Thank you for JayBee-Bug who beta-read this story, and also for all of you who read and review this story.
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Sam wiped her sweaty forehead with the sleeve of her T-Shirt. She and her team had been working on the generator for almost 24 hours now. They managed to get the shields to work properly, and the weapons should follow in a couple of hours or so. All she had to do next was concentrate on the hyperspace engine, it was the one which took the most damage. Looking back, she grimaced at her own sabotaging technique, she was pretty sure that her temporary assistants gave her a funny look after they had their first look at the generator. But at that time, she didn't want to take any chances, so she inflicted as many dents as she could.
Another lesson learned from a certain Colonel. And she had proven herself once again to be a diligent student.
"Carter."
She looked around to see the Colonel in question was standing near the entrance.
"Sir. Something wrong?" She could see his annoyance radiating off of him as she approached him.
"We'll trade the Goa'uld for the Eye." The hidden anger was evident in his voice, but he had his order.
"Did they say why, Sir?"
"Apparently the Eye could defend us from Goa'uld attack. Or so they said. Hammond also had the orders from someone up there." He didn't make any effort to conceal the disgust in his eyes. "I'd like to take Teal'c, but I need him to guard the Goa'uld. So I'll take Richardson and maybe Green to accompany this Super guy to the surface."
"Shiva," she corrected him, a smile playing upon her lips.
He grunted but smiled nevertheless. "Not you too. I had enough from Teal'c. I don't know how long it will take. You have the command up here, Major."
"You're not taking Daniel with you, Sir?" Daniel had expressed his desire to look for this Eye and his eagerness to know Shiva better. He said that Shiva could be one of Ra's priests, thus explaining the symbol on his forehead, but not why it was written in Sanskrit.
"No. We need him up here to read the ship's logs. No one can do a better job on that than him."
Understanding his reason, she nodded. "When will you depart?"
He closed his eyes and sighed. "As soon as possible, I suppose. I want to get this done and over with." And then he opened his eyes, smiling sardonically. "I'm far too old for these things."
She couldn't help but gave him a pointed look. "You're not that old, Sir."
"So, any progress on the repairs?" He smoothly changed the subject.
"Shield is online, as you requested. Weapons will soon be in a few moments, we still have a problem with one of the power relays. And it'll take us maybe another forty-eight hours to fix the hyperdrive engine and by then I think we should have all the systems fully operational," she reported.
"Good job, Carter. I'll leave you to it then."
She watched his back as he started to leave.
"Sir."
He turned around to face her.
"Good luck."
"Thanks," he replied with the smile of his own.
As she watched him leave, she sighed deeply. She really wanted to walk beside him until he was out of the mothership, prolonging their contact. Sometimes it sucked being the resident genius. She shook her head to clear her thoughts, she needed to concentrate, she had a generator to fix. No time for playing the victim.
"Tuppance, how's the calibration going?" She asked the SG-4 Captain.
"I need a few more minutes to complete the readings," she replied behind one of the conduits.
Sam acknowledged her. After it was completed, she could start working on the hyperspace engine. Morse and Hailey could handle the weapons system, it was almost ready. She shared the same uneasy feeling with the Colonel, she didn't want to stay at this planet any longer than necessary.
---
She was worried. The Colonel had been gone for more than a day, and they were out of radio range by now. She knew that the Colonel was more than capable of taking care of himself, but she couldn't help it. The repairs had gone according to plan and Daniel had made real progress on the translations.
He found out why and how Mata's citizens disappeared from their planet. They were relocated by Durga to her planet, Agni, as her slaves a long time ago. He also found a record saying that Mata used to be Ra's planet, conforming his suspicion as well as explaining the claim of the existence of the Eye of Ra here. The record also said that there was a priest responsible for Ra's temple here, but there was no mention of his name or the location of the temple. Daniel had difficulty accessing all the logs because most of them were encrypted.
"Sam, you better get here. Fast." Her radio burst into life. The caution in Daniel's voice didn't go amiss.
