Lotar let her hand fall back in her lap. “The gods’ lands do
not
lie beyond their doorway?”
“Many lands lie beyond it, Lotar.”
She stared at the gate as though she was seeing it for the first time. “And you will take us through it to the place you say my people came from? You will take us to Earth?”
She had to ask
… He smiled. “Like I said, Lotar, the
chappa’ai
leads to many worlds. I’m sure between us we can find the right one for your people, if you decide you want to leave.”
“Oh, Daniel…” Lotar shook her head. “My mind is dizzy. I came to the shrine because this is my passing time and — ”
“I’m sorry,” he interrupted. “Your passing time? I don’t know
what that is. Can you tell me? Or is it taboo?”
Her olive skin tinted with a faint rush of blood. “No,” she murmured, her gaze downcast. “It is not taboo. Only private. But I will tell you. After rebirthing season I am to marry Bhuiku. Before a girl marries and is made a true woman she is in her passing time. Then she must be alone. To prove she is worthy of being a true woman she must brave the gods’ wrath in the shadow of their doorway. She brings offerings and prays so she might bear her man strong sons who will not fall into darkness as babes.”
Fall into darkness? That sounded like a euphemism for death.
Doubtless the Adjoans suffered a high infant mortality rate. It was something Janet would want to address sooner rather than later. So this passing time business was a kind of combined fertility and child protection rite. Okay. He could work with that.
“Well,” he said, “first of all, congratulations on getting married. You must be very happy.”
Lotar’s face lit up, a sweet smile blossoming. “Oh, I am. Bhuiku is the best of men. I pray to the gods I will be the best of women to him and give him many healthy sons.” And then she gasped, her smile dying. “But you say the gods are dead! If the gods are dead how will I know I am worthy to marry Bhuiku? If I marry Bhuiku without the gods’ blessing my babes will fall into the terrible darkness!”
Oh damn.
I should’ve kept my big mouth shut
. “No, no, Lotar, it’s all right!” he said, and risked putting his hand on the young girl’s shoulder.
“It is
not
all right, Daniel,” Lotar sobbed. “I cannot marry!”
Daniel could’ve kicked himself.
Way to go, Jackson. Give yourself a gold frigging star
. “Lotar, please, listen to me. You’ve misunderstood. The gods still have power.”
She looked at him, her cheeks drenched. “How can they have power if they are dead?”
Good question. “Ah — well — because they were gods. Think about it. Your people have been coming here to pray for many years, haven’t they?”
Slowly she nodded. “Yes.”
“And your prayers have been answered?”
“Sometimes,” she said, sniffing. “Not everyone is spared the darkness.”
He took her hands again. “Lotar, we have a saying on Earth. God — the gods — answer all prayers, but sometimes the answer is no. And that can be hard. I know it can be hard.”
I’ve been told no more times than I can bear.
“But I can’t imagine why the gods wouldn’t want you to marry Bhuiku.”
She tugged her hands free. “Oh, I do I want to marry him, Daniel,” she whispered. “I love him very much.”
“Then
marry
him, Lotar. Finish your passing time and marry the man you love.”
Her chin came up. “I will.”
He was so relieved he could’ve kissed her. “Tell me, Lotar, how long is your passing time supposed to last?”
“Ten sunrises we must pray at the gods’ gate, bringing them the offerings we find in the wilderness.”
He felt a whisper of excitement. Ten days in the wilderness. So it was a test of survival, too, a total rite of passage. Which meant it didn’t correlate to any rituals he’d come across in the period of Egyptian history from which Lotar’s distant ancestors had come. And
that
meant it had developed in the unique environment that was Adjo. Hot damn! This place was a virtual petrie dish of human sociological drift, of —
Easy there, tiger. You’re not on a field trip, you’re br
eaking the ice so we can get our feet in the door
.
Crap. There was Jack again, whispering over his shoulder. And if he turned around right now he just knew he’d see the man himself glaring at him, willing the geek-boy anthropologist to get the hell on with it and enough with the chit-chat already!
Shut up, Jack. My mandate, remember?
“So, Lotar,” he said. “How many sunrises have you been here now?”
“This is the third sunrise of my passing time, Daniel.”
Three days and the MALPs had missed filming her every time. What were the odds? Sam could tell him. Not that it mattered much in the grand scheme of things. What mattered was he’d met Lotar now, established a pretty decent working rapport… and the heady rush of discovery was bubbling through his veins like vintage Dom Perignon.
“And does Bhuiku have a passing time too?”
Again, Lotar’s skin tinted and her gaze dropped downwards. “Yes. But it is not for a girl to know or speak of.”
Right. Of course not. “Sorry,” he said quickly. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.” He’d ask Bhuiku that in person, later, once they’d made contact with Lotar’s village. For now he should focus on the job at hand before Jack lost his temper and ruined what promised to be a beautiful friendship. “Lotar, when you came to the shrine with your flowers for the gods, didn’t you wonder what those strange machines were near the
chappa’ai
?”
“Machines?” She shook her head. “What is machines?”
“Oh. Ah — the funny looking things — ” Helplessly, he tried to form their shapes with his hands. “Made of metal. On caterpillar wheels. Used to collect information. And you have no idea what I’m talking about. The things. The strange things.” He pointed. “Here, on the plinth. You were expecting to see them again but they were gone when you got back with your flowers. Those things.”
Her confused expression cleared. “Oh! Yes! I thought they might be Jaffa sent by the gods to guard their doorway.” She shrugged. “When I saw they were gone I thought the gods had called them home.”
“So you haven’t told anyone about them?”
