"No wonder these guys are always cranky," Jack muttered to himself. He
seemed to remember having said it before. A lot of what had happened
'before' was blending together in his mind. However, this was a sharp
reminder of just how uncomfortable it was to wear a Horus guard's uniform.
Thankfully he had had help putting it on; all he had to do now was complete
the mission successfully, make it back to the headquarters of the
Resistance with his precious burden and then he could ditch the helmet.
"Piece of cake," he'd said.
Yeah, right, said a voice inside his head.
Jack kept on forgetting he shouldn't look furtive. One thing common to all guards was the fact they all knew exactly where they were going. So did he. He just had to go there like he went there every day. And it wasn't far… just march, left, right, left, right…
He reached the rendezvous exactly on time. It was a corner, a tiny closet size room jutting off a corridor. He entered, and they were there as scheduled. 'They' were just another two poor sorry humans, dressed in the rough, sand coloured clothes of the farm workers. Jack thought he recognised them. Not that he could put names to faces, you understand, but he thought he remembered them from long ago. In the days of Stargate Command, when they all wore uniforms, when people addressed him as 'Colonel.' The man and woman standing here now might have been airmen he had known. He could barely remember, and besides it wasn't relevant now, not at all.
"Have you got him?" Jack asked sharply.
"Yes," the woman answered simply.
"Thank you," Jack told them. "We appreciate this."
"It was a pleasure to help," she replied. "If, in the future…"
"I'll remember you," Jack promised. "And now, if you would…"
"Of course." She stepped out of the way, and her companion moved forward. He reached out and Jack took his heavy burden from him. For a few horrible seconds, he felt as if he were holding a corpse. He reached under the many layers of rough coverings and grabbed a limp and lifeless hand, letting his fingers drift up to the wrist, and waited. After a few seconds, he was reassured. Under these rough blankets, there was a human being, who was still alive… just.
The couple waited to see Jack was satisfied, and then they left, walking quickly with their heads held down. Workers were not allowed here. Jack waited until they were out of sight around a corner before he made a move himself. Once again, he had to look purposeful, which was made more difficult by the fact he was carrying what looked like an enormous bundle of blankets. However, the guards always carried out their orders unquestioningly, and no-one dared question a Goa'uld giving strange orders. Jack was counting on this. He strode through the corridors, head high, marching right out into the open air. Here, he could breathe easily. Half an hour's march brought him to the outskirts of the city and the Slave Quarter. The timid workers and the battered slaves fled at the sight of a Horus guard. Only one slave did not. She was small in stature, with blonde hair that showed signs of growing out of a very short cut. Her blue eyes were not afraid.
Sam Carter had been waiting for hours. For a single panicked second, she thought this was a genuine Horus guard, here because he had discovered their secret. But after a second, the 'guard' pressed something on the back of his neck and the helmet dissolved. "Jack!" she whispered. Once upon a time she was proud of her strict adherence to military protocol, but not any more. "Did you get him?"
Jack nodded. "Yes."
She didn't wait. She led him through the streets of the Slave Quarter until they reached what looked like an old, abandoned house. The windows were broken and the once-pretty garden tangled and overgrown. He had to carry his burden all the way.
The door was opened after three knocks. Jack and Sam hurried in. There was only one inside wall here. Each of the two large rooms contained perhaps ten people and a lot of assorted equipment. Anything remotely technological was collected here – old computers from before, mainly, but there were GDOs and pieces of old MALP probes, things as simple as television sets and radios, mixed with scavenged Goa'uld technology, nearly all of it damaged almost beyond repair.
Jack laid his burden gently on the floor. Sam hurried across and pulled away the covering, creating the impression in her mind she was unveiling a corpse. But just as Jack had realised before her, she saw that this human was alive. "It's almost as if he's asleep," she said in wonderment.
"Better that way."
"Why?"
"I know him. After this he won't be sleeping easily for a while." Off her look, Jack added, "He's had a hard few days.
