By Demon
Faith, Meloko and Stephali
AUTHORS: Demon Faith,
Meloko and Stephali
EMAIL: rosabeth@hotmail.com , meloko8@hotmail.com and stephalij@hotmail.com
CATEGORY: S/D,
Action/Adventure, Drama, Angst, H/C
SPOILERS: A few minor
dotted about: but a general knowledge is all that’s needed.
SEASON/SEQUEL: Set
after Season 4.
RATING: PG-13
CONTENT WARNINGS:
injury, sexual situations, torture, (evil) character death
SUMMARY: SG-1 are
trapped off-world – and another SG-1 have taken their place…
DISCLAIMER: The
original SG-1 belongs to MGM/Showtime/Viacom. The ‘other’ SG1 kinda belong to
us: anything original – looking is the property of the authors. Not to be
archived without the authors permission.
AUTHOR’S NOTES: There
is only one thing I have to say – we survived! We have not been committed to
mental health – yet. Anything you don’t understand, just e-mail us!
DF/xx
Daniel stared at the vast
landscape in front of him; it was perfect in every way. The sun hit the leaves
at just the right point and reflected beautifully. The birds were singing and
for once he’d had a good long sleep. They were all happy, actually, Sam was
more than happy she was ecstatic, as the natives had given her what she
believed to be a miracle drug, everything couldn’t be better.
“It’s too perfect, ” he thought. “Or
maybe I’m just being cynical, I should just enjoy it for how it is, as we only
have a short time left”. As much as all of them liked it, they had to go
home; they’d already stayed longer than they needed to. Jack had told them if
they didn’t go soon they would be tempted to stay forever, and he was right…
but that feeling wouldn’t go away, it just lingered in the air and no matter
how hard he tried to forget it, he just couldn’t.
“Daniel? Daniel, where
are you?”
“Over here, Sam.”
Sam moved towards his
voice, passing through the dense bush to reach the cliff edge and the view
beyond.
“I thought you hated
heights.”
Daniel turned around,
just as Sam stepped through the last metres of scrub.
“But the view is worth
the trouble.”
Sam turned to look, and
gasped with wonder. The sky was filled with orange light and there was an
ambient glow coming from the hills. The fiery red sun had just risen and was
throwing the whole spectre in a blood red light.
“It’s beautiful,” she
whispered.
“Yep, it sure is. Come
on, Jack’ll be looking for us.”
Sam nodded slowly, but
didn’t move from the spot. Daniel sighed, took her arm and began to drag her
backwards.
“Hey! Stop it!”
Sam turned towards him,
trying to look annoyed. Daniel just laughed. She chased him towards the bushes
but suddenly stopped, as the ground began to quake.
“Daniel…”
The archaeologist stopped,
grabbing onto her arm again.
“What’s happening Sam?”
Before she could
answer, the ground beneath split and they fell into the dark chasm below.
~
“Where the hell are
they?”
“I know not, O’Neill.”
Teal’c stopped to consider this. “However, I do believe that they would most
likely be in a close proximity to the tremor we just felt.”
“That would be just
about typical, I suppose. Well, come on. Let’s go look for the little lost
sheep.”
They trudged up the
path, alert for any sight or sound of their missing team-mates. Even if he didn’t want to admit it, Jack was
getting worried, it was unlike Sam to miss a deadline, and the fact she was
responding to her radio either meant that something was almost definitely
wrong. They had finally reached the spot that Daniel and Sam had been admiring,
but any sense of beauty or wonder was lost on them, as their feelings of
anxiety and concern took over.
Teal’c began
unconsciously retracing the steps that his friends had taken only a few minutes
before. He strode towards the bushes, until he saw a strange sight. A small
hole, no larger than an elevator, was cut square into the ground. It looked
cold and black, and seemed to disappear downwards forever.
“O’Neill!” he called
and within seconds, Jack was standing by his side.
“You don’t think
they….?” He didn’t need to finish the question; in his mind there was no doubt
where his colleagues were. “So how are we going to get down there?”
Whatever Teal’c was
about to say was lost in a terrific rumbling sound, like thunder, but coming
from below. Jack shot a glance at him and nodded once. They both stood their
ground, even though it seemed that the planet itself was trying to move them
from this place. In a few seconds it was all over. It was as if nothing ever
happened.
“So what do we do now?”
Jack asked, a rescue plan forming in his mind.
There was no need for
that plan. The ground splintered, as before, shards of rock falling away like
melting snow. Jack lunged for the seemingly unaffected tree, standing only a
few metres away. But it was too late. They were swallowed by the darkness, and
not a trace of their presence remained.
~
“Any report of SG1”
asked the General.
“No, there has been no
contact from them for days” the technician told him.
“Tell me as soon as they
do” the General insisted. “Are any teams on Earth now?”
“SG3 and” he quickly
looked through the files. “They’re the only team here, General”
“Get me SG3 at once and
tell them to be ready immediately”
“Will…” he stopped as a
signal appeared. “It’s …SG1’s signal, Sir”
The General now glad
but a little confused ordered “Open the iris”
The wormhole gushed out
and with it came SG1, with a serious tan.
Hammond walked down to
see them; but this was no greeting.
“Colonel O’Neill you
were due back days ago”
“Sorry, Sir we lost
track of time but Carter did find something which the doc might be interested
in seeing”
Sam reached into her
bag and pulled out a small green herb like plant.
“I’d liked to run some
tests on them Sir”
“Of course Major”
Sam went to her lab to
uncover the mystery.
~
Daniel coughed and
opened his eyes; where was he?
“Sam” he called in
worry.
“I’m here Daniel” she
managed to reply through her splitting headache.
Daniel looked around
him and tried to figure out where they were. A shiver went down his spine. Well it’s cold for a start but it’s lit, by
what? He tried to stand up and fell back down. He looked back up and saw a
friendly face.
“Need any help Daniel”
Sam asked, swaying slightly.
“Are you alright?”
Typical Daniel; caring by nature.
“Yes, but I think I
have a migraine. Give me your hand”
Sam helped Daniel up.
“How do you think it’s lit?” he asked the expert.
“I don….” She stopped
as she saw two people lying on the floor a few feet away.
“Sir! Are you alright?”
Sam took two hurried
steps forward, then stopped when her headache overtook her. Daniel took her
waist and arm, gently helping her lean against the wall…ah, there was a wall!
Daniel’s mind quickly jumped to the conclusion of intelligence. An intelligent earthquake? Jack’s gonna
really hate this…Remembering his friend, Daniel left Sam and went over to
Jack, who was moving to sit up.
“You just had to
wander, didn’t you? I can’t leave you alone for one minute…”
Satisfied that Jack was
his normal self, Daniel glanced over to Teal’c, who was already on his feet.
“Daniel Jackson, you
are injured.”
Daniel frowned, and
then noticed the pain in his side. He looked down and winced. There was a large
gash in his side that had, up to now, dulled its protests because of Daniel’s
worry and guilt. Now, that he was assured everyone was safe, albeit also sorry,
the pain could take over. He just shrugged and made his way back to Sam, who
was looking far worse than he did. He slid slowly down the wall and touched her
arm gently.
“Hey, you okay?”
Sam looked up at him,
and blinked at him rapidly.
“Um…I have a huge
headache. I think I’ve been out for a while.”
“Well, I think we all
have major concussions! No thanks to you two wanderers, who just had to stumble into an earthquake!”
Sam tried to smile and
laugh, but she suddenly saw black creeping across her vision. She tightened her
grip on Daniel’s arm.
“Daniel, help me.
Please, Daniel…”
Sam collapsed to the
floor, completely unconscious.
~
Jack strolled into
Sam’s lab – well, his Sam anyway – and smiled at her.
“How’s it going,
Carter?”
She looked up and
smiled at him. She walked over, pointed to a piece of paper and wrote a
passage:
NO ONE SUSPECTS US.
WE’RE CLEAR FOR NOW. THE PROTOTYPES WILL NEVER ESCAPE. WE ARE PERFECT COPIES.
