Chapter 14: Stitch
P3E-610
12:10 P.M (Zulu Time)
The sky turned green as the raining intensified.
Hiding under a cave-like structure of pillars, Mitchell, Jackson, Alexeyeva and Ortega sat on dry soil, hoping someone could think of something. Ideas did in fact bounce around, however nothing could be deemed feasible. Ortega's teeth vibrated with the sudden chill of the outside environment.
"Why did it have to be cold," He asked, rhetorically of course.
Daniel didn't say anything for he was too busy looking through his notes. Mitchell's eye caught sight of this and, as a result, scoffed.
"Jesus, Jackson," He mumbled. "We're facing an enemy contingent and you are taking the time to look through your diary?"
Daniel smiled, mildly annoyed.
"You're confidence in me is touching, Cam," He replied. "Besides, I think, that while we are stuck here and maybe facing capture, I should study what we recovered before its too late,"
"I think that's a good idea, Doctor Jackson," Alexeyeva replied, looking outside, into the distance. "You might never have a second chance,"
She, as the others realized, had not moved from her position since they took shelter under the ruins.
"What are you thinking?" Mitchell asked, curious about what was running through the Russian's mind.
Alexeyeva, however, did have an idea. One, however, would be something the others might protest against.
"Sergeant Ortega," She began. "Did you happen to notice whether or not Witkowski had brought a sound suppressor with him,"
"I think he did, but I'm not sure," Ortega replied "You can ask him,"
Alexeyeva shook her head.
"Nyet," She answered. "He did not bring an earpiece with him for sure and contacting him would most likely give his position away,"
"Well we can't have that if he's the only one who could help us retake the gate," Mitchell replied.
"We'll have to go look for him," Alexeyeva replied, preparing to set out.
"Wait, hold up," Ortega intruded.
Alexeyeva looked back, undeterred from her newly set goal.
"Da, Sergeant?"
"A suppressor isn't gonna cut the noise his rifle will make," Ortega replied. "We need something to cover it up…something natural,"
As if an answer, lighting flashed and thunder followed closely behind in the distance.
"Uh…never mind then," Ortega replied, understanding what the Russian was trying to explain.
Alexeyeva had also decided to use another plan.
"Give me the ZPM," She said to Mitchell.
The Colonel became wide-eyed after hearing the request.
"What, are you crazy?" He asked. "We need it,"
"And our enemies want it too,"
"So what are going to do?" Ortega asked. "Just hand them over the ZPM, no question asked?"
Alexeyeva smiled a bit, hoping to ease the tension of their situation.
"If I have a say in it, I won't," She replied. "But I will need a leverage, something to keep them at a distance,"
Everyone began to think, save for Daniel, who had been studying his notes since the conversation began, oblivious to the Russian's proposal.
Alexeyeva examined her bayonet closely. She admired its stainless steel reflection of what was left of the sun.
Mitchell, however, felt nervous.
"What do you plan to do with that knife, Ruski?" He asked.
Alexeyeva shrugged, placing her bayonet away.
"Use of firearms will give us away quicker than you can blink," She explained. "Bayonets have a tendency to be useful weapons,"
Ortega was confused with the Russian's jargon.
"Do you plan on killing every one of them with just that thing?" He asked.
Alexeyeva chuckled, picking up her Kalashnikov.
"Of course not, Sergeant," She replied, smiling. "I intend on using it to signal the Major,"
"Alone?" Ortega asked.
"Of course," Alexeyeva answered. "I can't have you captured or killed either,"
Mitchell shook his head.
"You're crazy, Ruski," He commented. "Everyone and their mother knows that soldiers never fight alone in enemy territory,"
The Russian was not convinced.
"First thing I learned in the academy, Colonel," She replied. "Fortunately, the Major will be waiting if he hasn't been captured."
Mitchell pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance at the Russian's stubbornness.
"Fine!" He commented. "Have it your way,"
Alexeyeva nodded, thanking the Colonel's cooperation.
