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Chapter 3: Captive Again, Oh Joy.

Jack abruptly became aware of himself again. He froze. He had been in a firefight. SG-1 was at the Rally Point. Teal'c and Daniel had made it to the top of the cliff. Carter was going to attempt it next. Jack had moved to provide her cover from another position…

That was the last thing Jack could actually remember.

Jack kept his body loose and ready. He tried to absorb his surroundings though his other senses. He could tell that they had taken his vest and his BDU shirt. He still had his BDU pants and boots. Big plus. Deep breathing let him know he still had his belt as well.

The room was cool, but not cold. The floor felt hard, like cement. It smelled musty. He could detect the odors of living bodies, human waste, and mold. He could also hear quiet talking. It wasn't too panicked or angry. It sounded resigned and afraid.

That's not good. Jack focused on the conversation.

"You know that they will come soon," the more panicky voice said.

"Yes," replied the resigned voice. "There are ten now. They will move us."

"The Weard…" the panicked voice stopped in fear.

"Are only agents of the Slaugh-lùl. They do what they are told. The problem is the Slaugh-lùl. Until the clann sees that, the Weard will continue to harm the clann," the resigned voice said.

Weird? Slaw? Clan? What kind of hell had SG-1 found this time?

"The clann are afraid. Moray is overrun by the Weard. The clann do nothing. Just look at that boy…" the panicky voice said.

"Yes, look at that boy. Ian purchased his breakfast. He took it to eat. The Weard waited until he was alone before they accused him of theft. They KNEW he had made the purchase. They KNEW he would have support in his claims. They waited until he was alone. No support for the arrest. He is innocent," the resigned voice said firmly. "They KNEW he was innocent. The Weard grow desperate to fill their quotas now that there are no crimes. The clann made sure they could not arrest women. But no Weard has been arrested for èignich. Instead the woman is considered bean-sìthe and ignored. The problem lies in the Slaugh-lùl."

"And to speak against the Slaugh-lùl is to invite arrest or disappearance," another resigned voice said.

"How do you know?" the panicky voice asked.

"Because I was arrested just the day after I protested the actions of the Weard," the new voice said.

"Fionlagh, you cannot be sure the Slaugh-lùl sent the Weard after you," the first resigned voice said.

"Yes, I can," Fionlagh said. "I was accused and arrested just like Ian was, Tam. I fear you were arrested because of your friendship with me."

Jack was more confused now than he had when he woke up. Why was he in a cell with political prisoners? But the names helped him figure out the origins of these people. They were Gaelic.

Jack remembered enough about the O'Neill family history to know that the Irish were of Gaelic descent. Clan O'Neill was meant to mean the entire family. Adopted and blood. The way these people were talking, the word clann meant the population. All the people.

But why was Jack with them? He was definitely NOT a political prisoner. He had killed on of their men.

Jack decided that he had gained all the information he would get with his other senses. Time to visually collect information and maybe make some new friends. Political prisoners were not the most dangerous people physically. Mentally though…

Jack let out a soft moan to alert the others to his being awake. The soft talking had stopped in response. Interesting.

Jack finally rolled over onto his back and cracked his eyes. The room was dark enough. No window. A small covered light fixture provided barely any illumination. He slowly sat up to take in the room.

The room was spartan. Benches formed along the walls. They were firmly attached to the wall. In one corner was a seat with a hole. Jack assumed that this consisted of the bathroom facilities. It was also the direction of the human waste smell.

In the opposite corner was another raised bench. On it were several cups next to a hole. Jack hoped that was for water. The rest of the bench was empty. A small door lined the back of only that bench. Interesting.

The door was in the center of one of the narrow walls. It was solid metal. It had no handles or hinges. A small barred window allowed the guards to see into the cell. The rest of the walls were bare. The floor was bare. Jack would say that this was a very secure cell, and he had seen more than his fair share of cells.

"Are you alright, lad?" the first resigned voice said.

Jack turned to look at the man. He put face with the voice. Tam was the man's name. The man was about Jack's age. Lad? Really?

"I'm confused, but physically I'm fine. What happened?" Jack asked.

"You were brought in here with Ian," Tam said softly while gesturing to another young man. "You have only now recovered from the effects of the stunner."

Jack looked over to here where Tam had indicated. He noted the young man named Ian. He was the same man SG-1 had seen fleeing in the woods before all hell broke out.

"He recovered first?" Jack asked.

"Yes. Most likely because they had arrested and stunned him first. I am called Tam," Tam introduced himself.

