When All Debts Are Paid
by Freya-Kendra
Rating: PG-13
Summary: tags for S2 "Prisoners;" S3, "Past and Present" & "Dead Man Switch;" S4, "The Curse." Ke'ra remembers she's Linea, meets up with Aris Boch and discovers how to get sweet revenge on Daniel Jackson. Add some Osiris into the mix & SG1's problems increase tenfold.
Original ePosting Date: September 24, 2001
1
Colonel O'Neill subconsciously squeezed the teddy bear in his arms while he waited for the last chevron to lock into place. He noticed odd glances and suppressed grins coming from nearly everyone in the gate room, and knew the giant, stuffed toy seemed odd in conjunction with his dress blues.
"What?" He asked pointedly to his second-in-command. "Every kid needs a teddy bear, right?"
"Yes, sir. Of course." Major Carter shook her head. "It's a great gift."
"And I suppose you did better?"
SG-1 had been invited to share in the celebration of the birth of Nodaal's and Layale's first child. No one was really sure what that meant. After all, there was far more than just the birth of a single child to be celebrated. This event represented Vyus's own rebirth, the civilization's continuation finally assured now that their fertility problems had been reversed. Ironically, it was Linea, the "Destroyer of Worlds', who had accidentally given them the chance to turn back time itself, restoring the inhabitants to their former youth and halting the negative effects of a pesticide known as Dargol.
Now the people of Vyus wanted to honor SG-1 by including them in this momentous occasion. Without any real idea what to expect in terms of festivities, the team members each put on their best clothes and prepared in their own ways to greet a newborn.
Carter fidgeted with the tiny, wrapped box in her hands, but didn't answer her CO's question.
"So?" He prodded. "You going to tell us what it is?"
She cleared her throat. "It's a ... spoon... sir."
"A spoon?"
"A silver spoon. Whenever babies were born, I remember my mom giving them silver spoons. So, I ..." She shrugged. "It's all I could think of."
"A spoon. Huh." He nodded as Carter started towards the Stargate. "So Teal'c, what'd you get Nodaal's kid?"
The Jaffa looked uncomfortable in the brown suit and thin tie Daniel had helped him pick out. "I was not aware that I should have a gift for this infant. On Chu'lak, it was our custom to celebrate birth by giving blessings or prayers for an honorable life."
O'Neill raised his eyebrows. "Blessings." He nodded again. "Good gift."
Teal'c gave him a quick glance before following Carter through the "gate.
"Okay, Danny, you're up." The colonel turned to his last remaining team member, still wondering about the brand new, dark suit that made Daniel look almost like he'd stepped off the pages of GQ. He hoped his friend would be able to contain himself around Ke'ra. Jack was still not particularly thrilled by any prospect of a relationship between the two.
Daniel looked back, smiling in that irritating way of his that always left Jack wondering if the joke was on him -- or what the joke even was, for that matter. Then the archeologist took a step towards the 'gate.
"Aaaa-aaaa," Jack stopped him. "Not until you fess up. What'd you get the kid?"
Daniel looked down at the package in his hand, and then returned his attention to Jack. "It's a ... a book."
"A book? Uh, Danny, I hate to tell you this, but most infants can't really, actually ... read."
There it was again. That knowing smile, but there was a certain shyness to it this time. Daniel lowered his head, seeming somewhat embarrassed. "It's for his future. Essays written by the great thinkers of Earth. Socrates, Einstein, Sagan, Hawkings...."
"Ahh." Jack looked at his bear. "His future. Huh."
Daniel took another look at the fuzzy creature in Jack's arms. "Jack, it's a great bear. He'll love it."
The colonel grinned. "Yeah, he will. Won't he?"
* * *
Daniel Jackson's knees buckled beneath him the moment he exited the Stargate. His arms fell to his sides, heavy and useless, like a puppet whose strings had been severed. Though he was sure his teammates shared his predicament, he could not turn his head to confirm it.
He heard Jack utter a stunned "Carter?"
There was no reply.
Daniel tried to respond himself, but that simple task proved to be too much. He felt his head hit the ground hard and dimly wished he'd worn his helmet. Yet for this mission, there should have been no need for helmets.
"Well, well, well. Daniel Jackson."
The voice was familiar. Ke'ra? The name remained unspoken, tucked into the cotton of his mouth around his leaden tongue. Nor could he open his eyes to look upon the beauty Linea had become when she herself had been caught by the effects of the Vorlix, Vyus' age-reversing catastrophic yet rejuvenating accident.
Soft fingers brushed his temple, and then traced a delicate pattern to his lips. She whispered his name as a lover might. "Daniel Jackson."
Those same soft fingers grabbed his chin. There was nothing delicate about her touch now as she pulled his face towards her, digging her nails into his flesh.
"You - should - have - let - me - die!" The words came out as a pulsing hiss, acid burning its way through the gentle heart of Ke'ra and reviving the evil one of Linea.
She threw his head down hard as though he repulsed her. He felt the back of his skull bounce against the broken brick of the warehouse floor. His ears ringing from the impact, he sensed her rising beside him, heard her voice grow distant as she moved away.
"It would have been quick, you know. All I needed to do was smash those two vials together. My death would have been instantaneous once I inhaled the resulting gas. But no. You and your naive, simplistic view of life, you just would not allow it. You just could not accept that sometimes death is better than life."
Daniel heard the swish of her long skirt when she turned abruptly. Her next words came louder, carefully aimed in his direction.
"Did you honestly believe I would not eventually find a way to regain my own memories? That I would not eventually insist upon it? I am a scientist, Daniel Jackson. I cannot sit by and accept that some questions should go unanswered. I demand answers. As would you, surely. After all, you are a scientist as well, are you not?"
She moved closer to him again, her voice growing louder, yet tinged with regret and pain.
"Do you know how many people had to die while I looked for those answers? How many other lives I ruined, Daniel Jackson?"
