Arrival

Posted on Wed Oct 9th, 2019 @ 2:49pm by Major Jacob Asher & Staff Sergeant Jeremiah Corvus & Civillian Shae & Civillian Mikayla Rees & 1st Lieutenant Hunter Williams
Edited on on Thu Oct 17th, 2019 @ 1:57am

Mission: Mother Knows Best
Location: P3X-974
Timeline: Current

Jake emerged from the gate, followed my Shae, Rees, Corvus, and Williams. It was foggy and damp and there was a chill in the air, as promised. He could faintly hear water rolling against a beach and the scent of sea salt was in the air. He looked around to make sure the whole team was there. They were. "Everyone okay?" he asked. "Lieutenant Williams, congratulations on surviving your first trip through the gate. If you're planning on puking, go down wind. When you're ready, you and Shae should have a look at the markers and see if they tell you which direction to go in. I have a pretty good idea from the UAV feeds, but it would be nice if there are street signs or something."

Williams shook his head. "I wasn't planning on..." he said as he broke away from the group. The sounds of retching weren't overly loud or overly long. "Is it always like that?" he asked, looking around feeling extremely embarrassed.

"You get used to it," Jeremy said, handing over a small bottle of mouthwash.

This was Doctor Rees’ third trip through the gate and she’d been warned by ‘Mama’ Jackson that morning not to eat a big meal prior to her maiden mission. A warning like that - coupled with the memory of her first queasy trip through the gate to and back again from Lethuan a few weeks prior - had been enough to turn Rees’ stomach off of food. She had one of those powdered nutritional shakes instead and even that was moving around inside her gut now that she was on this side of the gate. Rees knelt down on the ground and made a pretense of examining the plant life while she got her digestion under control.

"There won't be street signs, as this is a distance marker," Williams said after swishing, spitting, repeat until the bottle was empty. He wasn't sure how much he liked Gate travel if this was the end result and yet...not even Crow puked. That was much more embarrassing. Then he frowned. "Just like we thought, it's all a single settlement listed. In Younger Futhark. But, I believe we just head down the path that way for about a mile or so and we'll come across the outlier of the settlement." He looked to Shae for her opinion as well.

"I forget how long your 'miles' are, but according to this marker, the settlement is not far," Shae confirmed, then came up to Hunter and offered comfort with a hand to his shoulder. "Take a moment to collect yourself if you need to," she said in a gentle tone. "Travel through the Chappa'ai gets easier, I promise. Until you grow accustomed to the sensation, it is natural for the body to gasp upon exiting the Gate, so it helps to exhale before stepping into it."

Jake smirked. "Oops!" he said. "Did I forget to mention that?" He laughed. "Nobody told me, either. I just have a remarkably strong stomach, thus saving me from tasting my breakfast twice. Well, that settlement isn't going to come to us, so let's start walking. Williams on point, then me, then Shae, then Corvus." Jake took a moment to mark the coordinates of the gate in his compass, then looked at Williams. "Move out, Lieutenant. I'll swap with you in a bit."

Rees was running her hands over the strange metal of the Stargate itself, comparing the surface to the huge portal in the Gate room at Cheyenne Mountain Complex. They could have been identical if she didn’t know any better. By what method had these gates been constructed, traversed the galaxy and been placed on all these worlds? To think that there were ships out there capable of FTL - a technological miracle in and of itself - and here was Mikayla Reese zipping near instantaneously through a glorified fax machine. A mastery of telecommunications that was essentially free to access without any screening or censor. As a European Egyptologist, her thoughts were prone towards the philosophical; what if the divine machinations that were believed to ascend a Pharaoh to godhood had been abandoned, fully intact and put into use by the common man? How differently would the history have recorded those times? What impact would it have had on the future? There seemed to be a terrible danger of abuse if you asked Mikayla. Upon hearing the orders for the others, Rees looked between the soldiers and shrugged as she slipped into line somewhere roughly in the middle of the procession. Her eyes were trying to take in everything. To think - she was on an alien planet in - she didn’t know which star system it was. Astrophysics was never her thing and she was too excited to catch all of it.

