Warning - Jack Whump ahead (surprise, surprise). From here on in the story may start to get a little more 'adult' oriented although I'll try and keep it T rated. For those of you who haven't already guessed - this story is kind of based on one of the Stargate novels. The idea was from is (sorry, I can't remember the title) but I don't have to stay in canon (ha, ha, ha) so ...! Please, I need reviews - let me know what you think. I really try hard to keep updating daily for the sake of my readers - and partly because I love the feedback (no blackmail but bribery maybe?). Thanks!
They both sat against a wall of their tiny cell, not saying much except the odd comment to pass the time. They had discussed Matsya's words and what they could mean, deciding that his plan must be to make them hosts. The thought made Jack sick – already been there, done that two times too many. Sam was feeling pretty awful as well.
He tried to get his mind off what was coming and instead thought about how much he missed being able to sit close to Sam. They were both much better now, so there really wasn't any need, but it had been comforting. Only as friends, of course, he cautioned himself. That's all she was now and he was determined to stick with it.
Sam was thinking much the same thing, along with a good dose of guilt. She should be thinking about Pete and how much she missed him, instead she kept remembering leaning up against Jack's firm chest, or sitting with his head in her lap. Every time she thought about cuddling up with Pete her mind flipped back to the feel and smell of Jack up close. She really had to stop this. Jack would feel terrible if he knew she was fantasizing about him when he simply thought of her as a friend.
"How you feeling Sir?", she asked, more to break the silence than because she was worried. He looked much better than he had.
"Fine Major. And before you go all 'motherish' on me, I really am fine. Matzo healed the wound almost completely and my fever is better. My side's just a little sore now but that'll heal quickly."
"I'm glad. I was kinda worried there."
"Yeah – you think too much and you worry too much Major. Things will work out."
"Do you really think so? I don't see what we can do if they want to turn us into hosts."
"Oh ye of little faith. We've been in lots of impossible situations before and we've found a way out. We will this time too."
"You've never thought that maybe one day our luck will run out? That maybe we won't be able to find ourselves a way out of a nasty situation?"
"I've already been there Carter." He paused and then continued, "I'm just hoping the universe figures I've paid my dues." As he was speaking O'Neill dropped his head back, resting it against the wall and closed his eyes. Sam didn't know what to say, his words were just too sad so she stayed quiet.
He must have realized that his words were a conversation stopper so he opened his eyes and sat forward. "Come on Major. Don't give up hope. That's about all we have right now."
She nodded and gave a little smile. Yes, she had to have hope, no matter how difficult it was.
It was another day spent sitting, resting and talking before they finally arrived at their destination. They'd been brought another meager meal but this time they were provided with a large pitcher of water. It still wasn't enough but it went a long way to helping satisfy their incredible thirst.
Jack still felt weak although he figured that was as much from lack of food as from his wound. A couple of good meals and he should be feeling back up to par.
They could tell the engines had stopped and that they had landed but it was another half hour or so before someone came to get them. This time there were four Jaffa, all carrying weapons. They told the prisoners to stand and then surrounded them as they exited the cell. They were taking no chances with the Tauri prisoners. Their Lord had warned them, on pain of death, that these prisoners were to be guarded carefully.
As Jack and Sam stumbled out of the Al'kesh, stiff from their confinement, they took a look around. They were in a large field, surrounded by trees. Other than that they couldn't tell much about the planet. They did notice, off to one side, the large group of women and children who had been captured with them.
"They look awful Sir", Sam whispered.
"Yeah, conditions must have gotten pretty bad. We were lucky to be out of there although I feel bad we couldn't help them."
The guards rounded up the women and children and forced them to walk forward, away from the Alkesh and towards the trees. A few minutes later Jack and Sam were also prodded forward.
"I really hate that. Don't you think, just once, they could ask us to move?"
"That would be less intimidating Sir. I think they want to scare us."
"Yeah, well just looking at them is pretty scary on its own, they don't need to push us too."
They stopped talking then, trying to note their surroundings and the direction they were heading. They could tell there was a well worn path so this was clearly a regular trip.
