My thanks to Ray and Ms. Robart for their kind words. They're always appreciated.
I wasn't planning on getting this chapter done so soon, but a pre-Halloween snow storm dumped about a foot of the white stuff on my house! Now that's scary!
Stargate: SVU
Chapter Nine
Bra'tac hurried along the narrow pathway, eager to see Major Carter of SG-1, whom he was told waited for him in his private tent, along with an unknown woman. Jel'mek, who had encountered the women at the chaapa'ai, had cautioned Bra'tac in his message that the entire affair was most strange. For one thing, instead of the entire SG-1 team, only Major Carter had arrived--in a rather disheveled state, with another, unknown woman.
When Bra'tac arrived at the last check point in the clearing, he was startled to see that there wasn't a sentry present. Then he saw the Jaffa laying on the ground, with his back against a tree.
Bra'tac, taking no chances, quickly energized his staff weapon as he carefully strode over to the still man. Then, his inner alarm subsided once he saw that the man was fast asleep.
'Asleep, on guard duty!' Bra'tac thought, as he shook his head. This man may not have been on the outer perimeter, but that did not matter. A sentry was expected to do his duty, regardless of where he stood guard.
Bra'tac lightly struck the man on the side of the face with the butt of his staff weapon. The man awoke and reached for his own weapon, until Bra'tac stopped him by pointing the business end of his staff weapon right into his face.
"Master Bra'tac," the sentry said, terrified.
"You should feel fortunate that it is only me," Bra'tac said, his tone livid, as he lowered his weapon. "For the punishment I shall mete out to you for deserting your post will be mild compared to what the enemy would have done if they had caught you sleeping!"
"I-I am sorry, Master Bra'tac," the man said, humbled.
"Do not be sorry, be alert!" Bra'tac roared at him. "For if you had fallen into the hands of the enemy, then you would truly have been sorry!"
Bra'tac, disgusted, continued on to the camp. When he reached his tent, he saw Jel'mek standing guard outside with several other Jaffa. Jel'mak nodded at Bra'tac in greeting, and said, "They wait for you inside, Master."
Bra'tac paused by the entrance to his tent and frowned when he heard a strange sound come from within.
It was giggling.
He pulled back the flap and saw that Major Carter sat cross-legged on the carpeted floor of his tent with another woman--one who was just as beautiful, but with dark hair. Both women had been eating fruit that had been placed before them in a bowl, all while they spoke and laughed with each other in an intimate fashion.
As he stepped into his tent, Major Carter saw him first and stood up to greet him. "Master Bra'tac," she said, smiling. "It's good to see you, again."
"It is good to see you, as well, Major Carter," he said, stunned at the grime that covered her face and skin. The dark-haired woman was equally dirty, as well. However, despite this, both women looked to be in very good spirits. "May I ask what is going on?"
"First off, let me introduce you to Olivia Benson," Major Carter said, gesturing at the dark-haired woman. "She's also a member of SG-1. Liv, this is Master Bra'tac."
"Hi," Olivia Benson said, and her smile was dazzling. "I've heard so much about you, sir. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Thank you," Bra'tac said, as he shook her hand. He gestured at their dusty clothing and bare feet. "What happened to the two of you? Where is O'Neill, and the rest of SG-1?"
Major Carter let out a sigh. "That's a long story, Bra'tac. We were off world, on a mission, when things went badly. You were the only one I could think of who could help us on such short notice. We urgently need to contact Stargate Command as soon as possible."
Bra'tac nodded in understanding. "Very well. You can tell me the rest on the way to the chaapa'ai."
SG-1: SVU
"Ok," Jacob said, as he slowly brought the teltac up over the edge of the asteroid--behind which they had been hiding for almost the last half hour. "Let's see what we can--oh, damn it!"
O'Neill also cursed inwardly when he saw the sight before him. The fleet of Ha'tak warships had spread out further in orbit of Mount Tanis, where they all continued to launch the seeker wave at regular intervals. O'Neill saw that the fleet of Ha'taks were positioned apart from each other in a specific diamond pattern. This pattern covered the entire planet in a giant sphere-shape that consisted of the Ha'tak ships. Neith might be dead--and good riddance--but her brilliant tactics still lived on.
"No way are we getting through that," Jacob muttered dismally. He lowered the teltac back behind the cover of the asteroid. "Not without being stopped in our tracks."
O'Neill glared at the rocky surface of the asteroid and cursed himself for letting Sam and Liv out of his sight. It killed him that, once again, Sam might be in danger while he wasn't. And now it looked like there was very well nothing that could be done--not while that fleet of Ha'tak ships was beating the bushes for them like this.
"Is it me?" Daniel asked. "Or is this an awful lot of activity for one little ship?"
"A ship that breeched the security of the capital of the Netian Empire, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c reminded him.
