STORY EXTRACT

"Dr. Jackson!"

Daniel stepped out from behind Jack's sheltering, over-protective bulk and headed off towards the caller as another shout went up. He broke into a run, Jack cursing as he emerged out from behind the relative cover of the C.P. tent onto completely open ground.

"Daniel!"

"Doctor!"

The whole camp seemed to be hard on Daniel's heels as he ran towards the cliff face and their excited sentries.

"Look up, to the top, the top!"

Daniel looked up automatically, astonished when he saw a silvering radiance bathe the rock at the top of the escarpment. He glanced around and for the first time saw Odokai's moons in the clear night sky, three of them, the central moon larger than its two satellites.

"That's amazing," he called out to Jack as he and Teal'c peeled away from Edwards and Lorne, focused on restoring order as there was no immediate threat for the men to respond to.

He staggered to a halt, mouth falling open as the cliff face seemed to burst into flame, a clean, sweeping sheet of radiance its entire expanse. Wild-fire raced down, burning the rock to silver, to stars, three moons at the centre, their rays streaking down to strike the faces of two tall, armoured men standing either side of the door, outstretched hands clasped. One had a crown and a sword, the other a sword and a bow, long hair spilling down their backs, flickering in an unseen breeze.

Daniel stopped breathing, looking everywhere at once, awestruck as each image burst from the rock. Trees bordered the men, graceful, rich with fruit. An army of archers and swordsmen, much smaller in scale, stood among them, poised on the brink of fighting, or ceasing fire, Daniel was uncertain. At the extreme edge of the escarpment, to his left, there was a tall, angular city, perhaps ruled by the man who wore the crown. Mirroring that, on the right, stood a single tree, its roots artfully probing into the ground at the foot of the cliff, its uppermost branches reaching the top.

"Incredible!" Daniel gasped. "Monumental." Literally!

"I have never seen a sight such as this," Teal'c echoed his stupefaction.

"Yes, you have," Jack instantly countered, still pissed at Daniel's regrettable independence in the field and showing it. "You two dragged me to "Lord of the Rings" five times and made me buy you both the two-disc and the four-disc DVD sets. Only difference here is budget."

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