Soldiers of Misfortune – part 3
"Do you think they'll feed us sometime?" asked Sam as her stomach made its presence felt loudly.
They'd been sitting around for hours, with no food or water.
"Hopefully," responded Jack. "It won't be much though, keep us hungry and mean." He felt better now, more like himself, but the hours of inaction were getting on his nerves. "We need to be near the door, otherwise this lot will grab whatever comes," he said suddenly.
The other people had stopped paying any attention to them long ago, and had sat very much like SG1 had, or slept.
They made their way casually near to the door, but far enough away so that the guards didn't have an excuse to punish them. Jack certainly didn't want to go through that again in a hurry.
"Teal'c, if anything comes in, cover my back. We'll make a stand," said Jack.
Daniel looked at him puzzled. "A stand?"
"Yes, a pecking order, top dog, el macho, etc, you know," Jack sighed wearily. Seeing Daniel's frown, he continued. "So that we can make sure everyone gets a fair share, not just the strongest, otherwise it'll be dog eat dog."
Daniel gave Jack a half apologetic smile as the light dawned.
It was more than a couple of hours later when the guards finally brought water and a cold gruel like substance. No one moved until the guards had left; then there was a rush at the food, only to be barred by Jack and the rest of SG1.
"HOLD IT!" he bellowed out in his best parade ground voice. Even those who didn't understand English stopped.
"I'm hungry," growled a voice from a surly individual.
"So are we all. You'll get a fair share," said Jack.
Some glowered at the Colonel, but said nothing; others nodded, understanding and appreciative.
Teal'c helped Jack to dish it out and when everyone had a share they sat down to eat.
"Why is this muck universal?" asked Jack with a groan as he stirred a finger in it. He sniffed it cautiously, distaste showing clearly on his handsome face.
Sam grinned at his expression. "I've tasted worse, I suppose."
"Yeah, which prison was that?" moaned Jack.
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Soon after they had eaten they were led out to the main room once more, pushed into lines and told to stand. The lines moved slowly towards one end of the room, but they couldn't see anyone reappearing.
As they moved closer, they could hear screams, sometimes a shout, that quickly died out and then there was silence until the next man was called in.
Suddenly it was Jack's turn to enter the room. He was pushed forwards as he entered, towards three of the Karmine. Two of the aliens grabbed Jack, surprising him with their strength considering their stature, one on each arm, and they held him tightly. The third alien stepped forward and put a metal strip around his throat. The metal was tightened and a small box was added. The alien activated something on a control pad on his wrist and stood back to face Jack.
"You cannot remove this tag. You disobey or try to escape, you will suffer."
The two Karmine that were holding Jack, let go of him and moved away. The alien, who had spoken, gave Jack a grim smile and then touched the control pad once more.
The metal seemed to tighten around his throat and then a shock blasted through his entire body. Jack grunted with the pain, but bit down, determined not to show how much it had hurt.
The alien seemed disappointed. He touched the control again.
The second shock brought Jack to his knees, gasping for breath. Blood spurted from his lower lip where he'd bitten it, but he remained silent.
"You will learn, if you live long enough," said the alien, with a frown.
The two guards picked him up and manhandled him roughly through another doorway.
The people who had gone through before him were there, frightened and moaning in pain.
Jack was flung down and left. He was joined only a few minutes later by a dazed, shaking Daniel. Jack touched him lightly on the shoulder.
"Hey, you okay?" His voice was a little hoarse.
Daniel nodded, not trusting himself to speak yet.
Before long Sam was dumped besides them, followed shortly by Teal'c.
"What the hell are these things? They're sick little blue bastards," spat out Jack. His voice was still hoarse, and his limbs still shook slightly.
Sam cleared her throat as she struggled to rise. "Not sure, other than some form of energy storage," she whispered.
Jack looked at her in concern. "Take it easy Major. If we get a chance you can try and have a proper look at them later."
Sam nodded and gratefully collapsed on the floor again.
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Eventually, it seemed as though everyone was tagged and present.
One of the Karmine made his way to a small platform at the front of the room. He began to speak, but his words weren't in any language that even Daniel was familiar with. The speech was taken up in various languages around the room and the mutterings from the crowd grew louder as his words were translated.
"You are now soldiers in the Empire. You will follow your orders. Should anyone not wish to fight, you will be terminated. If you fight and fight well, you will survive.
The noise grew, until finally the Karmine on the platform stopped speaking. The alien pointedly raised his wrist and poised a finger over the control pad on it.
Complete silence fell over the room. It seemed no one wanted to have a repeat performance of the shock.
"You will be split into units. Pay close attention to your unit leader."
More Karmine moved amongst them, pushing the people into groups. SG1 stayed close together and were pushed into a line with several others.
One of the Karmine began walking up and down their line. He was speaking in a variety of languages, not seeming to get any reaction from anyone in particular, until he spoke English. He watched the faces of the people near him and stood before SG1.
He stared at each of them in turn. He'd noticed their apparel, and he'd heard from the ship that a small group of soldiers had been captured together. He rightly assumed that this was them.
"I am Soolek. I am your commander. You are now a unit. AZ12. Do not forget this." He spoke slowly, enunciating every word precisely and watching the faces of the group closely.
"You." He pointed to Jack. "You are their leader." He motioned between the others of SG1. It was a statement that the alien had made, not a question. "You are a soldier by designation?"
Jack nodded.
"Good, then perhaps you and your unit will live longer than is usual. This will make things easier for me."
Jack bit on his tongue to prevent himself from uttering a flippant remark.
Daniel, who was standing next to Jack, could almost feel the effort the man was making and smiled.
"You." The alien whirled to face Daniel. "You want to die now?" Soolek moved closed and pushed Daniel in the chest.
