Sodan Planet, Designation P9G-844, an hour later.
The five members of SG1 have been walking through a forest ever since they came through the Stargate. Leaving SG22 to guard the Gate, Colonel Mitchell asked Teal'c to lead the way into the forest where Rak'nor's message claimed the Sodan would be located. Walking in a single file for about thirty minutes, Teal'c followed by Colonel Mitchell, Willow, Daniel and with Faith guarding the rear kept on walking through the trees.
Suddenly, Teal'c raised his hand and held it up as he stopped walking forward.
"Teal'c?" asked Colonel Mitchell, "hear something?"
"Shhh" said Teal'c.
"Jaffa?" asked Colonel Mitchell again.
Teal'c ignored Colonel Mitchell's question as he scanned the area around him before turning around to look at Faith.
"I heard something too" whispered Faith as she looked around while tightening her hold around her P90. Faith then turned to Willow, "sense anything?"
"Nothing concrete" said Willow as she shook her head, "but I am getting some kind of a strange feeling."
"Feeling?" asked the Colonel, "what kind of feeling?"
"Sir" said Willow, "permission to connect everyone mentally."
"It's creepy" whispered the Colonel.
"Sir" said Willow, "it's secure."
"Alright" replied the Colonel.
Teal'c: "I am hearing movement all around this location."
Faith: "Me too, and… wait…"
Faith turned around and scanned her surroundings again before she looked at Colonel Mitchell.
Faith: "We're surrounded. I hear footsteps"
Willow: "I don't see anyone here."
Mitchell: "Neither do i."
Teal'c: "Faith Lehane is correct, I hear…."
Teal'c turned slowly towards a sound to his left. Raising an eyebrow, he then heard another sound to his left of a twig snapping and then noticed one of the branches moving as if it was hit by a force.
Daniel: "I heard that.."
Suddenly, Willow turned to her left and raised her P90 at an open space.
"Major?" asked Colonel Mitchell as he raised his weapon as well and pointed at the location at which Willow was aiming.
Willow: "Someone's here. I can sense it, but I can't read their mind or get any thoughts from them."
Mitchell: "Maybe it's just this creepy forest that playing with your mind."
Faith: "Red, can you hit whoever it is telekinetically?"
Willow: "Can't hit what I can't see and if I use my abilities to launch an attack then we may lose the advantage of surprise."
Mitchell: "It's probably nothing."
The Colonel then put his weapon down just as a staff blast flew right past him and hit a bush.
"Get down!" said Faith as she pushed Daniel behind a tree just as a blast was heading towards him.
"Thanks" replied Daniel as he and Faith returned fire at the unseen enemy from behind the tree.
"Where the hell are they?" said the Colonel as he crouched down behind a tree and returned fire, as did Willow who was close behind him. "Major" he said turning around to face Willow, "fall back to the gate!"
"Sir" said Willow as she shot her weapon before taking cover again, "what about you?"
"I'll be behind you, no way in hell am I staying here in this vacation spot" replied the Colonel as he returned fire with Faith and Teal'c, "get back now, that's an order."
"Yes, Sir!" shouted Willow as she looked at Teal'c who was behind a large boulder, "move out."
Teal'c nodded as Willow shot her P90 into the air in front of her as she covered Teal'c's retreat while moving backwarrds. Once she got close to Daniel and Faith, she took cover behind a large tree.
"Colonel!" shouted Willow.
"I'll be right with you!" shouted the Colonel as blasts whizzed past him while he ran to take cover behind the boulder Teal'c had been behind just moments ago.
"Daniel" said Willow, "go!"
"But…" said Daniel as he fired his weapon.
"Go!" said Willow, "I'll cover you."
"Right" said Daniel as he ran towards Teal'c as both Willow and Faith covered his escape.
"Red" said Faith as she fired from behind the tree, "go… I'll get Cam."
"You go" said Willow as she fired before taking cover from a few more blasts.
Faith: "Cam's in front of us, I'll go get him and bring him back. You're the second in command of this team and won't be any use if the both of you just happen to get injured."
Just then Daniel got on the radio again, "where are you guys, we're pinned down here as well."
"Damn it" said Willow as she looked at Faith, "get back to the Gate, do you understand?"
