Chapter 20
"SG-1, you have a go."
"You heard the General kids," Jack said eyeing his team critically as they gathered at
the foot of the 'gate. Teal'c stood ramrod straight holding his staff weapon securely
in his right hand; the man was cool, collected and ready to do his duty. Daniel
seemed to be regarding the Stargate with a determined but slightly worried face,
while Sam…. Major Carter was all business. The composite soldier- poised and
ready for anything that might get thrown their way. Jack couldn't help but grin; this
was the Sam Carter he had fallen in love with and definitely the person he wanted on
his six. "Let's go kick some Goa'uld butt."
Jack received two faint smiles and one slight nod as they walked up the ramp and
through the 'gate. Although all four were well used to the faint feeling of vertigo and
mind-numbing coldness that followed travel through the wormhole, none of their
trips were exactly the same. This time was no exception.
"Daniel?"
"Jack."
"You can get off me anytime now."
Sam hid a smile as Teal'c helped the crumpled form of Daniel Jackson off of the
Colonel.
"Sorry Jack." Daniel said embarrassed.
"Not your fault Danny." Jack said picking himself up off the dusty ground and
putting on his (thankfully unbroken) sunglasses. "Although next time we 'gate,
maybe we should have Carter go before you." Sam just shook her head. The man
was incorrigible.
"Well, at least we know what to expect for the first couple of hours." Daniel said
unnecessarily eyeing the desert expanse.
"Let's see if the Calvary's here, shall we?" Jack said keying the small communicator
on his wrist. The gadget was one of the few things the Tok'ra felt comfortable
loaning to the "primitive" Earthlings. Not that Jack minded really- Tok'ra help always
came with a price…
"Jacob, you up there?"
"We read you Jack. Everyone accounted for?" Jacob asked trying not to sound like
the worried father that he was. Although Sam had seemed fine the night before, he
was still quite apprehensive as to how this mission was going to affect his little girl.
"We're all here Jacob. It should take us about 2 ½ hours to reach the Khan's
entrance. We'll go radio silent a ½ click or so before and expect you and your boys
to show up five minutes after we enter the structure."
"Just holler if you need us earlier Jack and we'll be there."
"Counting on it Jake. Just don't ring down on US, ok?"
Jacob laughed. "Promise. Good luck SG-1."
"Well kids, let's go for a walk, shall we?" Jack squinted at the dual suns through his
sunglasses and tightened his pack. This time he'd try not to lose it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The foursome traversed in near silence across the barren landscape, stopping only
occasionally for a sip of water and a brief rest. They made good time and after only
two hours found themselves within ½ kilometer of the entrance.
"I think I see the opening Jack." Daniel said passing the binoculars over to his
friend.
"Yup." Jack agreed honing in on the faint depression visible through the desert
sands. "That's it alright." Jack briefly closed his eyes in an attempt to dispel the
vision of the last time he had been here. He let out a small sigh as he packed the
lenses up and stored them in him pack. Time to earn his paycheck.
"Right. You all know the plan. I don't want anyone getting cute out there ok?" He
specifically eyed Sam as he said that. Sam stared back with a flinty gaze.
"We're going to go in, nail as many as we can, stall for time, and then supply cover
for Jake and his Tok'ra buddies." He received nods from all three.
"Oh, and Danny? If one of those midget snake-heads pulls a zat on you, duck this
time will ya?" Daniel just rolled his eyes- as if he LIKED getting zatted.
The final meters leading up to the entrance was walked with determined
assuredness. They all had a job to do and they'd be damned if it wasn't going to be
done right. Jack could feel the adrenaline creeping into his system and tightened his
grip on his weapon. This was the part of the plan that held a degree of uncertainty.
Well, if Jack was honest with himself, ALL of the plan held elements of iffiness, but
until they were in the structure and the khans visible- anything could happen.
Silently he motioned for his teammates to take their positions as they approached
the entrance. All of them were swapping their handguns for zats. It had been Sam
who had suggested they bring along Goa'uld zats alongside their more conventional
weaponry. She reasoned that the Goa'ulds wouldn't be expecting humans with zat
guns and that the element of surprise just might be enough to end everything
quickly and quietly. Jack had readily agreed, but with one recommendation.
He took out his live ammo clip and replaced it with one filled with dummy bullets.
