The Tegan Chronicles

Intuition and Lies 3

"Well, at least I got to keep my clothes this time." Tegan said from her position where she was chained with her hands above her head to the wall. Her ankles and waist were also chained. The rest of SG1 was bound the same way; Jack was immediately to her left, with Teal'c on his other side. Sam was on her right and Daniel flanked her.

"Glad to see you're looking at the bright side of things." Jack grumbled.

"Somebody's got to."

For the last hour Daniel had been staring at the large stone tank in the middle of the room. It was lined in metal and contained a yellow fluid that had a skim of green slime on top of it. "What do you suppose is in there?"

"Piranha."

"Really?" Sam looked around Tegan to their CO.

"Yeah, I always keep my piranha in a tank like that." Jack nodded.

"Could be symbiotes." Daniel threw out.

"I don't feel anything."

"Nor do I," Teal'c agreed with Tegan.

"So, piranha then." Jack pulled on his restraints again just to see if they'd weakened in the last ten minutes.

"I do not see any movement."

"Then what's your theory big guy?" Jack questioned.

"I do not have a theory, O'Neill."

After twenty minutes of silence Daniel spoke again. "If Hek'tu is dead, are they just going to leave us chained here until we starve to death?"

"Or until feeding time for the piranha." Jack offered.

"If it really is piranha," Tegan mumbled.

"Ok brains where do you keep your piranha?" Jack asked.

"I don't have any piranha." She snipped at him.

"Well if you did?"

"I'd keep them in a tank that I could see them in."

"Ok, so what would you keep in a tank like that?" Daniel beat Jack to the question.

She turned her head to Sam and could read it in her eyes. They both thought they knew what was in the tank. "You really don't want to know."

"Oh, but I do." Jack lifted his brow.

"I guess I'd keep my electric eels in there, sir." She lied.

Again the group grew quite as they each contemplated what could be in the tank, and how they could possibly escape.

"You know," Tegan spoke a couple hours later, drawing their attention to the thin strawberry blonde entering the room. "You're supposed to be dead."

"You have heard of a sarcophagus Major?" Hek'tu responded as she rounded the built in tank.

"I didn't think your Jaffa were that smart." Tegan paused.

"She is hot." Jack spoke under his breath.

"I also thought Apophis would have finished you off had you survived Nirrti's attack." Tegan added.

"He was waiting for me when I came out of the sarcophagus." Hek'tu elaborated. "Nirrti had already told him some story about you escaping and that one of you must have killed me in the process. I showed him the recording devices I had hidden aboard my ship, which proved my innocence and he's currently hunting your savior."

"She isn't my savior." Tegan growled.

"Now that I don't have to worry about Nirrti, I can do whatever I want to you." She waved her hand over the group but her eyes narrowed on Tegan. "Now, which one of you is going to tell me the code to get past your iris?" She walked up to the silent Jaffa. "Shol'va, you will bring me much favor from Apophis."

"I will not reveal anything." Teal'c didn't even blink at her threat.

"We shall see." She moved on to Jack and ran her fingers along his lower jaw. "What is the code?"

Jack remained silent.

"Why does Nirrti have a price on her head?" She indicated Tegan.

"Upmh!" Jack exhaled as her fist rammed up under his rib cage.

She stepped in front of Tegan and ran the back of her hand down between her breasts and over her abdomen, turning her hand so she could slide her fingers under Tegan's belt and waist band. Tegan stared into her eyes and set her jaw until Hek'tu pulled her hand away and moved to Sam.

"How did you find my home world?"

"If we'd known it was your home world we would have sent nukes through and blown your ass to hell." Sam spat out making Jack proud.

Hek'tu slapped her causing her head to snap to the side before she moved on to Daniel. "All I want is the code."

He took a deep breath as she rubbed the G.D.O. against his groin. "Not gonna happen."

"You all think you are so brave." She handed the G.D.O. off to one of her Jaffa and took a pain stick from him. "But I will get the information I want."

"You're going to have to kill us first." Sam spoke.

"Oh, I am going to make you beg me to kill you. And then after I have extracted the information I want, I just might fulfill your wish." She touched the pain stick to Sam's cheek for ten seconds before pulling it away. "I can understand you not wanting to give me access to earth. So just tell me why Nirrti wants Major Kiser alive."

"She'll kill you, you know that." Tegan reminded.

"She will not be alive to kill me."

A shiver slid down Tegan's spine, she was better off when Hek'tu feared the wrath of Nirrti.

"Colonel O'Neill." Hek'tu moved to face him. "It is a simple question, answer it and I will let you and your team go."

Jack shook his head, even if the Goa'uld were telling the truth, she'd never let Tegan go in the end. He turned his head away as she lifted the stick to his face.

"We've all been tortured with the pain stick before," Tegan announced. "We didn't give up any information then, and we won't now."

"Oh?" Hek'tu turned to face Tegan, her breath smelled like she'd just eaten maggots for lunch. "You will tell me what I want to know."

Tegan swallowed to keep from gagging over the odor.

"I have plenty of ways to make you talk."

"That vat of putrid pond water?" Tegan scoffed.

"Jaffa kree." Hek'tu moved to the liquid in question and waited for the Jaffa she'd spoken to, to return.

When the Jaffa came back a few moments later he was carrying a large gray rat.

"Great, she's going to torture us with rats. That'll be fun." Jack shook his head.

Hek'tu took the rat, lifting it by its tail.

"Ten bucks says its piranha, last chance guys."

Tegan knew when it was time to be quiet, even if Jack didn't.

Hek'tu lowered the rat in the liquid for a minute.

"Great she's going to drown us in the algae covered water." Daniel looked at Sam who was paler than normal.

When Hek'tu pulled the rat out of the liquid it was screaming, the flesh dripping from its bones until the screaming stopped and nothing was left but a skeleton with a gray tuft of fur and a tail.

"Acid." Tegan breathed out quietly, it was just as she'd expected.

"Ouch." Daniel swallowed.

"So, who is going to tell me why Nirrti wants Major Kiser alive?" She waited for several moments in the silence before she turned and walked out, leaving four armed Jaffa standing guard just outside the door.

"Changed her mind?" Jack looked around and pulled on his restraints again, his black t-shirt wet and clinging to him from perspiration.

"Doubt it." Sam tried to kick her foot out but it jerked when the six inch chain pulled taunt.

Jack eyed Tegan who'd grown unusually quiet. "Kiser?"

"Sir?" She raised her eyebrows but didn't stop staring at the contraption in the middle of the room. There was a chain that she hadn't noticed hanging out the right of the stone encasement, she followed it to where it was connected to a large medieval looking crank.

"We're going to get out of this mess." He stated.

"We always do, sir."

"Have," Daniel corrected. "We always have."

"We'll figure something out."

"Like what?" The young archeologist tried not to yell.

"I'm all ears." Jack admitted he didn't have a plan.