"Yea" said Faith as she fired her weapon as Willow ran towards the sound of staff blasts coming from another direction, the direction where Teal'c and Daniel had ran to on the way to the Gate.
"SG22" said Willow on her radio, "this is SG1, we're under attack. Requesting backup."
"On the way, SG1" came the reply.
"Cam?" asked Daniel as he and Teal'c fired their weapons.
"Should be along soon" said Willow as she fired at the invisible enemy from behind a tree stump.
Meanwhile, Faith had run over to Colonel Mitchell who continued to fire his weapon.
"Cam" said Faith as she stood up and fired, "we need to get…."
"Faith" shouted the Colonel as a staff blast appeared out of nowhere and hit Faith on her side.
"AHH!" shouted Willow as she dropped her weapon and dropped behind cover next to Daniel.
"Willow?" said Daniel as he looked in concern at the pain on her face, "what's going on."
"Damn" said Willow as she closed her eyes and held her hands to the side of her abdomen, "hurts."
"You don't look like you were shot" said Daniel as he checked her BDU's for any injuries or bleeding.
"Then" said Willow as she eyes widened, "Faith…. Faith must have been hit."
"Faith" said Daniel on his radio as Teal'c continued to fire with staff blasts still coming towards them, "Faith where are you? What's going on?"
Willow knew that she couldn't go back, at least not until backup had arrived to help them out of this situation, so she bore with the pain and telekinetically grabbed her P90 before she started firing again.
Colonel Mitchell had turned Faith onto her back after she was hit and felt for a pulse. Putting his fingers to her neck, he breathed out when he felt a pulse. However, as he turned around having suddenly heard a sound behind him, he was hit by the edge of a staff weapon and fell onto the ground.
"Why you" said the Colonel as he quickly stood up and aimed his P90 at the man who fired a staff blast at him and knocked it right out of his hands. The Colonel then reached to his side and grabbed his sidearm, but he was then hit by another staff blast from a different direction.
"Colonel Mitchell" came the voice of Teal'c over the radio as the Colonel screamed in pain and got onto one knee, "what is your location?"
As the Colonel tried to reach for the radio, the man who had shot Faith kicked it away from him and pointed his staff weapon at the Colonel's body as he smiled. The Colonel then took a quick glance behind the man, only to see Faith's face twisted in pain but her eyes where slowly opening.
Through the intense pain, Faith could see that the Colonel was in trouble as a man held a staff weapon to his head. As the both of their eyes met, the Colonel looked towards the man's legs and Faith knew what he wanted her to do. Still in pain, Faith quickly kicked out with her feet to the back of the man's knees as he bent backwards before the Colonel rose up and grabbed the staff weapon away from him. The man then kicked out and swept the Colonel's feet from under him, causing Colonel Mitchell to fall back onto the ground. The man then punched the Colonel on the blast wound until he dropped the staff weapon. Once the colonel was rolling on the ground holding onto his wound in pain, the man had turned around just as Faith was getting up, and punched her directly where she was injured. Screaming in pain from the punch, Faith went back down on her knees, after which the Colonel got up again put his arm around the man's neck and put him into a chokehold. The man, struggling to take a breath, then rammed the Colonel into a tree which relaxed the hold on his neck. The man then turned around and elbowed the Colonel's blast injury, which made him go down in pain again.
While the man was hitting the Colonel again and again, he failed to notice that Faith has picked up his fallen staff weapon.
"Hey!" shouted Faith as the Jaffa turned around only to face the petite Slayer as she fired a staff blast at the attacking Jaffa's abdomen.
"That should do…." Said Faith as she was hit by another blast from behind her and she fell onto the ground face first.
"Faith!" shouted the Colonel as he got up, only to find two Jaffa who simply appeared in front of him out of thin air.
One of the Jaffa swung his staff weapon into the Colonel's face and the next thing he knew was that he was falling face first straight onto the ground.
Infirmary, SGC, thirty minutes later.
Colonel Carter had just finished calling everyone she needed to call about her pregnancy. Her first call was to Cassie, followed by calls to her father, General Hammond and General O'Neill. She then called Pete who was simply all over moon and insisted that she come home and take a break for the rest of the day
"I can't Pete" said the Colonel while she was talking to her husband, "the base doctor wants to keep me here for observation."
