“Teal’c’s holding the ring transporter so I could get down here. If he and Rya’c can reach the gate room, they’re headed for Arbella.”
“And Carter?”
He paused for a beat. “I think she’s going to destroy the Ha’tak. I just hope she can do it before Hecate releases the poison into the atmosphere.”
“Right.” And, tactically, that was the right thing to do. Absolutely. “Damnit.”
“It’s Sam,” Daniel said, his confidence unconvincing. “She’ll be fine. She’ll get out.”
Jack didn’t answer that; he knew the odds, they both did. But Carter would have to take care of herself—and she damn well better—because Jack had his own job to do. “Buckle up, kids,” he said, growling the words past his tension. “We’re going to steal ourselves a city.”
Chapter 15
Hecate’s Ha’tak — 2098
By the time Teal’c emerged from the transporter room, Sam was pinned down in a nearby corridor along with Rya’c and a handful of Jaffa who’d taken up his challenge to fight for their freedom. Teal’c nodded at her, a reassuring gesture; Daniel, at least, was on his way.
The rest of Rya’c’s supporters had been sent to proselytize to their brother Jaffa; a literal battle for hearts and minds. A volley of staff blasts prevented either faction from gaining the upper hand and it was a stand-off, for now.
“Where is Hecate?” he said, surveying the scene with a soldier’s eye as he came to crouch by her.
“We think she’s headed for the bridge with Sobek, but we haven’t been able to pursue with her Jaffa laying down fire.”
“Whatever she is planning, she must be stopped.”
That much went without saying, but they were fighting a battle here on more than one front. She and Sting could handle Hecate; Teal’c’s purpose was better served on Arbella. “We need to get you to the gate room. Can you use the ring transporter to reach it?”
“I can, but I do not wish to leave you here alone, Major Carter. You are greatly outnumbered.” His gaze darted to Rya’c and back to her, and although he didn’t say it out loud, she understood; he didn’t want to leave his son either.
Her heart ached for him, but they just didn’t have any choice. “Teal’c, you need to bring the Arbellans through the Earth gate. If we’re going to win this, we have to secure the Stargate.”
“My men will protect Major Carter,” Rya’c said. “We can—”
“No,” Sam said. “No, you need to get your men off the ship, Rya’c. As many as you can, before—” She exchanged a glance with Teal’c, wondering how much she should say. He gave a slight nod: tell him everything. “Rya’c,” she said, “I’m going to destroy it before she can release the poison. I’m going to destroy Hecate’s ship.”
And Hecate, she thought bitterly. And Janet…
Rya’c’s shock was evident, but short-lived. “Yes,” he said. “Yes, of course you must.”
“So you need to get your men out of—”
Suddenly, a familiar sound echoed down the hallway towards them; the rings were activating again. Heart thumping, Sam turned. Teal’c had armed himself with a staff weapon and held it ready. Sam had only managed to scavenge a zat.
“Watch the corridor,” Rya’c ordered his men as he, too, turned toward the transporter room entrance, his weapon raised.
But as the doors slid open, Sam let out a breath of relief; they weren’t Jaffa reinforcements. Instead, Hunter stood on the threshold, his weapon leveled, along with Rya’c’s friend, Zuri, and a couple of other Resistance fighters from the Shacks. Sam smiled and turned to Rya’c, but he wasn’t smiling. And he hadn’t lowered his weapon.
“Zuri,” he said. “Why are you here?”
She met his words with a cool stare. “Why do you think I’m here, Dix?”
“Zuri—”
Her weapon lifted. “I’m here to fight for the Lady Hecate. The question is, what are you doing, shol’va?”
Teal’c bristled but Sam put a hand on his arm to restrain him. “Zuri,” she said, trying to sound conciliatory.
“You will be silent!” Zuri stepped forward, out of the room, Hunter matching her step for step. He looked uncomfortable, lacking the zeal Sam saw in Zuri’s sharp face, but there was anger in his expression too. And hurt. He looked like a man betrayed.
“Dix,” Zuri said to Rya’c, “you were our leader, our… our friend. We trusted you.”
