STARGATE: EXPLORER

by Lady Grey
Alpha/Beta by Jude

January 17

P3X-367

"Breathe, Daniel," called Rose through the comm.

He exhaled with a gasp, not realizing he'd been holding his breath while he swam. The heaviness of the water pressed against him, weighing down his limbs as he stroked and kicked; the unfamiliar sensation heightening his realization that he was well beneath the surface. Instinct triggered and brought a surge of mild panic, forcing his breathing into high gear. Logically, he knew he wasn't drowning; he could breathe just fine, but his body reacted, causing him to flail a little. The whole world narrowed down to the tiny space inside his helmet, all that was separating him from the dark water and the surface he could no longer see.

Rose caught at his shoulder and pulled him around to face her. "Easy, there, Rattler," she cooed gently. "Nice, regular breaths. Everybody feels that way, first time diving. Just relax."

Her voice was calming and helped him regain his emotional footing.

She continued to talk to him, concentrating his focus on her rather than the fact that he was hovering in the middle of a dead alien city.  "Cave diving isn't like ocean diving," she told him. "The water's been filtered through layers of rock, so it's crystal-clear, no sediment, no algae. Watch your readouts for currents. These stretch-suits--"

"S'resh," he corrected automatically. Then he realized she'd probably done that on purpose, to distract him. He could hear the smile in her voice as she continued with barely a skip.

"--measure the currents just like they do wind speed. Gotta be careful down here, because you can't see the water moving in front of you, and if you swim out into a really fast-moving shear, it can…" She stopped. "On second thought, never mind. Just stay behind me and watch your data."

"What about the bends?" Daniel asked. "I don't know that much about diving, but I know that's a danger, and the Furlings don't have decompression chambers aboard the Gaia."

"What’re the bends?" asked Scout. He was swimming in lazy circles around them, his lithe body rippling with the motion of a porpoise, little synchronized kicks propelling him easily through the water.

"Decompression sickness," Rose explained, twirling in the water to face the elder. "The force the water exerts on the body makes the lungs contract in size the deeper we go. Nitrogen filters into the body, so we'll have to come up in stages to avoid developing gas bubbles in our blood."

"Oh, I didn’t know the term, but I understand the problem. We don’t have to be concerned with that, not while we're protected by the s'resh," the alien told them with a little chuckle. "It contains inertial dampeners to shield against the compression of the water, and doesn't allow the penetration of high-pressure gasses or foreign elements into the body. All we need be concerned about is our air supply and, as you mentioned, the water currents.” 

He continued to swim around his human companions like a fish.

"That's an interesting stroke," Daniel commented, grinning inside his helmet. "I'd like to learn it when we're not in such a hurry."

"We have no pool on Gaia," Scout reminded him, a smile in his words. "Pity we don't have more time for such pleasures. I love the water. Ready?"

"Yeah." Daniel glanced at the colonel's shiny black visor, completely hiding her face and reflecting his own helmeted head. "Thanks, Rose."

She angled away with a strong kick, following Scout down the submerged passageway.

Phosphorescent blue-green algae clung to the stone walls on either side of the staircase, giving off enough light to make the emerging landscape eerily visible, ghostly and grim. The water was crystal clear, filtered by layers of stone, and their lights cut into the chamber below and showed them a stunning panorama filling the cavern. An entire city lay before them, oddly reminiscent of Shahr, but silent, drowned and obviously ancient. 

The spires of carved rock were dissolving away, even as other mineral deposits formed and expanded, giving the place the appearance of a giant shipwreck.

"This way," called Scout, undulating through the still water to the left. "If it's a city of the People, we will recognize it, because they’re always built in the pattern of our sacred architecture."  The others followed him, their arms and legs propelling them with strong, intent strokes. 

Daniel felt as though he was flying. His fear of heights made his heart race and his mouth dry, but he pushed on, staying close to his companions. Their descent into the heart of the multi-level cavern was slow, but he wouldn't have missed out on this adventure.  He was tired from the exercise by the time they reached their destination. A check of his oxygen readout revealed they had almost reached the halfway point, so they'd have to hurry.

Without hesitation, Scout led his companions to the entrance to an ancient Furling museum. 

