Sam lazily yawned and stretched. She smiled softly as the memory of what happened last night came back to her. She looked over at the person lying next to her. "He looks so cute when he’s asleep", Sam thought to herself. She tore her gaze away from the man lying next to her to look at the clock. It read 06.40. Sam shot up out of bed and reluctantly woke her lover up.
"Jack, wake up", she said. The only response she got from him was a moan. "Jack!" she said more forcefully this time "we have a meeting with General Hammond in 20 minutes".
"Whaaa? Oh, Fuck" Jack cursed as he jumped out of bed and started searching for his clothes.
Sam, fully dressed, smiled at Jack who was franticly trying to find his trousers. "In the bathroom" Sam said playfully, Jack looked at her confused for a moment, then a sly grin lit his face.
"Oh yea, how could I have forgotten about that?" he replied saucily, as he went in to fetch them.
Sam grinned widely "If you had forgotten, I would have had to kick your ass" she countered playfully.
Jack emerged from the bathroom fully clothed, "Come on if we hurry we might be able to get something to eat before this meeting", Sam said.
Jack stepped towards her and backed her to the wall. "Well, I would much rather stay here with you" Jack said and kissed her passionately.
Sam broke the kiss and said "I don’t know about you, but after last night I’m famished" She turned on her heal and made her way to the door, "You coming?" she asked her rather stunned Colonel.
"Lead the way Captain"
***
"... Judging from the images of P3864 that the MALP sent back, I got the impression the area to the left the gate, where the stones are standing in a circle, was some sort of religious area, probably Pagan. The Pagan Religions often used upright stones in circles to signify a religious area. I would love to see the markings on the stones up-close, maybe have a go at translating them..."
"Wow, Danny will you slow down for a minute, are you sure there are no signs of gou’auld activity? Teal’c have you ever heard of this planet" Jack asked sounding a little frustrated.
"I have not heard of this planet O’Neill, however, just because Apothis did not visit this world doesn’t mean that other gou’auld haven’t, I would advise caution, should we choose to go"
Everyone turned to look at General Hammond, awaiting his answer. "OK people, you take P3864, you will be departing at 14.00, dismissed"
Daniel jumped out of his chair and ran over to Jack and started babbling excitedly about the Pagan religion and languages. But Jack wasn’t paying much attention to him, he was to busy looking at Sam, who was listening to Teal’c talk about something.
It was clear to him that she was about as interested in Teal’c conversation as he was in Daniel’s. He caught her attention and smiled at her. "Captain" Jack started.
"yes, sir?" Sam replied, obviously glad to have gotten away from her little chat with Teal’c.
"Could you give me a hand getting all the equipment ready?"
"Sure" she said and made her way over to him. "Sorry Teal’c, maybe we can continue this conversation another time" she said to Teal’c as she left the room with Colonel O’Neill.
***
SG1 were geared up and waiting for the last two chevrons to encode. Jack looked around at his team, Daniel was clearly very excited about the prospect of seeing the stone circle up-close. Sam was checking one last time to see if they had all the right equipment. Teal’c was, as usual, standing facing towards Stargate with a blank expression on his face, with his staff weapon at his side.
"Chevron 6 encoded" a technician called over the intercom. Jack smiled, he couldn’t have asked for a better team, even if Danny had a tendency for getting them into trouble and Teal’c never had a clue about what he was talking about and Sam... He wasn’t sure what to think about Sam, there relationship had changed a lot when they started sleeping together about two months ago and he knew he had very strong feelings for her, ones that he wasn’t ready to voice just yet, so he pushed the thought out of his head.
"Chevron 7 encoded" the technician called as the Stargate came to life.
"Ok campers, lets go" Jack said and tuck point as he walked up the ramp and into the shimmering blue wormhole. The other three followed him in.
***
SG1 stepped out of the Stargate and found themselves on a beautiful planet, the sky was a clear blue, the temperature was warm but not too hot and to the right was the start of what looked like to be a very large forest. To the left of the Stargate was the stone circle.
Daniel ran to in like a little child would run into a sweet shop. "This is really amazing, Jack..." Daniel said, and Jack just knew that he was never going to get him to shut up. "... It looks like some form of ancient Celtic language, the Celts were one of the first people to use written language". Daniel said pointing to the horizontal lines that were connected by one long vertical line.
***
It had been a long and boring day as far as Jack was concerned. Daniel had spent the entire day trying to decipher the marks on the stones with little success so far. He had fallen asleep the second his head hit the pillow. Jack found however that he couldn’t sleep and got up and sat on the steps of the Stargate.
Jack was startled out of his thoughts when someone came up and touched him on the shoulder. He looked up to see Sam’s smiling face.
"Are you ok?" she asked.
Jack patted beside him and she sat down. "Why do you ask" He replied, why was it that Sam always knew when there was something wrong? He thought to himself.
"I dunno, you looked kinda spaced out I guess, like you usually are during a debriefing" she said and smiled.
Jack chuckled and playfully pushed her "Haha, very funny, its not my fault I hardly have any idea what’s going on."
Suddenly his expression went serious and he sighed, "Something’s not right here Sam"
"What do you mean?" She asked, slightly confused.
"I don’t know, just a feeling I guess, I get the impression that there is something going on here, I feel like I’m being watched"
"You are" she whispered playfully.
Jack turned his head sharply to look at her "I am?"
Sam smiled "Well there is nothing else for me to do here but look at you" she said and brought his lips down to hers. After what seemed like several minutes they broke the kiss because they were totally out of breath and Jack pulled Sam into his lap and held her close. "It’s a good thing Daniel’s a heavy sleeper, ‘cos I’m sure this would look very bad to him" Sam whispered and yawned.
"Yea, your right it would look kinda bad but he is bound to find out sooner or later and Teal’c, well he never sleeps so I guess he just found out" Jack said and kissed Sam. "Come on Captain, we need our beauty sleep if we are going are going to be ready for another wonderful day looking at rocks" Jack said sarcastically and stood up.
Sam chuckled softly and yawned again. "I guess your right sir"
***
Jacks eyes snapped open when he heard a gunshot it the forest. He sat up and searched for his sidearm but it was too dark to see anything. "I also heard the gunshot, O’Neill" Teal’c said causing Jack to jump slightly.
"Can you see anything Teal’c?" Jack asked, still searching for his sidearm.
"I cannot see anything, but I believe that it has to be one of SG1’s weapons" Jack knew that Teal’c was probably right as he hadn’t seen any other guns that sounded like theirs.
Suddenly it occurred to him that Sam would have been woken up if not by the gunshot then by him and Teal’c talking, he knew from experience that she was a very light sleeper. "Sam, Daniel, wake up" Jack said trying to find a torch so he could make sure they were OK. He found one, switched it on and pointed it in Daniel’s direction. Jack was surprised to Daniel sitting up and shielding his eyes from the power torch.
"Ahh, Jack will you turn that damned thing away from me" Knowing Daniel was alright he turned the torch in Sam’s direction. He was horrified to see that her sleeping bag was pulled back and she was nowhere to be seen.
"Oh god, not Sam" Jack whispered.
***
Sam was having trouble sleeping, she had to much on her mind, what Jack had said earlier about them being watched had made her uneasy. Sam heard a very low rustling in the bushes near the forest. Immediately her combat training kicked in and she reached for her hand gun that she always kept close by, with the gou’auld you could never be too careful. She pushed off her sleeping bag and walked slowly towards the direction of the noise. With her gun hidden in her shirt she was very aware that she was totally blind in the darkness. She decided that she should turn back and wake Jack and the others.
As she turned around something or someone, very strong, knocked her to the ground. Before she even had a chance to get up or call for help, someone dragged her to her feet and covered her mouth with its hand. She felt herself being half dragged, half carried towards the forest.
Sam remembered that she had hidden her handgun under her shirt and in the darkness her attacker might not have noticed it.
Her attacker had dragged her deeper into the forest and Sam was beginning to worry that if she got away from him she might not be able to find her way back to camp.
Suddenly he stopped and stood Sam up straight. Sam had no idea what was going on in the darkness until she felt her captor punched her in the mouth. She fell to the ground hard and she tasted the blood in her mouth.
Well, its now or never Sam thought grimly as she grabbed her gun and pointed it at her captor and fired. The shot rang through the forest, with the echo continuing were it left off.
Sam knew she had missed her target when the gun was snatched from her hands and her captor dragged her to her feet. Her head was viciously smacked off the trunk of a nearby tree and Sam knew no more.
***
Daniel and Teal’c went over to Sam’s sleeping bag to search for clues as to where Sam might have been taken. Daniel was getting very worried about Jack because after they had discovered Sam was missing, he had not moved at all, he just stared at her sleeping bag. Well I always thought that Jack had feelings for Sam and now I know for sure, Daniel thought sadly. He wasn’t sure what he would do if he lost one of his closest friends and Jack, he felt awful for him, he knew all too well what it was like to loose someone close to you.
"Daniel Jackson I do not believe it is wise to search for Captain Carter in the darkness, I think we should wait until first light." Teal’cs statement seemed to being Jack out of his trance.
"NO! We are not leaving Sam out there, I don’t care if we have to search in the dark. Is that clear!"
