The Sisters Three

Part 2

"Pack it up, Daniel. After our check-in, it's MREs ala Carter."

When no witty rejoinder greeted his ears, Jack turned back to Daniel, who was staring intently at the center of the mural.

Head tilted to one side, Daniel's lips were moving as his head appeared to follow an imaginary curving line along the center of the picture.

"C'mon, Daniel. You can salivate over these beauties tomorrow."

Unable to get a rise out of his friend, Jack moved closer and touched Daniel's shoulder. "Hey, time to call it a day."

"It's been hidden."

Jack just knew he was going to regret asking. "What has?"

"This line of text has been woven into the folds of their garments where they meet here," he pointed to the center of the mosaic where the women's garments came together in a wave of flowing fabric.

"Ok, I'll bite. What does it say?"

"'He who calls upon the triad shall receive perpetual vivification.' And then it gives their names: Cupidae, Sanguinari, Coruptella."

A warm breeze caressed Jack's face and he felt the hairs rise on the back of his neck. Unfortunately, this was an all-too-familiar feeling, and also unfortunately, it usually meant their mission was about to go to hell in a hand basket.

"Daniel."

Exasperating silence followed. Jack grabbed Daniel's shoulder and spun him around so they were face to face. Crap. Daniel's pupils were so large, only a rim of blue was visible around their edges. If he didn't know better, he'd think Daniel was aroused. "Daniel!"

Daniel looked startled by Jack's raised voice. "What?"

"You, okay?"

"I'm fine, why?"

"You were just acting a little…"

"A little, what?"

"Never mind." Daniel's eyes had returned to normal but Jack had a niggling feeling things were not normal. "So, tell me, just what does 'perpetual viv . . . viva . . . "

"Vivification."

"Right, perpetual vivification—what does it mean?"

"Um, it means to continually be given new life or energy."

"Scintillating stuff. Well, get your gear together and let's get going; Carter will have those MREs burned, er, cooked by the time we get back."

Jack walked to the doorway and, squatting down, began stuffing Daniel's things back into his backpack. As he finished, he called out, "You about done?"

Glancing back at Daniel, he saw that he had his BDU jacket off and was unbuttoning his shirt.

"What are you doing?"

"It's hot in here. Aren't you hot?"

Jack narrowed his eyes, wondering if Daniel was referring to the temperature or something else.

"No, I'm not. And you can stop right there. Just grab your stuff and let's go."

Daniel took the pack Jack was holding out to him and turned to look at the wall again.

"Now, Daniel," Jack ordered as he headed for the door.

~oOo~

"What flavor did this MRE used to be, Carter?" Jack tried to force himself to swallow; convince himself that today wasn't a good day for death by MRE… though the unsettling lump in his throat and the loud protesting of his tastebuds tended to disagree.

"Sir?"

"You know," he lamented painfully as he forced the lump past his through, swallowing whole without chewing, "before you cremated it."

A small white packet flew through the air and landed at Jack's feet. Picking it up and turning it over in his hands, Jack looked across at Daniel, his teammate in a similar struggle with his own meal. "Just add salt, Jack. Covers everything," Daniel teased, emptying the contents of another packet over what remained on his plate. "At least, I hope it does."

"Can it cover the bitter taste of burnt pasta?"

Shoving a fork full in his mouth, Daniel promptly leaned forward and spat it back into his dish, face screwed into a grimace of distaste. "Nope… guess it doesn't."

Carter had wisely chosen to ignore the snarky banter, catching the smallest of smiles on Teal'c's face and knowing that the Colonel and Daniel were probably putting on the show just to rile her. It wouldn't be the first time that her cooking had been used as the butt of their on-word and off-world dinner conversations. Picking up a long stick she'd found earlier in the day to use as a fire poker, she shuffled the coals and embers around in their small dug-out hearth.

"Any progress with the translation, Daniel?" she asked above the din of their continuing death by MRE conversation. "When we left, you were having some issues sorting out the language."

Daniel settled his plate on the ground and pushed it away with the toe of his boot. "Well," he said rubbing his hands on his BDU pants, "the language is a combination of Ecclesiastical Latin and Ancient with some local colloquialisms thrown in. Something that would have evolved over time."

"But you can read it?"

"I'm getting there. The translation would go a whole lot faster if I could hear it spoken aloud."

"Well, considering the position of the wall, there would have to be some significant reason as to the content of the mural. Advertising?"

