Hostage Situation
Part Six
The bright sun was warm on Teal'c's back as the helicopter circled away, the noise of its blades fading into the background of the city sounds.
At this moment, however, he had no opportunity to savour the experience. His senses were alert for trouble as his team-mate picked the lock of the door that opened into the central stairwell of the building in which the Goa'uld had taken the hostages. He could not sense any danger, but that did not mean there was none.
However, the lock tumblers clicked elegantly in the lock without any trouble presenting itself. Major Carter reached for the handle easing the door open. O'Neill had scanned the door and found no signs of explosives wired up to the hinges or handle, so Major Carter had begun to pick the lock.
There had been uncertainty regarding whether the upper entrance to the central stairwell would be guarded. The Goa'uld were arrogant enough to believe that the only way into the building was up from the ground, but the host of the Goa'uld who had once been O'Neill's companion would not.
Down on the ground, Daniel Jackson was waiting for their signal - the double click that O'Neill was sending through their communications system even now.
Words would echo too easily in the empty stairwell, rather like the slight noise of their footsteps as they made their way down the stairs to the appropriate office level. Their boots were special soft-soled ones to muffle the sound of their steps, but they were unable to completely silence their footfalls.
As they made their way down the cold cement corridors, they kept an eye out for anything that might be used to monitor this stairwell. They had gone down four flights and found nothing unusual. The signs indicating the floors and those warning people to hold onto the red metal railing were the only bright spots of colour on the walls of the stairwell.
Then, on the fourth flight down, they spotted a small box sitting on the floor, no larger than a brick, opaque and unattached to anything.
O'Neill's hand signals indicated retreat, but Major Carter paused. With a signal of her own, she pointed down at the box, and then began making her way down the stairs towards it. O'Neill's expression indicated wary acceptance of her actions, and he followed her a few steps behind, his gun pointed above and over her head, ready to protect her should an unexpected situation arise.
As she leaned over the box, doubtless the better to observe the item, there was a sharp buzzing noise and she jerked back. The fluorescent blue crackle where her head had impacted the force shield left them in no doubt that the Goa'uld had taken precautions to ensure that nobody would intrude upon his domain. Major Carter winced and rubbed at her forehead, but signalled that she was okay. Carefully, she knelt down and did something to the box, then nodded, as if to herself, and signalled retreat.
The retreat up to the rooftop was swift and made in silence, and they emerged into bright sunlight, blinking. As the door swung shut, his team-mate slipped a flexible sheet of plastic between the 'tongue' of the door lock and the door jamb, allowing it to close, but preventing it from locking. "Sir, I can bring the force shields down."
Her announcement was unexpected, and one which caused both team-mates to stare at her. "I thought you said we didn't have the technology..." O'Neill began.
"The box on the floor is the source of the force shield phase modulator, sir. If you notice, it was set up so that people couldn't escape upstairs, not so people couldn't come downstairs. It's a simple hinged lid and opens easily - I can access its inside functions, which is something that hasn't been possible in previous encounters against force shields."
O'Neill blinked. "So you think the Goa'uld didn't figure anyone coming in from the roof?"
"Possibly, sir." Major Carter was prudent enough to be non-committal.
"And you're sure you can bring it down?"
"Yes, sir." There was no hesitation in her voice, just a certainty that she had the pieces to the puzzle and knew how everything was going to fit together.
O'Neill didn't pause. "What do you need?"
Ten minutes later, Daniel Jackson reported that the package was on their way towards them. "Um...but there's a problem..."
"I don't want to hear it, Daniel."
"Well, you're going to encounter it soon enough, so I might as well tell you now. And I want you to know that I had absolutely nothing to do with it."
Consequently, when Detective Shanahan arrived with a naquadah reactor and a combination-locked box some ten minutes after that, three very distinctly annoyed members of SG-1 met him.
Teal'c assisted the unloading of the reactor without a word. O'Neill, by contrast, had many words to say to the detective, among them, "Which part of 'No' did you not understand, Detective?"