Right at the entrance, the floor and ceiling showed obvious recent damage. The pattern matched the general size and shape of the components to the DNA re-sequencer in the fortress above ground. Daniel studied it for a moment, amazed by the well-preserved condition of the surfaces. In this lightless world, there was no algae growth, no slime, only the crystallization of minerals on some surfaces. Everything else was perfectly preserved. 

"Now we know for sure where Nirrti got that machine," he told his friends.

"We don't have time to waste on an investigation, hon," Rose reminded him. "C'mon. We got work to do here, and not a whole lot of time left. Check your readouts, Dan'l."

"Right." He followed his friends, now several strokes ahead of him, swimming down a wide corridor into the heart of the museum complex.

"Pick an artifact on display to carry back with you, something small and portable that'll be easy to carry while swimming," the elder told Daniel upon arrival in the largest display room. "We have no time to explore. You've used up much more of your oxygen than the Colonel or I, and we must get you back safely." 

"You peekin' at his readouts?" asked Rose, a light tease in her voice.

Scout chuckled through the comm link. "I thought it best, yes."

"Be right back," Daniel agreed, thinking to himself that he'd take as long as he needed to choose the right object. Their descent had taken all of ten minutes, but Daniel knew swimming back to the surface with a burden would be slower and more physically taxing, unless the objects they found were very lightweight. He glanced at his readouts and frowned. Maybe he'd just swim a little faster, and he'd make it.

"You agreed to the rules before we hit the water, Dan'l," Rose admonished gently, as if reading his mind. "We'll each grab something, all right?" She started toward a glassed-in case, then turned to Scout. "This stuff isn't booby-trapped or rigged with alarms, is it?"

"Shouldn’t be," Daniel answered for him. "The People have an enormous sense of trust."

"Shiny." She pushed on the case and watched as it toppled slowly over in the water. A clear, iridescent crystal pyramid about the size of a small melon rested on the pedestal base, and she grasped it in one hand, holding it aloft. "Got mine."

Daniel glanced around and spied some writing on a nearby wall. He swam toward it, attracted by the Furling script he was still learning to read. There was no way he'd be able to take the entire wall with him, so he activated the recorder on his s'resh helmet and filmed as much of the text as he could illuminate with the light affixed to his chest.

Suddenly, the water all around them began to vibrate with the remnants of a huge shockwave making the surrounding cavern ripple, disturbing the layers of sediment on the cave floor in a visible pattern, the water rumbling with the muted echo of an explosion or quake. A chunk of the ceiling tore loose and dropped to the floor right beside Daniel, pushing him out of the way as it fell, kicking up a cloud of sediment. Other displays sitting on pedestals toppled over all around the trio, churning up the debris in the water, making it hard to see.

"What the hell was that?" demanded Rose, turning to Scout, her voice ringing with alarm. "I thought you said this place wasn't wired?"

Denali's strident voice came through in a group transmission. "The Captain says we are under attack! Return to point of entry immediately." 

"But--" Daniel glanced around, searching desperately for something small and portable that he could take.

"Now, Daniel," Rose barked, pronouncing his name crisply, without her customary drawl. Her tone left no doubt she meant him to obey.

He watched with profound regret as she dropped her booty and reached for him. "All right!" he growled unhappily, turning in the water to start back toward the entrance to the drowned city.

As the artifact Rose had been carrying impacted with the floor beneath them, the contact apparently switched the device on, the interior glowing with blue and green light. Daniel glanced down at it and saw a hologram flicker above the point for an instant, and then it was gone, too quickly to record. "Wait!" he called, and started to return to where the pyramid lay.  As two sets of hands grabbed for his arms and hauled him upward, Daniel sighed inside the confines of his helmet and resigned himself to the loss.

The cavern that housed the ancient city was collapsing in on itself as the trio adjusted their comm links to pick up the ship's chatter, listening to reports of the attack from Gaia's perspective. The stone structures all around Daniel and his friends shook and sounds of nearby explosions gave evidence that the bombing was still underway. The ancient buildings began to break apart, crashing into chunks and pieces all around them.

Clouds of dust and debris obscured the rooms, making it impossible to see their way out, but Daniel’s s'resh was now sending out sonar signals, bouncing off the structures all around them to show him what his eyes could no longer distinguish. The view inside his helmet changed to a wire-frame display clearly showing him the shapes of his surroundings and the locations of his companions.

