Hostile Ground Part 18

A shadow fell, the sun dipping behind the top of Cheyenne Mountain. Makepeace pulled on his cigarette to steady himself, blew out smoke. "You're going to tell the Pentagon where it is?"

"I'll suggest the option, so long as it remains under my command."

"Hammond won't accept that. None of them will."

Maybourne laughed. "Where else can they possibly go? The enemy is at the gate, Robert. And I have the key to the only back door."

"Was this your plan?" He licked his lips, knocked ash from the cigarette. "Is this what you wanted all along?"

"We're a little ahead of schedule but, yes," Maybourne said. "We have the means to fight, Robert. We just needed the right incentive for the Pentagon to authorize our tactics." He sounded smug; Makepeace could practically hear him grinning. "And now we have it."

"People will die," he hissed, struggling to keep is voice down. "Unless we stop this, people will die."

"People are already dying," Maybourne snapped. "Or hadn't you noticed the roll of honor at the SGC?"

"I mean civilians. d.a.m.n it, Maybourne, the point of this was to keep the planet safe, not -"

"The point was to take control." Maybourne's voice was shrill. He sounded like a man on the edge. "Fall on your sword if you want to, Robert, but don't expect me to do the same. This is exactly what we've been waiting for and I intend to use the opportunity."

With that, the line went dead. Makepeace stared at the phone for a long moment, then hurled it hard against the wall. The case split and the phone fell, broken, onto the dry ground. He'd been kidding himself to think that Maybourne would hand himself in or give back the tech they'd stolen. He'd see the world burn first.

And what about you? his conscience whispered. Will you hand yourself in, walk up to Hammond and confess? Or will you watch the world burn too?

The question made his chest tighten, his breath constrict, and he knew the answer: he would no more hand himself in than Maybourne would. He lacked O'Neill's propensity for self-sacrifice.

But it didn't mean he wanted to watch the world burn, and something Maybourne said had given him hope: they had an Alpha Site.

Whatever the h.e.l.l this place was, Jack thought sourly, the sooner they were out of it the better. It was damp and smelled bad, a kind of musty odor that stuck in his throat, and it was too d.a.m.n dark to see anything. Not that he wanted to see a lot of the detail, but all these gloomy corridors and shadowy alcoves made the hair stand up on the back of his neck. It didn't help that the alien stunner felt wrong in his hand, too smooth and slightly slimy, and he missed the comforting weight of his MP5.

He slowed as he approached a junction, holding up his hand to stop the others, and listened. There was movement to the right, but it was distant. No voices, though, which was odd. No barked orders, no idle chatter. Nothing.

He beckoned Hunter closer. "Which way?" he whispered.

"We can get out that way," Hunter said, pointing left.

Jack shook his head. "Weapons," he said. "They took our weapons."

Running a hand nervously over his short hair, Hunter said, "Not real smart to go deeper inside."

"No one ever accused me of being smart," Jack said. "You know where our weapons are?"

Hunter shrugged. "Know where they might be. Can't say for sure, though."

"I'll take a maybe." Jack gestured with his stunner toward the intersection. "So, which way?"

"I'll show you," Hunter said, with a pointed look at the weapon. "I ain't gonna run."

Jack gave him a level smile. "Makes me feel better." Then he nodded along the corridor. "Let's go."

Hunter led them on, creeping through the endless corridors. Through one open door Jack saw another room full of pods like those they'd been trapped in. It was a larger room going back so far he couldn't even see the end. He exchanged a glance with Daniel who just gave him a despairing shake of his head.

Whoever, or whatever, these Amam were, they scared the c.r.a.p out of him. And not least because of what they'd tried to do to Carter. He had to fight to keep the memory of her screams out of his head, of that thing's claws buried in her chest; it was too dangerous a distraction from the here and now. But he'd fixed the face of the creature in his mind's eye, and if he ever had the chance he'd pump the b.a.s.t.a.r.d so full of lead he'd look like Swiss cheese. a.s.suming they found their weapons, a.s.suming they ever got out of here alive.

After a while, Hunter called a halt, ducking into a corridor and signaling the others to come closer. "There's a room up ahead," he whispered, "where the s.n.a.t.c.hers bring their discoveries, junk they find outside."

Daniel's eyebrows twitched in interest. "Oh? What kind of junk?"

"Daniel," Jack warned.

"What? I was only asking."

Jack gave him a quelling look, and then turned to Hunter. "You think our weapons might be in there?"

"That'd be my guess. But that place ain't safe, there'll be s.n.a.t.c.hers close by - it's real close to where they do the experiments."

"Experiments?" Carter flung Jack an alarmed look. "What kind of experiments?"