"Yeah, but I can't help but wonder if there's something else going on here," Daniel said. "Something we're not seeing."
O'Neill just nodded absently as his mind raced to come up with a tactical scheme to rescue Sam and Liv--but for all he knew, they might not have been captured at all. But even if that were the case, they were still stuck on the surface of Mount Tanis, and O'Neill would be damned if he would just--
O'Neill's thought were interrupted by a loud beeping from Jacob's console. "I'm getting a sub space message," Jacob said, scanning a monitor. "It's from the Tok'ra."
"Let me guess, they're scrubbing the mission," Daniel muttered with annoyance.
"Can they do that?" Satterfield angrily asked. "I mean, we're not Tok'ra, so we don't have to obey them, right?"
"Sam and Olivia are all right!" Jacob said with relief, after he read the text message. "Sam and Liv managed to escape to safety with Bra'tac, who contacted the Tok'ra. They're now on their way back to the SGC."
"You sure that message is legit?" O'Neill asked.
Jacob nodded confidently. "It checks out, Jack. It's the real deal. I'm sending an acknowledgment now."
O'Neill let out a weary sigh of relief as he leaned back against the wall. "So she's all right…."
"They both are," Daniel said, smiling.
"But how the hell did they get off the planet?" Hailey asked. "To get to Bra'tac this fast, they would had to have used a stargate, but the only one on Mount Tanis is under constant guard!"
"Why don't we go ask them," Jacob said, as he revved up the engines and pulled away from the asteroid. "Once we arrive at the SGC."
"Ok, everybody can stand down," O'Neill told the group. The relief in his voice was so obvious that Daniel gave him a knowing smile as he retreated into the cargo hold with the others.
'Leave it to Sam to find a safe way off Mount Tanis,' O'Neill thought, amazed. He wanted nothing more than to give her a big hug when he saw her again. O'Neill glanced down at Jacob with a grin and said, "That's one hell of a daughter you've got there."
Jacob smiled back with pride. "That she is. But I wouldn't count out Olivia. I mean, we still don't know what exactly happened yet. For all we know, Liv might have been a big help in whatever happened, as well."
"Wouldn't be surprised if she was," O'Neill said, smiling. "Liv's a tough cookie."
"You thinking of making her a permanent part of the team, Jack? You know, when all this is over."
"You mean after we stop Mut from using the Asgard Slayer on the Asgard, and becoming an even bigger pain in the butt than she already is?"
Jacob chuckled. "Yeah, something like that."
"As far as I'm concerned, Liv is a permanent member of the team," O'Neill said. "If she decides to go back to the NYPD when all this is over, I'll understand. But she's welcome to stay with us for as long as she wants."
"As long as we're talking about long-term plans, Jack," Jacob said, sotto voce. "When are you going to make Sam an honest woman?"
"When one--or both of us--is retired from the Air Force," O'Neill replied.
Jacob nodded. "And, knowing the two of you as well as I do, the answer to that is: probably never."
"You never know, Jacob," O'Neill said, as he headed towards the back of the ship for some shut eye. "If we keep pulling more of these heavy duty, 'save-the-universe-gigs', I might just call it quits!"
"Yeah, and pigs might grow wings, too, Jack," Jacob called back. "But I doubt it!"
SG-1: SVU
Olivia smiled broadly once she stepped onto the familiar metal grating of the ramp in Stargate Command. Before they left his camp, Master Bra'tac had outfitted both Olivia and Sam with Jaffa-style boots and robes, and they must have looked like quite the pair to General Hammond and Dr. Fraiser, who waited for them.
"Hammond of Texas!" Bra'tac exclaimed in greeting.
"Hello, Master Bra'tac," Hammond replied, smiling. "Thank you very much for your help."
Bra'tac waved his hand. "It is my pleasure, as always."
"Are you two all right?" Hammond asked Olivia and Sam with concern, as they stepped off the ramp and stood before him.
"Fine, sir," Sam said with a nod.
"Thanks to Sam," Olivia added, as she placed an arm across her shoulders. "She's the hero here, General Hammond."
"Liv, stop," Sam said shyly.
"What happened?" Fraiser asked.
"Mut threw us to her raptors," Olivia replied. "And we were stripped of all our equipment. We didn't even have any shoes, much less weapons."
"How did you escape?" Hammond wanted to know.
Olivia gestured with her head at Sam. "It was her idea to use the stargate as a weapon."
Hammond stared at Sam, stunned, while Fraiser smiled broadly at her.
Sam's cheeks began to grow red as she turned her gaze towards the ground.
"Where's the rest of SG-1?" Hammond asked.
"They're on their way back," Sam quickly replied, looking happy to change the subject. "Bra'tac contacted the Tok'ra on our behalf, and they got word to Colonel O'Neill and the others that we were ok. They acknowledged the signal and said they were returning to the SGC. We've seen the Asgard Slayer, sir. It's a sick Asgard in stasis."
