And then there were Pygmies and Giants
The fight.
The fight was the same every time they went through the gate; Jack thought it was his duty to go first as the leader of the team to protect his people. Teal’c had always gone first anytime he went through the gate to protect Apophis and now he had something that was much more important than Apophis ever was, his friends. He would do anything possible to protect all of them including Jack and that was where the fight was. Jack also thought that it was his job to protect his team and that included Teal’c. The big Jaffa almost always won but it was a fight all the same. There were times when Sam would get tired of waiting to see who would win this time and just go through. This time it didn’t take them as long to get through the preliminaries which meant that Teal’c went through and Jack was right behind him.
Teal’c stepped out into the hot humid jungle area that surrounded the Stargate. He turned in all directions observing everything and looking for any kind of threat. It seemed that all was clear for the moment as his friends came though. All of them were on the alert for dangers as they shook off the dizziness and cold of gate travel. They had seen the MALP footage and knew that it was going to be hot and dark under the canopy of leaves. They could nearly drink the air it was so humid, all of them were beginning to sweat except Teal’c; he looked like he was enjoying the heat.
They all knew that the Jaffa were conditioned to live on warm worlds and to fight in heavy armor in that heat, the one thing that the Goa’uld and the Jaffa all hated was cold. They could survive in the cold to a degree if it wasn’t too cold but it was not comfortable. The Jaffa could handle the cold better than the Goa’uld could but they didn’t like it much and the larva that they carried couldn’t take the cold for long.
The trees were massive standing several hundred feet tall, it was hard to see in the dark even though it was noon from the small amount of light that was coming through the thick growth of trees. There were hills all around them, also hard to see through the thick trees but it was there all the same.
“Okay Daniel, which way to your village this time.”
“I don’t know this time, we weren’t able to use the UAV to get a location of the village or see what it was like. All we have is the information that came back from the MALP letting us know that there are humans here.”
Teal’c cut into the conversation. “It would be easiest to follow the path which should lead to the village.”
Jack didn’t bother with a sarcastic comment about the path or that was what he was going to do, sarcasm was not the way to do things with the big guy.
He just waved him ahead, Daniel walked with Teal’c with Jack and Sam bringing up the rear. Everyone was watching what was going on around them with a sharp eye in an unknown situation. They had no idea what was around the corner or in the next group of thick trees. They were all tense and had their fingers on the triggers of their weapons to save that split second which could be all that stood between life and death for any of them. Jack had learned early on in his field days that it was very bad if you were not prepared when something went down. He saw that happen to one of his friends which was in a formation that was ahead of his. When they were attacked the man that was with him had hesitated for a split second which was all it took to get his best friend killed and the man that was with him severely wounded. From that moment on he was always ready and taught everybody around him to do the same. Even Daniel was ready for action after serving all this time with him.
They were all having a nice conversation as the walked along even though they were on the lookout for trouble, in the case of Daniel and Teal’c it was Daniel talking and Teal’c half way paying attention to what he was saying. Sam was telling him what she was going to be doing in her lab when they got back and was very excited about the upcoming experiment. That caused him to look like he was interested while zoning out and trying to watch everything that was going on around him. He gave a few comments on how interesting it all was but he was not going to ask a question that would let her go on with the explanation of how something worked. He was doing the same thing that Teal’c was doing with Daniel.
They had walked for about five miles along the path before they came to a clearing which was along a river and was the location of the village. They were all small huts that were made from the surrounding forest, there were several canoes along the river that were used for easy transport up and down the river. All that was interesting and great for Daniel to gather information on primitive tribal villages and cultures but it was noting to do with their mission to find allies and advanced weapons to help defend Earth. The next big surprise came when all the people started coming out of the huts to see them. Nobody stood taller then three and a half feet. Daniel was looking closely at the group of men that were coming out to see them. He gave a shudder then moved back to stand beside Jack.
“We need to leave as quickly as possible without looking like we’re running.”
“What’s the problem?”
“Do you see those small bones that most of the men have in their noses and hair?”
“Yes.”
“That is a tribal marking that distinguishes this tribe from any other, those bones are from the hand of a human and if I were better able to look at one of them I could tell you for sure but I would stake my reputation that those are from the right hand at the joint between the hand and first knuckle. The stringy things that they have tied around their waist are human scalps.”
Jack looked dumbfounded at what he was saying. Sam had overheard what he was saying and so had Teal’c. “These people were cannibals and we got here just in time for supper.”
“You’re right, we do need to leave.” They started to back out and away from the group of men that were making slow steady movements in their direction. They heard a rattling noise from both sides and from behind them. Jack and Sam both cut loose with the P90’s which cleared a small path. All of them saw that they were being hit with darts that were about three inches long, their Alice vest kept the darts that had been fired from hitting them. They all started to run to get away from a very bad situation. Jack told Teal’c to watch Daniel and have the gate open and ready to go when they got there. Jack and Sam were going to be covering their six so that they could all hopefully get home one more time.
Jack suddenly felt dizzy and his vision started to blur. His knees started to get week and he was stumbling. Sam saw that was happening and took action. There was a cave close by that she was able to get him into before he fell. It was a good defensible position but they were trapped. The Colonel was lying down on the floor of the cave and he wasn’t moving. Sam took a moment to check him and found one of the dart things on the left side of his leg. She carefully pulled it out and put it into a specimen tin so that she or one of the others didn’t accidentally prick themselves with the dart. She would need it to analyze what the poison or whatever it was on the dart could be and find an antidote or Janet would, she was the medical doctor. Jack was still breathing and he was moving his arms a little now.
The Pygmies or whatever these people were had a habit of rattling gourds before they attacked. It was very annoying to her when she heard them start rattling those things knowing that they were going to be coming in to get them. She was taking her time and aiming carefully with each of her shots to take out one or two at a time as they came into the opening of the cave. She had been hit several times with more of the darts but she had been lucky that they had not gone into her skin or they would be cooked, literally.
She was able to call Teal’c and Daniel letting them know what was going on and that she would need help with getting out with the Colonel. Daniel dialed Earth and gave them the message that they had a medical emergency and needed all the firepower that they had to get Jack and Sam out of trouble.
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General George Hammond was having a hard time containing his base CMO. Dr. Janet Fraser was almost running in circles with worry about the report about the dart that was in Jack and that he wasn’t moving much at all. So far that was all the information that they had and she wanted to go to the planet in order to see that he wasn’t in any kind of respiratory distress. She got on the microphone with Daniel while the other SG teams were gearing up to ask more questions about his condition. Daniel relayed the message to Sam and she was doing the test while watching the entrance of the cave. The first thing that Janet wanted her to do was ask a question that would cause him to think for a moment before he answered but not so hard that he couldn’t answer it. She was told to start simple and work her way up to the more complicated question. Sam bent over him carefully and was thinking about asking him if he knew what her middle name was. She knew that he knew everything about her like her mothers name and her middle name; she would do as Janet had asked and start simple.
“Colonel O’Neill what is your first name?”
He was just lying there and did not answer her. “Sir, can you hear me?”
No response. She reported her finding to Daniel who reported them to Janet. She told him to have her shine a flashlight into his eyes to see if his pupils contracted or stay fixed. She shined the light into his eyes and the contracted but he did not look away like he always did when Janet shined her pin light into his eyes. This bothered her, she didn’t know if he was dying or what. His breathing was still good but he wasn’t moving his legs much and he would not answer her. She reported her findings to Daniel who sent them on to Janet. Sam was crying now and stroked his cheek while leaning over him. A tear dropped onto his face causing him to blink. It was a reaction and she was so excited that she bent down and kissed him. He was kissing her back and she knew that he was in there somewhere but how was she going to get to him.
The rattling started at the front of the cave again and she needed to defend them so she took up her position preparing for the assault. Five of the Pygmies tried the attack all at the same time this time. She was good with the weapon though and was able to take them all out although two of the darts did hit the wall beside her head this time. She noticed that they would come in and drag the bodies out but if they didn’t use the rattles then they were not attacking. She went back over to kiss him again, this time he not only kissed her back he used his hands to deepen the kiss; she felt his tongue brush her lips and knew that she was still conscious. She started tapping on his chest in Morris code.
“Yes, I understand you. I can’t see anything and I can’t hear anything, my legs won’t move below the knee and I don’t feel anything below the knee.”
She could see a tear forming at the corners of his eyes and knew this was really scaring him. She tapped out that help was on the way and to hold out. He found her hand and gently squeezed it. “It doesn’t seem to be getting any worse and I’m not having any trouble breathing but it’s so lonely in here like this. I want to hear you and see what you’re doing but now I wouldn’t even know if you’re in the room unless you touch me or tap a message on my chest. Good thinking by the way, I guess that’s why you get all the genius awards as well as the most beautiful scientist.”
That got him another kiss then the damn rattling started again. They were learning that this was a bad idea after they lost four more. They started moving out of the area but she wasn’t sure that they really were, it could be a ploy to get them out of the cave and then attack them at their leisure. She would enjoy a long hot bath but being in their cooking pot was not the same thing. She soon heard the sound of automatic weapons firing in the distance as the natives were making their retreat much quicker than before.
She went back over to the Colonel and ran her hand across his face again letting him know that she was there for him. She tapped out that she could hear the rescue team coming in the distance and they should be going home soon to fine out how to fix this. That got a small smile out of him; he pulled her down to him again and just held her for a long time. She was watching the entrance of the cave but she couldn’t help but melt into his arms and the warm embrace especially with all that he had going on right now. It seemed like it was only a few minuets before she was getting a call on the radio from Daniel wanting to know where they were. She gave directions to them and soon she had medics coming in to check on both of them with a stretcher for Jack. She tapped out what they were doing so he wouldn’t be too upset with all of the handling without any idea as to what was happening.
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Janet was still upset with the General because he would not let her go to the planet to see what was happening to Jack. It would seem that he was not going to let her go into a dangerous situation when the medics could do the same job and that was what they were being paid to do.
The medics took nearly and hour to get him checked and set onto the back board with a neck brace and strapped onto the litter. Sam stayed with him the entire time never letting go of his hand except when he was being worked and they needed to get in where she was. There wasn’t much room in the small cave so Daniel and Teal’c were forced to stay outside with the Marines who were guarding the area. They were still being attacked at times but the incidence of that happening was getting to be less and less. If the Marines saw movement they would just shoot in that direction knowing that all of them were close and it had to be the natives. The natives would still start rattling and attack now and then which gave Daniel the opportunity to get some of the things that he wanted to study like the blowgun and the small pouch of darts. He took some of the scalps and a couple of the bones to study them and analyze as well.
When the medics finally came out carrying Jack the only thing that was sticking out of the bundle was the hand that Sam was holding. Jack had refused to let her go or they would have had that in the bundle also.
Jack was fighting to keep his sanity, he was in a dark room that had no sound while being jostled around. He was afraid that he may be stuck in this room forever and he knew that he couldn’t take that for long. They had put him in a sweat box back in Iraq as a prisoner and there was no light in there, just the oppressing heat. Back then he could at least he could talk to himself but now he was in the dark and nothing was there except the heat and the touch of Sam. He knew that he was going home now but that didn’t help the panicked feeling that he was never going to get better. If that was the case then they might as well leave him here for the cannibals because his life was over if he wasn’t going to get any better. At least the Cannibals would make good use of him and it would be over quickly instead of dying of madness all alone in the dark. His only salvation was that Sam was holding his hand. He would hang on like she had said and do what he had to as long as she was there to help him.
Daniel saw them walking out of the cave but there wasn’t room for Sam to walk beside the litter so she had to hold back until they got out of the cave then she took his hand again. Daniel was upset that this was happening to his friend and noticed that Sam wouldn’t let go of his hand unless she needed to tap out a message to him. She would have to get the medics carrying the litter to stop long enough let her communicate with him. Daniel watched as they got close to the Stargate she had them stop again long enough to let him know that they were going through the gate. That way he would be prepared and not think that it was something that was happening to his body from the dart again.
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Janet was standing in the embarkation room when they brought Jack and his team back. She was a little taken aback when she saw Sam come through holding Jack’s hand and not taking her eyes off him until he was being put on the gurney and whisk off to the infirmary. Janet had taken over as soon as he was at the bottom of the ramp but Sam stopped her so she could tap out what was happening to him and where he was going.
Jack got the message that he was back at the SGC and being taken to the infirmary but he didn’t want to let go of her hand. He knew that the General was going to be close by and he didn’t want the General asking questions about them so he let her go. Jack asked Sam to come down to see him as soon as possible so she could let him know what was happening.
General Hammond saw what was happening and he knew what Jack was going through not being able to see or hear anything. He had spent time in a prison camp himself in Vietnam when he was shot down and had to bail out over enemy territory. He had spent several months in a camp before he was able to get away and it was the hardest thing that he had ever done to leave the other prisoners behind. He vowed that he would come back to get them but he wasn’t able to let any of them know that he was leaving or how. They had ways of finding out if someone had an escape plan. It didn’t take the other prisoners long to find out who was doing the snitching on them when they would get more rations than the others and less beatings from the guards.
He had spent time in the hole for beating one of the informants nearly to death and it was the worst time in his life being down in that hole with nothing but a bamboo grid over the top of him while they left him without food or water for days on end. He would have to wait for the rain to drink anything and then he was waist deep in water that was fouled by his waste. The would take delight in covering his hole with a thick layer of the large leaves that were in abundance around the area and not letting in any air or light. He would push them out of the way now and then but he knew that he would be beat for doing it. He needed air though and it was a case of getting the air or dying so the beatings were expected but necessary to survive. He hated the dark closed off feeling and to this day he felt claustrophobic if he was in a small dark room. If he was caught like that he had to get out no matter what. His office was deep underground but there was plenty of light and room so he was able to stand it.
General Hammond had read all of the reports that pertained to Colonel Jack O’Neill and he knew what the sweat box was like. Combined with what he had been through himself in Vietnam this was going to be a very hard time for the Colonel to keep his sanity. George was just hoping that this was only going to be temporary and not permanent. If it took very long to get this resolved they may end up just putting him in the mental hospital to be heavily medicated for the rest of his life and that was no way to live for a man of action. If it came to that he would do one last thing for his friend the man he had thought of as a son for years now. He would be better off dead than to suffer for years in that kind of hell.
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Sam went through her post mission physical with speed and got her shower then she went down to the room where Jack was being kept in one of the isolation rooms and away from the other people in the infirmary. He couldn’t see or hear them but Janet didn’t want him being stared at while he was in this condition. She cared too much for him to let that happen. Sam knocked on the door and walked in to see Janet getting frustrated by not being able to ask him any questions while she was trying to figure out how to best help him. Sam had given the dart that she had and Daniel had given them some of the darts that he had collected to get then analyzed. That wouldn’t be done for a while so she was doing what she could. Sam came in and started tapping on his chest to communicate with him and to let him know that she was there. Janet was watching her and asked her what she was doing as Sam took his hand.
“I’m using Morris code to communicate with him, it’s the only way I can with him not being able to see or hear anything. He did say that his legs are not working below the knees as well while we were in the cave.”
“Ask him if anything has changed at all in the last couple of hours, good or bad.”
Sam knew that he would get a sore chest if she kept tapping him there so she turned his hand over and used the palm of his hand to relay the message. He answered her himself but didn’t let go of Sam’s hand.
“No change at this time good or bad, the legs are still numb and I cannot move my feet or toes, I can lift my legs with my thighs but I don’t know where they will stay and I cannot get them back down if I do so it’s best to just leave them down. I can’t see anything and I can’t hear anything, but other than that I’m not having any other problem other than I need to pee.”
Sam was turning red but Janet was happy that he was feeling good enough to try and make them laugh. Janet looked over at Sam and how red she was then she had to tease her some also. “So do you want the honor of holding the urinal for him, I’ll just leave now thank you.” Then she turned and left. She didn’t have the door open before Sam was closing it in front of her.
“No you don’t, this is going to be your job or a nurses, if you need help though I will be willing to do that.”
Janet was grinning at her when she answered her. “I don’t think it’s going to be that heavy, but if you want to stay so that we can communicate that would be good.”
Sam was turning red again but she went back over to the bed and helped Janet. Janet took the urinal and simply put it in Jack’s hand so he could do what he needed to do. She was not going to catheterize him with him being able to control his bodily functions but he was not going to like the bedpan and she knew that it was going to be a fight as soon as the problem arrived.
Jack didn’t know who was in the room if anybody so he had no problem using the urinal after it was handed to him. Sam and Janet just watched without saying a word even though he couldn’t hear anything anyway. Janet went out of the room to see if any of the reports were back yet on what was on the darts and what they could use to repair the damage. So far though this was the perfect drug for the cannibals to use, it would immobilize the victim and let them do what they needed to do even if it was not for a while. They were still breathing and had no problem with the heart or other internal organs, they just couldn’t see, hear or walk away.
Janet had taken the urinal and disposed of it after she got a sample to analyze to see if there was anything that was useful for diagnosing his problem then she shut the door behind her. The bed railing was down so that Sam could get to his hand easer to be able to tap out the messages. When she tapped out that Janet was gone and the door was closed he did what she wanted him to do and pulled her into his arms. She knew that he was her commanding officer but he wasn’t right now. He was on medical leave so he was not commanding her at this moment so she was more than willing to be in that position. She had wanted to do this sort of thing for a long time now and she knew that he felt the same way. She was going to do everything she could to get him better and if not then she was willing to spend the rest of her life taking care of him.
She knew that he would feel bad about it but she didn’t care, she had been in love with him for a long time now and this was what she wanted. After that kiss in the cave it was time to move things to the next level.
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The next morning Janet came into the room to find that Sam was asleep in the chair next to the bed with her hand on his arm. That way Jack would know that she was there even though he was asleep also. Janet gently woke her and told her to go clean up and get some sleep in her own bed. Janet told her that she would take care of the Colonel and there was nothing to worry about. If anything changed she would send someone to get her right away.
Sam didn’t want to leave but her back was sore from sitting in the chair all night and she had some things that she had to do like getting her mission report done so that she could get that turned in. The General had told her that they would be doing the debriefing at 1400 hours today and it was already 0800 hours, she had time for a short nap before the meeting.
Daniel had been working on the writings that were on the blowgun and trying to find anything that would relate to the village or the neurotoxin that was being used. They didn’t have anything like it on Earth; the closest thing was the South American Indians use of Poison Dart frog which is applied to their arrows and darts. He was going through all of the poisons that he could find and there were hundreds but none matched what he had found on the planet with the Pygmies. The natives of the planet must have found an insect or animal that gave them the desired effect.
Janet had an emergency that she had to attend to when a couple of the Marines came in. They had been practicing with live blades, ( no cover on the blades) when one of them made a move that was a mistake and got cut pretty deep. That was one of the reasons that it was not allowed on the base but they were new and didn’t know about the restriction. Janet came close and the young Marine tried to show her the cut which when he uncovered it let the artery freely spray all over her face, hair and clothing before he could get it covered again. That was bad but when the man that had brought him down saw the blood spray he couldn’t hold his breakfast and couldn’t turn in time to miss the good Doctor. Being that she was much shorter than he was it went all in her hair down her back and over her shoes.
She was not a happy woman at all. She was sticky and smelled terrible now and she hadn’t even done anything to the cut yet. She called over a nurse and told her to apply pressure to stop the arterial bleeding and to have one of the other Doctors stitch the wound closed. She went to the shower room to clean up. The only clothing she had on base was her BDU’s and no shoes other than her boots that she really didn’t like but she didn’t have any other choice at this time. She took a long hot shower but it was hard to get the sticky feeling out of her hair and it was helping to calm her down as the hot water was relaxing her. Some of the other women on the base had come back from a mission and needed the shower also so she gave up her spot to them and got dressed. She used Sam’s hair dryer and when that was done she used some of her perfume. She could still smell the blood and vomit but she knew that it was her imagination and nothing more. The perfume still made her feel better and she knew that Sam wouldn’t mind.
When she got back to the infirmary it was a total disaster. The nurses needed to ask Jack something and had one of the people from the communications department to tap out the message. Jack told him to go away and to get Sam to do the communications with him. The man didn’t stop like he had asked him to do. Even though Jack was in bed and unable to see or hear anything he was still able to throw the man against the wall hard enough to knock him out. He would have thrown him out the door if he could have seen it. Janet sent for Sam letting her know that it wasn’t anything bad but she needed to get right down there as soon as possible.
Jack was highly agitated by the man that kept tapping on him so hard that he was causing pain. He had asked him several times to stop and he didn’t until he flew back away from the bed. Jack knew that he had thrown him a little hard and he was hoping that there wasn’t anybody on the other side of the bed that would get hit by the man as he went flying.
Sam didn’t know what was happening and she had gone out for a short while so that she could come back by to see him before the debriefing started. She knew that Janet didn’t have him on any medications at the moment and she had snuck in a hamburger with fries and a beer for him. When Janet saw that he was calmed down she shut the door and that gave Sam the chance to kiss him and give him his treat. He was hungry but he wasn’t able to see the French fries and ketchup. He was able to handle the burger without a problem. He was relishing the beer when Janet walked in catching him in the act. He didn’t know she was there and he couldn’t hear the fuss she was making about bringing beer into her infirmary. Sam just smiled and kept on feeding him fries when he opened his mouth. The young communications officer that Jack had thrown across the room was going to be fine but he would have a headache and she was certain that none of the other people from his department would be coming down to do any of the communications work with the Colonel.
Sam asked him what happened and he pulled down his hospital gown off his left shoulder showing her where the man had tapped on his shoulder so hard that he had bruised him. He had told him to stop and to get Sam but he continued to do his thing and after the third time of telling him to stop he lost his temper and tossed him. Jack finished his fries and beer and Sam had to go to the debriefing so she told him that he was not to do any more tossing of the people that were trying to help him and no finger breaking either. He smiled at her for throwing in that little qualifier although Janet had no idea why both of them were smiling.
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Daniel was getting more excited as he was doing more research into the people of the planet. The lab technicians that were working on the neurotoxin that was keeping Jack in the bed would need to have a specimen of the creature to do any more than guess at what they could do to counter the effect. The people that were doing the studies of the neurotoxin said that they had no idea if it would wear off or how long it would take if it did. Daniel had found references to an insect on the blowgun which had him thinking that this was what they were using for the darts. They were going to need to go back to the planet to get some of the insects for the lab to be able to fix this problem. He was inspecting one of the darts and found that it was made of a thorn that was about three and a half inches long with human hair tied on the end.
The pouch did not have any of the toxin in it so they must have a central location that they go to in order to dip their darts. It would appear that the toxin will last until it is used so it was working in the dried form rather than having to dip the projectile for it to be wet with the toxin to work. The dart that he was examining slipped out of the tweezers that he was using and landed on the table. That wasn’t a problem but then it was blown off the table when the door was opened and very gently fell into his lap sticking into his right thigh. He suddenly felt dizzy and fell back into the chair. His ears started ringing and his eyes went fuzzy. He blacked out for a second then there was nothing. He was floating in total blackness with no awareness of which way was up and a severe case of vertigo set in doubling him up with the nausea which caused him to fall out of the chair.
The young Airman that had rushed in to remind him that he had a debriefing to attend in a few minuets saw him fall back into the chair then double over and fall to the floor. He called in a medical emergency which brought Janet with the emergency team when she heard that the emergency was in Daniel’s lab. She was quick to see the dart that had been pushed deeper into his leg by falling onto the floor and removed it quickly to try to stop some of its affects but she already knew that he was as bad or worse than Jack was with the toxin. He was not responding to any auditory or visual stimulation. She had him moved into the room next door to the Colonel. Janet made her report to the General telling him that they had another patient with the same conditions and it was Daniel. Sam was still with Jack when they brought Daniel in. The bad thing was that he could speak nearly thirty different languages but he had never learned Morris code and had no way of receiving information. He had written in his journal his thoughts about needing to go back to the planet to get the insect for analyses.
Janet was a good Doctor but when it came to communications like this she was as lost as anybody else. When Sam came into the room she was asking her what would be the best way to communicate with him. Sam told her that he didn’t know Morris code like the Colonel but he was intelligent and they would figure out a way. She went over and gently stroked his cheek letting him know that someone was there that cared about him.
Daniel was trying to figure out who it was that was gently touching his cheek and there weren’t too many people on the base that would do that. He smelled her and put his hand to her hair and face. “Sam is that you?”
He felt her head bob up and down letting him know that it was her. “Sam, get my journal off my desk, it has what I was thinking about before this happened, it may help get this solved.”
Sam had an idea at that time that would work with the others. She put his hand to her face again and squeezed his hand when she shook her head in the up and down motion. He caught onto the idea letting her know that he understood that squeezing his hand meant yes. She did the same thing by giving his elbow a slight squeeze and shaking her head no. That way he at least had a basic way to communicate with the outside world.
“So are you going to go get my journal?” she gave his hand a light squeeze letting him know that she understood and she was going to do that. She left to go do that and Janet was giving instructions to the nurses about what they were doing.
Sam went back into Jack’s room letting him know that she had to go to the debriefing and that she would be back when it was over and not to hurt anybody while she was gone. That got him to smile, she quickly checked the area to see that nobody was around and gave him a quick kiss before she left to get Daniel’s journal and go to the meeting that she was late for now.
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Janet went in to check on Jack when she was finished making sure that Daniel was settled into bed. She wanted to check his eyes to see if there was any sign of damage inside of the eye or if it was all neurological. She shut the door so that she would have a little privacy as she was checking him over, then she went to work.
Sam had been gone for about thirty minuets and he was missing her a lot. He didn’t have anything to do but think now and most of what he was thinking about was her. He felt a soft hand on his arm and knew that it was a woman, then he felt a soft cheek on his and smelled Sam’s perfume. He felt the BDU’s and pulled her into a deep kiss that let her know how much he had missed her. The only problem was that this was not Sam and he had no way of knowing that. Janet felt is hand behind her head and his lips took her. She lost the instrument that she was trying to look into his eye with and parted her lips at the insistence of his most wonderful kiss. She was melting into the warmth and love of a man that she had wanted to do this with for a long time.
She knew that he and Sam were close and she would never have started anything with him on her own but he was kissing her and she was not going to resist. In fact she started kissing his neck which caused him to give off soft moans as he ran his hands up and down her back. She went back to his lips and kissed him there with all the love and passion that had built up for a long time and had never been released before now. Those hands were doing some wonderful things to her and she wanted nothing more than to curl up with him on this bed and never leave again. His hands found there way up the back of her shirt and it was almost more than she could take. She was about to jump him right there in her infirmary but there was a knock on the door.
Janet gave him another quick kiss then went to the door while striating her clothing. It didn’t help that her face was red from his stubble and she was breathing heavily when she opened the door for the nurse that had a question about Daniel and another patient. The nurse was watching her closely and knew that she was frustrated and it was not hard to guess what was causing that frustration.
When the nurse left she went back into the room but she did not shut the door this time, she didn’t trust herself not to do something that she had almost done just a few seconds ago. She got a tub of warm water then gathered the shaving equipment and shaved him. She should have left this for one of the nurses to do but she wanted to do it herself. Then she left and went into Daniel’s room to shave him so that it didn’t look like she was fawning over the Colonel and doing special things for him only. In other words she was covering her tracks so that the rumor mill didn’t go too wild and get the story back to Sam. She knew that it was going to do that anyway and she wasn’t looking forward to the fight that she knew she was going to have over the man that they both loved. If she could give herself a little more time then she would be able to think of something that would get her out of this mess and hopefully into the arms of one Colonel Jack O’Neill.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Sam was trying to convince the General that they should take Daniel’s advice and go back to the planet to get the insect that was drawn on Daniel’s notebook which might be the key to getting the Colonel and Daniel back to normal. The General was not so sure that it was a good idea although Teal’c was in agreement with her about going back. The General had said that the planet was off limits now and that he would have it put into the computer so that it would not be dialed again even by accident. This was not making her happy at all. Daniel had said in his journal that if they had the insect that produced the neurological agent that it should be easy to make a counter agent that would fix the problem. The meeting was dismissed soon and she left in a very bad mood which everybody in the room was well aware of. They all had seen how mad she was when she left and all of them stayed out of her way.
Sam knew that she needed to leave for a while and cool down or she was going to take someone’s head off for just getting close to her. She decided that Jack could use a few more beers and another hamburger. He had really enjoyed the one she had fed him earlier. She would get something a little different this time to change things up a little. She drove into town to get the things for him; the drives allowed her calm down and think things through. This might go away on its own or he could be like this forever. She knew that he wouldn’t be able to take this for too long before it would start to kill him. The same thing went for Daniel who she loved like a brother and she would do anything for him. He was too intelligent to spend the rest of his life stuck inside of his head with no way of getting information. He wouldn’t last for long like this. He was practically begging her to go back to the planet which to him was the only hope that he had. Sam stopped off at the liquor store and got some stronger beer this time and a small bottle of Jack Daniel’s that would be easer to get into the base.
Janet went into her office to do reports and didn’t see Sam come back into the area and slip quietly into Jack’s room and shut the door. She went over and gave him a kiss letting him know that she was back and she noticed that he had been leaned up. She was happy to see but she was a little disappointed at the same time because she was going to do that herself. The kiss was warm and inviting but she pulled back and waved the hamburger under his nose letting him know what she had for him then she opened the beer doing the same thing with that. She got a blanket that was at the foot of the bed and draped it over him then she put the hamburger in one hand while she showed him where the beer was with his other hand.
Jack was in heaven, Sam was catering to him and pampering him so much that he couldn’t help but feel good. He always felt good while he was around her anyway but he did wish that he could see her and talk to her. He was finishing his second beer when he started getting a ringing in his ears and his foot started to itch. He told Sam that his foot was itching and he was getting excited about having a sensation in his foot after nothing for so long.
Sam went in to get Janet to tell her about the itch in his foot and the ringing in his ears but when she came into the room and saw that Sam had snuck in another beer to her patient and went off on her.
“Sam, if I catch you bringing in anything else that I do not authorize I’ll ban you from the infirmary. That means that unless you are sick or injured you will not be allowed in at all. Do you understand me?”
Sam nodded that she understood but she was having trouble understanding why Janet was so upset with her. It was only a beer and she knew that he wasn’t on any other kinds of medications. It was Janet’s call and as the base CMO, she did have the right to do that. She decided that it wasn’t worth the fight to argue and possibly receiving that ban that she had been talking about for real.
Janet went in the room to take the beer out of his hand which when he felt someone trying to take his beer he pulled back and told them no that it was his and he was not giving it up. Janet took the rest of the six pack into her office and locked it away. She didn’t know about the bottle of Jack Daniels that was in his bedside table and he knew where it was because she had tapped it out to him earlier. She told Sam that she could have ten more minuets then she would need to leave for the night.
Sam didn’t want to leave, if it was possible she would have curled up beside him and spent the night in his arms. She decided that she wouldn’t tell him that she was being forced out for the night and just tapped out that she loved him and then kissed him to the point of neither one of them was going to get any sleep that knight. She was thinking that if she didn’t leave soon she was going to be in so much trouble when they found her doing things that would make both of them happy. She gave him another kiss then left for the night like she had been told to do.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Daniel seemed to be floating in a vast room of emptiness, no walls, no floor and no way to see the ceiling. The bed didn’t even feel real in this room of darkness. He had been in there for so long that he didn’t even know what day it was anymore. To the real world it had only been about five hours but to him he had been there for days without anybody to talk to or having anything that could stimulate his very active mind.
Janet heard Daniel screaming all the way in her office and ran to his room. He had two nurses holding him down as he was thrashing around in the bed. He had gone for as long as he could without communications of some sort. Janet got the sedative that she was keeping on hand just for this situation. She knew that he was even more likely to snap than the Colonel. He had not had the vast amount of experience with this kind of thing that the Colonel had and didn’t know how to handle it. Teal’c had been setting in the chair in the hall doing his Kel-Nor-Reem as he had done for as long as he could remember back when he heard Daniel start to scream. It wasn’t a scream of pain or suffering it was a cry of terror that could no longer be held back. He was in the room right after the two nurses but he stood back as they did their jobs and did not need his assistance at the time. He watched as Janet Fraser gave Daniel the injection which calmed him down quickly and he watched for a while longer as he finally went to sleep.
Teal’c knew that they were going to need to do something soon or his friend would not survive in this state of being. Colonel O’Neill could at least communicate with the outside world through Samantha Carter and he would be able to last for a while longer but he knew that sooner or later it would get to him also and he would be screaming just like Daniel Jackson was doing. He knew that Samantha Carter would not be able to handle that, she cared too much for Daniel as a friend and he knew that she loved Jack O’Neill deeply and this would be too much for her to take. He was making plans to do what needed to be done and once he set his mind to do something he was unstoppable.
Once Teal’c was out of the room Janet had a talk with Lieutenant Kathy Johnson the nurse that was in the room and had helped her with Daniel. Daniel and Kathy had gone out on a few dates but nobody had said anything about them or what was happening. It was time for some answers on the personal level though so Janet went right into the subject.
“Kathy, have you and Daniel done anything in the romance department?”
Kathy blushed and shook her head no. “It’s not that I’m not interested, he’s just being such a gentleman that he won’t do anything that might offend me, but it is getting a little frustrating.”
“Well hears your chance to take advantage of things and get something started. He needs something to think about besides not being able to talk to someone, something to ground him into this reality.” She handed Kathy the key to the room and winked at her. “Make sure that you shave him first, he can’t do it for himself and it will be a lot easer on your face if you do.”
Janet smiled and walked out of the room shutting the door on the way out. She knew that Sam had left about forty five minuets before this happened and she had plans for the Colonel’s room herself.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Sam pulled into her driveway and went in. She fixed herself a quick sandwich then got into a very hot shower before going to bed. She didn’t have very much sleep in the last couple of days and she was really tired. All she could think about was kissing Jack and getting to know him better than she had ever thought with him not being able to get information except through her tapping on his hand. She thought it was sweet of him to not let anybody give him messages except for her. It made her feel very special and she really needed that.
Once she finally got out of the shower she went strait to bed but when she was trying to go to sleep all she could think about was how much they needed to go back to the planet to get the insect like Daniel had said to find out how to cure this thing. She tossed and turned all night and finally got out of bed to go in to work early, that way she could spend some more time in Jack’s room also.
When she got to the infirmary Teal’c was waiting for her, he had the guard that was at the main gate let him know when Major Carter came through the gate so that he could talk to her. He told her about the problem of Daniel loosing control and he said that Dr. Fraser and things in hand to take care of that problem for a while. That was when Sam saw that the room that Daniel was in had the door shut. Janet was just coming out of the Colonel’s room and she went over to talk to her. It struck her as strange that Janet was wearing a clean set of BDU’s this morning instead of her usual dress and lab coat but she was still wearing her high heels. That was something else that Sam didn’t understand about her fiend and that was how she was able to work all day on the concrete floor in high heels. They would just kill her feet if she tried something like that herself.
“How are they doing this morning?”
Janet smiled and told her that both of them were doing much better and that the Colonel’s tickling in his feet and the ringing in his ears was the same, no better and no worse. She then told her that he was being cleaned up and that it would be about thirty minuets before he could have visitors. Sam and Teal’c went to the mess hall to get something to eat while they waited.
“Major Carter we are going to have to convince General Hammond about the need to go back to the planet and get the insect or we may never be able to get our friends back.”
“I agree Teal’c; we need to take another run at him this afternoon and if that fails we may need to do something else to fix the problem. Sam finished her breakfast then they went their separate ways for a while. They made plans to go speak to the General that afternoon if things had not improved. Sam went into Daniel’s room to check on him first and he was doing fine this morning. When she stroked his face to let him know that she had come to see him he tried to kiss her hand. Sam put his hand to her face and after a while he guessed that it was her and not Kathy that was with him. She was wondering what was going on to get him so worked up about the nurse. She knew that he had gone out on a couple of dates with her but he had told her that he was going very slowly with her so that he didn’t push her away. He really liked this woman and he felt that it was worth the time it would take to make her comfortable with the relationship if one happened at all. But when he thought it was Kathy at his side he tried to kiss her hand.
She just patted him on the arm and went onto the Colonel’s room to see how he was doing. He looked tired this morning and she was worried that he was having some difficulty with the situation and tapped out if everything was alright.
“No, everything is fine; I’m just a little tired after what you did to me last night.” Sam was thinking that she was a little tired herself and let it go at that. She stayed with him until it was time to go see the General and a few trips out to the lab to help some of the scientist with a problem that they could not work out on their own. Teal’c met her outside the office at the appointed time. General Hammond asked them in and to have a seat. He knew what they were going to ask him for and he was prepared.
“General Hammond we are here to ask you to reconsider our request to go back to P4X-3325 in order to gather specimens of the insect that was used for the neurotoxin that is causing Daniel and Colonel O’Neill to stay in their current condition.”
The General thought this through for a while then gave them the answer that they were dreading. “We have considered all the possibilities of going back to that planet to gather the specimens that you need and we have decided that it is too dangerous. We cannot afford to send someone into that kind of a situation which could very likely end up with more people injured or dead. I’m sorry but your request is denied. The planet had been marked as a no go planet so it is locked out of the dialing computer and secured with an unbreakable password and security methods.”
He did not want to go through any more arguments so he gave a final command.
“You are dismissed.”
That pretty much slammed the door on any argument they could come up with and got them out of his office so that he would not have to look into the shocked and hurt look on Sam’s face. She had been shut down on the one thing that she thought would help. He knew that this was not going to be the end of this but he was smiling.
The discussion between Sam and Teal’c was short and to the point. She went back to her on base quarters to lie down and rest as much as she could. It was going to be a long night.
Again she tossed and turned in her bed without getting much rest. She finally went down to see Jack for a while. At three in the morning she gave him a kiss and left. She went to the control room where Teal’c was waiting with all the equipment that they were going to need. She went into the control room and locked down the area after the tech that was on duty left for a bathroom break. It only took a few minuets and the Stargate was dialing the address. She went down to the Embarkation room where they were met by a large group of SF ready to stop them.
Teal’c was in a fowl mood anyway and he was looking forward to the fight but he did not want to hurt any of the men that were just doing their jabs. He actually growled at them before he spoke. “Do not stand in our way, I do not want to hurt you but I will. Move or there will be pain and a lot of it.”
The Marines flinched and noticed that he was not going for any of his weapons, if he came through them he was going to be doing it bare handed and they knew that he was very dangerous. They had their weapons trained on both of them but they knew that this was a bad situation for them to be in. They might get off a few rounds but he was wearing his Kevlar and he was close. He was dangerous but he had Major Carter with him and she could do a lot of damage herself. They were saved when the General stepped into the room and told them all to stand down.
Major, Teal’c, I want you in my office, right now!
Teal’c growled again at the Marines before they obeyed the order and went strait to the office. They both stood in front of his desk to receive their punishment.
The General stood behind his desk and looked sternly at both of them. “Do you two know that you have kept me up way past my bedtime waiting on you?” This was confusing them and it showed in their faces.
“I wanted to test the security of the system and this was the perfect opportunity to do just that. I had the best cryptographers at the Pentagon to write that code. I know that it was not given to you or leaked out at any point in order to block you from getting through to that address and you had it broken in less than five minuets.”
“I also wanted to see how far the two of you would go to get the help that was needed for your team mates. I’d say that you went to the extreme but I was thinking that you would have used the Zat’s instead of physical force to get through the guards. That’s way I had all the Zat’s discharged in the armory except for a few that I have in this office. So that maneuver wouldn’t have worked for you.”
Teal’c took out his Zat and shot a chair that was across the office showing that the Zat was fully charged and ready to go. This was a surprise to the General. Teal’c had a blank look on his face as he answered the unspoken question from the General.
“I have worked with the Zatnicateal for a long time and I always check my weapons before going into any battle. When I saw that the firing pins were removed from the regular weapons and the staff and Zatnicateal were discharged I repaired them and recharged them.”
General Hammond was surprised that he had not thought about him checking the weapons like he did. It was something that he would have done himself if the shoe was on the other foot. He smiled and told them that he was glad that they were on his side in this war.
“Major you will be in charge of making the security for the gate system that will not be as easily broken when you get back. I am reluctantly authorizing this mission although I am only letting the two of you go. If something happens out there this time their will be no rescue. You are on your own; do you understand what I am saying?”
“Yes Sir.”
“Fine, as long as you fully understand, is there any other equipment that you would like to take with you?”
“No Sir, I would like to go down to the infirmary before I leave though, I didn’t think it would be a good idea before but if I have time now I will be back in twenty minuets.”
“I will have the gate dialed and ready to go in twenty minuets then. I think I will need that much time to get another security team down here anyway, some of those boy’s need to go change their clothes now after what Teal’c did to them.”
Sam left and went down to the infirmary to let Jack know what they were doing. She told him everything including the part about no rescue if they got into trouble then gave him a kiss goodbye and left.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Jack was not at all happy that she was going on this mission and it was making him sick that he was not there to back her up. She had pulled him out of this situation last time but he still hated the thought of her going into a dangerous mission without him. He was feeling useless now. Unable to protect the one he loved and his friend that he cared about like he was a brother. He reached into the drawer beside the bed and got out the bottle of Jack Daniels that was hidden there. He didn’t take his time drinking the bottle and was so mad when he finished it that he threw the bottle. By some bit of luck the bottle did not break as it landed on the floor outside of the room and slid nicely right into the office of Dr. Janet Fraser. It was getting close to four o’clock in the morning and the nurse that was on duty had stepped out for a cup of coffee. Jack laid back in the bed and did the only thing he could do and that was to think about Sam but she was now in danger and he couldn’t help her. He didn’t have anything on his stomach so it was enough to get him drunk. The alcohol finally took effect enough to knock him out for the night.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Left Behind
The planet was just waking up as the sun was rising from where they could see through the small opening in the trees above the Stargate. They headed off in the direction of the village thinking that this was going to be a good time to make a quiet raid on the people to get what they needed. They wanted a quick surgical strike, in and out, get the job done and get home with what the needed. They had only gone into the woods a short ways when they ran into a group of men that were carrying another man that was tied on a pole. They ducked behind a tree quickly but they were not fast enough to not be seen. The alarm went up and they were soon surrounded and fighting for their lives against overwhelming odds out in the open.
Sam was the first to be hit with a dart after she had taken out five or six of the little warriors herself while Teal’c was doing the same. He saw her go down and knew that they were not going to win this battle. He had one thing that he wanted to do and he made a break for the Stargate. Just before he made it to the DHD he was hit. He dialed Earth quickly and used his radio to make contact. He knew that they would be on him soon so he was quick to get his message out.
“Tell O’Neill that I failed him, I was unable to protect her, I’m sorry but I will die with her though and protect her until we meet again in Keb.”
He was unable to hear the shouts and the rattling of the gourds as they attacked the big man and subdued him but the people at the SGC could hear it and knew what was happening.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
When Janet came in the next morning she was given the news about what happened to Sam and Teal’c. She was shocked, stunned and started crying. She went to her office to have some privacy while she was grieving for her friends. She accidentally kicked the empty bottle and looked down to see want it was. She picked up the bottle and went into Jack’s room where she knew it had come from. She just sat down beside the bed and started crying again. It wasn’t long before she heard a voice and looked up. Jack was looking at her and asking her why she was crying. She could tell that he was still drunk but he could see her and he could hear her. She wasn’t ready to tell him that Sam and Teal’c were not coming home again. She went down to the end of the bed and raked her ink pin across the bottom of her foot which made him jerk his foot away.
“Colonel, how much can you see and hear?”
“Things are a kind if fuzzy and there is a loud ringing in my ears but I can hear. So again, why are you crying?”
“Sam and Teal’c were captured on P4X-3325, there will be no rescue for them. Teal’c was able to send a message back before he was captured and…” She broke down completely then and fell into his arms for the comfort that only he could give her and hopefully she could do the same for him.
Jack couldn’t move from the shock. Sam and Teal’c were gone. Just like that, no more. This was not possible, he had just communicated with her a few hours ago and she was fine. Now he was supposed to go on like nothing had happened. The scream that came out of him was primal. “Noooooo!”
He didn’t throw her off of him; he laid her gently on the bed and tried to stand up. He was able to walk for a few steps before he fell. He didn’t care that he felt like he was walking on broken glass He was going to her even if he had to crawl all the way. Two rather large orderlies came in and tried to pick him up off the floor but he threw them both out of the room to slide across the floor. They ended up bumping into the wall across the hall in a pile.
Janet finally got through to him that she needed to get him better then they would go to P4X-3325 together. She told him that they would be alright for a while and this would give her a chance to evaluate him and get something done for Daniel. He sat down on the floor and pulled his legs under him while hugging himself. He finally looked at her and told her to get him the bottle of Crown out of his desk drawer in his office and one of the beers so that he could fix this.
She was wondering what he was talking about then it hit her that it was the alcohol that neutralized the neurotoxins. Before she could leave though he told her to get his wallet and send someone to the liquor store to get more of the fifths of Jack Daniels. This confused her and it must have shown on her face because he answered her question.
“The sugar in the beer will help the alcohol go into my system faster and the other bottles are to take with us and for Daniel. I’ll also need some strong coffee. It will not make me sober but I will be wide awake while I’m drunk. If Sam and Teal’c were able to kill more of them then they will want to use those bodies for food before they go bad. They will leave the one’s that are unable to get away for later.”
Even drunk he was making good sense and she went off to do what she was told. She sent one of the flying orderlies to the Liquor store to get the required items while she went onto his office and got the Crown Royal. When she got back the beer was warm but he didn’t care he drank it quickly then drank some of the Crown. He passed out after that and Janet had him moved back into the bed. She put the rest of the beer into the cooler so that she could give it to Daniel later. One drunk in the infirmary was enough for now.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Sam had something that was rough shoved into her mouth by a pair of small hands that smelled like they had never been washed. The people that the hands belonged to didn’t smell very good either. For little people the raised a big stink every time they moved. She slapped them away and was attacked from all sides to have her hands tied behind her around a small tree. The heat was sweltering and they kept shoving this thing into her mouth that was filled with a sweet liquid that was like honey mixed with water. She knew what they were doing; they were trying to make her gain weight. She was being fattened for the slaughter. She could smell other things around her like the smell of roast pork but she knew that it wasn’t Pork. What was making her sick was that it could be Teal’c and she would never know. She had no way of communicating with him now and had no idea if he was able to get away or not. She actually knew the answer to that one though; if he had been able to get away then he would be there to get her out. She started to cry now knowing that she wouldn’t be able to help Jack and she had gotten Teal’c into this. He had been the one to come up with the first part of the plan but she was the ranking military officer and she should have told him that she would go by herself. Each time she came up with something like that she would answer her own thoughts and she knew that he would never let her go by herself.
Jack and Daniel were depending on her to bring back the one thing that could cure them and she had failed. Now Teal’c was going to die along with her while Jack and Daniel slowly went insane back on Earth. Things couldn’t get any worse than this but then the pains from having her hands tied behind her causing her arms, shoulders and neck to give off a constant throbbing pain. They stuck the tube in her mouth again which caused her to spit the contents back out at where she thought the people were. That got her slapped hard across the face but she didn’t care. She was trying to bite anybody that got close to her. They gag her with a piece of rope and a hard ball of some sort.
Teal’c was lying on his side with his hands tied behind his back. There was another rope that was tied around his neck which he assumed was tied to a tree or stake so that he couldn’t scoot away. He hurt all over where the Pygmies had beaten him. He was able to get his hands on a couple of them and they wouldn’t be eating anything else ever again. One of them he had thrown at the still active Stargate and was able to see the fuzzy image of the small man flying through the event horizon. He knew that the pygmy would splat against the Iris on the other end of the wormhole like a bug on a windshield which gave him great satisfaction.
He was struggling against his bonds to try and free his hands. The vine rope snapped and he rolled over to get his hands in front of him. He was attacked again with clubs but he was able to take one of the clubs away and use it himself to ward off the attackers. He felt around on the ground to find another club if he could to have a second weapon for the other hand. The Pygmies were able to hit his wrist on the hand that he was carrying the weapon causing him to loose it. He was beat unmercifully after that but he went down with a smile on his face to have taken out another two of them.