Hunter shrugged. "We ain't figured that out exactly. But they're looking for folk with the right kinda blood."

"Nice." Jack thought for a moment, s.h.i.+fting the alien stunner in his hand. They only had three weapons, none of which were lethal. If they managed to get off the s.h.i.+p, they'd have no real way of defending themselves, no food, water or any of their other gear. And that really wasn't an option. Dangerous though it might be, they had to find their stuff before they escaped. "It's worth the risk," he decided and saw Teal'c give a slight, a.s.senting nod.

Up ahead, a faint blue light drifted around the corner where the corridor snaked away to the left. "Is it down there?" he asked Hunter, s.h.i.+fting his position so he could see more clearly. Whoever built this place didn't go in for straight lines.

"Yup," said Hunter.

"Okay, let's check it out."

When they reached the corner, Jack peered around the edge and saw that the light was coming from a side corridor a little further up. He could hear noises too, footsteps in the distance. It was worth checking out, but not worth risking everyone.

He pulled back around the corner and whispered, "Teal'c, stay here with the others. Wait for five minutes, then follow if you don't hear trouble. Carter, with me."

They crept forward in silence. The corridor was empty, although the sounds of movement were louder now. He threw a questioning look at Carter, to see if she'd heard it, and she nodded, gesturing up ahead. She was right; the noise wasn't coming from the direction of the light. But it was close.

At the point where the corridor branched off, he stopped and poked his head around the corner. The corridor beyond was empty so he gestured for Carter to follow. Hugging the wall, they headed toward the light spilling from what turned out to be an open doorway. Jack slowed as they got closer, coming to a halt a couple meters away, Carter so close behind him he could hear her quiet breathing. There was sound coming from the room too, the soft hum and whir of technology that reminded him of every lab or control room in the galaxy. Crouching, ignoring the protest of his right knee, he edged closer and snuck a look inside.

The place was crammed with junk, weird machines and strange amorphous screens that glowed with a sickly yellow light. It was a technology like nothing he'd ever seen before, which was no surprise on this freaky-a.s.sed s.h.i.+p. On the plus side, the room appeared to be clear of bad guys - for now. Slowly, he stood up again and gestured for Carter to stay put. He took a breath, centered his concentration, and turned sharply into the room, trying to cover all directions at once.

Definitely no bad guys and, even better, he could see their gear dumped in a heap against the far wall. He let out a short sigh of relief and poked his head back out to summon Carter. Her weapon was aimed right at his head and he held up a hand in mock surrender. "Easy," he murmured, although he didn't blame her for twitchy reflexes.

Her expression was taut as she lowered her weapon. "Sorry sir."

He waved her apology away. "Come on," he said, and headed back inside. "You're gonna love this."

There was so much stuff in the lab he couldn't really take it all in, and as Carter followed him inside her eyes went wide. "Oh, wow."

"I knew you'd say that."

Jack covered the door, while Carter went over and collected her weapons and the rest of her kit. "Sir," she said, while she pulled on her tac vest, "I know we're just here for our stuff, but it's possible we could find something even more useful..."

"Such as a way to open the Stargate?"

"Maybe." She flashed him a quick smile. "I won't know unless I look."

"You've got five minutes," he said, resisting a smile of his own.

"Yes sir." Jamming the alien weapon into her belt, she got down to work.

One shoulder wedged against the doorway, Jack stood watch while Carter poked about in the lab. After a couple of minutes, he saw Teal'c peer cautiously around the end of the corridor. Jack lifted his hand in greeting as the others approached. "Hunter was right," he said. "All our gear's in here."

"Well that's lucky," Daniel said, sounding dubious. "Why does it make me feel like something's about to go horribly wrong?"

"Bitter experience?"

"Yep, that'll be it."

Hunter shook his head. "You can't be dawdling here," he said, glancing nervously back down the corridor. "Ain't safe."

"Here," Jack said, offering Hunter the Amam's weapon. "Take this. It'll make you feel better."

"O'Neill?" The slight question in Teal'c's voice was enough to suggest disapproval.

Jack shot him a look. "My enemy's enemy, Teal'c." He turned back to Hunter, layering his words with a tone of command. "He's not gonna hand us over to the zombies."

Hunter glanced down at the weapon, then up at Jack before he reached out and took it. "You can trust me."

For now, maybe. But he couldn't keep his gaze from the symbol Hunter wore on his forehead and all he said was, "Cover the corridor while I get my gear." He didn't have to ask Teal'c to stay with him.

While they took position at the door, Jack followed Daniel into the lab and retrieved his vest and weapons, leaving his pack until they were about to move out. He was relieved to see that nothing had been tampered with and he felt a h.e.l.l of a lot better being properly armed again.

