"Where is she?" Daniel demanded. Jack elbowed him in the ribs, trying to make sure his friend didn't piss off the kidnapper.
"She is safe… for now" was the sinister reply.
"I want to talk to her"
"Doctor Jackson you are in no place to be making demands" Daniel bit back the explicit comment that almost escaped his lips.
"What do you want?"
"What I want," laughed the voice, "is some information. Information that you have, that I doubt even your dear friends, there with you, know you know."
"And what would that be?" Jack spoke up, figuring the man knew at least one or more of the rest of SG1 was listening in.
"The information the Harcesis child gave you on a weapon to fight the Goa'uld with" the voice snarled. Daniel looked at the floor, trying to ignore the looks he was getting from his friends. He knew that what the child had shown him, about the kind of power trip anyone who got their hands on that information could go on, would come back to bite him in the ass one day. He had just hoped that day would be far, far away.
"I don't know what you're talking about" Daniel lied, hoping it was believable.
"Then your daughter will die"
"But I told you I have no idea what you are talking about!" Daniel repeated.
"And as I told you Doctor, she will die."
"He'll tell you" Jack said having gotten the other cordless phone, and tuned into the last part of the conversation.
"Jack!" Daniel said with wide eyes.
"Alright" the man on the phone stated, "Doctor Jackson, you and your team will go to the Star Motel, on Highway 45, and check into room nine. There you will receive further instructions. Be there by six tonight. Alone." The man hung up leaving a very pale Daniel, who had begun to pace, and a confused SG1 watching him curiously.
"Daniel,"
"What Jack?" was the strained response.
"Did you, oh I don't know - happen to leave anything out of your report after the Harcesis kid left?"
"I may have. Jack why did you say I would tell him what he wanted to know?" Daniel stopped pacing and crossed his arms over his chest looking at Jack. "You know that he wont give Rachel back that easily"
"To buy time Daniel" Sam supplied.
"Oh"
"But why would he want you guys to come too?" Daniel was definitely not good at this type of situation.
"Because he knows we would come anyways. This way he knows where we are all together at once and not going to sneak up on him." Jack said leaning against the wall, his mind going a mile a minute deciding how to find Daniels daughter before it was too late. He had dealt with hostage situations before, and the more time that passed by, the worse chance there was for getting the hostage out alive.
"So what do we do Sir?" Sam asked. Teal'c stood beside her silent as ever, thinking of how to snap the person, who dared take his friends daughter, in two.
Rachel sat silently in the backseat of the vehicle as it bounced over large potholes in the road. They man beside her had blindfolded her as soon as they got out of the downtown area of the town. She had sat silently through the phone call to her father the driver made, even though she wanted to scream for help. The cold barrel of the handgun at her temple was more than enough incentive to keep quiet.
"So, uh, where are we going guys?" she asked lightly trying to break the unbearable silence in the car.
"Shut up"
Rachel did just that, not wanting to test her boundaries when she was blindfolded and being held at gunpoint.
"Daniel, don't you think you should call Rachel's mom and let her know what's happening?" Sam asked as the voice of reason, as they drove to the location Rachel's kidnapper had told them.
"No, Liz doesn't need any more stress at the moment she has to focus on keeping well" Daniel replied from the passenger seat. He kept glancing at Jack and Teal'c in his truck ahead of them, mentally willing the older man to drive faster, even though they were well over the speed limit as it was. Sam could see the logic in not telling Rachel's mother, but she still felt that they should have told someone where they were going.
"Here we are." Jack stated putting his truck into park, and turning it off. Jack walked into the lobby of the small motel and asked to be checked into room nine, while Daniel and Sam pulled up and went to stand with Teal'c outside. After getting the key, he walked to the room and unlocked the door. Jack was sure to sweep the room with his eyes before letting his team enter. Who knows what was in store for them. He had learned long ago to never underestimate the enemy. That was what got you killed.
Reasonably satisfied that there was no one in the room, he walked in with the rest of SG1 following closely behind.
"Look around, see if anything was left for us" Jack ordered as he began looking under the bed and feeling along the underside of nightstands.
