TEAM, Part 7

“Kal’toc,” Grogan said. His voice held a mix of warning and concern. Kal’toc kept his eyes forward as if he hadn't heard.

Attila smiled a superior smile. “They will never understand Jaffa the way we do, is that not right, Kal’toc? If you have spent any time with humans, you have found them to be a confusing, sentimental, messy race, I am certain.”

Kal’toc set his jaw and tried to keep his face impassive, although he found it disturbing that the Goa’uld could know this.

“I have,” he said, finally.

Attila nodded at the confirmation, then called out, “Hessen!” When Hessen came to the door, he said, “Take this Jaffa. Make sure he does not attempt escape and do not allow him a weapon, but otherwise treat him with respect. He may be soon be your commander.”

Hessen narrowed his eyes at the thought of the beaten, young captive becoming his “superior,” but he did as he was told, and Kal'toc left the room without a backward glance.

Vala and Grogan exchanged a look but said nothing.

Serilipum and Kauket too remained silent, looking at Attila, Serilipum with a scowl on his face and Kauket with a question in her eyes.

“You shall see, Kauket,” Attila said. “He shall be a fine addition to our army.”

Kauket did not seem convinced, but she didn't comment. “And what of these?” she asked, gesturing toward Vala and Grogan.

“Leave them,” he said.

“My lord,” she protested, “I have waited long enough for a host. Either of these will do. They must have the knowledge of the Tau'ri, and both are sufficiently pleasing to the eye. I grow weary of this child's body and its dreadful humming and wailing.”

“Good girl, Palita,” Vala said, heartened to hear that the little girl was still fighting. “You show her who's boss!”

“Do not encourage her!” shrieked Kauket and turned and backhanded Vala across the face again and then again.

Vala, who managed to stay upright this time, put her hand to her mouth and wiped away the blood. “A little touchy, are we?” she said. “If you find the child annoying as a host, just imagine how annoying I could be.”

“Enough,” Attila said as Kauket raised her hand once more. “Kauket, just a little more patience and you shall have everything you desire in a host. More Tau'ri have arrived through the Chappa'ai, just as we anticipated, and if the report is correct, the renowned SG-1 is among them.”

Vala lifted her head at the news, and she heard Grogan shift as well. What did Cameron always say in these types of situations, something about the cavalry? Attila's lack of concern at the rescue attempt was unnerving, however. Surely the SGC must have been prepared for an ambush?

“SG-1?” Kauket said, frowning.

“Ah, Kauket,” Attila said, “you must pay more attention to what we have been told. SG-1. The first team. The ones whom even the other Tau'ri hold in awe. SG-1.”

Vala, in as much pain as she was in and as bad as the situation was, actually rolled her eyes. Oooo, SG-1, the wonderful, amazing SG-1! Why bother with SG-13, when we can have SG-1!! Grogan caught the look and almost smiled.

“Ah, they ain't all that,” he said out loud.

Vala raised her eyebrows at Grogan's uncharacteristic wisecrack, even as she attempted a smile with her bruised and cut mouth. Grogan gave a half-shrug that seemed to say, What have we got to lose? and, Colonel Mitchell isn't here, so somebody's got to do it.

Attila's eyes flashed. and he took a quick step farther into the room. “You find the situation amusing, slave?” he said. “I doubt you will find it so when your colleagues are dragged before me and you yourselves are put to death.”

Serilipum found hope in Attila's anger. “Give me one then, give me one!” he said. “You may keep the others. I am ready now!”

Attila turned on Serilipum then. “Do you fool yourself into thinking you will have more power with an adult host, that perhaps you can challenge my rule?” His voice dripped with venom.

A look of hate and fear passed through Serilipum's eyes and was gone. He giggled and said, “No, no, of course not, Attila. I serve only you and the Lady Kauket.”

Attila stared at him, and Serilipum started his strange nervous dance, from foot to foot. 

“No,” Attila said after a long silence. “You will not take a host now. But you may play with them as much as you want, until I call for them. Do not kill them or you will suffer the consequences.”

Attila spun about then and left the room, and Kauket dragged after him and shut the door behind her so the room was once again lit by only the small window high above their heads.

Serilipum frowned, then grinned happily, raising the pain stick. At least he would get to play.  

********

SG-1 had not gone very far toward the village when a loud, strange animal call echoed from the woods. Jack saw his three teammates hesitate, almost as one, then keep walking. The call came again. “What the hell is that?” he asked. “It sounds as if someone's strangling a chicken.”

Daniel looked back at Jack and smiled, and he noticed that Sam and Teal'c were smiling too.

“That,” said Teal'c, “is Colonel Cameron Mitchell.”

“We never could get him to give up that stupid bird call,” Daniel said.

The sound from the woods repeated itself, and then there was static and an rhythmic staccato beat came over their radios.

“Morse Code?” Jack said. “Mitchell knows Morse Code?”

Daniel held up his hand to Jack, indicating he should shut up, and listened intently. Jack was slightly embarrassed that the only Code he knew was S-O-S. Who the hell knew Morse Code anymore?

“He says to switch to a secure channel, General,” Sam said then, and Daniel nodded. Well, of course Daniel knew, but Carter too?

“Indeed,” said Teal'c, and Jack sighed.

Jack switched his radio to the predetermined secure channel and waited. “SG-1,” the familiar voice came through, “this is SG-13, do you copy?”

“We copy, Mitchell. Good to hear your voice. What's your status?”

“Three captured, General, held in the meeting house. The Goa'uld are here, two still in their child hosts. Sixteen men with them. Unfriendlies in the village. Over.”

“Roger that,” Jack said. “We're aware of the unfriendlies. Numbers in the village?”

“Nine now, no Goa'uld; expect several to be down by the time you get here. Over.”

“Don't go in alone, Mitchell. We'll handle it.”

“I have some help, General, and we're already here. Time is short. Over.”

Jack hesitated. What was Mitchell playing at?

“He knows what he's doing, General,” Sam said, reading Jack's mind. Jack thought he saw an unspoken “probably” in her eyes, but he decided to ignore it.

“All right, Mitchell. Don't get yourself killed. And, if you see us do something that looks really odd, you might want to close your eyes.”

There was a brief silence while Cam digested what Jack had just said.

“Yes, sir, I'll make sure to do that,” he said. “Over.”

Ten minutes later, as they approached weapons range from the village, they spread out to either side of the road and squatted down in the long grass. They'd be easy prey for an expert sniper with a long-range rifle, but odds were Attila's “army” lacked both the expertise and the weapon. Jack hoped so, anyway.

