A quick thanks to everyone for reading!
Chapter 50
You ever get that feeling like you are being watched?
As an Ascended Being that feeling never leaves you. You are individual and yet not. Part of the whole and still yourself… It is a sensation Marcreat never really became comfortable with.
He stood on the rooftop where Colonel O'Neill had been not long ago. The Ancient had watched the human's progress across the court yard and seen him enter the palace. He needed to follow, but desired to give the Colonel a chance to tell his teammate and friend goodbye.
A heavy sigh escaped him.
"I told you this would be a bad idea." A woman's voice spoke behind him.
Marcreat did not jump at the sound. He knew the voice and the woman who was speaking.
Oma Desala materialized beside him. She was in her usual human form. A handsome woman in her late forties with soft dark brown hair down around her shoulders and wearing a beige robe, she gazed at him with soft brown eyes. He saw no condemnation in them only compassion and sorrow.
She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I am sorry, my friend." She said, kindly.
Marcreat nodded his head, accepting her condolences.
"I have grown fond of her." He said. "She became a friend."
Oma nodded her head in understanding. "It was the same for me and Daniel Jackson." Her lips quirked up at the ends, "These humans tend to do that. Perhaps because they are what we used to be so long ago, they are vibrant beings… perhaps in our desire for eternal life we have forgotten how to live and that draws those like us toward them."
"I am having difficulty letting her go. She deserves to ascend, Oma." He turned and looked at her. "She does not deserve to simply fade away."
"She deserves peace, Marcreat and death is the only place she will find it." Her gaze shifted toward the palace and a frown creased her brow. "It seems that her peace is about to be delayed, my friend."
Marcreat looked at her in confusion and followed her gaze. The palace walls faded as his vision penetrated the outer walls and he searched for Samantha's life force. He found it within moments.
Colonel O'Neill was stepping into a small room, Samantha in his arms. The Ancient focused his vision to take in the room. In the center of the room was a golden sarcophagus. The lid was opening and O'Neill was lowering her into it.
"He cannot do this!" He cried.
Less then a second later Oma stood alone on the rooftop watching the Jaffa milling around in confusion below her. Her eyes swept the great fortress that had stood for thousands of years. She was here when it was being constructed under Selmak's careful hand. Trapped on the planet when Sekhmet dragged her through the Stargate during the Tauri rebellion, Selmak had created a formidable complex, a great technological accomplishment and for a time a prison. It was Selmak's betrayal that led to Sekhmet's capture by Ra and then to Marcreat's death giving Oma the chance to allow the tortured soul the gift of ascension. In the end it was not the gift she believed it to be. Despite Marcreat's best efforts, Sekhmet lived on and with the death of Samantha Carter few remained with the power or the will to fight the gou'ald queen. Worst yet, if Samantha Carter rises from the sarcophagus…
"I am sorry, my friend. There are few who could understand the torment you are experiencing with Sekhmet's continued existence, but…" she stopped. Another did exist. "Hold fast Marcreat. Perhaps victory is not beyond us."
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Jack watched Sam's face slowly disappear as the sarcophagus' lid sealed. Hope welled up inside of him. Soon he was would have her back.
"Stop!"
Marcreat materialized in the room and rushed to the sarcophagus. "You cannot do this!"
Jack stepped in front of him. The Ancient stopped, but his face was a mask of panic. "Colonel, you must not bring her back."
"Excuse me?" Anger and apprehension filled Jack. If there was anyway possible he would bring her back, but the Ancient's fear made him nervous.
Marcreat looked at the sarcophagus as if it was a serpent about to strike. "You do not understand." He said. "Samantha will not be the one to arise from it. Only death and destruction will be reborn."
"What are you talking about?" Jack yelled at him in frustration.
Marcreat ignored him and set his gaze on Rya'c standing next to his father. His eyes narrowed in anger as he advanced toward the young warrior. "She ordered you to destroy it!" He said, pointing at the sarcophagus. "She trusted you to do so!"
