Whoever was following her, if there was anyone at all, was very good indeed. She wouldn't tell anyone just yet. Those Pleisar morons would have no idea how to handle the situation. They would simply end up tipping off her pursuer that she was on to him. She would just have to be more vigilant from now on.
He was exactly where he was supposed to be.
"Lieutenant Braca. Do you have the supplies?"
"Yes, sir. I have the next batch of disks and the food you wanted. If I may ask, are you sure it's a good idea to supply them with such quantity and variety of food? Won't the humans become suspicious?"
"You let me worry about their suspicions. Besides, we have to keep Jackson and Crichton on a healthy diet if we're going to get anything useful out of them. Now, here are the latest recordings. I suggest you get them back to your freak of a superior with all due haste."
Braca smirked a little at the last comment and left.
Calis headed back to their current hideout, still unable to shake the feeling that something was wrong.
--------------------
The briefing went without incident. Only a few of those present were aware of Aeryn's true identity. As far as the rest were concerned, she was Captain Tuchina of the Russian Air Force, currently visiting her counterpart in the American Stargate project. Carter and their two constant companions were able to deflect attention from her by calling her away or interrupting anyone who tried to engage her in conversation.
Aeryn already knew the basics points of Carters presentation and wouldn't be able to follow the more abstruse ones anyway, so she took the opportunity to observe the listeners. Most were civilians. A few were military officers. It was obvious from the age and relatively elaborate uniforms of the latter that they must be fairly high ranking. Again, she was struck by the contrast to her own experience. These people didn't seem especially officious, and although it was clear that Carter was a subordinate by quite a margin, they still treated her with respect.
After the briefing, they were escorted to another ground vehicle of a somewhat different configuration than the earlier one. This one had a much more comfortable interior. Aeryn had a brief opportunity to see some of the combat aircraft as they flew overhead. She was intrigued and more than a little disappointed when Carter informed her that it wouldn't be possible to take one up.
"Well, we've got the rest of the day. I thought we would do some of the usual tourist things around D.C. I'm afraid it's going to be kind of a superficial look at Earth, but it's the best we can do in the time we have."
"I understand, and I am grateful to you, Samantha. I know this goes well beyond your normal responsibilities."
"Don't worry about it. It's my pleasure. I should warn you that there are going to be lots of people around doing essentially the same thing as us, and there's an off chance we might run into someone who speaks Russian. So I'm going to teach you a very short Russian phrase. I think if we just sound it out in pieces, very slowly, we can get past your microbes."
For the remainder of the trip from Andrews to D.C., Carter drilled her again and again until Aeryn was able to say in fairly passable Russian, "Go away. I'm busy." Carter assured Aeryn that backed by her own natural and very obvious gift for intimidation, this would be enough to keep them out of trouble.
--------------------
"I'm not questioning you, Sa'di. I'm just saying that maybe we need to think a little more carefully before moving again. So far there's been no indication that the Peacekeepers have been on to any of our hiding places, but we keep moving."
"We can't afford to take chances, Daniel."
"I understand that, and I appreciate everything you've done for us, but I'm just saying that we might be exposing ourselves to more danger with these constant moves."
"What do you think about all this, John?" she said in a more subdued voice. In the past few days, she had managed to make it quite clear to him that she had been thoroughly embarrassed by her earlier advance and his rejection. It seemed to be working. Unlike Jackson, he tried to be as accommodating as possible.
"I don't know, Sa'di. Daniel may have a point. Do you really think they're likely to find us if we stay put."
"I'm convinced of it, John. My friends tell me there were more patrols than usual in this area last night. We need to move."
"I think we should go along with her, Daniel."
"Fine. If both of you want to move, we move. Again."
"Then it's settled. I'll see you in two or three arns. I need to get us some more supplies and I'm expecting to get some more of the disks today."
She left them and headed to another meeting with Braca. The situation was starting to become uncomfortable. Crichton was still manageable, but Jackson's behavior over the past two days had become almost belligerent. All she needed was another weeken at most. After that, all the disks in Peacekeeper possession should have passed through his hands, and his cooperation would no longer be a factor. She would have him picked up and continue to work on Crichton.
Another attempt at seduction might be worthwhile at that point. Crichton would be alone and more vulnerable, and she could turn up the pressure from the search patrols enough to unravel him. Calis was uncertain of how much of the details of Jackson's translations she had managed to record and how much had been missed. She couldn't be there all the time. Crichton was still useful if she could get him talking freely about the weapon's design, and having a hold over him would make that easier. Also, she had to admit that her prior failure rankled just a little.
She was probably worrying about nothing. It was like that feeling of being followed, and she hadn't felt that again in nearly two days. The stress was simply affecting her. She could certainly manage two predictable primitives for another weeken.
--------------------
"So, what do you think?"
"I think you may be right. The Peacekeepers aren't this incompetent, and the Sa'di I knew before all this started wouldn't have been able to outthink them for this long. I've known people to rise to the occasion when things get tough, but this is ridiculous. She went from mousy librarian to Mata Hari at the drop of a hat."