When he woke later it was much cooler and he had a tube of some sort shoved into his mouth and a sweet liquid poured in making him gag and spit. He was hit with the clubs until he accepted the liquid and drank what they were offering. The bad part about it was the sweet liquid was attracting insects. He was wondering if any of them were the ones that they had come to get.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Jack woke with a hangover but he was not complaining. The light of the room hurt his eyes and his head was pounding but he could see and hear now without the ringing in his ears. His feet were not tingling now but they were week. The next thing that he noticed was that the door was closed and he was not alone. Janet was curled up beside him snuggled up close. He couldn’t help but to gently kiss her on the cheek to wake her up. She roused a small amount but just snuggled closer. Jack was able to see the clock on the wall and it was past 1400 hours. (2:00 PM) He tried again and this time she opened one eye and smiled at him. “How ya feeling?”
“Hung over, and I have a splitting headache, but I can see and hear and my feet are not tingling now. I can wiggle my toes and move my legs so I think I’m good to go. Did you start Daniel on the cure?”
“I had them give him two of the beers then one of the Jack Daniels and I don’t think he will wake up until next week.”
“Usually it only takes the two beers to get him smashed so this should fix him right up. Did you tell the General yet?”
She shook her head that she had and told him that the was glad to see that you were going to be alright but he was sad that they lost two good people that were trying to help. Jack scooted her over and got out of the bed, he was a little unsteady but he was still drunk. He asked her to help him to the showers so that he could steady himself. She took him to the showers that were in the infirmary which had a lock on the door. She got him ready then stripped down and got into the shower with him. He gave her a questing look which she answered by kissing him. That was when he smelled the perfume and began to understand what was happening. Boy was he in trouble now. He had two women that he was doing things with and he didn’t even know it. When he looked at her a little closer he saw that they were a lot alike in several ways. There were differences for sure but in the dark when he wasn’t able to hear anything it could have happen to anyone. This was going to be a real problem later if they were able to get Sam back but for right now his main mission was to get his people back first, they would work out the details after that.
He took a warm shower then turned the water cold but that was what he needed to shock his body into a full state of wakefulness so that he could get things done. Every minuet that they wasted could get Sam and Teal’c killed. When he was finished in the shower he had her wheel him down to the locker room. He felt bad about her having to push him but he was still week and still drunk but moving. She helped him get dressed then he was steadier on his feet. He went to the armory and got the weapons. Janet had told him what Teal’c had said when he called in which made him more determined to get them back. What Janet knew was that if he wasn’t able to get them back he would spend the rest of his life on that planet hunting down and killing the cannibals. Janet was in her BDU’s with her boots on now and when he left the armory fully brisling with weapons she was the same way. She thought that it was strange that he took two machetes putting one on each hip until he told her that they were good for close in fighting and occasionally they could be used for brush if it was in the way. He had a sniper rifle with extra ammo. She had told him in the shower room that she was going with him and there was nothing he could do to stop her.
When he got to the General’s office he was told to wait outside by the secretary while he was on a phone call to the President and Joint Chiefs. Jack and Janet sat down in the chairs as comfortably as a person can with all of the equipment on and waited. The door was finally opened and they were ushered in.
General Hammond was looking tired and his eyes were red and puffy like he had been crying but he was in control now and nobody would dare say anything about it. He took note first thing of all the weapons that the two were carrying. He leaned back in his chair and asked the question that he already knew the answer to. “What do you two think you’re doing?”
Jack spoke with Janet peeking around his side like a frightened child that was curious to see the boogie man. “I’m going back to P4X-3325 to get my people.”
This brought Janet from behind him with a bit of heat as she was thinking that he was going to try and leave her behind now. “I’m going also, General.”
“Both men looked at her but Jack was the one to speak first. “No you’re not, it’s too dangerous.”
Janet was seeing red now, he was with her when she was getting dressed and gathering the weapons and now he was saying that she couldn’t go. “You’re not going anywhere without me being right there with you or I will not release you for active duty.”
“Dr. Fraser, you’re not going anywhere and Colonel O’Neill neither are you.”
“General Hammond Sir; I will be going through to that planet or I will getting my retirement papers ready right now and asked to be sent to the planet for my retirement, would you do that for me. Just send me off to let me enjoy my retirement on lovely P4X-3325?”
“You are not going there no matter what you threaten.”
Jack had one last thing to try, he had the recording of Teal’c’s last words on a recorder and he played it again for the General. “General, Sir; they could be still alive, they wouldn’t need to kill them until they have eaten the ones that they would have killed. In that heat the meat would spoil if it was left out too long you know. They will have several days before they need to butcher and cook two of the people I care about most of all. I can stop this or I will die trying if you will let me.”
“Alright Jack, I’ll let you go on this mission but it will be with the same conditions as I sent Major Carter and Teal’c with and that is there will be no rescue parties sent, and if you came back I want all of your paper work brought up to date and kept that way do you agree with these conditions?”
“Yes, I’ll do anything to go and at least try to get them back.”
“Dr. Fraser, how long do you think it will be before he is sober enough to take on a mission like this?”
“It will take another couple of hours before I would want him on a mission and a few more before I would let him drive home.”
“That’s good enough for me, Colonel you will stand down for another six hours to sober up before I will let you go through to P4X-3325, I suggest that you use that time to get some of those reports done.”
Janet was in the front of his desk now and he knew that he would not be getting off this easy. “Sir, I will be going on this mission with the Colonel.”
General Hammond glared at her. “No, you will not.”
“Respectfully Sir, the only way you will be able to stop me is to put me in a holding cell and that goes for you to Jack O’Neill. If that happens then I will have my resignation on your disk five minuets after I’m released. You might loose me on this mission but if you don’t let me go then you will loose me for sure.”
She was red in the face with anger and both men knew that she was serious about resigning.
General Hammond was getting red in the face also. “I could make that stay in a cell a long one if I need to Doctor, and I don’t like being pushed into a corner like this but I will let you go. Just be careful and come home, both of you. Dismissed.”
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Sam felt the cool of the night and was relieved that they would not be forcing the tube into her mouth again for a while anyway. She was now hurting pretty badly from the rough treatment and having her arms behind her for so long. She didn’t have much that she could do but she was going to do something. She knew that the ropes couldn’t be too strong. She was tied by people who didn’t want her arms loose to be able to defend herself not to hold a prisoner to keep them from escaping. They had the drug that she was shot with to take care of that. She started rubbing the ropes against the rough bark of the tree to try and cut through it. It took several hours of painful maneuvers and tired shoulders and arms but she was finally free from the tree. She needed to find a weapon of some sort and started groping around carefully for anything that she could defend herself with. They hadn’t taken her boots off so she reached down and took out her boot knife but she wanted something longer. If she could find one of the clubs that they had used earlier to beat her with when she spit the sweet liquid out it would give her a small advantage.
It seemed to take forever as she was feeling around but she came onto something that she knew what it was. It was a boot and it was attached to a leg. The leg was warm and it was tied to the other leg. She knew that it was Teal’c and it was hard not to scream out in her happiness to find him still alive. She cut the rope loose from his leg then worked her way up his body to his arms they were tied behind him with a lot of rope at the wrist and elbows. She cut them loose and worked her way up to his face; she could tell that it was swollen and puffy from the beatings that he had been subjected to. There was another rope around his neck to keep him in the same location. He had tried to crawl off more than once to try and find her but he had no way of telling her that.
Teal’c felt the hand as it touched him; he was getting ready to kick out at the person when he felt his ropes being cut from his legs. The hands came up his body to his arms and they were cutting the ropes around his wrist and elbows. It was painful as the circulation was returning to his hands again. The hand came up his body more to his face where they felt the painful bruises then up to his gold tattoo. The rope was cut from his neck and he knew that Samantha Carter had found him.
He knew that he had tried to go downhill one time and was caught quickly so that was the direction of the village, one time he had tried to go to the right and it took them a little longer to catch him but it was still done fairly quickly. That left the uphill direction and left of the downhill. Sam was still on her knees after she had cut him loose so he rolled over and placed her hand on his belt to let her know to follow him. He had lost his boot knife earlier when he tried the second time to find her. He had said that he would protect her and that was what he would try to do until he was no longer able to breathe. They crawled off into the night to try to survive another short while. If they were lucky the neurotoxin would ease up but they both knew that it wouldn’t. It hadn’t done it for Daniel or Colonel O’Neill. All they could do was go from moment to moment until it was over.
Sam was thinking that it was going to be the same for Jack and Daniel. At least for her and Teal’c it would be quick to end unlike the people back at the SGC who could be kept alive for years in a perpetual hell. Her feeling of failure was back as strong as ever now but she would stay strong with Teal’c for as long as it took.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Jack was not in the mood to do paperwork but he had made a deal with the General and that was what he was going to do. He sat at his desk which was swaying in front of him then he laid his head down on his arms and went to sleep. Janet had dropped him off at his office before she went back to the infirmary to check on Daniel. He was drunk but he was able to see her when she came into the room. The ringing in his ears was not going to let him hear much and he was talking loudly trying to hear what he was saying.
“Janet, why are you in combat gear?”
Janet watched as his eyes crossed and he fell back onto his pillow as he passed out before she could say anything. When she saw that he was recovering she just went to her office and took off most of the gear and went to work on her paperwork. She was still upset with both the General and Jack for trying to leave her behind. She knew that she was not a combat soldier but she wanted to help and in this case she could help when they found Sam and Teal’c. If they found them still alive she wouldn’t need to be there for Sam. Jack was capable of getting Sam drunk on his own but she would need to monitor Teal’c to see what was happening to him. He was not totally human after all and with the Tratonan she had no idea what the alcohol would do to his system.
She tried for about thirty minuets to get her paperwork done but she was having a hard time concentrating on it and finally gave up. She gathered her equipment again and went back to Jack’s office where she found him asleep and drooling on the paperwork that he was supposed to be working on. She woke him carefully then told him that they needed to go to the mess hall and get something to eat. He had been thinking of the mission even while he was asleep and made a phone call before they left. He wasn’t really in the mood to eat anything and he was a little queasy from all the alcohol but if that was what she wanted him to do then he would do it.
Janet told him to get something greasy so that it would help him sober up faster and she went over to get more of the strong coffee that had been setting there for a long time. She got two cups and came back over to the table then got a tray for herself. They ate quietly as she could see the worry on his face at having to wait to go and get his people. She also knew that he was worried about taking her along and having another person to protect. She also felt that having another set of eyes and ears to watch out for the enemy could make all the difference between getting them back and not coming home at all. They spent some time just messing around in the base until it was time to go.
When they got to the embarkation room they were met by General Hammond and a dog handler that had two of the base guard dogs with him. Janet had been around the guard dogs before and she liked dogs. The two dogs that were in the room were the biggest dogs she had ever seen and they were there to do a job. Jack took control of the dogs from the handler who told him to take care of them for him. He cared a lot for the animals and was concerned that they were going into a dangerous situation without him. Jack felt the same way about his people and he could sympathize with the man. That was what he was doing right now was going after his people. Sam and Teal’c were in this situation because they were trying to help him and Daniel and now he was all that was standing in the way of certain death.
They saluted the General and left through the Stargate with the dogs in the lead on their leashes. It was night when they got through the gate, Jack released the dogs and told them to guard. He had one to guard him and one to guard Janet. He had night vision goggles for both of them and they were turned on. She found that she could see as if it was light outside but everything had a green tent to it. She was being very careful not to step on anything that would give them away. She still felt like she was giving their position away when she would step on a small stick and it would pop under her weight.
She would watch Jack and he wasn’t making any noise at all. She saw that he was using a sliding maneuver below his feet as he was stepping forward which helped to move the small branches out of his way before he put his weight down. It was interesting that it really didn’t take him any longer to move that it did for her. Once she saw how to do it, it was not hard to do at all. In fact the dogs were making more noise that they were. She had been wondering why he had brought some of the really odd things like a crossbow and a slingshot but now she was beginning to figure out what he was doing. He also had a couple of pistols and the sniper rifle that had silencers on them. Even with the silencers they still made a loud popping noise when they were fired which was not good. The crossbow would make a thunking noise which could be heard but it wasn’t as loud as the silenced pistols and sniper rifle. The slingshot was very quiet but with the strong pull and the steel balls that he had with him it would be deadly. Right now he had his knife out and ready.
They were making their way to the village on a round about way that would bring them up along the river and they should make it to the village at about sunup.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Daniel was very upset, Jack and Janet had gone off to get Sam and Teal’c. He had asked them to go back to the planet to get the insect that had the toxin that was causing all of these problems. It only caused more problems and he felt responsible for possibly getting Sam and Teal’c killed. Now Jack and Janet were going after them and he was stuck there staggering in front of the General’s desk asking why he couldn’t go and help.
General Hammond just looked at Lieutenant Kathy Johnson and told her to get him back to the infirmary or anywhere out of his office. She took Daniel by the hand and practically carried him out of the office but he was still yelling that it wasn’t fair to let them go without letting him go too. Kathy got him to the commissary and started him on strong coffee then got him something to eat to help sober him up.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Sam and Teal’c both knew that they would not be able to get away from the Pygmies but they had to try. Even if they did get away it would be almost impossible to survive in the jungle without food or water but they had to try. Hope was the only thing that they had left and they couldn’t give that up because if they gave up hope then they were as good as dead. Hope was running out quickly though and it was hard to keep pushing on. Teal’c was in the lead when he felt something that was different. It was mud, they were on the bank of the river, that gave them one of the things that they would need to survive and where there was water there was food. It was growing all around them but it also meant that there were predators in the area.
Sam was thinking that there must be a reason that the Pygmies smelled so bad. The one thing that she could think of was that there must be something in the water that would prevent them from getting in. It was hot in this area of this planet and one of the best way’s to cool off was to go swimming which was close to bathing but they smelled like they had never had a bath. She needed to get this across to Teal’c somehow. She had tried to teach him Morris code one time but he did not see the need then and had not wanted to pursue the matter.
She pulled him back while crawling up beside him; she cupped some of the water into her hand and brought the water to his face. He got the idea and drank in that manner instead of lowering his face into the water and she did the same. She was thinking that if there was something in the water like Piranha it might be better to just go for a swim and let them have dinner. It was that or the cannibals and she really didn’t want to be dinner for anything but she wasn’t getting very many choices. When they finished drinking they went back into the brush and tried to get some rest.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Jack and Janet were making their way down the bank of the river about the time it was started getting light outside. They were taking off the night vision goggles when they noticed that the village was busy looking for something. The Pygmies were checking every area of the village and along the bank of the river for something or someone. Jack and Janet heard a shout then a blood curdling scream as someone was dieing. It would seem that half of the village was running to the spot in the brush that was beside the river downstream. Jack took out the sniper rifle to see what was happening. When he sighted in on the group of villagers he went cold as he saw them beating both Sam and Teal’c with clubs. They were not trying to kill them but they were not playing nice either. One of the villagers was lying on the ground with a knife sticking out of his chest. Teal’c was lying on top of Sam trying to protect her from the blows that were raining down on them.
Cesar and Bruno the two German Shepard’s that were with them let out a growl then attacked a group of villagers that were coming up behind them. Jack turned long enough to tell Janet to use the pistol with the silencer to keep some of the noise down. He turned back to the bank of the river and shot five time in rapid succession making a chest or head shot with each round fired.
Teal’c was doing his best to keep Samantha Carter covered from the natives that were not happy that they had gotten away from them again. The Pygmies were angry because the woman had killed another one of them with a knife. None of them knew where she got the knife from but it had killed another one of them anyway. They were taking out their frustration on both of the large people. Teal’c felt one of them fall on him and something wet and slick was flowing down his side and the beating stopped. He was not sure what was happening but it was a relief that it had stopped even if it was just for a short while. He was not going to move away from Major Carter though; he would die before he would let them hurt her anymore.
Sam had smelled them first and had her knife ready, as soon as the small set of hands touched her she grabbed the hand and shoved the knife into the owner of the hand. Unfortunately the knife stuck between the ribs and was pulled out of her hands. When the clubs started raining down on her she felt a heavy weight covering her and she knew that it was Teal’c trying to protect her. She was helpless to push him off of her so that she could fight and the clubs were still hitting her any place that he was not able to cover her. She felt something that was warm and slick running down her side which made her panic. She knew the feeling of blood running down her body from all the times she had been cut, stabbed and shot over the years and this was not her blood. Teal’c was hurt badly if he was bleeding this much and she knew that he would not survive in this primitive world if he was hurt that bad.
She felt the beating stop but she was still trapped under his massive weight and unable to move. She was having difficulty breathing, combining that with the pain from the beating she was loosing consciousness quickly.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Jack finished with the natives that were attacking Teal’c and Sam and turned to see that the dogs had taken care of most of the natives that had attacked them. The dogs had not growled much, they just attacked. The small people of this planet didn’t have a chance against the big dogs as they made short work of them. (Jack smiled at that very bad pun as he thought of it.)
Janet watched as the dogs attacked their attackers. She had the pistol out as she had been told but she didn’t have the chance to use it. She was hit with two of the darts but they hit her alice vest and didn’t touch her skin. Jack called the dogs to him and went down embankment to where Teal’c and Sam were. He started pulling the natives off of them and threw them into the water. He saw that the body disappeared quickly in a frothing foamy swirl letting him know that it was not a good idea to go into the water. He had Janet to go down and get several of the canoes that were not too far away. He sent the dogs with her, he knew that they would not be able to get Teal’c and Sam back to the Stargate in the shape that they were in now. It looked like Teal’c might have a broken leg and luckily for him it was below the knee so he was not feeling the pain from that. Sam had a broken or dislocated arm.
He knelt down beside them and gently tried to push Teal’c off of Sam but he was not moving from where he was and resisted any attempt to move him. He could see that Sam was having trouble breathing with his weight on her but he was trying to keep her safe and Jack knew that he would not budge as long as he thought there was anything in the area that could hurt her. Teal’c had sworn that he would protect her with his life a long time ago when Jack asked him to if anything happened to him. Teal’c was very good at keeping he word and he was performing his duty to the best of his ability now. Jack had an idea that would let them know that it was them though and worked quickly to get him to understand. He pulled out his protein bar and waved it in front of Teal’c’s nose. That got a confused look on his face and he did the same for Sam. Then he got out a coffee pack and did the same thing with that while placing his hand on them.
Teal’c felt the hand that was trying to push him off of Sam and flinched but held tight. He felt the hand again and smelled the protein bar that he no longer had. Then he smelled the coffee which was also not with them and the only place that could come from was Earth. He noticed that the hand that was on his arm was larger than the Pygmies but he was having a hard time accepting that they were safe again. He knew that they were not going to send a rescue party for them but there was someone that was not a Pygmy with Earth food. They were not trying to hurt them either so he reluctantly rolled off of Major Carter.
Sam was able to breathe again and she was being picked up by a strong pair of arms and being held like she would disappear if they let go of her. She smelled the faint musty smell of aftershave and knew that this was Jack but she had no idea how that could have happened. Was she dead and this was Heaven or was she hallucinating because of the pain and drugs that she had in her system. She had no idea what was happening to her but this was like a dream come true, she kissed him and pulled him in closer with her good arm.
Janet was watching as she brought up two of the canoes and she was having a hard time watching him kiss Sam. She knew that she had stumbled onto something when she used Sam’s perfume and wore the BDU’s but she was still jealous of him kissing her but she couldn’t help it. She pulled the boats up next to them and Jack gently laid her in the bottom of the boat. It was large enough to hold about four of the small people of this planet so there was room for only two of the larger humans. They were going to take three of them to get down the river to a safer place. That was not the original plan but it was to the point that it was the only thing that they could do. Jack had Janet help him to load Teal’c into one of the other canoes which was a really rough job in itself plus they had to stay out of the water.
Janet had seen what happened to the body that he had thrown into the water and she was not in any hurry to go for a swim. They had to stop several times to defend themselves from the natives and it was not easy out in the open like they were but the dogs gave them warning when the natives were anywhere near. The blow guns were effective if they were close enough to use them but with the range of the standard weapons and the sniper rifle they were not having a very good time getting close enough to do anything. When the Pygmies figured out that they were not gaining anything by going against the big people they decided that they would leave them alone until they had a better opportunity.
Jack got into the canoe with Sam and he had Janet to get into a canoe with the dogs while he was going to tie the one that was filled very full by Teal’c to his canoe. He told Janet to come close to his canoe and not to get too far ahead or behind. He did not want her to fall into the water and if he had to he wanted her close by so that he knew that she was safe. He wasn’t sure how far they would need to go downstream to be safe but they were going to see what was down there anyway, they had no other choice. When she got close to him he gave her a kiss letting her know that he cared and to ease some of her worries about the future. He wasn’t sure what was going to happen with the three of them but they would work something out.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
General Hammond had asked that they check in at the twenty four hour mark but they were not going to be able to make that deadline and they would have their GDO codes locked out at that point. It was too much of a risk that they could be compromised. Maybe not by the natives of the planet but by another group that might be there somewhere which could use some of the technology that they had. The General had called the Joint Chiefs and the President back once Jack and Janet left and it was decided that if they were not able to make the mark then they were as good as dead. Jack and Janet both knew that General Hammond would not leave the base until after the mark was passed and some more after that just incase something happened. Unfortunately for them they were not going to be able to get anywhere near the Stargate in that amount of time.
Jack told her that she could take the dogs and go back without them and he would stay and take care of Teal’c and Sam on his own but she was having nothing to do with any of it. She was there and she would stay to the end even if she had to spend the rest of her life on this planet. If Teal’c was able to live through this they would need to get him some Tratonan or he would die from not having the substitute for the Goa’uld larva. They had enough to last for almost a month then they would be either away from this planet or dead.
The water was starting to get swift as they got further down river to the point of being dangerous, it wasn’t fast enough that would be considered rapids but it was fast enough that the light canoes could tip easily and that could kill Sam and Teal’c. If the creatures in the water didn’t mind fast moving water then they wouldn’t get out of the water anyway if they turned over they would drowned. They estimated that they had traveled downstream for about seven or eight miles and it was time to pull over and see what they could do to help Sam and Teal’c.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Daniel was still feeling terrible about all of SG1 was being gone and it was getting close to the deadline for their GDO to be locked out of the system. He was in total misery about the loss of his friends and the feeling that he was responsible for all of it was not going away. He was not going to be able to live with himself if they didn’t come back. He knew that Jack would never leave anyone behind but now he was feeling like the one that was left out. He was in no shape to go with them the first time but he was having trouble figuring out why Janet was going on a combat mission. Maybe Jack thought she would be needed for any medical complications but he should have taken a medic that was combat trained instead of the CMO. He was interested in finding out how Jack had convinced the General to let her go into a very dangerous situation.
They had about eight hours to go before it was too late. The Iris would be locked out for P4X-3325 and Sam wouldn’t be there to get them into the system if they needed to but Daniel was thinking of things that nobody else was.
He went back into the room where Kathy was staying so they could go out and get something from the commissary. They had gotten close while he was in her care but she had held him to this reality and kept him from going into total madness just by being with him. It had been hard for him to figure out who she was at first but when he realized who it was he was so glad that she had come to be by his side that he was embarrassed at how he had reacted to her. He had wanted to go slow with this woman so that he wouldn’t scare her off. He didn’t want to take any chances with this one and she was the one to come to him and comfort him in his time of need.
They finally decided that they had plenty of time and if Jack checked in while they were gone then everything would be okay anyway. Daniel got dressed in his nice clothes and took Kathy to a nice restaurant for dinner. He wasn’t going to tell her that this might be their last dinner together because of his plans. Kathy was smart though and she could see that he was thinking of something that was really bothering him. She could tell that he was going to do something that he shouldn’t. She also knew how he felt about the rest of his team and what he would do for them just like they would do for him. They were a family that was inseparable. If one was in trouble then they would all work together to get that one person out. She had been around SG1 for long enough to know that he was feeling very left out and he couldn’t stand to know that they wouldn’t be coming back.
“You’re going to P4X-3325 tonight aren’t you?”
“If Jack or Janet don’t check in before the deadline, then yes I will be going to the planet.”
“Then I’m going with you.”
He was surprised that not only did she know what he was thinking but she wanted to go with him. “No Kathy, this is most likely a one way trip, there will be no coming home for me especially if they didn’t make it. I can’t take you with me, it’s too dangerous.”
She looked him square in the eye and smiled an evil grin. “I’ll be going with you or you will not be getting anywhere near the Stargate ever again.”
“You wouldn’t!”
“Yes I will, and you should know that I will always get my way, so get used to it. I’ve had combat training and I’m a nurse so I could be a big help if something happened, and you can always use another set of eyes.” She had no idea that everyone on this mission had said that very same thing but it was true.
Daniel didn’t like the idea and spent the rest of the evening trying to convince her that it was a bad idea for her to go. She was touched by his concern for her safety but she was determined to go and there was no way he was going to convince her not to.
They stopped off at the liquor store to get more supplies for the trip in case it was needed. When they got back to the base she went to get her things ready with more medical supplies and all of the combat gear that Daniel said that she might need. Her pack was pretty full when she got to his laboratory late that night. Janet and Jack had not checked in on time and the General had waited for an hour after the deadline before he was forced to lock the address out of the system and deleting all of the GDO’s that were on that planet. The General was very upset at having to do that but he had no other choice.
Daniel sat down at his computer and started working on the passwords and security codes that were being used to lockout the address and the ones that were at all of the locked doors going to the Stargate. He would have a five second time limit on all the doors before they would close behind him and his access card was the only one that would work when he was finished with the program and all of the timers. The hard part was patching into the dialing computer and deactivating the controls and keyboards so the dialing program could not be shut down once it was started. He told Kathy to stay close behind him and to watch out for the doors closing behind her so that she didn’t get anything caught in the doors as they closed. The security doors would be opening and closing very quickly as they were moving down the hall and if anything was caught in the doors it would have to be left behind. He didn’t say not to get any part of herself caught in the doors either but he didn’t need to say that. He had his Zat ready so that if anybody got in their way he would be able to take them out without doing too much damage. He picked up his backpack and they left.
Just like he had said they were moving at a fast clip down the hall as the doors opened in front of them and closed as soon as they were through them all the way to the Stargate. When they stepped into the Embarkation room the Stargate was just finishing the dialing program and the Gate came to life. They didn’t spend any time in the room; they just went up the ramp and through the Gate into another world.
General Hammond was still in his office when he was alerted that something was going on. He came down to the control room and told the technician on duty to shut the gate down but he was unable to get anything to work in the room. General Hammond watched as Daniel Jackson and Lieutenant Kathy Johnson went through the Stargate to a planet that he had locked out of the dialing program two times now and they had gone through like it was no problem at all. If the cryptologist at the Pentagon were still in that position by the end of the next day it would be by Presidential orders only. He would have them sweeping floors at the North Pole for the next two years if he got his way.
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Jack got the canoes beached on a gravel bar that was close to a valley with easy access just as the water was starting to get swift to the point of being dangerous to take the others down. He got Janet, Sam and Teal’c to the shore and into an area that he felt they would be safe for a while. He was estimating that they would have only about two or maybe three hours of light left and he would need to get them into shelter of some sort. He left the backpacks with Janet and told the dogs to guard while he went off looking for a place that could be secured.
Janet was not used to doing guard duty but she was all that was standing between Sam and Teal’c and whatever was around in the woods that would want to take them away. The dogs were a big help and she was so glad that he had thought to bring them along. She was getting so tired that she was having a hard time keeping her eyes open. She had been up for so long that it was hard to remember the last time that she had been to sleep. When Jack had left the backpacks with her he had left the bottles of Jack Daniels in those backpacks. She needed to set Sam’s arm and this would be a good time to do that after she had gotten her drunk. She had examined her after Jack had brought our up to dry land and found that the arm was badly bruised but not broken although it was dislocated.
This was going to be very painful when it was put back into place. Sam was awake but she wasn’t doing too well from the beatings. Janet sat her up and put the bottle in her mouth. Sam was not feeling very well at all and when she felt the bottle in her mouth all she could think about was the tube that was shoved into her mouth to force her to take the sweet water. It took her a little bit to taste it and figure out what it was. She knew that this was to help her and it would make some of the pain go away. She drank all that she was given and asked for more. Janet opened another bottle and let her have about half of that one before she put the arm into place.
Jack finally found what he was looking for which was a cave that was fairly large on the inside but it had a small opening that could be covered fairly easily to secure the area. When he got back to where he had left the others it was getting closer to dark. With the tree cover in the area they were going to need the flashlights to get back to the cave. Teal’c was in pain but there wasn’t much they could do for him other than give him a shot of morphine to ease his suffering. They were going to need to give him the alcohol slowly to get him back to normal. They did give him his Tratonan which also made him feel better. They were going to need to set his leg if it was broken before he got the feeling back anyway so he was going to be better off the way he was for a while.
Jack carried Sam back first and left one of the guard dogs with her while he went back to get Teal’c and Janet. It wasn’t easy getting Teal’c back to the cave and it took several stops along the way so that he could rest. Teal’c was a dead weight of three hundred and twenty pounds of pure muscle and that is not easy to carry even if it is with a fireman’s carry. That was the only way he was going to be able to get Teal’c back to the safe area. Once he had them back to the cave he still had to go back and get the other backpack and weapons that they were not able to take with them the first trip. By the time he finished he was so tired that he fell the floor of the cave and went strait to sleep. He did put one of the dogs on guard at the front of the cave for the night.
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Daniel and Kathy come out of the Stargate at night but they did not have the night vision goggles that Jack and Janet had taken so it was pitch black. They broke out their flashlights and went into the jungle to the cave where Sam had taken Jack on the first trip through to this planet. They planed to spend the night there and start out first thing in the morning to look for the others. Daniel was thinking that he would start out by going to the village to see if they were there and if not then he would start looking around for them. The planet was a very large place to start looking for anybody. Daniel knew that if he was able to get Teal’c and Sam out or even just one of them it would mean that they would need to be close by because of the difficulty of transporting them. Daniel told Kathy that he would take first watch that night. It wouldn’t be safe for both of them to sleep at the same time until they found the others or a safe place to stay.
When the sun started to come up Kathy woke Daniel letting him know that it was time to leave. They worked their way to the village and scouted all around trying to find any trace of any of their fellow Earthlings but there was no sign of them. The village did look like there weren’t nearly as many people as he had seen on the first trip there. He knew that they had made a large dent on the population of the village the first time through and he was sure that Jack would have done a lot of damage when he came through. Since they hadn’t seen anything in the village they went back out into the jungle where they didn’t need to worry about being overheard and used the radio to call and see if they could raise anybody. It only took three tries before they got an answer from Janet. Daniel asked her where they were in comparison to the Stargate and she went out to get Jack so that he could give them the answer.
Jack gave them a general direction to go in and a time to make a check in so that they could get a better lock as to where they were. He also told them to watch out for animal traps along the way. The Pygmies couldn’t just live off of humans so they would have traps set in the woods to catch food. That statement caused them both to slow down and take their time while traveling through the forest. They had to skirt back around the village to go in the direction that Jack and the others were. They were about to get into an area that they considered a little safer than next to the village anyway when they came onto something that both of them thought was a bit too strange. They spotted two of the Pygmies carrying a baby that was about half as big as they were. In the world where they came from it looked like it was only a couple of months old. The baby was cooing and playing as the men were carrying it deeper into the woods.
Daniel didn’t like what was happening at all and motioned for her to follow him and to be very quiet. They walked on for about ten minuets with Daniel and Kathy discreetly following where they were not likely to be seen when the men came to a clearing with a large flat rock in the middle. There were skeletal remains all around the area and a pit made for cooking just a short way from the flat rock The men took the blanket and the small bit of clothing off the child and laid it on the flat stone. They started chanting something that even Daniel couldn’t understand but he knew what they were doing. This child was probably one of the village children that had lost its parents. They were not going to be burdened by having to raise an orphan so it would be sacrificed. Being as the child was young and tender they were going to have lunch while they were at it.
Kathy figured out quickly what was going on and turned to vomit behind a tree while Daniel did what he had to do. He did bring a pistol with a silencer as Jack had taught him to do and just as the small man was raising the club to do his duty he received a large hole in his head and dropped on the spot. The other man saw what happened to him and ducked behind the rock while he was trying to figure out what was going on.
The sun was shining into the baby’s eyes and it was not used to this much sunlight so it started to cry. This was causing the man behind the rock to become upset with the noise that the child was making. This was also causing distress for Kathy because she needed to get the child and make sure it was okay. The little thing was in the middle of the hot sun with a man that wanted to kill and eat it. They didn’t even know if it was a boy or a girl. Kathy knew that it would be a simple thing to figure this out and got her binoculars. The child was much lighter in complexion than the men that had brought her out (That part was easy to see now.) with a dark copper coloring and rather strait hair with just a few curls here and there in her shiny black hair. She was a beautiful child and it was hard to believe that they were just going to kill her. Daniel motioned that he was going to circle around the clearing and she was to stay where she was.
While he was circling around though the Pygmy decided that he had heard enough of the baby crying and he was jumping up trying to club the baby from the far side of the rock. The club and his arm were just short of being able to hit the child though and he had to jump up higher than he really wanted to. He was determined to stop the child from crying anymore, it was causing a distraction for him and he was having a hard time watching the surrounding area. The baby crying was also making it difficult to listen for any sounds of the attackers.
Kathy saw that the baby was in real danger and ran out to do what she could for the child to try and save it. She had dropped her backpack and was running with only her pistol in her hand when the Pygmy made his next attempt at the child. He saw the large white skinned human like the one that had escaped from their village running toward his hiding place. He decided that he would meet this challenge head on, after all this was only a female, although a rather large female, he should be able to club her easily. He was thinking that it was going to be very difficult to get her back to the village so it would be best to just cook her here and tell the village about it later.
Daniel came out of the brush and around a large tree to see Kathy running toward the sacrificial stone while the Pygmy was running at her with his club raised and ready to strike. Daniel knew that he was most likely to strike as her shins or knees to get her on the ground where he could finish the job more easily. The one thing that the Pygmy wasn’t counting on was her having a 9mm pistol and emptying it into his chest. It did the job but it also made so much noise that it would bring everyone for miles around to see what had made the very loud banging noise.
Kathy ran over and picked up the baby girl and dressed her quickly while Daniel ran back over to the tree where he had left their things to leave the area as quickly as possible.
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Earlier that morning.
Sam was feeling like her head was going to explode at any moment. Her head was throbbing and her eyes hurt even before she tried to open them. Her ears were ringing and her feet were tingling and itching. She was lying against something that was warm with a lot of hard muscles and it felt really good to snuggle up against it. She tried to put her arm over the nice warm body but that hurt a lot when she tried to move it. In fact she hurt all over and she felt like she was drunk and just starting to sober up. When she finally did open her eyes she did it one at a time and like she had thought before she even tried to do it, it hurt. Things were fuzzy but she could see her eyes were just were not in very good focus. The first thing that she saw when she looked up was that she was sleeping on the arm of Colonel Jack O’Neill which really confused her. He was supposed to be in the infirmary unable to see or hear and nothing working below the knee.
Then she thought that she was in the same shape as he had been but on P4X-3325 waiting to be cooked for dinner by the cannibals. She didn’t think that if she were dead that there would be this much pain and confusion but she had never died before. Jack had died quite a few times but she was lucky enough to not to have had to go through that particular experience herself. Sam raised her head a little bit and she was not at all happy about what she was seeing. It was fuzzy but she was looking at Dr. Janet Fraser on Jack’s other arm sleeping with a big smile on her face and her arm and leg lying across his body. Sam was pissed and not just a little either. What was Janet doing snuggled up against her man? If she could have gotten up she would have drug her out of the cave and did a little stomp dance on the good doctor for moving in on her man. The way it was though she was not going to be able to do anything and even if she had tried she was in such bad shape that Janet would have walked all over her and gone back to Jack with that smile on her face again.
Janet felt someone looking at her and opened her eyes to see that Sam was awake but she was not at all happy. Janet was jealous of Sam sleeping on the other arm of Jack but that was what he had done and as long as she had this side she was happy for the moment. Sam was giving her a rather mean look while her head was wobbling around and Janet gave it back to her letting her know that she was not going to just back down and let him go that easily.
Jack felt the tension on both sides of him and woke up feeling like he was standing in between two warring parties that were about to go at it. He looked over and saw that Janet was wide awake and she was not looking very happy at the person that was on the other side of him. When he looked over there he saw that Sam was awake but still very shaky and drunk and she had that look in her eye that he had not seen on her but once and was when Hathor had tried to clam him for herself. He knew that he was going to need to defuse the situation quickly but he had no idea of how to do that without hurting someone. It would be better if he could just disappear but that was not possible either, he was just going to have to deal with this the best way he could if he couldn’t run away from it. With each of the warring parties on one of his arms he wouldn’t be so lucky as to get away like that anyway.
It was time to do something that would make them both think and hopefully they wouldn’t just try to kill him to fix the problem. He gave Janet a kiss on the forehead then turned to Sam and did the same to her. “Good morning ladies I hope you both slept well last night. Sam it’s good to see that you’re starting to recover but we’re going to need to get some more Jack in you before you’ll be able to get up and do anything.”
He didn’t think anything about what he was saying but Sam got a sparkle in her eyes. “That would be great, I could get used to having a little Jack in me, how about right now?”
Jack did a double take at what she had just implied and he couldn’t help but smile at her as he was getting out from under both women. His back was stiff from lying on the stone floor all night long. He stood up and stretched then bent in all directions to loosen up before he went over to Teal’c and checked on him. He was resting easily and Janet had put some of their spare clothing under his head as a pillow.
Jack told the dog that had been on guard duty to lie down and he put the other dog to guarding the entrance of the cave. He had a lot of things to do before he could relax any at all. The first thing was he needed to get some more food for them and the dogs or they wouldn’t have enough to last the week. He also needed to gather fire wood and make a door for the cave so they could sleep better at night. Then they would need bedding of some sort so they wouldn’t be sleeping on the stone floor of the cave. The list went on and on and it wasn’t getting done by him standing there. He got another fifth of Jack Daniels out of the backpack and handed it to Sam. It would work better if she had an empty stomach but he thought that she probably hadn’t had anything solid on her stomach for a couple of days now. He fixed her an MRE which he knew that she liked and sat down beside her to feed her.
Janet was still upset about the look that Sam had given her and she could not get over her jealousy. Jack was now feeding her like she was a small child while she was working on Teal’c. She was doing the same thing to Teal’c that he was doing with Sam but she didn’t see it that way. When she was feeding Teal’c though she saw that he was just doing what needed to be done just like she was and it was better for him to be taking care of Sam at this time anyway.
When Sam had been feed and sat up comfortable against a smooth flat rock he gave her the bottle of Jack and told her to drink it all and don’t take too long doing it. Then he explained that the bottle that she had brought to him in the infirmary was what led them to discover how to get over the effects of the drug that the Pygmies had used on them. At this moment she was still pretty out of it and if he told her she needed to drink the bottle fairly fast then that was what she was going to do.
“Sure thing Dr. Jack, but you have to give me a kiss first.”
Janet just about lost it then and there but she was able to maintain her composure and just walked out of the cave saying she was going to go looking for firewood. Jack told Cesar to go with her and protect her and he did take notice that she was wearing her sidearm when she was leaving so he wasn’t too worried about her for the moment but he was not going to leave her out there on her own for too long either. He gave Sam that kiss she was wanting and he did a fine job of it now that Janet wasn’t in the room.
Sam was feeling light headed before the kiss but now she was hot and she wanted to drag him down on the ground and do things with him. Jack knew what she wanted and he wouldn’t have minded doing some of that himself but he had things to do and she needed to get drunk to fix her up the rest of the way. The alcohol would have worked by going at it slowly but it would have taken a long time and a lot more alcohol than what they had with them. It was better to get her soused good and get it done with. He gave her another kiss them told her to drink the bottle dry and that he had work to do so he would be back in after a while.
Sam did as she was told and she was feeling warm and loved again. It had to be good with him getting better and now she wasn’t going to be in the pot anymore along with Teal’c who was going to get better soon. It was just going to take longer for Teal’c than it did for her and Jack. Jack had told her that he had gotten everything going on Daniel before he had left so now everything was right with the world again. All she was going to need to do was find some way to make her best friend disappear so that she could have Jack all to herself. She took another long draw on the bottle and settled back thinking that if this was all it took to get well she might get sick more often.
Jack checked on Janet making sure she was alright when she spotted him and come over where he was at cutting down a tree that was about three inches across at the base with the machete then stripping off all the branches. He was making a pole that he was going to use to close off the opening to the cave and make a door. He was planning on working on that for a while then he would take the cross bow out and see if he could get something to eat for them and the dogs.
Janet was watching him work with his shirt off while he was flexing his strong lean body which was making her think that she really should just pull him off into the jungle and do what she was thinking about. She walked over to him while giving him plenty of notice that she was close by so that he wouldn’t use the sharp blade on her before he realized who it was that was coming up behind him. She walked up while he was catching his breath and kissed him letting him know that she was thinking about him and wanted to do something about it soon. He kissed her back but he was trying to stay off her so that he didn’t get his sweat all over her. He was going to need to find a place where they could bath soon also or they were going to end up smelling as bad as the natives of this planet. That was something else that he was going to be doing while he was out hunting, looking for a good source of water and a place that they could use to clean up in.
Janet knew what he was doing and she was not offended by him not wanting to get sweat all over her so she went back to what she was doing in the first place and that was gathering firewood. It would be necessary to be able to could cook if he was able to bring something back and if not it would make the MRE’s taste a little better being hot.
Janet checked on the others when she went back in; Sam was passed out again but she had finished off the bottle. Janet made her more comfortable then went over to tend to Teal’c. She heard something that she had not been expecting to hear then and that was the radio calling them. It sounded like Daniel’s voice so she rushed over to pick it up and answer. She took the radio out to Jack where he was able to give him a direction to go in so that they could meet up and get everybody together.
With the rather large hills that were between the cave where they were at and where Daniel and Kathy were it was going to take a while to get to their. Jack finished the fifth log that he had cut down then carried it back over to the entrance of the cave. He had cut the first one then fitted to the ledge above the mouth of the cave which was fairly flat on top and the bottom. (Something he was very thankful for because it made fitting the logs much easer.) he had used a smaller tree as a way to measure the length of the poles he was cutting which were a little longer than the distance between the top and the bottom of the entrance. Once the poles were cut he used a wooden hammer that he had made to drive the poles into place, he was also tying them together with some very stringy vines that he had found making the wall much more secure. It was going to take a couple of days to finish but they would be more secure when it was done. Once that was in place he put on his side arm and got the crossbow to go out and find some food. Jack had told Daniel to watch out for any kind of vegetables or fruit while he was on his way also.
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Kathy was carrying the baby while Daniel was on the lookout for any kind of problems. There was a rather large hill that seemed to just materialize right out of the forest which was going to be impossible to climb with a baby in tow. They were going to have to work their way around until they came to a better place to get over, they needed a good pass. If nothing else they could go back down to the river and try to follow that to the valley where the others were. Jack had told them about the things in the water and not to go into the river under any circumstances. They might be able to get a boat to go down the river but that would mean going back to the village and that was not a good idea now. The natives had been attacked three times in about a week and they were on the lookout for trouble now. That meant that they would need to go the other way which was away from the river. It was going to take them all day to get across the seven or eight miles to where Jack and the others were.
Daniel called the others again and told them that they had a passenger and that it was going to take longer than they thought to get there. It was not hard going while they were in the forest but when they got to anyplace that was not covered by the canapé they had to cut their way through. The insects were terrible also but they couldn’t do too much about that other than try to shoo them away from the baby and to keep fanning themselves which was helping somewhat. They worked their way over several more rises still trying to skirt the large hill when they came to a valley. It was rather nice area with mostly tall grass, but what caught Daniel’s eye was the city that was at the center of the valley. There were no people anywhere around that he could see and the city was heavily overgrown with vines and brush in that part of the valley.
The closer he got the more things stood out like the steel and glass in some of the larger buildings. There was no rust on anything and most of the glass was still intact. Daniel called the camp again and told them about what they had found but he was told that it would need to wait until they got the others up and in shape before they could investigate the city. He was told that this was a great find but it really did need to wait a while so that he would be able to check things out with proper safety measures and when he didn’t have a baby to take care of.
He agreed with them although reluctantly and went around the city to a tunnel that was cut through the hill that could hold about six cars across with room to spare. They were not able to see the light from the other side so they were not sure if it went all the way through or if there was a bend in the road. It could be that it had caved in at some time in the past. This was their best bet to get to where they wanted to go or they were going to have to climb over the hill which was about six hundred feet tall and steep. They got out their flashlights again but they were only using one of them keeping the other one as a spare. Daniel was watching closely as they entered the darkness hoping that some large animal hadn’t decided that this was going to make a nice home and take offence at them barging in.
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Jack wasn’t upset at them finding and bringing a baby along but this baby was a cannibal and if he lost a finger while playing with the baby he was going to have some strong words with Daniel about his choice of children to being into the group. Janet had asked them about the baby and its development which Kathy told her that it looked like it was about two or maybe three months old but no more and it was much bigger than she would have expected from the Pygmies. It also had a slightly different color to her skin tone than nearly all of the Pygmies that they have seen so far. Daniel had said that the mother had probably been captured from another tribe and had not survived so they were dispensing with the child like many other cultures do. That answer didn’t make Jack or Janet very happy, children were not disposable when it was not convenient to take care of them and they were about to have lunch with her being the main course.
Now they had another problem and that was how to feed a two month old baby. He was thinking that this area had some grazing land around here and there so they should have some sort of animal that could be milked. He went about looking for the openings that would allow for grazing which would probably be somewhat close to a water source also. He might be able to get two things done in one pass possibly three. He had to travel around the area for a while until he found one of the open areas along the side of the big hill that was rough rock and big boulders next to a field of hay. It was a great for the goats that were living in the rocks of the area.
This should be a simple thing to make a rope out of the stringy vines and catch a goat. He was so wrong about that. The little goats were fast and if they were caught in the rope then they wanted to charge the person on the other end of the rope to head butt them. They also had the ability to jump really high and had very good hearing. He came to the conclusion quickly that he was not a very good goat roper. They were very curious though and wanted to see everything that he was doing. Jack was still carrying the machete with him and got an idea. He went over to one of the smaller saplings that was only about an inch across it then cut the top and branches off and bending over a ten foot section of the tree. He cut a stake that he drove into the ground with a rock and made some more of the vine rope which was strong enough to bare weight fairly well. He could pull the sapling down fairly easily with one hand and tied the rope to the tree and to a stick which he had set into a notch in the stake that was in the ground. The rest of the rope was thrown off behind a bush. He then took another section of rope and made a noose which he tied to the sapling and covered it with grass.
The goats were dieing to see what this strange creature was doing and were watching his every move just out of reach with easy access to the rocks where they could easily get away. Jack thought of something else then and put two more nooses on the ground on either side of the one that he had. He covered them also then went into the bush. The goats come down to see what he had done to their area of the pasture taking great interest in the sapling and ropes. He had put some of the hay that he had cut by the other side of the snares and waited. It took a while and a lot of patents to wait until he had three females with large utters in the area where he wanted them before he could pull the rope and trip the trap. It was fast but one of the goats was able to get out of the way but the two on the ends were caught. One was only caught by one front leg and he had to calm her down quickly before she hurt herself trying to get away. The other one was caught by both front legs and she was trying to chew through the rope. Jack threw the one that was caught by one leg to the ground and carefully sat on it while he quickly cut the rope from the tree and used it to tie the legs of the other goat. They were both a real problem to hold still while he was trying to tie the one it was kicking him and trying everything to get away from this thing that was attacking her.
Once he had the two goats secured he was going to need to get them back to the cave. He tied the one he was sitting on to a tree close to her neck so that she couldn’t get to the rope then went back over to the other one that had all four legs tied securely. He had tied his cross bow and other equipment that he had been carrying with him to the goat now tied to the tree and picked up the one off the ground putting it over his neck. Then he went back to the other tree tied goat and untied it holding the goat close to him by the roap so that it couldn’t butt against him. After a while he found that it was easer with the other goat over his shoulders to throw his leg over the top of the goat he was leading and walk with it between his legs but that made it very slow going. He had thought several times of letting one of them go or tying it to a tree and come back for it later but that would be almost as hard as what he was doing. This way he would have it finished with.
