Title: Rhyanidd
Author: Danielle
Rating: PG (Somewhat graphic violence)
Disclaimer: All characters from the television series ‘Stargate SG-1’ belong to Stargate (II) Productions, Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions.I’m only borrowing them for my personal entertainment, and I promise I’ll put them back all nice and proper. I didn’t profit from writing this piece, though if someone wants to pay me huge wads of cash for the copyright, I won’t argue. All original characters and situations belong to me, but you can use them if you really want to - just mail me first. Also mail me first if you want to archive this somewhere else. Thank you kindly.
Summary: SG-1 are captured when they travel to a new world - and meet a mysterious woman that could help them in more ways than one.

The woman cautiously approached the object that had just passed through the portal and reached out a hand to touch it. She jerked slightly as she felt the coolness of the surface, but then placed her palm on it fully, feeling the smoothness - like polished stone.
"What's your assessment Dr Jackson?" General Hammond asked the archaeologist, who was gazing intently at the MALP visual feedback.
"Amazing," he murmured.
"I'm sure it is," Jack replied. "But what culture are they, and are they violent?"
"Well, from the clothing and architecture it would appear that this is an early Greek culture. Maybe late Helladic III, possibly a bit earlier, but definitely in the Mycenean era or Bronze Age at the very least. That chamber looks for all purposes like a Megaron, a giant meeting room similar to those found at Delos, Pylos and Thermon," he clarified.
"Will they hurt us?" Jack reiterated.
"Well, the Greeks of that period are most renowned for the Trojan War," Daniel offered. "But almost all cultures were violent to some degree during that era. But I don't think we have much to worry about, the weaponry was still primitive by today's standards and I'm sure you could out-gun them without too many hassles."
"In that case, it's a standard reconnaissance mission. You'll leave at 0900 hours tomorrow." With that, Hammond stood up and left the room.
"We've seen stuff like this before. Why's it so amazing this time around?" Sam asked curiously.
"Take a look at the woman." Daniel reversed the footage to where they could see her entirely.
"She's a woman. You've seen them before too," Jack commented.
"Just look at the way she's dressed. It's similar to the styles worn by everyone else, but there's something different about it." Daniel pondered silently for a moment.
"Could it be the ornament she wears around her throat?" Teal'c suggested. "It is unique among the jewellery being worn by the room's other occupants."
"That's it!" he exclaimed. "She's wearing a torque!"
"Yeah, and?" Jack leant back in his seat and crossed his arms.
"The torque is commonly associated with the Celts, not with the Greeks."
"Maybe they were trading jewellery," Sam postulated.
"They can't have. The Celts didn't emerge as a culture in the truest sense of the word until around 800 BC, long after the downfall of the Myceneans as a dominant force in Europe." Daniel gnawed on his bottom lip as he thought. "She mustn't be from that planet."
"Hang on, that even sounds like a leap in logic to me," Jack broke in. "How can you tell that from a necklace?"
"Torque. And it's the only explanation I can reasonably come up with to cover all of the facts. If these people travelled to another world and traded with that culture, just about everyone would have the same affectations, not just one person. The Greeks in general had very strict rules about fashion, much like we do today - if you wore something that was 'out' that year, you could become something of a social outcast until you conformed with the trends."
"But if she's from another planet, why aren't they all wearing the same things anyway?" Sam asked.
"They wouldn't if they considered her to be a barbarian in comparison. They might find her adherence to the customs of her world amusing or some such thing."
"Well, we'll be sure to ask her when we get there. Now, if y'all don't mind, I've got paperwork to do." Jack stood up. "And I'm sure you've all got to prepare something scientific."
"I have some research to do," Daniel agreed as he too stood up. "Perhaps there's some account of these people being taken from Earth."
"Right. Then I shall see you all at 0830 tomorrow. Make sure you get some sleep." With that, the colonel sauntered out of the room.