And Major Carter's greeting was terse. To cover the anger she felt at the man's interference, she immediately focused on the reactor, taking up the other end to Teal'c and leading the way back over to the building into which they had gained entry. Her pace was so swift that Teal'c found himself walking somewhat faster than was customary even for a man of his stride.
"I can carry that for you, Sam." Teal'c lifted an eyebrow at the offer. It was well-meant, but unacceptable to Major Carter in her present state of mind.
"It's fine, thanks." And without a further word to her boyfriend, she helped lug the reactor to the fire exit door.
As she pushed the door open, O'Neill took the reactor from her. "You take point, Carter." They'd already discussed their actions, including the placement of the reactor and her actions, in order to avoid making more noise than necessary.
Unfortunately, they now had the presence of another among them.
"Erm... So what am I doing?"
Both Teal'c and Major Carter looked to O'Neill.
"I don't know why you're even asking what you're doing," he said, acidly. "You can't seem to do what you're told."
Detective Shanahan flushed. "I'm here now, you might as well use me."
O'Neill glanced at Major Carter who returned his gaze without expression. If Detective Shanahan appeared annoyed by Major Carter's lack of response to his behaviour, then she was not doing anything to alleviate his anger. "Okay. We're going in. Carter's bringing down the force shield, we go in quiet." O'Neill's eyes were black with intensity. "You are backup. You stay backup." There was a deadly softness to his voice that even the detective recognised.
O'Neill was a man with a mission, and any man who got in his way would suffer the consequences.
"Do you understand?"
"Yes."
"Carter, Teal'c, let's go." O'Neill depressed the button of his radio. "We're going in, Daniel."
Daniel's voice echoed in their earpieces, "Got it. Sending in the clowns. I mean, the troops."
Major Carter grinned and Teal'c's mouth quirked as O'Neill retorted. "Funny, Daniel."
SG-1 moved with the well-oiled precision of a team who'd worked with each other for a long time. Teal'c felt a twinge of pride as Major Carter bent down beside the box and flipped it open. She'd explained the science of it to them as they waited on the roof. "The force shields are generated by naquadah-powered cells, and the power output is transferred to an oscillator which produces a controlled waveform. Since we have access to the power output, we can overload the system with a pulse generated from a naqadah reactor."
"Won't that be dangerous?" The question had come from O'Neill.
"Maybe a little. I can control how much power is in the pulse so the shield will overload and short out. The only thing I don't know is whether it's just one shield, or all of them."
"Educated guess?"
Her smile had been impish. "Well, we could send the SWATs in and see if they make it to the top."
Now, Major Carter's hands moved swiftly over the panels and wires of the force shield generator now, connecting and disconnecting the wires from each other. Over her shoulder, she made the signal for her team-mates to move back, and they obediently backed up the stairs. Without looking back to see if they'd obeyed her, she raised her left fist and counted down the numbers over her shoulder. 5...4...3...2...1...
The shield came down, a thin, blue, horizontal line that descended until it hit the floor. Major Carter reached past the point where the field had been before and signalled the all clear.
O'Neill and Teal'c were down the stairs moments later, following Major Carter as she paused at the door. Her P-90 was up and in place, ready for action. O'Neill took up his own gun and nodded at Teal'c, who swung the door open.
Beyond lay the silent reception area for the Incom Tech Group. The computer on the desk had long since switched to a screensaver, the brightly-coloured letters scrolling across the black screen with repetitive intensity. The chair had been pushed back, discarded by its occupant.
It had been early in the morning when the Goa'uld hosted by Michael Stambaugh entered the building and took the personnel of the Incom Tech Group hostage. He had chosen his time well. The only occupants of the office had been the receptionist and five personnel, including the managing director and Sara Mulholland.
Now, the reception area, and the office beyond were silent. Their study of the offices of Incom Tech Group had shown a reception area, two general office areas and two individual offices, one for the managing director and one for the sales director. Based on phone traces, the Denver Police Department had determined that Michael Stambaugh had set up his headquarters in the offices of the managing director.
