Section 15: Rushing About
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"Hey!" Jack shouted, more than a little frustrated that he and his team were being kept completely in the dark about what the hell was going on. In the frenzy of imminent attack, all the aliens had reverted to speaking alien, and the one-sided part he heard from Crichton was filled with parts of the ship that meant absolutely nothing to him. "Will someone tell us what's going on here?"
Aeryn and D'argo both looked at Crichton who explained. "We're going to set up an ambush."
Jack waited a moment. "That's it?" he asked when Crichton didn't continue. "That's the plan?"
"In a nutshell," said Crichton with a humorless smile that did little to reassure Jack. Sure they didn't have a lot of time, but there had to be something less . . . suicidal. Not that SG-1's luck was ever any better.
"What kind of defenses does the ship have?" he asked.
"Us," said Aeryn briskly. "And you if you'll help. We need to split up though. Chiana needs to get to safety, then we need to get weapons and get in position to hit and hit hard when they come aboard."
"Okay." Jack's mind sped over the situation. He and his team didn't know the ship so if they were going to help they needed to disperse among D'argo's crew. "We have weapons and explosives with our stuff. How are you splitting up?"
"D'argo's getting Chi to the upper levels, me and Aeryn are going to find as much firepower as we can, Granny and Stark are in charge of the poison, and Rygel's storing the food. We'll meet you back here and get you where we need you" Crichton rattled off as the others started to move out.
"Wait," Jack snapped out. "Daniel, go with Chiana and stay with her, keep her safe. Teal'c you're with them," he pointed to the two crazies. "Carter, you take John to get our gear, and I'll go with Aeryn to get your weapons."
D'argo's people stared at him then at each other, taken by surprise and not quite sure what to do about it.
"Let's move people," Jack snapped. It had the desired effect. With a muttered 'okay' from Crichton, the aliens moved and headed out without disputing his orders. Jack hurried after Aeryn.
Jogging behind the black, leather clad woman, Jack marveled again at her ability to navigate through the ship. Unerringly she quickly led him from room to room. The first ones were lived in with pillows and extra blankets on the beds ranging from practical to what had to be Rygel's extravagant. Little knick knacks dotted the shelves, most of them surprisingly recognizable from Earth. When asked, Aeryn's only comment was that the humans on Crichton's Earth had given them money to go shopping. He guessed they didn't have much currency in this part of the universe.
Jack waited by the doors of each room while Aeryn went in, quickly found anything remotely resembling a weapon, checked it, and either left it or took it with her. It wasn't until the third room that she did this more than once. This room was the sparsest one he'd seen so far if he ignored the collection of large boxes at one end. Here, Aeryn grabbed another handgun like the ones both she and John wore, two rifles one of which she discarded, and something that resembled a rocket launcher.
"So who's room is this?" Jack asked while she checked the weapon over. It really was a beauty, kind of like a shortened bazooka.
"Mine," said Aeryn absently to Jack's surprise.
"But I thought . . ." Jack trailed off when she finally looked up with a glare that told him to back off. He really shouldn't have been surprised after their earlier conversation about wedding traditions in which Aeryn had neither asked for nor given away anything personal.
Aeryn turned back to her inspection. "I knew I shouldn't have let him borrow parts," she muttered, putting the gun back on the shelf. "It's frelled," she said louder to Jack, leading him back out.
"What happened?" he asked.
"John needed part of the triggering mechanism for a bomb."
"Bomb?" he asked but Aeryn either didn't hear him or was ignoring the question. Jack got the feeling that she ran on two gears: friendly but distant and closed off soldier, and he knew better than to push his luck.
"Aeryn, D'argo" Crichton's voice cut over the ship's communication system. "We've got Sam's gear and are making for the maintenance bay. We'll take hammond side of the doors."
A burst of alien words came from D'argo. "He's on his way down," Aeryn translated before saying to thin air, "Pilot, where are they?" Another burst of words sent Aeryn running through the halls. "He says they'll land in a hundred microts - a little more than your minute. He's already opened the doors."
"What?! Why?"
"We don't want Moya hurt by them blasting through." They ran on.
"Carter? Teal'c?" Jack spoke into his radio.
"I'm in position with Crichton, sir," his second responded. "We've got explosives rigged so you and Aeryn should find cover."
"As long as you stay out of the hangar until they go, you should be fine," Crichton said over the other system.
"I too am in position, O'Neill," Teal'c reported. "We will catch any that get by you."
"Daniel?"
"Safe and sound, Jack."
"In here." Aeryn lifted a grate in the wall and wriggled in. "Access tunnels for DRD's and hostile takeovers. We can survive for days in these. Rygel hides food all over."
"Dare I ask how long ago?"
"Better not." Aeryn looked over her shoulder and grinned. Jack returned it, recognizing the sudden diversion as a way to vent her nerves. She had been their prisoner after all, held for experimentation, some of which had taken place if her and Crichton's lack of clothing at their rescue was any indication.
"Here," Aeryn took the rifle she had handed him during their search for weapons. "Pull this to engage. It fires one energy pulse shot each time you pull the trigger here." She quickly showed him the important qualities of the gun. "And under no circumstance close this or change it from this setting." She pointed to two adjustable settings on the top of the barrel. "If you do it will overload and explode, and we'll be dead."
"Oh, nice to know," Jack double checked the settings because he definitely wasn't doing that. Going 'kaboom' was going to be left for the bad guys.
Aeryn led him a little ways further and stopped. Through the nearby grill they had a fairly comprehensive view of the room below, the maintenance bay just outside the hangar.
"Now we wait," said Aeryn.
"I hate waiting," said Jack.
Aeryn grinned again. "Me too."
