Chapter 56 - Next
~This has to be a device,~ Sam said, finally, hand resting on one of the outer walls of Quetesh's temple as she looked up into its shadowy lofts. So many investigations, and in the end it was nothing preposterous. It was said with trepidation, though, the mere size of the building impressive enough to be frightening.
*Unfortunately that gets us nowhere. And we could have guessed, earlier.*
~Yes, but now what? How, why, does Quetesh have this?~
Answers were slow in coming on this mission, but only a couple days later they got something. Martouf and Lantash could not check in as often as would be appreciated, and sometimes the news was downright cryptic. Jolinar had shown a little concern when instead of meeting at the usual spot, there was only a tiny note on parchment waiting for them.
She bent to pick it up, but the hastily scrawled Goa'uld words meant only: "Quetesh has a weapon on Dorieth."
Sam's first thought was the temple. ~Can it be?~
*Easily,* said Jolinar, and her train of thought flowed swiftly in directions Sam could understand.
After destroying the note, they walked back to the settlement. The temple rose, its particular metal structure less ornate than usual temples. Its size reached for the sky, as any weapon would have to be against ship attacks. Jolinar dug back through their memories, but it was Sam who remembered the storm before Quetesh's first visit—the storm that had sent lightning sparking down the temple.
Sam knew that the design reminded her of something, probably from a movie, but it had been too long and she couldn't put a name to it. Nevertheless, the picture in her mind was clear; the temple's pyramid shape, pointing towards the heavens, and its structure of conductive material, would provide an excellent camouflage for a directed energy weapon.
*And the power source of that weapon is likely buried beneath all of this, set into place so long ago that no one but Quetesh knows for sure.*
~So Quetesh strikes with stealth against Ba'al's forces, and then when they're weakened enough for her to have a chance, she draws his remaining ships here—where she can destroy them.~
*It all revolves around her accomplishing the first part of the plan, which is the most dangerous to the Tok'ra,* Jolinar added.
~So, I'm just brainstorming, but if we made the second part, this temple part, unavailable...~
*It might slow her down while she finds a new plan—but she will, eventually.*
~Time, time is good. We don't have any long-term strategy yet.~
*And so, what do we do with the temple?*
It was partly rhetorical, as Jolinar could easily come up with ideas once she set her mind to it. But Sam didn't need that—one had just come into her head. Feeling the excitement of having something to plan, she almost grinned.
*You want to explode it?*
ooooooo
"I can't believe it," Mckay said, for the third time.
Once again, he was saying just what the others were thinking, just without the bit of tact they all used—and if the others other than Daniel weren't thinking it, they were more ingenious than Daniel thought possible from military types.
"Of all people, you—were the ambassador to one of the most technically advanced societies in the galaxy," Mckay said.
Jack, cleared for active duty again, just sat at the mess hall table. The briefing had been like something out of a fantasy of Daniel's, and even Jack had been serious and respectful throughout. The fifth race—the words sent shivers up Daniel's spine. The alliance of the four Great Races was now considering his people as a possible addition.
"I think the Asgard like me," Jack said simply.
"Well, and the Ancients certainly did," said Mckay, both impressed and jealous.
"Hey, did you ask about them?" Dixon asked. "Who they were, why the thing grabbed you?"
Daniel had almost forgotten that point, though apparently Teal'c had not, from his interested rise of an eyebrow.
"Uh, no," said Jack, poking at the pie on his plate.
Mckay looked disappointed.
Daniel glanced at the door a few seconds later, catching the sound of a step he knew well. Sha're, relieved and relaxed, came over to the table, Shifu slung in her arms.
"I was worried about you, O'Neill," she said, his name coming out strangely endearing in her accent.
Jack smiled, a bit uncomfortably. Smiling, Sha're stooped to hug Jack as he sat. Daniel was not surprised, remembering the Abyonians' penchant for physical displays. But he, and Sha're too, if he was reading the amused look on her face, knew that Jack found it awkward.
"Keep safe from this day forward," she said warningly, pausing only to rub Daniel's shoulder before leaving.
"Nice to know people care," Jack muttered, but they all could see that he was touched.
"I've got to figure out what was behind that device," Mckay said under his breath after a few seconds of quiet contemplation.
ooooooo
~It's good tactics and good spin. We get rid of the temple, and it looks like sabotage. Quetesh's great monument, destroyed by mere mortals. If she is a god, why not defend it?~
*Right,* agreed Jolinar, easily on board with this plan. Sam had had no doubt on that point.
They walked through the village, looking at all the faces, weary but settled.
~We're only one person, though. How do we pull it off?~
*Blasting fire from the quarries,* said Jolinar.