"A plague?!" Janet said with a gasp.
Sam nodded. "That's what it looks like."
"Very well," Hammond said with a nod. "You can tell us all about it later in the briefing--after you've both showered."
"Oh, uh, it's that bad, huh?" Olivia asked with a grimace.
Fraiser lightheartedly waved her hand in front of her face as she mimicked rapidly blinking her eyes at a foul odor.
Sam burst into a grin at this. "All right, Janet, thanks! We get the message."
"We're just extremely happy that you're both back home, and safe," Hammond told them, as they all turned to leave the gate room.
As Olivia walked out, she caught something in the corner of her eye. She glanced up and saw Mr. Woolsey standing at the conference room windows with an attractive brunette. They both stared down at Olivia and the others with great interest.
'Wonder what's going on up there?' Olivia thought.
SG-1: SVU
Elizabeth Weir turned away from the massive window and walked over to the table, which she leaned on for support. Just a few hours ago, she had practically been abducted by a group of very scary looking men while on her way to work in Washington D.C. The men, who were Secret Service, informed Elizabeth that the President of the United States needed to speak with her…right now.
Once in the Oval Office, the President--who was on a first name basis with Elizabeth, thanks to her internationally renown skills as a diplomat--informed her of a dire situation in which they needed her help with. That was when she had been told of how the recent Disappeared situation was in fact the result of alien abductions. And just when she was still reeling from that little bombshell, the President then broad-sided Elizabeth with another stunning revelation.
He told her about the Stargate program.
But just telling Elizabeth about the Stargate program wasn't enough for the President. Oh, no, he had those same scary Secret Service agents fly her out to Colorado, where she had been handed off to a group of equally scary Air Force officers, who made Elizabeth sign a confidentially agreement before taking her on an elevator ride deep into the bowels of the Cheyenne Mountain complex. Once down here, she saw the stargate in action for herself, as Elizabeth watched a strangely dressed man and two women emerge from what looked like a vertical pool of water that appeared within a big metal circle, as if from magic.
"Dr. Weir, are you all right?" Mr. Woolsey asked fretfully.
Elizabeth nodded her head and forced a smile. "Yes, Mr. Woolsey. I'm afraid it's all a little too much for me to take in all at once."
"I understand completely," he said. "The first time I saw the stargate in action, I simply stood there, with my mouth hanging open--I didn't even realize I was doing this until General Hammond finally tapped me on the shoulder."
Elizabeth chuckled at that. Woolsey appeared to be a decent man, which made her wonder how did he ever wind up working for the NID?
"Do you see our problem?" Woolsey asked. "In order to get the Disappeared back to their homes overseas, we will have to inform the respective governments of the Stargate program--with the exception of the Russians, who already know all about us."
Elizabeth wearily nodded. And here she thought the upcoming East African conference was going to be hard. "It's not impossible."
Woolsey looked hopeful. "It's not?"
"What you want is to return these people back to their homes, along with their governments' cooperation in keeping the stargate program a secret," Elizabeth thought aloud. "The only obvious way to do that would be to give them something in return."
"Such as?"
"A partnership deal in running the Stargate."
Woolsey's eyed grew large behind his glasses. "I'm not sure that the military, specifically the Air Force, would take too kindly to that idea, Doctor."
"The Air Force has been used to playing on a very familiar playing field," Elizabeth told him. "And by her actions, Her Lord Empress Neith didn't just level the playing field, Mr. Woolsey, she swept it away. The Air Force will just have to realize that this is now a completely new game, with a new set of rules."
SG-1: SVU
"This can't be good," Casey muttered.
She and Char'el watched on the balcony as a huge crowd of rioters raced by on the streets below them. Some of them were armed with sticks, while others had torches. Casey was stunned to see that several of the rioters even appeared to wield the staff weapons that the Jaffa used.
"Something is wrong," Char'el said ominously.
"That's the understatement of the year," Casey said. She flinched when something down the street exploded into a large fireball. "Whoa!"
"It is not safe out here," Char'el said, as he gently grabbed her arm. "Come, let us go inside."
Casey went with him inside Io'tan's private chambers, where they were surprised to see Io'tan herself seated anxiously in the sitting room.
"My mistress," Char'el said. "Are you well?"
"No, I am not," Io'tan replied, shooting a suspicious look at Casey. "The Tauri women escaped the maze!"
'Oh, thank God!' Casey happily thought.
Char'el appeared to be equally stunned at this news. "My mistress, may I ask what happened?"
"Two Tauri women--one golden-haired, the other dark-haired--were placed in the maze," Io'tan started to say.
"Sam and Olivia?" Casey blurted out--and she immediately regretted having said so, thanks to the look of anger and suspicion that Io'tan gave her.
"You know them?" Io'tan asked. "Then you are a part of this, too?"
