AN: Sorry it took me long to update the story, but real life (such as exam) get in my way. This is the next part, enjoy ... Thanks to JayBee-Bug who beta-read the story and also for the folks in samandjack list who help me with my questions (esp. Rosemary, Ryven and Jo Rauma).
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Part 3: Tut Wuri Handayani.
"From behind, a teacher should be a guide for the students' learning activity."
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Reed and several members of the original rescue team that were susceptible to Durga's pheromone mind-control had been sent back to Earth early that morning. But it didn't matter, as the new arrivals had made a total number of 67 personnel, and almost half of them were women.
The soldiers were divided into six teams. The first one was a five-man team to guard the gate. They would act as a mediator between the assaulting forces and the SGC as well as providing cover fire if necessary. The second one was another five-man team that waited inside the cargo ship, guarding the Rings.
The third one was a twelve-man team, plus Jack and Daniel. Jack was in charge of the whole operation, so his team would head to the Peltac (bridge), to take control of the mothership. His team went up through the transportation rings first to their designated level, and to avoid any nasty surprises, they sent some C4 first. The explosive knocked out any Jaffa waiting for their arrival.
The fourth one was another twelve-man team, plus Sam. She was their team-leader, and her team was responsible for taking control of the main generator. She had sabotaged it earlier and it was her job to make sure that she could fix it when they had everything done. Her team was the second to go up, imitating the same tactic as the first team to clear the ring room of any Jaffa.
The fifth team was led by Teal'c, and it consisted of Halle and ten other soldiers. Green and the rest of them made up the last team. Both teams would sweep the rest of the mothership. They went up in a similar manner as the first two teams.
Each soldier was armed heavily, they were ready and prepared for a big battle. And what a battle it was. Bullet after bullet spat angrily from P-90's from one side while beam after beam from staff weapons were flashing from the other side. Chaos was inevitable as orders and screams of agony mixed everywhere the humans made contact with the Jaffa.
Fortunately, the battle didn't last long. Durga's army was outnumbered and outgunned, and soon, all of the Jaffa were killed or captured. Durga herself surrendered once she realised her hopeless situation. She was in one of the holding cells now. However, the victory was not without casualties from the human's side. Jack counted at least four of his men down, eight of them severely injured, and almost all of them had some kind of cut or bruise. Sadly for them, the sarcophagus was damaged during the cross-fire. Thus it could not be used to resurrect the death or heal the wounded.
He stared blankly at the limp bodies as he sent them down to the cargo ship, ordering them to be taken straight to Earth to receive proper burial and treatment. The rest would stay on the ship and secure it, making sure that there were no nasty surprises waiting behind the doors.
"Colonel, we're ready to go now." Major Grant informed him. He would go together with the wounded and report back to the SGC and debrief General Hammond about the success of their mission so far. "Anything else that you want me to relay to the General, Sir?"
Jack thought about it for a moment. "Nah. Just make sure you get them home and safe, OK."
Grant nodded curtly. Jack's overprotection towards his team was well-known and earned him respect from his junior officers. "I will."
"Good."
Jack watched the rings engulf the Major and leave him alone inside the room. He always hated this part of the job, when he couldn't show any emotion and had to hold back the inevitable tears. He knew most of the victims, he even knew their families. Their deaths were not in vain, far from it; they died for a good cause. But he still couldn't stop the regret he felt for their part.
As the minute passed, he clenched his jaw as he set his emotions like he had done so many times. He still had a job to finish. He turned around and listened to his footsteps echo in the empty corridor. He could only be glad that his retirement would come soon, he didn't think he could keep this up. He was not as young as he used to be and he was so tired of being someone that he was not.
He headed towards Carter's position, she was trying to get the generator back on-line. He needed to see her, just to make sure that she was alright and to check on her progress. Two Lieutenants guarding the generator room straightened their postures when they saw him approaching.
"As you were."
He walked past them and was greeted by the sight of his Major and her temporary minions, (Lieutenant Hailey - her prodigy, Captain Tuppance - SG-4 mechanics and Sergeant Morse - one of Siler's men) who were hovering around the generator, holding a heated discussion about something that went straight over his head.
"Ehem," he cleared his throat to let them know that he was there.
She turned around and smiled at him. "Sir, is everything alright on the bridge?"
"Yes, Daniel is trying to read the ship's logs. As you are well aware, I don't read Goa'uld, so I let him have all the fun."
She rubbed her oily hands on her camouflage pants, attempting to clean them slightly. Then she gave a few instructions to her three sidekicks before she approached him. "Any chance that since I'm also aware you're not a mechanic, you'll let me have my fun too?" She whispered to him so that only he could hear what she was saying.
He glanced at her speculatively as he recognised the invitation for a smart-ass reply. But he didn't feel like it now. "I just need to check on your progress, any news?"
