Stealth (9th Chapter in the "Arrival" series)
Stealth (9th Chapter in the "Arrival" series)
by Bexy
Title: Stealth (9th Chapter in the "Arrival" series)
Author: Bexy
Email: bexy81@hotmail.com
Category: Action/Adventure, Series
Episode related: 506 Rite of Passage, 516 Summit 1
Season: Season 5
Pairing: Daniel/other
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: violence
Summary: The Tok'ra need help from SG-1, but Becara is the only one that is able to get them out the impossible mess that they've found themselves in.
NOTE: This story has been edited by Fran. Thank you Fran!!!! ;)
Sequel to: No Rest For The Wicked (8th Chapter in the "Arrival" series)
Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. I have written this story for entertainment purposes only and no money whatsoever has exchanged hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations, and story are the property of the author(s).
ARRIVAL:
STEALTH
~Chapter nine~
"You're kidding?!" Sam exclaimed in response to what her father had just told them. SG-1, along with General Hammond, had gathered in the briefing room to be informed of Jacob's request. This was the information that he had presented to them with so far: One of the Tok'ra cargo ships was attacked by a Goa'uld Ha'tak only a few days ago. On board this cargo ship was something of great value, and the Goa'uld that had gunned them down had been searching for this device for some time now.
It was a crystal that contained the information needed to create a bio-weapon that had been engineered by the Tok'ra. This substance, released as a gas, would kill a Goa'uld symbiote. It would kill ANY Goa'uld symbiote, including the Jaffa larvae. Unfortunatly, it would also kill the symbiote of a Tok'ra. The host would also ultimately die, as when a symbiote dies it leaves a toxic secretion in the blood stream of the host. The Tok'ra wanted to use this poison to kill to Goa'uld. The Goa'uld wanted it to kill the Tok'ra.
Jacob shook his head slowly and with remorse, "Afraid not Sam, they have it, and we can't get it back." He looked at the shocked and horrified expressions that were slapped across the faces of the people seated before him at the briefing table.
"What do you mean? Can't get it back..." Daniel asked in deep concern as he leaned forward on the table.
Jacob was hesitant. "We have tried, but time is running out. Even the Tok'ra infiltrators can't get to it. Each time that we have attempted to retrieve the crystal, Zipacna ups the security on it. We need another perspective on the matter."
"So, what do you want US to do about it?" Jack asked plainly after a brief moment of being dumped with a scenario almost as bad as the Goa'uld attacking Earth.
"We'll, I'm not entirely sure," Jacob replied honestly, "Zipacna has guards at every possible position. And our scans indicate that he is using some sort of safe to keep the crystal under lock and key. Speaking of which, only he has the combination."
"If your guys couldn't get to it, then how in Gods name do you think we can?" Jack continued. He glanced over at the others briefly to see them all taking this very seriously.
"I've got the previous mission plans and how they all turned out, here with me. All you can really do to help, and it's all we can ask of you, is if you go over them with me and see if there's another way around it. Our technicians have the equipment to get into the safe, we won't need the combination. That's if you can help us figure out a way to get to it in the first place," Jacob said with little hope.
Sam could see that her father was desperate. If the Tok'ra were unable to get to the crystal that contained all the knowledge of how to create this volatile poison, then how could the people of Earth? The Tok'ra had spies that had fooled their way high up into the Goa'uld ranks, and still, they were unable to get to this crystal. She nodded slowly to the request that he asked of them, "Well, we can always try," she simply said.
They were in that briefing room for about an hour or so. Every time they had devised a way to infiltrate the mothership that Zipacna had left the crystal on, Jacob pointed out that it had been done before and that it had failed - spectacularly.
~
General Hammond had left SG-1 and Jacob alone and was checking up on their newest guest to the facility, Becara. Daniel had left her in his lab, but she had managed to find her way back to the infirmary when Janet had called her via the intercom. She was somewhat excited when Hammond walked over to her. He could see the lights in her big eyes fire up when he entered the room.
"General," she said as he approached, "I have some wonderful news."
"What is it Becara?" Hammond asked her with a curious smile.
"Doctor Fraiser informed me that she has devised a way to shut off the countdown sequence in my wrist implant. If she is successful, then I no longer have to contend with this illness," she looked over at Janet who was busy with some vital data research regarding the implant that had been studied, somewhat reluctantly, by Doctor Banesfield.
