On a Slow Ride Through Molasses – part eleven
"So, we have two knives and a useless handgun?"
"That is correct."
Jack couldn't help rolling his eyes at Teal'c's calm reply. It wasn't like he'd really been asking about the weapons – he'd just been making a point. One Teal'c didn't seem to get, so he tried again, keeping his voice to a low whisper.
"Some of Cronus's Jaffa are still guarding the gate? Along with several locals?"
"Indeed. The gate is guarded."
"And we have two knives and a gun that is masquerading as a blunt weapon?"
"Yes."
Jack raised his left hand to cradle his throbbing head and continued whispering. "Work with me here, T. Take pity on a sick man. I know you have a plan."
His teammate nodded. "We shall wait until just before the change of guards, when their vigilance is at its lowest. You and I shall eliminate the ones nearest the gate, whilst Lieutenant Nguyen dials out."
Jack waited, but the Jaffa had clearly stopped speaking. He broke the silence. "That's it?"
"It is."
He caught the young lieutenant looking at him, but the man's gaze shifted almost immediately back to Teal'c. Jack looked down at the large knife he held. It was sharp and deadly in the correct hands, but he wasn't sure his hands were the right ones just now. He lifted it slightly, lowering it back to his lap as his hand trembled. He looked up again, once more catching Nguyen's gaze on him. The young man was frowning, but then he had reason to be worried.
"I'm not one hundred percent confident in your plan. There seems to be two large problems with it."
Teal'c paused in the act of folding the blanket that up until a few short minutes ago had been around Jack's shoulders. "What would they be, O'Neill?"
"The first is that we are up against Jaffa. They don't tend to lower their guard. And the other is that, and I'm being completely honest here, I don't know that I'm capable of taking out a fluffy bunny right now, let alone a Jaffa."
"I have no such concerns. When the time comes, you will fight as a warrior must."
Jack shut his eyes, leaning back against the rock. "Oh, well, that's all right then."
There was a further period of silence, punctuated by the quiet movements of the other two men and Jack's own harsh breaths. He tried to relax, and was succeeding, although he had to admit it was more akin to controlled unconsciousness. He jumped a little when Teal'c suddenly spoke again.
"There is a factor of which you are unaware."
Okay. He'd hoped as much, because it wasn't looking good otherwise.
"The guards are not Cronus's Jaffa."
Trying to work out what Teal'c meant was like pushing his brain up hill through molasses. His stomach was rebelling again, even without anything in it, and he really wasn't in the mood for twenty questions. Despite his attempt to seem calm, he feared his tone reflected his frustration. "Then whose Jaffa are they?"
"They are not Jaffa at all. I believe Cronus has not visited this planet for several years and is unaware of our presence here."
"What do you mean, sir?"
Jack was very glad for Nguyen's timely question, because he couldn't summon up the energy to ask it himself.
"I believe Jaahn was lying when he said Cronus was told of our presence. It appears to be a ruse to gain our trust and allow him and his men access to the SGC."
"It worked." Jack couldn't prevent the bitter comment.
"Indeed. You were the only one not taken in by the deception." Teal'c inclined his head in a half bow. "I apologize for not trusting you, O'Neill."
"Yeah, well, I wasn't exactly making complete sense there for most of the time, T. I doubt I would have believed me either."
Teal'c frowned. "That is perhaps why they drugged you. You said you remembered hearing them plotting. It may have been that knowledge they wished to discredit, whilst using your injury as an excuse to keep us from investigating the situation in the city too closely."
"Umm."
"O'Neill, you must stay alert. The hour fast approaches when we should leave for the gate."
Jack opened eyes he didn't know he'd closed. "Sorry." He reached out for the small container of water Teal'c had brought back with him, but a sudden wave of dizziness sent him reeling, his back pressed hard against the rock in an effort to keep from falling sideways.
"Here, sir."
The strangely squat bottle was pressed into his hand. He managed a few sips before giving it back. "Thanks, Van."
"You're welcome, sir."
"There is something more I must tell you before we leave."
Teal'c's voice was even more somber than usual, making Jack cautiously open his eyes. The Jaffa's face blurred and moved for a moment, but he concentrated on his friend's features, finding his vision sharpening after a minute or so.
"Why do I get the feeling I'm not going to like this?"