Janet was setting outside the cave when she saw Jack coming and she was having a hard time not laughing at the way he looked with one goat over his shoulders and it looked like he was riding one of them as he was walking while holding the rope that was around its neck tightly. She learned that the goat that he had between his legs had a habit of throwing its head back and that was very painful for him. The females didn’t have horns but they did have very hard heads and that was their main weapon. Getting them there was only going to be half the problem. Now he was going to need to pin them up somehow.
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The road that they were traveling on inside the tunnel was smooth and unbroken. There was a wide area running down the side of the road that looked kind of like a sidewalk but it was almost as wide as one of the lanes of the road. They decided to use that to go through the tunnel. Daniel and Kathy had only gone in a short distance when the lights came on all the way through the tunnel. The lights were strange in that there were no bulbs; it was just an even white light throughout the tunnel with no bright spots or shadows. Daniel turned off the flashlight but kept it handy along with his 9mm as they worked their way to the other end. It was as he had thought; there were several turns in the tunnel that blocked them from seeing the end. The walls were coated with a smooth coating that looked like large white tiles, it was clean and when he felt of it, it was cool with no dirt or dust anywhere on the walls. In something this old he would have expected to see bats and spiders everywhere along with mold and dirt but it was as clean as if it had been cleaned yesterday.
It took a while to get all the way through to the other side where there was another clearing where the road went off in a direction that they were not going. The baby was starting to get fussy now, she was getting hungry and they didn’t have anything to feed her. Kathy got out one of the protein bars and broke off some small pieces to give her which helped her some but they didn’t have a bottle for her and neither one of them knew what to do or how they were going to feed a baby this small. They stopped for a while where Daniel got out one of the MRE’s that had some mashed potatoes with gravy. He built a small fire to heat their food then sat down with the little girl and feed her the soft food from both of their meal packs. Kathy was happy to see that she was able to eat the food without a problem. It wasn’t the best diet for a small baby like this but it was all they had and it was filling her small tummy. Daniel also used a spoon to give her small amounts of water which was working fine but it was very slow.
They got up after a short rest to get on the trail again. Kathy spotted some trees that were shorter than the others with some sort of fruit on them. They were small red things that were about the size of a plumb but they tasted more like a green grape. They didn’t try any of the fruit until they had seen several kinds of birds eating it first. Daniel was the first to try it and they waited for a while before Kathy tried them in case there was a problem with the native food. There were other kinds of fruit and vegetables in the area. This must have been one of the farms for the city before it had been abandoned. They gathered a variety of things to take with them to test later.
Daniel made another call to the others to get more directions on how to get to where they were. Jack was sounding out of breath when he got on the radio again and told them what the large hill looked like that the cave was in. The radio signal was getting stronger so they knew that they were getting close which helped them pick up their step a little.
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Jack had worked hard to get the pin made so the goats wouldn’t run off. There was a small room in the cave that he was going to use for a while until he could get a better pin made outside. That way they wouldn’t have to smell the goats all the time in the close quarters of the cave. He had made a door that worked nicely and it had only taken about forty five minuets to do with Janet watching the goats to make sure they didn’t run off. She was sitting by them petting them which had a calming effect on both her and the animals. She put her hand on their stomachs and felt the baby goats moving inside of their moms. From the size of their stomachs it wasn’t going to be too much longer until they were going to be coming out to see what was going on in the world.
Jack finished as quickly as he could and put the goats into their new temporary home. He now needed to go back and get something for them to eat and they would need water. He went to the field which was not that far away when he didn’t have to herd goats all the way from that area. He was keeping his eye open for game also along the way when he saw something that looked like a turkey walking through the field along the other side. There were several of them and they were fairly large by Earth standards. It took time to get close to them but he took his time getting into the right position to get one of the big birds to bring home. Once that was done he used the machete to cut the tall grass and bundled it with the rope to bring back to the cave.
Daniel called again right after he had finished cutting tall grass and he told them that they were getting closer. Jack cut and bundled more grass then thought it would be a good idea to take it back to the cave with the Turkey thing. He would come back to this area and wait for Daniel and Kathy to get there so he could take them in the rest of the way. He went back and fed the goats and checked on Sam and Teal’c. Janet had decided that Teal’c’s leg was going to be alright without being set, she felt of it and it was the Tibia that she felt was cracked and not broken from what she could tell from feeling the injury. With the Tratonan he would be healed soon anyway. Janet had been giving him some of the Jack Daniels all day a little at a time so that it wouldn’t be so hard on his system. Sam had slept off the effects of the drug now, but she had a really bad hangover.
She knew that she needed to get up and move around so that she would start to feel better and decided to go back with Jack to the meadow. Jack had cleaned the Turkey and brought in a flat rock that he placed on a couple of other rocks after he had built a fire. The thin flat rock would set over the top of the fire at the entrance of the cave. He fed the dogs with the parts of the turkey that they would not be eating. Janet said that she would cook the bird while they were gone and that it should be done when they got back with Daniel and Kathy. Jack was going to see if he could get anything else while they were out. This was going to be good but they would need more with all of the people that they were gathering together.
On the far side of the meadow Jack had spotted a waterfall that was going into a rather large creak. With the lessons that they had learned from the river he was very careful to check out the clear water to make sure there weren’t any of the flesh eating fish that were in the main river. There were fish in the water and he only had one way to test the water. He located the turkeys again and shot another one so that he could use some of the parts to test the water. Sam was sitting on a rock in the shade nursing her hangover while he was doing this. Luckily for them the turkeys were not too far off. It only took a short while to get a rather nice one that would work for the next day for anything that wasn’t eaten that night. He threw some of the intestine into the water. The fish did eat it but not voraciously like the other fish did. After testing it like that and being fairly sure that it was safe he stripped down and got into the waterfall first. The water felt wonderful and very refreshing. He then slipped down into the water and swam across the stream and found that in the middle he wasn’t able to touch the bottom. He was swimming comfortably along on his back when he looked over at the bank and saw that Sam was in the waterfall like he had been earlier. It didn’t take her much time to get into the water and swim over to where he was at. She was feeling better and the water was the best thing she had felt in a long time. The water was cool but not cold and in this heat it was blissful.
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Daniel and Kathy came into the clearing and heard a noise coming from the stream that was ahead. Kathy was looking at the waterfall as they were coming closer to the stream and wishing that she could go in. The clear water was so inviting. As they got closer they saw something that they had not expected, Jack and Sam were naked in the water swimming around and playing games.
Jack saw movement out of the corner of his eye and turned to greet the two travelers. Daniel and Kathy saw that both of them had washed their cloths and had their weapons close to the shore. This was too good to be true. Daniel had been telling Kathy that they couldn’t go into the water but Jack and Sam were swimming so it had to be alright. Jack told them to come on in, the water was the best thing on this planet.
Kathy wasn’t shy about nudity and stripped off her clothing quickly to get into the waterfall. Jack come over to the edge of the water and motioned for Daniel to give him the baby which he gladly handed over so that he could strip and get into the water himself. Sam was right there with him checking the baby girl out. Jack gently dipped the baby into the water which got a surprised look on her face and started to cry from the strange sensation of having water on her like that. She needed to be cleaned up though and she was soon splashing in the water and having a good time just like the others only she was being held by Jack. It didn’t take long before Sam took the baby away from him and had her chance to cuddle the little girl. The baby loved all the attention that she was getting from the people all around her.
Daniel was talking ninety to nothing about the city that they had found and the tunnel with the road that was not showing any sign of wear at all. Jack was wondering what was the matter with this young man, he was talking about a city that was interesting but he had two naked very beautiful women right next to him. Kathy finally pulled him off to the other side of the stream to make him pay some attention to her instead of talking to Jack and bothering him. Jack went back over to where Sam had the baby and was paying attention to her and the baby again.
Kathy and Daniel washed their clothing and once that was dry they needed to go back to the cave before Janet got too worried about them.
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Teal’c was feeling better today but he did not like the feeling that the alcohol was giving and now his eyes hurt and his ears were ringing. He still couldn’t see and he was not able to hear much but it was an improvement. He sat up and started doing his Kel-Nor-Reem which helped to ease his pains. Someone kept moving his legs out of the position that he was comfortable and he knew that he was with his friends again but he had no idea who those friends were. He was gong to have to trust them and if they wanted him to keep his legs out strait then that was what he was going to do.
Janet had helped Teal’c set up and positioned him so that he wouldn’t hurt his leg any more than it already was. She brought over some of the turkey and fed him. At first he was hesitant about eating meat and she knew that he was thinking about the cannibals. He finally took the meat and ate thanking her for feeding him although she knew that he had no idea as to who was doing what with him.
She sat down and ate some of the meat and waited for the others to come back. The others had been gone for a while and she was beginning to worry about them when she saw all of them coming in the cave. She was quick to get the baby and check her out. The first thing that she noticed was all of the people that came into the cave were clean and smelled like they had just taken a bath. Even the baby was clean. She was quick to figure out that they had found a place to bath and she wanted to do the same thing. She had been in these cloths for a couple of days now and she needed a bath in the worst way. The baby was fine although she was a little malnourished she was healthy and she would be fine once they got her fattened up a little. She waited until the others had eaten then she handed the baby back to Kathy and asked Jack to take her to the stream so that she could cleanup also.
Sam was jealous again but she decided that it would be best not to show too much of her jealousy and just let it go for now. Janet had not said anything when she went with Jack to the meadow earlier and she could see that she had been jealous at that time. She knew that Janet had wanted to go but she had stayed behind to take care of Teal’c and cook the food. Now they needed to cook the other turkey so that it didn’t spoil. She fed the parts of the bird that they were not going to eat to the dogs again like they had done earlier. Daniel saw that Jack and Janet going off to the pool was really bothering Sam but he was not going to say anything about it. He had seen how close they were while swimming around in the pool and he was happy to see that something had finally happened between the two but why was she so jealous of Janet? He asked about Teal’c before Janet left and she had asked Kathy to watch after him while she was gone.
Janet had washed out one of the bottles and let it air out before she milked one of the goats into the bottle. It wasn’t easy but she had gotten it done. She knew that the baby was going to need to be fed and she was going to need to figure out some way to do that. She had taken one of the plastic cloves she had in her backpack and a straw that they used on missions incase water was available and not easily accessible, which had come in handy on many occasions. She cut off a finger from the glove and put the straw into the bottle which she had cut off at the same length as the makeshift nipple. Then she covered the bottle with the finger of the glove and put a couple of pin holes in the tip. The short piece of straw was to keep the finger of the glove from collapsing while the baby suckled. She gave the bottle to the baby right after she had examined her and she was eating like she was starving. Daniel had told her about giving her the potatoes and gravy out of the MRE. She had approved of what he had done and told him that it was good thinking on his part. She was a little young to be eating things like that but if that was all they had then it would have to do. They would need to get some other foods that they could boil down or crush to feed the baby. Daniel and Kathy got out the fruit and vegetables that they had found that needed to be tested to see if it was edible to work on that later.
Daniel saw what Jack had started with the door for the entrance of the cave and went out with the other machete to work on that. He found the pole that Jack had been using to cut the proper length of log then went out to cut more. Jack had covered the first third of the entrance so he was going to work on the other side so that they would have a door in the middle of the opening that could be secured. He asked Sam if she could do something for him and it would take her mind of Jack and Janet. He found some sap that was coming from one of the trees and smelled it. Then he told her to get some of the dried long grass that was near the edge of the bluff that the cave was in and to tightly wrap it around a stick that was about an inch and a half thick and two feet long.
She did as he had asked and soon she had about ten of them made and brought them back over to him. He told her to roll the grassy part in the sap then went back to the wood cutting. When she finished she brought them back over for his inspection. He was pleased that he was able to do two things, one was to get the torches made and the other was to get Sam to do some busy work. He pulled out his lighter and lit one of the torches which lit after a short while and would work well for light. They didn’t need heat but once the door was finished and closed they would need the light.
Next he showed her how to weave the rope out of the thin flexible vines that Jack had been using to make his ropes out of. They spent some time gathering the vines and she sat down in the area where he was working to make the ropes. Kathy was watching from the mouth of the cave while she was holding the baby and admiring the show that she was getting with Daniel working at cutting down the trees with his shirt off. He had a fine strong body that really came out when he had his shirt off like that. She was thinking that they may never be able to go back to Earth now but this wasn’t so bad. She had what she wanted now and they would be fine.
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They had about an hour before the sun would be going down and Jack was getting to know his way around the area fairly well now. The goats came down to check out the humans again and they were coming so close that they could almost reach out and pet them. Jack set his weapon down next to the water while Janet was stripping down and jumping into the water. They always took soap with them in their packs and Jack had his soap and washcloth with him and gave it to her as soon as he got close. She gladly accepted it and cleaned up feeling like she never wanted to leave the luxurious feeling of the water. Jack had left Bruno with the others while he had taken Cesar with them this time. Jack had told Cesar to stand down with the goats and once they had seen that he was not a threat to them they started checking him out. He wasn’t too sure about these animals that were congregating around him but he didn’t feel threatened and the humans were not concerned by them. It was still a little unnerving to have them so close and not be able to chase them like he wanted to.
Jack was enjoying the water and the company but he was also on the lookout for anything that was out of the ordinary. He had seen several deer like animals that had come to the stream further down the way to drink while they were in the pool. Of course most of the time he was watching Janet and playing games with her. She had gone back over to where her clothes were and washed them so that they could dry out while they were enjoying the cool water. The goats thought this was a new toy and had nearly taken them off but Cesar had growled at them and they shied away for a while. Jack had brought all the water bottles down to the stream with him after he had watered the goats using a natural hollowed out area in the floor of the room that they were in.
At the edge of the forest along the tree line a small set of eyes were watching them. It had taken him all day to get over the top of the large hill where they were forbidden to go when he saw two of the large things that had attacked them several times now. He knew that they would be in the forbidden area and that was why he had broken the law to find them. They were hideous creatures with their light colored skin that was unnatural and they were twice as tall as they should be both in high and width. The ones that they had captured earlier would have fed the village for days each. These creatures had killed nearly a third of the village which was going to keep them eating well for a long time. That is if they didn’t rot before they had a chance to finish them all. They were even thinking about calling the other villages and having a truce so that they could have a feast like they had done in the old days. If they did that then they could combine their strengths to attack these things together. Then after the feast they could go back to the way things had always been. Now that he knew where they were he would let the others know and if they did not kill him for breaking the law then he would lead the others into battle against the tall white things.
He needed to leave now; he was getting sick watching them in the water. Nobody went into the water, it was too dangerous. Water also made them feel funny if they got caught out in the rain so they avoided water as much as they could. They had to drink but that was all they wanted to do with water yet these things were playing in it like it was a good thing. They just needed to die and he was going to make sure that they did. This would only help convince the others that they needed to band together to destroy these things that had disrupted their lives and their whole way of being. He did want to take the scalp of the woman with the light colored hair; it would make a nice conversation piece. Nobody else would have a scalp like it and hopefully nobody else would ever get one like that.
He checked out the area carefully but he was not able to get too close to the big things because of the animal that was with them. He had never seen anything like this before. The animal was watching and guarding the humans and he could not figure out what would make an animal do something like that. If it was him he would have killed and eaten the animal instead of keeping it around to take some of his food. He stole off into the darkness of the forest to make his way back to his village and make plans.
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Jack and Janet came back and everybody was setting in the cave with the torches lighting the area now thanks to Sam’s hard work and they were trying to figure out a name for the baby. She had the color and face shape of the American Indian Tribe of the Apache with her long strait nose and high cheekbones and the strait black hair. Daniel was thinking that an Indian name would be best for her. He thought of a name that was from the Cherokee tribe that fit perfectly, Ahyoka which he translated to ‘she brought happiness’ and it was approved by all. She was a happy little girl and she was no problem at all. The one big problem was that they didn’t have any diapers for her and they all knew that they were going to be spending a lot of time down at the pool cleaning her and themselves up. She took to the makeshift bottle well and they found that the vegetables that Daniel and Kathy had brought with them were good; they were going to need to go out and get some more of them soon.
Daniel had found some other things while they were out cutting the post for the door and making the rope. They had found some small branches of a tree that was rather like a weeping willow that was down by the river which had long thin pliable branches. Jack and Daniel sat down and started weaving baskets. They needed them and there weren’t a lot of other things to do besides play with Ahyoka and the women were taking care of that problem. Along with giving Teal’c the Jack Daniels when it was time so they could get him back into the real world. Sam’s arm was still sore as well as the rest of her body but Teal’c had taken the brunt of the beating and it was going to take time for him to heal.
Daniel was admiring Jack’s work on his baskets. ”Jack, where did you learn to weave baskets like that?”
Jack just smiled back at him. “I learned how to weave baskets while I was in rehab after I got back from Iraq.”
From the look of it he had spent a lot of time in that group trying to get back to normal after he had escaped the prison camp and worked his way across the desert to get back to his own lines. Daniel had learned some of the things he had done over the years and some of Jack’s personal feelings had slipped out now and then. He was a very privet person but some things he couldn’t keep in all the way. After a few beers had loosened him up enough Daniel was able to get a few stories out of him. Daniel knew that Jack was hurt badly when he was captured and they had aggravated the wound to try and make him talk.
When he had finally killed the one guard that was left with him thinking that he wouldn’t be able to resist let alone move around after one particularly gruesome trip to the fun house. He was free but he wasn’t able to get far before he collapsed into a basement. He was found by a young girl and cared for while he got better. She tended his wounds and brought him food. She hid him when the houses were searched until he was able to leave on his own. If they had found him in the house she would have been killed and she knew this but she also knew that this was something that she needed to do. She was only about fourteen years old at the time. Daniel found out that after he was released from the hospital he went back and brought her and her family out to safety and got them established in the United States. The young woman was now married and had a young son that she had named Jack and she was about to graduate from college with her BS as a Registered Nurse.
The baby was asleep now and the others were getting tired also. Teal’c was lying down and lightly snoring although nobody was ever going to say anything about that to him. Jack laid down the basket that he had been working on and told Bruno to guard the door then he lay down on the floor using his shirt as a pillow. To Daniel’s amazement Janet came over and laid down on his right side and Sam curled up on his left side, both of them looking like they were as contented as cats on a warm rug in front of a fire. He put out the torch and found a spot on the floor and soon found that Kathy was on his right side which he wasn’t complaining about at all. She had brought Ahyoka with her and she was nestled between then comfortably.
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Daniel woke up the next morning very wet but he was happy with Kathy on his arm and Ahyoka nestled happily between them. They were going to need to go down and clean up. Daniel had some things he wanted to do before he and Jack left to go back and gather more of the fruit and vegetables. Jack got up and he was going to finish the door to the cave while they were cleaning up. Jack asked Sam to make a couple more of the ropes but he wanted them about a half inch across this time and a couple of smaller ones. It didn’t take him long to finish the door with all the work that Daniel had done the day before. The door was much thinner than the other parts of the wall. He had made a frame with bars that were about four inches apart then he went down and got more of the Willow branches that were a little thicker than they were using for the baskets. He weaved them back and forth through the bars making a wicker door that was strong and light at the same time. He hung the door with some of the thick rope that Sam had made and it had branches on the frame that they could use cross bars to hold the door closed with.
Daniel and Kathy took Ahyoka with them down to the pool along with Cesar while Bruno rested from doing guard duty. He had several of the baskets that they and made. When he got to the stream he went over to the other side of the bank getting some of the red clay that was along that bank and lined the inside of the baskets. He set them in the sun to dry as they cleaned up and washed their cloths again. They were going to need to find something to use as a diaper soon or move down to the pool. They had the water bottles and washcloths to clean her up during the day so it wasn’t as bad as it seemed at first.
Janet was checking the turkey that had been cooking all night long and it was dried out very nicely making a turkey jerky but it wasn’t like you could get at the store. The store bought jerky had all kinds of flavoring and salts but this was just plain meat that was cooked until it was dry. It would not spoil but it was very tough and chewy. She had milked the goat again and they had fed Ahyoka before they left that morning so she was busy tending to Teal’c and watched as Jack was hanging the door. She had also been working on making a place along some of the upper ledge to put the torches. She went ahead and placed them where they could be easily lit and in a position where they would give off the most light for the area that they were in. Jack took some of the thinner rope and tied the two flat sides of the baskets together with about an eighteen inch space between them he made two of these while Daniel was making something with flat rocks outside.
Daniel put several rocks together with wet clay between the rocks with one large flat rock on the top. The thing had an opening underneath it on one side and it was built on a large flat rock. Janet and Sam watched as he put the baskets inside that he had lined with the clay and started to build a fire in the hole that was under the contraption. Janet asked Sam what he was doing and was told that he was making a kiln to fire the clay into pots. The oven would get so hot that it would turn the clay into stoneware.
Sam was going with Jack and Daniel to check out the city while they were going in that direction and would be close. Jack got a long length of the thick rope that Sam had made and the baskets along with the sniper rifle and his side arms. Sam and Daniel went with the P90’s and all of them were wearing there backpacks but they were stripped down to just what they would need with water and a little food. Janet was going to keep the fire going in the kiln where Daniel had stacked a large amount of wood for that purpose.
They took Cesar with them as they traveled to the meadow first. Jack had brought some of the fruit with him that they had not eaten yet and took it out when they got to the area where the goats were. When the goats smelled the fruit they came to investigate. They were used to seeing humans now and didn’t think too much about them. Jack picked out a large Nanny and a Ram that was rather large and good for what he wanted to do with them. He coaxed them close with the fruit and slipped the rope over their heads without them even noticing. They were so intent on the fruit that he was able to lead then without a problem. He asked Daniel to go ahead and put the baskets on them and to tie the ropes under them to keep the baskets in place. This time the goats were not butting into him to get him to let them go they wanted more of the fruit. They only had so much so they were having to ration it out until they got to the orchard to get more.
Both of the goats took a liking to Sam as she was petting them and cooing over them. It didn’t take long before they were following her for the attention that she was giving them and didn’t really need the rope to leash them. It was not as hard to get back to the grove as it was to get to the cave being as they now knew where they were going at least Daniel did going this way. They spent some time getting the things that they wanted and filling all the packs as well as the baskets that the goats were carrying and feeding the goats some of what they were gathering. They were careful not to feed them too much or all they would want to do was lie down and go to sleep in the sun. They weren’t going to spend much time in the city looking around but they wanted to see some of it anyway to make plans to check out later. Jack didn’t want to leave the others alone at night while Teal’c was still out of the game.
When they got to the road Daniel had been telling them that it was perfectly clean and so was the tunnel. Sam was walking a little ahead of the others and of course she had her new pets with her when one of the goats did what a goat does and dropped a load on the road. Daniel and Jack both stopped and watched which got Sam’s attention as to what would be so interesting about goat droppings. That was when she saw that the pile of droppings was slowly being dissolved into the road. It would take a strong acid or at least a lot of water to get anything to dissolve that quickly. They were not having any problems with their clothing but in just a matter of a couple of minuets the road was clear as if nothing had ever happened to it. Jack thought for a second then went to the side of the road and got a pile of leaves which he sprinkled around on the road. Being as they were smaller they disappeared much faster. He tried with a hand full of dirt and a rock which all were dissolved in just a short while. They knew that it wasn’t affecting the goats or their boots. They had been watching their clothing and the goats as closely as they did the things that were vanishing before their eyes.
When they got to the tunnel Daniel saw that there was one tile on the wall near the entrance and decided to try something he took a rock that was close by and placed it on the cracked tile. Like the road the tile absorbed the rock that was against it but did nothing to Daniel’s fingers. They all watched as the crack in the tile started to close until it was as if it had never been there. Daniel picked up another rock to take with him before they started through the tunnel. Sam knew that he was going to try to duplicate his earlier experiment on another area and if he hadn’t done it first she would have. There was another larger crack in the tiles that covered three of them down next to the road about half way through to the other side. The rock was about the same size as the other one so it was a good comparison to see what this crack would do with the rock. Like before it took the rock slowly and started filling the crack, this time it repaired one and three quarters of the next one before it stopped. Sam took a piece of the fruit from the basket and put it against the wall where it took it faster than the rock and finished the one tile but left the last one cracked. This was all fun and very interesting but the needed to get some things done before they went back and needed to move on.
The sun was shining in the valley when they got to the other side and it felt good to be out in the open again. The road to the city was smooth and unbroken but when they got to the buildings they seemed to be in a state of disrepair. They were still solid but there were vines all over and a few of the window were cracked along with a few cracks in some of the walls. The buildings didn’t look dangerous to go into and they passed several smaller building to get to one of the larger buildings. The door slid open when Jack touched it and the lights came on like it had in the tunnel. The room was clean and uncluttered; this seemed to be an office building of some sort with a rather large desk at back of the room with a seating area. What really got their attention was the set of armor that was on each side of the door. It looked like the Jaffa armor worn by Ra but there were differences and the head pieces were much smaller. The armor looked like it was mechanized with the weapons built into the arm and head pieces.
Jack heard a voice then that was calling him by name. “Jack O’Neill, please go to the desk and place your right hand on the palm reader so that we may check you in.”
He looked at the other two and asked them if they heard something. Neither one of them had heard a thing. The voice came back and repeated the message. He asked them again and again they had not heard a thing. He went over to the desk and placed his right hand on the hand print that was on the right hand side of the nice well kept disk. They looked around for a while in that building then went to another building to see want was in it. It was a science building that had laboratories from one end of the building to the other. The only room that was not a laboratory was an administrator’s room that had papers all over the desk. This had Daniel and Sam both enthralled making it almost impossible to get them out. They didn’t have time for a detailed study of the city they were just going to see what was in a couple of the buildings and go back to the cave. When Teal’c was up and moving again then they could bring everybody to the city and find living quarters here. For the time being they were going to need to stay at the cave though so Daniel and Sam gathered a few things to play with and they left. Jack needed to do some hunting on the way back and it was going to be after dark if they didn’t leave soon.
Jack had to nearly drag both of the scientists out of the building to make the trip back to the cave. The trip back was going to take a while and they replenished their fruit and vegetable supply that they had eaten and given to the goats on the trip into the city. Jack handed his pack to Daniel when they got closer to the pool so that he could do some hunting. He spotted a rather large buck downstream yesterday and he was hoping that he would be making a return trip to the watering hole about this time. It was only a short wait at dusk and he had a clear shot. The sniper rifle made short work of bagging the deer. He then needed to clean it before he took it back to the cave.
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Golan had gone as quickly as he could back to the village and told them that he had seen where the big pale people were staying and it was in the sacred ground. They were quick to point out that if he had seen them there then he had violated the sacred grounds himself and should be punished. He begged their forgiveness and told then that once they were not able to be found in the village territory then the sacred grounds were the only other place they could have been. He felt that it would be justified to break the law to find the ones that have wrecked so much havoc in the last short while.
This set off great debate amongst the council as to the wisdom of going into the sacred grounds with a force large enough to bring back the large pale people. Golan brought up the suggestion that they unite the tribes for this one occasion to rid themselves of an enemy. He suggested then they could have a feast like it was said they had in the old days. This brought about another long debate that he thought would never end. Two thirds of the council voted to send a runner with a truce to the other four villages and ask them if they wanted to join in on the hunt. The other third of the council was saying that if they went into the sacred grounds the gods would come down and punish them as they had in the past. The others put this down as fables, none of the gods had been seen in so long that it was not clear what they even looked like now. Some said they were hard like stone all over and shot lighting out of their hands and eyes but again some of the legends also said that they were Giant birds that breathed fire. The majority of the council was younger and they were the ones that voted to send the united villages against the pale ones then they would leave the sacred lands alone to appease the old ones of the council.
This did not make the old ones happy at all but they had been outvoted and it was going to happen no matter what they had advised. They were going to take their families and go off to the far hills to wait for this to all be over. They had advised the others to have their families leave also incase they brought down the wrath of the gods but they all wanted to stay for the feast that was going to be bigger then anything that they had ever seen before.
Golan was proud that he was chosen to stage the attack and he would be leading the first wave against the large pale ones. He had told the others about them actually getting into the water which caused some of the women to get sick at the thought of water touching their skin. They said that they would need to put them in the heat for a while so that they would not be so bland when they were cooked. It was going to be hard to let them ripen as they should with the four other villages waiting for the feast. Golan knew that this was not going to be an easy won battle and there would be others that would be ready to cook while the pale ones were getting ready.
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Janet and Kathy were getting Teal’c up now that he was able to see and hear a little more. He would not be able to stand for a while with his leg being so bruised and having the one bone cracked was going to take a while to heal. Janet had given him more of his Tratonan although it was going to be another day before he was going to need it, it would speed up the healing this way. Janet had kept the fire going all day in the kiln and was loading it again when she saw movement in the tree line. It wasn’t a normal kind of movement so she looked closer and saw that they had company. She ran back into the cave and shut the door locking it with the cross bars. Janet wasn’t sure how many there were but she had seen that there were too many for them to try to fight out in the open. She told Kathy and Teal’c what was happening after she lit the torches and moved everybody to the back of the cave.
Kathy put Ahyoka in the room with the goats in the hay and covered her with a blanket and some hay. She was sleeping and Kathy was praying that she would stay asleep if the others got into the cave. If they had to fire their weapons though in the cave there was no way the child would stay asleep. This was not going to work, they were banging at the door now and it was evident that they were going to be breaking through soon. Kathy went back into the goat room and got the Ahyoka bringing her to the rear of the cave with the rest of the group. There was a ledge around the top of the cave in this area and Ahyoka was too small to turn over or crawl off. Kathy had to stretch to put the baby on the top of the shelf where she could not be gotten to by the Pygmies. She took a rock and wrote her name and used an arrow to point to where Ahyoka was. Kathy put some rocks in front of the baby to help protect her and got ready for the assault.
They brought Teal’c to the back of the cave and got behind as much cover as they could. Janet went to the backpacks and got a bottle of the Jack Daniels and told her to drink about half the bottle which she did the same for the other half. Janet was thinking that if it would counter the drug once it was in the body it might block it or make it less effective if it was already in the body when the drug was used. They were in the dark part of the cave with the torches being at the front of the cave giving them a clear target while also giving them the advantage of not being easily seen. Teal’c had one of the machetes as well as his side arm and extra clips. Both Janet and Kathy had a P90 and their side arms.
The door finally fell but it had taken them a long time to get the ropes cut and the door taken apart. The rattling started soon which heralded the advance of the worriers. It was like shooting fish in a barrel but they just kept coming and would not stop. It was one shot one kill except in the case of the P90 if there were more than one in a row, it would go through the first one and kill the person behind him or her. Kathy and Janet had never been in a battle like this before and neither one of them could understand why they would keep coming with such whole sale slaughter going on. They would pull the bodies back out of the way and start again with the rattling. One of the Pygmies got in far enough to throw a torch that they had brought with them back to where they were. They were not able to put it out before they were all hit with a couple of the darts. It weakened them and made them dizzier than the alcohol did but they still were able to put up a fight until they were overwhelmed with the little fighters. Teal’c took out several more with his machete and the girls were able to do a lot of damage with their knives and side arms but there were just too many of them. Janet saw Kathy kick two of them back as she shot them both one time in the chest before she was hit on the wrist with a club which caused her to drop the weapon and another strike knocked her out for the fight. Teal’c was the next to loose the battle although he had a large pile of the little worriers around him then she was ganged up on by so many of them that she couldn’t move and was soon knocked out as well.
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Golan was the one to finally cut through the covering that the large pale people were hiding behind. He was pushed out of the way by several of the other clans people in their hurry to get into the cave and prove that their clan is the best by capturing the pale people. They were lining up and pushing him back more and more until he was unable to push his way back into the line and had to mill around in the back of he line.
There was a lot of noise coming from the cave, loud banging noise and the worriers were falling at the mouth of the cave to the point of needing to clear the bodies out before more worriers could make the charge. There was an animal that was charging anybody that got very far inside the cave with black and tan fur. A dart finally took him down but it was not easy for the worriers to see their targets and they were firing blindly at the back of the cave.
He was the one to bring a torch to the others and light it with the fire that was in a rock oven of some sort. When the others saw what he was doing they took the torch away from him and threw it to the back of the cave. It took a while longer for them to get to the back of the cave where they could fight. They were all cheering at the defeat of the enemy and the feast to come. Nobody was going hungry tonight and they would still have plenty of time to let the pale ones ripen up, they would not wait too long though, this feast was going to last a couple of days at least.
They had brought boats down the river to be able to get them back to the village and it was going to take a lot of trips to get all of them back. Those that were not part of the transport teams would go back over the hill and the camp that was setup for the villages to gather together. What was frustrating him the most was that there was a baby crying on one of the upper ledges that they could not get to. They had tried to climb up in different areas but there was no way to get over to that ledge from the other areas. They had tried to climb up on the backs of the other worriers but they could not get up high enough before they would fall and it was finally decided that it was not worth the effort and left where it was. Golan was very disappointed he really wanted the baby, he was going to clam it for himself since he was not able to clam the scalp of the golden haired woman. She was not with this group of people. For now it was time to leave to start the victory feast.
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Jack and Sam both saw that something was wrong at the same time. Jack threw the dear down and took out his side arm while the other two dropped their packs and got the P90’s ready. It was obvious that there had been a battle in the area with all the blood on the floor and walls. The goats were free and milling around just outside of the door waiting for their next feeding. Jack found Bruno and it was difficult to get him to settle down and smell him so that he knew that it was not someone that was trying to attack him or the people that he was supposed to protect. They heard Ahyoka crying as soon as they got close to the cave. Jack moved the rocks that were there to keep her safe and pulled the child out of her safe area. That plan and worked well but now Teal’c, Janet and Kathy were gone. This was no longer a safe place like it had been before. Jack was thinking of the metal suits of armor that were in the first building. That would protect him while he was doing what he could to get them back if they were still alive.
Some of the things that he had brought with him were a couple of belts of hand grenades in case he got into a situation where they would come in handy. This looked like one of those situations to him. They were going to need to get back to the city as quickly as they could. He would need the meat from the deer and some of the Jack Daniels to get Bruno back into shape and they had a lot of other things that they needed to transport quickly to the city. They had turned to goats loose once they saw that there was a problem but they had followed them and were standing with the other goats now. Jack strapped two of the backpacks together and set them across the backs of one of the goats then securing it underneath with a rope. He did the same with two more of them leaving the baskets on the large Nanny. He told Sam to take Ahyoka and Daniel to take Bruno, he got the deer and all of them had weapons ready as they made their way through the dark with nothing but a flashlight to get back to the city as fast as they could go.
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Cesar was on guard the entire time they were traveling back to the city and they didn’t waist any time along the way. They went to the main building that they first entered on the first trip. They placed all of their items on the floor or on shelves if they didn’t want the goats getting into it. Jack didn’t want the dear disappearing if he sat it down and asked the building what he could do to prevent this from happening. He was directed to a room that had what looked like a stainless steel table and he placed the deer there. Daniel brought in Bruno and set him on the table near where the deer was at. Jack asked if the floor would absorb what was dropped on it and he was told that it would. He took out the liver of the deer and cut it up into small chunks then put it into a bowl that was in the cabinet. He put a bottle of the Jack Daniels into the bowl and mixed it up then gave it to Bruno. He had not eaten all day and was hungry so he didn’t take too much notice of the strange taste.
Jack had told Cesar to guard Bruno so he would be comfortable in the building while they were gone.
Jack asked the building about the armor that was in the lobby and he was told that it was fully functional body armor that was used to protect and enhance a fighters abilities but it had not been used in several hundred years. “What other kinds of weapons do you have here that we can use?”
Sam and Daniel were stressed about the situation and both of them were wondering if he had lost his mind. He was talking to the building and it was not answering him but he didn’t stop. They followed him back out into the lobby to one of the suits of armor. “Tell me about the armor and what it is capable of.”
Daniel started to answer but he was stopped by Jack holding his hand up like he was listening to something very important. The building was perfectly quiet but this would be good if they could get the armor out of the case to protect them while they were trying to get the others back. “Jack, are you feeling alright?”
Jack turned to Daniel and shushed him then went back to concentrating on something that was not going on to anybody else in the room. Sam was holding Ahyoka and she was starting to cry with frustration and worry. Jack saw what was happening and came over to comfort her and let her know that they were going to be doing something about the situation soon.
“Jack, what’s going on and who are you talking to?”
“I’m talking to the building and her name is Mary. She is telling me about the armor and what it is capable of doing and about the other weapons that are here.”
“Jack, nobody is saying anything but you and you are starting to worry us.”
Jack turned back to the case that contained the Armor. It was black and glistened in the light. “Mary, please open the case so that I can put on the armor.”
He was told that this was not the armor that he wanted; the good stuff was in a room down the hall.
“Mary, will Daniel be able use one of the suits?”
They went into the room and got the armor were Jack told Daniel how to put the suit on. “These suits were the original design for the super soldiers that Anubis designed. They will give information and they are shielded along with the wrist and head weapons that are built into the system. They will enhance your abilities, if you get tired while running it will do most of the work for you. If you need to jump it will help giving you the ability to jump much higher then you would be able to do by yourself.”
Jack turned back to the lobby. “Will Sam be able to fly the Phoenix?”
When Daniel was finished putting on the suit Jack put on the helmet which was more like a diver’s hood with built in goggles and the unit came to life. Daniel did the same thing and the suit seemed to shrink to fit him perfectly and was as light as a feather. He jumped up into the air just to try it and see what it would do and hit the ceiling before he fell back to the floor. He was not hurt in any way by the ceiling or the floor. He heard a voice in his ear and knew that it was Jack telling him to watch what he was doing for a while until he got used to the suit.
He told them to come with him but Sam was having a hard time keeping up with the men now. They seemed to be moving very quickly and she had to call to them to slow down several times. She had missed it when both of them had gone over and picked up their conventional weapons with Jack giving Daniel a belt that had several hand grenades on it that went with his side arm. Jack had his P90 along with the sniper rifle. They walked out to another building that was not too far away and the door opened as they came close to it. Sam was looking at the buildings that were well lit and noticed that all of the vines that were growing on the buildings were now gone and the windows and chipped concrete was being repaired. It was like the city was coming back to life after they come into the area that morning.
The building was a hanger that had several types of ships. Jack walked over to one that was the size of a F16 but it had less wing span and no fuel tanks. “What about Ahyoka?”
Jack took her over to a room that was off to the side and pointed to a crib. Sam was not sure what he was telling her to do until she heard a voice that was Jack’s come out of a speaker on the wall. “Put her into the stasis chamber and she will be fine until we get back. Nobody will be able to open the chamber but us or Mary can if she needs to.”
Sam knew that they needed to do things and they couldn’t take the baby with them. She knew that it was hard for a grown person to take some of the G forces that were exerted by a fighter in combat mode. She didn’t know what they were going to do with a jet on a village that was primitive as the one that they were going to be going to in order to get their people back. Jack took off his helmet and gave the baby a kiss before Sam put her into the crib stasis chamber. She gave her a kiss also then the blue field of the stasis covered her and she was still. This was hard for any of them to watch but Jack assured them that she would be fine. Jack gave Sam a kiss also and told her to put the helmet on that he was handing her. She did as he asked her.
Her helmet allowed her to see things that she had not seen before. She found that she could shift through the visual spectrum easily and beyond to see infrared, ultraviolet and x ray. She could hear things that she couldn’t hear before simply by focusing on what she wanted to hear. She heard Jack over her headset telling her to go to the fighter and wait until just before daybreak to take off. He and Daniel were going to be going over land to get to the village but it would not take nearly as long by air for her. He told her that she could go out and play with it for a while before she was due to be at the village but not to go too far away. He lifted her easily into the side of the fighter where she took hold of the handles that allowed her to climb into the craft.
When she got into the cockpit of the fighter and strapped in she was able to see what Jack and Daniel were seeing through her faceplate. It was interesting when they went into infrared to navigate through the blackness of night in the forest. They were running at an unbelievable speed and it was not taxing them at all. Sam asked them if they had any idea if the others were still okay or not. She got a visual of Janet, Kathy and Teal’c tied to a tree. They were pretty banged up but they were alive. Then she heard a strange woman’s voice. “They will be fine once we get them back here. Jack is strong and I know that he will be able to bring them back. Your job will be to make them think about what they did and teach them not to do it again.”
“Are you Mary?”
“Yes I am the city wide main computer and when you first came here I could only speak to Jack although I can speak to you and Daniel now through the headsets.”
Sam watched as Daniel started doing flips and jumping high into the trees to see what the suit could do. They were traveling at a fast pace but it was so easy to do things like this that they couldn’t help but play some. They stopped for a short while to test the weapons.
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Janet was still able to hear and see but things were blurry and she had a ringing in her ears. Her feet tingled and itched but it could have been much worst and she knew it. She was not conscious for the trip back to the village but now all three of them were awake and watched in horror as they were cooking the people that had fallen in battle. It was like a big party and they were drinking a beer like substance while dancing around and having a good time. She could tell that there was a lot more people here than she had seen on the first trip here with Jack to get Teal’c and Sam. She was at first glad that they had not used any long range weapons like a bow and arrow but that could be a mistake on her part. She was afraid that they might throw them into the fire alive or cut off parts at a time and cook it while they watched. She knew that Jack, Sam and Daniel couldn’t do anything with this many people around. It would be suicide to try and take on hundreds of people to try and get them out. They didn’t have that kind of firepower and they were in the middle of the village tied to three different trees. The Pygmies had learned with Teal’c and Sam getting away to make sure they didn’t have any hidden weapons and they had tied them very well both hands and feet. Kathy was crying and she had to try to bolster her spirits even if she didn’t feel their chances were any at all.
“It’ll be okay Kathy. Jack, Daniel and Sam are still free and that’s three quarters of SG1 out there looking for a way to get us out of this situation. If there’s a way they will find it.”
Teal’c spoke up then which both of the women though he was still out of it. “We will have at least another day and a half to figure out a way out of this. The best thing to do is to keep up your hope and do everything to get away, no matter what. If you have the chance to get away then take it; do not come back to get anybody. Save yourselves, if SG1 is able to get us out of here then that will be all good but do not wait if the opportunity arises.”
They both heard what he was saying and it was true but they knew that he would not do what he was saying. He would not leave anybody behind even if it meant he would die in the process but that was the way he was and always would be.
It would be sunup in about half an hour which was not a good thing; they had a hard enough time seeing the bodies by the light of the fire. In the light of day they would have to deal with that and the drunken partiers while they walked around eating. The bugs were bad at night and it smelled so bad it was unbelievable but during the heat it was going to be intolerable.
There was an argument going on between three men that was getting quite heated. The men were pointing in her direction and screaming at each other. Janet knew that they were fighting over them and somehow she knew that they wanted to put them on the menu now and not wait while the other one wanted to wait. He was pointing to the piles of bodies and she did not need to be able to speak their language to know that he was saying to leave the fresh ones until later and to finish what was going to spoil. The others did not want to wait, they wanted what they had been promised and that was all there was to it. There was going to be violence breaking out if they were not permitted to have what they wanted when they wanted it.
She watched as the man shook his head in defeat and gave his orders to groups of men that were standing nearby. Janet knew that this was it, they were about to go into the fire and there was nothing they could do about it. They were cut loose but they were well guarded. With this many of the Pygmies having clubs and knives with others standing off a distance away with the blowguns they only had one choice and were led off through the woods. They came to a large meadow that had some large flat rocks in the middle of the field. From the description that Daniel had given this was where they and rescued Ahyoka.
They were tied up to a tree but this time they were standing and their hands were tied behind the tree as well as their feet and at the knees. Kathy was not tied with them though, she was taken to the flat rock and ropes were tied to each of her wrist and ankles. She was laid out face up and a very brightly dressed Pygmy came out with a rather large sharp stone knife that was used for ceremonial purposes. He stood on a rock so that he was above her and at chest level. He was taller than the others but the most unusual thing about him was the length of his arms, they were long and very strong with muscle bulging all along the arms and shoulders where he had been doing this kind of work for a long time and he must be good at it with all that practice.
The Pygmy priest leaned his head back and appeared to be saying a prayer with his arms spread wide and the large stone knife gripped tightly in his right hand. Kathy was thinking that this was just not fair, she was with Daniel now and they had Ahyoka. She was watching as he brought his hands together still holding his head back while he was getting ready to cut her heart out. She was wondering it this was like the Mayan ceremony where they cut the still beating heart out and showed it to the victim before they died.
Janet was watching and she was having a hard time believing that this was happening. She had helped to recruit Kathy into the SGC and she was a good nurse as well as a good person. When they tied the ropes to her wrist and ankles Janet knew what they were going to do. This was something that she didn’t want to watch but she could not take her eyes off of what was happening. She felt that it was her duty as a friend to watch until the end. Her voice was raw from screaming at them to let her go and labeling them with every curse word that she could think of for what they were doing to Kathy. Janet knew that it would be happening to them also and there was nothing they could do to stop it.
Kathy could not take her eyes off the man and the blade that was about to end her life in a matter of a few seconds. His arms flexed and the muscles were writhing beneath the skin as he was about to drive the blade deep into her chest when he opened his eyes and got very wide eyed then squeaked.
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Sam had taken the fighter out an hour before sunup to see what it would do and to get the feeling of the craft. It was so easy to fly it doing almost all of the maneuvers by itself. It was powered by antigravity and had an internal dampener system that would let it take off and stop at speeds that would kill a normal passenger if the dampeners were not engaged. Mary had told her that the ship was capable of space flight and had hyper drive engines but they were not used in that capacity very much at all. They had other ships that were better for space flight and had more room so they were much more comfortable than the fighters.
Mary was keeping track of the time for her and it was critical that they get there at sunup in order to let the villagers all see her and watch as she destroyed the village so they would not come back into their area again. This was something that they had not had to do for a long time and it was a lesson that they were going to need to teach the Pygmies again. Sam was able to make a full circuit of the planet and have time to spare. She stopped off at a remote area of desert and checked for life forms before she started practicing with the weapons of the ship.
Sam was watching Jack and Daniel’s progress through the woods. Mary was keeping watch on what was happening with Janet, Kathy and Teal’c in the village. When they were moved to the field it was time to go into action. They were now out of time and even if it wasn’t quite full daylight they needed to move now.
Jack came up behind Teal’c and Janet and used the wrist laser to cut a swath up the back of the tree cutting them free as he walked by. Daniel was on the other side of the clearing. Just as they walked into the field Sam descended in a vertical mode strait down into the field facing the village priest who was about to drive a stone knife into Kathy’s chest. He froze as Sam sighted in the weapon and let loose. Jack and Daniel had both fired at the same time but the main affect was when Sam cut through him with her laser. Jack and Daniel aimed and took out the people that were holding the ropes then started on the villagers in all directions.
Sam fired an energy burst into the pile of bodies that was near the fire disintegrating them before she went onto the village and started destroying everything in sight. Mary told her where the other four villages were and she was to destroy them also.
Jack and Daniel were dealing with the villagers from the five tribes which was rather hectic while defending Janet and Kathy as they were tearing into the Pygmies with all of the anger and frustration that they had built up over the last twenty four hours. Jack and Daniel were not only using the lasers and energy burst weapons in the suit, they were using the hand grenades as well. It was interesting to see the grenades hitting the villagers with the power from the suits then have them explode taking out large numbers of the Pygmies. Teal’c was not his normal calm self either, he was hung over and now his ears were ringing again because of these little monsters that wanted to kill him and his friends and eat them. He was limping his way through the middle of a large group of Pygmies and they were flying in all directions. He was so mad that tremendous strength was augmented with his rage and adrenalin. Those that lived through the attack of the gods would make special reference to the power of the Giant that was with them that could kill with one swipe of his powerful arm as he thundered through their ranks like they were not there.
There were several settings on the weapons that Daniel and Jack were wearing and one of them was an energy burst that was like the one on the fighter that would disintegrate the bodies that were littering the ground now.
