A/N: Here's chapter fourteen! I'm getting confused as to what I've posted
already, so if I screw up feel free to let me know!
Hugs to suds, hoodat, Jo and Uly! And to Jez because you are an absolute legend.
Chapter Fourteen
"So. what exactly is Shu's Might?" Daniel Jackson questioned as he stared through the windows into the colours of hyperspace.
"A planet in the old Erballian system," General Carter replied somewhat tiredly.
"Where's that?"
"A long way away."
Daniel Jackson sighed, turning to face General Carter. "So, how long before we get there?"
General Carter sighed a long suffering sigh. "Daniel, it's a long way away. At least twenty hours."
"Twenty hours?"
"Which is less time than it should take Nut if she started out at Abydos," General Carter answered gently.
"What if she had a head start?"
"Then it could be close."
They dropped into silence, and Teal'c took the time to allow his thoughts freedom.
Should they arrive before Nut, which Teal'c doubted would occur, then their plans rested on the hope that Nut would leave the ship with an escort. That would give them chance to rescue both O'Neill and Major Carter before attacking Nut.
Teal'c was not satisfied with the plan. There were too many probabilities that their plan simply ignored. What if Nut did not leave the ship? What if Nut should reach the planet before them?
What if Major Carter and O'Neill were already dead?
Teal'c frowned; that was not a pleasing possibility at all. Teal'c sincerely hoped that Major Carter and O'Neill were both well as he had come to care for them both significantly.
"What are you thinking, Teal'c?" Daniel Jackson rudely interrupted his thoughts.
Teal'c sighed inwardly, and found himself wishing that Daniel Jackson had been given the time to pack sufficiently before they left. That way he would at least be occupied now, reading some text, leaving both Teal'c and General Carter in peace.
"I am concerned for O'Neill and Major Carter," he replied honestly, opening his eyes as he realised Daniel Jackson was not intending on leaving him any time soon.
"And?" General Carter turned to face Teal'c also.
"I do not believe our plan will succeed."
"Have you got a better one?" General Cater demanded defensively.
"I do not."
"I have to agree with Teal'c, sir. There are so many things that could go wrong with this-"
"And we'll deal with those things as they happen. Right now, we only know that we have to get there before Nut, and get Sam and Jack away from her before she kills them. That good enough for you?"
Daniel Jackson nodded mutely.
"Teal'c?"
"I am concerned, General Carter. How are we to deceive Nut?"
General Carter sighed. "With luck, Teal'c."
~o0o~
Cal'ma was anxious.
Something within her was squirming with fear, and the feeling did not bode well.
Nut was behaving strangely. More strangely than she had ever behaved, even for a goddess. And she had been behaving strangely ever since the Tau'ri arrived.
Cal'ma felt her apprehension increase.
Why would Nut cease punishing the Tau'ri and let them live? And where was Nut going now?
The questions tumbled around her mind, distracting Cal'ma from her task. If Cal'ma could not complete her practice then she would be unfit to perform for Nut, and Nut loved Cal'ma's skill with the Hal'mika. Cal'ma's fingers were nimble and light across the strings, her voice blended with the haunting notes to perfection.
And Nut enjoyed the perfection; it was Cal'ma's greatest asset.
Cal'ma sighed, carefully placing the Hal'mika in its stand before standing and moving out of her quarters.
She would talk to the Tau'ri. She would talk to Carter; O'Neill was mocking and sarcastic, he thought Cal'ma stupid.
Cal'ma was not stupid. Were she stupid she would never have made first priestess.
With trepidation, Cal'ma found herself standing in front of the door to the Tau'ri chambers. Nut had not ordered her to watch them, or even talk to them. Cal'ma swallowed nervously; she was disobeying Nut.
Still. Her unrest would not quiet until she had spoken to the Tau'ri.
Carter was tending to O'Neill, her face taut with pain and concern.
"Carter?" Cal'ma whispered, her voice barely carrying across the room.
Carter looked up, a smile of recognition touching her lips before she turned back to O'Neill.
"What have you done?" Cal'ma whispered, stepping closer.
Carter looked up, confused. "Pardon?"
"What purpose have you for coming here?" Cal'ma repeated.
