Hostile Ground Part 17

But triumph only lasted a moment.

A powerful blow struck her across the face, slamming her backward so hard she hit the floor with an oomph that knocked the breath from her lungs and the knife from her fingers.

She scrambled to her feet, fighting for breath, but the Amam didn't give her a moment. It was on her, large fingers curling into her jacket as it lifted her off her feet and held her dangling in mid-air.

"It has been too long," it hissed, "since I fed on one such as you."

And then it smashed her against the wall, holding her there with one hand at her throat as it raised the other to expose the feeding organ on its palm.

"Go to h.e.l.l!" she spat, gripping the arm at her throat and trying to push it away. It was hopeless, but she refused to die without a fight.

"Carter!"

She couldn't turn her head, but, from the corner of her eye, she saw the colonel watching her in horror. She didn't want the face of her killer to be the last thing she saw so she held onto the colonel's gaze, let it anchor her as the creature snarled.

"I will savor you," it breathed, like a vile caress.

She shuddered, choking in a gasp past the fingers at her throat. "Sir..."

His eyes widened in panic. "Carter!"

And the creature struck, driving its hand into her chest and crus.h.i.+ng her against the fleshy wall of the chamber. She screamed, flinging her head back as pain lanced into her heart.

Dimly, she could hear the colonel shouting and cursing but her ears were ringing, head swimming as her life was wrenched out through her chest. Her fingers were numbing, her legs jellifying and then - It dropped her. Clutching its hand as if it burned, the Amam staggered backward, gasping for air as it fell to one knee.

Sam didn't wait to wonder why, she just acted. Forcing her body to work, she aimed a kick at the creature's chest and sent it sprawling onto its back. Then she was on it, pulling the stun weapon from its holster in one swift move and firing once, twice, three times. It jerked beneath the crawling electrical charge, and then lay still.

She spun, caught the second creature a moment before it grabbed her, and threw herself backward as she fired again. The third had its weapon drawn, but she dodged the first blast and landed two clean shots to the creature's head. They sent it to its knees and the third laid it out completely.

Only when all three were down did Sam let her own knees give way and she crumpled, gasping for breath, to the floor.

"Carter..."

She couldn't reply, just rolled onto her hands and knees and concentrated on breathing past the pain that still knotted her chest.

"Sam?" Daniel this time. "Sam get up..."

Just a few more breaths.

"Major!" It was an order and she responded instinctively, sitting back on her heels. At least the world had stopped spinning, even if her mind felt upside down. "Carter." The colonel was speaking to her like she wasn't quite there - maybe she wasn't. "Carter, you have to get the knife."

Yes, the knife. She shook her head, trying to clear it, and pushed herself back to her feet. Her knees buckled at the first attempt, but she gritted her teeth and forced herself to stand. The knife lay close to Daniel, hidden in the shadows. Her legs wobbled as she walked, but she was breathing easier now, although she still felt weak from whatever that thing had done to her. Grabbing the knife, she braced herself for a moment against the pod holding Daniel. Then, with visceral pleasure, she plunged the blade into the tendrils that held him in place, sawing at them and grimacing at the oily substance that leaked out when the blade sliced deep.

It didn't take long before Daniel was free and pulling her into a swift, fierce hug. "Sam, thank G.o.d," he whispered against her neck.

"I'm okay," she said, holding tight for a moment and then pulling back. "Go free the colonel. I'll help Teal'c."

She tried not to look at the faces of the other prisoners as she made her way over to Teal'c, and definitely didn't look at the withered corpse on the floor. But she saw enough to tell her that most were beyond help - comatose, maybe even dead.

"Teal'c," she said, focusing on his face and not the horror all around them, as she started cutting him free.

"Major Carter." He held her gaze, not looking away for a moment, as if aware that she needed his presence. "That was most impressive."

Sam shook her head. "I didn't do anything," she said, working the serrated edge through the leathery bonds. "It just let me go."

"Because you're blessed by the G.o.ds." Hunter spoke from behind her and she threw him a quick glance as she struggled to free Teal'c.

