Sticks and Stones - Chapter 28 - by Emma Nisbet (grnfield)
Their journey was hindered by the undergrowth and they found themselves having to cut a path through the bushes at the base of the trees. They were aware that they were making an obvious trail but at this point they had little choice. They'd decided before they left the first village that they wouldn't use the roadways that lead to and from the villages. These ways were undoubtedly guarded by Jaffa and the Tau'ri wanted to avoid as much confrontation as possible now they'd lost a third of their original number.
Suddenly they came across a group of Jaffa leaving another ruined village. They managed to defeat the armour clad warriors, this time without undue bloodshed to themselves and they swiftly moved back into the trees.
Not far from the second village, Teal'c raised his hand and called a halt. Ferretti crept up beside him and quietly questioned why the need to stop.
"ColonelFerretti, do you not hear that?" the Jaffa asked.
Lou cocked his head to one side and listened carefully. "You're right, I can hear something, it sounds like a child crying. Couldn't hear it over our footsteps before. Where do you suppose it's coming from?"
"It is coming from that direction," Teal'c replied, pointing. "If you give me a moment, I will endeavour to locate the source of the noise more precisely."
Teal'c moved away from the Colonel and silently moved towards the sound with a cat-like grace. He disappeared into the trees but soon returned and signalled that he wanted Sam to follow him.
Sam turned and looked to her CO for permission but Lou simply shrugged his shoulders as he'd no idea what Teal'c had seen. He knew the large Jaffa would never risk Sam's life though so after a moment he quietly gave her a nod to go ahead.
She moved over to where Teal'c was waiting and he parted the trees to allow her past. Once she'd gone about twenty paces he stopped her with a gentle touch to her shoulder and she looked at him questioningly.
Quietly he explained that there was a small group of youngsters huddled just a little further down the path. They were sheltering in the hollow caused by a fallen tree and he estimated the oldest to be early adolescent. They had not seen him and he did not want to cause them any more distress in case this caused them to flee further into the woods.
Sam squeezed the bicep of one of Teal'c huge arms and gave him an understanding smile. The compassion that the large man carried within him astounded the young woman even after all these years.
She moved carefully towards the fallen tree and peered down into the hollow at it's base. Teal'c was right, the children were terrified. There were four of them crammed into the small depression in the ground. Three girls and a boy. As she moved towards them the boy spotted her and scrambled out of the dip to place himself protectively between her and the girls. The youngest child began to cry in earnest and another clasped her tightly in a hug to offer the only comfort available.
Sam put her hands out in front of herself to show the boy that she meant no harm. Quietly she told him that she was a friend, and that she'd come from Earth to help.
At the mention of Earth the boy's face lit up. "You here…save us?" he asked, in broken English.
"That's right," Sam agreed, nodding to make sure he understood. "Will you come with me? It's not safe. I've got people with me who can protect you - look after you and the others. We'll take you back to Earth with us and you can stay there until we've sorted this mess out."
The boy nodded hesitantly, "Save seestas?"
"Seestas?" Sam asked, wondering if this was someone who was close to the child. "We've only seen you four. Who is Seestas?"
"We…five. My seestas." The boy motioned to the girls and Sam realised he meant they were his sisters. Now he'd stepped aside slightly she could see them better. She saw that the eldest girl, Sam guessed she was about ten, was hugging a baby to her chest. The babe looked barely old enough to be away from her mother, and was maybe five months old at the most. The crying child was a blonde of about three years old, and she was being comforted by a flame haired, six year old.
"Yes, we'll save your sisters." Sam said with more confidence in her voice than she actually felt. "You need to come with me, all of you. I'll take you to my friends."
The boy thought for a moment and looked down at his sisters. "We come," he said suddenly. He turned back to Sam and patted his chest. "Me, Khokai."
"Pleased to meet you, Khokai. My name's Sam."
Sam slid carefully down to where the girls were huddled, closely followed by Khokai. The girl with the baby jumped to her feet and Khokai helped her up out of the dip. Sam picked up the youngest girl and the red-head immediately grabbed onto her free hand.
Sam had a hard time getting back out of the dip without the use of her arms. She skidded and slipped back a couple of times but the clinging child still held on tight. On her final attempt she felt a hand on the back of her tac vest, and after a brief moment of panic she looked up to see that Teal'c had come out of hiding to help her. With his other hand, he reached down and grasped the free arm of the red-headed child and carefully hauled the three females out of the pit.
