“Go Austin,” a young woman’s voice sounded as she ushered a small redhead girl out the door. “Hurry, we haven’t much time.” Austin followed her mother and brother quickly as they rushed from the small village of Raais into the woods that surrounded it. “Hurry Austin,” she called to the young child that was falling behind. Her brother Nikolas ran up behind her and picked her up. She was six years old that day. It was the last day she saw her mother and her brother. In fact, it was the last day she saw anyone from Raais. That was the last day she had any sort of contact with another human. For the next twenty-two years she was completely alone.

That all changed, however, one evening in early fall. Austin had been in her home, cooking herself supper when she thought she heard footsteps in the woods. Her hearing was acute and she could hear for miles, it made up for her lack of sight. The girl was blind she had been all her life. Austin put out the fire in the stove and walked to the door. She stood in the doorway and closed her eyes. The footsteps continued. Austin walked out of her house. She wore a pair of black boots she had made and a simple peasant dress that had belonged to her mother. The dress by now was torn and dirty, the only one she had. It barely covered her up at all, but no one was there to see her so it didn’t matter.

She had short fiery red hair that curled around her freckled face. It brought out her emerald green, sightless eyes. Her hair and eyes had always set her apart as a child. She was the only one in the village’s history to have red hair and green eyes. Some saw her as a demon, others a messenger from the gods. To her mother she was simply Austin, a bright eyed, inquisitive, and outgoing little girl.

Austin was no little girl anymore. She walked through the woods effortlessly until finally stopping in her tracks. The footsteps were behind her now, getting closer. She was certain, whoever was there was close enough to see her. She turned slowly as she heard someone clear their throat. Austin’s hands shook terribly. She didn’t like to show fear; animals in the forest could sense it. The last human contact she remembered killed her mother and brother. She couldn’t help but be frightened. She heard someone step forward. There was more than one person; she could hear the rustling of the fallen leaves. When the steps got closer she moved back.

“Wait wait,” she heard a man’s voice say. She only vaguely remembered the sound of a voice. It had been so long since she heard one. She had stopped speaking for fear that her voice would bring them back. She took another step backwards and fell, but a hand grabbed her arm and pulled her up. The hand was strong, it reminded her of her father when she was very young. “We’re not going to hurt you,” the voice whispered. “Where do you live?”

It had to be them, they came back. Austin chided herself for not being able to remember what her mother had called them. She didn’t take time to dwell on that though. Austin quickly broke free of the man’s grip and took off running. She ran through the trees with ease, she knew where every tree, every branch and every stick was in this forest; it had been her home for over twenty years. She quickly found that she could not run fast enough. A man grabbed hold of her arm, stopping her suddenly and pulling her back to him. It took her a moment to register that it was the same man. “Whoa,” the man said. What did that mean? “Easy there, we’re not going to hurt you.”

“No, no,” another man’s voice said. “We were just wondering where your village is, where the other people are.” The man sighed and Austin’s eyes searched frantically for his voice. She knew that blindness was a weakness and she didn’t want anyone to know. Unfortunately she did not hide it well. “You can’t see me can you,” the man asked as the other slowly loosened his grip on her hand. “My name is Daniel Jackson,” he said to her. Austin felt the man lift up her hand and place it on his face. She closed her eyes and ran her fingertips over his face. It was something she hadn’t had in years. Human contact. After a moment Austin slowly dropped her hands to the side. They didn’t speak like the ones before. He didn’t feel like one of them. “These are my friends, we’re from the Earth,” he said slowly. Austin had heard that before when she was very little. She remembered hearing it as a safe place. Austin’s face lit up when he spoke.

“I’m Cameron,” the other man said. Austin raised her hand and much to Cameron’s displeasure, she ran her fingers over his face, forming the picture in her mind. “This is Sam.” Austin felt much more delicate hands take hers. A woman, Sam was a woman. “Teal’c.” Another set of hands, much bigger than the others, and much stronger took hers. She ran her fingers over his face and jumped back. Jaffa. Fear filled her eyes. “Umm… don’t worry he’s on our side,” Cameron said with a laugh.

“And I’m Vala,” another woman’s voice said, turning Austin around. “Nice to meet you. So, where’s your little town huh?”

Austin stood there for a long time, completely silent and still as stone. It had been so long since anyone had spoken to her, since she had heard another voice, felt another’s touch. She didn’t know what to think. Then their words registered. Her village? The people? She stretched out her hand until she found the one called Daniel. She took hold of his hand, her own small pale hand trembling. Daniel looked down at her, unsure of what to do for her. She was thin, too thin, and terribly fragile looking. Austin shook her head. Then she took Daniel’s hand and led him back to the village. She didn’t remember how to tell him there was no one there, so she had to show him.

