Ex Tempore

Ex Tempore
by Kleio

"Do you guys taste that?"

Three heads turned in obvious wonder to look at the young man.

"Salt! Don't you taste it, in the wind?"

"Sir, Daniel's right. We must be approaching a sea," Sam said licking her lips.

"Which means we're most likely also approaching a possible settlement, since they're often situated on coast," Daniel continued, to wipe away the 'so what' expression on Jack's face.

"That is correct." Teal'c nodded. "The Goa'uld, too, favour coastal areas as a location for a colony."

"Okay, okay... we'll check out the beach, but that's it. No sign of life there and we're outta here," Jack said, trying to sound reluctant to hide his rising excitement. "And I will not hear any arguments - sun-bathing is way out of the question."

SG-1 had been following the same road for hours now, and the general atmosphere was starting to get ever heavier. The Gate had evidently been situated in the middle of nowhere and only by chance had they found this modest path after much roaming and cursing in the dense forest.

The sun was shining high in the sky, not moving much as the hours went by - it was literally going to be a long day. The winding road went through open meadows that didn't seem to be under cultivation. There was absolutely nothing in this no-doubt-abundant place indicating a human culture. The only thing that still managed to keep their hopes up was the notion of the road itself: it was in poor condition, clearly not much - if at all - in use, but it was there and someone had had to build it.

They had just reached a small forest when Jack suddenly stopped and raised his hand in warning. He took off his sunglasses and gave the other members of the team a look telling them to remain silent. He was certain he'd heard something moving in the bushes and quietly signalled his team to prepare to defend themselves against an attack.

But there was no attack they could have defended against.

Jack saw the little ball being thrown at them, saw it rolling right in the middle of the team, saw the recognition in his friends' eyes, and then everything was swallowed by the terrifying pain.

*******************

Jack opened his eyes. Nothing. He was lying on his back on cold stone, which he mistook for a floor until discovering its true nature in the most unpleasant way.

"Goddammit!" came the curse as his shoulder hit the ground. He'd tumbled over the edge of something about three feet high in attempt to sit up. "Carter? Teal'c? Daniel?"

"Here," Daniel's voice replied from somewhere to the left. "I can't see. It was a shock grenade, wasn't it?"

"Yeah. God, I hate those things! Carter, Teal'c, where the hell are you?"

No answer.

"Maybe they're still unconscious," Daniel suggested as he sat up on what seemed to be a large stone table. "Though, it should take everyone roughly the same time to recover, Teal'c probably even less than the rest of us. Maybe they've been taken somewhere else."

"Well, I would be more than happy to have some idea what our own location might be at the moment."

"By the sound of it, we're definitely indoors, but where, and more importantly, are we alone?"

"Yeah, for all we know we could be the laughingstock of a room full of Goa'ulds as we speak. Damn! I knew I should've put on that other black T-shirt."

"I doubt they care that much about fashion. And I doubt they're Goa\." ."

"Last time I checked shock grenades went under the heading Goa'uld technology."

"Jack, someone placed a pillow under my head and I could've sworn I had my glasses on when we were attacked, and yet here they are, in my pocket and still in one piece. Does that sound like the Goa'uld to you?"

"Okay, let's see," Jack said, getting up and starting to make his way through the darkness in the direction of Daniel's voice, "we got hit by a shock grenade, all my weapons are gone - big surprise there - and half of my team is missing, but we do have a couple of pillows. You must excuse me, if I fail to see the silver lining here."

"I guess we'll just have to wait for our vision to return before 'seeing' anything," Daniel said and started to explore his own pockets as well, "I still have some of my stuff left, unfortunately not any weapons, but my anti-histamines are here..."

"Hooray, we're saved!"

"Very funny, Jack. There were a lot of flowers out there, you know..." Daniel said defensively and continued going through the contents of his pockets, "And there's more, it feels like..."

"Ouch!!!" Jack cried out.

"...a flashlight. Hey, we're not blinded!"

"Well, I am now, thanks to you!!! Point that thing somewhere else, will ya?!" Jack yelled, shielding his eyes from the light. He'd been standing right next to Daniel and was caught in the line of fire.

"Whoops, sorry!" Daniel said, and turning the flashlight away from his friend, he swept the beam around the pitch-black room.

It wasn't a large space, actually more like a cubicle than a room, with no windows or doors, and the only furniture was the two tables in the middle, on which they'd woken up. sto stone walls were covered with engravings and Daniel hurried closer to study them.

"There's only a little writing here, mostly just ornaments... these are Greek letters, but the language is definitely not Greek," he said disappointedly, "There is something familiar about it, though... I just can't put my finger on it."

"I know it'l sol so fascinating to you, but perhaps finding the door would have some appeal to it as well, whatcha say?" Jack pointed his own flashlight at the enthusiastic linguist.

Jack's sarcasm pulled Daniel away from the text and together they began examining the walls in order to find some kind of crack in them which would indicate a hidden doorway. As they had almost finished going over every inch of the room, a ray of light suddenly appeared on the opposite wall, and when the massive stone slid silently aside, taking almost half the wall with it, the brightness quickly filled the small space. Blinded by the light, the two men could barely make out a man's figure standing in the middle of the in-pouring daylight.

"Welcome!" the man said walking up to them with a brilliant smile on his face, "I'm delighted to see you remained unharmed! I am ever so sorry we had to take such actions, but I assure you, it was all done with your best interest in mind."

