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Froggy0319; Revvie-S and Spacejunkie82 - Glad you're still with me guys.
DISTANT MEMORIES
By Lingren
Previously:
"Major Ferretti it is good to see you. Major Griff," Teal'c acknowledged as he greeted the team leaders with a polite dip of his head.
"Hey Teal'c! You wanna fill us in so we can go rescue Jack's ass?" Ferretti snorted with a wide grin.
Chapter 7
Jack dreamt again that night. The images playing inside his head were becoming more clearer as the hours passed.
After he had walked away from the man and woman earlier that evening, he was passing the medical research block and overheard a conversation that drifted from an open window and of which he had no business hearing. He'd heard General Ornan ordering a captured soldier to undergo a treatment to wipe the man's memories and transplant a false memory and identity inside his head. The resultant agonised scream from the poor man told him all he needed to know.
The exchange had confirmed his worst suspicions. His own side were lying to him. They must have used the procedure on him, that's why he couldn't remember. That's why the two prisoners were so sure he was someone else. There was no bomb blast; of this he was sure now. Though he knew he would have to play along until he could work something out, and free them. Perhaps his memory would then return in full with their help.
As he'd walked back to his quarters his mind was full of questions. How come they had done this to him? How had they managed it? Whatever method or however they had done it, it didn't really matter any more. The main problem now was to release those two people from the prison that insisted he was their friend, and escape before they realised he knew the truth.
Jack woke early, disturbed by more images whilst he slept. Everything was falling into place. The cold light of day had yet to rise above the surrounding hills and trees to the east of the base, but it had already risen in his mind.
In the semi-dark and using his skills as a covert operative, he limped across the compound, having abandoned the crutches for more speed despite the added pain. Here, he hid among the dark shadows of the other buildings, waiting for the perfect opportunity to make his move. He crept silently up to the guard who had unknowingly turned his back on him and with a sharp twist, a soft crack and a silent apology, the man slumped boneless to the ground, his neck snapped effortlessly. Jack dragged him behind a thick bush and lifted his weapons, as well as the keys to the prison from the man's belt.
He then stepped back out into the open and up to the barred door, hoping that no-one would see him, and called softly to the woman.
"Sam. Sam!"
"Colonel!" she answered surprised at seeing him there at that time of the morning.
"Shhhh!" he whispered frantically, bringing an anxious finger up to his lips trying to get her to drop her voice.
"Sorry!" she replied quietly. "You remember?"
"No, not much, but enough. Here. Take these and meet me in the trees behind the prison in 5. We're getting' outta here."
"Yes sir!" she sighed, inordinately pleased that he seemed to have regained at least some of his memory so quickly.
"You remember everything, Jack?" Daniel asked.
"No! I don't! Hell, I'm really confused. I just got a feeling that this is so wrong and that somehow we don't belong here," Jack whispered frowning. "And I want out of this before it's too late!"
"What about your leg Jack? You can barely walk. You gonna be okay?"
"I'll manage. We don't have much of a choice here!" he whispered frantically, sounding more like the Jack they knew.
Daniel nodded his understanding, thanking god for at least giving Jack a good sense of justice when he needed it the most, despite not knowing the reasoning behind his gut feeling. They were leaving and that was the most important thing right now.
Jack handed the keys of the prison to Sam as well as the guards weapon he'd lifted, then made to limp away out of sight.
He didn't get far though.
He was only a few metres from the prison when General Ornan's voice stopped him in his tracks.
"Going somewhere Colonel?" he asked, stepping directly in front of him from the shadow of the dark building.
Sam and Daniel hastened back, hiding in the darkness inside the prison, listening to the conversation along with Reynol who had joined them, hoping to flee with them. Daniel had offered him a way of escape from this nightmare called life, by taking him through the Stargate, promising to help him find a new home.
Jack looked up slowly, coming face to face with the senior officer.
"General sir. Hi! Just out for an early walk. Couldn't sleep!" he explained flippantly. "You too?"