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Janet was watching as the fighter lowered into the clearing which was confusing her as to what it was and why it was there until she saw the beam cut the priest in half. Suddenly she was free and so was Teal’c as a tall creature that was dressed in all black walked past her and another one was coming from the other side of the clearing and they were laying waist to the Pygmies on all sides. Janet saw that Kathy was loose now and she had taken off the ropes that were holding her down. She had picked up two clubs off the ground and had one in each hand as she was tearing into the Pygmies all around her. Janet grabbed a couple of clubs for herself and joined her. Teal’c had a look in his eye that she had never seen before. He was so angry that it was frightening even to her. He let out a roar as he tore into the ranks of the people that had caused them so much trouble and it was gruesome to watch as he was smashing his way through them with an unmatched furry.
It took time but the adrenalin finally wore off and they nearly dropped in their tracks. They watched as the fighter landed in the field. Teal’c was determined to go through the village until he found his staff weapon. It had been in his possession for way to long to think about. The staff weapon was given to him when he was made first prime to Apophis and had a high sentimental value to him. It was a badge of honor even if it was given to him by a false god. He started off toward the village to retrieve his things. Jack called Sam and asked if she was going to be able to take Janet and Kathy back to the city in the fighter. He let her know that if she wasn’t able to get them into the fighter or if there wasn’t enough room to take both of the women then he would stay there to protect them while Daniel was with Teal’c. Sam was having trouble getting the two women that were bruised up into the fighter so he left Daniel with Teal’c while he went back to help the ladies into the fighter.
The canapé was open on the fighter and he took Kathy into his arms cradling her like a child as he jumped up and onto the wing of the of the fighter and placed her into the seat before jumping back down to get Janet. When Janet was on the wing and getting into the fighter he took off his helmet and she stopped to turn back to him. She gave him a kiss and said thank you. Jack went back down and did the same thing for Sam, he again took off the helmet and kissed her goodbye, telling them that they would be home soon. He jumped off the wing after putting the helmet back on and watched as they took off. She was going to get them back to the city then come back to the field to get Teal’c.
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When the two gods and the Giant came into the remains of the village it was the only thing that saved Golan from being tied and put into a sinking boat. He was to be fed to the Aleana as punishment for desecrating the sacred land which caused the destruction of their village. He had seen the Giant bird that had caused so much destruction going off in the direction of the next village and he knew that it had not stopped at destroying this village. The other villages would be nothing but ashes when the others that had survived got back to them. They would live as a people but not here. They would now need to move the village as far away as they could so that the other villages did not finish the destruction that the gods had left undone.
His hands were tied when the gods came into the remains of the village and he was put into the canoe but they had not chopped the hole in the bottom that would have drown him and let him be fed to the Aleana which inhabited the water of this area. In his hurry to get out of the canoe the last of the council had pushed the canoe which slowly drifted down the river with the current. Golan hated to go by water anywhere. It would seem that if he got near water it would at some point splash and would get on his skin somewhere. It was making him sick to think that this could happen again or even worse he could fall into the water and get wet all over.
He looked up at the sudden rumble from the sky and saw that there were rain clouds in the area. This was worse than he had anticipated, he was tied in a boat that was out in the open on the river and it was going to rain. There was no way that he could get into cover so that he could stay out of the rain while he was on the river. The water was becoming swift and he was moving faster as the rain started to fall. The only thing that he could do was hunker down and ride the canoe until it came to a stop along the river somewhere. He was an outcast now and there was nothing that he could do about it.
If the council had done what they wanted to do with him he would have been condemned to spend his eternity in eternal death rather than being able to live on with the tribe if they had been able to consume his body. That way he would live on forever with the tribe but so many had died and would be condemned to the eternal death this day. For some reason he had been spared the eternal death one more time as the gods had seen fit to let him go again.
They were not the gods that had destroyed the village, his gods had seen fit to use him again and now he saw that they had a job for him to do and that was to destroy the other gods. They all knew that the gods were too powerful and knew that it was fruitless to fight among themselves. If he was to do the work for his gods then they would look down on him favorably. He now had a new purpose and a goal, he hunkered down as the rain started to fall heavily and he did not care anymore. He had a job to do and if this was what it would take to save his soul then so be it. He would endure the rain falling on his skin, his comfort meant little to him now.
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Daniel, Teal’c and Jack searched what was left of the huts in the village until they found all of their weapons that had been taken from them which made Teal’c feel so much better that he had found his favorite weapon. They got back to the field about the time Sam got back with the fighter.
She had a problem getting the two women out of the fighter. Sam asked Mary if there was a way to get them out of the fighter so that they didn’t hurt themselves trying to get down. She watched as a platform came out that fit up against the side of the fighter making a solid platform which would be lowered down to floor level. The women were so bruised up that Mary had told her to bring them to her infirmary. Sam was given directions to get the women in and she had them to lie down on the two tables that were in one of the rooms. Sam watched as a blue light came on while Kathy and Janet closed their eyes.
Mary told Sam that they would be fine until she came back with Teal’c. She was told to bring him back to the room also so that he could be healed also. Mary had explained that when Jack and Daniel came close she was able to use the sensors in the suit to get a reading of his physical state of being. She was impressed at his strength and intelligence as well as that of the rest of the people that were with them. Each one of them had a unique ability that contributed to the group as a whole making them a strong formidable group that was able to accomplish nearly any task they set out to do.
Sam asked about Ahyoka and was told that she could take the baby with her if she wanted to. The fighter would be safe for her and gave her directions to get some things that she would need. She went to a cabinet that was in a room that had a crib in it to find some clothing and a special diaper and a bottle of formula for her that Mary said was fresh for the little girl. There was a harness that would allow her to be strapped to Sam’s chest in the cabinet which Mary explained how to use. This wouldn’t be a problem for her after she had the safety harness on in the fighter. Mary told her that the safety harness was not necessary in the fighter with the stabilizers working properly. The safety harness would only be necessary if something happened to the power supply of the fighter which would cause the stabilizers to malfunction and that had not happened but one time and that was when they were being first made.
Sam got Ahyoka out of the stasis pod and dressed her then put her in the harness. She used it to get her into the fighter but that was no problem with the use of the platform now. Sam took off from the building and gave Ahyoka her bottle while she was going to the field to get Teal’c. The flight and landing was so smooth that it didn’t even jar the baby when she landed in the field.
Daniel and Jack took a side each on Teal’c after they had conferred with Mary about the structure of the wing and how much weight it would be able to handle. She told them that it was structurally sound and could take the weight of all three of them without a problem. They got on each side of Teal’c and told him to jump which with the aid of the suits landed all three of them on the wing with ease. He was loaded into the back seat of the fighter and taken back to the city. His staff weapon was not going to fit into the fighter though so Jack was going to take that back with him.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Adrift
Sam landed the fighter with ease lowering it into the hanger which was automatically guided into position when she gave it the command to land. The platform came out allowing Teal’c to have some dignity in getting out of the fighter himself where she took him to the infirmary and put him into one of the other rooms to lie down on the table like she had seen Janet and Kathy do. The blue light come on and he closed his eyes and seemed to relax as his body was being healed by the machine.
Mary said that Janet and Kathy were going to take another hour before they were ready to get out of the infirmary so Sam went into the Admin building where they had left the dogs. She was greeted by the four goats on her way back to that building which all four of them seemed to be very happy to see her. She petted them and scratched them in their itchy spot which was on the base of their neck in front of their front legs where they couldn’t reach to scratch themselves. This only made them love her all that much more and they followed her but were disappointed that she would not let them come into the building with her and laid down to wait outside the building in the shade. Sam went in and got some of the vegetables that were in the baskets and brought them back out to feed the goats then went back in to check on Cesar and Bruno.
Jack and Daniel had retrieved all of the equipment that had been originally brought with Teal’c and Sam which included their radios. He and Daniel went back to the Stargate to contact Earth. Once they dialed they knew that they would be in a lot of trouble at least Daniel and Kathy would be. The General was there still yet and they got the scoop of what was happening and where they stood back on Earth.
“General Hammond it’s good to hear you. I am reporting in to let you know that we have everyone accounted for and safe now.”
“That’s great news Jack; unfortunately back here we’re having a more difficult time of things. Once I finished my report and sent them in on what was happening here the Pentagon took a much worse view of things than I did. I tried everyway possible to get them to change their minds but they wouldn’t budge. This is what they have decided to do if anybody survived and all the paperwork has been filed. They have forced your retirement through while Major Carter and Dr. Fraser are not going to be charged with anything they have been given an honorable discharge and will not be allowed back into the service. Teal’c will be sent back to whichever planet he wants to go to and he will not be allowed back on Earth again. Lieutenant Johnson was charged with desertion which I was not able to change anything about that at all, although I tried until I was threatened with the brig if I brought it up again.”
“Daniel Jackson had been charged with the unlawful use of top secret government equipment. If he steps back onto Earth or any of our bases again he and Kathy Johnson will be arrested and put so far behind bars that they will never be seen again. I’m sorry Jack, I really tried hard to get this cleared up but there is no more arguing with them. You’re on your own son.”
Jack was mad now, not at General Hammond but at the paper pushers that forced this on them. They were out of the program now and if they went back to Earth they would never be let into the base again. They would probably find a reason to arrest them all one at a time and put them away so that the secrets they all carried around would never have a chance to get out. As bad as this was it would be a death sentence if they went home now.
“General, could I ask a favor of you as a friend?”
“Sure Jack; anything.”
“Go ahead and put Carter and Fraser’s things in storage and sell the houses, then give the money to Cassy so that she can finish school. I have everything taken care of for my house and since they gave me my retirement then the bills will be paid by my accountant.” Daniel spoke to Jack through the headset letting him know that he should have the same thing done with his and Kathy’s things, which he relayed on to the General.
“This is very bad news for all of us Sir. Daniel had made some very interesting discoveries here and we have some very advanced weapons. Let me demonstrate something for you. Smith, would you please take the gum out of your mouth and put it on the wall behind you, then move out of the way.”
“Jack what do you think you can do, the iris is closed and nothing can rematerialize in that amount of space.”
Mary had been telling him things through his headset about more of the abilities of the suits that they were wearing. “Just watch Sir. I am about to put seven holes in that wall that are about the size of a pencil, six around the gum and one right in the center of it.”
Jack was able to see through the Stargate and through the iris which was really interesting and he knew that Sam was going to be studying this for a long time when he told her about it. The seven shots were very fast with him only using his right wrist laser. He made a perfect circle around the gum and he did as he had said he would and put one right through the center of the gum.
General Hammond was looking very concerned now. “Jack don’t say another word about anything, they’re going to replace me here and if they find out about anything that is this advanced then they will send troops to secure it from you.”
“Thank you General, if you would like to join is here I can tell you that it would be a very interesting time in your life but if anybody else comes through this gate without my permission then I will feed them to the cannibals. Only you will be welcome to come through this gate is that understood. Anybody else coming through will be met with strong resistance.”
Mary told him again through his headset that it would be best if he gave a demonstration of what they could do and showed him how to do it. Before Daniel could do anything Jack was going through the Stargate. The iris just vanished before he got to Earth and he stepped through into the Embarkation room where he was immediately fired on by the guards in the room.
Mary had been telling him that he was only using the very basic parts of the suit and she had activated the more advanced portions of the suit once she found out that he was capable of using it responsibly. He did a back flip that landed him on top of the Stargate then he went invisible. He held out his hand, palm out at the men on the ground; their weapons were instantly magnetized and useless. He shut the doors to the room and the blast shield to the control room. General Hammond was standing in the embarkation room when he came through and the security guards were trying to shield him for the attack that was now known to be unstoppable. The general told the security staff to stand down, he knew that Jack was not there to harm anyone; he was just showing them what was possible. Jack became visible again while doing another flip off the Stargate to land in front of the General.
“General Hammond Sir, you know that Earth is making a very big mistake in doing this to us. We didn’t mean to do any harm to anyone, we just wanted to get our people back and now we are being punished for doing what was right.”
“I know son, and I deeply regret the actions that they have forced me to take. All of SG1 are heroes that this planet owes its very existence to all of you and now you are not even able to come home. This is just not right and if they hadn’t forced me to retire I would have resigned anyway. I’m glad that I had a chance to say goodbye to you and to wish you Gods speed.”
“Thank you Sir; if I may ask, where are you going from here?”
“I’m going down to my families horse ranch in Texas where I was going to go when I finished this assignment that was supposed to only last a few months before you came along. Now we have another problem that I’m sure you already have a solution for and that is that I cannot dial the planet that you just came from. How are you going to get back to the others?”
“That’s no problem Sir.” Jack pushed a button on the arm of the suit and the Stargate came to life on its own with out the dialing computer or the Plasma vortex. The Stargate just turned on smoothly and seemed to be much smoother than with the dialing computer. George had seen the Nox and the Asgard do this sort of thing before and he was glad to see that SG1 was all going to be together. Jack slapped the General on the back affectionately which George found a little stinging but it meant a lot to him then he simply said goodbye then ran through the gate so fast the others nearly missed his exit.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Mary had told Sam where to find an earpiece that would allow her to communicate without the helmet. She was told that Janet and Kathy were about to be released from the healing stasis so she went back over to the infirmary to see how they were doing. Ahyoka was still in her carrier that was strapped to her chest and she was sleeping comfortably when Sam got into the room where Janet and Kathy were just getting up. Sam got Ahyoka out of the sling and handed her to Kathy. She was so happy to see Ahyoka that she was crying while holding her.
Their bodies were healed but the mental scars would be around for a long time. When she had put Ahyoka on the ledge she was thinking that it would be the last time that she would ever see her. When she was on the slab of rock waiting for the stone knife to end her life all she could think about was that all she wanted to do was watch the little girl grow up with Daniel but the Damn Pygmies were going to take all that away from her. Now that she was back it was hard to let go of the hate that she had for them. The baby that was cooing in her arms and so happy to see her was helping though. This made her think of what Daniel had said her name meant ‘she brought happiness’ which fit perfectly.
Daniel and Jack came in at that time and took off their helmets. Daniel of course went strait to Kathy and Ahyoka to see if they were alright. Janet was sitting on the side of the bed and wondering what was going on. She had been taken and was about to be barbequed when Jack, Daniel and Sam and descended on the large group of Pygmies and started tearing things up. She was very interested in the medical tables that had just repaired all the damage that had been done to them over the last twenty four hours.
The suits that Jack and Daniel were wearing were also of great interest to her. Sam had told her a small bit of information to keep her mind occupied while they were flying back to the city to help take their minds off of what had just been happening. Sam had told her about the abilities of the suits to enhance the senses all around and aid in the movement for any activity that was being done. This was the Super soldiers that Anubis had created plus. Those suits that he had for his mindless soldiers were not even close to what these suits were able to do and with a trained soldier like Jack working them they were unstoppable.
Jack gave them all the bad news about what was happening back home and it did have a dampening affect on all of them. They were together though and that was all that was necessary. Teal’c could always go back to the Jaffa controlled planets with Master Brata’c and Rya’c but the rest of them were going to stay where they were for now. There was so much to learn and do with this new city. Mary was willing to teach them anything that they wanted to learn about and this planet was so far advanced beyond Earth that it was a little frightening to think of what was possible.
Mary was translating everything into English for them and those things that could not be translated she would tell them what it was so they could learn the words. All of them had the earpieces now except Jack who didn’t need it to communicate with her. Sam asked why it was possible for Jack to communicate with her and nobody else. She was told that he had an area that was opened in his mind that allowed her to talk to him that the rest of them didn’t. This was a genetic trait that the people of the city had and he could only be a descendent of those people.
It was getting late then and they were hungry. Mary told them where the mess hall was and Jack went out to feed the goats with the vegetables that were still in the baskets. He fed the dogs also with more of the deer that was still fresh. Mary told him that she had removed the bacteria from the deer and it would last a long time that way so that he could feed the dogs with fresh meat, there was no need in letting it go to waist when they could use it for a good purpose.
The machines were simple to use, they were like the Asgard food replactiors and they would dispense anything that was asked. The thing that these machines had that the Asgard replactiors did not have was Mary watching out for their health. If they were getting too many calories then she would reduce the calorie count or add vitamins or other things that they would need to stay healthy.
They had a good meal and were told where the showers and bed chambers were. Jack showered and went into the room that Mary told him was his. He was soon joined by Janet and Sam. Neither of the women was going to give an inch when it came to Jack. They took up their usual positions with Sam on his left arm and Janet on his right. He noticed that they glared at each other for a moment over his chest before getting comfortable. He was going to need to do something before long but he didn’t want to push either one of them away. He was thinking that it would be nice if they would just learn to share and play nice but he wasn’t sure if it would be possible, it was worth a try.
Teal’c found a place that was quiet and restful and that was perfect for him. His mind was racing with the thoughts of what had happened and what he was going to do with his future. He was on Earth to fight the Goa’uld but now he was no longer able to fight with the forces of Earth. The thing that he still had was the main reason that he was fighting with the people of Earth and that was Jack O’Neill. He also had the rest of SG1 which when in combination with O’Neill were so much stronger than any part of the team individually. As a whole they complemented the skills and abilities of the others. At this point the question was whether they were going to continue the fight against the Goa’uld or were they going to settle down on this planet and stop the fighting.
If that was the case then he would need to get a team of Jaffa together that would be willing to learn the ways of Earth about how to fight the Goa’uld which were very affective. The Jaffa were brave and willing to die in battle, but these people had taught him to use strategy to get the job done with the least casualties instead of going at the enemy head on in a do or die situation unless that was the last resort. There were many things that he needed to think about but all of it depended on what the others were going to do.
Daniel and Kathy took their showers and bathed Ahyoka before going to their room to get some sleep. Ahyoka was nestled comfortably between them but they knew that they were going to need to get her a crib of her own soon so they could sleep comfortably without worrying about rolling on the small child in their sleep.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
It was a week later when they decided that it would be nice to go back to the cave and get the rest of their things including the stoneware that they had made if it wasn’t broken during the attack. They were going to stop by the pool and drop off the goats if they would let them go. The goats had become very attached to them all and would not go anywhere without them. Mary had told them that the goats had been going down the tunnel to the gardens. Two of the goats were about to give berth soon so they would be staying in the area of the gardens for access to food and water with the stream that was close. The ram would be able to protect them so it was going to be safe for them.
Daniel and Kathy were going to stay in the city and go through the records that Mary had told Daniel were in the library. She was not going to be able to translate the material in the books though but she could help him with the translations.
It would have been easy to take one of the transports but they had decided that it was a nice day for a walk and it would be good to get out and do something like this. Jack was wearing his suit again and Mary had told him that the suit would stay clean and it would keep him clean and comfortable also. She just warned him not to forget that the women didn’t have the suits on and it would be very easy to push them beyond their limits. The helmet or hood was folded back into the suit so that he was not using that part of it and it was easer to talk to the women that way. Daniel was also wearing his suit in case they got into trouble or something happened in the city that would require him to take care of.
Teal’c asked if there was another of the suits that he could use and was told where they were kept. He was told that once the suit had been put on it would not be able to be used by any other person unless she reset it for that person. That was done so that if the suit was to fall into the wrong hands then it would not be able to be used against them.
It was a warm day as usual in this part of the world and when they got to the stream and pool it was time for a bath in the cool water. All of the goats had stayed at the garden as Mary had called the area. She said that after they had given berth they would most likely wander back over to the meadow for the protection of the young ones until they were ready to be weaned.
Sam and Janet had their earpieces in even in the water so that if they were needed they could communicate with the computer. Jack was getting stronger with his ability to talk to her over longer distances even without the suit on. Just as they were getting into the water they were called back to the city for a problem that was going to require at least two of them to fix. They were told that it would wait for a while and if they wanted to go back to the cave and retrieve their things then that would be fine. They all three got back out of the water and got dressed to finish what they came there for so they could get back to the city.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
A week after Jack went back to the planet the trade off was very abrupt and this had George Hammond more than a little worried. He was not even able to address his command to tell them goodbye. General Anderson took over and he was taken to a waiting helicopter that was taking him to the Air Force base to a waiting jet. He was taken to Seattle Washington were he was met by a car and taken to a rather large building. George Hammond had been on this Earth a long time and he knew a hospital when he saw one. The pilots and drivers would not say anything to him other than what was necessary and they would not answer any of his questions. He was escorted inside the building where there were several orderlies waiting to take him to his private room.
He had no choice but to go along with them, he knew that this was what they were going to do to keep him quite and their secrets safe. This was the same thing that would have happened to any of the people under his command that was leaving the service and there was nothing he could do about it. Now it was his turn to be shuffled off into a quiet corner and left to rot. He was not going to get to go to Texas to work on the family ranch like he had told Jack he would be. That was what he had planed but that was not what they were going to let him do.
This was causing him a lot of stress and he was feeling closed in again, this was what they had done to him in the jungle of Vietnam when they put him into the pit and covered it with that thick layer of leaves smothering off all the light and air.
They gave him a shot that he knew was a sedative to make him more cooperative and it helped make the walls stop shrinking down on him. He barely knew that two of the orderlies had taken off his uniform and dressed him in a pair of pajamas that the hospital provided for their long term patents. He was now a part of the system and he was slowly being sent off to that area where he would soon be forgotten and few people would know or care that he was there. His daughter and grandchildren would miss him for a while but they would not be told where he was and in time he would just fade away.
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Jack got back to the city that evening well before dark and that was when Mary told him that the tracking device that he had implanted on General Hammond which would monitor not only where he was but all of his health and wellbeing. Mary told him that the General had been upset this morning about something then he became more upset to the point of panic then everything settled down again to the point of not caring what was happening to him. This was a bad thing in so many ways to Jack. He had been a guest to the mental hospital before when he came back from Iraq and when Ba’al had finished with him for a while in order to get his life back in order. Brutality of that kind was something that you don’t just forget overnight. He was not at all happy about the experience but he also knew that in his case it was necessary but not in the case for the General. He was being shuffled off to die by himself and there was no mistaking it.
“Mary what do we have that can go to Earth to get the General out of this mess?”
“We have several ships that will work nicely but you will need to get the suits for Sam and Janet. Janet will be needed in case they have done something to the General. Janet has more knowledge about what kinds of drugs they are using on him and what we will need to do to counter them. Sam can fly the fighter.”
Daniel and Kathy came into the room then and Kathy went over to the food processor and dialed up a bottle for Ahyoka and a cup of coffee for Daniel and herself. Daniel was excited about something and he was almost jumping with the need to tell them.
“I found out what happened to the people of the city.”
Sam was interested and came over. “I’ve been wondering about that Daniel, what was it?”
They developed an Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome that mutated into an airborne variety which wiped out the population. We found that there’s one person that was left in a stasis pod in the early stages of the disease.”
This concerned all of the people in the room that didn’t already know about it. If this got out it would kill anybody that came near. “Mary is there any chance of this getting out again?”
“The boy is infected but we have something that I have been working on that will fix the problem. Actually you brought the cure here with you. Ahyoka has the antibody’s that are needed to cure this disease and I have already given them to all of you also. He will be ready to be released from the stasis chamber in about an hour.”
Janet was now interested in what was going on. The Earth variety of AIDS was nowhere near this bad but in a few more years with the amount of mutations that the virus was going through it was only a matter of time. If Earth didn’t find a cure soon it was going to be too late for them also so this was very important to all of humanity. Mary told her that she would send all the data on the disease and the cure along with them on the ship so that she would have some time to look it over on the way to Earth.
In the meantime Jack was told to get the suits for the women and show them how to use them. The suits were so thin that they could wear normal clothing over it if they wanted to. The feet were like wearing a pair of socks that were slightly supported and they were not able to feel the rocks or sharp objects under their feet. They could wear their normal shoes if they wanted to. This was an advantage to all of them. The only thing they could not hide was the hood but that could be folded into the suit so that it was not able to be seen until they put it on. One of the advanced options of the suit that Mary had told Jack about was that it could hide the hood in the suit but with a mental command it would automatically come up and protect them.
Once they were suited up and a few laps around the area including a run to the Pygmy village to see what was going on there. The village was deserted completely and those buildings that had survived the original assault were burned to the ground now. Jack asked Mary if the suits could be worn in the water and he was told that they could and it would even allow them to breathe underwater if they needed to.
This was a chance to see what was in the water and stay safe. He asked the women if they wanted to try it and Sam was the first in the water but Janet was a little hesitant. Jack switched to a private channel and asked her if she was having a problem with the water or the creatures in the water? Janet told him that she as afraid of the water and the thought of going underwater where she wasn’t able to touch bottom was terrifying her. She also knew that if she ever wanted to get over this fear then she would need to confront it at some point.
Sam was already in the water up to her neck and her shields were on to protect her from the things in the water. Jack took Janet by the hand and led her into the water. The hoods popped up and the shields come on automatically but Jack could feel Janet shaking through her hand. He pulled her closer and called to Sam to take the other side of her. They slipped her easily into the water and Jack was talking to her all the time telling her that nothing could get to her with the suit on and this was a trip through the aquarium and nothing more. Janet answered with a shaky voice.
“I don’t quite remember the walls of the tunnel of the aquarium being this close when I went through it last time.”
“You’re safe in the suit and you’re with us so nothing could happen to you that we can’t fix.”
One of the creatures came by about then that looked like a cross between a small alligator with the short head of a shark. Then another one came into view then more until they were all that could be seen. Mary told them that their weapons would work underwater which caused Jack and Sam to both bring up their weapons but the problem with that was that the creatures grabbed them by their arms and would not let go. The shield was holding so it was not causing them any pain but then they started to grab them by their legs also. This caused a moment of panic for all of them until Jack simply fired both of his wrist and head weapons into the mass of creatures. Once his arms were free he was firing in all directions to clear the area. As soon as Sam and Janet were free they started doing the same thing. Sam wanted one of the creatures to study so the went further into the water where she was able to use the heavy stun on one of them that was not dead or damaged too badly to be studied.
Sam knew that Daniel would be interested in seeing this thing also. He was an anthropologist as well as an Archeologist and Linguist and he might have seen something like this in his other studies. Jack was just having fun shooting them as they came close, he was not a cruel person but these things were just bad all over. Like the Cannibals above they had no problem of using the bodies of their fellow beings for their own purpose and they didn’t go to waist.
Janet was feeling much better now and she had discovered that the suits would let them walk along the bottom or float at any range they wanted to. It was time to get back now and they walked out of the water back onto the bank and got their orientation. The water had pushed them down river a few hundred yards. Jack asked Sam if she wanted him to carry her new pet but she said that she was fine and with the suit it was no problem at all. They ran back to the city were Mary setup a tank for the creature so that it could be studied live and at their leisure.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Charlie
It was now time to release the child from stasis and it was felt that they should not have too many people in the room with him when he woke up. He was the only one that was left from his entire race of people. The people of the city had come to the conclusion that it would be best not to go through the Stargate or use the space ships to get away from the planet and the disease knowing that they might be spreading the disease throughout the galaxy. If they could not come up with a cure then they were all going to die there and take the disease with them. As they died off one by one or sometimes in groups they were absorbed into the city. Only a few were put into the stasis chambers setup with timers so that they could check on the status of the others.
They were all medical personal except for the boy who was the son of the head of the medical facility and it was decided that they would do what they could for him. They had all died out one at a time trying to fine the cure. The only one left had no knowledge of medicine and he was not brought out of the stasis depending on Mary to find the cure. Mary didn’t have the ability to do that until Ahyoka was brought into the city and it was discovered that she had the one thing that could save the boy and keep the others safe.
The virus was sure to be lying dormant somewhere in the city. At first Mary was going to tell them to go away that this was a dangerous area. Mary didn’t have the chance when they came back looking for help to get their friends out of the hands of the cannibals and they had deposited the one thing that she was needing more than anything else. Some of the population must have left the city to live in the country were it was safer but they had taken the virus with them. Some of the people must have survived the disease but had reverted to the primitive culture for some reason. Another possibility was that the disease got into the general population of the primitives anyway and some of them had survived but whatever the reason Mary now had what she needed to bring the city back to life.
It had been a long time since she had humans in the city and it was good to have something to do again. She had shut down for a few years at a time leaving only the basic functions running. She was awakened by the presents of humans in the tunnel that were applying objects to the wall to fix them. This was an automatic function so when someone was doing the work rather then letting the automatic repair program do its job she was awakened. She had to admit that teaching them how to use the equipment was fun and gave her something to do while she was getting things back to normal in the city. She told them where the boy was located and that she would prefer that only Jack, Sam and Janet be in the room when the boy was brought out of stasis. While they were going over to the building to get the boy she was getting the ship ready to go to Earth to get their friend.
Jack was the first to walk into the building where the stasis chambers were held. He was looking around at all the chambers that were lining the walls. Row after row of empty chambers stretched throughout the long building stacked from floor to ceiling with a small platform in front of each chamber but they were nearly all empty. This disease had destroyed all but one of the entire race of people. If the people of this city had not taken the precaution of staying to fight it here then it could have killed whole planets, anywhere they went would have been infected leading to other people going to other planets which would have been the downfall of all sentient species everywhere.
There was one light on which Mary had turned on to let them know where the boy was located in the large room. The boy was on the floor level of the room near the end of the far wall. They were standing in front of the stasis chamber when it slid out of the wall then cleared and opened. The boy that was standing in the chamber was disoriented and he looked frightened. He had shaggy brown hair and brown eyes; the really interesting thing about all of this was the name that was on his coverall. His name was Charlie and he was nearly the exact image of Jack’s son Charlie O’Neill. He was a little younger than his Charlie had been before he had died but he looked like a twin. Jack got down on his knee’s and held out his arms to the young man who was about eight years old and looked like he could use a hug at the moment.
The boy rubbed his eyes and stared at Jack for a moment then walked up to him and put his arms around Jack’s neck. “How long have I been in the chamber Daddy?”
This shocked all of the grownups in the room but they all recovered quickly as Jack answered him. “We don’t know son, Mary has just brought you out of the stasis and Daniel hasn’t been able to calculate how long it has been. Charlie, why did you just call me Daddy, I don’t mind at all but I was just wondering.”
The young man walked off toward an office that was off to the side. The door opened automatically as he came close to it allowing them entrance to the small but nicely furnished room. On the desk was a picture of the family of the owner of the desk. It had Jack and Charlie along with a woman that had long brown hair that must have been Charlie’s mother. She was obviously pregnant and there was another boy in the picture that must have been Charlie’s brother. The name on the nameplate which was on the desk was Dr. Jonathon O’Neill head of Medicine.
Jack sat down in the chair behind the desk and Charlie crawled into his lap to be held. Jack held the boy close unable to understand what was happening but doing his best to not break down while he was holding the boy that looked so much like his son. He had lost his son and the boy had lost his entire family to this disease but now they had each other, it wasn’t the same but it would do to take some of the pain away.
Janet was trying to get Charlie to do an examination on him to see if he was healthy. Mary told her that he was in perfect health but Janet had to see for herself. She asked Mary to show her how to use the diagnostic machinery that was part of the lab that was next door to the office.
When Jack was finally able to speak he had to ask. “Mary, why didn’t you tell me about all of this?”
“I’m sorry Jack, but it was a difficult thing to tell someone that they had a child that was going to think that he was looking at his father that had died several centuries ago. It was also just as difficult to tell you that the boy that you were about to take out of the stasis chamber was almost a twin to the child that you lost years ago. I felt that it would be better to let things happen like they did.”
“What about Dr. Jonathan O’Neill who just happens to look just like I do, same name and same face with a child that looks like my child that is just too much of a coincidence to be normal?”
“I have no answer for any of that, if it is coincidence then the chances of this happening is so astronomically high that there is no way it should have happened but it is what it is. There was one space ship that was not accounted for once the people went into the stasis chambers though and Dr. O’Neill’s other son and his wife were missing from the head count.”
“Do you mean Dr O’Neill’s wife or the son’s wife?”
“Dr. O’Neill’s wife, his other son was only six years old, he had just found out that Charlie had the disease as he was putting all of them in the stasis chamber. His wife Anna was six months pregnant with a set of twins, a boy and a girl when she was put into stasis.”
“If he verified that they were healthy then he could have sterilized the ship and sent them off. There were so few that were not infected though. Their stasis chambers are missing from this facility which leads me to think that when the outbreak started he put them into stasis first while they were healthy and when things got bad he sent them off while they were still in stasis to be revived by the ship after it landed. He disabled the tracking device on the ship and the people so there is no telling where they are. My guess is that they went to Earth and found that it was fairly healthy and the ship landed them there. That would explain why you are able to talk to me and the genetic marker that allows you to do things here.”
“Would we be able to locate the ship if it was on Earth?
“Yes, if we have a specific planet to check then we would be able to locate the ship by its energy signature and the makeup of its hull.”
“Now as soon as Janet is finished playing with the equipment I have a ship ready for you to go to Earth with. There are some things that you might want to work on before you go to Earth though that could help when you go to get the General out of the hospital. He will be safe for a long time, they will not harm him and he is very relaxed at this time. I’m thinking that you could trade for him with something that they could not refuse. It might also help to get Daniel and Kathy out of trouble so that you could go back to Earth now and then if you wanted to.
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The Ships.
The plan was actually very simple in one way and complicated in another. Everyone was gathered together and told what they were going to do and it was going to be almost easy the way Mary had planed everything out. Everyone was going on the trip including Ahyoka and Charlie. The ship was large and could carry several hundred people comfortably but with them not having that many people it was rather like going in a ghost ship. Sam had been telling Mary about the Goa’uld and what they were like along with their physiology. Mary brought Janet into the conversation to learn more about what the symbiote did to the immune system of the host and what it would take to repair it.
Janet did not have the ability to do this kind of work on her own with Earth technology but this was not Earth technology she was dealing with. In the meantime she was busy in the labs of the city and the ship getting things ready. Mary was able to go along with the ship by transmitting instructions to the A.I. unit that was running the ship so that it looked like she was doing all the work. Mary was just doing the communications and telling the ship what it was supposed to be doing then letting it do the work for her while she waited back at the city.
She was getting the specifications of the ships from Teal’c and Sam and to their surprise a lot of information was coming from Jack. He was giving very detailed descriptions of the defenses and weapons of the ship while making suggestions on how to improve them. Teal’c could have done this also but she was using all of them for different reasons and taking all the information at the same time while she was building the A.I units that she was going to beam onboard the ships before they were boarded.
Even Daniel was able to give a great deal of information about the computers and she had been able to take the information from all of them that could speak Goa’uld on translations. This was important because the A.I. unit was going to need to take over the ship very quickly in order to keep it from self destructing to keep them from taking it.
They were going to be taking on a large group of ships and these were not cargo ships they were going after. There were five Motherships and an Alkesh bomber that they were going to take all at the same time. The ship that they were in was going to be moving at a high rate of speed as it dropped off its cargo which included the A.I. unit and a boarding party which was going to consist of SG1 as a group which would be transported in a short while after the A.I. units with Kathy and Janet standing by. The A.I. unit had a built in defense system to keep it from being destroyed or tampered with as it was being beamed onboard the ship to take control of it. Once it was in place it would be a simple matter of stunning the people onboard the ship. They would then transport the Jaffa and Goa’uld back were Mary would remove the Symbiote and rebuild their immune system for the humans. They would then be dropped off on a world were they could live out their lives as normal farmers on a fertile but unpopulated world.
This had come about while she had Teal’c in the stasis chamber healing his wounds. Mary saw that he was using a substitute for his immune system and asked Janet about it. Janet told her everything about the Tratonan and what it did. From this Mary was able to bio engineer an organ for Teal’c that did all of the useful things that the Goa’uld larva had done for him. The good thing about this was that it would not grow and take over his body like the larva would do if it did not have a suitable host to transfer to. She had even closed his symbiote pouch. Mary had asked him if he wanted to have the gold tattoo removed while he was in the stasis but he said that it was a part of him now and he would live it the way it was. He now had all the strength and speed that he had with the Goa’uld larva that the Tratonan was a little week on and he no longer needed to take the injections that kept him alive. Mary had not been able to do this with the AIDS victims because the disease would have just killed the organ and continued like nothing had ever been there.
The people on the bridge of the Mothership saw something coming out of hyperspace near them. They were preparing to take action against it so they could take whatever it was that had dared to enter their space when something popped into the bridge with them. It was like a blast of thunder as the air was displaced around the object. They were quick to take action on this thing that had dared to board their ship firing everything they had at it. The thing was shielded and did not even bother with them as it was taking control of the ship. It let off a high pitched sound within a few seconds of appearing on the ship which rendered everyone onboard unconscious. All six of the ships were taken at the same time and SG1 was going from ship to ship tagging all of the people onboard to be processed and making sure that they did not miss anybody.
The A.I. unit had already made a ship wide check from the control room but it was always good to do a manual search when it came to clearing a ship. Janet was busy with the process of removing the snakes and she was surprised at how much Charlie knew about the process which he helped to explain to her. Kathy was helping also when she wasn’t taking care of Ahyoka but there wasn’t much to do for any of them really. It was all automated. They would be beamed into the chamber to have the symbiote removed and their bodies repaired then they were transported to stasis chambers to be held until it was time to drop them off at the designated planet.
Things were going well for SG1until they got to the engine room and found several Jaffa that were not unconscious and they definitely were well armed and ready to fight. Teal’c was carrying his staff weapon as he always did which was a good thing as he was able to stop the staff that was coming down at Sam’s head. He countered the move knocking out the Jaffa while the others were firing into the room with the heavy stun on the wrist weapons. Sam had known better than to ever be overconfident about any combat situation but she had taken off the helmet and folded it back into the suit for some comfort and it had nearly cost her for doing so. The suit still would have protected her but she would have gotten a knot on her head anyway. She had been behind Jack so he had not seen her take the hood down or he would have cautioned her to be on the safe side.
He didn’t jump on her or scream at her for what she had done, he did something that she was not expecting at all. He pulled her into a small room where they could talk privately and took off his hood so they could speak face to face.
“Sam, there’s a reason that they don’t allow couples to go into combat situations together. If that Jaffa had connected with that blow I would be destroyed as surely as you would have been. It would have killed me to loose you.”
Sam was touched by what he was trying to say and how he was going about telling her how much he cared for her but she couldn’t help saying something herself.
“You would still have someone if something happened to me.”
This was something that Jack was dreading to hear and it was time to get this out into the open. “Sam you have to understand that this is not a competition between you and Janet. I’m stuck in the middle of this thing and I can’t just tell one the two people that I love to go away. If I have to choose between the two of you then it will be time for me to leave so that I can find a place to live totally by myself. I cannot chose and I will not place one of you above the other. I need and love both of you, so please don’t make me choose.”
This was something that she had not planed on from Jack. He was being totally honest with her about his feelings, which was a big surprise in itself. But she was upset now and she was not going to stand around and not say anything.
“Jack, just remember that the decision is not just yours, it’s also up to Janet and I to decide if we want to stay in a relationship like this or go our separate ways, if things don’t work out then you might loose one or both of us and that will be entirely up to us on that count.”
She left him in the small room to think about want she had said and what the future of all of them would need to be worked out together.
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Loosing control
The Jaffa were coming into the pods in a steady stream, as soon as one was done it was transported off to a stasis pod and another one would take it’s place. Now and then a Goa’uld would come through and it was noted by the high pitch squealing of the Goa’uld as it was transported into the tank to be disposed of. Janet asked Mary why they were holding the Symbiote’s in a tank instead of just destroying them right away. She said that she hadn’t really though about it and flushed the tank out into space toward a planet were it would burn out in the reentry. This was going to take a little longer than they had first thought about because of the limited amount of space in the stasis pods. They would be able to take one of the Motherships crew at a time then they would need to deposit them on the planet and come back for another. The simplest thing for them to do was to move the ships to the planet so that they didn’t need to travel back and forth between the two areas. Mary gave the commands to the A.I unit on the ships as to where they were going and all of them blinked off into hyperspace to a planet that was going to be the new home for the former Jaffa and Goa’uld.
That wasn’t too big of a deal except that Jack had just transferred to another ship while he was thinking about what Sam had said to him. He had used the ring transporter instead of waiting for Mary to transport all of them together which was a big mistake on his part. The A.I. unit on the ship that he had just transported to was making some adjustments to the hyper drive like it had been instructed to do but it was supposed to wait until all of them could do it at the same time. It had gotten impatient waiting on the others to give it the okay to start and it had begun the repairs anyway.
The peltec operator on this ship was much faster than the other ships operators and he had only one thing that he was going to do as the sphere appeared over the main control center of the ship. He did not fire on the object like the others were doing he did his job and pushed the alarm shutting off the rest of the ship. The Motherships had a built in function to stop a sonic noise from going throughout the ship once the alarm was started. In this case the A.I. was only able to take out the people on the Peltec then it started taking control of the computers and equipment that was on the ship.
Bo’loc was the owner of the ship and he was not going to have anything take it from him. He did everything he could to start the self-destruct but it would not engage. He grabbed the closest scientist and told him to do something quick or he would throw him into the nearest airlock. The scientist knew that he would do it to, he had seen him do it several times already when he was displeased with the work that was being done which was not up to his satisfaction. He didn’t say anything to the person he just threw them into the airlock and opened the outer door to watch them float away. He often had the gunner’s use the lifeless body for target practice so that something they did would be of use like being a target. It was great sport for the gunners but the scientists were not at all pleased to see this sort of thing going on. This was a scientific vessel and that was the kind of work that was usually not up to his specifications.
Bo’loc was standing by the airlock door tapping his nails on the door and tapping his foot waiting on them to do something. There was a primitive experiment that they had been working on that might be able to do the trick though and two of them ran back to the lab to get the box.
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Jack had come into the ring room with a lot on his mind. He was preoccupied with the thought that he could loose both of the women that he loved if he didn’t handle this in just the right way. Sam was right, this was not just his decision and he was crushed thinking that Sam was thinking of leaving. As soon as the rings stopped and dropped into the floor he had something else to make him think and that was the Jaffa that was firing at him. His shields held while he shot him with the heavy stun setting. He picked up the staff weapon off the floor along with the Zat which he was going to use as a backup weapon if he needed one. It never hurt to have a spare weapon even if you already had plenty. His idea of plenty was being able to carry it without it getting in the way.
He heard the alarm going off and saw that there were way too many Jaffa that were not lying on the floor unconscious like they were supposed to be. He made his way to the Peltec to see what was going on with the A.I. unit that should have this situation in control. He was shooting everything in sight with the stun setting as he went to the control center. He saw a Goa’uld that was standing next to an airlock which turned and fired off a ribbon device in his direction which he had to duck out of the way of. The shield would have helped but being slammed against the wall with a ribbon device was not easy even if you are shielded from the main blast. The suit was very helpful in aiding in slipping out of the way of the hand device blast. The Goa’uld fired two more times before he ran off looking for more Jaffa to throw at this invader.
Jack walked into the Peltec to see bodies lying all over the room like he had seen on the other ship. This was more like the whole ship should have looked like. He walked over to the A.I. unit and was about to ask a question when the door opened a small amount and a ball rolled into the room. This looked like a Goa’uld shock grenade he had his hood on and that should take care of the problem of the shock grenade but this was not a shock grenade. If it had been an explosive the shield would have taken care of that also but his was a very powerful Electromagnetic Pulse Generator that the A.I. paid no attention to other than to notice that something had rolled into the room.
When the Pulse went off it was not explosive it didn’t even make more than a pop as it released all of the Pulse at the same time. The A.I. unit was not expecting this sort of thing and the pulse shut off all of the electronic equipment for several floors up and down and all the way across the ship. The engine room was too far down to be affected but now it did not have anything to control it. The primary and secondary controls were taken out and shut down. The A.I. fell to the floor and Jack was suddenly blind. The suit was not giving him any visual or auditory input at all. He tried to get the hood to pull down into the suit but it was not responding at all. He was pulling off the hood when the door opened again but this time there were Jaffa with their staff weapons charged and firing as they came into the room.
Jack felt like he was moving in Molasses as he was diving for cover. The A.I. unit was hit several times as they were coming into the room and he was shot across the outside of his shoulder. The material was not destroyed but the heat was transmitted through the suit to the skin causing a burn which hurt like hell. The staff weapon and Zat that he was carrying were off when the Pulse went off but his wrist and head weapons were active and now they were not working. He charged the staff weapon and started returning fire from cover. The ship lurched off to one side which caused the sphere to roll over by where he was. There was a large burn spot on the side of the sphere where it had been hit with the staff blast when the Jaffa came into the room. Jack stood and took out three of the Jaffa before he was forced to take cover again as the others were regrouping. Another staff weapon was on the floor a few feet out from where he was which allowed him to use the end of his staff weapon to pull it closer giving him a spare weapon.
Jack knew that the Jaffa wore a belt that was under the main chest plate which held their personal weapons like knives which only the blade and sheath were visible on the outside. Jack gathered a few of these then he looked out the window and saw something that he did not like at all. The Gas Giant that the ships were orbiting was getting very close to the ship. That meant the ship was going on a one way trip to the very large planet that nobody was going to be able to survive on. The ship would be crushed long before it was able to touch the ground on this planet. It was time to leave in a very big hurry before they were caught in the gravitational pull of the planet which would suck them down to the surface also if they got much closer. There was only one way off the ship at this point and that would be a glider but they didn’t have much time before even that would not be an option.
He grabbed up the sphere off the floor hoping that it would be able to be of some use later and could answer some questions if he could get it back up and running. The sphere was not very heavy and about the size of a soccer ball so he just tucked it under his arm as he picked up the other staff weapon and made a run for the flight deck. The door to the bay was open with the force field that was luckily still working was flickering like it would give out any second now. There was one glider left that was being fought over by four Jaffa when he came into the room. Jack didn’t have much time to mess with this so he dropped the sphere and gave it a kick putting it into the seat of the glider. He was pleased with the kick as he hadn’t played soccer much at all once his knees started giving him problems. He used the two staff weapons at the same time shooting all four Jaffa in a double set of shots then ran to the glider.
He put both staff weapons into the death glider in the special holders which were provided for this purpose and closed the canapé. There were three ships outside the bay door that were trying to take off but they were caught in the gravitational pull of the planet and could not pull away. They were going to run out of power some time in the next few days and fall into the planet and there was no way around it.
Jack saw that this was also going to be a problem for him. He powered the shields to maximum and fired the thrusters at full throttle as he came out of the bay doors. He only had one chance and if he missed on any one of them then he was dead but it was his only chance so he was going to take it. He knew that the other ships had their shield on also and there was one cargo ship which he knew had the Goa’uld that had used the hand device when he first got on board the ship. He was lucky that the ships were lined up fairly well and he was able to use them as a skipping stone used water to fly across the pond. Each one of the ships gave a push with its force field as he collided with it giving him a push that made the distance from the planet a little more with each one.
When he hit the cargo ship he was able to see the face of the Goa’uld which was red with anger as he realized what he was doing. The glider bounced off the shield and the cargo ship was pushed down further into the pull of the Gas Giant which was all that it took to make them fall to their doom without a chance. The Goa’uld fired on the glider as it was slowly sinking into the clouds hitting him on the wing and causing a different problem in that it took out one of his weapons but he was still solid otherwise although he was going to have a problem landing the craft now.
He brought his instruments online and started looking for the closest planet that would allow a person to survive.
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Sam was feeling bad about what she had said to Jack and she was upset that she had let her emotions control her for a moment and hurt the one person that meant more to her than life itself. She felt that she needed to give him time to think though and it was best for her to stay away from him for a while. She beamed back over to their ship and lowered her hood. It was going to be about another hour before they got to the planet were they were going to drop off the Jaffa and former Goa’uld. Charlie came running up to her and hugged her neck then he gave her a kiss on the cheek along with a bright beautiful smile that only a child could give.
“Did my Daddy come back with you?”
He was looking around like he expected him to appear any second now. “He might not be coming back right away, he was doing some things back over at the other ship but he should be back soon.”
That was good enough for him and he ran off to find something to play with while he waited. Sam followed him into a room down the hall that had a few toys in it that he had in storage back in the city. Sam asked Mary if she could make some things for her which she said she could do without a problem. Sam had her take the image from her mind to make the coloring book and the crayons for Charlie. She sat down at the table with him and showed him what to do which he took to like it was a natural thing. This brought a smile back to her face to watch him playing and being such a well behaved and polite child. That made her think about Jack’s child and she wondered if he was just like this child or was he just the opposite. She couldn’t see Jack having a brat child, that would drive Sara to kill one of them with Jack being a brat himself sometimes it would be just too much for her. That also made her smile thinking of them together. She had seen how good he had been with this young boy and she had seen him with other children before so she knew that he had a large soft spot for them.
