“Chances are they’ve already found you,” said a voice from the stairwell. They spun towards it to find Agent Yuma standing there with her gun trained on them. From behind her filed a half dozen soldiers, all with weapons poised. They took up positions along the hallway, cutting off the only means of retreat. Yuma descended the stairs, dragging with her a whimpering figure who she threw on to the floor. “I believe this is what you’re looking for,” she said and, pressing her gun against the side of Lana Jones’ head, pulled the trigger.
Chapter 10
Earth — 2098
“Look,” Jack said, “we’ll be back in a day. Maybe sooner.”
“Maybe much sooner,” Sam added. Theoretically, with a time machine, they could be back before they’d left. The colonel gave her a look that said ‘not helpful’ and she offered an apologetic shrug in return.
“And where is it you’re going?” Sting was sitting in the co-pilot’s chair. He looked too big for the human-scale seat.
O’Kane perched on the chair behind him, the hybrid lying still in the back. He’d roused while they hauled him into the gate-ship and Sting had shot him twice more with the stunner. Sam hoped any neurological damage the stunner might cause wouldn’t impede Hecate’s experiment; she doubted Hecate needed brain function, just basic physiology. If it even came to that. With luck—a lot of luck—the whole plan would be rendered unnecessary and Sam would find herself…
Well, gone. At least, this version of her would be gone. It was a strange thought and one she didn’t want to dwell on. There were more important things at stake.
“I can’t tell you that,” the colonel was saying. “Sting—you’re just going to have to trust me.” He gestured back toward the hybrid. “Take that, and yourself and O’Kane home. Carter and I will meet you there. If we don’t—” He scratched his head, clearly trying to pick his way through the paradoxes of time travel. “Look, if everything is the same tomorrow and we’re not back, then contact Dix in the Shacks. Get him to take you and the hybrid to Hecate.”
Sting growled his displeasure. “That would be suicide.”
“Not if you have the hybrid with you. That’s what she wants. And Daniel—He’ll be there. He’ll speak for you. She’ll listen to Daniel.” He glanced at Sam and she saw all the uncertainty he was trying to hide from Sting, all the impossible unknowns.
“With luck,” Sam said to the Wraith, “it won’t come to that. Either we’ll be back or—” She smiled. “We will be back,” she said and gave it a weight of certainty she didn’t feel. Or want. With luck, they wouldn’t be back and Sting would be living his life in the far-off Pegasus galaxy and would never have heard of Earth or SG-1. Not that she could tell him that without raising too many unanswerable questions.
“Again,” Sting said, “I find myself in a position with little choice but to trust you.”
“That’s worked out so far, hasn’t it?” the colonel said.
Sting didn’t reply; simply turned his head to the window that looked out over the empty docking bay. “Let us see if you are able to pilot this… thing… first.”
Sam caught Jack’s slight smile and it surprised her. The colonel wasn’t always the first to warm to alien species, but he and Sting seemed to share a certain macho bond. Just like he did with Teal’c, she supposed.
“No problem,” the colonel was saying, “I just need to think— ‘exit.’”
The back of the gate-ship began to slide open.
“Not that!” he yelped. “Damnit. Show me how to get out of the city, you piece of—”
A set of schematics appeared on the colonel’s HUD as the gate-ship’s doors slid shut again. Sam peered closer from where she sat behind him. It looked like two options: down to the gate room, or up through the ceiling.
“We don’t want to use the gate,” she said.
“Thanks, Major, I figured.”
“As soon as they see the ship they will send darts to intercept,” Sting warned. “I hope it has adequate shielding.”
“I don’t think so,” the colonel said. “It—Oh, wait. Now that’s sweet.”
“Sir?”
He threw a quick smile over his shoulder. “Cloak,” he said.
“Nice.”
Turning back around, the colonel settled. After a moment’s silent concentration the ship lifted more-or-less smoothly into the air. There was little sense of movement; clearly there was some kind of compensation for inertia. It moved into the center of the docking bay and then lifted vertically. Out the window, Sam watched as they rose past another floor housing its own gate-ships, and then higher into something not dissimilar to the silo at the SGC that housed the Stargate. It brought home to her the scale of this place. In its heyday, Atlantis must have been something to behold.
