Chapter 17 – Apparently, No Means Yes
Jack hated stupid people who couldn't follow rules. He hated stupid people who couldn't follow rules who got caught at it even more. When he had to discipline them for breaking rules, he wanted to throw things at them. He struggled with a report about laundry abuse . . . yes, laundry abuse . . . and thought longingly of wringing two very stupid necks.
The phone on his desk rang and he picked it up. "O'Neill," he said gruffly.
"This is Robert Makepeace." Jack sat up straight, staring at the wall above his desk. "I don't have a lot of time and this is a payphone, so don't bother trying to trace me. I'm in Guilford, Montana, at the corner of West and Lansing."
"Where is Daniel?"
"About sixty miles out of town in a farmhouse. You're going to play merry hell getting in, it's a sizable private estate with a fence and security guards. It's north of town on . . . I have to go. I will try to get Daniel out of the house and away from the guards tonight between midnight and four a.m." The phone slammed down before Jack could get another word out. He jotted the message down as quickly as he could and read it through. Then he picked up the phone again and dialed the general's extension.
Within an hour, SG-1 and SG-8 were headed by helicopter to Billings. Sumner was frothing at the mouth, and Hammond seemed to feel justified in his original reaction to finding out that Makepeace was potentially present among the kidnappers.
They were met at the airfield by FBI agents. "Colonel O'Neill," said an older man with a balding pate. "I'm Agent Skinner. We have located the only possible site based on the description you gave us. There are a number of buildings on the property, including three farmhouses, so it may be difficult to locate the correct one."
"Is one of them sixty miles out of town?" Jack asked.
"Yes, but I'm not sure how much credence we should place in your informant's information. Isn't he a convicted traitor?"
"That's complicated," Jack said. "But I can assure you, on this subject he's safe as houses."
"Well, the property is as secure as your informant suggested, and I'm not sure what our best move would be. A helicopter is likely to be noticed, the fence is electrified and patrolled, as are the grounds within."
"Paratroopers," Jack said, and Sumner nodded beside him. "Are the roads watched?"
"I don't think so, but . . ." He shrugged. "I wouldn't have guessed there'd be kidnappers of wildly important archeologists on my patch either."
His expression hinted at some disbelief at the wild importance of Daniel Jackson. Jack decided not to break his nose and put a hand on Sumner's shoulder before he could do anything they'd all regret. "I know, it sounds a little much, but his work is highly classified, and he's more than an archeologist. Now, we'll need some ground troops to watch the exits, and to line the fences on the nearest section. Do we have a map or aerial photos?"
Skinner led them into a mobile headquarters and they got underway.
Daniel closed his book irritably. He'd fallen asleep twice while trying to finish it, and now it was past midnight and he couldn't sleep. No doubt both the doctor and Makepeace would decide he wasn't getting enough rest and prescribe an extra day of bedrest.
The door to his room opened silently and he sat up straight. The bedside light was on, which effectively blinded him. "Who's there?" he asked.
"Hush," hissed a familiar voice. Something landed heavily on his legs. "Get those on, we're leaving."
Daniel took hold of them. Heavy sweater, jeans, thick socks and a pair of boots. He got out of bed and fumbled them on, wondering what on earth was up with Makepeace. He wasn't looking a gift horse in the mouth, however. Dressed, he turned towards the former marine. "Ready," he said softly.
"Okay, those shoes are muffled, so just walk normally, and don't say anything once we're out of here. I've drugged the guards with the same shit they kept giving you, and I've been in contact with O'Neill."
"Got it," Daniel said.
They crept silently out of the house, Daniel keeping close to Makepeace. He still felt a little weak, but he wasn't going to say anything. If Jack was coming, he could make it. He damned well didn't want to spend another night in this house. Robert took him out the back door towards a garage. He opened the door and unlocked the van inside. "Climb in, Daniel. We need to get moving."
"Won't they hear?"
"Not a lot of choice. We can't walk fifteen miles before daybreak, and O'Neill is expecting us."
Daniel nodded and Robert started the van. He looked at the house as they went by. There were no lights on. Maybe they'd gotten away with it. They drove in silence for a mile or two, then Daniel cleared his throat. "Where's Jack waiting for us?"
"I don't know exactly. We didn't have a lot of time for detailed planning. I just told him I'd try to get you out of the house tonight."
"Okay, well, so far so good. How do we get off the compound?"
"That's a little harder." Makepeace grimaced. "I'm kind of counting on O'Neill for help with –" He broke off as the engine coughed and died. "What the – God damn it!" He tried to start the engine, then shook his head. "Shit, we're in trouble." He looked in the mirrors. "Okay, Daniel, get out and run."
Daniel blinked at him. "Okay," he said weakly.
Makepeace pointed. "Run, damn you! That way!"
Daniel stumbled out of the van and took off in that direction, a little startled. He heard gunfire behind him and fell to the ground, twisting around to see what was happening. It looked like Robert was shooting, and then Daniel heard the sound of the ATVs coming up. Someone must have heard their engine, or maybe just gone to the bathroom at a bad moment. Daniel got back to his feet and kept going, though slower now, so that he wouldn't attract attention. The gunfire behind him stopped and he dropped to the ground again on instinct. Just in time, too. A beam of light scanned over the top of him. If he'd been upright, it would have caught him full on.
