Chapter 6
Emerging from a low tunnel into a storeroom in the basement of the palace, Cali scampered to the front and led the way. This deep in the earth there was no natural light to be had, so she stayed in the shadows made by the guttering torches on the walls. They ascended a long stone staircase that spiraled in on itself several times before ending in a short passageway. Teal'c crept past Cali and peered around the corner, then motioned to the others. The girl went around him and turned right, moving quickly but silently along the black marble floors, Sam and Teal'c on her heels.
They made good time, moving quickly through the cluttered halls and following Cali as she made her way to the sarcophagus. Abruptly, running footsteps shattered the quiet, making all three look back. An orange burst of fire hit the corridor wall beside Teal'c and the trio took off, running as fast as Cali could go and firing back as they went. Sam saw a couple of jaffa go down just as the three of them rounded a corner, sparks blowing off the edge where they had been moments before.
"Cali!" Sam shouted. "How much further is it?"
"We're almost there!"
They kept going, passing chamber after chamber, moving too quickly for Sam get any impression of what was inside save utter chaos. One room, though, seemed to be clutter free, and she was so surprised that she actually slowed, trying to get a closer look. Teal'c practically mowed her over from behind, firing backward as he was, and she sped up again.
Abruptly, Cali made a hard right through a set of double doors and into a room that was mostly clear save a large coffin shaped edifice sitting in the middle of the floor. Teal'c followed Sam in and shut and locked the door behind him, blasting the mechanism with his zat for good measure. Meanwhile, Sam rushed to the foot of the sarcophagus and opened a panel, looking eagerly at the crystals inside. Her face fell and she slumped a bit. The entire enclosure was totally fried, every single crystal nothing but a blackened husk. She sat down heavily and looked up at Teal'c who was guarding the door. Thumping sounds were already coming from the other side as the enemy tried to force its way in.
"There's no way I can fix this without replacing this entire panel," she said.
Teal'c looked back at her. "There should be spares somewhere in the area."
"No," Cali said from the corner, looking stricken. "There are not. Kor'ana used the last of them some years before I destroyed these. We have not had any new supply ships from Apophis for a long time. Kor'ana was waiting for the next one so she could repair the sarcophagus."
"Cali," Teal'c said bluntly. "Apophis is dead. There will be no more ships."
The goa'uld stared at him, her eyes wide. "Apophis is dead?" she repeated, dumbfounded. "How? Did you kill him?"
"Sort of. It's a long story," Sam interjected, standing and brushing her hands off. "Teal'c, this thing is toast. There's nothing I can do to repair it."
He looked at her. "I am sorry," he said quietly.
She nodded, forcing her disappointment away for the moment. The pounding on the door was getting louder and it was beginning to bulge inward. "We need to get out of here." She turned to Cali. "Did I see a ring room as we came down this last corridor?"
"Yes."
"Where do the rings go?"
"I don't know. I've never been allowed to use them. Kor'ana only does so when she goes up to Apophis' ship to see him."
"Teal'c," Sam turned to the jaffa, her mind working. "If the rings couldn't lock onto anything at all, they wouldn't activate in the first place, would they?
"No."
"Then we should try to get back there and see if they'll take us somewhere besides here."
"We have no idea what we would be walking into."
"Anything's better than being stranded on this planet."
"Indeed."
"Any idea how to get out of here and over to there?"
He grunted. "None."
"Wait," Cali said, "I have an idea."
The doors burst open with a crash and jaffa soldiers poured inside, surrounding the child standing proudly in the center of the room. They immediately fanned out, leaving a small buffer around her, but otherwise filling the space.
"Halt!" she called, her voice loud and commanding. "How dare you force your way into the sacred room of my mother's rest?"
A voice, patronizing and cruel answered her. Kadan, Sam thought, hiding inside the stifling sarcophagus. She was lying almost on top of Teal'c, her side facing him, her head on his chest. She could hear his heartbeat through his thin tunic and it seemed to be a little faster than she would have thought, even considering their circumstances.
"My apologies, my lady, but we were chasing the offworlders and followed them in here. Perhaps you know where we might find them?"
"You were not chasing the prisoners, you idiot, you were chasing me and I was chasing them. Did you actually bother to see who you were shooting at?"
"No, my lady, but it does not matter. We are under orders to take you to your mother if you were found."
"You will do no such thing," Cali said dangerously. "I will take the prisoners to her myself. You may go."
"Forgive me, but we cannot."
"You fool," Cali hissed. "Do you not see what is happening? I took the shol'va and the human so that I could give them to Apophis myself and take my rightful place at his side. I persuaded them to trust me so I could get them to the rings and up to the moon, where they would be out of my mother's grasp. "
"And what of the queen?" Kadan asked, obviously intrigued by this new information. Cali was very convincing, and Sam glanced at Teal'c in the dark, wondering if he was as concerned as she was that they were being double crossed.
"The queen is insane," Cali snapped. "Everyone knows it, including you. It's time to get rid of her once and for all and replace her with someone who is worthy of your devotion." Sam heard Cali turn and walk toward them. "But now that you are here, we will work together and you will take your place as the first prime of a sane and powerful god."
Mailed fists thumped hard against armored chests. "I live to serve, my lady." Kadan said, his voice now smooth and respectful. "Apophis will be proud to take you as his new queen."
"Apophis is dead," Cali said flatly.
A pause, then Kadan answered, "I see. Then who will you serve?"
"I will serve no one. I will rise to become the High Queen of the goa'uld. It is they who will serve me, or bear the thought of never again passing on their knowledge to their offspring."
A foot kicked the side of the sarcophagus. "The shol'va and the human are here. Get them out and we will take them to Kor'ana. Apophis may be dead, but I am sure there are other system lords who would love to get their hands on these two. Once Kor'ana has seen them, she will contact her network and the word will spread that they are here. Eventually someone will come for them, and when they do, we will be the ones waiting."
"As you say, my queen."
Sam heard boots thunking toward them and light flooded their little hideout as the lid to the sarcophagus was forced open. She considered popping up and opening fire right then and there, but then thought better of it. From the sound of their footsteps, there were quite a few jaffa in the room and they all probably had their weapons trained on her and Teal'c. So she closed the zat and held it out above her head as she slowly stood, squinting a little in the harsh light of the room. Teal'c followed her lead, standing stiffly. The ointment on his leg was obviously wearing off. It certainly wasn't helping her shoulder much anymore.
Sam looked down at Cali, who was standing haughtily in the center of the room, her arms crossed over her chest and her eyes cold and hard. Anger crashed down over the colonel and she looked away, struggling to contain it, to keep herself from revealing just how livid she was. Idiot! she berated herself. Of course she's going to betray you! She a goa'uld for crying out loud!
Carefully, Sam stepped out of the sarcophagus and was immediately surrounded by at least half a dozen guards, all with zats or staff weapons trained on her. Teal'c was similarly enclosed, and they both handed over their weapons. Neither of them was in any condition to fight this many enemies at once.
Leading the contingent of jaffa, Cali marched down several corridors and stopped before a large barred door, which opened at her touch. Sam and Teal'c were shoved roughly inside, the doors closing behind them with a depressingly solid clang.