Sam mouthed the horrible word a few times before she said it out loud. "Was he… raped?"
"I think so… yes."
She didn't ask how he knew. Instead, she contented herself with asking, "What can we do?" She was anxious and slightly nauseated, but not surprised.
"Leave him," Jack said. "There's nothing we can really do for him at the moment." Because we have nothing, he added silently. "He'll come out of it in a little while."
"Was it a difficult job?" Sam asked, echoing the thoughts of others in the room. She had been more than usually worried. They had had to put their trust in so many people, and all to save just one life… Sam hated the fact she had to put a value on a life. She hated how she had to decide – who to rescue, and who to leave? But it had to be done…
"Not so bad," said Jack, considering. "I think we pulled it off."
"You weren't followed or anything?" queried Sam anxiously.
"No…"
A soft moan from the floor put an end to further discussion. Jack and Sam dropped to ground level. Upon seeing he was now awake, Sam asked, "What's your name?"
"Daniel Jackson…"
"When's your birthday?"
"Ask me tomorrow…oh, God…" This was followed by a groan. "I feel like I just did ten rounds with Teal'C!"
Sam was informed. "I think you've been doped, Daniel with some advanced drug," she told him gently. "It's apparently a trick they use to make humans more docile. You're going to be narcoleptic for a while."
Jack was stern. "This is all your own fault! If you weren't so obsessed with trying to persuade everyone to agree with us, this would never have happened! For crying out loud!"
There was another groan, and then something that sounded suspiciously like "Bite me," before Daniel's eyes closed again.
Jack and Sam exchanged glances. "I guess he's not feeling quite himself yet…" she offered tentatively.
"Yes," Jack said slowly. "Either that or he's got amnesia."
Sam didn't quite see the logic in this, but decided to let it pass. She picked up a tangle of wiring from the floor and began playing with it aimlessly. She knew she couldn't make it serviceable. But that didn't stop her from trying.
Five minutes later Daniel was awake. "Hey…" Jack said.
"Jack?" Daniel said slowly.
"Daniel? You back with us?" Jack said softly. He was beginning to regret his earlier harsh words. Even though they couldn't help Daniel, he didn't have to make things worse by assigning blame.
"Yeah…" Daniel said. He looked slightly dazed, but was slowly recovering as the mist lifted from his mind.
"How'd they treat you?" Jack asked.
"I don't know… I don't care…"
"Daniel.…" Jack was almost at a loss for words. "Do you even know what's happened to you? They didn't kill you or interrogate you or even think you were particularly important. They treated you as a toy and a plaything. That's why you've been doped to within an inch of your life! They could have done anything they wanted with you. And they did. Am I right or am I right?"
Daniel sighed. "Yes…"
Jack waited for memories to filter into Daniel's bewildered head, and pushed his own hair out of his eyes. After spending his entire adult life in the military, he was finding it difficult to get accustomed to hair that wasn't in a regulation crew cut. Only Daniel didn't mind it, and as his hair had been quite long enough to begin with, it now almost touched his shoulders.
"Listen, my little flower child," Jack said. "Do you get what I'm saying?"
Daniel looked surprised for a second, and then self-consciously touching his hair, he smiled at the reference. Jack was just leaning in to say something more to him when he was distracted by a sudden hammering at the door. But it didn't stop at the normal three knocks. It went on, and on, and on…
Everyone glanced around at everyone else. This couldn't be a Horus guard, who would have simply blasted the door down, but who else could it be?
Suddenly the knocking stopped, to be replaced by shouting. "Let me in! I know you're in there and I want to help!"
Sam thought she recognised the voice… and when the door was opened she wondered if she were dreaming.
Janet Frasier stood on the other side of it. As they all stared at her in shock, she took in the scene. A room lit by flickering blue and white light, many people dressed in the rough clothes of slaves, living anachronisms in a room that looked like a dumping ground for microchips. Daniel lay in the corner, obviously hurt in some way, but no-one could do anything to help him. In the front, the obvious leaders, two friends who had once been called Colonel Jack O'Neill and Major Samantha Carter.
