Authors Note: Warning, warning! Proceed with caution…… You may not like where I take this chapter.
Rating: R – for swearing. Jack is not a happy camper.
Previously on Unity, Chapter 9
"Oh, this is much better." My voice dripped with mockery, looking around in stunned disbelief. This just couldn't be possible.
Could it?
Unfortunately yes, it could. I stared at the all to familiar hieroglyphs on the golden walls in front of me, feeling the dread curl up in the base of my spine, sending tingling ripples through my body.
"Oh crap." I heard Daniel say softly, staring just as I was at the walls. Walls of a goa'uld Mothership.
"Does anyone care to explain this to me?" I tapped one of the walls and felt it's solid weight against my knuckles. This was not good.
"What is this?" Borlois asked, looking around the room.
"This is a goa'uld Mothership." Teal'c told the four of them, standing at ease with his hands clasped behind his back. "This vessel is used for long range reconnaissance and travel between Goa'uld stronghold planets. However, I am currently unaware of the owner of this particular vessel." Borlois, Nyuil, Arwew and Serien all stared at him in disbelief.
"A goa'uld vessel!?" Nyuil exclaimed in dismay. "What the hells are we doing in one of those? And why is it here?"
"That's what I'd like to find out." I replied, then nodded to Carter to try opening the door. She tapped out the sequence of crystals and to our absolute amazement, the door hissed open without so much as a hint of protest. My team (me included) all raised surprised eyebrows at the door, but rather than argue, we quickly slipped out of the cell and hid behind the oh-so-convenient pillars that lined the corridor. I gestured for Carter and Daniel to cross to the other side of the corridor, motioning for Arwew and Nyuil to follow them. The four dashed quickly across to the other pillars, hiding behind them in the same way we were hiding behind ours. I peeked out and with a few hand signals told Carter that we were heading out to our left, to find some sort of weapons and a way out or an indication of where we were.
Well, I said we were going left. I just hope that she understood my motives for moving. We'd all worked together for so long now, that generally we could all predict just what the other was going to say. Anticipate their moves. It made covert missions significantly easier. We shuffled along from pillar to pillar until Carter's group found another room that looked promising. Teal'c, Serien, Borlois and I scuttled across to join the other four and we ducked inside the room.
"This is not good." Daniel breathed as we stared at the sight before us. I'd thought waking up in an Asgard prison was bad. I'd thought the Asgard illusion being dismantled to show a Goa'uld prison was worse. But this topped the cake.
-o0o-
"Isn't this supposed to be, oh I don't know, illegal or something?" I whined.
"Ahh." Serien glanced at me, unsure how to respond.
"Sir, just because we've never seen this before doesn't mean it hasn't been possible." Carter whispered to me. I glanced away from the sight below me, and frowned at Carter.
"Colonel, that Asgard is a goa'uld." I whispered back, nodding my head in the direction of the people below us. We had entered into some sort of antechamber, high up in the ship, and were looking down at several people. There were about twenty Jaffa – all of whom looked completely normal, 'x' marks on their stomach and everything. The only difference was the guy who was sitting in the 'captain's chair' was an Asgard. He was grey (big surprise there) and thin, but his eyes shone with that signature glow that marked all goa'uld. And on his hand was a smaller ribbon device, fitting his thin fingers perfectly. He was speaking to what I can only assume was his Head Jaffa in goa'uld dialect, his voice the thundering echo that defined a goa'uld in habitant.
"How the hell did that happen?" Daniel still sounded shocked.
"I have no idea." I gestured for them all to retreat and we crept out into the corridor again. "This changes things." I told them, thinking rapidly. Carter and Teal'c nodded their heads in agreement. "First, we need to find out who that guy is, second, we need to find out who's working for him. Third, we need to notify someone about this, preferably Hammond. Fourth, we need to get out of this ship before we're caught." I turned to Serien. "We're gonna have to split up. Carter, Daniel, take Serien and company and see if you can find a way out of here. Teal'c and I are going to see if we can figure out who this guy is, and have a little fun with them as well. I want you to notify the General of what's going on here. Damn! How the hell are we supposed to talk to him? That device thingy at Thor's is probably cactus."
"I'll find another one." Carter said confidently.
"Good. Serien, I need you to notify your homeworld. They need to know about this as well. The threat of a goa'uld with an Asgard host is significant. We can't trust them now. Any of them. We'll rendezvous in" I checked my watch, "three hours at Thor's place, where we were before. Go." Carter nodded, and the six of them ran off quietly. I felt a brief pang, but supressed it and turned back to business. That pang was not something I could deal with right now. Teal'c, who had been sitting with one ear to the door, turned to look as I knelt down beside him, wincing as my knees complained.
"They are discussing provisioning, both weapons and sustenance at this point in time, O'Neill. I am most concerned. The quantities they are discussing are most significant."
"Invasion?"
"Perhaps. This is something that should not come about, O'Neill. A goa'uld with access to Asgard technology would be most difficult to conquer." Teal'c. The master of understatement.
"Any idea's just how we do that, when we have no weapons or C4 at hand?"
"Of that I am uncertain. However, we must attempt it."