Carter almost laughed in astonishment. "We didn't want to come here. Nut captured us, if you remember correctly."
Yes, that was true, they were Nut's prisoners.
"What's wrong?" Carter asked, concern lacing her voice.
Suddenly Cal'ma knew this was wrong, knew that she should never have come to talk to Carter.
"Nothing," Cal'ma turned to leave.
"Cal'ma, wait!" Carter called.
Cal'ma hesitated, turning to face the woman. "Yes?"
"You have to help us," Carter begged.
Cal'ma shook her head, stepping backwards. No, no, she couldn't betray Nut. Never.
"Please, Cal'ma. She'll kill us if we stay."
Yes, that was true. Nut would kill them. The thought saddened Cal'ma's heart, but it was the way things were.
"I cannot help you," Cal'ma admitted, though something in her ached to help the Tau'ri.
"Cal'ma, she's not a god. She's just as mortal as you or me. She could die just as easily!"
Cal'ma smiled gently. "You are wrong, Carter. Nut has been alive for longer than any Jaffa or Tau'ri. She can heal the wounded and raise the dead. She is a goddess," Cal'ma stated. And as she stated the words, her conviction and belief returned.
It was true, Cal'ma was a goddess, and a goddess could do anything.
"What about Geb? She didn't know where Geb was. We had to find that out for her!"
Cal'ma frowned. Yes, that was true. But.
"I cannot help you, Carter."
Carter sighed, her shoulders slumping again so that she appeared shorter than her lithe frame was. "No, I don't suppose you can."
Cal'ma nodded her head in acknowledgement, and turned to leave.
"Cal'ma?"
"Yes?"
"Where are we going?"
Cal'ma smiled hesitantly. "To release Geb."
And as Cal'ma uttered the words, her anxiety and fear increased tenfold, so that when she left the Tau'ri her unease made her muscles quiver.
~o0o~
Nut remained silent, watching as Cal'ma retreated down the corridor.
Nut had been concerned about Cal'ma. Concerned that her Jaffa was swaying to the beliefs of the Tau'ri.
Nut need not have been concerned; her Jaffa were all loyal and devout in their faith.
The Tau'ri, however. They would poison the minds of her people any way they could. Nut could not allow that.
Silently she stepped into the chamber, watching as the female sat down next to the male and placed a damp cloth upon his blistered brow.
Nut should have killed them.
The woman looked up, unease on her face. "Who's there?"
Nut started, stepping backwards in surprise. She was not visible, and yet the woman had sensed her.
The woman had been a host, Nut remembered, and she could sense the naquadah within Nut.
Silently, Nut made herself visible.
The woman gasped, standing up and stepping back in surprise. Nut smiled; to see fear upon a victim's face.
"You try to poison the minds of my followers with your lies," Nut spoke calmly, pacing slowly towards the woman.
"They're not lies. You're the one lying, Nut."
Nut smiled disdainfully. Were this woman not capable of giving Nut what she wanted, Nut would have killed her then.
"You cannot stay among us," Nut continued, ignoring the outburst.
"So what, you're going to kill us?"
Nut smiled again, but shook her head. "No. I will spare you."
The woman raised a wary eyebrow, stepping back towards the male and resting a protective hand on his shoulder. They were close, these Tau'ri, almost as close as Nut had been to Geb.
But they were fools.
"You wish to escape from me, do you not?" Nut purred. Behind her, Nut heard the familiar sounds of the Jaffa who escorted her approaching.
The woman swallowed but did not answer.
"However, I have taken what you need so it would be impossible for you to escape."
Anger glinted within the remarkable blue eyes, and again Nut felt the odd longing to inhabit the woman, to have her as a host.
"We don't need chocolate to escape."
Chocolate? Nut shrugged the term off; it was not relevant.
"I will let you go," Nut started, tracing a slender finger along the woman's jawbone, "if you build me the device you need to escape."
The woman laughed, a short bark of sound that exploded loudly in Nut's ears. "Yeah, right."
Nut's mouth tightened in anger. If the woman would not help, then she would die. By Geb's hand.
"If you do not build this device, then you and your mate will both die."
The woman raised her chin defiantly, staring coldly down at Nut through ice blue eyes. "You won't get the device either way."
