LIBERTINES AND LIBERATION – BACK TO QUOTAN – CHAPTER 24
DISCLAIMER: I do not own any Stargate characters, ideas or themes. As a matter of fact, Stargate can have my ideas if they want them (wouldn't that be great). All standard applicable disclaimers apply to this piece. I have tried to source any materials quoted in furtherance of this story.
WARNING: THIS CHAPTER IS VERY DARK; INVOLVES SCENES OF RAPE AND MAY BE DISTURBING. I promise lighter fare at some point in the future but this was what needed to happen right now.
Spoilers: Probably some for Season 10 and beyond
Summary: Vala and Daniel centered storyline adventure (hopefully); relationship (okay yes); angst (yup); comfort; etc.
Rating: R to NC-17 in some parts.
Author's Note: This is my first Stargate fiction. I have no betas – not even a beta fish – not even sure what a beta is in fact.
This story will have multiple chapters.
I took inspiration from Milena D's Misappropriation of Lives and a short story called Believe by Random. I really wish those two authors would write more on those two story lines.
I hope for a few comments.
Back to Quotan
Daniel had been unsuccessfully making attempts to decipher Qetesh's journal since he brought it back from Quotan. He'd received some preliminary data from Dr. Graves, the archeologist assigned to SG-17, but so far nothing was coming together. None of the information that Vala provided was helping either. Reports from SG-17 were that the temple was no longer occupied by sex pilgrims. They were making progress translating the glyphs on the walls of the main temple.
Daniel thought it was time that he went back to Quotan. He'd originally scheduled the trip for the week after he returned from the Laspul'gas investigation. Then he'd pushed Vala into having a talk; and he didn't feel right about leaving after he'd forced emotional upheaval upon her; so he'd postponed the trip.
Now he'd been on Quotan for two days. He'd gone without the rest of SG-1, since SG-17 was already in place. Besides, he didn't want Vala anywhere near Quotan right now. His plan was to resurvey the main temple and explore some of the smaller ones.
These days Daniel did not normally make such thorough investigations of Goa'uld temples. He'd been there and done that. He had bigger fish to fry – Ori/Asgard/Ancient fish. But he wanted to learn everything he could about Qetesh because of her connection to Vala. He told himself he wanted the information to find the Clava Thessara Infinitas, but really he wanted to know about what Vala had gone through. Daniel wasn't sure if this desire stemmed from a wish to help Vala or because of his own nightmare when his wife Sha're was taken as a host -- maybe it was both Daniel thought.
Daniel felt like he was working backward in this investigation of Vala's time as Qetesh's host. He already had a fairly clear picture of how Vala was freed from Qetesh. When Vala had returned from the Ori galaxy and he'd decided to secure a position for her at the SGC, he'd made discrete inquiries with the Tok'ra. He'd learned the basic facts and timeline of the rebellion against Qetesh and the extraction procedure used to get Qetesh out of Vala's head. He'd gotten a clear picture of the experience from Vala's point of view during the altercation she'd had with Thellas.
Hearing the tale of the Tok'ra extraction of Qetesh had been harrowing for Daniel -- it brought up so many horrible memories and dashed hopes about Sha're. They'd never gotten the chance to extract the Goa'uld from Sha're.
But Daniel rejoiced at Vala's triumph over Qetesh; he marveled at how she'd faced the whole ordeal essentially alone without any support of family or friends. She'd been horribly tortured and raped before the procedure, and she'd faced more harsh treatment afterward.
The more Daniel learned about Vala's past, the more amazed he was at her ability to embrace and seek life; it was almost as if all that pain and torture, enough to make an ordinary person shrink into insanity as Sarah had done, honed Vala into a diamond capable of focusing a laser of life force brighter and stronger than most. Daniel knew Vala had paid a price, but she was so alive -- she vibrated and breathed life into everyone she was around.
If Daniel could find information in Quotan that could put to rest some of Vala's nightmares, then all the despair it raised in Daniel would be worth it.
Based on the carvings on the table, Daniel felt certain that Dr. Graves had already come across a room designed for Qetesh's blending process with a new host. Daniel had felt a chill run down his spine when he entered the room; this is the room where a young, frightened Vala had lost control over her life and been sentenced to years of hellish servitude as Qetesh's host.
In an antechamber to the room, they'd found cubby holes of personal effects, which held a variety of styles of clothing varying from modern fare to clothing that Daniel had seen in ancient populations, now extinct. Daniel ordered all the items photographed and cataloged before they were disturbed. He instructed SG-17 to catalog and ship the items back to the SGC. He was pretty sure Vala would find some of her belongings here. The idea sent another shiver down Daniel's back.
Graves was still working on some tracings in the main temple. Daniel decided to check out some of the smaller temples. He brought along, Kent Carson, a member of SG-17. Today they were starting with a visit to the most promising of the smaller temples. The temple was designed in a similar manner to a Ha'tak. It was a gold jewel in the sun, ostentatious in its gilt luster.