"I know. But first, let's see what else we can find out." I crept forward on my stomach and inched my head over the edge, stretching flat and listening for all I was worth. Within minutes I had what I needed and I backed up, into Teal'c who had been standing guard. Okay, so he was technically sitting guard. I gestured for him to follow and we ran along the corridor, hiding behind the pillars as guards patrolled past us.
For the umpteenth time since we'd opened the stargate and ventured forth, I blessed the arrogance of the gao'uld and their tactics of intimidation. Sure, the metallic clunk of boots hitting the floor was rather intimidating. But it was also the complete opposite of stealthy, covert, quiet even. Which gave Teal'c and I ample time to duck for cover before being seen. Of course none of us had ever mentioned the benefits of their loud approach. It would be just our luck to mention it and then find that they changed tactics and became stealthy. So we stayed quiet. While they… didn't.
Door after door led to cargo areas or storage rooms. We even found an Asgard bathing room/convinience room. Trust me when I say that the last thing you want to do is visit the ammenities in an Asgard ship. Thor had retrofitted a human toilet to his ship for us, and after a brief glance around at their bathroom, I was more than glad. Both Teal'c and I managed to manfully supress shudders as closed the door.
"I think we're on the wrong level." I said finally, after closing the door on the latest cargo room.
"I believe you are correct, O'Neill." Teal'c replied. We both headed for the tube that would take us to a lower level, dodging and weaving patrols as we did so.
-o0o-
"Now this is more like it." I breathed as we stared at our treasuretrove. In front of us Jaffa darted about like ants (very large ants, I'll admit, but ants all the same), each one going about his job silently. Some fiddled with the wings of the crafts, while others did something inside the cockpit of the glyders.
"Those are not death glyders." Teal'c breathed back to me. I nodded my head. Whatever we were looking at had once been death glyders, but they'd been changed, incorporating what I could only guess was Asgard technology. I cast a fleeting scowl back through time to when I'd dismissed Carter, ordering her off the ship. If only I'd know that we'd need her assistance.
"Any ideas?" I asked Teal'c quietly, watching the Jaffa.
"I regret that I do not at this time." He replied, studied the hybrid craft intently. "However, from the looks of the central panel, we may still be able to fly one of these."
"Cool. So Lord Ichi Wawa is intent on invading the Asgard home planet." It was the name I'd overheard earlier, when I'd listened in to the goa'uld's conversation.
"His name is Kinich Ahau, O'Neill."
"That's what I said. We need to find a weekness. But first, we need to get out of here. Our absence is bound to be noticed soon, and our luck can't hold for much longer."
"You are quite correct, Colonel O'Neill." A voice grated behind me. I dropped my head to the floor in frustration, then rolled over on to my back. Ichi Wawa and his friends were standing behind us, the Jaffa holding staff weapons that were aimed at us and the goa'uld glaring at us from behind his ribbon device.
"Actually I've been promoted." I corrected him, going as always with bravado. "It's now General O'Neill." I smiled as the ribbon device activated, then winced in pain. Then I'm pretty sure I blacked out. But as I was unconscious at the time, I'm not too sure.
-o0o-
Ouch.
-o0o-
Deja View. All over again. I groaned and rolled over, placing a hand to my head to check the burn that accompanied all ribbon experiences. I winced away from the pain, but continued to check relieved when it didn't seem to be blistering, eyes shut to concentrate fully on the touch of my fingers.
"General O'Neill." A voice to my left announced. I jumped, eyes opening as I looked towards the voice.
"Thor?" I asked, seeing the now awake and seemingly well Asgard sitting a few feet away, resting against the wall with his feet up and knees bent. It was the most relaxed pose I'd ever seen him in.
"Indeed. I apologise for the accommodations, but it seems that we have a traitor within our midst." Thor bowed his head, and I heard beneath the benevolent tones that all Asgard used, a severe displeasure. It gave me a hint of just how this little guy had become Supreme High Commander of the Asgard Fleet. I watched him suspiciously. If Ichi Wawa was a goa'uld, then there was no telling who else could be one. "You must relax, O'Neill. I am not a traitor to the Asgard. It is unfortunate that Su-linn has been overcome by the goa'uld Kinich Ahau, however not all of us have been compromised."
"How do I kow that?"
"Because I cannot feel the presence of a goa'uld other than my own, O'Neill." Teal'c whispered from across the room. I hadn't even noticed him, lying in the shadows. I jumped up and went over to him quickly, helping him sit up. I could smell the tang of blood in the air and heard him suck in a quick breath as he sat up.
"T?"
"They required my presence for questioning, O'Neill. It did not go well." Teal'c had been tortured. Again. I ground my teeth. The guy had withstood so much in his life, and we just kept getting him into even more trouble.
"You okay?"
"I will be fine, O'Neill. Please continue your discussion with Thor." I turned back to the Asgard, who had followed my movements with his eyes and head, the rest of his body remaining motionless.
"Thor? What happened?"
"I was involved in a High Council meeting after leaving your presence. After several hours, we were informed that the Tau'ri visitors had managed to plant a Suni-we device and the resulting explosion had caused many deaths and much injury. I, along with Freyr and Su-linn, protested your innocence. We were given the opportunity to investigate the explosion, and after much deliberation and exploration, it was discovered that the attack had been set up to discredit your team. I returned to my place of residence to advise you of this."
