A/N's: so you all liked Jack coming to the rescue, right? Never underestimate the man, he is one resourceful warrior, grin. Enjoy the next part...
O'Neill crawled, or tried to move in a way similar to crawling with his immobilized arm, making sure Fraiser stayed close to him at all times.
It took him a lot of effort as his abused muscles weren't cooperating one-hundred percent, but eventually the Colonel reached the position he wanted without being spotted.
Now came the tricky part.
Here, he had to move the last yard to the right, while Janet had to head left. He had no choice but to depend on her, despite that she had no field experience, hoping that she knew what to do and could manage her task.
There was no way he could eliminate the two guards at the same time with his knife only. Knowing there was no other way; he just had to trust on faith and the alertness of his captured team mates. Maybe they would manage to hold one of the guards off long enough for him to act.
He made eye contact with Janet for the last time, and mouthed a silent 'good luck' at her as she nodded affirmatively; pointing into the direction she planned on going. He waited until she was where he wanted her, then gritted his teeth and sprang into action.
The first guard went down, fully taken by surprise as the knife did its job.
From the corner of his eyes, Jack noticed that Janet had indeed shot the second, the guard in question staggering backwards.
The third guard was quick, though. He had Daniel in a firm grip before Jack could reach him.
The second guard, not fatally wounded, struggled back to his feet as well, but Janet had managed to free Teal'c before the guard regained his bearings and the Jaffa finished the job silently and efficiently.
Daniel, meanwhile, acted before the third guard could force Jack to lower the knife. The linguist swung his head backwards, the impact of his skull hitting home on his opponent's chin making his own stomach turn. The linguist then let his knees buckle deliberately and the guard was unable to hold his grip on him.
Jack had already moved and grabbed the guard from behind, pressing the knife against his throat, but hesitated as the memory of this man and what he'd done blocked the Colonel's movements.
Daniel struggled back to his feet and studied the sudden stoic, blank expression on his friend's face.
O'Neill stared at nothing, holding the man still, and then his hand started trembling uncontrollably. Before the guard could take advantage of his temporary reprieve, Teal'c was there to take care of the situation while Daniel gently took the knife out of Jack's cramped fingers.
"Easy," the linguist tried to calm his friend. "Teal'c's got him now. It's okay, Jack."
Fraiser was already there, looking worriedly at the momentarily unresponsive Colonel. Before she could do anything, though, he snapped out of it, shaking his head as if to throw the weariness off. His eyes were filled with rage as he watched how the Jaffa dragged the three bodies together. He then blinked twice to regain control and looked from Daniel to Janet and back again. "You guys okay?" he asked softly, visually checking them over.
Daniel nodded, relieved that the events had taken a turn for the better, although he eyed his friend with concern. "You?"
"Fine," O'Neill waved him off. "Where are Bayfield and Carter?"
"I believe they are captured as well, O'Neill," Teal'c said. "They have not returned from their exploration of the other side of the crevasse."
O'Neill quickly assessed the situation. "So we can't move through the ravine."
"No. We have to think of something," Daniel agreed, exchanging looks of concern with Janet.
"Sit down, Sir," Fraiser ordered, holding a canteen in front of the Colonel. "I want you to rest a bit and drink something while we come up with a plan."
O'Neill reluctantly lowered himself to the ground, unwilling to give in to his fatigue, the pain and the emotions that threatened to overwhelm him after seeing the commander of Camp Ockeloen killed. Using every technique he'd learned in the past, he focused on the part of the mission that still was lying ahead of him by pushing his feelings to the background.
Fraiser carefully examined her patient visually, deliberately refraining from touching him, although her fingers itched to start checking his injuries. Somehow she figured that now was not the time and only pressed the canteen into his hand. "Drink, Sir," she repeated softly. If nothing else, he needed fluids for his kidneys.
He did, slowly lifting the canteen to his lips and sipped absentmindedly while his eyes searched the area, scanning, taking in the situation. "Do you think we could move around, maybe over one of the rims?" Jack asked, facing Teal'c.
"We would have to move carefully, O'Neill, but it can be done. Colonel Bayfield and Major Carter have succeeded by moving that way."
"Wouldn't the guards on that side expect these guards to let them know something?" Daniel asked.
"We have to split up," Jack said, his mind still racing.
"Wouldn't it be logical for them to head this way?" Fraiser queried, trying to help.
"If they knew it was safe," nodded Daniel, rubbing the sore spot behind his ear with one hand. "Maybe we can lure them."
