Unfortunately for Mac, the plan beginning to formulate itself in the back
of her mind would never come to pass. This was through no fault of her own,
unless you count being more of a dog-person than a cat-person a fault.
Simply put, Mac's plan would come to nothing because she failed to grasp
one of the most important thought processes present in a cat's mind; I Am
Not A Dog. I Am Not A Slave To Anyone. Thus I Shall Do As I Damn Well
Please.
A large green dog-like creature would have remained where it was told to remain; in one of the small rooms on the cargo ship put aside for taking a quick nap. It might have moved to investigate if it had heard its master or mistress shout in pain, it might not. Completely depends on the canine's relative intellect.
A green creature with the physique of a small bear and the mind of a cat does not behave in this manner.
Its tail lashing violently, The Cat Who Walks By Himself prowled the corridors of the Goa'uld base, growling softly. So softly that the growl might almost be taken for a purr, if one failed to notice the less-than- friendly expression in its eyes.
Cats the universe over do not like fireworks. In America, the more intelligent ones stay safely indoors on the Fourth of July. In England, they stay safely indoors on the Fifth of November, to glare reproachfully at the humans when they return very late smelling of gunpowder, smoke and charred sausage. Large green bear-cats do not like fireworks any more than the average cat, mainly because of the loud noise. A loud noise similar to that made when a series of controlled explosive devices are detonated in a confined area not too far from where said large green cat-bear had been trying to sleep. And cats awakened from sleep against their wishes are not the most friendly of animals at the best of times.
The Jaffa of Pan were, as has been previously stated, not as stupid as the average Jaffa, nor as inclined to the sort mob-mentality that results in large numbers of people being killed by a single creature whom they outnumber more than a hundred to one. When they saw the creature coming, the latent survival instinct which military training is designed to overcome resurrected its dominance in all the Jaffa the creature encountered, and they stayed safely out of its way.
Mac and Harm Sr, unaware of these developments, began to make their way towards the outer part of the building, crawling through their tubes, by using the oldest trick in the book; crawling in the direction the air smelled freshest, hoping against hope that fresh air was filtered in from outside rather than wasting power by recycling the air indoors and wasting power.
As Harm Sr had replaced both panels when he had hauled Mac out of the corridor, Harm was left with no obvious clues as to where the two of them had gone. He turned to look at the senior Jaffa, who had given his name as Aiax.
"Spread your men out. Tell them not to shoot anyone. Leave it as an unexplained order or explain what's going on; whatever you think will work better. Just make sure they don't get shot."
"It shall be so. Alla meh phrontisde; we have a sarcophagus for Pan's use when he inspects this place, if they are killed they can be resurrected. We can if you wish resurrect the Lady Artemis."
"No, leave Artemis. We weren't exactly on the same side as her to start with, if we bring her back she'll just cause problems. I don't want to have to use a sarcophagus on the other two; I think the Tok'Ra are going a bit far when they say the sarcophagus takes away pieces of your soul, but there can be bad side-effects, even from a single use. I'd like to avoid that."
Harm remembered his own experience with a sarcophagus, an experience he did not care to repeat. It was just after he and SG-6 had been captured by Zeus. Zeus had wanted him in prime condition before he was interrogated, in order to get in as much pain as possible before he passed out.
Aiax had obviously not followed what Harm had said about the Tok'Ra and sarcophagi, but he nodded all the same and barked some instructions to the four Jaffa in his team, who all then wandered off in different directions. Well aware that they were more likely to find Mac and his dad than he was, Harm tried, not very successfully, to push them out of his mind, and refocussed his attention on Aiax.
"If you guys are free now, I'll assume you wanna get out of here? Pan must have other Jaffa who'd be prepared to attack you if they thought you were traitors?"
"Yes. I believe we will all be able to fit onto the naquadah-transporting vessels we have docked here."
"Do you have anywhere to go?"
Aiax had obviously never thought this far ahead. He shrugged, a gesture peculiar in one wearing Jaffa body armour.
