Jacob, who had been having an internal conversation with Selmac throughout the argument between Jack and Daniel, held up a hand. "Hold on, guys. There might be another way." When all eyes turned to him, he gave a self-conscious smile. "Selmac and I have an idea."
Chapter 17 – Parts of a Whole
While Sam leaned against the wall, trying to catch her breath and calm JJ, Beroni and the High Chancellor took the time to slowly walk around the room they now found themselves in. It was even smaller than the room they had just left; about 20 feet in diameter. It was circular in shape with a domed roof that sparkled with tiny pinpricks of reflected light from the center of the room. It was the massive object in the center, giving off that light, that drew their undivided attention, however.
On a round pedestal in the middle of the room, sat a chair that seemed to be in a permanent semi-reclined position. It looked dusty from its many years sitting in isolation, but upon closer inspection, it appeared to be in relatively good condition. The material, though dirty, contained no tears or well worn spots, indicating that in all likelihood, it had never been used. A large console, attached to a slender pole in front of the chair, kept a silent watch over the room. At the base of the pedestal were several round indentations in the floor, although what might be contained in them, neither Makesh man had a clue.
Sam, however, had an idea of what they were, as well as the chair, and her heart quickened in response to her musings. Pushing herself slowly away from the wall, Sam made her way to the dias, all the while continuing to croon softly into JJ's ear. Lulled by her quiet voice, JJ's cries lessened until he was quiet, his head lying against his mother's shoulder, thumb planted firmly in his mouth.
She was careful to stay away from both men, who were so absorbed in investigating the room and it apparatus, that they virtually ignored her for the moment. Sidling along to the opposite side of the chair, Sam knelt on one knee and brushed at the dirt covering one of the circular marks. She made a soft gasp of surprise at what she uncovered; the familiar symbol of the Ancients that had marked every other ZPM they had ever uncovered confirmed her earlier thoughts.
Beroni looked sharply at her from the other side of the chair. "What is it?" he asked, in an equally sharp voice.
"Nothing," Sam quickly covered herself. "I just tripped, that's all."
"Maybe you should you sit down and rest, Colonel. The last few minutes have been rather… intense, have they not?" the High Chancellor asked, his eyes roving to the door in remembrance of their narrow escape from the enraged Ambassador.
Sam stood up and moved back a few paces, surreptiously moving closer to the now closed door; the only way out of the room as far as she knew. "No thanks to either of you," she replied rather acerbically, in reference to the High Chancellor's comment.
"I believe it was your husband, my dear, who compounded the stress of the situation. I would not have used such force had I not felt the urgent need for our safety," he replied.
Sam just snorted, not wanting to get into an argument with him. Nor did she want JJ to become upset once more. He was now quietly gazing about the room, but had yet to take his thumb out of his mouth. Sam made as if to rest against the far wall, but her eyes shot to the closed door, her mind spinning as she tried to think of a way to open it from within. She had not been able to observe how the High Chancellor had closed it, as she had been too busy trying not to pass out. One thing she was certain of, JJ had not been needed to close that door.
Brought abruptly out of her musings, Sam's head swiveled back and her eyes widened in surprise when she heard Beroni within a few feet of her.
"That is both the only way in and the only way out," he said with a sneer. "I would not get my hopes up of it opening from the other side. Your husband," he said with disdain, "Will not be able to gain entry. You, my dear, will stay here until we decide you can leave!"
Sam reached into the folds of her tunic and gripped the sharply pointed awl until her knuckles turned white. She was so close to pulling it out and doing serious harm to this contemptuous troll! But she knew she couldn't escape them both right now and still protect JJ, so she forced herself to loosen her grip on the impromptu weapon and moved away from him, slowly circling the room until she was as far as possible from both of them.
Beroni smiled in satisfaction, as he had accomplished two things without an argument: he had gotten her away from the door and had caused her to cease talking. He was brought out of his smug thoughts by the High Chancellor.
"Beroni, come forth. What do you make of this?" he asked, pointing to an inscription he had discovered on the back of the chair. Beroni came around to the chair, all thoughts of Sam forgotten as he examined the etchings.
"I believe we must place the child in the chair, your Eminence. Just as he contained the genes necessary to open the door, he also contains that which is necessary to operate this device. I am unsure as to its purpose, but surely, by seating the child here, we will uncover something of significance," he spoke, his voice rising in excitement as he thought of the possible outcomes.
Both men turned to look at Sam expectantly, as if she would readily agree and plop her son into the chair. Instead, she glared at them with all the anger she felt at the moment. "Abosultely not! You have traumatized my son enough for one day! There's no telling what that thing will do!"
Of course, she was quite certain she knew what the chair would do, at least from her experiences in Antarctica when Jack had sat in a similar chair. But she wasn't about to share her knowledge with these two; not until she had some concrete evidence that nothing harmful would occur. And she wouldn't feel secure in that knowledge until Jack and the rest of her family was in this room.
Sam had to admit, the scientist part of her was intrigued. Why would the Ancients place a device on this planet that could only be activated by one person, a child, whose makeup was so unique? But the mother in her was not willing to take a chance and explore the device; not with her son at any rate.
"Now Colonel Carter," the High Chancellor began in a placating voice. "You know I would not allow anything to happen to JJ." He ignored the tense lock of her jaw and narrowed gaze. "But we have come here for one reason, to determine how my people will be saved. And your son is the key, as we have discovered with the opening of the door," he reminded her.
"You let my husband and the others in, then maybe we'll talk about letting JJ sit in the chair," she tried to bargain with them.
