by Avalon (avalon99@telusplanet.net)
fanfic at http://members.dencity.com/avalon_online
PG-13, S/J, Part 5/8
THE MANY SHADES OF NIGHT V
"The Evil Things That Walk the Night"
Carter froze. Instead of releasing Colonel O'Neill, her grip tightened around his wrist. He seemed about to protest again but she waved him to silence. He stilled, his gaze meeting hers. "What is it?" he mouthed in the semi-darkness.
She didn't answer. Her whole being was caught up in listening. And waiting. For an eternity there was only the sound of the underground stream and their own breathing. And then...there it was again. Distant, but growing closer. Leaves rustling. Bones crackling. The Ammita.
She reached for her gun hastily. Beside her, O'Neill was doing the same, no longer asking questions. They rose as one, Carter leaning heavily on him in order to pull herself to her feet. As soon as she was upright though, she moved away, freeing his gun arm and balancing herself with most of her weight on her good foot.
"Carter?" The Colonel's voice was no more than a breath in her ear.
She swallowed, then whispered softly. "They found a way in."
She saw him raise his M9. "Which way do we go?" he asked, almost conversationally.
Carter closed her eyes briefly, questing outward with her senses, even as her fingers slid her last clip into her own handgun. Part of her was tallying their remaining ammunition. A few bullets in her HK. None in his. One M9 each. One grenade between them. Their knives. Her memories.
And Jolinar's ability to sense the creatures.
Carter opened her eyes again and looked at O'Neill. "That way," she said quietly, pointing deeper into the labyrinth. The Colonel didn't pause, but merely took her arm and began to move in the direction she had indicated.
* * *
The hissing sounds in her mind continued unabated. They had not grown louder, but neither had they diminished. The Ammita were somewhere in the darkness...hunting them. Chills crawled down Carter's spine, but she said nothing. What was the point? They were already moving as quickly as they could. The small flashlight was barely lighting the way, its glow beginning to flicker as the battery wore down. When it died... Carter's mind veered away from the thought.
They had moved in and out of passageways until they had both lost all sense of direction. Nevertheless, some instinct or memory kept Carter heading toward...what? There was something ahead, some undefinable goal driving her onward. But she had no idea what it was. Not for the first time did Carter find herself wishing that Jolinar's memories were a little more reliable.
They had just rounded another corner, Carter's limp more pronounced now, when the light from the Colonel's gun flared one last time...and died altogether. They both came to a sudden halt as darkness fell upon them.
"Okay, this is bad." O'Neill's whisper broke the stillness. He reached out for her hand and she jumped. "Easy, Major. I just don't want to lose you in the dark."
"I don't want to lose you either," she said without thinking. There was a brief pause then his fingers tightened around hers.
"So, do we have a plan B?" he asked quietly.
Carter drew a deep breath. "We have to keep going. I...
I think I can still find it." She took a cautious step forward,
feeling him move with her.
"Oh good. Find what?"
"It. Sir."
"Ah. Good plan."
* * *
It became easier once Carter shut her eyes and let her other senses
guide her. Once she stopped fighting them and allowed the memories
to wash over her, her sense of direction and purpose improved a thousandfold.
Jolinar could have walked these hallways blindfolded, she realized.
Which was just as well...
The sounds were growing louder. The hunters were getting closer.
"You should have gone back through the Gate," she said suddenly, breaking the silence.
O'Neill didn't hesitate. "Without you? No way."
Carter swallowed then spoke again. "Colonel?"
"Yeah?"
"In case we don't get out of here..."
"Oh, I have faith you're going to find...er...'It'. And we will get out of here, Carter."
"But just in case..."
"Yes?"
"Thank you."
A brief pause, then: "You're welcome, Sam."
* * *
Carter didn't know how much time had passed. It felt as if an eternity had elapsed while they hurried through the labyrinth, toward...what?
