A/N - I'm back! Though I was without an adequate internet connection for far too long. Thanks so much for your patience, and I promise not to make you wait nearly as long for the next chapter. Enjoy!
Chapter 6
Daniel followed the strange but silent creatures for several minutes, deeper into the heart of the jungle. With each step, Teal'c felt his level of apprehension rise. Just as he was about to suggest to Daniel that they should turn around and head back toward the Stargate as originally planned, the group came to a stop. Through the dense and dripping foliage, he could just make out the opening to a large, dark cave.
Daniel looked up at the Jaffa. "They want us to go inside."
"I do not think that is advisable, DanielJackson."
Daniel glanced at their guide, who was already at the entrance and beckoning him to follow. He shrugged. "I'm going in. Stay out here if you like."
With that, Daniel turned to follow the creature into the mouth of the cave. Teal'c briefly considered the merits of hoisting the archeologist bodily over his shoulder and carrying him away like a child, but ultimately he thought better of the idea and instead readied his staff weapon and followed his friend into the cave.
The interior space was long and dim. Though there were no torches or any other discernible source of light, something in the walls seemed to give off a faint, blue-green glow, which provided sufficient illumination for Teal'c to see the ground immediately in front of them.
"This is amazing," Daniel said in a low voice, as they walked down the seemingly never ending passageway. "The walls must contain some sort of bioluminescent substance."
But Teal'c was too concerned by the depth of the cave and the number of creatures now following them to give much thought to the local flora. It occurred to him that it would be impossible to escape should they need to do so. He grasped his staff weapon more firmly.
Without warning, the tunnel in which they had been walking opened up into a large cavern as big as an amphitheater. The bioluminescence was more plentiful in the space, and Teal'c could just see a solitary figure sitting on a chair carved from stone on the opposite side of the space. He rose as the group entered.
"I guess this is their leader?" Daniel whispered to Teal'c.
"It would appear so," the Jaffa replied.
As they approached, it became apparent that the individual seated on the chair was not like the other creatures. In fact, Teal'c could now see that he was, indeed, human, though he appeared to be of an extremely advanced age. As they neared, he struggled to his feet, leaning heavily on a staff made of wood. When he spoke, his voice was like sandpaper. But neither his presence nor his age was nearly so startling as what he said.
"Welcome, off-worlders, and thank you for agreeing to meet with me. My name is Sequene."
oOoOoOo
Sukumar and his men bound Jack and Sam and dragged them to the far side of the pyramid. At a signal from their leader, the men began pushing a large stone to one side revealing a smaller, square opening in the ground underneath. They positioned their prisoners at the edge.
"Forgive me, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to stay here for the rest of the evening," Sukumar said. "While I'm tempted to execute you immediately, I think it would only be fitting for you to experience the magic of our Fountain yourselves, since you seem so curious to know how it works. Unfortunately, the priests tell me that it will take awhile to be re-calibrated, so we'll have to postpone your experience until tomorrow night." He turned to Sam and stroked her cheek. "Of course, if you prefer, you could spend the night with me instead."
Since her hands were bound, Sam used the only weapon available to her and kicked out with her foot, catching Sukumar in the knee. He cried out in pain, then backhanded her, sending her reeling. Only the men holding her kept her upright. Enraged at the treatment of his Second, Jack attempted to strike out, but to no avail. At a signal from Sukumar, the men threw him into the hole, where he landed with a crunch.
Sukumar stroked Sam's cheek once again with his fingers. "Pity," he said, then with a jerk of his head, the men picked her up and dropped her into the hole after Jack. She fell several feet before hitting first her commanding officer, who let out a grunt, then the hard, dirt floor. She looked up to see Sukumar gazing down into the small cavern. "Enjoy yourselves tonight. It will be your last," he said with a sneer. The men then pushed the stone back over the top of the opening, and Sam felt a twinge of panic as she realized she couldn't see a thing in the ensuing darkness.
A soft groan from beside her brought her back to senses. "Sir! Are you alright?"
"I've been better, Carter." A faint light was filtering down from the ceiling, and once her eyes adjusted, Sam could just make out the form of her commanding officer, lying on the ground, his knees bent and his hands still tied behind him. "You?" he asked.
Sam did a quick self inventory and discovered nothing broken or too badly bruised. "Fine, sir. I think you broke my fall." She was already working at the rope tied around her hands.
"Yes. Yes, I definitely broke your fall." He groaned again, then with some effort, he rolled up onto his knees and began working on his own ropes. Once Sam had hers off, she helped Jack remove the rest of his. He stood and pulled Sam to her feet.
