Part 2

Chapter 3 - The Torment of Tantalus... and Daniel.

"A Stargate?!" Daniel exclaimed.

"Yes," said Oma Desla in her now-familiar tone of surprise at his ignorance. "Every habitable planet in the Universe has one. Somewhere."

"Where's the D.H.D.?"

"D.H.D.?"

"We call it a 'Dial-Home Device,' Daniel said, a little smugly, "it's for—"

"Inputting the co-ordinates of the world you wish to visit."

"Um, yes."

"The Ishten haven't found it yet. It may not be found for another ten thousand years - or more."

~ And I will still be here then? - Aaaggh! ~

"Oh, it will pass quite quickly, I assure you," said Oma. He could feel the placid smile that went with the words, and wondered how long she'd been around.

"You really don't want to know," she said.

Daniel found himself alone - alone with a garishly-painted shaman and a Stargate. He suddenly felt very homesick, stranded God knew how many light-years from that other little blue-green planet that he'd loved so much... so very much. Maybe, with time, he'd grow to love this one just as much.

Time? So much time - so little to do... This was so much more than a life-sentence!

Home. He wondered what Jack and the rest were doing. He knew they'd taken it hard when Nem had made them think he was dead once before. This time, he'd had the opportunity to say goodbye before he left, but knowing the pain of loss all too well, he figured they'd probably be going through some tough shit right now. Jack and Teal'c and General Hammond would probably handle it O.K. - 'Way of the Warrior' and all that stuff; Janet and Sam, he wasn't so sure of.

Oh, hang on - what had Oma Desala said? 'You only have to think of them and a part of your consciousness will be with them instantaneously...' Right, nothing much going on round here - let's go for it! Sam!

~ oh, my God! Sam! ~

Perhaps this wasn't such a good idea after all! He had no idea where they were, only that Sarah - make that Osiris - was searing Sam's brain with one of those damned goa'uld ribbon devices. And asking where he, Dr. Jackson, was.

No! It wasn't supposed to be like this! What was the point of being able to make a friendly flying visit if he couldn't do anything to help her when she needed it?! Goddammit, he should have been here! In person! BIG mistake...

And suddenly, in a brilliant column of light, she was gone.

Oh.

Perhaps he was superfluous after all...

Feeling sidelined - again - he returned his attention to Duva. What was he doing? Chanting... Chewing some leaves... Dancing in a figure of eight around his altar and the Stargate... Oh well, he supposed he'd better go and make contact...

Daniel drifted around the dancing, ululating warrior, waited until his dance steps took him clear of the Stargate then stood on the top step within the circle and thought himself into something suitable. An Aztec-style headdress with tall, iridescent quetzal plumes came to mind. That should look the part, and shiny blue robes to match... Duva's path took him back around his altar then around to face the Stargate again, at which point he stopped.

And stared.

His eyes were as round as the Stargate itself.

"Ah... hi," said Daniel, raising his hand in greeting.

Duva fell upon his face before his God, grovelling.

"Ellum ilu!" he wailed, "dannu ellum ilu - damqum dajjanu..."

~ Oh boy! Now what do I do? I can't touch him, I can't talk to him, and if I want to know what he's saying, I'm going to have to learn a whole new language - and I don't suppose there are any terrestrial languages that're in any way connected to that... That's it, I'm stuffed! ~

Daniel snapped into glow-form, effectively disappearing from Duva's sight - except that Duva wasn't looking. He was still gibbering with his face pressed to the ground. Daniel wondered how long it would take him to realize that he was now 'alone'.

It was several minutes before he dared to look up, and a little longer to take in his 'god''s apparent absence. Still looking around nervously, he grabbed a ceremonial rattle and dashed off back along the little path to his village.

In that short time, he had clearly recovered his sang-froid and began haranguing his tribe, his chief included. The details of what he was saying were, as yet, a closed book to Daniel but it didn't a genius to get the drift. In short order, Duva had them all prostrating themselves before him as he himself had done before Daniel. Clearly he had constituted himself 'The Mouth of God'.

~ Oh geez! Is this how 'religion' began on Earth...? I really don't think I can handle this. Why did I let myself get talked into it? Pain aside, I really wish I was back at S.G.C. That's where I belong, not here... ~

Daniel contemplated the direction the tribe looked about to take. It wouldn't take too long - a few thousand years, give or take - for the Ishten to fuck up this whole planet the way humans had done with theirs. He was supposed to be their 'guiding spirit'. It suddenly hit him how little power he really had to make any difference in the way things would pan out...

~ I wonder - does God ever cry? ~

Chapter 4 - One False Step... And a Bolt from the Blue.

Daniel had never felt so alone. Being a god sucked - big time. He thought about Sam, wondering if she was O.K., and instantly he was standing in a corridor at S.G.C. right beside her. His sudden arrival disturbed the air, gently ruffling her hair.

