Ouroboros, by Amaranth Traces
-- Chapter Eight --
“Three thousand BC,” Daniel said slowly. The last thing he wanted to happen on this mission was for Jack to send them to the wrong time period.
“Any particular day of this century for ya?”
Daniel gave him a look then demonstrated concentration. Jack turned to the controls and closed his eyes, concentrating. A hum ran through the ship, slowly rising in volume and pitch, and then suddenly dropped and went silent.
“What happened?” Jack asked.
Daniel looked around. “I didn’t feel anything.”
“The time machine pulsed,” said Sam as she entered the forward compartment of the ship. “Try the radio.” She leaned on a console and looked out the main window.
Daniel tapped the radio control on the dash beside him and cleared his throat. “Stargate Command, this is Daniel Jackson, do you read?” He waited for a response before repeating his hail. Still, there was no answer.
Behind him, Teal’c stood up and looked out the window. “The stars are different.”
“Earth was in a different orbit around the sun five thousand years ago,” said Sam. “I think we did it.”
“Huh!” said Jack.
Daniel shook his head, impressed. He hadn’t been entirely certain that the ship would work. He grinned as Jack again grasped the controls.
“Okay!” said Jack. “ Egypt. That’s in Africa, I believe?”
Daniel rolled his eyes. “Jack.”
“So, we need to go...” Jack craned his neck as he looked out the window. He pointed to China. “That way.” He looked at Daniel. “Right?”
Daniel simply dropped his chin to his chest with a sigh.
As the ship started to angle in the actual direction of Egypt, Daniel exchanged an amused glance with Sam. Jack’s tendency to pretend he wasn’t as smart as he really was had caused both of them significant irritation over the years.
They landed and prepared for the mission. Sam reiterated the need for minimal interaction with the people of this period and minimum impact on the timeline. They were here for the ZPM, and that was it.
As they left the ship, Jack used the remote to cloak the Jumper. They all turned to watch it vanish from sight.
“Aww...” Jack moaned.
“What?” Sam asked.
“I thought it’d do that car alarm beep thing.”
She sighed. “Let’s just get going, sir.”
They walked across the desert in the direction of the tents that they had seen on the way to their landing site. Several dozen people were camped there.
“Okay,” Daniel said. “Why don’t I see if I can talk to these people.”
“Daniel.”
He turned to Sam, already knowing the reason for her objection. “I’ll be quick. A non-history-changing conversation.” She just frowned. “We have to find some way to get into the temple. Maybe they know something.”
Sam sighed but nodded.
Daniel walked over to two men standing not far away. It took him a few minutes to gain his bearings with the language. It was similar to that spoken on Abydos, but had some significant differences, and it had been a while since Daniel had spoken it. After a brief conversation, Daniel bowed his thanks to the two men and headed back to his team.
“Well, my Ancient Egyptian’s a little rusty, but I think I got the gist of what they’re saying.” He pointed back at the men he had been speaking with. “That’s Katep and his brother Salatis.”
Jack waved, shouting, “Hey guys!”
Sam turned to Jack with an incredulous look. Before she could speak, Daniel pushed Jack’s arm down and shook his head.
“They’re on a pilgrimage to the temple of Ra to make an offering,” Daniel said, watching Sam carefully. She was smiling now, but he knew she wasn’t going to like what came next.
“Oh, there’s timing!” said Jack.
“Tomorrow.”
Sam’s smile vanished.
Daniel nodded his head in the direction of Katep and his brother. “I told them we were travellers from the east and they offered to put us up for the night.”
Sam winced. “I was kind of hoping we wouldn’t have to stay that long.” Jack and Teal’c turned to look at her. “I’m sorry. I keep thinking I’m going to step on a bug and change the future.”
“Well,” Daniel said. “We can’t just walk into the temple unannounced. A public audience is the perfect way to get inside.” Sam had to realise that this was the only way.
“We just have to—” She looked pointedly at Jack. “Keep a low profile.”
Jack gave her an indignant look. “Yes,” he said, obviously not impressed. He turned to Daniel. “But more importantly, did they say what was for dinner?”
--
“Katep, Salatis, I gotta say,” Jack said, picking up another date. “I was a little nervous about the food, but that was delicious! And beer! I can’t believe you have beer!”
Daniel grinned and translated for their hosts. Dinner had been simple but flavourful. Boiled cabbage, sweetened sour dough bread, sun-dried fish with fire-roasted onions, dates for dessert, and of course, rich, warm beer.
“I am pleased that you enjoyed it,” said Salatis in his native tongue.
