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Post by Harbinger on Aug 28, 2013 22:11:04 GMT
Vorenus looked between the pair, eyes judging as Daniel moved to the table in the middle gesturing for the Roman to join him. His eyes lingered on Vala before snapping back to Daniel. Daniel sat down and waited for the Roman to sit also before speaking. Vorenus seemed to be better rested and less worn.
"So, uh, we had a little think and we want to investigate the matter further but in order to do that we need,"
"The gate address to our world, hm," Vorenus cut in bluntly and Daniel blinked before he nodded. Vorenus smirked slightly, nodding, "I'm not entirely sure you mean what you say... what did you say you name was again?"
"Daniel Jackson, this is Vala. We just need to know more about this situation before we make any sort of decision. If this was the other way around and you in my seat, you would say the same,"
"No, we'd be negotiating the price for the deed," he replied but he wasn't angered. Daniel could tell he was a lot more calm than yesterday.
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Post by Anteyra on Aug 29, 2013 6:00:33 GMT
Vala stepped forward and leaned on the table next to Daniel to look at Vorenus. "If you want us to help your people you're going to have to trust us. In order to help you we need your gate address. If you don't give it to us." She stood up straight and began to wander round the other side of the table and then leant on the table next to Vorenus. "You'll be dooming your people. Is that really want you want?" Her eyes looked into Vorenus' for a few seconds, but her eyes were really still trying to find something of value to steal.
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Post by Harbinger on Aug 29, 2013 12:46:25 GMT
Vorenus didn't reply as his eyes switched to Vala again and Daniel frowned, the blond man's face was showing bitterness and pain. He glanced at Vala before looking back to Lucius.
Lucius struggled to look away from her before he removed his plumed helmet. He placed it on the table, "Of course not, but at the same time it's not reassuring when your leader isn't here. You say one thing, he says another and he is obeyed."
"We wouldn't be here talking to you if he wasn't at least considering it, Vorenus," Daniel said softly though Vorenus was staring back at Vala again.
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Post by Anteyra on Aug 29, 2013 14:09:56 GMT
The black-haired woman stood up straight and moved round to the back of him so he couldn't keep watching her. "General O'Neill is a tough man to read." From her position behind him she could now see something she was sure she'd be able to steal, and it certainly looked like gold.... she just couldn't stop herself from the urge of thievery. Leaning forward again, this time the other side of Vorenus, one hand she placed on the back of the chair for the moment while the other went to supporting her on the table. "But Daniel is right. He obviously hasn't quite made up his mind exactly what he's going to do, but he's certainly considering all his options." As she spoke, Vala's other hand slowly but surely moved down to Vorenus' side very carefully and slowly, and managed to keep him occupied by talking as she pinched the gold item and put it in her pocket, without anyone noticing. "He and Daniel get along quite well, so trust us, and Daniel here may just managed to persuade the General to help you. It's either that or be sent to a prison cell at Area 51 where you will never again see the light of day." She stood up straight, shrugging her shoulders. "I know which option I'd choose." She then moved back round to being near Doctor Jackson.
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Post by Harbinger on Aug 29, 2013 22:11:50 GMT
Vorenus shifted, unsure of this woman so close to him. For Daniel, the man didn't seem as openly untrusting of Vala as saddened. Still, he could see that the Roman was listening even if he wasn't all that comfortable with Vala there.
Vorenus tilted his head before he rose in silence, the chair scraping on the floor and almost tipping over. He pulled out a peace of paper that was scrumpled up beneath his breastplate. He sat back down and flattened the paper out before turning it the right way. On the paper there were marks but they were neither in English numerical nor Latin. It was all in Ancient, the block unmistakable.
"I pray to Janus this can be sorted," he said softly, not realising that the name of Janus was known to Daniel, the SGC and to Atlantis. "We were in civil conflict when the attack came. We are divided, the republic... it's close to ruin,"
"We are agreeable to negotiating, to pay for services rendered. It is the survival of our people that remains important."