"They will know something is wrong soon enough," Jack thought out loud. "Unless.."
"Unless?"
"There are three guards, with two male and one female prisoner, plus one down, right?" Jack said. "They don't know I'm up. Daniel, maybe you can switch clothes with one of these... dead guys..." another shiver ran over his spine as O'Neill looked at the Tyberian guards. "I'll hike to the other side while you guys set up a scene, making them think that the guards captured us all. Daniel, you can wave at them, getting their attention."
"O'Neill, I do not think that is wise," Teal'c stated.
"Why not, Teal'c," the Colonel objected. "We can't go straight to them and we can't risk climbing that way when they have probably spotted Carter and Bayfield there to begin with. They only have to head this way through the ravine to stay out of reach. We'll have to come in from both sides."
"What if they don't buy my act and stay on that side, Jack?" Daniel questioned.
O'Neill shrugged tiredly. "I'll think of something."
"I will accompany you, O'Neill."
"Negative, Teal'c. First of all I want them to think you're all captured on this side and for that I need you here. If they are going to pass through the ravine, it will be hard enough for one man to approach them from behind without being spotted. You'd be of more help from this side." O'Neill let out a deep breath, suppressing the waves of pain spiking from more than one part of his body. He needed to think, but it was getting harder to concentrate.
"Jack," Daniel's face lit up. "We still have our packs. There's some C4 in there, isn't it? Can't we use that? Maybe we can set up an explosion here once you're behind them for distraction?"
"Mmmm, good idea, Daniel," Jack nodded, mentally kicking himself for not having thought of their equipment. "If they don't seem to be biting, you guys try that and stay out of sight. That will make them come. Teal'c," he turned to face the Jaffa, "place some bundles on the sides, over there as well. We might need that, too."
"Can't we set off anything on the west rim and make it look natural, like a rock fall or something?" Daniel rambled on, thinking out loud.
O'Neill waved it off with a slight movement of his right hand. "Too dangerous. We could mess up the way through and we'll be split up for good..."
Teal'c bowed his head. "That would be too much of a risk, Daniel Jackson. We will need to proceed as O'Neill planned." The Jaffa searched through the packs and handed O'Neill a side-arm, extra ammunition and some C4. "You should take these, O'Neill."
The Colonel outstretched his hand to take the equipment from Teal'c, wincing as the muscles in his arm protested the movement. He stuffed the ammunition and C4 in the pocket of his pants and stuck the gun underneath the waistband against his back.
Teal'c, meanwhile, had gathered some tape and, positioning the sheath of the knife against O'Neill's calf, he taped it securely in place. This way his friend would be able to take the knife along and reach it quickly without too much effort.
O'Neill nodded in satisfaction and started to move, ready to leave.
"Sir," Fraiser started, raising one hand when he tried to silence her. "At least let me give you a painkiller, Sir. And you really need the next dose of antibiotics as well."
He slowly nodded at her and Janet moved swiftly, grabbing what she needed before he changed his mind.
O'Neill reluctantly left the others, not liking it but not seeing another way. They needed somebody on the other side to close the enemy in and he was the best choice. He was sure the guards on the north side had binoculars and would search for the dark features of the Jaffa at the least; that's why he hadn't agreed on Teal'c's offer to come with him.
Besides, who would look after Janet and Daniel? There was no way he would leave them without some protection.
At least the pain wasn't inhibiting his movements anymore. Doc's happy pills were doing their job and, except for the immobilized left arm, he was able to move freely, albeit stiffly.
O'Neill took every precaution to reach the north side without being spotted; hoping Daniel would manage to distract the guards when he was nearly there.
He suddenly remembered that the guards would most likely have a radio as well and wondered briefly why he hadn't anticipated on that. The thought just hadn't crossed his mind. Must have been the exhaustion, he figured. Nothing he could do about it now, though. He just had to trust that Daniel and Teal'c would come up with something creative to solve the problem.
While crawling and hiking over the west rim, his mind wandered off thinking about the past days. The image of Marc being shot in front of his eyes haunted him, even when he was wide awake. Jack was glad he had something to focus on, enabling him to push the bad memories to the back of his mind, pretending they didn't exist. There was no time to deal with them.
Not now. Not yet.
Focus. Get the others out safe.
That was the only thing that mattered right now.
Daniel Jackson was busy. He searched for the right clothing, looking for the pieces that would be the easiest to rearrange. When he'd made up his mind, he let Teal'c assist him in manipulating the body to remove the pieces he needed.