~That foundation, that structure—I'm no architect, but there's no way it's going to come down easily.~
*Oh, we have enough, if one knows how to set the charges.*
Sam almost grinned again, but they were walking among the people and couldn't let inner conversation affect outer acting. ~Let me guess, you're a bit of an expert on this?~
Jolinar paused a moment before answering. *No,* she said. *But it is an area I find most appealing, and have performed whenever possible before.*
Sam nodded. ~Me too. So, we set it up slowly, little by little during the night shifts?~
*Yes, we can make that work.*
There were more details than that, but words weren't quite fast enough. Jolinar had been at ease with the infiltration for some time, but Sam hadn't realized that it was exactly like spy-work until now. And she almost hated herself for finding something to enjoy in a mission that could cost so highly.
*Take whatever pleasure you can; it may not last long.*
ooooooo
Only a couple days after Jack's adventure, Jean and Kaleb moved into Colorado Springs. Jean's first true day at work was uneventful, as far as Daniel could tell from the reports. Unsurprising, given that Mckay was still at work on the Ancient device that had taken Jack. It wasn't his field, but as he said to Daniel, "If they leave their messes all around, I need to know how to break through and figure them out the next time."
Daniel wondered if it was possible, if they were advanced enough. Mckay, as always, scoffed and said that science was science, and it was something you learned not something you evolved to. Maybe he was right—Daniel was soft science, after all.
A few days after Jack's adventure, he refused to talk about it, and was all gung ho for the check-up mission to Cimmeria. The whole team went, if reluctantly from Mckay's point of view. On their way back to the gate, nothing new to report, Daniel heard Jack say:
"This was a team mission."
And the team went as a group to the infirmary, which only occasionally happened. Janet was not there for the moment, and some nurses that not even Daniel knew by name dealt with the after-mission check-up. Almost at the end, there was a light knock behind Daniel on the infirmary doorframe.
"Hey, Daniel," said Jean, leaning her head around the frame.
"Hey," said Daniel, surprised. "What is it?"
"Well," she began, "I—oh, there's Rodney."
"Do you need something?" Mckay asked, trying not to be too distant
"Yes," she said, then hesitated. "First I read your last mission report, just out of curiosity—then Clare was showing me all the labs, including yours, and I noticed your research on that head-grabbing thing." She grinned, slightly sheepish.
"And?" Mckay asked.
"So, you still haven't figured out why it grabbed Colonel O'Neill," said Jean, nodding to where Jack was fussing about the needle. "And you're not even trying, from what we can tell."
"You know, just because you're related doesn't mean you can spy on my work," Mckay said testily.
"And because you're mister up-and-on-top scientist here, you shouldn't be so protective about everything that you can't have time to work on," Jean answered in the blink of an eye, one hand on her hip as she stood full in the doorway now.
Mckay stumbled over his words. "You—you want to take my project?"
"No," said Jean firmly. "But I do have a theory and I'd like to run some tests with your research."
"What's the theory?" Mckay demanded.
Daniel felt as if the infirmary, and everyone in it, had disappeared for the siblings, leaving only them. He watched anyway, curious about the eventual outcome.
"You're focusing on the science," Jean said, gesturing with her hands. "But it's not like the device is sentient, so science isn't the testable variable for this issue—it's the people. You and Teal'c didn't activate the device; Jack did. We don't need to figure out how the device works to figure that out. So you can do your work, and I'll try to figure out what made Jack different."
Mckay took a long pause. "Hmm. Okay, I suppose."
"Good," said Jean lightly, putting her hands together. "Now, who do I go to to get genetic information on all three of you?"
"I can help with that," Daniel said, as Mckay looked protesting.
"I know this isn't my area of expertise, but I can't believe no one else has taken it," Jean said in a low tone, as Daniel went to find the head doctor when Janet wasn't around.
"I think our job description all has 'eclectic' somewhere in it, so I wouldn't worry," Daniel said.
Jean grinned, and Daniel knew he'd been right about her fitting this job.
ooooooo
Sam crouched down, reaching her hand through the gap in the stairs' design to click the blast charge into place. It had taken a couple days, and many a heart-pounding moment in case another Jaffa might notice, but all the charges they needed lay now in place. Sam breathed out, rose to her feet, and walked back up the stairs to the main level of the temple.
The sun shone down, light filling all but the farther recesses, and just being in it gave Sam less of a suspicious feeling. Out here she was Coron, not a secret Tok'ra agent.
~You know, this is going to be really dangerous,~ Sam said, not for the first time.
*And we'll manage.*
~If this is a device, it has some kind of power source; we might not be able to repair the damage. It could take out the village and the fields, maybe even the quarries, or start a landslide.~
*And why would that be bad?*
~Sorry, I'm just thinking about maintaining our cover, how Coron will have to deal with the aftermath for weeks if not months.~
*Try thinking instead about keeping lives safe; everything else will fall into place as it happens.*
~Oh yes, that was helpful; how will we keep no one from dying without giving away our part in it?~
*Watch.*
And Sam did. Jolinar slowly readjusted the flow of personnel to the temple, sending more of it to the fields and quarries. She noted those who were still close, guessed at reaction times, made sure that their tasks were easily grabbed and run away with if necessary. They would do this today—every hour longer just invited suspicion from a Jaffa who connected the dots after finding one of the blast charges.
