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 My Friend, Danny

Daniel was poring over a report from SG-12. The photos they had taken were crisp, clear, and absolutely intriguing. He wasn’t familiar with the markings, although he could recognize what they were. However…He grabbed the phone beside him, punched in the number he wanted. "Mike? Do you have a few minutes? Good…I have some photos here in my office I’d like to you look at…great."

Casey dashed into the office, grabbed a folder. She paused when she saw the frown on her husband’s face. "What’s wrong, Stud Muffin?"

"Hmm? Oh…I’m not sure, but these markings could be Native American."

"Wow."

"Yeah, that was my response," Daniel smiled. "These were taken by SG-12 on their last mission."

"I’m certain that mission wasn’t anywhere here on Earth," Casey said dryly.

"Nope."

"So…Native American?"

"I’ll know for certain as soon as I talk to Mike."

"Talk to Mike about what?" a voice asked cheerfully.

"Hey!" Daniel grinned. He waved Mike into the room, then held up the sheaf of photos. "Take a look at these, and tell me what you think."

Mike nodded. He pulled a pair of reading glasses from his pocket, and perched them on his nose. He examined each photo carefully, going back to three of them several times. "You want my expert opinion?"

"That’s why I hired you," Daniel teased.

"Smartass," Mike retorted, grinning as well. He examined each photo carefully. Then pointed to one of the photos. "Not Cheyenne, but close. It looks very much like their representation of a teepee…which would mean ‘home’." He pointed to another marking. "That resembles a Dakota marking, for water." He looked again at the other photos. "These are side by side?"

"Yep," Daniel replied.

"That’s…strange."

Daniel snorted. "Oh, there’s plenty of ‘strange’ out there. What I want to know is how many other markings that resemble those of Native Americans are there. And why are they there, and what do they say?"

Mike was examining another photograph. "Both of these marks could indicate ‘new’," he said immediately. He frowned slightly. Considering where the photos had come from… "New, as in new world?"

"That would be a logical guess."

"These are amazing," Mike said.

"I agree," Daniel nodded. "I need to talk to General Hammond. I’d like a team to take a better look at this place."

Mike assumed that Daniel would be going. "Let me know what you find."

Daniel bit back a grin, gave a slight nod, but said nothing. "Thanks for the input. I’ll let you get back to your project."

"That’s what I’m here for, Danny," Mike replied, clapping the younger man on the shoulder. "Now, just which project would you be referring to? I’m working on three at the moment."

"Whichever one interests you the most," Daniel chuckled.

With a laugh of his own, Mike turned and left the office.

Casey watched as the older man left the office. "You’re going to send him, aren’t you?"

"He’s the expert in Native American languages – the pictographs and spoken," Daniel shrugged.

Casey smiled. "I hope someone takes lots of video. I want to see if he gets as excited about archaeological finds as you do."

It was only an hour or so later that Daniel had permission for one of the SG teams to escort a group of archaeologists to the planet in question, and to set up a camp where they could thoroughly examine the ruins.

It was with a mixture of excitement and delight that he had Mike and Bernie paged to his office…they hadn’t been on level 18 when he’d returned to his office, so he could only assume they were on one of the other levels where artifacts were stored.

Mike was grinning when he stuck his head through the doorway. "What now? What can’t you figure out for yourself this time? Does the general know how much you really rely on the rest of us?"

"Oh, ha ha," Daniel responded, although he was grinning as well. "You’re going off-world. On a mission. Well, actually on a dig."

Mike’s eyes went wide. "Off-world? A dig on a different planet?"

Daniel’s grin went wider. "Off-world, as in a different planet."

"This has to do with what you showed me earlier," Mike deduced.

Daniel nodded. "It does. We need to know how many different tribes are represented in those ruins. Whether or not they all lived there together, or if it was a meeting place of some kind. We’re also looking for any indications that they were able to fight off the Goa’uld on their own; obviously if they were out there, they’d been taken by Goa’uld. Or if there was someone…another civilization or race of beings…who helped them."

Mike frowned slightly. "I’ve read the report about the Salish that you found. Could this be another set up where they were protected?" The older archaeologist shook his head. "That can’t be it, or there would still be people living there. Could those beings you met have moved this group somewhere? Would these beings have allowed them to break into their own tribes, and maybe set each individual tribe on different planets?"

"Interesting questions. And I’d say it’s at least possible," Daniel nodded. "It’s up to you and Bernie to figure out the answers to those questions. I’m sending Lee as well, she’s good with a camera, and quick to pick up new languages…written ones, anyway."

Mike nodded. "Okay. So, we’ll go home and get our gear-"

Daniel laughed, and clapped his friend on he back. "You’ll go to supply and pull a pack. Everything you need is in supply. I’ll go with you."

"Yeah, the last time you went with us, we wound up in Hell," Mike grumped, although his eyes were twinkling.

"I swear, this time it’s just for routine supplies," Daniel promised. "You’ll probably want to take a couple of extra uniforms, no clue how long you’ll be there."

Mike tugged at the sleeve of the BDU he was wearing; Daniel had suggested doing so as a way to ‘fit in’ with the military personnel. "Ya know, I’m beginning to like this damned thing. It’s more comfortable than I thought it would be."

"Yeah, pretty soon your civilian clothes will feel odd," Daniel concurred. He rearranged a few papers on his desk, then looked up at his friend. Met the man’s gaze and held it. "I should have asked before now…but…" He took a deep breath. "So, how was hell?"