It took them about twenty minutes before they arrived at a compound. There were a number of rectangular buildings which had the appearance of barracks surrounded by a high fence. Over to the right side, a little separate from the main buildings, was what looked like a large house. It had a separate fence around it and a number of guards walking its perimeter.
"Must be the Goa'ulds' house." Jack murmured.
Inside the main compound, but also separated from the other buildings was a slightly smaller building with tiny windows high up in the walls. It too had separate guards out front. It also appeared as if there was a walled off part in the back. What was behind the wall they couldn't tell.
As they were herded through the gates Jack and Sam could see a few people milling about. There were mostly women although a few men were present. They were all dressed in the same homespun type garments, with simple tunics and loose pants. They all looked fearful and many of them had bruises and scrapes or cuts on various parts of their bodies. They tried to walk as far from the guards as they could.
"Doesn't look like too nice a place Sir." Sam commented quietly. Just then the guards forced all the women and children to move over to the front of what was some kind of platform. They stood there, shivering and crying, terrified as to what was happening.
Finally, Matsya arrived and stepped up on the dais, surrounded by his First Prime and elite guards.
"Begin", the Goa'uld instructed.
Tar'buz nodded to some of the guards who proceeded to move into the crowd of women and grab them one by one and bring them forward.
Matsya would look at each one of the women and the children – some he would glance at quickly and wave them away, others he spent more time considering. A few were separated and held over to one side of the dais. The whole operation took close to an hour and, by the time he was done five women had been pulled from the crowd. The rest were kept together.
"Take them away." He instructed. A number of Jaffa surrounded the women and led them to one of the large buildings, ushering them through the doors. Once they were gone, Matsya turned and looked at the remaining women and then over to Jack and Sam.
"Take the women. The man – take him to D'jindra. He must not escape." With those final words he stood and made his way towards his house. Probably tired after such a long day's work, thought Jack sarcastically.
Two of the guards approached the Colonel and tried to grab him. He fought back, knowing it was hopeless, especially in his weakened state, but figured he might as well try. Sometimes you could get lucky.
Obviously not today, he thought as he curled up in pain on the ground. The Jaffa had made quick work of him, jabbing him fiercely in the gut with a staff weapon.
"Sir!" Sam called as she was dragged away with the other women.
"Watch for an opportunity Sam", he called back, "and if it comes, take it. Better that at least one of us makes it." The last he saw of her was as she was being dragged into the solitary building with the small windows.
The two Jaffa who were standing over him each grabbed an arm and lifted him. Rather than letting him walk, they dragged him to a small building over in one corner. This must be Gindra, he thought. Just hope it's not something bad!
Sam was taken, with the other women, into a large room. The Jaffa turned and left, locking the door behind them.
Oh great, another room, more sitting around waiting! She just hoped the Colonel was going to be okay.
A few minutes later a group of young women entered from behind a panel in one side of the room. She hadn't seen it, she realized. She needed to start being more observant.
Each of the new women walked up to one of the prisoners and began to speak.
"You will come with me." Sam's 'woman' asked. She noticed that the young woman spoke softly, kindly. At least that was good.
"Why? Where are we going?"
"We are going to prepare you. You must be bathed and made ready."
"Okay" (actually, the bathing part sounded kind of nice. She felt pretty stinky after being in the same clothes for days - the 'preparing' part, not so nice). "What are we being made ready for?"
The woman looked shocked but answered, "Ready to serve our Lord. You are very lucky – you have been chosen – rather than being made a slave."
"All right. But please, chosen for what? What purpose?"
Again the woman looked shocked. "Why to be maa'taa - mother to a God. Did you not know? It is a great honor and only a few are chosen."
"What!" Sam answered. This time it was she who was shocked. "Mother to a God? What do you mean?" She was very afraid that she had an inkling as to what that entailed.
"When your children are old enough they will be taken and made vessels for the Gods."
"But I don't have any children."
"No", the woman laughed. "Of course not. That is why you are here. This is the place where your children will be conceived. When they are weaned they are then taken and looked after by servants of our Lord who train them in what their destiny is to be. At that time you will be honored to bear another until you can no longer."
Sam was sick, with shock and fear. This was a Goa'uld 'host making' facility. God – this was actually worse than the thought of being made a host herself.
