Legal Note: Colonel O'Neill, Major Carter, Teal'c, Daniel Jackson, General Hammond, Dr. Fraiser and other characters appearing in the series don't belong to me. They belong to Gekko, Double Secret, etc. The story does belong to me. This fiction has been written for then enjoyment of fans. It has not been written for profit or compensation of any kind, nor will any be accepted. You get the idea.
Author's Note (1): Sorry about the delay in getting this out. Health problems, computer problems and lost files contributed greatly to the delay (had to rewrite this part entirely), as did misplacing my copy of MS Office and not being able to find it when I went to reload. :-(
Author's Note (2): Thanks for the reviews of previous chapters. Please read and review this one. Comments and suggestions are welcome. Constructive criticism is welcome, as it will improve future writing.
Thanks to Sych77 for offering to Beta for me. It's much appreciated.
---
O'Neill listened carefully to the report he was hearing, acknowledged the report, then switched channels with a look of disgust. "Listen up. A Tok'ra scout ship in orbit around this planet just picked up two mother ships dropping out of hyperspace. They'll be here within three hours. That doesn't give us a lot of time. We need to move quickly. I want to be in and out before those ships can land troops. Any questions?" There were none.
Carter appeared next to him and asked him quietly, "Sir, do you think it's wise to try to race the clock like this?"
"We don't have any alternative. Those mother ships probably mean that another Goa'uld has learned something and is coming to take over the operation. If that happens, the camouflaging technology will be taken too. Eventually someone higher on the System Lord food chain is going to get it and then we'll be in trouble." He climbed to his feet. "Teal'c, Daniel, it's time for us to move." He turned to face Anderson. "Hold the gate. We're going to be racing the clock and this is our only way off this planet."
Anderson swallowed visibly, then replied. "We'll be here, sir."
O'Neill started to turn away then stopped. "Have one of your men listen to our alternate frequency. We may get some intel updates. Let me know if you hear anything."
"Yes, sir."
O'Neill set off at a jog, hoping they could get in and out without too many complications.
Within half an hour, all teams were making their way through the buildings that had been passed off as foliage. There were sporadic firefights, most of which lasted less than a minute. It was clear that the Jaffa were retreating. Ten minutes later the reason became clear.
O'Neill crept forward and peered around the edge of building. A group of twenty Jaffa stood outside a large low stone building. Two of them manned heavy weapons platforms. The rest held their staff weapons at the ready. O'Neill looked at his watch and then keyed his mic.
"Johnson, I seem to recall you saying one of your men brought a grenade launcher. I think this it the time to put it to use. We'll lay down fire to try to force them to take cover around the weapons. Have your man drop several grenades on each station. Let me know when he's ready."
"Yes, sir. I'll let you know." A few minutes later, his men were in position. "We're ready Colonel."
"Is everyone in position?" O'Neill's voice came clearly across the open channel. When no one spoke up, he gave the command to begin. "Open fire."
Six Jaffa dropped in the first moments of the fusillade. The others, as predicted moved to take cover behind the weapons platforms. As soon as they did so, the sound of grenades being launched could be heard clearly. Two grenades landed near one of the platforms, shredding the Jaffa manning it and those that had been huddled around it to avoid incoming fire. The Jaffa around the other platform realized their predicament and moved to get out of the blast radius as the next volley of grenades hit. Those that survived the grenades were quickly cut down by gunfire. The Jaffa had only managed to get off a few shots, none of which struck home.
"Cease fire. Cease fire. Move in. Be sure to check all of the downed Jaffa. We don't need any surprises."
A few minutes later, Teal'c called O'Neill to the building's entrance. "This door has been locked from the inside. It is unlikely that we will have sufficient time to circumvent this."
"Carter, did you bring some C-4?"
"Yes, sir."
"Open the door then."
"Yes, sir." She began making some small charges to place when she noticed Teal'c shaking his head. "Not enough?"
"You will need more than that to open the door, Major Carter."
She doubled the size of the charges. "Will that do it?"
"Perhaps."
She increased the size of the charges to triple the original amount and then turned to Teal'c and waited for his comment.
"That should be sufficient to allow us to enter."
Carter placed the charges and then carefully inserted the detonators. "Clear out." She ushered everyone away from the doorway and ducked behind the corner of another building. "Fire in the hole." She pressed the button on her remote and the charges went off concurrently. A rain of dirt and chunks of stone peppered the buildings that sheltered the SG teams.
When the dust cleared, O'Neill ordered the teams forward. The door had been opened, but barely. It was twisted inward enough to let two men go through at a time. The stone front of the building was gone above the doorway and for several meters to each side of it. Walls that looked to be constructed of the same materials used in Goa'uld mother ships were now exposed.
All but Teal'c and O'Neill were through the breach. O'Neill checked his watch again as Teal'c went through the opening. Nearly an hour had elapsed since they got word of the mother ships coming toward them. As he ducked through, he heard weapons fire from not far ahead.
"Colonel," O'Neill's radio crackled. "We've met heavy resistance. We're trying to force our way through, but we're bottlenecked by a narrow hall." The sound of an explosion, probably a grenade, carried across the open channel. "I think we'll be able to dislodge them, but it's going to be a matter of attrition. The only cover we have is hiding behind the corners of the walls. We can't get into a position to effectively return fire. We ..." The sound of another explosion drowned out what Johnson was saying. "... to clear the way."