Jack took a Goa'uld shock grenade from his pack as Teal'c pulled the modified grenade launcher from his jacket. Jack was about to push the button activating the grenade when Mitchell's voice came over his radio, still on the secure channel.

“Hold up, General. Situation in the village is contained. No need for the light and sound show.”

Jack pulled his finger away from the button just in time and watched as Mitchell and an old but powerful-looking man walked from the village, followed by an odd collection of locals.

Jack stood up and the others followed. “Stay alert, people,” he said before keying his radio. “Mitchell, I need you and your friends to come away from the village and drop your weapons. Tell 'em to keep their hands where we can see them.”

They could see Cam nod from where they were. “Yes, sir,” he said into his radio. “Let me just explain.” Cam said something to the man next to him, and they all started moving forward away from the village. After about 20 meters, Cam stopped and pulled his zat from his belt and took the strap from his P-90 from around his neck and placed them both on the ground at his feet and stepped back. Then he held his hands out to his sides. The others hesitated, then followed suit.

SG-1 approached, weapons raised. “Yo,” Cam said when they got close enough. “Thanks for coming.”

“You are injured, Colonel Mitchell,” Teal'c said, nodding at the bandage on Cam's forearm. The once-clean cloth was torn and a small amount of blood spotted it pink.

“Ah, it ain't nothing,” Cam said.

“Maybe you should let me see it anyway,” Sam said.

“Hold that thought, Carter. Let's take care of business first,” Jack said. Sam nodded and she and Teal'c stepped forward while Jack and Daniel kept their weapons trained on the group. “I sense no symbiotes, O'Neill,” Teal'c said. “Me neither, sir,” Sam confirmed. Jack nodded, and they lowered their weapons. “Sorry, Mitchell. We had to be sure.”

“No problem, General. Now I don't mean to be impatient, but I've got a team to retrieve.”

“You got all the unfriendlies in the village?”

“Yes, sir, we've got it covered. Trevian and Si are whizzes with a slingshot, and Berrio here,” he said, indicating the portly man, can do scary things with a rope.”

The buzz of the UVA grew louder again as it came from over the woods and made another slow circle around the village. Sam looked at her handheld and smiled. “We've got men tied up in the village square,” she said. “I count four. And three more lying behind the houses.”

“And two more lie in the alley beyond the store.” This was from the old soldier. Without asking permission, he bent and picked up his zat and his knife. Jack held his tongue, and the others bent to do the same. “We are wasting time,” the old soldier said. “The Goa'uld still roam our planet, and your friends may even now be hosts.”

Cam nodded grimly, and Jack didn't have to look to imagine the expressions on his teammates' faces.

“All right,” Jack said. “The man is right. Mitchell, you vouch for these people?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good, we need to do a house to house search of the village. . . .”

“Already done, sir,” Cam said.

“Humor me, Mitchell. We need a house to house search, and we need to get the captives out of sight. Who can help us with that?”

Grien, the other elderly man, stepped forward as well as the woman Antria. Jack looked to Cam, who gave a small smile and said, “They can handle themselves, General.”

“O.K., Daniel, radio SG-6 and let them know our status. Mitchell, tell me what you know, and then I want you to head back to the Gate and get that arm taken care of.”

Cam looked startled at the thought.

“No, sir,” he blurted.

Jack raised his eyebrows. “No, sir?”

Cam pulled himself together and said, “I'm sorry, sir, but I won't . . . I can't go home without the rest of my team.”

Jack was about to argue, but then sighed and rubbed his eyes. “No,” he said, “I don't suppose you can. O.K., let's take this somewhere else. We're too far out in the open here. Mitchell, I'm assuming you have a plan?” 

“Yes, sir, I do.”

*********

Kal'toc heard Vala's scream and he stiffened, turning toward the closed door to the storage room.

“Does the sound disturb you, Jaffa?” Attila said.

Kal'toc looked at the Goa'uld and chose his words carefully. He sensed that to deny that the screams disturbed him would only increase Attila's distrust. Betraying his teammates did not mean he wished them to come to more harm. “There does not seem to be a purpose to this torture,” he said, attempting to keep his face neutral.

“You do not find it entertaining?”

“I do not,” Kal'toc said.

Hessen snickered, and Attila glared at him before turning back to the young Jaffa.

“Kauket and I were tortured for centuries by those who found such things amusing,” he said, “and I no longer find the same entertainment I once did in gratuitous cruelty. Torture should be a means to an end, not the end in itself.”

Vala's scream cut off abruptly, but Kal'toc kept himself from looking toward the door again. Some loud thumps came from the room then, and another strangled scream.

“I allow that swine to torture,” Attila continued, “because he needs to torture to live. And should I decide to question the humans later, they will be that much closer to giving me whatever answers I should wish.”

“And they will be too weak to fight us should they become our new hosts,” Kauket, who sat nearby, added.

“Yes,” Attila confirmed, “although if he injures them too badly, the aggravation of healing the bodies may outweigh any benefits. Now tell me, Kal'toc, where is the man you call Colonel Mitchell?”

“I do not know,” Kal'toc replied truthfully. “I was injured and did not see what happened to him. I only heard his weapon firing, then stop.”

“Lie to me, and you will die painfully,” Attila warned.

“I speak the truth,” Kal'toc said, meeting Attila's eyes.

Attila frowned, then shrugged and said, “No matter. One injured human can do nothing to harm us. And we will find him soon.”

Kal'toc only nodded in response. He suspected that given the right conditions, Colonel Mitchell could indeed do a lot of “harm,” but he saw no point in saying so.

“And the woman,” Attila continued. “She was once a host. Do you know to whom?”

“I do,” Kal'toc answered. “She was host to the Goa'uld Qetesh.”

“And what became of Qetesh?”

“She lives no longer.”

“A pity,” Attila said, making clear that he thought the opposite. “And how is it that her host survived?”

“I do not know,” Kal'toc answered.

Grogan's screams tore into the room then, and Kal'toc took a deep breath to keep from reacting. A First Prime did not show concern for such things. Not wanting Attila to see his eyes, he let his gaze wander the large room. Against one wall, on either side of the door, were four rows of benches, upon which perhaps ten men lounged. There were two small windows on either side of the door. Opposite the benches was a raised stage, which held, incongruously, three upholstered chairs. Next to the stage was a narrow door that presumably led out the back of the building. Before the stage was a large empty space. On the wall to the right were three tall windows without glass, stretching almost from the floor to the ceiling, and to the left of the stage was the storage room, from which Grogan's screams could be heard so clearly.

“Jaffa!” Attila said, his voice low and angry. “You will give your attention to me when I speak to you, or I will feed you to Serilipum myself!”