"What do you mean?"

"The G.o.ds are powerful. The s.n.a.t.c.hers can't feed on them they bless."

Sam exchanged a look with Teal'c. "Jolinar?"

"It is possible."

At last Teal'c's arms were free, he pulled out his own knife and after that it didn't take long to get him out. Released from the coc.o.o.n, he put a hand on Sam's shoulder and gave it a brief squeeze. "Thank you," he said. "Once more, I owe you my life."

"Teal'c," she scolded gently. "I thought we agreed to stop counting?"

He gave a slight smile and then his eyes moved to Hunter. "We cannot leave him."

"There must be twenty other people in here," she said, glancing down the length of the chamber. They couldn't free them all.

The colonel was free now too, brus.h.i.+ng the last of the gunk off his uniform. He stopped when he reached the unconscious body of the Amam who'd attacked her, crouched down and studied its face intently. Then he stood up, walked over to one of the other creatures and snagged the weapon from its limp hands. Turning back, he fired twice into the body of Black Hair, then twice into the other two creatures, and stood watching the blue energy fizz across their skin. None of them would be waking up any time soon.

He caught her eye when he looked up and there was something dark and furious there; it made her glad he was on their side. But all he said was, "We need to get outa here. Now."

"Yes sir."

Teal'c said, "We cannot leave this man, O'Neill."

"Teal'c -"

"I can help you!" Hunter broke in. "Please - I know this place. I can get you out, and I can get you to Dix."

The colonel shrugged, unimpressed. "And what's Dix?"

"Ah, not 'what'," Daniel said, coming up behind him, "who. Remember what Elspeth told us?" He looked at Hunter. "Dix is a man, right? A resistance leader?"

"He's the resistance leader," Hunter said, as if Daniel was stating the blindingly obvious. "First Prime to Hecate."

"First Prime, huh?" the colonel flung Teal'c a look. "How about that?"

Teal'c didn't respond, although his expression hardened.

"Sir?" Sam said. "If there's a Goa'uld here and this planet's gate is inoperative, that suggests there's a ha'tak in orbit. Possibly with a Stargate on board."

The colonel frowned, a deep line carved between his eyebrows. He obviously didn't like the idea, but what choice did they have? It was clear now that there was no chance of the Amam helping them. "This Dix guy," he said eventually. "Why would he help us?"

"I already told you," Hunter said. "Dix leads the resistance. He'll help anyone who fights the s.n.a.t.c.hers."

"Most Jaffa," the colonel pressed, "want to kill us, not help us."

Hunter looked perplexed. "You ain't our enemy," he said. "It's the s.n.a.t.c.her's we're fighting."

"That's interesting," Daniel said. "My enemy's enemy... ?"

"If he's really their enemy."

Daniel lifted an eyebrow. "If?"

"I'm just saying it's a little odd. Why would they keep him alive if he's such a big shot in this 'resistance'?"

Hunter snorted. "s.n.a.t.c.hers don't care what I am. To them, we're all just food."

"And we're not exactly in a position to turn down help," Daniel pointed out.

A long look pa.s.sed between him and the colonel, a silent conversation, and then the colonel nodded. "Okay," he said, with a sigh that sounded rather more like capitulation than a decision. "Teal'c, cut him free, Daniel go grab that thing's weapon."

Daniel headed off and Sam moved to help Teal'c, but the colonel stopped her with his hand on her arm.

"Hey," he said, lowering his voice. "Good job back there."

Surprised, she just said, "Oh. Thanks, sir."

He nodded, but didn't let go of her arm, if anything his grip tightened. "You okay?" He made a vague gesture toward her chest. "I mean, does it hurt?"

"A little," she said, reaching up to touch the place where the creature had tried to feed. "But I think it's mostly bruising."

"That was -" He shook his head and blew out a long breath. "What the h.e.l.l are these things?"

"I have no idea, sir. Not a clue."

He huffed a laugh and dropped his hand from her arm. "That's usually my line, Carter."