The rubber-tipped projectiles might not kill, but they could still knock a guy (or
snake in this case) down for the count. As much as Jack PERSONALLY wanted to
hurt the khans as much as possible, the mission called for the guys to be taken alive.
As long as he didn't have to make them comfortable… He patted his left side briefly
to make certain his zat was there as well. Taking a deep cleansing breath Jack
signaled for his team to be on the ready. Silently he dropped to the ground and
crawled the additional 3 meters towards the entrance. He nodded briefly, finger
tightening on the trigger, as Sam quickly moved behind him and into position. She
gave a curt nod as she brought up her zat and aimed it at the entrance. To his left,
Jack could see Daniel doing the same thing. He knew Teal'c was behind him ready
to cover his six once he was through the door. His team was ready.
Jack raised himself up and fired off a volley of fake bullets down the center of the
hall. Immediately zat blasts came at him from both sides of the room. Jack stayed
low to the ground as he continued spraying the room with rubber bullets. He heard
a soft oomph as one of them found a mark. Sam and Daniel were on either side of
him picking off the khan warriors attempting to hit Jack. A zat blast whizzed
precariously close to his head as Teal'c struck down a Goa'uld dangerously close to
Jack's location. Less than ten seconds later it was over.
"Everyone ok?" Jack asked gingerly standing up. He shouldered his P90 and took
out his zat.
"Fine, Sir."
"Didn't even have to duck Jack."
"I am unharmed."
"Teal'c, cover us- I want to know how many we got." He pointed for Sam and Daniel
to take the right and left sides of the corridor while he walked up the center. Pulling
out several plastic zip ties, Jack fastened the hands together of the two khans in his
path. Jacob would be down in just a few minutes, but SG-1 was leaving nothing to
chance. He walked backwards towards Teal'c keeping his weapon leveled at the
room in front of him.
"What have we got?" Jack asked as Daniel and Sam made their way back towards
the center of the room.
"I tied up two Sir."
"Only one on my side Jack."
"Ok. That makes 5 down and only 6 to go. I'm liking the odds much more right
now. Let's go see the wizard."
Although SG-1 was well aware that the Khans must have known they were coming,
they had hoped the Goa'ulds would be foolish in believing they would be just as easy
to capture this time. The idea was that Jack's bullets would simulate a firefight and
that the Khans would believe all the zat-blasts to be their own. With luck, SG-1
would be able to walk into the main chamber in relative safety.
They moved quickly through the caverns and together walked through the main
doorway into the throne room. Weapons poised they approached the seemingly
serene khans. All six present and accounted for.
"Why have you returned?" Oghul asked in a regal voice.
"Well, we had such fun last time…" Jack began taking a step forward.
"Really?" Oghul said sounding surprised.
"No." Jack said brusquely. "Everyone put their hands where I can see them." Two
of the Goa'ulds instantly complied, but the other four continued to stare straight
ahead.
"It seemed to me like you enjoyed yourself Colonel." Sam couldn't help but shiver
slightly at the voice. It was Temur.
"Hands Where I Can See Them." Jack said louder as he aimed his weapon at Temur.
He did not like the deer in the headlights look coming from Sam. *Keep it together
Sam. Keep it together.*
"I see you have zat'nik'atels Colonel." Oghul said bringing one of his hands out in
the open. Daniel and Teal'c had their weapons pointed at two of the Goa'ulds to the
right. These Khan were obviously smarter or less brave than the other two as their
hands were already up. Four under control, two remaining.
"The other hand Oghul." Jack said in what he hoped was his scary colonel voice.
Out of the corner of his eye he could see that Temur hadn't made a move to lift up
either of his arms, definitely not a good sign.
"Now dammit!" Jack shouted firing two short zat blasts at the two men on Oghul's
right. "I will not ask you again! Bring up your other arm!"
As if in slow motion, Oghul raised his hand and withdrew a Colt 45 (Daniel's Colt 45
to be exact). At the same time, Temur lifted up his own arms and brought out the
more impressive P30 (this would be Sam's). SG-1's own weapons were now aimed
directly at them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ok- so I lied, we aren't QUITE finished. I'm telling you, the cliffhanger RULES my
life. There really is just one more left guys. And I'll post it (uhhh.. write it) much
quicker if I hear from you. Please review! Oh, and worry not- Sam is SO going to
kick ass next chapter.