Kal'toc pulled his eyes back to Attila. Grogan was still screaming, but Kal'toc kept his expression blank. He had made his choice; he could not waiver now.

“Now tell me,” Attila said, once he was certain Kal'toc was listening. “What can I expect from the Tau'ri who have just come through the Chappa'ai? Will they be able to overcome the men in the village?”

“Yes,” Kal'toc said.

“You answer without knowing how many there are waiting in the village?”

“I do.”

Attila smiled. “As I had predicted. They would not be worthy of our attention if they could not overcome and anticipate such an ambush. Now, if you hope to serve me, Jaffa, you will tell me everything you know about this SG-1 and what their next move may be.”

Kal'toc hesitated, then swallowed his doubts and began to talk.

*******

Vala lay on the floor gasping from the effects of the pain stick. Serilipum stood over her, smiling, and took the edge of the stick and ran it slowly down her body. She jerked away, but the stick wasn't activated. Serilipum took the stick then and moved it under her BDU tee-shirt, and then pulled it out and ran it down the other side of her body, his smile turning into a leer that was horrible to see on the young boys' face. She tried to come up with a witty remark, but she was in too much pain, and it was too upsetting to see the boy they hoped to save forced to do what he was doing. She closed her eyes and turned her head, waiting to get the strength to move again.

“Get away from her, you sick S.O.B.,” Grogan demanded in a hoarse voice, and Vala realized he was far closer than she thought. She popped open her eyes in time to see the young captain grab Serilipum around his throat with one arm. Grogan jerked Serilipum backward, lifting him off his feet, and swung him away from Vala. He tightened his grip, and Serilipum let out a strangled scream, kicking his dangling legs hard against Grogan's shins, but Grogan held on and kept squeezing.

Vala struggled to get up to help, but her limbs betrayed her, and she could only watch as Serilipum, who still held the pain stick, reached his arm around and jabbed the stick once in Grogan's back. For the split second before Serilipum pulled the stick back, the fire sprang from both their eyes and mouths. Grogan's grip loosened and Serilipum slipped free, spun and stabbed the prongs of the torture device into Grogan's belly, and once again Grogan was on his knees screaming.

“You tried to kill me,” Serilipum almost squealed in outrage above Grogan's screams.

The ranting Goa'uld showed no signs that he would stop, and Vala cursed her slowness. She forced herself up, took one step and stumbled, almost going down again, then took two more steps and leaped onto Serilipum's back. Serilipum let out a little squeal of surprise and dropped the pain stick, and Grogan, released from its effects, fell forward onto his face and was still. Serilipum spun around, trying to shake Vala off, then backed hard enough into a wall that Vala felt something crack before her head banged against the wall as well.

Vala gasped and swore, but hung on.

“Get off, get off, GET OFF!” Serilipum screamed, spinning around and around. Vala tried not to think of the boy Simis as she reached her hand up to gouge the mad Goa'uld in the eye. Her fingers met their mark, and Serilipum roared—as much as he could roar in the thirteen-year-old body—and tried to buck her off. She saw Grogan struggle to his feet, and, curling her legs more tightly around the short body, she put both hands over Serilipum's eyes, making whatever she'd injured in her back shoot pain all the way through her. Grogan picked up the pain stick, turned it around and swung hard at the boy Goa'uld's stomach. Vala let go and fell backward as Serilipum doubled over in pain. Grogan swung again, this time aiming for the head.

Before he could make contact, the door slammed open and Vala watched as Grogan was lifted and thrown through the air. His head made contact with the wall and he slumped to the floor. Vala turned toward the door and saw Attila standing there, the hand device he no doubt liberated from the space station still glowing.

Serilipum, his eyes filled with rage, didn't even look in Attila's direction. He ran at Grogan with a scream and wrapped his hands around the captain's neck. Grogan grabbed Serilipum's arms but didn't have the strength left to free himself. He made a gurgling sound as boy's thumbs pressed into his throat, and he kicked out uselessly. Vala saw Kal'toc appear in the doorway and she yelled, “Stop him!” but he didn't move until Attila took a staff weapon from Kauket's hands and handed it to him.

“Do it, Jaffa. Kill him if you must,” Attila ordered.

Kal'toc lifted the staff weapon and fired. Serilipum screamed and released his hold. He slapped his hand over the nasty looking staff wound on his arm and looked toward the door in shock. Grogan, with nothing left to hold him up, slid sideways down the wall till he hit the ground. His eyes were half open and his breathing was harsh and ragged.

Kal'toc held out the staff weapon, and Attila took it. “You did not wish to kill him?” he asked curiously.

“Your orders were to kill him if I must. It was not necessary to kill him.”

Attila laughed his deep laugh. “Kauket,” he said. “I did so miss giving orders to Jaffa.” Then his eyes hardened again. “Tend to him,” he told her, gesturing toward Serilipum with disdain.

Then he walked over to Vala. She tried to slide away, but he grabbed her hair and yanked her to her feet.

She gave a yell, then gritted her teeth, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of hearing her whimper. He pulled her close so his face was mere inches from hers, and when he spoke, his voice was low, almost intimate.

“Never, never deem yourself worthy to attack one of us, is that understood? Know your place, human,” he said. Then he tossed her aside like so much garbage. Vala hit the floor hard and stayed where she fell, unmoving.

“Come,” Attila said more loudly then. “We must prepare for the arrival of our newest guests.”

He left the room and Kal'toc, after a long look at Vala and then Grogan, turned to follow him. Last Kauket and Serilipum moved toward the door, Kauket pulling him by his good arm. Serilipum was weaving slightly, pain and confusion showing in his face.

As they got to the door, he pulled back and whispered something that made Vala start, then Kauket snarled and yanked him through the door, and someone slammed it behind them, leaving the room silent but for Grogan's harsh breathing.

Palita, Vala thought. He called her Palita.

Vala dragged herself the short way across the floor to her teammate's side and got shakily to her knees. The room spun and settled, and she reached and touched Grogan's shoulder. He didn't look good.

“Karl?”

Grogan's eyes opened, and he turned his head slightly to look at her. “Sorry,” he rasped through his abused throat. “I'm sorry.”

Vala wasn't sure what he was apologizing for, although she suspected, knowing Tau'ri men—especially the SGC variety—that he might have been apologizing for not being superhuman.

“Hey, we almost had him,” she said.

“Yeah,” Grogan rasped. “Almost.”

“Don't worry,” she said, “SG-1 always survives.” Then she realized what she'd just said and winced. “And SG-13 too, of course,” she added.

Grogan gave what might have been a small smile. “Yeah,” he said. “Sure. Us too.” He let his head drop back to the ground and closed his eyes.

