The Barque of Heaven Read online

  They made their way back to the Stargate at a fast walk, in moonlight, in silence. The priests had been quite impressed with the offerings and had grandly presented them with a copper tablet bearing the address and password to the next world.

  How magnanimous of them. Jack scowled darkly at the reeds along the path. We open a vein for them and all we get is a two-bit platter. He shook his head, frankly awed by the fortitude of the people around him. There was a lot of touching going on too, quick darts of the hand from one to another, reassuring steadying pats, bumps of shoulders from walking too close. Nice.

  They retrieved Daniel and Carter's packs, bolted a quick, cold meal and moved on. This world and all its weirdness had taken a lot out of each of them. Carter was moving slightly hunched over and Daniel was looking tired and washed out. Teal'c was quiet, but not in a closed-off way. Jack pushed away his own weariness and promised himself a night out with Teal'c when they got home.

  Following the reeds along the estuary, Jack was dragged from his musings by a glimpse of something in the tall stalks. He slowed, thinking at first it was a frog. He peered closer and found himself staring at the incomparable face of Bes. The little guy blinked solemnly back at him. Jack opened his mouth but the words got stuck as Bes blew him an exaggerated kiss and vanished. Jack jerked upright and scuttled after the others.

  SG-1 moved on through the warm night, surrounded by the croaking of frogs and the far-off splash of fish in the river. Wrapped in their own thoughts, they were all a little surprised when the Stargate loomed before them, gleaming majestically in the moonlight.

  Daniel punched in the address and gave the Goa'uld words for `Strident of Voice'; "Aaa Kheru. "

  In the cool reflected light of the wormhole, the four looked at each other. Carter beamed at Daniel who passed on a smile to Teal'c. Teal'c quirked his lips and inclined his head toward Jack. Jack broke out his cheesiest smile, gave them all a lopsided grin and ushered them to the Stargate.

  "Hi ho, hi ho!"

  "Oh, please, you're not going to sing, are you?"

  "And what's wrong with my singing?"

  "Nothing a good coach couldn't fix, sir."

  "There are legends of a planet where those who cannot sing in tune are highly revered."

  "Hey! I'll have you know...."

  GATE SEVEN

  Roaring Voice

  have a wonderful singing voice." Jack declared as the wormhole spat them out into a cold dampness that wrapped around their bodies like a shroud. They edged closer together on the Stargate platform, itself no more than a narrow shelf of rock. Clouds of mist hung listlessly in the air, blurring definitions of land and sky into one vast, dreary morass. Glaring directly into their eyes, a swollen sun sat just above where the horizon should have been. Its angry red light merged with the mist in the atmosphere and seemed to reach out to them with malevolent intent. Even as they watched it sank lower into the mist's embrace, only minutes from setting.

  "Spooky," Daniel muttered.

  Jack nodded. The chill, red-tinged fog lent the impression they were standing on a film set, waiting for Count Dracula to enter, stage right. The light that did get through was diffuse, making it difficult to discern objects and distance. Reflected blue shimmers from the wormhole behind them added momentarily to the eeriness before the Stargate shut down. Jack cleared his throat, feeling as if his ears were clogged.

  "You know the drill." The words echoed oddly in his head.

  The team spread out, Carter to try the DHD and Daniel to check their time limit. Teal'c strode onto the slick rock surrounding the platform. Jack twisted around to look through the Stargate at a sheer wall of clammy rock that rose up until it was lost in the fog.

  Secure in the rear at least.

  Daniel straightened up from the moon-clock. He pulled his boonie firmly onto his head and zipped his jacket against the pervading cold. "Seven hours, forty minutes, Jack." He scowled at the eerie light. "This place gives me the willies."

  "The willies?" Jack grinned briefly. "Well, stick close and don't wander off. Let's hope we don't have to travel too far in this muck."

  "Yeah." Daniel stepped through the ring and stood next to Jack, hands shoved deeply into his pockets. He peered morosely into the mist.

  "Daniel?"

  "This is the seventh planet we've gated to in, well, I've lost track of how many days. There are still six more before we reach the end of the Trial and whatever is waiting for us there. How much longer do you think we can keep this up, Jack?"

  "As long as it takes. Whatever it takes."

