Claire watched Daniel fixing the tranquilliser gun while Jack fixed the other weapons they had brought with them. The professionalism her son had with the weapons was actually quite disturbing.
“Ready?” Jack asked them both.
Daniel nodded while Claire swallowed hard.
“Let’s go.”
Jack took the lead into the pyramid his eyes darting around looking for any signs of their targets. Daniel moved in behind him with Claire staying well behind them.
“Jack,” Daniel called, “Look. There’s an entrance.”
“Well should we go see if anyone’s home?” Jack asked.
“Not yet,” Daniel replied, “Jack, the inside of that place will more than likely be a maze.”
“So…”
“So, we could start wandering around and get completely lost,” Daniel explained.
“What do we do then?” Jack demanded.
Daniel chewed his lip slightly before smiling faintly, “I have an idea.”
Kelly sat cross-legged on the bed with one of Daniel’s books resting on her knees; she’d had it open at the same page for the past hour. Her neck was still sore from when she’d been grabbed and, although it was feeling a little better, Dr Fraiser told her that she was to stay in the base infirmary just as a precaution.
In the bed next to her lay an unconscious Sara O’Neill, Jack’s ex-wife and Maria’s landlady, her shoulder bandaged from where she’d been shot.
“Kelly,” Elizabeth appeared suddenly, “How you feeling?”
“Better,” she smiled, “Why are you still here? I thought this place was top secret?”
“It is,” Elizabeth smiled before nodding over her shoulder, “But I have my very own shadow to stop me going anywhere I’m not supposed to.”
Kelly looked over to where the young man stood unobtrusively.
“Cute isn’t he?” Elizabeth smiled mischievously.
“Have they found Maria yet?” Kelly asked.
Elizabeth sat beside Kelly and shook her head, “Not yet, honey,” Elizabeth pulled her baby sister into a hug, “They will though.”
“This is all so bizarre,” Kelly whispered, leaning into her big sister, “And scary.”
“Kelly,” Janet Fraiser appeared beside them, “Daniel wants to talk to you.”
Kelly frowned confused taking the phone, “Hello?”
“Hey,” Daniel greeted her, “Kelly, in any of the stuff you were working on with Dr Jordan was there any sort of map?”
“Ah,” Kelly chewed her lip as she thought, “Yeah, I’m sure I sent you that as well as the photos.”
“Good,” Daniel sounded relieved, “I’m going to need you to use that to help us.”
“Help you?” Kelly asked.
“Help them?” Elizabeth echoed, seeing Janet shrug in confusion.
“Give the phone back to Janet,” Daniel told her.
“He wants to talk to you again,” Kelly said to the doctor.
“Daniel?” Janet asked.
“I need you to send someone to my office and get them to check my emails for the stuff Kelly sent me,” Daniel explained, “And I need it put on a laptop so she can work on it for me to guide us through.”
“Wouldn’t one of the other archaeology staff be a better idea?” Janet asked.
“Kelly’s already worked on it,” Daniel explained, “Besides if she can do something for us to find Maria, it might make her feel better.”
Janet smiled, “I’ll speak to Lieutenant Simmons. He’s shadowing Elizabeth while she’s on the base.”
“Thanks,” Daniel said, “I’ll call back in an hour or so.”
Maria shivered in the cool air, drawing her knees up to her chest. She had absolutely no idea where they were now; they’d been pushed to stand in the middle of a drawing of rings on the ground before a bright white light had surrounded them.
“Cold?” Steven asked.
“What gave you that impression?” Maria shot at him before sighing, “Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. I get sarcastic…almost all the time.”
“You’re scared,” Steven replied, “I am too.”
“What do they want with us?” Maria cried frustrated, “I mean why take us? I have no idea about what’s going on, do you?”
Steven shook his head, moving round to sit beside her, “No. I can’t help but feel this is my fault somehow.”
“It’s not,” Maria sighed, dropping her head onto his shoulder as they huddled together for warmth.
“So…” Steven hesitated, “Other than looking at buildings, what else do you do for fun?”
Maria laughed, “Nice opening.”
“Well we need to talk about something other than…”
“Our impending deaths?”