"And you would be...?" Jack was more than annoyed by this over-cheerful welcoming.

"Larth Rumlna, the high priest, at your service," the fifty-something man dressed in a bright-coloured tunic replied with a sense of pride in his voice. "And what might you be called?"

"Well, I might be called Colonel Jack O'Neill and this might be..."

"Daniel, Daniel Jackson," his friend hurried to answer, afraid that Jack's pointed remarks would provoke their visibly good-humoured host.

"So, would you mind telling us what that grenade was for?" Jack asked, trying hard to keep his cool.

"This way, Colonel Jack O'Neill and Daniel-Daniel Jackson, if you please," the man said still smiling broadly, "I will explain everything."

Daniel opened his mouth to correct the mistake, but Jack was quick to grab his arm and with a evil grin on his face, he dragged the gulping man along with him to follow the priest and the two young boys that had appeared at his heels.

They were led into a pillar-lined path cutting through a beautifully blooming garden. People dressed in notably simpler togas than their host pulled away from their work on the symmetrically cut cypresses and the straight lines of flowers reflecting all the colours of the spectrum, and walked hesitatingly nearer the pillars to greet the strangers and wonder at their peculiar appearance. The whole complex looked enormous, with a number of separate houses and wings surrounding the garden in every direction. At the end of the arcade lay a huge building made of bricks, unquestionably a palace, into which the men were escorted past the similarly huge guards on both sides of the door.

"Did you notice the weapons they had? Zat guns. Still think they're not Goa'uld?" Jack whispered to Daniel.

"Those round vaults... it reminds me of something..." Daniel muttered in reply only to receive an angry glare back from the Colonel.

"Here we are! Please, do make yourselves comfortable, and help yourselves to some food and drink."

Priest Rumlna was pointing to a pile of pillows scattered around a low wooden table and the two tired men sat obediently down on them, glancing suspiciously at the grey porridge-like substance in the bowl and finally resigning to take a sip of the one thing familiar to them, the red wine.

They were in a large space, filled with light coming from the square hole in the ceiling, underneath which lay a pool of rain water. Compared to the first room this one was considerably more richly decorated with colourful wall frescoes and terracotta statues representing a variety of mythical characters, the most popular of which seemed to be a centaurus, whose slim body and elongated legs caught Daniel's attention. The bull implied a Minoan influence, but the language on the walls didn't match that scenario and the Minoan engineering had never reached the stage of vaulting, and besides, the clothing was definitely more similar to ancient Rome than it was to Greece. It made no sense. At all.

"That room you woke up in is just a little resting place. I often use it myself, it's so nice and cool, simply the perfect place for napping in the daytime, though some people tend to get a bit claustrophobic but I have never experienced anything of the kind, instead I warmly recommend it if you enjoy the more Spartan atmosphere..." their host rambled on.

"Not to mention, if you know where the door is!" Jack said sharply.

"Oh, you did not see the symbol on the wall, that nice little lion? No, of course you didn't, silly me! One only needs to push it slightly with one's hand and the mechanism opens the door. We're actually quite proud of it, it's a very recent invention of our marvellous scientists," the priest babbled, but seeing the impatient look on Jack's face he decided to cut the small talk and get straight to the point.

"So, if I may inquire where you come from, or more accurately, where you were taken from?"

Their host was smiling compassionately.

"We're from a friendly place called earth, and we weren't taken from anywhere; we came here as explorers..."

"Peaceful explorers," Daniel added.

"...and you people attacked us! Where the hell are our friends?! And our gear?!" Jack was losing his temper.

"Your holiness... what he means is that we're concerned about the other two members of our team," Daniel did his best to soften Jack's outburst and to give him time to calm down.

"You are referring to the woman and the... Jaffa, are you not?" the priest said and continued, "And please, call me priest Rumlna, everybody else does."

"About our friends..." Daniel tried again.

"Oh, you need not worry! The woman, Captain Samantha Carter I believe was her name, is being taken good care of. She is in the women's palace, strestresting from that terrible ordeal. I am yet again so sorry we had to put you through it, but you see, we had no choice; it was the only way to guarantee your safety. And as for your 'gear', it is all being taken care of."

"What about Teal'c? I mean, the Jaffa?"

"I told you, you have nothing to worry about, the Jaffa will have no control over you, not anymore. He will not harm you, rest assured, he has been taken care of."

"What exactly do you by by taking care of?!"

Jack was on his feet and ready to grab the priest to shake the answer out of him.

"Hey-hey-hey..." Daniel said getting up as well, "Will not harm?"

"You were his prisoners, were you not? You need not worry, the false gods came to us, too, claiming to have some authority here, telling us about all these other worlds and what they had done to the people in them. But they are gone now; we eliminated them. You are safe here, my friends! The Jaffa won't hurt you anymore," priest Rumlna babbled, surprised by his guests' reaction.

"You son of a bitch...." Jack caught a firm hold of Rumlna's clothes and pushed him against the wall, "Now, read my lips - WHERE IS HE?!"

"H-h-he is being held in the punishment quarters," the frightened man stuttered. "Please, there's nothing to worry about, it is all taken care of."

"Jack, let him down, this is not the way to handle this. There's obviously been a mistake, I'm sure we can work it out. Just let him go, Jack."