Though seemingly on the verge of tears, she instead began to laugh cynically as she paced between him and his teammates. Close to him again, the laughter stopped with the abruptness of a light switch flicking off.
"When the council learned about my experiments, they would have cast me out, exiled me through this very Stargate. But by then I had already succeeded, and our neighbors across the sea were threatening war."
Her next words were spoken with childlike innocence. "You didn't know that, did you? The Tyrean's found out the Vorlix began here, and they wanted retribution. I gave the council an option. As Linea, "Destroyer of Worlds', it shouldn't surprise you to think I was eager for the challenge to destroy our enemies. But as Ke'ra, you might also understand how very much I wanted to remain in the place I had come to consider home."
She paused, and for a long while Daniel heard nothing. So much of nothing, he couldn't help but wonder if his ears had stopped working like the rest of his body.
"So," She continued loudly, "we came to an agreement, the council and I."
Daniel would have jumped at the sudden way she broke her silence, if any of his muscles would have cooperated.
"I told them I would help them defeat the Tyrean's," She continued in a matter-of-fact tone that might have been used to describe a grocery list. "And I did. I upheld my part of the bargain. I destroyed them. There are none left, so there can be no war."
She laughed for a long while. Yet when she was through, her words regained her earlier venom.
"When my people learned of my feat, they had the audacity to be appalled. What right did they have to judge me, when they never even asked what I intended to do? Yet they called it a massacre. They called me a murderer. They wanted to put me in prison. There was even talk of execution."
She knelt beside him, once again brushing her finger against his face. "But by then it was too late. Don't you see? Entirely too late. I had already become what I was destined to be. I was no longer willing to let go of my hold on the universe."
She rose and moved away. "Your friends, here. They would have let me die at your SGC. They would have accepted my suicide, perhaps even considered it a necessary evil. But not you. No, not you."
She sniffed and said nothing for a long while. Daniel heard her entering symbols into the DHD. He also thought he heard her crying. But even that emotion could not last.
"I had to leave here. I had to escape through the Stargate, searching out more of those worlds I took from your computers so long ago. I made new allies. I have made bargains. And your name, Daniel Jackson, has entered into one of them. All debts must be paid, after all."
The Stargate flared to life, painting a blue wave across Daniel's closed eyelids. Before he could even begin to imagine what she had done or why, before he could consider what she might yet have planned, hands grabbed him. Hands too large and too strong to be Ke'ra's. They lifted him, slinging him over an armored shoulder where he dangled like a useless sack as this new stranger carried him through the Stargate.
2
Hours after he heard the Stargate's activation which had seemed to signal Ke'ra-Linea's departure, Jack O'Neill finally found himself able to move. He was weak. His muscles twitched erratically. It took all the strength he had to drag himself over to where Teal'c lay near him. Whatever Linea had used on them, it was powerful stuff. At least it appeared its effects weren't permanent.
"Hey, Teal'c." O'Neill's voice was as strained as the rest of his body. He slapped the Jaffa gently to compensate for the failure of his vocal chords.
A strong hand clamped the colonel's wrist as Teal'c's eyes flew open.
"O'Neill."
Teal'c released his grip and sat upright in an instant. O'Neill watched his friend quickly scan the warehouse's dark basement.
"Linea has taken Daniel Jackson."
The colonel struggled simply to remain propped up on his elbows and watched in envy as Teal'c rose effortlessly to his feet.
"Yeah," was all O'Neill could manage to say. He nodded weakly in the direction of Major Carter. "Carter." The word was barely above a whisper.
The colonel let himself fall back to the ground and listened as Teal'c helped revive his second-in-command. He heard Carter voice a nearly indecipherable "Oh, God." Whatever else she tried to say was lost, but O'Neill did hear Daniel's name mentioned as she came to the same conclusion he and Teal'c had already reached.
Damn.
They needed to go outside to see what damage Linea had done to the city above. They needed to find Nodaal and Layale, to get whatever information they could about what the woman had been up to since SG-7 had left three months earlier. They needed to find any information at all that might help them determine where Linea had taken Daniel.
In the shape they were in, they could do nothing but return to the SGC.
Damn.
When Teal'c announced his intent to dial home, O'Neill managed to give the Jaffa a shaky thumb's up before letting his hand drop listlessly, uselessly back to the ground.
* * *
Daniel was dropped onto a hard surface, his hands brushing a fabric that had been placed there before him. From the movements of the stranger, the archeologist could only assume he was on a raised platform of some kind, high enough that the stranger did not need to bend too low as he stretched out Daniel's legs and arms.
Despite the unpleasant landing, the stranger's ministrations were cautious, almost gentle. Even when something was pulled tightly across Daniel's chest -- straps from the feel of them, leather from the smell -- the archeologist sensed a measure of care in the process. Though he was clearly a captive, he sensed no animosity from his captor.
After more straps were pulled across his legs, Daniel's wrists were clamped into some sort of metal bracing, as were his ankles. Amazed by the overkill, he would have laughed if he could have. Linea and her companion, this strong and gentle stranger, were taking no chances. Maybe that was a good sign, suggesting Daniel might have some opportunities for escape. Maybe. At least it gave him a sense of hope.
When the stranger left him, Daniel listened for some indication of where he was. He heard nothing. A low, constant hum echoed from somewhere beneath him, but that was all. There were no voices. No footfalls. Only silence.
Locked into such isolation, trapped both by his body's own unresponsiveness and his new restraints, eventually he drifted off to sleep, though he did not remember doing so. He only knew he awoke some uncountable amount of time later, when his eyelids fluttered open to reveal a gilded ceiling.
Panic jolted him fully awake, stealing his breath and sending his heart into hard, thumping spasms before he began to remember the strange events preceding this moment. He remembered falling. He remembered Ke'ra's voice. Yet the memories were image-less, lost in a surreal darkness and limited to sounds and feelings that seemed to lack logic. It was all so strange, so distant. He could scarcely convince himself he had not dreamt the entire episode. But his restraints were very real. Painfully and frighteningly real.
