STARGATE SG-1: Oceans of Dust Read Online Free PDF

the same drab stone as the cliff, huddled around a domed and circular structure, surprisingly close to the edge. Beyond them the mountain leveled into a jagged, boulder-strewn plateau, and past that, softened into planes of silver by the wintery air, higher peaks rose up and out of sight.
    “Is that the temple?” Daniel was asking. “It’s bigger than I thought it would be.”
    O’Neill studied the sad cluster of buildings, with their empty windows and cracked walls. “Bigger?”
    “It’s in pretty poor repair, sir,” Carter offered. “Looks like it’s been abandoned for a long time.”
    “Many decades,” Teal’c replied. “The temple used to be a place of pilgrimage for many Jaffa — to test themselves against the mountain and receive guidance from the clerics.”
    “’Used to be’?” Carter repeated. “What made them stop?”
    “It was discovered what the clerics were truly worshipping.”
    O’Neill opened his mouth to speak, saw the expression on Teal’c’s face, and decided not to. A moment later Bra’tac reappeared, his hood drawn up.
    He didn’t look happy. “Tau’ri! Why are you dawdling here?”
    Daniel raised his hand. “Bra’tac, what were —”
    “You know, Daniel, I think Bra’tac’s right,” O’Neill cut in. The situation was tense enough, without Daniel’s curiosity putting the Jaffa any more on edge. “We should really get going.”
    “But —”
    O’Neill glared. Daniel’s mouth closed with an audible snap. Carter looked quickly between them, but thankfully said nothing.
    “This way,” Bra’tac muttered, and headed off towards the buildings. O’Neill could have sworn that he was shaking his head in quiet disbelief as he walked.
    He caught up. “So Bra’tac…”
    “O’Neill.”
    “Ah, how long have you guys been camping out here?”
    The hood turned fractionally towards him, and O’Neill caught a flash of raised eyebrow. “Teal’c did not inform you?”
    “Not really. He told us that you were here with some Jaffa refugees who wouldn’t be hostile if we followed your instructions. That was pretty much it.”
    The man snorted in amusement. “I see.”
    “See what?”
    “It is of no importance. And to answer your question, O’Neill, these Jaffa fled here five months ago, after Apophis attacked Chulak.”
    O’Neill nodded. That explained a lot. “And you?”
    “There are many such groups, scattered between the stars. I visit them as I can, to offer assistance. To make sure they know they have not been abandoned.” The man raised his head, his hood tilted to the writhing clouds. “One day, perhaps, they will join one another as a united force against the Goa’uld. But until then, they are better apart. Their suspicions weaken them.”
    Which explained the Jaffa’s reaction to SG-1, and Bra’tac’s elaborate display of observing the team when they arrived. He needed to reassure the refugees that they weren’t being attacked again. No wonder they had chosen such a malevolent place to hide.
    “They almost fled when the ship crashed,” Bra’tac was saying, “but I was fortunate to have arrived soon after. I was able to calm them.”
    O’Neill thought about a group of armed, displaced and nervous Jaffa, convinced that their tyrannical god had returned to finish what had driven them from their homes, and what it must have taken to talk them back down. It wouldn’t have been a task he’d have relished.
    “Teal’c’s right, though. They can’t stay.”
    “Of course.” Bra’tac stopped, in the lee of one of the structures. O’Neill hadn’t realized they would be at the temple complex so soon, and after Teal’c’s admission about the place, wasn’t all that sure he wanted to stay. Still, he was out of the worst of the wind here.
    A few seconds later Carter, Daniel and Teal’c joined them. Daniel was paper-pale, his hands held tightly under his arms, and he was bouncing on his toes to try and keep warm. Carter seemed to have retreated