Part 11
Disclaimers can be found in Part 0
***
Breakfast the next morning was a somber affair as Jack remembered the nightmare from the night before - the first he had had since arriving on this world. He knew that Teal'c and Daniel had also had the dream by the haggard looks on their faces when they all gathered for their first meal of the day. Carter was the only one unaffected and her concern showed in her face when she joined the men of her team.
"Sir?" she asked quietly.
"Not a good night, Captain," he replied over the top of his coffee cup.
"The dreams again?"
"You could say that," answered Daniel. "Different ending again. Not something I want to actually experience."
"How?"
"Serpent Guards attacked us as well as the Dark Void from the previous dreams, Captain Carter," answered Teal'c.
"Serpent Guards? Jaffa?"
"Yes, Captain Carter. Fifty or more. We were - defeated," answered Teal'c again.
Carter took a sip of her coffee. Jack glanced at her out of the corner of his eye knowing she was using the coffee drinking as a delay in responding. He decided to follow her lead, and drank some of his. The dream last night had disturbed him more than the others and he was trying to figure out why. It wasn't just the fact that they, his team, had been defeated and died. It was something else, something that went a little deeper. Focusing on the end, just before he had awaken, he began to realize that it was the faces he had seen in the stars as he lay dying: the two Charlie's - his son and Kawalsky, Sara, Armin Zelig, his grandparents. All of them except Sara were waiting for him to join them where ever they were. He took another drink of coffee and set his shoulders. ~~Well Charlie, one day. Just not today.~~
"Okay Campers," said Jack with renewed strength. He threw what was left of his coffee into the fire. "We have work to do, preparations to make, another world to save. Let's get to it." Standing he picked up his rifle, set his hat on his head, and started walking towards the Lacotia village.
Daniel hurriedly threw his coffee in the fire as well and jumped up to catch up with his friend. Carter, caught off guard like the rest, had the presence of mind to put out their campfire before following. Teal'c, as calm as he always was, waited for Carter to finish before he too joined Jack.
***
"Carter has our camp been dismantled?" asked Jack.
"Yes, Sir. Teal'c and I took down everything and put it in the cave. The grounds even been roughed up so that it doesn't look like there was a camp there," she answered.
Jack nodded his approval. "Good. The UAV's been sent back through the Gate. We were lucky that advance guard didn't spot it. General Hammond's been apprised of our plans and wishes us luck. We're gonna need it tonight."
"All of the Lacotia are ready, Jack. The village is deserted. They're all waiting inside the cave except for the ones you've got on guard duty," said Daniel.
"Okay. So now all we have to do is get dressed up in our little outfits and we're ready, right?" queried Jack.
"It would seem so, O'Neill," answered Teal'c.
Jack looked at his watch. "Okay then. I figure we've got about an hour until sunset. Teal'c and I are going to wait in the village with a couple of Tater Tot's warriors. As soon as we get word that anything has happened at the Gate, we'll send one of the warriors to tell you so that you can get started with your little dance. And Daniel," said Jack looking pointedly at the young man, "this had better work."
"Ah, well, ah, Jack. I can't guarantee it's going to work, but if it does ..." Daniel trailed off.
"Yeah, yeah. I know," said Jack slapping him on the back. "Now go and good luck."
***
It was two hours after sunset and a full moon had risen in the night sky illuminating the countryside with it's brightness and drowning out the light from the nearby stars. On any other night Jack would have enjoyed the sight, but not tonight. Tonight it promised what could be their deaths if Daniel's plan didn't work.
Teal'c heard it first. "O'Neill."
"What?"
"Did you hear that? A Staff Weapon firing."
"Damn," said Jack imagining the worst. "How far away?"
As Jack was speaking another Staff Weapon blast could be heard.
"Not far," said Teal'c
"Damn, something's gone wrong. We should have been warned by now of anyone coming through the Gate," cursed Jack again. "Carter," said Jack keying him com unit, "they're coming. And Carter," he added, "they know there are people here."
