Chapter 4

How much pain and suffering can a mere human being endure before the myriad of threads that binds us to our fragile psyche starts to fray and disassemble?

The thought ran through Daniel's mind, over and over again in a continuous loop as he sat slumped against the hard bulkhead of the attack vessel. He leaned his head against the cool metal of the ship and listened to the persistent throbbing at his temples as it beat in unison with the ships engines.

The pain in his head and the coppery taste of blood in his mouth made him feel nauseous, but it wasn't the only reason that he felt nauseated.

Ever since they had been brought back from their last visit to the interrogation chamber, he hadn't been able to snatch his eyes away from the shadowy bundle that lay cradled in his lap. She was still, for Daniel frighteningly so, and only the soft rise and fall of his hand resting on her abdomen confirmed that she was still alive.

Sam.

It had been six days.

Six days since they had been ringed up from the planet's surface. Six days of constant physical and emotional pain, of hearing the firebrand crackle into life followed by the acrid smell of burning flesh as it made contact with her unprotected skin.

Six days of hearing her heart wrenching screams, as tormented as any souls stranded within the seventh ring of hell.

Six days of watching someone you deeply care about being beaten to the point of unconsciousness, willing her to just go under, because only then would the hammer blows stop raining down upon her ever weakening body.

Worse than any torture was the sense of guilt that insidiously devoured his heart at the thought that all of this had partly been his fault.

No matter how noble his intentions had been.

In the end he had inadvertently betrayed her.

Daniel had been surprised at how long it had taken him to finally crack, it had been a whole lot longer than he had expected. Watching Sam being tortured was the hardest thing he had ever had to witness, and when he had broken, it had taken an unexpected turn, one he hadn't seen coming and with hindsight he should never have embraced.

Daniel's mind wandered back to that fateful encounter.

They had been left in their cell for most of the morning before Kefflin had sent his guards to bring them to him. Although battered and bleeding, her skin tender and raw from the burns inflicted by the firebrand, Sam had refused to show any outward sign of her suffering. She had stood ramrod straight, her weakened body forced by her willpower alone to walk unaided out of the cell toward the chamber and their awaiting torturer.

There were no formalities this time. Kefflin continued his interrogation where he had left off the night before.

"Which one of you is responsible for killing the boy?" This time the commando knife was held between his hands, the dulled tip pressing slightly against the skin of his middle finger. "It is futile to resist and you will only encounter more pain by your continued silence."

Daniel had refused to react.

Kefflin's face had remained a mask of indifference, almost nonchalant, apart from a tiny flicker of his right eye.

The blow from the guard's baton came without warning, the impact sending Sam crashing to her knees, tearing an agonised moan from her mouth. The second blow caught her in the kidneys, her body arching backward as she tried to sustain the agony within. The guard stepped forward sliding his baton against the exposed skin of her throat and two handed he had wrenched the baton back, choking Sam in the process.

Daniel hadn't been able to stand by and watch anymore.

"Stop it!"He had taken a darting step forward only to have one of the guards grab his arms and yank him back. "Can't you see you're killing her!"

"Tell me what I need to know."A small, almost unnoticeable, smile had tugged at the corner of Kefflin's mouth at the sight of Daniel's distress. "To which of you does the knife belong?"

The interrogation chamber had filled with the strangled gasps of his friend as she struggled to breathe, her face becoming an ever darkening red, her hands clawing ineffectually at those of the guard that held the baton to her throat.

It had reminded Daniel of the death throes of the young boy on the planet's surface.

"TELL ME!"

The hand holding the knife tensed before releasing, sending the blade soaring into the air before it embedded itself inches away from Sam's right leg.

"It was me!" Daniel screamed, the sound of his voice raw with emotion. "I did it!"

At a curt nod from Kefflin the guard had pulled the baton away and took a step back. Sam fell forward, the palms of both hands stopping her forward momentum as she braced them against the deck. She pulled in a lungful of precious air, wheezing as it caught in her damaged windpipe causing her to retch.