“You have a really negative personality,” Steven told her, “You know that.”
“Shaped by my experiences,” Maria sighed sadly.
*********************************************
Elizabeth looked around her brother’s office and laughed, “You know I never thought I’d ever find a place that made my office look neat.”
“Apparently, there’s a system,” Lieutenant Simmons told her, “But Dr Jackson is the only one who knows what it is.”
Elizabeth laughed, “Have you found the files yet?”
“I think so,” Simmons replied, “Just a few more minutes, he has so much in here all filed under picture 1, picture 2 etc.”
Elizabeth smiled; her eyes still flicking around Daniel’s office, resting on a photograph of a woman. Gently picking it up, she turned back to Simmons.
“Who is this?” she asked.
Simmons looked up and his expression saddened, “That’s his wife, Sha’re. Since I’ve worked here, he’s had her picture sitting on his desk.”
“She is beautiful,” Elizabeth murmured, “I wish I could have met her.”
Simmons turned to her, “Everyone within the base felt a part of us die when he lost her. Everyone wanted him to get her back.”
Elizabeth looked at him confused, “No one knew her, right?”
“But we all know him,” Simmons replied slightly annoyed, “Daniel Jackson is the best person I’ve ever met. He’s smart and yet he’ll help those who can’t keep up with him, which includes most people around here. He remembers things people tell him about themselves. He’s interested in people and that’s why we all wanted to see him get his wife back. It would have been a victory for all of us.”
Elizabeth replaced the picture on the table before changing the subject, “Have you found them?”
Simmons nodded, “I’ve got them on disk. We can go.”
Taking one last look round the room, Elizabeth walked with the young officer through the corridors again. He handed her the disks to hold as he got a laptop for Kelly to use and a speakerphone so they could all hear the conversation before they returned to the infirmary.
Kelly opened the files, trying to find the one that Daniel needed her to locate.
“Got it,” she smiled, “It’s a map of some sort of base.”
“Daniel should be calling back pretty soon,” Elizabeth said, her mind still wandering over her conversation with Simmons.
“What’s wrong?” Kelly asked.
“Just something my shadow said to me,” Elizabeth replied, gently squeezing her sister’s shoulder, “I’ll explain later.”
“Kelly,” Janet came back over to them, “Its Daniel.”
“I’m looking at the map,” Kelly told him the moment Janet fixed the speakerphone.
“Good,” Daniel replied, “Okay, we’re at the entrance. Which way?”
Kelly studied the map, “Go forward till you come to a fork, take...em…”
“Take which fork?” Daniel asked.
Kelly’s nose wrinkled in thought, “The right one.”
“Okay, Kelly,” Daniel replied, “I need you to keep ahead of us and look out for any traps.”
“Don’t worry, Daniel,” Elizabeth told him.
*********************************************
Hammond stood at the door to the infirmary listening to Kelly and Elizabeth Walker and Janet Fraiser try to guide Jack, Daniel and Claire Jackson. Sara O’Neill was also now awake and listening in.
“General,” Lieutenant Simmons greeted him.
“Is everyone involved in this?” Hammond asked slightly amused.
“I am staying well away sir,” Simmons replied, “I made a suggestion and was shouted down.”
Hammond chuckled softly before walking over to join the small crowd.
“Sir,” Janet greeted him, “Kelly has almost got them to the main chamber.”
“Do we know what will be waiting for them there?”
“No clue,” Kelly piped up.
“Thanks, Kelly,” Jack’s sarcastic voice came.
“General,” Daniel ignored his friend, “We’re not sure what’s going to be waiting for us but we can handle it. There’s no sign of either hostage though.”
“Is that a good thing?” Sara said without thinking.
“Sara, you okay?” Jack asked suddenly.
“I’m fine,” she replied, “Janet is a great doctor.”
“She’s had a lot of practice on Jack,” Daniel laughed, “Kelly, we’re at the next junction.”
“Okay, go straight ahead and then turn left but be careful,” Kelly told them, “There’s something that says about a trap but I can’t translate it all.”
“Okay,” Daniel told her, “We’ll get in touch after we get through it.”
Jack moved slowly through the corridors, Daniel behind him, Claire following him.