Seeing the guards come barging in and Daniel raising his hands as a sign of surrender, Jack reluctantly dropped the shivering man back on his feet.

"I do not understand..." priest Rumlna mumbled as he tried to catch his breath.

"There's been a mistake. We were not prisoners of the Jaffa; he's our friend," Daniel explained as slowly as he could still holding his hands in the air to keep the guards and their Zat guns away, "He is not your enemy."

"But he is a servant of the false gods, the Goa'uld, is he not?"

"No, not this one. Teal'c fights against the Goa'uld, he's one of us."

"I cannot believe it, no, it cannot be..." their host kept repeating, but felt himself safe enough to give the guards the signal to back off.

"Better believe it, buster! So, you just go get him out this minute!"

Jack was still fighting his urge to beat the crap out of this man, but one look at Daniel made him bite his tongue once more. He started to walk around the room to calm his nerves.

"I am sorry, but I do not have the authority to release the Jaffa, even if I wanted to."

"Then could you take us to someone who does?" Daniel asked, by this time biting his own tongue as well.

"No, no, no, it is impossible. Only the Ati has the power and... no, no, I cannot ask Her that, no, it would be unheard-of."

"Who?"

"Ati, the Queen of the Rasenna."

As if having received an electric shock, Daniel jumped up and dashed to the nearest wall.

"Is this how you write it, 'Ati'?" he asked pointing to a word painted on the wall.

"Yes, that reads: 'Ati, the daughter of the Gods, the Queen of the Rasenna'."

"Etruscans!\
"
"Say what?" Jack asked turning away from the doorway, where he'd been making a quick getaway plan.

"They're Etruscans! Of course!"

The archaeologist was literally climbing the walls as he investigated the writing between the ornaments.

"This word here, 'Ati', means 'mother' in Etruscan! Oh, I should have realised it sooner, those stone arches and the togas and... my god, Larth Rumlna! 'Larth' was a common name among the Etruscans and it is widely accepted that the word 'Rome' comes not from the mythical founder of the city, Romulus, but from the Etruscan last name of Rumlna!"

Noticing the way-out-there look on Jack's face Daniel hurried on to give him some background.

"The Etruscans, or the Rasenna as they called themselves, were a people in pre-Roman Italy. There's not much known of them, our main source of information being the epitaphs that survived through the rule of the Roman empire, but it is thought that they came to Italy around 800 BC, not sure from where, and created this eclectic, mostly Greek-based culture, which was then practically destroyed by the Romans during the 4th century BC."

"So, the Goa'uld tore these people away from their spaghetti plates, how does that help us?"

"Well... There's not much known about the Etruscans and this would be an excellent chance to study their culture, since it has obviously not been changed that much due to the lack of outside contacts and the environmental restrictions..."

"I hate to repeat myself, but this will help us - how?"

Daniel gave him a desperate glance. He would never make Jack see the importance of this or anything else 'cultural'. It meant absolutely nothing to him that linguists everywhere had been puzzled for years over the Etruscanguanguage and its origins, knowing only fragments of texts and having no information whatsoever of its spoken form, and here they were, actually speaking to an Etruscan man! What this finding that there was a connection between Etruscan and ancient Egypt would mean to linguistics! And yet there was no chance to get Jack to understand any of that. It was a no-win fight and Daniel wasn't going to go there, not now.

"Okay," Jack said turning back to the priest, "If we could just meet this mother of yours..."

"Oh, no-no-no! No man can 'just meet' the Mother! You must seek an audience first and... and then there are certain rites to perform, the purification alone would take a while..." priest Rumlna was pacing around the room most confused.

"Please! There must be something we can do to clear up this misunderstanding. The Jaffa is our friend and we have to help him," Daniel pleaded.

The priest stopped and covering his face in his hands, he took a deep breath, but failed miserably in regaining his calm.

"I will go and inquire... yes, I will go and... you just follow me...oh-dear, oh-dear..." priest Rumlna mumbled. "I will show you to the bathing quarters... yes... you will be cleansed, while I go and inquire about an audience... the purification is essential before the offering can be made..." the man babbled on more to himself than anyone else.

Lost in his thoughts he signalled his guests to follow him down the long hall, evidently leading to the bathing quarters.

"Great. Just great," Jack whispered to Daniel extremely pissed-off, "If that nervous wreck is our best bet, we're screwed."

"It'll work out, you'll see," Daniel replied trying to convince Jack as much as himself, "We just have to play by their rules, go along with this."

"If you so much as mention cultural differences..."

Jack gave Daniel a look that left no room for misinterpretation.

While Jack stayed a bit behind, noting closely the number of guards and their weaponry, Daniel hurried to catch up with the priest who was still mumbling to himself.

"Priest Rumlna, what can you tell me about your history, about Etruria, or Rasna?"

"You know Rasna, our birth place?"

The priest was startled, but seeing Daniel nod with anticipation he carried on.

"The first Mothers were born there, in the old world, and in the beginning of our time the Gods brought them here, and they built this city."

"Only women came?"

"Oh, no!" the priest gave a little laughter, "Men, too, play some part in the process of having children, do they not?" But then he continued more seriously, "The Mothers have always been the ones in charge of things and the power is passed to the first daughter of the Mother."

"But the very first mothers, how did they come here?"

"They were brought here by the Goddess, of course. Her ship travelled a great distance from the old world," priest Rumlna said as if stating the obvious, "Is that where you come from, as well?"

