Metamorphosis
By
Phoenix Lord
E-mail Author: tiefelis@yahoo.com
Summary: SG-1 discover what its like to be ‘different’
Artwork: Click HERE to see it
Category: Adventure, Humor
Rating: G
Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and its characters belong to MGM/UA,
Showtime/Viacom, SCI-FI Channel, Gekko, Double Secret Productions etc. and all
the powers that be, not me. No copyright infringement intended. This story is
written for fan entertainment only and no money has exchanged hands. The story
is the property of the author and may not be posted anywhere without the
authors consent.
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Daniel Jackson stepped out of the
Stargate and tried to shake off the bone chilling cold. He had always felt that gate travel was like
being sucked into a blender that was making frozen margaritas. At least P3-711 was a warm planet. He looked around and found the rest of the
SG-1 team had already started exploring the desert like surface of planet.
“Daniel,” Jack called out “come look at this thing.”
“What
is it?”
“If
I knew what it was I wouldn’t be asking you to come look at it.”
Daniel
chuckled and made his way over to the sand dune that Jack was standing on. Half buried into the sand was an object that
was totally out of place with it’s surroundings. It was like a glass mushroom with a raised clear dome.
“Any
ideas?” Jack asked.
“None
whatsoever.” Daniel replied as he knelt
down to dust off some of the sand.
“If
you don’t know what it is, I’d suggest that you don’t touch it.”
Daniel
ignored Jack’s warning and continued to unbury the strange device. Not having found anything else of interest
Sam and Teal’c soon joined them.
“Teal’c,
have you ever seen anything like this?”
Daniel asked.
“I
have not.”
“It
doesn’t really look Goa’uld.” Sam
noted.
“No...it
doesn’t.” Daniel replied absent
mindedly as he spread his palm over the raised center of the glass mushroom.
“Daniel,
I’ve got a bad feeling about that thing.
Stop mucking with it.” Jack
said. “That’s an orde...”
A
sharp cracking sound cut Jack off as the once clear mushroom started to
glow. Before they could react to the
change a pulse of light exploded out of the device, knocking the team to the
sandy ground.
Daniel
snapped his eyes open and looked up at the darkening sky. Unsure of how long he’d been out he sat up
slowly. He instinctively started
searching for his glasses. After
finding them he placed them back on their perch with some difficulty.
With
his vision suddenly cleared the dark shape in front of him took an unexpected
form. A giant Bald Eagle stood in the
sand before him. Daniel shook his head
to try and clear it, but the apparition didn’t disappear.
“I’m
going to kill you.” The large bird
growled.
“W...what?” Daniel stuttered.
“You
just have to touch everything, don’t you?”
“Jack?”
“You
know I’m all for being patriotic...but this is taking things too far.” Jack replied. “And just to be clear, the first person to call me O’Neagle, gets
their eyes clawed out.”
“What
is going on?!” A female voice brayed.
Daniel
turned around and found a pony with blonde hair wearing a SG-1 jacket sitting
in the sand with a confused look on her equine face.
“Samantha?” Daniel asked incredulously.
Daniel
looked down at his own hands and jerked back when he found them covered in a
soft layer of red fur. Although still
somewhat human in nature they had taken on a more paw like shape. Looking over his shoulder he found a bushy
red tail with a white tip. It thrashed
restlessly behind him as if it had a mind of its own.
“Daniel
Jackson, I believe we now know what the device does.” A large bear with Teal’c voice said sardonically. “The only question now is ‘why’.”
“No,
the question now is how do we change ourselves back!” Jack snapped with a click of his sharp beak.
“Uh...uh...” Daniel stuttered.
“Come
on, Danny, foxes are supposed to be clever.”
“Just
let me think.”
“Well
think fast,” Jack huffed “the sand is starting to chaff my tail
feathers.”
Daniel
walked awkwardly over to the glowing device and knelt down in front of it. His tail swished a pattern in the sand as he
concentrated on the glowing mushroom.
It didn’t have any markings on it that could be considered a language,
which meant there weren’t going to be any directions. He scratched behind one of his large ears in thought.
“Don’t
just stare at it, Daniel, change us back!”
Carter whinnied.
“I’m
trying! Hold your horses, Sam.” Daniel growled in frustration.
“Oh,
ha-ha, Dr. Jackalson.” Carter snapped.
“Major
Carter, I believe that Daniel is in fact a fox, not a jackal.”
“She
knows that Teal’c.” Jack smiled as well
as his beak would allow. “It was
sarcasm.”
“I
still do not fully understand your planet’s ‘sarcasm’.”
“Just
grin and bear it.”
“Enough
you two.” Sam interjected. “Daniel, you can fix this...right?”
“I...I
don’t know.” Daniel admitted as he
continued to play with the device.
“Goa’uld technology was not built to be used by paws.”
“Daniel
Jackson,” Teal’c said calmly “I do not believe that this is of Goa’uld
construction.”
“Why
do you say that?”
“They
would not create something so...foolish.”
“Foolish?” Sam demanded. “Guys, we are in serious trouble here. We can’t go back to base looking like this.”
“Major
Carter is correct.” Teal’c agreed. “We will be shot on sight.”
“They
can’t shoot me,” Jack protested “I’m an endangered species!”
“Guys
please!” Daniel barked.
Daniel
turned his attention back to the device and gingerly pushed one of the raised
buttons. The top of the mushroom turned
from bright orange to a deep purple.
Licking his muzzle nervously he placed his paw on the purple half orb
and pressed down.
Once
again a blinding light exploded out of the strange device. Daniel was thrown back hard into the hat
desert sand. He tried to keep
conscious, but the creeping darkness quickly won.
A
pounding headache kept Daniel from fully surfacing to the real world. He tried to move but just ended up moaning
pitifully from the throbbing pain. He
tried to concentrate on just opening his eyes, but couldn’t quite find the
strength.
“Daniel?” Jack’s voice cut through the mist. “You alright, buddy?”
“Jack?”
“Morning,
Sunshine.” Jack chuckled.
Daniel managed to open his eyes
slowly. He looked around at the blurry
medical equipment that surrounded him.
He reached out to the table trying once again to find his glasses. Jack picked them up and handed them to his
friend. Daniel put them on and looked
around once again. Jack, human as ever,
watched him slightly apprehensively.
Daniel raised one of his hands to look at it and was relieved to find it
no furrier than it should be.
“What
happened?” Daniel asked.
“We
got knocked silly by that mushroom looking thing.” Jack explained. “The rest
of us woke pretty quickly, but you were touching the device and must of gotten
a harder blow. You’ve been out for
almost three days.”
“I...I
had the strangest dream.”
“Was
Toto there?” Jack asked.
Daniel
smiled and sat up in the hospital bed.
Jack shifted his weight and scratched the back of his head. When he brought his hand forward again he
was holding a small white feather.
Daniel stared at the feather in disbelief.
“So,” Jack said with a wry smile “tell me about this ‘dream’ of yours.”
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