Worse, he left them with the supplies. Dammit. If those were gone, they were deeply screwed.
He took another shortcut, then another, listening for the sound of pounding footsteps, and came out less than a hundred feet away from Captain Carter.
She was standing very still, her MP5 trained on a man lying on his back, hands flung wide. There was a bronze ram's head dagger in his right fist, but he wasn't making any threatening moves. He was staring up at the moon like a blind man, face open and weirdly ecstatic, and as Jack watched, his back bowed and he had some kind of seizure, foaming from the mouth.
He saw the fury twist on Carter's face just an instant before her trigger finger tightened.
Daniel exploded around the comer, reached Carter and knocked the muzzle of her rifle up into the air just as she let loose a full auto burst that would have shredded the man lying on the ground into hamburger.
It would have been stone cold murder. Jack felt that settle over him like frost, even as Carter rounded on Daniel with a snarl like nothing he'd ever heard in his life, animal and furious, and swung her MP5 straight at his head like a club.
Daniel ducked fluidly and decked her with a backhanded blow to the face. Flat out on the stone next to the man with the knife. He went down with her, knee in her chest, holding her flat as she struggled, and wrenched the MP5 away from her with one hand.
He lifted it with a snarl, ready to slam it down into her face.
"Daniel!" Jack roared, and saw the man hesitate, every muscle in his body trembling, and then Daniel dropped the gun, hit Carter hard on the chin again with his fist and rolled away.
Carter went limp.
Daniel fell over and curled up on his side, shaking, as Jack limped forward and grabbed the MP5, slung it over his shoulder, and kicked the knife out of the reach of, well, everyone.
He stood there in the moonlight looking down at Daniel, at Carter, not knowing what exactly he should be feeling but knowing what he did feel, inappropriate as it was.
He was scared shitless for them. Of them.
Teal'c rounded the comer and advanced slowly, staff weapon held at cautious half-staff, and some of Jack's irrational fear eased a little.
"Teal'c, nice of you to join us. Zip-cuff that guy," Jack said, and jerked his chin at the foaming, spasming figure of the killer still lying on the ground in some kind of ecstatic frenzy. As Teal'c moved to comply, Jack carefully eased himself down on one knee next to Daniel and put his hand on a shaking shoulder. "Daniel. Hey. Easy..."
Daniel flinched. More than ever. Then he rolled painfully over on his back, and stared up at the moon; there was some of the same blindness in him, as if he'd been drugged. His pupils were hugely dilated.
"Oh, God, Jack," he whispered, and shut his eyes. "Help me. Help me.
"How?"
"I - " Daniel threw his arm up, blocking out the light. "Get us inside."
Carter was out, but starting to stir. Jack stared at her for a second, remembering the bright silver shine of her eyes, the fluid ferocity of the way she'd run, the coldly calculating way she'd sighted down the MP5 at a helpless captive.
"Teal'c," he said, feeling exhausted to the bone. "Do Carter, too."
Teal'c pulled the zip-cuffs tight around the black-robed murderer's wrists and looked up, plainly doubtful. "O'Neill?"
"That's an order."
Teal'c pulled another set from his vest, flipped Carter over on her face, and fastened her hands behind her back. She woke up halfway through the procedure and started fighting him, fierce and focused; Teal'c added ankle cuffs, stood and dumped Carter unceremoniously over one broad shoulder.
Daniel was up on his own, pale but still in control. He even managed a faint, scared smile, and said, "She's not going to forget that."
"Hope not," Jack said somberly. "Let's all live to regret it."
Some of the tension in Jack's guts eased when they found Pylades and Iphigenia still in the shelter, safe and sound, along with the supplies. Pylades had a sharp-edged stone scavenged from a pile in the comer, and looked determined to beat the fool out of anybody who came in without authorization. Jack talked him down and got Daniel settled in one comer as Teal'c gently deposited the still-struggling Carter in another. She was eerily quiet, breathing fast, eyes shining, but saying nothing at all. She devoted all her strength to the zip-ties.
"She will injure herself," Teal'c said, frowning. It looked likely; she was already rubbing her wrists raw on the plastic. "Do you not have some medicine that will calm her?"