"Um, sort of... When was this?"

"Oh, it was hundreds of years ago," Rumlna answered, "we, the children of the First Mothers, have lived here ever since, have cultivated the land, mined the hills, raised cattle, sailed the sea, build new cities - all this time living here in harmony. Yes, harmony... until they came."

Daniel woke up from his calculations over the difference in the length of their years.

"The Goa'uld?"

"Yes, those awful, awful men. They came here claiming to be gods! Can you believe the nerve of some people!" priest Rumlna said, clearly upset, and shook his head in disbelief, "Gods made of flesh and blood... how dare they?! And they even thought us foolish enough to tell all those ludicrous tales about coming through the stone circle in the woods! Oh-my..."

"It's true...um... what they said about the circle, that's how we came here, too."

The priest stopped and turned to look at the man beside him. And then, an idea entering his mind, he smiled understandingly and went on.

"Oh, I see. You do not want to reveal too much about your land. Maybe later, after you discover what a peaceful people we are and how productive a trading partner we can be."

"No, we actually..." Daniel started, but realising the hopelessness of the discussion, he decided to turn to other topics, "So, how did you 'eliminate' the Goa'uld... I mean, the false gods?"

"We have our ways..." the priest said smiling mysteriously, "Their magic is quite extraordinary, I must admit, but nothing compared to ours."

Daniel was just about to open his mouth to ask more about what exactly had happened with the Goa'uld, when the priest suddenly stopped in front of a doorway covered with a red cloth.

"Here we are. I shall see you after the you've bathed," he said and giving them a quick smile, he turned on his heels and walked away.

"Okay, I guess we're on our own," Jack said and pulled the cloth aside, "Let's see what's behind curtain number three..."

They found themselves in a large room filled with light streaming in from rows of small holes, situated high up on the walls.

"Oh my god, this is a spa, a real Roman spa!"

Daniel gulped for air, his eyes wide with astonishment. This was a bit more grandiose than he had expected from 'bathing quarters'.

"Damn. And me without my camera..." Jack couldn't resist commenting on his friend's enthusiasm.

"We know that the Romans adopted a whole lot of Etruscan customs and beliefs, and the famous Roman engineering was definitely of Etruscan origin - Cloaca Maxima, the main sewer in Rome, was built by them - but this place is really... something."

There was no more time to discuss history as they were approached by four boys in their early teens, dressed only in white linen cloths wrapped around their pelvises, and without hesitation the small hands began undressing the two confused men. After their clothes were all folded neatly on a table, Jack and Daniel were led to the largest round pool, right in the middle of the room and, to their surprise, followed by two of the boys, the other two disappearing somewhere with their clothes.

"Whoa! Hey, what's going on?!" Jack shouted as the reality finally hit him, "Isn't this taking the 'when in Rome' thing just a tiny bit too far?"

"I think they're slaves, or closer to servants actually - the Etruscans were known for their liberal treatment of slaves - and I believe their job is to wash us. Just go along with it; they could be punished if you refuse," Daniel said closing his eyes when the obviously experienced little hands started scrubbing his back, "And we're not in Rome. We're in Etruria."

No, that wasn't correct, either. As far as Daniel was concerned they were in heaven. An archaeologist's heaven. He had the chance to observe a culture that had disappeared from earth over two millennia ago, leaving only pieces of art and a collection of epitaphs behind, and here it all was, alive and kicking! Of course it must have been changed, but most likely not in the same scale as back home. If he could just get a moment alone with priest Rumlna and ask him the pile of questions itching inside him...

Jack had more trouble adapting to the situation, but as the boy washing his body with a sponge showed no signs of being exploited or forced to do it - in fact he was smiling broadly the whole time - the strain of the long day caught up with him and left him no choice but to give in to the pleasure, letting the skilful hands roam free. There was nothing to be done for their friends right now, so a little rest was probably justified, to let it all go just for a moment...

*******************

It took Jack a while to realise that the hands were gone. He opened his eyes only to find himself alone in the pool with Daniel and no sign of the boys. A look at Daniel lying there next to him, eyes closed and leaning his head against the side of the pool, caused a warm wave running through Jack's body and he smiled to himself - the content expression on the young man's face, his wet and messy hair slightly curled, breathing steadily, relaxed.

"Hey, Danny," hlledlled softly not to startle the half-sleeping man, "We better get out before we turn into a couple of pink raisins."

Daniel staggered after Jack and found his glasses on a table along with some white linen, presumably towels. Since their clothes obviously hadn't been returned, Daniel took a towel, throwing one to Jack as well, and wrapped himself in it. There was that same sensation of embarrassment he'd felt a number of times before, when being exposed in front of Jack. It was impossible to be more specific about it and once more he had to resort to an emistmistic approach: making a promise to himself that he would start working out again, he watched Jack towel his muscular body dry. Yes, that's what he wanted... that's what he wanted his own body to look like, that is... His gaze drifted down the man's back, making note of every toned muscle along its way, and finally reaching the firm...

"Oh, our clothes!" Daniel woke up with a start and pushed his steamed up glasses to the top of his head - it was just because of the warm water, of course it was - and watched three of the boys enter the room carrying their lost wardrobe.

"Any idea how long we've been at this health club?" Jack asked as they put their khaki pants and black T-shirts on, "I must have dozed off at some point."

