MEMOIRS OF
MAJOR GENERAL JACK O’NEILL
(Re-activated)
1. La Haia
Chapter Two
By Arrietty
2008
The slave trader pulled a familiar grey object out of his pocket. Memories of Neeron’s glee as he showed me this contraption flitted through my mind. “This one inflicts the mark,” he said while pointing to a small button, “While this one takes it away. Remember, never remove the line down the centre of the arm, this is the brand to show that they are slaves. This way they can’t escape.”
My body tensed waiting for the pain. The worst I could expect would be a like a knife cutting into my skin. I could handle that.
The doohickey was warm as it touched my skin. One of the men knelt painfully into my shoulder, while another pulled my arm out straight, leaning back with all his weight to maintain the tension in my arm and keep it still. I grimaced from the pain. A malicious sneer was plastered on the leader’s face as he pressed the button on the left. The machine started to hum and my skin under it began to tingle. It felt like a red hot knife was slammed down through my flesh, muscle and finally it bit through the bones right through to the other side.
I screamed in agony, thrashing against my assailants, trying to throw them off me. The excruciating pain travelled down my arm, cutting through sinew and bone, splitting my arm apart. I lashed out with one of my feet, hearing a grunt of pain before a heavy weight land on my leg to hold it down. Sweat ran in rivulets down my body soaking into the ground beneath me. The pain reached its peak and I passed out.
I awoke to the shock of a bucket of cold water being emptied over my head. Startled, I started to sit up only to find four great oafs were still sitting on me. I looked down at my arm expecting to find it rendered in two beside me. But miraculously, there was only a red line, less than an inch in length, just below the crook of my elbow that emanated a dull throbbing pain. I looked around for La Haia. Someone had trussed her up and she was lying on her side, tears were still flowing freely down her cheeks. I turned back to my aggressor.
“You see, slave,” he leaned in close to me, “The first cut is always the worst, but of course most slaves are weak and faint at the least bit of pain and miss the rest of the branding. You on the other hand will not miss out.”
I found myself shrinking in fear as he placed the terrible machine back onto my arm and pressed the button. This time there was no tingle, just excruciating pain. My jaw clenched and a familiar metallic taste filled my mouth as I bit right through my bottom lip. One of the goons pried my jaw open, and thrust a piece of leather between my teeth. My face was released and my teeth sank hard into the leather.
Each time they brought me around, I always lashed out, managing to kick or punch someone. I could hear murmurings of dissent from the remaining slaves at my treatment, but I couldn’t work out what they were doing different; surely they had this mark on their arms too.
A pale sickly looking moon was high in the sky by the time they had finished with me. A large fire had been built up near us so I was able to see the shocked and worried faces as they anxiously watched me.
I couldn’t move my arm. A dark red line ran down from my elbow to just above my wrist and I regretted having such long arms. There were two more lines that ran at right angles causing my arm to look like demented tic-tac-toe board. The flesh either side of my arm was raised and inflamed and my hand throbbed in time to my heart beat. Slowly, one by one, the men released their hold on me. In anger I kicked out with one leg, effectively tripping up one of the men. I felt a sliver of satisfaction as I watched him fall face down to the ground.
Everyone stopped laughing after he picked himself up and walked back to me. He brought back his foot and booted me in the side. I had used up all my strength with that last kick and was unable to ward off the blow. I heard the crack seconds before the pain registered as my ribs were fractured. Curled up into a ball hugging my injured arm to my chest, I tried not to sob with the added pain. I lay helpless as they moved towards La Haia.
“No!” I called weakly. No one heard me. “No.”
She thrashed and kicked. One guy knelt on her shoulder and I waited for the inevitable. I was in too much pain to smile while I watched La Haia sink her teeth into the man’s calf muscle. He screamed with pain and hit La Haia across the face. La Haia just laughed at him.
The man caught hold of La Haia’s hair and dragged her towards the other men. Between them, they held her down and he placed the machine onto La Haia’s arm and switched it on. She cried out in pain. They nearly reached the end of her arm before she passed out. The leader continued to brand her without waking her. I relaxed, I knew she wouldn’t feel pain if she was unconscious. When they had finished they quickly untied the ropes that bound her and left her lying on the ground. The whole operation had only taken three minutes at the most. I know because I had looked at my watch. I was sure it had taken longer with me.