Anger spurted through Nut, and she raised her hand against the woman's cheek, knocking her to her feet. "Insolence! I will see to it that Geb punishes you greatly before killing you."
Fear flickered in the defiant eyes, but the woman remained silent, only moving to wipe the blood trickling from her lip.
Nut glared down at the woman silently before spinning around and stalking out of the room, her robes billowing behind her.
~o0o~
Anhur grunted as he stumbled over a stone, dropping the dead Goa'uld as he fell to the ground.
His strength was almost gone, the limbs of his host painfully thin and wasted. The darkness was cold and the dust sticking to his blood soaked skin.
Soon.
Soon he would be there.
Grunting again, he hoisted Geb's body onto his back and continued his journey towards the surface.
Anticipation spurred him on, and his steps became lighter as he walked up the narrow passage.
The stench of old blood surrounded him; his clothes caked and hard as he moved.
But Anhur paid it no heed; blood was a smell as familiar to a hunter as the taste of fish was to a fisherman.
The light was blinding as it sparkled around him on the dust clouds. Anhur dropped Geb's corpse to the ground and staggered across to an opening where he filled his lungs with fresh, pure air.
He gazed out onto the devastated landscape for a while, letting his eyes rest on the crumbled ruins of Shu's Might. Everywhere his eyes rested broken spires of twisted metal clawed desperately up into the gray sky, stones and decayed wood littering what had once been roads all filled with the power of Shu.
Anhur turned and looked down at the limp form of Geb, taking in the empty eyes and the blood matted blond hair.
Anhur smiled; revenge had been sweet.
But it was not over yet.
Reluctantly, he pulled Geb onto his shoulders again and staggered towards the centre of the room.
Geb pooled on the dirty floor like a withered plant, his limbs seeming boneless as he twisted to stillness.
Anhur stared down at Geb.
Anhur was weak.
Anhur was hungry.
Anhur needed nourishment.
The blade of the hunting knife glinted silver in the dusty air, it's shine blocked out by the small tendrils of flesh and smeared blood when it resurfaced.
Anhur wiped his knife clean carefully, and raised the severed limb to his mouth.
Revenge was sweet, and Anhur grunted in appreciation as he felt the hollowness of his stomach disappear.
~o0o~
Jack opened his eyes slowly, the movement of his eyelids sending little ripples of fire to his brain.
Fire.
Burning.
He groaned, rolling over onto his side. It felt like there was cottonwool stuffed into his mouth, ears and eyes.
The room was dim, strangely silent. What had woken him?
"Sir?" Carter's voice was thick with sleep. She sounded confused.
He looked at her; she was yawning and rubbing sleep from her eyes.
"Morning Carter," he greeted.
Her head snapped in his direction, her eyes studying his face intently.
"What?"
"Are you feeling okay, Colonel?"
"Apart from a headache, fine. Why?"
She scrutinised him for a few more minutes before breaking into a broad smile.
"Are you sure you're feeling okay, Carter?"
She laughed and sat up, running a hang through her messy hair. "I wish had I had my brush," she sighed.
He watched her curiously. "What's going on?"
"What do you mean, Sir?"
"What's going on?"
"You mean with Nut?" Carter asked hesitantly.
"Yes."
"Oh. We're on our way to fine Geb," she admitted.
Jack raised his eyebrows. "What aren't you telling me?"
She hesitated.
"Carter." Just because his head hurt didn't mean he couldn't put a warning note into his voice.
"Nut wanted me to make her a GDO, Sir."
"And?"
"I refused, Sir."
"Darn right you did. So, why am I still feeling like there's something you're not telling me?"
"She's going to give us to Geb, Sir. To be killed."
Well. That figured. Do one Goa'uld a good turn and they pass you right on to the next one.
"How long before we find Geb?" Jack asked, trying to think past the pain.
"I don't-"
They both turned to face the escort of Jaffa suddenly standing with Cal'ma in the doorway.
"Come," she stated, "we must leave."
"Must leave to go where?"
Cal'ma hesitated, and Jack didn't like the look on her face. "To meet Geb. Come."
"I don't think so," Jack argued, not making a move to stand up. Carter followed his lead.
"You must come."
