They went in formation, this time with the Thakka taking point, Teal’c right behind, then Carter, then Patel, with O’Neill bringing up the rear. The Thakka took them on what O’Neill thought was an unnecessarily circuitous route, but as they went, they saw no signs of the Jaffa patrols. Of course, those patrols had probably moved past the library by now, freeing O’Neill and his people to head in the general direction of the mountain.
It probably wouldn’t have bothered O’Neill so much if it wasn’t so cold. He and Carter had been moving quickly enough during the escape, adrenaline pumping, that he hadn’t really noticed the cold on the way here. But now they were moving slow and stealthy, the chill was hitting his bones.
Despite his misgivings, though, he was impressed. He’d figured they’d be blasting their way through Jaffa, but the Thakka had kept them moving silently through the trees, avoiding the patrols completely.
But then, as they were reaching the treeline at the base of the mountain, Teal’c held up his arm, fist clenched. The other hand went to the Thakka’s shoulder to stop him, since he couldn’t see Teal’c’s ‘hold’ gesture.
Teal’c pointed through the trees. O’Neill felt his eyes widen even as he saw Carter’s do likewise, as they saw her father Jacob just standing there.
Then, about forty-five degrees to the right, O’Neill saw two Jaffa bearing down on Jacob.
He had no idea what Jacob was doing here — Teal’c and Patel appeared just as surprised as as he and Carter were — but there was no time to worry about that. He pointed at Teal’c and the Thakka and gestured for them to go around southward, then pointed at Patel and Carter and gestured for them to go around northward.
For his part, O’Neill moved straight ahead through the trees to Jacob. Since there were only two Jaffa on approach, the five of them would be able to flank them in short order.
O’Neill moved quickly but silently, taking up position behind a thick-trunked tree near Jacob’s position. And why the hell is he just standing there? The two Jaffa were almost on top of him.
Jumping out from behind the tree, O’Neill pointed his P90 at the pair of them. “Don’t move.”
“Jaffa, kree!” one yelled and aimed his staff weapon at O’Neill.
“Oh, kree me a river,” O’Neill muttered as he fired on full automatic.
Just as he did, Teal’c emerged and fired his own staff weapon at the other Jaffa.
Staring angrily down at the two dead Jaffa, Jacob yelled, “Dammit, Jack! What the hell’re you doing?”
“I could ask you the same question. And you’re welcome, by the way.”
A voice came from right behind O’Neill, scaring him out of ten years of life. “That was foolish, human. The Tok’ra and I had the situation under control.”
O’Neill whipped around with his P90 leveled, Teal’c doing likewise, only to see that it was Bra’tac who had spoken. He, of course, was less than ten feet from O’Neill, and the colonel hadn’t even noticed him. I hate it when he does that.
Quickly lowering his staff, Teal’c inclined his head. “Tek’ma’te, Bra’tac.”
Bra’tac moved toward Teal’c and they gripped each other’s forearms. “It is good to see you, Teal’c.” He broke the grip and turned toward O’Neill. “But your timing is poor. Jacob Carter and I had intended to lure these two Jaffa into a trap and then learn from them where the negotiations with the Reetou are to take place.”
“What difference does that make?” O’Neill asked. “We’re just gonna get Daniel and bug out. They can negotiate all they want — without him.”
Jacob stared at O’Neill. “Just the two of you are gonna rescue Danny?”
“Not quite, Dad.” Carter’s voice came from behind Jacob, and O’Neill took great satisfaction in the fact that both Jacob and Bra’tac were startled by her and Patel’s arrival.
Jacob broke into a grin. “Sam!”
“Good to see you, Dad.” Carter lowered her P90 and she and her father shared a quick hug.
“Teal’c!” That was Bra’tac, raising his staff weapon.
Whirling around, O’Neill saw that the Thakka had also emerged from where he’d been waiting in reserve.
Quickly, Teal’c moved to stand between Bra’tac and the Thakka. “Master Bra’tac, no! He is with us.”
Bra’tac, pointedly, did not lower his weapon. “He is Kali’s First Prime.”
“No longer,” Teal’c said.
“The big guy’s right, Bra’tac,” O’Neill said. “The Thakka’s on our side.”
