Pegasus Pt. 8

Author's note: Thanks to Secbeth for her great knowledge, you can find her fantastic stories in the Stargate SG-1 section, the Parallel Universe Chronicles. Read them, they're good!

Enjoy;

Daniel Jackson grimaced as he watched a six-man team of soldiers march past in the corridor, looking for the loose Gou'ald. Even more irksome was the unfamiliar weight of a gun on his side, now compulsory. He was on his way to the infirmary, it had been several days, and the doctor here had decided to allow Sam to leave the infirmary, as long as she constantly had a watcher. Daniel and Teal'c had immediately volunteered, but because Daniel was needed in translating the ancient writings on the Gou'ald, and Teal'c was needed in the capture of 'Apophis 2', Doctor Weir and Teyla Emmanigan had stepped forward.

But there was the other problem.

Sam being proud had refused help. It was only with the warning, if she didn't let them, she'd be in the infirmary bed until she was seventy, did she relent, adding in a 'crying out loud!' which left Daniel in dampened spirits.

"What's going on?" He asked, entering the infirmary, to find Sam dressed in Atlantis BDU's and glaring at someone just out of view.

"I don't need help." She snarled, as Daniel poked his head around the corner to find Doctor Bekett standing, a frown on his face.

"Fine. Don't take the painkillers. Be a hero, I don't need this. I have a headache already."

Elizabeth, standing with an amused grin on her face next to Sam, cleared her throat.

"Shall we leave?" She asked, waving her hand toward the doors. Nodding at Daniel as she walked past, Sam continued without stopping out the doors.

Carson handed her the pills.

"Two daily." He said icily, as Elizabeth ran after her quarry.

"Is she always that stubborn?" He asked, when only him and Daniel were left.

Daniel smiled.

"She had a good teacher." And leaving his words handing, he walked out to the corridor, just in time to see Elizabeth turn the corner, tucking the pills into her pocket hastily.

Grinning, he headed in the direction of the labs, work waiting.

Elizabeth ran, surprised how far Samantha Carter could storm when angry.

"Colonel!" She called, jogging after her prey. The colonel didn't stop, but slowed down slightly, enough for Liz to catch up.

"Sorry about that." She said huffily.

Liz clutched her side.

"No problem. He was just trying to help you know."

"I know. It just...hurts...I can't face any doctors yet."

Knowing better then to ask what happened, Liz glanced around, taking in their surroundings. "Where are we headed?"

Sam looked around.

"Jumper Bay."

"Jumper Bay? Perhaps I should call John..."

Sam shook her head. "Not to fly, to look. Perhaps the Gou'ald is hiding out there."
Liz suddenly felt nervous, even more at the fact she had refused a gun, she had decided it was striking panic into the people for the leader of the colony to be carrying a weapon in their own homes.

"Aren't John and the others doing sweeps of Atlantis? I would think they would have already searched the bays..."

"I know. Just precaution."

Suddenly it clicked.

"You can sense it, can't you?" She said accusingly, feeling even more lost without a handgun.

Sam shook her head.

"It's weaker then normal...I think it's dying."

"But what if your senses are just...a little off?" Liz asked hopefully.

Sam shook her head.

"I'll call John." She said, reaching for her transmitter. Pulling it to her mouth, she pressed the small hidden black button on it's back. "John? Come in? Major Sheppard?"

All she received was static.

Frowning (slightly in fear) she put it in her pocket, and called to the intercom.

"John? Major John Sheppard? Respond?"

No response.

"Must have blocking capabilities." Sam said, uncaring as they continued to walk.

Liz shuddered at her calmness. "Perhaps we should go back, we have no idea what we're dealing with."

Suddenly Sam stopped, her hand flying to her handgun.

"I think...It's moving..." She looked around, aiming her gun toward the dark corridors.

"Umm...Err...I think...I want...Can we go back now?"

Eyes closed, Sam spun slowly, stopping as she pointed to a lone door in the corridor.

"Here..." She whispered, stepping forward and grasping the handle.

Pulling it open quickly, all the while pulling a knife from her belt and handing it to Liz, they both stared, mouths open into the empty room in front of them, large bay windows showing the planets night sky as the stared, edging into the room and glancing at the empty corners.

"I didn't think you were going to show..." Said a slow, deep, Gou'ald voice as the door slowly swung shut. "Now drop your weapon Colonel, or Elizabeth dies."