She led them back to the empty village and showed them the graves she had managed to make for several of the people. It had taken a long time to do so and there were still many bodies lying on the ground, the smell was pungent but she had gotten used to it. “Oh my god,” Daniel said as they got closer and he took a breath. He looked at the village as they entered it. There were still at least twenty bodies that had been buried and lay in the middle of the town decomposing. “Is there anyone here,” he asked the girl. She shook her head.

Daniel sighed and turned back to the other, letting go of Austin’s hand. “Well, first off she needs medical attention and food. From the looks of things it’s been a long time since these people died and she’s been alone for all of it.” Daniel sighed and ran his hands through his hair. “Why don’t we take her back with us, get her some clothes,” he said pointing to her. He was sure they had noticed that she was all but naked. He felt so bad for this girl. “Get her some food, a warm place to stay. It might take a while before she speaks, if she even can.” Daniel sighed and looked back at her as she continued working on the graves. He looked down as his foot hit a book. Then he picked it up. “The book of Origin,” he said simply. “It must have been the Ori that did this. I’m gonna look around, see what I can see.”

“I’ll let her know what’s going on, see if she wants to come back with us, maybe I can get a name out of her.” They all nodded in agreement. Daniel and Vala investigated the houses while Sam checked out the woods around the village. Cameron walked up to Austin and knelt down next to her. She was patting down the dirt that covered a grave. He noticed a tear fall onto the soil. “Hey,” he said softly, lifting her chin slowly so he could see her face. “Shh," he whispered wiping the tears away with his thumb. “It isn’t safe for you to be alone like this. You need food, and clothing. We can give you that. Now you don’t have to say yes, but we can give you a safe, warm place to stay. We came here through the Stargate, do you know what that is.” Austin nodded slowly, she vaguely remembered hearing stories about the Stargate. “Do you want to come back to Earth with us?” Austin lowered her head, resting in on the mound of dirt that incased the body of her older brother Nikolas. After a moment she sat up again and nodded slowly. “Good, let me just let the folks back home know.” He smiled and patted her on the head as he stood.

Cameron found Daniel and told him that she agreed. Then he went back to the Stargate, which wasn’t too far away actually. He dialed home. “Landry,” the voice on the other side answered. “You find something we should know about Col.?”

“Sorta sir,” he said with a laugh as he looked into the camera on the MALP. “We found a girl sir. She looks to be in her mid twenties. We found her in the woods outside her village. There’s no one else there sir. Everyone else was killed, most of them still haven’t been buried, though it looks like she’s been trying.”

“This girl have a name Col.? Is she dangerous?”

“I highly doubt she’s dangerous sir. She looks like she could use a good meal though, and some clothes. What she’s wearing is pretty tattered. Daniel thought it might be best to bring her back here, get her away from the smell of rotting flesh for a while. I came back to get the okay.”

Landry sighed and it took a long time before he answered. “All right, we’ll get a room set up and have a medical team available as soon as you get back.”

“Sir, I don’t think the medical team is necessary. She’s been alone for a long time; I don’t think it’s a good idea to swarm her now. Plus she’s blind she might get scared. If you could just have a blanket or something ready that we could cover her up in when we get there, that’d be great.”

“All right, we’ll have that for way.”

“We’ll be through in a few minutes sir. Jackson’s just giving this place a look over see if there’s anything we missed. We’re pretty sure the Ori did this sir.”

“All right, but we’ll know more when this girl is ready to talk.”

“Yes sir. Mitchell out.” With that Cameron turned and walked back to the village. He saw Austin where he had left her and Daniel, Teal’c, Sam, and Vala met up with him.

“Did you talk to General Landry,” Daniel asked.

“Yeah, he said she’s welcome.”

“I’ll get her you guys to back and dial home, I’ll meet you at the gate,” Daniel said as he walked over to Austin. He knelt down in front of her and watched her silently for along time as she ran her hand along the ground. “Family?” She raised her head towards his voice and nodded. Daniel sighed and took her hand, helping her up. “Come on, we’ll get you something to eat and let a doctor look at you all right?” She didn’t answer but Daniel assumed since she was walking with him that she agreed.

He led her to the gate, which was already open, and Vala was standing there. “The others went through, just waitin on you.”

