SG1-17 Sunrise Read Online Free PDF

hesitated, his eyes flicking down. And in that moment Sam saw another man, one who didn’t exist anymore, one who had never really existed in the first place. A man who tried not to rock the boat, who accepted, who didn’t question or push or challenge.
    Not real. He was never real.
    Then he squeezed his eyes shut, took a deep breath, gave a slight shake of his head. “Oh we’ll discover the truth alright, Teal’c.”
    Sam didn’t know whether to be relieved or alarmed. “So where exactly is it we’re going, sir?” she said as they were led through a vast courtyard towards gates that were slowly swinging inward.
    “Get your Sunday best on, Carter, we’re going to church.”
    * * *
    From the outside, the chapel was instantly recognizable as a place of worship, not least because of the streams of sober, well-dressed people pouring through its doors. The architecture, with its reaching spires and pointed arches, reminded Sam of old gothic cathedrals like Reims or Canterbury, but like all the other buildings they had passed on the way here it was devoid of any ornamentation; its five porticos and twin spires were clean and simple. As her gaze traveled up to study the spires, a flash of reflected light high up caught her attention. Squinting against the sunlight, she could make out a honeycomb of faint lines crisscrossing the entire sky.
    “We’re in some kind of dome,” she said, aloud, as realization struck. A vast one, its structure almost fading into opalescent blue. It solved a riddle she’d been puzzling over since they had emerged from the Elect chambers and seen the sun blazing in a cloudless sky: how could the temperature remain so pleasant? “It must cover the whole city.”
    “The whole city, huh?” The colonel sent her a look; she knew exactly what he was thinking. “Kind of like a shield…?”
    Sam shook her head. If this was
Sciath Dé
, why would the Elect have been evasive about something that was in plain sight? “This looks more like a biosphere, sir. I don’t think it has any military applications.”
    “You are correct, Major Carter.” She jumped at the voice, and turned to find Tynan Camus at her elbow. The colonel clearly disliked him, and it wasn’t hard to guess why. The guy was altogether too smooth.
    “What’s its purpose?” she asked. “The dome, I mean.”
    He gestured around him with a sweep of his arm. “Do you not protect yourselves from the elements? The purpose of the Ark is that we might enjoy the beauty of the Lord’s bounty.”
    “An umbrella?” the colonel said from behind.
    Sam peered up. “I’m thinking more along the lines of a parasol.” Then, to Camus, she said, “The sun’s pretty hot, huh?”
    He looked confused. “It is the Sun. Is that not its nature?”
    “Well, actually, you’d be surprised by the variation in stellar—” Colonel O’Neill cleared his throat and, with a flash of irritation, Sam broke off. For an instant, it seemed, she was standing before Brenna, being cut dead as she tried to explain her ideas. But she shook it off, not sure if the memory was even real or some lingering impression from the memory stamp, and offered a tight smile to Tynan. “Yeah, suns are generally pretty hot.”
    “Inside the Ark,” he said, “we are protected from the heat and the harmful effects of the Sun. It allows our crops to grow, and the beauty you see here to flourish.”
    “A climate controlled environment. Impressive.” Tynan inclined his head, though Sam didn’t for a second believe it was through genuine humility. “I’d be interested in finding out more about your technology,” she added.
    His smile didn’t falter, but his eyes narrowed a fraction. “Come,” he said, neatly sidestepping her enquiry. “The Message is about to start. I am confident you will enjoy today’s chapter.”
    They were shown into pews near the front of the packed Chapel. Curious looks were thrown their way, but people smiled and nodded in greeting, and