A/N: Oh, you're going to hate me.
But, having said that… Wow, am I ENERGIZED! New laptop (yippee!) AND Stargate Fan Award nominations (two for me! Yay!) in the SAME WEEK! I'm so full of excitement and ideas I might burst! So, in the interest of not exploding, here comes the next installment. I apologize for my lousy attention to the actual, cannon description of how Goa'uld starship technology operates. I pretty much made it all up, so if my explanations completely contradict anything in the show, you can just assume I've created new and exciting technology, never before seen in the universe! LOL!
Thanks for the awesome reviews. You, as always, totally rock.
Oh, and by the way, I did warn you guys it was coming… No death threats, please.
Chapter 19
Pressing himself flat against the cool, metallic surface of the bulkhead, Daniel clutched a zat to his chest and concentrated on the sounds of conflict coming from around the corner. The sizzling crack of staff weapons fire was still fairly far away. Daniel estimated he had another two or three minutes before he'd be in any real danger.
Without further deliberation, he silently slipped away from the oncoming battle. Krilnash and Teal'c were supposed to be creating a distraction – and, by the sound of things, they were doing pretty well. He just hoped his part in the insane plan to capture this ship transpired as smoothly.
Moving with equal measures of speed and caution, Daniel focused on the Goa'uld symbols inscribed above the doorways in this corridor. Tok'ra intelligence had provided a map and security codes to the room containing the small ship's main power relays, but Daniel wanted to be sure he was on the right track. Krilnash and Teal'c were tied up with the Jaffa down the hall, while Jacob and Anise were manning the Tok'ra vessel they'd arrived in. That left disabling the ship's power to Daniel. He shook his head in dry amusement. Because of his understanding of stargate technology, everyone tended to forget that his scientific specialty was archaeology – not astrophysics, electrical engineering, or any of the other weird, highly sophisticated technical fields that SGC personnel were always investigating. Sure, he could improvise with the best of SG-1, but the real scientific stuff was Sam's department.
Daniel suppressed a sigh and concentrated on the task ahead of him. If all went well, Sam would be available for SG-1's next impossible technology problem, but only if he kept his mind on his work. Inching his way down the hallway, he finally spied the doorway he'd been looking for.
According to Anise, the firefight with Teal'c and Krilnash should have been enough to draw the lone Jaffa sentry from his post inside the power station. Taking a deep breath, Daniel approached the door and mentally crossed his fingers that her information was correct. Holding his zat steadily in front of him, He stood with his back to the wall, just beside the doorway. Then, before he could lose his nerve, he pressed the button in the control panel that opened the automatic door.
"Kree!" The sound of a deep, harsh voice cracked into the hallway with the force of a gunshot. Daniel cringed reflexively, though he wasn't especially surprised. Nothing in his line of work was ever as easy as it was supposed to be. When the sounds of heavy footsteps grew nearer, Daniel raised his zat, waited for a looming shadow to fill the doorway, and fired at precisely the right moment to catch the Jaffa unaware. As the large warrior collapsed, Daniel nimbly leapt over him, firing his zat toward a second set of audible footsteps. He glimpsed another figure falling to the ground just as he ducked behind a large piece of equipment.
The loud cry of a staff weapon split the air. Instantly, Daniel felt a violent tremor shake the room as a bolt landed in the space where he'd just been a heartbeat earlier. Without hesitation, he leaned out from his hiding spot and leveled a few quick shots with his zat. Another figure fell, and, much to his relief, there were just two Jaffa remaining in the room.
At that moment, the Tok'ra com device on his wrist emitted a quiet beep that was immediately followed by the sound of Anise's anxious voice. "Daniel, you must hurry. Krilnash and Teal'c have retreated to the transport chamber. They will return to our ship within minutes, leaving the remaining Jaffa free to assault the power station."
Daniel dodged another staff blast before replying. "Thanks for the heads up, but I'm a little busy at the moment."
Anise must have heard the sounds of combat in the background, as her next statement was even more alarmed than her first. "The room was guarded? How many Jaffa remain?"
Gripping his zat, Daniel activated the com and spoke quickly. "There were five originally, but I've managed to take down three." He once again darted from behind the large piece of equipment and fired another round of zat blasts. Instantly, another of the large warriors fell in a heap. "Make that four," Daniel amended into the com as he ducked back behind the machinery.
There was a pause before Anise spoke again. "Once you have eliminated the last warrior, you will need to take the power offline and transfer control quickly. As soon as the shields and security systems are down, Jacob and I will be able to seize the gunship. Teal'c estimates that there are less than a dozen Jaffa remaining on the vessel. They will be easy to deal with once we are in command, but I fear they will easily overpower you if you do not achieve your goal in the next few minutes."
