SG1-25 Hostile Ground Read online

  It didn’t take long before Daniel was free and pulling her into a swift, fierce hug. “Sam, thank God,” he whispered against her neck.

  “I’m okay,” she said, holding tight for a moment and then pulling back. “Go free the colonel. I’ll help Teal’c.”

  She tried not to look at the faces of the other prisoners as she made her way over to Teal’c, and definitely didn’t look at the withered corpse on the floor. But she saw enough to tell her that most were beyond help — comatose, maybe even dead.

  “Teal’c,” she said, focusing on his face and not the horror all around them, as she started cutting him free.

  “Major Carter.” He held her gaze, not looking away for a moment, as if aware that she needed his presence. “That was most impressive.”

  Sam shook her head. “I didn’t do anything,” she said, working the serrated edge through the leathery bonds. “It just let me go.”

  “Because you’re blessed by the gods.” Hunter spoke from behind her and she threw him a quick glance as she struggled to free Teal’c.

  “What do you mean?”

  “The gods are powerful. The Snatchers can’t feed on them they bless.”

  Sam exchanged a look with Teal’c. “Jolinar?”

  “It is possible.”

  At last Teal’c’s arms were free, he pulled out his own knife and after that it didn’t take long to get him out. Released from the cocoon, he put a hand on Sam’s shoulder and gave it a brief squeeze. “Thank you,” he said. “Once more, I owe you my life.”

  “Teal’c,” she scolded gently. “I thought we agreed to stop counting?”

  He gave a slight smile and then his eyes moved to Hunter. “We cannot leave him.”

  “There must be twenty other people in here,” she said, glancing down the length of the chamber. They couldn’t free them all.

  The colonel was free now too, brushing the last of the gunk off his uniform. He stopped when he reached the unconscious body of the Amam who’d attacked her, crouched down and studied its face intently. Then he stood up, walked over to one of the other creatures and snagged the weapon from its limp hands. Turning back, he fired twice into the body of Black Hair, then twice into the other two creatures, and stood watching the blue energy fizz across their skin. None of them would be waking up any time soon.

  He caught her eye when he looked up and there was something dark and furious there; it made her glad he was on their side. But all he said was, “We need to get outa here. Now.”

  “Yes sir.”

  Teal’c said, “We cannot leave this man, O’Neill.”

  “Teal’c —”

  “I can help you!” Hunter broke in. “Please — I know this place. I can get you out, and I can get you to Dix.”

  The colonel shrugged, unimpressed. “And what’s Dix?”

  “Ah, not ‘what’,” Daniel said, coming up behind him, “who. Remember what Elspeth told us?” He looked at Hunter. “Dix is a man, right? A resistance leader?”

  “He’s the resistance leader,” Hunter said, as if Daniel was stating the blindingly obvious. “First Prime to Hecate.”

  “First Prime, huh?” the colonel flung Teal’c a look. “How about that?”

  Teal’c didn’t respond, although his expression hardened.

  “Sir?” Sam said. “If there’s a Goa’uld here and this planet’s gate is inoperative, that suggests there’s a ha’tak in orbit. Possibly with a Stargate on board.”

  The colonel frowned, a deep line carved between his eyebrows. He obviously didn’t like the idea, but what choice did they have? It was clear now that there was no chance of the Amam helping them. “This Dix guy,” he said eventually. “Why would he help us?”

  “I already told you,” Hunter said. “Dix leads the resistance. He’ll help anyone who fights the Snatchers.”

  “Most Jaffa,” the colonel pressed, “want to kill us, not help us.”

  Hunter looked perplexed. “You ain’t our enemy,” he said. “It’s the Snatcher’s we’re fighting.”

  “That’s interesting,” Daniel said. “My enemy’s enemy… ?”

  “If he’s really their enemy.”

  Daniel lifted an eyebrow. “If?”

  “I’m just saying it’s a little odd. Why would they keep him alive if he’s such a big shot in this ‘resistance’?”

  Hunter snorted. “Snatchers don’t care what I am. To them, we’re all just food.”

