Author's Note: I do not own the Stargate. If I did I'd be out in the universe meeting new and interesting people and going where no man has gone before. But I don't own the Stargate, so I'll just have to be satisfied with writing about it. I'm updating again! You're probably wondering why. Well I'm off to college again soon and while I still plan to update as often as I can, I won't be updating as often. So I want to use what's left of my summer break to its fullest potential. Also thank you for all of your wonderful reviews and remember to follow and favorite. As always I hope you enjoy. Italics indicate Abydonian.
Chapter Thirty
Serpent's Song
"It's hot!" Jack grumbled for the tenth time in the last hour. He was lying nearly all the way onto his back on the steps of the Stargate.
The world we'd gated to was a desert planet. Nothing but sand, sand, and you guessed it more sand for as far as the eye could see. I was used to this kind of climate, and after two years of living on Abydos I had come to love it. However, my other team members, Dani excluded, were not loving it as much as I.
"It's really really hot." Jack whined.
"Thanks for the update." I threw back with a giggle. Where I was sitting I had my hat off and my hair pulled free of its usual pony tail. My face was turned up to the pleasant burn of the sun with my eyes closed.
"Are you human, because no human could live in this?" Jack shifted his gun from where it'd been resting at his side so it was lying across his lap.
Teal'c quirked his eyebrow at Jack's question. He stood at the ready near the DHD. "O'Neill, that last time I surveyed our team the only alien I found was myself. If you wish I could assess the status of Erin Clark again."
My eyelids cracked open a fraction and I caught a smirk on the Jaffa's face. Then so fast that it could make you question whether you have seen anything at all, Teal'c's face was back to its stoic mask.
"Was that a joke?" Jack asked sounding impressed.
"Sir." Sam interjected. She stood and held up a scanner into the air. "I'm not getting any energy readings and I think if the Tok'ra were going to contact us they would have by now."
"That's presuming it was the Tok'ra who contacted us." My brother noted. "All we received was a set of coordinates."
"But on our radio frequencies, who else would send us a signal like that?" She stuffed the scanner back into her pocket.
"You know…" Jack rose from the steps. Once he fixed his cap on straight he headed for the DHD. "I'm not really too crazy about this 'don't call us we'll call you' policy."
"Yeah." I agreed. "I appreciate all they've done for us, but it does complicate having an alliance."
Ka-BOOM! The nearby explosion shook the ground. From our vantage point a plume of smoke was just visible over the sand dunes.
My ears were still ringing and I held my pounding head. "What the…?"
"There." Teal'c, all joking gone, pointed up into the sky.
A familiar, and at the same time terrifying, hum filed the air. I followed the line of Teal'c's arm. Two little black dots were flying closer and closer towards us. My stomach dropped. Death Gliders! Two of them.
"Drop!" Jack shouted just as they flew over us.
Only they didn't fire, not at us at least. The farthest back glider shot at the other and clipped its wing. The damaged glider careened hazardously and dipped at a ninety degree angle to crash to the ground in an explosion of sand.
SG-1 took off at a run to the crash site. Jack, Teal'c and I, the fastest, reached the downed glider first. The glass like shield over the cockpit was shattered but looking in we found no pilot present. Had it been a remote controlled glider?
A grunt from the other side of the crash shot down that theory. We ran around to the source of the sound, careful of the still burning debris. A man in Jaffa armor was crawling by his hands on the ground. His armor had numerous holes in it and through those holes charred skin was visible. It was horrible for anyone to endure that and pity welled in my stomach.
Then the man rolled over to face our approaching team and I swallowed my tongue.
Jack readied his gun and flipped the safety off. "Holy buckets!"
Teal'c said nothing, only raising his staff and shoving it in man's face. I followed suit and undid my side arm and cocked it.
"Oh my god!" Daniel shouted when he and Sam came to a stop behind me and got a good look at the man we were aiming our weapons at. "It that who I think it is?"
The man's eyes flashed a light gold. "Help me!" Apophis demanded. He attempted to raise himself into a sitting position and when he failed he glared, as if it was our fault we dared to witness him in such a weakened position. "Tau'ri, please." A pleading tone permeated his voice. Apophis simply didn't plead.