  "Till we run out of food and ammunition, get too injured or exhausted to leave in time?"

  "Then we find food, we find other weapons. We're not going to let some stinky dead snake get the better of us."

  Daniel slid a skeptical glance at Jack.

  "Are we?" Jack demanded.

  "No. No, of course not." Daniel said the words but the optimism Jack was looking for seemed to be as faint as the fading light.

  "As long as we stick together, we'll get through this, Daniel." Jack clapped him on the shoulder and drew him down the five steps to the DHD.

  "No go, sir," Carter looked up, the odd light making her look pale and delicate.

  "Right. We've only got until 0517 before the door shuts, so let's get moving."

  Jack turned and stopped dead in his tracks as Teal'c appeared out of the gloom, the rubicund gleam of his skin from the setting sun giving him an almost demonic aura. The image was not helped by trails of mist curling around his head.

  "I have found the next Stargate address and password, O'Neill."

  Jack blinked at him in surprise. "Just like that?"

  "A row of posts define the boundary of this shelf of rock. Each bears an address glyph and the words of the password."

  "They're just sitting there? No hocus pocus or funny walks to get them?"

  "They are in plain sight." Teal'c spun on his heel and walked into the mist.

  Not even a Fish Slapping Dance? Jack and the others trailed after Teal'c.

  Sure enough, not fifteen meters from the Stargate they came across a small stone post, the top of which bore a carved symbol of Crux. It seemed to be glowing faintly, perhaps an effect of the sunset reflecting through the fog. To the right they could barely make out the shape of another. A scant meter beyond the first post, the moisture-slick rock ended abruptly and the fog was sucked over the edge as it flowed toward what seemed certain to be a very long drop.

  "There has to be a catch," Carter said. "Why leave them so visible when we've had to search or fight for the others?"

  "Well, I'm not about to look a gift-post in the mouth. Daniel, T, go get `em." He paused, a niggling thought resurfacing. "Carter, do you have the C4 detonators in your pack?"

  Daniel trailed after Teal'c, writing down the seven glyphs and the symbols of the password from the eight posts. Teal'c was in no mood to talk and stood silent guard as they moved around the border of what turned out to be a small, half-oval shaped shelf of rock. Once, Daniel glanced up at Teal'c and saw not the friend and trusted teammate he relied upon so much, but a stranger whose cold, expressionless face was bathed in the sun's dying light. A shiver of unease shot through Daniel and he quickly looked away. For a brief moment he felt an angry, evil presence pressing down on him, suffocating him. His breath caught in his throat and his mind blanked out all thought. His hands shook and his skin crawled all over, standing his hair on end. The next moment the sensation was gone.

  He forced himself to look up again and this time it was just Teal'c standing there, alert, capable Teal'c.

  "Got them, Teal'c." Daniel's voice sounded subdued in his own ears. He coughed the cloying mist from his throat and managed an uncertain smile. "Let's go back to the others."

  Teal'c glanced at him, inscrutable and remote. He inclined his head and Daniel followed him through the red mist to where Jack was kneeling on the ground, his open pack before him. Sam stood over him, her body tense, gun gr
ipped tightly. Teal'c seemed ill at ease here too. Daniel had a sudden desire to be gone from this planet-now.

  Teal'c frowned at Jack and moved to face the setting sun. "We should leave this place, O'Neill."

  "We will, T, we will. Keep your hair on." Jack sat back on his heels and surveyed the gear that he had dragged out of his pack. "I don't get it. I know I put the detonators in here. Carter, give me your pack."

  Sam stifled an exasperated sigh and handed the pack over. She too turned her back on Jack and looked out into the fog. "Wow. Look at this."

  Daniel joined her standing near Teal'c, Jack a step behind. Spread out in panoramic glory before them, the sun was sinking rapidly into the horizon's embrace. Its color shifted into an even deeper, angrier claret. Fiery shafts of light streaked up, reaching out over half the sky. It took only a couple of minutes for the last half of the burning sun to completely disappear. As the final crescent vanished, the reflected streaks of color likewise died, as if a plug had been pulled. The cliff and surrounding rock were plunged into a sudden, sinister darkness.

  "Well. That was...."

