This is my first shot at an SG-1 story after two pieces of Crusade-fic, and, surprise surprise, later on, it's going to have a special guest appearance of a few Crusade characters. However, I won't call this a crossover, since it's really a Stargate story, and I'll stick to SG-1's point of view.
Story is set in season 9, soon after Beachhead, and will and does contain spoilers for that episode, and other S9 episodes too. And yes, as it's S9, Jack O'Neill is not in it, but Cameron Mitchell is. And as it's after Beachhead, no Vala, and Sam's back.
And so, it begins...
"So, Sam. What would you say if I told you I've located what very much looks like an Ancients' science lab?"
The look on her face was worth seeing, and not least so because Daniel knew exactly how Sam felt. He felt the same way every time they encountered an unknown set of ruins, an amazing new artifact, or an exciting culture no one had met before.
"Daniel, I--really? How? Where?"
"Don't throw a party yet, it's not hundred-percent certain that it's what I think it is. It was quite a puzzle to begin with, though now it looks really convincing. See, I've only recently had the time and the chance to study all the things we found in the Avalon caves in Glastonbury."
He might've had the time before, but with Vala constantly peering over his shoulder, he had preferred concentrating on stone tablets and vases and statues instead of the artifacts made of precious metals and jewels that the Ancient caverns in England had contained. Now she was gone. Of course, it was relieving, in a way, and to say that he missed being stuck with her would've been ridiculous. Still, he did miss her. He was angry at her for what she had done, although it had been her quick action in flying that ship into the nearly complete supergate that had saved them all. And he refused to believe that she might be dead. She was alive, out there somewhere, in the Ori galaxy, probably driving them all nuts.
"And?" Sam asked.
"So. There was that book that we found there which told the story of the Ancients, or the Alterans, an amazing thing in itself, but of course you already know all about that. Now, I had the time to read it through properly, and see what else it contained. In a chapter that told of several Alterans of note, there was a mention of a group of twelve, the Duodecim--that was the only name used of them--who studied the secrets of the universe, time, infinity and eternity."
"An Ancient research team! Of course they can't always have had all the knowledge we now know they came to possess--of course someone has invented all that amazing technology--and now we might learn who they were! Though, this has to be a newer team, right? Since the Avalon caves are not nearly as old as many other Ancients' ruins and devices we have met? Nevertheless, I don't think it'd be exaggerated to expect to find a ZPM, even more than one, or a timeship, or technology beyond anything we've even seen before..." she spoke vivaciously. "But--did you say you've actually located it? And it's right here, in our galaxy?"
Daniel beamed at her, completely sharing the eager feelings. "Yes--yeah, you see, the book, that was just the beginning of the puzzle. After I had found this one mention of the group, I started looking for other things that might be related to it. I came up with this."
With a flourish, Daniel revealed something he had been hiding behind his back all this time: a sizable silvery platter with a set of carvings and precious stones in its rim. Sam took it and frowned, gazing at her reflection in the gleaming surface, which was seemingly untouched by the thousands of years it had waited in the caves.
"The carvings in the rim contain the word Duodecim, and then a set of six words, which obviously form a gate address. It took me a while to figure it out, since they're not the usual gate chevrons, but I think I have it now. The words refer to the Latin names for the constellations that correspond to the gate chevrons. As far as I know, no one knows the names for all those found on the gate, since there are many more than what one could learn through studying antique literature. But matching them shouldn't be that difficult with some help from someone who knows astronomy..."
"The names would be based on what the constellations look like from Earth's point of view, right? I'll just go fetch my star atlas, and we can get started!"
"Sam, wait. There's something else you'll absolutely have to see," Daniel said, and reached to take the platter back. "First, I thought this was all about the gate address, just a piece telling other Alterans where to find the place. But there's more to it than that."
He pressed one of the stones set into the rim, and the silvery surface lit up. "Here. Try pressing different stones. Just don't press that red one again, since that'll turn it off."
The previously mirror-like platter now showed a room containing a stargate. The room was so narrow that there was probably just enough space for the gate to open without vaporizing the walls. Since the view was from the direction where the DHD would usually lie, it was impossible to tell whether there actually was one, or how long the room was.
Sam pressed one of the jewels, and the view changed to another room. Its shape and size looked similar to the previous one's, but it was more like a laboratory, full of different kinds of devices of all sizes and shapes, computer screens and what seemed very much like sample jars and test tubes.
Another jewel, and another view, though the room was again identical in floor plan. An Ancient gateship filled most of it.
"Daniel--if you knew all along there was one of those there, why didn't you just tell me right away?"
