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authorDisclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of MGM, Gekko, Double Secret Productions, and all those nice folks. This is only for fun, as always.
As they stepped through the Stargate, warm sun greeted them. Reaching for his sunglasses, O'Neill couldn't help thinking how Sara would love this place. After a generous clearing for the Stargate, a lush, almost tropical. forest began. The air was comfortably warm, with the heavy scent of blooming flowers and moist earth. Faint animal sounds were present in the distance, but no other sign of life existed. They assembled their packs and prepared to examine the forest more closely. An old trail, heavily overgrown, appeared to stretch off northward.
"Stop! Come no further!" the female Goa'uld voice shouted.
Whirling around, weapons at ready, they saw the diminutive woman standing at the southern edge to the clearing. "I will not hurt you, I have no weapons. But, the Jaffa, if he leaves the dais will not be able to return." She was dressed in gold robes, her long, dark hair evident below a royal headdress.
"She is right, O'Neill," Teal'c offered," She carries no weapons."
O'Neill spoke then. "Who are you? And why wouldn't Teal'c be able to return?"
"Teal'c!" She cried, "Do you not recognize me? I am Ve'el, Apophis' queen." She continued, addressing O'Neill, "If the Jaffa comes further, the force which holds me here will entrap him also. Only the dais is safe, and I cannot go there."
"Teal'c, is she telling the truth?" O'Neill asked.
"Yes. She was banished here for opposing Apophis. Her punishment is to live out her days as a human, no weapons, no sarcophagus."
"What did you do, Ve'el, to make him so mad?" Daniel asked.
" When Ra was killed, I realized that your people had become strong and willful, not like those we had conquered previously. There are many worlds out there that have stronger people, and the system lords avoid them. They do not have your curiosity, however. I felt you would return someday, that you could not leave us alone. I wanted to talk, to try for a peaceful coexistence between us. Apophis despised my weakness. He sent Jaffa through to destroy your Stargate. When they failed, I again tried to push for other methods. He sent me here in anger, to conquer my weakness." she sat down, looking exhausted, on the grass.
"Very interesting. You know, we had shut down our Stargate on earth. We saw no value in it. If he had not sent the Jaffa, we would not have ventured out again." O'Neill said.
" I this true? Then Apophis has brought this on himself." She almost smiled as she spoke. " You must be hungry. This world has many delightful fruits. I will bring some for you. Those without a Goa'uld may join me on the grass." Ve'el disappeared into the trees. Carter drew O'Neill off to one side.
"If we could get her home, she might help us. She has no loyalty to the system lords. They have left her here to die."
"That doesn't mean she'll help us destroy them. If we can find a way to get her out, she could just return to her kind. She's Goa'uld, they can't be trusted." O'Neill turned away, as if the matter was finished.
" But Sir, If what she says is true about opposing Apophis, she seems to have been a reasonable Goa'uld. She also hasn't used a Sarcophagus in over a year, that would mellow her. Remember Daniel?"
"We still don't know what is holding her here. It may be a trap. She gains our confidence, and we spring her out of 'jail', so she can destroy us." Daniel joined them, "O'Neill is right. If she is trapped here, then we can use that. We know where she is, we can return and talk to her whenever we wish."
" But Sir..." Carter began, just as Ve'el returned. She bore a rough wooden tray of ripe fruit, which she set down on the bottom step of the dais.
"You are right not to trust me." she said calmly.
"How did you..." O'Neill sputtered.
"It is in your eyes. I am not a trap for you, but you are right not to take my word for it." She sat down on the grass near the tray. " It is not much. I have no way of killing animals to eat. The fruit of this world is very satisfying, though. "
Carter looked at O'Neill, and stepped off the dais. She sat on the lowest step, near the tray, and regarded the fruit laid there. Ve'el leaned closer and pointed to something resembling a plum.
"Zetek, very sweet and the juice will run down your chin." She picked it up and began to eat it.
Carter picked one, and after looking at it closely, took a bite. "Very good." she said, wiping her chin on her sleeve.
" You must hand one of these to the Jaffa." she said, picking up a gray fruit. Carter took it and handed it up to Teal'c. He took it, and also examined it, but rather than eat it, he stuck it away in his pack. He knelt down, keeping an ever watchful eye on the Goa'uld queen.
" C'mon Daniel, try some of this." Carter urged. He stepped over to the edge of the dais, curiosity obviously fighting his better judgment. Without leaving the dais, he reached over and chose an apple type fruit.
" Apophis has provided well for me here. I have all I need to live," her eyes dropped, "except my freedom."
" Why didn't he destroy you, rather than exile you?" Daniel asked.
"He told me to learn to overcome my weakness, and when I do, I will be a proper Queen. Many of the system lords agreed with me. Apophis knows this, but knows not who. He will return for me when he discovers who are disloyal." She drew herself up straighter, " I am still his Queen." Her eyes glowed briefly at her final declaration.
Teal'c stood up. "You have been replaced. A new Queen stands in your place."
