The next explosion rocked the mother ship even more violently than before.
Jack stared around him, eyes wide. There was some other Goa'uld ship firing
on this one. That last blast hadn't improved things in the slightest.
Daniel groaned and shuddered as the vibrations died away. Jack glanced over at him. He could smell blood, and knew it was his archaeologist, bleeding to death silently in the corner.
Just by his feet, Carter was curled in a ball. She could be asleep. If only that were true.
Jack tried to focus on what to do. The ground was rumbling again, not from explosions, but from approaching footsteps. The enemy were on their way. Maybe the Goa'uld had finally obtained the technology beloved of the Asgard and the various Star Trek starships – maybe the other ship's Jaffa had been beamed aboard.
Teal'C was gone – perhaps he was coming back for them. Perhaps he had a way to save them. Perhaps Apophis had him again, brainwashed and ready to do the bidding of his god. There was no way of knowing.
Jack clenched his fists in frustration and swung out randomly. He hit the control pad on the wall, almost breaking his fingers, but he didn't even notice that to begin with. What he did notice was the door. It had opened silently in response to the punch its control pad had received.
Jack wasn't sure he should thank or curse the powers that be. It was a stroke of luck, certainly, but it was too little, too late…
He could get out and make a break for the onboard Stargate. The ship was certainly making its way to some sort of destination, which could only be a planet. All he had to do was wait, dodge the Jaffa patrols, and escape was assured. He just had to find a hiding place near the Stargate room.
All right, it had flaws. But it was a plan. Jack took one step towards the door and wished suddenly it had never opened. He turned round and looked at the holding cell the three humans had been held in. In one corner of the room was something that looked like a dull green heap. The green was slowly being obliterated by a spreading red-brown stain.
"Daniel?"
Daniel didn't respond. His lashes flickered once, and then relapsed into stillness. Jack moved forwards as if in a trance, lifting Daniel's wrist. His pulse was weak, and getting progressively weaker. Jack remembered how he had choked on the smell of blood, and knew Daniel was dying from blood loss. He couldn't even locate the original wounds his friend must have suffered. Too much time had passed… but maybe, just maybe… Jack let himself hold onto the slightest gleam of hope. When there was life, there was hope, and Daniel wasn't dead… yet. The archaeologist was light, even when he was dead weight like this, and Jack knew he could carry him for some time.
By Jack's feet, there was a sudden movement, and something grabbed at his foot. He wheeled round in shock, and…
"Carter?"
Her eyes were open – she was looking right at him. Jack smiled once in this most impossible of situations. "You bitch, Carter! You scared the hell out of me!"
Was it possible she smiled at that? She'd smiled at him, even though she had been lying in a pool of her own blood for hours while he'd sat here and gnashed his teeth. She was one hell of a second-in-command to have.
"Hang in there," he told her quietly. "We'll get out of here…" She smiled again, and just as she closed her eyes, Jack heard another sound. A soft moan from the corner told him Daniel was still with them.
So far, so good, Jack thought to himself. And that door was still open, waiting for them. Jack moved forward again… and stopped again.
Daniel was a light weight. So was Carter. But two of them together…
Jack shivered. Despite the relative heat in the room, he couldn't stop shivering.
"Oh, God…" he said out loud.
He tried to put it off. He moved towards Carter, bent down, and lifted her easily. She struggled a little but soon settled as dead weight, still bleeding steadily. And then, he took the few fateful steps towards where Daniel lay.
The moment he laid a hand on the archaeologist's body, he knew he couldn't do it. He couldn't do it. He couldn't lift them both. The realisation was as crushing as anything he'd ever felt.
Daniel was now frighteningly still. Jack wondered if…
He reached out and tried to feel for his friend's pulse. He found it, even weaker than before, but Daniel was hanging on to life as stubbornly as always. Jack realised he was alive and crumpled to the ground himself, letting Carter roll heavily onto the floor, coming to rest with her hands in Daniel's hair.
Jack sat up, rocked back and forth on his heels and looked at them both. He had always harboured a private conviction that the pair of them had been separated at birth. Even now, the resemblance was painfully apparent. They had the same big blue eyes, the same unruly fair hair that was even the same length for both of them, even the same (and Jack was noticing this for the first time) slender hands and long fingers – the hallmark of a scientist. And the resemblance had never ended there, either – their minds worked the same way, with intuitive leaps and strokes of genius, and they even had a good effect upon each other, bouncing ideas off each other far into the night with no apparent flagging of their shared enthusiasm. Even now, they were strangely identical, lying there both soaked in blood…
But despite the similarities, there was one big, big difference. Jack was shivering again as he thought of it. After today, one would live and one would die.