Khokai had watched Teal'c's approach with alarm and sat with the eldest girl and the baby by the fallen tree. He wrapped his arms protectively around his sisters and shielded them as best he could with his own body. The young man didn't take his eyes off Teal'c, clearly expecting the large Jaffa to annihilate the remainder of his family in the next few moments.
His eyes opened wide when he saw Teal'c grab hold of Sam and it was only at this point that he realised that Teal'c wasn't wearing armour. The Jaffa who'd raided his Khokai's village had been in full body armour, complete with ornamental helmets and the villagers had originally thought that they were spirits. When the troop leader had removed his face mask, the Chamakans had realised that they were being invaded and panic had set in. The platoon of Jaffa had quickly subjugated the villagers but Khokai and his sisters had managed to sneak away during the initial confusion and had run through the trees until they were exhausted.
When Teal'c stood her back on her feet, Sam saw that Khokai was still clearly disturbed by the presence of the large man. She motioned to Teal'c to stay back and carried the youngster over to her three huddled siblings. The red-head attached to her other hand automatically went with her and finally let go of Sam to go and cling to her brother. Sam knelt in front of the frightened children and placed the blonde child between the eldest children.
"It's alright, you don't need to be worried about Teal'c," she told them. "He's one of the friends I told you about."
Khokai looked at the Jaffa who was currently crouched at the end of the fallen tree. Teal'c nodded towards him and the movement caused his tattoo to glint in the sunlight.
Khokai gasped and looked at Sam with confusion in his eyes. He motioned to his forehead with his finger and drew a circle in the air.
"Yes, he's a Jaffa." Sam explained. "But he's on our side. He fights with us, against the Goa'uld who rule the Jaffa. Do you understand?"
Khokai thought for a moment and nodded.
"You've just seen him help me and your sisters out of that hole, will you let him help take the others to our friends." Sam asked. "They're not far away and then we'll get you to safety."
The young boy nodded again and tapped his chest. "Khokai," he said quietly before pointing to Sam and saying her name. He pointed at Teal'c who moved toward them slowly, as not to distress the younger children.
"I am Teal'c and I am proud to serve the Tau'ri. You have no need to fear me, I will endeavour to keep you and your siblings safe from harm." He offered a small bow to the young boy who looked at Sam for confirmation.
She nodded, placed a hand on his arm and gave it a gentle squeeze.
He gave her a small smile and proceeded to introduce his siblings to the SG team-mates. The eldest girl was Nat'ena, the red-head's name was Cho'ri and the blonde was Chy'van. He told them that the baby was called Noya and that their mother had handed her to Nat'ena as she hurried them into the woods.
The children didn't know what had happened to their parents, or indeed their village, once they'd fled. They'd been sheltering by the fallen tree for a few hours before Teal'c had discovered them. The baby was wet and hungry and the rest of the children were exhausted and frightened.
Sam told Khokai that they needed to move, it wasn't safe to stay where they were for much longer in case a Jaffa patrol came by. Carefully Teal'c lifted up the two younger girls and carried them gently, one in each arm, back into the woods towards the rest of their team-mates. Nat'ena looked over at Sam, clearly grateful that someone else would now take responsibility for the baby. She handed Noya to Sam and hugged her brother close before the pair of them followed Cho'ri and Chy'van into the woods.
Sam looked at the squirming baby in her arms. She thought the poor little thing looked very uncomfortable but realised that she'd have to wait until they got back to the others to get her dry. She took a moment to comfort the small child before setting out after Teal'c and the others, carefully cradling the precious bundle to her body, inside her tac vest.
#
When she got back to the area where they'd left the other SGC members she was glad to see the older children being cared for. They were already wrapped up in space blankets and Ferretti had given them a powerbar each to fill their hungry stomachs.
Sam nodded at her CO as he approached her. He looked at the bundle in her arms and was surprised to see that the baby had fallen asleep. The warmth from Sam's body and the rhythm of her walking had lulled the child into the land of dreams.
"It's a good look on you, Sam," he said gently, nodding towards the child. She looked him deeply in the eyes, sighed and cuddled the baby tighter, leaning down to place a kiss on the top of the blonde curls to hide the fact that her eyes were tearing up.