He tried to twist, tried to push against the straps. Though they gave no leeway, no reprieve for his stiffening muscles, he found an odd sense of satisfaction as he came to accept that whatever Ke'ra -- or Linea -- had done to paralyze him, the effects were not permanent. Still, he found little comfort in the realization. He was trapped, imprisoned in a Goa'uld environment, and locked so firmly into position his earlier paralysis seemed little different.
Daniel drew a deep breath to control his failing nerves, and then chanced a better look at his surroundings. His head was not constrained; he could twist it left and right, enough to see his prison resembled the cargo hold of a Goa'uld ship.
There was no sign of his teammates.
He allowed himself to remain hopeful that the rest of SG-1 had been left on Vyus.
"Good. You're awake. We're almost there."
A man's voice. Familiar. Daniel hoped he was wrong, knew he must be wrong.
He let go of those thoughts, choosing instead to pursue another. "And where might that be?"
"It's not really the where that should matter to you. It's the who."
"Okay. Then who?"
"A new player. Someone who has an awful lot of interest in you. You don't seem to have a lot of luck with the ladies, now do you?"
The man took a seat beside him. As Daniel turned to look, Aris Boch smiled back at him. Frustrated to have been proven right in his assumptions about the stranger's identity, the archeologist rolled his head back and closed his eyes.
"Where's the rest of my team?"
"Oh, I don't know. Probably back at your Stargate command center by now. Maybe even searching the streets of Vyus for you."
"You left them behind?" Though he was glad to hear this news, it made no sense.
"Yep. The deal was just you. Oh, I could've made a lot more off of all of you, but I kind of got to like you guys. Must be getting soft. I didn't want to be greedy with folks I like."
"I thought the others were more valuable to you. The price on my head wasn't as high."
"Markets change. You should know that."
"So what changed, exactly?"
"Don't know. Don't ask. Just deliver what I promise."
"Then, what changed with you? You let us go before. Why come after us ... after me ... now?"
"Hey, look, you know there's nothing personal in what I do. If I had a better choice, I'd never have gone after you. But sometimes you gotta do things you don't like."
"Why now?"
The bounty hunter hesitated, seeming uncomfortable. "It's kind of complicated."
"Humor me."
Boch let out a long breath. "That lady-friend of yours..." He looked behind him and then leaned in close to Daniel's face to whisper, "You know she's pretty psycho."
A moment later he sat back in his chair, casually continuing the conversation. "She got me another source for my Roshna. I don't have to rely so much on my bounties anymore. You're a smart guy. You can understand that."
"So what does she get out of this deal?"
Daniel heard a woman's soft laughter somewhere behind him. He looked at Boch, saw the man shake his head and rise from his seat.
"Like I said. For me, this is just business. Nothing personal."
The words were very much Aris Boch. And the way he hesitated before walking away, the disturbed look Daniel saw in his eyes making the statement seem almost like an apology, confirmed the bounty hunter was resolute in his actions.
This observation gave Daniel little comfort -- and even less hope.
3
General Hammond scanned the faces in his briefing room. Major Carter and Teal'c each looked at Dr. Frasier expectantly, but Colonel O'Neill instead glared at Major Simmons of SG-7, whose team was also present. Hammond knew the colonel needed someone to blame for what had happened on Vyus. SG-7 fit the bill, having failed to see Ke'ra-Linea's digression before it was too late. But Hammond would never allow the blame-game to be played out under his command. He was going to have to handle this situation quickly and carefully.
He nodded at Frasier. "Doctor?"
"Well, sir, the blood samples taken when SG-1 first returned showed traces of a substance we've been unable to identify. But the samples we drew an hour ago were completely normal. Other tests indicate there have been no residual effects of the paralyzing nature of the drug, or whatever it is this substance represents. SG-1 has, in my opinion, made a full recovery, although I have yet to determine exactly what it was they've recovered from."
"Thank you for the good news, Doctor." The general nodded at her appreciatively. "I expect you will continue your analysis and report any results on a priority basis."
"Of course, sir." She shook her head. "But I have to say, it may take some time, given Linea's advancements."
"Understood, Doctor. Do what you can."
He quickly turned his attention to the woman sitting across from Frasier. "Major Carter, have you arrived at any theories as to what method might have been used to administer this substance in the first place?"
"Well, sir, since we were all affected simultaneously at the very moment we exited the Stargate, I believe we're looking at something air-born, probably in gaseous form and capable of penetrating the skin...."
"Nerve gas?" Colonel O'Neill asked with raised eyebrows.
"Essentially, yes, sir."
The general was puzzled. "Why wouldn't Linea also have been affected?"
"She might have taken some sort of antidote in advance," Dr. Frasier suggested.
Carter nodded, and then added another alternative. "Or it might be a gas that acts quickly and just as quickly dissipates. It's possible she was far enough away to avoid contact, then approached Daniel as soon as she knew it was safe."
"Major Simmons. Dr. Frasier." The general looked to each in turn. "I want SG-7 and a medical team geared up to return to Vyus immediately, under strict quarantine protocols...."
"General," Colonel O'Neill interrupted, "that should be my team's assignment."
"Negative, Colonel. This mission is to determine any remaining threat to the local population, as well as to investigate Linea's activities...."
"General! SG-7 couldn't even...."
"Colonel!" General Hammond glared at SG-1's senior officer, well aware of the colonel's need for action, but also well aware that whatever team was sent to Vyus would need to remain level-headed and diplomatic. Jack O'Neill was far too close to the situation.
Still meeting Colonel O'Neill's eyes glare for glare, Hammond softened his tone. "SG-1 will be needed here."
Jack clenched his jaw but did not object, and Hammond returned his attention to Simmons and Frasier.
"SG-7 is to investigate Linea's activities up to and including the moments before she attacked SG-1. Any information that might suggest where she has taken Dr. Jackson is to be reported back here forthwith. Is that understood?"
