The Hunt for Babylon:
By cheekychaos
Chapter Eleven:
Jack walked into the room beyond, before stopping in surprise. This had not been what he expected. The room was a large, empty space with a mosaic floor and a barred doorway on the distant wall. The walls of the room were ornately carved, rather similar to the pyramid Jack had been in, in Brazil, and gave the impression of being in a large entrance hall.
"Well, I like what they've done with the place." Jack quipped dryly.
Sydney stepped up beside him and looked around in wary amusement. "Any idea what the challenge is?" she asked.
"Nope." Jack said, sounding almost cheerful. "You?"
"No." Sydney answered with a smile.
"Oh, good." Jack replied sarcastically. "Where's Daniel and Carter when you need them?"
"I believe you ordered them to take the other path, O'Neill." Teal'c said levelly.
"Yeah." Jack said, before shaking his head in a combination of frustration and resignation. He doubted his Jaffa friend would ever get the concept of a rhetorical question.
Sydney glanced between the two men, knowing Jack had meant the last comment in a rhetorical sense. Then she caught a quirk in Teal'c's eyebrow and realised that, in his own way, the big man was teasing the Colonel.
"So, what's the plan?" Sydney asked.
"I think we should go and have a look at the way out." Jack said. "Maybe we'll be lucky enough to get the answering machine."
"The answering machine?" Sydney asked, confused.
Jack turned to look at her. "You know, a holographic image designed to tell us what we need to know." He explained.
"Oh." Sydney said. "They do that?"
Jack gave her a wry grin. "Not exactly." He said. "The messages are usually so obscure and complicated that I have to get Danny to translate them."
Sydney smiled in return. "Are you sure you want to find the answering machine, then?"
Jack grinned and shook his head ruefully. "Maybe not." He replied. Now, shall we?"
As he made to step forward, Teal'c stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. "I think that is unwise, O'Neill." He said.
"Booby traps?" Jack asked him.
"I believe so." Teal'c answered, indicating numerous indentations in the carved walls.
"Oh, perfect." Jack muttered.
Sydney let out a sigh. "How do we get past them?" she asked.
Jack shrugged. "Run?" he quipped.
"Perhaps we should first investigate the nature of these traps." Teal'c suggested.
Jack turned to him. "How?" his tone was all business now, the humorous teasing gone.
"Of that, I am unsure." Teal'c said. "But the traps may be triggered by movement."
"Or weight." Sydney added helpfully.
Jack looked at her and raised an eyebrow. Sydney blushed slightly and shrugged. "I watch too much TV." She said.
Smiling softly, Jack looked around him to see if there was anything he could use. Spying a few loose stones near the entrance, he walked over and picked them up. Then Jack turned back to the room and glanced around. Noting the placement of several niches in the walls as well as a few distinctive floor tiles, he carefully aimed and threw each of the stones.
When one of the stones hit one of the distinctive floor tiles, a loud groaning sounded and about two seconds later, a large section on the ceiling slammed downward onto the spot where the stone had hit. The loud slamming noise and sudden movement caused both Jack and Sydney to leap backwards slightly in surprise, and even Teal'c looked a little uneasy.
When another of the stones flew past the indentations in the walls, several large, sharp-looking blades flew out of the holes and sped through the air. There was maybe a gap of about a second or two before the blades were released, and they flew through the air with alarming speed. The blades finally came to a stop when they slammed into the opposite wall and clattered to the floor.
"Peachy." Jack said. "Just peachy."
"Woah." Sydney muttered. "This is going to be interesting."
Jack sighed and turned to Teal'c. "Any idea how to open the gate?" he asked his big friend.
"I believe there is a lever on the wall beside the exit." Teal'c stated levelly.
"Hmph." Jack grunted in surprise and amusement. "So there is."
"If we avoid the funny floor tiles and run like hell, we should be able to make it." Sydney observed. "But we'd all have to run at the same time."
"Unless that lever turns off the traps when it's pulled." Jack mused. "What do you think, T?"
"It is possible, O'Neill." Teal'c replied.
"Bristow?"
"Can't think of why it wouldn't." Sydney told him.
Jack sighed again. "Alright, you two stay here." He ordered. "I'll head for the lever."
Teal'c inclined his head, but Sydney opened her mouth to argue – only to be silenced by Jack's stubborn and reproachful look. "Sure." She agreed instead.
Straightening his shoulders, Jack looked out over the large room and the now silent traps. "Here goes." He muttered to himself.
He took off in a sprint, shooting past the niches in the wall. Behind him, he heard the hiss and click as blades shot out of the wall, barley missing him, and slammed into the wall on the opposite side of the room. Not letting his step falter, because of the consequences, Jack kept one eye on the floor, so he could avoid the booby trapped tiles.
Suddenly, a section of the left hand wall seemed to break away from the rest of the wall and sped towards Jack. He threw himself forward and away from the large blade that had swung out of the wall. The swinging blade barely missed him as he stumbled forward. Unfortunately, the sudden appearance of the blade and his subsequent dodging motion, had jerked Jack off balance and he stepped on one of the distinctive floor tiles.
