nice long chapter for you folks. Enjoy!
Chapter 8
Sam couldn't believe it. She could not believe it. Janet had lied to her. An outright lie. Ok, so she accepted that Janet might have to sometimes be economical with the truth, stress being bad for the patient and all, but there was no way SG1 was 'safely' doing some experiment waiting for her to recover.
Janet started to say something but Sam just glared at her. 'It's something to do with the Tok'ra, isn't it? Isn't it?' she said her voice starting to raise hysterically in distress, while she swung her legs of the bed, flinching as she ripped out the IV out of her arm.
'Sam, what are you doing? You can't get up yet.' She ignored the pleading look on her friends face and the desperately apologetic tone to her voice. She just knew she had to find her friends.
'I have to find them. They're going to get caught. They'll be taken to another planet less than an hour after they arrive.' Sam stopped her angry tirade when she noticed the sorrow that flitted over the Doctors face. 'What?'
'Honey, they left over two hours ago.'
Sam felt her heart sink. 'No, no. We have to go after them. Now.' She started to push herself off the bed, only to be held back down. She bit back an urge to growl at her friend.
'We will. You'll stay right here, while I'll go and tell General Hammond. I'm sure he'll organise a rescue party.'
'Like you were sure that they were safe in the first place?' She couldn't keep the accusation out of her voice. The (small) vindictive side of her was slightly satisfied to see the abashed look of guilt on Janet's face.
'I promise you I'll try the best I can. Are you sure they are captured?'
'Yes. I saw it. Loud and clear, with front seats and surround sound.'
'I believe you. Please Sam don't.... Just stay here until I come back. Please?'
Sam nodded quickly, although she knew she had no intention of staying. She suspected that Janet knew that too. The doctor however just looked slightly relieved, although the lines of tension were still visible around her face. She turned on her heel and almost ran out the door. A few seconds later she could hear the petite brunette snapping at an airman to open the lift and to contact the General.
She waited another couple of minutes, until she couldn't hear anything else, before she stealthily slipped out the bed. Changing into the clothes in the cupboard next to the bed, she slid out of the infirmary. She slunk down in the shadows of the SGC towards her lab, ignoring the dull ache and stiffness in her legs as they protested against the controlled movements. She almost grinned at the thought that the Colonel would be pleased with her sneaking, but soon quashed that thought when she remembered why she was sneaking.
Almost as soon as she'd woken up she'd started to plan what she could do. Getting a normal weapon was out the question - the arms master would want to know why she had it. However there was at least one weapon she could get easily, since it wasn't kept with the majority of the arms, after all it wasn't like most people could use it. But first to the labs. There was something she needed to get.
And then there was the gate. She'd have to commandeer that somehow. It had been tricky enough with the rest of SG1, but by herself? That would require some more creative thinking.
It was pure luck that Sam had entered her lab before the next vision swept over her, out of view of any passing personnel. She sank to the floor clutching head, trying not to cry out, though she desperately wanted to. She did allow herself to whimper though, as she 'saw' events unfold in her mind.
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As far as being held in cell by a possibly psychotic megalomaniac went, in Daniels mind it hadn't been so bad. So far. At least the cell had wooden benches that they could sit on, which were a slight improvement on a stone floor. And those Jaffa hadn't roughed them up much either. Just the odd poke in the back.
'So, Danny, any idea which snakehead has us this time?'
'Well. I didn't recognise the mark on the Jaffa, Teal'c?' Daniel looked across to the larger man, who, having declined from sitting on a bench, was sitting cross-legged on the floor, attempting to meditate for the last hour or so of their imprisonment. At Daniels query his eyes opened and scanned the floor over to where Jack was pacing, by the solid wooden door.
'I have not seen that mark before Daniel Jackson.'
'Ok, there's a good chance he's just a lesser Goa'uld then, or maybe a minor System Lord. Before we went through the Gate, one of his Jaffa called him 'Procrustes'.'
'And? This tells us what? His hat size?'
'No, not exactly but there is a character called Procrustes in Greek mythology. He used to offer sanctuary to people on the road to...'
'So he's a good Goa'uld then?' Jacks voice was sceptical, and, not for the first time, Daniel wished he would let him finish before jumping to conclusions. He shifted uneasily on the wood, and placed his hands on his knees.
'Let me finish. Once he'd invited somebody in he'd usually torture them to death, using this special bed.' Daniel wasn't surprised to see Jack's dubious expression. He quickly carried on before the Colonel could interrupt again. 'Anyway, he carried on doing this before he and four other bandits along the road were stopped and given a some of their own medicine, by Theseus, an ancient Grecian hero.'