"Nice to meet you Tam. I'm Jack," Jack replied.

"Jock?" Tam replied. "I have a son name Jock." He said with a smile and then he frowned. "I fear for my family now that I will be taken to Tràill Slubhail."

"Jack… How long do those stunners last?" Jack asked focusing on gathering intel.

"Once you have been hit with a blast, the stunning effect lasts for half a day. Ian only woke from the affects a short time ago," the other resigned voice had said. "I am Fionlagh. You can call me Finn."

"Finn," Jack said with a nod of his head. Half-a-day? Shit.

"Why did the Weard arrest you?" Finn asked. "We are all going to the same place. I thought it might be nice to know who the eucoireach were with me."

"Weird?" Jack asked. "Were those the guys chasing Ian?" Jack was starting to get the feeling SG-1 had run into a different variant of Nazi out here in the galaxy. Just their luck the Gestapo was called weird.

"Yes," Ian answered. "I am sorry I led them to you and your friends."

"Don't worry, kid. If it is any consolation, one of them is dead. Maybe more. I kind of don't recall the rest of that firefight," Jack replied to reassure Ian.

"What do you mean?" Finn asked him.

"My team was walking in the woods heading for your city. We saw Ian run by being chased by a bunch of guys in uniform. We didn't interfere. That has gone badly in the past for us. Sorry, Ian," Jack said.

"Tuig. I thought the woods were abandoned. I tried to avoid you when I saw you," Ian replied.

"No harm, no foul," Jack said. "Anyway, most of the uniforms break off from chasing Ian to stop and talk to us. Daniel does his peaceful explorer speech. The head uniform just glares and accuses us of carrying weapons, which we were. Again, bad experiences. He tells us to surrender to their arrest. I tell him no. I take him out as my team breaks for the rally point. After that we were in a running gun battle with the rest of the uniforms. I know Daniel and Teal'c made it to the safe zone. Carter was about to try when I woke up here," Jack said.

Tam and Finn were staring at him with wide eyes and open mouths. But another man looked at Jack with a calculating eye.

"You are laogh," the man said. "I am called Teàrlagh."

"It depends on what a laogh is…" Jack replied.

"One who fights," Teàrlagh replied.

"A warrior. Yes, I fight for my planet and my team. But we came here to make friends and meet people," Jack said.

"I do not think the Slaugh-lùl want any friends. It is unfortunate that you met the Weard first," Finn said softly.

But Teàrlagh smiled, "I think it is most fortunate. You are an outsider. The Weard have only dealt with the clann. The clann are mostly cowed into doing what the Slaugh-lùl want. You are just what the clann needs to remove the Slaugh-lùl from power."

Jack sighed. He hated politicians on every planet. "This is not my planet. You want them gone, then get rid of them. There are more of you than them. If you are willing to fight for it, then you are willing to die for it."

"We are already condemned to death," the panicky voice spoke up. "There are ten of us now."

"Not to death, Tavish, to the Tràill Slubhail," Tam said reassuringly. "They are supposed to feed and shelter us there. We just cannot leave."

"It is still our death to our lives here," Tavish said in a panic.

"What is the Tràill Slubhail?" Jack asked. "I assume it is a prison of some kind."

"Yes," Tam said. "It is where eucoireach were put to work for their food and shelter digging out a needed mineral in the ground. When the Slaugh-lùl ran out of eucoireach, they declared it a place to put the clann without a home. Now, if you are arrested, you are sent there regardless of your crime."

"It's a mine run on slave labor," Jack reiterated. "I can work with that. How long has it been in operation? Do you know how many miners are in the mine?" Jack was already planning on how best to escape. He had escaped from mines before.

"The Tràill Slubhail has been in operation for decades. Millions of the clann have been sent there. None have returned," Finn said grimly.

"Millions?" Jack clarified. No mine was big enough to house millions of living people. If no one had returned, there was a very good chance that this was the equivalent of a gas house the SS used to kill millions of Jewish people during World War II.

"Which is why it is a death sentence," Tavish said.

"But the mineral still shows up at the factories…" Tam pled with Tavish.

Wait, Jack had heard these guys talk about them moving the prisoners when they had ten people.

"Why is the number ten important?" Jack asked.

"The Weard only move the newly arrested once they have reached ten prisoners. We are now ten," Finn said.

Jack started to try and figure out why they would wait until they had ten. The mineral they needed was still showing up. It was still being mined. But the mine had a high enough turnover that they needed new workers. Currently, that number had stabilize at around ten.