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Post by Anteyra on Aug 29, 2013 22:28:25 GMT
Vala watched him closely as he stood took something out and then sat again. At first she didn't understand what the crumpled up piece of paper was for, especially as Daniel had a pad of paper next to him and a pencil. As the paper was flattened out she leaned closer as the symbols from the gate were easy enough to see, but her understanding of Ancient writing was very limited. "What does that say, Daniel?" She asked her friend.
She was secretly hoping that, like the tablet she had brought to Daniel some four years ago, would lead them on some brilliant and amazing adventure..... oh and most importantly, treasure.
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Post by Harbinger on Aug 29, 2013 22:47:57 GMT
Daniel's brow quirked as the mention of Janus came up, reminded of the Puddle Jumper they had found on the world where Maybourne had gone and made a home for himself as King Arkhan.
He looked at what was written on the paper and copied the writing down on his notepad so that firstly it was a lot easier to read and secondly to put the translation beneath it. He could tell Vorenus was watching him as he worked. He ignored Vala for the moment, "Do you understand what this says?"
"Only the top line. I don't read the language of the ancestors very well. I'm a soldier," he said, frowning slightly before continuing. "The scholars said it was a copy of what Janus had left behind long ago and only a fraction of what was left," he shrugged.
Daniel nodded and could already see Vala opening her mouth to speak, "This is the address for your world," he started and frowned, "Copied word for word?"
"As far as I know, yes," Vorenus replied, he did prefer this man over the blonde haired one. Vala still unsettled him but not in a bad way.
"I'll have to see about a few of these words but speaks largely of opening doors, bringing a peace to the turmoil... it's almost as if he knew something was going to happen." he said, "And there is more of this left on your world,"
"Yes," Lucius replied, "If you can get your General to help us, to see the devastation for yourselves, to consider helping, then I am sure our scholars would be happy to let you study the texts. I don't know how much was left behind and what survived all these years but if it worth anything to you, we're more than happy to share," he said. Nothing was ever bought for free, it always boiled down to negotiating a price. "I would like to know if there are answers hidden in what he left that can help deal with this cowardly foe,"
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Post by Anteyra on Aug 30, 2013 5:10:32 GMT
Vala listened to the conversation, crouched down next to Daniel, watching him translate. She gave out a little sigh, why did the ancients have to be so cryptic in everything they did, both when they were alive and when they were ascended. It was annoying to say the least. She placed her hand in her pocket, making sure her new little trinket was still in there. "Well, Daniel... I think you need to go and speak to General O'Neill about this little discovery." She urged, not really wanting to spend more time in the room than was necessary with a stolen item in her possession.
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Post by Harbinger on Aug 30, 2013 20:57:13 GMT
"Yeah, sooner than later," he got up picking up his papers and headed for the door before pausing halfway and looking at Vala with a point of sudden thought, "I thought we told you to stop pilfering, hm? Give it back," With that he ran out of the room.
Vorenus frowned, "I don't understand this place," he muttered, more for himself as he got up watching as Daniel left. He frowned though when he spoke to Vala. If she had taken anything, he wasn't likely to care about it. What point was there in worrying about trinkets when he had a world to save? The guard was already starting to re-enter the room
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Post by Anteyra on Aug 30, 2013 21:26:24 GMT
Vala looked at Daniel and followed him out. "I don't know what you're talking about!" She tried to sound all innocent as she followed him. "What makes you think I've stolen anything?"
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Post by Harbinger on Sept 10, 2013 0:42:45 GMT
"Vala, I know you too well. He's all shiny and you're like a moth to shinies," he replied continuing to hurry off to his place of habitual study.
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Post by Anteyra on Sept 12, 2013 21:52:07 GMT
She continued to follow him. "How long have I been a member of this team now? Four years! And you haven't even thought to consider that I have changed my thieving ways? I am now an hones person, Daniel!" She still tried to play innocent, her face was certainly doing a good job of showing how serious she was being about this. All her years as a thief and a liar had managed to teach her how to put of a fake serious look, she only hoped it was good enough to fool Daniel, as he was pretty good at telling the difference.