"Come on, Sam" whined Pete over the phone, "what's so important that they have to keep you under observation."
"It's regulations, Pete" said the Colonel as she rubbed her temples.
"How about if I come by?" asked Pete, "I mean I have clearance, I can come and keep you company…. You know, so that you're not alone. Besides, it would give me a chance to meet your boss again."
"Again?" asked Colonel Carter when she realized that she hadn't mention to Pete that General O'Neill had left the SGC, "no, we have a new base commander now.. his name is…"
"It's ok" laughed Pete, "I know that I'm your boss but still…."
"Excuse me?" said the Colonel.
"Sorry" said Pete, "bad joke."
"Anyway" said the Colonel as she shook her head, "the new base commander is General Landry, and it's up to him if you can come up to the base."
"Saaaaam!" whined Pete, "but the clearance."
"I know you have clearance but…." Said the Colonel as she was interrupted on the phone.
"It's settled then" said Pete just before he put the phone down, "I'm coming now. Don't worry babe, I'll be right there."
"Pete" said the Colonel, "wait….. Pete? Pete?"
The Colonel looked at her phone and saw that the connection was already severed. Sighing, she put her phone on the table beside her bed and closed her eyes as she lay back on the pillow.
"Hey Sam" said a very familiar female voice as the Colonel felt someone running their fingers through her hair.
"Huh?" said the Colonel as she opened her eyes and looked at the familiar looking redhead in front of her and grinned, "Janet!"
"Hey" said Janet as se gave the Colonel a hug.
"My God" said the Colonel as she held on to Janet tightly, "I just couldn't believe it… Cassie called me…. gave me your message… I…. I miss you so much."
"I miss you too" said the Colonel as she released Janet who held on to her hand and squeezed.
"Congratulations are in order, I guess?" smiled Janet.
"Thanks" replied the Colonel as she looked and caressed her abdomen before looking at Janet again, "I still can't believe it…. I'm going to be a mom."
"You'll make a fantastic mom" said Janet as she grabbed a seat next to her, "so where are Willow and the others?"
"Off-world" said Colonel Carter, "Teal'c received a message about some possible allies so…. Well, you know the drill."
"Yea" replied Janet.
"Are you happy?" asked the Colonel as she looked at Janet, "I mean are you really happy?"
"Yes" said Janet as she leaned back, "well, the only sucky part about this while deal is the non-interference part… but the knowledge that's out there….. let's put it this way, this would be heaven… and I mean complete knowledge heaven for you."
"I bet" laughed the Colonel.
"How about you?" asked Janet, "are you happy?"
"Yes" grinned the Colonel as she placed her hands on her own abdomen, "I'm ecstatic."
"I'm glad" said Janet as she stood up and lean over the Colonel's forehead to give her a kiss.
"Will the Ancients help us?" asked the Colonel as a real fear suddenly got reflected in her voice.
"You know the Other's won't interfere in the lower planes" said Janet softly.
"Will they at least prevent the Ori from interfering directly in this galaxy?" asked the Colonel.
"Sorry, Sam" said Janet, "I.. I mean I can't tell you."
"Right" said the Colonel as she shook her head, "I don't know how we're going to get through this."
"You…. we always do" said Janet, "ever since the Stargate was first opened by Daniel, we've always beaten the odds."
"This time it feels different" said Colonel CArter as the both of them heard footsteps running towards them.
"Colonel! Colonel!" said Major Hailey as she ran into the infirmary, "ma'am I'm sorry to bother you."
"Hailey" said the Colonel, "cant' you see I'm…"
"Ma'am?" said the Major panting as she noticed Colonel Carter looking around her.
"It's alright" said the Colonel once she realized that Janet was gone, "what's going on?"
"First of all congratulations" said Major Hailey, "the entire base knows by now about your baby."
"Walter?" asked the Colonel.
"Walter" said the Major as she nodded her head while she opened her laptop and showed the screen to the Colonel, "anyway, I wanted to show you this."
"What is it?" asked the Colonel.
"Dawn translated the text we downloaded from the Sunnydale outpost" said the Major excitedly, "she says that this is part of the research on ascension that was being carried out in the outpost."
"Oh" said the Colonel as she looked up at Hailey, "what's it say?"