Right then, the door on the raised bench opened. Bowls were pushed into the room and the door closed. The men got up and took a bowl. Ah, meal time. Jack took the last bowl and saw that it was the standard prison fare, gruel. Joy!

Jack ate his meal and returned the bowl. He examined the cups and basin to see that it was water. It flowed and drained to keep it clean. Jack took a few cups. He set the cup back down and wandered over to the toilet facilities. After a quick use, he was bored again.

About an hour later, the window on the door opened. The guard looked in the room.

"Time to go," the guard stated. "Line up. Follow direction to the transport. Line up in the courtyard."

The prisoners all lined up. Jack tried to stay near the front of the line. He preferred to see where he was going. The prisoners were all directed to the courtyard and told to line up. The transport was backed up next to the line. The back of the transport was opened.

"Go inside. One at a time," a guard directed them.

Jack spent his time examining the set up. The courtyard walls were at least twenty feet tall. The gate was closed and made of metal. All around the prisoners were guards with the stun guns Jack had seen in the forest. The ratio was two guard to one prisoner. Not good odds.

Jack finally was told to enter the back of the vehicle. The transport. It was laid out just like the cell only smaller. Jack took a seat on the bench and waited. When the last of the prisoners entered, the back door was closed. A subtle light came on. It was too soft to waken them, but bright enough to allow them to find the toilet if needed. How thoughtful!

Jack got up to examine the door interior. He couldn't find anything on it. No controls on this side of the door. Shit! He sat back down and tried to get comfortable. He wedged himself in a corner and fell into a doze.

SG-SG-SG-SG-SG-SG-SG-SG

The trip was long. Jack had rested and stretched and rested some more. He was hungry and thirsty by the time the vehicle finally came to a stop. He stood and made sure to start stretching his muscles. He didn't think he would get a chance to escape yet, but it was easier to dodge if he was limber.

The door finally opened and blinding light poured into the vehicle. Jack blinked to adjust his eyes as quickly as possible. He stood to one side of the door. He could vaguely see the ring of guards around the back of the vehicle. Definitely no escape yet. He could bid his time.

"Come out and line up," a guard yelled into the vehicle.

Jack took the invitation and carefully stepped out of the back of the vehicle. He moved slowly to make sure no one shot him by accident. He moved to one side to make room for the others. The others in the truck repeated his actions and started to line up behind him. Most of the men were out of the vehicle when a form shot out the back and ran to one side.

"Oh no, Ian," Tam said softly a few men from Jack.

Sure enough, Jack watched as Ian ran for freedom. But the guards were waiting for just this sort of thing and shot him with a stun gun. Ian dropped to the ground a few feet from the vehicle. After he fell, the guards ignored him.

"Alright, now that we have that cleared up. Welcome to Tràill Slubhail. You will be expected to work after morning meal until evening meal. You can rest after evening meal until morning meal," the guard announced the rules as he walked up and down in front of the new prisoners. "Any time you resist the guards, you will receive special attention. If you attempt to harm the guards, you will receive special attention. We will not hesitate to kill you. The only reason you are alive is to work." The guard turned to the other guards, "To the mine."

Jack had listened to the rules as he scanned the outside area. This part of the mine was not in a compound like he assumed it would be. There were buildings, but no fence. No guards either. One of the buildings looked like barracks. Another was just a roof over boxes of ore. Likely where they stored the mined mineral. There was another building set off to one side. It looked like a crematorium. Jack really didn't like the look of that building.

The guards gestured to Jack to led the line into the mouth of the mine. Jack could make out the standard rail tracks that brought the ore to the surface. He was taken down along a path next to that track. The track split into three lines, but it was currently rusted on one track. That was the track that the guard led Jack down.

Where the tunnels split, the guards had built a recreation room of wood. As Jack passed it, he could see that it was used by the guards for meals and entertainment away from the prisoners. That also meant that the prisoners likely never made it back up this far. Interesting.

The tunnel after the recreation room narrowed and followed a winding path for several hundred meters. Sporadic lighting kept the tunnel from becoming oppressive and hiding any footing hazards. As it was, Jack was glad he still had his boots.

The tunnel finally widened but it was only another several hundred meters further down that the echoes of mining could be heard. Hammers on stone. Jack hated that sound. His hands ached just hearing it.

"Stop here," the guard leading him told Jack.

