Part Seven
Sumeria
Unlike
Chris and Vin who were at this moment, wondering what had become of
There
were no tracks to find in this environment of straight lines and sterile
perfection of smooth iron finish and marble floors, just the lingering traces
of blood that glistened under the cool lighting inside the corridors. It did
not take them long to find the room and Ezra, confused and horrified by what
they found upon laying their eyes on both. The pool in the centre of the room
was ablaze. What it had contained was a mystery but they knew for certain, had
anything lived within its fiery depth, that life remained no more. The stranger
from the future seemed to have some idea, for he gazed at the fire in silent
contemplation for a few seconds as the rest of the seven hovered around their
injured comrade. Buck wanted to ask him what he speculated but the question
slipped away in light of Ezra’s condition.
Ezra
himself offered no insight because he had slipped into feverish delirium by the
time they had reached him. Considering the nature of his injuries, it was best
to all that he remained in a state of unknowing for looking at his well chiselled features diminished under swollen and broken
flesh was enough to convince him that he needed some respite from the pain.
Yet, they heard him murmuring incoherently, surfacing words from his lips at
random but could not fathom what he was seeing inside his mind. However, he did
repeat one word more than any other.
Abomination.
It
made no sense to him and Buck had the strangest feeling that when this was all
over, Ezra would be reluctant to clarify anything for them. His injuries were
deeper than mere wounds on his skin. One only need to hear the sorrowful
whimpering of his erudite voice in the throes of delirium to know the place he
was could not be escaped, with scars that remained forever. Unfortunately,
Buck’s puzzlement did not alleviate their present situation. While Ezra was
still suffering the personal demons engendered by his experience here, his
physical body was almost in as much danger.
The
The
margin of escape that allowed them to keep a few steps ahead of the
It
was hard to keep ahead of the enemy and the truth was, every one of them with
the exception of Teal’c naturally, had some
reservations about firing on the guards. Even though it was impossible to tell
with their fearsome looking armour, every member of
the seven felt uneasy about firing on the women who wore them. Eventually
however, as the blasts of staff weapons came closer and the heat of the
weapon’s payload smouldered on the walls near to
them, leaving black imprints of death in the steel, reluctance was quickly
overcome and JD was the first one to start shooting. This was hardly a
surprised to Buck of course, JD was always eager to pit himself against a new
foe, no matter how different they were. In the absence of Chris and Vin, Buck
was glad that Teal’c was with them.
Buck
knew people and when he saw Teal’c act, flawless in
all execution of moves and reaction, he could well believe that this man had
spent his entire life doing nothing else but fighting these creatures. He
wondered if he could endure an existence this way and decided to just be
grateful that Teal’c was on their side. As he and JD
fired, using the futuristic weapons that Jack O’Neill had provided them, they
were amazed at a gun that could fire almost twenty bullets. Teal’c
had given him his rifle, at least he thought it was a rifle. It looked like
nothing Buck considered to be such and held something like 80 bullets in its
chamber. After Teal’c had liberated Ezra’s staff
weapon, he had given Buck spare clips and showed him how to insert them into
place. The
This
was a state of affairs that not all impressed Nathan because the healer wanted to
get back to the gate or find or quiet place where he could tend to Ezra’s
wounds. As far as Nathan was concerned, Ezra was only a hair’s breadth from
dying and needed mending immediately, however, with the guards pursuing them
relentlessly, never more than a few minutes behind them, Buck was starting to
wonder if they would get him help in time.
"Are
we even close to getting out of here!" Josiah called out as he and Nathan
struggled to carry Ezra.
"The
"Where
are we anyway?" Nathan asked. "I think we’ve gone further
underground."
"This
place is a maze." Buck had to admit as they looked around this nondescript
corridor of dark walls and polished floors.
"They
are designed much in the way of Gao’uld ships." Teal’c said helpfully and realised
by the blank expressions he received that they had no idea of what he meant by
‘ships’. Deciding that it was probably too difficult to explain, it was better
that they started making an ascent rather than a descent in their progress. By
now, the rest of SG1 would have undoubtedly engaged the Goa’ulds
and they had to be out of here before their presence becomes a hindrance to SG1
in some way.
Buck
was hearing something.
At
first, he was uncertain what it was. It drifted through the air like soft
whispers because it was evidently further along the corridor than he could see.
As the others debated on their course of action, Buck found himself following
the length of it, trying to discern from where it was coming. His gun remained
poised to fire and he felt his palms sweat a little as he gripped it tightly in
his hand. Buck was not afraid to admit that this whole experience had unnerved
him and felt perfectly justified for feeling some measure of fear.
He
followed the voices until he reached the end of the corridor and then found
that they were no longer indistinct and could start to identify them a bit. As
expected, the voices were that of women but the language was beyond him.
However, though he could not understand what they were saying as he turned off
the corridor and started down the steps that led him to them, he could hear the
fear in their voices.
It
did not take Buck long to realise that he was possibly
entering the fortresses’ jail for the place he entered reminded him of one of
those Mexican jails no man ever wanted to find himself. As he left the steps
that emptied out in a larger chamber, the voices became more excited and
frantic the more apparent his footsteps became. When he stepped into the
dungeon, the noise became fever pitch as the prisoners suddenly saw someone who
did not appear to be a guard on the floor of their cellblock.
He
could not tell how many they were but judging from the hands that waves
frantically at him through the small window in the door to their cell and their
frantic voices, he guessed they were many. Buck raised his gun to fire at the
locking mechanism on the side of the wall when suddenly he heard JD behind him.
"Buck!"
The younger man called. "Are you down there?"
"Yeah,"
Buck returned as he prepared to take aim again. He had seen Teal’c
shooting a couple of these things while they had been on the run and was
certain that this was some form of a lock similar to what they had previously
encountered. "Cover me, will ya." Buck called out. "There are
people trapped down here."
"Sure
Buck." JD answered, hurrying up the narrow stairs to take watch at the
entrance so they would not be caught unawares while Buck did what he had to.