"Dawn's still translating" said the Major as she pointed out a few lines of text on the screen, "but so far we've managed to find out that an individual needs to be able to access anywhere between eighty to ninety percent of their brain's capacity at any one time for conscious and willfull ascension."
"What?" asked the Colonel as she grabbed the computer, "is the translation right?"
"Yes, ma'am" said Hailey, "which is why I came running here, I heard that Willow's brain is running at ninety five percent capacity… so does that mean that she can ascend if she wants to?"
"This is…. I mean…I'm sure that there's another component to ascension, but….." said the Colonel as the klaxons started to go off.
"Now what?" said Colonel Carter as she returned the laptop to the Major and started to get up off her bed.
"Ma'am" said Major Hailey as she stopped the Colonel from taking out her I.V. lines, "you're supposed to rest."
Just then, the Colonel and Major Hailey saw a medical team rush out of another part of the infirmary led by Dr. Lam.
It was twenty minutes later that Daniel and Teal'c had come to the infirmary where the Colonel and Major Hailey was waiting for news on what happened. Daniel had explained to Colonel Carter that Faith and Colonel Mitchell seemed to have been taken by the Sodan, but not before one of their Jaffa was shot in the symbiote pouch. Willow had called for a medical team to wait at the Gate for the Jaffa's return to Earth so that he could be given some Tretonin since the symbiote would most likely die.
"Where's Willow?" asked the Colonel worried.
"There was some sort of obelisk near the location we found the fallen Sodan warrior" said Teal'c, "it had the writings of the Ancients which Daniel Jackson translated as the Gateway to Enlightenment."
"Transporter?" asked Major Hailey.
"Major Rosenberg had stayed behind with SG22 to determine the purpose of the device" said Teal'c.
"I'll go and help her" said the Colonel as she got up, but was stopped by Daniel.
"Sam" said Daniel as he placed his hand on her shoulder, "oh no you don't."
"Daniel" said Colonel Carter, "I can help her."
"Listen" said Daniel, "Dr. Lam is in surgery right now, once she's out I'll ask her if you can get to the control room where we can get you a connection with Willow."
"I can go myself, Daniel" replied the Colonel.
"Colonel Carter" said Teal'c as he stood stoically in front of the Colonel, "please lie down until such time that Dr. Lam has indicated that you may leave the infirmary."
"But…" said the Colonel.
"Sam" said Daniel, "you know what General Landry said, you can't go through the gate."
"Yea" replied the Colonel as she looked down at the floor as she got back onto the bed.
"While the Sodan is in surgery" said Teal'c, "Daniel Jackson will return to the planet and assist Major Rosenberg in activating the device."
"Yep" said Daniel before he turned around, "see you later, Sam."
"Yea" replied the Colonel as she looked at Teal'c.
It was nine hours later that General Landry was waiting in the Gateroom at the bottom of the ramp for the rest of SG1 and SG22 to return from the Sodan planet. Once they had come through the event horizon, Willow and Daniel headed straight to General Landry while the others went on to the infirmary for their post mission checks.
"Major" said the General, "report."
"Sorry, Sir" said Willow as she handed her P90 to the Airman, "the device is definitely a transportation device, but it uses a code. I tried a bypass but… well, it had no luck."
"I see" said the General.
"What about the Sodan we brought back, General?" asked Daniel.
"He's out of surgery" said General Landry, "Teal'c will be interrogating him as soon as he's able to talk."
"I see" replied Willow.
"In the meantime, get checked out by Dr. Lam" said General Landry, "we'll have a briefing in an hour."
"Yes, Sir" said Willow as she and Daniel walked towards the infirmary.
"They'll be alright, Willow" said Daniel.
"I hope so" replied the redhead.
Sodan Planet, a few hours later.
Faith slowly opened her eyes and found herself in a room. As she rose up slowly, she noticed that a female was standing in one corner of the room. Once she had heard Faith yelp in pain as she sat up, the woman had run over and signalled for her to lie down again.
'Good ol' ceramic inserts' thought Faith to herself as she looked down at herself before looking at the woman again.
"Where… where am I?" asked Faith as she looked at the woman, "where's my friend? The man who was with me."
The woman pointed to the cot next to Faith where Colonel Mitchell was laying down with what looked like large green leaves covering his wounds.