Sam took in her surroundings. They appeared to be in a fairly large hole in the ground, roughly the size of a small bedroom with walls of stone and a dirt floor. "What is this place?" she asked.
"I think it's a holding cell of some sort. Must be where they keep all of their 'participants' until they're ready for them."
Sam shuddered remembering what had happened to the servant in the Fountain. "We have to find a way out."
"Yeah, that might be a little difficult," replied Jack.
He had been examining the walls but saw nothing other than rough stone. The opening they had been pushed through was a good twelve feet above, and there was no ladder or any other means of reaching it. Several small holes, also in the ceiling, let in air and a little moonlight, but they were no bigger than the size of a quarter and spaced far apart.
Sam continued to scour the ceiling. "There has to be a way."
"I think you might have been better off with Suki," he mumbled.
Sam's head snapped around. "I'd rather die," she spat.
"Sorry, Carter," he sighed. He really hadn't meant to say that out loud, and he certainly didn't mean it. But he was growing concerned that she might get her wish.
oOoOoOo
Daniel stared wide eyed at the old man. "I'm sorry. Do you mean the Sequene? The one who led his people to this island in search of the Fountain of Youth more than a thousand years ago?"
The old man smiled, but his expression held no humor. "The same. As you might have guessed, we did indeed find the Fountain, but it was not as we were led to believe." Daniel looked at him in disbelief, while Teal'c watched him dispassionately. Sequene sighed, then continued. "I thought I was following our god. Only much later did I discover that the being who called himself Jocahu was far from divine and was only interested in using our people for his own purposes."
"The galaxy is filled with beings such as the one you describe," offered Teal'c. "False gods, who prey on their followers." Sequene nodded in agreement.
"But what happened to him?" interrupted Daniel. "Why is he no longer here?"
Sequene shook his head. "I am uncertain. Not long after Jocahu brought us to this island, he was joined by another, a woman, who called herself a goddess. Nirrti was her name." Daniel and Teal'c exchanged a startled look. "Together they used the Fountain to experiment on us, but he left with her soon after she arrived and has not returned since."
"What kind of experiments?" Daniel asked, though he already had a pretty good idea.
"I believe they were trying to create a perfect human, one who would remain healthy and youthful indefinitely." Sequene looked at the ground, momentarily lost in thought. "Jocahu told us that the Fountain would give us the gift of eternal life, and that much was true. But what he failed to tell us was that in order to restore one man's youth, another's had to be taken away." He gestured to the creatures who now filled the cavern. "The beings you see here are what is left of those who had their youth stolen by the Fountain."
"These creatures are human?" Daniel asked.
"They are," Sequene replied sadly. "At first, Jocahu selected which of his subjects would benefit from the process and which would suffer. I was 'rewarded' for my role in convincing my people to participate. Sukumar, whom you've no doubt met, was also one of the first to receive the gift of eternal youth. When my people realized what was happening, several rebelled. Jocahu quickly quashed the rebellion by making any who protested victims of the Fountain."
"But Jocahu and Nirrti left," reasoned Daniel. "Why didn't the process stop then?"
It was Teal'c who provided the answer. "Those who prospered desired to retain their advantage."
Once again, Sequene nodded. "Yes. It did not take long after Jocahu departed for those who had received the gift to figure out how the Fountain worked. I regret that I was among the first who insisted on continuing to reward those our council deemed worthy of everlasting life.
"In the beginning, we only forced criminals or the terminally ill or injured to give up their youth to those determined to be more deserving. But soon, the demand for victims became too great, and the council began designating any who opposed them - on any matter - criminals to be sacrificed to the Fountain.
"When my own daughter spoke out against the use of the Fountain, the council, over my objection, voted to sacrifice her. It was at that point I acknowledged the Fountain was evil and vowed to destroy it. Sukumar attempted to kill me then, but I escaped. That was many years ago. I have been living amongst the victims since."
Teal'c gazed around the room. "How is it that these humans became as we see them now?"
"I do not know how the Fountain works. I only know that it leaves its victims damaged, and none are ever as they were before. Some suffer only physical deformities; others are left mentally bereft as well. Some gain new abilities, such as telepathy, as you have seen. But all who enter the Fountain become nearly immortal, even those you see before you. I have not been damaged, but I will continue to age indefinitely, as I have forsaken the use of the Fountain for my own benefit. However, Sukumar and those who follow him will stop at nothing to retain their youth."
Sequene paused and moved slowly toward Teal'c and Daniel, examining them carefully. "Tell me, did you come here seeking the Fountain?"
"We did not," replied Teal'c.
"We're explorers," added Daniel. "We came here to learn about your culture."