*****

"You'll excuse me if I say that I'm not exactly having a whole mess of fun here," Jack said through bruised and swollen lips from his position kneeling on the floor.
"Join the club sir," Sam replied, blowing her fringe out of her eyes.
"I thought you said we could out-gun them," he rasped at Daniel, who was peering at the world through broken glasses.
"I didn't know they'd be waiting for us," the archaeologist replied. "They obviously weren't going to caught by surprise for a second time in as many days."
"Siopi!" the guy that they'd assumed was in charge bellowed.
"Uh, that means 'silence'," Daniel translated.
"No kidding," Jack murmured back.
The man went on to say something unintelligible (even for Daniel), at which point one of the guards left the Megaron.
"Wonder where he's going?" Sam whispered.
"Who cares, so long as it isn't to get the torture equipment," the colonel replied.
Within moments of the guard leaving, he reappeared with the woman from the MALP recording in tow - literally. He practically threw her at the ruler's feet before joining his ranks. She slowly got to her feet and straightened her skirt before glaring up at the man, who only smiled.
"C'red nish donnan mooar¹ [What now, blithering idiot]?" she growled up at him, deliberately emphasising the phrase.
"What'd she say?" Jack asked.
"I have no idea," Daniel replied. "But I don't think he does either."
"You think so?" Sam asked, jerking her chin to indicate the leader. "Somehow, I think he understood every word."
Although his lips were still in the shape of a grin, there was a dangerous glint in his eyes that brook no further arguments from anybody. The woman took a deep breath and addressed him again.
"Poia² [What] Johrar?"
"I think his name is Johrar," Daniel murmured.
"Why is that?" Sam answered.
"Because it's a word I've never heard before, at least, not in Greek."
"Diabazo aftous³," Johrar rumbled, pointing at SG-1.
"She⁴ [Yea]," she murmured, turning away.
As she slowly approached them, Jack turned to Daniel and asked, "What was that all about?"
"He told her to 'read us'. And before you ask, no, I don't know what that means." He looked at the woman approaching them with some trepidation. This had to have been one of the first planets any of the SG teams had been to where English wasn't the primary language spoken - and that disturbed him slightly. Most of the System Lords had enforced English on almost all of their planets, most likely so that they wouldn't have to remember different dialects for all the worlds they ruled. As to why they'd chosen English, he didn't know - he would've thought that Goa'uld would be more likely. Maybe God (the real one, that is) was just enjoying the great, big, whacking 'plot convenience'.
"Afti⁵ [Him]," the woman murmured, indicating Daniel, who was pulled into a standing position.
"Hey! What are you going to do?" Jack bellowed, jumping to his feet. In reward, he got a belt across the back of the knees with a staff. Cursing, he crumpled back onto the black marble.
"Bee dty host! [Keep quiet!]⁶" the woman hissed at them all, making it obvious that unless they wanted to be beaten within an inch of their lives they'd better sit down and shut up.
Daniel swallowed as she reached out a hand and rested her palm on his cheek. She closed her eyes and began to hum a slow tune. He watched and listened in silence, until he felt his brain start to 'itch'.
What the hell?! Brains do not itch!! he thought in confusion, blinking as his vision began to blur.
:Shiu cha vow creaut ⁷ [You shall not get hurt]: he heard a voice say… Or rather, his mind heard a voice say. Stranger still, he somehow knew that it was saying he wouldn't be hurt. He tried to open his mouth to reply aloud, but something held his jaws shut. He stared at the woman, who appeared to be deep in thought.
:Dan… yil: the voice said. :Danyel:
That's my name! he thought with a jolt.
:No hurt… Danyel:
Who are you? he thought, trying to communicate and feeling a bit stupid for making the effort.
:Rhyanidd. No hurt Danyel:
Before he could come up with a suitably witty response, or any kind of response for that matter, images began to flash before his mind's eye. Mountains at sunset, meadows full of wildflowers, horses stampeding through tall grass, a man - a husband - smiling, children swimming in a crystal pool, practising sword-work with a set of pells, an ancient-looking castle decked out for a celebration… Without meaning to, he cried out a squinched his eyes shut in an attempt to block out the pictures and their accompanying emotional response. With a conviction that shocked him, Daniel knew that he was somehow accessing Rhyanith's memories, and that she was experiencing the same thing with his.
"Cha nee⁸ [Nay]!" she yelped, pulling her hand away like it'd been scalded.
The archaeologist looked at her mutely before his knees gave way under the weight of his suddenly heavy body and he collapsed onto the floor. Just before he passed out, he thought he heard a rustle and dull thud as Rhyanith also fainted.

