AN: Thanks for everyone who had send the review. And to answer Satans Angels questions: no one is going to die (well, at least not yet ... g). Enjoy.
***
Sam and Halle had contacted the SGC and sent the digital images of the drawings on the walls and the irrigation system. The General had promised her to have someone to take a look at it (namely Daniel) and inform her about the finding the next time her team checked in. Now they were on their way to catch up with the boys.
She was slightly upset not to hear the Colonel's voice through the radio. It shouldn't mean anything. The Colonel might be busy with paperwork or in the middle of a very important meeting. But she still couldn't chase the discontentment away. She bit her lower lip and chided herself for being unreasonable and feeling disappointed over nothing.
The two women walked casually while still maintaining
their guard. Their hands were glued to their P-90, ready to use them if the
situation called for it.
"You seem to have gotten over your differences with Green," Sam
started a conversation. She had noticed that they were much more comfortable
with each other compared to just a few weeks before.
Halle looked baffled, but quickly recovered. "He's a fine guy once you know him, I guess." She shrugged her shoulder absently. "There are some things that we didn't see eye to eye on, but we talked it over."
Sam's mouth twitched. It was good to know that she
didn't have to worry about the way they acted towards each other anymore. She
knew that they would behave professionally on a mission, but if there was bad
blood between the two of them, their performance would be affected
nevertheless.
"That's good," she replied.
Everything that had happened between them was their business; she wouldn't pry on it.
"Do you mind me asking a question, Major?" Halle fiddled with the strap of her P-90 in an attempt to channel her anxiety.
Sam looked at her out of the corner of her eye. "Sure."
Halle released a sigh and licked her lips while Sam waited patiently for her to speak up. They kept on walking in silence for around five minutes.
"Any time now would be great, Halle." Sam put on a teasing smile.
Halle blushed in embarrassment. "I'm sorry, Ma'am. I was just trying to figure out how to put it into words."
"Take you time," Sam assured her.
Halle ran her fingers through her short black hair and cursed. "Damn."
Sam was worried now. Halle looked like she was confused and ... lost, her usual confidence and poise replaced by hesitancy. She knew what was bothering her was eating her alive. She carefully asked, "Is it something important?"
Halle's head shot up quickly, answering the question without words. Her brown eyes were filled with surprise.
Sam slowly added, "You can trust me."
"I do, Ma'am," Halle instantaneously replied. "It's just that ..."
Sam turned to her side and put one arm on the younger woman's shoulder to stop them both from walking. She took the imitative to ask her questions. "You have a problem?"
Halle nodded meekly.
"Does it have anything to do with your family?"
She shook her head.
"Your pet?"
Halle smiled at that before answering, "No."
"I give up." Sam raised both of her hands in surrender. "Tell me."
Halle licked her lip. "It's my boyfriend," she finally admitted.
Sam frowned in confusion. "I didn't know you had one."
Inside SGC, almost everybody knew everybody. It was a small community.
Halle avoided her eyes and looked down, as if she was feeling guilty. "I ... it's not something that I want to be broadcast around the SGC."
Sam was puzzled. Having a boyfriend wasn't something to be ashamed of. "Why not?"
"He used to be my superior officer." Halle's answer came in soft whispered that Sam almost missed it.
He was once her superior officer?
Sam smiled wryly as she recalled the conversation that they had in the locker room approximately two weeks ago. So, Halle understood a lot more about her situation than she let on.
They started to walk again.
"Did he mistreat you?" she asked softly,
feeling closer to the woman in front of her than before. They were in the same
boat, in a manner of speaking.
"No, no. On the contrary, he was very sweet." Halle
smiled sadly at her own admission.
Sam was exasperated. Halle had a difficult time opening up to her, but Sam could comprehend this; the subject she brought up was a sensitive one. She acknowledged the reason for Halle's confession was because she trusted her. Being a woman in military was not easy. They were vulnerable to prejudice and sexual harassment, and that was why they tended to stick together.
"Tell me how you two got together." Sam tried to distract her from the main problem for a while.
Halle tilted her head and closed her eyes, revisiting her past.
"He was my first CO after I graduated from the Academy. I hated him at first. He was the typical hard-ass superior officer." Halle opened her eyes and smirked at her. "Kind of like Colonel O'Neill."
Sam grinned back. "The first impression is always ... fascinating."
She was reminded of the first time she met Colonel
O'Neill. He still hadn't cashed in on her arm-wrestling invitation. Shame
really, because she
was desperate to know whether those particular pair of arms were as strong as
they looked.
"Well, this wasn't fascinating. He was a ..." Halle paused to search for the correct term. "Cold fish."