"She's certainly well connected. Every time I finish a set of translations, she's ready with another batch of disks within a day or two."
"She didn't have any friends before this started, at least not anyone except Celas. It doesn't make sense."
"So you're willing to accept that she might be working with them? Maybe they have some hold over her. Family maybe."
"I don't know, but I think it's a good thing you've been mistranslating things for a while. I thought you were nuts when you suggested it, but now I'm not so sure."
Crichton paused, unsure whether to mention his other cause for suspicion, but it was incongruous enough that he needed to tell Jackson.
"She came on to me a few days ago."
"She did? That doesn't really seem like her, does it?"
"It didn't fit at all. I was just embarrassed when it happened, but when I look back at it, it makes no sense. It's not something I would have expected from her. On top of that, she's been milking it for all it's worth since it happened."
--------------------
Aeryn had to admit that in spite of everything, she was enjoying herself, at least as much as could be expected under the circumstances. Before 'seeing the sights' as Carter had put it, they had stopped at a dining establishment of some sort. Aeryn had been surprised at the nature of the place. Her time in the Uncharted Territories had not prepared her for large numbers of people simply enjoying themselves, at least not this way. There were families and children everywhere, apparently without any concerns beyond enjoying a meal. Nothing in her past had really prepared her for this, and she felt a vague sense of jealousy at some of what she saw.
It was at that point that the one disturbing aspect of her excursion had started. People, mostly men, kept staring at her. She had asked Carter about that only to receive an incredulous look.
"You're kidding, right? I guess you Peacekeepers must have some very different attitudes about some things."
That was all the explanation she had been given, and she still had no idea what it meant.
Their next stop had been a large complex housing various Earth animals. Carter called it the National Zoo. At first, Aeryn objected to the idea of keeping these creatures in captivity, but she learned that part of the function of the place was conservation. The variety of animal life was astounding, and Aeryn was immediately taken with some of the larger predators.
Things were going well until she came across something called a giant toad that looked not entirely unlike Rygel. The audio description even said it would eat anything that it could fit into its mouth. She smiled inwardly at that and decided that she would have to tell the little slug about it, if she ever saw him again. Of course, she probably never would see him or anyone on Moya again. Even if everything went according to plan with John, and she would not even entertain the alternative, Aeryn realized that her life had taken another turn.
After the zoo, they traveled to the center of government and looked at some buildings and monuments. None of this really interested Aeryn. She was much more interested in the people around her. There were huge crowds doing exactly what she was doing. It gave her a sense of connection and of belonging that was very comforting. She would have preferred to share this first exposure to his people with John, but she appreciated it nonetheless. She couldn't wait to tell him about it.
Carter took her to a collection of buildings called the Smithsonian Institution. Apparently, this was an archival facility of some sort. Aeryn was fascinated by some of what she saw and utterly bored by the rest. In one of the building were large skeletons of extinct animals. The animals themselves were not so exceptional. She had seen things as strange or stranger. What fascinated her was the extent to which humans had gone to preserve their past. Peacekeepers had very little sense of their own history. Almost nothing had been taught to her except for the names of a few battles and heroes, and she had learned from personal experience that not even the little she had been taught could be trusted.
The exhibit outlining the evolutionary history of humans was fascinating. She would have to tell John about that too. It was hard to believe that he was first cousin to some of the creatures she had seen in that zoo.
It was soon after this that she had embarrassed herself a little. She came across a display with a green figure. It looked vaguely familiar so she took a good look at it. Her sudden finger pointing and cry of alarm had attracted exactly the sort of attention they had been hoping to avoid. Their two escorts almost drew their weapons. Carter had come up to her and said, "Aeryn, that's just Kermit," And then proceeded to explain. How the frell was she supposed to know that the thing had never been alive in the first place. Her only experience of it had been from the instructional software Carter had given her.
They stood now in a building that seemed dedicated to technology, if one could call it that. There were various flying craft and pieces of equipment, none of which seemed to approach even John's ship. Aeryn was thoroughly unimpressed.
"I can understand the extinct creatures and the historical documents and even the stones and gems, but I don't understand this. All of this technology is far more primitive than what you use now. Why keep something like that," she pointed towards the ceiling at a cloth covered, wooden craft, "around for thousands of cycles."
"Thousands of cycles? Aeryn, that thing up there is almost exactly 100 years old. I guess this is something you and John never talked about, not that there's a lot of reason it would have come up. Everything you see in this building is less than 100 years old."
"Wait. You're telling me that your people went from that to the technology in John's module in less than 100 cycles?"
"Yeah. That takes a lot of our 'guests' by surprise. We've noticed in interacting with more advanced species that a lot of them tend to progress much more steadily and slowly than we have. The Goa'uld are an exception, but they stole what they have, and even the Tollan had a massive head start. I guess the difference is that we tend to take blind leaps where other people think things through a little more carefully. Sometimes we hit on things that someone else might dismiss out of hand."
Aeryn looked around the building again with a newfound appreciation of what she was seeing. Perhaps four and a half cycles with John should have prepared her for this. It had been a long time since she had underestimated him. The past few days had been a good indicator, but now she decided definitively that it would be best not to underestimate his people either.