Jack smiled and picked
up the pen, writing back:
I KNOW. WE WILL SOON
TAKE OVER THIS WORLD AND ADD IT TO THE VAST EMPIRE OF APOPHIS.
She nodded and then
spoke aloud. “Have you seen Daniel recently, sir? I think he was going to go
and look for you.”
“No I haven’t seen him,
but thanks, I’ll go and look for him now.” He went out the door, into the wider
SGC.
~
“Dr. Jackson?” Daniel
turned and scowled, but quickly covered it up. It was one of those really
annoying military linguists who only spoke a few languages and expected him to
translate for them on the spot, it wasn’t as if he had anything better to do
than help them was it?
“Yes,” was all he
answered.
“I was just wondering
if you’d take a look at these markings. Now they seem to be hieroglyphics, but
the word patterns are more compatible with the structure of modern day
Italian…”
Now didn’t that seem
absolutely stupid? Of course this Daniel knew all of these languages and could
easily point out where this young officer was going wrong, but he found it so
absolutely boring. At least the rest of them got interesting jobs.
At the turn of one of
the off-shooting corridors, he saw the form of Jack. He decided to make his
escape.
“Well, you’re doing
fine on your own.”
“I am?”
“Yes. You’ll soon have
this sorted. If you’ll excuse me, I have to talk to Colonel O’Neill.”
He hurried off, glad to
be rid of the linguist and also glad to get the chance to talk to Jack, to see
if their plan had developed any further.
~
Sam opened her heavy
eyes and let the light return to them.
“Sam” said a caring
voice.
Daniel she realised, he was sitting next to
her and a sigh of relief had cast through him, as she had awoken.
“Ah, Carter, you’ve
returned” the Colonel joked.
“Are you alright?”
Daniel’s voice was of pure concern.
“I’m still not a
hundred percent but I’ll manage, thank for asking Sir”
“What?” he defended.
Just as Sam was about
to reply with a snide remark, the Jaffa returned.
“Any luck?”
“Yes I found a hole,
but it’s only big enough for one person to fit through, but not of my size”
Teal’c informed.
They all looked at Sam.
“What?” then she
realised. “I’m not going through there…..suddenly I’m feeling faint again”
“Strange that isn’t
it?” Jack commented.
“Well I took a sudden
turn”
“Major, by the sounds
of it, you’re our only hope” Jack explained in a melodramatic voice.
“But Jack, she’s just
woken up” Daniel reasoned.
“What if I get stuck?”
she asked in attempt to discourage Jack.
“Carter, you’re going through whether you like it or not, even if I
have to physically push you”
Sam agreed, though not
through choice.
“If I do get stuck, be
it on your head, and you better be able to get me out of here” she threatened
him.
She looked at the hole
and saw what Teal’c meant, there was a pretty small gap which no-one else could
have fitted through. “But what if I can’t get through?” she worried
as she reluctantly placed her head in the gap and pushed herself through.
“You alright Carter?”
“So far” she answered
as half her body was in and the rest was still at their end; had it not been so
serious, it would have almost been comical.
She grabbed onto a rock
to help her go forward and felt the ground shake.
“Jack” she cried as the
rocks tumbled around her.
~
Daniel woke up, feeling
ten times worse than when he fell asleep. Oh, that might be because he was
buried under a huge rock! Daniel stared at the massive boulder in horror, as it
sat on his protesting legs. His arms were spread-eagled under quite a few
rocks, and obviously pinned to the ground. It seemed the wall had fallen on
him.
To make matters worse,
Sam, who had been in the wall, was lying unconscious beside him. He heard
someone stir nearby, and, seeing as Teal’c didn’t curse in quite that language (who was he kidding? Teal’c didn’t swear at
all!), it had to be Jack. He tried to call, but the rocks made breathing
difficult. Damn, he always got himself into these stupid situations! So, he
tried another way…
Jack could hear
something. A slow and steady tapping noise drew his attention to rather large
pile of rocks. He moved over to them and gasped.
“Daniel! Are you okay?”
Daniel glared at him,
and Jack grinned sheepishly.
“Okay, so I can see
you’re not. Um…what do you want me to do?”
Daniel was getting
frustrated now. Jack wasn’t quite that thick, was he? Then, Sam woke up.
“What the hell
happened?”
She stood up, clutching
her head. She glanced at Jack and then followed his eyes to Daniel.
“Daniel! Oh, let me
help you out!”
Then, Jack caught on.
Together, they started to move the smaller rocks from Daniel’s chest, Sam
apologising profusely every time Daniel yelled.
“ O’Neill, Major
Carter; do you require assistance?”
Teal’c bounded up and
took over Sam’s position, meaning she could try and make Daniel more
comfortable as the pain got worse.
“Carter, we’ll need
your help with this boulder.”
Sam nodded, squeezed
Daniel’s hand, and then helped them try and shift the boulder. Daniel fully
screamed, but the boulder was gone. Sam sat back beside him, and cradled him
gently in her arms.
~
Sam was typing, Jack
looking anxiously over her shoulder. He wasn’t sure that their plan would work
and if didn’t: he knew he would be the one blamed for it.
“Are you there yet?” he
asked impatiently.
“Not yet. But I will
be. And soon.” He lay his hand firmly on her shoulder, gripping it tightly.
“Good. We wouldn’t want
to keep the General waiting.”
Finally, she brought up
the computer program from which she could assess all the iris codes and disable
them. It had taken her a long time to get into them, as they had been very well
protected. Unfortunately for the SGC, Sam Carter had protected them, and as she
was the one breaking in, it was inevitable that she’d get there in the end.
“Now, we know what
we’re doing, right?” Jack said slowly.
“Of course we do.”
Suddenly they heard a
loud sneeze, followed by the sound of someone falling violently to the floor.
“Damn it!” said Jack, “If that’s Daniel…”
It did indeed turn out
to be Daniel. Surprisingly though, he was not the one slumped on the floor, or
the one staring in horrified shock. He was the one laughing at the scene, in a
rather evil kind of way.
“Daniel! What the hell
is going on?” Well Jack thought, have to stay in character.
“Sergeant Rogers was
fixing those fiddly control panels things…. And then Dr. Frasier came up behind
him to tell him something, but instead she sneezed…. And he was a bit shocked,
so he turned round really fast…. And hit her.”
Sam burst out into the
corridor. “Oh my God! Janet?”
The well-trained
medical response team was already there, attending to her. “Excuse me Major
Carter, but could we use your office for a moment, since it’s just over there?”
Sam could think of no
reason to say no. “Of course,” she said, winking at Jack. He understood and
rushed in, flicking off the power to her computer and shutting it down.
“We’ll only be a few
minutes, then we’ll move her to the infirmary.”
“As long as she’s all
right.” Sam said that with the sweetest voice she could muster, but inside she
was feeling as bitter and evil as a vampire, she could almost taste the
blood…..
Perhaps this wasn’t
going to be that bad after all.
~
Daniel winced as he
attempted to stand up with Sam’s help, as he gripped tightly on her shoulder,
he decided pain did have it’s perks after all! But that feeling didn’t last……
“Daniel I’m sorry, but
I can’t keep this up, my head still spinning, Jack can you take over?” Sam
asked.
“What take hold of that
lump!”
“Excuse me” Daniel
protested. “I’m not that heavy!”
“Well I didn’t mean
that” he paused. “Well actually I did, I should think about……”
Daniel glared at Jack
with a thanks-a-lot look.
So it was the strong
Jaffa that carried Daniel to the…
“Er, Jack, remember how
our only escape route got blocked up” she reminded him.
“Then how exactly are
we meant to get out of here?”
As much as Jack wanted
to have the solution, he didn’t have a clue. They were stuck and there wasn’t
anything they could do about it.
~
Daniel was feeling
powerful. He strolled through the corridor, until he came to Jack’s office. He
opened the door, and saw Sam sitting in the middle, deep in meditation. Jack
and Teal’c were nowhere to be seen, so Daniel locked the door and sat down
beside Sam. Colonel’s offices have no
video cameras…he thought gleefully.
