Chapter 3

Teal'c and Jack traveled confidently throughout the countryside unchallenged. They had traveled past each of the refuge camps, but they could not seem to find any sign of Drey'auc or Rya'c. Teal'c could only hope they were somewhere safe.

As they left the final refugee camp, Teal'c spotted the figure of a man he would know anywhere as it shouted orders at some serpent guards ahead of them. As the serpent guards went on their way, Teal'c and Jack approached the figure.

The elderly Jaffa turned and asked shortly, "What is it?"

Teal'c only said, without lowering his helmet, "Tek-mate, Master Bra'tac. It is I.."

Bra'tac's eyes widened as he recognized the voice coming through the shield. "Teal'c?" he asked, his voice a mixture of surprise and trepidation.

Teal'c nodded, aware of his helmet moving with the motion. Bra'tac turned and stared at O'Neill who was behind him.

"And who accompanies you, Teal'c?"

"It is O'Neill of the Tauri."

Jack lifted his hand and wiggled his fingers. "Yo."

If anything, Bra'tac looked more alarmed. "Has something transpired among the Tauri?"

Teal'c placed his hand companionably on his old mentor's shoulder. "I have much to tell you."

They traveled to Bra'tac's private home, and Teal'c told what had happened on Earth with Jack adding the occasional valid, if somewhat sarcastic, comment.

When they finished, Bra'tac, if anything, looked even more disturbed. "I fear I have troubling news as well. Apophis is at this moment preparing his forces to wage an attack on the Tauri. He has prepared two Goa'uld motherships with which he plans to destroy you."

"When is this attack to take place?" Teal'c asked.

"The ships are leaving tomorrow once all the warriors loyal to Apophis have boarded. It will then travel to another planet for a day while supplies are loaded through the Chappa'ai that is contained on the vessel. Once it reaches its full capacity, it will travel to the Tauri homeworld and engage its people. The attack will occur within three days."

There was a moment of silence and then Jack muttered, "Too bad we didn't know about this when we were trying to find reasons to keep the Stargate open."

Teal'c nodded his agreement and then turned to Master Bra'tac in confusion, "I have never before heard of such vessels who have the ability to travel with such great speeds."

Bra'tac placed is hand on his apprentices shoulder, "They are a newly acquired acquisition of Apophis. Many of the other system Lords have acquired similar vessels, but Apophis has decided that the first test of his new vessels will be on the planet of the ones who destroyed Ra and defied him. Your actions have disgraced Apophis in front of the rest of the System Lords."

"Good," Jack said, and scrubbed his hand through his hair. They had allowed the helmets to open once they were in the safety of Bra'tac's home. Jack moved prowled around the small room as he began to think, and then he turned to Bra'tac and asked, "Can we get onto one of these motherships?"

Bra'tac looked at him for a moment, considering, before he finally nodded. "I believe it is possible. I could claim you as part of my wing, sent with me to serve Lord Klorel."

"Who's this Lord Klorel guy?" Jack asked absently as his mind began to run through various scenarios.

Teal'c raised an eyebrow as well, "I have also never before heard of this Goa'uld."

Bra'tac scowled and said, "He is the son of Apophis. I have considered ways in which to use him to protect the people of the Tauri. I believe he is the fatal weakness in Apophis's plan."

"How so?" Jack asked, curious.

"Among the Goa'uld, a Pharaoh's power is more often challenged by the sons than by their enemies. When the time comes that we join battle with the Tauri's forces, I will lead my wing against Apophis in Klorel's name."

Teal'c raised an eyebrow in understanding. "Apophis would assume the attack was ordered by Klorel and reciprocate."

"Ah!" Jack said, holding up in hand, "A moment here. Did you say the 'Tauri's forces?'"

Bra'tac nodded. "Does not your world have many warships?"

For a moment, Jack was speechless, and then he said, "We...have a lot of fighter planes, but at the moment, they aren't capable of space flight," he said, then paused and brightened as though a thought struck him, "Oh! And we also have some shuttles."

Teal'c turned and looked at him. "Are these shuttles a formidable vessel, O'Neill?"

Jack looked back and forth between Bra'tac and Teal'c and sighed. "Ah, no. No, I'd have to say...no. Our world hasn't really evolved far enough to have 'warships' as you would call them."

