SGU: The Adventure Begins
Title: SGU: The Adventure Begins
Author: Celtic Lady
Genre: Action/Adventure, Sci-Fi
Pairing(s): None
Characters: Stargate Universe general cast plus an other character named Kinta.
Rating: T (age 13+)
Summary: Kinta's vision told her it was time to fulfill her destiny as she traveled through the Stargate to join the Destiny crew and save Icarus only to discover the crew needed her help first.
Author's Note: I sometimes will make a music recommendation that can be played while you read a particular section. Just Google the song I recommend and you should be able to find it online to listen to.
Since the first season is only half finished as I write this story, I'll be making some assumptions that I'm sure will be totally different from what the show will have later (like Rush's return to Destiny). Many times, I refer to someone's destined path and how things can change drastically if one takes a different path – so this is simply one of those paths that they might take. Also, I've created a back story for Kinta which is a Stargate SG-1 story of it's own called The High Priestess of Caelur.
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters so please don't sue. If the real owners want to use anything from my story (yeah, wishful thinking), go ahead, you can have it for free. :-)
As the Destiny came out of hyper-drive, the Stargate came to life as a light began blinking in the control room. Most of the crew were still asleep on Destiny as one of the scientists working late noticed the light and woke Colonel Young from his sleep.
"Colonel, there's someone coming through the gate. It's active." Dr. Caine was visibly shaken by the event.
"What?!" Young immediately awoke to the alarming news. "Make a ship wide announcement. I want all military personnel to the gate room – armed!"
Caine quickly complied as the rest of the crew awoke to a clatter of activity and announcements. They peered out the doors of their quarters wondering what was going on. As an afterthought, he added, "Unauthorized Gate Activity," just like he had heard many times at Stargate Command. That seemed to explain everything.
The gate room was filled with armed personnel, in various stages of dress, waiting for what would come through the Stargate and dreading the worst. Colonel Young was one of the first to arrive as he stood perched with a rifle in his grasp. He couldn't help but wonder if it was Dr. Rush having found his way back home. Eli and a few other civilians had made their way to the gate room where they peered out from the hallway wanting to get a glimpse of what was going on.
They were surprised when a small mechanical bug came through the gate and flitted across the floor until it rested in front of Colonel Young. All the while, Young kept his weapon aimed at it, wondering what it would do next.
The antennae fluttered about on it's head as it looked around the room and finally up into the face of Colonel Young. Suddenly, a mechanical voice announced, "Take me to your leader."
Eli Wallace couldn't help but smile as he eased his way into the room and stood next to Young. "Who are you?" He asked in amazement to the little friend who had dropped in for a visit. Eli knelt down to take a closer look at the robotic bug. "This is so cool!"
Young, on the other hand, preferred to err on the side of caution. "Be careful Eli. We don't know how dangerous it is."
The bug again made it's request, "Take me to your leader, Eli." This brought another smile from Eli as he carefully picked the bug up so it could look at him and Young eye to eye.
Young finally decided to play it's little game. "I'm the leader here, what do you want?"
The bug looked him over from head to toe. "I am Kinta. I'm talking through my robotic bug and would like permission to come aboard, sir."
Young immediately noticed the military protocol of 'sir' which intrigued him. "Only you or are there others too?"
Kinta answered, "Only me. I'm alone." She emerged from the silver metallic event horizon of the Stargate, before he could grant or deny permission, followed by a floating cart of supplies. The cart looked eerily like the one that Eli had made on the Destiny. She looked around the room and raised her arms hoping that no one would shoot her. "I'm armed, but don't intend on hurting anyone. I'll gladly put my weapon down if you like." She let her plasma rifle slide down her arm by the strap and rest on the floor.
Colonel Young and the others looked her over before proceeding. She wore brown leather trousers stitched together at the seams and a blue tunic shirt cinched at the waist by a belt. Over that she wore a tan leather jacket that was adorned with reddish yellow fur around the collar and shoulder blades. At her side, was a holstered handgun which caught Young's eye. He motioned for Greer to take the weapon from her then lowered his own afterwards.
"We don't get many visitors here. You understand." Young explained.
"I understand perfectly." Kinta then lowered her arms and relaxed as she tucked her thumbs into her belt. "I'm Kinta. And you are?"
Young realized he hadn't given his name. "Colonel Everett Young." He motioned over to Eli, "And this is Eli Wallace."
She shook Young's hand and gave a little wave to Eli. "So you like my bug huh? It took me awhile to build that thing."
Eli was beside himself with questions. "So where do you come from and what are you doing here? And how do you know English?"
Kinta scanned their minds for any thought of malice before opening up to them. "I'm from a planet called Caelur and I'm exploring." She decided it was okay to reveal the rest of her hand. "And I learned English from your Stargate Command on Earth."
The military crew went wild with excitement believing that help was on the way. Greer happily inquired, "You're from Stargate Command?" He couldn't believe it.
Kinta immediately realized she had given them false hope as she tried to explain otherwise. "No, I'm not. But I've been to your command facility in Cheyenne Mountain. Right now, I'm on my own."
"Colonel, perhaps we should speak in private and I can explain." Kinta replied calmly regretting her previous choice of words.
He agreed and escorted her to his office.
"Sorry about that, sir. I didn't mean to get their hopes up." She took a seat and let out a deep breath. "Boy, where should I begin." She had to think for a moment before she could explain her presence there. Kinta had been preparing for this moment for so long and now that it was happening, she was at a loss for words.
"Ah, well. I guess for starters." She was stammering and knew it. This was not the way she wanted to present herself. Finally, she just blurted out, "Okay, bottom line is I am suppose to be here." She pointed down meaning on the ship. "I was destined to come to this ship and save all of you."
Young couldn't help but think her statement was a bit arrogant in it's theory. How could one girl save all of them.
She then proceeded to elaborate a little. "I have to be honest with you Colonel, I wasn't going to come here. I figured you were too far away and I'm not that thrilled with the Tau'ri at the moment, but after the Goa'uld attacked my planet, there wasn't much reason to stay there." She seemed to fade off a little in thought before continuing, "Then I had a vision and I guess it changed my mind."
Young patiently listened to her story before asking the important question he wanted to know. "Can people from Earth follow your footsteps and get here the same way?"
She didn't want to lie to him but knew she couldn't allow help to come. "Yes. But I can't allow it."
"What do you mean you can't allow it?" Young attested. His temper began to rise. "We need help here."
"I have seen what happens once help arrives. Trust me, you don't want to take that path," She tried to explain although she could sense it fell on deaf ears.
Knowing there was no use to continue, Kinta asked, "I'm tired from my trip. Is there somewhere I could nap for awhile then we can talk some more afterward."
Young agreed. It would give him a chance to run her story by Stargate Command and see if everything checked out. Colonel Young thought a visit, utilizing the stones, was in order. He needed to find out more information on the newest addition to the ship – that is if he was going to let her stay at all. As soon as Young placed his stone on the receptacle, he was back on Earth in someone else's body. He made a bee-line to General O'Neill's office. This was an unscheduled visit so O'Neill was immediately notified and waiting for him.
"Colonel, always a pleasure." O'Neill began as Colonel Young entered his office and closed the door behind him. "What's up?" He was intrigued by Young's actions.
Young got right to the point. "We have a visitor who came through the Stargate and she knows all about Stargate Command," he replied as he took a seat.
O'Neill's eyes widened with concern as he inquired, "Does she have a name?"
"Kinta."
"No Way!" O'Neill couldn't believe his ears. "So did she tell you how she got there? We'll send a team to help." This was the best news he'd heard in a long time until Colonel Young explained the rest.
"She's refusing to tell because it's not our path." Young was visibly irritated with her decision.
O'Neill immediately picked up his phone and called together SG-1 and Dr. Bill Lee to meet with them in the conference room. "C'mon, let's discuss this with the others." He led Young to a conference room where everyone else shortly followed. As soon as they all were seated, O'Neill explained the situation.
"As you all know, the Icarus team is stranded on an Ancient spaceship." He paused and then motioned away from himself, "Out there somewhere. Anyway, this is Colonel Young from the ship."
He leaned back in his chair before continuing, "Guess who just arrived and found them?"
A smile came over Dr. Lee's face as he took a guess. "Kinta?"
Again O'Neill raised an eyebrow in surprise as he deadpanned, "And you knew this how?"
Lee gave a shout of enthusiasm as though a touchdown had just been scored at a football game. "Yes!" With a little drum-roll played out on the table, he added, "She made it!"
Now O'Neill was alarmed. "You knew she was going there and didn't tell anyone? We could have sent more men and supplies with her." His anger was starting to show.
Lee placating interrupted as he tried to explain, "No, no, I didn't know she'd actually make it."