Daniel rolled his eyes. "No pressure or anything," he muttered to himself. Then, with a flourish, he jumped out of his hiding place, fired a pair of direct hits into the chest of the last remaining warrior, and brought the com to his lips. "I just dropped the fifth Jaffa and I'm walking to the power grid as we speak. I'll have it offline in less than a minute." Glancing at the five bodies strewn across the floor, he couldn't help feeling a bit proud of himself. Why was there never anyone else around to witness these impressive Indiana Jones moments? It seemed like everyone in the universe was watching when he did something mortifying – like when he turned into a caveman and got it on with the native chief's daughter, or when he accidentally swapped bodies with an older-than-dirt enemy of the Goa'uld. So why was he completely alone at a triumphant moment like this? He shook his head. There was really no justice in the world.
It took little time to find the relay station; in a few seconds, Daniel had the appropriate panel removed. Following Krilnash's directions, Daniel nimbly swapped several of the crystals housed within the power unit. Then, to complete his part of the plan, he inserted a piece of Tok'ra technology into an empty conduit outlet, thus allowing Anise and Jacob to gain control of the ship's primary systems. Before he drew another breath, he had the com to his mouth. "Done!" he said sharply.
The lights snapped off, bathing the small chamber in near-complete darkness. "Daniel, there seems to be something blocking the doorway. If you remove the obstacle, we will secure your current location until the ship is cleared of the remaining Jaffa."
Daniel opened his mouth to object. He'd just been swatting Jaffa like flies; he didn't need to be locked in this tiny, dark room waiting to be rescued! He could help liberate the ship! However, before the words had a chance to form in his throat, he was struck by a second thought. Rushing into danger and getting pelted with a staff blast was just the kind of stupid, clumsy thing he was so good at doing in front of an audience. Maybe he'd be better off just following Anise's directions. "Yeah, there's a body in the doorway," he said, pleased to be able to remind anyone listening of his battle competence. "I'll pull it inside and you should be able to lock the door."
"That will be excellent. I'm very glad you have remained safe, Doctor Jackson." The odd, alien baritone of Anise's voice held a note of intimacy that made Daniel wince. "You performed your part of the plan flawlessly."
"Uh, yeah. Thanks," Daniel muttered uncomfortably.
"Indeed, Daniel Jackson, your actions today were commendable." This time, it was Teal'c's voice coming from the com device. "I'm sure we are all looking forward to expressing our gratitude to you."
At that, Daniel's jaw dropped. If he didn't know better, he'd swear the Jaffa was teasing him about his situation with Anise. "Thanks, Teal'c," he said dryly, "I'm sure that will be great."
Shaking his head at the ridiculousness of his present circumstances, Daniel cautiously made his way to the door and shoved the Jaffa's lifeless body into the corridor. Immediately, the door began to close, making him jump back into the power control room.
"It seems we've now been able to lock your door. Are you secure, Daniel Jackson?" Anise's voice was undeniably warm for a Tok'ra.
"Yeah, I'm fine," he replied. Then, without activating the com, he muttered bleakly, "I'm just locked in a dark room, waiting for my alien girlfriend to come and collect the sexual favors I owe her." Rubbing the bridge of his nose, he suppressed a groan of humiliation. The only bright spot in this entire situation was that he now had the means to collect Sam and Jack from the volcanic planet. His next step would be coming up with a plan to rescue them – preferably one that didn'tinvolve getting anyone arrested for fraternization or killed by an angry Tok'ra daddy. He sighed loudly in the darkness.
Taking the ship had unquestionably been the easy part.
"Wow," Sam exclaimed softly. "I guess I didn't remember it being so… big."
Jack drew a deep breath and nodded. "It's impressive, all right. You sure you're up for this?"
The pair stood at the foot of a cliff that loomed nearly one hundred feet above them. The sheer size of the rock wall was daunting, but even more frightening was the knowledge that the eruption could easily have made sections of the cliff face unstable.
Sam nodded grimly. "I don't have much choice, sir. That's about the only viable way to reach the stargate." She swallowed hard. "Or at least what's left of it."
Despite the gravity of her words, Jack couldn't help smiling at her unconscious use of the word "sir." Some things, it seemed, would never change between them. "All right, Carter. Just be careful. We've climbed worse than this on other missions. You'll do fine."
