I'd like to thank Barbarossa Rotbart, Piper-Jacko06-Butterflygirl, Ray1 and D.J. Scales for their kind feedback.
Stargate: SVU 2
Chapter Four
'Curse them all,' Osiris thought, as she glowered in the command seat aboard her alkesh. They were once more in orbit above earth--which was the only place she could think of going after leaving Ionia.
After SG-1 had fled through the stargate, Osiris had seen fit to shoot several of the buildings in the market square, until she grew bored. As much fun as it was to watch the Ionians scatter like panicked ants underneath her ship, Osiris quickly realized that this was a waste of time. And so she ordered a return trip to earth. Since SG-1 presently searched for the location of Mount Tanis, the seat of power of the Netian Empire, Osiris figured it would be best to stay on their tail.
After all, earth had proved to be a lucky place for Osiris, since it was where she had first learned of the Asgard Slayer. When she first returned--armed with this alkesh and its meager crew--to finally seek vengeance on SG-1 and Daniel, Osiris had been surprised to find another alkesh already in orbit of earth. She had seen it briefly as it uncloaked long enough to drop a damaged teltac ship onto the surface of the planet. When she and her crew had captured the alkesh, just as it was leaving, Osiris learned from torturing the enemy crew that they belonged to the Netian Empire, and that Her Lord Empress Neith was armed with the Asgard Slayer.
Neith had just been overthrown by Osiris' very same enemy, SG-1--yet the Asgard Slayer remained out there, somewhere. Osiris never wanted anything as badly as she had wanted the Asgard Slayer--for once she was armed with it, everyone--including the system lords--would finally give her the respect that she deserved.
But there remained the problem of finding the damned thing.
She had monitored any and all communications that came out of Stargate Command, including the one which stated a small jet would take SG-1 to New York City. When she found the plane that carried SG-1 in mid-flight, it had been tempting for Osiris to simply shoot it down, thus ridding her of SG-1 in one broad stroke.
Yet she allowed the plane to continue on its journey, realizing that SG-1 must be headed to New York City for a very good reason--namely to find the Asgard Slayer. Perhaps this sprawling metropolis held a vital clue in the search. However, once the jet landed at the airport, Osiris and her crew had lost track of SG-1's location. Apparently they had underestimated just how vast a city New York was; it was easy to lose a group of people in its complex maze of overpopulated streets.
Her peltac commander bowed before her. "What shall we do, my Queen?"
"What else can we do, but hover over the city, under cloak, until we hear something," Osiris told him.
As he bowed and went to inform the crew, Osiris sat back in her seat and stared at the huge city below them. It was now just a waiting game--one to see what SG-1's next move would be. But Osiris was patient; as long as it meant becoming Queen of the known universe, she would wait above this city forever, if need be.
SG-1: SVU
"What the hell, Jack?!" Maybourne said, alarmed, as he stared down the barrel of the gun that O'Neill held right at his face.
"You shot me, Maybourne!" O'Neill said. "Now I'm going to return the favor."
"I didn't shoot you!" Maybourne cried.
Sam, who stood right next to O'Neill, gently gripped his arm. "Sir, wait…."
"Whoa, whoa," Elliot said, as he and Olivia both came over. "What's going on, here?"
"A little revenge," O'Neill replied. "Maybourne here shot me--"
"I did not shoot you, Jack!" Maybourne repeated. "I swear to God!"
"Oh, save me that bull!" O'Neill said. "You cut and ran on us in Adrian Conrad's lab!"
"Yes, I did," Maybourne admitted. "But whatever happened to you after that, I had nothing to do with it because I was long gone!"
"Spare me, Maybourne!"
'He's really pissed, and understandably so,' Sam realized. 'Still, for his sake, this can't be allowed to continue….'
"Jack, stop it!" she said harshly.
That snapped him out of his rage long enough to glare at her. "You can't order me around, Major!"
"No, I can't, sir," she said evenly. "But it's still my duty to prevent my superior officer from doing something extremely stupid…sir. You're holding a gun on somebody in the middle of the street in New York City. Is Maybourne really worth throwing it all away like this?"
That did it. Sam was pleased to see the rage finally die out in Jack's eyes as he quickly lowered his gun.