"I damned near quit," Mike admitted. "Until I watched what Major Ferretti was doing to those military guys." Four new Marines assigned to Security had been on the same ‘training mission’, although the archaeologists were brought home three days before the others. He and Bernie had seen the men in the corridors, and the Security officers had always greeted them genially.

"Yeah, it’s rough. Because Casey is assigned to an SG team, she had to endure the full week of training. She could barely walk down the ramp after her trip. I had to carry her up to the apartment. She refused to get out of bed for almost two days. Well, she got out long enough to soak in a tub full of hot water," Daniel told his friend.

"Yeah, Bernie and I fought over who got the tub first."

"Mike, I know you and Bernie are…" Daniel paused, trying to find the right words.

"We’re like fish out of water," Mike offered.

"Well, maybe not quite that bad," Daniel teased. "You’ve been here for a month. I’d say you’re doing pretty well."

"To be honest, Daniel, there are nights I’ve questioned my decision to come here, and stay here," Mike admitted.

"Not surprising." Daniel smiled at the look of surprise on his friend’s face. "I had no idea what I was getting into when I accepted the job offer from Doctor Langford. I didn’t actually have any type of military training when I was first put on SG-1 – not that I really gave a damn at the time. But it did come after a few months, when the general began assigning other scientists to other teams, because of what we were finding out there."

"If I could have lifted my arms when we got back, I’d have hit you," Mike growled.

"Lucky for me you couldn’t lift your arms," Daniel retorted. His grin was as wide as Mike’s.

Bernie poked her head into the room. She caught Daniel’s eye. "Hey, Daniel! Beth said you wanted to see-" She stopped when she saw Mike leaning against the work table, beside Daniel. "I see you got the same message," she said to her lover.

"I’ll let Daniel explain," Mike replied.

Watching the younger archaeologist carefully, Bernie walked toward the two men. Crossed her arms in over her chest, and scowled nervously. "Okay, what’s going on?"

Before Daniel could open his mouth, Casey slid into the room. "Stud Muffin…oh, hi Mike, Bernie."

"Hi, Casey," Mike grinned.

Bernie nodded. She was still felt a bit awkward around the blonde seer. She had no doubt that Daniel had at least told his wife about the letter she’d given him. I was such an idiot, she silently chided herself.

"What’s up, Angel?" Daniel asked.

"Jonas and I have declared the database finished. As in done. As in completed. As in I’m not doing another bit of work on that damned thing," Casey declared. She frowned slightly. Narrowed her eyes as she looked at her husband. "You’ll expect me to keep that damned thing updated, won’t you?"

Daniel held his hands up shoulder high, and shook his head. "No way. I’ve already talked to Lee about doing that. She said she’d be happy to take that on."

"Good. Because as of today, I am officially washing my hands of that thing. I’m going to the commissary to get chocolate cake and coffee to celebrate. Wanna come with me?"

"I’ll be there in five minutes," Daniel promised.

Casey nodded. Then grinned at the couple who stood beside Daniel. "Have fun!" She wiggled her fingers, and dashed out and down the corridor.

"Does that woman ever just walk anywhere?" Bernie asked.

"Not around here," Daniel replied.

"Wait…‘have fun’?" Bernie looked up at Daniel. "I am not going through more training!"

"I swear, this isn’t training," Daniel promised.

"A dig, Berns," Mike said, thrusting the photo he held toward her. "Look at those marks. This is Cheyenne. Or similar. This is definitely Dakota."

"Where?" Bernie asked, almost breathlessly, her previous suspicions evaporating like mist in the morning sun.

"P5X-307," Daniel responded.

Hazel eyes blinked with confusion. "Is that a coordinate of some sort?"

"Planet designation," Daniel explained.

"Beth explained that to me," Bernie said. "Wait…that’s not…I mean…it’s a different planet!"

Daniel snorted softly. "In a different solar system."

"We’re going there," Mike announced. The archaeologist in him was far more excited than the man was afraid. His head was already beginning to spin at the prospect of seeing ruins with actual Native American markings. How many other First Nations would be represented? How many other marks that meant ‘new’ would he find?

Bernie’s face paled. "Oh. Oh."

"Bernie, if you’d rather not go-" Daniel started.

Her focus was on the man beside her. His brown eyes were alight with excitement. There was no way in hell she’d deny Mike the chance to examine whatever was on that…planet. She barely quelled a shudder at the thought of going through the Stargate again. She looked down at the photo. "This is just one small section of that wall, I take it?"

"About a six by six inch square," Daniel confirmed. "There were several such squares…they might be tiles…anyway, there were several of them."

Curiosity began to burn. "What other types of marks? Could there be any from Central American civilizations? What about northern tribes? Any signs of Inuit?"

"I have no idea. Which is why you, Mike, and Leanna will be going. SG-5 will be your escort," Daniel grinned. It didn’t matter where the mystery might be hidden. That need to know would overpower any hesitancy to go that might raise its head. Archaeologists were all the same, he thought amusedly.

"We have to go home to get our gear."

"Danny says we just head down to supply," Mike told her.

"They have dig kits?"

"As many as you need. I’d suggest one each, and then a couple of extra, just in case," Daniel replied.

"When do we leave?" Bernie asked. Her own hazel eyes were beginning to shine.

