“General, while they’ve formally apologized to the president for Huang’s actions, the Chinese government is claiming diplomatic immunity.”
Jacob couldn’t believe his ears. “They want him back?”
“The man’s a risk to the whole planet,” George said. “Don’t the Chinese understand that, Major?”
“They’re sending someone this evening.” Davis swallowed nervously. “General, for what it’s worth, the president has approved SG-1 to use whatever force necessary to retrieve Dr. Jackson.” He held out the second folder, the presidential seal splayed across its cover. “The orders are there, pre-dated to support your mission reports.”
Who was the president really trying to support, the S.G.C. or his own rear end?
George eyed the folder, but didn’t take it.
“Sir, I wish you would have told me what you had planned.”
No, he doesn’t, thought Jacob. Plausible deniability. It was the only way to protect everyone, the president, Davis, and most importantly, SG-1.
“General, we had no choice.”
“Oh, we had a choice, Major.” George turned back toward the Stargate. “Fortunately, we chose to act on it.”
Thank God they did. Jacob rejoined his friend at the window. With P90s, SG-1 might just have a fighting chance.
PLANET DESIGNATION: LORD YU’S
HOMEWORLD (P3X-042)
STATUS: SAR MISSION IN PROGRESS
APPROX 0745 HRS LOCAL TIME
3 JUL 03/2105 HRS BASE TIME
Three souped-up zats, Carter’s empty P90 and a quick glance at the three rounds left in his own rifle confirmed Jack’s suspicions.
They were screwed. A new plan was definitely in order.
Along with the others, he huddled against a chalky yellow wall, just behind the spiral staircase, staying out of sight of Yu’s latest round of Candid Camera. It was hot inside the building. Unzipping his jacket, he got a whiff of something musky. Almost like dead leaves burning.
While Teal’c and Bra’tac kept their eyes peeled on the door, Carter ran more scans, and Jack surveyed their surroundings. He’d seen his share of over-the-top when it came to Goa’uld décor, but this stairwell took the cake. Shiny thick metallic serpents formed the handrails, twisting downward to where their heads actually formed the steps leading up into the building, and down into God knew what. It was tough to tell, what with the massive metal side plates hanging from the steps, though he shouldn’t complain. Those same plates hid their asses from that damn Goa’uld telly ball.
As obnoxious as those devices were, Jack had to admit he’d felt a huge weight drop off when he saw Daniel alive and well… Okay, maybe not well. He’d looked pretty worse for wear. Still had his glasses, though no jacket, no tactical vest, and there was a helluva bruise on his forehead. Yu had probably stung him with one of those nasty hand devices.
But he was alive!
Jack wrote off his earlier fears to imagination… and maybe a little bit of guilt. There’d been no breeze, just his own mind playing tricks on him.
He leaned out from behind the stairwell. Yep, the device was still active. Yu’s smug face was bigger than life, and every inch as ugly, though both Daniel and the Goa’uld were paying attention elsewhere. They were facing each other and both seemed to have their heads down, looking at something between them. Something right below where the image cut off.
“Sir, this entire stairwell is made of silver,” Carter whispered. “Since silver’s the best thermal-electrical conductor there is, short of refined naquadah, I’m guessing if we follow these stairs downward, we’ll find the photon generator. If we can shut — ”
Jack slashed a finger across his throat. “Non-essential chatter only,” he whispered back. “Hand signals for the rest of it.”
Bra’tac shifted beside him. “Gestures may not suffice.”
Jack shot Teal’c a look, imploring him to keep Bra’tac quiet. Maybe there were times for a difference of opinion, but this wasn’t one of them. Teal’c turned toward Bra’tac, a raised finger to his lips.
Jack noticed a thin sheen of sweat glistening on Bra’tac’s forehead. He had pulled off his cloak, and Carter was unzipping her jacket.
“Why the hell’s it so hot?”
“It’s possibly a side effect of the photonic emitter being nearby.” Carter wiped an arm across her forehead. Heat must have been getting to her, too. “Sorry sir, there aren’t any signs for scientific — ”
“Use metaphors, Major.”