*I must not forget to hope that the blast charges collapse the building more than blast it across the countryside.*
Mid-afternoon, she started. Activating the blast charges with the pocket detonator, she didn't set the timer though. Then, she called back one of the teams that had been patrolling the temple in the morning, gave them specific orders to be on the lookout. Not that Coron would suspect anything, just enough to hopefully give them the right frame of mind.
It took an hour longer than she expected, but the payload struck with just the right amount of tension.
"My lord," reported the Jaffa, eyes wide. "Sabotage, my lord, on the temple!"
"Speak quickly!" Jolinar demanded, moving closer to him in her faked urgency.
"An explosive, placed behind a supporting structure, but I do not know when it is set to go off," the Jaffa continued, and others heard and drew closer. "And I do not know how many more there are."
Jolinar glanced between all that stood near, taking the worry in their faces, and then she looked up to the temple itself. Sun glinted off its beams, and it framed small fluffy clouds in between the topmost ones, looking ever so peaceful and not about to be destroyed. She frowned.
"Swiftly, look among all the important structures, and report back," she ordered, nodding to each of the three Jaffa that stood near.
"But my lord, what if it is set to detonate shortly?" asked one.
"Then you will die having carried out my orders diligently," snapped Jolinar. "This is for the will of our god, not your simple life."
And they were off, armor chinking loudly as they ran up the temple steps. As a reasonable precaution, Jolinar then ordered all slaves to cease traffic to the temple. Blood pumped through their heart, and Jolinar felt the tension as almost a pleasant feeling—Sam didn't feel it much different from normal, but then again, it had only just begun.
oooooooo
Daniel sat cross-legged on the floor of his lab, knees touching Sha're's as she sat across from him. Their hands rested together in between, encircling Shifu where he lay, legs kicking.
"You don't need to be silent, Dan'yel," Sha're said.
"I'm sorry, I forgot the exact ritual," he said with a slight smile. He stroked her soft fingers, looking down at his son. "You look better."
"I am," she answered, giving tiny squeezes to his hand while acting as if she was doing nothing. "I have found the library on this base."
One of Daniel's eyebrows rose.
Sha're laughed. "You have been around Teal'c, perhaps too much?"
"So you are learning to read, then," Daniel said, interested and pleased.
"I learned that with the Tok'ra," she said. "My knowledge of Goa'uld is limited, but they were able to translate many documents into this language. Still you, Dan'yel, are more likely to know the writings of my own tongue of Abydos."
"Really?" Daniel said. This was something she'd never brought up before. He glanced up to her face, looking past the slight weariness that Shifu's colic still caused—that confidence behind her eyes, that he had first known in the fight against Ra, was there tenfold now. She had not only will, but knowledge—and she felt powerful. Daniel smiled again. "You'll have to tell me if there's anything interesting."
"Oh, do not worry, I will," Sha're said, with the hint in her eyes that told Daniel she knew exactly what thoughts were running through his head. Like always. He'd missed this so much...
"Oh, I'm sorry—"
Sha're looked up, and Daniel turned around, seeing Jean in the doorway.
"I didn't mean to interrupt," she said, waving her hand.
"It is nothing," Sha're said, nodding. "If it were otherwise, we should have closed the door at least. What is it?"
"I was going to tell Dr. Jackson—I've found something amazing," Jean said, and Daniel could have sworn her hand looked almost twitchy with excitement.
He remembered what she was working on, and sat up straight. "Really?"
"You know I wanted to see if there was something physical that the device detected in Colonel O'Neill," she said. "Well, I ran all the basic tests with the help of another scientist here, someone a bit more biologically minded. Blood type, the chemicals on the skin, even pheromones, but nothing came out significant."
Daniel nodded, as Sha're scooped up Shifu and rose to her feet, and he followed.
"But Rodney said these people had been working on genetic manipulation, so I thought, you don't just do that once, right?" Jean let the question hang for a second, the exact way Mckay did. It was thankfully a little more endearing on her.
Daniel was more distracted by her words, though. "The device genetically altered Jack?"
"No, no, I don't think so," said Jean. "Actually, I'm positive it's not like that. I talked to the SGC's geneticist, Dr. Fisher, and we ran...a lot of tests. Anyway, it took a long time, but then we found the anomaly."
"In Jack," Daniel guessed.
