by Avalon (avalon99@telusplanet.net)
fanfic at http://members.dencity.com/avalon_online
PG-13, S/J, Part 6/8
THE MANY SHADES OF NIGHT VI
"Leave the World to Darkness and Me"
The guilt was almost unbearable. Carter had been so sure she could save them both, that Jolinar's memories would somehow help her and Colonel O'Neill survive the night...
She was wrong.
She was acutely aware of O'Neill's hand in hers, lending her his support and strength as she limped painfully through the darkness on her swollen ankle. A wave of regret went through her. She was going to get him killed. She had led him down here to this labyrinth. It had seemed like their only hope at the time, but now...
"Cut it out, Major."
Carter jumped slightly. "Sir?"
The hand tightened around hers. "Quit beating yourself up about this. It wasn't your fault."
"How did you...?"
O'Neill laughed once, grimly. "Oh, I know you Carter. By now you're probably blaming yourself for not running fast enough back to the Stargate."
"I never should have brought us down here." Her tone was flat.
"From where I stood, we didn't exactly have much of a choice. We're still alive, thanks to you. Thanks to you, we got away from the bugs, at least for a while. And thanks to you we're not wandering aimlessly around in the dark. All of which makes you my new favourite person. So -- which way?"
As he spoke, O'Neill came to a halt at another intersection. Carter did likewise, wincing as she tried to ease the weight from her aching ankle. The pain had returned, the brief respite from the Colonel's ministrations fading away like a dream, leaving behind only pain that blazed up and down her leg and back like an inferno. As well, the rustling noises had been growing imperceptibly louder for quite some time now. It could only mean that the creatures had found their trail and were closing in once more. Carter shuddered then determinedly ignored the sound. Instead she turned her attention inward to the alien memories lurking just below the surface of her mind, waiting for the subtle pull which would tell her which way to go.
"Left, Sir," she said after a moment's pause.
Without a word, O'Neill turned in that direction. Together they moved deeper into the maze.
* * *
They had found it. At least, Carter hoped they had found it. The passageway they were in had finally come to a dead end. No more chambers or hallways branched off from it and the only path left was the narrow stone staircase, winding steeply upward.
There was a light, dim and distant, coming from somewhere above them. It reflected off the cascade of quartz-like lines that tumbled down the steps, embedded in the stone like a frozen waterfall. The walls, floor, and even the ceiling were thick with them. Memory stirred within her. Power lines. But... And then it was gone again, drifting back to some distant part of her mind.
Carter shook her head in frustration then slowly moved forward. Beside her, O'Neill released her hand and turned so that he could climb up the stairs sideways, guarding their backs.
* * *
They climbed for...well, it wasn't exactly an eternity, but it felt like one. The cuts on Carter's back pulled with every step and her ankle hurt unbearably. But it didn't matter anymore. Nothing mattered except reaching the...whatever it was...and making it work. Succeeding where Jolinar had failed.
Unfortunately, she still didn't have the slightest idea how she would do that.
But then, she didn't have a choice. If she failed, Colonel O'Neill would die. They both would. She had to make it work. Somehow...
"OK, Carter. Here's the plan..." O'Neill sounded slightly out of breath. "You get the doohickey working and kill all the bugs with it. I'll cover you."
"Good plan, Sir."
"Hey, I like simple."
"Simple is good."
A thought struck her and Carter reached for her M9, handing it back to him. She sensed, rather than saw him hesitate behind her. "If you're covering me, you're going to need all the ammunition we've got," she said insistently. Another heartbeat passed and then his fingers closed over hers, holding on just a little longer than was necessary. Finally he took the gun and checked the remaining rounds.
"Thanks." For the first time that she could remember Colonel O'Neill sounded completely serious, with no hint of the usual, slightly mocking tone in his voice. "Major..."
"Yes?"
"Just...good luck."
Her breath caught in her throat and for an instant her vision swam. "You too...Colonel."
And then they were at the top and there was no more time for talking.
Carter blinked, her eyes adjusting to the increased level of light. They were in a small room. Large windows, open to the outside, ringed the chamber and starlight glimmered in the night sky, illuminating the room. Outside, Carter could just make out the nearby rooftops of other buildings, a short distance below.
