River of Stars – Watch der Blinkenlights…

A/N: Whoof, real thunderbumper last night. To anyone getting this weather now, I feel your pain, and take cover.

So, have an extra-long post. 🙂

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“It could have come by trade from some other world the Goa’uld ignore, like Orban.” Daniel pushed his glasses up thoughtfully. “Which still implies there’s a way to get onto the planet that the Tok’ra haven’t told us about. We really need to talk to these people.”

“I believe you should see the security footage, first.” Hammond hit the projector.

Jack leaned back as the silver splash of a wormhole established shimmered on the screen, followed by a sealed iris, a received GDO code, and the iris retracting-

Sha jumped through first, looking like the winning end of a bar-fight. Grinned, turned – and got tangled up with a pair of pointy-eared, orange-skinned, clawed uglies that leaped through after him. The guards were yelling, and none of the brawlers seemed to care… but at least base security was holding their fire until they got answers. Good for them.

Cho Hakkai fell through next – and wasn’t that a weird thing to see happen to a Tok’ra? His very own ugly dance partner came through a split second later, but that seemed to be just fine, because apparently sometime the Tok’ra and Kwai-Chang Caine had sat down together for tea, and Hakkai owned that alien’s ass, kung fu-style, in about two seconds.

Which was just enough time for Captain Sha to toss one bad guy over his shoulder, pull some kind of staff with a bladed chain out of thin air – say what? – and proceed to start hacking.

Of which might best be said, eww.

Two more uglies, Dr. Genjyo, Goku, and a snake fell through-

“Close the iris!” Sha yelled, slicing uglies Four and Five. Hakkai’s head whipped around, face paling as he saw the snake and knew he wouldn’t get to it in time….

The kid snatched it.

“Could have told him they bite,” Jack grumbled. And felt his jaw drop, at the utter perfection of Genjyo’s shot. “Leftie, huh?”

“Mixed-handed, mostly left. I’d say he’s been shooting with both hands,” Janet agreed, watching the remaining meet-and-greet. “I’ve had all the bodies x-rayed to make sure our lost sheep found all the Goa’uld; Dr. Warner’s going to start autopsies later today. I can already tell you that their DNA profiles are altered human, and have a great deal in common with Goku, Hakkai, and the additions to Captain Sha’s DNA. Only the deceased have claws, and our people apparently don’t.”

“Apparently?” Carter asked, as Daniel frowned and froze the image.

“I haven’t gotten as good a look at their hands as I’d like. They were exhausted,” Janet said plainly. “And Captain Sha specifically warned me, after Sanzo keeled over into bed, not to let anyone try to wake him. ‘Let me or Hakkai do it.'” She winced. “It seems so many people have tried to kill Dr. Genjyo, he’s been known to wake up holding someone at gunpoint.”

“He doesn’t have a gun,” Carter pointed out.

“Which is why Sha’s worried he’ll fall back on Plan B,” Janet said dryly.

“What is Plan B?” Teal’c inquired.

“The captain wouldn’t say,” the doctor replied. “But he looked a little green around the gills thinking about it.”

That from the guy who’d made like a Cuisinart on four living people. Okay. “Daniel?”

“He’s wearing a rakusu,” the archaeologist said, distracted. “At least, I think it’s one. Though they’re usually made out of cloth, not bamboo.”

“And a rakusu is?” Jack asked, before Carter could beat him to the punch.

“Oh. I’m… not exactly an expert on Zen Buddhism. It’s worn by somebody who follows the precepts. Affirm life, be giving, honor the body… I think there are sixteen, I’d have to look it up. But it’s supposed to be a symbol of Buddha’s garments, not armor. Then again, who knows if that’s what it is, or what the Goa’uld did to the faith over the centuries, and given he’s also wearing a kind of kote – armor sleeves – I’m guessing it’s not really pacifistic anymore.”

“Gun was kind of a dead giveaway,” Jack pointed out.

“I carry a gun, Jack. He was on SG-6. Even if it was just for a few days.”

“So he’s armed,” Carter noted. “Does it really matter why?”

“It might.” Daniel pointed at the screen. “Red dot on the forehead?”

“I thought it might be makeup, but he washed his face and it didn’t come off,” Janet nodded.

“And this means?” Jack asked.

“I don’t know. I read the file we have on Shangri-La from the Tok’ra information, and the little SG-6 and 10 were able to send back before the mission… went silent. I’ve started prehistoric digs with more data.” The archaeologist grimaced. “Kanzeon’s founding population seems to have come from across Southeast Asia; I’ve been able to pick out elements of Ancient Korea, Japan, China, and what might be a bit of India mixed in. On modern earth, that’s called a bindi, and it’s worn by Hindu women, usually married. Go back ten or twelve centuries, though, and you find all kinds of people wearing it in ancient China; for beauty, and to protect against demons and evil fortune. And you say they called the variant humans youkai, which is a Japanese word for supernatural creatures…. It’s probably worn by a certain sect, or by someone considered an ascetic master. It could even be a caste mark; he’s wearing white robes, the color of purity and death, and if that gun is local then he has the right to be armed. Fits right in with the warrior or priest-king castes that turn up in a lot of groups with any Indo-European background.”

“So, important guy,” Jack summed up.

“Important, probably adopted guy,” Daniel corrected. “He can’t just go missing. Someone’s going to be looking for him. Maybe a lot of someones.”

Great. Just what they needed; another Tok’ra diplomatic disaster.

“But that’s not what really worries me.” Daniel pointed at the kind-of stole draped across Genjyo’s shoulders. “What do those letters look like to you?”

Like scribbles. What did Daniel think they looked like? But Jack rolled his eyes, and humored the man, peering closer-

Oh. Damn. “Ancient,” Jack breathed. “Way different from what they carved on rocks, but that’s Ancient.” He glanced at Hammond. “Sir, Daniel’s right. We need to talk to these people.”

The general nodded, and glanced at Janet. “Dr. Fraiser. I’ll leave it to your discretion how hard we can safely push; two of them are our people, one is a minor, and a Tok’ra should be an ally. But we need information.” His hands tightened on the edge of the table. “We need to know if there are any other survivors, and if a rescue mission might now be possible.”

And we really need to know, Jack thought grimly, just how a Tok’ra who didn’t know Ra went ka-boom ended up with a GDO.