The Story With No Name

"Red sky at night, sailor's delight," Jack said with a smile as they stepped down from the gate platform.  "What a lovely planet.  No scorched earth, no war-torn cities - just beautiful trees."

"I don't know, sir - the sky has sort of an evil kind of glow - almost the color of Hathor's hair," Sam said, with a little shiver.

"And those cliffs - they are the shades of grey of a Jaffa's armor," Teal'c rumbled, looking around cautiously.

"Will you two stop it - next you'll be seeing Goa'uld in the grass and the Tok'ra in the trees," Jack said.  "Let's move out, and explore that ridge over there before it gets completely dark."

The team walked along in companionable silence for a few minutes before Jack turned to Daniel.  "So, Daniel - I heard SG-11 had to stand down for a hundred days after your last mission with them," Jack said, as they walked along.  "Injured in the line of duty."

"Um...yeah," Daniel said reluctantly.  "I guess so - depends on your point of view."

"Come on, Daniel - tell us.  No secrets between team members," Sam said jokingly.

"Broke out in some sort of rash, I hear," Jack continued.  "So why didn't you get it?"

"Janet thinks it's because of all the antihistamines she's prescribed for my allergies," Daniel said.

"They seemed a little pissed at you, last time I saw them," Jack continued.

"Well...I did lead them down into that valley to get a look at a monolith," Daniel conceded.  "I didn't expect the gamekeeper to herd all those goat...things past us. Just one false step and SG-11 broke out in hives.  Guess it's a good thing you guys weren't on that particular mission."

"There but for the grace of God...." Jack mumbled.

"It did prompt the General to make some much needed upgrades to the haz-mat gear that weren't going to be done until 2010.  So - did you miss me?" Daniel asked with a half-smile.

"Of course, Daniel - we're like family, right?" Sam said.

"Out of sight, out of mind, I always say," Jack replied.

"You were greatly missed, Daniel Jackson. By all of us," Teal'c emphasized, with a look over at Jack.  "Yet we knew it would be but a matter of time before you rejoined us." 

"It's good to be back, Teal'c - being the fifth man on another team just isn't the same," Daniel said.

SG-1 made their ascension to the top of the first summit, and Sam pulled out her binoculars, peering into the distance.  "I think there's something over there," Sam said.  "Maybe an entrance to some sort of cave or..."

"Tomb, maybe?" Daniel said hopefully.  "Beneath the surface?"

"We can hope," Jack said, rolling his eyes.  "Lead on."

An hour later they were at the cave/tomb, and Daniel excitedly began to check over the pile of rocks blocking its mouth for a possible entrance.  "I think we can squeeze through this opening," he said, handing Jack his pack.  "Here - hold this."

"What am I, your beast of burden?" Jack grumbled, as Teal'c gave Daniel a boost up.  

"What do you see, Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c said.

He shone his flashlight into the darkness.  "I think it's okay - just really dark."

"Be careful, Daniel - could be anything in the dark.  Remember the Land of Light?  We went into the dark there, and met up with all those weird people that Carter wanted to study because they represented the broken divide," Jack said.

"That's 'broca divide', sir.  Pierre Broca was the anthropologist who coined the phrase 'broca divide' to describe the point in the evolution of man..."

"Don't go off on a tangent, Carter," Jack said, thinking once again about the difficulty of having a scientific prodigy - make that two - on his team.  He watched as Daniel pulled himself inside.  "I guess we're going in," he said.

The team clambered inside the opening of the cave, where Daniel was already looking around.  When Teal'c took a step forward, his boots crunched on something on the floor.  He shone his light down, and recoiled in disgust.

"Bugs," Teal'c said with a small shudder.  "They are the bane of my existence."  He made a point of stepping on several more of them as he moved forward.

"Come on, Teal'c.  You've survived Thor's Hammer, being held prisoner by Herur'ur - even that Cor'ai thing.  You're not going to let a few bugs creep you out, are you?" Jack said.