"About an hour. There will be a briefing in thirty minutes. I’d have told you sooner, but I only just got permission from General Hammond," Daniel explained. "C’mon. We’ll go to supply to get you kitted up."

Bernie and Mike were sitting on either side of Daniel, who had agreed to attend the meeting with them. Leanna Izett was sitting beside Bernie. Three of the men from SG-5 had arrived, the fourth, the archaeologists were informed, was on leave at the moment. Daniel wasn’t concerned about the team being one man short – there were no threats from any creatures on the planet, nor did it seem to have anything that the Goa’uld would be interested in; that was, there was nothing that the Goa’uld would currently be interested in. There had been no traces of mining found, although the investigating team hadn’t ventured more than a few miles from the ‘gate. All tests came back negative for naquadah, which seemed to be all the Goa’uld were interested in.

General Hammond settled into his chair and opened the folder in front of him.

Breathless, Casey dashed into the room, and dropped down into the open seat to the right of the general. "I’m sorry, sir. I had a couple of notes I had to get on the white board."

"I understand. Anything for this particular mission?" Hammond asked.

She opened the folder, began scanning the notes. The photos…and there were more than a dozen…were interesting, to say the least. "I’m not sensing anything," she said softly, studying the photos carefully. She shook her head. "Nothing coming through on the psychic radio."

"Well then, I believe this mission is a go," the general said. "How far from the ‘gate are the ruins?"

"Just a few hundred yards, sir," Major Wheaton replied.

"I’ll expect regular check-ins. Every four hours."

"Yes, sir."

"Very well. I’ll meet you in the ‘gate room in fifteen minutes."

The military men jumped to their feet and stood at attention, Daniel and Casey had risen almost as quickly. Leanna, Mike, and Bernie rose as well.

"Do we get to carry weapons?" Bernie asked. She’d earned her sharpshooter certificate. And continued to tell herself it was only for safety’s sake that she even contemplated being armed. She was, after all, going to be on a different planet!

Major Wheaton glanced at Daniel, then back at the willowy, brown-haired woman. "No ma’am. You won’t need one. My boys and I will have your back. You just do your rock readin’, and we’ll do the rest." The major led his team out of the room.

Daniel ducked his head, trying to hide his grin.

"Yeah, laugh it up, Rock Whisperer," Bernie grumped.

His head flew up. "Where did you hear that?"

Bernie laughed at Daniel’s response. "Beth told me. She also said from her experience, the name fits you."

The heat in his cheeks confirmed that he was blushing. "It’s no big deal," he muttered.

Leanna put a hand on Bernie’s arm, and leaned close. "Teams report that Daniel can walk up to a ruin, stare at it for a few minutes, and then read the walls as if he were reading the evening paper," she said in a stage whisper.

"It’s called translating runes, petroglyphs, hieroglyphs, or whatever the writing is," Daniel insisted dryly. "It’s not magic."

"It is when you can translate as easily and quickly as you do," Leanna countered.

"Well, I don’t know how quickly or easily we can translate," Mike drawled, his cheek twitching, "but I figure we can get the job done."

"That’s why I’m sending you," Daniel replied. "Let’s go before SG-5 thinks you’ve changed your minds."

The second trip through the Stargate wasn’t any less unsettling, Bernie decided. "Do you ever get used to…uh…traveling…through that thing?" she asked the SF standing beside her. Sanders, she thought. His name is Sanders. It was his smile that helped her remember his name. He’d been the only one of the team who had actually smiled in welcome when she and Mike had entered the briefing room. The two other men of the team had remained…reserved. Not unfriendly…just, well…reserved.

"Not really, ma’am," Airman Sanders replied. He offered her a wide smile. "At least I haven’t gotten used to it. You know what to expect, but it’s always a wild ride."

Bernie couldn’t help but return the warm, friendly smile. "Thanks. At least I know I’m not a wimp."

"No, ma’am, you’re not." The airman looked around, and then leaned closer. "I heard Ferretti say that you damned near took out two of his Marines when you were in Hell. He was damned impressed."

Her cheeks reddened slightly. "Well…they startled me. I was just…I just reacted."

The young man chuckled. "Well, you can bet I’m not going to be sneaking up on you, just to be safe."

Bernie chuckled as well. "Smart man."

"You two gonna yuck it up all day, or did you plan on joining the rest of us?" Mike asked. He was already several feet ahead of the two.

"I thought maybe we’d just stand here and trade jokes," Bernie responded. She winked at the young man beside her. "Archaeologists. Get them on the scent of a dig, and they’re unbearable."

Sanders laughed out loud. "Wait until you see Rock Doc on a dig. That man moves like he’s belted down two Red Bulls, a couple of pots of coffee and Grande espresso."

"So I’ve heard," Bernie replied, grinning widely. She moved forward, staying beside her young companion, following Mike and Leanna. They in turn were following Major Wheaton, the leader of SG-5. He was leading at a brisk pace, although his head seemed to be on a swivel as he moved. Airman Davie Andrews was walking with Mike and Leanna. His interest in archaeology had developed when he’d become part of the SGC. He took advantage of working with those particular scientists whenever SG-5 was assigned to ‘baby-sit’ for a dig. He was always more than willing to help, and was becoming adept at helping to set up a dig.

The ruins were only a few hundred yards from the Stargate, just past a grouping of tall trees and wide, leafy bushes. The group rounded those bushes together.

