by Jamie Duncan
Once they were back in the chapel, Aris carried Brenneka to the dais and laid her gently at its foot, then waved Hamel and Eche over. They spoke together for a few moments and, although Eche protested, they both remained behind as Aris came to join SG-1.
“So?” Colonel O’Neill asked.
Daniel was gaping upward at the wall of steel. His unsteady finger pointed as he took a step toward it, but he came up short against the Colonel’s extended arm.
“Are you nuts?” the Colonel demanded.
Daniel closed his mouth and frowned as though he were seriously considering the question.
With a roll of the eyes, the Colonel turned back to Aris. “So?” he repeated.
Aris looked over his shoulder to where Eche was squatting in front of Hamel, dabbing at Hamel’s face with a square of sterile gauze. Teal’c was watching. Beside Eche was a small stack of foil packets from Teal’c’s pockets.
“They’ll be safe here while I take you topside to get an idea of what’s going on up there.” Aadi moved closer to his father. “Yeah, you can come,” Aris added, although he didn’t look too happy about it. Sam knew how much luck he’d have getting Aadi to stay behind.
“And then?” she asked.
“Then I bury my sister.” He walked away before they could say more.
Topside was seething. Their small quarter seemed mostly deserted when they slipped through the low door into the alley and then made their way to the tiny courtyard, but the unmistakable sounds of a riot came from the direction of the mine. Sam braced a hand on the gate and leaned back to look up at the Ancient tower. It rose unperturbed against the pink-edged grey of early morning clouds, but behind it death gliders cut through the sky in elegant arcs, swooping low to strafe the streets on the far side of the city, then shooting upward to hang at the top of their pendulum swings before falling back downward for another run. Sam counted five as she walked to the other end of the courtyard and stood next to the Colonel. Above the rooftops they could see the livid glow of a massive fire: the processing plants, still burning, she guessed. The Colonel’s face was grim.
“Can’t see squat from here,” he muttered. Then louder, “We need a better vantage point. See if we can get to the ’gate.”
Aris shouldered past them to lead the way. He stopped when he noticed that they weren’t following, and he pointed ahead. “Come or not. But make up your mind. There’s a revolution on, in case you hadn’t noticed.”
Sam spared half a thought on why the Colonel started moving then, why he would even consider following Aris, but there was no time for debate. He took Aris’ lead, Daniel walking behind, Teal’c at his shoulder. Sam brought up the rear.
Aris led them away from the worst of the noise. At one of the broader alleyways, they were caught in the riptide of the crowd, half the people running away from the riots, half toward it. Teal’c gripped Daniel by the upper arm and guided him deftly across the intersection after Aris and Aadi, while Sam and the Colonel took their chances alone, getting bowled over more than once in the process. From there, the ha’tak was visible, and it was clear that the death gliders were concentrating their fire on the space around it, no doubt keeping back the crowds. They moved on, winding their way through the streets and alleys, past gangs of workers with shovels and picks and determined or crazed or desperate expressions, past huddles of children who hunched themselves into smaller knots or dispersed into the corners and crevices of the city. Under their feet, the Nitori swirled in glass and the mosaic faces of their people gazed upward at the empty sky. There was no lightning or whirlwind. There were six thousand slaves and a few hundred Jaffa, and a dead wannabe god, and another on his way.
She wondered how far away Yu was and what he would do when he arrived to find the mine collapsed and the city in full rebellion. Maybe this place was dismal and miserable and worthless enough that he would find no value in reclaiming it. Maybe he’d blast the mountains down on them. Sam couldn’t help her gaze straying to the sky: she looked for a hint of lighting, a gust that could be a whirlwind. The people were on the road. Where were Ancients and their promises now?