"You are very beautiful. I see why Lord Matsya wanted you. It is a pity you are not younger – you would have been able to bear more children. But your hair and eyes are very unusual so your stock will be valuable. I understand that Lord Ba'al has already agreed to purchase your offspring for his own. You should be very honored. Lord Ba'al is a powerful Lord. I hear that Lord Matsya is very happy about this. It means you will be treated well."
"Oh God", she groaned, hiding her head in her hands. Her child turned over to Ba'al? Things couldn't be worse."
"Come, we must prepare you." The woman stood and motioned with her hands. Sam had a brief moment wondering if she should try fighting her way out although she didn't want to hurt the woman. And anyway, the doors were locked and she had nothing for a weapon. She decided to follow and see more of the building before she tried anything.
They walked through the panel and into another room. This room had what looked like a hot pool and tables around the sides. Some of the women were in the pool and were being helped to bathe by their attendants.
It's like some kind of warped harem, she thought. She turned to her woman – okay she had to stop calling her that.
"What's your name?" she asked.
"I am Solyara, my job is to serve you."
"How long have you been here Solyara?"
"Since I was eight years old. My mother gave me into the service of our Lord. I am privileged to help the mothers of our gods. One day soon I hope to be maa'taa as well and serve my Lord that way." She looked proud at that. Looking at her Sam realized that Solyara was young and quite pretty. She couldn't have been more than 16 or 17.
Sam submersed herself in the water and indicated that she would prefer to bathe herself. The idea of essentially a slave waiting on her was uncomfortable. As she washed herself she thought more about what Solyara had told her. She was very frightened and was afraid she had rape to look forward to – unless they used some means of artificial insemination. If it got to that point, and they couldn't escape, she at least hoped for that as the lesser of two evils.
When she was finished Solyara motioned for her to lie on one of the tables. Fortunately, she put a screen around it. She then got out what looked like some kind of razor.
"What's that for?" Sam asked apprehensively.
"I am sorry. It is to shave you. Your body must be soft and sweet smelling for the Mai'thun."
"No – no way." Sam sat up and jumped off the table.
"I am sorry. If you do not let me I will have to call the guards. They will then do it – and you do not want that."
Looking at Solyara she felt like bursting into tears. Off all the things she'd been through in her years on SG1 this was one of the most terrifying. Trembling she sat back down on the table. Taking a deep breath, she lay back down and closed her eyes. As tears began to fall on her face she prayed that they could find a way out, and soon.
When they arrived at the small building the Jaffa pushed O'Neill in through the door. In the room was a small, wizened man. He was no guard or Jaffa – he must be a slave, thought the Colonel. Then the man lifted his head and Jack stepped back - the look of malevolence shining from the man's eyes was intense. Whoever he was, he was one scary dude!
"Why have you brought this one to me?" his voice sounded rough, like tires crunching on gravel. He spoke softly but the words sent a shiver down Jack's spine. He glanced at the Jaffa and saw that they too were affected. They didn't like this man either.
"My Lord Matsya bid us bring him to you, D'jindra. He is worried he will escape and he is very valuable."
"Is he a slave?" the man asked, walking up to Jack and grabbing his face. The Colonel attempted to pull away but the Jaffa held his arms and forced him to stay still.
"No, he is Devdaso."
"Really? Well then, we must do something special. Put him on the table and I will think."
The guards forced Jack to a wooden table in one corner of the room. Beside it sat a smaller table with a number of unidentifiable instruments. This was really not looking good.
He again tried to fight his way out of the situation. This time it wasn't the guards who stopped him, however. The little gnome of a man picked up some kind of weapon and pointed it at Jack. It let out a current, which immediately caused him to convulse in pain. The fact that it also hit one of his guards didn't seem to faze anyone. The other Jaffa simply grabbed him and threw him on the table. Before he had a chance to recover he found his hands and feet tied down. The man then took straps that were hanging down in the middle of the table and attached them around his waist. He was very effectively trapped.
"I see why my Lord was concerned. This one is a fighter. It also explains why he was chosen as Devdaso. Well, my Lord Matsya will be pleased. I will make sure he doesn't escape." He looked down at Jack and grinned – one of the most evil expressions he'd ever seen.
