O'Neill peered over the barrel of his P-90, watching the movement in the trees. It was obvious now that the intruders were not Uruk Jaffa--unless there were Jaffa on this planet who rode horses, that is. O'Neill allowed himself a smirk at the mental image of an armored Jaffa on horseback, then pulled his mind back to the situation at hand. The unidentified riders were coming closer. O'Neill glanced across to Ferretti's position and made eye contact with the major. Ferretti nodded slightly, readying his weapon.
The rider in the lead brought his horse into view. The horse was nearly pure white, aside from a dark grey tinge to his muzzle. The rider was similarly attired in white, wearing pristine robes and cape, and sporting long white hair and beard.
Directly behind the white rider rode a more familiar face. O'Neill searched his short-term memory for a second before coming up with his name--Aragorn. The tall blond guy and his short, bushy-bearded companion rode together on one horse beside Aragorn.
O'Neill looked over at Ferretti again and made the "all clear" signal, then stepped out from behind the cover of the tree. Teal'c and SG-2 followed suit, weapons lowered but still ready to fire should the need arise.
"Hey," O'Neill greeted with a wave of one hand. "Found your missing friends?"
"We have not encountered Merry and Pippin, no," Aragorn said. "But we believe they are now safe."
O'Neill raised his eyebrows, waiting for a further explanation, but none was offered.
Legolas tilted his head, fixing O'Neill with a penetrating stare. "Your numbers have changed since we last met."
"So have yours," O'Neill pointed out dryly.
Legolas continued as though the Colonel hadn't spoken. "There were four of you last time, including a woman."
"Yes," Aragorn said before O'Neill could respond, thinking back to the tall blonde who was now curiously absent from the group. "There was also another man, the one with circles of glass covering his eyes. I believe he called himself Daniel Jackson."
"Where are they?" Legolas inquired.
"They had a run-in with some of those Uruk-hai you guys were talking about," O'Neill answered, his face twisted with distaste at the memory.
"They were killed?" Aragorn asked.
O'Neill shook his head tersely. "Captured."
Aragorn frowned slightly. "Saruman has not shown an inclination to spare the lives of Men before. His armies have been ordered to destroy them."
"Your friends were captured, not killed," Teal'c pointed out.
"Yes, but Merry and Pippin are not from the race of Men," Aragorn said.
O'Neill narrowed his eyes, thinking that some information about the capture of this "Merry and Pippin" was definitely being withheld. "So, what, this Saruman guy just has a grudge or something against Men?"
"Saruman's master, Sauron, is determined to control all Middle-earth, and Men are close to becoming the dominant race. We are a challenge to his power," Aragorn explained.
"Whoa, wait a minute," O'Neill cut in. "You're telling me that Saruman is just an underling of--whatsis name again?"
"Sauron," Aragorn supplied, watching O'Neill carefully.
"For crying out loud," O'Neill muttered, his voice barely audible.
Gandalf, who had been observing the conversation silently until now, spoke up. "Saruman's forces most likely recognized that your friends were not typical Men, and had them captured instead of killed so they could be interrogated. When his is finished, he will dispense with them."
O'Neill's jaw tightened. "Not gonna happen."
Gandalf did not respond, but merely let the silence stretch between them, his expression neutral. O'Neill was glaring, as if expecting the wizard to defy him.
Legolas broke the staring contest. "How do you intend to rescue your friends?" he asked O'Neill.
"Oh, we'll think of something," O'Neill replied evenly.
Gimli gave a short, gutteral laugh. "Do you expect to just barge into Orthanc and demand--"
He broke off suddenly as the Stargate began to spin on its axis and the first chevron engaged. One of the Rohirric horses shied nervously at the unexpected noise.
Gandalf turned to Aragorn. "Back up," he ordered. The others quickly obeyed, guiding their horses to a short distance away from the Gate.
O'Neill barked a command, and SG-2 took up a defensive position. Seconds later, the final chevron locked into place, and the event horizon billowed out.
There was a chorus of astonished murmurs from the Rohirrim. Gimli's bearded jaw dropped, and Aragorn and Legolas exchanged an alarmed glance. Aragorn was suddenly reminded of words uttered by Boromir in Moria..."What is this new devilry?" Gandalf, however, remained calm as ever, regarding the Gate steadily.
The event horizon settled back into the Gate, rippling like the surface of a pond disturbed by a rock. A moment later, the surface seemed to part, and figures began to emerge. After six people had appeared, the blue surface disappeared suddenly, and the stone circle was silent once more.
"Stand down," O'Neill ordered, and SG-2 lowered their weapons. Aragorn watched as O'Neill walked forward and greeted one of the newcomers, a balding man.
"How is this possible?" Legolas whispered. Aragorn only shook his head mutely, eyes still glued to the scene in front of them. Clearly, these people who had just come through the "Stargate" were familiar to O'Neill and the other Earth natives. Friends or allies, probably.
"We were just having a chat with the natives while waiting for you guys," O'Neill was saying to the bald man.
"Will they help us?" one of the other newcomers asked. He was dressed in a sandy-colored, rather uncomfortable looking uniform.
"Help you what?" Gimli spoke up, picking up where he had left off before the Stargate had activated. "Fight off several hundred Uruk-hai and break into Saruman's fortress?"
"Isengard is teeming with Orcs, and your numbers are few," Legolas added. "Your chances of successfully rescuing your friends are small."
