Section 8: Plans
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The food was plain, but still an unexpected treat for SG-1. It beat MRE's any day and most of the strange crap they were given when they were actually invited to eat on the worlds they visited. Though Jack found the familiarity in and of itself weird given the very alien nature of where they were.
As for their hosts, they were definitely among the strangest aliens SG-1 had met. Five plus different - and O'Neill meant different - kinds of aliens living together on a ship that itself was alive was something they had never seen either. It was kind of like something out of Star Trek except that the captain didn't act like a captain, the crew didn't act like a crew, and there was a distinct lack of the "we come in peace" vibe. And despite all that, Jack found himself liking D'argo, even trusting him because of the blind girl.
As for the others, Rygel struck him as stuck up but ultimately harmless, and Norianti, the old woman, well, she was just scary. Jack watched from across the table as she spit out a piece of chewed meat, mixed it with some stuff from her jars, chewed again, mixed in more stuff, then put it in a pocket. That was just gross and disturbing, and Jack really didn't want to know what she was saving it for.
"So, uhh," Jack hastily turned away, "your friends. Why were they captured?"
"From what we gathered at the planet, it was because the Qujagans had never seen their species before," D'argo answered. He took a sip of his drink before continuing. "Their current warlord likes having rare stuff and sends his people out to find it. That's why they came here. When they saw John and Aeryn in the boat," he gestured to the ocean out the window, "they shot them with something that made them shatter into pieces, collected them, and took them away."
"They shattered into pieces?" said Carter in disbelief. "Are you sure?"
"We saw it," D'argo replied coldly. Carter had the good grace to look away, but Jack could already see the wheels turning in her head.
"Where are they now?" Daniel picked up the conversation.
"They're being held in a science lab in the city," said Rygel. "It takes a few solar days to recover from the weapon, but once they do, the Qujagans will start with physical testing and interrogation. Then they move on to dissection."
"Ouch," said Jack. That didn't sound fun.
"How did you find all this out?" asked Daniel.
"We asked one of the technicians," said D'argo.
"Nicely?" Jack couldn't help but add.
"Very nicely," Rygel said with a smile that was anything but comforting. Jack suddenly didn't want to know. His earlier assessment of the alien suddenly didn't feel as complete.
"So, uhh, this plan of yours. What do you have in mind?" he asked.
"It's quite simple," said D'argo. "We'll go in Lo'la, blast a hole in the front doors, run in, find John and Aeryn, get out, shoot anything that moves. Except John and Aeryn."
Shocked, O'Neill stared at him. "That's your plan? That's a stupid plan."
D'argo shrugged. "It'll probably work."
His offhand words surprised Daniel and Carter out of their own surprise. "You can't just go shooting up their labs," Daniel protested, his fighting instincts giving way to the would-be plight of the scientists. "I'm sure that if you talk to them, you can work something out."
"We tried negotiating," Rygel snapped. "They denied even having them."
"Look," D'argo broke in, "I realize you don't want us killing people, but going in hard and fast is the only way to ensure that we get our friends out."
"But they're scientists," Carter tried, her own sentiments clear. "They're not trained to fight. It would be a slaughter. They will be more inclined to talk- "
"What is it with humans and talking?" asked D'argo, frustrated.
"I don't know. I'm more of a shoot 'em up guy myself," said Jack. "But they do have a point."
"We should not needlessly kill innocents," said Teal'c. "If it is as you say, then they have no choice but to carry out their orders."
"So John and Aeryn should just roll over and let themselves be killed in the name of science? Would you?" D'argo fixed first Jack then Teal'c, Carter and Daniel with his gaze.
"No. I guess not," said Sam looking away, guilty that she would kill even scientists to get away. Jack again saw why his general dislike for scientists had never extended to Carter. Much.
"Of course you wouldn't," said Norianti. "You would fight." Jack nodded in agreement, briefly meeting D'argo's eyes. If it were his team in there, he would be planning exactly the same thing.
"What if we just stun them?" Daniel asked, not willing to give up yet. "Get your friends out without killing anyone."
"Stun them?" Rygel said disdainfully. "With what? Powder?"
