Chapter 10

Although kitted out in desert camo BDU's and even with vests and jackets stripped off, it was still too warm for Jack's taste and thought that sitting in a cool spring would feel so much better. His mind had drifted off when the sound of screaming women, Jaffa troops and a staff blast broke his reverie. A mailed fist pounded on the door and everyone was ordered out to meet their saviors.

The Jaffa seemingly had come out of nowhere and now at least 20 of them surrounded the small collection of cottages that comprised the village.

A Jaffa stood in the center of the assembled villagers, although many still hid trembling in their cottages, and with aloud and booming voice instructed them to place their belonging on a cloth or blanket in front of them. They were to bring no weapons and nothing they could not easily carry.

"The great Lord Ba'al has looked upon you with generous favor as his beloved children and has granted you a new home closer to his heart. You will be freed from the drudgery of this arid and barren land. A world, that the god Ba'al has entrusted to the demigod Belial, a world that is rich and fertile awaits you and you shall be blessed with it's bounty.

But heed this. Although our gracious Lord Ba'al is boundless in his gifts, he is swift to punish those who disobey or are dismissive of his blessings. He will brook no dissension.

First, bow the knee to his might."

The crowd slowly found themselves on their knees encouraged by the crackle of armed staff weapons of the remaining Jaffa who surrounded the village. Those who refused were forced down or swiftly dispatched.

"Now rise and go quickly and gather you things."

O'Neill with his back to the wall on the side of the window, peered out. The Jaffa, and there were a lot of them, had a variety of tattoos, most looked like Ba'al's. That moment stretched into what seemed like hours of indecision – stand and fight, run and hide, or pretend to be one of the locals and escape at the earliest opportunity. Stand and fight, which was his first impulse, or run and hide, both posed danger to the people. Already many were out of their homes with their children well within range of the lethal staff weapons. So stand and fight, considering they were seriously outnumbered, would just lead to senseless slaughter of the innocent and more than likely themselves as well. The village was surrounded by troops so slipping out and leaving the villagers to their own devises seemed callous and quite impossible as well. But to be in Ba'al clutches again terrified him; the thought of Sam in Ba'al's hands was beyond terror. As Carter opened her mouth to ask him a question he slid his fingers over her lips, his eyes bright with alarm. The tingling sensation of his fingers against her lips was distracting. Again a fist pounded on the door bring them both back to the dire situation.

Jack looked around and grabbed their packs and emptied them on the bed. He started filling the pockets of his cargo pants with meds and power bars and anything else he thought might help without arousing too much suspicion. Carter, realizing what he was doing, did the same. Jack looked toward the elderly man and said.

"Clothes we need..."

"Yes, yes." The headman, no fool, gave them the local clothing - a long shapeless dress for Carter which she tugged over her rolled up pants and cinched it at the waist and a tunic for O'Neill which fell mid thigh, covering the bulging cargo pockets. Sam kicked off her boots and slipped on a pair of sandals while Jack kept his on. They were a little high tech for the planet but resembled the local men's footwear and were dusty enough to pass muster, especially with the his pants unbloused and now covering most of them. The headman's wife handed each a blanket on which they tossed an extra set of clothing she provided and provisions for a few days.

If the Jaffa were taking only the young as slaves perhaps they would slip by as elders, especially with Jack's silver hair. If the Jaffa were taking everyone they needed to be prepared. Carter hid their weapons under the straw mattress of the bed and O'Neill grabbed his radio and gave a quick call to Daniel and Teal'c. They were too far to help and too few to succeed. But at least they would know what had happened. All he heard was the crackle of interference and hoped at least part of his message got through. He tossed the radio and hoped for the best. Sam was haphazardly grabbing handfuls of items and stuffed them into what room remained in her pockets. There was still the hope they could remain sheltered in the hovel and escape capture.

The door just about splintered with the next strike of a Jaffa fist.

Before the door swung open Jack tugged a shawl over Sam's blond hair.

Daniel, deep in translation mode, was annoyed at the irritating noise coming from his radio. "Yes Jack, what do you want?" but in reply he heard only static. He fiddled with his radio and tried to contact Jack. Only static. The stelae were carved from a stone rich in naquadah, so much so it had made Teal'c somewhat irritable. Or it could have been the boredom and excessive heat.

The radio call was probably Jack reminding them to eat lunch, stay in the shade, keep hydrated, use sunscreen or be careful or, more likely, hurry the hell up. Or it could be anyone of his annoying mother hen reminders. Daniel had work to do and he wasn't an idiot. 'And anyway' Daniel thought 'I have another half day so I hope he's not ready to go back to the SGC'. They planned to walk back tomorrow after the worst of the heat of the day and he would check in with Jack at the village then. With less talk and distractions maybe he could get something accomplished.

They had come to the planet the afternoon before so Daniel could have an early start. The site was a good 6 clicks from the Stargate and 5 from the village. Ever since a UVA had transmitted pictures of the target hill top and SG- 6 brought back the blurry images, Daniel had been salivating to get to the monoliths which were covered in a variety of runes, hieroglyphics, and other exotic characters. He thought this might prove to be a Rosetta Stone of intergalactic languages and be of incomprehensible help in translations. Jack was bored before they started and he did not want the freshly healed Carter to walk that far. It had been decided that he and Carter would remain in the village as a base camp and Teal'c and Daniel would hike and photograph and translate until their two day mission was up. Then it was up to Teal'c to get Daniel to return. Jack didn't envy him.

Jack had thought he had a cushy assignment – bunking with the natives with Carter for company. It seemed, now that he had a staff weapon poking the small of his back, he was dead wrong. The only saving grace was they were Jaffa , real Jaffa not the goddamned Kull Super Soldiers. They had at least a fighting chance.

"What the hell was that!"

Teal'c grabbed Daniel and pulled his into the deep shade of the monolith they had been photographing.

"Did you see that!"

Teal'c thought 'How could I have not.'

Two Tel'tacs flew from the direction of the village gathering both speed and altitude.

"Do you think that's what Jack was … oh god do you think they have Jack and Sam?"

"I will go back" Teal'c stated.

"I'm coming with you."

"Stay, protect the old man and the boy. Go into the stand of trees by the stream away from this barren spot."

"You'll need backup to help Sam and Jack."

"I fear it will be too late by the time I travel to the village, even running at full speed."

And with that Teal'c was off.

I want to thank all who are reading this story and especially those who are reviewing. Z