O'Neill signaled Teal'c to follow him and started forward at a run. Less than thirty seconds later, he could see Carter and Daniel crouched down along the wall ahead of him. Beyond them the hallway teed. There was a hall leading left, which was apparently guarded and the hall they were in continued only a short way past it and ended at a closed door. The area behind the door was a storage locker with no other exits. There was no option to go to the right.
The Marines were split, with half of them on each side of the guarded hall. Johnson acknowledged O'Neill's presence with a nod. "We're trying to clear out the Jaffa, but they're holding their position from alcoves that protect them from fire. So far, we've been unable to remove them with grenades. They either don't get far enough or go too far. In either case, the Jaffa are able to duck in behind the corners and avoid the shrapnel."
"Sir," Carter began speaking but was drowned out by the sound of another explosion.
"What?"
"I said we should try a bank shot. Think pool. If you don't have a direct line to a ball, you can use the rail and get to it off the bounce. Just bounce a grenade in."
Johnson looked puzzled. "So how do you figure the angle? There's not a lot of time to be looking and calculating."
"When she gets technical, it's best not to ask. She might really tell you." O'Neill received a short glare from Carter before she answered.
"Easy. At least a few of our weapons have laser sights on them. We'll use one to mark the point on the wall to bounce the grenade. We adjust it based on how short or how long the throw goes. Grenades aren't exactly round and they won't bounce or roll true, but we should be able to narrow down the trajectory within a few tries."
Carter noticed one of the Marines on the far side of the intersection using a small steel mirror to look around the corner and down the hall. "You, Marine!" He looked up and Carter noticed it was the one who'd insulted her earlier. "You're my spotter. Use your mirror and watch where my grenade goes. Tell me if it's long or short."
"Yes, ma'am."
"You and you," she picked out two other Marines, one on each side of the hall. "I when I tell you, I want you to lay down enough fire to keep the Jaffa hiding so I can get a look at the hall." They nodded. She inched forward. "Now."
The Marines opened up with several three round bursts. Carter took a quick look and gauged about where the impact point should be, then moved back. "Cease fire!" The Marines stopped, dropped their magazines and inserted fresh ones, while Carter took a P90 from Johnson. A few staff blasts struck the corners where the Marines had taken cover.
"Thanks, sir." She noted the red dot on the floor from the laser sight, and then laid the weapon on the ground. "Okay, make them take cover again so I can line this up."
The Marines began firing down the hall and continued until Carter was sure she had the mark where she wanted it. "Okay, you're going to need to hit them a little harder now so I have time to throw. And you," she indicated the Marine with the mirror, "be ready to mark where it ends up." He nodded, as the rate of fire picked up.
Carter moved out where she could see the mark, pulled the pin and threw the grenade. She noted that she was short of her mark by a foot or more as she moved back. "Cover," she called. The Marines pulled back from their firing positions. The explosion sounded a few seconds later. She looked to the Marine with the mirror.
"Short ma'am. Hard to tell exactly how much, but probably by five feet."
Carter pulled another grenade from her combat harness. "Okay, are we ready to try this again?" All three Marines nodded. "Then, let's go."
Carter shook her head as the explosion sounded, knowing the answer before she heard the report.
"Long, ma'am. Several feet I'd guess."
"Carter?" Colonel O'Neill stepped forward and tapped her on the shoulder. "We don't have all day here."
"I know that, sir. It's not easy to hit an exact point on the wall. I was short of my mark the first time and long the second time. In each case, the final resting point of the grenade followed suit."
"Why don't you let me try? I used to throw the baseball around a lot."
"Have at it, sir." She handed him the grenade she'd been getting ready to use.
"Thank you." He poked his head around the corner, not waiting for cover fire and noted the spot on the wall. "Alright, light them up." He stepped up found the mark again and threw the grenade, then moved back. The explosion came moments later and sounded a bit more muffled than previous explosions.
"Nice shot, sir. You scored. Looks like the Jaffa from across the hall was also hit. He's trying to crawl away."
"You sure?"
The Marine poked his head around the corner to confirm what he thought he could see from the mirror. There was a detached arm lying in the hall. "Pretty sure, sir."
Carter was incredulous. "I can't believe you got it on the first shot."
O'Neill smiled. "I'm just that good." He looked around to be sure everyone was getting ready to move. "Okay, let's go. SG-3, take the lead."
A short burst of gunfire told O'Neill that the Jaffa was now dead.
A few minutes later, Johnson's voice came across the radio. "Sir, we've found what looks something like an elevator. I'm guessing there must be one or more levels below us." Johnson didn't sound happy about the discovery.
"Teal'c, go see what he's found."
Teal'c nodded and took off in the direction SG-3 had gone and moments later radioed O'Neill. "It is indeed an elevator. These are typically used for transporting equipment and minerals. It is possible that there are active mines are below us."
"Johnson, take SG-5 with you and check it out. SG-16, you're with us." The two remaining Marines from SG-16 silently stepped forward.
It wasn't long before they found a room with some sort of large electronic device in it. It was humming with power. None of them had seen anything like it before.
"Carter, what do you think? Is this it?" O'Neill watched as she hurried over to a console on the near side of the machine.
"I'd say that's a good bet, sir. It's drawing quite a bit of power and doesn't seem to be doing much other than that as far as I can tell. Daniel, can you read any of this?" She waved a hand at the console.
Daniel cleaned his glasses on his shirt, put them back on and peered at the console. "Yes, I can read it. You're not going to believe this." He pointed to a knob that had a line on it and a label above it and below it. "Loosely translated, it says 'camouflage on' above the knob and 'camouflage off' below the knob." The line was pointing up, which corresponded to the condition they had encountered outside.