"Oh, there's a reason alright," Jack interjected, abandoning his own dinner in a similar fashion. "What were their names again, Daniel? Kewpie, Sanga-something, and…" Jack twirled a hand in the air, and then gave up with a shrug. "… The other one."

"Cupidae, Sanguinari, Coruptella. The closest I've managed to translate them to in Latin would be Cupidus – desirous, Sanguinarius – blood thirsty, and Corruptela – seduction."

"Charming," Jack murmured, "Is this yet another reason I should be worried or just the fact that someone saw fit to entomb them here is enough? I think I've still got a few strands of silver hair left you can have."

"Grey."

"Daniel."

"Jack, I'm fairly certain they were dead when they were entombed here. The whole building has the feel of a crypt about it and crypts weren't traditionally used for locking people in while they were still alive."

"I don't know. I've seen some pretty scary movies-"

"Well, judging from the design and building methods employed by this culture, I don't think we're in any danger of them having had the technology to intercept and emulate really cheesy B grade movies from Earth."

Jack harrumphed and moved to put another log on the slowly dwindling fire. "All I'm saying is that we should exercise a little caution here. Have you found anything in all in that squiggle that might be of benefit to the SGC? Remember that pesky little mandate we have to uphold? The reason we get paid?"

"Besides the discovery of a new language?" Daniel heaved a sigh and tugged down the zipper on his jacket. Whether it was his closeness to the fire or just general exhaustion from sitting in front of a wall for the better part of a day, but he suddenly felt a little warm. "From what I have been able to translate, the writing tells the history of the women from the POV of those they crossed."

Jack looked across at Daniel and frowned. "Crossed? Why don't I like the sound of that?"

"You don't like the sound of anything except the hockey scores, Jack."

"And your point being?"

"My point being, that I simply haven't had enough time to sort the nuances of the language to give you an accurate enough translation. I missed it the first few times, but hidden in the folds of their gowns, at a place where the three of them come together, is a row of text. What I don't understand is why, considering it reads like sort of blessing, it would be placed in such an obscure location. The other point I noticed is that it appears to be in direct conflict with what I've managed to translate of the two blocks of text below. Neither of which are in the best of condition. All I've managed to ascertain is both the covering block and the wall behind speak of a warning to any of those that try to disturb the crypt."

"What would be the significance of such an act, Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c, characteristically quiet, piped up from the other side of the campfire where he had been wandering the permitter.

"I'm not sure, Teal'c."

"Something more I need to worry about, Daniel?" Jack quipped, clearly not liking the tone of the conversation.

Daniel shrugged and slowly slid his jacket down over his shoulders to fall on the ground behind him. "I really don't think so."

"So, what does it say?" Sam asked.

"'He who calls upon the triad shall receive perpetual vivification.'" And then it lists their names."

"Kewpi, Sangi, and… the other one?"

Daniel's eyes narrowed in annoyance. "You do that deliberately, don't you, Jack?"

"Do what?"

"Mess up names just for kicks."

"Now, why would you think that?"

"Oh, so you really do have a bad memory? First thing to go, you know."

"Just for that, you can take first watch."

Daniel glared at him. "Fine."

"Carter, you take second, I'll take third, and Teal'c, you can have the last one."

Carter got up from her spot, stashing the remainder of her MRE in their trash. "Well, goodnight. See you in a couple of hours, Daniel." She gave him a sympathetic smile.

"Night, Sam." Daniel untucked his T-shirt from his pants and fanned himself with it.

Teal'c dipped his head to his teammates and headed for his own tent.

Jack rose and brushed off his pants. "Night kids. Daniel, if you're hot, you might want to consider moving away from the fire."

"Thanks for the tip, Jack."

"Anytime, Daniel, anytime."

~oOo~

"Sir!"

Jack shot up from his bed, Carter's urgent call bringing him instantly awake.

"What is it, Carter?"

"Daniel's gone, sir. I went out to relieve him from his watch and he wasn't there."

"Crap." He grabbed his boots and shoved them on his feet, tying them quickly.

Jumping up, he pulled on his jacket, grabbed his P-90, and headed to the campfire. He was met by Teal'c who was already dressed and inspecting the campsite, staff weapon in hand.

"Anything?"

"Daniel Jackson's boots and socks are by the fire. His footprints lead in that direction."

Jack looked in the direction Teal'c was pointing. Double crap. Daniel was heading back to the tomb. It was pointless to call him on the radio; it was still attached to his tac vest which was lying where he'd had let it drop along with his jacket.

"Teal'c, take point. Let's go."

TBC….