She needed to get back to him and tell him that she was sorry for what she had said and that she would always be there for him just like he had been for her. She knew that now that they were in hyperspace she wouldn’t be able to transfer to the other ship until they stopped at the planet so she was going to get things ready here and she needed to talk to Janet about all of this. She knew that what she had said was correct and it would be up to Janet if she wanted to continue in this way but she was going to stay no matter what. For now though she would stay and watch Charlie color and just be with him for a while.
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It had taken a long time for Golan to get over to the bank of the river which was what he was told would happen by the gods. He had been in the water for several days now and he was hungry. He had the water in the bottom of the boat to drink but the ropes were cutting onto his wrist causing him to bleed into the water. This didn’t bother him much though, he was on a mission now. When the boat finally drifted over to the bank of the river it was on the wrong side. He got out of the boat and found a tree that was small with rough bark to cut through the ropes. This took a long time and he passed out with the pain when he finally got through the ropes and the feeling was coming back into his hands. The tree had rubbed the rope and cut through it like he had wanted it to but it had also worn through his skin down deep into the muscle which was going to take some time to heal before he could do what he needed to do.
For now he needed to eat or he would be too week to hunt soon which would mean that he would lie down in the jungle and die. There was fruit in the forest that he could eat. He had sworn that he would eat nothing but meat since he was a small child like all of the other children of the village but this was different now. He needed to survive and he was not able to hunt now so it was the fruit or die. It was getting close to dark when he finally found the tree that had what he needed. The next problem was that he couldn’t pick the fruit and all that was on the ground was rotting. He fell to the ground and started to eat the rotting fruit worms and all. The bugs that were crawling on it were only going to give him some protein that he needed now more than anything else. The fruit was fermented and soon he was so drunk that he passed out on the ground where he was.
The next morning he woke with a headache that would not go away. The sun was bright over the river where it was able to shine through the trees. His arms and hands were stiff and would not move without extreme pain and then they would start to bleed again. He knew that he couldn’t bleed too much without making him sicker and it was going to draw the insects that feed on blood. He was going to need to get the dried blood off. He only had one way to do that and the though of going down and putting his arms in the water to wash them off was sickening him but he had no other choice. It was bad enough when the healers would use a fur to clean wounds that was dipped in water but he was going to have to put his arms in the water to clean them. He was thoroughly disgusted with the idea and he cursed the gods that brought this down on him in the first place. His gods would set things right though and he was the instrument that would be dealing that justice out.
He was feeling better now and when he got down close to the water he realized that he could do the same thing as getting his arms in the water if he smeared mud on the wounds to keep the blood insects out of the wound. This made him feel much better and it was a great relief to him, he thanked the gods again for showing him the way. It was going to take time to heal but they would show him the way as he went. He went down to the boat and took the rope that was on the end to tie it to the tree on the bank in his mouth to pull it further up on the bank. He didn’t want it to get washed downstream where he would not be able to get to it later. He would need it to cross the river later when he had healed. He went back to the tree to eat more.
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Thief
George Hammond had been around a while and he knew all the tricks, the only problem with that was that the nurses and orderlies also knew the tricks and they were on the lookout for all of them. The searched the beds and nightstands several times a day and they would watch as they took the pills making sure that they were not hiding them in their mouths to spit them out later. George found the man he was looking for soon after he got there and would always be standing by him when he got his medicine. The man he would stand by was a big time drug user that loved the stuff. George would slip the medication to him in a handoff that was so smooth it was like clockwork. George had to watch how he acted while the nurses and orderlies were watching. He couldn’t show any sign of agitation or nervousness or they would figure out that he was not taking his medication. He needed time to figure out what he was going to do when he had the chance to get out. It wasn’t like he had some place to go. If he went to his daughter’s house they would be waiting for him with their little white jacket with the long arms to take him right back to where he started.
He wouldn’t be able to get a job on the outside either they would want to fill out all the paperwork showing that he was working legally which would end up with him right back were he was again. Then it hit him that he could go to Jack’s cabin, he had been there a couple of times with Jack and he knew where the key was. It was isolated and he would be able to hunt and fish. There was food there also so all he was going to need to do was get there. He was waiting at the door when the orderly was making his last round and head count that night. He was smooth with the maneuver taking him by the mouth with his left hand while using his right elbow on the back of his head knocking him out. It took a while to get his elbow to stop hurting and tingling. He had forgotten how much it hurt to do that until he had been forced to do it again. He took the man’s keys and his wallet. He would need some spending money to get him were he was going. He hated to do this and felt like a thief but he had no other choice other than to just lie down and die and he was still too much of a fighter to do that.
He locked the orderly in an empty room after tying and gagging him. When he was locking the room he broke off the key in the door so that it would be harder to get him out. He knew that the orderly had not seen who was doing the attacking but that would be figured out as soon as they did a bed count. There was another man in his word that was about his size and he had given the man his desert for the entire week as payment for sleeping in his bed that night. The man wouldn’t get into any trouble for being in the wrong bed so it was a good deal for him.
Now he was going to need to get some clothing and on the road as soon as possible. He was in enemy territory even though he was in his home country, they had turned on him and it was his duty as a prisoner of war to make his escape.
He had on a pair of house shoes and his pajamas when he got out the side door and stole off into the night.
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The death gliders did not have an endless supply of fuel and no hyper drive at all so it was necessary to find a planet in this solar system that would support life or he was as good as dead. This brought back the memory of the first test flight with Teal’c which was a very bad memory for him. He knew that he was going to die on that flight but Sam had pulled off another miracle and she pulled their butts out of the fire again. Now it was different, she was nowhere around and he had no idea why. He had expected to see the other ships close by or at least been able to pull them up on his radar but they were nowhere to be found.
He felt so abandoned and alone now that it was frightening. There was a planet that was not too far away but it was going to stretch his fuel and oxygen to the max to get there from where he was now. There were some other things on his radar though that he was not happy to see. Some of the other death gliders had made it out of the ship before it got too deep into the gravitational field of the planet. Jack did a slow turn to the point of flying backward so that he could watch as the ship was pulled down into the clouds of the planet. It didn’t take too long before there was a tremendous explosion on the planet heralding the destruction of the ship. He turned back in the direction that he was heading and sat back. He was thinking that they should put a radio or a CD player in these things to pass the time with. It was going to be several hours before he would be able to see the planet that they were heading for. He started to sing to pass the time and because he was about to go insane with nothing to do. He had gotten used to talking to Mary and everybody else with the communications system that was built into the suit. Now the suit was not working as evident in his burning shoulder. He could not see the other Death Gliders that were ahead of him and it was going to be a real fun thing to land with the shot up wing and only one weapon that would do anything.
He sat back and stated singing again to pass the time when he heard something and looked over his shoulder which was a painful thing now. The A.I. unit was shaking and rolling in the seat. Jack finally heard it say something to him letting him know that it was still in working order although it was banged up pretty good.
A long skinny metal arm came out of the sphere which extended to the front of the ship and gave him a shock. “What was that for?”
The voice was in his head like Mary had used with him the first time she had talked to him. “You kicked my like I was a toy ball into this primitive machine.”
“Sorry about that, I didn’t think you were in working order and I needed to take care of some very important business before we could take off. At least I thought about bringing you out with me or you would be scrap metal along with the Mothership back on that Gas Giant.”
“Yes, thank you for getting me out of that situation, do you have any idea what that device was that they threw in the room. I didn’t think that anything would be able to shut me down like that.”
“I’ve seen things like that before but they didn’t look like that. It was an Electromagnetic Pulse Generator; although it was small in size it had the affect that they were looking for by shutting both of us down.”
“Did it render you unconscious?”
“No, but it shut my suit down so it’s almost useless now.”
“I see, it will need to be reset to make it work again.”
“Can you do that?”
“No, that is a function that can only be done by the main computer. It was done that way so that the suits could not be used against our people even if they had a computer that was advanced enough to do the job.”
“Well I guess it is useless for anything except as clothing now until we get back to the city. Are you able to communicate with Mary?”
“No, I am damaged to the point of not having much capability, My weapons and shields are damaged beyond repair until we can get back to the city for parts, and the same thing goes for my communications, the signal is so week it would not work for more than a few hundred yards. Levitation is week also; I will not be able to get more than a few feet off the ground without help.”
“That’s no problem, my soccer skills are coming back to me and I should be able to get you into the net without too much of a problem. I was pretty good at basketball too but I think you might have a problem with the dribbling.”
That got him another mild shock which he took more as a poke in the ribs than an assault. “What should I call you?”
“I do not know, I’ve never had a name before.”
“Do you want a male or female name then?”
“I’m not sure about that either because I am neither male nor female, I am a machine and we do not have gender.”
“Okay, how about Chris, until you finally decide which way you want to go. That way you can be Christine or Christopher later on if you want to choose. Mary is defiantly a female though so how did that happen.”
“She was programmed that way to make it easer for the people of the city to communicate with her. She did not choose to be female, it was chosen for her.”
“Well even humans don’t have a choice that way most of the time. We are born either male or female but some choose to go over the line and become cross dressers.”
“I do not understand what you mean by that statement.”
“A cross dresser is a man that dresses as a woman or a women that dresses as a man. It is a personal choice that they make and it is harmless most of the time although it can be dangerous to them sometimes.”
“The planet that we are going to is close and will be visible soon? My sensors indicate that this is not going to be comfortable for you. It is a two plus gravitational body with very hot days and cold nights, water is scarce also and there is very little animal life on this world. You will be able to survive for a while there and we have no other choices. The Jaffa will be doing the same thing though.”
“Can you do anything about the wing or the engines to make landing a little easer? If we try to land during the day we won’t have much lift in that kind of heat and if we land during the night we won’t be able to see good enough to keep from crashing into a cliff or rock on the ground.”
I can do something with the engine but I will not be able to work on the wing while we are in space. It would blow out the atmosphere and that would not be good for you at all. Think about that next time you want to dribble me for that shot into the hoops or kick me into the soccer goal.”
“Don’t feel bad little buddy, its all part of the game, no offence.”
“None taken.”
“You know that you’re talking more like a male all the time.”
“I think I should land this thing for you, I have better control over the machine than any human could ever have.”
“Fine if that’s the way you feel about it then land it, but if you crash it then I will always say that it was because I let you do the landing if we survive.”
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
George jimmied open the back door of a small clothing store a few blocks away from the hospital and got several sets of clothing and a backpack to carry everything in. He was going to need to cover his tracks somehow and the best way to do that was to burn the store. He felt really bad about doing this to the owner of the store but he didn’t want them to be able to tell the police what he was wearing when they got the report in the morning. This would give him a better chance of getting away for a while and if he didn’t they were going to lock him away for the rest of his life in that mental hospital anyway. A case of breaking and entering along with arson was not going to do too much damage to his reputation. The register had some money in it and there was a bank deposit in a locked drawer in the office so he took that also. He had always hated thieves and that was what he had to do now to survive. He knew that the money was going to burn up in the fire anyway so why not put it to good use, like feeding him instead of as fuel for the fire. There was also a .38 revolver in the desk and some ammo with a holster.
He didn’t stick around to see if the fire was going to work well, that was a mistake that most arsonists got into; they liked the excitement of watching the fire which is what got them caught most of the time. He did what he had to do and left. He wasn’t even in the area when the fire department got the call about a shop being on fire, he had traveled to the nearby truck stop and got into the back of a open moving truck. It didn’t matter where the truck was going as long as it got him out of the area before he was caught.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Janet came into the room where Sam was coloring with Charlie and asked how things were going. Sam told Charlie that she needed to talk to Janet for a while and left him to entertain himself for a while. She told Janet about her conversation with Jack and how bad she felt about what she had said.
Janet had been thinking about this for a long time also and she had finally come to the conclusion that if she wanted to be a part of Jack’s life then she was going to need to come to terms with Sam and his relationship also. This was not the first time two women had shared a man and Sam was her best friend so it wouldn’t be all that bad. She also knew that neither one of them was going to budge about giving him up to the other one so they might as well do something together and get over the bad feelings and jealousy that was eating at both of them.
They had a long conversation about it and settled things quite nicely by the time they came out of hyper space and took up orbit around the planet. It took most of the day to get the Jaffa settle in and the next batch started. As soon as an area was opened in the stasis pods a group was brought over for processing. They were being kept in a sleep like state once they were gathered together as a group. It took a while before the realized that they were a ship short and one Colonel was missing also. They check all over the ships they had to make sure he wasn’t just hanging out for some quiet time in one of the observatories but he wasn’t anywhere. When Mary found out she was very upset. She tried several times to contact the A.I. unit that was in control of the ship but she was not getting any response at all. Jack was also not answering her and it was starting to really bother her. Janet and Sam both wanted to take the ship back to the planet where they had picked up the ships to find him but the process was well underway and they couldn’t stop until they were finished.
Sam started to push things a little after that to get the job done. She was sending down larger groups of Jaffa and she was telling them to not use the stasis chambers anymore. If they were processed and free of Goa’uld in any stage of development then they should be sent strait down to the planet where the other Jaffa could bring them up to standard on what was happening in their new home.
Janet was in a hurry but she would not let a patient go until she had declared them healthy and fully ready. This was frustrating to both of the women but it had to be done this way and Sam knew it. Sam asked if they had a fighter on board that she could use to go back to the planet and check it out but Mary said that it would be too dangerous to do that. There could be other Motherships at the planet now and one fighter would not be able to take on several Motherships without being damaged in some way. Sam was so frustrated that she was about to start a fight with a Jaffa so get some of the frustration out. That would have been a very bad thing for the Jaffa. Janet finally sedated her and put her to bed to sleep it off until they were ready to go.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Chris landed the Death Glider for them but it was not a good landing to say the least, the heat coming off the planet caused all kinds of updrafts and with the heat the atmosphere was thin giving little lift as they came in with one bad wing. Jack had to admit though that it would have been bad for anybody and it was better to let the computer do the job with its split second adjustments to the controls it was probably the only thing that got them down in one piece. Chris was floating up and down like he was bouncing along and Jack was thinking that it was gloating at him for being able to land the craft as well as it did. Jack was still thinking of seeing how far he could kick the little ball. He knew that it would definitely have a detrimental affect on their future relationship so he curtailed his urge to play soccer once again.
Chris was telling him about the surrounding plant and animal life and he brought up the temperature telling Jack that it was nearly one hundred and thirty degrees and they should find shelter soon before he was overtaken by the heat and he reminded Jack that the temperature was going to drop quickly as soon as it got dark so they would need to have some heat in order to survive the night. The rocks would hold the heat for a while but they would cool fairly quickly which would be a problem.
Chris had spotted seven other Death Gliders had made it to the planet along with them and they had seen them as they come overhead. That would mean that they could be having company soon to see who else was able to survive, and to see if they had any food or water that they could take away from them.
Jack knew that they needed to get underground as soon as possible, the caves of Earth would stay at about fifty five degrees once you got deep enough which wasn’t too far underground, the norm was five feet if there wasn’t a breeze blowing hot or cold air into the area. If you went further down then even that wasn’t a problem.
The suit which would have kept him cool or warm if it was working properly was just adding to the heat now and he stripped off the top tying it around his waist to cool down as much as he could. He went along the rather flat desert floor looking for any kind of shelter that they could use. There was a small hill up ahead that was the only feature out on the middle of nothing but flat heat and blowing sand. Jack would have been happy to see even a cactus out here but there were only low ground cover that had some sharp thorns. Chris analyzed one of the plants and told Jack that it was edible but it would not taste very good. It had some water content though and he needed to replenish the water that he had already lost from perspiration.
The plant was somewhat bitter but it did put something on his stomach and he was feeling better with the liquid in his system now but he was going to need more soon as far as water went. As he got closer to the mound it was evident that it was not a natural formation. He was tiring quickly from the hard work of moving around in the plus two gravity of the planet. Chris gave a warning as they were getting closer that there was someone close by and they were agitated like they were angry and ready to attack. That was all the warning that Jack had as that someone came from around the mound and started firing at him with a staff weapon. Another Jaffa was firing at him from the other side of the structure at the same time.
He had to move quickly and that was not very easy but the Jaffa were also impaired by the heavy gravity the first two shots went wide. That gave Jack the chance to dive away from the attackers and bring up the both of the staff weapons at the same time. In the process he needed to get Chris out of the way, he was about to get shot and he was in the way of targeting the second Jaffa. One quick punt and A.I. unit was skittering across the desert floor about six inches off the ground to bounce against a rock and off into a different course. With Jack being on the ground and firing up at his attackers it was easer to sight them in and end the attack with two well placed shots in each of the Jaffa. It was pure luck that he was able to avoid the first attack and be able to counter attack at all. If he hadn’t of gotten the warning he would be dead and Chris would be a burn out toaster. Jack had to use the staff weapons in order to get up off the ground. Chris was coming back over just as he was standing up and the small metal arm came out to give him another jolt.
“Hey, what was that for?”
“You kicked me.”
“You were in the way and about to get shot. If it hadn’t of kicked you, you would have a very large plasma burn in your little round body.”
“I see, well thank you for kicking me out of the way then and I’m sorry for shocking you.”
They went over to the now dead Jaffa to see if they had anything that could be used. One of them had a canteen but there was no food on them at all. Chris scanned the area and found their gliders which were rather battered but flyable about three miles away. He scanned the area as far as he could with his limited abilities now and it was clear for the moment. There should be five more Death Gliders on this planet but it was anybody’s guess as to where they were. With the Gliders being able to hold two people that would mean anywhere from five to ten Jaffa were still around somewhere.
The mound had a single square corner that was made of a solid material that was like concrete but it wasn’t concrete it was a hard almost rubber type of material that was smoother than normal concrete. Jack made several passes around the structure and a couple of passes over the top but there was no opening anywhere that he could see.
“Chris, can you scan this mound and tell me where the opening is. We’re going to need shelter and there’s nothing else around for as far as the eye can see. At least I will need shelter you might not have any problems out here at all other then maybe melting a few circuits.”
Chris had to make several passes over the structure before the opening was found which was at the top and it was only about a foot underground. The area was hard pack, Sand and clay mixed and heated to make a solid block. Jack would never be able to get through it with nothing but his hands but he had the staff weapons which would come in very handy. He stood off to the side and shot the hard surface of the dirt from the side which blew a furrow through the ground about ten inches below the surface. He did that several times until he was able to get on top of the structure and stomp his foot through. He used the end of the staff weapon to move the dirt out of the way. Chris had told him where the door was located and how big it was. The ground was still very hard even at that depth. Jack went down to the side again like before and blew the rest of the dirt off the top of the mound. When he got to the plasticrete which he had named the stuff the staff weapon had no noticeable affect on it at all.
The sun was starting to set now and the temperature was falling quickly. There wasn’t much between time when it was comfortable and soon the only thing that was giving off heat was the ground. Jack pulled his top back on feeling every bit of skin that was sunburned on his back and face. In the fading light he was able to see that there was a large handprint on the top of the mound where it had been cleared. Jack took one of the knives that he had taken from the Jaffa on the ship and cleared the handprint. He used the knife sparingly so that he didn’t damage anything below the dirt and that might be sensitive to something like a knife scratching across it. He had learned a lot working with Daniel about that sort of thing but in this case it was not necessary. The sensors were meant to be outside and to endure the harsh climate. The hand print was a normal hand print with four fingers and an opposable thumb but it was much larger than his. Chris had been hypothesizing that if people had lived on this planet they would be very short and much thicker with muscle than Jack was because of the hard work it would take to get around with the heavy gravity. When Jack put his hand on the print the door opened smoothly and quietly revealing a dark abbess that had no depth but there was one step visible. It was time to go down and see what they were going to be living in for the next while.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
George was deposited in the South Central Los Angelis when the truck finally made it to its last stop. He was able to make a little money by helping to unload the truck with the workers who were just happy to have someone that was willing to actually work for their pay. George was more than a little on the heavy side when this started but the food at the hospital wasn’t very good and he hadn’t had a lot to eat in the last couple of days. Once they were finished he thanked them and left.
He found an all night diner and ate the first good meal that he had been able to get in a along time. Even before he was taken to the hospital he had been loosing weight so now his clothing was starting to bag on him. When he was leaving the waitress told him that it would be better to stay there for the night rather than go out on the streets at this time. It was nearly midnight now and he knew that the area was mostly good people that would help in any way they could but at this time nobody would be going outside that didn’t have too. George thanked her for her good advice and generous offer to stay the night in the diner where it was safe but he had things to do.
He hated to be force to steal for a living but that was what he was going to need to do now to survive. If he was going to have to steal then he was going to make sure that he was not doing any harm to the good people of this or any other community. He needed more money than he had now to be able to live for a while out on his own. He was going to need to be off the grid completely now so he couldn’t get a normal job anywhere. The first thing he would need to do was get transportation so that he could get where he was going. He planed to stay at Jack’s cabin for a while then he would go across the Canadian border where he hopefully could get to another country. He might get a job on a boat that was going to South America and try living down there for a while but that was in the future if he was able. Right now he needed to get to the cabin first.
When he was in the first store that he had broken into he had picked up a stocking cap which he was wearing now in the cool of the evening. He walked until he found what he was looking for and that was a drug deal that was going down in an old abandoned parking lot. This was the cause of a very large problem for all of society and they would serve to help him in two ways, money and weapons. He was an old solider that had done his deal of dirty jobs in the past. He did not like killing but if he left these scumbags would go on killing the innocents of this country with their poisons that were so addictive that once it was started there was no going back. Even if the people that they addicted were able to quit the stuff it was so addictive that they would be fighting for the rest of their lives to stay sober. He felt no regret at killing the five people in the parking lot. They would have killed him without a second thought then laughed about it. He was good with his weapon and they were so busy watching out for the others to make the first move that it was too late when they saw him. Three of them were dead before the others were able to bring their weapons to bear but it was too late by then.
It took a while but after he had taken all of the weapons and money off the bodies he piled them into the car with the most frills. He wanted a plain car that did not stand out while he was driving across the country. He took all the I.D. off the bodies then set a rag into the Gas tank of the car and lit it before he left. If things went like they should then the police wouldn’t have much to go on to identify the bodies with and that would give him time to get across the country before he would need to stash the car and get another one. He watched from a distance as the car went up in flames then he started the long trip across the country to the cabin.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Golan was learning as he went along, he had developed dysentery from eating the fruit and nothing else but he didn’t know that was what it was. All he knew was that he was not able to hold his bowels and it took a long time to get over this. He was in a great deal of pain from his wounds and the dysentery and there was nothing he could do about any of it except wait for it to get better. He was getting weaker by the day and he was sure that he was going to die out in the jungle like a wounded animal but the gods had a purpose for him and that was not to die like this. He began to hallucinate after a while and the gods were speaking to him telling him that he was doing a fine job and how he would be richly rewarded in the afterlife for the things he was being forced to do at his time. All would be good when it was over if he did as he was told to do. When he finally woke he was even weaker than before but now he had a determination to live and do what he was being told to do. When he was finally able to hunt again he had no way of making a fire and he was forced to eat the meat of the animal raw. This was another lesson from the gods for him though and now he knew that he was to feed on the other gods. He would eat them while they were alive and kill them slowly, just a little each day until he had killed them all. He went down to the boat and crossed the river. He had a long journey ahead of him to get back up to the area where the old sacred grounds that was the home of the gods that he was to kill.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
When Sam was finally allowed to wake up she was still heavily sedated on the recommendation of Janet. She knew that when Sam woke she was going to do everything in her power to get to Jack. Mary had not gotten any kind of response from either Jack or the A.I. unit since they had left orbit. She had sent a drone to the planet where it found considerable wreckage on the planet and it was verified that it was the Mothership that they were missing. They couldn’t go down to the planet to do any kind of investigation as to what caused the problem. With the kind of pressure that would be exerted by the Gas Giants atmosphere and gravitational pull it would be impossible to even gather the remains if they were not destroyed in the initial explosion. That explosion would have wiped out all of North America, all the way to the Polar region if it had been on Earth and it had caused massive volcanic activity on the Gas Giant itself.
The plan was to have five Motherships and the Alkesh bomber to trade for things back on Earth. Four would work very well but that was not the plan and five would give them superior odds in nearly any conflict that came their way to defend Earth. Now they were going to need to go out and find another Mothership and make the modification to it as well. Sam was still making a very vocal argument that they should go to the area where they lost the ship to look for Jack and Janet agreed with her fully. Mary convinced them that it would be best to wait. She had located another ship that was off by itself and would be easy to take if they worked it the right way. She got another A.I. unit ready to make the assault.
Sam and Janet were not so sure that this was the way to go and it was not their way to leave anyone behind even if the hopes of finding them were almost impossible. Janet knew what Sam was going to do and she wanted to go along with her but Sam told her that it would be better for her to stay with the ship and help with the Goa’uld and Jaffa that would be coming off the ship. She also would need the room to get Jack back to the ship if she was able to find him. Mary knew what was going on and that Sam was going to take the fighter to see if she could find Jack which would save time in the long run if she did it that way so she let it happen. Sam got into her suit at Mary’s recommendation so that if something happened while she was out in space the suit would allow her to survive until someone got there even if she was outside of her ship in space, she would survive. The only thing that the suit couldn’t do was fight off something as bad as the Gas Giants pressure. It would fold in only a few seconds so she was told not to try to land there no matter what. If Jack was on the Gas Giant he was dead and there was nothing anybody could do about it.
Once she was off the ship and was nearly half way to the system were the ship went missing she saw a small shaggy brown head peering at her over her shoulder.
“Charlie what are you doing in this ship, you’re supposed to be with Kathy.”
He had on a small version of the suit that she was wearing and he had been invisible. When he had figured out that she was going to go looking for his Dad he put the suit on and put it in stealth mode where even the ships sensors could not detect where he was. He was no stranger to the suits, they were not toys and he was not allowed to use them before but he knew what to do and how they worked. His Dad; Dr. O’Neill told him about anything he had asked questions about and the suits had festinated him to the point of gathering all the data he could on them. When he thought that they had gone far enough out that she wouldn’t turn around to take him back to the ship, he wanted some attention from her and it was very hard for him to set back being totally quiet when he had a thousand questions he wanted to ask her about everything he could think of.
The city computers could give him massive amounts of information but he liked Sam and he wanted her to answer his questions. It wasn’t a crush he just needed someone to pay attention to him and to feel loved by a mother figure. He had his coloring books and crayons with him that Sam had replicated for him and he was coloring while he was talking. He asked the onboard computer to digitize and animate the drawings and where to show them. Sam was suddenly looking at a three dimensional hologram of a field with a cow grazing by a barn. The cow was blue and yellow while the barn was green. Charlie was asking what the animal was and why the building looked so old and worn. Sam explained that the buildings were they came from did not automatically repair themselves so everything had to be done by humans with hammers, nails and saws. The buildings had to be painted by hand also so there was a lot of work to keeping a building up and that building was made to house the animals so it was not high on the priority of the farmer to fix the barn. The farmer had so many other things that needed to be done which were more important.
“What kinds of things do the farmers need to do on Earth?”
“On Earth a farmer will need to plow the fields in order to plant his crops, then he will need to make sure that the weeds don’t take over a rob the plants that he wants to grow of the nutrients that are needed for the plant to grow to its full potential.”
“What does he do with the animal?”
Now they were getting into a subject that Sam did not want to go into with an eight year old child about where meat and milk come from and all the other uses of animals on the farm. It was time to change the subject.
“We will be coming out of hyper space in a few minuets and we will need to scan the surface for any sign of Jack or hopefully a lack of evidence that he is on the planet, can you help me set up the computer to do that?”
“That should be easy and I wanted to see what the drone had done on the last survey anyway.”
“Sam was having a hard time believing that the small voice of the eight year old in the back seat of the fighter was really only a little boy or one of her scientist with a PHD that had his voice changed somehow. The boy was extremely intelligent and working on things that should be well beyond his young age.
“That’s what I thought; the drone that did the initial scan did not drop a probe, it just did a surface scan of the planet. We can do a much more detailed survey even with the limited equipment on this ship.”
“Careful there Charlie, you’re beginning to sound a lot like Rodney McKay there and we can’t have that.”
“Who is Rodney McKay?”
“He’s someone that I hope to introduce you to one of these day so that you can prove him wrong at your age just to make him shut up for ten minuets.”
Charlie noticed that she had a happy smile on her face as she was thinking about that and it made him feel good that it was because of him. When they exited hyper space above the planet, he dropped a probe into the atmosphere that would look for any kind of DNA evidence that Jack had been on the planet. Even with the massive explosion it would not have burned all of the DNA, some would be blown out away from the explosion, just like the parts of a bomb do not all get destroyed when is detonated. Small bits are thrown out away and that is the matter that they were sending the probe to look for. It was so sensitive that it could locate a fragment of his DNA within a ten thousand square mile radius on the planet.
This was something that Sam was not looking forward to. It would tell her if he was on the ship when it was destroyed or not but she was afraid of the answer all the same. If he had died on that ship all of her dreams would be smashed on the ground along with him. She started to quietly cry thinking that this could be the end and she had spoken so harshly to him before she left. Charlie saw that she was crying and reached over the seat to give her a hug. Sam pulled the little boy over the seat to hold him as both of them needed the mutual support at that time.
“Don’t cry Mommy, we’ll get him back. I don’t think he is down on that planet and the probe will tell us in just a few minuets that I’m correct.”
Sam hugged him closer. “I just hope you’re right little man.”
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
George drove to Chicago with very few stops along the way. He found a car lot that would buy the car with no papers, of course there was a rather large reduction off the book price but it just added to his money that he was accumulating as he went along. The drug dealers were carrying a large amount of money and there was a lot of gold and jewelry that he took as he was cleaning up the mess. When he walked away from the car lot nobody would believe that he was carrying nearly a million dollars in his backpack. He was also carrying a rather large arsenal of weapons that he had taken off of the dealers that was hidden in easily accessible places on his body.
He had lost over forty pounds and with all the walking and work he was doing when he got the chance for a few bucks the legal way it was toning up rather nicely. He had grown a beard as he went also which he was trimming so that it looked better then just a plain shaggy growth hanging off the end of his chin. He stayed clean and presentable as much as possible so that he was not looking like he was homeless. That would only make the police suspicious of him and they might start asking questions that he would have a hard time answering. Low profile was the only way to go, anything else would end up making the authorities put him so far away that he would be as good as dead. There would not be a second chance for him; if he didn’t make it this way then he was not going to make it at all.
Like before he walked to the poor end of town which wasn’t too far from where he sold the car and got something to eat and waited for dark. He had a rather nice conversation with the waitresses and some of the ladies that were in the dinner then it was time to go to work again.
He now had a pistol that had a silencer on it which was rather nice and a few sharp knives for the silent work. The Mac 10 with the extra magazines was only good for a bad situation because of the noise that it made. He needed quiet to get what he needed. He wasn’t looking for the little guy that was selling twenty dollar rocks of crack. They were bad but he wanted the big fish. If he was going to do this he wanted to get the big guy, the suppliers and their bosses. What he got the other day was one of the transfers and he was able to make the big score getting both the dealer and his source. He had to look a long time to find what he wanted but he was finally able to find the two really fancy vehicles out in a deserted area with a group of tough looking men standing around with large bulges in their jackets. This was some big stuff; the one thing that he was worried about was an undercover agent getting in the mix. They would be doing their job. The one thing that Gorge Hammond was good at and that was being a good judge of character, if there was an undercover police officer in the group he should be able to spot them but if not that was one of the hazards of the job.
He picked his targets carefully and watched as the men opened the trunk of the big Cadillac and take out some square containers of white powder one of the men tested it and confirmed that it was pure. The next thing to come out was a suitcase full of money. That was what he was waiting for; he stepped out onto the light and started firing. He had picked his targets carefully and went for the gunmen then the bosses taking all of them out in only a few seconds. There was one man that he did not shoot though that was hanging back and not part of the crowed. George had on his stocking cap pulled down so that his face could not be seen. The man pulled his weapon quickly and expertly as any well trained person would do. He pulled the weapon using both hands so that the weapon was not as easy to take away but he was not dealing with any normal attacker out on the street. George didn’t think, he acted quickly and as he had been trained to do and practiced over the many years in the service. He had already tucked his pistol into the back of his belt knowing that he was not going to kill this man.
As the weapon was brought up into the firing position George covered both of his hands while he turned and twisted throwing the man to the ground then placed his knee on his back to hold him in place. He told the man that he was not going to hurt him and to lie still. He did as he was told and George was able to search him. He was carrying a standard police pistol and he had on a wire. George was in the middle of a sting operation. The man wasn’t able to see him as he approached him so he really couldn’t give even a vague description of him. This was what George was worried about with this kind of operation. He took out the handcuffs the man was carrying and cuffed him around a pole after he blindfolded him and killed the wire that he was wearing. He knew that this would bring the backup which would be waiting close by quickly so he had to move even faster. He bent down close to the man’s ear.
“Sorry son, I know you’re just doing your job so keep up the good work.”
“Wait, I’ve never seen someone that was able to take out a group of men as smoothly as you just did. I know that you aren’t with any of the other drug lords so please tell me what’s going on. I promise not to tell anybody what you tell me.”
George was convinced that the man was not going to tell anybody what he was going to tell him like he had said so he decided to tell him the truth.
“I can’t work on the grid because of some trouble I’ve run into and it isn’t with the law. I need money and this way I can help get rid of this plague that is consuming America. The legal system isn’t able to do anything about the drug dealers which is causing an increase in crime all around.”
“You know I think that you are absolutely right about that. I’ve be at this for years now and every time I get someone arrested he’s back on the street doing the same thing a few hours later. I’m so tired of doing this and watching all my hard work being wasted while the bad guy’s are getting away with murder literally. Will you let me work with you? I think you have discovered a way to take care of this problem on a permanent level rather than wasting a few hours of the Dealers time in a cell until their lawyers can bale them out again. If they can’t beat the rap then they disappear and someone takes their place while they move to a different area and do the same thing all over again.”
“I want to work with you. I’m sure that you can use someone to help watch your back and an extra weapon can mean the difference between living or not. Will you let me go with you?”
George was a good judge of charter and he felt that he could trust this man. He had planed on going to the cabin after this job but he was right. He might not be able to make a difference as part of the Air Force anymore but he could still serve his country in a different way. He uncuffed the man telling him to not make any sudden moves until he got to know him better and went about what he had started.
George had a can of Gasoline with him this time to make things easer and he dumped it in the trunk of the car with all of the cocaine then he poured some of it underneath it also then lit the whole batch before leaving. If the police got the drugs there was a good chance that it would be destroyed like it was supposed to be but there was also a chance that it could get back out on the street again. If he burned it now then there was no chance at all of it getting back on the street. It was done and so were the men who were dealing it and their suppliers.
He also had another car waiting this time so that it was easer to get away. He had bought it legally this time so he didn’t have to worry about them looking for a stolen car. He put the suitcase in the trunk and left the area quickly but not in too big of a hurry. He was stopped by a police officer at a road block on the way out of the area but he had changed clothing into a suit when he got to the car and he had shaved off his beard before he started this job. When the officer looked into the car he was greeted by a smiling happy face of a man in his early sixties that had a strong air of confidence about him like he was used to being in charge.
“Good evening officer; is there something going on. I’ve seen a lot of police activity out tonight while on my way home, is something wrong?”
“Nothing to worry about Sir, we have everything under control and we’re just trying to round up a few people from a robbery that happened earlier tonight. We’ve mostly just caught a bunch of drunks though and nothing much more. Drive safe and have a good trip home.” George smiled at him as he was being waved on through so that he could check on the next car down the long line.
He stopped a while later and let the young officer out of the trunk so they could start planning their next move.
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Jack was looking down into the blackness that was below and knew that they had no choice other than to go down or endure the freezing night and burning heat during the day. He knew that it would be almost impossible to live like that for long. The temperatures in the deserts of Earth got that bad at times or close to it anyway but not to that extreme all the time. The steps were much longer than he would have expected especially with what Chris saying what the local should look like based on the gravitational pull of the planet. Short thick legs did not do long steps very well and the people that made them would be the one’s using them so it would make sense to make the steps shorter rather than deeper.
The lights came on as he went in a little deeper. He was very happy that they had paid the electric bill or he would be fumbling around in the dark looking for things and a place to stay the night. There was another door at the bottom of the stairwell with another hand print on the door like the one above. When he put his hand to the door the top one closed before the lower door started to open. Chris was right there with him as he went into the second room where there was another door. When he was fully in the room a beam came on that scanned them both from top to bottom then another blue light come on that was a decontamination field according to Chris. A third beam came on this time a green one that Chris said was a cleansing beam. Jack did feel better like he had just had a bath once the beam was finished and normal lighting came back on.
The door opened into a complex of rooms next which Jack had to razz Chris about because the people that would be using the first room that they came into couldn’t be any shorter than nine feet tall. The furniture was all large and the shelves and cabinets were so high that he would need to stand on something to get to the upper shelves. He was going to need to eat soon so he started looking trough the cabinets to see if there was anything that he could fix for himself. He was feeling a little like Goldie Locks here and he was more than a little worried that the big bad bears would be coming home soon. He knew that with him having to move the hard pack off the surface that nothing had been down here for a very long time maybe hundreds of years but the feeling persisted that he was being watched and tested somehow.
He was able to locate something that was in a very hard type of plastic and the odd thing was that it didn’t seem to have any openings anywhere to get into the jar or whatever this was that contained the food. Chris was able to tell him that it was edible and from his memory banks he said that it was something that most humans would like to eat. Now Jack just needed to get into the jar thing somehow. He looked all over for an opener or a device that would let him get into the food; he was getting very hungry now. There was a device that he put the food into which once he and Chris learned how to turn on the machine the jar thing opened up and the food was in the two halves of the container that was holding it earlier. He found something that looked like a large spoon that was big enough to use as a mixing spoon to eat with. He had the canteen that he had taken off the Jaffa that was now empty so he went over to an area that looked like a sink. When he put the canteen under the spout looking thing the water started flowing out. It was cold and went well with the meal that tasted like beef stew.
Chris was right, he did like this stuff and there were quite a few of the jar like things in the cabinet. Most of them were very large though and he had picked up one of the smaller jars which was almost more than he could eat at one setting and he was hungry. Jack went back to the sink and this time he was going to wash his hands and the water was warm instead of cold like the sink was anticipating what he was going to do.
This was feeling more like a test all the time, he was thinking of the octopus that they put a fish in a corked bottle then dropped it into the tank to see how long it would take to get the fish out of the bottle. Or the monkey with the banana hanging on a string in the middle of the room that was out of reach and they had to build a platform out of the objects in the room to get to the treat. Was he the monkey now? Was this all a test to see if he could figure out how to do something and how hard were the tests going to get.
He was getting sleepy now so he found a room with a bed in it to lie down for the night. He told Chris to stay alert but not to get too close if he had to wake him while they were on this planet. He was on an alert status and that was when he would be the most dangerous if he was startled awake and didn’t know what was around him. At those times it was kill whatever was around you then find out what it was that woke you. He didn’t have anybody here to worry about hurting if he did that so everything was a danger as far as he was concerned.
The bed was so big that it was easy to get comfortable in it without his feet hitting the end of the bed. He was tall for human standards and it was hard to find a bed that was long enough for him so this was as treat for him. There was a pillow that was as big as a body pillow back on Earth and the covers were clean and the smelled fresh. He drifted off to a comfortable sleep but he was right on the edge of being awake so that the least bit of noise or movement in the room he would be fully awake. The lights went to a very dull glow when he was in the bed like it had anticipated again that it was what he wanted.
The scientists in the observation room were pleased with this specimen. He had solved several problems like getting the door open and finding his way into and preparing the food. They did not understand the mechanical pet that he had with him but it had done what he had asked it to do as far as they could tell. They could not understand its language so they had to go by its actions to judge its intelligence. So far they had only taken the subject through some very basic steps to see if they should carry on with the experiment or just go ahead and terminate it and go strait into the dissection faze before they try to find another. This was the first subject that they had to come to them though, usually they had to go out and find their subjects. There were some more subjects to play with on the surface though and they would be doing more with them later on.
They also had all of the beings that were in stasis that they could continue working with them for a long time before they were all destroyed.
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Mary had located another ship that was off by itself in a far reaches of the system that looked like it would be easy to take. Teal’c and Daniel were sure that they could take this one without any help since the last group proved to not be a problem. They were missing two people out of their group and they were important people but it wasn’t going to be that big of a deal anyway. The A.I. units did ninety nine percent of the work before and it was a sure thing that they could take this one ship. Mary sent the other ships off to Earth as soon as their cloaking devices were working properly so they wouldn’t be seen by Earth defenses. They were to land the four Motherships on the moon and the Alkesh was to remain in orbit around the moon for easy accesses. The weapons and shielding had been modified also to the point of any one of these ships could take on a large number of Motherships that didn’t have the improvements and win.
Jack had even given her the idea of using phased rockets to deliver a devastating payload through the shields and even inside the ships before they detonated. Mary had designed and the A.I. units had built a large number of these weapons to add to their arsenals. It was going to take a while to get to the location of the Mothership that they wanted to get so everybody set back to relax for a while. That was when they discovered that Charlie was missing and where he was. Mary was able to find him in just a short while once it was brought to her attention that he was missing.
The process of removing the Goa’uld from the host was automated now and Janet decided that she was going to take another fighter and go out to look for Jack also. Mary set the course for her and told her that the ship was set to automatically return to the plant or the ship when she was ready to return. It was a long trip and she had nothing to do but think about what was going on in her life. She knew that she was hooked and there was no way out of it for her.
Sam and Charlie scanned the area and to both of them it was a great relief to find that Jack was not on the Gas Giant. He had been on the ship but there wasn’t enough evidence to support the theory that he was on the ship when it was destroyed. They were not going to be able to retrieve the probe so they left it to gather information about the planet which they would gather later. It would take a massive antigravity drive to get anything off that planet and they didn’t have anything like that or need anything like that for now. The probe was disposable and it was not an Artificially Intelligent device so it was not considered cruel to leave it behind. It was strange for Sam to think about machines that had feelings but she was seeing a lot of them now.
They located another planet that was close enough for a Death Glider to make it to and if he was able to get a cargo ship he could be back on their home planet now where Mary and the city was located. It was worth the time to check out the planet. Death Gliders were a lot easier to get than cargo ships and they had to run into a really big problem on that ship or it would be on its way to Earth by now. Charlie crawled back over the seat so that he could use the instruments to check the planet for signs of his Dad. That gave Sam the opportunity to ask him why he kept calling him Dad even though he knew that this was not his real Dad.
“Before my Dad put me into the stasis chamber he told me that he would come and get me out no matter what. He always kept his word when he said something like that, and he was there when the chamber opened just like he said he would. You saw the pictures. He might not know the same things that my Dad did but he is my Dad.”
There was a rather large storm blowing on the planet below them. It was a rare thing to have water now but when it did happen it was big. Sam was fighting the strong winds and lightning which were combined with large hail as they made their way down to the planet so that they could land. When they scanned the planet they found several Death Gliders. Several of them were damaged to the point of not being able to be flown out again even if they did have the fuel or oxygen to make it anywhere. They were picking up sign that Jack had been there but he was not showing on their instruments now so he was underground somewhere in a cave or building of some sort. There was a large city that was not too far away but it was not showing any sign of life at all. It was going to take time to find the Glider that he had used then they were going to need to locate where he was.
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Being in a ship out in the middle of deep space even in hyper drive was frightening to Janet. She was not the adventurous type and she had not spent any time out in a space ship other than with Thor a few times. This was different and if something went wrong then she had nobody to turn to for help. She was determined to get to where Sam was to help look for Jack and if he needed help she would be there to do the medical work and if needed to she could shoot fairly well. This ship was a little different than the one that Sam was in, it was bigger and was able to carry some of the larger weapons. Mary didn’t go into detail as to what the weapons were capable of doing but from the look of them they could do a lot of damage. She had seen some of the other weapons and listened to Jack and Teal’c talking about the destruction that the weapons could do that were on the Death Gliders but these weapons were more advanced than those and a lot bigger so they should be able to do more damage in her opinion.
When she exited hyperspace a good distance from the Gas Giant that the other ships had been gathered around when they were taken. This was the first good look she was able to get of the planet. The Gas Giant was rather frightening to look at up close. It stretched out as far as she could see in front of her ship and she was a long way away from it according to the instruments on her ship. There were several large moons that were the size of Earth around the planet but none of them were able to sustain life as we know it. The radiation coming off of the Giant planet that they circled was too much for normal life to exist. Sam had reported in that they had done a survey of the moons also just to be on the safe side but all it had done was confirm that he was not in the area of the Gas Giant.
Mary told her that Sam and Charlie were checking out another planet that was within range and capable of sustaining life. There was too much interference to communicate with Sam at this time because of a local storm on the planet. Mary plotted the course for the ship and gave it instructions to look for the other ship and to land letting Janet set back and let the ship do all the work. The jump to the planet was not long enough to use the hyper drive so it was going to be at a much slower pace and all she would be able to do was to set back and wait to get there. Janet asked Mary if there was something she could listen to like a radio which Mary had a hard time understanding what Janet meant. Once Janet got across that they liked to listen to music when there was nothing else to do to pass the time. She was able to bring up some the reports on the stasis chamber and the AIDS that had devastated the planet which gave her plenty to do and keep her interested in until she got to the planet.
The information was brought up in any form that she wanted it along with giving her a three dimensional image of the virus and how it attacked the cells. This gave her something to work with that she had never had before and it was interesting to go through all of the things that the others had gone through and tried before to combat this very devastating disease. The antibody that they got from Ahyoka would work for the strain that was on the planet were the city was but it would not work for the Earth variety so it was going to take more research into that particular disease which was similar but not the same. Janet was thinking that the thing to do was to keep the immune system strong long enough to develop the antibodies that were needed. They didn’t have anything that could work in that manor on Earth but with this kind of technology it wouldn’t be too hard to accomplish. She was going to need an isolated place to do this kind of work where if something went wrong it would not wipe out an entire planet like the disease had done to P4X-3325. That thought made Janet think that they needed to call the new planet were they were now living something other then P4X-3325. She called Mary and asked her what the name of the planet and the city. The planet was called Olathe which means Beautiful and the name of the city is Eyota meaning The Greatest. That solved one problem now all they needed to do was find Jack and get him home.
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George Hammond had accumulated a large amount of money in a short amount of time with only two drug dealers. They drove to a small town outside of Chicago to look for the building that they wanted. It was going to take a lot of recruiting to get this operation started and Joe Massy was going to do the recruiting on the police side of things while George was going to work on the military side of things. They were going to need to work at this a little at a time while they gathered their forces together. They found a building after a long search which was perfect for what they wanted. It had a large basement and had solid concrete floors.
George was not wasting any time either. He called in some of his people that he could trust to get the plans for a few of the special weapons that they had been developing. The barrels of these weapons were a very light but strong ceramic that had a hard outer coating with the stock and mechanical parts made the same way making the weapon stronger than its steal counterpart but much lighter. The shell was not a bullet, it was more like a small rocket that was nearly silent and they could put nearly anything in the projectile. They even had a small explosive which would detonate after it was a certain distance in the target. The depth could be adjusted on the outside of the weapon with a small digital reading that was adjustable in millimeters. They had some other things that they could put into the nose portion of the projectile like spring loaded blades which would open on contact or like the others it could be programmed to open after it was already in the target. They had several of the rifles and hand held weapons in a short while. It was amazing what money could do for making people speed up a process while maintaining quality control.
