I did warn you that this was only a short story, well, here is the last chapter! I could have made more out of it, but I felt it would spoil the effect. Besides, I have enough on my plate right now.
Thanks to my more devoted followers for your reviews. I'm glad you like this...and hope you will like the last part too.
BETWEEN TWO WORLDS
By Lingren
Previously –
"JACK!" The scream came from the man he had called Daniel and even as the scream reached his ears, so did the explosion of pain and darkness.
Chapter 2 – The Rescue
"I'm sorry people, but there is no way I can send good people out there into hostile territory on the very thin hopes that Colonel O'Neill is still alive. Give me a better option, and I will consider if the risk of a rescue mission is worth it. Dismissed."
General Hammond waited patiently until the remaining three members of his flag ship team had left his office, their faces long and filled with sadness. He had every sympathy with them and wanted nothing more than to go back to that planet and rescue Jack O'Neill himself.
The Colonel might be irreverent by nature; full of clichés and sarcasm, but he was also the finest officer he'd ever had under his command, and goddamn it, he didn't want to count the man as lost; not yet, not until they had some sort of proof. From the evidence highlighted oh so very clearly from the MALP feedback and the personal testimonies of SG-1, to all intents and purposes, Jack O'Neill was dead.
When the wormhole had established twelve days ago, and SG-1's IDC had been received, Major Carter's voice had warned the SGC that they were coming in hot. He'd ordered the technical Sergeant to activate the camera on the MALP so that they could see what was happening on the other side.
They, in the control room, had watched in growing concern as the team ran for the gate under heavy fire; Jack was around a hundred metres away, covering their sixes. Teal'c, Daniel Jackson and the Major had made it so far and were all behind the camera now, ready to jump through the gate and only Jack remained in sight.
He took off under covering fire, zigzagging as he ran but it wasn't enough. A shell landed not more than a few feet from him, exploding with such force as to lift him bodily from his feet, tossing him through the air as if he weighed nothing more than a scrap of paper, to land heavily several feet away in a broken heap. When the smoke cleared they could see there was little hope of him still remaining alive. His body battered, bloody and still smoking, lying crumpled and unnaturally still among the debris around him.
The picture cut out abruptly, to show nothing but a snowy screen when the wormhole collapsed, leaving three shattered and shocked team members on this side of the gate, bereft of their leader.
After a quick debrief from Teal'c, he'd ordered the gate re-opened only to have the pictures from the MALP reveal Jack O'Neill's lifeless body being taken away and a guard detail set up to monitor any gate activity. Although the gate had stayed open, the picture was cut off abruptly when one of the soldiers fired directly into the camera, severing the link. If Jack were by some miracle still alive, then he was very much on his own.
Since then they had tried several times to establish contact but to no avail; the rescue attempt they had put together a few days later, had failed miserably. By orders of the Powers That Be, Hammond was ordered to abandon the idea of rescuing his 2IC; the man he considered a good friend.
OoOoOoOoO
"JACK!"
Darrin wasn't his name. It was Jack. He was Jack O'Neill. It was all coming back to him now. His memories of the mission and subsequent battle were returning quickly.
"Bastards!" he swore. Let me outta here!" he yelled, fighting weakly against the restraints; his body still hurting as the pain medication wore off.
Doctor Marner's smile was evil as he looked down on the man who was his enemy.
"Quickly another 5, no try 10mg of Anthenanol nurse," he said, turning away from Jack's hate-filled glare. "His mental physiology must be different to ours. I need to take a closer look. Prepare him for the procedure."
"No! Don't you dare you sonsofbitches!" Jack cried as the syringe drew nearer. If they drugged him again, he couldn't help wondering if he would forget what he'd only just remembered. And where were his team? Had they escaped or were they suffering the same fate in another room somewhere nearby? He hoped to god that they had all gotten home. So, why hadn't they come back for him? If it had really been two weeks ago why hadn't they mounted a rescue by now?
The questions came and he fought to make sense of his situation before the drug made him forget. He wasn't stupid, they were feeding him this so called medication to make him forget who he was. Then what? Why were they doing it?