"And I will enjoy doing it." He said, stroking Jack's cheek. He then reached over and took something, Jack couldn't tell what, only that it looked like a piece of leather.
"You will open your mouth." He instructed. In answer Jack clenched his teeth and held his lips pressed together.
The man sighed. "You seem to think you can resist me. You must learn that that will not work." He picked up another tool, which simply looked like a small disk. He placed it on O'Neill's stomach and touched something on it.
Fire shot through him, feeling like it was burning him from the inside out. It reminded him of Ba'al's acid – but worse. At first he gasped, then he began to scream. As his mouth opened the evil SOB stuck a hard gag into his mouth and put the leather hood over his head and face. He fastened the buckles and Jack was now gagged and blindfolded.
"There", D'jindra sighed in pleasure. He left the disk on for a few more seconds watching as Jack practically arched off the table in agony, as least as much as possible with the straps holding him down. He switched it off and spoke.
"You see – to resist me is not good. But soon you will learn. Now, what is the best thing to use?" He looked down at the little table, picking up items and then discarding them as if they were not quite right.
"Ah, this is good." Jack tensed, knowing something bad was coming. The inability to see made it much, much worse.
A hand touched his chest and he jerked in reaction. Then the hand, apparently that of D'jindra, grabbed the top of his shirt and pulled, ripping it completely down the front. The hand then returned, softly caressing his chest. Jack could feel the bile rising in his throat and had to stop a whimper from escaping.
The man continued to caress him and Jack swore that this was worse than any pain. At least that was what he thought until Matsya's master torturer moved on to his next bit of fun and games.
Jack could hear some clattering from the tray and then felt something cold on his chest. D'jindra held something against his left nipple and then Jack heard a 'click'. At first he felt nothing, then he felt the pain streaking through his chest. It was so bad he felt his heart miss a beat. He could not breath and could not scream, the gag holding everything back. This time, however, he did whimper. Small sounds of extreme distress coming from his throat. He could feel the tears leak from his eyes and seep under the leather of the mask.
The pain went on and on without end. He threw his head from side to side, trying anything to make it stop. If he'd been able to he would have begged.
Finally, the pain began to subside although it still burned. He felt some tugging and then a brief jolt. He couldn't figure out what was happening, just that it was awful.
Next, he felt the same coldness on the right side. No, no, no, he begged, silently to himself. Please don't. He again turned his head, shaking it wildly, knowing that it wouldn't matter.
The pain sliced through him again – this time even worse. He could feel the tears and the sweat pour out of him. He heard the sound of a cat mewling somewhere close. It took him a minute to realize the sound was coming from him.
"There, all done." Jack felt more of the tugging and another jolt. The pain finally stopped although he now felt sick. He could begin to feel himself heave – something he realized could be deadly with the gag in place. He tried, he really did, but he couldn't stop himself. He felt the bile rise in his throat and begin to seep into his nasal cavity. It began to burn, but even worse, he could not breathe. He tried writhing but being bound made it impossible. He was suffocating in his own vomit.
He was almost blacking out from lack of air when the gag was pulled out of his mouth and his arms and chest were released from the ropes. Someone lifted him to a sitting position until he finished heaving and was able to breath
He took in sobbing breaths, past the foul taste in his mouth. His nose was dripping with the liquid that had been pushed up through his sinuses. God – what was this about? Before he had time to question any more he was forced back down and again tied to the table.
"Almost done Devdaso. You will not leave us now." His head was held by someone, the Jaffa he supposed, and something was forced in his mouth. This time it wasn't the gag but something metal. D'jindra put his fingers in and pushed the device onto his back, lower molars. Removing his hands he began to do something that caused the device to pry apart his jaws. The man kept it up until Jack thought his jaws would break.
His mouth held wide open, D'jindra took some kind of tube and began to push it down his throat. He gagged but it continued. Finally the man stopped and Jack felt the tube moving. He wished he could tell what was going on.
He then felt a sharp pain in his stomach as if something had stabbed him, but from inside.
"Good. It is in place." D'jindra laughed. Jack could feel the tube being pulled from his throat and the metal clamp was removed from his mouth. His jaw would be sore for days after this.
