"So," asked Daniel, his voice quick and confident, "is this where we hijack the blast cannon?"
"Yesss," said Jack. "I like big guns."
"But you two can't operate it!" exclaimed Nara. "It's an Ashoran weapon. It can only be used by women with neural implants."
"Like you and Sam," said Jack.
"If we weren't trapped in this room!"
"We're here to rescue you," said Daniel. "Remember?"
Nara snorted. "Are they always this cocky?" she asked.
"As far as I know," said Sam. Jack could tell she was trying to stick with the spirit of their bantering exchange, but there was an underlying sadness in her voice. Sam still didn't have her Earth memories back. All she had were bits and pieces that came to her in her dreams. Sam hoped that returning to Earth would trigger the full restoration of her memories, but she knew that might not happen. According to Lagash, the Erasure Process was supposed to be permanent.
When Sam continued speaking, she had gone into unemotional, science-lecture mode. "The blast cannon is designed to produce a wave of energy intense enough to punch through force shields and field-reinforced walls. It's a very powerful weapon – definitely capable of blasting through the door of this annex."
And if it's so powerful, what will the blast wave do to the people inside? thought Jack. It didn't take a genius to guess what Sam had left unsaid. It was imperative that he and Daniel disable the blast cannon. Or, would it really be possible to steal it? If they could pull that off, it would probably ensure their escape.
Jack had been analyzing the tactical situation. He was sure there were more soldiers behind the blast cannon. Stuck behind it, at the moment, since it blocked the narrow corridor completely. But that would change once the blast cannon reached the wider hallway that intersected with this corridor. And something else would change: the Ashorans would be able to use the blast cannon. They couldn't at the moment, because their own people were in the way. Which suggested the best time to attack might be now, while the blast cannon was still in this corridor.
"Daniel," he said, "get back over here, so…" Jack broke off. He'd been studying the approaching women, who were still quite a distance down the long corridor, and he was getting a bad feeling.
"So?" prodded Daniel.
"Okay," said Jack, "it's obvious the women haven't seen me, even though I'm standing in their line of sight, so it can't be one of those anti-cloaking things. But one of the soldiers has this doohickey I've never seen before. It has a disk on the front, and she's sort of pointing it down the corridor…"
Everybody started shouting at him at once. He focused on Sam's voice. "The anti-cloaking beam has a limited range," she was saying, "but if they get close enough…"
At that moment, Jack's surroundings lost that blurry quality that he'd learned to associate with being under cloak. There was an outcry from the distant party of women, and they started pulling their guns.
"Crap! I've been spotted!" He quickly shot the woman holding the anti-cloaking device. As she crumpled and dropped the device, his surroundings got blurry again.
Energy bolts started coming at him. The women were shooting blind. Jack tried to go back through the door he'd just exited, but it wouldn't open. Apparently, it was only unlocked from the inside. Quickly switching his gun to disintegration mode, he shot the door. A circle of sparks expanded briefly across the surface – and then fizzled out. The door was reinforced!
There was no time to curse his luck. He just turned and ran for where this corridor intersected the big hallway, trying to weave and crouch while moving as fast as he could. He'd have no shelter until he could duck around the corner.
Looking back, Jack saw that another soldier had retrieved the fallen anti-cloaking projector, and was sprinting forward with three other women. Behind them, the two women who remained with the blast cannon were gradually picking up their pace, apparently moving as fast as the hover sled could handle. Things still looked blurry to Jack, so he was out of range of the anti-cloaking beam again; but that didn't stop the women from shooting in his direction.
And then he noticed: some of the energy bolts buzzing past him were white instead of blue. Some of the women were shooting to kill! And they were putting too damn many bolts into too narrow a space. Cloaked or not, he'd never make it to the end of the corridor.
Jack hit the floor and rolled onto his back. Lifting his upper body as if he were doing a stomach-crunch, he pointed his P90 toward his pursuers and sprayed them with bullets. The stutter of automatic gunfire was very loud in the confined space. The bodies of the four women jerked and dropped to the floor.
And then, he instinctively rolled to his right. Only afterwards did he register a white flash and shock of heat.
