~oOo~
The village consisted of a jumble of sturdy wooden houses surrounding ancient stone structures that were in disrepair. These were the ruins that had caught Jackson's attention on the UAV footage. They were now entering one of these structures—one that had been partially restored. Too bad Jackson wasn't awake to see it.
Cam sought out his teammate who was being carried through the door on his litter. There had been no sounds—not even a moan—for the last fifteen minutes of their hike. Cam assumed he was unconscious; at least, he hoped that was the case.
Inside, Cam's attention was drawn to the high ceilings and the tapestry-covered walls of the passageway they were following. Urns filled with oil burned along each wall. Passing through a doorway, they entered a larger room with benches lining two walls. Here they stopped and were pressed to sit. Cam wasn't surprised when no one offered to untie them. Jackson's escort carried him through another door and out of sight, their footsteps echoing down the hallway. Averill stopped Morven, the man who had shot Daniel, and basically told him to go cool off someplace else. Throwing SG-1 a scathing look, he obeyed, stalking from the room.
"Where ya takin' him?" Cam nodded towards the doorway where Daniel had been taken, not keen on having his team separated, even though there wasn't much he could do about it.
"Our healer will tend to him. We will remain here and discuss who you are and your purpose for coming here." Averill's voice was pleasant, but left no doubt who was in charge.
"Considering their weaponry, I'm sure they're used to treating these types of injuries," Sam assured him.
She was probably right about that, Cam knew, but it still made him uncomfortable. He glanced at Vala, who'd been uncharacteristically quiet since Jackson had been shot. She wasn't crying any longer, but her eyes were downcast and he knew she was beating herself up over what she'd said. Good. He wouldn't have to do it, then.
Several other people entered the room, coming to stand next to Averill while he spoke. "Your friend claims you are not followers of Origin; that you are 'explorers'. But this woman," he gestured at Vala, "implies that your friend is a Prior, even though he does not look like the one who visited us. Explain."
Where to begin? "Sam, you wanna take this one?" He knew she would present a concise, informative explanation.
Giving him a grim smile, Sam began. "Our friend, Daniel Jackson, was telling you the truth about the Ori. We were at war with them because they were trying to force us to worship them. They invaded many worlds, trying to coerce the people to accept Origin. We recently defeated them—they're all dead. When they died, the Priors were freed from the hold the Ori held over them. At one point, Daniel was captured by the Orici who turned him into a Prior against his will. We got him back and were able to reverse what she'd done to him. That's what Vala was referring to—"
A sharp cry of pain pierced the air sending a shiver down Cam's spine. All eyes turned to the doorway through which Jackson had been taken. Vala jumped up, her intention to go to Daniel clear, but she was pushed back into her seat. She turned anxious eyes to Cam. No question what had just happened; he was pretty sure the arrow had been removed.
Seeing her distress, Averill tried to assuage her fear. "Our healer is skilled in treating these wounds. Do not worry."
"Please, let me go to him," she pleaded.
"When the healer is done, we will let you see him," Averill assured her.
Vala didn't reply, but turned her eyes to the door again. Teal'c and Sam were also looking anxiously in the direction of the distant room where their teammate lay. Cam was just as worried as they were, but he knew there was nothing any of them could do for Jackson. The most they could do was try to convince these people to let them go.
Turning his attention to Sam, one of the men standing next to Averill spoke. "You say your friend is no longer a Prior; how were you able to reverse this? How do we know you were not sent here to see what happened to the Prior who visited us?"
Cam could see Sam was trying to pull herself together and focus on what the man was saying. "It's very hard to explain; you'll just have to believe us when we say he's no longer a Prior and we weren't sent to check on you. Can you tell us what happened to the Prior who visited you? Did he heal your people of the sickness?"