The office seemed far too ordinary to have witnessed the events of the morning. Teal'c could appreciate the irony of what the Tau'ri considered the mundane and the insane, side by side
Teal'c glanced around this first office area. Six doors opened into various other areas of the office. Three were open. A glance in showed them to be a lunchroom, a copy room, and a storeroom. One was a door with a frosted covering that led out to the elevator corridor. One led to the inner office. And the sixth...
From behind it, Teal'c heard the faint murmur of voices, the low mutter of restless men and women. He beckoned Major Carter over. "The hostages."
She nodded and knelt down by the door. The back of her hand rested briefly against it. Then, when nothing happened, she tried again, placing her hand on the wood for a little longer. Moments later, she had her lock picks out and was working her way through the small metal tumblers.
Behind them, Teal'c heard Detective Shanahan's whisper, "What are they doing?"
"Hostages," O'Neill said, succinctly. "You're taking them downstairs and getting them out. They'll be disoriented and afraid, you'll have to take them all the way down."
"Why can't...?"
The locks clicked, and the door swung inwards on silent hinges.
Beyond, a dozen men and women climbed to their feet, varying expression of wariness on their faces. Only one face showed relief.
Sara Mulholland stepped forward. "You're with Jack, aren't you?"
"Yes, ma'am." Major Carter stepped back from the door and brought her weapon up, training it on the door to the inner office as O'Neill went in to reassure the hostages.
"Colonel Jack O'Neill, Air Force. We're here to get you guys out of this place." He spoke in low tones and indicated the SWAT team members. "Including you guys. You go up to the roof, across the walkway to the next building over, you get the civilians down to the ground through the fire exit and get back to your command. Do not come back here, do not pass go, do not collect two hundred dollars."
"The shields..."
"They're dealt with. All you have to do is get them out of here." He indicated Shanahan, "This is Detective Shanahan of the Denver Police Department. He's going to show you the way. Question time is later, let's move out, folks."
O'Neill's tactic of giving the responsibility of the hostages to the SWAT' teams was a master stroke. the SWATs would recognise the importance of removing Stambaugh's leverage and leaving SG-1 behind to deal with Stambaugh.
Then O'Neill's former wife paused before him. "Jack?"
"Talk later, Sara," O'Neill told her. But he took the hand she'd half-stretched out to him and squeezed it. "Not now."
She bit her lip and nodded, but her eyes ranged over his face. "You look well," she murmured, and walked quickly away.
Teal'c dropped his gaze and chose to look elsewhere rather than at O'Neill's face. There had been moments, he knew, when O'Neill had questioned where his job was taking him. More than once, O'Neill had contemplated 'throwing in the towel' and leaving the SGC, perhaps for a different kind of role, or simply to retire and sit by his lake without fish. The reminder of the life which had died with his son would be painful to one for whom the concept of family and belonging was so strong. After all, O'Neill's belief had been enough to weld together four disparate individuals into a team of friends who complemented and compensated for each other.
His gaze fell on Major Carter, who was telling Detective Shanahan to go down with the hostages as O'Neill had instructed him and not to return.
"...Sam..."
"Just go, Pete," she told him, shortly. When he opened his mouth, she put her hand over it. "Go."
Somewhat to Teal'c's surprise, Detective Shanahan left. His demeanour was like that of a dog with his tail between his legs, but he left.
Moments later, SG-1 was left with only the emptiness of the room and the silence of the computers. They silently congregated around the door to the inner office. O'Neill clicked a pattern on his radio to inform Daniel Jackson that the hostages were released, and another to say that they were going in.
"I hate being ground crew," Daniel Jackson grumped. The peevishness was no less real for being light-hearted, but his subsequent words left no doubt that, no matter how irritated he was, their friend did care. "Good luck, guys."
Then with a nod from O'Neill, Teal'c kicked in the door, and then they were inside.
End of Part Six
