Chapter 1

Somewhere in the infinite universe, too far away to be measured in light years, there is a small planet that is very similar to earth. The planet is peaceful, and uninhabited aside from the animals, fish, insects, and other life-forms that make up the complex food chain. However, hidden deep in one of the southern jungles are the ruins of an ancient civilization. These cities have fallen prey to encroaching plant life, animal vandals, and the ravages of time. It's been years since a human has set foot in these ruins, but at the far end of the ghost city, there is a large stone ring that has better stood the test of time than the surrounding city. It has been overgrown with plant-life, but otherwise remains intact.

The story begins as two men and a woman, all dressed in green fatigues, hastily bustle around the stone ring, erecting a hasty but well-organized campsite.

Supplies for four pup tents were laid out, but only three had been successfully raised. Canvas, poles, and tent pegs for one still lay spread on the ground, awaiting a pair of hands to raise them into some semblance of shelter.

Teal'c, a large, dark, and stoic Jaffa, stood guard at the edge of the campsite, while Carter busied herself with setting up a campfire and O'Neill put the finishing touches on his tent.

Suddenly, O'Neill looked up, scowling. "Carter? Teal'c? Where's Daniel?"

Carter glanced over, but she didn't look worried. If anything, her blue eyes sparkled with amusement. "He said he was going off to examine some of the ruins we found nearby. I'm sure he's lost track of time..."

Teal'c gave a somber nod, one eyebrow raised in agreement. "Our initial investigations show no sign of life," he commented, implying that Daniel should be safe.

With a flourish, O'Neill drove the last tent peg into the ground. "What about lions, and tigers, and bears, oh my?" he replied, sarcastically.

While Teal'c frowned, puzzling over O'Neill's comment, Carter suppressed a smirk and looked back to the slowly growing fire. When she had managed to gain a handle on her sense of humor, she said calmly, "I'm sure he's fine. He's not due to check in for another twenty minutes..."

O'Neill just glowered. "Yeah, well... I don't trust him." He stared for a moment at the fire Carter was building, lost in thought, until suddenly he looked up. "Teal'c. Go check on Daniel, will ya?"

Teal'c nodded slightly, and without another word moved off into the slowly deepening gloom to locate the wayward archeologist. Carter finished stoking the fire, and retreated to a short distance to prepare her MRE, while O'Neill ventured a short distance from camp to gather a healthy supply of firewood. It was probably more than they needed, but at least it kept his mind off worrying about "his" civilian...

Daniel couldn't believe his luck. From the moment he had set foot through the gate, he knew that this was a huge find. It had taken him some time, but the afternoon's work had led him to believe that the writing on the walls of the buildings had been used as some sort of landmarks...Perhaps something akin to street signs.

However, one of the messages was still baffling him. He believed it to be some sort of warning, but the grammatical structure was completely different from the rest of the words he had deciphered.

"Daniel Jackson." The archeologist was startled out of his thoughts by the sound of Teal'c's voice. "I have been informed that tents are not in the habit of building themselves. Colonel O'Neill believes that you should come back to camp and set up before it gets dark, else you end up sleeping under the stars tonight." Only the slight twitch of the Jaffa's lips suggested that he had made an attempt at humor.

Daniel, whose mind was still ruminating over the alien evolution of ancient languages, only gave Teal'c vague, distracted smile. "Oh yeah... I'm coming, just... Let me copy these down.... Perhaps these are closer to one of the more modern dialects..." he trailed off, once again lost in thought.

Teal'c gave no reaction to this, other than a slight inclination of his head. "As you wish, Daniel Jackson. I shall inform Colonel O'Neill of your intent."

Daniel didn't really register what Teal'c was saying, but gave him a distracted wave and smile in order to encourage him to leave. As the Jaffa turned to go, Daniel had already noticed something else that was odd about the symbols on the wall in front of him. There was one character that was not quite familiar, but was somehow similar to the symbol he had come to associate with the word, 'Chapa'ai'. The addition could suggest some sort of smaller version of the gate, but perhaps if he cross-referenced similar symbols, he could come to a more definite conclusion...

By the time Daniel had made this association, he looked up to tell Teal'c that it might take longer than he thought, but the Jaffa was already gone. He frowned, but after a brief consideration, he started to gather his things to go. Jack would never let him forget it if he didn't get his tent set up before dark.

As he reached to pick up an abandoned notebook, however, something caught his attention. In the weeds near his groping hands, there was an object nestled within the tangle of broad-leafed vegetation. In fact, if he hadn't been bent over to gather his notes, he'd have never noticed it.

Curiously, Daniel reached out to push back a few of the leaves, revealing a small, sand-colored, box-shaped object. It was roughly the size of a softball, and covered in carved runes quite similar to those on the wall in front of him. This is it! he silently exulted to himself. Now if only I can translate these, maybe I can figure out the message...

All thoughts of tents or checking in with O'Neill were driven from Daniel's mind as he picked up the fist-sized box and wandered back to the wall that he had been inspecting. Dinner could wait just a bit longer.

"The best I can figure, the runes said 'Beware the small Chapa'ai. Only the...something may enter there." Daniel was trying to explain to the rest of his team, while simultaneously becoming entangled with the makings of his tent. It didn't help that he had waited until dark to get started, and so only had the firelight to help him. "I'm not sure what the something was. I've never seen a rune like that before. I'm thinking that it may refer to something that only the indigenous people knew about. Perhaps it was a concept that developed after they split from the ancient Earth civilizations. Or it might have been..."

Of the other three members of the team, only Carter seemed to be listening to what Daniel had to say. O'Neill and Teal'c were on the other side of the fire, talking between themselves about something they seemed to find of grave importance. "Daniel, do you think that we might find this...'small Stargate'? I mean, it could be anything. If we could find it and replicate it, the benefits for Earth might be tremendous."

Daniel paused, still holding the last pole that would hold up his tent. "I'm not sure what exactly the small Stargate does, but I'm assuming it's some sort of...transportation device. But the runes didn't say anything about where this smaller Stargate would be found. If anything, I think they were being intentionally vague. I'm planning on taking another look tomorrow, though."

Carter looked worried, "Daniel, just be careful. Don't go wandering off by yourself without contacting us, okay?"

Daniel opened his mouth to answer, but was distracted from the topic at hand as his tent chose that moment to collapse in spite of his struggle to keep it standing. Finally, Carter took pity on him and came over to tell him what he was doing wrong. "Daniel... The big pole goes in the center. Tie off the ropes there and there, and then it should stay."

Daniel just gave her a rueful smile, "Thanks, Sam...Ah, do me a favor and let Jack know I'll take first watch?"

Sam gave a knowing grin, and nodded. "Sure. Good luck with the tent. Just remember to get some food in you, okay?"

The next day, while Daniel went out to explore the ruins with Teal'c for company, O'Neill and Carter went out to see what sort of natural resources were available on the planet. "Sir, what do you think about this...'small Stargate' that Daniel has been going on about? Do you think that it might still exist around here somewhere?"

O'Neill considered her question while taking a look at an odd variety of lime green vines that were attached to a nearby tree. "I don't know. Daniel's the expert. Ask him."

Carter shook her head, trying to disguise her amusement by looking at the ground. "I don't know, sir. I just hope that he doesn't get it into his head to go looking for it. You know how he is..."

The Colonel looked back at Carter with his smart aleck, know-it-all smile, and replied, "Yes, Carter. That's why Teal'c is with him. If they get into trouble, Teal'c can take care of it."

Carter tossed him a doubtful look, but kept her thoughts to herself. It wouldn't be the first time Daniel managed to run into trouble under Teal'c's watch, after all.