“Jacob? Jacob, come in,” crackled a voice from the intercom.
About time. Jacob hit the communication control in front of him. “Daniel? Where the hell have you guys been? I haven’t heard from you in hours. What’s going on down there?”
“Slight change of plans.” There was a short pause. “Jack, Teal’c and Sam have been captured.” Daniel’s voice seemed strained. “I’m going to need your help, Jacob.”
‘He does not sound like himself,’ Selmak said.
Jacob agreed. “Are you okay, Daniel?”
“Uh, I’ve been better. I ended up on the receiving end of a hand device blast. Knocked me out for a while.”
“Ouch.”
“Yeah. Look, Jacob, Zipacna seems to have found and removed all the C4 we planted. I can get to the ring room. Can you send down some more? I’m hoping I can still blow up the queen and use the distraction to get everyone out.”
Jacob was silent for a moment while he processed the request. It was so...
Selmak ‘verbalized’ what Jacob didn’t want to. ‘Stupid. What is he thinking?’
‘I really have no idea.’ He hit the comm. switch again. “Uh, Daniel, as soon as I ring something down they’ll be aware of our position.”
There was a slightly longer pause, then a sigh. “Crap. Hadn’t thought of that.”
Apparently not. “Can you get to the armoury? Goa’uld explosives will take care of it just as well as ours.”
“Good point. Now I just have to find it.”
Jacob frowned. “You studied the base schematics the entire trip here. How hard did you hit your head?”
“Uh, hard enough to hurt. Alright, I remember now. I’ll get the others out and contact you when we’re on our way. Daniel out.”
Jacob stared at the now silent comm. control. Just great. His daughter was down there in enemy hands, and all she had going for her was an apparently concussed archaeologist.
‘He’ll get them out, Jacob. He does not give up easily, particularly on those he cares about.’
‘No, but he doesn’t normally suggest flawed plans or forget key information either.’
‘True.’
‘Not very reassuring, Sel.’
‘We’ll just have to wait and see.’
‘And when did you get so patient?’
‘Right after I blended with you. Survival mechanism.’
Jacob rolled his eyes and allowed Selmak’s banter to distract him from brooding over his concern, at least for the time being. There’d be plenty of time for concern when they heard back from Daniel. Or didn’t.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Jack paced in his cell. He hated the waiting. The waiting was always the worst. He snorted to himself at the thought. Okay, so maybe the torture part was always the worst, but the waiting was a close second. He almost wished someone would come and get started on the torture part just so it would break up the monotony and let him look forward to more waiting.
The sound of marching Jaffa approaching told Jack he was about to get his wish. The pair of them stopped, flanking the opening of his cell, and Daniel— no, Zipacna— stepped in between them. Fairly easy to tell the difference. For one, Daniel would never have been caught dead in that outfit, and since Jack had actually seen what Daniel would be caught dead in, he felt qualified to make the judgement. Jack supposed it was an improvement over Zippy’s previous choice in wardrobe. Leather pants and some sort of ludicrous chest armour in what Jack almost granted was a tasteful black. He could have sworn that Daniel had said Zipacna was Aztec or Incan or something like that, so what was with Night of the Evil Pompeii ensemble? Still, it certainly beat the skirt and jewellery he’d worn on Tollana.
The other key tip-off for Jack that this wasn’t Daniel he was dealing with was the look in his eyes. Daniel had never looked at him like that. Like he was looking forward to pulling Jack’s head off his shoulders. Slowly. Apparently this was going to be fun, though not for Jack.
The force field lowered and the Goa’uld stepped in. “Nice to see you again, Colonel O’Neill. Might I call you Jack? I almost feel as if I know you, with all of the memories swirling through my host. And my own dear memories of our arguments on Tollana. How are the Tollan, by the way? I understand Tanith paid them a visit.”
Of course, that voice would have given it away if Jack hadn’t picked up the other subtle clues. “You know damn well what happened to them. You probably gave Tanith the idea.”
Zipacna smirked. “I did owe the Tollan something for their hospitality during my visit to their lovely world. I could not lose. Either the Tollan would destroy you, or Tanith would destroy them, or they would destroy Tanith, and I would be rid of a competitor in Anubis’s court.”