"Thank you, Major Carter," Maybourne said with a great deal of relief. "You have no idea how--"
"Shut up," O'Neill told him. "Just because I'm not shooting you now doesn't mean I forgive you for shooting me in the back. I guess you forgot that I was wearing a vest that day, huh?"
"For the last time, Jack," Maybourne said, growing impatient, "I did not shoot you. I helped you to find Major Carter when Adrian Conrad abducted her, remember? Why would I turn on you like that after we had just been working together?"
"If you didn't shoot me, then who did?" O'Neill demanded.
"I don't know," Maybourne replied. "But I do know where the NID is keeping Casey Novak."
SG-1: SVU
Colonel Frank Simmons eagerly unrolled the turkey sandwich from its wrapping and placed it down on the empty desk on top of a paper plate. He then twisted the cap off of the bottle of fruit juice and took a sip. Finding the drink to be satisfactory, Simmons then pried open the lid on the small container and tried some of the macaroni salad with his plastic fork. He nodded in contentment; the salad was quite good. He took a bite out of the sandwich and glanced at the small monitor that had been set up for him on the desk.
The monitor showed a live image feed of their captive, Casey Novak, as she lay on the stretcher. The woman had finally stopped crying and was now in the process of testing her bonds once again. She kept tugging at her wrists bonds, then she tried to pull her ankles free--all with a grim look of determination on her face that Simmons found to be completely adorable.
Novak didn't have a chance in hell of escaping--even if she somehow managed to free herself of her bonds, she would never get out of this building--but Simmons still couldn't help but admire her spunk. Judging from what he'd seen so far of Novak's courage, the New York City DA's office would lose a valuable champion once his lab boys got their hands on Novak--but even then, she would still be a champion, since the examination of her body would help to provide the human race with valuable information in their continuing fight against the Goa'uld.
When his cell phone rang, Simmons quickly answered it. "Yes?"
It was Icky. She was so named because her real name was Margaret Itckison, and she hated being called Maggie. Icky and her partner, Martin Wiles--affectionately known around the NID as "Sticky"--were the point team who grabbed Novak from her apartment building earlier today.
"Kinsey's on his way up to see you," Icky said, sounding bored. "He's pissed…."
That made Simmons chuckle. "Since when is the good senator not angry, Icky?"
"Uh…yeah," Icky muttered, before she hung up the phone. When she wasn't on a mission, Icky could be a very low key person.
Simmons took a few more bites from his sandwich--which was very good; New York really did have the best delicatessens--as he enjoyed the further antics of Casey Novak's futile escape attempt on the video monitor.
When Senator Robert Kinsey entered the room, he wore a hat with an overcoat that had the collar pulled up around his face. Simmons thought he looked like a spy reject from Get Smart. "Greetings, Senator, what brings you all the way to the Big Apple?"
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Kinsey snapped at him.
Simmons glanced down at his sandwich. "Having lunch?"
"Don't you sass me, you son of a bitch!" Kinsey did a double take when he saw Novak struggling on the monitor. "Oh my God! What have you done? Do you have any idea who she is?"
"Casey Novak, Assistant District Attorney in the City of New York," Simmons calmly responded. "She was also one of the Disappeared, having been abducted by Her Lord Empress Neith. And Ms. Novak is the only one of the Disappeared whom we have in our custody."
Kinsey removed his hat and coat and placed his hands on the opposite side of the desk. "Novak's also the ADA for an elite NYPD squad known as the Special Victims Unit. The NYPD SVU is legendary--in part because they have been known to make a great deal of trouble for people--regardless of how powerful or influential they might be."
Simmons put down his sandwich and regarded Kinsey with a curious gaze. "And why should the SVU frighten you, Senator? If memory serves, they specialize in sex crimes. Do you have a few nasty skeletons in your closet that you're afraid they may find?"
Kinsey shook his head. "Nothing so prosaic. I've been using the Awakening Project as a means to finally wrest control of the Stargate from the military. But, thanks to your little stunt, everybody's attention has become diverted to--"
"My little stunt?!" Simmons said, growing annoyed. "Senator, in the heavens above us are vast alien empires that have battled each other since humans were little more than cave dwellers. It's only because of a tenuous treaty with the Asgard that they haven't come down here to earth and swatted us away like flies. And here you are, still playing your petty little political games--as if anybody really cares!"