There was something alarming that flickered in her eyes. He rarely turned down her bantering offer. "I think we can have the generator running in around four or five days tops," she answered matter-of-factly, but it didn't completely hide the disappointment in her voice. "I had to make sure to make enough damage in the first place when I sabotaged the generator."
"I see. Keep me informed. I need to check on Teal'c now, I'll see you later." He patted her gently on the shoulder and tuned around.
"Sir." Her voice was laced with worry.
He looked back at her. "Yeah?"
"Are you alright?"
"I'm alright, just tired. It's been a long day." He presented her with a tight smile, acknowledging that his answer was only holding half the truth in it. She looked so dejected from his refusal to open up to her that he was tempted to pull her into a crushing hug, losing himself in her, but he knew better.
"I'll talk to you later, OK?" He tried to assure her. He needed time to think this over and this wasn't the time nor the place to discuss it.
"Okay." The reply came out weakly.
"Go and have fun with your generator," he managed to say before he disappeared from her sight. Even with his back to her, he could see her smile. And it lightened up his mood a bit.
He wandered towards his new destination, Teal'c, in the holding cells' area. Jack had personally asked the Jaffa to guard the Goa'uld -- it's not that he didn't trust the other soldiers, but Teal'c was the only one who could handle the Goa'uld if she tried something funny.
"Teal'c," he called out as soon as he arrived.
"O'Neill. Do you wish to interrogate the prisoner now?" Teal'c was eager, he had expressed his interest over this mysterious queen Goa'uld.
Jack sighed. "Well, we have to do it sooner or later." He smiled tiredly. "Might as well do it now."
Teal'c nodded. "Very well."
Jack turned towards the two Airmen that were guarding the door alongside Teal'c. "You two wait here and be alert. I don't have to tell you what kind of prisoner we have here."
"Yes, Sir," they chorused as they tightened their grip on their weapons.
And then he gave Teal'c the signal to open the holding cell's door. His P-90 was pointed forward, ready to use if necessary. Teal'c was holding a Zat, also preparing himself. They couldn't afford to look down at their prisoner.
As Teal'c punched the control panel, the door started to open. The Goa'uld was standing near the back wall, staring straight into their eyes. She held her head high as she watched Jack and Teal'c enter the room.
This was the first time that Jack saw her. It was Teal'c's team who found and detained her. And his first impression of her was as high as he could give any Goa'uld. She was beautiful, that was undisputable, those snakes did have a high standard when choosing their hosts. Her eyes were as dark as her hair, shiny and smooth at the same time. Her skin was honey-brown, in contrast to the white sari that she wore. But like any other snake-head, Jack could feel her arrogance radiate from where she was standing.
"So ..." he exchanged a look with Teal'c. "This is the Ragu girl."
Durga's eyes were flashing with indignity, but she held her tongue.
"Durga," the Jaffa corrected him. Jack gave him a 'do I look like I really care what her real name is?' look. To which Teal'c replied with his famous lifted eyebrow.
"Are you the leader?" She demanded.
"Yep, that would be me," he answered neutrally, but heightened his awareness. He was well aware that the Goa'uld in front of him was capable of a lot of things. As Carter had mentioned before, she used her human's voice and it was kind of disturbing, but he didn't let it show.
She regarded him for a while, trying to make an assessment of her capturer. "What do you want from me?"
Jack and Teal'c were taken aback. They were unaccustomed to her straight-to-the-point attitude, most snake-heads usually spent their first few minutes gloating about their nature.
"Well, we have several options available to you. None of them will be pleasant, but then again, we don't do pleasant," Jack replied coldly.
She tilted her head to one side. "I would not expect less from you. However," her eyes pierced like a sharp knife. "If I were you, I'd leave Mata while I still can."
Jack raised both his eyebrows. "Oh don't you worry, I don't intend to stay here."
She let out a small chuckle, her voice was surprisingly pleasing. "The foolishness of the human." She shook her head slowly. "I shall enjoy watching the day when you beg on your knees for the mercy of your god."
"Yeah well, just to be clear, which god are we talking about? We've met a lot of gods these past few years." He was irritated by her words.
Her smile was getting wider in spite of the insulting tone that he used. "You will soon learn how to respect your elders, young one," she chastised him like he was a small boy.
Jack shuddered at the use of the phrase that the Nox used to describe the humans in general; it was odd to hear it from the mouth of a Goa'uld. But he was not going to be outwitted. "I'll show you respect when you deserve it."
He jerked his head backward to motion Teal'c to step backward and close the door. This conversation was going nowhere and he was not in the mood to ride the endless merry-go-round of words with the Goa'uld. He waited patiently for the door to close down before turning around to face his team-mates. "What do you think of her?"
"She is ... different," answered the big man.
Jack muttered, "Tell me something I don't know."
"She is very much in control. As if she is waiting for something to happen," Teal'c added.
