When they arrived they were shuffled off the ship. The prisoners were led into a large stone building, almost like a castle. Jack's soldiers looked tense, like they might make a run for it. Jack knew that would be a bad idea. There were too many guards, with no place to go. They had no idea where they were or where the stargate was, or even if there was a stargate on this planet. Besides, Daniel might not even be able to figure out how to get them home, even if they made it to the gate. Jack made sure to make eye contact with the jumpiest officers, trying to calm them. No one made a move.
The courtyard they were led into was sparse and not overly large. Along the grey stone walls stood rank upon rank of alien soldiers in armor. On the battlement stood more, some behind large gun emplacements. During the walk here the Earthlings had clumped together, mostly in small groups. Charles, Jack, and Daniel had gravitated towards each other. The massive wood and metal doors that they had been led through swung shut behind them, closing with a sonorous clang. Across from the group was a short flight of steps which led up onto a platform that stretched across the entire wall. Another pair of doors, smaller yet equally intimidating, were placed dead center along this wall.
The doors opened. Through them walked a large, muscular man with a strange gold design centrally placed on his forehead. The prisoners were urged, through means such as pointing, shoving, shouting, and outright dragging, to form a single line fanned out in front of the man. He observed them coolly from atop the platform before smiling widely and spreading his arms in exultation.
"Welcome," he said in a booming voice, "to Chulak! I am Teal'c, and I will be the one who kills who."
A riffle of fear spread through the group.
"For most of you, your death will not be today. For others, be it through chance or accident, you will die at the hands of one of these men surrounding you. For those of you who are scared, let me be the first to assure you," Teal'c paused a moment to look each prisoner in the eye.
"You will never leave this place alive."
As murmurs of fear rippled across the group Teal'c indicated three people, all Abydonian. The guards behind them shoved them forward, grouping them together a short way in front of the other prisoners. The captives were forced to their knees, facing Teal'c. He walked down the stone steps, stopping a few feet in front of the three. He lowered the staff weapon he had been carrying and aimed it. He fired his weapon. He fired again. He fired a third time. Two died instantly, but one did not. Teal'c watched without emotion as the man lay gasping and bleeding in the dirt. After a moment that seemed like an eternity the man died. Teal'c turned, walked up the steps and through the doors. The prisoners were forced to follow him.
They were taken through a short series of hallways before coming to a long flight of stairs leading down. Down the steps they went. The hallways they had come from were brightly lit and richly appointed in brown and gold. Where they were now was dank, dark, and depressing. The halls above were lit with electric lights. Down below there was little besides torches. Above was wood and brass and warmth; below was nothing but bare earth and cold stone. As they made their way deeper into the dungeon they began to see arched openings leading into large rooms. It was too dark to see what was in these rooms, but a constant low susurration of fear and pain emanated from them.
The group was eventually led through one of those arches. It was a large room, open, divided only by cages. The prisoners, about forty in total, were split up and placed in the cages. Guards were posted in the shadows. The prisoners were left alone to nurse their fear.
Jack could see Charles. He seemed to have recovered during the flight, but the demonstration in the courtyard demoralized him again. He was in the cage next to Jack and Daniel's and seemed in no mood to talk. He walked to the far corner and curled up on the floor. Within moments he was either asleep or catatonic. Daniel, for his part, was trying to keep the Abydonians calm. For those in the other cages it seemed to have little effect, but for those with him it seemed to work, at least slightly.
Jack observed this, but could think of nothing that he could do to help. Instead he focused on memorizing the path they took to get here. Out the arch and to the left, up the stairs and through the halls. Into the courtyard and through the door, onto the landing platform and then no more. Where they landed had offered little by way of clear vistas, and Jack couldn't get a clear picture of what to do after that. Nevertheless he retraced their steps in his mind, growing more and more frustrated as time passed. Eventually he slipped into fitful slumber.
The interrogations began a few hours after they were placed in their cages. One person would be taken, and then, either a few minutes or an hour later, they would be returned. Some seemed unharmed, others were broken and bloody. Each time a person returned they were not placed in the same cell. Instead they were taken to a different one, with a prisoner selected from the new cell so that the group size did not change, only the arrangement of people within the cell. Those most shaken by their torture were spread evenly amongst the population so as to evenly spread their fear and hopelessness.
