Chapter Fifteen: Better Late than Never
Author's Note: I feel awful for leaving this story to rot for soooo long, but in my defense, it wasn't just because my muse up and left me for Hawaii (well, there's that too). There's a long story that can be shortened to a couple of sentences. My computer broke down and I lost everything on my hard drive. fortunately I had back ups for most of it, but this chapter and all of my notes for the prologue were destroyed in the fire (symbolic fire. there wasn't really a fire.). So I was mad for a few months and then I was sad. and now I have a new puter that doesn't need to be restarted when I open more than three windows at a time (very exciting). I wanted to finish this. I didn't want to leave Sam and Jack stuck on Abayomous forever! :) And at the risk of using a cliché, I apologize from the bottom of my heart. I can only hope these chapters are worth the wait.
***
With the hurt of betrayal backing up his actions, Runihura pointed his zat'n'ktel at her. He pulled the trigger. Twice.
***
"Are you ready?" asked Teal'c. The Jaffa stood a distance away from the two other men, hovering over a Goa'uld control console. Jacob Carter gave a sharp nod. "Let's do it," Daniel said impatiently. They'd been trapped in the confined space of the ship for far too long. Teal'c pressed a red crystal and joined his two companions in the center of the room. Seconds later the ring device "beamed them up" and sent them to the planet in a stream of golden light.
Time was limited. They only had half an hour for their search and rescue operation. Any longer and the chances of Nephthys picking up on their cloaked ship were too high. Half an hour would be plenty of time. It had to be.
They walked through the halls unnoticed. They'd decided earlier, in what would have to be one of the most colourful arguments Daniel had ever been a participant in, not to split up. Daniel couldn't stop grinning when he passed a Jaffa guard and was completely ignored. This was unquestionably one of their better plans.
Now, if you were a Goa'uld with two Tau'ri prisoners as annoying as Sam and Jack, where would you lock them away?
***
Jack crept silently down the hallway. His training ensured that his footsteps were no louder than a whisper. He ducked behind the nearest golden pillar. 'Nothing ahead? Check. Nothing behind? Check. Nothing to hear? Check. Parameter clear? Check.' He whipped his head around. Carter was a few meters behind, guarding his six. He gave a couple of fast hand signals. 'All clear,' his motions said, 'Follow me.'
Jack turned the corner, following his instincts. "Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump." .which apparently were completely useless. After seeking cover from another conveniently placed column, Jack fired a few badly aimed cover shots. There were five Jaffa. Jack took another quick glance. There were six Jaffa. He somehow had to get back to Carter.
Jack heard two shots that he definitely did not fire and, to his relief, saw two Jaffa go down. "Great timing, Major," he yelled and not to be out done, fired a few shots of his own. The odds now were two to one against. That was much better.
The fight raged on for a while (seconds? minutes? How could he possibly know?). The Jaffa seemed more resilient than the norm, holding their own against the airforce officers. All firefights though, eventually had to come to an end.
"Colonel, lower your weapon," said a voice from behind him. Jack took a quick look. and then stopped shooting.
"Colonel, don't!" cried Carter, but she was too late. Jack's right hand had already gone completely limp. His firearm dropped to his side.
Seeing Sam captured with a zat menacingly pointed at her head had that sort of effect on him. Of course it just had to be Runihura (miserable vomitous mass) with his finger on the trigger. Irony demanded it to be so.
'Oh, this is just peachy!' thought Jack, as he submitted to the overwhelming odds.
***
Twenty minutes. They'd been walking around in circles for twenty minutes. Daniel had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. Where were Sam and Jack? The Goa'uld's palace was a certified maze. They weren't in the prison. The thingie that Jacob had claimed would pick up on their "biosignatures" or something wasn't working.
They only had ten minutes. If some sort of miracle didn't happen soon.
Daniel jerked involuntarily. Hey, what was that?
It sounded like zat fire, coming from not too far away. Daniel glanced briefly at his companions and picked up the pace.
***
"Runihura," snarled Jack, "So nice to see ya again." "I wouldn't think so, if I were you," answered the High Minister, ignorant of the sarcastic tone behind the Colonel's remark. Jack watched as he tightened his gripe on Sam, who bit her lip with pain. He looked straight into her eyes, hoping that he could apologize to her without ever having to say the words.
She starred right back, but she had a message of her own. Her eyes flickered to Runihura and then quickly back to his own. 'Distract Runihura so I can pull a whammy on him,' was the message. Okay, perhaps "whammy" wasn't the technical term for it. At another time, he might be a little freaked about this silent communication thing they had going on.
