Yes, another new story (with others unfinshed) Sorry - but this has been simmering. It's a bit different (okay - not different in that it's Jack Whump and S/J) but different because of the setting - which you'll see in the next chapter. I will finish all my stories - don't worry! I just sometimes need a bit of variety.
"MOVE IT PEOPLE" O'Neill shouted. He turned and shot off a few rounds, trying to keep their attackers from getting any closer. Daniel and Teal'c were ahead, running madly for the Stargate, followed by Carter. He was in the rear, as always, protecting his team as well as he could and making damn sure they made it back alive.
It had started out as a standard mission to a routine boring planet. They'd found the normal ruins, Daniel had spent the typical time oohing and aahhing at some dead civilization and the writings they'd left behind. Sam had taken the same old samples, hoping as always to hit the nacquada jackpot and Teal'c had been his inscrutable best while looking out for his teammates.
Jack – well he had complained and bugged Daniel and teased Carter and relied upon Teal'c – as always. Then, as was pretty much SOP – standard operating procedure – they'd been attacked by aliens who'd appeared out of nowhere and were intent on killing them, for absolutely no reason that he could discover.
Why couldn't they – just once – have an interesting mission that didn't end in mayhem? He knew the answer to that – they wouldn't be SG1 if that were the case. Nope – missions gone FUBAR – that was SG1's style. If he wasn't running madly for his life he would have sighed. As it was, he could barely breathe. He knew it was going to be a miracle if they actually made it.
The burning pain in his back signaled clearly that a miracle wasn't about to happen, at least not today. "GO!" he managed to cry out with his last remaining breath. As he fell to the ground he was pretty sure he heard a strangled 'Colonel'. He just prayed that Carter or the others hadn't stopped for him but had continued on, back to earth and to safety. They had to be safe; otherwise this would so not be the way to end things. He slowly faded out. Yup – this had turned out to be another day at the SG1 office!
Carter had watched as Daniel dialed the gate and thought – just maybe – they were going to make it. She heard the intermittent shots as the Colonel tried to keep the aliens from catching them. Teal'c stood on guard as well, protecting Daniel and watching for his teammates to appear. She heard a sound – a cry – and quickly looked back, only to see Jack fall to his knees.
"Colonel", she shouted, stopping and running back.
"GO!" he managed to shout and then he fell forward, either unconscious or dead.
"No!" She ran over to him, barely hearing Daniel or Teal'c's shouts. "Go – get help!" she cried.
Daniel looked at Teal'c – unsure what to do. He didn't want to leave his teammates, but there were too many aliens and they were almost upon them.
"We must go Daniel Jackson", Teal'c said quickly. "We will bring back assistance."
Daniel nodded, gave one last agonized look, and he and Teal'c threw themselves through the gate.
Sam had only enough time to discover that the Colonel was still alive but unconscious, before the aliens reached them. She looked up into a face filled with hate and cruelty. She didn't even have time to speak before she was hauled to her feet, and held captive by two very large men.
"Please, help him", she cried.
A hand reached out and struck her across the face. "Silence", the leader hissed. "If she speaks again", he instructed his men, "hurt her." He then turned towards the Colonel. "Is he dead?" he asked.
"No Pasha", one of his men replied. "He lives."
"Good. Wake him!" He stood watching as one of his soldiers unhooked a vessel from his back, opened it and poured water over the unconscious man.
"They will return Pasha", another man said. "I heard them say they planned to bring help."
"Yes – we must hurry. Trada, open the circle. They will not be able to come while we hold it open."
"Yes Pasha. Shall I open to the home world?"
"No! We will send them to -" he stopped and thought. "We will send them to Mariscola – after I have taught them a lesson."
Just then Jack groaned and opened his eyes. When he saw the face of the man – or alien – looking down at him he groaned again. Why oh why couldn't he – just once – meet an alien who liked him. "Uh – hi!" he said, trying to sit up.
Suddenly the leader grabbed him by his hair and forced him to stand.
"Hey – ow! Watch that! What are you -"
"You will be silent", the vicious looking guy spoke. "You have committed blasphemy and have desecrated our holy place. For this you will be punished!"
"Hey – wait. Look we're really sorry – we didn't mean -" The blow caught him unawares and knocked him back down to the ground. For a moment he saw nothing but spots and was pretty sure he was going to lose his lunch. His back burned horribly – he knew one of the alien weapons had struck him – and now his head hurt as well. God!
"Pick him up", Pasha instructed two of him men.
"What about the woman?" one of them asked.