Lou realised he might have touched a raw nerve and gently rubbed Sam's shoulder. "You're time'll come, Major, of that I'm sure. Ol' Jack's great with kids, and I should know - he's godfather to my tribe. I'm sure that when the time's right there'll be some little'uns come along for you two as well. Believe me when I say it won't matter that they ain't your own flesh and blood, two of ours are the children of Carolyn's best friend from college. Her and her husband were killed when the kids were just two and four and they came to live with us straight after that. Now we wouldn't be without 'em and love 'em just as much as we do our own kids. We've never hidden the fact from them that they're adopted but they're not treated any differently from our own children."
"You know then?" Sam asked quietly, looking around and realising that the others were all busy so the conversation was pretty much private.
"Yeah, that was a bad time for the Colonel. Tried for years they did - him and Sara - before the Docs finally found out what was wrong. Always wanted lots of kids did Jack, coming from a big ol' Irish family himself. 'Bout broke his heart when the Docs said there was nothing they could do. And then when…that happened to Charlie…well I thought that would be the end of him. Very nearly was too - I know he never intended to come home from Abydos. I'm sure he saw it as a more respectable way to go than eating his gun - less traumatic for his family that way too. Sara would have had his pension and the house would have been paid for. His father would have been told that his son had died serving his country and his service record would have recorded the same. I'm sure there's no greater cause than dying for your entire planet but it still seemed wrong - Jack had lost his entire family but I knew there had to be something out there to make him want to live again. Little did I realise at the time, that 'something' was actually 'someone' and Jack found it in the form of Doctor J. You should've seen them two at first, Sam - they couldn't even stand to look at one another. Jack fought tooth and nail to keep Doctor Jackson off the team but he was overruled 'cos it was obvious that no one else'd be able to translate the markings on the other side to get us home again. I don't know how the Doc did it but when he 'died' for the first time he got in under Jack's defences and restarted the fires of humanity in the Colonel's heart. By the time it came to go home the bond between them was fully formed and it was heart wrenching to have to leave. At least we knew that Daniel'd be safe with the Abydonians once the gate was buried…well we thought we knew anyway. I guess it didn't work out like that did it?"
"No," said Sam, shaking her head sadly. "…but I guess nothing goes quite to plan where the SGC's involved, does it?"
"No, that it doesn't, Sam. That it doesn't." Lou gave her shoulder another rub and directed her to move towards the others. "Let's get these kids home before this little'un wants feeding. The older ones are OK with the powerbars but I don't think this one's up to that yet, do you?"
"No," Sam sighed. "I was thinking about that though. She's going to wake up sooner rather than later because she's wet. I'll have to fashion something to wrap her in and then swaddle her in a space blanket to keep her warm. If we've got any MREs with rice pudding, or the like, in them then she'd probably be OK with something like that. My brother's kids started off eating baby rice and soon moved onto porridge, and as long as I watch out for lumps I'm sure I can get some pudding into her. It's sweet so it'll go down easily and will give her some energy while we've got no milk to give her."
"You have been thinking, haven't you? Go to it then, we need to move out soon, I'm gonna radio the gate and get some marines to meet us half way. That way we won't lose too much more time before we head back towards the base."
Lou deposited Sam near to the children and helped her to remove her pack without disturbing the baby. He moved away and murmured to Reynolds who set to work finding an appropriate variety of MRE. Once he found the right one he activated the heating element and sat it down next to Sam.
With one hand the young woman rifled through the pack and fished out one of her spare T-shirts. She then opened her medical kit and removed a sling which she intended to use as a diaper.
Even though she was being careful with her movements, baby Noya soon awoke. She started grizzling as soon as she opened her eyes so Sam carefully unwrapped her from her sodden blanket and stripped her of her clothing. She quickly fashioned a diaper out of the sling and wrapped the baby in her T-shirt before she could get too cold. To complete the process the baby was then snugly wrapped in a space blanket and Sam cuddled her to her chest to settle her down again.
Sam leant back, put her knees up in front of her and carefully propped Noya against them. The baby looked placidly up at her with wide blue eyes and Sam couldn't resist placing a kiss on her forehead. Tears came unbidden to her eyes when Noya smiled back at her and she gently stoked the baby's soft hair.
