Author's Note: A little late I know, but at least it hasn't been another six plus months! ;) A huge thanks to my ever patient beta readers, SealRescuer and Dimac99! And a big hug and lots of smiles to all you readers and reviewers out there! You'll never believe it, but after this, there's just three more chapters to go! Woot:D
Author's Note2: Because there might be a bit of confusion in the second section…if Jacob and Selmak are talking in his head, it's italicized, no matter who's talking. I only like to use quotes for when things are spoken out loud. Hopefully it isn't hard to follow. O.o
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Teal'c was the first to the door with JackDalton close behind him. When the jaffa swung it open he found himself blocked by a large pile of rubble. Beyond, the lights flickered, and a cable line sparked sharply as it swung loose from what remained of the ceiling. It was hard to make anything out, but the jaffa's keen eyes easily spotted the prone form of DanielJackson, his leg, still in its white cast, was like a reflective beacon in the blackness that dauntingly surrounded the young anthropologist.
As Teal'c and JackDalton began removing rubble, the strange pilot beside him startled the jaffa by yelling out, "Hang on, Buddy! We'll be there soon!"
"Hang on?" DanielJackson exclaimed from inside the room. "What do you think I'm doing?"
JackDalton chuckled, but didn't slow his pace. In fact, for a short man of questionable fitness, JackDalton was keeping up with the jaffa step for step. Teal'c had not expected this amount of determination or assistance from the pilot, but quickly decided it was a quality MacGyver must look for in all his friends.
But then, it was a quality O'Neill's friends possessed as well.
"Teal'c?" MajorCarter questioned. She had only just arrived and was breathing heavily as she sagged against the wall for support. Her face had turned deathly pale and Teal'c was momentarily torn between his need to protect both teammates.
Then SergeantSiler appeared, the eternally calm man quickly saying, "Sirs, Ma'am. The General has ordered the evacuation of the mountain. If we have just one more earthquake the whole structure could go."
"We can't," MajorCarter choked out, her voice catching in a constricted throat.
Teal'c looked at the Sergeant and simply explained, "DanielJackson is trapped in the room."
SergeantSiler nodded, and then curtly replied, "I understand." With that, he disappeared back down the hallway.
In the jaffa's pause, JackDalton had begun to throw himself against the rubble, pushing the larger pieces inward rather than trying to pull them out. Soon, they had enough of an opening to climb over the remaining debris and enter the room, or what was left of it.
Barely any floor space remained, and what little did was piled high with unstable pieces of the broken floors above. As they hesitantly maneuvered closer to the edge, Teal'c carefully examined the beam of metal DanielJackson was clinging to. It didn't look sturdy enough to hold any more weight than it was already supporting. "DanielJackson," Teal'c called out. The anthropologist was only three feet away from them, but those three feet might as well be three miles.
DanielJackson didn't immediately respond. Sucking air through his teeth he very slowly pulled his head up to meet the jaffa's gaze. "Get me off of this, Teal'c," the man pleaded, and the jaffa's heart cringed at the pain he saw in his friend's eyes. He would do as DanielJackson requested.
"Don't worry Buddy, we'll thi-" JackDalton began in reassurance, but stopped short as the debris he was standing upon suddenly shifted and he quickly had to regain his balance again. Bits of cement and metal, and other such odds and ends fell over the nearby edge, plunging down in a clatter till they crashed upon the cavity's sharp and jagged floor.
The near catastrophe had also caused DanielJackson to suddenly shift, and the anthropologist let out a small cry. Alarmed, Teal'c nearly jumped out to grab the man on instinct, but resisted, knowing it would accomplish nothing. Even in the flickering light, Teal'c could see the blood dripping from the anthropologist's hands. They did not have long. DanielJackson would soon be unable to maintain his hold.
JackDalton glanced over the edge with an appreciative whistle, and then looking over at Teal'c, questioned, "Got any bright ideas? I'm afraid this was always Mac's department."
Going straight out to aid his teammate would not be possible, and to catch him from below was unrealistic. Teal'c looked up, noticing that the ledge two floors above was stretched a little further out than the others. "Wait here," he immediately ordered the pilot. "I shall return."