"You are done Devdaso." He reached down and removed the blindfold. Jack blinked, his eyes feeling gritty. It took him a second to refocus and get used to the light in the room.
"Untie him", he spoke to the Jaffa. The two came up and released the ropes and the strap around his chest. Jack sat up and swung his legs over the side. Only then did he look down at his chest.
"Shit!" he groaned. The sadist had threaded two metal rings under his nipples. He couldn't even see a seam in the metal. A small chain ran from one loop to the other and hanging from the middle of the chain was a small, but heavy, metallic sphere with strange markings on it. He wished, for a moment, that Daniel was here in order to translate them.
"There you see", D'jindra spoke softly. "It is very simple, very elegant. But now you cannot ever leave. If you do it will activate. Let me show you what will happen."
"No, no. That's okay. I believe you", Jack choked out. He was finding it hard to even speak after his experience.
"Oh yes, just a quick demonstration. You see, these here", he reached out and touched one of the loops, "act as conductors. The device has been attached to your stomach wall where it cannot be dislodged without surgery. Once activated the conductors send a signal to the device. At first it will cause intense pain, like" he held a small rod to the loop and touched it, "that".
"God!" Jack screamed and pulled away. The Jaffa guard seized him and held him tightly. Fortunately the little man didn't hold it on too long.
"You can not let it be on for too long", he explained, "or it will cause permanent damage. As long as you stay in the compound and do not try to leave, you will be fine. Unless, of course, you disobey and then the guards have instructions to activate it. You see", he continued, holding up a small disc, "it can also be turned on from a distance." Flicking a small switch Jack jerked back, the pain slicing through him.
"If you try and escape this will eventually eat out your stomach and kill you. It's a very ingenious device if I do say so. Of course, it's also very attractive for a Devdaso." He laughed again, reaching out and pulling on the chain.
Jack tried to pull away but that simply pulled the chain tight - which hurt, although certainly not as badly as when it was activated. God, he had pierced nipples, he realized. Unless he could get these things out he'd be teased unmercifully when he got back. He knew it was wishful thinking at this point, but her refused to give up hope.
In the meantime, he was getting really curious about what exactly was going on, although in the back of his mind he was starting to get an idea of what this might be about. He figured now was as good a time as any to find out.
"All right – now that you've had some fun", he said bitingly, "someone please tell me what the hell a 'Devdaso" is?" He turned and looked at his tormentor who looked quite pleased at the question.
"You do not know?"
"Wouldn't have asked if I did", he answered sarcastically.
"Oh, it is a position of much honor – and much pleasure – as long as you obey. It means 'servant of the Gods'. You are here to serve them and to produce hosts for them."
"Produce? How do I do that exactly?" God, he hoped it wasn't what he was thinking.
"You have reached your age and you do not know? You Tauri must be very slow. How do you propagate your own species? Do you know how to do that?" He grinned.
"Are you telling me you want me to … ah … propagate?"
"Yes of course. You are to impregnate the woman and your children will be given to the Gods. It is a great honor", he repeated with an evil smile. He knew this would not be appreciated as an 'honor' by the Tauri.
"When you say woman you mean ….?"
"The woman that was brought with you. My Lord Matsya has made a deal with my Lord Ba'al. He will buy your offspring. I understand that they will be very valuable. With your looks, yours and the woman's, and the fact that you are Tauri – oh yes, your children will be worth a lot. My Lord also informs me that you both have Naquada in your blood. That makes it even more interesting and will make for valuable offspring." He turned back to his 'implements and began to tidy them. Without turning around he spoke again.
"Take him to the temple. It is now time. The woman will be prepared and then he can begin to serve his god."
The next morning Daniel and Teal'c returned to the SGC. They both felt much better, sure that it was because they had spent the entire time without seeing any women. They'd tried to watch a movie but realized that wouldn't work so instead they talked about Jack and where he could possibly be.
When they arrived they found both the General and Jacob waiting. Unfortunately, Janet was there as well. They'd have to be very careful.
"Jacob, you're back already. That was quick." Daniel spoke directly to the Tokra.
"Yes, well it didn't take me long to find the information I needed. It seems as though there is a lot of concern about Matsya these days since he's been more active lately. It turns out he's been traveling to non-Goa'uld worlds and kidnapping local people, just like he did on the planet you were on with Jack and Sam."