"Sir, there's not really anything we can do."
Jack sighed; she was right. They either fought now and got themselves killed on a ship with no chance of escape, or they waited and fought later when chances were a bit better.
He rose to his feet silently, glaring at Cal'ma.
Carter stood up as well, coming to stand next to him.
It seemed perfectly natural to take hold of her hand and walk with her out of the room.
*
Cal'ma walked behind the Tau'ri, her eyes resting on their stiff backs as they marched along the corridor to certain death.
They were brave. Cal'ma did not think she would be as dignified or calm should it be her marching to her death.
They stood silently and proudly as the transport rings glowed around them, their postures never once crumbling to reveal fear.
Cal'ma glanced at Nut who was waiting for them.
"See the Might of Shu that Geb crushed so easily," Nut bragged.
Cal'ma let her eyes wander over the desolate grey landscape. The few trees and plants she could see were stunted and twisted in their growth, the leaves dry and wrinkled and the bark old and gnarled.
It was a dying planet on its last breath.
"If Geb won, why is he imprisoned?" the male taunted cruelly.
Cal'ma flinched as anger crossed Nut's face. Nut did not display her anger often, she was far too controlled. But when her anger was unleashed.
Cal'ma shivered, shrinking back.
"Soon you will feel the power of Geb, and then it will be you who is mocked," Nut hissed.
Cal'ma could see longing in Nut's eyes: longing for Geb, and longing to kill the Tau'ri.
The guards jabbed the Tau'ri roughly in their backs, causing them to stumble and stagger forward over the rocky ground. Cal'ma follow behind, her gowns trailing in the dirt as she carefully tried to pick her way across the rubble.
A broken temple clutched at the grey sky ahead of them, the shattered pillars sticking jaggedly into the sky while collapsed walls and rooves cowered in their shadows.
This was a place full of evil and despair.
Cal'ma shivered again, her flesh prickling as the dying breeze whispered against her skin.
The steps were large, the cracked stone beneath her feet would have once glistened strongly and beautifully in the sunlight while greenery boarded the winding paths. It would have been beautiful, but now.
Destruction.
Cal'ma did not want to enter the dark depths of the temple before them. She did not wish to be swallowed by the cold blackness that would stick to her dark skin and hide her as though she had never existed.
Cal'ma did not like the darkness.
"Behold, the power of Shu is broken," Nut declared, her eyes flashing in triumph.
Stones brushed against stones and grating filled the air as their feet knocked against the rubble.
This was place was evil, not good could happen here.
Silently, Cal'ma swallowed her fears and allowed the darkness to swallow her as she followed Nut into the temple.
~o0o~
"We're almost there," Jacob's voice startled Daniel, and the archaeologist scrambled to stand behind him.
"It looks very grey," Daniel remarked, watching as the planet grew larger and larger before them.
"It has been destroyed," Teal'c said softly, his brown eyes also focused on the approaching world.
"How do you know where to land?" Daniel asked curiously.
Jacob smiled. "There are navigating systems on board, Daniel. And the ships are also programmed to locate Stargates and transport rings."
They fell into silence as the world below them slowly became more detailed. Yellow-grey clouds obscured their view at times, drifting over blurred plains of grey and skeletal remains of cities.
"It's like a graveyard," Daniel breathed as they flew lower and lower.
"It is a graveyard. The graveyard of an entire planet," Jacob agreed softly. "We're approaching. Crap."
"What?" Daniel frowned, concern marring his features.
"They beat us. Nut is already here."
Daniel swallowed. Damn.
"We better hope that she's left the ship and Sam and Jack are on board," Jacob muttered. "Hold on. just let me."
"What is he doing?"
"Searching for life forms on the planet surface." Teal'c's eyes followed Jacob's fingers as they flew over the console.
"Jacob?"
"There are about twelve. thirteen of them on the planet," Jacob admitted, looking up at Daniel and Teal'c. "I can't tell whether Nut is with them."
"So what do we do?" Daniel asked.
Jacob sighed. "We go planet side and find out who is here. Then we'll work out what we do."
Daniel nodded reluctantly, casting a glance at Teal'c. They weren't happy with the plan, but it was the best they had.
