Janet observed her two captors as they carted in a pile of old, worn books. She assumed they were preparing to educate her, or as they had stated, show her the truth. They were sorely mistaken if they thought they could brainwash her with a few dusty books.
"We want to show you," one of the men said. He approached her with one of the books, opening it part way through to show her a passage. "See?" he asked, pointing to the foreign writing. "It is stated that those who do not embrace the spirit of Pyeerum shall die. It is the will of Pyeerum."
Janet gazed at the book. It was written in some script she couldn't identify, one she knew that she wouldn't be able to read even if she tried. This man was going to get absolutely nowhere with her. But she also knew that if she fussed too much, she would have no hope of getting out of here. She just didn't know enough to assess the level of danger in her situation.
"Are you Baich?" Janet asked.
The man eyed her suspiciously. "Why do you want to know?"
Janet thought honesty was the best policy at this point. "There is a deadly disease on this planet. I am trying to help the people here. If you are in any kind of danger, I want to help you as well."
The man cocked his head before snapping the book shut. "So, you hold methods to stop the death?"
Janet decided not to answer.
The man chuckled in response. "We know that you do. We know that you can save this place."
"If that's the case, why don't you let me go so that I can do my job?"
"Because we don't know if you are a vessel of good or a bringer of chaos."
Janet stared at him.
"The Rusayev do the work of evil," he explained. "If this is what Pyeerum wishes, we must do his bidding."
Janet narrowed her eyes. "So, you would just let them die?"
The man shook his head. "What lies have they told you? We, the Baich, are peaceful people. We follow the ways of Pyeerum in our hearts. We are not holders of death. We just cannot control the will of Pyeerum. Nor should we."
"You killed one of my friends. You killed him," Janet said between clenched teeth.
Her captor's face hardened. "You do not know how we have suffered."
"No, but I know how the people in the city suffer. They are dying."
He didn't flinch.
"You realize that if the disease is killing Rusayev, it could come and destroy your people as well," Janet said. She laughed, leaning back into her restraints. "But you already knew that. That's why I'm here."
"You misunderstand," the man said. "It is not the Baich that will this to happen. It is the Rusayev."
Janet arched her eyebrows. She wasn't about to buy this blame game.
"I can see that you do not believe me."
"You kidnapped me, killed one of my friends, and now you are holding me captive." She sat a little taller. "What do you expect me to think?"
"The Rusayev have created the disease and sent it out to destroy us."
Janet blinked at him. That was a response that she hadn't expected to hear. As she struggled to process the comment, the other man just shook his head sadly.
"It is true," he said. "I do not know what manner of evil they have discovered to create sickness, but they have. Only the evil they made infected themselves. It is the will of Pyeerum for them to atone for their sins."
"If what you're telling me is true, Pyeerum or no Pyeerum, I need to help them. I need to help your people. This disease could mutate and more people could die. We need to work together to stop it." She leaned forward, pushing all her determination and compassion into her voice. "Please, let me go. Work with me so that we can stop the death."
Her captor studied her, eyeing her from head to toe as he tapped the book onto the palm of his hand. She knew that he was mulling over her plea. She just hoped that this man had some sense within him, some heart under the hard shell that he had built around himself.
"I am called Fyodor," the man said. He crouched in front of her and extended his hand. "Will you help us find a cure?"
Janet swallowed hard. She glanced over Fyodor's shoulder, noting the other man standing in the background, watching. She brought her gaze back to Fyodor. "Untie me and we can work together."
Fyodor searched her face. His intense gaze made Janet squirm inside but she remained collected and secure. After a long pause, Fyodor stood and snapped his fingers to the man behind him. "Gedeon," he called. "Untie the doctor. We have work to do."
Jack passed the city walls, heading to a rather large mob just past the last outskirts of the city. He didn't say anything to Carter as he stormed up the hilly grasslands. Instead, he kept his attention solely focused on the landscape and finding a certain archaeologist who had chosen the wrong day to go and do his own thing.
"Where is he?" Jack yelled, making his way over to Teal'c. "I want to wring his neck myself."