"Really?" Hammond questioned. He was glad that something was going right for a change. Her enthusiasm was contagious and he couldn't hold back a smile. "Doctor," he called out. Janet turned, when she saw him she put down the clipboard that she was holding and made her way over to him quickly.
"General, I have some great news..." she began, somewhat excited about the prospect as well. Hammond cut her off.
"Yes, Becara has just informed me. Congratulations,"
"Oh, there's no need for that. I couldn't have done it without Doctor Banesfields help...believe it or not," she added with a tone of annoyance at the micro-electronics specialist that abandoned her. "You can congratulate me when I actually pull this operation off," she added. Janet looked over at Becara.
Hammond noticed in the way that the two women exchanged glances that there was something that he had not been informed about. Doctor Fraiser wasn't entirely sure how this operation would result. She had told Becara that there were risks involved. Firstly, it might not work at all, and there would be no change whatsoever. Secondly, it could make things worse. By the way that the technically superior device was engineered, if the wrong circuit was destroyed, then it might be impossible to `turn off' the retro-virus altogether.
"I take it that you have some of the country's finest micro-electronics specialists assisting you? Minus Doctor Banesfield, of course," Hammond questioned her, not expecting him to return.
"Of course. With your permission General, I'd like to start preparations for the procedure as soon as possible," Janet asked. She looked over at Becara, the young woman began to appear slightly nervous at the impending prospect of being free from this illness.
"Fill me in on what this procedure will entail and I'll give you the clearance right away," Hammond told her.
Becara went and leaned back up against the familiar medical bed that she was now so accustomed to. She watched as Doctor Fraiser took the General over to her work station and discussed with him the finer details of the operation and what they would be doing to their patient. She couldn't believe that this was actually happening. A few days ago she was about to leave this planet and not return, and now the people of this world were offering her a better life, for what appeared to be, nothing in return. It had been so long since she had found people who cared about her well being. For the first time in a long time, Becara felt at ease.
~
"Please...you've got to be kidding!" Daniel bluntly told the Colonel as he rolled his eyes.
"Well, I don't know," Jack said annoyed, "I don't see you contributing anything to the discussion!" He and Daniel were at it again. Sam put her arm in between the boys and slapped her hand down on the paper that had been strewn out on the briefing table.
"It's not going to do any of us any good to fight," she told them sternly. The two men sat there silently as if they had just been warned by the General himself. She stood back up and ran her hand over her forehead. She had been pacing back and forth along the length of the table for quite some time now.
"Sit down Sam," her father told her as he looked up from the spot where she previously had been seated. She sighed to herself and dropped her head back where she stood.
"This is useless," the Major simply said. "Every time we find a way that looks as if it's going to work, you tell us that it won't."
"He's right Carter, you're going to have a heart attack soon," Jack added as he pulled a loose piece of paper towards himself to read. Sam looked down at him and frowned.
"And you two arguing is really going to help me," she added sarcastically in a low voice. Daniel glanced sideways at Jack who looked back at him. They didn't say a word, but they knew that they were in trouble.
"It would appear that this task is impossible," Teal'c finally concluded in resolution as he sat back in his chair.
"We'll, if we don't find a way before Zippy gives the damn crystal to..." Jack began. He stopped, trying to think of the name of the Goa'uld that Zipacna was working for.
Daniel looked at him, waiting to see how long it would take, but he couldn't help himself, "Anubis," he told him.
Jack frowned at him, not liking how Daniel always made him look dumb. "...Yeah whatever," he grumbled. "If we don't figure this out, then we'll be royally screwed," he finished, shrugging in resignation and leaning back into his seat. There was silence as they all realised how desperate the situation really was. They couldn't afford to let this devil of a Goa'uld get his hands on the bio-weapon. It was a given that Anubis would wipe out the Tok'ra.
"It's a pity that we just can't, walk in and walk out unseen," Jacob found himself saying as he began to despair. He sighed and looked down at the paper in front of him. When he lifted his eyes to the others, after a strangely too long silence, he found them all looking at each other oddly. "What?" he asked concerned.