"Yes, Major," Williams said, settling his carbine in a low ready as he looked ahead of him and down the rutted track. He kept an eye out for anything unusual as he set an easy, but somewhat brisk pace - helping to keep them warm in the chill damp of the headlands. Typical of the Scandinavian coast of Earth (and was he really on another planet? Everything looked so similar...as if he had just stepped into a Danish tourist brochure) the topography was quickly changing from a sweeping, long beach into the beginnings of deep cut fjords rising high overhead. They'd not been walking long (and covered much more than a single mile he estimated) before he began to spot curling smoke rising against the knife gray sky.

"Major," he called back as he signaled a halt. "Looks like we have a settlement up ahead. Not quite as large as I expected. I'd say it's about the same as an ancient honor hall. Most likely the equivalent of a hunting lodge back home."

"Well," Jake said. "Let's go say hello." He took the lead position at that point, preferring to lead from the front.

Jake and the team walked further on towards the settlement. When they arrived, they found a walled compound, the walls constructed of logs. There were guards at the gates and archers in primitive wooden watchtowers. One of the guards in the towers saw SG-1, put a ram's horn to his lips and signaled their approach. One archer in each tower made ready to draw on the Tau'ri team, and four more appeared on the wall. The doors opened and six more guards joined the two outside the gate. The guards had spears and shields and formed a shield wall with spear points outward. Someone appeared on the wall. He appeared to be in charge. He barked an order and an arrow half buried itself in the ground directly in SG-1's path. Jake immediately stopped. "Wait!" he said quietly to his team. "Look at the walls. Claw marks. Big, nasty, claw marks. And I'm pretty sure those dark stains are dried blood. Their last visitors, I assume. Let's not make them any more jumpy than they already are."

Rees dropped the broken shale she’d been examining and looked up in alarm. Claw marks? Dried blood? Those weren’t words her academic discipline wanted to hear.

"Holde!" The man on the wall who seemed to be in authority said. "Angiv din virksomhed her i kong Hrothgar sfære!"

[Hold! State your business here in the realm of King Hrothgar]

"Shae," Jake said. "Am I correct in assuming that was basically an order to stop and identify ourselves?"

"You are quite astute, Major," Shae replied, then relayed word for word what the man said, or as best she could.

"Right," Jake said. "Tell him we're travelers from far away come to pay our respects to King Hrothgar--Hrothgar--Hrothgar--I feel like I should know that name. Anyway, tell him we're travelers from afar come to pay our respects to King Hrothgar."

Shae translated for Jake and the team awaited a response.

"Jeg er Hrothmund, anden søn af kong Hrothgar!" the man on the wall said. "Hvis du ikke mener os nogen skade, kan du komme ind. Hvis du kommer til at tilbyde din hjælp mod sumpegrenen og hendes kød, er du dobbelt velkommen!"

[I am Hrothmund, second son of King Hrothgar! If you mean us no harm, you may enter. If you come to offer your aid against the swamp hag and her brood, you are doubly welcome!]

Shae had to take a moment to work out how to translate 'swamp hag', as she was not familiar with this sort of terminology. "They have a swamp hag, whatever that is, and her brood, which I would suppose must be antagonizing their kingdom, because Hrothmund second son of King Hrothgar declares us doubly welcome if we wish to offer aid. You know, for as many worlds as I have been to, not nearly enough of them are free of great dangers, but at least it's not a Goa'uld or some horrible plague machine," she remarked dryly.

"Actually, no," Williams said as he stepped up to the Major and Shae so he could keep his voice low. Not from Corvus or Rees, the fourth and fifth of their little party, but from those standing before them. "Major, are you familiar with the ancient work ‘Beowulf’?"

"Shit," Jake said. "I knew I knew the name Hrothgar from somewhere! Yeah, I read it in high school and again at the Air Force Academy and I've seen some of the movies. I really liked that one called Beowulf and Grendel, with that Gerard Butler guy playing Beowulf. Though it was sort of weird that they all had Scottish accents. Wait, Grendel's mother was the Swamp Hag, right?"

"Yes, she was," Williams answered as he shifted his gear, settling it. He wasn't sure how much longer their 'friends' would wait for an answer and didn't really want to find out. "And the worst part of the story, she's responsible for more deaths than Grendel, after Grendel is killed, of course. But, sadly enough, in the original saga both Grendel and his mother were justified to a degree in their actions."

Williams cast a look to the guards on the gate and then to Corvus, who seemed loose, but ready to begin reacting at a moment's notice. "I don't want to be Chicken Little and start screaming the sky's falling down. I mean, three or four elements of a centuries old saga doesn't exactly mean that's where we're at now. Hell, it couldn't mean that, could it? That saga is over a millenia and a half old."