The smile never left his face as he professed what Kinta had told him in confidence. "The last time she was here . . ." Lee had to think for a minute before he could continue. "About what? Four or five years ago?" He shook off the distraction and refocused on his original thought, "She told me she had a vision where she joined up with a lost bunch of misfits, as she called them, from Earth who were lost in space a long way from here. And there was a particular scientist, who's name she didn't know, that she was determined to save. She nicknamed him Icarus after the project name."
Dr. Lee just shook his head in amazement that Kinta would actually find them and go there. "It's because of her that I joined the project myself," he added.
Young couldn't believe his ears as he questioned Lee, "She had a vision of us five years ago?" He knew quite well that the project wasn't in existence that far back.
"Yeah, and she gets you home too." Lee informed Young, now quite confident that the rest of her vision would come true as well. "Although she didn't say how long it would take."
Colonel Young couldn't believe it, this girl really was their salvation? "It could be very short if she'd tell us how she got there but she's refusing."
Lee shrugged his shoulders, "I'm sure she has a good reason."
"Well, since you know Kinta pretty well, can you think of any way we can persuade her to change her mind?" O'Neill figured it couldn't hurt to ask although he pretty much figured that Kinta wouldn't budge.
Lee didn't think he could help them. "I'd say ask her more about why. Maybe there is a way to skirt around the issue she has and still help Destiny."
O'Neill decided it was time to fill Colonel Young in on Kinta's other abilities. "By the way, has she told you that she can read minds yet?"
Young shook his head no. There was apparently a lot he needed to know about Kinta before he returned to the ship.
General O'Neill put in a call to Master Sergeant Walter Harriman and requested he bring Kinta's file to the conference room for them to look over. Within minutes, there was a knock on the door and Walter entered the room. "Here you go, sir," he replied as he handed the General the file and then left.
O'Neill pushed it over to Young for him to review as he summarized some of the highlights. "She's an Ancient, by the way." He just had to throw that out there before he clarified it further, "A retarded Ancient. . . and she can heal by touch but that has limitations too." He couldn't help but think back to his first visit to her planet and her shenanigans with him on the alter.
Young began reading her file and making mental notes of things he thought they'd need from her. "She seems to be very mechanically inclined. We can use that – the Destiny is in really bad shape and needs a lot of repairs." He read on and saw the notation that another Ancient listed her as mentally challenged by their standards, not by Earth's. Lastly, he read where she could learn another race's language by reading their minds. This could prove useful if they should ever come face to face with intelligent life. All in all, he believed that Kinta could be useful to them and a much needed moral booster. She did envision returning them home.
After he finished reading her 'official' file, Young turned to O'Neill and asked, "So why isn't she working for Stargate Command? What's wrong with her?"
A blush came over O'Neill's face as he explained what he knew.
"Well Colonel, it looks like we underestimated her abilities . . . obviously. For another thing, she made a few enemies while she was here. I guess you could say she didn't endear herself to the right people."
This sounded suspiciously like office politics. "What do you mean endear herself?" Before the General could respond, Young clarified, "If she's a problem, I need to know now."
Realizing the Colonel was right, O'Neill ended the meeting. "Let's discuss this in private."
Once they returned to General O'Neill's office, he began to explain. "She was basically not trusted because she could read minds. That's the bottom line. She could find out every password, every blackmailable secret on the personnel, Hell, she could even find out the code to override the automatic destruct system." O'Neill felt confident their decision was a good one to not bring her back as he listed a few more items. She also made an enemy of Vice-President Kinsey and some rogue NID fractions not to mention she pissed off General Landry who was heading Stargate Command the last time she was here. And . . ." He hesitated while he decided whether to elaborate further, "She was believed to be invading people's dreams while they slept here on the base."
There, he had said it. "Some people thought that she was seducing them in their sleep, myself included, and we just didn't like it." Although O'Neill was reluctant to reveal that tidbit, he felt it would come up on the Destiny as well so he might as well let the Colonel know.
"Listen, for what it's worth, I think she genuinely wants to help," O'Neill said thoughtfully. "But she was just a kid who was green behind the ears, the last time I saw her, and we just wasn't that impressed with her."
Colonel Young understood. "Thank you General for filling me in. I think I've got a grasp of how to deal with her now." Young left to return to the Destiny. It looked like he'd have to finesse her into telling them how she got there.
Dr. Rush awoke to find darkness around him as he stood up cautiously, still dizzy from the head-bang he received from Colonel Young. The realization hit him quickly, Young had left him there to die. He rubbed his forehead and felt dry blood – he'd been there awhile. Rush could only envision the satisfaction that Young must be having right now thinking that he'd rid himself of the doctor. But he wasn't worried, Rush had a backup plan. He remembered several gate addresses where he could jump ahead of them and wait to rejoin the ship.
But for now, he was interested in the shuttle they had found. It wasn't Ancient that was for sure. He began studying the symbols as he tried to find a way inside.
After several long hours, he had success as the panel slid open to reveal the interior. Rush climbed inside and tried to make himself comfortable in the tight fitting compartment. He was able to determine which controls were for weapons and which controlled the flight of the vehicle but little else. Most of the circuitry had been stripped leaving only the shell. That meant he wasn't going to be flying back to Destiny, that was for sure.
As the sun began to rise in the distance, he decided it was time to go. Hunger was overtaking him along with thirst. Proceeding back to the gate, he dialed in the next address that Destiny would be arriving at hoping it didn't have dangerous animals or bugs like a previous one. The last thing he needed was to be eaten before he could make Young pay for what he'd done.
As he proceeded through the gate, Rush was shocked to find people there, or at least intelligent life of some sort. Rush glanced everywhere at all the different life forms that made up the village he was approaching. A thought immediately came to mind of the Cantina in one of the Star War's movies which made him smile. All sizes, colors, and apparent races were accounted for. He tried to not stand out but that was difficult since he looked totally alien next to the life forms around him.
The village seemed to be a trading hub by all the wares he saw for sale in the makeshift streets. But he had nothing to trade so he kept walking as the heat of the sun beat down on him. Perhaps once he got outside the village, he could find some food growing that he could eat.
He saw the other side of the village in sight and proceeded on until a big nosed person stepped into his path. Although big nosed might be an understatement – a enormous nose that practically engulfed the entire face was more like it. Rush tried to go around him but the person intervened and blocked his way again. Now he knew the beastly person was doing it on purpose and knew the drill, having suffered at the hands of several bullies as a child. Not wanting a confrontation, he threw up his hands, palms out, indicating that he gave up and didn't want any trouble.
[Author's Note: Whenever a language is spoken other than English, I am putting it in italics so the reader can easily tell.]
The individual turned to his friends, "What do you think – 5 tagos?"
His friends laughed as one commented on Rush's small size. "No, I think more like 3."
A hard shove to the shoulder, however, told Rush they weren't through playing yet. He turned around expecting to return the way he came but another was waiting behind him. This meant he only had one option left – run! And run he did, as fast as he could in any direction that was away from them. But the large nosed individuals didn't have to chase him down as one of them twirled a short rope with weights which he threw and entangled Rush's ankles causing him to fall to the dusty ground with a thud. In seconds they were upon him. After a few choice punches, they bound his hands and led him away to a nearby hut.
Rush saw several other individuals inside the hut, tied up as he was, and figured they suffered the same fate. He watched as the proprietor seemed to pay the big-nosed individuals who then left. He couldn't help but feel like he'd just been shanghaied. Sometime later, he was led in a procession to the Stargate where the proprietor dialed an address and marched them through it. He was now a slave.
When he emerged on the other side, Rush could see a castle in the distance that was greatly fortified. From what he could tell, that was their destination as the slave trader pushed each one forward to start them marching toward it. This planet was just as dry and dusty as the last one offering little shelter from the sweltering heat. Most of the inhabitants wore loose clothing similar to Earth's middle east where the dry, desert like climate was similar. When they ultimately arrived, Rush looked around at everything noting the backwardness of the culture until he spotted a soldier with a more modern laser weapon. The appearance was obviously a ruse to hide their technology. They were led into a large building and grouped together into cells where Rush waited to see what would happen next. He kept looking around hoping to see a means of escape but none could be found.
Suddenly, another man entered the building and opened the cell where Rush was located. He selected five men including Rush and forced them to follow him to a medieval machine that looked like a wagon wheel on it's side, with spokes sticking out from the rim in every direction. There were two people positioned on each spoke and their job was to push the wheel and make it turn thus grinding food material into a powdery form. The foreman used the five men to fill empty positions on the spokes making Rush wonder what had happened to the previous occupants. With Rush in position, the command was given for them to begin pushing the wheel. It was painstakingly hard work resulting in blisters on the palms of his hands where he grasped the spoke. Although he was able to keep up with the demand, by the day's end, he was exhausted when they led him back to his new home.