“Daniel, you wanted
something?”
Daniel leaned close to
her, so that his breath was warm on her neck.
“You need me to answer
that?”
Sam opened one eye
lazily, before stretching out her legs and leaning back on one hand.
“And have you thought
about what I want?”
Daniel mimicked her
position, and raised an eyebrow.
“What you’ve always
wanted…”
Sam threw herself at
her Daniel, sending him to the floor, as she lolled on top.
“Wants are dangerous
things…”
“Who cares?”
Sam kissed her Daniel
deeply, before the outside world was lost to them.
~
Teal’c laid Daniel
gently on a nearby piece of flat ground. Sam sat down next to him, and he
looked up in concern.
“Are you okay?”
Sam eyed him
sceptically.
“Shouldn’t I be the one
asking that?”
“You know it’s really
not so bad.”
Sam studied him.
“Really?”
He tried to lie but it
didn’t work. “Yes… no.”
“Do not worry Daniel
Jackson, we will find a way out of here soon.”
“Thanks Teal’c. I hope
so.”
~
Teal’c headed up to the
briefing room; he needed to speak to Hammond to confirm something. Something
important.
“Ah Teal’c! What can I
do for you?”
“General Hammond, are
there currently any teams off world?”
“No I don’t think so.
SG6 got back two hours ago and no one is scheduled to leave until your mission
tomorrow. Is there a problem?”
“No General Hammond, I
was wondering if the Stargate would be activated again today. Sometimes its
vibrations disturb my meditation.”
“Well you’ve got
nothing to worry about. No one will be coming through that gate while I’m
around.”
“The same goes for me.”
Teal’c turned away, he
had to find Jack and tell him that the coast was clear. Any time they wanted
they could use the Stargate. And now the iris was temporarily deactivated, who
knew who would be paying Earth a visit.
~
Jack paced for the
hundredth time. “I can’t stand doing nothing,
there must be some way out”
“In theory, no-one
would build a place without an entrance…” she stopped and the obvious came to
her. “What am I saying, there has to be an entrance otherwise they couldn’t
have got out, or in”
“Maybe it got covered
with the constant earthquakes,” Daniel suggested.
“How are you feeling?”
asked Sam, how many times had she said those words? Each time they left earth,
she feared for his safety, oh Daniel………
“My chest still hurts a
bit…………”
“Do you want me to
check to see if you’re okay?” Sam asked quickly: what if he was really hurt?
“I’ll be fine, I just
don’t think I’ll be going to the gym for a week…………”
Jack burst out laughing
and couldn’t control himself.
“What’s so funny?”
Daniel asked.
“Nothing” Jack replied
calming himself down. “You made a joke”. “Gym…” Jack muttered.
“You’re ok then?” Sam
clarified.
“I’m fine…”
“Carter, Danny been in
a lot worse situations than this, anyway we have more important matters to deal
with, like the fact we’re stuck with no food, nothing” Jack reminded everyone.
“We need to find the exit, now, as I don’t think this place will ever grow on me”
“Ok Sir, what do you think we should do?”
“Ok, then Major, you go down there, don’t go to
far, cause Danny here’s pretty helpless, if anyone tries to attack……….” Jack
ordered but was cut off by Sam.
“Who?”
“I don’t know, just
because we haven’t met the natives, doesn’t mean there aren’t any” Jack
reminded them. “Teal’c you go that way and I’ll go down here, are we clear?”
“As day” Sam muttered.
“Right come back here”
he looked at his watch. “In about half an hour, if you find anything, you come
back here, you don’t go on, Ok?” Jack checked.
“Definitely” Sam
commented. “See you soon Daniel”
“Bye”. Daniel watched
her and everyone go; so what was he going to do?
Sam walked slowly down;
what seemed to be a never-ending path. “Everything’s
the same, haven’t they heard of decorating? Oh I wonder what I’m going to find
down here?” she wondered as she turned the corner. “More stone, how exciting!” She stopped. A faint dripping sound, she
sped up her pace; the sound got louder.
“Water” Sam said in
glee. She bent down and swept the cool water on her face, the water dripping
into her mouth. “It’s fresh”. She
scooped another handful into her hand and drank. “What am I doing? This is what we wanted, our way out. If I follow the
water, in theory, it should lead us out of here”
She turned round to return to the others when a hard object hit her
head. Sam slumped to the floor and fell in to unconsciousness.
~
“Sam?”
Sam lazily opened her
eyes and smiled.
“Daniel.”
He smiled back, fingers
trailing down her chin.
“You don’t know how
long I’ve wanted to do that…”
“The prototype, not you. You’re the replica,
aren’t you? Hang on, if we’re the replicas…”
“Then, how come we can
do this?”
Sam stared deeply into
her Daniel’s eyes, knowing that somewhere there was another, with another Sam,
possibly doing exactly what they were doing. However, not in Jack’s office.
Prototype Jack’s office. For the first time, Sam had an overwhelming feeling of
unease: this wasn’t her world, this wasn’t even her time. She was living
someone else’s life, and for what? To please a Goa’uld. The thought made her
sick. This wasn’t what the Amalai were for: they were peaceful, loving people.
Now, Apophis had found them after many centuries of searching, and had
harnessed their shape-shifting abilities for his own use. However, she wasn’t
going to think about it. The act was everything: she was Samantha Carter and he was Daniel Jackson. And the act must
continue…
~
Daniel woke up to
beating drums, wondering what the hell was going on. And found himself hanging
from the ceiling. Upside down. And it hurt.
“You are awake,
stranger.”
Daniel hissed with the
pain, wondering just why someone felt like stringing him up on the ceiling.
“Who the hell are you?
Where are my friends?”
“Your friends? The
others in the caves? Why, you are one of them?”
The alien was suddenly
very frustrated, and Daniel rolled his eyes. Well, at least the others are okay.
“Yes I am. Um… we’re
peaceful explorers from another planet, we didn’t mean you any harm.”
“We could see that from
the others, but you? We will not be so easily fooled.”
“What?! Sorry, let me rephrase
that. You think I’m here to hurt you and the others aren’t?”
“We have no reason to
believe your story. Those such as yourself are accomplished liars.”
This was going nowhere
fast. An expression more suited to Jack sprang into Daniel’s mind. Oh for cryin’ out loud…
“What have I done? Why
do you not believe me?”
The alien poked its
finger into Daniel’s wound, causing him to yell out. “That is proof enough. I
will leave you to your torture.”
~
“How you feeling
Carter?”
Sam lifted her head up.
“Like someone’s continually beating my head, as if it’s a drum”
“That bad”
“I gather aspirins are
out of the question” Sam joked
“I’m afraid so”
Sam opened her eyes
fully, and looked around her. “Jack where are...” there was someone missing.
“Where’s Daniel?”
Jack looked at the
floor.
“Where is he?” she
insisted.
“They, have him”
“Who
exactly are they?” she demanded.
“An alien” Teal’c
explained.
“So why Daniel, and not
us?”
“We’re not sure either,
maybe they didn’t like his face!” Jack remarked.
Sam gave Jack an evil
look.
“Ok, maybe now isn’t
the best time for jokes, but the fact of the matter is, we’re stuck”
“Right, they have
Daniel...somewhere, and we are where exactly?” she asked.
“Somewhere in this
cave, they don’t believe we’re threats but they’re still wary”
“Which is why we’re in
a...prison, and Daniel’s not?” Sam said in frustration; the situation was
hopeless.
“O’Neill, they seemed
to look suspiciously at Daniel Jackson’s injuries” Teal’c told him.
“Really” Jack responded
as he hadn’t noticed it, actually the fact was these, alien species were hardly
nice to look at, he wanted to spend as little time as possible looking at them.
“What’s so fascinating
about injuries?”
“Maybe, their race
doesn’t injure easily and they’re fascinated or even wary of it?” Sam
suggested.
“Ok so they’ve got
some, thing for injuries” Jack
searched his mind for any way this could possibly help them but found nothing.
“Which doesn’t help us at all, and we’re basing this all on one suspicious
glance, we are doing well,” he added with a sarcastic tone.