"Wow," Daniel said as he shrugged on his tac vest, "this place is amazing."

"Reminds me of your office," Jack said, glancing around the cluttered s.p.a.ce. "Full of junk."

"Or fascinating artifacts and highly advanced alien technology?" Daniel suggested absently, his attention already caught by something he'd seen.

In the center of the lab was a bank of consoles where Carter stood gazing at something with her usual intent focus. Around the edges of the room, on a kind of work bench, there were numerous gizmos and gadgets, some of which were taken apart. Most looked as bizarre and creepy as the rest of the s.h.i.+p, but a few were more familiar and some were definitely Goa'uld. He spotted a disa.s.sembled zat on the far end of the bench and reached out to pick it up, turning it over in his hands.

"Daniel?" Carter said, glancing up from the console. "Do you recognize this language? At least, I'm a.s.suming it's a language..."

Daniel was on the other side of the lab, but he headed gamely over to where Carter stood and peered at the screen. "Oh, it's definitely a language," he said with sudden interest. "Okay, wow, this is fascinating."

"It is?"

"Ah, yes. Yes, very."

As Daniel bent closer to the screen, Jack glanced down at the zat in his hands. It looked beyond repair, at least beyond his skill, and he dumped it on the bench and headed back to the door. "Teal'c," he said, "go get your stuff."

Back braced against the doorframe, he kept one eye on the corridor and one on Hunter. "You've been here before?" Jack guessed.

Hunter nodded, but kept his gaze fixed on the corridor behind Jack. "We're collecting intel," he said. "On the s.n.a.t.c.hers."

"Intel?" Jack said, surprised by the word.

"For Hecate," Hunter explained.

"Right." For the Goa'uld - it was important to remember who he was dealing with here.

"Huh," Daniel said suddenly, standing up straight behind the console. "That's unexpected."

Jack waited for him to elaborate, but he either forgot he'd spoken out loud or got distracted, because he was bending over the screen again, squinting at the text. Jack glanced at Carter, who just gave a small shake of her head and a shrug.

"Daniel," Jack said. "What does it say?"

"Oh," Daniel glanced up over the tops of his gla.s.ses. "Ah, I can't actually read it."

Jack's eyebrows rose. "You can't read it?"

"No."

"And yet... ?" He gestured toward the console. "'Unexpected', you say?"

Daniel nodded. "Yes, I definitely wasn't expecting the language to be a derivative of Ancient."

"Ancient?" Carter echoed in surprise. "Really?"

"Oh yeah," Daniel nodded. "Without a doubt. Ancient was its root language - a long time ago, obviously."

"Obviously." Jack ran a hand through his hair, trying to quell his frustration. "So, what, these are some kind of flesh-eating zombie Ancients, now?"

"I have no idea," Daniel said, with obvious delight.

"Okay." He took a breath. "Carter?"

"I can't interrogate the database, sir. There's data streaming, but the interface isn't responding." She grimaced in annoyance. "I'm sorry, sir. I don't think there's anything here that can help us open the gate."

He acknowledged what he'd suspected with a nod. Not what he wanted to hear but there was no point in wasting time on a dead end. He headed back inside to get his pack. "Right," he said, "we'll move out and -"

"Wait!" Daniel's head was tipped to one side as he squinted at the screen. "Just - Okay, wait, I might have something. Huh..."

He'd disappeared down the rabbit hole again, but Jack figured they could spare a couple of minutes. If anyone could figure it out, it would be Daniel. "Two minutes," he warned him, slinging his pack over one shoulder. "And then we're outa here."

If he heard, Daniel didn't respond. Jack glanced at his watch, marking the time: he wasn't joking about the two minutes.

It was evening back home, he noted. The sun would probably be setting. Hard to imagine, in this place, that home was still out there, that its billions of people were still running about oblivious to the threat they faced from so inconceivably far away. Hard to imagine that he'd been one of them, once. Oblivious.

Perhaps because he was thinking of home, something on the cluttered lab bench caught his eye. Was that... ? He peered closer. It was. Half buried beneath something that might, once, have been a Goa'uld hand device he saw a familiar symbol: Earth. Reaching out, he knocked the debris away to reveal a small, square block that looked like it could have been made out of polished soapstone. Five of its sides were smooth and blank, and the only thing on the sixth side was the symbol for Earth. Weird, he thought, that it would be here. But then he remembered the girl, Elspeth, with the symbol tattooed on her arm. Resistance, she'd called it, a symbol of rebellion.

"Okay," Daniel said behind him, talking to Carter, "so the thing is, I don't think this is actually a spoken language at all. The syntax is impossible..."