The five Reetou, meanwhile, became completely visible.
They screeched and screamed, and the doodad said, “What is the meaning of this?”
O’Neill, though, just grinned. All of a sudden, his headache was completely gone. “Carter? That you?”
Sure enough, Major Samantha Carter entered the tavern, P90 at the ready. “Right here, sir.”
“Sweet!” He turned to the Reetou. “To answer your question, O ‘honorable negotiators,’ the meaning of this is that we’ve made you just as in phase as the rest of us. Which means the little bomb that you put in here hoping to kill the snake-head and as many humans and Jaffa as you could take with her, is now gonna kill all five of you, too.”
Daniel smiled. “I can’t imagine the Reetou rebels will be particularly thrilled with that.”
“Oh, they definitely won’t.” O’Neill recalled Jacob and Bra’tac mentioning something about how pissed the Reetou were at how many of them died here on Imphal when they wiped it out. Apparently, they didn’t have the Jaffa’s proclivity for suicide missions and dying well and all that other crap.
“We are only five,” the doodad said after more screeching. “We are willing to give our lives.”
“Sir,” Carter said, and O’Neill followed where she was looking to see a white oval underneath the table.
“I’m guessing that’s the thing that goes boom?”
“Yes, sir. Should I disarm it?”
“Nah, just shoot it.”
Carter swallowed, but just said, “Yes, sir,” and aimed her P90.
A huge screech followed by, “Wait!”
O’Neill grinned. “Aaaaaand the bluff is called. Here’s what’s gonna happen, kids. You’re gonna sit right here and not move, or we’ll shoot you. You’re in phase now, so we can shoot you. We’re going to leave the planet. After that — well, you just do whatever it is you guys do.”
Carter grabbed her radio. “Dad, I’ve got the colonel, Daniel, and Teal’c.”
“Little busy here!” came Jacob’s frantic voice, and O’Neill could hear staff weapon fire. He also swore he heard a ragged cough.
O’Neill looked at his team. “Let’s go.”
Kali’s Jaffa had put O’Neill and Teal’c’s weapons on the tavern’s bar, so they went there to grab them. As Teal’c took hold of his staff weapon, O’Neill checked the clip of the P90 — he had about half the magazine left — and shouldered it.
For his part, Daniel grabbed a zat off Yaresh, who was too busy writhing on the floor in agony to object. Kali was doing likewise nearby, and O’Neill had to admit to enjoying seeing a Goa’uld helpless for once.
Daniel turned to the six slaves and said, “It’s not safe for you here. You should come with us.”
The slaves looked at each other and then one of them looked at Daniel.
“It’s all right, Aparna,” Daniel said to her. “We’ll help you.”
“Very well,” she said with an enthusiastic nod.
Carter was leading the way out of the tavern. “This way, sir.”
A chill washed over O’Neill as he stepped outside. The sun had gone down, and it was about ten degrees colder than it was when he and Teal’c had been approaching the tavern earlier.
Carter headed south at a run, and O’Neill and the others followed, with Daniel keeping Aparna and the other slaves close to him. After only a couple of seconds, O’Neill could hear the staff weapon and zat fire that he’d heard over the radio. It was, perhaps not surprisingly, given the explosion, not far from where the plumes of smoke were rising.
Sure enough, they soon came within sight of a small fire with billowing smoke that used to be one of the village’s buildings, and about thirty feet west of that, five Jaffa hiding behind other, intact buildings, poking their heads out periodically to fire their weapons in the general direction of the smoking ruin.
The electric hum of a zat came from behind the burning building, which told O’Neill where Jacob was hiding. Still, even factoring in the fire, O’Neill wasn’t too clear on why the five Jaffa were being so cautious against one Tok’ra.
Another zat shot came from a different part of the fiery mess, and O’Neill realized what Jacob was doing, and why the Jaffa were being cautious — and, for that matter, why he heard Jacob cough over the radio. He was moving around inside the periphery of the fire, making it look as if there was more than one person firing on them.
Well, now there was. “Yo, dumbasses, over here!”
Several of the Jaffa turned toward O’Neill’s voice, at which point he and Carter both fired their P90s, Teal’c fired his staff weapon, and Daniel shot his borrowed zat.