Daniel and Teal’c exchanged glances at Jack’s outburst. Teal’c tried to reason with him. "Colonel O’Neill, we will have little success in finding Captain Carter in the dark, we may only succeed in getting ourselves caught..."
"And that wouldn’t help Sam at all" Daniel blurted out.
Jack looked at them for a minute. "Of course, your right, we will set out at first light" Jack said quietly looking downwards.
It was obvious to Daniel how much Jack was hurting, it had been the last thing any of them had thought would happen, this planet was supposed to be uninhabited. "We’ll get her back, Jack"
Jack looked Daniel in the eye, his emotions seemed to be more in check now. Must be all that special forces training, Daniel thought.
"We’ll get her back" Jack said with defiance. "After all, she would do the same for anyone of us in a second"
Daniel just nodded at Jacks statement, at least he’s not giving up hope, Daniel thought. I wish I was able to do the same.
***
Sam slowly opened her eyes, all to aware of the killer headache she was going to have for a while. It was light out, her captor had tied her to a tree and he was no-where to be seen. Well at least he picked a nice spot to leave me, Sam thought ruefully. She carefully shifted her position in order to see if there was any way to loosen her bonds, but quickly discovered that she wasn’t going anywhere any time soon. She heard voices coming from her left, Oh, great he’s come back with his friends, Sam thought.
The voices were getting nearer and Sam tried franticly to get out of her bonds but it was no use.
Sam was shocked to see a group of jaffa enter the clearing, but when the gou’auld entered, heavily guarded behind them, all Sam could do was stare in shock. "Oh my God" she whispered
"What have we got here" Purred the very familiar gou’auld, with glowing eyes and an evil smile.
***
Daniel, Jack and Teal’c had spent the first hour after dawn searching the campsite, trying to find any sort of clue as to who might have taken Sam.
"Look, there’s nothing here, we’re going into the woods to look for her, maybe if we find her hand gun it will give us some clues" Jack said impatiently, the worry on his face evident.
Daniel and Teal’c nodded and they followed Jack into the forest. "O’Neill" Teal’c called several minutes after they had entered the forest. "There are tracks, heading deeper into the forest, its looks as if something was being dragged"
Jack’s face paled at Teal’cs last words, if Sam had to be dragged she may have been hurt, or worse, Jack thought to himself. "We’ll follow the trail and see were it leads" Jack said and marched on.
About 20 minutes later, they reached a clearing, they found Sam hand gun. Jack carefully opened the clip and found that one bullet was missing.
"Jack, come here I think I’ve found something" Daniel said, by the sound of his voice Jack knew something was wrong. He knelt down beside Daniel and he immediately saw what had caught Daniel’s attention, blood.
***
At the gou’auld’s orders, two of the jaffa pulled Sam to her feet. All Sam could think of was how Daniel was going to react to this turn of events.
Amounet walked over to Sam and smiled evilly, "It appears that I have been able to do what my late husband was not, Capture one of the infamous SG1. Tell me were the rest of your team are and I might just give you the honour of becoming a host"
Sam just stared straight ahead and did her best to ignore Amounet. Amounet’s eyes glowed with anger and she looked at one of her jaffa who walked up to Sam and punched her viciously in the stomach. Sam collapsed to the ground in pain.
"If you will not give me the information I want perhaps you will give it to my guards, they can be very persuasive if needed." Ammounet said looking down at Sam with a smile.
Sam looked up at her, "Go to hell!" She spat and was rewarded with a kick in the ribs.
"Take her back to the prisons for interrogation" Amounet ordered.
***
Jack looked at the small amount of blood and the ground at Daniel’s feet, there was not enough to suggest that the person was seriously injured, but it was worrying all the same.
They searched the rest of the clearing and found more blood on one of the trees, at the base of the tree they also found some vines that could have been used to tie someone up. "It’s a pretty safe bet that whoever took Sam stayed here for a while," Jack said, pacing in front of Daniel and Teal'c.
"We found nothing that would suggest who her captor is O’Neill, but there are tracks coming from a different direction to the east. I believe that whoever has taken Captain Carter, has called for help." Teal’c said.
"I thought this planet was supposed to be uninhabited" Daniel said.
"They all usually start out uninhabited and then we get attacked" Jack said in disgust. Daniel could see the frustration on Jack's face, it was hard for him when one of the team went missing, probably even more so because it was Sam and he had had his suspicions about them for some time now. Daniel felt totally helpless. They didn’t know were Sam was or who had taken her. They didn’t even know if she was still alive.
"Lets follow the tracks and see where they take us, Teal’c." Jack said, indicating for Teal’c to take point.
After walking for about 20 minutes Daniel realised that the forest was no longer as dense as it was earlier. "I think we are close to the edge of the forest, Jack" Daniel informed them.
Jack nodded and kept on walking. Suddenly he stopped and scanned the area, waving a hand to silence Daniel. Teal’c was also looking around. Then Daniel heard it, a faint sound of voices heading towards them.
They found a pretty safe hiding place behind a large collapsed tree. As the voices got nearer, Jack and Teal’c popped their heads out to see who they were, they didn’t like what they saw, two huge looking jaffa, wearing the mark of Apothis, they were not speaking English.
"They’re jaffa", Jack whispered to Daniel.
Daniel was listening to their conversation intently, as was Teal'c. They heard a deep laughing come from one of the men. Daniel and Teal’c both paled when they realised they were talking about.
After the men had disappeared into the forest again, they cautiously left their hiding places. Jack looked from Daniel to Teal’c, "Alright, spit it out, what did they say" Jack demanded irritably.
Daniel suddenly found something very interesting on his shoes and didn’t respond. "They were talking of a prisoner, they captured recently and how they were going to enjoy torturing information out of her" Teal’c said in his usual calm voice.
"They also mentioned, how they were hoping to please their queen..."
"You don’t think that Hathor..." Jack interrupted Teal’c.
Daniel interrupted Jack, "Hathor wouldn’t have guards wearing the mark of Apothis, and since Apothis is dead and they mentioned a Queen, there is only one person I think it could be." Daniel said quietly.
"Amounet" Jack finished and looked sympathetically at his friend. Daniel just nodded.
Teal’c who was following the conversation between the two said, "We must get going if we are to save Captain Carter, from what the guards said we don’t have much time.
***
Sam wasn’t sure how long they had been walking, but they appeared to be close to the edge of the forest. She was still trying to get her mind around the events that had just happened. She was pretty sure she had a concussion from her fight with the tree and probably a few broken ribs. And they haven’t even started, yet, Sam thought ruefully. What they were going to do to her once they reached their destination?
She was dragged out of the woods and was shocked to see the huge pyramids that lay before her. Hundreds... no thousands of slaves were working to complete another pyramid. Ammounet must have inherited Apothis’ empire she thought to herself, things were getting a lot more complicated.
Just then a group of jaffa came up and dragged her to one of the closest pyramids.
Inside Sam could see that this was not made for the gou’auld to live in, it was dark, dirty and it reeked of death. Sam could hear screams of agony coming from deeper inside the pyramid. The hair rose on the back of her neck and she suddenly felt that she was going to faint.
This must be the prison she thought grimly. She was dragged deeper into the prison and was horrified as the sight of the badly beaten men and women in the cells.
The jaffa came to halt outside a cell; he opened it and nearly threw Sam in.
She hit the back wall hard and fell to the ground with a groan, her ribs protesting about being knocked again. She carefully sat up with her back to the wall and looked around her tiny cell.
For some reason her thoughts were drawn back to her last conversation with Jack, she smiled at the memory. The last couple of months had been great between them and it was great that no one had figured it out yet. She was in love with him, she knew a long time ago, but the words would only have complicated things, so they were left unsaid and now he might never know she thought sadly.
No, she wasn’t going to think like that, the others were going to get her out of here if she just hung on a little longer.
She was shaken out of her memories when 2 guards opened her cell and dragged her out into the passageway. She was led even deeper into the pyramid. She brought into a room, with a group of very mean looking jaffa, along the walls of the room hung whips and other things that were designed to cause a lot of pain.
The jaffa that had brought her into the room bound her wrists with chains that were attached to the ceiling. Sam was facing a bloodstained wall and had no idea what was going on behind her.
The jaffa exchanged a quick few words with the others and then left. "Now, are you going to tell me what our queen wants to know or will I have to beat in out of you" snarled one of the jaffa with a crack of the whip.
Sam took and deep breath and prepared herself for what was about to come. She wasn’t disappointed, she felt the whip across her back, and she fought to control her scream of agony as the whip hit a second time. "Please Jack, don’t leave me like this" she whispered to herself as she lost consciousness from the pain.
***
Jack felt sorry for his friend, but it wasn’t the right time to bring Sha're up, maybe when they got Sam back they could try and free her. He got up and walked over to Daniel, "We will try to get her back Daniel, but right now getting Sam is our main priority." Jack said to his friend.
Daniel nodded and collected his gear and started walking. He turned and looked around at Jack and Teal’c, "You coming?" he asked.
Jack and Teal’c rose and followed him through the forest. It wasn’t long before they reached the edge of the forest and saw the pyramids that were being built close to them.
They remained hidden beneath the undergrowth as they watched what was going on before them.
"This is going to be a big problem", Jack muttered to himself. As far as he could see, there were 4 pyramids and another in the process of being built. There were probably a couple of hundred jaffa to keep the thousands of slaves under control. "How could the system lords not know about this place, its huge" Jack whispered to Teal’c.