"SG-1, you have a go."
"You heard the General kids," Jack said eyeing his team critically as they gathered at
the foot of the 'gate. Teal'c stood ramrod straight holding his staff weapon securely
in his right hand; the man was cool, collected and ready to do his duty. Daniel
seemed to be regarding the Stargate with a determined but slightly worried face,
while Sam…. Major Carter was all business. The composite soldier- poised and
ready for anything that might get thrown their way. Jack couldn't help but grin; this
was the Sam Carter he had fallen in love with and definitely the person he wanted on
his six. "Let's go kick some Goa'uld butt."
Jack received two faint smiles and one slight nod as they walked up the ramp and
through the 'gate. Although all four were well used to the faint feeling of vertigo and
mind-numbing coldness that followed travel through the wormhole, none of their
trips were exactly the same. This time was no exception.
"Daniel?"
"Jack."
"You can get off me anytime now."
Sam hid a smile as Teal'c helped the crumpled form of Daniel Jackson off of the
Colonel.
"Sorry Jack." Daniel said embarrassed.
"Not your fault Danny." Jack said picking himself up off the dusty ground and
putting on his (thankfully unbroken) sunglasses. "Although next time we 'gate,
maybe we should have Carter go before you." Sam just shook her head. The man
was incorrigible.
"Well, at least we know what to expect for the first couple of hours." Daniel said
unnecessarily eyeing the desert expanse.
"Let's see if the Calvary's here, shall we?" Jack said keying the small communicator
on his wrist. The gadget was one of the few things the Tok'ra felt comfortable
loaning to the "primitive" Earthlings. Not that Jack minded really- Tok'ra help always
came with a price…
"Jacob, you up there?"
"We read you Jack. Everyone accounted for?" Jacob asked trying not to sound like
the worried father that he was. Although Sam had seemed fine the night before, he
was still quite apprehensive as to how this mission was going to affect his little girl.
"We're all here Jacob. It should take us about 2 ½ hours to reach the Khan's
entrance. We'll go radio silent a ½ click or so before and expect you and your boys
to show up five minutes after we enter the structure."
"Just holler if you need us earlier Jack and we'll be there."
"Counting on it Jake. Just don't ring down on US, ok?"
Jacob laughed. "Promise. Good luck SG-1."
"Well kids, let's go for a walk, shall we?" Jack squinted at the dual suns through his
sunglasses and tightened his pack. This time he'd try not to lose it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The foursome traversed in near silence across the barren landscape, stopping only
occasionally for a sip of water and a brief rest. They made good time and after only
two hours found themselves within ½ kilometer of the entrance.
"I think I see the opening Jack." Daniel said passing the binoculars over to his
friend.
"Yup." Jack agreed honing in on the faint depression visible through the desert
sands. "That's it alright." Jack briefly closed his eyes in an attempt to dispel the
vision of the last time he had been here. He let out a small sigh as he packed the
lenses up and stored them in him pack. Time to earn his paycheck.
"Right. You all know the plan. I don't want anyone getting cute out there ok?" He
specifically eyed Sam as he said that. Sam stared back with a flinty gaze.
"We're going to go in, nail as many as we can, stall for time, and then supply cover
for Jake and his Tok'ra buddies." He received nods from all three.
"Oh, and Danny? If one of those midget snake-heads pulls a zat on you, duck this
time will ya?" Daniel just rolled his eyes- as if he LIKED getting zatted.
The final meters leading up to the entrance was walked with determined
assuredness. They all had a job to do and they'd be damned if it wasn't going to be
done right. Jack could feel the adrenaline creeping into his system and tightened his
grip on his weapon. This was the part of the plan that held a degree of uncertainty.
Well, if Jack was honest with himself, ALL of the plan held elements of iffiness, but
until they were in the structure and the khans visible- anything could happen.
Silently he motioned for his teammates to take their positions as they approached
the entrance. All of them were swapping their handguns for zats. It had been Sam
who had suggested they bring along Goa'uld zats alongside their more conventional
weaponry. She reasoned that the Goa'ulds wouldn't be expecting humans with zat
guns and that the element of surprise just might be enough to end everything
quickly and quietly. Jack had readily agreed, but with one recommendation.
He took out his live ammo clip and replaced it with one filled with dummy bullets.