"I'll have you know that, in my own way, I am also fighting for the survival of the human race," Kinsey said. "Once I gain control of the stargate program, I'll have it shut down. As soon as we're cut off from the rest of the universe, then we'll be safe from any alien incursion."
Simmons shook his head. "And just how naïve do you really think I am, Senator? Neith has made it very clear that the days of counting on the Asgard are over. She sought open warfare between them and the Goa'uld system lords by using earth as bait!"
"But she's dead now," Kinsey said.
"You still don't see it, do you, Senator? The genie has long since been released from the bottle. Shutting down the stargate program won't do a bit of good for anybody at this point. No, the time has come for us to properly arm ourselves any way we can!"
Kinsey gestured at the bound woman on the monitor. "Like this? By abducting young women off the streets of New York? It seems to me that you're the one who should probably fear the SVU, Colonel. You and your goons have acted like the very same criminals whom they normally pursue."
"An Army Corporal, one of the Disappeared, was released from his stasis tube by the SGC--only to suffer a deadly illness. It turns out the tube was booby trapped, and had deliberately made the man sick. Yet Ms. Novak was revived from her tube without suffering any ill effects at all. That's why she's here, Senator, to find out if she has a natural defense to this Goa'uld threat."
"The SGC already has a team of scientific experts working on that problem," Kinsey said. "I'm told that they're very close to finding a solution."
"The NID doesn't require the assistance of the SGC, or anybody else, Senator," Simmons said smugly. "Whatever we need, we simply do it ourselves. We always find our own solutions."
Kinsey just gave him a long, hard look. "Yes, I know. And that's what scares me…."
SG-1: SVU
"Thanks again, Major Carter."
Sam glanced uneasily over at Maybourne. They both stood on the sidewalk with Olivia just outside the One Six precinct. When Maybourne informed O'Neill that he knew the exact location where the NID was holding Casey Novak, Olivia and Elliot had immediately wanted to go back and tell Cragen.
The problem was that, being a fugitive, Maybourne had no desire to enter a police station--which was a view that Olivia could actually understand. Still, O'Neill wasn't about to leave Maybourne alone on the sidewalk, so Sam and Olivia offered to remain behind with him, to make sure Maybourne didn't "disappear" once again.
For her part, Olivia felt very edgy; they now had a solid lead as to where Casey was--in a warehouse on the west side of Manhattan--and she wanted nothing more than to run over there right now by herself and save her friend. But a proper rescue still had to go through the proper channels, which included Cragen, and so Olivia had to impatiently wait.
Olivia gazed at Harry Maybourne, a former NID agent now in hiding from his ex-comrades, who looked a little dumpy in his dark blue jacket, open neck shirt and slacks--he had the appearance of an office worker on his lunch break, not a traitor who had made life miserable for SG-1 at every turn back in the day. Still, Olivia understood that Maybourne had redeemed himself once before when he helped Jack to rescue Sam from that Conrad guy's lab.
Olivia glanced furtively at Sam, amazed at the very thought that she had once been kidnapped. She never mentioned it to Olivia, and that was cool. But knowing that Sam had been in a situation like that, and survived it, only raised Olivia's already high opinion of her.
"I don't think you were the one who shot the Colonel," Sam said to Maybourne, after a long, thoughtful pause. "But if I had thought that it was you, then I probably would have shot you myself."
Maybourne nodded nervously. "All the more reason I'm grateful to you, Major. I wouldn't have been able to even approach Jack without your help."
"Why are you helping us Maybourne?" Sam asked. "What's in it for you?"
"Everything's changed, Major," Maybourne replied, with a wary glance at Olivia. "I've been told in no uncertain terms that something happened on your most recent mission that ultimately changed the status quo for all of us here…if you know what I mean."
"You mean Her Lord Empress Neith?" Sam asked. "She damn near started an intergalactic war, so I can see why some people may still be quaking in their boots."
Maybourne shot another uneasy look at Olivia. "Perhaps we should discuss this in private, Major…."
"Liv was right there with us, Maybourne. She's one of the Disappeared--until we rescued her on Kelora." Sam affectionately gazed at Olivia. "And good thing, too. Because she saved my life."