At no point were the prisoners allowed to see the outside world. There were no windows. The lighting was kept constant, making it difficult to tell how much time had passed. It could be a day; it might have been a week. Daniel and Jack tried to keep peoples spirits up, but as more and more of them broke the less able the two were able accomplish this goal. Some, like Major Young, were able to hold it together, and even help console those at the breaking point. Others, like Kawalski, had long since lapsed into silence, not even able to look Jack in the eye. Those that broke were not taken to be questioned as much others were, but they were not envied except by those about to break. Jack had been worried about Daniel, assuming he would falter and then fall quickly, but he had amazingly hung in there. Sure he was dour and a bit sullen, but he still kept his sanity. Jack assumed it was because he felt a powerful sense of responsibility for the Abydonians, particularly the one named Akil. Most of the prisoners were adults, with Akil clearly being the youngest. Daniel treated him like a son.
Jack was relieved to note that there was no sign of Kasuf, Skaara, or Shau're. Daniel told him that Kasuf wouldn't be harmed. The goa'uld liked to have a concessionist leader. Skaara wanted to fight alongside Daniel, but he wanted Skaara to protect Shau're, and so was absent when the troops started landing. Akil had surprised Daniel by showing up at his side without a word just as the first troops started entering the village. As far as Daniel knew, Skaara and Shau're had gone into hiding. With any luck they might have survived the attack. Jack had pressed Daniel for more information, but Daniel had given him an icy look before walking away. Jack knew not to pursue the issue.
/ / /
The interrogation room used by Teal'c was different than the one used by Apophis. Rather than shadows Teal'c preferred light. The first time a prisoner was brought to the room and strapped to a chair Teal'c explained the difference.
"In this room there are no secrets. You will see everything that I do, you will know my intentions. I will find out what I wish to know from you, or you will die, slowly and painfully. Once I have finished my interrogations, once I have found out all that I wish to know, then I may be able to spare the remainder of you. Those who are able may well be sent off to work in a mine, or to live on as indentured servants producing food or making weapons. Those who survive me will not live an easy life, but at least they will live. The swifter I find out what I wish to know, the more of you will have a life to live. In this room there is no darkness, only the blazing light of truth. Tell me what I wish to know. Tell me truth."
Daniel, when first hearing this speech, was quick to ask,
"What of those who are not able to do the work you describe?"
Teal'c looked him square in the eye as he answered.
"They will die. It will be quick and there will be little pain."
Teal'c spared little time on the Abydonians, concentrating instead on those from Earth. He quickly realized which members of the team would be susceptible to his manipulations, and which would not. Those that he could he broke quickly and sent them back to their cages to be emissaries of fear. It soon became apparent that he was most interested in Jack and Daniel, often questioning one after the other, sometimes multiple times. His reason for doing this was simple.
"You are their leader. You have the information I seek."
"Go to hell." Jack was tied to a chair in the center of the room. His voice was venomous.
"I have already found out much from you. I will find out the rest. You brought the device which destroyed Ra. You were able to organize the best defense possible when we captured you. You know how to lead men into battle. You have attempted to maintain the integrity of your fellow prisoners." Teal'c stared straight at his prisoner while he spoke.
"And yet none of that is information you have learned from our time together."
"You do not bow to authority. You are defiant. When you lie, it is not to deceive me. You lie to show your defiance. You threaten to destroy me even as you watch your comrades die, even as you are tied up and beaten. You are strong, and I respect that. But remember this; I do not interrogate you alone. What I learn from others I can verify through you."
"I will tell you nothing."
"So you have said."
/ / /
When he was with Daniel:
"I hate you."
"I am comfortable with your hatred. Tell me of your military. What is the greatest range of your military space ships?"
"Why would I know that? I'm an archaeologist." Daniel shouted.
"You have close ties to the military. What is the size of it?" Teal'c's voice was calm and steady.
"Why do you want to know?"
"So that I may plan an attack."
"You won't win."
"Yes, we will."
"I've seen how you handle people. You treat them like slaves." The derision in Daniels voice was clear.
"That is correct, for that is what they are." Teal'c maintained his monotone.