By the time they reached the surface, Daniel was exhausted, his legs rubbery and weak as he hauled himself along the stone floor of the fortress.

"This way!" called Denali.

Daniel turned toward the sound of the EXO's voice and struggled to stay on his feet. His limbs were weak and weary, but a spurt of adrenaline gave him his second wind. The group raced out of the disintegrating building just in time to see beams of energy-weapons fire erupting from the sky above them, aimed at the fortress and the submerged city beneath it. They double-timed it to the shelter of a group of trees about a half-klick away, and only once they’d gained that distance did they turn to watch the destruction as it rained down from space.

"Who's shooting at us?”  Daniel called through the comm link to his teammates. He couldn't tell from the controlled pandemonium of Gaia's radio chatter. 

Three enormous alien ships had emerged from the far side of the planet, where apparently they had been in orbit and hidden behind the curve of the globe. As the enemy had appeared, one ship had opened fire on the Furling ruins below. Another had attacked Gaia without hailing them or offering any sort of introduction or warning. The third had begun to pull away, leaving orbit and heading out into space.  Now Gaia was busy fighting back.

"One moment," said Denali, working the controls on the gauntlet of his s'resh. As the group caught their breath, watching helplessly as the ruins were destroyed, the Mountain officer downloaded information from Gaia's database and brought up a holographic recording of the three ships above his left palm. "Here are our enemies, el-Dani."

Rose swore a blue streak as soon as she saw them and stomped off a few paces, muttering to herself, hands on hips, trying to collect her temper.

"Those are Ori ships," Daniel puffed, glancing up at the sky and back to the hologram. "What are they doing here? And why would they want to destroy those ruins? It doesn't make any sense."

"Yes, it does," Rose snapped, opening the helmet of her s'resh with a flick of her finger. She stared at him with hot, angry eyes. "Nirrti obviously found something important down there. We saw the spot where her Jaffa pried the thing off its base. My guess is the leftovers of the Ori army found something, too, and didn't want anyone else snooping around."

She turned to Denali. "Gaia can't beam us up while they're under fire, right?"

"Correct," he said with a nod, his expression grave. "We must wait until their shields are lowered, when the battle is over, to be retrieved."

All eyes turned skyward as everyone tuned into Gaia's background chatter through the comm devices over their left ears. They listened breathlessly, waiting, hearts pounding as more fire poured down on the fortress, completely obliterating the site.

Daniel's heart sat like a cold lump in his chest, each beat aching with hatred of the Ori. Almost immediately, the wind picked up and the temperature started to drop. Thunder rumbled in the distance, muted and choked by a sudden fall of thick, fluffy snowflakes. The piercing wind scattered the snow, driving it against their bare faces. 

Scout put a hand on Daniel's shoulder and glanced up at the falling snow. "Be calm, el-Dani," he cautioned, gesturing meaningfully at the sky. "Manage your emotions. This attack will pass, and we will move on from there. Review the writings on the wall in the museum, to give your mind something to occupy it. Control your influence on the weather." 

"What?" snapped Rose, her brow furrowed in alarm and confusion. "Daniel's influencing the weather? How?"

"Never mind," Daniel shot back, wanting to avoid the subject entirely.

Fortunately, Rose let the subject drop at the sound of a particularly close volley of blasts and turned her attention back to the attack.

Daniel flipped up his visor, calling up the recording he'd made in the drowned city, struggling to get a grip on his emotions.  He put his head down, clasped his wrists behind his back and began to pace, studying and thinking. As he distracted himself, the wind died down and the snowfall began to lighten.

Then Daniel remembered the glimpse of the hologram he'd seen from the device MacFarland had dropped. It reminded him of a DNA helix. He wondered about its significance and was about to try to cross-reference the artifact with the text on the wall when he became aware of a sudden, eerie silence in his helmet. His head came up and he turned toward his companions.

The rain of weapons-fire on the ruins stopped. The unexpected vacuum of silence made him a little off-balance for an instant. There was no sound at all -- not the percussive roar of explosions, no chatter from their ship, no bird or animal noises, just nothing. A light dusting of tiny flakes still drifted soundlessly through the air, but they didn't make the typical muffled sparkly sizzle that Daniel associated with snow.