--------------------
Aeryn was pouring over the file Carter had given her an arn earlier.
She was making rapid progress with English. She could now sound out simple words without much difficulty, although she soon discovered that some things defied the rules and made no sense at all. Her vocabulary was developing as well and had been immeasurably aided by Carter's most recent contribution to her studies. It was a dictionary for children which associated words with images. Of course, many of the images made no sense, but enough of them did to give her a sense of accomplishment. English grammar, even the most rudimentary structures, still defeated her, but she was determined that she would manage it eventually. The last four cycles had taught her that there was very little she couldn't manage once she put her mind to it.
Aeryn had also been introduced to the internet. There was very little she could do at this stage, since she still couldn't read. However, she could write out words of interest and was often rewarded with related images. The enormous volume of information available for public consumption had come as quite a surprise. With a little help from Carter, she had tried to search for a number of the things she saw during her excursion of the previous day. On a whim, she had also tried a search on the first English words she had ever seen, Farscape, IASA and John Crichton. She was rewarded with a number of documents showing John during various stages of his training and a few items that probably reported his death. That had inspired her to ask for the documents she was now reviewing.
To Aeryn's surprise, Carter was able to supply a very thick file on John. It seemed that in the past few weekens, the SGC had collected everything they could about him. There were many written documents that meant nothing, but there was also a large collection of photographs. There were images of John as a child with his family, as a young man in various settings including some sort of ceremony, and many images of him only slightly younger than he was now.
The one thing that made the greatest impact on her, even though she had always known it on an intellectual level, was just how far these images were removed from the life he had been living. She regretted not understanding in the early days just how hard an adjustment he had needed to make. Aeryn had made her own adjustments, of course, and they were just as dramatic, but at least she had the luxury of doing them in a world she understood.
Among the various pictures, Aeryn immediately recognized several of John's father, and from context, she was able to pick out his mother and sisters. There was a man about John's age who featured prominently throughout. She guessed that this must be DK. In many of the later images, there was also a very attractive woman, and from the rather obvious nature of her relationship with John, this had to be Alex. Aeryn felt an unexpected wave of jealousy, which the rational part of her mind told her was ridiculous. As uncharitable as it seemed, the first thing that came to mind was, "That little blonde trelk wouldn't have survived two solar days out there."
--------------------
Ten years earlier, some recruiter had told him that joining the military would let him see the world. He certainly hadn't counted on this. Sgt. Ramirez was hiding in an alleyway on an alien planet, his only way home a ship piloted by a different set of aliens.
His four man team had been inserted by the Tok'ra two days earlier. They had split up immediately to concentrate on different areas of the city. Since they didn't speak or understand the language, they were under orders to avoid all contact, operating at night and fading into the shadows during the day. At least the other three did. His job was different. He had the tracking instrument mated to Dr. Jackson's transmitter.
Ramirez had found them on his first day here. Jackson transmitted 12 minutes after local noon. He had their hideout in sight less than an hour after that, just in time to see the Brinisi woman, Sa'di, returning from somewhere with a bundle. He had watched the little house for the remainder of the day until she emerged again near dusk.
She was good. No obvious route, constant changes in direction, and he thought she had almost spotted him at one point. Almost an hour after setting out on a journey that should have taken 20 minutes, she had met with a Peacekeeper officer. He had gotten as close as he dared and took a number of photographs with the miniature camera he carried.
When she headed back, Ramirez hadn't followed. One close call was more than enough. He returned to the house by a different route, and continued to observe. Sa'di followed roughly the same schedule each day, and it seemed the transmissions always occurred when she was away. He only hoped that Jackson was following protocol and hadn't told her about the transmitter. Today was his last day. Tonight the team would meet at the rendezvous point outside the city to be picked up by the Tok'ra.
--------------------
These past days had been Aeryn Sun's least frustrating since coming to Earth. Even the short trip to Washington had been constantly attended by worry for John. Recently there had been no time for worry, at least during the day. The Tok'ra had transmitted schematics of the city and gate site right after arriving at Brinisa. The humans had then quickly set up a mockup of both the gate site and the likeliest location of Peacekeeper headquarters. Even though Aeryn and SG1 would be conducting the search for the schematics and the rescue, they trained with the two assault teams as a contingency.
If SG1 had impressed her, the teams assigned to the raids astounded her. Physically, they were no more fit, and probably less so, than Peacekeeper commandos. Man to man, she would have given herself the advantage against nearly any of them. However, their level of coordination was something Aeryn had never imagined in a lifetime of military service.
If her days were now too busy to think much about John, she more than made up for it at night. The combination of exhaustion from training and the overwhelming worry that attacked her as soon as the training ended each day had taken a toll. She made less progress in her studies now, but she refused to give up. Instead, she doubled her efforts to make up for the decrease in efficiency.
As she tackled the bewildering structure of yet another simple English sentence, she heard a knock at the door. There were only two people who knocked at her door, and she had learned to tell them apart.
"Come in, Teal'c."