“There must be some way
out of here,” Sam reasoned.
“Sam, its rock, there’s
no way out, unless you have an idea”
“No, I don’t ” she
admitted.
“This is just how I
wanted to spend my day...”
~
Daniel felt very sick.
His head was throbbing, and the steady drip of blood wasn’t helping much
either. Oh, why is life so unfair? No
one felt like answering.
Suddenly, a young
woman, the same sickly mottled green as the rest, walked in. She carried a bowl
of water and a cloth and looked as if she was afraid of being seen. She had a
jagged scar just above her eyebrow.
“I do not believe you
to be Evil. You have suffered as I have.”
She pointed to the scar
on her forehead, smiling sadly
“My skin was cut by an
Evil blade. This is why I serve. They believe markings such as mine are the
Evil’s sign. And you have a large marking…”
Daniel tried to keep
track of her ramblings, a difficult task while hanging upside down.
“You must release me. I
need to see my friends.”
The girl looked at him
steadily and shook her head.
“I can’t. The Elders
will return soon, and punish us.”
Daniel was liking this
less ands less. Evil blades? Elders? This sounded like some warped nightmare.
“What’s your name?”
“I am Sadie.”
“Well, Sadie, I think
its time for a revolution.”
~
Sam was getting
frustrated. The plan was not coming together. And Daniel was becoming
increasingly…distracting… No, she
told her herself. I have to keep my mind
on the job… even if…
At that moment Teal’c marched in, his face caught up in a panic that
would normally be associated with his usual self. “Major Carter, I suggest you
report to the infirmary immediately.”
“My God Teal’c, what’s
happened?”
He tried to keep
himself from breaking down, but failed rather miserably. “It’s that Mikau…”
Sam stared in horror,
“You mean Jack. You know Jack O’Neill, he’s not Mikau any longer.”
“But he is…” His voiced
trailed off.
“Then they have
discovered who he really is?”
“No, he showed them. He
told me that he could not bear to watch these people, this planet be enslaved
by the Goa’uld. He said it was not what Jack O’Neill would do.”
Well that’s shed a whole new light on things, Sam thought. I
was prepared to go through with this. I was prepared to watch Janet, General
Hammond and the others become the slaves of our enemy, just to save my own
life. What kind of an Amalai am I? I could not have disobeyed Mikau though;
after all he’s done for my brother and me.
“What’s wrong with Mikau? You have to tell me.”
“Since he has lost his
shape, he cannot find the strength to continue harnessing the ‘oxygen’ of this
planet.”
“Why doesn’t he just
change back?”
Teal’c said nothing.
“Answer me!” she
yelled. “Listen Darmani, I need to know.”
At the sound of his
real name, Darmani halted. He stepped closer to his sister and asked, “You know
how it takes a particular state of mind to change your form? And that any
outside disturbance can prevent it?” She nodded. “Are you really ready to hear
this?”
“What kind of a
question is that? You’ve known me all my life, you know I’m strong enough to
handle it.”
“I know you’re good
friends with Gryorg, and that the relationship between Dr. Jackson and Major
Carter only strengthened yours, but Cremia, whatever he’s promised you,
whatever he’s said, it’s all lies. He’s not allowing Mikau to return to
O’Neill’s form and it’s killing him. He’s waiting for Apophis to come and then
he’ll turn us all in, even you.”
Cremia, Sam, whoever
she was, she drew herself up straight and raised her head high. “Come on
Darmani, just like the old days. We’re the cavalry and we’re ready to win.”
“Just let me remind you
of one thing. I don’t want to see anyone die here, but especially not you.
You’re my sister, and I’m ready to fight whoever hurts you. But Gryorg, he’s different.
He won’t mind betraying us all and he’ll use any advantage he can find. If that
means blackmailing the part of you that is Sam Carter, by appearing as Daniel,
then he will. Don’t let him win, remember who your real friends are.”
“I promise Darmani. No
one hurts Mikau and gets away with it. Even if I did sleep with them.”
That was news to
Darmani, but wisely, he kept that to himself.
~
Sam just couldn’t stop
worrying about Daniel. A thousand ‘what ifs ’ went through her mind. What if he
was hurt, or worse.............She couldn’t bare thinking about it. She
couldn’t stand just sitting about, in anticipation, not knowing whether they
would get out or even what they wanted with them, or even who ‘they’ were? A
thousand questions and she couldn’t answer a single one.
Her mind was racing, a
plan. She had to think of one, before she and Jack, by the look of things, went
crazy. His constant pacing was beginning to make her dizzy and was definitely
irritating.
Her thoughts went back
to the missing archaeologist. “Where are
you Daniel?” Daniel’s track record was hardly comforting; no matter how
hard he tried, he always seemed to be the one to get hurt.
“Jack stop pacing” She
insisted.
He stopped and looked
at her. “It helps me think”
“It makes me dizzy” she told him. “So has it
helped, any bright ideas?”
“You interrupted my
thoughts,” he complained.
“Really” she muttered.
Jack was just going to
make a sarcastic come back when the door flew open.
“The Elders request to
see you”
They all looked at each
other and followed her to their fate.
~
Gryorg sat in the
prototype’s office, thinking of what he was doing. He concentrated on Mikau’s
energy, moulding it back to its original form. Mikau would not escape him. He
needed him dead, away from here. Cremia could not be his until Mikau was dead.
Gryorg was descended from the greatest Amalai of all, and Mikau was a mere
soldier in the lowliest ranks. But Apophis had made Mikau the leader, casting
Gryorg in a very distasteful role. The only advantage to Daniel Jackson was his
obvious attachment to Samantha Carter, Cremia’s role. And when Mikau was dead,
nothing could stop him. Darmani would be easy prey, and Cremia would be his.
Gryorg smiled to
himself. Mikau was almost in his natural form – Gryorg could go back home in
glory, tell the Amalai’s less-evolved cousins, the Terrata, that the Elders had
fought a great battle, but only he had survived. The simple idiots would buy
it, and then he could explore this universe. There were better games now: The
System Lords, Asgard, Tok’ra – lots of brilliant roles, all his for the taking.
Gryorg had never felt so alive: there was nothing that could stop him…
“Gryorg? I need to talk
to you.”
Cremia. She had come to him, would beg for Mikau’s life at
his feet. He couldn’t wait for this scene to begin.
~
“I cannot!”
Sadie ran out of the
room, head in her hands. What did he say? Daniel was very confused. He twisted
in his restraints, gritting his teeth when the metal chain dug into his ankles.
He had to get out of there.
He had been studying
the mechanism that had him suspended from the ceiling. The chain was strung
through a hook in the ceiling and then came down onto a T-shaped piece of metal
sticking out of the wall. Daniel concentrated carefully, and started to swing.
Gradually, he built up momentum; trying to ignore the pain it was causing him.
Soon, he was swinging the full length of the chain and could reach out to the
metal…
Daniel grabbed the
piece of metal, pulling himself to it, feeling the chain pull tight. He just
resisted the urge to scream, holding the metal tightly with one hand, while
unwinding the chain from around the metal. Just as he unwound the last loop,
the chain slipped out of his hand. The chain flew through the hook, dropping
Daniel quickly and suddenly to the floor. The metal ripped a gash in his hand,
and his back crashed into the hard stone floor. Daniel rolled over, trying to
control the agony.
After a few moments, he
slowly sat up, reaching painfully towards his legs. It was a simple sliding
mechanism, and the cuffs came off easily. Daniel slowly got to his feet; hand
over the blood-soaked patch of his shirt that concealed his wound. The door was
still open: they weren’t worried about escape. Daniel moved out of the cell,
and into the corridor, fighting to stay conscious. He could hear voices nearby
and was sure he recognised them…he made his way to the door. As he approached,
the voices got louder and louder. He turned the stiff handle, and the door
swung open.
“Daniel!”
Satisfied he was safe,
Daniel knew he could rest. He collapsed forward, letting the darkness take him.
~
“What do you think
you’re doing Gryorg? I know you’ve done some terrible things in the past, but
this?”
