by Karen Miller
“We were planning on asking you the same thing,” said O’Neill.
“Alida, I promise,” said Colonel Carter, “we’ll help you in any way we can. But we need you to help us first. What can you tell us about this mountain? Where did it come from?”
Alida smiled that patient smile once more. “It came from the stars, Samantha. It is not a mountain. It is a ship.”
They hunkered down in a clearing of felled trees by the mountain’s base. Jack surveyed what was apparently its landing radius and wondered how neither he nor Sam had heard it come down. But then he supposed if this thing was able to manipulate sound, it likely had the capability to mask its engine noise.
“I am not comfortable being this close to the craft, O’Neill.”
“Me and you both, Teal’c, but we have to be ready for the front door opening again, and according to Alida, that only happens once the music starts.” He checked his watch. “Which should be happening at around 1700 hours. That gives us forty-five minutes.” Though the mountain was less than a minute’s walking distance and close enough to see the crags and ridges of its surface, Jack stood on a fallen log and pulled out his monocular to scan the façade more closely. It was all an illusion apparently, come sort of cloak that could make the ship look like whatever it needed to be. It was certainly a convincing disguise, with no sign of what it might look like underneath — apart from one thing.
“The opening is there.” He pointed to a darkened area further around the mountain’s base that looked like a weak spot in the ship’s concealment. It rippled, like a curtain blown in a breeze, and beyond he was sure a doorway was visible; it looked familiar and a suspicion was forming, though he couldn’t be certain. “That’s where we head for when the music starts. Alida will meet us inside.”
“I have yet to be convinced that she is trustworthy,” said Teal’c. “She has not even appeared to us in her true physical form.”
“From her explanation,” said Sam, “I don’t think she can. She’s only able to manifest as a hologram outside of the ship by piggy backing on the energy used to create the sound.” Alida had told them as much about the ship as she could, before the music stopped and she blinked out of sight once more.
Jack jumped down from the log. “So this sound hypnosis thing. Is it possible, how she described it?”
Sam shrugged. “Well, sir, music can alter our mood, even our behavior at times. I guess the question is whether it can do it against our will and to this extent.”
“And this isn’t really music,” said Daniel. “I mean, sure it can sound like it a little bit, but I definitely wouldn’t call it pleasant to listen to.”
“It’s got a good beat, but you can’t dance to it, right?” Jack turned back to Sam. “So how is it working and how do we stop it?”
“I’ll know more once I get inside, but the Piper is using sound waves to manipulate perception. To put it simply, we’re talking about a form of mind control. Conspiracy theorists have been convinced the US Air Force have been doing it out of the HAARP facility in Gakona for decades.”
“Which we’re not… right?”
Sam smiled. “I don’t believe so, sir. But the fact is electromagnetic waves can affect brain function and there’s evidence to suggest that geomagnetic storms can create anomalous behavior.” She glanced up at the Peak. “I have a feeling that he’s somehow harnessing that energy to create the soundwave, which then interrupts normal brain chemistry. There are miniscule differences in what each person’s ear can detect, which explains why not everyone is affected at once.”
“Why aren’t we affected?”
“That, I’m not sure of, sir.”
“Alright. Well, I guess we’ve got nothing to do but wait now, so keep a sharp eye meantime.” He dropped down to lean against the log, feeling the damp of the forest floor seep into his BDUs. After a moment, he said, “What about fish?”
“What?” said Daniel.
“I read this article that the toadfish in Sausalito suddenly started making this weird noise, like a new mating call or something. It got real loud and no one knew what it was.” He glanced around at Daniel’s deadpan expression and Sam’s querying frown. “I’m just saying, I have fish in my pond now, so… y’know.” He finished with a shrug.
He could see Sam fighting a grin. “Sir, I don’t think the fish in your pond have anything to do with what’s happening here.”
“Oh. Okay. Just thought I’d mention it,” he said, and settled back against the log, pulling his cap down over his face to hide his own grin. Sometimes, when you were getting your ass soaked in a cold forest, waiting to go up against God knew what alien threat, it was the small things that made you happy.
Sam knew that the doorway to the ship had looked familiar, but she hadn’t been able to put her finger on it until now. The four of them stood inside gazing up through the colossal structure, which looked different from any other they’d seen — the hollow interior had been reformed to create one cavernous room that stretched up into what looked like infinity — but some of the gold ostentation was still visible, though it was tarnished and dull.
“It is a ha’tak,” said Daniel, clearly as taken aback as her. “Or it used to be.”
“He stole a ship from a System Lord and pimped it out,” said Jack. “No wonder this guy doesn’t want to run into them anytime soon. I have to say, I give him kudos for that.”
Inside the music was louder, and Sam thought she could feel the shape of it, the texture of it, growing inside her head.
Twinkle, twinkle little star…
Around them, walked the people in their slow, shuffling procession towards pods that lined the wall. Once they stepped inside, there was a flash and they were gone. She thought how easy it would be to join them.