"I'm on my way." She quickly left the generator room where she had spent most of her time and headed straight towards the bridge. Her three assistants were more than capable of handling the repair work for a while.
"Daniel, what's wrong?" She asked as soon as she arrived.
"You might want to take a look at this." He gestured at the transparent screen in front of him.
She glanced at the image in front of her. "Daniel, tell me it's not what I think it is." She really hated it when this happened.
"Sorry, Sam. I think this is what you think it is." He looked at her apologetically.
She shook her head in defeat. It was no one's fault. "Is it headed towards our direction?"
"Yes," Daniel verified her fears.
"Great. Just great." She just knew that their luck could not be this good. "Do you know whose ship that is?" She asked him again.
"Kali's," he answered somewhat carefully.
"One of Durga's children?"
Daniel nodded.
"How long before the ship arrives here?"
He typed something down on the Goa'uld's computer. "If they keep their speed, I'd say around three hours."
Sam closed her eyes as her headache approached. "We got the shields and the weapons online, can we defend ourselves?"
"Her ship is much more advanced than this one. We could hang on for a while, a *little* while."
Now she knew why Durga was so calm. She knew that her backup would come before the ship could be fixed. But even though the repairs were done, Sam could not leave Mata's orbit. The Colonel was still down there, somewhere.
"What are we going to do now, Ma'am?" Halle asked. She was helping Daniel with the translation with several other linguists.
She looked at the younger woman's trusting eyes and weighed her options. She could abandon the ship and head back towards the Gate on foot, but she knew that they wouldn't have enough time. And she really didn't want to let this ship go. Besides, the Colonel had to be informed about it and she didn't have a way to do that. Or she could try her luck and fight back, but with what cost? She couldn't risk their lives more than she already had. They might still have Durga in their custody, but there was no telling whether Kali wanted her dead or alive. Goa'uld had a very dubious morality, and she just couldn't take the chance.
"Daniel, how far is the sun from here and how long would it take us to go there with thrusters only?" She started to plan her way out of this predicament.
Daniel raised his eyebrows. "What are you planning to do?"
"I haven't planned anything yet. I just wanted to keep all of my options open," she told him.
He turned around and started to calculate the information that she needed. The display in front of him showed the result. "It'll take us around an hour to reach the closest sun."
"Good, contact the engine room and let them know that I want them to concentrate on bringing the thrusters online. Forget about the hyperdrive for now. Hopefully we can get that to work in time."
Daniel complied as she reached for her radio. "Teal'c, come in."
Almost instantaneously the Jaffa replied, "I am here, Major Carter."
"Something came up, I'm heading towards your direction. We need to ask more questions of our guest of honour."
"I will be ready."
"Good. Carter out." She put her radio back in her vest's pocket. "Daniel, I'll try to dig some information from the Goa'uld. Although I'm highly skeptical that she will be willing to answer my questions. Could you make an announcement and have everyone gather at the bridge for briefing as soon as possible? Tell them about our situation and let them know that I'll explain what we're going to do next after I come back. And have someone contact the SGC as well."
"Consider it done." Daniel smiled encouragingly.
As soon as she arrived at the holding cell area, she quickly let Teal'c know about their present situation. Wasting no time, they entered Durga's cell to question her.
"You know that Kali is coming, don't you?"
The Goa'uld just smiled at the question with no attempt to answer it.
But Sam was not to be deterred. "What do you want from us?"
"You're smart enough to know what I want," came the vague reply.
"You wish to enslave us," Teal'c stated evenly.
"Yes. I was always intrigued by the Tauri and the Sholva. You will make an excellent addition for my army." She averted her eyes to Sam. "I have to thank you for bringing more of your people here. I was disappointed when I lost the three interesting prisoners, but then I found out that you had brought more people for me."
Sam didn't miss the irony as she clenched her fists tightly. She did suggest the raid on the mothership and thus having more of her people on this damn planet.
"You can dream all you like but it won't happen. I won't let it happen," she said through gritted teeth.