There was no question in his mind that they should not be wasting their time
helping others because, what he had seen today convinced him that people here
needed all the help they could get.
Pulling
the trigger, the bullets tore through the metallic device, filling the room
with noise and sending shivers of fright through the women he was trying to
save. They withdrew immediately further into their cells, uttering squeals of
shock as they did so. When the bullets had done their worst, the lock remained
in smouldering fragments, its smooth metal casing
completely ruined as the door clicked ever so quietly but loud enough for Buck
to know that it could no longer keep its captives trapped. Pulling the door
open, the lawmen peered through the dimly lit room to see a number of youthful
faces staring at him with apprehension and a slight measure of hope.
"Come
on now!" He called to them and realised they did
not understand a word he said until he gestured with his hands to follow. Once
that was done, there was no holding them back and they almost bowled him over
in the stampede to flee their dark prison. It was only after they had emerged
into the light, he realised who they were. These must
have been the girls taken from the village to be used to create new guards.
With a sigh of relief, Buck decided that they had yet to be implanted with the
foul creatures that had taken over Mary and Alex.
Suddenly,
he realised that was why Ezra was tortured.
The
gambler had not submitted to Isis to produce any new creatures to enslave the
women in this room. In her anger at his refusal, she must have vented the full
torrent of her rage upon him and caused the injuries that was almost taking his
life. She probably thought that the torture might make him submit to her desire
to procreate. Good ol’ Ezra, Buck thought with a smile of admiration as he
gestured to his new charges to follow him out of this place. At least Vin could
rest easy, knowing that nothing happened between Ezra and Alex, even though it
was Isis who was using her body and Alex had no choice in the matter. Vin was
abound with enough insecurities regarding his relationship with the lady
doctor, without things being worse if Ezra had lain with Alex.
He
hurried up the stairs, with the prisoners who were mostly young women in their
late teens to early adulthood, following him closely behind as he communicated
to them in hand signals and gestures, since they could not understand a word
they were saying. He noticed they were all very attractive and healthy, making
sense of why Mary and Alex had been taken. While both of the Four Corner’s
women were extremely intelligent and well spirited, it was their outward
appearance that had made them so desired by the creatures who had taken their
bodies. Mary with her gold hair and eyes that could see through your soul and
Alex with skin so wild and her smile that could melt a man where he stood.
Emerging
at the top of the stairs, he saw the others coming to meet himself and JD. With
the freed captives behind him, the hallway suddenly became very crowded.
"Where
did they come from?" Nathan exclaimed.
"They
were locked up." Buck explained quickly, feeling it more imperative now
than ever that they vacated the place. "I think they were gonna be used as
guards."
"These
are the women taken from the village as hosts." Teal’c
nodded in understanding.
"Then
they haven’t been done yet." JD ventured a guess. "The thing that got
Alex didn’t have a chance to make more of them with Ezra then."
"I
guess so." Buck shrugged, guessing that had to be the truth since the
proof of it lay before them.
"I
have found a way out," Teal’c announced,
deciding that they could not linger here much longer and had to keep moving.
"We must go, if any of us are to escape." As he spoke, his eyes
shifted across the faces of the new arrivals who were looking frightened and
relying upon him and his companions to lead them to freedom.
"All
right then ladies," Buck turned to the group who seemed to have place
their trust in the man who had liberated them from their dungeon and was
prepared to follow his guidance. "Follow the man." He said as Teal’c started moving, waving wilding with his hands at
which direction they were going.
As
they started to leave, Josiah could not help but remark. "You know
Buck," the preacher said with a slight smile as he brushed past Buck.
"You’re the only man I know who can find himself in a situation as crazy
as the one we’re in and still manage to find female company."
Buck
was tempted to frown at him because he was no happier with the situation than
Josiah. By all accounts, this ought to be heaven for him, a place where a man
was highly prized and would be waited on hand and foot by the women who owned
him and required to perform one duty, a duty to which he was extraordinarily
equipped to handle.
It
stabbed at the core of Buck Wilmington to know that he had grown.
His
child was waiting at him on his world, not to mention the most infuriating
woman that had ever walked the earth who captured his heart from the very first
time she had told him to get lost whom he was determined to win, no
matter what the sacrifice. God had a strange sense of humour
by sending him here to test himself and Buck hoped the almighty was properly
amused.
"Yeah,"
Buck grumbled as he followed the preacher. "I’m so lucky."
*********
Although
Chris and the others had not encountered many guards as they made their escape
from the bunker, they had encountered enough to delay their departure. Their
flight from Isis’ stronghold was not made any easier by the fact that the two Goa’ulds in their possession were almost feral in their
determination not to be taken from this world. Sekhmet
in particular, though bound and gagged had almost been hysterical in her
captivity. She screamed through the gag in her mouth like some insane wraith
while kicking at Chris with such ferocity, the gunslinger had no choice but to
use his fists to settle her down.
As
they neared the gate, it became obvious that no one was following them. There
had been a limited number of Jaffa in the bunker as it was and if they had
engaged Buck and the others while they had been retrieving Ezra that would
account for the scarce numbers of Jaffa that had tried to keep them from
leaving the fortress. Upon making the journey back to the stargate,
Daniel advised that it was probably prudent that they avoid passing through the
village for it was unknown how the Netjer would take
seeing their gods as captives. Avoiding the village cut valuable time from
their trip and less than an hour or so after they had left the pyramid
fortress, they could see the outline of the star gate ring through the trees.
"You
fools!" Isis swore in her Goa’uld voice.
"Do you think taking us back to your world will change anything? This body
is ours! We will not let it go!" Her eyes flared in defiance at Vin in
particular, since he was the one responsible for injuring her and had her
securely in his grip.
"Gag
her." Chris ordered. He knew from experience what cruelties could come
from her mouth after enduring the same unpleasantness with Sekhmet
earlier. He would spare Vin that same torture.