"Yes, sir," Simmons responded, as Frasier offered her own, "Of course, sir."
"General Hammond," Teal'c broke in, "Linea spoke of allies and bargains she had made, including one involving Daniel Jackson. It could prove invaluable to learn if there have been any strangers to Vyus with whom she may have recently come into contact. Such information might help to identify the other who was with her in the warehouse."
"Agreed. Very well. Dr. Frasier, SG-7, you are dismissed. Colonel," Hammond once again locked eyes with O'Neill, "I would like you and your team to remain for a moment."
He waited for the others to leave, and then gave Jack O'Neill his full attention. "Colonel, we have already been in contact with the Tok'ra and are expecting one of their operatives to arrive here at 0900 this morning. I want SG-1 present for that meeting."
"The Tok'ra, sir?" O'Neill made no attempt to hide his suspicions.
"That's right."
Major Carter seemed to share her CO's concerns. "General, you don't think Linea has some involvement with the Goa'uld. Do you, sir?"
"That can't be ruled out as a possibility, Major. However, even if that is not the case, the Tok'ra have far more eyes and ears out there than we do. They might have come across some information which might mean nothing to them, but everything to our search for Dr. Jackson."
"Yes, sir. Of course."
"In the meantime, I suggest we all get some shut eye."
"Begging your pardon, sir, but I think we had plenty of that while we were on Vyus."
The general smiled wearily. "Well, then, Major, perhaps a work out might be more in order for SG-1. I, on the other hand, could stand to use a couple of hours before the Tok'ra arrive."
Hammond could empathize with the obvious discomfort his reply caused the major, remembering similar political errors he'd made earlier in his own career. The urgent nature of SG-1's late-night return had cost Hammond nearly a full night of sleep, a fact the major had innocently forgotten. His smile at her and Teal'c's departure was offered as a subtle assurance he would not hold such a minor oversight against her.
Turning back, he was not surprised Jack O'Neill had remained seated.
"Pardon me for being blunt, sir," The colonel said once the rest of his team had gone, "but you know something, don't you?"
"Colonel, I am merely trying every option I have to determine what has become of Dr. Jackson. Trust me; I want him back as much as you do."
"And Linea, sir?"
"I won't lie to you, Jack. Linea has become a particularly nasty thorn in our side. And since I agreed to let her out of here in the first place, I take full responsibility for what she has done, both to Vyus, and to Dr. Jackson."
Jack O'Neill nodded slowly. "I have to admit, General, I think we all wanted to believe Daniel was right ... about her forgetting, and all that."
"Right or not, I like to think Dr. Jackson keeps us human. He's a good influence to have around here. I remain hopeful that it is precisely our humanity which will eventually lead us to defeat the Goa'uld. But even Dr. Jackson has to realize the greater good of humanity itself can sometimes negate our hopes for any one individual."
He glanced down at his hands, folded together on the table before him. When he raised his eyes again, he focused a career's worth of determination in the look he gave Colonel O'Neill.
"If I had thought there would have been any chance at all for Ke'ra to become Linea again," He continued, "I would never have agreed to releasing her to Vyus in the first place. That being said, I will do everything in my power to ensure it never happens again."
* * *
She stood above him, looking down with playful innocence and giggling like a child.
"Ke'ra, what...."
As Daniel watched, Ke'ra's look changed. Her eyes, her entire countenance shifted as though she became a different person. The smile vanished, playfulness giving way to ... to what? At first Daniel was sure he saw anger. But even that melted away. His words forgotten, he waited to see what else might be revealed.
She sat on the edge of his makeshift bed and began toying with the leather straps across his chest. He steeled himself, thinking she was about to draw them tighter. Instead she turned her attention to him, her eyes now reminding him of a kiss they'd shared in another place, in another life, when naiveté and innocence had allowed them that indiscretion.
There was longing in those eyes, as deep and intense as he'd ever seen.
She traced the line of his jaw, her soft touch too like it had been earlier, on Vyus. He tensed reflexively. She drew her hand away.
"Do you not wish to be my lover, Daniel?" She did not appear surprised, nor disturbed, nor even curious. She was without emotion, void of feeling.
"Why are you doing this, Ke'ra?"
"Ke'ra? Ke'ra's dead, Daniel Jackson." It was a casual reply, spoken in a tone that suggested the woman named "Ke'ra" was a stranger, a person of little consequence. "Surely you knew that by now."
Daniel closed his eyes, trying to force the image of Linea into his mind. The effort was wasted the moment he opened them again. All he could see was Ke'ra.
"Linea, then." He felt uncomfortable addressing her by that name. "Whoever you are. Why?"
"Linea is also dead. I am no one, Daniel Jackson. No one at all. I am many people. Many, many people. But in the end, no one at all. That is what you have done to me, my Daniel."
Still there was no anger in her. Oddly, a smile formed on her lips. It was not the childish grin of before, but rather a smile of supreme satisfaction, serving to intensify the desire in her eyes.
"But I will become someone again. Because of you, I will become someone strong and powerful. There will be no more prisons, no more hateful glares. I will be worshipped and adored. I will be wanted, my Daniel. As you once wanted me."
She laughed seductively at his confusion. A moment later she leaned forward to kiss him. Giggling when he did not respond, she kissed him again, prying his lips open with her tongue. She pushed aside his tie, and fumbled to undo the buttons on his shirt, her mouth firmly pressed to his all the while. Her hand slithered across his chest, reached lower to kindle the need she could sense growing within him. Her tongue crossed his lips, his chin, his throat, as her fingers danced delicately beneath his waistband.
Daniel's chest heaved in and out with growing rapidity. His heart pounded with an excitement his clenched teeth tried to deny.
Smiling, she kissed him again.
Whether against his will or in reaction to it, his jaw slackened in response, and his mouth opened to hers.
He was ready to accept her, ready to give in to the yearnings of his body, ready to dismiss the cruel rejection in his heart. And she was ready as well -- ready to abandon him to his needs as she believed he had once abandoned her. Laughing softly, she pulled away.