"Aeryn Sun, how are you this evening?"
"I'm fine. I'm just trying to learn this frelling language."
"I fear I cannot offer advice in this area. My nanites greatly facilitated my efforts to read the language of the Tau'ri."
"It doesn't matter. I'll manage. What did you want to see me about?"
"I have news. The operatives whom the Tok'ra inserted into the Brinisi capital transmitted their report to the staging area moments ago and it is now being relayed through the Stargate. It seems that there is some word on the Daniel Jackson and John Crichton, although I do not yet know the details. Your presence is requested in the gate room."
Aeryn jumped to her feet and raced out the door saying, "Why the frell didn't you say that in the first place?"
--------------------
It took only a few minutes to transmit the surveillance team's report through the gate, but Aeryn could barely contain herself. Copies were made and distributed to General Hammond, SG1 and the leaders of the two assault teams. Aeryn received a copy as well, but merely as a courtesy. Her language skills were far from equal to the task, so she had to wait for the briefing before she could find out about John. At least Carter had skimmed the report and let her know that John and Daniel were still out of Peacekeeper hands. The following hour was an exercise in frustration as Aeryn waited for the humans to read and absorb the report. She felt supreme relief that John was still safe, but became more anxious for details with every passing minute.
The first order of business was the primary mission objective. They now knew with certainty that the Peacekeepers were headquartered in the Brinisi military complex, and they had detailed diagrams of both the complex and the gate site. From SG1's experience as detainees, they also had some idea of the internal layout of the base. The distribution and movement of Peacekeeper troops left a few windows of opportunity during which both objectives were lightly guarded and reinforcement would take some time to arrive. The Peacekeepers were clearly not expecting anything from what little remained of the local forces. There were random attacks now and then, but these were disorganized and very small scale, usually against individual Peacekeepers. Aeryn found herself on the receiving end of a number of questions she had already answered many times about standard Peacekeeper procedures during an occupation.
Once the details had been presented, preliminary plans were quickly made for the strikes to be conducted in parallel at local dawn. The base was far enough removed from the population centers of the city to allow for use of Naquadah enriched high explosives and incendiary devices. They would simply burn the relevant buildings and everything in them to the ground. The gate site would receive similar attention. The gate itself could not be damaged without using enough force to destroy the city, so they would destroy the control mechanisms and all related artifacts. A dialing device would take long enough to reconstruct and only with considerable luck, but if the Peacekeepers had no information on how to calculate local gate coordinates, they could never operate the relativistic weapon even if they found a second gate. Furthermore, no information on the coordinate system meant that the Peacekeepers could not use the gate to threaten anyone else by transporting troops. Earth was safe from such an attack, but other worlds might not be. The specifics would be worked out by the assault teams over the next two days, and more intensive training would begin immediately.
The next topic of discussion was the possibility of retrieving the schematics for the relativistic weapon. They suspected that these were being kept at Peacekeeper headquarters, but finding them without more specific information would be impossible.
"That brings us to Daniel and Crichton, and these two," said O'Neill as he placed a photograph of a Brinisi woman and a Peacekeeper at the center of the conference table.
Aeryn had been growing increasingly impatient until she heard mention of John's name and then saw the picture.
"What the frell is this?"
Understanding the gist of Aeryn's exclamation without need for translation, O'Neil responded, "It seems you were right about that Sa'di woman. She meets this guy every day and passes something to him and takes something back to Daniel and Crichton."
"Then she has betrayed her own people to the Peacekeepers?" asked Teal'c.
"She didn't betray a thing. I know him. That's Lt. Braca, Scorpius' second in command. Look at the picture. He's standing at frelling attention. That means she's a Peacekeeper and outranks him."
"So she's a spy? That tracks with the firefight in the Brinisi gate room being staged and what you said about her triggering the fake explosives. Our man on the ground also says that she doesn't operate like an amateur." O'Neill continued, "But why go to the trouble?"
"It kind of makes sense, sir. She has access to the schematics, and she has the one person who can translate them and someone who can interpret them directly. It might be more efficient to gain their trust than to use coercion. That bit of playacting in the gate room would have been part of it."
O'Neill considered this for a few moments. "O.k. We have a target then. We can get information on the schematics and about Daniel and Jackson at the same time."
"Are you suggesting that we seize this woman, Colonel?"
"No, sir. That would arouse too much suspicion and guarantee that the Peacekeepers pick up our people right away. I mean him," he said pointing at Braca. "You said you know him, Aeryn. What can you tell us?"
She spoke through Carter. "He was my superior officer when I was a Pleisar. He is an ambitious functionary, competent enough, but nothing exceptional."
"Perfect."
--------------------
Braca was off duty. He was a creature of habit and often spent an arn or two every night at the same local tavern. The food was better than what he was used to in the fleet, they had passable raslak, and the local females who had taken to fraternizing with the occupying forces often congregated here.
As he headed back to the temporary headquarters and another encounter with the abomination, his thoughts were elsewhere. Calis had said that one of the humans could be seized soon. Too bad it wasn't Crichton. He owed that one.