  “And we’re not exactly in a position to turn down help,” Daniel pointed out.

  A long look passed between him and the colonel, a silent conversation, and then the colonel nodded. “Okay,” he said, with a sigh that sounded rather more like capitulation than a decision. “Teal’c, cut him free, Daniel go grab that thing’s weapon.”

  Daniel headed off and Sam moved to help Teal’c, but the colonel stopped her with his hand on her arm.

  “Hey,” he said, lowering his voice. “Good job back there.”

  Surprised, she just said, “Oh. Thanks, sir.”

  He nodded, but didn’t let go of her arm, if anything his grip tightened. “You okay?” He made a vague gesture toward her chest. “I mean, does it hurt?”

  “A little,” she said, reaching up to touch the place where the creature had tried to feed. “But I think it’s mostly bruising.”

  “That was —” He shook his head and blew out a long breath. “What the hell are these things?”

  “I have no idea, sir. Not a clue.”

  He huffed a laugh and dropped his hand from her arm. “That’s usually my line, Carter.”

  She smiled, partly at the old joke, but mostly because she felt like something had changed. Despite their precarious situation, the tension that had dogged the team since the colonel’s return from Edora seemed to have disappeared. She was a little disconcerted by how relieved she felt.

  “Um, Jack?”

  Daniel appeared at the colonel’s shoulder and behind him Sam could see Teal’c helping Hunter step free of the cocoon. She shuddered at the way the tendrils flinched and moved as if they were alive, and fixed her attention on Daniel instead.

  He was watching the colonel with a familiar challenge in his eyes. “We’re okay with leaving the rest of these people here?”

  “No, not really,” the colonel said. “But do you think we have a choice?”

  Daniel made a face, like he really wanted to argue the point, but in the end he just sighed and said, “Maybe we can come back?”

  With a sympathetic clap on his shoulder, the colonel moved past Daniel toward Teal’c. Sam watched him for a moment. “He seems in a better mood,” she ventured.

  “Yeah,” Daniel said with a lift of his eyebrows. “Inexplicably, given the circumstances.” Then he shook himself, dismissing the vagaries of their mercurial leader, and held out his scavenged weapon to Sam. “You take it,” he said. “You’re the better shot.”

  She didn’t argue. “Thanks, Daniel.”

  “I’ll take point,” the colonel said then, handing the third blaster to Teal’c. “Keep an eye on your new buddy, huh?”

  Teal’c nodded. “I shall.”

  The colonel grunted an acknowledgment as he headed for the door. “Carter?” he said, jerking his head toward the door controls. “Do the honors?”

  “Yes sir.” The door looked heavy and was made of the same organic material as the rest of the ship, but the interface appeared simple enough and, after spending a moment examining it, she was satisfied she could open it without a problem. There was no reason to lock these people in, after all. “Ready, sir?” she said, before she touched anything.

  He nodded. “Do it.”

  She hit the release mechanism and the door slid open, but the materiel felt unpleasant beneath her fingers and she pulled them back quickly, with a muttered exclamation.

  “Carter?”

  “Nothing sir,” she said. “It’s just — It feels warm, like it’s alive.”

  He pulled a face, but didn’t comment. Glan
cing each way down the corridor, he made a quick decision and turned left. Daniel, Hunter and then Teal’c slipped out after him, leaving Sam to cover their backs as she followed her team out into the dark corridor beyond.

  There was a patch of scrubland outside the entrance to Level 1, just dry grass and dirt where people sometimes came to smoke.

  It was quiet, and right now Makepeace wanted quiet. He lit up a cigarette, taking a long drag as he gazed up at Cheyenne Mountain looming high above them. Just another guy taking a break, getting some air. He threw a casual glance at the guards on duty at the entrance, but no one was watching him, so he turned and walked quickly along the side of NORAD’s administrative offices and past the giant fans sucking air down into the mountain complex.

  Once he was hidden from view, and the hum and whir of the fans was loud enough to mask his voice from anyone trying to overhear, he stopped and pulled out the cellphone Maybourne had given him. He hit dial and pressed the phone to his ear, squinting against the afternoon sun.