"Yeah, me too. It's hard to say, but the sun seems to be still up. At least we've been here long enough for them to wash and dry these, well almost," Daniel said throwing his still damp jacket on his arm.

"We've wasted too much time already. We have to find Carter and get Teal'c free. Now, where's that rum-guy when you need him...?"

As if answering Jack's question, the fourth boy appeared in the doorway and pulled the curtain aside to let priest Rumlna enter. He was dressed even more flamboyantly than before, in a gold-embroidered indigo toga and covered with jewellery from head to toe. Even his smile seemed to have broadened as he greeted his guests.

"Good news, my friends!" Priest Rumlna declared, "I have succeeded in getting you an audience! I had to use all my persuasive capacities to convince Her that it is of utmost importance that you see Her and...."

"Yeah, yeah, you're simply the best," Jack cut in, "Now, when can we see her?"

"I take it you have bathed, yes? Good. Then there's only the offering to be made and after that you will be allowed see our Mother. This way, please."

"Whatcha think this offering thing is? Are we gonna have to slaughter a chicken or something?" Jack whispered to Daniel while walking after the priest.

"It's probably just a food offering, I don't think they use animal sacrifices... anymore," Daniel whispered back at him and received a raise of an eyebrow in return.

They were led into a small room, as the centrepiece of which stood a stone table, similar to the ones Jack and Daniel had earlier found themselves on, but this time there was a woman lying half way on it, her hips just barely on the edge of the stone. Her long, black hair spread out across the table and her slim body was covered only with a white toga, of such fine linen that it was virtually transparent, showing the curves of her breasts and the dark triangle between her thighs. She seemed to be awake, but her pupils were wide enough to hide the colour of the irises and her head kept swaying from side to side as if she was dreaming with her eyes open.

The two men were shocked beyond words.

"Please, help yourselves," priest Rumlna said in the same tone of voice as he had offered them food hours before.

"W-w-what?!" Daniel was the first one to form the word they were both searching for.

"Your semen. You need to offer up your semen, before you can approach the Mother," the priest explained as a matter of course.

"Oh, nonononono.... " Jack said, taking a few steps back and shaking his head in disgust, "Neeever gonna happen!"

Priest Rumlna looked surprised and Daniel hurried to give him an explanation.

"We understand that fertility is obviously of great importance to your people and wish to honour your customs in every respect, but you see, we're... um... strictly monogamous, and this is definitely...."

"Definitely," Jack echoed.

"...against our beliefs," Daniel continued and glanced at Jack, his eyes widening to tell the man, he didn't have a clue how to proceed with this.

"Oh, but that is not a problem!" priest Rumlna said cheerfully, "You are far away from home, and besides, I do not believe this would count as being unfaithful to your spouses."

"No, no, that is not the problem..." Daniel stuttered as the images of Sha're and Apophis flashed through his mind.

"She's just not our type, sorry." Jack was there to carry on. "What d'you say, we just skip this offering thing altogether this time, huh?"

"No!" the priest was practically shouting, "You do not understand what I had to go through to get you the audience in the first place!"

He took a long breath and then, seeming to calm down, he said: "Uh... I think I know what the problem here is. She is not your type, am I correct? Well, then we'll just have to find you someone who is."

Priest Rumlna snapped his fingers and a boy, who must have been hiding right behind the curtain covering the door, came running to him.

"Go and fetch Vel or some other male servant, quickly!" he said to the boy and then smilingly to his guests: "I'll just have to consecrate him and then he will be all yours! I do understand your preferences; as for myself, I tend to enjoy the company of younger boys..."

"No!" Daniel cried out in order to stop the boy from leaving the room and carrying out the given task, "We can't... it's impossible... Jack, help me out here!"

Jack had been going through their alternatives in his mind, ruling out switching into soldier mode as he caught a glimpse of the two guards with Zat guns right outside the door, along with the hope of using their eloquence to find a way out of this one as he noticed the larger-than-life look on the priest's face.

anxianxiety in Daniel's voice cut like a knife, making Jack step forward and place his hand on the man's shoulder as a sign of support. This would end right here, right now.

"What my friend here is trying to say is that we can't do it, end of story," Jack said and gave the priest a big grin. "So, I guess you'll just have to think of something else, won't ya?"

"Oh... Oh, I see!" priest Rumlna said, his face lightening up as the idea entered his mind, "Of course! I should have noticed it sooner! And if I may say so, you two make a lovely couple, simply lovely!"

Daniel could hear Jack gulp, but before getting a chance to put his own astonishment into words, he was stopped by a whisper coming through Jack's teeth: "Just work with me here!"

A quick look at the still grinning man next to him, a few seconds of hesitation, and Daniel was ready to swallow his protest and took on a bright smile as he swung his arm around Jack's waist. He'd realised the same thing as Jack, that this could be their way out - they'd just have to play along.

The three men were all smiles, sincere as well as forced.

"Oh, but you still have to make the offering," Rumlna said and watched two of the smiles die. "So, shall I send for a male servant, or...?"

"No! God, no!" Daniel half-screamed, "I mean, she's just... fine."

"How about we deliver this offering manually...?" Jack asked, testing the waters.

"Most certainly not! It is a disgrace to cast your semen on the ground! No, no, the offering must be an act of divine love, anything else is completely out of question!"