Teal'c opened his eyes again. 'It could therefore be extrapolated that Procrustes of this legend was a goa'uld.'
'And if he was beaten in a battle by another, like this Theseus, assuming he's a goa'uld too, then that would explain why Teal'c hasn't heard of him; he simply wasn't deemed important enough to worry about.'
'Interesting as this isn't, kids, do we actually know anything about him?' Jacks request drawled through Daniels excited torrent, bringing Daniel back to reality with a crash, and the severity of their situation.
'If he's as unimportant as he sounds, then finding people like us, wanted by half a dozen major system Lords, is the equivalent to finding a goldmine'. At this glum statement Jack finally dumped himself down next to Daniel on the bench, glaring at him as he did so.
He could that Jack was about to snap a reply to him when footsteps could be heard reverting around the corridor outside, before the door was thrown open, nearly ripping out it's hinges in the progress. Four Jaffa stood outside, pointing an assortment of zats and staff weapons at the cell's occupants. 'You shall come with us.' their leader instructed in an impassionate tone. With little other choice, Daniel and the other two incarcerated members of SG1 obediently followed the Jaffa out.
They were taken briskly down a stone corridor, decorated with rich murals and tapestries, before turning through an opening, hung with a thick curtain into an even more opulently decorated chamber. Lounging on a huge throne at one end, swathed in gems and fanned by two skinny serving boys, the Goa'uld who had captured them lazily lifted his eyes until they rested on his prisoners.
With a lazy flick of his hand he motioned them over before him, letting his Jaffa push them onto their knees. Daniel gritted his teeth as his legs jarred against the stone floor, hearing Jack's groans he did the same. With another gesture, the goa'uld dismissed the two of the Jaffa; the other pair standing respectfully back at the entrance.
Smoothly, he swung himself to his feet and down the dais on which his throne sat. Procrustes was not much taller than Daniel, but slightly wider and older, although he still looked fit and with few grey hairs. His resonated tones rang out across the hall 'so the infamous Tau'ri has finally been captured, after eluding it for so long. I had planned to sell you all to the system Lords, but I have been looking for a younger host for a while now' Daniel felt a shiver travel down his spine as he realised that the Goa'uld was looking directly at him. He felt frozen to the spot until he saw that Jack was about to speak and so discreetly elbowed him in the ribs. The last thing they needed was for their captor to get pissed off by a few untimely comments from SG1's resident smartass.
He was about to reply when the Goa'uld started to speak again 'It is a shame the female is not with you, I have heard she is most beautiful and I am in need of a new Queen'. Daniel breathed an internal sigh of relief that at least Sam would be saved from that. He hoped she would get better. It was at that moment he understood that he did not think he would get home. He wondered that Sam would do. He wondered if it was selfish of him to be glad he was one the ones who would probably die rather than the lone member left behind.
Daniel craned his head up to watch Procrustes stroll up and down the line. After spending four years working in a military base, even he recognised the tactical advantage of having your enemy have to look up to you.
'Jaffa kree, sun mut'ka shel'nom klah" As the Goa'uld barked out the order Daniel saw Teal'c visibly flinch. This must be bad. Teal'c never flinched. He saw as another Jaffa entered the chamber, bringing what could only be what Sam had described a pain stick to be. Daniel hadn't seen one before, but from the fact that only the memory of it could cause Sam excruciating pain, and the condition they found Teal'c in after Heru'ur had tortured him he concluded it could not be good.
He gulped as an eerie smile passed over the Goa'uld's features as he was handed the instrument, before strode over to where Jack kneeled. Ever the military man, not a trace of information could be gleamed from Jack's face. Daniel closed his eyes, not wanting to see his friend's torture.
However the next sound he heard were not his friend's screams of agony, but another voice, coming from behind him. For a moment he felt hope rise in him; could it be the SGC? Then he heard the voice's metallic tone, even though something about seemed odd. Without bothering to comtemplate this he opened his eyes again and swivelled his head to see this new speaker.
The Goa'uld was obviously a female, her clothing a strange close fitting mix of what seemed to Minoan and Egyptian. Her face was concealed by a veil, attached to a loose burnoose of cloth that covered her hair and then hung from narrow shoulders down her back. On one hand a ribbon device lay inactive, while a small bag was held to her frame by a thin cord.
'Hasella. I presume you have news for me?'
Daniel's shoulder's slumped. It wasn't even a Tok'ra. Now there was another goa'uld to delight in SG1 tortures. He tried to straighten himself up as the two goa'uld turned back to them after having conferred in hushed tones. Procrustes took back the pain stick back from the Jaffa and once again started back towards Jack.
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