The look of shock on Maybourne's face made Olivia smile.
"Excuse me, Detective," he said. "I thought you were here just because of the kidnapping. I had no idea…."
"I am here because of the kidnapping," Olivia told him. "Speaking of which, where did you get your information regarding Ms. Novak's location?"
"I have my sources," he said cryptically.
Olivia just nodded. She decided to press him on another issue. "You didn't exactly answer Major Carter's question. Why are you helping us, here? Not that I don't appreciate your help--but, what are you expecting for it?"
"A trip through the stargate," Maybourne cheerfully replied. "Hopefully so I can start a new life on another world."
When both Sam and Olivia shared a stunned look, Maybourne grinned broadly as he added, "Hey, now that it looks like the Asgard treaty might have been swept away, earth is no longer a safe place for anybody these days. So I figure I might as well get out while I still can."
Olivia, totally offended by just being in this slime ball's presence, was about to let Maybourne know what she really thought of him--until Elliot and Jack emerged from the front doors of the precinct house. Fin, Munch, Daniel and Teal'c were with them.
"We're all meeting the ESU over there," Elliot said. "We're going in right now with vests…the works. Liv, Major Carter, and Maybourne, you'll ride with the Colonel and me."
"Call me Jack," O'Neill told him.
Elliot nodded. "All right, Jack." He gestured at Daniel and "Murray" and added, "You guys can ride with Munch and Fin. We all set? Ok, then, let's go!"
'Finally,' Olivia eagerly thought, as she began walking towards the car with the others. 'Just hang on, Casey--we're coming, honey!'
SG-1: SVU
"My name is Casey Novak."
"Shut up."
"Just listen to me," Casey pleaded with the man who wheeled her into the lab. He looked young, in his early twenties, and appeared to be uncomfortable dealing with her. "Please…just listen. My name is Casey Novak…I am a living, breathing human being, and I don't want to die. Just think about what you're about to do, please!"
"SHUT UP!"
Casey nodded slightly with satisfaction. By talking to him like this, by humanizing herself as much as possible, she was getting to the man. Casey sat up as much as the bonds on her stretcher would allow, and glanced around the lab. It was filled with various alien looking gadgets and technology, but more importantly, Casey saw that they were presently alone. If there was ever a moment for her to pull this off, this was it.
"Please, I don't want to die," Casey said to the man--who tried to busy himself at the table next to the stretcher that Casey lay on. "I've never done anything to you, personally, so please just--"
He turned around and waved his hand at her. "Lady, look…it's going to be all right. Y-You're just going to have some test done, that's all. I-It'll be fine."
Casey could tell just from the tone in his voice that even he didn't believe what he had just told her. "That's not what the other man told me," she said. "He said I was going to be experimented on, and that I would be dead in a few hours. It's been a few hours since he told that to me, so I guess I don't have very long to live right now, huh?"
The man looked exasperated. "Lady…I don't know what you want from me…"
"Just untie one of my wrist bonds," Casey said quietly, "and walk out of the room for five minutes."
The man shook his head. "N-No, I can't…."
"I don't want to die!" Casey cried. "Please, please help me. Just undo the strap on my wrist and walk out. I can handle the rest. If I get recaptured, I won't blame you, I swear. Just please help me…please…."
The man stared at her thoughtfully.
He took a step towards Casey and reached out with one hand.
Then he stopped and stared fearfully at something. "Colonel Simmons."
Casey glanced in the direction he stared in and saw a man in a suit standing there, shaking his head and waving his finger. "Tsk tsk, Bobby."
The man appeared sheepish. "Um, excuse me, sir. I gotta go get the--"
"Yes, Bobby, why don't you do that," Simmons said, as he walked over to Casey. Her eyes grew wide when she saw he held what looked like a gag in his hands. "And as for you…."
"No, wait, pl--" was all Casey could get out before he gagged her. As he tied off the gag in the back of her head, a helpless Casey was momentarily distracted by the sight of a large tank filled with water on the table.
And there was something swimming in it.
It was a large, snake-like creature with small wings near its head. For a spilt second it peered at Casey--almost as if it knew she were there--before it continued swimming around in a tight circle, like a predator waiting to strike.