"Johnson, we've located the device." O'Neill didn't bother to say more.
"Great news, sir. We've found a pretty extensive mine system here. It seems to be automated. They've got tons of ore piled up waiting to get put through some process. I'm guessing it's waiting to be refined. There's also a significant amount of what I'm guessing is refined material down here. It's very heavy."
Daniel spoke up. "Refined Naqadah is heavy. How much is there?"
"Looks like about a dozen pieces the size of a brick."
O'Neill broke in. "Do you think you could bring one of the bricks up here?"
"A full brick is probably too heavy. Would a small one do? One of the men just pointed out that there is one about a quarter the size of the others. I think it's light enough we can carry it up without too much difficulty."
"That should do. I want to augment our C-4 with it."
"But sir, we need to study this." Carter looked at him, waiting for a response.
"Study it as fast as you can Carter. This machine is too big to take back with us and we sure can't leave it for the Goa'uld who's coming this way."
She nodded. "You're right, sir." She began working to remove panels from the machine so she could see what the inside looked like. "Daniel, would you write down what all the labels on the console can be translated to mean?"
"I'm on it Sam." He had a notebook out and was making a sketch of the console, carefully numbering the items that were on it and rapidly making notes to correspond to the numbers. A few minutes later, he was done. He closed the notebook and returned it to his backpack.
O'Neill pulled back the Velcro strip covering his watch and looked at it. They had an hour or so until the Goa'uld mothership would be in orbit. "Carter, while you're examining the thingamajig, Daniel, Teal'c and I are going to go see if we can find the Goa'uld. I'll leave SG-16 here with you."
Carter didn't look up from what she was doing. "Okay, sir."
"Marines, keep an eye on the major. We'll be back in a little while."
Ten minutes later, Johnson's voice came across the com channel. "We're back up on your level with the ore. Can someone lead us from here?"
Carter answered quickly. "SG-16 can come and get you. We've swept the halls and rooms here. I'll be fine for a few minutes without them." She looked at the two Marines. "I'm serious, go get them. I'll be fine."
The two Marines looked at one another, shrugged and headed off in the direction of the elevator.
O'Neill heard the interchange on the radio and didn't like it. "Teal'c, Daniel, we're heading back." He spun on his heal, not waiting to see if the others were following. They hadn't found any sign of the Goa'uld.
The Marines had been gone perhaps a minute when a door opened in what had appeared to be a solid wall. Two Jaffa stepped into the room. They noticed Carter engrossed in studying the machine and rushed forward to capture her. A moment later, the sound of footsteps approached from the same direction the Jaffa had come. They turned to face the approaching sound.
Carter stood between the two Jaffa, unable to pull herself from their grasp.
"Lord Koltec," one of the Jaffa spoke, "we have one of the intruders."
"Good." The Goa'uld approached Carter. His hair and beard were silvery- gray. The body looked old for a host, but he moved easily with no sign of age or fatigue. He stopped in front of Carter and raised his right hand. The hand device he was wearing began to glow.
For Carter, the world slowed as she watched the device begin to glow, then everything was blinding white pain. She screamed and thrashed as the Goa'uld continued to administer the pain. Then it stopped.
"How many of you are there?" The voice seemed to come from far away.
Carter didn't reply. She only glared at him. The hand device began to glow again and she began to scream, her vision darkening around the edges as she began to pass out. The blackness receded a bit and she hung limp between the two Jaffa. A voice brought her back from the edge of consciousness.
"Once more, how many of you are there?"
"I ...won't ...tell ...you." Carter tried to focus her thoughts.
"Very well."
The pain began again and so did the screaming. It seemed to go on forever, but suddenly it was gone and she collapsed to her knees, her head coming forward and her face hitting the cool floor. As she struggled to sit up she heard voices as if they were far off and coming through a tunnel.
"Jaffa, remove the intruders!"
Shouts of "Sam!" "Major Carter," and "Carter," rang out and she raised her eyes to see the two Jaffa engaging Daniel and Teal'c in close combat. O'Neill was running straight for her, but was dropped by a shot from a zat.
"You dare oppose a god? You will die this day!" Koltec started to move toward the slowly recovering form of O'Neill.
Carter's vision cleared enough for her to see the back of the legs of the Goa'uld and to be able to tell he was heading to finish off O'Neill. She fumbled with her combat harness, found what she was seeking and the new knife came easily out of its sheath. She lunged forward, driving the knife through the back of the Goa'uld's knee.
Koltec shrieked and stumbled forward, pulling free of the knife and collapsing while trying to staunch the flow of blood from the wound.
Carter crawled forward, rose up on her knees and drove the knife through the back of the neck of the Goa'uld host, severing his spinal column and killing the Goa'uld that was wrapped around it.
The Marines from SG-3, SG-5 and SG-16 arrived in time to see Carter plunge her knife into the Goa'uld host's neck. Teal'c dispatched the Jaffa he was fighting at nearly the same instant. The SG-16 Marines rushed forward and pulled the other Jaffa off of Daniel before he could finish strangling the archaeologist. The Jaffa surprised the Marines with his strength and broke free of their grasp. He attempted to run, but was cut down in a brief hail of bullets.
Daniel rubbed his throat, the beet-red color slowly fading from his face. "Thanks," he said in a hoarse voice.
"Is everyone okay?" Johnson looked from one face to another.
Teal'c nodded.
O'Neill waved off a Marine who was trying to help him up.
"Getting there." Daniel croaked.
