The Hunt for Babylon:
By cheekychaos
Chapter Fourteen:
Sam was crouched just above the workshop, carefully hidden when Jack, Teal'c, Daniel and Lara joined her. The workshop looked a little like her lab, with piles of technology and blueprints everywhere, as well as tools, books and spare parts. However, in the middle of the room was a device. Sloane had called it the 'Reawakening', but to Sam it looked more like the device Frankenstein had strapped his poor monster too.
Jack watched the scene below him with a frown. This was not going very well. Suppressing the urge to sigh loudly (as it would no doubt give his position away), Jack grimaced and turned to his 2IC. He could always count on Carter.
"Any idea what that thing is?" he whispered.
"Not really, sir." She replied.
Knowing her like he did, Jack raised an eyebrow. "But you have an idea?"
"Well, Sloane did call it the 'Reawakening'." Sam answered softly. "The device looks similar to technology I've come across before. I think he's going to try and switch Sydney's mind with something."
Jack swore. "You mean like with Ma'chello?"
Sam nodded. "Yes, sir." She said gravely.
"Well, we have to stop it!" Jack said.
"Indeed, O'Neill." Teal'c agreed quietly, obviously having heard the soft conversation.
Jack looked up to see Daniel and Lara also looking at him inquiringly, although they seemed to be out of earshot. Frowning as his mind raced, Jack tried to think of a plan.
"There's no point in struggling, Sydney." Sloane's voice echoed up from below. "Besides, in a few minutes the four of us are going to be the only people alive on this planet, so no one can help you."
Sydney was glaring at Sloane with murderous intent, but stopped struggling with her bonds at Sloane's chilling words. "What do you mean, Sloane?" she asked.
"I mean there will be a devastating explosion in the control room very soon, that will sadly destroy that entire building." Sloane said, his mild tone freezing Sydney's blood even more than his words.
Jack swore again as he listened from above. "Carter…" he began.
"I'm on it, sir." Sam said, anticipating her CO's order.
Jack's eyes drifted to where Lara was crouched. She was wincing slightly, one arm curled around her lower ribs, and her weight was mostly centred on one leg. She had obviously been messed up by Sheridan more than she had let on. "Take Croft with you." He added. "Despite what she may think, she's not really in any condition to fight three highly trained mercenaries."
Sam nodded. "Yes, sir."
Jack watched his 2IC long enough to see her tap Lara on the shoulder and explain the situation to her, before disappearing back towards the other building. Then he turned back to Daniel and Teal'c.
"Right." He said quietly. "Teal'c, I want you to stay here and cover us. Danny, I want you to free Bristow as soon as you can."
His two companions nodded. "Good." Jack said. "One three: one…two…three!"
On three, Jack and Daniel burst from cover and jumped down to the ground level. Jack immediately covered Sloane, Anna and Sark, alert for any signs of movement. "Keep your hands where I can see them!" he ordered. "Daniel!"
Daniel immediately ran over to where Sydney was tied up and began to unlock the metal cuffs constraining her legs and arms. Sloane carefully measured the man holding a gun on him as his friend unlocked Sydney, seemingly unperturbed that his plans were going astray.
"Hmm, American military." He said. "You must be from the SGC."
Jack's face was in his usual mask, letting nothing show and he did not reply to Sloane's comment. Teal'c chose that moment to break cover as well, knowing he would be more useful to Jack on ground level.
"You won't succeed, you know." Sloane said conversationally. "Rambaldi's Reawakening cannot be stopped by you or anyone."
"What about me?" Sydney snapped, getting to her feet and rubbing her wrists.
Sloane laughed. "Oh, Sydney." He said. "You have no idea, do you?"
It was in that second that everyone seemed to suddenly explode into action. In a swift movement, Anna and Sloane drew their guns almost simultaneously and fired. Anna aimed straight at Daniel and fired. Daniel, however, having been shot at before, managed to dodge and the bullet that had been aimed at his heart only winged him a little on the upper arm. Sydney had dived out of the way at the same moment, so the second bullet aimed in her direction missed completely.
Jack on the other hand, had caught the movement from Sloane and managed to dodge the bullet aimed at him. He fired in response, catching Sloane in the shoulder and effectively disarming him. Sloane dropped the gun as he let out a cry of pain, and Teal'c and Jack had him tied up in no time at all.
At the same time all this had been happening, Sark had also moved. He had drawn his gun a second after Sloane and Anna. Instead of shooting Teal'c, as had obviously been the plan, Sark did a shocking thing. He turned and had his gun pressed against Anna's head a moment after she had fired her second shot.
"Drop the gun, Anna." He said with a silky tone. "Or I will shoot you."
