Jack
We followed the map Arlin had so graciously provided us with. The Gate was to the west of our walking path and the sun started to set then to the south. There were three separate moons making their way into the sky at different points each. I turned around and saw Sam chatting with Teal'c about something, Daniel walking and inspecting the writing on the map, and my eyes were caught back to the horizon.
"How long have we been walking?"
"About an hour," Sam responded.
"In the same direction, correct?"
"Yeah, the caverns have a gate up here we'll have to take down to get into them if my translations are correct on this map. The written language seems to be based on a welsh alphabet..."
"Great," I cut him off before he went on rambling about consonant differences. "The man made bird nest is gone." I walked over to him and took a look at the map. There was a symbol in between the circle of the gate and the camp that I assumed was for the bird's nest marked as a giant line above the treetops with a platform. They turned to look and went back to the map.
"Maybe we walked farther than expected," Sam shrugged. We continued on as the trail became more and more untamed until finally we saw the lichen blanketed pillars notated on the map. A thick collection of trees shrouded the entrance and where boards should have been tacked up to keep people like us out, the wood was rotted off the nails.
"Well, shall we?" I pulled my head lamp out of the pack and turned it on, making my way into the dark.
Eleanor
The team hadn't been heard from for a week, and even though in their only report they suggested not to send in anyone until they came back due to the tensions between them and the groundskeeper, Hammond had put together a small team. That team included me. My first time off-world, and I wasn't sure why. He stated it was because I had a background in anthropology, and I was working alongside Daniel to find the time piece so I had direct knowledge of what we were looking for. I still felt woefully under prepared though.
I was thanking Teal'c internally for my strength training courses with him during workouts early mornings. The pack was like carrying a lead sack on my back. They handed me a small pistol to tuck into my hip holster and my eyes grew wide.
"What do I do with this?"
"Point, and shoot." General Hammond responded dryly. "But not until Major Nguyen tells you."
Dumbstruck I turned to the gate, and watched as they redialed it to open. The MALP had sent back a video of a clear wooded path for us this morning before we got suited up and ready to go out. Standing in front of the swirling blues of the wormhole I sucked in my breath, I'm not sure why. I knew that it would only last a second, that this wasn't some odd vacuum in space that would keep me in a suspended pool, but I still felt like I was going to drown. As if when I stepped in, I would be floating in an ocean clamoring for my life, clinging to something to pull me above the waters. No, it would just be like a walk through a front door. Sure, a door to another world, but a door nonetheless.
I stepped through the ring, eyes closed tight, and as I did I felt my feet walk again on a solid surface. I let out a breath, opened my eyes, and gasped in horror. The sounds of screaming echoed through my ears, children wailing and their guardians clinging onto them in fear. I looked around and saw my team, also standing next to me in absolute shock. The brightly colored carpeting, the symbols on the wall looked like pigmented rainbows and what I could only assume was an alphabet painted along the border of the large atrium. Tables were scattered around us hosting various puzzles and games. There was a water station across the room that had been knocked over in the commotion, liquid covering the floor and people drenched in the splatter huddled in a corner. I turned and as the gate shut behind me, and there was a woman in a green smock that had gone pale in the face trembling behind the gate. There was a glass fence that was placed around the gate as a perimeter, half of it disintegrated across where the flush had plumed out. There was no sign of any fatalities from the wormhole opening, at least we had that going for us in this mass of chaos.
"Did we dial the wrong address?" Major Nguyen swung her head at Sgt. Edmonds next to her.
"I don't know, I don't believe so." He responded, mouth agape.
"I think," I paused and turned to the Major, "now I could be wrong, but I think this is a children's museum."
"What makes you say that?" She muttered back to me. I gestured to all the children, to a giant bubble wand station, to what seemed to be a pretend grocery store I could see just down the hall boasting wooden play vegetation that were unfamiliar to me, and then to the cowering families.
"Who are you?" A man shouted at us from behind a desk.
"You understand us! Well, that is handy." I mustered a smile. "Hello, we are, um," I turned to Major Nguyen what do you usually say here?"
"We've never stumbled into a children's museum to be honest. Usually it's the woods, or a gravel pit."
"Or just a field of we're lucky." Lt. Brookes added.
I took it upon myself to step out. "Hello," my face stretched into an awkward smile. My name is Eleanor, we're friendly explorers from a planet in this very galaxy." Blank stares met me in return, so I continued. "We use this gate," I gestures to the Stargate behind us, "to sort of jump from planet to planet in search of new life to befriend and exchange knowledge."
"The Ring of Ancestors has never been active before." The man behind the desk stepped forward again. "Why now?"