"Well, there is a very close relationship between my hand and..." Jack started, but seeing that in order to regain his self-control, the priest was inhaling deep enough to hyperventilate, he thought it best not to finish the sentence. This man was obviously not the greatest humorist.

"But you can sacrifice together to make it more pleasant for you, I am certain it is perfectly acceptable as long as the semen won't go to waste. You do this 'your way', just be sure give the Gods their share," he said as he walked to the woman and raised his toga to reveal an already full erection, "I will make my offering first and then let you have some privacy, if you find my presence somewhat awkward."

Jack and Daniel couldn't take their eyes off of the man as he pulled the fine linen up, calmly spread the woman's legs apart, and entered her. It only took him a few pushes to come and with the same air of routine the priest pulled away and, straightening his clothes, moved to the far side of the room.

The two men were speechless. They had just witnessed the most unusual and discreet form of rape imaginable.

"What was that you said about honouring their customs and playing along with them...?" Jack whispered to Daniel.

"I take it back."

The priest was smiling at them, signalling them to go ahead with the offering. The two men moved slowly nearer the woman and just stood there, stunned by the sight before them.

"If this is what he calls 'privacy' I really don't wanna witness 'public'..." Jack whispered but was completely ignored by the man next to him.

"I don't think she even knows what just happened, she seems pretty out of it, and this can very well be a privilege for her and her family, a position of great esteem, the sedatives given just to alleviate the pain, she must go through this several times a day... "

Daniel was babbling in a low voice, more to himself than anyone else.

"And yet... I can't do it."

"It's not like we have any choice. We gotta get to this 'mother' or whatever to free Teal'c, and with no weapons, this looks like the only way to go. So..." Jack said looking Daniel straight in the eye, "who's gonna go first?"

"Jack... I really 't. 't. Even if I think she won't feel it, I can't... er... I can't get myself aroused by her, by this situation," Daniel finally managed to mutter.

"Yeah. Believe me, I know what you mean."

Jack gave a deep sigh.

"Look, we're supposed to be a couple, right? So, I think our host over there..." - Jack waved his hand at the priest - "...is expecting us to... you know... 'warm up' each other."

"Hey, hey, don't gimme that!" he continued, seeing the look on Daniel's face, "We're in this together, remember? I'm just laying out the facts."

"I know, I know... we'd better do something and fast, he seems to be getting suspicious," Daniel said, glancing at Rumlna.

"Okay, here we go. Think of Sha're, or whatever does it for you, and be brave - be very, very brave..." Jack said taking a deep breath and pulling Daniel into his arms.

Jack's lips skimmed Daniel's half-open mouth testing him, teasing him. Pulling back a little he prepared himself for another attack, this time putting his full artillery to work. They would have to make it look like real, like they'd done it thousands of times before. Without giving it a second thought his hand dug into the man's hair, grabbing a tight hold of it to prevent any possible attempts to escape, and he let his mouth take command, his lips find their target and his tongue invade the unknown territory.

Daniel was out of breath. The surge, which Jack's lips had caused with only that light touch, almost knocked him over. His knees didn't seem to be responding anymore and it was the hand in his hair that was still keeping him on his feet. The room had disappeared from his mind along with the watching priest and the woman on the stone table; there was no 'place' anymore, just as there was no 'time', either. The second kiss lasted an eternity, but was over in a split second. Somewhere deep down he knew this wasn't what he was supposed to be feeling at that moment, but the thought was shoved into the area of rationality and had no jurisdiction here, out of time and space, out of mind.

Jack couldn't believe the passion with which his kiss was received - Daniel seemed to be really taking this pretending thing seriously. And he couldn't believe his own body as it took over, wanted more, and got more. Jack realised he'd never gotten an erection this fast before, but wasn't capable of thinking anything beyond that, didn't want to think; he just wanted... to want. Finding the arch of Daniel's neck, he gave in to the urge to lick him, taste his skin, breathe in his scent. And Jack noticed he wasn't the only explorer around, when he felt his ear being nibbled and a tongue briefly entering it. Daniel's hands were inside his T-shirt now, pulling him even closer, making him lose his mind. He startled when he sensed the hardness against his own. The surprise made him snap out of it and remember what exactly they were supposed to be doing.

"Oookay," he whispered into Daniel's ear, "I think we're warmed up now. We have to finish this."

Daniel was unwilling to open his eyes. Nothing in the outside world interested him in the least, but Jack's voice was demanding and Daniel had to let the blood re-enter his brain. Reason was back and it didn't like what it was seeing. Letting go of Jack for a moment to rub his temples and gather his thoughts, he looked straight into the dark brown eyes, just inches away from his.

"I can't, Jack. I can't..."

"Just do it, she won't feel a thing."

"Jack..."

But Daniel's lips were sealed with a soft kiss and his arguments lost. Jack had turned his back on him and was leaning over to the woman. He dropped his pants and without thinking Daniel followed his lead. Two throbbing erections were preparing to enter the semiconscious woman, the remains of their predecessor still dripping down her thighs.

Jack stood between her legs with Daniel right behind him, and as he thrust himself against the woman, Daniel turned to look away. He just couldn't watch this, it was too much for him.

Daniel leaned closer to Jack's back and, still avoiding the full sight of what he was doing, he whispered the words into the man's ear one more time: "I'm sorry, Jack, I can't."

"Daniel," Jack said rocking his hips in a slow rhythm, "We can do this, together."