Daniel nodded and he, Vala, and Austin stepped through the gate at the same time. They both appeared on the other side almost instantly. Austin was shaking and huddled close to Daniel. “Shh,” he whispered. She shook as the sirens went off and Daniel looked at Landry. The sirens stopped and the Gate closed behind them. She jumped but Daniel assured her that it was all right. He grabbed the blanket from Siler and wrapped it around Austin’s shoulders. “There ya go,” he whispered as he led her down the ramp slowly.

“Welcome,” General Landry said as he walked up to her. He took her hand and shook it slowly. “I am General Hank Landry,” he said with a smile, even though she couldn’t see it. She closed her eyes, his voice was so much like her father’s. “Please come this way. We have an excellent medical facility-”

“General,” Daniel interrupted. “I honestly don’t think she cares,” he said with a laugh.

“Of course,” General Landry answered. He led them to the infirmary and that’s when Dr. Lam took over. There were a lot of voices and Austin was getting confused and frightened. But she felt Daniel sit down on the table next to her and take her hand.

“Don’t worry,” he said softly. “No one’s going to hurt you.” Dr. Lam drew some blood and did a couple of X-rays. After Austin was done Daniel led her to the cafeteria. He got her a seat and some food then sat down across from her. Austin just picked at her food for a little while. Have you ever spoken before,” he asked softly. She nodded slowly. “Oh, good. All right, I know you aren’t going to be speaking right away,” he began, “but I was wondering if you knew how to write? I know being blind it might be difficult but you seem like a very smart woman, surviving on her own for so long. I thought you might know. Do you?”

Austin nodded slowly. It was the one thing she kept teaching herself to do while she raised herself. Daniel smiled and handed her a piece of paper and a put a pen in her right hand, which she abruptly switched to her left. Daniel laughed and shook his head; he didn’t think she might be left handed. “Can you write your name?” She nodded slowly. With much concentration Austin slowly wrote her name down on the paper then handed it back to him. “Austin,” he said quietly. “Is that how you say it?” She nodded slowly and smiled. “Well then, hello Austin, I’m Daniel,” he said taking her hand and shaking it. She eventually finished her food and Daniel led her to her room. “It’s not much but it has a bed.” She smiled and gave him a hug, which he didn’t expect. He hugged her back and smiled. “You should get some rest,” he whispered. She nodded and when he left she climbed into bed and quickly fell asleep.

Daniel walked into the briefing room; it was only three o’clock in the afternoon there. Daniel walked in and saw everyone was waiting for him. He smiled awkwardly and sat down in one of the chairs. “Have you found anything Dr. Jackson,” General Landry asked.

“She can write sir,” he said simply. “Which gives us some kind of communication with her until she’s become comfortable with speaking. Which she has been able to do in the past so I believe she has the ability to do. She has spoken in the past. I believe it’s been the seclusion that has led to her not speaking. I asked her to write down her name. Her name is Austin,” he said finally and leaned back in the chair. “Has Dr. Lam found anything unusual in her blood work?”

Sam shook her head. “She said that everything about her was normal, except she was a little underweight. She should be fine in a few days with good meals and rest. A shower would be a good idea too, I’ll help her out with that.” Sam glared at Cameron when he laughed.

“It will take some time sir but I think she might be an asset to us. She doesn’t seem to know who did this to her village, and if she does I highly doubt she believes them gods. We have yet to run into any survivors of something like this. I think she might be a good asset.”

General Landry sighed and nodded. “I’m putting her in your charge Dr. Jackson,” he said simply.

“Yes sir,” he said with a nod. He sighed and walked out of the briefing room and passed Austin’s room. He opened the door and looked in at her as she slept peacefully. Sam stopped by him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“You okay,” she asked in a whisper so she wouldn’t wake up Austin.

Daniel looked over at her and smiled. “Yeah,” he said with a sigh. “I was just thinking. She must have been through hell. I mean she had to have raised herself,” he said with a sigh. “She was constantly surrounded by the smell of her family dying,” he said with a sigh. “That’s no way for a kid to grow up.” Daniel sighed and shook his head. He could relate to her, losing her parents so early in life, the same had happened to him. “I’m got some work to do, I’ll be in my office,” he said with a sigh. Then he walked passed Sam and left her there. Sam closed Austin’s door and sighed. Then she walked into her lab.

Inside Austin’s room she slept peacefully, or at least that’s what it seemed like. In her mind she replayed the night her family died. They had been running to find her father to be safe from the men that came with their staves and books. She had never learned who those men were. In the corner of her room as her dreams raged on the faux palm in the corner caught fire. When her dreams calmed the fire went away, but the plant and desk next to it were badly burned.

¶ 6:13 PM