"Cam" said Faith as she poked the Colonel's arm with her finger, "Cam!"
"Gaaah!" shouted the Colonel as he sat up quickly and grasped his injured side before the woman came over to him and pushed him back down gently. After he had lay back down, the woman handed Faith a brown coloured shirt which she put on as her face twisted in pain.
"What about me?" said the Colonel.
"Come on, Cam" said Faith as she lay back down, her face reflecting her pain as she touched the cot, "all I had was a bra and my BDU pants…. I don't know what you're complaining about."
"I have a lot to complain about and…." said the Colonel as the door to the room opened and a man walked in.
"My name is Jolan"
"Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell, United States Air Force and this is Faith Lehane."
"What are you?" asked Jolan as he looked at Faith after he asked the woman to leave the room, "your wounds were grave when we brought you to this village. However not soon after we cleaned and dressed your wounds, you started to heal at an accelerated rate."
Faith looked at the Colonel who nodded his head.
"My fiancée tells me that I'm very special" smiled Faith.
"I see" replied Jolan as he looked at the Colonel, "however, you have been more problematic than the woman."
"Yeah, well" said the Colonel, "really doesn't help much when we get sucker punched."
"Our friends will be looking for us" said Faith as she again slowly sat up, "how about you let us go?"
"You are free to leave this place whenever you choose" said Jolan smiling.
"Really?" asked the Colonel as he looked at Faith before looking back at Jolan, "but what's the catch?"
"To reach the Chappa'ai, it would take months on foot to the mountains of Dor'ta'nak" said Jolan as he stood up straight, "no one who's attempted the journey has ever survived."
"Then how did we…" asked the Colonel.
"We were brought here through the Eye of the Gods" said Jolan.
"What's that?" asked Faith.
"Silence" said Jolan as he looked at both the Colonel and Faith before he pointed the staff he was holding at the brunette Slayer, "your questions can wait. Now that your strength has returned, we should begin jomo se telek immediately."
"Do…. what now?" asked Faith as the Colonel slowly got up and moved next to her.
"If that's some kind of breakfast" said the Colonel with a grin, "then we'll be all up for it."
"You have spilt the blood of a Sodan warrior" said Jolan as he walked towards Faith.
"Now see here" said the Colonel as he moved to stand protectively in front of Faith, "she didn't have anything to do with that, I did it.. so we should have this sumo thing with me."
"Cam" said Faith as she put her hand on his shoulder and gently pushed him to her side, "it's alright."
"Do you say that the Sodan are lying?" asked Jolan, "do you doubt our honour?"
"No" said Faith as she stepped forward, "I admit I did it, but it was to protect my friend... the Sodan warrior I shot didn't give me a choice."
"Lord Haikon, the leader of this village, has decreed that you will answer for your crimes by way of Kel shak lo" said Jolan, "ritual battle with another warrior."
"Jolan" said the Colonel as he took one step forward.
"And on that day, you will die" said Jolan as he looked at Faith one more time before he walked out of the house.
"OK" said Faith, "this is gonna be real fun."
"Sorry about getting you into this mess" replied the Colonel as he sat down on his cot.
"Nah" replied Faith as she sat down, "I can handle him."
"Still" said the Colonel as another man entered the room.
"Lord Haikon demands your presence" said the man as he pointed at Faith.
"Fine" nodded Faith before she nodded towards the Colonel, "this man is the leader of my team, he comes with me."
"Very well" said the man as he turned around.
"Last request for a dead chick?" whispered Faith as the Colonel looked back at her.
Mess Hall, SGC, at that same time.
Willow was talking to Colonel Carter as she had a large sized piece of Chocolate cake on her tray along with three cups of blue jello.
"Hungry, ma'am?" asked Willow.
"Just so you know" said the Colonel as she looked at Willow and then at her tray, "I'm eating for two now."
"True" grinned Willow.
"I heard the Sodan warrior still hasn't woken up" replied the Colonel.
"No ma'am" said Willow, "and the longer he's unconscious, the more Faith and Colonel Mitchell could be in danger."
"They can look after themselves" said the Colonel as she took a bite of the cake.
"Hey babe" said Pete as he was escorted by an SF into the empty Mess Hall and sat next to Colonel Carter.
"Willow" said Pete nodding at the redhead.