Rya'c took a step back from the advancing Ancient, but defiance could be seen clearly in his dark eyes. "When Major Carter made the request of me, I was in doubt that her mind was clear at the time."
"It was because her mind was clear that she made the request!" Marcreat raged.
Rya'c looked around the room at the various members of SG-1. "These last weeks Major Carter has been erratic. One moment herself, the next…different. I am not sure why or how, but she was not herself. Something was wrong."
Rya'c looked at Jack , who saw the burden the young man had been carrying these last weeks. "She knew she was dying, Colonel O'Neill. She requested that I take her home when the mission was completed. It was then she asked that I destroy the sarcophagus." His gazed shifted to the sarcophagus in the center of the room; its hum low filled the room. "I came in here and had my weapon prepared to fire, but… in the end I could not take the chance."
"Then you must destroy it now before it completes it cycle!" Marcreat demanded.
Jack turned on him. "There is no way in hell anyone of us are going to destroy that thing while Carter is in it."
"If you do not, Colonel it will be Hell that arises from it."
"What are you talking about?" Jack was getting extremely pissed. "Because without one hell of a good reason we are not touching that thing."
Marcreat stared at him a long while. Jack could see the battle within the Ancient to take the time to explain and the desire to simply destroy the sarcophagus himself. Something Jack was pretty sure he was not allowed to do.
The Ancient closed his eyes and began to speak.
He told them everything from the very beginning. Sam's actions at the SGC when she was trying to alienate her team, her time on the Tokr'a base, the clone, the memory transfer that almost killed her; Sekhmet's escape from the Tok'ra and the race to beat Sekhmet to her home planet and institute Samantha in her place.
With every revelation from Marcreat's mouth, Jack became angrier and angrier. When Marcreat told them about the modifications the Tok'ra had made to Carter's body a rude expletive about the Tok'ra's origins exploded from him and made Pha'esh growl menacingly at him, but nothing filled him with more horror than when Marcreat began telling them about Sekhmet's consciousness taking over Sam's mind. According to Marcreat, the transformation of Sam's DNA had bought her time, but not victory. Her only goal was to remain herself until Sekhmet's power base was destroyed. She knew her time was limited.
Marcreat looked at him. "Samantha left instructions with a Harry Maybourne to lead you here. Even before the battle for her mind began she knew that this mission would be her last."
Jack nodded. "Maybourne showed up a couple of weeks ago. That is why we are here."
Anger filled the ancient's face. "He did not wait as he was instructed. You and your team were too early."
Marcreat scanned the room looking at each face. "The Samantha Carter you know is gone. The sarcophagus will heal her body, but it will weaken her mind. Sekhmet's consciousness will overpower her and it will be the one to arise."
The ancient turned toward Jack. "Samantha trusts you, Colonel. She trusts that you will do what she would want. What do you think that is?"
The hope that had been blossoming in Jack's chest moments ago shattered and dissolved. He knew what Carter would want.
Without a word he strode over to Teal'c and held out his hand. The Jaffa warrior understood and handed him the staff weapon.
"Jack!" Daniel stepped toward him.
Jack looked directly into the young man's blue eyes. "What would Carter want, Daniel?" he asked quietly. "What would any of us want?"
Daniel held his gaze a moment, his eyes filled with a deep sorrow. "Okay." He whispered.
Jack turned toward the sarcophagus. He flipped the weapon in his hand and activated it. The barrel of the weapon pulled back primed to shoot. Jack ignored the argument rolling around in his mind. He was not killing Carter. Carter was already dead.
The blast from the energy weapon hit the sarcophagus and sizzled around it in electric patterns of blue and green. The hum stopped and the glow of power left it.
Silence descended on the room. No one moved for what seemed like hours though only moments passed. Jack was the first. He set the staff weapon down and closed the distance between him and the sarcophagus. He touched the device with his hand then looked up at Marcreat. "What remains to be done? I want to finish this and get her home."