Casey shook her head. "I don't know what you mean. A part of what?"
Io'tan angrily gestured at the violence that can be heard just outside her chambers. "This! The chaos in the streets. I wonder if this is just a part of your nefarious plan, Tauri."
"What are you talking about?" Casey cried. "The only thing I'm a part of is your plan to--"
"You're here to destabilize us, Tauri, admit it!" Io'tan roared. "You allow two of your agents to be deliberately captured, so they could go into the maze and subvert it by some sort of trickery--knowing that this will result in riots in the streets. You probably were the ones behind the assasination of Amun, knowing that Mut's ascension to the throne of Lord Empress would begin the decline of the Netian Empire! You are insidious, working your vile plans from the inside."
"I swear to you, Io'tan, I am no spy!" Casey said. "I was just minding my own business on earth when I was abduct--"
"Char'el," Io'tan ordered, cutting Casey off, "get her out of my sight!"
"No, you listen to me," Casey said, getting angry as she strode over to Io'tan. "I am getting sick and tired of--"
When Io'tan took a fearful step backward from her, Casey stopped in her tracks and held up her hands. "Look, you have no reason to be afraid of me! I swear to you, that I'm not--"
When she heard the sound of a device powering up from behind her, Casey whirled around to see Char'el aiming a zat at her.
"Ok," Casey nervously said, "just wait! Just hold on here, all right?"
"Char'el," Io'tan cried, "what are you waiting for? Shoot the Tauri spy!"
Char'el almost appeared sorrow-filled as he shot Casey with the zat.
'Oh, Jesus…never ends, does it?' was the last thought Casey had, just before she blacked out from the surge of energy.
SG-1: SVU
"Welcome home, SG-1," Hammond said. "Or, should I say…the rest of SG-1."
"Thanks, General," O'Neill replied, as he and the rest of the team walked down the ramp. O'Neill noted that Olivia and Carter stood next to Hammond, both now clad in black BDUs. "You guys ok?"
"Yes, sir," Carter replied, smiling, as she gave her father a welcoming hug. O'Neill found himself envying Jacob.
Olivia was pleasantly surprised when Daniel abruptly pulled her into a one-armed hug. "Hiya," he said cheerily. "So, how did you get back ahead of us?"
"Yeah, what happened, here?" O'Neill said jokingly. "We're all jealous!"
"There's a second stargate on Mount Tanis, sir," Carter said, and the smile on her face was now downright radiant. "It's in the maze, where they throw condemned prisoners in to face the raptors. It's a sadistic game, where prisoners try to reach a stargate at the center of the maze before they're attacked by the raptors."
"And you know this--how?" O'Neill anxiously asked.
"From personal experience," Olivia replied with a frown. "Mut threw us in there, without any weapons--nor most of our clothes."
"Dear God," Jacob muttered, shocked. He stared hard at Sam. "Are you all right?"
"Yes, dad, we're fine," Carter assured him. "We managed to escape, obviously."
"Thanks to Sam," Olivia interjected with a smile. "She used the stargate as a weapon."
When O'Neill gazed at Carter--at Sam--with renewed awe and respect, she just gave him a bashful little shrug.
"No way!" Hailey said, amazed.
"Yes, way," Olivia replied. "Sam timed it perfectly so that we ducked down on the ramp just as the stargate was starting up. The backwash from the gate killed three of the raptors."
"Why don't we reconvene in the conference room upstairs and continue this conversation?" Hammond suggested. "Master Bra'tac is there, waiting for us."
When the group dispersed, O'Neill found himself standing alone with Sam in the gate room. He glanced around them, trying to see if he could sneak a hug with her. But Walter was seated at his console in the control room, and he had a clear view of them. Looks like the hug would have to wait….
….damn it.
"Something wrong, sir?" Sam asked.
"You used that thing," O'Neill said, pointing at the stargate, "as a weapon? All I have to say, Carter, is thank God you're on our side!"
Sam just gave him another one of her fabulous smiles--and while it wasn't a hug, O'Neill thought it would suffice very nicely...for now. "We're expected in the conference room, sir," she reminded him. "And you need to check your weapons at the armory."
"That I do," he said with a nod, as they walked through the doorway. "See you there, Major. Oh, and one more thing…."
Carter paused in the hallway and glanced back at him. "Yes, sir?"
O'Neill was about to say something very personal, straight from his heart, until he took note of the sentries who stood outside the gate room door and changed his mind. "Keep my favorite seat at the conference table clear for me, huh?"
Carter let out a bemused chuckle as she nodded. "Yes, sir."
SG-1: SVU
Given what had occurred, Char'el was not surprised that Io'tan had been called before Her Lord Empress Mut. Mount Tanis was still battling some of the worst violence it had ever seen in ages--and it was all from its own citizens. Apparently, the events in the maze--with the Tauri women making their escape--had rattled the majority of the populace to the point where they no longer believed in the old institutions. It was all the Jaffa could do to now in just keeping the riots barely contained.
