Janet fought against Fyodor, but his grip was unrelenting. He dragged her down the hallway, his dark face completely focused on whatever now occupied his mind. Janet knew it couldn't be good.
"Let go!" she shouted. "Where are you taking me?"
Fyodor gave her shove. They entered another room, this one much smaller than the last, but that still held the lingering smells and materials of intense lab work. Janet was afforded one quick glance at the tables before she was thrown into a chair.
"I'm not going to help you," she said. She grunted as Fyodor tied her to the chair.
Fyodor yanked at the cord causing Janet to wince. Then, he stalked off to the table and started to rummage through one of the drawers. Janet felt her heart race as he carelessly sifted through possible contaminated materials.
Part of her wondered just how desperate or poverty stricken the Baich really were. But the other part wanted to see Fyodor get what was coming to him.
She heard a satisfied grunt. Fyodor withdrew an enclosed vial of liquid. She frowned, watching as he uncorked the top of the vial and dipped the point of a dart into the liquid. He placed the dart on the table, corked the vial and stuffed it back into the desk before taking out a small crossbow.
Janet felt the color drain from her face.
"You will not help?" He added the dart into the crossbow. "I will convince you to help."
She snorted. "If you think that threatening me—"
"I have allowed one of the off-worlders into the facility," Fyodor said. The dart clicked into place. "If you do not agree to help me, I will introduce your friends to the will of Pyeerum myself."
Janet set her jaw. "You're lying. There is no one here for me."
"Daniel Jackson," Fyodor said simply. "It is true that he is an uninvited guest, but he is of no concern." He held up the crossbow. "I save the best for those that defy me and Pyeerum."
Janet felt cold. She knew what Fyodor was implying. She knew exactly how lethal that dart was.
"Don't do this," Janet said, her voice shaking.
"You leave me with little choice. Perhaps this will persuade you." He held up the crossbow and aimed for the open door. Fyodor smiled at her. "After all, it is what Pyeerum wants."
Sam crept closer to O'Neill, crouching low beside him. From her vantage point, she could see six – seven – guards patrolling the perimeter of the building, or at least by the entrance. It was difficult to obtain a precise headcount through the thickly forested woodland. Even so, Sam knew that SG-1 could easily overcome them. And from the concentrated look on her commanding officer's face, she knew that he was already coming up with a plan.
"They're in front of the door," he said. "We come in on all sides and we can take them."
Sam nodded. "A three-pronged attack."
"Right. We need this quiet." O'Neill paused, his intense eyes scanning the woods. Finally, he stood. "We go in with zats."
Sam and Teal'c did as instructed and drew their zats. Per O'Neill's orders, Sam went left and Teal'c went right. She waited for Colonel O'Neill's next signal before she moved.
O'Neill gestured with his hand to go.
Sam dashed forward, one hand on her sidearm, the other firing away with her zat. She watched as the shocked men fell, one by one, not having a chance with their slow loading rifles. By the time Sam was heading for the entrance, O'Neill and Teal'c had effectively knocked out the rest of the sentries.
"Teal'c, mind doing the honors?" O'Neill asked.
Teal'c inclined his head and passed them to address the issue with the guards. He hunched over the unconscious men, and tied each one in turn. Then, he began to drag them under the cover of the forest's undergrowth. As he worked, Sam assisted O'Neill in sizing up the area.
"It doesn't look heavily fortified, sir." Sam scanned the building's surface, noting only a couple of illuminated rooms on the upper and lower levels.
"Yeah, but I bet there's still some armed men inside," he said. He paused a moment longer as he searched the entrance and the facing wall, only speaking again when Teal'c had rejoined them. "Keep with the zats and switch to automatic weapons if necessary," he told her. He glanced back at Teal'c. "Cover our six."
Sam and O'Neill hovered by the entrance, checking the area before proceeding. Once they were sure it was clear, they walked inside, passing through a small foyer into a large room. Like the foyer, it was empty and had the distinct smell of mold. Sam scrunched up her nose but continued to scan the room.
