When All Else Fails
Chapter Seventeen
Disclaimer: Nope, the show doesn't belong to me and neither do the main characters. However, Fehr and McDowell, along with others, do.
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With a deep breath Sam led them towards the wood, and unknowingly, right for the Jaffa's trap.
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Jack sat down at his desk with a sigh- although he would never admit it he was worried. It had been more than two years since Sam had gone off-world, and although he had no doubt in her ability to lead two years could make one a bit rusty. He didn't know what it was, but ever since they walked through that 'gate a knot had formed in the pit of his stomach, and two hours later it had yet to leave.
But, what could he do about it, really? He was there, in the SGC, and they were thousands and thousands of light-years away; on P9D-785. All he could do was wait and hope that things were going smoothly.
But- Something told him that such wasn't the case.
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Sam looked down at her watch, they had been walking for almost half an hour and had yet to come upon any type of clearing where they could split up easily. Just as she was about to give up the very thing she was waiting for made an appearance. It wasn't that big of a clearing, barely large enough for all four teams to fit with room to spare. But, that wasn't what caught her attention. In fact, the small amount of space went unnoticed to everybody.
There, propped up against a tree, was a very unconscious Major Sanchez. "Well..." Sam announced, "I guess it's safe to say that we now know why he didn't contact us...."
She took a few steps closer to him, then stopped dead in her tracks. Causing those who had been directly behind her to come to a complete half- otherwise they would have come crashing into the CO of the entire search mission. Sam glanced over at Teal'c, hoping that he could sense what she could. Then again, he no longer carried a larvae symbiote, so he probably couldn't.
"What is it, Colonel Carter?" The stoic Jaffa asked her.
"You don't sense that?" she asked, throwing an incredulous look at Major Sanchez. "There's a Goa'uld here."
"Do you believe that it is Major Sanchez?" he asked, giving the still unconscious man his own suspicious look.
"I don't know- but, just in case," she turned around to look at those behind her. "I want you to ready your weapons, but don't move from your spots unless I order you to." Looking over at Teal'c she added, "You're with me."
Teal'c nodded and followed her closer to Sanchez. He no longer could sense the Naquadah that was a tell-tale sign that a Goa'uld (or Tok'ra) was in the direct vicinity, so he was walking blind. But, he was still by far the strongest among the group, so of course Sam had selected him.
As Sam drew closer to the man she was overwhelmed with presence of a Goa'uld. She was assuming that it was Goa'uld, as far as they knew there were no Tok'ra spies on this planet. Then again, the Tok'ra were never fully honest with the Tauri. Nonetheless, she was sure it was a Goa'uld. It didn't take the traces of Naquadah in her blood to tell her that, her intuition was good enough.
When they were less than five feet away Sanchez's head snapped towards them and his eyes blinked open. "Colonel Carter?" he questioned in a thick, raspy voice. "How did–"
Sam threw a look at Teal'c- don't believe him, he's Goa'uld- it said. Teal'c gripped his staff weapon, but didn't raise it. No need in tipping Sanchez off just yet, they could use this to their advantage. Although, both had already considered the possibility of this situation being a set-up.
"A member of your team contacted us, Major." Sam informed him, hoping he would buy into it and think she was oblivious. "How are you feeling?"
"Like I've been drinking for days straight," he replied with a groan. "None of you would happen to have any extra, extra strength aspirin, would you?"
"We do not," Teal'c informed him.
"Too bad," Sanchez sighed. It took all Sam had not to grimace, he was acting so normal. But, if he was Tok'ra he would have informed them by then. Her initial thoughts had been correct, he was Goa'uld.
"We'll help you up," she offered, glancing over at Teal'c who instantly unterstood. Help him up, and cuff him as you do so.
"Indeed," he agreed.
Sanchez seemed to believe them. "Thanks," he offered each of them a hand and they grabbed hold, pulling him up onto his feet. However, half way up, Sam let go and Teal'c grabbed his other arm, twisting it around his back and snapping the plastic cuffs on hjs wrist.
"What's going on?" The major demanded.
"You are Goa'uld." Teal'c informed him, "You do not fool us."
His eyes flashed, there was no use pretending. "Indeed, I do." he informed them. With a nod of his head Sam and Teal'c, along with the rest of the teams were instantly surrounded by at least a hundred Jaffa. A tall, tanned skin man stepped forward, a gold emblem of a crescent moon melted on his forehead.
"You are surrounded," he told them. As if she didn't already know that.
A sigh escaped her lips and she let go of her 'zat, while Teal'c dropped his staff weapon, and the others did the same with their P-90's. No use in trying to fight them off. It was at least a hundred to 15. 4 to 1 at the least. Those wre not good odds. They had a better chance in being taken to whatever city and hoping Fehr would contact earth again.
Or, at the very least, Jack would get impatient.
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They were herded to some prison in the main Jaffa city of P9D-785. From what she could see, there was a fairly large population of Jaffa there. Although, it was likely that whoever the Goa'uld who had captured them was very small time. Otherwise, they would have known ahead of time what to expect on the planet. It was possible that this was the Goa'uld's only Jaffa home world.