The contents of her stomach made acquaintance with the interrogation room floor.

"You!"

Kefflin's incredulity at Daniel's confession was masked by the anger in his voice. Snatching up the firebrand from where it had been resting he had stalked over to where Daniel stood, bringing the inactive tip of the weapon up under the archaeologist's chin, causing him to flinch as the cold metal met the warmth of his exposed skin.

"You killed the boy?"

"Yes!" He had nodded in the direction of Sam who was shakily gulping in more air, her body trembling with the effort. "You have your answer, you don't need to beat her anymore."

The firebrand lowered slowly, only to be replaced by the unexpectedly hard impact of Kefflin's fist as it made contact with Daniel's jaw. The strike caused his head to snap to the side, and his mouth to fill with blood.

"He was my son." Kefflin's lips had thinned into a narrow bloodless line, and eyes that before were cold and malevolent now shone hot with unrestrained fury, "you killed my only son."

"Oh Sweet Jesus!"

Sam's exclamation had been hoarse and soft but Daniel had heard it all the same. It was as though at that moment she had been channelling his own thoughts.

"He was sixteen!" The timbre of Kefflin's voice began to rise steadily. "He was but a boy!"

The firebrand flashed into life and Daniel had only a moment to steady himself before Kefflin thrust it into his midriff. Hot searing pain coursed through his body, igniting within him every nerve ending and fibre. Daniel sank to his knees, a scream tearing from his throat as the agony intensified.

Kefflin's eyes had become manic, his lightly concealed anger now a torrent of unrestrained rage. He pushed the firebrand harder into Daniel's stomach, forcing him onto his side. It had felt as if his blood were boiling and he could swear that he could smell his flesh igniting beneath his clothing.

He had twitched and jerked upon the floor like an insect caught in an electrical field.

His vision had begun to grey out.

"It wasn't Daniel!" Sam's voice still hoarse from her choking broke through Daniel's pain fogged mind. "It was me. I killed your son."

He should have recognized that she wouldn't let him take the blame and the punishment for something he hadn't done.

Her sense of honour and duty just wouldn't allow it.

Kefflin moved the firebrand away from Daniel's shaking body and turned his attention back to Sam.

"First neither of you take responsibility for the death of my son and now it would appear that both of you do." Kefflin turned back toward Daniel, the firebrand sparking into life again. "I admire your noble sentiment Colonel."

"It's the truth... if you don't believe me," Sam's voice had become stronger, tinged with a calmness that Daniel knew must have belied the anxiety that she must have been feeling within, "then check with your men as to whose scabbard was empty when they brought us in."

Daniel's mind had screamed silently for Kefflin to ignore her protest, knowing in his heart the consequences that awaited his friend. But of course Kefflin hadn't heeded Daniel's silent request and the guards had confirmed her story.

Daniel had been hauled to his feet and a brief glance passed between him and Sam. There in the depths of her blue eyes he had seen the gratitude that she felt for his attempt to save her from the fate that now awaited her; and briefly he saw the sorrow that she felt at the realisation that he was going to have to witness her continued suffering and probable death. Just before they hauled her away from him the carefully constructed military shield slipped down once more and her fiercely held determination reasserted itself.

Daniel had watched, totally shattered by his unintentional collusion, as Kefflin's fury became a torrent of rage directed solely toward his best friend.

"Trust me when I say Colonel Carter, that for you death will be a long and agonising journey."

So far he had been true to his word.

Daniel sighed and closed his eyes against the unwanted memory.

God!

She had taken such a severe beating, and had done every day since then.

All because of him.

Because he, in his naïve stupidity had thought that confessing to the knife would take some of the pressure off of her and direct the savagery instead toward him.

Instead of saving her, he had made it a million times worse.

