Heart's Desire (2 page)

“Oh, wow.”

“I think that's our ride,” Jack said.

 
The airship's canopy was scarlet, and banners in a dozen shades of crimson and orange fluttered from its sides and streamed from a rope trailing behind it like a long tail waving in its wake. It threaded a pass between two peaks with little room to spare, sinking lower as it approached. The gondola that hung beneath it gleamed with brass trim, although most of it looked to be made of wood, or maybe something more like bamboo.

Jack could hear the sound of the airship's propellers, now, a rumble like rising thunder. He couldn't help grinning watching its approach. He itched to get a closer look, and from Carter's expression, so did she.

From windows on the gondola's side, men were leaning out, several of them throwing hooks as they approached. The hooks caught somewhere below the edge of the butte, and the ropes attached to them drew taut, the propellers stilling. Jack backed up as far as he could out of the way, looking up as the craft slowed and rocked above them, finally stilling in the air. The ropes were being played in, now, bringing the craft down toward the surface of the butte.

Sam was frowning up at it, her hand over her eyes to shield them from the sun.

“What's the matter, Carter?” Jack asked. “You have to admit this is a lot cooler than what we were expecting.”

“Definitely more interesting than mules,” she agreed absently.

“And? But?”

“I don't think that ship actually ought to be able to fly.”

“It looks like some kind of dirigible,” Daniel said, coming to her side along with Teal'c. “Don't you think?” A man waved from one of the craft's windows, an enthusiastic smile on his face, and Jack held up a hand in return.

“It does, but the proportions are all off,” Sam said. “This isn't really my field, but I'm pretty sure the canopy should a lot bigger proportionally, especially if it's a semi-rigid design, which
—
from here I can't tell if there's any kind of underlying framework, but if there is, it makes the whole thing even more unlikely.” Jack looked at her. “It should be too heavy to fly, sir,” she said. “I think.”

“And yet it does fly,” Jack pointed out.

“That's what's interesting,” Sam said.

“See if you can get a closer look while we're in the air,” Jack said. “Right now, it looks like it's show time.”

The airship had settled just off the side of the butte, with a couple of its crew climbing down to lash it more tightly to whatever anchorage they'd found on the cliff side. They didn't seem much concerned for their own safety in the process, clinging to the outside of the airship as if hanging over the edge of a precipice was all part of a day's work.

“That must be fun in a high wind,” Sam said.

“I would think not,” Teal'c said.

Daniel smiled. “I think she means fun in the special Air Force definition of the word.”

“I mean hard,” Sam clarified. “There's not much wind right now, but they probably get some pretty impressive storms here.”

“Greetings!” the man who had waved called down as a hatch in the side of the gondola dropped open. He scrambled down lightly, while behind him another man began unrolling what looked like foldable bamboo steps. “You are the Tau'ri?”

“That would be us,” Jack said, sizing up the young man. “Colonel Jack O'Neill. This is Major Samantha Carter, Dr. Daniel Jackson, and Teal'c.”

“I am pleased to make your acquaintance,” the man said. “I am Tolar. In the name of the High King Anu, I am here to welcome you to Saday.” He was dressed in a long wool tunic and wide wool pants, both dyed a deep red, with what looked like wool boots beneath them. The rest of the crew were similarly dressed, although most in paler undyed wool. Somewhere around here, there had to be a lot of sheep.

“Pleased to meet you,” Jack said. “I take it this is the transportation you offered.”

Tolar nodded. “The palace is possible to reach on foot, but the journey is long and difficult,” he said. “The low roads are far from villages and offer little shelter from the weather. We do not ask potential trading partners to make such a journey when we can transport them in comfort.”

“Nice of you,” Jack said. Tolar wore some kind of knife at his belt, but Jack didn't see any signs that he or any of his crew were armed with anything more serious. Hammond had assured him that these people had seemed friendly in their initial contact, and had been interested in trading for medical supplies and refined metals.

“It should be a quiet trip,” Hammond had said after the briefing had broken up and the rest of the team were already on their way down to the gateroom.

“Knock on wood, sir.”

“I will,” Hammond said, and tapped his knuckles on his desk. “But I certainly hope this one doesn't pose much of a challenge for SG-1.”

“Thank you, sir,” Jack said. It had been a rough few weeks, and he couldn't honestly say that the team was at its best. They'd still been reeling from the death of Daniel's wife when they'd gotten word that Sam's father had been captured, and trying to get him back had meant going through hell, all too literally. Sokar's idea of accommodations for his prisoners had been dark, hot caverns filled with choking fumes and patrolled by guards who embraced the idea of shooting first and asking questions later.

Getting shot in the leg had taken Jack out of action for a couple of weeks, but he still thought Sam might have gotten the worst of it. Martouf had used Tok'ra technology on her to make her recall the memories of the Tok'ra symbiote she had once hosted, on the grounds that Jolinar was the only one who'd ever escaped Ne'tu. The problem was that ‘recall' had apparently meant ‘experience all over again,' and some of those memories were pretty nasty.

So this mission seemed right up their alley. A nice trip to talk about trade agreements was probably just what the doctor ordered, and the presence of some interesting technology for Sam to putter around investigating was a bonus. If he could find some crumbling artifacts for Daniel to play with and thereby get him to actually take an interest in something, Jack would call this one a win.