Teal'c activated his staff and prepared to fire. Apophis's eyes grew wide. In his struggle to back away he fell onto his back and he coughed, blood seeping out of his mouth as he did so.
"Teal'c!" Sam shouted. "Apophis is much more valuable to us alive than dead."
He turned his head, a snarl on his lips showing his displeasure. For a moment I thought he would fire anyway. I almost wanted him to. He twisted the staff's shaft and… it clipped shut.
Apophis sighed in relief, exhaustion nearly making him pass out. Suddenly his eyes snapped open as that familiar hum thrilled in our ear drums and he thrust his battered arm out to point behind us.
Sam raised her weapon in the direction he was pointing. "Sir. We've got incoming."
Several death gliders we bearing down on our position. In the distance the faint outline of a landing Goa'uld mothership peeked through the clouds.
"Oh boy." Jack raise his weapon at the incoming gliders and glanced down at Apophis, his desire to leave the snake behind all over his face. "Oh hell we're taking him with us. Dial us up and get us out of here!" He ordered Daniel and I while he and Teal'c hefted Apophis up to drag him along. They were none to gentle with him, and even if the situation allowed them the time to be gentle I doubted they would have.
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Jack was the last to come through the gate. The second he made it the iris closed behind him. Several loud thumps of what was likely weapons fire bounded off the iris before the gate shut down.
Apophis was lying on the ramp with a host of medial officers busying themselves with his injuries. Janet was among them. She peeled open a bandage and placed it over a bleeding gash on his leg and helped to move him onto a gurney.
The blast doors opened and Hammond walked though. "Colonel? SG-1? What happened?"
Jack came to a stop next to where Apophis was lying. "General Hammond. Apophis." His tone was mocking as he introduced our prisoner. "Apophis." His smile was smug. "General Hammond."
Hammond was not impressed. He narrowed his eyes and snarled, "We've met."
"I demand Kal Mah!" Apophis yelled with such fervor that he startled some of the nurses working on him.
Jack and Hammond looked to me for a translation. "It sounds like he's asking for…" I began.
"Sanctuary." Teal'c finished.
A disbelieving laugh escaped Hammond. "Why?"
Jack grinned. "I think some rival Goa'uld just kicked his ass."
Hammond huffed at Jack's answer and looked to Sam for clarification. Sam unclipped her P-90 from her belt as she answered. "There were several other death gliders in pursuit when we took him prisoner, sir."
"I demand Kal Mah!" Apophis screamed louder than before, breaking up the side conversation.
Hate filled Hammond's gaze as the gurney that Apophis was on rolled up to his side. "You're not in a position to demand anything, sir. Lock him up."
The SF's who'd been watching the scene play out silently up until now stepped up to grab the Goa'uld off the gurney.
Janet gasped and placed herself between them and Apophis. "Sir, with all due respect, he is badly injured. He is not going to be any good to you at all unless we get him to the O.R. right now." She protested.
Hammond and Doctor glared at each other, waiting for the other to crack first. "Fine." He gave in. "Do what you need to keep him alive, Doctor. We've got a lot of questions that need answers."
Janet nodded. "Yes, sir. OK, let's move him. I'm going to start him on two IV's and run Ringer's Lactate wide open. Let's go." She led the race of meds that rushed Apophis out of the gate room.
The SF's were still standing where they had been when Janet prevented them from taking Apophis. "I want four SFs posted at all times." Hammond ordered them. "If he attempts to escape, you're authorized to do whatever is necessary to stop him."
They nodded and followed Janet and her procession out.
The age showed now more than ever when the General blew out a long, deep breath and faced SG-1. "We'll debrief at 1100hrs." And he stalked out.
Tonight was going to be a long night. A SF walked up the ramp and reached out for my handgun, which I handed over gratefully. The rest of SG-1 did the same and turn and headed out of the gate room to clean up before debrief.
I paused at the end of the ramp and twisted my head to look over my shoulder at the Stargate. "What have you gotten us into this time?" I asked it silently and I faced back around, ready to leave a get a much needed shower. Then something caught my eye in the control room.