"But we will stay at a close distance, creating plan B, in case things go south," Mitchell added, arming his P-90.
"Good," The Russian replied, nodding.
Alexeyeva looked at the C-4 explosive Mitchell gave her. Before strapping it onto the butt end of the ZPM, Mitchell attached the blasting cap onto the explosive.
"I like the theory of your idea, Ruski," He commented, handing the ZPM back to the Lieutenant Colonel. "But what if the C-4 blows up in your face?"
Alexeyeva shrugged, unsure of what she was to do if something of such did, in fact, occur.
"C-4 is a highly stable explosive, Colonel," She replied. "You know that,"
"Well, unless someone slips the trigger, there shouldn't be any problems." Ortega added.
"Oi, Colonels," Witkowski's voice echoed from their radios.
"Da, Major?" Alexeyeva radioed back.
"Are we still good?"
"Yep, Major," Mitchell replied. "We're all set; you're good to go,"
Leaving his rifle behind, Witkowski removed a C-4 explosive, of his own from his vest and slowly crept out from the brush. Moving quickly in a crouching position, the Major hid behind the Stargate, while making sure no one saw him in the process. Sentries moved back and forth, like robots, from post to post. They had set up camp in the single hour that had occupied the portal and its immediate vicinity. The Major could feel a smirk form on his face. This action, on the hostiles' part, left them open for potential targets. Which ones to choose, however, would be more difficult for him than it would be for the enemy to compensate for any secondary explosions. Still though, he had to decide.
He quickly made his way to his first target, a communications system. Odd, Witkowski thought, why use it if they have hand-held radios to begin with. He had no time to figure it out, as a patrol was coming his direction. Quickly sticking the explosive on the underside of the device, Witkowski fled before he could be discovered. Making his way, behind the supply creates and more equipment, the Major found what appeared to be oil drums. Witkowski couldn't help but shake his head. Why oil? He thought as he planted another explosive into a quickly dug hole next to the barrels. After doing so, something had caught his eye. He noticed that his teammates were tied up against each other, unconscious. The Major was about to move to his next target when one of them came to. It was Private Williams. Upon seeing the Major before her, only a few feet away, she tried to say something. However, Witkowski shushed her, whispering that help was on the way and she should play dead. The Canadian nodded and complied. Slowly reaching for his knife, Witkowski quickly placed it in the Canadian's hands.
"Try to be discreet," He told her.
Returning to his hiding place behind the gate, the Major, after noticing a patrol approaching, was able to listen onto the conversation that was happening only a few meters away from him.
"Do you think the weapons cache is on this planet?" One of the two patrolmen asked.
"Hell if I know," The other replied. "We're not even sure it's even a weapon to begin with,"
"But there is something here, right?"
"Perhaps, the ship only detected the use of the Stargate," The other added. "And with that probe being here…that only means that the people we captured are in fact the famous Tau'ri,"
"They must be after the weapon," The First replied.
"Good thing we got to them when we did,"
"Wait," The second began. "You smell that?"
"Ah ew," The first replied. "What's that stench…you puke or something,"
Then something made a squishy sound.
"Ah crap!" The first yelled, examining his shoe.
"What," The second asked.
"It's vomit!" The first replied.
"Oh damn,"
"Way to go,"
"Oh shut up,"
"You should clean that up," The second insisted.
The first nodded and began doing as such.
Witkowski nearly laughed at the commotion. Guess the Russian's first trip might actually be of use after all.
"As I was saying," The second began. "SG-1, the infamous group of the Tau'ri, only half of them are here, the other half must be at the temple."
"Don't worry," The first commented. "If they are, we'll find them,"
Alexeyeva was crouching behind a boulder, eyeing out through her binoculars, counting the number of heads that belonged to their adversary.
Mitchell and the others were several meters behind, keeping a low profile as to not arouse suspicion before it would be needed. They knew that they were a few minutes behind schedule for their plan to go into effect. However, they hoped that the Major had still not been captured; otherwise their plan would fall through the floor.