"Good
idea." Jack agreed, having heard something of what Sekhmet
had said to him and had seen the haunted look in Chris’ eyes to believe the man
knew what he was talking about.
"Could
you please get the scarf from my neck, ma’am?" Vin asked Sam who was
staying away from both of the Goa’ulds. He was not
prepared to let Isis go for any reason because their chances of getting Alex
back relied almost completely on getting Isis to wherever Jack O’Neill had
intended them to go.
"Sure."
Sam nodded and removed the scarf tied around the tracker’s neck, trying not to
look at Isis as she did so. Instead, she had been staying well away from the
two Goa’uld since they had been captured. Every Goa’uld she had met since her blending with Jolinahr, knew that she had been a host and it made her
decidedly uncomfortable that they could ferret out such knowledge by just
looking at her.
Almost
on cue, Isis looked at her. "You have had one of us inside you."
Sam
swallowed hard and did not answer, concentrating on undoing the knot around
Vin’s neck because this was not a subject she wished to discuss.
"Shut
up." Vin snapped, seeing in Sam’s eyes how much she disliked Isis making
reference to that. To illustrate his point, he flashed Isis a look of warning
that surprised himself because he was no longer seeing the face before him as
belonging to Alex but to some hostile and vile creature that was hurting his
friends. He supposed if he just kept that mind set in place, he might actually
have some hope of getting Alex back.
"You
will have the honour of being our first Jaffa."
Isis hissed.
"Do
all of you queens have nothing different to say?" Jack said sarcastically,
remembering the same words coming from Hathor’s lips
when she had tried to make him her Jaffa.
She
ignored him but then turned her attention to Vin once again. "If you
desire this body so much, perhaps we will make you our Pharoah.
You need only let us go and we will allow you access to our host mind. We
promise you an eternity of pleasure at our side. We will expand the scant
century you would have shared with her into millennia."
"I
ain’t listening to you." Vin said stiffly, unable to deny that spending
forever with Alex was tantalising but not at the
price they would have to pay. He was almost relieved when Sam finally removed
the scarf around his neck and rolled it into a gag, which she promptly secured
over Isis’ mouth. The Goa’uld shook her head
vigorously to keep the cloth from cutting off her speech but Sam was almost as
determined to place it there as Isis was to have it gone. Eventually, the major
won out and Vin let out a sigh of relief, not wishing to endure what Chris was
going through at the moment with Sekhmet.
"Thanks."
He said gratefully at Sam as the gate appeared before them.
"No
problem." She replied with a faint smile.
"So
where are we going again?" Vin asked Daniel, knowing only that the place
they were going had a cure for Alex and not much else. Judging by the group
dynamic, it was obvious that Daniel was the one who had the answers for such
things.
"A
place called Sumeria." Daniel explained.
"We found it a few years ago. It’s apparently protected by enemies of the Goa’uld called the Asgard.
They’ve made it a protected planet and no Goa’uld can
go there."
Both
Isis and Sekhmet immediately recognised
the word Asgard for they immediately renewed their
struggles, with decidedly more vigour and desperation
in their attempt to break free. Both Vin and Daniel had to grab hold of Isis to
keep her from breaking free of him while Sekhmet
became similarly agitated, requiring Jack to help Chris in restraining her.
"Carter,
dial the gate." Jack instructed as the ring of stone loomed over them. Sam
hurried forward, jogging to the dial home device located not far from it.
"So
I guess this place can help us." Chris replied, if Sekhmet
and Isis’s reaction was anything to judge. They were fighting every inch of the
way to the gate now, guessing how close to doom they really were with the
mention of the Asgard.
"It’s
the only chance you get of getting either of them back." Jack answered
truthfully. The moment they passed through the gate and reached the other side
of the wormhole, Isis and Sekhmet’s fate would be
effectively taken out of their hands. Once at Sumeria,
they would be spirited away to Thor’s Hammer where the symbiote
would be removed from the bodies of both women. Of course Jack did not feel the
pressing need to tell them about the little surprise awaiting them inside the
cavernous structure where Thor’s Hammer was located. However, springing a Unas on them on top of everything else these men had
to experience in the past few days would be too much even for their
understanding.
"Jack," Daniel spoke since they would soon be departing this world.
"Are we just going to leave? Shouldn’t we find out if Teal’c
and the others made it?"
Jack
frowned, wishing they had news about their friends. Ideally, Teal’c and the others should already be on Earth, having
entered the gate long before this. However, it was too much of a tactical risk
for them to delay their journey to Sumeria and so
Jack would have to rely upon Teal’c to get Chris’ men
to Earth and deal with it later if he had not. Teal’c
was extremely dependable for such things and the men who rode with Chris Larabee seem to be of the same ilk. The colonel had to
believe that they were capable of handling themselves because they could not
afford to go back and look for them. They were having enough trouble keeping
Isis and Sekhmet under control without having to
backtrack.
"We
can’t risk it." Jack said after awhile. "Chris, you know your men,
you think they can handle themselves long enough for us to get back if anything
goes wrong?"
"They’ll
do all right." Vin replied confidently before Chris could answer.
"With Teal’c showing em
what to do at the rough spots, I don’t see them getting into any trouble they
can’t get themselves out of." The tracker met Chris’ gaze and knew the
gunslinger felt the same way as he did. Besides, he could understand Jack’s
reasoning to get out of here as soon as possible. The Jaffa had not figured out
what had happened to their goddesses yet but when they did, they’ll be coming,
not to mention the Netjer, who may not take kindly to
the very same thing.
"They’re
on their own for now Daniel." Jack replied, since they had come to
something of a decision.
Meanwhile,
Sam had began the dialling sequence. Each symbol
illuminated upon activation when her palm pressed against the keypad. Moving in
tandem with the sequence of symbols being initiated, each chevron on the star
gate began locking into place, following the same pattern of movements that the
men from Four Corners had witnessed on the previous occasions they had seen it
working. Despite themselves, Vin and Chris still stared at the thing in
astonishment, marvelling at the science that made it
work even if its understanding was so far beyond them it seemed almost like
magic.