Stepping around Teal’c, the Thakka held his hands open, indicating that he was unarmed. “I have been convinced that the Mother Goddess is neither of those things.”
“Very well.” Bra’tac finally lowered his weapon.
A weak voice uttered, “Shol’va” from the ground.
Everyone turned to see that the Jaffa O’Neill had shot was still breathing.
“Lookee there, a living prisoner,” O’Neill said with a glance at Bra’tac.
While Bra’tac didn’t rise to the bait, Jacob went straight to the Jaffa, his left hand raised upward. For the first time, O’Neill noticed that Jacob was wearing a hand device.
Jacob’s voice went all weird, which meant Selmak was behind the wheel. “You have far greater concerns than a First Prime who has betrayed your mistress. Where are the Reetou negotiations to be held?”
“Tok’ra hasshak!” And for good measure, the Jaffa let loose with a snarl.
The whole snarling thing is really becoming a cliché, O’Neill thought. Aloud, he said, “I’m guessing hasshak is bad?”
“Indeed,” Teal’c said.
Selmak held his left hand over the Jaffa’s head, but didn’t yet activate the hand device. O’Neill noticed Carter looking concerned, but she didn’t move.
Selmak said, “I will use this if I must. Do not force me to, Jaffa.”
“You are not worthy to wield a kara kesh, Tok’ra.”
“Oh, for cryin’ out loud.” O’Neill stomped over with his P90 raised, aiming it right at the Jaffa’s head. “Let me just finish this jackass off and we can move on. Pretty sure your little mini-snake can’t heal you from a shot to the head.”
Another snarl. “The Mother Goddess has designated the tavern as the place where her Tau’ri proxy will speak for her with the Reetou.”
“See how easy that was? Carter?”
O’Neill stepped back and Carter fired her zat at the Jaffa.
Teal’c said, “We are familiar with the tavern.”
“Yeah,” O’Neill said. “But if a mere human can ask a question here, who gives a rat’s ass? Daniel’s in the castle. We go rescue him — ”
“In fact, human,” Bra’tac said, “Dr. Jackson is likely in that tavern, as the Reetou are present on this world. They came through the chappa’ai less than an hour ago.”
“The gate’s operational?” O’Neill smiled. “Well, that makes our exit strategy a helluva lot easier.”
“Not necessarily, sir,” Carter said. “Our GDOs were taken. Even if we get them back…”
Teal’c said, “Captain Patel and I have GDOs with acceptable codes.”
“Good,” O’Neill said. “Then we go to the tavern, spring Daniel — ”
Jacob interrupted. “And disarm the bomb.”
That brought O’Neill up short. “The what, now?”
“The Reetou are collaborating with a Goa’uld named Belos, who’s got it in for the System Lords. He gave the Reetou a bomb that is out of phase until it detonates — and it only takes things out that are in phase.”
“Okay, so we get Daniel out of there before the bomb goes off.”
“Sir,” Carter said, “remember what Kali said when she blackmailed us into doing her dirty work? She said there’d be several humans helping Daniel out.”
“And,” Jacob said, “there’s no guarantee we’ll be able to get Daniel out before the bomb goes off — and the explosion won’t affect the Reetou at all.”
O’N
eill looked at Carter. “Major, can the — ”
But as usual, Carter was already with him. “Yes, sir, the device will bring the Reetou into phase.”
“What device?” Bra’tac asked.
Once again, O’Neill provided the exposition, telling Jacob and Bra’tac what Carter was forced to do while Daniel was preparing his negotiations for Kali.
Carter then picked up the ball. “If we activate the device in the tavern, the Reetou will be back in phase. They’ll be as affected by the bomb as everyone else, and they’ll have to dismantle it themselves.” She looked at Jacob. “Should save us the trouble of having to find it.”
Jacob nodded. “That sounds like a plan. And I’ve got a bonus.” He held up his left hand. “The reason why I bluffed that Jaffa is that this hand device has been modified from its original purpose. It doesn’t do the brain-fry thing anymore, but it does protect the wearer and anyone nearby from being affected by the Reetou.”
Teal’c said, “That is a very valuable weapon.”