“I’m doing what we were
ordered to do, what we were paid to do. Surely the benefits of completing this
mission successfully are - how shall I put it - an incentive?”
“How can you even
consider it? Mikau has done a lot for you, you know?” Cremia flashed with
anger, literally, her form losing some its stability as the emotions rose up
inside her.
“Temper, Cremia, temper. You wouldn’t want to be like our poor friend
Mikau now, would you? Such a shame that he let the feelings of his prototype
interfere with the saving of our race.”
“Stop hurting him!
You’re doing it now aren’t you? You’re still killing him!”
“My mind is merely
preoccupied, but I admit, my thoughts have wandered to him now and again.”
Cremia closed her eyes
and concentrated. She didn’t care who Gryorg was, but he was killing Mikau and
she would stop him somehow. She pictured it in her mind, his atoms, molecules,
his very being, and in her mind she saw it flow back into his original form.
Gryorg walked over to her and grabbed her head roughly, her eyes flung open in
panic.
“Trying something, are we?”
he asked.
She gulped, for it took
even the most skilled Amalai several hours to complete the transformation and
even then, when they were totally undisturbed. It was different, of course,
transfiguring yourself, which could be done in just a few minutes, providing no
one else was blocking your thoughts. Cremia was trying to change Gryorg though,
just to take his mind off Mikau and allow him to regain his strength. If Mikau
could just assert his feelings of control over the invading ones, he would be all
right. He needed more time though.
“I think I’d like to
see you die here,” she said.
“Sam, honey, don’t talk
to me like that. I am, after all, what you believe to be your soul mate. You
love me don’t you? Deep inside of you, it’s there, you cannot deny it.”
Cremia recognised what
he was doing, trying to trap her within the feelings of her prototype, the same
thing which had led Mikau to this whole situation in the first place. She
wasn’t going to let him, she was stronger than that. But deep inside, she knew
a longing more powerful that anger was eating away at her. She still loved him.
Cremia thought quickly,
there has to be another way! But her
racing heart couldn’t find one. There was only one thing left to do, but it was
killing her to even try.
~
Janet was worried,
confused, angry, frightened, confused, scared, bewildered and extremely
confused all at the same time. What had
been going on around here lately?
The whole of SG1 had
been acting...weird, to say the least. Ever since.... “They returned from P39 5X” she realised. “ What happened there? And where in the world is Jack”. She
wondered, as she hadn’t seen him in days. She was going to figure out what had
happened on that planet, before things got any weirder. She left her office in
search of General Hammond but heard a voice calling her.
“Janet”
“Yes, Daniel”. She
turned around slowly; worried at what he might do.
“Sam’s hurt” he
explained. “In one of the science labs”
“How bad?”
“She needs your help
immediately”
~
“Daniel” Sam screamed
as he crumpled to the floor.
The guards turned round
pointing their spears.
Jack signalled to
Teal’c. “Time to use our initiative”
Teal’c slammed one of
the guards to the wall while Jack grabbed another from behind. After sending
them both to the floor they swiftly grabbed their spears.
“Jack” Sam mumbled.
The last guard was
holding a spear near her throat.
Jack turned round
quickly and stabbed the man with the spear. “Teal’c, can you carry Daniel?”
The Jaffa didn’t need
to be told twice and awaited his next orders.
“Now to get out of here”
They raced through the
corridors, trying to find somewhere to be safe. Sam could feel her heart
pounding in her chest, as she ran her very fastest. She kept glancing at
Daniel’s still form, wondering what they had done to him. When I get my hands on them…
Suddenly, Sam saw a
door. It was exactly like the walls – blending in naturally. She pulled Jack to
a halt, who in turn grabbed hold up Teal’c. Sam placed her hand instinctively
in the centre, and the door slid open. They rushed in, and the door closed
behind them.
“Evil!”
They turned suddenly,
to see one of the female aliens nursing a child in her lap. A girl attended to
her, and she looked up as well.
“No, he is the one they
caught!”
The girl stood and walked
over to Daniel, touching his face lightly. Sam bristled, but Jack held her
back. Daniel’s eyes opened weakly, and he frowned.
“Sadie?”
The girl nodded, and
turned back to the other woman.
“It is all right. I
know this man. He is not Evil.”
The woman relaxed, and
Sadie indicated a linen couch. Teal’c laid Daniel gently upon it, and Sam knelt
next to him. Sadie handed Sam a bowl and cloth.
“You can help him?”
“I’ll try.”
Sadie nodded, and
returned to the woman, bandaging a deep gash on her wrist.
“Hide from the Guards
for three days. Then, tell them you were lost. There shall be no markings.”
“Thank you, Sadie.”
The woman stood,
carrying her child, and exited through a door in the back of the room. Sam had
already started cleaning Daniel’s wounds, apologising profusely when he winced.
Soon, she came to the large wound on his abdomen. It looked to be infected. Sam
cleaned it carefully and dressed it, before arranging the pillows to make
Daniel more comfortable.
“How are you feeling?”
“Better. Thank you.”
“No trouble.”
Sadie was sitting with
Jack and Teal’c then, and she nudged Jack and whispered,
“They are married
then?”
“Hell, no. Just good
friends.”
Sadie frowned, before
turning back to Jack.
“Friends do not gaze
so.”
Jack watched Sam carefully,
the ways her eyes unwaveringly fixed on Daniel; how her hand moved gently over
his skin; how she talked in warm and comforting tones. Perhaps Sadie was
right…but it couldn’t be, could it?
“I’m not sure, Sadie.”
Sadie just kept looking
at them, and she smiled.
“But I am.”
~
General Hammond was
disturbed to say the least: it seemed as if nothing had gone right recently. He
stared down at his transmitter, not knowing what to say in response to the
threats he had received. In the corner of his office, Mikau slouched, dying. He
barely resembled Jack O’Neill anymore; instead his finer, paler skin and
dishevelled, weaker limbs were unravelling their secrets. The Amalai was
revealing his true colours, but he wasn’t the only one.
The radio had stuttered
once, several moments beforehand, issuing an ultimatum. Gryorg had contacted
them, dictating a series of harsh demands, or threatening them with total
annihilation. Hammond had been considering refusing outright, but a
heart-breaking scream from Janet had changed his mind. Gryorg had taken her,
tortured her, wearing the face of one of her best friends. George also heard
the plaintive cries of Carter, or whomever she was, in the background, pleading
with Daniel not to take this any further. But he hadn’t listened, and Hammond
had been forced to listen to their pain.
“Don’t!” Just one word
left Mikau’s lips, his voice cracking before he could say anymore.
General Hammond studied
him, wondering why on Earth he should allow himself to be swayed by the
judgement of this creature. This thing had deceived him, abandoned his team and
abused his staff. He had come into the base with one thing only in mind, to
hand the Tau’ri over to Apophis. Why should he even listen to Mikau’s words?
But he looked harder.
He saw Jack there, he saw aspects of himself. Hammond saw Mikau as a leader of
a team in a hostile, unfamiliar environment, forced into slavery by an evil
dictator. Yet he saw him as someone who was trying to make things right,
risking his own life in the process. Hammond knew he should listen, because
Mikau was asking him to do the right thing. He nodded to the alien, who he had
known for short a time and grimaced, preparing himself for what he was about to
say.
“We have heard your
demands, Gryorg, and we understand them. But in no circumstance will I allow
this facility to fall into enemy control. I will be sending a patrol to your
destination and when they will find you, your life will indeed be terminated.”
Despite his previous
control over the situation, there was a definite sense of panic in Gryorg’s
reply. “But… but what about the hostages? Will you let your doctor die?”
Mikau stood up for the
first time, still wincing in pain, but stronger, he had just regained some
control over himself. “Listen Gryorg, this is about you and me. Let Dr. Frasier
and Cremia go and then we can do this one on one.”
“Ah Mikau, I didn’t
think I’d be hearing from you so soon. I’m glad that…”
“Shut up! Shut up! This
is your fault and we’re going to finish it here. You better start praying to
your god, because you’re gonna need all the help you can get.” Mikau moved to
burst out the door, when a warning suddenly sounded in the embarkation room.
