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Acquisition
by Kikkimax
"Jaffa!" the old woman exclaimed, eyes flashing
yellow with excitement as her faithful servant Oba led the stranger into the
throne room.
"Mistress," came the deep rumble in reply as the
dark man bowed his head briefly after the slightest hesitation. "I am
honored."
He swept back one side of the floor length cape to
reveal a well-built body shrouded in expensive attire. The firelight danced
across the golden emblem on his forehead and Leetha wondered when she had
last seen such a stunning sight. She sighed, luxuriating in the sound of her
mother tongue for the first time in decades.
"Tell me news of your master," Leetha requested in
kind as she leaned forward in anticipation. It had been so very, very long
since news of any interest had trickled back to her, exiled as she was on
the desolate, backwater planet.
"Apophis is no more," the Jaffa informed her without
remorse.
Dull eyes flashed again, this time with anger.
"Apophis is a god," she declared fiercely, tapping the gold tipped fingers
of her right hand on the arm of the throne.
The Jaffa glanced around casually, taking in the
elaborate furnishing and the homely, plainly dressed servants surrounding
the perimeter of the large room. He subtly caressed the middle of the staff
weapon in his hand, twitching fingers ever so slightly along the firing
mechanism. He was supple and strong, no doubt his reflexes and training were
superior to any threat Leetha or her servants might pose. And they both knew
it. When his eyes once again met hers there was no fear, only a warning; a
warning which she heeded by leaning back in her ornate chair and relaxing
her hand.
"He was not," the former first prime intoned calmly
leveling a malevolent glare at her. "As you most certainly are aware."
"Leave us," the Goa’uld snapped peevishly,
dismissing their audience of curious but ignorant slaves, even knowing they
couldn’t understand a word that was said between her and the visitor. "What
do you want?" she asked warily when the large doors were pulled shut behind
Oba, the last reluctant-to-leave servant.
"I am here to serve, Mistress," the Jaffa declared.
"In search of a god?" Leetha asked mockingly. It had
been a long time since any Jaffa had been in her service. Too long.
"A false god? No. Never again," the large man
growled. "But I have no wish to dissuade those foolish enough to worship
you," he assured in a more civil tone. "In fact, I can help you to regain
some of your fallen status. It is my understanding that you wish to make an
acquisition."
"And how would you know this?" Leetha questioned
suspiciously as she rose and made her way down the steps with a grace that
belied her age.
"I came upon a band of Tau’ri who spoke of it," he
explained, "after proper persuasion of course. They visited your planet some
time ago."
"I see," Leetha replied, moving around the Jaffa,
trailing a gnarled hand suggestively up over his shoulder and back. Visitors
were few and far between, and she well remembered the Tau’ri. "The young
male, do you still possess him? I might be willing to work something out for
that one."
"Unfortunately, no. Although I was able to extract
much information from him, ultimately, he did not survive the
interrogation."
"Pity," the old woman sighed as she made her way
slowly back around to the steps leading up to the throne dais.
"However, I am in possession of another human male
you might find acceptable. He is also young and strong, guaranteed to bring
you many years of service."
"Really," the Goa’uld muttered disinterestedly as
she climbed the steps back to her seat. She had so wanted a distraction,
something pretty. "I have no need of further field slaves. This planet
breeds them like rodents, each generation uglier and dumber than the last,"
Leetha spat out in contempt before brooding for several minutes in silence.
"Is he clean?" she asked at last coming back on topic.
"Indeed. He has never toiled in the field."
"Intelligent?" Leetha asked hopefully, not able to
completely hide the small spark of interest the Jaffa had kindled.
"This Tau’ri is a learned scholar, literate in many
languages. His former master was well pleased with him."
Leetha waved her hand dismissively as she dropped
back into her throne, deciding to be difficult. She was certain the man only
said what she wanted to hear, and just as certain she would end up
disillusioned.
The Jaffa knelt on one knee; in no way subservient
but making an effort to appease her. When he spoke his voice was soft,
seductive, a knowing smile forming on his lips. "This human is very fair to
look upon. His skin is smooth, the color of honey and his cerulean eyes
clear and bright. His shoulders are broad and strong, yet his soul gentle,
his demeanor sweet. I believe he might be what you are looking for in a…
companion."
With a jerk of her head Leetha stared deep into the
ebony eyes, but didn’t protest his assessment of her intentions. Taking the
risk of being made a fool by the dark stranger, Leetha came to a decision.
"Bring him before me," she commanded coolly.
"This one will cost you much," the Jaffa warned,
allowing his eyes to linger on the hieroglyphs that decorated the wall
behind the throne.
The Goa’uld nodded. "If he is as you say, I will
reward you richly," she promised. "But do not disappoint me."
The large man bowed deeply. "I shall return in two
days time," he replied as he rose to leave.
"Stay for the evening meal," the lonely old woman
requested urgently, desperate to hear anything of interest. Never would she
have believed the day would come when she would have a mere Jaffa to dine as
an honored guest. In spite of her riches, her power was all but gone, save
for what sway she held over the local population. The boredom through the
years had eased into a steady, comforting blur of time passing, but now,
after a taste of clever conversation and a glance at a face not marred by
time or a life of slow drudgery, now she longed for something more.
"Teal’c back yet?" Daniel asked with an edge of
anxiety in his voice as he entered the control room.
"Not yet," Jack sighed, rubbing his face with one
hand before looking up. He lifted the Styrofoam cup in his other hand to his
lips before he realized it was empty. With a grunt he disposed of it by
tossing it toward the nearby trashcan, falling short by several inches.
"This was a bad idea," Daniel complained as he bent
to retrieve the cup and absently place it in the receptacle. "I should have
just gone with him."
"Come on, Daniel," Jack harangued. "We both know
Teal’c can hold his own against one creepy old Goa’uld. This place is far
enough out that nobody should know him. Besides, SG-5 might have been wrong
about what they thought they saw anyway. At least this way Teal’c can check
it out and make sure it’s worth the risk before we proceed with this
cockamamie plan."
"I don’t think they were wrong. It seems likely that
this planet is an abandoned stronghold of Ra. In fact it was probably some
sort of technological or armaments warehouse," Daniel settled comfortably
into the old argument, wrapping his arms around his chest. "From what they
were able to video tape before the ruler tried to buy Grogan, I’d say we may
actually find some type of weapon against the Goa’uld."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Jack groused. "But why would
this ruler decorate his lair with instructions that explain how to kill
him?"
"Her," Daniel corrected offhandedly. "I don’t know,
but from SG-5’s description, I’m not even sure this is a Goa’uld."
"Glowing eyes? Resonant voice? Hand device? Hello?"
Jack mocked. "Any of this ringing a bell?"
"Jack, they said she was old and ugly. Goa’uld are
vain by nature. Or hadn’t you noticed?"
"So?"
"So, have you ever seen an ugly Goa’uld? Or an old
one? Well, except for Apophis after Sokar got his hands on him… but they
choose their hosts because of their looks, right? And then they keep them
young for hundreds of years. Possibly thousands."
"Maybe this one doesn’t have a sarcophagus," Jack
pointed out reasonably.
"So why doesn’t she just take a new host?"
"I don’t know, Daniel, but I’ll bet you money we’re
looking at another damn snake here."
"Teal’c back yet?" Carter interrupted as she walked
into the control room just as the klaxon went off.
"Off world activation," Sergeant Davis announced.
"It’s SG-1’s code."
"He’s ringing the bell now," Jack answered Sam
merrily as he rose to his feet. "Let him in, Sergeant," he ordered in
Hammond’s stead as the general hadn’t made it down the stairs yet.
"Yes, sir. Opening the iris," Davis confirmed as he
placed his palm on the iris control. Jack quickly turned and followed Daniel
and Sam to the gateroom.
General Hammond joined them at the foot of the ramp
just as the blue light rippled and Teal’c stepped through, his long cape
cascading regally behind him.
"Were you successful, son?" Hammond asked.
"Indeed. The ruler of PX7-343 wishes to examine the
merchandise."
"Did you see the wall?" Daniel asked excitedly,
pretending not to notice when Jack flinched at the news.
"Yes," Teal’c said solemnly, "but the dialect is
archaic and I was unable to decipher it in the short time I was in the
throne room."
"But you were able to get more out of it than SG-5
taped?" Sam interjected hopefully.
Teal’c nodded briefly. "I believe the text tells of
an accident while testing a weapon that killed the Jaffa on the planet
without harming the native peoples."
"A biological agent," Jack guessed.
"Perhaps. Ra escaped leaving his consort and an army
of Jaffa to die."
"You don’t think there’s any danger to Teal’c?"
Daniel asked in concern, turning to Sam.
"This event occurred over three hundred years ago,
Daniel Jackson," Teal’c assured. "I feel no ill affects."
"Still, I’d like Dr. Fraiser to have a look at you,
then we can debrief," General Hammond ordered.
Teal’c nodded his assent.
"The consort must have somehow survived," Sam
suggested. "And now she’s ruling the planet."
"So the consort?" Jack asked casting a glance at
Daniel. "Snake or no snake?"
"Leetha," Teal’c intoned, "is Goa’uld."
"Ha! Snake," Jack exclaimed smugly. "Wait a minute?
Litha? As in… Litha Thimpthon?"
"Jack," the general warned, shaking his head
wearily.
"Thorry, thir," Jack mumbled unrepentantly as he
ducked his head.
"I’ll see you all in the briefing room in an hour,"
Hammond replied with a sigh and headed for his office.
"So she wants to see our Danny, huh?" Jack asked
with a leer. "How’d you swing that?"
Teal’c exuded an air of self-satisfaction. "I
informed her that the goods I possess are both vic ton ecta’l and karel."
Jack turned to watch Daniel quickly puzzle out the
words before his face clouded over, a slight flush coming to his cheeks.
"I am not!" Daniel declared indignantly.
"Why? What’s Carl?" Jack asked.
Teal’c all but smiled as he raised an eyebrow at the
glare Daniel shot him. "It means… sweet," Daniel mumbled, crossing his arms
over his chest and directing his gaze at the floor.
"Sweet? Nope, definitely not," Jack agreed amicably.
"And victim whatever?"
Daniel sighed and looked up at Teal’c pleadingly.
"How am I supposed to live up to vic ton ecta’l?" he asked.
"I believe you are up to the task, Daniel Jackson."
"Daniel?" Jack prodded, raising an eyebrow in
perfect imitation of his larger friend.