"All debts do get paid, my Daniel."
Her low laughter only intensified the throbbing she'd left behind.
4
When an incoming wormhole set the alarms blaring at precisely 0859, Jack O'Neill knew it was the Tok'ra representative arriving on schedule. Yet when he saw the familiarly garbed man step through the blue ring, he could not force back intense disappointment, having hoped, somehow, to see Daniel. His shoulders sagging, he closed his eyes and dropped his head until the alarms went quiet, the sudden silence rousing him back to reality.
It would take a major miracle for Daniel to walk through that 'gate on his own. Jack had been through enough in his life to know miracles simply didn't happen -- especially when you needed them the most.
At least the man who came through was the only Tok'ra Jack would have wanted to see just then, the only one he'd ever allowed himself to trust.
"It's good to see you, Jacob." He held out his hand after Carter led her father up the stairs to the general's briefing room, followed by a solemn and silent Teal'c.
"Jack." The man shook his hand. "I only wish it was under better circumstances. Or at least that I had some better information to provide."
"Jacob," General Hammond greeted his old friend with a small smile. "We'll be thankful for whatever you can give us."
As they arranged themselves around the conference table, Jacob held up his hand to refuse the coffee his daughter offered to him. Sam Carter took the seat between him and Teal'c, and sipped from her own cup, focusing her attention on her father.
"I can say it's my guess Osiris might be behind this," He said without preamble.
Jack closed his eyes and let out a rush of air. All he'd wanted was a simple fishing trip. Had that been so much to ask for? Yes, if this was the result. No. Don't go there. Even if he had been around when Daniel had stumbled upon that ancient Goa'uld in Chicago, Osiris might still have escaped. He took a deep breath and gave his attention back to Jacob.
"He has not entered onto the scene quietly since escaping his imprisonment here on Earth," The elder Carter continued. "We know he's been gathering forces, mostly from rag-tag operations the other system lords have abandoned for one reason or another."
"Any idea what he intends to do with these forces?" General Hammond asked.
"Well, for one thing, he seems to be trying to get Apophis' attention. And I can tell you, he's succeeding."
Carter looked at her father questioningly. "Hoping for an alliance?"
"Probably." Jacob nodded. "What better way to regain power than to ally himself with the strongest of the system lords?"
Jack settled back in his chair. "And Daniel's just another bargaining chip."
"So it would seem." Jacob shook his head, puzzled. "But I still don't understand why Osiris would only have taken Dr. Jackson when he could have had all four of you. If he really wanted to get on Apophis' good side, that would have given him a pretty good guarantee."
Teal'c had his own theory for this apparent oversight. "He might not have been made aware that all of SG-1 were within his grasp."
Jack nodded. "Okay. I'll buy that. Linea's smart enough not to lay all her cards on the table at once. But you'd think she'd at least hold onto the cards she had, right?"
Carter shook her head. "Not necessarily, sir. She sounded pretty unbalanced. It might have been all she could do just to stay focused on her plans for Daniel."
Jack leaned forward, clasping his hands in front of him on the table. "Okay. The bottom line here is Linea took Daniel, and we're assuming that's because she made a deal with Osiris. So how did Linea find Osiris in the first place, and where do we find him now?"
Jacob met his eyes. "That's the problem."
* * *
Aris Boch returned wearing the same pained look as before. This time, Daniel saw more pity than apology in it. Daniel Jackson was in no mood for pity. He was angry. His muscles tensed against his restraints, making the straps feel tighter, heavier, making his situation seem bleaker. His mood grew darker still.
"They'll be here for you in just a few minutes," Boch offered. "Thought you should know."
"Well, thank you, I appreciate that," Daniel answered sarcastically. "I'd appreciate it even more if you'd get me out of these ..." Clenching his teeth he hissed, "Straps," and heaved against them angrily, uselessly.
"Sorry, buddy. No can do."
"What -- do you think -- I'm going to do?" Daniel spat. "Keep the shackles! Just get me out of these straps!"
"Hey, I'm with you. I wish I could, really. If it were up to me, we'd never have put them on. But it wasn't my call. Still isn't."
Daniel rolled his head back, closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"Ke'ra." The name came to him in a quick flash of despair. His muscles relaxed as his anger faded, but he was left stiff and sore.
God! What had she become? Should he have let her die? No! How could he? Yet his efforts to save her had turned her into something none of them could have expected, a soul so tortured and twisted that even as Linea she would have been better off.
Daniel didn't quite catch Aris Boch's next words.
"What?" He asked with no real interest.
"You should be careful what you call her. Sometimes Ke'ra's the right answer. Other times she'll claw you to pieces if you call her that. You're better off just calling her "Hey, you. But," Boch shook his head, "the straps weren't her idea either, although she doesn't seem too bothered by them."
Daniel's silent glare and raised eyebrows were all that was needed to prompt more of an answer.
"It's the buyer's idea. Seems you've earned a reputation for slipping through Apophis' fingers. This time, it's our behinds if that happens."
"Apophis?" Daniel felt little surprise at that revelation.
"Well,... Probably. Eventually."
Daniel sighed in frustration. "Why do you have to be so cryptic? No. Wait. Don't tell me. It's the buyer's idea."
Boch smiled. "See. There you go. I knew you were smart."
Apparently this order of secrecy extended further still. Before Daniel could ask another question or utter another complaint, the bounty hunter slapped a wide strip of some kind of clear tape across his mouth, effectively sealing it shut -- so effectively, in fact, Daniel's immediate concern had nothing to do with his inability to shout, should that need arise. Rather, his first thoughts were of suffocation. If his allergies kicked in and clogged his sinuses while the tape was still in place, breathing could quickly become impossible. He received regular allergy shots at the SGC, but he hadn't taken his daily antihistamine since the evening before SG-1 left for Vyus.
Daniel had no idea how long ago that was.