Jack nodded and dug in Carter's pack for the first aid kit. There were self-contained shots of painkillers and sedatives; he went for the sedatives, promising himself a celebratory morphine shot later, in the safety of the SGC. He sliced open her BDU sleeve to reach bare skin on her arm. She hissed when the shot went in, thrashed even harder, then began to weaken and go still.
When her eyes closed, Jack patted her on the shoulder and nodded Teal'c back to door sentry duty. Then he went over to Daniel.
"Hey," he said. Daniel was sitting with his head in his hands, elbows propped on his knees; he didn't look up. "Okay, you're the scientist. Enlighten me. What the hell is going on?"
"She's - " Daniel dry-washed his face with his hands, then looked surprised and sickened at the blood still smeared on his fingers. Jack tossed him a wet-nap; Daniel wiped his face and hands and went for a second towelette, then a third. When he reached for a fourth, Jack cut him off, knowing post-traumatic obsession when he saw it. Daniel settled back, newly clean hands limp in his lap.
Daniel drew in a deep breath and finished, "I think she's infected."
"Infected?"
"Yeah... if I think of a better term, I'll let you know." Daniel's hand covered his own collar. "Dark spot, getting bigger. I think it's some kind of indicator. It shows who's been compromised."
"So... black marks show the hunters," Jack said. "As opposed to the hunted."
"Yeah." A dry laugh, without much humor in it. "Artemis is the goddess of the hunt. One of the most famous Greek myths was about a hunter, Actaeon, who saw her bathing. She turned him into a stag and had his own hunting hounds tear him to pieces."
"So she's a charmer."
"Apparently." Daniel rested his head back against the wall; he was still sweating, hair clinging to his face in dark jagged points. Without his glasses, he looked incredibly young and way too vulnerable. "I think the collars are receivers. We're all being broadcast a message; some of us receive it, some don't. Those who do become the hunters. Otherwise..."
"Otherwise, we run."
Daniel's eyes flashed open. His pupils were still unnaturally dilated. "Yes. The dream. You remember?"
"I remember running." He remembered more than that, but there was no point in dwelling on it.
"Running." Daniel's voice was dry, devoid of emotion. "Yes."
He dreaded asking. "You?"
That strange, defeated smile. Daniel let his hand fall away from the moonstone, and in the glow of the camp stove, Jack saw the slender crescent of black cutting into the white. "Oh, I'm running, too," Daniel said. "With Sam."
Daniel was becoming a hunter.
here was no question of Daniel taking a watch, obviously. Teal'c stayed vigilant at the door, facing out. Carter slept the sleep of the wickedly stoned, over in the comer, and so far as Jack could tell Iphigenia and her brother followed suit after about an hour or so.
And Jack was getting tired. He'd been running on the ragged edge before the dust-up; the fading adrenaline was taking the rest of his energy with it. Sleeping wasn't an option. After a silent debate, he checked the medical kit for stimulants, palmed a couple and downed them with instant coffee.
"Sure you want to do that?" Daniel asked quietly. He wasn't sleeping, either. And, from what Jack could tell, wasn't likely to.
"No offense, Daniel, but I don't think either of us wants you awake with access to a sidearm, and by the way - " Jack held out his hand and snapped his fingers. Daniel sighed and pulled his weapon,
offered it butt first. "Thanks."
Daniel silently followed with the k-bar knife as well. No reluctance. The momentary burst of violence Jack had seen outside in the moonlight seemed to be totally gone.
"Thanks," he said after a few moments, very quietly. "I don't know - I don't think I can fight this thing."
"Yes you can."
"Jack..."
"Yes you can, Daniel. I know you."
"No, you don't. You used to know me, a couple of days worth, about a year ago. But you don't know me now."
"Bullshit. You're the most stubborn man I ever met, including me."
"No." Daniel banged his head against the wall behind him, eyes closed again. "Look, I admit, I don't know Sam very well, but I know that if character meant anything, well, she wouldn't be drugged and cuffed in the comer."
"I didn't say you had character. I said you were stubborn."
"Ah." Daniel raised one finger. "Point taken."
"Just rest, okay?"
"No."
"Daniel -
"I don't want to dream."
No arguing with that. Jack settled back against the wall, faced the exit, watching the silent moonlit night. People were probably dying out there, somewhere in the ruins. Hunters hunting, victims running.