Vala lowered herself so she was sitting next to her teammate and patted his shoulder and tried not to give in to despair.

Cameron was out there somewhere, and now the rest of her old team. Hentik was gone, but the two other children were still alive and still fighting. Somehow, this was all going to work out. Somehow, they would get home.

*********

Jack hated tunnels. Death traps, every one of them. Once inside, it didn't matter if you were a military genius or a blithering idiot. All your choices were made except one: move forward or move back. So here he was, moving forward, hoping no one was about to drop a grenade down one of the above-ground air vents that they passed under every 200 feet or so. Daniel was behind him, Thome and Hardewig, the broad-shouldered youth, behind Daniel. Thome, who apparently knew the tunnels better than anyone on the planet, had wanted to lead, but Jack had insisted. If there was trouble up ahead, he didn't want the two farmers to face it first.

Mitchell's plan had been a good one, but Jack had modified it slightly, unconvinced that the Goa'uld and his “army” could be so easily taken by surprise, and not ready to buy Mitchell's intel that there were only the Goa'uld and five or six men left guarding their people. It was just too damn easy.

Or as Daniel put it, “You would think a military genius could set a better trap.”

So Jack had split them up into three instead of two groups. Teal'c and Mitchell would head above ground, through the densest part of the woods, led by Vineon and Grien. Jack knew, without a doubt, that Teal'c would see and hear any sign of trouble before it found them. Sam and Lieutenant Spanakoulos, one of Atwater's men, would take an alternate tunnel that would bring them up in the house Antria shared with her sister in the fields a half-kilometer west of the meeting house. If the Goa'uld hadn't gotten smart and shot down the UVA by then, she'd monitor from above. Either way, she and Spanakoulos would hang back until they had a better handle on whatever Attila was planning, and maybe provide a few surprises of their own.

The teenagers and the little girl he'd sent home. The boys and even Mitchell had protested, but Jack didn't see the sense in risking the lives of children on a mission to save children.

Should any of them get captured, they were to surrender and stall for time until backup or the Daedalus arrived. If she arrived, Jack reminded himself again. The Horan had sworn the Lucian Alliance would let her pass, but they all knew what the promises of both the Horan and the Lucian Alliance amounted to.

Finally, he'd told SG-6, one man down, to hold the Gate and make sure no other unfriendlies came through. At the first sign, though, that they were the intended targets of Attila's plan, they should dial out and get the hell home. Atwater, like the teenagers, had not been happy with his orders but had offered only a terse, “Yes, sir.”

So now Jack walked on as quickly as he could, his shoulders stooped and his head bent at an uncomfortable angle. He had yet to find a tunnel he could walk upright in, and if weren't for his bad knees, he'd swallow his pride and crawl through. Except for the occasional quiet curse when he banged his head, he avoided complaining the way he would have if it had just been his team. After all, Thome had to have six inches on him, and the Cartinian hadn't said a word, except to direct them at the rare branch in the tunnel.

The passageway seemed to be getting smaller, and the ceiling lower, and Jack, fighting a sudden bout of claustrophobia, shone his flashlight ahead. Sure enough, the tunnel narrowed ahead to little more than a crawl space, sloping upward to the surface. Jack checked his watch and saw that they'd been walking for nearly a half hour, which was just about right. He slowed, and squatted, and Daniel and the others stopped behind him.

“This it?” he asked quietly.

“Yes,” said Thome. “When we reach the opening, we will be in the woods, forty paces from the side of the meeting house.”

Jack reached for his radio and tapped the button twice, hoping they were close enough to the surface for Teal'c and Mitchell to hear. There was a responding tapping, twice, then once, then twice more. They were in position.

Jack let go of his radio. “All right,” he said to the Cartinians. “Daniel and I will go first. Count slowly to three hundred and, if everything appears clear, follow us out. If they're waiting for us, turn around and go back. Get to Carter if you can.”

Although Thome had known this was the plan, he protested once again. “We can take care of ourselves, General O'Neill. If they are waiting outside, we can help.”

Hardewig added, “You cannot give us orders on our planet.”

Daniel, who had barely said a word since they'd set out, ducked his head down farther and turned to face the men, both of whom he had met on his first visit to Cartinia.

“Thome, Hardewig,” he said, “what will happen to your families if you're caught?”

Thome became very still. “The Goa'uld said they would kill them all, just as they killed my parents when I was a boy.”

Daniel nodded. “It's our fault the Goa'uld are here, and it's our responsibility to take care of it. If you or your families are hurt, we would be to blame. This is . . .” Daniel hesitated and then continued. “This is what we do. Let us do it. If we fail, you need to be here to take over.”

Thome murmured something to Hardewig and turned back to Daniel. “Very well. We shall do as you ask . . . for now.”

Daniel clasped Thome's hand for a moment, then turned to follow Jack, who had started to move again through the tunnel. He could already see dim daylight ahead.

“Daniel,” Thome whispered suddenly, as if the thought had only just occurred to him, “do you not have a family that you leave behind?”

Daniel, who was just stooping down to fit through the narrow passageway to the surface, paused and looked back. “No,” he said. “My family is here.” Then he turned and hurried after Jack.

Jack pushed aside the brush that camouflaged the opening to the tunnel. He stuck his head up and listened intently, then pulled himself the rest of the way out. He could hear the sound of the UAV flying overhead but couldn't see it through the trees. He reached back to grab Daniel's hand and help haul him up. A shot rang out suddenly and then another, and both men ducked down quickly before they realized that someone was taking pot shots at the UAV.

They grinned sheepishly at each other then started moving carefully through the woods toward the meeting house. The firing continued, and Daniel whispered, referring to the UAV, “Good distraction, too.”

Jack nodded, took another step, and felt the ground give out beneath him. Daniel let go of his P-90 and grabbed onto Jack's pack, and pulled up hard, and they both fell backward, Jack on top of Daniel with his legs dangling in the large hole that had just opened up in the ground.

“Crap!” Jack thought. How could he be so damn careless? He rolled off Daniel, yelling loudly enough for Thome and Hardewig to hear, and with luck Mitchell and Teal'c too, “It's a goddam trap!” He got up to his knees and started to raise his P-90, but he was too late. Four men dropped easily from the trees above them and covered them with their weapons.

Another man dressed in black stepped out of the woods and nodded to two of the men who had dropped from the trees, and they ran off toward the tunnel. Daniel, still winded from having Jack's full weight fall on his chest, rolled over and pushed himself slowly to his feet. At a gesture from the men with the guns, he lifted the strap from around his neck and placed his P-90 on the ground, then shrugged out of his pack. Jack did the same, from his knees, before also getting to his feet.