As though in preparation for that possibility, he inhaled deeply through his nose, finding himself grateful that he could, and then turned an angry, puzzled look on his captor.
Boch shrugged. "Sorry, guy. Buyer's orders."
It was obvious Boch was not pleased to be fulfilling these unusual requirements. But Daniel could find no sympathy for the bounty hunter's discomfort -- especially when Boch's next move was to wrap a mask around Daniel's eyes. Made of an odd, black material that quickly molded itself to the shape of Daniel's skull, the mask sealed his eyes as completely as the tape sealed his mouth.
Blind, mute and essentially paralyzed, Daniel Jackson was now as helpless as he'd ever been. Part of him sent out an immediate mental plea for help to his teammates. Yet another part, somewhere closer to his heart, prayed he would not be found, that his friends would remain safely oblivious to his plight, and so not fall victim to it as well. He was alone and admittedly afraid. But the fact that he was alone also gave him comfort. With that thought, he calmed his racing heart, and listened for what might come next, surprised to find himself able to do so. For whatever reason, Boch left his ears free.
Unable to flee, unable to scream against whatever torture was sure to come, and utterly unable to resist, Daniel Jackson could clearly hear his future approaching with the steady cadence of marching Jaffa.
5
Jacob pointed to several spots on the star chart before him. "Osiris is known to have taken over ancient Jaffa encampments here, here and here. We've also found that he's converted the local, primitive populations of several planets in this area."
"Converted?" Jack was skeptical about Jacob's use of the term.
"They've been without Goa'uld rule for generations. Apparently Osiris decided it was time they found a new god."
"Ah," Jack nodded. "Of course. What was I thinking?"
Carter studied the location of the planets her father identified. "That's still a pretty small area to cover. It shouldn't be too hard to track him down."
"Except that he's moved on. He didn't find enough Jaffa to recruit, and only has a small number of the primitives with him. His control over them is limited to their belief in him as a deity. After learning about the rebellion on Earth, he's probably thinking such a hold can be tenuous at best. I guess he figures the larger the number, the bigger the potential for an uprising."
Jack felt suddenly hopeful. "So he doesn't have an army yet. That's good."
Jacob nodded and shrugged. "If we can find him. He's managed to get his hands on a Ha'tak vessel...."
Jack squinted in confusion and turned to Teal'c for the translation.
"A mother ship," The Jaffa offered, recognizing the unspoken request.
Impressed that the new Goa'uld in town could trade in a simple transport vessel and come away with the biggest ship on the lot, Jack whistled. "Okay, so Osiris has a big ship. That should make him easier to find, not harder, right?"
Jacob gave him the look, the one Jack remembered getting from disappointed teachers. Jack sighed, already knowing he was not going to like the answer, as Jacob directed them once again to the chart.
"We've speculated he might be heading to any one of these areas, the control over which is still up for grabs since Heru'ur's death."
Jack closed his eyes and whispered a soft "Oy".
"You can't narrow it down any further than that?" Carter's voice got higher and louder with each word. "It could take weeks to cover so much territory. Months, maybe."
Behind her, General Hammond's words cut in like a beacon through heavy fog. "Then we'd better get started."
It was not only the voice of command; it was the voice of determination. Jack nodded in appreciation, and then drew in a deep breath, steeling himself for what lay ahead.
* * *
The platform Daniel had been strapped to was a mobile one. Surrounded by Jaffa, he felt his body rise as the platform was lifted, and could sense himself being propelled feet first toward his next destination. But they had not gone far when this forward motion came to an abrupt halt. Seconds later, a deep, resonating hum and the familiar prickly feel of an energy field told him he had been taken through transport rings.
He was no longer on Boch's ship.
Where then? A planet? A mother ship?
Once again flanked by the metallic echoes of marching Jaffa, it was clear he was still inside something. The sound of each footfall was far too tinny to indicate dirt or rocks.
Given the straps, the shackles and the Jaffa, escape was highly unlikely. Still, Daniel could not prevent himself from hoping a Stargate waited nearby. He needed to believe he was in a building ... on a planet ... with a Stargate. He needed that link to home. He needed to believe there was a chance, however small, to make it back to the SGC.
The marching continued in a pulsing beat that pounded its way into Daniel's brain, hammering out thoughts of what might lie in wait when this journey came to an end. As he was moved through countless twists and turns, down countless endless corridors, a thousand nightmare images grew out of those thoughts. He cringed from the remembered pain of a ribbon device, even knowing there could be worse in store for him. Much worse.
Daniel tried to fight back with pleasant memories of Sha're. Yet Ke'ra came through instead. He saw the young woman in her VIP room at the SGC, her visage one of impassioned innocence, her lips so close, so delicate, so inviting. Then he saw her as she had appeared to him just hours before.
Ke'ra was no more.
She had become another loss, another casualty of Daniel's cursed existence.
First, Sha're was taken by the Goa'uld, her soul trapped as her body became the vessel of a hated usurper. Then Ke'ra -- innocent, caring Ke'ra -- possessed of the lust for knowledge that once led her to become Linea, Destroyer of Worlds, had finally and irreversibly stumbled upon the path of madness. Even Sarah, who should have been safely tucked within the walls of Daniel's academic past, had fallen victim to the Goa'uld, a creature that had long ago evicted Daniel from those same walls by enticing him with its altered version of history -- a version shunned by his colleagues yet known to be true by the select few who operated and monitored the SGC.
He was responsible for each of those women. Without him, surely their lives would have been different. Wouldn't they?
No.
He took a deep breath and tried to push these new thoughts from his mind. If it hadn't been for Daniel, Sha're might still be a slave of Ra. Ke'ra might never have existed; the transformation which had changed her from Linea would never have occurred if SG-1 had not inadvertently freed her from Hadante prison. And Sarah.... Sarah would, very probably, still have fallen victim to Osiris.
Somewhere during his musings, the marching stopped.
A sudden jolt heralded the Jaffas' careless release of the platform, and Daniel swallowed the grunt that would not escape his trapped lips.
