Chapter 19
Two weeks later, the wormhole disengaged as Rosha stepped on the ramp, Sam was already at the gate room waiting for her.
"Rosha," she welcomed the Tok'ra.
"Major Carter."
"Don't worry, we've got a plan," Sam said before Rosha could even explain why she was there. Carter signaled her to step away from the ramp, and as soon as they were out of it, six officers were moving it to the side. The ancient ship appeared above the Stargate and landed on the ground as the back door opened. "Come."
Sam walked to the front seat beside Jack, Rosha entered the ship and took place behind Sam while Jack closed the back door and adjusted the screen they needed. Taking out a piece of paper from her pocket, Sam pressed the triangles that were in the console between she and Jack, the gate started the dialing process, and soon they were going through it. On the other side, Jack didn't stop on the planet but flew away until they were close to a red planet.
"Rosha, is this the moon we are searching for?" Sam asked turning around
"Indeed, it is."
"Carter, I'm picking several ships. Now the question is, in which one is Sokar?" Jack asked.
"That one," Rosha said as she pointed to one of the ships
"Are you sure?" Sam asked.
"Yes, he likes to be close to the moon. The rings on Bynarr's room, are often used to transport him to Sokar's ship."
"Ok. So, here's the plan. I'll drop you two on the moon, and you get Bynarr while I take care of Sokar, once you are done we meet on Sokar's ship." The two women nodded in agreement and Sam stood up to set the things she needed.
"General O'Neill, we can communicate through these," Rosha said showing him two devices. Jack picked one.
"Cool, thanks."
"Rosha, come over here," Sam called. "Here, put these in your boots like this," she said placing two different knives down her boots. Once both had them in a safe position, she gave Rosha another set and showed how to attach them to her arm. Then she added a couple more different items to different places. "Jack, we are ready," she called once she was sure Rosha wouldn't hurt herself with the things she was carrying.
"We are here. Before you go, can you point me Sokar's throne room?" Jack asked bringing the mothership blue prints.
"Here," Rosha pointed.
"Thanks! Well, girls, good luck!." He called over his shoulder opening the back door for them. Once they were out of the ship, Jack kept his eyes on them until they disappeared from his line of sight. Then he flew towards Sokar's ship while the women found their way towards Bynarr chamber.
"His chambers are on the other side of those doors," Rosha whispered to Sam when they were around the corner. Sam separated herself from the wall enough to catch the doors and return to her hiding spot.
"Are you ok?" Sam asked noticing some discomfort in Rosha's expression.
"I will be."
In that precise moment, the doors opened. Around the corner, two bulky men dragged a battered man in the middle of them. Rosha was looking at Bynarr while Sam kept her eyes on the three men. Then she noticed who they were dragging.
"Dad," she whimpered. When Rosha heard what Sam had said, she turned to check the three men. Her eyes widened in shock when she spotted Jacob.
"Major Carter, are you ok?"
"Yeah, give me the device, I need to tell Jack." Rosha nodded giving her their comm.
"Jack, can you hear me?"
"Yes. I'm on Sokar's ship heading towards the throne room. What happened?"
"Dad's here." She said.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes…" she inhaled deeply, the memory of her beaten up father to fresh in her memory. "I believe Sokar found out he is a Tok'ra."
"That's not good."
"I know, I need to change our plans, Jack. I need to get him."
"Ok. Just make sure you get Bynarr."
"I'll deal with him," Rosha said.
"I guess we have a plan, I'll get dad and Rosha will get Bynarr."
"Sounds good to me! Hey, Sam, I gotta go."
"Remember what we talked about," Sam said returning the comm to Rosha.
"Yes, I know."
They nodded to each other before each took a different way. While Sam was trailing behind the trio, Rosha entered Bynarr's room with a knife draw.
Somewhere inside the underground labyrinth, Jacob was placed on a cell floor before they locked it and walked away.
With her heart beating in her throat, she waited for a while making sure no one came searching for the prisoners of that cell. Once she was reassured they were out of surveillance, she stood in front of the door checking the lock. However, she had already lost too much time following them without being noticed, so she went for three shots of her zat.
The lock disappeared, and she opened the cell. It was big and had many people that for the looks had passed enough time down there.
"You are free to go; the lock is gone," Sam said aloud hoping that by speaking out, her father would call her over.
"Sam? is that you?" His voice called her.
"Dad?" She saw him sitting on the ground. "Dad!" she said again as she crouched, to his level and in a swift movement grabbed her canteen from inside the holding spot in her jacket. Gratefully, Jacob took a couple of mouthfuls before passing it back to Sam.