His brain went fuzzy, but kept trying to figure out what kind of violent something had just happened. Jack's brain had a lot of practice doing that. For a confused instant, he thought he'd been stunned. But, no, he'd never been completely out. Had he? Then the pain hit. It came from his left arm, near his shoulder. "Oww," said Jack.
He became aware of voices. One of them said, He's alive! A familiar voice. Daniel?
Jack, get out of there! said another voice. That was Sam. Jack started trying to get to his feet, but his limbs didn't seem to be working right.
Someone grabbed him and hauled him upright, and he found himself looking into Daniel's eyes. Daniel put his right arm around Jack's torso, took Jack's right arm around his shoulders, and began to pull him forward. Jack's legs felt wobbly, and his arm hurt. He looked down and saw a straight, horizontal band of reddened flesh on the outside of his left arm.
"Come on, Jack! We have to get out of here!"
Daniel was helping him toward his original destination: the end of the corridor, where it intersected the wide hallway. Looking back, he saw there were no more women left standing in front of the blast cannon, which was now a lot closer. It was past the point at which Jack had entered the corridor. The blast cannon had stopped moving, but was now making a noise. A low, throbbing hum. And the tips of the muzzle-things on the front had started to glow.
He recalled his earlier thoughts, about how the Ashorans couldn't fire the blast cannon in the corridor because their own people were in the way. Well, that was no longer true. Jack intensified his efforts to move faster.
"Go on, Daniel," he said. "Run for it! I'll be right behind you." Daniel ignored him.
There was movement up ahead, at the intersection. An Ashora soldier popped her head around the corner, pointing an anti-cloaking device at them. The world went non-blurry for an instant. Daniel shot at her, but she ducked back around the corner.
"It's some of the Ashorans that were laying siege to the network annex," said Daniel. "I saw them entering the big hallway just before I came in here to get you. They must be planning to capture us when we exit the corridor."
"No, Daniel," said Jack, as the humming noise behind them ramped up to a steady thrum. "They're just making sure all the meat is on the grill."
That was when some very different and unexpected noises started coming from behind them. There were male voices raised in strange shouts and ululating cries, and female voices shrieking in alarm. Jack looked back, but couldn't see anything. The noises were coming from behind the blast cannon. However, the thrum had abruptly ceased, and the glow in the three muzzle-like projections was fading.
Jack and Daniel exchanged surprised glances. It was evident that the Collarless men hadn't stopped following them after all.
The Ashoran woman with the cloaking device stuck her head around the corner again. No doubt distracted by the strange noises, she left herself exposed for too long. This time, Daniel's shot hit her. Someone immediately pulled her unconscious body back around the corner, but the anti-cloaking device remained on the floor where she'd dropped it. Daniel quickly switched his gun to disintegration mode and destroyed it.
"Good job. At least they can't see us now."
Arms appeared from both sides of the intersection, pointed guns in their direction, and began pumping energy bolts across the whole width of the corridor. All the bolts were a lethal white.
"Hit the deck, Daniel!" Jack was already following his own advice, ignoring the jolt to his injured arm as he dropped to the floor. He brought his P90 to bear, trying to hit the hands and arms holding the guns. He got two of them, and a couple of others pulled back.
A door opened in the left wall of the corridor. Jack swung his P90 toward it, but saw Wegage standing just within the doorway.
"Come in," said Wegage. "I know you are here, though your magic hides you."
Jack and Daniel wasted no time in accepting the invitation. They launched themselves for the opening, knocking Wegage aside just as the Ashorans increased their firing rate.
Jack decloaked and yelled, "Close the door!" But Wegage was already doing it.
When Daniel decloaked as well, Wegage beamed at them and said, "Have we not fulfilled our obligation?"
"And then some!" said Jack.
"The obligation is now on our side," added Daniel, smiling a little. Another Collarless man – a big, Viking-like redhead – was standing nearby. At Daniel's words, he grinned scarily.
"We've got to move it," said Jack. "Those women will come after us, and that door won't be locked to them."