“I am still your friend, Zuri, and would be your leader if you will listen.”
“You betrayed our god!”
“No!” He took a step forward, but came up short against Zuri’s staff weapon. “It is Hecate who has betrayed us,” he said. “She has betrayed everyone.”
“An’ how’s that?” Hunter said. “Because she wants to kill all the Snatchers? That ain’t betrayal, Dix, that’s good sense.”
“Not all of them,” Rya’c said. “Not the worst of them, Hunter. She’s using the Snatchers to build a terrible army.”
“Our army,” Zuri hissed. “To protect Earth from the Snatchers, from other gods—”
“They are no gods,” Teal’c said, shaking off Sam’s restraining hand to step forward. “They are parasites, and they will enslave you.”
“I am no slave,” Zuri spat, looking Teal’c up and down in disdain.
“Then fight for yourself,” he said, “and not for your false-god. Fight for Earth.”
Zuri snorted. “And who are you to preach?” Stalking closer, she glared up into his face. “I have fought for Earth my whole life. I will die fighting for Earth. What have you done, Teal’c of Chulak, but abandon your son?”
“Zuri!” Rya’c snapped. “Enough. Join us. We’ll fight together, you and I, as we’ve always done.”
She spun to face him. “You are a traitor!”
And that was her mistake; at such close range she didn’t stand a chance against Teal’c. In one fluid motion, he had her flipped and flat on her back, his staff weapon pressed to her throat and the breath knocked from her lungs. “My son,” Teal’c growled, “is no traitor.”
“He is. As was his father.”
Teal’c’s lip curled, his staff weapon activating. “You—”
“No!” Hunter lunged forward. But Sam got him between the shoulders with her zat and he fell, back arching as he twitched. The other two resistance fighters opened fire as Rya’c’s Jaffa turned from the doorway. One of Zuri’s men went down to a zat, while the other hit the deck looking for cover.
“Get to the rings!” Sam barked. “Rya’c, Teal’c—get to the rings!”
She sprinted along the corridor into the transporter room and headed for the controls, programming the transporter for the gate room. Rya’c was already on the platform, Teal’c backing away from Zuri with his weapon leveled as she twisted to her feet.
Sam hit the control, activating the transporter. “Teal’c, now!”
The rings slammed down around Teal’c and Rya’c, taking them away an instant before the electric shock of a zat sent Sam sprawling to the floor.
Earth — 2098
Despite the end-of-the-world consequences of their mission, Daniel couldn’t help but feel awed as they swept over the spires of the Ancient city.
The Lost City of Atlantis. He spared a wry smile for the stuffed shirts at the Society for American Archaeology—if they could see me now! The idea that this astonishing piece of technology—of architecture—had once been on Earth, back in pre-history, and that it had left its mark so deeply in the human psyche that stories about it had continued to be told right up until the twenty-first century, was mind-blowing. He was hard-pressed to explain how it could have happened and yet it was evidently true.
If they made it out of this alive, if he was ever in a place of peace again, Daniel thought he could easily devote the rest of his life to investigating the truth of Atlantis and its role in Earth’s distant past. And, ironically, her distant future.
“So, the eastern most tower,” Jack said, f
rom the gate-ship’s pilot seat. “Any ideas?”
“Given that they won’t have oriented it north to south,” Daniel said, “not really.” There were a lot of towers.
On the other side of the cockpit, Earthborn shifted in her seat. Her gaze was ostensibly on the city below but there was an abstracted expression on her face and Daniel wasn’t surprised when, a moment later, she said, “There is confusion here; something has happened.”
Jack snorted. “Yeah,” he said. “We happened.”
“No,” Earthborn said. “More than that. Shadow is… She is very angry.”
“Perhaps she’s found out about Hecate’s plan?” Daniel suggested. “And Sobek’s betrayal.”
Earthborn sat up straighter, lips pulled back. Although she was young, and slight compared to the male Wraith, there was something deadly in her posture. Something frightening. “Perhaps she senses the presence of her rival and the imminence of her death.”