The street was mostly desolate with only a few locals lounging about. A Brinisi brushed against him and he turned and shoved him aside roughly, saying, "Watch where you're frelling go...."
He was unable to complete the thought much less the sentence as he felt someone come up behind him and cover his mouth, just as the first Brinisi lunged forward and touched something to his side. He felt a sharp jolt and everything went black.
--------------------
As he came to, he felt a sharp pain in his head and noticed that his hand was bandaged. He was on a vessel of some kind, a very advanced vessel by the look of things. There were five men. Four of them dressed in Brinisi clothing and one who looked different. When they spoke to one another, he realized that the fifth man also sounded very different. One of them noticed him.
"Sir, it looks like our guest is awake."
"So it seems, Sergeant. Lt. Braca, I presume. I'm Captain Richard Sorensen, United States Marine Corp., but I guess that means nothing to you. O.k. then, I'm from Earth." The man, the human Braca realized, was smiling at him and speaking in a carefree tone.
He tried to control himself, but Braca knew that he was staring wide eyed like an idiot.
"Relax Lieutenant. We're going to have a nice, quiet flight, and then you're going to take a little trip to Earth. There are some people who want to talk to you."
Braca started to protest that his absence would be noticed and that these humans would be caught in no time.
"I have no idea what you just said. No microbes you see. But I can guess. Don't worry about your friends missing you. They think you're dead. You know there have been a few attacks on Peacekeepers here and there. Well, guess what. You are a victim of one of them, and we made sure there were a couple of witnesses. You were stabbed, Lieutenant, and the culprits were lazy enough to leave behind the knife with your blood all over it." He pointed to Braca's bandaged hand. "At least they had the presence of mind to dispose of your body before the patrols found you too soon."
Braca was beginning to panic. He looked around frantically, hoping to strike out.
"Before you do something stupid, let me assure you that I have no qualms about hurting you, Lieutenant. I saw what your people have been doing to the locals on that planet. Let's just say I'm not your biggest fan right now." The smile never left the human's face.
Braca felt himself deflate instantly.
--------------------
Calis was furious. Braca had missed their appointment and she was forced to go and talk to Scorpius in person. On top of that, he had kept her waiting nearly half an arn. She put on a neutral face so that her disgust wouldn't show.
"Sir, Lt. Braca never showed. I suggest severe punishment...."
"That won't be necessary, Commander. Braca is no longer in a position to learn anything from a reprimand."
Calis just waited. She might have to obey this monstrosity, but she wouldn't engage it in any more conversation than necessary.
Scorpius ignored her silence and continued. "It seems that the Lieutenant was a bit careless last night. He was attacked by two Brinisi and killed. The body hasn't been recovered, but we have several witnesses and a weapon with blood stains. The DNA matches Braca."
Calis absorbed this information with no reaction. "I need a new liaison immediately."
"Yes, and I need a new second in command. This is most inconvenient."
--------------------
Aeryn waited alongside Hammond, SG1 and half a dozen human soldiers with their weapons trained at the gate. The now familiar cascade effect was followed by two figures emerging, one with his wrists bound and another with a drawn sidearm.
"Sir, reporting with the prisoner."
"Thank you, Captain. Any trouble?"
"No, sir. It went exactly as planned."
"Very well, escort him to a holding cell."
"Just a moment," Aeryn interrupted before Braca could be taken away.
She walked up to him casually, stood before him, and punched him in the stomach hard enough to drop him to his knees, coughing uncontrollably.
Hammond objected immediately. "Officer Sun, we do not treat our prisoners in that manner."
"My apologies, sir. I just want him to know where he stands." She said that knowing the general couldn't understand her. It didn't matter, since it was intended for Braca's ears.
--------------------
One day you're doing your job and minding your own business. The next day, you're the prisoner of a group of primitives on some planet almost no one has ever heard of. As Braca paced back and forth in his small cell, he looked once again towards the outer door. The guard was still there, armed and motionless. He had ranted and raved at him at first, but there had been no reaction. After an arn or so of confinement, Braca had tried to regain some of his composure. The past day had been very disorienting, and he realized that he wasn't acquitting himself very well. Of course, he had never been in a position like this, and he told himself that his early panic had been understandable. After all, if Crichton was any indication, his people were insane. He had no idea what they might do to him.
He had no way of telling time, but he guessed that he had been here at least three arns. He heard footsteps in the adjoining hallway and felt the panic start to rise again.
Four people entered the room. He recognized Aeryn Sun immediately. The other three he remembered from the firefight in the Brinisi portal chamber. One of them addressed him.
"I'm Colonel O'Neill. We have a few questions we want to ask you, Lieutenant."
"Go frell yourself, human! You get nothing from me."
At that, Sun lunged towards him, and he instinctively withdrew a few paces. Already, this was not going well.
O'Neill hadn't needed a translation of that outburst; the point was obvious. "Let's dispense with the false bravado, Braca. You're not in the best position right now, but there is a way you can get yourself out of this. We have a little proposition for you. Carter."
