The Higher Planes

[s09119]

Just a fanfic I thought up about... Well, you'll figure it out.

((Part 1))

Okay... This is new.

Slowly, very slowly, he opened his eyes. Bright light assaulted his retnas, momentarily blinding him. But of course, he wasn't really blinded, was he?

No... Blinding requires a light source. A mechanical thing, something from Earth... But I'm not on Earth. Am I?

Shading his eyes from the piercing light, he squinted into the distance. But nothing but more white, a seemingly endless floor of nothing, stretched into the horizon. But that wasn't right. He couldn't be standing on nothing.

"Who says its nothing?" asked a female voice from behind him.

Spinning, he turned to confront the speaker. But no one was there. He waved a hand in front of him, noticing the perfect, unwarped arm.

What...? How is it not—

"How is it not what? Half-dead from radiation poisoning? Come now, surely you understand," the female voice answered for him, again speaking from nowhere.

Now he was getting frustrated. He kept looking for someone, but no matter which way he looked, his eyes failed him.

"Finish this for me: How deep is the river if you cannot see the...?"

"Bottom..." he answered slowly, beginning to understand, "The answer is 'bottom'."

Oma Desala smiled. "Indeed. I see you're getting used to death."

His heart pounded suddenly. "Death? But I thought you—"

"I did," Oma replied, laughing lightly, "It's a joke we sometimes play on the newly ascended."

Daniel Jackson frowned. "That's not very kind of you."

"Perhaps not, but we get so little fun... tell me, Daniel, how do you feel?"

Once more, he examined his arm for boils. But it seemed the horrible disfigurement his exposure to the Kellownan radiation had caused was gone. Not even a scar remained... So it had not been surgery of any kind.

"You healed me?" he asked.

The ascended woman—she was a woman, right?—nodded. "Yes. We have powers... far beyond anything you've ever seen. In time, you, too, will learn to harness that power."

"But I can never go back, can I?"

"You can," Oma replied, her face darkening, "But you would lose all the knowledge and abilities you gain here. You would be nothing more than an average human again, unable to change the course of the wars raging below."

Daniel's eyes widened. "But I can do it from here, can't I?"

"No! You can never interfere with the Lowers!" The answer was sharp and fast.

"But you've interfered, Oma. You ascended me."

"I can do what I do only because I pay a terrible price for it..."

"What?" Daniel asked. Oma opened her mouth to reply, but then another being seemed to flash into existence beside them. He was a rather rotund gentlement, dressed in a business suit.

The man grinned, tilting his hat. "Hey!" he said in a thick New York accent, "Don't forget Oma, we have that thing."

Not taking her eyes, which had suddenly grown clouded and cold, off the newly arrived man, she nodded. "Of course... Daniel... I must take my leave. Please, feel free to explore the higher planes. I'll see you soon."

And with that, they both vanished. Leaving Daniel Jackson once more alone in the bright, harsh light...

(More to follow sometime)

[s09119]

By the way... feedback is a GOOD thing Please?

[s09119]

Depressed though I am that no one seems to like this (haha), I'll continue:

((Part 2))

Daniel turned around, hoping that Oma's arrival had changed his surroundings somewhat. But once more, he was disappointed. The landscape was still a bleak, white field of nothingness that just seemed to stretch into eternity. How anyone stood it, he had no idea.

Well this sucks... he thought to himself, I wonder what the others are doing...

Then, there he was. Back in the SGC, staring into a control room filled with Air Force technicians. Surprised, Daniel glanced down at himself, half-expecting to see him back in his mission uniform. Instead, he just saw a plain white sweater and beige khakis. What was going on?

"Major? Any progress?" General Hammond was saying as Daniel got his bearings.

Sam was sitting in front of a diagnostic screen. Instinctively, Daniel reached for his glasses in order to see better, then realized he did not need them. Apparently, ascension had cured that, too.

Even more remarkable, though, was that he knew what was wrong before Sam even said it. The problem seemed to pop into his mind just as she replied, "No, sir. The gate's still storing away energy in its capacitors. Whoever's doing this is good, sir."

The general nodded solemnly. "I see. The President wants to know how bad this could get."

It could wipe the entire state off the map... Daniel said. Then he blinked. He hadn't said anything. He'd opened his mouth, but nothing audible came out.

"It could wipe the entire state off the map, sir," Carter replied, "If we can't find a way out of this..."

"I know. It could be the end of everything..."

Sam looked grim. "The dust kicked up by the explosion could conceivably wipe out the entire planet's ecosystem, sir. We're talking about a possible exinction-level event."

I could stop this, right? I have powers now. Grinning, Daniel looked at the gate, raised a palm and thought, Shut down.

Nothing happened.

Then he heard Oma's voice in his head. I said no interfering, she snapped, Try that again and I'll do more than just stop you.

That's not fair. They're going to die!

If they do, it's their mistake to make. There's a way out of this, but they'll only find it if they're meant to. Now, stop.