“Be cautious Daniel told him, “The traps that were set were deadly.”
“Daniel, you’re a joy to be around sometimes,” Jack grimaced, “Did you know that?”
“He’s right,” Claire told Jack seriously, “I’ve seen some rather horrible accidents happen at dig sites.”
“Could you two please knock it off,” Jack cried, “You’re not making me feel very confident here.”
“We’re sorry,” Daniel told him insincerely as they continued along, “Jack, stop.”
“What?” Jack demanded as he halted instantly.
“You’re about to hit a triggered floor,” Daniel explained, “I can just see the stones that’ll do it.”
“How do we get across then?” Jack asked.
Claire dug through her pack and brought out some flat stones she’d picked up earlier.
“Why on Earth would you carry stuff like that?” Jack asked incredulously.
“Experience,” Claire smiled, handing him them, “Drop one on each clear slab.”
“And how do I know which are safe?” Jack asked, clearly enjoying sparring with his best friend’s mother.
“Daniel can see them so he’ll guide you,” Claire smiled sweetly, “Don’t worry, Colonel; we won’t let anything happen to you.”
Jack narrowed his eyes at them before sighing theatrically; “You do know I’ll haunt you forever, Danny?”
“So I’m stuck either way,” Daniel retorted, “Let’s do this.”
Sara sat listening as Kelly and Elizabeth argued over the map. She was completely confused as to what was going on but she knew, from the tone of Jack’s voice over the phone, that this was deadly serious.
Her shoulder throbbed from her wound, she’d never been shot before but remembered listening to Jack complain about a wound he received once on a mission. Once she’d woken up the doctor, Janet had explained they were searching for Maria and introduced Maria’s sisters to her.
Both were obviously worried though trying to make light of it, it struck Sara how similar the three sisters were in that aspect of their personalities but the differences were also very apparent.
“Please tell me we’re almost at the main chamber,” Jack demanded when they called back.
“Almost,” Kelly assured him.
“Good, cause having to spend so much time with the double act over here is getting on my nerves,” Jack told them.
“Which way now, Kelly?” Daniel asked, “We got past the trap.”
“You guys okay?” Elizabeth called.
“Fine,” Daniel replied, “Mom and I knew how to get past.”
Sara chuckled at the smugness of Daniel’s voice, knowing he was saying that for Jack’s benefit.
“You just have to go through the corridor in front of you and you’re in the main chamber,” Kelly told him.
“Thanks, Kelly,” Daniel told her, “You did a great job.”
Sara saw a slight blush cover Kelly’s cheeks at the compliment from her brother. Elizabeth saw it too and squeezed her little sister’s shoulder.
“We’ll be in touch,” Jack said before they hung up.
*********************************************
Maria sat awake, watching Steven as he slept. She couldn’t manage to rest despite being absolutely exhausted. She was so afraid that she was never getting out of here; never see her family again as well as never knowing what the hell was actually going on.
The bruise on Steven’s cheek seemed darker than it had been earlier; she was worried about him. He was trying to protect her from the two people who had abducted them, one of whom was in the body of her own father.
Maria had been going over in her mind everything that had happened over the past few days. Sarah Gardener and her father were no longer themselves. Something was controlling them, something whose names were Osiris and Isis.
She knew Daniel knew what was going on and she was beginning to resent him for it.
“That’s not fair,” she said to the empty room, “This isn’t his fault. Though he could have explained what was going on, then again whatever he’s working on is classified which means that it’s probably very dangerous. So how is he working on it?”
Maria was pacing the room now as she mused over everything, “Jack, and almost every other friend he has that you’ve met is Air Force or part of the military in some way,” she remarked, “Kelly somehow must have stumbled onto what was really going on, that’s why they all came to Chicago where something they were working on somehow got there.”
Maria stopped, “This has something to do with the archaeological stuff they were working on. So where does that leave me?”
She stopped and looked down on her sleeping companion as she pondered her own question, sighing she leaned back against the wall and slid back down to a seat, “Talking to myself waiting to be killed.”
Pulling her knees to her chest, Maria rested her head on them, “Oh happy day.”
Isis turned and bowed slightly to her husband and Pharaoh as he came into the room.
