of them recently... Apophis, Teal'c, now this guy, who had dramatic sweeps of eye liner and something shiny on his lids.

  He was wearing that summer-weight wool, like some of the others out there waiting in line; apparently, he wanted to be a man of the people. Only his wool was high quality, the clasp pins on his tunic were intricately worked gold with ram's heads, and he had that sleek, tailored look of somebody accustomed to the finer things in life.

  His name, Daniel supplied, was Acton.

  "Pleased to meet you," Jack said, and extended his hand. Acton reached out and did a wrist-to-wrist grip. The guy had an orator's deep, plummy voice, as well as the authoritative body language, but it was just noise to Jack. He sent Daniel an inquiring look.

  "He says they're honored to have us as guests."

  "So this is going well."

  "Seems to be."

  Jack extricated himself from the man's grip, smiled and nodded. Heads bobbed in the delegation behind Acton. Everybody looked cautiously pleased.

  Daniel listened to another fast burst of syllables, then offered, "They want to give us hospitality at - I'm guessing the word means lodge. Or maybe hotel."

  "So long as it's not prison, hey, not turning it down."

  Daniel didn't need to translate the after you gestures the delegation was making. They were all trying their damndest to look friendly about it, too, except for Acton, who stayed dignified, and two extremely cold-eyed guys in the back that Jack had pegged for some kind of internal security. Or maybe their breakfast had been served up by a really bad mess line, too.

  Outside of the tavern, Jack slid on his sunglasses against the fierce glare, much to Acton's interest; he handed them over at Acton's curious gesture, and watched the guy slide them on and look around. There was a great deal of outcry from the lackeys that Jack hardly needed Daniel to translate - he knew the sound of sucking up when he heard it. Oh, sir, those are you! They make you look so august and imposing! Acton brushed it off, well accustomed to having his butt kissed, and handed the glasses back to Jack with an appreciative smile. Jack silently gestured for him to keep them, and took another pair out of a handy pocket on his tac vest.

  Acton looked pleased as punch as he slid on the shades.

  "I think you've discovered a huge trade opportunity, sir," Carter said, poker-faced under her own sunglasses and cap. "We export RayBans to alien worlds."

  "That and chocolate bars, Captain. Okay, let's move out, kids, before our cool wears off."

  He followed Acton's lead, heading out. As he did, the local Stargate behind them belched out plasma and settled into a waiting blue circle. A neat line of travelers began walking through - parents, children, old folks. Chattering like the trip was nothing to speak of. Like they'd all done it before.

  Daniel was right. This was interesting.

  Jack just hoped it wouldn't, like the Chinese curse suggested, be too interesting.

  It was a long way to wherever they were going. For one thing, the Stargate seemed to be outside of town proper; when they emerged from the big gray stone walls that enclosed the courtyard, Jack saw lots of scrub-covered hills rolling down toward a glittering blue sea, and - up a long slope - a city. A big one. It straggled halfway down the hill, in stepped terraces of gleaming white buildings. A pale road snaked toward it, jammed with pedestrians and a few slow-moving carts.

  "Unbelievable," Daniel murmured, stopping next to Jack's shoulder. He pointed at a massive, majestic temple, complete with big white columns, sitting on the crest of the hill. "Jack, that's an Acropolis."

  "Like Athens."

  "... Only this one's intact and functioning. Probably the seat of the city's religious center. God, just look at it! Jack, we'll be able to see how things are arranged inside - the exact placement of the altars and statues..."

  "Fabulous. So, we walk?" Jack said.

  Carter nodded toward the shade at the back of the wall. "I hate to say it, but... do you think those could be taxis?"

  Next to another sign labeled in Greek, there were lines of horses, carts and what looked like chariots, and a bunch of guys idling in the dirt, throwing the local equivalent of dice. Acton's people sprang into action, shouting, and the taxi drivers - Jack wished she hadn't said that, now he couldn't get it out of his head - crowded around, gesturing urgently at their vehicles and spouting torrents of words that could only be testimonials to how comfortable, fast and affordable they were. Acton gave a couple of sharp, barking orders, and it got sorted. Acton's sporty-looking personal conveyance rolled up, taking the Head Cheese and three lucky suckers-up; the keen-eyed security guys Jack had noted got their own ride all to themselves. It looked fast and anonymous, and the charioteer had scars on top of his scars, a squashed nose, and banks of swords and daggers built into his - what would you call that? Dashboard?

  Jack and Carter ended up in one taxi, Daniel and Teal'c in another, crammed in with the remainder of Acton's retainers. Their driver, who smelled like garlic and good old-fashioned sweat, snapped the reins and the horses clopped calmly up the hill toward the city.