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Post by Harbinger on Sept 16, 2013 12:49:48 GMT
He stopped and looked at her, it was a hard long look that wasn't spiteful but it wasn't all that jovial either. "All I can say is there are more to these Romans than meets the eye. I think Vorenus is smarter than he looks," he said at length before carrying on at a much faster pace before reaching his study.
There were books everywhere on the table as he sat down, pulling two of them closer in order to translate the Ancient on the scruffy, slightly blood-stained piece of paper.
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Post by Anteyra on Sept 17, 2013 20:45:23 GMT
She followed him in, leaning on the desk to watch him work, her hands clasped in front of her. "That can be said for a lot of people." She replied to Daniel comment about not judging someone's smartness based on their looks, but mainly referring to herself. "Especially as I have demonstrated on numerous occasions how my crazy ideas have often proved to be the best course of action."
She paused for a second, leaning a little more to read the books he had in front of him, peering and the text and the Ancient symbols. Before he had had enough time to even try and start translating, she asked a question of him. "So what does it say?"
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Post by Harbinger on Dec 11, 2013 0:40:58 GMT
"Give me a chance Vala," he muttered as he work, getting a little irritated with Vala's pushing before he wrote down the translation.
"It looks like a prophecy... " he breathed as he looked at the text, double checking just to make sure before typing into the computer, 'The Sybil of Cumae". The riddle Vorenus had given him wasn't there but there were others.
"A future, fame and glory may appear easy to obtain,
For prosperity to be ever eternal, a fortune favoured,
But beware, fortunate son, this shall not be destined to last,
Hades' dogs will see this come to pass,"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means that these Romans were running on good times and failed to prepare for a prophecy. Hades' dogs... that is what could mean anything," he replied, shaking his head.
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Post by Anteyra on Dec 15, 2013 16:44:48 GMT
Vala chewed on the inside of her cheek for a moment or two as she considered the words that Doctor Jackson has read out, trying to see if she could help in any way, knowing full well that she wasn't very good at these types of riddles. She had proven that when they had been searching for the Sangreal, a couple of years ago.
"And who or what is Hades?" Miss Mal Doran queried, leaning over the table a little more to look at the writing and Daniel's translation. As she did a sort of clunking noise could be heard as the trinket in her pocket banged against the edge of the table. Vala tried to ignore the noise and just looked at the archaeologist to see is he had heard it or not.
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Post by Harbinger on Dec 16, 2013 17:02:16 GMT
Daniel had heard it but he figured if the Roman realised he was missing something, he'd kick up some sort of fuss about it. He supposed that if what the Roman had said was true than a simple trinket was the least of anyone's worries. Instead he cleared his throat with a worried in flection, barely glancing at Vala when she asked the question. Somedays he could easily forget she was not a native to Earth
"Hades was the Grecian god of the Underworld, one of three brothers... Zeus, Poseidon and Hades. The Romans equivalent was Pluto but it's not uncommon for them to refer to Hades," he shook his head. Hades, even in mythological terms, was a guy no one fancied messing with so if there was some entity out there using Hades as their alias or god title, then it meant bad news for anyone that was beneath him.
"In other words Hades is bad news," he explained gravely, "But there's no reference on this that explains or indicates what Vorenus' scholars were writing about. That's probably hidden back on his world."
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Post by Anteyra on Dec 16, 2013 17:08:31 GMT
"So..." She reached over and picked up a random object that was lying on Daniel's table, turning it over in her hands idly examining it. "What are we going to do now?"
"We're going to send a MALP to his planet... assuming you got a gate address off him." General Jack O'Neill was standing in the doorway, watching the pair of them.
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Post by Harbinger on Dec 16, 2013 17:10:49 GMT
Daniel glanced up and nodded, "Yeah, he did give it to me. Have you been there the whole time?" he asked, frowning slightly.
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Post by Anteyra on Dec 16, 2013 17:13:48 GMT
The older man shook his head, one hand in a pocket, the other hanging by his side. "No, just arrived." He took a couple of steps into the room. "So... Hades? Think we have a new Goa'uld on the loose looking to take over the galaxy?"
Vala placed the artefact back on the table carefully as she watched Jack. "Wouldn't put it passed them. They are rather sneaky."