Carter held up one finger, a signal to give her a moment. Jack could only imagine how that big mind of hers must be spinning, searching for ways to technobabble in a round of charades.
Finally, she popped the empty magazine from her P90 and waved it in the air. It was empty.
Jack knew that already. “What’s your point?”
Carter stuck the magazine back in. “Well, sir, to use a metaphor, it’s about gambling.” She picked up one of the modified zats and gestured with it down the stairs. “The stakes are high, but we can even up the odds.” She jerked her chin toward the com ball. “Might be able to make it so that no bookie would take the bet.”
“A bit of Vegas action, Carter?” He smiled at her gambling metaphors. He knew from her earlier round of scientific mumbo jumbo that she meant take out the generator. “Okay, I’ll bite. What do you have in mind?”
“We need to double down, sir.” She pointed down the darkened stairwell. “Take out all opposing bets.” She chopped her hand across, the signal to attack, or in this case, demolish.
Take out the generator and even up the odds. It made sense to him, but Teal’c and Bra’tac had their eyebrows raised, clueless. Jack recognized metaphors and Jaffa weren’t going to mix. Fortunately, they’d been through enough with SG-1 to have learned basic military signals. Hopefully, the two would follow his lead.
First thing up, get rid of their peeping Tom… or in this case, Yu. Then race like hell for the generator.
Jack pointed three fingers toward himself.
On the count of three…
He pointed at their zats, and then jerked a thumb over the side rail toward the com ball.
Shoot that damn device down…
He whirled one finger in the air.
Then follow us…
He pointed down the stairs, paused, and then chopped his hand across his throat again.
Down the stairs, shut the thing off, and…
Bra’tac shook his head.
Jack raised both hands in question. What?
Bra’tac pointed up the stairs.
Now it was Jack’s turn to shake his head. He ran through the plan again. He pointed down the stairs, at the three zats, and —
Bra’tac grabbed his hand and turned his finger upward. “Our objective lies above, not below.”
Jack sighed. This wasn’t the best time for the old man to be stubborn. “We’re not going to get to our objective if we don’t change the situation.”
“I, too, wish Daniel Jackson free,” Bra’tac whispered, “but there are multiple objectives… or have you forgotten that there are others here of value as well?” He placed a finger on his forehead’s gold tattoo.
Bra’tac still wanted to free Yu’s Jaffa.
“We’ll get to them,” Jack promised. “After we take care of more pressing matters.” He raised his hand, beginning to review the instructions once again when Bra’tac slapped his hand down.
“No.” Bra’tac pointed at himself, and then at Teal’c. He then walked two fingers in the air, the sign for going mobile. Then he pointed up the stairs.
At least he’d picked up some signals in his time amongst them. If they got out of here alive, Jack knew he’d have to sit Bra’tac down and teach him the full gamut.
Still, Bra’tac’s idea was too risky. “Not going to happen.”
Bra’tac folded his arms with a grunt. Beside him, Teal’c frowned, clearly miserable.
And Jack had a pretty good idea why. He searched Teal’c’s fac
e, then Bra’tac’s. His gaze returned to Teal’c’s. “You okay with this?”
“Both objectives are indeed of critical importance.”
Jack sighed. “See now, that wasn’t the answer I was hoping for.”
Teal’c bowed his head. “Our resources are limited, our needs many. Should we not each follow those ends which will further ensure the success of our objectives?”
“T, we’re talking about Daniel,” Jack pleaded, striving to keep his voice low. “He’s not an objective.”
“I owe Daniel Jackson my life as well as the life of my son,” Teal’c replied, “but he would want us to pursue the greater cause of freedom, not simply his release. Do you not feel this way as well?”
Of course Jack did. He was in it for the long haul. He wanted to kick every Goa’uld’s butt from here to kingdom come… That is, after they got Daniel back. If that made him less than perfect, so be it.
He checked his watch. Too much time was passing, arguing over what to do and how to do it. “Fine,” he whispered. “We’ll do it your way. Stay in contact, two clicks on the radio every fifteen. But first, we’ve got to take out — ”
“Done.” Bra’tac jumped up and zatted the com ball.