"When your friends had been captured by Uruk-hai," Teal'c said, "you did not abandon them, even though there were many Uruks and only three of you."
"That is true," Legolas said.
"Neither will we abandon Major Carter and Daniel Jackson," Teal'c said with finality.
"We are not suggesting you desert your friends," Aragorn said. "We are only informing you of the risks you face."
"Ah, we've had worse," O'Neill deadpanned.
The newcomer who had spoken earlier bowed his head briefly, then spoke, his voice distinctly deeper now than it had been previously.
"We must assess the situation and determine a plan of action. Samantha and Dr. Jackson's time may be limited."
Carter ground her teeth together as she was jostled from behind and forced to come down on her injured leg. The Uruks had removed the arrow, but had made no other attempts to treat the wound. To put even a little weight on the leg was agonizing. As a result, she was half walking, half being carried by a bulky Uruk Jaffa, who had apparently been assigned to make sure she didn't slow the group's pace.
Daniel was a few steps behind Carter, shooting worried glances at her. He had attempted to speak up on her behalf and had promptly received an ugly welt across one cheek, a friendly Uruk reminder that prisoners were to be seen and not heard.
After several eternities, Saruman's fortress came into view. It was a black, imposing tower, with four wicked-looking spikes sticking out of the top. Daniel swallowed hard. The landscape surrounding the tower only added to the "abandon hope, all ye who enter here" atmosphere. It was devoid of plant life, with ugly, gaping holes littering the ground. Acrid smoke rose from many of the holes, and Daniel wrinkled his face in disgust.
The Uruks pushed their captives relentlessly towards the tower, giving Daniel a hard shove whenever he slowed his pace to take in the surroundings. Running out of steam, Carter stumbled and nearly fell, only to be roughly jerked up by the nearest Uruk, who cursed at her in his incomprehensible language.
As they approached the stairs at the base of the tower, Daniel noticed a figure waiting for them. They came to a stop in front of the stairs, and Carter and Daniel were shuffled to the front of the group.
The figure walked towards them, his stride slow and deliberate. His skin was pale and sickly-looking, and his black hair hung in scraggly strands down his back. He briefly regarded the prisoners with a cold, flat stare before turning his gaze on the head Uruk.
"You were not ordered to take prisoners," he said, his tone as icy as his eyes.
"Saruman will want to see them," the Uruk returned in a growl. Two thoughts flitted through Daniel's mind--these Uruks could speak and understand English, and this slimy-looking individual was not Saruman.
"Their weapons are powerful, and not from the technology of ordinary Men," the lead Uruk was saying. He grabbed Carter's P-90 from another Uruk and showed it to the man, who lifted one eyebrow and ran a finger along the gun.
He turned back to Carter and Daniel, watching them more closely now. His eyes raked the archaeologist up and down, a sneer twisting his face and making it appear even more unpleasant. Apparently unimpressed with Daniel, he turned his gaze on Carter and stared at her for a long moment.
Carter felt the hairs at the back of her neck come to attention. She was not unused to men looking at her, but the intensity of this stranger's stare, coupled with the fact that she was injured and weaponless, was more than a little unsettling.
Without warning, an image of Bynarr sprang to her memory, Sokar's servant leering at her--at Jolinar--with undisguised lust in his eyes. The look was eerily similar to the one she was receiving now. She nearly choked on the feeling of revulsion that overwhelmed her, and fought the urge to back away.
If Saruman's servant detected her repulsion, he did not react. He merely watched her a moment longer, then gestured at the lead Uruk and turned towards the stairs.
One of the Uruks prodded Daniel with the blunt end of his spear, forcing the archaeologist up the stairs. Carter limped along close behind.
As they ascended the long flight of steps, Daniel glanced over his shoulder. Most of the Uruk Jaffa in the band had now dispersed, leaving only the leader and two others. Unfortunately, Daniel realized, his pistol, Carter's P-90 and the other confiscated weapons and equipment seemed to have dispersed along with the Jaffa. There was no telling where they were now.
"Move!" The Uruk leader's harsh command sliced into Daniel's thoughts, accompanied by another jab in the back. Moments later, they reached the end of the staircase and stood before a closed doorway. The head Uruk gestured curtly to one of his underlings, who stepped forward and tugged the door open, grunting under its weight.
Carter and Daniel were herded through the doorway into a dark, gloomy area and pushed into the center of the room. After checking to make sure the captives had been properly prodded into place, the lead Uruk stepped away from them. A split second later, transport rings ascended from the floor, accompanied by their distinctive mechanical sound. The two prisoners were whooshed away in a blaze of light.
It's cold, was Daniel's immediate thought as the rings brought them to their new location. Then his eyes widened as he realized exactly why it was cold.
"They put us on the roof!" he exclaimed, walking over to the edge and peering down the side of the tower. His head spun slightly, and he quickly backed away. A chilly wind whistled past, and he wrapped his arms around himself in an attempt to keep warm.
Carter dragged herself over to one of the large, protruding spikes and sat against it, wincing as she stretched out her injured leg. Gradually, the pain subsided to a more bearable level, and she let out a heavy sigh.
Daniel walked over, carefully avoiding the roof's edge, and settled in next to her. "You okay?" he asked quietly.
She glanced at him, then looked ruefully at her leg. "It's nothing Janet won't be able to fix," she said with a small chuckle. She let her eyes travel in the direction of the forest where the Stargate was located. "I just hope the Colonel and Teal'c are okay."