STARGATE SG-1 29 Hall of the Two Truths

by Susannah Parker Sinard

  “So, if you don’t change your voice, then how do we know which one of you is talking?” Jack wasn’t sure what bothered him most, knowing he was talking to a snake, or not knowing if he was talking to a snake.

  “It is quite simple, Colonel. Both of us are speaking.”

  “Right…” Somehow Jack didn’t find that reassuring. Just another reason to keep his eye on this guy. Guys. Whatever.

  They didn’t bother to stop at the camp. It wasn’t there anymore anyway; just their kit remained, bundled up and ready to go. He hadn’t let Carter or Daniel anywhere near those ruins until everything was packed. Daniel had complained loudly about wasting valuable morning light, but he’d complied eventually. Carter had said nothing.

  In the distance Jack could see Daniel peering at one of the ruined wall sections and writing in his notebook. Carter had her head inside the base of the planetarium thing, her body twisted in an awkward position that made it look like she was being eaten by the darn thing.

  “Look, kids. Company,” Jack called out to them as he, Teal’c and Jenmar slogged through the high grass. Carter extricated herself from the Ancient device and stood up. Daniel finished his writing before joining them.

  “This is Jenmar, of the Tok’ra. He’s come to check out all the fun he’s been missing.” Jack plastered an exaggerated smile on his face.

  Jenmar did that bowing thing again.

  “I merely wished to see for myself what a great discovery this is. When General Hammond told me that you would be returning early, I asked if I might be able to come in time to see it.”

  “I’m not sure I’d classify it as a great discovery,” Carter observed. “Interesting, certainly, but not terribly useful, I’m afraid. Especially since we can’t get it to work consistently.”

  “Pish, Carter!” Jack chided. “Don’t you know you’ve been tinkering with the infamous Dome of Rectu?”

  “Anu,” corrected Jenmar. “Dome of Anu.”

  “Yes, that.” At Daniel’s puzzled look Jack added, “It seems Jenmar here speaks the same language you do, Daniel. Or, you know, languages, I guess.”

  Daniel’s features resolved into recognition. “Dome of Anu — yes! I did find that somewhere.” He started flipping back through his notes. “Which makes sense, when you think about it. Anu was the Akkadian’s god of the sky. There’s a —”

  “Great!” Jack slapped Jenmar on the back, much to the Tok’ra’s surprise. “The two of you go knock yourselves out. Just remember, we’re out of here in —” He checked his watch. If he didn’t know better, he’d have sworn time ran slower on this planet than anywhere else in the galaxy. Who knew? Maybe it did. It was all relative, after all. At least according to Carter. “Three hours,” he told them, holding up three fingers for emphasis. “Don’t make me wait!”

  “Sir —” Carter hurried up to him as Daniel took Jenmar off to look at some rocks. She was somewhat dusty and her hair was every which way from having been inside the base of the planetarium. Not that he noticed.

  “What is it, Carter?” He readjusted his sunglasses. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky this morning.

  “I’ve been thinking.”

  “I’m shocked.”

  She looked more annoyed than amused. “I think we ought to consider taking this device back with us. Or, at the very least, sending a team of engineers back to retrieve it.”

  Jack studied her. “I thought you said it wasn’t such a great discovery?”

  “From a utilitarian point of view, it’s not.” She spoke quickly, a sign she was nervous. “But I still don’t know why it won’t work for anyone but you. And any chance to study Ancient technology, even if it is just a device for displaying the stars, shouldn’t be wasted. The scientists at Area 51 would have a lot more resources to figure this thing out than I do. Especially given that I’m on the clock,” she added, in a half-accusatory tone.

  Jack studied the device. “Well, it’s too big to cart back with us now, but give Hammond your recommendation and —”

  He thought he heard a sound, an all too familiar sound. Glancing at Teal’c, Jack knew he’d heard it too; Teal’c was already assuming a defensive stance as he scanned the skies. A heartbeat later Carter picked up on it as well. She dove for her weapon, which she’d left lying next to her backpack by the Dome.

  “Daniel! Jenmar!” Jack shouted, unslinging his P90 and flicking back the safety. “We’ve got company! Take cover!”