He felt the burning liquid enter his veins and there was nothing he could do to prevent it. He collapsed back feeling the despondency envelop him.
"We'll start the procedure when he's out of it. Hook him up to the machines as soon as he loses consciousness. I'll be in the control room."
"Yes doctor!" the nurse replied, hovering over Jack as he fought with all his strength to stay awake. He released a string of curses, recalling how things had gone so very wrong on what had started out as a friendly meet and greet.
They had arrived on the planet one sunny, warm afternoon, to find an industrial city with modern technology rubbing shoulders with a rural society. Some of their techniques were advanced, some more primitive. Daniel had been enthusiastic about the people's history, naturally, and Carter had been fascinated by the more advanced methods of lighting and heating that warmed and lit their homes.
Like him, Teal'c had accepted their hospitality, but had remained wary, keeping watch on their team-mates as they enthused over their findings.
Wherever Jack and his team had gone, they found it slightly surprising that there didn't seem to be anyone around his own age or older. He kept the question to himself to discuss it when he got back to the council chambers so that he could ask the magistrates why.
However, when they were shown round the medical facilities, it had been devastating to say the least to discover that these people appeared to experiment on their old folks. Jack had lingered longer in a dark corridor, hanging back when his curiosity got the better of him. He peeped into one of the rooms only to seethe with anger when he spotted several old folks all in together, male and female, some sporting bandages over various parts of their naked bodies. He stopped a young nurse about to enter the room next door and asked her what was wrong with the senior citizens, to which she replied that there was nothing wrong with them.
Everyone over the age of fifty was used for the experiments to search for new techniques and medicines to better care for the rest of the population, until they no longer proved useful; then they were given a decent burial as befitting their status. There was no shame in what they were doing; it was considered their duty.
Jack was shocked rigid. He went from room to room, peering in through the windows to see tens, if not hundreds of old folks treated with such disdain and bereft of their dignity, herded into tiny rooms nude and unkempt. Some were left to rot in rooms which were nothing more than tiny bare cells, with only a bed and a blanket to keep their naked form warm.
Jack was more than angry that such an advanced race could treat their own people with such obvious disregard had vowed to pass, on the sharing of technology part and had gathered his team together in order to bid a hasty farewell.
That was where the mission went south.
The Bantavians took the criticism as an insult to their way of life when Jack pointed out to them that they could never condone what they were doing regarding their own people and that they were leaving. Pronto!
They fled to the Stargate only to come under fire not more than a few yards from the city's gates. The Stargate itself was situated on a hill outside the city walls, yet far enough away that it would take them thirty minutes to reach it. They found themselves fighting for their very existence every inch of the way.
They had to reach the Stargate!
Jack's eyes were closing; he was losing the battle, and it scared him to know what was in store for him. He could feel them stripping him of his medical gown and the slight pressure when they attached the electrodes to his chest and head, preparing him for the brain surgery they had in mind. He knew he wouldn't survive this. His rescue - for he had hopes that they would come eventually – but when it came, it would be too late.
The drug eventually claimed his mind and the fear for his team's discovery when they arrived that they were too late, and also for what was about to happen to him, he welcomed the darkness, hoping the end would come sooner rather than later.
OoOoOoOoO
The experiments on Jack were under way. The feedback from his brainwaves appearing on the screen as a set of wiggly lines that jumped, spiked and wavered as the stimuli was administered.
After hours of lying there in a deep sleep, he woke suddenly, reacting violently to one intrusive procedure in particular. In response to his reactions they shook him rigid with their own equivalent of an ECT. His limbs jerked brutally against the restraints, the seizure gripping him for some minutes, before his body relaxed, leaving his subdued and confused.
"Prepare him for surgery now!" Marner called out to the staff surrounding Jack. The doctor's face was grave, having watched the reactions of his patient on the monitors. His condition was weakening; he had little time to complete his examination of the cerebral cortex before the man proved too far gone to continue. After that window of opportunity had passed, the subject would be put into a side ward with the rest of his patients until they starved or succumbed to the effects of the surgery; whichever way death would finally claim them.