"We want details on the internal layout of your base and the location of the disks you removed from the Brinisi gate chamber. In exchange, we take you back to Brinisa, and let you go. As far as anyone knows, you were attacked by some locals. How you survived and got back is between you and your superiors."
"You expect me to believe that you're just going to let me go?"
"Believe what you want Lieutenant, but it's your only option. The alternative is to spend the rest of your life in confinement on Earth. We," she pointed around the room to indicate the four present, "won't hurt you, but others might not be so patient."
The three humans seemed calm enough to Braca, but at the mention of these "others", he notices a cold smile descend on Sun's face.
O'Neill took over from Carter. "It's a simple enough deal, Braca. You give us some information, and you get your life back, assuming you can talk fast enough with your own people. You don't, and at best you spend the rest of it in a little room like this. At worst, someone decides to hand you over to NID. They've been wanting to get their hands on an alien for years."
Braca glanced at Sun but saw no reaction to O'Neill's last statement.
"We'll give you a little time to think about it."
Time. He didn't need any frelling time. If it came down to a choice between him and betraying that Scarren monstrosity, then there was no choice. He didn't for an instant believe that the humans would just keep him locked up, and he didn't need details to understand what O'Neill was implying about this NID. They would get him the instant he refused to help. He didn't believe that they would just let him go, but maybe there was a chance for better treatment if he cooperated.
"Fine, I'll tell you what you want."
The disgust on Sun's face was unmistakable. Why should he care? She was a traitor, a real one, not like him. She had turned her back on her people for the sake of some alien. He knew about her relationship with Crichton, and that disgusted him almost as much as Scorpius. Sex with an alien, especially one who looked Sebacean, was one thing, but the sort of commitment she had made was a violation of every belief that had been instilled in him, and in her, since childhood.
Holding up an image, Sun said in a voice dripping with menace, "Tell me everything about her." It was a picture of him with Commander Calis. When had they managed to take that?
He still tried to maintain a semblance of pride. "I said I would cooperate with the humans. That doesn't apply to you, traitor."
"I think I can get them to leave me alone with you for half an arn. Would it apply then?"
He didn't need this dren. Fine, if she wanted to know about Calis, he would tell her about Calis. "That is Commander Serina Calis. She's 12th directorate."
"A disruptor?"
He nodded.
"What is she doing with the humans?"
"They think she's keeping them safe. She's told them that she has contacts who hid the disks from the gate chamber. She gets a few to the humans every couple of days. They translate, and she records the translations and passes them back to us."
"So they're safe for now."
Braca nodded, "Yes." But he had obviously given something away because Sun was eyeing him suspiciously.
"You are not going anywhere until we recover Crichton and Jackson. If you are holding anything back, I swear that I will gut you myself."
"She....the translations are almost finished. She's going to have Jackson taken after that. She wants to spend some more time with Crichton to get whatever additional information she can on the weapon. She suspects that they might be holding something back from her."
Sun nodded and left the room. That left him with the three humans, and the questions started in earnest.
--------------------
"You want me to come with you?"
"Yes. We don't have a choice. The next segment is not on one of those disks and it's too large to carry in public. It must have been something you missed when you searched the chamber."
"And you're sure it has something to do with the weapon?"
"The markings look just like the other ones. We don't know for sure, but it seems likely."
Jackson shared a look with Crichton. If Sa'di was working with the Peacekeepers, then they were already under surveillance. If he showed a reluctance to accompany her now, capture would be inevitable. He had no idea what he was being lead into, but he had to play along.
When Sa'di wasn't looking, he made a point of catching Crichton's eye and glancing at the backpack containing the transmitter. There was a barely perceptible nod from Crichton.
He followed her out into the street and through a series of alleyways. She led him into a small building. Inside were four Peacekeepers, who immediately seized him.
"Take him to headquarters. See to it that he isn't mistreated for now."
Turning to Jackson, Sa'di said, "I will see you again, human, if there's anything left of you."
Jackson did his best to look surprised. Their only chance now was Crichton. There had to be a reason Sa'di had separated them, and the longer he could conceal the fact that they had suspected her, the longer Crichton would remain relatively safe.
The last thing he remembered was one of the Peacekeepers moving as if to strike him.
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He didn't know how long he had been here or where exactly here was. It was some place within the Brinisi detention center but very unlike the cell he had earlier shared with his teammates and Crichton and Aeryn. There was a single diffuse light offering barely enough illumination to see from one end of the small room to the other. The room itself was totally empty and devoid of any features but a waste facility and a continuously flowing water source in one corner. There were no furnishings and the floor was covered with a widely spaced mesh so that sleeping was difficult at best. Meals consisted of a tasteless bread-like mass inserted through a slot near the floor. He was certain that they were feeding him on nothing approaching a regular schedule.
Jackson had gone through the orientation sessions on torture and psychological manipulation. He knew that this was preparation. They were depriving him of external stimuli and trying to disorient him prior to interrogation. He had no way of judging the amount of time that had passed or even the time of day, and he had been allowed no contact with his captors. Even the sound of his own voice was muted by the acoustics of the room and the running water. Knowing what they were doing didn't help much. He could feel the despair beginning to settle.