Daniel hesitated, not knowing exactly how to respond without making it worse.
Jack spoke up quickly. "No Sir. He's a little simple, but a good soldier, good fighter."
Soolek regarded Jack closely. "I see. I will perhaps let him live for now then."
The alien walked slowly up the line staring at each man. "You will each be given a weapon to use against the enemy. Do not try and use it on one of us. It will not work." He quickly about turned and came back down the line of men. "Should you try you will die." He paused when he reached Jack. "You will keep this unit together and orderly or you will answer to me." Soolek tapped the device on his wrist meaningfully. He turned away and marched to the front. "Each unit leader will report through him." He stopped and pointed to Jack. "You will also be responsible for the unit leaders."
A soldier walked to the head of their line and Soolek motioned for them to follow him. They were marched onwards through a maze of corridors and then outside into darkness.
Jack was looking around, trying to take in as much of their surrounds as possible. Sam caught his eye with a questioning look, but he gave her an almost imperceptible shake of his head, knowing that they wouldn't stand a chance so close to the base and in unknown territory.
A large transport vehicle was waiting for them to board and they were shepherded in quickly. There were no windows in the vehicle, so Jack decided to pass the time getting to know the others, after all, if they slipped up, he'd be the one to answer to Soolek.
"How many of you understand me?" he called to them. He caught sight of Alenor's face and he acknowledged the man's presence.
A few others spoke up. Jack looked around, his gaze coming to rest on a very large and surly looking individual who pushed his way nearer to Jack.
"I speak it," growled the man.
"That's good," said Daniel, giving the man a hesitant smile.
The surly one looked at Daniel with a glare. "You, simpleton, who said you could speak?"
Daniel sighed and rolled his eyes. That was something he would have to thank Jack for later.
"I said he could," said Jack, putting himself forward between them, realizing the man was looking for trouble.
"And you, who are you?" snarled the man.
"I'm the one who is gonna help keep you alive," said Jack in a quiet voice.
The man made as if to turn and then quickly swung around, taking a swipe at Jack with a huge fist. Jack ducked, avoiding the punch easily and when he straightened up, he had his boot knife in his hand and quickly restrained the surprised man in an arm lock, with the knife pressed firmly to the man's throat.
Daniel blinked, the action was so quick.
"In case you didn't hear too well, Soolek put me in charge here. It's my ass on the line and I'll be making damn sure whatever causes it to be kicked, suffers! You got that?" Jack spoke quietly, twisting the man's arm viciously as he spoke.
With a grunt the man acknowledged him. He didn't dare to nod, the knife was held firm against his flesh, already drawing a thin line of blood.
Jack raised his voice to address everyone. "While we're laying down the law, the lady here," he nodded towards Sam, "is strictly no touch. Anyone messes they're dead. Is that clear?"
Several men around them nodded eagerly, the message received loud and clear. The man Jack held grunted once more.
Jack knew he was in for trouble with Carter for mentioning it, but he'd noticed the looks the men were giving her and he'd decided to make it clear once and for all.
Sam looked at the Colonel in surprise, her face flushing slightly. She'd also noticed some of the looks she'd been getting, but she'd pushed them to the back of her mind. She was embarrassed the Colonel had noticed them too.
"The lady is yours?" asked another voice from the back.
Sam flushed a deeper shade of red and was about to deny belonging to anyone, when Teal'c spoke up, much to her surprise.
"The lady is indeed spoken for and any attempt to harm her will result in a very unpleasant and untimely death." Teal'c drew himself to his full height and crossed his massive arms over his chest glaring at the men.
There was a slight murmuring, but no one challenged him.
'No surprise there,' noted Jack as he watched the crowd.
Jack gave the arm he was holding a final twist and then let go of the man. "Now let's see if we can upset the Karmine – let's say we work on staying alive?"
There was a flurry of nodding and agreeing murmurs.
"Let's get some rest until we know where we are," said Jack and he slid down against the wall to sit down.
The rest followed suit, the big man who had started the trouble, taking himself away to the far side of the vehicle, glaring at anyone who dared to look his way.
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Sam was over being embarrassed and was now becoming angry at being cast as the helpless female. Jack caught the looks she was throwing his way and cringed inwardly.
'Oh, oh, trouble,' he thought. "Carter?" he queried out loud, silently gulping as he took the proverbial bull by the horns.
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Sam was torn between anger and part awareness of why he had done it.
"Colonel, uh, Sir … sorry, forget it," she blushed slightly, shaking her head, knowing that he'd done it with the best intentions under the strange circumstances they were in. She knew he had enough to worry about, and didn't want to add more to his burden.
Jack thankfully realized the conclusion she'd arrived at. "I'm sorry Carter, I know you can kick ass with the best, but we are sooo way out there this time," he said quietly, frowning as he spoke. "Things can get so unreal, so quickly. It's gonna be dog eat dog, Major, and I don't want any of my team being eaten."
Sam nodded, her eyes pinned to his brown ones for a moment before she looked away. She understood that this time they weren't facing just one enemy, the danger came from everyone.
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Daniel listened to the conversation. He had been going to have a go at Jack about the simpleton remark, but Jack's words had shut him up. He realized suddenly just how bad a situation they were in and it frightened him a lot more than he cared to admit.
He knew he was going to have to put himself in Jack's hands completely, but then again, there was no one he trusted with his life more. Jack had been through wars, horrors and tortures that he himself had only glimpsed at from a distance and he trusted Jack to do the best he could for them.
Daniel sighed heavily and, as he lay down his thoughts turned to home, wondering if they would see it again. He had to trust his friend to get them through this, to get them back safely and if it was at all possible, then Jack O'Neill was the man to make it happen.
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