"Peter" replied Willow as she nodded at the Colonel's husband.
'Bitch' thought Peter to himself, not realizing that Willow had heard what he thought out loud.
"Hey" said Pete excitedly after he grinned at Willow, "I heard that something happened?"
"Where'd you hear that?" asked Colonel Carter as Willow looked on.
"Just around" said Pete, "I don't really remember who was it who was saying something….. it's ok though right, I mean I've got the clearance to be here and hear these things."
"Pete" said Colonel Carter as she turned to face him, "you're still covered by the NDA even with the clearance, so please just stop talking about this outside of the mountain, actually try not to listen even while you're here."
"I know that" said Pete as he shrugged his shoulders, "so, can I go through the Stargate? I mean will the new General let me? Can you ask?"
"Pete" whispered the Colonel, "please, not here, and not now."
"Hey" said Pete as he leaned forward, "I overheard some people saying that two people were downed…. Kinda sad that they weren't brought back right?"
The Colonel then took one glance at Willow and could see that her eyes were closed, as if she was trying to tune the words that Pete was saying.
"Pete" said the Colonel as she faced Pete, "I'm telling you to stop this right now."
"Come on, Babe" said Pete turning to face Colonel Carter, "I'm just asking a question… how irresponsible does someone have to be to leave behind people in the field…. I mean as a cop, I've never done that before. I've always brought back my people… even if they've been gravely injured."
"Ma'am" said Willow calmly as she stood up, "I'm going to check up on…..yeah… that person."
"Willow" said the Colonel as she stood up, "I'll go with you."
"Ma'am" said Willow, "Dr. Lam wants you to finish your food, and since Pete is here to make sure that you finish it.. I guess I'll go to the infirmary."
"Willow" said Colonel Carter, "I can get an Airman to escort Pete to his quarters, then I'll go with you."
"It's alright, ma'am" said Willow, "you should eat something first. Remember, you said you'll be eating for two now."
"Right" sighed Colonel Carter as she sat back down, but stood up again when the General opened the door and walked into the Mess Hall.
"Major" said General Landry as he came into the empty Mess Hall, "I was told I'd find you here."
"Sir" said Willow, "I was actually on my way to the infirmary."
"What a surprise" said the General, "I came here to tell you that he's awake."
"A prisoner?" asked Pete.
The General glowered at Pete before turning back to Willow.
"Dr. Jackson and Teal'c are waiting for you before they start…." said the General before Pete interrupted him.
"Can I sit in when you interrogate him?" asked Pete, "better yet, I'd like to interrogate him…. I mean, I've questioned many suspects in my career so it shouldn't be a problem and…."
"Mr. Shanahan" said the General as he took a step towards Pete, "you may do well to remember that you are a guest here… and as a guest there are certain rules that you will follow or else I will rip up your clearance and have you escorted out of this mountain so fast that your head will spin. Is that clear?"
"I can help" said Pete, "your people don't have the experience and…"
"Pete!" said Colonel Carter as she stood up.
"Sam" said Pete.
"My apologies, Sir" said Colonel Carter as she looked at General Landry, "I'll make sure he doesn't cause any problems."
"Fine" said General Landry as he glared at Pete before he turned and walked out the door, "oh Colonel, make sure you finish your food, that's an order."
"Yes, Sir" smiled Colonel Carter as the doors closed behind the General.
"Ma'am" said Willow as she smiled at the Colonel and squeezed her arm, "I'll be going…. Please finish your food."
"Good luck, Willow" said the Colonel as Willow left the Mess Hall. It was then she put her hands on her hips and looked at Pete, "what was that?"
"What?" said a very confused Pete, "I was just offering to help, he didn't have to threaten me."
"Limited clearance" said Colonel Carter, "you have limited clearance which means that you cannot go through the Stargate, you cannot see the Stargate, you don't have access to the secure areas of the base, you don't have access to a lot of things… especially not questioning any prisoners we may or may not have."
"It was just an offer to help" shrugged Pete as he guided the Colonel back onto her chair and kissed her cheek, "hey, what do you wanna name the baby?"
"I haven't really thought about it" said the Colonel as she took another bite of the cake, "maybe Jake if it's a boy, and….. Grace….. yeah, Grace if it's a girl."