“Or maybe she just ate a bad taco,” Jack said. “Let’s dial back the melodrama, shall we? Especially if she can hear you thinking.”
Daniel smiled, but Jack wasn’t wrong. “The first thing has to be taking control of the city’s systems,” he said. “We can deal with Shadow later, if we have to.”
“If? It is not if, Daniel Jackson. While Shadow lives, the city will never be ours.” Earthborn straightened her back. “And I must kill her and take her place, or her blades will not bend the knee to me.”
Daniel didn’t have much to say to that, so kept quiet. He could practically hear Jack’s eye roll, however, even if he could only see the back of his friend’s head as he said, “Here we go,” and banked the ship around. “This is where we parked last time,” he said as he brought the ship in to land on one of the piers that stretched out around the beautiful city.
Beautiful except for all the gnarled bits of Wraith hive-flesh that clung to its spires, of course. Like termites, Daniel thought, and hoped Earthborn couldn’t hear him thinking.
Jack left the ship cloaked once they landed, and then led the little group along the pier and into one of the massive towers. “There’s an elevator,” he said, voice low as they made their way through a corridor thick with the dank scent of hive-flesh. “It should take us right there. Right to the control chair.”
“And then—” Daniel stopped abruptly as, in front of him, several figures emerged from the shadows. Wraith, five of them.
“Damnit.” Jack had his weapon raised, so did the two blades that moved to cover Earthborn.
From behind them came another sound, and Daniel glanced over his shoulder to see their exit cut off. This was no accident; someone knew they were coming.
“Hello, Jack,” came a familiar and unwelcome voice.
Another figure wound his way through the Wraith blocking the way in front of him. Human, ragged, he was half hidden in the shadows, but Daniel knew his voice all too well.
“Hecate mentioned you’d be dropping by.”
“Maybourne,” Jack said, grinding the word between his teeth.
If he’d looked emaciated when they’d seen him in Shadow’s lab, Maybourne looked positively skeletal now. His eyes were too large for his gaunt face, his scant hair stuck up in greasy tufts, and he bared his teeth in a gappy parody of a smile. “Queen Shadow would like a word,” he said. “She’s very keen to meet you and she’s very… hungry.”
“Well I’m flattered,” Jack said. “But I don’t have time for a dinner date. Especially when I’m the dinner.”
Maybourne laughed, a high-pitched giggle that spoke of a life extended too long, of suffering Daniel didn’t want to imagine. As much as he loathed this treacherous man, he made a pitiable sight nonetheless. “I didn’t say you had a choice,” Maybourne said. “We must go; she awaits.”
“Wait,” Daniel said. “You’re working for Shadow? Hecate said you were working for her.”
Maybourne spread his arms. “I work for whoever is winning. And at the moment that is Queen Shadow.” He bared his teeth again, looking hungry and desperate. “And she will reward me. She will reward me for my loyalty.”
Daniel shuddered a little at the thought of what form that reward might take. “Why don’t you come with us?” he said, eyeing the faceless drones behind Maybourne. “We can help you.”
“Daniel…” Jack said, a warning.
He ignored him. “We can free you, Maybourne. If you help us.”
Maybourne laughed again, a mad laugh. “Free me?” He sobered abruptly. “I don’t want to be free, Daniel. I want to win.”
“Win?” Daniel said, looking at the wreckage of the man. “I think you lost the moment you betrayed your friends and your planet, Maybourne.”
His face twitched, a flare of something lucid and raw, quickly replaced by fury. “We’ll see,” he snarled. “When Shadow has you in her embrace,” he reached out his hand, fingers curled into a claw, “then we’ll see who’s won, Daniel Jackson.”
With that, he gestured to the drones and two stepped forward.
“Come no closer!” That was Hearten, one of Earthborn’s blades. He stood before her, his weapon raised. “You are in the presence of Queen Earthborn, drone. Know your place!”
The drone stopped, hesitated like a worker ant that had lost its trail home. Remarkable, Daniel thought.