"I don't have enough hekkiah for that," muttered Norianti, busying herself once again with her leaves and spit.
"Some of our weapons stun if you only fire them once," Daniel continued. Jack could have sworn he heard D'argo mutter "useless weapons." "We go in, get out. They wake up half an hour later. We're gone."
"How 'bout it?" asked Jack, giving his stamp of approval. Hopefully it would keep everyone happy.
"You know," said D'argo, "dead enemies don't come back and kill you."
"We'll make more enemies if we kill them," Daniel countered. The two of them stared at each other, Daniel's stubbornness facing off against D'argo's own will to do it his way. "We don't have to kill everybody," Daniel broke the silence in a quiet but firm voice that Jack knew only too well.
"Fine," D'argo acquiesced at last. "Use your stun weapons. I'll try not to mortally wound anyone I shoot at."
"This is ridiculous," Rygel shook his head. Grunting in disgust, he shoved more beans into is mouth. D'argo shrugged philosophically and turned his attention back to his plate, not in the mood for anymore conversation.
"So," said Jack, once more searching for something to break the ice that had settled over the group. Daniel and Carter were no help when he gestured at them to make conversation, and Teal'c merely did his eyebrow thing as if to say "that is not in my job description." With a sigh, Jack searched the room for anything, studiously ignoring whatever the hell Norianti was doing. The ocean out the window finally gave him something.
"So how's the fishing out here?" he asked innocently.
Both Rygel's and D'argo's heads snapped up and they exchanged a closed look. Jack just wondered what he'd said.
"What is it with humans and fishing?" asked D'argo, staring at him like he'd grown a second head.
"It's fun," said Jack a bit defensively. "There's this lake in Minnesota where the bass are this big," he held his hands about three feet apart. Everyone was staring at him now. And was that a grin Carter was trying to hide?
"I do not believe fishing is fun," said Teal'c. "It was in fact unstimulating."
"You're just mad because you didn't catch anything," Jack told him, not appreciating his betrayal.
"Neither did you, O'Neill."
"Well, that's not really the point now, is it?"
"Indeed," Teal'c cut eyes at him with a lifted eyebrow. Jack shushed him with his hands and a disproving look.
"He doesn't know what he's talking about," he told their amused hosts. Well, D'argo looked amused. Rygel just sniffed and crammed even more food into his mouth, if that was even possible. That had to be his tenth helping. Actually, Jack hadn't been paying too close attention since it was almost as disgusting to watch Rygel eat as Nori do her thing. "So your human friend likes fishing?" he grasped at the last thread of conversation.
"He talks about it," D'argo nodded. "Went with his father when he was child."
"Ahh. Do you know where?" D'argo shook his head, and Jack felt the conversation fall flat again as he lost what was left of commonality. A minute of uncomfortable silence followed until Daniel voiced the thoughtful look on his face.
"Can I ask you something?" When he received a positive nod from D'argo, he continued. "How did you all come to serve on this ship? I mean you are all obviously from different species," Daniel hastened to explain. "It's just that almost all of the alien races we've come into contact with stick to themselves. They know of other aliens of course, but beyond alliances, they don't work together like this." He gestured to the ship at large.
"Hmmph," was Rygel's response, while D'argo looked rather uncomfortable. "I wouldn't have been caught dead with them," Rygel gestured to the two other aliens at the table, "if it hadn't been for other mitigating circumstances."
"What do you mean? You said you were a 'dominar'?" asked Daniel. "What does the title mean?"
"Means he's annoying," D'argo muttered. Ryegl shot him a glare before answering.
"I am -"
"- was - "
"Dominar Rygel the Sixteenth of the Hynerian Empire, ruler of over 600 billion subjects." The slug? King? Jack lifted his own eyebrows in surprise. He had to be lying.
"And you're the captain of his yacht?" he asked D'argo with just a trace of sarcasm.
"A what?"
"Never mind."
"So why are you here?" Daniel ignored the side conversation, getting back to the matter at hand. "If you are the ruler . . ." he trailed off.
"I was deposed," Rygel said with such dignity that if he didn't look like, well, a slug, could have passed for royalty.