“That went well,” Daniel said, and Jack almost laughed. It was a weird time to think it, when they might die or get snaked at any moment, but, God he was glad to have his team back.

The man in black eyed them curiously but said nothing.

“Attila the Hun, I presume?” Jack said, looking the man up and down.

“Oh, good line,” Daniel whispered.

Their captor looked surprise, but a small smile flickered across his face. He seemed about to respond, but then the two men came running back.

“There's no one else, sir!” one reported.

The man in black narrowed his eyes. “Are you certain?” he said.

“We are, sir.”

The man sighed in exasperation and turned to Jack. For the first time he let his eyes flash and he spoke in the dual tones of the Goa'uld he was.

“Where are they?”

“Where are who?” Jack said, then turned to Daniel. “Or should that be whom?”

“No, no,” Daniel said. “Who is right. You're O.K. there.”

The Goa'uld let his eyes flash again and took a step forward but restrained himself. “Bring them!” he ordered, then spun and marched off in the direction of the meeting house. The remaining men had already gestured for Daniel and Jack to move forward, when the voice shouted back, like a parent annoyed at his lazy children: “And search them first!”

Jack and Daniel sighed in unison and raised their hands.

*********

Sam looked at the feed from the UAV and swore.

“What is it, Colonel?” Lieutenant Spanakoulos asked, walking to her and looking over her shoulder. “Damn,” he added when he saw the screen. “They've got the general and Dr. Jackson. The general was right. They must have been watching the tunnel.”

“Sam?” her radio crackled then.

“We see them, Cam. We're on our way. Over.” Antria and Berrio stood up from the table they'd been sitting at with Gretyl and gathered up their weapons, in this case two knives, a gun and a rope. Sam hesitated for a moment and then nodded. According to Cam, they'd proven they could fight in the village. One way or another, alive or dead, the Daedalus would, she hoped, be beaming them out in just over an hour. The Cartinians would be left to clean up the mess. They had a right to try to end this now. 

Antria turned to Gretyl: “Go to Gerid,” she said. “We'll be back. Don't tell him what's happening, only that I asked you to go.”

The little girl frowned. “I'm not afraid of them. I'm a scout. I can tell you where they are. They leave me alone.”

Her sister looked to Sam, but Sam shook her head. “General's orders, Gretyl, and I agree with them. I'm sorry.”

The girl gave a pout.

“Go now, Gretyl,” Antria repeated, and the girl scowled again and ran out the door and across the fields.

“O.K.,” Sam said. “Let's go.”

********

Grien's grandson, who turned out to be yet another teenager, a skinny kid with a big head, watched as the four men pushed the Earth soldiers ahead of them through the door of the meeting house.

“Do you think they will be tortured as well? The others have stopped screaming. Do you think they are already hosts?” he said.

“Jooran!” his grandfather scolded him with a stern whisper.

Teal'c scowled. Cam took a deep breath and let it out and pretended he hadn't heard what the boy said. He had already told them of the screams coming from the meeting house that had since stopped, and it had taken everything Cam had not to run out of the woods and single-handedly take on the bastards who had tortured his teammates. Now, as he watched Daniel and General O'Neill disappear into the meeting house, he wondered what other surprises Attila had in store for them. He drummed his fingers impatiently on the barrel of his P-90.

Sam had better hurry the hell up. Waiting was not in his nature.

*********

“Hey,” Jack said, looking at Daniel and ignoring the rifle pointing at his head, “you didn't tell me you got tickets to a show!”

Daniel forced his gaze away from the stage and said, “Surprise!” in response, but it was a half-hearted effort at best. Jack kept the grin on his face but tried to telegraph with his eyes what he knew Daniel needed to hang onto: They're alive, and we will get them out.

Jack looked back to the stage, ignoring for the moment the dozen armed men around the room. In some kind of absurd parody of a royal court, the three Goa'uld sat on chairs on the stage. The little girl's legs dangled above the floor, and it would have been almost cute but for the staff weapon in her hand and the adult sneer on her face . . . and the fact that she was holding one end of a rope, the other end of which was around Grogan's neck. The captain, who was swaying on his knees with his hands tied behind his back, looked as if he were struggling just to stay conscious.

In the middle chair sat the boy Goa'uld, holding a deadly-looking weapon in one hand, and at his other side was Vala, also on her knees, also with her hands behind her back, her face livid with cuts and bruises. The boy giggled, then scowled, then giggled again, and as Jack and Daniel watched, he reached down and grabbed Vala by the hair, pulling her closer to his side, and twisting her hair around his hand so that her head was pulled back at an awkward angle. She grimaced but didn't make a sound.

Daniel, with years of practice, kept his face neutral, but Jack saw him clench and unclench his right fist in his classic tell. “Easy,” Jack said quietly, as he continued to study the stage.

In the next chair was Attila. He sat, almost reclining, and smiled smugly at them. And behind Attila was. . . . What the hell was up with Kal'toc? Jack wondered. Could he really have turned? The young warrior's face was marred by slowly healing cuts and bruises and his uniform was ripped and bloody, but there he was standing erect behind the chief Goa'uld looking for all the world like a Jaffa in service to his master, and nothing like the excitable, energy-filled youth Teal'c had introduced to him months ago. Jack tried to catch the young warrior's eye, but he continued to look straight ahead.

“Ah,” Attila said, noticing the direction Jack's eyes took, “you are studying the one who is soon to be my new First Prime. He has already proved himself most useful.”

“Has he now?” Jack said.

“He has. For one, he has told us that the Tau'ri remember my name still, that they know me as one of the greatest generals in their history. Is this not so?”

“Called the Scourge of God by the Romans, Attila the Hun was king and general of the Hun Empire from the year 433 to 453,” Daniel began to intone, as if reciting a text book. “He brought together the Scythian hordes to create one of the most powerful and feared armies ever seen. . . .”

Kauket, who was kicking her short legs impatiently, interrupted Daniel's lesson: “There is another with you,” she said. “The scientist. Where is she?”

Attila, who had been smiling at Daniel's recitation, scowled at Kauket.

“Don't know who you mean,” Jack said.

“Whom,” Daniel said. “In that sentence, it's whom.”

Jack turned to him. “Really?”

“Enough!” Attila said. “Kal'toc has also told us all he knows of SG-1. You are the so-called great General O'Neill, the one next to you is the scholar Daniel Jackson. There is also the soldier-scientist Samantha Carter and the Shol'va Teal'c.”

“So-called?” Jack said. “You wound me.”

“Cease your foolishness!” This time it was Kauket speaking. “If I can't have the scientist, I will take the scholar.”

Attila sighed. “I was hoping you would choose a female host, Kauket. It is only a matter of time before we find the others.”