Sam suppressed a grin. The word said it all. He was a very private person, who would only interact professionally with his subordinates.
Halle continued. "He was okay at work, but when we were off-duty, he would ignore me completely and acted like I didn't even exist. I could handle being given a hard time, I could handle being shouted at all the time, but he really ticked me of by disregarding me." She drew a breath. "And then I confronted him about it, and do you know what he said?" Her eyes were full of fire when she recited the event.
Sam had to swallow her laugh. Halle was so alive when she talked about him. "No, what did he say?"
"He said, while *frowning*, 'Why do you care?' Can you believe that guy?" Her eyes were full of annoyance.
Sam felt a little bit bad because she was enjoying Halle's outburst. "Hey, he was a guy, what did you expect," she tried to offer a reason.
Halle rolled her eyes. "I swear, Ma'am. He was driving me crazy, so ... so ... so ...," she stammered at the end, her face was red.
"So?" Sam's tone was raised at the end, her eyebrow lifted playfully.
Halle smiled sheepishly. "Come to think of it now, he must've thought I was insane."
"What did you do?"
"I decided to make give him a taste of his own medicine."
"Halle, what *did* you do?" Sam was beyond curious. She had to know what had happened.
She grinned proudly. "I stalked him."
"You didn't." Sam's eyes widened in mock-horror.
The grin was insistent. "Oh yeah, I turned into a
stalker. It was fun, actually. I was really tempted to test how far his cool
composure would last. I was
never the one to refuse a challenge."
Sam was speechless. She hadn't seen that one coming.
Halle picked up where she left off. "And then his behaviour towards me changed little by little. I guess he was sick of my stalking and thought that acting a little civil towards me would suffice, and I would leave him alone eventually. Unfortunately for him, I wouldn't accept anything less than him losing his self-control, and I swore I'd never stop harassing him until I achieved that."
"Did you?"
The smirk on her face disappeared, replaced by tenderness. "No. He never lost his cool, but we lost our common sense." Her head was tilted to one side. "We became involved. Something that should not have happened."
Sam studied her for a moment, recognizing the regret in her voice. There were some things that common sense didn't have an answer for. "You can control your actions, but not your feelings. Don't beat yourself up over it."
"That's the problem."
"What do you mean?"
"He resigned for me. Even though I wasn't sure about my feelings for him, he said that he wanted to take the chance. And he did. Everything was fine until a month later when I was offered a position at the SGC. *A month*." Her eyes were wet with tears that threatened to fall. "If only we had waited."
"Do you love him?" Sam asked quietly, careful to avoid upsetting her further.
"I was attracted to him. But love? I don't know. I wish I knew. God, I wish I knew." Sadness, guilt, lament, and pain were blended as one.
"Major Carter, come in." Green's urgent voice came though the radio, preventing Sam from comforting the Lieutenant.
"Go ahead," she quickly answered, putting a reassuring hand on Halle's back.
"Ma'am, you have to see this."
"Where are you?" She barely hid her concern.
"Just follow the pipe, Ma'am. We'll meet you halfway."
"We'll be there shortly."
"Copy that. Green out."
As soon as the transmission ended, Sam turned towards her companion. "We'll continue this later, OK?" She gave her the reassurance that she would help her through the problem.
Halle could only nod in response.
They had a job to do.
---
"Oh. My. God," was all Halle managed to say.
"She's beautiful, isn't she?" Green beamed with excitement.
Sam still couldn't believe her eyes. She adjusted the binoculars and found it still there, hovering in the sky. It was high enough for the UAV to miss, but low enough for the naked eyes to see its presence, probably just outside the planet's atmosphere.
A Goa'uld mothership.
Just sitting there.
"What should we do, Ma'am?" Reed asked, anxious.
The pipe had led them to another hill, higher than the one in which the temple was located. There was a tree line on top, and once they went through it, they were greeted by a wide, but shallow waterfall. The lake was relatively small and the water was deep blue.
Scanning their surroundings with the binoculars, something else caught her eye. She refocused the lens to get a better view.
A Tel'tac.
The Goa'uld cargo ship was settled on the ground, covered with twigs and dry leaves, located near the lake. It seemed as if it was abandoned a long time ago.
"What is it, Major?" Green asked curiously.
She handed him the binoculars. "Two o'clock."
He quickly scanned the area. "Man, this is getting better and better."
"What are we going to do now, Ma'am?" Reed was asking for instructions.
Her brain tried to assess the new situation.
A mothership in the sky and a cargo ship on the ground.
It didn't look good. There was a big possibility that there was a Goa'uld
running around on
this planet. She didn't know how long that cargo ship had been deserted, or how
many Jaffa and Goa'uld were on it
when it first landed. The deserted passangers might have used the Stargate to
escape the planet, but what about the mothership?