How had it come to this?
"Piece of cake," he'd said.
Yeah, right, said a voice inside his head.
Jack kept on forgetting he shouldn't look furtive. One thing common to all guards was the fact they all knew exactly where they were going. So did he. He just had to go there like he went there every day. And it wasn't far… just march, left, right, left, right…
He reached the rendezvous exactly on time. It was a corner, a tiny closet size room jutting off a corridor. He entered, and they were there as scheduled. 'They' were just another two poor sorry humans, dressed in the rough, sand coloured clothes of the farm workers. Jack thought he recognised them. Not that he could put names to faces, you understand, but he thought he remembered them from long ago. In the days of Stargate Command, when they all wore uniforms, when people addressed him as 'Colonel.' The man and woman standing here now might have been airmen he had known. He could barely remember, and besides it wasn't relevant now, not at all.
"Have you got him?" Jack asked sharply.
"Yes," the woman answered simply.
"Thank you," Jack told them. "We appreciate this."
"It was a pleasure to help," she replied. "If, in the future…"
"I'll remember you," Jack promised. "And now, if you would…"
"Of course." She stepped out of the way, and her companion moved forward. He reached out and Jack took his heavy burden from him. For a few horrible seconds, he felt as if he were holding a corpse. He reached under the many layers of rough coverings and grabbed a limp and lifeless hand, letting his fingers drift up to the wrist, and waited. After a few seconds, he was reassured. Under these rough blankets, there was a human being, who was still alive… just.
The couple waited to see Jack was satisfied, and then they left, walking quickly with their heads held down. Workers were not allowed here. Jack waited until they were out of sight around a corner before he made a move himself. Once again, he had to look purposeful, which was made more difficult by the fact he was carrying what looked like an enormous bundle of blankets. However, the guards always carried out their orders unquestioningly, and no-one dared question a Goa'uld giving strange orders. Jack was counting on this. He strode through the corridors, head high, marching right out into the open air. Here, he could breathe easily. Half an hour's march brought him to the outskirts of the city and the Slave Quarter. The timid workers and the battered slaves fled at the sight of a Horus guard. Only one slave did not. She was small in stature, with blonde hair that showed signs of growing out of a very short cut. Her blue eyes were not afraid.
Sam Carter had been waiting for hours. For a single panicked second, she thought this was a genuine Horus guard, here because he had discovered their secret. But after a second, the 'guard' pressed something on the back of his neck and the helmet dissolved. "Jack!" she whispered. Once upon a time she was proud of her strict adherence to military protocol, but not any more. "Did you get him?"
Jack nodded. "Yes."
She didn't wait. She led him through the streets of the Slave Quarter until they reached what looked like an old, abandoned house. The windows were broken and the once-pretty garden tangled and overgrown. He had to carry his burden all the way.
The door was opened after three knocks. Jack and Sam hurried in. There was only one inside wall here. Each of the two large rooms contained perhaps ten people and a lot of assorted equipment. Anything remotely technological was collected here – old computers from before, mainly, but there were GDOs and pieces of old MALP probes, things as simple as television sets and radios, mixed with scavenged Goa'uld technology, nearly all of it damaged almost beyond repair.
Jack laid his burden gently on the floor. Sam hurried across and pulled away the covering, creating the impression in her mind she was unveiling a corpse. But just as Jack had realised before her, she saw that this human was alive. "It's almost as if he's asleep," she said in wonderment.
"Better that way."
"Why?"
"I know him. After this he won't be sleeping easily for a while." Off her look, Jack added, "He's had a hard few days.
Sam mouthed the horrible word a few times before she said it out loud. "Was he… raped?"
"I think so… yes."
She didn't ask how he knew. Instead, she contented herself with asking, "What can we do?" She was anxious and slightly nauseated, but not surprised.
