SG1-16 Four Dragons Read Online Free Page B
— to do.
One way or another, Daniel would get a look at those ruins.
With or without Jack’s approval.
Chapter Two
PLANET DESIGNATION: P3Y-702
STATUS: SCIENCE MISSION SUPPORT/BACKUP
APPROX 1300 HRS LOCAL TIME
1 JUL 03/0830 HRS BASE TIME
Early the next morning, Daniel followed Jack, Sam, and Teal’c as they climbed down from a gate precariously close to a cliff’s edge and into the heart of SG-13’s recent find. From the sun’s position, the local time appeared to be mid afternoon. The climate was warmer than he’d expected. Waves of heat rippled against the far horizon, creating a mirage of water surrounding the immediate area.
The landscape itself was unremarkable, a few trees, but mostly barren dirt and a few rocky hills along the perimeter. One hill, though, stood out like a sore thumb, a three-story tall statue looming at its top. Colonel Dixon’s briefing mentioned the statue along with Balinsky’s discovery of four sets of human remains buried in graves beneath it. Daniel looked forward to reading the DNA test results though it’d be at least a week before those findings could provide any clues to age or origin.
An unburied ring platform sat near the valley’s entrance, but Daniel was far more interested in what lay beyond. Scattered across the terrain was a collection of ruins that would have made any expert on Ancient Chinese artifacts alternate between gasps of wonder and tearing their hair out.
From one roped off three-meter square to the next, dozens of S.G.C. science personnel called out their finds from shallow pits dug into the barren dirt as field assistants tagged, bagged and crated items. Shang dynasty ritual cauldrons, their silvered etchings blackened with age, competed for attention with gold plaques decorated with jeweled dragons, clearly from the later Han era. Zhou, Quin, Hsing… Name a dynasty from China’s earliest beginnings up to the Imperial era and someone had found something.
Daniel dragged himself by it all, following SG-1 as they made their way across the twenty-acre wide basin to check in with SG-13. Jack led the pace, plowing past each dig site with barely a head turn. Daniel knew any amount of begging would be a waste of time. Still, he couldn’t help but feel like a child in a bakery who’d just been told he could only eat vegetables. Adding insult to injury, meter-high obelisks covered in Ancient writing, lined the half dirt, half paved walkway.
And yet Jack was determined to make Daniel do target practice. Something he could easily do on Earth during downtime.
So why here? What was driving Jack to be so… so one-sighted?
They’d hiked over to Colonel Dixon’s position when a brown hand shot up from a pit to Daniel’s right, holding a bronze wine vessel with three prongs at its base. “Shang dynasty. Someone get a tagger over here.”
Daniel stopped, recognizing the voice.
“You’re a long way from Egypt, Jackson.” A broad smile and tangle of dreadlocks greeted him.
With a laugh, Daniel replied, “And you’re a long way from China.”
“A’true, but man, I could sure use your help,” said Kevin Hopkins, Daniel’s old roommate from Chicago. The China-Egypt joke had been born years ago when the two first declared their areas of interest, each trying to convince the other their specialty was the better. Tall, trim, the Jamaican’s waist-long plaits had made General Hammond pause before bringing him into the fold. Daniel had lobbied extra hard to get Kevin involved with the S.G.C.’s archaeological team.
An assistant came over to retrieve the find, but Kevin held her off. He handed the wine vessel to Daniel. “Take a look at the inside and tell me I’m not crazy.”
Daniel stole a glance at his teammates before taking the newly found object. Jack, Sam and Teal’c were conferring with Colonel Dixon while the rest of SG-13 headed toward a base camp set up by the north side of the dig. Daniel decided it wouldn’t hurt to take a
One way or another, Daniel would get a look at those ruins.
With or without Jack’s approval.
Chapter Two
PLANET DESIGNATION: P3Y-702
STATUS: SCIENCE MISSION SUPPORT/BACKUP
APPROX 1300 HRS LOCAL TIME
1 JUL 03/0830 HRS BASE TIME
Early the next morning, Daniel followed Jack, Sam, and Teal’c as they climbed down from a gate precariously close to a cliff’s edge and into the heart of SG-13’s recent find. From the sun’s position, the local time appeared to be mid afternoon. The climate was warmer than he’d expected. Waves of heat rippled against the far horizon, creating a mirage of water surrounding the immediate area.
The landscape itself was unremarkable, a few trees, but mostly barren dirt and a few rocky hills along the perimeter. One hill, though, stood out like a sore thumb, a three-story tall statue looming at its top. Colonel Dixon’s briefing mentioned the statue along with Balinsky’s discovery of four sets of human remains buried in graves beneath it. Daniel looked forward to reading the DNA test results though it’d be at least a week before those findings could provide any clues to age or origin.
An unburied ring platform sat near the valley’s entrance, but Daniel was far more interested in what lay beyond. Scattered across the terrain was a collection of ruins that would have made any expert on Ancient Chinese artifacts alternate between gasps of wonder and tearing their hair out.
From one roped off three-meter square to the next, dozens of S.G.C. science personnel called out their finds from shallow pits dug into the barren dirt as field assistants tagged, bagged and crated items. Shang dynasty ritual cauldrons, their silvered etchings blackened with age, competed for attention with gold plaques decorated with jeweled dragons, clearly from the later Han era. Zhou, Quin, Hsing… Name a dynasty from China’s earliest beginnings up to the Imperial era and someone had found something.
Daniel dragged himself by it all, following SG-1 as they made their way across the twenty-acre wide basin to check in with SG-13. Jack led the pace, plowing past each dig site with barely a head turn. Daniel knew any amount of begging would be a waste of time. Still, he couldn’t help but feel like a child in a bakery who’d just been told he could only eat vegetables. Adding insult to injury, meter-high obelisks covered in Ancient writing, lined the half dirt, half paved walkway.
And yet Jack was determined to make Daniel do target practice. Something he could easily do on Earth during downtime.
So why here? What was driving Jack to be so… so one-sighted?
They’d hiked over to Colonel Dixon’s position when a brown hand shot up from a pit to Daniel’s right, holding a bronze wine vessel with three prongs at its base. “Shang dynasty. Someone get a tagger over here.”
Daniel stopped, recognizing the voice.
“You’re a long way from Egypt, Jackson.” A broad smile and tangle of dreadlocks greeted him.
With a laugh, Daniel replied, “And you’re a long way from China.”
“A’true, but man, I could sure use your help,” said Kevin Hopkins, Daniel’s old roommate from Chicago. The China-Egypt joke had been born years ago when the two first declared their areas of interest, each trying to convince the other their specialty was the better. Tall, trim, the Jamaican’s waist-long plaits had made General Hammond pause before bringing him into the fold. Daniel had lobbied extra hard to get Kevin involved with the S.G.C.’s archaeological team.
An assistant came over to retrieve the find, but Kevin held her off. He handed the wine vessel to Daniel. “Take a look at the inside and tell me I’m not crazy.”
Daniel stole a glance at his teammates before taking the newly found object. Jack, Sam and Teal’c were conferring with Colonel Dixon while the rest of SG-13 headed toward a base camp set up by the north side of the dig. Daniel decided it wouldn’t hurt to take a
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