"Grace?" said Pete as he shook his head, "I don't like that name, reminds me of my witch of an ex-girlfriend. How about Tommy if it's a boy and Helen if it's a girl?"
"Maybe we don't have to choose right now?" asked the Colonel as she picked up a jello cup and simply looked into space, "we've got time to decide."
"Yep" said Pete as he leaned back and put his hands on his head, "but Tommy and Helen are good names."
"Listen, Pete" said the Colonel as she finished off her cake and two of her Jello cups in rapid succession before signalling to the SF standing by, "go home and relax, it won't do the both of us any good to stay here. I need to help out with whatever's going on."
"Sam" said Pete as he held on to her arm, "you said you won't be taking any risks."
"There is always a risk in the things I do" said the Colonel, "but I won't take unnecessary risks."
"Teach at the academy" said Pete, "you'll be safe."
"Ma'am?" said the SF as he stood in between Pete and the Colonel.
"Sergeant" said Colonel Carter, "please take my husband to the surface."
"Sam" said Pete, "I wanna stay here and…."
"Pete" said the Colonel, "go home, you have work tonight don't you?"
"Yeah" said Pete, "but I've already taken the day off and…."
"Then watch a movie or something" said the Colonel, "I need to stay and do my part….. so, please…. Go home."
"Fine" said Pete, "but I'm telling you that you need to think about the baby more now. It's ridiculous…."
"Pete" said Colonel Carter as she rubbed her temples, "not here… not now."
"Sir" said the SF, "please come with me."
"Sam" said Pete.
"I'll see you tonight, Pete" replied the Colonel as she kissed Pete's cheek.
"Right" said Pete as he watched the Colonel walk out of the Mess Hall carrying the third Jello cup with her.
"Sir" said the SF as he motioned towards the same door, "this way."
"Fine" said Pete as he and the SF left.
SGC Infirmary, ten minutes later.
"Sir" said Willow as she walked into the observation room where General Landry was standing watch. Turning to face the glass, she could see that the prisoner, whose name Teal'c discovered was Volnek, was already restrained. The redhead saw that Teal'c and Daniel were already questioning him.
"Major" said General Landry as he stepped forward, "I want you to ask him some questions, and find out what you can from his thoughts."
"You want me to go in deep, Sir?" asked Willow, "I don't feel comfortable in doing that."
"See what you can pick up without digging too deep" said the General, "I know you want to be ethical about the use of your telepathy, but his people are holding two of our own prisoner. I would prefer to get them back without any casualties from either side. If you don't have to dig, then don't."
"I understand, Sir" said Willow as she nodded her head and went out the side door.
Willow then took the stairs and walked down to the infirmary doors and entered the large room which contained the bed that Volnek was lying on. Willow saw that his feet, arms and neck were restrained before she nodded at Daniel and Teal'c. As Willow stood next to Teal'c and Daniel, she glanced at the observation deck and smiled as Colonel Carter walked into the room and stood next to General Landry while taking another bite from her Jello cup.
"Volnek" said Teal'c as he nodded at Willow, "this is Major Rosenberg."
"Hi" waved Willow as Volnek glared at Willow before he simply stared into space.
"I will no longer speak to any of you" said Volnek.
"Volnek" said Willow, "why did you attack us?"
Volnek continued to simply stare off into space.
"We just want to get our friends back" said Daniel, "and we figured your fellow warriors might want to know that you're still alive. So straight swap, you for them."
"If your friends were truly taken by the Sodan" said Volnek, "then mourn for them, for they will be put to death."
"Volnek" said Willow as she stepped forward, "we reached out to you in peace so that we could combat a foe that's threatening the entire galaxy. An enemy much worse than the Goa'uld."
"Indeed" said Teal'c, "they call themselves the Ori, and they have sent human followers known as Priors to this galaxy to perpetuate the myth that they are gods."
"They are gods" said Volnek as he strained against the restraints around his neck, "they are the true gods I have decided to follow."
Willow then looked at Teal'c and Daniel in surprise.
"You were visited by a Prior?" asked Daniel.
Volnek simply sneered at Daniel and then glared at Teal'c.
"What are the codes to the transportation device?" asked Willow as she stepped forward.
"I will tell you nothing" said Volnek. However, at the same time that he said he would not tell Willow nothing about the codes, he was thinking about the sequence of symbols he pressed to get back to his village.