“I would choose a female, my lord, but I have waited long enough. This child is driving me mad and there are only two females to pick from. The scientist is not here and I will not take the former host of Qetesh. I will take the scholar.”

Jack looked at Daniel, who understandably looked less than happy with the direction the conversation was heading.

“But, perhaps I would like the scholar for myself,” Attila said.

Geez, thought Jack, what am I? Chopped liver?

“He is aware of my glorious Earth history,” Attila continued, “and is rumored to know more about the people and planets of the galaxy than any other. So, what do you say, Daniel Jackson? Would you like to become my host? With your knowledge of the universe and my military genius, we would be unstoppable.”

Daniel eyed the general coolly. “No, no, I don't think so.”

Attila sat up straighter and glared at Daniel. “You would prefer Kauket, then?” Attila smiled then, a slow evil smile. “We are mates, you know. While I was hoping for a female host for her, you are not displeasing to the eye. I could adjust. It might be quite pleasurable.”

Jack saw Daniel clench his jaw and he saw the anger flash in his teammate's eyes. He had almost forgotten how much Daniel hated the Goa'uld. But when Daniel spoke, he realized his anger went a lot farther than that.

“You know? That's it.” Daniel said. “No. Absolutely no. Does everyone in this goddammed universe want a piece of me? Hathor, Apophis, Oma, Replicator Sam, Adria, Merlin. It's enough. I'm drawing the line here at Kauket, goddess of the night, and Attila the fu**ing Hun, all right?”

“You tell him, Daniel!”

Jack looked at Vala in surprise and some appreciation. Damn, she was tough.

Daniel barely registered her remark though. He was on a full-out Daniel Jackson righteous roll.

“And you. Do you really think that it would be some kind of honor for me to become your host? The great General Attila? Don't make me laugh. You're nothing but a torturer and a murderer with delusions of grandeur, just one more megalomaniac the universe can't be rid of soon enough.”

You tell him, Daniel, Jack thought, even as he willed him to shut up.

Attila stood up suddenly and his eyes flashed. “Hold him!” he snapped. Two of the “soldiers” behind Daniel grabbed his arms and pulled them behind his back. Jack turned to stop them, only to find a rifle and an activated staff weapon pointed at his head.

Attila pulled a long ugly knife from under his coat and jumped off the stage.

“Way to stall, Daniel,” Jack said as Attila stalked toward them, knife raised. Daniel pushed back against the men who held him, trying to throw them off-balance, but their grips were strong.

“My lord!” Kauket said. “Do not waste such a fine host!”

Attila hesitated, without looking back at Kauket, and seemed to take a deep breath. He started forward again, this time more slowly, but with the knife still raised. As he drew closer Jack saw that the blade was streaked with what looked like recently dried blood. He shuddered and prepared to jump the Goa'uld even with the weapons pointed at his head. At the same time, Daniel stopped struggling, stood up straighter and became very still.

Attila walked until he was only a foot away from Daniel and placed the point of the blade in Daniel's throat. “Kauket is correct,” he said. “I should not like to waste such a valuable host. However, I will leave that up to you.” He pushed the knife in a little deeper, and blood started trickling down Daniel's neck to his chest. “We could take you by force,” he continued, “but I will let you choose. What do you say, Tau'ri? Kauket, Attila or death?”

Crap, Jack thought. Daniel was going to choose death with a knife already in his throat. To his surprise, though, Daniel hesitated as if actually considering his options. Jack watched Daniel's eyes flick from Kauket to Attila and back to Kauket, and he watched as something changed in Daniel while he stared at the Goa'uld in the little girl's body.

Jack tensed. He'd seen that look. Daniel was about to do something either really stupid or really noble . . . or both.

Daniel started to speak, but found it hard to do with the knife in his throat. Attila smiled and pulled the knife back, and more blood spurted from the wound.

Daniel coughed, then swallowed and winced a little in pain. He cleared his throat anyway and said, levelly, “Will Kauket leave the host without killing her?”

“Daniel,” Jack said, but Daniel, predictably, ignored him.

“What did you ask?” Attila said in surprise, and then: “Oh. I see.” He smiled and turned toward the stage. “Did you hear that, Kauket, Serilipum?” he said, as if he were delighted. “They really are here to 'save' our hosts.” He laughed as Kauket frowned and Serilipum giggled and then turned back toward Daniel.

“I believe Kauket has been looking forward to the little thing's death. Why would she take any pains to preserve its life?”

“She said the child is driving her mad, even after all this time. I won't. If I see that the little girl is still alive when Kauket leaves her, I won't struggle when she takes me. I'll give her peace.”

Jesus, Jack thought. He'd thought he'd seen everything, but Daniel was actually negotiating the terms of his own implantation.

And, worse, from the look on Kauket's face when he mentioned the word “peace,” he was succeeding.

“You are saying you will give her free access to your mind if she lets the child survive?” Attila asked in disbelief.

Daniel shook his head. “No, no, I can't do that,” he said reasonably, as if they were bargaining over the price of grain. “I will share my knowledge of history, languages and culture freely, but there are some things I won't give up without a fight. But I promise, the only thoughts she will hear from me are the ones she tries to take.”

“She will eventually take everything she needs from your mind, whether you volunteer it or not.”

Daniel nodded. “Maybe. Eventually.”

“And if we refuse?” Attila said.

Daniel actually smiled, as if he were playing a trump card. “Then I choose death,” he said.

Attila stared at Daniel for a long moment, then said, without looking around, “Kauket?”

“Yes, yes,” she said impatiently. “I will let the miserable child live. As long as I don't have to hear her wretched voice again!”

Attila sighed a long, mock sigh. “Very well,” he said. “Take the scholar. I will just have to settle for the renowned General Jack O'Neill.”

Jack, who'd been trying desperately to figure a way to stop what he thought was about to happen, was taken by surprise. He straightened and took a step back. Attila looked to the men holding their weapons to Jack's head and ordered, "Hold him still for me. I'll do it now.”

Now? Jack thought.

As the men grabbed Jack, Daniel turned startled blue eyes in his direction. “No wait,” he said. “We can. . . .”

Attila raised the knife he still held in his hand to Daniel's throat and his eyes flashed. “You have made your choice, Tau'ri. As have I!”

“No,” Daniel said again, ignoring the blade, “you can take me. I'll. . . .”

At that moment there was the sound of weapons' fire, but too distant to be from Mitchell's position. Carter, Jack thought, anxiety for his teammate mixing uncomfortably with the fear already roiling in his gut.

Attila pulled the knife away from Daniel and looked in the direction of the sounds and gloated, “Ah, my troops have found the rest of your people, I see.”