Salatis’s son, Baraka, had taken an immediate liking to Jack. The boy hadn’t left him alone for more than a few minutes at a time, running circles, tugging on hands and robes, bouncing up and down. And Jack seemed to be enjoying every minute of it.
On Jack’s lap, Baraka laughed as Jack dangled another date in front of the boy’s face. At nearly four years old, he was a little big for the ‘open the hangar doors’ game, but he seemed quite amused. Daniel suspected that the boy was more entertained by the silly sounds Jack was making than by the game itself.
The date swooped closer and closer in time to airplane noises. It sputtered and stalled about a foot over Baraka’s head, but luckily the engine caught just in time to land safely in the boy’s mouth. Baraka giggled as he munched on the fruit.
“This kid is great,” said Jack as he prepared another date for takeoff. “What does Baraka mean, anyway?”
“Blessing,” said Daniel.
Jack grinned. “That he is.”
“It will be dark soon,” said Katep. “Allow me to show you where you can sleep.”
Everyone stood and followed him outside to another tent. Daniel looked inside. Three bed mats had been prepared with cream-coloured linen sheets.
“Hey!”
Daniel turned at Jack’s shout to see him standing in front of Sam and two other women. They were holding Sam’s hands, trying to move around the man before them.
Jack held up a finger and stepped in front of them again. “Ah! Where are you taking her? Daniel! A little help here?”
Sam glanced over her shoulder at Daniel as he neared the group. It didn’t take long for the women to explain the problem.
“Well? What’s going on?”
He turned to Jack. “Um, it seems that unmarried women have to sleep in a different part of the encampment.”
“Like hell she does. Tell them you and Carter are married.”
Daniel looked at Sam. He knew Jack was right, but he wasn’t about to make a decision like that without her input.
“Damn it, Daniel,” said Jack. “I’m not letting anyone split up my team in ancient Egypt. We’re sticking together. Now, tell them you two are married.”
Sam nodded almost imperceptibly, and Daniel reached out to take her hand. He spoke briefly to the women flanking her. They apologised profusely for the misunderstanding before heading off in the direction they had been taking Sam.
Daniel stepped close to Sam, studying her intently. “You sure this is okay?”
She nodded again. “The General’s right. We should all stay together. It’ll minimise our impact on the timeline.”
He smiled and draped his arm over her shoulder. All four of them headed back to the tent where Katep was waiting.
“Forgive me, Daniel. I did not realise she was your wife.”
“That’s alright, Katep. No harm done.”
The members of SG-1 entered the tent where they’d be spending the night. Jack and Teal’c settled on the two beds nearest the door.
“I shall take the first watch,” said Teal’c.
“Great, T. Thanks, I’ll take second.” Jack picked up a wooden object from the head of the bed and waved it in Daniel’s direction. “What the heck is this?”
“That’s a headrest, Jack.”
Jack grimaced and set the object on the ground. He took off the robe that covered his BDUs, folded it, and placed it at the head of his bed. “I think I’ll stick with a pillow. That thing doesn’t look very comfortable.”
Daniel chuckled and settled into bed next to Sam.
“Remember, sir. We have to keep a low profile tomorrow.”
“I know, Carter. You’ve only told me a hundred times.”
“I just want to make sure you understand how important this is.”
“I get it. Fate of the world and all that. This isn’t the first time that’s been on our shoulders, is it? Get some sleep. We’ve got a busy day tomorrow.”
Sam sighed quietly, and Daniel reached out to give her arm a calming squeeze. She turned her head, smiling. Then they curled up together and went to sleep.
--
As SG-1 returned to the Jumper, Daniel couldn’t help but think that the mission had gone even better than he had hoped. They had retrieved the ZPM from Ra’s treasure room, and Sam seemed satisfied with their limited interaction with the people from this time period.
Daniel was also thrilled with the video footage he had managed to get of the pyramids and life in ancient Egypt. He couldn’t wait to get back to his office to pick through the recording in excruciating detail.
“I still can’t believe you wouldn’t let me do anything back there, Carter,” Jack grumbled as they walked across the desert. “Now Baraka has to grow up without his father.”
“I’m no happier than you are that Salatis had to die, sir. But saving him could have drastically impacted the timeline.”
“Sam’s right, Jack.” The death of Salatis had been unfortunate, and it had bothered Daniel that they couldn’t prevent it. “When we got back to the encampment, I spoke with Katep briefly.” That conversation had helped Daniel understand the dangers and delicacy of travelling through time.
Sam glared at him, clearly upset that Daniel had engaged in another conversation that could have affected their history.