The building was going to take time no matter what they wanted but with a large enough crew it would be ready soon. It was a three story brick building that they had totally redone on the inside and out. It was setup with the latest of generators and a computer system that most large companies would die to get. All of the equipment was setup in the basement which had its own climate control system which was self contained to the point of not needing any outside air for nearly a year. Even that was taken care of by having a tunnel built that exited into the basement of another building that was a block away for safety reasons. They had purchased two SUV’s that were not black and did not have government plates along with brown and gray suits. George Hammond did not want to look like the FBI or the NID with their black suits and black cars. They didn’t want to stand out at all. The building was an office for insurance which was functional and anybody that came in could get any kind of insurance policy they needed from the agents that worked the front of the building. That was about all the money that they could spare so it was time to go hunting again. Now that they had their new toys both men were happy at the thought of talking care of more problems. Joe got on the phone and started gathering information from his sources about any kind of deal going down. George was working the computers tapping into the DEA computers to gather information from them. He wasn’t as good as some of his people that he had working for him at the SGC but he wasn’t dumb and he had been watching and learning for years. He had taken several classes then augmented his training at the base whenever he could until he was able to do the job even if it did take him a little longer to get the answers he wanted than the younger generation did. If he continued working like this then he would be getting better with the practice.
George recruited a couple of people that were former military. Jeff Briggs was a Navy Seal that was five foot ten inches of nothing but meanness but he did know how to take orders and he followed them to the letter. He also had a mind of his own and he was able to adapt easily to any situation with speed, skill and the ability to be a strong force of destruction when he needed to be. He had dark brown hair and steel blue eyes that had a piercing gaze that was known to freeze more than one soldier before they died. The other member of the group was a woman of Asian heritage with short hair that was tented with red highlights who stood five foot eight inches. She had been trained in communications but she was also a helicopter pilot and she had seen her share of combat which taught her to kill quickly and in the most efficient manor possible. Her name was Kelly Shu and she had one more skill that was very important, she was a sharpshooter.
Jeff came up with an idea that they all thought was a very good one. He said that they should use a brand on those that were caught dealing on the street so that if the organization got as large as they thought it was going to get then the others would know if a person had been caught in an area and moved on to another area to start again. This was a vigilante group and the members that were on the low end of the spectrum would be given a second chance to reform. If they were caught committing any other crime other then the normal things like speeding or jaywalking then they would not last the night. If a person was younger than eighteen then he would be given two chances but no more. George had the brand made which was a four leaf clover with a line across it that heated instantly with a battery to a red hot. The brand was to be placed on the left chest just below the collar bone. All arrest records had scars and tattoos on the descriptions and it would be easy to find them if they were arrested and dealt with. If they were caught out on the street dealing and had the mark then it was an instant death sentence and they would be fully aware of that fact before they were turned loose the first time.
This way if a new person were to came into an area to deal on the street and he had the mark the team that was in that area would deal with him or her. They were recruiting for the other big cities making special emphases on the fact that this was a secret organization and if anyone said anything about it to anybody they would end up in the same hole as the suppliers. The policy was that if they went into an area that had a meth lab or crack house they were to remove anything of value which included any trainable dogs which were used a lot to protect the houses then burn the houses. When George told Kelly about using the Gas to burn the drugs on the first two jobs she went out and got some things locally telling him that she had something that was much better for the next job.
They got a hit on a transfer that was in Chicago in the next couple of days and who was going to be at the meeting from the DEA reports. The names of the people in the organization were in the report. George got the names and addresses of a couple of the lower level employees which he gave to Jeff and Kelly to get the time and location of the transfer. He was told that if the man turned for them that he was to be spared as long as he kept giving the information. If the information stopped then he would stop breathing. He had one chance to free himself and that was to give them the next name above his top boss along with a time and location where he could be dealt with.
Jeff was back with the information in a couple of hours so they could start the planning phase of the operation.
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The Bears
The scientists that were watching decided that it was time to do something to see what this subject would do in an extreme situation. The storm that was going on outside was coming down in full force which was making the Jaffa huddle under the wings of their gliders to stay out of the path of the very large hail stones that were coming down all around them while shivering in the cold of this retched planet. They had endured the extreme heat all day and now it was so cold that they were watching as the rain was starting to freeze on the wings of the gliders before the hail stones hit them and knocked them loose. It was causing large dents in the gliders and rendered the canapés into broken shards. The scientists picked a rather large Jaffa and transported him into the room with Jack who was still in the bed as the light came on revealing a very wet and angry Jaffa that still had his staff weapon. He quickly slammed the staff weapon down on the bed where Jack’s head had been.
Jack rolled down and off the end of the bed to stand at the foot of the bed in his underwear. Chris used his metal arm that he had been using to shock him with to flip the staff weapon to him. Jack turned the weapon and tried to charge the weapon so that he could finish this only to find that the weapon was no longer working. This must be Papa Bear. The Jaffa gave him a smile that did not make him feel loved at all and pushed a button on the staff weapon releasing an eight inch blade from the end of the staff. Jack looked at the staff weapon that he was carrying and it did not have the button that would let a blade come out of the end like the others. This was just not his day, the other guy had all the neat new toys and he was stuck with the old stuff out on the playground.
This Jaffa made Teal’c seem small, he pushed the hood of his robe back revealing the gold tattoo of a first prime. This was just great, he had a very large Jaffa that was the best of the best of his order and he wanted nothing more than to make him into a small pile of crushed bones. The Jaffa didn’t do any spinning or showing off with the staff weapon he only had to do one thing with it and that was to kill him.
Jack didn’t waste any movements or energy showing off either it wouldn’t do any good anyway. This man was not going to be bluffed or frightened by any fancy waving around of the weapon. At first it looked like they were not going to do anything at all but both men were looking for the best way to finish this with as little effort as possible. It was rather like a skilled chess player, each move was planned with all of the counters taken into consideration and planned several moves in advance. In chess the unskilled player will just throw out a pawn and their objective is only to take the other players pieces instead of looking ahead to see what the main players would be doing once all the small players are off the board.
In this match someone was most likely going to be dead when it was over. Both men seemed to explode into action at the same time. Each had been watching the other looking for a weakness in their defense that they could use as an advantage. When the Jaffa didn’t see an advantage that was not being shown on purpose to lure him into an attack that would easily countered. He finally decided that this was going to last a long time if something didn’t get started. He used the end of the staff to try and smash his opponent’s bare foot which would have crushed the foot in one swift move and allowed him to finish this quickly.
Jack saw the move and was ready, as the staff moved like lightening for his foot he moved the foot back just far enough to get it out of the way and slammed the upper end of his staff into the face of the Jaffa. The top end of the Jaffa’s staff was fast enough to take most of the blow but not all of it which grazed across his face living a scratch and bruise. He stepped back and his furry was evident.
“No one has touched me in a fight for fifty years!”
Jack smiled as he answered. “Bad luck for you Buddy, now you’ll have to start over if you survive this. If you want you can always walk away from this and I won’t say a thing. We can say the fight never happened and your no hit streak will go on. Of course it will be only a technical no hit in a fight thing but you can save your winning streak and we both live.”
The Jaffa was spitting mad now and Jack could tell that talking him out of this fight was not going to work. He didn’t really want to fight this man to the death or any other person if he didn’t have to but he was not going to have a choice in the matter, it was a case of fight or die.
“The least that you could do is get comfortable while you are trying to kill me, or is it too much of an advantage to me if you took off all that wet armor.”
“You think that I need my armor to kill a weak human like you?!” He started stripping off the armor while keeping his distance from Jack so that he was not attacked while he was in the middle of removing the armor. He stripped down to his pants that they wore under the leggings of the armor and picked up his staff again to continue the fight.
Jack tried again to talk to the man. “Like I said before, there’s no need of fighting, I’m willing to share what I have and I’ll even let you have the bed. All I need is a pillow and a blanket for the floor. It’s a great deal; you should take it while you have the chance.”
The Jaffa was not going to take the deal and he knew it but it was better to try to talk him out of a fight if he could.
“I had the next to the last glider when we were told to evacuate the ship that you destroyed. Lord Bo’loc took the cargo ship but he misjudged the spin the ship was in at the time and exited on the planet side. I came out on the other side on the last spin the ship did so I was able to avoid the gravitational pull of the Gas Giant but Lord Bo’loc was caught. I was going to try to knock his ship into a higher orbit so that he might be able to escape and live but before I was able to do that you used his ship to save yourself. I watched you kill my god and now you must die.”
“Oh come on, he isn’t a real god, he’s a Goa’uld and you know it. He’s a fake, pretending to be a god and if he was a god how could I have killed him?”
“It’s of no matter now, you must die, human.” He went into a blur of movement as he attacked this time meaning to end this. The gravity was causing Jack to slow down and he was having a hard time avoiding and blocking the attack of the much stronger opponent but he was able stay out of the way for most of the blows only catching a few that were not fully blocked.
The creatures that were monitoring this were very excited at the exchange that was going on in their chamber. The one that was weaker was actually able to keep the stronger one from doing any damage to him so far. He had tried to reason with the larger animal from what they could tell but the big one wanted to take all of the possessions it would seem. It was going to take some time to analyze all of the data to see why the larger one took off its metal clothing that would have protected it, which was an oddity that had them all very excited.
They decided that they would bring out one of the big creatures next to fight the winner of this fight. The next one that was do to be experimented on was a female but she was very strong compared to either one of the creatures that were in the chamber now that it really didn’t matter. They would use the spray that would put her into a state of extreme rage. It had worked when they put two of the subject against each other. It really didn’t have any scientific value to fight the creatures but they had a good time doing it and betting on the outcome with their work duties They would dissect the looser afterward anyway so it wasn’t a waste of the subjects. They opened the stasis chamber and applied the spray that would put the Giant into a killing frenzy, it would take her a few minuets to be ready and if the others were not finished by then they would let her loose on both of them to see what would happen. The bets in the control room were getting pretty steep on the outcome of the two smaller creatures but it was no use in even betting on what the Giant female would do to either one or both of the others when she got into the room.
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She was brought out of the stasis chamber which was a living hell for all of them. The creatures that said they were there to help her people to relocate to a different planet had told them that it was going to be necessary to build the stasis chambers so that they could survive until they could be transported to a new planet. Her home planet was being destroyed by the sun which was growing much faster than it was supposed to. They had built the chambers like they were told to with the plans that the aliens had given them and she was the head engineer. She was the best of the best in her country and had gone against several others from different countries to gain the honor of the position. She had asked them all the important questions about the chambers and had been told that they would be in a peaceful quiet dream state and they would be brought back to full consciousness on their new home world. She had gone over the plans many times and had her calculations checked and rechecked. The machines were not going to do what they said they would do but before she could say anything about it they had drugged her and put her in one of the chambers. They told the others that she was sick and if they had not put her into the chamber she would have died a horrible death.
The truth was that they had a horrible death planed for all of them. She was not allowed to go into a peaceful sleep like they had promised but instead she was fully conscious and connected to the other chambers and the cameras that were in the room that they did their experiment in were fed into the chambers also. This way they were able to see what was happening to the people in the chambers as they did their experiments and dissected those that they were finished with. Not all of them were dead yet when the started the dissections either. She had watched them kill her husband and son and there was nothing that she could do, she couldn’t even move while in the chamber. They had been at this for several years now and it had caused several of them to loose their minds but she had stayed strong so that when she was released she could extract her revenge on these vile creatures that were destroying her people one or two at a time.
The chamber was opened and she was sprayed in the face with something that was causing her anger to grow and boil to the point of blind furry. She wanted to kill and there was nothing she could do about it other than to go with it. She knew that the door would be opening in a few minuets and she would have her opportunity to release her anger which was all she could think about now.
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Sam landed the fighter near where the Death Glider was that had Jack’s bio signature on it but she couldn’t get out of the ship while the storm was going on. The suits could shield them against the rain and hail although they were the largest hail stones she had ever seen. The thing that had her concerned was the lightening that was striking all around them. The shields of the ship would be able to take the strain of a lightening strike channeling it to the ground but it was much stronger than the shield of the suits and she was not about to risk Charlie to that kind of danger. It would be better to wait till the storm was over before looking for Jack. It was a real problem setting still while the storm was going on thinking that it was possible for Jack to be out in this and there was nothing she could do about it. He was capable of finding shelter and was most likely underground somewhere because they were not able to get a lock on him but until she saw with her own eyes that he was alright she was going to worry about him. While they were waiting they got a call from Janet when she got close enough to get through the interference of the storm letting them know that she was in the area and asked what she was supposed to do to land the ship.
Charlie was the one to tell her what to do to get the ships to lock locations and land in the same area. Sam told her to hold off until the storm was over though so that she didn’t have to come in through all the lightening and hail that they did. Even though it was a controlled landing by the computer of the ship it was still something that she did not want to go through again. She knew that Janet was a Doctor not a pilot and it would be a very bad thing for her so it would be better to wait for a while. Sam told Janet about what they had been doing and how Charlie had stowed away on her ship along with his coloring books. She told her about the three dimensional view of the barn which Charlie showed Janet through her computer and started more questions about the cow and the farmer and Sam was having a fun time listening to Janet stutter with some of the innocent questions that an eight year old would ask. Sam was glad that it was Janet this time and not her again.
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George Hammond was now going by the name of Thomas Holland which had a driver’s license, social security card, berth certificate and the works to do business in this country. They had hired a secretary and an accountant that were trustworthy as soon as they had the building complete. The secretary was named Glenda Howard who stood five foot five with long black hair, blue eyes and a knockout figure that had stayed well throughout her forty six years of life. She was single having gotten a divorce from her husband three years ago after fifteen years of married hell with him. He was an alcoholic and a mean one at that even though he had a good job and made a lot of money at it he could not control his drinking. He had come home and slapped her around one time too many and she had been arrested for nearly beating him to death with a phone which was the only thing she could reach while he was choking her. The black eye and bruises had helped during his trial and subsequent divorce trials. She was away from him now but the mental scars were not going away. She had dated a few times when her friends insisted but she never went out on a second date with any of them and always left them at the door wondering what they had done wrong to cause her to tell them that she would not go out with them again.
Glenda now had a job in an insurance company that paid very well for a secretary position after they went through a very thorough background check. She was to run the office and keep track of the agents that were selling the insurance but she was not allowed to go into one room that was kept locked at all times. She had found that the boss of this operation who was fifteen years older than she was just happened to be one of the most interesting men she had ever met. He didn’t really do much with the business other than make sure that it was doing what it was supposed to do and he left everything else up to her. They had a rather nice break room in the office which when she found that he had a particular taste for his coffee and a time that he liked to come down to the break room. She started taking her break at that time also to get to know this hansom man better.
He was not pursuing her like most of the men she knew, he was friendly and courteous giving her a smile that caused her toes to curl when she would come into the room. But he sometimes had three people with him and sometimes a forth man that was an accountant that did the bookwork for the insurance company but he kept to himself in the locked off area of the building. Thomas had introduced the others to her but they all looked very dangerous and she was beginning to wonder if she was working for the mob now but she kept that thought to herself. The money was good and she didn’t want to make any waves for something that she had no idea about what was going on. As far as she knew this was just an insurance company run by a hansom older gentleman that wore those wonderful brown and gray suits.
When she came into the break room this time they were all setting around a table with a paper making marks that was quickly covered when she came into the room and they all stopped talking. Glenda gave Thomas that special smile and did a little wiggle as she walked across the room to get to the coffee pot. She turned to him and asked him if he wanted a refill which got him a poke in the ribs from Kelly when he blushed and told her that he would and thanked her. When she walked over she was able to see through the paper seeing that it was a diagram of some buildings.
“Is that the new office that you’re planning on for Huston or Los Angelis or is it another city that you are planning to take over now?”
She was joking with him and she got a wonderful smile out of him but she noticed that Kelly and Jeff both stiffened up and she saw Jeff instinctively reaching for something that was not at his side now. She knew military men when she saw them and she knew that Kelly was also from the military but she had no idea what they did in this operation. When things settled down a little Kelly was motioning for Thomas to do something and he finally gave into her demands.
“Glenda, I know that it’s your day off tomorrow but I was wondering if you would like to go to dinner with me tomorrow evening.”
She nearly died on the spot. He was asking her out on a date and she was stuttering like a school girl who didn’t know what to say. “That would be very nice, where did you want to go so that I’ll know what to wear?”
He told her were they were going and it was a very nice restaurant which was a little to high priced for her to go to but if he wanted to take her their that was great. She left the room with her head in a spin thinking of things and what she was going to do to get ready for this.
Kelly was excitedly talking to Thomas about what he had finally done which she had been after him to do for days now. They had a raid to plan for this evening though and it was time to get back to work.
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Jack didn’t have time or the strength in this kind of gravity to play with this guy and he was not going to listen to reason so he was going to have to die. He watched him closely and saw the pattern to his movements, it was something that he did now by instinct but he realized that he was doing it as he went on the attack. The big Jaffa used a circular movement on his third pass through a series of movements. The other two were always changed but the third one was the same and that was what cost the man his life. As he started the third movement Jack put his staff into the slowest moving area which was at the center of the swing which was a hand over hand movement. He let the staff be carried half way around the movement then pushed forward putting the end of his staff into the symbiote pouch which was the most painful thing that you could do to a Jaffa. That stunned the big man long enough to reverse the staff hitting him in the throat then he did a full spinning swing with the staff hitting the Jaffa with the end of the staff like it was a long baseball bat. There was a sickening sound as the staff broke his skull and snapped his neck at the same time.
Jack threw the staff down in disgust at having to kill a man when reason would not work but again he had no choice. The body disappeared off the floor as Chris came over to check on him. A door was opening at the side of the room and a woman came in that was the biggest woman that Jack had ever seen in his life. She was close to ten feet tall and her body was all in proportion to that height with maybe just a little more thickness for muscle but no fat. She was naked and it looked like she was not happy at all. Jack was not about to make any comments about being on PMS with a woman this big and if she attacked him she would kill him like he was a bug that was crawling across the floor.
Jack knew that he would not be able to fight anyone that was as big as she was so he was going to need to think his way through this and quickly. He grabbed Chris and told him to be still and to shut off his antigravity. Jack started playing with the ball tossing it into the air a few times then he spread his legs and started rolling Chris against the wall and catching Him/her as it bounced off the wall. He laughed like a boy that was playing a game which caused the big woman to sit down on the floor and start crying. Jack could see that she was in a great deal of distress and a total emotional wreck. He wasn’t sure about this but it was what he felt he should do. He laid Chris down and went over to the woman and hugged her. She started crying and pulled him around and started hugging him while letting her tears flow.
Jack was thinking that the Jaffa was not Papa Bear he was Baby Bear and this was Momma Bear, he wasn’t looking forward to meeting Papa Bear now at all. The woman was able to see through her tears that he had a bad sunburn across his back and grew concerned about his wellbeing. She picked him up and carried him into the shower room where she washed his back carefully which did not feel good at all to him then she dried him carefully with the biggest towel that he had ever seen and carried him back into the other room. She got out a cream from one of the cabinets and applied it to his back which began to feel better as soon as she had put it on. She was still crying but it wasn’t as bad as it had been before. She had pulled off his boxers when she put him in the shower so he was totally naked now as much as she was but this was not a sexual thing. She picked him up and put him into the bed then pulled him close and went to sleep.
The scientists in the observation room were fully shocked at what had just happened. They were expecting her to kill the subject quickly but he had started acting like a child bringing out the protective nature in this female that was even stronger than the rage that they had induced. She had cleaned and repaired his body then she put him into the bed. They were wondering if she was going to try to bread with him but that was not what they were doing. She was so tired and emotionally drained that she wanted to sleep and she was cuddling him like he was a child in a very protective way.
Jack found that while he was this close he was able to pick up her thoughts just like he was able to do with Mary and Chris. He was learning about her as she was sleeping so he was laying still and just absorbing all the information he could about her and her society. Like he thought there was something that was controlling all of this and he learned what they had done to this woman’s entire race of people. He also found that he was not able to say her name so he was going to keep calling her Mama Bear which she didn’t seem to mind at all. She was able to pickup information from him at the same time and they found that they really did like each other and that he was not a little boy like she had thought that he was at first.
Chris floated up and started asking him questions about what was going on and why he had used him as a toy when he knew how much that upset him. Jack was trying to explain things to him when the door that they came in started opening.
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The Raid
The four of them went on motorcycles to the drop off point where the exchange was to take place in an hour. They all had their equipment and some extra things that they were taking incase of a problem. The buildings on this end of the old industrial complex were all abandoned. Jeff and Kelly had gone in ahead of the others to check out the area letting them know that the building was clear and it was safe to move in. They all had an area that they were to cover and they parked the bikes in different areas so that if they lost one or two of them the others would be able to take them out of the area after all this was over or if things went wrong. George was getting much stronger and he was still loosing weight but now he was gaining muscle which was making him feel so much better it was hard to believe.
The door was opening and a car pulled in, as soon as it had stopped a group of heavily armed men got out and started checking the area out. They were expecting this and that was where their planning came into play. They all had an area that they were going to hide in until the search was over and the principal players were brought into the area to make the deal.
Like all good plans sometimes things went wrong and this was one of those times. The area where Kelly was to hide was out of the way and normally it would have done the job of concealing her but the man that was searching the building was doing a very through job. When he spotted her she was fast to take care of the problem using her knife for a quick and silent kill but the man fell back as he was dieing falling over the railing of the third floor where she was stationed. He hit the ground sending the others that were searching into full alert. It was time to take action and clear this mess up before one of his team got hurt. George stepped out with his rifle and started firing. It was so quiet it sounded like a bottle rocket going off as the small rocket flew through the air and into its target. There was a very quiet pop but the results were drastic as three men had their head or chest explode at nearly the same time. A forth fell right after that with Joe finding his mark, the others had acquired their secondary targets and finished them off before any of them could fire a shot.
There was one man that was still in the car, he was listening to a set of headphones with the music so loud that he didn’t hear the shouts of the others as the man had fallen to the floor behind the car. He was still rocking out when Jeff opened the door and looked him in the eye which caused the man to make a mess in the seat of the car. Those cold steel blue eyes were telling him that he was a dead man if he moved or did anything that was not in the best interest of this man.
“If you cooperate and do as I tell you we’ll let you walk out of here. If not then you will be joining you’re buddies.” He looked around the room at all the bodies that were now being moved to the back of the car. They did not look very good anymore, very unhealthy with part of their head or chest missing and blood all over the floor. He was thinking that it was a really good idea to do what this man told him to do. He was told to give the password and tell the others to come on in. He told the man everything that he knew about what they usually did when they had this kind of operation. The back door to the car was opened as two men were piling the bodies into the car. Once he had given the word that the area was secure he was put into the trunk of the car and told to be very quiet and he would be let out when this was all over. They waited off to the side this time in different areas while the main players came into the arena. Kelly got out her special toy for this part of the mission and that was a normal high powered sniper rifle with the scope and silencer, she was the only one that was not at floor level now when the two cars came all the way into the building that was well lit. Kelly simply put several holes into the motor of both cars. They were armor plated to withstand bullets but that was to protect the passengers not the motor. Once the motor was stopped and unable to do what it was supposed to do it was no longer a safe place to be and the plating was rated on most of the cars to stop a .38 bullet but what she had was not a .38 caliber pistol.
There were no gun ports on these cars and they were not about to roll the windows down to fire a gun at their attackers. Joe and Jeff walked up to the cars and placed a small sack on top of both of the cars and pulled a string then they stepped back behind cover. They went behind cover because the people were going to be coming out of the cars very fast and it would be best not to be in the line of fire. The thermite package went off burning through the roof of the car in a matter of seconds. This had two effects on the people that were in the car, one was the smoke that was generated from the thermite and the other was the heat. They only wanted two people, one from each car. The leaders of the groups that were doing the dealing, the rest were not going to leave the area as they were now.
They had all studied the pictures and profiles of the men that they wanted to talk to so it was easy to pick them out of the group of men that were bailing out of the car. It was a big advantage to them that the people coming out of the car were blinded from the smoke and chocking so badly that they couldn’t shoot if they had to. They collected all the money and the information that they wanted from the leaders of the groups like who their contacts and suppliers were and the information on their bank accounts. Once they had all that they needed they pulled the driver out of the car. He was branded with their mark and told that if he was caught again there would be no mercy; it was time to get a normal job and start contributing to society. All the cars had full Gas tanks which was a good thing, they opened all the doors and put the thermite charges that were much bigger than then one’s they had used on the top of the cars across the drugs and the bodies then set them off. While Kelly was setting the charges Joe had taken the money and jewelry that they had taken off the people and from the drug deal and put it in the saddle bags of the bikes. When the charges went off it was nothing but a fizzling noise but the tremendous heat that was generated burned almost everything that was in the cars before it burned through the trunk and the Gas tank setting off the Gas that was going to finish the job. They watched as the building went up in flames from a couple of blocks away before they left the area.
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Bo’loc’s escape. (When the Mothership was destroyed on the Gas Giant.)
When Bo’loc got into the cargo ship he had two passengers with him. When he was thrown into the gravitational pull of the Gas Giant he was about to throw the two scientist out when he saw the Death Glider bounce off the other Death gliders and it was aiming at him in order to do the same thing. He was able to get a good look at the man that was flying the fighter and it was the man that had attacked his ship and taken the others from his fleet. He was able to get one good shot off but all he was able to do was to damage the wing and one of the ships weapons. He was pushed down deeper into the gravitational pull and he knew that there was no escape now. He was so angry that he was about to shoot the two scientist when one of them said that he had an idea that could get them out of this.
The ship was still struggling against the gravity and it was taxing the engines to the max but it took time to get everything ready. It was going to take time to get the ship into hyper drive and they would be crushed if they tried to switch it while pulling against the gravity. The thing to do was to turn the ship toward the planet so that the shields could work at maximum capacity while they were switching over to the hyper drive so that they could go through the planet in subspace.
Bo’loc didn’t know what they were doing, he was not a scientist but they had an idea where he did not. They said that it would work and if it didn’t they were no worse off than the situation that they were in right now. He told them to do what they needed to as he went back into the cargo area to give them room to work and it would not help if he got mad and started shooting them before they were able to get him out of this situation.
He felt the change in attitude as the ship was turned and a fast acceleration toward the planet that the dampeners were not able to compensate for completely. It seemed forever before he felt the shift into hyperspace which carried them well out of the gravitational field of the Gas Giant on the other side. In fact when they dropped out of hyperspace to get their location they were already in deep space. He walked back into the control room.
“Take me back to that planet, I want the head of the man that destroyed my ship and pushed me into that planet!”
Lord Bo’loc, the light speed drives are barely working at all and the hyper drive engines were heavily strained getting us out of the very bad situation that we were just in. We had already scanned the entire solar system before the ship was attacked and there is only one planet that they can go to which would allow them to survive. It’s a plus 2 gravitational body that is almost devoid of life. He will slowly starve to death there and he will not be able to go anywhere with only a Death Glider.”
“If I may suggest we need to go to the nearest planet with a Stargate so that we can get home and to a good working ship. The man was not by himself, they took all the other ships so we should go after the ones that got away then we can come back to this planet to look for the man that did this to you so that you may extract your revenge.”
Bo’loc was thinking that they already knew the week point in these people that had attacked him and he could use this to his advantage. He had them plot a course to the nearest planet with a Stargate so that he could get started on the trap to catch the people that had done this to him.
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Back to the present.
Janet landed the fighter that she was in after the storm was over, on the way down she noticed the Death Gliders that were on the ground had all been destroyed during the storm. When she did a quick scan after she found out how from Charlie, all but one of the Jaffa had died during the storm and he was not long for his world.
Charlie had tried repeatedly to call Jack but he was not answering. They used the ships to get closer to the trail that they were following. A body looses skin cells all the time as they move around which is what a bloodhound follows when he is tracking a person. That was what they were using the ships sensors to do also. It was slow going trying to pick up the trail after the storm but it was still there but it was very week now. They all got out of the two fighters when they got to the mound that had a door on the top. This was the only place that he could be and the trail ended here. Sam caught Charlie as he jumped down from the fighter. He didn’t need the help with the suit on but it was nice to have her care for him and it was fun to jump down into her arms for the eight year old. Janet was both excited and concerned to be so close to finding Jack. She was just hoping that he was not injured and she didn’t want to think that he could be dead but in the back of her mind she knew that it was a possibility.
There was mud all over the top of the mound where the door was and Sam had to feel her way around until she found the hand print that was very large on one side of the door. When she put her hand on the indentation the door started to move.
They all three went into infrared to see into the dark area below. Charlie had a concerned look in his eyes as he looked the area over. Sam went down into the area first watching for traps or signs of trouble. The area leveled out below into another door. Janet and Charlie came down beside her as she put her hand onto the handprint. The top door closed then the door in front of them opened. Charlie told them to wait.
“Mom told me about something like this before. She said if there is a blue and green light then this is a trap that is used by a species that use others as things to play with and experiment on. We need to use the lasers to knock out the lights and weld the doors open. She said that the door to the inside will still open if we do this but if I was caught inside the outside door would have to be destroyed to get out again.”
Sam did as he had said, welding the door open and destroying the lights, they all three moved into the chamber as she opened the third door.
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Problems
Jack was watching from the bed but he was unable to move, Mama Bear had a strong hold on him and she was asleep. It was not painful but there was no way he was going to be able to do anything without her waking up. The door was opening and he was getting very worried that he was not going to be able to defend them from whatever was coming into the room. When the door opened all the way Sam, Janet and Charlie walked into the room ready for action. When they got into the room the first thing that they saw as Jack being held by a very large women and he had that look of a deer in the headlights as he saw who was coming into the room.
This woke up Mama Bear and she sprang out of the bed ready to rip the intruders to pieces with her bare hands. When she jumped out of the bed she pulled the covers off of him. Now she was standing naked and ready to fight while Jack was lying on the bed also naked with his two girlfriends and one eight year old boy looking on. Janet covered his eyes while Sam was getting ready to fire on this very large and dangerous looking women that was about to attack them.
Jack was fast at getting out of the bed and between the women. “Stand down!”
He was mentally telling Mama Bear that these were not dangerous people and not to hurt them. Sam was so conditioned to taking orders that she stood down as she had been commanded to do on pure instinct which was a good thing in this case.
Mama Bear visibly relaxed but Sam was ready to use the weapon on him now. He held up his hand telling her that he would explain everything in a moment but to hold off while he was getting dressed. He took the sheet off the bed to give to Mama Bear so that she could cover up which was a little confusing to her. To them nudity was not a bad thing and nobody was worried about it if they were seen without clothing. She took the sheet and covered herself as she had been asked to do though. Jack was gathering his shorts and putting on his suit while Sam and Janet were getting more and more upset that they had found him in bed with another woman even if she was nearly ten feet tall. They both were thinking that this woman was tall but she was still good looking and both of them were very jealous of her.
When he was finally dressed he came back into the room so that he could talk to the most important people in his life and try to get through this in one piece. He could tell that his girls were about to rip into him and he couldn’t blame them if they did, things did look bad when they came into the room although it was totally innocent.
Sam and Janet couldn’t help but smile at him as he was squirming like a fish on a hook trying to explain that they were not doing anything and what had happened. He was showing them the armor of Bo’loc’s First Prime and told them that this was a trap and how he had gotten out of it by playing like he was a child when Mama Bear came into the room in a killing rage. He showed them where the burn was clearing up that was on his arm and the sunburn was gone now from the cream that she had used on him after she had cleaned him so that the cream would work better. She was treating him like he was her child and she was still being very protective of him.
Janet asked him why he was calling her Mama Bear and he had to go through the whole story of Goldie Locks and how this was making him feel like he was being watched. It was at that moment that Mama Bear was transported out of the room and placed on a dissection table. She was immobilized completely when they put a device on her forehead that allowed her to think but not to move. She had seen this before while in the stasis chamber when they were finished playing with one of her other friends and they wanted to do the vivisection to see if they had made any changes to the subject while they were in the lab. At this time they wanted to see why she had gone from the killing rage that they had induced to a fiercely protective mood like she was protecting her young.
They were still working on the dissection of the man that the other one had killed when they found a stomach pouch and opened it to see what was in it. The nearly mature Goa’uld Larva took that opportunity to take the first host that it would in order to live. The scientist that was doing the dissection didn’t know what hit him as the thing sprang out of the opening and tore into his body. The others that were watching were horrified as they saw the thing rip into his body. The lab was in total chaos as they tried to figure out what to do.
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Traps
The ship exited hyperspace and stopped right beside the Mothership that they were going to take next. This was going to be simple compared to what they had done to get the five other ships. The A.I. unit was beamed over along with Teal’c and Daniel in their suits to help protect the A.I. unit until it could take control of the ship. They still did not know what had happened to the other ship but this should take care of any problems that could arise.
When they got onboard the ship though it had lights and thrusters to maintain position but other than that it was a dead ship. Nothing was working and it didn’t even have an atmosphere inside the ship. It was in a state of vacuum. The cloaked cargo ship had launched its device as soon as the ship came out of hyperspace and stopped. Bo’loc was waiting on the other side of the planet but he was watching as the cargo vessel launched the rather large Electro Magnetic Pulse generator which took out all of the electrical equipment that was turned on in the entire ship.
Kathy didn’t know what to do when all the lights and electrical equipment went off in the ship at the same time. The emergency lighting came on which allowed her to go to her room and got her 9mm pistol along with the extra ammo clips that she had there. She had Ahyoka strapped to her chest as usual but she had no idea what was going on in the ship. She was not able to contact anybody and very little of the devices of the ship were able to be turned on at all.
Daniel was looking out the window when he saw all of the lights go off on the ship at the same time. There was a small object floating close by the ship that disappeared just before a cargo ship came out of cloak moving close to the ship. Daniel watched as the rings came on dropping into the ship as a group of Jaffa was being transported into the ship. At least that was what he was thinking would be transporting into the ship. This was a trap and they had walked right into it. Kathy was onboard the ship with Ahyoka all alone with a group of Jaffa now. Daniel was trying desperately to contact the ship but it was not responding to anything. He called Mary asking her if she was able to get in contact with the ship. She told him that communications to the ship were completely out.
Mary contacted Sam and Janet telling them that she was sending the Alkesh to the planet that they were on and that there was a problem. Sam told her that they had a problem of their own and they would be ready to so soon as the Alkesh got to their location even if they had to split their forces again.
Teal’c was thinking hard and weighing all the options carefully until he came to the conclusion that there was only one way to do this. He knew that the ring transporters were not working on this ship and they were not able to use the transporter from their ship either now. They needed to get back to their ship or Kathy and Ahyoka would most likely die as the Jaffa took the ship. He also knew that another ship would be close by and should be on its way to add its forces to that of the cargo ship. The cargo ship was just the shock troops not the main force that would be used to take over the ship and secure it. They would be planning on holding this ship at all cost. Teal’c took the A.I. unit telling Daniel to follow him. They went down three decks through hatches and ladders to get to the airlock. Daniel was looking out the airlock that was open on both sides at the their ship which looked like a small dot against the blackness of space.
Daniel was not an Astrophysicist like Sam was but he knew that this was going to end up badly for them but they had no other choice. The only other option was to wait for the ship to be taken while they were sitting on their thumbs on a dead ship. This was going to be like threading a needle from a hundred feet away and the chances of getting to their ship was almost none existent. Teal’c told him to take hold of the belt on his suit and not to move or do anything but hold on. Teal’c walked up the side of the ship and launched them off of the ship toward their own vessel in a fluid motion that took them in the right direction slowly.
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Glenda had been fussing around in the house all day trying to find things to do to keep her mind off of the dinner date she had with Thomas this evening. She had cleaned everything that she could get to in order to dispel some of her nervous energy. She had never had this problem before with any of the other dates she had gone out on that her friends had set up for her. None of them had met any of her standards and after she had accepted a couple of their offers to set her up with a great guy she had started to decline their offers knowing that it would only end in her disappointment and that of the man that they had set up for her.
She was acting like a school girl about to go out to the prom now though and she couldn’t contain herself. She went out right after lunch shopping to try and find a nice outfit to wear although she had a closet full of nice dresses and suits that would have worked nicely. She had found the perfect outfit while she was out and spent the rest of the afternoon looking for shoes and a purse to go with it. When she got home she found something that she definitely did not want to deal with, her ex-husband was parked in her driveway and he was drunk as usual. She used her cell phone to call the police so that they would come by and chase him off again. She had a restraining order on him and she could have him arrested but she told the officers that she just wanted him gone so that she didn’t have to deal with going to court again.
That put a dampener on her evening very quickly, he hadn’t been around to bother her for a few months now. The police arrested him for public drunkenness and had his car towed away so that he would not bother her again this evening. She thanked them for helping her once again before they left. Over the last couple of years she had gotten to know the officers of the police force well with all the time she had to spend with them taking her ex away. One of them asked her if she had heard about the big fire in the industrial park over in Chicago that burned three really big cars and had some very unusual places burned into the cars where they shouldn’t have had holes in them. Most of the cars were just twisted bits of metal though. She wasn’t too interested in the fire though and didn’t pay too much attention. She needed to go in and get ready for her date so she thanked the officers again as they left.
She watched out the window as Thomas pulled into the driveway and got out of the car in his perfectly fitted dark brown suit and polished dark brown cowboy boots to her surprise he was wearing a cowboy hat that matched the color of his suit. She knew that he had a Texas accent which was one to the things that she loved about this man; she loved to hear him talking even if it wasn’t to her. He was carrying half dozen red roses as she walked up to the door and rang the doorbell. She was nearly jumping up and down with excitement at having him doing such nice things for her. She opened the door and greeted him with a wide smile as he presented the roses to her. She accepted them as she blushed and took them and went to get a vase to put them in so they could set by the front door. She took in the wonderful aroma of the roses before she gathered her purse to leave.
Dinner was wonderful and she had never had so much fun on a date before. He asked her if she would like to dance and she told him that she would. He wasn’t the best dancer in the world but he didn’t step on her toes and she had a fun time.
What she didn’t notice were the work buddies of her ex husband that were also eating in the restaurant with them. They had seen the picture on his desk that he had drawn the mustache and horns on but they knew who she was and couldn’t wait to get back to the office to tell him that she was out on a date with an older guy and having the time of her life. They would really push that point in because they really didn’t like him all that much and it was going to be fun to gouge him a little with this.
When they left for the evening Glenda asked him if he would show her his apartment which she had never been up on the third floor before and really wanted to see what it looked like.
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Jack was mentally asking Mama Bear for directions to where she was at. He was able to tell him how to get to the room where she was being held having been in on the design of the building and she had been there for most of the construction. They had no idea that they were building their own prison and death chambers for these vile creatures that were using deception and trickery to experiment on them.
Charlie asked why the suit wasn’t working and he told him that the Electro Magnetic Pulse had knocked out Chris and his suit at the same time. Sam had to explain what an Electro Magnetic Pulse generator did and he finally understood what it did and how it worked. He asked Jack if he had tried to rest the suit which only got him a puzzled look.
“The suits are designed to work for only one person and can only be reset for another person by the main city computer but if something happens to the suit it can be reset by the original user with a series of movements.”
Charlie showed him what to do to get the suit to reset which involved doing circles to the right and left waving his arms around in a certain pattern then doing a back flip. Jack was sure the young boy was just having fun with him but he needed the suit so he did as he was told. When he got to the back flip he was sure he was going to bust his head on the floor but the suit kicked in and he was able to do the flip with little effort on his part even in the heavy gravity. Charlie showed him where the monitors were in this room that controlled things by shooting them with his laser. Jack picked up the staff weapon that was used by Bo’loc’s First Prime and charged the weapon which was working perfectly now. He took notice of the craftsmanship of the weapon and the Sapphire that was used to decorate the wide end of the weapon. He had to respect the Jaffa for putting up a fight even though he could have just let it go, but he wasn’t able to do that so things had gone wrong for him.
Jack gave Sam and Charlie a kiss and asked them to go up to the fighter and incase they needed air cover or a blast to get into the building were Mama Bear was being held. He was in a hurry to get in there before they started cutting on her or the Goa’uld decided that it could use a really big host more than the other aliens that were in the room with her.
Sam blasted her way through the outer door like Charlie told her that she would need to do so that they could get out of the building again. Janet told her to use the fighter that she had come in because it had more firepower on it than the other fighter according to the specifications that she had seen and Charlie had agreed with her.
They had to run through the room containing the stasis chambers to get to the room where they were keeping Mama Bear. Both of them were wide eyed at all the people that were in the chambers and all of the ones that were empty. It looked like they had killed off about a quarter of the people with their little games. Jack had Janet stay back while he went ahead to take out the defense systems that were built into the tunnel now. Those were added later after they had put the population into stasis.
Jack was using both of his wrist weapons and the one that was mounted on is headpiece as he went down the hall. He had used a strip off of the pillow case to make a strap that he was using to carry the staff weapon across his back. They were using every trick in the book to try and stop him, lasers, Gas, steel doors that slammed down in front and behind him to trap him in and sometimes they tried to cut him in half with the big steel doors. The suit was protecting him and he was really pissed off now, they had taken Mama Bear and were going to use her like a lab rat. He had only know her for a few hours but she had helped him and she had tried to protect him so he wasn’t about to let her down by not doing the same for her.
He had gotten to know her through her thoughts and he found that they had some common interest as well as experiences that neither one of them would be able to openly share with anyone else. It was hard to talk about these things to other people but if they are in your mind there aren’t a lot of things that you can hide. They had shared the pain and loss of a child each. She had only the one child and most likely she would not have another even though she was young most of their species only had one child. Jack had lost his wife through divorce after their son had died and she had lost her husband to these things that were now trying to kill her. Again her species only mated one time and if that person was lost to them they lived their lives alone.
When he had pretended to be a child her anger had gone from wanting to hurt anybody that was near to one that would protect him from anybody that would try to hurt him. It was part of the chemicals that they had used on her and the loss of so many people that she had loved. She now knew that he was not a child but that did not matter to her. He was someone that she would die to protect and that meant that if anybody that got in her way she would have no problem with destroying them.
Jack of course felt the same way about all of his people and he felt that if she was going to protect him this way then it was his job to protect her if he needed to. Right now he needed to. She was not able to help herself and he would move Heaven and Earth to get to her just like he would with any of the rest of his family. Janet was coming up behind him and doing her part to shoot the lasers and Gas jets, she had to cut her way through the steel doors but that wasn’t a problem with the lasers.
The scientist that the larva had attacked had fallen back on the floor and the others were trying to see what they could do to get this thing out of him or kill it before it did something to him. He suddenly jumped up off the floor and attacked one of the other scientists killing him viscously with a smile on his face. The other scientist had been his best friend and this was just not possible. They never killed their own no matter what, but he had killed and seemed to take pleasure in the act. The others ran away from him as he was talking in a strange language that they could not understand. He was looking for weapons that he could use; he wanted to go out on the hunt, he was an Ashrack and he had been very upset when the human had killed the host that had been incubating him. He looked at the large woman that was on the table but rejected the idea of using her as a host. It would be a very big advantage to have the strength of that body but it would be impossible to get into any of the regular ships and to find a hand device that would fit such a big hand would take a weapons smith a long time to make.
He knew there were two space ships on the surface that were capable of hyperspace flight, he would go on the hunt first then he would take one of the ships and destroy the other one so that all those that were on this planet would be left here to die slowly. That thought put a smile on his face even though it was a week and very strange body. It had long limbs that were thin but it had speed and sometimes that was much better than strength.
Jack was listening through Mama Bear as the Ashrack rambled on about what he wanted to do. He killed the other scientists that were in the room but he didn’t care for killing a helpless victim like the Giant on the table. He was thinking that it would be interesting to come back later and test his skills on these people.
When Jack heard this even though he was mumbling to himself he got an idea. He asked Janet to go back to the room where the bed was and to get one of the staff weapon that was there and to bring it back to him. He told her to cloak the suit so that when he got the thing out of the lab she was to go in and get Mama Bear to safety. Janet was back in a flash and he told her to lay the weapon down in the hall about ten feet away from the door and wait for the creature to come out.
The plan worked to perfection as far as the part of getting the thing out of the lab and getting Janet inside. The thing ran out of the lab as soon as it saw the staff weapon. Jack took the opportunity to take a couple quick shots at the alien scientist turned killer Goa’uld. The thing was very fast though and he was able to slip by most of the shots without a problem. The scientist saw that this was going to be a problem though and dashed down the hall to get away from the human that was now using a staff weapon on him. Jack had thought that it would be a fitting end to use the Jaffa’s staff weapon to kill the Goa’uld that he had produced but he should have used his lasers instead.
This was great, he had missed and now they had an Ashrack running loose in the building with a weapon that he had provided to him and the front door was open so that he could leave anytime that he wanted to. He felt that he had bungled this one pretty bad this time. He went in to see how Mama Bear was doing. Janet had just figured out how to get the device off of her when he came into the room and let Janet know what had happened. Mama Bear got up off the table and communicated to him that she was going to get some things and to follow her. She went into a hall that looked like it was a dead end where she moved a brick that was close to the top of the wall and pressed a lever that was hidden there. The wall opened into a room that had some of the things that she would need. She had some clothing and shoes that would fit her and some weapons. She put on a harness that had a couple of things that she liked to play with. Two swords and a double sided battle ax that was the biggest thing that Jack had ever seen used as a weapon in his life. She had some other weapons that she was strapping to her leg also that looked like a pistol with extra clips and two knives that to him looked more like short swords with long thick handles so that they fit her large hands.
Chris had not gone with them when they went down the hall to get Mama Bear, he did not have the defenses that were needed to be able to go into that sort of thing. He chose to stay in the room with the bed, actually under the bed and out of the way. He was able to tell them that the thing had not come through the door so it was not on the surface unless it had another way out of the building. Mama Bear told him that there were no other ways out of the building, She had disabled the transporter. Jack went over to the door and welded the door shut with his laser so that the scientistGoa’uld was not going to get out unless it blasted its way out now. Mama Bear was looking at Chris and asked what he was and why he had burn marks on him; she had thought that he was just a ball that Jack was playing with. When she was told all of the things that he was capable of doing she was very interested, she told Jack to have him follow her into her workshop.
Chris was a little skittish about opening up to her so that she could see what made him tick and to see if she could repair any of the damage that was done. He finally did as asked and opened up letting her play with his innermost working. Jack was asking if she could put a soft rubber coating on the outside so that it was easer on the foot when he needed to be kicked out of the way which caused the metal arm to come out to threaten him. Before Chris was able to retract the arm Mama Bear had put him into a chamber that magnified everything for her. Very small tools were coming out from all angles making changes to the unit. She was not able to repair the laser that he had but she took the other staff weapon apart that Jack had brought in with him and reinstalled plasma unit on the A.I. She also installed a new lens that concentrated the plasma into a smaller finer stream making the weapon where it would be able to fire much faster almost without delay between firing. The shield was a problem in that she could only partially repair it so that it would protect the unit but not too much other than a three foot area around the unit. She did fix the levitation unit so that the unit had more mobility and could go as high as it needed to. Sam and Charlie were keeping tabs on what was going on from the fighter which they were keeping in the air. It was a safety measure so that if the Goa’uld was able to get out and had access to another ship they could stop it before he was able to get away. They all knew that they were going to need to transplant these people to another planet as soon as possible but it was going to take time and they did not want to have to fight the Goa’uld off while they were doing it.
It only took a short while to make the repairs on Chris and it had the little ball flying all over the place and feeling so much better. She was still not able to fix the communications that was going to take another circuit board that she did not have and she was not able to repair the old one. It was time to go out to find the Goa’uld.
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Fighting back
Kathy had been around the SGC long enough to know what a ring transporter sounded like, she had company that was not welcome. She also knew that her 9mm was not going to do much damage against the Jaffa that would be storming through the ship at any moment. She needed to hide and there was nothing that she could do with Ahyoka other than to take the baby girl with her. She had a bottle that was fairly full and she could fill it with water after that but if she started crying while the Jaffa were near they would both be dead. She needed a place to hide herself and the baby until she could think of something. She had no idea what was going on with Teal’c and Daniel but with the ship now dysfunctional. It was easy to deduce that this was a trap and if the Mothership was functional then she would not be having the present problem with the Jaffa.