*****

"Welcome back," Sam murmured with a smile as Daniel's eyes fluttered open. He'd been unconscious for about two hours according to her watch, and she'd been more than a little worried about his welfare.
"Rhyanith!" he gasped, looking wildly around what he could see of the room from his position on a couch. He tried to sit up, but his wobbly arms couldn't bear his weight just yet.
"Careful Danny," the colonel warned the younger man. "You've been out of it for a while."
"Where is she?" he asked.
"The woman was removed from the Megaron not long before we were brought here," Teal'c replied. "She was also unconscious."
"I don't blame her," Daniel said as he successfully attempted to sit up for a second time. "So would you if you'd just had a lifetime of memories downloaded into your brain."
"Huh?" Colonel O'Neill shot the archaeologist a funny look - one that said 'where'd he find drugs on this planet without me noticing?'
"I think she was trying to read my mind. To get information about our world and our weapons. But something went wrong," he explained, dragging a hand through his rumpled hair.
"You don't say," the colonel commented, at the same time as Sam said, "She's a telepath?!"
"It's the only thing I can think of when my head feels like it's stuffed with cotton wool," Daniel admitted. "But I don't think I'm too far wrong."
"What went wrong?" Sam asked.
"I don't know… It's like I suddenly started reading her mind at the same time as she was reading mine. I started to experience all these memories that couldn't have been my own."
"How do you know they weren't yours and you hadn't repressed them or something?" O'Neill pointed out.
"Jack, last time I checked I didn't have a husband," the archaeologist replied in the most deadpan tone Sam had ever heard. She could help but snigger and try to cover her smile with her hand.
"There could be something you're not telling us," the colonel said with a shrug.
"Somehow I doubt it, unless there's something someone's not telling me," Daniel confirmed.
"Yeah, well let's just add that to the list of things we have to ask that woman once we get her cornered," Jack said, jamming his hands into his pockets and starting to pace.
"I don't think we'll have to wait long. She's right outside the door," the archaeologist replied, standing up on shaky legs.
"How did you-?" Sam started to ask before the door to their 'cell' opened to confirm Daniel's statement.
The woman, Rhyanith?, strode into the room and halted in the centre of it, surveying the team. Eventually, her eyes fixed on Daniel.
"Danyel," she said slowly, in a very thick accent.
"Rhyanith," Daniel answered, slowly approaching her.
"I… sorry," she murmured, appearing to struggle for words.
Jack took the opportunity to slant a look at Sam, who shrugged in response.
"Mee toiggal ⁹ [I understand]," Daniel replied solemnly, taking her hands in his.
Even Teal'c couldn't help but be a little surprised at Daniel being able to speak Rhyanith's native language - even though they knew he was fluent in several languages already! What surprised them even more was the way she ripped her hands out of his grip, backing away from him like he was carrying a plague of some kind.
"Cha nee!" she yelped, shaking her head like she wanted to clear it. She lowered her voice. "Cha nee… touch… talk." She pointed to her ear and then her head. "Hear… different. Echo."
"Huh?" Jack said, looking a little confused.
"I don't think she wants me to touch her and talk to her at the same time," Daniel replied slowly.
"I gathered that. What did she mean by 'echo'?"
"I think she heard what I was thinking at the same time as I told her I understood. I think."
"Right," the colonel drawled. "I understood that."
"Nay, ye didna," Rhyanith said, smiling as she apparently grew confident with her ability to speak English.
"How would you know?" Jack shot back without thinking.
"Because you're as transparent as glass," Daniel replied evenly.
"Daniel, I'm stung." The colonel gave his friend a look of mock hurt.
"Why are you here?" Sam asked Rhyanith, dragging the conversation back onto topic.
She sighed. "I've bonded tae Danyel. I had tae know if he were a psycho axe murderer." Rhyanith stopped and blinked, obviously surprised that she'd said such a thing.
"Only in his spare time," Jack replied blandly.
Daniel gave him a withering look. "What is this… bond?" He asked, falling into full archaeologist mode.
She looked slightly uncomfortable with his enquiry. "I do nae understand it meself. All I know is that we share thoughts."
"How did you learn to speak English so fast, and DanielJackson to speak your language," Teal'c asked.
"We must've downloaded more than memories," Daniel said thoughtfully.
"Download?" Rhyanith asked, a little confused with the terminology.
"Uh, it's an analogy for what happened. I started experiencing your memories… At least, I assumed they're yours and not anyone else's." The archaeologist backed away a little, seemingly worried by the idea that she may have passed on the memories of some hapless person she'd 'read' before.
Her expression grew cold as she noticed his action. "I do nae know what ye're implying, but I do nae get any pleasure from treading the thoughts of others!" she rasped, hands clenched in fury. "And for ye're information, those memories were mine and mine alone!"
"I… I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make any accusations," Daniel stammered, shocked at her vehemence.
"Look, before we break into an all-out brawl here, can I ask a question?" Jack interrupted, holding up a hand to silence the duo. He was answered with stony silence. "Right, now Rhya," he said, shortening her name as he was wont to do for words that were approaching being unpronounceable, "what is going to happen to us."
"Ye'll be killed by Johrar once I have taken any information ye have," she answered matter-of-factly.
"Can you aid us in escaping?" Teal'c asked.
Rhya shook her head slowly. "Johrar'll guess that I'll do something like that and have guards posted everywhere. It'll be difficult without ye're weapons, and even then…"
"Can you get them for us?" Jack enquired.
"C'mon Jack, it's obvious that that Johrar character doesn't trust her," Daniel broke in. "I doubt he's going to let her have our weapons-"
"I can try," Rhya answered.
"Wh… What?" Daniel looked at her in confusion.
"Think Danyel. I'm hardly a delicate flower requiring protection."
Unbidden, a memory arose in his mind's eye of a terrible battle. Horses, some with men still in their saddles teemed around - trampling the bodies of the dead and dying. He, no, Rhya was in the centre of it all, fighting with an armour-clad man at least a foot taller than her. With one stroke of her sword she took off his head and sent it flying into the clamour of bodies. Satisfaction coursed through her body.
"Oh God," he gasped and collapsed to his knees, nearly retching at the sight. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up into calm, green eyes.
"I can do it," Rhya murmured.
"I know," he whispered back.
"Ye'll have tae wait some hours before I return. As it is, Johrar believes me tae be in the process of reading ye all. Two visits and even a dullard like he will become suspicious."
"So, I gather you don't like him?" Jack asked in a nonchalant tone.
"Would ye like someone who took ye from yer planet in full view of yer children?" Rhya replied. "If ye did, I'd consider ye tae be mad. Or treacherous."
Without another word she left the room.
"I guess you were right Daniel," Sam commented as she helped the archaeologist back to his feet.
"What'd she make you see before?" Jack asked.
"She didn't make me see anything," Daniel answered forcefully. "I may not know what this bonding thing is all about, but I can tell you that she doesn't control me."
"Okay, she didn't make you see whatever it was that turned you a rather fetching shade of green," Jack conceded.
"What did you see?" Sam asked gently.
"A, uh, battle. People and horses everywhere," he paused and licked his lips. "Trust me Jack, she's more that capable of getting us out of here if such a thing is possible."
"I hope you're right Daniel," Jack murmured, gazing at the door. "I hope you're right."