She smiled, partly at the old joke, but mostly because she felt like something had changed. Despite their precarious situation, the tension that had dogged the team since the colonel's return from Edora seemed to have disappeared. She was a little disconcerted by how relieved she felt.

"Um, Jack?"

Daniel appeared at the colonel's shoulder and behind him Sam could see Teal'c helping Hunter step free of the coc.o.o.n. She shuddered at the way the tendrils flinched and moved as if they were alive, and fixed her attention on Daniel instead.

He was watching the colonel with a familiar challenge in his eyes. "We're okay with leaving the rest of these people here?"

"No, not really," the colonel said. "But do you think we have a choice?"

Daniel made a face, like he really wanted to argue the point, but in the end he just sighed and said, "Maybe we can come back?"

With a sympathetic clap on his shoulder, the colonel moved past Daniel toward Teal'c. Sam watched him for a moment. "He seems in a better mood," she ventured.

"Yeah," Daniel said with a lift of his eyebrows. "Inexplicably, given the circ.u.mstances." Then he shook himself, dismissing the vagaries of their mercurial leader, and held out his scavenged weapon to Sam. "You take it," he said. "You're the better shot."

She didn't argue. "Thanks, Daniel."

"I'll take point," the colonel said then, handing the third blaster to Teal'c. "Keep an eye on your new buddy, huh?"

Teal'c nodded. "I shall."

The colonel grunted an acknowledgment as he headed for the door. "Carter?" he said, jerking his head toward the door controls. "Do the honors?"

"Yes sir." The door looked heavy and was made of the same organic material as the rest of the s.h.i.+p, but the interface appeared simple enough and, after spending a moment examining it, she was satisfied she could open it without a problem. There was no reason to lock these people in, after all. "Ready, sir?" she said, before she touched anything.

He nodded. "Do it."

She hit the release mechanism and the door slid open, but the materiel felt unpleasant beneath her fingers and she pulled them back quickly, with a muttered exclamation.

"Carter?"

"Nothing sir," she said. "It's just - It feels warm, like it's alive."

He pulled a face, but didn't comment. Glancing each way down the corridor, he made a quick decision and turned left. Daniel, Hunter and then Teal'c slipped out after him, leaving Sam to cover their backs as she followed her team out into the dark corridor beyond.

There was a patch of scrubland outside the entrance to Level 1, just dry gra.s.s and dirt where people sometimes came to smoke.

It was quiet, and right now Makepeace wanted quiet. He lit up a cigarette, taking a long drag as he gazed up at Cheyenne Mountain looming high above them. Just another guy taking a break, getting some air. He threw a casual glance at the guards on duty at the entrance, but no one was watching him, so he turned and walked quickly along the side of NORAD's administrative offices and past the giant fans sucking air down into the mountain complex.

Once he was hidden from view, and the hum and whir of the fans was loud enough to mask his voice from anyone trying to overhear, he stopped and pulled out the cellphone Maybourne had given him. He hit dial and pressed the phone to his ear, squinting against the afternoon sun.

After two rings, Maybourne answered. "You have news?"

Smoke caught in his throat, making his voice scratchy. "We have to stop," he said. "It's gone too far."

There was silence. Then, "What are you talking about?"

"They're coming," he said, dropping his voice. Beneath his boots, the dirt was dry and dusty. "The Goa'uld are coming and our allies won't help us because of what you - What we've done. Maybourne, we screwed up. We have to give back what we stole." He swallowed, ground out the rest. "And we have to give ourselves up."

Another silence.

"Are you listening? We screwed up, Maybourne. We have to fix it before it's too late."

"I never realized," Maybourne said at last, "that you were so short-sighted, Colonel. This is exactly what we wanted."

Makepeace kicked at the hard, compacted earth. "Are you insane? It's an invasion."

"It's a chance to prove our worth," he said. "Are they evacuating Stargate Command?"

"Yes, but I don't know where. There's no Alpha Site set up."

There was a pause, and then Maybourne said, "There's ours."