Abruptly, the quality of light changed, brightening into gray and watery daylight. She craned her head to peer up and saw the ceiling opening as they approached.
“Cool,” she said, earning a huff of amused agreement from the colonel.
The ship kept rising until, around and below her, Sam could see the immense city spreading out. There were disfiguring clumps of hive-flesh all over it, but, despite that, Sam could imagine what it might have looked like in the hands of the Ancients. And it was beautiful.
O’Kane was staring too, his eyes wide. Only Sting looked unimpressed. But, of course, he’d seen this place before and it was the home of his enemy.
“Okay,” the colonel said, his shoulders relaxing once they were beyond the confines of the city. “So far so cool. Cloak is engaged and we are invisible.” He glanced over at Sting. “You know, I could give you guys a ride home in this thing? My rates are pretty reasonable.”
Sting’s chin lifted. “I would rather reclaim my own ship, if it has not yet been discovered. Earthborn’s darts have served me well for many years and I would be sorry to lose one. We have few left.”
“I get that,” the colonel nodded. “So, anyone remember where we parked?”
“The East Pier,” O’Kane said, opening his notebook to the schematic of the city. “Pila Orientalis…” He looked up and pointed to the right. “That way.”
It took a little finding, but eventually Sam recognized the pier where Sting had landed. His sharp-nosed dart sat where they’d left it and the colonel took a couple of passes to make sure the area was clear before he set down.
“Remember,” he said as the back door opened. “If we’re not back by tomorrow…”
Sting nodded where he stood, with O’Kane, at the exit. “I will watch for you. Do not disappoint me.”
“I’ll try not to,” the colonel said. Then he glanced at O’Kane. “Nice work, Jim.”
O’Kane narrowed his eyes, but just said, “Thank you. It was—interesting.” Then his gaze slipped to Sam and she saw rather more understanding that she’d like in his intelligent expression. But all he said was, “Good luck, Sam.”
Whether or not he’d guessed the purpose of the ship, or what Sam was intending to do with it, she didn’t know. But she figured it was a good bet that O’Kane knew what she was planning. “Thanks,” she said. “You too.”
Some things were best left unsaid.
Arbella — 2098
Time crystallized, leaving Daniel aware of every excruciating second. The gunshot echoed off the metal walls of the stairwell and corridor and no one moved.
Then a voice said “What the hell have you done? What have you done?” and Daniel realized it was one of Yuma’s men.
But Daniel couldn’t take his eyes off of the prone body of Lana Jones, discarded on the floor, blood pooling around her head. They had brought her back, thinking they were saving her, only for this to be her fate. He swallowed against the bile sting in the back of his throat.
“Stand down, Officer Hayden,” said Yuma, and he saw that the man who’d just spoken now had his gun trained on her. The other guards seemed at a loss to know what to do, raising their weapons but not pointing them in any particular direction.
“Are you crazy? You killed the president’s wife, for God’s sake!” It sounded like he was on the verge of tears.
At Daniel’s side, Hanna and her colleagues seemed stricken and immobilized. This wasn’t part of their plan. It wasn’t part of anyone’s plan but Yuma’s.
“What is it you hope to achieve here, Yuma?” he said quietly.
She turned to face him, as if aghast that he would have the nerve to speak. “I don’t wish to achieve anything, Jackson. I had already achieved it. Arbella was peaceful. It worked. And all of that in spite of the mess you and your team had left in your wake. Do you think it was people like Jones, or Bailey, who made that happen? It was people like me who saw the finer details, who made those small adjustments that kept things running. I will not have some fallacy bring down what I have built.”
He saw her then for what she was; despite her calm rationality, she was another Maybourne, grasping at opportunity, trying to steal what she didn’t deserve, not caring who paid the price. The dead woman at her feet was proof enough of that. But, then again, Maybourne himself was proof that even the most carefully constructed castles could crumble with the smallest shifting of sand.