"Oh don't worry," Simmons said to her. "Our little Goa'uld friend in there isn't for you. No, this is sort of a storage facility that we have, which contains goodies from all over--mostly stolen Goa'uld technology. You should consider yourself very lucky to be a part of this collection, Ms. Novak--or at least you will be, once we've properly dissected you."
Casey let out a muffled groan under the gag as she turned away from him.
Simmons smiled down at her. "Yes, I know, that can't be very--"
He was interrupted when a woman--the same woman whom Casey recognized as having helped kidnap her earlier--frantically appeared in the doorway. "We've got company, sir! It's the NYPD, in full force, knocking on the door!"
"Damn it," Simmons said. He pulled out a gun as he calmly walked over to the woman. "It's always something, isn't it, Icky?"
Casey was relieved to see them leave the room. She just wished she wasn't tied down to this damned stretcher! Still, the Calvary had arrived, so maybe it was just as well that Casey remained right where she was until a friendly face found her.
When she heard a splash, Casey glanced back over at the Goa'uld. It stopped swimming around and now floated in place within the tank of water. It stared hungrily right at her with its little beady black eyes.
'Oh jeez,' Casey thought, as a renewed panic arose within her. She stared longingly at the open doorway. 'I hope somebody finds me soon! C'mon, SVU; get me the hell out of here!'
SG-1: SVU
The Emergency Services Unit, clad all in black with helmets, smashed their way through the front doors and entered the building with their weapons drawn. Olivia, Elliot, O'Neill and Sam all followed. They were clad in bulletproof vests and had their own guns drawn. On the other side of the building, Munch, Fin, Teal'c and Daniel stood guard with the rest of the ESU, blocking any escape. They also stood guard over Maybourne, as well.
"Clear," the ESU team members started calling out, as they swept the vacant warehouse.
Olivia was frustrated that they didn't find anything--until she saw the steps that led up. She started running for them, until somebody grabbed her arm.
It was Elliot. "Let ESU go up first. It's their job."
Olivia anxiously waited as the heavily armed group ran up the steps ahead of her and Elliot. "C'mon, c'mon," she whispered, wishing they would just call the all clear already.
But instead of the all clear, Olivia froze when she heard gunfire.
SG-1: SVU
Casey was startled when she heard the gunfire come from just outside the doorway. One of the men who wore a white lab coat went running past the doorway, holding a gun. Then a second man--the same one who had sadistically taunted Casey earlier about how she would soon be dead--frantically entered the lab. He was unarmed.
He ducked against the wall when several of the NYPD ESU team members ran past the doorway, all giving chase to the first man with the gun.
When he saw the helpless Casey lying on the stretcher, the man's eyes grew wide behind his glasses.
"No witnesses," he muttered, as he came over and picked up a large scalpel.
Casey let out a horrified scream from under her gag as the man approached her with the scalpel raised over her chest.
SG-1: SVU
Elliot ran along behind the ESU members who gave chase to the guy with the gun--until something caught his eye off to the side.
It was a lab set up of some sort, with another guy in a white lab coat holding a knife over Casey, who lay helpessly bound on a stretcher.
Elliot pointed his gun at the man and shouted, "DROP IT, OR I DROP YOU!"
But when the man kept moving in to stab Casey--ignoring his warning--Elliot had no choice.
He pulled the trigger. His Glock barked twice. The man with the knife abruptly jerked violently as he fell back against a large tank of water, knocking it against the floor and shattering it. The water flooded all over.
Elliot quickly checked on the bound Casey, who appeared to be hysterical, but physically unharmed. Then he moved over to the perp, who lay twitching admist the shattered glass of the tank. He wanted to make sure the son of a bitch was truly down.
"You still alive, scumbag?" Elliot asked, as he carefully moved the twitching man over with his foot.
Elliot was stunned to see that the man was dead--both of his nine millimeter bullets struck him in the neck and head. But if he was dead, then why was he still twitching?
Then Elliot saw why.
The snake-like creature emerged from under the man's body and reared up at Elliot, flapping its wings at him.
It then leapt right at Elliot's face.
SG-1: SVU
'Still no joy,' Jacob thought wearily, as he finished his scan of the vast area of space surrounding his teltac ship. "Very well," he spoke aloud. "Let's try another spot."