"I'll make it, sir." Carter was sitting up. She carefully cleaned her knife on the dead Goa'uld's clothing.
"Colonel O'Neill, this is Anderson. Can you hear me?" The voice startled everyone in the room.
"This is O'Neill. Go ahead, Anderson."
"Sir, we just got word from the Tok'ra, sir. The mothership did not decelerate as much as expected and will be in orbit in fifteen minutes. The Tok'ra is leaving now and won't be able to give us any more updates."
"Acknowledged." O'Neill shook his head and took a quick glance around the room before continuing. "Hold that position. We'll be headed that way as fast as we can. In about twenty minutes try to dial out and give General Hammond a status update."
"Yes, sir."
"Johnson, do you have the Naqadah?"
"Yes, sir."
"Give it to me, then get everyone rounded up and head for the Stargate. I'm going to set some charges and I'll be along in a few minutes."
"I will stay with you, O'Neill." Teal'c stepped forward.
"No, Teal'c. Make sure Daniel and Carter get to the Stargate. I won't be far behind." He looked at Daniel and Carter. "No arguments. Get moving."
Carter, Teal'c and Johnson all dropped their backpacks on the floor next to O'Neill. He quickly opened them and pulled out the C-4 and added it to his pack as the others exited the room.
O'Neill quickly placed a couple of small bricks inside panels around the camouflage device. He pulled out a dozen detonators with countdown timers and set them for twenty-five minutes, attached ten of them to bricks he'd laid out on the floor, then attached two of them to the bricks he had in place. He placed the Naqadah with the second brick, switched on the countdown for all timers, and then replaced the panel cover plates.
Ten minutes later, O'Neill had set the rest of the charges and began to make his way out. "How are you all coming?"
Johnson's voice came back to him. "We're about ten minutes from the Stargate."
"All the charges are placed. Fifteen minutes to detonation. I'm heading out now."
"See you in a few minutes, sir."
O'Neill didn't bother to reply. He ran through the corridors and felt a sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach as he heard a sound he recognized. He slowed down, cautiously approaching the noise. A ring transporter had just been activated. The sound of boot-clad feet on the hard floor came quickly afterward, followed by the rings being activated again.
O'Neill keyed his microphone and whispered. "Double-time it people. There are Jaffa on the ground and ..."
"Halt! Drop your weapon!" Carter heard the voice of a Jaffa came clearly across the open channel.
"Aww, crap." The sound of a P-90 on full auto roared briefly before being cut off by dampeners. The sound of zats firing also came through, then silence.
Carter turned back toward the base, as did Teal'c and Daniel.
"Major! Where do you think you're going?"
"We're going to get the Colonel, sir."
"Negative, Major. We're going home, now." Carter glared at him defiantly. Teal'c and Daniel both stood immobile, not moving toward the Stargate.
"Major, we all heard the same thing. He's most likely been captured or killed. The Colonel set charges to go off. We don't have time to get back for him now."
Carter nodded, then turned and headed toward the Stargate at a jog, with Daniel and Teal'c not far behind.
The sound of several staff weapons firing came from ahead of them. "They're ahead of us," Johnson called out loudly. "Spread out."
A few minutes later, six Jaffa were dead, as were two members of SG-3. All four members of SG-5 had been wounded in the fray.
Johnson quickly gathered the dog tags from the dead. "Let's move, people. There's bound to be more around and the noise will draw them. Almost before he finished speaking, the sound of staff weapons and projectile weapons could be heard from a ways ahead.
Teal'c spoke up. "We must hurry. The gate will be active by now and if those guarding it cannot hold it, we will have no way to leave this place."
A shuttle flew over them, obviously looking for a place to disgorge troops. The sound of engines whining in deceleration told Johnson that a suitable clearing had been found not too far behind them.
"We need to move out now. Go!" Johnson waved them all on. "I said move!"
As they ran ahead of pursuing Jaffa, Carter thought she heard something crackle across the radio frequency she was monitoring.
"Colonel, are you there?" She keyed her mic and asked as she ran. The only answer was a brief instant of some sort of noise she could not identify, and then silence.
The complex exploded behind the fleeing SG teams and lit up the sky brightly enough to cast shadows on the ground ahead of them. The rumble of the explosion reached them moments later.
Johnson signaled for the teams to stop as they neared the intense battle around the Stargate. "Anderson, how are you and your men doing?"
"We're pinned down. I've got six men down and have not been able to dial out."
"Understood, Anderson. We're about to engage your Jaffa from behind. We'll need to take them quickly. We've got Jaffa a few minutes behind us."
"We'll be waiting, sir."
He glanced around at the Marines, Carter, Teal'c and Daniel. "We don't have time to do this in a pretty fashion. We'll double-time it up there and kill the Jaffa as quickly as possible, then assume defensive positions while Doctor Jackson dials home. Let's go."
Johnson rushed forward, not waiting for the others.
The Jaffa at the clearing were not expecting to be hit from behind and the battle lasted less than a minute.
"Anderson?" Johnson looked around questioningly.
"Sir, he's dead. He was hit in the last round of fire."
Johnson looked at the man's nametag. "Okay, Evans. Collect the tags off the dead. We're not going to have time to take them back right now."
"Yes, sir."
"Doctor Jackson, dial home." The sounds of symbols being pressed on the DHD reached him before he finished his statement. The whoosh of the gate opening came soon after.
Carter sent SG-1's IDC and then began speaking. "General, we're coming through. I'll come through last. Close the iris after me."