Pulling out her bayonet, Alexeyeva made her way through the vegetation towards the gate. Crawling through the plants and dirt, the Russian constantly tilted her knife back and forth, hoping to gain the Major's attention…and not the enemy's. A few moments later, lighting struck and thunder roared in the distance close behind. Then something grabbed the Russian's arm. She nearly squeaked before a hand clasped over her mouth.
"For sod's sake," A voice whispered into her ear. "How the bloody hell are you Special Forces?"
Then the hand released its grasp over the Russian's mouth.
"I'm FSB, not Spetsnaz," She replied.
"Liar," The voice replied.
"Good to see you again too, Major,"
Witkowski shook his head before continuing.
"You almost had my arse caught when you tried radioing me," He said to the Russian.
Alexeyeva shrugged.
"We had no choice, Major," She replied. "It was that or nothing,"
"Yeah, well, dekko," The Major said, signaling the Russian to look at the gate and its vicinity. "I placed C-4 in a few places here and there near the gate in order to keep the bad guys from the Stargate,"
"Anything good?" The Russian asked.
"Yep," Witkowski replied. "A few oil drums and Comm Equipment."
The Russian raised an eyebrow, confused with the Major's findings.
"Why would these people need fuel or communications?" She asked.
The Major nodded.
"Yeah, I got that feeling too," He added. "Not to mention that they know what a MALP looks like,"
"The probe?" Alexeyeva asked.
The Major nodded.
"They also know about SG-1," He added. "But who wouldn't,"
"Da," Alexeyeva replied.
Neither of them said anything until Witkowski nodded. He took out his detonator and tossed to the Russian.
"Think they'll buy your bluff?" The Major asked.
Alexeyeva examined the detonator in her hand.
"I don't intend on giving them anything until they give us our people back," She replied.
Witkowski smiled.
"Said it like a true leader," He added. "Don't mean anything coming out of your mouth though,"
The Russian shook her head at the comment.
"Just get back to your rifle, Major," She told him. "Shoot anyone who tries to fight,"
"We'll need them alive, Colonel," Witkowski replied.
"Then aim for the legs or arms," The Russian said back. "But make sure that suppressor is on your rifle,"
"Right oh, I already added the moderator to the barrel, ma'am,"
"Then let's get to work,"
The leader of their opposition was speaking with a subordinate about what was to be their next move.
"We should consider setting up camp next to the temple and call in for reinforcements from the ship." The subordinate told his leader.
The commander shook his head.
"No, the ship needs all the people they have to stay on board," He said, looking over a list of names that had accompanied the leader to this world. "We should, however, consider…"
"Commander, sir!" Someone yelled.
The leader and his subordinate approached the man who called his attention.
"Yes Sergeant?" The leader asked.
The man pointed into the distance and the other two looked at that direction. Approaching the group was a woman wearing a green uniform. Her face bore very noticeable scars, added with a grim expression.
In her right hand, she held something of value. The other, held her only bargaining chip. The others, who finally noticed this stranger, pointed their weapons at her in self-defense.
Alexeyeva could feel her throat swallow her saliva before her mouth went dry. She had been shot at, burned, electrocuted and interrogated, yet she never felt this much discomfort as she approached an entire platoon-sized force of aliens. Most of which, had their guns aimed at her and would surely not miss their first shot.
The man, who appeared to be in charge of the group, began to clap his hands.
"I applaud those who have guts to turn themselves in," He said, with a friendly smile.
"But I have to admit," He added. "I have never seen a woman take charge like this,"
Alexeyeva was confused with this man's comment.
"What are you talking about?" She asked. "What do you mean, 'take charge'?"
The man kept his smile.
"You are not part of SG-1, are you?" He asked. "Two of the captives from your world we have are from the team, but the third does not belong with them,"
"Is that your answer?" Alexeyeva asked, feeling her hand shaking.
The man shook his head.
"Of course not," He replied. "The woman we have captive is from a different team, SG-26, as it read,"
Then the man pointed to the Russian's patch.