“Bad news for your troops,” Jack snapped.

Attila nodded. “Perhaps,” he said. “But with the knowledge I am about to retrieve from your mind, they will be defeated one way or another.

“Prepare him,” he said to the men, and they forced Jack to his knees and bent his head forward. Jack felt Attila's breath on the back of his neck, and he couldn't help but feel the panic rise.

Oh, God, he thought. Not again.

Daniel started to struggle in earnest then, breaking free from one of the men but taking a punch in the head from the other that knocked him to the ground. On the stage, Vala pulled against Serilipum's grip on her hair and he gave it another twist, yanking her head back harder as he smiled excitedly at the scene before him and chanted seemingly without even being aware, “Take him, take him, take him.”

Grogan tried to get to his feet, but a wave of pain and dizziness knocked him back. “Christ,” he said quietly, with a growing sense of dread. “Not O'Neill.”

*********

Sam saw the men before they saw her—at least ten of them making their way in intervals out of the woods—but there was no cover. She, Spanakoulos and the two Cartinians were still in the fields beyond the woods. “Down,” she hissed, hoping the tall crop they walked through would hide them in time, but it was too late. Even as the four of them dropped to the ground, the men were firing. One had some kind of flame thrower, with much greater range, and he moved it in a wide arc, charring the fields before them. If the crops hadn't been so well-irrigated, Sam was sure, the flames would have engulfed them.

“Go!” she shouted to Antria and Berrio as she and Spanakoulos fired back. “Stay low and get out. We'll cover you!”

“We won't run,” Berrio said.

"Then stay down!" Sam shouted, continuing to shoot. Three of their attackers fell, but the fire-spitting weapon was getting closer to its mark, and they were forced to scramble backwards as they fired. Sam managed to key her radio and shouted to Cam and Teal'c to go ahead without them.

Letting go of her radio, she noticed that Attila's men, showing their inexperience, had started to bunch up as they approached, so she yelled for Spanakoulos to cover her. He got up on his knees and fired repeatedly as she dropped her pack and pulled out the grenade launcher and the Goa'uld shock grenade that they'd been intending to use on the meeting house if the original assault failed.

A staff blast whizzed past Spanakoulos's ear and he ducked, and Sam hit the ground as she saw the weapon turn in her direction. A shot rang out from behind her, and the man carrying the staff was thrown backward to the ground. Sam glanced back at Antria and mouthed her thanks, then pushed the button, dropped the grenade into the launcher and let it loose. “Cover your ears and close your eyes,” she shouted, and they all dropped to the ground. There was a high, piercing sound and a flash of light that hurt even through their closed eyelids. And then silence.

Sam opened her eyes and stuck her head slowly up. The remaining seven men lay scattered on the ground, not moving.

“Whoa,”  Spanakoulos said, obviously never having seen firsthand the effects of the shock grenade.

Sam smiled at him and the four got slowly to their feet.

Another shot rang out then, catching Spanakoulos in the arm, and a half-dozen more men came running toward them from the trees.

********

Cam and Teal'c raised their heads at the sound of weapons fire coming from the east.

“Sam's got trouble,” Cam said, and Teal'c nodded.

“But who?” the Vineon said. “Only nineteen came through the Chappa'ai, and between the men in the village and the men we see here, there can be no one else.”

“Perhaps some of your people have betrayed you,” Teal'c said.

Before Vineon could protest, Cam said, “No. No, they were on the ship. Belita's ship. I can't believe I was too stupid to see it before. He had more men hidden on the ship.”

Teal'c nodded, and reached for his radio, but before he could, Sam's voice came through. “Cam, Teal'c, we've got a little trouble. You have to go without us.”

Teal'c keyed the radio. “Colonel Carter, do you require assistance?” There was no answer, but the sound of gun and staff weapons continued.

Cam closed his eyes, then looked at Teal'c. Teal'c looked steadily back at him and Cam realized his ex-teammate was leaving the decision up to him. Sam had told them to go ahead, but Cam knew she would have done that no matter how dire her situation. But he also knew Sam could handle herself and that he had five more people who undoubtedly needed his help now.

“How long?” he asked.

“Approximately 45 minutes until the Daedalus reaches orbit, if she was able to proceed at full speed,” Teal'c said.

Cam took a deep breath and made his decision. “O.K. We go in now.”

**********

“Now!” Kal'toc heard Grogan croak, and he looked over to see the captain looking back at him, urgency in his eyes. Two thoughts flashed through his mind, one that he agreed that now was the time to act. The other was more startling: despite Kal'toc's outward act of betrayal, Grogan—his friend—had never doubted him.

As the men brutally bent General O'Neill forward, Kal'toc leaped for the boy Gou'ald, ripped the pulse weapon from his hand and fired it without hesitating, only hoping that it would hit its mark. He saw Attila fall forward onto O'Neill and then roll to the ground, his body jerking convulsively. Several of the men who had been lounging on the benches, started to jump to their feet, and Kal'toc turned the weapon in their direction, striking two, including Hessen.

At that moment two objects flew in through the large windows, and they sparked and let off gray, billowy smoke. Men started yelling in confusion and he ducked down as some started shooting toward the stage. He heard Tau'ri weapons firing from outside, then both doors flew open, and Colonel Mitchell and Master Teal'c burst into the room, each of them, strangely, with an old man at his back. Kal'toc saw Serilipum cowering behind one of the chairs and Vala rolling out of the line of fire. Grogan had fallen to his side, and Kal'toc couldn't tell whether he'd been hit. Kauket sat still in the chair, looking about as if stunned.

“Idiots!” she shouted with outrage. “You are shooting at us! Kill them! Kill the Tau'ri! Kill the. . .”

Her tirade was cut short by the beam of a zat'ni'katel, and her little body shook and fell from the chair, the staff weapon still clutched tightly and uselessly in her hand. Grogan raised his head as shots still continued to fly around him, then curled smaller into a ball, hopelessly exposed. Unable to see enough of the floor in the billowy smoke to fire back at their assailants, Kal'toc made his way on his hands and knees toward his teammate, determined to pull him out of the line of fire. He thought he heard Vala shout his name and he looked in her direction, but she was gesturing frantically with her head at something behind him. He started to turn when he felt a strange sensation in his abdomen and his symbiote squealed. He looked to see Serilipum leaning over him, his eyes wild with fear and anger, his hand holding the hilt of the knife, stuck firmly in Kal'toc's side. Serilipum pulled the knife out then and the strange sensation turned to a piercing pain. Kal'toc managed still to grab hold of the small Goa'uld's wrist as the knife came at him again, but he wasn't strong enough to hold the knife back. He thought he heard Colonel Mitchell bellowing his name, then once again there was the sound of the zat'ni'katel, and both he and Serilipum were enveloped by its energy.