"They are not slaves! They are human beings with rights, they are people dammit!"
"And yet they act like cattle."
"Only because you have treated them as such."
"But if they are self-aware creatures, why do they let us treat them that way?"
"Because you have all the power. They can do little else besides survive. Of course they bow to your will. What other choice do they have?"
"Death." His voice was cold.
"That is not acceptable. If your only alternative is death then that is no choice at all."
"If our power is based on slavery, wouldn't the death of the slaves undermine our power?" There was a hint of emotion in Teal'c's voice as he said this. Daniel didn't know what to make of the change.
"Do you tell them this?"
"No."
"So why then would they even conceive of that as an option? Besides, you have no right to force them into such a position!"
"They serve us. That is the way of things."
"Only because you have all the power."
"Does not power confer right?" Again the hint of something beneath the icy façade that Teal'c projected.
"You need to study a lot more philosophy."
"I have."
"Evil people have a philosophy. That does not make their philosophy right."
"Power confers right."
"The hell it does! Sentience, self-awareness, that is what confers right! Trust me, those people chafe under your rule for a reason."
Teal'c raised one eyebrow and nodded his head slightly as though conceding a point in a debate.
"They cannot change the system. Any attempt to do so would end with their death."
"Only because you keep them technologically hobbled, only because you keep their numbers low. We threw off the shackles of your rule once before, you know." Daniels voice had been modulating throughout the conversation, moving from righteous indignation through to sullen disobedience and back again.
"You did not make any drastic change to the system."
"We did prove that it is possible for a people to stand up against their oppressors. We have done it before."
"And you think you will do it again?" And again the strange lilt in Teal'c's voice. Daniel suspected he was starting to see the pattern.
"We won't need to. We are stronger now, wiser. You will not win."
/ / /
A few hours later and Teal'c stood before Jack once again.
"Your people know freedom. They will fight us."
"Damn right they will."
"You could make this easier. We will win, in the end. There is no salvation for you among the stars." There was a slight change in Teal'c's voice, though this went unnoticed by Jack.
"We don't need salvation." Jack's voice was vehement.
"How can you hope to win, constrained by your one paltry planet?"
"The same way we won before. We will fight until there is no one left to fight."
"So you condemn your people to death?"
"You misunderstood me."
"You think you can win?" There was a hint of amusement, which Jack most certainly picked up on.
"Damn straight."
"Because you know freedom?"
"Yes."
"Righteousness does not guarantee victory."
"It guarantees that we will fight to the last man."
"So woman don't fight?"
"Ha, tell that to my ex-wife. Men and woman will fight, to protect their land, to protect their loved ones, to protect their children."
"They will not fight to protect themselves?"
"Of course they will you idiot. But they also fight for much more than that, they fight for each other. That's our strength."
"And so you will fight, and you will die, to protect the ones you love."
"Yes."
"You can save more lives by not fighting."
"Life as a slave is no life at all."
"Why not?"
"Well … I mean…."
"Is not the slave alive? Does he not breathe, does he not eat, does he not love?" There was a certain potency to Teal'c's words, an importance that Jack could not ascertain.
"Of course they are alive, but they have no control over their lives, they can't choose what to do."
"So you believe that life, at least life for someone such as yourself, is defined by self-determination?"
"I ... guess so, if by that you mean we get to decide for ourselves what we do then yeah, that's right."
/ / /
Once more, with Daniel.
"Would you choose death or slavery?"
Daniel only glared at his captor.
"Why the silence?"
"That is not a valid choice."
"So you would fight on in vain, knowing that it will only bring you death?"
"Yeah, I might do that."
"What of those who choose not to fight, are they somehow weaker than you?"
"No! God no! Death is not a choice."
"So you would choose slavery?"
"If it meant protecting others, yes, I might."
"Why?"
"Because I would be alive you idiot."
"So slavery is better than death?"
"Yes, in many situations."
"Why then chafe against our rule? Is it not better to be alive than to be dead? Should not the slaves thank us for not killing them outright?"
"A life without choice is no life at all!"
"Why then choose slavery over death?"
"In the hope that I may once more taste freedom."
Teal'c had, uncharacteristically, been pacing throughout this part of the conversation. Now however he stopped, turned, and looked at Daniel directly.