Jack leaped to his feet just in time to see the thing disappear in a puff of smoke. “You could have waited,” he complained.
Bra’tac grinned. “Why wait when the bridge can be easily crossed alone?”
Forget the hand signals, Bra’tac needed to learn a new cliché or two if they got out of there.
No. Not if… when. What happened to the old O’Neill brand of positive thinking?
Jack didn’t even want to think about answering that question. “Have fun, kids. And mind the curfew. Obviously, if you see any sign of Daniel — ”
“I will notify you immediately,” Teal’c said. “Of this, you can be sure.”
He patted Teal’c on the shoulder. At least he had his priorities on straight.
As the two Jaffa ran off, Jack flicked on his P90’s tactical flashlight and aimed it down the staircase. With a nod toward Carter, he said, “Let’s move out.”
* * *
Three flights down, Colonel O’Neill lifted his hand, palm out.
Sam stopped. “Sir, there are no com balls in sight.” To prove her point, she aimed her P90 light across the ceiling. “We’re clean.”
“Speak for yourself. I’m sweating like a pig.” He sank down on a step, put his P90 between his legs, and stripped off his vest. “Can that scanner of yours tell us if it’s going to get any hotter?”
She glanced down at the meter. The needle was off the scale. “At this point, I can only tell you we’re going in the right direction.”
The colonel rolled up his jacket and strapped it to the back of his vest. He threw his vest back on. As he picked up his rifle, two clicks came in over the radio. Teal’c. Sam hated the idea of them splitting up as much as the colonel. In the end, though, she had to believe Teal’c and Bra’tac would succeed.
She handed him the scanner and took off her jacket as well. It helped, but only so much.
“What’s the deal with the heat?” he asked.
“It’s actually not hot, sir.”
“Like hell it isn’t.”
Shrugging her vest back on, she touched the wall. It was cool to the touch.
The colonel copied her motion. “So now we’re hallucinating a heat wave?”
“Not hallucinating. Absorbing. Photons are pure energy. They don’t contain heat. At least, not as we think of heat.” She picked up her rifle and stood up. She was ready to head further down.
“We’re sweating, Carter.” The colonel took lead again, aiming his rifle’s flashlight down the spiral staircase. “It’s hot and all I can think about are tall, cold glasses of lemonade. Feels like heat to me. Too much of it.”
Sam kept her light aimed toward the walls and ceilings, searching for any more of Yu’s communication balls. So far, they’d seen none. “That’s because when an atom absorbs photonic energy, the result is heat. Our bodies are made up of atoms. Therefore, the more absorption — ”
“The more heat. I get it.” He stopped and touched the wall again. “I’m not a brainiac, Carter, but isn’t everything made of atoms?”
“That’s the part I can’t figure out, sir. By all rights, the wall should be, yes. So should our rifles, but they’re not.” She placed her palm on her holster. The modified zat was warm. “This doesn’t make sense.”
“And this changes things how?”
Sam shook her head. “I don’t think it does, sir. If anything, it further confirms that finding and shutting off the emitter will also shut down Yu’s weapons.”
“Good because the sooner we get that photon gizmo shut off, the sooner we can grab Daniel and get the hell out of here.” He picked up the pace, taking the steps down two at a time. “Think of it as a puzzle to solve.”
Sam jogged down the stairs behind him. “A puzzle, sir?”
“Something to figure out on the long trip home.”
“Yes, sir,” Sam replied skeptically. She touched the warm zat again. Unless they could take the photon emitter with them, she suspected this was one puzzle that wouldn’t get solved.
Suddenly, the colonel stopped. “Hold up.” He put a finger to his lips.
She followed the trail of his flashlight as it swept across what appeared to be an end to the stairs. A black tiled floor was at the bottom, no other features around it discernable in the darkness. With her own flashlight aimed at ceiling level, she crept down the stairs beside the colonel in silence. There was no sign of a com ball, or any other visible trouble.
As they stepped off the stairs, a wash of multi-colored light flickered to life.