Jack led the Collarless men deeper into the claustrophobic maze of the storage area, ordering Daniel to cloak and watch their six. Fortunately, this was a good area for ducking and hiding. They were getting farther away from Sam, Nara, and the blast cannon, but for the moment that couldn't be helped.
As they moved rapidly through the crooked corridors and cluttered rooms, not heading anywhere in particular except away from the Ashorans, Wegage told Jack how he and the other men had continued to follow Jack and Daniel covertly. Evidently, Wegage really was an excellent hunter, because Jack hadn't noticed that they were being stalked.
The Collarless men had eventually exited the storage area through the same door as Jack. By that time, the blast cannon had moved past the door. They had attacked the blast cannon's rear escort, catching the four Ashoran soldiers by surprise and overwhelming them, though three of the men had been shot.
"But they are not dead," said Wegage. "They only sleep."
"You're lucky the soldiers had their weapons set to stun," said Jack.
"Ashoran military doctrine is to avoid lethal force when possible, and to never use it so long as the other side doesn't," said Sam, her voice coming over the helmet radio. She and Nara would have been listening in on everything. "I'll bet the civilians were the ones shooting to kill. They're probably Internal Security."
"She's right, Jack," said Daniel, speaking over the special radio. "I got to the corridor about when you opened up with the P90, and I noticed it was the civilians who were firing white bolts. You hit the four women in front, but missed the two by the blast cannon, and one of those was a civilian. I stunned both of them, but not before the civilian got off a shot a you. I guess she only grazed you, though. That must be why you're still alive."
"No," said Sam. "The reason Jack's still alive is because he was out-of-phase. That weakened the effects of the bolt. Otherwise, even a grazing hit would have killed him." She sounded grim.
"Well, they're all shooting to kill now," said Jack.
"You did kill four women with your P90," observed Daniel.
"We killed one also," said Wegage. "Swenten broke her neck." He indicated the huge redhead. "The rest, we took prisoner. Some of my men are watching over them. They also watch over our sleeping comrades."
"Where are they, Wegage?"
"I sent them back there," he said, gesturing toward his left, "while Swenten and I looked for another door to the corridor."
"Jack," came Daniel's voice. "I just saw an Ashoran soldier. They're in here with us."
"Okay, Wegage," said Jack. "I'm going to cloak again, and help Daniel cover your retreat. You need to go join your companions."
"We will stay and fight!" protested Swenten.
"Look," said Jack, "I feel like an idiot giving you this same spiel again, after you proved me so wrong the first time. But you still don't have any weapons, and the Ashorans aren't playing nice anymore. Daniel and I have to stay anyway. We came here to rescue our women, and we still need to do that."
"Maybe not," said Sam. "Nara and I just finished with the computer, so we've accomplished our mission here. The weapons emplacements in the 'Gate Room have been neutralized. And I've been working on altering our guns, too. I've got the guns rigged to blow up. I think. Anyway, we're going to open this door just long enough to toss one at the Ashorans. That should take them out, and allow us to leave the annex. We'll close and lock the door behind us to stop anyone from meddling with our reprogramming too soon."
"That's my girl! Go for it!" said Jack, ignoring the pang of fear that went through him.
The hiss of energy weapons started up behind them.
"Jack!" said Daniel. "These Ashorans have another anti-cloaking device. They just spotted me! I'll try to hold them off."
"No more arguments, Wegage," said Jack. "There's no need for you guys to hang around anymore, okay? Your debt is paid. Now, you have to let us pay our debt to you."
The thud of a distant explosion reached them. Jack hoped that was Sam and Nara escaping from the network annex.
Daniel materialized in the cluttered passageway. "They're right behind me!" he yelled. "Run for it!" Then he vanished again.
Jack shoved Wegage forward. "Get out of here!" he barked. "We'll cover you."
The urgency finally seemed to get through to Wegage. He and the big redhead started moving, and soon disappeared around a corner.
Jack cloaked and positioned himself behind one of the metallic crates that were stacked up along the passageway. Now that he was out-of-phase, he could see Daniel, who was behind another crate. They were both facing the T-intersection that Daniel had come from.
