by Anne
Disclaimer : The characters of Daniel Jackson, Jack O’Neill, Sam Carter, Teal’c, General Hammond, Janet Frasier, Apophis and anybody else you recognise from the SGC do not belong to me. Neither does the concept of the Stargate, SGC, and the Goa’uld and any thing else related to the series Stargate SG1. They belong to Stargate (II) Productions, Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Products.
The characters of Methos (a.k.a. Adam Pierson), Joe Dawson, Connor MacLeod and Duncan MacLeod belong to Panzer/Davis, Rysher/Gaumont Television. So do the concepts of Immortality, the Game and the Watchers.
Likewise the characters of Adam Newman, Megabyte Damon, General William Damon, Ami Jackson, Jade Weston, Kevin Wilson or any names or events linked to the Tomorrow People TV series do not belong to me either. They are the property of Roger Damon Price, Thames/Tetra and ITV Television.
“Well, are you going to share, or keep the good news all to yourself?” asked O’Neill impatiently. Pierson had been reading for a good few minutes now and so far hadn’t said a word. He had the distinct impression that the other man was just as interested, if not more so, in the contents of the manuscript as they were.
“Just about finished..”
Daniel shot O’Neill an ‘I told you so look’. He looked like a kid in a candy store thought O’Neill. What if it is instructions for the stone? How do I explain that to a civilian? Make that two civilians. He noticed Dawson seemed to be hanging around waiting for the translation as well. I don’t remember giving him an invitation to the party.
“A warning to the oldest of those who cannot die… This is my legacy to you and those who helped destroy the one who served me. The tendrils of the medusa will reach out and destroy those who ‘mind speak’ and you will be unable to ……”
“Unable to what?” asked Daniel. Pierson had come to a halt and was looking a bit pale. He repeated himself. “Unable to what?”
“I don’t know. That’s as far as its goes. The rest of the writing has been destroyed. Age, I suppose.” Methos cursed to himself. He had hoped he had seen the last of the mad Egyptian, Ramiis. He’d been enough trouble while he was alive, now it looked like he was going to cause trouble in the afterlife as well.
“Pierson, do you know what this is about?” asked O’Neill. He’d seen the other man’s reaction and knew damm well he did.
Methos chose his words carefully. He knew that he would have to give some sort of explanation, or they would keep asking until he gave one.
“When I was working on my paper on Ancient Egypt I came across a strange story. An Egyptian priest named Ramiis thought that he had a direct line to the god Apophis. This guy was as mad as a hatter of course. He got it into his mind to rid the planet of all of the god’s enemies, all those who could be a threat to him, all those who apposed him. Actually there weren’t too many, as most of the natives were scared witless, as I remember,” He added hastily “the story went. Ramiis got it into his mind, or what was left of it, that the boy king Tutankhamun and some of his friends were a threat to Apophis. He had the crazy idea that they were telepathic or something similar, they called it mind speaking in those days.”
“So what happened to Ramiis?” asked Joe
“The kids had some help. Someone else who didn’t agree with Ramiis’ activities. There was a fight and according to the legend the priest lost his head. Literally. Just before he died Ramiis said that his god Apophis would seek revenge on the kids, if not on them, then on those like them.”
Daniel was curious. “How come I haven’t heard of this legend before? I thought I’d heard most of them.”
“It’s not that well known. Legend has it that Apophis wasn’t very happy at the loss of his faithful follower and threatened death to those who repeated the story. I found it in a very obscure set of chronicles. “
O’Neill snorted. “Sounds a bit suspect to me. Telepathy and the like! Next you’re be telling me that they could disappear into thin air and move objects with the power of their mind as well.”
“It’s called teleportation and telekinesis, Jack” observed Daniel. “Not as far fetched as you would think. There was a fair bit of documented evidence of it in the 70’s. A guy named Professor Cawston came up with quite a lot of evidence to support that it wasn’t as unlikely as you would think.”
“Okay then but if this story is true, what’s this rubbish about the tendrils of a Medusa then?” This last question was pointed at Methos.
“Pass.” He seemed lost in thought as though trying to remember something. “Was anything else found with the manuscript?”
Daniel and O’Neill looked at each other. Pierson definitely knew a lot more than he was letting on. “Well actually there was”
“Daniel, this is classified. Need to know only.”
“Well, Jack, I need to know.” Daniel ignored the look that the Colonel was giving him. “It’s not going to hurt to show him the stone. There might be some more information he can give us from seeing it. Remember that there were hieroglyphics on the box the stone came in, as well, they were different again to those written on the manuscript. I couldn’t translate them at all. It sounds like he could.”
“Why do I feel like I’ve been ambushed again?” groused Jack. “I’d better contact General Hammond and okay it with him first though”
“Did you say General? Are you people military? “ Pierson didn’t look too happy with that thought, and neither did Joe Dawson, O’Neill noticed.