With a sigh she calmed her emotions and reached over to pick up the MRE. With the plastic spoon that came with it she scooped out a little of the sweet mixture and blew on it to cool it down. She tested a little with her tongue and when she was happy with the temperature she put the spoon to the baby's lips.
The little mouth immediately opened and Sam spooned in a little of the pudding. Noya started a little at the sweetness but soon swallowed the mouthful and opened her mouth for more. Sam scooped out another spoonful and cooled it down again before giving it to the baby. She was ready this time and immediately reloaded the spoon while the baby was processing the mouthful.
A few minutes later Noya had made a sizeable impact in the pudding and was starting to get drowsy. Sam put the meal ration down to her side and gently wiped the baby's face clean.
She tucked the child inside her tac vest, close to her heart and soon the baby was fast asleep.
Carefully Sam got to her feet and gratefully stretched her legs. Ferretti saw the movement and made his way over to her.
"Everything OK, Major?" he asked.
"Just a little stiff, that's all, sir," she answered. "I don't think that was the best position to be sitting in for any length of time."
"Did the job though, didn't it?" Lou said. "She looks peaceful enough again now. Warm and dry, that's the best way for a baby to be - not stuck out in some cold, damp wood with little or no chance of rescue. Corporal Franks has come back through the gate with a troop of replacement marines. They're following our trail back here as we speak. We need to get moving now that Junior's sorted. The other's are OK, just shaken up and a bit cold. Now they've got the powerbars inside 'em they're ready to roll but Teal'c's' going to carry the little blonde so we can keep to a decent speed going back. The little red-head seems feisty and wants to walk but one of us will give her a lift once she gets tired. You OK with Junior there?"
"More than OK, sir. It's like she belongs there and I know I'm not going to want to give her to the marines at the end of this walk." Sam admitted sadly.
"I understand, Major." Lou said with a grin. "She's a cute kid. They'll look after her back at the SGC, they'll get some milk into her and get her some clothes and a real diaper. You've done all you can do for now, she'll be there when you get back and I'm sure her mother will hunting you down to thank you for saving her babies - all five of them."
"Yeah," said Sam. "I hope she's OK. We still don't know exactly what's going on over near the base that's being built."
"Uhm, we do now, Major." Lou told her sadly. "On it's second pass, the UAV passed over the area a little to the north of the base and found a huge mine. Seems Teal'c was right when he guessed the Jaffa would use the Chamakan people as slave labour. I'm sure glad the kids got away when they did, they wouldn't last long in a mine. We've just got to get 'em safely home then we can go 'n see what we can do about the rest of their people."
"Agreed. If you help me get my pack back on then I'm ready when you are, sir." Sam kicked at the pack by her feet.
"You sure you don't want one of us to carry that for you while you've got the baby?" Lou offered.
"No, sir." Sam said. "Teal'c's got Chy'van and one of you is going to end up carrying Cho'ri so if you don't mind, I'll carry my own pack."
Lou laughed, "No problem, Major. I had a feeling you'd say that but I thought I'd offer anyway."
Lou picked up Sam's pack and made sure it was securely fastened before he helped her get it positioned comfortably on her back.
"Ready to roll?" he asked.
"Ready," Sam answered. "…and thanks, sir."
"Any time, Major. Got to look after you, or I'll have a certain Air Force Colonel to deal with." Lou chuckled at the startled expression on Sam's face. "Only jokin', Major. But you know it's the truth anyway!"
"No comment," came Sam's succinct reply. She thought better of being cheeky and, after a moments pause, added a soft, "Sir,"
Lou grinned again and moved away from Sam. "Ready to move out," he quietly advised the rest of the team. "Reynolds, you and yours take up the rear. I'll take point with Sands, Bell and Grimm. Teal'c, Carter and the kids in the middle at all times - understood?"
"Understood, Colonel." Reynolds replied. "SG-3 are ready at your signal, sir."
Ferretti, Sands, Bell and the marine called Grimm set off to retrace their steps back through the wood.
Teal'c picked up Chy'van and ensured she was securely balanced on his arm before moving to follow them towards the trail. Suddenly he felt a tug on his pants leg and he stopped and looked down. Cho'ri was gently tugging on his clothing, trying to attract his attention. As soon as she realised that Teal'c had stopped she grabbed hold of his hand and set off towards Ferretti and the others, pulling the large Jaffa along with her.