The wounded SG-5 Marines were all through the gate. The SF's went through, as did SG-3. She waved Teal'c, Daniel and SG-16 through the gate and followed closely behind them.
---
What did you think? Please review and let me know.
Author's Note (1): Sorry about the delay in getting this out. Health problems, computer problems and lost files contributed greatly to the delay (had to rewrite this part entirely), as did misplacing my copy of MS Office and not being able to find it when I went to reload. :-(
Author's Note (2): Thanks for the reviews of previous chapters. Please read and review this one. Comments and suggestions are welcome. Constructive criticism is welcome, as it will improve future writing.
Thanks to Sych77 for offering to Beta for me. It's much appreciated.
---
O'Neill listened carefully to the report he was hearing, acknowledged the report, then switched channels with a look of disgust. "Listen up. A Tok'ra scout ship in orbit around this planet just picked up two mother ships dropping out of hyperspace. They'll be here within three hours. That doesn't give us a lot of time. We need to move quickly. I want to be in and out before those ships can land troops. Any questions?" There were none.
Carter appeared next to him and asked him quietly, "Sir, do you think it's wise to try to race the clock like this?"
"We don't have any alternative. Those mother ships probably mean that another Goa'uld has learned something and is coming to take over the operation. If that happens, the camouflaging technology will be taken too. Eventually someone higher on the System Lord food chain is going to get it and then we'll be in trouble." He climbed to his feet. "Teal'c, Daniel, it's time for us to move." He turned to face Anderson. "Hold the gate. We're going to be racing the clock and this is our only way off this planet."
Anderson swallowed visibly, then replied. "We'll be here, sir."
O'Neill started to turn away then stopped. "Have one of your men listen to our alternate frequency. We may get some intel updates. Let me know if you hear anything."
"Yes, sir."
O'Neill set off at a jog, hoping they could get in and out without too many complications.
Within half an hour, all teams were making their way through the buildings that had been passed off as foliage. There were sporadic firefights, most of which lasted less than a minute. It was clear that the Jaffa were retreating. Ten minutes later the reason became clear.
O'Neill crept forward and peered around the edge of building. A group of twenty Jaffa stood outside a large low stone building. Two of them manned heavy weapons platforms. The rest held their staff weapons at the ready. O'Neill looked at his watch and then keyed his mic.
"Johnson, I seem to recall you saying one of your men brought a grenade launcher. I think this it the time to put it to use. We'll lay down fire to try to force them to take cover around the weapons. Have your man drop several grenades on each station. Let me know when he's ready."
"Yes, sir. I'll let you know." A few minutes later, his men were in position. "We're ready Colonel."
"Is everyone in position?" O'Neill's voice came clearly across the open channel. When no one spoke up, he gave the command to begin. "Open fire."
Six Jaffa dropped in the first moments of the fusillade. The others, as predicted moved to take cover behind the weapons platforms. As soon as they did so, the sound of grenades being launched could be heard clearly. Two grenades landed near one of the platforms, shredding the Jaffa manning it and those that had been huddled around it to avoid incoming fire. The Jaffa around the other platform realized their predicament and moved to get out of the blast radius as the next volley of grenades hit. Those that survived the grenades were quickly cut down by gunfire. The Jaffa had only managed to get off a few shots, none of which struck home.
"Cease fire. Cease fire. Move in. Be sure to check all of the downed Jaffa. We don't need any surprises."
A few minutes later, Teal'c called O'Neill to the building's entrance. "This door has been locked from the inside. It is unlikely that we will have sufficient time to circumvent this."
"Carter, did you bring some C-4?"
"Yes, sir."
"Open the door then."
"Yes, sir." She began making some small charges to place when she noticed Teal'c shaking his head. "Not enough?"
"You will need more than that to open the door, Major Carter."
She doubled the size of the charges. "Will that do it?"
"Perhaps."
She increased the size of the charges to triple the original amount and then turned to Teal'c and waited for his comment.
"That should be sufficient to allow us to enter."
Carter placed the charges and then carefully inserted the detonators. "Clear out." She ushered everyone away from the doorway and ducked behind the corner of another building. "Fire in the hole." She pressed the button on her remote and the charges went off concurrently. A rain of dirt and chunks of stone peppered the buildings that sheltered the SG teams.
When the dust cleared, O'Neill ordered the teams forward. The door had been opened, but barely. It was twisted inward enough to let two men go through at a time. The stone front of the building was gone above the doorway and for several meters to each side of it. Walls that looked to be constructed of the same materials used in Goa'uld mother ships were now exposed.
All but Teal'c and O'Neill were through the breach. O'Neill checked his watch again as Teal'c went through the opening. Nearly an hour had elapsed since they got word of the mother ships coming toward them. As he ducked through, he heard weapons fire from not far ahead.
"Colonel," O'Neill's radio crackled. "We've met heavy resistance. We're trying to force our way through, but we're bottlenecked by a narrow hall." The sound of an explosion, probably a grenade, carried across the open channel. "I think we'll be able to dislodge them, but it's going to be a matter of attrition. The only cover we have is hiding behind the corners of the walls. We can't get into a position to effectively return fire. We ..." The sound of another explosion drowned out what Johnson was saying. "... to clear the way."
O'Neill signaled Teal'c to follow him and started forward at a run. Less than thirty seconds later, he could see Carter and Daniel crouched down along the wall ahead of him. Beyond them the hallway teed. There was a hall leading left, which was apparently guarded and the hall they were in continued only a short way past it and ended at a closed door. The area behind the door was a storage locker with no other exits. There was no option to go to the right.