"So," said Jack conversationally, "Runihura, have I ever told you about my stamp collection?" And as if on queue, Sam kneed Runihura in the stomach. Jack whipped around and started firing at the two Jaffa that were still hanging around from the earlier skirmish. With any luck, Carter would have disarmed Runihura by now. "Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump."
Oh, they could never be that lucky, could they? The impending "thumping" of more Jaffa came from behind. It also didn't help that the two Jaffa in front of Jack refused to die. Jack quickly looked turned his head to see who the new arrivals were.
Three more Jaffa. Three times the fun! The Colonel also noticed that Sam had successfully pulled the whammy and that the zat-gun was now in her hand, pointing towards the temple of everyone's favorite bad-guy.
Sam glared at the new arrivals, "Don't even think about it!" The newbies stopped advancing and (if Jack didn't know better) looked confused. The veteran Jaffa that Jack had been trying to kill for the last little while halted their attack as well. Well, wasn't this interesting? "Jaffa! Kree!" yelled Runihura, his voice sounding desperate. The Jaffa wouldn't listen to him. He was their leader; he couldn't be killed. Jack watched out of the corner of his eye one of the Jaffa close to Sam and Runihura started to raise his staff weapon. Okay, Runihura could probably be replaced, but if the Jaffa didn't care if the High Minister bit the biscuit then that left them. at a distinct disadvantage.
Soon, all three of the new Jaffa had their zat-guns raised, and simultaneously they fired. Jack waited for the familiar feeling of pain. and waited. and waited. Instead, Jack saw three unsuspecting bodies hit the ground simultaneously (the two veteran Jaffa and Runihura). The Jaffa had missed their targets, suspiciously to Sam and Jack's benefit.
What the hell was going on?
But before O'Neill could start ranting, the Jaffa closest to Jack took raised his hands up to his face and took off his serpent-like mask.
"Sorry guys," said a disheveled Daniel Jackson, "It's just so hard to talk in these things."
***
"Daniel?" Jack was momentarily stunned, but he recovered himself quickly. "Took you long enough," he told his best friend, although his grin was too large for the comment to be anything but teasing. Daniel smiled back and then turned his attention to his other "rescued" friend. "Sam!" he proclaimed, "You're not dead.?" She grinned, "Daniel. Don't worry; I've been getting that a lot." She glanced back at the Colonel. One of the 'Jaffa-in-disguise' next to Daniel, marched ahead to check that their escape route was clear (Jack would bet good money that it was Teal'c). The other mystery man looked like he was just about to take off his mask (Hmmm. would it be Sinclair? Or maybe Coburn? Who could possibly be stupid enough to go on this mission?) Jack didn't have to wait long.
"Dad!" cried Carter, giving her father a small hug (probably not the easiest thing with all his Jaffa armor). Jack immediately took back all his thoughts relating to Jacob's stupidity. He could never be too careful, for all he knew, Selmak could be psychic (no, he wasn't being ridiculous!). "Hey Kiddo," Jacob said affectionately to his daughter.
Jack really really felt bad about this but, "I hate to break this Kodak moment up guys, but we do have an alien fortress to escape from. Let's get to the Stargate," Jack told them. Seconds later, SG-1 and Jacob Carter followed the Colonel's lead to where Teal'c (Jack knew it HAD to be him) was standing guard.
"Jack," said the resident archeologist, who had half-jogged up next to him. "Daniel?" "We're not leaving by the Stargate," Daniel told him. "Really?" "Yeah. We came by ship." "Cool. Is it fast?" "Really fast." A sigh came from behind them. "Boys and their toys," muttered Sam, eager to put in her two cents. God, it was good to have SG-1 back.
***
"What do you mean, 'they escaped'?" asked Nephthys. Runihura had his head bowed in submission. Although Runihura suspected that it was a rhetorical question, he answered anyway: "We have both been deceived, my lord. The Jaffa were in league with the prisoners. I myself was shot by these traitors." Nephthys wasn't impressed with his excuses. "Abayomous has been a thorn in my side for the last time, Runihura." The Egyptian god's anger was almost tangible. "You, in particular, have failed me. Fortunately, you will never do so again!" Nephthys' eyes sparkled with gold, his twisted voice growing louder with each passing word. The ribbon device in the palm of his hand flared to life. "Nephthys, my god. Please, have mercy," screamed the desperate High Minister. He was well aware of the carnage Nephthys' hand-device was capable of. "We are both victims! I will do anything! Please!" he begged. Runihura's last sight was those magnificent gold eyes, burning into his mind. The ribbon device released its killing blow, sending Runihura flying into the farthest wall of the ziggurat.
"Jaffa, kree!" demanded the Goa'uld, as he pointed towards Runihura's lifeless body. "Also, make arrangements for our department from Abayomous. I've grown sick of this wretched land."
