Chapter Four
Sam was lying on her cot, patiently waiting for something to happen. She had been stuck in the same room for the last ten hours, bored out of her scull. Her only visits had been from that creepy man, Adros. He had always come alone, with only two Segaran soldiers to stand outside, by her door.
He had been almost friendly at the beginning, making sure she was comfortable. Her room was small, but it had a single bed, a small table with two chairs, and a small bathroom. It was like a cheap hotel room, but she knew she was in a tall building, in one of the top floors.
Adros’ friendliness had stopped soon enough during his first visit, when he had realized that Sam would not cooperate. The lack of food was her first indication that the man meant business.
He had come to see her the second time followed by a woman carrying a large tray with various dishes on it. Sam had not eaten for many hours and her stomach was growling, but she didn’t even glance at the loaded tray.
When she refused to answer the officer’s questions, he had ordered the woman to go away. Next, they had removed the pitcher of water. That had been about six hours ago. She had tried to get some water from the bathroom sink, but they had cut the water to the room completely. They had even taken her boots and socks, and her toes were freezing. All she was still wearing were her pants and t-shirt, and she could tell that they had also cut off the heat.
Although it was not a particularly cold winter day, it was still uncomfortably cold with not even a blanket to cover her body with. She figured this was “step one” of the man’s interrogation technique, depriving her of comfort and basic needs. He would have to do a lot better than that.
Sam was worried about her own circumstances, but was even more worried about Daniel. Adros had informed her that he had been injured during the bombing and that he was recuperating in the Hun hospital. He had refused to share any more information, demanding that she start sharing first.
He wanted to know how to use the Stargate, for starters. He also knew that she had been studying the artifacts in the museum and wanted to know everything about them, especially the ones that looked like weapons. He had asked many questions about Earth, which Sam had refused to answer every time, staring at the Segaran with an obstinate, look on her face.
He had gotten the message and had just nodded with a cruel smile. “You will talk, sooner or later,” he had assured her, leaving her alone.
Now Sam almost wished the man would return. She needed to know about Daniel, and she needed to get further Intel about their situation.
Almost as if she had been conjuring his presence, Adros suddenly entered the room, this time followed inside by the same two soldiers that normally accompanied him.
Sam jumped up from her cot and tensely stood on her bare feet, warily waiting for the man to talk.
He just stood there, silently watching her with a little smile on his face, allowing for the tension in the room to escalate exponentially with every second.
Sam was scared. She knew his type. He would enjoy trying to make her talk. ‘Step two,’ she thought, bracing herself for the next stage of the interrogation technique.
“Your friend woke up. The doctors assure me he will be fine with enough rest,” he abruptly but casually informed her.
Sam tried not to show any emotion, although she felt instantly relieved. At her lack of response, Adros raised his eyebrows and feigned surprise.
“Are you not happy to hear your Dr. Jackson is better?” he asked.
She still did not say a word and just stood there, staring at him defiantly. The Segaran actually chuckled, clearly amused by her bravado.
“Come on, Major Carter! I know you are happy to hear about Dr. Jackson, just as he was happy to hear about you. He showed concern for your well-being. Now, I would love to be able to give him good news next time he awakens. I don’t think he would like to hear that you were… hurt.”
Sam stood still as a statue, still staring at the Segaran’s face impassibly. Adros walked slowly around her, looking her up and down as if assessing her strength.
“You will talk sooner than later, I think. You do not look that strong. You look fragile, even delicate.” He had stopped walking and talked to her as he stood behind her, very close to her left ear, almost whispering.
She knew that he could feel her shaking slightly, and she hoped he realized that it was from cold and not from fear. She felt him smile against her hair, his breath warm on her neck. “But I hope you do not talk too soon,” he menacingly admitted, and Sam reacted without previous thought.
Her elbow went first into the Segaran’s middle, then to his jaw when he doubled over in pain, eliciting a loud grunt and then a shout of pain. Her right leg flew to meet the first soldier that came at her and her bare foot connected with his windpipe, sending him flying backwards, but the other soldier was quickly on top of her, trying to grab her.