The Marines were split, with half of them on each side of the guarded hall. Johnson acknowledged O'Neill's presence with a nod. "We're trying to clear out the Jaffa, but they're holding their position from alcoves that protect them from fire. So far, we've been unable to remove them with grenades. They either don't get far enough or go too far. In either case, the Jaffa are able to duck in behind the corners and avoid the shrapnel."
"Sir," Carter began speaking but was drowned out by the sound of another explosion.
"What?"
"I said we should try a bank shot. Think pool. If you don't have a direct line to a ball, you can use the rail and get to it off the bounce. Just bounce a grenade in."
Johnson looked puzzled. "So how do you figure the angle? There's not a lot of time to be looking and calculating."
"When she gets technical, it's best not to ask. She might really tell you." O'Neill received a short glare from Carter before she answered.
"Easy. At least a few of our weapons have laser sights on them. We'll use one to mark the point on the wall to bounce the grenade. We adjust it based on how short or how long the throw goes. Grenades aren't exactly round and they won't bounce or roll true, but we should be able to narrow down the trajectory within a few tries."
Carter noticed one of the Marines on the far side of the intersection using a small steel mirror to look around the corner and down the hall. "You, Marine!" He looked up and Carter noticed it was the one who'd insulted her earlier. "You're my spotter. Use your mirror and watch where my grenade goes. Tell me if it's long or short."
"Yes, ma'am."
"You and you," she picked out two other Marines, one on each side of the hall. "I when I tell you, I want you to lay down enough fire to keep the Jaffa hiding so I can get a look at the hall." They nodded. She inched forward. "Now."
The Marines opened up with several three round bursts. Carter took a quick look and gauged about where the impact point should be, then moved back. "Cease fire!" The Marines stopped, dropped their magazines and inserted fresh ones, while Carter took a P90 from Johnson. A few staff blasts struck the corners where the Marines had taken cover.
"Thanks, sir." She noted the red dot on the floor from the laser sight, and then laid the weapon on the ground. "Okay, make them take cover again so I can line this up."
The Marines began firing down the hall and continued until Carter was sure she had the mark where she wanted it. "Okay, you're going to need to hit them a little harder now so I have time to throw. And you," she indicated the Marine with the mirror, "be ready to mark where it ends up." He nodded, as the rate of fire picked up.
Carter moved out where she could see the mark, pulled the pin and threw the grenade. She noted that she was short of her mark by a foot or more as she moved back. "Cover," she called. The Marines pulled back from their firing positions. The explosion sounded a few seconds later. She looked to the Marine with the mirror.
"Short ma'am. Hard to tell exactly how much, but probably by five feet."
Carter pulled another grenade from her combat harness. "Okay, are we ready to try this again?" All three Marines nodded. "Then, let's go."
Carter shook her head as the explosion sounded, knowing the answer before she heard the report.
"Long, ma'am. Several feet I'd guess."
"Carter?" Colonel O'Neill stepped forward and tapped her on the shoulder. "We don't have all day here."
"I know that, sir. It's not easy to hit an exact point on the wall. I was short of my mark the first time and long the second time. In each case, the final resting point of the grenade followed suit."
"Why don't you let me try? I used to throw the baseball around a lot."
"Have at it, sir." She handed him the grenade she'd been getting ready to use.
"Thank you." He poked his head around the corner, not waiting for cover fire and noted the spot on the wall. "Alright, light them up." He stepped up found the mark again and threw the grenade, then moved back. The explosion came moments later and sounded a bit more muffled than previous explosions.
"Nice shot, sir. You scored. Looks like the Jaffa from across the hall was also hit. He's trying to crawl away."
"You sure?"
The Marine poked his head around the corner to confirm what he thought he could see from the mirror. There was a detached arm lying in the hall. "Pretty sure, sir."
Carter was incredulous. "I can't believe you got it on the first shot."
O'Neill smiled. "I'm just that good." He looked around to be sure everyone was getting ready to move. "Okay, let's go. SG-3, take the lead."
A short burst of gunfire told O'Neill that the Jaffa was now dead.
A few minutes later, Johnson's voice came across the radio. "Sir, we've found what looks something like an elevator. I'm guessing there must be one or more levels below us." Johnson didn't sound happy about the discovery.
"Teal'c, go see what he's found."
Teal'c nodded and took off in the direction SG-3 had gone and moments later radioed O'Neill. "It is indeed an elevator. These are typically used for transporting equipment and minerals. It is possible that there are active mines are below us."
"Johnson, take SG-5 with you and check it out. SG-16, you're with us." The two remaining Marines from SG-16 silently stepped forward.
It wasn't long before they found a room with some sort of large electronic device in it. It was humming with power. None of them had seen anything like it before.
"Carter, what do you think? Is this it?" O'Neill watched as she hurried over to a console on the near side of the machine.
"I'd say that's a good bet, sir. It's drawing quite a bit of power and doesn't seem to be doing much other than that as far as I can tell. Daniel, can you read any of this?" She waved a hand at the console.
Daniel cleaned his glasses on his shirt, put them back on and peered at the console. "Yes, I can read it. You're not going to believe this." He pointed to a knob that had a line on it and a label above it and below it. "Loosely translated, it says 'camouflage on' above the knob and 'camouflage off' below the knob." The line was pointing up, which corresponded to the condition they had encountered outside.
"Johnson, we've located the device." O'Neill didn't bother to say more.