  "Abrupt."

  "Amazing."

  "Most unsettling."

  Their voices seemed somehow muffled by both the darkness and the fog which began to lap thickly at their feet. Guided by two flashlights they returned to their packs. Jack pawed through Sam's, searching vainly for the detonators. He cursed under his breath and grabbed Daniel's.

  "Jack, I don't have them. Why do you want them anyway?"

  "They have to be somewhere. There was nothing left behind, I checked." Jack shoved the pack back at Daniel and eyed Teal'c, weighing his chances.

  "I do not have detonators in my pack or on my person, O'Neill. You will cease this fruitless endeavor and allow us to take our leave. Now."

  Jack opened his mouth but Daniel caught Sam's eye. Together they grabbed their belongings and began to gear up.

  As Daniel hefted Sam's pack for her to clip on, he looked up at the wall of rock behind the Stargate. Astonished, he watched as a sea of fog flowed down the cliff face. Within seconds, it hit ground level and spread out. It engulfed the Stargate and surged forward to completely cover the four of them. Like a wave, it swept on to pour off the edge of the shelf, an unending tide of cold dankness. He fumbled the pack into place, barely able to see what he was doing. The fog caught in his throat and he coughed, vainly trying to clear it. His head seemed wrapped in cotton wool all of a sudden and his breathing sounded loud in his ears. He coughed again, bending over from the force of it, and nearly leapt out of his skin when a hand grabbed his arm and shook him.

  "What? Jeez, Jack. Don't sneak up on me like that."

  Jack leaned in close, getting right in Daniel's face. He seemed to be trying to say something but no sound left his lips.

  "Jack, what's wrong with your voice?"

  Jack stopped trying to talk and stared hard at Daniel. What the hell was wrong with him? First he didn't hear him yelling in his ear and now he seemed to have lost his voice. Daniel tried to speak again, concern creasing his brow, but Jack couldn't hear him.

  "Carter, Teal'c, something's wrong with Daniel."

  Now there was a statement guaranteed to get a response and yet, they didn't acknowledge him, just proceeded to gear up, their faces turned away from their teammates. A horrible suspicion crept over Jack. He looked back at Daniel who seemed to be talking once more. Jack reached out and lightly wrapped one hand around Daniel's throat.

  Surprise stilled Daniel's mouth. Jack glared at him and signaled to keep talking. Eyebrows wriggling, Daniel mouthed a few more words, something along the lines of `What do you think you 're doing?'

  Jack could feel the vibrations inside Daniel's throat as he spoke, but no sound reached his ears. Likewise, Daniel could not seem to hear him. Jack slid his hand around the back of Daniel's neck, drew him close and practically screamed in his ear, "Can you hear me? "

  Daniel jerked in his grip and turned to stare at him. He nodded, fingers measuring a tiny amount. He spoke again, hands gesturing at his ears, then grabbed Jack's head and brought his lips to his ear. Faintly, as if through a long tunnel, Daniel's voice reached his ear, inflection indicating he was yelling at full volume.

  "I can't hear you. Something's wrong, Jack. "

  Jack looked over at Carter and Teal'c, both standing staring off into the mist like they were waiting for a bus.

  "Hey!" He whacked Teal'c's shoulder for good measure and was rewarded with a flinch of surprise the like of which he'd never seen from the big guy before. Teal'c turned affronted eyes on him, mouth open and forming silent words. Jack did his pantomime routine once more, while Daniel tried to communicate with Carter with much flapping of hands. Teal'c nodded his understanding and indicated the thick fog flowing around them, evidently considering it the cause of the problem. Before Jack could wrap his head around the idea, Carter suddenly grabbed Daniel, bawled something at him and took to her heels, disappearing in the fog within seconds.

  Daniel waved frantically at Jack and Teal'c, and took off after Carter. Jack nearly smacked into them a few meters away by the DHD. Carter turned to stare at them, eyes wide and gesturing madly at the DHD.

  The collective penny dropped with quite a thud. The DHD would only activate the Stargate with a spoken password.

  "Well, crap." Jack's words echoed hollowly in his head.

  Daniel pulled out his notebook and dialed the address from the boundary posts. As the last chevron lit up dully on the Stargate, he lowered his face almost onto the center crystal and screamed the password, his neck muscles bunching and cording with the strain.

