Once and Future King, Part 2
   
Daniel walked onto the dig site the next morning, dodging the police that were surrounding the place and ushering off the tourists still standing outside the gates. Others were monitoring the dig team as they crated up the finds being stored on the site.

He went to Tara. "Tara, what's going on?" he asked, looking around him.

"What do you think, Dr. Jackson," she said, whirling around to face him. "They're shutting down my dig."

Uh oh, he thought, Dr. Jackson? "Why would they do that?" he asked.

"I was about to ask you the same thing," she said angrily, pulling him to the side. "Seems quite coincidental that just days after you arrive here with your very keen interest in the writings we've found, they shut us down."

"You're accusing me of this?" he asked. "Of getting your dig halted?"

"Someone did," Tara replied. "I don't believe for a second they really discovered some discrepancy in our license to dig here."

He paused, frowning. "If there's anything I can do...."

"Why not try contacting your employer and see if he can pull some strings for you," she said, crossing her arms and nailing him with a hard stare.

Uh oh, he thought again. "My employer?"

"Or maybe you've already done that and that's why I'm having to crate up all my work and head back to the university. You work for the government, or some military..."

"Tara, listen to me...." Daniel started.

She paused for a moment, looking into his eyes. "No, I don't think so, Dr. Jackson," she said, pulling off the ID clipped on his shirt with a quick jerk. "This time, it looks like free help might have cost me much more than I could have imagined," she said. "Now, I think it's time you left," she pointed toward the exit.

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry this happened," he said.

"I want you out of here, now," she said angrily. 

He left without another word, knowing he'd be back soon, and hating himself for it.  Undercover work sucks, he decided.

Later that evening, as the dig site lay quiet, Daniel returned with some of the security detail that General Hammond had commissioned from the local authorities. He'd been unable to rest at the B&B, and figured he might as well spend the evening at the site. Guilt is an excellent motivator, he thought. Since he knew he wouldn't be sleeping any tonight as it was, he figured he could get a head start on the translation of the writings on the door they'd found.

"Should we wait out here for you, Dr. Jackson?" one of the men replied.

"Well - I can give you a call if I need you, and the site is secure, so no - go back without me," he replied, looking toward the mound. They nodded and drove off, leaving him alone except for the sentries that were pacing the perimeter.

He walked toward the mound, clicking on his flashlight and easing past the security tapes into the narrow corridor the students had excavated. It didn't take him long to find the corridor that led to the door they'd found earlier today - especially with the light coming from the room where it was located. 

He drew his gun and eased forward, turning off his own flashlight. Before he got to the room itself, he heard the unmistakable grinding sound of the door moving in its frame. Without thinking, he rushed toward the room's entrance.

And came face to face with Tara as she turned from the door she'd just opened.

"What are you doing here?" they both asked one another simultaneously. Daniel looked toward the now open door, whose interior was hidden from him.

"Well, I guess I know why you're here," he said.

"I was right," she replied.  "You did get this dig shut down, didn't you?  Why?  Because of what's in here?" she said, motioning toward the door.

"Whatever you're going to say to me can be said outside," he said, glancing over her shoulder to the room. "Tara." He watched as she looked back toward the door. "Please - don't go in there," he said.

"Why not?" she asked. "What's in there that I shouldn't see?"

"It could be dangerous - we really need to wait until some backup arrives," Daniel said, walking closer. "Please believe me."

"You've given me no reason to trust you up to now," Tara said, turning back toward the door. When she glanced back at Daniel, he had raised his 9mm and pointed it at her. She stopped. "A gun? I really did have you figured wrong, didn't I, Dr. Jackson?"

"You said yourself, Tara - you have no reason to trust me. How do you know I won't shoot to keep you from going through that door?" Daniel said. Jack would be proud, he thought bitterly to himself.

Tara paused a moment before speaking. "I don't," she said. Then she turned and walked through the door.

Daniel sighed, and went after her. Why does that never work for me? he thought.

He came to stand beside her as she stood, in shock, looking at the room's inhabitants. Five biers filled the small space, and the people on them, eyes closed and unmoving, looked frozen in time.

Tara stepped back as the five people laying on the biers began to stir. As she and Daniel watched, they all rose and stood before them, not speaking as they stared at them impassively.  

"Hi," Daniel finally spoke, "I'm Dr. Daniel Jackson, and this is Dr. Tara Wyatt. We mean you no harm." More silence. "Do you have names?" he asked tentatively.

"I am Arthur," one of the men spoke, then gestured to his companions. "This is Guinevere, Lancelot, Galahad, and Percival."

"I don't suppose you would believe this is really King Arthur and it's just his time to ride forth and reclaim his kingdom - once and future king and all that...." Daniel asked Tara as she continued to stare.

"Oh, not for a second, Daniel," she said, her eyes wide.

"I didn't think so," he said.

"What happened to us?" Arthur asked, looking around him.

"We were hoping you could tell us that," Daniel said.

"And whom do you serve?" he asked, sizing the two of them up.

Daniel looked over at Tara before answering. "We serve no one. We're a free people."

"How came you upon this place?" Arthur continued.

"I came upon this place - it was rumored to be the resting place of beings of our mythology - I was hoping to find some truth of their existence as real historical figures," Tara said. "But we've found neither beings of myth or history, am I correct?" When they didn't answer, she continued. "You are not of this world, are you?"

Daniel sighed; she was catching on way too quickly and he couldn't even begin to think how he was going to explain this one away. He turned back to Arthur. "I'm hoping we have a common enemy - the Goa'uld."

