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After a quick bath in the tepid lake water, Casey slipped back into the tent to apply lotion. She rubbed it quickly into her arms and legs, over her abdomen and hips and breasts, her shoulders and her back. She sat down to rub it onto her feet, then pulled her socks on.

Daniel sat on the floor of the tent tying his boots. He watched her for a minute, then smiled. "Love you."

"Love you, too," she said, returning the smile. She pulled on her panties and bra, then the brown tee shirt and the desert fatigues.

"I think we'll start with the obelisks," he said, still watching her as she finished dressing.

She nodded. "Then the temples?"

"Yep. There should be a library as well. Tony and Texas know what to look for, I'll let them do a search for it."

She was tying her boots, felt his eyes on her, looked up. "What?"

"You're just so damned beautiful," he said softly.

She blushed, and dropped her eyes. "I'm glad you think so."

"I don't just think it, Angel." He shook his head. Someday, he thought.  Someday she'll understand what a beautiful woman she really is.  He took the hairbrush she handed him, carefully and quickly braided that long blonde silk. "Okay, ready to go?"

She stood up. "Yep. Come on, Doctor Jackson. Time to go to work."

The rest of the team, SG-6 and the Marines were gathering around the fire that Major Parker, who had been on guard duty last, had built.

"Ah, MREs. Maybe Really Edible," Casey said, drawing chuckles from her friends.

"So what's the game plan, Danny?" Jack asked as he ate.

"Case and I will start translating the obelisks. If Sam and Teal'c wouldn't mind, they could start filming the temples. Texas and Tony can look for the library. I'll show you where it should be," he said, looking at the two men. They nodded.

"Turk, I want you to set up a perimeter. You guys will stand guard duty, unless Daniel needs more bodies for something," Jack said.

The Marine nodded.

Daniel looked at Trenton and Maj. Parker. "I'd like you guys to get a general idea of the lay-out of the city, draw it out on paper. Mark where the obelisks, library and temples are."

The two men acknowledged their assignment.

"Most of the buildings we're interested in are still intact, and that's lucky for us. We'll find out more from them in just a few days than we could if we had to dig through rubble to find what we're looking for," Daniel said. "I want as much footage as possible. This city is the first Egyptian city of the early Dynastic Period that has ever been discovered in such excellent condition."

When the teams had finished eating, and had cleaned up the area, as well as banking their fire, they headed toward the ruins. The people of the settlement watched them, gave smiles and waves, but did not offer to join them. Several of the children ran to watch them enter the city, but never left the unofficial 'boundaries' of the settlement camp.

Casey was carefully photographing the first of the obelisks. She paused, several of the hieroglyphs catching her attention. "And in the year of the great famine, a queen took the throne, and the crown of 'Many Lands'. She raised up an army, and led them through the 'Sacred Eye', and brought back food and medicine and slaves. She was a god as was he who ruled before, and her name, blessed be, was Qemanub. For one hundred years she did…" she shivered. "Daniel?"

"What?"

"Ever hear of Queen Qemanub?"

"Nope."

"Well, I'm betting she was a Goa'uld, if this thing is right," she said.

Daniel hurried to her side, quickly read the section she pointed to. He turned and looked around. "This was a capital city. Perhaps the home city of that particular Goa'uld," he said.

"If she was a 'god', why did she allow temples to other 'gods'?" Casey asked.

"Most probably the other temples already existed when she came to power. It might have been easier to allow the temples to remain, and just close them, which I'm betting is what she did, rather than risk rebellion among the people by destroying them. I'm sure all the priests and priestess' from the other temples were brought in and forced to worship her," Daniel replied.

"Hey, Doc, we found the library," Tony called. "It's pretty big."

Excitement racing through his veins, he grabbed his Wife's hand and began to run toward the building that was the library. Casey shook her head and smiled as she watched Daniel race around the massive room, reading glyphs, reaching for tablets, carefully taking note of the pile of scrolls that hopefully were still readable.

The library held a treasure trove of tablets, and they soon discovered that the people of this city, called Sothis, which Daniel explained was the Egyptian name for the star Sirius, were indeed from 'the First World'. Further investigation provided proof that Bastet was the 'goddess' who had brought the first inhabitants of Sothis to the planet. A list of twenty Pharaoh's who ruled with her blessing was found, which ended with the mysterious Qemanub. From what they had found, Daniel had no doubt that Qemanub was a Goa'uld.

Casey was sitting on the floor of the library, several tablets around her, a notebook on her lap. She was tapping her chin with a pen, deep in thought. "So did Qemanub take over because Bastet had abandoned this city, and planet, or did she steal it, or was it given to her…yeah, maybe she was Bastet's daughter, and it was a birthday gift…or maybe Bastet lost it in a poker game…"

Daniel laughed. "We'll find the answer, I'm sure. It's here somewhere."

