CHAPTER 14
Five days before the Goa'uld were to arrive, SG1 finally had a hole in the side of the cave big enough that Teal'c could fit through. They began night time reconnaissance missions to get the lay of the land, count the number of Jaffa guarding the mine and determine the location of the ring transport device.
The mine workers had begun bringing naquada out of the mines and putting it in large wheeled bins in the great hall. Knowing that the naquada would go out of the mines through the great hall and the main entrance to the caves helped SG1 plan their strategy.
The team also discovered that half a dozen Jaffa guarded the mine during the day, but at night, when the slaves were sleeping, only four Jaffa guarded the mine entrance. The two additional guards came on duty at 5:30 AM, the same time as reveille in the mines.
At 5:00 AM on SG1's 75th day in the mines, the entire group was looking down on the four Jaffa guarding the mine entrance. Teal'c carefully moved away from the group and concealed himself in the underbrush of the wooded area. Once he was situated, Jack threw stones close to Teal'c's position to get the attention of the guards. When one of the guards came to investigate the noise, Teal'c crept up behind him and put his powerful arm around the man's throat. When the Jaffa guard was no longer breathing Teal'c let him drop to the ground and took his uniform. The Jaffa guard carried a Zat'n'ktel as well as a modified staff weapon.
Once Teal'c was dressed in the Jaffa uniform he called out "Jaffa! Kree!" As the other 3 guards ran toward Teal'c he shot each one with the Zat. When they were down he shot each of them 1 more time, killing them. Jack, Daniel and Lo'jess then took their uniforms and weapons. Once SG1 was completely outfitted as Jaffa, Teal'c shot the dead Jaffa a final time with the Zat, disintegrating their bodies.
Lo'jess was given a modified staff weapon only and the Zat his Jaffa had carried was given to Sam. Daniel, Jack, Teal'c and Lo'jess took up posts guarding the entrance to the mine while Major Carter continued to hide in the woods where she had a broad vantage point and could watch her team's six.
At 5:30, when the rest of the Jaffa came on duty, they were promptly disposed of with the Zats and their weapons and uniforms taken. SG1 then hurried back to their secret entrance to the cave, removed the Jaffa uniforms and hid them in the cavernous passageway that led from the mine opening they had created, back down to the underground springs. They hid the staff weapons there as well, but took the Zats with them, hiding them in their baggy, earth tone pants. They hoped they would blend in better with the rest of the slaves if they at least wore the same pants as everyone else.
They hurried to their work stations so they would not be late and the guards would not search for them.
Shortly after 6:00 AM the mine workers began pushing the heavy wheeled bins full of naquada outside the complex as the mine guards lowered the force field and kept their weapons trained on the workers. There was so much activity no one noticed the few missing Jaffa.
The workers in the laundry took down all the clotheslines in the outdoor area and began setting up tables and chairs for the party that would commence as soon as all of the naquada was outside of the mine in the staging area by the rings.
Since the force field to the outdoor laundry area was always on, it was, from the guard's standpoint, a perfect place to allow the workers to party. They could be outdoors, but there was no where for them to go and the only way out for the workers was through the laundry. That meant that the guards could sit and relax in the laundry area, watch the festivities, eat and drink, while still blocking the slaves only exit.
Sam learned from Brenita that it usually took about four hours to get all of the naquada to the staging area outside of the mine. As soon as that was accomplished, the workers were allowed to party until lights out, which meant almost 12 hours of partying. Brenita said that wine and ale flowed freely at the party and that many of the guards joined in the revelry.
As the first partiers began to arrive in the laundry, Sam told her boss, Ledra, that she wasn't feeling well, that she thought it was morning sickness and asked to go to her compartment for a short time. Ledra allowed her to go, but Sam didn't go to the compartment. Instead she headed to the great hall. It was difficult for her to make her way to the great hall as everyone was headed for the laundry and the party. When she finally arrived it did not take her long to find the rest of her team.