~ Pardon?! What was that? A fault in the ventilation system?! We’ll see about that...! ~

Daniel repeated the disturbance with an Oma Desala-style whizz past Jack, who gave him a perceptive smile in acknowledgement as he went out. Well, it was nice to see they were still hanging together and not totally falling apart. It would have been nice to tag along with them, but it would feel too much like eavesdropping if they reminisced about him, and a little depressing if they didn’t. So back to...

That was a thought. Oma had never told him the name of the planet. He supposed the S.G.C. would give it some unmemorable six, or given the distance, seven digit code. Maybe he ought to give it a name, seeing as it looked like being his home for a truly mind-numbing length of time. He thought about Walt Disney, and momentarily considered Jacksonworld, but decided it sounded too egotistical, not to mention naff. Well, there was no rush, heaven knew.

For the next few days, he occupied himself by keeping a casual eye on both the Ishten and the Yeemi and trying to pick up their languages. The Yeemi tongue was easier, having a more limited vocabulary, but he was soon beginning to recognize the basics of the Ishten language too.

Of the two tribes, he rather preferred the Yeemi as they were a peace-loving people. He supposed he should try to be unbiased, but he found the bickering and squabbling of the Ishten pretty tedious after a while.

Duva was a worry, too. He seemed hell-bent on making himself not just the power behind the throne as it were, but the absolute ruler also. And he showed signs of wanting to make raids into Yeemi territory. He suspected Duva was planning on taking slaves, which was something he had no intention of allowing if he could find any means of stopping it.

He'd shown himself to the shaman several times, and was rather dismayed to find that the skinny fellow was getting quite blasé about it. After all, the only thing he could do was make gestures and look imposing. Duva was sharp enough to realize that his god either wouldn't or couldn't smite him down and acted accordingly.

One day, Daniel found him at his usual haunt near his altar. He was obviously doing something new and quite different. It appeared that he was summoning something.

Daniel wasn’t too happy about this but didn’t imagine it would do any harm until he noticed a sensation like static rising in the air around him. The rocks and stones - the Stargate itself - seemed to be glittering with tiny specks of light. Daniel wondered what the Hell he was doing.

He materialized sternly in front of his subject in what he thought of as his Quetzalcoatl guise. Duva just ignored him and carried on with his chanting and dancing.

Daniel leapt on to the stone altar and gesticulated wildly as the charge in the air increased like an approaching thunderstorm. At a loss, he stood towering over Duva trying to look menacing. Behind him, the air crackled with brilliant sparks.

Suddenly Duva looked straight at him with wild eyes, frantically waving him out of the way. Behind Daniel, the energy had built to climax. It coalesced into a scintillating ball of blinding electric-blue light. Hissing and fizzing, it zigged and zagged around the rocks and the Stargate.

Finally it hurled itself like a lightning bolt towards the Shaman. Daniel - in the way again - got the full force between the shoulder blades. Blazing blue rays blasted from his eyes and mouth . He flew off the altar into a crumpled heap at Duva’s feet.

Pain, pain, more pain, and something else... Power! He shuddered and twitched as the electricity pulsed through him. Then, like a new-born baby, he sucked in a huge lungful of air. Then another. And another, gasping like a drowning man.

~ What happened? I shouldn’t be feeling this - I’m... ~

Another consciousness scythed through his brain, exultantly over-laying his thoughts, - and greedily feasting on his knowledge.

~ ...Alive! I’m alive! I have form... I have a body! YES...! ~

He lifted his head towards Duva. Daniel's face took on an euphoric look, full of excitement, malice and child-like glee. His eyes were alight with an uncanny blue glow. Inside, he was shocked and afraid. This was wa-ay beyond anything he’d experienced anywhere in the Universe.

~ ... Now - let’s have some FUN!... ~

Daniel’s eyes were still focussed on Duva. He rose to his feet and raised his arm towards the shaman. Duva screamed and took to his heels, running for his village and safety. Daniel felt the power build up within him and surge along his arm. It discharged itself from his palm as a thin sliver of splintering electricity that snaked after Duva and dropped him mid-stride.

"NO!!"

Daniel himself had felt completely power-less. He’d tried to resist, but his arm seemed to move of its own volition. An alien voice crackled in his mind.

~ ... THAT was fun! What shall we do next, Brother?... ~

"You mean I get some say in what my body does?"

~ ... Sure, Bro’, it’s your body - it’s your call... ~

"Then - what you just did, we don’t ever do again. Understood?"

~ ... Aw, you’re no fun, Bro’... ~

"You don’t have to kill people to have fun!"

~ ... Don’t have to, but I LIKE it! ... Way to go, Brother! ~

Daniel felt his feet leave the ground as he was propelled along the pathway past the motionless body of Duva. How pathetic and frail he looked now.Daniel inwardly wept as his possessing energy swept him miserably onward towards the village...