Chapter 24

Smoke was all D'nae could see. Behind him the voice of Oren rose and fell as she communicated with the Master of Security, but she sounded far away. He was just as dimly aware of Tallin and Bok'n standing beside him at the big window, watching transfixed with horror the battle being played out below them. Their exclamations of anger and shock came to him muffled, his confusion making it difficult to hear. The rising of the Ring, the apprehending of the two aliens, the sudden reversal on the field of battle - all occurring within an unbelievably few moments - had left him unable to think.

Finally the shroud of smoke began to dissipate, revealing first one body, then another, and as more rifts opened in the cloud, many more bodies littering the plaza. Bodies with braided hair. Kalam bodies.

"They're gone!" cried Bok'n.

It was true. The two aliens who had been captured were nowhere in sight.

"Find them!" the provost ordered. Oren relayed the command to the Master of Security.

D'nae looked at him. "With respect, Provost, we have suffered many casualties. They are superior warriors. Perhaps we should let them go."

Bok'n turned to D'nae, disbelieving. "After what they have done?"

"Is it really worth the fight?"

"They have taken our children!"

"They were not ours, Provost."

"They would have been ours tomorrow. And they still can be." Bok'n shouldered past D'nae roughly.

Tallin leaned close to D'nae and said, "You're digging your grave, my friend."

D'nae saw his own reflection in the glass as if it were a ghost. He remembered why Viorel had been appointed to the Wydra. Her predecessor had disputed an issue with the provost and as a result, his head had been fed to the lempas.

Oren's voice came to him. "You found what? Only one?"

D'nae and Tallin turned to look at her. She was listening to the communication with a frown. She whispered something to Bok'n.

He looked surprised, then a mirthless, cold smile turned up his lips. "Asked for him by his first name, you say?" he said.

She nodded, listened some more. "Very well." She turned to the provost. "They are on their way here."

"No. Tell them to wait there." His eyes were hard, calculating. "I will come to them."

D'nae felt a chill over his skin as he watched the provost hurry from the Hall.

~o~

Jack stared into the alcove, unable to move.

"Maybe she just wandered off," Carter said.

"She wouldn't have left her doll." Not unless- Ice filled his veins.

"Maybe she was scared by all the noise and just forgot it."

Mechanically he picked up the doll and stuffed it inside his jacket. He tried to tamp down the panic that squeezed his chest, making breathing difficult. "Wait here, I'll look."

"I'll help you, sir. Two of us can cover more ground." Carter helped her father into the alcove and lowered him down. "We'll be right back, Dad." Jacob nodded dully and slumped against the wall.

They split up, Carter limping one way, Jack trotting another, calling Jaira's name softly. Carter's right, he told himself. She got scared. She ran off and forgot the doll. He jogged down an alley. "Jaira!" He wanted to yell his lungs out but he kept his voice low. He turned right. Nothing there. Turned left-

"Looking for someone, Colonel O'Neill?"

Jack pivoted, swinging his P-90 toward the sound of the voice, but something crashed down hard on his wrist, sending a sharp pain up his already pain-filled arm and knocking his weapon out of his hands. In the next instant he felt something hard pressing against his skull. He cursed his stupidity. Ambushed like some raw recruit. Jaira's disappearance had rattled him so badly, he'd lost his edge.

Bok'n detached himself from the shadows. "Take his weapons," he said to the man who held Jack.

The security officer removed the P-90 from its clip, the Glock from its holster and the zat from Jack's waistband and tossed them on the ground. Then he pressed his own weapon into O'Neill's back.

"Just out for a moonlight stroll," said Jack. "Pretty moons you got."

"Yes, they are beautiful, but pardon me if I disbelieve you. I suspect you were looking for this." Bok'n gestured toward the alley, and from it emerged another security guard. The guard was pulling Jaira by her arm.

Jack lunged, but a strong arm wrapped itself around his neck while the gun at his back ground painfully against his ribs. "Jaira!" he choked out.

"Jack," she said in a tiny voice. "I'm scared."

"Let her go, you bastard!"

"I don't think so," said the provost. "And if you move again the guard will have to shoot you."

Jaira began to cry. Jack stopped struggling against his captor. "It's okay, baby."

"That's better." Bok'n walked over to Jaira and stroked her hair. She shuddered under his touch. "Why is this one so special to you, Colonel?"

"All children are special." He kept his voice uninflected. "But that's something you wouldn't understand."

"Oh, we understand." Bok'n lifted Jaira's chin. "That's why we liberate them from their lives of misery."