'Perhaps the people's faith in the old institutions had already worn away long ago,' Char'el thought. 'And this incident in the maze was merely the spark that set their deep-seated dissent ablaze.'
Char'el escorted his mistress as she strode towards Mut's throne room. On any other day, Io'tan would have gone to see Mut by herself. But during these uncertain times, Char'el thought it prudent to escort her. And Io'tan, who had feared that she had played a role in the creation of the chaos, did not argue.
Yet when they arrived at the throne room, both Char'el and Io'tan were shocked to see Ke'tesh standing there, alone.
"Where is Her Lord Empress Mut?" Io'tan asked.
"Resting, after having been assaulted by those animals at the maze," Ke'tesh said, his tone harsh and accusing. "You would have known this, Io'tan, had you stayed behind and acted like a proper First Prime. In fact, you might have even prevented it!"
"What do you mean?" Io'tan said.
"You are under arrest for dereliction of your duties," Ke'tesh said. He gestured, and several Jaffa emerged from the shadows. Two of them aimed their staff weapons directly at Char'el.
"You have no right to arrest me!" Io'tan said angrily.
"When Mut awakens, she will ultimately decide what to do with you," Ke'tesh said. "Until then, you can wait for her wise decision in a prison cell. Take her away!"
Char'el made a move to stop them, until Io'tan said, "No, get back to my girls and stay with them. They need you far more than me right now, Char'el."
"Yes, Char'el," Ke'tesh said, as Io'tan was led away. "Go back and hide with the women. We shall be coming for the rest of you soon enough."
As much as it galled him to do nothing while Io'tan was being thrown into a prison cell, Char'el had to admit that she was right: his little sisters needed him now more than ever.
Char'el bowed before the sneering Ke'tesh, then he turned and bitterly walked away.
SG-1: SVU
The conference was rushed this time, because General Hammond thought it was urgent to get back out to Mount Tanis as soon as possible. The capture, or destruction, of the Asgard Slayer was deemed of prime importance. The major problem was gating directly to the stargate in the maze, which wasn't the prime stargate on the planet. If they normally dialed out to Mount Tanis, they would automatically dial up the main stargate, which was heavily guarded by a small army.
This problem caused Sam to remember back several years ago, when she and Jack had inadvertently discovered the second stargate in Antarctica. They had gated back home under heavy enemy fire, and when the gate was struck by these high energy weapons, the wormhole had "jumped" stargates, landing her and Jack in an icy cave in the southern continent. Sam theorized to the group in the conference room that if they did the same thing--if they charged their gate with high energy while it was open to Mount Tanis--that it might cause the wormhole to "jump" to the stargate in the maze.
"Yes, yes!" Rodney said in agreement. "That just might work. Very good, Sam!"
Sam had groaned inwardly with disgust at that moment--she had never meant to seek Rodney's approval for her idea, but General Hammond's.
Yet even Hailey grew excited by that idea, as her head bobbed up and down. "Yeah, there's no reason why that shouldn't work, Major Carter, because you're basically recreating the same event, but on Mount Tanis this time."
"What do you think, Jack?" Hammond asked.
"I'm feeling very cold," Jack replied. He shot a pained look at Sam. "I don't have real fond memories of that Antarctica trip. But, um, yeah…why not try it again? As long a we don't wind up in another ice cave…."
"We'll send a MALP through, first, just to make sure the wormhole winds up in the maze," Sam told him.
"And should it wind up in the maze, the MALP will also serve to scout the area for hostile activity," Teal'c added.
"Major Carter, I recall, when you and Colonel O'Neill were trapped in Antarctica, that our gate was knocked offline for a day," Hammond said. "Won't that also happen to the stargate in the maze? If so, you'll be cutting off your only escape route."
"We've determined that the reason our stargate was wiped out was because we don't have a DHD," Sam replied. "The maze stargate does, and since it has the complete stargate system in place, it shouldn't be knocked out by the wormhole "jumping" from gate to gate."
"It shouldn't be knocked out?" Jack pointedly asked.
Sam gave him a shrug. "It's still theory, sir. We haven't had this situation occur since the Antarctic incident."
"I may be of some help here," Jacob said. "I'll go back in the teltac and hover over Mount Tanis. If the stargate there should be wiped out, just give me a call, and I can give you guys a lift."
"I shall accompany you, if you wish," Bra'tac offered.
"The more, the merrier," Jacob replied. "Thanks."
"Very well," Hammond said. "Let's make it happen. Doctor Frasier, I'd like for you to go with SG-1 on this mission, so that you can assess what kind of a threat--if any--the Asgard Slayer poses."
"Yes, sir," Janet said.