As he jumped the teltac back into hyperspace, Jacob heard Selmak say, 'This is like looking for a horseshoe in a haystack….'
"You mean 'looking for a needle in a haystack,' and--yes--I agree with you," Jacob said. "But what choice do we have?"
'Go back home,' Selmak suggested.
Jacob nodded. Selmak had a point. Once Jacob got the hyper-drive engines fixed, he got the idea to go in the same basic direction he saw the Ha'tak vessel take off in. He would then jump out of hyperspace every thousand parsecs or so and do a sweep of the area around him with a long range scan, in the hopes of trying to find some trace evidence of where the Ha'tak might have gone. But Jacob had known going in that this idea would be a shot in the dark, at best.
The blinking light on his console indicted that another thousand parsecs have gone by, and Jacob pulled his ship out of hyperspace once more. "Tell you what, Selmak," he said. "Let's just do this one last sweep, and then we'll--WHOA!"
Jacob stared in amazement at the wild readings the long range scanners were giving him. There was a massive expulsion of energy in the orbit of one of the planets in this system, a seemingly unimportant planetoid that was out on the far reaches of the system. The readings were unmistakable, they looked just like--
'A space battle,' Selmak said for him. 'And a rather large one, at that.'
"Yeah, that it is," Jacob said, as he placed the teltac into full cloak and then piloted it in that direction. "Let's see who's winning."
SG-1: SVU
As his ship fell apart all around him, Pal'tee felt oddly at peace. He stood alone on the peltac, his hands bracing his body against the side of a console as the massive ship lurched and rumbled with every shot it took from the surrounding fleet. His peltac officers had all fled for the lifeboats, and Pal'tee had sent them off with his blessing while he remained behind.
It didn't really matter--for the lifeboats would be blasted out of existence the instant they left the ship. Yet if his officers still wanted to try their luck, even if it were nonexistent, then who was Pal'tee to deny them their last wish?
The face of Her Lord Empress Mut was still frozen on the view screen, glaring smugly at Pal'tee, as his peltac was being ripped apart by explosions.
"You shall fall one day," Pal'tee boldly told the image. He had no idea if she could hear him--and, at this point, he honestly couldn't care less. "For not even the universe is immortal…."
Pal'tee never knew what Mut's reaction was--or if she even had one--because, right at that instant, his ship erupted into a ball of fire.
SG-1: SVU
"Wow," Jacob said softly, as he watched the Ha'tak class vessel explode. For a brief second, it almost looked like a miniature sun. The surrounding fleet of Ha'tak ships--which all bore the same symbol of Neith's fleet, two arrows crossed over a shield--finally stopped their incessant barrage. "That ship, the one that was just destroyed, was that the same one we'd been following?"
'Hard to say,' Selmak said. 'Yet, thanks to your persistence, we now have another opportunity to find Mount Tanis.'
"That we do, old friend, that we do," Jacob murmured, as he watched the fleet of Ha'tak ships assemble into a standard convoy grouping for a mass jump into hyperspace. "Of course, we don't know for sure that these guys are headed for Mount Tanis. But, sometimes you've got to roll the hard six. Here we go!"
Jacob piloted the cloaked teltac right into the center of the convoy, which allowed his vessel to be swept along as the fleet of Ha'taks all jumped into hyperspace. Once again, he was tagging along for the ride…which was hopefully headed straight towards Mount Tanis.
'What does it mean to roll the hard six?' Selmak asked.
Jacob chuckled. "That's from a TV show called Battlestar Galactica. We watched some of it when we last visited Sam's house. Don't you remember?"
'Reprehensible….' Selmak said with disgust.
"Hold on," Jacob said, annoyed. "I thought you liked Sam!"
'On the contrary, I find your Samantha to be a very agreeable young woman,' Selmak replied. 'It is your taste in entertainment that I find reprehensible, Jacob.'
"Everybody's a critic," Jacob muttered, as he rechecked some calculations on his pilot console.
'I am not a critic,' Selmak said.
"You're right, Selmak. You're not. You're a grump."
'I am not a grump.'
"Yes, you are, Selmak."
'Jacob, you are the grump….'
"Fine, Selmak," Jacob said with a smile. "Be that way."
SG-1: SVU
"Oh my God," Olivia cried, once she saw the sight before her.
