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.
“Daniel, go and get Adam his visitors pass and meet us in the debriefing room. I just want to check something out with the General. I’ll meet you there.” O’Neill was still wondering how he was going to tell Hammond about Pierson’s sword as he left the reception area.
Methos looked around the Cheyenne Mountain complex with interest. As far as he could see, it looked like your typical military base, well what he could remember of the little he had seen of them during the last World War, anyway. He tended to avoid the military as much as he could, usually. This manuscript had better be worth the risks he was taking.
He wondered what the chances were of actually running into any others like Tutankhamun; after all, he hadn’t seen any since the days of ancient Egypt. There had been rumours of the existence of powerful telepaths about twenty years ago, but never any solid proof. He wondered what Joe and Mac would think if they knew that he tried to keep up to date with all the research done in the field of physic powers. A Professor Galt had tried to publish a paper about some new proof he had discovered about seven years ago, but the man had been dismissed as a bit of a nutcase.
As they approached reception he noticed a boy arguing with one of the security guards. The boy, he looked as though he was in his late teens, maybe a fraction older, was trying his best to sound indignant.
“Hey, last time I looked it wasn’t a crime to try and find the bathroom…”
“It is when you’re trying to find it through a door marked restricted access.” The guard didn’t seem to be buying the story. “ Don’t worry, young man. Your father is coming to get you. You can try and explain it to him”
“What’s going on here?”
“Oh, good morning Doctor Jackson. It’s all under control, sir. This kid wandered away from the main tour group. We found him heading for the restricted area.”
“I told you, I was looking for the bathroom.”
Methos moved in a bit closer. This sounded like it was going to be fun. He wanted to see what would happen when the boy’s father showed up. He was probably some bigwig or something, the kid would get really chewed out.
Megabyte stopped his train of thought suddenly. He felt the presence of someone else in the room. Someone who’s psychic aura felt different, very different. As a Tomorrow Person he was aware of the faint mental auras of the other people in the room. He was used to that. He and the others referred to it as “background noise”. This aura was decidedly different, stronger, almost overpowering. He noticed a man watching the conversation. He seemed almost amused by it.
Megabyte moved closer to the man and was surprised at the strong mental images that assailed his mind. Images of men on horseback he could handle, but when one of them swung a sword and Megabyte saw that he was going to behead the other, he started to feel ill. He involuntarily took a step back. This was weird, way too weird.
“Don’t worry, I don’t bite.” The other man was looking at him curiously. Megabyte wondered if he’d noticed his reaction.
[Adam, where are you?] he ‘pathed.
[Just coming round the corner with your dad. He’s not very impressed. He thinks…] Adam stopped suddenly
Megabyte could feel the confusion coming from his friend. So Adam could feel it as well. He saw General Damon and Adam approaching. Adam looked a bit pale.
[It’s this guy here. I got really strange mental images from him when I got close. His aura feels strong too, unnaturally strong.]
“Are you feeling okay?” asked Daniel. The red headed boy had suddenly turned a shade paler. He noticed a dark haired man approaching with another boy, about the same age as the red head, in tow. Must be the boy’s father, he surmised. I’d feel like that too if I’d been caught doing something I shouldn’t, he thought.
“ Megabyte, can’t I take my eyes off you for one minute without you getting into trouble? What did I tell you about leaving the tour group?”
“I was only going to find the bathroom.”
“And I’m the toothfairy,” came the reply. “Are you alright, Adam?” The last question was directed to the dark haired boy next to him who had suddenly come over with a fit of coughing.
“Sorry, General. Just lost my breath for a minute” Methos noticed he spoke with an Australian accent. This was getting more fun by the minute.
“Megabyte…. Never mind. I’d better go and have a word with General Hammond and apologise for your behaviour.” Damon looked at the two boys suspiciously. He had the feeling he was missing something. He’d talk to them later, in private. “Wait here.”
The man at reception spoke up. “Doctor Jackson, Colonel O’Neill says to come down. They’re waiting for you and Mr Pierson, sir.”
Methos lent over to the redheaded boy on his way past. “Hope you find the bathroom Megabyte.” Both boys looked at him. He felt a shiver go down his spine. Something about them was familiar, some look about them. He couldn’t put his finger on it. They weren’t pre immortal, he would have known if they were. There was something though.