Jack had been right. Sometimes he just didn't think. He acted on his own moral sensibilities without thought or fear of the consequences. Now the woman laying motionless and broken in his lap was paying the ultimate price for his naivety.

He honestly didn't know how much more she could take? Her body was becoming weaker with each and every beating and the scars and burns on her body seeped blood and puss that only served to weaken her more. With the little water that the guards gave them, Daniel had set about cleaning her wounds each evening, hoping, probably in vain, that he could at least keep sepsis at bay.

Daniel shifted slightly against the bulkhead, ignoring the pneumonic drill that started tearing up the sidewalk in his head. Even so that slightest of movements sent bolts of lightning flashing through his brain, sending his senses spinning in a carousal of dizzying movement. Hot liquid bile cascaded up his throat and into his mouth. His stomach objected, contracting violently and he had to move his head quickly to the side so as not to retch up that morning's meagre meal all over Sam.

He wiped a shaky hand across his mouth, appalled at his body's lack of control.

Concussion.

It was nothing compared to Sam's injuries, just a reminder from the guards of their presence whenever he gets out of line and tries to break free of their restraint. His voice is also raw from all the pleading and screaming that makes up his days now.

A soft moan caused him to look down. She was stirring, the first time she had moved in hours and it sent a jolt of relief cascading through him. Tenderly he slipped his hands further under her body, pulling her slowly against him, until her head and back were braced against his chest. Her head rolled to one side, and a small shaft of light from the ceiling above provided him with an up to date glimpse of the damage that had been inflicted upon her.

Her blonde hair was matted with a mixture of dry and wet blood. Her left eye was grotesquely swollen. The gash on her cheek looked angry and puckered, and blood had seeped from her nose, coursing its way across her bruised and battered lips, staining them red before it had pooled at her chin to drip and slide down her neck.

She moaned softly, unintelligible words spilling from her as her body started to stiffen and then thrash against him as she subconsciously relived moments of her torture. Not for the first time since this ordeal began Daniel whispered soothing words against her ear, some in English but many in the strange Latinesque language of the Ancients. The melodic words calmed her, even though he knew that she didn't understand them and she settled back against him, the tension leaving her muscles in increments.

When he pulled back a little to see if she was alright, he found her watching him.

"Daniel?"

Her voice was slurred caused by the unnatural swelling of her lips and tongue. She moved slightly, wincing as pain lashed against her body.

"Easy," he ran soft fingers across her brow, "take it easy, Sam."

He moved his hand away from her and returned moments later with a small cup of water. Tenderly he lifted it to her lips and watched as she sipped at the tepid liquid. After a couple of mouthfuls she pushed the cup away, and settled back against him, but not before he noticed the grimace of pain that contorted her features.

Her breathing was laboured and he could hear a rattling wheeze as she struggled to take in each shallow hiss of breath through clenched teeth.

It was a worrying sign in a catalogue of worrying signs.

"How long was I out?"

"Hours," he shook his head slightly, "I don't know how long, but it seemed like forever." His fingers unconsciously began to smooth across her brow once more, and he watched as she briefly closed her eyes at the touch. "I didn't think you were coming back this time," his voice caught slightly upon the last word, "I was sure he was going to kill you."

"And deprive himself of his sadistic pleasure," she shook her head, wincing at the movement, "he isn't ready yet. I haven't even begun to pay the price that he wants to exact from me."

Daniel tore open a pocket on his combats, the sound of the tearing Velcro loud within their prison cell.

"He knows just how far to take it…how far to go…to the edge of the abyss and no more," she was quiet for a moment as though contemplating her next words, "and there is much, much worse to come."

"What do you mean?" Daniel's hand moved gently across her face, wiping away the blood with a moistened piece of cloth torn from his green bandana. It was the last semi clean piece of material that he had and he was getting more and more concerned that he was running out of clean things with which to treat her injuries.