"Roger that, Sir. We're starting."
"It's time to fall back into the tree line," ordered Jack looking to make sure everyone complied before he himself began to move.
Tatapesaah had left three of his warriors with Jack and Teal'c. If all had gone as planned, no one would be hurt but now, apparently, the Goa'uld knew they were there. The Jaffa would not be firing randomly to announce their presence and the fact that the guards at the Gate had not appeared meant to Jack that they had been discovered and quite probably, killed. It didn't bode well for the rest of them. Daniel's plan had to work now because there was not going to be any hiding from Jaffa warned that there were people here.
***
"It's time to start, Tatapesaah," said Carter. "The Goa'uld are coming."
The Chieftain nodded at her and turned to his people. He raised his arms high in the air and when he dropped them, the drums started. There was no central fire, this time, to dance around. Instead the people were arrayed around the maze. Carter and Daniel stood in the entrance to the cavern. They were not going to dance this time. Both wanted to keep an eye on things and remain in contact with the Colonel and Teal'c.
Carter prayed silently to whatever god was listening for this to work. Daniel was doing the same thing.
Even though not dancing, Carter could feel the beat in her heart match the beat of the drums slowly accelerating when a circuit had been made by all around the maze. She glanced over at Daniel and could tell that he too could feel what she felt. His eyes behind the glasses were glistening as he watched.
She looked back at the circling people. "Daniel, nothing's happening," she said.
"Give it time, Sam. Last time it was an hour or more before anything happened." Not knowing that the advance guard had not made it back to the village to warn O'Neill of the arrival of the Jaffa, he added, "It's going to take that long or longer before the Goa'uld get to the village."
"I hope you're right."
"Don't worry, I am," reassured Daniel as the cadence of the drums increased once more and the chanting grew in volume.
***
Jack stood behind a large conifer watching the path that the Goa'uld would take to get to the village. It had been ten minutes since they had heard the last Staff Weapon blast. By his reckoning, they should be crossing the bridge over the river. Jack had thought about dropping the bridge into the river to prevent the Goa'uld from crossing, but Tatapesaah had informed him that there was no other way across for a two day journey in either direction. Jack had figured that if this Goa'uld buster didn't work, and if they had managed to hide from them SG1 would need the bridge to get back to the Gate as quickly as possible so that they could leave this world and have the people here bury the Gate. Now, of course, he was doubting his decision. Shaking his head and silently reprimanding himself he continued to watch.
***
Inside the huge cavern, the dance continued with Carter and Daniel as impatient spectators. Carter looked at her watch. Only 30 minutes had passed and yet it seemed like hours. She thought about calling the Colonel, but vetoed it. He would call her if there was any need.
The chanting, which she remembered from the previous dance, was louder in here and it seemed to echo around the walls of the cavern making it sound like thousands of voices instead of the 100 or so there actually were. It was then that Carter heard something different. There was a slight hum in the air underneath the chanting. She glanced over at Daniel. "Daniel, do you hear that?" she asked.
"Yeah, a humming ... real low," he answered. He looked around. "Where's it coming from?"
"I don't know," said Carter also looking for the source of the sound. "I can't tell. It's like the chanting. It seems to be all around us."
Carter looked towards the center of the maze half expecting to see the obelisk she had seen in her vision suddenly appear knowing that it had something to do with this device that had been left here to protect these people. Daniel continued to look around the cavern, his eyes finally going up towards the ceiling.
"Sam," said Daniel.
"Yeah."
"Look," he said pointing at the huge lights that hung from the ceiling.
Looking up, she saw that the lights were dimming somewhat but that was not what Daniel had drawn her attention to them for. There were what appeared to be small sparks being thrown off the lights bouncing back and forth. As a spark left a light, it dimmed. However as the spark entered a light, that one brightened. It was as if they were passing energy back and forth between them.
Carter's hand went to her vest where she keyed her mic open. "Sir, something's happening."