Sam easily extricated herself from his grasp with an expert maneuver, then crouched low and kicked his knee, making it crack.
With a below of agony, the man fell to the floor, and before he hit it she was running, her feet hitting the cold tiles down the corridor and toward the elevators. She could hear Adros shouting enraged orders and many booted feet running after her.
A soldier came running around the corner, unsuspecting of Sam’s approach but responding to the commotion, and her kick met his chest, making the Segaran bounce off the wall. She was on him with a hook to his jaw that sent him bouncing again, but before she could finish him off, she felt strong arms grab hers from behind, lifting her off her feet.
“Take her back to her cell and restrain her!” she heard Adros shriek behind her.
Two soldiers, different ones from the two she had attacked in her room, were holding her firmly, both her arms twisted painfully behind her. Sam struggled and kicked futilely all the way back to her prison, already dreading what would come next. She could tell Adros was furious.
In her room, four other soldiers were already assisting the two she had overpowered. One was being carried out, insensible; the other one was moaning in pain, still on the floor holding his shattered knee.
Sam was roughly thrown on the bed face down, her arms still held tightly behind her, and she felt handcuffs being locked in place. The soldiers released her once she was restrained, but she immediately felt a hand gripping her hair, pulling her face up cruelly.
“You will be very sorry for that stupid stunt!” she heard Adros say through clenched teeth, and she let out an involuntary cry of pain as he brought her up to her feet, still pulling her by the hair.
The Commander slammed her against the wall as he released her, the side of her head colliding painfully with the solid surface. He then slapped her viciously, once, twice, three, four times, until she tasted blood in her mouth.
The wall was keeping her up, but she wished she could fall and escape the punishment. Instead, she felt his rough hand start to choke her, and she opened terrified eyes to see a mask of fury two inches from her bleeding mouth.
“Now we will finally spend some productive time together,” the livid Segaran promised, his foul breath on her face as he viciously squeezed her neck, holding her against the wall.
Sam knew she was due for a major step two of the unpleasant process.
-----
“This is Stargate Command, come in,” Hammond was talking through the radio, hoping desperately for Sam’s or Daniel’s voice in response.
His second-in-command stood impatiently next to his seat, Teal’c standing next to him and as calm as ever, but with a concerned look on his face. They had been trying to contact Major Carter and Dr. Jackson for the past fifteen minutes with no results.
Suddenly, they could hear voices. They could tell someone was fussing with one of the receiving radios, probably trying to figure out how to use it.
“This is General Hammond at Stargate Command. To talk, press the side button. Please respond,” he instructed.
They all waited anxiously for a few moments, then a deep voice could be heard. “It is a pleasure, General Hammond. This is Commander Adros, at your service.”
Colonel O’Neill closed his eyes with plain apprehension, something Hammond noticed immediately. “Do you know who that is?” he asked the Colonel.
The Colonel nodded. “Sache was just telling me about this man when the bombing started. He’s the commander in charge of the Segaran forces… very bad,” he quickly and softly replied, shaking his head.
Hammond did not waste any time. “We appreciate your response, Commander. We are looking for our missing team members, a man and a woman that were working in the Hun Museum of Archeology when you attacked Huna. Have you any knowledge of their whereabouts?”
“Of course we do, General Hammond. They are our guests, for the time being,” they heard the Segaran respond. They all could tell the man was enjoying the exchange.
“Are they all right?” Hammond warily asked, already feeling his temper begin to heat up.
“They are… alive,” the man answered unsympathetically.
Hammond observed Colonel O’Neill swallowing hard, and he could tell the younger man was getting angry as well.
“We request that they be returned to Earth immediately. We have nothing to do with your conflict with the Huns. We promise we will not attempt to contact your world once our people are returned,” Hammond answered calmly, trying to keep his unease out of his voice.
“That will just not do, I’m sorry. There are things we would request of you in return for the safe keeping of your people. They will not be hurt further, if you agree to our terms.”
‘Further?!’ Hammond looked up at the Colonel with alarm, silently asking for an opinion on what to do next.
“We need to know that they are really okay,” O’Neill quietly told his CO.
“Indeed,” agreed Teal’c, his voice low and ominous.