Something that she did know about was a project that Daniel was working on in the ships lab. He had been gathering the Pygmies blowguns and dart pouches which were different for all five of the tribes. He had been studding the differences between the five tribes and the differences in the blowguns that they used. He had been telling her that they all used the same kind of neurotoxin and they had mostly had been fighting each other. Daniel had said that they had started out as one tribe that had split into the five different parts. That was all interesting but she was in need of weapons to use against the Jaffa and the Pygmy darts were perfect for that. She was going to need to do something with Ahyoka so that she didn’t give her position away and so that she did not get hurt or found if something happened to her. She gathered a couple of the blowguns and filled a backpack with darts then went to the lower deck where the medical section was located. Sam had told her about putting Ahyoka in the stasis chamber before she took the fighter out for the first time. That was something that she would need to do also if she could get the stasis chambers to work now. It was a long climb down to the medical area of the ship carrying all to the things that she was going to need and it was breaking her heart to think about what she was going to need to do if she could get anything to work.
Unfortunately none to the equipment would come on at all in the infirmary and she had to go to plan B. They had brought all of the medical equipment with them in the backpacks and she was able to find some mild sedatives which she cut down to use on Ahyoka. It would put the baby into a comfortable sleep for several hours and she was hoping that it would be enough time.
She took the baby back to her and Daniel’s room and put her into the crib then she locked the door. It had to be manually closed but the locking keypad was working. She was so glad that she could at least give the baby that much protection. Now it was time to see how many Jaffa she could take out with a blowgun.
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Golan crossed the river in the canoe once his arms had healed well enough to be able to move without them cracking and bleeding. The scarring was large and ugly being light and rough against his dark skin and it was a constant reminder of what the gods and his fellow villagers had done to him. It also reminded him that he had a job to do that had rewards and a punishment that was terrible if he failed in his assigned mission. He pulled the canoe up on the bank and started the long trek back to the valley were the gods were staying. He would need to make new weapons but that wouldn’t be hard. There was plenty of the hollow wood that they used along the river, he would just need to figure out a way to cut it then hollow out the center part of the wood where the plant joints were. He had already found plenty of thorns to use for darts. He was pulling out his own hair to use for the dart. The insect that they used for the darts was going to be a problem though. The nests for the insects were hard to find and when you did you did not want to let them bite you or it was all over. It would do the same thing that they were doing with the darts and the insects would swarm a person that was on the ground and strip the flesh off his bones in only a few hours.
That was the second way they used to kill a person that they deemed to be unfit to remain as a part of the tribe. It was a slower and more painful death than the Aleana but they did not have time to go out and find a nest so they chose to use the River. Golan now knew that the gods had done this on purpose so that he could be set free. He was sure that if he was put into the nest he would have been safe also; the gods were protecting him now. He was still going to be very careful when he was gathering the insects to make sure they did not sting him, it was painful they say and he had been through enough pain in the last couple of weeks. The journey down the river only took a couple of days but it was going to take weeks to get back through the jungle and all the hills that stood between him and the valley of the gods. He could have taken the canoe back up the river if he could make a paddle but there was too much of a chance of falling into the water that way so he decided that it would be better to go by land and this would give him more time to gather the things he needed and to regain more of his strength.
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Payback
Larry and Linda Cross were in a world of trouble, they had lost there clothing store to a robbery and fire six weeks ago and now the insurance company said they would not pay because it was arson and was not covered by their policy. They had no income and they still owed the distributors for the clothing that burned up in the fire. They both had gotten jobs but they were not able to do much other then low wage jobs. Their life was that store and now it was gone. They had sold one of their cars to try and make some of the payments but it was not enough and they creditors were calling all the time now threatening to take them to court if they did not get their money. The bank was calling because they were late on the house payment and the car payment also.
They stopped answering the phone completely now and when the man pulled up in the light brown SUV wearing a dark gray suit they thought it was a lawyer or someone that was there to serve a papers. They were not going to answer the door but he was not going to go away. He was banging loudly when Larry opened the door. The man had taken off his dark sunglasses revealing steel blue eyes that quickly said don’t mess with me without the man saying a single word. The man was polite and told them that he was there to take them to a very important meeting but he would not tell them what the meeting was about.
That made them upset thinking that the man was going to do something to them now. He had the look and build of a killer. When they told him that they would not go with him he did something that they were not expecting, he exploded in a voice that required strict adherence to whatever he said.
“Get in the Damn car now you idiots!”
He did not threaten them but his voice and the look in his eye said that he was getting very angry and that was something that they did not want to happen in the best of times. They went strait to the car but he called Larry back and told him to lock the house.
They drove silently for about fifteen minuets then they parked in an underground garage were the man pushed the button shutting the steel door before he opened the door and asked them to get out. They were both shaking thinking that this man was leading them to their death but they were also calmed in the thought that they were together. They went up a set of stairs to another steel door that he used a keycard and combination to open. There were three more doors in the hallway beyond the one they came in. Only one of these doors required the keycard and access code to get into and that door looked even stronger than the one they just came in. He opened the door at the end of the hall for them which opened into a nice kitchen dinning area with several tables and a commercial coffee maker that looked like it would brew enough coffee to supply a platoon of soldiers. There were three men in the room also wearing the dark gray suits and looking very well kept and manicured but deadly. The slight bulge on both sides of the coats let them know that these men did not want to play games. The feeling of dread was growing worse by the second and Linda was clinging to Larry’s arm like it was a life line.
There were two other people in the room that were seated at the table and seemed to be enjoying each others company very much. The older gentleman in the dark brown suit stood and extended his hand to Larry with a smile that made him feel welcome even in the dire circumstances that they were in.
“It’s good to finally meet you, Larry and your lovely wife Linda. I’m Thomas Holland but you can call me Tom. I bet your wondering what I’m doing calling you in for a meeting like this but there is something that I need to ask you to do and I wanted to show you something.”
The bald man that was being so nice to them now offered them refreshments and they were able to relax but it was not easy with the other men standing on each side of the doors looking like statues but both of them knew they would be ready for action the second if something happened. Tom pulled out a folder that had some papers in it and opened it on the table.
“I understand that you had a break-in and fire that your insurance company refused to pay anything on, is that correct?”
Larry and Linda both shook their heads letting him know that it was true but that it was still too painful to say it out loud.
“I see that you are having a lot of trouble now making any of your payments and that you even sold one of your cars to be able to get some of the things that you need.”
Again they both shook their heads letting him know that he was correct.
“I have a proposal that will be beneficial to both of us if you’re interested?”
Larry answered this time. “Were interested but we will not do anything illegal.”
George Hammond made a surprised look that they would suggest that he would ask them to do anything that was not within the law. “No, we don’t want you to do anything that you do not want to and this is all legal, not even a little shady.”
He got out the papers that were in the folder and showed it to them, one was the mortgage to their house that was marked as paid in full, the deed was clear as of this morning. The others were the car loan that was also free of the lean to the bank. Everything that they owed money for was paid in full which was confusing them.
“Let me show you something.” Tom and the woman that he had introduced as his secretary and office manager Glenda Howard got up and went through the door that led into an office area with several agents working away at their desks.
“This is one of my insurance companies and I want to use your problems to promote my company. You’ve gone through hell with your insurance company and I think that sort of thing needs to stop now. When the country sees that we stepped in to help a person that wasn’t even a client of ours rebuild their lives from the ashes the other companies left you in, it will make millions and I have you to thank for that. Your problems will make me so much money that I can afford so do some thing like this for you. We both benefit.”
He went back into the break room and through the door into the other steel door that was across the hall. It opened into a store room that was full of clothes all in their plastic wrapping to keep them clean and fresh. It was a rather large store room too. He went through into the sales floor which was three times larger that the other store that they had. Tom then took them into the office showing them the state of the art computer and registers. There were security cameras that covered all the key spots and anti theft tags on everything.
I want you to run all of my clothing stores and you have full autonomy to do anything that you want within reason. I will have my accountant working with you and he will show you how the inventory and ordering system work but it is all yours if you want it. My company will be providing the insurance and we will be using your situation for promotional purposes of course. The buildings are rent free and I plan on having a store in each of my offices throughout the country as they are being built which you will be managing for me. Do you need time to think about it or do we have a deal.”
“Oh and yes, I almost forgot that we took the liberty of hiring a staff for you for this store so if you want to you can open tomorrow and start training on the systems. The red Jaguar in the garage is yours also and it has all the door openers and your key card with the pin codes in it. That will also be insured by us at no cost to you, just don’t tear it up because the next one you’ll be buying yourselves.”
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Daniel saw that they were a little off course and that was a big problem for them as they were free floating in space at the moment without any form of thrust to be able to change their course. Teal’c pulled him up beside him and asked him a question that was frightening in itself.
“Daniel Jackson do you trust me?”
“Yes Teal’c, I trust you with my life and all that I hold dear.”
“That is good because I am going to need to use you to change my trajectory or we will both be lost out in the emptiness of space. If I am successful then I will be coming to get you soon, if not then we are both dead anyway.”
As he finished saying that Teal’c pushed him away changing the direction so that he was moving toward the cargo ship and sending Daniel off into the blackness of space. All that Daniel could do was watch as the ship that they had been aiming for passed him by and began to get smaller as he was moving further and further away. This was something that he was not at all pleased about but it was the only hope they had of rescuing Kathy and Ahyoka so if it could be done he knew that Teal’c would be able to do it. He was also speechless with fear as he was free floating in the vast void of space.
Teal’c had used just enough push to get him lined up with the cargo ship but it was still going to take time to get there then he was going to have to get inside. He turned again to see Daniel drifting off into nothingness.
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The first thing that Mama Bear did was go into the stasis chamber to get three more people out of biggest chambers Jack had ever seen. The men that came out of the chamber were all naked just like she had been and they were very big. Mama Bear was short compared to these men. She told him that they were military and they were very angry with the creatures that had promised to help them then turned on them to use them to play sadistic games with. For some reason Jack was not able to communicate with them directly like he could Mama Bear. The biggest one he did call Papa Bear though. This man stood nearly fourteen feet tall and massive was not even close to being the proper word to describe him. Jack saw their mouths moving but all he could hear was a low growling noise. He used his suit to pickup the sounds that they were making but it was nothing that he could understand.
The first thing Jack wanted to do though was get them dressed and weapons in their hands. He was sure that if one of these men got their massive hands on the little scientist it would be all over quickly. The palms of their hands were as big as his chest. They were tall but they were massive in strength with rippling muscles all over their bodies, bodies that Jack was seeing a little too much of for his comfort. Mama Bear took them back into the room that she had gotten her clothes from to get them dressed and weapons. She told him that it would be better not to get all of the people out of the chambers at this time because they would just get in the way.
Sam was watching through her visor and all Jack could hear her saying was ‘Wow’.
He was more than a little jealous at the comment but she was just saying out loud what he was thinking. She was giving him updates on the progress of the Alkesh as it was making its way across space to where they were.
When the men were dressed and more of the large weapons that looked like pistols but they were definitely not 9mm like his were. They also strapped on the swords and the double sided battle axes. Jack told Janet that if they got into it to stay out of the way of those big axes. Their shields would protect them but it still wouldn’t be comfortable to be slammed through a plastacrete wall while being hit with one of those massive axes. He wasn’t sure that the shields would be able to stop the blade anyway.
Jack and Janet were checking the small places that the Goa’uld could lay a trap in or lay in wait for them to come by so that he could attack from their back side. Mama Bear and the others were checking all the upper areas and places that they knew the creature liked to go when it wasn’t doing experiments on them. Jack told Mama Bear what the Ashrack was like and what to expect from the creature and the kind of traps they liked to make.
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Kathy was now on the hunt, the ship was so large that the Jaffa had split up to search by groups of two. It wasn’t hard to find them as they clanked down the halls. She was thinking that it was so dumb to walk around inside a ship in metal armor that made so much noise that it was impossible to hide that you were coming. It was more of a problem though trying to get a dart into the skin of a person that was covered in metal. Luckily for her though, they were not wearing their helmets which would have made them bend over in the hallways and it would have been very difficult to get through the hatches. This gave her a target of their faces and necks. Unlike the Pygmies she didn’t feel the need to make the rattling noise before she attacked them so it was a case of hide until they were not looking as they walked by and shoot the dart into their necks. The Jaffa went down in a hurry once the dart was in them making it easy to take one of the staff weapons and hit them across the head.
The Jaffa were down and confused but they were still trained worriers and dangerous if they got hold of you. She had heard about Sam killing the Pygmy with her knife while she was in this condition so Kathy was not taking any chances and clubbed them to keep them from resisting her. She took all their weapons away then locked them into one of the storage rooms that were empty. She now had a knife a zat and a staff weapon to add to her arsenal along with her blowgun and the 9mm. She had no idea how many Jaffa were on the ship at this time but the only thing she could do was go from deck to deck looking for them and taking them out as quietly as she could.
She was on the bottom deck when she got the first two Jaffa and she was clearing a deck at a time as she went. She locked the deck off as she entered the next one making sure that she did not leave any hatches unsecured and always staying in the shadows. She had played games like this with her brothers while growing up and she would have to play with her younger brother on her side against the older boys. They always liked to play at night but sometimes during the day. She was good at the game. They were trying to handicapped her by putting David on her side so she would have to protect him while they played. To her though, David was not a handicap because she was able to teach him how to walk silently and to move with speed and precision when he had to. It made her think about what she was doing and she learned while she was teaching him the things she was good at.
They were playing Ninja back in those days and she had a fake sword that was made of wood but it had a good balance. Combine that with the rubber knife she used and she was unstoppable. Her second favorite weapons set was a double knife set and she did have that. Now the game was for real and she was without her sword but she did have the knives of the Jaffa. Combined with the other toys this was going to be just like old times with the boys.
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Sam was checking in on Daniel and Teal’c through her suit when she saw something that she did not like at all. Teal’c was standing on the outside of a cargo ship working his way hand over hand toward the airlock when she saw a Goa’uld Mothership approaching from behind the planet. She next went to Daniel to see that he was floating free out in space as he was watching their ship getting smaller and smaller. She called to Jack telling him that she needed to get back to the ship and what was going on. She landed the other ship again and left as fast as the ship could take her out of orbit and into hyperspace.
The trip through hyperspace seemed to take forever this time. She knew that her friends were in trouble and she needed to get there as quickly as she could go. Charlie told her that the ship was moving at maximum speed and it was one of the fastest ships in the fleet. She came out close to the planet like she had intended so that she was shielded from the Mothership in that location. She went into stealth mode on the ship which cloaked it then move slowly in the direction that she thought that Daniel was going as she was scanning for him. Charlie was running the scan from the back and had him spotted quickly. It was going to take time to get to him so that they didn’t overshoot.
Daniel was having a real hard time holding onto reality, he was floating free out in space and there was nothing he could do about it. He could talk to Teal’c but he was busy trying to get into the cargo ship. He did tell him about the Mothership that was coming around the planet to finish off this trap that was so well orchestrated. He called Mary and told her what was going on and to see if she could get anything in the ship to work that would give them an advantage. There was very little that she could get to work without a manual reboot and she wasn’t able to do that. It would have to be done from the inside of the ship. She said she was able to get some of the cameras working and he got the image of two Jaffa walking down a dark hallway.
Daniel was watching when something came out of the shadows behind the Jaffa. It was a person and the only person onboard the ship was Kathy. He was watching as she slapped the back of the neck on one of the Jaffa while she slipped a knife around the other one and pulled hard throwing the Jaffa and cutting his throat at the same time. It was so fast that if the camera hadn’t been trained right on the Jaffa and he hadn’t been intently watching he would have missed it. He watched as she opened a door and pulled the men into the room then locked it off. He watched her reemerge from the room where she took out another dart to place it in her hand between the two middle fingers up close to the palm. That was how she took out the one Jaffa while she killed the other one.
“Mary can you get a reading on how many Jaffa are onboard the ship?”
“No, the sensors are down for now but the cameras that are working show about ten that are up and moving. If Kathy has been doing this for a while then there were probably about double that number at first but with the Mothership coming they could take the ship and hold it.”
Sam had finally gotten to Daniel, but there was no way to get him into the fighter. Charlie suggested that they use the towing beam to get him back to the ship. He simply grappled on to Daniel and they started moving back to the ship going slowly again so that they didn’t have any accidents. Sam called to Daniel letting him know what they were going to do.
Sam told the fighter to open the flight deck which it was able to do but the force field that kept the atmosphere inside the ship when the door was opened was not working so anything that was loose was blown out into space. The hatch to the flight bay was always closed off from the rest of the ship so only that compartment was depressurized. The landing was roughest on Daniel where they had to drop him just inside the hatch before they landed so that he was not caught under the ship.
Daniel felt something pull violently at him jerking him back toward the ship then he got a communication from Sam telling him that he was being towed back to the ship and that it might a little bumpy on the way. He told her that Kathy was onboard the ship and she was fighting the Jaffa by herself. From what he had seen she was doing a really good job of it but he knew that he would need to get to her as soon as possible.
The ship seemed to be so far away but it was coming up faster that he liked. When the landing bay doors opened it was like a shotgun had been fired. The ship was moved with the force of the air coming out the back sending tools flying out into space like missals. He was dropped by the launch bay doors but the shields protected him from hitting the ground hard. The artificial gravity was still working on the ship which he found to be interesting and he asked Mary about that. She told him that the system had several layers of redundancy to keep it working in the event of the ship loosing power like it had done. Other systems had the same redundancies but not all and that would be addressed when they got the ship back up and working, provided that they could keep it.
He hit and rolled across the floor but he was a long way away from the fighter as it landed which was a good thing. He was quick to jump up and head for the door to get into the ship so that he could check on Kathy and Ahyoka. He was stopped when the grappling beam caught him again to stop him from opening the door.
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The Ashrack watched on the monitor as the three Giants and two Earthlings came into the area that he had designated as his fighting area. This was going to be the biggest challenge that any Ashrack had ever taken on and he was reveling in the thought of the fame that would be his when he told the stories later. He was going to need to destroy these beings first and then he was going to need to get off this planet. They had been building a ship that was to carry the Giants to another planet which was close to being finished before they trapped the last of the Giants by telling them that they would finish the ship then load all of the stasis pods and take them to the planet that they had been told would be theirs.
The Ashrack didn’t care that the Giants had the location of the scientists planet, that was their problem not his. They were all supposed to die with the experiments so it would not have been a problem if things went as planned, but now that the Giants were getting loose it could be a real problem for them. They were technologically advanced to a point but they did not have the ability to go outside of their own solar system. That was the part of the ship that was not finished and he would need to do that before he could leave this planet if he wasn’t able to get to the fighter that was on the planet now.
If he couldn’t take one of the fighters then he might need to take one of the Earthlings with him to the ship that the Giants were building so he wouldn’t need to do all the work of finishing the Hyperdrive engines himself. He knew from gleaning the information from this host that some of the parts were very large and heavy and it would be difficult to get them into position. It would also be a problem flying the ship. He was only about four and a half feet tall in this body and the controls were built for a person that was over two times his height. He did like this body now that he was getting used to it. He was very fast and limber, the only thing that he would like to have was a hand ribbon device but he could get one later after he had a little fun with this bunch of fine fellows.
He noticed that the little ball that was the toy of the small man was out in front of the others floating much higher than he remembered him being able to do when the man first came into the complex. The two Earthlings were behind it and then the three Giants. He was watching the fight with the Jaffa as well as being in the fight so he knew that the human male did not have that much ability although he did kill his former incubation host and that was an accomplishment in itself. When the man had attacked him as he came out of the laboratory he seemed to be faster than he was before and he was moving a lot easer than he had before the fight. The Giants were all dressed now and he had not missed the weapons that they were carrying. Those pistols had been studied once the Giants were put into stasis and he knew that they were more like a hand held cannon than anything else. They still had to point the weapon at him and pull the mechanical trigger to fire the weapon and with this body he should be able to get out of the way. He fired off the first of the traps which was crude but it should get the job done to take out a large portion to the group that was coming toward where he was located.
Jack, Janet and Chris were in the lead. They had been over most of the complex now and they knew that it was not going to be long before they ran into trouble. When the trap was sprung it was not a trip wire or sensor that set it off, it was fired from a control point firing off a group of ten arrows from a pneumonic chamber that spread the missals out. Chris was able to spot the trap just before it was fired. He did not have time to warn the others he simply fired his new plasma weapon and adjusted the beam to spread out as he fired it. The tube that fired the weapons was destroyed along with most of the projectiles. Two did get through but one hit Jack and was stopped by his shields and the other one hit the battle axe that Mama Bear was holding. This let them know that they were in the right area of the building. They had a blind corner coming up and Jack knew that this was going to be the location of the next trap. He had Chris check the area by dashing out then back.
“I know, send the robot out to get his butt kicked by the trap, is that how it is now Jack.”
This was the first time that he had called Jack by his name and he was talking with sarcasm. Janet was snickering at what he was doing and how he was talking to Jack. He was sounding just like Jack did.
“Looks like Chris is learning some of your habits from you, Sir.”
“Sir, why are you calling me Sir, we’re not in the military anymore and with all that we have done I would think that you could call me Jack, but not Sir.”
“Sorry Jack.”
Chris popped around the corner and was hit with a laser as soon as he did. His shields held and he was back around the corner in a flash.
“Is that what you wanted to see, me getting my circuits fried again?”
“No, that was not what I wanted and you know it, so quit being the martyr, we have a job to do.”
With saying that Jack stepped around the corner and blew the lasers that were mounted on the wall into small pieces that rained down on the floor. He had been hit several times with the lasers but his shields held. He was so glad that Charlie knew the sequence of movements to get the suit to start functioning again or this would have turned out to be a very bad day for him. No wait, it already was a bad day, he had been shot, sunburned attacked by a Jaffa then a Giant woman that now thought of him as her child, he missed an Ashrack and gave him a weapon that he was going to use against them. Yep this was a bad day; he was just hoping that it wouldn’t get any worse than it already was.
Mama Bear told him that there was a large room ahead and that was probably where he was going to attack them, there were a lot of boxes and things to take cover behind, hide from and attack from. This gave Jack and idea and he told Mama Bear what he wanted them to do. Then it was time to go in to see if they could bag an Ashrack.
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Toys
Kathy was not having a hard time and she was surprised at how calm she was while attacking the Jaffa that had invaded her ship. When she was going after one set of Jaffa one of them was able to get off one shot that had hit her blowgun forcing her to attack with the dart and her knife instead of using the safer weapon. She only had one blowgun left now so she had to do some other thinking as she was going back to the room to check on Ahyoka again. The baby was sleeping comfortably so she went back to work again. She went down to one of the workshops and found some soft flexible metal which was what she needed. She took several of the darts and wrapped them with the metal giving them some weight but leaving the about half of the end exposed. She tucked a couple into her hair and on her shirt where she wouldn’t accidentally scratch herself with them.
She was out looking for her next couple of bad guys to take out when she had to duck into one of the doorways to avoid a front on conflict that would not have been to her advantage. The room was still furnished from the former inhabitant like most of the other rooms on the ship. What caught her eye was the sword set that was hung on the wall. These people must have been visiting Earth at some point before the collapse of their society. On the wall was a perfect set of Japanese swords framed by six throwing knives three on each side of the swords in their scabbards. She took the weapons down and inspected them; they were razor sharp and in perfect condition. The Katana was not something that she was used to having; she had always used the shorter swards while they were playing. Now she knew that they were not just playing a game as children and into young adulthood, they were training for the future. She took out the Katana and gave it an experimental swing getting the feel of the sword which she liked a lot. It was heavier that her short sword but she had the wakazashi which was the shorter of the set and it was twenty inches long. Like the Katana it was perfectly balanced. She now had her favorite toys to play ninja with. These men were not there to play games though and neither was she now. She was not going to get in close if she could help it but if she had to she now had the weapons to do what she had to do.
She slowly opened the door again to listen for the Jaffa and she was able to hear them clanking down the hall to her left now. She put the swords into a belt that she made from a long length of cloth that was in the room.
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Problems
Bo’loc was not happy about having to bring another Goa’uld in on this strike which meant that he was going to be forced to share the technology that he was going to gather from taking this ship. He only had one Mothership left besides the hulk of a ship that was not finished and wouldn’t be for a long time because of the loss of the other ships. It would take a long time to recoup that loss. If he was able to capture this ship like he was planning then he might be able to get his ships back. Two other Goa’uld and agreed to lone him some of their fleet so that he could take back what was his and they could prosper from the deal also as long as they had their men on their ships. That way the Jaffa would be able to oversee the project so that their Masters were not bilked out of what was rightfully theirs.
They had five ships all together that were able to go up against this one ship. Bo’loc said that this was not an ordinary ship and he was forced to tell the others what had happened to his fleet at the hands of this one ship. He also told them what he had done to the ship so that it was defenseless to his attack. The group had three Alkesh and two Motherships which most of the Goa’uld thought was way too much overkill. They had all chided him about loosing his fleet to one ship but they agreed to let him use the ships anyway.
Teal’c had finished taking the cargo ship when he saw the other ships in formation coming around the planet now. He cloaked the ship then called Daniel letting him know that he was on his way to pick him up. Daniel told him that he was onboard the ship and about Sam picking him up and dragging him to the launch bay. She had stopped him from opening the door to the ship which would have depressurized that part of the ship and forced him to wait until it had pressurized that area of the ship. There was an airlock that they were able to use to get into the ship without having to wait for the bay to finish pressurizing again.
Teal’c was telling him that they had more company coming and that it was right on top of them now so he would need to get moving if he was going to be able to do anything with the ship. Sam turned back to go back out to the fighter telling Daniel that she was going out to play for a while. She took Charlie with her knowing that the safest place for him was with her. The deck wasn’t even close to being pressurized yet and it would need to be in a vacuum to be able to launch the fighter without the force field to hold the air pressure in the bay. Daniel went to find Kathy and to take the ship back. He was going to need to try to get the ship restarted so that they could get the shields back on and right now having the weapons back online would be a really good thing.
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For Jack to make this work he was going to have Janet and Chris stay with Mama and Papa Bear ( he didn’t have names for the other two Giant men but Mama and Papa Bear were the ones that were going to be the principle players in this game while Janet and Chris were going to be doing the protection of the rest. Jack walked in the big room like he was being very careful so as to not be a target. He knew that the Ashrack was going to make a game out of this which meant that this was an Ashrack playroom. He felt that he was about to be attacked as he came up to a tall set of boxes. He was getting the message that the Alkesh was going into orbit around the planet as the attack came from the pile of boxes.
The Ashrack struck low trying to take the feet out from under him so that he was on the ground and easer to attack. Jack was able to jump over the staff weapon that was swinging at him but he was close and the backswing caught him behind the knees knocking him to the ground. He went down but did a back roll to come backup to his feet were he was able to get into a defensive position again. The creature was about five feet tall which was taller that most Asgard and it had the body shape of an Asgard but it was thinner and the skin was more of a yellow color. The other thing about this thing was that the Asgard only had four long teeth in the back of their mouths but these things had sharp teeth and a set of k9’s that protruded a outside of their mouths like vampire teeth. His biology teacher would have asked him if this was a Herbivore, a Carnivore or a Omnivore. This creature was definitely a Carnivore and it looked like it was hungry.
Jack didn’t like the way this thing was looking at him. He was practically drooling at him like he was one big walking steak. The thing attacked again and it was fast but the suit was helping him to keep up and defend against the attacks. Jack let him press him back to the wall so that he was thinking that he had the upper hand in this battle. That was when he popped out the blade on the end of the staff weapon and struck quickly at both of the small arms grazing both of them with the blade but not going in too deep. The thing was able to move out of the way fast enough that he was not able to go too deep anyway. It hissed at him with a fowl breath and it was hissing as he watched the wounds start to bleed a yellowish green liquid that looked more like something that would come out of an infection than fresh blood.
Jack pressed the thing harder and forced it to go on the defense this time. The Ashrack was no longer enjoying the game and it was time to leave. He fired off several rounds at the human that was giving him such a hard time and ran for the door. Jack called the others letting them know that the Ashrack was on his way. The creature rounded a corner where he ran past Janet and Chris and strait into the fast moving battle axes of Mama and Papa Bear. One struck high on the creature and the other one caught him in the midsection. The other two Giants were behind them incase it was able to slip through their attack. As it was though Jack came around the corner to see a mess of parts and it didn’t help that the Giants were stomping on the parts in anger at what they had done to them.
When they finally calmed down and stopped growling at the now very dead scientist he called the ship letting the A.I. unit know that they were almost ready to go. Mama Bear told him that they had fighters that were able to go into space but they did not have the hyper drives that would be needed to get to his friends. Jack asked her if she was a pilot and she said no but Papa Bear was and he was willing to go help them. Jack told the other two that they would need to stay with the people in stasis to make sure nothing else came along to harm them. They all went to the door that was welded shut so that Jack could cut it loose. They could have beamed out with the transporters on the Alkesh but that would have trapped the others underground. They didn’t have enough resources to bring everybody out of stasis but they were going to get out the builders and engineers that were needed to work on the ship that they were supposed to take to the other planet.
Jack told them that he would be back soon with help to get them started on their new world but right now he needed to get to the others and take care of the problem that they had there. Papa Bear was told that Chris was going with him to get the ship into the docking bay on the Alkesh. Jack told Mama Bear to duck her head. Mama Bear and Janet were beamed to the ship and Papa Bear and Chris were transported to the city were the fighters were located. Jack went to the fighter and took it strait out of orbit to the area where the fight was going on.
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Sam was causing the ships some problems as she was swooping around them and taking shots at their drive engines and gunners. The shields were holding but they now knew that they were not going to take the ship with any ease. She had caused two of the ships to collide by flying at one of the Alkesh with a slight off angle making the pilot think that she was going to make a Kamikaze run on the flight deck of his ship. She was not at an angle that would actually hit the ship but it had veered off in the direction causing it to collide with the other Alkesh and causing damage to both ships even with their shields engaged.
Bo’loc was furious when he saw the two ships collide knowing that he was going to have to pay for the damage to the ships when he got back. He was screaming at the gunners to take that ship out and be quick about it. In their hast to do what he was telling them they ended up firing on the other Alkesh causing considerable damage and another rain of cursing which ended up with the gunner flying out the airlock. Bo’loc told the other gunners to use him for a target and if they missed they would be the next target. They didn’t take long blowing him out of space then they turned their attention to the fighter that was causing them so many problems.
Teal’c asked for and received permission to land the cargo ship on the Mothership. He was met by a large group of Jaffa that were ready to go to the ship for reinforcements while the Motherships were dealing with this fighter. The Jaffa were all blown away as Teal’c was exiting the ship. The A.I. unit was tucked under his arm as he was making his way to the Peltec so that he could take control of the ship. He had communicated to Sam that he was on the ship now and making his way to the control room so that she did not damage the ship before he could take control of it.
Bo’loc was informed that there was another one of the soldiers on the ship now that he had described to them very carefully so they would understand how dangerous these things could be. He was not on that Mothership though and he did not have any of the EMP’s over on that ship. These things were not supposed to get on his ships again and he was ready for them on his ship if they happened to get that far.
This was not going nearly as smooth as he wanted it to but he was committed now and there was no going back. If he lost this fleet he would never be allowed to come back to his planets. The other Goa’uld would take all his lands and property to cover the cost of his loosing their ships. He would be banished and that was something that a person of his power never wanted to have happen.
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Chris was tossed into the back of the ship like he was a baseball. That was just great he had gone from being a soccer ball to being a softball in the hands of this big man. The ship was gigantic in size but it would have to be in order to fly with the Giants at the controls. The fighter took off and was in orbit in no time at all when Chris took over the controls which made Papa Bear growl at him but he needed to get to the ship and land it in the flight deck. It was going to be a tight squeeze to get the big ship into the confines of the landing bay as it was. When everything was in place and secured he called letting them know that it was safe to go into hyper drive.
Papa Bear got out of the ship and reached out taking Chris into his hand. Chris took offence to this and brought out the little arm and gave the Giant a good zap to get him to let go. The shock surprised Papa Bear and he tossed the small ball that had caused him pain. Chris was just able to stop his forward motion before he crashed into the wall. He turned to the big man and thought for a moment about using a good deal more power to teach the big guy a lesson about using him as a toy then decided that they had more important things to do then scrap.
Now that Jack was gone the Giants had no way of communicating with the other people onboard the ship and this was causing them some problems. The two big people finally sat down on the floor in the control room to watch as they were flying through hyperspace. Chris finally got over his anger at the big guy and decided that he needed to find a way to communicate with the Giants. Chris got Janet to point at things to get them to tell her what they were so that he could get a base line for their language. It would not be good to have only Jack able to talk to the Giants through Mama Bear.
Janet pointed to her chest and said her name getting the Giants to do the same thing. Chris knew that the humans were not going to be able to say the name and agreed with Jack that they would need to name them, at least those that wanted to communicate with the humans. Chris had seen the ship that was being built in the hanger and it was unbelievably big but they were going to need to move all of their people and all of the things that they would need to survive and make life bearable on the new world.
It took time to get to the sight were the battle was going on but when they got there Papa Bear was ready to go. The moment they came out of Hyperspace he launched the ship. Janet came up with an idea and got a pen and paper to draw out what the Goa’uld ships looked like so that he would not be attacking their ship. Papa Bear had a plan of his own. When he got back to his fighter he put an electronic beacon on the ship to identify it easily then launched his fighter.
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Jack had come out of Hyperspace into a battle that was all around him. The only one that was on his side was Sam but she had them ramming into each other and firing on each other as well as doing some damage to the ships as she was zipping in and out while weaving through the ships making them go into spasms trying to shoot her down and avoid the other ships. Jack let her know that he was there and help was on the way. He got busy doing the same thing that she was which was to add more of a problem to the ships as they were advancing on the helpless vessel.
Jack was turned in the right direction to see the Alkesh exit Hyperspace launching the big fighter. Jack watched as the fighter went toward the incapacitated ship and he was concerned that he was going to attack it. He watched as he launched a small device at the ship then he turned to the other ships and did the same to them. The device moved very slowly through space and it passed right through the shields on the ship and attached to the hulls. After that he could fire his weapons in any direction and it would go to the nearest ship.
Jack told Janet to go to the ship and get Kathy and Ahyoka off the ship until it could be secured again then he went in for a landing on the disabled ship. He got out of the ship and went to the airlock to go in and help Daniel.
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Chris was listening to what was coming across the com system and he was able to get the point across to Mama Bear letting her know that Jack was on the ship trying to retake control. He told her that he was going over to the ship to try and help with the restart. Mama Bear was not going to let him go without her. She palmed him and he was bringing out the little arm that he was shocking everybody with but she already knew about it and caught if between her fingers letting him know that if he did that then she would break it off. He got the idea quickly and pulled the arm back inside of this shell. He took her to the transporter where she had to duck down to get inside of the area. They were on the other ship in an instant.
Janet got the A.I. to transport Kathy and Ahyoka over to their Alkesh right after Chris and Mama Bear beamed over to the ship. Kathy appeared on the bridge of the Alkesh. She was finishing with the follow through on a sword stroke with the Katana and a spray of blood along with a head that went rolling across the floor was beamed with her. If the transport had been just a little slower it would not have made such a mess but it had and now they had a cleanup that could not wait.
Kathy was about to go to the next target when she was transported to the Alkesh which was right where Janet was standing. If she hadn’t of been wearing the suit which had the shields on she would have lost her head to the lethal blade. Kathy was in a battle frenzy and it was going to take time to get back to normal but she was calm enough to pull a rag and clean her blade then sheath the weapon.
Ahyoka was transported into a soft chair in the room where Janet went over to pick up the child. The A.I. unit transported out the head and a small drone come out to clean the floor. Janet told Kathy to go down and get a shower but she was not in the mood for a shower, she wanted to be sent back over to the ship to finish what she had started.
Chris and Mama Bear transported onto the bridge of the ship where it went over to the A.I. unit that was controlling the ship nudging it out of the way. He would work on getting the unit back into service later but for how it was more important to get the ship back online and the shields on. It was not going to be easy to reboot the entire ship but that was what would be needed.
Jack was coming toward the bridge from the flight deck clearing out as much as they could. He was to meet up with Daniel along the way when he saw a flash of light in the hallway that was next to where he was. He turned to see Kathy with her sword drawn and it would appear that she was ready for a fight now. She did not have a suit on and she would be vulnerable so he was going to need to keep an eye on her so that he could keep her safe. To his surprise a pair of Jaffa came around the corner and she went into action before he could do anything. She was finished playing nice with the Jaffa and the game had changed now to where she was going to do anything she needed to in order to get them off the ship. She sliced through the throat of one Jaffa then used the back swing turning it into stabbing motion that went in through the bottom of the throat and into the brain. She made a quick cut into the symbiote pouch to destroy the Goa’uld larva before moving on to find another target.
“You know that when this is done you’re going to have to clean up the mess that you’re making.”
She smiled back at him letting him know that she had already thought about that.
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Bo’loc knew that he was done for in this fight and he had only one other thing to do, he went over to the ring transporter and gathered as many of his Jaffa as he could. He was sending over as many as he could knowing that this ship was lost and his only hope was to take the other ship and try to get it back online so that he might be able to escape with his life. The other fighters had destroyed his drives both light speed and Hyperspace drives and the weapons were useless now. He was transporting himself with the last of the Jaffa when he saw the ship was exploding around him. Instead of the ring transporters going back to the ship where they originated from they crashed to the floor around them injuring two of the Jaffa that were not quick enough to move out of the way before their feet were crushed under the massive weight of the Naquada rings.
He shot the Jaffa for being slow and they were of no use to him anymore anyway. He left the room moving down the hallway in a hurry, he didn’t know where he was going but he wanted to be moving anyway. The lights come on and all the doors that were open closed as the ship was coming back to life. This was a good thing for him. Now he wouldn’t have to figure out how to do it himself.
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Mama Bear was moving through the halls looking for Jack so that she could protect him. She had her battle axe and her knife out while going down the narrow hallways. She had thought about getting out her pistol but that would surely breach the hull of this ship if she fired it, so she was going to need to use the hand weapons.
She called to Jack letting him know that she was looking for him and she was answered quickly with him asking what she was doing on the ship. She should be safe back on the Alkesh but then again so should Kathy and he was not able to get her to go back either. He told her where he was compared to her position so they could meet up.
Jack was getting concerned with the two women that were not protected meaning that he and Daniel were going to need to protect them as much as possible. He had seen what Kathy could do with the sword and he had also seen Mama Bear use the battle axe. Then there was the little stomp dance they had done on the little alien scientist turned Goa’uld.
He was reminded of how dangerous she could be again when he rounded a corner to see two Jaffa or at least the parts of what had once been two Jaffa scattered down the hall. Mama Bear had blood dripping of the edge of the axe as she was walking toward them. She was about to pass a cross hall when Jack spotted another Jaffa that was taking aim at her. He shot out with the magnetic pulse that he had used against the security guards in the control room at the SGC causing his weapon to not be able to fire. When Mama Bear saw him a split second later she hit him with the end of the handle of the axe sending the Jaffa smashing against the far end of the hall. Jack looked at him for a moment and thought that he looked like an aluminum can that had been crushed. When she had hit him the front of the armor met the back and whatever was between was moved out of the way with a good deal of force. He also noticed that there was a Pygmy dart sticking out of his neck where Kathy had done her thing with the weighted dart.
Kathy told them that this was unusual; the others had all been in groups of two. Jack called Chris and asked him what the internal sensors had come up with but they were not functioning at the moment.
They heard the sound of Jaffa marching down the hall and split up on each side of the hall. Kathy didn’t have a dark corner to be able to hide in now so she was behind Daniel while Jack was doing what he could to protect Mama Bear.
Mama Bear did not like this arrangement at all and picked Jack up by his shoulders and moved him behind her just before the Jaffa got to the juncture of halls were they were. They were all about to move when Mama bear swung the battle axe sideways hitting the two Jaffa in the front row at the same time knocking them back into the others behind them knocking all of them down like bowling pins. She was very fast as she went on the attack limited only by the walls that were getting in her way as she was swinging the knife and axe. Kathy had stepped around the corner and was firing the blowgun at the Jaffa at the end of the hall that were trying to scoot back away from this woman that was filling the entire hall and slinging body parts everywhere.
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Gary Travis had been getting information from the other men of the office for a month now. It would seem that his ex wife was spending a lot of time with her new boss and she was really enjoying the time that she had with him also. They were always going out to fancy restaurants and dancing or to plays or the opera. The man she was going with probably didn’t care for about those things but he knew that she liked it and this man was giving her everything that she ever wanted. His jealousy was killing him and he couldn’t do anything about it. The Damn restraining order prevented him from coming within a thousand feet of her work or home and two hundred feet of her while she was out in public. He was drinking more and more as time went by and he had finally lost his job because of her. It was all her fault that he was now homeless and he had even had to sell his car to get the things he needed like more booze. He was now reduced to living out in the open and it was getting colder. He was forced to drink the cheep stuff now when he was use to drinking the really good liquors. That was all over now because she had started seeing this man that was fifteen years older that he was. He wasn’t anything special, he didn’t even have any hair, and all he had was some fancy suits and a nice car. He was staying in that brick building that was impossible to get into and there were those guards that were in the building. They were very discreet but he could tell a trained man that was on guard duty when he saw one. They all had the look and bearing of men that could take out a suspect in a matter of seconds. They probably wouldn’t even need to go for the pistol that was neatly tucked into the shoulder holsters that were under the very nice suits that they all wore.
Gary was mad at the guy and his ex wife and he was mad at life itself. He was trying to blame everybody but himself for the predicament that he was in. He did what he had to do, he waited and watched for the opportunity to make them pay for what they had done to him. He pulled the knife out which was the only thing that he had of value anymore and ran the blade across his palm drawing blood and promising the blade that it would get to taste the blood of his ex wife and her new lover soon.
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Golan was making his way toward the valley of the gods but he was taking his time to get there. He had things to do and he was sure the gods had other lessons to teach him so that he could do their bidding. He came to a long wide strip of rock that did not have any dirt or rocks on it. There weren’t even any leaves littering the rock that went on for a great distance. He picked up some leaves and watched as they melted into the surface. Then he threw a rock onto the surface next and it also disappeared like it was sinking into water but it was going down slower than the leaves. This was going to be a problem for him, he would need to cross the surface at some point but it was much too far to jump over and if it would eat a rock then his boat wouldn’t have a chance against this strange rock surface even if he could figure out a way of pushing it across the rock. He would go through the woods along side the rock surface to find a place that he could use to get across it. He watched as he went along and he saw that other animals would go out on the surface of the rock and it was not bothering them. He figured that the gods had given the animals their blessing to walk on the rock without it being able to eat them. They were not his gods though so he knew that the rock would eat him if he ventured out on it and he would not be fooled by this trick. This was going to take a long time to get to a place to cross. He was growing stronger by the day now and it was getting much easer to get the meat that he needed to survive although it was animal meat and not human, he would endure until he was able to feast on the flesh of the gods themselves.
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Teal’c worked his way to the Peltec of the Mothership and deposited the A.I. unit where it was doing its job in taking control of the ship and starting the repairs that would be needed. The A.I unit was making the improvements as it was doing the repairs if it was more efficient that way. The Jaffa that were on the ship had all given up fighting when they saw that there was no way to win against the man that was carrying the silver ball around with him. Teal’c had told them that they would not be harmed if they gave up and they would gather a great treasure if they did not resist.
The Jaffa knew that if they were defeated in battle that the Goa’uld that was the winner of the battle would usually absorb them into the ranks as his Jaffa to be able to fight on in other battles. It was considered a great gift for the Goa’uld to allow them to live in his service so they naturally thought that was what this man was talking about. They were told to strip off their armor and lay down their weapons. Once he had things under control on the Mothership he used the ring transporters to go to the closest Alkesh that was not damaged too badly so that he could take control over their. He had told the others to break off the attack so they would not damage the ships any more than they already were. Sam landed her fighter on the flight deck and Papa Bear was right behind her. The force field that kept the atmosphere in was back in place and it had been pressurized again so it was no problem for Papa Bear to get out of his ship. He was not able to stand up in the ship and when he got to the doors he was doubled over and had to squeeze to get through the door. He was grumbling about this and he made a face but he didn’t stop.
Sam now knew that Mama Bear was a short person on her planet and Papa Bear was a tall person which was becoming a big headache for him now. She had called Jack and Daniel letting them know they were on the ship and where they were. Jack was telling her about what Mama Bear did with the column of Jaffa that she had hit with her battle axe and then tore into them with the axe and knife. Sam was able to see the results when she got to the intersection where the battle had taken place and it was a greasily mess to go through.
Teal’c had been keeping them in the loop as to what was happening on the other ships and that he had left the A.I. unit on the Mothership to take control and make the necessary repairs. Chris had gotten the control of this ship and he was able to revive the A.I. unit that had been in control so he was going to send it over to take control of the other ships. Chris told them that the other Mothership had exploded so there was no need to go there now. Teal’c told him to wait until he was ready before he sent the A.I. unit so that he would have the opportunity to establish control before the unit started the process of taking over the ships functions on the other Alkesh.
Jack had told Sam about the Electro Magnetic Pulse generator that was used against them before the ship crashed into the Gas Giant and to be on the lookout for those sorts of things. Sam had already figured out that it was something like that which had taken this ship down and the device was still in the area so that it could still be used on them if the others still had control of it. Chris had already located the EMP unit and shot it with the ships lasers that were now working again. That took care of the larger of the EMP units and he had the shields working again at full so that another one would not be able to get close enough to the ship to do damage again. Chris knew what the EMP would do now and decided that it would be best if he put the A.I. unit that had the ship before back online to control this ship so that he could take over the other ship. Then changed his mind again thinking that this unit could take control of an Alkesh and he would stay onboard this ship for the time being. It was strange that now that he was thinking about it he was thinking of himself as a male. There was nothing wrong with being a female but this is what he decided that he was and that was all there was to it. He was helping with the system repairs and getting the system back online while he was waiting for Teal’c to get over to the Alkesh. Once Teal’c had things under control he could transport over the A.I. unit to start the system wide takeover and repair of that ship.
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Bo’loc was getting desperate now, he kept sending Jaffa ahead of him to check out things and they were not coming back. He was in one of the large cargo holds and it was nearly empty. There were some boxes that he had directed the Jaffa to arrange into a thrown for him. He told the Jaffa that they were to protect this room with their lives and if anybody got through that was not supposed to they would pay with their lives by his hand personally.
Sam and Papa Bear had caught up with the others and were making plans on how to get into the area of the cargo hold so that they could get to the Goa’uld. Papa Bear was talking to Mama Bear and she was translating to Jack who was translating to the others and back again. Papa Bear asked how high the ceiling was in the cargo hold which Jack asked Chris and relayed back that it was nearly twenty feet tall. That had to be adjusted to how tall Papa Bear was and it was neatly a third taller than he was because he did not understand the length of measurement that Jack was trying to use. They came up with a plan of attack which looked like it would work best to avoid as much causality as they could.
Chris transported back the other A.I. unit then put it in charge of the ship then transported down to the area where they were. This was going to be timed to the second to work as well as they wanted it to. The strange part about all this was that Chris had suggested his part in the whole scenario and the others had thought it was strange but it was a good plan. When Chris appeared in the hall where the others were Papa Bear took him in his right hand and simply threw him through the open door at Bo’loc using his considerable strength but not all of it. He didn’t want to destroy Chris by crushing him against the armor of the Goa’uld. He used just enough force to knock Bo’loc back, which was enough time for Chris to clamp onto the armor. Chris extend his arm to shock the Goa’uld hard and continue to do so making Bo’loc give off a high very feminine scream while Papa Bear and Mama Bear were transported to the back of the room. Daniel and Jack were coming in the door with Kathy right behind them taking out the Jaffa on all sides.
Bo’loc made a spastic movement with his right arm and was able to dislodge the ball that was causing him so much pain and bring his weapon to bear against the people that were invading his new thrown room. Jack watched as the weapon was being aimed at Kathy as he was stepping in the line of fire to absorb the blast to protect her when Bo’loc was hit with two spin kicks at the same time. Mama Bear was kicking him from the back side but she didn’t see that Papa Bear was using a roundhouse kick to the front of the Goa’uld. Both kicks were strong enough of kill but when all that force met in the middle of the armor Bo’loc was forced out in two different directions. Mama Bear had told Papa bear what a Goa’uld was when they were hunting the Ashrack back on their planet. They both knew that it would not be a good thing for this parasite to be able to transfer host and to continue causing them problems. Jack had seen what they did to alleviate this problem with the little alien scientist turned Goa’uld back on their planet but Sam, Kathy and Daniel hadn’t and neither had the Jaffa. The Giants were doing a very fine job of making sure the parasite did not get out of the head of the host by stomping on him from top of his head to the bottoms of his feet. The man was dead so it was nothing but the symbiote that they needed to destroy.
