1 year, 11 months, 2 days
SGC
"SG-1, gear up. You'll be heading out in an hour." The three men silently turned to head to the locker rooms. "Wait. You'll have SG teams 2, 3, and 5 to back you up, and a medical team will go along for first aid to the as needed. Try not to get killed over a few dozen prisoners. For all we know, they could be in prison for a very good reason. I'm not saying that anyone deserves torture, and you three know that better than anyone, but we aren't too sure about this planet's political situation. From what Dr. Jackson gathered, the people of P2x-774 are like the wardens of Guantanamo Bay here on Earth. The entire world's, or in this case, galaxy's, "Bad guys" are sent there. You've got an hour. You're dismissed." General Hammond waved the three men off, and said a silent prayer for their safety, and everyone else's sanity. Jack, Daniel, and Teal'c were out of the room before the word was out of the General's mouth.
45 minutes later, all five teams, each with their various shaped and sized gear, were standing in the gate room. Jack stood in front of them, laying out the plan of attack. No one else knew that Jack thought he knew one of the prisoners. Hammond would have pulled him from the mission, and his team would have thought he had finally gone off the deep end. From what SG-1 had seen on their tour, most of the prisoners would be at least mostly conscious. Finally, the gate was dialed, and the teams were off, General Hammond's "Good luck" resounding in their ears.
On the other side, a quick sweep around the gate assured Jack that there were no hostiles nearby, or hiding in the closest of the sparse woods. It was almost a disappointment. The planet looked exactly the same as most every other one they'd been to; green, lots of trees, and lots of walking. After a quick conference, it was agreed that SG-13 would remain by the gate, ready to dial home and send refugees through. The others would walk the quarter mile to the low lying prison, and hopefully enter through a side door Daniel had noticed on their last visit to the planet. The prison itself was fairly uncomplicated. It was a simple, yet effective, one level building, in roughly the shape of a pentagon, with various hallways interconnecting and scattering out from the outer walls. It was not too advanced, made of stones and basic cement, but it was strong enough to keep weakened prisoners inside.
Once inside, everyone assembled into their proper places in line. Teal'c was at the front, med team in the middle, and SG-2's leader, Coburn, taking up the rear. The other members of the mission were arranged through the line, guns and zats at the ready. After about 15 minutes of sneaking and hiding, Teal'c motioned for silence. Around the next corner was the hall containing the cells. From what the team had gathered two days before, all of the prisoners would be in their cells for a day of rest and minor healing from injuries incurred in the torture chambers.
Jack ran up past several people to stand by Teal'c, waiting to gauge the best time to move. As it turned out, there were three large, burly, mercenary looking guards, armed of course, talking amongst themselves about halfway down the hall, keys jangling from rings at their hips as they shifted.
After several moments of silence, waiting to make sure no one had spotted the earthlings, Jack decided it was time to make their move. As quietly as possible, Jack slipped his zat out of its holster, motioning for Teal'c to do the same. This done, the pair inched towards the corner. Teal'c looked at O'Neill, and watched as the human counted down on his fingers. 3…2…1… Go.
The pair bounced around the corner and within seconds, all three guards were unconscious on the ground. "Let's go!" Jack whispered. The men were to the guards in seconds, tying them up and tossing them into one of the empty cells, and shortly after that were fitting keys into cell doors.
"I've got one!" Daniel called, opening a door. One of the medics followed him in. Up and down the hall, doors were opening. The used keys were tossed into a pile. Within 15 minutes, there were about a dozen semi-coherent prisoners being escorted to the gate by SG-2 and a medic.
The cells were none too interesting, just small, almost but not quite squares, dirt on the floors, and the tiny square foot window through which one long term prisoner hoping for a rescue. One by one, doors opened, Daniel gained the trust of the more paranoid, and the long abused men and women in the cells were taken out of the prison, and back to the SGC.
Finally, Jack found the key to the cell that contained the woman that had bitten him on his last visit to the planet. Just he, Daniel, Teal'c, and the doctor were left, with the last few prisoners waiting to leave.
Jack slid the key into the slot, and slowly opened the door. The first thing he noticed was hundreds of tiny scratch marks on the wall. Judging by the sheer number, Jack guessed that the woman had been in that cell for at least two years. Jack slowly approached the person curled up in the corner of the room, when suddenly she opened her eyes and looked at Jack.
He couldn't move. Her eyes, so achingly familiar, ice blue, and though dimmed, still sparkling with life. The woman reached her small, lithe hand out to Jack who mirrored her. Then when hers was directly over Jacks, she turned her hand over, and dropped something into his. It was a metal chain, with clanking disks on the end. Once it was in his hand, the woman seemed to pass out. After calling the doctor in to check her over, Jack dared to look at whatever the thing was in his hand. It was a chain, much like the one around his own neck, and the metal disks were in fact, oblong, just like military issued dog tags. It was what the writing on them said, however, that shocked Jack so much that he couldn't move for several moments. Right at the top were the two most important words Jack knew.
Samantha Carter
A/N ~ YAY! I finally got this chapter up! Sorry it's taken so long, but I've just started a new school, and I've been wandering around trying to get used to it for several days. By the way, does anyone know if it's all dorms, or just my dorm, that has issues with internet? I'm seizing the opportunity while I've got internet. I do have most of the next chapter written, so it should be up soon.
And, I have to say a HUGE thank you to my new beta, Hopeisabluebird. She's gone over this chapter I think three times, trying to help me make it better. Speaking of which, I do need to remember to send her the next chapter. I'll do that later.
Thank you to all of the lovely people out there that have continued to read and review this story. As always, Reviews are love. Please tell me if you think it's horrible, or good, or whatever. Still, review!
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