~o0o~
Reviews and Feedback, you all know the drill by now! LOL, I'm joking. Thanks for taking the time to read it, and I hope you enjoyed it!
Hugs to suds, hoodat, Jo and Uly! And to Jez because you are an absolute legend.
Chapter Fourteen
"So. what exactly is Shu's Might?" Daniel Jackson questioned as he stared through the windows into the colours of hyperspace.
"A planet in the old Erballian system," General Carter replied somewhat tiredly.
"Where's that?"
"A long way away."
Daniel Jackson sighed, turning to face General Carter. "So, how long before we get there?"
General Carter sighed a long suffering sigh. "Daniel, it's a long way away. At least twenty hours."
"Twenty hours?"
"Which is less time than it should take Nut if she started out at Abydos," General Carter answered gently.
"What if she had a head start?"
"Then it could be close."
They dropped into silence, and Teal'c took the time to allow his thoughts freedom.
Should they arrive before Nut, which Teal'c doubted would occur, then their plans rested on the hope that Nut would leave the ship with an escort. That would give them chance to rescue both O'Neill and Major Carter before attacking Nut.
Teal'c was not satisfied with the plan. There were too many probabilities that their plan simply ignored. What if Nut did not leave the ship? What if Nut should reach the planet before them?
What if Major Carter and O'Neill were already dead?
Teal'c frowned; that was not a pleasing possibility at all. Teal'c sincerely hoped that Major Carter and O'Neill were both well as he had come to care for them both significantly.
"What are you thinking, Teal'c?" Daniel Jackson rudely interrupted his thoughts.
Teal'c sighed inwardly, and found himself wishing that Daniel Jackson had been given the time to pack sufficiently before they left. That way he would at least be occupied now, reading some text, leaving both Teal'c and General Carter in peace.
"I am concerned for O'Neill and Major Carter," he replied honestly, opening his eyes as he realised Daniel Jackson was not intending on leaving him any time soon.
"And?" General Carter turned to face Teal'c also.
"I do not believe our plan will succeed."
"Have you got a better one?" General Cater demanded defensively.
"I do not."
"I have to agree with Teal'c, sir. There are so many things that could go wrong with this-"
"And we'll deal with those things as they happen. Right now, we only know that we have to get there before Nut, and get Sam and Jack away from her before she kills them. That good enough for you?"
Daniel Jackson nodded mutely.
"Teal'c?"
"I am concerned, General Carter. How are we to deceive Nut?"
General Carter sighed. "With luck, Teal'c."
~o0o~
Cal'ma was anxious.
Something within her was squirming with fear, and the feeling did not bode well.
Nut was behaving strangely. More strangely than she had ever behaved, even for a goddess. And she had been behaving strangely ever since the Tau'ri arrived.
Cal'ma felt her apprehension increase.
Why would Nut cease punishing the Tau'ri and let them live? And where was Nut going now?
The questions tumbled around her mind, distracting Cal'ma from her task. If Cal'ma could not complete her practice then she would be unfit to perform for Nut, and Nut loved Cal'ma's skill with the Hal'mika. Cal'ma's fingers were nimble and light across the strings, her voice blended with the haunting notes to perfection.
And Nut enjoyed the perfection; it was Cal'ma's greatest asset.
Cal'ma sighed, carefully placing the Hal'mika in its stand before standing and moving out of her quarters.
She would talk to the Tau'ri. She would talk to Carter; O'Neill was mocking and sarcastic, he thought Cal'ma stupid.
Cal'ma was not stupid. Were she stupid she would never have made first priestess.
With trepidation, Cal'ma found herself standing in front of the door to the Tau'ri chambers. Nut had not ordered her to watch them, or even talk to them. Cal'ma swallowed nervously; she was disobeying Nut.
Still. Her unrest would not quiet until she had spoken to the Tau'ri.
Carter was tending to O'Neill, her face taut with pain and concern.
"Carter?" Cal'ma whispered, her voice barely carrying across the room.
Carter looked up, a smile of recognition touching her lips before she turned back to O'Neill.
"What have you done?" Cal'ma whispered, stepping closer.
Carter looked up, confused. "Pardon?"
"What purpose have you for coming here?" Cal'ma repeated.