Officer Hayden, it would appear, was not so willing to submit to Yuma’s orders. He brought his weapon around to bear and Daniel could see that his hands were shaking. “Drop the gun, ma’am.”
Daniel didn’t think he was imagining it when he saw Yuma roll her eyes. “Don’t be foolish, Jed. We have a goal here. Don’t screw it up for yourself.”
“You’ve gone too far. There’s no way can we keep this from the president.”
“I said, don’t be foolish.” She swung her own gun towards Hayden, but the momentary distraction was enough. Teal’c leapt forward, grabbing her arm and wrapping an arm around her neck. Daniel took his cue and swung a punch at the nearest guard. Surprise worked in his favor and the man dropped like a stone. Hanna and her men didn’t waste time in joining the fray, succeeding in disarming the others quickly. Yuma still had her weapon, though Teal’c held her fast.
“Get out of here,” shouted Hayden, clearing the way for them to run for the stairs, his weapon still trained on Yuma. “Get to the president.”
Pushing Yuma to the floor, Teal’c made a break for it along with the others, but Daniel hesitated on the bottom step. “Lana!” he shouted up to Teal’c, dropping down next to the still body. Her eyes were staring and there was nothing that could be done. Yuma was already getting to her feet and Teal’c shook his head. There was no time even to take Lana’s body with them.
With a final glance at the woman they’d failed to save, Daniel sped after them up the stairs.
Earth — 2098
After several minutes skimming over the rolling waves of the Pacific, away from Atlantis, Jack made a decision. “Okay, time to talk.” He let the ship fly herself and turned around in his seat to look at Carter. “We really gonna try this?”
She gave a tight nod. “I think we have to, sir. If there’s a chance we can put things right, we have to take it.”
It’s what he knew she’d say, and part of him agreed; they were here, they’d been given a shot. They’d be fools not to take it, wouldn’t they? There were a lot of answers to that question—he knew what Daniel would say—but now wasn’t the time. “Okay,” he said, setting his doubts to one side for now. “So, let’s say we get this thing working—where do we go? How do we change all this?”
“I’ve thought about that, sir. I think we go back to P5X-104. Before we—they, I guess—go through the gate.”
“And do what? Warn them?”
“No sir.” Carter paused, obviously choosing her words with care. “Time travel into the past is theoretically extremely problematic. One tiny change could have enormous, unpredictable consequences.”
“Isn’t that kinda the point?”
“Yes sir, but we only want to change one thing. We want you to get back home so you can uncover Maybourne’s plot and save the Protected Planet Treaty. We don’t want to give our past selves any kind of heads-up about the future.”
Jack scratched a hand through his hair; this whole thing was already giving him a headache. “We have no idea if that’s enough. Maybe I get home but don’t save it? Maybe I do but the Wraith show up anyway? I mean, how could the Protected Planet Treaty have any effect on what happens in another galaxy?”
“Sir, the fact is that we can’t begin to predict how an alternate future might unfold. And, really, that isn’t our job. All we know is that everything went wrong for Earth when you didn’t get home to stop Maybourne screwing up the Protected Planets Treaty. So that’s what we need to change.”
“Right. And how hard can that be?” He saw Carter’s jaw tighten at his sarcasm and so took a breath, letting it out in one long, controlled sigh. “You know, Carter, the odds of this even working are—”
“Incalculable, sir. I know. It’s a long shot. But I think it’s worth it.”
He wasn’t one hundred percent convinced of that yet and glanced over his shoulder at the giant doohickey sitting in the back of the ship. “You even figured out how this time gizmo works?”
“I think so, sir. Once we engage the ‘time-drive’ you should just be able to think the right date and we’ll be there. But that’s actually not the most difficult part.”
Of course not. “Go on, surprise me.”
“Well, we need to get to P5X-104. And that means flying this through a Stargate.” She glanced down at the DHD between them. “And this one is calibrated for the Pegasus Galaxy.”
