Chapter 5 The Essence of the Deception
Colonel Samantha Carter listened to the transmission with a grave face. Establishing a scheduled wormhole through to the SGC from the Chulak Stargate, she had listened with increasing concern to the reports of what had happened over on Dakara.
"Is Mitchell okay?" was the first thing she'd asked, visibly relaxing when General Landry told her that all of her fellow Colonel's injuries were minimal.
"He seemed to be coughing up half of the Dakaran desert for a while but my daughter's patched up all his grazes and says he'll be fine," Landry said gruffly. "He's lucky that he hit the event horizon when he did – the cold of the wormhole put out the flames on the back of his BDU's. He would have had severe burns otherwise."
"So – what do we do now, sir?" Sam asked. "What do any of us do?"
"Well, the Tok'ra have several ships close to where you are – your orders are to wait for them to show up. Once they do then take the Hammond and head on over to Dakara. Kind of like closing the stable door after the horse has bolted, but the Jaffa Council need all the help that they can get at the moment." Landry paused. "The Tok'ra can monitor airspace around Chulak for a few days until the Daedalus is over that way again."
"Okay sir." Sam paused. "How's Teal'c?"
General Landry took a long breath. His brows were very low over his deep eyes and he frowned hard at the wall, seeing as their was nobody in his office for him to frown at. "He's – surviving, I would say. The home that the Free Jaffa struggled for so long to return to is in ruins, with many dead. Men, women and children – whoever that Gou'ald is, they're not choosy about who they bring down in their cause. The only good thing is that the Jaffa are a tough, stubborn race of people. They're used to hardship and suffering, and facing insurmountable odds. Teal'c says that they will begin to rebuild as soon as possible."
"Good - I guess." Sam shook her head, large blue eyes still troubled. "Well, we'll keep a look out here, and report anything out of the ordinary. And I mean anything, sir!" She spoke for another few minutes with the head of the SGC before closing the connection. God help us all, if the Gou'ald are back, Sam thought, as she stood at the window on the bridge of the Hammond. God help us all.
o – o – o – o – o –
Just over twenty four hours later Colonel Mitchell was woken up in the SGC infirmary by a tentative little kiss on his ungrazed temple. He opened his eyes to see Vala's worried face looking into his own.
"Hey Princess," he smiled and patted her hand with his bandaged one. "You guys get back okay?"
"Mmm." Vala bit her lip, large gray eyes stormy with concern. "We didn't hear any of the news about Dakara until we landed at Area 51."
"You didn't see any bad guys out your way?" Mitchell coughed and reached for his water.
Vala handed it to him. "No. Just orphans. They're all fine, by the way. But I do worry, Cameron – what if trouble does start over there? What about my babies?" She bit her lip worriedly. "The nearest Stargate is about four hours away by foot."
"We'd better make sure that trouble doesn't find your kids then." Mitchell told her. It touched him, how concerned she was about her young charges. He wondered what would have become of Vala if either her father or stepmother had shown her a similar level of concern. "Don't worry. If we hear anything 'bout anything we'll grab your orphans out of Semjata so quick they won't have time to say 'Gou'ald mothership!'"
A reluctant chuckle escaped her. "Yes – yes, I suppose so. And Semjata is in the back end of everywhere. I mean I can't imagine a Gou'ald wanting to go there, really. What?"
Mitchell had given a shout of laughter. "Semjata is at the back end of nowhere!"
"Oh," widening her eyes Vala nodded. " I remember now though – it's 'arse end' isn't it? 'Arse' – such a lovely word. Makes me think of Daniel. His arse, I mean, obviously. Not because he is one. An arse. Although sometimes…"
"Sometimes what?" the archaeologist asked, appearing behind her.
Mitchell laughed so much that he began coughing.
Vala batted her lashes and looked innocent. "Oh, just you darling. Being an arse."
"Again?" Daniel queried mildy. "I thought that we got on okay the last few days?"
"Oh, we did," Vala nodded enthusiastically, as she busily helped herself to a small bunch of grapes on top of the Colonel's locker. "But there's no denying that you definitely have 'arse' qualities."
"Excuse me?" Carolyn walked in on the last part of the conversation.
Vala grinned unrepentantly up at her.
"If you two are going to make Colonel Mitchell cough again I'll have to send you outside," Carolyn frowned. "He needs to rest anyway. Come back later."
"Hey – I only just woke up!" Mitchell protested.
"Yes, and you only just made it back to the SGC too!" The pretty doctor looked quite stern. "Your clothes were smoking, Colonel! And you had several minor wounds and a chest full of Dakara dust! Now, I'm telling you – if you want to be discharged tomorrow, then you rest now!"
"Okay!" Mitchell raised his hands in mock surrender. "Okay!"
"Come on," Daniel tugged Vala away towards the door.
"Can I have these?" she asked, still holding the grapes.
"Sure," Mitchell grinned. He was left alone again to muse over the events of the last few days. At least there's one good thing though, he thought eventually. We got the old team back together. We'll give that Gou'ald something to think about.
"Rest!" said Carolyn crossly, as she went past again, a few minutes later.
"Yes, Dr Lam," Mitchell said obediently, but with a twinkle in those bright blue eyes.
o – o – o – o – o –
Early the following day two Tok'ra ships pulled out of subspace close to where the George Hammond was in orbit around Chulak.
Sam Carter spoke briefly to their commanders before moving away as soon as was decently polite and heading as quickly as possible towards Dakara. Even though she'd been told by General Landry that Teal'c was unharmed Sam still wanted to get to the other planet as quickly as possible.
