Reincarnating Crimes
Chapter 10 – The Call
It had been a week since Liam's disappearance and Jack had used every favour, every contact he had to try and find him – to no avail. He also wasn't able to reach any of the Shiriti'ai, and there was no doubt that whomever captured Liam would have Jack under surveillance. That meant going to the Sanctuary to try and locate the Puranas was also out of the question.
On top of it all, the disappearance of the Shiriti'ai unnerved the Colonel. There was no way that Sanctuary could have been discovered, but that meant the others had disobeyed his ordered and left the shelter. O'Neill didn't want to think what kind of crisis would force them to do that.
And as much as Jack wanted to spend all his energy on finding Liam, there was also the whole Kali situation to resolve. Carter still hadn't been able to find a solution to their problem (short of burying the gate) and a few of the fuse boxes had already gone. They didn't have much longer before they were forced to shut down the gate.
"Jack, have you found any leads on who took Liam?" Daniel asked, as he sat down beside the colonel for the morning debriefing.
"None of my contacts know a thing, so it's probably an NID operation." Jackson looked at the colonel in confusion.
"Why would the NID want the twelve-year-old boy of an archaeologist?"
Geez, Daniel, maybe because he is the reincarnation of a spiritual leader that the government ordered me to kill – or because he is the child of an ancient alien race known as the Furlings that no one has seen in over a millennia?
"Don't know, Danny, I just work here."
Before Daniel could reply, the rest of the members of SG-1 as well as General Hammond entered the room and the meeting started.
"Major, have you had any success in solving our little problem?" the General asked, looking at his subordinate hopefully.
"I'm sorry, sir. Unless we luck out and one of the off-world teams find a new metal that can withstand that kind of heat, I don't know what else to try," Carter replied helplessly. "And, sir, we are running out of time. I estimate we only have another twenty-four hours left at the most before we'll be forced to shut the gate down."
Hammond turned to Jackson.
"I don't suppose you've gotten anywhere finding this Sanctuary you spoke of earlier, Dr. Jackson?"
"Sorry, General, with the information I have – it'll be practically impossible to locate the Sruti, and now that the Shriti'ai have gone underground…"
Hammond sighed heavily.
"It was a long shot anyways. Are there any suggestions on how to get ourselves out of this fire?"
The table fell silent – even the colonel didn't make a sarcastic remark. A sergeant knocked hesitantly on the door.
"Yes, sergeant?"
"Sorry to interrupt, sir, but there are some people topside who are insisting that they speak with the colonel."
Jack raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"With me? Did they say who they were?"
"Yes, sir. They said they were the Shiriti'ai."
The Goa'uld grinned cruelly at his captive. The boy had stopped his trance a few hours ago, and had began to cry as he felt everything that had been done to his body in the mean time. He didn't know what the boy had been doing, but it made the Goa'uld uneasy. The Furlings were a mysterious race – even their allies knew almost nothing about them. Except, of course, that they had advanced technology – perhaps greater than that of the Ancients, the builders of the Stargates.
"So, you've returned to the world of the living. I hope you're homecoming wasn't too painful."
The boy just looked at the alien calmly.
"Jack will come for me."
"I hope he does. And when my mistress has Earth's greatest hero, and a Furling under her control Earth and the other systems will fall before her. There will be no rescue attempt; after all, they would need a working Stargate for that and pretty soon that will no longer be the case. And it's not like your race will come to rescue you…everything is going according to Kali's plan."
Liam continued to smile calmly.
"Jack will come for me."
The Goa'uld stared at the boy for a moment, a shiver of premonition racing up his spine. He shook himself slightly. That's impossible; there was nothing that the Furling could do to stop them.
The plan was perfect.
"Um, Jack, why is a long-lost sect of Hinduism who might possibly have alien technology that is the key to saving the world asking for you?" Daniel asked Jack, who had finally gotten over the shock and vaulted out of his seat. Seconds later, the rest of SG1 and Hammond followed.
Reaching the gates Jack was shocked to see that not only was it a few members of the Shiriti'ai – it was ALL of them. Over forty people stood waiting for him; including children and one or two pets. Upon seeing their Sruti, every member of the Shiriti'ai went down on their knees and paid homage to the Guardian of the Sanctuary, chosen by the Puranas.
"Colonel, would you care to explain what is going on here?" Hammond asked in exasperation, wondering what his second-in-command had managed to get himself into this time.
"Um, well, you see, sir…" Jack started helplessly, looking back and forth between the general and the bowing Shiriti'ai.
One of the children (about four years old) broke from her mother's hold and ran towards Jack. Instinctively, he caught her barrelling body and lifted her up. The girl wrapped her arms trustingly around Jack's neck.
"Mommy told me that you were going to kill the demons and bring back the Puranas," she told the colonel confidentially – in Aramaic. "And then the Sruti will be able to come back home to the Sanctuary with the Puranas and everyone will be happy again!"
Jack looked into those eyes and made a decision.
"That's right," he replied in Aramaic, "and everyone will get to live in eternal bliss."
The girl grinned and snuggled closer. Jack looked over her head to see the faces of the members of the SGC. Carter and Hammond were shocked to hear Jack speak another language; Teal'c simply raised his eyebrow; and Danny…
…was looking at Jack with a mixture of horror and speculation.
It was then that Jack remembered that Daniel was fluent in several languages, including dead ones.
Like Aramaic.
TBC
A/N: I'm pretty sure that Aramaic is a dead language – but if it's not, just go with me on this one.