"The slaves have no such desire."
"It merely lays dormant, waiting to be awoken."
"They are slaves in their hearts as much as in their body. They have no desire for freedom." Teal'c was careful to keep his voice steady and even.
"Tell that to the Abydonians."
"Apophis will, and with much pleasure. He enjoys breaking people."
"As do you."
Teal'c continued to stare at Daniel. There seemed to be some internal debate going. Finally he made a decision. He took a step closer to Daniel.
"I do not. It is a necessary function of my vocation, but it is not a joy for me."
Jackson let out a mirthless laugh.
"You have grown strong, you people of Earth. You have advanced in technology, and you have grown in numbers. Yes, it will be difficult to defeat you, but not impossible. My master enjoys puzzles, and you are one he has not encountered before."
Daniel suddenly realized, for reasons he could not fathom, that Teal'c had not struck him for some time.
"I obey my master, of course, but my joy is not in the taking of life or in the breaking of spirit. I seek to improve myself, to grow. I take joy in becoming more than I once was."
Daniel stared at the man. He could not understand what he was talking about.
"What do you mean? What are you trying to tell me?"
"You cannot hope to win without help from outside yourselves. You may go now."
Teal'c gestured to a guard, "Bring me the other."
/ / /
Once more Jack was in the brightly lit room.
"You cannot hope to win without help from outside yourselves."
Jack was confused. He did not know how to respond.
"You have convinced the Abydonians to fight." Teal'c's voice was gentle, and if anything this spooked Jack more than anything else had so far.
"We showed them it was possible, nothing more."
"Do you think that you can turn all humans against their masters?"
"It's possible."
"And what of the Jaffa, of those like me?" Teal'c said in a rush, before pausing and clarifying, "What of the goa'uld with their ships?"
"We will overcome those obstacles."
Teal'c smiled, not unpleasantly.
"There are several billion of your people."
"Which makes it all the easier to overcome you."
"Your technology is no match for the goa'uld."
"Neither was it before, in Egypt, when we kicked your ass."
"One must never underestimate the element of surprise, as you learned on Abydos."
"One must never underestimate the strength of human will."
"Which is why we keep the slave population low."
"We are not weak."
Teal'c smiled again.
"We can and will bombard you from the skies. You will have no defense against us."
"I thought you wanted us as slaves?"
"There will inevitably be a ground invasion, but only once we have decimated your population and destroyed your military infrastructure."
"Many of you will die when you set foot on my planet."
"Many more of you will die before we do so."
"We will still fight on regardless. Even if you win, that day will be remembered as a black day, as the day millions of you died along with us."
"Spoken as a true warrior. There will be much honor in fighting with you in battle. I believe my interrogations are done, I have learned all that I wish to know."
/ / /
Teal'c dismissed Jack and retired to his office above the dungeons. He sat in quiet contemplation for some time before moving. He turned on several screens on his desk, calling up everything from battle plans and munitions supplies to predicted food surpluses and manufacturing expectations. In short, he took in all the information necessary to make a comprehensive battle plan. Once he had the basics of this plan in place, he placed a call to his master.
Apophis was quite pleased with the work Teal'c had done. He had determined what the strengths and weaknesses of Earth would be, and what would be the best way to attack it, assuming at least two billion would be left alive as slaves. He even went so far as to propose a timeline for the attack, taking into consideration such things as current battles, expected losses, and time necessary to dominate Earth. Apophis had paid little heed to the progress Teal'c was making during his interrogations, both because he trusted Teal'c implicitly and because he was having so much fun breaking the spirit of the Abydonians once again. In truth he was slightly disappointed that they had not resisted as much as he had hoped.
That didn't matter too much, though. Soon Apophis would rejoin with Teal'c and together they would continue their fight against their other enemies. Teal'c's plan was not to achieve dominance against Cronus and Atum, but to launch an all-out attack against them with the goal of weakening them to the point of temporary cease fire. That would give Apophis the time and resources necessary to launch an attack on Earth. Once that was secured it would be a simple matter to use the new found strength to dominate his enemies and become the undisputed master of the system lords. Apophis would be returning soon, which left little time for Teal'c to act.