"The Goa'uld and others were interacting, or dominating, Humans on Earth long before that," Jake said. "But that wouldn't explain how we walked into this very situation. Let's just keep our eyes and ears open."

They approached the gates, which opened to reveal Hrothmond. "Lad dem passere," he said. [Let them pass.] "Hvis de ikke kommer som venner, betaler de med deres liv." [If they do not come as friends they will pay with their lives.]

Jake turned to Shae, who translated. "Tell him we come as friends and--"

Hrothmond interrupted Jake. "Engelsk?" he said. "You speak Engelsk? Apology. In your tongue--English, yes? You speak English?" Hrothmond's English was heavily accented, but understandable.

"Uh--" Jake said. "Yeah, yes, we speak English."

"I speak some Engelsk--English," the prince replied. "What is your--navn--name--what is your name?"

Jake was puzzled by how they knew English, but there were other pleasantries to get out of the way. "My name is Jacob Asher. My military rank is Major. My friends call me Jake. These with me are Lieutenant Hunter Williams, my second, Staff Sergeant Jeremy Corvus, my medic--healer?" When Hrothmond nodded his understanding Jake continued. "Doctor Mikayla Rees, a scientist and Shae, our guide and interpreter."

If the apparent construction and current condition of this ‘village’ were to be any indications, Rees doubted the field of science would mean the same thing to these people. Rock historian may have held more context for the natives.

"Godt," Hrothmund said. "Good. Come, I will take you to see min far--my father. I will not take your weapons out of respect, but if you attempt to harm us, we will kill you, or worse we will stake you out as an offering to the Swamp Hag and her brood and let you become beast lort--beast shit, forstå? Understand? Komme." Hrothmond led the group to meet with King Hrothgar.

"Any ideas on how or where they, or at least he learned English?" Jake said. "Not just any English. English we can understand? Wasn't the English of this time period different than what we speak now?"

"I... I have no idea," Shae answered in stunned surprise. "Everything about this place indicates isolation, they should have no contact with other cultures from which to learn English. And you are correct about the different time periods of your English, from what I have studied, it has evolved rather substantially over the ages, and what he is speaking is clearly not from the age his culture comes from."

"No," Hunter said, frowning. "I mean, we're looking at Younger Futhark for their written language and elements of Beowulf, which was first written down by the Saxons. But the two together and we're looking at between 7th and 9th century? Which means that not even England was speaking English as we know it then, but a homogenized mixture of Gaulish, Gaelic and Saxon. By all accounts, speaking English really isn't possible without some other intervention." Williams stood at the ready, glancing around. His primary concerns were Rees whom he hadn’t trained with at all, and Shae - whom he didn't know as well as he did the other two, despite their two weeks of training together. That couldn't equate to decades of similar training. He was worried about Jeremy as well, due only because of his youth and previous problems. So far, however, neither seemed to be a problem. "Can't help you much there, Major."

Rees was still looking around at their surroundings while she quietly offered, “There’s a Stargate just down the lane. That has intervention written all over it, Major.”

"Prince Hrothmund," Jake said. "I hope this isn't a rude question, but where did you learn to speak our language?"

"Others like you came to our lands when I was young," he said. "They spent much time here. We learned their tongue to ensure they would not deceive us. They seemed to be interested in something in our lands, but we never discovered what. Then, after awhile, they simply vanished. Do you not know of these visitors to our lands? Have you no legends of them? No stories?"

"Not as I recall," Jake said. "But I intend to look some up as soon as we return home, I can assure you of that." Or rather, Jake intended to have OSI redouble their efforts. Hrothmund wasn't that old. He could have encountered these visitors during the period that the official Stargate Program was shut down, which meant...well, it meant trouble for the home team.

As the team followed Hrothmund they could see signs around the settlement of a violent struggle. Jake immediately realized there should be more corpses than he was seeing, unless the Vikings had already disposed of the others. The damage to the ones he could see was severe. The damage in general looked like it was done by a large animal or multiple large animals.

While Jeremy stayed in formation, he mentally hung back. Mostly he was trying to stay in his element and not trying to 'prove' himself. He didn't know much about Viking culture or Danes in general, other than they made delicious butter cookies that came in tins which his grandmother often used to stow sewing supplies. Which made opening a can and expecting cookies a mystery most times.

