Chapter eleven
Unfortunately, when SG-3 returned, two members were sick with a viral infection similar to measles, and the other two had to be quarantined as well. The base CMO in this reality was Dr. Jeff Webber. [I couldn't help myself!] He hated to disappoint Samantha, but he had to tell her the truth.
"If time is of the essence, then I think you should count SG-3 out," Jeff told a very disappointed Captain Carter. "I'm sorry Samantha," he added as he patted her arm. Jack and Sam watched the exchange, and both wondered if maybe the tall, slim, handsome doctor had more than just friendly concern for Samantha.
And later that morning General Hammond called Captain Carter, Major Carter and Col. O'Neill into the briefing room to give them more bad news; two members of SG-7 were trapped in a cave until the weather on P2X-251 changed. Apparently a blizzard was going to keep them there for at least another twenty-four hours. When Jack heard the news, he blew his stack.
"You mean to tell me they're all you've got!"
"I'm sorry, Colonel, I thought I made myself clear; due to the imminent closing of this facility, I've already had to re-assign almost all other members of the SGA to other bases. I have no one left who's qualified to go off world," General Hammond told him.
"This is just bull shit! What about those marines who greeted us yesterday in the gateroom?" Jack asked him almost belligerently. Jack was beginning to get the feeling that Hammond didn't care about rescuing Lt. Col. O'Neill, and that made him really angry.
"Colonel, I'd appreciate a little more respect from you. You aren't even a member of our Air Force, and you have no right to come in here and tell me how to do my job. As for the marines...they're already left for other assignments," the bald man told him sternly.
Back home Jack was used to telling Hammond how to run things, and sometimes the man even listened to him. But he could see that things weren't going to work that way here. Major Carter patted Jack's arm, and that seemed to have a calming influence on him.
"I'm sorry, Sir. I was out of line," Jack said politely.
"Sir, Col. O'Neill is just frustrated. We all are," Captain Carter told her CO. For some reason, she felt that she needed to defend this man, much as she would have her husband, if he were here. In fact, she had defended her Jack many times in the past. And hearing Col. O'Neill getting into it head-to-head with Hammond reminded her just exactly how alike her Jack and the Colonel really were. Thinking about Jack brought a lump to her throat and a tear to her eye, as she sat at the briefing room table. She missed him more than words could ever say!
"Well, I say we go in with who we've got! My team is as good as any two teams anyway," Jack assured Hammond and Capt. Carter.
Sam looked down at the table. She also thought they were good. But it was possible they had just been lucky so far. If that was the case, would their luck hold out long enough for them to rescue Lt. Col. O'Neill?
"I'm sorry, but I can't approve a rescue mission under those circumstances," Hammond told them, and Jack sprang up out of his chair, his face a mask of rage.
"General, it should be our decision, not yours! What the fuck do you care how under-manned we are, when you'll be sitting here all safe and cozy behind your big desk!" Jack yelled at the man, who rose from his chair and stared Jack down.
"Colonel, I have taken all of the insolence from you that I am going to take! You and your wife and friends are no longer welcome on my base. So unless you have another way home, I suggest you get down to the gate room and return to your reality right now!" Hammond said, his fists clinched at his sides. He looked about ready to haul off and slug Jack, but obviously Jack was not concerned, as he knew there wasn't much the older man could do to him.
"General, we will be glad to leave, AFTER we return from P3X-405!" Jack yelled as he turned toward the stairs. Sam got up and ran after him, leaving Captain Carter bringing up the rear
"Samantha, dial the gate! Then meet us at the armory!" Luckily Daniel and Teal'c were in the hallway below when he and Sam got there. "Come on, guys, we need to get as many weapons as we can carry!" Jack yelled, not waiting to explain the situation to the two men. They both jogged after Sam and Jack, knowing that Jack would never tell them to get weapons, unless the situation called for them.
Capt. Carter ran to the computer terminal and typed in the address to P3X-405. Then she typed in a formula that locked the dialing protocols and wouldn't allow the gate to be disconnected from the power source, just in case anyone tried to prevent them from returning. There was no one to stop her, and very soon the big metal ring began to turn. Then she ran down the stairs and toward the armory, where the others were putting on Kevlar vests and grabbing weapons. All of them took something similar to P-90's and 9mil hand guns and several extra clips of ammo. They didn't expect to go in shooting, but coming out that way was certainly a possibility!
Jack also took a large knife, which he wore in an ankle sheath. Then he put a coil of nylon rope and some other items into his pack and slung it over his shoulder. Lastly he handed Sam two Claymores, which she put in her pack, the two explosive devices taking up most of the space available. "I know you'll make good use of these," he told her, and she smiled. Teal'c found a blast staff in the back of the small room and checked it to make sure it still had power. It did, so he took it and a zat gun as well. When they were as ready as they could be, they jogged to the gate room, where the wormhole awaited them.
"We have no idea if the gate is guarded or not, so be ready to come out shooting! Teal'c take point," Jack ordered, and the big man stepped ahead of the other four, the zat gun in one hand and the blast staff in the other. "Okay, head out!" Jack yelled, and they marched up the ramp, their guns ready.
General Hammond watched from the control room. He nodded and smiled, silently wishing them well.
The gate on P3X-405 turned out to be unguarded, and set in a field of wild flowers, giving the planet an almost idyllic look. "If only the rest of the planet were as hospitable," Daniel commented as they looked around.
