Chapter 29

Sam pulled out a panel. She slammed it closed it and pulled out another. The inside of her mouth was raw and sore from where she had been relentlessly chewing it.

"It's all right, Sam," Daniel said. "They can't see us, we're cloaked."

"All right? We can't move, Daniel."

"Okay, not all right. But it could be worse."

She shoved the drawer closed with a thud and stared at him. "Worse than having fifty children's lives in our hands?" Her voice dropped to a whisper. "Worse than having the colonel's daughter at the mercy of Ba'al? It doesn't get any worse, Daniel." She turned away from him, raking her hands through her hair. She had to find some naquedah! "Just help me look. I need to replace the naquedah in the hyperspace window generator."

"What am I looking for?"

She showed him the small box behind the engine crystals. "Only it should be glowing. This one is dead."

He began to pull open a panel.

"Not that one," she said. "That's for the maneuvering thrusters."

"Can't do without those, can we?" he said.

"Nope. It's bad enough that we've had to sacrifice some of their power," she said, poking her head into a panel. A new voice startled her.

"Whatcha doing?"

Sam almost laughed out loud. It was so much like him. She turned around to find those big brown eyes watching her. "I'm trying to fix the engine, honey, so we can go again."

"What's he doing?" Jaira pointed at Daniel.

"Same thing," Daniel said. "We're looking for spare parts."

"What's pare parts?"

Sam sighed. Were all four-year-olds like this? But this wasn't just any four-year-old. The immense personal urgency of this situation slammed her again, and she yanked out another panel.

"Sam! I think I found some."

She hurried over to Daniel.

"Those are pretty," Jaira said, sidling up to the tray of crystals Daniel had pulled out.

Behind the pretty crystals was a glowing box. Naquedah! But then Sam realized which set of crystals this was, and her heart contracted. Was this their only option? But they had looked everywhere else.

"Sam?" Daniel said. "What's wrong?"

It was too great a risk. All these children. She shook her head and thumbed her radio. "Sir, I've got some good news and some bad news."

"Good news first,"came his reply.

"I think I can fix the problem and get us going again."

"And the bad news?"

She met Daniel's concerned eyes. "I'll have to take the naquedah from the cloaking generator."

There was silence from the radio, and Daniel paled. The colonel's voice again: "Does that mean what I think it means?"

"Yes, sir. We'll lose our cloaking ability."

"For how long?"

"Minutes. Maybe more. Depends on how long it takes us to hook it up to the hyperdrive window generator."

While Sam waited for O'Neill to respond, Daniel said to her, "You sure there isn't some naquedah somewhere else?"

"I'm sure, Daniel. I've looked everywhere twice."

"Okay," the colonel said. "Do it."

Sam reached for the encased box of naquedah.

"What's that?" a voice behind her said.

Sam turned around. "Jaira, this isn't a safe place for you. Why don't you run along and play with the other kids."

"But I want to watch you."

Daniel crouched down. "Maybe you can watch us later. But right now we need you to go in the other room. Okay?"

The child's mouth turned down in a pout, but Sam heard a mumbled "Okay" and she shuffled dejectedly into the main cabin.

Sam turned back to the cloaking device. "Give me a hand with this, will you, Daniel?" She hoped her voice didn't sound as shaky as it felt.

If this didn't work, they were dead. Or worse.

~o~

Teal'c kept a wary eye on the Goa'uld mothership. In fact, he kept both eyes on it. The idiom and his remembered reaction to it long ago made him think of the man in the seat next to him, in whom colorful Tau'ri idioms usually abounded. At present, however, O'Neill had been uncharacteristically silent and tense.

The silence was broken by the announcement over their radios from Major Carter. "Get ready. I'm pulling the cloaking naquedah now."

"We can run but we can't hide," O'Neill muttered under his breath.

They waited. For long seconds nothing happened. Then came a harsh voice booming over the speakers. "Glrk rrda krstnak kree!"

O'Neill looked at Teal'c questioningly.

"They are asking us to identify ourselves." He pressed the communication crystal and replied in Goa'uld. Then he turned to O'Neill. "I explained that we were delivering cargo to the Arak'nee system when we experienced engine difficulty."

"Nice." They waited. "Well," O'Neill said, "they must have believed you because they're not doing anything."

"I am not so confident, O'Neill. They will have scanned our vessel and detected the numerous life signs."

"Oh, forgot about that."

The Goa'uld voice boomed again and Teal'c translated. "They want to know why our cargo ship was cloaked and why we have so many passengers."

"Tell them our navigation sensors were faulty, and we weren't sure if we were in friendly space or Anubis's. Ignore the second question."

Teal'c repeated the communication in Goa'uld. Again there was silence.

O'Neill spoke into his radio. "Carter? Daniel?"