“Scheming bastard, aren’t you?”
“Oh, come now, Colonel. You are no stranger to manipulating those around you. My host has memory of your betrayal.”
“I would never betray Daniel.”
“But you already have. You abandoned your team and threw his feelings of friendship in his face when he tried to find out what was wrong.” Zipacna smiled. “You crushed him.”
Ah, crap. Daniel wasn’t still feeling that, was he? Of course he wasn’t; it had been four years, for crying out loud. He’d said he was fine. Which, now that Jack thought about it, meant absolutely nothing. But Daniel had also said he’d understood, didn’t he? “I was undercover. Daniel understands that.”
“What he understands is that you don’t trust him.”
“I do trust him. More than anyone else.”
Daniel’s head tilted back and Zipacna peered at Jack, one side of his mouth opening into a lopsided sneer. “You trust him? Like you trusted him in the negotiations with the Eurondans? The alien entity infecting Major Carter? The Gadmeer? The android Reese? How many times have you proven you don’t trust his judgement or his abilities?”
It was the Gould. The Gould was rifling through Daniel’s memories trying to find ways to hurt Jack. Daniel didn’t feel this way. He didn’t keep a catalogue of all the ways Jack had screwed up with him. He didn’t, right? “Daniel and I spend a lot of time together; we’ve had a few misunderstandings along the way. It was a rough patch. It happens.”
“Does it? You trust the shol’va, despite his proven inability to remain loyal to his masters. And you have never failed to trust Major Carter.”
“Actually, there was that time with the human replicators...Uh, never mind, not important.” Bringing up that event was about as stupid as Jack could get. The only person angrier at him than Carter for forcing her to betray Fifth had been Daniel.
Jack’s memory of the ‘discussion’ they’d had after Daniel had descended and finally read that mission report was not a pleasant one. Lots of angry words about the two of them spending five years working together and Jack still being incapable of doing the right thing without Daniel there to argue with him. Not that Jack regretted his choice to trap Fifth. He didn’t. But he did regret some of the things he’d said to Daniel in response.
Judging from Zipacna’s expression, Daniel had some pretty strong memories about it too. The Goa’uld pursed his lips. “For all of your professions of friendship, all your so-called trust, you have done nothing but hurt him, far more deeply than you know.” He raised the ribbon device, and the central crystal began to glow. “Part of him is going to enjoy this.”
As the burning pain started in Jack’s head, all he could think was This day is just getting better and better. He couldn’t help the groan that escaped him, nor could he prevent himself from falling to his knees.
The hand device released Jack for a moment, and a very familiar expression stared down at him. It was the one Daniel wore when he thought Jack was being obtuse enough to be treated like a child. “Don’t worry, Jack. This won’t last long today. It’s only a taste of things to come.” Then the device hummed back to life, and the burning sensation returned.
Better and better
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
Well, Sam thought, at least we’re together in our misery.
She’d been hard at work with her arm deep in the back wall after prying the panel open when the Jaffa had brought first Teal’c and then the Colonel to her. She’d hurriedly stood in front of the open panel, relieved and surprised that the Jaffa didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. Much to her annoyance, she’d determined that the crystals behind the panel were merely part of a backup system intended to keep power running in her cell in the event of a main system malfunction. It seemed Zipacna wasn’t as much of an idiot as Apophis had been. There was no way she would be able to bring the force field down from inside her cell. She’d been trying to figure out just exactly what she could accomplish when the arrival of her wounded teammates distracted her.
Neither man looked good. Teal’c was reasonably well recovered when he’d arrived, only staggering slightly when his Jaffa escort let him go in the cell. His forehead was sporting the burns of a hand device session on top of his gold tattoo, but his eyes were focusing well. Sam figured it’d been some time since his interrogation. She had been about to ask him if he’d learned anything that might help when the Colonel had been dumped into the cell. He didn’t look well at all.
Colonel O’Neill collapsed to his hands and knees when the guards left, quickly rolling onto his side on the floor. Sam and Teal’c both went to him.
“Sir?”
“Carter?”
“Yes, sir. Are you alright?”
