SG1-16 Four Dragons by Diana Botsford Page A

time it happened, the Goa’uld would snatch up Daniel’s stones with a dissatisfied cluck, as if he was disappointed in Daniel’s gaming skills.
    The game had become maddening.
    Yu had captured the tenth chain in a row when Daniel decided it was time to try a bit of honesty.
    “I really don’t know what I’m doing here.”
    “You are losing,” Yu said. With his ribbon-device encased hand, he dipped his fingers into his bowl of black stones.
    Daniel scratched his head. “And that’s not a good thing, is it?”
    “I did not bring you here to fail, Dr. Jackson.”
    “You didn’t?”
    Yu took up a small handful of stones from his bowl. “Do you think I would jeopardize my Jaffa if your failure was my intent?”
    Tired, hungry, Daniel threw up his hands. “Then tell me why. Just give me a reason. Help me to understand.”
    “It is your turn. Place a stone.”
    Daniel resisted the urge to pull his hair out and dropped a piece onto one of the intersections now empty from Yu’s last roundup.
    “Pick the piece back up.”
    “Why?”
    “It is dÎ jié . You cannot replay a position on the board I have already taken from you.”
    Daniel sat back and studied the board, confused. He knew so little about the game, although, from the few times he’d watched the modern version played, he was fairly certain that, given the right circumstances, one could replay a position.
    But far be it for him to argue when being held hostage by an irrational Goa’uld. How Teal’c ever managed it was beyond Daniel’s comprehension, and yet…
    Teal’c was released. Oshu had personally escorted him to the gate. First Prime to First Prime, the two had bonded in their mutual goal to fight against Anubis.
    But Daniel wasn’t a Jaffa, let alone a First Prime. Though Oshu had expressed interest in learning more about Earth, specifically China, Teal’c’s particular strategy wouldn’t work for Daniel. He’d have to find some other ally to help him.
    In the meantime, he’d continue to play, as long it kept him alive. Daniel placed a stone at the center bottom of his side of the board, far removed from all the other pieces in play. Yu nodded approvingly. The Goa’uld left Daniel’s new piece alone, instead plunking a black stone in the center, in the spot once inhabited by one of Daniel’s pieces.
    Three knocks on the door brought a scowl to Yu’s face. “You are hungry?”
    “I am, thanks,” Daniel said.
    There was a certain irony to being polite to a Goa’uld, but if nothing else, food meant surviving all that much longer.
    Yu put down his bowl of stones. “ Kree, leaa! ”
    A Jaffa entered with a tray of covered dishes in his hand. The only armor he wore was a brigandine leather vest riveted with small oblong steel plates. The Jaffa bore a silver rendition of Yu’s sigil on his forehead. As he set the tray down on top of a wooden casket beside the table, Daniel noticed he also wore a cloak held in place by the same green stone Oshu had worn earlier. The only difference was the cloak’s color: green. Like Oshu, he was clearly Chinese, though somewhat taller and more rounded in the face.
    “This is Lao Dan,” said Yu. “Like Oshu, he is a member of my Royal Guard.”
    Lao Dan. The name tickled some distant memory for Daniel. Some reference that he couldn’t quite place. He’d remembered so much, including most of Ancient Chinese history, but specific names were sometimes still out of reach.
    As Lao Dan bowed his head, a scar across his jaw became visible. Daniel recognized the scar, and the Jaffa. They’d met onboard Yu’s mothership during the flight to the System Lord summit. Lao Dan had been quieter than any other Jaffa Daniel had ever met, even Teal’c. Quiet, but oddly kind… even to a lowly lotar . He’d patiently reminded Daniel where to bunk, what supplies to use for tea. He’d even helped prepare Yu’s meals.
    Lao Dan wasn’t the First Prime, but the Jaffa’s kindness might be just the thing to form a