Maybourne looked confused, peered past Jack to where Earthborn stood with her back straight and chin lifted. Clearly, he wasn’t expecting that.
“Hearten,” Earthborn said, one hand on her blade’s arm. “Stand down.”
Jack turned. “Stand down?”
“Don’t fear, Colonel O’Neill,” Earthborn said. “I believe this is for the best. I must confront my mother’s sister and the sooner I am victorious, the better.”
Hearten looked unsure—Jack looked furious—but Earthborn was adamant. “Take me to Queen Shadow,” she said to Maybourne, “for I have long desired to meet her.”
“Great,” Jack growled, as they were disarmed and shoved into motion along the dark corridor. “You know, for once, I’d like to actually stick to the plan?”
Daniel huffed a laugh. “That would be boring.”
“I like boring. Boring is good. Boring keeps you alive.”
Hecate’s Ha’tak — 2098
Rya’c found himself in the vast room housing the Ha’tak’s Chappa’ai, among the towering columns that lined the vast space. Through the window, he could see the dirty gray ball of dust that was now the Earth and, as the transporter deactivated, he could hear nothing but the sound of his harsh breathing in the silent chamber.
“Zuri…” She had been his friend, his ally over many years.
His father’s face was set hard. “We cannot spare time for sorrow,” he said. “They will know where we are.” He eyed the Chappa’ai. “We must leave while we can.”
“But my men…”
“They must make their own choice, now, son. Come with me to Arbella; the people there are unskilled in battle. Your leadership will be of great use—as will your friendship with General Bailey. She…” There was a hesitation. “Her trust in SG-1 has been weakened, your presence will reassure her.”
“Weakened because of your attempt to erase this timeline and exterminate all who live here? Yes, I know what General Bailey discovered in their data center.”
His father inclined his head, but did not apologize.
And Rya’c found he had no appetite for argument; his own judgment, he now knew, had been profoundly lacking. How could he challenge his father on his? Instead he said, “Will we be welcomed on Arbella? Their Chappa’ai has been shielded for many years.”
“I believe General Bailey will have kept the door open to us, Rya’c.” There was a pause before his father added, “Whether or not we will be welcomed there, we must return and rally the Arbellan forces to Earth’s cause. There is now no other option if we are to win this battle.”
“Do you believe it possible?” Rya’c found that he lacked his father’s faith; he ha
d long believed that the peace enjoyed by the planet’s residents was a fragile one, built as it was over a foundation of two philosophies, diametrically opposed.
“Yes,” his father said with conviction. “Matters on Arbella were in a state of tension when we left, but I believe honor and generosity will overcome fear in the end. Arbella will open its doors; it will come to the aid of its ancestral home.”
“I pray that you are right,” Rya’c said as he moved to the dialing device and set the Chappa’ai spinning. There was no time to contact General Bailey, no time to ask permission. He must trust only in his father’s words and the character of the people of Arbella.
By the time the wormhole was active, Rya’c could hear weapons fire coming closer. The battle for Hecate’s ship would be brutal and it felt wrong to leave his men here to die or flee as they chose. His father’s hand landed on his shoulder. “It is time,” he said. “You will do more good for more people on Arbella, leading her people back to reclaim Earth, than you will dying here.”
“That does not make the choice easier.”
“It does not. But we are Jaffa, we were not born to make easy choices, son. We were born to make right choices.”
Rya’c held his gaze, seeing, perhaps for the first time as a grown man, the conflict in his father’s heart. “As you did when you betrayed Apophis to fight with the Tau’ri.”
A slight nod. “As you did in rejecting Hecate’s lies.”
A detonation shook the doors to the room, bucked the deck beneath their feet.
“Now,” his father said, fingers gripping his shoulder tight. “Now, son.”
And he was right. With a scant nod, not looking back, Rya’c walked to the open Chappa’ai with his father at his side and stepped into the wormhole with no idea what would face him on the other side.
As it turned out, the gate room in which they emerged was entirely silent. Not a soul was present. “This does not bode well,” he muttered.
Stargate SG-1 30 - Insurrection Page 21
