Chapter Four: Whispers in the Dark…
Carter froze at the threat and she looked over at Hailey briefly. The injured young woman stared back with her good eye and shook her head, whispering.
"Don't tell them anything, Major."
Scorpius sighed, lowering the weapon. "Somehow I feel this could be a waste of time. If Crichton showed me anything about you humans, he taught me that you are a self sacrificing lot." Scorpius shook his head in disgust. "I have more effective and entertaining methods of interrogation, that are also less time consuming."
In a flash, Scorpius raised the pistol again and fired one shot into Hailey's chest. The impact of the 9MM slug slammed her backwards as the two Peacekeepers holding her simply let go, allowing her to drop to the ground.
"NO!" Carter screamed as she went into a berserk rage, fighting and kicking at Scorpius as he grinned down at the body of the young lieutenant before tossing the pistol away.
"A very loud and messy weapon considering how easily you humans bleed."
He barely registered the punches and kicks from Carter before he slowly applying more pressure to her throat until she couldn't breath. Scorpius watched her intently as she gasped for breath that she couldn't get before her eyes finally rolled into the back of her head and she sank into unconsciousness.
Satisfied that the human wouldn't be giving them anymore trouble, he handed her off into the waiting arms of the two nearby Peacekeepers and proceeded to the Dialing Home Device to open the return gate back to Tobin.
Laying motionless on the ground, Hailey was amazed that she was still alive. The pain she felt was crushing agony, but the fear of them finishing her off helped force her to remain still. Scorpius had shot her just below the rib cage. A couple inches higher and he could have struck her in the heart.
As she listened to the sounds about her, Hailey realized that she couldn't hear Major Carter anymore. That worried her.
Soon, she heard someone entering co-ordinates into the DHD which was quickly followed by the ever familiar 'kawoosh' of the stargate activating. Hailey was thankful when she heard the Peacekeepers starting to move back towards the stargate.
Even though she was in the desert in mid afternoon, she felt a growing chill. Hailey knew she was bleeding to death, but if they left her alone, she might make it. Provided the other SG teams found her.
She listened to the Peackeepers walking up the stargate platform, probably to return home. A minute later there was silence. She heard no more movement or foot steps, just the gentle rippling noise of the gate's event horizon. Taking a risk, Hailey opened her eyes to look at the co-ordinates dialled into the DHD to see where they went.
Upon cautiously opening her eyes, she discovered that the aliens were gone, they had even taken the bodies of their fallen comrades with them. Hailey then struggled to see the entire panel to the DHD. She was too low to the ground to see them all. With a lance of pain shooting through her mild section, she sat up halfway to take another look. For a second, Hailey thought that she was going to pass out from the effort, but she concentrated on the lit glowing symbols on the DHD and memorized them.
The young lieutenant smiled in triumph before the stargate disengaged.
"TEAL'C! HAILEY!"
Colonel O'Neill and the rest of the SG teams crested over the top of the last dune and came charging down it's side, looking left and right for possible hostiles, but found none. The entire area was shot to pieces. Blasted crates and equipment littered the desert floor. O'Neill continued to scan left and right, but he couldn't find Major Carter.
"Daniel! Check Teal'c!" O'Neill shouted to the archaeologist, who had amazingly managed to keep pace with him during the entire run across the desert.
As Daniel headed for Teal'c, O'Neill reached Hailey just as she collapsed back to the ground. Dropping to her side, he noticed the blood stain spreading across her uniform as well as the brutal injuries to her battered face. He went to check her chest wound when she weakly grabbed his forearm.
"It was... Scorpius... He took Major Carter... We couldn't stop them."
O'Neill was joined by two other SG members who were breaking out their first aid kits to try to slow the lieutenant's bleeding. He watched as Hailey started to lose consciousness.
"Stay with us Hailey!" O'Neill shouted, grabbing her shoulder, shaking her awake. "Don't quit on me Lieutenant!"
The young woman's eyes snapped open again, trying to focus on O'Neill. She managed a smile. "Yes, sir."
"Jack!" Daniel shouted from his position the other side of the camp with several other SG members. "Teal'c is alive, but he's in bad shape."
O'Neill gave a big sigh of relief. They were alive, but they still had to get them back to the SGC fast. "Someone, start dialling for home."
One SG member ran up to the DHD and quickly started punching in the co-ordinates for Earth.
Hailey suddenly started pulling O'Neill down towards her. "I saw the co-ordinates... I know where they went."
O'Neill held her hand, leaning close to her. "Can you tell me?"
Hailey nodded and named the star constellations used. "Pegaus... Gemini... Lynx... Leo Minor... Bootes... Norma... Got that?"
O'Neill nodded. "I got it. You did good, Hailey."
"Sir..." Hailey's good eye started to well up with tears. "... I don't want to die..."
O'Neill stared at her for a second. Hailey seemed so small now, so fragile. "You're not going to die because we're not going to let it happen." He tried to reassure her. "Look at me, you're going to live. Do I have to make it an order?"
Hailey calmed down slightly. She smiled gratefully to the Colonel. "No, sir... I'm no quitter."
Just then, the stargate flared to life. O'Neill checked the GDO transmitter on his wrist and keyed in the code for the SGC to open the iris and let them in. "Lets get them home. Look lively people!"