"After the fall of Apothis they probably just assumed that his empire would fade away, but it appears that Amounet has taken Apothis’ place as system lord." Teal’c replied.
"Well they were so, wrong about that" Jack muttered.
Daniel, who was watching the scene before him intently, noticed the movement outside the closest pyramid first. "Ah, Jack, I think you had better see this" Daniel whispered and handed the binoculars to him.
Jack saw two jaffa emerge from the pyramid dragging an unconscious and badly beaten Samantha Carter. He dropped the binoculars and reached for his side arm as he prepared to attack.
Daniel placed his hand firmly on his shoulder and Teal’c said, "O’Neill, running out now would not help Captain Carter, all we can do now is find out where they are taking her and come up with a plan on how to get her out of there".
Jack just looked at him for a minute and then slammed his side arm on the ground. "We need to come up with a plan to get her out of there soon, you can see what they are doing to my Sam!"
Daniel and Teal’c looked at Jack curiously and then he realised his slip.
"Ah, um… I mean..." Jack stuttered.
"I know what you mean" Daniel said looking him in the eye. Jack just nodded.
***
All Sam could feel when she finally came around was the pain, there wasn’t one joint in her body that didn’t ache, or worse. She opened her eyes and realised that she was no longer in the prisons. I wonder how long I’ve been unconscious, she thought to herself.
Sam looked around at her new surroundings, she was in a lavish, comfortable room, and most of the room was decorated in gold.
A young girl, maybe 16 or 17 approached Sam, and Sam jumped up to defend herself but she found that her legs were unable to support her and she fell to the ground.
The girl helped her to lie down on the nearby couch. "You are weak from the beatings and lack of food", said the girl with a heavy accent. "You will be taken to the sarcophagus soon and your injuries will be healed, after you will be bathed and given food and clean clothes"
Sam looked up at the girl, she looked terrified. "Why?" Sam asked sounding very confused.
"The Queen has given orders for you to be washed and clothed, we obey her orders or we die" said the girl simply.
Two jaffa entered the room and talked to the girl in a language Sam did not understand. The girl nodded at what ever was being said and turned to Sam, "The jaffa are here to take you to the sarcophagus, if you go willingly you will not be harmed"
Sam nodded. I don’t want to piss them off any further, she thought to herself and she tried to stand. The girl helped her up and let Sam lean on her as they went to the sarcophagus.
Once they had reached their destination, the jaffa left, leaving Sam alone with the girl. She carefully helped Sam into the sarcophagus. "What’s your name?" Sam asked the girl.
The girl pushed Sam down into the sarcophagus, "Martia" the girl replied, "Now, please lie down." She ordered.
Even though Sam was completely against the sarcophagus she lay down, mainly because she didn’t want to get the girl into trouble but also because she was pretty sure she had some major internal injuries that needed to be fixed. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes as the sarcophagus closed with her inside it.
***
Jack and Teal’c had spent the last hour trying to figure out a plan to get Sam out of the Gou’auld slave camp, with little success. While Daniel watched out for any signs of Sam or the gou’auld.
"O’Neill, I think it would be best if we returned through the Stargate and come back with re-enforcement’s"
Jack shuck his head, "By the time we get back to Earth, get the help we need and get back here it could be too late" he said, trying to stay calm.
"We might not have to go back" Daniel said, butting into the conversation as usual. Teal’c and Jack just gave him funny looks. "Well, I’ve been watching the slaves all day and several skirmishes have taken place between them and the jaffa. If we could rally enough of them we might be able to free Sam as well as all the slaves." Daniel said looking at Jack.
"Well, it’s the best plan I’ve heard so far" replied Jack, "We should wait until nightfall, it shouldn’t be too difficult to get in without being noticed."
Daniel and Teal’c nodded.
"OK then" Jack said with more enthusiasm then he had shown since Sam was kidnapped. "We need to get some rest, we have a long night ahead of us. You two rest and I’ll take first watch"
After Daniel and Teal’c had settled down, Jack leaned back against a tree trunk and thought about the last time he had seen Sam.
He hadn’t been able to sleep so he sat up on the steps of the Stargate thinking about a lot of things, but mainly her. She had sat down beside him and asked what was wrong. He had told her and she made some smart remark about how she was watching him. He smiled at the memory. Sam always knew how to make him feel better, whether it was by humour or by always getting the team out of danger with her scientific knowledge. He would never admit this to her but he loved the way she babbled on about her computers.
They had just sat on those steps for about an hour just holding each other. He had almost told her then, but something kept holding him back. Why was it so difficult to tell her that he had fallen in love with her?
Jack stood up and stretched his aching limbs. He looked over and was surprised to find Teal’c, wide-awake and looking at him. "O’Neill, I will take watch now so you can rest" he said in his usual voice. Jack wondered how long he had been sitting there, thinking about Sam. He looked at his watch and realised that he had been sitting there for three hours.
"Thanks Teal’c" Jack said patting his friend on the shoulder and lying down beside the still fast asleep Daniel.
***
When dusk fell, Teal'c awoke Jack and Daniel. They decided that the best way to get into the slaves' compound was to wait until they were finished for the day and mix with the crowd as they were taken to their sleeping quarters.
It wasn't difficult to get into the compound as the jaffa were too preoccupied with the slaves to guard the perimeter of the compound. They hid among the slaves who were being herded to one of the pyramids by the guards.
They had their side arms ready in case one of the guards did notice them. But they were in look, no-one even cast them a second glance.
As they reached the pyramid they realised that there was another small brawl going on behind them. The slaves that were not involved in the fight started pushing to get into the pyramid; most of them looked terrified. Soon, they discovered why. The guards easily fought back the mob of slaves. They grabbed the 6 or 7 leaders of the mob. They were forced to their knees and were shot in the back with the staff weapons.
This sight horrified Daniel, all those people wanted were their freedom, he thought sadly to himself. He realised that they were killed as an example to the rest of the slaves and his hopes dropped. The slaves would probably be too scared to try escape again for a while. He sighed and looked over at Jack. It was clear from the look on his face that he was thinking the same thing, but they still had to try, for Sam's sake... and for Sha're, he thought ruefully.
Daniel knew that Sha're was there. His gut told him so, and not being able to look for her or try to help her was driving him crazy. However he understood that Sam had to come first, she would probably be the easiest to free because it helped that she was on their side, unlike Sha're. She had no control over the gou'auld's actions, but it made it a hell of a lot more difficult to free her. He broke out of his trance when Jack shook him. He looked around and realised that they were in the pyramid.
It was very different from the elegant, gold plated ones he had been in before. It was dark, the only light came from flimsy torches that were along the walls. There was rubbish everywhere, and the place smelled foul.
Daniel, Jack and Teal'c were dragged down deeper into the pyramid by the moving crowd. They came to a halt as they entered and huge room. Many of the slaves were queing along the sides of the walls.
"They must be waiting for food" Jack muttered.
As Daniel looked around the room he could see that the room isn't any better then the halls, if anything, it smelt worse. There were what appeared to be bunk beds. Many of them were covered in tattered cloth. Probably the only privacy they get, he thought sadly. Jack grabbed Daniel's jacket and steered him to a more discreet corner of the room, Teal'c followed closely behind.
"We should wait until they've been fed, maybe they will be more willing to help on a full stomach. We have to find someone who is respected among these slaves and get them on our side, maybe the others will be more willing to follow suit." Jack said in a hushed voice. "But right now we should get some food, we will be no use to Sam if we are dead and that is what we will be if we don't at least get some food and water."
Daniel and Teal'c nodded and the three of them went to join the end of a very long que.
***
The sarcophagus opened and Sam slowly sat up forgetting that her injuries had been healed. Standing beside the sarcophagus was the young girl, Martia. She offered a hand to help Sam out of the sarcophagus, "Come, you must be hungry" She said leading Sam out of the room.
Sam stopped in her tracks and said defiantly, "I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what the hell is going on."
Martia looked at her for a moment and sighed. "All I know is that the Queen has summoned your presence, she also ordered you to be healed, fed and properly clothed. I do not know why she asked these things, only she knows that" Sam sighed, knowing that she was not going to like what was in store for her. "When you say Queen, you mean Amounet, right?"
Martia nodded.
"When did she arrive on this planet?" Sam asked. Martia's eyes glazed over and a small smile lit her face. "I was out hunting in the woods with my father" she started sadly. "He said that it was important to know how to hunt and that it was a great honour to come from such a long line of hunters. We never know what hit us, one minute we were laughing and talking
and the next a blast of blue fire hit my father in the chest, he fell to the ground in agony. A group of jaffa grabbed my father and I." Sam could see the tears welling up in the girl's eyes, but she continued with her story. "My father was only trying to protect me and... and they beat him to death, right in front of me" Martia finished and broke into tears.
Sam looked at the sobbing girl, her heart breaking for her.
Martia stopped crying and dried her eyes; "They must have come about six months ago, I guess."
Martia grabbed Sam's hand and lead her down a long hallway and into another room. It was a much bigger room then the one the sarcophagus was in and there was a huge table in the centre of the room. On the table there were six or seven covered plates and a beautiful dress, made of gold, white and blue material. "Eat first, and then we will change you into some more respectable clothes" Martia instructed.