  The Stargate stayed inactive, useless to them.

  Looking more than a little desperate, Daniel motioned for the others to join him. He dialed once again, showed them the phonetic spelling of the password in his notebook and the four of them yelled as loudly as they could. The result was a mere whisper in their ears.

  The chevrons winked out again. The fog wrapped the Stargate in an obscuring shroud and curled clammily around SG-1 as they slumped, trepidation chilling them as surely as the fog.

  Three hours. Three hours, twenty seven minutes, forty five seconds to be precise. Jack flipped shut the cover of his chrono with a snap he couldn't hear. Three hours Carter had been at it and they were still no closer to getting the Stargate open. He glanced at her for the hundredth time as she sat crosslegged on the ground, the guts of the DHD scattered around her, desperately trying to cobble something together that would amplify their voices enough to activate the Stargate.

  He packed away his shaving kit and looked at the rest of his team, sitting close by. The fog swirled thickly, leaving them barely visible in the light of a three-quarter moon. Teal'c was sunk deep in kel'no'reem. He had conferred with Carter on notepads about the nature of the crystals within the DHD and pointed out those most likely to be of use to her, then he had planted himself on the cold rock and zoned out.

  Jack felt the Jaffa's disapproval radiating through the fog at him.

  Yeah, I'm carrying the ball on this one, big guy.

  In retrospect, it was obvious something would hinder their departure, with the information they needed just sitting there in plain sight. Turning out their gear in a mad search for the detonators had been crazy. He'd been so sure it was vital to find them, and yet, for the life of him he didn't know why. Now... they were stuck here on a rock in the fog of doom and he didn't know what had possessed him.

  Teal'c wanted away from here. Should have listened. Should listen more to him generally. The man has three lifetimes' worth of experience.

  Jack shifted uncomfortably on the pack underneath him. He stared at Teal'c: so controlled, so intelligent, so alien. Little acknowledged demons rose up in the silence to taunt him. His own military life seemed insignificant compared to Teal'c's. Some days-not many, but some-he had the distinct impression Teal'c was only tolerating his command. That Teal'c would one day reject an order he didn't agree with and
leave them. The thought of losing the strength and wisdom, and yeah, friendship he relied on left an even colder chill in his gut.

  Need to tell him... what? How much we value him, how much I need him.

  The image of him attempting a heart to heart with Teal'c filled his mind and quickly resolved into the two of them staring speechless at each other for hours.

  Hockey! Take the man to a game. That'll do it.

  Plan of action settled, Jack turned his attention to Daniel, who was hunched over their last remaining camp-stove, heating up coffee for them one cup at a time. Lost in his own thoughts and wrapped in a thermal blanket, he seemed more like the Daniel Jack had dragged back from Abydos- lost and out of his depth-than the self-assured explorer he was now rapidly turning into.

  Are you going to leave the team?'

  `No. Yes. No. I don 't know. '

  Condensed fog dripped off his cap and into one ear, sending shivers all over. There had been a lot left unspoken in that conversation. Daniel was getting further from Sha're and Skaara.

  Little wonder he's getting frustrated. If it were my family out there....

  Daniel looked up and reached over, offering Jack a steaming cup of coffee. He took it gratefully, the heat leeching through the metal into his numb fingers. Jack settled back, thoughts about his team still bouncing around his skull.

  The incessant chill of the fog crept steadily through Daniel's clothing. The lightweight desert camos seemed to absorb the heavy moisture in the air. His two shirts and jacket were slowly losing the fight to keep his body warm, despite the thermal blanket. Water managed to find a path down his neck no matter how tightly he pulled his collar close. His butt was numb and the lacerations on his back and legs ached with a dull, annoying throb. The mist smelled strange, too.

  Aggravated, Daniel got up once more and paced slowly around the small perimeter of illumination cast by the flashlight Sam was using. He tucked his fingers under his armpits and stepped over Jack's legs. He kept moving, feeling the boundaries of this new prison encircle and slowly collapse in on him. The urge to break free and just run taunted him, despite a sure and quick death being the only thing that lay beyond the precipice, hidden beneath the fog.