Marcreat nodded. "We must dispose of the remaining symbiote and transport the Jaffa to a safe…"
Jack stopped listening. The sarcophagus was beginning to vibrate under his hand and he could hear a crackle of energy from beneath the lid. He yanked his hand away and started back quickly from the device.
"Everyone down!" he yelled as he dived to the floor.
Everyone hit the ground as the lid blasted off of the sarcophagus and rained down on them in a thousand pieces.
Jack looked up through the dust and debris. A smoky haze filled the room and he could hear a few groans as the men in the room began checking themselves for injuries. Jack looked at the sarcophagus. The lid was completely gone; the edges around the opening were blackened and warped.
He watched as a slender hand encased in gold came into view and gripped the side of the opening. It was followed by an unadorned hand on the other side. Ice filled him as through the haze he saw Samantha Carter's body rise out of the device, rage vibrating from every part of her body.
Her eyes did not flash as she scanned the room, but it was easy to see that the woman standing within the wrecked sarcophagus was not a happy camper.
Her gaze fell on Jack and her eyes flashed, not with light, but with anger.
"Damn it, Colonel! What the hell are you doing here?"
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Sam was pissed!
For someone who did not have a death wish she was really tired of dying and constantly coming back. How can someone face their mortality if it keeps being whisked away?
She glared at her commanding officer as she jumped nimbly from the device that had brought her back from the dead. She ignored the exclamations of surprise issuing from the others in the room. She did not look to see who else was in the room. Her eyes were on her former CO.
The Colonel drew his sidearm and aimed it at her chest. Doubt filled his dark eyes as she approached.
"Go ahead, Colonel." She said angrily. "Only this time, make it count, will ya?"
She could tell her caustic words hit a nerve, but she was too ticked to care at the moment.
She turned toward Rya'c still crouched on the floor. "And you. The next time I tell you to destroy something; you sure as hell better do it!"
"Carter?" The Colonel looked at her in astonishment. He lowered his firearm a bit.
"Be careful, Colonel." Marcreat warned him. He stood close by, untouched by the dust that covered everyone else.
Jack raised his gun.
Sam rolled her eyes in irritation. "Marcreat, do really think Sekhmet would waste time talking when she could simply blast you guys to oblivion." She demanded and held up the hand encased in the hand device she had used to blow her way out of the sarcophagus. Everyone in the room tensed and she rolled her eyes at them. "No. She said when the ancient started to respond. "She doesn't have the patience for it."
Marcreat stared hard at her. She glared back at him, but her gaze held no murderous glint and although she was ticked off, it was obvious that she was not insane. The Ancient smiled at her. "Samantha."
"For now..." She grumbled. She had retained control over her mind for the moment, but the time in the gou'ald healing device had taken its toll. Short circuiting the healing device before it could complete its cycle had repaired her body and released her before Sekhmet could take complete control. Still the malevolent consciousness was becoming stronger and any use of power weakened Sam. The use of the hand device to escape the sarcophagus had weakened her and that little bit of power expended had strengthened the enemy within.
Her time was extremely limited. She scanned the room taking in those standing around her. Pha'esh was to her left near the closed golden doors of the room. Lam'zel was not far from him. She turned to Lam'zel, her words clipped and ringing with authority. "We have to hurry. Are the Jaffa still within the fortress grounds?"
Lam'zel nodded. "I had the gates shut to keep them contained. None have escaped."
"Good." She said and turned to the Tok'ra. "Pha'esh, start mass producing the tretonin as best as you can. We have to have all the symbiotes removed in the next twenty-four hours."
"That may not be possible, Samantha…"
"Do it, Pha'esh!" She commanded angrily. "Otherwise things are going to get really nasty around here." She stalked over to the Tok'ra. He tensed as she approached, but held his ground returning her glare for glare. "Twenty-four hours is all I have, Pha'esh, after that…"
Pha'esh's glare softened. He bowed slowly and respectfully. "I will hurry, Samantha."
