INTRODUCTION

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Its completely dark. About three a.m. in the morning. Theres ever such a faint noise in the distance. Fading in and out. Louder, slowly louder. It's the distant ringing of a telephone. Its coming this way and its getting louder.

In the early morning night, a tired arm stretches out and a fumbling hand picks up the telephone.

"Yes I'm Doctor Daniel Jackson. Excuse me. Ballard! Are you sure, Ballard? The where?"

Daniel jumped out of bed. Snapped the light on and hurriedly got dressed. As he was dressing he quickly searched for his mobile phone and speed dialled.

"Jack!"

Tall he's capable, he's dashingly handsome and liking well defined. Brigadier General Jackin John Jankin O'Neill. Commander in Chief of the StarGate to all the world around us and to others they dare not speak of to I and to we.

Oh, and also, his Ancient attachments are beginning to Åscend with intensifying mysticus.

General Jack O'Neill pulled up his four-wheel drive outside the Smithsonian museum, Washington, D.C. He and Daniel raced up the steps to the main doors. The police, security men and SFs ushered them inside. At the far side of the auditorium a security guard was waving his torch at them, beckoning them.

Daniel hurried over. The General was slower behind him, whilst getting a breakdown of the situation from the on site security guards and the Air Force representatives as he went.

As General O'Neill rounded the corner he saw Daniel stopped in his tracks, staring straight ahead. O'Neill looked passed Daniel at the narrow upright glass cabinet. He saw a Crystal Skull, the Ballard Skull, on a pedestal inside the cabinet and behind that he saw the semi-naked body of Nicolas Ballard, Daniel's grandfather. Nick looked in an awful bad way. He was folded up and shaking. Propped up against the glass. His arms were blooded. In his hand he clutched a golden coloured Crystal Skull. He had blood streaming down from his right eye. He was just conscious.

"They're coming. They are coming! My name is Nicolas Ballard. They're coming. They are going to make us.. ..My name is Nicolas Ballard. I am a human being. Xibalbah is not my home, its not my home. I do not belong here. My name is.."

Daniel began shouting at the security guards.

"Get him out of there!"

O'Neill pushed passed Daniel. He tried to open the cabinet. It wouldn't open. He used the butt end of his revolver to smash the glass. The glass wouldn't smash.

"We need a torch, now! Do you have cutting equipment?"

The guards were unsure. General O'Neill stepped away from them, the SFs stepped with him. He flipped open his mobile phone. Action!

Daniel, horrified by what he saw, was banging on the glass cabinet.

"Nick! Nick!"

All to no avail. Jack put his hand on Daniel's shoulder.

"Its okay Daniel, we'll have him out of there and safe pretty soon."

General O'Neill began checking around the glass display case. It was fused solid and he determined the glass had been galvanised.

"An incoming traveller." He gently whispered to Daniel.

~ δ γ Δ √ ∞ ≡ ⃜ ℜ Å ≡ ℷ ~

Back at The SGC, 0 five forty hours. General O'Neill called General Hammond at home.

"Well Sir as yet we've not been able to get anything out of the babbling Ballard. Daniels with him in the infirmary right now. Poor Nick hes had it rough Sir."

"Jack do you have any idea of what this is all about?"

"At this stage Sir I have to say no. Nicks Calmed down now and hes going to have to sleep off the gaseous sedation before we can piece together whats happened. But judging from what I've seen I don't think we're going to get a lucid account out of him for quite some time. He doesn't look good George."

"'They're coming.' What do you make of that? Who do you think 'they' are?"

"Well, I don't think it's the Giants, for a start they weren't even corporeal and at a guess I don't think they'd travel very well."

"This could be serious Jack. Do you think these Giants could be a threat after all?"

"Don't know, but ering on the side of double yes and absolutely."

"What about this other Skull, where does that fit in?"

"Hes obviously teleported himself from the Mayan Pyramid by way of the Skull. I've already called Carter and Teal'c in and put them on the case. Carter seems to think this Skull, gold in colour, was a designated teleportation device specifically from the Mayan cavern back to Earth."

"And the other ones, the one at the Smithsonian and the one we left in the Mayan pyramid, they work in the opposite direction?"

"Not entirely General. The one in the pyramid was only ever used inside the actual pyramid itself, sending out and then back into phase, we used the StarGate to get there and back. And the Ballard Skull, well thats been shaken upside down and back to front and its still not ticking. Its not worked for over thirty years, and then only once with Ballard's round trip to the pyramid and back."

"Jack, I take it you'll be dealing with this one yourself.. ..as a matter of urgency."

"Urgent and on it George. I'm getting a P7X 377 Fact Finding Mission underway. We'll review the samples and images just as soon as they come in."

"Who are you having dealing with this?"

"I'm running this one through SG-1. I'll let you know."

"Take care Jack."

"And you George."

He put the red phone down and sat back in his chair, viewing his office. And you George old friend.

~ √ Ω π χ ∞ ≡ Ψ µ Γ Ξ Π

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