"I got something," Daniel said. Everyone turned to see him opening a white envelope. He pulled out a piece of paper that simply said 'VCR' on it, in a scratchy handwriting. He turned to the TV and saw a videocassette sticking out of the VCR.
"Let's see what it is," Jack stated sitting on the end of the bed. Daniel turned on the television and then pushed the tape into the machine, grabbing the remote, he pressed play and stepped back so everyone could watch. The image that appeared made Daniel's legs go weak and he sat down beside Jack. The room the camera was focusing on was fairly dark, yet still clear enough to see a female form tied to a chair in the middle of the room. Blindfolded and gagged Rachel sat struggling against her bonds, turning her head frantically as if listening to someone speaking. There was no sound, just picture. A man walked over to her with his back to the cameras view. SG1 could see he was talking to her, and as Rachel shook her head objecting to something, he swung his arm back and backhanded her across the face.
Daniel put his head in his hands not wanting to watch anymore. He was ready to hunt down and kill whoever was doing this. Jack turned off the TV and walked to the window, pushing the curtains back a bit to see outside. He thought for a few moments about their options, but couldn't see any good ones.
The shrill ring of the telephone startled them all. Jack walked over to the phone and picked it up reluctantly. He wasn't certain he wanted to know who it was.
"Ah, Colonel O'Neill, I see you've all arrived safely, and watched the lovely tape I made for you I presume," the voice laughed maniacally.
"We're here, now what?" Jack cut right to the chase.
"Now you get Dr. Jackson to write down everything he remembers from when the Harcesis child was at the SGC, I will call back tomorrow at eight AM. Be ready." Jack slammed down the receiver in frustration.
"Daniel?" Daniel didn't answer, just looked up at Jack tiredly. "What exactly did the Harcesis kid tell you?" Daniel hesitated before answering.
"Well he didn't tell me things… he sorta uh, showed me" Daniel answered frowning a bit not sure how to explain.
"When you were unconscious?" Sam surmised, putting two and two together. Daniel nodded, glad that maybe someone would understand.
"And what did he show you?" Jack questioned patiently.
"Oh the usual, you know, weapons to use against the Goa'uld, stuff like that" Jack made a face at Daniel's sarcasm. I'm rubbing off on him too much, he thought.
"Weapons?" Sam's eyes widened.
"Yeah, he was trying to show me that with great knowledge comes great responsibility" Daniel shrugged.
"Why didn't you tell us? We could protect earth!" Sam exclaimed, thinking of the upper hand they could potentially have on the Goa'uld.
"No, I saw a glimpse at what would happen if I told people about this technology, no good would come of it" Daniel grimaced, remember the all too real dream he had experienced.
"I just don't know how anyone could have found out about this though, I didn't tell anyone. And the only other person who knows is Shifu" Daniel admitted.
"Shifu?" Jack asked.
"Harcesis."
"Right."
"Could it be a Goa'uld behind this? One that somehow knows what happened to Daniel?" Sam suggested as she took apart the telephone to see if it was bugged.
"Did not the Goa'uld Osiris possess the technology to see into Daniel Jackson's subconscious?" Teal'c offered.
"Yeah but Osiris is gone now" Daniel pointed out.
"But the snake was working for Anubis, so what's to say he's not behind it?" Daniel shook his head at Jack's thought.
"This seems so much more like the NID though,"
"Maybe they're working for the snake or something" Jack shrugged watching Carter with fascination as she reassembled the telephone very quickly.
"You may be on to something Sir," she said holding up a small mechanism that had been in the phone. It didn't appear to be of earth origin.
"I think this is Gould technology Sir," she stated.
"It is a Goa'uld listening device Major Carter" Teal'c said having been around a few in his days as First Prime to Apophis. "It is similar to the telephone insects of this planet"
"Telephone bugs," Sam corrected.
"Carter put it away so you can play with it later. Daniel I want you to tell us everything you know" Jack said sternly leaving no room to argue. "We'll be getting a phone call at 0800 tomorrow and need to be ready." Jack told them as they all sat down and looked at Daniel expectantly. Daniel sighed. It was going to be a long night.
Sorry for the delay… I've been really busy with end of the semester assignments and stuff that I haven't had time to write… more will be up super soon!
Please review.