Their reception, however, put him on edge and, well, he was glad he wasn't in charge because he might have done something drastic like a show of force. They had swords and bows, hardly a match against his sidearm, much less the more powerful, accurate and lethal at a much greater distance, rifles. Three of the five of them were exceptionally good with the rifles. If it came down to an attack, he was confident it would be a quick rout of the hostile forces. But then they started speaking English and while it bothered him, he'd spent his life watching Star Wars, Star Trek and other science fiction shows where the good guys usually had a quick and easy method of translating other languages. It almost seemed a bit cliche at this point that the good guys - which Jeremy most definitely counted their team as - wouldn't be able to understand those they met on alien worlds. But, as it was pointed out they were speaking modern English and, as far as Jeremy knew, they hadn't been implanted with any kind of translation device or fish, it struck him as odd and unsettling.

As they neared the village, though, and began seeing the damage inflicted, Jeremy started to understand a bit more why those who met them at the gates were so on edge. From his guesstimate this wasn't a one time, or even a several time, attack but rather sustained attacks over a length of time.

"Major, I've got plenty of medical supplies if that's necessary and might help the Danes relax a bit. And the Gate's not that far away if we need to make a quick run back in order to get more." He frowned. "Presuming we can get through it this time."

"Good thinking, Crow," Jake said. "Though, to be honest, I'm not seeing wounded, just--remains." Jake turned his attention to Hrothmund. "I can see you've had some trouble, Prince Hrothmund. If you have wounded, my medic--my healer--has offered to help care for them."

Hrothmund turned to Jake and scowled. "The beskidte vederstyggeligheder [filthy abominations] do not leave many wounded," then his expressions softened. "But your healer's aid would be welcome." He tapped one of his men on the shoulder. "Thorkild! Tag helbredet til vores sårede. Fortæl vores healere at lade ham låne sin hjælp." He turned back to Jake. "Thorkild will take your man to where we have taken our wounded. I warn you again. If you attempt to do us harm," He looked Jake in the eyes. "Beast lort, forstå?"

Jake nodded. "We mean you no harm, Prince Hrothmund," he said. "This is my healer. His rank is Staff Sergeant, his name is Jeremy Corvus. It's traditional to refer to him as 'Sergeant'. His family name means Crow, so we sometimes call him that. Crow, please go with Thorkild here and see what you can do to help."

"Yes, Major," Jeremy said, slinging his rifle and turning toward the one he thought was named 'Thorkild'. "I, uh, I don't speak your language though."

"Is al-right, I speak little Englisch, yes?" Thorkild answered, his words still reserved and wary.

Jeremy shrugged. It wasn't that he wasn't used to working with natives before. "You lead, I'll see what can be done."

"Hey, Crow," Williams said, waiting for the Sergeant to turn. He tapped his radio mic. "Every fifteen on the dot, understood?"

"Yes, Lieutenant," Jeremy said as he pulled his phone out of his pocket. He didn't have reception, but it was good for other things. Like setting a recurring alarm. He turned back to Thorkild, who now appeared anxious to move out. "What's the worst of the wounded?" he asked, curious.

"Bites and nails. From beasts. You know from beasts bites?" Thorkild asked as the two moved out.

Jeremy gave a strangled little laugh. "Yeah, I know a little something about that."

"Major," Williams said, shaking his head but then shrugged and turned back to the village proper. "Are the attacks random or on a more regular basis?" he asked Hrothmund.

Hrothmund scowled. "They attack when they are hungry, and when their mother is hungry. Why do you think there are so few bodies?"

Shae paled. "They're eating the bodies?" she asked with disgust. "I don't approve of senseless slaughter regardless of what they do with the bodies, but eating them is truly vile," she remarked.

Mikayla was doing a solid job of remaining inconspicuous within the ranks of the group, but she managed to collect several small samples from a pillar and wall in passing and was surveying the courtyard for indications of it’s true age.

Hrothmund said nothing as he led the group to the King Hrothgar's Mead Hall. The doors were open and at the top of the steps stood and older man. He carried himself with the confidence of a warrior but his shrewd eyes pegged him as someone who was valued for his mind.

The older man took in the site of the strangers. He looked them over and Jake met the man's gaze. They had a staring contest that lasted until the man nodded in approval.