Daniel frowned. "Loosely translated it means
something like ‘hot babe’ I suppose," he explained unhappily.
Jack and Sam broke into laughter as Teal’c nodded
his approval of the translation.
"Et tu, Sam?" Daniel asked dejectedly.
"We have much to discuss," Teal’c declared as he
strode out the door to head to the infirmary, his cape trailing in a
flutter. "Come, karel."
"Come, Carl," Jack repeated before following,
leaving Daniel to glare at his back.
"I think you’re a hot babe, Daniel," Sam confided to
him just short of a giggle as she followed the colonel.
48 hours later
"You know," Jack mused as he paced under the control
room window, "maybe I should go, too. Teal’c can claim a two for one sale or
something. Better yet, he could just take me."
"It wouldn’t work, sir," Sam replied offhandedly,
having heard the dispute enough over the last two days to quote either of
her teammates verbatim.
"Why not? I can be Carl. Or don’t you think I could
pass for a hot babe?"
"It’s not that, Colonel, believe me," Carter
appeased quickly, struggling to keep a grin off her face. "But last I heard,
you can’t read Goa’uld."
Jack grunted. "I could sneak in a camcorder and film
the rest of the wall and Daniel could just translate it when I got back.
Besides, Teal’c said it was archaic and I’m betting even Daniel will have to
finish it up in his office knee deep in reference books."
Sam studied her CO intently for several seconds
noting the uncharacteristic anxiety in his eyes. "Sir?" she asked quietly,
packing a lot of meaning into the one word.
"I don’t know," Jack admitted grudgingly. "I just
have a bad feeling about this one. You know how Daniel gets around Goa’ulds.
He’ll be toast before breakfast."
"Sir," Sam objected, "Daniel has enough sense not to
get himself killed over some off-the-cuff insult."
"I know," Jack assured her firmly. "Just tell me why
this feels so wrong?"
Sam was spared answering as Teal’c swept through the
open blast door.
"Big T, you were born to wear a cape," Jack greeted,
trying to shake off the tension he felt mounting. "It must be the shoulders;
gives you that Superman look."
"Thank you, O’Neill," Teal’c said with a pleased nod
of his head.
"So, you’re sure about the security of this place?"
Jack questioned again.
"Indeed. As I have said, I encountered no Jaffa. The
only servants in attendance appeared quite docile."
"And the old lady?"
"Although Leetha did possess a ribbon device, she
made only a token gesture with it."
"Well, if she had any power in the first place, she
never would have offered to buy Grogan if she wanted him," Sam reasoned.
"She would have just taken him and killed the rest of his team."
"True. I realize Daniel shouldn’t have any problem
getting away on his own," Jack agreed trying to sound casual. "We shouldn’t
even have to go in and get him. Unless she puts him in irons or something,"
he corrected. "What?" he asked noticing Sam’s expression change as he spoke.
"I was just thinking…"
"And?"
"Teal’c? SG-5 said the inhabitants of the planet
didn’t appear to be completely human. They reported somewhat elongated
foreheads, wide set eyes, and short, nubby fingers."
"I concur."
"Yeah," Jack added. "So?"
"So even if they are humanoid, they obvious have
some physiological differences. What if they just aren’t suitable hosts for
some reason?"
"And you’re just thinking of this now?"
"Sorry I’m late," Daniel said breathlessly as he
charged into the room. "Doctor Fraiser held me up. She wouldn’t let me leave
after my pre-mission exam. One of the nurses had a camera…" He struggled to
straighten the shirt he had pulled on hurriedly. "What?" he asked when he
finally looked up and noticed the open mouthed stares from two of his
teammates.
"Whoa!" Sam exclaimed. "Hot babe is right. No wonder
they didn’t want you to leave the infirmary."
"You’re not going anywhere looking like that," Jack
admonished as he reached over to lace up the front of Daniel’s pale blue
linen shirt.
"Too much?" Daniel questioned ingenuously as he
looked down at the tight brown trousers tucked into buckskin boots, blinking
again to ease the discomfort of the contact lenses. "The tanning bed was
Sam’s idea. And the highlights," he indicated his slightly blonder hair with
a hand.
Sam shrugged as Jack shot her a dirty look. "Just
trying to help, sir," she said with a sheepish grin. "You’ve got to admit it
brings out his eyes."
"I am certain Leetha will be most pleased with your
appearance, Daniel Jackson," Teal’c intoned solemnly as he reached into the
bag he carried and produced a pair of manacles and a section of chain.
"Oh for Pete’s sake," Jack complained, turning his
head away as Teal’c fastened the cuffs in place. "Do you have to do that?"
"Is there a problem, Colonel?" General Hammond asked
as he joined them in the gateroom.
"I’d just like to go on record, again, as saying
‘this is a bad idea’, sir," Jack stated, looking over his shoulder with
a grimace as Teal’c connected the chain to the manacles now tightly
encompassing Daniel’s wrists.
"Noted," Hammond acknowledged with a nod. "Doctor
Jackson?"
"I’m fine with the plan, sir. I don’t think this is
any more dangerous than any other time we go through the gate. I trust
Teal’c’s assessment of the situation. Besides, Leetha may not even want to
buy me."
"Yeah, right," Sam muttered, refusing to meet the
colonel’s glare.
"What if she’s looking for a new host, Daniel?" Jack
blurted out. "Say a young, healthy human male?"
A slight frown creased Daniel’s forehead as if he
hadn’t thought of that particular scenario. "I suppose that’s possible," he
mused quietly. "But if that were the case, why didn’t she take one of SG-5?
And this could be a lead to the type of weapon we’ve been searching for. I
think it’s worth the risk."
Hammond nodded again. "Very well, Doctor. You have a
go." He turned and signaled the control room and almost immediately the
inner track of the stargate began to spin.
"Chevron one engaged," Davis announced.
"Just keep your head down," Jack advised turning to
Daniel and tightening the laces of his shirt even more. "And mind your
manners."
"Yes, mom," Daniel answered with a straight face.
"One way or the other I’ll see you in twenty-four hours."
"That’s the plan," Jack agreed thumping Daniel on
the back. "And I mean it, no snake baiting."
Sam squeezed past the colonel to get an awkward,
chains-in-the-way hug as the chevrons continued to light up one by one. "Be
careful," she advised.
"Are you ready, Daniel Jackson?" Teal’c asked as the
seventh chevron locked and the rushing wormhole advanced and retreated.
Daniel nodded and accepted the loosely woven bag
Teal’c handed him. He waved over his shoulder with his empty hand as Teal’c
led him up the ramp.
"Remember, the only safe sex is no sex," Jack called
out after him. Daniel shot him a longsuffering glance as he disappeared into
the event horizon.
The stargate was a short distance from Leetha’s
palace and Daniel kept his head appropriately bowed as they walked, allowing
Teal’c to guide him as they passed the servants in the field. He glanced up
briefly from time to time to take in the lay of the land and memorize the
way out once they entered the expansive gardens inside the unguarded gates
of what must have once been a Goa’uld fortress. The plain, not-quite-human
inhabitants stopped what they were doing to gape and whisper to each other
in awe as they passed.
When at last they reached the outer door of the
palace proper, it opened before Teal’c could knock and a good-sized group of
the diminutive women gestured them inside excitedly. There was no mistaking
the fervent murmurs and sighs of appreciation as the household staff
gathered around Daniel and sought to touch his hair, back, and arms,
essentially mobbing him.
"Kree!" Teal’c shouted in his most threatening
baritone, scattering the small crowd. "Are you injured, Daniel Jackson?" he
asked in a much softer voice.
Daniel glanced up and shook his head, but didn’t
speak as the women hadn’t gone far. A lone man approached, shooed away the
throng of females, and bowed uncertainly before gesturing for them to follow
him. They continued along the gilded hallway until they reached a huge set
of double doors that opened into an opulent throne room. The man ushered
them in and then shut the door, leaving them alone.
Immediately Daniel’s eyes were drawn to the markings
just beyond the throne. He quickly scanned the portion he had already
translated via the video but at the sound of multiple footsteps on the
marble floor he moved to lower himself to his knees.
"Be careful, my friend," Teal’c intoned as a last
entreaty just before the entourage entered through a door hidden behind the
dais. Daniel nodded in acknowledgement then bowed his head submissively as
he knelt on the floor. Despite his passive appearance, his body thrummed
with adrenaline as he listened intently to the action around him.
A large group of servants entered the room in two
ranks, which split off and moved to line the walls single file all the way
around the enormous chamber. Several minutes after everything fell silent an
individual set of unhurried footfalls echoed on the stone floor until they
stopped directly in front of the throne.
"Jaffa. Welcome."
"Mistress," Teal’c greeted with a grand bow and a
sweep of his cape.
"Beautiful. Simply beautiful," the Goa’uld
exclaimed, the sound of her voice growing closer.
A pair of tiny, wrinkled feet in bejeweled sandals
appeared in Daniel’s line of sight and he was startled by the unexpected and
bizarre display. He jerked back reflexively when a hand combed through his
hair.
"Easy, young one," the old woman crooned as she
lifted his chin. Daniel cautiously kept his eyes averted toward the floor.
"Look at me," she ordered.
"Do so," Teal’c instructed with a gentle prod of his
staff weapon to Daniel’s shoulder.
Daniel swallowed involuntarily and tried to keep
revulsion off his face as he met Leetha’s cold, dead eyes for the first
time. She gasped and tightened her grip on his face, the hand device digging
almost painfully into his skin.
"Beautiful," she repeated breathlessly, stroking his
cheek with her gold-tipped thumb. "I’ve never seen eyes of such color."
"As I informed you," Teal’c declared smugly.
"Yes," Leetha acknowledged, releasing Daniel’s chin
to run a hand down his neck and chest before bending slightly to pat his
abdomen as if he were a fatted calf. "And well cared for," she added
approvingly. "Let me see his back."
Standing behind the kneeling man, Teal’c dropped his
end of the chain and propped his staff weapon in the crook of his arm as he
ripped the woven shirt from the neck to low back. He then pushed the torn
material forward to fall off of Daniel’s shoulders leaving his upper back
and chest bare.
Leetha rounded her prize and ran a hand over the
smooth skin. "There are no scars. This is either a very obedient slave or he
has seen the inside of a sarcophagus," she replied. "Which is it, my pet?"
she whispered huskily into Daniel’s ear.
"I’ve been inside a sarcophagus… a few times,"
Daniel admitted truthfully, speaking perfect Goa’uld and keeping his voice
low.