"Dung beetles," Daniel said absently.  "They're dung beetles. Very common in Egypt."

"Dung beetles?" Jack said, "Should we be watching where we step, Daniel?"

"There's a lot to explore here, Jack," Daniel continued on blithely, kicking the beetles away with the toe of his boot.  "We may be the first ones to see this for thousands of years."

"Lucky us," Jack said.  "What's that say?" he said, pointing to letters engraved on the wall.

Teal'c and Daniel studied it carefully.  "I believe it says - 'You have reached the point of no return.  Step beyond this doorway and all will be lost'," Teal'c translated.

"You know what this means," Daniel said with a smile.

"Yeah - retreat," Jack said.

"Oh, come on, Jack - it means there has to be a tomb here - this is just the standard sort of warning that most have," he said.

"In Goa'uld?" Jack said.

"It is a very old dialect, O'Neill.  I do not believe that anyone has inhabited these caves for some time," Teal'c said.

"But it's dark," he pressed.

"Pretty soon it's going to be dark outside, too - the sun's already gone down," Daniel said.  

Jack reached for his flashlight with a sigh.  "Okay, we explore."

"It looks like the tunnels come to some sort of crossroads here," Daniel said, shining his flashlight inside one of the darkened corridors.

"So we'll start here, and Sam, you and Teal'c take the other corridor - divide and conquer," Jack said.  He turned back and saw that Daniel had already gone down the darkened tunnel.  "Damn it - that boy can disappear faster than the Nox.  Doesn't he know the first commandment of exploration is don't wander off on your own?"

"Daniel's still got a bit of a learning curve to overcome on the finer points of exploration," Sam said.

"At least he carries a firearm now - I guess I should be thankful for small victories.  You two go on - we'll meet up later and compare the new ground we've covered."

"If you encounter the enemy within these tunnels, O'Neill, do not hesitate to call for us," Teal'c said as they departed.

"You betcha, big guy - if I need you, I'll call," Jack said, as he started after Daniel.  

Sam bent down to pick up the small clay object.  "It's partially broken," she said, handing it to Teal'c.  "But it looks like there's some sort of scroll inside."

Teal'c carefully pulled it out, and began to read over it silently.  "It appears to have been written by someone exploring these tunnels."

"Maybe coming down here was some sort of rite of passage for the native people," she said.  "Looks like we may have found a message in a bottle from one of them."

"It is actually more like a vase," Teal'c replied.

"Message in a vase just doesn't have the same ring.  Can you read it?" she asked.

"Yes.  It is a warning to those who might find this to beware of the serpent who guards this underground city," Teal'c said.

"Serpent - as in snakes?" Sam said uneasily, looking around her.

"I believe the writer may have been referring to a Goa'uld," he said.

"Good," Sam sighed with relief, then stiffened.  "I mean - not good.  A Goa'uld.  Thinkk we should try to find Daniel and Colonel O'Neill?"

"Indeed," Teal'c said, stowing the items in his jacket pocket before heading back to where they left Jack and Daniel earlier.

Jack couldn't help but feel relieved when he finally found Daniel, studying a group of artifacts in a small antechamber.

"I was right - it was a tomb," Daniel said.  "Look at all this - there are writings on the walls, and scrolls here.  This is incredible!"

"You able to read all that?" Jack said, as Daniel continued to look at the writings on the walls of the tomb.

"Some of it - a lot of it just concerns the ruler of this place - seems as if he had absolute power over the people on this planet at one time.  Who he was is still a mystery, however."

"'It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma'," Jack said.  "Nixon."

Daniel turned around.  "Nixon didn't say that - Churchill did.  You should know that, Jack - you were the only one of us old enough to vote during Watergate."

"I never did like politics," Jack mumbled, looking at the sarcophagus that dominated the room.  "Nice - think we can take this back for show and tell?"