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"Hey!" Jack shouted, more than a little frustrated that he and his team were being kept completely in the dark about what the hell was going on. In the frenzy of imminent attack, all the aliens had reverted to speaking alien, and the one-sided part he heard from Crichton was filled with parts of the ship that meant absolutely nothing to him. "Will someone tell us what's going on here?"
Aeryn and D'argo both looked at Crichton who explained. "We're going to set up an ambush."
Jack waited a moment. "That's it?" he asked when Crichton didn't continue. "That's the plan?"
"In a nutshell," said Crichton with a humorless smile that did little to reassure Jack. Sure they didn't have a lot of time, but there had to be something less . . . suicidal. Not that SG-1's luck was ever any better.
"What kind of defenses does the ship have?" he asked.
"Us," said Aeryn briskly. "And you if you'll help. We need to split up though. Chiana needs to get to safety, then we need to get weapons and get in position to hit and hit hard when they come aboard."
"Okay." Jack's mind sped over the situation. He and his team didn't know the ship so if they were going to help they needed to disperse among D'argo's crew. "We have weapons and explosives with our stuff. How are you splitting up?"
"D'argo's getting Chi to the upper levels, me and Aeryn are going to find as much firepower as we can, Granny and Stark are in charge of the poison, and Rygel's storing the food. We'll meet you back here and get you where we need you" Crichton rattled off as the others started to move out.
"Wait," Jack snapped out. "Daniel, go with Chiana and stay with her, keep her safe. Teal'c you're with them," he pointed to the two crazies. "Carter, you take John to get our gear, and I'll go with Aeryn to get your weapons."
D'argo's people stared at him then at each other, taken by surprise and not quite sure what to do about it.
"Let's move people," Jack snapped. It had the desired effect. With a muttered 'okay' from Crichton, the aliens moved and headed out without disputing his orders. Jack hurried after Aeryn.
Jogging behind the black, leather clad woman, Jack marveled again at her ability to navigate through the ship. Unerringly she quickly led him from room to room. The first ones were lived in with pillows and extra blankets on the beds ranging from practical to what had to be Rygel's extravagant. Little knick knacks dotted the shelves, most of them surprisingly recognizable from Earth. When asked, Aeryn's only comment was that the humans on Crichton's Earth had given them money to go shopping. He guessed they didn't have much currency in this part of the universe.
Jack waited by the doors of each room while Aeryn went in, quickly found anything remotely resembling a weapon, checked it, and either left it or took it with her. It wasn't until the third room that she did this more than once. This room was the sparsest one he'd seen so far if he ignored the collection of large boxes at one end. Here, Aeryn grabbed another handgun like the ones both she and John wore, two rifles one of which she discarded, and something that resembled a rocket launcher.
"So who's room is this?" Jack asked while she checked the weapon over. It really was a beauty, kind of like a shortened bazooka.
"Mine," said Aeryn absently to Jack's surprise.
"But I thought . . ." Jack trailed off when she finally looked up with a glare that told him to back off. He really shouldn't have been surprised after their earlier conversation about wedding traditions in which Aeryn had neither asked for nor given away anything personal.
Aeryn turned back to her inspection. "I knew I shouldn't have let him borrow parts," she muttered, putting the gun back on the shelf. "It's frelled," she said louder to Jack, leading him back out.
"What happened?" he asked.
"John needed part of the triggering mechanism for a bomb."
"Bomb?" he asked but Aeryn either didn't hear him or was ignoring the question. Jack got the feeling that she ran on two gears: friendly but distant and closed off soldier, and he knew better than to push his luck.
"Aeryn, D'argo" Crichton's voice cut over the ship's communication system. "We've got Sam's gear and are making for the maintenance bay. We'll take hammond side of the doors."
A burst of alien words came from D'argo. "He's on his way down," Aeryn translated before saying to thin air, "Pilot, where are they?" Another burst of words sent Aeryn running through the halls. "He says they'll land in a hundred microts - a little more than your minute. He's already opened the doors."
"What?! Why?"
"We don't want Moya hurt by them blasting through." They ran on.
"Carter? Teal'c?" Jack spoke into his radio.
"I'm in position with Crichton, sir," his second responded. "We've got explosives rigged so you and Aeryn should find cover."
"As long as you stay out of the hangar until they go, you should be fine," Crichton said over the other system.
"I too am in position, O'Neill," Teal'c reported. "We will catch any that get by you."
"Daniel?"
"Safe and sound, Jack."
"In here." Aeryn lifted a grate in the wall and wriggled in. "Access tunnels for DRD's and hostile takeovers. We can survive for days in these. Rygel hides food all over."
"Dare I ask how long ago?"
"Better not." Aeryn looked over her shoulder and grinned. Jack returned it, recognizing the sudden diversion as a way to vent her nerves. She had been their prisoner after all, held for experimentation, some of which had taken place if her and Crichton's lack of clothing at their rescue was any indication.
"Here," Aeryn took the rifle she had handed him during their search for weapons. "Pull this to engage. It fires one energy pulse shot each time you pull the trigger here." She quickly showed him the important qualities of the gun. "And under no circumstance close this or change it from this setting." She pointed to two adjustable settings on the top of the barrel. "If you do it will overload and explode, and we'll be dead."
"Oh, nice to know," Jack double checked the settings because he definitely wasn't doing that. Going 'kaboom' was going to be left for the bad guys.
Aeryn led him a little ways further and stopped. Through the nearby grill they had a fairly comprehensive view of the room below, the maintenance bay just outside the hangar.
"Now we wait," said Aeryn.
"I hate waiting," said Jack.
Aeryn grinned again. "Me too."
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