"Whatever you say, big guy," JackDalton readily agreed.
As Teal'c turned back to the doorway, he noticed MajorCarter trying to maneuver into the room. It was not safe for her to be there, and rather than spend the time convincing her of this fact, Teal'c lifted the startled Major up and deposited her back outside the room. "You will be safe here," he stated, climbing out of the room himself.
MajorCarter opened her mouth to protest, but the exhaustion from the last few days finally got the better of her, and she sank to the floor. "What are you going to do?" she asked with concern.
Teal'c smiled, earning a faint smile in return. "I will return shortly with DanielJackson," he told her confidently, and then ran down the hallway in search of rope.
It was easy to find. The SGC was now completely empty, and the turning red lights that lined the halls filled the atmosphere with a desolate presence, fueling Teal'c's steps with a growing urgency. Again, the feeling that he didn't have long permeated the jaffa's thinking. With the rope swung over his shoulder, he ascended the two levels and entered the room above where DanielJackson waited.
Little debris coated this room, but while much of the floor remained intact, large cracks had spread across it like a web. First securing the rope to the door's handle, Teal'c gingerly made his way across the room to the broken edge. Sharp noises forced him to slow his pace out of caution, but nothing fell beneath his weight, and soon the jaffa was feeding the rope over the ledge. It would not fall directly over DanielJackson, but it would be close enough.
With the ease only years of training could provide, Teal'c gently lowered himself down the rope. Dust and bits of rubble followed after him. He was halfway down when a ceiling light came loose as things subtly shifted, and with a sharp clang swung down to hit the wall, jerking slightly until the wires that held it aloft had stilled.
"Careful there, big guy!" JackDalton needlessly called up to him.
The jaffa slowly released a breath he hadn't even realized he'd been holding. He continued to slide down the rope. It was not far now. When he was almost level with DanielJackson, he was surprised to find he was only a foot away.
Wrapping his arm around the rope for a more secure hold, Teal'c rocked back and forth till he swung close enough to wrap his other arm around DanielJackson's midriff. The anthropologist flinched, and the floor support creaked uncertainly.
"JackDalton, I shall throw him to you," Teal'c ordered.
"Ahh…okay," the pilot hesitantly replied, sounding somewhat uncertain.
DanielJackson on the other hand sounded completely uncertain. "Teal'c, are you sure?"
"Let go, DanielJackson," Teal'c told him in reply, but the anthropologist still hung tightly to the metal bar. "DanielJackson," the jaffa solemnly intoned, "I promise I will not let you fall."
Cringing a moment more, the anthropologist finally let go. Teal'c strained to hold his teammate's full weight with just one arm, but as he had told DanielJackson, he would not let him fall. With nothing to anchor them in place, they swung back and forth, and while Teal'c knew DanielJackson was trying to remain as still as possible, convulsions uncontrollably ripped at the anthropologist's body, making it much harder for Teal'c to maintain his grip.
But the jaffa would not break his promise, of this he was certain, and with a strength bred from sheer determination, Teal'c forced them into motion, putting them on a new trajectory, one that would put his teammate into JackDalton's waiting hands.
It wasn't easy, and Teal'c worried as much for the injuries DanielJackson already had as for the ones the jaffa would inflict as he tossed the injured man with such momentum that it pushed both DanielJackson and JackDalton a safe distance from the edge. As he swung back, his swing awry with the sudden change of weight, a loud crack notified him of the imminent collapse of the floor that supported him. With one more powerful swing to gain momentum, Teal'c's feet touch the rock wall of the back of the cavity and he pushed off hard.
He let go of the rope even as he felt the tension begin to give way, and practically bowled into the two men still trying to get to their feet. Behind him the groans of the ceiling two levels above filled his ears. The jaffa protectively covered the other two men as best he could as sections of the above level finally collapsed, falling to join the other mass of debris three levels below.
When it subsided, Teal'c looked up to find MajorCarter peering in through the doorway, her eyes wide and her face white. "Are you guys all right?"
