Jack flopped onto the bed in their temporary quarters and ran his hand over his face. "Well that was a waste of time." He mumbled.
After over 2 hours of going through maze of the Lower Levels, they hadn't found a trace of Sam.
"At least we know she's not down there." Jonas tried, sounding hopeful. He always tried to look at the positives. For him the glass was always half full.
"What would Major Carter's captor's hope to achieve by this?" Teal'c inquired.
"Who knows?!" Jack sat up, "But if I have to I'll search every damn building in this city and when I find her, somebody's going to have some explaining to do."
"Well, hopefully it won't come to that." Jonas forced a reassuring smile. He reminded himself never to get on the Colonel's bad side.
A knock at the door interrupted them and they all turned to look at the door. Jack shot off the bed and reached the door in a few long strides. He yanked the door open and looked at the man standing before him. "Alec?"
Alexis didn't bother to correct him as he looked behind him, slightly paranoid. "Please, if you'll let me in, I believe I have information on your friend." He spoke in a hushed voice and looked around again.
Jack opened the door wider for Alexis to walk in. He noticed that he was carrying a bag in his hand, but didn't say anything of it as he shut and locked the door. Jack walked back over to the bed and sat down, looking at Alexis expectantly. Jonas took a seat in a chair, while Teal'c stood by the door.
"Remember how I informed you about the issues within our governing on the subject of our women's equality?" Alexis started.
Jack nodded. Here comes the long explanation! He thought to himself. Usually, he'd tell the guy to get to the point, but he suddenly found himself willing to listen. This involved Sam, and he wanted to know anything that could help him find her. So he sat silently and listened as Alexis continued.
"Lord Caineth has been arguing for equality between men and women for many years now and there's always been those against him. For quite some time I've been hearing rumors about a group who believe that Lord Caineth is an unstable leader, and that they plan to overthrow him. I am unsure who their leader is, as I have never asked questions in fear that they might kill me. After returning from the Lower Levels today, I overheard a couple of men talking about a women and I believe it is your friend." Alexis finally finished and looked pointedly at Jack who leaned forward slightly.
"Well, did you hear where she is?" Jack demanded.
Alexis smiled slightly. "I believe I know where the group's building is, but there's no way you could go in forcefully, if that's what you were thinking. I've heard they have many armed guards, and you're weapons will not be effectual. The group wear robes, so I brought you this." He handed Jack the bag in his hand. Jack took the bag and looked inside. "If you wear this you should be able to get inside without any problems. I will show you where this building is."
"Only one?" Jack asked as he emptied the single robe onto the bed.
"I am sorry. That was the only robe I could procure."
Jack nodded as he thought it all over in his head.
"Not that we're ungrateful," Jonas said, "But why have you done all this for us?"
"Because all my life I have been loyal to Lord Caineth, and I know that this group will act soon…"
"And you're scared that if they succeed then they'll kill you for being one of Caineth's followers." Jonas finished and Alexis nodded.
"So you want us to take you back to Earth." Jack added and Alexis nodded again. "Then it's done. You can come back with us."
Alexis smiled gratefully. "Thank you so much! I will wait outside until you are ready to depart."
Jack nodded to him as he left. He grabbed the robe off the bed and headed towards the door.
"Are you sure it is wise to go in alone, O'Neill?" Teal'c spoke up.
Stopping, Jack turned around to look at Teal'c. "Am I sure it's wise? No. Do we have any other choice? No. Am I going to do this? Yes." He replied matter-of-factly.
"I'd really like to look at those writings in the cave again. I think there might be something there." Jonas added. He hoped the Colonel would let him go back to the caves.
"Sure, but take Teal'c with you. I don't want you disappearing as well." He looked to Teal'c and added, "If I'm still not back in the morning, take Alexis with you back through the gate." He threw the robe over his head and walked out the front door, leaving no room for unwanted questions.
Sam paced back and forth, from wall to wall in her cell. It had been hours since the man had paid her a visit and she guessed that it would be dark outside soon. It didn't help much that they'd taken her watch. For what reason, who knew? Perhaps they thought it was some kind of weapon. She smiled at the thought of attacking her guard with a watch.
The door opened and Sam spun to look through the bars. Her guard was leaving! She couldn't believe it. The door snapped shut and she was left alone.
She walked over to the bars, untied one of her standard issue boots and pulled it off. She'd gone over this plan in her head earlier, but never thought she'd actually get the chance to put it into action. The button was about 10 ft from the bars. She only had two tries to get this right, Gripping the boot tightly, she reached through the bars, took aim, and threw it.
And missed! She sighed in frustration. She'd only missed by an inch. Doing the same with her second shoe, she took aim. "Come on!" She whispered to herself and threw the shoe. It seemed to fly through the air in slow motion. Sam held her breath as the shoe neared its target. The shoe hit the button and the bars began sliding open.
Sam gave a triumphant grin and leaped out of her cell. She retrieved her boots and laced them up, then reached for the door handle, praying it would be unlocked.
Just as she was about to turn the handle, it turned in her hand and she jumped back. The door opened and the guard stood in the doorway, his mouth open in shock.
