MEMOIRS OF
MAJOR GENERAL JACK O’NEILL
(Re-activated)
1. La Haia
Chapter One
By Arrietty
2031
I thought I’d finished writing my memoirs, but it looks like I’m back here writing them again – actually not really writing, speaking but . . . Anyway a lot of things have happened since I was last here. I was called back to service. I really think I ought to pin a great big sign on my chest saying ‘I’m retired – go away.’ Knowing my luck, they’d just pin another one over the top of it – ‘Destined to serve’ I suppose it’s nice to feel needed, but really, I ask you – surely someone else can do this job by now.
My leg hurts, I’m bored, fed-up with the grey walls of the infirmary. It’s the beginning of a long six weeks of therapy, sitting still and being bored. Although, the view can be quite nice sometimes.
“General O’Neill, it’s time for your medication.”
“Why thank you, ma’am.”
Okay, now where was I? Oh yes, memoirs. Hmmm. Where did I finish?
‘Once again the warm leather coat hid all my weapons, not once had La Haia questioned my stock of weapons that I had stashed in my pack. Now they were firmly fitted into their holders inside my coat. Easy to get at, but not easily seen by prying eyes. Never had I regretted that choice until I felt La Haia’s arms reach around my waist to hang on and found she couldn’t as the P-90 dug into her arms and she found it too difficult to get a grip. After she pulled back, I felt her grasp the sides of my coat, disappointment rose up inside me at the thought, but then I had to remember this was La Haia, not Sam. Hopefully once we got home, Sam would remember who she was. Then we could go horse riding, without the coat and its weaponry.’
Yes - Sam. Who was also La Haia. It was hard for me, I was confused; my head was spinning, what was going on inside me was good old plain emotional upheaval. Sam was alive; alive and well. But not well, damaged. Damaged by Neeron and his traders; treated so abominably that she had forgotten who she really was. I had begun to like La Haia, more than I ought to, even though she was a stranger in Sam’s body.
After the replicator Carter, I was afraid, afraid of letting my feelings really show, letting them loose so they could be torn apart again. I was confused and didn’t know what to do with my emotions.
~*~
2008
The sound of creaking leather was a comforting sound in the chill air. The horse’s hooves added to the mood, making a soft crunching noise as they compacted the snow with each step. A cloud of vapour enveloped their wide nostrils in the cold atmosphere.
Everywhere I looked, I could see white snow covered hills and in the east the pale winter sun slowly rising behind them, breaking open a new day.
The two large horses lumbered good naturedly behind me. I had nick-named them Homer and Marge. La Haia hadn’t objected to their names, so I had to assume that they hadn’t been given any before.
A murmur came from behind me, a second before La Haia pressed against my back. I had both her hands held firmly with one of mine while she slept. La Haia had almost fallen off during the night and I had only just caught her in time before she toppled down onto the cold snow. I had dragged her up behind me from her precarious position, before pulling her arms around me and gripping her hands, so she wouldn’t fall again. Much to my satisfaction, it had worked.
It was now a week since we left the cave with the pool. And still, there had been no sign of Sam remembering who she was. La Haia hadn’t talked yet, unless you can count her murmuring in her sleep. Sometimes she spoke in English and other times in Ellinika. Unfortunately, none of it made any sense to me.
A cloud of vapour whisked by me as I let out a big sigh while I thought of Sam hidden away inside La Haia’s mind. I missed Sam. She was so close, yet so far. I couldn’t help cringing at the horror Sam would feel at La Haia’s antics. They were poles apart. I was filled with disbelief. After Fifth and the female replicator I daren’t hope ever of finding her alive. At first I’d hoped, just a little. This much I could admit to myself. Every time I thought of Sam hidden away in this rough scruffy exterior, my heart caught in my throat. I wanted to crush her to me and hold her tight. My heart was weeping from relief and joy at the thought of Sam – Sam is really alive. She may be hidden, but alive.
Now all I had to do was try and help her to remember who she is. Maybe when we get back to the SGC, they can help her remember. I felt the blood drain from my face at the thought of Doctor McKenzie running tests on La Haia. No. I couldn’t subject La Haia to that, she had suffered enough. With the quick decision made, I now had to think of another way to bring Sam back to me.
“Hmmmm.”
“Hey, sleepy.” My voice echoed against the surrounding hills.