Silence ensued. A stillness which gave him perhaps a greater sense of unease than the crashing footfalls of the Jaffa threatened from outside his tight cocoon. Daniel listened, waiting for something to announce where he had been taken, into whose hands Aris Boch had delivered him. Only then might he begin to understand why.
As he listened, as he waited for the first of his answers, Daniel's mind, unable to remain as still as his surroundings, took him on a roller-coaster ride into an impossible, improbable and dreaded world only a nightmare might produce. His heart danced in startled reaction. His breaths began to come in abbreviated sniffs, causing him to remember his earlier fear of suffocation.
Finally, into that dark silence, into that whirlwind stillness, a voice beckoned him, a soft, lilting voice offering the warm and comforting sound of home -- of another home, of another time.
"Hello, Daniel."
Sarah? No. It must be a trick of his over-active mind.
"You don't believe what you're hearing, do you?"
He could imagine Sarah smiling at his surprise, could hear that familiar smile in her welcome voice.
"It's alright to believe, Daniel. I seem to recall saying that to you long ago. Do you remember? Can you remember when I told you it's alright to believe, but sometimes you have to keep your dreams inside? I told you to keep silent about your theories, didn't I? I knew you would be laughed at, ridiculed. You needed more evidence, whether you were right or not. You do remember that, don't you?"
Sarah! Oh, God! It was Vyus all over again, Daniel trapped, his body useless. This was no different. Except now Sarah took Ke'ra's place.
"Well, that's what I have to do now. I have to keep my dreams inside. I have to lock away any hope, any belief that maybe someday someone will come to free me from the prison Osiris has trapped me in; a prison inside my own body."
No. This was different. Sarah sounded very calm, very sane. Her voice quivered slightly, yet she was in control. Yes. She was in control. Not Osiris.
"You're still questioning, aren't you? That's our Daniel, alright. Never satisfied with the simplest truth. You always did have to go deeper, to find the most impossible, the most extreme answers. But you don't have to question this. This is real. I'm real."
As though to prove her words, she touched him, her soft fingers tenderly brushing his cheek. The warmth of that touch was a welcome relief from the chill of fear that had overtaken the rest of his body. Yet in an instant it was gone. That small, brief connection to her was lost when she pulled away and continued her discourse.
"Osiris has chosen to give me this moment. He wants to feel my anguish over watching you suffer. My emotions are his entertainment. But I will only give him so much, Daniel. Only so much. That's why I lock my dreams away. When I don't, I become the one to attract ridicule. His ridicule."
"The demon sleeps." Sha're's voice beckoned from the depths of Daniel's memories, her words giving him hope for Sarah. He could help her. He could take her to the Tollans. They could free her from the Goa'uld.
Yet how could he tell her these things? How could he let her know there was room for hope?
Help me!
Daniel's hands curled into fists as the words died unspoken.
"Can you imagine it, Daniel?" Sarah's voice now seemed to mock what Sha're would offer. "Having no control over what you do? That's what he's trying to do to you, to show you what you've done to me. He wants you to know what it's like to have no control over your own body. To see only what he chooses to let you see. To speak only when he chooses to let you. To do only what he would have you do."
God, Sarah! Don't let him do this!
"But can you imagine it, really? Can you imagine killing someone, slowly, horribly; reaching out your own hand, completely against your will, to snap a child's neck? This is what Osiris does to me, Daniel. This, and more."
Daniel shook his head forcibly from side to side. It was the only way he could even try to communicate with her. It wasn't enough.
"He wants me to hate you. He wants me to blame you for letting this happen to me. I must admit, sometimes I do want to blame you. It would be easy to do. It feels good to have someone to blame, and I'm sorry to say you would be quite the easy target. If you had shared your little secret about the Stargate, I might have known to use more caution; I might have known there was a reason for caution beyond protecting the artifacts."
The tension of Daniel's own desperation melted from the heat of these words. I'm sorry, Sarah. I had no choice.
"For a while, I did blame you. You knew, Daniel. You knew. And yet you told me nothing."
I had no choice.
"Of course, I do know why you held your secret. I know how governments work. I would never have expected you to fall into those politics, but I suppose if it would satisfy your own need to know, then perhaps it does make sense.
"No. I can't blame you. You did what you had to do. Just, please understand, Daniel, that I do what Osiris must. I have even less choice than you. Just ... remember that."
Fingers reached under Daniel's mask, ripping it from his face. He blinked against the sudden onslaught of light, but his eyes were quick to adjust as he focused on the figure forming before him.
Sarah!
But the smile was not hers. It was too arrogant, too hateful.
When that all-too-familiar glow flashed in her eyes, Daniel's stomach lurched in silent protest.
6
"You are a pathetic, little man, Daniel Jackson." Osiris glared at Daniel. "You, who dared to attack Osiris. You, who allowed the Tau'ri's rebellion to continue into the stars."
It laughed softly, cruelly. "I cannot see how you have been such a bane to Apophis. Yet, that you have will be useful to me. Apophis will come to appreciate my value when I reveal you to him. He will owe me much. And he will pay."
Sarah's head tilted sideways as her brows furrowed curiously. "How is it that I see more anger than fear in your eyes?" She shrugged. "It is of no matter. That will change."
Her hand rose before him, her fingers opening to reveal the ribbon device in her palm.
Daniel winced instinctively.
"Ah, so this you do fear. Very wise, Daniel Jackson. Remember that fear. Remember it well."
Withdrawing Sarah's hand without activating the device, Osiris turned toward the Jaffa by the door. "Jaffa, Kree!"
At that command, both Ke'ra and Aris Boch were ushered into the room. Neither appeared to be captive. Ke'ra even smiled. Yet there was no mistaking the distrust in the cautious stance of the Jaffa surrounding them.
Sarah's eyes met Ke'ra's, and both women smiled broadly. Once more, Daniel heard Ke'ra giggle playfully. As Sarah's hand reached out in invitation, Ke'ra hurried forward, eager to take it.