“Come on, Adam”
The sound of Daniel’s voice broke his train of thought. Right, he thought. Concentrate on the business at hand. Let’s see what this stone is about.
The two Tomorrow People watched the two men enter the lift. Megabyte turned to Adam. [That was weird] he ‘pathed. [Did you see those images too? Men on horseback, villages burning. Looked liked something out of the Middle Ages. I thought I was going to loose my lunch when I saw the sword cutting someone’s head off.]
[Major weird,] agreed Adam. [I think we’d better find out some more about this guy. He was looking at us strangely as well. I don’t think he knows about the Tomorrow People. At least I hope not.] He thought for a minute and added, [And next time your dad says something, don’t send me a mental picture of it, okay?]
“Adam Pierson, this is General Hammond, the man in command of this base. General Hammond, this is Adam Pierson, the man who has been helping Daniel with the manuscript.”
“Pleased to meet you, Mr Pierson. Colonel O’Neill has told me a lot about you. I wanted to thank you for offering to help us out with this matter.” Hammond held out his hand to the historian.
“ My pleasure, General. I’m wondering why the military is interested in an old manuscript though. It’s not as though it would be vital for national defence or anything.”
If only you knew, Hammond thought to himself. “ I’m sorry, Mr Pierson, but that information is classified. We can tell you what you need to know to decipher the manuscript, but I’m afraid that’s all.”
“General Hammond,” interrupted Corporal Young. “Sorry to disturb you, sir but there’s a man to see you. He says he is an old friend. His name is Damon. General William Damon.”
“Sorry, Mr Pierson. I’ll have to talk to you later. Colonel O’Neill will fill you in on what you need to know.”
Curiouser and curiouser thought Methos. Hammond knows Megabyte’s father. Maybe Joe was right. Maybe I should leave while I still can. Oh, well at least on the bright side, the General hasn’t mentioned the sword. They probably think it’s still in my travel bag. He mentally shrugged. What they don’t know won’t hurt them.
O’Neill opened the door to his right and ushered him into a room. Daniel had gone on ahead while they had been talking to Hammond, and was already spreading his papers out over the oval table in the middle of the room. Obviously it was some type of conference room, Methos guessed correctly. There were two other people in the room besides Daniel: a woman and a tall, dark, well built man.
“I’ll just introduce the rest of the team. This is Major Carter,” O’Neill nodded towards the very pretty blond woman. “Daniel, you already know of course, and this is Teal’c.”
Teal’c inclined his head, his way of a greeting, Methos surmised. He noticed the strange symbol on the other man’s forehead. I’ve seen that somewhere before, he thought to himself. Now where was it?
“I believe you can help us with our investigation, Mr Pierson. We are very grateful for your help.”
“My name’s Sam. Short for Samantha.”
O’Neill groaned to himself. The guy was trying to hit on Carter. He’d noticed the way he had looked at her when they had been introduced. “Okay, kids. Let’s get down to business shall we. You can make friends later.”
Daniel put a small box on the table. “This is what was found with the manuscript. We don’t know what it’s for, that’s what we’re hoping you can help us with. There’s hieroglyphs on the box as well as the manuscript, but they’re quite different to those you deciphered earlier.”
Methos picked up the box for a closer look. “It feels quite heavy,” he commented. “Have you had a look at what’s inside yet?”
Sam Carter answered him. “ It seems to be lined with some sort of material, similar in make up to lead. The box itself seems to be a combination of several elements, we’re not sure exactly what yet, I’ve still got some more tests to run to be certain. Something that acts like a shield maybe, but we’re not sure why. All that was in the box when we found it was the manuscript, and a stone. Open it and have a look if you like.”
Methos opened the box, and saw to his surprise a small smooth stone inside. “Why would anyone need to put shielding on a box because of a stone?” he asked. As he bent down to examine the stone, it began to pulsate, emitting a strange green glow as it did so.
“That’s odd,” O’Neill noticed. “It didn’t do that last time we looked at it.” Okay, the stone wasn’t as ordinary as they had first thought. Maybe it was some sort of weapon after all, but if so, what had activated it?
“Maybe it has found some sort of power source, O’Neill. A power source that wasn’t available to it last time the box was opened.” Teal’c looked at Methos, who shrugged.
“Don’t look at me. I don’t know. I’m just an historian, remember.”
To Chapter Five
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