Turning slowly, Sam groaned as she saw Liz, disarmed, and unconscious by the shot of a zat. The shooter had their Zat, still aimed carelessly at the woman on the floor, his face hidden by shadow.

"Your in a man." Sam said, jesting as she aimed her gun at the Apophis 2 face. "Where is the child?"

"Oh don't worry Sam." He said, almost fatherly. "Grenald is in a good place. Don't worry, he is alive...I can't say the same for you...now give me your gun...please..."

Grinding her teeth, Sam threw her gun toward him, he caught it, grinning and placed it in his back pocket.

"Okay...now...here...take this rope (he threw some over) and bind your ankles..."

Doing as she was told, Sam couldn't help but think one thought.

She should have shot him.

Rolling her eyes when he walked over, residing in a soldier, he tied her wrists, smiling all the time.

"Okay. Now, I want a new host, so really, it's which one of you to choose..."

Daniel pulled out a large textbook he had found in the pile, and began reading the ancient slowly; taking in every word about the device the Gou'ald had come from.

Frowning, and leaning closer, he read a sentence that made him shiver.

It was a clone!

The ancients had cloned Apophis.

Great. Growling, he read further, reading about their experiments when he found a paragraph that caught his eye.

'...testing on the cloned 'Gou'ald' has failed. It appears, after the symbiote took a host, it attempted to leave the base. (A hidden room Daniel assumed 'Hakkak' but couldn't be sure) was found to be where the Gou'ald was hiding. It had access to radio wave distorters, we could not connect using the intercoms on level 32.The host afterwards could sense but a little of the Gou'ald, it's cloned genes less prominent. All testing has been stopped, the wraith are planning an attack...'

"Major?" Daniel asked, without looking up. Footsteps could be heard, and a head leaned into his vision.

"Yeah?"

"We need to go!" Stepping up, he raced past John, pulling out his handgun as he ran.

John raced with Daniel, trying to listen to his garbled explanation as they ran, John holding his P90, Daniel holding his handgun, and Lt. Ford racing behind them.

"So where is it?" He asked, stopping to catch his breath, as Daniel unfazed stepped up to the only door in the corridor.

"In here." He whispered, pulling it open.

Sam groggily stared as the Gou'ald paced between Sam and Liz, still unconscious. Apophis 2 had hit her with the butt of her own handgun, she could feel the slight blood trickle from a wound on her head, but ignored the dull throb.

Loud thumping could be heard from outside, footsteps pelting down the corridor.

"No!" The Gou'ald hissed, glancing at both of the women, before leaning over Weir.

"No!" Cried Sam, as the Gou'ald opened its mouth. "Take me! Take me instead!"

Too late.

The symbiote fell gently onto Liz uniform, the host fell to his side, a line of blood running from his chin, his eyes closed.

Sam let out a scream as it went through Elizabeth neck, her eyes immediately opened, glowing gold brightly before she sat up, flexing her neck slightly.

"A nice strong host..." She said slowly and deeply, her warm eyes now cold and icy. "It will suffice."

And it stood up, walking slowly over.

"A nice back-up host...or perhaps I will vent my anger out on you...either way, I will keep you, Samantha Carter."

Her voice sounded so cold, Sam couldn't help but let out a whimper as she was dragged by the collar to the small back door, the sound of the other door opening entering her ears as Weir dragged her through another empty hall.

"Here..." Daniel said slowly, opening the door. He was surprised to see a single body lying in the darkness.

"Uh oh." He heard from behind him, as Sheppard and himself both ran toward the body, trying to see it was theirs, only to find a male, a soldier, clearly dead.

"Damn." John said slowly, as he walked past toward another door. "An escape route. And it looks like our friend might have a new host."

"But which one?" Daniel asked, slowly and in fear.

What if it was Sam?

Jack would kill him.

"And where's Grenald?" John asked, shaking his head.

Grodin stared at the controls, faking concentration as worried about his life. Atlantis was becoming dangerous with a loose Gou'ald. If he wasn't needed during Christmas, he might leave to the mainland for a while.

"Incoming wormhole!" Cried another technician.

The Stargate activated loudly, the iris sliding into place.

"Receiving a signal..." Grodin said slowly. "It's...its Earth..."

The control room was shocked into silence.

The iris quickly faded, and a single figure stepped through, pulling off his helmet to reveal gray hair.

He smiled.

"Nice."

Jack O'Neill was here, in Atlantis.

TBC...

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