Teal'c nodded. "You are correct in your supposition, O'Neill, but I must explain what I have learned in case I fall in our battle for the gate."
"Not goin…"
Teal'c held up a hand. "Let me continue. We have little time. I overheard Jaahn speaking of this. You know you have been drugged. What you don't know is that the drug was also a poison and you will die unless you receive the antidote."
There was a sound from where Nguyen stood, a sudden inhale of breath.
Jack swallowed down the bile that suddenly rose in his throat. "How long?"
"I do not know, O'Neill. That was all I was able to ascertain before our enemy left for Earth."
"Then all the more reason to get back to the SGC and make the bastards give us the cure before we beat the crap out of them." Jack held an arm out. "Help me up, Lieutenant. Time's a wastin'"
xoxoxoxoxoxo
"Let me help him!"
Daniel was aware of Janet's shouted words, but most of his attention was fixed on General Hammond. The general hadn't moved since being shot and still lay where he had fallen, face up on the gateroom floor. There was a large stain on his light blue shirt where blood had oozed for the barely perceivable wound over his breastbone. Daniel couldn't tell if he was breathing or not.
Apart from the doctor, the rest of the SGC personnel seemed to have been stunned into silence.
"Let me go!" Daniel turned his head, watching as Janet squirmed and kicked at the two men holding her. Her foot connected with the ankle of the man to her left and he stepped back, wincing, before letting loose with a hard slap to her face. The doctor fell back, only held up by the hands of the men, her mouth open in a surprised gasp.
Daniel half rose to his feet, aware that Rutledge and Jones had also begun to stand, only to have weapons thrust into their faces. He sank to his knees again.
Jaahn moved forwarded, taking up a position in the center of the room, a few steps from Janet.
"The old man – your general." He spoke the words with contempt in his voice. "Is either dead, or will be soon. I am not a cruel man, but I am a realistic one. I know my words are being listened to by those outside this room. The injury from our energy weapon can be treated. Leave it too long, however and your general will most certainly die. I leave it to you to decide whether you will allow that to happen." He swung back to face Janet. "Put her with the others. If she protests, shoot her."
"At least let me see if he's alive or dead."
"What purpose would that serve? I will not allow you to treat him if he is alive, and if he is dead I will have to choose another of you to prove to your superiors that I mean what I say." He reached his hand out and cupped her chin, raising it so that she stared him in the eyes. "Perhaps you would like to choose the next person for me?" Janet's eyes shifted from his face and he dropped her chin and stepped back. "No? I thought not."
He gestured with his head towards the other medical staff and his men pulled the unresisting woman over to join them, throwing her, with unnecessary force, into their midst. Daniel muttered to himself as the doctor was helped up by Captain Milligan and one of the SF's, clearly shaken. Her left cheek was red where the slap had connected and she looked dazed.
"Ah…" Daniel raised his hand, waving it a little to get Jaahn's attention. "May I speak with you?"
"Daniel." Jaahn smiled. "Of course. We have always been able to talk together, have we not?" He walked over, but Daniel saw that he stopped a few feet short of his position, his men still between him and the cuffed members of the SG teams. "What is it?"
Daniel collected his thoughts, knowing he had to make the man listen to him. He kept his tone as even as possible. "You must see your position here is untenable. You don't have the full facts. Even if you got out of this room, we are hundreds of feet under a mountain. Rather than allowing you and your men to reach the surface our leaders would destroy this base. There is no way they would let an invading army onto the surface of our planet – a planet with billions of people and vastly superior weaponry than your own. I am sure, if you will let me, that I can persuade them to let you return to your own world before anyone else needs to be hurt."
"And you don't have the full facts, Daniel. Even if what you say is true, I don't need to reach the surface to conquer your world. You see, once I have the code to open the barrier across your gate, I will contact the Lord Cronus and he will lead his armies through the Circle. None will be able to withstand him."
"Cronus?"
"Did you truly believe I would forsake my god? Everyone on my planet is loyal to Lord Cronus. Many of our finest young men have become Jaffa in his service. It is the greatest honor one can achieve. I was deemed unworthy of the honor, but when I tell my god how he can defeat the Tau'ri, he will be pleased and reward me well."