Everyone seemed to be quiet until buckets were brought in from which food was dispensed into wooden bowls with a wooden spoon to eat with. This caused a stir as everyone crowded around trying to get their food first and several skirmishes ensued. Rush held back, not wanting to wind up in a fight, since he looked to be the runt of the bunch, when a hand grabbed his shoulder. He turned around fearing trouble when Rush saw it was the person who he shared the spoke with. Apparently, there was a group of them and they pulled him in with them as they pushed their way frontward for their meal. Rush was grateful for their help especially after the food ran out and several other aliens had to go hungry.
They chose a cell away from everyone else and each man sat on the floor to eat. Rush wasn't sure what the meal consisted of, but he ate hungrily anyway wishing there was more. When he had finished, the leader of the group pointed to himself, "Calum."
He then pointed to another man, "Aengus," and another until he had named each person in the group. Rush pointed to himself and replied, "Rush."
Calum then shook his head that he understood.
Aengus voiced his observation to the group as part of his conversation, "This one is the first I've seen that looks like us."
"Yes, I noticed that too. That is why I brought him into our group," Calum explained as he coughed several times. "Perhaps he has friends who might come looking for him and free us as well."
"Or not." Aengus replied believing that they were all beyond hope and would most probably die there.
Gobhan inquired of Calum, "How is your illness? Is it getting better or worst?"
He shook his head, "Worst I fear." Calum had been sick for several days but had to do the best he could under the circumstances. His chest was tight and he had a serious cough.
Rush looked at the palms of his hands and the bleeding sores that had formed. The blisters had broken long ago. Aengus saw what he was looking at and tore some cloth from his tunic which he bound around Rush's hands. He showed Rush his own hands and how the cloth would protect them like gloves. Rush nodded thanks as they all settled down to sleep.
In the quietness of the night, he had time to observe his surroundings and smell the stench that blanketed the room. Moans could be heard from some cells as the occupants seemed to be in severe pain. In one of the farthest cells, he could hear muffled screams as the aliens seemed to pounce on the weakest occupant for their own pleasure. Rush was glad to be with the group that had taken him in.
The last thing on Kinta's mind was sleep. She just wanted to change the subject away from how she got there since it seemed to be dominating the conversation. The quarter's she was taken to was small but cozy. She looked around the room and out the window a couple of times before she decided to go out into the hallway.
There was a guard at the door who stopped her.
She was disappointed until she spotted Eli in the crowd that was gathering, curious to see the new visitor. "Eli!" She gave him a little wave and he came forward to talk to her. Kinta stood in the doorway of her quarters while she conversed with the group and the guard looked on.
"So how did you get here?" Eli asked curiously. "And where did you come from?"
Kinta kept her answers vague and made sure they knew she had made a one-way trip. "I am originally from P7X-009, which we call Caelur, and in my travels I came across a device which would boost the gate power and let me come here. I believe it only had enough power for one trip though."
Wray jumped in with her own question, "How did you know to come here? Where did you get the address from?" Others began asking their own questions as well making it hard to keep track of who was asking what. Finally, Kinta just began telling about herself in the hopes that would answer what they wanted to know.
"I'm an explorer and I saw this gate address in a vision so I decided to come and check it out and no, I'm alone, so there isn't anyone else coming." Kinta was making a big effort to scan their minds for information that could be useful to her. "So who are all of you and why are you here?"
Kinta heard many grumblings among the group and could tell that none of them really wanted to be there. Her telepathic ability had confirmed this as well.
Colonel Young walked quickly down the hallway and saw the crowd that had formed around the quarters where Kinta was suppose to be sleeping. As he could see, she certainly wasn't sleeping and was talking to everyone.
"Kinta, come with me." He motioned for her to follow him down the hallway leaving the crowd behind.
"So what's your plan?" He asked sternly as Kinta speeded up her step to keep up.
"My plan?" Kinta wasn't sure what he meant.
"Your plan to get us home." Young replied sharply.
'Oh, that plan,' Kinta thought to herself. "Don't have one."
She fully expected Young to have a comeback about that but he stayed silent. "But it will come to me eventually." She looked into every alcove as they walked by trying to see what was inside.
Eventually, they reached the apple core where Young introduced her to the scientists. Kinta was in awe at what she saw before her and could hardly wait to dive in. She surprised everyone when she touched the top of the console with her forefinger and seemed to pull up a stream of light which she then used both hands to widen into a holographic screen showing the systems on the ship. She scrolled through the screen with several swipes of her hand across it to put the screen in motion to the left or to the right. "Wow, this is so cool!"
Volker and Brody came running over. "How'd you do that?" Brody inquired as he began scanning what was before him.
Kinta barely heard his question as she concentrated on the different systems noticing that many were not operating. "How are you going on repairs?"
Volker answered her sarcastically, "What repairs? We're still working on trying to operate the system and haven't even started on repairs yet except for the scrubbers which was an emergency."
"Well, you have several systems that are barely running. I'd suggest we fix them before they break since they're kind of important." She continued to scan the screen as Colonel Young watched quietly from the sidelines.
Brody saw something that he recognized, "Wait. Let me see that." He discovered that he was unable to use the holograph like Kinta did. It didn't recognize his touch as his hand went right through it. "I think that's a power connection point. I've been trying to monitor them."
Kinta shook her head no. "It's a power regulator, nothing more. How well can you guys read Ancient?"
"We're learning as fast as we can," Volker began.
"But we've been limited to reading texts left on walls and have never had an actual ship to work with." Brody finished.
Kinta looked over to Young, unsure whether she should reveal her abilities yet, then returned her gaze to Brody. She raised her hand and lightly touched her fingers to the side of his temple. Brody stood frozen until she finished.
"What?" He paused for a moment unsure what she had done. Then he realized, he could now read the Ancient text as his gaze returned to the screen with renewed excitement. "Oh my god, I can read it."
Volker was amazed as Brody began reading off what the several systems were. "Can I get some of that?"
Kinta smiled and repeated the process with Volker who was equally as excited. It was as though she had opened the whole world up to them as they began taking a second look at what they'd been doing.
Although Young stood silent, he was impressed. "C'mon, I'll show you the rest of the ship."
Kinta expected a long tour but was surprised to discover they had access to only a small part of the enormous vessel they were occupying. The areas she needed to repair would have to be reclaimed little by little before any real progress could be seen.
Suddenly, the ship dropped out of hyper-drive. "What's going on?" This was a new experience for Kinta.
Young radioed Brody, "What's going on?"
Brody checked a few things then responded, "It looks like the ship has stopped here for one of the items we need."
"The ship is on a preset course which we can't change. Dr. Rush put in a list of items that we needed and the ship stops at different planets that supposedly has the items." He radioed Lt. Scott, "Put together an away team. We're going to the planet."
Kinta followed him to the gate room where Eli was standing by with a Kino. "Ready?"
"Go ahead. Send it through." Young motioned.
After the Kino had gone to it's destination, they all viewed the screen to see what was on the other side.
"Life!" Eli was excited. "There's people things there," he continued slowly as he realized the life didn't look anything like humans. "Okay, this is weird."
"Yeah, but they've got food it looks like. We need something to barter with." Young tried to think of something that might be valuable to use that they wouldn't need. "Any ideas?"
Kinta's cart was still there as she walked over and pulled out a tiger skin. "Perhaps this will do. It would surely be something they've not seen before and might prove interesting to them."
Young took it. After gathering a few more items, the team began their journey to the planet. Kinta started to go with them when Young stopped her. "Why don't you get with the scientists and start there first. We'll take care of the planet."
Kinta nodded okay and let them go. It was then that the realization hit her that Colonel Young just left her unguarded and on her own. With this new found freedom, Kinta decided to do some exploring on her own before checking in with the scientists. She walked down the corridors, checking out any rooms that seemed to have equipment. This took her further and further away from the core area which the crew inhabited. Finding what she believed was an internal communication console, she tried to reach the scientists at the apple core. She flipped a few switches and realized it wasn't getting power. Luckily, she had her prized possession handy – a screwdriver she got from Stargate Command. After removing the cover panel, she was able to fix the problem and tried again.
"Apple Core, can you hear me?" She waited for a response but got none. It occurred to her that they might not be familiar with that system either so she tried again while giving instructions. "Apple core, this is Kinta. Look for a communication station and play around with it."
Again she waited. Suddenly a cracking noise could be heard as the console came alive, "I'm trying . . . will you just let me do it." Volker complained to Brody.
Kinta smiled and answered back with a push of the button. "I got that. Whatever you're doing, it's working."
"Kinta, where are you?" Came the reply. "Something has happened to the away team."
"I'll be right there!" Kinta took off in a fast sprint to the control room.
1st Lt. Tamera Johansen was now in charge and was questioning Eli about what he had witnessed. "We've got to go rescue them." He pleaded. Eli was clearly upset.
"Settle down and tell me what happened," she questioned.
Eli proceeded to explain how these large nose faced people surrounded the team and overtook them. "Young told me to run to the gate and get help."
Kinta witnessed the scene for herself as she scanned Eli's brain.