Still hugging my arm, I rolled over onto my back. A shadow moved in front of me, and then a man’s face came into my view.
“Ti ekunness nu se kopsoon etsi?” he asked in Ellinika.
“I don’t know what you mean by a deep cut; please explain,” I answered in English their universal tongue. I couldn’t wrap my brain around translating my thoughts into another language. He shook his head and asked if someone knew universal language.
“ego xerro,” a woman said.
Another shadow joined the first one before it moved away.
“I know,” she repeated in English. “We want to know what terrible thing that you have done to warrant such a bad cut like that?” she asked.
I tilted my head to the side to look at her. “I don’t understand, isn’t that what you all have?” I asked.
She shook her head and said, “No. Only the really bad slaves get one of those. It will cause you much pain for a long time.”
I moved my head side-to-side slowly. “Nothing,” I whispered, “I did nothing.” I turned over onto my side and curled into a ball and tried to bury the pain.
~*~
I awoke the next morning to a hand gently touching my face. I opened my eyes a crack. There was a face but it was out of focus. I shut my eyes, squeezing them tight before opening them again and my vision was clearer this time around. My head was supported by Sam Carter’s legs and she was looking at me with sad eyes.
“Carper,” I croaked out between swollen lips.
She frowned.
I tried again. “Carter.” Pain joined the sadness in her eyes. I couldn’t work out where we were. “Where are Teal’c and Daniel?”
Carter lifted something to her mouth, bit off the end and spat it onto the ground. It was a dull green vegetable. She carefully opened my mouth and pushed a gooey sweet substance onto my tongue. It stung my lips. I swallowed. She then tried to lift me into a sitting position.
“Ack.” My shoulder hurt, in fact everything hurt. I rested my head back onto her legs. It certainly was a lot less painful there and the view was fantastic.
“Carter?” Her face wavered and swam before me. “Where are we?”
{“Jacob, we need your help.” - Daniel falling to the ground; smoke billowing from his chest. - Sam’s lifeless body in my arms.}
I opened my eyes and looked into La Haia’s tear-filled ones. “La Haia, are you okay?” I asked and she smiled immediately
I could hear the rustle of movement and then the clink of chains as people began to stand. I wanted to close my eyes again; be back where I was only a few moments ago – with Sam – not here – a slave.
I looked down at my arm. It was still marked with the dark red lines. I reached over to touch it. “No!” An urgent whisper came from above me. I stared up at La Haia. She looked as shocked as I felt. She had spoken again. I chose not to pursue it this time.
With La Haia’s help, I struggled to stand. Leaning heavily with my left arm across her shoulders, I hobbled along with the rest of the slaves as we were moved along the road.
I knew from experience that the chains would chaff our ankles raw in no time. La Haia and I tucked the bottom of our pant legs under the rough cast iron shackles, which gave us some semblance of protection. But it wasn’t enough to protect my softened feet that had been encased in military issue boots for so many years. Within hours they were bruised and bleeding, making it much harder to walk. Although I was satisfied to see that La Haia’s hard slave life had toughened her bare feet and they were unharmed. At least something good had come out of her enslavement.
Sharp stabbing pains pierced my innards with each jolting step. And, to make matters worse, the hot sun beat down onto our unprotected heads, making us feel weak and dizzy.
~*~
At noon we stopped for a break. It wasn’t until then I realised we were actually retracing our steps we had only just made the previous day. La Haia couldn’t carry the added weight when my legs collapsed beneath me and I landed heavily on the ground. We had stopped not a moment too soon.
My mouth dry, I waited patiently as the water bucket worked its way around the many slaves as each person took one ladle full. The way I felt right then, I’d have drunk the whole bucket, but it wasn’t to be. The slave traders watched our every move and I was lucky we received a full ladle. Then we were all given a bowl of mush our only meal for the day. The mush was cold and gluggy, I had no idea when they had made it, most probably the night before. I watched everyone, including La Haia gulp down the sludge. Realising this needed to be eaten; I joined the other slaves and ate it quickly, but not successfully avoiding my damaged lip. They let us rest for an hour before continuing on our journey.
By the evening, I could barely place my feet on the ground. The pain in my arm, shoulder and side were overpowered by severe throbbing in my feet and ankles. When we stopped for the night, we were given another ladle of water, and a blanket each. I noticed that the others had been carrying ones during the day. I was pleased to have one as I knew it would be cold tonight because there was no signs of a fire which I had seen the previous night.