"Dr. Jackson, I haven't found an entrance." Carson reported.
Daniel had been studying some glyphs on the steps leading up to the temple. The glyphs were staggered; the phrasing as they were laid out made no sense to Daniel.
"So far, I haven't found anything either." Daniel reported.
They'd been investigating the outside of the temple for close to an hour when a thought occurred to Daniel. "I wonder." Daniel said out loud.
"Dr. Jackson?" Carson asked as he watched Daniel run up and down the steps doing a weird tap dance on some of the glyphs.
"Oh, last time we were here we found that Qetesh had a fondness for building on the diagonal and using certain repeating patterns." Daniel said heading up and down tapping and pushing at the logical places based upon the pattern he hoped he had correctly interpreted. He looked at Carson momentarily and explained, "The pattern was based upon the repeating glyphs of a Goa'uld homage to beauty."
"You see though many people believed Qetesh was a sex goddess; I suppose she was a sex goddess given what we know about her." Daniel explained. "In fact, Qetesh is actually the goddess of love and beauty." Daniel was now kicking at the edge of the temple and pushing on what was in fact a small entry portal.
Carson followed Dr. Jackson into the antechamber of the small temple. Everything in the room gave off a silvery hue. Daniel could see torch standards and benches, but not much else in the room.
Daniel did a thorough review of the glyphs in the room. After another hour, he began another tap dance on the glyphs – a dance similar to what he had done to find the temple entry. Before too long, Daniel had opened a door leading to what appeared to be the main room of the temple.
Everything in the room was covered in gold. A large platform sat in the center of the room. It looked like a stage and was made of some substance that gave under Daniel's feet. There were black and gold striped pillows strewn on the platform. Four columns were placed at the corners of the platform. When Daniel examined them he saw that they were life size nude male figures each with an erect phallus; there were manacles fixed to the posts for restraining hands or legs. More manacles appeared on the platform itself. Along the walls were benches and more sets of manacles.
"Dr. Jackson this looks like one of those fetish clubs I heard about when I was stationed at Ramstein overseas." Carson said eyes wide.
"Yeah," Dr. Jackson said feeling a little sick to his stomach.
A chest sat in a corner; it was locked tight. Daniel shrugged thinking of Vala when they had been in the holograph room on Atlantis – "Just ask the question Daniel." What the hell, Daniel thought as he tried the little tapping pattern that had been working so well on Quotan ever since Vala had told him about it. Sure enough, the chest popped open.
The first thing Daniel noticed was a Goa'uld Memory Recall Device. Daniel had experience with this device; he knew it could be attached to someone for perfect recall of past events. He'd seen the Tok'ra attach such devices to holographic projectors for a home movie type event. The chest also held a Goa'uld Memory Downloader that could allow a person's memories to be downloaded into a computer; there was also a Data Display Tablet Device, and the necessary operating stone. Daniel knew about these devices too. They could store vast amounts of information.
Daniel tried to initialize the device, which started to glow as he ran the stone over the tablet. He wanted to take a quick look at the tablet. He was able to access the first page and was surprised to see Vala's visage staring up at him from several of the index points. He was also excited to see the symbol for the Clava Thessara Infinitas. Then the device darkened and quit working. Daniel cursed in perfect Greek, the place of his birth. Okay, project for Sam, he thought as he dug in the trunk.
Tucked in the lid of the chest -- Daniel had almost missed it -- was a little golden hand held device. Daniel thought the device looked like a Georgia O'Keefe flower. As Daniel picked the device up, it began glowing and two spikes popped from its sides into the veins on his wrist as if the device had interfaced with Daniel.
"Ow!" Daniel exclaimed in surprise.
"Dr. Jackson!" Carson cried.
Daniel immediately felt sick and dizzy as he fell to his knees. He felt a sharp pain in his head, but it began to pass. He could no longer see Carson, or his own hand in front of him for that matter. Instead of his own hand, when he looked down he saw the delicate looking hand of what appeared to be a young female. Daniel investigated further by looking down at what should have been his own body. Instead of his body, he found he was looking at the body of a beautiful young woman. Daniel looked at his surroundings. He appeared to still be in the same room, but now others were here too. Jaffa and sex pilgrims surrounded Daniel. Daniel heard a voice he knew to be Qetesh discussing a woman with two men. Daniel could only see the men's backs. But they were dressed in leather and did not look like the other people in the room.
"I will only pay the bounty to the one that truly deserves it." Qetesh snarled, "I am informed that is NOT you, Captain."
"I brought the girl to you just as we agreed; there she is, as you see." The man said.
"Do you think me an idiot Captain?" Qetesh asked harshly, "I have fused all her memories with my database including this event. I know it was the cunning, attractive one who you would send from the room. Jaffa, kill the Captain for his deception. You, cunning one, you shall have the honor of the initiation. I have searched a VERY LONG TIME for one such as the prize you have brought."