Sam nodded and sat down at the table. She took one of the covers of one of the plates and underneath was some sort of fruit. She tentatively took a piece of the fruit and popped it into her mouth. It was good; it tasted soft of like grapes. Sam looked over at Martia, who was looking hungrily at the fruit. "When was the last time you ate?" asked Sam.
Martia looked at her, "About two days" she replied.
Sam handed her the plate, Martia looked down at it but didn't take it. "We'll share it" Sam said smiling at her.
Martia smiled back and sat down beside Sam and they tucked into the fruit.
***
Jack, Daniel and Teal'c were about half way through the que for the food. Daniel was as usual, excited at getting the chance to study this culture, even if they ended up being hostile. Teal'c was looking exactly the same as he always did, nothing unusual there, Jack thought to himself with a grin. But something was unusual, Sam wasn't there.
Teal'c was the first to notice the group of five mean looking men heading in their direction. "O'Neill, it appears we have gotten someone's attention." Teal'c said to Jack.
"Yea, and I bet that they aren't here to throw flower petals at our feet", Jack muttered sarcastically.
The one that Jack assumed to be the leader, spoke first. "You are new here, what have you been punished for?" The rough looking man demanded.
Jack looked at him for a minute, at a loss for words, but luckily Daniel butted in. "We were servants in the queens palace but we displeased her so she send us here" It was obvious to Jack that Daniel was making it up as he went along.
The man laughed out loud and then whispered in a deadly serious voice. "Do you think that I was born yesterday? I have spies everywhere and several of them saw you entering the compound earlier on today." The man had a smug smile on his face, obviously proud of the power that he had among the slaves. "Come with me" he ordered. When they didn't do what he asked immediately he ordered for the other men to take them. They were dragged through the crowds until they reached a small tent in one of the less busy areas. They were thrown into the tent and three of the men followed them in. The other two men stood guard outside.
***
Daniel fell to the ground as the man threw him into the tent, he was soon followed by Jack and then Teal'c. Daniel stood up, brushing the dust off his clothes. He looked around and saw the three men who had found them and an older looking man, who the others obviously respected. The three "goons", as Daniel had decided to call them, were standing on either side of the older man who was sitting on a chair.
Daniel looked over at Jack, who was looking concerned. Return of the godfather, Daniel thought to himself. The older man looked each one of them over and decided that Jack was the leader. He looked Jack straight in the eye and said, "Who are you, and why would you purposely come to this hell hole, and why do you have jaffa scum with you. You are lucky we found you, others would have killed you on site. We do not appreciate you bringing our slave masters here." He was looking at Teal'c, with a looking of pure hatred and anger.
It was clear to Jack that the godfather didn't think to highly of them. "We are here to help set these people free and to get our friend back, who was taken to the main pyramid. As for Teal'c he used to serve Apophis but he gave up his family to help us fight him and free his people."
The godfather burst out laughing, "You really think that you will be able to beat these gods? You are more stupid then I thought. No matter what you say, he is nothing more then scum," said the man defiantly
"We have beaten them before and we have very powerful weapons that..." Daniel started, but was rewarded by an elbow in the ribs and a stern look from Jack.
At the mention of weapons the godfather became very interested in his new guests. "You have weapons that can defeat the gods? Show them to me at once." The godfather rose from his chair and walked over to Jack and looked up at him, "Show me these weapons now," he ordered.
Jack looked down at the smaller man and realized that it was the only way he was going to get him and his goons on their side. He took his side arm, switched off the safety and fired a short blast in the air. The man jumped back in shock and Jack heard the commotion going on outside.
Jack took advantaged of the mans stunned silence and started talking. "We have other weapons more powerful then this." Jack unclipped a grenade from his belt and showed it to them.
One of the men walked forward in an attempt to grab it. Jack snatched it back and attached it back onto his belt. "Oh no you don't, this would cause a huge explosion. Your lovely tent would be ruined, not to mention you could be missing a few limbs." Jack said sarcastically.
"We also have weapons of the goa'uld" Teal'c said, and held out his staff weapon for examination. The man looked up at Teal'c, fear and mistrust were written on his face. He examined the weapon but didn't touch it.
The godfather returned to face Jack, "You are very powerful, we will help you if you will help us gain our freedom."
Jack nodded, "You've got a deal."
***
Sam looked down at what she was wearing. The dress was a heavy golden thing with beads of every different colour under the sun. 'I'll probably glow in the dark in this,' she thought to herself. Martia was fixing up her hair.
'That poor girl,' Sam thought to herself, 'she lives in fear for her life, is a slave to the goa'uld and will probably end up as a host someday.' But Sam decided that she would do everything in her power to free this girl, even if it meant loosing her own life.
"Now, there we go, all finished," Martia said and stepped back to admire her handiwork. "You look like a queen," she whispered in awe of Sam's appearance.
"Yea, well I feel like a Christmas tree," Sam said with a laugh.
Martia had a confused look on her face. "What is a Christmas tree?"
"It's part of an old earth custom..." Sam didn't get a chance to finish her sentence as to jaffa walked into the room.
"We have been instructed to take the prisoner to the Queen."
Martia nodded, "Just give me a minute," she said. The jaffa nodded and left the room. Martia looked at Sam, the fear was evident in her eyes. "I don't want you to die Sam," her voice was beginning to quiver and tears were welling up in her eyes. "No one who goes to see the queen ever comes back, they are either dead of their minds have changed."
Sam looked at Martia sympathetically. She really had no idea what the goa'uld were, but maybe that was for the best. Sam thought of that saying "What you don't know cant hurt you", but that didn't apply to Martia.
"I can't make any promises to you, I don't know if I will come back alive, but I'll try. Are you sure you don't know what Amounet might want me for?"
Martia thought for a minute. "The only thing unusual that has been going on is that she has been talking a lot about someone called..." She thought for a minute. "Someone called Dan...no, Dan something." She looked up to see Sam's shocked face.
"Daniel?" Sam offered.
"Yes, yes what is it." Martia said. "Do you know of him? He must be very important of the Queen to be interested in him."
Sam looked over at Martia, she looked scared.
"Come, we do not wish to anger the Queen." Martia said and hugged Sam tightly. "I am not permitted to go with you, the jaffa will take you to the Queen." Martia reluctantly released Sam and pushed her in the direction of the door. Sam turned around and smiled and Martia and then walked out of the door.
Martia slumped on the floor as the tears began to fall freely and prayed to any god other then her captor. "Please let Sam come back safely."
***
Jack rubbed his eyes and yawned. They had been talking to the godfather, called Heriano, for hours. They had come up with a basic plan which Jack was confident would work, if they could get enough people involved.
Heriano, as it turned out was a very accomplished war veteran, who was well versed in tactical assault. He helped Jack and Teal'c come up with a plan to take the jaffa by surprise.
They were planning to get a group of slaves to cause a riot close to the prison. While the jaffa were preoccupied with the rioting slaves another group would gather behind them. The first group of slaves would take shelter in the prison and Jack, Teal'c and Daniel would through grenades, stones and pickaxes, basically anything that they could get their hands on.
Well that was the basic plan, freeing Sam would have to be thought up as they went along. But Jack couldn't help feeling helpless. Sam had been captured nearly four days ago and the last time they had seen her, being dragged for the prison, she had been in a terrible condition. Then they had brought her to the monsters den. He hated not knowing what was happening to one of his team-mates but with Sam it was different, he loved her, if he lost her... he didn't even want to think about it.
He thought back to the last full weekend they had spent together, it must have been nearly 3 weeks ago. They had gone to see a hockey game on Saturday, of course it didn't help that they were supporting opposite teams. They had made a bet, whoever's team won the other person would be their personal slave for the rest of the weekend. Sam had won. Jack smiled at the memory. He had never done the housework nude before. It had gotten even better when Sam had decided to help him out. She came up with a unique way of cleaning the bathtub with two people in it, cleaning each other. He remembered holding her close that night, he could even remember the smell of her damp hair. He had just lay there for hours thinking and watching her sleep.
Jack sighed and yawned. With any luck they would have Sam back safe and sound by tomorrow night. He lay down and was asleep the second his head hit the pillow. He dreamed of him and Sam in the bathtub.
***
Sam was lead down the corridor by the jaffa, visions of knocking them out and running for her life were flying around in her head. But she knew that she was no match for two jaffa, and she couldn't risk getting Martia hurt over it.
They came to a stop outside a large door, the jaffa to her left knocked once and it was immediately opened.
Sam was pushed into the huge, elaborately decorated room. The hair rose on the back of her neck as her gaze fell on the throne at the head of the room.
Amounet was smiling smugly at her. Sam thought she was going to throw up. One of the servants lead her to stand in front of Amounet. A swift kick to the back of her legs had Sam down on her knees.
"So Tau'ri, do you feel more willing to give me the information I want?" Amounet purred and rose to stand in front of Sam.
"Go to hell!" Sam spat out with a determined look on her face.
Amounet simply smiled and offered a hand to Sam. Sam looked at Amounet suspiciously and stood up without Amounet's help.
"I wasn't expecting you to tell me anything, Tau'ri. But you did tell someone else what I wanted to know."