"What?" Ve'el stood up so quickly that Carter stumbled in moving out of her way. "LIAR!" she screamed as she launched herself at the Jaffa. As she crossed the edge of the dais, she convulsed in pain as a gold flame engulfed her. The charge threw her back half way across the clearing. SG1 stared in stunned silence.
Daniel spoke first. " Judging form that, it would probably be a good idea not to mention that my wife is the new queen."
"Agreed." O'Neill said.
Carter stood and walked over to where Ve'el lay. "She 's breathing," she observed.
"Now we know she really is trapped here." O'Neill said," I am still not convinced we will be able to trust her, though. We should scout around and see if there is anything else of value here."
"There probably isn't any Naquadah here," Carter began," because she hasn't fashioned any weapons. There are probably some natural resources available. We could collect some samples."
" OK, team. Teal'c, you guard the Stargate." O'Neill looked at his watch, " we will do 12 hours' recon, heading north and looping around. Sound fair, team?"
"Yes, sir" Carter replied.
Daniel looked over at Ve'el. " What about her?"
"Teal'c will be here to let her know where we went. Otherwise, there's not much we can do for her. I'm not ready to try springing her form her 'cage'. Keep in mind, Teal'c, she may be a little mad when she wakes up."
" I will be safe here," Teal'c intoned," You are the ones who require caution."
"Nice to know you care." Jack said, with a smile. " Let's move out."
* * * * *
They followed the path they had originally seen. After a while it spread out and became easier to follow. They heard the sounds of passing animals, but none came into sight. Hundreds of varieties of plants surrounded them, and soon their packs were bulging with samples. O'Neill kept careful watch, and after a while called a halt.
"This path seems pretty straight. If we are going to curve back around to the gate, we are going to have to make our own path." O'Neill said.
They all looked closely at the surrounding forest. While a generous amount of sunlight bathed the path, it was not very far back that darkness set in, and vision was near impossible. Dense undergrowth choked the floor, and made the thought of walking through unimaginable.
" It seems to me that this path must go somewhere, it gets wider and clearer all the time. We may be nearing where an ancient civilization existed." Daniel offered," Perhaps we could just keep on?" he asked.
" I don't feel like chopping my way through that either. We will continue on the path until that next hill." O'Neill radioed Teal'c what they planned to do, and why. Teal'c informed them that Ve'el had awakened and left without a word. "Well, we know she is OK. Let's get over that hill before she catches up with us." O'Neill said as he lifted his pack up to start again.
The path grew wider as it moved up the hill, but there was still no evidence that any one had used it recently. As they neared the top of the hill the trees thinned out, even though the hill was not high enough to inhibit their growth. Suddenly, the trees gave way to a cliff. Below them rose a stone temple, years of wear evident on it's face. The symbol of Ra was just visible above where the door would have been. Grass grew right up to the paving stones before the doorway, and part of the roof had fallen in years ago.
"This temple hasn't been used in hundreds of years," Daniel said, wonder in his voice. "Yeah, so?" O'Neill countered.
"We only killed Ra two and a half years ago, but he hadn't been here in longer than that. What did he come here for, and why did he leave?" Daniel explained.
"Okay, so we just found a reason to check this place out. Let's go."
O'Neill stepped out into the clearing, followed closely by Carter and Daniel. They walked quietly up to the doorway, taking in everything they could. The stone was unfamiliar to them. Carter touched it, rubbing it's rough surface, and admiring it's pale green color. They stepped into the temple, but it quickly became obvious that if there had been anything of value, time and the caved in roof had destroyed it. Daniel found a small tablet, pale green like the walls, but that had been protected from the wear of time by the rubble. It's writing was unfamiliar, but he hoped there was enough there to decipher it when he returned home. After an hour of searching, and coming up otherwise empty, they agreed to head back to the Stargate.
* * * * *
As they entered the clearing, Teal'c, ever alert, came to his feet. Ve'el was nowhere to be seen. "Where's Ve'el?" O'Neill asked.
" She has not returned. Did you find anything?" He replied.
" SG 8 will have their hands full with the samples we brought back, and we found an old temple of Ra. Any idea of it's origin?" Daniel said.
" No." Teal'c answered.
" We have pretty much accomplished all we can this trip. Daniel start dialing home." O'Neill ordered.
At that moment, Ve'el entered the clearing. "You are leaving." She stated simply.
" It's kind of quiet here," O'Neill said," we thought we'd head home now."
" You will return. I know you find it difficult to trust me, but I wish to help you."
"Trust is a little hard here, "O'Neill conceded, " and I am not sure you really could help us anyway. What's in it for you if we trust you?"
"I will not live forever. I do not wish to spend that time alone." Her defiant attitude seemed to crumble, "and perhaps one day you will find a way to free me..." For the moment she appeared as a mere human, alone against the world. Daniel stepped forward and reached out his hand. He could not quite bring himself to touch her, but his voice was gentle.
" We will return."
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