"We're looking for some friends of ours. We think they came this way. Three men and a woman, one had glasses," I made a hand gesture symbolizing Daniel's spectacles. "One had a golden symbol on his forehead?"
"I just said the Ring has never been active. You are the first." The man was growing more agitated.
"You sure did," I chuckled nervously and then saw a memory of my nieces in two little little girls cowering in a corner with their mother. I felt a twist in my throat and looked back at the man. "I truly am sorry for this confusion." I glanced around again and saw what appeared to be pieces of large MALPs rusted and falling apart next to the display of the gate. I pointed it out to Major Nguyen and she nodded in the same confusion I faced.
"Could you tell me where you found that?" She asked the man and he scowled back for the audacity that someone would ask such a question. I heard another child crying in the background of guardians and parents rushing some of their children out the doors.
"It is part of the traveling insulation for the Ring." Another woman in the same color smock as the man behind the desk shouted.
"Have you come to harm us?" Someone else in the crowd yelled out.
"Oh no, no if anything we'd like to be friends. In fact, as an act of goodwill, from our people to yours I'd like to share a gift with you all. Then perhaps, in return you will see we come in peace."
"A gift?" Lt. Brookes ground out under his breath.
"A song." I felt my legs go like jelly beneath me as I kept a composed soft smile. "In many of our Earth customs, where we come from, we feel a sense of community in music."
"A song!" I heard a small voice squeak out.
"He gets it." I pointed in the child's direction and took my pack off, handing it to the lieutenant that came with us. I then peeled off my vest and set it down next to me as I slowly took a few steps closer and crouched down on my knees at eye level with the children who were being corralled by their parents and teachers against the wall. I looked over at the confrontational man, who was just as confused as my own team behind me. I crossed my ankles and sat on my knees in lotus position in an attempt to seem smaller, but still relaxed in my environment. My lungs shakily filled with air and I started a very loud and creaky rendition of Mr. Rogers, Won't You Be My Neighbor thinking it would be the most fitting tune in this situation.
When finished I was beginning to stand when a small collection of gawking parents started to clap politely. A child laughed and shouted for another.
I crouched back down and turned to Brookes behind me. "You have a son, do you know any kids songs?" He grimaced, but walked forward and took the same position next to me.
"Do you think um, twinkle twinkle little star is approachable in this situation?"
"Sure," I turned around and looked at the other three, "twinkle twinkle?"
"I'm not singing." Nguyen shook her head and the other two men stood there silently with her.
"Okay, alright, just uh, you and me then." We counted off and sang the nursery rhyme together until it ended in a larger applause. Once finished we stood up and the desk man walked towards us, hand stretched out.
"Elder Potsch," I allowed Nguyen to shake first and followed after. "I don't understand why you're here, but clearly someone who starts off an introduction this way isn't that much of a threat."
"I, oh." There was a feeling of an insult in his welcome but I took it and continued, "I'm Eleanor Owens of Earth, and I hope we have started off our friendship on a positive note."
"Eleanor Owens, most people in our society do not sing a song as welcome. Is that customary where you are from?"
"Um, no. No, but it is a way for us to communicate and share cultural customs with one another. Especially children," I smiled and waved at a little girl behind him.
"You have a kind heart," a woman walked up beside the man. "But, I ask that we take this meeting to somewhere more private. The children have had enough excitement."
We agreed and followed her among the throng of both giggling and crying children that were feeding through the hallways. The building was large enough to be an aircraft hanger, the ceiling was entirely made of glass and steel. As we walked past adults snatched their children back and pushed them behind. The woman led us to a conference room and closed the door behind her.
"I am Eldress Chori," she motioned at the mustard fabric covered chairs around a long wooden oval table and we took our seats. The room was a metallic silver with words etched in a language I couldn't read on the walls. A soft globe of light was hanging from the ceiling, and made the woman's silvery hair shine like a wispy cloud piled onto her head. Her deep ebony skin was a warm contrast against the cool blue ankle length tunic she wore.
"We are humans from the planet Earth, also known as the Tauri to some. Travelers just looking for our lost party," I continued introducing the group to the woman and each of them gave a nod.
"I will wait for the county councilman to come and discuss what happens next." She gave a nod and walked out, shutting the door behind her with an exaggerated slam.
"I think this is going well so far." I let out a breath and Brookes looked at me as if I had grown an extra head.
"Going well? We made contact with a culture that has no idea the gate worked, there is no sign of SG-1 and we are now trapped in a conference room." He sputtered back.
"But, there were two old MALPs, I'm not crazy right? They were rusted and poorly put back together again. So, presumably SG-1 came through at some point."
"And dialed somewhere else, instead." Nguyen sighed.
"Probably. I saw a dial home device behind another fence. However, I doubt it's connected." The lieutenant who I learned was named Rogers replied.