After what seemed like endless turning and doubling back to get around crowds and noise, they emerged into the square in front of a squat, windowless bunker: the roshna stores. While the death gliders blasted holes in the mosaic walkways of the old city and toppled the remaining towers into the streets, the people dodged and ran and killed the Jaffa guards, overwhelming them with numbers and desperation. They came together in front of the wide doorway of the storehouse where the sturdy, belligerent bulk of Esa emerged from inside the bunker. He held his fists over his head, one closed around a staff weapon, the other clutching a bag full of phosphorescent blue packets. Esa shook his trophies at the sky and at the death gliders. The roar of the crowd’s triumph made Sam cover her ears.
Aris skirted the edge of the riot, down another narrow passageway, up a long flight of stairs and then another, and finally out onto an open landing above the city. From there they could see plumes of smoke rising from the bunker where they’d been held, from the processing plants, and even from the blasted hulks of heavy equipment at the base of the ha’tak, although the ship itself didn’t appear to have been breached. New layers of black dust and smoke hung low and choking over most of the city, wreathing the ha’tak and the Ancient tower. The death gliders made pass after pass around the mothership, protecting it for a god who was never going to return. Behind Sam on the landing, Aris’ ship gleamed dully as the first rays of sunlight stabbed between the mountains.
“Yep,” the Colonel said, gazing into the distance and the smoke. “That’s a revolution, all right.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Anarchy was good, Jack thought, as he fought the urge to sit down and pass out. His eyes were dry and burning from the fine ash and soot in the air. Overhead, death gliders continued their circular patterns over the city, laying down cover fire. Jack backed up instinctively, squinting into the sun to see if they had now become one of the many targets, but the ships soared by without nearing their position. “How many people do you have contributing to this little rebellion?” he asked, looking at Aadi.
The kid looked scared to death, but his father’s hand on his shoulder made him taller, and he lifted his chin. “I don’t know. Bren was the one who planned it. She always said there were many who would help, once they believed they could win.”
“Looks like they believe it now,” Jack said. He stared down at the destruction being wrought in the name of freedom. He’d seen it, been in the middle of it, what seemed like a thousand times, and the weariness in his body was the heaviest exhaustion he could ever remember. He shook it off and took a quick inventory. Carter looked dead on her feet, but she was alert. He could see it in her eyes, the burden of command and decision-making, still active in her quick, assessing glances. Teal’c had looked better, and Jack suspected he was going to hear that Teal’c had taken a few knocks of his own, but it wouldn’t come up until Fraiser had her hands on him. Daniel was worst off. Jack didn’t even want to look at the back of his throat. The idea of the wound there made his teeth clench. They had to get the hell off this world, and if they couldn’t find a way in the middle of a full-fledged rebellion, they didn’t deserve their hard-to-kill reputation any longer.
“Sir,” Carter said. “Brenneka told me there are only a few thousand of her people left. They’re no match for a mothership full of troops.”
“Never underestimate my people, Major.” Aris was watching the sky, and a calculated look, full of satisfaction, had come over his face. “This has been a long time coming.”
“They’re expecting you to bring weapons to their rescue,” Carter said. The anger in her tone made Jack turn to look at her. She was shaking, not much, but enough that Jack could see it. Delayed shock, Jack guessed, but she knew he was watching her, and she got herself under control. She was a hell of a leader.
“They know by now it’s not going to happen,”
Aris said, gesturing at the valley beneath them, which still trembled with aftershocks from the deep-ground collapse below. “But they’re still fighting, aren’t they?”
A stab of pain shot up through Jack’s arm, direct from the abused fingers of his hand, but he ignored it. Beside him, Daniel had slumped at Teal’c’s feet, but now he groaned and sat up, his eyes more focused than they had been since they’d left the library. Jack took a long, assessing look at him, at the way his body was shaking, and said to Aris, “We don’t have time to stand around debating. Point us the way to the Stargate and we’ll be out of your hair.”
“We do not have our GDOs,” Teal’c said.
Jack turned to look at Carter, whose expression caught his irritation and flung it right back. “We haven’t exactly been in control of what equipment we had access to, sir.”
“Well, we can gate to the alpha site,” Jack said, but Aris was already shaking his head.
“You won’t get through the Stargate,” Aris said. “That’s the only thing on this rock valuable enough to put a guard on.”