"Oh god I hope so Carter because we've got company," Jack's voice answered back.
Carter and Daniel looked at each other. "Sir, they're here? Now?"
"Yes Carter, now. I don't suppose you could hurry things along?"
"We'll try, Sir."
***
"How many do you make out, Teal'c?" asked Jack after closing his connection with Carter.
"Twenty, but there are more coming," answered Teal'c.
"Peachy." Jack looked around. "Look Teal'c. Do you think you can ease over a bit? If we have to fight, we can get them in a cross-fire."
"I believe I can O'Neill," he answered then he silently disappeared from Jack's sight into the shadows made by the trees. Tatapesaah's men had disappeared early on from Jack's vision. He didn't have any idea where they were. He prayed that they would stay silent and hidden.
***
"Sam. Look."
Sam dropped her eyes from the lights which had started to throw off larger and larger sparks. Witashaun had left the circle of dancers and seemed to be in a trance. Her face was a mask, her hands were held tight against her sides, and she was walking slowly towards the entrance of the maze. Sam, unaware that she was holding her breathe, watched as the young girl stopped at the entrance and put out a hand. As she did, the lights flared and Sam looked up. Bright arcs of light were dancing back and forth between all of the golden balls. She closed her eyes, blinded for a moment by the intensity of the light. When her vision cleared, she let out the breathe she had been holding and looked to where Witashaun now stood - motionless, with both hands held in front of her. She seemed to be straining to move forward and as Sam watched, she thought she saw her take a step forward. Not sure, she turned to Daniel who seeming to know her unspoken question, nodded. Turning her gaze back, she saw that Witashaun had taken another step into the maze, but she was moving as if walking through molasses.
It was then that both Daniel and Carter heard the humming that they had heard before grow slightly louder and as they watched, they could almost gauge when it would increase in volume. For with each step Witashaun took, the humming grew and the arcs in the lights above moved faster.
"My God, it's working," whispered Daniel.
Carter nodded. "I just hope it works fast enough."
***
Continued in Part 12
Disclaimers can be found in Part 0
***
Breakfast the next morning was a somber affair as Jack remembered the nightmare from the night before - the first he had had since arriving on this world. He knew that Teal'c and Daniel had also had the dream by the haggard looks on their faces when they all gathered for their first meal of the day. Carter was the only one unaffected and her concern showed in her face when she joined the men of her team.
"Sir?" she asked quietly.
"Not a good night, Captain," he replied over the top of his coffee cup.
"The dreams again?"
"You could say that," answered Daniel. "Different ending again. Not something I want to actually experience."
"How?"
"Serpent Guards attacked us as well as the Dark Void from the previous dreams, Captain Carter," answered Teal'c.
"Serpent Guards? Jaffa?"
"Yes, Captain Carter. Fifty or more. We were - defeated," answered Teal'c again.
Carter took a sip of her coffee. Jack glanced at her out of the corner of his eye knowing she was using the coffee drinking as a delay in responding. He decided to follow her lead, and drank some of his. The dream last night had disturbed him more than the others and he was trying to figure out why. It wasn't just the fact that they, his team, had been defeated and died. It was something else, something that went a little deeper. Focusing on the end, just before he had awaken, he began to realize that it was the faces he had seen in the stars as he lay dying: the two Charlie's - his son and Kawalsky, Sara, Armin Zelig, his grandparents. All of them except Sara were waiting for him to join them where ever they were. He took another drink of coffee and set his shoulders. ~~Well Charlie, one day. Just not today.~~
"Okay Campers," said Jack with renewed strength. He threw what was left of his coffee into the fire. "We have work to do, preparations to make, another world to save. Let's get to it." Standing he picked up his rifle, set his hat on his head, and started walking towards the Lacotia village.
Daniel hurriedly threw his coffee in the fire as well and jumped up to catch up with his friend. Carter, caught off guard like the rest, had the presence of mind to put out their campfire before following. Teal'c, as calm as he always was, waited for Carter to finish before he too joined Jack.