Sam tried to look cheerful as she nodded back at him, but they were both aware of the situation. On previous climbs, they'd had proper climbing equipment. This time, they were jury-rigging a pair of harnesses by combining their standard-issue rope coils with some rings and buckles lifted from their packs. Any other climbing gear would be improvised from things found in their toolkits. Sam knew that it was going to be a grueling climb. If they succeeded, it would primarily be a result of sheer muscle and willpower.
Wordlessly, they began preparing their gear. They left everything except the bare essentials in their packs at the base of the cliff. Making it to the top would be hard enough without any additional encumbrances. When they were finally ready, Jack leaned forward and placed a swift, firm kiss on her mouth. Then, suddenly, he grinned. "I've always wanted to do that before we set out on some especially dangerous mission."
Sam smiled in spite of her anxiety. "Yeah, me too," she admitted sheepishly. Then she grew serious again. "Just be careful, okay?"
He nodded briskly and turned to the cliff without another word.
They'd decided that it would be best for Jack to go first. He was the more experienced climber and would be more likely to find sure footing on the hazardous climb. Sam was to wait at the base of the cliff, watching him carefully until he was about ten feet up. Then she was supposed to follow his path as closely as possible. Watching his first few, tenuous minutes of climbing, Sam thought she might jump out of her skin. She'd had no idea how hard it would be to see him in danger after everything they'd shared. She swallowed as a thought struck her. Working with him in the future was going to be very difficult if she reacted this way every time his safety was threatened.
Before her thoughts could completely run out of control, Jack was signaling for her to start climbing. Glad to have something else to focus on, she set out slowly and carefully.
Things had gone amazingly well, in spite of the back-breaking physical labor involved in the climb. About sixty feet up, Sam found herself in the mindless concentration zone that athletes undergoing physical pain often found themselves in, when suddenly the bottom seemed to drop out from her world. Fifteen feet above her, Jack's foothold suddenly broke away, leaving him clinging to the face of the rock with a desperate, white-knuckled grip. "Jack!" she yelled, feeling her heart stop in her chest.
With the discipline of a trained soldier, Jack was able to regain control of his position almost immediately. "I'm fine," he rasped out in between heaving breaths. "Just don't step there," he muttered dryly.
Sam, however, barely heard him. Staring at him blindly, it was quickly apparent that she was frozen to the spot. The few terrifying moments when he'd been a fingernail's width away from plummeting to his death seemed to have triggered something raw and instinctive within her.
"Sam?" Jack glanced down at her and saw the sheer panic in her eyes. "Sam, I'm fine. You've gotta keep moving." Still, her eyes remained glassy and terrified. Worse yet, her arms had begun shaking with a combination of shock and strain. Realizing what a tenuous position she was in, he felt frustration bubble up in his chest. "Damnit, Carter! Move! That's an order!" His voice cracked down the cliff face like a whip.
The commanding tone of his voice seemed to flip a switch inside her head. Immediately, and almost without thought, she obeyed the order of her CO, instinctively trusting his authority and experience. After a moment, Jack could see that she was back in control of things. He let out a shaky breath and began resuming his own climb.
After what seemed like an eternity, he miraculously found himself eye-level with the top of the cliff. The grass which had once covered the area was completely burned away by the eruption, but Jack thought he'd never seen anything so refreshing in his entire life. He had no idea how long he'd been climbing that sheer wall of rock, but it seemed like years. Pulling himself up the last few feet, he scrambled onto solid ground and said a silent prayer of thanks. Immediately, he turned around and looked back over the edge. "You're almost there, Carter," he said soothingly. "Just a few more feet."
If Sam heard him, she didn't acknowledge it. Her entire being seemed to be focused on the cliff in front of her. Jack watched her exhausted movements with his heart in his throat. One thing was certain; he now understood the need for fraternization laws. As difficult as the climb up that rocky cliff had been, it was nothing compared to the anxiety of watching her struggle up those last few yards. He knew, right then and there, something would have to change when they returned to Earth, because he'd never be able to do this on a daily basis and keep any sort of objectivity.
He was so lost in his own worries that it took a few moments for him to realize something was wrong. At first, he thought Sam was just searching for her last few footholds, when he suddenly saw that her left foot was scraping frantically against the rock in front of it. With a tidal wave of terror and adrenaline, Jack stood and scrambled for the rope connected to his waist. Frantically searching for the long, trailing end, he finally managed to tug a length of it over the cliff. "Carter!" he yelled, "Grab this! I'll pull you up!"
The alarm in his voice made the command even more urgent than the last one he'd given her. She was too busy struggling with her grip on the rocks to even look at him, much less respond, so he was left holding his end of the rope, praying she still had enough willpower to obey his terse words.