"Yeah," Jack had to agree with his friend's assessment. She was too calm, and he was pretty sure that it was not how a captive should react, Goa'uld or not. He had a really bad feeling about this. Jack could think of several fates for her as soon as they managed to ship her back to Earth, dead or alive. But they couldn't do it now, because she could take control over the base like Hathor did. "Any suggestions?"
Teal'c took a moment to think. "Perhaps we could interrogate the man."
"Her hostage? The Sappy guy?"
"Shiva," Teal'c once again corrected his friend's misspelling.
"Where's his cell?" Jack ignored the rectification, he didn't really give a damn about his name.
"Just over there, Sir." One of the Airmen who were guarding the holding cells pointed to the door several feet away.
"Teal'c." He headed towards the door with Teal'c following closely behind him. "Ready?" He asked when they had reached the door.
"I am."
Jack opened the door with caution, Carter had already warned him about the man. As he stepped inside, he took his first look at the man. He was sitting on the floor, legs crossed and eyes closed. His hands were rested on his knees, and judging from his position, he was meditating.
"Hello," Jack tried to make him aware of their presence.
The man opened his eyes, showing the deep brown eyes hidden beneath. "Who are you?" He asked.
Jack shrugged his shoulders slightly. "We're the new owners of this ship."
The man regarded him for a moment. "You must be related to the group that was held here yesterday."
"We are."
"What do you want?"
Jack could get used to these direct approaches, it was a nice change as well as saving him precious time and energy. "Who are you?"
The man answered straight away, "I am Shiva."
"Shiva is a god. You are not a god," Teal'c spoke for the first time since he entered the room.
"What does a Jaffa know about god and God," he said acidly.
"What do you know?" Jack turned the tables.
He snorted. "I know enough."
"Why are you here?" Jack asked again.
"It's not your concern."
"Well, this is my ship now and you're in it. It makes it my concern." Jack refused to back down. "The Goa'uld wanted something from you, didn't she? What was it?" He pressed.
"What will you give to me if I tell you?" the man bargained.
"What do you want?" Teal'c asked, more intrigued than he was before.
The man contemplated for a while. "I want Durga."
Jack narrowed his eyes, his demand seemed reasonable, she *did* made him suffer for God knows how long. "What makes you think that we will give her to you?"
"Because you will want what I'm about to give to you more than you want her."
Jack and Teal'c exchanged glances. "And what is it that you're about to give to us?"
He raised his head high. "The Eye of Ra."
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"Are you sure?" Daniel asked enthusiastically. "He really said the Eye of Ra?"
"I am certain," Teal'c confirmed.
Jack held an emergency meeting in the bridge right after Teal'c informed him about the power that the Eye held. He had recalled all high ranking officers to discuss the man's offer.
"Daniel, what do you know about this Eye, exactly?" Carter leaned forwards towards him. The generator was still off-line, but she was confident that she could let her two assistants handle it for the moment.
Daniel pushed up his glasses. "Well, according to the legend, there are six Eyes, some of them are in the possession of Aphopis, Osiris, Tiamat, and Ra. They are powerful and very dangerous, and when they are combined their power can increase ten-fold." He then frowned. "But I was so certain that Ra kept his Eye at Abydos."
"Daniel?" Jack asked for affirmation. If this Eye was so powerful, he had a difficult call to make. He wasn't sure that handing the Goa'uld to the man was a wise decision, but if they could get something out of it, then he had to have the complete information before he made that choice.
"The writings on the wall in one of the Abydos pyramids indicates that the Eye was there," the archaeologist insisted. "I was looking for it when I still lived there." Pain flickered in his eyes as he remembered his home. Jack's heart went out for him, he knew how much Abydos meant to his friend. Daniel continued, "I believe that Ra hid it in a secret chamber there."
"Well, if you couldn't find it there, maybe it isn't there. Or maybe it was there but then Ra moved it out from Abydos," Major Neill, SG-10 leader speculated.
"It could be," Daniel relented at the theory.
"Do you know what the Eye looked like, Daniel?" Jack asked.
"Yes." He fished out his necklace and showed it to them. "This is the necklace that Catherine gave me when I first joined the program. The Eye of Ra is some kind of jewel like it was shown here, I think I can recognise it when I see it."
Jack nodded. "What can we do with it once we have it?" He asked again. There was no point in having the technology if they couldn't use it.
"I don't know," Daniel admitted. "But I'm sure Sam could figure it out." He smiled in her direction. "Or we could always ask the Tok'ra or the Asgard. I'm sure they'd be willing to help us."
"What's on your mind, Sir?" Carter asked as she detected his hesitance.
"He wanted the Goa'uld in exchange for this Eye," he stalled. "The Eye or the Goa'uld. Something just doesn't sit right with me about that."