Four of the five Jaffa went down. The fifth, showing uncharacteristic good sense, threw his staff weapon to the snow-covered ground and removed his zat from its forearm holster and threw that to the ground as well. He raised his arms, and cried, “I surrender!”
All four members of SG-1 turned their weapons on that Jaffa, who stood steadily with his arms raised without flinching. O’Neill admired the grit, at least.
“Oh, Jacob,” O’Neill said, “come out come out wherever you are! We got the bad guys!”
A second later, Jacob emerged from the smoke, covered in soot, coughing so much he sounded like a chain smoker with a head cold, and with several charred holes in his clothes.
“Dad!” Carter cried and ran over to help her father out. “You okay?”
He waved her off. “I’ll be fine.” He coughed a few times, then: “It looks worse than it is.”
“It’d almost have to,” O’Neill said.
Another cough. “Selmak’s takin’ care of it. Hell, running around inside the fire was his cockamamie idea. Worked, too, I don’t think I could’ve held off five Jaffa otherwise.” That prompted yet another coughing fit.
O’Neill glanced at Teal’c. “Don’t suppose you and Patel packed lozenges?”
“We did not.”
“Didn’t think so.”
Daniel was still staring at the Jaffa. “What do we do with him?”
The Jaffa said, “You are Teal’c — the leader of the Jaffa rebellion?”
“I am Teal’c,” was all he said in reply.
“I wish to join you. The Goa’uld are false gods. Yaresh told me that the Thakka has joined your rebellion, and I wish to do the same.”
O’Neill guessed that this guy was there when Yaresh found their radios. “Do you, now?”
“I will do whatever you ask to prove my desire to join you.”
Turning to Teal’c — he was the expert on this stuff — O’Neill prompted, “Whaddaya think, T?”
“Daniel Jackson — shoot him.”
“Wait,” the Jaffa started, but Daniel fired his zat, and he went down.
O’Neill stared at the unconscious form of the Jaffa. “That was unexpected.”
But then Teal’c walked over and picked the Jaffa up into a firefighter’s carry. “We will bring him to the Alpha Site, where Master Bra’tac, the other Jaffa rebels, and I will all determine if he is worthy to join us.”
Daniel frowned. “And if he isn’t?”
“He will regret it.”
“Okay, then.”
Carter was supporting her father, who was still coughing up a lung. “Sir, we should get moving. The device will deactivate soon, and we should be gone by the time Kali is able to send more Jaffa after us.”
Nodding, O’Neill said, “Let’s move.”
The Carters led the way to where Jacob had parked the cargo ship. O’Neill took up the rear, keeping the six slaves protected as they lagged behind Daniel and even a burdened Teal’c. The colonel was a little worried when they ran into a clearing and just stopped, but then an airlock appeared out of nowhere.
He shook his head. “Those cloaks get me every time.”
They all ran inside the cargo ship, where Bra’tac was sitting in the pilot seat.
“All aboard who’s coming aboard, Bra’tac,” O’Neill said. “Hit it.”
&nb
sp; “It is good to see you all alive and well,” Bra’tac said as he touched several controls that closed the airlock and got the ship underway.
Helping Jacob into the copilot chair, Carter then thumbed her radio. “Colonel Ferretti, we’re on our way.”
“Good news or bad news, Major?” Ferretti asked.
O’Neill said, “You don’t get rid of me that easy, Louie. The gang’s all here, plus half a dozen locals that need saving. Let’s go home.”
“You got it, Colonel. Dialing the gate now.”
Nodding, O’Neill moved to stand at the console behind the pilot seat. He felt like something was missing — something important that hadn’t happened yet, that needed to before they could gate home.
Bra’tac turned to glance at O’Neill. “Not bad.”
That was it, he thought with a smile. Now they could go home.
Slowly, Kali got to her feet, the agony that coursed through her entire body, radiating out from between her shoulder blades, finally beginning to subside.
She looked around the tavern, but she only saw Yaresh. “What happened?” the Jaffa asked.