Sam turned to Rya'c. She scowled at the young man. "Can I count on you to follow my orders?" Sam pushed down the desire to use the hand device to inflict pain on the young Jaffa for disobeying her orders. Her arm jerked in response. She clenched her teeth in resistance. The desire to harm Rya'c was not hers and she would be damned before she let Sekhmet out.
Standing next to his son, Teal'c stiffened at her tone, but Rya'c looked away shame coloring his face. "Yes, Major Carter." He said with conviction. He met her gaze again. "Anything you ask."
Sam's scowl softened. She walked over to the young man and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I simply ask that you assist Lam'zel." She said gently. "I also ask your forgiveness." Rya'c made to interrupt her, but with a sharp shake of her head she silenced him. "I should never have made that request of you. Destroying the sarcophagus should have been done by my own hand, not yours." She gave him a small smile. "Now go."
Rya'c followed Lam'zel out the golden door.
Without looking at him, Sam addressed the ancient. "Go with them Marcreat."
"I do not think it wise to leave at this time, Samantha." He responded firmly. "You are not yourself…"
Sam wheeled around and pinned him with a feral glare. "And whose fault is that, Marcreat!" She yelled at him. Fury boiled through her. "You could have let me die on that Tok'ra lab table! You should have let me go then. Why didn't you?"
Marcreat shifted uncomfortably under her fierce stare. "Sekhmet is a destructive force and a danger to the universe…"
"Bull shit!" She said cutting him off with a slash of her hand. "You wanted revenge!"
His eyes widened in fear. "No, Samantha. I would never …"
Sam advanced on him. She tapped her finger against her head. "You forget. I know what she did to you. I have seen every man, woman and child she had slaughtered. Every planet she torn apart, the death, the destruction…the slaughter... All of it." She came nose to nose with the trembling ancient. "You want her dead."
He shook his head in denial.
"You do! Emotions and feeling do not go away with ascension, Marcreat. Daniel taught me that when he was ascended. I know the emotions that coursed through you during your captivity. There in here too. Did you know that?"
"I…"
"You didn't, did you?" She glared at him. "Well, it's a regular smorgasbord of terror and madness in here. It is amazing that Oma helped you ascend. I am not sure I would have done it considering your mental state at the time."
Marcreat said nothing, but his hazel eyes burned with anger.
"You wanted revenge, Marcreat. You wanted her to pay for the slow and methodical raping of your soul and mind. She penetrated and tore apart your entire being apart, bit by bit…"
"Not all of it…" He choked out. "I was able to hide."
A short cold laugh erupted from Sam's lips. "The curse of being an advanced being, while others faded away, you endured and in doing so suffered for millennia upon millennia." Sam's eyes narrowed, cruelly. "She hated you for it. Hated that she could not completely conquer you and she made you pay for that."
Sam glanced over to where the men of SG-1 were standing and let her gaze rest on Daniel. "In your time among the ascended did Marcreat tell you about his family, Daniel?"
Daniel looked at Marcreat in surprise. "Family?"
"Yes," the blaze of anger left her eyes when she looked back at ascended being standing before her, "a family." She said softly.
"Be silent, Samantha." Marcreat threatened. His entire being vibrating with restrained rage…and fear.
"A wife, a daughter and an infant son... you tried to protect them. Kept them hidden away from her locked deep in your memories, but it was in vain. You had to go to the memories often to keep your sanity in those first days. You were careful only finding them when Sekhmet slept in the sarcophagus."
Marcreat shook his head as if trying to rid himself of the memories.
"Sekhmet found them. She knew you were hiding something and she found them." Marcreat closed his eyes and Sam knew the nightmare that was playing out behind those closed orbs.
His wife, Veshis, eyes the color of sea foam widened in terror as she watched her husband torture and kill their daughter and young son. Sam heard the woman's screams as she begged him to stop, then the words broken and pleading with him in great sobs and asking why… then the blank stare of a broken mind and soul just before her own death.