"Well that sucks," O'Neill said without too much conviction. "What?" he asked when Carter gave him a look.
"So why here? Why this ship?" Sam asked with a last glare at the colonel.
"Moya used to be a prison ship," D'argo broke in with a grimace. Jack immediately sat up straighter.
"As in . . . " Daniel trailed off again as diplomatically as possible.
"You're escaped prisoners?" Jack had no qualms about diving onto this new bit of information. Granted they didn't have the whole picture, but a deposed king-person and the sudden knowledge that the big seven-foot alien was an escaped prisoner made him nervous. Even if he did like the guy.
D'argo nodded, eyeing him carefully.
"Well, I'm not," Nori declared before SG-1 could ask anymore questions. "I'm a liberated prisoner."
Like that was so much better, thought Jack.
"We're still not sure how she got on board," D'argo frowned. Nori just grinned at him as if she was hiding some secret that she would never tell. Or maybe it was just her. Jack grimaced, as she started humming and spitting again.
"For what were you imprisoned?" Teal'c asked.
"Can't remember," Nori answered with a smile. "Long time ago. Very nasty business," she added conspiratorially.
"What about you?" Carter asked D'argo who had yet to reply. And it didn't look like he was going to from the way he kept his eyes on his plate.
"I should take some of this to Stark." D'argo stood and went to the stove to fill up another plate then beat a hasty retreat from the dining room.
"What was that about?" Carter asked, subdued by his sudden exit. Jack's own concern for his team shifted to worry about the alien whose whole body screamed pain and regret.
Rygel shifted uneasily under the combined curiosity of the SG team. "Oh, stop looking at me like that!" he finally snapped. "If he doesn't want to tell you, then I won't either!" Jack exchanged a look with Daniel at Rygel's sudden loyalty since the two had done nothing but squabble. But then some friendships were like that. Nori watched them from hooded lids, tacitly acknowledging the scene before her. A few minutes into the uncomfortable silence, she left with her spitball. Rygel, having finally eaten his fill, soon followed.
"So." Daniel looked across the table at the rest of them. Jack shrugged back. He didn't know what to think either.
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The food was plain, but still an unexpected treat for SG-1. It beat MRE's any day and most of the strange crap they were given when they were actually invited to eat on the worlds they visited. Though Jack found the familiarity in and of itself weird given the very alien nature of where they were.
As for their hosts, they were definitely among the strangest aliens SG-1 had met. Five plus different - and O'Neill meant different - kinds of aliens living together on a ship that itself was alive was something they had never seen either. It was kind of like something out of Star Trek except that the captain didn't act like a captain, the crew didn't act like a crew, and there was a distinct lack of the "we come in peace" vibe. And despite all that, Jack found himself liking D'argo, even trusting him because of the blind girl.
As for the others, Rygel struck him as stuck up but ultimately harmless, and Norianti, the old woman, well, she was just scary. Jack watched from across the table as she spit out a piece of chewed meat, mixed it with some stuff from her jars, chewed again, mixed in more stuff, then put it in a pocket. That was just gross and disturbing, and Jack really didn't want to know what she was saving it for.
"So, uhh," Jack hastily turned away, "your friends. Why were they captured?"
"From what we gathered at the planet, it was because the Qujagans had never seen their species before," D'argo answered. He took a sip of his drink before continuing. "Their current warlord likes having rare stuff and sends his people out to find it. That's why they came here. When they saw John and Aeryn in the boat," he gestured to the ocean out the window, "they shot them with something that made them shatter into pieces, collected them, and took them away."
"They shattered into pieces?" said Carter in disbelief. "Are you sure?"
"We saw it," D'argo replied coldly. Carter had the good grace to look away, but Jack could already see the wheels turning in her head.
"Where are they now?" Daniel picked up the conversation.
"They're being held in a science lab in the city," said Rygel. "It takes a few solar days to recover from the weapon, but once they do, the Qujagans will start with physical testing and interrogation. Then they move on to dissection."
"Ouch," said Jack. That didn't sound fun.
"How did you find all this out?" asked Daniel.
"We asked one of the technicians," said D'argo.
"Nicely?" Jack couldn't help but add.