There had been no physical coercion, but he suspected that wasn't too far off. He paced back an forth, trying to distract himself by reciting passages from the Book of the Dead. "Let their experts have some fun with that," he thought absentmindedly. Without warning, the lights went off and he heard several people enter his cell. They bound his hands and placed a hood over his head. He was pushed into the hallway roughly and guided through what seemed like a maze of corridors. No one said a word.
Finally, he was led into a chamber and seated in a chair. Straps were placed on his arms, legs, waist and chest, firmly securing him in place. The hood was removed, and he heard everyone filed out of the room behind him. There followed absolute silence for at least 5 minutes until a single set of footsteps sounded loudly as they approached the chamber.
Someone entered and closed the door. The figure stepped in front of him and spoke.
"Dr. Jackson. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Scorpius. I expect John has told you a few things about me."
"A few."
Scorpius smiled. "We have some things to discuss regarding your translations. It is a shame that our people have never developed any real tradition of linguistics. It's the microbes you see. The language on these disks has proved especially difficult, so your help has been greatly appreciated. However, we are not fools, and it has become clear that there are some inconsistencies in your work. I suspect Commander Calis was less convincing than she thinks. How long have you suspected her?"
"I don't know what you're talking about. Sa'di led me to you. That's all I know. I'm guessing you have her family."
"Come now, Daniel, there's no point in lying to me."
Scorpius walked over to some sort of instrument panel.
"No matter. We will have many fruitful discussions over the next few days. It's a pity I don't have access to an Aurora Chair here. The Brinisi really are quite primitive in some areas. Nevertheless, we will make due with what is at hand."
He did something on the panel and a screen descended before Daniel. A red dot began moving erratically on the screen. There was no fixed pattern or speed to the movement.
"I require your undivided attention during our conversations. You will track that marker with your eyes at all times. Failure to do so will result in ... correction. Allow me to demonstrate."
Daniel felts a sharp jolt go through his body. It was enough to make him mildly nauseous, but he was able to contain himself and said nothing.
"The charge is random, but the as we continue to talk, the average intensity will increase. It is to your advantage to see that we conclude our discussions early. Once I have what I need, I will release you. I'm sure John has already told you that I released him once we extracted the wormhole information from his brain. You have no reason to distrust me."
"I think I'll reserve judgment on that for now."
Scorpius smiled again. "As you wish. Let's begin. Now remember, you must track that red dot at all times. It's simply a means of assuring that I have your attention."
"Really. You mean it's not a pointless, repetitive task designed to distance you from the source of the pain and make me blame myself instead?"
"Oh, very good, Daniel. But if you know that, you also know that in the long run it doesn't matter that you know. Shall we begin?" With that, he did something else to the panel, and a green square appeared at the center of Jackson's vision. The square and the dot were misaligned, and again Jackson felt something. This time, it was anything but mild. He could barely hear Scorpius say, "Remember to Track the dot, Daniel," over the sound of his own scream.
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They had been on the run for four days. They hid where they could, no longer staying in any one spot overnight. The intensity of the patrols had increased dramatically and they had nearly been caught a few times. Sa'di was with him almost constantly now, and he had missed the transmission twice already. Crichton still didn't know exactly what to make of her.
After Jackson's loss, she had appeared inconsolable. She blamed herself at every opportunity for his death. Crichton didn't trust her, and for all he knew, Daniel was still alive and in Peacekeeper hands. However, he couldn't be sure of anything. There was still a chance that Sa'di was exactly who she claimed to be and that they had managed to elude the Peacekeepers all these weeks by sheer luck.
They were hiding in a small room behind a market in the commerce district. Sa'di claimed to know the owner.
"I'm afraid they can't offer us much to eat. All I could get is two cups of soup."
She handed one to Crichton and sat next to him, leaning against his shoulder. She had been doing that a lot, making physical contact at every opportunity and appearing to take strength from him when she did so. Crichton hadn't yet made a move to stop this. If her grief was legitimate, then she needed the comfort. If not, he couldn't afford to make her suspicious. They ate in silence.
Afterwards, she leaned in a little so that she was resting entirely on his shoulder with her head against his cheek. For Crichton, it was simply another day stuck with what might be a cold blooded killer and unsure when or even if help would arrive. He thought of Aeryn to distract himself. He rarely thought of anything else, but these days he made an effort not to let Sa'di know that.
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Aeryn again marveled at her surroundings. It wasn't that they were especially luxurious. She had seen luxury, from the casual and carefree opulence of the Royal Planet, to the more regimented decadence in which high ranking Peacekeepers indulged. This was different. It was comfortable and welcoming in a way she had never experienced. This was a home.
What was truly incongruous was that this was Samantha Carter's home. She was a member of a military organization, granted a very different one from the one Aeryn had once served, but still. It had not occurred to her that Carter had a life outside that military. She should have suspected that things worked differently on Earth. How else would John have become involved with her in the past? Aeryn had simply not possessed the necessary mental framework to make the connection.