The man seemed to consider her words before continuing. "The Prior who came to our village told us of Origin. When we would not agree to follow its teachings, he warned us there would be consequences; that is when our people began to fall ill. He left and came back the next day, again asking if we were ready to embrace Origin. More of our people were becoming ill—three had died—but still we refused him. It was at that moment that his staff began to glow and when the light went out, he dropped it and appeared confused. He said, 'What have I done?' No one was sure what was happening. We asked him if he would heal our people but he covered his face with his hands and began to speak words we did not understand. Angry over the death of his wife, Morven shot him with an arrow and he fell dead."
Sam exchanged a glance with Cam; they knew this had been the moment the Ark had been used against the Doci. That explained what happened to their Prior; there was just one other unanswered question that left Cam feeling very uneasy. Sam was obviously on the same page and he nodded for her to ask.
"What happened to the soldiers who came with him? Where did they go?"
Averill answered her. "The death of their Prior threw them into chaos—our men chased them and they retreated into the ruins where they disappeared. We do not know where they went, but they did not leave through the Annulus as our people had it guarded."
"Rings," Teal'c stated succinctly.
"That'd be my guess," Cam agreed, realizing that actually left one more question. "Sam, didn't you say their ships required a Prior to fly them?"
Sam nodded. "Yeah. I was only able to get around it with Daniel's help. Unless they have someone on board who could do the same . . . ."
She left the sentence unfinished, knowing Cam and Teal'c would understand what that meant—in all likelihood, there was an Ori ship currently hovering over the planet.
"Damn." Time to speed things up a bit, Cam decided. "Fellas, we may have a problem here. Without a Prior, the Ori soldiers may be stuck on board their ship in orbit around this planet."
"Their ship?" Averill's face displayed his confusion.
"A big ship—boat--," Sam foundered trying to describe it in terms they would understand, "that travels among the stars. It's how they came to your planet," Sam explained. "It means they could come back at any time."
Murmurs rolled through the small crowd gathered in the room. Averill and the other man conversed animatedly together for a few moments before raising their hands for silence.
"Are you saying that we may still be under threat from the Ori soldiers?"
"That's exactly what we're sayin'," Cam confirmed. "If you'd let us go, we'd be glad to help you defend your town against them."
"We must discuss this further before making a decision," Averill stated.
A man entered the room, wiping his hands on a cloth. "The arrow has been removed and the wound treated. He will recover."
Vala jumped up again, turning pleading eyes to Averill.
"You may go to him." He nodded to the man who had entered. "Take her to see her friend. Borel, go with them."
One of their guards nodded his head to Averill and took hold of one of Vala's arms, leading her to the doorway. She looked back, a fleeting smile crossing her lips before she disappeared from sight.
The two native men shifted to the far side of the room, leaving SG-1 to wonder if they'd gotten through to them or not, and Cam to wonder why they couldn't, just once, have drawn a quiet, uninhabited planet for their mission.
~oOo~
You'd think he'd be used to it by now—that throbbing, pulsing, burning, take-your-breath-away pain that came with being seriously injured. But he wasn't. Daniel lay still, trying to reorient himself. He knew he'd passed out—right after they'd pulled the arrow from his back. It had felt like they were pulling his insides out along with it.
A hand gently came to rest on his shoulder. He knew that hand. The voice confirmed it.
"Daniel? Are you all right?"
"Do I look all right?" he managed to ground out.
Ignoring his testiness, Vala asked, "Do you need anything?"
"I need for you to go away." Why did he always respond to her that way?
The hand disappeared and it was so quiet, he wondered if she'd left. Prying one eye open, he found her sitting next to him, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth, blinking back tears. He hadn't meant to sound so harsh, but he couldn't help it. Being shot did that to him.
"I'm sorry," she stammered, "I didn't mean to—"
"I know. It's okay. I'm okay. Sort of."
She swiped the back of her hand across her eyes and leaned forward, cupping his cheek with her hand. "Well, don't scare me like that again."
"I'll try not to." He gave her a lopsided smile that turned into a grimace as he shifted, jarring his shoulder.
Someone came into view behind Vala and placed a hand on her shoulder. "We should allow him to rest now."
Vala looked up at the man. "Please, let me stay with him. I promise to let him sleep."
"Well—"
"It's all right," Daniel assured him. "Let her stay."