Sydney dragged herself of the ground, where she had thrown herself, and after a quick look to make sure Daniel was alright, she turned to Sark. "Sark!" she snapped. "What the hell is going on?"
"That's what I'd like to know!" Jack snapped, leaving Teal'c to guard Sloane and walking over to help Daniel up. On the way, he passed Sydney his pistol and she immediately trained it on Anna.
"I'm on your side, Sydney." Sark said levelly.
Anna swore heartily in Russian, obviously telling Sark something. Sark simple smacked her on the head with his gun. "Be nice, Anna." He said.
"On my side?" Sydney barked, unsure of who presented a more serious target: Anna or Sark.
Sark turned his ice blue eyes towards her. "Yes, Sydney." He said. "I've been trying to stop Rambaldi's final plan for as long as you have. Maybe even longer."
"Actually…" said a strange voice from behind them all. "It wasn't my final plan at all."
Everyone turned to see a tall man in flowing robes standing in the back of the workshop. His brown hair was long and fell to his shoulders and there seemed to be a faint glow about him. He smiled. "Allow me to introduce myself." He said pleasantly. "My name is Milus Rambaldus, except you probably know me as Milo Rambaldi."
Jack blinked, but finished tying Anna up. Then he pressed the button on his radio. "Carter?" he asked. "Have you finished yet?"
"Yes, sir." Sam replied. "Bomb deactivated."
"Good." Jack told her. "I think you'd better come back here."
"Yes, sir." She said, but obviously heard something in his tone. "May I ask why?"
"We've just found Rambaldi." Jack replied dryly.
Sam and Lara entered the control room, cautiously, in case Kinsey had managed to free himself from his bonds, or there were some thugs they hadn't spotted earlier. They needn't have bothered, as the room was clear, aside from a clearly furious Senator Kinsey.
"Watch him." Sam told Lara, before scanning the room quickly.
Lara raised an eyebrow at the order, but simply said. "Of course."
Sam spotted the crudely made bomb a second after she started looking for it. She jogged over to it and carefully knelt down beside the device. It was tacked under one of the control panels in the room and Sam studied it quickly, muttering to herself. "I'm an astrophysicist." She growled to herself. "Not a blasted bomb disposal expert."
Then she winced at her unintentional wording. Sighing, Sam got down to the business of disarming the bomb. She wondered absently, as the scientific part of her mind worked, if it would have been easier if the Colonel had come to disarm it. But then, he wouldn't leave the rest of his team like that, and he probably trusted her enough to disarm it anyway.
Sam slipped her combat knife out of its sheath as she began examining the different wires attached to the C4 tacked under the bench. Her eyes then spotted the discrete counter and noticed that she had less than three minutes to disarm this stupid thing. Great, she thought.
Letting out a slow breath and focusing her attention on the basic circuits, Sam did what she came here to do. Thankfully, after a few close calls in the past, her CO had given the rest of the team a quick lesson in bomb making. That, combined with her knowledge of reactors and such, made it easier for Sam.
Biting her lip, Lara looked over at her companion. She had never liked bombs and always preferred running away from them. But something told her this wouldn't be the best thing to do in this case. Sam had mentioned the destructive power of destroying a stargate back at the SGC and Lara didn't really want to risk the damage this bomb might do to the stargate sitting only a meter or two away.
After what seemed like hours, Sam rolled her shoulders and finally straightened from her crouch. "Got it." She said, before walking over to the nearest balcony and tossing out the bomb.
At Lara's slightly surprised look, she shrugged sheepishly. "Just in case." She said.
Lara smiled in relief and nodded. "I completely agree." She said.
Suddenly Sam's radio crackled, startling both women who were still alert and tense from disarming the bomb. "Carter?" Jack's voice crackled. "Have you finished yet?"
"Yes, sir." Sam replied. "Bomb deactivated."
"Good." Jack voice crackled again. "I think you'd better come back here."
"Yes, sir." Sam answered again, but she detected a faint trace of amusement and surprise in the Colonel's tone. "May I ask why?" she asked.
"We've just found Rambaldi." Jack replied dryly.
Blinking in surprise, Sam looked at Lara. "We're on our way." She replied.
Sam and Lara, dragging Senator Kinsey, met up with the others out in the sunshine of the large square between the two buildings. Lara immediately spotted the large white bandage on Daniel's upper left arm and walked over to ask if he was alright. Sam, on the other hand, spotted the fact that while Sloane and Anna were tied up, Sark wasn't. The group left their prisoners a little way out of earshot, before talking.
"Sir, what's going on?" Sam asked.