“Katep told me that he could no longer tolerate living under the rule of Ra. That something had to be done.” Daniel glanced at Sam and saw that her displeasure had been replaced with an expression of wonder.
“He’s going to join the rebellion that forces Ra to abandon Earth,” she said, a small smile playing on her lips.
“Sure sounds that way.”
“You see, sir?” Sam said, turning to Jack. “Causality. Imagine what would have happened if we had saved Salatis. You never know how far the ripples that one small act could have on history. We could have created a timeline in which Ra never left.”
Jack kicked at the sand but said nothing more. Daniel doubted that Jack actually agreed with Sam, even though she was right, but it was clear he was done arguing about it. At least for now.
As they neared the dunes where they had left the ship, Teal’c cocked his head. “There are voices ahead.”
Jack gestured for everyone to get down. They walked, half-crouching, and ducked behind a dune. From there, they could see about thirty Jaffa standing around a rather odd-looking pile of sand. The Jumper was still cloaked, but its location was quite obvious given the sand that had drifted partially over its invisible hull.
“Oh my God,” Sam said quietly.
“Alright,” said Jack. “We’ve got a little problem here.”
Daniel squinted, trying to see things more clearly without his glasses. “Must have been a sandstorm during the night.”
“The Jaffa will soon call for reinforcements if they have not already done so.” Teal’c glanced at the three of them. “We must move quickly.”
Jack reached for his gun, and Sam placed a hand on his shoulder. “Sir, we can’t.”
“We’ve taken on more Jaffa than that.”
“You know what I mean. This is exactly the sort of high-impact event we’re supposed to avoid.”
“They have the ship,” said Teal’c. “Will that not alter the future more than anything that we could do?”
“Not necessarily.” Sam glanced at Teal’c before looking back out at the surrounded Jumper. “They don’t know what it is. And even if they did, they can’t use it. None of them have the gene. Even Ra won’t be able to make it work.”
“So, what are we supposed to do?” Daniel asked.
“Nothing.”
Daniel looked at her in disbelief.
“Nothing?” asked Jack, clearly not thrilled with that plan.
“Well, close to it.”
“No. Here’s a better idea.” Jack waved his gun at the Jaffa before them. “We take back our ship!”
“Sir, if we kill those Jaffa, or worse, get captured, we could alter the future immeasurably.”
Daniel dropped his chin to his chest. They were going to be stuck here. Sam and Jack continued discussing the situation.
“I’m sorry, sir,” said Sam. “I should never have allowed us to do this.”
Daniel rubbed his eyes in frustration. There had to be a way out of this mess. This mission had been his idea. He didn’t want to be responsible for stranding his team 5000 years in the past.
They got up and started making their way back to the encampment. Daniel followed his teammates, his mind racing for a solution.
“So, what? We live out the rest of our lives here?” Jack asked.
“Well, we know there’s going to be a rebellion eventually. The human slaves rise up and Ra abandons Earth. Daniel learned that on Abydos nine years ago. When it happens, there is a chance that we could get the Jumper back without creating too big a ripple in the events of this timeline.”
“When does that happen?”
“I don’t know the exact date. It could be years,” Daniel said, barely paying attention to the conversation. He was starting to put together a possible plan, although he wasn’t entirely sure if he had the time-space logistics of it worked out.
“What?” snapped Jack. “Years?”
“Sir, we don’t have a choice.”
“Carter, what about the ZPM? I mean, if we wait, we lose any chance of getting it back to our time.”
She glanced back at Daniel before responding. “Preserving the timeline is more important.”
“For all you know, things could get better!”
“Or they could be worse! We can’t take that chance.” Sam turned around and looked at Daniel imploringly.
“Well, I know a way we can get the ZPM back to our time, even if we don’t,” Daniel said. “About a month before we left, there was an archaeological dig that uncovered a first dynasty tomb near Giza. All we have to do is bury the ZPM in that tomb, let them find it, and maybe our future selves won’t have to take on this mission.”
Sam stared at him, a slow smile spreading on her face. “Wow. That’s bizarre, but it might just work.”
Daniel smiled, pleased that he had managed to grasp a temporal paradox.
Jack didn’t seem nearly as impressed as Sam did. “Carter, a lot of good people died when Anubis attacked Earth. I don’t think their families would mind if we futzed with the timeline a little.”
“Sir, I know this is hard for you. Your instinct is to change things. Make things better. But for once, that’s exactly what we can’t do. We have to let things play out exactly the way they’re meant to.”
“How the hell are we supposed to live here for what could possibly be years without affecting the timeline?”