***
"Carter has our camp been dismantled?" asked Jack.
"Yes, Sir. Teal'c and I took down everything and put it in the cave. The grounds even been roughed up so that it doesn't look like there was a camp there," she answered.
Jack nodded his approval. "Good. The UAV's been sent back through the Gate. We were lucky that advance guard didn't spot it. General Hammond's been apprised of our plans and wishes us luck. We're gonna need it tonight."
"All of the Lacotia are ready, Jack. The village is deserted. They're all waiting inside the cave except for the ones you've got on guard duty," said Daniel.
"Okay. So now all we have to do is get dressed up in our little outfits and we're ready, right?" queried Jack.
"It would seem so, O'Neill," answered Teal'c.
Jack looked at his watch. "Okay then. I figure we've got about an hour until sunset. Teal'c and I are going to wait in the village with a couple of Tater Tot's warriors. As soon as we get word that anything has happened at the Gate, we'll send one of the warriors to tell you so that you can get started with your little dance. And Daniel," said Jack looking pointedly at the young man, "this had better work."
"Ah, well, ah, Jack. I can't guarantee it's going to work, but if it does ..." Daniel trailed off.
"Yeah, yeah. I know," said Jack slapping him on the back. "Now go and good luck."
***
It was two hours after sunset and a full moon had risen in the night sky illuminating the countryside with it's brightness and drowning out the light from the nearby stars. On any other night Jack would have enjoyed the sight, but not tonight. Tonight it promised what could be their deaths if Daniel's plan didn't work.
Teal'c heard it first. "O'Neill."
"What?"
"Did you hear that? A Staff Weapon firing."
"Damn," said Jack imagining the worst. "How far away?"
As Jack was speaking another Staff Weapon blast could be heard.
"Not far," said Teal'c
"Damn, something's gone wrong. We should have been warned by now of anyone coming through the Gate," cursed Jack again. "Carter," said Jack keying him com unit, "they're coming. And Carter," he added, "they know there are people here."
"Roger that, Sir. We're starting."
"It's time to fall back into the tree line," ordered Jack looking to make sure everyone complied before he himself began to move.
Tatapesaah had left three of his warriors with Jack and Teal'c. If all had gone as planned, no one would be hurt but now, apparently, the Goa'uld knew they were there. The Jaffa would not be firing randomly to announce their presence and the fact that the guards at the Gate had not appeared meant to Jack that they had been discovered and quite probably, killed. It didn't bode well for the rest of them. Daniel's plan had to work now because there was not going to be any hiding from Jaffa warned that there were people here.
***
"It's time to start, Tatapesaah," said Carter. "The Goa'uld are coming."
The Chieftain nodded at her and turned to his people. He raised his arms high in the air and when he dropped them, the drums started. There was no central fire, this time, to dance around. Instead the people were arrayed around the maze. Carter and Daniel stood in the entrance to the cavern. They were not going to dance this time. Both wanted to keep an eye on things and remain in contact with the Colonel and Teal'c.
Carter prayed silently to whatever god was listening for this to work. Daniel was doing the same thing.
Even though not dancing, Carter could feel the beat in her heart match the beat of the drums slowly accelerating when a circuit had been made by all around the maze. She glanced over at Daniel and could tell that he too could feel what she felt. His eyes behind the glasses were glistening as he watched.
She looked back at the circling people. "Daniel, nothing's happening," she said.
"Give it time, Sam. Last time it was an hour or more before anything happened." Not knowing that the advance guard had not made it back to the village to warn O'Neill of the arrival of the Jaffa, he added, "It's going to take that long or longer before the Goa'uld get to the village."
"I hope you're right."
"Don't worry, I am," reassured Daniel as the cadence of the drums increased once more and the chanting grew in volume.