"Honest as well as lovely," Leetha laughed, moving
back around to stand in front of the throne. "Rise," she instructed.
Teal’c hooked a hand under Daniel’s elbow and
smoothly helped him find his footing. The torn shirt fell further, coming to
rest against the manacles on his wrists. Daniel once again dropped his gaze
as he felt an unwanted blush rise on his cheeks as Leetha continued her
inspection, patting and squeezing various body parts as she made a show of
another slower, assessing circuit of him.
"So innocent," Leetha cooed sympathetically, noting
Daniel’s discomfort as she continued to appraise him. "Release him," she
ordered.
"Only if you desire to make the purchase," Teal’c
argued. "You have yet to ask my price."
Leetha snorted inelegantly and flicked a hand in the
general direction of her nearest servant who came forward and produced a
heavy velvet pouch. "I do not haggle," she informed Teal’c stiffly, stopping
to examine Daniel’s hands, huffing to find calluses on his fingers.
Letting the other man continue to hold the purse,
Teal’c loosened the drawstrings and fingered the small golden ingots inside.
"Most generous, Mistress," he said, managing to keep a steady voice as he
tried to estimate the weight, knowing there would now be no reasonable way
to refuse the sale if he judged the situation too dangerous. He would never
have asked for so much.
"Yes," Leetha allowed proudly, her wealth no longer
in question. "Remove the shackles."
"As you wish," Teal’c replied uneasily with a slight
incline of his head, reaching into his breast pocket to produce the key. He
unlocked the cuffs, dropping them to the ground with a clatter of chains,
briefly meeting Daniel’s eyes.
Leetha liberated the woven bag from Daniel’s grip
and held it up. "What is this?" she asked.
"Those are his belongings."
"Take them. He has need of nothing," Leetha
declared, slipping the bag into Teal’c’s hand.
Teal’c reluctantly accepted the parcel, collected
his bounty, and bowed deeply to the aged Goa’uld. "I will take my leave of
you," he announced before turning on his heel to go.
"Wait," Leetha called after him. "What do you call
him?"
"He is your acquisition," Teal’c advised, stopping,
but not turning around. "Call him as you wish."
Daniel lowered his head and rubbed distractedly at
his chaffing wrists as he listened to his friend walk away. When he could no
longer hear Teal’c’s footfalls, he stilled his hands and licked nervously at
his lip, realizing that Leetha was contemplating him silently from a few
feet away.
"What are you called?" she asked after a long
silence.
"Daniel."
Leetha moved up the steps with an unexpected poise
and seated herself on the throne. "Daniel," she repeated. "That will do. I
have neither the imagination nor the inclination to rename you."
"Thank you," Daniel replied, not knowing what else
to say or do, but dying to examine the glyphs on the wall directly behind
his new ‘owner’.
Another long silence stretched out and the old woman
seemed content to let it go on and on as Daniel’s unease grew by leaps and
bounds. Finally, unable to stand the inactivity, he risked a glance up to
find Leetha patiently watching him. He quickly dropped his gaze and
considered bowing down on one knee, not knowing yet what the boundaries were
and not willing to inadvertently cross any of them.
"You may look around," Leetha granted with amusement
as if reading his mind.
A cursory sweep of the room revealed some
interesting architecture, sparse but rich Egyptian-style furnishings and
sculptures, and the mass of servants still quietly looking on. But Daniel’s
gaze was automatically drawn to the story on the wall. Unaware that his lips
moved as he tried to sound out the glyphs, he missed the growing frown on
Leetha’s face.
"The Jaffa misrepresented you," Leetha said at last,
breaking Daniel’s translation mode.
"How so?" he asked respectfully, turning to his new
mistress, but not meeting her eyes.
"He told me that you had never toiled in the field.
And yet your hands speak of it."
"Ah," Daniel replied, rubbing his hands together and
noting the roughness. No one had thought of a manicure. "I’m a… I was
an archeologist. I often dug in the soil to find evidence of the past," he
explained.
"And you read."
"Yes."
Leetha gave him a doubtful stare and inclined her
head toward the wall. "Read it to me."
"Oh… um, alright…" he mumbled as he found his place
once again. "… as the Jaffa began to fall, our Lord Ra ascended to the
heavens on a beam of light, leaving for dead his love…"
"Stop!" Leetha commanded, her eyes and the hand
device both glowing in anger, stunned that the slave had begun at the exact
place to provoke her.
Daniel startled at the outburst and found himself
staring directly at the Goa’uld. "That was you," he blurted out. "He left
you here to die."
Leetha growled and threw herself out of the throne
and down the steps toward him. Daniel did drop to his knees this time and
bowed his head, bracing for the blow that would probably knock him across
the room.
"I’m sorry," he swore when the expected punishment
didn’t come right away.
Another several minutes passed as Leetha paced
agitatedly in front of him. When she stopped, Daniel tentatively peeked up
through his lashes. The anger seemed to dissipate from her wrinkled face as
she gazed back down at him. "Get up," she said after a moment, seemingly
coming to a decision. "Come." She didn’t look back as she headed for the
back door of the room, clearly expecting to be obeyed.
Casting a quick eye over the wall as he moved,
Daniel ineffectively pulled his torn shirt over his chest and followed, the
servants falling in around him.
As the klaxon sounded, Jack was on his feet and
moving toward the gateroom. Teal’c and Daniel hadn’t been gone much more
than an hour and Jack sincerely hoped the old snake hadn’t been interested
in their linguist’s obvious charms. But somehow he knew in the pit of his
stomach as he came to a screeching halt at the base of the ramp, Carter
coming in a close second, that only one of his teammates would be returning.
The iris had already been rolled back and the blue
curtain shimmered slightly as a large form parted it and continued through
without pausing. Teal’c looked distinctly unhappy as he came to a stop in
front of them.
"What’s wrong?" Sam asked immediately.
"Daniel Jackson is without weapons or a GDO," he
reported, handing over the bag of goodies. "Leetha assured me he would not
have need of possessions."
"Why didn’t you call off the deal?" Jack queried
anxiously.
"I could not without uncovering our deception,"
Teal’c explained as he tossed the sack of gold to Jack who caught it with
both hands and a grunt.
"Colonel?" Hammond questioned as he arrived slightly
out of breath.
"Sweet," Jack replied, opening the bag and spilling
several of the golden ingots into his hand. "Who’d a thought a used
archeologist would bring such a good price?" he asked rhetorically. "How
much do you think this weighs?"
"Three point four kilograms," Teal’c answered with
certainty.
"You weighed it?"
"No."
"I’d say that’s about right," Sam agreed, taking the
pouch and hefting it thoughtfully.
"How much is that in pounds?" Jack just had to ask.
"Was Doctor Jackson all right when you left?"
Hammond interrupted. "Do you think he’s in any danger?"
"I do not believe Leetha intends to harm him,"
Teal’c assured. "She seemed quite pleased to make the purchase."
"I’ll bet," Sam agreed glumly. "But since she paid
so much for him, it is doubtful she would… damage him."
"So, we go with plan B and extricate him in twenty
four hours," Jack replied, looking to the general who nodded his approval.
"Twenty-two hours and thirty seven minutes," Teal’c
corrected, glancing back as the wormhole collapsed into nothing.
Navigating a series of hallways for an inordinate
amount of time, the group finally entered an older, less luxurious area of
the bastion where the ceilings appeared lower and the walkways much
narrower. After several more twists and turns of the convoluted halls, they
mounted a wide, unadorned stone stairway and climbed at least a couple of
stories.
Daniel took the opportunity to examine the people
around him, not quite certain if any of the women were from the group that
had greeted him so enthusiastically at the front door. He had not been in a
position to study them earlier, and they did in fact all look alike with
dark hair and eyes and olive complexions. If these were the same women,
their moods had changed considerably as the somber assemblage moved along
with all the joyfulness of a funeral procession.
Realizing he might at some point need an ally since
he had not been allowed to keep his simple ‘possessions’, such as the
cleverly disguised GDO or zat gun, he tried to make eye contact with the
natives closest to him. But all of them carefully avoided his gaze, keeping
their heads down as they climbed the chiseled steps. When they reached the
top, the stairs opened into a medium sized room with what appeared to be a
stone altar in the middle.
A jolt of fear shot through Daniel and he tried to
back up, but the door was still filling with bodies as the entourage
continued to make its way up the stairs. Leetha moved to the altar before
turning to once again study him intently.
"Come," she ordered, sweeping her hand towards a
crystal decanter and a single goblet on a table next to her. "Pour the
wine."
Trying to appear calm, Daniel moved forward and did
as he was told, pouring the thin red liquid and offering it to her.
Leetha smiled and shook her head. "It is for you."
"I… uh…" Daniel hedged as he sat the cup back on the
tray. "No thanks."
"Drink it," Leetha instructed with more patience
than he’d ever heard from any Goa’uld, especially one he was intent on
disobeying.
"Really, I’m not thirsty," Daniel lied,
unconsciously flicking out his tongue to moisten his dry lips.
"Nonsense," Leetha challenged, picking up the goblet
herself and holding it out to him. "Now drink."
Quickly calculating the surrounding manpower, Daniel
decided that although they were small, the male servants outnumbered him
twenty to one and there were at least that many females as well. The door
was completely blocked and the only window was narrow, at least thirty feet
off the ground, and next to an armed Goa’uld.
He nervously appraised the ancient altar, deciding
the dark trails running down the sides were indeed very old bloodstains.
Bodies began to press closer to him and it became apparent that they were
going to force him onto the altar whether he drank the wine or not. When one
of the men near him made a move to grab his arm, Daniel instinctively shoved
him back and bolted for the window.
A multitude of rough hands grabbed him and forced
him ruthlessly to the ground. Leetha called out angrily and to Daniel’s
surprise brutally struck the men who held him with a short whip. They
quickly released him and fled to the walls to nurse the long, thin welts
that rose up on their arms and backs.
Once the human shield around him disappeared, Daniel
ducked his head to protect his face and held up a hand to ward off any
forthcoming blows. He clenched his jaw in anticipation as he waited.
"Are you alright? Did they hurt you?" Leetha
questioned urgently as she dropped the whip and tenderly examined his
upraised arm for any sign of damage. When she spotted a tiny scratch along
the inside of his elbow she made a move for the whip. "They will pay for
this!" she shouted angrily.
"No, please," Daniel begged, grasping her hand.