Jack complied. What the hell, the lighting was better. This part of the tunnel had the prisoners in it. All the prisoners were chained in place next to the rail track. The bedding for the prisoners was near the track just shy of the center of the tunnel. Each chain bolt held up to four chains for prisoners. But quite of few were empty.

Crap! That means a really high turnover. Not good.

The first grouping had three empty chains. The one surviving prisoner was working and eyeing them while he worked. Jack took note that he didn't even seem to slow down. Survivor.

"You. Come here," a second guard told Jack. He walked over to the chains and was shackled in place. "Sit and wait. You. Come here," the guard told the next in line, Teàrlagh. "Sit and wait. The last set is for your stunned friend."

The line moved down to the next chain bolt and then the next until all the men were shackled. Then they brought tools for the men to work. Jack didn't try to get up and grab the hammer until he was told. He figured he would wait as long as he had to before he actually had to start mining… again. God, he hated mining.

"Now work," the guard said.

Jack slowly stood, "God, I hate mining." He took the hammer and moved to the wall. He limbered up his back and arms and started to swing the hammer. "I hope you know what we are actually trying to mine. Otherwise, we are just making big rocks into small rocks," Jack said as he addressed their new partner in the chain gang. "I'm Jack."

"Teàrlagh," Teàrlagh introduced himself while swinging his hammer.

"Shaw," the man said. "We are mining the mineral."

"Do you know what the mineral looks like?" Jack asked. He was more than familiar with a few raw ores from his various planetary surveys. Most notably naquadah and trinium.

"I do," Shaw said. He picked up a rock from the ground at his feet. "That is the mineral."

"Fucking naquadah, figures," Jack sighed.

"What?" Shaw asked.

"Your mineral is naquadah," Jack said.

"You have seen this mineral before, Outlander," Teàrlagh said with wonder as he continued to work his hammer.

"Seen it? Shit! The damn snakeheads fight planetary wars over this shit. It powers their spaceships. Their staff weapons, fighters, you name it. My planet mines it too, but we don't use fucking hammers," Jack said as he swung the hammer at the wall.

Shaw continued to work while glancing at Jack, "Are you truly an outlander?"

"Yeah," Jack said while working. "Met the weird guard first thing. Killed one. Got shot. Here I am."

"Isn't it marvelous?" Teàrlagh said while working. "I see that he will be the catalyst to bring change to the clann."

"By killing?" Shaw said.

"If you want to be free, you have to fight for it," Jack said. "Live or die. I choose to survive."

"But you are not free," Shaw pointed out.

"This is only temporary. I am alive. As long as I am alive, I have hope," Jack said. "Your Gestapo can't take that away. Only you can lose your hope."

"Who is gestapo?" Teàrlagh asked.

"On my planet, we had a government not too unlike yours. Their leader thought he knew it all. Wanted to impose his view of morality on the world. The soldiers who carried out his orders to hunt and kill were a part of his gestapo. His elite were the SS. My world defeated him and his ideals over 75 years ago. But we still feel the scars he left. The lessons he taught my world," Jack sighed. World War II was a scar on Earth. A slowly healing scar.

"Like the crematorium upstairs. That is most likely where they take the bodies of all the dead from the mines. Finn said that MILLIONS of people have been sent to this mine. The security I saw above does not look like it could keep millions of people contained. That means millions of people have died and been cremated," Jack said harshly. His hammer blows hit harder to bring out his anger and frustration on the rock.

"Do you know for sure?" Teàrlagh asked.

Jack laughed, "I'm a fucking outlander. I don't know shit for sure. But I have seen evil before. My planet had dealt with evil before. And those fucking crematoriums were center fucking stage for that evil."

"He is right," Shaw whispered. "The guards… they do not care if we live or die. They almost prefer that we die. When we die, they take the bodies away. But I had not heard of anyone from Tràill Slubhail escaping before I came here. Nor had I heard of bodies piling up anywhere."

"What do we do?" Teàrlagh asked as he continued to hammer at the wall.

"We survive," Jack said.

"We survive," Shaw echoed.

"We survive," Teàrlagh agreed.

SG-SG-SG-SG-SG-SG-SG-SG

A few hours later, evening meal came by. The prisoners turned in their hammers and waited while they were given food and water for the evening. The food was gruel again. Ian was brought to their chain bolt and secured even though he was still stunned. The guards told them that they expected them to tell him the rules and he would receive special attention tomorrow night. Shaw shuddered.

Once they left Jack turned to Shaw, "What does that mean, special attention?"