"Prepare him," Qetesh ordered her slaves.
Daniel saw that Qetesh was approaching the woman he somehow inhabited, "We shall blend soon, but first you shall be initiated while I document it. My lord likes to initiate; but he is far too interested in your spirit, so I shall tame it and deny him." Qetesh laughed.
Daniel felt a cold chill run through his stomach; he was shivering and felt the eyes upon his naked flesh.
"Ah, my dear, here is the phallus that we shall sacrifice your maidenhood with." Qetesh said.
"No! No! No!" Daniel felt his throat constrict with the words, he felt his chilled body grow even colder.
Qetesh had motioned to a Jaffa who pressed a button raising the lights in the room; at the press of another button, all the surfaces of the room became reflective like mirrors.
Daniel looked into the mirror like reflective surfaces and realized that he knew the eyes that were staring back at him. The eyes he found staring back at him were not his own intense blue ones. He looked out from, and into, the slate grey eyes of Vala Mal Doran as she stared out in the depths of cold terror. The device had somehow given him the ability to relive Vala's introduction to Qetesh. He was Vala and he felt what Vala felt; he saw what Vala saw. It was an odd sensation to feel her out of control with terror.
Then Daniel looked up to see a nude man, with an erect phallus, enter the room. The man's face was completely painted in gold with heavy Egyptian make up. Pasted to his face was a gold and black striped mask. Gold paint had been applied to every inch of the man's body. The man looked like a golden monster. Daniel felt the young Vala startle in fear. Then Daniel felt something in himself, in Vala, tense and steel itself against what they both knew was coming. Daniel watched, Daniel felt and Daniel heard what happened next.
"Enter her now!" Qetesh commanded.
The golden monster began to lick Vala's flesh at the neck. Daniel could feel the man's tongue on his neck; as Vala had felt it. Daniel could feel Vala's repulsion; he could feel her disgust. Daniel could see and feel the gold paint trails the man left on Vala's body.
"What are you doing?" Qetesh said, "Enter her now."
The man nodded, harshly spread Vala's legs apart and jammed his erection into Vala without further ceremony.
Daniel felt the sear of pain jolt the center of Vala as the man forced and violated his way inside the unprepared virgin, for that was what she had been, Daniel was sure. He had felt the truth. Daniel saw and felt the blood running down his, Vala's thigh, felt her mind begin to silently scream at the violation of the rape. Daniel knew, had felt, that Vala made no sound that could be heard by any who witnessed her degradation.
"Dr. Jackson; Dr. Jackson" Carson was calling. "Colonel, we got a medical situation here." Carson called as he tried to pull the device off the screaming Daniel Jackson.
"UNSCHEDULED OFF WORLD ACTIVATION!" The voice of Walter Harriman announced.
"Dr. Lam medical emergency gate room; SG-1 to the gate room." The voice of Walter Harriman announced mere minutes later.
Carolyn Lam and SG-1 were waiting in the gate room when SG-17 came through the gate with a still screaming Dr. Daniel Jackson.
Vala's eyes went wide when she saw Daniel in pain; she ran to his side and grabbed his hand.
"Vala let us work." Dr. Lam barked. "His vitals are elevated; I'm worried about his heart rate; I'm sedating him."
Vala and Teal'c recognized the device on his hand at the same time.
"There's a key to this device, where's the key." Vala yelled at Carson.
Carson shrugged; I don't know anything about that.
"General Landry, dial Quotan, I have to find the key to this thing; otherwise Daniel will die." Vala shrieked.
Cam grabbed her shoulders. "Let me go Cam, come if you'd like but let me go." Vala insisted.
"That will not be necessary Vala Mal Doran." Teal'c's voice announced as he stepped forward and took the device in his hand. Teal'c pinched the spikes leading into Daniel's wrist between the thumb and forefingers of both his hands.
Daniel lay on the platform exposed and violated with the golden monster's leavings running down his leg. The golden masked man lifted his weight from Vala's body and bowed to Qetesh.
"What is to become of my Captain's ship?" the golden monster asked.
"I have little interest, but I will expect an offering." Qetesh said in a disinterested voice.
"I shall rename the ship 'Queen Q' in your honor and I shall . . . ." the golden man was proclaiming.
Daniel looked up and found himself in the SGC gate room with Vala holding his hand; Vala caressing his forehead in comfort. She had such concern in her eyes. His wrist was bleeding and Dr. Lam was binding it.
Teal'c was sweating and bent over by Daniel's side in pain holding a golden device.
"Vala!" Daniel cried without understanding why and grabbed for Vala with both arms. Vala placed her cheek on Daniel's, "You're fine Daniel, I'm here," she told him as she handed his bloody, injured wrist back to Dr. Lam.