How I wonder what you are…
She closed her eyes.
“Carter?”
“Sir, I…” She blinked, shaking her head. “Sorry, sir, I think whatever immunity we might have had isn’t as strong inside here. We need to be careful.
“Agreed. Now what have you got?”
Sam grasped at the thoughts that had been so clear in her mind just a moment ago. The flashes. “The tech, sir. I think it’s Goa’uld. Those pods looks like some sort of reverse engineered ring technology.”
“Makes sense.”
“It does. And it’s good news for us. Crystals can create a resonance, but are extremely sensitive to sound themselves. If we can destroy the amplifier, then the wave would have nothing to do but feedback on itself, until eventually —”
“Boom?”
“Yes, sir.”
“So where’s the amplifier?”
“I think we’re standing in it, sir.”
“So this whole ship is like, what, a giant speaker?” He looked up at the vast conical shape. “I would love one of these in my truck. Okay, so we blow it all up. I can get on board with that. But there is one other problem we need to solve.”
“How do we get the people out of here?” said Daniel.
“Bingo. We blow nothing until these people are safe and sound.”
“We need to move fast, sir. For the feedback to work, the sound has to be playing.”
“Then we need — Oh, you’re here.” He spoke to Alida who had just appeared beside them.
“Your plan will work, Samantha. The device is at the very summit of the ship, and I can show you how to lengthen the time the song plays for, but even then you must work quickly, because he will know the moment that I interfere. I believe he may know already that you are here.”
Jack said, “What about the people he’s already taken, Alida? I’m not leaving them here.”
“You are taking great risks to save your people.”
“And that’s why you came to us. Now tell us
how.”
Alida nodded, as if satisfied that she had heard the right answer. “They are held on a level above, but they are not yet in stasis. If you can stop the song, the spell will be broken and you can get them out. But it gives the Piper more time to work against us.”
“Then we move fast. Sam, Daniel, you get working on the device. Teal’c, I want you on C4, I’ll get everyone out of here. Alida, just show us where to go.”
Sam nodded and just hoped that, being so close to the source of the music, she could stop it from overpowering her completely.
It took a few moments for Jack to blink away the glare from the flash of the transporter. When he did, he found himself staring at row upon row of people, some of whom he recognized, encased behind the glass of what he assumed were the stasis pods. At his guess, they numbered around two hundred. Timing, he knew, would be critical.
According to Sam, the size of the C4 charge didn’t matter; it was all about where they were placed. She’d shown Teal’c where to set them so that the ship would no longer function as a giant speaker. But first they had to get these people free.
He waited for what seemed like an age. The agreed five minutes passed and he started to wonder if the Piper had somehow gotten to Sam and Daniel. But then the music stopped and he felt that now familiar relief as the pressure inside his head eased. He hit the door release button for the pods as instructed, as the people inside them began to move, blinking at their surroundings, like they were rising from a very deep sleep. And then, as they took in their current predicament, Jack saw the fear set in. He knew it was coming and had prepared for it.
“Hey!” he shouted over the rising panic. “Hey! It’s me. It’s Jack O’Neill. I think you all know who I am.” As he scanned the faces in front of him, one in particular stood out. “Nathan?”
“General O’Neill, where’s my mom?” The kid looked petrified, but like he was fighting to keep a handle on it.
“She’s back home looking for you.” He hoped that would be true once they were done here. “But listen, I gotta get you and everyone else outa here, so you can all get back to your families, okay? Now I remember you bragging to me that you could do your newspaper route faster than anyone else. Is that still true?”
Despite his fear, the kid puffed up a little. “It sure is.”
“Alright, well how about you prove how fast you are and help me get these folks out of this place?”
It was maybe the sobering influence of having a twelve-year-old kid tell them what to do, but in groups of ten, he and Nathan managed to get the townspeople transported down and out of the front door. Eventually, it was just Jack and Nathan left on the stasis deck. He checked his watch. Three minutes until the first charges went off.
“What next, General?”
Jack almost laughed. The boy would make a fine cadet one day. “Next, you get yourself out of here and get home. And listen, when you do your mom and the other people in the town might seem a little… weird. But Colonel Carter assures me that’ll wear off. Eventually. So listen, thanks for —”
“General O’Neill!”
Nathan’s cry was enough of a heads up that Jack had time to pitch himself forward, pulling Nathan to the ground with him. He rolled over to see a man, tall and thin, and wearing a ragged black cloak, advancing on him. In his hand, he held a gray disc, which he thrust forward releasing another blast of energy.
He leapt to his feet, dragging Nathan from the floor and pushing him into one of the transporters. A flash of light and he was gone, and Jack could only hope that the kid would have the wits to take care of himself when he got to the bottom. Jack glanced down at his watch. Two minutes until the initial C4 charges went off and then, Sam estimated, another ten until the final bang, once she’d started up the sound wave again.
