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Appearances can be deceiving... Part 6
Aaaaaand we're getting there *g*
A couple more parts and that should be it ^_^
You know the drill by now...
not beta'ed, not edited, WIP yadda, yadda, yadda
Wordcount of the day: 1,038
wordcount in all: 8,969
Previous parts
The prequel - War Games...
----
"Well?" Daniel stayed where he was, not daring to move too far from the stairs. Being blind wasn't exactly comforting. Things weren't exactly improving with the fact that the one man who could help... well, safe to say Daniel didn't exactly feel compelled to trust him. Especially not with his life.
"Well, what?" snapped Thompson somewhere to Daniel's right.
Daniel sighed deeply. This was getting old, fast. "What does the room look like?" If only the guy would work with him, it would make it a lot easier. For the both of them. Hello, the man was military, shouldn't he be capable of working towards a common goal and ignoring any personal problems there might be? Obviously not. Maybe Daniel was just too used to working with people to whom his civilian status was a mere footnote. At least nowadays. Damned, at least Jack never gave him this much trouble. Such short time and he missed the man already... What he wouldn't give to be back home, on Jack's couch, preferably wrapped around the older man...
"It's large, like the one with the well." Thompson fell silent for a moment. "There's... a pedestal of sorts in the middle with..." Thompson trailed off.
"Yes?" Daniel dug up the last of his patience. Blind here, remember? One should like to think even Thompson had enough brains to pick up on that now...
"I think there's... a head on it." Thompson sounded downright... nauseous.
"A... head?" Daniel took a deep breath before holding out his hand, searching for Thompson. "No reason to prolong our stay here, Major..."
A tentative grip on his sleeve told Daniel to start moving forward. Well, well, well, things were warming up. From deep frozen to merely frozen it seemed. An improvement if there ever was one.
"It... seems to be sleeping," Thompson kept his voice low and close to Daniel's ear. The warm puffs of air tickled Daniel's skin and he flinched a little. One thing was having Jack this close; it was something entirely different with Thompson.
Thompson seemed to get the idea as the man took a step away. Daniel didn't have to be able to see the other man to tell that he was slightly embarrassed about it. As much as they were in the same boat, he still didn't feel at ease around the civilian. The Major cleared his throat, the sound rung through the room and Daniel could almost feel the change in the air, almost like electricity.
"Who disturbs Mimir's sleep?" The voice was deep and seemed to come from all sides, echoing around them.
Daniel winced and covered his ears. Before he could speak the voice continued, albeit at a more normal level.
"Please forgive me; I am not used to mortal visitors."
"There is no need to apologize, Wise One," Daniel answered, racking his mind for more info on Mimir. Not much more came forward. "We are travelers from Midgard, Major Thompson here is a warrior of great skill..." Daniel tried to sound sincere. He really didn't know about the skills of the other man, so theoretically he wasn't lying. "And I am Daniel Jackson, scholar and explorer."
"Welcome to my humble cavern. Make yourselves at home... Tell me, Daniel Jackson, traveler from Midgard, do you ever play?" Mimir inquired.
"Play?" Daniel asked, wondering what might come next. He couldn't remember anything about playing games...
"Yes, I so rarely have visitors, even old Odin so rarely visits," Mimir sounded almost... regretful.
"But when he does, you... play?" Daniels asked tentatively. Looked like he'd have to... wing it, as Jack would put it, this time around.
"Yes, we do," Mimir answered.
"And you play what?" Thompson asked before Daniel could.
"Oh, many a game, Young Warrior, many a game. Most recently, however, it was chess." Mimir sounded as if the memory of that meeting was quite pleasant.
"Chess?" Daniel asked, for a short moment wondering where the Asgard had picked up chess, then remembered that Jack had mentioned the little grey aliens still studied Earth and its inhabitants. Not that the implications pleased him anymore than it had Jack back then.
"Oh yes, do you play, Young Scholar of Midgard?" Mimir's tone turned slightly hopeful.
Daniel wondered if the hologram was a sentient AI of some sort. Last time he'd dealt with an Asgard hologram, one had been a recording and the next an actual transmission. "I... eh, occasionally, yes, I do."
"Brilliant, then grant me a game, and I shall show you the way out," Mimir boomed, laughter in his voice.
"I would be delighted to, but..." Daniel began.
"No buts, my friends," Mimir cut him off.
"How are you going to play when you're blind?" Thompson whispered to him.
"My question exactly," Daniel whispered back. With a sigh he began wondering how he could possibly convince Mimir what a bad idea it was. "Master Mimir, after the well, I can't..."
"Now, now, Daniel Jackson, you give me a game, and I'll give you the way out of here." Mimir's voice was strong and sure and left no room for argument.
"You're gonna have to help me, Thompson..." Somehow Daniel suspected, Mimir wasn't going to let him use his lack of eyesight as an excuse. Second option was actually playing, but for that he'd need a... proxy of sorts.
"How?" Thompson sneered back, "I don't play chess."
"Be my eyes," Daniel said as he shrugged. He couldn't see any other way out of it. "Tell me what's happening." He could almost feel the unease vibrating off the other man, but he was damned if he was fighting this alone.
A moment of silence then Thompson said in a low voice: "The floor's turned into one gigantic chessboard... with huge pieces."
Daniel frowned and pictured a chessboard in his mind.
"Go ahead, my young friend, as the guest you take white, as the guest you make the opening move..." Mimir's voice had fallen to ordinary level again.
'Well, here goes nothing,' Daniel thought, took a deep breath and made his move. All he could do was to trust Thompson on this and hope that they were as lucky with this Asgard as they'd been with Thor in the past.