"Wasn't it a lot more fun to find out for yourself?"
She grinned. "Well, now that you mention it..."
The fourth button revealed a room that resembled Daniel's office. It was full of artifacts, probably from hundreds of different cultures, books, and other methods of storing knowledge, such as hand-held computers.
"There are twelve of those rooms, just like there are twelve stones. Twelve workrooms, one for each of the Duodecim, each of whom had their own particular field of research. Still, I don't think that the gate room, for example, is where the stargate was first invented. After all, I'm pretty certain they already had that technology before they came to our galaxy. Perhaps they were trying to develop it further, somehow. Maybe the Duodecim were a team experimenting with high-tech that might not even work properly..."
"Daniel, we've got to get there. Let's figure out that address."
"Ancients' research base... You know, as much as I enjoy having the team back together because of it, I'm not sure we should go there. I'm afraid that even with Teal'c's help, I'll never be able to get either of you out of that place," Cameron Mitchell commented to Carter and Jackson.
To say that he enjoyed the situation was a mild way to put it, really. After all the weeks he had spent trying to convince the former members of SG-1 to return to that team, suddenly the team had come to him. They were not actually SG-1 yet, no patches, and the designation, though used, was still temporary, but for all intents and purposes, the team was there. Not because of what he had done, just all thanks to an Ancient set of silverware. Of course they were going, and he was every bit as eager to go as the two scientists. Even the rest of the crew in the control room looked anxious. Mitchell was sure he could hear a slight quiver in Harriman's voice as he declared his usual "Chevron seven locked."
The MALP was not affected by the mood. Its climb up the ramp seemed to take ages. When it finally entered the event horizon, Jackson and Carter had their noses practically pressed against the screen, waiting for the data to show up.
The screen stayed blank.
"Connection lost," Harriman told. "I'm sorry."
"It never made it through the gate at the other end," Carter said. "There's probably an iris of some sort there. Or then the gate's been buried or blocked and the place just isn't there anymore."Jackson shook his head as he glanced at the silver platter he had placed on the table. It still showed a mostly empty room with an inactive gate. "I was kind of hoping that the platter was a real-time thing, like a web cam, but of course it's much more likely that it just shows pictures--I mean, it doesn't even look like anything that carries a power source strong enough to receive a signal from a planet far removed from Earth. For all we know, that science lab could've been destroyed thousands of years ago."
"Hey, hey, we're not giving up yet, are we? It's still more than possible it's there. Ancients' stuff is built to last, come rain or come shine. Have you went through all the Avalon artifacts already? If there's an iris, maybe we just need a GDO," Mitchell suggested.
"Yes, that's exactly what I'm going to do. Look for a GDO. Back to the drawing board."
"This has got to be it," Daniel declared, holding out a silver plate, much smaller than the picture viewing platter, but clearly similar in design.
Sam took the plate and turned it around in her hands. "It's got a set of stones, though there's just ten of them, and there's some text too. Can you translate this?"
Daniel nodded. "They look like random words. Aeternitas, astri, tempus, terra, infinitus, universitas... Wait! Universe, time, infinity, eternity! All the four subjects mentioned in the book are here. Could it be that simple?"
"That's the code we need to open the iris? The stones corresponding to those words in that order?"
"It's certainly worth trying."
"All right, I'm transmitting the code," Daniel said. He hoped there wasn't a particular position needed, a specific part of the plate that he should point at the gate, since he had no idea what that should be. He pressed the four stones that stood closest to the four words corresponding to the text.
"That's it. Let's see if it worked."
The MALP rolled up the ramp again and went through the gate.
He was holding his breath, and he could guess that every single one of the crowd in the control room was doing the same.
"Receiving MALP telemetry," Harriman announced.
"Yes!" Daniel exclaimed triumphantly, exactly at same time with Sam, though she sat behind the screen in the room above.
Mitchell's "Yeah!" came only a few seconds after them.
The view was familiar from what they had seen on the platter. A small, narrow room, just large enough for the gate. At the far end of the room stood the DHD, and behind it was a doorway.
"It looks safe. Atmosphere's normal, temperature at 80 degrees, and no signs of anyone there so far. General?" Sam turned to look at Landry, eyebrows raised.
He nodded, smiling. "SG-1, you have a go. We'll be expecting to get plenty of souvenirs."
"Sure thing, sir," Sam replied, and headed down to the gate room.
Sam and Daniel sprinted up the ramp, and though Mitchell and Teal'c followed more slowly, Mitchell's steps did have a clearly bouncy quality to them.
"It would appear Christmas has come early this year," Teal'c noted.