"It means he will be èignich tomorrow evening," Shaw said.

"Èignich?" Jack asked looking at Teàrlagh. He was usually good at explaining the words Jack didn't understand.

"I… I thought that only women were èignich…" Teàrlagh whispered.

"There are no women here. We are not allowed to fight. They choose a different man every night for special attention. I choose to survive," Shaw said in a whisper.

Shit! Did that mean what I think it means? Rape? Fuck!

All too soon, the guards were back cleaning up the dishes from the meal. Then they brought out a table and placed it on the other side of the rail tracks across from their chain bolt. Jack looked over at Shaw and saw the wide eyes and fear take over the man. He seemed to whisper over and over to himself. "I will survive."

The guards arrived in force. Several had stun guns. One guard came up to their group.

"Since he is still stunned, you will have to do. Come on," the guard pointed at Teàrlagh.

Teàrlagh swallowed and stood up to follow the guard to the table. Once there the guards grabbed his arms to hold him while another pulled his pants down to his ankles. Then the guard locked his shackles to the leg of the table. The guards holding his arms slammed his chest down on the table. They yanked his arms above his head and attached them to the cuffs already attached to the table. Then they stood away. Teàrlagh struggled but was effectively held in place.

The guards laughed. The ones with the stun guns put them away further down the tunnel. The first guard opened his pants and started to stroke his cock until he was hard. Then he started using his fingers to open up Teàrlagh's ass. When the guard had stretched him three fingers he pushed in his cock and started to fuck his ass.

Teàrlagh cried in pain and grunted as the guard violated his ass. After the guard had found his release, the next guard pushed himself into the already stretched and lubricated ass and sought his own pleasure. Tears fell from his face as he tried to withstand the assault. One after the other the guards took their turn.

When they were finally finished, the last guard unlocked the shackle and uncuffed Teàrlagh. "Clean up. You have work tomorrow."

Teàrlagh nodded and stood up as the guard left. He left the table. Jack was up and by Teàrlagh's side before the man fell over.

"I got you," Jack said. Carefully holding only his shoulders. "Can you make it to the other side?"

"I don't know," Teàrlagh cried as he realized his pants were still around his ankles. He tried to reach for them and started to topple over. He started to sob.

"Can I help you with them?" Jack asked.

"Yes," Teàrlagh whimpered.

Jack held one hand on Teàrlagh's chest as he reached down and pulled up his pants. Teàrlagh took over when the pants were mid-thigh. Then he clung to Jack as they walked back to the bedding. Once there, Shaw had water and cloths ready for Teàrlagh.

Jack got Teàrlagh to lay down on his bedding and asked him what he wanted them to do. Specifically, if he wanted them to clean him up or he wanted to try it himself. Teàrlagh wanted to try himself. He attempted several times before Jack told him to rest.

Then Jack told him about the time he had experience the same thing. He survived. He knew Teàrlagh would survive as well. Would Teàrlagh trust him to help him on this one thing? Teàrlagh relented. Jack was quick and gentle as he cleaned him up. He made sure Teàrlagh's pants were tightly belted back on and told him he would be sore for several days.

Teàrlagh cried himself to sleep.

"He survived the first night. His chances are good," Shaw said.

"Yeah, I know. The damage wasn't too bad. At least they aren't drugging him too," Jack said. Recalling his own incident.

"You truly have suffered this before?" Shaw asked sadly.

"Unfortunately, yes. I was wounded and left for dead by my team. I was captured and put in a prison. The wound healed, but hey kept giving me the drugs to keep me drugged and out of it. Beatings, rapes. I was later told that I was rescued after four months. Mostly I remember pain and shame and being left behind," Jack told Shaw.

"Tuig," Shaw said.

Jack smiled at Shaw, "But no drugs this time. No beatings. Only an inescapable prison. Easy peasy."

"You have a strange sense of what is easy, Jack," Shaw said with a sigh.

"Let's get some sleep. We have work tomorrow," Jack said, as his mind was already trying to formulate a plan for tonight's scouting mission.

Jack still had his lock picks in his belt and a spare set in his boots. Too many off-world prisons used these old-style locks. And they usually let him keep either his belt or his boots. This world was kind enough to let him keep both.

Jack already knew the layout of the entrance to the mine. Tonight he would scout the lower end of the shaft. He waited until everyone had drifted off to sleep, then he picked his shackles and scouted out the mine shaft.

SG-SG-SG-SG-SG-SG-SG-SG