The
ground began to rumble the closer the gate reached to locking in the seventh
symbol, until they could feel the tremor under their feet become a violent
quake that could easily topple them if they were not careful. Birds in the near by trees immediately took flight as the trunks began
to resonate with a vibration that quickly spread through its branches and made
its leaves rustle. In the cavern the effect had been contained but out here,
where they were allow to witness it in the wide-open space. Its power seemed
all the more potent. As the surge of energy required to open the wormhole
finally manifested itself, the explosion of light and colour
gushed out from the hollow of the ring, like white froth before receding into
the serene ripple of energy that looked like a pool’s calm reflection.
"NO!"
Isis screamed angrily, managing to loosen the gag from her mouth long enough to
cry.
The
sound of her voice took Vin by surprise and for a moment, she almost broke free
of both Daniel and himself by a surge of strength that could have killed them
both if her hands were free to inflict the damage. However, the ropes tied
around her wrist held fast and Daniel pressed the zat
gun firmly into her back to force her to remain where she was. He was
completely prepared to immobilise her again if she
offered any further resistance. Enough time had passed since the weapon had
been last used on her to prevent any fatal consequences if he fired.
"You
will pay for this!" She shouted, almost hysterical in her rage as Daniel
and Vin pulled her up the stairs. Her legs were no longer cooperating and she
was fighting them with every inch of strength she could muster. After awhile,
both men were force to drag her forcibly, the tips of her toes scraping against
the ground and then rock when they descended up the steps that led to the mouth
of the gate.
"Daniel,"
Jack called out since it appeared that Vin and Daniel would pass through the
gate first. "Remember to keep your hands on her after you get through or
you won’t join the party."
"I
remember," Daniel declared, knowing all about Thor's Hammer. It was the
only way of freeing Sharee from her captor and he had
studied all he could about the device to know everything about its
peculiarities. Despite himself, he felt a certain amount of scientific
curiosity at witnessing how the hammer would work on Isis because he needed to
see for himself if Kendra’s claims were true, that the hammer could save Sharee when he brought her to it.
"Carter,
I want you to get in touch with the locals. They were pretty willing to help us
in the future, maybe we can get their help again. I want you round up some
horses and get them to the mountain pass when we get past the hammer. None of
these ladies are going to feel like covering the distance back to the gate once
the Hammer is done with them." Jack instructed as they moved past her and
headed towards the wormhole.
"Yes
Sir," she nodded and followed him closely behind understanding completely.
Sumeria’s local inhabitants believe that the Asgard race as they were known in actual fact to be the
gods of Nordic Myth. Indeed that was how the Asgards
had presented themselves to the primitive race who knew of the Goa’uld only as the evil Etns. If
Carter were to approach them and asked them for help against the Etns, then it was likely the Sumerians would think it their
duty as Thor’s children to assist
Sekhmet was struggling just as hard as Isis was
although the gag in her mouth had not come loose and her protests were made
with little more than furious grunts and guttural sounds from her throat that
translated clearly into rage. Even as Sam followed behind, she could see Jack
and Chris fighting to keep a grip on her and knew the amount of strength they
were fighting to keep restrained. The Goa’uld made
their hosts very strong, which was why their Jaffa were so formidable.
"You
cannot do this to us!" Isis snarled enraged, fighting harden than ever as
they neared the wormhole. "We will perish if we are taken there! You will
be condemning us to die!" She pleaded, starting to realise
that there would be no escape unless she could reason with them in some way.
All
Goa’uld knew what Sumeria
represented, not simply because it was a world protected by the Asgard. Teal’c had explained
before their first visit to Sumeria that no Goa’uld went there willingly. Those Goa’uld
who had dared to travel to the planet had never returned and upon arriving
there themselves, SG1 understood why. Since all Goa’uld
had genetic memory, no doubt Isis would retain the knowledge of this world
being taboo. While she might not know what awaited her on the planet, Isis was
no fool. As one of the oldest Egyptians gods, she was known for her cunning and
intellect and knew that the Asgard would surely
possess the technology to be of extreme danger to her.
"Please
Vin!" She cried out, her voice losing all trace of the Goa’uld
inhabiting Alex’s body. "Please help me!"
Vin
turned sharply to her, knowing that voice to be Alex’s not Isis.
"Alex?"
"Snap
out of it!" Chris shouted before he even had a chance to entertain the
notion that it might be Alexandra Styles speaking to him and not Isis. Having
heard Sekhmet employ this particular ruse to trick
him into letting down his guard, Chris was not about to let Vin suffer the same
fate. "That ain’t her Vin!"
"You
know me Vin!" She pleaded again. "You can’t let me die! You can’t
take me there!"
"Vin,"
Daniel said with a soft voice as the paused right in front of the shimmery veil
of energy. "It’s not her." He swallowed, understanding the pain he
saw in the tracker’s eyes as the man tried not to let the anguish overwhelm
him.
Isis
was still tryign to reach him with her duplicitous
words, begging and pleading for him to release her but Vin hardened himself
inwardly and ignore what she said. He met her eyes and knew what he saw there
was not Alex at all but some stranger who would kill him if she had the chance.
The only way he had to save Alex was to keep going.
"I
beg you Vin," she begged, tears running down her cheeks as she met his
eyes. "Don’t let them take me there."
Vin
blinked slowly and looked at the hand wrapped firmly around her arm. For a few
seconds he looked at this firm grip saying nothing before moving his free hand
to her cheek. A slow smile started to form on her lips as she saw his fingers
moved down her skin before placing it on her neck. She was about to speak when
Vin’s hand secured itself firmly around her neck and stepped into the portal,
taking her with him without any further delay.
"I
will kill you!" Her scream disappeared with the rest of her as she and Vin
went through, with Daniel being taken for the journey, since he was holding on
to her other arm.