"I had not expected the Liberator to come in my lifetime, nor even that of my son. I am not sure I ever expected him to come. I have never had occasion to think of what would happen if I were free. I have nowhere to go; my son and my wife are here, I have no other family."
"There's an encampment of rebel Jaffa somewhere out there," Harm said, waving his hand in the general direction of space, "Though I'm not exactly sure where. We used to share a base with them, but they felt too restricted. I'm sure I can easily find out where they are." He had a feeling Aiax would not accept that offer, and he was correct.
"No. We are not like most warriors. We are not trained to attack. We are accustomed to defending a base we know as well as we know our own names. I do not think other Jaffa would believe us to be of any value. We need our own place, a place to be away from the Jaffa and where we can defend ourselves."
"With or without a Gate?"
"A Gate?"
"A Chapa'ai. If you have one, the Goa'uld are more likely to come across you by accident. If you don't, you have no ready means of retreat if you're attacked from orbit."
Aiax sighed. "Let us evaluate the merits of any possible planets we find, whether or not they have a Chapa'ai."
Harm nodded. "That makes sense. What the?"
A Jaffa was sprinting towards them. He skidded to a halt in front of them, and after nodding to Harm, he spoke to Aiax.
"There is a strange creature on the base. It has not attacked any of us, but we do not know how it got here, or who sent it. It is green, and growls as it walks. We have never seen anything like it before."
He seemed startled when Harm grinned. "You know what this creature is, Liberator?"
"It and many others of its kind helped my people defeat the Jaffa of V'Akhdar a few days ago. We think it's one of the Furlings' Guardians."
The new-come Jaffa snorted. "They are just a legend designed to frighten small children."
Harm looked evenly at him. "Until today, did you honestly think a mortal man with the mind of an Achaian would come among you and curse you in the tongue of Rome? Didn't think so. Do you know where the creature is at the moment?"
"I know the direction it was headed in when I saw it."
"Take me to it. It likes me, but it doesn't have a very good record when it comes to Jaffa. Probably the only reason it hasn't started killing you is that it doesn't see you as a threat at the moment. It might only take one of your people trying to be a hero to set it off."
The Jaffa looked to Aiax for confirmation. Aiax nodded. "I shall come too. I wish to see this creature for myself."
A large green dog-like creature would have remained where it was told to remain; in one of the small rooms on the cargo ship put aside for taking a quick nap. It might have moved to investigate if it had heard its master or mistress shout in pain, it might not. Completely depends on the canine's relative intellect.
A green creature with the physique of a small bear and the mind of a cat does not behave in this manner.
Its tail lashing violently, The Cat Who Walks By Himself prowled the corridors of the Goa'uld base, growling softly. So softly that the growl might almost be taken for a purr, if one failed to notice the less-than- friendly expression in its eyes.
Cats the universe over do not like fireworks. In America, the more intelligent ones stay safely indoors on the Fourth of July. In England, they stay safely indoors on the Fifth of November, to glare reproachfully at the humans when they return very late smelling of gunpowder, smoke and charred sausage. Large green bear-cats do not like fireworks any more than the average cat, mainly because of the loud noise. A loud noise similar to that made when a series of controlled explosive devices are detonated in a confined area not too far from where said large green cat-bear had been trying to sleep. And cats awakened from sleep against their wishes are not the most friendly of animals at the best of times.
The Jaffa of Pan were, as has been previously stated, not as stupid as the average Jaffa, nor as inclined to the sort mob-mentality that results in large numbers of people being killed by a single creature whom they outnumber more than a hundred to one. When they saw the creature coming, the latent survival instinct which military training is designed to overcome resurrected its dominance in all the Jaffa the creature encountered, and they stayed safely out of its way.
Mac and Harm Sr, unaware of these developments, began to make their way towards the outer part of the building, crawling through their tubes, by using the oldest trick in the book; crawling in the direction the air smelled freshest, hoping against hope that fresh air was filtered in from outside rather than wasting power by recycling the air indoors and wasting power.