Marcreat was trembling, his hands clenching and unclenching at his side as he struggled to control the myriad of emotions playing through him.
Sam was sure that the ancient wanted nothing more that to blow her into oblivion right now, but she needed Marcreat and all the powers he could bring to the table.
"You want revenge." She said firmly, without doubt.
Marcreat opened his eyes and they sparked with the power that every ascended being held within them. "Yes."
"Then rack that infinite brain of yours, find the loopholes in the All Mighty Ascended Being rulebook and help me do this."
Marcreat stared at her and Sam could see the battle raging within the ancient. After what Sam was sure was an eternity he slowly nodded head. "There is a faster way to manufacture the tretonin. Pha'esh can have all we need in the time you requested."
Sam resisted the urge to blow out the breath she had been holding. "Thank you."
He pinned her with an angry glare. "Do not think you have done yourself a favor, Samantha Carter. You know as well as I that no matter what happens here today, if you should fail in the final moments…" he looked down at the syringe full of acidic poison hidden within her bloodied gown then at the members of SG-1. His gaze lingered on Colonel O'Neill. "…then you will fully understand what depths Sekhmet will plunge to make you suffer."
Then he was gone.
"Damn, Carter." Colonel O'Neill muttered.
She looked at her former CO. He had not holstered his sidearm, but still held it at his side in a tight grip.
Teal'c eyed her closely as well, his strong dark fingers wrapped around his staff weapon.
Daniel was not armed, but she could still see a wariness in his eyes as he watched her.
They do not trust you. Sekhmet's oily voice muttered in her mind.
They have every right not too. She said back. I wouldn't trust me either.
You are fool! Once I take control of this body I will hunt each of them down and destroy them.
Do you think I would allow you to get strong enough to do that? Who is the fool?
Sekhmet flooded her mind with gruesome images detailing out the horrifying deaths that awaited her friends.
She shoved them aside viciously and put her attention back on the men standing before her.
She was glad to see them. She had missed them more than words could say, but so much had happened in the last weeks that could not be undone with a simple 'Hi, how ya doin?'.
Teal'c stood stoic and solid, just as she remembered him. Daniel regarded her quietly, waiting for her to make the first move. The Colonel stood ramrod still the look of confusion she had seen earlier when she first exited the sarcophagus replaced by a stern glare. The look was classic O'Neill and put her on the defensive.
She knew he had every right to be mad at her, but in the same token she had been through hell and back these last weeks and she was not in the mood to have her former commanding officer barking at her. And what were they doing here in the first place? They should not have been here for at least two more weeks. Their early arrival and the Colonel's perfect marksmanship had really put a kink in her plans. Now, instead of weeks or maybe even months of time to move the Jaffa, she had maybe twenty-four to forty-eight hours before she would have to stop Sekhmet from taking her over completely.
She crossed her arms and glared at them. "What are you guys doing here?" She demanded angrily.
The Colonel's eyebrows shot up in surprise at her surly tone. "Come again, Major?" He barked. The emphasis he put into her rank made it clear he was more than willing to pull rank on her to control the situation.
Tough luck, Colonel.
"Don't give me that Major stuff, Colonel. I resigned, remember?" She shot back. "Do you have any idea, how badly you guys have screwed things up?"
"We screwed things up!" The Colonel said incredulously.
"Sam," Ever the diplomat Daniel, injected himself to calm the situation. "We came to help."
Her gaze flicked to the gun in the Colonel's hand. "Yeah," she noted, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Thanks a lot for that."
A look of torment passed through the Colonel's eyes and Sam felt immediate remorse for her words. She inhaled a steadying breath. She had to keep her temper.
Without taking her eyes from the Colonel she still felt the need to press her point. "You should have trusted me, Colonel. You all should have trusted me."
"How could we?" Daniel said. "All the evidence pointed to Sekhmet possessing you and the first thing we see when we get here is you about to kill Rya'c."