Sekhmet stopped struggling as she saw Isis taken, as
if the shock of it all had temporarily numbed her senses. The warrior goddess
stared at the space where her companions had been taken, unable to move and
Chris saw the first semblance of real fear seep into her eyes as he and Jack
started leading her towards it. She made no effort to struggle until they were
poised at its very edge, facing the wormhole that would take her to the end of
her two millennia existence.
Suddenly,
she broke free, wrenching her arm free from Chris and using the momentary
distraction to kick her foot into the flesh part of Jack’s thigh. It was enough
to be free of them for a number of seconds and she turned around and started to
run away from the gate when Sam threw a fist into her face and send reeling
backwards….
Right
into the wormhole.
She
disappeared so abruptly that for a moment both men were at a loss for words
until Sam broke the silence of the moment. "Don’t you think you better go
after her?"
"Don’t
you just love her?" Jack said exchanging a smile of mischief with Chris as
he turned back to Sam. "You’re lucky, they still can’t vote in your
time."
"Jack,"
Chris remarked as he started to step into the wormhole. "You think my wife
is trouble now? You should met before that thing got inside of her."
"Feisty
is she?" Jack asked.
Chris
shook his head and retorted. "Don’t get me started."
********
The
world of Sumeria was not unlike home.
The
climate reminded Vin Tanner of places further up north but in essence, it did
not at all look like an alien world. As he stared into the sky, he noticed that
it was day time here as well but the sun was only starting to ascend across the
horizon, not unlike their previous destination where twilight was only a few
hours away. Vin did not have much time to contemplate the beauty of the place
even though he had to admit he would like to have explored it if time had
allowed. Unfortunately as he recovered from the latest trip through the portal,
feeling the same icicles of cold stabbing at his skin, he also noticed Isis was
trying to make a run for it.
She had broken free from him again, taking advantage of the disorientation he
felt in experiencing gate travel to escape. He recovered faster than she gave
him credit and took note of Daniel shouting at him to catch her before it was
too late. He did not understand what was to happen here but it registered in
his mind that she was trying to run and that was enough for him to launch
himself at her. He knocked her over on the stone floor that the gate was
perched upon and was half-aware of Chris and the others emerging behind him as
he landed on top of her.
Another
set of nails tore through his skin, his time on his exposed neck as he found
himself straddling her once again, determined to make her stay put. Daniel was
at his side in seconds, looking around anxiously waiting for something to
happen. His eyes rested on a stone monument carved with intricate designs that
Vin had not seen before. It towered over the gate, standing watch over the ring
of stone like it was custodian of this place. Daniel viewed it with
apprehension and as he looked at Isis, realised that
fear was etched in her face as she stared at it.
Sekhmet emerged first and also tried to run but Jack
O’Neill who was used to gate travel and had become accustomed to its effects
caught up with her easily. He wrapped his arms around her chest and fairly
lifted her off the ground to keep her from making it down the steps, not that
she would get very far. Dropping the staff weapon when he had captured her, he
quickly looked at Sam who was the last to appear through the gate before the
wormhole collapsed and the gate returned to normal once again.
"Sam,
give Chris your gun. You can take my staff weapon." He ordered.
Knowing
what was coming as well as the rest of SG1, she slung her rifle over Chris’s
shoulder and started ushering him towards Sekhmet and
Jack because now that the gate was closed, they did not have a lot of time.
During their first visit to Sumeria, it had taken a
matter of minutes for the device to work and they had to be ready for it as it
prepared itself to perform its vital function during this occasion.
"What’s
going on?" Chris asked puzzled, trying to dispel the cold in his skin
while at the same time, wrap his frostbitten fingers around the weapons that
Sam was giving him, including all the spare clips she was inserting into the
pockets of his duster. He looked at her in question but she did not bother to
explain even if the urgency of the situation was in her eyes.
"You
need to be near your wife." She said as they reached Sekhmet
who was fighting for dear life in Jack’s grip. Chris had just wrapped his hands
around her wrists to stop her fingers from trying to prise
Jack’s arms from around her body when suddenly, he heard something humming
behind him.
"It’s
started." Sam stated looking up at the monument.
"What’s
started?" Vin demanded as Daniel placed his hands on Isis’ shoulders,
pinning her to the ground.
"That,"
Daniel gestured to the stone monument that was the source of the strange
humming sound. It was not very different from the noises made by the gate but
there was something about this that was smoother and more penetrating. The low
vibration could be felt in his teeth and picked up momentum with the seconds
that tumbled by.
"Release
us!" Isis cried again when a beam of blue light sliced through the morning
air.
The
light which Sam knew to be a sensor beam of some type, quickly scanned the
humans before it and found nothing until it reached the two women who had been
brought here against their will. The reaction as it bathed them in its sapphire
glow was immediate. Both Sekhmet and Isis began to
writhe with pain, the concentration of which seemed to be centred
on their abdomens. Sekhmet tensed in Jack’s grip,
oblivious to her confinement now because what was coursing through her body was
nothing to be enjoyed but intense and life ending. Chris looked at Jack’s in
question; panic starting to set in as he saw that what she was enduring was
apparently agonising. He wanted Sekhmet
to feel pain but not at the cost of Mary’s life.
"What’s
the hell is going on?" He demanded.
"It’s
the hammer." Jack tried to explain, knowing what was coming next.
"You want your wife back? Hold on because this is the only way."
Chris
wanted a better explanation than that but it did not appear s if Jack was about
to provide one. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Isis in similar pain,
thrashing about wildly as Vin held on, instructed by Daniel to do so even if
his fear was just as apparent as Chris’ own. He met Jack’s gaze again, trying
not to show that he doubted the man even though the sentiment was in his eyes
when suddenly, something happened which made just about as much sense as
everything else that had taken place in the last two days.
The world around him vanished.
**********
Sam
saw the men disappear and let out a sigh of relief.
She
did not envy what Mary Larabee and Alexandra Styles
were about to endure but she was glad they would not be doing it alone. Now
that the Goa’uld threat had been removed as far as
the sensors were concerned, the guardian at the gate had returned to its
dormant state with no evidence to prove that it was a matter transference
device and not a simple stone edifice erected in honour
of Thor.