"You cannot run away from your destiny," Durga said dryly.
"I build my own destiny, thank you very much. And being your slave is not on my list. Believe me when I say that I'll do anything to make sure that it won't happen ... even if it includes killing you."
She shocked herself after she said that. She was no saint, as a soldier, she had killed many people. However this was the first time she threatened someone and really meant it. She would do it without hesitation when it came to that. If this made her a cold-blooded killer, then so be it. As long as she could keep her people away from danger.
Durga smiled indulgently. "You need me alive. My child, Kali would be very upset if she found out that you had harmed her mother. She is a sweet child but has a bad temper."
Sam hated to recognise the truth in her words. "What makes you think that Kali will not turn her back on you? I never really found a perfect family picture amongst you. Does she really love you in the way that you wish her to?" She tried to put some doubts in the Goa'uld's mind.
Durga laughed out loud. "Love? There's no such foolish feeling between us. She respects and fears me. She wants me alive."
"You provided her with Goa'uld larva," Teal'c said.
"I provide much more than that."
"Like what?"
"It is not your concern."
Sam bit her lower lip to keep her head cool. Talking to a Goa'uld was always a frustrating activity. But at least now she knew that Kali would not blast this ship away as long as Durga was in it. As she said, Kali needed her. But can she afford trusting the word of a Goa'uld? The Colonel always said that their word was as good as a rotten fish. And she tended to agree with him concerning this matter.
She gestured Teal'c to walk away from the cell and closed the door. She then turned around to face him.
"What do you think? Can we trust her word? Does Kali really need her?" She bombarded him with questions.
The Jaffa considered his answer for a moment. "Goa'uld are never to be trusted. But I do believe that Kali does not want her deceased. A Goa'uld queen is rare, especially the one with Durga's ability."
"Ability? What ability?"
"There was a legend amongst the Jaffa that Durga is proficient in producing an advanced Goa'uld, who is more strong and powerful than an average Goa'uld. Unlike the normal Goa'uld, this advanced Goa'uld could only be produced one at a time and it took longer for the larva to mature. The maturation process itself could only be done inside the queen's body. The longer correlation between the larva and the queen was believed to create a bond between them, ensuring the loyalty of this new Goa'uld to their queen," Teal'c explained.
Her eyes went wide as she realised. "She carried the larva like a human mother carried her child."
The Jaffa raised his eyebrow. "That is a valid comparison. If Kali is one of these advanced Goa'uld, then ..."
"I got it."
A mother-child bond between Goa'uld, who would've thought? But she could understand it; for sentient beings, the more intelligent they are, the greater their need for affection. And she knew how lonely it was to be someone who was ... different. People were always intimidated by her achievements, by her brain, and she knew that her attitude didn't help either. She was always suspicious about people who had an interest in her, afraid that there was some ulterior motive behind it. Being a General's daughter had its ups and downs.
But she was different now. She met the right people. The ones who accepted her just the way she was, although she had a difficult time opening up to them at first. It was Cassie who showed her the way. Cassie trusted her implicitly even though the little girl knew almost nothing about her.
It took her by surprise as she realised that she had never thought about this before, that a Goa'uld could feel the solitude of life as well. That a Goa'uld was not as ignorant to its own feelings as she had first thought. But she couldn't make it a generalisation. Durga seemed to be a special case, besides, the other Goa'uld didn't have the same ability as hers.
"I need to go to the bridge now. Stay here and keep an eye on her."
Teal'c bowed slightly.
"Thanks Teal'c."
She headed back to the bridge slowly as she planned their strategies. She was so engrossed in her thoughts that she didn't realise that she had reached her destination.
"Sam, Hailey said that they could get the thrusters online in two hours." Daniel wasted no time to let her know.
She looked up as Daniel's voice stopped her trail of thought. "Two hours? We won't have enough time ... " she mumbled.
