Chapter 10 - The Search
Jack sent the three SG teams to check in at a local motel while he drove one of the vans down the road past the estate. They came across a very large mansion behind a cement wall with a long drive and an iron gate . Reynolds noted the security personnel standing outside the property and while no guns were visible, but O'Neill knew they had them.
After driving past the house, they met the others at the motel.
"Okay, it's almost dark. We're going to have to check out the security and find out about alarms." Jack looked hopefully at Sam.
"I can find out a lot of that on the laptop, sir. Most security companies have their data secured by a firewall software program, but if you know what hoops to jump, you can get around it."
"That's what I like about you, Carter. You can hack into just about anything."
"Thank you, sir." Sam grinned and continued her search as they headed toward the motel.
Jack rented 3 rooms but Major Feretti's team was planning on camping out in the vans, preferring to be on the ready at a moment's notice. They all met in one of the rooms, men and women scattered around, eating MRE's and listening to General O'Neill give them a mission briefing.
"Carter, what did you find out?" Jack stood by the door, arms crossed, looking all the more like the general in charge of the troops. The men and women listened carefully, waiting to hear what she had to say.
"Sir, I found out that the property once belonged to Vermont Senator Stanley Chesters. He was a friend of Kinsey's. Has been since their college days. It was purchased a few months back but the owner's name isn't available. I'm sure I can eventually get that information but I would take a guess that it's Kinsey. The security guards were privately hired by Kinsey and the security company that installed the lasers and motion detectors is a division of Watchdog, International. It won't be a problem disabling the security equipment. We have Asgard technology that will do that, without Watchdog knowing about it. I just need to set it up."
"Good, how long will it take the set up your doohickies?"
"About 10 minutes, sir."
"Okay, we'll wait to do that before we go in. Reynolds, I want your teams ready at 0200. What time does the sun come up here, Carter?"
"Just after 0700, sir."
"Okay, I want everyone back here by 0600, tops. That gives us 4 hours to check things out. I want a team on each wall of the property. And I want to know when the security teams patrol. Pay attention to the time and see if there's a pattern. Listen carefully. If they're talking, what language are they using? French or English? I also want to know what kind of dogs they have. And I want radio silence. We don't want to give the dogs any reason to start barking. Does everyone understand?"
They all nodded and said, 'Yes, Sir,' and when Jack was satisfied that everyone knew what he wanted he ordered everyone to get some rest. They scattered in different directions, talking among themselves quietly.
He went outside and slowly walked down the driveway to the main road. Sam went with him and they walked quietly for a bit until they left the hotel property and then turned left toward a section of woods. Stopping near a fence, Jack shoved his hands in his pockets, leaned back on the wooden rails, and looked around.
"It's nice here. Nothing like a little quiet place in the country to retreat to when you need a break."
"Is that why you have your cabin in Minnesota, Jack?" Sam asked as she picked up some small stones and absent-mindedly examined them for mineral identification. Jack noted that she never seemed to quit working.
"No, I go to the cabin to fish." He pulled out his yo-yo and started playing with it.
Sam looked up with a smirk. "Jack, there are no fish in your lake."
"Exactly."
Sam grinned and dropped the stones Looking at him she thought, 'He can be so obtuse, sometimes. Dead serious when he needs to be, though, like now.'
Nobody messed with his 'kids'. Especially with Daniel. They had an almost father/son relationship and they were the closest of friends. The year that Daniel was ascended was really hard on Jack. Sam had worried that he would quit and retire but thankfully he held on. She knew that Jack would move heaven and earth to find Daniel. She was sure of it. Kinsey had picked the wrong guy to grab. And he would never get away with it.
Jack put his yo-yo away and noticed her pensive look and said, "Don't worry, Sam. We'll find him."
I know, Jack. But, this is Kinsey we're talking about. He's gone insane. Who knows what he's already put Daniel through. I'm going on the assumption that Daniel's still alive but frankly, I'm terrified. We know what happened to Daniel before with the sarcophagus. If he's still alive..." Sam stopped and looked up at the twilight sky as she tried to control her emotions. "If he's still alive, he's gonna go through hell. It's been a few days and I'm afraid of what we're going to find."
"Sam, we'll get to him. You have to believe that. We'll find him and we'll help him through this... whatever it takes!" He stood up and said, "I know you're scared. I am too, but we can't dwell on that at the moment. Right now, we have to concentrate on the mission and keep the emotions in check. Stay strong, Sam. He's gonna need you when we find him. I've noticed over the years that you're the one he turns to when he wants to talk. Hold it together for his sake."