"Daniel Jackson is correct, Major Carter." Teal'c added. "We were unaware…"
"You were suppose to be unaware, Teal'c!" She said. "You were not even supposed to be here!"
"Hey! You're the one who sent Maybourne to us with the plans to this place. You wanted us to come!" Jack bit back.
"Only if I failed! Maybourne! Urg! I should have known better than to trust that idiot. I bet that conniving bastard didn't let the gate hit him in the ass before he was through it and contacting you."
"A good thing he did!" The Colonel yelled. "Until he showed up we thought you were dead."
"What are you talking about?" She said irritably. "The General knew I was with the Tok'ra."
"What am I talking about?" He raged. "Sekhmet, the real one, sent the old clone through the SGC's Stargate with its throat slit ear to ear. That is what I am talking about!"
Sam's eyes widened in horror at his words, "Oh my God, sir…"
"It was weeks before we knew the truth." Daniel added. "It wasn't till Colonel Maybourne showed up that we put together the facts and realized that the body we buried wasn't you."
"You were deeply mourned, Major Carter." Teal'c said and Sam could see the toll Sekhmet's deception had taken on the men before her.
She didn't know what to say to them. Everything she had done to try and keep them away from Sekhmet. To save them from the nightmares that she she was going through. The weight of it all crushed down on her. Even if she did destroy Sekhmet's stronghold, her actions would only slow the monster up. The real Sekhmet would seek revenge. Sam would be dead and those that she loved most would be hunted down and who knew better than she the horrors Sekhmet was capable of inflicting on them.
Sam could feel the evil consciousness reveling in her doubts as it began flooding her mind with images of the massacres that Sekhmet had committed in the past.
I will destroy them! She screeched. Countless planets will fall under my hand and serve me, but not yours. The Tauri homeworld will be crushed and I will annihilate every living soul on it!
Sam shook her head trying to silence the gou'ald's ravings. She looked up at the Colonel and desolation flooded through her. "Sir…I…" What could she say? So sorry, I brought this nightmare into your lives?
She covered her face with her hands in a futile attempt to shut out the malicious words and images assaulting her brain. God she was tired. How she wanted to let go and fade away. Her strength left her and she could feel herself begin to shake.
Release yourself to me. Sekhmet purred. Let me take away your pain. You need not fight anymore…
A sob escaped her. She fell to her knees, her head clasped in her hands. She felt strong hands grasps her arms and squeeze painfully.
Follow my voice, Samantha. I will let you sleep.
"Fight, damn it!" The Colonel's commanding voice was faint within Sekhmet's promises.
I don't want to fight. Sam thought, angry at the Colonel for demanding it of her.
If you surrender now, I will not harm them. I will allow them their lives.
"Don't you dare give up, do you hear me?" Sam knew the Colonel was yelling at her, but his voice could barely be heard around Sekhmet's promises.
It's hopeless. She thought.
It is hopeless.
"Sam…" The Colonel's soft voice broke through. She felt warm hands cradle her face and the rasp of his breath close to her ear. "Carter." He whispered. "Come back."
Sam swallowed hard. Come back…to me. He had said that when he placed her in the sarcophagus. Her mind whirled with memories. Good ones to combat the nightmares that held her now. The Colonel smiling at her that first day in the briefing room when she had challenged him to an arm wresting match; her first trip through the Stargate; Teal'c comforting her after Maybourne had kidnapped the Colonel; finding Daniel alive on the planet where the ascended left him when he was banished.
The memories gave her strength.
She opened her eyes. The Colonel's face was only inches from her own. His dark eyes pleaded with her to stay with him.
Do not listen to him! He wants you to be in pain! He wants you to suffer!
"I know you hurt." His voice was filled with compassion. "But you have to fight that thing."
He will be the first I kill, if you do not heed me! Sekhmet raged.
Sam closed her eyes and concentrated on pushing against Sekhmet influence.
You cannot destroy me completely. Even if you do kill us, the original of me still exists.