Skaara.
Through the glass I saw that his face was pale and his hands were shaking. With a jolt I realized he'd witnessed everything that had just happened. Skaara didn't even acknowledge I was there, he just ran.
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Hammond had excused me from the briefing on Apophis's condition. Daniel could fill me in later. The General and I had agreed that I needed to find Skaara. A task that was proving most difficult at the moment. No one had seen him since Apophis had been brought in, which had been hours ago.
I checked his quarters first. He wasn't there. Then my quarters. Still nothing.
A thought pushed at the back of my mind. One other place that he could be. I walked through the halls silently until I reached my destination.
My hand hesitated on the door handle. Then mustering my courage I pushed open the door to Klorel's cell.
There in the back of the room on the bunk bed behind the bars was Skaara. He was curled in on himself, his knees pulled to his chest and his face staring blankly at the wall.
"Skaara?" I asked closing the door behind me. He jumped a fraction when my voice startled him, but otherwise he remained staring at the wall. "What are you doing in here?"
The barred door was left ajar ad pushing it open just enough so I could enter, I sat down opposite Skaara on the cot.
"Skaara?" I prodded slightly.
"I don't really know." He spoke so low he was barely audible. "For the longest time this was the one place I knew I wouldn't be able to hurt anyone. The only place of relief. It almost feels safe… almost." He still refused to meet my gaze. "Why is he here? You know what he made me do." His tone was accusatory.
"Skaara, none of that was your fault. It wasn't you."
His expression darkened. "If I'd been stronger I could have stopped myself." He suddenly whipped around to face me. "I nearly killed you!" He roared.
"Klorel was the one who tried to kill me. You stopped him." The moment on the Goa'uld ship where Skaara had managed to shoot himself before Klorel killed me flashed through my mind and made me wince.
"Then why couldn't I stop him when he hurt others. You don't know how many people I've tortured, how many I've killed with these hands." Skaara thrust his hands out towards me. "And the monster that made me into that thing is right here. Your Earth doctors are helping him. And I can't stand it." He snarled and pushed off the cot.
I sat there in shock as he stormed past me out of the cell and out into the hallway. My heart was cracking at the parts that had barely begun to heal.
"Hey!" Someone shouted from out in the hall from what I guessed was a near collision on Skaara's part in trying to get away as quickly as possible. Then there was a thump and the pitter patter of running feet.
"Great." My head rested in my hands, my fingers yanking at my hair. "I don't know what to do." I whispered to myself. Then with an exhausted sigh I stood from the bunk and walked out of the cell.
There, still lying on the floor was Sergeant Syler sprawled on the floor covered in a host of wires and electrical tools. The tangle of wires was preventing him from standing himself up.
"Syler you okay there?" I asked while pulling the bulk of wires off him and offering him my hand.
"Yes, Ma'am. I'm used to it by now." He grumbled as I helped him up.
"Sorry, that may have been my fault."
"No, no its alright. No harm done." He gathered his equipment into his arms. "I'm sorry Ma'am but I need to get these up to the control room. Um… bye" And with that he scurried away.
I crossed my arms, walked across the hall, and banged my head against the cement wall a few times. There was no sign of Skaara anywhere and even if I did know where he went, it was probably a good idea to leave him be for the moment.
All that was left now was to speak to the snake who was responsible for all of this. Apophis.
Author's Note: I'm thinking about starting a series of one shots based on Skaara's perspective from this story, ranging from Abydos, to his time as a Goa'uld host, all the way through the rest of what I have yet to write. Is this something you all would like to read? I'd also love suggestions both for this new project as well as this story. As I've said some major changes are coming soon. I'm really torn between two directions I could take Erin. It'd be a huge help for me if any of you lovely people would private message me and I could bounce my ideas off you and get a read of whether what I have planned will make you all hate me. Just kidding, you all have been so wonderful that I couldn't imagine you hating me. I don't want to reveal everything to everybody or to people who don't want the story spoiled. In addition I want to write something you'd enjoy but at the same time I also want to stay true to my characters and plans for them. So please pm me, I'm desperate for help. Thank you.