Jack turned his gaze to Sam who was standing behind him and he could see that she was thinking the same thing. Then he looked at Daniel; he knew how the man would react.
"No. No Jack," Daniel said to him strait out, defiantly.
"Why?"
"You are not sending her out there. She's not ready for that kind of a mission. Hell, she's not even a member of the SGC yet," Daniel pressed, not liking the idea one bit.
"You're the one that was pushing for her to join us, remember? You told Hammond that she was more than capable of handling herself," Jack pointed out bluntly.
"Well, yes I did but..."
"So, you want her to join us on the missions, but you don't want her to actually DO anything. Right?" Jack continued, before Daniel could in get another excuse. The Colonel sat there with his eyebrows raised and waited for a biting response.
"Who are we talking about?" Jacob interrupted them, desperate to hear of a possible new way to infiltrate the Goa'uld mothership and reclaim the stolen crystal that was so important to them all.
No one spoke. But they all knew whom it was that they were thinking about. Teal'c turned to Jacob, "Becara," he simply said as he concurred with the others.
Sam folded her arms behind the arguing men and sighed. She agreed with Jack, but she felt the same as Daniel. Daniel looked as if he was about to slice up Jack for dinner and the Colonel nodded slowly in reply to Teal'c observation.
"She's gonna be our only shot at this. Wether she's cured or not," Jack said as he made the final decision for them. He gave Daniel a look that told the Doctor not to bother arguing with him on this topic. There was nothing he could do to change Jack's mind.
~
"I'm sorry Doctor Fraiser but you won't be able to carry out the procedure tonight," Hammond informed her with regret. Janet looked at him from across the bench in her lab with confusion.
"Why?" she simply asked.
"It's been decided to formally enlist Becara into SG-1 in fifteen minutes. Temporarily of course, but we need her now," the General replied as he glanced across the room at the woman in question. Becara frowned from where she stood as she knew that something was wrong. General Hammond ordered her to hurry to the locker rooms and get changed into full uniform and meet the rest of SG-1 in the briefing room. The SF escorting her showed her the way. Then Hammond turned back to Doctor Fraiser, "I need to know, how much longer before this retro-virus reinfects her body?"
Janet stared at him, "You're going to send her off world with them?"
"Yes, we have a situation that requires her rather unique assistance."
"But you haven't even spoken to her about it yet..."
"We will ask her as soon as she is with SG-1. How long does she have?"
Janet sighed; the truth of the matter was that this couldn't have happened at a worse time. "I'd estimate that she would have about eight hours, nine at the most. If even that." Hammond's stomach sank, he'd hoped for longer. That was cutting it a little too close. But they didn't have the time to wait.
"Here," Janet said as she darted across the room and grabbed something off the bench. She hurried back and handed him the device that they had seen the lesser Goa'uld use to cure Becara with back on Heom, "Give this to Sam, just in case."
~
Becara stood there dumbstruck as SG-1 and Jacob explained to her their situation and what they were asking her to do. She listened as the Tok'ra liaison spoke about the terrible things that this poison could do to their allies and what it could do to the Goa'uld. She noticed Daniel sitting at the back of the group with his arms crossed and looking at the table in front of him. He did not appear to like the whole idea. She wasn't sure if she did either.
"Then this is what you ask of me...," Becara began, as she started to relay back to them what they were requesting. "You want me to infiltrate the Ha'tak of a Goa'uld named Zipacna, that serves a very powerful Goa'uld, named Anubis. On board I must locate a safe that has hidden inside it a crystal. The information it contains has the capacity to destroy all the Goa'uld. Or the Tok'ra. Then, using a devise that your people have devised, I must break into this safe and retrieve the crystal, and somehow make it out alive past the more than one hundred Jaffa that are on board the mothership. Correct?"
"Yes." Jacob stated, not one to make light of a very dangerous situation.
"You have your tranz-a-thingie," Jack began as he waved his right hand about in the air. "No one will see you."
"How long will it take to make contact? I would guess that we will have to chase the Ha'tak down..." Becara asked of them.
"Right now Zipacna should be near a planet known as Boriala. There is a Stargate located on a nearby moon; two Tok'ra ships will be stationed there. We were anticipating that he would pass by there. We'll gate to Boriala's moon, and one of the cargo ships will pick us up. Then we go after him," Jacob told her, "depending on how far ahead or behind he'll be, it shouldn't take us any longer than two hours to catch up."