She looked up at him, one eyebrow raised. "You are planning to go home eventually, aren't you? I'd at least like to be there when the kids graduate from high school."

Tony and Texas snorted from their place in the corner, where they were carefully photographing the walls.

"Ha ha. Very funny. We'll take the tablets and the scrolls with us," Daniel replied.

Jack wandered in, his hands in his pockets. He looked around, then at the already impressive pile of clay tablets. "So, uh, you taking all those rocks with you?"

Casey giggled and ducked her head when Daniel rolled his eyes. "Yes, Jack," the young archaeologist replied. "We're taking all of these tablets with us."

Jack nodded. "But you're going to work on translating the walls while we're here?"

"That's the plan."

"Okay. Well, I think I'll just do a bit of fishing," the general said. "No rush, Danny. But there is a hockey game Friday that I want to see."

Daniel grinned. "You can go home anytime you want, Jack."

The older man snorted. "Not without my team. Don't dare leave you alone. You'll touch something you shouldn't, and who knows what the hell will happen."

Daniel gave Jack a pained look; Casey was giggling hysterically. He shook his head, and went back to work translating the wall beside him.

A  A  A  A  A  A

It had been a long day, the number of discoveries almost overwhelming. References with detailed directions led Daniel to believe that they would find pyramids in a valley not far from the city. He was eager to go there, to see if any of the tombs were still intact.

"This valley isn't more than a day's hike from here," the young man said excitedly. "It had to be relatively close so that the burial ceremonies could be performed within the allotted amount of time. Especially for pharaohs and other dignitaries."

Jack sighed. "Okay, okay. We'll take a look."

Casey grinned. "Remember Geb's burial room? We could find even more if these tombs haven't been desecrated, as well as the actual mummies! We'll have to open the museum section of the Center almost immediately if that's true," she mused.

Daniel had approached Robert deValicort with the idea of opening a museum in Hope, to allow the residents to see all of the things that the SG teams had discovered. Robert had been enthusiastic about the idea, telling Daniel that the city council had already approved the building of an art museum, at Tessa's urging. Plans were being drawn up that would create what would be called the Cultural Center of Hope, with a series of buildings surrounding a large park, all dedicated to the arts. There would be a theater, where the newly formed Hope Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as Carly's ballet troupe, would perform; the art museum, and the museum of historical artifacts. With luck, the buildings would be ready for occupation within the year.

"Well, if it's that important," Jack said, grinning.

"It is, Jack!" Daniel exclaimed. "This could be the biggest find of the century!"

Teal'c smiled at his young friend. "This will only add to the reputation of Doctor Daniel Jackson, will it not?"

He looked at the Jaffa. "What does that have to do with anything?"

Casey giggled. "I think T means you'll be even more famous than ever."

Daniel shook his head. "Like I care about that."

"You do. Just not as much as most archaeologists."

"Just means more work," Daniel mumbled. His companions laughed good-naturedly.

"Okay, Danny, when do you want to take this hike?" Jack asked.

"I want to do more translating, how about day after tomorrow?"

The gray haired man nodded. "Okay. I'm going to send a message to Duncan to send more food and water through. Looks like we're going to be here a few more days."

Major Parker nodded. "Will we leave base camp?"

Jack looked at Daniel. "Are you figuring on being there for awhile?"

"Depends on what we find."

"Let's just plan on a full move. If we don't stay, no big deal. Turk, I'll leave you guys here to keep an eye on things."

The Marine nodded.

"Okay, folks, let's get some sleep. You have lots of work to do tomorrow," Jack said, rubbing his hands together.

"What are you going to be doing?" Sam asked.

"Fishing. I don't think this lake has any fish either," he replied, a huge grin on his face.

Laughter filled the air, and the night watch rotation was decided upon. The group broke up with quiet goodnights, and soon silence surrounded them once again.

Casey yawned as she stripped off her shoes and socks. The pants followed, and with careful maneuvering, her little blue bra hit the floor without her having to take off her tee shirt.

Daniel smiled as he watched her. "I've always found that to be a very neat trick," he said softly.

"What?"

"Getting rid of the bra without taking off the shirt."

She giggled. "You'd have to be a woman to understand how it's done," she replied.

"No doubt. But as a man I sure do enjoy watching!"

She smiled, then yawned again.

"C'mere, Angel. Let me hold you while you sleep." He pulled her close when she crawled into the sleeping bags beside him. She settled her head on his shoulder, and was asleep almost instantly. He kissed her forehead, tightened his arm around her slender frame, and closed his eyes. Images of what they might possibly find danced through his head. His mom and dad would be so proud of him…

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