He concentrated upon his movements, trying not to dwell upon the worrying feelings that Sam's words had invoked within him. The cloth brushed against her swollen lips and he heard a hiss of pain escape from between her clenched teeth. Quickly he moved his hand away, cleaning the bloodied material in the small cup of water by his side. As he moved his hand back, Sam's fingers curled tightly around his wrist stopping his movements.

"Daniel," her determined blue eyes glistened with unshed tears, "this is going to get much worse. You're going to have to start preparing yourself."

"For what?"

A solitary tear escaped its confinement and trickled slowly down her bloodstained face. He desperately wanted to brush it away, but Sam's fingers were holding his hand with a vice like grip.

"For the fact that I'm not getting off this ship alive."

"Sam!" Daniel finally managed to extricate his hand from hers and continued his slow and gentle cleaning of her face and neck. "Don't talk like that."

"It's true."

She went to say more but an unexpected bout of coughing stopped her in her tracks, causing her body to contract and shudder in pain.

"AHHH! GOD!"

"Sam?"

Daniel's worried voice resonated around the empty chamber. He watched as she clutched at her ribcage, her mouth pulled back in a twisted grimace, her hands shaking against her body with the effort of fighting down the pain.

"Sam, what is it?"

"My ribs…" she gasped, "…can't…breathe."

He moved her hands away as he gently lowered her to the floor.

"Let me check you out."

He pulled the soiled BDU jacket apart, raising the bloodstained tank vest so that it exposed her torso.

Even in the semi darkness of the cell he could make out the purple, black bruising across her ribcage. Silently he cursed both Kefflin and himself for letting this happen. He ran his fingers across her torso until they settled over her ribs and slowly he began to softly palpitate the area.

"Please…don't…" Sam whimpered.

From the unnatural feel of her fourth and fifth ribs he could tell that they were at the very least cracked, but more likely broken. He just hoped to God that she hadn't punctured a lung.

"Crap!"

He moved his hand away and turned instead to his own soiled BDU jacket. He tore it off his body and wadded it up into a ball, placing it under her head like a pillow. Then he pulled his black tee shirt over his head.

"It's gonna need to be strapped."

He began ripping his tee into long strips.

"Daniel…listen…to me," each of her words was punctuated with a gasp, "I'm… not…making it…off … this ship."

She began coughing again, rolling onto her side, hugging herself around the mid-drift, pulling her knees up tightly against her body.

A spray of blood peppered the floor beside her.

"Oh Jesus!"

Daniel looked away, closing his eyes against the bloody evidence that he had seen on the floor. He ran a shaky hand across his lips before opening his eyes. Turning back toward her, he used one of the strips of tee shirt to wipe the bloody mess from her mouth.

She was staring at him, her eyes wide with understanding.

"Let's get you strapped up."

Daniel bent down toward her, slipping the long dark strips of cotton under her back and wrapping them around her torso. As bandages went they were woefully inadequate and he doubted if they would do the job of keeping her injured ribs immobile.

"Sooner or later… he's going to tire of the game," Sam's voice had lost some of its gasping weakness, "when he does…" she let the rest of her words trail off unvoiced but not unheard.

"They'll find us before then."

Daniel sounded more confident than he actually felt. He fastened off the last piece of fabric and gently covered the makeshift strapping with her vest. Scooting further up her prone body he pulled the wadded up jacket from beneath her head, and shrugged it back on. Then he positioned himself behind her, his back braced against the bulkhead so that his bare chest became her pillow. Gingerly he pulled her back against him.

"They've got to be looking for us by now."

"Where would they start?" There was an edge of scepticism in Sam's voice. "I doubt that we are still in orbit around the planet. It'll be like looking for the proverbial needle within a galactic haystack."

"They'll find us, Sam, they'll use the telemetry from our locator chips."

He felt her body soften against his as she relaxed against him. He was already dreading the long night ahead and more so the morning to come, for he feared the outcome should Sam have to face another beating from Kefflin. He couldn't get the sight of Sam coughing up blood from his mind and his worries were only more compounded by the knowledge that she was probably bleeding internally.