Then I will spend my last days telling them everything about you. All of your secrets, your strengths and weaknesses; they will be prepared to fight her. She is not the first gou'ald we have destroyed and she will not be the last.
She reopened her eyes. The Colonel had not moved. She could feel his thumb caressing her cheek. She gave him a tremulous smile.
"Thank you." She whispered. She reached up and placed her hand over his. Her eyes conveyed her love and gratitude to him as his hands reluctantly fell away from her face.
He helped her to her feet and held onto her arms till he was confident she could stand on her own.
"Sam?" Daniel gently touched her shoulder.
"I'm okay. Just a bit shaken."
The look on his face said he did not believe a word she just said, but he let it go.
She looked back at the Colonel. "Sir, we have a lot to do and very little time."
A high pitched laugh filled the room sending a chill down Sam's spine.
"No, my pathetic little pretender, you have no time at all."
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Sekhmet stood in the open doorway of the sarcophagus room her arm extended toward them, a hand device glowing menacingly at them. The members of SG-1 tensed as the gou'ald queen stepped further into room keeping her weapon pointed toward them.
Jack raised his pistol without hesitation and unloaded the clip. The bullets struck the gou'ald's personal shield causing golden swirls of energy to dance in mid-air around the creature.
"Well, crap." He muttered and lowered his side arm. He glared at the gou'ald queen.
"Stupid humans. You have always been an ignorant race." She focused on Sam. "Did you truly believe you could become a Goddess, Samantha Carter?"
"Apparently, from the look of you," Sam nodded her head toward the clone body of Sam that Sekhmet currently inhabited, "I have been one for a while now."
Sekhmet ran her hands down the hips of her garishly outfitted clone and smirked. "It is a newer creation." She raked her eyes over Sam taking in her disheveled appearance with a note of derision. "Superior to the original in every way."
Jack snorted drawing the gou'ald's attention. "Now if only you could find a tailor that doesn't dress you up like a tall blond peacock." Jack said. Sam's lips quirked at the Colonel's condescending remark. "Seriously," he continued, "At least the original knows better than to wear that shade of green." He leaned forward slightly toward Sekhmet. "It makes you look pasty."
Sekhmet's pale face became suffused with color. "For you insolence, you will be the first to die, Colonel O'Neill. I will revel in your…"
A flash of steel interrupted the gou'ald's boasts. Jack's sharp barbs had distracted the gou'ald and allowed the Colonel to unsheathe his knife and with unerring accuracy he threw the weapon. It penetrated the gou'ald queen's personal shield and lodged deep into her chest with a soft thunk.
Sekhmet gazed down in dumb fascination at the hilt of the knife protruding from her chest then a scream of rage erupted from her mouth and she lifted her snarling visage toward O'Neill.
"Everyone move!" He bellowed.
All four members of SG-1 dove behind the ruined sarcophagus as a blast of energy shook the huge device.
Sam ducked down next to the Colonel. He smiled at her. "Gotta love the gou'ald oversight when it comes to primitive weapons." He said.
Sam smiled back. "Nice hit, Colonel."
Another blast rocked the sarcophagus.
The smile left the Colonel's face. "Any ideas, Carter?" He asked as he ducked flying debris from Sekhmet's attack.
On yeah, she had an idea. "Yep," she answered, "but you won't like it."
"Do I ever?"
"Trust me. You will hate it." She said then stood up.
"Carter!"
But Sam wasn't listening. Her arm shot up and reaching deep down inside to the reserve of ancient abilities within her she released a powerful blast of energy toward her enemy.
Sekhmet's eyes widened in surprise, but the inhumanly fast reflexes of her clone gave her the speed necessary to duck out of the way.
The energy blast hit the wall behind her and blew a huge whole in it exposing the room beyond. Sekhmet dove through the hole.
Sam gave the Colonel a quick glance. He was staring at her in amazement. She gave him a cheeky grin. "What can I say…this girl's got skills." She leapt nimbly over the ruined the sarcophagus. A wave of weakness shot through her, but she ignored it and strode toward the hole in the wall.