Knowing exactly what was about to happen, Jack put on a burst of speed to avoid both the blades still darting from the walls and the part of the ceiling that was about to slam downwards. The loud noise of the impact shocked him for a split second, but he forced himself to keep moving. He couldn't afford to stop.
Jack dodged two more large swinging blade that detached themselves from the walls as he passed, sprinting the whole length of the room. He was glad he had spent time recently trying to improve his fitness, because he sure needed it now. After what felt like an eternity of dodging traps to Jack, he broke free and almost skidded into the gate surrounding the way out. Stopping, he stood panting for a moment as he caught his breath, before walking over and pulling the lever.
Abruptly, a loud grinding noise echoed over the room and the traps stopped. The gate blocking the exit also moved, clearing the path forward. Grinning in triumph, Jack turned to look back to where Sydney and Teal'c still stood. "Come on!" he called. "The door's open!"
The pair quickly jogged over to meet him, before the trio all walked into the room beyond. The room beyond was just as large as the room before, with the same paved floor, just minus the booby trapped tiles this time. Along the walls, however, were two rows of warrior statues holding spears and swords, interspersed with torches that lit the room with flickering golden light.
"Okay, that's a little freaky." Sydney said.
"What? The statues?" Jack asked.
"No." Sydney replied. "The way those torches are lit. As if we were expected."
Jack smiled a little and shook his head. "It's not like we're trying to sneak in." he said.
Sydney just shot him an annoyed look and turned back to frowning at the statues and torches. Teal'c moved forward, as if to go and examine the statues a little closer. Suddenly, the two nearest statues began to move with short, jerky movements.
"Woah!" Jack said, bringing up his gun when he saw the movement. "Now, that's freaky!"
The statue closest to Teal'c stepped forward and swung his sword at his head. Teal'c, who had gone tense and alert at the first sign of movement, used his staff weapon to block the blow. Then he swung the bottom downwards, before reversing the movement and hit the statue in the knee and head. Bits of stone crumbled off the statues, but it kept coming.
By now, not only was the other statue moving, but all the others were showing signs of waking up. "This is not good." Jack muttered, shooting the nearest statues rapidly in the chest.
Sydney had also taken out her gun when she saw movement, and fired at one of the other statues that were just beginning to step forward. It took six shots to the chest, before the statue crumbled and fell. "Any ideas?" she snapped to Jack, as she shot at another.
Teal'c sent a blast of his staff towards one of the statues, having dispatched the first one who had attacked him. "Continuing to fight them like this would be unwise." He agreed, punctuating his statement with another shot.
Thinking rapidly, even as he attacked, Jack searched for an answer. "The lever!" he yelled, a plan forming in his mind. "If we pull it, the statues will stop, just like the traps!"
"You mean, the lever on the other side of those attacking statues?" Sydney called back, rather sarcastically, as she reloaded her gun with quick and efficient movements.
"Yeah." Jack replied, almost wishing Carter were here. Then all he would have been answered with would have been a crisp "Yes, sir!" and a lot of ass kicking as she followed his orders. "First gap you see, Bristow, run for it!"
Sydney shot another statue, before swinging out and kicking another with two well placed round-house kicks when she ran out of bullets. "Got it!" she called back.
Ducking under a sword, Sydney slammed the new clip home into her gun and came up firing. Seeing a small gap in between the advancing statues, she took it. Sprinting forward, Sydney fired to the left and right at the statues, but never stopped. Her movements were fluid and practiced, as she had done this many times before on missions – just not against walking statues on another planet.
Skidding to a halt at the lever, she reached out and yanked it. Once again, another loud grinding noise echoed out over the room and the gate barring the doorway froward opened. Then there was a louder cracking noise, and all the statues suddenly crumbled to the floor.
Shaking dust and stone from his face and clothes, Jack looked to Sydney. "Nice timing." He said. "Thanks."
"No problem." Sydney replied.
This time when the three of them entered the doorway and the room beyond, they were far more cautious. Jack and Teal'c still had there weapons out and all three gazed warily and alertly about them. Once again the room was large and paved, but unlike the previous two, was completely empty.
"This doesn't seem to be a good sign." Jack observed.
"Indeed." Teal'c agreed.
Sydney carefully stepped forward, further into the room, before leaping back in surprise. The floor where she had just put her foot crumbled and fell, revealing a dark hole. As she watched in amazement, like Teal'c and Jack behind her, a loud noise sounded and most of the floor just caved inwards, leaving only a few sections of seemingly stable ground.
Sighing, Sydney looked over what was left of the floor. "I think we just found the challenge." She remarked.
"Yeah." Jack said. "Think if we pull the lever, the floor will rebuild itself?"
Sydney chuckled shortly. "After seeing statues come to life, I wouldn't be surprised at that." She said dryly.