She
took a deep breath and dropped the backpack she had been carrying on the
ground, eager to discard the Jaffa uniform she was wearing since it would most
likely frightened the locals if she turned up in anything but her uniform.
Unfortunately, the staff weapon was her only means of protection so she could
not discard it. Nevertheless, the Sumerians were a peaceful people who did not
believe very much beyond the capability of their god. It was likely she would
be believed if she claimed this to be a weapon of the Etns
that was taken by Thor's Hammer.
From
their previous visits to Sumeria, she had a rough
idea which direction the village lay and knew she had at least an hour’s walk
to reach it. If she was to meet the Colonel then she had better get moving,
since it would take almost a day on foot to reach the cavern where Thor’s
Hammer would deposit the others when it was done with Sekhmet
and Isis. Hopefully, she could induce the natives to volunteer some horses that
would make the journey up the mountainous terrain somewhat smoother. In any
case, she had to get moving and be ready for them when they emerged.
After
all, Lord only knew what effect passing through the hammer was going to have on
Mary and Alex when it was all said and done.
***********
"Now
where are we?" Chris grumbled as he felt his head swim.
"Inside
a mountain." Jack answered helpfully as he felt the same disorientation
when he got to his feet. Next to him, he could see Sekhmet
lying on her face, still groaning from the intense pain she had felt when the Asgard device had scanned them to determine who was human
and who was Goa’uld. It seemed as if the fight had
gone out of her even though he was not foolish enough to take that at face
value. If there was one thing he had learnt about this particular Goa’uld, she knew quite a bit about playing dead until
one’s guard was down before she proceeded to make you the same with no pretence
in mind.
Chris
stood up and examining his new surroundings only to decide in a matter of minutes
that he did not like where they had been sent. He had not
doubt that the device had taken them here as surely as the gate had carried
them across the galaxy from one planet to another. He preferred not to think so
much as to how or why but focus on what was required here to free Mary and
Alex. Judging by Jack O’Neill’s taut expression, it did not appear as if their
troubles were quite over yet. He walked over to Sekhmet
and pulled her to her feet, feeling no sympathy for the creature that had taken
his wife and determined to expel her once and from all by what
ever means this place with its dark halls and cavernous atmosphere
promised.
"Everyone
okay?" Jack turned to Daniel and Vin who had yet to speak but seemed more focussed on securing their grip on Isis who was strangely
silent in this place. It did not take any amount of genius to know that the Goa’uld was frightened by what had transpired earlier. By
now, she must have guessed that whatever this place was, she had no power in it
and was at the mercy of the men who had brought her here.
"I’m
fine." Daniel said stretching his neck as if he had pulled a muscle.
"What
now?" Vin said impatiently, helping Isis to her feet but keeping as firm a
grip on her as Chris was doing to Mary.
His
question was never answered as the image of a man clad in medieval armour appeared in the nearby distance. While neither Jack
nor Daniel reacted to his sudden emergence, Chris and Vin immediately went for
their weapons, unwilling to chance anything after the events that they had
endured these past two days.
"Its okay." Jack quickly said, gesturing for them to
lower their weapons. "It’s not real. That’s not really a person."
Just to prove it to them, he walked towards the hologram and ran his hand
through it. The image of Thor shimmered as his hand moved through it and
returned to normal when he withdrew.
"Strange."
Vin finally said and holstered his weapon, trusting Jack in this matter.
"Who
is he?" Chris asked as he studied the man from where he was, taking note
of the armour and the sword, not to mention the
clothes that looked straight out of a history book.
"That’s
Thor." Daniel explained helpfully.
As
if aware of what was being asked, the image became animated and Thor’s voice
laced with a thick Scandinavian accent began to address those before him.
"I am Thor, Supreme Commander of the Asgard
fleet. The High Council of Asgard has designated Sumeria a safe world for developing sentient species by
unanimous decree of 40.737.29. The Goa’uld System
Lords were so informed.
You were warned not to come here under pain for death. For crimes
against the living host and for all those you have murdered and enslaved, the
sentence is death. This is your prison. There are no luxuries, no prisoners, no
slaves to do your bidding, only basic sustenance and time. When you tire of
this existence, go to the hall of Yulnar and face the
hammer. There is no escape, only the host can leave this place alive."
The
words made no sense to Chris and Vin, well not all of it. They agreed that this
place was indeed a prison just as they realised that
only the host could leave once the Goa’uld were
brought here. While they had no idea how this would be accomplished, they
trusted Jack O’Neill and company to know that he would not have allowed Mary
and Alex to be brought here unless there was a genuine hope of salvation for
the women they loved.
"We
will not leave!" Isis burst out angrily, speaking for the first time since
Thor’s eerie warning was given.
"Oh
yes you are." Jack turned around and faced her. "Because one little
thing that I haven’t let anyone in on and I’m sorry Chris, I probably should
have told you that we aren’t alone in here."
"What
do you mean?" Chris eyed him suspiciously, not liking surprises and his
annoyance at having one sprung on him right now, showing most evidently on the
scowl he was flashing in Jack’s face.
"Its some kind of a monster," Jack described for the
want of a better word that would be as clear as that. "It’s been here a
long time and its hungry. Now we’ve faced it before so I can tell you it isn’t
invulnerable, just really hard to kill. Fortunately, it tends to lie dormant
until it senses prey so if we can get to the hammer really fast, we can
probably get out of here before it knows about us."
Vin
and Chris stared at him, with expressions on their faces that did not show the
same optimism he felt. "Oh this just gets better." Vin drawled with
unhappiness. "What kind of a thing? Is it smart?"
"Yes,"
Daniel answered. "Its intelligence is equal to us probably more because its got a Goa’uld inside
it."
