Crouched behind a wall covered in Egyptian hieroglyphics she didn't have a
snowflake's chance in hell of deciphering, Mac tried to decide who she
should be cursing. The current choice was between Harm, Artemis and the
Universe as a whole. Harm's earlier remark that "Nothing can go wrong" was
making him a strong contender, but she had to admit that enough of the
things which had gone wrong had been down entirely to bad luck to create a
strong case against the universe.
The whole thing had started out quite well. Artemis had brought the little cargo ship directly to the planet where the target base was housed, providing the Jaffa in charge of the planet's security net with the appropriate clearance, as well as a good dose of Goa'uld haughtiness.
That Goa'uld haughtiness, however, had completely screwed them.
"My Lady, we are honoured by your presence. Our Lord is not here at present and so is unable to welcome you, but a set of guest quarters is available if you would care to refresh yourself before attending to the matters which bring you here."
Alerted by the Jaffa who had cleared them that there was a Goa'uld on her way, the Jaffa on the ground had prepared a guard of honour, as decorum dictated if there was no Goa'uld present to instruct them otherwise. The possibility of this happening had occurred to neither Harm nor Artemis, as not only were the circumstances of a Goa'uld arriving in another's territory while the other was absent without an army at his or her extremely rare, but with the current relations between the System Lords and Anubis, and the infighting within the ranks of the System Lords, proper decorum was not, for the most part, being observed.
Not for nothing was Artemis raised to believe, and to make others believe, that she was a goddess. She kept her outward calm, and treated the Jaffa as she would treat any Jaffa: as if they would have been completely beneath her notice were it not for their few uses.
"That is a satisfactory proposal. Lead the way." She turned, and flicked her hand at the three humans. "You three. Bring the three boxes I showed you earlier. If I have need of anything else, I shall send one of these Jaffa to fetch it later."
Each of them bowed their heads and backed back into the main body of the ship, acting the lifelong, willing servants, and each picked up an empty box from the main cargo area. They all looked heavy, as they were gold on the surface, but that was an illusion. Underneath a very thin layer of gold, the boxes were made of aluminium, and so would not be create a problem if something went wrong and they had to move in a hurry. Though if and when they were fulled they'd get a lot heavier, and become too valuable to leave behind without a really good reason.
As they were walking along, the honour guard attracted the attention of the lower-ranked Jaffa going about their duties. This would not have created any problems under most circumstances. However, there was another thing that no-one had taken into account.
The lead Jaffa was very obligingly giving Artemis a detailed account of everything she saw as they made their way towards the guest quarters, which Harm heard and made mental notes on. They came to a halt next to the entrance to a corridor which led to the base's main naquadah processing plant. There was a Jaffa guarding the entrace, and he came to attention as the party drew near.
As he drew to attention, Harm realised there was something familiar about him.
~He wears the tattoo of the Thunderbolt. He was a Jaffa of my father's. He may well have been among those you passed on the way from killing me to the Chapa'ai whilst making your escape. See his eyes? He recognises you. And he knows Artemis would not suffer her brother's killer to live. He is also likely to know that my family, whatever they may have said in public, are no friends to the Goa'uld who rules here. Running would probably be a good move now.~
This information took only an instant to actualise itself in Harm's brain, and with the reflexes of the fighter pilot his blood had always meant him to be he hurled the box he was carrying at the nearest Jaffa, then ran. Harm Sr and Mac were only a split second behind him. Artemis, unaccustomed to vigorous physical exercise or to needing to move quickly, was unable to take any action before she had been hit from two directions by zatnik'tel blasts, rendering her immobile. Permanently.
The trio sprinted down the nearest unwatched corridor, but it was rapidly becoming apparent that the Jaffa based here were not your average Jaffa guards, which tended to be moronic, incapable of independent thought, unable to shoot straight and useless when it came to conducting searches or pursuing fugitives. The only thing working in the humans' favour was the fact that while they were more intelligent than average, they still hadn't come up with the concept of CCTV. It was a standing joke in the SGC that if the Jaffa ever came up with that idea, humanity would be wiped out in less than twenty-four hours.
The irritating displays of initiative did not stop at arranging a pursuit and killing the Goa'uld they thought was the ringleader. Small, controlled explosions were set off in their vicinity, disorienting them and making their ears ring. They had become slightly strung out, Harm taking point as the most likely to be able to find a way out, Mac watching their rear to give as much notice as possible of approaching Jaffa. As incredibly bad luck would have it, one of the explosions was let off at a point where their corridor intersected with another one. Harm was just past the explosion point, Mac was just behind it, and Harm Sr was almost next to it, though fortunately next to the far wall. The explosion knocked all three of them to the ground, each of the three falling down a different branch of corridor to watch in horror as the ceiling above the midpoint collapsed, cutting them off from each other.