Johansen decided a show of force was needed to get her people back. "Okay. We put together a well armed group and present a show of force."
Kinta left and gathered her laser rifle and holster to join them. They were accumulating in the gate room when she arrived fully armed with both advanced and medieval weapons. "I'm going with you."
Johansen didn't want to babysit anyone she wasn't sure of and ordered her, "No. Stay here."
Kinta was visibly angered but obeyed the order. Hours later, the team returned empty handed.
"They're no where to be found." Johansen explained to the waiting group. "And we're out of time."
Everyone glanced at the timer which was counting down to zero. Kinta walked up to the Lieutenant with a solution, "I'm Kinta. We haven't met so you're not aware that I just arrived."
"I've been looking over the ship's systems while you were gone. I can get your people back and gate ahead to meet back up with you." Kinta's backpack and supplies were sitting off to the side for her task.
Johansen knew that it was hopeless otherwise. "What makes you think you can find them?"
Kinta smiled as a bit of arrogance was detected in her reply, "I can read minds."
She didn't even wait for a response as she put on her gear and dialed the address. "Don't worry, I'll find them. I found all of you didn't I?" She walked through the gate alone as the time ran out and the ship went back into hyper-drive.
Colonel Young and his men were marched into the courtyard of the fortress they had been taken to with their hands tightly bound behind them. Their weapons were handed over to a soldier who took them inside while the group waited in the hot sun. Upon his return, they were brought inside and paraded before King Nepator who was a strange looking alien to look upon. He had four elongated arms and three eyes which he looked them over with. Young detected a scorpion style tail protruding out from the Jade colored robe that he wore. He also had strangely formed hands with only three fingers on them.
Two of the soldiers, which looked to be part machine, forced the men down to their knees before the King. Young looked around the area and was alarmed by what he saw. Whereas the outer part of the fortress seemed medieval with torches for light, the inner sanctuary of the King was anything but backward. The torches were replaced by powered lights yet it still seemed dark and the soldiers were armed with modern weapons.
"These are interesting weapons you have. Who are you and why have you come into my kingdom?" He demanded in a booming voice that echoed through the hallways.
But Young and the rest of his crew didn't understand the language. They stayed silent and stared which angered King Nepator.
He turned to the man who brought them. "Tell me about them."
The slave trader bowed nervously before the King as saliva dripped freely from his mouth. "I am seeing more and more of this race come through Sacktne, my King. I do not know from where they come as their language is foreign to me."
This alarmed the King greatly. These men were definitely soldiers or perhaps a scouting party for a possible invasion. "Which one is their leader?"
The slave trader pointed to Young. "They seem to look to this one for direction."
Morning came quickly for Rush as the guards came into the building and roused the inhabitants. It was another work day as men were selected to do whatever manual labor was required.
He looked over to Calum and noticed he seemed much worst than the day before. His breathing was labored and Rush feared he might die. They seemed to be overlooked for the morning labor duty which gave Calum time to rest before the afternoon came and they were led back to the grinding wheel. Like before, Rush took his place next to Calum on the spokes and they began pushing the wheel. An alien in front of them collapsed onto the ground but the wheel kept moving and the men walked over him. Finally, the foreman pulled the man from underneath them and dragged him to safety or so Rush thought until he saw the brutality that was then applied. Rods, that worked similar to cattle prods, were applied to the individual by several of the foremen who seemed to enjoy their game all too well as electrical arcs on the skin were visible to the rest of the group. The screams were horrendous until the individual died and was then dragged away, never to be seen again.
Rush couldn't believe it as he swallowed hard. "Oh my God." He knew it was only a matter of time until each person fell and was eliminated. No doubt, that was why slaves were in such high demand that they'd be kidnapped in broad daylight.
Calum's coughing became worst and he could no longer push the spoke but rather clung to it for support as they went around in circles. His men began calling to him to keep going, but he was too weak. Rush kept a close eye on him and when it looked like Calum was about to succumb to his weakness and collapse, he took action. As the strength was leaving Calum's knees, and he began to fall to the ground, Rush bent over beneath him so that Calum would collapse onto his back piggyback style and with all his might, he hoisted the man up to where his feet no longer touched the ground. Rush wasn't a big man but he was stout and knew there was no way he could hold the man outright without support. Rush stayed bent over so his back would work like a table top for Calum to lay on and used the spoke to help support himself. Calum was unconscious and dead weight as his arms dangled over Rush's shoulders.
As he continued to hold onto the spoke, Rush tried anything to keep his mind off the exhaustion he was beginning to feel as he followed the wheel around in a circle. His mind drifted back to when he was a child. His father was a military man and his mother a stay-at-home wife. But he had nothing like a 'Leave It To Beaver' lifestyle as his father would often beat his mother leaving her unconscious on the floor. Rush's job was to help his mother into bed after the beatings. If he didn't, his father would return and seeing her still on the floor would commence beating her again. His technique was to get on all four's and maneuver his mother's body onto his back where he could crawl like a pack horse and drag her into the bedroom. Then he pushed her up onto the bed.
He always hid when his father was angry having received several beatings himself. On many occasions, he even slept in the closet. One night, his father awoke him from his sleep and ordered him to help. He was dragged downstairs in his pajamas to witness his mother on the floor in a large pool of blood. His father was attempting to roll her up in a blanket – she was dead. He knew his father was going to get rid of the body and that no one would ever know what had happened. He felt numb as his father handed him a mop with orders to clean up the floor, he pretended to do so until his father had walked out to the garage and then he grabbed the hallway phone and hid in the hallway closet as he dialed 911. The police arrived in time to catch his father in the act of placing his wife's body into the trunk along with a shovel. Twelve year old Nicholas Rush became a ward of the state with no regrets.
Kinta exited the Stargate and began walking toward the village where the others were taken. She knew who she was looking for and it didn't take long to find them. Their enormous noses made them hard to miss. Kinta took a couple of minutes to focus and read their minds – she needed to learn their language then she needed to find out what the game was that they were playing.
After she finished, Kinta approached them and angrily began shouting at them in their own tongue. She pulled out her light saber with the intent of trying it out. "Where did you take them?" She screamed. "I want them back!"
The villagers ignored what was happening and went about their own business. When one of the big-nosed men made an attempt to seize her, she pressed the button and the saber came to life as she swung around and cut the man in half. Knowing the other two would not take it lightly, she then refocused on them and Kinta took their lives as well but not before gleaning the information she sought from their minds.
Kinta hunted for the slave trader and finally found him as she crashed through his door and grabbed him by the throat before he could defend himself. It didn't take much effort to pin him against the wall as she placed her hand on his face and forcefully read his mind ripping the information from his memory in a painful fashion. When she was finished, she let him collapse to the floor while she wiped her saliva drenched hand against her tunic. After releasing his prisoners, she removed his robe so she could use it as a disguise to enter the palace.
King Nepator ruled the planet Nestorius and that was where the men were taken. Kinta gathered her belongings and returned to the Stargate where she entered the new address. Moments later, she was one step closer to finding Colonel Young and the others. She hurried to the fortress and was able to easily stroll into the facility where she immediately took a covert position to scan the area.
Kinta squatted down in a fetal position and gazed out from underneath the hooded robe she wore at the activity that was taking place before her. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw Calum and several other warriors from her planet led out to a wheel and put to work –they were alive! Then she spotted Icarus as well. Kinta knew she'd have her hands full rescuing all these people but she had to try. As she watched, Kinta began to understand the hierarchy of how things were done. Slaves were expendable, they would kill the weak and replace them with fresh workers. When Calum collapsed, she was prepared to reveal her identity and fight for him when Rush rescued him instead. Her hero.
She had seen enough and feared that word might spread of the death of the slave trader. Knowing she needed to find new clothes to wear and conceal her identity, Kinta walked through the outdoor shops in the village for several hours, before she picked up on one individual who seemed to have promise. He was able to freely walk into the palace without question and her scan of his mind told her he was a loyal subject of the King and had some authority to act on the King's behalf.
She followed Trotar to a bar and using one of her poisonous darts, scratched his arm causing him to loose consciousness. His height was about equal to her own and she was able to successfully act as though she was helping a drunk friend home as she dragged him into an alley where a quick snap of his neck finished the victim. Her crime was concealed as darkness set in for the night and she borrowed a cart to carry the body away from the village and discarded it in a isolated place. Kinta would assume his identity to gain entrance to the palace.
King Nepator's paranoia revealed itself as he feared an invasion was eminent. "Take the leader and find out when they plan to attack so we may prepare." Soldiers grabbed Young and took him away while the King then turned his attention to the remaining group. "Put these to work until I have need for them." King Nepator then left to oversee the interrogation of Young.
The remaining team were herded together when they heard a insufferable scream from the nearby room where Young had been taken. The scream seemed to go on forever which disturbed all the men and agitated them to anger.