"Very nicely," Rygel said with a smile that was anything but comforting. Jack suddenly didn't want to know. His earlier assessment of the alien suddenly didn't feel as complete.
"So, uhh, this plan of yours. What do you have in mind?" he asked.
"It's quite simple," said D'argo. "We'll go in Lo'la, blast a hole in the front doors, run in, find John and Aeryn, get out, shoot anything that moves. Except John and Aeryn."
Shocked, O'Neill stared at him. "That's your plan? That's a stupid plan."
D'argo shrugged. "It'll probably work."
His offhand words surprised Daniel and Carter out of their own surprise. "You can't just go shooting up their labs," Daniel protested, his fighting instincts giving way to the would-be plight of the scientists. "I'm sure that if you talk to them, you can work something out."
"We tried negotiating," Rygel snapped. "They denied even having them."
"Look," D'argo broke in, "I realize you don't want us killing people, but going in hard and fast is the only way to ensure that we get our friends out."
"But they're scientists," Carter tried, her own sentiments clear. "They're not trained to fight. It would be a slaughter. They will be more inclined to talk- "
"What is it with humans and talking?" asked D'argo, frustrated.
"I don't know. I'm more of a shoot 'em up guy myself," said Jack. "But they do have a point."
"We should not needlessly kill innocents," said Teal'c. "If it is as you say, then they have no choice but to carry out their orders."
"So John and Aeryn should just roll over and let themselves be killed in the name of science? Would you?" D'argo fixed first Jack then Teal'c, Carter and Daniel with his gaze.
"No. I guess not," said Sam looking away, guilty that she would kill even scientists to get away. Jack again saw why his general dislike for scientists had never extended to Carter. Much.
"Of course you wouldn't," said Norianti. "You would fight." Jack nodded in agreement, briefly meeting D'argo's eyes. If it were his team in there, he would be planning exactly the same thing.
"What if we just stun them?" Daniel asked, not willing to give up yet. "Get your friends out without killing anyone."
"Stun them?" Rygel said disdainfully. "With what? Powder?"
"I don't have enough hekkiah for that," muttered Norianti, busying herself once again with her leaves and spit.
"Some of our weapons stun if you only fire them once," Daniel continued. Jack could have sworn he heard D'argo mutter "useless weapons." "We go in, get out. They wake up half an hour later. We're gone."
"How 'bout it?" asked Jack, giving his stamp of approval. Hopefully it would keep everyone happy.
"You know," said D'argo, "dead enemies don't come back and kill you."
"We'll make more enemies if we kill them," Daniel countered. The two of them stared at each other, Daniel's stubbornness facing off against D'argo's own will to do it his way. "We don't have to kill everybody," Daniel broke the silence in a quiet but firm voice that Jack knew only too well.
"Fine," D'argo acquiesced at last. "Use your stun weapons. I'll try not to mortally wound anyone I shoot at."
"This is ridiculous," Rygel shook his head. Grunting in disgust, he shoved more beans into is mouth. D'argo shrugged philosophically and turned his attention back to his plate, not in the mood for anymore conversation.
"So," said Jack, once more searching for something to break the ice that had settled over the group. Daniel and Carter were no help when he gestured at them to make conversation, and Teal'c merely did his eyebrow thing as if to say "that is not in my job description." With a sigh, Jack searched the room for anything, studiously ignoring whatever the hell Norianti was doing. The ocean out the window finally gave him something.
"So how's the fishing out here?" he asked innocently.
Both Rygel's and D'argo's heads snapped up and they exchanged a closed look. Jack just wondered what he'd said.
"What is it with humans and fishing?" asked D'argo, staring at him like he'd grown a second head.
"It's fun," said Jack a bit defensively. "There's this lake in Minnesota where the bass are this big," he held his hands about three feet apart. Everyone was staring at him now. And was that a grin Carter was trying to hide?
"I do not believe fishing is fun," said Teal'c. "It was in fact unstimulating."
"You're just mad because you didn't catch anything," Jack told him, not appreciating his betrayal.
"Neither did you, O'Neill."
"Well, that's not really the point now, is it?"