"We're working on it, Jack."

"Well, work faster. I think they smell something fishy."

"At least they haven't started shooting at us yet."

"It's still early in the day, Daniel."

"We just need a few more minutes, sir," Carter said.

Teal'c watched the ship. He knew what the Goa'uld were thinking. They didn't trust this interloper, and yet their uncertainty prevented them from acting precipitously. As long as we do not present any threat, he thought, they will stay their weapons. On the other hand, the outcome might be worse if what O'Neill termed "hotheads" prevailed among the commanding forces. Teal'c knew too well the Jaffa tendency to destroy anything that wasn't clearly an ally. It was always the easiest course of action.

"What's going on, Jack?" A boy had appeared between them, leaning over the back of O'Neill's seat.

The colonel spun around. "Nevan! You shouldn't be here."

"I want to see what's happening."

"Buddy, it's not safe. Go back and-"

"O'Neill!" The readings were unmistakable. Ba'al's forces had taken the easiest course. "The ship is powering up its weapons."

"Get us out of here, T!"

The Jaffa's hands flew over the controls and the tel'tac began to move, banking sharply. Nevan fell on his backside. Children cried out behind them. Before the Goa'uld ship disappeared from their view screen, Teal'c saw the weapons fire shoot out from it.

"Everybody hang on!" O'Neill shouted, and then they felt the impact. Although a glancing shot, it was still a powerful one. Children screamed as they tumbled over one another. Teal'c tried to make the tel'tac a moving target, but the diminution of the maneuvering thrusters' capabilities made it difficult.

Another explosion, and they rolled again. O'Neill swung around. "Jaira!" he shouted, but the child did not answer. The squalls of Garan and Naytha's infant rose above all other sound in the cabin.

Nevan had clambered back to his feet and was holding onto O'Neill's arm.

"Where's Jaira, Nevan?" the Tau'ri asked.

"I think she's with Garan. Why are they shooting at us?"

"It is their way," Teal'c said.

"Can't we do any better, Teal'c?" O'Neill said.

"The maneuvering thrusters are at sixty percent capacity due to Major Carter's removal of one of the crystals on our voyage out. We are doing the best this craft is capable of." He continued to maneuver in a zig zag pattern, avoiding most of the fire from the Goa'uld ship.

"Whose stupid idea was it not to arm these crates, anyway?"

"I believe the Goa'uld felt it was unnecessary, since they are only for transporting cargo and not for battle."

"The Tok'ra should have upgraded them."

Jacob Carter's voice came from behind them. "It wouldn't have helped much in this situation, Jack."

"Indeed," Teal'c agreed. "Even if they had, firing on a Goa'uld mothership would be as a krnikaton attacking a gorach."

O'Neill just looked at him. "Mosquito and elephant?"

"A fair approximation."

Nevan pointed to the screen where the ha'tac had moved back into view. "What are those?"

Teal'c watched the small objects emerging from the ha'tac with dismay. If Major Carter was unable to effect repairs with utmost haste, their prospects had just darkened precipitously.

O'Neill barked into his radio, "Carter! We've got death gliders on our tail."

"Almost there, sir."

As the gliders closed in on them, fire from the mothership hit its target and circuits exploded in a hail of sparks. The impact rocked the tel'tac, throwing O'Neill out of his seat and atop Nevan.

"O'Neill, are you all right?" Teal'c called to him.

"'m okay. How about you, buddy?"

Nevan nodded that he was all right. Jack helped the boy up, then he climbed back into his seat, muttering, "They really should put seat belts in these things." Teal'c saw his friend hurriedly scan the room behind him, no doubt looking for his daughter. But one quick glance told Teal'c that there was little chance of picking one child out among the mass of children cowering with their hands over their heads, and older ones trying to cover up the smaller ones with their bodies.

He applied all his skill to the maneuvering controls, putting distance between them and the ha'tak and dodging its weapons fire in a ballet of evasive actions. Until Major Carter could repair the hyperdrive, the lives of all of them were in his hands. He would not let them down.

The gliders approached, fanning out in a galactic ballet.

"Cool!" Nevan said.

O'Neill said, "Not cool but deadly, Nevan. I thought I told you to get back."

The boy ignored him, staring at the enemy craft in fascination.

Teal'c thought of Ry'ac, of his son's insatiable desire to be a warrior. Was it part of all young males to desire this, or only those whose adult models were warriors? Certainly Nevan would be forever impacted by his contact with O'Neill. Teal'c wondered how the boy would fare upon return to his quiet agricultural community. Would he long to grow up and take part in his own battles? To strive to be a warrior such as his hero was? Or would he be content to be a farmer, secure in the knowledge that people like O'Neill were out there protecting him and his family?