There was a flicker of movement at the corner of the intersection. Jack shot at it. Soon, he and Daniel were exchanging fire with the Ashorans. The women were using killing bolts, so Jack set his gun to kill, as well.
"Jack," came Sam's voice. "our plan worked. The Ashorans that were outside our door are all dead. We got new guns from them, and rushed down to join you. We're in the storage area right now, under cloak."
Relief rushed through him. "Great!" he said.
"We could definitely use reinforcements," added Daniel.
"Don't worry, honey," said Nara. "We're coming to rescue you."
More and more energy bolts were coming their way. Probably all the pursuing Ashorans were now gathered at the left branch of the T-intersection. The situation was getting hairy, but Jack wanted to make sure the Collarless men got away.
Then Sam's voice came over his helmet radio. "We can see the Ashorans. I'm going to hit them with the other gun-grenade, so get ready to duck. Three, two, one, now."
Jack covered his head and hunkered down behind the crate. There was a big explosion. He could feel a wave of heat and pressure pass over him.
After the debris had settled, everything was quiet. Jack poked his head around the crate – and there were Sam and Nara, standing at the end of the corridor. Sam gave him one of her radiant grins, and he could feel himself grinning back like an idiot.
Nara looked more sober. "We've seen several bodies," she said sadly. "I don't think anyone survived."
Daniel went to Nara and embraced her. She clung to him, burying her face against his chest. "I know," said Daniel.
Jack got out from behind the crate and moved toward Sam. But before he could close the distance, she flew into his arms and crushed herself against him. He could really feel her strength. "Hey," he said, stroking her hair, "watch the ribs."
Sam made a little gasping sound, and he felt her body relax. She looked up at him and smiled, her eyes full of tears. She didn't say anything, but he knew what she must have gone through when he was shot. She must once again have feared him dead.
Jack was filled with wonder that this incredible woman actually cared so much whether he lived or died. It was a kind of miracle. And he thought about how often he had risked losing that miracle. How often they had both risked it, by constantly putting their lives on the line.
Maybe it was time for a change. Since Sam inexplicably agonized over his safety as much as he did over hers, maybe it was time to ease the fear for at least one of them. Hadn't he already paid his dues? Wouldn't it be nice to give Sam the kind of safe haven, far removed from the uncertainties of war, that Sara had given him?
Okay, so nobody was ever really safe. Even a small child within the sanctuary of his own home wasn't really safe. But that was why a little security, a reasonable expectation of freedom from violence, was so very precious. Wasn't that what he'd been fighting to give people all these years? Maybe it was time to claim some of that for himself and Sam.
Of course, he could only make the decision for himself. He didn't know whether Sam would also abandon the field of war, nor was he certain she should. Regardless of how greatly it would ease his mind.
Jack bent his head and kissed Sam – a long, tender kiss. Then he took a step back, gently untangling his arms from hers.
"Okay, kids," he said, "let's go get that big gun."
Sam's expression hardened. "Yes," she said. "We'd better. When Nara and I called the assault force to tell them the 'Gate Room weapons are out of commission, they said the attack on the security foyer isn't going well."
Jack called the assault force over his helmet radio and let Octave know that the three of them would be there soon – with a blast cannon. It wasn't far to the Stargate, and Sam knew the route.
They rounded up the Collarless men. Jack wasn't about to leave them behind again. After stunning the men's three Ashoran prisoners and leaving them in the storage area, their group made its way down the empty hallways of Government House. Jack and Sam were in front, with the blast cannon following Sam like a very large dog. Behind the big machine came the Collarless men, with the three unconscious ones carried by three of their fellows. Daniel and Nara brought up the rear.
Lagash met them at a point close to the Stargate Facility, and led them to a lounge-type area that the assault force was using as a fall-back position. Through a big, square archway could be seen a wide hallway flanked by Minoan pillars. Sam said the hallway led to the Stargate security foyer; which, in turn, led to the 'Gate Room itself.