“We demand to talk to our people to be certain that they are alive and well,” Hammond spoke into the microphone, no longer attempting to use diplomacy. The man’s threat had been abundantly clear.
“Of course! Here is Major Carter. I’m sure she would be delighted to say hello,” the man agreed, sounding deceptively pleasant.
The three men in the control room visibly tensed, waiting to hear Sam’s voice. It came in a croak, pain riding the waves despite her attempt to speak in a professional tone. “Major Carter, here.”
“Major, are you all right?” asked Hammond in concern.
“I am fine, Sir,” she whispered back, her voice still strained. They could tell it was a blatant lie, and they could also hear Adros snickering in the background.
------
“Have they mistreated you or Dr. Jackson?” Sam heard Hammond worriedly ask.
She guardedly looked up at the hateful face of her captor, hesitating.
“Tell them! You can speak freely, my dear,” he assured her, still holding the radio close to her mouth.
She was seated on the bed, her hands still cuffed behind her. Livid bruises marked her cheeks, where she had been slapped repeatedly; she had lost count of how many times. Her lip was cut and it felt swollen, and her head hurt horribly from the abuse.
“They want information, Sir. They are trying to get it from me. I don’t know for sure about Daniel. Commander Adros assures me he is recuperating in the hospital. He says he got injured during the bombing, but that it is not serious. I don’t trust this man…” Sam was informing quickly, but Adros interrupted her with another loud, not completely unexpected slap.
-----
The men back at Stargate Command winced when they heard the blow and Adros’ voice immediately reporting. “I have been quite gentle so far. We will get the information we want, either from her, from Dr. Jackson… or you. You can decide from whom. Now, think about it and call again when you have decided. I, in the meantime, have work to do with Major Carter. Please excuse us.”
The three men exchanged alarmed looks as Hammond tried to think of something to say to forestall the man at the other end of the radio signal.
-----
Sam’s worried blue gaze hardened when she realized that Adros intended to show her friends that he meant business.
He had spoken into the radio, biting each word. Next, still pressing the communicator on the radio, he picked up one of the sharp knives he had been threatening Sam with, making her brace herself.
Before she could make a move, he had brutally plunged it into her shoulder, inflicting a narrow but deep wound. He had done this so fast that Sam had been unprepared for the vicious assault, and she automatically screamed in shock and agony, subsequent whimpers of pain escaping her before she could hold back.
-----
Jack lost it at that point. He had been holding his frustration and anger in check during the whole exchange, but Carter’s cry of pain made him snap.
“You son of a bitch! You hurt her again and I swear that you’re a dead man!” he abruptly yelled into the radio.
Even Teal’c had lost his composure, now hovering close to Hammond, as if ready to jump through the radio piece to strangle the Segaran.
General Hammond held one hand up, stopping the two men. He then answered Adros, “We will contact you again soon to discuss terms. We request, as a sign of good faith, that you do not hurt our people further.”
Jack marveled at the control the older man exhibited. He could tell that he had been just as affected by his Major’s torture.
They tensely waited for the Segaran to respond for what seemed like endless moments.
The hateful man finally purred into the radio, “But we are having such fun, aren’t we, dear?”
They could hear Sam sobbing softly, but she did not reply.
-----
The knife was still embedded in her shoulder, but Sam concentrated in trying to reclaim her composure and stop crying.
“Tell them!” Adros yelled at her, gripping her face painfully and holding the radio to her mouth.
Through her tears she looked up at him, but she summoned the hate simmering within her to respond. “Go to Hell!” she spat at him.
The officer’s response was to punch her face, knocking her out cold on the bed, her shoulder bleeding onto the sheets.
-----
Jack’s head was bowed and his fists were white as they leant on the table before him. He didn’t think he had ever hated anyone so much in his life.
“Sorry, gentlemen. Major Carter is no longer available. We will have to chat later,” Adros communicated in a mockingly pleasant tone through the radio. “Good bye!”
Hammond and Teal’c looked at each other in consternation while Jack stared blankly at nothing, his jaw tense and his heart racing inside his chest.
He was going to enjoy killing the Segaran bastard.
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 ]