I'd like to thank mia rose for her kind comments. I'd also like to thank those of you who recently added me, or this story, to your faves list.
Sorry for the double posting of this chapter, but I had to correct a major typo.
Stargate: SVU 3
Chapter Fourteen
As the footsteps of the Jaffa got closer, Sam leaned against the wall and braced herself for inevitable confrontation to come--until Rodney abruptly started making weird sign language gestures at her. Sam stared in confusion as a wide-eyed Rodney held his opened laptop in one hand while trying to gesture frantically at something in the opposite direction from them down the hall. The problem was that the intricate gestures he created with his hands were making absolutely no sense at all.
Sam exchanged a confused look with Olivia, then she stared back at Rodney and mouthed the word: "What?!"
"I'm trying to tell you that there's another way out of here," Rodney said, sotto voce. "Without warning the entire Netian army out there!"
He held up his computer and was about to begin another of his elaborate explanations, until Sam stopped him. "Just lead the way," she told Rodney in a whisper. "We'll follow."
Rodney's eyes grew fearfully wide. "Lead the way? Me? But w-we don't know what's down there…w-what if something eats me?"
"Oh, gee, wouldn't that be so terrible…." Olivia whispered, her tone full of sarcasm, as she rolled her eyes.
Rodney stared at her with a mix of shock and anger. "Excuse me? What's your problem with me?"
"We don't have time for me to list them all," Olivia shot back. "But how about treating Casey like a sex object, for one?"
Before a mortified Rodney could reply, Sam stepped in-between them. "We need to remain focused on the task at hand, and that means getting out of here," she whispered. "Rodney, you and I will take point together. If something attacks, I'll protect you, ok? Sergeant, please take the rear and watch our backs."
"Aye-aye, Major."
As they started down the hallway, Rodney began to once more pontificate on the whys of where they were going. Sam, who strode beside him with her gun at the ready, waved her hand in his face and said, "No need to explain, Rodney. I trust you. Just keep leading us forward."
"See?" Rodney said, with a smug glance at Olivia. "Sam trusts me!"
"We're trapped in some ancient temple on an alien planet, once more dodging the bad guys," Olivia muttered to Grace, "and we're still playing these frigging silly little office games with Captain Geek here from tech support…."
Rodney spun around and faced her. "Hey, it's the gizmos that Captain Geek from tech support creates that saves your butt, lady!"
Sam was about to tell them all the be quiet when her radio squawked loudly, followed by the very loud voice of one of her best friends. "SAM!" Daniel said, sounding desperate. "OLIVIA?! ARE YOU GUYS ALL RIGHT? OVER!"
"Oh, jeez," Sam muttered, as she quickly keyed her radio before Daniel could inadvertently give away their location. She frantically whispered, "Daniel, we're fine for now. Request radio silence for the time being. Over and out."
"Wonderful," Rodney said to Olivia. "I just hope lover boy doesn't bring the Jaffa down on our heads!"
"He was just worried about us," Olivia angrily shot back.
"Liv's right," Grace added. "Daniel couldn't have known--"
"JAFFA ON OUR TAIL!" Gail shouted, as she opened fire with her assault rifle.
"EVERYBODY HIT THE WALL!" Sam commanded, just as she barely dodged an energy blast that was shot at her by a Jaffa. Quickly seeing there was no real room for them to take proper cover--Olivia, Rodney and Grace were squished up right behind her and unable to shoot--Sam glanced at the grenade launcher under the muzzle of Gail's gun and got an idea. "GAIL, SHOOT THE CEILING WITH A GRENADE!"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Rodney said in a panic. "Wait! Won't that bring down the roof?!"
"Yep," Sam just absently said with a nod. She was busy exchanging fire with the Jaffa. It was gratifying to see how the heavier firepower that they now packed had so effortlessly brought down their opponents. But for every Jaffa that they dropped, two more seemed to take its place--that and the narrow corridor, which only had enough room to allow Sam and Sgt. Emmaus to return fire, meant that time was running out for them.
They had to get moving, now.
