Sticks and Stones - Chapter 39 - by Emma Nisbet (grnfield)
Osiris turned towards the sobbing man with a look of disgust on his face.
"Take this pathetic excuse for a soldier away," he ordered the closest Jaffa. "Maybe a couple of days in the cells will loosen his tongue."
"Yes, my Lord," the Jaffa replied in unison. "As you wish."
Osiris nodded and used his hand to gesture at the doorway dismissing the warriors.
As they turned to leave he called them back. "…And do something with thatat the same time," he said, pointing at the crumpled body of Jimmy Sands. "I want it out of my sight immediately."
One of the burly warriors moved out from behind the two who were still supporting Davies. He walked over to Sands and carelessly slung the young man's body over his shoulder in a sloppy fireman's lift. He then immediately headed towards the door with his load.
"Put them both in the same cell. I think it might be quite amusing to see this young one sing for his life after spending some quality time with his 'friend' here."
Davies was trying valiantly to remain silent but let out a whimper as Osiris ordered the Jaffa to leave him with the body of his comrade. Osiris merely smirked and let out an awful cackling laugh.
"You Tau'ri truly are a feeble race," he said. "Do you actually believe that death is the end? Do you not believe that as a God I may have the power to send your friend to a better place? A place where he will be shown the error of his ways and be tutored in the art of correct behaviour while in the presence of his beloved God. Do you not believe that I have the power to retrieve him from such a place again if I see fit?"
Osiris glared at Davies but obviously realised the young man was in no fit state to answer any questions, whether he wanted to or not.
"Bah, why am I wasting my time with this? Jaffa, take him away. I will be in my chambers and I do not wish to be disturbed."
The three Jaffa finally moved through the doorway as Osiris turned and flounced across the room, heading towards the door on the far side of the room. The remaining three Jaffa started to follow as they were scheduled to be stationed outside Osiris's chambers all night, ready to pander to his every whim until they were relieved the next morning.
#
Sam and Lou had effectively been trapped in the air-vent once they had discovered the System Lord in the room below. Unable to move silently through the ducts they had been forced to remain still and had therefore seen and heard all the goings on in the room below.
To cross the room Osiris had to pass under the air-vent where the two were sitting. Whether he heard something or sensed the Naquadah in Sam's blood, wasn't clear but as he passed under the vent he very suddenly stopped and looked upwards.
He looked directly up through the grating in the vent into the dark tube beyond. Unknowingly he looked straight at Sam who instinctively flinched as the beautiful brown eyes of Sarah Gardner gazed up at her. It was just a tiny movement but this was all the System Lord needed to confirm that someone was in the ducting.
"Jaffa, kree. It seems we have vermin in the ventilation system. Drop the ship into the atmosphere and carry out standard decontamination procedure. Vent the entire system…twice, just to be sure. Anyone foolish enough to remain in the ceiling cavities will be travelling down to the planet by a somewhat less comfortable route than they may have originally expected. I wonder which would kill them first…the exposure, or the ground. I think that may be quite a pleasing experiment." Osiris let out another cackle.
As he turned to dismiss the Jaffa he seemed to pause and think for a moment. "On the other hand…If these are more Tau'ri, from the 'mighty SGC'…Jaffa, go and fetch me that snivelling prisoner. If there are indeed Tau'ri in the ventilation system then I will soon know about it."
A panicked look shot between Sam and Lou. Very slowly, and out of sight of the vent, Lou shook his head. They would find out what Osiris had in mind before deciding on their next course of action. Osiris was currently unsure just who or what he had in the ducting and the pair intended to keep it that way for as long as possible.
One of the Jaffa hurried out of the door and his footsteps were heard disappearing down the corridor as he rushed to retrieve his comrades and their prisoner.
#
After only a few minutes the Jaffa returned, followed by his three brothers-in-arms. Two were dragging the weakly struggling form of Mickey Davies and the third had returned still carrying the body of Jimmy Sands.
When Osiris saw this his eyes lit with glee. "Oh, well done, Jaffa. You shall be rewarded for that piece of forward thinking, I may even make you my next First Prime."
"Thank you my Lord." The Jaffa dumped Sands onto the floor, right next to where Davies now sat, and bowed low in front of Osiris. He waited for Osiris's signal then returned to full height and stood beside his comrades, awaiting his next order.
"Tau'ri." Osiris addressed the air vent. "I have one remaining live example of your kind here and I'm sure you would like him back. I'm certain you witnessed what I am capable of when I am displeased and I don't suppose for one moment that you wish me to become displeased again. This feeble creature seems to be in some distress already and I wouldn't expect him to survive long under the full force of my hand device. I might even have to focus less power onto him, I mean it does spoil the fun if the captive dies almost straight away. I'm confident that if I am very careful I could keep him alive for many days. Many uncomfortable and pain filled days…"
With that Osiris spun round and aimed the ribbon device directly in the centre of Davies's forehead. The young man scrunched his eyes up and waited for the pain to hit.
#
When it hit, the pain was nothing like anything Mickey had experienced before. Try as he might he couldn't help the gut-wrenching scream as it tore from his throat. This was only his third mission with SG-3 and as his life started flashing before his eyes, Mickey thought it was undoubtedly going to be his last.
Sam looked at Lou with tears in her eyes. The pair of them knew they were stuck between a rock and a hard place. Whatever they decided, they were going to lose. If they didn't give themselves up then Davies was going to die, in pain and fear, just as Sands had before him. Neither Sam nor Lou were in any doubt that once Osiris tired of his little game with the hand device that he would discard the young man and order the ducts to be vented to dispose of whomever was hidden in them. There was no way a human could survive such an event so the two people in the duct made the only decision open to them - they kicked open the air-vent, lowered themselves into the room, and handed themselves over to Osiris.