"Don’t hurt them."
Leetha stared dumbly at their entwined hands and
Daniel followed her gaze before pulling away and bowing his head. "Please
don’t hurt them because of me," he repeated softly.
Snapping her fingers, Leetha impatiently pointed to
the poured wine. The nearest girl hastily grabbed it and somehow managed not
to spill a drop as she pressed it into her mistress’s hand.
"Drink this," Leetha demanded evenly, clamping a
hand to the back of Daniel’s head with a shocking amount of strength. She
raised the goblet to his lips and waited. "If you do not drink, I will beat
one of them to death right now," she threatened with such lethal calm that
Daniel knew she wasn’t lying.
Under duress, Daniel sipped the bitter solution,
taking one, two, three small swallows. "Enough," he protested, letting the
last ounce of the vile fluid run down his chin.
"All of it," Leetha insisted almost affably,
relentlessly pressing the rim of the cup to his lips.
"No," Daniel argued even as he felt the effects of
the potion set in. His body slowly turned to lead and he began to drift into
a mental fog. Still he managed to turn his head from side to side like a
child fighting his medicine.
Leetha followed his movements with the chalice and
laughed delightedly at his antics. "So willful," she responded gleefully.
"And here I thought I’d purchased a lamb."
"Leave me alone," Daniel slurred, trying to push the
cup away, but finding his arms to be useless and weak.
"This will take away the pain…" Leetha’s voice
echoed in his ears as he lost the battle to keep his eyes open. He coughed
and sputtered as she took the opportunity to tilt back his head and pour the
rest of the contents of the goblet down his throat.
In one final act of defiance, Daniel spit the last
mouthful onto the floor when Leetha released him. She laughed again from
somewhere far away and he barely felt the ghostly hands that somehow
elevated him to the altar. But the cold stone against his face and bare
chest roused him slightly as the remains of his shirt were ripped away.
"Oh, God," he swore as he was held in place on his
stomach, unable to move anything but his eyes. He sought out the nearest
face and froze in panic when he realized there were tears streaming down the
young native’s face. "Don’t do this," Daniel tried to say as a sharp pain
penetrated the back of his neck. He thought that he might have screamed
before he passed out.
"Carter?" Jack called as he entered the brightly lit
and obviously empty lab. In the middle of the table sat the bag full of
gold, unguarded and out in the open. "For cryin’ out loud," he mumbled,
meaning to speak to his 2IC about leaving small fortunes lying around, even
if they were in the bowels of one of the most secure facilities on Earth.
He tugged open the bag and spilled some of the
contents out onto the tabletop. Every piece was identical in size and
weight, but had a different number of notches carved out on each side.
Curious, he snapped a couple of the ingots together, pleased when they
formed a loose connection.
"Huh," he replied to himself, reaching for another
piece.
There was an uncomfortable pressure in the back of
his neck that bit by bit nagged his brain closer to consciousness. Daniel
blinked a couple of times to adjust to the diffuse light around him. No
longer on the hard altar, he inhaled the sweet smell of lavender on the
silky sheets of the massive bed he found himself in, and sneezed. Rubbing
his dry eyes, he was surprised when he dislodged a tiny fleck of plastic
from his right eye. Deciding the other contact was also long gone, he
blinked and looked around, trying to remember exactly what had happened.
As the memories flooded back, he jerked fully awake
and grabbed the back of his neck, ripping away a small bandage from his nape
to touch the skin beneath. Dizziness overtook him and instead of jumping out
of the bed as his mind demanded, his body remained persistently flat against
the overstuffed mattress. With a sense of panic, he realized he couldn’t
feel his legs. He glanced around furtively, trying to bring the room into
focus and his rapid breathing under control.
"Be still, my pet," Leetha soothed as she rose from
a chair next to the bed. "You mustn’t move around so much so soon after your
surgery."
Daniel closed his eyes tightly and tried to think.
Using his arms, he stubbornly ignored her instructions and tried to force
his body into a sitting position. Failing miserably he covered his eyes with
a hand. "I’m still me," he rasped out uncertainly.
"Who else would you be?" Leetha asked gently with an
amused tone.
The pressure built steadily into pain and Daniel
once again grasped his neck, feeling a subtle pop before a swell of hot,
sticky wetness began to trickle through his fingers.
"Now look what you’ve done," Leetha admonished
gently, prying his hand away to press a folded square of cloth firmly
against the wound from beneath.
"What… what did you do to me?" Daniel began, barely
able to speak through his parched throat. He squinted down at the crimson
staining his hand and tried in vain to wiggle his toes. "I can’t move."
"Shhh…" Leetha hushed, producing another cup with
her free hand and offering it to him. "Drink this," the old woman implored
as she raised his upper body effortlessly with the hand holding pressure on
the back of his neck.
Accepting only a sip at first, Daniel almost
immediately gave into his body’s demand for fluids and brought up both hands
to tip the container further as he tried to drain it.
"You’ll make yourself sick," Leetha laughed as she
pulled the cup away. "Now rest."
The bed was warm and comfortable and Daniel found
his eyelids to be heavy as he unwillingly obeyed, wiping his mouth with the
back of one hand. "What are you going to do with me?" he asked groggily.
Leetha brushed her free hand lovingly through his
hair, but before she could answer, he was asleep.
"He has torn his binding threads and contaminated
the incision," Leetha mused to her nearby servant as she fussed over her
charge, feeling his pale, clammy face with the unadorned fingers of her left
hand. "As I feared, there is damage to his spinal cord and there may soon be
infection. Humans are so frail. Come. Turn him."
The man did as he was told, positioning Daniel on
his side facing away from them, letting the scarlet stained cloth fall away.
"I’m sure you think me a fool," Leetha smiled sadly.
"To pay a king’s ransom for a mere slave and then risk such tricky surgery
with shaky old hands." Leetha untied a satchel on her belt as she talked and
removed a healing device. Turning it over thoughtfully, she slipped it onto
her left hand and placed her right hand behind her back. "I’m not even sure
I can still do this," she uttered softly. "But I will not squander my
investment so quickly."
Uncertainty reflected on her face as she adjusted
the device then raised it over the surgical site. The light wavered
momentarily but then steadied and began mending the disrupted flesh and the
unseen damage beneath it. Daniel’s lips parted and he released a soft gasp,
but otherwise slept on undisturbed as Leetha healed him. Shortly after the
skin of his neck was intact, Leetha crumpled to the floor, unhappy to have
left a scar, but unable to do anything about it at the moment.
The manservant gathered her small body into his arms
and moved towards the door. "No," she ordered harshly. "I will remain here."
After the briefest pause, Oba carried her around the
bed and tenderly placed her next to her possession. Daniel groaned in his
sleep and rolled away from her and onto his back.
"Oba," Leetha muttered quietly with the last of her
strength, "I fear he will try to escape before I can make clear to him his
boundaries. Seal every entrance at once."
"Yes, my lady," Oba replied, crossing the room
silently and activating the doorway. He spoke in hushed tones to another
servant in the hall and the mistress’s instructions were set into motion.
Leetha turned onto her side and managed to position
a hand over Daniel’s heart before closing her eyes and giving in to her
exhaustion. Oba covered them both before lowering the lights and moving back
to his position next to the wall to wait while his master rested.
"Sir?" Sam asked, mindful not to let her
exasperation color her tone as she stopped in the doorway.
"Careful," Jack warned as he clicked the next ingot
into place. "Don’t rock the boat."
"Sir, it’s late. Why are you in my lab?"
Jack grunted as he reached into the now nearly empty
velvet bag and produced the last few pieces of gold. "Aren’t there any more
of these?" he asked as he rounded the table to painstakingly place an ingot
on the other side of his gilded tower.
"There are a few more, but I’m having them
analyzed," Sam explained.
"What? You mean these things aren’t really gold?
Damn it, I want our archeologist back then," he deadpanned.
"No sir, they are definitely gold. Very, very pure
gold, in fact. They just have some interesting properties."
"Like what?"
"Well, I see you’ve already discovered that the
edges are slightly magnetic…"
"Is that what it is?"
"…and they have a hardening agent I’ve never seen
before and… and…" Sam paused and tilted her head one way and then the other
to get a better view of the tall, narrow structure rising up from her lab
table, "…what is that exactly?"
"You can’t tell?" Jack asked, not hiding his
disappointment as he stepped back to stare at his monument from Sam’s point
of view.
"Uh…" Sam stalled, squinting to make sense of the
colonel’s masterpiece. "The Eiffel Tower?" she guessed.
"Yes!" Jack crowed in triumph. "These things are way
better than Legos."
"If you say so, sir. Now if you don’t mind…" Sam
pleaded as she not-so-subtly ushered her boss toward the door. "You should
really try to get some sleep."
Almost in the doorway, Jack planted both feet and
turned back around. "Shouldn’t you try to get some sleep, too?"
Sam nodded and managed a drawn smile. "I just have a
couple more things to do."
"I’ll make it an order if I have to, Major," Jack
stated, a concerned frown on his face. "Are you okay?"
"Yes sir. I’m just a little preoccupied right now. I
want our archeologist back, too."
Jack silently nodded his understanding and shuffled
off down the hallway, glancing over his shoulder as Carter quietly closed
her lab door behind him. He froze momentarily when he heard the crash of the
tower as it fell, but bolted down the hall at the Major’s surprised curse
and the clatter of the little ingots hitting the floor.
Daniel groaned as he woke for the second time,
unable to shake the dream of being caught in the talon of a huge bird. He
wasn’t sure where he was as the room was pitch-black, but he felt
surprisingly well, if a bit groggy. A strange weight rested on his chest and
he frowned distractedly as he fingered the five metal points and followed
them until they gave way to leathery skin.
As the fog rapidly cleared, he remembered the
mission… and Leetha. Mortified, he plucked the hand away, setting it gently
on the mattress so as not to wake its owner before scooting as far away as
possible without falling off the bed, surprised but extremely happy that his
body agreed to move this time. Taking stock of his situation, he was
relieved to find he still had on his pants, although his boots were missing
and his shirt was long gone.
"Are you ill?" a soft voice asked from nearby.
"What? Hello?" Daniel called out, searching futilely
in the inky darkness for the source of the voice.
"Are you ill?"
"Um… oddly enough, no," Daniel answered thoughtfully
as he touched the intact skin at the back of his neck and wiggled his toes
experimentally. "Where are you?" he asked, squinting as if it would help him
see in the dark. "Who are you?"