There was a moment of stunned silence and then Bra'tac gained control. "How were such a primitive people able to detroy Ra?" Bra'tac asked, absolutely flabbergasted. Jack opened his mouth to answer, but Bra'tac turned back to him and interrupted, "Then, tell me by what means you have planned to defend yourselves against attack?"

Jack considered and then answered, "We have missiles that we can launch from the planet's surface that would most likely be capable of wiping out any incoming threat."

Bra'tac shook his head. "These motherships have modified Goa'uld shielding capabilities. I'm afraid such methods would be ineffective."

Jack rubbed the back of his neck and seemed to settle for a moment. Then he looked up at Bra'tac and asked, "Can you show me the layout of the ship?"

Bratac nodded and proceeded to draw the triangle-shaped ship on the dirt floor. He pointed to each part of the mothership and explained what it was for and where it was located. By the time he was finished, Jack had a pretty good idea of the layout of the ship and an idea was beginning to form in his mind.

Jack pointed to the top of the triangle, "This is the bridge then?"

"Is this another reference to the bridge that we shall cross when we come to it?" Bra'tac asked, a bit confused.

"No, no," Jack said, shaking his head, "a bridge, as in, the control center?"

Bra'tac nodded and stabbed the earth emphatically with his finger, "Yes. This is the point that controls the ship."

Jack turned and looked at Teal'c. "Teal'c, how much C-4 did we bring with us?"

"A have contained within my vest a total of 10 explosives, O'Neill. What are you considering?"

Jack looked thoughtful and stared down at the crude drawing on the floor. Finally, after a few moments, he grinned and looked up at Bra'tac. "I think we need a new plan, Bra'tac. Yours seems to rely on the distraction you are hoping Earth can provide. However, though it might have worked under different circumstances, I'm afraid we most likely would all end up dead if we went along with it. How many Jaffa are in your wing?"

Bra'tac looked supremely confident as he said, "Beside myself there are two others."

"Two, huh?" Jack mused as he continued to gaze at the drawing. Then he did a double take and said, "Two? That's it?"

"You and Teal'c make five," Bra'tac said nodding.

Jack sighed and rubbed his temples. "Do you know any others that we can recruit? We might need some back-up for this one."

Bra'tac hesitated, then said, "Many of my former students are trustworthy. I planted seeds in many of my pupils that the Goa'ulds are false Gods. However, I would not ask so many to die."

Jack shook his head, "Look, I'm not asking anyone to die. I think I have a plan, that if it works will leave us all very much alive. What do you say?"

Bra'tac looked steadily at the human in front of him and the human met his gaze without fear. At first glance, there was nothing unusual about the Tauri called O'Neill. However, as the human met Bra'tac's eyes, Bra'tac saw deep into O'Neill's soul and the warrior spirit in Bra'tac responded. At that instant he began to understand what drew Teal'c toward this human. His very presence seemed to portray the freedom that Bra'tac had spent his life yearning for. So, as a smile spread across his weathered featured, he said, "I will reserve judgement. Tell me of this plan, and if I find it acceptable, I shall employ the services of those I trust most."

Jack returned the older warrior's slow smile and nodded. "Good enough," he said, then he pointed at the pyramid. "The way Carter explained this to me, many of the Goa'uld devices are powered by the same stuff that makes up the Stargates, right?"

"That is indeed correct, O'Neill," Teal'c said, his eyes alight as he listened intently.

"She also mentioned that explosions tend to be amplified by this Naquidah stuff. Between Teal'c and me we've got enough supplies for twenty major explosions. So, I'm thinking we put a little C-4 in places on both ships with a lot of fancy breakable equipment and then we blow them up. Preferably when Apophis and Kleenex are aboard and we're not."

"How are we to escape the vessel, O'Neill?" Teal'c asked.

Jack began to pace. Both Bra'tac and Teal'c watched him silently. After a few minutes, he came to a halt and turned to Bra'tac. He raised his eyebrows and said, "Did you say these new fancy ships have a Stargate onboard?"

Bra'tac's eyes glinted in understanding as he once again nodded, "As long as the ship is in stationary orbit above a planet and the point of origin is known for the planet below, an open wormhole can be established onboard a ship that is large enough to contain a Chappa'ai."

"Sweet," was all Jack said, but the three warriors could see the beginnings of a working plan.