"Major Jacob Asher," Hrothmund said. "This is--Aschere," he smiled and almost laughed but the laughter choked in his throat at a glare from Aschere. "--My father's closest advisor and a warrior in his own right. Aschere, Maj--Jake, his friends call him Jake--"

"The runner said there were five," Aschere said. "You seem to have lost one."

Jake rescued Hrothmund. "My healer went to see what he could do for your injured," he said. "We have supplies to treat cuts and broken bones, and medicines that can help prevent illnesses and sicknesses that come from severe or even minor wounds." Jake had almost said that they had easy access to more, but after the last mission, he decided he'd hold off on assuming the gate would work.

Aschere nodded. "Thank you, stranger," he said. "Your arrival is fortuitous. Some might say suspiciously so. How come you to be here with bandages and medicines at just the moment when we need them, but not in time to use those weapons you carry?"

"I would say that depends on what you believe in," Jake said.

Aschere nodded again. "Come," he said. "You must have your audience with King Hrothgar and when it is done, there are matters we must discuss." Aschere, Hrothmund and the guards led Jake, Hunter, Shae and Rees into the large mead hall.

"Check," Williams muttered at hearing the name of the advisor. This was getting...disconcerting. But, stepping into the mead hall set his unease aside momentarily. He couldn't help but look around - it was like a sports fan stumbling into the locker room of their favorite sports team. Of course he did college work learning about ancient Danish culture - including their long halls. But, he honestly thought the closest he might ever come to seeing one was from the Rohan scenes in "Lord of the Rings". Yet, here he was, standing inside what his textbooks poorly described in the face of reality. He knew that there were other parts of it that added to the majesty of what he was experiencing: the smell of stale rush on the floors, sweaty bodies, the freely spilled mead, cooking meats, dogs roaming freely about. The smell of dust as well. The heat was thick, like he was swimming through raw honey as heat. Small rivulets of sweat were already starting to form under his tacvest but, he also knew from the topography that as soon as the sun went down, he'd be grateful for the large, roaring fires in the oversized hearths.

Long walls built of stacked and hammered logs, drawn here from the forest half a mile away, were chinked with close fitting mud, sand and grass. They rose several dozen feet to hold up a split log roof, equally chinked but with sturdier materials, all of which was held together with tar to waterproof against the constant sea mist, foam and rains. But, the exposed beams glowed with equal polish but also dulled with what could be decades of soot and smoke from the fire. The smoke currently rose gently to the top where several carefully cut smokeholes drew it out and into the fading light.

Yet all of it was secondary to the end of the hall and the low rise dias fronted by several rounded steps. A single ornate chair set there - not a throne as was commonly depicted but an oval chair of a dark red, polished wood inlaid with mother of pearl and gold leaf. The back carved into Celtic knot like structure but the twin threads of the knot made into a serpent and a wolf, each chasing their own tails. Rubies were set as eyes for the wolf and deep green sea glass as eyes for the serpent.

"Wow," he muttered, not realizing that he was grinning as if he were a mere schoolboy on his first trip to Disneyland. "And you guys have done this several times already?" he muttered to his companions.

"Yep," Jake said. "And appearances aside, no, I haven't gotten used to it yet."

A commotion caught the attention of the Hall as several stout, grim faced warriors came out, each pounding the end of a long spear into the wooden floor of the richly carved long hall. Each wore rich fur draped around their shoulders, scuffed armor that was more functional than decorative and had long hair held back from their faces by braids or dreads and thick beards. Another followed in their wake and where they stopped on levels of the dias this last, in a long bear cloak and rich silken tunic over woven breeches, cross gartered to the knee and thick but supple lambskin boots. His golden hair combed until it gleamed in the increasingly brighter firelight. He also wore a simple hammered gold circlet set with three stones of astonishingly deep blue. Hard, steel blue eyes scanned the crowd as the King took his throne and, with a well practiced flip of his arms, took a seat.

[Who are these to intrude on my Hall?] he spoke with the haughty authority of one born and accustomed to rule over others. "[Are they Midgardians returned to us as promised?]

[These appear to be poor excuses for Midgardians. The others were true warriors. These playact at warrior yet claim also the skills of healers and,] here the one who spoke, who appeared to be both guard and advisor to the king spat from his position merely one step below the king, [diplomats. Even Unferth looks the warrior next to them.]