"What are you doing to him!" Demanded Msgt. Greer. Lt. Scott joined in when they tried to intimidate the soldiers by pushing against them hard with their bodies since their hands were still bound behind them. But the soldiers would have nothing of it as they used stun guns to control the men. Extra soldiers were sent for and the men were taken to the work cells for their assignments.
It wasn't long before they were put to use as the men were selected along with several other aliens to replace the current work crew. As they exited the building, everyone walked quietly in a single line to the grinding wheel. At one point the two lines passed each other where the crew of the Destiny spotted Dr. Rush who at the same time spotted them.
Both stared at the other in silence until Msgt. Greer called out, "Rush, you're alive!" Speaking was not allowed on the line and a foreman immediately struck a club across his back to discipline him. Something which did not settle well with Greer.
Rush had thought they were being taken back to their cells but instead, they were put on another work detail. Calum was still unconscious and could not work which worried Rush. If he couldn't work, they'd kill him. When they reached the ditch they were to dig on, Calum's men laid him down on the ground in a shaded area.
One of the foremen started to approach Calum when Dr. Rush interceded, "He's sick."
Knowing they didn't understand, he made a face of an excruciating expression and faked tremors to try and illustrate to them that Calum was sick. He pointed to Calum to try and tell them that the man was sick. The foreman feared the sickness might be contagious and pushed Rush to get to work instead. Calum was left alone to lay in the dirt for the remainder of the afternoon.
Finally, the work day was over and everyone was taken back to the lock down area where the cells were located. Dr. Rush was then able to mingle with the Destiny team.
Msgt. Greer came running up to Lt. Scott. "Colonel Young is over here. He's in bad shape."
Rush saw that Young was in the farthest cell and immediately spoke up, "Get him out of there! They'll kill him." He motioned to the cell where he and Calum's men stayed. "Put him over there with us." Greer took several men and they moved Young's unconscious body to the new cell where Calum also lay.
"What is this place?" Scott inquired. He looked around at the dirty building and the equally dirty looking alien life forms that were incarcerated there.
Rush was short on words. "Work camp – we're slaves from what I can tell." He then walked away to check on Calum leaving Scott standing there.
With nightfall to aid her, Kinta entered the palace and began her careful evaluation of the situation. Having read Trotar's mind, she knew which areas he was allowed access to and since he wore a scarf which covered most of his face and all of his head, she was able to freely walk around undisturbed.
Her first destination was the weapon area. She would need some explosives to create a diversion when the time came. Kinta found the weapons room easily enough and gathered what she needed along with some timing devices which she felt confident could be altered to meet her needs as well. It would take awhile but her plan was to create a wireless detonating device that she could use to detonate the explosives in a key area of the palace as a diversion. She also wanted to plant an explosive at the Stargate so the soldiers couldn't follow but have it keyed to a separate detonating device.
Kinta explored throughout the night while everyone slept, going from one room to another. She finally decided to explore the inner sanction where Trotar was not allowed. This would be trickier but since she would be able to detect approaching soldiers, it was not impossible. The technology was more advanced and she had to work at opening some of the doors but she did eventually figure it out. Kinta wanted to know what King Nepator was all about. Did he think himself a God or was he simply a power hungry dictator who took pleasure in the suffering of others.
After opening several doors, she came upon the interrogation room. A strange gurney was set in the center of the room with a latticed mask that seemed to fit over the victim's head. Kinta went over to the control panel and began studying it. She believed she found a recording device and decided to play back the last session. It was of Colonel Young.
His agonizing screams startled her as she watched him struggle under the restraints. The King seemed transfixed on the console so Kinta mimicked his moves and was able to retrieve the results as well. The head device must be used for mind reading as she could see the Destiny and it's crew through Young's eyes. By the way Young was screaming in the recording, Kinta believed this device most likely was not totally compatible with humanoid life forms and caused severe pain. She fast forwarded both devices to get an idea of what King Nepator had discovered. It looked like Young had endured the torture for quite some time when she decided she'd seen enough and shut it off. Although she felt sorry for Young, it was time to explore elsewhere.
Another room was filled with riches and gold. Kinta found it interesting that the room was not guarded. She had to wonder if the King had no concern about wealth or rather ruled so aggressively that no one would dare to steal from him. No matter what the reason, she filled up a bag with gemstones. They needed some kind of currency so the Destiny could buy necessities along their trip. Kinta couldn't help but smile at a thought that struck her, she was in a way pillaging, something she had heard in the stories of Aedin as a child. She wasn't even sure if the King would miss the items but she was pillaging just the same.
Rush could see that both Calum and Young were in the worst shape possible. Young was still trembling from his ordeal and seemed incoherent while Calum suffered from a high fever but at least he was awake.
"Calum, I'm glad you're awake. Some of Rush's people are here now. They join us." Aengus informed his leader.
Calum looked at the new arrivals and could tell they were warriors like himself. He only hoped they had a means of escape so that his men could join them. Just then, the food was brought in and everyone began bullying their way to the front for their serving.
"Scott, there isn't enough food to go around so stay together with Calum's men and we'll be able to push our way to the front and get fed." Rush explained to the Lieutenant. "Once you get served, take it back to the cell."
"Who's Calum?" Lt. Scott inquired.
Rush pointed to the man in a blue tunic with sandy blonde hair. "He seems to be their leader."
After everyone had eaten, the empty bowls were passed through the bars and stacked in the hallway. Rush leaned back against the wall of the cell exhausted. He had survived day two of his ordeal. He took a moment to introduce the two groups.
"Lieutenant, this is Calum." He pointed to Calum and then began listing names as he pointed to each person who nodded their acknowledgement. In turn, Rush then began naming Scott and the rest of the Destiny crew who nodded as well. "They don't know English so communication is difficult."
Greer leaned over to Scott. "The Colonel isn't doing too well." This diverted his attention as he went to Young's side.
"Colonel, can you hear me?" Scott took Young's hand in his to try and wake him.
Tears ran down Young's face as his body shook uncontrollably. Scott wasn't sure if he was awake or not but he definitely seemed to be trying to speak.
"What is it Colonel?" He leaned down closer to hear Young but it was no use. The words were lost in the moans and groans of a man in agonizing pain.
As the sun rose over the horizon, Kinta had made good her escape from the inner sanction and was safely back at the Stargate. She dialed the address to the planet where they would rejoin the Destiny and walked through not knowing what awaited her on the other side. She was lucky, it appeared to be an isolated planet with lots of volcanic activity. There were several hot springs nearby which she immediately took advantage of. Trotar's clothes reeked of odor which had transferred onto herself. She bathed and then washed the clothing to remove the foul smell. It felt good to be clean again.
While her clothes dried, Kinta had work to do – she had to create several explosive devices to plant later that day in strategic places - places which would create the worst havoc. Her only hope was to create as much chaos away from the crew as she could so she could ultimately move in and remove them with little effort. Luckily, the slave area where they were held was not that heavily guarded. Kinta would take advantage of that.
She emptied her bag of items to begin the assembly. After each unit was finished, she placed them aside and began looking over the explosive material. Kinta decided to test the material so she could gauge how much she'd need since this was a new explosive that she'd never seen before.
Using a very small amount, she rigged a timed detonation device and ran across the cooled black lava surface to a huge boulder where she could hide and see what kind of explosion resulted. The blast was much larger than she expected as rocks and gravel rained down on her from the blast. "Wow."
Kinta had grossly overestimated the amount of explosive material she would need since even the smallest amount seemed to offer sufficient force for her task. She smiled at the thought that entered her mind and began making additional detonation devices. She might as well give them a war, or at least the appearance of one. What was left could be taken back to the Destiny and studied.
With her clothing dried, Kinta got dressed and loaded the items for her trip back to Nestorius.
Meanwhile, the work crews were preparing for another work day as the guards roused them from their sleep. Rush looked over at Colonel Young who still shook uncontrollably. Whatever they had done to him, it was bad – real bad. Calum seemed unable to rise as he laid there coughing. There was no way either one could work.
Rush conveyed to Scott and the rest of the group, "Lt. Scott, they'll be selecting work teams soon. When they try to select Young or Calum, someone needs to step up and offer to take their place. Otherwise, they'll kill them when they can't work. They won't pick everyone so there should be enough of us to fill the gap."
Scott agreed.
Shortly, just as Rush predicted, a foreman opened their cell and began selecting men. He pointed to the two disabled men when Scott and Greer jumped up and shook their heads no. "Take us." They pointed to themselves. The foreman looked at the two and then motioned them out of the cell leaving Young and Calum behind.
Scott took Calum's place on the spoke while Greer took the place of the fallen alien that was killed the day before. Every time one of the group tried to talk to someone, they received a hard strike on the back from one of the foremen. They quickly learned that talking was not allowed.
None of the group had a clue that by evening, they would be free.