“Just peachy, why do you ask?” His eyes peeked open for a second before he squeezed them shut again. Sam winced in sympathy. She knew as well as any of them the light sensitivity a ribbon session could leave. “Carter, when this is over and we get back, remind me never to piss Daniel off again.”
Oh, boy. She didn’t know what to say. Daniel and the Colonel were so close; it must have been unbelievably painful to be tortured by what looked like his best friend. And Sam didn’t even want to think about how Daniel had felt during the experience.
As if sensing her thoughts, Teal’c spoke up. “It was not Daniel Jackson who did this, O’Neill.”
The Colonel shook his head. “No. No, it wasn’t.” He opened his eyes again, this time managing to squint up into Sam’s. “You look like crap.”
“Yes, sir. Thank you. So do you.”
“Good, then. Matches how I feel. Tell me you’ve got a plan to get out of here.”
That would be nice, wouldn’t it? “Uh, no, sir. Not really. I have access to the back-up power supply for the cell, but that’s not going to help much.”
“You can’t use it to somehow lower the force field?”
“No. If there was a power failure, I could bring it back up, but no, I can’t bring it down.”
“Well that’s useful.” The Colonel rubbed a hand over his face and sat up with difficulty, waving away Teal’c’s attempt to help. “Wouldn’t do much good anyway. We can’t leave without Daniel.”
“Indeed, we can not,” Teal’c said. “We must find a way to incapacitate Zipacna and bring Daniel Jackson with us when we escape.”
Sam almost smiled. When they escaped. Not if. Nice to see at least one of them was still an optimist.
The Colonel snorted softly. “Good plan, Teal’c. Let me know when you’ve procured a zat, and we’ll work on that. Knock old Zippy out and let Daniel talk for a few seconds.”
Sam was just thinking some non-complimentary thoughts about the uselessness of the Colonel’s sarcasm when the meaning of what he’d said struck her. A zat. “I think that’s it, sir.”
“Of course it is,” he said. “And what, pray tell, is it?”
“The force field gives off a powerful electric shock when you touch it. If Zipacna comes back—”
“Oh, I think we can rest assured that he will. He’s having way too much fun with this.”
Sam winced at the thought of the ‘fun’ Zipacna wanted to have with her, but the Colonel was right. “When he comes back we need to knock him into the doorway at the same time we reactivate the force field. The resulting shock should have the same effect as a zat blast and disable him temporarily. But we’ll have to work pretty fast to disarm him and get him back to the ship.”
The Colonel looked from her to Teal’c and then to the hole in the wall. “Okay, that’s our plan then. What do you need us to do?”
Twenty minutes later, Sam was fairly certain that she could activate the force field when required. It would be up to Teal’c and the Colonel to get Zipacna into it.
It was only another ten minutes before her adjustments were put to the test.
One of Zipacna’s Jaffa stepped into the cell, staff weapon trained primarily on Teal’c. Sam guessed that compared to Teal’c, she and the Colonel didn’t seem to be too much of a threat. While such an underestimation would normally have annoyed her, in this case it might come in handy.
Then Zipacna strode into the cell, and Sam felt a shiver of fear. If this didn’t work, if they didn’t manage to knock him out and escape, he was going to be very angry. Sam had no doubt that another struggle between Zipacna and Daniel would take place, one that Daniel would most likely lose. She was glad to see that his injuries had been healed, but she dreaded what too many more trips through the sarcophagus would do to Daniel’s ability to fight his possessor. She drew in a deep breath and made sure she was standing in front of the open panel in the rear of the cell.
“I trust you are enjoying each other’s company,” Zipacna said. “I thought a reunion would be a pleasant distraction for you. A little reminder that not only can I cause you pain, I can also force you to watch each other’s.”
Sam could feel her hands start to shake. This was ridiculous. She’d faced Goa’uld before without letting them get to her, but it was so much worse when it was the body of her dearest friend threatening them.
Zipacna held up a radio. “You were brought here by a Tok’ra. He believes my host to be in the midst of rescuing you from imprisonment. O’Neill, you will convince him that you are on your way to the transport rings, or I will have the shol’va killed. Painfully. In front of you.”