"We're going to check it out. Reed, you wait here and provide cover for us."
Her orders were quickly followed.
Sam, Green and Halle proceeded with caution towards the spacecraft, using the trees and rocks for cover. Weapons were ready, eyes and ears were opened, and step by step they neared their goal.
They could see that the door was open, inviting them to enter. Sam was the first to step through, sweeping the area with the end of her P-90. She checked the control room first, finding it empty.
"I guess no one is home," Green stated.
"Let's hope so."
She was had a nagging feeling about the whole thing. She was missing something, she just didn't know what.
Halle approached the control panel and typed something on it.
"I'm going to try accessing the ship's log. Maybe it could tell us something."
"You do that. Green, let's check the cargo bay."
As they approached the door, Sam and Green took up positions at either side of the entryway. She punched the combination to open the door, and waited anxiously as it parted. Green walked inside slowly while she provided cover.
Deciding that it was safe, Green gave her a nod. She lowered her weapon slightly. An item placed in the center of the room caught her attention.
A sarcophagus.
First a mothership, then a cargo ship, and now a sarcophagus.
Something odd was definitely happening here.
Green whistled. "I heard that Dr. Fraiser needs one of these babies in her infirmary."
She licked her lips. "Let's open it."
Green pointed his weapon at the golden case while she ran her fingers along its smooth surface. It was covered in symbols that she had never seen before. Her fingers traveled towards the big yellow stone at the top and moved it slightly. The lid opened, thin smoke escaping from the box.
"Jesus Christ."
Sam looked down to see what had made Green react so strongly, and she drew a sharp breath.
A man was lying inside.
His face was pale, his body marked with scars, old and new. He was wearing nothing but a piece of animal-skin cloth that covered his modesty. His skin was light brown, his long black hair tied back neatly, and there was a mark on his forehead. The marking was somewhat consistent to the one on the sarcophagus. It seemed like the box had just finished its job and the man hadn't regain consciousness yet.
"Not a Goa'uld." She couldn't sense the presence of naquada from him.
"What should we do now, Ma'am?"
She checked his neck for a pulse, finding it faint and slow, but still there. She couldn't leave him there. Whoever put him there would soon be back.
And that meant there was someone else roaming around this planet.
Someone who was familiar with Goa'uld technology.
"We'll get him out of here."
Green quickly hoisted the limp body into a fireman lift, knowing time was of the essence. He secured his hold on the other man and adjusted his position over his shoulders to make it more comfortable for both of them.
There was no time to check the other rooms inside the Tel'tac before Reed's warning came through the radio as the two officers exited the cargo bay.
"Major, there's a group of people approaching the Tel'tac. You better hide."
"Oh shit," Sam cursed, her eyes wandering around the ship, looking for a hiding place. She found none.
But Halle was still in front of the ship's control panel.
"Halle, close the door!"
Halle fingers danced frantically, and after a few second she shook her head in defeat. "The door didn't take the command, Ma'am."
Damn. This was not good. Not at all.
Sam gestured the two officers to follow her.
"OK, we'll retreat back to the cargo bay. Green, put him back inside the sarcophagus."
Green quickly settled the limp body back in the golden coffin and closed it as Halle sealed the door. There were some crates stacked in several places, and they moved to hide behind them.
Sam keyed her radio and hissed, "Reed, come in."
"Reed here."
"Listen, we're inside the cargo bay. If you don't hear from us in the next hour, go back to the gate and ask for reinforcements. Don't even think about playing hero, got it?"
She didn't know what would happen when the people arrived in the cargo bay, so she had to prepare for the worse.
"Copy that."
She could hear footsteps and they were getting closer.
"Good. Maintain radio silence and don't try to contact us, okay? *We'll* contact you. Carter out," she said hastily as she turned the radio off without waiting for a reply. She couldn't afford compromising their location. Glancing at her two companions, she let them know that she wanted them to do the same. They complied.
The footsteps halted for a moment to allow the cargo bay's door to part before they resumed.
She held her breath, tucking herself further back was against the crates. She closed her eyes as a familiar shiver assaulted her body. At least one of the new arrivals had a symbiote inside them. She could sense it in her blood.
Green was next to her, and Halle was right beside him.
She gave a hand-signal to inform them of the nature of the person who had just entered the room. They tensed at the revelation, but she once again communicated with her hand. It could be a Tok'ra or a rebel Jaffa. There was no reason to feel anxious yet.
They could hear the sarcophagus open.
"Welcome back," greeted a feminine voice. The tone was as soft as a silk, sultry and yet cruel. Sam resisted the urge to take a peek to see what was going on. It would do them no good if they were caught.