"Very well. Make sure he does not try to get up," he instructed Vala.
"Believe me, there's no chance of that," Daniel replied.
The man left and Vala began running her hand through Daniel's hair. He felt himself relax, the pain in his shoulder diminishing in intensity from unbearable to excruciating. Eyes closed, he felt himself drifting as Vala's soothing touch continued.
~oOo~
A loud noise woke him and he heard Vala shout 'No!' Whatever they had given him to drink before they removed the arrow made him feel like he was stuck in molasses. Blinking to clear his vision, he tried to focus on what was happening. What he saw sent a lightning bolt of fear through him, immediately clearing away the cobwebs in his brain.
Vala was struggling against the hold of two Ori soldiers. Another was standing over the body of one of the natives and two more were headed straight for him. Shifting to maneuver himself up, he stifled a cry of pain as the movement aggravated the wound in his back.
"This is the one."
"But he looks—"
"It matters not how he looks, only that he is the one we detected and the one we have been ordered to collect."
Before he could get himself upright, the two Ori soldiers grabbed his arms and slowly shifted him until he was sitting on the bed. Chest heaving as he fought through the pain, Daniel looked up at one of them, surprised to see concern on the man's face.
"Prior, are you able to walk?"
The part of Daniel's brain not dealing with pain tried to process that statement. Prior? "What?"
"There is no time," the other soldier said urgently.
Glancing over his shoulder, the first man ordered, "Bring her," and began lifting Daniel off the bed. The second man took hold of his other arm and pulled.
Daniel groaned with the effort of standing and worked to get his rubbery legs to hold him up. Obviously not willing to wait on him, the two Ori soldiers supported him under the arms and began pulling him forward. Ahead of him, Daniel glimpsed Vala, still held tightly between two of the soldiers, hands tied behind her, a piece of cloth wrapped around her mouth to keep her quiet. Good luck with that. Daniel almost laughed out loud. I must be delirious.
Realizing he should probably try calling for help himself, Daniel started to yell, but the sound was swallowed by a gasp as he was jostled over rubble on the floor. Questions flew through his mind: Why were the soldiers here? Had it been a setup all along? Where were Sam, Teal'c, and Cam? And most importantly: where were they going?
~oOo~
Cam shifted on the bench, rolling his shoulders to ease the kinks caused by having his hands tied behind him. The trick was doing it without causing further damage to his wrists, which were already abraded from trying to work free of the ropes.
Averill and Tareth, he'd overheard the other man called, were still conversing quietly in a far corner where they'd retreated to discuss SG-1's statements.
They'd been offered nothing to eat or drink and Cam was finding that irritation adding to his discomfort.
"Help!" The voice preceded the native man as he stumbled into the room, eyes wild with fear.
Averill and Tareth immediately ran to his side. "What has happened?" Averill questioned.
"I returned to check on them and . . . and . . . " The man pulled in a breath and released it, trying to compose himself. "Ori soldiers were there—they headed into the ruins. I fear Borel may be dead. Dallin may be alive, I do not know. The two strangers are gone."
Cam jumped up, Sam and Teal'c mirroring his movement, but they were prevented from any further action as the guards quickly surrounded them.
"Looks like we were right; the Ori soldiers are still here." Cam directed his words at Averill. He wondered if Jackson and Vala had gotten away, or if the Ori had taken them. With Jackson's luck it was probably the later. But why take Jackson and Vala? How would they even know SG-1 was here? Or was it random? Whatever the reason, it couldn't be a good thing when it came to the Ori. All things to worry about later; right now, they needed to focus on finding their teammates.
"We can help you." Sam's urgent voice pulled Averill's gaze to her.
He glanced at Tareth and back at SG-1, taking in each of their faces, obviously considering his choices. "Very well." He nodded to the guards. "Release them."
Cam stifled a hiss as the ropes fell away. Flexing his sore wrists, he asked, "What about our weapons?"
Averill's face was grim as he nodded to the guards. "Get them."
~oOo~
TBC