Mirror Mirror
Part Five
She tossed the C4 to the Colonel along with the detonator and moved to the middle of the corridor.
"Carter, get back here!" He almost leapt out to grab her, but she glared at the explosives in his hands.
"Sir, I'm protected, you're not." There was a brief expression of discomfort on his face as the overtones of her Goa'uld voice echoed eerily in the corridor. Truthfully, it freaked her out, hearing herself talk like that.
"You'd better be right about that shield, Carter!" His voice was grim – he hated seeing anyone else on his team take risks, although he had no problems with taking them himself.
"I am." And if she wasn't, she wouldn't last long enough for him to chew her out.
And as the Jaffa came running around the corner, she turned to face them and raised one hand: "Has'hak! Kree!"
Instinct kicked in and they skidded to a halt. Behind her, she heard the sound of staff weapon fire and one collapsed, his belly a smoking ruin. The others took one look at their downed comrade and levelled their weapons at her. She saw the first one fire, the bolt of energy flaring towards her and held her ground. Hoping. Praying.
The field shimmered around her as the bolt contacted the shield and the shield sucked the energy into itself, humming with latent power. Sam grinned. She could really get used to this kind of invincibility.
As long as they didn't start throwing knives of course...
Two more bolts of staff-weapons fire earthed themselves in the shield and the shield crackled around her, then, two return volleys simultaneously took out a couple more Jaffa. Which meant the Colonel had set the detonator and was returning fire.
A moment later she heard his yell, "All set, Carter. We have three minutes!"
The metal of the ribbon device was warm around her fingers, clinging lovingly to her arm. It was an extension of her being, an extension of her will. Her desire was to repel these men and as she lifted her arm, her will was made force, transmitted to the ribbon device through the naquadah in her blood. The ripple of energy burst from the device and hit her adversaries squarely in the chest, knocking them back like Jaffa tenpins before the invisible bowling ball of her resolve
Adrenaline soared through her, speeding up her heart-rate, narrowing her vision down to the ones who struggled to get back up. Raw emotion seethed in her as she flung them down a second time.
No wonder the Goa'uld had taken on the persona of gods. With this kind of power literally at their fingertips, they were gods! The feeling of invincibility was a heady brew: like the breaching of another barrier in her studies of wormhole physics, like the giddy feeling of a margarita on an empty stomach, like the intoxication of falling in love. Dangerous as the power of god in the hands of a Goa'uld host – or ex-host.
Someone stop me!
And another voice rose up within her, gloating, Someone try and stop me!
A hand touched her shoulder and she turned, breathing heavily, meeting the Colonel's wary gaze. "You okay?" he asked tensely, eyes scanning her face and then briefly running down her body, checking her for injuries. "We have about two and a half minutes to find the ring room Bra'tac said could be changed to send us to the other ring room near where we came in. You good to go?"
She took a deep breath of cool air. Once again, his intervention had brought her down to reality – just as his comment of 'Hail Dorothy!' had done after the fight against Seth three years ago. "Yes, sir."
The grip on her shoulder squeezed in brief approval, "That was some stunt you pulled, Carter." He smiled, shook his head, then swept the hand holding the staff weapon in the direction of the corridor and said, "Right, let's head for the rings."
They started off, Bra'tac in the lead, the Colonel behind him, Sam following them.
He glanced over his shoulder at her as they turned a corner, "Do you have anything else hidden under that outfit that I should know about, Carter?"
Sam flushed a little, but retained enough self-possession to smile and reply, "No, sir. Just me." His over-the-shoulder grin was slightly wicked and she could only surmise that the lack of military apparel was making him a little more free with the personal quips and jibes than usual. It gave her the boldness to respond, "Actually, I couldn't find my Swiss Army knife, otherwise I'd have brought it along."
He snorted, but there was a smile on his lips as he turned away. "All right, Carter, you win; we won't go there."
They passed assorted slaves and servants – none of them Goa'uld or Jaffa, thank God – most of whom either prostrated themselves or stood against the wall with their heads bowed until they'd gone by. Sam assumed what she hoped was a suitably haughty expression and quietly switched her VDU on. If they encountered a Goa'uld or a Jaffa, they were in big trouble, but at least she could use the ribbon device and the voice to cow the human slaves.
Part of Sam felt for these people, imprisoned in a universe where the Goa'uld ruled. Another part of her wondered what had happened to these people when Apophis was destroyed in her own reality. Had they become free, like Teal'c? Had they banded together and found hope in their future? Or, knowing no other way but slavery and enslavement, had they perpetrated the power-structure like the people who'd used the Unas as slaves when they'd cast the Goa'uld out from their world?
Briefly, Sam wondered if Daniel had thought about this and if he had, how he felt about it. Daniel was the one who tended to look longer term instead of short-term – that was his training and there were times when it had been invaluable and times when it had been a 'pain in the mikta' as the Colonel would say.
"Can we hurry it up in front? We're running a little short on time."
"We are nearly there, O'Neill. You are as impatient as ever."
"I'm still me with or without a snake in my belly."
"That is evident." Bra'tac stopped in front of a door and activated a sequence of buttons. The door opened with a hydraulic hiss and they ducked inside.