Aschere scowled. He walked briskly up to the dais and body checked the mouthy one out of his way. [Step away from the King, boy,] he said very quietly. [When his majesty needs counsel, he won't be getting it from you.] Aschere turned to address his liege lord. In accented English he continued. "These do speak the tongue the Midgardians spoke when they were last here, and they carry similar weapons. Perhaps they can, in fact, help us in our fight with the Swamp Hag."

Jake caught a diminutive warrior eyeballing him. Hello, Unferth, he thought. You don't seem to like me at all. Why is that?

"Father," Hrothmund said. "They don't seem to know of the others who came here, but as Aschere says, they have similar weapons and they did offer they healer's assistance with our injured. They have been warned that if they attempt to do us harm, powerful weapons or no, they will meet a painful end."

Hrothgar smiled as he stood and opened his arms to receive his son. [Who are these then that won the loyalty of my son? Shall they be welcomed as honored guests in my Hall? Or do they speak from the side of their mouths?]

[If I am wrong, Father, perhaps Grendel will eat them?] Hrothmund said.

Hunter cocked his head, his brows knitted as he heard Hrothmund speaking with what must obviously be the king of this area. He waited for the translation. However, hearing the words in his own language spoken by the fox girl didn't help matters any, in fact it only worsened them.

"Shit," he muttered as he took a step closer to the Major. There was a certain amount of decorum that would naturally be at play here. Decorum that he would have to work around, treading lightly, but he had to get information to his boss. Surely the King could understand that. "Major," he said as low and clearly as he could without causing too much of a fuss. He did see a few eyes turn their direction and he was very much aware that many here understood his language much better than he understood theirs. "We have a serious problem here with them talking about Grendel. A very serious problem."

"Yeah," Jake said. "I'm getting that. Believe it or not, I read a book or two every now and then. Any suggestions?"

Hunter took a few moments to consider options while he glanced around the room. This was a new one for him. His specialty was in mythology and folklore; he never expected to come face to face with a saga more than fifteen hundred years old. Finally he shrugged, "Literary narrative," he answered. "In the original saga warriors from far away arrived and helped end the threat of Grendel and his mother. If the others are coming here, and from their grasp of modern English, we have to accept that as true, this may be our way to win these people over to our side. And hopefully it works out as well for us as it did the legends."

Mikayla reached up and removed her BDU cap then clipped the very unflattering piece of headgear to a strap on her pack. If she had her way, she would have worn the unconventional, bright red, wide brimmed sun hat she was known for on dig sites. The label Carmen Sandiego may have come up once or twice. Khaki was utilitarian and great for hiding dirt and sand, and there was plenty of that in Egypt, but she liked to make herself overt and detectable for her team. That and the Egyptian sun could be brutal to her fair skin which simply would not tan. Unfortunately, Stargate Command had immediately and definitely forbade such cardinal accoutrement. The military was big on uniformity that way.

She ran a hand through her blonde hair to rub her scalp then swept it back from her face; not out of vanity, it just felt good. She offered a smile to Hrothgar and ducked her head twice towards Hunter and the Major. Hrothgar and his son just looked at her so she took it as a sign that the team was allowed to converse freely. There was one way to find out. Mikayla moved over to the rest of the team, unshouldered her heavy pack and dropped it to the floor. “Gentlemen, a moment?” She spoke with the cultured accent of a well-bred Englishwoman. “I believe I know what we are thinking here, but this is not Heorot and we are not in 6th century Denmark. The structure itself is certainly not thousands of years old. I’d put it at no more than 200. So unless the..." and here she lowered her voice due to the secretive nature of the program, "...Stargate can send matter back in time, we are in a proper fix. We can't believe it to be a coincidence that we have arrived precisely at the moment in this world’s history when events coinciding with that of an epic poem from our Earth’s history are occuring. The odds are impossible."

Jake chuckled grimly. "You'll find, Doctor, that the word 'impossible' doesn't quite have the same meaning anymore. I mean, sure, it sounds impossible. And yet here we are." Jake turned back to Hrothmund and his father, and his father's advisor, Achere, discussed matters further. Occasionally one or the other would glance towards SG-1. Finally, Achere spoke.