They could hear the hissing of energy weapons coming from the Stargate hallway, but only occasionally. Octave was still out there with a few men to keep the Stargate guards pinned down, but had ordered most of the men to retreat to this room and wait for the blast cannon. Their assault on the Stargate security foyer had failed in any case. Though Octave's force was about the same size as the contingent left in the foyer, the Stargate guards were in a highly defensible position, and they had been expecting the attack.
Now, the former Arena slaves in the lounge area gathered around Jack, his party, and the blast cannon. They didn't say anything. They just gazed at Jack with desperate hope.
Jack noticed Ifefal over by the wall. She was tending to a man with a gash on his head. Laid out on the floor beside her, in a neat row, were the bodies of seventeen men. Jack went cold when he saw them, but then realized they were breathing.
"Thank God the Stargate guards stuck with non-lethal force," said Daniel. "But then, our side did, too. And it's not as if the guards are feeling desperate. They must be expecting reinforcements to arrive at any minute."
"Yeah," said Jack, "so am I." He looked at Sam and said, "You're on."
Sam took a deep breath, and Jack knew she was thinking about the nature of the weapon she commanded. The blast cannon didn't have a stun setting.
She stared at the big machine for a second, and it came to life. It once again began to emit that ominous humming sound. Sam moved to the large archway, and the blast cannon drifted after her. With a mental command, she could move the cannon through the archway and point it down the hall.
"Women of the Ashoran Defense Force!" she called out. "I'm sure you must know by now that some of your colleagues misplaced a blast cannon. It's right here beside me, building up a charge. Imagine what will happen to you if we fire a blast wave into the security foyer. But it doesn't have to be that way. If you lay down your arms and surrender the Stargate, you'll come to no harm." While she spoke, Octave and the few men who remained in the hallway quickly evacuated.
"This is your only chance!" yelled Jack, trying to sound as frighteningly masculine as possible.
But Daniel spoiled it by adding, "We don't want to hurt you! We just want to go home!"
The most persuasive voice undoubtedly belonged to the blast cannon. The Ashoran soldiers would be able to hear that powerful thrum coming from down the hall, getting gradually louder. It wasn't long before the Ashoran commander surrendered.
Sam immediately aborted the blast preparation routine. In the silence that followed, grins broke out among the men. A few started cheering, but Jack nipped that in the bud by shouting, "Well done! We're almost home." It was dangerous to celebrate too soon.
He instructed the Stargate guards to come out into the hallway with their hands on top of their heads. While they were doing that, he ordered Octave to pair up conscious men with unconscious men. Jack wanted to start moving his people through to the 'Gate Room as soon as all the Ashorans came out, and since twenty men were unconscious, most of those who weren't would need to carry one.
"Nara and I programmed some passwords into the Stargate annex computer," said Sam, "that will allow us to reactivate the doors to the security foyer and 'Gate Room. So, we'll be able to close and lock the doors behind us. And the Stargate Facility is one of the most heavily reinforced on the planet. A blast cannon could still break through, but we'll take ours in there with us."
"Great," said Jack. He felt a flutter of excitement, which he tried to suppress, at how close they were to reaching their final goal. Earth was just a hundred paces away!
The last of the Ashoran guards filed into the hallway with her hands on her head. By that time, Octave had the men lined up in a column. Almost every conscious man had an unconscious comrade slung over his shoulder; only a few remained unburdened. "Lagash, Nara," commanded Jack, "take some men and start stunning the Stargate guards. Daniel, Octave: you're with me. We're going to scope out the security foyer and 'Gate Room to make sure they're clear. Then we'll get everyone in there and dial the 'Gate. Sam, get ready to take the blast cannon in there, too."
People began to carry out his orders. Sam brought the blast cannon into the hallway. Daniel and Octave were walking toward him.
A blue bolt struck Octave! Hissing streaks of light were everywhere! Acting on reflex, Jack drew his gun and hit the floor. He tried to understand where the bolts were coming from so he could shoot back, but they were coming out of thin air. Thin air at multiple locations.
"Jack!" yelled Sam. "They're cloaked!" Then she disappeared. So much for the supposed anti-cloaking properties of the Stargate Facility.