Kinta used her laser pen to cut out a hole in a huge stone that made up the wall of the fortress and placed a bomb inside. Then she shaved off some of the removed rock and used the remainder to cover it and hide the package. She continued to do this at several places including inside the palace. Her last bombs were placed in the village to draw attention there with the largest bomb having been placed at the Stargate.
Now all she had to do was wait. Kinta decided to hide inside the palace area and wait for the darkness of night to make her move. It would allow them a greater chance to make it to the Stargate she believed. Once she found an isolated room, Kinta curled up behind some crates and went to sleep.
As she relaxed and her conscious faded away, Kinta found herself engulfed in a battle which seemed to be taking place inside the Palace. She watched herself fighting several guards as she desperately tried to reach a particular room. This seemed strange to Kinta since the men were being held outside in an annexed building. Just like many times before, Kinta was having a vision. She knew whatever was in this room, she needed to get there and find out what it was.
Kinta watched patiently as she rounded every bend in the hallway noting what she would find there. This would all be useful to her when the time became real – then she saw it, a grenade at her feet. With a blinding flash, Kinta awoke with a jump realizing that she just died in her vision. Her plan obviously needed to be revised.
She crossed her legs and began the concentration needed to enter kel'no'reem like Teal'c had taught her. Meditation had helped her many times before in clarifying her visions which is what she needed now. As the feeling of calm came over her, the vision reappeared only this time, it was different. It began inside the room she so desperately tried to reach. Inside were cells and she was surprised to find all of the team and Calum's men being held there instead of the slave compound. This would change everything. No doubt, her previous vision was of her discovering they'd been moved only after she started her assault which in fact wound up warning the enemy of her attempt to enter the palace.
Kinta watched the new vision showing her exploding into the room and quickly disabling both guards with her dart gun. She was able to free everyone easily. Now was the hard part – the escape.
All of the men were exhausted and with three injured and sick, the extraction was slow. Kinta needed to avoid alerting anyone for as long as possible in order to give them a better chance of escape. This meant she had to utilize hand to hand combat if necessary.
Using her mind reading abilities, she scanned ahead for any signs of life before turning a corner or opening a door. If something was detected, she looked for a different route and took it if possible. Finally, they were at the last door when her vision ended.
"No!" She slammed her fists down on her thighs. "I need to know what happens."
Unable to invoke the vision again, Kinta decided to re-enter the inner sanctuary and find a hiding place where she would be closer to where her team would eventually be. She felt another visit to the weapons supply room was in order as well as she gathered up several grenades in a bag for possible use.
Once inside, she again found a good hiding place and settled in for a nap to renew her energy.
After the days work was finished, Rush, Scott, and the rest of the away team returned to the compound where they were housed for the night. It was a repeat of the previous night where buckets of food was brought in and the slaves crowded around to get their bowl filled with the unknown substance.
Calum was feeling stronger and joined his men as they approached the servers. Only the guards quickly knocked the bowl from his hand and pushed him away. He had not worked, therefore, he did not eat. The rest of his men took their bowls without incident. Calum seemed to realize the cause and seeing no other recourse, returned to the cell empty handed. The others followed soon afterward and ate hungrily since this was the only meal they received each day.
Only this time, Rush found the meal hard to swallow. His stomach was in knots and he felt nauseous at the realization that Calum would go hungry. His inner turmoil pulled at him as he tried desperately to resist the temptation, after all, why should he care. He was hungry and deserved the food just as much as Calum. His own survival was at stake here as well. Finally, after Rush had eaten half of the food, he handed his bowl to Calum and laid down to go to sleep. He could hear Calum eating the remainder as he faded off.
King Nepator's paranoia had grown in the past two days since the strangers were brought before him. The interrogation didn't give him any useful information on when the attack would take place, only that they had a huge ship at their disposal. He decided it was time to interrogate the group again – each one if necessary, until he found out what he needed.
"Guards! Bring me the strange looking aliens – all of them!" Nepator demanded.
It seemed like he had just closed his eyes when he was awoke by guards kicking his feet. Rush sat up to find the cell filled with guards who were dragging them away to somewhere else. Calum and his men were unsure of what was happening but complied. Young wasn't yet able to walk on his own as Scott and Greer hoisted him up and began carrying him out of the cell. His feet caught the stack of wooden bowls, knocking them over with a clatter which awoke the rest of the inhabitants of the compound. Aliens lined up at the bars of their cells shouting at the group and grabbing at their clothing as they walked past them – no doubt they believed the group was to be killed and wanted their clothes for themselves. Their primeval actions was unsettling and only increased the anxiety that everyone felt.
They were marched into the palace and taken deep within the building as several doors were unlocked then locked behind them. Things looked grave as everyone wondered what was going on. Finally, they reached a holding cell and were placed inside.
King Nepator entered the room and gazed at the men standing before him in the cell. These were such strange looking aliens, their bodies looked frail in comparison to his own men. He stared at each of their faces one at a time as he strolled down the length of the cell. When one looked away from his gaze, the king knew this was the one to start with.
"Take this one first." He pointed to Rush.
The guards immediately pulled Rush from the cell and forcibly pushed him into the next room where he was out of sight from the rest. There was no door on this room so they could easily hear the conversation that ensued.
"Why are you here?" Nepator asked repeatedly in a language none of them knew. A slap was heard shortly thereafter followed by a gasp as someone lost their breath for a brief moment.
Rush coughed as he tried to recover from the punch to the stomach. They had restrained him onto a bizarre gurney which was tilted vertically so the King could ask his questions and look into the victim's eyes as they answered. Rush's hands were bound to the sides above his head with his feet spread out somewhat below him. His body was stretched tightly so that he had no chance of movement.
"I don't know what you're saying but I don't know anything." Rush replied as he tried to anticipate what the man's questions were about.
The King realized their language was unknown to him and even if they were to tell him anything, he couldn't understand it. He had no choice but to use the machine to draw out the information instead. Re-positioning the gurney horizontally, Nepator motioned for the guards to place the latticed helmet onto Rush as he took his place behind the console.
The crew in the neighboring room heard a humming noise as a piece of machinery was turned on. Young immediately became hysterical as he curled up in a fetal position with his arms clutched around his head. He began to sob uncontrollably as his body shook in fear.
Although Calum and his men didn't know the language of the Tau'ri, they knew the actions. This one had experienced this noise before and it terrified him.
Everyone jumped as the first scream was heard from the interrogation room. Although they heard Young's screams previously, it was muffled through a closed door. This was as though Rush was in the same room. No doubt this was planned to intimidate those out of sight.
None of the men had ever heard a scream of such intensity that you just knew the pain was totally unbearable. They fully expected Rush to pass out quickly but that never happened as the scream finally subsided to full-out sobs of pain. "Oh, God!" Rush cried out in vain. "Oh God, help me."
As he anticipated another round, Rush begged, "No! No more. . . no more! Please! No more." But King Nepator persisted and another horrendous scream was heard.
Everyone in the cell was visibly moved by what they were hearing and had a sickening feeling that each would have his turn. The cycle repeated itself several times as the King used the machine then paused to review the results. He seemed oblivious to the screams of the victim.
Seeing that it was getting him nowhere, King Nepator finally stopped and had the guards return Rush to the cell. He needed to find another way to extract the information. Frustrated, he left to give the matter more thought while the rest of the humans looked on in horror.
Two guards remained to watch over the group as Lt. Scott rushed over to Rush's side. He was trembling excessively and seemed completely unaware of his surroundings. A glance over to Colonel Young revealed he was in no better shape. Scott brushed the hair away from Rush's face to discover a series of red circles where the helmet made contact with the skin. An examination of Colonel Young revealed the same marks.
"We've got to get out of here." He explained to Greer, "Before they do this to all of us."
Greer agreed. "What do you think, one of us feign sickness to lure the guards in?"
Scott shook his head, "Something tells me they won't care."
"Well, we can't just sit here." The frustration was evident in Greer's voice.
Calum and his men watched helplessly and could tell the warriors were trying to figure a way out. Suddenly, Calum heard a voice in his head. "Calum, I shall be rescuing you shortly. Be ready."
"Kinta!" He exclaimed out loud as a rush of excitement came over him. His men looked at him puzzled but Lt. Scott recognized the name of their newest visitor on the Destiny and replied, "Kinta of Caelur?"
This began to catch everyone's attention as Calum pointed to himself, "Calum of Caelur" and then the others repeating their names and adding "of Caelur" behind their name like he had heard Scott remark. Calum then pointed to the soldiers, "Tau'ri?"
"Oh my God. These are Kinta's people." Scott nodded yes as a smile came to his face and he pointed to himself. "Tau'ri."
Calum motioned them all in closer so the guards could not see what he was doing. "Kinta" He made a stick figure with his hand and showed the stick figure walk in and knock out a second stick figure he made with his other hand which he indicated was the guards by pointing to them.
Noticing that the slaves were talking among themselves, one of the guards came over to break it up when the door swooshed open and Kinta rushed inside with her dart gun ready. She instantly shot both men before they could sound an alarm and dropped them to the ground.