"Unas!" Isis swore. "You have brought us to a
place where there is Unas?" The fear in her
voice was clear and Jack would not be surprised if she was rather glad at this
point, that her captors were not carrying Goa’uld
weapons since none of it would work inside the structure.
"A
what?" Vin looked away from her and to Daniel in question. "What did
she call it?"
"Unas." The linguist answered. "That’s what
they’re Goa’uld. Before they started using humans as
hosts, they used these creatures called the Unas.
They’re already very strong but with the Goa’uld symbiote inside of them, they’re extremely dangerous."
"Unas will kill you!" Isis said derisively. "We
are Goa’uld, it will be ours to command."
"Sorry
your worship," Jack interjected shaking his head in answer. "This
particular Unas or whatever has been trapped here a
long time and I’d say the confinement hasn’t been good to him because the first
time we got zapped to this place, the bones we found were not just human.
Apparently, our Unas has got a taste for Goa’uld as well."
Isis
recoiled at the thought and an expression of disgust drained into her face.
However, it was not long before her eyes narrowed with calculation and she
straightened her back and raised her chin, looking very much like a queen as
she exchanged a brief glance with Sekhmet.
"Sekhmet has hunted Unas."
She said confidently.
"Hunt
Unas?" Daniel retorted almost immediately and
with a great deal of skepticism. "How can you hunt Unas,
they’re one of you?"
"They
were some who became dangerous to us after we chose to abandon their species as
a host." Isis met Jack’s eyes, her lips curling at the corner as she spoke
with authority on the subject they did not have. "Those who served as
Jaffa attempted rebellion and we were forced to act. The System Lords made it a
sport to hunt these creatures and Sekhmet was one of
the greatest Unas hunters. She can aid you if this
creature intends to harm you."
"And
I’m suppose to believe this?" Jack retorted. "Even if I were to
suspend all intelligence and personal sanity, how can I trust her?"
"It
is to our benefit that we stay alive. Our immediate problem appears to be the Unas that is trapped here with us. We can resume
hostilities later but for the moment, none of us wishes to be a meal for such a
creature." Isis responded. "You need only ask Sekhmet
herself. She will reveal to you how you may kill this creature."
"Really?"
Jack looked at the warrior goddess’s direction and removed the gag momentarily.
"This true? You got the deal on how to kill one of these things?"
Sekhmet did not respond, allowing herself to become
accustomed to the absence of the handkerchief in her mouth and finding her
voice again after a moment. "Perhaps," she met his gaze and that of
Chris. Chris was even more sceptical than Jack in
regards to Isis’ claims. "I have hunted many things in my time. Unas is no different from any other."
"I’m
sure." Jack responded, more certain that ever that this was an attempt to
escape and he was not about to fall for it. "No deal." Jack swung
around and face Isis once again. "We can do this without you."
"You
are fools!" Sekhmet shouted, eyes flaring in
full Goa’uld fury as her voice became that coarse
rumble once again. "The Unas will crunch your
bones like kindling. I only hope I live long enough to see your death."
"That
concludes this portion of the act," Jack said securing the gag back in her
mouth as she tried to snap his fingers between his teeth. "For your information,
I’ve been this way before so I know how to get to the Hall of Yulnar fairly quickly." He explained this not only for
the benefit of Isis and Sekhmet to let them know why
their offer was refused but also the humans present. "Besides," he
looked at Isis to make this the final remark on the subject. "It will be a
stone cold day in hell before I trust either of you with anything, let alone my
life."
"Can’t
argue with the man there." Chris added, just in case Jack was even
entertaining the notion which he did not believe the colonel to be. Jack was no
fool, this much Chris had come to learn in the brief time of their
acquaintanceship.
"Then
you all die!" Isis declared angrily, furious that her plan to gain partial
freedom had come to nothing. "We will rather die here at the hands of Unas then allow you to kill us by the hammer of Thor."
"You
don’t have a choice." Vin declared having heard enough from this stranger
who was using Alex’s voice to make her venomous remarks. Without arguing, he
picked her up and slung her over his shoulder, like a sack. He had carried far
heavier in his life and this was the only way to insure that she made no
attempts to hinder their progress out of this place.
"How
dare you!" Isis screeched in outrage, as Vin waited for the others to
proceed. "We will kill you for this insult."
"Now
you’re starting to sound like Alex." Vin drawled, showing he was
unperturbed by this tirade and would not longer be
affected by anything she had to say to him. "You know the way out
Jack?" He looked to the Colonel.
"Yeah,"
Jack said stifling a smile. "A place like this isn’t easy to forget."
"Well
then let’s get a move on." Chris retorted, understanding now why Jack had
been reluctant to tell them about the Unas before
this but was aware that it would have made very little difference to him any
way, even if he had known about the creature that lived inside this place. If
Thor could bring Mary back to him, Chris would have been willing to gamble any
risk for her life.
"Now
that’s the spirit." Jack said with a smile as they started moving out of
the smaller chamber they were within, passing by Thor as they began their
search for what was called the hall of Yulnar.
*********
Once
they had managed to escape the bunker, finishing off the dwindling Jaffa guards
during their perilous departure, the visitors to Netjer
made one stop at the village to deposit the people they had rescued from the
fortress. As expected, the villagers were extremely grateful and had offered a
place for them to rest as well as medical treatment for Ezra. Understanding
them was difficult enough as it was without Daniel playing interpreter but
eventually Buck, whom the group was particularly fond since he had been their saviour, managed to convince them that it was far more
expedient that the visitors left immediately.
Ezra
was fading fast and it took even more convincing by Buck and Teal’c to convince Nathan than that the best course of
action at the moment was to continue their advance to the gate. The healer was
not at all happy by this situation because many of Ezra’s injuries needed
immediate treatment. The fever that had gripped the gambler had let go but his
condition was not improved for it. Ezra had slipped in and out of consciousness
since they had found him but now he was completely unresponsive and did not
even favour them with the comfort of his delirium to
assure them he was still among them.