"Everybody run for the 'Gate!" yelled Jack. He cloaked and rolled to his feet, looking for the enemy. But, though he could now see Sam, he still couldn't see the attackers. He started shooting anyway, aiming for the spots where bolts originated, while making sure he kept moving.
Jack spotted Daniel approaching a clump of their men. Judging by his non-blurry appearance, Daniel had also cloaked.
"Daniel!" he yelled. "Get to the 'Gate and…" Jack broke off. And dial Earth, he'd been about to say. But there were cloaked, armed Ashorans in here with them. "…and stand by," he finished. "We can't risk opening the iris yet."
"I know!" cried Daniel.
Then Jack remembered. "Octave has the GDO!"
"Where do you think I'm headed?" said Daniel.
There was massive confusion in the hallway. Men and women shouted and ran around amid the flying energy bolts. Most of the bolts were blue, but some were a lethal white.
Jack saw that many of his people were heeding his order and heading for the 'Gate Room as fast as they could, most carrying an unconscious comrade. But a few were standing there frozen, or shooting wildly. The Stargate guards were escaping or, in a few cases, attacking his men. He watched a woman bring down one of the former Arena slaves with a marshal-arts kick. A number of his people were down, and not all were just stunned. He saw the Viking-like Collarless man lying on the floor, a wisp of smoke rising from his visibly-charred chest.
Jack shot the kick-boxing Stargate guard. Then he went back to trying to shoot invisible targets.
"What the hell's happening, Sam?" yelled Jack.
"I don't know!" she cried. "It's supposed to be impossible to turn off the anti-cloaking field except by turning off every embedded projector individually. But there must be a secret system-wide switch!"
"Another Internal Security surprise," said Jack.
Sam was doing the same thing as Jack: shooting at the origin-points of the weapons fire. The blast cannon still hovered in her vicinity; but, with the enemy already in among their own people, there was no way she could use it.
"But why can't I see them, even though I'm cloaked, too?" complained Jack.
"They're using a different cloaking frequency. We're invisible to each other."
"How droll," said Jack. Then he crashed into something and nearly dropped his gun.
It was an invisible person. He could feel cloth-covered flesh. Afraid that a stun bolt at this range would knock him out, too, he grappled blindly with the cloaked Ashoran, using his gun as a bludgeon. He felt her body go limp. A gun materialized on the floor nearby, evidently fallen from her hand. After sticking the gun in his belt, he resumed shooting at likely points of thin air.
"Jack!" cried Sam. "I lost control of the blast cannon! Somebody had some kind of priority authorization."
Any more good news? thought Jack. He saw the blast cannon moving, seemingly by itself. It was gaining speed as it headed down the hall away from the Stargate foyer. People jumped to get out of its way. A few didn't jump fast enough.
Well, thought Jack, our attackers can't use the blast cannon, either. Not in this melee.
But the melee was thinning out. The blizzard of energy bolts had almost abated, and of the people visible in the hallway, most were lying motionless on the floor. Almost the last of his people still on their feet were just entering the security foyer. One of them was Daniel, with Octave's body slung over his shoulder. Sam and Nara were standing near the door, shooting into the hallway. Then they stopped shooting, and started gaping at something behind him.
Jack turned around and saw that the blast cannon was no longer rushing away down the hall. It had stopped, and was rotating to face them.
"Jack!" yelled Sam. "We have to get everybody into the 'Gate Room right now." She pointed through the entrance of the Stargate security foyer. "Not just in the foyer, in the 'Gate Room. Past the second door."
That by-now-familiar menacing hum started up again.
Jack looked desperately around the hallway. Who was still out here? How many of those men on the floor were still breathing?
"We've got ninety seconds before the cannon discharges!" cried Sam. She and Nara and a few of the men had begun checking the bodies on the floor.
"Help me!" shrilled a woman's voice. It was Ifefal. She was coming out from behind a pillar, dragging Lagash's body behind her. Lagash was probably three times her weight.
Jack ran to Lagash, slung the big man over his shoulder as fast as he could, and then ran back toward the security foyer, with Ifefal beside him. The blast cannon was reaching its crescendo: that deep thrum that seemed to vibrate the whole building.