Teal'c pushed through the crowd and met them at the end of one of the small slopes. "I do not know," Teal'c said, glancing back to the crowd. "I cannot find Daniel Jackson."
"What?" Jack asked.
"I have searched this crowd and the surrounding hills. He appears to have vanished."
"People don't just disappear," Carter said. "Did you try him by radio?"
"I have been unable to reach him," Teal'c said.
Jack scowled and rubbed his hand over his tired face. This was exactly what he didn't need right now.
"Where was the last place you saw him?" Jack asked with an irritated sigh. "And why the hell didn't you stop him? I told you to talk to the Baich in the city."
Teal'c started eyeing Jack in that way that he really hated: it bordered on condescending or annoyance. Jack couldn't tell sometimes. But whatever it was, Jack was in no mood to deal with it today.
"Don't give me that look," Jack warned. "Just tell me what happened."
"Daniel Jackson felt that talking with the Baich who live outside of the city would help in our efforts to locate Doctor Fraiser."
Jack returned his attention back to the crowd. They were watching his team intently, but with more of a curious nature than anything else. Jack guessed that SG-1 must be the talk of the land right now. They were the day's entertainment. Perfect.
"Did he find anything before he disappeared?" Carter asked.
"I am uncertain," Teal'c said. "Daniel Jackson spoke of punishment, but he did not speak further. I began to search the crowd as he spoke to the Baich. Then I could no longer see him."
"He was just swallowed by the crowd?" Carter stared at them. "The group is acting as cover."
"Wonderful," Jack said. None of them could speak the language that the Baich spoke, and now he felt that his suspicions were pretty much confirmed that these people were hiding something big.
"I have found something of importance, O'Neill."
"Oh?" Jack extended his hand. "Do tell."
"I will do better than telling, O'Neill." Teal'c pointed his staff weapon to a small tree that rested nearby. "I will show you."
When Teal'c moved out of the way, Jack got a full line of sight on the tree. He heard Carter let out a small gasp of surprise beside him. He had to admit he was a little surprised himself. Teal'c seemed to have taken it upon himself to tie up that assistant of Taras' to the tree.
"I trust you have an explanation for this," he said, knowing full well Teal'c would.
"I discovered the woman known as Raya within the crowd. I found this most peculiar." He started toward the tree, Jack and Carter by his side. "I believed that you would wish to question her.
"Good call," he told Teal'c. Jack stopped in front of Raya and stared at her. She was scowling. If Teal'c had made a mistake and just tied up a random government official, he knew this would be a tricky situation. But this was Teal'c. Jack knew it went much deeper than that.
"So, we meet again," Jack said. "Comfy?"
"I will be reporting this to Taras and the council," Raya said. "Your soldier has restrained me without reason."
"That so?" Jack glanced back, finding the crowd watching them with heightened interest. He turned back to Raya. "Why were you hanging out with this bunch? A government official like yourself must have better things to do with her time."
"I am liaison between the Baich and the Rusayev." She held up her chin.
Crap. That could be a bad thing. And the woman knew it.
"I was speaking with a Baich representative when I saw two of your men approaching. I tried to get to Doctor Jackson to warn him, but…this one stopped me."
Teal'c said nothing, but Jack could see his eyes darken. He caught Teal'c's eye and gave a nonchalant shrug, hoping the big guy would let it go.
"What were you warning him about?" Carter asked.
"He is a stranger here. The Baich don't take well to change or difference."
Jack frowned. He didn't like what this woman was implying.
"I do not believe this to be so," Teal'c said before Jack had a chance to beat him to it. "Those that greeted us did not wish us harm."
"Then you did not read them well," Raya said with a snort. "I wanted to tell your friends before one of the Baich could get to them."
Carter tapped her P-90. "If you were so concerned for our welfare why didn't you tell us from the start?"
"I did not believe that you would be wandering around in places you should not be," she said with a scowl.
Jack glared at her. He wasn't buying this story. Dammit. Did everyone on this planet lie?
