Last time:
Sam reached over and covered her son's hand with her own. This was their son, now so much on the verge of becoming a man, and so in need of his father. "I miss him too, Jake," she answered, "I miss him too."
…and on P3X-779:
As Jack sprinted over to Teal'c, intent on reminding him to be sure the message was sent to Sam through the gate ASAP, he heard Reynolds' expletive, "Damn it, we can't get a message through, there's something blocking our transmission".
PART 11: WHAT JUST HAPPENED?
"Alright, Reynolds, so what happened to communications?"
"Don't know, sir. Something's blocking transmission, maybe an energy field. The rings are out too." After delivering less than positive news to the Ambassador, Reynolds rejoined his 2IC, Lt. Higgins, in an attempt to restore communications, while Jack move off to once and for all confront the Tokra liaison.
"That's just great! Okay, Bishop, Bishar, whatever your name is, what's going on here? I thought this was going to be a straightforward, in and out mission. We've done quite a lot of shooting for a standard recon mission."
"As we suspected, it seems others are also interested in the treasures housed in this facility. It is likely that they've attempted to sabotage our operation."
"Ya think?"
"We did believe that their attempts to garner the materials would be delayed beyond this time. I apologize for our miscalculation, Ambassador".
"Oy…" Jack by now had all he could do to keep from terminating the life of this typically aggravating Tokra. He found himself saying a silent prayer to Selmac, his honorary father-in-law, to help him control his temper. "Alright, what else do we need to know, Bashir? Everything this time; I want to know who and what we are up against."
Bashir proceeded to slowly torture Jack with the story of a Goa'uld resistance movement little known to Stargate Command. "As you well know, the Goa'uld have been on the run in most parts of this galaxy for the past 5 years, largely as a result of the successful Jaffa rebellion. Approximately 2 years ago, the Tokra High Council became aware of a small contingent of Goa'uld resistance fighters, actually scientific researchers, who had retained their Jaffa loyalists and devoted themselves to fostering the resurgence of Goa'uld dominance. We've suspected for some time that P3X-779 was a likely location for their primary research station. From what we've learned here today, I would believe this facility was overrun by the Goa'uld, Amoun, some time ago."
Teal'c joined the discussion at this time, "Amoun? I am unfamiliar with this particular Goa'uld".
Dr. McCoy spoke up at this point, more than happy to finally be able to make a contribution to this, his first off world mission. "If I may, Amoun was an Egyptian god, whose name was said to mean "hidden one". He was the patron deity of the city of Thebes and viewed as the primordial creation deity. The legend actually describes Amoun as 'an invisible creative power which was the source of all life in heaven, and on the earth, and in the great deep, and in the Underworld, and which made itself manifest under the form of Ra'."
"Oh, this just keeps getting better", Jack said, turning back to Bashir. "Alright, so it sounds like you've had a typical Tokra handle on this for sometime, as usual. So what is this 'Hidden One' up to? And do you happen to know why we can't communicate with our backup?"
"Ambassador, as you say, we have had a "handle" on the situation for a while. Personally, I believe the key is the Asgard specimen which your team is excavating. Aside from possibly being the key to the Asgard cloning problems, I would guess that the technology involved in its creation would also be invaluable in any attempt to create a more perfect Goa'uld host. As for communications, the Tokra have typically protected underground locations from outside communications and sensors in order to conceal our location. That is most likely the situation with this station, along with a likely degree of sabotage, the extent of which may not yet be fully apparent."
Teal'c, who as usual had been standing silently behind O'Neill, listening to this explanation, commented succinctly, "I believe the Tokra have participated in this very project, have they not, Bashir?"
"That is likely, or at the very least we are looking at the involvement of a Goa'uld, most likely Amoun himself, who has mastered the use of the tunnel crystals.
"So, I'm getting confused here – Amoun, 'Hidden One', Ra clone," Jack gestured nervously with his hands, "what are we talking about?"
"Sir", began McCoy, "Egyptian lore indicates that the Ra persona was simply the physical manifestation of the spirit, Amoun. I'm not really sure what this would mean here. I'd always assumed that was legend."
"The Goa'uld have routinely usurped the legends and folklore of cultures in order to enslave peoples and obtain power," Teal'c contributed.
"So you're saying what, T? Is this like a ghost snake looking for a new body?"
"I do not know O'Neill, but if I follow you correctly, it would be a possibility".
Col. Reynolds came running towards the group just as Jack felt his brain was ready to explode. "Lieutenant Higgins managed to lower the jamming field that was blocking communications."
"Well now, that's more like it Reynolds."
"I'm afraid that doesn't help very much, sir. We're getting no response from SG7. On the bright side, the rings are functional again, so we can get out of here whenever we're ready."
"Alright, I've had about enough of this place. Let's see how the excavation's going. I want to get everything out of here related to the genetic research and take it with us through the gate. Carter and Daniel can do their thing when we get back.
Within another hour, research materials had been gathered from the lab and the team had succeeded in freeing the Asgard specimen from his rocky grave. The stasis pod was draped with an opaque, protective covering and added to the gear within the rings for transport to the surface.
Once everything was in place, Jack, Teal'c and their team ringed up from the underground compound. The sight that greeted them was not what they had expected. It began with the odd sensation of being transported by the rings into a wide open area, with no sign of the reconnaissance station. There was, in fact, no sign that a structure had ever sat on that spot of land and no sign whatsoever of an underground facility. O'Neill and Reynolds immediately exchanged worried glances.
"Treeline … now", Jack barked out.
The team deliberately made their way towards the stargate, with their treasures in tow. As the station had originally been only 2 clicks from the gate, it wasn't long before, from their cover of vegetation, they were able to spot the location where they had left the gate.
It was clear there had been a pitched battle in the immediate area. They could see blackened, still steaming sections of ground and rock. But in a matter of minutes they saw their primary problem – the gate was gone!
I realize I'm using or am going to use just about every science fiction device that we've seen in the series to explain departures from logic in the action/adventure part of this story. What can I say! I love sci-fi!
Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated and will help me make this better. Thanks