Jack practically fell through the entrance to the security foyer, staggering under Lagash's weight. He and Ifefal seemed to be the last ones in. A huge door slammed down behind them.
"Don't stop!" warned Sam. "Get in the 'Gate Room!"
So Jack staggered on, through a large white room filled with counters and chairs, and what looked like security archways, and other high-tech gadgetry that he could care less about. Up ahead was another large opening. Through it, he could see the Stargate. And it was filled with watery light! Daniel must have realized that if the Ashorans were blasting this place, they weren't likely to be in it. God, Earth was just a few more steps away!
Jack put on a fresh burst of speed and entered the 'Gate Room. As soon as he had, another huge door slammed shut behind him.
There was a stupendous crack, as if lightning had struck right beside him. Jack fell to his knees as everything shook. "Oww," he complained. Falling on his bad knees while carrying Lagash's weight was not fun. He started struggling to get back on his feet. Ifefal gave him a hand.
"It held," said Sam. She was standing beside the door of the 'Gate Room, studying one of her gizmos. "The outer door held. I wasn't sure it would. The second blast will bring it down, but that gives us a little more time. Assuming it takes two blasts to go through this door as well, we've got about five minutes."
Jack took in the crowd gathered around the Stargate. They were down to around fifty people, half carrying the other half. That meant they'd lost about ten. No time to think about that. All these people needed to get through the Stargate in five minutes.
The pool of light within the Stargate dissipated, leaving an empty grey ring.
"What the hell?" Jack was so stunned, he didn't even yell it.
Daniel was standing next to the DHD with a grim expression. He was holding the GDO in his hand, its arm straps dangling. His voice tense and rapid, he said, "The GDO is dead. It must have been damaged when Octave took that stun bolt. We can't transmit the iris code, so we can't go home. We have to pick another address." Daniel looked at Sam. "Will the Ashorans be able to figure out where we went?"
"Yes. They'll read the crystals in the DHD. And you can be certain they'll follow."
Jack's mind raced. They needed to go somewhere that could protect them against a bunch of determined Ashorans with highly advanced weapons. But the Nox had buried their 'Gate, the Asgard lived in a different galaxy, and the Tollans were no more. They didn't know anybody else that was more technologically advanced than the Ashorans. The Tok'ra were at about the same level, but hadn't revealed the location of their current base. And he hated to lead the Ashorans to the Free Jaffa and give Bra'tac a powerful new enemy to worry about.
Looking at Daniel's face, he knew his friend had reached the same conclusions. "You know more Stargate addresses than anyone else, Daniel. Pick one. Now."
Jack didn't even wait for Daniel to begin dialing. He started working on getting the crowd organized, calling on Nara and Ifefal to help. They lined people up in front of the now-spinning Stargate, in a column four across.
BOOM!
The second thunderous clap was even louder than the first, and the room shook even worse. Several people were knocked off their feet, and bits of stuff drifted down from the painted walls.
Sam spoke from her station beside the door, where she was watching the readings on one of her gadgets. "That definitely blew the outer door." She started moving toward the Stargate just as it whooshed.
"I better go through first and try to smooth the way," said Daniel.
Jack scowled at him. "What the hell did you dial, Daniel?"
While running toward the Stargate, Daniel called back, "If my theory is correct, it's the best possible place for us to take shelter from the Ashorans."
"If?" yelled Jack. But Daniel had already disappeared into the wormhole.
Nara was frowning at the glowing symbols on the DHD. "I think that's the address from High Councilor Merena's secret files."
No time to wonder what Daniel was getting them into. They had no choice but to start sending people through.
"Go!" Jack barked at the crowd. "Go, go, go!"
People started passing into the Stargate, four abreast. To Jack's relief, they moved in a quick, orderly fashion.
BOOM!
This time, the noise was quite literally deafening, and the room trembled as if caught in the Big One. Everybody got knocked down, and a wave of heat hit them from the direction of the door. As people struggled to get back up and re-hoist their unconscious comrades, Jack looked over and saw that the 'Gate Room door was visibly bowed in.