Amounet waved her hand and her servants opened the door. Martia walked in and went straight up to Amounet. Her eyes glowed yellow and she smiled at Sam.
"Thank you for the information" Martia said in a deep, goa'uld voice.
Sam just stared at the girl in shock, how the hell didn't she sense that she was a goa'uld? She didn't think that she had told Martia anything important. Oh, god, she told her about Daniel and she also mentioned that her friends would come and free her. Now, because of her stupidity, Amounet would be ready for them.
"Soon I will have the rest of your team and you will all die as an example of my power. But first, I will give you a chance to save yourself. Where is the child, this host gave birth to 6 months ago? I know that Heru'ur hasn't didn't it." Amounet said, staring straight into Sam's eyes.
So that is what she wanted, Sam thought to herself, disgusted that she had called the child "it". Sam knew that the child was with Sha're's father on Abydos, but there was no way she was going to tell her that.
Amounet could see that she was not going to get anything from Sam. "Perhaps a few more days in the prison will refresh your memory." Amounet said and summoned the guards to take her away.
The guards dragged Sam down the corridor, when she tried to resist them she was punched several times in the ribs. She fought to hold back her scream of agony. The cracking noise told her that she had broken her newly healed ribs and probably a few more. She nearly passed out with the pain.
The rest of the journey to the prison was sort of a haze. The next thing Sam remembered was being flung into a tiny dark cell and the slam of the metal door behind her.
She fought to sit up straight, every time she tried to move it was like someone shot a couple of arrows into her chest. She was suddenly overcome with a coughing fit; this only made the pain worse. She opened her eyes and was shocked to see droplets of blood on her legs and the ground beside her. Another wave of coughing and her vision blurred and she felt dizzy. She slid into unconsciousness as her head hit the ground with a sickening thud.
***
Jack was watching the prison, the slaves were starting to gather there. Everything was going according to plan, for once. In another hour, just before the slaves are taken back to their shelter their plan would come into action. Is seemed that Heriano had a lot more supporters then Jack had first thought, so getting enough people cause the diversion was not hard, in fact most people wanted to get there hands on the goa'uld that had killed their friends and family members.
Jack looked around the rest of the compound with his binoculars. Daniel would be relieving him in half an hour. He stopped at the main pyramid.
He knew that somewhere inside that building was Sam, and this plan was her only hope of survival. That is, if she wasn't dead all ready. "Don't think that way O'Neill," he thought to himself, Sam was going to be OK. She had to be, he still had to tell her how much she meant to him.
He turned his attention back to the main pyramid, just in time to see Sam being dragged out of it by two serpent guards. He resisted the urge to run down and beat the crap out of the guards because he knew that he would be killed before he had even gotten to them. He gripped his gun in his right hand, his knuckles turning white. He followed them with his binoculars until they entered the prison and he lost sight of them.
This could make rescuing Sam a lot easier, he thought to himself. He stood up and practically ran to the small cave where Daniel, Teal'c and Heriano were.
***
Sam slowly opened her eyes and wondered what number bus had hit her. She tried to sit up and nearly screamed when she felt her ribs grind together. She carefully sat up, which took most of her strength and effort to do so with the least amount of pain possible. She looked down at the dirt where she had been sleeping and saw the large blood stain in the dirt.
She brought her hand up to rub her lips and chin. The bright red colour of her blood stained her hand. She grimaced as another wave of coughing overcame her, adding to the blood on the ground. She took several deep breathes to try to control the pain.
She looked up as the large metal door was opened. The jaffa who had interrogated her a few days ago was standing there with a smile on his face.
Her grabbed Sam and roughly pulled her to her feet. Sam gasped in pain. "Now, I will ask you this once, and once only, where is the child?" The jaffa demanded. When Sam didn't reply he hit her with a metal bar across the left cheek.
She felt the cold metal strike her cheek and her head fell back like a rag dolls. The feel of the cold metal was replaced by the warm liquid flowing freely down her cheek.
"I ask you again, Tau'ri, where is the child!" The jaffa screamed at her.
Sam raised her eyes to meet his, the pure hatred easily visible in them. "I would die before I give you any information about that child or anything else." Sam said with pure determination in her voice. For that moment she forgot about the pain and all that was left was the hatred for these jaffa that had killed so many people, destroyed so many lives and broken up so many families.
She would die, before she would give this bastard the satisfaction of saying that he had broken her.
The jaffa must have seen this in her eyes. "Very well," he hissed. He took out a long blade and twirled it around in his fingers. "Do you know how long someone can live with a stab wound in their stomach," He asked with and evil smirk. Sam gulped, the hairs rising on the back of her neck. "I've heard that you could live for days. It's supposed to be very painful, living for days in agony, many people beg to be killed just to put an end to the pain." He whispered into her ear.
With that he plunged the knife into her stomach. Sam couldn't stop the scream of agony that escaped her lips. It echoed in the cell over and over.
The jaffa removed the knife and Sam's limp body fell to the ground.
***
Jack had ran back to their new camp in the cave and told the others about Sam being taken back to the prison. After arguing for about ten minutes with Heriano, they decided to put the plan into action earlier then they had decided on.
"Ernushe, tell everyone to prepare for the battle. There has been a change of plans. We are starting as soon as everyone is ready." Heriano ordered a tall, bald-headed man. The man nodded and ran out of the cave. Another man went over to Heriano and whispered something in his ear.
Heriano nodded and looked over at Jack, "You didn't tell me that your friend was a woman." He said, sounding unhappy.
Jack stared at him of a moment, trying to figure out what he had done wrong. "Yea, so, why should that change anything?" Jack asked, he was confused and annoyed by Heriano's question.
"The women that had been taken to the queen rarely return and if they do, their minds have changed, they are evil. Your friend may no longer be who she once was." Heriano replied, emphasizing the word friend. He obviously believed there was something going on between him and Sam.
"I am not going to leave her here, is that clear! If there is any chance that she is alive and not goa'uld, I will not leave her here to die!" Jack shouted at Heriano.
Heriano nodded and smiled sadly. "You love her. That is good. If I had a chance to get my family back from the goa'uld I would, but only my grandchild survived and she is changed." He whispered and patted Jack on the arm. "Come, we are nearly ready to win our freedom from these sphliac!" Jack smiled and nodded, he really had to learn some of these cool alien swear words.
***
Sam awoke when she heard noise outside her cell. She moaned into the dirt when she felt the agonizing pain in her gut. Her eyes filled with tears and she remembered what had happened and what was going to happen. Because of her, her friends would be killed when they tried to save her.
She was going to die alone in this cell, with the death of her friends on her hands. She could no longer contain the tears that were threatening to fall. They trickled down her cheek and mixed with the deep red stain on the ground.
She sat up with her back against the wall and tried to see how bad her wound was, but her tears were blurring her vision. She angrily brushed them away. I'm not going to let that bastard win she told herself. She looked down at her stomach, the wound was filled with grit and dirt from her sleeping face down in the dirt. She had lost a lot of blood while she had been unconscious. It had stained the dress a deep red colour that reached down to her knees.
She knew that she had to apply pressure to the wound, or she would loose the little blood she had left. It took most of her strength to rip off some of the material from the blood stained dress. She pushed it down on her stomach to slow down the blood flow. She moaned as she put pressure on the wound and on her broken ribs. She no longer had the energy to scream.
It wouldn't be much longer now, she thought to herself. I wonder if anyone will find my body. Another coughing fit overcame her, but this time she didn't bother to find out how much blood she had lost.
She wondered if that thing that everyone said about your life flashing through your eyes was true.
Visions of when she first stepped into the SGC nearly two years ago filled her mind. She remembered how shocked Jack and Kowalski where when they realized that she was a woman. She had spent the next couple of missions trying to prove herself to Jack. They had become friends after the mission were she had been forced to wear that stupid blue sack. And eventually they become lovers.
It was becoming more difficult for her to keep her eyes open and her breath came in short gasps. She thought of how she had been fooled by Martia. At least Sha're's child will be safe.
She remembered sitting on Jack's lap on the steps of the Stargate a few hours before this whole thing started. He had been right to be uneasy, the population of this planet were slaves of Amounet, who had definitely taken after Apothis' rule. She had felt safe in his arms, for a while there she had started thinking about a future with him. It wasn't like it was any more of a possibility then it was now, but she could always dream.
Sam was shaken out of her thoughts by the sound of a lot of people shouting near the prison.
***
The attack had gone ahead as planned. The rioters kept the guards occupied and a group up came around them. The rioters had retreated into the prison as expected and the jaffa were trapped between the two groups of rioters.
But it was never like the jaffa to surrender. They went out with a bang. Jack and Daniel used most of their grenades on them, Teal'c opted for his staff weapon, killing anyone who survived the grenades. For good measure the slaves came out and hit their charred bodies with forks, pickaxes, pans and just about anything else, to make sure they were dead.
Heriano made his way over to Jack, who was headed straight for the prison. He put his hand on Jacks shoulder, stopping him from moving. "Thanks to you we will be free people by first light tomorrow. Our supporters have taken all of the pyramids, except the main one, under control. We will have all of the evil ones rounded up and executed by dawn tomorrow and then we will truly have our freedom." Jack smiled but quickened his pace towards the prison. " I hope the woman is well." Heriano said and let Jack walk on.