  The sun beat down mercilessly, and Jack adjusted his cap to give maximum coverage as he held to the metal railing for stability. Carter had been right: it was going to get hot. Over in the other cart - chariot - whatever, Daniel was chattering to the driver and translating for Teal'c's benefit. Whether or not Teal'c was interested. The Jaffa looked alert and relaxed, staff weapon braced next to his feet. He wasn't holding the rail. Jack tried letting go, but the next hard jolt nearly sent him off the back of the vehicle.

  Must have been a Jaffa thing.

  "Sir
," Carter said, and pointed. "Think that's a cemetery?"

  Sure looked like one. Small marble cenotaphs scattered along the roadside, many with little bundles of dried flowers lying in front of the closed doors of miniature marble buildings. A few statues; Jack couldn't tell if they were meant to be guardian gods, or memorials of real people. Real people, he thought. One in particular, of a woman seated on a bench, holding a child in her arms... there were fresh flowers next to that one, fluttering pale petals in the ocean breeze.

  "Better watch Daniel," Jack finally said. "Make sure he doesn't dive off to explore."

  Sure enough, from the other cart, Daniel was leaning over the rail, making a photographic record of their progress and looking dangerously frustrated at not getting a closer peek. He had a brief conversation with Teal'c, which Jack imagined went something like, I think I'll get off and look around, andTeal'c saying, Then Iwillhave to hurt you, Daniel Jackson, because Daniel ended up staying on the chariot and looking disappointed as the cenotaphs receded in the distance.

  Soon enough, they were approaching the city walls.

  Big city walls. Jack craned his neck, looking up, and decided the granite blocks must have stretched about fifty feet into the air. Some buckling, here and there, but not enough to weaken the defenses; it looked pretty damn formidable. It'd take some serious firepower to bring this place down, bombing runs by B 1B Lancers, maybe. Which he was pretty sure wouldn't fit through the Stargate in the first place. The security had Abydos beat all to hell.

  A huge set of wooden gates, reinforced with iron strips, stood open, and traffic passed freely in and out. A couple of Acton's retainers hopped down as they slowed and ran ahead to shout and shove a path through the crush of people and carts gathered inside the walls, and pretty soon, they were passing into the sunlight again and the city proper.

  Under the merciless blue sky and hot golden sun, the city gleamed. Mostly white, but here and there Jack saw pale pink, blue, green, even a splash of red trim on a window. Flowers in boxes, graceful-looking pines and evergreens planted in rows to provide much-needed shade. Lots of billowing canvas-like awnings. The street was paved with interlocking stones, and the horses' hooves took on a hollow clop as they moved forward. Along the streets, houses rose two or three stories on either side.

  "Jack!" Daniel was waving at him from the other cart, and pointed at a building ahead. "It's a stoa! Markets!"

  Which meant zero to Jack, until they got close to the open-sided, colonnaded building to see the tables set up, loaded with fruits, vegetables, fabrics, jewelry, glassware, cloth, and a hundred things Jack didn't immediately recognize. Flea market. Huh. Who knew the Greeks invented that, too, along with democracy and pita bread?

  Daniel continued to gesture and name things, but Jack let it slide away; he was busy examining the place in terms of tactical advantage. Which, to be honest, wasn't much. They had pretty good stonework, and some nice jewelry, but weapons didn't seem much advanced beyond sharp pointy things to stick in other people. If there was technology here, it was well-concealed.

  They rolled to a halt in front of a vast open area, like a town square, with a huge spraying fountain in the center. Lines of women with jugs, getting water while they chatted; kids playing and splashing each other, brown as nuts. Jack and Carter jumped off the taxi and turned toward Daniel, who was heading toward them with his face lit up in wonder.

  "This is the agora," he said, still locked in uncontrollable lecture mode. He spread his hands and turned in a complete circle. "God, Jack, I can't believe it, just look at it! It's like Athens reborn... the stoa, the statues. I think that's a fountain house over there - "

  "Daniel." Jack put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm not seeing anything related to the Goa'uld here. Are you?"

  Daniel shut his mouth with a snap, and some of the intellectual fever cooled in his eyes. Jack was almost sorry for that. "No," he said, in a more moderate voice. "I haven't seen anything yet."

  "Nor have I," Teal'c contributed, coming to join them. "If the Goa'uld had come here recently, there would be signs. These statues would be of the System Lords, and the inscriptions would be invoking the power of the gods."

  Jack felt his eyebrows twitch. "You can read the inscriptions, Teal'c?"

  "I can."

  "You, ah, didn't want to mention this?"

  Teal'c looked, very faintly, surprised. "Can you not also read the inscriptions, O'Neill?"