"You are the woman I have been told of?" Osiris reached a delicate hand to gently stroke Ke'ra's golden curls. "The woman who seeks rebirth?"
Ke'ra moved into Osiris' touch, pressing her cheek towards the other's open palm.
"Oh, yes." Her answer was spoken with the ecstatic anticipation of a young lover during fore-play. "I will do as you say. I will be yours forever, only for this gift you alone can bestow upon me."
"Then come." Osiris led Ke'ra to a platform parallel to Daniel's, not quite four feet away.
He tried to meet her eyes, but she would see nothing and no one except Osiris. Daniel wasn't even sure what Ke'ra perceived Osiris' body to be. Oddly, she seemed to focus on the Goa'uld within, rather than the woman without. And somehow, despite what thieves and butchers the Goa'uld by nature were, she was in awe, enraptured with the ideal of this one who stood before her.
Beside the platform, Ke'ra allowed a Jaffa to touch her, and even assisted him in removing her dress. She giggled again, and then lay down, naked, upon the smooth, golden surface.
Daniel watched in wide-eyed horror, seeing this woman, this young woman he could so easily have come to love, place herself before Osiris as a willing sacrifice.
My God! This couldn't possibly be the bargain she'd made. Could it? But why?
Daniel heard Ke'ra's voice in his thoughts. I will become someone strong and powerful. She'd been so certain. I will be worshipped and adored.
He finally came to see the truth he wouldn't allow himself to consider before, a truth he couldn't have imagined as possible. Angry and desperate to be freed, to at least be allowed to voice the shout stuck uselessly in his throat, Daniel threw his head back against his own platform and squirmed against his bindings. But there was no point to his struggle, no hope to be gained from it.
Finally surrendering, he gave his attention back to Ke'ra
Her chest heaved in excitement. Her face beamed with a smile greater than she had ever given Daniel.
When a priestess was brought to stand at Ke'ra's side, Daniel closed his eyes tightly. But he was not a child who could run and hide to make the monsters go away. He could not simply make a wish to have this nightmare end. Nor could he ignore the desperate mistake this confused, young woman was about to make.
He opened his eyes in time to see the newly matured Goa'uld stretch out from the priestess' pouch to investigate the young woman being offered to it. As its reptilian, crowned head came close to her face, still Ke'ra's smile did not waver. So certain was she of her decision, she looked to it in fascination, her excitement nearing orgasmic intensity.
But it did not accept the offering.
Uninterested, it slithered back into the pouch. The priestess rearranged her garments and walked away, unconcerned, taking with her Ke'ra's dreams of glory.
Too confused yet to be angry, Ke'ra sat up on the platform, her face contorting in a shift between smiles and puzzlement. She met Osiris' glowing eyes, begging for an answer. Sarah's lips smiled back -- even as her hand raised the ribbon device before her.
Still smiling, Osiris caught Ke'ra in the device's energy beam. He held her in its grip until her eyes glazed in familiar emptiness. When he released the beam, Ke'ra fell back. Her body hit the platform, the momentum turning her head until she faced Daniel.
Daniel looked at her eyes, at the lifelessness reflecting back at him. He refused to turn away, refused to ignore the end result of his own desperate belief in fairy tales. You can forget, he'd told her so long ago. But could he?
* * *
Jack stepped back through the Stargate at the SGC prepared to voice a string of complaints about the miserably damp conditions on P38-211 and the Tok'ras' continuing failure to zero in on Osiris. But suddenly none of that mattered. He forgot everything else the instant he saw the figure waiting with General Hammond at the bottom of the ramp.
"Colonel O'Neill," Aris Boch greeted him with a wide smile. "Bet you never expected to see me here, now did you?"
Jack looked to Hammond.
"General?" The rest of his question was expressed through his raised eyebrows and critical glare. "Sir?"
"Colonel, this gentleman sought out SG-7 on Vyus...."
Jack would have commented on Hammond's use of the word gentleman, but another caught his full attention. "Vyus, sir?" His glare moved to Boch, as his hand went instinctively to his side-arm. He stopped just short of drawing the weapon.
"Yep," Boch answered instead. "Seems we've made a mutual acquaintance. A certain psycho-broad with a love-hate thing going on with your Dr. Jackson."
Jack tensed as he fingered his weapon. "Oh, is that right? Well, then let me guess. You made a little deal with her, didn't you?" His eyes went cold.
Without giving himself even a moment to consider his actions, Jack drew his gun and held it mere inches from the bounty hunter's face. "Where is he? What did you do to him?"
"Stand down, Colonel!" General Hammond commanded harshly.
"General," Jack kept his focus on Boch, "I don't know what he told you, but this man is...."
"Colonel!" Hammond shouted once more.
The bounty hunter never flinched.
Jack forced his gaze away, noticed the number of weapons leveled at him in the gateroom. He let his arm fall and looked to the general.
"Colonel," Hammond lightened his tone but remained stern, "Mr. Boch here insists he knows Osiris' whereabouts. He claims to have an interest in helping us to recover Dr. Jackson."
"Is that right? An interest?" He looked hard at Boch. "And what's that? You working both sides, now? You want us to pay you double whatever Osiris paid?"
Boch squinted and hissed in a poor attempt to put up a wounded front. "Oh, now that's cold, Colonel! You should know me better than that."
"I should, huh? Well, just tell me then. Did you or did you not help Linea kidnap Daniel?"
"That's enough, Colonel," Hammond interrupted. "Report with your team to the briefing room immediately."
He refused to look away from Boch.
"I said now, Colonel!"
Jack held his position for a moment longer. "Yes, sir," He answered, finally pulling away. "But if Daniel isn't … if we don't get him back in the condition we last saw him, I suggest you hold this man fully responsible."
One last, hateful glare made it clear that Jack O'Neill already considered Boch tried and convicted -- and more. He was just waiting to answer the call for an executioner.
please proceed to Chapter 2