"How long have you been here?" She said placing the canteen back on its stop after taking a sip herself.
"Three days, I think. How did you get here?"
"The ship." She affirmed. "Okay, dad… we need to get out of here."
"How exactly you plan to do that?"
"With back-up of course," Sam grinned. "Rosha and Jack are here. She's taking care of Bynarr while he's dealing with Sokar."
"I like backup," Jacob nodded tiredly. Sam stood up and helped him stand.
"Come on, Dad. Let's go home," she said helping him walk towards the exit. Surprisingly, everyone who was in there remained in their same spots. "Follow us if you want your freedom," Sam said aloud as they walked towards the exit.
"Dad, any ideas of how many weapons are in here?" she asked as she got her zat out and armed.
"One zat and one staff weapon. The two guys who dragged me there have them." Sam nodded.
"Watcha say if we free some people?"
"That you are spending too much time with Jack." Jacob joked, "leave me here and go." He said. Sam nodded and started to shoot three times to every door, cell or lock she found helping the prisoners out of their cells.
"Major Carter!" Sam turned to see Rosha running towards her.
"Bynarr?" she asked.
"Dead, Selmak?" Rosha inquired, and Sam pointed towards her dad. The Tok'ra smiled when she spotted Jacob.
"He's resting. We should get out of here…"
"Follow me," Rosha said. The two of them helped Jacob move faster and walked towards Bynarr chambers.
"Dad, before we go," Sam said giving him her zat.
"Thanks," Jacob smiled firing three times at Bynarr.
"Stand here," Rosha said.
Sam and Jacob stood in where the rings are while Rosha activated the ring trans porter then quickly step inside the rings before they were activated. Sam saw that two prisoners saw what Rosha did before she steps into the rings just before they were activated.
On Sokar's ship, Jack opened his backpack and took one of the Goa'uld stun grenades out. He heard some footsteps moving away from the room and activating the grenade he rolled it inside the throne room covering his eyes to avoid being stunned.
"Oh crap!" he said as he heard staff blast being fired and opening his eyes he saw a couple of guards coming towards him.
Firing his zat, he ran into the throne room. Two Jaffa's and Sokar were sprawled on the floor, and taking advantage of the distance between the guards and him, Jack dove to get all the different items from Sokar. He heard a staff weapon being aimed.
"I wouldn't if I was you?" He said not looking up, but pointing his zat at Sokar
"He is a God."
"No, he is not."
"Who are you? Why you dare to confront a God?" one of the Jaffa asked
"General O'Neill, USAF. Earth. Tau'ri." The Jaffa frowned. "I was SG-1 leader until I was promoted…. Anyhow, Sokar is not a God, you are all free now."
"You lie! Sokar will rise."
"No, he won't. He can't if he's not here," Jack smirked.
"He is here!" The Jaffa said pointing to the body.
"Oh, you mean this fake god Sokar? Well, he's not here anymore," he finished firing the last of three zat discharges, and Sokar disappeared. At the same time, they shot at him, but the fire bounced from a shield. Allowing them to try and get him, Jack picked his backpack and walked out of the room turning around only to grin at them and zat them.
Once he reached the control room, he zatted the three guards that were there and walked towards the controls. He moved the ship away from the moon but still in range to allow the ring to work. The rings activated then and just to be on the safe side, he hid.
"Dad! You look like hell!" He welcomed the three figures. Jacob grinned.
"Thanks a lot, Jack...Sokar?"
"Gone. Let's get out of here before the Jaffa raise the alarm."
"Best idea I heard from you today," Jacob said.
They walked as quickly as they could to the cargo bay and inside the ship. And as they headed away from the moon a pale flash of light went from the moon to the ship.
"The prisoners are leaving," Jacob explained.
"Then we will stick around for a bit, before blowing up the moon."
"Blowing up? How you plan to do that, Jack?"
"Sending a couple of fire balls down there."
"Sounds like a plan," Sam said. They sat there for an hour until there were no more flashes. Jack moved the ship closer to the spot he needed to make the explosion work and fired twice.
Back on the planet, they saw a bright flash of light that pointed them that the moon had in fact blew. But by then they were already dialing the Stargate. A mid stop Jacob realized noticing it wasn't the SGC. As soon as the wormhole collapsed the rings started to move again. This time to the Tok'ra planet, Jack landed the ship closer to the rings, making it easier for Jacob to reach the rings.
"Well, this is your stop," Jack said.
"Thanks a lot!"