The memories were coming faster now, becoming clearer as she neared
her destination. She could remember Jolinar walking this same path
with...someone else. Several someones. The Tok'ra had hurried
through the dark passages in a desperate effort to save Hejira. And
then...failure. Darkness had overrun the planet and Jolinar had barely
escaped with her life.
There was something else too, some part of the memory that remained
frustratingly elusive. Something that was tied to the sorrow and
shame that threaded Jolinar's every thought. Something the Tok'ra
did not wish to remember. Carter strained desperately to get past
the mental block, to remember what...
Oh my god.
Carter must have halted without warning, because Colonel O'Neill stepped on her heel and let out a muffled curse. "A little warning would be good, Major..."
She wasn't listening. The memories had finally broken free and were sweeping across her mind, as if a floodgate had been opened.
It hadn't worked. The device. Jolinar's attempt to save Hejira. Both had failed. Her fault...all her fault...
After an eternity of chaos, the memories stabilized and settled on the labyrinth. It had not been there before Jolinar's arrival, Carter realized. It was not a natural formation. It had been grown -- by Tok'ra technology. And it wasn't a refuge. It was a weapon.
The entire underground complex was created for one purpose and one purpose only -- to destroy the Ammita.
It had failed.
Carter shuddered then became aware of Colonel O'Neill's hands, gripping her shoulders tightly.
"Talk to me, Carter!" he was saying. "Tell me what you're remembering."
With an effort she managed to shove the feelings of pain and loss away.
"I... Yes, Sir. Jolinar -- she came here to hide from the Goa'uld. She had...she had been injured in a battle, and needed time to recuperate. She planned to rejoin the Tok'ra as soon as she could. But the Goa'uld found her first. They ordered the Hejirans to hand her over. They refused...and the System Lords released the Ammita on this planet."
O'Neill pulled her back into motion, dragging her further down the corridor. "Go on," he said hastily.
"I...she tried to save them. She offered to surrender but by then it was too late. That first night, nearly a third of the population died. There was...there was blood everywhere. The children..."
Carter shuddered violently as the memories ripped through her, far too clearly now for her peace of mind. She could taste Jolinar's fear and regret, could hear the screams of the dying. Men, women...children. And all because of her. Only as the orange sun finally rose the next morning did the creatures retreat to the shadows...to wait for darkness to fall again.
"Don't lose it Carter." O'Neill's voice was an anchor in the darkness. "Why didn't these Hejirans escape through the Stargate?"
Carter shook her head, not caring that he wouldn't see it. "They couldn't, Sir. The Goa'uld kept the wormhole activated so they couldn't dial out. Like Sokhar tried with us..."
"All right. So what did she do?"
"Jolinar...grew this place. The entire labyrinth. Using Tok'ra technology, in the space of a day."
"I'll bite. Why?"
"As a power source. This isn't a normal Tok'ra tunnel. It's...I'm not sure, but somehow it concentrates power from...something. I don't know. Perhaps the electromagnetic forces of..."
"Carter..."
She shook herself slightly. "Sorry, Sir. The whole complex is some kind of power source for a device that would..." Her voice trailed off.
"Would what?"
"I'm...not entirely sure, Sir. The memories get confused at this point. All I know is that it would somehow banish the darkness and kill the Ammita. Only..."
"Only it didn't, did it?"
Carter shut her eyes against the blackness, a wave of guilt and misery welling up inside her. "No, Sir. Jolinar failed and everyone died. She only survived because the Tok'ra launched an attack which gave her enough time to open the Stargate and escape. And then...then she had to live with the memory of what she had done."
There was a moment of silence then O'Neill spoke again. "So this device...gadget...whatever...is the only thing on the planet that can save us, but you're not sure where it is, what it does, or how it works. All of which is academic because it doesn't work anyway."
It wasn't a question, but Carter felt obliged to answer anyway. "Yes, Sir," she said softly.
"Sweet. Real sweet."
TO BE CONTINUED