“We’ll just have to be careful. Besides, as long as we haven’t changed history already, Daniel’s idea might just work.”
“We’d still be stuck here!”
“Not necessarily, sir.” Sam turned to Daniel. “We can record a message for ourselves with your camera telling us what the future should be like. That way, we’ll have the ZPM and know that our trip back in time didn’t change our history...”
“And we’ll never make the trip in the first place,” Daniel finished for her.
“Exactly!” Sam smiled at him.
--
Daniel handed the camera to Teal’c and opened the view screen. “You can see what you’re filming here. And this is the button to start and stop recording.”
Teal’c pushed the button and the view screen turned on.
“Okay, that’s right,” Daniel said. He walked a few paces away and turned to face Teal’c. “Okay, my name is Doctor Daniel Jackson. I’m part of a team called SG-1, and we have just travelled back in time five thousand years.”
He continued, listing some recent major events around the world. Then Daniel urged Sam to join him on camera. Together, they briefly explained where and when the stargate had been found and how they had travelled through it, acquiring advanced alien technology that had been used to protect Earth from several alien attacks.
“Uh, Jack?” said Daniel, looking at his friend who was standing behind Teal’c. “You should say something here.”
Jack raised his hands and shook his head. “No, no. I’m good.”
“We should all be here on the tape.”
“We have no way of knowing how things could have changed,” said Sam.
Rolling his eyes, Jack came forward to stand in front of the camera. “Uh, uh, General Jack O’Neill, United States Air Force. How you doin’?” He looked over his shoulder at Daniel, clearly not knowing what he was supposed to say.
“Tell them about the future,” Daniel urged.
Jack glanced at Sam before he turned back to the camera. Daniel looked over at her but she seemed to deliberately avoid his gaze.
“Uh, college football is played on Saturdays,” Jack said. “Pro on Sundays. And there are no fish in my pond. At all. Where I fish.” He looked back at Sam and Daniel again. “Uh, I think that covers it for me.”
Jack walked away, standing behind Teal’c again.
“Okay.” Daniel looked at Sam pointedly. “Sam, is there anything else you and I should say about the future?”
“Um.” Sam stared at him for a long moment and then shook her head. “No, I don’t think so.”
Daniel clenched his jaw, his eyes fixed on hers. “Are you sure?”
She smiled slightly and nodded, glancing at the camera. “Yeah, I think we’ve got it covered.”
Daniel sighed and swallowed the lump in his throat, trying to hide his disappointment. Then he turned to Teal’c. “Um, Teal’c, you should say something.” He moved to take the camera from Teal’c as the Jaffa stepped in front of the camera.
As Teal’c spoke, Sam stood next to Daniel. He focussed his gaze on the camera, even though he could see her staring at him out of the corner of his eye. Her hand lightly touched his arm. He pulled away.
She sighed softly and turned to leave the tent. Daniel watched her go, confused and hurt. As Sam disappeared outside, he felt someone pat his shoulder. He looked back to see Jack give him a reassuring nod before following Sam. After a moment, Daniel turned back to Teal’c, who was just finishing up.
“If all these things have not come to pass, you must believe that the present in which you now live exists only because the past has been mistakenly altered. It must be restored.”
“Good. Okay,” said Daniel, even though he had completely missed everything Teal’c had said. Daniel firmly pushed his emotions into a back corner of his mind to deal with later. Handing the camera back to Teal’c, Daniel launched himself into lecture-mode. He explained Jack’s Ancient gene, the gate dialling system, the point of origin, illustrated the addresses to both Chulak and Earth in the sandy floor of the tent, and then picked up the ZPM.
Before he could finish explaining the purpose of the Zero Point Module, Teal’c closed the view screen on the camera; the battery was dead. Daniel put the ZPM down. If he hadn’t taken all of that footage of the pyramids, he would have been able to finish telling their future selves everything they should know. Daniel dropped his chin to his chest and sighed. He’d just have to hope that the future wouldn’t be drastically different and they’d have everything they needed.
For the moment, however, he had more immediate concerns. “I’ve got to go find Sam.”
Teal’c nodded solemnly. “Indeed.”
Daniel went outside and looked around. The setting sun cast an orange glow over the encampment. He was hurt that Sam hadn’t wanted to talk about their personal relationship on the tape. Did she have regrets? Had she changed her mind and decided she didn’t love him after all? He had to find out.
Jack and Sam were sitting near the bottom of a dune a short distance away. They looked up as he approached.
“Hey.” She smiled and held out her hand to him.