"Dealing with an alien plague in the middle of the capital city of a hostile intergalactic empire?" Rodney said, as he shook his head at Janet. "Better you than me, Doc!"
"Actually, Dr. McKay, I'd like for you to go, as well," Hammond told him. "From SG-1's earlier description of the vault, there were other alien devices in storage there, and I'd like an extra set of scientific eyes on hand to evaluate whether anything's worthwhile bringing back."
Rodney looked like he was about to have a heart attack. "Oh, whoa, whoa! Wait a minute! I-I'm not a field guy, ok? I'm a genius who works back home in the nice, safe lab. Sorry, General, but I'm not going anywhere."
"Dr. McKay," General Hammond said, as he leaned forward and shot him a flinty gaze. "That was not a request…."
Rodney merely sat in his seat with a look of sheer terror on his face as the meeting was adjourned. Janet patted him on the shoulder and said, "Don't worry, Rodney, I'll protect you."
Right after the meeting broke up, Sam bid her father farewell, before he and Bra'tac gated back to the planet where the teltac ship was parked. Jacob and Bra'tac had to get an early start on their journey to the planet if they were to be ready for SG-1 when they arrived much later.
Sam then busied herself for the next few hours working with Rodney, Hailey and Sgt Siler in prepping the gate for this special operation. Eventually, thanks to Siler's ingenuity at pulling things together, they set up a separate power system based off of its own generator that was connected to the gate at four points. When a switch was flipped, this system would hit the gate with what Sam hoped would be just enough power to disrupt the wormhole, and "jump" it over to the stargate in the maze.
After doing a preliminary check in the control room, Sam nodded at Jack and General Hammond when she was happy with the set up. "It's good to go, sirs."
"We're still waiting to hear if Jacob and Master Bra'tac are in position," Hammond told both Sam and Jack. "In the meantime, why don't all of you get prepped and ready?"
Sam entered the women's locker room and found Olivia was already there, with Hailey and Satterfield, putting on the rest of her gear. Sam smiled at how quickly Olivia had picked up on the proper way to dress in combat gear.
When Olivia saw Sam's smile, she paused and said, "What?"
"Nothing," Sam said with a shake of her head. "It's just that you've come a long way from when we first met, Liv. Makes me wonder if you can ever go back to being a cop after all this."
"I don't think I can go back," Olivia said solemnly. "From the way things went on my last visit at the one six, it doesn't look as if I'd ever be welcome there again--even if Elliot and Casey came back alive and well."
As she put on her vest, Sam recalled how the enraged Mrs. Stabler had confronted Olivia in the police station--as well as the harsh looks of suspicion that Olivia's co-workers gave her. She couldn't help but feel guilty about that, as if Liv's ostracism were somehow her fault. "If you couldn't go back to the SVU, what would you do?"
"Truth be told, Sam, I'm not sure I want to go back at this point," Olivia told her. "This may sound crazy, especially after all we've recently been through, but having gotten a taste of this life, I've come to enjoy it. I feel like I'm now a part of something bigger than myself--fighting battles that are truly worth fighting. You know?"
Sam grinned at her. "I know exactly what you mean."
"Would you guys want me to remain on the team?" Olivia asked. "I mean, I'm just a civilian, after all."
"So is Daniel--and Teal'c, when you think about it," Sam told her. "And as far as you continuing, you're welcome to stay with SG-1 as long as you want to, Liv."
"You think Jack feels the same way?"
"I think so," Sam said. "And if he doesn't, I'll be happy to persuade him for you."
Olivia smiled. "Thanks, Sam."
Sam shrugged as they left the locker room. "Hey, what are sisters for?"
SG-1: SVU
Casey woke up, and for a split second she thought she had dreamt the last few days. But then reality came crushing back down on her when she heard what sounded like a battle outside the window of the narrow room she lay in--and when she instinctively tried to get to her feet to see what was going on, Casey realized that she couldn't move her arms and legs.
Casey let out a disgusted moan when she discovered that she had been trussed up hand and foot once more, no doubt by Char'el.
'Damn it,' Casey thought with frustration. 'I'm so sick of being treated like an animal…hell, I'm actually being treated worse than an animal!'
She lay on a carpet that had been rolled out over the hard-tiled floor. The room she was in appeared to be a storage area of some kind.
'Great, just great,' Casey thought, as she wriggled herself up into a sitting position. 'I've been stashed away with the other useless items….'
She was stunned when the blast from a large explosion erupted right outside the window. This was followed by what sounded like an exchange of staff weapon fire in the streets below. Apparently, the street battles she had witnessed earlier did not die down--on the contrary, they now sounded like they were escalating.
'And here I am, completely tied up and helpless,' Casey thought dismally. 'Well, if nothing else, things can't get much worse than this….'
The door flung open just then, and a wide-eyed Casey found herself staring up at Char'el, who loomed over her with a knife in his hand.