"Any ideas as to why?"
"The council thinks he may be collecting slaves for the System Lords. The fact that he meets regularly with them points to some kind of business dealings. The thing that is so worrying is that some of our operatives are hearing that he's becoming a power in his own right. He seems like more than just a slave trader – those are pretty much a dime a dozen." Selmak then spoke.
"We also know that he recently met with Ba'al. We have an agent serving in Ba'al's forces who told us of a meeting between the two."
"Was this before or after he took O'Neill", Daniel looked up as the others glanced at him in surprise, "and Sam of course", he quickly added. He caught a strange glance from Frasier which concerned him. She might be catching on, he thought.
"No", answered Jacob. "It was after. I know, I was scared too", this as he saw the worried glances thrown his way. "But the operative said that Ba'al didn't actually get any prisoners or slaves from Matsya. A lot was discussed between them – what no one knows, but he's pretty sure Ba'al didn't get Jack or Sam."
"At least that's good news", interjected Hammond. "Any ideas from the Tokra where this Matsya may have gone?"
"No. It seems he keeps his location pretty well hidden from everyone. If he has something special going on he wouldn't want any of the System Lords to find out where he's hiding. We did find out one good piece of information, though."
"What was it?" Hammond asked.
"One of Ba'al's servants overheard Matsya's Jaffa talking about a rendezvous with another System Lord – they think it may have been with Nirti. If we can't locate Matsya we can try and find out where this rendezvous is to take place and arrange to be there. That way we could try and locate Matsya's home base."
"When is this meeting?" asked the General.
"That's the bad part. It's not for another few months."
"We can't leave the Colonel and Sam that long, Sir. Anything could happen to them."
"I know Doctor, I know. This may be our only choice though, unless we can somehow find them before that." He turned back to Jacob. "Are the Tokra doing anything in the meantime to find this Goa'uld?"
"We have all of our operatives on notice. We will also keep our eyes and ears open. Other than that there's not a lot we can do. I don't like it any more than you do Dr. Frasier. It's my little girl out there, remember? But we'll just have to hold on. If they've been made slaves it'll be rough but I don't think they'll try and kill them. The good news is that Matsya may be out of the loop about the Tauri. It seems that if he'd known who he had he would have bargained with Ba'al for them."
"Yeah, Ba'al would have been happy all right." Daniel turned to the General. "What about us Sir? Are we going to look for them?"
"Like Jacob I wouldn't even know where to start Dr. Jackson. I will inform all the teams and they can keep a look out as well. When any teams make contact on various planets they can ask but I expect it'll be a long shot."
"What about Daniel Jackson and myself General? We would like to continue to go on missions. Maybe we can discover something."
"Yes, I think that's a good idea. It'll keep you from worrying too much as well. I was thinking I'd put you with SG 9 – they could use a linguist."
SG9 had Lieutenant Harris on it – a woman. Daniel looked at the General.
"Uh Sir, Teal'c and I were thinking maybe Ferretti's team. We've worked well with him in the past and I understand Captain Wang is planning a leave of absence soon. They'll be short handed."
The General considered for a moment. "Okay Dr. Jackson, that will be fine. Ferretti will be glad to have you. You're right about the Captain. His wife's about ready to have a baby and he's requested some time off as she has no family to help her. Okay folks, I guess that's all for now. As soon as anyone hears anything we'll meet again. In the meantime we keep our eyes and ears open and our fingers crossed." He stood up and dismissed everyone. He and Jacob walked back into his office and the others headed out of the Briefing room.
"Would you like to grab a coffee, Daniel, Teal'c?" Janet asked as she prepared to leave. "I don't know about you but I could use something right now. This has been pretty upsetting."
Teal'c looked at the Doctor and clenched his teeth. Daniel didn't quite know what to say. Finally, realizing that this might fit in with their plan to discover what was going on, Daniel turned to Janet and smiled.
"We'd love to Janet. Lead on." The two men followed the petite doctor down to the Commissary where they hoped to discover the plot that had resulted in the kidnapping of Colonel O'Neill. With any luck, they'd get him back soon.