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.
The landscape around them didn’t look right, somehow. The colours seemed all wrong. It reminded Megabyte of a movie he had seen recently, a movie where everything had been in black and white where it should have been colour. This was more than just lack of colour, though; it was like looking at the negative of a film or photo. No, he corrected to himself; it was more like being inside the negative. He shivered. I knew I shouldn’t have watched those re runs of Sapphire and Steel last week, he thought to himself.
Lightning filled the air, and for a moment he could see everything around him clearly, as it should be. As soon as the flash died away, his surroundings returned to whatever he supposed was normal for this place.
[This looks exactly the same as it did the last time I was here,] ‘pathed Adam. [It still gives me the creeps.]
[It looks as though Ramiis definitely took some lessons from Rameses then.] A thought struck Megabyte. [Poor Daniel. Imagine how long he’s been in here. No wonder he’s having trouble breaking free. This place is really depressing.]
[Now you know why I wasn’t too keen to come back. Come on, the sooner we find Daniel, the sooner we can get out of here, wherever here is.] Adam wondered how exactly they were going to free Daniel when and if they did find him. Last time he had been in this place, no not this place but something similar, he had been able to leave by teleporting. As he and Megabyte weren’t physically here, he wasn’t sure what would happen if they tried that, this time. Sure, they could leave by severing the mind-merge, but that wasn’t going to help Daniel, was it?
They both noticed the slumped figure at the same time. Daniel looked up at them in undisguised horror. He leaned back against the smooth part of the rock and struggled to pull himself to his feet. His eyes had a haunted look about them. He looked like a man who had been trapped inside a nightmare, a nightmare he couldn’t wake from. It was bad enough that he was in this place. He certainly didn’t want others in here. He wouldn’t wish his experiences of the last few days? Or was it hours?, He’d lost all track of time, on anyone else.
[Adam, Megabyte, how did you get here? You’ve got to leave now, while you still can.]
[Gee, thanks for the warm welcome,] ‘pathed Megabyte. [I bet Luke Skywalker never got this kind of response.]
[Shut up Megabyte.] Adam wasn’t in the mood to listen to his friend’s so called sense of humour. [Daniel, have you got any idea how we can get you out of here?]
[Oh, great, you’ve come to rescue me, but you’re not sure how…] Daniel noticed that he could hear what the two boys were saying but they weren’t actually using speech. Come to think of it, neither was he. [How are we communicating? It can’t be telepathy; I’m not a telepath. At least I don’t think I am.]
[It’s the Stargate,] explained Adam. [It’s boosted our powers, somehow. That’s why we can hear you, I guess we’re picking up your thoughts and broadcasting ours to you.] A thought struck him. [Daniel, you do know where you are, don’t you?]
The archaeologist shook his head. [Some planet, somewhere, I’m not sure where. It’s weird though, I keep having these dreams that I can see myself back at the base, but it’s not me. I’m doing these terrible things, I try to stop myself, but I can’t. It’s as though I have no control over my actions, like someone else has control of my body.]
The lightning flashed again and Daniel saw the bruises on Megabyte’s face. He remembered the boy trying to help him to break free of this place, and what had happened as a consequence. He buried his face in his hands. If the bruises were real, the dreams must have been as well. He couldn’t have done all those things, he couldn’t…
Adam and Megabyte exchanged worried looks. [He’s been right out of it,] ‘pathed Megabyte, making sure that the other man couldn’t hear his thoughts.[I don’t think he has any idea of what exactly has been going on. He doesn’t even know where he really is. We’ve got to tell him.]
[I’ll do it.] Adam laid what he hoped was a reassuring hand on Daniel’s shoulder. [Daniel, don’t you realise where you are?] Daniel shook his head. [This isn’t an alien planet, this is a psychic landscape created by Ramiis. We’re inside your mind.]
[Actually, you are wrong there, telepath.] Adam and Megabyte became aware of the presence of another mind. The mental projection was one of hate, of a magnitude that they had rarely come across before.
[You are correct in assuming this is a psychic landscape created by me. But you are not in Doctor Jackson’s mind. The three of you are in my mind, my domain. In here, everything and everyone follows my rules, my ideals.]
Ramiis stepped out of the shadows. He gestured and, as though on cue, was illuminated by the short burst of lightning that followed.