Looking over to Daniel, he already saw him, with the help from two other SG members, lifting up a heavily bandaged and unconscious Teal'c to carry him to the gate.
"We're done, Colonel." A female SG member said as she finished wrapping Hailey's wound.
Without waiting for help, O'Neill reached down, lifted Hailey up himself, and made a straight line for the gate. Stepping through, with their wounded SG team members, they were taken back to Earth.
Emerging on the other side in the SGC, it arrived in a bees nest of activity. Everyone shouting was for medical teams to get to the gate room immediately. Scores of medical personnel soon came rushing in, carrying equipment and stretchers. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Doc. Frasier looking after Teal'c, who was the most critically wounded, before wheeling the Jaffa away to surgery.
A doctor in a white lab coat suddenly appeared before O'Neill. He pointed to a waiting stretcher. "Lay her down here, sir."
He put Hailey down and two soldiers started to carry her to the medical faculty, but Hailey didn't want to let go of O'Neill's hand. She stared at him with her good eye, Hailey wanted him to stay with her.
"Lieutenant, you have to let him go." The doctor pleaded gently to Hailey.
With a heavy heart, O'Neill reached down and disengaged her hand from his and rested it on her chest. He leaned down and said softly.
"Hey, the docs need to look after you. I promise that I'll be the first ugly mug you'll see when you wake up."
Hailey smiled faintly before they carried her off. This left O'Neill alone for a moment to absorb everything that had happened just moments ago. Samantha was kidnapped by Scorpius and in the process both Teal'c and Hailey were badly wounded. O'Neill always took it personally when someone harmed the people under his command. He was looking forward to the chance to teach Scorpius a harsh lesson in diplomacy and good manners.
"How's Hailey?"
O'Neill turned to see Daniel Jackson beside him now. "I don't know, she was still conscious when they took her. How's Teal'c?"
"Doctor Frasier said the only thing that's probably keeping Teal'c going was his symbiont."
"They'll make it. Both of them." O'Neill said slowly.
He hated losing people. "They'll make it," he repeated to himself.
***
"I thought that spacebird of yours was almost out of fuel?"
Sheba looked up to see Crichton strolling into the maintenance hangar as she sat in her viper's cockpit doing a quick system diagnostic on her craft. "It is, but I still have about a ten percent of fuel reserve left. Not enough for a major trip, but just enough for one more battle."
Crichton walked up along the flank of her fighter. "I don't like that idea."
"We could use its firepower and it still has four solonite missiles in the belly. According to Aeryn, the Peacekeepers have nothing near as fast." Sheba said as she stroked the edge of the cockpit.
John snorted. "Only as long you don't run out of fuel. Its too dangerous, forget it."
"Too dangerous? Like your scheme isn't?" Sheba stared at him briefly through narrowed eyes.
Crichton shook his head, apologizing. "I'm sorry Sheba, but I don't like you being out there with only five bucks worth of gas in the tank. What if you get cut off from Moya or Talyn, then what?"
"So, I'll be careful not to," she responded.
"You're family now Sheba," Crichton said softly. "We would all hate to loose you, especially me. I don't want to be the only human in the Uncharted Territories again. Also you've listened to my stories and even let me wax poetic about the game of football. You sat through it all and didn't roll your eyes once."
"Crichton?"
"Yes?"
Sheba leaned over the edge of her cockpit and waggled her finger, beckoning him to come closer. Not knowing what to expect, Crichton walked up closer. With a smile, Sheba leaned down and gently kissed him on the forehead.
Sheba then pulled away and sat back down in her viper. "Thanks for caring Earthman, and I do like listening to the stories about your home."
Try as he might, Crichton couldn't stop the silly grin forming on his lips before he glanced worriedly behind him to make sure Aeryn hadn't suddenly walked in. She would have, had his luck been running true to form. Thankfully no one was there.
He and Aeryn had just patched things up between them, after he'd made his diehard determination to go after Scorpius clear. Unfortunately, there was still some remaining patchwork to be done.
"That's odd."
Crichton turned back to Sheba. "What is it cowgirl?"
"My computer was doing a check on my long and short radio communications, and its picking up short range signals, although barely but it looks like..."
Crichton saw Sheba freeze in shock. No, more like surprise. He climbed up the side of her viper. "What is it?"
She turned to him smiling joyfully. "It's Colonial frequencies! It's the fleet!!"
Sheba quickly tried to get a lock on the transmissions. They were at extreme range, barely detectable, but if she could get a direction, tracking them down would be easy.
"Something is not right." Sheba said, as she checked the readings.
"Is it your people?" John asked.
"Yes, but there's way too much chatter. We're too far away to hear what they're saying, however there's too many people talking. We're a fleet that doesn't want to draw attention to ourselves, and we don't make noise like this unless something is seriously wrong."
Sheba was still trying to adjust the settings on her communications unit when she detected a different transmission. It wasn't verbal, but instead consisted of a complex pattern of electronic pulses and it was originating from the direction of her fleet. She couldn't recognize it.
"What is that?" She asked Crichton.
He leaned in to listen to the faint signal tone and went pale. "It's Peacekeeper. They may have found your people before we did."