It was still rather disturbing to watch them flatten out what used to be a human being and the person that the Jaffa had revered as a god for so long. Jack went over to check on Chris to see if he was alright which he said that he was fine it was very interesting to be able to attack like that. They had originally wanted to capture the Goa’uld so that the host could be saved but things had not worked out that way. Now they had control of the ship and all of the fleet so it was time to get the repairs done to the ships so that they could be used. They did not have enough A.I. units to take control of all the ships so it was decided that Teal’c, Daniel and Kathy would stay there while they took the Alkesh that Janet was on back to Earth along with the main ship. While the repairs were being done with the other Alkesh and the Mothership, Mary was going to send another ship with the A.I. units that would be needed to make the repairs to the crippled ships.
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Golan had traveled for a long time to get to the valley of the gods and he was tired, he still was not able to get across the wide rock surface that the gods had put in his way as a barrier to keep him and others out of their lands. He was determined to make it somehow, it was his destiny to do the bidding of his gods. He came into an area that had the large rock surface going into a mouth that was in the small mountain. The throat was deep into the mountain to the point of not being able to see inside. He saw that the gods were letting the animals go along the surface to try and lure him inside the mouth and on the surface of the rock that would surly eat him alive. He was getting hungry and the goats that were walking down the rock toward the area that had the fruit trees and plants that they liked to eat. He followed them so that he could get them when they came off the rock back onto the ground that he knew that he could go across. He was staying as far away from the rock surface as he could get though. The goats had young with them and they would be tender and sweet. It was still not human flesh but he would be able to survive on it. The meat would give him strength for what he was going to have to do when he was able to get into the valley of the gods. He was working his way along the bush to get within range of the young goats using all if his skill that he had developed over the years while hunting and he knew that he was not making any noise.
He watched as the goats were starting to feed on the tender young plants, he eased closer to them so that his shot would be clean and there was no chance that he could miss at this range. He was going to shoot both of the mothers so the young ones would stay by them and it would be easy to catch them after that. That way the mothers also could not defend the young ones against him. He knew that he would be wasting the mothers because he would not be able to eat that much but that was the price that had to be paid to do the bidding of the gods.
He was just getting ready to fire off the dart that would take down the first of the goats when he heard a rustling noise behind him and turned just as the Ram hit him hard in the chest with his curved horns knocking him back through the thorn bush that he was using as cover to hunt the others. He had failed to see or sense the Ram who he should have known would be there on the lookout and protecting his females. Golan was hit so hard that he heard the bones in his chest crack. He was spitting blood as he got up and ran away as fast as his now battered body would take him. He had lost his blowgun and stone knife that he had made and he was injured again. The gods that lived in this valley were determined to defeat him but he would come out on top in the end. He had no other choice other than eternal death and if he failed the gods then his death would be eternal hell. He was now going to need to find a place to hide out away from the gods that he was trying to defeat so that he could heal again or this was not going to work. Failure was not an option now it was his eternal soul that was at risk.
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George/Thomas
Glenda needed to stop by her house to get some things and to water the plants, she had been staying with Thomas for a while now and she was the happiest she had ever been in her entire live. Thomas was with her as she made her way around in the house talking with her. He would bring her a fresh pitcher of water when she the one she was using to water the plants was getting low. When they finished that she went upstairs to pack more of her clothing to take back with her to the apartment that she was staying at with him in the Insurance building. He still had to go out at times to do things in the evening and he always took the three other people along with him that lived in the other apartments. They were nice people but she could tell that they were not people to be messed with. She had asked Thomas before if he was in the Mob or something like that but he just laughed and told her that was as far away from the Mob as a person could get.
Thomas told her that he was not able to tell her what he did but that it he was doing his best to do something that was good for the country and to keep the American people safe at night. She knew that he carried a gun most of the time when he wasn’t in the office and she was never able to see him off when he went downstairs to the offices that were down there along with the garage. She parked her car down there also along with the people that ran the clothing store and Thomas had a car down there but there was another side of the garage that she was not able to get into that had other cars and equipment. He had come back one time and he was bruised up and had several stitches on his right arm where he had been cut with something very sharp. When she asked him what happened he told her that he got clumsy and fell down the stairs in the building. She later found the swabs and things that had been used to stitch his arm closed in the garbage when she had taken the trash out for the apartment. She knew that one of the other people had done the stitching. She confronted him with it and said that they needed to go to the emergency room so that he could get some antibiotics and a tetanus shot but he told her that he hated hospitals and he would not go. She knew that he could be very stubborn and he had laughed later about that telling her that if she wanted to meet the person that was stubborn then she would need to meet Jack O’Neill.
They were getting ready to leave her house when the door was suddenly thrown open and there stood her ex husband drunk as he usually was, brandishing a knife.
“Bitch, you ruined my life, now I’m going to kill you and your wrinkled old boyfriend. Make your peace because it’s your time to die.”
He was staggering down the hall at them and Thomas stepped in so that he was protecting her. He had not taken his pistol with him today. This was supposed to be a simple trip to her house to get a few things and water the plants then back to the building where they would be safe. He now saw that he had made a big mistake. If he had his weapon then he would end this quick and simple even though he did not what to kill her ex husband in front of her. George would have done what he had to do in order to protect her. He was trying to talk sense into the man but he was so full of hate that there was no reasoning with him. He was charging down the hall at them and it was going to be hard to stop him. George Hammond was not going to let this man get to the woman that he loved no matter what it took.
Glenda hadn’t said too much about her ex to him other than he was an alcoholic but before that he had been in the service and George could tell that he was good with the knife even drunk. Glenda was behind him screaming at her ex to stop and dialing the phone to get the police out there as fast as she could. She dialed 911 telling them that Gary had a knife and he was threatening to kill them.
The thing that Gary didn’t know was that George had been training with hand to hand combat for years himself. That was no guarantee of anything though. Anybody that knew anything about this kind of fighting knows that if you get into a knife fight you can expect to get cut. If you’re really good sometimes you can get away with a minor cut or nothing if it’s a good day. It was not a good day for George Hammond or Gary Travis. Gary was able to hit him across the jaw which was enough distraction for him to reverse the knife and turn using a reverse stabbing motion as he was stepping away putting the knife into George Hammond’s stomach. George was admiring the move as a really good one as the knife sank into his stomach. That was a problem because the next thing that he was going to do was kill the woman that George had finally fallen in love with. Glenda was the only woman that he had gotten close to since he had lost his first wife Gracie. George was not going to loose anyone else again. George reached out grabbing Gary by the shoulder and his jaw as he was turning back and spun him by the shoulder while pulling sharply in the opposite direction with the jaw that was in his right hand. There was a loud snapping sound and Glenda knew that her ex husband was never going to be bothering them again.
She watched as Thomas fell to the floor with the knife sticking out of his stomach and the blood was making the floor slick in the hallway. It was a tile floor all the way down the hallway and she slipped when she was trying to get back to the phone. The operator was still on the line and she was having a hard time telling her that she needed an ambulance for Thomas. She didn’t even think of telling them to get one for Gary. He had tried to kill them both and she was sad to see that he was dead but her life was going to be so much better now that he was gone. She was crying and holding Thomas in her lap waiting for the ambulance while she was praying that they would hurry.
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Jack had not been in too big of a hurry to come and get George once he found out that he was no longer in the mental hospital. It would seem that he had made good his escape and he was very happy doing something. They didn’t know what he was doing but he was happy and they could tell that he was moving around the country. They had dropped off Papa Bear back on his planet so that he could help get the ship ready for the move to the new planet. Mary said that they would help with the transfer and get the Giants settled on their new world. It was not going to be easy but they were a strong people and when they got to the planet they would be fine. To move an entire population was going to take time and a lot of work. Mama Bear told him that she was going with him and there was no way to talk her out of it. Mary had replicated a wrist gauntlet that would shield her because she did not need the power of the suit to enhance her strength. The gauntlet would shield her and it had a cloaking feature like the suits did along with a weapon that would do everything that the weapons on suits would.
Mama Bear would not leave Jack’s side and fretted over him like a mother hen. Mary said that with the chemical that the alien scientist had used on her and with him acting like a child she had been forced to take on a mother role for him in order to push the urge out to kill him. She couldn’t bring herself to kill a child and now Jack was her child as far as she was concerned. Janet and Sam thought it was funny to watch her doing things for him and combing his hair when it was unruly like it was most of the time. Jack couldn’t push her away and even if he wanted to he wasn’t strong enough to do it.
Mama Bear knew that he wasn’t a child but she couldn’t help but feel protective of him. The feeling was so strong that it was impossible to stop. He had risk everything to save her while she was on the dissecting table so she knew that he cared like she was family. If she was going to be family then she was going to be the mother.
Mary was telling Jack now that there was a problem with George Hammond and he was in a great deal of distress. The ship was getting close to Earth now anyway so that was going to be their first stop. Jack had Chris to do a scan to see what was going on with George that was causing him distress. He was in the back of an ambulance with internal injuries to his liver and colon which was getting critical. Jack didn’t have time to mess with anything and he knew that George would not make it to the hospital alive in his current condition, he was slipping fast. Jack had George beamed strait into sickbay where Janet was and he was beamed strait into the med table to be healed.
Glenda was sitting beside him in the ambulance holding his hand and crying because he was looking very pale and he was starting to get cold in his hands but she knew that it was his body going into shock. He had passed out right before the ambulance got there and they were not very optimistic about him making it back to the hospital. She thought he had died a couple of times but he was holding on. She laid across him to hug him close thinking that she was going to loose him and it was all because of her now dead bastard ex husband and his inability to stop drinking. Gary had been the sweetest man when they were first married but when he started drinking he became uncontrollable. He would scream at anybody around and get into fights all the time. When he wasn’t drinking he could do anything that he wanted to, but it was getting to be less time all the time that he wasn’t drunk. She felt a tingling feeling and it was frightening her but she held him tighter thinking that this was what it felt like to have someone die while you were holding them.
She had closed her eyes and she was crying hard now. She just couldn’t loose him so soon after she had found him. She felt someone pulling her away from him but she was resisting. She didn’t want to ever let him go. Suddenly she felt a huge pair of hands take her and lift her like she was a child moving her out of the way. The woman that she opened her eyes to see had to be ten feet tall. The woman sat her down on a table then turned back to pick Thomas up and put him on a table. There was a small woman with red hair fussing over him until she stood back and a blue light seemed to be pulled over him like a blanket. The small red haired woman was telling him that he was going to be alright and she was calling him General Hammond for some reason. She was wondering if the woman was a doctor that was in the wrong room.
She had no idea how she had gotten into the hospital from the ambulance but he was on a bed that looked like a table with a thin pad on it and he seemed to be relaxing. The pain that was in his facial features was beginning to ease up also. She tuned back to the big woman again and she was absolutely the biggest woman that she had ever seen in her life, no, she was the biggest person that she had ever seen. She wasn’t just tall, she was strong and totally proportional throughout her body. She was a normal person and it could be said that she was a pretty woman but she was twice the size of most normal women. Then something else happened that was even stranger. A gray haired man and a blond woman came in the room but there was a silver ball that was the size of a soccer ball floating about five feet off the floor. The big woman walked over to the gray haired man and smoothed his hair then hugged him like he was a child. He hugged her back. The gray haired man turned to her and introduced himself. Thomas had spoken several times about Jack O’Neill and Sam Carter. Then he introduced Dr. Janet Frasier who he had said before that she was the best Doctor he had ever had the pleasure of meeting. That was the best thing that she had ever heard. He had a Doctor that he trusted now and he was getting the care that he needed. She had thought that he would have been rushed off to the operating room as soon as he was brought into the hospital but he was just lying on the table not moving. She was beginning to think that maybe she was wrong about what Dr. Frasier had said and that he was now dead. She walked over to the table and tried to see if he was still alive. She put her hand out but she couldn’t get her hand through the blue light. She could see that he was breathing though. She turned to the Doctor.
“Why can’t I put my hand on him and why isn’t he going into surgery, the Paramedics said that he was in bad shape and you just have him lying on the table. Why aren’t you doing anything for him?”
The woman answered her and she could tell that she was telling the truth. “General Hammond was in serious condition and that was why we brought him strait here. He wouldn’t have made it to the hospital so we brought him strait to the ship and he is being treated now. He will make a full recovery and actually be in better shape than he was in before he got into trouble.”
“Why are you calling him General Hammond, his name is Thomas Holladay and he is the president of an insurance company. What do you mean ship, isn’t this the hospital?”
She was looking around and now she saw that the walls had no windows and they were all a metal of some sort that had a nice color but it was metal all the same. She fainted then from all the strange things going on and from the stress from the last hour. She was caught by the big woman which was the last thing that she could remember before she woke up. She turned over to see that Thomas was awake now but he was not able to get up from the table. She was feeling very good though. The silver ball came floating over by were they were and Thomas didn’t seen to think there was anything unusual about it at all. The large woman came in with a young boy that looked like he was about eight years old. Thomas spoke to him and smiled when the boy introduced himself. Then he introduced himself as George Hammond and she was wondering what was going on. He said something to the boy and the youngster went to the end of the table to push a button which caused the two beds to slide closer then the blue light was covering both of them and they were able to talk much easer.
“Who are you really and what are we doing?”
“I’m sorry Glenda, I didn’t want to lie to you but I didn’t have much of a choice at the time. My name is George Hammond and I was a General on a top secret project that was called the Stargate Program. I was in charge of Stargate Command but I did something that they didn’t like. I was taken out of command and put into a mental institute where they were going to bury me. These people that saved me are my friends. Sam is my God daughter and Jack is like a son to me. Janet was my Doctor for years under my command and a good friend. There are others that I will introduce to you and some that I don’t know like Charlie O’Neill who was just in here. That’s a strange one which I’m having a problem with because he is supposed to be dead but he say’s that Jack is his father. The big woman is called Mama Bear and right now she can only talk to Jack but they are working on a language program so that she will be able to speak to all of us.”
She was checking out his stomach were the knife had gone in only to find healthy skin; there wasn’t even a scar. The blood was gone from his clothing but the hole was still there where he had been stabbed. She hugged him hard and she was having a hard time believing that he was going to be alright. Just a short while ago she was thinking that he was going to die and there was nothing that she could do about it. She heard a noise and turned to see Jack O’Neill standing there smiling at them.
“I see that you figured out how to make things more cozy you old horndog.”
George turned red in the face but he wasn’t going to say anything.
“Do you two want to go down for supper or are you just going to lie around all day?”
“Can we get out now?”
“Yep, according to the cookie timer, you’re done.”
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They were beamed down to Earth close to the restaurant that George said was very good. Mama Bear was cloaked while the others had on their suits with normal clothing over the top of them. Charlie had told them how to make the suits to were they couldn’t be seen but they could be felt if someone was to put their hands on parts like the wrist weapons. Janet had replicated a dress and high heels while Sam was in a pants suit with a nice sweater. They had brought in some clothing for George and Glenda which she thought were beautiful and she was very happy to dress up. Jack told the waiter that he had some unusual request and they would need a private room which he was pleased to provide for a nice gratuity. Jack asked for some cushions which were brought in right away. Then after they had all ordered he asked them to bring in a loaf of hot bread, buttered, a pitcher of milk, a whole boneless prime rib, a large bowl of mashed potatoes with gravy and a large bowl of green beans.
The waiter was surprised at the order but he did as he was asked and with that kind of bill he was sure to give the best service possible which promised a good tip. Once the food was brought in Mama Bear was given a serving spoon and a turning fork which fit her hands better and she really enjoyed the meal. Jack was helping Charlie when he needed it. The restaurant was not too far from Colorado Springs but Jack had never been there before. When Mama Bear was cloaked again and they were ready to leave they had two problems, one was they ran right into Sara O’Neill. She was there with some friends and Charlie came running out of the room running right into her with Jack right on his heels. Sara was stunned to see her ex husband but she was in total shock to see the son that she had buried years ago standing with him and holding onto him like he was his father. With the woman starring at him it caused an insecure moment for the little boy and he ran back to Jack.
“Hold me Daddy.”
Sara fainted when he said that. It had sounded just like her son’s voice when he said it and he was an exact duplicate down to the small scar on his chin. Her Charlie had run into the fence while playing ball with some of the other boys down the street when he was only six cutting his chin.
Chris was there with them but he was being held in the hand of Mama Bear which worked well to cloak him. He was curious to see what was going on and popped out of her hand which made it look like he just appeared and was floating at chest height. General Andrew was also in the room eating with his wife and noticed that George Hammond was standing behind the man that was holding the little boy. He flipped open his phone and called in security then pulled his pistol and told the group not to move. The pistol was slapped out of his hand and he was picked up by the shoulders by the biggest woman that he had ever seen. Mama Bear had turned off the cloak when the pistol was pulled out. Jack told Mama Bear to put the man down which she did but she was giving him a look like if he tried something it would be the last thing that he would ever do. She made a show of taking out the battle axe which still had dried blood on the blade. That was enough to cause the General to wet the floor and his pants. Jack used the wrist weapon to pull the pistol to him which got a surprised look from both the waiter and General Andrew. Jack told Chris to beam all of the group out plus Sara. He was going to leave the General to clean up this mess, it wasn’t his job anymore.
He would need to talk to the military soon but not right now he had other things to do. Sara’s friends watched as she just disappeared with the others. Jack told the ship to break orbit and to go back to Mama Bear’s planet so they could do some work there. Janet was with them now having come over to go down to the planet to the have supper with them. They were going to leave the Alkesh in orbit around the moon with the cloak on of course and the A.I. units would run things until they got back.
Sara was put into a stasis chamber until they could take the time to talk to her later on. Sam, Chris and Mama Bear could do the engineering to make sure the big ship was ready to go while they checked out all the possible planets that would be suitable for the Giants population. They would need a planet that had the proper gravity to make it comfortable for them and a good temperature so they could grow their crops and livestock. The scientist that had been experimenting on their people had also been doing experiments on the livestock that they were keeping in stasis. To their delight they had found a way to make the animals much bigger and able to grow to that size with less feed. They knew that the little alien scientist were going to use the animals for their own feeding.
They were only bringing out the people that were needed for the work that was going on. Sam had been working on showing Mama Bear how the hyper drives work and how they are engineered. She was also showing her how to design and build the shields for the ship to protect it while it was moving through space and if they happened to get into a scrape with other space traveling species. Weapons were also a thing that they were adding to the ship. This was an ark they were building but once they were done moving all the people off this planet along with the things they would need to rebuild their society it would be used for scientific research.
Chris was doing well with the translation program and he could make out most of what the Giants were saying now so he was able to translate that to Sam. What she couldn’t get across with language she would show them or draw it out for them and they would do what was asked of them.
Mama Bear had gone back down into the chambers and reprogrammed the computers to give the people that were in the chambers peaceful dreams for the first time since this whole thing started. Janet had gone down with them for this part and she was conferring with Mary through the suit and the ship telling her what was going on with the people in the stasis chambers. Mary was able to do some analyses through the suit and from what Janet was telling her in order to help the people that were having problems in the chambers. Some of them had gone mad with what they were being forced to see happening to the people they loved and cared about. There were combinations of drugs that she was having Janet to give the people to make the transition back into a normal life and to ease them out of their insanity.
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Jack was working on finding a good planet that had a two plus gravity with Mary helping. Usually the ships were run by the A.I. units but they could be piloted by humans if they wanted to. With Chris needing to stay with Sam and the others on the planet to do the translating for them Jack was piloting the ship. He was taking the ship which had Ahyoka and Charlie onboard and Sara in the stasis chamber that he was going to need to bring out soon. George and Glenda were also on board the ship with them. Mary was working on her while she was in the chamber doing things that were not possible back on Earth. She had removed all the toxins and calcium buildup that was in places that it was not supposed to be like in her arteries. She was removing bone spurs and rebuilding joints that were weakened or starting to get arthritic. She was tightening her skin and revitalizing the tee cells that built the body cells that she needed.
Jack had already been through this a short while back and it was doing wonders for him and his hair was starting to come back to its original color. He picked up Ahyoka and got Charlie when he had plenty of time to get Sara out of the stasis chamber. She opened her eyes slowly wondering where she was, this was not her room or the hospital. It wasn’t even the floor of the restaurant where she had seen Jack and Charlie. She sat up only to see Jack setting across from her holding a baby and the little boy that looked so much like her son, no he was their son not just hers. She was shaking once more seeing the child again. Jack whispered something into his ear and the boy smiled at him then he walked over to her and crawled into her lap to hug her and give her a kiss on the cheek. Sara couldn’t help herself, she was crying now and rocking the boy which he was not having any problem with. Jack had told him that she would do that and it would be good for her. He asked him if he would mind if she did that and Charlie knew that it was something that she needed to do even at this young age. Besides he didn’t mind getting all the attention that she was giving him, she was making him feel very special. When Sara finally was able to think clearly again she asked Jack if the baby was another one of his children.
“No, this is Ahyoka and she was rescued a while back by one of the team members and his girlfriend and they had adopted her but we have all taken care of her and she is very special to all of us.”
“How did you get Charlie back, I saw him die in your arms at the hospital and we buried him years ago.”
“There again this is a very hard thing to explain, this Charlie was placed in a kind of time capsule by his father Jack O’Neill who was the head of medicine when his race was dieing from a very deadly disease. He was only able to send one space ship off that had his pregnant wife and their other son who is Charlie’s younger brother off to a planet that was safe. We think that he sent them to Earth several hundred years ago and they are my forefathers. When I took Charlie out of the time capsule which is called a stasis chamber he called me Daddy, then he showed me a picture of his father and mother which I do look like.”
“Your telling me that this little boy is centuries old and he is a very distant brother to your Great, Great, Great Grand Father.”
“Add a few more Greats to that and I think you would be close.”
“Where are we now?”
“That’s something else that you might have a problem with but I can now tell you the truth. We’re in a spaceship that I am using to look for a good planet to relocate some friends to.”
“I know that you’re a good pilot in a fighter but a space ship? I also don’t remember seeing anything like this even on the science channel, the most advanced space ship that we have is the Space Shuttle.”
“This is a lot more advanced than the Space Shuttle; I’ve spent the last nearly ten years going through a device called a Stargate that transfers things like people and anything that will fit through it to other planets. That first mission that I went on after Charlie died when I was recalled was the first trip through and where we met a race of beings called the Goa’uld. They’re a very bad race of parasitic organisms that are very intelligent and evil. There are also a lot of very good aliens out here that help us most of the time.
“I haven’t seen much of you for a while now and I was wondering what you were doing.”
“Just this and that, you know saving the world kind of stuff.”
She looked at him skeptically for a second then thought about where she was and who she was with. She was holding a young boy that was the exact duplicate of her son and he was flying a spaceship to distant planets.
“Would you show me your ship?”
“I need to feed Ahyoka and check to see what’s happening on the bridge so if you don’t mind I’ll have Charlie show you around for a bit then I’ll take over after that so that I can explain things a little better.”
Charlie took her by the hand to take her on a tour of the ship. He was so excited to be able to do something like this and it made him feel like he was doing something important. In reality he was doing something very important and that was to spend time with Sara. It didn’t take her but a second to figure out what Jack was doing and it made her feel special to know that he was thinking of her feelings. Charlie took her to his room to show her his coloring books that Sam had made for him and she sat down at the small table to color with him for a while. She couldn’t remember having this much fun since Charlie had died. Now she was sitting at a small table watching him scribble across the page and asking her questions about what color this or that should be. She didn’t know that Jack had asked him to call her Mom but he had and that was what he was doing. It was a little shocking at first but it felt so right.
She was just coming into the restaurant to have supper with her friend when she ran into Charlie and Jack so she was getting hungry now. As much fun as she was having playing with Charlie she asked if there was anything that she could get to eat. Charlie jumped up and took her by her hand again leading her into a room that wasn’t too far away where there were tables and chairs and a bank of slots with some kind of controls on the side. Charlie took her over to the control and told her to put her hand on the pad then say what she wanted to have. She was looking confused so he told her to do something like they had done at the restaurant and order it even if it was done with a number off the menu. She was thinking that it would be nice to have a ribeye steak and a salad like she was going to order and a glass of red wine. A slot opened and she was looking at the same meal that she would have been served at the restaurant. She took the tray and sat it down at one of the tables while Charlie was ordering something for himself. This was the best steak that she had ever had. Charlie was telling her all about the peanut and butter with jelly sandwich that Jack had told him how to make while talking with a milk mustache. She couldn’t help but wipe off his face and give him another hug.
Jack walked in with Ahyoka then and gave her a great smile asking how the tour was going. She told him what they had done so far and asked if she could hold the baby while he got something. He got himself a coffee and got her one while he was at it making it just the way she liked it. He told her that they would be at the planet soon and if she wanted to they could go down to the planet for a quick look. She came back to the control room to see what the planet looked like from space and was thrilled to see an alien planet that was so beautiful floating in front of the ship. Jack was telling her that they couldn’t take Ahyoka with them but she would be alright with George and Glenda while they were gone. He got her into a suit so that the gravity of the planet wouldn’t cause her problems while Charlie was telling her how to use it. Sara was not going to be using the weapons, the suit was just to add to her strength so that the gravity wouldn’t pull her down on the ground and not let her get back up. Charlie was going with them and the only place for him to ride was in Sara’s lap but she didn’t mind at all.
Sara watched as Jack handed the baby girl over to an older man and a woman that was about her age. The couple took her with a look in there eyes that promised a good spoiling while they had the baby but it couldn’t be any worse than what Jack was doing.
Jack explained that the gravity would be just too much for the baby to take and she would not be able to breath if they took her. Charlie told her how to get into the fighter so they could go down to the planet. Jack had already surveyed the world but this was something that they could do with Sara and it was much more exciting rather than to just beam down to the planet. She watched as Charlie got into her lap and showed her how to put the safety harnesses on. She was asking what he was going to do for a harness when Jack told her that he would strap into the front of her harness with a special harness that would keep him safe if something happened. He had her put on the helmet which was something new for her. She had worn helmets before but this helmet was very different from anything she had ever had on before. It would let her see things that she shouldn’t be able to see like what was going on with other people that were not with them. She saw some of the people that were working on a ship and doing things out in space. Others were working on a ship that so large it was hard to figure out just how big it really was. Then the person turned to say something to someone else and that was the first time that she had seen a person that was an actual Giant. The people that she was seeing were a rather hansom people in general but they were so big.
Charlie told Jack about what she was looking at and he was able to explain that the people that she was seeing were the one’s that needed to be relocated to another planet. He then explained to her about the gravity of the planet being double that of Earth and then some. They landed in a field that was full of tall grass and got out of the ship. Charlie was running through the grass and Jack was tilling him to be careful that there could be drop-offs in the tall grass. Charlie he was listening to him but still running through the field burning off energy that he had been holding back for too long. The sun was just coming up on this planet over snow capped pecks on the mountain range that was surrounding the very large valley that they had landed in. The temperature was perfect for the population. Sam and Janet called him then to see what was happening on his end of the universe. He was showing them the planet which they projected to Mama and Papa Bear showing them what the planet looked like.
Jack heard a scream from Charlie as he turned around to see that the young boy had been running along not paying attention when he found that he was standing face to face with a creature that looked like a cross between a very large Moose and a buffalo which was standing off by the side of the field munching on the tall grass. Jack and Sara were both laughing at him as he was ripping across the field to get back to where they were again. The animal was just watching as the small two legged animal went running back to its small herd.
Jack knew that if there were large animals like that then there were large predators that would be feeding on them.
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Teal’c, Daniel and Kathy finally got all of the ships up and running and they had dropped off the Jaffa once their bodies had been repaired on the new medical facilities that were being put in on the Mothership. The thought of being set free on a planet to live out their lives in peace was hard for them to believe. There families were going to be gathered and repaired also so they could be all together if they wanted to go. Only one female Jaffa had said that she did not want to go with them. The couple had been fighting for a long time now and she couldn’t see living on a planet with him when all they did was fight.
Once that was done they were going to take all the ships to the planet where the Giants were to help with the transfer. It would be crowded if they were not in the stasis chambers but while they were sleeping they could be stacked and sleep comfortably while being transported to the new world.
When Jack called Sam to let her know that this planet was very nice the message was relayed to the people that were in charge of finding a planet. Sam was able to show them what the planet looked like with a three dimensional hologram of the area that Jack had landed in and to give them the answers about soil condition and rain in the area along with the mean temperature of the region. She had data about several more areas around the planet which meant that there was something for everybody to make them happy on this planet. They said that they wanted this planet making the decision for the entire population.
Jack got this information while he was still on the ground and he got an idea. He asked Sara and Charlie if they wanted to have some fun and do something for Mama Bear. Sara had no idea who Mama Bear was but Charlie was very excited to do something for them. On one side of the valley was a large rock cliff that appeared to be solid all the way through. Jack had seen how big the steps were when he went into the underground shelter of the Giants so that was the size of the steps that he cut into the rock going up to the rock face of the cliff. They watched as he got down at nearly ground level on the last step that he cut out at the top and used his laser to cut a deep line but it was just wide enough to make a good doorway for the Giants. It would be tall enough for the tallest of them which he had figured to be Papa Bear. He made the opening seventeen feet tall and seven feet across which would give them room to move through the door comfortably one at a time with room to spare. Like all creatures he knew that there would be some that were not as thin as the others meaning that they would need more room to get through the doors.
When he finished that he used the gravity unit on the wrist weapon to pull the rock out and placed it on the ground in front of the door off to the side to make a shelter that they could use to get out of the rain or use for shade outside if they wanted to when they needed to get out for a while. Sara was fast to catch on then she told Charlie what they were doing, they were making a place for some of the Giants to live while they were getting settled on this planet. When Sam saw what they were doing she showed Mama Bear who was calling all of the others over to see what they were doing and it was such a good idea that they were all babbling in their language about their new home.
Mary called Jack and Sara who was having a hard time figuring out who everybody was and she was not able to place a face to the voice that she was hearing now. The voice said that they had a tool which would work better than the wrist lasers to cut the rock and it was much more accurate. Jack gave her a mental picture of what he thought the structure should look like with a main room that went in as deep as the rock would allow which would need to be at least twenty feet tall to give them room to feel like they were not boxed in. They would need air shafts along the way and rooms off the side for living quarters, dinning areas, kitchens… Mary was listening but she was a long way ahead of him in the design of the living area. There were more and more of the machines being transported down to the planet. Jack, Sara and Charlie just walked in as the machines were cutting into the rock making the transformation of the rock cliff into a living space for the Giants. Mary was using Chris to ask questions about what they wanted and how to arrange things. The machines were cutting more stairs along one side with the center cut out of the ceiling to make a second level then a third and a forth. As they were cutting the rooms out and the hallways on the upper floors they were cutting out rails so that the people were not going to be able to fall over the edge of the opening. This gave the structure a look of grandeur and size that was much more comfortable.
Mary had instructed the machines to cut a room at end of the structure that was a balcony which had a rail all the way across the front of it to give them air and a nice place to spend time just like the area that Jack was making on the ground level. They were going to let the population do most of the work on the insides of the structures so that they would feel that it was theirs not something that was forced on them and it would be something that they could be proud of when they were finished.
Jack and Sara were looking at the rooms and the way things were designed and cut out with sculpted railings and banisters. The machines were making some decorations as they went along in the hallways that Chris had been showing them through the link and asking the people questions. It was a good way to find out what they liked and what they didn’t want getting a good general idea for the design. The machines were even cutting in designs on the floor and making it look like tile work in some areas while in others it was smoothed out to look like granite with designs in it. Things were looking rather nice when they left to go back to the ship. The machines were going to be making a lot of these buildings to hold the entire population of the planet that they were evacuating. Jack had found out that the underground area that they were in was only one of thousands across the planet housing the Giants. The scientist that were taking advantage of them had told them that after they were finished with this hive as they were calling it they would go to the next one and wake the inhabitants to start their experiments on them.
It was planed by the leaders of the planet to let only a few of the inhabitants out of stasis on each of the areas so that they could start to do the planting and grow the crops that would be needed to feed the population. As more food was becoming available they would wake another group of families until all of them were out of stasis. It was going to take years and a lot of hard work to get what they needed done. They would need to build boats to be able to fish and the livestock was going to need to be brought up to a level that would be able to sustain that many people so that nobody would be going hungry. Those that were going to be released to get things started were going to need to hunt as well as fish and forage for food for a while. They would be taking some supplies with them and they would need to have the machines to start an advanced society again. They did not want to start over again back in the Stone Age.
It would take a lot to move everything that they would need. Teal’c and Daniel were going to use their ships to start moving the things that they could. Books, tools, food blankets, beds, cookware and plates were going to be the first things that they would need. Mary was telling them to go to the cities and take the hardware stores first, then load the furniture stores and libraries and deposit then into the ends of the chambers that were being built. Daniel was going to be gathering the things from the grocery stores like the canned food that hadn’t spoiled.
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Jack loaded Sara and Charlie into the fighter and took them back up to the ship but he did make a few trips around the planet to show Sara more of the planet which she was totally enthralled with seeing. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. Charlie was pointing out things to her as they passed over the planet which she was enjoying as much as watching what was going on below on the planet. She was holding a boy that was the image of her son and he was so close in that image that she was having a problem thinking of him as anything but her son. They finally went back to the ship and set course for the planet were Sam was trying to get the ship working to do the transport of the Giants to their new home. When they got to the planet George wanted to take Glenda down to the planet also so they all transported down after they got Glenda into a suit.
When they got to the planet Teal’c was telling Jack to watch out for. It was too late he had been tackled by a child and he was being wrestled down to the ground. Papa Bear was laughing as well as Daniel and Sam. The child was only seven years old and he was the son of Papa Bear which had been released along with his wife. The boy was as big as Teal’c and he loved to wrestle and play with the new people. Jack did his best to roll the boy over and tickle him which got a squeal of laughter out of the young boy which none of the others had heard before. Normally all they could hear out of the Giants was an occasional grunt other than what Mama Bear was able to telepathically transmit to Jack. Chris was able to pick up the low frequencies of their speech so he was able to translate for them fairly well now. George Hammond, Glenda and Sam watched the two of them play for a while then some other children wanted to play with the young boy so he ran off with them to do something. Sara had told Charlie that he could go play with the other children and Jack sent Chris along to make sure the other children didn’t get too rough with him. He was the same age but less than half their size. He did have his suit on so that would help to protect him and Chris would corral them if things got too rough but they were good kids and Jack felt that he would be fine.
George had used the ships communications system to contact his men on Earth to let them know that he was going to be out of touch for a while and he got a lot of ribbing when he told them that Glenda was going to be gone also. She hadn’t left his apartment to go home for a long time now and then only to water the plants and make sure everything was alright at the house. The police had come by looking for him. They had told the people at the shop that he had disappeared from the back of an ambulance where they attendants had said that he was expected to be a DOA (Dead On Arrival) at the hospital. They were doing all that they could when he disappeared along with the Glenda and they had no explanation as to what happened to them.
George put Jeff Briggs in command while he was away but he hated to leave them one man short on operations and told him to recruit another group of men for the main office. That way they could go across the country and help the other teams when they had something that was big going down or needed a little extra help with a problem area. Jeff was telling him on the phone which was what he thought Thomas was talking to him on that they had been getting reports from all across the country. The crime rate was going down and it would seem that several new drug rehab centers were opening as people were quitting because it was getting too expensive to do drugs anymore. Those that didn’t quit would be caught and dealt with soon enough and given only one choice, quit or die.
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Golan had been hurt pretty badly by the Ram as it defended his little herd and it took him a month before he was able to do much. He followed the smooth rock that he didn’t dare to walk on back to the great mouth that was in the mountain. He was on the lookout for the goats now that he knew they were being protected by the gods. He would stay away from them as well as the rock surface. He was hungry now and all he could get was more of the fruit but he knew better than to eat too much at a time now. He had made another blowgun and knife; he was lucky enough that he was able to hold onto the darts that he had already made so he didn’t need to make more of the poison that was used to take down the pray.
He climbed over the small mountain to see down into the valley of the gods. They had the flat rocks everywhere through the valley so he knew that he could not go there or he would be killed by the traps of the gods. He decided that he would have to wait for the gods to come out of their valley to attack them. He was coming down the base of the mountain when he heard a rustling noise coming from the rock area near the mouth in the mountain.
Mary would let the dogs out several times a day to run around in the city and get their exercise. The dogs would often follow the goats down through the tunnel to see what they could chase to entertain themselves for a while. It was nice to be able to lay out along the road soaking up the sun but they had smelled something that was familiar to them. When they saw the Pygmy off in the bushes trying to get away from them the game was on. He ran as fast as his little legs could carry him but that wasn’t nearly fast enough. He was able to get up a tree before the animals got hold of him too badly. One of them had bitten him on the foot as he was climbing but it let him go quickly after it had tasted him. They were still trying to get to him though and he went as high as he could in the tree to get away from the sharp teeth. He spent two days in the tree before they lost interest in him and went back through the mouth to the valley of the gods. Golan finally decided that he would need to do this differently. He had plenty of time to make his plans while he was waiting for the animals to go back to the valley and leave him alone. He was just glad that they were not able to climb the tree or he would not be around to make his plans to do what he needed to do. He got down from the tree and limped off stiffly from sitting in the tree for two days and where the animal had bitten him to leave the area. This was not the way he needed to do this job, he would need to use other methods to accomplish his goals and went off to set things into motion. He had dropped his blowgun and knife when the animals were chasing him and it took time to find them again. They were a little chewed up but still in working order.
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It took them several weeks to finish the ship and gather the things that they needed. Daniel and Teal’c were making several trips a day taking things to the new world. They had taken several of the Giants to the planet, which were putting things together in their new homes for the families that would be following. Daniel was in a constant state of amazement moving the things that were everyday for the people of Earth like tractors and large machines like bulldozers and backhoes that were kept in a transporter buffer. These machines were built for the Giants and so large that they dwarfed everything he had thought was large in the past. Even the toys of the children were so large that he couldn’t use them. When Jack and Teal’c came down the road racing on a pair of tricycles all of the people of Earth saw them and were laughing so hard that they had to lay down in the grass gasping for air. Sam and Mama Bear designed and improved the transporters for the ships and the Hyperspace drives that would be carrying the inhabitants to the planet. Then it would be possible to move the rest of the things that they would be needing. Many of the farmers were already working on plowing and planting the fields and they had transported the livestock which was being brought out of stasis as soon as they could get an area fenced off and barns put up to house the animals. They would need to set up watches so that the animals were not attacked by the predators of this planet.
Mama Bear had revived her team of scientist and engineers to start making the generators for power and the things that would be needed to let the people live more comfortably. Mary was replicating a lot of things that would be needed for them and things were starting to take shape quickly. It was decided that the Earthlings and Charlie needed a break after a while and they went back to their home planet which was Olathe now. Mama Bear was going with them as she would not leave Jack to go back without her. She still thought that she should be dressing him in the morning and giving him baths but he convinced her that he was able to do those things on his own. She was also a little jealous of Sam and Janet but she accepted them and let them do things for him but she still felt that it was her job as the mother to do things like fixing his meals.
When they got back to the planet Mary told them that they all needed to get into the medical scanners again so that she could give them all a good going over with the equipment that would give her a much better detail of their health then the suits could do. When it was time for Mama Bear to go onto the table they moved two of the tables end to end for her. Mary told Jack on a private channel that something was very different about Mama Bear. She had told them that they could only have one child and the medical records of the planet that they had come from also said the same thing. Mama Bear had lost her husband and her child to the scientist that had done the horrible things to all of her people. Jack had done his best to comfort her when he found her crying at night thinking about them. She was grateful for the comfort of the one person that she felt that she had left in the world who was family.
It was not possible with her physiology but she was pregnant. When Jack asked her about it she told him that the night before the aliens put her into the stasis chamber she had been with her husband. Somehow she had become pregnant again and she was in shock that she was going to have a family again when there was no hope before. She was so happy that she was crying and it took several towels to dry them. She had hugged Jack so hard that he was glad that he was still wearing the suit when she did or she could have accidentally hurt him.
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They had Mary replicate swimming suits for them and one very large one with a towel that was also large enough for Mama Bear so they could go down to the pool by the cave. The goats, Bruno and Cesar went with them. They all had their weapons but none of them wore their weapon suits this time. They hadn’t had any problems for a long time now and it was felt that they were not needed for this picnic. If there was a problem Mary could transport them back to the city easily now. The baby goats were now strong enough to make the journey easily and were playing while getting into everything along the trail. The dogs were watching everything closely but they were having a good time also. Mary had transported picnic tables to the area and it was shady there so they didn’t need to worry about getting sunburned while out in the open. They all and had a good time. Mary had made a chair that was big enough for Mama Bear to set comfortably at the table with the others and she was able to relax and enjoy herself for a while. Charlie was getting into things and chasing the goats around which was a great game for both the goats and the child. When the meal had settled they stripped down to their bathing suits and got into the water together. Glenda and Sam both went over to the waterfall first which made Charlie want to go with them to play in the waterfall. Mama Bear went with them also and had a good time there before they got into the pool to float around comfortably.
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Golan couldn’t wait any longer, he had been waiting at the stream for them to come there for a long time now and his patents had finally paid off. It was disgusting to him to watch them in the water but he was going to make his move soon even if they had just been in the water. He worked his way around the rocks to a spot that he was sure that he could attack them without letting the animals get to him. What he didn’t count on was that the animals became alert to him and started making loud barking noise in his direction. He was out of time; he stood and fired his blowgun at the largest of the Gods which was a female. She was fast though and put out her hand in the way of the dart. Golan was thinking that she was going to be the first to fall when the dart hit her hand but she was not like the others. She had a thick callus on her hand where she had been working with her hand tools to get the ship ready and the dart wasn’t able to get through. She brushed the dart out and grabbed Golan with one huge hand around his back. He tried to use his stone knife but that was also slapped out of his hand. Jack told her to wash the little guy and if she could she needed to get all the stink off of him.
Golan was not sure what to think of all that was happening to him. His dart had failed to take down the large female god that was now holding him with one large hand around his back. She was dipping him into the water of all things then she was rubbing him all over with a cloth of some sort and using some white stuff that caused the cloth and his skin to bubble and it was tingling. This was the worst thing that he had ever had happen to him but at the same time it felt good too. He knew that he was in the hands of the gods now and they were not his gods so he resigned himself that he had failed. When the large female had finished doing what she wanted with him he blanked out for a moment and found himself in a metal room that had one opening that was closed off. He had water that was in a large metal bowl that came on when he got close to it but there was no food in the room. There was a large flat soft area that he crawled onto and laid down. He was suddenly very sleepy and could not help but go to sleep. Mary had gassed the room to sedate the Pygmy when Jack had told her that he did not want the little guy hurt, he had plans for him in a while.
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The next morning Jack gathered everybody for the trip back to earth, it was time they got some things straitened out once and for all. When the arrived in orbit around Earth the first thing they did was to pull the Joint Chiefs and the Presidents of the United States, France, Germany, Russia and China onboard the ship. He greeted all of them in their own language then transferred them to the Peltec of the Motherships that were stationed on the moon. Jack had one of the people onboard give a tour of the ships then brought them all back to one of the Motherships to talk to them all together.
“Gentlemen, we would like to know if you would be interested in renting these ships from the people of Olathe. We were citizens of the United States of America, before you decided to throw us out to the wolves. Now we have control of the really big weapons that Earth needs to defend itself from alien attack. We will be willing to rent these ships to the people of Earth. They will not be able to be used to attack other countries on Earth or any other planet without our approval which you will not get. The ships are run by our Artificially Intelligent computers and cannot be run without them now. If Earth is attacked they will automatically defend its space and they can be used for all the scientific research that you want to do as long is it is for a peaceful use. You will be able to take the ships anywhere you want by simply telling the A.I. units were you want to go as long as at least one ship is left in the Earth region to defend it if necessary.”
“We of course want to be paid for the use of our ships now and we will expect other privileges when we are on Earth. Condition number one will be total diplomatic immunity for all of us. Number two, we have all of our houses returned to us and kept up by the United States of America free of charge so that we may be able to use them when we want. There will be no more taxes levied against any of us and we will have all charges that are pending against us dropped along with a full apology. Remember that you cannot use these ships to attack anything else, it is for defense only but they will not defend against us and we can attack anything that we want, when we want. Please don’t take that as any kind of threat against anybody but I want you to understand that we will not be messed with in any way now.”
“You will have twenty four hours to decide if you want to make this deal or not. We will beam you back onboard twenty four hours from now for your answer or you can use the special radios that we have provided to you.”
With that said they were all beamed back to Earth where they went directly to the phones and made their deals to be able to use these space ships that were being provided to them for substantially less money that running their own space programs and could do so much more. With just the Alkesh they could setup bases on Mars and setup mining operations on the Moon. In a matter of hours they had all called back to make the deal.
Jack asked George Hammond and Glenda if they wanted to stay on Earth but they both said that they wanted to go back to Olathe with them, the operations on Earth were running smoothly without them and all they had to do if their was a problem was to call on the special phone that they now had. George and Glenda could be back on Earth to take care of any problem in just a couple of days. Sara was also going to stay on Olathe with them so that she could be close to Charlie and now she was seeing a whole new side of Jack O’Neill that she really liked. They all beamed down to Earth for Daniel and Kathy’s wedding then went back to Olathe to take care of one more small problem that they had.
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It took over a month to get Golan to do the things that they needed him to do like learning to take a bath daily and to learn to eat vegetables along with his meat. Once he was shown how to do those things he was shown how to use a zat and a staff weapon. The new gods had a mission for him and he was being trained to do the job very well. He was told that he would be let go again in a short while but they needed to do more training with the other pygmy tribes first. Once he was able to be trusted with the weapons they went with the ship and beamed all of the tribes that were left into a holding buffer then deposited them into a large warehouse that had nothing in it but the food processors and restrooms along with beds for all of the people along the walls. When Golan was beamed in with Jack he was now holding his nose at the smell that was coming off of the other pygmies. Mary amplified Golan’s voice as he was speaking to the others so that all would be able to hear over the noise of their surprise at being moved into the large structure like they had never seen before.
Golan was telling them that they were going to have to make changes in the way they did things if they were to survive as a people. They were now going to be one tribe again and they were to stop killing each other for food. They were told that the practice of Cannibalism was to be stopped for the next generation and they would need to learn to eat other things besides meat. They would need to learn to eat vegetables and fruit along with milk, cheese and bread, this way the children would grow to normal size and be stronger and healthier. He was showing them how to use the showers which was objected to strongly for a while until several of them started using it and telling the others that they could now smell them from a long way off when they didn’t wash. That would be a disadvantage to them and it needed to be corrected. Soon they were all showing on a regular basis and eating what they were given without complaint. The weapons training was taken to well by all of the pygmies’ male and females. They were given a good education as to what he Goa’uld were and how to deal with them and their Jaffa.
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Sot had been getting reports from all over the city of strange attacks and people disappearing. He would send out patrols of Jaffa that would not come back and no trace of them could be found. He was screaming at his advisors that were at a loss as to what or who could be attacking him in his own city. The room got suddenly quiet which was not unusual when he was going off on one of his tirades. He turned to see what was happening only to see the people in the room all lying down on the floor or slumped over the table. There were half a dozen small dark men in loin cloths looking at him and smiling. Two of them fired zats at him and two more used a staff weapon that were way too big for them but they were using them anyway. Sot had engaged his personal shield deflecting the attacks. He was getting ready to destroy the little things with his hand ribbon when he felt something hit him in the neck. He was able to see one of the little men holding a blowgun and smiling as his vision got blurry and his ears started ringing. He lost control of his legs falling to the floor.
Golan told the others that lunch would be ready soon.
END
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