Would she even be alive come the morning?

Cold despair seeped through his mind and body making him chilled to the core. Losing Sam would be like losing a part of himself. He gazed down into her slackened face as she rested fitfully against him. He ran unsteady fingers gently through her matted hair, trying to soothe himself with the knowledge that for now she was still alive. He bent his head and placed a soft kiss upon her brow, feeling the hot warmth of her fevered skin and the steady beat of her pulse on his lips.

He pulled away and rested his head against the metallic bulkhead of the ship and closed his eyes. He knew he wouldn't sleep tonight, but he could at least rest.

"Prepare yourself, Daniel."

Sam's words echoed softly around the chamber.

"No! I'm not going to lose you. I refuse to think that way."

"He's going to kill me. It's in his eyes. I see it every single time he lays a hand on me. He's keeping it in check, but eventually he'll let it go and when he does there will be no hiding from it."

He felt her hand smooth across his, opening his fingers and softly entwining her own amongst them. She held his hand tightly, pulling it toward her battered mouth and placed a series of soft kisses upon the back of his knuckles. He closed his eyes and savoured the sensation, letting it take him away from this hell of a place if only for the briefest of moments.

"Daniel, there's something else you should know."

Sam's voice had taken on a regrettable tone, as though she was going to impart some awful truth.

"What is it?"

Opening his eyes, he gazed down upon her sad but determined face. Tears shone in her eyes before slipping over the parapets of her lashes and cascading down her cheeks.

"There's a torture method he hasn't used yet," her watery blue eyes met with his and held them with the force of her gaze, "there's another way to torture a woman."

New tears seeped from her eyes and he realised that she wasn't crying for herself, she was crying for him.

"It's only a matter of time before he uses it, and when he does," her hand squeezed his so tightly that he let out an audible gasp, " when he does, Daniel, you have to promise me."

"Promise you what?"

"You have to promise me, you won't break."

"Sam…"

"You'll want to, Daniel." Her grip lessened a little on his hand, " You'll want to tell him everything. You'll want to tell him just to make it stop. You can't do that, Daniel. Under no circumstances can you do that, no matter what he makes you see."

"Sam, what the hell are you…"

"Think about it...," her voice softened then, and she grasped his hand between both of hers, "think about what he hasn't done to me yet?"

Daniel stared at her until comprehension hit him like a bolt of lightning. He opened his mouth to speak but no words formed on his lips.

He shook his head in denial.

"You can't mean he'd…"

"Wouldn't he?"

Daniel's free hand curled into a fist and he beat it against the floor in frustration.

"I won't let him do that to you."

"You won't have a choice. They will make you watch. They will use what he does to me as a lever to use against you, but you mustn't cave in, Daniel. Promise me you won't tell them anything. Not the whereabouts of the others, and especially not the iris codes."

He looked into her battered face, at the blooded broken lips and at her bruised cheekbones. Behind the hurt and pain he could still see her steely determination and wondered how the hell she could just keep on going.

"I can't make that promise. I don't think I could witness something like that without trying to do something about it." He shook his head softly. "You're asking too much of me."

Sam's hand ran smoothly over his face, her fingers rasping against his days old stubble. It was an intimate gesture, one that normally she would never have contemplated but he knew that she was trying to derive some kind of comfort from their shared closeness.

"No matter how bad it gets tomorrow. No matter how violating or humiliating the torture, I will handle it. I will handle it Daniel, as long as I know that I can count on you." She tried to smile, but with her injuries it looked like a twisted grimace. "I'm going to need you in a way that you could never have expected. I'm going to need you to be strong…for me…" her fingertips smoothed across his lips, "…for us."

"I'll try."

He bent his head to hers, covering her mouth with his own. He felt her lips yield against his as she returned the kiss, felt it deepen as they sealed their promise.