"Great news, sir. We've found a pretty extensive mine system here. It seems to be automated. They've got tons of ore piled up waiting to get put through some process. I'm guessing it's waiting to be refined. There's also a significant amount of what I'm guessing is refined material down here. It's very heavy."
Daniel spoke up. "Refined Naqadah is heavy. How much is there?"
"Looks like about a dozen pieces the size of a brick."
O'Neill broke in. "Do you think you could bring one of the bricks up here?"
"A full brick is probably too heavy. Would a small one do? One of the men just pointed out that there is one about a quarter the size of the others. I think it's light enough we can carry it up without too much difficulty."
"That should do. I want to augment our C-4 with it."
"But sir, we need to study this." Carter looked at him, waiting for a response.
"Study it as fast as you can Carter. This machine is too big to take back with us and we sure can't leave it for the Goa'uld who's coming this way."
She nodded. "You're right, sir." She began working to remove panels from the machine so she could see what the inside looked like. "Daniel, would you write down what all the labels on the console can be translated to mean?"
"I'm on it Sam." He had a notebook out and was making a sketch of the console, carefully numbering the items that were on it and rapidly making notes to correspond to the numbers. A few minutes later, he was done. He closed the notebook and returned it to his backpack.
O'Neill pulled back the Velcro strip covering his watch and looked at it. They had an hour or so until the Goa'uld mothership would be in orbit. "Carter, while you're examining the thingamajig, Daniel, Teal'c and I are going to go see if we can find the Goa'uld. I'll leave SG-16 here with you."
Carter didn't look up from what she was doing. "Okay, sir."
"Marines, keep an eye on the major. We'll be back in a little while."
Ten minutes later, Johnson's voice came across the com channel. "We're back up on your level with the ore. Can someone lead us from here?"
Carter answered quickly. "SG-16 can come and get you. We've swept the halls and rooms here. I'll be fine for a few minutes without them." She looked at the two Marines. "I'm serious, go get them. I'll be fine."
The two Marines looked at one another, shrugged and headed off in the direction of the elevator.
O'Neill heard the interchange on the radio and didn't like it. "Teal'c, Daniel, we're heading back." He spun on his heal, not waiting to see if the others were following. They hadn't found any sign of the Goa'uld.
The Marines had been gone perhaps a minute when a door opened in what had appeared to be a solid wall. Two Jaffa stepped into the room. They noticed Carter engrossed in studying the machine and rushed forward to capture her. A moment later, the sound of footsteps approached from the same direction the Jaffa had come. They turned to face the approaching sound.
Carter stood between the two Jaffa, unable to pull herself from their grasp.
"Lord Koltec," one of the Jaffa spoke, "we have one of the intruders."
"Good." The Goa'uld approached Carter. His hair and beard were silvery- gray. The body looked old for a host, but he moved easily with no sign of age or fatigue. He stopped in front of Carter and raised his right hand. The hand device he was wearing began to glow.
For Carter, the world slowed as she watched the device begin to glow, then everything was blinding white pain. She screamed and thrashed as the Goa'uld continued to administer the pain. Then it stopped.
"How many of you are there?" The voice seemed to come from far away.
Carter didn't reply. She only glared at him. The hand device began to glow again and she began to scream, her vision darkening around the edges as she began to pass out. The blackness receded a bit and she hung limp between the two Jaffa. A voice brought her back from the edge of consciousness.
"Once more, how many of you are there?"
"I ...won't ...tell ...you." Carter tried to focus her thoughts.
"Very well."
The pain began again and so did the screaming. It seemed to go on forever, but suddenly it was gone and she collapsed to her knees, her head coming forward and her face hitting the cool floor. As she struggled to sit up she heard voices as if they were far off and coming through a tunnel.
"Jaffa, remove the intruders!"
Shouts of "Sam!" "Major Carter," and "Carter," rang out and she raised her eyes to see the two Jaffa engaging Daniel and Teal'c in close combat. O'Neill was running straight for her, but was dropped by a shot from a zat.
"You dare oppose a god? You will die this day!" Koltec started to move toward the slowly recovering form of O'Neill.
Carter's vision cleared enough for her to see the back of the legs of the Goa'uld and to be able to tell he was heading to finish off O'Neill. She fumbled with her combat harness, found what she was seeking and the new knife came easily out of its sheath. She lunged forward, driving the knife through the back of the Goa'uld's knee.
Koltec shrieked and stumbled forward, pulling free of the knife and collapsing while trying to staunch the flow of blood from the wound.
Carter crawled forward, rose up on her knees and drove the knife through the back of the neck of the Goa'uld host, severing his spinal column and killing the Goa'uld that was wrapped around it.
The Marines from SG-3, SG-5 and SG-16 arrived in time to see Carter plunge her knife into the Goa'uld host's neck. Teal'c dispatched the Jaffa he was fighting at nearly the same instant. The SG-16 Marines rushed forward and pulled the other Jaffa off of Daniel before he could finish strangling the archaeologist. The Jaffa surprised the Marines with his strength and broke free of their grasp. He attempted to run, but was cut down in a brief hail of bullets.
Daniel rubbed his throat, the beet-red color slowly fading from his face. "Thanks," he said in a hoarse voice.
"Is everyone okay?" Johnson looked from one face to another.
Teal'c nodded.
O'Neill waved off a Marine who was trying to help him up.
"Getting there." Daniel croaked.
"I'll make it, sir." Carter was sitting up. She carefully cleaned her knife on the dead Goa'uld's clothing.