“You could hide with us,” Aadi offered quietly. He rested his fingers on Carter’s sleeve. “I know our kin would be willing to shelter you here, for as long as it takes.”
“Thank you, Aadi,” she told him, curling her fingers over his. She gave him a small, genuine smile, not the kind that was PR. “But you have your own people to worry about, and we have injured.”
Jack didn’t especially like being lumped into that category, but her assessment was accurate.
“We could help care for them,” Aadi said, returning Carter’s smile. Under other circumstances, Jack would have been grateful for any help at all, but now, accepting it would involve staying. He was turning to Plan C, which involved going by any means necessary.
Aris angled his head up to look at the clouds. “Yu’s coming. By then most of us will be in the mountains, if we have any luck at all. You can hide there as well as anywhere.”
“Thanks, but we’ll find our own way,” Jack said. No more caves and tunnels. When he got home, he was going to sleep in the backyard and stay inside the mountain only long enough to get to nice, quiet, grassy worlds. He nudged Teal’c. “What are the odds we can steal one of those cargo ships?”
“About the same as getting to the Stargate,” Aris answered, though he hadn’t been asked. “You people aren’t equipped.”
Jack’s annoyance flared again, fueled by his sense of urgency. “You have a better suggestion?”
Aris stroked his son’s hair, once, twice. Aadi looked up at him, and Jack saw a spark of adoration in the boy’s eyes. So he didn’t hate his father, after all. Like most teenagers, he’d only thought he did. “A trade,” Aris said. “A fair bargain.”
“Really,” Jack said, his eyes narrowed. “Maybe you’ve noticed we don’t have anything to trade with?”
Aris held up his free hand, warding off Jack’s skepticism. “My word is good on over two thousand planets, Colonel. I didn’t get that kind of reputation by cheating my trading partners.”
“Whatever,” Jack said. He’d already run out of both patience and time, and if Aris was playing some kind of game, he wasn’t in the mood. He hadn’t completely made up his mind to leave Aris alive when they ditched his planet. “Get to the point.”
“You gave me this,” Aris said, resting his hands on his son’s shoulders. He glanced over at Teal’c, then at Sam, and nodded. Jack had a strong sense of déjà vu. “I’ll give you my ship.”
“Just like that?” Carter asked. Jack was happy to hear that she was as skeptical as he was. He’d trained her well, clearly. “How do we know it’s not a trick?”
“Major Carter, I could already have shot you where you stand. I could have killed you all. Yet here you are.” Aris regarded them all with an amused expression, as though they were simple to even have asked the question.
“So you’re not being generous, then,” Jack said. Aris met his eyes for a long moment.
“Hardly. What would be in it for me?”
“Perhaps you and your son should come with us,” Teal’c said, making the question sound like an imperative. Jack shot him a look, but Teal’c studiously ignored him. The last thing Jack wanted was Aris Boch in his way. He wanted Aris Boch on his side even less.
“I’m afraid not. Chances are you won’t make it off this planet, and I have other concerns now.” Aadi pressed back against Aris, who dropped an arm over his chest to pull him close. “You’d better hurry. Don’t forget, Yu is on his way.”
“Yu, Yu, Yu,” Jack muttered. He’d put that issue on the back burner and let it boil dry. It was like he’d left half his brain down there in that cave of a library.
“Your race’s resistance to the Goa’uld… if we could isolate the source of it, think of the benefits to all the races enslaved by them.” Carter leaned forward to lend emphasis to her persuasion. Aris looked diffidently at her. “I thought it was the roshna,” she went on, “but Brenneka told me so much about the Nitori. It might be genetic. Your people could help humans all over the galaxy, if we could just—”
“If I would leave my people to help yours,” Aris said. “Not going to happen, Major. Come back and visit us sometime. If we’re still here, we’ll be happy to help you with your little science project.” He moved his hand to his blaster. “My son and I have plans for the Goa’uld.”