"Okay we have...less than a minute before that baby blows...Carter?"
Sam took up her position at the inner panel and began changing the programming of the ring-room. While it wasn't a complex set-up, she had to think about the order in which the buttons were to be pressed – she'd never actually done this herself, only watched her father do it. There was one hairy moment when her hand hovered over the buttons and the Colonel shifted uncomfortably behind her.
"Carter?"
"I'm thinking, sir."
"Think fast, we've got fifteen seconds..."
Running through the options, she pressed the last sequence of buttons and the lights under the symbols glowed green. "Ready to go..."
"...dial up home and evac now!" The Colonel was still speaking to Ferretti as they took their places in the circle marked on the floor and the rings sprang up around them.
As the transporter glow faded and the rings vanished back into the floor, they felt the explosion shake the building with its tremors.
"What the hell did you just do?" Jack O'Neill the First Prime exclaimed as he and Teal'c dropped the weapons they'd had trained on the incoming transport.
"Carter had a block of C4 and a detonator stashed away. We came, we saw, we blew the palace up, we went home. It's all good. They're through?"
"Through."
"Right, Teal'c, how far from here to the artifacts room?"
"We are very close."
"Right, we'll just do a straight-line run for the artifacts room – anyone have a problem with that?"
"Yeah," First Prime O'Neill interrupted. "I got a problem with that!"
Time slowed. Stopped.
Daniel glanced from the Colonel to Sam and his expression matched her thoughts. Uh-oh.
"And exactly what might that problem be?"
"What the hell happens to me now? Your smart little scientist here..." Sam saw the Colonel raise his eyebrows at his counterpart's description of her, "...worked out how to fix whatever brainwashing they did to me, but I can't go back to Earth or to Cimmeria and I'm dependant on...this..." his face creased into distaste as his indicated his stomach, "...for the rest of my extended life." There was a hint of bitterness in his eyes as he looked at his un-Jaffa'd counterpart. "Where does your 'grand plan' leave me, Colonel?"
And it didn't look like the Colonel had an answer for him.
----
The question hung in the air for a long tense moment, before Daniel answered. "It leaves you in a position to start a Jaffa rebellion."
"A Jaffa rebellion?"
Daniel had decided on the journey over here that it was really weird to have a conversation of sorts with someone whom he thought he knew, but really didn't and who knew nothing about Daniel even when Daniel expected him to.
"Your Teal'c never spoke to you about freedom for the Jaffa?"
"Yeah. But there weren't too many opportunities to get out of here – and even if we had, where would we go? Shol'va aren't exactly welcome on your average Jaffa planet."
"There are others who have hope in the freedom of the Jaffa from the Goa'uld, O'Neill." Teal'c stated. "Where we come from, many have rebelled against their former gods and seek to sabotage the System Lords however they can."
"They use Teal'c here as a figurehead," Jack said from behind Daniel. "He had the whole nine yards as a Jaffa, but he thought freedom was better. That says a lot to other Jaffa."
"You're a resourceful man," Daniel said, hearing Jack snort behind him. "You'll think of something."
"Thinking isn't my strong suit."
"Not intellectualism, no. But strategic thinking – the command of men and women – or Jaffa... You became First Prime in five years – that says a lot about your abilities as a soldier – think of it as a tactical assault against the Goa'uld. The Jaffa are the power-base of the Goa'uld structure. Train Jaffa who can see that the Goa'uld aren't the gods they make themselves out to be. Show them how to train other Jaffa..." The slightly sceptical expression on First Prime O'Neill's face was classic Jack – except that Jack's scepticism usually resolved into 'okay, it's just one of those things Daniel knows'. This man might know Daniel, but he sure didn't trust him. "Bra'tac showed Teal'c how to doubt – and that doubt turned Teal'c to our aid when Jack made an appeal to him for help in our reality."
"Right, lead a Jaffa rebellion on a wing and a prayer. Piece of cake." It was unmistakably Jack at his sarcastic best.
"Sir, with Ammonet and Klor'el gone, Apophis is going to need someone he can rely on. Why not his loyal First Prime? You've operated undercover before – think of this as the ultimate undercover assignment."
"And what do I have to look forward to at the end of it?" O'Neill demanded. "A lifetime with a snake in my belly? No offence, Teal'c."
"None taken, O'Neill."
Bra'tac spoke for the first time since he, Jack and Sam had arrived in the transporter rings. "O'Neill, being a Jaffa has many advantages as you have experienced over the last five years. These advantages can be used to your benefit – and Apophis' downfall."
"Speaking of which," Jack interposed, "Where is Pops? Haven't seen him around today."
"Apophis is visiting his harem."
"The perks of command." His team turned to look at him in slow disbelief and Jack's expression said he'd just realised what he'd said and how it could be taken. "I didn't mean it like that, guys... Yeesh, can we go home now?"
"Does he do the foot-in-mouth thing often?" O'Neill asked Sam dryly.
"Not often. But he's had his starring moments," Sam responded, a smile stirring her expression.