"Sergeant," Sam said. "Anytime you're ready!"
"FIRE IN THE HOLE!" Gail shouted, just before she shot a grenade into the ceiling.
The explosion sent a rumbling shock wave down both ends of the corridor as large stone slabs began to crumble down around them. Suddenly, the ceiling and walls between them and the Jaffa collapsed into a large pile of dirt and debris.
Sam turned in the opposite direction and started shoving Rodney, Olivia and Grace ahead of her. Gail was right by her side.
"Run," Sam told them, as the ceiling began to cave in directly above them. "Everybody run, now!"
Rodney needed no further prodding; he was the very first to go charging down the collapsing corridor. Sam was now grateful that she and the others all wore their combat helmets, as they were pelted with bits and pieces of stone that fell ahead of the collapse behind them.
'Just hope the rest of the corridor stabilizes,' Sam worriedly thought, 'or else we're about to become permanent residents in this place!'
SG1-SVU
Once Ba'al gave the order for his Jaffa to fan out, he immediately went over to the control panel, which was located behind the bones of the dead dragon. Neith had told him where it was, and further gave him the codes needed to shut down the deadly anti-intruder devices that were hidden throughout the storage facility.
Yet once he arrived at the panel, which was hidden behind a stone slab, Ba'al's eyes grew wide with anxiety when he realized that he could not gain access to it. The stone slab that hid the panel would not open, no matter how many times he tried it. Ba'al suspected that it might be because of the extensive damage caused by the dragon that crashed through the wall.
He was about to order his Jaffa to get the panel open when suddenly a firefight erupted in one of the side corridors that led from the room. It was a fierce exchange of weapons fire that dropped quite a number of the Jaffa who had responded.
"Jaffa!" Ba'al commanded. "Remove this stone slab!"
Three of the Jaffa came over and effortlessly pried the slab loose by using the ends of their staff weapons. Ba'al smiled as he watched the slab break into pieces as it fell to the floor.
Then Ba'al's smile faded when he saw the control panel itself.
It was a mess, completely shut down and damaged beyond repair. There was no doubt that the dead dragon had caused this destruction when it crashed into the temple and knocked out the wall in the process. There was now no way to shut down the anti-intruder devices.
When he heard a loud rumbling, Ba'al glanced over at the battle and saw Jaffa running out of the corridor as a wave of dirt and stones followed them.
"What happened?!" he demanded.
"The corridor, it collapsed when one of the Tauri fired her weapon into the ceiling," a Jaffa reported.
"Tauri?!" Ba'al said, shocked. 'What were they doing here?' he wondered. 'No doubt to steal the Ancient treasures for themselves. But how did they find this vault?'
Ba'al was about to give the order to hunt down all Tauri within the vault--until one of the Jaffa pointed at something and shouted, "Shol'va!"
Ba'al glanced over at what he pointed to, just in time to see Teal'c open fire with his staff weapon from a doorway on the opposite side of the room. The Jaffa who pointed him out was shot down.
Ba'al was enraged to see Colonel Jack O'Neill and several others had joined the Shol'va Teal'c at the doorway. O'Neill gave him a big grin as he returned fire. "HEY, HOW'S IT GOING, BALL BOY?"
Yet before Ba'al could even react to this, all hell had broken loose.
SG-1: SVU
"Request radio silence for the time being," Sam had urgently said. "Over and out."
O'Neill glanced at Daniel, who stood there, looking very worried. O'Neill knew exactly how he felt. Teal'c, and Lt. Hailey stood with them in the small room adjacent to the entry point--which had now been taken over by Jaffa who were led by Ba'al. They stood far enough away from the doorway to be able to speak quietly without fear of being heard.
"She didn't have time to say if Olivia was even with her," Daniel said dismally.
"Daniel, both Sam and Olivia are big girls who can take care of themselves," O'Neill assured his friend. His radio squawked once, then once again. O'Neill clicked it back twice to let whoever know it was all clear to speak.
"Colonel." It was Major Lyman. "Are you there? Over."