SG1 headed right for the stage where Claudio stood every time he addressed the workers. They found the door he always seemed to disappear through, and with very little effort knocked it down. Inside they found Claudio reclined on a plush couch with servant girls in togas all around him, feeding him grapes and wine, massaging him, and fanning him with huge feather fans. The room was filled with huge, colorful floor pillows, candles, and sheer curtains hanging from the ceiling.
Claudio was so taken by surprise that he didn't know what hit him when he was shot with a Zat.
"Sir, we want the hand held medical device he uses."
"Right. So, Claudio, old buddy, where is the medical scanner?"
When Claudio refused to answer Jack said "Let me explain how these things work" He waved his Zat in front of Claudio's face. "One shot stuns, two shots kill and three shots disintegrate. Now, where's the scanner?"
Claudio said nothing, but indicated a cabinet on the far wall. Sam went to the cabinet and quickly found the device. She handed it to Jack and said "Since you have the ancient gene I think you should hold on to this, Sir." He put it in his shirt pocket.
"Now," Daniel said "We want to know where the control panel is that turns off the force field in the outdoor laundry area."
Again Claudio would not answer.
"Tie him up!" Ordered Jack.
Teal'c and Daniel did so with strips from their blankets that they had cut that morning.
"Carter." Jack said and she began a search for the control panel. She quickly found what she was looking for and disabled the force field by removing the master crystal.
"Alright, let's get out of here!" Jack ordered.
"Uh, Jack, we can't just leave these people. So the force field is turned off, they don't know that, they don't know Claudio has been taken out, and what about Khatana and Brenita? We owe them more!"
"Daniel!" Jack said in an aggravated tone.
"Jack, you know I'm right!"
"Fine! You and Teal'c grab Claudio and we'll drag him to the laundry. Have your Zats ready." Jack then looked at the servant girls in the togas and told them to follow behind his team.
Teal'c turned to the girls and said "Do not scream or make any sound or I will be forced to hurt you."
The girls nodded and followed in silence.
Once the group arrived at the laundry, Jack peeked inside to see the location of the guards while the rest of the team stayed out of sight. With silent hand signals Jack told each team member the location of the guards he wanted them to target with their zats. Lo'jess kept his zat trained on the bound and gagged Claudio.
SG1 rushed into the laundry and took out a dozen guards in seconds. "Lo'jess bring Claudio in here!" Jack called as other guards heard the commotion and came to investigate.
Lo'jess kept his weapon on Claudio, while Jack warned the advancing guards that they would kill the Supreme Ruler if they came any closer. Then Jack climbed up on the edge of one of the laundry vats so everyone could see him.
"Listen, people, you're free!" He began. "The force field is gone and you can do whatever you want! You can leave!"
The slaves began to come forward to hear what Jack was saying.
"Look," he continued "Claudio has been captured, Dra'coe is dead, the force field is gone, you can create whatever kind of society you like! You guards are free too. If you are loyal to Claudio and want to stop us step forward now."
A handful of guards tried to rush SG1 and were immediately put down with zats. Another one shouted something about insolent slaves and received a laundry oar to the head courtesy of Ledra. The woman then stepped forward to stand near Jack.
"I have lived in this complex my entire life. These strangers are giving us the chance to choose our own leaders, make up our own laws and venture into the outside world if we so choose. They have given us a great gift."
By this point Brenita and Khatana had worked their way to the front of the group. Khatana went up to Daniel and spoke "You are leaving." It was a statement not a question.
"Yes, Khatana." Daniel replied "You are a beautiful and talented young lady and you don't need me to be your amator. You need to find someone your own age and fall in love."
"Love?" She asked "You mean like what Sam and Jack have for each other?"
Daniel's mouth popped open for a second while he tried to think of a response. He looked over at Sam and Jack who were talking to Brenita, Ledra and some of the guards. "Yes, Khatana."
A few tears rolled down the girl's face and Daniel brushed them away. "You can create your own laws now. You don't have to go to the brothels just because you don't have an amator. You are skilled and talented at making ceramics, you could set up your own shop."
The girl nodded, Daniel gave her a light kiss on the cheek and then walked back to join the rest of SG1.
Jack was telling Ledra and the guards that they needed to keep the people away from the Jaffa who were sending naquada up to the cargo ship through the ring device.