"We should be coming into orbit around Dakara in approximately six hours, Colonel." Major Kevin Marks was busy plotting their route on the many monitors and screens beside him.
"Thank you, Marks," she smiled, moving towards the commander's chair and sitting down.
The bridge was quiet as the ship moved smoothly towards it's destination. Everyone seemed to be preoccupied with their own thoughts.
Sam especially was struggling, like the rest of the old SG-1 team, to get her head around the fact that there was a Gou'ald on the rise in their galaxy. She felt as if everything they'd been through previously was for nothing. Obviously it wasn't, she reasoned with herself, that was just her pessimistic side talking. It was just a shock. The Colonel couldn't imagine how Teal'c and Mitchell must have felt, watching those Alkesh fly in towards the Temple.
They were about five hours in to their journey when Kevin Marks lifted his hand suddenly.
Sam looked across at the younger man.
His gaze had sharpened – he scrolled through several of the screens in front of himself then reached over to a pair of headphones, slipping them quickly onto his head.
"Marks?" Sam was on her feet now.
There was a long, long beat.
"Dakara," The Major looked up, his expression set. "I'm picking up a subspace transmission. The Ha'tak has reappeared over the Temple. The Jaffa are under attack again."
"Crap!" Sam sounded remarkably like Mitchell. "Crap, crap, crap! Marks – get us there as quickly as possible! Quicker!"
"Already on it, ma'am," replied the young man.
Sam had thought that the Hammond was already going flat out, but she was wrong. The sound of the engines changed – increased in volume and moved to a deeper, whirring pitch. The lights flickered briefly.
"We'll be there in under thirty minutes," Marks informed his commander.
Sam didn't reply, just turned away, face set, and waited for their exit from subspace.
o – o – o – o – o –
Teal'c looked up from where he was partially hidden among the ruins of a single storey bazaar-like building. Several women and about a dozen children were sheltering with him.
Three death gliders swooped down towards them, their missiles hitting the ground in rapid succession, taking down several outbuildings and shattering the brickwork close to the doorway. The Ha'tak dropped lower – it hovered several kliks away from the edge of the city, watching the destruction being wrought by the gliders and Alkesh. The bombers were now five in number.
Teal'c felt real despair. How could this be happening again – a Gou'ald coming to power? The Jaffa nation being crushed and purged all over again. How could they keep hope, in the face of such hate?
Sunlight glinted off of something high above, the warrior glanced up and suddenly his heart lifted. The George Hammond had plunged out of subspace and immediately begun to fire on the Ha'tak.
The Gou'ald ship began to pull away, the five Alkesh moving towards it. Several gliders carried on with their assault on the ground, unaware at first of the Tau'ri ship's presence. They didn't remain ignorant for long – having given the Ha'tak a decent pounding, Sam turned the Hammond's weaponry on the unfortunate gliders. Kevin Marks managed to bring down two with one blast, and a third with another, which careered into a fourth and sent it crashing into the ground, not far from the Temple.
It lay, a crumpled and twisted wreck, smoke pouring from within.
The assault over, Teal'c left the group that he had been with in the care of another Jaffa and ran towards the broken death glider. He clambered over the smashed wing nearest to him, pulling himself up towards the cockpit.
A very, very young warrior was at the controls – his face was grey, head turned away to the side. Thick blood oozed from several deep wounds, most notably a huge puncture wound in his chest. A massive piece of shrapnel projected from it – clearly the poor boy was not long for this world.
The younger man moaned quietly and turned towards the Jaffa.
Teal'c frowned, but was not surprised when he saw the mark of Athena on the warrior's forehead.
The boy's eyes flickered open. "I am sorry, Master Teal'c," he whispered.
"Rest," the Jaffa stated calmly. "Do you carry a symbiote?"
"No." He cringed with pain. "I am not afraid to die. It was the only way to beat the Lucian Alliance."
"What was?" Teal'c asked curiously.
"To destroy the Temple. To destroy the new Jaffa nation. Athena…Athena said…." He coughed violently, bright red blood spewing down the front of his armour.
Teal'c carefully wiped off what he could from the dying man's face.
The young pilot rasped a breath. "She said that if we crushed the new nation, brought down the temple then the Jaffa would have nothing to fight for. They would chose to fight for her in her war against the Lucian Alliance. They would support a Gou'ald over another enemy."
"Better the devil you know," Teal'c said quietly, remembering the old Tau'ri saying.
"Yes." The boy's voice was failing, his eyes closed as his head dropped to one side. A minute or two later and he was gone, no longer able to worry about who's side would win.
Teal'c sadly laid a hand on his adversary's chest and bowed his own head briefly. A thousand tumultuous thoughts were racing through his own mind – he stood patiently, waiting for them to sort, separate – to calm. So Athena intended to take away the hope that the Free Jaffa had of re-building their own nation, and cajole them into working for her against the Alliance. What was the old Tau'ri saying? Something about burning your boats, so that your men would fight more valiantly for their cause. Athena obviously thought that destroying the temple was the equivalent of those mythical boats. And she might be calling herself a priestess now, but for how long? Teal'c was pretty sure that a few years down the line she'd be turning herself back into a Goddess.
The George Hammond had already landed, Air Force personnel beginning to stream from it's interior towards the beleagured city. Teal'c turned away from the wreckage of the Death Glider, and the poor young boy within, and made his way towards Sam, who he could already see was heading towards him across the sand.
TBC...
Ok - I know that just going through the wormhole probably wouldn't have extinguished Mitchell's flaming BDU's. But it may have done -and we didn't really want him setting fire to the gateroom, right? :-)
I am away at Chevron 8.2 this week-end! So the next update may be a little delayed.