"Oh, shit," Jack said softly in the quiet of the room. "I can't do this, I can't, I can't do this…"
Suppose… and now his mind was working feverishly… suppose he saved one of them? Say he saved… Daniel? Would he ever be able to bring himself to tell the archaeologist the truth? And once Daniel knew what had really happened, would he able to live with himself? Jack knew Daniel better than he knew himself. Daniel wouldn't be able to live with it… he wouldn't. He might do something drastic…
And Jack knew what that 'something drastic' was. For crying out loud, he'd been there! He'd stared down the barrel of that gun… only he had never had the courage to go through with it. If there was something Daniel didn't lack, it was courage…
And then there was Carter. Samantha Carter, the daughter of Jacob Carter and a stereotypical military brat. She knew all about being a soldier, and how it entailed being obliged to do terrible things in the name of your country, and in this case, in the name of your planet…
She wouldn't be able to live with either. Jack knew this as surely as if he'd been told. Once she knew the truth, she wouldn't be able to live with it… and she would never, ever forgive…
Slowly, a new possibility began working its way into Jack's mind. He sat and thought about it for perhaps five minutes, just thinking and listening to the faint breathing of his dying team-mates.
After five minutes had passed, he turned to look at the open door and waited for Teal'C to appear. He waited for maybe another two minutes, but Teal'C didn't come.
And then he got slowly to his feet and looked around the cell. There were no weapons left. Their captors had stripped them of any means of defending themselves. Jack considered, and then took off one of his boots. The knife he kept there always escaped detection. Usually, however, he wanted to defend himself with it…
And then he stared at them both. Dr. Daniel Jackson and Major Samantha Carter, esteemed scientists, both highly intelligent and two of the biggest assets the Stargate programme possessed. Daniel and Sam, two friends with quick wits and both in possession of a sharp sense of humour.
And then Jack did it. He took the knife and stabbed accurately, twice, thrice, four times. Carter's fists clenched in a final involuntary movement, and then lay still. There was a sudden catch in Daniel's breathing, and then nothing.
Jack could still smell the blood. It was strange it had stopped flowing now. He got slowly to his feet and secreted the knife once more in his boot. He noticed his hands were shaking as he did so.
Just before he left the room, Jack paused and looked behind him. Sam still lay half on top of Daniel. They were both absolutely still. Jack was sure he should say something. Something along the lines of I'm sorry, I love you, I wish…
He didn't say anything. He didn't dare break the silence. He left because he was frightened to look back.
When there was life, there was hope. And now there was none.
*fin*
Daniel groaned and shuddered as the vibrations died away. Jack glanced over at him. He could smell blood, and knew it was his archaeologist, bleeding to death silently in the corner.
Just by his feet, Carter was curled in a ball. She could be asleep. If only that were true.
Jack tried to focus on what to do. The ground was rumbling again, not from explosions, but from approaching footsteps. The enemy were on their way. Maybe the Goa'uld had finally obtained the technology beloved of the Asgard and the various Star Trek starships – maybe the other ship's Jaffa had been beamed aboard.
Teal'C was gone – perhaps he was coming back for them. Perhaps he had a way to save them. Perhaps Apophis had him again, brainwashed and ready to do the bidding of his god. There was no way of knowing.
Jack clenched his fists in frustration and swung out randomly. He hit the control pad on the wall, almost breaking his fingers, but he didn't even notice that to begin with. What he did notice was the door. It had opened silently in response to the punch its control pad had received.
Jack wasn't sure he should thank or curse the powers that be. It was a stroke of luck, certainly, but it was too little, too late…
He could get out and make a break for the onboard Stargate. The ship was certainly making its way to some sort of destination, which could only be a planet. All he had to do was wait, dodge the Jaffa patrols, and escape was assured. He just had to find a hiding place near the Stargate room.
All right, it had flaws. But it was a plan. Jack took one step towards the door and wished suddenly it had never opened. He turned round and looked at the holding cell the three humans had been held in. In one corner of the room was something that looked like a dull green heap. The green was slowly being obliterated by a spreading red-brown stain.
"Daniel?"
Daniel didn't respond. His lashes flickered once, and then relapsed into stillness. Jack moved forwards as if in a trance, lifting Daniel's wrist. His pulse was weak, and getting progressively weaker. Jack remembered how he had choked on the smell of blood, and knew Daniel was dying from blood loss. He couldn't even locate the original wounds his friend must have suffered. Too much time had passed… but maybe, just maybe… Jack let himself hold onto the slightest gleam of hope. When there was life, there was hope, and Daniel wasn't dead… yet. The archaeologist was light, even when he was dead weight like this, and Jack knew he could carry him for some time.
By Jack's feet, there was a sudden movement, and something grabbed at his foot. He wheeled round in shock, and…
"Carter?"