"Any indigenous peoples might consider us fair game if we started hauling off the contents of their ancestors' tombs, Jack," Daniel replied.

"I take it that's a no," he said, running his hand alongside the sarcophagus and lifting the lid to peek inside.  As he did, a hidden door to the antechamber began to roll shut.  Jack pulled back from the sarcophagus as if it had suddenly become red hot.

"What the hell..." Daniel mumbled.  He and Jack rushed toward the door together, but had to pull up short as it slammed closed.

"Whoa - think we missed our window of opportunity, Daniel," Jack said, staring morosely at the closed door.  The light from their flashlights suddenly seemed to become dimmer as they considered their situation.

"Why did it close?"  Daniel said, looking around the edges of the door frantically.

Jack shrugged.  "I don't know - the curse, maybe?"

Daniel turned around, looking at Jack over his glasses.  "The curse?"

"Sure - all mummies have a curse, right?"

"Speaking of mummies - I don't think that sarcophagus was in that position when we walked in here," Daniel said, as he looked it over.  "It's moved."

"Must've had a dead man switch," Jack said.  "No pun intended.  When I raised the lid, it must have triggered the door."

"And you tell me not to touch stone artifacts, naquada mirrors, suspicious looking idols - anything.  And what do you go and do?  Touch a sarcophagus!" Daniel said.  

"Sorry," Jack said sheepishly.  He clicked on his radio.  "Ah - Teal'c?  We might need a little help after all."

It only took moments for Sam and Teal'c to reach their position.  "Have you encountered enemies, O'Neill?" Teal'c said.

"What we've encountered is a closed door - think you can spring us?" Jack said.

"It may take some time, Colonel," Sam answered.  "We're not sure how stable these tunnels are, and just blasting through might cause a chain reaction and upset the fragile balance of all these rocks.  We don't want to bring the whole roof down on you."

"Just don't take forever - in a day or so, we might be getting a little hungry."

"We'll do our best," Sam replied.

Hours later, Sam and Teal'c were no closer to a solution.  "I think we're going to have to take a break, sir - will you guys be okay?" Sam said through the closed door.

"Just peachy, Major - can you order us a pizza?" Jack replied.

"We'll get right back to work as soon as we've had a chance to rest.  Just hang tight," she replied.  

"I have found a chamber nearby," Teal'c said, motioning for her to join him.

"It looks like people once lived down here," Sam said, looking over the contents of the room Teal'c found.  "This looks like an old fireplace that's somehow venting outside.  I think this might even be a well," she said, moving a stone cover off a hole in the floor.  She shone her flashlight down into the hole.  "Looks like water.  We should probably set up camp here while we figure out how to rescue them."

"You are right - if we have fire and water, we do not have to make an exodus from this place,"  Teal'c said.  "We can stay until we can retrieve Colonel O'Neill and Daniel Jackson from the other side of the door."

"I hope you're right, Teal'c - they could be in double jeopardy.  That chamber could be airtight and they have no food or water, since they left their packs outside that room," Sam said, gathering up some abandoned scraps of wood.  Before long, she had a small fire going, taking the chilly edge off the air in the cave.  Quietly, she and Teal'c made a meal from their MREs.

"I hope they're okay," she said, when they had finished their meal.

"We will secure their emancipation, Major Carter," Teal'c said, throwing another branch into the fire.  "Do not be concerned."

"So I guess we're going to be prisoners a while longer," Daniel said, as Sam and Teal'c retreated.

"Guess so - and this is a holiday weekend, too," Jack said glumly.

"Big plans?" Daniel asked.

"Thought I'd go to the racetrack - place a few bets.  There's a horse running in the fifth race that's got all the right bloodlines.  And get this - it's named 'Thor's Chariot'.  I have to place a bet on that one.  It's fate."

Daniel paced around the room.  "I guess I could be working on this translation," he said, bending down to dust off a stone engraving on the wall.