I felt her move behind me, then a tug as she tried to pull her arms back. Releasing her hands, I felt bereft as she drew them back. Then a sharp prod in my back told me what I needed to know.
“A pit stop?” I asked. I twisted around to see her impish face grinning and nodding to me. I gently pulled on Meadow’s reins and caught hold of the ropes that tethered Homer and Marge to the pommel of my saddle. Before we had all drawn to a halt, La Haia moved back onto Meadow’s rump, deftly slipped one leg through between us and had jumped to the ground. She disappeared around a white snow-covered mound while I more slowly, dismounted Meadow.
“How about some breakfast?” I called out, ever in the hope of her replying. Sadly and unsurprisingly, no answer came.
I attached feedbags to the horse’s bridles and left them to munch away happily. I was just beginning to wonder where she’d got to, when a snowball hit me fair and square on my back. I swivelled around and got hit with another in the middle of my chest. They were coming thick and fast. Ducking for cover – behind Homer – I snatched up a handful of snow and lobbed one back. It was met with a squeal and a giggle. Delighted that La Haia actually made a noise, breakfast forgotten, we engaged in a full scale war. La Haia winning, but my excuse is she had spent time making ammunition so was better prepared.
~*~
The next ten days were pretty much uneventful, apart from the odd snowball fight. But they only lasted a few days as the planet came closer to the sun and the snow soon melted, leaving green spring grass underfoot. By my reckoning, we were only a six days ride from Leocold. My hand rasped across my short beard as I rubbed my chin. I was certainly looking forward to a bath and spruce up.
Only two hours ride away was a small stream and now the days are warmer, maybe we could go for a dip. I gave a gentle tug on one reign and we turned off the main road, following a small overgrown trail between two large hills.
I felt a familiar poke in my back.
“Can’t you hang on?”
Another poke.
“Ow!” This time it hurt.
I twisted around and I was met with two frightened eyes. La Haia wanted to know where we were going.
“Sorry, La Haia.” I smiled reassuringly. “There is shelter and water up there.” I pointed over Meadow’s head in the direction we were heading. La Haia visibly relaxed and gave me a small smile. I mentally kicked myself; I always had told her what I was going to do next, she never liked being surprised.
~*~
The stream was not as I remembered it, but was swollen with the runoff from the melted snow in the mountains. Realising this is the last decent form of shelter between us and Leocold; I decided we should stay here for a while.
“I think we should stop here for a couple of days. What do you think?” I asked La Haia as soon as we had stopped. She had the large horse’s ropes ready so she could lead them to the stream. Smiling, she nodded and detached the ropes from the horses and proceeded to hobble them.
I walked up to the entrance of the cave that was set a little away from the stream, hidden amongst some large rocks. It was a canny cave; you couldn’t tell it was there until you were quite close to it. I was anxious that the horses would be able fit through the narrow entrance way. I clicked off the safety of my P-90 before slipping through the gap to survey the area. The flashlight from my weapon illuminated the large space easily. As far as I could tell, no one had entered the cave since I had been here last. The pile of dried bracken and firewood collected from the nearby forest area was just as I left it so many weeks ago.
Seeing that all things were well, I went back out through the entrance and was relieved to see that the great horses would fit through easily.
By the time I had returned to the stream, La Haia had lifted everything off the horses and she was rubbing them down with a handful of hay. ‘I really must buy a brush for these horses in Leocold.’
It was hot work lugging all the gear up into the cave. I didn’t have the heart to load up these great animals again. Once again, I’d neglected to inform La Haia of my plans, so she had unloaded the horses. So here I was, carrying all the gear, including the feed I might add, up through the winding track to the cave entrance.
By the third trip, I had shed my coat, jacket and all of my weapons. I had enough to haul without carrying any extra. With the last trip back to the stream, I had my shaving kit and the now, nearly depleted bottles of shampoo and soap clutched in my hand. It was so hot even the icy stream looked inviting.
A feeling of deja vu came over me as I stood by the stream; La Haia was nowhere to be seen. My heart pounded in my chest, I couldn’t lose her again. I looked around, my eyes darting wildly, but I couldn’t see her. Anxiously, I bent down and looked along the stream banks. I heard a rustle of movement behind me, but before I could turn to look, a hand landed in the middle of my back shoving me forward into the water. My lungs emptied of air as I hit the freezing water. Gasping, I struggled to the surface, drawing in great whoops of air just as I emerged sputtering from the stream. The current dragged me down stream a few yards before I swam to the bank. La Haia, looking worried, reached down and grabbed my hands to help me out of the chill water. My knees scraped the bottom of the stream bed before I yanked her into the stream with me.