Suddenly, the SGC vanished. Looking around, Daniel realized the he was back in that white nothing. The... higher planes, Oma had called it. But what were they? There had to be more than just endless nothing, right? After all, Oma and that other ascended being had disappeared to somewhere.

So Daniel decided to try and reach out. He pictured Oma Desala in his mind, wondered where she was... And vanished.

(more to come)

[Rudy Pena]

Keep it coming.

[!!??]

Wow this is almost as good as your avalon stuff. Keep them both coming.

[s09119]

((Part 3))

"I don't understand!" Daniel shouted to the endless whiteness. There was no echo, no reverberation at all. As far as he knew, sound should always be able to echo, at least a bit, because there should always be something there for it to reflect off of, right?

Behind him, Daniel heard a slight cough. He turned, half expecting to find Oma, but instead saw a different woman. She looked serene, completely at peace, and her smile was enough to take the pressure off his tired mind. "Another Ancient?" he asked, curious.

"You're Oma's prodigy, aren't you?" the woman replied, ignoring his querry, "The one called 'Daniel Jackson'?"

"Prodigy? I'd hardly call myself a..." he began, but then stopped. In a way, he was Oma Desala's student; he had followed her advice, he had tried his hardest to emulate her, he had even given up a chance at living to join her kind. But what had it earned him?

The other woman cocked her head at Daniel then, her smile fading. "You are unhappy here. The rules... you disagree with the Others," she said slowly, as if reading the truths from his mind, "You regret your decision to ascend."

"No, no, not that... I just..." he searched for the right words. "You know what's happening on Earth, don't you?"

"The people of your world are in grave danger, yes. The Goa'uld called 'Anubis' is attempting to wipe them from existence as a means to regain his status in the System Lords," she said at length.

"And if you know that," asked Daniel, "why don't you people do something to stop it?"

She shook her head sadly. "I cannot. You cannot. If we interfere, we are no better than the very Ones we tried to destroy."

That stopped Daniel cold. He had never heard of another group of beings connected to the Ancients save those in the ancient alliance, after all. Who else would have had the power to actually resist them? "The Ones?" he asked, "Who are they?"

"You are not ready, Daniel Jackson, not yet."

But he pressed anyway, shouting, "I have to watch as the only family I've ever known come closer and closer to death, knowing I have the power to save them! Don't tell me I'm not ready to hear your dirty little secrets when you're prepared to let good people die!"

"There is more at work here than you know, forces that have been at odds since before your kind learned what it meant to be alive," the woman said sternly. At first, Daniel wanted to hit her, to show her the pain he felt inside, but then he noticed it; the tears in her eyes, the aura of despair she radiated. This woman, this ascended being, felt the same desperation he did, but could not lift a finger to help.

"You're like Oma..." he realized at last, "You've tried to interfere too, haven't you?"

"I've already said too much, I must take my leave," the woman said, turning her back on him. At once, her body began to glow with a light that seemed even brighter than even the unending white around her. But Daniel reached out a hand, grasped her shoulder.

"I don't even know your name," he said, "Can I at least have that?"

The woman paused. Slowly, she turned her head, tears still in her eyes, and replied, "Ganos Lal. I will see you soon, Daniel Jackson."

And with that, she vanished.

[s09119]

((Part 4))

Daniel reached out a hand, waving at the air Ganos Lal had been standing in a moment before. But wait—not air, there was no air here, there wasn't matter period.

As soon as he considered that, he was gripped by a sense of panic. If there was no air, how was he breathing? Did he even have to breathe anymore? Did he have to eat? Drink? Urinate? It was all too much to comprehend at once. Clutching at his throbbing head, he sat down—on what? Certainly not a floor or any surface he knew of—and wished that Samantha Carter where here to help him work through this.

And then, as before, the world around him dissolved. The overwhelming brightness faded back to the dull artificial lighting of the control room at Stargate Command. For the first time, Daniel realized just how dim these man-made light sources were, especially compared to whatever it was that lit the ascended realm; whatever that was made even a star look pale and weak.

Suddenly, the lights flickered and died, the only glow at all now coming from the stargate. Without hearing it, Daniel knew what was wrong; the Goa'uld Anubis had dialed in and was trying to overload the gate, hoping to cause it to explode. The SGC had just tried to send a prototype starfighter to Abydos to call the Asgard, but its hyperdrive was unstable and the attempt failed. For a moment, he thought about the revelation, and realized that it was the ascension doing it. Now that he was one of them, information could apparently be willed to you.

"We're experiencing a widespread loss of power, sir," the gate technician—Walter Harriman—was saying as Daniel looked on. General Hammond stood just a few inches away, breathing heavily. He was scared, that was clear, but he was trying to hide it so his subordinates would not also feel the terror he did. Once more, Daniel was reminded just how strong a man the base commander was, and he regretted not being able to help him now.

Through the window, Daniel saw Carter and O'Neill rush into the gate room, running up to the irised-stargate, where a hologram was just coming into focus.