"Okay, Carter, enough fun at the expense of the man who has to do your next personnel review, I want out of this skirt." Daniel couldn't help the snort which escaped as Jack realised his second mistake. "I mean..."
Once again, O'Neill directed his comment to Sam. "Your commander must have a lot of patience, Major."
Sam glanced over at Daniel and exchanged a broad grin with him. "General Hammond swears he had hair before he had to deal with Colonel O'Neill."
"Okay," Jack announced pre-emptively, "We're going." He shot a glare at Sam, "I'm not gonna forget this, Major."
"I don't expect you to, sir." Sam responded serenely. "I'll take rearguard."
"Shield capabilities, again?"
"Yes, sir."
"It's not far," O'Neill commented as Bra'tac punched in the controls for the door and the panels slid back. "Teal'c, you know the way, you and Bra'tac are leading. I'll keep an eye on Dr. Jackson here and the Colonel and Major can follow us up. Are we ready to go?"
Jack gave Daniel a sour look at having the lead taken out of his hands. "Yeah, we're ready to go."
The corridor was empty and they jogged along it, abandoning all pretence of their faked identities in their haste to get to the artifacts room.
Bra'tac punched in the commands to open the door and a moment later they were in the cool dusty dark of the room. Even as Daniel walked in, he could feel the tickle in his sinuses and sneezed loudly. A moment later, at least four guns primed as a voice ordered, "Don't move!"
The door slid shut behind Jack and Sam. "Ferretti," growled Jack, ignoring the junior officer's order, "I thought I told you to get your sorry ass back through the mirror!"
"Sir, the SF's went back through, my team was about to follow them when the doors opened." The Major glanced over the party of six, "It's good to see you alive and well, sir." His eyes flickered over First Prime O'Neill, "You too, sir." Turning back to Jack, Ferretti asked, "Mission accomplished?"
"And then some. Get your team through the mirror. We've got the remote?"
"Selleck has it." Ferretti gestured to his team. "SG-2, move out."
They vanished behind the rows of mouldering bits and pieces stolen from a thousand different worlds. Here and there, Daniel could see the dusty outline where something had been removed and the imprint left behind. He wondered how much stuff Lieutenant Vaillant had managed to remove – and which pieces she'd taken.
He wondered if Sha're and Ska'ara had gone into the maze after the Goa'uld.
Behind him, O'Neill was asking: "So exactly what is this mirror thing you're talking about?"
Daniel was about to turn and watch Jack explain to O'Neill how the mirror worked. This should be entertaining, for sure.
A touch on his arm distracted him, Sam coming alongside him with concern in her eyes. "You okay?" She was talking about more than just the whole situation of being Goa'ulded in this reality.
Sha're...
Her words brought back a brief wave of grief, before Daniel took a deep breath and half-smiled. She probably saw straight through the smile, but she accepted it – and that was all he wanted right now. "Yeah."
"Sha're and Ska'ara?"
"We got them and...us... through the gate to Cimmeria."
"Did you..." Sam trailed off, unsure of whether to ask or not. "Never mind."
Without needing to be told, Daniel knew what Sam was going to ask. "I didn't get to say everything I wanted, but I got to say goodbye." The thought choked him up a little. In some ways it was as bad as losing Sha're all over again, but the brief, half-fulfilled farewell would have to be enough for him – unless they went through the mirror again. And somehow, Daniel doubted that the mirror would be left around for any more jaunts through to other realities.
"Hey, Carter, Daniel!"
Their heads jerked around to see Jack waving them over. "We're going through. You guys first."
Sam nodded and gave First Prime O'Neill a half-smile before she saluted him. "Sir."
"Major-Doctor."
She inclined her head at Bra'tac and then touched the mirror and was gone in a flash.
Then it was Daniel's turn. He held out his hand and had it firmly shaken by the man who looked like his friend but wasn't. "Good luck."
O'Neill snorted. "You too, Dr. Jackson."
Daniel grinned, reached out to touch the mirror and was back home in the SGC with a shiver of the space continuum.
On the other side of the mirror, Bra'tac and Teal'c were saluting each other, while Jack and his counterpart were facing off each other. O'Neill had his gaze fixed on the view through the mirror at Daniel and Sam, while Jack glanced from the First Prime to his team-mates.
"Do you get the feeling they're talking about us?"
"Just a little," Sam replied, dryly as she eased the ribbon device off her arm. She looked up at the mirror again, meeting the gaze of the two men with the same face and the same name. The First Prime's expression was not pleased.
Daniel snorted to himself. I wouldn't be pleased either, if I woke up one day and discovered everything I'd been living was a lie. And O'Neill would have to live in that world – would have to find a way to make himself a life as a Jaffa, in much the same way as Jack had faced unwilling exile on Edora.
Jack said something to which O'Neill responded and the two men stared into each others' eyes before O'Neill nodded and held out his hand for Jack to shake. So much the same in personality and yet so different in situation. Teal'c and Bra'tac watched and a moment later, their remaining two team-mates transferred into their reality. Turning from the mirror, Jack gave the order: "Shut it down."
In the mirror, the images of Bra'tac and First Prime O'Neill faded to black.
End of Part Five