  After two rings, Maybourne answered. “You have news?”

  Smoke caught in his throat, making his voice scratchy. “We have to stop,” he said. “It’s gone too far.”

  There was silence. Then, “What are you talking about?”

  “They’re coming,” he said, dropping his voice. Beneath his boots, the dirt was dry and dusty. “The Goa’uld are coming and our allies won’t help us because of what you — What we’ve done. Maybourne, we screwed up. We have to give back what we stole.” He swallowed, ground out the rest. “And we have to give ourselves up.”

  Another silence.

  “Are you listening? We screwed up, Maybourne. We have to fix it before it’s too late.”

  “I never realized,” Maybourne said at last, “that you were so short-sighted, Colonel. This is exactly what we wanted.”

  Makepeace kicked at the hard, compacted earth. “Are you insane? It’s an invasion.”

  “It’s a chance to prove our worth,” he said. “Are they evacuating Stargate Command?”

  “Yes, but I don’t know where. There’s no Alpha Site set up.”

  There was a pause, and then Maybourne said, “There’s ours.”

  A shadow fell, the sun dipping behind the top of Cheyenne Mountain. Makepeace pulled on his cigarette to steady himself, blew out smoke. “You’re going to tell the Pentagon where it is?”

  “I’ll suggest the option, so long as it remains under my command.”

  “Hammond won’t accept that. None of them will.”

  Maybourne laughed. “Where else can they possibly go? The enemy is at the gate, Robert. And I have the key to the only back door.”

  “Was this your plan?” He licked his lips, knocked ash from the cigarette. “Is this what you wanted all along?”

  “We’re a little ahead of schedule but, yes,” Maybourne said. “We have the means to fight, Robert. We just needed the right incentive for the Pentagon to authorize our tactics.” He sounded smug; Makepeace could practically hear him grinning. “And now we have it.”

  “People will die,” he hissed, struggling to keep is voice down. “Unless we stop this, people will die.”

  “People are already dying,” Maybourne snapped. “Or hadn’t you noticed the roll of honor at the SGC?”

  “I mean civilians. Damn it, Maybourne, the point of this was to keep the planet safe, not —”

  “The point was to take control.” Maybourne’s voice was shrill. He sounded like a man on the edge. “Fall on your sword if you want to, Robert, but don’t expect me to do the same. This is exactly what we’ve been waiting for and I intend to use the opportunity.”

  With that, the line went dead. Makepeace stared at the phone for a long moment, then hurled it hard against the wall. The case split and the phone fell, broken, onto the dry ground. He’d been kidding himself to think that Maybourne would hand himself in or give back the tech they’d stolen. He’d see the world burn first.

  And what about you? his conscience whispered. Will you hand yourself in, walk up to Hammond and confess? Or will you watch the world burn too?

  The question made his chest tighten, his breath constrict, and he knew the answer: he would no more hand himself in than Maybourne would. He lacked O’Neill’s propensity for self-sacrifice.

  But it didn’t mean he wanted to watch the world burn, and something Maybourne said had given him hope: they had an Alpha Site.

  Whatever the hell this place was, Jack thought sourly, the sooner they were out of it the better. It was damp and smelled bad, a kind of musty odor that stuck in his throat, and it was too damn dark to see anything. Not that he wanted to see a lot of the detail, but all these gloomy corridors and shadowy alcoves made the hair stand up on the back of his neck. It didn’t help that the alien stunner felt wrong in his hand, too smooth and slightly slimy, and he missed the comforting weight of his MP5.

  He slowed as he approached a junction, holding up his hand to stop the others, and listened. There was movement to the right, but it was distant. No voices, though, which was odd. No barked orders, no idle chatter. Nothing.

  He beckoned Hunter closer. “Which way?” he whispered.

  “We can get out that way,” Hunter said, pointing left.

  Jack shook his head. “Weapons,” he said. “They took our weapons.”

  Running a hand nervously over his short hair, Hunter said, “Not real smart to go deeper inside.”