"You rip them from their homes, you mutilate them-"

"We free them, and we offer them Unity. And yet you would throw this child…" He placed his hand once again on Jaira's trembling head. "This one so special to you, back into the muck."

"I'll take her back to her mother. Oh, right. That's something else you don't understand - mothers and fathers."

Bok'n turned back to O'Neill. "I never trusted you. Not like those fool magistrates. You never intended to negotiate. All you ever wanted was the children. And the Silak'ha."

"What's that?"

"Don't be tiresome, Colonel. I'm already weary of your deceptions. You want what everyone wants. Immortality."

"You think I want to live for eternity as a neutered, impotent freak like you? Screw you. Oh, right. You can't do that."

The provost's face darkened, his lips curling into a sneer. "You disgust me. You who live like animals dare to lecture us?"

He stepped close to Jack. O'Neill could smell the hatred emanating from the man. Bok'n leaned in still closer and spat in Jack's face. Jack didn't flinch as the spittle trickled down his cheek. He met the provost's hard glare with one of his own.

"Tell me where the rest of the children are," Bok'n demanded.

"I don't know."

"I think you do."

"We got separated and I ordered radio silence. I have no idea where they are now."

"Then you will contact them with your communication device."

"I can't do that."

"Oh, but you will." He nodded to the guard holding Jack, who ground the butt of his weapon ever more deeply into Jack's back.

"If you kill me," said Jack, "you'll never find out."

Bok'n seemed to consider it. "That is true. But do you really want to die right here?" He looked at Jaira. "In front of her?"

Jack swallowed. Jaira's eyes, wide with terror, were fixed on him. If he died, what would happen to her? Maybe Carter would be able to save her. Maybe not. Suddenly the calculations involved seemed too much for him. What was once simple - give up your life to protect your team and the mission - now was hopelessly complicated by this new weight of responsibility. Did he dare risk abandoning Jaira to the ugly fate that awaited her at dawn?

Bok'n grew impatient at his hesitation. "Or maybe," he said, "this will encourage you to tell me what I want to know." He nodded at the guard holding Jaira. The guard pulled his weapon from his belt and pointed it at Jaira's head.

Jack's heart shot into his throat. "Wait! No! Leave her alone! I'll radio them. Just put the weapon down."

Bok'n nodded, and the guard lowered his weapon. "Find out where the others are, Colonel."

Jack sagged, his legs rubbery. "Bok'n, tell this goon behind me to loosen his hold." The provost inclined his head, and the arm around Jack's throat withdrew a little. Where the hell is Carter? he wondered desperately. He fingered his radio. "Daniel, Tealc, come in."

The response came immediately and in an excited voice. "Jack! Dios mío! Estas bien? Dónde estas?"

Bok'n slashed the air with his hand, and Jack ended the transmission. "What is he saying?" demanded the provost. "What is that language?"

"It's called French. Where we're from, a place called Canada, we speak two languages. He was asking if I'm okay."

"You will speak so I understand you."

"Sure." He flicked his radio, his eyes on Jaira, trying to send reassurance through the air. "I'm fine, Daniel. Where can I meet you? Are you at the beaming location yet?"

"Um…" There was a long pause.

Jack tried to imagine what was going on at the other end. Daniel would look at Teal'c. The big guy would raise his eyebrow and shake his head. C'mon, Jack urged Daniel silently, you can figure it out. You've got a PhD, for crying out loud. At the same time he kept himself alert for Carter, who had to have heard their voices. He was certain she was planning her move right now. She only needed to take out the guard on Jaira and Jack could handle the other. Bok'n was unarmed.

Finally the radio crackled again and Daniel said, "Uh, we're heading northwest, we're near that domed building we saw today. Estimate ten minutes from the city limits."

Jack let out his held breath silently and imperceptibly. "Roger that. I'll meet you at the beam-up site."

"Uh…" Silence. "Right. See you soon."

Jack thumbed off his radio and looked at Bok'n. "Satisfied?"

Bokn' touched his earpiece and instructed whoever was on the other end to reroute the bulk of their forces to the northwest sector of Tisne. Then he said to Jack, "Soon enough we will know if you were telling the truth."

"Provost!"

The shout came from behind Jack. He twisted in the guard's grasp and saw Carter, followed by D'nae. The magistrate held a weapon pointed at Carter's spine.

She looked at her CO with chagrin. "Sorry, sir."

~o~

Daniel released his radio. He felt wooden.

"What did Jack mean by 'beaming location'?" Nevan asked.