“The Tau’ri.” Kali practically spat the words. “I offered them an arrangement that benefitted everyone. And they betrayed me! I should have known better than to trust those who are worthy only to be slaves or hosts.” She shook her head, trying to clear it, then walked over to the table where the translator still sat. With the infernal device that Major Carter had created no longer functioning, the Reetou were now invisible. The translator had been shut off, probably from being inactive for too long. She reactivated it and spoke. “Honored negotiators, are you still here?”
Her words were translated, but no response came.
She sighed and turned to Yaresh. “Jaffa, kree.”
As she exited the tavern, she said to Yaresh, who followed in step behind her, “You shall be the new Thakka, Yaresh. Gather all the Jaffa who remain and bring them to the throne room.”
“I will obey, Mother Goddess,” Yaresh — or, rather, the Thakka replied.
A high-pitched whine started to fill the air. It came from behind them in the tavern.
And then the very air around Kali exploded, and she felt her host body burn…
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Stargate Command
DANIEL Jackson was very grateful to hear his boots clang against the ramp in the gate room of the SGC. More than dialing Earth’s address, more than transmitting the GDO code, it was that sound of sole on metal that told Daniel that he’d made it back home. Every alien world had stone steps or ramps made of other material or metal stairs or something else. Only on Earth in Cheyenne Mountain was there the mesh-metal ramp that made that wonderful echoing clangy sound when you stepped on it.
The ramp was pretty crowded: all of SG-1, all of SG-17, Captain Patel, Bra’tac, Jacob, the six lo’taurs, and three unconscious Jaffa — the one Daniel had shot on Teal’c’s instruction and the two that SG-17 had taken prisoner.
Of course, General Hammond was waiting for them. Ferretti had dialed the gate and sent his GDO code as soon as Bra’tac took off, so by the time they got to the island — getting a lovely view along the way of the giant flaming meteor careening toward Imphal that was all that was left of Kali’s mothership — Hammond had ordered the gate room security team to stand down and was awaiting their arrival at the bottom of the ramp.
Also present was Janet Fraiser, ready to tend to any wounded, along with several of her staff. She made a beeline for Teal’c.
“These Jaffa were all struck with zat’ni’katels. They must all remain sedated until we may bring them to the Alpha Site for interrogation.”
“I’ll take care of them,” Janet said, then turned to one of her staff. “Get some more stretchers for these three.”
The medtech nodded and ran off.
Janet then approached Bra’tac and Jacob and smiled. “You two look like hell.”
Jacob grinned back. “Always admired your bedside manner, doc.”
“I know you both have symbiotes, but get to the infirmary anyhow.”
Bra’tac nodded. “Of course.” Then he turned to the general, and waved his right hand over his head. “Hammond of Texas. It is good to see you.”
“The feeling is mutual, Master Bra’tac — you too, Jacob.”
“Thanks, George,” Jacob said. “But I think we’d best follow doctor’s orders, ’cause I’m feelin’ like crap.”
Sam smiled. “I’ll walk you two to the infirmary now.”
Hammond gave Sam an approving nod, then looked at Jack and Ferretti. “I take it the mission was a success?”
Jack shrugged. “Well, we all got home, and we’re more or less in one piece, so yeah. Plus, y’know, Carter figured out a way to make the Reetou visible, so that was kinda nice.”
From behind Jack, Captain Patel quietly said, “One of us didn’t make it.”
Daniel winced.
“What was that, Captain?” Hammond asked.
Patel spoke up. “The Thakka didn’t make it, sir. He died taking a staff weapon for me on Kali’s ship.” She shook her head. “That’s the second time he saved my life.”
“I’m sorry. Debrief in one hour.” Hammond, to Daniel’s mind, didn’t sound particularly sorry. But then, the Thakka was a First Prime. He was an enemy combatant, and that wasn’t someone Hammond was going to waste a lot of time mourning.
Of course, if he was saving Patel’s life, then he’d obviously had some kind of change of heart. He hadn’t gotten the whole story yet, as Jack and Teal’c were too busy being Kali’s prisoner to fill him in on what he’d missed since Kali holed him up with a bunch of tablets. Had Teal’c convinced him to join the rebellion?