Mike dropped his pack and stared. "Uh…Berns?"

Bernie, for the moment, was too stunned to respond immediately.

"Is that what I think it is?" Leanna asked breathlessly.

"Holy Quetzalcoatl!" Bernie finally managed to say.

In front of them, reaching at least sixty feet high, and had to be at least twice that in width and depth, was a stepped-pyramid. Covered with vines and surrounded by tall grass, the majority of the structure was barely visible. The trained eyes of the archaeologists, however, could make out the shape, and even noted the number of steps. A few bits and pieces of what lay beneath the greenery showed through on the upper levels; Mike could make out the tiles that he’d seen photos of.

"We need to get this uncovered," Mike said, moving forward, ready to start pulling at the vines.

"Hold up, Doc," Major Wheaton said. He turned to Andrews. "Turn on that computer and see if it picks up any power readings."

With a nod, the young Airman pulled the specially built and programmed laptop from its case. He attached what looked like a microphone, and began tapping keys. After five minutes of silence, Andrews sighed. "Not a thing."

The major grinned. "Okay, Doc. Knock yourself out."

Mike grinned in return. He was grateful for the K-Bar knife that had been issued with his dig kit. Apparently SG-1 had requested that the knives become standard issue for missions…he’d have to remember to ask Daniel about that.

Bernie and Leanna were hacking away with fervor. Sanders and Andrews offered their assistance. The two were even willing to climb to the upper levels of the pyramid to remove the flora that covered edifice.

It took three hours. At last the front of the step pyramid had been cleared. In spite of the time it had taken for the foliage to grow enough to cover the giant structure, it seemed to be in pristine condition. Looking for all the world as if it had been transplanted from Central America. Aztec-like markings were prominent on the lowest level of the stones used to build the structure. The second level was covered with colorful ceramic tiles – the colors were like those favored in Mexico; blues, greens, yellows, reds – all were bright and beautiful, although all lacked any sort of symbols or markings. The third level consisted of white tiles covered with pictographs. Very much like Native American symbols.

"Holy Quetzalcoatl," Bernie said again, softly. She turned to the commander of the SG-team. "Did Daniel know about this?"

"I don’t know, ma’am," Major Wheaton responded honestly. "He’d only know what the discovering team would have reported."

"But they’d have reported something like this, right?" Mike pressed.

"As far as I know. Whatever Rock Doc was fixated on, it wasn’t this thing."

"There were photos of those tiles…the four that we could see," Mike said. He frowned. "Wouldn’t a team finding this have cleared it, taken more photos?"

Wheaton shrugged. "Depends on what the mission objective was, and how much time they had."

"Temple. It has to be a temple," Bernie murmured. "Did the other team go inside?"

"Nope. Report didn’t say anything about a pyramid. Just a ‘wall’," the major replied. "I sure hope you’re not going to suggest that we try to breach that thing."

Bernie studied the structure. "Let me walk around it. If there’s a way in, it’s probably going to be toward the back."

Wheaton sighed. "Okay." He looked at his team. He’d been able to hear Sanders and the new lady archaeologist talking. No doubt she’d be more apt to listen to the SF if a warning was necessary, than to him. "Sanders, go with Doctor Watson. She can look, but she can’t go inside until we’ve swept it. If she finds anything."

"But-" Bernie started to protest.

"Traps, ma’am," Sanders said easily. "Yes, sir, I’ll keep her safe."

For just a moment Bernie was about to insist that she didn’t need anyone…let alone a kid who looked too young to be carrying that P90…telling her what to do. She was about to point out she’d been on more digs in her career than the men with her, thus she most certainly understood any possible dangers. Her eye caught the curve of a planet that hovered just above the top of the pyramid, barely visible in the light blue sky. She wasn’t on Earth. All the rules had changed. She looked up at Sanders. "Thanks."

Mike had already climbed to the third level of the pyramid, and was examining the tiles. "This is the one from the photograph," he muttered, more to himself than to his companions. He glanced over his shoulder. "Lee, could you start getting photos of each tile? I need clear, crisp images, as close as possible but still keeping the entire pictograph in focus."

"You got it," Leanna said. She climbed up beside him, camera in hand.

"Andrews, you walk the perimeter in that direction," Major Wheaton pointed to one side of the structure. "I’ll take the other. We’ll meet back here in fifteen."

"Yes, sir."

"Keep your eyes open, Airman."

"Yes, sir," Andrews replied.

It took Bernie well over an hour to search for any openings, doorways, or anything that could have possibly been a hidden door. She found nothing. Which was, she concluded, very odd. "There has to be a way into this thing," she groused, when she’d returned to the ‘front’ of the pyramid. 

Major Wheaton and Airman Andrews were sitting on the ground, watching Mike and Leanna work. Sanders joined his teammates.

"Let’s see what we have here," Mike suggested, pointing to the foundation stones and the tiles. "Find the starting point for the glyphs, and you might find a hint or two."

Bernie nodded. Her experienced eye moved over the carved marks. The usual birds, eagles, snakes, plants…she paused for just a moment, rubbing her finger over the carved symbols, slightly overwhelmed that so much information could be communicated with such simple symbols.

Leanna continued to take photographs of the pyramid, placing size and location markers as she worked, removing them when she had finished. Mike was still on the third level, noting that the terraces were unusually narrow. He was busy trying to interpret the story the pictographs on the tiles were trying to tell him.