Carter almost laughed in astonishment. "We didn't want to come here. Nut captured us, if you remember correctly."
Yes, that was true, they were Nut's prisoners.
"What's wrong?" Carter asked, concern lacing her voice.
Suddenly Cal'ma knew this was wrong, knew that she should never have come to talk to Carter.
"Nothing," Cal'ma turned to leave.
"Cal'ma, wait!" Carter called.
Cal'ma hesitated, turning to face the woman. "Yes?"
"You have to help us," Carter begged.
Cal'ma shook her head, stepping backwards. No, no, she couldn't betray Nut. Never.
"Please, Cal'ma. She'll kill us if we stay."
Yes, that was true. Nut would kill them. The thought saddened Cal'ma's heart, but it was the way things were.
"I cannot help you," Cal'ma admitted, though something in her ached to help the Tau'ri.
"Cal'ma, she's not a god. She's just as mortal as you or me. She could die just as easily!"
Cal'ma smiled gently. "You are wrong, Carter. Nut has been alive for longer than any Jaffa or Tau'ri. She can heal the wounded and raise the dead. She is a goddess," Cal'ma stated. And as she stated the words, her conviction and belief returned.
It was true, Cal'ma was a goddess, and a goddess could do anything.
"What about Geb? She didn't know where Geb was. We had to find that out for her!"
Cal'ma frowned. Yes, that was true. But.
"I cannot help you, Carter."
Carter sighed, her shoulders slumping again so that she appeared shorter than her lithe frame was. "No, I don't suppose you can."
Cal'ma nodded her head in acknowledgement, and turned to leave.
"Cal'ma?"
"Yes?"
"Where are we going?"
Cal'ma smiled hesitantly. "To release Geb."
And as Cal'ma uttered the words, her anxiety and fear increased tenfold, so that when she left the Tau'ri her unease made her muscles quiver.
~o0o~
Nut remained silent, watching as Cal'ma retreated down the corridor.
Nut had been concerned about Cal'ma. Concerned that her Jaffa was swaying to the beliefs of the Tau'ri.
Nut need not have been concerned; her Jaffa were all loyal and devout in their faith.
The Tau'ri, however. They would poison the minds of her people any way they could. Nut could not allow that.
Silently she stepped into the chamber, watching as the female sat down next to the male and placed a damp cloth upon his blistered brow.
Nut should have killed them.
The woman looked up, unease on her face. "Who's there?"
Nut started, stepping backwards in surprise. She was not visible, and yet the woman had sensed her.
The woman had been a host, Nut remembered, and she could sense the naquadah within Nut.
Silently, Nut made herself visible.
The woman gasped, standing up and stepping back in surprise. Nut smiled; to see fear upon a victim's face.
"You try to poison the minds of my followers with your lies," Nut spoke calmly, pacing slowly towards the woman.
"They're not lies. You're the one lying, Nut."
Nut smiled disdainfully. Were this woman not capable of giving Nut what she wanted, Nut would have killed her then.
"You cannot stay among us," Nut continued, ignoring the outburst.
"So what, you're going to kill us?"
Nut smiled again, but shook her head. "No. I will spare you."
The woman raised a wary eyebrow, stepping back towards the male and resting a protective hand on his shoulder. They were close, these Tau'ri, almost as close as Nut had been to Geb.
But they were fools.
"You wish to escape from me, do you not?" Nut purred. Behind her, Nut heard the familiar sounds of the Jaffa who escorted her approaching.
The woman swallowed but did not answer.
"However, I have taken what you need so it would be impossible for you to escape."
Anger glinted within the remarkable blue eyes, and again Nut felt the odd longing to inhabit the woman, to have her as a host.
"We don't need chocolate to escape."
Chocolate? Nut shrugged the term off; it was not relevant.
"I will let you go," Nut started, tracing a slender finger along the woman's jawbone, "if you build me the device you need to escape."
The woman laughed, a short bark of sound that exploded loudly in Nut's ears. "Yeah, right."
Nut's mouth tightened in anger. If the woman would not help, then she would die. By Geb's hand.
"If you do not build this device, then you and your mate will both die."
The woman raised her chin defiantly, staring coldly down at Nut through ice blue eyes. "You won't get the device either way."