***
Jack stood behind a large conifer watching the path that the Goa'uld would take to get to the village. It had been ten minutes since they had heard the last Staff Weapon blast. By his reckoning, they should be crossing the bridge over the river. Jack had thought about dropping the bridge into the river to prevent the Goa'uld from crossing, but Tatapesaah had informed him that there was no other way across for a two day journey in either direction. Jack had figured that if this Goa'uld buster didn't work, and if they had managed to hide from them SG1 would need the bridge to get back to the Gate as quickly as possible so that they could leave this world and have the people here bury the Gate. Now, of course, he was doubting his decision. Shaking his head and silently reprimanding himself he continued to watch.
***
Inside the huge cavern, the dance continued with Carter and Daniel as impatient spectators. Carter looked at her watch. Only 30 minutes had passed and yet it seemed like hours. She thought about calling the Colonel, but vetoed it. He would call her if there was any need.
The chanting, which she remembered from the previous dance, was louder in here and it seemed to echo around the walls of the cavern making it sound like thousands of voices instead of the 100 or so there actually were. It was then that Carter heard something different. There was a slight hum in the air underneath the chanting. She glanced over at Daniel. "Daniel, do you hear that?" she asked.
"Yeah, a humming ... real low," he answered. He looked around. "Where's it coming from?"
"I don't know," said Carter also looking for the source of the sound. "I can't tell. It's like the chanting. It seems to be all around us."
Carter looked towards the center of the maze half expecting to see the obelisk she had seen in her vision suddenly appear knowing that it had something to do with this device that had been left here to protect these people. Daniel continued to look around the cavern, his eyes finally going up towards the ceiling.
"Sam," said Daniel.
"Yeah."
"Look," he said pointing at the huge lights that hung from the ceiling.
Looking up, she saw that the lights were dimming somewhat but that was not what Daniel had drawn her attention to them for. There were what appeared to be small sparks being thrown off the lights bouncing back and forth. As a spark left a light, it dimmed. However as the spark entered a light, that one brightened. It was as if they were passing energy back and forth between them.
Carter's hand went to her vest where she keyed her mic open. "Sir, something's happening."
"Oh god I hope so Carter because we've got company," Jack's voice answered back.
Carter and Daniel looked at each other. "Sir, they're here? Now?"
"Yes Carter, now. I don't suppose you could hurry things along?"
"We'll try, Sir."
***
"How many do you make out, Teal'c?" asked Jack after closing his connection with Carter.
"Twenty, but there are more coming," answered Teal'c.
"Peachy." Jack looked around. "Look Teal'c. Do you think you can ease over a bit? If we have to fight, we can get them in a cross-fire."
"I believe I can O'Neill," he answered then he silently disappeared from Jack's sight into the shadows made by the trees. Tatapesaah's men had disappeared early on from Jack's vision. He didn't have any idea where they were. He prayed that they would stay silent and hidden.
***
"Sam. Look."
Sam dropped her eyes from the lights which had started to throw off larger and larger sparks. Witashaun had left the circle of dancers and seemed to be in a trance. Her face was a mask, her hands were held tight against her sides, and she was walking slowly towards the entrance of the maze. Sam, unaware that she was holding her breathe, watched as the young girl stopped at the entrance and put out a hand. As she did, the lights flared and Sam looked up. Bright arcs of light were dancing back and forth between all of the golden balls. She closed her eyes, blinded for a moment by the intensity of the light. When her vision cleared, she let out the breathe she had been holding and looked to where Witashaun now stood - motionless, with both hands held in front of her. She seemed to be straining to move forward and as Sam watched, she thought she saw her take a step forward. Not sure, she turned to Daniel who seeming to know her unspoken question, nodded. Turning her gaze back, she saw that Witashaun had taken another step into the maze, but she was moving as if walking through molasses.
It was then that both Daniel and Carter heard the humming that they had heard before grow slightly louder and as they watched, they could almost gauge when it would increase in volume. For with each step Witashaun took, the humming grew and the arcs in the lights above moved faster.
"My God, it's working," whispered Daniel.
Carter nodded. "I just hope it works fast enough."
***
Continued in Part 12