As if in slow motion, Jack watched her left hand reach out and grab the rope he'd just tossed her. The moment it left the rocks, her entire body began to slip downward in a frighteningly out-of-control fashion. Helplessly, Sam did the only thing she could do. She instinctively let go of the cliff with her other hand and gripped the rope desperately. Jack felt an enormous tug as her full body weight suddenly came to bear on the synthetic cord. Though exhausted and shaking from his own climb, he found a hidden reserve of willpower someplace deep inside himself and yanked on her lifeline with every ounce of strength in his body.
Miraculously, it was enough. In less than a minute, Sam lay gasping on the ground beside him, sobbing with exhaustion and relief. Without a word, Jack dropped to his knees and pulled her into his arms. "Shhh," he said quietly. "You're okay. I've got you."
After a few moments listening to his quiet, comforting words, Sam felt her hysteria slowly seep away. "Oh, Jack," she whispered hoarsely, "I thought I was going to fall."
Jack squeezed her tightly. "Carter, I'd never let you fall."
She pulled away from him enough to look deeply into his piercing, dark gaze. Wordlessly, she leaned forward and kissed him softly on the mouth.
He felt her heave a heavy sigh of relief, and he knew she was going to be okay. Shaking his head, he stifled a grin. Of course she was going to be okay. This was Carter he was talking about, not some girly debutante who was afraid of breaking a fingernail. "All right, Sam," he said gruffly, "I'm going to scope this clearing out a bit. You just rest for a few minutes."
She released another shaky breath and shook her head. "I'll be fine in a second, sir."
He held up a hand. "I'm sure you will be, just humor me and stay put for a while, okay?"
She looked like she was going to argue again, so he speared her with his best "Colonel O'Neill" glare and cut her off before she even opened her mouth. Reluctantly, she nodded, leaving him to turn around and examine their surroundings.
The area at the top of the cliff had once been a lush clearing covered in green grass and surrounded by tall evergreen trees. It now looked like part of a war zone. The parts of the ground not covered in volcanic ash were completely black and charred. Though their immediate area was clear of fallen timber, a desolate tangle of half-upright trunks and broken branches lay no more than fifty feet to the south. Most alarming, however, was the concrete-like mudflow which had hardened directly over the last known location of the stargate.
"Ah, hell." Jack muttered. He had no idea how thick that mudflow was, but it looked very daunting. "Sam, I think you should come have a look at–"
His words were cut off mid-sentence by a sound of nightmarish proportions. Between a growl and a bellow, the bestial roar of something huge and alien took Jack completely off guard. A flurry of grey-brown fur shot out of the tangled forest debris and made a bee-line straight for Sam.
Time slowed to the barest of trickles. With gruesome clarity, Jack realized that the creature would be upon her before his hand even reached the Beretta at his side. Frantically, he reached for the pistol, watching with sickening horror as the rabid canine descended upon his second-in-command. He heard himself yelling wordlessly in terror and fury as Carter's arms came up to shield herself from the beast's enormous teeth, but he knew his efforts were completely futile. By the time the weapon in his hand fired the shot that dropped the creature, Jack knew he'd been too late.
With speed he'd only used one other time in his life, Jack sprinted mindlessly to the two wounded, bleeding bodies on the ground. "SAM!" His voice was something between a sob and a roar of fury. Ignoring the giant beast, which was emitting its last breath in a gurgling death rattle, Jack dropped to his knees beside the broken figure of his lover.
The damage to her body was beyond bad. Huge, bleeding tears in her clothing were only the tip of the iceberg. The creature had clearly been going for the kill, as Sam's formerly perfect, porcelain neck was now a barely discernable mass of blood and tissue. Jack felt bile rise up in his throat as he realized, unequivocally, that she was dying. "God, no!" Frantically, he ran his hands along her cheeks, horrified by the streaks of blood he was leaving in his wake. "Sam," he sobbed, meeting the fading light in her blue eyes with hysterical torment. "Sam, damnit, you can't leave me like this."
She gazed at him with a serene, gentle smile. Unable to form any words in her tattered throat, she mouthed, "I love you." Without taking her eyes from his, she seemed to be reassuring him that this was okay.
"I love you too, Sam," he choked out between inconsolable sobs. "Just please don't leave me! Please!"
And then, in an instant, the last spark of life slipped away from her. With bright sunshine dancing on a warm, summer breeze, Sam's spirit flew into a sky the exact color of her crystal blue eyes.