Found - part 18

I had fun writing this chapter! I hope you enjoy it.

"His name is Makrum." Teal'c informed them as they walked towards the little village on the jaffa world known as Kortma. "I have arranged through a mutual acquaintance for us to meet him in the local tavern."

"How sure are you that he'll show?" Jack asked, walking a step behind the jaffa.

"As sure as I can be." Teal'c answered evenly, causing Jack to share a skeptical glance with Sam.

They reached the small arrangement of brick houses and cobbled streets, and quickly identified the tavern as the only building with lights in the windows, the golden glow spilling out into the dark night.

"Alright, here's the game plan." Jack said as they reached the door. "Sam, Jase, stay out here and keep watch; T and I will go talk to this Makrum."

Sam opened her mouth to protest, but Jack held up a hand to stop her. "We don't want to spook him into running by overcrowding him, and I'd feel happier knowing we've got you two watching our backs in case there's trouble." He argued.

Sam sighed with a frown. "Fine. But don't be too long. We don't want to spook the locals by lurking out here." Jack nodded, and he and Teal'c disappeared into the light and noise of the building.

Inside, the pair scanned the occupants for Makrum. With a meaningful glance at Jack, Teal'c headed to the bar, and sat beside a man wearing a hooded cloak. Jack made an effort not to roll his eyes at how clichéd this felt.

"I am looking for Makrum, first prime of Gal'Tak." Teal'c announced quietly.

"You are Teal'c?" The man in the cloak asked.

"I am." Teal'c confirmed, and the cloaked jaffa removed his hood.

"Then I am Makrum." He said, facing the pair. Jack fought the surge of rage that assaulted him at the sight of the golden tattoo on Makrum's forehead. He vaguely recognized the jaffa's face too – although that wasn't surprising given Jack had been leading the defense of Amdra. He leaned in to get a better view of him.

"Your jaffa kidnapped a fifteen year old boy on a planet called Amdra a year ago." Jack said, with as little malice as he could keep from creeping into his voice. "We want to know where he is."

"Luke." Makrum said, nodding. "Yes, I know who you are, Colonel O'Neill." He added as Jack's eyebrows rose in surprise. "You and Major Carter were the reason Gal'Tak ordered the attack on your planet."

"How did you know of them?" Teal'c asked.

"Gal'Tak was once a lieutenant of Lady Nirrti's. He learned from her that you and Major Carter knew the secrets of an Ancient lab, a collection of powerful technologies hidden on the planet. He decided that with the demise of Nirrti, he would capture you both and discover the secret that would –"

"Give him a leg up on the other Goa'uld." Jack finished testily. "So you came and got your asses whipped. Why take Luke?"

"My jaffa ran into young Luke and captured him, thinking he would make an excellent specimen for Gal'Tak's new host." Jack stood up so suddenly that his stool toppled over, his fists clenched so that his knuckles were white.

"Tell me you didn't."

"However," Makrum continued hurriedly, "when they summoned me to inspect him he said that he wasn't afraid because his father would save him," Jack's stomach clenched painfully, "and when I enquired who his father was …"

"That doesn't answer my question." Jack said angrily.

"It was clear by that point that we were not going to succeed in taking the planet, or capturing yourself and Major Carter. Your people are extraordinarily skilled fighters, and we were losing the battle. I decided instead to take the boy, thinking he may have some of the knowledge Gal'Tak sought."

Teal'c glanced worriedly at Jack, who was still standing and was breathing very heavily in barely contained rage.

"We were planning to interrogate him on the ship. However, we were distracted from our previous goals when we discovered sabotage. It greatly weakened us, and we suffered heavy damage when we were attacked by one of Gal'Tak's rivals shortly after leaving your planet. We were still victorious though." Makrum smiled in satisfaction. Jack made a step towards him but Teal'c held him back.

"Where is Luke now?" Teal'c asked, thinking it best to get the answer they had come for quickly, before Jack's anger overtook him and Makrum ended up dead.

"When I eventually got to interrogating the boy, two weeks had passed." Makrum continued, caught up in the role of story-teller and temporarily oblivious to Jack's murderous impatience. "He was stubborn – apparently so much time in isolation with little food was not enough to weaken his spirit. I demanded that he tell me of the Ancient lab and its secrets, but he would not say a word. Instead …"

Makrum stopped suddenly, and almost smiled at the memory.

"Instead what?" Jack barked.

"You should be proud of having raised such an intelligent and courageous young boy." Makrum said, with a genuine smile at Jack. "He was quite perceptive, and not afraid to use his intellect to his advantage. He knew I could easily kill him and yet he didn't hesitate to challenge me."

"What happened?" Teal'c pressed.

"He realized that I doubted Gal'Tak's divine power, and pressed it to his advantage. He told me about the free jaffa of this galaxy, and said that if we stopped worshipping Gal'Tak and other Goa'uld as Gods, we too could achieve freedom. I was intrigued – I have long known that Gal'Tak was not a god, but there seemed to be no sensible alternative to serving him. His power was too great. But Luke made me realize something – the goa'uld's power comes from us, the jaffa who serve them. You must have found a way to break the indoctrination of the jaffa in this galaxy, and so I escaped from Gal'Tak's ship with Luke and together we travelled to this galaxy, so that I might find a way for my people to be free as yours are."

Jack's breath caught in his throat. "Luke's here? He's alright?"

"He is in this galaxy, but no longer with me." Makrum answered. "It became clear his knowledge of this galaxy, while initially useful, was severely limited, and so I left him on a human world and proceeded alone."

Jack moved very close to Makrum, staring at him intently. "Which human world?"

Makrum blinked at him. "I do not know its name."

"Do you have a Chappa'ai address?" Teal'c asked.

Makrum nodded slowly. "But, I wish to trade for it."

Jack's control finally broke, and he grabbed Makrum by the collar and pressed him up against the wall. "You wanna trade? Alright, how about you give us the gate address, and I don't kill you."

Makrum spluttered at him, clawing at Jack's grip on his throat. "I only want to know how you defeated the Goa'uld in this galaxy." He wheezed.

That brought the fight out of Jack a bit, and he grudgingly released him a little, looking back at Teal'c, who stepped forwards obligingly.

"I will tell you all you wish to know. But first, you must give us the address." Teal'c said. Makrum nodded, and fumbled in his robes for a scrap of paper.

"Here. This is where I left him."

Whaddaya think? Please review, I'm always over the moon to get any feedback!

Beka :-)