"Leave him," Jack said. "There's nothing we can really do for him at the moment." Because we have nothing, he added silently. "He'll come out of it in a little while."
"Was it a difficult job?" Sam asked, echoing the thoughts of others in the room. She had been more than usually worried. They had had to put their trust in so many people, and all to save just one life… Sam hated the fact she had to put a value on a life. She hated how she had to decide – who to rescue, and who to leave? But it had to be done…
"Not so bad," said Jack, considering. "I think we pulled it off."
"You weren't followed or anything?" queried Sam anxiously.
"No…"
A soft moan from the floor put an end to further discussion. Jack and Sam dropped to ground level. Upon seeing he was now awake, Sam asked, "What's your name?"
"Daniel Jackson…"
"When's your birthday?"
"Ask me tomorrow…oh, God…" This was followed by a groan. "I feel like I just did ten rounds with Teal'C!"
Sam was informed. "I think you've been doped, Daniel with some advanced drug," she told him gently. "It's apparently a trick they use to make humans more docile. You're going to be narcoleptic for a while."
Jack was stern. "This is all your own fault! If you weren't so obsessed with trying to persuade everyone to agree with us, this would never have happened! For crying out loud!"
There was another groan, and then something that sounded suspiciously like "Bite me," before Daniel's eyes closed again.
Jack and Sam exchanged glances. "I guess he's not feeling quite himself yet…" she offered tentatively.
"Yes," Jack said slowly. "Either that or he's got amnesia."
Sam didn't quite see the logic in this, but decided to let it pass. She picked up a tangle of wiring from the floor and began playing with it aimlessly. She knew she couldn't make it serviceable. But that didn't stop her from trying.
Five minutes later Daniel was awake. "Hey…" Jack said.
"Jack?" Daniel said slowly.
"Daniel? You back with us?" Jack said softly. He was beginning to regret his earlier harsh words. Even though they couldn't help Daniel, he didn't have to make things worse by assigning blame.
"Yeah…" Daniel said. He looked slightly dazed, but was slowly recovering as the mist lifted from his mind.
"How'd they treat you?" Jack asked.
"I don't know… I don't care…"
"Daniel.…" Jack was almost at a loss for words. "Do you even know what's happened to you? They didn't kill you or interrogate you or even think you were particularly important. They treated you as a toy and a plaything. That's why you've been doped to within an inch of your life! They could have done anything they wanted with you. And they did. Am I right or am I right?"
Daniel sighed. "Yes…"
Jack waited for memories to filter into Daniel's bewildered head, and pushed his own hair out of his eyes. After spending his entire adult life in the military, he was finding it difficult to get accustomed to hair that wasn't in a regulation crew cut. Only Daniel didn't mind it, and as his hair had been quite long enough to begin with, it now almost touched his shoulders.
"Listen, my little flower child," Jack said. "Do you get what I'm saying?"
Daniel looked surprised for a second, and then self-consciously touching his hair, he smiled at the reference. Jack was just leaning in to say something more to him when he was distracted by a sudden hammering at the door. But it didn't stop at the normal three knocks. It went on, and on, and on…
Everyone glanced around at everyone else. This couldn't be a Horus guard, who would have simply blasted the door down, but who else could it be?
Suddenly the knocking stopped, to be replaced by shouting. "Let me in! I know you're in there and I want to help!"
Sam thought she recognised the voice… and when the door was opened she wondered if she were dreaming.
Janet Frasier stood on the other side of it. As they all stared at her in shock, she took in the scene. A room lit by flickering blue and white light, many people dressed in the rough clothes of slaves, living anachronisms in a room that looked like a dumping ground for microchips. Daniel lay in the corner, obviously hurt in some way, but no-one could do anything to help him. In the front, the obvious leaders, two friends who had once been called Colonel Jack O'Neill and Major Samantha Carter.
How had it come to this?