All of those thoughts sped through his mind in the instant it took for the Goa'uld gliders to reach target range. The next instant the tel'tac was slammed by a blast from the closest glider. Shrapnel from shattered bulkheads ripped through the cabin to renewed screams. Teal'c felt pain lance up his arm. Another glider swooped toward them and he moved to touch the aft maneuvering control, but nothing happened. He looked down. A piece of shrapnel had embedded itself in his right hand, immobilizing his fingers and for a millisecond immobilizing his mind. He had let them down!

But no. O'Neill had understood the problem in an instant and his hands were on the helm, maneuvering them temporarily out of the path of the glider. Eschewing the radio, the Tau'ri bellowed over his shoulder, "Carter!"

"Now, sir!" Major Carter shouted back.

O'Neill slammed the hyperdrive control just as one of the gliders opened a volley of weapons fire. Another rocking jolt, the cabin lights went out, and the children's cries redoubled.

~o~

The smell of frying circuits stank in Jack's nostrils, the smoke made his eyes water, and the sound of children's whimpers and weeping filled the cabin. But they were free, hurtling through hyperspace.

He sagged against the seat back. He turned to Teal'c just as the other man pulled the shard of shrapnel from his hand. "You okay, T?"

"I will be fine, O'Neill."

He slapped his radio with a shaky hand. Too many close calls in one night had left his body shorted-out on adrenaline. "Carter, is this crate gonna get us home?"

"Yes, sir," she answered. "The readings all look good."

"Way to go, Major," he said softly. Pulling himself together, he stood up and surveyed their passengers. The auxiliary lights had come on, illuminating the cabin with a dim glow, and it was difficult to make out the condition of individual children in the shadows.

"Anybody hurt?" he said, picking his way through the room, checking for injuries and patting heads. Some children were still crying, but they were starting to settle down.

Jacob, who was performing a similar function, said, "Miraculously, it looks like only cuts and scratches."

"Lucky," Jack said.

Daniel and Carter emerged from the engine room, Daniel supporting the major whose face bore the strain of her leg injury.

"Carter, get off that leg," Jack ordered. She nodded wearily and slid down the wall. "Where's Jaira?" he asked. In the dim light and the confusion of dark clothing, everyone looked alike. Where was she?

"Jack!" Garan called to him.

He let out a breath. That's where she was. He made his way to the other side of the cabin. Jaira wasn't there, but at the sight of Naytha Jack forgot his daughter for the moment. The young woman's eyes were closed, her face colorless, her breathing shallow. Garan, who was holding the baby swaddled in a t-shirt, looked on the verge of tears. Crouching, Jack pressed his fingers to Naytha's neck. The pulse was weak and thready.

Her eyes opened at his touch. "Jack?"

He pasted a smile on his face. "All clear. We're on our way home now."

She smiled and lifting her arm with an effort, reached for her baby. Garan lowered it onto her breast. She kissed the downy head. Her other hand reached for Jack's. He clasped it gently. "Thank you for bringing us home, Jack." Her voice was a whisper as if speaking were too great an effort. Her eyes fluttered closed again and her hand went slack in his.

Garan's face was contorted with fear. "Is she going to be all right?"

Jack hated platitudes and false hopes. He said, "We're on our way to the best doctors." That at least was true. He placed her hand back on the blanket. Then he looked around. "Have you seen Jaira?"

"The last time I saw her she was going into the engine room."

"Carter, Daniel!" he called. "Was Jaira in the engine room?"

"She was," Daniel answered, "but we made her leave. Didn't want her getting hurt in there."

She's probably playing hidey hole, thought Jack. "Jaira! Come out! Game's over." He waited. "Jaira!" The cabin became quiet as everyone listened for an answer. In the silence, little tendrils of fear coiled around his heart. "Has anyone seen her?" he asked the children. "No's" filled the dim room.

Carter struggled to her feet. "We'll find her, sir."

Jack called again, stepping over children, growing more frantic by the second. He joined Carter and they searched the engine room. They called. They looked behind pillars, under engine compartments. She wasn't there. He called her name again but it came out a hoarse croak.

"O'Neill!"

Teal'c's shout came with an urgent tone, pinning him to the spot like one of Ba'al's daggers. For a half second he met Carter's wide, frightened eyes. Then he was racing out of the engine room, looking around the cabin for the source of the hail.

"Jack, in here!" Daniel's disembodied voice sounded funny. Scared, that's what it sounded like. That was so not good.

Carter grabbed his arm and pulled. "Sir, the cargo bay!"

He ran blindly. Reaching the cargo bay he stopped as if he'd hit a wall. Teal'c and Daniel were crouched next to a crate. Daniel looked up at him and the expression on his face made Jack's stomach lurch.

He crossed the space in a single stride and saw Jaira sprawled on her stomach, limp and boneless, like the rag doll next to her outstretched hand.