"Mike?" Bernie’s voice was soft, but filled with excitement.

"Yeah?"

"You aren’t going to believe this."

Mike climbed down the front of the structure and strode over to where Bernie was kneeling. "What aren’t I going to believe?"

"Well, according to this, demons tricked the people into entering a ‘dark cave’. The people were stranded in this cave for many cycles of the sun. When at last the rock that had closed the cave moved aside, they were in a lush land filled with life. However, there were already people here. Hmm…that glyph might indicate ‘there’, and not ‘here’. Which would seem odd, since the pyramid is ‘here’…anyway, it goes on – people from many places, who had also been locked in a dark cave." Bernie shielded her eyes as she looked up. Once again the fact that she wasn’t on Earth filled her mind. For Aztecs to have been here, they had to have either come through a Stargate…or…"Wanna bet that ‘dark cave’ was some sort of ship?"

"Had to be," Mike agreed. The thought that actual space ships were involved in their discovery didn’t actually settle into his brain. Nor did the fact that Bernie had made the connection from the ‘dark cave’ being described to the interior of a ship.

"If the people referred to those who put them into a cave as ‘demons’, I’d bet Goa’uld," Leanna said, from where she stood, still taking photos.

"Is there anything else?" Mike asked.

Bernie shook her head. "Not yet. I’ll keep searching."

Leanna frowned slightly. "Why would Goa’uld gather so many different Native American groups?"

"Why do the Goa’uld do anything?" Andrews asked, from his place beside the team CO.

"Slaves. There had to be something on this planet they wanted mined," Leanna said.

The team CO looked around. "I don’t see any hills for mining. I suppose some sort of ore could be underground. Maybe we should put down in our report that there needs to be ore analyses done here."

"Isn’t it possible that the Goa’uld stripped the planet, and then left?" Leanna asked.

Wheaton studied the pyramid for a moment. "Possible. They wouldn’t have allowed anything to be built unless it was on their order. They certainly wouldn’t have allowed the people to tell the truth in their ‘glyphs."

Bernie studied the horizon. "Yet here it is. Is it possible that over time, the people moved away from the Stargate…maybe afraid of the ‘demons’ returning?"

"It’s also possible that once the Goa’uld had what they wanted, they just abandoned the people here," Andrews suggested. "We’ve seen that a lot."

Major Wheaton nodded. "Goa’uld aren’t going to keep slaves around if they’ve only been used for something like mining."

"So, the people could have been left here, settled elsewhere, and then decided to build this thing?" Mike asked. He frowned as he squinted at the tiles on the pyramid. It just didn’t make sense!

"It’s possible," Leanna agreed. "We’d have to get the Prometheus or the Daedalus to run scans on the entire planet to know for sure."

"How likely is that?" Bernie asked.

Leanna shrugged. "I don’t know. As much as I wish it weren’t…the protection of Earth has to come first. Any trips to examine ‘what ifs’ will have to wait until the Goa’uld aren’t a threat."

With a sigh, Bernie nodded her understanding. She shifted her attention to Mike. "What are you finding?"

"Most of the pictographs depict a journey. There are several that describe demons. So far, there’s not much else."

"So it matches what I’ve found," Bernie sighed.

"Looks like," Mike agreed.

Bernie adjusted the boonie on her head. "Let’s see what else I can find."

Two hours later, another discovery was made. Bernie was brushing a bit of dust away from one of the sections of the wall when a small part of the corner broke loose and fell to the dirt beside her knee. Something light colored peeked from that small opening. Without a word she reached for her pack, and pulled out a small pick. Working carefully, doing her best to preserve the section of wall that seemed to be coming off in chunks, she slowly exposed what had been hidden. "Holy Quetzalcoatl!" she muttered. "Mike? Oh, Mike, look at this!"

It was obvious that another wall lay behind what they could see. How far up that wall went was the only question. Slowly, with the help of the men of SG-5, the archaeologists removed the plaster sections covered with Aztec markings. Bernie used three bottles of water to carefully clean the newly exposed stone.

The wall was breathtaking. It was whitewashed, and the afternoon sun almost glared off the surface. The markings were painted in greens, reds, blues, and blacks.

Mike stared. "Wow."

"Understatement," Bernie murmured. "How many different languages do you see? I recognize Aztec. That," she pointed to another section, "has to be Incan. That looks Mayan, although I’m not familiar enough with it to know what it says-"

"Those are Olmec markings," Leanna said excitedly, pointing to another section of the wall.

Gently running his fingers over the pictographs, Mike whistled softly. "We could be looking at markings from every Western tribe in the United States."

Airman Andrews was examining the wall. "Nothing from Eastern tribes, or Northern tribes?"

Mike scanned the wall again. "Not that I see."

"That’s…odd…isn’t it?" Leanna asked.

"Maybe not," Andrews said. "We know that several of the ancient South American civilizations were started…er…founded…by Goa’uld. They might have worked their way north to take slaves. There’s the chance they didn’t go farther than the Western US."

Mike nodded. "Whoever these people were, they knew they’d been captured by demons."

Bernie was studying the Aztec markings. "These were made by those who ‘escaped’. From where, I don’t know. But they apparently brought the ‘others’ with them."