The rubber-tipped projectiles might not kill, but they could still knock a guy (or
snake in this case) down for the count. As much as Jack PERSONALLY wanted to
hurt the khans as much as possible, the mission called for the guys to be taken alive.
As long as he didn't have to make them comfortable… He patted his left side briefly
to make certain his zat was there as well. Taking a deep cleansing breath Jack
signaled for his team to be on the ready. Silently he dropped to the ground and
crawled the additional 3 meters towards the entrance. He nodded briefly, finger
tightening on the trigger, as Sam quickly moved behind him and into position. She
gave a curt nod as she brought up her zat and aimed it at the entrance. To his left,
Jack could see Daniel doing the same thing. He knew Teal'c was behind him ready
to cover his six once he was through the door. His team was ready.
Jack raised himself up and fired off a volley of fake bullets down the center of the
hall. Immediately zat blasts came at him from both sides of the room. Jack stayed
low to the ground as he continued spraying the room with rubber bullets. He heard
a soft oomph as one of them found a mark. Sam and Daniel were on either side of
him picking off the khan warriors attempting to hit Jack. A zat blast whizzed
precariously close to his head as Teal'c struck down a Goa'uld dangerously close to
Jack's location. Less than ten seconds later it was over.
"Everyone ok?" Jack asked gingerly standing up. He shouldered his P90 and took
out his zat.
"Fine, Sir."
"Didn't even have to duck Jack."
"I am unharmed."
"Teal'c, cover us- I want to know how many we got." He pointed for Sam and Daniel
to take the right and left sides of the corridor while he walked up the center. Pulling
out several plastic zip ties, Jack fastened the hands together of the two khans in his
path. Jacob would be down in just a few minutes, but SG-1 was leaving nothing to
chance. He walked backwards towards Teal'c keeping his weapon leveled at the
room in front of him.
"What have we got?" Jack asked as Daniel and Sam made their way back towards
the center of the room.
"I tied up two Sir."
"Only one on my side Jack."
"Ok. That makes 5 down and only 6 to go. I'm liking the odds much more right
now. Let's go see the wizard."
Although SG-1 was well aware that the Khans must have known they were coming,
they had hoped the Goa'ulds would be foolish in believing they would be just as easy
to capture this time. The idea was that Jack's bullets would simulate a firefight and
that the Khans would believe all the zat-blasts to be their own. With luck, SG-1
would be able to walk into the main chamber in relative safety.
They moved quickly through the caverns and together walked through the main
doorway into the throne room. Weapons poised they approached the seemingly
serene khans. All six present and accounted for.
"Why have you returned?" Oghul asked in a regal voice.
"Well, we had such fun last time…" Jack began taking a step forward.
"Really?" Oghul said sounding surprised.
"No." Jack said brusquely. "Everyone put their hands where I can see them." Two
of the Goa'ulds instantly complied, but the other four continued to stare straight
ahead.
"It seemed to me like you enjoyed yourself Colonel." Sam couldn't help but shiver
slightly at the voice. It was Temur.
"Hands Where I Can See Them." Jack said louder as he aimed his weapon at Temur.
He did not like the deer in the headlights look coming from Sam. *Keep it together
Sam. Keep it together.*
"I see you have zat'nik'atels Colonel." Oghul said bringing one of his hands out in
the open. Daniel and Teal'c had their weapons pointed at two of the Goa'ulds to the
right. These Khan were obviously smarter or less brave than the other two as their
hands were already up. Four under control, two remaining.
"The other hand Oghul." Jack said in what he hoped was his scary colonel voice.
Out of the corner of his eye he could see that Temur hadn't made a move to lift up
either of his arms, definitely not a good sign.
"Now dammit!" Jack shouted firing two short zat blasts at the two men on Oghul's
right. "I will not ask you again! Bring up your other arm!"
As if in slow motion, Oghul raised his hand and withdrew a Colt 45 (Daniel's Colt 45
to be exact). At the same time, Temur lifted up his own arms and brought out the
more impressive P30 (this would be Sam's). SG-1's own weapons were now aimed
directly at them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ok- so I lied, we aren't QUITE finished. I'm telling you, the cliffhanger RULES my
life. There really is just one more left guys. And I'll post it (uhhh.. write it) much
quicker if I hear from you. Please review! Oh, and worry not- Sam is SO going to
kick ass next chapter.