The End (until the prologue)
Author's Note: I feel awful for leaving this story to rot for soooo long, but in my defense, it wasn't just because my muse up and left me for Hawaii (well, there's that too). There's a long story that can be shortened to a couple of sentences. My computer broke down and I lost everything on my hard drive. fortunately I had back ups for most of it, but this chapter and all of my notes for the prologue were destroyed in the fire (symbolic fire. there wasn't really a fire.). So I was mad for a few months and then I was sad. and now I have a new puter that doesn't need to be restarted when I open more than three windows at a time (very exciting). I wanted to finish this. I didn't want to leave Sam and Jack stuck on Abayomous forever! :) And at the risk of using a cliché, I apologize from the bottom of my heart. I can only hope these chapters are worth the wait.
***
With the hurt of betrayal backing up his actions, Runihura pointed his zat'n'ktel at her. He pulled the trigger. Twice.
***
"Are you ready?" asked Teal'c. The Jaffa stood a distance away from the two other men, hovering over a Goa'uld control console. Jacob Carter gave a sharp nod. "Let's do it," Daniel said impatiently. They'd been trapped in the confined space of the ship for far too long. Teal'c pressed a red crystal and joined his two companions in the center of the room. Seconds later the ring device "beamed them up" and sent them to the planet in a stream of golden light.
Time was limited. They only had half an hour for their search and rescue operation. Any longer and the chances of Nephthys picking up on their cloaked ship were too high. Half an hour would be plenty of time. It had to be.
They walked through the halls unnoticed. They'd decided earlier, in what would have to be one of the most colourful arguments Daniel had ever been a participant in, not to split up. Daniel couldn't stop grinning when he passed a Jaffa guard and was completely ignored. This was unquestionably one of their better plans.
Now, if you were a Goa'uld with two Tau'ri prisoners as annoying as Sam and Jack, where would you lock them away?
***
Jack crept silently down the hallway. His training ensured that his footsteps were no louder than a whisper. He ducked behind the nearest golden pillar. 'Nothing ahead? Check. Nothing behind? Check. Nothing to hear? Check. Parameter clear? Check.' He whipped his head around. Carter was a few meters behind, guarding his six. He gave a couple of fast hand signals. 'All clear,' his motions said, 'Follow me.'
Jack turned the corner, following his instincts. "Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump." .which apparently were completely useless. After seeking cover from another conveniently placed column, Jack fired a few badly aimed cover shots. There were five Jaffa. Jack took another quick glance. There were six Jaffa. He somehow had to get back to Carter.
Jack heard two shots that he definitely did not fire and, to his relief, saw two Jaffa go down. "Great timing, Major," he yelled and not to be out done, fired a few shots of his own. The odds now were two to one against. That was much better.
The fight raged on for a while (seconds? minutes? How could he possibly know?). The Jaffa seemed more resilient than the norm, holding their own against the airforce officers. All firefights though, eventually had to come to an end.
"Colonel, lower your weapon," said a voice from behind him. Jack took a quick look. and then stopped shooting.
"Colonel, don't!" cried Carter, but she was too late. Jack's right hand had already gone completely limp. His firearm dropped to his side.
Seeing Sam captured with a zat menacingly pointed at her head had that sort of effect on him. Of course it just had to be Runihura (miserable vomitous mass) with his finger on the trigger. Irony demanded it to be so.
'Oh, this is just peachy!' thought Jack, as he submitted to the overwhelming odds.
***
Twenty minutes. They'd been walking around in circles for twenty minutes. Daniel had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. Where were Sam and Jack? The Goa'uld's palace was a certified maze. They weren't in the prison. The thingie that Jacob had claimed would pick up on their "biosignatures" or something wasn't working.
They only had ten minutes. If some sort of miracle didn't happen soon.
Daniel jerked involuntarily. Hey, what was that?
It sounded like zat fire, coming from not too far away. Daniel glanced briefly at his companions and picked up the pace.
***
"Runihura," snarled Jack, "So nice to see ya again." "I wouldn't think so, if I were you," answered the High Minister, ignorant of the sarcastic tone behind the Colonel's remark. Jack watched as he tightened his gripe on Sam, who bit her lip with pain. He looked straight into her eyes, hoping that he could apologize to her without ever having to say the words.
She starred right back, but she had a message of her own. Her eyes flickered to Runihura and then quickly back to his own. 'Distract Runihura so I can pull a whammy on him,' was the message. Okay, perhaps "whammy" wasn't the technical term for it. At another time, he might be a little freaked about this silent communication thing they had going on.