Adam and Megabyte saw a tall man, with shoulder length dark hair, dressed in the fashion of what they presumed was that of Ancient Egypt. He had a long, thin face and a cruel expression on his face.
Daniel recognised the man he had seen on the screen in the control room, before Pierson had dragged him through the Stargate. The same man whom he had seen fighting on PX251. That’s right, he had called himself Ramiis. He remembered this Ramiis had shot Pierson when the Gate had opened, too. In one of his ‘dreams’ he had a vague recollection that his friend had come back to life. He was a bit hazy about the details though. However, there was also something else he noticed about Ramiis this time, something he hadn’t noticed before. Something he really wished he hadn’t seen at all.
[Goa’uld. You’re a Goa’uld!] exclaimed Daniel. One of Jack’s favourite phrases came to mind. Oh crap!
Ramiis’ eyes glowed momentarily and then returned to normal. [You are almost correct. The Goa’uld and I have a relationship similar to that experienced by the Tok’ra. I am, however the dominant personality. The Goa’uld obeys my thoughts and wishes at all times.]
Yeah right, thought Daniel to himself. I’ve seen enough of the Goa’uld over the last few years not to believe that one.
[Yeah, this guy is even more deluded than we first thought] ‘pathed Megabyte.
Daniel made a mental note to be careful to watch his thoughts while they were in this place. He wondered how telepaths coped without any privacy.
[We use mental shields] ‘pathed Megabyte helpfully.
[And we don’t eavesdrop, do we Megabyte? I hate to break up the TP 101 lecture, but let’s keep our thoughts on the problem at hand eh?]
Ramiis watched the exchange with a look of amusement on his face. Soon the telepaths and their friend would have more to concern themselves over than making idle conversation. He had noticed that mortals, when facing death, often tried to make humorous remarks. It was an attribute he would never be able to understand.
[Let us see if you still show such optimism once I have finished with you.]
Adam gestured to Megabyte. He raised his mental shields so that, hopefully, Ramiis would not be able to hear his thoughts. He cleared his throat, hoping that speech worked in this place as well as telepathy. To his relief it did.
“Megabyte, can you link with Daniel? I’ve got an idea for something that might work.”
Megabyte closed his eyes, thought of Daniel, and reached out with his mind. He nodded. “I can feel him joining in the mind-merge now. Wow, this Stargate effect is really cool. Okay, what’s this idea of yours?”
Adam noticed that his friend had followed his example of using speech instead of telepathy. He also noticed Ramiis was just standing there, watching. It was as though he didn’t think that they would be able to actually do anything against him.
“Break the mind-merge…”
Megabyte interrupted him. “Adam, are you nuts? We can’t just leave Daniel in here, with him.” His face turned red as he felt Daniel’s unspoken question through the merge. “Oh yeah, of course. His mind is merged with ours, where we go, he goes.”
“Are you ready?” Adam concentrated, and to his relief, felt the link dissolve. However there was still the nagging suspicion in the back of his mind that the whole thing had been just a bit too easy. As he opened his eyes again he saw his own reservations echoed on Megabyte and Daniel’s faces.
“Adam, it’s not working! We’ve broken the mind-merge but we’re still here.” Megabyte was beginning to understand something of the fear Adam had talked of earlier. He wished that Adam hadn’t listened to him when he had reassured him earlier that everything would be okay. He remembered all too well what he had said to his friend about being able to pull out if they had to. He hoped it wasn’t going to be a case of famous last words.
“You certainly have a funny way of reassuring people,” complained Daniel. He noticed the redhead’s questioning look and continued, “ Famous last words?”
“Sorry, didn’t realise I was thinking aloud. Adam, are you okay?”
Adam was staring at Ramiis with a horrified look on his face. “You knew this was going to happen didn’t you?”
“Of course I knew, you foolish boy. Your kind is no match for me, nor can you stand in the way of my lord, Apophis. You and your friends will be trapped in here forever.” A thought occurred to him. “Unless you would prefer the honour of becoming hosts for the Goa'uld. The choice is yours.”
Daniel noticed Adam and Megabyte looked quite sick at the thought. Mind you, the thought didn’t appeal to him either. Catch 22, he thought. Prison, or freedom at a price. He knew which option he preferred.
“I will give you a moment to consider your options. Do not take too long, I have other more pressing business to attend to.”
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