"That's when you collapsed?"
"Yes. Kinich Ahau had infected me with a mortal toxin that worked rapidly. Had it not been for your very quick thinking, I would now be dead."
"Let me guess, the toxin that you were infected with was Earth based?"
"Indeed. It is a substance known by your people as lavender. Extremely dangerous to the Asgard physiology. When I once again awoke, I was held in this chamber, and Kinich Ahau was standing over me, gloating. It was then that I realised that he had been working secretly to discredit both my efforts in garnering a treaty with the Tau'ri, and trying to discredit SG-1 in the process. Unfortuantely my knowledge came too late to help the rest of your team."
"My team?" My stomach dropped to my boots. Daniel. Carter.
"I am afraid I became involuntary witness to their deaths, General O'Neill." The world disappeared. I felt the blood rush from my head, pooling in my stomach as a knot of dread.
"No. You are mistaken." I heard Teal'c deny, from somewhere far off. Part of me agreed with him. They weren't dead. They couldn't be dead. I would know, wouldn't I?
"I regret to inform you that I am not. That is the sole reason why I was permitted to remain here while you awoke. Both Colonel Carter and Dr Daniel Jackson were killed before my eyes, their bodies destroyed beyond identification. The four others accompanying them also perished, at the hands of the lead Jaffa unit. I apologize for having to tell you such sad news, but there was no way that I could continue to remain mute on this subject."
"Did they suffer?" Teal'c again.
"Yes." In that one word was a wealth of misery. And it was that one word that finally shattered me.
"You sons of BITCHES!" I roared, attacking the cell bars mindlessly, screaming out obscentities at the top of my lungs. "I'm going to rip your guts out for this, you heartless, scum-sucking bastard!" I kicked and wrenched at the bars, screaming and yelling as I did so. I was unaware of the majority of what I was saying, just as I was unaware of the tears that had started leaking, trailing down my face, burning my skin.
"O'Neill." I felt a hand grab my upper-arm and I whirled on my attacker, striking him in the belly before going for a knee-cap. He blocked my kick and grabbed me bodily, hugging me close and immobilising me. "O'Neill you must desist. This is not helping our situation." A voice rumbled in my ear. Abruptly, my vision cleared and I was back in control. I relaxed in his hold, letting my head drop down and gently disengaging my hands from their death grip around his wrist. Teal'c let me go slowly and stepped back.
"I'm sorry." I told him, looking away from the other two occupants of the cell. I felt a cold calm come over me, the very opposite of the rage that I'd experienced just seconds before. I welcomed it, embraced it. The cold would help me, would help us. It would freeze me, and that was a good thing. "Where are we?"
"We are still within the bounds of the mother ship, from what I could see. As far as I am aware, we are not in transit."
"Thor?"
"This ship is in orbit on the otherside of the planet to our main city, Valhalla. Any information other than tha, I am unaware of." I nodded in reply, and walked calmly to the cell bars, scanning the edges of our cell. After a few minutes, I sat down well away from my other two in-mates and stared silently at the floor. Opportunity would knock.
And it did, less than an hour later. I looked up when I heard the clang on the cell bars, and then stood up as a Jaffa unlocked the door and swung inside. I stepped forward abruptly, stepping inside his shooting range next to his staff-weapon. I reached up almost casually and snapped his neck with both hands. I grabbed his falling body, held it against me as a shield and reached for the zat at his hip at the same time, firing as I raised the weapon and disabling the three guards who were standing outside the cell, almost frozen with shock. I don't think they'd expected us to fight back. I let the dead Jaffa fall to the floor and then hit the three guards with the zat again, killing them. Within thirty seconds, I'd neutralised the guard party and we were free.
"Move." I barked at Teal'c and Thor. I didn't wait for them, just picked up the staff weapon and headed out. There was a long corridor, narrow and full of shadow. I ran quickly along it, hearing Teal'c and Thor behind me. I stopped and crouched as I neared a corner, then quickly dove out and fired the staff weapon at the two guards who were standing in place around the corner. I then picked up the zat and got rid of the bodies. Again, we started running, towards the sections of the ship I knew contained rings and transporters. Our recon earlier helped us now, and for that I was grateful.
A body dove into me, knocking both weapons out of my hands without warning. I grappled with the jaffa, gaining a grip on his uniform and swinging him around my body. We wrestled on the floor, trading punches and blows. I heard Teal'c ready his zat, but knew he couldn't fire without hitting me. I rolled the Jaffa again, and this time I ended up on top. I beat at him with my fists until he groaned, collapsing into uncionsiousness. I stopped, stood up and wiped some blood off my face. Not all of it was mine.
"Bring him." I instructed. Teal'c did as I commanded, without argument. Thor followed behind silently. We reached the ring-room without further incidence and I jerked my head in the direction of the rings, pressing the sequence of buttons on the wall to activate them. Within seconds we were on the ground and running away from the ship, Teal'c and I between us carrying the knocked out Jaffa.