Then he realized it was ash, not precipitation.

The dead calm gave him the creeps.

"Gaia?" whispered Rose, worry etched into her lined face. She touched the comm device on her left ear, made adjustments in the controls in her s'resh, but there were no broadcasts on any frequency. "Do you think she's been hit? Why can't we hear anything?"  

Denali was already trying to call the ship. He hailed them on several different channels, but there was no answer.

Daniel's heart sank. Had the three Ori ships destroyed the lone Furling vessel? He stepped forward to hurry towards his friends, but suddenly found himself and the rest of his team on Gaia's transport deck, where Furling crewmembers were rushing here and there, handling damage control. The tang of smoke was in the air, and one of the corridors leading away from the arrival center was dark.

Denali stepped off the pad and barked at the officer posted to meet them. "Status report."

"The ship has sustained some damage, but the shields held until our enemies departed," a young Forest Clan female replied. "We lost a communication array, though no vital systems were damaged. One enemy ship has been destroyed; the other two have fled; we must make emergency repairs before we can pursue."

"Then they will likely be lost in hyperspace," Denali growled unhappily. "We have scans of their ships?"

"Yes, sir."

"What of our crew?"

The officer's chin dipped downward. "We are in the process of getting the wounded to the infirmary. The healers are working on the injured as they arrive."

"Casualties?"

"Twenty-seven dead," she reported thickly. "Ninety-four injured."

Daniel's heart sank. Though he realized it wasn't a logical assumption, part of his mind had come to believe that the Furlings were invincible, that whatever they put their minds to would automatically ensure success. He'd seen them the way a child views a parent: having all the answers and able to vanquish all others with their superpowers.

It was crushing to realize they were just as mortal as he was, just as capable of defeat at the hands of a powerful, arrogant enemy. The followers of the Ori had awe-inspiring weapons at their disposal, and even though they had been cut off from their masters with the destruction of the Supergate, those who had been left behind were still a potent threat. Their ships had outnumbered the Furlings three to one, and Gaia's crew hadn't come away from the battle unscathed.

Mountain's lips pressed into a thin, white, angry line for a moment. He touched the communication device on his left ear. "EXO reporting, Captain. We are safely on board." His head tilted in a listening posture, and then he gave a quick nod of confirmation. "Understood."

He bowed to Scout. "I will inspect the damaged areas personally, look in on the infirmary, and then present my report to the Captain."

"I'm going to the infirmary," Daniel announced, stepping down from the transporter pad.

Scout and Rose fell in behind him.

Somewhere along the way, the trio split up to help with the recovery efforts, lending hands to repairs, clearing away debris, pitching in to carry the wounded to the ship's hospital.

Daniel felt his eyes sting with tears and a lump form in his throat once he reached the health facility and saw the effects of the damage with his own eyes.

The dead were everywhere. Furling healers were hard at work performing triage, administering pain relief, cleaning and repairing wounds, moving those who expired out of the way to make room for the steady influx of more casualties. Furlings all around Daniel were bleeding, their flesh scorched and torn, and many were weeping and crying out with pain.

Reality had taken a sudden, agonizing turn.

"Peace, el-Dani," Scout murmured gently from behind him. "Find your balance, friend. Don't complicate the situation by letting your emotions run wild.”  The elder put a hand on Daniel's shoulder and turned him away from the infirmary. “These are in good hands. Come with me, and we will meditate a little while."

Daniel's view of the corridor blurred as his eyes filled with tears. He didn't resist, just let Scout propel him to the serenity of his office, where he swallowed down his heart, closed his eyes, and let the elder's soothing voice guide him back to equilibrium, if only for a moment in time.

Ten Hours Later

Aboard the Ori ship, the Faithful

Captain Anthys of Ver Isa paced the deck above the hangar bay, his strides pounding the metal sheeting that made up the floor of the battle cruiser, Faithful. The alien starship had destroyed one Ori vessel, but the one carrying their prize was virtually untouched. His craft, on the other hand, had sustained significant damage.

Even now, as they dropped out of hyperspace, they were making plans to abandon the battle cruiser under his command, the crew transferring to the Gospel, traveling at their side. He would be among the last to leave the Faithful, because he would have to help set the self-destruct mechanism. Today, the Ori had lost two warships and hundreds of devout soldiers… but they had gained so much more.