Quickly he took off his own clothing and changed into the other garb.
Teal'c managed to get Daniel's things draped around the body of the Tyberian guard.
Next, Daniel ran a hand through his hair. "Would they see that my hair isn't black?" he asked.
Janet switched from the dark hair of the guard to Daniel. "I don't know," she doubted. "Can we use anything to darken it? There's no soil here anywhere..."
"I guess it will have to do."
"I could cut it," Janet offered, noticing the linguist's hair being longer than that of the body.
"Mmmm," Jackson hesitated but nodded. "Do it."
With Janet cutting Daniel's hair, Teal'c examined the surroundings for the perfect spot to set up their scene. He soon found what he was looking for; they could use the rocky terrain to act out their little charade, leaving just enough in sight for the guards on the other side to detect them but still hidden enough to hide what they wanted. Teal'c moved back to where O'Neill and Doctor Fraiser had been hiding and carried the stretcher, one end sliding over the solid ground. Once in position, he rolled one of the other guards on to the contraption, covering him with a blanket. He had it all planned. He already knew where he was going to prop the other bodies up, to make it look like they were sitting.
Then, a radio burst to life.
The words he did not understand took him by surprise and he lifted one brow as he searched for the radio on one of the bodies. Retrieving it, he hurried to Daniel Jackson and handed it to the linguist.
Daniel quickly grabbed it, having heard the message coming through. He pressed the button and altered his voice while speaking. Without finishing his sentence, he scratched the radio over the solid rocks then said something again, before smashing it completely on the ground.
"What?" Fraiser demanded, frowning in surprise.
"That was one of the others," Daniel explained. "I told them we had everything under control, and faked losing the transmission... That should do it," he shrugged when he looked at the ruined radio next to him. "Better check if there are more, Teal'c."
"I will see to it immediately," Teal'c said and left to search the bodies while Janet finished her handiwork. She took advantage of the situation to quickly rinse the gash behind Daniel's ear with antiseptic then sealed it off with a butterfly strip.
"Thanks," Daniel said. "Let's get this show on the road. Jack must have nearly reached the other side by now."
O'Neill safely arrived on the other side of the ravine. He was sure the guards hadn't discovered him and slowly he made his way around until he was positioned behind them.
He kept quiet for a moment to catch his breath and loosen his stiffened muscles. Although he didn't have much strength in his right arm, Jack massaged his right leg, grimacing while he did so. All the crawling and hiking hadn't done his damaged limbs much good. His right leg especially had been causing him trouble, giving away underneath him whenever he put too much weight on it.
After his brief rest, the Colonel visually scanned the area, looking for a safe way to move closer to the enemy in order to be able to observe them. He soon found a spot he could climb on to look down and, half limping and half crawling forward, he made his way to the top.
Peering over the edge O'Neill noticed how Bayfield and Carter were lying face down on the ground, hands bound on their backs. Two guards were keeping an eye on them while two others appeared to be busy signaling with the guards on the other side.
Which would be Daniel, Jack knew.
One of the guards was searching the other side of the ravine through his binoculars and then apparently discussed the situation with his partner. Jack couldn't see what his team mates were doing but at least they had managed to confuse the guards. A smile formed itself on his lips as Jack realized that if anybody could pull this off, it would be Daniel.
Now it was up to the guards. Jack watched them argue and tried to predict their next move. The four Tyberian men were heatedly discussing the situation until finally one of them seemed to make a decision, pointing with his arms in all directions while giving his orders.
The guards rose and forced their prisoners to get up. Jack watched closely, ready to react, his face grim as he saw Carter staggering.
The guards forced them to march, one leading them and two behind them, pushing their weapons into the prisoners' backs. The fourth man turned and walked into another direction.
Shit.
The fourth guard headed for the west rim.
Three guards were going to pass through the ravine while the fourth would move around and approach from the other side.
Jack's mind raced. He couldn't follow the three guards now. If he tried now, he would be discovered by the fourth man on the rim and that guard would be able to signal the others. If he followed the fourth, however, he wouldn't be where he needed to be, behind the other three.
Now what?
He recalled one location he'd seen on his way over here, on the rim. That would have to be it. Although it wouldn't be easy, he could descend from there down into the ravine. He would follow the fourth man, take him out somehow and then climb down behind the enemy.
With no time to lose, Jack moved.
A/N's: uh oh... we're not safe, yet...
you guys enjoy your weekend, and see you on Monday!