Though if he was dead, it didn’t really much matter anymore…
Sam had already left with her father and Bra’tac, and Jack was talking with Ferretti now — probably talking about the good old days when they were both just regular Joes fighting the good fight for the U.S. of A., or whatever it was old Air Force buddies talked about. Teal’c was having a conversation with Peruzzi and Satterfield from SG-17, while the fourth SG-17 team member, a bald Marine whose name Daniel didn’t know, was leading the six lo’taurs out of the room toward their debrief. Aparna was one of them, and he gave her an encouraging look. She nodded back. He had a feeling that her knowledge of Kali’s history would prove useful to both the SGC and the Tok’ra.
Patel just looked miserable standing in the middle of the room and finally exited quietly.
Daniel followed her.
“Captain Patel,” he called out as he reached the corridor.
She stopped, turned around, and faced Daniel. “Is there something I can do for you, Dr. Jackson?”
He caught up to her and gave her his warmest smile. “It’s Daniel — and that was going to be my question for you.”
“Thanks, but — well, this is something I have to deal with on my own.”
“No — no, it isn’t. We’re a team, Captain. And we’ve all had to deal with death. I watched my wife die.”
Patel winced. “I’m sorry, Doct — Daniel, of course you do understand it, but — ” She blew out a breath that sounded like a pipe bursting. “Honestly, what I’m having the most difficulty with is the Thakka. I mean, I feel awful that Major Lagdamen and Elena and Anwan died, but that’s part of the deal when you sign up. They were my teammates and my friends, and I’m going to be mourning them for a long time, but I know how to deal with that. I’ve lost people I’ve fought alongside in the past — the first one was six months after I graduated the Academy. It sucks, it’s awful, but I have the mental means to deal with it. But the Thakka — I guess I just don’t know how to process losing him. I didn’t even like him, and he saved my life — twice! He’s dead because of me.”
“He was also alive because of you.” Daniel said the words without thinking, but he realized as he did so that it was true. “From what you told us after you guys went through the gate the first time
, the Thakka probably would’ve been killed by the Reetou if SG-7 hadn’t been there. And I’m guessing Teal’c talked him into joining the rebellion?”
Patel nodded. “We both did. That was the odd thing, he listened to me a lot more than he listened to Teal’c. He kept viewing me as one of the Kali Kula, even after I asked him repeatedly not to.”
“Not surprising,” Daniel said, remembering Kali’s story of the origin of the Kula and how much emphasis she herself put on protecting her people. “You gave the Thakka a gift, Kirti. In fact, you gave him two.”
“He said something.”
Daniel frowned. “Hm?”
She shook her head. “When he died, he said something in Goa’uld. I didn’t understand it — Elena was the linguist, I’m afraid the Goa’uld language just sounds like Klingon to me.”
Biting his tongue, Daniel didn’t comment. He’d seen a lecture by the linguist who’d created the Klingon language for the movie studio, and had had his own issues with the silly made-up language. “Do you remember the words he spoke?”
Closing her eyes, Patel seemed lost in memory for a second. “Shell kick nimron?”
Nodding in a total lack of surprise, Daniel corrected her pronunciation. “Shel kek nem ron. It means ‘I die free’.”
Patel’s eyes widened. “Really?”
“It’s what rebel Jaffa prefer their last words to be. Personally, I’d rather my last words were thanking everyone for the well wishes on my hundred and ninetieth birthday, but that’s just me.” He put a hand on her shoulder. “Look, what I’m about to say probably doesn’t feel like it means much — in fact, it probably doesn’t feel like it means anything. The Thakka spent his whole life living a lie under an oppressive monster. He may have died, but at least knew the truth when he did. More to the point, he went out on his own terms. First Primes generally are killed in service to the Goa’uld they’re subjects of. But the Thakka died doing something that mattered to him rather than something that mattered to Kali.”
“So you’re saying I should be happy that he died?”
“God, no, that’s crazy.” He shook his head. “But it will get better with time. When Sha’re and I were together, every thought I had was about her. After Apophis took her, every thought I had was about rescuing her. And right after she died, every thought I had was about how much I missed her. But now? I’ve gone entire days without thinking about her. Doesn’t mean I don’t miss her, but eventually we heal. Even if we don’t have a symbiote inside us.”
STARGATE SG-1: Kali's Wrath (SG1-28) Page 20