The whole thing had started out quite well. Artemis had brought the little cargo ship directly to the planet where the target base was housed, providing the Jaffa in charge of the planet's security net with the appropriate clearance, as well as a good dose of Goa'uld haughtiness.
That Goa'uld haughtiness, however, had completely screwed them.
"My Lady, we are honoured by your presence. Our Lord is not here at present and so is unable to welcome you, but a set of guest quarters is available if you would care to refresh yourself before attending to the matters which bring you here."
Alerted by the Jaffa who had cleared them that there was a Goa'uld on her way, the Jaffa on the ground had prepared a guard of honour, as decorum dictated if there was no Goa'uld present to instruct them otherwise. The possibility of this happening had occurred to neither Harm nor Artemis, as not only were the circumstances of a Goa'uld arriving in another's territory while the other was absent without an army at his or her extremely rare, but with the current relations between the System Lords and Anubis, and the infighting within the ranks of the System Lords, proper decorum was not, for the most part, being observed.
Not for nothing was Artemis raised to believe, and to make others believe, that she was a goddess. She kept her outward calm, and treated the Jaffa as she would treat any Jaffa: as if they would have been completely beneath her notice were it not for their few uses.
"That is a satisfactory proposal. Lead the way." She turned, and flicked her hand at the three humans. "You three. Bring the three boxes I showed you earlier. If I have need of anything else, I shall send one of these Jaffa to fetch it later."
Each of them bowed their heads and backed back into the main body of the ship, acting the lifelong, willing servants, and each picked up an empty box from the main cargo area. They all looked heavy, as they were gold on the surface, but that was an illusion. Underneath a very thin layer of gold, the boxes were made of aluminium, and so would not be create a problem if something went wrong and they had to move in a hurry. Though if and when they were fulled they'd get a lot heavier, and become too valuable to leave behind without a really good reason.
As they were walking along, the honour guard attracted the attention of the lower-ranked Jaffa going about their duties. This would not have created any problems under most circumstances. However, there was another thing that no-one had taken into account.
The lead Jaffa was very obligingly giving Artemis a detailed account of everything she saw as they made their way towards the guest quarters, which Harm heard and made mental notes on. They came to a halt next to the entrance to a corridor which led to the base's main naquadah processing plant. There was a Jaffa guarding the entrace, and he came to attention as the party drew near.
As he drew to attention, Harm realised there was something familiar about him.
~He wears the tattoo of the Thunderbolt. He was a Jaffa of my father's. He may well have been among those you passed on the way from killing me to the Chapa'ai whilst making your escape. See his eyes? He recognises you. And he knows Artemis would not suffer her brother's killer to live. He is also likely to know that my family, whatever they may have said in public, are no friends to the Goa'uld who rules here. Running would probably be a good move now.~
This information took only an instant to actualise itself in Harm's brain, and with the reflexes of the fighter pilot his blood had always meant him to be he hurled the box he was carrying at the nearest Jaffa, then ran. Harm Sr and Mac were only a split second behind him. Artemis, unaccustomed to vigorous physical exercise or to needing to move quickly, was unable to take any action before she had been hit from two directions by zatnik'tel blasts, rendering her immobile. Permanently.
The trio sprinted down the nearest unwatched corridor, but it was rapidly becoming apparent that the Jaffa based here were not your average Jaffa guards, which tended to be moronic, incapable of independent thought, unable to shoot straight and useless when it came to conducting searches or pursuing fugitives. The only thing working in the humans' favour was the fact that while they were more intelligent than average, they still hadn't come up with the concept of CCTV. It was a standing joke in the SGC that if the Jaffa ever came up with that idea, humanity would be wiped out in less than twenty-four hours.
The irritating displays of initiative did not stop at arranging a pursuit and killing the Goa'uld they thought was the ringleader. Small, controlled explosions were set off in their vicinity, disorienting them and making their ears ring. They had become slightly strung out, Harm taking point as the most likely to be able to find a way out, Mac watching their rear to give as much notice as possible of approaching Jaffa. As incredibly bad luck would have it, one of the explosions was let off at a point where their corridor intersected with another one. Harm was just past the explosion point, Mac was just behind it, and Harm Sr was almost next to it, though fortunately next to the far wall. The explosion knocked all three of them to the ground, each of the three falling down a different branch of corridor to watch in horror as the ceiling above the midpoint collapsed, cutting them off from each other.