DanielJackson groaned, and struggling to sit up, wearily questioned, "I'm alive, does that count?"
At this point, Teal'c felt it did.
"""""""
Jacob. You need to wake up.
Jacob knew the voice that was talking to him, but his muddled mind couldn't quite remember a name to match the voice. This was just as well, because right then, he wasn't really sure of anything, and wouldn't know quite how to respond. He tried to reason what exactly was going on. There was pain, the pain was easy to recognize, and he was fairly sure the tingling sensation in his left hand meant it was asleep. It was the odd buzzing in his foot that had him confused. There was a sort of rhythm to the buzzing, his fuzzy mind noted.
I didn't have time to heal everything. You need to wake up, the voice told him, and then sighed again. At least, Jacob thought it was a sigh, but it was hard to tell since he didn't actually hear anyone sigh. How odd. This is getting us no where. We must be loosing life support if you're still acting like this. Again the voice sort-of sighed. I guess that means it's up to me. His eyes opened, although Jacob didn't remember opening them, and he turned his head, looking around. That's right, they were on a spaceship! He tried to look for anyone else on the little, and extremely damaged looking ship, but he didn't seem to have control of his movements. Instead, his eyes turned downward, to stare at his left foot.
Well that's not good at all, the voice remarked.
It took Jacob a moment longer to understand that his foot was stuck inside the side of the ship itself, and that, like the voice had said, wasn't a good thing. A small spark appeared from inside the wall and his foot buzzed yet again. This also, Jacob was sure, was not a good thing. In fact, the voice practically groaned in response. His hands reached forward to carefully work his foot free, several more jolts of electricity surging up his leg in the process, some stronger than others. Jacob could actually hear himself panting with exertion, but like a dream, it felt distant, although no less real. After a few minutes the pain subsided. It was amazing how that happened.
Thank you, Selmak, Jacob thought on instinct, thinking briefly that that was the name he'd been trying to remember.
It's taking a lot out of me to keep us sustained in this atmosphere, let alone heal you, the voice replied, sounding weary to Jacob. Then his body slowly got to his feet. For a moment, Jacob wondered if his left leg would cooperate, but while it didn't move too readily, it did eventually move and he felt himself limp over to the front console. Was it normal for his body to move by itself? Jacob wondered, a part of him thought maybe it was.
Your body isn't moving on its own! I'm moving it! The voice snapped. Jacob would have blinked, startled, if he could. But rather, his hands had already started to work with the controls, and suddenly Jacob felt a rush of air brush past his face.
There, that should help, the voice stated smugly. What would you do without me? Jacob felt he could hear a grin with those words.
With the new air, the fog in his mind began to lift and everything slowly came into focus, including who the voice was and everything that had happened. Unfortunately, it also awakened him to the realization that his head hurt like never before.
Selmak? He questioned in the silence of his mind where they shared internal conversations. Where are Jack and MacGyver?
I believe they may be on Sedet's ship.
Right where they're most likely to find that third key, Jacob internally mused. Can we transport over somehow?
Again his hands worked at the controls, with Selmak still in control, but Jacob was perfectly fine letting his symbiote have dominance over his body right then, especially with his head pounding so hard. No, Selmak stated. There's only one system working at the moment, and that's the self-destruct. Life support won't last much longer, either.
Great, Jacob grumbled. So we're stuck in the middle of nowhere without any way to even contact anyone?
Not nowhere. Look. Selmak lifted his head to better see out the main window of the ship. There was Sedet's ship, even closer than before. Did we drift towards each other? Jacob wondered.
Selmak chuckled. Not exactly. Look past the ship.
He did, his mind suddenly understanding what his eyes had been seeing the whole time. The black mass of Sedet's ship had been blocking most of the view, but there in the not so distant space, was Earth. Holy Hannah! How did we get here if the systems are down? Are we being towed?
No, I do not believe so. It's possible we were caught in their gravitational pull right as they entered hyperspace, and, how do you say, hitched a ride? It was when I felt the shift from us exiting hyperspace that I woke you.
How long before we reach Earth?