"Haven't got a clue." Jack replied. "But it turns out that Sark could possibly be a friend now."
Sark obviously caught Jack's answer, as he raised an eyebrow in their direction while trying not to smile in amusement at the older man's dry tone. "And this here is Rambaldi." Jack added, pointing at the brown-haired man in flowing robes beside him.
"I am pleased to finally meet you, Major Carter." He said, inclining his head. "And you as well, Lady Croft."
"You know who we are?" Sam asked, surprised.
"Yes." Milus replied. "I've been watching you ever since you arrived on the planet. But I knew you would come anyway, just as I knew that Mr. Sark would finally reveal his true intentions."
"What do you mean?" Sydney asked, faintly annoyed.
"Allow me to explain." Milus said. "I am what you call an 'Ancient'. I am also the protector of the city of Babylon as punishment for interfering in the development of humanity. I once spent decades on Earth, trying to give you technological knowledge, because I firmly believed that it was the right thing to do."
Milus looked at everyone. "But my knowledge fell into the hands of some overeager monks, who turned it into something it wasn't. They created the myth that you now believe to be the real Milo Rambaldi, but that wasn't what I intended it to do. There was not supposed to be a 'Reawakening' or anything of that type." He continued.
"However, the gift of foresight is given to those, like me, who have ascended, but perhaps don't quite live on that plane anymore." Milus added. "And I foresaw your coming to Babylon and knew everything would be made right."
"You knew we were coming?" Daniel asked.
"Yes." Milus nodded. "There is actually a prophecy about it somewhere on Earth I believe. Let me see if I can remember how it goes…"
After a moment, Milus smiled. "Ah, yes." He said. "Seven great heroes will discover the Hidden City, and bring hope to the Universe. One will be a warrior who has given up everything he was to do what was right."
As he described the first of the seven, Milus turned to look at Teal'c and inclined his head towards him, as if honouring his sacrifice. "One will be the leader who is more willing to sacrifice himself a hundred times over than risk those who follow him."
This time Milus inclined his head towards Jack, before continuing. "One will be the visionary who possesses much knowledge, but who is forced to always watch and never touch."
Milus nodded to Sam, who blushed faintly as she picked up the meaning behind his words – and refused to look at Jack. "One will be the scholar who gave up his books to use his great knowledge to help fight a war."
Daniel blushed slightly at Milus' words, but nodded back to the Ancient. "One will be the adventurer who strives to protect the past so she may help guard the future."
Lara smiled when Milus nodded in her direction, before nodding in return. "One will be the shadow who watches over the one he loves because that is all he deems himself worthy to do."
Sydney sharp gaze darted to Sark when Milus nodded toward him, definitely not wanting to think about what that meant. Didn't she? "And the greatest one will be the one who is destined to choose and her decision will change the world."
Milus nodded to Sydney and smiled when she gave him an annoyed look. "Choose what?" she asked.
"No matter how many people have tried to decide it for you, Sydney, you are the one that chose the path you know walk on. And it is that choice that changed the world." Milus answered.
"What?" Sydney snapped.
"Had you chosen to believe in the myth of Rambaldi and follow a man like Sloane, the world would have gone a different way. And would not have better off because of it."
"Oh." Sydney replied, a little startled. "So I've already chosen?"
"Yes, in a way." Milus answered. "It is perhaps an ongoing choice that you will have to face again and again as you decide what is the right thing to do and what is wrong."
Milus then turned to face everyone. "I'm afraid that is all I'm allowed to tell you."
"What..?" Jack began, clearly annoyed at encountering more Ancient vagueness.
Milus held up his hand to silence him. "I am still an ascended being after all. But perhaps the large library in Babylon will be of some help. The city is rightfully yours, and I hope that it will help you in your struggle."
"Library?" Daniel and Lara looked excited by the prospect.
"That's it?" Jack asked. "What happens now?"
"My punishment comes to an end." Milus replied. "And I am finally allowed to go home."
Milus began to glow with a bright white light, until he almost drowned out the sun. "Have faith." His words echoed over everyone, seconds before he disappeared. "And you will succeed."
When everyone could finally see again, Jack frowned at Sam. "At least he wasn't as vague as some of the other Ancients." Sam said helpfully.
Jack rolled his eyes. "Wonderful." He replied.
"Did you hear what he said about the library?" Daniel asked, so excited he was almost jumping up and down on the spot.
"Indeed." Teal'c told his friend, amused even if he wasn't showing it.
"That would definitely prove useful, sir." Sam agreed.
Jack nodded and sighed. "All right, kids." He said. "Let's take these crooks home and explain everything to General Hammond."
To Be Continued…