“Which means?”
“We need to go back to the gate in Scotland, sir, and hope Hecate’s portable DHD is still rigged up and in one piece… And that there are no Wraith there.”
“Oh,” he said, returning his attention to the HUD. “Is that all?”
Carter gave a slight smile. “Fingers crossed, sir.”
As it turned out, their luck held. Jack landed the ship in front of the Stargate, the valley appeared as deserted as during their first trip. The cloak helped, he figured, and he kept it and the engines running as Carter darted down the ramp and sprinted for the Stargate. Maybe it was his imagination, but he could have sworn he felt eyes on him from the hills surrounding the valley. Possibly it was Aedan Trask’s people keeping watch on the gate; possibly it was Wraith. Either way, he wasn’t taking any chances.
Skidding to a halt, Carter crouched down next to the Stargate and after a moment turned and gave him the thumbs up.
Whadda you know? So far so good.
After a moment, he saw the gate start dialing and Carter backing up, watching it spin. It was still at its cockeyed angle, which meant the gate-ship would enter into the wormhole off-kilter. What effect that might have on their exit vector he wasn’t entirely sure; he doubted it would be good.
Once the fifth chevron had locked, he toggled his radio. “C’mon, Carter, buckle up.”
With a nod, she jogged back around and into the ship as he started closing the hatch and preparing to leave.
“We’re going through the Stargate,” he told the ship. “So, you know, do what you need to do to make it work.”
He saw Carter’s raised eyebrows as she dropped into the co-pilots chair.
“What?” he said. “I figure it’s best that I warn her.”
“Yes sir,” she said, with a smile in her voice, just as the seventh chevron locked and the wormhole erupted up toward the gray morning sky. She winced. “That’ll draw some attention.” She peered up at the clouds. “It’s a good bet Shadow will send her people down to guard the gate.”
“Then let’s make sure we’re gone.” Jack concentrated—it really was intuitive when you just rolled with it—and the gate-ship rose into the air. “Slowly,” he warned as he lined her up with the Stargate and edged forward.
“You should be careful of the exit vector, sir.”
“I’m on it,” he assured her. Ahead of them, the wormhole grew closer as the nose
of the ship breached the event horizon. He took a breath. “Here goes nothing, Carter,” he said and let the gate swallow them.
Despite the slow entry, the ride was fast and they came out nose down, the ground rushing up to meet them. “Pull up!” Jack barked and the ship responded instantly, but still not fast enough to avoid dragging its butt along the ground before it was shooting up and over the sparse woodland of P5X-104.
An alarm bleeped and was silenced. “Damage?” Jack asked and a whole slew of data cascaded down the screen. He couldn’t understand any of it. “Show it diagrammatically,” he snapped and the image changed to show a schematic of the ship with something flashing red beneath the tailgate.
“We took some damage,” Carter said and glanced over her shoulder. “It doesn’t look bad.”
“Okay.” He took a breath, dismissed the HUD and glanced down at the world streaming beneath them. P5X-104 had been empty of a human population when they’d been here nearly a century ago and little had changed since. The trees were now taller, maybe. “Look familiar?” he said to Carter.
“At least it’s not raining this time.”
He smiled. “There’s that.” Banking around, he took the ship back toward the barren hilltop that housed the Stargate. “Okay, so now what?”
Pushing herself from the seat, Carter made her way to the aft compartment and stood for a moment gazing at the device MacGyvered into the ship. “Now we see if this works.”
It took a good hour for Carter to pronounce herself happy with the device, and another half hour to figure out exactly when they wanted to arrive in the past. It was complicated by the fact that neither of them knew how, exactly, the ‘time machine’ worked.
“It’s not like it’s going to use the Julian calendar,” Sam said, frowning at the machine. “But perhaps the computer is sophisticated enough to translate?”
“We gotta get close to the mark, Carter. We can’t hang out here for twenty-years waiting for our future selves to show up.”
Stargate SG-1 30 - Insurrection Page 14