Jean nodded. "But it couldn't have been the device—at least, I'm 99% sure it couldn't—because we went back and found older blood tests and ran the same thing on them. One of Colonel O'Neill's genes is slightly different than everyone else on the team. And it always has been."
Daniel felt his mind opening wide. "So...the Ancients only would download their knowledge into the brain of someone who had the right gene?"
"That's my hypothesis," Jean said, nodding. "The problem is, I can't test it without someone else with the same gene, not to mention another legacy device. And so far as I can tell, Colonel O'Neill's the only one with the gene on this base. Well, according to Dr. Fisher, but he might have been exaggerating." She fiddled with her hands, eyebrows raised in expectation of his answer.
"This is—that's—" Daniel glanced to Sha're, but she had the same look of cluelessness that he figured was on his own face. "That's brilliant work. And this could be huge, if it really means all that."
"You know what," Jean said, eyes narrowing for a second. "I just thought of this—the Ancients must have been humanoid, very close to it, if just one gene was similar enough to activate the device."
"Well, don't humans share their genes with a lot of creatures?" Daniel asked.
"Oh, yes, I hadn't thought of that," Jean said, with a slight laugh. "I'm not a biologist."
"It might mean something, though," Daniel said. "We just don't know what."
"I'll do what further tests I can," said Jean with a nod. "Just thought I'd tell you, and maybe Rodney. I don't think Colonel O'Neill would want to know."
"No, probably not," said Daniel. "If he asks, though, I'll tell him."
"Back to work then," said Jean, smiling and turning to leave.
"I believe her report will make interesting reading," said Sha're, ponderingly.
Daniel turned to her and smiled, absently patting the top of Shifu's head as his mind still whirled with this new possibility. "I've no doubt it will."
ooooooo
Jolinar shouted sharp commands as the inhabitants of Dorieth fled from the radius of the temple, anything important they could grab grasped tightly in their arms. Jaffa could barely be distinguished from them, running almost as disorderly, even as they were commanded to shepherd.
"You, tell them to turn back!" Jolinar called to one Jaffa, seeing some of the slaves from the valley running towards the mountain. It wouldn't be as safe down there, but they wouldn't make it up far enough in time. The timer was set, and though Coron was only supposed to guess, the nature of Goa'uld explosives made it fairly accurate.
Only a couple minutes left. They were almost a mile away, but it didn't seem far enough. Jolinar was starting to have a moment of fear, and it was probably Sam's originally, but either way...
"Move!" she snapped, some of the slower slaves in her path on the way up into the hills. She thought she'd arranged them better than this in the morning.
They were turning the corner, rounding one of the hills that led into the mountains. Jolinar hadn't lost count: fifteen seconds.
~I need to see,~ said Sam.
"Down!" ordered Jolinar, as she strode up to the top of the hill, planting her feet, preparing to heal ear damage at the sound of the boom.
They heard it first, then felt it. A crack of thunder, and the earth quaked beneath them, dislodging their footing even as fire ripped through the sky. The temple shook in the initial explosion, then the secondary ones blasted out in a wide radius, sending fire and shrapnel raining down even on the villages. Buildings that weren't in the blast zone still crumbled because of the shaking of the earth.
A heat wave struck Jolinar full in the face, and in her shock she breathed in heat and smoke. When she opened her eyes again, the remaining structures of the temple wavered, creaking and trembling. Then in another crash, they fell, some sliding down into the valley, one crashing into the front steps itself. The skyline was suddenly clear, and the planet looked naked.
~Did we expect that level of damage?~ Sam asked, looking at the all-but destroyed village below. Even the road was cracked in two places, and almost half the housing lay in smoking rubble.
*We did,* Jolinar said.
She took a breath of clearer air, then gave Sam control as she started to work on the ringing in their ears. Sam turned to the people below, Jaffa and slaves alike sheltered behind the hills. Not all could hear, but not all had to.
"There is fire in the village below," she called. "Drey'dac, you will lead the slaves to work there. And Corrifin, you will report to me with a list of damages and any deaths. Our god does not allow for wasted time. Move!"
~Will they question why Quetesh allowed this to happen, I wonder?~
*We may help them with that. What we may not help is what Quetesh will do when she hears of it. Omniscient she may not be, but wrathful she can be. Her suspicion will be great.*
But as Sam followed the Jaffa and slaves down to the village, with the smoke choking her lungs and the chaos of destruction all she could see behind it—all she cared about was the people of this planet. The people she was sworn to protect, all of them. She had to do this, for the greater good of the mission. But she wasn't going to let them take whatever fall Quetesh might have in mind.
And as her hearing leveled back out and returned to normal, she knew that this must be what the Tok'ra felt like all the time. Each step needing careful planning because they couldn't afford to blame themselves for lack of it. Even Jolinar understood this, but especially now. Now, it was almost their people who might suffer; their friends, at least, if any Abydonian died.
It could not happen.