In the centre of the room was a -- "console" was probably the best term. A stone pillar rose from the floor with no visible seams or joins. It could have been grown rather than built...probably was, given what Carter knew about Tok'ra technology. There was a curved round stone on the top of it, similar to a DHD's, and around it a ring of symbols. She already knew what they would be - the same runes Daniel had found in the plaza. The ones she had managed to unlock to get into this labyrinth. Now if she could just...
Carter moved hastily across the room, mentally sorting through Jolinar's memories, everything within her focused on the puzzle before her. She was only vaguely aware of the Colonel taking up a position in the doorway, his back to her and his attention focused downward.
They were coming. She could hear the Ammita now, not just in her mind, but on the stairs themselves, their razor claws scraping on the stone floor and their bodies brushing against the narrow walls. She had only minutes. Less, probably. The sound of O'Neill chambering a round in her HK was shockingly loud in the quiet of the night.
Carter reached for the dull grey stone on the top of the pillar. Now that she was closer she could see the same grey lines that she had noticed earlier. They ran along the sides of the pillar and branched out across the floor, disappearing into the staircase and down the walls. Memory crystallized. They were power lines. She just had to find the way to turn them on...
Carter hastily pressed the large stone in the centre of the pillar. Nothing happened. She tried twisting it. Again, nothing. Fear flooding through her, she stabbed at the symbols, keying in the same sequence she had used on the door in the plaza. She might as well have been shouting at it for all the good it did.
Gunfire shattered the night. Carter jumped, her heart racing and every instinct within her urging her to leave what she was doing and go to her C.O.'s side. She should be there with him...this was all wrong. Ruthlessly she quelled the impulse. She couldn't help him. Not that way. Their only hope lay here with this alien device.
A random memory surfaced and Carter dove to her knees, not even noticing as the movement sent a flash of pain shooting across her shoulders. She scrabbled desperately at the control panel that must be there, built into the base of the pillar, breaking her nails against the unyielding stone. And then she had it open and was plunging her hands into the morass of alien and Tok'ra technology inside.
Carter's previous efforts to access Jolinar's memories had always met with varying success. As she had told the others, a lifetime or two ago, she usually only got random thoughts and flashes. Part of her though, had always wondered if it were her own fears that were holding her back, keeping some internal barrier erect. Even when she had consciously reached out for the memories, there had always been a small piece of Samantha Carter that had remained aloof...separate. Safe. Now though... Now she gave herself fully and completely over to them, relinquishing her hold on whatever it was that made her -- her.
It was like seeing through a fog. Or through two pairs of eyes. A remote, distant part of her was still Samantha Carter...a person still desperately worried about the man across the room...one who felt a pang go through her as the sound of gunfire changed from that of an HK to an M9 and felt her breath catch at his grunt of pain...
The rest though...the rest was Jolinar. Tok'ra. Host and symbiote combined. The person responsible, at least in her own mind, for the death of every man, woman, and child on Hejira...and the one who wanted to stop the Ammita every bit as much as Sam Carter did.
Somehow...they melded into one. Something that had not happened even when Jolinar had first entered her body. Then, Carter had been too busy fighting what was happening and in too much shock to truly meld with the Tok'ra. But now... "So this must be what a joining is really like, she thought randomly. And then both sets of minds had focused on the device before them.
It was called a Luminar. It was an old and rarely used technology. It was difficult to build and even harder to control. Desperation though, had driven Jolinar to try, as it was driving both of them now. And now... Damn it. She still couldn't see what she had done wrong, all those years ago. It should work. Why wasn't it...?
Something that was purely Samantha Carter rose to the surface and the scientist in her took control of both minds. Think logically she/they thought. Forget your injuries. Ignore the pain and the fear. Eliminate what doesn't work. Be methodical. Her fingers flying, she began sorting through the crystalline filaments in the column, rewiring and adjusting the settings. Across the room, the gunshots continued, unabated.
There. It was done. Carter/Jolinar pulled her hands back, closed the panel hastily and threw herself at the top of the Luminar. Her hands flew over the symbols, keying in a complex sequence that once again ended with the circle quartered by a cross, the symbol of light out of darkness. Then she slammed the palm of her hand down on the round stone in the centre. This time, it moved downwards several inches before coming to a grinding halt.
And the sound of gunfire stopped...
TO BE CONTINUED