Disclaimers:  Again, not mine and many thanks to the creators of Stargate for allowing me to play with their creations for a while. 

Rating:  PG-13 (due to a few swear words)

Spoilers:  Small Victories, Upgrades, Divide and Conquer, Tangent, The Curse

Summary:   Sam and Jack struggle to regain common ground after the events of Divide and Conquer while gating to a new planet to discover the secrets of an ancient civilization and unveil the threat of a new Goa'uld dominance. 

Author's Note:  I usually only post 2 chapters per week but I thought I would break with tradition this time and post a third.  Anyway, it's just my way of saying thanks for taking the time to read this and as always, thanks to those of you who take the time to review.  Y'all rock!  (she says in her best Texas drawl vbg )

The Face of the Enemy

Chapter Twelve

Jack came to a sudden stop as he ran straight into Sam who was hurriedly removing a plate in the floor.  "Access hatch?" he questioned as he fired another shot at a Jaffa and watched as the wounded man fall to the ground, the staff weapon rolling out of his hand. . The man lay on his back and his eyes stared up into nothingness.

"Yes sir," she replied as she pushed the plate aside and cautiously began her descent to the floor below.  Not seeing any sign of Jaffa she gave the Colonel an 'all clear' sign and stepped aside as he began his own descent pulling the plate closed behind him.  'Maybe that will confuse them a little and buy us some time' he thought to himself hoping the Jaffa wouldn't realize the humans had discovered the access hatch. 

"One more level to go sir" Sam said as she bent down and began pulling an identical plate in the floor aside.  With weapon ready, Jack took up a defensive position between his Major and the open doorway and watched for any sign of the Jaffa guards and Osiris.

Opening the hatch and descending the ladder, Sam again looked around the room below her.  She could see no sign of the guards but still felt uneasy.  'Something isn't right' she thought to herself as the Colonel made his way through the hatch. 

Looking at his 2IC he noticed that her face was drawn and she seemed to be a little more on edge than he would expect seeing there weren't any guards around.  However he had learned over the years to trust her instincts, especially when it came to Goa'ulds.

"Sensing something Carter?" he asked quietly as they made their way toward the hangar.

"Osiris. I think she's nearby" she replied with a worried look on her face.

If Osiris was around that meant her guards wouldn't be far behind and not far behind was just a little too close for Jack's piece of mind.  "Let's pick up the pace Major.  I don't fancy being a guest of Osiris," he muttered as they began running toward the hangar. 

They were within feet of the hangar when they saw her standing at the end of the corridor flanked by several guards.  Her eyes began to glow and she slowly raised her hand. As she raised her arm Sam and Jack both noticed her hand was adorned with an all too familiar Goa'uld device. 

Shoving Sam into the hangar Jack lifted his weapon and began firing at the approaching Jaffa as he followed her into the room.  He heard a 'thwump' as the heavy door came to a close behind him and fired his weapon at the control panel blowing the circuitry so that Osiris and her Jaffa would not be able to enter behind them. 

"Way too close" he muttered as he turned to make his way toward the glider.  Carter had already positioned herself in the tiny ship and was waiting for the Colonel as he hoisted himself into the pilot's seat. 

"Ready Carter?" he asked as the clear bubble began to close around them drowning out the sound of the blasts hitting the door as the Jaffa fired their staff weapons in an attempt to thwart their escape.

"Ready sir" she answered as the Colonel flipped the last of the switches that would launch them out into space toward the planet below.

Breathing a small sigh of relief Jack locked in the coordinates that would lead them to the planet and turned to look at his 2IC.  "You okay?" he asked, concern flooding his voice.

She replied by nodding her head and giving him a small smile as he checked the gauges on the panel before him. "Carter, we need to blow the ship and the sooner the better.  Maybe we can take out Osiris and some of her henchman before she does any more damage than she already has."

Silently agreeing, Sam pulled the detonator from her pack and made ready to flip the switch.  Seeing a nod of encouragement from her commanding officer, she lifted the red plastic cover and pushed the small switch forward.  Seconds later explosions could be seen as the mother ship that had brought them so far across the universe began breaking apart and falling aimlessly into the icy depths of space.

Just then their tiny glider lurched violently to one side. "What now?" Jack muttered in disgust wondering if this wasn't actually the voyage of the damned. Looking back he saw the Goa'uld death gliders gaining on them and realized that they had been fired upon.  Taking the throttle he steered the ship through the maze of Goa'uld blasts. 

"I guess our little firework display really ticked them off, eh Carter?" he quipped as he banked sharply to avoid weapons fire from one of the gliders.

"Maybe a little too much sir" she replied closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.  She knew Jack was a good pilot but she hated feeling so helpless.  Trapped in the back of the death glider she realized there was little she could do to help.

"We're nearly there Carter, hold on" he called as he sent the ship into a nosedive which resulted in the destruction of the two death gliders that were firing on them from opposite sides.  'Serves them right,' the Colonel thought as he checked his coordinates one last time and began his descent to the planet surface.  Just as it looked as if they would make it down unscathed they felt a jolt at the backside of the glider.  They had been hit and their instruments were going haywire as malfunctions began to take over the small vessel.  Jack released a volley of weapons fire and obliterated the offending Jaffa but the damage had been done.  They were going down and they were going down hard….