Apology: Sorry it's been so long since I've last written! I've rediscovered my own sci-fi trilogy and I just finished the first book in it and have started the second. So yeah. That's why I've been busy. But here it is, sorry for the wait, so I'll just get right into it. :D
000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
Previous:
"How much time do we have until we need to get back, Carter?"
She checked her watch. "About three hours sir, why?"
"We need to move if we're gonna get back in time. Any ideas Daniel?"
No response. Jack tried again. "Daniel?"
He jogged up to meet them. "I think Baal built into the most direct route from here, but there's another way, I just came from there."
Jack shrugged. "Works for me. Grab a few zats and let's move out."
And off they went, four people who knew exactly what they were doing after many years together in the field, and one newcomer, trying to adjust to the way they teased about certain subjects and not others, and how they read each others minds and decided things with a few words here and there. She sighed and picked up a zat. "Oh well. On with the show."
000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
Daniel stopped abruptly, finally finding inscriptions on a wall across a large opening. As the rest of the team came to a screeching halt, Daniel ventured into the large stone "room", torches suddenly blazing to light his way. A golden pedestal stood proudly in the center of a silver-laden circle of riches. As Jack led the rest of everyone into the room, he spoke.
"Find something?"
"Possible. This story seems to be in both Ancient and Goa'uld, alternating every few words."
Jack shrugged nonchalantly. "Okay. A wild guess says that one of these things is not like the other."
"Probably."
Vala snorted. "Well you're definitive," a jewel crown caught her eyes, "Ooo…that looks fun…" she muttered to herself, finding lower ground near it, hiding herself from everyone else's view.
Sam was examining the pedestal when Teal'c tried to aid Daniel in a small piece of the translation. She noticed a small indention for a few finders on either side of the platform. Curious, she placed her fingers in, feeling an electrical shock course through her body, causing her to let go. Jack caught her, rubbing his hands down her arms, friendly but concerned. "You okay, Carter?"
A false smile crossed her face. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay."
Daniel walked over to it, doing the same thing, but this time, the pedestal opened up as a small light from deep inside announced the presence of a rising ZPM. Daniel smirked. "I knew it."
Jack looked at him sarcastically. "Care to share?"
"The writings on the wall over there say something to the effect of 'Only the righteous may remove the riches', which I figured meant there was a security measure to detect the presence of a Goa'uld in a person."
"Carter doesn't have a snake in her head—"
"But the marker left by Jolinar must have been sensed by some Ancient device in the place where I put my hands."
"Exactly," Daniel confirmed.
Jack, feeling rather inadequate and unneeded in this conversation between two geniuses, decided to give his two cents.
"Then how the heck were you able to bring up the ZPM? You're not Ancient."
"No, I'm not, but I am scheduled to leave with the Daedalus for Atlantis, and they injected a bit of the Ancient gene in me, enough to last the trip until I arrive in the Pegasus Galaxy."
"Oh," was the reply.
Vala was still tinkering around with the crown and many other jewels she'd found when Teal'c said something. "I hear something. Someone is coming down the corridor we entered through."
Sam and Jack took defensive positions and Daniel looked for a way out. "There's gotta be another way…there's never just one way!"
"Well you see, Daniel, there's this thing called reality. It's not always perfect."
"Shut up, Jack, it's probably Baal's faithful servants and they will most likely kill us!"
He shrugged, steadying his P90. "I'm aware of that."
Teal'c stood by the entrance, ready to zat whoever came through. Sam breathed heavily, as she could see who it was from her position. Knowing Jack could take care of himself wasn't enough to calm her shaking nerves. This time, it would be worse if she lost him. There was potential now. A connection deep within them both that longed for what could be their reality, very soon at that. And if Baal got a hold of him again…she shuddered to think what he'd do. The white, glowing eyes rounding the corner were of no help to calm her down. Going back to the soldier she'd become, she nodded to Teal'c. His bowed head confirmed that he understood. He shot the zat, but the soldier did not fall to the ground. It retaliated with a zat blast of its own, bringing Teal'c down to a writhing mass on the floor.
Sam blinked back, her hair falling into her eyes; but her vision was still good enough for her to realize another super soldier was coming. Jack gave the command to fire, but the roar of the gunshots was nothing to the two well-aimed zat blasts that left all of SG-1 but Daniel immobilized. Vala peered over the riches she hid behind, and Daniel mouthed "No," to her, causing her to retreat to her previous hiding space. Jack opened his big mouth, talking to Daniel, not realizing he'd been trying to communicate with Vala.
"See…how did we miss them?"
Ignoring Jack, Daniel tried to reason with their attackers.
"Hi, we're explorers, we came through the gate but all we found was this cave and we're really sorry if we intruded on your lands or anything, but I assure you, that was not my intent. You see I'm—"
An all-too-familiar voice greeted him. "I know who you are, Daniel Jackson."
Daniel stood in shock as he gazed in disbelief at Baal, who was walking with an escort of a few more super soldiers. "And I want to thank you for finding this ZPM for me. Anubis will be very pleased."
"There's no way he's going to get it. Besides, what good will it do? There's no way he could have Ancient technology without the others knowing and—"
Baal raised a finger, crooking it slightly forward to call on the end of his ramblings, another well-aimed zat blast. Baal took the ZPM in his hands as the super soldiers threw their respective members of SG-1 over their shoulders, carrying them off. Baal, taking one last look at the room, gave a superior smile as he examined the ZPM, knowing Anubis would be very happy with him. He snickered to himself. "Daniel Jackson…thinks he knows everything."
As the sounds of footsteps faded, Vala stood up, ankle deep in riches, but for the first time in her life, she didn't care. Sighing slightly and putting her hands on her hips, she blew a strand of hair out of her face, slightly irked. "Well, I guess it's up to me to save the day…and that last bit didn't sound very good…" she shrugged again, "Hmm."
And with that, started down the tunnels, careful not to follow too closely behind, but hoping she could at least see where they were going. No such luck, she lost them as soon as they'd come to the armory room. Breathing deep, she readied her ZPM in her hand. "Well, here goes nothing…"
Vala had never been good with stealth. Or subtlety. But she was determined, and by God, that was going to be enough. It had to be.
000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
Sorry for the delay, lots to do. I just finished the first book in my own sci-fi trilogy, 220 pages on the computer, and then I had to plan the second, which is going to be difficult…but oh well. So that's why I've been so late with this chapter, sorry there isn't more to it than this. But never fear, more twill be near:D
Now review. Please.
And yes I know, that rhyme was cheesy.