"They have dialed home with no power before," I looked around the room and saw a blinking red light in the corner. "We are being watched."
"Well yeah, that's expected." Brookes leaned back in his chair and folded his arms behind his head.
A knock on the door made our heads snap to attention, and a man walked in with large deep set green eyes and bushy black mustache. His hair was shaved close to his scalp, and his tunic looked very similar to that of Eldress Chori but in a deep velvety black.
"Good day," he grunted. "I am Elder Councilman Gunheir."
"Good day," I nodded, "we are..."
"I am aware." He snapped back. "I have been informed, and know of your requests. How do you stop more of your kind from filling our halls?"
"Oh, um, we can gladly shut the gate down for you. However, did the people that arrived here last week stay?"
"There was no one that arrived here. The gate installation was installed yesterday for a limited exhibit. It was never expected to work as anything more than a historical artifact." His voice was stern and gruff. I was confused at the anger emanating toward us. We had been more than cooperative so far.
"Would you have any paperwork on other display locations perhaps? Just so we can verify on our end." I asked.
"No."
"That seems odd, seeing as there are monitoring systems in place." Nguyen stepped in and pointed at the blinking light. Another knock came from the door and a woman walked in, dressed in the same black tunic as Gunheir, but she had a bright beaming smile across her face.
"Gunheir are you giving these fine people a hard time?" Her voice was melodic and as she smiled the creases in the corners of her eyes grew. "I am Eldress Amothe."
"Hello Eldress Amothe," I mustered up another smile and we introduced ourselves again to her. "We can get out of your way hopefully rather quickly if you'd allow, but we're looking for our colleagues you see."
"Gunheir, I will take it from here," she gave a single nod and he walked out the door, closing it behind him. She turned back to us and sat down at the head of the table. "I am aware of your team. Somewhat." She pulled out what looked to be a piece of round plexiglass but when she touched the screen the glass was similar to that of a computer tablet. She scrolled and opened a file as she cleared her throat.
"In our year of 1087 after the formation of the continent, the Ring was found nestled in the Blood Mountains in what we now call the Forest of Ides. It was noted that the Ring looked to be carved from stone not found here, but placed by deities. We now know otherwise, but that was the basic concept. So, we hear nothing about the ring until our year of 1348, when during the 50th anniversary of rebuilding our crumbling country from the remains of a Great War, we have texts of a strange mechanism next to the ring of materials that are not known to the people. Another hundred years later, the forest is now a great visitation area to the public, and the keeper of this park makes a journal entry that four strange visitors have come through the ring from a planet they called, Earth." She put the tablet down and looked back at us sternly. "This notation was two hundred and twenty-seven years ago. He sent them to a part of the park called the Carved Caverns where they were told to collect an object they were looking for, and leave back through the gate. Three men, one woman."
"I'm sorry, I misheard you," Nguyen's eyes widened, "over two hundred years ago?"
"Yes," she nodded. "This cultural museum was built over that campground after the last continental war. It was a promise of peace between the three nations of this planet. So that our children may thrive amongst it. We have never published the information I have given you today about the Ring. There are many religiously inclined amongst us who believe it was still a leftover artifact of Utheran, the celestial goddess, and Ponti the god of labor and craft during their marriage ceremony. Obviously, that is not the case as you three, unless you are gods, have stepped through it. The Ring has traveled across our world and brought back here to rest permanently now where it was found. Then," she took in a breath and scanned the room, "you showed up. Very vibrantly I may add. There is no way to cover this up I'm afraid."
"I'm so sorry for the trouble that we have caused," I placed my hand over my chest, "you mentioned the carved caverns?"
"Yes, it is still an area of the former park that has gone untouched. Many youth seek it out but it is thought to be the sleeping place of Yurin, the hound of hell. You go in, and do not come back. It is untouched."
"We'd like to go," Nguyen replied plainly. "Check it out, and then leave here if possible."
"I can grant that, but I have a favor to request from you as well." Her face softened, "our people have advanced clearly since your last visit. I am sorry that your colleagues may not still be, but I feel that our great nations has much to learn of the Ring and how it works."
"Of course," I nodded enthusiastically, "yes we can send proper diplomatic members to explain the Stargate, um Ring, in detail." I turned to Nguyen who nodded alongside me.
"That's primarily our mission. To seek out friendship among our own Galaxy and farther beyond." Nguyen explained. Eldress Amothe stood and we followed as she led us out the room and through back hallways of the museum. A team of two of her own met us at the door and the seven of us were pointed in the direction of the caverns. My stomach churned knowing we had no idea what we were walking into. If had been a week for us, but for Daniel and the rest of SG-1 it had been hundreds of years.