O'Neill keyed his radio. "Here, Lyman. Who's with you? Over."
"Dr. Zelenka, TJ, Keller and Hasseman. Over."
"I've got Teal'c, Dr. Jackson and Lt. Hailey with me," O'Neill replied. "We heard from Major Carter, but she didn't have time to talk. Over."
They were startled by the sound of a great muffled explosion that rattled the very temple they stood in. "Lyman, you still there?" O'Neill nervously asked. "Over."
"Still here, sir. That had nothing to do with us. Over."
O'Neill glanced over with a worried look at Teal'c, Daniel and Hailey. "So it must have been Major Carter…."
"I shall check the doorway," Teal'c offered.
Yet no sooner than Teal'c step over to the doorway and peer outside then O'Neill heard an angry voice shout, "Shol'va!"
"Damn it," O'Neill muttered, as he, Daniel, and Hailey all ran over to Teal'c.
For his part, Teal'c had returned fire, shooting down a Jaffa with his staff weapon. There was a large army of Jaffa in the main room--along with Lord Ba'al, who stood glaring at them as if they were a bunch of cockroaches that he'd just uncovered.
Seeing the look on Ba'al's face, O'Neill just couldn't help himself. "HEY, HOW'S IT GOING, BALL BOY?" he shouted.
O'Neill was still smiling as he and the others in his group brought up their weapons, just as the Ba'al's Jaffa all charged at them.
Then the room before them turned into something out of a disco as hundreds of bright red lights abruptly switched on all at the same time. The lights--which O'Neill quickly realized were laser beams--were set up in a criss-cross pattern from the floor to the ceiling to the walls. It looked like a giant red web that engulfed the attacking Jaffa.
And they were all slaughtered instantly.
Several of the Jaffa who were out in front were literally sliced in half. When they fell to the floor, already dead, it was in two pieces. O'Neill noticed that the laser webbing was restricted only to the main room--he and his people were safe here, at least as far as he could see.
"Oh, um, wow," Daniel said, taken aback at the horrific sight of freshly sliced up bodies before them.
"Almost looks like the counter of a deli," Hailey commented, as she stared at the sliced bodies. "You know, like when they cut the meat into those really thin little--"
She stopped when O'Neill gently patted her on the shoulder. "Yeah, ok, we got that really nasty mental image Lieutenant. Thanks so much!"
"I may never eat deli food again now," Daniel muttered, looking sick.
"O'Neill," Teal'c said, as he gestured at something with a nod of his head.
O'Neill saw Ba'al standing with a few remaining Jaffa by the bones of the dead dragon. Apparently the damage the dragon caused by crashing into the temple had also taken out the lasers in that area. Ba'al and his boys stared timidly at the laser webbing directly in front of them.
"Some days nothing ever goes right, huh, Ball Boy?!" O'Neill called over to him.
Ba'al just angrily pointed at O'Neill. "The name is Ba'al, O'Neill. I shall be happy to brand it into your forehead, lest you forget!"
"Why don't you come over and try it right now?" O'Neill taunted. "Always wanted to see what a sliced Ball Boy looks like on the inside."
When Ba'al and his men suddenly turned away and strode out the room through the hole in the wall that the dragon had created, O'Neill turned to Teal'c and said, "He's not a dumb as I was hoping he'd be, darn it…."
"What is all of this?" Daniel asked, as he gestured at the laser webbing that covered the room in front of them. "And why didn't it turn on when we were in the room?"
"An anti-intruder device, like what was in the Mumani temple," Hailey replied. "But none of that stuff worked there because the power source, the ZPMs, were largely drained. Here, we're seeing a temple of the same design that's fully powered, and fully lethal."
"So we should watch our step from here on out," O'Neill said with a nod.
Daniel shook his head. "But, I still don't understand why the lasers didn't turn on when we were in there."
"Neither did the lasers come on when the Jaffa were in the room," Teal'c said. "The anti-intruder device only become operational when we exchanged fire with the Jaffa."
"Which means they operate only when there's gunfire," Hailey said with a grin. "Hey, we're starting to figure this place out."