Before Casey could even think of screaming, Char'el reached down, roughly pulled her bound feet up--
--and then he cut her ankles loose with the knife.
The Jaffa then pulled Casey up to her feet, made her turn her back towards him, and sliced through the bonds that tied her wrists together.
"Um, not that I don't appreciate it," Casey said, as she watched Char'el put his knife back in its sheath. "But why did you untie me?"
"Io'tan has been imprisoned," Char'el said. "I am freeing you, Casey Novak."
He then turned and walked away.
A stunned Casey ran after him. She glanced around her and saw countless girls and young women, all Priestess-In-Training, comforting each other and fretting worriedly in Io'tan's private chambers. They all had the look of frightened refugees. Char'el walked up to a group of armed Jaffa and conferred with them briefly--then the other Jaffa nodded and each went his own way.
"Who imprisoned Io'tan?" Casey asked.
Char'el almost looked taken aback, as if surprised to see Casey was still here. "Ke'tesh has imprisoned her, and made threats about coming after all of us. We can no longer protect you, Casey Novak. I thought it was best to just release you. Perhaps you can fare better on your own. We can give you food and water, if you wish."
'Ke'tesh?' Casey thought with shock. Apparently, the Goa'uld who took over Elliot was now looking to take over the Netian Empire itself. And with Io'tan under arrest, Casey quickly saw her chances of getting back to earth fade away to nothing.
"What are you going to do?" she asked.
"We will make our stand here," Char'el grimly replied. "I will die before I allow any harm to come to my little sisters."
Casey glanced around at the weeping and upset women and girls--several of whom were no more than young children. They all abruptly howled in terror when another explosion roared up just outside. Casey realized that there was no hope for either these girls, or Char'el. Without Io'tan, they were leaderless, and would certainly all die here.
And that was when Casey made her decision.
Casey Novak may have been treated like little more than a slave these past few days. But, deep down, she was still a prosecutor for the Special Victims Unit; a woman who spent her career defending innocents just like these young women and girls. And she wasn't about to shirk her responsibly now.
She turned to Char'el and said, "Io'tan told us that she wanted to steal a Ha'tak ship, right? She had the right idea." Casey pointed at the column of smoke that arose just beyond the balcony. "And there's no better time then now to do that, Char'el. With all of that going on, who's going to miss a ship, right?"
"But, without Io'tan, the plan is lost," Char'el said. "We need special codes to get past security checkpoints, codes which only she had."
"Well," Casey said, as she placed her hands on her hips, "I guess we're just going to have to bust Io'tan out of prison, then, huh?"
Char'el merely stared at her as if she were insane.
SG-1: SVU
When Sam entered the gate room with Liv, she burst into a grin at the sight of Rodney McKay suited up in a black BDU, everyone else.
McKay just gave her a wounded look. "What?!"
"Um, black suits you very well, Rodney," Sam said, still grinning.
"Really?" Rodney asked.
"It's very slimming," Janet humorously chimed in. She was also fully clad in her own petite version of the black BDU.
"Well, you certainly look like you're ready to rock and roll, Doc," Olivia told her.
"Wait a minute!" Rodney said. "If Mount Tanis is a desert planet, then why are we all wearing black?"
"Because we're such bad asses?" Satterfield replied.
"Good one, Grace!" a smiling Hailey said, as she gave her a fist bump.
"Because, for the fifth time, we will be gating directly into the city itself, where wearing desert camouflage won't make a difference," Jack impatiently told Rodney. "You got it, that time?"
"Uh, yeah," Rodney said.
"Are you two all right with gating right back into the maze?" Daniel asked Olivia and Sam.
"Not a problem," Olivia answered for the both of them. She patted the nine millimeter Glock handgun in her holster. "Because, this time, we're going in strapped!"
"Hey, wait," Rodney said. He gestured with annoyance at Olivia. "She's a civilian, but she has a gun! So why can't I have one?"
"Because she's had extensive training with guns, and you haven't," O'Neill muttered, sounding as if at the end of his rope.
The stargate abruptly came to life, and the iris was closed for good measure--until Sgt Harriman determined that it was a message from the Tok'ra. After they received the message and shut the gate down, Hammond came on the intercom.
"We've received a message from Jacob," Hammond said. "He and Master Bra'tac are in position, under cloak, over Mount Tanis. We have a go, SG-1."
"Get ready, kids," O'Neill called. "Lock and load."
"Except me," Rodney sullenly said.
"Dialing gate address," Harriman called.
"C'mon, Liv," Sam said. "We should be on hand in the control room to identify the maze…if the MALP actually winds up in the maze."
They went up into the control room, where Sam stared at the gate impatiently as it slowly dialed each chevron.
'There's got to be some way of speeding this process up,' she thought. She made a mental note to check into this problem at a later date. Right now, she had to remain focused on the task at hand.
"Chevron seven--locked!" Harriman announced.