I wrapped the blanket around me and curled up into a ball and tried to sleep. I heard a clink then a shuffle and I felt a hand touch my good shoulder. I reluctantly opened my eyes and saw a hand in front of my face waving a small husk. I took it thankfully, broke off one end and carefully sucked out the contents. I wondered how many of these La Haia had saved. All of mine had been taken or fallen from my pockets and clothing when I had first been tranquilised by the dart.
When I had finished I closed my eyes. I heard another clink of a chain then La Haia pressed up against my back. We slept back to back, trying to keep warm through the still night.
~*~
My internal clock woke me just before dawn, as I had intended. My whole body ached and protested when I sat up. Shivering in the pre-dawn air, I pulled off my blanket taking care not to knock my arm. The inflammation had begun to go down the previous night and I wondered what it would look like this morning.
I ripped strips off my blanket and tightly bound my tattered feet. I couldn’t see them in the pre-dawn light, and to be honest, I didn’t want to see what state they were in. They probably weren’t a very pretty sight anyway. And I certainly wasn’t looking forward to walking on my feet, but I knew I would have no choice.
The horses became unsettled as the clang of pots and pans startled them. I watched quietly while sitting amongst the slumbering slaves, the trader stoked up a small fire and set up a pot on a trivet. My salivary glands went into over time as I imagined what they were cooking. We were downwind and soon the aroma of frying bacon wafted over to where we lay when they added a frying pan to the fire. My belly rumbled with hunger. It was so loud, I’m sure it would awaken La Haia.
~*~
Early morning mist hung low along the road and in the valleys. This time, I was able to walk unaided. The woollen blanket strips tied around my feet had made all the difference. There was a chill in the air and I pulled the remnant of blanket over my shoulders.
La Haia hadn’t spoken again since she had stopped me from touching my arm. I found out why she had warned me. The first time I bumped my arm, excruciating pain encompassed my arm and shoulder. I had tried to wrap my arm, but again, anything touching it only made it worse. It was a very effective way of controlling the slave population. It would make it hard to conceal the mark in anyway without causing undue duress.
One of the traders had been taking an interest in La Haia ever since we had been brought into camp. At her silent plea, I had managed to keep out of it. Each time he had started to talk to her, La Haia had ignored him and when he had tried to touch her shoulder to get her attention, she had deftly avoided contact. By the end of the second day, he was angry with her.
“What’s your name?” he asked her for the tenth time. Swearing, he grabbed her by the upper arm and pulled her around to face him. Everyone stopped walking; fearfully waiting to see what would happen. I tensed my tired and sore muscles, ready to spring into action, not that I would be of any use in my state.
The trader took one look into La Haia’s eyes. Her feelings were obvious as she looked at him with disdain and loathing. In anger the trader brought up a closed fist, I lunged but I was too late as his fist hit her in the face. Using my shackled wrists I hit him across his shoulders and he fell to the ground. I was filled with fury at this despicable man. It was hard to stride, but I did the best I could and I bent down to hoist him up – to hit him again.
Without warning, my feet were yanked from beneath me and I crashed painfully to the ground. There were now two traders. I started to climb to my feet expecting to be beaten by these two thugs. They both sneered maliciously. I waited, my body so full of adrenalin I could barely feel any pain from my injuries. The trader who had tripped me, yanked hard on the chain, pulling me closer. This was not what I had expected.
“Jack!” Another warning from La Haia was spoken from the ground where she had fallen.
But my reactions were too slow. The trader reached out and gripped my forearm, pulling me to my feet in the process. His rough calloused hand encircled the brand on my arm. Instantly, a sharp pain travelled the length of the slice, he then gripped tighter. My legs turned to jell-o and collapsed under me and I fell to my knees. I yelled in agony as the pain moved up my arm into my shoulder and throughout my body. My vision started to turn black, tinged with red. Every nerve end screamed with pain, I could feel myself begin to black-out just seconds before he released my arm. I knelt on the stony ground, pulling on all my reserves of strength, but they failed me and I slipped into darkness.
~*~
I was abruptly awakened by a bucket of freezing water tipped over my head. I was ‘helped to my feet’ to put it politely, by the two traders and told in no uncertain terms to move it. My head was swimming and my vision bleary. Immediately, La Haia was by my side supporting me.