Jack grinned and turned to her. "I know. This gate travel stuff is fun, isn't it?"
Unable to stop an answering grin appearing on her face, Sydney shook her head at Jack's excitement and amusement. He really did seem to love this sort of thing, and Sydney had to admit that she didn't mind it so much either. "It definitely grows on you." She replied.
"So what are we going to do?" Jack asked.
Considering what was left after the floor caved in, Sydney saw the path that they were supposed to take. "How about I attempt to cross and pull the lever?" she asked. "Back at the CIA, I did a lot of training in this sort of thing. Apparently, the best surveillance always comes when you're hanging upside down six feet up in the air from a tiny rope."
Jack laughed at her words. "That's why you should join the Air Force." Jack teased. "At least they give you planes then."
Sydney smiled. "I'll take your word for it." She said.
"Sure you can do this?" Jack asked after a small pause, indicating the gaping chasm in front of them.
"Yeah." Sydney nodded. "Sure."
Walking to the end of the stable floor on this side of the room, Sydney stopped and eyed the next piece. It seemed close enough to jump to, but just in case, she backed up a little and gave herself a run up. Leaping when she reached the end, Sydney sailed through the air and landed on the next piece of floor.
Then to her horror, she felt the floor beneath her feet begin to move. She ran to the end as the block of stone began to slide forward, jumping forward on the next piece at the last minute. Somewhat shakily, she kept moving forward, wary to the floor beneath her feet this time.
Jack had noticed the floor slide forward under Sydney's feet and admired the woman's quick thinking and agility. He had been a little resistant to taking a spook with them to find Babylon, but he was beginning to rethink his opinion. While he couldn't stand having a man like Agent Vaughn on his team, Jack admired the way Sydney had handled herself so far and thought she'd make a good addition to the SGC if she ever got bored of the CIA.
As he watched her take another leap, Jack heard his radio crackle. "Sir?" came Carter's voice. "Are you there?"
Distracted for a moment as Sydney scrabbled for balance as another piece of floor slid sideways as she landed on it, Jack watched until he was sure Sydney was reasonably safe again. "Yeah, I'm here." He drawled in reply to his 2IC. "What is it, Carter?"
"Sir, we've found another lever like the one that opened the doors." Sam explained quickly.
Jack rolled his eyes, but made sure to keep an eye on Sydney's progress. "And it needs to be pulled at the same time as ours?"
"Yes, sir." Sam answered.
"Alright." Jack replied. "We're almost there. Give us a minute to get into position."
"Yes, sir." Sam said again.
By now, Sydney was not that far from the room's exit and the lever that would open the gate and hopefully rebuild the floor. She ran forward a few steps, before hoping across several small pieces of floor. Keeping moving to make it easier, she tried to keep her balance as she crossed the pieces, some of which were barely bigger than her boot.
Finally, she leaped forward and landed on the stable ground around the exit. She pulled the lever and turned to see what was happening. The familiar grinding noise echoed out over the room, but instead of the floor magically rebuilding, a bridge slide out from one side of the floor until it reached the other side.
"That was rather disappointing." Jack remarked when he and Teal'c joined her.
"Yeah." Sydney agreed. "I know."
They all walked through the exit doorway and Sydney and Teal'c surprised to find themselves in an almost empty room that contained only a lever in the centre of the floor and a set of wide ornate doors in the opposite wall. Jack, at least, had somewhat expected this from Sam's explanation of the lever.
He walked over to the lever and laid a hand on it. "This needs to be pulled at the same time as the one Carter, Danny and Croft found." He explained to the others. Reaching for his radio, he spoke again. "Okay, on the count of three." He ordered. "1…2…3!"
Jack pulled the lever as he said "3". Another grinding noise echoed around the room, before the doors opposite the trio swung open with a loud groan. "Yes!" Jack said. "We're finally out of here!" Grinning in triumph, Jack, Sydney and Teal'c walked out into the sunshine beyond.
When the trio caught sight of the scene outside, they stopped and stared. They found themselves standing on an elegant balcony, just above the lower platform of a pyramid shaped building. Around them was a large city built of glimmering stone. Gardens could be seen everywhere and they filled the air with the scent of wildflowers. Above them, the sky shimmered with an occasional white tinge, as if there was something between them and the sky.
"Nice!" Jack exclaimed when he caught sight of the city. "This is what I'm talking about!"
"Definitely wow." Sydney agreed. "I can't believe I'm actually standing in an alien city!"
"It is indeed beautiful." Teal'c remarked.
Jack walked to the edge of the balcony and leaned against the railing, trying to take everything in. Catching sight of three familiar figures standing in amazement below them, Jack turned and headed towards the stairs he had spotted along the side of the balcony. "Come on, I found Carter." He said.
To be continued…
Author's Note: Sorry for splitting up the challenges like this, but the both seemed a little big to post as one whole chapter! Hope you like them.
Happy New Year to everyone!
Cheeky.