"What is it, Jack?" Daniel watched him with interest, and so were the others.
"The Goa'uld had tortured him for a long *long* time," he started. "But he didn't give it to her. Why would he hand over the Eye to us just a few days after we met? The Eye must have meant a lot to him. Why would he give it to us just like that? Just for revenge? I don't think so." He thought outloud as his brain cells tried to make sense of it.
"Why not, Sir?" Captain Richardson shrugged. "Hate can do funny things to people."
"Yes, but not to the one who goes through a sarcophagus countless time. He should have turned into a soulless zombie by now, but he's not. He seems to be collected and ... normal," he reasoned.
"Something in his physiology?" Neill offered a weak excuse.
"Could be. But I agree with the Colonel. We can't trust him," said Carter.
He stared at her, amazed at how she read his mind. He never said that, but she could see right through him.
"So, what do you suggest we should do, Sir?" Richardson asked.
He sighed in resignation. He was still uncertain, but he needed to make the decision soon. "I need to talk about this to Hammond first. But I won't recommend taking up his offer. We got the mothership, we don't need the Eye. Not now. Not when we don't know exactly how powerful it is and how to use it."
"What are you planning to do with the man, O'Neill?" Teal'c asked.
He put on his hat and pulled it down his head. "We hold him in his cell for now."
Teal'c nodded. "Very well."
He turned his attention to Daniel. "How's the log going Daniel? Did you manage to get something out of it?"
The linguist replied, "Nothing important for now. I'll let you know as soon as I find anything."
"Carter, what about the generator? Any chance that you could work on it faster?" He didn't like having a ship that could not fly. If there was a hostile situation, it could put them in a dangerous situation. The weapons and shields were also off-line. They were defenceless against any assault, or as Jacob often said, they were 'sitting ducks' right now. He really didn't want to lose the mothership just quite yet.
"Sorry, Sir. I can get some of the systems online tomorrow, but to make it fully operational, we need at least four days."
"Can you work on the shields first?"
"Sir?" She was confused.
"Just humour me, OK. It makes me feel safer."
She gave him a questioning glance but obeyed his request. "I'll do my best."
"How's the patrol going?" He asked the others. Although they had control of the ship, they were still sending patrol throughout it to make sure that there was no loose Jaffa around.
"We found no one so far, Sir," Richardson answered. "But we still haven't covered the whole ship."
"Keep it up." He started to get up. "I'm going down to report to Hammond about this development. Dissmissed."
The small party broke up, and everyone went to resume their jobs as Jack walked towards the transportation rings room. He needed to get down from the ship and radio the SGC from the surface. He didn't have to go back to the Gate, he could ask the men guarding the Gate to open the portal for him and he could communicate from the outside of the cargo ship.
"Sir, wait up."
He turned around to see Cater jogging slightly to catch up with him. He waited until she reached him. "Something wrong, Carter?"
"I need to send a message to SGC as well, Sir. We need extra equipment for the repairs."
"OK."
They walked side by side, their shoulders occasionally brushing against each other. He tried to concentrate on the sound of their footsteps when suddenly he heard a soft chuckle originating from the person beside him.
"What's so funny?" His curiosity got the better of him.
She crooked her head slightly so that their eyes met. "You."
"Me?" He smiled instinctively.
She turned her head back so that she was facing straight ahead. "Yes, you always accuse me of thinking too much. What you were saying about the man proved that you are also doing the same thing."
"That's not thinking too much, that's common sense," he denied her accusation.
"Whatever floats your boat, Sir."
"Watch the tone, Major." He knew that the warning never had an effect on her, but he had to issue one just for the sake of it.
"Me, Sir?" Her face was a picture of innocence that he could never get tired of. He couldn't help but smile at her.
He knew what she was trying to do. He hadn't been himself after the attack, and he knew why. This could be his last mission, *their* last mission. In some ways he dreaded it because he couldn't be by her side during the battles anymore. But on the other hand, he was glad because soon enough he could be with her. He could say and do things that he wasn't allowed to do. And the two opposite feelings had pulled him in different directions. He was aware of this and made up his mind on the matter long ago, but as time was growing near, his resolution seemed to fade away. She was trying to cheer him up, to keep him distracted so that he could overlook his dilemma. She could have written up a list of the things that she needed, but she chose to accompany him instead.
"Thanks, Carter."
She didn't even look up as he said that, didn't say 'What for?' or 'You're welcome'. Instead, she reached for his hand and squeezed it gently. Sometimes she scared him a lot. The way she could easily turn his world upside down just with insignificant gestures. But he would be damned if he let his fear control his actions. He wouldn't and couldn't let her slip away.
Looking at their entwined fingers, he smiled. This reminded him of what he was fighting for, what *they* were fighting for. He couldn't wait until this mission was over.
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to be continue
Things are getting interesting boys and girls, so please do review as always. J