"I don't think so Colonel. I've been watching you very closely. You seem very interested in those particular people inside my prison. Your memory is returning isn't it?" he asked but got no answer from his quarry. "I think we will have to put you through it again, perhaps at a much higher setting. Your Tau'ri physiology is obviously very different to ours, the procedure should have taken much longer to dissipate. It would be such a shame to put an end to someone who has proved such an exceptional soldier for our army. You were very good at your given tasks Colonel. I had such high hopes for you. Now though, sadly if this doesn't work I will have to terminate you altogether. You may yet prove to be too much of a risk and that would be such a great pity!" he sighed. "You will therefore undergo the treatment again, of course at a higher setting it could either kill you or you could end up as an imbecile, but that is a risk I must take. Whatever happens we will have succeeded in bringing you to heel or by eliminating you. Oh, and your friends are next in line too Colonel. There is no escape from this, this time."
The General signalled to someone Jack hadn't heard approach from his rear. Jack could sense someone step from the shadows behind him and he began to swing round to face the danger, but before he could register the person he felt an earth shattering blow and it felled him where he stood. He was unconscious before he hit the ground.
Two men hiding in the shadows behind the General stepped forward now and yanked him upwards, dragging his oblivious form along the ground as they made their way across the shadowed area towards the procedure room.
General Ornan walked up to the prison doorway and spoke to the two hiding in the shadows.
"You cannot hide from me, Major Carter, Daniel Jackson. You will be next to undergo the procedure. You cannot escape."
Jack was dumped into a hard chair while he gradually came to. He knew what was coming now. This was clearly what had happened to him before. They'd obviously hit him with their stun weapons and made him undergo the memory thing and then he'd woken up in the hospital, other than that, he still couldn't recall how he'd gotten there in the first place.
He struggled, but all he succeeded in doing was making them tighten their ropes binding him. In the end he relaxed, slumping in the seat, hoping that by duping them into thinking he was compliant, then he could catch them off guard and somehow escape. He didn't know how, but he was working on it.
He wondered if Sam and Daniel would still break out while they could and make a run for it. Maybe they could get back to wherever home was and avoid all this. He didn't want them to suffer because of his mistake in underestimating these people.
The three soldiers who had watched everything from behind the shower block, now debated softly as to what they should do. They saw how Jack was stopped, and heard everything that the General had said. It came as a bigger shock, when for no apparent reason they knocked the Colonel out and carried him off.
Their discussion came to a conclusion, and they agreed that they didn't rate Jack's chances of coming out of this alive. So the first thing they agreed on was to release the two friends and then rescue Jack. It was obvious they, the ones they had seen Jack converse with, whoever they were they knew the CO despite the doubts Jack had had from his memory lapse.
They moved silently as the night towards the prison where Sam was about to unlock the door.
She had just turned the key in the lock when suddenly a stocky man stepped out in front of her, one hand holding the bars of the door. She leaped back into the shadows again with a startled gasp. She had no idea if these men had come for her and Daniel already.
She looked across at Daniel with an apology on her lips, but then the man spoke.
"It's okay. Please, we're not here to hurt you. We're here to help you escape and to rescue the Colonel."
Sam came forward and studied the man, he was soon joined by two others.
"Who are you and how do you know the Colonel?" she asked warily.
"We were members of his team," he stated simply, as Sam's eyes widened in surprise. "Look, we went on a mission together, that's when he was wounded. He got shot in the leg. We were worried about him, so we've been keeping a close eye on him. That's when we noticed that they were watching his every move, so we sort of watched theirs, wondering what was going on," Fraker explained.
"Yeah, and we saw him come and talk to you," added Soary. "Look we can't talk here, come on. Lets go and get the Colonel out of there before they kill him, and then we can talk later."
"Okay," Sam agreed, still dubious about who they really were, but what had they got to lose? She asked herself. "Daniel, Reynol, come on we're getting out of here and going to rescue the Colonel."
They slipped quietly from the prison, and before allowing all the others to escape too, they asked that they be given a little time to carry out their plan. Then they could all go free. It would act as a distraction and keep the other guards busy while they carried out their own little rescue mission.
Once well away from the prison and tucked safely in the shadows, the soldiers handed Daniel and Reynol a weapon each, and very annoyed at their reluctance to hand her one, Sam demanded one too.
"Women don't know how to fight! Bronan countered at her angry glare.