*****

"What did you discover?" Johrar literally purred from the comfy chair in his sleeping quarters.
"That they are of no help to us," Rhya replied flatly. "This is their first foray through the portal."
He held up the handgun that had been confiscated from O'Neill. "What of these? They are much more advanced than anything we have."
"That is true, but we do not have the ability to produce such a weapon with our level of advancement. Nor can we maintain the specimens you have taken."
"Nonetheless, you will show me how to operate this so that we may use it against their own people." He held out the gun. "And do not think of a moment of using it on me. You will not live to see the next morning if I am harmed in any way."
Rhya glared at him. "As you wish." With a quick flick of her thumb, she took off the safety and fired at a vase that was standing to the left of Johrar's seat. It shattered into smithereens as the bullet pierced it and buried itself in the wall.
"Good," Johrar murmured with a slow nod of his head. "You have done well my wife."
Her jaw clenched and a muscle twitched in her cheek as she worked to control her rage. "I am not, and never will be your wife Johrar," she growled between clenched teeth.
"You cannot deny me Rhyanidd. We need each other far too much." He smiled lazily as his eyes slowly travelled the length of her body. "It is a shame that you are not as beautiful as some of the women in court, otherwise you'd be my wife in more than just title."
Her eyes darkened to near black as she gazed at him balefully. "I do not think you would survive bedding me Johrar. I would make sure of it."
"I'm sure you would my dear. Now leave my sight." With a wave of his hand, he dismissed her. She spun on her heel and marched stiffly from the room. "I suspect you have to make plans to get your new friends off this world," he added after she had left.

*****

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