"You're from SG-26 as well, and you seem the type, so that must make you their commander,"
With a natural reflex, Alexeyeva placed her hand over her team patch as if she had been exposed.
Clearly this man knew what he was saying, a clever one, she thought.
Now she knew that her plan just might collapse.
"Who are you," She asked.
The man shook his head.
"The bigger question," He replied.
"Is who are you?" The Russian hesitated.
She was trained to not give her name away when asked by the enemy, unless she was captured. Yet this moment she wasn't sure what to do. She never met an enemy combatant who was so civilized, so polite.
"It's not important," She replied.
The man shrugged.
"Perhaps," He replied. "But I'm only curious,"
"I'll tell you what is important though," Alexeyeva replied, returning to her grim look.
She held out the ZPM, only that it was attached with the C-4 explosive that Mitchell gave her.
"I want you to release my people and allow us to return to our world," She said to the leader.
He chuckled.
"Or what," The man asked. "You blow up the power device along with your self?"
Alexeyeva glanced at the ZPM for a moment before looking back at the leader. This, for her, was the crown jewel of her plan.
"You have one chance to take this device and leave us," She said to the enemy. "One chance,"
The man smirked. "Just like that, huh?" He asked.
"As simple as that, my friend," Alexeyeva replied, nodding.
The man nodded as well and had begun to approach the Russian. Once he got close enough, Alexeyeva stopped him.
"There is one small problem," She told him.
The man, suspicious, drew out his side arm.
"Yes?" He asked.
"Everyone has a problem of looking up,"
With a single toss, the ZPM went flying into the air at an angle.
The man and his subordinates followed the trajectory of the device as it flew. Just before it landed, however, Alexeyeva flipped over the safety cover for the trigger, and set off the explosives.
In a blink of an eye, Alexeyeva found herself surrounded by fire and explosions. Using her arm to protect herself from the heat and blast, the Russian dropped the detonator and pulled out her MP-443 pistol. She advanced further into the inferno, aiming her gun, with one hand, as she moved. She could hear shots ring out and people falling, screaming in pain. She smiled a bit, knowing that at least the Major was watching her back.
Williams cut out the restraints that had kept her, Teal'c and Vala pinned to the ground, after which, the trio scrambled to their feet, and began to fight off any stragglers. Teal'c struck a retreating man's head and knocked him to the ground.
"Good one, muscles," Vala commented.
Teal'c nodded and the two continued to fight.
Williams was busy though, as she spotted the ZPM just a few feet away from her. Quickly crawling through the hell that was above her head, she attempted to make her way to the alien power core. Just as she reached out for it, however, a foot stepped over her arm. When she looked up, in pain, she found herself looking at the business end of a pistol. It was the leader of the group. In what seemed forever, the Canadian's heart rate increased yet her breathing stopped.
"Sorry, doll face," The man said to her.
"But today isn't you–" A single energy blast impacted the man's arm that held his weapon.
Despite being rescued, Williams couldn't help but stare at the man who nearly killed her. He was yelling in pain but his eyes didn't leave Williams'.
"Private Williams!" Teal'c called out to her.
She said nothing, her joints frozen. She was far to scared to even move. Teal'c approached the Canadian.
"We must go," He said to her.
Williams, snapping out of trance, nodded and quickly grabbed the ZPM from the ground. She retreated with the alien back to what remained of the fight.
Mitchell and the others reached the site and engaged in combat with the remaining enemy sentries. Most surrendered, hoping not to follow some of their comrades.
"Well, it was nice of you boys to show up," Vala commented to their rescuers.
The Russian cleared her throat
"And lady," Vala added.
The Stargate was retaken by the members of the SGC.
The fires of the explosions stayed, burning through the oil while the enemy tended to their wounded. Alexeyeva placed her pistol away, noticing that the firearm was lighter than before. Witkowski jumped out from the treeline, with his sniper rifle in his hands, panting.
"Bollocks," He said, catching his breath. "We did this?"