"Listen" said Willow, "the Priors are bad news, I've seen them destroy entire worlds to punish people for not following them."
"Then that is their punishment" said Volnek.
"Do you truly believe that?" asked Teal'c, "what gods would cause such destruction for them to gain worshippers and prove their existence?"
"I am finished talking" said Volnek.
"How many Sodan warriors protect the transportation device?" asked Willow, "where is your village? And what will happen to Faith and Colonel Mitchell?"
Once she had asked that question, she saw the images that rose to the surface of his mind as he thought about all the Sodan warriors that protected the obelisk, and the surrounding forests. She also saw pictures of his village and the rituals that the Sodan have to go through, especially when a crime such as murder was committed.
"I will tell you nothing more" said Volnek again.
Willow then stepped back until she was next to Daniel and whispered while Teal'c spoke to Volnek.
"We have a problem" she whispered as she walked out of the infirmary with Daniel and walked back up to the observation room.
Once she reached the observation deck, she and Daniel walked in and stood next to the General and Colonel Carter as the four of them watched Volnek get taken out of his restraints by some SF's. Teal'c then put a pair of handcuffs on him and ordered the SF's to take him to one of the holding rooms, before he too walked up to the observation deck. Once Teal'c had walked up to the observation deck, Willow had begun the mini-briefing.
"Sir, ma'am" said Willow looking at both the General and Colonel Carter, "I didn't read deep into his mind, honestly I didn't have to do anything… all his memories came up to the surface despite him refusing to answer any of the questions. First of all, the Sodan are all over the place, they're all around the forest… they use some kind of a cloaking technology I've never seen before."
"In what way?" asked the Colonel.
"For example" said Willow, "when we brought the timeship back to the SGC the first time, we wanted to test the cloak and if my abilities worked while I was standing outside the ship."
"And if I remember correctly, you were able to read my mind while you were outside the ship" said the Colonel.
"Right" replied Willow, "but on the Sodan planet, I couldn't read any thoughts…. Nor could I receive anything at all. Usually people would be thinking loud since they don't know I'm a telepath and so I have to tune things out, but some still filter through."
"So when someone is thinking of something" said Daniel, "like making a plan of attack, you should be able to tell. Right?"
"Yeah" said Willow, "but this time I wasn't able to tell anything, and that's while they were cloaked."
"They have an advantage" said Teal'c, "the perfect attack, and defence."
"Yeah" said Willow.
"So they have warriors all over the forest?" asked the Colonel.
"Yes, ma'am" said Willow, "even if we send in multiple teams, we would suffer losses from our side. It would most likely be a massacre."
"Suggestions?" asked the General, "I don't intend on losing more of our people, nor do I intend on shedding more blood of the people who could be an useful ally."
"We could take the Ancient ship, Sir" said Colonel Carter, "we can cloak it and fly it through the Stargate. We could use the on-board systems to track the signals from Faith's and Colonel Mitchell's transmitters so that we could get their location."
"The ship's at Area 51" said the General, "and its cloak has been disassembled for study so that the generator for the F-302S would be built. That's how we made our own generator, remember?"
"Sir" said Colonel Carter, "Willow, Dr. Lee and I can get it flying cloaked within a week, I know we'll be able to rebuild it. At worst it could take us about two weeks."
"Ma'am" said Willow as she turned towards Colonel Carter, "according to the images I got from Volnek, the both of them will be going through some kind of a ritualistic trial by combat. It's supposed to be to the death, so….."
"Time frame?" asked the General.
"One to two weeks, sir" said Willow as she ran her hand through her hair, "something about training for this ritual which is itself complicated."
"I see" said General Landry.
"And in the mean time?" asked Daniel.
"We should question Volnek" said Teal'c as the General nodded.
"Sir?" said Colonel Carter, "permission to fly to Area 51."
"You have a go" said the General as he nodded at the Colonel and Willow, "but I am ordering you to be careful. Major Rosenberg is in charge of making sure that you eat properly and don't get too stressed."
"Of course, Sir" said both the Colonel and Willow as she looked at each other and smiled before they walked out of the room to get Dr. Lee and head out to Area 51. They had to get back Faith and Colonel Mitchell.
TBC.