Hostile Ground Part 19

Jack peered more closely at the cube. It looked harmless enough so he touched it, smooth stone beneath his fingertips. He picked it up.

"Anyway," Daniel was saying, "if I'm right then I think this, here in the corner, translates roughly as 'schematic'."

"That's a map?" Carter said, sounding dubious.

Jack glanced up at them, turning the block over in his hands. "A map of the s.h.i.+p?"

"Well, it's not Vegas," Daniel said, one eyebrow lifted.

"Funny." He nodded toward the console. "Can you see a DHD on there?"

"Just give us a minute..."

"I don't see it," Carter said shaking her head. "How is that a map?"

"Think of it more like an anatomical diagram of the body."

Both he and Carter were bent over the screen now. "Oh! Okay, so we're here?" Carter said, pointing. "That's - Wait. Are those life signs?"

Jack glanced over at Teal'c, who was back at the door with Hunter. "You see anything?"

"No," Teal'c said quietly, though he held his staff weapon ready for use. "I have seen nothing, O'Neill."

"That don't mean they're not coming," Hunter cautioned. "They can be real quiet. We should go."

Hunter's unease was contagious, but Jack schooled himself to be patient. They'd found a map and if there was a DHD they'd find that too. Maybe, at last, their luck was changing; maybe they'd get home after all.

Turning the block over in his hand, he traced his thumb over the Earth symbol with a sudden, intent longing. It felt cool and smooth to the touch but he wasn't expecting it to move beneath his thumb, for the symbol to slide slowly inward until it was flush with the rest of the cube's surface. "Oops."

Daniel looked up. "What 'oops'?"

"Probably nothing," he said, just at the moment a beam of white light shot up into the air and expanded into a giant holographic image of Earth. Then a female voice started talking - very loudly - in a singsong language he didn't understand. The lightshow filled the room and, almost certainly, the corridor beyond.

"Sir, shut it off!" Carter said in alarm, staring at the screen. "They're moving!"

He prodded at the block but nothing happened. "I'm trying!"

"What did you do?" Daniel asked, hurrying around the bank of computers.

"Nothing, I just -"

"O'Neill!" Teal'c shouted, backing into the lab in the face of a ma.s.sive Amam. He opened fire immediately, but the staff blast just bounced off the thing as if it was s.h.i.+elded. It paused for a moment, head swiveling from side to side as it scanned the room, searching for something. Or someone, as it turned out. Its eyes fixed on Jack and it began to stalk toward him.

"Ah, okay," he said, taking a step backward.

Carter got off a couple more shots, but they just ricocheted away, sending Teal'c diving for cover.

"Hold your fire!" Jack barked. The room was too small for a semiautomatic.

Slowly, he backed up. He was trapped at the back of the lab between the bank of computers and the bench. He looked around for a way out, but there was nothing. And the creature was bearing down fast.

"Sonofab.i.t.c.h," Jack growled, pulling out his handgun. But the Amam slammed its hand down on his wrist and knocked the weapon from his fingers, sending a bolt of pain shooting up into his shoulder. "G.o.d..." That hurt.

Then the Amam seized his other wrist, holding it up close to its face as it stared at the block Jack was still clutching. The skewed, revolving image of Earth cast eerie shadows as it turned across the creature's face, but it didn't seem to notice as it gazed at the cube.

Behind it, over its shoulder, Jack could see the door was clear. The others could escape. He threw a look at Daniel who just shook his head in refusal. No.

So he glared at Carter instead, until she reluctantly nodded, grabbed Daniel's arm and hissed something into his ear as she pulled him toward the door. She knew, as well as Jack did, that backup would be on its way. They only had a few seconds.

Sure enough, at that moment, Teal'c stepped out into the corridor and fired several times back the way they'd come. "Major Carter," he yelled. "We must go."

Hunter joined him, glancing the opposite way along the corridor. "Come on! It's clear this way."

The creature holding Jack turned its head, but it didn't look concerned and its grip on Jack's wrist tightened further. His fingers were starting to go numb.

Too late for subtlety he yelled, "Carter, get them outa here!"

"Sir..." She looked torn.

"Just go!" There was only one way this was ending for him. "Find a way home."

Stricken, she turned, pus.h.i.+ng Daniel ahead of her into the corridor as Teal'c covered their retreat.

The Amam didn't follow, as Jack had hoped it might, it just turned back to him, studying him like a hungry man might study a juicy steak.

"I warn you," he said. "I haven't bathed in days. I'm not gonna taste any good."