The pain in Kal'toc's side was joined by the excruciating shock of the Goa'uld weapon. He struggled to remain conscious, aware that his teammates still needed his help, but he lost the battle and everything went dark.

********

One minute Jack was preparing himself to get snaked, and the next there was a strange whomp and hiss and the Goa'uld fell heavily against him before hitting the ground. The men holding Jack panicked, shouting, “General Attila!” and let go of Jack's arms, and Jack rolled until he was well away from them. He grabbed at his neck,  but there was nothing there, no pain, no wound. He saw Daniel flipping one of his captors, and kicking the other, then heard the whomp and hiss twice more and saw two other men fall, and he realized someone was firing a weapon from the stage. He looked and saw that it was Kal'toc. Good man.

Suddenly a canister landed almost at his feet and he heard another bounce on the dirt floor. He rolled again, eyes already watering from the thick smoke the canisters released. He heard the sound of P-90s and zats and then the sound of the doors crashing open. They sure took their sweet time, he thought, before he launched himself forward into the stomach of one of two men still fighting Daniel. The big man went down and Jack grabbed his rifle-like weapon and slammed it against the man's head, knocking him unconscious. He spun to help Daniel in time to see his teammate dispatch his last attacker. Jack threw Daniel the rifle and grabbed a staff weapon, and, as the smoke began to clear they turned to fire with Teal'c and Venion and Grien at the remainders of Attila's “army,” who appeared to be shooting wildly toward the stage and at anything that moved. The old soldier was firing his zat with abandon, and Jack was pleased that he thought to hit Attila, who had still been twitching on the floor. Jack couldn't see Mitchell, but he heard him shout Kal'toc's name from behind him. Jack spun toward the stage, saw that both of the Goa'uld appeared to be down, then turned again. He thought there were maybe five men left, and he took careful aim at one and then another. The old man Grien went down and as Daniel bent to help, he was spun around by the impact of another shot. Daniel cursed and righted himself and raised his weapon to fire again, but Teal'c grabbed his arm, just as Mitchell's voice rang out, “Hold your fire. Hold your fire. We got 'em all!”

The chaos of a moment before was replaced by a silence so complete they could hear the breeze in the trees outside. Daniel sighed and fell to his knees but waved Teal'c off. “I'm O.K.,” he said. “I'm O.K. Check the others.”

Jack kept his weapon trained on the room, watching for any movement. “Carter?” he asked.

Teal'c gave Daniel a small pat on the shoulder, and reached for his radio. His dark eyes were filled with concern and Jack drew in a deep breath and waited with the others. “Colonel Carter,” Teal'c said into the radio. “Colonel Carter, please respond.”

Jack heard Carter's voice then, but not over the radio. “It's all right, Teal'c,” she said. “We're here.” Sam stood in the doorway, looking exhausted and filthy but very much alive. “Sorry we couldn't help out here,” she said, taking in the carnage of the room. “It got a little hairy out there, but Thome and Hardewig showed up just in time.” She walked into the room, followed by Lieutenant Spanakoulos, with his bare, bandaged arm in a sling, and the four Cartinians.

“Sam,” Cam said then, his voice tense with worry. “I'm glad you're all right. If you can, we could use a little help up here.” He was on the stage, kneeling by Kal'toc, trying to staunch the blood flowing from his stomach. Sam, who still had her pack, limped quickly to the stage and pulled out her first aid kit.

Cam had untied Vala's hands and she knelt behind Grogan, who had struggled again to his own knees. She worked awkwardly on the ropes that bound him, almost unable to use one hand at all. Then she took the rope gently from around his neck, wincing at the angry red marks that almost hid the purple bruises from Serilipum's hands, and leaned over to tie it around the still unconscious Kauket's wrists. She looked at the small girl, marveling that they had actually found her, then went back to help Grogan, who had started to crawl toward Mitchell and Kal'toc.

Jack radioed SG-6 to let them know their status, then he, Teal'c and the old soldier began to check the bodies around the room, pulling the weapons away. Thome reached into a storage compartment under the stage and pulled out a coil of rope so they could restrain the ones who still lived. Daniel, ignoring his own injury, bent over Grien, putting pressure on the bullet wound in his shoulder. The old man groaned and called himself stupid for getting shot, and Daniel smiled and placed the old man's hand over the makeshift bandage on his shoulder and told him to hold it there.

The were soon almost done. Jack had just put down his staff weapon to check a body near the stage, a dark-skinned man with scars up and down his arms, when he heard the sound of the staff activating near his head. Carter shouted, “General!” at the same time Teal'c shouted, “O'Neill!” and Jack saw Teal'c, who was lifting a body from on top of an injured man, grabbing for his own staff weapon. Jack, still on his knees, turned and saw Kauket, the broken ropes hanging from her little wrists, pointing the activated staff weapon at his chest, and he knew Teal'c wouldn't be fast enough. As he looked into the hate-filled eyes in the sweet little face, everything seemed to slow down. He saw Vala begin to turn and he saw from the corner of his eye Mitchell grabbing for his zat, but Kauket was already firing and Jack knew neither of them would be in time either. What a stupid, stupid way to die, he thought.

She was already firing when, from seemingly out of nowhere, there was a loud report, and the staff jerked up, sending the blast harmlessly over his shoulder. He watched, stunned, as a red splotch appeared and spread on the little girl's chest and she fell backward against the chair and then sideways to the ground. Her eyes flashed briefly, flickered again, and then went dead.

Jack blinked and turned in the direction the shot had come from. Daniel was on his knees, rifle still raised, aiming at the place where Kauket had stood. As Jack watched, Daniel slowly lowered the weapon. He looked to the small body on the stage and back at the rifle, then placed the weapon almost gingerly on the ground. He pushed himself to his feet then and turned, not meeting anyone's eyes, and walked through the room and out into the fast waning day. Teal'c gave a quick look at Jack and followed him out.

Vala watched them leave, then stumbled over to the small shape on the floor. She dropped to her knees and reached for the girl's neck, checking for a pulse to confirm what all of them already knew, then with one arm pulled the little girl's head and shoulders onto her lap. She looked at the vacant eyes, then brushed her hand down to close them. “There, there,” she whispered. “There, there. You can rest now, Palita. Everything is going to be O.K. There, there. . . .”

Sam's radio crackled then, and a voice burst into the room. “This is the Daedalus,” the voice said. “SGs-1, 6 and 13, please come in. This is the Daedalus. . . .”

 
part 8 

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