Soon. A chill ran through Jacob. He wasn't sure if it was him or Selmak, but in either case, this was most definitely not a good thing. Jacob, if chance were in fact orchestrated by some power of physics, then there might in fact be something we can do to help our friends.
Like what? I thought you said all the systems were down.
All but one.
You want to blow us up! Jacob briefly wondered if the energy needed to heal him had been too much on the symbiote.
There was a flutter of irritation in his mind and Selmak dryly replied, I was thinking we could use one of the descent pods before it actually explodes.
Jacob felt both embarrassed and humored by Selmak's response. He hadn't thought about the escape pods, but they weren't even sure they worked. This ship was thousands of years old. Even if we decide to set the self destruct, what good would it do? We're too small to actually do any damage to Sedet's ship.
I don't know, Selmak answered him with complete honesty.
They were silent for a moment, but with an internal sigh, Jacob silently stated, I guess this is where we trust to chance.
I hate trusting to chance.
It was your idea.
I know.
Internally, Jacob grinned, feeling a grin from Selmak and knowing it was currently covering his face. Let's do it.
In the time it took for Sedet's ship to enter Earth's orbit, they had not only found a working descent pod, the only working descent pod, but had set the self-destruct for ten minutes, climbed into the pod and were on their way.
Belatedly, Jacob suddenly worried about hitting something on the way down, like a satellite or an airplane, not to mention what they might hit when they landed. But to his surprise their descent was smooth, all things considering, and the landing was so gentle he questioned if they'd actually landed, but the readings inside the pod all returned to normal, so he popped the hatch and opened the door.
With Selmak still in control, they carefully poked their head out of the descent pod and glanced around. Skyscrapers lay in every direction on the horizon, but trees dominated the landscape. Jacob recognized their location immediately. We landed in Central Park! He internally sighed. I guess it could have been worse, we could have gone right through a building.
I was more worried about getting shot down.
By Sedet or Earth?
Both, Selmak admitted. They slowly climbed out of the pod, leaning heavily on it since his leg still refused to properly function. Looking around again, Selmak slowly asked, Doesn't the 'world walk by' in Central Park?
That's the saying, Jacob replied, also wondering if there was anyone around.
Selmak moved them around to other side of the small pod where they came face to face with a large crowd of people in the middle of some sort of rally. But that was completely suspended as every one of those people stared in open shock at Jacob/Selmak.
This is not good, Jacob silently remarked.
"No it is not," Selmak replied, accidentally speaking out loud.
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Were someone to take a satellite photograph over Colorado Springs, they would think Cheyenne Mountain had turned into an ant colony.
People were everywhere. What used to be the quiet, almost desolate grounds surrounding the mountain complex, were now swarming with any and all types of military personal along with an odd assortment of civilians from the Alpha List, trying to 'help out' while inevitably getting in the way.
Hammond looked about at the controlled chaos and not for the first time that day felt a little overwhelmed. The five Commands that shared the complex each had their own pavilion to work from, staying relatively out of each other's way, but with this many people in one area, paths were continuously crossing, and not always on the most pleasant of terms. It had been well written into the procedures that in the case of an emergency SGC had ultimate control, which was at least one thing Hammond didn't have to worry about, but with the authority came all the conflicts Hammond would sooner not deal with.
The SGC, occupying almost all the lower levels had to be completely evacuated, but to abandon the other Commands, especially NORAD, would leave the entire North Continent unprotected. To make it worse, they'd just started to lose the uplinks to several satellites in orbit, although NORAD had confirmed the satellites were still there.
It was bad enough trying to prepare for a possible goa'uld attack without having to deal with the peculiar events Earth seemed to be inexplicably suffering from. If he only knew what exactly it was they were dealing with, it'd be a place to focus everyone's energy. Colonel O'Neill's message to activate the Alpha List, while greatly belated, was a strong indication that he might at least have some sort of clue about the odd events.
He had yet to talk to Major Carter about it, and Major Wilder's quick briefing had made very little sense. The most he'd picked up was that the Colonel, Jacob, and some civilian Jack knew, were heading for the approaching goa'uld in another goa'uld's ship. Things were too busy at the time to get any more details, but while one might argue that that was still the case, suddenly the 'details' had risen on his priority list.