“The toy has tricked me,” hissed the man, an ugly, guttural sound. “The toy brings me to those who think to defeat me. But I will kill them first.” He fired another energy blast from the disc, but Jack had already brought his MP5 round to bear, letting go a burst of fire. But his sense of direction had got twisted up somehow and when he refocused, the Piper was standing at the other side of the room from where he’d aimed.
“Your mind is mine. You must have witnessed much to have resisted so far, but here in my mountain, you see what I wish you to see and hear the sounds I create.”
The Piper was playing with him, Jack knew; it was all trickery and illusion. But he’d seen David Copperfield make the Statue of Liberty disappear once and this guy was selling much the same schtick only with more smoke and mirrors. Jack wasn’t about to let himself get taken down by a TV special.
“You know, your mountain isn’t much more than a scavenged ha’tak with a better sound system.”
“My mountain is indestructible.”
Jack looked at his watch. “Well it’s nice that you think that, but we’ve blown up enough of these things to know that’s not the case.
“We?”
“Oh, did I not mention it? You see, I’m part of a team. We’re called SG-1.”
The Piper flinched and Jack would have chosen that moment to fire again, if he thought he could trust what his eyes said was right in front of him.
“Ah heard of us, huh? Yeah, we’re kind of a big deal. Calling it a day now though. My knee’s seen better days and the new class is moving in. But we did some good stuff. Took down a few bad guys. So it’s nice to be able to add one more to that tally.” He fired, knowing that the bullets wouldn’t find their mark. The Piper shifted, appearing closer than Jack expected.
“Do you not realize that this weapon cannot kill me?” said the Piper, with a rasping laugh.
“Yeah, on account of your illusion and whatnot. You’re real good at that. But do you know the first rule of illusion?”
The Piper cocked his head.
Jack said, “Distraction.”
The floor beneath them shook as Teal’c set off the first of the charges. Horror etched itself on the Piper’s gaunt face.
“Part of a team, remember?” said Jack, and as the music started, he fired once more.
She was making mistakes. Teal’c’s charges had all gone off and all that was left was for her to create the feedback that would destroy the device and, eventually, the ship. The music was in Sam’s head now and no matter how much she fought it, the fog wouldn’t clear. The crystals on the device’s motherboard were laid out in front of her, but no matter how much she concentrated, she couldn’t tell which was which. Everything she had ever known about Goa’uld technology lay just outside of her grasp.
“Sam.” Daniel was slumped against the opposite wall, his head in his hands. The song was affecting him too. She didn’t know how either of them was going to get through this. She only hoped that Jack and Teal’c were faring better.
Alida appeared by her side. “Samantha, you must resist. You’re the only one who can do this. You must block out the song.”
“I can’t… I’m sorry…” Her limbs felt liquid, not under her control.
“Oh!” Daniel sat forward as if forcing himself awake. “I have…” He fumbled in the pocket of his BDU and pulled out some wires attached to something slim and silver. “It’s an MP3 player. You can put it…” He tossed it to Sam, gesturing vaguely to his ears as if he couldn’t quite remember what they were called.
It took every effort for Sam to figure out how to put the ear-buds in and turn it on, but eventually she managed it and the sound of something classical filled her ears. The harmony of violins against the sound’s discordance was like cool water on a burn. The fog in her brain cleared and she took a breath, focusing on the crystals in the device. Immediately, the pieces fell into place and she knew what she had to do.
Teal’c waited. The boy had long since gone with a promise that he would see the remainder of the peopl
e safely to the town. With the charges detonated, it was all down now to Colonel Carter. There was a flash to his right and O’Neill emerged from the transporter.
“Are they back?”
“Not yet, O’Neill.”
He looked up towards the pinnacle of the ship as if he would be able to see them. “Well, I can’t hear the music.”
“I believe Colonel Carter’s plan to sabotage the means of amplification has worked. She may still have to reprogram the device itself.”
“What the hell’s taking so long?”
“Might the Piper have interfered?”
“I doubt it. I left him bleeding on the floor of the stasis level. When this thing blows, he blows with it.”
“And what of Alida?”
O’Neill said nothing and Teal’c knew he had asked a question to which there was no answer.
The final crystal slid into place and immediately the sound changed, turning back on itself, building up into a crescendo that would end with the destruction of the whole ship. Sam pulled Daniel from the floor and slung his arm across her shoulders.
“Okay,” she said to Alida. “Now we have to get you out of here. Where’s your stasis pod?”
But the girl only smiled. “Thank you, Samantha. You have done enough. You must go.”
“No! We can get you out. Just tell us where you are.”
Alida looked around the ship. “I am here. I am of the ship. My body died long ago and now only my consciousness survives. When the ship is destroyed, then I can finally rest.”
Frustration beat at Sam. If they’d had more time, if she hadn’t let herself be so overcome by the effects of the music, perhaps she could’ve figured out how to transfer Alida’s consciousness elsewhere. Perhaps she could have saved her.