Mitchell didn't have to nod to confirm the Major's question.
"Yep," The Colonel remarked. "We really did, haven't we,"
He eyed the Russian, who was looking at the Canadian, who in turn was sitting on the stairs at the gate.
Williams was scared stiff, holding onto the ZPM with dear life, her eyes still fixed on the man who nearly killed her.
The Russian approached her subordinate.
"Private Williams," She began. "Are you alright,"
The Canadian said nothing.
The Russian knelt down in front of the Private, hoping to knock some sense into her.
"Noa?" The Russian asked again, half-smiling in hopes of getting the Canadian to talk.
Williams opened her mouth but no words came out.
"I…" She tried to say. "I…"
"Don't worry, Private Williams,"
The Russian replied, placing her hand on Williams' shoulder.
"You survived," She told her.
"Maybe," The Canadian replied, shaking her head. "But what about next time,"
"Next time you will survive as well, and the next…and so forth,"
The Canadian repeated her previous statement, not convinced by the Russian's optimism.
"Daniel," Mitchell said to the archeologist. "Dial it up, we're going home,"
Daniel nodded and approached the Dial Home Device.
As he began to press the coordinates back to Earth, the teams heard one of the enemies using his radio.
"The gate has been lost!" He said into his communications device. "We need an orbital strike on my position, over!"
Everyone eyed the man with the radio.
"No can do, Station," The voice on the other end replied. "Too many friendlies in the area, we're sending a squadron of fighters to your position, out,"
Mitchell stared at Alexeyeva, who had done the same.
"JACKSON!" The colonel yelled. "Get that gate open!"
Daniel nodded, attempting to dial the gate faster. In the distance, as they could hear, the team heard a faint roaring sound getting louder and louder with each passing second.
"Are those Death Gliders?" The Russian asked Mitchell.
The Colonel nodded.
"Come on Jackson," He added.
Daniel rolled up his sleeve, revealing the Garage Door Opener, the transmitter that would be the only way to open the barrier on the other side.
The Stargate opened with a kawhoosh, just as the enemy fighter interceptors had came into view.
Daniel franticly typed his IFF code into the GDO. After a moment, Daniel announced that the code was successfully transmitted through the portal.
"Everybody through!" Witkowski yelled, aiming his rifle at the incoming gliders.
"Go, Major," Alexeyeva said back. "I'll make sure everyone gets through,"
The Major nodded and he and the others retreated through the portal.
"Let's go Ruski," Mitchell called to the Russian. "Time to go,"
As everyone made their way through the Stargate, The Russian followed.
The gliders were already upon them, however. Their cannons opened fire and the blasts impacted the ground closely behind the Russian. She could already see Mitchell enter the event horizon as she climbed up the stairs, her Kalashnikov in hand. Just as her skin came into contact with the portal, one of the Death Gliders fired an energy blast that had exploded only feet away from the Russian herself, and the impact threw the Lieutenant Colonel into the event horizon.
The feeling of being thrown into a wormhole didn't help the already uneasy ride back, as the Russian thought. Upon exiting the wormhole on the other end, however, she managed to keep her footing despite her momentum forcing her forward down the ramp. When Alexeyeva looked up, she found the rest of her people looking back at her. The Russian could barely breathe from the running and her adrenaline pumping within her skull might have tightened her blood vesicles.
Alexeyeva could also feel sweat trickling down her face and neck and her clothing drenched. Somehow, she wondered how she was still even standing. Behind her, the gate shut down with the event horizon disappearing.
"Yo, Ruski," Mitchell said to her. "You alright?"
The Russian nodded.
"I…"
She paused.
"Oh no!" Witkowski yelled. "Do not even dare puke this time,"
As if a response, the nauseating sensation slowly, but surely, faded away.
Alexeyeva sat down and leaned against the railing.
"I need a moment to breathe," She said, panting.
Mitchell nodded, in full agreement.
"Take all the time in the galaxy, Ruski," He told her. "You earned it,"