In frustration, she turned her attention to the room. Five doors lined the far wall, each one covered in translucent panels of red, green, blue and grey geometric shapes. Triangles, squares, rectangles slid back and forth within each door. Seven to a panel. There were no handles, no apparent ways to open any of them. Nor were there any other exits. The remaining walls were just solid rock.
“Remember what I said about puzzles, Carter?”
The colonel swung his rifle across the top of the doors, its flashlight illuminating four carved stone heads jutting out over the doorframes. They looked like gargoyles. Fangs protruded from their bulging jaws. Thick eye ridges eclipsed round, animalistic eyes. Behind each of their heads, a trio of blades stuck out from their spines.
The colonel lowered his rifle. “Tell me if I’m crazy, but those look a helluva a lot like that funky statue — ”
“At the burial site on P3Y-702.” Sam swallowed. “The planet where Yu grabbed Daniel.”
The colonel raised his rifle again, this time across the back wall. “Any idea which door leads to this photon thing?”
“Only one way to find out.” She took out her scanner and approached the doors. “Sir, the needle’s pegged way off into the hot zone.”
“Uh, Carter?”
She knew the colonel hated to hear her speak in technical terms, but it was important he understood. “Sir, no matter which door I hold the scanner up to, the result’s the same.”
“Carter?”
“Sir, I’m sorry. My scanner’s next to useless. Somewhere behind one of these doors is the photon emitter, but there’s no way to know which one.”
“Carter,” he hissed, “I need you to shut up. Please.”
“Excuse me, sir?” She turned around, surprised at his sudden impatience.
Colonel O’Neill aimed his rifle’s flashlight at the top of the wall opposite the doors. Sure enough, an activated com ball hovered right below the ceiling. Within its murky display, Lord Yu stared down at them, beaming in apparent glee. Beside the System Lord, an obviously exhausted Daniel minutely shook his head. A silent warning to stop. Don’t even try to communicate.
“Well, crap,” the colonel mumbled.
For once, Sam had to agree.
Chap
ter Fourteen
Teal’c silently led Bra’tac up stairs, around corridors, and through doorways, into the highest reaches of the System Lord’s fortress. He had been here twice before, once as a prisoner and once as a welcome guest. He remembered the layout well.
Too well.
Whenever possible, he avoided the main passageways, knowing stealth was the only true weapon they possessed if they hoped to safely recruit Yu’s Jaffa to their cause. To do so would help not only swell the ranks of the Fifth Column, but might also increase their chances of freeing Daniel Jackson.
Twice they came upon Goa’uld communication devices. They were dormant, their shimmering skins blank. Though he knew Bra’tac would be satisfied with whomever they could find, Teal’c had his sights on a higher goal: Yu’s First Prime. Oshu could be swayed, he was certain. Had Oshu not hesitated during the battle on the terrace? Had he not wished to collaborate before, wishing to join forces so that they might fight Anubis?
Indeed, if the First Prime could be convinced, many of his army would follow.
There was also the matter of Ambassador Huang. Oshu’s resemblance spoke of duplicity, but again, his past behavior spoke otherwise. It was Teal’c’s hope that the First Prime would be forthcoming with answers. In the past, Oshu had carried himself honorably, though that honor was often blinded by faith in his false god.
They reached the widest floor of the fortress, only two levels below Lord Yu’s throne room, when the stairwell they climbed came to an end. A corridor lined with simple, wooden doors lay before them, another staircase leading upwards at the far end. There were no garish decorations as Teal’c had seen in many other System Lords’ domains. No gold foiled walls or loud banners with Yu’s sigil. The only trappings were well lit braziers; placed between the doors to light the way.
A door opened and a dozen Jaffa entered the corridor. Though they headed in the opposite direction, Teal’c pulled Bra’tac back within the stairwell. He checked his watch, a recent gift from O’Neill, who had insisted he be armed with the very best available. The gift had not been without irony, as Teal’c may never have noticed the Tau’ri all those years ago in Apophis’ prison, if not for seeing O’Neill’s watch.
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