Sekhmet whipped around the ragged edge of the opening and shot an energy blast at her.
With the hand device, Sam deflected it easily, but the blast ricochet and hit a spot not far from where the Colonel had stood up behind the burnt out shell of the sarcophagus as started to follow her.
"Hey! Watch it Carter!"' He shouted as he ducked back down.
"Sorry, sir!" She hollered back.
Sekhmet jumped back around the edge of the opening in the wall.
Sam studied the hole for a moment. She needed to end this quickly. Expending her energy this way was dangerous. The energy shield around the gou'ald would protect her from the brunt of the hand devices destructive powers and Sam could not waste her time continually attacking it.
She aimed her hand toward the area just to the right of the opening where Sekhmet had taken cover. "Gotta love primitive weapons..." She muttered and unleashed a powerful blast of energy at the wall. Under all the gold and silver, the inside walls of Sekhmet's fortress were made of huge granite like stones. The blast shook the room as the wall crashed down.
A shriek of pain and outrage let Sam know that the rocks had passed the personal shield and she had hit her target.
She started toward the rubble, but had to stop. A disorienting wave of dizziness assaulted her. "Damn." She muttered. She felt a hand steady her and turned to see Daniel standing next to her. She gave him a weak smile.
The Colonel threw her a concerned look then motion Teal'c to follow him toward the crumbled wall. The Jaffa warrior kept his weapon trained on the pile of rubble while Jack stepped over and into the room. Carefully he studied the pile looking for any signs of life among the huge slabs of rock. All was still.
"Nice job, Carter." He said.
Sam gave him a weak smile. "Be careful, Sir. She may still be ali…"
The rock pile under the Colonel erupted and Sekhmet exploded from the rubble with a primal scream. Jack jerked away from the pile, but the gou'ald's arm lashed out at him her hand seized the brown robe he had donned earlier to disguise himself. She yanked him forward the movement placing him in Teal'c's line of fire. Her cut and battered face snarled inches from his own, he could smell the odor of decay on her breath. "Well…well…well Colonel O'Neill" she whispered. Her cracked and bloodied lips stretched into a gruesome smile. Jack saw the intent in her cold eyes seconds before he felt the cold steel of his own knife tear through the flesh of his chest past his ribs and into his heart. Sekhmet's maniacal laugh rang in his ears and he felt a charge of energy ripple around her as she released the knife and shot off an energy blast from her hand device at his teammates. He caught a glimpse of Daniel ducking behind the crumbling wall, but he did not know if Sam and Teal'c had escaped the blast. Turning back to Jack, Sekhmet yanked the knife from his chest, she released her hold and he hit the ground with a heavy thud.
A scream of rage filled the room and Jack saw Carter her eyes filled with fire discharging vicious blasts of energy from the hand device at the fleeing gou'ald.
Crap, he hurt. He thought and looked down at his chest. An expanding dark stain was creeping steadily across his chest as his heart pumped blood from the gaping wound. Not good.
Sam fell to her knees in front of him and without effort tore open his robe and the t-shirt beneath to expose the damaged flesh of his chest. Her face paled when she saw the gaping wound and she frantically began tearing at the linen underdress she wore ripping off large chunks of fabric and pressing them against the wound.
"Hold in there, sir." She demanded.
Jack shook his head slightly. Blackness was beginning to gnaw at the edges of this brain and he could no longer feel his legs or arms. He fought against it, but the tides of darkness kept washing over him dulling Sam's face.
Daniel fell to his knees beside them. "Is there another sarcophagus?" He asked.
Sam shook her head.
"Cart…" Jack choked as blood filled his mouth. He turned his head and tried to spit the warm fluid out. Sam looked down at him desperation etched into her face then looked up at the ceiling.
"Marcreat!" She yelled. "Marcreat! Get your ascended ass in here!"