“Yeah, well, Belos decided he didn’t need it anymore after Bra’tac and I remonstrated with him.”
O’Neill saw Jacob and Bra’tac exchange a nod, and wondered if the universe could survive those two old farts bonding.
“All right, here’s the plan. Carter, you need to get back to the mountain and retrieve your gadget. Bra’tac, you go with her.”
Both Carter and Bra’tac nodded.
“Patel, you take Thak and Jacob to the rings here in the village. Jacob, send them up to Kali’s mothership, then destroy the ring assembly. Did you gate here or take a ship?”
“Cargo ship, why?”
“Then after you send them up, go secure your ship, make sure no one else can fly it.”
“Already did that, Jack. It’s SOP for the Tok’ra.”
Nodding, O’Neill said, “Fine. Thak, you tell Jacob where you parked your cargo ship, and Jacob, you sabotage it. I want Jacob’s cargo ship to be the only way to get to the island with the gate. Then head over to the tavern — we’ll need your hand device’s protection from the Reetou.”
Jacob removed the hand device from his left arm. “Best take it now. Bra’tac and I tested it out before. Whatever Belos did to it removed its guts, and also means that anyone can use it even if they don’t have naquadah in their blood.”
“That doesn’t suck.” O’Neill glanced at Teal’c, who was staring at the hand device in distaste. Figuring Teal’c wouldn’t want to use it, O’Neill took the device from Jacob and slid it onto his left hand. He winced. “Geez, that metal’s hot.”
“With the amount of power those things generate, sir, it’s a miracle they aren’t hot enough to burn the arm. In fact, with the symbiote’s healing power, they probably could burn the arm without — ”
“Carter!” O’Neill snapped, holding up his hand. Then, remembering what was now on that hand, he quickly lowered it, not wanting to blast anyone across the ground.
“It’s okay, Jack,” Jacob said with a grin, “like I said, all the guts’ve been taken out. Belos just left the power source intact to supply the Reetou protection. All the other goodies that you usually get in a hand device are missing.”
“Right. I knew that.” O’Neill shook his head. “’Sides, in this cold, it’s kinda nice. Like a hand-warmer.”
The Thakka gazed at O’Neill. “Tell me, human — what is it you would have the Kula and I do aboard the Mother Goddess’s ha’tak?”
O’Neill gave the Thakka a look, wondering how he could possibly not know the answer to that question. “Blow it up.” He then turned to Patel. “Captain, you’re familiar with the specs of a Goa’uld mothership?”
Patel nodded. “Yes, sir. I spent quite a bit of time on Cronus’s mothership. Also, I read up on your mission on Apophis’s ship and I’m pretty sure I remember where you placed the C-4 to most effectively destroy it.”
“Nice to see you did your homework, Captain. Hey, Carter, next time I complain about paperwork, remind me what Patel just said?”
Smiling, Carter said, “Yes, sir.”
“Thak, you’re her native guide, just in case. Set the mothership to blow, then ring back down to Jacob’s cargo ship. Teal’c, you’re with me — we’re heading to the tavern, seeing the lay of the land, and also seeing if we can rescue Daniel without needing Carter’s doodad.”
Teal’c inclined his head.
Carter said, “Captain, how much C-4 did you bring?”
“A dozen bricks.”
While O’Neill nodded his approval, Carter asked, “Mind if I swipe a couple from you? We might need it. And ten should be enough to take down the mothership.”
Nodding, Patel reached into her pack and removed two bricks. “I only have one remote, though, so if you need it, you’ll have to set it off manually.”
“Understood.”
“Let’s go, people.” O’Neill stared down at his hand as they moved out. The hand device just felt weird, and he hoped he’d be able to get rid of it soon. But if it kept Teal’c off the bench when the Reetou were around, it was definitely worth it.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Stargate Command
“CHEVRON one encoded.”
Lieutenant Colonel Louis Ferretti paced back and forth in the observation room as Sergeant Harriman dialed P3X-418 for the nine millionth time.
“Chevron two encoded,” the sergeant said.