"So, all this was just an elaborate plan to betray us to the Goa'uld?" Daniel wondered how he could have been so wrong about the man. Standing there, a fanatical gleam in his eyes, Jaahn looked nothing like the pleasant man he had begun to think of as a friend.
Jaahn nodded. "One that wouldn't have been necessary if O'Neill could have been made to talk back in the prison. He was weakened to the point of death, but refused to give us the answer to the one simple question we asked. The code. It is he you should blame for the situation you find yourself in now."
"Where is Jack?"
Jaahn didn't answer. He frowned and turned away, going to sit at the foot of the ramp.
Daniel sank back on his heels. The events of the past days played over and over in his head and he looked at them now with the full knowledge of what had been behind Jaahn's actions. Jack had been right all along. He had resisted questioning after being kept without food or water for days, questioning that had probably resulted in his head injury. The worst part was that Daniel hadn't believed him. After so many years of trusting his life to his friend, Daniel had so easily turned away. He should have known better and he only hoped he would have a chance to make it up to Jack
He sighed, resigning himself to an uncomfortable few hours on the cold gateroom floor. The sight of Hammond's slumped body, still unmoving, reminded him just how much worse off he could be. He just hoped Jaahn would soon see how impossible his position was.
He thought about Jack and Teal'c. Captain Jones had explained that his teammates had managed to somehow elude Jaahn's men back on the planet, but his pleasure at the news was tempered with worry. Colin had also told him one other piece of news.
Jack had been poisoned.
But Jack and Teal'c were out there somewhere. There was still hope.
xoxoxoxoxoxo
Teal'c kept a close watch on his commander as they made their way to the Chaapa'ai. O'Neill seemed to have recovered his equilibrium somewhat, but it was still necessary to make frequent pauses as the walk clearly exhausted the man. Twice he had turned away and expelled the contents of his stomach at the side of the narrow trail.
Teal'c lifted a fist, pleased to see both his companions stop immediately. He pointed to the right, using hand movements to indicate the position of the enemy. O'Neill nodded, his pale face fixed in determined lines, and slipped sideways into the trees with his customary silence. Teal'c turned to Nguyen, again silently indicating his orders. The lieutenant held his gaze for a moment then turned to carry out his mission.
The guard Teal'c had targeted during his earlier reconnaissance was close to the tree line, standing with his back to the forest. Teal'c felt a flash of annoyance at the man's lapse, knowing it was to his advantage but feeling an almost personal affront nonetheless. It was the matter of a few moments to dispatch him and drag the body back into the cover of the foliage.
His part of the mission had been carried out much more swiftly than he had anticipated, giving him time to assist O'Neill.
Teal'c hurried through the trees, listening for any signs of struggle but hearing none. He was so intent on reaching the other guard's position that he almost stumbled over his teammate where he knelt in the undergrowth, a hand held tightly over his abdomen.
O'Neill looked up, the tenseness in his face relaxing slightly as Teal'c whispered a question.
"Are you injured, O'Neill?"
He shook his head, and muttering a single word of explanation, "Sick", managed to stand. Teal'c leaned down to help and O'Neill swayed in his grip, almost falling again before he steadied. The Jaffa felt a warm stickiness where his hand held the colonel's arm.
"You are bleeding."
O'Neill shook his head once again. "No…isn't mine…forgot to get out of the way."
Teal'c's gaze shifted to the body lying nearby. The dead guard was on his back, O'Neill's knife still lodged in his throat. He could see scuff marks in the soil where the body had been dragged out of the open and a wide trail of blood leading off into the darkness.
"Come. We must leave before they are missed." He stepped around the body, bearing much of O'Neill weight as the other man struggled to keep up. Teal'c felt O'Neill stiffen as the thud of the chevrons locking into place sounded loud in the stillness of the night.
They left the shelter of the trees and approached the Chaapa'ai. Lieutenant Nguyen beckoned them on, his head turning as he scanned their surroundings, holding the useless energy weapon in one hand whilst the other hovered over the center of the DHD.
"Now!" Teal'c shouted the command and saw Nguyen slap his hand on the red circle before running to take O'Neill's other arm, pulling it over his shoulder. Together they raced up the steps and, without hesitation, jumped into the shimmering event horizon.
xoxoxoxoxoxo
TBC