A bright light suddenly filled the room and Marner swung round in surprise wondering what was happening, only to come face to face with a P-90, held tightly in the hands of an exceedingly irate Major Ferretti.
"Move away from that console! Now! And don't even think of touching any of those controls!" the Italian American barked furiously.
Another member of Ferretti's team covered the man too and as soon as the doctor moved away from the console, he zatted him three times, killing him and making him disappear altogether. They watched as Sam Carter, Dr. Jackson, Teal'c and the rest of the team, appeared in the room beyond the window where Jack lay dying.
There were zat blasts everywhere and Dr. Marner's team were all rendered unconscious in the blink of an eye.
"Colonel?" Sam cried at first sight of her commander.
"Oh God, Jack! What have they done to you?" Daniel sighed with regret, pulling off the electrodes sticking to his friend's forehead and torso, leaving little round burn marks behind on Jack's pale sweat soaked skin.
Sam stood watch over her team-mates as they gently released him from the restraints and wrapped their CO's naked form in a sheet and lifted him from the operating table.
Jack roused a little when he was cradled safely in the Jaffa's arms, his eyes opening into mere slits of dark brown, that were filled with pain.
"Dan...yl? he slurred, hoping the blurry image of his friend in front of him was real and not an hallucination brought on by these aliens.
"It's okay Jack. We've got you. You're going home!"
Jack's eyes closed in peace; his friends had arrived. Too late, he sighed; his breath stilling as he sank deep into oblivion, falling limp in Teal'c's arms.
Daniel gulped and cried out in panic, and Sam who was holding the communication device to her mouth ready, gasped in distress, as she urgently gave the order to Thor to beam them up, tears filling her eyes as she spoke quickly.
Everyone of the SGC personnel disappeared from the planet in a brilliant flash of light, leaving no trace that they had ever been there, save the unconscious forms of the nursing staff. The missing doctor who had dared to harm their leader would probably remain a mystery to them for many years to come.
OoOoOoOoO
On board the Asgard vessel, Sam, Daniel and Teal'c hovered nervously over the medical pod with bated breath as Thor worked on the controls to revive Jack.
Thor had told them that Jack was close to death when they had arrived over the planet, and they were worried in case Jack lost the battle to live before they reached him, but the rescue had gone according to plan and although Jack did stop breathing, he was now being restored back to full health.
Thirty nail biting minutes passed before the clear lid of the pod slid back to reveal a still naked Jack but a Jack without a mark on him, and his blood drug-free.
Sam blushed slightly and looked away as more of her CO was uncovered, but Daniel had been prepared for that and had previously persuaded Thor to beam up some clothes from the planet before they'd left so that Jack had something to wear, in which to cover his dignity.
Jack blinked several times, wondering where he was.
"Jack!"
He looked round to see his team hovering over him, at least the guys were, Sam was facing the other way he noted, until he suddenly realised why. He shrugged and grinned up at them.
"I thought I was dreaming!" he sighed, pulling himself upright. "Whoa!" he cried. "Head-rush!" He slumped sideways from the dizziness.
"Easy Jack!" Daniel admonished, but couldn't help the grin that lit his face at his friend's larger than life presence.
Daniel supported him for a few moments and then handed him the bundle of clothes.
Jack grinned up at him and thanked him for remembering his basic needs. He climbed from the pod a little unsteadily, but with his friends' help he managed to dress himself, feeling his strength returning only minutes after his waking.
Feeling more like a human should, and having been filled in on the details of his rescue, he thanked his little grey buddy for the timely rescue.
It was a pleasant surprise to General Hammond when the briefing room suddenly became crowded with his two away teams, but the thing that had him smiling deeply was the tall figure of his 2IC standing surrounding by his friends, and dressed in strange clothes.
Hammond welcomed him back, unable to wipe the smile from his face.
"It's good to see you back Jack."
"Thank you sir; and it's sooo good to be back too!"
"Report to the infirmary son!"
"But I'm fine sir, Thor..."
"Colonel!" Hammond barked and Jack knew an order when he heard one.
"Yes sir," he sighed.
Oh yeah! He was most definitely back again!"
The End.