Please god let her be OK, please, Jack whispered his silent prayer and broke into a run towards the prison. He carefully made his way around the bodies of the rioters who had not survived and walked into the prison.
He found it difficult to get anywhere as crowds of people where trying to get out, no one was trying to go in. He walked deeper into the prison. The smell was awful, but at least the crowds were beginning to die down.
He stopped when he saw a large crowd of people outside one of the cells. Mothers where shielding their children's eyes. The look of horror was clear on everyone's faces. He fought his way through the crowd, his fear for Sam rising with every step.
He made it into the cell to see two men bent over a woman in a dress. His heart stopped and he felt the tears welling up in his eyes. It was the same dress he and seen Sam in when the guards had dragged her to the prison.
He pushed one of the men out of the way and fell to the ground next to Sam. He felt the bile rising in his stomach and his anger was off the scale, what have those bastards done to her! With a shaking hand he felt her neck for a pulse. He let out a small sigh of relief when he found one.
He gently wiped the dried blood from her face, "Sam, can you hear me?" He whispered into her ear, "Come on Captain, wake up! That's an order."
As if on queue, Sam let out a small moan and a whimper.
"Sam, Sam? Come on open your eyes, it's me Jack."
Sam's eyes fluttered open, they where fixed on Jack. Her white fingers curled around his hand on her cheek. "Jack," She managed to croak out.
Jack nodded and placed a finger on her lips. "Shh rest," he whispered to her. She nodded and her eyes drifted closed.
Jack carefully took her into his arms and carried her out of the prison. He got out of the prison just in time to see the main pyramid lift into the air and disappear behind the clouds.
He ran over to Teal'c. "We have to get back now! Sam hasn't got much time." He hissed to his friend.
Teal'c nodded, his concern for Sam obvious. "I will go find Daniel Jackson immediately." He stated and turned to leave.
***
Teal'c came back several minutes later dragging Daniel with him. Daniel stared at Sam limp body in Jack's arms and feared the worst. "Is she..." Daniel started in a low voice.
"No Daniel, but she will be if we don't get her back to the SGC soon and where the hell have you been?" Jack said sounding annoyed.
"I... I went to find Sha're," He whispered sadly, "But by the time I got there she was gone. But she left this." Daniel pulled out a piece of parchment with hieroglyphics written on it. "It says..."
Jack stared daggers at Daniel, "I couldn't give a dam about it now we have to leave."
Daniel, who was very surprised at Jacks outburst just nodded.
Heriano ran up to them, "If you follow me we will give the supplies needed for your journey to the Stargate. We can also give you some of our ancient medicines to ease your friends pain and to help prevent serious infection."
Jack nodded and signalled for Daniel and Teal'c to follow him.
Heriano did not take them back to the pyramids. Instead he took them through the woods, in to opposite direction from the Stargate.
Jack looked down when he heard Sam moan in his arms. "Could we rest for a minute." He called to Heriano, and stopped walking. He lay Sam down on the ground as gently as he could. "Sam, where does it hurt." Jack asked, gently stroking her cheek.
"Where doesn't it hurt, don't you mean." Sam replied and managed a small smile. Then she started coughing violently. Jack didn't know what to do and started to panic when he noticed drops of blood on his shirt.
Heriano bent down beside Sam and held some sort of leaf over her nose and mouth. Immediately the coughing stopped. Heriano looked up at Jack with concern, "She will not make it to the Ring of the Gods." He said solemnly, referring to the Stargate.
"We can take he back to my village and hope she is well enough to travel in a few days." He said and with surprising strength for someone his age, he picked up Sam and started walking again. He gave Jack a look that said, I'm in control, as it looked like Jack was about to complain about Heriano carrying Sam. The other three followed him to the village.
After walking another 10 minutes they entered a clearing. Many of the former slaves had returned to their homes and where trying to get everything into order. Many of the people stopped what they where doing when they entered the clearing.
Two middle aged women came up to them and took Sam from Heriano's arms and went into a nearby hut. When Jack tried to enter the hut one of the women shooed him away. Jack looked over at Heriano who nodded and spoke to the woman in a strange language. The woman nodded and smiled sympathetically at Jack. She took Jack by the shoulder and lead him into the hut.
When Daniel and Teal'c tried to enter the hut, Heriano stopped them, "Only your friend's most beloved can enter while the healers are working. Come, we are preparing a feast to celebrate our freedom we can use all the help we can get."
Daniel looked worriedly over at the hut. Heriano noticed this and spoke up, "Do not worry, your friend will be fine after the healers have done their work and she has rested for several days."
Daniel looked over at Teal'c and then at Heriano, he didn't seem worried at all. Daniel decided to trust him. "OK, what do you want us to do." Daniel said looking over at Teal'c, who just raised an eyebrow.
***
Jack watched the two women as they bustled about looking at jars of weird looking stuff. He didn't really want to know what was in them because if he knew what they were he probably wouldn't let it get anywhere near Sam. He looked down at Sam, her hand in his and if he didn't know any better he would say she was just sleeping.
He had wiped the blood of her face and the women had changed her into clean clothes. That was when he realised just how badly injured she was. By the amount of bruises on her chest he guessed that she had at least four or five broken ribs, the stab wound was infected and was still bleeding. Her shoulder was dislocated and she was coughing up blood.
If it had been anyone other then Sam he would have given up hope for his or her survival. But he knew Sam, she was a fighter, if anyone could survive this she could.
One of the women came up to Jack and placed a hand on his shoulder. The other sat on a chair on the opposite side of Sam. Heriano came in and the woman next to Jack spoke to him in a strange language. Heriano nodded at her words and then turned to Jack. "The medicine they will use to stop the infection will have to be spread over the wound. It will be very painful for your friend. Perhaps it would be best if you waited outside with your friends."
Jack shook his head immediately, "No, I'm staying." He said and squeezed Sam's hand.
Heriano nodded in defeat, "Very well, she will need to be held down while the ointment is applied. It works better if the person is conscious, but that also means she will feel the pain."
Jack nodded, he didn't like putting Sam through this but it was the only way.
"Could you give me a few minutes alone with her, to wake her and to explain what you are going to do?"
Heriano nodded, "Of course," he turned to the women who where trying to follow what was being said between him and Jack, with little success. He spoke a few words to them, they nodded and left the hut with the bowl of goo, thats what Jack thought it looked like anyway. Heriano gave Jack a small smile and followed the two women out of the hut.
Jack looked down at Sam, her beautiful features distorted in pain. He gently shook her awake. She moaned and her eyes fluttered open. "Hey, how are you doing." Jack said and smiled at her.
She squeezed his hand tighter. "Stupid question." Sam whispered. "Can I have some water." She asked looking up at him. She saw the worry of her etched on his face. If she didn't hurt so much she would have thought he looked really cute.
Jack stood up and walked over to the corner of the room and filled a bowl with clean water from a bucket that the women had brought in earlier.
"Well, lets see what we've got, Mm, there is water, which I think you would really like and there is water." Jack said trying to lighten the mood.
Sam managed a small laugh before she was overcome with a fit of coughing. Jack rushed over to her with the bowl of water. He set the bowl on the chair and sat on the bed next to Sam.
He could see the blood that she was coughing up and all he could do was rub her back and tell her everything would be OK. He had never felt so helpless. When the coughing finally subsided he held the bowl to her mouth as she drank it all in a few seconds. He set the bowl down and helped her lie back down again.
He took her hand in his and squeezed gently before he began. He took a deep breath and looked down at Sam who looked like she was about to nod off again. "Sam," Jack asked to make sure she was listening. When she looked up at him expectantly he continued.
"The stab wound in your stomach is infected. They have to stop the infection by putting some sort of ointment on it, but you need to be conscious and its going to hurt a lot."
Sam nodded and tried to smile, "If it stops the infection it'll be worth it... right?" She asked.
Jack nodded, "I'm not going anywhere, if the pain gets really bad you can punch me, I heard that it helps."
She smiled, "OK lets get this over with." Jack nodded and went to find Heriano and the two women.
***
Daniel was to busy worrying about Sam to be much use helping the people prepare for the feast. He had discovered that many of the older people did not speak and English and when he asked Heriano to explain why, he had said that they only spoke the ancient language because they had devoted their lives to living the old ways. But many of the younger people wanted change.
One of the younger women had shown him around the area and had him carrying crates of stored goods that had been left there since before Amounet had taken them.
He couldn't believe he had come so close to finding her and maybe even getting Sha're back, but she had gotten away. But at least he knew she was still alive, that gave him hope that someday he would get his wife back. He pushed those thoughts out of his head until he had some time to himself, which probably wouldn't be until they returned to earth.
He made his way over to the girl, who had shown him around earlier, intent on finding out more about her culture.
Daniel was so wrapped up in his conversation with the girl that he almost didn't notice Heriano and the two women leaving the hut and several minutes later Jack coming out also. He turned his attention to them, forgetting about the girl.
Jack had a quick word with Heriano and then all four of them went back into the hut. He watched the hut intently for several minutes, when nothing happened he turned his attention back to girl, who had continued nattering on the entire time.
Suddenly his attention was drawn back to the hut by an earth-shattering scream of agony.