She gave a scream as she hit the cold water. I hung onto her hands the whole time, fearful that she could be swept away.
Laughing, I pulled her close to me. Her eyes flashed with mock anger.
“You,” she accused before laughing.
My laughter dried on my lips, but my smile didn’t. I pulled her into a hug and held her tight. She had spoken; finally. ‘Maybe there is hope.’ Then, I felt her hold me back. Here we were kneeling in an icy stream, shivering, holding each other close. Pulling back from her, I opened my big trap and shoved my even bigger foot in.
“See, Sam. You can speak.”
The contented smile on her face dried up with my words. Real anger flashed in her eyes, before they filled with tears. Angrily pushing me away, she clambered up the side of the bank. I painfully stood up; the cold from the freezing water had caused a deep ache in my knee.
I followed La Haia to the grassy bank. She had taken off her sodden jacket and was draping it across a sun warmed rock.
“La Haia?” I called.
She turned her back to me. I hadn’t convinced her of who she really is. In a way, I had known this all the while which was why I had been so careful until now not to call her anything but La Haia. I crouched down and unlaced my sodden boots and removed my socks. A breeze picked up and made me shiver in my wet clothes. I stood and watched as La Haia removed her footwear, I didn’t know what to say or do. Carefully, she placed her homemade shoes beside mine in the sun to dry before wandering over towards the forest; I thought it prudent to leave her alone.
After fifteen minutes and she hadn’t returned, I started after her.
“La Haia.”
It only took two minutes for her to respond in her usual way. A missile came from behind a large vine, in the form of a bright green husk. The husk hit me right on the nose, making it smart and my eyes water. It looked like I was forgiven.
Moving towards the vine, I found her picking long green husks and stuffing them into her pockets. Every so often, she would bite an end off one and suck out the centre before discarding the empty husk. I knew these things, they were the nourishing dried husks I had seen before, but these were bright green. La Haia smiled at me, making my heart skip a beat. Yup, definitely forgiven. She handed me a husk, before making a motion of biting an end off and sucking out the centre. I bit the end off, it tasted sweeter and certainly juicier than the dried ones. I searched around for more to pick, but the plant was depleted.
La Haia ferreted around in the ground. Making a small noise, she pulled up a thick long root. The diameter was easily as wide as my wrist. She pushed it back under the soil and took two steps and dug into the soft dark soil and pulled up the root again. She gave me a quick smile, jumped up and dashed into the trees. I wasted no time in following her; I watched her stop every so often and dig into the ground, pulling up the root, burying it again before running on. Finally, she stopped. With a broad grin, she beckoned me on and led me into a large intricate web of vines. Inside the canopy, large pod-like husks hung heavy from the ceiling.
Reaching up, she broke off a large pod and stuck it down the front of her t-shirt. I assume her pockets were full. I followed her example, the cold damp material of my shirt stuck to my skin as I pulled it away. I gave a small involuntary shiver in the gloom of the forest. The sun’s rays couldn’t penetrate through the thick foliage of the trees and vines and it was getting decidedly chilly. I put more pods into my pockets and took La Haia’s hand to pull her out. We needed to get warm, but she resisted and shook her head.
La Haia quickly broke off two more large pods and handed one to me. With her teeth she broke one open. It was the same sticky substance as before, but nestled inside was a large nut. She hooked it out with her long fingers and popped it into her mouth. I followed suit with mine. It tasted just like a brazil nut, but slightly sweeter. We drank the gooey substance. I felt full, this was much better than dried apple for breakfast any day. This time she took hold of my hand and led me out of the tangle of vines.
A quick whistling sound, a sharp pain in my side, then numbness. I looked down to see a dart protruding from my side, the feathers a bright yellow, stark against the black material of my t-shirt. Everything seemed to be going in slow motion as I looked over at La Haia. Bright purple feathers were sticking out of her hip. I fell to my knees as my legs crumpled beneath me. The trees, La Haia and feathers swirled around me and it went dark.