As Harm Sr had replaced both panels when he had hauled Mac out of the corridor, Harm was left with no obvious clues as to where the two of them had gone. He turned to look at the senior Jaffa, who had given his name as Aiax.
"Spread your men out. Tell them not to shoot anyone. Leave it as an unexplained order or explain what's going on; whatever you think will work better. Just make sure they don't get shot."
"It shall be so. Alla meh phrontisde; we have a sarcophagus for Pan's use when he inspects this place, if they are killed they can be resurrected. We can if you wish resurrect the Lady Artemis."
"No, leave Artemis. We weren't exactly on the same side as her to start with, if we bring her back she'll just cause problems. I don't want to have to use a sarcophagus on the other two; I think the Tok'Ra are going a bit far when they say the sarcophagus takes away pieces of your soul, but there can be bad side-effects, even from a single use. I'd like to avoid that."
Harm remembered his own experience with a sarcophagus, an experience he did not care to repeat. It was just after he and SG-6 had been captured by Zeus. Zeus had wanted him in prime condition before he was interrogated, in order to get in as much pain as possible before he passed out.
Aiax had obviously not followed what Harm had said about the Tok'Ra and sarcophagi, but he nodded all the same and barked some instructions to the four Jaffa in his team, who all then wandered off in different directions. Well aware that they were more likely to find Mac and his dad than he was, Harm tried, not very successfully, to push them out of his mind, and refocussed his attention on Aiax.
"If you guys are free now, I'll assume you wanna get out of here? Pan must have other Jaffa who'd be prepared to attack you if they thought you were traitors?"
"Yes. I believe we will all be able to fit onto the naquadah-transporting vessels we have docked here."
"Do you have anywhere to go?"
Aiax had obviously never thought this far ahead. He shrugged, a gesture peculiar in one wearing Jaffa body armour.
"I had not expected the Liberator to come in my lifetime, nor even that of my son. I am not sure I ever expected him to come. I have never had occasion to think of what would happen if I were free. I have nowhere to go; my son and my wife are here, I have no other family."
"There's an encampment of rebel Jaffa somewhere out there," Harm said, waving his hand in the general direction of space, "Though I'm not exactly sure where. We used to share a base with them, but they felt too restricted. I'm sure I can easily find out where they are." He had a feeling Aiax would not accept that offer, and he was correct.
"No. We are not like most warriors. We are not trained to attack. We are accustomed to defending a base we know as well as we know our own names. I do not think other Jaffa would believe us to be of any value. We need our own place, a place to be away from the Jaffa and where we can defend ourselves."
"With or without a Gate?"
"A Gate?"
"A Chapa'ai. If you have one, the Goa'uld are more likely to come across you by accident. If you don't, you have no ready means of retreat if you're attacked from orbit."
Aiax sighed. "Let us evaluate the merits of any possible planets we find, whether or not they have a Chapa'ai."
Harm nodded. "That makes sense. What the?"
A Jaffa was sprinting towards them. He skidded to a halt in front of them, and after nodding to Harm, he spoke to Aiax.
"There is a strange creature on the base. It has not attacked any of us, but we do not know how it got here, or who sent it. It is green, and growls as it walks. We have never seen anything like it before."
He seemed startled when Harm grinned. "You know what this creature is, Liberator?"
"It and many others of its kind helped my people defeat the Jaffa of V'Akhdar a few days ago. We think it's one of the Furlings' Guardians."
The new-come Jaffa snorted. "They are just a legend designed to frighten small children."
Harm looked evenly at him. "Until today, did you honestly think a mortal man with the mind of an Achaian would come among you and curse you in the tongue of Rome? Didn't think so. Do you know where the creature is at the moment?"
"I know the direction it was headed in when I saw it."
"Take me to it. It likes me, but it doesn't have a very good record when it comes to Jaffa. Probably the only reason it hasn't started killing you is that it doesn't see you as a threat at the moment. It might only take one of your people trying to be a hero to set it off."
The Jaffa looked to Aiax for confirmation. Aiax nodded. "I shall come too. I wish to see this creature for myself."