Ignoring him, the creature tightened its hold on Jack's wrist. He spat out a pain-filled curse and the block dropped from his fingers. Its light died as soon as it left his hand and the Amam watched it fall to the floor with apparent fascination. Then it looked back at O'Neill, head c.o.c.ked to one side in a curiously human gesture. "You are Lantean," it said, forming the words precisely.

"I'm what, now?"

It bared its teeth. Maybe it was smiling. "You are of use."

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.

George Hammond had told himself that the current situation was just about as bad as it could get. He'd been wrong. He hadn't factored in the appearance of the man now standing in his office, but perhaps that was due to his own short-sightedness: vultures always circled while the carrion was still kicking.

"What do you want, Maybourne?"

Without waiting for an invitation, Colonel Harold Maybourne sat down in the chair opposite, tossing his hat onto Hammond's desk. "I'd say a more appropriate question would be 'what is it you want, General?'"

Hammond took a breath, biting back the reply that sprang to his lips. The worst thing you could do with men like Maybourne was play their game. "Can we dispense with the obfuscation, Harold? I have a planet to defend."

"Yes, I had heard that." Maybourne leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs. Though his expression was solemn, self-satisfaction radiated from him in waves; Hammond could practically smell it. "The situation, I believe, is grave."

"And how would you know about that?"

"I have sources."

"Not official ones. You are so far from this chain of intel, Maybourne, you might as well be shucking corn back in Iowa. So I'll ask again, how would you know about that?"

By rights, Hammond knew he should be sticking to the eyes-only directive for the current situation, but he couldn't resist prodding Maybourne, shaking him up a little to see what fell out. Besides, he was neither confirming nor denying anything. And by the looks of it, his little test had worked. Maybourne s.h.i.+fted in his seat, eyes flitting to the side as he realized he'd given away more than he should.

You think you're a big player in this game, thought Hammond. Son, you're nothing but Little League.

But the colonel made an admirable attempt to recover. "I think, General, that we should focus on what's important here. The Earth is in trouble and something has to be done. I don't believe I'm speaking out of turn when I say that I may be the one to do it."

At that, Hammond's fraying temper almost snapped. Only one last tenuous thread held it together and that thread told him there was hope yet, that, against the odds, SG-1 might still make it back and put this whole d.a.m.n thing to bed. A tiny fragment of hope, but there it was.

To reveal anything else to Maybourne at this stage would be unwise. But Maybourne, it seemed, was less circ.u.mspect.

"General, I've succeeded where Jack O'Neill failed. I've been able to set up an off-world base. An Alpha Site, if you will. Just say the word and we can begin evacuation immediately." He cleared his throat and had the good grace to look mildly uncomfortable. "Of course, there would need to be a... discussion about the chain of command. My people, however, have already proven more than resourceful in establis.h.i.+ng an efficient operation. If you were to speak to the Presidenta"

"Now just wait one d.a.m.n minute, you slick son of a ba"

"No, General, I've already waited long enough. We all have. This entire planet has done nothing but wait, and now it's about to pay the price. That gate isn't simply an on-ramp for the intergalactic highway, George. It's a weapon. You and your teams might be happy to take your little hearts and minds trips around the galaxy, smiling at the locals, while the Asgard and the Tollan and the Tok'ra pull the strings and play you like puppets. But there are factions who believe that more... robust measures need to be taken to ensure the safety of this planet. You had a duty of care, General, and you failed. If we're waiting on anything, it's for the other shoe to drop."

Enough was enough. To h.e.l.l with eyes-only, to h.e.l.l with playing the cards carefully, this idiot had just pulled on Hammond's one remaining thread. "You've got some d.a.m.n nerve, Maybourne. You come in here and tell me how your people can save us? Do you have any idea why we're in this position? It's because of your people and what they've done. They've lied and they've stolen and they've turned our allies against us. You and your people put Earth in danger, and you've done so in the most underhanded way possible. Don't you dare accuse me of failing this planet; the blame falls firmly on your shoulders."

"The blame, sir, falls with the SGC and your command. The blame falls with your flags.h.i.+p team, always ready to play the heroes and take the glory. So tell me, General, where is SG-1 now? Where are your heroes?"

At that, Hammond rose to his feet, leaning forward and bracing himself on his desk. The lacquered walnut felt st.u.r.dy and solid beneath his knuckles. Maybourne met his eyes, but Hammond could see the unease there; you didn't get two stars on your shoulder without knowing how to intimidate. "I could have you arrested, Maybourne. One call and they'd bury you so deep you'd never see daylight again."

He feigned unconcern, but Hammond could see a s.h.i.+mmer of sweat on his forehead. "On what evidence?"

"You just confessed."