“Jack’s military, but I’m a civilian doing research for them,” explained Daniel. ‘They’re quite a decent bunch of people once you get to know them. Don’t panic, they won’t try and shoot you or anything.”
“Adam, can I have a word please?” asked Joe. He was beginning to worry about what exactly Methos had got himself into. “Excuse us, Daniel. This won’t take long”
As soon as they were out of earshot Joe turned to the immortal. “What the hell do you think you’re doing? An immortal getting mixed up with the military? You must be out of your mind. What if they find out about you? What happens then?”
“Okay but watch your head.” Dawson leaned on his cane as he spoke, Methos’ words hadn’t reassured him in the least. Being ex military himself, he knew full well what could happen if the miliary found out the truth about his friend. “I also want the full story about what really happened with that priest Ramiis. That was you that took his head, I take it?”
Methos noticed that O’Neill was beckoning them over.” We’ll discuss this later, Joe. I think he wants us.” Dawson wondered if he would ever get the full story of Ramiis and Apophis out of Methos. He wasn’t usually very forthcoming with these sorts of details. It must be one hell of a story, he thought to himself, especially if Methos felt he owed something to someone. That was one scenario he never thought he’d see.
“I’ve cleared it with the General. You can come and look at the stone but there will have to be someone with you at all times. We don’t want you wandering off. Got it? Daniel, I’m making you responsible for this, seeing you’re the one with the bright idea. Okay?” O’Neill still had his reservations, but General Hammond thought it was important to find out all the information they could. He thought about the rest of the translation. ”Tendrils of the Medusa. Maybe its some kind of energy weapon?”
“Oh, I don’t think its anything as simple as that.” Pierson replied almost absentmindedly.
The three men sat in O’Neill’s car in relative silence during the drive to Cheyenne Mountain. Daniel was scribbling furiously, noting down the Ramiis legend that Pierson had told them. He went through the whole story again in his mind, storing up the thousands of questions he wanted to ask the historian. Obviously he had made the right decision asking the other man to join them, Adam Pierson knew far more about the manuscript than Daniel originally thought.
As they approached the entrance to the Cheyenne Mountain complex, Methos reflected again on how much the area had changed since he had been here last. Mind you, he thought, one hundred years is a long time. At least this time he wouldn’t have a posse chasing him, that was one consolation.
He had heard there was a military base inside the mountain itself, NORAD wasn’t it? Didn’t they watch the stars or something similar from here? He remembered reading an article about it once; seeing it in the flesh, though, was quite different. It was certainly very impressive, at least from what he could see, from the entrance. He wondered how far underground they would be going - the further underground, the less places to run, he reminded himself. He was pleased he’d bought his sword. At least he still had a weapon with him, if he needed to leave in a hurry. He’d thought about leaving it behind, but after all these years, he felt quite naked without it. The wording of the prophecy, if that’s what it was, worried him as well, and he wanted to be prepared for any eventuality
As they got out of the car, Methos turned to O’Neill. Speaking of weapons, it was probably a good idea to mention his Ivanhoe before the sentry on duty noticed it, or the metal detection alarms went off.
Making up an excuse for why he carried it, that would be the fun part. He could hardly say “actually I’m an immortal and I need the sword in case I need to take someone’s head.”
“Jack,” he hesitated before continuing. “ I think I’d better tell you about something before we go any further.”
“Is something the matter, Adam?” asked Daniel. “I told you, the military types on this base are quite friendly, nothing to worry about.” Apart from the aliens that come through the Stargate he added to himself.
“Maybe I’d better show you,” came the reply. “I’m, er, carrying a sword in my travel bag. Silly really, it’s my lucky sword. I found it at a dig a few years back and when I’m working on something a bit tricky, it brings me good luck.” He put on his best Adam Pierson look, and hoped for the best.
Daniel gazed at the bronze sword in unveiled admiration. He lifted it, using both hands, and was surprised at how heavy it was. “Whoa, that’s a beauty. It’s an Ivanhoe, isn’t it? I remember seeing one like that a few years ago in an antique shop, haven’t seen one like it since. Remember Jack, I told you about it once.”
“Yeah, that was the sword you insisted in taking me to see, only to find that once we got there the guy had shut up shop. What was the name of the place again, Russell Nash Antiques or something similar.”
Methos stifled a laugh. What was it about MacLeods and antique shops? He remembered reading on the watcher database that Connor had used that alias for a time. No one had seen much of him since, hopefully the elder Highlander was still around and hadn’t lost his head yet.
“I can’t see that being a problem, can you Jack?” asked Daniel. “I mean it’s not as though he really knows how to use it or anything.”
“I’ll check with the General. A lucky sword. Now I’ve heard everything.” O’Neill turned to Daniel.
“Hey, maybe if ask nicely he’ll let you have a play with it.”
To Chapter Four
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