She was planning to hide behind the sun so that Kali's sensors could not detect the ship, as the radiation from the sun would provide interference to the sensors. But she had to scrap that plan now. Kali would arrive in less than three hours, and they needed one hour to reach the sun.
"Sam?" Daniel asked as he noticed her silence.
Her eyes met his as she made up her mind. "Tell Hailey not to be bothered about the thrusters. I'll go there in a moment after I finish here."
"OK."
She turned away from Daniel and found the bridge to be crowded with SGC personnel. They had already been briefed about the situation and were waiting for her. She walked towards the throne in the middle of the room and climbed on it. The extra height helped her to see all the officers inside the room.
"Atten-hut," she said to gain their attention.
All the soldiers straightened their pose and started to form an organised line. And then she told them what to do. She might like what she was about to instruct, but she didn't have many choices. This was the least she could do.
Once she finished, everybody went on their way to do as they were told, some stayed behind to ask for some more specific instructions regarding their orders. She then asked Captain Johnson from SG-3 to relay her tactics to the SGC and Halle to inform Teal'c about the latest development. After she finished with that, she went back straight to the engine room, briefing her assistants about the latest situation. She also checked up on the others, making sure that everything went according to plan. After everything was done, she headed straight towards the launch bay, where she knew Teal'c would be waiting. And waiting he was. Next to one of the only two cargo ships left inside the launch bay.
"Teal'c, is everything ready?"
"It is."
"Good. How's the evacuation going?"
"It went well. Four Tel'tac have left and are on their ways towards the Stargate."
She noticed the other cargo ship. "What about that one? Why hasn't it left yet?"
"They are waiting for Major Neill's team."
Right on cue, the Major arrived. His team brought several crates with them and they put it straight into the ship. Sam was moving towards him.
"Is everything ready, Major?"
"Yes, Ma'am. We just loaded the last cargo, we'll be leaving as soon as possible," he reported.
The evacuation was done step by step. She might not have a choice but to lose the ship, but she would be damned if she didn't take this opportunity to rip it apart and take whatever technology she could get her hands on. The first four cargo ships were also loaded with the ship's bits and pieces.
She nodded. "Very well. Let's go then."
"Ma'am," Halle's voice interrupted her.
She saw past Neill's shoulder to where she was standing. She was appointed to the Major's ship. "Yes, Lieutenant."
"I'd like permission to accompany you."
"Permission denied. I don't want to risk any more lives than I already have."
Sam's cargo ship would not go straight to the Stargate like the others, but would search for Colonel O'Neill's team. Kali's mother ship was due to arrive in less than half an hour, she was hoping that she could find them long before that. The Colonel's team traveled by foot, so they shouldn't be that far. But this was still dangerous. The rest of SG-1 would be in this ship, alongside Durga. She could not just send her to the SGC, the risks of her taking over the world with her pheromone-like substance were too great.
"With all due respect, Ma'am, one of my team mates is out there somewhere. It doesn't feel right for me if I just sit here doing nothing," Halle persisted.
"You're not doing nothing. You'll be helping Major Neill, following his orders, making his life a little bit easier."
Sam caught the smile that Neill had, and soon realised that she had just make a very Jack O'Neill remark. Not a bad one either.
"Please Ma'am. This is SG-Alpha's mission to start with. I really want to see it through," Halle pleaded. She made a good point, Sam would be very devastated if she was in her position and her request was denied. But this was a matter of life and death. She couldn't make an exception.
"I'm sorry, Halle. I couldn't ..."
"Major Carter, perhaps we could use Lieutenant Halle's assistance in the near future," Teal'c interrupted her.
Sam relented because she trusted Teal'c's judgement. And he was right, she could use some help later on. She glanced at Teal'c who just stood there stoically.
"OK then. Hop in," she said to Halle after a moment of consideration.
Halle's face brightened. "Yes, Ma'am."
***
To be continue.
Yup, the story gets more complicated. *sigh* look what I have done to myself, now I have to find a way to get them out of trouble. Oh well, anyway, please do let me know if you want something to be done. Thanks for reading.