"Your word against mine, General. Besides, right now, I'd say your word doesn't stack up to a whole lot." Maybourne gave a serpent's smile. "You need to face facts, sir. SG-1 isn't coming back and you'll have to look elsewhere for salvation. That's exactly what I'm here to offer."

There was truth in what Maybourne had to say, of course. Hammond wasn't fool enough to deny the predicament they were in. There was a storm coming, a howling blue-norther ready to rip the very ground from beneath their feet. But Hammond would not allow a snake like Maybourne to have the upper hand. "Let me tell you a few things, Maybourne," he said. "First of all, I'd rather jump in a hand basket and ride it straight to h.e.l.l than accept any help from you. Secondly, you may accept that the end of the world is a foregone conclusion, but I like to think that the human race has something left to fight for, and I sure as h.e.l.l won't be giving up any time soon." He rounded the desk and picked up Maybourne's hat. "And lastly, I don't care if G.o.d has opened the heavens and unleashed the seven plagues of Egypt upon these lands; I am still a general in the United States Air Force while you're nothing but a p.i.s.sant colonel. So when you enter my office you stand to attention until I say the words 'at ease'. Forget that again, Colonel, and I'll haul you up for insubordination and make sure you spend your last hours on this earth cleaning the filthiest toilet in Leavenworth."

Maybourne stood up as Hammond spoke, keeping the chair as a barrier between them. "You couldn't," he said.

"That phone doesn't dial Pizza Hut, son." Hammond held out the hat. "Now get the h.e.l.l out of my office and off my base."

Maybourne took his hat, clearly struggling not to s.n.a.t.c.h it. "You hide behind this good ol' boy bl.u.s.ter all you want, General," he said, "but sooner or later you'll realize that I'm your last hope."

"Get out, Maybourne." He nodded to the two airmen waiting outside his office. "Make sure the colonel leaves the base without incident."

As Mayborne stomped out the door, he shouldered past Harriman, who'd just come running up from the control room. One glance at the sergeant's face and Maybourne was forgotten.

"What is it, Walter?"

"It's not good, sir. At just after 0900, a s.h.i.+p came out of hypers.p.a.ce, just beyond the Kuiper belt. And then another and then -" He shook his head and swallowed. "General, Apophis's fleet has entered the solar system."

CHAPTER NINETEEN.

Teal'c took the rear as they made their retreat, Hunter leading them on a frenzied sprint through the s.h.i.+p's winding corridors. There appeared to be no direction to their flight, but there was no time to question it. He must trust their new ally.

Teal'c laid down a series of covering blasts, a few of them finding their target, but their pursuers were strong and difficult to kill. Just when he thought he had felled the last of them, he heard quick footsteps echoing along the corridor down which they had just fled. They were far from safe.

Major Carter drew to a halt suddenly, causing Teal'c to collide with her, back to back. "Major Carter, we must keep moving!" But when he looked over his shoulder in the direction they were running, he saw why she had stopped. The door ahead was sealed.

"Hunter?" she hissed. "Now what?"

"We gotta get through that door."

But at that moment three Amam rounded the corner behind them, no more than twenty meters away.

"Major Carter," Teal'c said, warning her.

She turned. "d.a.m.n it."

The Amam stopped and a.s.sessed the situation, sniffing the air. Hunters, with their prey cornered. Teal'c could sense their triumph. He raised his weapon, Daniel Jackson and Major Carter doing likewise. Prey, or not, they would not succ.u.mb without a fight.

As one, the Amam lifted their weapons and began to stalk toward them.

"On my mark," Major Carter said. Her voice was tense but steady. "Three of them, three of us."

But suddenly a figure darted forward, low to the ground. Hunter. In his hand he held a metallic egg-shaped object, which, with a quick twist, he hurled down the corridor. There was a moment of silence, as the Amam watched the object sail towards them. Recognizing the weapon, Teal'c knew the outcome before it landed and cried out, "Cover!" He pulled Daniel Jackson to the ground, trusting that Major Carter would share his instinct.

The grenade went off, showering them with debris and what may possibly have been Amam body parts, but he did not look back to find out, for the door now stood open and the four of them fled into daylight. Hunter had fulfilled his promise.

"Keep going!" Hunter cried as they ran. "Into the trees!"

Teal'c looked back once, but there was no pursuit. Only the s.h.i.+p loomed behind them, alive and threatening, like a beast ready to swallow them back up.

The grenade had given them time, but they could not stop.

"Hunter?" he shouted as they ran. They were blind now, no sense of direction beneath the heavy sky, no destination even had they known the direction in which they were running. Everything relied on Hunter.

"This way," he replied, breathless but showing no signs of slowing.