It looked like a terrible scene from Dr. Frankenstein's lab in some twisted horror movie. A gagged Casey was retrained at the wrists and ankles on a stretcher in the middle of what looked like a makeshift surgical bay, while she was surrounded by an assortment of alien technological wonders. Elliot was bent over a perp, probably checking to see if he was still alive.
Olivia ran over to Casey and started untying her wrists. Sam got busy releasing Casey's ankles. As soon as Casey's hands were freed, she pulled off her gag and gave Olivia a tight hug.
"Ok, ok," Olivia said, as she soothed the still-crying woman. "It's ok, sweetie. You're ok, now. We got you; we got you, Casey."
Sam stood wiping away a tear. O'Neill leaned in and asked, "You ok, Major?"
"Yeah," Sam said, with a brisk nod. She took a deep breath. "This just brings up an unpleasant memory for me, that's all, sir."
O'Neill nodded in understanding. Then he glanced over at the man on the floor. "Elliot, is that guy secure?"
"Uh, yeah," Elliot replied. He slowly stood up. He held an object in his hand. "He is dead."
"H-He was going to stab me," Casey said, getting a hold of herself. "But Elliot just--he was here in the knick of time!"
Olivia smiled at her. "That's Elliot for you. He's done the same thing for me countless times."
"Building now secure," a male voice announced over the police dispatch radio. "I say again: all clear."
"Get they get everybody?" Casey asked. "Including that Simmons guy?"
"Simmons?!" O'Neill said sharply. "Colonel Frank Simmons? He was here?"
"I didn't get his full name," Casey replied, as she wearily got off of the stretcher. "But one of the lab guys did call him Colonel Simmons. He was the bastard who gagged me, just before a woman named Icky warned him that you were coming."
"That son of a bitch," O'Neill muttered, as he exchanged a stunned look with Sam. "Oh, I hope we caught him! I've got a few questions for him myself…."
Casey held out her hands to Elliot. "Come here, my hero…."
"Watch the broken glass, Case," Olivia warned her, as she keyed her dispatch radio. "I'll get the medics up here for you."
As Elliot came over and embraced Casey, he still held his gun in one hand, and an opaque ball in the other.
Olivia, noting the ball, paused in making her call to the medics. "Hey, El, what's that in your hand?"
Elliot glanced over at her--
--and his eyes briefly illuminated as bright as fire.
Olivia was so stunned to see this that she just stood there, shocked. Everything appeared to move in slow motion as Elliot abruptly pulled Casey close to his body, using her as a shield. And with his other hand, he aimed his Glock right at Olivia's face.
Olivia was suddenly knocked down to the floor just as Elliot fired his gun. Now lying flat on her back, Olivia opened her eyes and saw Sam was lying on top of her. Both women flinched as gunfire erupted right above them.
"You all right?" Sam asked, still concerned for Olivia.
"Yeah," Olivia said, still stunned. "But Elliot's eyes, they just lit up like--"
"That's no longer Elliot," Sam said solemnly. "Sorry, Liv!"
"Son of a bitch!" O'Neill roared, once the gunfire had subsided. "Carter! Olivia! You two all right?!"
"Yes sir," Sam called, as she warily got to her feet and also helped up Olivia. "Is it clear?"
"Yeah! Bastard used Casey as a shield," O'Neill angrily said. "I couldn't even get a clear shot at him!"
"Where did they go?" Olivia asked.
O'Neill pointed. "Through that door, and he's got Casey as a hostage. I think it leads to the roof. Carter, he's also got a Goa'uld communicator!"
"What does he think he'll use that for?" Sam wondered aloud--as she, O'Neill, and Olivia all went through the door and up the flight of stairs. "Who can he call?"
SG-1: SVU
"My Queen!" the peltac commander called. "We have an emergency message from the surface!"
Osiris frowned. "From a Goa'uld communicator?"
The man nodded. "Yes, my Queen."
"Who is it?"
"It is an automated signal, my Queen. A standard emergency beacon, requesting assistance, launched from a Goa'uld communicator."
Osiris stared at the vast cityscape of Manhattan that was on the view screen. "From down there?"
"Yes, my Queen."