“No. I was alone here till you came, Daniel, and I cannot return to my village before I have finished my passing time. If I do, the gods will curse me with sickly children, or worse.”
Damn. If they wanted Lotar to introduce SG-1 to her village that could be a problem. No way would Jack agree to hang around here for seven days while she finished her ritual. He’d have to think about that. In the meantime…
“Lotar, you said you thought the machines were Jaffa. So you know about Jaffa?”
She shivered. “Oh yes. From little children we are told of the Jaffa. The Jaffa will come and eat us in our beds if we are not obedient.”
Poor Teal’c. Talk about having to live down your reputation… Resisting the urge to glance over his shoulder to where Teal’c and the others were still patiently — or probably not so patiently — waiting, Daniel focused on giving Lotar his most reassuring smile.
“Lotar, I’m really grateful you’re so willing to talk to me, especially about such personal and important things. You’ve been very brave, very trusting, and I want you to know how much that means to me.”
“You are strange, Daniel,” she said, smiling, “but I do not fear you.” She pressed her hand to her chest. “My heart tells me when I should be afraid.”
“Really?” he said. “Wow. That’s great. Thank you. So. There’s
something else I need to tell you.”
“About the gods?” she said, looking at the shrine.
“No. About me. You see, I didn’t come through the
chappa’ai
alone.” He lifted a hand and beckoned with one finger. “Sam?” he said, raising his voice. “You want to join us? Just you. For now. And no — ” He thought hard. “Decorations?”
A moment later Sam, minus her weaponry, stepped out of the concealing shadows into the sunlight.
“Hello, Lotar,” she said. “It’s wonderful to meet you.”
For the second time Lotar’s scarlet flowers tumbled to the rocky ground. Then the girl flung herself face down before Sam, visibly trembling.
“You cannot be human! You must be a god!”
Exactly the kind of pronouncement guaranteed to horrify Sam. “
Daniel
…”
Gently he took Lotar by the shoulders and eased her out of her desperate prostration. “Lotar, Lotar, it’s all right. She’s not a god, she’s human like you. She’s one of my dearest friends. Her name is Sam.”
Reaching them, Sam dropped to a crouch before the overcome girl and took one small olive-skinned hand in both of hers. “Daniel’s right, Lotar. See? I’m flesh and blood.”
Lotar’s eyes were enormous. “But — but your hair,” she stammered, and averted her gaze as though afraid the audacity of staring at Sam would see her punished. “Your hair is
gold
, like the gold we give the gods. No human has hair of gold. You
must
be a god, or some creature made by a god.”
“Damn,” Sam murmured, her face full of compassion. Simmering beneath that, a terrible rage. Daniel knew exactly how she felt. “Lotar, look at me.
Look
at me.”
Obedient to Sam’s insistence, Lotar looked up.
“I am a woman, just like you,” said Sam, her eyes intent. “A few years older but no different. No better. Where I come from — where our people come from, yours and mine — many women have gold hair. Or brown. Or red. Lots of shades in between. None of us are gods. We’re all like you.”
Lotar’s gaze shifted, and she stared at the Stargate. “A flesh and blood woman? From this place called Earth?”
“That’s right.”
Calmer now, Lotar continued staring at the gate. Then she looked again at Sam. “Can I touch your gold hair?”
Startled, Sam blinked. “Oh! Ah — well — yeah. Sure. If it’ll help convince you I’m not a god.”
Holding her breath, Lotar reached out and touched Sam’s short blond hair with reverent fingers. “So soft! Like sunshine.” She leaned closer. “And your eyes! They are like Daniel’s eyes. I have never seen sky eyes before, or hair like golden sunshine.”
For the second time she burst into tears.
“Oh crap,” said Daniel. “Ah… Sam?”
Shooting him a look, Sam wrapped Lotar in her arms and let the girl weep unhindered. “It’s okay. I know this is hard. We’ve turned your world upside down, Lotar. I’m sorry.”
Stabbed with fresh guilt, Daniel watched and waited as Sam calmed the girl. “I think we should get the rest of the introductions over with,” he murmured. “Better one big shock now than dragging out all the little shocks.”
“Agreed,” said Sam. “And not just for her sake. The colonel’s really antsy. He wants to get a move on.”
“Yeah. I kind of figured. Lotar? Lotar, there’s something else you need to know.”
Sam loosened her comforting grasp and the girl eased back to look at him. “Yes, Daniel?”
“Three more friends came with me to Adjo. They’d like to meet you. I know you’re upset, but…”
“No. I am all right,” said Lotar. “I would like to meet them. I was foolish to weep.”
“Good for you,” he said, and got to his feet. Then he held out his hand to her. “Of all the people we could’ve met first on Adjo, I’m pleased we met you.”
Smiling brilliantly now, she took his hand and let him help her to stand. “I am also pleased, Daniel.”
As Sam stood too, Daniel raised his voice. “Okay, Jack. Lotar’s eager to meet you. She’s a wonderful girl, completely harmless.”
So please take the hint and leave your guns behind, all of you
.
And ten seconds later there was Jack, with Teal’c and Dixon a step behind and on each side. Weaponless, thank God.
“Lotar,” said Jack. “It’s a great pleasure to meet you…” A sidewise flickering glance. “
At last
.”
Daniel pulled a face. “All good things come to those who wait. Lotar, this is my friend Jack.” He pointed. “And this is David.” He pointed again. “And this is Teal’c.”
He held his breath then, knowing Jack and the others did too, in case Lotar realized that Teal’c was a genuine Jaffa. One of the monsters who ate children in their beds.