O'Neill motioned for her to take one door while he headed for the other. Teal'c remained behind them, zat aimed at the entrance, his other hand gripping his staff weapon.
Sam stalked alongside the wall and peered around the open door. While she heard a muffled noise coming from somewhere inside the office, she didn't see anyone in view. Carefully, she stepped inside, heading for what she assumed was a closet, but stopped when she reached the desk.
Daniel's signature stood out like a light in a dark room. She traced her fingers over his name and felt slight relief. She just hoped they weren't too late.
She couldn't handle the alternatives for Daniel or Janet.
Sam left the desk and moved to the closet. Keeping her right hand on the zat, she opened the door with her left and aimed at the shadows in the closet.
A young man stared back at her with wide, fearful eyes.
Sam was about to loosen the gag around the man's mouth, when O'Neill and Teal'c appeared at the door. She straightened her back, but did not lower her weapon. She wanted answers, but she would allow for O'Neill to take her place and question the youth.
"Daniel's been here," she told him. "He signed some paperwork on the desk." She started back toward the clipboard as O'Neill stepped toward the closet.
O'Neill bent over the young man and shoved his P-90 in his face. "You scream and I shoot you."
Sam wasn't sure if the young man understood what Colonel O'Neill had said, but he certainly understood his actions. The fearful youth nodded and kept silent as O'Neill loosened the cloth.
Bandana. Daniel's bandana.
"You understand me?" O'Neill asked.
The man nodded again.
"Where's Daniel?"
"Who is Daniel?"
"No, wrong answer," O'Neill said angrily. He held up the bandana and the clipboard Sam had in her hand. "I'm going to ask you again. Where's Daniel?"
The young man let out a nervous laugh. "He goes on his own to speak to Fyodor. He's foolish. He's a foolish man. All of you off-worlders are."
O'Neill remained unperturbed. "Who's Fyodor? Is he your leader?"
"Fyodor is but a shepherd of Pyeerum."
"Yeah. Whatever." He started to roll the bandana. "This Fyodor guy wouldn't happen to know what happened by the temple earlier, would he?"
The young man smiled.
O'Neill didn't press any further. He quickly gagged the young man and shut the door.
"I think it's safe to assume that Fyodor had a hand in Major Griffith's death and Doctor Fraiser's disappearance," Sam said. "Somehow, Daniel's gotten involved."
"Doesn't surprise me," O'Neill muttered. He wiped his mouth as he scanned the room. "The other door leads to a stairway." He nudged his chin to the desk. "Find anything else?"
Sam turned back to the desk. "Just Daniel's signature. Whatever is going on, it appears like he just walked right in." She tapped her finger on the clipboard and frowned, only then realizing there was more underneath the sign in sheet. Sam slid the clipboard aside and opened the file that had been hidden behind the board. She started to flip through the random photos.
She gasped.
"What?" O'Neill asked, coming to her side.
Teal'c shifted his weight by the doorway, the concern in his face as well. "Have you found something of importance, Major Carter?"
"I think I'm going to be sick," she muttered, handing the file to O'Neill.
Sam watched O'Neill's expression darken as he studied the photos. Disgusted, he closed the file and tossed it on the desk. Sam observed in silence as he put away his zat, instead reaching for his P-90 and making sure it was fully loaded.
Their eyes met. She understood.
Picture after picture showed the horrors that the leaders of the Baich had undertaken. The swollen diseased bodies of little children. Pregnant women in tears, chained to the floor. Young emaciated men. Old, decaying elderly. All photographed in the deepest moments of their suffering.
All Baich themselves.
At least the Baich had mastered early photography, she thought bitterly.
"Let's go," O'Neill told them.
He passed the desk and stormed out of the room. Sam numbly followed, patting Teal'c's arm as he continued to stare at the file on the desk. In silence, the two of them followed O'Neill, all three of them heading for the other door that lead to the upper floor.
She tried not to think of all the children that had lost their lives in this battle. She tried not to think of all the innocents. She tried not to think of Janet and Daniel.
But as the sound of desperate gunfire rang throughout the upper floor above her, all her fears came rushing back.