"She will watch and we will send her through with him. She can then deal with him." The man called Pasha grinned as he spoke and Sam felt fear strike her heart. She was faced with evil – and knew she and the Colonel were in big trouble.
Jack was being held up by two of the alien – soldiers, priests – whatever the hell they were. He tried to shake his head, to clear it, but all that did was make him feel even sicker. "Look, I don't know what you want but honestly, we didn't mean any harm. We're simple explorers and we only wanted to look."
"You looked and now you will be punished", Pasha told him calmly. "You will know the pain of Morta – and then the oblivion. Your woman will have to look after you" he laughed. "Unless she grows tired of it and leaves you to die." As he was speaking one of his men approached, holding a small round disk.
It looked pretty innocuous, thought Jack. It reminded him a bit of the Tokra memory device although it was a bit bigger. He felt himself tense up as the man – Pasha – approached, now holding the device. Looking at the man's eyes he felt himself grow even more nervous. This was bad – really bad.
"Sam", he said softly. "Whatever it takes – don't worry about me." He hoped she understood – he wanted her to save herself, if at all possible.
"Sir!" she said, anguished. That got her another hit across the face. She didn't cry out though – and he was proud of her courage.
He jerked back as Pasha reached out with the disk. Pasha gestured and another man stepped up behind Jack and held his head in a tight grasp. Unable to move he had to stand there and wait as the disk was placed against his temple. It felt cold and caused a slight tingle – but didn't hurt. At least, he thought, it hadn't hurt. Now it was starting –
"Aaargh!" he screamed. The agony was indescribable and filled his entire body. It was all consuming and slowly – slowly – he lost the ability to think, to know where he was or even who he was. It was as if all thoughts, all memories were slowly, agonizingly being burned from his mind. His last – and only remaining thought was 'Sam' – although he no longer knew what that was.
Sam watched in horror as the Colonel seemed to convulse in pain. The men holding him quickly let him go and he fell to the ground. After a couple of seconds his body froze, his eyes open and staring – terror clearly shining from their brown depths. Slowly, slowly that faded – to be replaced by a look that was totally and absolutely blank. It was as if she'd watched him die inside, although his physical body was still alive.
They all watched, many of them smiling. She tried to pull away, to get to him, but her captors held on too tightly. She could only continue to watch as the man she – as her friend and commander, was tortured to – to this. She sobbed and felt her knees give way. She had never felt so helpless in her life.
"It is done", Pasha announced. The man on the ground laid totally still, a thin stream of blood leaking from both ears. His eyes remained open, staring, not blinking. With a pleased grin the alien reached down and removed the disk. "Send them through – but first, make sure the woman is not aware." He then began to walk away, back the way he came. He was followed by most of his men – none of whom looked back.
She sobbed again and tried once more to pull away, to go to the aid of the Colonel, but again she was held back. She felt something cold touch her temple and that was the last thing she remembered.
She groaned and rolled over, the hot sun burning into her face. Where was she? She tried to think, to remember. Was she on a mission? She must have fallen asleep. "Colonel?" she said, although the sound that came out of her mouth wasn't exactly clear. She tried again. "Colonel? Daniel, Teal'c?" She licked her lips, wishing she had a drink, and forced her eyes open. Yes, she was lying on the ground, the hot sun shining over head. She pushed herself until she was sitting up and looked around. The first thing she saw was the Colonel lying on his side next to her. His back was toward her and she went to reach out to wake him –
"Oh God!" She scrambled over to him as quickly as possible, everything suddenly flooding back. "Sir! Colonel!" She felt his neck and was relieved to feel a steady, although slightly sluggish, pulse. "Sir, wake up!" She gently rolled him over onto his back but recoiled with a gasp. His eyes! "Oh God", she said again. His eyes were totally dead – glassy – and staring straight ahead. He wasn't even blinking
"Sir", she sobbed, trying to get him to wake up, to acknowledge her, to "BLINK god damn it, BLINK!" For some reason she had to make him blink, to close his eyes, to prove he was in there, somewhere. "Please Jack, don't do this!" she cried.
She looked around frantically. Was there anyone here? Anyone to help her? She stood up, shaking and weak and looked around. They were very obviously not on P7K 5Z4 anymore. That planet had been cool and forested. This place – wherever they were – looked more like Texas or Arizona. There were miles upon miles of plains, with the odd scraggly tree. There were hills in the distance but, as far as she could tell, no people or towns. It was hot and dry. Where the hell were they?
There was also no gate. "Colonel", she sat down beside him. "I could really use you now Sir", she said, her voice quavering. "Please – come back to me Jack!"