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Post by Harbinger on Dec 16, 2013 17:17:33 GMT
"Or worse," Daniel replied, "Whoever it is, Vorenus and those with him are undoubtedly lucky to be alive. We need to get more intel, and I believe we can find it on his world. This prophecy not use the gods' name lightly, Jack"
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Post by Anteyra on Dec 16, 2013 17:19:37 GMT
"First we need to check if it's safe or not, hence the sending of a MALP first." He stepped forward again. "Do you have that address so I can give it to Walter?"
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Post by Harbinger on Dec 16, 2013 17:21:09 GMT
"Hm, yeah," he scribbled it down on a spare piece of paper that was on the desk, he was wanting the original with the prophecy written on it. "Here," he held it out.
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Post by Anteyra on Dec 16, 2013 17:24:43 GMT
Vala took it from Daniel and passed it over to the waiting General. She she moved the large gold coin she had stolen from Vorenus slipped out of the pocket and clattered heavily to the floor. O'Neill watched her with a slightly raised eyebrow as he took the paper from her. "I wonder how that got in there." She said and then darted for the door.
"Vala!" Jack cried and tried to make a grab for her but she was too quick and disappeared. There was no point in going after her. The general picked up the coin and held it in his hands for a second or two before holding it out to Daniel. "You should probably return that to it's owner."
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Post by Harbinger on Dec 16, 2013 17:29:56 GMT
Daniel watched for a short moment before he took the coin, turning it over in curiosity, it wasn't any form of currency that he knew Romans to have used on earth but it looked more like a medallion Perhaps given for services rendered, Vorenus after all was a soldier and he had a high rank.
"Probably... this looks like it has sentimental value," he pondered, "Got bored huh?" Daniel new Jack disliked the paperwork side of the job.
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Post by Anteyra on Dec 16, 2013 17:32:38 GMT
"I'll let you know what we find." Jack turned and left the lab, heading for the control room, the piece of paper in his hands.
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Post by Harbinger on Dec 16, 2013 17:35:32 GMT
He frowned, "Thanks for dropping by," he muttered but shook his head, going head deep back into as much research as he could find
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Post by Anteyra on Dec 16, 2013 18:00:53 GMT
It was around lunch time that Taryn finally returned to her home after what seemed like an eternity at the university giving her presentation. She walked in and dumped her bag on the table and began heading for the Kitchen. It wasn't until a couple of seconds, after she had gotten a mug out of the cupboard and started to boil the kettle that she did a double take and returned to the table, picking up the note that had been left for her. She read it carefully and smiled slightly. She thought that when she had left that morning she wouldn't see or hear from him again, but here was this note, asking to get in touch with him. She took out her phone from her bag and sent a text to Daniel.
'Daniel, presentation over. Where should we meet? Taryn'
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Post by Harbinger on Dec 16, 2013 18:06:52 GMT
Daniel yawned, though he wasn't tired, he hadn't had much coffee today. He was so busy nose deep in books, he almost gave a jump when his phone buzzed on the table. He picked it up and read the text message half expecting it to have been Vala or Sam. He smiled though when he saw the name was not theirs.
He thumbed in a reply, 'Oh good, hope it went well. 8, I'll pick you up. Know a good place. Daniel,'
It was just simply easier to drive than faff about with directions or whatever.
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Post by Anteyra on Dec 16, 2013 19:19:53 GMT
She smiled as she read the replied and started to do a couple of chores around the house, and getting some lunch sorted out, it was going to be quite a while before he would be picking her up.
Back at the base Walter Harriman was sitting at his desk in the control room. "Chevron six locked." He called out as the gate spun, Jack was standing just behind him, his arm folded over his chest. "Chevron seven..." Everyone watched as the chevron moved, but did not light up and nothing else happened. "Chevron seven will still not lock." It was their third attempt to dial Vorenus' planet, something has obviously happened.
Jack sighed. "All right, Walter. I think it's safe to say it's not going to work." He sighed and headed off back to Daniel's lab. He stood watching the man as he did something with his cell phone before putting it away. "Either the address you were given was wrong, or something has happened to their gate, we can't connect."
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