Ferretti had only recently returned to the SGC to lead SG-17, having been reassigned to head up security at Area 51 when he was promoted to lieutenant colonel. Since the first year of the Stargate program, that classified Nevada research facility had become the destination for the various bits of alien technology that had been brought back to Earth by the SG teams. As part of the first Air Force team to go through the gate to Abydos back in the day, Ferretti had been a logical choice to run security. He would rather have remained in command of SG-2, but like his uncle — also an Air Force officer, recently retired — always said, “When you wear the blue tuxedo, you dance where they tell you.”
But after two years in Nevada, Ferretti was itching to go back in the field, and so he requested a transfer from General Hammond.
“Colonel,” Hammond had said on the phone after receiving the request, “I’ve heard nothing but praise for the job you’ve done at Area 51. The Pentagon is very pleased with your work.”
“Yes, sir, and I’m very glad to hear that, sir. But I need to get back in the field. I owe it to Brown, Freeman, Reilly, and Porro. They went through the gate with us to Abydos that first time, but they didn’t make it back, and we couldn’t even bring their bodies home. They were good men, General, the best, and they wound up being the first casualties of the SGC before it even really existed. I’m happy to serve wherever you need me, but I’d like to ask that I be allowed to go back through the gate again.”
Within a week, Hammond had put the paperwork through, and Ferretti had assembled an all-new SG-17 to replace the team that had been killed in action on Revanna.
Their first assignment: to be on standby in case they were able to dial through to P3X-418, and if they were able to dial that Goa’uld-occupied world, go through to back up Teal’c and Captain Patel in their attempt to rescue SG-1.
Next to him in the control room, Harriman said, “Chevron three encoded.”
Every hour on the hour since Teal’c, Patel, and Kali’s First Prime had departed, they had set the dialing computer to P3X-418. Every hour on the hour, Ferretti had been here waiting. And every hour on the hour, the master sergeant on duty — first Laura Davis, later relieved by Harriman when Davis’s shift ended — had said, “Chevron seven still will not engage,” and Ferretti left the control room in frustration.
“Chevron four encoded.”
Siler had the MALP ready to go — again — in case they got through. Based on the UAV telemetry Carter had gotten the other day, they wouldn’t be able to initiate radio contact directly through the gate, as it was on an island pretty far from the s
ettlement. They’d need the MALP’s booster on the other side in order to communicate with any of the SGC personnel’s radios.
“Chevron five encoded.”
Unless, of course, they were still on the island. But Ferretti was assuming that they wouldn’t have been sitting on their asses waiting around. One way or another, Jack O’Neill would find a way to get to what passed for civilization on that planet.
“Chevron six encoded.”
Truthfully, Ferretti was making a lot of assumptions. The first, of course, being that the Stargate would eventually be working again. And that SG-1 still had their radios. And that Teal’c and Patel made it to P3X-418. And that any of them were still alive.
“Chevron seven locked!”
Harriman sounded stunned when he said the words, and Ferretti stared through the window at the gateroom in wonder as the Stargate opened.
Leaning down into the mic, he bellowed, “General Hammond to the control room. Siler, send the MALP through.”
Siler nodded, and activated the MALP.
Hammond came downstairs from his office and the briefing room. “Report, Colonel.”
“We’ve dialed P3X-418. Sending the MALP through now.”
The general nodded, hands clasped behind his back.
About a minute later, Harriman said, “Receiving MALP telemetry.”
The screen activated to show two of Kali’s Jaffa. One of them activated his staff weapon and fired at the MALP, at which point the screen went dead.
Sounding almost sad, Harriman said, “MALP telemetry lost.”
Leaning into the mic, Hammond said, “Sergeant, keep the wormhole open and prepare a UAV. I want it equipped with a radio booster and I need it before this wormhole’s thirty-eight minutes are up.”
Siler didn’t hesitate. “Yes, sir.”
“Colonel Ferretti, I want SG-17 suited up. Have Lieutenant Satterfield examine the telemetry we did receive, and give me a plan that gets you through the gate with no casualties.”
Nodding, Ferretti said, “Absolutely, sir.”
Siler had the UAV ready in fifteen minutes, just as Ferretti came back to the control room, now suited up and in winter fleece. His second-in-command, Captain Anneliese Peruzzi, was alongside him.
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