"Well, she doesn't have a lot of time," Daniel said out of nowhere from the back of the room. Jacob turned and looked at him. The Doctor had his arms crossed and a stand-offish aura about him.
"Yes Daniel, I realise that," he reassured him. While waiting for her to arrive, SG-1 had filled him in on the guest that had suddenly landed in their laps. Jacob then turned back to Becara and looked at her with final desperation. "We need you, it's the only way we can do this. Will you help us?"
Becara stared at him, not knowing what to say. Then she realised that there really was no argument. "If it were not for the people of this planet, then I would be still confined to the hell that had become my home. I owe my allegiance to them. If you are their friend, then you are also mine. Yes Jacob Carter," she nodded, "I will help you."
At the back of the room Daniel took a deep breath. He didn't like her going back out there again in the midst of danger. It surprised him that he didn't care if they thought he was being irrational or not. She had been through so much. Even though he knew that she could take care of herself, he didn't feel that she should have to. What if she should be captured? What if she fell ill again and they couldn't get to her? She could be stuck on a hostile ship bound for Anubis; and be so incoherent that she would have no way of defending herself. He suddenly felt nauseated.
~
Before SG-1 departed, General Hammond temporarily assigned Becara. It was a surreal feeling for her. She was nervous but somewhat excited. It had been two years since she had travelled offworld within a team. She hoped that this could become permanent, she saw this as her chance to show them that she was worthy of the SGC.
Boriala was a stunning planet. The view was absolutely beautiful. It was late morning there and they could see the waxing moon named Yundai in a lovely purple and blue haze. There was a slight breeze and a lake, with a horizon that seemed to stretch for miles. Becara thought it was a pity that they couldn't stay there longer. They all did.
Jacob called one of the Tok'ra cargo ships and within ten minutes, they saw it approaching from the cloudless sky framed by Yundai in the distance.
Jacob quickly led them aboard the ship and introduced to a young male Tok'ra by the name of Darak. He was at the helm. "Have you got a lock on Zipacnas ship yet?" Jacob asked him as they found themselves leaving Boriala.
"He passed by not long ago, he should be about 2,320 light years ahead of us," Darak explained as he shot their own ship into hyperspace.
"Will we be able to catch them?" Daniel asked in concern at hearing the distance that their enemy had already travelled.
"Yes, we should be able to. Unless the energy crystals decide to give in on us," Jacob said with a fake seriousness and a sly smirk. He then laughed at the expressions on the faces of a horrified SG-1. "I'm just kidding. There's nothing wrong with this girl, she's fine," he reassured them.
Jack gave him a suspicious sideways look, "She'd better be."
"Okay," Sam began as she walked over to the young woman. Becara appeared a little nervous, it had been a long while since her services had been used for good. She knew that the fate of the mission rested on her shoulders. Sam could tell how she felt. She put her hand on Becara's back and smiled comfortingly. "Just do your best, we'll be there to back you up," Sam reassured her, "here's what we need you to do when we're inside..."
Almost exactly an hour later, the cloaked cargo ship came out of hyperspace and stopped dead in its tracks. Jacob jogged quickly over to Darak and asked him what was going on.
"It's the Ha'tak. It's stopped right here," he informed him. Jacob looked out the window as Darak turned the ship so that they could see the giant vessel through the glass. There it was, large and foreboding as Goa'uld motherships always were, cloaked with an endless mass of stars behind it.
"Okay. No time to ask questions about why it's not going anywhere, we've got to get this mission underway while we still have the opportunity," Jacob stated with urgency. He looked back at the ring device and watched as all of SG-1, in their black opps gear, got into position. "Good luck," he said to them, especially to their newest member. Then he slammed his hand down on the button that released the rings. In an instant, they were momentarily encased within several levitating rings then, they were transported to another cargo ship that was in the docking bay of the Ha'tak.
After a brief moment of standing there and looking at each other, the person who they were waiting for arrived. It was a Tok'ra spy by the name of Nheehuk. He quickly led them to a place that they would be relatively safe so that they could get their bearings. "I was not sure if you were actually going to arrive," Nheehuk told them after a moment.