“Unauthorised Gate
activation. Unauthorised Gate activation. Defence teams to the Embarkation
Room. This is not a drill! I repeat, this is not a drill!”
Hammond and Mikau
rushed to the control room, Mikau automatically taking control of the
situation. It was in Jack’s nature. He looked to the technician, as a grinding,
hissing sound started sounding from the iris.
“The iris is not
holding, sir. It’s under attack.”
“Can you divert power?”
“Negative. We’re using
the maximum available already!”
Suddenly Gryorg’s voice
echoed round the room, amplified by the radio he was holding. “Seems my God is
already here. You better start praying for his mercy, not that he’ll give you
any, but it’ll be fun to see you beg.”
Mikau turned to him,
furious. “You planned this all along, didn’t you?”
“Maybe I did. But
foolish, old, self-confident Mikau, you missed it didn’t you? Well now you’re
going to face up to your mistake. Apophis is all-powerful and he’ll be here
very soon.”
~
“Do what? Obey our God,
isn’t that what we were sent here to do? Do you not remember who you are, has
this planet made you loose your mind. You are not Samantha Carter; you’re an Amalai, sent by Apophis. You know
the plan Cremia, he’s here now, choose your side, but I’m warning you, make
sure it’s the right one”
“You mean, your one, never” she shouted.
“ Such a waste, but you
do have a choice, well death or victory by a God.” He grabbed her face. “A God
Cremia, not just a petty human”. He threw her to the floor. “Then again, you
were always weak”
She looked up at him,
in pure hatred. “I can’t believe I ever loved you, if I’d known what you’d
become, I would have stopped myself” she said bitterly.
“The point is you still
do, our love will not die, but you might”
“Our love did die, it
died the day you went against me”
“So heartbreaking” he
replied sarcastically walking to the door. He turned back “I have a world to
conquer”
“Do you not remember
what he did to your mother, you’re whole family”
He turned around and
for one moment, she was sure she saw a tear in his eye. “How dare you speak of
them!”
“True, though, he
killed them one by one; but before he did, he tortured them, slowly.........”
“Stop it” he demanded.
“Apophis will make your death slow”
“Can you imagine the
pain they went through, your little sister was still only a toddler...?”
“Stop it now, otherwise
I’ll make you” he threatened.
Cremia coughed and the
door landed heavily on the floor and before Gryorg could do anything he was hit
on the back of the head, sending him into complete darkness.
~
“You look tired, Sam.”
Jack, Teal’c and Sadie
were still covertly watching them, Jack realising just how much he had missed
before. The gestures, the smiles, the total understanding between them – no
wonder Sadie thought they were married.
“Are you sure you’ll be
alright?”
“The others are here,
I’ll be fine. Just rest.”
Sam sighed, gathered a
few cushions and lay on the floor beside Daniel. It only took a few minutes
before her figure relaxed, and she finally fell asleep. Daniel watched her,
smiling lazily. He was so lucky to have a friend like Sam. Someone he could
trust, confide in, rely on and simply enjoy being with. She was the one
constant in his shifting universe, what made him smile when he thought of her,
what made him never wish for more. She meant so much to him – there were no
words to describe it. He owed her everything, a debt he could never hope to
pay. Their friendship was the most important thing in his life, but its limits
cast a shadow on his heart.
“Dan-yel, you are
well?”
“Yes, Sadie, I’m feeling
much better.”
Sadie glanced between
Sam and Daniel, smiling to herself.
“You care for her?”
“Very much.”
Daniel reached down and
brushed the hair out of Sam’s eyes.
“As she cares for you.”
With that, Sadie stood
and walked away, leaving Daniel feeling very confused and doubtful. As she cares for you. Just words,
meaningless. Sam and him possessed a torment that no one could understand:
empty vessels holding no wine; leafless trees that bear no fruit and shattered
hearts that can never love.
~
Janet clambered up from
the floor, though it was clear the motion hurt her. She needed to stop the
blood that was pouring from her arm, from the wounds, which were still
stinging. She looked at the dark form that was Teal'c who was standing in the
door.
"Thank you,"
she gasped. "I don't know what came over Daniel. Any ideas Sam? And what
was that about his sister? And what the hell's going on? What about
Apophis?"
It was clear to Cremia
that Janet was still seriously in pain, as her hands were shaking and her eyes
seemed to have trouble focusing. She was also confused, having missed the fact
that this SG1 were not who they seemed. A sudden thought flashed across her
mind. What if they survived this? What if
the prototype SG1 came back? How would Janet react to seeing Daniel, when she
thinks he's done this to her? She was about to explain, but was reminded
harshly of problems, which needed acting on sooner. Sorry Janet, she mentally wrote, I'll explain later.
Darmani looked briefly
from one to the other. "Perhaps it would be kindest...."
Cremia nodded. Darmani
tapped Janet skilfully on the back of her head and she collapsed into his arms.
"I'm sorry, friend," he said, "But at least you'll be safe for
now,"
A booming voice
suddenly echoed throughout the complex, everyone's worse fears had come true.
#This is your god Apophis. People of the Tau'ri, you will surrender to me.
Disobey me and you will all be destroyed#
"Looks like the
party's begun."
"Cremia, did
anyone ever tell you that you had the worst sense of humour?"
"Several times,
but don't you think we should get going?"
"Plan A or plan
B?"
"I guess we'll
just have to see how it goes."
~
A Jaffa ran up the ramp
to the Stargate, bowing respectfully as he approached Apophis. "My Lord,
the Amalai are here to welcome you."
#Send them in.#
Cremia and Darmani
marched solemnly in through the door, both stopping what they deemed to be a
safe distance away from Apophis.
#The plan worked, did
it not? #
Cremia stepped forward,
"Perfectly, my Lord. Your plan was as excellent as ever."
#Where are Gryorg and
Mikau? Surely they would not dishonour me by staying away?#
"They both deeply
regret not being here to make you welcome but the tasks they are performing are
both of the utmost importance."
#I understand. Send
them to me as soon as possible#
"Yes, my
Lord."
#Dismissed#
~
“As much as I love,
this planet and the cosy relationship we’ve got going here” he looked straight
at Sam and Daniel. Why can’t they just
get their act together? “ For my sanity’s sake, we need a plan. Sadie you
know this place better than any of us, how do we get out?”
“There are many
guards...” she warned.
“We can deal with man
power, those last guards didn’t know what hit them!”
They all groaned, for once even Teal’c understood the comment, but the
‘joke’ was lost on Sadie.
“What about these
Elders?” wondered Sam.
“They are very wise and
they’ve have deliberately designed this place, so escape will not be easy”
“What about a plan of
this place?” Daniel suggested.
“We hardly have pen or
paper” Jack replied in disbelief.
“But we do have rocks
and a wall”
Sam saw where he was
going and picked up a rock for her.
“Draw everything you
can think of,” she told her.
Sadie looked at them
doubtfully, but started to draw. She finished what seemed to Jack, an eternity
later. She stood by it: proud of her work.
“Quite the artist
aren’t we” Jack commented at the vast detail she’d gone into. “So now we have the diagram, explain what
you mean and any helpful information like, where the guards are”
~
#Bring in the
prisoners# Apophis demanded.
Cremia watched in
dismay as his guards led out Mikau as well as, what seemed to be the whole
base. “Gryorg, how could you”. She
felt Darmani’s grip her hand and she looked at him with tears forming in her
eyes. “I thought he believed us!” she
thought as she remembered Apophis’s first reaction.
#You thought you could
disobey a God # he shouted. #Or have
you forgotten that you worship me. Where is Gryorg? I demand to see him# He looked at Cremia
and Darmani. #Now#
Cremia could stand this no longer. Fire was building inside her, energy
converging on her position. Her anger fuelled her and she knew what she had to
do.
“You are no God! We are
the Amalai, masters of disguise. You thought you could control us, but you
cannot even begin.”