“Well?” Osiris demanded.
“I have the ship ready to leave,” Isis told him, “Where are we going, My Lord?”
“First thing we must do is discover the state of the Galaxy,” Osiris told her, “We were banished, we must make sure that we stay hidden until we have enough power to take on the others.”
“What about our prisoners?” Isis asked, “Can I not torture at least one of them?”
Osiris laughed, “Not yet my love.”
“What use are they?” Isis demanded with a pout, “They have no knowledge of the Goa’uld, never mind which System Lord rules what. Why are we keeping them alive?”
“The woman is the child of my host,” Osiris explained, “Through him I have discovered her talent is designing buildings. She shall design a fortress for us, my love, one from which we can destroy those who dared imprison us.”
“And what of the man?” Isis asked hopefully, “He is useless to us.”
“Firstly,” Osiris corrected her, “He shall be our way to make her work with no problems. Humans are notoriously softhearted and my host knows that she dislikes seeing people hurt for her. Also, my love we shall need Jaffa to protect our children,” his hand stroked her stomach, “And why waste such a strong specimen?”
“Of course, my Pharaoh,” Isis purred her agreement as Osiris kissed her, “Until we have recovered our sarcophaguses, playing with him would only result in his death.”
“And a dead slave cannot serve us,” Osiris smiled viciously, “You said we are ready to leave now?”
“On your word.”
“Then we leave now,” Osiris told her, “It is time for us to depart this miserable planet.”
Daniel’s eyes flicked around the bare room they were standing in.
“Well?” Jack asked as he also looked around, “What now?”
“Why are you asking me?” Daniel said with a confused look.
“Never mind,” Jack groaned, “Okay, let’s see if there’s any clues around here.”
“Jack, Daniel,” Claire called, “Look at these.”
Both men joined her looking down at the floor, “Rings,” they said in unison.
“What?” Claire asked.
They didn’t get a chance to answer as the whole room started to shake, dust filled the room and Daniel grabbed his mother out of the way of falling masonry.
“Lost you that way before,” Daniel muttered to her.
“What the hell was that?” Jack yelled, pulling himself off the floor from where he dived out of the way of more falling stone.
“Jacob, are you up there?” Jack called over the communicator.
“Of course, Jack,” Jacob answered, “What’s wrong?”
“I think the Goulds just left in a ship,” Jack explained, “Keep an eye out.”
“Did you get Maria and Steven?” Sam asked.
“No,” Daniel told her, “They’re still with the Goulds so please be careful if you…”
“We are being fired upon,” Teal’c’s voice suddenly came over the communicator.
“Jacob, we have rings here,” Jack told him, “Can you bring us up?”
“Give me time,” Jacob replied.
Sam turned to her father, watching as he dodged the Goa’uld vessel that had appeared from nowhere.
“Teal’c, aim for the engines,” Jacob yelled, “Stop them jumping to hyperspace.”
“We are trying,” Teal’c told him.
“It’s too late,” Sam called, watching the other ship, “They’re jumping.”
“Damn,” Jacob snapped, “Teal’c, Aldwyn follow them.”
“We shall contact you with co-ordinates as soon as possible,” Teal’c promised just before their ship disappeared.
“Jack,” Jacob called down to the others waiting.
“Did you stop them?” Jack asked hopefully.
“No,” Jacob said, “Sam’s going to bring you up then we’ll go back to the base and form a plan.”
“Good idea,” Jack replied, “We’re ready as soon as you are.”
“Bringing you up now, sir,” Sam told him just before she activated the rings.
As the light faded and the three figures appeared, Sam nodded hello to Jack before she saw Daniel hugging his mother, trying to comfort her, Sam saw the absolute pain filling his eyes.
“I just spoke to George,” Jacob told them as they joined him, “We’ll be landing at Cheyenne Mountain in about ten minutes.”
Daniel sat down heavily, waiting for them to land.
Things were now out of control. Not only did they have two new Goulds out there to cause them problems but his sister and someone he counted as a friend, even if they didn’t get along, were in the Goulds clutches.
“We’ll get you back,” Daniel silently promised them, “We’ll find someway to get you back.”
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