He’d been in contact with her father? Her father, who probably had no idea that he hadn’t been talking to Daniel? For some reason that angered her far more than was reasonable.
The Colonel’s hands were clenched, and Sam knew he was feeling it too. He probably had an almost uncontrollable urge to wipe Zipacna’s smirk off Daniel’s face with one of his fists. Actually, that just might work. She saw him glance at Teal’c and receive a slight nod. When he glanced back at her, she gave a nod of her own. Then he turned around and let his desire take over.
The Colonel’s knuckles connected solidly with Zipacna’s jaw, knocking the Goa’uld back a step, into the archway. Sam reached behind her and pressed the small crystal she held into its socket. Her adjustments worked perfectly, and the force field flared to life as the back of Zipacna’s head and shoulders hit it.
Zipacna’s jaw clenched and the muscles in his body spasmed as the shock tore through him. He was thrown forward a step and staggered, putting out a hand to lean on the wall. His other hand came up to rub the back of his neck where he’d taken the brunt of the shock. Then he turned on them, rage evident on his face. Damn. It hadn’t worked.
“You dare, human?” He asked, apparently too startled to add the melodramatic undertone to his voice. He held his hand out to his Jaffa. “Vi’toi zat’nik’tel!”
The warrior immediately obeyed and handed his god the weapon.
“Thank you,” the Goa’uld said before promptly shooting him.
He spun the zat in his hand and gave it butt-first to Teal’c, before frantically ripping the ribbon device off of his other hand and throwing it across the room. Its central crystal shattered against the far wall.
Sam stepped towards him. “Daniel?”
“Yeah, it’s me. Thanks.”
“Are you okay?” Oh, God. Could she possibly have asked a dumber question?
He must have thought so too, since he only shot her an incredulous glance before focusing on the Colonel. “I can’t hold out for long, Jack. Take the corridor to the left. Then the third right. There’s a set of rings that can get you to the ship.” He picked the radio up off the ground where it had fallen and handed it to Colonel O’Neill. “Our stuff is in a room to the right of the first branch. Most of the Jaffa are guarding the queen, so the route should be relatively clear. He’s had the C4 removed. At least, all the charges I knew about. You’ll have to about forget blowing the place up and just get the hell out of here.” Daniel clutched at his head, falling to his knees.
“Daniel!” Sam knelt beside him, not sure how to help.
Daniel took several shuddering breaths through clenched teeth. “I’m almost out of time.” He looked up at Teal’c. “You’ll need more weapons. Are you ready?”
“Indeed I am, Daniel Jackson.”
Daniel nodded, and then yelled, “Jaffa! Kree!”
An instant later two Jaffa lowered the force field and ran into the cell, stopping when they saw their fallen master. Teal’c shot both of them before they recovered from their shock, then passed his zat to Sam and took one of the now liberated staff weapons. The Colonel picked up the other.
Sam peered into Daniel’s eyes. “Daniel? You still there? Say something.”
Daniel brought his fingers up to her face and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “I’m glad you know, Sam. I’ve wanted to tell you for so—”
One moment Daniel’s hand was caressing her cheek, and the next it had tightened painfully around her throat. Sam didn’t need the eye flash to tell her that Zipacna had regained control. She brought her hand up to try to pull herself free, though she knew it was useless. She was no match for Goa’uld strength. Her zat fell from her other hand, clattering to the floor.
“You will release me or I will kill her,” Zipacna said, not taking his eyes off of Sam.
The edges of Sam’s vision were beginning to grey when she heard a staff weapon open and charge. She tried to focus on the sound and saw Teal’c aiming the weapon at Daniel. No. Please God, no. The Colonel. Where was the Colonel? He couldn’t let Teal’c kill Daniel.
“You will release her or I will kill you.”
Zipacna tilted his chin up and drew one side of his mouth into a smirk. “You will not kill my host.”
“If it becomes necessary to save Major Carter, I will indeed. This is what Daniel Jackson would desire, and I will honour his wishes. Release her now.”
Sam’s vision had faded out completely when she heard from behind her “Oh, for crying out loud!” followed by a zat blast.
Then there was silence.