Before he could say a word, Sam moved into action. She thrust the palm of her hand up to the guys nose. It resulted in a sickening crack and the guard yelled in pain as blood began pouring from his nose. He stumbled backwards to reveal four figures dressed in cream coloured robes. They all had hoods over their heads so she couldn't see their faces.
As soon as they saw her, 3 of the 4 drew weapons from their robes and pointed them at her. Sam took a deep breath and slowly raised her arms in surrender.
The guard was still clutching his nose and whimpering as Robe Number 1 spoke, "Get him to the doctor!"
Robe Number 2 stepped forward and accompanied the guard down the hallway.
"Tie her up!" Robe Number 1 ordered as he and Robe Number 3 held their weapons at her. Robe Number 4, the weaponless one, stepped behind her and took her arms, tying them behind her back. Sam was surprised as he tied her hands extremely loosely and squeezed her arm quickly. She tried to get a good look at him, but Robe Number 3 stepped forward and grabbed her arm, pushing her down the hallway. Number 1 took the lead while Number 4 followed behind her.
Could it be Jack? She thought to herself. It couldn't be Teal'c, because the man wasn't nearly as tall or buff as the Jaffa. Perhaps it was somebody they'd found on the inside who was willing to help.
Nonetheless, she felt safe knowing that a plan was in motion.
Jonas stood in the caves examining the writings on the wall. Teal'c stood at the mouth of the cave, staff weapon in hand. They'd been there for over half an hour now and the sun was beginning to fall lower in the sky.
Jonas was balancing a book in one hand, and a chocolate bar in the other. He was getting close to translating the writings. He'd actually realized that they were more pictographs that told the history of the planet, rather than a written text.
He took another bite of the chocolate, looking thoughtfully at the wall. There was a particular part that he was having trouble with. He looked at the book and stopped midchew. Jonas slammed the book shut and called out to Teal'c with his mouth full, "Teal'c! I gowt it!"
The Jaffa came running into the cave. "What is it that you have, Jonas Quinn?"
The Kelownan swallowed the candy bar and grinned giddily at Teal'c. "I figured out what it says." He continued, pointing to the beginning, "OK, so here it talks about how humans were brought here thousands of years ago by Ba'al." Teal'c raised an eyebrow at this. "They were brought here to mine naquidah, as always. When it was all gone, all of Ba'al's Jaffa left the planet, leaving all of the human's free. But it says here that Ba'al still remains to watch over the planet, unknown to the people. Jonas looked away from the wall to Teal'c standing next to him. "If Ba'al is still checking in here, you think he would've done something by now. They are an advanced race."
"Perhaps Ba'al has not been here for quite some time." Teal'c concluded.
"What if his next visit is just around the corner?"
Jack had made it into the building Alexis had shown him without any problems. The place was a labyrinth just like the Lower Levels. So he'd gotten lost in all of the hallways and rooms. It was just pure dumb luck that he happened to stumble into a room where three men, dressed in the same hideous robes, looked at him expectantly.
"You must be Kaleb. It's about time." One of them spoke. Jack figured he was the leader.
"Well, you know what they say, better late than never." Jack replied, impishly.
They all looked at him confused before the leader spoke again, "Let's get going." He dumped some rope into Jack's hands. "We need to hurry or we'll be late.
So Jack had followed the three men, and was soon joined by another man who was dressed differently to them.
They'd come to the end of a hallway where the man who'd recently joined them opened the door. Suddenly, the man cried out in pain and moved out of the doorway.
That's when he'd seen Carter. He'd then realized how worried he'd been for her the last few hours. Yet there she was, standing in front of him and he knew he hadn't felt so relieved in a long time. He looked her up and down and was even more relieved to find that she looked free of any physical injuries.
Unfortunately the other three robed guys drew weapons on her. The injured guy was escorted past him. Blood was pouring out of his nose. It was obviously broken. Jack could barely hide a proud smile for his 2IC. You really didn't want to get on her bad side.
Jack was ordered to tie her hands, which he did, but he tied them loosely so that she would have no problem getting out of them. He'd given her arm a quick, discreet squeeze before they began moving her down the hallway. Hopefully she knew it was him, or at least someone who was helping her. She couldn't have seen his face with his hood over his head, but he guessed she probably knew it was him. After all, she was a smart person, and she'd kept her mouth shut the whole time.
So here he was now, still following behind her as they walked across a field, just out of the city, towards the edge of the forest where he saw a man waiting with his back turned to them. The sun was beginning to set, coating the whole scene with a golden glow.
He saw Sam slip out of the ropes that bound her hands, and he casually sidestepped them as they came to a stop.
"We have arrived, Sir." The leader spoke and the man before them turned around.
Jack couldn't hold in his shock as he looked at the man standing before them.
"Marin?" Jack choked out in disbelief.
Ok that was porbably a little obvious that it was going to be Marin. If you don't remember who he is, he was in the second chapter, he's Caineth's second. I left some hints that it would be him, so I don't know if it was a surprise or not. Well, the next chapter is already written, so i'll have it up within the next week. Again, thanks for all of the reviews!