"Indeed," Teal'c cut eyes at him with a lifted eyebrow. Jack shushed him with his hands and a disproving look.
"He doesn't know what he's talking about," he told their amused hosts. Well, D'argo looked amused. Rygel just sniffed and crammed even more food into his mouth, if that was even possible. That had to be his tenth helping. Actually, Jack hadn't been paying too close attention since it was almost as disgusting to watch Rygel eat as Nori do her thing. "So your human friend likes fishing?" he grasped at the last thread of conversation.
"He talks about it," D'argo nodded. "Went with his father when he was child."
"Ahh. Do you know where?" D'argo shook his head, and Jack felt the conversation fall flat again as he lost what was left of commonality. A minute of uncomfortable silence followed until Daniel voiced the thoughtful look on his face.
"Can I ask you something?" When he received a positive nod from D'argo, he continued. "How did you all come to serve on this ship? I mean you are all obviously from different species," Daniel hastened to explain. "It's just that almost all of the alien races we've come into contact with stick to themselves. They know of other aliens of course, but beyond alliances, they don't work together like this." He gestured to the ship at large.
"Hmmph," was Rygel's response, while D'argo looked rather uncomfortable. "I wouldn't have been caught dead with them," Rygel gestured to the two other aliens at the table, "if it hadn't been for other mitigating circumstances."
"What do you mean? You said you were a 'dominar'?" asked Daniel. "What does the title mean?"
"Means he's annoying," D'argo muttered. Ryegl shot him a glare before answering.
"I am -"
"- was - "
"Dominar Rygel the Sixteenth of the Hynerian Empire, ruler of over 600 billion subjects." The slug? King? Jack lifted his own eyebrows in surprise. He had to be lying.
"And you're the captain of his yacht?" he asked D'argo with just a trace of sarcasm.
"A what?"
"Never mind."
"So why are you here?" Daniel ignored the side conversation, getting back to the matter at hand. "If you are the ruler . . ." he trailed off.
"I was deposed," Rygel said with such dignity that if he didn't look like, well, a slug, could have passed for royalty.
"Well that sucks," O'Neill said without too much conviction. "What?" he asked when Carter gave him a look.
"So why here? Why this ship?" Sam asked with a last glare at the colonel.
"Moya used to be a prison ship," D'argo broke in with a grimace. Jack immediately sat up straighter.
"As in . . . " Daniel trailed off again as diplomatically as possible.
"You're escaped prisoners?" Jack had no qualms about diving onto this new bit of information. Granted they didn't have the whole picture, but a deposed king-person and the sudden knowledge that the big seven-foot alien was an escaped prisoner made him nervous. Even if he did like the guy.
D'argo nodded, eyeing him carefully.
"Well, I'm not," Nori declared before SG-1 could ask anymore questions. "I'm a liberated prisoner."
Like that was so much better, thought Jack.
"We're still not sure how she got on board," D'argo frowned. Nori just grinned at him as if she was hiding some secret that she would never tell. Or maybe it was just her. Jack grimaced, as she started humming and spitting again.
"For what were you imprisoned?" Teal'c asked.
"Can't remember," Nori answered with a smile. "Long time ago. Very nasty business," she added conspiratorially.
"What about you?" Carter asked D'argo who had yet to reply. And it didn't look like he was going to from the way he kept his eyes on his plate.
"I should take some of this to Stark." D'argo stood and went to the stove to fill up another plate then beat a hasty retreat from the dining room.
"What was that about?" Carter asked, subdued by his sudden exit. Jack's own concern for his team shifted to worry about the alien whose whole body screamed pain and regret.
Rygel shifted uneasily under the combined curiosity of the SG team. "Oh, stop looking at me like that!" he finally snapped. "If he doesn't want to tell you, then I won't either!" Jack exchanged a look with Daniel at Rygel's sudden loyalty since the two had done nothing but squabble. But then some friendships were like that. Nori watched them from hooded lids, tacitly acknowledging the scene before her. A few minutes into the uncomfortable silence, she left with her spitball. Rygel, having finally eaten his fill, soon followed.
"So." Daniel looked across the table at the rest of them. Jack shrugged back. He didn't know what to think either.
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