He only hoped what they had won would be worth their sacrifice. The followers of the Ori had been unable to communicate with the Priors in their home galaxy for almost a year now, and doubt had begun to creep into many hearts. There were rumors that the Ori had been destroyed along with the Supergate, but Anthys could not accept that belief. He'd been promised ascension and spent his life in service to the Ori. His life was nearing the end of its span, and all that kept him going was the assurance of eternity among the celestial beings he worshipped.

Anthys glanced at his left hand, spotted with age, his skin thinned out and shiny. He barely recognized the hand of the warrior he'd once been. Fear of death coiled up in his belly and made his heart thud with sickening speed in his chest. He had to believe in the Ori. Had to.

Transporting the soldiers and crew to their sister ship took hours, and Anthys supervised every departure. Food, weapons and medical supplies were also carried over, along with every other item they could carry that would serve basic needs. Finally, the sequence was initiated into the ship's computer, and the last of the ambulatory personnel gathered at the infirmary door.

Anthys listened to the Prior as he wandered among those who were gravely wounded and could not be moved, imparting final blessings on them and promising them the bliss of ascension.  Many were strong in their faith and smiled, certain they were about to join the Ori for their guaranteed reward, but a few cried out, begging to be carried away. Anthys lowered his gaze so he wouldn't have to see the fear in their eyes.

Doubt crept in, just for a moment, its cold hand clutching at his heart. What if the heretic Daniel Jackson's warning were true? What if the promise of Origen really was a lie, and all those who lay here, pleading for their lives, were about to be forfeited for nothing? What if everything Anthys himself believe were untrue? What would become of his own soul, when he reached the moment of death?

He glanced up at the Prior's milky eyes and found them staring at him, as if the ghostly old man could see right into his soul.

Instantly, Anthys pushed aside his fear and lifted his chin proudly. "Hallowed be the Ori," he chanted at the end of the blessing, his voice stronger than the rest. He chastised himself, for his weakness in doubting, and committing himself to penance when the proper moment arrived.

The Prior led the way to the transporters. He, Anthys and the last of the officers beamed across to the Gospel, deserting their own ship and its hapless wounded crewmembers.

Still, Anthys's heart burned, and his spirit remained uneasy. He stormed off the transporter deck and made his way to the chapel, already aware where their prize would have been taken. He wanted to know what had been worth the cost of so many lives.

On the altar at the back of the room, an object lay draped with a luminescent gold cloth.  It was so small, barely the span of both his hands tall, less than one across.

"Let me see it," he growled to the two Priors standing watch.

Anthys's had proven his mettle and intelligence, as well as his faith, in a lifetime of service. He had risen through the ranks to command armies in the name of the Ori. He had knelt at the feet of the Orisi herself.

"As you wish," the Gospel's senior Prior replied. He bent to lift the cloth off the artifact, holding the fabric up by its corners. "It is called a Zero Point Module, Captain Anthys, and will provide us with enough power to build another doorway to our galaxy, so that more ships and soldiers may come to bring the word of Origen to this dark place." 

Anthys stared at the little thing, so fragile-looking, housed in what appeared to be some kind of amber glass.

The priest touched it, and lights inside it began to glow.

"It is so small," Anthys declared, his voice trembling, revealing his doubts and shaky faith. He straightened his posture and steadily met the Prior's rebuking gaze, his voice firm and strong as he added, "But if it helps our cause, then it is indeed a blessing."

Approval glimmered in the priest's milky eyes, and he smiled. "It will be a great thing, Anthys. Of this, you can be certain. All we need do is open the gate to the followers of the Ori, and a cleansing flame will issue forth to bring the light of Origen to all."  He chuckled and let the cloth drop back into place, hiding the ZPM from view once more.

A chill of fear shivered up Anthys's spine, and he couldn't help feeling that something had gone terribly wrong somewhere along the way. His life had been touched over and over by the impossible, driven by fate down a path that had taken him far from everything and everyone he had ever loved, and he could see only one end to it. He had not intended to be a soldier; this much he knew, but it had been necessary that he take up the way of the sword.

None could resist the will of the Ori, least of all a simple man like himself.

End Chapter 27

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