Seven
On the Run
Martouf came flying through the other side and lost his footing. He sat up sighing, leaned against this new world's DHD, pulled out the communicator and turned it on. He tried to reconfigure the settings to contact the Tok'ra but it was useless and he was left with two options.
So should I send this message to Anubis?
Yes and no. Similarly we could also return to that world… or not.
He laughed as he pictured doing so and lay back.
As the adrenaline rush abated he wondered: was he now closer or further away from his beloved?
The last chance they had time to spend alone they walked out into the desert during late afternoon. Not long after angrily shoving him away over the edge of a dune and walking off, she was back in his arms, laughing on his shoulder and looking into his eyes, talking excitedly about the Tok'ra rebellion, their dream revolution and what it would be like to one day overthrow the Goa'uld for good.
A pang of hunger interrupted his thoughts.
Lantash groaned and took control while his host remained wrapped up in the reverie. He put the communicator away and walked out onto the lush overgrown lawn around the chappa'ai. The grass reached into a rainforest where there was a faint path to follow of finer crushed mulch. His soft, silent moccasins didn't hold out the moisture but at least that cooled his sore feet.
A little way into the forest he stopped to lean against a tree, savouring the tranquillity and idly considering that all around him there were different kinds of creatures constantly in their own struggles for survival. Insects like jewels crawled off leaves and stems unnoticed in the dawn mist. They crawled, jumped and flew away from him. There was the smell of rain on the way and also that of burning wood.
Cold, awkward, he plodded through grounds of baby teak trees and fine sunlight dappled grass until he was walking in thick murky green shadows where the air was heavy like a deep kel'no'reem. It was so quiet. There the sunlight came in swirling beams that, striking through the canopy only now and then, revealed the vibrant colours of the plants: giant split fan leaves and hanging purple flowers. It caught particles of moisture hanging in the air and bent them into fragmented rainbows.
Ahead on the path drops of red juice rained down from the canopy. He walked up and caught some in his hand. It smelled sweet so he tasted it tentatively. It was so pleasing he looked up searching for more in the trees and found red berries growing along a vine high up where two large, bird-like creatures circled each other in a primitive dance. Suddenly they dived off the branches, disappearing instantly.
Then his cyan eyes widened at the sound of someone sprinting his way. He ducked into the underbrush just as a jaffa ran past in great bounds weapon aimed at the canopy and disappeared into the other side of the forest. Lantash breathed a sigh of relief and straightened up craning his neck after the goa'uld. But a second Jaffa approached silently from behind and yelled, "Kree chok!" with a deepened voice and the encircled gold snake of Apophis illuminated on his dark skin.
Lantash jumped and took off running sideways to avoid catching up with the first jaffa. Insects and sticky leaves clung to his skin, twisted roots looped up to snare his feet, plants whipped against his arms and face. Then something wrapped itself around his leg and stung until he shook it off between running steps.
A few minutes later the sound of a rough river met his ears from up ahead. He ran towards it, though not knowing what he would do when he got there. Eventually he stopped at the very edge of a great ravine, looking back at his pursuer who stood not far behind him weapon aimed.
The Jaffa, confident the chase was over sidestepped a rock, and fired a warning shot at the ground commanding, "surrender."
Lantash simply stared at him while catching his breath and wavering in the icy river breeze. Infuriated by the refusal to move in any way to kneel, the jaffa raised his aim and fired and though Lantash's reaction was lightning fast to avoid the blast, he lost balance and fell over the edge.
Martouf opened one eye to the cold stone pavement pressed against his face, the other to a circle of blue night sky within the stone ring, the gate.
I'm beginning to think something is not quite right around here.
He lifted his head a little to assess his situation and found himself alone. He sat up and looked around carefully. Nothing had changed. The grass was undamaged so he had not been dragged there as the jaffa would have done.
Whoever brought us back here is showing us the door.
He stepped up to the DHD and dialled a random address. The gate came to life quicker than he had ever seen.
What in Netu! Lantash yelled.
Martouf frowned in confusion. Then taking a few hurried steps and wiping the dirt from his face with his wet sleave…
We went for a swim?
Who cares, lets get out of here!
…he once again stepped through the event horizon.