"I am Oba, first servant of our mistress."
"Your mistress," Daniel mumbled under his breath. "I
don’t suppose we could have a little light in here?" he added only a little
louder, hyper aware of the sleeping Goa’uld.
The light came up enough that Daniel could just make
out the face of the thin, elderly man next to the bed. "I remember you. You
met us at the door when the women… when they… you know, greeted us."
"You must forgive them. They had heard the mistress
was making a purchase of high quality. They wanted to see for themselves
something of beauty."
"Right," Daniel muttered sardonically as he studied
the man carefully. "You, um… you look different. In fact, you look more,
pardon my bluntness, but you look more human. Are you not from this planet?"
"I was born unto this world," Oba answered quietly.
"But I am of the previous generation. There are not many of us left."
"Previous generation," Daniel echoed, raising both
eyebrows in surprise. "You mean that each generation is different from the
last? That you are evolving?"
"I do not know your words," Oba replied
apologetically.
"I’m sorry, um, what I mean to ask is…" Daniel
paused to gather his thoughts. "Your generation was somehow different than
the younger generation, is that right?"
"Yes."
"And was the generation before you also different?"
"Yes," Oba agreed quickly. "I remember my father’s
hands. They were very much like yours." He reached out and ran his stubby
fingers along Daniel’s much longer ones. Daniel caught his hand and took the
opportunity to examine it as well.
"So not evolving," Daniel quipped to himself. "At
least not in a good way."
Oba tugged his hand away. "You must be hungry," he
whispered, changing the subject.
"Actually," Daniel nodded. "I could eat." He started
to slide out of the bed and Oba’s large eyes grew wider.
"You cannot leave her," he intoned with a touch of
panic, keeping his voice low. "She would be most displeased to wake and find
you gone."
"I thought we were gonna get something to eat?"
"I will bring sustenance to you. You mustn’t leave
her."
Daniel turned to study to sleeping woman. "She’s
out. I don’t think she’ll ever know the difference. Besides, I’ve gotta
pee," he pleaded.
"I don’t understand," Oba uttered fretfully.
"Urinate?" Daniel tried again, awkwardly gesturing
to his lap. "Make water?"
"Yes, yes!" Oba nodded his understanding and waved a
hand toward an alcove in the wall.
Daniel wavered slightly as his feet hit the floor
but steadied quickly and made his way to the recess. An inset panel slid
aside as he approached to reveal a garish restroom. "I can handle it from
here," he told the vigilant servant, holding up a hand to stop Oba in the
door.
"As you wish. I shall request nourishment for you."
"Sure," Daniel agreed, sighing when the door closed.
He found the ostentatious toilet and relieved himself then washed the dried
blood off his hands before having a look around. There was an enormous
sunken tub that took up most of the middle of the room, lots of sheer
drapes, a skylight high above, gold, gold, and more gold, but not much else.
There were no windows and no other doors, which meant he’d have to make his
escape back the way he’d come.
Deciding he’d better leave before the old man
returned with the food, he eased back into the bedchamber and tiptoed past
the sleeping monster. Arriving at the spot where he was certain there had
been a door moments before, he let out a grunt of frustration and turned
back toward the bed. The room was a larger, gaudier version of the bathroom
with marble and gold everywhere, the ornate bed taking the tub’s place of
honor in the center of the room.
Leetha slept soundly and Daniel wondered for a
second if she was even alive. After watching for several minutes, he
convinced himself he could see the slight rise and fall of her ribcage in
the dim light. He prowled the walls, methodically looking for an escape
route and rounded the room twice before giving up. Stopping back at the bed
he once again turned his attention to the Goa’uld, shaking his head over the
fact that she even slept with her hand encased in the ribbon device.
A small frown crossed his face as he moved in for
another look. Against his better judgment he inched closer, grimacing as he
reached out to examine the burnished gold that seemed to melt seamlessly
into the wrinkled fingers. Unable to resist, Daniel carefully rolled
Leetha’s hand over. Several of the pieces that linked the palm with the
fingertips were missing and the stone itself seemed imbedded in the scant
flesh of the bony hand. The surrounding skin was badly scarred as if it had
been burned long ago.
Daniel startled when he realized the dark,
emotionless eyes were fixed on him. "I’m sorry," he muttered as he tried to
pull away.
Leetha closed her hand gently around his and smiled.
"Inquisitive, aren’t you?" she asked affectionately.
"Sorry," Daniel mumbled again, subtly trying to pull
his hand away without her really noticing. "That must have hurt."
"More than you can imagine," Leetha assured gravely,
squeezing his fingers tight to thwart his getaway.
"Does it still work?"
The old woman laughed in delight. "I’m afraid you
will find out sooner rather than later," she replied.
"You’re probably right," Daniel agreed reluctantly,
ceasing his efforts to free his hand. "What happened?"
"Oba," Leetha called impatiently, ignoring the
question.
"He, um, went to the kitchen I suppose…" Daniel
trailed off as the hidden door became visible as it opened.
"I am here, mistress," Oba replied as he slipped
into the room carrying a tray loaded with fruit, cheese, and bread. The door
disappeared back into the wall as soon as he cleared it. Daniel used the
distraction to liberate his fingers from Leetha’s iron grip.
"Excellent," Leetha praised turning to Daniel. "I am
most pleased with your form. I do not wish you to fade. Eat," she ordered.
"I wouldn’t want to get crumbs in your bed," Daniel
hedged, wanting nothing more than to get away from the obviously enamored
old woman.
"This is your bed," Leetha informed him as she sat
up to pluck a grape and feed it to him. "My room is much grander."
"Really?" Daniel choked as he chewed the sour fruit
and swallowed it, unable to image a room more gaudy than this one.
Oba placed the tray on a small table near the bed.
"Mistress," he began timidly. "You must rest."
"Yes," Leetha agreed, sounding very weary. "Eat,
Daniel," she encouraged as she allowed Oba to help her stand. "We will speak
at length in the morning."
Daniel broke off a piece of bread and chewed it
thoughtfully as he watched Oba open the door. "Sleep well," he called out.
Leetha stopped and stared back at him for a moment
before breaking into a beatific smile. "I have made a most wonderful
purchase," she told Oba as the door slid shut behind them.
Still chewing, Daniel counted to a hundred, in
Goa’uld for luck, before approaching the door. As an afterthought, he
grabbed half of the loaf of bread from the tray then held his breath as he
copied Oba’s actions. Pressing the second ankh from the right on the
gold-embossed hieroglyphs resulted in the silent release of the door. Daniel
glanced down the darkened hallway to a distant torch. He stopped to listen,
but couldn’t hear even a murmur so he headed towards the light.
Although he had no way to be sure how long he’d been
unconscious, by the low lights and lack of activity, he was certain it was
still night. He and Teal’c had arrived just before sunset planet time and
unless he had slept for over a day, he estimated he still had twelve to
sixteen hours left on his twenty-four hour time limit. Since he didn’t have
a GDO, it looked like he would have to wait to be rescued, or dial out to a
friendly planet and contact Earth from there. Of course, he’d have to get
out of the palace first, and he didn’t want to do that until he’d had
another good look at the wall.
When he reached the end of the corridor, he flipped
a mental coin and went right, still steadily munching on the bread. Since
the halls were of the elegant variety and not the unembellished stone, he
knew he was still somewhere in the Goa’uld’s living quarters and figured the
throne room couldn’t be too far off.
The hallway expanded to showcase a set of double
doors unlike the recessed, practically hidden kind he’d been passing so far.
He ducked through them, taking a minute to let his eyes adjust to the lower
level of light in the room. Popping the last bite of the crusty bread into
his mouth he wiped the crumbs on his pants as he puzzled over his find.
"What the hell?" he muttered as he approached the
sarcophagus and ran a hand over the dusty top. In the weak light and without
his glasses, it looked intact. On closer inspection, with his nose
practically touching the opening mechanism, he decided it might have been
struck with a staff blast. Vaguely he could make out what appeared to be
burn marks scouring the top and sides. Remembering how the sparks had flown
when Shyla had destroyed her own sarcophagus, Daniel wondered if perhaps
Leetha hadn’t been inside this one when it was struck. A broken sarcophagus
went a long way towards explaining the old girl’s… oldness.
Daniel stifled a sneeze as he backed out of the
chamber, pulling the doors closed behind him. Now more curious than ever
about Leetha’s appearance, he none-the-less continued on his search for the
throne room. The fortress remained silent except for his own muffled
footfalls and within a few more twists of the meandering hallways, he found
himself at the back entry of the large hall.
Taking a torch in hand, Daniel approached the wall
of hieroglyphs and began to make sense of its tale, resolutely ignoring the
life-sized statue of Hathor looming over his shoulder.
"Rough night?" Jack asked as Carter sat her
breakfast tray on the table across from him.
She glared at him through bloodshot eyes for a
second before answering. "No, sir. Why do you ask?"
"No reason," Jack backpedaled and focused his
attention on his pancakes. "I was just telling Teal’c about my solid gold
Legos," he continued innocently. "I can’t wait to show him my tower."
Sam cleared her throat. "Uh, sorry, sir," she ground
out, "I spent half an hour picking your golden Legos off of the floor after
you left last night."
"It fell? Now that’s a shame."
"More than you know, sir, more than you know," Sam
agreed with a sigh, rubbing the back of her head where she had banged it on
the underside of the table in her efforts to find all of the lost ingots.
"What is a Lego?" Teal’c inquired thoughtfully.
"Well, um, Legos are little pieces of formed plastic
that you snap together to build things," Sam answered helpfully.
"They’re toys, Teal’c. Really cool," Jack enthused.
"As soon as Daniel gets back we’ll go pick up a few sets and have a contest
or something."
"Do you not believe that if Daniel Jackson were to
escape on his own that he would have already returned?" Teal’c asked,
trashing Jack’s good mood.
"Do you?" Sam asked, eyes growing wide.
"I believe an escape would have been possible under
cover of night. It is now past sunrise on Leetha’s planet."
Jack grimaced as he took a long drink of coffee.
"Either way, he’ll be back by tonight," he stated resolutely.
Teal’c nodded once and Sam pushed her oatmeal around
with a spoon as the colonel finished his breakfast in silence.
Even without a watch, Daniel knew by the waning
torchlight that he had been at it for a while. Satisfied that he’d been
successful in his translation, he took another moment to ponder the meaning
of the words. Written by one of Ra’s loyal human scribes shortly after the
incident, the tale served as a warning to any other Goa’ulds who might
stumble on the scene in search of Ra’s vast wealth.