Sam took a deep breath and ran her fingers through her hair. "I will. You're right. I'm sorry. You'd think we would be getting used to this. Daniel's always disappearing, right? "
"Yeah, well, I'm scared, too. But, I have to believe that we'll find him in time to help him." With that, they headed back to their rooms for a few hours of rest, both lost in their thoughts.
0 0 0 0
The SG teams left the motel and drove without lights toward the 'Kinsey' Estate. They parked about a half mile down the road and started to walk quietly toward their goal. Jack assigned teams to each side of the property and they split up. He, Sam and Teal'c were headed toward the front gate, hoping to quietly sneak into the house.
As they drew near, it became obvious that something was amiss. The flood lights were shining and you could see the glow over the top of the wall.
They each carried a tranquilizer gun in case they came across the dogs but also in case they managed to run into Kinsey. As much as Jack would love to just shoot the bastard and get it over with, he also knew that they needed to interrogate Kinsey, if they could.
The gate was open so they quietly walked up the long drive until they reached the mansion. They went to the front and checked the massive oak door. It was locked so Jack indicated for Teal'c to wait there while he went around the left side of the house and Sam would go around to the right. They met at the back door and called Teal'c to meet them. The door was wide open, letting in the cold night air. Both garage doors were open, the kennels were empty and there were no vehicles in sight.
They checked both floors of the main house, finding nothing that indicated Daniel was there.
Teal'c stopped in the library on the second floor and looked around. Something wasn't right.
"What is it, Teal'c?" Jack trusted Teal'c's instincts like he would his own and he could feel that something was bothering his friend.
"There are windows on the roof of this building but I do not see any skylights in any of these rooms." He raised an eyebrow and looked at Jack.
"You're right! Great observations skills, T! There's gotta be another floor to this place. Let's look around for a sliding panel or something that would show us how to get up there."
It was pitch black in there but with their flash lights, they were able to find the elevator.
"Jack, Kinsey might be up there. We're going to lose our element of surprise if we use this."
"You're right, Sam, but what choice do we have? I'm not going to climb up on the roof in the dark and try to break a window. That would be just as obvious."
They got into the elevator and pushed the 'up' button. When the doors opened, they found a suite elegantly decorated and signs that Kinsey was the owner of the place. Documents on the desk verified the fact. They could also see that he wasn't there as they checked out each room, hoping to find Daniel. Once they determined that he was absent, Teal'c called to Jack and Sam and asked them to come to the room at the end of the hall. Inside, they found a wall covered with TV monitors and electronic equipment used to control cameras in the rooms downstairs. On a shelf on another wall, they found a number of video tapes and a VCR.
"O'Neill, we should look at these. They might be needed for evidence." Teal'c didn't really want to view what he thought he might find on them, but they had to know.
"You're right. Okay, lets pop one in and see what we have."
The image on the screen was like something out of a horror film. They watched for few moments as the image showed Daniel being tortured. He was begging them to stop and they could hear Kinsey laughing and taunting him. They also heard him say that the SGC had called off the search.
Jack quickly shut the machine off and dropped down onto the chair. The three of them felt sickened by what they had just seen.
"I'm sure he knows that's not true, Jack. We've never given up on him before. Remember when he was stranded off world and hurt on Tegalus? We looked for him for weeks and weeks until we found him. Even when Soren told us it was doubtful that Daniel survived, we kept trying."
"Yeah, I know, but you've never been held hostage or in prison for a long period of time." He leaned back into the chair, rubbing his eyes and said, "You don't know what happens when they start playing with your head. He shouldn't believe it, but given enough time, he might."
"O'Neill. I believe Daniel Jackson is stronger than you think. He's learned much while in the service of the Tauri. I do not believe that he would fall for Kinsey's deception."
"He's right, Jack. Daniel's a lot stronger than you're giving him credit for."
Standing, Jack said, "Maybe. Okay, Teal'c, find something to put those tapes in and we'll take them back to the SGC. Now, we have our proof. That room has to be here somewhere and I want to find it."
After gathering the tapes together in a box, they headed for the elevator and made their way to the second floor.
As they went back down the main staircase, Jack decided to find the entrance to the basement. There was a door in the pantry near the kitchen so they followed it down. The silence was eerie, almost tomblike as they descended the stairs.
The first door on the right opened into a recreation room, complete with big screen TV, pool table, a bar and a fully stocked kitchen.
They crossed the hall to see a large bathroom. A sunken hot tub took up most of the floor space on one side of the room. There was a large shower section surrounded by a glass block wall.
Jack looked around and thought that something was amiss. This didn't figure with the layout of the house. It was too small an area. Sam looked around the wall and ceiling and noticed a button near the top of the wall. When she pressed it, the paneling slid to the side, revealing a doorway into a dark tunnel. A light switch was used to throw light into the black expanse and they cautiously made their way forward, down another set of steps into a sub-basement.