"Don't get too overconfident," O'Neill warned. "Let just take each room one at a time, and keep our eyes open for any traps."
"Um, why's the sand draining from the floor here?" Daniel said.
"Oh, drat," O'Neill muttered in annoyance, as the entire floor unexpectedly fell out from underneath them. Before they knew it, or could even help it, the four of them were falling helplessly through a black void.
SG-1: SVU
"Never frigging easy," Olivia muttered, as she and Grace ran side by side down the corridor along with the rest of their team. The darkened corridor was illuminated only by their flashlights, which were attached to the upper right portion of their combat vests.
"At least the hallway's no longer collapsing around us," Grace offered.
Olivia shook her head. "Oh, no, sweetie, don't do that…."
Grace gave her a puzzled look. "Don't do what?"
"Trying to be cheerful and optimistic." Olivia shook her head. "It's not that I don't appreciate what you're trying to do. But it never works. Trying to look on the bright side usually just makes things worse."
Rodney, who ran just ahead of them with Sam, glanced back at her with a strange look. "That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard!"
"So speaks the president of the space princess fan club," Olivia snidely retorted.
Rodney was about to respond--until Sam urgently gestured at the laptop that he held open in his hands. "You said there was a room somewhere here, Rodney. Where is it?"
"It should be--" Rodney paused. Then he stabbed a finger directly ahead of them. "Yep, there it is!"
The room turned out to be empty--yet once they entered, the ceiling lit up, providing illumination. For her part, Olivia stared warily around them. There was something about this bare room with the lighted ceiling and dirt floor that set off every alarm within her. She noticed that Grace also sensed there was something off, as well.
"Still all clear behind us, Major," Sgt. Emmaus reported. "Looks like the cave-in sealed us off from the Jaffa."
"Yeah, but it also sealed us off from the only way out of here," Rodney whined.
"The Jaffa were in the way regardless," Grace told him. "We may not be able to get back through there, but at least we don't have them coming after us."
Olivia flinched, holding up her 9mm, when a door abruptly slid open on the opposite side of the room. Everyone else in their group--even Rodney--stood holding their weapons right at the doorway. Yet nobody came through it.
Then the door right behind them slid shut.
"Oh, I really don't have a good feeling about this," Rodney muttered.
"You and me both, Doctor McKay," Gail added. "This just smells like a trap."
"Looks like somebody wants us to go down that way," Grace said. "But the question is, should we?"
"What choice do we have?" Olivia replied with dread.
"We always have a choice, Liv," Sam said, as she examined the door that had just slid shut behind them. "Let me see if I can get this open before--"
Olivia's eyes grew wide with horror when she saw thousands of tiny holes open up in the walls on either side of them. This spurred a ghastly mental image in her mind, and Olivia blurted out: "RAIDERS! DARTS!"
"EVERYBODY DOWN!" Sam quickly said, as she, Grace and Gail all dove to the floor.
"Raiders?" Rodney said, miscomprehending. "What are you talking about? There's nobody here, Oli--"
"Oh, you dopey son of a bitch," Olivia muttered, as she tackled him to the floor.
And just in time. For no sooner had Rodney landed on the floor with Olivia on top of him than there was a great swoosh directly above them. From the sight of Rodney's wide eyes, Olivia knew what she would be seeing even before she saw it. Olivia was still stunned at the sight of several thousand darts, all which were now embedded in the walls all over the room. Thankfully, the dart launchers didn't extend all the way to the floor, or else they would be Swiss cheese right now.
"Everybody all right?" Sam anxiously called. "Sound off!"
"I'm good, sir," Gail calmly said.
"Yeah," Grace added, sounding rattled. "Missed me too!"
"Raiders?" Rodney said to Olivia, with shock and consternation in his voice. "That was the best thing you could think of? Why not say, 'hey, get down, there's darts!' I could have been killed, and just because you weren't specific enough!"
Olivia just glared down at him. "You're welcome."
"For what?"
"Saving your miserable geek life," Olivia said.