According to the writing on the wall, Ra had indeed
found a biological agent that could kill a Goa’uld while sparing the host.
Unfortunately, for Ra anyway, the substance had inadvertently been released
and had wiped out the Jaffa encamped on the planet, as they were unable to
survive long without their symbiotes. Ra had managed to escape in the heat
of the moment, but had somehow left his consort Leetha behind to die.
At this point, Daniel knew the telling to be
incorrect. Even if Leetha undoubtedly resembled a walking corpse, she was in
fact very much alive. He assumed that the scribe had immediately taken brush
to wall without checking the facts first. Perhaps a battle had occurred as
one of Leetha’s servants placed her in the sarcophagus. Whatever had
happened, the writer of the wall had stopped mid-sentence before completing
the tale. Given the old girl’s outburst, Daniel judged this to be a sore
subject. Why she hadn’t painted over the story sometime in the past three
centuries was yet another mystery.
Furthermore, Daniel didn’t put much stock in the
claim that the poison was harmless to humans. A feeling of dread settled in
his stomach as he surmised that the accident had been the precipitating
factor in the local population’s seeming de-evolution. He decided the damage
must have been genetic; so gradual nobody noticed at the time. Generations
later, the ill-effects were much more apparent.
He wondered if this wasn’t the same stuff the Tok’ra
had expected him to assassinate the system lords with. New worries popped up
when he realized that he, Sam, and Jack had all been indirectly exposed
after Elliot and Lantash had released the agent so that they could get back
through the gate. But Teal’c and Jacob’s symbiotes had been exposed at the
same level and had suffered no harm. Although that thought eased his mind,
he still made a mental note to talk to Janet about his concerns when he got
home.
Running a probable timeline in his head, Daniel took
a moment to wonder if Hathor had known about Leetha. Glancing up at
the stone image of the face he remembered so well, he suppressed a shudder.
Since Hathor had been overjoyed when Daniel informed her of Ra’s demise, he
had to think that there was no love lost between the estranged husband and
wife. Even so, Hathor had spent a couple thousand years trapped in stasis on
Earth and might have been none-the-wiser to Ra’s infidelities.
On a similar note, at one time Leetha must have had
some type of alluring attribute to garner Ra’s attentions. Not that Daniel
could actually picture Ra with a wife or a consort. As far as Daniel
could tell, the pseudo-god had had an ugly penchant for children. Forcing
that unpleasant thought aside, Daniel took one last look at the wall before
replacing the torch and crossing the room to exit through the double doors.
As an afterthought, he backtracked and began to
retrace the route they had taken to Leetha’s lab. If it was even a remote
possibility that some of the poison remained, it was too dangerous to leave
in the hands of any Goa’uld, even one as seemingly powerless as his master.
As he traversed the still dark hallways, Daniel
became aware of distant sounds elsewhere in the fortress. Certain it must be
morning by now, the continued dimness around him left him with an uneasy
feeling. At last he came to the base of the stone stairway and peered up
into the almost complete darkness. Retracing his steps to the last torch
along the hall he procured it and started up the steps.
Daniel tried to calm his breathing, taking note of
the increase in his pulse with each step closer to the top, pushing back the
returning sense of panic he had felt the first time he’d entered the dismal
room. Moving to the altar he examined it, certain that the new rust colored
stain embedded within the rough stone was his own blood. Or was it? Was he
even in the right room?
Momentarily confused he looked to where morning sun
should have been streaming through the window to find nothing but a solid
wall. Everything else was as he remembered it, but the window was obviously
gone. Or covered. On closer inspection Daniel realized there was a seam
where the window had been. More clever Goa’uld technology, probably pilfered
from yet another unknown race, sealed the opening tightly with material
identical to the wall.
Satisfied that he was in the right place Daniel
moved to the shelves that lined the back wall. To his relief and delight,
the shelves held volumes of hand-written notes. Settling the torch into a
nearby bracket on the wall he pulled out the first book. As he began to scan
the first page he heard footsteps coming up the stairs.
"Daniel," Leetha called, not sounding particularly
upset. "You can’t get out. I’ve had the palace sealed."
Daniel swallowed nervously as he turned, still
holding the book in his hand.
"Put that down," Leetha instructed quietly. "I had
hoped not to have to do this, but it appears a practical demonstration is in
order."
Before Daniel could answer the cryptic threat,
Leetha raised the ribbon device and sent a wave of energy in his direction.
Instead of knocking him across the room, it seemed to localize in his neck,
sending a shaft of white-hot pain searing through him to every nerve ending.
It only lasted a second, but sent him crashing into oblivion nevertheless.
"Where’s the rest of it?" Jack asked as he entered
the briefing room and found two of the ingots in the center of the table as
exhibit A.
Carter looked up from the detailed maps of the
compound she had helped Teal’c prepare. "In the safe, sir," she responded
reluctantly.
"Good idea," Jack acknowledged, sounding a little
disappointed. "We wouldn’t want any of it to end up stolen, would we?"
"Stolen?" Sam asked in confusion as if it had never
crossed her mind. "Yes, sir, that’s it exactly," she lied.
His mind was peripherally aware of a distant
sensation of floating in a balmy sea and Daniel clung comfortably to that
illusion until he felt a hand clamp firmly over his nose and mouth and push
him deeper into the warmth, submerging his face. Fighting for air, he
dislodged the hand and subsequently took a lungful of soapy water. He pushed
away from the restraining arms and finally broke the surface, gasping and
choking as he thrashed to the side of the huge marble tub, raining water
down all around him in his escape. A trail of tiny bubbles ran into his eyes
and when he could breathe again, he wiped it away and splashed his face
repeatedly to alleviate the sting.
Still wheezing slightly, he glanced up to see a
naked man and two women cowering at the other end of the deep tub. "Sorry,"
he croaked out between coughs as he turned his back to them and dropped his
head onto his folded arms on top of the cool marble. His body seemed
determined to rid his airway of every last drop of bathwater.
"Daniel," Leetha admonished gently from a velvet
divan just out of reach. "Let them finish. You positively reek."
Angry that he was not only being bathed, but that he
also had an audience for the event, Daniel threw Jack’s ‘no snake baiting’
rule out the window. "What the hell did you do to me?" he growled.
"Would you like another demonstration?" Leetha
threatened lightly. "If you are insensible at least we can finish your
bath."
"No," Daniel backed down grudgingly, and turned to
face the very nervous group staring back at him. "But I can do it myself,"
he insisted obstinately.
"You may leave, Hareet," Leetha allowed. "He was
only here to prevent you from drowning. You awoke at a most inopportune
moment."
"Ya think?" Daniel muttered, still fighting the urge
to cough up a lung. "God, I’m channeling Jack," he added under his breath.
The small native man nodded obediently to his
mistress and climbed the steps. He grabbed a tiny towel to rapidly wipe the
excess moisture off his skin and then carefully dried the splashed floor
before stepping behind a sheer drape to dress. Daniel tried not to stare at
the almost asexual appearance of his hairless body.
"Continue," Leetha replied and the women moved
cautiously toward Daniel’s end of the tub.
"Leetha," Daniel protested, using her name without
thinking. The women stopped and stared in wide-eyed terror as he turned to
face their master.
"Daniel," Leetha replied in the same tone. "The
sooner you let them finish, the sooner you can dress."
With a resigned sigh Daniel sank down to sit on the
ledge that ran the length of the tub bringing the water level to his chest.
The soapy film on top of the water didn’t cover much and Daniel dropped his
hands to his lap as the women approached. Again, he didn’t want to look, but
like Hareet, their bodies appeared underdeveloped and their chests were as
flat as ten-year-old boys.
"Hands, first," Leetha instructed. "Then finish his
hair."
Each with a stiff brush, the women began to scrub
attentively at his hands, for the most part studiously ignoring the body
they were attached to.
"What did you do to me?" Daniel asked again, this
time in a practiced, civil tone. "It felt like every cell of my body
exploded." When he looked up, Leetha had left her lounge and gingerly
dropped down to a pillow nearby.
"It does not please me to cause you pain. A test was
necessary, however."
"A test of what?"
"I have implanted an obedience device in your spinal
column at the base of your skull," Leetha explained.
Daniel extracted a hand to finger the back of his
neck. "I don’t feel anything," he said with a slight frown. The closest
female quickly pulled his hand back and began scrubbing again with a
vengeance.
"There was damage after the implantation," Leetha
continued coolly. "I healed you. If I had not, you would be of no use to
me."
"The sarcophagus?" Daniel asked with dread.
"No," Leetha snapped peevishly. "And from now on,
that room is forbidden to you, as is the throne room and my laboratory. You
may go wherever else you wish within the palace walls."
"Um, thanks."
"Listen to me well, young one," Leetha warned
seriously, reaching out to tap the nape of Daniel’s neck with a pointed
metal finger. "Within this device is an explosive charge. If at anytime you
venture beyond the boundaries of the palace, I will not be able to salvage
you again."
"But why?" Daniel asked, aghast.
"This is your home, now. You will never, ever leave
me," Leetha swore, her eyes flashing. "You belong to me," she reiterated
with quiet determination.
Daniel stared back at her for some time before
dropping his gaze and numbly letting the women scrub his hands.
"Let me see," Leetha said to one of the women who
raised the hand she’d been working on for inspection.
Leetha nodded. "Rinse his hair," she ordered.
Still stunned, Daniel didn’t fight as the woman
encouraged him to dunk beneath the surface as they rubbed their hands
through his hair to remove any remaining shampoo. After several seconds he
raised his head and stood. "Enough," he declared and moved to the steps. He
grabbed the nearest towel and tied it around his waist without bothering to
dry first.
The two girls quickly followed and fearfully began
to pat his skin with larger, softer bath sheets. Daniel reached up again to
dazedly finger the back of his neck, but didn’t fight their efforts to dry
him.
"Daniel," Leetha purred proprietarily, "bend down or
they will never reach your head."
Daniel wordlessly knelt on a cushion but held
tightly to the towel around his waist as the still nude women fussed over
his head, shoulders, back and chest. "Can’t they put something on to do
this?" he asked at last.
Leetha snorted and waved impatiently toward the
sheer curtain. The girls bowed to her but looked confused as they went to
dress.
"They’re regressing," Daniel said switching the
conversation to Goa’uld.
"Yes."