Hunters like Daniel. Hunters like Carter.
Victims like him. Teal'c. The kids in the comer.
Jack waited for the stimulants to kick in, staring out at the unchanging scenery, and heard the light, fast rhythm of Daniel's breathing start to slow. Should have given him some drugs, too. Except there weren't all that many, and Jack knew he might need them later, if things got worse.
"O'Neill," said Teal'c softly from across the room. "I will keep watch. You should rest."
"Can't watch two doors at once," Jack pointed out. "I'm good. Better living through chemistry."
"I did not enjoy harming Captain Carter."
"Good. But if it makes you feel any better, Daniel's the one who clocked her."
"Clocked...?"
"Knocked her out, Teal'c."
"Daniel Jackson is a formidable warrior," Teal'c conceded. "I did not know he had such strength and speed."
"He usually doesn't," Jack said. "Just part of the fun on Adventure Planet." He leaned at a better angle against the wall, the better to prop his head up and give his neck muscles a much-needed rest. "Look. If he's right, this thing may have delayed onset, so we need to watch each other just as much as we watch them, right? Stay alert for any signs of... weird behavior."
"Such as a tendency to violence." Teal'c was quiet for a minute or so, then asked, "How will we then recognize a difference?"
"Teal'c! Was that a joke?"
"I do not believe it was, O'Neill."
Jack snorted and cut his eyes toward Daniel. Yep, the man was napping, head down. Too bad. He'd have liked to have had a witness to that; it had to be a landmark occasion.
"Do you believe we will survive this?" Teal'c asked.
"Hell yes. This is just another Goa'uld. We've kicked their bony butts before. There wasn't enough of Ra left to fill one of those canopic jars Daniel likes so much. By the time we finish here, Teal'c, this goddess is going to wish she'd never heard of Earth."
"I do not believe she has heard of Earth."
"Figure of speech."
Teal'c turned back to motionless vigilance. Jack shuffled around, sighed, and finally stood to stretch. "Change places," he said. Teal'c rose and settled in by the front. "Back in five."
"I do not think it is wise to explore at this time."
"Not exploring, Teal'c. Finding the facilities." No comprehension on Teal'c's face, until Jack took the explanation out of euphemisms and into gestures; at that point, the Jaffa simply nodded and resumed his watch.
Jack stepped out into the moonlight.
Instant chill. There was a surge of adrenaline - maybe from the stimulants, but he didn't think so - that left him with a slight unsteadiness. He limped around the shattered wooden corpse of what looked like some kind of couch. The fountain in the center had a recessed cracked pool with a thin scum of water left in the bottom; Jack unbuttoned his fly and watered the concrete, feeling a hell of a lot more exposed than usual, and finished with a mental promise to cut down on the coffee. As he was fastening up his trousers again, he heard - felt - something shift behind him.
Air.
He turned fast, bringing up the MP5 with a rattle of metal, and found himself facing...
... a goddess.
He wasn't prepared for her to be pretty, although he'd known all along the Goa'uld liked pretty hosts - witness Ra, and Apophis, and Sha're. But she was... beautiful. A heart-shaped face, wide brown eyes, curling brown hair piled in a complicated arrangement on top of her head and fastened with a silver crescent moon diadem. Tall as Captain Carter, long strong legs exposed by the short white tunic she wore.
The only thing that didn't fit the Greek image was the metal brace on her left arm. He'd seen that before, on Apophis. Definitely Goa'uld manufacture.
"Kneel," she said, and her eyes did the white flash thing.
Kiss my ass, he was about to snap back, but then his knees went out from under him and he went down hard, and no matter how much he wanted to give her the benefit of his acid disbelief, he couldn't get the words to come out of his mouth. He raised one hand and fumbled with the collar, tugging at it.
"You waste your time," she murmured, and reached out to trail cool white fingers over his, over the collar, over his sweating skin. "You are not of my worlds, stranger. How do you come here? Who offers you as tribute to Artemis?"
He was free to answer that one; he could feel his tongue and throat unfreezing. It took a huge effort to keep the words back. Not doing what you want, bitch.
"Speak." Her fingers lifted his chin and forced him to meet her eyes. "You are a warrior, I see it in your eyes. I like warriors. They make good sport."