  The two men looked up, confused, until they heard the distinctive whine of the engines. Daniel grabbed Jenmar by the sleeve and hauled him off into the nearby brush. Carter too was scrambling for cover. Jack followed her lead and hunkered down behind a pile of Ancient rubble. Teal’c alone stood unprotected, his staff weapon raised in anticipation.

  “Teal’c, get down!”

  Teal’c ignored him and Jack could see the crackle of energy at the tip of his weapon as he took aim.

  The first death glider strafed the ground around them, kicking up jagged bits of stone and dirt. A large chunk of shrapnel hit the rock just by Jack’s head and he ducked reflexively. Coughing, he swung out from behind the boulder and took aim at the second glider coming in from behind the first one. Jack could hear the pings of his bullets ricocheting off the ship’s hull as it zoomed overhead.

  From the pitch of the sound, Jack knew they were circling around for another attack. He’d heard the sharp staccato sound of Carter’s P90 as she fired too, but her weapon was as worthless as his against such an attack. Only Teal’c had any chance of bringing down the ships.

  Jack assessed their options. They were sitting ducks out in the open like this, but if they all made a break for the tree line they’d never make it before the death gliders swung around again.

  They were screwed.

  The hum of the gliders’ engines was growing louder again. They were coming, like two great predatory birds. Jack gauged the distance to the tree line one more time. Maybe if he gave the ships a specific target, the others might have half a chance.

  “Carter!” She looked over her shoulder at him while reloading her weapon. “When I say so, you, Daniel and Teal’c run like hell for those trees.” He’d almost forgotten. “And take the damned Tok’ra too.”

  Her brow furrowed. “What about you, sir?”

  “Just do as I say, Major. That’s an order.”

  Throwing him a look of belligerent resignation, she radioed the message to Daniel and Teal’c. The big guy had finally taken cover near the center portion of the ruins, crouching behind his own pile of stones and brambles. His head snapped up sharply and he frowned at Jack when Carter’s message came through, but finally he nodded and acknowledged the order.

  Good. He didn’t need last minute heroics from any of them.

  Jack picked his destination. There was a small cluster of pines maybe a hundred yards from his position. It wouldn’t be much cover, even if he made it, but it was at a right angle from the flight path of the gliders. They’d have to bank sharply to follow him, and that would take both their time and attention. Carter and the others could escape to the tree line in the opposite direction and, if he were lucky, he’d make cover before the pilots actually got him in their sites. Throw in the fact that the run of the mill Jaffa was usually a lousy shot, and he might just survive this.

  Emphasis on might.

  Spotting a better location from which to launch his sprint, Jack scrambled to a nearby mound of rubble. Amidst the screech of the oncoming gliders, he heard what sounded like a zat, but that didn’t make any sense.

  Unless they were being flanked by ground troops as well.

  If that were the case, then they really were screwed.

  Jack hesitated. There was no point in running decoy if he was just as likely to get a staff blast in the back for his troubles. He clicked on his radio.

  “Carter, did you —?”

  There was no need to finish. He heard the zat fire again. Grasping his weapon, Jack leaned around the pile of stones
just in time to see a blue arc strike Carter from behind. His brain registered a motionless form where Teal’c had been and no longer any sign of the top of Daniel’s head. Crap.

  Jack heard it before he felt it, even as the strafing from the death gliders started spattering the ground again. His body half-tensed in anticipation a split-second before the zat blast set his nerves on fire. There was a jolt of acute pain paired with a flash of self-loathing, and then Jack’s vision faded to black.

  Chapter Two

  “WE’D LIKE to go back, sir.” The determination in Colonel Reynolds’ voice belied how weary he and the rest of SG-16 appeared. “And I’d like to request a UAV. SG-1 might just be out of radio range.”

  “I’ve already authorized the UAV, but, for now, I’m suspending any further search and rescue.” It was the last thing Hammond wanted to do, but based on the evidence of a Goa’uld attack, he wasn’t about to put another team in harm’s way. Not until he had a better idea of what had gone wrong on P4C-679. “Get some rest, Colonel. All of you.” He dismissed them with a nod.