***
When Jack returned to the hut with Heriano and the two women, Sam attempted to take a deep breath but it only started another fit of coughing. The women rushed over to her and held a bowl of a greenish looking liquid to her lips.
Once her coughing subsided Sam cautiously took a sip of the liquid only to have the women force the rest of it down her throat. Most of it ended up on her clothes. Jack sat down on the bed beside Sam and took her hand in his. She nodded and squeezed Jack's hand. The woman gently lifted up Sam's top to get at the wound. They talked quietly among themselves as Heriano handed each of them a bowl filled with a brown paste. One of the women looked up at Jack to tell him they where about to start.
Sam closed her eyes preparing herself for what was to come. As the women applied the paste Sam felt a cool sensation across her stomach but quickly it started to burn. It felt like her skin was on fire. She grabbed Jack's hand for support so hard that her knuckles where going white. Soon the pain became too much for her to handle and she screamed in agony.
Jack looked down at Sam, he was sure that her screams could be heard throughout the village. Her grip was so tight that it was stopping the flow of blood to his fingers.
Once the women had finished putting the brown paste on Sam's stomach they wrapped some kind of cloth bandage around it. Jack looked down at Sam, to tell her it was finished but realised that she was unconscious.
"It's probably for the best." Heriano said to Jack, "It will continue to hurt for many hours, but the pain is a sign that it is working, your friend will be OK."
Just then Daniel and Teal'c rushed into the hut, they where at Jack's side in seconds. Even Teal'c looked worried, "We heard Captain Carter's screams, is she alright?" asked Teal'c, his eyes glued to Sam's unconscious face.
"She will be fine but she needs rest, you must leave now." Heriano said as he ushered them out of the hut. He looked over at O'Neill who was now sitting on the chair next to the bed with Sam's hand held tightly in both of his. He could tell from his expression that he wasn't going anywhere. Heriano sighed, "I will be outside if you need me," he said and left the hut.
Jack looked down at Sam, she had a peaceful expression on her face. He yawned, only just realising how tired he was, it had been a hectic few days, and he couldn't wait till he was back at the SGC. He felt his eyelids beginning to droop and he willingly let sleep claim him.
***
Daniel looked over at Teal'c, who was sitting across the fire. The party was beginning to die down and everyone was returning to their huts. It was one hell of a party, but he wasn't able to enjoy it. Heriano wouldn't let him in to see Sam, and Jack hadn't come out to tell him how she was doing. Even after all of Heriano's assurances that Sam was fine, he knew he wouldn't be able to relax until he saw her for himself.
Teal'c studied his friend across the fire, the worry was evident on his face as he was sure it was on his. He had not seen Daniel so quiet since they had found Sha're on Abydos. He didn't even seem to interested in the ancient writings of the natives that Heriano had shown them earlier. Perhaps he was thinking of his wife, how he came so close to finding her and then lost her again.
He too was worried about Captain Carter, but for some strange reason he trusted Heriano when he said that she would be OK. Maybe it was because he was a fellow warrior but in some ways he also reminded him of his first teacher Bra'tac. He could sense that Heriano was very knowledgeable and respected amongst his people.
He put an end to his thoughts by standing up and walking over to Daniel, who was talking to Heriano.
Heriano looked up at Teal'c and smiled, "You may both rest in my house tonight, my wife is expecting you, she has been preparing our house all afternoon, so you are expected to come."
Teal'c and Daniel nodded.
"When can we see Sam?" Daniel asked.
"Tomorrow, for now you all need rest." Heriano replied. "Come," Heriano said and led them to one of the larger huts it the village.
***
Jack was woken by the sound of people talking outside the hut, he stood up and tried to work the kinks out of his legs.
"Hey."
Jack looked down to see Sam wide awake and smiling up at him. "Hey yourself," Jack replied, surprised that Sam was awake. "How long have you been awake? Are you feeling OK? Do you want me to get Heriano to check if you are OK." Jack started firing questions at her.
Sam started laughing, 'He looks so sweet when he's nervous.' She thought to herself. She stopped laughing and put a hand to her chest when she started coughing. But this time there was no blood, it hurt but at least she wasn't coughing up blood anymore. 'Well that's a plus.' She thought to herself. She looked up at a worried looking Jack.
"I'm OK Jack, it hurts a bit but there is no blood." Sam said.
Jack nodded, "I'm sure your OK, but I want to get Heriano and the women to check you out, just to be sure." Jack said and left the hut.
Jack found Heriano with Teal'c beside the well at the centre of the village.
Teal'c was the first one to notice Jack. "O'Neill, how is Captain Carter?"
Heriano looked up at Jack.
"She is a lot better, but I think you should get the women to check her over just in case."
Heriano nodded, "Of course, as soon as I am finished here I will fetch them. Teal'c, take Jack over to my wife to get food for both him and...? What is her name."
"Sam", "Captain Carter." Jack and Teal'c both said together.
Heriano smiled and Teal'c lead Jack over to Heriano's hut. Heriano's wife gave Jack a large plate full of brightly coloured fruits. "Eat, you must be famished. Afterwards you can take some to your friend."
Jack nodded, only realising that he hadn't eaten anything since yesterday morning. He offered a piece to Teal'c who declined it, saying he had already eaten. Jack shrugged and started eating the fruit.
"Where's Daniel?" He asked between bites.
"Heriano thought it best to let him rest."
Jack nodded, "So in other words he's still in bed."
Teal'c nodded.
***
Sam was getting impatient, Jack had been gone over five minutes and she was starving. Having made up her mind she carefully got out of bed. As she tried to stand up a wave of nausea overcame her and she was forced to sit back down.
Just then Heriano entered the room with the women who had healed her wound. When the women saw her out of bed they rushed to her side and laid her back down again.
Heriano sat down beside her and smiled. "I do not believe we have been properly introduced, I am Heriano."
Sam smiled at him, "Samantha Carter" Sam replied.
At this Heriano made a face, "That's strange, one of your friends called you Sam and the other one called you Captain Carter, neither of them called you Samantha."
Sam smiled, "You can call me Sam for short."
"It was nice to meet you Sam, but these women want to make sure you are well, so I will leave them to it." Heriano said and rose to leave the hut.
"Wait, how am I supposed to know that they are saying?" Sam asked.
"That is a good question, I will get Nereith to help you." Heriano left the hut and a few minutes returned with a girl in her late teens. "Nereith will help translate what they are saying for you." Heriano said and left the hut.
Nereith smiled at Sam and sat down beside her. "Hello, I'm Nereith, Heriano said you needed help figuring out what Maya and Caldana are saying."
Sam nodded gratefully.
"You are not alone many people in my village don't know the old language and many of the older people only know the old language, so as you can imagine it can get a bit hairy around here." Nereith said.
"I can only guess what it must be like. What are the women going to do to me?" Sam asked in a hushed voice.
"You have nothing to worry about Sam, they will just check that you and the little one are well."
Sam's heart almost stopped when she heard this. "Little one?...What are you talking about?" Sam asked hesitantly.
Nereith looked at her for a moment, "The child that grows inside you of course... you did not know?" Nereith asked.
Sam shook her head and brought her had to her stomach. "There has to be some mistake," She said, still in shock from the news she had just gotten.
"The women were very concerned about the child when you first got here, they were not sure that they could save it, that is what they are going to check now. What's wrong, don't you want this child?"
Sam just stared at her, this was too much to take in this girl had just told her that she was pregnant and now she was saying it might be dead. 'I really don't need this right now.' Sam thought to herself. 'Maybe the women are wrong, they have to be wrong, things are only starting to go right for Jack and me. This would spoil it all.' Sam was starting to get very upset, her eyes where filled with tears.
Nereith gently rubbed her shoulder, "Let Maya have a look at you, to make sure you are OK." Sam nodded and lay down.
***
Sam watched the women leave the hut. They had said that both her and the baby where fine. Sam had spent the entire time trying to figure out how, they had been so careful. But when she worked out her dates she realised that she had skipped a period, but at the time she had put it down to stress and going back on the pill.
'Maybe that's all it is.' Sam thought desperately. Would she be able to cope with a child? Did she want to give up her career? Would Jack stand by her through it all if she decided to go through it? These where just some of the questions running through her mind, but the most important one she had yet to face. Could she live with herself if she aborted the child?
***
"Hey, Danny how you doing?" Jack asked a very sleepy looking Daniel.
Daniel rubbed his eyes and stretched his arms over his head. "How’s Sam doing? Can I go and see her now?" He asked with a yawn.
"Heriano is just checking that she’s OK, I’m going to bring her food when he gets back, you guys can come I’m sure she’s dying to see you." Jack said as he finished off the fruit.
Just then Heriano entered the hut. "You can all go see her now. She is still weak but the wound is no longer infected and her ribs and shoulder are healing nicely. However it is still not safe for her to travel, but she should be strong enough to make it back to Stargate later tonight or tomorrow. Some of the villagers will make the journey with you to see that you get back safely."
Jack nodded his thanks to Heriano. "Daniel go get something to eat and join us in Sam’s hut later." Jack ordered and motioned for Teal’c to follow him to Sam’s hut.
***
'Pregnant!’ Sam was still trying to get her head around it all. She had decided to keep quiet about it until she could get Janet to check her out so she could be sure that the women were right. But in her heart she knew they were, it all made sense. Maybe deep down she knew she was pregnant when she missed her period, she just came up with an excuse to why she couldn’t be pregnant and wished it all to go away, but she had to face it now.
