The building was impressive, what was left of it; even Ancient ruins crumbled over time. Nothing built by any civilisation, no matter how technologically advanced they might be, could be expected to last forever, completely unchanged, unaffected by weather and the inevitable wear and tear of centuries.

This one, though, must have been awe-inspiring before erosion started to kick in and bits began falling off. It towered above SG-1, the entrance doors themselves a good fifty feet tall, and almost as wide, the walls fully four times the height of the doors, although from where they were standing, it looked like the roof had fallen in, taking with it any upper floors that might once have existed.

“A bit… grand, don’t ya think?” O’Neill commented, squinting up at an engraved sheet of paler stone inset above the door.

“Imposing,” Daniel corrected.

“Whatever. Bit overdone for my tastes, what with all the carvings.” The outside of the walls were intricately engraved over ever inch of their surface. “What’s that above the entrance? Some kind of sign explaining what this place used to be?”

Daniel looked up and nodded. “Yes, something like that.”

“So what does it say?”

“Abandon hope all ye who enter here,” Daniel said, in suitably ominous tones.

Jack glanced at him. “Seriously?”

“No. Actually, it declares these premises as the supreme courts of judiciary law presiding over all planets in the twelfth sector.”

“Huh. Amounts to the same thing then.”

Daniel gave that due consideration. “Basically.”

“So, law courts. Do we take a look inside?”

“That’s what we’re here for, to explore, investigate, study.” Daniel gestured. “After you.”

“You don’t want to go first?”

“It’s a bit…” Daniel trailed off, eyeing the massive doors.

“Imposing?”

“Yes.”

“Want to see if there’s another way in, something less intimidating?”

“Absolutely.”


The End