Anger spurted through Nut, and she raised her hand against the woman's cheek, knocking her to her feet. "Insolence! I will see to it that Geb punishes you greatly before killing you."
Fear flickered in the defiant eyes, but the woman remained silent, only moving to wipe the blood trickling from her lip.
Nut glared down at the woman silently before spinning around and stalking out of the room, her robes billowing behind her.
~o0o~
Anhur grunted as he stumbled over a stone, dropping the dead Goa'uld as he fell to the ground.
His strength was almost gone, the limbs of his host painfully thin and wasted. The darkness was cold and the dust sticking to his blood soaked skin.
Soon.
Soon he would be there.
Grunting again, he hoisted Geb's body onto his back and continued his journey towards the surface.
Anticipation spurred him on, and his steps became lighter as he walked up the narrow passage.
The stench of old blood surrounded him; his clothes caked and hard as he moved.
But Anhur paid it no heed; blood was a smell as familiar to a hunter as the taste of fish was to a fisherman.
The light was blinding as it sparkled around him on the dust clouds. Anhur dropped Geb's corpse to the ground and staggered across to an opening where he filled his lungs with fresh, pure air.
He gazed out onto the devastated landscape for a while, letting his eyes rest on the crumbled ruins of Shu's Might. Everywhere his eyes rested broken spires of twisted metal clawed desperately up into the gray sky, stones and decayed wood littering what had once been roads all filled with the power of Shu.
Anhur turned and looked down at the limp form of Geb, taking in the empty eyes and the blood matted blond hair.
Anhur smiled; revenge had been sweet.
But it was not over yet.
Reluctantly, he pulled Geb onto his shoulders again and staggered towards the centre of the room.
Geb pooled on the dirty floor like a withered plant, his limbs seeming boneless as he twisted to stillness.
Anhur stared down at Geb.
Anhur was weak.
Anhur was hungry.
Anhur needed nourishment.
The blade of the hunting knife glinted silver in the dusty air, it's shine blocked out by the small tendrils of flesh and smeared blood when it resurfaced.
Anhur wiped his knife clean carefully, and raised the severed limb to his mouth.
Revenge was sweet, and Anhur grunted in appreciation as he felt the hollowness of his stomach disappear.
~o0o~
Jack opened his eyes slowly, the movement of his eyelids sending little ripples of fire to his brain.
Fire.
Burning.
He groaned, rolling over onto his side. It felt like there was cottonwool stuffed into his mouth, ears and eyes.
The room was dim, strangely silent. What had woken him?
"Sir?" Carter's voice was thick with sleep. She sounded confused.
He looked at her; she was yawning and rubbing sleep from her eyes.
"Morning Carter," he greeted.
Her head snapped in his direction, her eyes studying his face intently.
"What?"
"Are you feeling okay, Colonel?"
"Apart from a headache, fine. Why?"
She scrutinised him for a few more minutes before breaking into a broad smile.
"Are you sure you're feeling okay, Carter?"
She laughed and sat up, running a hang through her messy hair. "I wish had I had my brush," she sighed.
He watched her curiously. "What's going on?"
"What do you mean, Sir?"
"What's going on?"
"You mean with Nut?" Carter asked hesitantly.
"Yes."
"Oh. We're on our way to fine Geb," she admitted.
Jack raised his eyebrows. "What aren't you telling me?"
She hesitated.
"Carter." Just because his head hurt didn't mean he couldn't put a warning note into his voice.
"Nut wanted me to make her a GDO, Sir."
"And?"
"I refused, Sir."
"Darn right you did. So, why am I still feeling like there's something you're not telling me?"
"She's going to give us to Geb, Sir. To be killed."
Well. That figured. Do one Goa'uld a good turn and they pass you right on to the next one.
"How long before we find Geb?" Jack asked, trying to think past the pain.
"I don't-"
They both turned to face the escort of Jaffa suddenly standing with Cal'ma in the doorway.
"Come," she stated, "we must leave."
"Must leave to go where?"
Cal'ma hesitated, and Jack didn't like the look on her face. "To meet Geb. Come."
"I don't think so," Jack argued, not making a move to stand up. Carter followed his lead.