"Colonel O'Neill, this is Anderson. Can you hear me?" The voice startled everyone in the room.
"This is O'Neill. Go ahead, Anderson."
"Sir, we just got word from the Tok'ra, sir. The mothership did not decelerate as much as expected and will be in orbit in fifteen minutes. The Tok'ra is leaving now and won't be able to give us any more updates."
"Acknowledged." O'Neill shook his head and took a quick glance around the room before continuing. "Hold that position. We'll be headed that way as fast as we can. In about twenty minutes try to dial out and give General Hammond a status update."
"Yes, sir."
"Johnson, do you have the Naqadah?"
"Yes, sir."
"Give it to me, then get everyone rounded up and head for the Stargate. I'm going to set some charges and I'll be along in a few minutes."
"I will stay with you, O'Neill." Teal'c stepped forward.
"No, Teal'c. Make sure Daniel and Carter get to the Stargate. I won't be far behind." He looked at Daniel and Carter. "No arguments. Get moving."
Carter, Teal'c and Johnson all dropped their backpacks on the floor next to O'Neill. He quickly opened them and pulled out the C-4 and added it to his pack as the others exited the room.
O'Neill quickly placed a couple of small bricks inside panels around the camouflage device. He pulled out a dozen detonators with countdown timers and set them for twenty-five minutes, attached ten of them to bricks he'd laid out on the floor, then attached two of them to the bricks he had in place. He placed the Naqadah with the second brick, switched on the countdown for all timers, and then replaced the panel cover plates.
Ten minutes later, O'Neill had set the rest of the charges and began to make his way out. "How are you all coming?"
Johnson's voice came back to him. "We're about ten minutes from the Stargate."
"All the charges are placed. Fifteen minutes to detonation. I'm heading out now."
"See you in a few minutes, sir."
O'Neill didn't bother to reply. He ran through the corridors and felt a sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach as he heard a sound he recognized. He slowed down, cautiously approaching the noise. A ring transporter had just been activated. The sound of boot-clad feet on the hard floor came quickly afterward, followed by the rings being activated again.
O'Neill keyed his microphone and whispered. "Double-time it people. There are Jaffa on the ground and ..."
"Halt! Drop your weapon!" Carter heard the voice of a Jaffa came clearly across the open channel.
"Aww, crap." The sound of a P-90 on full auto roared briefly before being cut off by dampeners. The sound of zats firing also came through, then silence.
Carter turned back toward the base, as did Teal'c and Daniel.
"Major! Where do you think you're going?"
"We're going to get the Colonel, sir."
"Negative, Major. We're going home, now." Carter glared at him defiantly. Teal'c and Daniel both stood immobile, not moving toward the Stargate.
"Major, we all heard the same thing. He's most likely been captured or killed. The Colonel set charges to go off. We don't have time to get back for him now."
Carter nodded, then turned and headed toward the Stargate at a jog, with Daniel and Teal'c not far behind.
The sound of several staff weapons firing came from ahead of them. "They're ahead of us," Johnson called out loudly. "Spread out."
A few minutes later, six Jaffa were dead, as were two members of SG-3. All four members of SG-5 had been wounded in the fray.
Johnson quickly gathered the dog tags from the dead. "Let's move, people. There's bound to be more around and the noise will draw them. Almost before he finished speaking, the sound of staff weapons and projectile weapons could be heard from a ways ahead.
Teal'c spoke up. "We must hurry. The gate will be active by now and if those guarding it cannot hold it, we will have no way to leave this place."
A shuttle flew over them, obviously looking for a place to disgorge troops. The sound of engines whining in deceleration told Johnson that a suitable clearing had been found not too far behind them.
"We need to move out now. Go!" Johnson waved them all on. "I said move!"
As they ran ahead of pursuing Jaffa, Carter thought she heard something crackle across the radio frequency she was monitoring.
"Colonel, are you there?" She keyed her mic and asked as she ran. The only answer was a brief instant of some sort of noise she could not identify, and then silence.
The complex exploded behind the fleeing SG teams and lit up the sky brightly enough to cast shadows on the ground ahead of them. The rumble of the explosion reached them moments later.
Johnson signaled for the teams to stop as they neared the intense battle around the Stargate. "Anderson, how are you and your men doing?"
"We're pinned down. I've got six men down and have not been able to dial out."
"Understood, Anderson. We're about to engage your Jaffa from behind. We'll need to take them quickly. We've got Jaffa a few minutes behind us."
"We'll be waiting, sir."
He glanced around at the Marines, Carter, Teal'c and Daniel. "We don't have time to do this in a pretty fashion. We'll double-time it up there and kill the Jaffa as quickly as possible, then assume defensive positions while Doctor Jackson dials home. Let's go."
Johnson rushed forward, not waiting for the others.
The Jaffa at the clearing were not expecting to be hit from behind and the battle lasted less than a minute.
"Anderson?" Johnson looked around questioningly.
"Sir, he's dead. He was hit in the last round of fire."
Johnson looked at the man's nametag. "Okay, Evans. Collect the tags off the dead. We're not going to have time to take them back right now."
"Yes, sir."
"Doctor Jackson, dial home." The sounds of symbols being pressed on the DHD reached him before he finished his statement. The whoosh of the gate opening came soon after.
Carter sent SG-1's IDC and then began speaking. "General, we're coming through. I'll come through last. Close the iris after me."
The wounded SG-5 Marines were all through the gate. The SF's went through, as did SG-3. She waved Teal'c, Daniel and SG-16 through the gate and followed closely behind them.
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