The first thing they noticed was the smell. It was an odor that they had found before and instantly knew what it was. The smell of blood, feces and urine hit them like a brick wall. Sam stopped, not sure she wanted to go any farther. Jack saw there was a door and slowly opened it. Inside they found a blood stained floor and a brown, damp, mattress.
"Oh, God," Sam exclaimed. "This must be where they kept Daniel." She look around the room but the only thing in here was the mattress.
"Okay, do you have the camcorder? I want everything documented from here forward. We're also going to need this for evidence."
Sam set her back pack down and got out the camera and went to work. She could hold her feelings in check for the time being. This didn't take long and when she was done, they headed farther into the tunnel.
Passing a small, plain bathroom, with only a stool and sink, both very dirty, they came across another door. They stood to either side as Jack turned the handle and slowly pushed the door in. It was pitch black in there but Teal'c found a light switch and flipped it and they all gasped at what was revealed.
A wooden table was in the center, with straps attached at the corners and sides. This room must be the one they saw on the tape. As they looked up, they noticed a rope with a hangman's noose off to the side. Continuing to look up and around, they were appalled to find blood stains on the floor. A hose was attached to a faucet on the wall near a large steel tub and a drain in the floor was making a dripping sound. Along the wall was a table with instruments on it. Torture devices to be more accurate. Jack recognized the zat guns, a staff weapon, heat stick, ribbon devices and the whip. On another table farther down was a car battery with jumper cables, hammers and nails, pliers, a bottle labeled, 'acid,' bottles of different poisons and an ax. And on yet another table on the opposite side of the room was a chain saw, with a bloody blade.
Sam turned around and ran for the bathroom they had passed. The distinct sound of retching could be heard and Jack was having a hard time not following her. Teal'c had turned pale and looked murderous as he glanced around the room and the horrors they had found.
Last, but not least, was a set of double doors at the end of the large room. As they opened it, they were hardly surprised to see the golden sarcophagus that Kinsey told them he had. It had undoubtedly been used to bring Daniel back to life, only to be tortured again and again by a truly insane mad man.
Jack had seen enough. He grabbed the cam corder and asked Teal'c if he could go check on Carter. Teal'c gladly left the room and Jack started recording what they had seen. After a few minutes, he was finished filming everything and left.
He met Sam and Teal'c outside the bathroom and noticed that Sam was white as a sheet and shaking visibly. Sam could see a look on Jack and Teal'c's faces and she hoped their rage would never be directed at her. If looks could kill, Kinsey didn't have a chance!
Sam said, "Jack, we can't let anyone get that sarcophagus. It's bad enough that Kinsey got his hands on it, and who knows how many times he put Daniel in it..." She closed her eyes for a moment at the thought of what happened to Daniel. It almost made her sick again but she said, "We can't let Kinsey have it back and we sure as hell can't let the NID get ahold of it."
"There is a staff weapon in the outer chamber. I can use that to destroy it." Teal'c was determined that it would never be used again, especially since this particular one was used on his friend.
"I know, Teal'c," O'Neill said, "but I'm afraid the NID will still get their hands on it and try to fix it. And, we can't leave that where the general public could see it. We'll blow it up. I think I have enough C4 in my pack to do the job." He reached into his pack and brought out the explosive. His face had an almost feral appearance to it. With determination he said, "I'll go take care of that thing and then we can get out of here."
He attached the C4 and the electronic fuse to the sarcophagus and then they headed upstairs and out the door. They stood in the drive, about 50 yards away from the house as Jack pushed the button and they heard a terrifyingly loud explosion take place inside. All the windows on the house blew out and the building seemed to jump.
"Holy Hannah, Jack! How much did you use?"
"I wanted to make sure."
Jack's radio came to life with the voice of Col. Reynolds asking if they knew what happened. Jack gave them an update and told all the teams to meet at the front gate.
They carefully went back toward the house and checked. The C4 had done the job and part of the interior of the house had collapsed into the sub-basement."
"I think we can safely say that nobody will be able to use that thing anymore."
Sam gave a sigh of relief and said, "Thank God!"
"Indeed," Teal'c replied stoically.
"Okay, Daniel's not here. Apparently, he got away and we have to find him before Kinsey does. Let's get everyone together and we'll start searching."
The SG teams checked the grounds and determined that the quickest way for Daniel to escape would be the wall at the back of the estate, near the tree. They could see the trail he left and started following it, hoping that they could get to him before Kinsey did.
They had to find Daniel and they had to find him fast!