Teal'c raised an eyebrow as he was towed along. He looked back at Sam who just grinned back at him. He gave her a look that said 'You will not tell O'Neill of this, or I will no longer consider you my friend,' and turned back to face the direction that he was being dragged.
Sam smiled again and shook her head before ushering the older children to follow the others. Once they were moving in the right direction she followed them and Colonel Reynolds and his team filled the space behind her.
They made good time and met up with the marines roughly halfway between the two villages that they'd visited earlier.
Teal'c had ended up carrying both Cho'ri and Chy'van and passed each of his two small charges to a separate marine. Cho'ri threw her arms around his neck as he handed her over to Sergeant Mills, the Jaffa gave her a brief hug before promising her he'd go and see her just as soon as he got back to the SGC.
She hugged him again before turning in Sergeant Mills' arms and burying her face in his neck, sobbing. The sergeant stroked her back and cooed quietly to calm her. The elder children moved to stand between the marines holding their young siblings.
Sam was upset when she had to hand over the baby but was glad to find that Sergeant Fernandez had young children himself. He promised to take very good care of Noya and deliver her safely into the waiting arms of Janet Fraiser.
Sam gave Noya a last cuddle but was secretly glad that the baby stayed asleep while she handed her over. She placed a gentle kiss on the golden curls and turned away before the marines could see how upset she was getting.
She moved quietly into the trees and slumped down against one, hugging her knees. Teal'c went to follow her but Ferretti stopped him with a gentle touch on his arm. "Let her have a minute, Teal'c. This has been hard on her and it's brought some deep emotions to the forefront of her mind. Keep an eye on her but let her have a moment to work through things herself. She needs to get her head on straight before we get to that building site or she's going to be a liability to us all and I really don't want to lose risk that."
"Indeed, ColonelFerretti. You speak wisely." Teal'c acknowledged. "I have observed the bond that MajorCarter seems to have formed with the child, Noya. It is unfortunate that she cannot see the child safely in the arms of DoctorFraiser before we set out again but it is necessary that we press forwards for the construction zone as soon as possible."
"Yep, and we'll be heading out very soon." Ferretti assured him.
Lou turned to the marines and advised them to head straight for the infirmary at the SGC. The four men on the gate would stay at their post until the SGC sent replacements for them and this would continue until SG-2 and 3 returned from their recon.
The four men and five children retraced their steps along the trail and soon disappeared from view and a moment later Sam emerged from the trees managing to look almost presentable.
Lou rested a hand on her back and asked if she was OK to continue. She attempted to pull her body straighter to stand to attention but the effect was spoiled somewhat when she sniffed hard and made herself cough. Ferretti banged her on the back and she ended up laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation.
"Don't worry, Major. We're just going to have a little look round and then we'll be headed home too. I'm sure Fraiser'll have fun getting the little'un all cleaned up ready for when you get back."
Sam smiled at that, "Thanks, Lou…er, sorry…I mean…Thank you, sir."
"Don't worry about it, Major." Ferretti assured her. "Come one, let's get gone. The sooner we get there and have a look around, the sooner we can get home and work out what we're going to do about getting the villagers away from all the Jaffa. Sure as damn it we're not going to be able to do it with just the nine of us. You want to do the honours, Reynolds?"
"Sure thing, boss." Reynolds winked at the other Colonel. "OK men, move out. If we make good time we should get there and back before dusk. Let's see what we can find out what they're building and see if we can do anything to slow 'em down a bit at the same time. OK, boss?"
Ferretti raised his eyebrows at this long speech from the usually quiet Colonel Reynolds. "Not quite what I meant but, yeah, what the hell. Recon first…slowing down construction second, got that."
"Got it, sir," came the reply from the remaining SGC personnel.
"Well then, what you waiting for? Move out, on the double." Lou ordered. "Keep your eyes peeled and your guns ready. We don't know what to expect as we get nearer to that construction site but we're going to be as prepared as we can be for anything we come across."
The two teams plus Sergeant Grimm moved back down their hand cut trail for the third time that day. When they passed the area where they'd found the children they had to start cutting their way through the undergrowth again. They made good time and just had one quick stop for food.
Within a couple of hours it became clear that they were approaching the base construction zone. They ducked down in the trees and paused a moment to regroup.