Kinta then swung the dart gun onto her back by the strap and pulled out her light saber. She was able to slice through the lock mechanism easily and free the men. Some of Calum's men began to jump for joy when Kinta motioned them quiet with a touch of her finger to her lips. Kinta couldn't blame them as she found it difficult to contain her own emotions. She hugged Calum tightly as her tears ran onto both Calum and her cheeks, but she knew it was no time to rejoice just yet. She quickly gathered her senses and motioned for everyone to follow her. Scott and Greer grabbed Colonel Young while Aengus and Trevor helped Calum who motioned for two of his men to take hold of Rush. They were a sorry looking bunch as they followed Kinta out the door.
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Their escape took them down several corridors and through several locked doors, which Kinta was able to open easily having seen how in her vision. Finally, they reached the last door of the inner sanctum. This was where Kinta's vision had ended and the unknown lay ahead. She placed the palm of her hand on the door and waited several seconds while she scanned for life forms beyond it. Everything seemed clear and she opened the door. They were almost to the end of another dark corridor when the sound of marching soldiers could be heard approaching. Kinta could sense more behind her as well and decided against retreating back the way they came. This was where they would fight. She drew her light saber and handed her laser pistol to Scott who set Young down and took it.
Greer pointed to Kinta's dart gun and she handed it over for him to use as a club. When the soldiers were almost upon them, Kinta sprang out from around the corner and engaged them. Her weapon worked well and the small group of soldiers was quickly destroyed without Scott needing to fire a shot. Greer had taken extra delight in beating one soldier's head in for the mistreatment they had received. Placing the tube on his back, Greer felt satisfied as he helped Scott heave Young up so they could continue on.
They were almost to the courtyard when the alarm sounded - their escape had been detected. Kinta immediately flipped open the case of her detonator and flipped three switches which lit up green. With a press of a button, the walls exploded in three places with one being close enough for them to escape through – they just had to get across the courtyard to reach it.
As a group of soldiers approached, Kinta swung her saber quickly removing an arm from one. Two others used their rods to strike her arm and dislodge the saber from her grasp. But she was already flipping her body high in the air while pulling a sword from it's sheath which she swung around dislodging one of their heads as she hit the ground. Grabbing the other soldier's rod, she thrust the sword deep into his chest with the other hand.
Many other soldiers appeared to take the place of their fallen comrades as Kinta and Greer fought hard to stop them. Greer made good use of the metal tube as he swung it back and forth at the soldiers knocking them to the ground. He even managed to give it a fanciful twirl or two which startled the approaching soldiers before he brought it crashing against their heads.
Calum's men were doing their best as they recovered several weapons from their enemy and used them for their own defense instead. Like Greer, they were use to using brute force to achieve their victories.
Lt. Scott was busy shooting at the soldiers up higher who were taking aim at the group below. Kinta tossed her bag of grenades to Scott who immediately threw two grenades onto the balcony clearing the way for their mad dash. She grabbed her dropped saber and holstered it while she pushed everyone on and set off three more explosions. As they entered the outside village, she dialed in a different frequency for those bombs and exploded them as well. With the scenery being so dry, Kinta had placed additional bombs underground to stir up the dust offering them additional cover, other than the darkness of the night, as they ran to the Stargate.
King Nepator feared the invasion was beginning as the explosions began sounding outside. Suddenly, an explosion inside took out the power and he was left with the eerie glow of red light to find his way by. He heard two more internal explosions and ordered his army to assemble for battle. He was prepared to fight. Heavier guns were revealed on turrets above the palace which began shooting at the fleeing slaves as they ran up the hill to the Stargate. Kinta had run ahead and dialed the planet they would flee to then she pulled her plasma rifle from the brush where it had been hidden and took aim at the turrets taking each one out in a methodical order to distract them from firing on the men. As the last man entered the event horizon, Kinta flipped one last switch and pressed a button setting off an explosion at the slave compound thus freeing the slaves.
When they exited on the other side, it was only mid-day on their new planet as Kinta led them the short distance to the hot springs where her camp was set up. Everyone could let out a sigh of relief now.
Calum's cough caused him to bend over as he gasped for air. His men helped him lay down while Aengus approached Kinta, "Kinta, he is very ill, can you help him?"
She immediately went to his side and brushed his hair away from his face as she placed one hand on his forehead and the other hand under his tunic and onto his stomach. Within seconds, his breathing improved greatly.
"Calum, I can't heal you completely yet because I have others who also need my help and I must stay conscious to dial the ship when it comes into range." Kinta explained helplessly. He understood.
Kinta then went to Colonel Young next. Her plan was to heal the warriors first, as they might be needed, then Icarus although she truly wanted to help him first. Removing Young's military vest enabled her to pull his shirt out from his pants and raise it allowing her to pace her hand on his abdomen then the other on his forehead. She closed her eyes and concentrated as Colonel Young seemed to relax for the first time in days. She told Young the same thing she told Calum – he was not fully healed because she had to reserve her strength.
"If I heal you completely, there won't be anything left for Icarus, plus I'll probably go into a coma for three days." Kinta remembered that all too well.
"Who's Icarus?" Young asked puzzled.
Kinta pointed to Rush. "I didn't know his name in my vision but the word Icarus came to mind so I named him Icarus." She looked over at Rush. "So what 'is' his name?"
"Dr. Rush. He's one of the scientists." Young tiredly explained.
Kinta then pointed to the hot springs. "The pools are excellent for bathing and cleaning clothes. I've tried them out already." She explained to the rest of the group. "There's no predators here so it's safe to relax."
Although modesty prevented some from jumping right in, Scott and Greer didn't hesitate to strip down and do some skinny-dipping. Others followed shortly thereafter.
Kinta then moved over to Dr. Rush who seemed completely incoherent. Her first hurdle was to just get him to uncurl from the fetal position he was in. Slowly, her coaxes seemed to work only to be thwarted when she tried to lift his shirt. It took several more minutes before she could place her hand on his stomach. Finally, she was able to do something for him but it wasn't enough to bring him out of the withdrawn state he was in as he curled back up into a ball and hid his face under his arms.
Noticing that Young wasn't bathing, Kinta suspected it had something to do with her presence as she informed him, "I'm going to go and gather firewood and give all of you guys some privacy. So feel free to partake." She gave an obvious sniff of the air as she jokingly said, "Please."
A smile crept onto Young's face as he got the hint. Kinta pulled several blankets out of her backpack for them to use before she left.
The water did look inviting and although it wasn't that Young was modest, he just didn't think it appropriate for a senior officer to skinny-dip while females under his command were present. As soon as Kinta was out of sight though, he succumbed to the temptation.
"Oh yes!" He exclaimed as he eased his aching body into the warm water. "This is good." He sank down onto a ledge as the water came up to his shoulders. Young leaned his head back and closed his eyes as the younger men swam and splashed nearby like children.
Kinta intended to stay away for awhile allowing each man an opportunity to bathe and wash their clothes which she already discovered would dry quickly in the sun. She kept a keen eye out for any game that might come along as she began slicing limbs off a dead tree with her light saber. It occurred to her that this silly idea of a light saber was becoming more and more useful. After she had a large load of firewood, Kinta started back to camp. Noticing everyone was still engrossed in play, she snuck in and dropped off the load of wood then headed out for more. On her second trip out, Kinta found several animals hopping around which looked edible and was able to dart several to take back to camp. Although they had some similarities to the Earth rabbit, there was one adaptation that definitely set them apart – antlers.
[Author's Note: It's my story and I can include Jack-a-lopes if I want to!!! ]
When she returned the second time, the men had dressed and were busy starting a fire with the flint they had found in her bag. "I've got some food." She threw the animals down for them to clean.
She quickly realized that Rush had not taken advantage of the hot water and apparently no one else had helped him either so she went over to investigate. "Hey." She brushed his hair away from his face so she could see his eyes. "Don't you want to take a bath?"
He just stared off into the distance and didn't acknowledge her so she gently raised him up into a sitting position. She could see the dark bruises on his wrists and knew he must have struggled terribly against his restraints. "C'mon, I'll help you over there." She helped him to his feet and gently pushed him toward the water as he limped slowly to the edge grimacing with each step. He was responding more on autopilot than anything.
Kinta then helped him down to the ground where he could easily undress but he made no effort whatsoever. She wasn't going to let him stay in the filthy clothes he was wearing so she decided to bathe him herself. Kinta undressed herself, then began removing Rush's clothes as well as the other men glanced over but tried not to stare. The first thing that stood out to everyone were the tattoos that covered Kinta's back and arms.