"It’s because of the accident, the biological agent
Ra had you make for him," Daniel pressed, still mindful of the obedience
device, but angry and defiant at the same time.
Leetha grew solemn and turned away. "Do not test
me," she warned sternly.
"I read the wall," Daniel sighed resignedly. "I know
what happened. Because there were no immediate effects on the humans,
everyone assumed they were unharmed."
"You are too smart for your own good," Leetha
allowed languidly.
Now dressed in short tunics the women returned,
frightened by the strange dialogue they couldn’t understand. One of them
began to comb Daniel’s hair while the other rubbed his back with a sweet
smelling oil.
"What will become of them? As a people?"
"They are dying," Leetha confirmed. "With each
generation they come closer to extinction."
Daniel nodded uneasily. "They don’t look…
functional. I mean for procreation."
"You are very observant, my Daniel. Don’t worry,
should you desire mating, I will send to the village for a more developed
female."
"What? No! That’s not what I meant!" Daniel
sputtered. "I just meant I don’t understand how they can produce offspring
given their obvious lack of…" he trailed off and waved a hand vaguely toward
Hareet who stood near the door.
Leetha appeared amused at Daniel’s outburst. "There
are occasional births in the village, but most are stillborn. Each
generation lives a shorter span than the one before. This will be the last,
I fear. That is why I need you."
"So you won’t be alone," Daniel surmised unhappily.
"Come," Leetha smiled, pleased with her freshly
scrubbed possession. "The tailors are waiting."
Sergeant Davis attentively studied the video relay
from the MALP. "No sign of activity near the gate, sir. The sun has already
set."
"SG-1, SG-3, you have a go," General Hammond leaned
forward to announce into the microphone.
Jack responded from below with a distracted salute,
but the rest of his body language radiated tension. "Let’s get this over
with," he ordered, grimacing as the marines clattered up the ramp ahead of
his own team. He shot the general an annoyed grimace and followed without
another word. A few short strides and half a galaxy later he stepped into
the darkness of another world.
Daniel wished for the hundredth time that he had a
watch, certain a rescue must be underway by now. "Tell me about the weapon,"
he pressed. His forwardness was born of both his anxiety and the tediousness
of spending all day with the tailor, an older man obviously of Oba’s
generation.
Leetha resolutely ignored the question as she pawed
through the bolts of material littered about Daniel’s room, clearly having a
wonderful time. "What do you think of this?" she asked as she held up a
thick, heavily patterned maroon fabric.
"It’s hideous."
Putting it aside, Leetha dug a little deeper.
"This?" she asked, producing a deep purple satin.
"I’d rather go naked."
"That can be arranged," Leetha replied with a laugh.
"It’s beautiful," Daniel changed his mind instantly.
"It would make a nice… robe."
"Harem pants," Leetha informed the tailor as she
pointed out the satin. He nodded compulsively and relayed the instructions
to his younger helper who busily made notes.
"God," Daniel complained under his breath. "Do I
have any say in this or am I just a life-sized Ken doll?" He tightened the
grip on his towel as Leetha came closer.
"Fine," Leetha allowed distractedly. "You may have a
robe. Your skin is such a lovely color, though. It is a crime to ever cover
it," she replied as she stroked Daniel’s abdomen solicitously.
"Well, you can expect it to turn to a nice prison
pallor since you’ve got me locked up," Daniel responded, flinching at the
touch of the cool metal-tipped fingers.
"You may sun by the pool in the mornings," Leetha
allowed as she circled around him. "In fact I insist on it."
"I thought I couldn’t go outside?"
Leetha pinched Daniel’s left buttock mischievously.
"Just don’t go over the wall," she warned.
"Right," Daniel growled, swatting her hand away.
"Tell me about the weapon…"
"Anything?" Jack asked as Teal’c and one of the
marines dropped down beside him in the brush just inside the front garden.
"There’s no activity inside the perimeter, sir."
"It appears the field servants have all returned to
the village," Teal’c added. "However something is amiss. There is no light
coming from within the palace."
"He’s right, sir. I’m not picking up any light at
all," Carter confirmed, searching the pale colored marble through her
binoculars. "In fact, there doesn’t appear to be a way in at all."
"That’s impossible," Jack grunted. "Teal’c, where
was the door last time you were here?"
"There," Teal’c supplied, pointing to a spot under
the main edifice.
"You’re sure?"
"I am."
"Lights out," Jack ordered as he slipped on a pair
of night vision goggles and scanned the wall. "It’s sealed tight," he
muttered in disappointment. "Not even a trace of light’s getting out of that
place."
"We could plant some C-4," Sam offered.
"What and ruin our surprise?" Jack quipped, but
paused to consider it anyway. "Not with Daniel inside," he decided
reluctantly. "We don’t know what his status is at this point. Fall back,
people."
The well-trained group faded into the night without
question.
Daniel lay on his bed in his new robe, which had
been top priority for the tailor once Leetha had decided to let him have
one, and stared at the ceiling. Although the old Goa’uld had a talent for
ignoring his questions, he found he could easily get away with saying almost
anything to her.
In fact, as with the robe, all he had to do was
mention a want or a need and Leetha bent over backward to give it to him,
even if she did go through the whole ‘I am the master, you are the slave’
bit every single time. Slowly Daniel began to realize just how much power he
had.
Covering his eyes with the crook of his arm, Daniel
thought out the safest ways to test his boundaries. He took a deep breath
and feigned sleep, well aware of his audience as she sat at his bedside.
Before long she began to stroke his hair lightly with golden fingertips.
Unable to bear the caress, Daniel rolled away from her hand. After several
long moments, Leetha rose and silently left the room.
"Colonel? Something is happening," the young
lieutenant on watch reported. He pointed down toward the palace from their
hiding place on the hill with a good view of the back of the fortress where
half of the group had spent the night.
Jack raised himself up on his elbows and accepted
the binoculars. "Holy Toledo," he swore. "Would you look at that. Richards?"
he barked into his radio, glancing across the small valley to the next hill
over where a couple of his troops where watching the front. "Are you getting
this?"
"Yes, sir, we see it."
The palace seemed to unfold itself revealing doors
and windows that had not been there only minutes before. Rays of the early
morning sun turned the walls into a brilliant, eye-searing white.
"Wow," Carter exclaimed as she took the binoculars
and had a look.
"Teal’c, you’re with me. Everybody else stay put,"
Jack ordered, following as Teal’c picked a trail through the dense
underbrush down toward the back side of the palace.
Slowly the fields around them filled with peasants
who went about their labors unaware of the two men stealthily making their
way along the sheltered ravine. Finally they ran out of cover at the bend of
the small creek and silently debated what to do. A lone man worked his way
closer to their position as he weeded the last row of what appeared to be
some sort of legume.
"Shh," Jack warned as the native spotted them.
"We’re not going to hurt you. Just sit here with my friend while I have a
little look over that wall."
The man nodded and unquestioningly crawled into the
bushes to squat down next to Teal’c.
"Good. Very good," Jack praised and exchanged a
glance with Teal’c before crossing the last, exposed hundred feet between
him and the palace.
The wall was a good twelve feet high and Jack cursed
silently as he paced the length of it looking for a way over the top. The
smooth surface gave his feet no purchase and he wished in vain for a
grappling hook. There was movement behind him and he raised his weapon
rapidly only to lower it just as quickly in relief.
"Don’t do that," he griped, leaning against the wall
to slow his racing heart.
"You appeared to be in need of assistance," Teal’c
explained reasonably, but with a tiny tease of a Jaffa smirk. The man with
him looked around nervously, but made no move to get away.
"Thank you," Jack muttered snidely as Teal’c offered
him a leg up. Stepping lightly into Teal’c’s cupped hands Jack felt himself
smoothly propelled upward. Scrambling for a handhold, he managed to sling an
arm over the top. With a grunt he pulled himself up to sit on the wall with
one leg on each side.
Through the branches of a tree on the inside of the
garden he could see sun sparkled water. He ducked down as movement caught
his eye. A purple robe fell to the stone terrace and Jack watched as long,
bare legs waded down steps into the pool.
"I see Daniel," Jack reported down to Teal’c. "Wait
here. I’ll grab him and we’ll get the hell out of here."
A knotted nylon line fell across the wall in front
of him and trailed down the other side. "Good idea," Jack approved as he
swung his leg over and used the rope to climb down.
Keeping low Jack waited until a servant with a large
tray of beverages and fruit sat it down next to the pool and went back
inside. There were no guards and still Daniel lounged on a large silver
float in the water, making no move for the wall where the tree would make an
easy escape. Cautiously, Jack held onto his doubts and crept forward. He
poured himself a drink, sniffed it suspiciously then took a sip before
letting out a wolf-whistle.
"Jack!" Daniel called immediately, turning toward
the noise.
"What are you wearing?" Jack asked
incredulously, taking in the shiny, gold swimsuit.
"Goa’uld Speedo?" Daniel offered sheepishly.
Dropping off the side of the float and into the clear, deep water, he came
up halfway to the side where Jack waited. He shook his head once to knock
the water from his hair and swam the rest of the way in three effortless
strokes.
"Grab your pretty purple robe and let’s get the hell
outta Dodge."
"I can’t leave," Daniel stated, looking up at Jack
from the edge of the pool.
"No, Daniel, you’re wrong about that," Jack argued,
unwilling to listen to whatever reason his stubborn teammate had come up
with this time. "You can. This is the only rescue you’re gonna get. Now
let’s go."
"No, Jack, I can’t," Daniel insisted, ducking his
head as he placed his hands up on the side and levered himself out of the
water. "I’ve been implanted… Whoa! Jack!" he exclaimed as he came face to
face with the business end of Jack’s P-90.
"Damn it, Daniel," Jack cursed. "I knew this would
happen."
"With a device, Jack," Daniel persuaded, holding his
hands up in supplication as he straightened up. "I’ve been implanted with an
obedience device. If I go over the wall it will explode."
"I saw the scar," Jack denied vehemently.
"Yes, that’s where she put it, in the back of my
neck. But she screwed it up and paralyzed me. She had to use a healing
device to fix me or I could show you the wound. Jack, I’m still me. I just
can’t leave."
"And she told you all this?" Jack questioned, not
bothering to hide his doubt.
"Yes! Well, that and one ‘practical demonstration’
I’m not eager to repeat."
"She blew you up?"
"Of course not," Daniel explained impatiently. "The
thing is somehow wired directly into my nervous system. She can send a volt
of electricity through me with her hand device. Frankly it makes the charge
from a zat blast seem like static electricity."