TBC
A couple more parts and that should be it ^_^
You know the drill by now...
not beta'ed, not edited, WIP yadda, yadda, yadda
Wordcount of the day: 1,038
wordcount in all: 8,969
Previous parts
The prequel - War Games...
----
"Well?" Daniel stayed where he was, not daring to move too far from the stairs. Being blind wasn't exactly comforting. Things weren't exactly improving with the fact that the one man who could help... well, safe to say Daniel didn't exactly feel compelled to trust him. Especially not with his life.
"Well, what?" snapped Thompson somewhere to Daniel's right.
Daniel sighed deeply. This was getting old, fast. "What does the room look like?" If only the guy would work with him, it would make it a lot easier. For the both of them. Hello, the man was military, shouldn't he be capable of working towards a common goal and ignoring any personal problems there might be? Obviously not. Maybe Daniel was just too used to working with people to whom his civilian status was a mere footnote. At least nowadays. Damned, at least Jack never gave him this much trouble. Such short time and he missed the man already... What he wouldn't give to be back home, on Jack's couch, preferably wrapped around the older man...
"It's large, like the one with the well." Thompson fell silent for a moment. "There's... a pedestal of sorts in the middle with..." Thompson trailed off.
"Yes?" Daniel dug up the last of his patience. Blind here, remember? One should like to think even Thompson had enough brains to pick up on that now...
"I think there's... a head on it." Thompson sounded downright... nauseous.
"A... head?" Daniel took a deep breath before holding out his hand, searching for Thompson. "No reason to prolong our stay here, Major..."
A tentative grip on his sleeve told Daniel to start moving forward. Well, well, well, things were warming up. From deep frozen to merely frozen it seemed. An improvement if there ever was one.
"It... seems to be sleeping," Thompson kept his voice low and close to Daniel's ear. The warm puffs of air tickled Daniel's skin and he flinched a little. One thing was having Jack this close; it was something entirely different with Thompson.
Thompson seemed to get the idea as the man took a step away. Daniel didn't have to be able to see the other man to tell that he was slightly embarrassed about it. As much as they were in the same boat, he still didn't feel at ease around the civilian. The Major cleared his throat, the sound rung through the room and Daniel could almost feel the change in the air, almost like electricity.
"Who disturbs Mimir's sleep?" The voice was deep and seemed to come from all sides, echoing around them.
Daniel winced and covered his ears. Before he could speak the voice continued, albeit at a more normal level.
"Please forgive me; I am not used to mortal visitors."
"There is no need to apologize, Wise One," Daniel answered, racking his mind for more info on Mimir. Not much more came forward. "We are travelers from Midgard, Major Thompson here is a warrior of great skill..." Daniel tried to sound sincere. He really didn't know about the skills of the other man, so theoretically he wasn't lying. "And I am Daniel Jackson, scholar and explorer."
"Welcome to my humble cavern. Make yourselves at home... Tell me, Daniel Jackson, traveler from Midgard, do you ever play?" Mimir inquired.
"Play?" Daniel asked, wondering what might come next. He couldn't remember anything about playing games...
"Yes, I so rarely have visitors, even old Odin so rarely visits," Mimir sounded almost... regretful.
"But when he does, you... play?" Daniels asked tentatively. Looked like he'd have to... wing it, as Jack would put it, this time around.
"Yes, we do," Mimir answered.
"And you play what?" Thompson asked before Daniel could.
"Oh, many a game, Young Warrior, many a game. Most recently, however, it was chess." Mimir sounded as if the memory of that meeting was quite pleasant.
"Chess?" Daniel asked, for a short moment wondering where the Asgard had picked up chess, then remembered that Jack had mentioned the little grey aliens still studied Earth and its inhabitants. Not that the implications pleased him anymore than it had Jack back then.
"Oh yes, do you play, Young Scholar of Midgard?" Mimir's tone turned slightly hopeful.
Daniel wondered if the hologram was a sentient AI of some sort. Last time he'd dealt with an Asgard hologram, one had been a recording and the next an actual transmission. "I... eh, occasionally, yes, I do."
"Brilliant, then grant me a game, and I shall show you the way out," Mimir boomed, laughter in his voice.
"I would be delighted to, but..." Daniel began.
"No buts, my friends," Mimir cut him off.
"How are you going to play when you're blind?" Thompson whispered to him.
"My question exactly," Daniel whispered back. With a sigh he began wondering how he could possibly convince Mimir what a bad idea it was. "Master Mimir, after the well, I can't..."
"Now, now, Daniel Jackson, you give me a game, and I'll give you the way out of here." Mimir's voice was strong and sure and left no room for argument.
"You're gonna have to help me, Thompson..." Somehow Daniel suspected, Mimir wasn't going to let him use his lack of eyesight as an excuse. Second option was actually playing, but for that he'd need a... proxy of sorts.
"How?" Thompson sneered back, "I don't play chess."
"Be my eyes," Daniel said as he shrugged. He couldn't see any other way out of it. "Tell me what's happening." He could almost feel the unease vibrating off the other man, but he was damned if he was fighting this alone.
A moment of silence then Thompson said in a low voice: "The floor's turned into one gigantic chessboard... with huge pieces."
Daniel frowned and pictured a chessboard in his mind.
"Go ahead, my young friend, as the guest you take white, as the guest you make the opening move..." Mimir's voice had fallen to ordinary level again.
'Well, here goes nothing,' Daniel thought, took a deep breath and made his move. All he could do was to trust Thompson on this and hope that they were as lucky with this Asgard as they'd been with Thor in the past.
TBC
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