Beroni laughed cruelly. "We are not stupid, Colonel Carter. Your husband would just as soon kill both of us before he'd even consider letting his son help our people!"
Sam was prevented from answering as the floor began to tremble and small chunks of stone slid from the wall nearest the door. She crouched on the floor, placing JJ between her knees and hovered protectively over him. When the shaking stopped, she lifted her head and looked toward the door, her face lighting with relief at the same time that Beroni's and the High Chancellor's lit with fear.
Jack looked at Jacob, impatience clearly written on his features. "Well, are you going to tell us this plan of yours or do we have to play twenty questions?"
Jacob looked at his son-in-law and sighed. While he could understand Jack's desperation, for he wanted to get Sam and JJ out of there just as much, couldn't he show at least a modicum of patience? Deciding he'd better explain quickly before Jack did indeed decide to blast the door with an explosive, he began. "The High Chancellor knew that the door could only be opened by the one who possessed the knowledge of three, correct?" At everyone's nod of understanding, he continued. "You, Jack, can't open it because you only contain the genetic make-up of two beings."
"Yeah, Jacob. I got that part." Jack said sarcastically as he spared a quick glance over at Daniel, who was listening intently to Jacob.
"I also harbor the genetic make-up of two different beings. You and I share one similar set of genetics, Jack, but not the other two." He waited for the light bulb to go on in Jack's mind. Contrary to how Jack often portrayed himself, he was quite intelligent and caught on right away.
"So, you're saying that, between the two of us, we have this knowledge of three that will allow us to open the door?"
Jacob smiled, "That's exactly what I'm saying, Jack. Although, I'm not entirely sure it will work…two people instead of one. This device may have some safeguards that prevent someone from trying to do just that." He hated to put a damper on the anticipation everyone was feeling, but they had to be prepared if it didn't work.
"We might as well give it a try, it can't hurt can it?" Jack asked the group at large.
"Actually," Daniel intervened, "If there is a safeguard in place, there is the chance that someone trying to subvert the activation system could set off an alarm of some sort." He glanced apologetically at Jacob and Jack, hating to be the one to always appear overly cautious. But he knew as well as everyone else what was at stake here, and wanted everything to run as smoothly as possible. Given their history however, he wouldn't take any bets.
"Daniel Jackson is correct," Teal'c agreed. "However, I do believe it would be wise to attempt this course of action. We must remove Colonel Carter and Jonathon Jacob from this situation in a timely manner." Teal'c's face, normally impassive, showed his concern and agitation for the two missing people of their group, especially since he felt partially responsible for their disappearance.
Jack nodded his agreement. "Let's do this, Jacob." He walked over to the crystal and placed his hand up, then looked to Jacob. "Ready?"
Jacob bowed his head, raising it again when Selmac was in control. "I must inhibit Jacob's personality so that the Tok'ra presence is strongest. In this way, the human code will not overwhelm that of the other two needed to open the passage," Selmac's deep voice explained. He stepped close to Jack and raised his hand as well. "We must link our hands before pressing the crystal. I believe it will offer the greatest chance of success."
Jack nodded, then turned to look back at those gathered. "Teal'c, be ready with a zat. Daniel, if the walls start to come down, get the Doc and Malem out of here." At their nods, Jack turned back to Jacob/Selmac. "OK, let's do this."
Selmac raised his left hand and overlapped it slightly with Jack's, so that he covered half of Jack's right hand. Jack muttered, "I really thought my days of holding hands with males was over!" Then both men placed their intertwined hands over the red crystal and pressed into the depression.
At first, nothing happened except for the faint glowing that had followed Jack's singular attempt a few moments earlier. Just as Jack was about to give up, however, the crystal began to pulse brightly and they could hear the telltale sounds of something sliding open. All eyes turned toward the door as it slowly began to recede from the alcove, dust billowing about once again as it moved.
Several rocks shook lose from the walls but the group quickly sidestepped them, keeping their focus on the door. When it finally came to a rest, Jack and Jacob shared a small smile of triumph before releasing their hands and drawing their weapons. At Jack's nod, Teal'c moved forward into the opening, Jack right on his heels.
When the dust cleared enough to see, Jack stepped more fully into the room and stopped, his eyes quickly scanning the room for any sign of Sam and JJ. At first, all he could see was the platform in the middle of the room and the two men who had taken his family standing opposite him, their mouths open in disbelief and more than a little fear.
After what seemed like hours, but was in fact mere seconds, Jack saw a blond head pop up from its crouched position on the floor to his left, and his heartbeat quickened considerably. He closed his eyes briefly in deep gratitude when he heard the unmistakable sounds of JJ's whimpering. Moving further into the room, his eyes locked with Sam's; his full of questions and hers of reassurance.
Teal'c had begun to move slowly around the chair, intent on reaching the abductors and rending them incapacitated without harm to anyone else. Daniel, Jacob, Malem and Janet filed into the room and stopped just inside its doors, taking in the scene in front of them.
Beroni's look of fear quickly changed to one of anger and determination as he took in the distraction of the Ambassador and the stealthy movements of the Jaffa. He knew that he had to act quickly in order to try and salvage this terribly botched mission. Pulling his own weapon from his tunic, he made a lunge toward Sam and JJ, reaching her in a split second before anyone could react. He grabbed her roughly by the hair and hauled her to her feet, ignoring her cry of pain and the frightened screeches of JJ.
Possibly the final cruel cliffhanger I leave you with...but I can't make any promises! The next chapter is halfway done so hopefully will be up within a day or two. I'd be interested to know if those of you who thought you knew Jacob's plan were correct!