Jack nodded and knelt down by the tray absently
poking at the fruit with the tip of his gun. "How do I know you’re telling
me the truth?"
"Well I haven’t turned you in yet," Daniel offered.
"True. And how do we know she’s telling you the
truth? About the explosive?"
Daniel sighed and plopped down next to Jack,
seemingly oblivious to the water dripping off his skin. "We don’t. We either
take her at her word or… or we don’t."
Jack eyed the wall before turning back to his
friend. "You wanna risk it?"
"Not really. I don’t think she’s lying."
"Maybe we could bring Fraiser back? She could do a
little bathroom surgery and dig the thing out."
"Maybe," Daniel agreed dubiously. "At the moment,
I’m not really in any danger. Well except to my dignity," he amended with a
gesture towards his gaudy swimsuit. "I’d like more time to find the weapon,
or at least make sure it’s been destroyed. But if she catches you here,
she’ll lock down the palace again and neither one of us will ever get out."
"So there really is a weapon. Could we use it
against the Goa’uld?"
"No, Jack, that’s what happened to these people. The
affects were long term, not immediate. I need to make sure that no one else
ever gets their hands on it. It’s too dangerous."
"Okay," Jack agreed reluctantly as he stood and
adjusted his P-90. "I’ll talk to Fraiser and meet you back here tomorrow
morning. But be careful."
"Daniel," Leetha called from inside the palace.
With a nod of his head, Daniel glanced nervously
toward the door. "You’d better go," he advised, rising to his feet to
distract Leetha while Jack made his escape. He picked up his robe but didn’t
put it on yet, just to make sure Leetha was looking at him and not in Jack’s
direction as he slipped back into the foliage.
"Who were you talking to?" Leetha asked as she
exited the building and took in the sight of her favorite new pastime.
Daniel slowly pulled on his beloved robe and cinched
it up tight around his waist. "Huh? Oh, yeah… there was a… bird," he offered
lamely. "It was whistling and, uh, messing with my breakfast," he added as
he picked up the cup of juice Jack had poured and finished it off.
Leetha eyed him skeptically for a minute before
shrugging and letting it go. "The tailor has brought some more of your
clothes. I want you to try them on when you’re finished sunning."
"Sure," Daniel offered amicably, finally casting a
glance toward the wall when she turned to sit in one of the fancy deck
chairs.
Jack made it to the top of the wall before turning
to get a glimpse of the Goa’uld, relieved to see incontrovertible evidence
that Daniel hadn’t been made into a host after all. He pulled the rope up
and dropped down to the other side, surprised to find Teal’c surrounded by a
large group of the natives.
"Teal’c?" Jack asked nervously, looking around at
the unexpected but pleasant crowd.
"They do not appear to be hostile, O’Neill," Teal’c
advised, moving away from a pair of inquisitive hands as they tried to touch
his staff weapon.
"Hello," Jack greeted uncertainly. "What’s up?"
"You are gods?" one of the villagers asked
innocently.
"No," Jack muttered. "Just visiting. Listen, let’s
take this little party to the tree line, huh?"
Teal’c moved out and half of the people followed
obediently. Jack examined his own personal mob for a second and nodded his
acceptance in mild bewilderment. "All righty then," he declared and started
off, not in the least surprised that all of the remaining field hands moved
with him.
"Carter?" Jack barked into his radio. "Give me a sit
rep."
"Everything’s quiet here, sir," Sam replied
immediately. "It looks like you guys are having all the fun."
"Oh, yeah," Jack agreed knowing how suspicious the
little group must look from afar. "Fall back to the gate. We’ll meet you
there."
After a short pause, Sam answered. "Yes sir."
"Goa’uld fashion at its finest," Daniel muttered
under his breath as he thumbed through the rack of outlandish to bizarre
outfits the tailor proudly displayed.
Leetha looked on with the demeanor of a proud
grandmother, making suggestions of which ridiculous blouse to wear with
which garish pants, or heaven forbid, skirt. "What do you think, my pet?"
she cooed.
"Ah, well," Daniel hedged. "It’s all very…
colorful."
"There will be much more," Leetha gushed. "This is
only the beginning."
"I think this is quite enough," Daniel sighed
unenergetically.
"Nonsense. You will never wear a garment twice."
Leetha tugged at the tie of Daniel’s robe, frowning to find it cinched
tightly in a double knot. "What will you wear today?"
"I’m not sure. What’s on the agenda?"
"Whatever you please."
Daniel nodded as he fingered a royal blue silk
shirt. Ostentatious as it was, it had sleeves and it didn’t have ruffles.
"I’d like to read your journals," he requested with a carefully posed air of
distraction, pulling out the shirt and continuing to search for a decent
pair of pants.
Leetha made a disgusted noise. "Why?" she asked in
mild irritation.
"Why not?" Daniel countered serenely.
"I’ll think about it," Leetha replied turning to
leave the room. "If you make me happy with your choice of clothing."
Taken aback at the ease of his evident victory,
Daniel stared at the clothing rack. "How could I go wrong?" he asked the
tailor acerbically.
The old man smiled in delight at the apparent praise
and bowed profusely.
"So?" Jack prodded impatiently.
Janet Fraiser stared back at the colonel in horror.
"Sir! You’re asking me to perform complicated neuro-surgery, without the
proper equipment, in less than ideal conditions, to remove an alien device
that I know nothing about," she counted off on her fingers. "A device that
could possibly explode on extraction, I might add."
"So you can’t do it?"
"I won’t do it!" Janet exclaimed firmly.
"If we don’t do something, Daniel is stuck there at
the mercy of that old snake!" Jack insisted.
"What’s the worst case scenario, Doctor?" Hammond
asked quietly.
Janet placed her tightly clinched hands in her lap.
"Worst case; Doctor Jackson will die."
"That’s a little fatalistic, isn’t it?"
"Actually, that’s a pretty high probability, sir.
The best we could hope for under those conditions is permanent paralysis
from the neck down."
"That’s unacceptable," Hammond declared.
"Yes, sir. It is. I could never knowingly do that to
Daniel," the doctor admitted. "I’m sorry, Colonel."
Jack reluctantly nodded his acceptance. "We’ll have
to think of something else, then. Because I’m not just gonna leave him
there."
Wearing the blue shirt, Daniel stopped outside
Leetha’s library and smoothed his sweaty palms down the soft, cream colored
slacks. They were a bit tight but otherwise fairly normal, every day pants.
He fervently hoped Leetha liked them because he planned on wearing them a
lot, given his other options.
"Leetha," he said to get her attention, although he
knew she was well aware of his presence.
She looked up and made a growling noise deep in her
throat as she appraised him. "Give us a spin," she instructed, twirling a
finger in the air.
Biting back a sarcastic reply, Daniel held his arms
out and slowly turned for her, pausing with his back to her for a moment
before continuing. "Well?" he asked when he completed his rotation. "How did
I do?"
"Very nice," Leetha approved. "However I suspect you
would look every bit as appealing in a field sack."
"So I get to read your journals?" Daniel pushed.
With an exasperated sigh Leetha waved him away.
"Bring them down here. It’s terribly dusty in the lab."
"Okay," Daniel agreed, eagerly turning on his heel
and heading for the hall before she changed her mind. "I’ll be right back."
"I’ve ruined him already," Leetha bemoaned to Oba,
sounding anything but unhappy about the situation.
Oba’s detached gaze followed as Daniel disappeared
through the door, giving nothing away of his disquieting thoughts.
Leaving SG-3 home this time, Jack let Teal’c take
point and followed on Sam’s six in the predawn darkness as they took a
circuitous route to the back side of the palace. As the sun rose they
slipped into the rougher terrain of the creek bed and the peasants who began
appearing in the fields remained unaware of their return visitors.
When finally SG-1 had no choice but to break cover
to reach the garden wall, the laborers spotted them and waved excitedly.
They lay down their various crude farming tools and gathered together in
small clusters.
"Crap," Jack muttered as the groups of workers began
to stream towards them. "So much for keeping a low profile."
"They’re just curious, sir," Sam deduced.
"Yeah, but what happens when the wicked witch sees
that all her field hands have disappeared? Get rid of them."
"Yes sir," Sam responded. "How?"
"I don’t know," Jack complained as he placed the toe
of his boot in Teal’c’s cupped hand. "Tell ‘em about magnets and subatomic
whatnots and stuff. You know, your usual gobbledygook. They’ll get bored and
leave." His own grunt covered what he was certain was an insubordinate reply
as Teal’c effortlessly hefted him up to the top of the wall.
As Jack took a moment to look around for any sign of
their errant teammate, a knotted rope struck him in the face.
"Sorry, sir," came the not so contrite whisper from
below.
Jack glared at the innocent, upturned face below him
for a moment before swinging his legs over and climbing down. He moved
closer to the palace using the ample cover of the garden shrubs before
finding a concealed spot with a clear view of the pool area.
One servant moved around the edge of the natural
looking stone pool skimming the surface with a net while another placed a
tray of food on the table between the deck chairs before leaving. Jack got
comfortable and settled in to wait.
Before long Daniel appeared in the arched doorway
looking none too happy. He glanced around uneasily as he stepped outside,
followed closely by the short, ugly Goa’uld. "Leetha," he snapped. "Is it
too much to ask for a few moments alone?"
"I want to watch you sun," the old woman pouted.
"For Pete’s sake," Daniel complained with an
aggravated sigh. "You watch me eat, you watch me sleep… hell, you even watch
me bathe. It’s demeaning."
"I enjoy your form," Leetha replied, dropping
nonchalantly into one of the chairs and picking up a cracker from the tray
to munch on while she waited for Daniel to disrobe.
"I need a few moments alone," Daniel insisted
petulantly. "Please go. And take the pool boy with you."
Jack’s eyes widened at the exchange, surprised at
just how far Daniel could actually push the old bat.
The woman continued to eat, ignoring Daniel’s tirade
completely. With his hands on his hips and a frown on his face, Daniel
studied her intently. After a few minutes his expression softened as he
changed tactics. He cleared his throat as if about to make a deal with the
devil.
"Why don’t you go pick out something for me to wear
today?" Daniel bargained. "I promise, whatever you decide, I’ll wear it
without complaint."
Leetha considered the proposition carefully. "Very
well," she huffed, getting to her feet. "I’m sure you’ll regret it."
"I’m sure I will,&quo |