  Back in his office, Hammond watched SG-16 slowly file out of the conference room. He understood their frustration. He shared it. This was supposed to have been an easy, no-stress mission for SG-1. Something that would ease them back into the saddle after the debacle on K’tau. He’d meant it as more of a team-building exercise than anything else.

  So what the hell had happened?

  To make matters worse, he also had a missing Tok’ra. Hammond didn’t relish making that call to the High Council, although maybe they would be able to shed a bit more light on why they’d proposed the mission to ‘679 in the first place. Jenmar had presented it as an opportunity to explore newly discovered Ancient ruins, but maybe Jack had been right, and there was more to it than that. Considering his people had been missing for nearly eighteen hours now, Hammond was inclined to think so.

  “The UAV is ready to deploy, sir.” Sergeant Harriman was standing in the doorway, waiting expectantly.

  Hammond nodded. “I’ll be there in a moment, Sergeant.” He supposed it was too much to hope that they’d find SG-1 safe and sound in a nearby village. That just wasn’t their kind of luck, lately. Maybe he should have heeded Dr. Fraiser’s advice and given them some leave time. If he had, they wouldn’t be in this fix — whatever it turned out to be.

  Walter had retreated only as far as the conference room and was waiting for him. Sending the UAV was more of an exercise in hope than expectation, Hammond was sure. He was already steeling himself for what came next.

  “Walter, when we’re done with the aerial reconnaissance, I’m going to need to make a call.”

  “Yes, sir. Local or long distance?”

  “Very long distance.” Hammond sighed. “Better start looking up the area code for Revanna.”

  Everything ached.

  And by everything, Jack meant, everything.

  Although maybe that was a good sign. At least it suggested he was more or less in one piece. Even if all those pieces hurt like hell.

  Now if only he could figure out where he was. And how he got there. Because by the way his head was pounding, all signs pointed to a first-class hangover.

  Or the after-effects of a high-powered zat.

  “Crap.” Now he remembered. Well, parts, anyway. There’d been that Tok’ra, whatever his name was, and some ruins. And a couple of death gliders shooting at them.

  “Crap,” Jack repeated, rolling onto his back and digging the heels of his hands into his eyes. If his head would clear, then maybe he could think straight. What he wouldn’t give for a couple of aspirin about now.

  Tok’ra and gliders and zats.

  Oh my.

  He dug his hands in deeper. One of Maybourne’s steel drum bands seemed to have taken up permanent residence inside his skull. They were playing their entire repertoire. He pressed even harder. Had he ever mentioned he hated Calypso music?

  Focus, damn it.

  The memory of Carter dropping to her knees in the glow of blue zat-fire came to him. Vividly. That was all it took. The cobwebs cleared. Everything came back.

  Jack’s hand went instinctively to his holster. Empty. Of course it was. No self-respecting bad guy would have left him armed. Still, he double-checked, just to make sure.

  Nope. They got all of it.

  Pushing himself up on his elbows, Jack looked around. Dirt floor. Rock walls. No visible exits, although the light was so dim it was hard to say what he might be missing. What little illumination there was came from a few anemic torches that burned far out of reach above him. Their flickering light danced across four other motionless forms laying nearby.

  Four?

  Oh yeah. The Tok’ra. How could he forget?

  Well, good. At least they were still together. That was one less thing he had to worry about.

  His eyes rested on the body nearest to him.

  “Carter —” He could make out her blonde hair even in the half-light.

  Ignoring the fact that his muscles felt like Jell-O, Jack managed to crawl over to where she lay sprawled on her side. “Carter!” Rolling her onto her back, he reached past her collar to check for a pulse. Beneath his fingers her skin was warm and he could feel her heart beating steady and strong.

  He started to breathe again.

  “C’mon, Carter. Wake up.” He shook her by the shoulder and she stirred slightly. Good, but not good enough. “No sleeping on the job, Major.” He shook her again. Her eyes struggled open and she blinked at him, recognition finally kicking in.

  “Sir?”

  “Trust me, it wasn’t the tequila.” She was still too fuzzy to get his joke. It had been a lame attempt anyway. “How’s your head?”