"We stopped for a burger along the way," Jack said amusingly, mostly to himself. Nheehuk, Becara and Teal'c all looked at him as if he were some crazy man talking dribble. Sam and Daniel just pretended that they never heard him.
"You will be safe here in this room until you wish to leave, I will wait in the cargo ship as it would look too suspicious otherwise. I am supposed to be making repairs," Nheehuk told them in a low voice.
"That's fine. How far is the vault from here?" Jack asked him as he peered out the doorway.
"Down two levels, but it should be almost beneath where we stand," he was told. "Good luck to you all."
"Thanks," Sam said as she followed Jack out into the halls. Becara held the P-90 close to her body. It felt strange to have such a powerful weapon in her hands, but it made her feel much more secure. Daniel followed closely behind her and Teal'c brought up the rear.
"Two 'good lucks'. How many do they think we need?" Jack asked Sam and Becara as they walked closely behind him.
"I would take all I can," Becara said slowly as it finally hit her that everything was riding on her success. Jack glanced back at the young woman and a look of growing respect peered through his very serious exterior. He too realised that it was really, all up to her.
They made their way past many unoccupied rooms and hid as Jaffa marched past, much as they had in Rahoteps stronghold on Heom. Once they had conveyed in a furtive manner to the second level down; Jack ordered them to wait. He remembered Jacob telling them that there would be Jaffa almost swarming. He held up his hand and they all halted behind him. He glanced at Becara and signalled with his left hand to his right wrist. She knew what he wanted her to do.
Copying the same motion, she waved her hand over the silver implant. The light changed to red and she suddenly disappeared from sight. Daniel, who had been standing guard closely behind her, waved his hands in the now vacant air and found that she had already moved. Jack then gestured for them all to back up and take cover. All they could do was wait for her to return.
Becara rounded the first corner and found herself face to face with six beefy Jaffa. They stood at the entrance to a long hall that no doubt would lead her to the crystal. The two Jaffa at the front stood poised with their long staff weapons held across their chests, the remaining four held their weapons to their sides. No wonder the Tok'ra found it hard to get to the crystal without being noticed. Slowly she walked by them, her eyes transfixed on theirs, checking to be sure that she was still unseen. Then once she had passed the intimidating guards she trotted to the end of the passage way.
"Colonel," she said quietly into the radio that they had given her, "I have made it past the first Jaffa."
Jack, who was crouching in the dark of an empty room with the others, picked up his radio to respond. "Good. Now pull out the laser we gave you, aim it down the hall..."
Becara reached into the top pocket of her vest and retrieved a small black cylinder shaped device. She pressed the button on the side and a red beam shot down the passage. Then she saw the force fields that were oscillating at a very high rate. There was no way that she could just walk through that.
"I see them," she said as she held the radio back to her mouth.
Jack handed his radio to Sam and she then went on to describe to Becara how to deactivate the force field generators. Something that would have been handy to know when they were given the armbands found by the Tok'ra named Freya. It made them fast enough to move between the force field oscillations, but it didn't last long enough for them to get through them all.
"The gold box on the wall...you see it?"
"Yes...remove the cover?"
"Yeah, and then look for a main power supply, it should be about the size of your fist,"
"Bottom left hand corner?"
"That's it," Sam paused. It was as easy as pie to disable the generators however, they'd most likely be linked to an alarm system that would probably go off if tampered with. She had already informed Becara of this on the cargo ship.
"Alright..." Becara did what Jacob had told her to do. She reached behind the main power supply and felt for a sharp plug that would be stapled to the wall. She pulled out the knife that was strapped to her leg and then, with one strong movement, she stabbed it down the back and disengaged the supply.
Alarms blasted and Becara jumped at the sound. SG-1 cringed.
"Get going!!" she heard Jack yell on her radio. She shoved it back into its place, shot the laser beam back up the length of the hall and found her passage was now clear. She ran for her life.
The Jaffa that had been stationed at the entrance broke off. The front guards stayed put, the rear guards headed back in the direction that Becara had gone, and the middle ones left to investigate the immediate area. SG-1 backed up against the wall that held the entrance to the dark room, praying that the Jaffa would pass them by.
...to be continued...
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