"I know I’ve seen it," Leanna was muttering, her eyes tightly closed. "I know I’ve seen… Huitzilopochtli!" Her cheeks turned red when she opened her eyes to find everyone staring at her. "Casey’s database lists every known god or goddess, from every civilization we’ve been able to find and/or identify. She has a little side note if any of those ‘gods’ are among the list of Goa’uld the Tok’ra sent her. I know that Huitzilopochtli was one of those Goa’uld!"

"Huitzilopochtli was the main Aztec god," Bernie gasped. "He was the one who supposedly led the Aztecs to the valley in what is now Guatemala, where they thrived, until the people were divided-" She broke off. "Oh, shit!"

"So he’s the one who was gathering up slaves?" Leanna asked.

"Looks like," Mike nodded. "But something about all this is off…Berns, didn’t you say that the Aztec here says that this thing," he waved at the pyramid, "was built by ‘those who escaped’? And they brought the others with them?"

"That’s what it says, or at least that’s what it translates to," Bernie replied.

"So, how did they get here?" Mike asked.

"Through the gate," Andrews said. He shrugged when the archaeologists all turned to look at him "If they escaped, someone among the group knew about the Stargate, what it was, how it worked."

Mike frowned, then nodded. "Makes sense."

"I just can’t see any snake letting a group of slaves - especially a group as large as what this one had to be – escape, and then do nothing about it," Major Wheaton said, shaking his head. "Ol’ whee-zee-poach-tee-lee would have sent a few squads of Jaffa after them."

Bernie ducked her head and smiled at the major’s attempted pronunciation of the Aztec god’s name.

"Not if those slaves killed his ass," Andrews insisted. "When the locals get riled up enough to finally take out the snake, it confuses the hell out of the Jaffa for at least a few minutes. That’s enough time for the Jaffa to have been attacked as well."

Major Wheaton squinted at the wall, the late afternoon sun lighting it up like a beacon. "Enough people, and a small enough contingent of Jaffa…yeah, I suppose that could happen."

"When people are angry and terrified at the same time, they can be unstoppable once they start moving," Leanna said. "What if something happened…say some Jaffa hit a woman, or a child, and one or more men near by stepped in to stop him. What if three or four men, angry and afraid, managed to knock the Jaffa down, or disarm him somehow?"

"Mob mentality would have taken over within seconds," Bernie nodded. "Especially if suddenly the very scary, ‘untouchable’ enemy was found to have a weakness."

"If any of those people saw them without their helms, saw that they were human as well," Andrews said, "that could have made them all the angrier."

Wheaton nodded. "Ferretti said that when the Abydonians realized that there were humans inside those metal suits, they were livid." The CO continued to stare at the newly exposed wall of the pyramid. "They had hoped to get their men back," he continued softly. "Never even got the chance."

"It’s possible that the Jaffa lost control of the slaves, the slaves managed to escape, and they somehow wound up here. They had enough time to build this pyramid…they had to have had a village. They would have needed shelter, food, water," Bernie said.

Mike looked around. Thick forest surrounded the clearing. "It could be anywhere."

"There would be a path," Bernie insisted. "They would have wanted a path to their temple."

"But why build it so close to the ‘gate?" Major Wheaton asked.

"I don’t know, Major. But I’d sure like to find out," Bernie said.

The Major bit back a smile. "Get a report written up about this. Put down all of your ideas and theories. We’ll send it back to Doctor Jackson, and he can decide if he wants to do more searching here."

Mike looked around. "Maybe we should set up camp before we lose all our light."

"Good idea, Doc," the major said, nodding his approval. "Sometimes night can fall pretty fast on these planets."

After locating a suitable clearing in the surrounding forest, not far from the Stargate, the group began to unpack their tents. A fire pit was dug, and within the hour, the archaeologists and their military escorts were eating MREs, drinking coffee, and discussing their find.

Mike accompanied Major Wheaton when it was time for their next check in. The report was certain to have Daniel Jackson interested enough to request that he, and possibly SG-1, join the dig.

The sound of the Stargate engaging early the next morning brought the men of SG-5 to their feet. They expected to see someone from the SGC walking down the crumbling steps. Major Wheaton was willing to bet it was Doctor Jackson himself, wanting to see the ruins personally.

"Okay, you all move over to the side," the major said, pointing toward a group of bushes. "Sanders, Andrews, you’re with me."

Immediately the two SFs moved to stand beside their CO. All three had their weapons up and ready to fire, although at the moment, their fingers weren’t on triggers.

"It’s gotta be Daniel,’ Mike grinned. "I knew that report we gave the general last night would pique his interest."

"I’m surprised he didn’t come through last night, hell bent to see exactly what you were talking about," Bernie chortled. She nodded toward the exposed wall. "That is enough to have any archaeologist salivating."

Leann began giggling as well. "To know that people from every Native American tribe in Western North, Central and South America had been brought here will have his eyes spinning."

"He’ll be able to figure out just why this step-pyramid was built," Mike mused.

Major Wheaton cleared his throat, watching as the final chevron locked into place. "Just stay out of his way when he gets here. He’ll run you over to get to the ‘glyphs’, and then he’ll be running back and forth trying to translate everything at once." Laughter filled the air around him.

None of them were prepared when several heavily armed men rushed into the clearing. Surrounded in a matter of seconds, the team found themselves trying desperately to prevent the attackers from shooting them or the unarmed scientists who were now shouting in surprise.