"So," said Jack conversationally, "Runihura, have I ever told you about my stamp collection?" And as if on queue, Sam kneed Runihura in the stomach. Jack whipped around and started firing at the two Jaffa that were still hanging around from the earlier skirmish. With any luck, Carter would have disarmed Runihura by now. "Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump."
Oh, they could never be that lucky, could they? The impending "thumping" of more Jaffa came from behind. It also didn't help that the two Jaffa in front of Jack refused to die. Jack quickly looked turned his head to see who the new arrivals were.
Three more Jaffa. Three times the fun! The Colonel also noticed that Sam had successfully pulled the whammy and that the zat-gun was now in her hand, pointing towards the temple of everyone's favorite bad-guy.
Sam glared at the new arrivals, "Don't even think about it!" The newbies stopped advancing and (if Jack didn't know better) looked confused. The veteran Jaffa that Jack had been trying to kill for the last little while halted their attack as well. Well, wasn't this interesting? "Jaffa! Kree!" yelled Runihura, his voice sounding desperate. The Jaffa wouldn't listen to him. He was their leader; he couldn't be killed. Jack watched out of the corner of his eye one of the Jaffa close to Sam and Runihura started to raise his staff weapon. Okay, Runihura could probably be replaced, but if the Jaffa didn't care if the High Minister bit the biscuit then that left them. at a distinct disadvantage.
Soon, all three of the new Jaffa had their zat-guns raised, and simultaneously they fired. Jack waited for the familiar feeling of pain. and waited. and waited. Instead, Jack saw three unsuspecting bodies hit the ground simultaneously (the two veteran Jaffa and Runihura). The Jaffa had missed their targets, suspiciously to Sam and Jack's benefit.
What the hell was going on?
But before O'Neill could start ranting, the Jaffa closest to Jack took raised his hands up to his face and took off his serpent-like mask.
"Sorry guys," said a disheveled Daniel Jackson, "It's just so hard to talk in these things."
***
"Daniel?" Jack was momentarily stunned, but he recovered himself quickly. "Took you long enough," he told his best friend, although his grin was too large for the comment to be anything but teasing. Daniel smiled back and then turned his attention to his other "rescued" friend. "Sam!" he proclaimed, "You're not dead.?" She grinned, "Daniel. Don't worry; I've been getting that a lot." She glanced back at the Colonel. One of the 'Jaffa-in-disguise' next to Daniel, marched ahead to check that their escape route was clear (Jack would bet good money that it was Teal'c). The other mystery man looked like he was just about to take off his mask (Hmmm. would it be Sinclair? Or maybe Coburn? Who could possibly be stupid enough to go on this mission?) Jack didn't have to wait long.
"Dad!" cried Carter, giving her father a small hug (probably not the easiest thing with all his Jaffa armor). Jack immediately took back all his thoughts relating to Jacob's stupidity. He could never be too careful, for all he knew, Selmak could be psychic (no, he wasn't being ridiculous!). "Hey Kiddo," Jacob said affectionately to his daughter.
Jack really really felt bad about this but, "I hate to break this Kodak moment up guys, but we do have an alien fortress to escape from. Let's get to the Stargate," Jack told them. Seconds later, SG-1 and Jacob Carter followed the Colonel's lead to where Teal'c (Jack knew it HAD to be him) was standing guard.
"Jack," said the resident archeologist, who had half-jogged up next to him. "Daniel?" "We're not leaving by the Stargate," Daniel told him. "Really?" "Yeah. We came by ship." "Cool. Is it fast?" "Really fast." A sigh came from behind them. "Boys and their toys," muttered Sam, eager to put in her two cents. God, it was good to have SG-1 back.
***
"What do you mean, 'they escaped'?" asked Nephthys. Runihura had his head bowed in submission. Although Runihura suspected that it was a rhetorical question, he answered anyway: "We have both been deceived, my lord. The Jaffa were in league with the prisoners. I myself was shot by these traitors." Nephthys wasn't impressed with his excuses. "Abayomous has been a thorn in my side for the last time, Runihura." The Egyptian god's anger was almost tangible. "You, in particular, have failed me. Fortunately, you will never do so again!" Nephthys' eyes sparkled with gold, his twisted voice growing louder with each passing word. The ribbon device in the palm of his hand flared to life. "Nephthys, my god. Please, have mercy," screamed the desperate High Minister. He was well aware of the carnage Nephthys' hand-device was capable of. "We are both victims! I will do anything! Please!" he begged. Runihura's last sight was those magnificent gold eyes, burning into his mind. The ribbon device released its killing blow, sending Runihura flying into the farthest wall of the ziggurat.
"Jaffa, kree!" demanded the Goa'uld, as he pointed towards Runihura's lifeless body. "Also, make arrangements for our department from Abayomous. I've grown sick of this wretched land."
The End (until the prologue)