"There's the fortress, on that hill," Captain Carter told them, pointing up and to her right. "The village is at the base of the mountain, just below it. If the inhabitants were brought here by Apophis, I don't imagine we'll get a friendly welcome in the village, so maybe we'd better bypass it," she suggested, and Jack nodded. He was really beginning to like this Carter. He could see many similarities between her and Sam, and not just in appearance. They were both confident in their abilities as scientists and as soldiers, and they were equally as willing to go the distance for those they loved. Lt. Col. Jack O'Neill was a lucky man, and so was he!
Jack gave the order to stick together and head toward the base of the hill, but to keep plenty of distance between them and the villagers. He told Daniel and Sam to take point, while he walked in the middle of the group with Capt. Carter. Teal'c brought up the rear. Soon they were in a dark forested area, where daylight barely brushed the ground, creating shadows and a cooler, damp atmosphere that chilled them all to the bone. Samantha had explained that this path would take them a lot longer to get to the bottom of the hill where the great buildings stood, but at least they probably wouldn't run into anyone along the way. And she had been correct.
Seeing a patch of bright daylight not too far ahead, Jack stuck his fist in the air, indicating for them to stop where they were. They crouched around him and listened. "We've got about 50 more yards before we hit another clearing. The foundation of the buildings shouldn't be much farther than that. Teal'c and I are gonna go take a look to see if the way is clear. The rest of you stay put!" he ordered quietly, and the two men left on silent feet. Sam, Samantha and Daniel sat down on the moist ground and waited, each drinking from their water bottles. After a few minutes, they heard something that was unmistakable...it was the sound of someone firing a staff weapon! All three sprang onto their feet and held their P-90's out in front of them.
"Come on, they may need our help!" Sam said as she headed in the direction the Colonel and Teal'c had taken just minutes earlier. The other two followed her without question. Sam was in the lead when she heard talking in another language. She immediately dropped to the ground and listened, as did Samantha and Daniel. For a couple of minutes they lay as still as they could, trying not to make any sounds, while they listened to the two men in the clearing up ahead. They seemed to be arguing with each other, Sam thought, wondering what was being said. She turned to Daniel, who leaned close to her and whispered, "Jaffa! They've caught someone! One of them wants to take him, but the other wants to kill him right now!"
Sam's eyes grew large as she wondered exactly who the two Jaffa had caught. Rising onto her knees she peered through the ferns and was finally able to see the back of their prisoner, as he rose onto his knees. It was Teal'c, and he was surrounded by an entire platoon of Jaffa! The two who had been arguing seemed to have decided to take the prisoner to their god, and so Teal'c was prodded by one of the men with a staff weapon in his back until he managed to stand up. The same man pushed him in the back again, and they all started off in the direction of the fortress. It was then that Sam saw a line of blood running down Teal'c's arm. In fact the entire upper left side of his t-shirt was dark with it, just above the armhole of the protective vest. So Teal'c had been wounded and captured, but where was Jack? Sam and her group continued to watch the Jaffa until they could no longer see them, then she stood up.
"I've got to see if the Colonel is out there somewhere. He could be wounded or worse," Sam said, and the other two nodded.
"I'll help you look," Daniel said, and Sam didn't feel like arguing with him. So far this mission seemed to be doomed anyway, and right now all she cared about was finding Jack.
"I'll help you too. After all, it's my fault this has happened," Samantha told her, and at first Sam didn't say anything. She just wasn't the kind of person to place blame for something like this. If she had been in Captain Carter's shoes, she would have not have done anything differently, and she would have been grateful for any help she got.
"No, it's not your fault, Samantha. If it's anyone's fault, it's that damned snake, Apophis," Sam hissed, sounding so much like Jack that it made Daniel smile.
Suddenly they heard a twig snap and there was Jack, breathing heavily, but otherwise looking as fit as a fiddle.
"Jack!" Sam cried out as she ran into his arms. She wasn't crying, but she felt close to it!
"Hey, what's wrong? You didn't think those bastards had killed me, did you?"
"I wasn't sure! Where have you been? They took Teal'c away with them...toward the fortress. He's been wounded," Sam told him, and he nodded as he took the cap off his water bottle and took a long drink.
"I know. I think I made it look pretty convincing," Jack said, and the other three stared at him.
"You shot Teal'c?" Daniel asked, a shocked expression on his face.
"Yah, let him have it in the arm with the blast staff. It's really just superficial, but it bled pretty good. I figured the Jaffa would think one of their own did it. For a few minutes there I wasn't sure they were gonna take him to Apophis, but fortunately for Teal'c, it looks like that's where they've gone," Jack explained.
"So you planned for him to get captured? Why didn't you let us in on your plan?" Daniel asked with exasperation. He knew Jack could make risky snap decisions, but he thought this was one of the most stupid yet!
"Just thought it up when we saw the platoon of Jaffa. Don't worry, Teal'c will be just fine. He and Apophis go way back. I'm sure the old snake-in-the-grass will be happy to see him. I figure they have plenty of reminiscing to do, and in the meantime we have a man on the inside and something to distract the snake," Jack assured them.
"How do you know Apophis won't just kill Teal'c?" Samantha asked him, wondering how this man's mind could work so much like her husbands! Her Jack often did outrageous things like this too, and most of the time they worked!
"Trust me! If there's one thing I know it's Goa'ulds. When they have a grudge against someone, they like to keep 'em around and torture 'em for a long, long time. It's how they get their rocks off," he said with a chuckle. Sam rolled her eyes at him. Sometimes even she couldn't believe the things he said! "Besides, I heard one of them say that their god isn't even here right now."
Sometimes Jack really surprised Daniel, and now was one of them. "You understand Jaffa?"
"Yah, enough," Jack replied.
"Okay, so now what?" Daniel asked him and everyone turned their attention to Jack to hear what else he hand planned.
TBC