The gate came to life as the unstable wormhole flared out momentarily, then it stabilized into the shimmering event horizon. Harriman turned in his seat and stared expectantly at Sam, who glanced at Hammond.
When Hammond nodded at her, Sam turned to Harriman and said, "Hit it."
Harriman hit the special switch on the console that had been rigged for him by Siler, and the stargate was hit with several thousand volts of power. The wormhole was disrupted to the point where it actually flared out once more, then it snapped back into place as a vertically placed shimmering pool of light.
Sam was pleasantly surprised to see that, not only was their gate still functioning, but that there was still a stable wormhole at all. Still, the real test was yet to come.
"Send in the MALP," Hammond ordered.
"MALP is rolling," Harriman announced over the intercom, as the six-wheeled, remote controlled vehicle quickly crawled up to the stargate. "MALP has entered event horizon."
All eyes in the control room turned to the monitors, as they flashed to life and showed a view of the maze.
"That's it! You did it!" Olivia said, as she excitedly gave Sam a one-armed hug. "That's the maze!"
Sam smiled at the sight of one of the dead raptors on the ground by the stargate ramp. "Yep, that's the maze, sir."
Hammond smiled at her. "Superb work, Major. Now you and Detective Benson should get to the gate room and rejoin your team. You have a go."
Sam and Olivia quickly did so, joining O'Neill and the others in the gate room.
"Godspeed, SG-1," Hammond said over the intercom, as they all walked up the ramp.
Teal'c, Haily and Satterfield went through first. Then Olivia, Daniel and Janet stepped through the gate next. Jack and Sam were about to join them--but were stopped when Rodney abruptly hesitated right in front of the event horizon.
He spun around and stared nervously at Sam. "Uh, um, I-I don't know if I can…you know…I-I don't know if I can actually…um--"
Rodney let out a little girly shriek--which was cut off--as Sam abruptly shoved him into the wormhole.
"You enjoyed that way too much, Major," Jack chided her.
"Yes, sir," Sam replied, with an ear to ear grin on her face. "I did."
"Good for you," Jack said, smiling. "Now, let's go see if we can mess up Mut's day, as well."
"With extreme pleasure, sir."
Sam, still grinning broadly, stepped side by side with Jack into the wormhole.
SG-1: SVU
Qetesh paused to allow the line of Jaffa warriors to properly salute her before she entered the shattered remains of the library. All around her, the Ionian capital city was ablaze with fire, the air thick with smoke, the streets filled with bodies and debris.
'Another conquered world to add to the collection,' Qetesh thought, as she walked past the body of an Ionian soldier. Their puny army was no match for the full force of their Jaffa military might, which had effortlessly stomped them into the ground.
She found Ba'al in the main section of the devastated library, intently reading a scroll that he held in his hands. Several armed Jaffa stood near by, waiting.
Kneeling on the floor, with her hands bound behind her, was a skinny old woman. She glanced timidly up at Ba'al and said, "Please, my lord. You promised me…my lord…please…."
Qetesh strolled up to the woman and, with her eyes flashing, said, "Who are you to speak to your new god in that manner?"
"That's Hereta, the chief librarian," Ba'al said, as he came over to them. "And, in all fairness, I did make a promise to her."
"Which was?"
"I promised not to destroy the rest of Ionia if she gave me this," he replied, holding up the scroll.
Qetesh stared at the scroll anxiously. "Is that what I think it is?"
Ba'al smiled. "It is, my queen. The precise coordinates for Mount Tanis, which the chief librarian kept hidden in a secret vault. She hid it even from Osiris and SG-1, when they were here."
"Neith's stronghold is a dangerous and vile place," Hereta called to them. "No one should thread lightly there! It would be like disturbing a viper's nest!"
"If that's the case," Qetesh said, "then you should have destroyed this scroll long ago."
"Ah, but then she would not have anything to bargain with, my love," Ba'al told her. "Not that it will do her any good…."
"What?!" Hereta cried in horror. "But you said--"
"You should have surrendered when we gave you the chance," Ba'al coldly told her. "Now, the rest of your planet shall be crushed just as your capital city was, Hereta. All you've managed to do with your mindless scheming was to delay the inevitable. You can take that knowledge with you to the grave."
Ba'al gestured at a Jaffa, who shot Hereta dead with his staff weapon. He then held up the scroll at Qetesh and said, "Shall we?"
Qetesh's eyes narrowed. "You dare to enter the lion's den? To storm the home fortress of Neith, the great Huntress Of The Heavens, herself?"
"He who dares, wins," Ba'al told her. "With the power of the conquered Netian Empire behind us, we shall both rule the universe as the rightful gods that we are, Qetesh. And now, the road to Mount Tanis beckons. What say you, my love?"
Qetesh smiled at him. "Lead the way…my Lord Emperor."
To Be Continued....