She had been here for the past three days. Soon after she was given permission to leave Cheyenne mountain, Carter had offered to let her stay with her. Aeryn had assumed this meant moving to officers quarters in some nearby base somewhere and had accepted as much for the change in routine as for the company. She had been unprepared for the drive into town and Carter's apartment, as she called it. She actually lived freely among civilians and had a decidedly non- military life for part of the day.
The experience had been eye opening for Aeryn. Her days were still spent at the SGC training for the upcoming mission, but the past few nights had been quite different. She learned more in a few days than she had in weekens of study. The day to day details of life on Earth were not recorded in any book or video, and Aeryn found many things surprising.
The purchase and preparation of food had come as something of a surprise. She had become accustomed to it on Moya but never expected it of Carter. Her Peacekeeper upbringing still led her to think of many things as institutional matters, to be dealt with by techs or menial laborers. Of course, John had explained some of this to her, and although she had listened carefully, she saw now that some things had never really registered.
Carter's home was overflowing with books. Most were technical things that Aeryn would not have understood even if she could read them. The rest were eclectic enough that Aeryn felt a stab of jealousy at having been deprived of so much for so long. There was also music, some of which Aeryn recognized from her nightly studies in the SGC, but most of which she had never heard. If Carter's reaction was any indication, Aeryn's taste in human music was rather atypical. Carter had apparently approved of Rachmaninoff and the Beatles, but what was wrong with Barry Manilow anyway? Yesterday, Aeryn had remembered something that John sometimes talked about. Carter purchased a few CDs after she mentioned it, and she was now listening to Charlie Parker. She found it very confusing, and decided she would have to talk to John about it. That brought her back to more important matters.
Everything was finally ready. Tomorrow was the day.
"How are the final preparations going?" she asked Carter.
"Everything's in place. The Tok'ra have everything assembled. It's lucky we got as much out of them as we have."
"Any last minute modifications?"
"No. The reconnaissance team goes in one day in advance, evaluates the situation and finds Daniel and John. We go in the following day. The assault teams hit the two targets, and we improvise as necessary."
Aeryn found herself unusually nervous. She had been on countless missions as dangerous as this, but the stakes had never been higher for her. Unlike the other times she had risked herself for John, the extended separation and uncertainty about his fate added to her nerves.
"Do you think they're alright?"
Aeryn felt almost childish for asking, but she found that she needed some reassurance.
"They both know what they're doing, Aeryn, and they're both smart. I bet they caught on to the disruptor right away."
Aeryn bristled at the mention of Sa'di or whatever her name was. Thoughts of a certain other disruptor followed unbidden, but that was then. She trusted John completely, and her only worry was about the threat she posed. She swore that if that trelk hurt him, she would cut her heart out. She would probably do that anyway.
Carter seemed to sense the shift in her mood and interrupted her train of though.
"So, once we get them back, what are you plans?"
"Plans?"
"You and John must have talked about what you were going to do once you got back to Earth."
"No. Not really. There wasn't a lot of time on Brinisa. We have talked about it now and then over the cycles, but it didn't really mean anything. There didn't seem to be any way for John to get back until the Stargate. I suppose he'll have to start a new life of some sort, now that he is cut off from his past."
"He? You mean the two of you, right?"
"Of course." Did that sound as pitiful to Carter as it did to her? From the look she gave her, apparently it did.
"Aeryn, I don't know what you think is going to happen once the two of you are on Earth, but like I've said, I know John. I may not know who he's become in the past four years, but that's not the John you're worried about, is it? You think that once he settles back into some kind of life on Earth, things might be different. Well, the John I know *is* the one who had a life on Earth, and I can tell you that I have never before seen him the way he is with you. He loves you Aeryn, and that's not something that comes easily to him. I think he's only really been in love once before, and I never once saw him look at her the way he looks at you."
Aeryn smiled inwardly. She knew all this on some level, but there were always nagging insecurities, and Carters words helped more than she could have anticipated.
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Now his only measure of time was the number of sessions he had endured with Scorpius. There had been eight so far. There was no fixed schedule and he couldn't tell if any two sessions were half an hour or half a week apart. He never remembered the end of any of them. Each apparently ended like the last, with him screaming himself into exhaustion and eventually passing out only to find himself back in his cell.
Each time was harder than the last. Concentrating on the display was becoming more than he could bear and the physical punishment associated with failure was becoming more intensive as promised. The points where the straps made contact with his flesh were now little more than open wounds, and he wasn't certain how much internal damage the shocks were doing. He just knew that it hurt to move and that anything more than shallow breaths caused a sharp, stabbing pain.
He couldn't hold out much longer; he knew that. Scorpius was always so insistent and so unnaturally calm. It was becoming harder not to give in to the confident, neutral voice and the promises of release. Already he had started to let things slip. He had long since revealed that the translations were intentionally botched and had started to supply corrections. He may have said something about suspecting Sa'di, but he wasn't sure. So far, he had said nothing about the transmitter. He had to keep that hidden as long as possible. He tried not to think of it at all and instead focused on other secrets, so that those would be the first to surface in the next round of questions.