"So, Jacob Asher," Aschere said. "Hmmm...I just realized how similar your family name is to my given name. Perhaps there is some good blood in you after all, young man. Perhaps the blood of a warrior? For your sake, and the sake of your followers, I certainly hope so. It is the will of King Hrothgar that you and your followers render us aid in ending the threat of Grendel and his Brethren, and their mother the Swamp Hag. Tonight you will all stand watch with our warriors. Tomorrow, should you survive, you will all be led to caves where we believe the Swamp Hag and her children take shelter. Once there, you will destroy our enemies, or be destroyed yourselves. So says King Hrothgar."

Jake looked at Hunter and Shae and Rees. "If we don't do this, these people are all going to die," he said. "They're literally being eaten alive."

“Doing this may be what gets us all killed,” Rees muttered to herself as she shouldered her pack again. It did not sit well with her that their aid was being conscripted so specifically to fit King Hrothgar’s will. They were to fight the Grendel and the Swamp Hag? The 9mm Glock strapped to her left thigh may have given to Aschere the impression she was a warrior like the others, but she was far from it. She’d grown up on an English country estate with hunting and was a fair shot with a rifle, but defending a village? This was not at all what she’d expected on her first mission, though the two weeks of training leading up to this now felt incredibly rushed and deceptively optimistic. What was she doing here? Perhaps the team just wanted to look around and determine whether military aid was what they wanted to give to these people. These were a people with deep-seated reverence to lore; introducing automatic weapons to the fight - but that wasn’t something new, was it? These people had seen travelers bearing similar weapons before so SG-1 wasn’t the first ’advanced’ group to visit this village.

“Major, I’d like to consult the source material; search for clues that may help us. I have a copy on a tactical tablet along with as many ancient myths as I could fit. I didn’t expect to put it to this purpose, however. As I recall, in the story there were many casualties along the way. There’s no reason for us to go through each step of the ordeal as did the characters in the poem if we can skip ahead to the triumphant ending.” Rees adjusted the straps and leaned in. “I’m still caught up on the fortuitous timing of our arrival. Have we considered this may be a simulation?”

"A simulation?" Jake said. "Run by whom? The Goa'uld? I suppose it's possible. Okay, Doctor Rees. You figure out how closely things here are to the legends yore. Shae, you're a better hunter/tracker than anyone of us, probably because if you weren't you'd have starved to death. You and I will take a walk around the compound and examine any signs, tracks, footprints, claw marks, and so on, that Grendel and his Brethren, whatever they are, left behind. When you're done, tell me everything you know about them from your observations. Hunter, you're a Combat Rescue Officer by training. I see a lot of people in need of rescue. Render aid like Crow is, and while you're at it I want you to do two other things. First, record observations of the kinds of injuries and wounds you see. Take pictures and gently interview the people you're helping and try to get some descriptions of their attackers. I think we're going to find that a lot of these people speak at least some English, courtesy of their previous visitors. Let's make that work for us."

Jake turned to Aschere. "We will help King Hrothgar and his people, Aschere," he said. "We'll need somewhere to keep our belongings and equipment and to discuss private matters."

Aschere nodded. "Prince Hrothmond will find something for you."

"Understood," Jake said. He turned to the members of his team. "Okay, we let Hrothmund show us our quarters, then scatter. We meet back there in one hour. Understood?

"Major," Williams said simply by way of acknowledgement. It wasn't a bad assignment, overall, mostly. But...bite wounds? Animal bite wounds? They were pretty gnarly and got infected pretty quick and easy. Normally, in cases like this, he wouldn't envy research squints but...maybe Rees was given the better assignment. But, at least they had some pretty cool tech they could use. A version of eyewear that was like Google Glass but several generations advanced. It would help make taking video and photos less obvious and obtrusive.

Still...bite wounds...he reached into a side pocket and pulled out the small tin of Vicks to begin preparing to keep from tasting breakfast a third time. But that reminded him. "Crow, report," he said, clicking the mic and sending the short simple broadcast. He followed the others while he heard the report, noting the terse, clipped words the young sergeant used. As well as something of despair in the man's voice. But, he reported quickly and professionally so Hunter had to believe he was still doing okay. He vowed, however, that part of his 'going around rescuing people' would take him by whatever served as a clinic or triage center here.

Jake and Shae left the hall and walked out into the compound. Now and then Shae would stop and look at something more closely. Jake smiled. "So," he said. "What are you seeing?"

"I am not 'seeing' so much as smelling," Shae responded distractedly as she once again paused. She was catching plenty of movement, but so far she hadn't heard anything that didn't sound like human footsteps. "This place reeks of death, it is making it difficult to separate the scents of the people and whatever is attacking them."