"Good story?" Jack asked a moment later. "How's it go?"

Daniel began to translate:

"Hear the serpent's song,
Those who dare to enter the serpent's lair,
Shall find themselves within the serpent's grasp.
They shall taste of the serpent's venom...."

"Goa'uld?" Jack said, leaning over Daniel's shoulder.

"Think so?  What tipped you off?" Daniel said dryly, as he continued to read.

"Come before me, children of the gods,
Bring offerings to my tomb,
Bring me my wine..."

"We haven't had those spirits here since 1969...."  Jack sang off-key.

"Come on, Jack - this is serious.  Just think of everything these writings could tell us about the people - past and present - living on this planet.  This tomb could be a great legacy.  It's so..so...tantalizing," Daniel finished.

"Where does the word 'tantalizing' come from anyway?" Jack said.  "Just...curious," he said, seeing Daniel's expression.  Maybe he should have seemed a little more excited about all those dusty old scrolls.  At least they'd be lighter to carry back than what Daniel usually picked up as souvenirs.

"Greek myth - the torment of tantalus - Tantalus was surrounded by water, constantly tempted by it, but every time he tried to drink it, it ebbed away," Daniel said.  "Hence, tantalizing."

"If I ever get on that 'who wants to be a millionaire' show, you'd be my lifeline, right?" Jack said.

"Sure, Jack," Daniel replied wearily, sitting down beside him.

"You thirsty?" 

"I wasn't until just now," Daniel snapped back.

"Why don't you try translating some more of those writings - maybe there's something interesting...."

"Jack, could you just stop for a second?" Daniel said.  "Just let me enjoy a few moments of silence."

"Okay, fine - I'll just be quiet, and stay over here by King Tut so that we can both enjoy our solitudes," Jack said, walking back over to the sarcophagus.  "That's right, Daniel.  I'll just stay over here, enjoying my time alone - my singularity."

Daniel dropped his head down on his knees with a groan.  

Jack again lifted the lid of the sarcophagus - unfortunately, the door still stayed shut.  He left the lid open, and peered inside.

"Does the 'don't touch anything' rule just apply to me?" Daniel said with a sigh, standing and going over to Jack.

"Since when did you get so careful?" Jack said.

"Since that crystal skull zapped me into another dimension," Daniel replied.

"Think this guy is - was - a Goa'uld?" Jack asked.

"Could be - it looks like he had a cult following here on this planet, like Seth did on Earth," Daniel replied.  "From what I've been able to translate, this was the cult of the serpent."

"How original," Jack said, reaching out to touch the amulet in the shape of a snake around the mummy's neck.  As his fingers grazed it, an arc of blue light shot from it into Jack's hand.  He reeled backward with a curse.

"Jack, I thought you would have learned your lesson after....Jack?" Daniel asked, as Jack continued to stare off at a distant point in space.  He reached out and took his arm.  "Maybe you should sit down..."

"What are you doing in my tomb?" Jack suddenly said, his eyes fastening on Daniel.

"Your tomb?  You get us locked in here and now it's your tomb?   Fine, Jack, whatever...."  he stopped as Jack pulled his arm out of Daniel's grasp roughly.

"Those who desecrate my tomb shall pay with their souls," he hissed, moving toward Daniel.  It was a second before it registered with Daniel that he'd actually said it in Goa'uld.

"Uh...Sam," Daniel called out as he backed away.

"I will snuff out the brief candle that is your life," Jack said, reaching out his arms for Daniel, who by now was backed up against the wall.

"Sam!" Daniel said more urgently.

"We're here, Daniel," she called from outside the door.  "What's going on?"

"Jack touched the mummy and now it looks like he might be possessed by its...ghost."

"You're kidding," she said.

Jack, now standing less than a foot away from where he'd backed Daniel into a corner, let out an outraged, half-human roar.

"Oh, shit," Sam said as she heard it, looking over at Teal'c.