“If you are ready?” Tolar asked, inclining his head politely toward the airship.

“All right, kids,” Jack said. “All aboard.”

T
he ride to the palace might have been impressive if you were impressed by seeing a lot of mountainsides from the air. Sam was more interested in how they were staying in the air at all, and no matter how tactfully she tried to inquire, she wasn't getting very far with her questions.

“If you would like to talk to one of the builders of ships, it is possible that could be arranged,” Tolar said, sounding like he couldn't imagine why she would want to. “This is merely a small craft used to transport visitors who come through the Stargate, not worthy of your attention.”

“I'm still interested,” Sam said. She craned her neck, trying to see aft from the cushioned seat that she was apparently supposed to stay in. She couldn't see the propellers, but she could hear them turning, as well as the chug of what sounded like motors. The whole gondola vibrated with their force, drumming against the soles of her feet. “What kind of fuel does this ship use?”

“There is a gas which burns,” Tolar said reluctantly. “It is carried in tanks which feed the fires of the engines. The process creates steam, which turns the propellers.”

Sam frowned. No matter how she did the math in her head, she didn't come up with an answer that worked. “Wouldn't that kind of system be awfully heavy?”

“The gas within the canopy also creates lift,” Tolar said.

“Yes, I know, but
—”

“You will see on the left some of our farms,” Tolar said. “It is the growing season, and you will see that our crops prosper.”

Sam put on what she hoped was the kind of polite smile suitable for being shown people's farms and turned to look out the window behind her. The flatter parts of the mountainside were terraced, with rows of something green bending in the breeze and the occasional flash of what might have been irrigation ditches catching the sun. Between some of the terraces, long staircases wound their way up and down the rocky mountainside.

“Interesting,” Daniel said.

“Oh, very,” Jack said, politely enough, but she suspected he was being sarcastic, while Daniel actually sounded serious. Teal'c made no comment, although he nodded courteously in the general direction of the fields.

Daniel was still watching as they glided past the fields. “After they harvest the crops, I assume they have to be transported somewhere, some kind of market or storehouse, right? But with these steep hillsides, that must be very labor-intensive.”

“The harvest itself takes the work of many,” Tolar said. “But most crops are transported by air to the palace. The High King ensures that they are stored and distributed wisely according to the needs of the people.”

“Ah,” Daniel said, with just the slightest of hesitations. Jack raised his eyebrows, and Daniel glanced at him and shrugged slightly. Too soon to have much sense of what exactly that meant, Sam thought.

“Please remain in your seats,” Tolar said, as if he hadn't been encouraging them to do that since they came aboard. “We must cross the Gap, and the winds will be higher.”

“Cross the gap,” Jack said, tilting his head to one side to make it a question.

“There,” Tolar said, leaning precariously out the window to point. Ahead, one peak stood out in the sea of mountains that seemed to go on endlessly. Higher than its neighbors, its peak glistened with snow. Lower down, below the tree line, Sam could just make out buildings and walls that sprawled down the mountainside on what seemed like an endless series of terraces.

The neighboring peaks were distant enough that there was no approach except up a winding trail that disappeared far below into mist. It was certainly defensible, Sam thought, unless you had neighbors who'd also be coming by air.

As if in answer to her thought, sunlight glinted off something moving in the distance on the far side of the peak, what looked like another airship but considerably bigger. She pointed it out wordlessly to Jack, and he cleared his throat to attract Tolar's attention.

“One of yours?” he asked, pointing it out.

“Oh, yes,” Tolar said. “The High King has many ships, both small ones such as this insignificant craft and greater ones used to transport goods from outlying areas. And back to them, of course.”

“Of course,” Jack said.

The wind did pick up in the gap between the peak and its neighbors, but Sam twisted around in her seat anyway so that she could watch their descent without having her view blocked by Teal'c's head. She could see better with her elbows braced on the bamboo sill of the open window, although the wind whipped at her hair.

“Ah, Sam…” Daniel began.

“I'm fine,” she said. “I'm not going to fall out the window.”

“Don't,” Jack said. She chose to take that as meaning
don't fall out the window
rather than
don't look out the window
. The wind buffeted them, rocking her back and making her grab at the top of her seat for balance. The whole airship rocked and shuddered as it corrected course. It was sinking down toward what looked at first like a warehouse, and then, as the scale became clearer, a blocky, barn-like hangar that must have been at least five stories high.

She frowned again as they corrected course once more, getting the craft's nose pointed again toward the hangar. The turn felt too fast given the direction of the wind, as if the ship were more aerodynamic than it looked. On the other hand, it wasn't as if she had a lot of experience with dirigibles.

“Think we need one of these for the Air Force?” Jack asked, deadpan, as if in answer to her thought.

She smiled. “Yeah, that'd be cool.”

“I hope there has not been a misunderstanding,” Tolar said, his expression suddenly darkening. “We cannot possibly offer one of our ships in trade. It would be a great dishonor for the High King to reduce the size of the royal fleet.”

“No, no,” Daniel said, shooting the two of them a quelling look. “We're, ah
—
we're all set for airships, really.”