  “No one ever accused me of being smart,” Jack said. “You know where our weapons are?”

  Hunter shrugged. “Know where they might be. Can’t say for sure, though.”

  “I’ll take a maybe.” Jack gestured with his stunner toward the intersection. “So, which way?”

  “I’ll show you,” Hunter said, with a pointed look at the weapon. “I ain’t gonna run.”

  Jack gave him a level smile. “Makes me feel better.” Then he nodded along the corridor. “Let’s go.”

  Hunter led them on, creeping through the endless corridors. Through one open door Jack saw another room full of pods like those they’d been trapped in. It was a larger room going back so far he couldn’t even see the end. He exchanged a glance with Daniel who just gave him a despairing shake of his head.

  Whoever, or whatever, these Amam were, they scared the crap out of him. And not least because of what they’d tried to do to Carter. He had to fight to keep the memory of her screams out of his head, of that thing’s claws buried in her chest; it was too dangerous a distraction from the here and now. But he’d fixed the face of the creature in his mind’s eye, and if he ever had the chance he’d pump the bastard so full of lead he’d look like Swiss cheese. Assuming they found their weapons, assuming they ever got out of here alive.

  After a while, Hunter called a halt, ducking into a corridor and signaling the others to come closer. “There’s a room up ahead,” he whispered, “where the Snatchers bring their discoveries, junk they find outside.”

  Daniel’s eyebrows twitched in interest. “Oh? What kind of junk?”

  “Daniel,” Jack warned.

  “What? I was only asking.”

  Jack gave him a quelling look, and then turned to Hunter. “You think our weapons might be in there?”

  “That’d be my guess. But that place ain’t safe, there’ll be Snatchers close by — it’s real close to where they do the experiments.”

  “Experiments?” Carter flung Jack an alarmed look. “What kind of experiments?”

  Hunter shrugged. “We ain’t figured that out exactly. But they’re looking for folk with the right kinda blood.”

  “Nice.” Jack thought for a moment, shifting the alien stunner in his hand. They only had three weapons, none of which were lethal. If they managed to get off the ship, they’d have no real way of defending themselves, no food, water or any of their other gear. And that really wasn’t an option. Dangerous though it might be, they had to find their stuff before they escaped. “It’s worth the risk,” he decided and saw Teal’
c give a slight, assenting nod.

  Up ahead, a faint blue light drifted around the corner where the corridor snaked away to the left. “Is it down there?” he asked Hunter, shifting his position so he could see more clearly. Whoever built this place didn’t go in for straight lines.

  “Yup,” said Hunter.

  “Okay, let’s check it out.”

  When they reached the corner, Jack peered around the edge and saw that the light was coming from a side corridor a little further up. He could hear noises too, footsteps in the distance. It was worth checking out, but not worth risking everyone.

  He pulled back around the corner and whispered, “Teal’c, stay here with the others. Wait for five minutes, then follow if you don’t hear trouble. Carter, with me.”

  They crept forward in silence. The corridor was empty, although the sounds of movement were louder now. He threw a questioning look at Carter, to see if she’d heard it, and she nodded, gesturing up ahead. She was right; the noise wasn’t coming from the direction of the light. But it was close.

  At the point where the corridor branched off, he stopped and poked his head around the corner. The corridor beyond was empty so he gestured for Carter to follow. Hugging the wall, they headed toward the light spilling from what turned out to be an open doorway. Jack slowed as they got closer, coming to a halt a couple meters away, Carter so close behind him he could hear her quiet breathing. There was sound coming from the room too, the soft hum and whir of technology that reminded him of every lab or control room in the galaxy. Crouching, ignoring the protest of his right knee, he edged closer and snuck a look inside.

  The place was crammed with junk, weird machines and strange amorphous screens that glowed with a sickly yellow light. It was a technology like nothing he’d ever seen before, which was no surprise on this freaky-assed ship. On the plus side, the room appeared to be clear of bad guys — for now. Slowly, he stood up again and gestured for Carter to stay put. He took a breath, centered his concentration, and turned sharply into the room, trying to cover all directions at once.