I need a better view... he thought dimly, and found himself instantly alongside Jack and Sam. Blinking a few times in surprise, Daniel realized how sensitive his newfound abilities were; he would have to work on controlling them and not overdoing it.

At last, the hologram stabilized, and the image of a cloaked figure stood towering over everyone else. Immediately, Daniel knew who this was: Anubis. But that seemed to be all he could glean, for no matter how hard he tried, no information about the vile being would come to him. Apparently, the Others were restricting how much he could learn at a time... that or Anubis himself was blocking it somehow. But how could a mere Goa'uld stop him, one of the ascended?

After a moments' pause, no doubt for dramatic emphasis, the figure spoke, revealing himself to those not blessed with supernatual abilities, "I am Anubis."

Carter and O'Neill exchanged worried galances. They both knew that Earth couldn't hope to fend off an assault from a System Lord, not without an obscene amount of luck. But Anubis wasn't done yet, and he continued, "Humans of the Tau'ri, your end of days finally approaches. There will be no mercy."

"Oh, come on..." muttered Jack, half to himself, "Who talks like that...?"

But Daniel's mind was already working, thinking up how this was possible; holograms this sophisticated were Asgard, how could a Goa'uld have developed such things on his own, especially one that had been missing for thousands of years? The answer came quickly, filling in gaps... Anubis had captured Thor and proped his mind, stealing what advancements he could and putting them into use at once.

Reaching the same conclusion, Carter whispered, "Sir, this is Asgard technology. He must have downloaded it from Thor."

"You will bow to my awesome power," added Anubis, unnerved by the presenve of Earth's two greatest defenders, "There is nothing that can stop the destruction I bring upon you." Daniel could almost imagine the alien grinning when he finished, "Prepare to meet your doom."

"Not if I can help it, they won't," Daniel muttered. And then something terrifying happened, something that made his eyes widen in disbelief. As he spoke, Anubis' holographic head turned, ever so slightly, to look directly at him. He could almost feel it in his bones, the sudden chill that crept over him, that he had been spotted. But how? He wasn't even on the same plane of existence.

Steeling himself, Daniel stared back, and said, "I will find a way to stop you..." And with that, he left Earth and Stargate Command behind, dissolving the world back to the higher planes; he had work to do.

[gavo2o]

I like the story, great work

[s09119]

gavo2o: Thank you

And here's a quick part.

((Part 5))

As he stepped back into the endless sea of nothing, Daniel's mind began working. How could he possibly help his teammates without breaking the rules of the ascended realm? Surely there was a way; Oma Desala did it regularly, did she not?

But maybe it's the way she does it... he thought absently, Oma hasn't directly interfered yet, it's always some riddle or dropped hint with her. But then he realized that she had, in fact, stepped in by ascending him. But why is that okay when saving Earth isn't? he asked himself.

There was too much he didn't know yet. For example, where were all the other ascended? There had to be more to this plane of existence than wherever he was, that was obvious. Oma and Ganos Lal had both went somehwere after speaking with him, he just needed to figure out where.

"Alright..." he said to himself, closing his eyes. He pictured Oma Desala in his mind and asked himself where she was... but nothing happened. He wasn't sent to some new place, he just remained where he was, still alone on this empty wasteland.

He blinked a few times, confused. "What?" he muttered, frowning, "That should've worked..."

But there was no time to dwell; he had to have more information, and he needed it now. Closing his eyes again, he now focused on the other Ancient—well, supposed Ancient—he had met, the woman called Ganos Lal. He held an image of her in his mind, picturing her exactly as she had been before she vanished, and thought Where are you?

And this time, he dissapeared, too.

-- * --

"Who are you?"

As soon as he arrived at his new destination, wherever it was, Daniel was grabbed by rough hands. He was surrounded by people, all of whom were going about their business in a structure that was clearly Ancient by design; the walls and computer terminals all reflected typical Ancient motifs and architechture.

Dozens of people, all wearing white and tan uniforms of some kind he had never seen, crowded around. Each wore a pair of inquisitive eyes all demanding the same question asked of him, all wondering who this newcomer was. But Daniel had no answer; he was still stunned from arriving.

"Daniel?" came a familiar voice from beyond the sea of people. A moment later, Ganos Lal emerged from the throng, coming to his rescue.

But the human was still so confused. "Where am I?" he shouted, trying to avoid more hands as they reached out to grab him.

The Ancient's eyes met his, and she answered simply, "Atlantis."

[Vampyr]

I'm intrigued, continue on.

[MajorShipper]

Wow! I love this story, please keep it coming! nothing but praise for this story.

[s09119]

Sorry for the delay, I'll have the next chapter of this story up soon!

[!!??]

Wow i thought you weren't going to make anymore after all of those months but the rest is really good.

[Dutch_Razor]

This story is good! Me want next chapta!

[gavo2o]

This story is good! Me want next chapta!

I agree, I like this story a lot