Hammond motioned to the one of the airman specifically assigned to run his errands. "Go see if you can locate SG1."
Yet before the airman could leave, Sergeant Siler came into the pavilion, reporting, "SG1 hasn't come up yet, sir. Dr. Jackson was trapped behind one of the areas that collapsed."
Frowning, Hammond quickly turned to Sergeant Davis, who he had put in charge of the evacuation, and questioned, "Do we have anyone else still inside the SGC?"
Davis consulted a list he himself had only just received a couple minutes ago, and then shook his head. "SG1 are the only people still unaccounted for."
Turning back to Siler, Hammond asked, "How safe is it to send a rescue team into the lower levels?"
"As long as there aren't anymore earthquakes, the remaining structure is safe, but we've already had two aftershocks, and it's highly probable we'll have more," Siler replied, telling the simple truth of the matter. It was one of the things the General appreciated most about Siler, but…Damn it! Cheyenne Mountain was built to withstand a direct nuclear attack…and here they were, driven out by a mere earthquake.
"Sir," Siler began, and Hammond knew exactly what the man was going to ask. "Permission to volunteer to-"
"Granted," Hammond cut him off. They would just have to take the chance and hope for the best. "As soon as you return, bring Major Carter to me."
Siler nodded and took off at a run, even while another airman entered the tent out of breath. "Sir, NORAD reports the appearance of a goa'uld mothership unlike any we've seen before. They want to reposition the Hubble to get a better look."
Standing up, Hammond fully intended to go directly to NORAD himself, but he didn't get more than a foot before another airman ran in, practically on the heels of the first, and then a third from a completely different direction.
"Sir, there was a flare or small explosion in front of the gould's ship, but they don't know what it was." The last time they had witnessed a 'flare' from a goa'uld ship in orbit, it had been SG1.
Then the third airman reported, "Sir, I have General Carter on one of the land lines at the gate." That had been the biggest problem with forcing near everyone out of the mountain, keeping communications flowing, not just from one Command to another, but to and from the rest of the world.
There was no more time for him to worry about how this had all happened, so instead Hammond just let his training take over. He began issuing orders to anyone available. NORAD was to get as much information on the goa'uld ship as possible, the alert on the base had to be raised, the lower levels of the SGC had to be locked down as soon as SG1 had surfaced, to protect both the stargate, and themselves from the stargate should the goa'uld find a way through the iris, the other Commanding Officers had to be gathered for an update and strategy meeting, and above all, he had to talk with The President.
Thankfully, they had a dedicated line that ran directly to his pavilion, just for that purpose. By the time his conversation with The President was over, the country's status alert had been raised to Def Con 1, and Hammond had been given permission to utilize the US's defense forces as he saw fit.
With grim determination, Hammond put the red phone back on its cradle. It was time to talk to the other Commands and decide what to do, but before that, he wanted to talk to Jacob. Perhaps the General would have some good news to impart. He left for the gate house before any of the other CO's arrived, leaving Davis at the pavilion to redirect traffic, bid the other COs to wait, and collect and sort any further reports coming in while he was gone.
There was just so much to do, and only so much time to do it in.
"Jacob," Hammond greeted as soon as he was handed the phone. "Where are you?"
"New York, Central Park," a slightly amused voice replied.
"Is Colonel O'Neill with you?"
"No," Jacob told him, his tone turning serious. "Jack and MacGyver are still on Sedet's ship." MacGyver must be the civilian, Hammond reasoned. Then Jacob asked him something unexpected, "George, has there been any more odd events since the ship entered orbit?"
Frowning with unwanted confusion, Hammond replied, "We lost our connection with half our satellites around the same time."
"You're not going to like this, but you need to refrain from shooting at the goa'uld ship. If you do, your missiles are just as likely to malfunction and hit Earth, instead."
Jacob was right, Hammond didn't like it. "What the hell is going on, Jake?"