"You are welcomed, dad. We hope you can drop by soon, the kids miss you."
"I miss them too, Sam."
They all came down from the ship. Sam and Jacob shared a hug before he and Jack shared a hand shake. The rings were activated then, and Martouf appeared on the sand, waving at them and nodding thanks. Martouf welcomed Rosha with a kiss and helped Jacob to the rings. Once they disappeared, Jack gave Sam's hand a light squeeze before starting the fly back home.
A month later, when Sam walked to welcome Jack home after a long day in the base, she noticed something was off.
"What's wrong?" She asked pulling back and looking at him. He sighed.
"I'm sending SG1 to Edora for the next few days; the mission will be to establish a trust with them and then when the time comes, bring them all back to Earth. Once is safe to return, we will help them rebuild."
"Okay. Let's get to bed?"
"Sound's good."
They strolled to their bedroom hand in hand, and after changing, they got into bed. Sam snuggled up to his side, and he observed her for a few moments before they both fell asleep. The next morning, Jack sighed as he watched SG1 disappear through the wormhole before it was closed.
Over the course of the week, SG1 divided the task of speaking with the Edorians. And at nights, they observed the falling stars. Soon, was possible to notice with a bare eye that the asteroids were closer to the planet.
"Major Carter," one man called her. "Is this what you were trying to explain to us before?" She nodded. "This is the first fire rain I see this close to Edora."
"It will be closer with the passing days," she grimaced.
"I see."
"In a day's time, they will be too close, and they will start to fall into Edora. As I mentioned before, you are all welcomed to my home planet; we have everything you might need. Once it's safe to return, then we will help you rebuild and with everything in our hands." A small asteroid fell close to where they were.
"Will you keep your word?" another man asked.
"Yes"
"What about our past? They survived this a hundred and fifty years ago; we can survive as they could." Someone else commented, and there were some agreeing mumbles.
"I don't doubt it," Ferretti said gaining their attention, "questions are, how many were lost last time? And are you willing to risk losing a loved one?"
"The choice is yours," Sam added with a small shrug. "either way, we are returning to our home early in the morning. We want you to live and to live safely, if you want that too, then meet us at the Stargate at first light. "
That night SG1 packed their things knowing they wouldn't be able to shut their eyes. Only their sleeping bags remained unpacked as they lay on the floor watching the meteor shower and at the same time, ready to run if they had to. When the sun started to rise, they rolled their sleeping bags and attached them to their backpacks before they started their way to the Stargate.
As they walked away from the spot they spent the night at, they heard a colliding sound turning around in time to see that the place where they were before was now covered with two burning rocks of considerable size. They took that as a sign to hurry up, although Daniel took his camera out and recorded the events as they walked quickly.
"Major Carter," Teal'c said, as they reached the gate. Sam turned around and followed his pointed staff to the hillside. A good number or Edorians were rushing to them
"Ferretti, dial it up!" She grinned, and he did as she ordered.
"Stargate Command this is Sierra Golf One," Sam said sending her code.
"This is Stargate command, report," Jack's voice reached them.
"It has started, sir."
"Villagers?"
"We are sending them through, stand by." She grinned.
"Copy that, we are ready and waiting."
With that, the fourth of them took the task to help the people up the steps and convincing them that walking through the gate wouldn't hurt them.
"Daniel, Ferretti take the FRED through. Teal'c and I will stay just in case more come," she said once all the villagers from the group had crossed over. Driving the FRED up the ramp, and through, Ferretti crossed over, and with one last look at them, Daniel crossed.
Never one to stand and wait, Sam tossed her GDO to Teal'c as the wormhole disengaged behind them.
"I'll go and try talk to the remaining villagers. If any of them head this way, send them through."
"Be careful, Major Carter," Teal'c bowed.
"I will," she threw over her shoulders already running towards the village.
Sam spent the next hour trying to convince the remaining villagers to leave when they all heard a loud noise. Running outside, they could see how an asteroid hit the hill making the planet shake.
"There's not much time left," Sam said with a worried frown. "The next asteroid might hit this village, you've seen their size… please? Come with me."
"Guide them, Major Carter, and we will find the others and go to the Stargate."
"Thank you," Sam smiled.
"Major Carter, the word is that two teenagers are missing," Teal'c told her as someone else let him know that.
"The houses are empty, Teal'c."
"The caves," the Jaffa said, Sam's eyes widened.
"You know where that is?"
"Indeed."
"Very well. Stargate command, we got two teenagers missing. Teal'c might know where they are, we going to get them." On the other side, Jack clenched his jaw and sighed.