She started to get off of him, until Sam shouted, "Liv, wait! Stay close to the floor!"
Rodney reached up and pulled Olivia back down against his chest--just as there was another loud swoosh just above them. Several more darts struck the wall on the other side of the room--darts that probably would have struck Olivia had Rodney not pulled her down.
"OLIVIA!" Sam called from across the floor with concern. "Are you hit?!"
Olivia tried to respond, yet Rodney was clutching her so hard that her face was momentarily pressed against his combat vest. She pried her head up just enough to say, "I'm fine, Sam."
"Yes, she is," Rodney said smugly. "Thanks to me."
"Oh, you conceited, son of a…." Olivia started to say.
"You're welcome, Olivia," Rodney replied with an arrogant smile.
Olivia cursed a blue streak as she crawled off of him, being careful to remain close enough to the ground so as not to present herself as a target to the darts.
Listening to Olivia's non-stop angry cursing, Sam just nodded at Gail and Grace and said, "Oh, yeah…she's fine…."
Olivia lay face-up on the sandy ground beside Rodney and took a deep breath in order to calm herself. This was not the time to lose her head--or else she really would lose her head to these damn darts. "So what do we do now, Sam?"
"Wait, let me see something," Rodney said, as he held up his laptop. "I might be able to--"
"No, Rodney!" Sam shouted. "Don't hold it up too high!"
Rodney let out a terrified screech as another barrage of darts shot the laptop right out of his hands. It lay sparking on the floor by the wall.
"There goes our map," Gail said forlornly.
"I also have it loaded on my laptop," Sam told her. "Rodney, you ok?"
"This place is a death trap!" Rodney cried, as he pressed himself as flat as he could against the floor. "We're all gonna die here!"
"Yeah, he's still whining, so he's fine," Olivia told Sam.
"What about you, Ms. Archeologist?" Rodney anxiously said to Grace. "Got any worthwhile ideas to offer to the group? How about translating something?!"
Grace just continued to calmly stare up at the ceiling. "Well, there's an engraving up here. It says there's a dart throwing contest every Friday night. Does that help?"
Olivia burst into giddy laughter at that. She glanced over and saw that Sam and Gail were also giggling at the joke. It was a much-needed tension-breaker. "Good one, Grace," Olivia said.
Rodney just shook his head in disgust. "Our lives are on the line, here, missy! This is a fine time for you to suddenly develop a sense of humor!"
"What?" Grace said, with an annoyed look on her face. "You saying I don't have a sense of humor?"
"Don't let him bait you, sweetie," Olivia soothed her.
"Ok, everybody listen up," Sam said, all business. "There's only one way out of here, and that's the open door on the other side of the room."
"And how are we supposed to get over to it without becoming a dart pincushion," Rodney asked, "crawl?"
Sam just nodded at him as she flashed another of her brilliant smiles. "Exactly, Rodney. We crawl. Now get moving."
At first Olivia was apprehensive about crawling across the floor, not knowing what to expect--but once they were all more than halfway there, she started to relax somewhat. Of course, there was the unknown that faced them beyond the doorway--but, as Jack always said, one step at a time.
"I am funny, right?" Grace whispered as she crawled along side of Olivia. "I mean, I have a sense of humor, right, Liv?"
Olivia just grinned at her. "Of course you do, Grace. Hell, if you didn't have a sense of humor, you'd never survive a day being a member of SG-1, right?"
Grace nodded somberly. "True, that."
SG-1: SVU
"What do we do?" TJ asked in a panic. "Dr. Zelenka, what do we do?!"
Zelenka stared at the trap that had been sprung before them in the narrow hallway. It was a series of large stones that stomped up and down against the dirt floor, looking somewhat like a strange, stone age assembly line.
There was no way to walk around the line of stomping stones, for they were perfectly cut to fit the hallway, so that there was barely a gap between them and the wall. What made it worse was that Major Lyman had previously ordered him and TJ to remain here while he, Keller and Hasseman went ahead to scout the area.