"The rules of engagement have changed, Major Carter.  I must try and blast through the door," Teal'c said, backing up and grabbing his staff weapon.

"I agree, Teal'c - this calls for desperate measures," she said.

Sam moved to the side as he fired, bringing down a rain of dust and pebbles from the ceiling.  Between two fires of the weapon, she heard another bloodcurdling scream from Jack come through the door - this time paired with an equally loud, completely terrified wail from Daniel.

"SG-1, do you read?" Sam's radio hummed to life.  

She clicked it on in relief.  "General Hammond, sir - we read you.  We have a situation here," she said, dodging a larger rock that fell close to her foot as Teal'c fired again.

"What kind of situation, Major?" he said with concern.

"General, when we bring Colonel O'Neill back through the wormhole, extreme measures may have to be taken," Sam said.  "It looks like he might have been possessed by some sort of entity."

"Like when Urgo invaded  your minds?" General Hammond said.

"I wish it were Urgo, sir.  The devil you know is better than the devil you don't."

"Well, I hate to say this, Major, but if that's so, then you may not be able to come back here.  Last thing we need is another nemesis using some pretense to get over the threshold and take over the base. We couldn't allow it to gain a foothold here."

"Understood, sir.  Maintain contact and we'll update you as soon as we can.  Carter out," she said, as Teal'c managed to blast a hole in the door.  He moved in to  wrench the door fully open, and Daniel came flying out as if the demons of hell were after him.  He spun to a stop behind Teal'c when he realized he wasn't being pursued.

"Where...where is he?" Sam said quietly, easing forward.

Teal'c handed Daniel his staff weapon, and pulled out his zat gun.  He carefully eased forward into the dim light of the tomb, determined to make his last stand against the threat here.  Suddenly, from out of the darkness, Jack came leaping toward him.  Teal'c managed to deflect him, pushing him back into the tomb, where he fell hard against the sarcophagus.  With a feral growl, he started to launch himself at Teal'c once again.

Teal'c fired the zat gun, its blue-white energy outlining Jack's form in the darkness, but not slowing his progress.  Teal'c raised the gun again.

"Teal'c - no!" Daniel cried out as he fired.  This time Jack did collapse, the arcing energy from the zat cascading over him and the sarcophagus behind him as he crumpled to the ground.

The three of them ran to where Jack lay.  "I don't think he's breathing," Sam said, checking Jack's pulse.  "No pulse.  Help me start CPR, Daniel."  They began to get into position when Jack suddenly shuddered.  They backed off, and Teal'c once again raised the zat gun.

"What happened?" Jack asked weakly, opening his eyes.

"He's back," Sam said in relief.  

"But, he..he...was dead, cold...Lazarus before rising, Obi-Wan after Darth Vader...."  Daniel rambled on until Teal'c interrupted.

"He is fine now, Daniel Jackson."

"This is amazing," Sam said, looking Jack over.  "Not even in Jolinar's memories do I remember anything like this happening."   Her maternal instinct kicked in, and she began to gently check Jack over for injuries.  "Sir, can you hear me?" she said, bending close to him.

"Yes, Carter, of course I can hear you - you're yelling in my ear," Jack groaned.

"Do you know your name?" she asked.

"Colonel Jack O'Neill, Air Force."

"What year is it?" she continued.

"2001."

"How many fingers am I holding up?" she asked.

"Dorothy, can we get the scarecrow and the tin man and get the HELL out of Oz?" Jack said, holding his head as he were afraid it would break into a million pieces.

"It's him," Sam and Daniel said in unison.  They helped Jack up to his feet, and made their way back to the mouth of the cave, holding onto Jack protectively as Teal'c brought up the rear.

"Did we ever get that Goa'uld's name?" Jack asked, as they made their way along the corridor.

"I think I missed that, Jack," Daniel said.

"I know that's going to bug me," Jack sighed.