Mike had never been a brawler. He was more apt to try to talk his way out of a bad situation as to throw punches. But he was swinging at anyone who got near enough. Bernie had been fighting as well, although when she was grabbed from behind, her attempts to break free only seemed to invigorate the man holding her. Leanne was screaming – standing now – where she had been kneeling and working, too terrified to do anything else.

Wheaton watched in horror as his two men went down, each hit brutally on the back of the head. Silently cursed the fact that his team was short one man…Howie was with his wife, who was, last they heard, in the process of giving birth to the couple’s second child. If Howie had been there…no…no, it wouldn’t have made a difference. Outnumbered was outnumbered. He held his hands up. "Doctor Loughlin, stop. Doctor Watson, stand down," he said calmly. Both scientists glanced at him, and then at the fallen members of the SG team.

Mike held his hands at shoulder height. Bernie stopped struggling as well. Leanne, however, was still screaming, huddling against the stone wall behind her, her arms wrapped tightly around her waist.

One of the men walked to where the screaming woman stood, and backhanded her. "Shut up, bitch!"

The impact of the man’s hand was enough to bounce the young archaeologist’s head into the wall. A huge knot appeared on her temple almost immediately, her lip bleeding where it had split from the force of the blow.

Furious at himself for allowing these intruders to get down the steps…ignoring the fact that had he or his men opened fire, the results would have been three dead SG team members, and three dead archaeologists. Damn it to hell, anyway, Wheaton grumped silently. Nothing had been noted on this planet, other than the ruins. No naquadah. No metals or ores. Nothing that the Goa’uld were usually after. Mrs. J hadn’t ‘seen’ anything about trouble, either. He glanced sideways at the man beside him. Who the hell are these bastards? Where in the hell did they come from? The major dropped to his knees when he was hit from behind. His last conscious thought was that the facts he had just weren’t adding up right…

Daniel hurried to the ‘gate room. SG-5, and three archaeologists from his department were due to check in about – he checked his watch – five minutes. Two of those three archaeologists had been with the SGC for a grand total of a month. He couldn’t wait to hear what Mike and Bernie had to say about doing a dig on an alien planet. That the ruins had what appeared to be Lakota markings had piqued Mike’s curiosity, and he’d been excited when Daniel had asked him go investigate. Bernie had laughingly promised to keep Mike out of trouble on their first off-world dig.

"Hey, Danny…what’s up?"

He looked toward the familiar voice. "Hey, Jack. Just going to talk to three of the people from level eighteen."

"Ah, yes. Something about a dig and Native American Indians, if I remember correctly," Jack said, falling into step beside his best friend.

"One of the reasons I wanted Mike is because of his expertise on American Indians," Daniel replied quietly. "Craig-" His voice caught, he cleared his throat. "Doctor Nichols was our expert until he retired."

"Then it’s a good thing you were able to hire Mike, right?"

Daniel grinned. "Yep. Bernie is no slouch when it comes to Native Americans, although her expertise lies more south of the border. She’d have been ecstatic to have interrogated Chaahk."

"Interrogated?" Jack asked, raising one eye-brow slightly.

"Yeah, I explained who and what he was, what he’d done, and she said she regretted not getting the chance to learn more about the ancient Mayans from him. When I told her that he wouldn’t have been interested in any discussions with her, she told me she’d have had no problems beating the snot out of him, just to let him know who was in charge," Daniel chuckled. "She’s been studying Karate for years, so I’ll bet she could have done just that."

Jack grinned. "Almost makes me wish we hadn’t killed him, so we could go get him and let Bernie have at him. Would have been entertaining."

"No doubt," Daniel agreed.

General Hammond hurried into the ‘gate room. "Doctor Jackson, there was quite an interesting report left when Major Wheaton checked in last night. I didn’t see the report until just a few minutes ago."

Daniel took the sheet of paper the general offered. Quickly read through the three paragraphs. "This is incredible!"

The general nodded. "I agree, Doctor."

Jack read over Daniel’s shoulder. "Seriously? All of those people?"

Daniel was frowning. "Can’t be."

"Come again?" Jack responded.

"The Aztec and Inca are too ‘modern’. There’s no way they could have been taken by Goa’uld. I’m not sure the Mayan and Olmec could have been taken either…not unless there was a Goa’uld lurking around South America after Ra was kicked out."

"Uh huh."

The archaeologist shook his head. "Jack, we may have another case of the Asgard collecting people and moving them."

"To protect them?" Jack asked.

Daniel shrugged. "That’s as good a theory as any. Between the three of them, one of them has to have figured this out."

"So who was the other rock-reader that went with Mike and Bernie?" Jack asked.

"Leanna Izett. She’s been wanting to go on another dig. I was going to send Nyan as well, but he’s with SG-13. They found something interesting, and Jonas is out with 12 right now."

"Dixon has asked to have Nyan assigned to his team," Jack said.

"Seriously? That’s great. Nyan will be an asset to the team."

"That’s what Dix said. I’m kinda surprised, though," Jack admitted.

"Why?"

"Cam Balinsky’s death hit him pretty hard. He said he didn’t think he could handle having another civilian on his team."

Daniel swallowed, turned his head for just a moment. It was still difficult for him to speak about Cam. Maybe because he’d been there when his friend and colleague had died. Maybe because Cam had died protecting him and Janet Frasier. "What changed his mind?"

"Stumbling into a temple, and not having the first clue what he was looking at, and setting off two traps almost immediately. Nothing serious, just bumps and bruises from falling rocks and then a tumble into a deep pit. Figured it would be better to have someone along who could ‘read the squiggles’, as he put it."

