Ancient Legacy chapter 12

Jack had fallen to his knees when the web had released him and he remained in that position as he tried to recover from the pain it had inflicted. He didn't know what had caused him to be released, but Ba'al didn't look like it had been his idea. It looked to Jack like the controls had shorted out.

Ba'al was now chastising the scientists who were scrambling to fix the problem.

A Jaffa strode purposefully into the room and went to one knee in front of Ba'al. "My lord, forgive me, but there are intruders in the palace."

"What?!"

"Our security scans detected groups in three different areas of the palace."

"Why have they not been captured?"

"We are attempting to do so, my lord. I am sure we will have them apprehended soon."

"Make sure none escape."

"Yes, my Lord." The Jaffa rose and hurried from the room. Ba'al turned back to Jack. "This is your doing!"

"Hey, I'd like to take the credit, but I don't know a thing about it," Jack replied.

"We will continue this later," Ba'al said, the false pleasantness gone from his voice. "Dreg'nor, take charge of the search."

"Yes, my Lord."

"Sur'ac, take the prisoners back to their cell."

"Yes, my Lord."

Just as Sur'ac reached down to grab Jack's arm, an explosion rocked the room. Taking advantage of the Jaffa's momentary distraction, Jack reached up and grabbed his arm, pulling him down to the floor, his head impacting with a smack. Jack pounded him with a fist before rolling away and grabbing his zat. Deftly, he rose to one knee again and fired at Sur'ac before he could recover.

The two Jaffa guarding Daniel aimed their staff weapons at Jack, but weapons fire in the hallway had them turning in the opposite direction.

"Guard the door," Ba'al ordered as Sur'ac's partner continued to train his staff weapon on Jack.

Jack cautiously moved across the floor to Daniel's side and checked for a pulse, zat trained on the Jaffa. Sur'ac picked himself up off the floor and turned eyes burning with fury towards Jack. He extended a hand to the second Jaffa, who relinquished his staff weapon. Sur'ac raised it towards Jack.

"Sur'ac," Ba'al's voice halted his movement, "bring the prisoners and come with me. General O'Neill, you cannot fight and carry Doctor Jackson at the same time. Drop the weapon."

Jack was pretty sure who the intruders attacking the base were and he knew they would find them if he could buy a little more time. "I don't think so. Daniel and I are staying right here."

Another explosion sounded, shaking the room. Ba'al was beginning to look concerned. "Have the ship transport us," he instructed Sur'ac. The Jaffa spoke into a communication device, but received no reply. Ba'al's forehead pinched in confusion and he pressed a button on his hand device. It looked to Jack like the one Osiris had used in Daniel's bedroom. Still nothing happened.

More weapons fire could be heard, this time closer to the throne room. The sounds of P-90s became distinct among the staff blasts. The two Jaffa at the door began firing but were quickly cut down, dropping lifeless to the floor.

With a glare at Jack, Ba'al shouted, "Leave them!" He quickly moved towards the back of the room followed by the two Jaffa and the scientists. A door hidden in the wall swung open and the goa'uld and his minions passed through it, leaving Jack and Daniel alone.

Just as the group exited, Carter and Teal'c appeared at the room's entrance, weapons sweeping the room, searching out any remaining threats. Behind them, Jack saw Reynolds watching the corridor; he was glad to know there was at least one more team backing up SG-1.

"Sir?" Carter came up beside him, not lowering her weapon. Teal'c continued to prowl the room, making sure they were alone.

"You just missed Ba'al. He and his buddies took off through the back door," he said, jerking a thumb in the direction the goa'uld had gone.

"Are you all right?"

"Mostly, but I'm not too sure about Daniel."

"My god, what did they do to him?" She was surveying the numerous welts that trailed across his chest, arms, face, and even his feet.

"Ba'al's new toy. I'll tell you about it later. What's the plan for getting out of here?"

Sam pushed aside her horror at seeing what had been done to Daniel and slipped immediately back into military mode. "We have a Tok'ra Al'Kesh waiting to beam us up."

Surprise was Jack's first reaction; he figured the Tok'ra would vamoose and leave them to clean up the mess. But instead, they had loaned them an Al'Kesh.

"Colonel Carter." A familiar voice came over her radio and Jack recognized Major McKenna. He smiled inwardly—even if he hadn't had a talk with the man about Daniel, he knew the major would do whatever it took to get their missing archaeologist back. Pride in the people of the SGC swelled within him.

"Yes, Major?" Sam replied.

"We're in a lab—we have one of the scientists. He said General O'Neill and Doctor Jackson are with Ba'al. Thought you might want to question him some more."

"We have the general and Daniel. Bring the scientist with you--we don't have time to question him now."

"Hold on!" Jack interrupted. "Have you found the sarcophagus? We need to either bring it with us or destroy it."

"Haven't come across it, sir. Wait a sec." There was a brief silence before he continued. "The scientists says Ba'al didn't have a sarcophagus. It was one of the things he was trying to get his hands on."

No sarcophagus? That didn't make sense.

Weapons fire resumed in the hallway.

"Colonel Carter, more Jaffa just showed up!" Reynolds shouted.

"Sir, we've gotta go," Sam said looking at Jack.

"Right." He'd figure it out later. Right now, they needed to get out of here.

"Major McKenna," Sam said keying her radio, "did you set any charges?"

"Yes, we did, colonel. We're ready to go."