If
the situation were not already grim as they made the trek back to the gate,
there had been no sight of the others anywhere. Ever since they had separated
inside the fortress, Buck and those with him had no idea of what had happened
to Chris Larabee and Vin Tanner. Had they made it out
or where they still trying to retrieve Isis and Sekhmet?
It drove Buck insane with worry not to know but then he told himself that it
was what Chris wanted. For the moment anyway, Buck was willing to let that wish
stand however, he made a silent vow to himself if enough time had passed and
there was still no signs of their missing comrades, he was going through the
gate after them.
Teal’c seemed to agree with this assertion, being
just as devoted to Jack O’Neill as the seven were to Chris Larabee
and Vin Tanner. However, like them he was just as bound to Jack’s request as
they were to what Chris had asked of them. Buck could see that he was fighting
the urge to return to the fortress and find Jack and the others but duty and
the most rigid sense of honour that Buck had ever
seen, kept Teal’c at their side. Perhaps Teal’c knew as well as they all did that none of them could
return home without him or for that matter, use the sarcophagus device that
awaited Ezra once they passed through the portal back to the world they knew.
"How
is he?" Buck asked after they had reached the gate and Teal’c
had begun initiating the device for their return home. Nathan had set Ezra down
momentarily and was trying to stem some of the wounds that were bleeding
profusely from the time they had found him until now. The makeshift bandages
that Nathan had fashioned were almost all soaked through with blood and Ezra’s
pallor seemed deathly pale. They had followed the trail of blood to find him
and he had led it back here for most of their flight from the fortress. Buck
could not even begin to imagine what he had endured as he tried to prevail
against Isis’ demand for propagation.
"He can’t last much longer." Nathan said grimly, fastening a flesh
length of material around the festering wound on Ezra’s side. "He’s lost a
lot of blood."
"The
fever seems to be gone though." Josiah said as he rested for a moment. He
and Nathan had carried the gambler all the way here and for most of that
journey, Ezra had been a dead weight. Relying solely on an alien device to heal
Ezra when his wounds were so massive and becoming progressively worse similarly
unsettled Josiah and Nathan.
"His
body has started shutting down." Nathan swallowed, trying to hide how much
losing Ezra would effect him. When they had first
met, neither could say that they would consider each other brothers in the
future that would come. Ezra had seen him as nothing more than a black man. Yet
as time passed and they found themselves as part of this strange fellowship of
seven, Ezra’s prejudices had diminished and there came a time when the gambler
was happy to risk his life for Nathan’s and had proved it on several occasions.
While friendships had been formed within the group dynamic, Nathan had found to
his surprise that his had emerged with Ezra’s, which in his opinion had been
the most unlikely one of all. Letting him die like this without lifting a
finger to help was more than Nathan could stand and he prayed secretly that
this device would effect just a stunning recovery as
it had done for Vin.
"Well
it won’t be much longer now." JD replied looking over his shoulder as he
spoke and seeing Teal’c bring the device to life.
Even as the symbols flare with light as he touched them, they could feel the
slight quake of the ground as the gate was activated. Despite the urgency of
their present situation, the men could not help finding their gazes transfixed
at the wonder of the portal being opened. It felt like a force of nature that
they did not understand was being shaped right before them and even though they
were jaded about most things, they could not help being awed by what they saw
as the gate came alive with rippling energy.
Once
the wormhole was established, Teal’c immediately
beckoned them forward as he started towards the steps that led to the mouth of
the gate. Wasting no time because in truth, they were all eager to leave this
place and return to the familiar surroundings of home, Buck and JD immediately
hurried towards it while Josiah and Nathan gathered Ezra into arms and carried
him forward. Teal’c waited for them to arrive, as
always keeping an eye on the surrounding area for any danger that might
unexpectedly emerge at the last minute. His staff weapon was poised to act as
he saw Buck and JD step up to the wormhole take a deep breath before finally
disappearing into its sparkling depths. Josiah and Nathan did not show any
trepidation when it came time from them to enter because their primary concern
was for their friend and reaching the sarcophagus that would save his life.
When
the men from Tau’Ri’s past had finally left Netjer, Teal’c stepped through
the gate itself.
IT
was impossible to describe the journey that takes a man a part to the subatomic
level and then spirit him across the galaxy in a matter of seconds. However, it
is like being born some have described. Other have voiced a feeling of
gratitude towards life as one steps through the other end of the portal and
sees that he is the same even though a minute ago, he was nothing more than
infinitesimal particles of energy whizzing across space time. Some are changed
by it, others try to forget but most retain the memory of cosmic oneness that
perhaps for a very brief second, all things were apart
of one grand creation.
Certainly
Buck Wilmington felt this way when he opened his eyes and found himself in the
cavern they had left almost a day ago. Nothing inside the structure had been
disturbed. Fortunately, no one had come to investigate why Doctor Faulkner and
his team of archaeologists had not been heard from for the last day and for
that matter, where the seven lawmen of Four Corners had disappeared to as well.
It gave Buck a great sense of comfort to know that their horses were waiting
outside and Four Corners were just a few miles down the track and Inez was
going about her business, waiting for their child to be born.
"We’re
back!" JD cried out enthusiastically, even though Teal’c
appeared surprised that the young man might have believed any differently. They
were all getting back their bearings a little because they were not yet acclimatised to gate travel and the biting cold after
effects could still be felt through their clothes even though there was a warm
summery heat beyond this cavern.
"Thank
god for that." Buck said with a smile.
"Save
the thanks for later," Nathan said crisply as he shook the disorientation
from his head and snapped back to full alertness since Ezra could not afford to
wait for him to endure a lengthy recovery. "We need to get him into that
thing."
"Nathan
Jackson is correct," Teal’c answered in complete
agreement because he too could see the human that had been sadistically
tortured by Sekhmet was very near the end. "You
will bring him to the sarcophagus while I prepare it for his use."
Buck
let out a deep sigh and thought inwardly to himself as they prepared for the
task at hand.
Yep, they were home all right but as usual, things were far from right.