"Copy that, SG1. Be careful," Jack said
"We will." She said, and they rushed out of the gate and towards the caves. They spotted the missing teenagers easily. "What are you two doing here? Come on; everyone else is gone."
"Our ancestors' survived here, so can we," Garran explained bravely.
"Your families are worried about you two. We are the only ones who remain; your world is too dangerous now." As if to prove her point a loud boom was heard outside, making the two teenagers run towards them. "We will need to run, are you ready?" They nodded and ran to the Stargate; Sam stopped in front of the DHD and Teal'c sent the code. As soon as she got her green light, they all ran to the other side.
"Garran! Naytha" Was the first thing they heard. The teenagers ran to their waiting parents, while Sam and Teal'c walked to stand before Jack.
"Well, done. Go, you know the drill. Once you are free to come and help, we certainly need all hands-on deck."
"Yes, sir," Sam said. Then she and Teal'c walked out of the gate room.
Over the next five days, and due to the Edora refugees, Jack was swamped with paperwork to cover their basic needs, and the others were busy keeping them happy as best as they could seeing that they couldn't leave them out of the SGC. By day sixth, Jack was ready to shoot to the first person who placed a requirement about potatoes or something like that. Knowing him, Sam told him that it was a good time to return to Edora and check the situation.
Jack tried hard to keep his face expressionless, but the smile was still hinted as they jumped on the ship and flew to the destroyed planet. Searching the village, they gasped when they noticed the amount of destruction that occurred. Half of the homes were distorted while the other half were completely collapsed. Jack gave Sam's hand a quick squeeze.
"If you hadn't spoken to them, Sam. A lot of lives would have been lost," he whispered and lost of words she nodded.
"Go left?" Jack nodded and turned around. "Stop straight ahead."
"Why?" She shrugged. "Wow, that must have been some impact," Jack said
"Yeah, I thought so." He frowned. "This is where the gate was, Jack."
"You are joking."
"No." They exchanged a knowing glance before returning to Earth.
With the ship back in its spot, they went to talk to the Edorians. There were yelling coming out of one of the larger rooms. The moment they entered it, they started to rant at them. Jack raised his hand hoping they would give them time to talk but nothing happened.
"WILL YOU LET US TALK!" He said using his best drill sergeant voice. The room went silent; the before loud men looked at them a bit frightened. Jack nodded at Sam.
"General O'Neill and I have just returned from Edora." A look from Jack stopped them from mumbling. "I regret to inform you; the damages are many. And most of your village doesn't exist anymore. We will keep our promise." Sam said looking at Jack.
"We intend to help you rebuild your homes, bridges. What we think is safe to return to Edora. However, there's nothing much left there. You can either return now or wait until things are settled."
"We want to return now, and rebuild our homes!" One said loudly, and several yes followed.
"As we said, there's much destruction, and we consider that the first thing we need to do is rebuild your bridges. Once that's done, it will be easier to rebuild the homes."
"I have an Engineers team on standby. They will be out there as soon as possible. If there's no rain, they will start the construction tomorrow."
"Why can't we go now?" A teen asked.
"I'm sorry," Sam said softly. "But even your tools are gone. There's not much you can do to help."
"Listen, we know you all want to go home, we get it. And you will. Now, we need to go and move things to start the reconstruction first time tomorrow." There were some mumbles, but they turned around and walked away.
"That went well," Sam muttered.
"Yeah," Jack trailed.
The next morning the gate room looked crowded. Six FRED's filled to the brim with different kinds of equipment plus twenty engineers and two SG teams and two teams of Edorians who wanted to help waited to cross to Edora.
As they placed their feet on Edora, the edorians rushed to the village, and several cries of 'it's gone, my house is gone!' Were heard as they noticed that the General and the Major hadn't lied to them. The village was almost gone, and there was a huge hole where the main bridge used to be.
While the Edorians were mourning the loss of their homes, the teams started to unpack and prepared everything to start fixing everything as soon as they could. Jack crossed over to Edora once he was cleared and his presence and the extra help of the ship to lift and drag poles and beams helped them to build a bridge by day.
At the end of day third, Jack returned to Earth and SG1 along with other two teams which included biologists and ecologist joined the crowd to start preparing the fields and crops and helping them to fix gardens.
SG teams rotated as the time progressed and by the end of the third month, there was a huge celebration party on Edora, were all the people involved in the reconstruction of the village was present. That night and in the presence of all the Edorians and over hundred humans from Earth, the treaty was signed.