On the way to the prison (she assumed that's where they were being taken) Sam leaned over near Teal'c, "That emblem on the Jaffa's foreheads, do you recognize it?"
"Indeed, I do." he whispered back to her. "It is that of Thoth."
"Thoth?" Sam asked.
"Thoth," he replied. "He had a very small army when I was first-prime of Apophis, I doubt that much has changed since that time."
"Sel tok!" One particularly angry Jaffa yelled at them. Teal'c moved away from Sam and looked straight ahead. She sighed and glanced at Daniel, who was walking in front of Teal'c. From the corner of his eye he saw her looking and rolled his eyes- the Jaffa must have said something nasty. Or at the very least told them to shut up.
She really needed to learn Goa'uld.
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Jack was getting worried. Not that he had any real reason to, the SG teams weren't scheduled to make contact for another three hours, but still- something hadn't been sitting right with him since they left. Deep down he knew something was off kilter. It was just what that was that was a problem for him. Whatever it may be, it couldn't be good. He never got such feelings when something good was happening.
But, he wasn't going to do anything about it. If there was nothing wrong (which was highly likely) then Sam would end up mad at him for babying her on her first mission through the 'gate since she had been back. Which, might have been true. He was worried about how she would do on her first mission since descending. Not because he didn't trust her ability to lead or her judgement and decision making. But, because now he had so much more to loose. No- that was a lie. He still had the same amount to loose, now he just had more memories to make it worse should he loose her.
So, he would wait for three hours until it was they were scheduled to make contact. If he dialed the 'gate up then, it could give them away. He wouldn't put her in any unwarranted danger. He wouldn't put any of them in unwarranted danger. The level of threat was already immensely imminent. And, that was putting it lightly.
A frustrated sigh escaped his lips and he slumped back in his chair. He wanted to dial the 'gate at that very instant, radio SG-1 and the others and demanded to know what was going on. But. He couldn't. For more reasons than the disdain that Sam would feel for him if he did so. So, until those three hours were over he would have to sit at his desk and gingerly wait and watch as the hands on the clock perpetually inched towards 1900 hours.
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All fifteen of them were shoved into a room that Sam guessed was no more than 15 by 15. Not much room to move, but not so little that they were terribly cramped. Nonetheless, it was not comfortable for any of them. The arrogant Jaffa that had instructed her and Teal'c to "Sel tok" said something else to them, although the only one's who responded in anyway were Daniel and Teal'c. Of course, that was because they were the only ones who knew what was being said.
She really, really needed to learn Goa'uld. That would be the first thing she did when she got back to earth. Request a few days downtime for her and Daniel and then spend the whole time learning Goa'uld. For the simple reason that she hated being out of the loop.
"What did he say?" she asked when he left the room, scowling the entire way.
"Oh, that in a few hours we would all meet our doom." Daniel replied with a sigh.
"That so?" she asked. "Interesting... that is a new one."
"Indeed, Colonel Carter- we have been threatened as such on many occasions." Teal'c informed her.
"I was being sarcastic, Teal'c." she said with a slight grin. Not a full-blown smile, that would just be odd in the situation.
"Spending too much time with Jack," Daniel muttered.
"Colonel Carter," Major Anderson, leader of SG-6, inquired of her. "Lieutenant Fehr is still out there, is he not?"
Sam nodded, "As far as we know he's out there- and alive. But, who knows what has happened since he contacted us at the SGC."
"We're scheduled to contact earth in three hours," Captain Bridges pointed out. "When we don't make contact within half an hour after that time General O'Neill will send in more reinforcements."
That was certainly the truth. Probably even withing five minutes of the time allowed. Knowing him.
"Well," she sighed. "I guess all we have to do until then is wait."
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Lieutenant Fehr watched from the high branches of a tree as SG-1, along with three other SG teams that he couldn't place, were taken away by a group of at least a hundred Jaffa- lead by his old CO, Major Sanchez. Old because it was no longer Major Sanchez who had control of the body that was leading them to their deaths, it was the parasitic snake-like alien that dwelled within. Fehr himself had barely managed to escape from being implanted with a Goa'uld symbiote himself. He thanked God that he managed to escape capture.
He had been in that tree for hours, and had yet to be discovered. The Jaffa (and Sanchez) were not as smart as they were arrogant. He assumed that when he had managed to free himself from the Jaffa that captured SG-3 they assumed him innocuous, he had a bad cut running the length of his left calf and it took all he could to run- if he hadn't torn his shirt and used it as a tourniquet then he would have surely died from blood-loss.
Ten minutes or so after they left he carefully climbed down the tree and limped the stargate. Knowing that it was ludicrous to head that way without a weapon he did his best to stay out of sight. But, no matter what, he had to get to the 'gate. He had to contact earth. SG-1 was in danger.
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A/N: So how did I do? The action stories (even if it's just a bit) are new to me, so I don't know how good it is. Please let me know what you think, I'd really like to know if it's good or not. The story still has at least four chapters left in it, if not then more. So, it won't be over as soon as John Doe is going to be. Well... let me know.