His hand reached back to cup Daniel's head, pulling the man's face right next to his. He could feel Daniel's erection against his buttocks, his skin burning from the touch.

"Jack..."

"Get inside me. Now."

"W-w-wha--?"

"Just shut up and do it! This is an order."

One quick peek at the priest watching them from across the room told Daniel that there'd already been way too much talking and not nearly enough action. There was a mess of thoughts rushing through his mind: Who was this man? He sounded a lot and yet nothing like Jack. Was he serious? He couldn't be. Or could he? Wouldn't this hurt Jack? Was he himself sure he couldn't just do it with the girl? Why was the mere thought of entering Jack such a turn-on? Why were his hands clenching so tightly to the man's buttocks, even though he was in the middle of having sex with her? This couldn't be happening. This couldn't be real.

"Daniel, do it!" Jack hissed one last time through his teeth.

Seeing no other way out of it, and at that moment honestly not even wanting to look for one any longer, Daniel pushed himself between those firm mounds and through the hidden hole. The tightness of it surprised him, like his flesh had been absorbed by Jack's, and he was trapped, sentenced to stay that way forever.

And it would most certainly have been the pleasantest of sentences.

But with a start he pulled back when a sound, a low scream escaping from Jack's mouth, hit his consciousness. Terrified that he'd entered the man too fast and hurt him in his selfish heat, Daniel started to pull out slowly.

"S-s-sorry, Jack, I'm so sorry..." he mumbled but was cut off by Jack's hand swinging back to take hold of Daniel's behind, but finding his hand instead and grabbing it tightly.

"No!" came the husky reply, "Don't stop. Fuck me, Danny."

Daniel shuddered to hear his words and was stunned by how much they excited him. As he slid between those fuzzy cheeks, more carefully this time, he found his thoughts bouncing around in his head: he was enjoying this, he wanted to be inside this man, wanted to make him scream, not from pain, but from the purest of pleasure. And at the same time he was well aware of the fact that it would never be that way, that Jack was doing this for Teal'c, nothing more.

Daniel's face was buried in Jack's neck, his mouth repeating the words 'Jack' and 'sorry' into the moaning man's ear. He felt that he was only causing Jack pain, and for a brief moment he was glad the woman was there, as violated as she was, to give him at least the illusion that the sounds of satisfaction coming from Jack's throat actually had something to do with him. And pushing himself deeper into the man, again and again, his long fingers slid between Jack's. Their two hands still folded the men screamed out loud as they both came, Jack inside the woman, and Daniel inside Jack.

"Oh, good! You are finished," priest Rumlna said smilingly after watching the men fall silent. "It wasn't exactly orthodox, but never you mind - I am sure that will do quite as well. Now, hurry up! We mustn't keep Her waiting."

Pulling their pants back up, Jack and Daniel staggered like two programmed robots after the priest into yet another long hall and finally, at the end of it, through a doorway into a huge space, unmistakably the centre of the palace, the place from which the Mother reigned over her children. No words were spoken, both men avoided even looking at one another, and the room gave them all the distractions they craved for.

The frescoes repeated the same mythological themes they'd seen everywhere in the palace, but the use of colouring was considerably richer and the workmanship even more exquisite. Above all the visitors' eyes were caught by the life-size bronze statue in the middle of the room, representing a nursing wolf with a group of anthropomorphic figures at its feet. There was so much for the archaeologist to study, and yet so many other things cruising aimlessly in his mind to spoil the experience for him.

She was sitting on her throne, situated a few steps above the floor, guarded by two scarcely clothed men with fans in their hands, standing on both sides to make sure the heat would never reach her. If Jack and Daniel had considered the priest to be festively dressed, this woman was unmistakably bound to exceed that impression with an abundance of exquisite jewellery and a bright-coloured toga covered with precious stones and gold and silver embroidery. It was hard to tell her age beneath all those decorative accessories, but she was without doubt a strikingly beautiful woman, a true Queen.

Seeing priest Rumlna kneel at the bottom of the steps, Daniel and Jack followed the lead.

"I bring before You, our divine Mother, these two men from a land far away. This here is Colonel Jack O'Neill and this is Daniel-Daniel Jackson. They come in peace, as enemies to the false gods," the priest said as he got back up on his feet, not noticing Daniel's attempt to cut in with his protest.

"Let them speak," the majestic voice answered.

Jack gave Daniel a little shove, telling him to step forward and state their case.

"Um... we're here to correct a terrible mistake," Daniel said, not knowing how to address the woman, "Our friend, Teal'c, is held prisoner by your people due to the fact that he's a Jaffa, but I assure you that he does not serve the Goa'uld. This man is our friend and ally in the fight against the Goa'uld, or the false gods as you call them."

Receiving no reply, Daniel carried on.

"We understand the Goa'uld are also your enemy and I'm sure we could find a diplomatic solution to all this that would benefit both our peoples."

Daniel fell silent as he saw the Mother stand up and come slowly down the steps. She walked right in front of the two men with her eyes fixed on Daniel.

"So, you are Daniel-Daniel Jackson?" she asked running her finger gently down his cheek.

"W-well, actually it's just Daniel... but yes, yes I am," Daniel managed to mumble as he readjusted his specs.

"You may call me Queen Larthia. You are aware that you are a strikingly beautiful man, Daniel-Daniel?" she said as her fingertips played with Daniel's quivering bottom lip, "For once priest Rumlna showed some good taste when telling me about you."