"It all has to do with Jack and MacGyver. Sam can better explain it," Jacob told him. If only Major Carter were here.
No sooner had he thought it, than he spotted the Major and Sergeant Siler heading straight for them. The appearance of Major Carter shocked Hammond. She looked barely alive and was heavily leaning on Siler for support, practically hanging off the man to stay upright. Hammond suspected if Siler were to let go, she'd simply collapse.
"Sir," Major Carter breathed out, attempting to come to attention but quickly giving up on the idea.
"Major, I have your father on the phone. He says you know what's going on?"
She looked shocked, "They're back already?"
"Just your father, the Colonel and his friend are apparently on the goa'uld ship now in orbit. Now please, time is of the essence here."
"Yes sir," she replied, sounding both as if she were complying with his order, and agreeing with his statement. But when she spoke next, all she managed to say was, "It's a bit complicated."
Hammond wanted to groan, and barely keeping his frustration in check, ground out, "Uncomplicate it!"
"It's like this, George," Jacob said over the phone, "There was this…accident…and so as long as Jack and MacGyver are close to each other, reality is…bending…around them."
"Bending reality?" Hammond repeated, his voice thick with disbelief.
"It's true, sir," Carter immediately stated. Hammond just indicated for her to go on. "The Colonel and MacGyver are bending reality, and because every action causes a reaction, it's creating all the peculiar events. We found the device which Gents used to cause all this, and we have two of the three Keys. The Colonel and MacGyver should be able to get the third one from Sedet. As long as they're there, we can't fire on Sedet's ship."
"You're asking a lot, Major," Hammond darkly stated, still wondering just how much of this could be real. "Sedet, could attack at any moment, and you want me to do nothing?"
"It would be worse if we attacked him, trust me," Jacob stated through the phone. "I understand enough now to know that Jack and Mac will be able to defeat Sedet."
Hammond huffed, but then, he had blindly trusted SG1 to save Earth several times now, what made this time so different? "If the goa'uld fires, we're firing back," Hammond stated, not too confident the action would prove useful, but still feeling the need to do something.
"That's reasonable," Jacob replied, and suddenly added, "Oh, George, tell Sam, Jack said, 'They haven't synched up yet, and that's what's causing the quantum field to grow so quickly.'"
Hammond relayed the message and watched as the Major's eyes went wide. "Of course! The Colonel probably hasn't seen his brother since before he stepped through the gate! Who knows how much energy they're giving off! It's possible events have been lining up to collide like this ever since. But-wait, the Colonel said this?"
Feeling his suspicion threaten to override the thin layer of trust he was placing on SG1, Hammond had to quickly divert himself from trying to sort out what Major Carter was saying, especially the part about Colonel O'Neill having a brother. He didn't have a brother. "Jacob, will you be all right where you are?"
"I might need a bit of help," Jacob replied, hedging slightly. "I'm currently with a small crowd of people who saw my landing. I think I've convinced them I'm not an alien, but I did come down in an escape pod."
"Understood. I'll see what I can do." Hammond hung up. That was one thing he could do at least. He turned again to Major Carter. He didn't understand half of what was going on, but he knew one thing, the world was in eminent danger from something other than the goa'uld, and his Colonel was in the middle of it. "How long, Major?"
She looked confused for a second, but sagging with realization, quietly replied, "Not long, sir."
Then he would deal with what he did understand, and leave the rest up to Jack.
"""""""
Post Author's Note: Be sure to tune in next week, same 'gate time, same 'gate station, for "The Jaffa Tango!" (. I couldn't resist! Thanks Lorency for the absolutely perfect chapter heading!)
Post Author's Note2: My beta told me to stop leaving her on cliffies…this didn't end on a cliffie, did it? I mean, just because I didn't resolve the last cliffie…dodges rotten fruit…er…
Post Author's Note3: In case anyone's curious, in reality, there are four Commands that are housed in Cheyenne Mountain, NORAD, USNORTHCOM, USSTRATCOM, and AFSPC. It's one of the rare military installations housing multiple military organizations from both the US and Canada. Of course, in my reality, the fifth Command exists, too! ;)