She looked up as Jack and Teal’c entered the cabin. Jack walked over to her and kissed her sweetly on the lips. Sam pushed him in shock and nodded her head towards Teal’c.
"I am already aware of your relationship with Colonel O’Neill." Teal’c said in an emotionless voice.
Sam nodded and lay back down. "You brought me food, good I’m starving." Sam said as she grabbed the plate from Jack and started munching on the fruit.
It was then that Daniel decided to make his appearance, he rushed over to Sam and sat down on the bed beside her. "Are you OK?" He asked, looking intently into her eyes.
Sam could see the deep sadness etched into her friend eyes and her heart went out to him. She gently placed her hand over his, "I’ll be fine Daniel, how are you doing?"
Daniel looked surprised at her question. "I... I’m fine, why wouldn’t I be?"
She sighed and nodded, she would have to talk to him when they got back, and no doubt he would want to know about Amounet. She turned her attention to Jack, "So when are we going home?" Sam asked eagerly. "Your still to weak to travel, we will head out tomorrow morning. So rest now, your going to need it."
***
Jack hadn’t let Sam do anything all day and she was really beginning to get restless. Jack had taken care of her very need so that she didn’t have to get out of bed. She had eventually fallen into a restless sleep.
When she awoke it was dark out. She needed to get out of the hut, she needed to clear her head. But if Jack was anywhere around he would have her back in bed in 2 seconds flat. ‘To hell with him’ she thought and carefully
stood up. When everything stopped spinning and she thought she could walk without falling she made her way out of the hut.
She was in a small village, filled with huts similar to the one she had been in. No one appeared to notice her, so she made her way to the edge of the village. Once she had left the huts behind there was a small green field and then a large forest. She sat down on a nearby rock and looked up at the stars.
It was a clear night so she could see every star in the heavens. Her mother had told her before she had died that all she had to do was look up at the stars and her mother would be there to help her. ‘Well I really need your help now, mom.’ Sam choked out as tears started to trickle down her cheeks.
Sam was scared, more scared than she had probably been in her life and all because of a tiny baby that was not even the size of her finger. She had always wanted a family, when she was younger she dreamed of getting married, having kids and living happily ever after. But as she got older her career became more important, but deep inside, her dreams of happy families always stayed with her.
"What am I going to do mom?" She asked the stars as he dried her eyes. These stars where not the stars she knew. No matter how many times she had travelled through the Stargate she could not help feeling uneasy as she looked at them. On Earth no matter where you were everyone had one thing in common, the stars. And on this planet she didn’t have that.
"They are beautiful, aren’t they?" Sam jumped at the sound of a voice. She whirled around to see Heriano standing behind her. She moaned as the sudden movement jarred her injured ribs.
Heriano sat her back down on the rock and sat down beside her. Sam looked at him for a moment, ‘He is a difficult one to figure out’ she thought to herself. She surprised herself at what she did next. "You know, don’t you" She said, it was more of a statement then a question.
"About the child? Yes, I know."
"What am I going to do?" Sam asked surprised that she was sharing so much with someone she hardly knew.
"Do what is in your heart, if you love him and he loves you, you should not let anything stop you both from being happy."
Sam nodded at his statement, she knew that Heriano was right but she wasn’t sure she could just give up her career like that. The General had told her just before she left for this mission that she had gotten a promotion and would officially be a Major by the end of the week.
Heriano stood up, "Come, your friends are worried about you and we do not want you getting sick again. He helped Sam up and led her back to the hut.
***
They had been travelling for hours, stopping every twenty minutes to let Sam rest. She had refused to use the stretcher they had made up, saying that it would only slow them down more.
Jack had noticed that Sam had been very quiet ever since yesterday morning. But when he tried to confront her about it she brushed him off saying that she was just tired. It hurt him that Sam felt that she couldn’t share what was wrong with her with him. But it would have to wait until they got back to the base.
Sam was on edge, Jack had been giving her strange looks all morning and she was very close to screaming at him. She felt sick, but it wasn’t morning sickness, well at least she hoped it wasn’t. It was that by the end of the day she would know for sure if she was pregnant or not, even though in her heart she already knew, she still was nervous.
She had gotten very little sleep last night, but at least she had made her decision. No matter what happened she was going to have this baby. If Jack didn’t support her she would go and stay with her brother. He was always saying that she had to visit more.
Soon they came to the edge of the forest and there it was looming in front of them. Jack had never thought he would be so glad to see the Stargate. It was all over, Sam was safe and they could go home. They said their farewells to Heriano and his group and promised to return someday. Daniel dialled in the co-ordinance and sent through SG1’s signal.
Sam looked up at Heriano and smiled, "Thanks, for everything." She said.
Heriano pulled her into a hug. "You remind me a lot of my granddaughter you know, you are strong and capable just like Martia."
Sam’s head shot up at this "Martia is your granddaughter?" Sam asked in shock.
Heriano smiled sadly a bit of hope shining in his eyes, "Yes, but the queen took her and she is changed, I had thought she was dead, but if you have seen her there is hope." He said, his smile growing bigger. He bent down and whispered in her ear, "Do what makes you happy."
Sam smiled at him, then turned and entered the wormhole.
***
It had been a long day, Jack had spent 2 hours briefing the general. He had put the team on stand down for 2 weeks and the Doc had informed them that Sam wouldn’t be back on active duty for at least six weeks, maybe more. She had made Sam stay in the infirmary as Daniel, Teal’c and Jack debriefed the general. As Jack was about to leave the briefing the general called him back, "Colonel O’Neill I would like you to congratulate Major Carter for me."
Jack looked at him strangely, "Carter got a promotion?"
"Yes I informed her before she left for this mission, she didn’t tell you?"
Jack nodded his head ‘No’.
"Maybe she wanted to wait until it was official, you can go colonel" Jack stood to attention then left the room.
***
"Sam what makes you think your pregnant?" Janet asked as she started rummaging around the drawers looking for a pregnancy test.
"Well, I missed a period and this one is late. I feel sick in the morning. I’m always hungry, I don’t have any strange cravings though. And the healers on the planet seemed pretty sure about it. Since they did such a good job treating my wounds I’m inclined to believe that they had ways of finding out that I was pregnant too." Sam finished.
"Ahha! Found one. From what you’ve just told me you probably are. But I want you to use this and I’ll take a blood test as well." Sam nodded and went into a more private room.
"You sound as if you've have had time to get used to the idea." Janet called into her.
"Well I suppose I have, they told me yesterday." Sam replied
Sam came out of the room holding the test, "It says I have to wait 2 minutes." Janet nodded. "Sam, what will you do if you are pregnant, will you tell him."
Sam sighed, "I don’t know really, I will tell him I suppose but what I do after that is up to him and whether or not he wants to be involved.
Sam took a deep breath, "I... Janet, you read it." Sam said and shoved the test into the doctor’s hand.
Janet looked down at it. "Your pregnant, no real surprise there."
Sam nodded, ‘but at least now it’s real.’ She thought to herself.
"Oh God Janet, what am I going to do with my career, I just got promoted!" Sam wailed and brought her hands to her face.
Janet gave her friend a hug. ‘Things couldn’t be any worse for her.’ She thought sympathetically. But she knew that Jack would stand by her. Daniel had told her how worried Jack was during the whole thing. He would make a good father but Janet couldn’t help being a bit mad at him.
She felt awful, her friend had such a bright career ahead of her and now because Jack O’Neill couldn’t keep his zipper closed Sam’s career could be over. She knew that it was as much Sam’s fault as it was his, but he was probably the best off in this situation.
She looked down at her friend and saw that she was falling asleep. She gently lay her down on a nearby bed and tucked her in. By the time she had finished Sam was fast asleep.
***
"My queen, your plan was successful we will now know the Tau’ri’s every move." Martia said in her deep gou’auld voice.
Amounet smiled and her eye’s glowed.
"The tracking devise was implanted in her uterus, the child growing inside her should prevent them from detecting it."
Amounet stood and stroked Martia’s cheek, "Very good, you are learning fast. Once we have my child, Daniel Jackson will naturally try to find it and when he does he will become your new host and you shall rule with me as king." Amounet purred.
Martia smiled, "You do realise it also has many other uses. If the Carter woman has any contact with the Tok’ra or rival system lords we will know their whereabouts."
Amounet laughed out loud. "You are much more cunning then Apothis and that is why together we will defeat the other system lords and rule their territory and their slaves."
THE END?
Story Notes: Spoilers: Serpents Grasp (I think thats what its called), COTG
Thanks to my beta readers especially Lauren (thanks girl!), feedback would be welcomed, and flames ignored, this my first fan fic so please be nice. This thing started out as a short little piece but sorta turned into a large whopper meal. It has some Sam bashing and... well you will find out soon enough.
Thanks to my beta readers especially Lauren (thanks girl!), feedback would be welcomed, and flames ignored, this my first fan fic so please be nice. This thing started out as a short little piece but sorta turned into a large whopper meal. It has some Sam bashing and... well you will find out soon enough.
DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognisable characters, settings, etc, are the property of their respective owners. Any original characters and plots are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended. ... [ read more ]