"Once they're gone" Jack was saying "It will be safe for you to go anywhere, just stay away from them until they are gone."
Ledra nodded. "I will see to it." Already, Sam and Jack could see that Ledra was taking on the roll of the leader of these people. They knew she would be a good leader.
"We have to go now!" Jack said
The group headed back toward the underground spring. The members of SG1 had stashed six Jaffa uniforms in the hidden cavern that led to their escape opening. Each member of the team, including Sam, now donned a Jaffa uniform, took a staff weapon and escaped the cave.
They headed for the ring transport device and as they approached, saw several Jaffa muscling a heavy bin of naquada into the transport area. The rings came down and the bin was transported. After the rings were back up the Jaffa started again with the next bin.
As SG1 approached, Teal'c called out to the handful of Jaffa who had the cargo handling duties. "Jaffa! Kree!" In Goa'uld he told them that the four serpent guards that were with him needed to ring up to the ship. The cargo handlers stood back and allowed the serpent guards into the transport area. Seconds later SG1 was in the cargo area of the Tel Tak.
Dressed as serpent guards, SG1 marched toward the Pel'tac taking out every Jaffa they saw. Once they reached the flight control area, they made quick work of the personnel there then rapidly removed the serpent helmets.
Teal'c and Sam took up positions on the flight deck. "Sir, we are in a stable orbit around the planet." Sam reported.
"Jack, don't forget about the Jaffa on the planet." Daniel reminded.
"Yeah, yeah. Teal'c can you target the Jaffa from orbit and take them out?"
"I can O'Neill."
"Do it!" He said to Teal'c. Then he turned to Carter and said "Ok, Major, take us home."
Sam did the calculations needed to fly the ship back to Earth and then reported "Sir, the bad news is that from here, even in hyperspace, we can't get back to Earth for 15 years. The good news is that there is an uninhabited planet with a stargate that we can reach in just a few hours. We can gate home from there."
"What about the naquada?"
"We can have SG3 go back through the gate and retrieve it from the ship." She replied.
Just then four Jaffa who had been on another deck, charged the Pel'tac with real staff weapons blazing. Daniel, Jack and Teal'c quickly neutralized the enemy, hitting each with a Zat'n'ktel 3 times.
"Daniel, take Lo'jess and search every inch of this ship and make sure there are no more Jaffa on ..."
Just then Sam fell out of her seat, unconscious. Daniel rushed to her, touched her side and came away with blood on his hand. He looked up at Jack, fear in his eyes. "She's been hit with a staff weapon!" He said.
Jack rushed over to her and kneeled down beside her. She was barely breathing and he knew she was dying. "Oh, god, no!" He whispered.
"Jack, the ancient healing device, the one we took from Claudio! You can make it work!" Daniel pleaded with him.
"I don't know how!" He said.
"Neither did Claudio! Just hold it over the injured area and think about healing her!"
Jack fumbled in his pocket for the device. He finally found it, brought it out and looked at it. "How do I turn it on?"
"Probably with your mind!" Daniel nearly shouted.
"Ok, ok." Kneeling beside Sam, Jack closed his eyes and concentrated with all his might on turning on the device. After what seemed like an eternity, the device whirred to life. Jack began sweeping it above Sam's injury, concentrating on healing her.
Within minutes she regained consciousness.
"Sir, what happened?" She asked in a groggy voice.
Jack dropped his head into his hands and let out a breath. He looked up at Daniel and said "You and Lo'jess do that sweep of the ship now." Daniel nodded and indicated to Lo'jess that he should follow him.
After Daniel and Lo'jess were gone, Jack helped Sam to her feet. "I thought you were dead, Sam." He said, his voice shaky. "I didn't know what I was doing with the healing device."
"Well, you made it work. Thank you, Sir." She said. He nodded and she took her place back at the control panel next to Teal'c.
"Don't mention it, Carter." He said half to himself.
They were on their way home and, just like Jonah and Thera when their memories returned, the relationship between Jack and Sam had instantly reverted to the strained formality of CO and 2IC.