As soon as the light passed on, he started crawling. He didn't like leaving Makepeace behind, but he also didn't want to go back. He needed to get out of here, needed to find a phone. An ATV zipped past on his left, about thirty feet away, then another on his right, about fifteen feet away. Then he heard men talking and the lights began to move across the ground. He peered around. They were quartering the area, and he was a little too close to the group behind him to make him happy.
He started creeping at a diagonal, trying to get out of the area they were quartering before they located him. More ATVs arrived and more men. These started at the middle of the sides of the original square. Daniel froze. He didn't know what to do. He watched for a few moments and started moving again, very quietly, trying to make for an area that would be uncovered when he got there. Then a light hit him full in the face and he froze again, blinded, hoping they didn't see him, that the light would pass on by.
It didn't, and he heard feet moving towards him from all sides. "Get up, Dr. Jackson," called Stu. "On your feet." Daniel clenched his teeth and climbed to his feet. "Do we have to trank you, or are you going to come back under your own power?" Stu asked.
"Lead on," Daniel said, his voice flat with a combination of weariness and anger.
Stu gestured and Daniel followed him, men gathered all around him. He didn't recognize many of them, but he saw Josh among them, so he knew Connors was still around somewhere. He got on the back of Stu's ATV and contemplated mayhem. If he could just get the bastard off the vehicle, he might be able to run them a chase until Jack found them all. He leaned back a little and started to grab Stu's shoulder. Suddenly, he slammed against Stu's back as Stu brought the vehicle to a screeching halt.
"Parker! Trank him," he called. Daniel slammed a fist into the side of Stu's head, but then he felt the dart hit him in the neck. Whatever it was, it was fast acting. He started to slide off, but someone caught him. After that, he didn't know anything.
"It's going to take time to get an assault of this size organized, O'Neill, that's all there is to it."
"So long as the people inside don't know what's going on," Jack growled. Dawn was minutes away and they weren't ready to go yet. He didn't altogether like the idea of a daylight assault on the facility, but it was looking more and more like they had no options. The ground forces couldn't remain hidden for long once the day was truly started.
He glanced at his watch. Makepeace either had Daniel outside that farmhouse, or they'd been recaptured. There was no way to guess at this point. No one had come near this section of fence. He knew that.
"We will recover DanielJackson, O'Neill," Teal'c said.
"I know. I'd just like him to be in one piece when we do."
Daniel woke up feeling sore and very muzzy. He sat up and stared about him. Back in the bedroom. He remembered the dart and suddenly understood why he felt so wretched. He got up and went to the bathroom, then emerged feeling marginally fresher to find Gerald Connors waiting in the doorway to his room.
"Dr. Jackson," he said with a jovial smile. "Please, join us. I think you'll find this interesting."
Somehow Daniel wasn't reassured by Connors' good cheer. Rather the reverse, really. He walked towards him and accompanied him into the office area of the floor. On the table where he had read that first day was a document. Near the end of the table stood three men, Robert Makepeace, Stu and Travis. Robert had his hands cuffed behind his back and both Stu and Travis had guns drawn. This wasn't looking very happy.
"Travis, this is how you handle a man of Dr. Jackson's temperament." Daniel looked uneasily at him. "Dr. Jackson, I recognize that threatening you will do us no good. You regard yourself, erroneously, as expendable. However, if I were to threaten someone else, say, Robert Makepeace . . ."
"Now wait just a minute," Robert exclaimed, but Stu raised his gun to his head and Robert fell silent.
Daniel stared in shock. "You're bluffing."
"I'm not," Connors replied. "Sit down there and translate that text, or I will have Makepeace shot."
Daniel shook his head, appalled. The day before, they'd been working with Robert, maybe with some friction but still working with him. Now they were going to shoot him? This was insane.
"Don't do it, Jackson," Robert said.
Out of the corner of Daniel's eye he saw Connors nod. Travis got a wicked grin on his face, and before Daniel could do more than shout no, he'd aimed and fired his gun, shooting Makepeace in the calf. Robert cried out and collapsed. Daniel started towards him, but Connors caught his arm. "No, Dr. Jackson. That was just a little demonstration to show that we are in earnest. If you don't start translating now, the next shot will be to his head."
Daniel stared for a moment at Robert, then walked over and sat down. He looked unseeing at the document in front of him for a moment, then took in a deep breath. It was in something like Etruscan. He started to get up to grab a reference.
"Where are you going?" Connors asked suspiciously.
"I need a book," Daniel said.
"Which book?"
Daniel blinked at him. "I think it's green. I could undoubtedly find it quicker myself." Connors glared, but he stepped back. Daniel found the book. This all felt very unreal. Robert was groaning on the floor while Stu bound the wound. "He needs a doctor," Daniel said.
"He'll get one, later. Once we have something to demonstrate that you're in earnest."
"He'll lose all value as a hostage if you let him bleed to death," Daniel growled.
"He won't bleed to death, Dr. Jackson. Get to work."
Daniel spared a glance for Robert, but then he settled down at the table and started working as quickly as he could. He didn't know what to do. This situation was wacko, but he couldn't let them kill Robert.
"Daniel," Robert ground out, and Daniel turned towards him. "Don't," he said.
"Gag him!" Connors said and Travis stuffed something into his mouth. Daniel turned away and started working again. If Makepeace had been in contact with Jack, then Jack knew something about where they were. All he had to do was stay alive and keep Makepeace alive until Jack found them.