"Nyan’s had three years to learn, and he spent that time well," Daniel replied.

"So Dix tells me."

General Hammond checked his watch, then frowned at the silent ‘gate.

"I thought they were due to check in at oh-eight-hundred," Daniel said.

"They are, Doctor," Hammond replied. "They’re ten minutes overdue. I’m not going to worry just yet."

All three men turned when Casey dashed into the room, her green eyes wide…and haunted. "Big trouble, General," she panted. "Big trouble."

"What team?"

"The archaeologists and SG-5. I just had a download…they’ve been captured by slave traders. It only just happened. I’m so sorry…I should have known sooner!"

"Casey, there is no reason to apologize. You learn what you do when you do, you have no control over that fact. No one expects you to be omniscient," General Hammond said gently.

"It would sure be nice if I was," the seer grumbled.

"Well, we know now, and if it’s just happened. I’m sure Colonel Carter will be able to discern where they went," Hammond smiled. He turned to Jack. "General, get SG-1 ready to leave. I want you on that planet as soon as possible."

"Yes, sir," Jack replied. "Let’s go kids." He glanced up at the control room. "Walter, page Colonel Carter and Teal’c to the supply room."

"Yes, sir, General," Walter replied. His voice echoed through the air as he called for Sam and Teal’c.

Daniel took the time to put his arms around his shaking wife. "We’ll get ‘em home."

"Oh, I hope so," she murmured.

"Let’s go, Angel." The two hurried after Jack, determination etched on their faces.

A A A A A A

Mike dared to look up at the group of men who had appeared through the Stargate on the planet…whatever the hell it had been called or numbered…not more than thirty minutes ago. In spite of the fight they’d put up, the scoundrels had immediately taken him, Bernie, Leanna, and SG-5 hostage. He worried about the two young airmen. Both had been knocked unconscious during their scuffle. When his men had gone down, the CO of the team had held his hands up in surrender, and ordered all of them to obey the leader of the men who were now their captors. Major Wheaton had been knocked unconscious as well, but was now sitting against the wall. Andrews and Sanders were motionless…he could see they were breathing, but neither had even twitched since their arrival to…well, wherever they were.

Bernie was comforting Leanna. It had been impossible for the slender woman to keep from crying. Which had irritated the very bad-tempered leader of a group of smelly, loud, heavily armed men. He’d struck Leanna, demanding that she be silent. Blood trickled from her lip, and her jaw was already starting to bruise. There was a goose-egg on the side of her head, where it had hit the stone wall they’d been examining. She was doing her best to remain calm, clinging to the hand of the older scientist.

What Bernie wanted to do was take those damned bastards down. But she was wise enough to know that there were more of them, they were heavily armed, and any aggression from her right now would only result in more violence against her and her companions. If that god-awful-smelling leader had his way, he’d continue to beat on Leanna, simply because he could.

The major did his best to keep the expression on his warm bronze face completely neutral. He marked every move of the leader, making certain he could also see the men with the foul-tempered man – even though it appeared as if he were staring straight ahead at the metal wall opposite of their cell. His captors were speaking Goa’uld. But tossed in with that language were phrases and words that sounded like a version of Old English, but…it was odd. The phrases and words he didn’t recognize could be a very big disadvantage to him.

Sanders and Andrews, the two Airmen on his team, both young and both a bit hot-headed, had managed to get themselves knocked out at the very start of this nightmare. Wheaton checked them again…Andrews was starting to stir. That was a good sign. Still no movement from Sanders. Not a good sign.

Mike watched the commander of the SG team. Caught his eye. The CO…Major Wheaton, the archaeologist reminded himself…raised one eyebrow slightly. It appeared the military man wanted something…but Mike had no idea what that ‘something’ might be. It struck him that Danny would know. The shy, modest archaeologist he had known in grad school had been replaced with a strong, confident man. A man who had worked with the military long enough to know all their little signals.

"You all right, Doctor Loughlin?" Wheaton asked, barely moving his lips, his voice no more than a whisper.

"I’m okay," Mike responded. He ducked his head when two of their captors looked their way. He glanced up a minute later…the man and his companions were occupied with what looked like weapons; cleaning them or loading them or some such thing. Why they were sitting on the floor of the narrow corridor just outside the cell was a mystery. Wheaton had leaned his head back against the wall of the cell in which they sat, his eyes closed. Mike gave another sideways glance at the men who walked back and forth in front of the cell.

"Just keep quiet. We’ll figure a way out of this," Wheaton whispered, his eyes still shut. "By now General Hammond has probably sent help."

Mike wanted to point out that having any rescuers go to the planet they had been abducted from would do them no good – but he chose to do as the major had instructed. He remained silent.

When it seemed that their abductors were more interested in something one of their number had just brought in, Mike took the chance to whisper to Bernie. "Are you okay?"

"Gonna kick their asses, first chance I get," Bernie hissed.

Mike couldn’t hold back the grin his lover’s fierce words evoked. He nodded toward the slight woman in Bernie’s arms. "What about Lee, is she okay?"

Bernie glanced down at the woman whose head rested on her shoulder. "She’s okay. Terrified, but okay."

"Danny will get us out of this," Mike said softly. He had no idea how a rescue could happen. But he didn’t have a doubt in the world that his friend would do just that.

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