Above the door was a huge mural of the Goddess wearing Ancient Minoan dress, with an enormous black bull lying at her feet. The two deities were on a rocky island filled with many animals, encircled by an ocean filled with marine creatures. The sun and moon where in the sky on either side of the Goddess. Above her head, the stylized sky morphed into stylized outer space, with planets, stars, and spiral galaxies. The Goddess's left hand was wrapped around one of the great bull's horns, while her right hand was extended, the palm open. She was smiling.
Yeah, right, thought Jack. Goodbye, Ashora. I won't miss you.
Sam, Nara, and Ifefal were beside Jack, while Lagash was still slung over his shoulder. They were the last in line. Their turn came, and they stepped through the Stargate.
As soon as they stepped out the other side, Jack heard the wormhole dissipate behind them. Which was good. But then he froze, because he was facing a huge mural of the Goddess in Ancient Minoan dress, with a black bull at her feet. She had her hand wrapped around one of his horns, and she was smiling.
For an instant, Jack thought the Stargate had somehow spit them back out onto the same planet. Then he started noticing the differences. Below the mural, the door was not closed or bowed in. It was open. And gathered in front of it were his people, along with lots of strangers in blue uniforms. The strange soldiers were of both sexes. Daniel was talking to a man whose insignia seemed to indicate high rank.
Jack glanced at Sam, Nara, and Ifefal. They were all gaping in shock.
"Where the hell are we, Daniel?" he snapped.
Daniel broke off his conversation and walked toward them, his face lit with excitement. "This is Keftu," he said. "This is the original home world of the people who founded Ashora."
"The Founders lied!" cried Sam, her voice full of outraged disbelief. "The Fall of Keftu…"
"…never happened," finished Daniel. "All that happened was that a small group of extremists left Keftu to create their version of the 'perfect' society."
"Oh, Goddess," said Nara. "I've been so stupid! I figured out the Founders didn't leave Keftu in a hurry, so why didn't it occur to me that maybe Keftu was never attacked by the Goa'uld? That is the Founders' Secret!"
"Don't beat yourself up, Nara," said Daniel. "You're Ashoran. The Fall of Keftu is so deeply embedded in Ashoran culture that it was easier for you to imagine the Founders had caused it than to imagine it never happened at all. But I'm sure the possibility would have occurred to you eventually, if the Foundationists hadn't erased your files. Naturally, that convinced you your theory had to be right."
"The Founders lied!" cried Ifefal. She sounded just as outraged as Sam had. Jack realized that was the reaction you could expect from most Ashorans.
"It was quite clever of them, really," said Daniel. "They wanted to ensure their new society had no contact with the old. They knew the people of Keftu would intervene if they found out what kind of society was being created on Ashora. So, the Founders made up the story of the Fall of Keftu, and taught it to their children. Nobody would try to contact the old society if they thought it didn't exist anymore. The Fall of Keftu was also a perfect founding myth for their extremist colony, since it taught that straying from the true faith would cause a global catastrophe."
"But somebody knew!" said Jack. "You got that Stargate address from that High Councilor's files, right?"
"Yes," said Daniel. "Because there was a problem with the Founders' strategy. What if some disaster happened, like a Goa'uld attack, and their colony really needed to turn to the home world for help? The Founders must have picked one or two of their most committed daughters and told them the truth, just in case. And it's been passed down that way ever since. In each generation, a small number of the most fervent Foundationists have been entrusted with the secret."
The high-ranking stranger had come up beside Daniel. He looked almost as stunned as the Ashorans. "I can't believe it," he said. "I can't believe there's a Keftuan colony that actually enslaves people. That's appalling." His expression turned stern. "And unacceptable. If you're really telling the truth."
"You should have proof soon, Commander Geshta. We expect Ashoran soldiers to follow us here shortly." Daniel frowned. "Unless somebody in Internal Security recognizes that Stargate address, and comes up with some excuse to prevent them." Daniel smiled. "But, in that case, we'll be happy to give you the address for Ashora."
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