"This one does!" she snapped impatiently and took the spare weapon from Bronan's hands. To prove a point she checked the weapon over like the professional that she was, impressing the three strangers.
The soldiers exchanged looks but shrugged.
"Okay, I'm Captain Fraker," Fraker said introducing himself, then the others. "Lt. Soary, and Sgt. Bronan, Ma'am. You must be Sam."
"I am," Sam answered, still wary but only willing to trust them so far. "This is Daniel and Reynol."
She only informed them of their first names, she wasn't sure that filling them in on any other details yet was the best thing to do. She wasn't about to reveal that she was military either, despite the fact that she could handle a weapon as well as any of them.
Fraker laid out the plan and then they crept silently towards the block housing the re-conditioning room. There were guards on either end of the long narrow building. Fraker took one guard out by slitting his throat, and dragging him away, while Bronan took out the other guard by the same method at the same time.
They moved forwards and entered the door, creeping a few feet at a time, then stopping to allow the others to move forward, while they covered them. They approached a corner and Fraker peered quickly round the corner.
"There're two guards outside the door. Ready for this? Because as soon as we do this they're gonna start shooting inside that room."
Sam sucked in a deep breath and nodded firmly.
"Let's do it!"
Fraker dropped to his knee and fired at the first guard, while Soary stood over him and shot the second startled guard.
There were shouts from within the room and they heard the crashing of furniture. Fraker kicked open the door and there was pandemonium as several shots were fired simultaneously, everyone ducking down behind the nearest cover to avoid being hit.
There wasn't time to think. The rest of the camp guards would be there any minute.
When the shooting had stopped, Sam immediately spotted the familiar grey hair of her CO. His head was bowed, chin resting on his chest, and he wasn't moving.
With a gasp of sudden dread, she flew across the room to his side.
"Oh god...Colonel!" she cried.
He wasn't moving because he was unconscious, blood seeping sluggishly from a bullet wound to his shoulder. Her hand shook as she reached to his throat to feel for a pulse.
"He's alive," she yelled, as Daniel and Fraker came hurrying over to her.
They untied his bindings, holding him in place so he didn't fall from the chair. On closer inspection they could see that he had taken a bullet to his shoulder which looked quite bad.
Fraker ripped the attached electrodes from Jack's head and they all knew that if they had delayed any longer it would have been too late to save him. There was no knowing how long he'd actually been attached to the machine but they all hoped it wasn't long enough.
Bronan, the medic of the team, lifted a familiar object from the table and called to Fraker and Sam.
"Captain. Ma'am."
Fraker and Sam looked up and saw a syringe in Bronan's hand. They looked at each other and wondered what exactly the ramifications would be. The syringe was empty, and it was fairly obvious where it's contents were now.
Sam squeezed her eyes shut and gulped down the fear that gripped her heart. They couldn't be too late could they? Not now. He couldn't be dead. She didn't want him to leave her like this; not now.
Sam felt guilty. She'd gone into the rescue plan hoping to spare him more pain, only for him to suffer another bullet wound, and the unknown factor from whatever was now circulating in his bloodstream. Taking him away from one form of danger and placing him into another, and he could still die.
"Bronan!" Fraker snapped. "Grab the Colonel. Let's get out of here folks while we can."
Bronan lifted the limp form of his CO, with an ease which belied his small stature, and slung him over his shoulders, then carried him out of the building, surrounded and protected by the others. Soary had been wounded too, but it was just a flesh wound to his arm, and Daniel kept close to him in case he needed any help.
The soldiers they had left behind, littering the blood stained floor, included the overweight General. Fraker sent him a cursory glance and left without stopping to check them too thoroughly. He presumed all the guards were dead, but that only meant that the rest of the troops stationed there would be out for their blood in return. General Ornan was the top dog among the Opposition leaders, and now he was dead. Revenge would be swift and vicious.
As a group they waited quietly in the shadows and Fraker checked his watch. The place was swarming with guards now all wondering what was going on. From their point of view the guards resembled ants in a disturbed nest, and word soon spread that Ornan was dead. Right on cue, that's when the prisoners burst out of the prison and fled, scattering around the camp to head for the exits. It was just as Fraker had planned and they escaped while the guards now concentrated on giving chase to the escaping prisoners.
TBC