Apophis looked angered,
but Cremia was past anger and well into fury. And her rage could be contained
no longer. With a roar, she morphed suddenly into a huge serpent-like creature,
hissing and spitting. Cremia lunged towards Apophis, seized him in her jaws and
shook him like a rag doll, sinking her venomous fangs into his limp body.
“Cremia watch out!”
The Stargate was
dialling. Cremia knew she couldn’t move in time. Or, maybe she could…
Cremia leapt towards
the Control Room, and smashed through the window and into the room, her tail
sliding down the stairs. She dropped Apophis onto the floor, before morphing
back into Samantha Carter.
“I think that’s the end
of this invasion.”
Dusting off her jacket,
she sauntered down to the Gate room.
~
Jack looked at the
‘couple’, well they would be if they got
their act together, he didn’t have the heart to wake them but if we want to get out of
here.............
“Carter” he shook her.
Her head slumped and
she slowly opened her eyes; she was surprised to find that she’d been sleeping
in Daniel’s lap. Daniel then woke; they stared at each other, and Sam stood up.
“Yes, Sir” she try to
sound formal, in order to avoid the awkwardness.
“Do we all know the
plan?” asked Jack.
They all nodded.
“So go get you’re
weapons” he ordered. “We don’t have much time”
Jack and Teal’c stood
by the door, waiting in anticipation. They had one chance, and a single fault
could ruin the whole escape. They listened carefully next to the entrance,
awaiting the distinct sound of footsteps. A small sound came from down the
corridor and they both tightened their grip. Jack signalled as he heard what
they had been waiting for: footsteps.
Quickly Jack pressed
the device to open the door and Teal’c walked out slowly, his staff weapon in
position to pull the trigger, he checked for guards but as they hoped he found
none. He nodded and they all moved swiftly out the door. They followed Jack as
he led them into a room, which, if his memory served, would lead them out of
this place. When he’d reached the room he watched his team move towards safety
and saw in horror a shot being fired into Sam’s back.
~
Watching from the not
so relative comfort of the observation room window, General Hammond finally
allowed himself to smile. Although a part of him wished that his SG1 could be the ones to finish off
Apophis all the same, he was still very, very, very glad that their arch
nemesis had finally been killed. And this time, there would be no Sokar to save
him. It was over. Finally.
Mikau picked himself up
off the floor and sank into a chair. He looked stronger now, happier, as if a
great weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Still in the form of Jack
O'Neill he waved to Cremia and Darmani in the Gate room below, who upon seeing
their leader well again, dashed up a flight of stairs to meet him.
Hammond watched
somewhat in amusement. It you hadn't have known they were Amalai, you would
have thought they were the real SG1, saving the planet yet again from being
taken over. Except there was no Doctor Jackson. Speaking of...
"Congratulations of course, and thank you for helping protect this Earth,
but where is the other Amalai?"
Mikau frowned. "I
suppose that we should take care of him." He didn't mean it in the nice,
friendly nursing way.
Cremia was almost ready
to agree, but then a thought struck her: Janet!
"I think we should keep him around a little while longer."
"Why?" asked
Darmani, perplexed.
"When the real SG1
return, Dr. Frasier may find it hard to accept Dr. Jackson's presence after
what Gryorg has done to her. She may find it easier to adjust, if she sees
Gryorg there as well as him."
Hammond sighed, if he
was completely honest with himself, he had forgotten about Janet in the
overwhelming crisis. Now it was time to be the real leader of the SGC and help
her recover. As well as praying for SG1's return.
~
Daniel heard the shot
being fired and saw Sam falling to the ground; he fell to his knees stopping
her from hitting the floor. Teal’c then pulled the trigger on the staff weapon
killing her shooter. The noise-triggered an alarm, sending an army of soldiers
for them.
“Teal’c you guard the
door while I help Daniel out with Sam”
Sam was fully unconscious
and the blood was gathering around the wound. Daniel looked at her in fear; she
was the scientist and he wasn’t a doctor (of medicine). He needed Janet, but
she was back on Earth. Think, Daniel,
think - she could die...
Suddenly the weight got
lighter; Jack had taken Sam’s other arm. Daniel could see that Jack was
panicking as much as he was; he was trying to think of how they were going to
get out of here, at the same time as worrying about Sam.
“We stick to the plan,”
Jack ordered. By carrying Sam he had no hand to fire. “Sadie, can you take
Sam?”
“Yes, follow me, I will
lead us out”
“How many?” Jack asked
Teal’c who was watching the door.
“There seems to a whole
army, O’Neill”
“We must move quickly”
Jack insisted: taking out his gun.
They were going to be
in for a ride. Jack glanced behind him, aware of Daniel lowering Sam to the
floor for a moment, trying to stem the blood flow. The archaeologist slipped
off his jacket, wincing as he did so. Jack could’ve kicked himself. He had
completely forgotten about Daniel’s own injuries. This was going totally wrong
– it wasn’t meant to be this way!
Daniel wrapped the
jacket around Sam’s frail body, noticing his own dried blood on the material.
Daniel heaved her into his arms, hugging her close in an attempt to keep her
warm. He checked her pulse again, and was glad that it seemed to be getting
stronger.
Daniel nodded to Jack,
and the colonel smiled tightly. He readied himself, signalled Teal’c, and they
started towards the Stargate. Sadie had spoken of the trap door that led to the
basement floor, and that would provide them with a safe route to the corridor
opposite the Stargate Room. Sadie wasn’t sure of the security on the Gate, but
they just had to pray that Fate was on their side. Jack’s faith in any Gods had
long been shattered, but he still hoped that there was some force to aid them.
They crept stealthily
around the corner, Daniel attempting to be furtive with Sam in his arms, now
warming a little. Jack found the trap door and Teal’c released it, revealing a
flight of stone steps. They hurried down into the inky darkness. Sadie shut the
door, and Teal’c illuminated the dark, dank corridor. Immediately came the
stench of fresh blood, and Sadie blanched.
“The Evil are executed
here,” she whispered anxiously, “Their ghosts haunt this place.”
Jack glanced at Teal’c,
and then hurried on. Daniel shifted Sam in his arms, knowing he had done all he
could, but still feeling inadequate. They soon reached the end of this corridor
of shadows and death, passing disturbing corpses of the executed.
Teal’c slowly opened
the door, and they moved swiftly into the corridor and glanced across. The room
was empty!
“Jack, you will take
me?” Sadie looked up at Jack, pleading with her eyes. He nodded slowly, and then
glanced over again. He could’ve sworn he had heard something.
“I’ll go.”
Sadie moved slowly
towards the Stargate, and slipped through the door. A girlish giggle could be
heard, followed by a harsh male laugh. Jack retreated into the shadows, as
Sadie lead the man outside, whispering seductively. The man looked pleased
enough, and all Jack had to do was aim…
The man fell, and they
headed quickly into the room, Teal’c heading straight for the DHD. The Gate
seemed to dial extra slowly, painstakingly taking an eternity to establish a
wormhole. Finally, the seventh chevron locked, as footsteps were heard in the
corridor. No one needed to be told twice. A moment later, as Jaffa burst onto
the scene, they found an empty Stargate and a deserted room.
~
General Hammond had to
admit he was slightly anxious when he saw the iris code designating that SG1,
the real SG1, were coming home. There were still Amalai wearing their faces
inhabiting the base and since the last encounter with clones, he didn't think
they would take this situation too well. He was pleased to see them though,
very pleased. Until he saw the still, bloodied form of Carter and instantly his
heart sank, couldn't they have just one
peaceful mission? He guessed not.
The well-practised
medical team were already on the scene, although the absence of Janet, their
natural leader, was missed. They didn't seem as confident somehow,
double-checking equipment and questioning each other for their opinions.
Normally Janet gave the orders with no arguments. Hammond sympathised with the
team; it was hard to cope when such a leading figure was missed, especially if
no other senior members of the team were present. It looked as if any serious
medical crisis was going to have to be diverted away from the SGC. However, he
had to concentrate on the present.