  "Pretend I can't. Just tell me in the future if you've got something, okay?"

  "I will do so."

  "So, do they say anything we need to know?" His eyes flicked toward Daniel, including him in the question. Mistake. Naturally, Teal'c and Daniel started talking over each other.

  "I do not believe there is anything of significance to the - "

  "Most of the inscriptions are histories about the founders of the city and the laws they - "

  Jack held up a hand. "So, no, then. Captain Carter?"

  "Sir."

  "Stay alert."

  Like she hadn't been already. She gave him a brief, warm smile. "Yes Sir."

  Right about then, one of Acton's retainers bowed stiffly toward them and launched into an explanation that Daniel interpreted to mean follow me. Which, Jack had already assumed.

  They crossed the big open square. Leader and Head Cheese that Acton was, nobody talked to him, but plenty of townsfolk, including some of the women, drifted over to mutter questions to his retainers.

  "The gossip mill's running," Jack said. Daniel nodded. "Hope they're telling everybody what good friends we're going to be."

  "Actually, they're saying we seem to be lost. They're making themselves out to be generous and charitable to some pretty dumb strangers."

  "Whatever works. Makes you wonder if it's an election year... You'll let me know if they say we're on our way to getting our heads removed, right?"

  "Right." Daniel's tone was only a little ironic. "I think I get the priorities."

  According to Daniel, the building they entered was called the bouleterion; it was where Acton had his offices, and the town council did their business. Built a little like the massive Acropolis farther up the hill, it was majestic but small, with some grubbiness around the corners of the polished marble and some chips out of the steps. A couple of guys in short tunics were scrubbing at stains with thick brushes, paying no attention to the higher-ups who stood around try ing to look important. No armed guards looming, which boded well for the general stability of the government; Jack exchanged nods with some startled functionaries as they were led into a large atrium with a garden in the center, where some people were obviously sitting down to a lunch they carried in striped cloth bags.

  SG-1 was shown into a big open room with padded benches, black and white tiles on the floor, and an absolutely stunning mosaic running all along the walls. All four sides. Daniel immediately went to the far right, next to the door, and began studying it, putting his video camera to use.

  Acton's retainers, talking excitedly, left them to their own devices.

  "So there's no king here, right?" Jack asked.

  "What?" Daniel was barely listening.

  "No king...?"

  "Athens was the cradle of democracy, Jack. It's possible they might have one, but everything I've seen points to an Athenian society. Oh, except the women," Daniel added, as an afterthought.

  "What about the women?" Carter asked. "They looked pretty normal to me."

  "Exactly... yes, for the kind of society we're used to in the modem Western world back home. What I mean is, they're walking around outside, unescorted. Greeks were pretty conservative about that kind of thing. Women were absolute rulers in their own homes, but outside - well, they didn't go outside that much. Men ran the world." He shrugged. "This seems to be more like a Roman system, socially. Lots of freedom... Wow, look at that." His attention was arrested by the mosaic. He bent closer, practically putting his nose on it.

  Carter was interested, and came closer. "Wow, wha
t?"

  "This is unbelievable. It must have taken years to complete - matching the colors - the technique is more advanced than anything we've uncovered in digs on Earth in the period, it's more like the work being done in Byzantium nearly a thousand years later..."

  Jack wasn't about to get up and go join the gawk patrol. He sat, stretched his booted feet out at a comfortable angle and said, "It tells a story, right?" Because there was a Stargate, and blood, and people dying, and Jack was intensely interested in that part.

  Daniel nodded. "Yes, definitely."

  "Fact or fiction?"

  Daniel finished his filming, and backed off to sit down next to him. Carter was crouched down, examining a section that showed men and women running in terror, wide-eyed, their hair streaming loose behind them, as others chased behind. The woman in the foreground looked almost insane with fear, clutching a baby in her arms as she ran. The city, in that section, was on fire.

  "Can't tell," Daniel admitted. "In the beginning, it looks like a prosperous city, maybe this one... certainly Greek. Then there's some kind of event - see, the Stargate activating - and then..."

  He stopped, got up, and went to examine a section of the wall. He reached out and touched it, smoothed his fingers slowly over the tile, and then stepped back, frowning.

  "Daniel?"

  "That's strange. It's been changed," Daniel said. "Somebody revised this. There's a section missing. They tried hard to match it, but they couldn't quite do it."

  The section was a close-up of flowers, trees, peaceful streets.

  "How can you tell?"

  "The colors are different," Daniel replied absently. "And look, the pieces are larger, a little clumsy... whoever did this wasn't as accomplished as the one who completed the mosaic in the first place. Maybe a repair... no, it doesn't make sense. They removed part of the story"