That was when the stones abruptly started stomping up and down in front of them. Zelenka and TJ had no idea where Lyman and the others were, or if even they were all still alive. And just when Zelenka thought about doubling back, a stone slab slid down in back of them. They were trapped here.
Their radios suddenly squawked, and both Zelenka and TJ smiled when they heard Lyman's urgent voice: "Dr. Zelenka, TJ, are you all right?"
"Yes, we're both fine," TJ replied. "How are you, Major? Did anybody get hurt on your end?"
"The stones started doing their little dance as soon as we were clear of the corridor," he responded. "Just hang on, we're trying to see if we can find another way around to you."
Zelenka shook his head as he keyed his radio. "That won't work, Major. A large stone slab has just slid down behind us, blocking the way out. We're stuck here."
"Dr. Zelenka!" TJ cried, as she pointed at something behind them.
"Oh, my," Zelenka said gravely, when he saw the slab that blocked their passage was now slowly inching up towards them. It wasn't enough that they were blocked from taking the only way out, but they were now being pushed towards the trap.
He started to explain the situation to Lyman--until something caught Zelenka's eye. It was the set of stomping stones in front of them. They didn't fall all together, but in a set pattern. Every other stone fell to the floor, while the accompanying set hung in the air--then the scenario played out in reverse.
"We could do this," Zelenka said with a grin.
"What?" Lyman asked over the radio.
"What?" TJ asked, with an alarmed look. "Do what?"
"Run through the stones," Zelenka replied, to the both of them. "They are falling in a set pattern, see? One up, one down--then it's reversed. Lieutenant Johansen and I can make it, Major. We have no choice, now, anyway. The slab is now moving towards us, pushing us towards the stones."
"He's right, Major," TJ said dismally. "We have to do something, and soon."
"Sir," Keller cut in, "we could just blow up the whole shebang."
"And risk killing Dr. Zelenka and Lieutenant Johansen?" Lyman replied. "I don't think so…. Dr. Zelenka, you sure you have a good chance at this?"
"We can do this, Major," Zelenka replied confidently.
"Very well," Lyman said. "We'll be waiting on the other side."
Zelenka turned to TJ and said, "Are you ready, Lieutenant Johansen?"
Although she nodded, the frightened look on her face told him that she dreaded what was to come.
"The impulse will be to run straight through," Zelenka told her. "But don't do that. Try and fight that impulse. Instead we go, stop, go, then stop again…all the way down the line. Ok, Lieutenant?"
"Ok," she said nervously. "Just one thing? Call me TJ?"
"TJ? Yes, I will--provided you call me Radek."
"Radek," she replied with a smile. "That's nice."
"It's Czech," he said with a slight shrug. With a glance at the slab, which was now pushing right at their backs, he added, "You ready?"
TJ nodded as she firmly took his hand in her own. "Now I am."
With his other hand, Zelenka keyed his radio. "Major, we're starting out right now."
"Best of luck to the both of you," Lyman said. "We're waiting for you with open arms over here."
"Ready, set," Zelenka said, as he watched the first stone as it dropped to the floor in front of them. Then, once it flew back up, he shouted, "GO!"
Still firmly holding onto TJ's hand, they both stepped forward directly beneath the hanging stone. Then, just as the second stone raised up, they jumped forward--just as the first stone slammed down behind them.
TJ had made a motion to start running, but Zelenka, who kept a tight grip on her hand, held her in place next to him. "Wait, wait, wait!"
Once the third stone raised up, they dived into the open space, feeling the wind blowing up behind them as the second stone slammed down to the ground.
On and on they went, stopping and starting, fighting the panicky urge to just run--until Zelenka could see Major Lyman and the others standing just behind the final stone.
"Last one!" Zelenka announced. "Ready, go, RUN!"
Both he and TJ kept running until the Marines reached out and caught them. It was only then that they truly felt safe.
"God damn," Hasseman said, grinning. "That was impressive."
"You two all right?" Lyman asked them.
"We're fine, thanks to Radek, here."
"Oh, it was noth--" Zelenka started to say, until he was surprised when TJ abruptly hugged him tightly.