We trudged along the stony road. The pain in my arm was still so severe that I couldn’t walk unassisted. I remembered the time I had grabbed La Haia’s arm, guilt was now added to my distress. I couldn’t believe I had caused this woman so much pain. I stumbled along through the rest of the journey, in a daze.
~*~
I must have eventually passed out. I certainly don’t remember everyone stopping and making camp. Something cool was laid across my arm. Opening my eyes I found La Haia. She gave me an anxious smile and placed another dark green leaf on my arm. Now I was worried. My complete arm, including my hand was swollen to nearly twice its size. The flesh surrounding the brand was inflamed to an angry red. I couldn’t see any bushes or trees nearby where she could’ve got these leaves, so she must have collected them along the journey. I watched her gently bind the leaves onto my arm with a strip of blanket in the dimming light. Too tired to speak, I let my lids close.
“Master.” A soft voice penetrated though the fog in my mind. “Master, drink this.” I felt my head lifted and a cup placed against my swollen lip.
It hurt.
I opened my eyes.
La Haia spoke again. “Master, you must drink.”
“You speak?” My voice was croaky and strained. As I opened my mouth to speak again she took the opportunity to get the water inside me. I choked on the tepid water. Carefully, I pushed myself into a sitting position. The world stayed still - no swirling or spinning involved – this must be a good sign. I drank greedily from the cup that she still held.
“Slow,” she admonished and I obeyed.
I noticed that I wasn’t attached by a chain to the others nor was La Haia. And it was midday.
“What happened? I asked her. Last I remembered it was early in the morning. The scenery had definitely changed and the sun was now high in the sky. Had I walked without knowing it?
La Haia pointed to my arm that was still swollen, but not as bad - thankfully. And then she pointed to one of the horses. You didn’t need to be a brain surgeon to work out that I’d travelled this far on the back of a horse – ‘Sack of spuds O’Neill.’ But I wanted to hear her voice again.
“La Haia. How did I travel?”
She pointed to the horse.
“No, La Haia, you must tell me, I know you can speak.”
She turned her head away. I gave up I was too tired. Instead, I ate the sludge they called food. How anyone could survive on this much was beyond me. If it weren’t for the husks La Haia had collected and saved, I don’t know what would have happened.
I sensed La Haia stiffen beside me before scuttling around behind my back. I looked up to see what or who she could be frightened of. Neeron. I couldn’t believe it. Neeron was making his way to the summer sales in the big city by the Stargate. I clambered shakily to my feet. It didn’t help with La Haia clutching at my back and then my pant legs, trying to stop me from doing what I was about to do.
“Neeron,” I croaked.
Unhindered by the chain, I was able to move closer. La Haia followed closely, hanging onto the back of my t-shirt. This man, who I was hoping would save us, had a lot to answer for, especially what he had done to Carter, but now was not he time to follow that one up.
“Neeron!” I had found my voice and it boomed across the area. Adrenalin kicked in and I strode across the space. Two traders immediately came to knock me down.
“Neeron!” I yelled again. “It is I, Jack O’Neill. Tell these men who I am.” I was now standing directly in front of him, he held out his hand to the traders to stop them from attacking me again. A myriad of thoughts crossed his face as he weighed the pros and cons of what I’d just said.
He finally made his decision. “This man is a free man. How did you come by him?” he asked the head trader. Who was by now looking exceedingly nervous. He stammered as he spoke.
“I didn’t know. He fought a lot, so we just . . .” His voice petered out as he saw the anger on Neeron’s face.
“Did you ask?” The trader nervously shook his head. “Untie him.” Neeron then turned to me as the traders released my shackles from my ankles.
I quickly caught hold of La Haia’s good arm. “She is mine,” I stated. Neeron nodded. Our recent captors replaced her iron shackles with a rope. I didn’t object.
Neeron turned to me before speaking. “You are free to go, but I won’t be able to help you again.”
I nearly requested that we travel with him, but I sensed that this would not be a good idea. Pulling on the rope that bound La Haia, I quickly walked into the hills, with only the clothes on our backs and the one and a half blankets we had acquired.
We had walked for thirty minutes before I staggered, my legs buckled beneath me as all strength fled at once. La Haia struggled to help me to stay standing. Half dragging, half supporting, we made our way into a small overhang. I fell heavily to the ground. We were free.
~*~
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