"You must come."
"Sir, there's not really anything we can do."
Jack sighed; she was right. They either fought now and got themselves killed on a ship with no chance of escape, or they waited and fought later when chances were a bit better.
He rose to his feet silently, glaring at Cal'ma.
Carter stood up as well, coming to stand next to him.
It seemed perfectly natural to take hold of her hand and walk with her out of the room.
*
Cal'ma walked behind the Tau'ri, her eyes resting on their stiff backs as they marched along the corridor to certain death.
They were brave. Cal'ma did not think she would be as dignified or calm should it be her marching to her death.
They stood silently and proudly as the transport rings glowed around them, their postures never once crumbling to reveal fear.
Cal'ma glanced at Nut who was waiting for them.
"See the Might of Shu that Geb crushed so easily," Nut bragged.
Cal'ma let her eyes wander over the desolate grey landscape. The few trees and plants she could see were stunted and twisted in their growth, the leaves dry and wrinkled and the bark old and gnarled.
It was a dying planet on its last breath.
"If Geb won, why is he imprisoned?" the male taunted cruelly.
Cal'ma flinched as anger crossed Nut's face. Nut did not display her anger often, she was far too controlled. But when her anger was unleashed.
Cal'ma shivered, shrinking back.
"Soon you will feel the power of Geb, and then it will be you who is mocked," Nut hissed.
Cal'ma could see longing in Nut's eyes: longing for Geb, and longing to kill the Tau'ri.
The guards jabbed the Tau'ri roughly in their backs, causing them to stumble and stagger forward over the rocky ground. Cal'ma follow behind, her gowns trailing in the dirt as she carefully tried to pick her way across the rubble.
A broken temple clutched at the grey sky ahead of them, the shattered pillars sticking jaggedly into the sky while collapsed walls and rooves cowered in their shadows.
This was a place full of evil and despair.
Cal'ma shivered again, her flesh prickling as the dying breeze whispered against her skin.
The steps were large, the cracked stone beneath her feet would have once glistened strongly and beautifully in the sunlight while greenery boarded the winding paths. It would have been beautiful, but now.
Destruction.
Cal'ma did not want to enter the dark depths of the temple before them. She did not wish to be swallowed by the cold blackness that would stick to her dark skin and hide her as though she had never existed.
Cal'ma did not like the darkness.
"Behold, the power of Shu is broken," Nut declared, her eyes flashing in triumph.
Stones brushed against stones and grating filled the air as their feet knocked against the rubble.
This was place was evil, not good could happen here.
Silently, Cal'ma swallowed her fears and allowed the darkness to swallow her as she followed Nut into the temple.
~o0o~
"We're almost there," Jacob's voice startled Daniel, and the archaeologist scrambled to stand behind him.
"It looks very grey," Daniel remarked, watching as the planet grew larger and larger before them.
"It has been destroyed," Teal'c said softly, his brown eyes also focused on the approaching world.
"How do you know where to land?" Daniel asked curiously.
Jacob smiled. "There are navigating systems on board, Daniel. And the ships are also programmed to locate Stargates and transport rings."
They fell into silence as the world below them slowly became more detailed. Yellow-grey clouds obscured their view at times, drifting over blurred plains of grey and skeletal remains of cities.
"It's like a graveyard," Daniel breathed as they flew lower and lower.
"It is a graveyard. The graveyard of an entire planet," Jacob agreed softly. "We're approaching. Crap."
"What?" Daniel frowned, concern marring his features.
"They beat us. Nut is already here."
Daniel swallowed. Damn.
"We better hope that she's left the ship and Sam and Jack are on board," Jacob muttered. "Hold on. just let me."
"What is he doing?"
"Searching for life forms on the planet surface." Teal'c's eyes followed Jacob's fingers as they flew over the console.
"Jacob?"
"There are about twelve. thirteen of them on the planet," Jacob admitted, looking up at Daniel and Teal'c. "I can't tell whether Nut is with them."
"So what do we do?" Daniel asked.
Jacob sighed. "We go planet side and find out who is here. Then we'll work out what we do."
Daniel nodded reluctantly, casting a glance at Teal'c. They weren't happy with the plan, but it was the best they had.
~o0o~
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