“Those plans wouldn’t include going back down to that vault, would they?” Jack asked. The thought made his skin crawl, and the look on Daniel’s face told him he didn’t like the idea much, either.
Aris’ smile was completely not reassuring. “Not your problem, Colonel. Now get off my planet before I have to shoot you.”
“Password,” Daniel croaked, and Jack looked down at him, concerned by the way saying even one word made him choke and gasp.
“Barokna,” Aris said, in answer to the question.
Daniel raised his eyebrows, and Jack asked what he was probably thinking. “The same as the old ship?”
“No reason to change what works,” Aris said. He stepped back, pulling Aadi with him. “Here’s hoping you’re as good a pilot as I am, Colonel. Though I doubt it.”
“Here’s hoping you manage to live past sunset,” Jack said. For Aadi’s sake, he left the sarcasm out of it, though he was pretty sure Aris heard it anyway. The twisted smile on Aris’ face confirmed it.
“My people are resourceful, Colonel. And so am 1.” Already Aris was backing away from them, but Aadi pulled away, stared at Carter for a moment and then Teal’c, as if he wanted to come to them.
“Thank you, Aadi,” Teal’c said, and inclined his head. Carter smiled again.
“Aadi,” Aris said, a tone of command in his voice. The boy’s eyes turned glassy with unshed tears, but he nodded his head at Teal’c and retreated to his father’s side.
Jack stared up at the ship behind them. With any luck, he might still remember how to fly her. “Let’s get the hell out of here,” he said, helping Teal’c pull Daniel to his feet.
The password worked like a charm, and once they were all aboard, Teal’c slid smoothly into the pilot’s seat, displacing Jack without so much as a request for permission. Jack had some vague thoughts about protesting, but the sharp twinges from his finger stabbed the idea of that right out of his head. Fondling that bug-eye of a control was not going to be easy, so he sat down to play navigator and contented himself with watching the black, disgusting landscape fall away beneath them as they climbed along the rock face and out of the valley.
Behind his shoulder, Carter leaned closer and sucked in a breath at the sight of dead rebels and Jaffa scattered in the streets.
“Better to die free,” Teal’c said, in what was always his last word on the subject. No need for Jack to say he agreed. They all did, though it was a damn waste to have to wipe out half a planet’s people to get to it.
“Carter,” Jack said. “Find us someplace to go. Someplace close, with a ’gate.” Daniel was curle
d up against the wall behind him, and for all Jack knew he could be bleeding to death. Nothing they could do about it but hurry.
“Yes, sir,” she said. The pressure on the back of his chair eased when she straightened and went to the center console. A moment later she said, “Sir, there’s a ha’tak headed straight for this planet. It’ll enter orbit in less than three minutes.”
“It is undoubtedly Yu’s ha’tak,” Teal’c said, maneuvering them through the last fading blue of planetary atmosphere and out into the yawning darkness of space. Jack scanned the star field. Death gliders and cargo ships swarmed around them. They fit in perfectly.
“Let’s just ignore it and get out of here,” Jack said. “They won’t notice us.”
“Sir,” Carter said, and before she even said another word he’d heard the entire argument in her tone. “From orbit, that mothership can wipe out entire cities. The revolution will be over before it’s even begun.”
“They expected it, Carter.” Jack swiveled in the seat to face her. “They knew he was coming.”
“No, Aris knew. And he knew he couldn’t stop Yu. Especially not without a ship.” She met his gaze steadily.
“Oh, come on,” Jack said, annoyed. “Don’t make this out to be a sob story for these people. After what he did to us?”
“There are more lives at stake here than that of Aris Boch,” Teal’c said, though he wasn’t looking at Jack. “We gave those who assisted us our assurance we would aid them in winning their freedom. Now we have abandoned them to lose it again.”
“You know how this game is played, Teal’c,” Jack said.
He swung back around. Now the mothership had come into view, a faint speck ahead, but growing. In the foreground was a black shadow that blocked out the stars. A second ha’tak already in orbit. As it began to rotate, the central pyramid became a narrow wedge of light.