When Sam had been
stabilised, still sleeping, but relatively well set on the road to recovery,
General Hammond called Teal'c and Jack into his office. Daniel would not be
pried away from Sam's bedside, something, which didn't necessarily surprise
George, but something, which would probably not be looked too favourably upon
within the military. Waiting for them were Mikau, Darmani and Cremia.
Hammond had kind of
explained to Jack what had happened since they had been away, but he was still
not expecting his full-scale explosion when he saw the three Amalai sitting
comfortably in the office.
Jack took one look at
them, turned to Teal'c and yelled, “How dare you?”
Teal’c looked between
the two Colonels’, but it was easy for him to tell which one, was the actual
Jack O’Neill, due to the look of fury on his face.
Deep down Jack was
angrier that he himself hadn’t killed Apophis, or even been there to see it for
himself, for so long they’d fought him. Well
least I got to see him die once........ How
dare they impersonate us....
“There wouldn’t have
been a danger, but for them”
“They killed Apophis,
you should give them gratitude”
Cremia looked angrily
at Darmani, she’d saved them after all, they
could be grateful.
Mikau, couldn’t believe
this jerk was the real Jack O’Neill, leader of the famous SG1, killer of many
of the Egyptians Gods, Ra and Hathor, to name a few. They really must be better at fighting than talking.
“So Colonel” Hammond gestured to him.
“Yeah, thanks” he
muttered.
“Thank-you” the Jaffa
said solemnly.
The three Amalai were
still not clear about this Jaffa, deserter of Apophis, but then again now they
had something in common.
“Request to see Major
Carter” Jack asked before he’d do something he’d regret, to them. He didn’t care what the General
said, nobody pretended to be him,
and help the Goa’uld take over the world. The one called Gryorg, still wasn’t to be trusted, and after what he did to Janet,
he was furious. Yeah, thanks a lot,
thanks for getting my world nearly taken over. That reminded him, how was
Janet, would she ever trust Daniel again? But it wasn’t Daniel, it was him, Daniel had been with him, getting
hurt again, but for once it wasn’t
him lying in bed; he was in the infirmary though.
“Come on Teal’c, time
to see the blooded Carter”
~
A shaken Doctor Frasier
entered the infirmary. General Hammond had explained to her about the clones,
and at first she couldn’t believe him, then he showed her Daniel’s clone. It
made sense, but that clone had
tortured her; she whimpered as the door hit her side. Of course she’d been
happy to find out that it hadn’t been the real Daniel who’d subjected her to that pain, but it still didn’t take
away; the fear and suffering the clone had exposed her to. She’d recovered
physically but mentally; she didn’t
know........................................
She stopped and her
heart skipped a beat.
It was him, her mind flashed back to the
torture. She felt the pain, and all she could see was him.............
“Janet” he uttered.
How dare he call me by my name...........
“Are you alright,
Janet?” Sam asked her in concern.
“Sam,
this is Daniel, the real one, remember,
not torturer” she forced herself to recall.
“I’m fi, fine” she stuttered.
Both Sam and Daniel
looked at each other; realising why she was in this state, and how hard it was,
and still is for her.
“Janet, the General
explained, you needn’t be afraid of him, this is Daniel, the same awkward,” he protested at that remark, but saw her
point. “Archaeologist you’ve always known. Could he really hurt you?”
Sam nudged him, and he
looked at her with the same puppy dog eyes, which women couldn’t fail to resist.
Janet lightened
slightly, but still she found it hard to look at that face...
They just didn’t know
how to convince her; they had to; for her to fight the ghost she must conquer
her fear.
Sam couldn’t think
straight lying down; she shifted and lifted herself up. As her legs hit the
floor, she lost her balance, Daniel catching her fall.
Janet looked intently
at the caring, concerned look on his face, of which the clone wasn’t possible.
This was Daniel, Sam, was right, Daniel
could never do that. I’ve seen the clone, now I’m just going to have to
fight.......................
~
“I can’t believe they
all thought that Ama....Ama, whatever they’re called”
“Amalai” Teal’c
reminded him.
“They all thought he was me, how could they believe that,
jerk was me?”
“They were very
convincing, and they had no reason to doubt them” Teal’c reasoned.
“Yeah, I suppose they
must’ve been.”
Jack rubbed the bridge
of his nose. It had been a long day.
“You should rest,
O’Neill. I will check up on Major Carter.”
Jack was already down
the corridor.
“Yeah, you do that.”
~
Daniel gently helped
Sam back up onto the bed, as Janet came up towards him, cautious and afraid.
Daniel didn’t know what to do, how he could help – he just held out his hand.
Janet placed her hand in his, knowing this was really Daniel, not some
impostor, some torturer.
“Daniel, I can’t…”
“I know, Janet. It’s
okay.”
She smiled, and then
turned to Sam.
“And don’t you try that
again!”
Sam smiled, as Daniel
gently hugged her, and then winced. He clutched his side and promptly fell off
the bed.
“Daniel!”
Janet bent down,
forgetting everything for a moment. She removed his shirt and gasped. Blood was
seeping through the makeshift bandages, and she met his apologetic eyes.
“Daniel Jackson,
sometimes you can be insanely stupid.”
“Don’t I know it,” he
muttered. Janet helped him up and sat him on the next bed, calling some nurses
over. Sam settled down on her bed, wondering where this was going to lead.
~
Not very far,
surprisingly. Daniel's injuries weren't too
bad, on his scale anyway, and soon he was released from the infirmary in a
considerably less pain than when he entered. General Hammond had called all of
SG1 and Dr. Frasier to another debriefing about the Amalai, which Daniel was
looking forward to with interest, though Gryorg wasn't the ideal character to
impersonate him.
He entered the briefing
room and sat down. Jack, Sam and all three Amalai were already there. Teal'c
soon walked in and sat down by Sam and they waited. General Hammond came a
couple of minutes later, Janet only a few steps behind him. Everyone in the
room watched as she swallowed hard, before quickly seating herself beside
Daniel. She was getting better.
"Well, SG1, Dr.
Frasier and our guests, it's certainly been an interesting mission for..."
Mikau interrupted
Hammond, "I know what you're going to say. It's time for us to leave now.
We'll go home and maybe try and stop our people becoming slaves to the
Goa'uld."
Jack opened his mouth
to protest, who interrupted the General
in such a disregarding way? Then he realised he did nearly every day. And
anyway, then he'd end up arguing for the Amalai to stay. Jack really didn't
want that.
"You don't have to
leave right away," Sam said, "There are a lot of things we
could..."
This time it was Cremia
who interrupted. "Look at me, Sam. I can't stay here now you’re back. And
even though I could change form, I wouldn't want to. I want to be myself again,
and the only place I can really be me is back home."
"Well if you're
sure you want to leave..." Jack hinted.
"It's Ok
O'Neill," Darmani said, out of habit of impersonating Teal'c, "We can
leave as soon as you're ready."
Jack nodded, a small
smile of gratitude on his face.
Cremia couldn't help
herself and burst out, "We're going home at last!"
~
The seventh chevron was
locked in place, as Mikau, Cremia and Darmani pushed Gryorg unceremoniously
through the wormhole. He had been knocked unconscious to prevent him from
changing form and escaping his bonds. Mikau was going to see to it personally
that Gryorg got exactly what he deserved.
"Once again, I'm
sorry for what happened," Darmani said as he said goodbye to the SGC.
"We didn't mean it."
"I know,"
General Hammond said, "We all know."
As they turned to step
through the Gate, Janet called, "Cremia!"
She turned and smiled.
"I just wanted to
thank you, all three of you again, for saving me."
"No problem."
She waved and then followed Mikau and Darmani back to their home world, where
they could start a better life.
The Gate shut down and
then the silence was broken by an agitated, "You really couldn't tell that
guy.... what was his name..... Mikau?...... wasn't me? General I'm ashamed of
you. And what kind of name is Mikau anyway?"
Daniel and Sam quickly
edged away. "I think the General's not going to ever here the end of
this," he said.
Sam laughed and put her
arm round him. "I think you're right."
THE END