"Bite me," he managed to whisper. She smiled - cold silver lips, a sweet schoolgirl smile. He didn't let it defuse his rage. She'd stolen that body, murdered the person it had housed. A snake with a nice face was still a snake. "I won't run for you."
"You will." Her fingernails bit into the tender skin under his chin, drawing blood, and then she let go and walked a few steps away. "I smell the fear in you, warrior. It rises up like the smoke of sacrifice. Your comrades already understand their place. You will hunt and be hunted soon, all of you. And that will please me."
Move the gun. Bring it in line and fire. She can only kill you once. He tried to force his muscles to obey, but they were locked, held tight in her control. The collar. The damn collar. Had to get it off.. .
"Your world," Artemis said, and seated herself on a nearby cracked marble block, with one crisscrossed sandaled foot dangling and swinging. "Which god rules you?"
"You aren't a god."
"Indeed not. I am a goddess." She gave him another rich smile and a charming little giggle. "This world was ruled by my brother, Apollo. He gave it to me as a toy. For a thousand years I have played here, but I grow bored with the hunting. The prey is too simple. Is your world better?"
Teal'c had to have heard the voices. It was just a matter of time before the Jaffa charged out and gave this Goa'uld a smoking hole where it would do her the most good... "Oh, yeah. Cable TV Air conditioning. Flush toilets. You'd love it."
"You mock me." The smile disappeared. "You mock me."
"Damn straight," he croaked, and swallowed a mouthful of bile; fighting his own fear, the fear this damn collar was pumping into him like poison, was making him sick. "You Goa'uld. No sense of humor."
Her eyes widened, and she came off the block in a fluid move that sent the tunic swirling like white smoke. "What did you call me?"
"Goa'uld. Want me to spell it? Wait... don't know how." He was shaking now, but her control didn't seem quite as complete. His throat wasn't seizing up, anyway.
"You know of the Goa'uld?"
"Sure. Ra, Apophis... bee
n there, kicked that ass."
"You lie!"
"Call Ra. You'll get his answering machine, because he's a little dead." He forced himself to meet and hold her eyes. "You're next."
Her eyes flashed white, and she held out her left arm, and he just knew that he was going to have his brain pureed into cream cheese, but then he heard something from inside the room where SG-1 was taking shelter.
Yelling. Screaming.
Artemis smiled, lowered her arm, and said, "I have no need to punish you. You will be punished enough, before I am done with you."
She pressed a button on that silver arm-guard, and a pile of rings fell out of the sky and stacked around her; she vanished in a blue flash. Jack craned his neck up at the night sky and saw something black slide soundlessly across the moon.
Great. The bitch had a ship.
"O'Neill!" Teal'c was yelling.
Jack clawed his way to his feet and went to help.
It was Carter. The sedatives had worn off, and she was screaming and thrashing like a wild thing. Daniel and Pylades were trying to hold her down. As Jack limped back inside, Teal'c returned to his post by the door, ready for an ambush. "Dr. Carter! Sam!" Daniel was yelling her name, over and over, kneeling over her and pressing her shoulders flat while she bucked and tried to throw him off. Pylades was gamely holding down her legs and looking like he was having second thoughts about this whole you're safe with us theory. "Sam, stop!"
"She can't hear you," Jack said tersely, and rifled through the medkit for another sedative. Not a huge supply of those, either. He pressed the pod against her bare skin and activated it, full dosage. "Hold her down." The way she was thrashing around, she was in danger of ripping muscles.
Once the worst was over, Jack rolled her on her side to look at her wrists, and winced at the state they were in. "She needs bandages," he said. "Is she out?"
Daniel lifted her eyelids. "Looks that way."
"Okay, both of you, get back. Teal' c - "
"I am ready, O'Neill," Teal'c assured him. Pylades backed away, to where his sister was cowering wide-eyed in the comer; Daniel withdrew to just a couple of feet away, hovering anxiously. Jack cut the zip-ties, got the bandages from the kit and started wrapping her bloody wrists. She hadn't cut anything vital, at least. When he'd finished binding up the wounds, and adding an extra layer for padding, he pulled another set of restraints from his vest and tied her up again. Daniel winced but didn't protest; he knew as well as Jack did just how dangerous Carter was in this state.
Stargate SG-1: Sacrifice Moon Page 12