"I was afraid of that," Jake said. "And any tracks inside the compound would have been trampled by the defenders. Hmmm... So they didn't knock down gates or blow holes in the walls to get it, so more than likely they climbed the sides. Maybe we should look for one of the points they climbed over? That's just me puzzling it through as best I can. You're a far better hunter and tracker than I'll ever be. If you've got a better suggestion, I'm all for it."

"While I may be the better hunter, your suggestion is a good place to start," Shae replied, then finally turned her gaze to Jake. "Perhaps we should have some of the native soldiers to accompany us? That way if we come across any sentries patrolling the wall, they will not become alarmed by our presence," she offered in return.

Jake nodded and looked around. He saw Prince Hrothmond talking with one of his father's subjects. He went to him and explained what he wanted to do. The Prince said he would accompany them himself and in fact led them to one of the places that the beasts, as he called them, climbed over the wall.

"I can tell you, Asher," Hrothmond said. "They are monstrous beasts. Demons. Dark skin. Misshapen heads. Fearsome roars. And now I will leave you and this lady to your work. By now runners have been throughout the compound telling of your presence and declaring a royal decree to offer you assistance and to answer your questions."

"Thank you, Prince Hrothmond," Jake replied. After Hrothmond left, Jake pulled out his small, rugged tablet so he could record any important images to show the others or to compare to other evidence discovered. He turned to Shae. "So. Now what do you see?"

Shae approached the wall, which was made of a combination of wood and stone. She glanced back in the direction Hrothmond had departed to ensure that she and Jake were truly alone before leaning in to breath in the scents that lingered. "They live in shallow, muddy water, which is consistent with the claims of a swamp hag. Whatever these beasts are, they are unlike anything I've encountered before," Shae relayed quietly as Jake took pictures. Her fingers traced out some claw marks in the wooden frame of the wall, then she flexed her fingers to reveal her claws to compare them to the marks, but whatever creature climbed this wall had claws much bigger than her own, claws strong enough to gouge a few marks into the stone sections of the wall as well. "I have their scent now, I believe I can track them back to their source," she declared, then stepped back so that Jake could inspect the claw marks she had discovered.

"I do not want to go in blind on these guys," Jake said. He thought for a moment. "They're bipedal so I'm going to guess that they may be sentient to a certain extent. If they are, and they have sentries, we'll likely be seen if we try to scout them in daylight. It's their turf. They'll know it better than us, obviously." Jake sighed. He wrestled down his natural desire to protect his lover and replaced it with his extreme respect for Shae, her experience, and her abilities. With those things in mind, he looked at Shae. "When the sun starts to go down, I want you to try and track these guys. Go out ahead of us. Report back with what you find. If we're lucky, and yes, I understand how shitty a thing this is to say, but if we're lucky, they'll stage a raid on the compound again tonight. That'll split their forces, maybe make it easier for you to scout. And you'll be able to backtrack their trail. After the raid is over, report back with whatever Intel you've collected."

Shae nodded in acceptance of the orders. "Asher, are you sure you want to commit to the protection of these people?" she asked quietly, uneasy about this unknown enemy. "I have great sympathy for these people and their suffering, and I have tried to ease suffering when and where I could throughout my travels, but we are so few and this foe of theirs appears to be quite formidable," she then remarked.

Jake grinned. "So are we," he said. "But it's more than that. We don't have to beat this enemy by killing it, and I'm not interested in committing genocide. Not with my religious and ethnic background. If we can talk to... whatever these things are, maybe we can negotiate a peace between Hrothgar's people and the Swamp Hag. Benefits to both parties aside, that might put us on the path to having two strong allies. Look at what these creatures have done here. Imagine what they could do against Goa'uld and Jaffa. This is a big part of why we're out here. To win the hearts and minds of the people. Trust me, I don't have any kind of serious hero complex. Once we have an idea of what we're up against, if I think we're going to need back up, we'll send word back through the gate to the Wolf General asking for support. Fair enough?"

After a moment of consideration, Shae once again nodded. "Very well," she replied with resolve, and from her there would be no further questions or doubt on the subject. "I have seen all I need to from this location. Do you want to investigate the wall any further?" she asked.

Jake nodded. "Let's take a walk around the perimeter, then meet up with the others."

Another nod from Shae was all the response he would get before she started trekking along the wall to see what else they could find.