Her eyes were open – she was looking right at him. Jack smiled once in this most impossible of situations. "You bitch, Carter! You scared the hell out of me!"
Was it possible she smiled at that? She'd smiled at him, even though she had been lying in a pool of her own blood for hours while he'd sat here and gnashed his teeth. She was one hell of a second-in-command to have.
"Hang in there," he told her quietly. "We'll get out of here…" She smiled again, and just as she closed her eyes, Jack heard another sound. A soft moan from the corner told him Daniel was still with them.
So far, so good, Jack thought to himself. And that door was still open, waiting for them. Jack moved forward again… and stopped again.
Daniel was a light weight. So was Carter. But two of them together…
Jack shivered. Despite the relative heat in the room, he couldn't stop shivering.
"Oh, God…" he said out loud.
He tried to put it off. He moved towards Carter, bent down, and lifted her easily. She struggled a little but soon settled as dead weight, still bleeding steadily. And then, he took the few fateful steps towards where Daniel lay.
The moment he laid a hand on the archaeologist's body, he knew he couldn't do it. He couldn't do it. He couldn't lift them both. The realisation was as crushing as anything he'd ever felt.
Daniel was now frighteningly still. Jack wondered if…
He reached out and tried to feel for his friend's pulse. He found it, even weaker than before, but Daniel was hanging on to life as stubbornly as always. Jack realised he was alive and crumpled to the ground himself, letting Carter roll heavily onto the floor, coming to rest with her hands in Daniel's hair.
Jack sat up, rocked back and forth on his heels and looked at them both. He had always harboured a private conviction that the pair of them had been separated at birth. Even now, the resemblance was painfully apparent. They had the same big blue eyes, the same unruly fair hair that was even the same length for both of them, even the same (and Jack was noticing this for the first time) slender hands and long fingers – the hallmark of a scientist. And the resemblance had never ended there, either – their minds worked the same way, with intuitive leaps and strokes of genius, and they even had a good effect upon each other, bouncing ideas off each other far into the night with no apparent flagging of their shared enthusiasm. Even now, they were strangely identical, lying there both soaked in blood…
But despite the similarities, there was one big, big difference. Jack was shivering again as he thought of it. After today, one would live and one would die.
"Oh, shit," Jack said softly in the quiet of the room. "I can't do this, I can't, I can't do this…"
Suppose… and now his mind was working feverishly… suppose he saved one of them? Say he saved… Daniel? Would he ever be able to bring himself to tell the archaeologist the truth? And once Daniel knew what had really happened, would he able to live with himself? Jack knew Daniel better than he knew himself. Daniel wouldn't be able to live with it… he wouldn't. He might do something drastic…
And Jack knew what that 'something drastic' was. For crying out loud, he'd been there! He'd stared down the barrel of that gun… only he had never had the courage to go through with it. If there was something Daniel didn't lack, it was courage…
And then there was Carter. Samantha Carter, the daughter of Jacob Carter and a stereotypical military brat. She knew all about being a soldier, and how it entailed being obliged to do terrible things in the name of your country, and in this case, in the name of your planet…
She wouldn't be able to live with either. Jack knew this as surely as if he'd been told. Once she knew the truth, she wouldn't be able to live with it… and she would never, ever forgive…
Slowly, a new possibility began working its way into Jack's mind. He sat and thought about it for perhaps five minutes, just thinking and listening to the faint breathing of his dying team-mates.
After five minutes had passed, he turned to look at the open door and waited for Teal'C to appear. He waited for maybe another two minutes, but Teal'C didn't come.
And then he got slowly to his feet and looked around the cell. There were no weapons left. Their captors had stripped them of any means of defending themselves. Jack considered, and then took off one of his boots. The knife he kept there always escaped detection. Usually, however, he wanted to defend himself with it…
And then he stared at them both. Dr. Daniel Jackson and Major Samantha Carter, esteemed scientists, both highly intelligent and two of the biggest assets the Stargate programme possessed. Daniel and Sam, two friends with quick wits and both in possession of a sharp sense of humour.
And then Jack did it. He took the knife and stabbed accurately, twice, thrice, four times. Carter's fists clenched in a final involuntary movement, and then lay still. There was a sudden catch in Daniel's breathing, and then nothing.
Jack could still smell the blood. It was strange it had stopped flowing now. He got slowly to his feet and secreted the knife once more in his boot. He noticed his hands were shaking as he did so.
Just before he left the room, Jack paused and looked behind him. Sam still lay half on top of Daniel. They were both absolutely still. Jack was sure he should say something. Something along the lines of I'm sorry, I love you, I wish…
He didn't say anything. He didn't dare break the silence. He left because he was frightened to look back.
When there was life, there was hope. And now there was none.
*fin*