Daniel looked down at the boy. They were all huddled against a wall in a passageway connecting two avenues. Three men, a pregnant woman, and fifty cold children getting colder by the minute. A child whimpered softly. An aircraft had flown over them moments before, its searchlight missing the crowd by inches at the same time that Jack radioed them.

Daniel swallowed, trying to find the words to explain to the boy. "He was … joking."

"Why?"

"To let us know that our communication was being monitored."

"Is he coming?"

"Um…"

Teal'c said, "O'Neill was informing us that he has been captured." Nevan looked stricken. Daniel glared at Teal'c accusingly. "False expectations will not avail the boy, Daniel Jackson."

"We have to help him!" cried Nevan.

"We will," said Daniel. Somehow. Though he had no idea how. They didn't even know where Jack was. The thrumming of the aircraft could be heard a few blocks away. "But not right now," Daniel added. "We need to get you kids somewhere safe first." If his ruse was successful, the search should soon be diverted to the opposite end of the city from where they were. It might give them the chance they needed to get back to the ship. Then they could help the rest of their team. He put his hand on Nevan's shoulder. "Come on, let's head out."

The boy resisted as though his feet were nailed to the ground. "No." He bit his lip to stem the tears.

"We have to go."

"No! We have to save Jack."

"Nevan." Naytha's voice was soft but commanding. Pale and sweating and supported by Garan, she lumbered over to them. "If you want to help Jack, then help us save the children." She cupped her hand on the boy's cheek. "That is what he would want you to do."

Nevan looked at her for a long moment. Then he began to move.

"Thank you," Daniel whispered to her, and they followed Teal'c, who led them out of the passage and across the avenue, heading south, toward the river. Daniel could no longer hear the aircraft. Everything felt quieter, safer. His gambit appeared to have worked.

They turned and proceeded down a hill, down the steps set into the sidewalk. Daniel could see the river now, sparkling in the moonlight about five blocks away. If he had his bearings right, the bridge was behind those buildings on the right. Once across the river, they would be able to conceal their progress by keeping to the many arroyos that snaked through the arid country.

A vehicle rolled silently into the intersection below them, a searchlight mounted on its top.

"Back up, back up!" ordered Daniel.

They scrambled madly up the steps, but too late. The car stopped and several people sprang out. Daniel and Teal'c shoved the children around the corner of a building. Taking up position they fired on the Kalam with their zats. The security officers returned fire. One of Daniel's shots found its mark, and a Kalam guard crumpled onto the pavement.

Behind Daniel Garan said, "Give me a weapon too."

"No, Teal'c and I will hold them off. You get the children out of here."

"But I want to help!"

The corner of the building splintered under the plasma fire, and they ducked.

"You will help most effectively by ensuring the safety of the children," said Teal'c.

"But-"

"It's what Jack would order you to do if he were here!" Daniel shouted in exasperation as weapons fire rang around them. Garan seemed to shrink a little. In a gentler voice Daniel said, "They are the prime objective of this mission. We need you to take them around the building and out of the line of fire. The bridge is right down there. We'll catch up. Now go!"

Nodding, Garan began to usher the children down a side street. Daniel watched them for a moment, then resumed firing on the security guards. Lights blinked on in the buildings around them, the residents having been awakened by the racket. Teal'c had taken out a second guard, and Daniel's next shot found its mark in a third. But their remaining quarry had concealed himself in a doorway. A siren pealed in the distance and became louder. Reinforcements had been summoned.

"We'd better get out of here, Teal'c."

"We must eliminate this one first so he will not follow. Cease firing, Daniel Jackson."

They held off, and silence settled around them. Daniel looked behind him. Garan and the children were waiting at the end of the next block. He peered around the corner of the building. The Kalam officer remained hidden. Daniel looked at Teal'c. The Jaffa was as still as granite.

A minute passed. The sirens grew louder, closer. Two minutes. The zat slipped in Daniel's sweaty palm. Suddenly, a movement from the doorway. Teal'c fired. A body dropped onto the sidewalk.

"Now we will go," said Teal'c.

They rejoined the others and urged the children faster, Teal'c on point, scouting the way and then waving them on, block by block. The whoop-whoop of the claxons sounded very close. Daniel heard someone whimpering and realized it was Naytha, not one of the children. If they had to carry her…well, Teal'c could manage easily.

He heard something else. Footsteps. Behind them, running toward them. Damn, there must have been more of the Kalam than they thought. Pivoting sharply, he aimed his zat into the darkness, his finger hovering on the firing mechanism. Something moved in the shadows. He began to depress the trigger.

"Dan'l!"

He caught a glimpse of red hair and instantly dropped the arm holding the zat. "Viorel! Geez, I almost shot you."