Sticks and Stones – Chapter 35 - by Emma Nisbet (grnfield)
Sam thought that when the four members of the SGC had not returned before the sun had started to set, Teal'c would have realised something had gone awry. The large Jaffa would have been expecting a signal of some description, even just a couple of clicks on his radio would have assured him that his comrades had successfully left the ship and were back on the solid ground of Chamaka. Sam knew that Teal'c would have been worried sick when the Ha'tak had lifted off and she wasn't entirely sure what his next move would be, knowing that his friends were more than likely in extreme peril on the ship above them.
She realised there was no way Teal'c and the others could get onto the ship undetected and hoped that her friend wouldn't try anything rash in an attempt to reach her. His main goal was still to protect the Chamakan people after all. A task that would have been made much more simple once the Jaffa had delivered the workers to him and ringed back up onto the ship.
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Down on the planet, Teal'c found himself in control of the Chamakan population.
Once the Jaffa who delivered the workers had left it became obvious that the Chamakans were not as subdued as they had been the previous night. During the course of the day Teal'c and the others had made contact with the girls in the ravine, telling them to prepare large amounts of extra food and asking that they pass the message to the returning workers that they were no longer alone. By the level of chatter in the ravine it was obvious that the message was getting through.
Once he was certain they were undetected by any enemy presence Teal'c ordered Reynolds and the others to remove their helmets and reveal themselves to the people of Chamakan. He had designated Reynolds as spokesman as the young man had a friendly face, and his cheerful personality put most people at ease. Teal'c himself stayed back towards the edge of the gulley so as not to alarm the villagers by his presence when they realised he was a true Jaffa.
Once Reynolds had introduced himself and his men he then motioned to Teal'c who stepped forwards. The large man was still wearing his full helmet and at this point he lowered it to reveal his face, complete with his gold-embossed tattoo.
The gasp that he'd been expecting when he revealed himself, a reaction that had followed his appearance for more years than he cared to admit, never happened. Teal'c realised that Reynolds had informed them that his colleague was a Jaffa and the Chamakans apparently knew exactly what to expect. Teal'c gave the young man a brief smile and a nod of thanks before he turned to face the remaining population of Chamaka.
He was distraught to find that there were only a couple of hundred natives present, out of the six or seven thousand who originally resided on this, the largest continent on the planet. Upon speaking to the people in the ravine it had been discovered that people had been collected from the farthest reaches of the continent, that nowhere appeared to have been spared and the mortality rate among the workers had been astronomical.
The Chamakans were used to hard work as they lived off the land on a day to day basis, but they had been completely unprepared for the brutality of the Jaffa. They had been forced to work on the building site or down the mines relentlessly. They had toiled in all weathers, with no rest breaks and barely enough food to sustain even the youngest child and the death toll had mounted higher and higher each day. Teal'c had seen the cartloads of bodies arriving in the evenings and knew they had been sent up a path that wound up behind the ravine and into the woods behind. He'd seen this before and knew that somewhere in the woods, or maybe in the hills further back, there was a mass grave, and that it was being filled with more and more Chamakan bodies every evening.
The remaining people were exhausted, both mentally and physically and after a quick head count Teal'c was heartbroken when he realised there weren't nearly enough people to make up a viable population. Apart from the tiny number of individuals, the proportions of men, women and children were completely wrong. Over half the people in the canyon were young-to-middle-aged men, obviously the strongest of the workers who had presumably been captured later than most. Over two thirds of the remaining people were youngsters leaving only twenty five or so women in total. Of these twenty five it was highly likely that most would not survive another day in the construction site and this knowledge tore at Teal'c's heart.
Obviously there were more people on the other land masses of Chamaka but Teal'c was aware that the numbers there were few. He knew that at the present time, even if the SGC were to relocate them to another planet, then the Chamakan people would have to merge with another civilisation to stand any chance of survival. It wasn't something that he could do anything about but the gentle warrior still worried about the now impoverished people and was sad for all they had lost.
Teal'c looked out over the canyon, with a heavy heart. He looked at each of the expectant faces, all of whom were gazing towards him and waiting for him to speak. Most of the Chamakan population stood before him, clearly hoping that this reformed warrior would be their salvation. Teal'c took a deep breath and addressed them:
"People of Chamaka, be assured that you are no longer alone. The Tau'ri of Earth are present on your planet and even now are planning to overthrow the false Gods who have enslaved you all. It is my desire to see no more of you perish, either in the construction area or the mines in which you have been forced to labour. The five Jaffa that you see with me now are warriors of the Tau'ri and I myself have also pledged my allegiance to their cause. This cause being the destruction and systematic eradication of the Goa'uld System Lords. For too many years these false Gods have wreaked their chaos on the galaxy but I believe the warriors of the Tau'ri, along with as many races as are able to help, will finally be able to rid the galaxy of their tyranny once and for all."
An awed silence fell on the ravine as Teal'c paused to let his words sink in. He let his gaze glide over the people before continuing:
"The young people of your race have prepared adequate nourishment for you all. Once you have eaten I require you to rest for several hours. Three of my warriors will guard the ravine at all times while the other three will scout the area for any Jaffa that may wish to cause harm to you. Once we are certain the path is safe to traverse we shall escort you to the Chappa'ai and grant you secure passage to the Tau'ri homeworld. Once there, medical attention will be given to those of you who require it and those of you fit enough to travel again will most probably be transported to one of the Tau'ri safe-worlds where you shall remain until it is safe to return here."
A hushed murmuring was heard as this. Teal'c raised his hands to hush the crowd. "Please, I request that you now go and take nourishment before you rest your weary bodies. We have a great deal of distance to travel and the terrain is not easy between here and the Chappa'ai. It would be prudent that we are away from this place before the moon reaches it's apex and, if possible, be through the Chappa'ai before daybreak. I understand that the journey will be hard and I fully expect you to assist one another in keeping up the pace that is set. I should not need to remind you that should we find ourselves still on the planet once the sun has risen then all our lives will be in grave danger."
Teal'c turned and motioned to Reynolds to organise the Chamakan people so they could all be fed and watered efficiently. The large warrior took a moment to look up at the stars and picked out the slowly moving spot that was the Ha'tak vessel in orbit. Sending a prayer up for his friends safe return, he slowly turned around, called two of his false Jaffa to him and set off to clear a safe path towards the Stargate.