  “It hurts, sir.” She winced.

  “Yeah, zats’ll do that. I’ve gotta check on the others. You gonna be okay?”

  She nodded, still a bit unsteady. He patted her gently on the shoulder. “Don’t go anywhere. And don’t doze off on me.” She blinked again, wide-eyed, still trying to shake it off.

  Daniel was next. He was easier to rouse, a sign that the effects of the zat were wearing off. By the time he was sitting up, rubbing his eyes, Teal’c was already standing. A moan from the last unconscious form indicated that the Tok’ra, Jack still couldn’t remember his name, was coming around as well.

  “Any idea where we are?” Daniel squinted into the darkness. Jack spotted his glasses on the ground and handed them to him. “Thanks. That’s better. Or not.”

  “It appears to be a cavern,” Teal’c remarked. “Possibly underground.”

  “Spread out,” Jack told them. “The light doesn’t go very far. Let’s see what we can find.” He eyed the Tok’ra, who appeared rather pale. “Maybe you’d better just stay here.” The guy nodded, looking grateful. Great. Of all the Tok’ra they could have been captured with, they had to get the one who probably didn’t know which end of a zat was up.

  Carter and Teal’c fanned out in opposite directions and were already exploring the unlit space. Daniel was moving more slowly, his attention focused on the sconces. Jack could see that vague look of curiosity on his face, the one that suggested that, if they hadn’t been imminently in mortal peril, he’d find this place incredibly interesting — just like at the ruins. Which only went to prove that, if they’d left when Jack wanted to in the first place, they wouldn’t have ended up in this mess. He hated to say “I told you so” but —

  Jack turned to stare at the Tok’ra. Come to think of it, things had been just fine until he’d shown up. That was one hell of a coincidence.

  “You wanna tell me who the hell those guys were?”

  Jenmar — Jack remembered the name now — nearly jumped out of his skin.

  “What?” The Tok’ra’s voice quavered and he shrunk back slightly as Jack advanced toward him.

  Oh yeah. He had something to do with it, all right. Jack could smell it. The Tok’ra were up to their old tricks. Damned if he hadn’t been right.

&n
bsp; “You know very well what I mean.” Jack gestured upward. “The Jaffa in those death gliders. Whose were they?”

  Jenmar was shaking his head. “I — I don’t know.”

  “Like hell you don’t,” snarled Jack, getting right up in Jenmar’s face. He was sick and tired of being a pawn in whatever game the Tok’ra were playing. “There had to be some reason you wanted us on that planet. All that ‘You ought to see the ruins, they’re lovely this time of year’ bullshit was just the bait to get us out there. Now I want to know why!” He reined in the urge to throttle the guy. He wouldn’t let it be Brother Malchus again.

  “I s-s-swear — I don’t know anything.” The young Tok’ra was visibly shaking now. Good. Let him be scared, the lying little sonofa —

  Jack didn’t see Daniel until he was practically between him and the simpering little snake head.

  “Jack —” Daniel was pleading in his best diplomatic voice. Jack scowled at him too.

  “This was a set-up, Daniel. Right from the start. I told you we couldn’t trust them.”

  “The Tok’ra are not responsible,” whimpered Jenmar, taking a half step back to give Daniel more space, and taking advantage of Daniel’s size to partially hide behind him.

  “Jack, listen.” Daniel’s palms were up. “If he was behind this — if he set us up — then why would he be here with us? He was knocked out right along with the rest of us. He swears he didn’t do this, Jack. I believe him.”

  “Sir —”

  The ‘I found something’ tone of Carter’s voice aborted Jack’s response to Daniel. Right. There were more pressing issues than how they’d gotten here. He wasn’t done with the Tok’ra, but it could wait until later.

  “What is it?” He glared at both Daniel and Jenmar for good measure before turning around to look for Carter. Jack could barely make her out in the shadows.

  “I think you’ll want to see this.”

  “Whatcha got?” When he reached her, Carter was pointing downward, scuffing the dirt with her boot. It took some effort to see what she was showing him, but finally he saw it: a faint and definitely metallic arc inlaid into the floor.