"You saved my life, Radek," she whispered into his ear. "Thanks so much!"
As Zelenka hugged her back, he overheard Keller say to Hasseman: "Why is it that the chicks always go for the quiet ones?"
SG-1: SVU
Teal'c grunted as he plunged into the darkness. When his falling body brushed up against what felt like a tangle of vines, he dropped the staff weapon from his hands and reached out and grabbed a pair of vines. His grip slipped a few times, but Teal'c managed to get a good, solid hold on the vines so that it stopped his fall. It would appear that the jungle outside of the temple had broken through this wall--which was most fortunate for him.
When something hit him from above, Teal'c instinctively reached out and grabbed it with one arm. His instincts proved to be correct, for Teal'c discovered that he held a wiggling Lt. Hailey in his grasp.
The young woman was extremely fearful as she clung tightly to Teal'c. Her eyes were wide under the combat helmet that she wore. "Don't drop me," she pleaded, her tone extremely apprehensive. "Please, don't drop me!"
"Lt. Hailey, I have you," he calmly assured her. "I will not let you fall."
He stared into her eyes until she blinked--and when she did, Lt. Hailey appeared to be much more calmer as she took a deep breath.
Lt. Hailey nodded at him, a grateful expression on her face. "Thanks so much, Teal'c."
Teal'c nodded back at her. Then he glanced around the darkness of the chamber they were in, and was surprised to see his staff weapon on the floor about a few feet below them. Apparently, they were not as high up as he had thought.
"O'Neill!" Teal'c called. "Dr. Jackson!"
"Yeah, Teal'c," O'Neill replied. The direction of his voice sounded lower than they were. When he looked in that direction, Teal'c found O'Neill and Dr. Jackson just below them, both also clinging to the mass of vines that protruded from the wall. "We're here!"
"Are you unharmed?" Teal'c asked.
"Just barely!" Dr. Jackson replied. "But--yeah; no complaints otherwise, Teal'c. How's it going with you?"
"Where's Hailey?" O'Neill asked.
"Here, sir," she answered, "with Teal'c."
Teal'c glanced back down at his staff weapon. "O'Neill, the floor is just below us."
O'Neill glanced over his shoulder, then shook his head. "Sorry to doubt you, T, but I don't see it."
"Lt. Hailey," Teal'c said, "I shall drop you down to the floor, now."
"Ok," she replied. Yet the nervous look on her face belied the confident tone of her voice.
"Do you trust me?" Teal'c asked her.
She then gazed at him with a mixture of respect and comradeship. "With my life."
"Then hold onto my hand."
Teal'c slowly and carefully lowered her down to the floor as far as he could from his position on the wall. Lt. Hailey's feet still dangled over the floor, yet it was just barely a foot of space.
"You can jump down from here," Teal'c told her.
She nodded. "Yeah, I got it."
"Ready?"
She nodded once more. "I'm good."
Teal'c released her, and then nodded in satisfaction as Lt. Hailey fell to the floor and deftly rolled her body.
Teal'c then climbed down the wall of vines, picked up his staff weapon, and stood beside her. He glanced up at O'Neill and Dr. Jackson, who were still clinging to the wall of vines directly above them.
"Teal'c," Dr. Jackson nervously called, "where'd you go?"
In response, Teal'c reached up and grabbed Dr. Jackson's boot.
"Jack, something down there just grabbed my foot!" Dr. Jackson said in a panic.
"Yeah, Daniel, it was Teal'c," O'Neill replied.
Hailey cheerfully waved up as Dr. Jackson glanced down at her and Teal'c. "Oh," he said. "I see…."
"Now don't you feel silly," O'Neill said, as they dropped down to the floor.
"You were the one who did not believe me when I told you the floor was directly beneath your feet, O'Neill," Teal'c reminded him.
O'Neill nodded. "Touché, Teal'c."
Their radios squawked, just before the voice of Major Carter spoke. "Carter to Colonel O'Neill," she said. "Come in, Colonel. Over."