"Why didn't you answer me back?" the woman asked.
It was obvious that she was talking to the man that the SG-Alpha team had seen.
Receiving no answer, she ordered coldly, "Jaffa, kree! Lock him back in the storage. Let his petty weak body recover."
The man was coughing as the Jaffa handled him. From the sound of it, he was yanked out of the sarcophagus none too gently and dragged carelessly. He obviously didn't have enough energy to stand on his own.
"Stop this meaningless stubbornness and tell me where it is," the woman icily demanded.
The Jaffa stopped in their tracks as their goddess finished her sentence.
The man laughed wryly at her, and a touch of sadness underlay in his answer that came in a hoarse whisper.
"Never."
The woman was losing her patience. Her irritation was voiced in her order.
"Get him out of my sight. NOW."
Her Jaffa complied and the man was taken forcefully outside as he screamed and taunted.
"NEVER, you hear me? I'll NEVER tell you where it is."
As the door closed, his voice subsided to complete silence.
THUNK.
Something metallic was thrown in the direction of the door.
"INSOLENCE!"
The woman was furious. Her attempts had failed, and her fuming breath echoed throughout the room as her desperation escalated.
THUNK.
Another object was thrown in the direction of the door.
"Insolence!" she muttered more calmly than before, but the hatred was still there.
Thunk.
The third object was also thrown in the same direction as the last two, but with less violence.
"Insolence," she said as neutrally as possible, as if she had found her balance again.
Sam was surprised to still feel the presence of the symbiote, and judging from the way she had ordered the Jaffa, there was no question she was a Goa'uld. But she used a normal human voice instead of the distorted one, and she was a lot more emotional than any other Goa'uld she had ever met. She gripped her P-90 tightly.
She felt like she had been waiting for eternity when finally door was opened once more followed by footsteps indicating that the woman was leaving the room. She counted to ten before she peeked around the side of the crate.
The cargo bay was empty.
She let out a sigh before turning to the rest of her team.
"We'll stay here for a moment."
They nodded and began to relax, but they still hadn't moved from behind the crates. They knew that the Goa'uld and the Jaffa could come back inside at anytime. It was safer to stay hidden.
She reached for her radio. "Reed, this is Carter."
"Major, are you alright?" Reed's relief was hard to miss.
"Yes, we are, but we're kind of trapped here. They didn't see us. Can you tell us when the Jaffa and the Goa'uld leave the ship?"
"Jaffa and Goa'uld?" He was shocked by the disclosure.
"I can't go into details now, but ... yes. Jaffa and Goa'uld."
"But they didn't wear the usual Goa'uld armory."
She shared a look with Green and Halle. "What do you mean?"
"They wore normal clothes, Ma'am. I couldn't see too clearly from here, but if they were Jaffa, they definitely weren't wearing the usual gear."
The news sank in. Now that she thought of it, Sam didn't hear the usual clanking sounds of metal against metal when the Jaffa had approached.
"Copy that. Just let us know when they leave, okay? We'll maintain radio contact every half hour. If we missed it, assume the worst."
There was silence at the other end for a while before he confidently replied, "I will. Reed out."
She put her radio back inside her vest pocket, and then turned to face two pairs of eyes.
"Halle, do you know what this symbol means?"
She drew the mark on the man's forehead on the floor. The presence of a thin layer of dust on the gray surface helped her in visualizing the shape.
Halle raised an eyebrow. "I would've guessed that it was Sanskrit, but I don't know what it means. I'm not really familiar with the language."
"Sanskrit? What's that?" Green asked curiously.
"It's the sacred language of the Hindu religion. An ancient literary and classical language of India."
Sam nodded as Halle explained.
"Major, do you have any idea what 'it' was? The Goa'uld seemed desperate enough to have 'it'." Green looked at her in anticipation.
She raised her hands. "I'm as clueless as you guys. For all I know, it could be as worthless as a hairpin or as dangerous as a weapon of mass destruction."
Facing Halle, she asked, "Did you manage to find anything from the ship's log?
Halle shook her head solemnly. "No, it was encrypted, and I couldn't read it."
Green grinned slightly. "Typical SG-1 luck. I should have known from the moment I signed the paper to join this team."
She couldn't help but frown as Halle joined Green in grinning. "What do you mean?"
Halle was in agreement with the Captain. "Oh, come on, Ma'am. Do your really believe that this could happen to another team?"
Keeping her blank look -- the perfect imitation of Colonel O'Neill's patent 'Huh?' look, she retorted back, "You mean it didn't?"
***
To be continue
Please let me knew how you think about it so far. Go on, click the review button, you know you want to. g
blue-topaz@lycos.com