This was damned odd. To her knowledge, there were no other Goa'uld presently on earth. 'Perhaps this was more of Neith's people, working undercover?' Osiris wondered. 'If so, then we could torture the location of the Asgard Slayer out of them.'
"Very well, take us low over the city, directly over where the beacon is being broadcasted," Osiris ordered.
SG-1: SVU
"Building now secure," a male voice announced over the police dispatch radio. "I say again: all clear."
"I love it when a plan goes all right," Fin said, putting his dispatch radio away. "Don't you, Murray?"
Murray nodded his head sagely. "Indeed."
They leaned against the car they rode up in. Munch and Dr. Jackson sat inside the vehicle, keeping an eye on Maybourne. All around them were more ESU members, watching over the rear of the warehouse. So far, nobody had come their way, and now it looked like the show was over. Fin hoped Casey was all right.
"Hey, tell me something," Fin said. "Is Murray really your name?"
"Indeed it is, Odafin Tutuola," Murray said with a formal nod.
"Oh, naw, man!" Fin said with a broad grin. "You ain't got to be so formal with me, baby! Just call me by my handle, y'know?"
"Your handle?" Murray said questioningly.
"Yeah, it's just Fin, that's all."
"Fin?" Murray looked uncertain.
"Right," Fin said. "I gotta say, though, man--you really don't look like a 'Murray' to me."
Murray nodded thoughtfully. "I must say that you do not look like a fish appendage to me, as well."
Fin thought about that for a moment, then he burst into laughter. "Oh yeah! Guess I walked right into that one, huh, Murray?!"
"Indeed," Murray said with a smile--then his smile abruptly vanished when he looked up into the sky.
Fin glanced up, and his eyes flared with shock. "Oh, whoa…."
A massive, oval-shaped ship seemingly appeared out of the empty air right above the warehouse. It hovered over them, looking to Fin like a spaceship from a sci-fi film. The startled ESU members around them all instinctively dove for cover as Munch, Jackson and Maybourne got out of the car to stare up at the strange vessel in the sky.
"Uh…this can't be good," Jackson said to Murray.
"Indeed," Murray said grimly.
SG-1: SVU
'This can't be happening,' Olivia thought, as she ran up the last flight of steps with O'Neill and Sam. 'Please, God…don't let this happen….'
They burst onto the roof, being careful to check so that there was no ambush waiting for them--but instead of a Goa'uld-possessed Elliot, waiting to shoot at them, what Olivia actually saw was a hundred times worse.
Elliot stood in the center of the roof holding a struggling Casey against his chest, as a series of transporter rings fell down around them. They were then beamed up into the waiting alkesh that hovered over the warehouse, in full view of several million people.
Once the rings were back in the ship, the alkesh then veered off sharply, banking hard over the Hudson River as it appeared to vanish into thin air.
"Oh, no, no, no," Olivia said, her voice sounding very small, as she helplessly sank down to a kneeling position on the surface of the roof. "This can't be happening…."
Both O'Neill and Sam knelt down beside her. Sam sympathetically rubbed Olivia's neck and shoulder.
"Liv, look at me," O'Neill said gently. "We're not giving up on them, ok?"
"Yeah," Olivia said weakly. She felt very numb as she wiped away her tears using a tissue that Sam had given her.
"That looked like Osiris' alkesh, sir," Sam said.
"You recognize it?" Olivia asked, impressed.
Sam nodded. "The blast marks on the side are the exact same as the one that picked her up from Ionia. Unless there's another alkesh flying around with the very same battle damage…."
"Ok," O'Neill said. "Now that we know who took Elliot and Casey, let's all get back to Cheyenne Mountain, and start looking for them."
Olivia wasn't sure her legs could support her right now. But with the help of O'Neill and Sam, she was able to stand up again.
"You can remove that thing from Elliot?" Olivia asked Sam. "Right?"
"The Tok'ra have a safe method of removing a Goa'uld from its host," she assured Olivia.
"But we've got to find them, first!" Olivia said with dismay. "Oh, God…."
"We're not going to find them by standing around here, Liv," O'Neill told her. "And so, the sooner we get moving--"
"--the sooner we find them," Olivia finished for him. "Fine, then let's get moving."
"Atta girl," O'Neill said with approval, as they briskly walked off the roof and back down the stairs.
To Be Continued...