Stargate SG-1: Sacrifice Moon Read Online Free Page A

as all that, he'd seen stranger
things walking around Times Square - the more he saw people who
might not have been out of place back home in blue jeans and sneakers, kicking their heels at LaGuardia or LAX. A few were sitting on
their baggage, reading scrolls or sipping drinks.
    Drinks... he followed the lines and saw a building off to the side.
With a built-in counter. And high, three-legged stools with patrons
firmly in place. More tables and chairs inside, in the shade.
    Of course. What was an airport without a bar? The resilience of the
human spirit never failed to amaze him. You plunk a few people down
in alien terrain, give them nothing to do, and within a few weeks, one
of them would master home brewing...
    "Jack!" Daniel was back, glowing with enthusiasm. "This is les-
tos, he's, well, I guess you'd call him a ticket agent. I've explained to
him we came through the Stargate."
    "And?"
    "And he gave me a list of three planets we could have come from!
Delphi, Sikyon, Mycenae - Jack, they're names of ancient Greek
city-states! This is incredible - apparently each of these worlds has
trade routes through the Stargate to this place and - "
    "Vacation travel, yeah, we got that." Daniel's enthusiasm was contagious. Jack had a hard time keeping his necessary pessimism intact. "You made him understand we didn't just get separated from our tour
group, right?"

    "He understands that we're from a world outside of their normal
routes - it's called the Helos Confederacy, apparently - and the name
of this world is Chalcis, by the way." Daniel took a deep breath and
visibly calmed himself. "He's sending a message to his superiors.
We're supposed to wait."
    The dark-tunic guys -who didn't need Security badges to identify
them, the body language was unmistakable - were looking nervous
about all the talking and gesturing. Jack tried a friendly smile. None
of them smiled back. "So? We wait?"
    "Yes."
    Jack let a brief silence go by. "Right here? In the sun? `Cause it's
going to get toasty."
    "Well..." Daniel looked around and focused on the building.
"There's a place to wait in the shade over there."
    "That's some kind of tavern, Daniel."
    "Oh." Daniel's eyebrows went up. "And...?"
    For the life of him, Jack couldn't think of a single reason not to
do it. He turned to the security guys and said, "Right. We'll... be in
the bar."
    Two important things to learn about offworld bars.
    One, money was important. Daniel had managed to trade some
kind of jewelry he'd brought along - for the sake of history, Jack
hoped it wasn't beads - for a round of local brew. Jack had specified nonalcoholic, but Daniel wasn't sure the concept had translated.
Teal'c unhesitatingly tasted his, and said gravely, "This contains
intoxicating substances."
    "Right. Stick to canteens." He gazed at Teal'c for a few seconds.
"But it's safe, right? Not poisonous or anything?"
    "I do not believe so. My symbiote would react if the drink contained anything harmful."
    That did it. Jack frankly couldn't resist a sip - not every day
you run across alien daiquiris - and was surprised at the taste that
exploded on his tongue. Heavy, silky, fruity, sweet, with a nice brisk
slap at the end for freshness. "Not bad," he said. Might try it on the way back, especially if they ended up stuck in the departure line for,
oh, hours. Take a sample of it back for the lab geeks. Might have
some medicinal purposes.

    Oh, the heavy duty of exploring the galaxy...
    Daniel was examining his glass too -not the drink, the glass. Turning it around in his hands like some kind of precious artifact - which,
Jack realized, it probably was, from an archaeologist's point of view.
    "It's hand blown," Daniel announced. "Not very well made,
but -"
    "It's a bar glass." Carter finished his sentence. "It stands to reason
they'd make them sturdy rather than decorative."
    Which made Daniel's face light up. "Well, you'd think so, but
some of the cups we unearthed at digs around