"Fine, whatever," Jack muttered. "Carter, cut her free."
Carter blinked at him. "Sir?"
"She's right. Just let her free."
Both Carter and Teal'c looked at him like he had grown another head. At this point, he figured why not? But he wasn't going to back down on this. He pointed to Raya and jabbed his finger, urging Carter to do what he'd ordered.
Finally, she nodded and bent over to untie Raya from the tree. When she was finished, Raya brushed off her clothes, trying to scrape together whatever was left of her dignity, and started back toward the city.
"Colonel…"
"I know," he said. "She's lying through her teeth."
Carter shifted her P-90 and settled herself in beside Jack. "We're following her."
"You betcha," Jack said as he took a step forward. He waited for her to disappear over one of the hills before starting after her. "Right now, she's our best connection to both Fraiser and Daniel."
Jack hated this. He had one man dead and two people missing. Not to mention the little plague problem. He honestly didn't think this day could get any worse.
"Teal'c, take point. We're going to see where this lady is off to in such a hurry." Jack fell in step behind Carter and covered their six.
Janet shifted through the various files and charts that her captors had given her, all the while keeping a wary eye on Fyodor. He was watching her closely, his intent gaze burning a hole through her back. It wasn't just his proximity that left her on edge, but something in the way he held himself. Something sinister. Something cruel.
She didn't believe a word he said.
"Is there something wrong?" he asked.
"No," she said. Janet cleared her throat and turned the page. The foreign words remained an enigma to her. "I was just thinking on these tests. Where did you get this information?"
"We have operatives among the Rusayev," he admitted. "They have sacrificed much to uncover their treachery and heartlessness against the Baich."
Janet studied his face as he spoke, holding his gaze just a little longer. His words were full of sincerity, his face open and compassionate. He spoke well. She would give him that. But the coldness in his eyes told Janet more than enough about his intentions.
Finally, she broke away and focused on the equations and diagrams in front of her. They clearly showed biochemical engineering. While the notes were messy and the calculations sporadic, Janet could decipher enough of the materials through Fyodor's translations to get an idea of what was happening. The Rusayev had been working on a biological project aimed at wiping out large masses of people.
The only problem was that the translations were coming solely from Fyodor.
"What do you think?" Fyodor asked, drawing her from her thoughts. "Can you create a cure?"
Janet glanced down at the notes again. She would need to choose her words carefully. "I find it interesting that the Rusayev would be capable of this kind of advancement. This level of technology is decades ahead of them."
"They are resourceful," he said curtly. Fyodor sighed. "It takes everything we have and our faith in Pyeerum to keep up with them."
"I'm sure it does," she said wryly.
"This is why it is important for us to find a cure. We need to protect our people. We are simple. We cannot fight such evil on our own."
"Why not just depend on the will of Pyeerum?" Janet asked. "If only the faithful survive, why try to fight Pyeerum's will?"
Fyodor's face cooled and he said nothing. His features had become taut, the lines in his face deepening. Finally, he pointed to the notes. "Work," he said.
Janet nodded, but not without giving him a defiant glare of her own. She scooted closer to the table that held the paperwork and she dropped her hand to her side, pausing to glance over her shoulder. The one known as Gedeon was tracking her closely. She brought her hand back up to the desk.
"Do you have any other intel that you've gathered?" she asked.
Fyodor eyed suspiciously.
"I'm just a doctor," she said, answering his silent question. "You have me outnumbered and are stronger than me. Please. I want to help."
Fyodor stood a little taller, appraising her as he thought. Janet felt cold under his scrutiny, watching the sparks of anger, instability, and hatred ignite in his eyes. She was convinced this man could kill her in a heartbeat, without any remorse. She held her breath. Finally, he nodded to Gedeon who in turn started for the door.
"Come," Fyodor said. "We will show you what we have."
Janet smiled and obeyed. She walked with Fyodor to the door, only pausing a moment to tie her laces. She patted her ankle and smiled again, rising so that Fyodor could escort her down the hall.
Now all she had to do was wait.