Daniel was unable to find the words to declare his respect and repulsion in equal amounts.

"And you want your friend to be set free?"

She watched Daniel nod.

"Then I believe the question is, how much do you want it?" she asked as her hand slid downwards on Daniel's body, finally stopping at his groin and rubbing it lightly.

Daniel couldn't breathe. Just thinking about what had happened only minutes before... and now this! His hand reached out to grab Jack's arm for help, but found nothing. He couldn't breathe.

But Jack was there. Feeling left out, he had stepped slightly aside, letting the anthropologist do the talking, but when he saw the woman's hand touching Daniel, touching what had just a moment ago been inside of him, Jack rushed back to pull the man away from her reach and take charge. Fingers finding their counterparts once more, the two men stood there with clasped hands, defying the Queen in all her glory.

"Sorry, but this one's already spoken for," Jack said with a forced grin.

"Oh... I see."

The queen was evidently surprised, but since not used to being turned down, she carried on with her proposal.

"Maybe there is still some room for negotiation... that is, if you still want to free the Jaffa."

"Here's the deal: you let us go with our friends and we promise not to blow this place up. How's that sound to you?"

Jack's hand was squeezing Daniel's so as not to let it fulfil its trullinlling and smack that bitch the way she deserved.

"It sounds like you are in no position to issue such an ultimatum," she replied, her eyes burning with fury, "As I see it, your friend will be sacrificed to the Gods tomorrow morning unless you have something else to offer me in his place."

"Naw, I'm pretty sure we don't."

Jack's body was trembling. Oh, he definitely had something else to offer her - he would take great pleasure in blowing her brains out himself, watching the bitch die in front of him.

"Priest Rumlna! Show these men to their quarters, and place guards by their door" she ordered and, turning back to them, she added smiling warmly: "I will see you at dinner. Perhaps you will have changed your mind by then."

"Don't hold your breath."

The priest escorted them through a maze of corridors, making a quick stop at 'the quarters for the most basic needs', as he put it, and finally reaching a beautifully decorated room, which was sparsely furnished with only a couple of chairs and tables, and a large bed in the middle of the back wall, filling half the room. Daniel's eyes fixed on the luxurious wooden headboard and the bed legs shaped like lion's paws, and he dug up from his memory the picture of a bed found in Northern Italy, dated around 500 BC, of which this one was a spitting image, though wood replacing ivory here. But then something more crucial to their current situation presented itself. There was only one bed attached to the luxurious headboard and the lion paws.

"I had two separate rooms reserved for you, but as it turns out, one will presumably be enough," Rumlna said as he signalled two guards with Zat guns to stand outside the door and pulled a thick cloth in front of it to hide their presence.

"I am ever so sorry about the guards, evidently She still considers you to be under the influence of the false gods. You must understand that we have to be careful about these things. We didn't even have guards before they came, and I know our Mother only wants to protect her children."

Daniel, who'd been in a trance of some sort till then, now appeared to wake up and regain his interest in the world around him.

"When exactly was this, 'they' coming here?"

"About a month ago. And since then everything has been different. She is different."

"What d'you mean?" Jack asked.

"She took great pride in conquering the false gods, She... I would just like to point out that I and the other priests played a significant part in the elimination, after all, we are the ones initiated to the secrets of our magic, but it seems She has decided that the divine power belongs solely to Her," Rumlna explained awkwardly.

"In other words, it all went straight to her head," Jack translated.

"No! I wish you wouldn't speak of Her in such a manner. She is our Mother, our Queen, no matter what... If you'll excuse me, I must go now," the priest said and without waiting for an answer he hurried out of the room.

"Guess we hit a nerve," Jack said wryly as he pulled the curtain back in its place.

"So, if the Goa'uld sent their scouts here and these never returned, doesn't it mean that..."

"That there's a full-scale invasion to be expected," Jack finished Daniel's thought, "But shouldn't it have already happened? Cimmeria was hit pretty fast."

"Maybe they've been delayed, a rebellion in another world, or something," Daniel said, trying to come up with possible explanations, "But they're coming, that's for sure. A month, he said, so that could mean maybe twice as long, judging by the length of their days. My God, Jack, it could be any moment now! We have to warn these people and start evacuating them as soon as possible or..."

"Hey-hey! I'm not taking that bitch with me, no way in hell!"

"Jack, a whole culture is at risk of being wiped out! We can't let this one woman prejudice us against the entire people! And just think what an ally they wouldfor for us if this magic thing, whatever it is, proves out to be useful."

"Yeah, yeah..." Jack said, knowing Daniel was right butll nll not being able to get over his anger, not to mention his suspicion about the whole hocus-pocus thing. "So, how do you suppose we break the news to them? Work it into the table conversation?"

"Something like that."

Daniel turned around and headed for the small alcove, which seemed to play the part of a bathroom, thanking some higher force for the bowls of cold water brought there. He'd felt his skin tighten in his groin to the point of being nearly unbearable - dried sperm mixed with blood reminding him of what he had done. His sperm. Jack's blood. Daniel needed to get cleaned up, to get the filth off of him, before returning to the room and facing Jack.

Silence. There was nothing more to be said. Neither one of them felt capable of discussing the events of this surreal day. Their only hope was that it would soon come to an end.