"Kornan, this is Colonel Carter. Can you lock on to all of us?"

"Yes, Colonel. Beaming now."

A hum and a flash of bright light brought the eight of them out of Ba'al's palace and onto the Al'Kesh. A moment later SG-7 joined them with Ba'al's scientist in tow. Matthews was gripping one arm—a tattered sleeve revealing scorched skin.

"T, can you help me with Daniel?" Jack asked.

"I will gladly carry Daniel Jackson." Teal'c handed his staff weapon to Jack then carefully reached under Daniel's shoulders and legs, gently picking him up and pulling him close as he carried him from the room. Jack observed the tightening of Teal'c's jaw as his eyes surveyed the welts on Daniel's body.

Jack leaned on Teal'c's staff as he followed them through the ship to another room. He was still a little weak from his ordeal with the vines. Sam walked beside him, eyes glued to Daniel's still form.

McKenna took the scientist off to another room where Jack knew they would keep him restrained while they questioned him. Reynolds and SG-3 followed Jack, hanging back a little to give the teammates some breathing room.

Carson settled Matthews in a corner and began assessing his wound. Teal'c laid Daniel on a cot that had been set up and stepped back, allowing Sam to check their teammate. She handed her weapon to him before kneeling next to Daniel.

Sam pointed to the disk on Daniel's temple. "Is this—"

"It's a regular memory device, as far as I know," Jack replied, knowing what she was asking.

Sam gently took hold of the disk and pulled, easily detaching it from his temple. She checked his pulse, respiration and pupils before declaring, "His vitals are all normal."

"Yeah, well, those welts aren't normal." Jack hadn't meant to be short with her and sighed. "Sorry. They were caused by these vine-like things that came out of that . . . thing."

Sam grimaced as she examined the red, raised welts. "What did they use to do this?"

"It was like an electrical shock—but they burned like acid."

Sam looked up at him, then at his arm. "Why don't you sit down, sir, and let me look at yours, too."

He started to protest but decided that sitting actually sounded like a good idea. He leaned one hand on the wall as he sank onto another cot next to Daniel's. They'd obviously anticipated that their teammates might need medical attention when they found them.

Jack glanced over at the members of SG-7. "How's Matthews?"

"It just grazed his arm, General," Carson replied.

"I'll be fine, sir," Matthews added as his arm was bandaged.

"Glad to hear it, son," Jack replied.

A loud 'whump' sounded as the ship shook violently.

"We're under attack," Kornan announced over the intercom.

Teal'c turned and ran from the room, followed by SG-3. Matthews stood up, intent on joining them, but was stopped by Carson. "You should rest, Justin."

"I'm fine and I'm coming with you," Matthews said adamantly.

Carson shook his head but didn't argue as both men left the room.

Jack lifted himself off the cot, intent on going, too.

"Sir, you should stay here," Sam said.

"I'm fine. Stay with Daniel and see what you can do for him."

"But—"

"That's an order."

"Yes, sir."

~oOo~

Jack exited the room, headed for the pel'tak, and Sam turned back to Daniel.

Do what you can. It wouldn't be much because Sam had no idea what else had been done to him or why he was still unconscious. She unclipped her pack and let it drop. Digging through it, she pulled out a med kit. This one carried more than their field kits—they had tried to be prepared for the possibility of finding their friends in less than perfect health.

She pulled out an ointment and began the task of treating the numerous welts criss-crossing Daniel's skin.

Another thud and shudder rocked the ship and she stopped her ministrations until things had settled. She resumed her work, anger and outrage gradually transitioning into sadness as she thought about all Daniel had been through. He had died again, for God's sake, and in a horribly painful way. Anger flared again as she thought of the replicator with her face running a blade through Daniel's chest. For him to see the face of someone he trusted—her face—deliver the mortal blow made it even more horrible. She looked down at that same chest now that showed no signs of being sliced open, looking whole except for the angry welts across it.

Pulling herself together, she finished treating his chest and moved to his arms, gently dabbing the ointment onto the raised, red lines. Next she moved to his face, gently brushing aside the short hair on his forehead before carefully applying the medicine to it, then moving on to his chin. She paused as she finished his face, wishing she could see those beautiful blue eyes looking up at her, but he remained quiet. There had been no reaction to her touch and she found herself worrying that more serious damage might lie beneath the surface. A tear escaped and rolled down her cheek. She would not lose him again!

"Daniel, if you can hear me, you're safe now. We're on a ship headed back to Earth. Hang in there, Daniel; we don't want to lose you again." She pressed a kiss to one of the few spots on his cheek that was not covered by a welt.

"Carter." The colonel's voice on her radio broke the silence and she realized the impacts had stopped. "How's Daniel?"

"The same, sir. I've treated the welts but he's still unconscious. What's happening out there?"

"It was a Ha'tak—probably Ba'al's. It was hiding behind that moon. We managed to jump into hyperspace, so hopefully we've lost it."

"That's great, sir. Why don't you come back and let me treat your wounds."

"That's okay, I'm-- Hey! Teal'c, I can—"

"Colonel Carter, I will see that General O'Neill returns for medical attention immediately."

Sam laughed, sniffing back the tears that threatened to fall. "Thanks, Teal'c."

"You are most welcome."

Realizing she hadn't treated Daniel's feet, Sam set to work once again, letting the warm feeling the laugh had brought stay with her, lifting her hopes that things would be all right.

~oOo~