~*~
I was travelling backwards. My hands were tied awkwardly in front of me, with my elbows tied painfully together with another person’s elbows. All I could see were trees surrounding me, a brown horse’s rump beneath me and the scowling face of a man, sitting astride another horse.
“What’s happing?” I asked. I felt the person behind me wriggle. I hoped it was La Haia – in fact I was sure it was La Haia. He didn’t answer. “Where are you taking us?” I asked again. Once again, the person wriggled, this time she head butted into the back of mine.
“Ow! What ya doing?” She did it again and made a growling noise in her throat. Of course she was right; shut up O’Neill, we’re in enough trouble, but it took too long to work that out. The man following, rode up beside us and with his left foot kicked us off the horse. It was a very painful landing.
I heard laughter in the background. I turned my head towards the sound and saw two men on one horse. One of them climbed down, the other following and they walked towards us. I didn’t like the expression on their faces one bit. When one of them pulled out a knife, I forgot about the expressions and focused on the knife. He reached down and slashed the rope binding us together and roughly dragged La Haia up to stand. I started to speak, La Haia shook her had at me, but I ignored her.
I stood and demanded, “What is the meaning of this?” These men didn’t look like bandits; they were too well dressed for starters. My reply was a whack across the face. Our hands were roughly bound behind our backs and tied our feet together with a short length of rope. I glanced across to La Haia. She looked terrified, surely she knew who or what these men were. I wondered if they worked for Neeron’s crowd.
“My name is Jack O’Neill and I have papers. I am a free man.” I stated.
They stopped what they were doing and looked at each other nervously. The two I could see, both looked at the man behind me. One of the men nodded to him, seconds before bright lights exploded in my head. I started to fall to the ground, but I don’t remember landing.
~*~
I awoke to the sound of clinking chains. My head was pounding and my right shoulder ached. I cautiously opened my eyes and looked around me. I was sitting, leaning up against someone in the middle of a group of people. They were all joined together by a long chain. It threaded through a loop that was welded to the manacles on their ankles. I looked down at my feet. I too had a short length of chain between two large heavy metal shackles.
“Shhh.”
I slowly sat up and the pounding in my head was exacerbated by the movement.
“Shhh.” I turned around to see who I had been leaning on and to the source of the sound.
I found La Haia anxiously looking at me. Two large dark bruises on her cheek contrasted against her white skin. Her eyes were full of fear. She reached across with one hand and touched my cheek. I covered her hand with one of my own while I smiled at her as reassuringly as I could. She tentively smiled back.
Releasing her hand, I looked again at our predicament; it was obvious that this was a slave train. Everyone was shackled together in a long line. Fortunately, we were next to each other in the line. I could see our captors talking to another man in the distance. I could tell by his stance and actions that he was the head honcho. He kept glancing over at us and then shaking his head. They seemed to be arguing.
The sun was beginning to sink below the hills and I was cold. My pants and t-shirt were not fully dried from the dunking, nor had La Haia’s clothes. As far as I could see there was no way out of this predicament. I needed to talk to the boss man up there.
As I started to clamber to my feet, my shoulder and my right side began to complain. I twisted around to look at my side and back, lifting my shirt I could see skin had been scraped off leaving a painful graze, it must have been when we were kicked off the horse. My ribs also hurt from where his boot had made contact.
I felt a tug on my arm. La Haia was frightened. She shook her head at me, before placing her finger on my mouth. Again, she shook her head, pleading with her eyes for me to be silent.
The crunch of gravel as they walked through the prisoners signalled their arrival. Slowly, I turned around to face my captors. The leader nodded to his men.
It took four of them to hold me down. I certainly gave them a run for their money. La Haia sat quietly by, tears running down her face. I didn’t know what was going to happen, but those tears did tell me that it didn’t bode well for me.
“I’m a free man, I have papers,” I yelled. “You have no right.”
The leader grinned, shrugged. “Soon, you will have no rights.”
~*~
Heliopolis Main Archive
A Stargate: SG-1 Fanfiction Site
Memoirs of Major General Jack O'Neill (re-activated)
by ArriettyStory Bemerkung:
This has been totally written from Jack's point of view. Not all things are necessarily as they seem, but only as Jack sees them. This is primarily a Jack fic, with a strong thread of Jack and Sam ship.
Thanks goes to a very special friend 'theyllek' for beta reading this for me. Thank you Lynette for lending me John for the Greek translation.
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