Daniel frowned at her hand and took a deep breath, trying to get far enough past his feelings of rejection so he could talk to her. Slowly, Sam dropped her hand.
Jack stood up and brushed himself off. “Well, uh...” He glanced toward the tent where Daniel had left Teal’c and then back at Sam and Daniel, shifting awkwardly on his feet. Suddenly, his head swivelled back to the tent. “Coming!” he shouted before he hurried off.
Daniel sat down heavily next to Sam. He stole a glance at her out of the corner of his eye. She wrapped her arms around his waist. He sat rigidly but didn’t pull away when she rested her chin on his shoulder.
“We’ll know, Daniel,” she said quietly.
He turned to look at her, searching her face. “How can you be sure?”
“Because we’ll see the way we interact and how we look at each other. Trust me.”
Daniel sighed. “I don’t even want to think about a timeline when we’re not together, Sam.”
“Don’t worry.” Sam leaned closer, her breath hot against his neck. “We’ll know.”
“Why didn’t you want to say anything on the tape?”
“I just—” She rested her cheek on his shoulder and sighed. “I just want to make sure that the people at the SGC find out about us on our terms.” Sam straightened, turning to face him. “Could you imagine if General O’Neill learned that we were involved on a video tape from five thousand years in the past? I mean, it was bad enough when we were the ones telling him.”
Slowly, Daniel nodded. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.” He stared at the sand, wiggling his feet until they were half buried.
“Hey.” Sam cupped his cheek and turned his face toward hers. “I know what you’re thinking. I have no regrets, Daniel. That’s not what this is about.” Her eyes searched his. “We’ll know.”
“Okay.” He pulled his face away from her hand and stared at the ground again, not entirely convinced, but willing to take her word for it.
“Do you really think I’m about to jeopardise the first thing in my life that’s made me truly happy?”
At that, Daniel looked at her again.
“And yes, I mean you, silly.” Sam squeezed his arm.
He smiled. Sam could always make him smile. Daniel leaned closer to her as she again wrapped her arms around him, this time relaxing into her embrace. “I hope you’re right, Sam.”
--
The next day, the four members of SG-1 trudged through the sand, carrying their precious cargo: the ZPM and video camera. Katep had helped them vacuum-seal the camera inside a canopic jar. He’d been somewhat bemused by the bizarre-looking figurine, which was what they’d decided to call it. Daniel didn’t want the headache of trying to explain why they were sealing up a ‘papyrus-weight’, which had been Jack’s suggestion.
“It shouldn’t be much farther,” said Daniel. If he had his bearings right, the tomb they were looking for wasn’t far from the encampment where they had spent the night.
Jack squinted up at the sun. “So how we gonna know if this works?”
“In theory, we should know immediately,” Sam answered. “We’re not in an alternate reality, just the past of our own reality. Putting the ZPM where it will be found and brought to us before we travel back in time will prevent the need for that trip in the first place. The recording on the camera will tell us if we changed history. If we haven’t, then we’ll already have the ZPM, so we’ll never have come to ancient Egypt in the first place, and we simply won’t be here anymore.”
Jack scrubbed his face with the palm of his hand. “This is giving me a headache.”
Sam smiled. “Time travel can do that, sir.”
At the top of a hill, Daniel stopped suddenly. He surveyed the desert below, dread beginning to knot his stomach. He hoped he was wrong.
“Wait here,” he said over his shoulder. Starting down the slope toward the activity below, his remaining hope began to wane. He spoke briefly with a worker and confirmed his suspicions. With a sigh, he turned and climbed the hill again to rejoin his friends.
“Is there a problem, Daniel Jackson?”
“Uh, yeah.” Daniel took a deep breath and looked at Teal’c, Jack and then Sam. “We might have to stay here a while.”
“Why?” Sam looked down at the structure that was being built below them, and her eyes widened. She turned back to Daniel. “Don’t tell me that’s the tomb we’re looking for.”
Daniel nodded. “It’s not finished yet.”
“How long are we talking here?”
“I don’t know, Jack. More than a year. Probably several.” Daniel looked back at the scene below. It was remarkable really, to witness the construction of an ancient Egyptian tomb, but Daniel felt none of the joy and amazement he probably should have been feeling. This trip into history had been his idea, and now they were stranded.
“Perhaps there is another location where we can conceal these items,” Teal’c said.
Daniel shook his head. This tomb had been the only recent discovery from this time period. “We’re going to have to wait.” He reluctantly turned his gaze back to Sam, knowing she wasn’t going to like that idea. She was staring at him, a pleading expression on her face. Daniel just shrugged. He couldn’t think of any other way.
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