Sequene grunted, apparently satisfied with this response. "As you might imagine, word of the Fountain's abilities has spread across the galaxy, and travelers from other planets often come through the ring of stone in search of the promise of eternal youth. Instead, they are captured and used as victims. In many cases, the process does not work. According to our legend, however, individuals from our home world, Earth, supposedly provide the greatest benefit. For this reason, Sukumar and his followers were no doubt greatly interested in you.
"You all have been in grave danger since you arrived. We tried to warn you, but I'm afraid our intent was misinterpreted. We planted a vision of the horrors of the Fountain in the mind of the woman, in the hope that you would understand the danger and leave."
Daniel exchanged a long look with Teal'c. "Sequene, we might be able to help you."
Sequene smiled. "We sensed that you are good people, and strong. Your arrival is fortuitous. We have been planning to attack Sukumar and his followers and destroy the Fountain for some time. Your assistance would be greatly appreciated."
oOoOoOo
"Carter, I'm not sure this is such a good idea," Jack grunted, holding onto his Second's ankles. She was currently standing on his shoulders in an attempt to reach the hole in the ceiling. Jack hadn't seen much point given the size of the rock that was covering the opening, but Sam had seemed almost desperate to try and reach it.
"I'm almost there..."
She stretched upwards, and Jack felt her stance shift. He gripped her ankles harder. "Carter..."
"Got it!" She yelled. Standing on her tip toes, she tried to push against the rock with the palms of her hands. Even standing on his shoulders, though, she was too short to get any real leverage and so completely lost her balance. She fell to the ground with a thud.
"Carter!" Jack knelt beside her. "Are you hurt?"
She looked up at him. "Only my pride." Jack grimaced and held out his hand to help her up. Once on her feet, she bowed her head for a minute, then met his eyes. "We're not getting out of here, are we, sir?"
Jack sighed and ran his hands through his hair, deciding it was no use mincing words. "No." He narrowed his eyes and studied her closely. He wasn't sure he had ever seen her look so distraught. But then, she had already had the misfortune of experiencing the horror of the Fountain first hand, thanks to her visions. "Hey," he began, his voice softer now, "we've been in tighter situations before."
She looked straight at him, challenging him. "Have we?"
"Sure," he replied quickly, but when she looked at him expectedly, it caught him off guard. He mentally scrambled, trying to think up some examples. He snapped his fingers. "There was Antarctica and, um," he hesitated, then continued, "when Thor's ship was attacked by Replicators and...," he paused again, and a look of pride crossed his face when he thought of yet another example, "and the time we were trapped on Apophis' battleship when those stupid arm bands stopped working-" Jack stopped abruptly, as Sam's eyes got as big as saucers.
Oh, crap. They didn't talk about that. That was supposed to stay locked in a room. Jack swallowed hard, but he couldn't think of anything to say.
Sam held his gaze for several seconds before she spoke, her voice barely above a whisper. "At least we're not separated by a force field this time."
Jack's heart leapt into his throat. "Right," he said softly, and he hoped his voice didn't betray his uncertainty with the situation. He considered his next move for awhile before coming to a conclusion. "C'mere," he said finally, and he reached out and pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her and holding her tight. She nuzzled his chest, and he put his head on top of hers. For just a moment, he closed his eyes and forgot about everything other than their embrace.
"So, you think we'll get out of this one, sir?" she finally mumbled into his shirt.
He pulled back a bit to look at her and cupped her face, brushing her cheek with his thumb. "Youbetcha," he whispered, with as much conviction as he could muster.
As he continued to hold her gaze, he realized that this is what he had wanted to do when she was trapped behind that force field. He also knew that they were moving rapidly into forbidden territory, but suddenly he just couldn't bring himself to care. His eyes drifted to her lips, and before he had time to give any further thought to the ramifications of his actions, he leaned in and kissed her.
The kiss started out gently, but rapidly progressed to something much more heated, as she responded with an intensity that both surprised and thrilled him. Warning bells sounded somewhere in the back of his mind, letting him know he was close to losing all control. With a herculean effort, he broke the kiss and backed away.
Damn it! He wasn't supposed to let that happen. He closed his eyes and shook his head. "Carter...this isn't...we're not..." he began, fumbling over his words as he tried to figure out what he was supposed to say.
"Jack." The use of his first name brought him up short. He looked directly at her and was surprised to see that she was completely calm. She took a deep breath. "If our biggest problem tomorrow is that we've violated the regs tonight, I'm going to count it as a good day."
He gaped at her, momentarily unable to process what she had just said. Slowly, he began to understand. He huffed. It was hard to argue with that logic, and as usual, she was way ahead of him. He gave her a slight smile.
"Right," he said for the second time. Then he cradled her face with both hands and brought his lips to hers once again.
TBC...