"The who?" Tara asked him. He ignored her as he continued. "Are you Tok'ra?"

The group continued to stare, not answering.

"Because if you aren't, we're in really big trouble," Daniel said. "Although I'm guessing that if you were Goa'uld, you would have already killed us by now."

"What?" Tara managed to squeak.

"What do you know of the Tok'ra?" the woman named Guinevere spoke.

"We have an alliance with them. One of our people is now a host for Selmak." He noticed the recognition on her face before she carefully hid it. "What can we do to convince you that what we say is true?"

"If it's true what you say - then send this Selmak or one of the others to us," Arthur spoke.

"I'll need some time to contact them," Daniel said.  "And, no offense, to make sure you really are who you say you are," he finished.

"We understand. Is it safe for us to remain here?" Guinevere said.

"Actually, no, not really," Daniel said. He turned to Tara. "Listen, I know you probably have a million questions right now, but..."

"Yes, Daniel, I'll keep them in Glastonbury until you return, and make sure they have a place to stay," she said. "Unless..." she said, thinking. "You know, you could get online and use our video camera..."

"Is that still here?" he asked. "How quickly can you unpack it?"

"It's back at the farm where I'm staying - and I haven't packed it yet."

"That's great!" Daniel said, giving her arm a small squeeze. "Now all we have to do it get them back to the farm," he said, more confidently than he felt.

"It was all an elaborate hoax, I'm afraid. These people," Daniel waved toward the five Tok'ra, "wanted to make you believe there was something truly related to the King Arthur legend here. I'm sorry to say that there isn't," he finished.

The students who were waiting on Tara to come out of the mound were standing alongside the security detail - and all of them looked extremely suspicious as Daniel related his story to them.

Chris Taylor nailed Daniel with a hard stare. "What's your role in all of this?" he asked.

"I was sent here to investigate when US authorities got wind of the hoax. Since I am really a linguist, they knew it would be easy for me to infiltrate the dig." Daniel winced internally. Infiltrate? Sounds like one of Jack's black ops, he thought.

"He's right, Chris," Tara stepped up to stand by Daniel. "I'm afraid we've spent a lot of time here unnecessarily. These people wanted to play a cruel joke on us, and they almost succeeded. The good news is that many of the artifacts we did find truly are authentic. Just not any of the ones with the writing we couldn't decipher," she finished. 

Daniel almost cheered - her willingness to help with their cover story was making all the difference to the group they were addressing. He noticed as they began to nod, and although disappointed, he could see their belief in what the two of them were saying.

"So what happens to them now?" the dig's lead security guard gestured toward the group.  The Tok'ra gave Daniel an expectant stare.

"Well - they're actually wanted for other crimes in the US, so we're planning to extradite them for trial there. We'll be turning them over to the US personnel here until they can be flown back to the states," Daniel said, motioning to the Air Force guards to take them into custody.

"Trust me," Daniel whispered to Arthur as they were handcuffed.

"To a point I will," Arthur cautioned him, giving him a stern stare as they were escorted into the waiting vehicles for the trip back to the farm where Tara was staying.

"Sir, I just got a call from Daniel - he wants us to set up a video link with him," Sergeant Davis relayed to General Hammond.

"It's the middle of the night there," General Hammond noticed. "How quickly can you get it set up on a secure line?" he said.

"I can patch it through here in the control room, sir."

"Do it," he said. In moments, they had a connection to Daniel.

"Hi, General Hammond," Daniel said.

"Dr. Jackson - you have something you need to tell us?"

"Actually, it's more like someone I need to show you," he said, as the camera panned around the room at the people from the dig site.

"Who are those people?" General Hammond asked.

"Well, would you believe - King Arthur, Guinevere, and three of their faithful knights?"

"No," General Hammond said.

"Well - how about five Tok'ra, imprisoned by the Goa'uld centuries ago?"

"I'm not so sure I believe that either," he said.

"Is there any way we can contact Jacob to find out?" Daniel said.

General Hammond motioned to Davis. "Open the wormhole, and try to establish a connection with the Tok'ra." He turned back to the screen, noticing Tara for the first time. "Daniel, don't tell me that's the archaeologist from Discovery News."

"Okay," he said quietly.

"What the hell were you thinking, getting her involved in this?"

"Well - she kind of involved herself. The damage is done, General."

"Damage is right, Doctor," he bellowed out. "I seem to remember just recently having to concoct a hell of a cover story for another archaeologist who - thank God - was easily convinced he was having delusions after he nearly died of injuries. But this..."

"I guess there's only one thing to do then," Daniel said, looking over at Tara.

"What's that?" Hammond said.

"We could always use another linguist at the SGC," Daniel ventured.

"That's one alternative," General Hammond said, walking away from the screen.

"Do I want to know the other alternatives?" Tara asked Daniel.

"Probably not, no," he said, with a grimace.

"Oh," she said.

General Hammond stormed out of the control room, meeting the rest of SG-1 coming up the stairs. 

"General Hammond, sir!" Jack said. "We're back," he said, as General Hammond walked past him. "Did we, uh - miss anything?" he asked to the General's back.

"Next time, Colonel," General Hammond said, turning, "You're taking Dr. Jackson with you, understood?"

"Understood," Jack said, his brow wrinkling in confusion. After Hammond stalked off, Jack turned to Sam and Teal'c. "Wasn't Daniel on vacation?"

"I thought so, sir," Sam said, looking after General Hammond.

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