"Carter," O'Neill quickly replied, looking very relieved. "Where are you? You all right? Over."
"We're fine, sir. We got through the dart room all right."
"Dart room?" Daniel asked nervously.
"This temple is just like the Mumani one, sir--only it's fully active," Major Carter continued. "The anti-intruder systems are all fully operational. Please be careful!"
"Uh, yeah, Carter, we'll be sure to watch our step," O'Neill sheepishly replied. "Who's with you?"
"Liv, Rodney, Lt. Satterfield, and Sgt. Emmuas," Major Carter reported. "And they're all safe, sir."
"Oh, thank God," Daniel said with a relived sigh, "everybody's accounted for."
As O'Neill and the Major continued to speak, Teal'c cast a wary eye on their surroundings. They were in a chamber that opened out to a darkened corridor. As far as he could see, there were no threats--yet when he glanced at Lt. Hailey, Teal'c noticed that she glowed, literally. When Teal'c approached her, he saw that, specifically, Lt. Hailey's face glowed a vibrant yellow.
Lt. Hailey glanced at him with a questioning gaze. "What is it, Teal'c?"
"There is a light shining on you," he said. When Teal'c waved his hand over her face, he noticed that he broke the light. He pointed in the direction it came from. "It emanates from over here."
"Jack," Daniel said, when he saw what Teal'c was up to. "Look."
"Hold on a moment, Carter," O'Neill said into his radio. "T, what's wrong?"
Teal'c saw it. There was a yellow glowing light that glowed in the darkness just beyond them. He gestured at it, and O'Neill, seeing it, nodded.
"Carter, we've found something down here," O'Neill spoke into his radio. "We're gonna check it out. Over."
"It's a light," Doctor Jackson said. "Shining in the darkness."
"Indeed it is," Teal'c agreed.
"What if it's another trap?" Hailey asked.
"We don't have much choice," O'Neill firmly replied. "There's no other place to go but in that direction. Carter," he added, speaking into the radio once more, "we'll stay in touch. But if you don't hear from us within twenty minutes, you're in charge. Get everybody out of the temple safely. Over."
There was in uneasy pause before Major Carter reluctantly said, "Yes, sir. Be careful. Over."
"You too, Carter. Over." O'Neill then gestured towards the light with a nod of his head. "T, you want to take point? I got your back."
Teal'c nodded as he led them towards the light, which grew in intensity the closer they got to it. The light turned out to be a single lantern embedded within a stone wall. Once they approached the wall, the entire room was lit up from lamps within the ceiling.
Teal'c instinctively crouched down, his staff weapon at the ready, just in case there were any weapons aimed at them. But his warrior's instinct, honed from many years of battle, detected none. Teal'c glanced at O'Neill, who gave him a questioning gaze, and shook his head.
"All clear," O'Neill announced. "At least for now."
Daniel Jackson approached the wall, upon which was written a text that Teal'c could not decipher.
"Can you read that?" O'Neill asked him.
"Yeah, it's ancient Celtic," Daniel Jackson replied. "It says 'Speak the name of the Sage of Arthur, and enter.'"
"And who would that be?" Lt. Hailey asked.
Daniel Jackson grew thoughtful. "Well, uh, if it means King Arthur, then his Sage--which is another word for a wise man--would obviously be Merlin."
Once Dr. Jackson had pronounced that name, Teal'c--as well as thew others--were all startled when the very wall itself cracked open before them. Teal'c was amazed to see another stone head that floated over a water-filled pond, just like in the Mumani temple.
The water then began to shoot up at the head, covering it with water, like skin on bone. The water began to take on the features of an old man with a pointed hat and a long, flowing beard.
Teal'c was further startled to see the giant watery head gaze back at them with intelligence in its eyes.
"Greetings," the head said. "And congratulations. For you are worthy enough to have reached this level of the Katula temple. I am your guide to the wonders that are stored within. My name is Merlin."
Teal'c and the others all stood in silent amazement for a moment. Then O'Neill quietly said, "I think we just hit the jackpot, kids…."
To be continued....