Once she had his clothes removed, the bruises across his back were evident to everyone. He had taken a beating somewhere along the line. Kinta jumped into the water and stood on the ledge to assist Rush as he slowly slid in as well. She gently began washing him down and wetting his hair to get all the dirt and blood out. He clutched to her arm tightly not willing to let go for anything so she wrapped her arm around him and held him close as she continued to wash his back. Once finished, she let him rest on the ledge and enjoy the heat of the water but he still clutched her arm refusing to let go. She used her free hand to drag his clothes into the water and began rubbing them together to get all the dirt out as Rush watched. Finally getting him to release his grasp, she wrung the clothes out and laid them out on the lava rock to dry. Then she began washing his face and turned her attention back to his hair to make sure all the blood was gone.
No word was spoken between the two as she completed her task. It was evident that he was still in shock from his ordeal.
When Kinta was satisfied that he was clean, she helped him climb up on the edge of the pool and wrapped a blanket around him to cover him while he dried in the sun. She sat with him while her own body dried as well. The sun felt good as the heat penetrated her body and warmed her soul. After awhile, she dressed and continued to stay with Rush until his clothes were dry and dressed him as well. By this time, the food was ready and everyone ate hungrily then went to bed.
Everyone except Kinta who stayed up for awhile standing guard just in case something should happen.
The next morning, Kinta called Calum and his men together and focused on each one individually as she placed the Tau'ri language in their memory. They would all need to be able to communicate universally in case of an emergency plus this would help bring everyone closer. She didn't want to act as their translator for the duration of their journey.
Young watched what she was doing and asked about it afterwards, "What was that all about?"
Kinta turned to face him, "Oh, I was just giving them the Tau'ri language so they can understand everyone else."
"Would it be possible for you to give me the Ancient language like you did with the scientists?" Young figured it might be useful in the future and depending on how the experience felt, might suggest it for additional personnel as well.
"Sure," She placed one hand on the side of his face and closed her eyes. Within seconds, it was done.
"All finished." She picked up her hand blaster. "If you want to try it out, see if you can read this?"
He looked at the handgun and realized the inscription read, 'Bang, you're dead'. Young smiled at her warped sense of humor.
Afterwards, Kinta decided they should try the gate and see if Destiny was within range yet.
"I thought you couldn't dial the ship unless you were on a planet that the ship stopped at?" Young asked confused.
"Actually, you just have to know the password and how to enter it to make the gate work." Kinta explained as she began to dial the address. The chevron's began to lock in place . . . all except the last chevron. That meant Destiny wasn't there yet.
"Had the seventh chevron locked, you simply press the center section to accept then enter your password symbol and accept it again. Then the gate does it's normal thing and connects to the ship." Kinta explained. "And if you're really far away, like on Earth, you use eight chevrons, accept it and then enter your password."
Satisfied with her explanation, she turned her attention to other things. "Okay, well I guess we'll just try again a little later." Kinta wasn't worried as she began another healing session with Calum, Young, and Rush to get them one step closer to being well with Rush receiving the bulk of her healing efforts. Afterwards, she decided to do a little bit of exploring, to pass the time, as she set out for a walk.
The planet must have recently had some volcanic activity as the black lava stone could be seen in patches where the lava had flowed from an eruption. They were situated on a hilltop and Kinta decided to venture down into the valley and see what was there. She walked slowly, taking her time since she was tired but her curiosity pushed her on.
About 15 minutes later, she came running back. "Does anyone have a pencil and paper?" She was a little out of breath.
Rush had a pocket tablet which he offered her from his vest. "Why?"
"I found some strange writing on a cave wall and I want to write it down." She replied as she started back down the hill.
"Wait." Rush wanted to go but his body wasn't cooperating very well. "I'll join you." He grabbed a stick to use as a cane. He limped painfully down the hillside to the cave and began looking at the inscriptions that Kinta had described.
"This matches the writing in the shuttle we found on the last planet. The one where I was left behind on." It peaked Rush's interest as well as he watched Kinta write the information down in his tablet for later review.
Whether Rush mentioned his abandonment on purpose to drive a wedge between Kinta and Young or if it was just unintentional, Kinta picked up on the revelation. She made a mental note to scan Young's mind during the next healing session and see what really happened.
Later in the afternoon, Young tried the gate address again using Kinta's method and it connected with no problems. He gave a loud whistle to get everyone's attention and point them to the Stargate. They were going home.
After everyone had entered the event horizon, Young was the last one to leave the planet and arrive on Destiny. There was a group of armed soldiers ready to fire should the unplanned visitors be an enemy but their stance quickly changed as they recognized the away team and knew they were returning.
2nd Lt. Vanessa James couldn't resist chiding the returning group, "I take it, you didn't stop and ask for directions?" Indicating it had been awhile and everyone figured they were lost.
Scott and Greer just shook their heads as they smiled.
Medic Tamara Johansen began immediately tending to Dr. Rush as she had the team help him to the infirmary. "Everyone needs to check in at the infirmary before you return to work," she announced to the returning team. She wanted to make sure everyone was okay and it was simply good protocol since they had been gone for several days in unknown living conditions.
Johansen turned to Kinta as everyone else was beginning to exit the gate room, "Thank you for bringing them back."
Kinta nodded. "You're welcome."
Johansen then hurried ahead to the infirmary to begin checking everyone out. Kinta followed at a slower pace and arrived later to discover the medic doing physical checks instead of using the ancient technology.
She looked at the examination table in the middle of the room and wondered why it wasn't being used. "You don't want to use the scanner?"
Johansen looked up not sure what Kinta was talking about. "What scanner?"
Kinta walked over to a diagnostics table and powered it on. After pressing a few buttons, she laid down and a glow seemed to engulf her while she waited for it to finish. Afterward, Kinta walked over to a console on the wall and pulled up the results from the medical scan while Johansen watched in astonishment. She entered her personal information and attached the scan to her newly created medical file by dragging the thumbnail image onto a blank square of her medical form which was obviously there for that reason. Once attached, she could touch the thumbnail and retrieve the full scan with all it's results. Although Kinta didn't know how to read the results, Johansen took over and began looking everything over.
"This is amazing!" The medic was clearly astonished at everything the scanner revealed.
Kinta showed her how to manipulate the image and turn it different angles for a 2-D effect much like a MRI might show.
"Let's get Dr. Rush on the table and see what his injuries look like." Johansen was going to take full advantage of this new piece of equipment now at her disposal.
She ran the scan and created a medical record for Rush then began looking over the results. "I can't see the soft tissue of your ankles or wrists but I'm sure the bruising will subside in a few days." Johansen began to explain as she continued looking for abnormalities.
Kinta pressed a button on the side and the soft tissue appeared. Johansen was a quick study and was able to use the buttons quickly to switch back and forth between the different scan modes to see soft tissue, muscles, nerves, and blood vessels among other things. It was truly amazing how clear the image was and it was also clear that Kinta was already familiar with many Ancient items.
"It looks like you have some neurological damage." Johansen explained as she looked closer at certain parts of his brain.
Kinta was standing close by and indicated, "I'm slowly healing that but I can only do a little at a time."
"You can heal people?" This was news to Johansen.
Young spoke up, "I'll be filling everyone in on Kinta's abilities later. For now, let's just get these people back to their quarters."
The medic was able to quickly scan everyone from the away team and send them on their way followed by Kinta's comrades. She then focused on Rush, Young and Calum.
"Dr. Rush, I suggest you get a lot of bed rest." She looked over to Kinta, "Until Kinta can finish her work. If you have any headaches or mobility problems though, let me know."
"Colonel Young. You're in better shape neurologically than Rush, but there is still some damage so the same goes for you." Johansen then turned her attention to Calum. "And you, seem to have a bad case of pneumonia but it looks like it is improving as well so I'd just suggest you take it easy for a couple of days and let your body heal itself."
Before Young left, she grabbed his elbow. "I think it would be a good idea to get a base scan on everyone for comparison sake." Johansen suggested.
Young agreed, "Let's start setting up times for people to stop by."
Everyone seemed happy with their diagnosis and went to their quarters. Kinta took the Caelurians with her and began telling them about the ship and the Tau'ri crew as they went in search of quarters for themselves.
"There is a lot of the ship they haven't explored yet because it's damaged. So for right now, we have to stay close to the core." Kinta walked down the hallway she had been checking out days earlier before the emergency arose. "I've been checking out this area because it's further away from everyone else."
As they opened several doors in their search, Calum's men began choosing the rooms they wanted to live in. Kinta finally decided on a room at the end of the hallway that was even further away still.
She looked around the living quarters and liked that the bedroom was in it's own room partitioned off from the visiting area. After retrieving her belongings from the previous room and the gate room, Kinta made herself at home.
Of course the first order of the day was to set up her small stereo, so she could enjoy the music she had come to enjoy, followed by her laptop and a couple of prototype ZPM's that she had been working on and trying to perfect into a working model.
The last thing she did was to write her name on a piece of paper and tape it outside her door indicating her new residence.
THE END
REVIEWS GREATLY APPRECIATED.
I've written another story which follows this one called, "SGU: Message In A Bottle."