A Matter of Honor Page 16

  Readying his weapon, he turned to Carter. "Teal'c and I go first, you and Daniel wait thirty seconds then come in low. We'll cover you."

  "Yes, sir."

  She wouldn't say anything about where they were going, or how he might react, not after what she'd done on Kinahhi. He was grateful for that, or at least he knew he should be grateful. Professionalism was what he'd demanded from her. And yet a part of him regretted her discretion; a part that needed a reassuring smile; a part he routinely ignored.

  Silently Teal'c came to stand at his side, his steady presence as reassuring as the weight of the gun in Jack's hands. "We will succeed, O'Neill."

  "Yeah," he agreed. "Sure we will."

  Slowly the `gate spun, his guts churning in matching circles. He swore he'd never go back... Mouth suddenly dry, he held tight to his P90, screwing his fear and anger together into a tight wad of adrenalin. He could do this. He could damn well do this!

  All too soon the `gate spewed forth its liquid light. But Jack didn't move. His legs seemed rooted to the ground, his heart hammering insanely in his chest. He was going back there. He tried to take a deep breath, but found it hard to suck air around the cold hard lump in his chest. What ifhe couldn't move from this spot? And then Teal'c shifted at his side, resting the butt of his staff weapon firmly on the ground. Out of the comer of his eye Jack saw Daniel and Carter come to stand with him. No one spoke. No one needed to.

  Straightening his shoulders, he forced words through his dry throat. "This is it, guys, last chance to save your careers."

  Daniel cocked an eyebrow. "Last chance to save Henry Boyd"

  "We'll be right behind you, sir." Carter's glance spoke volumes. She might not be able to say it, but he knew what she meant - this time I'll be there for you. They all would.

  Suddenly he could breathe again. The fear didn't subside, but that didn't matter. He had his team with him; he had a fighting chance. "Okay kids, let's go kick some Goa'uld ass."

  Sam hit the ground in a roll and was up on her knees, weapon raised, before the chill of the `gate had eased. Braced for an assault, it took her a moment to realize that none came. Around her a blackened forest was struggling into new life. Stumps of trees reached raw and shattered limbs into the dark, overcast sky, their shapes blurred by a thin mist and the timid growth of a season. Life persisting against the odds.

  But there was no bird song, just a flat, heavy silence. Certainly no Jaffa, which was a plus. To her right, Daniel was mirroring her posture on the other side of the `gate, scanning his surroundings with the professional eye of the soldier he'd been forced to become. He glanced over and caught her eye, shrugged but didn't speak. Behind them the blue light of the `gate fizzled out of existence and they were alone in a silent world of death and gray mists.

  Carefully, Sam stood and did a slow three-sixty. Nothing in the devastated forest moved.

  "No welcoming party." The voice, close to her ear, was the colonel's.

  She almost jumped out of her skin. "Sir!" Where the hell had he been hiding?

  There was a glint in his eye that might have been humor, but was probably an over-dose of adrenalin and fear. Not that he'd ever admit as much. "Teal'c's doing a quick recon."

  Sam peered through the mist. In the distance she could see the dark shapes of buildings, and hoped they were as ruined as the forest. "Looks like Yu did a pretty thorough job on the place, Sir."

  "I can't take all the credit, Carter."

  She resisted the temptation to roll her eyes at the old joke. Given where they were, and what had happened here, even his lamest wisecrack was welcome.

  "Jack, Sam!" Daniel's low call drifted flatly through the deadening mist. They both turned and saw him a couple of meters from the `gate, crouched over something in the undergrowth.

  O'Neill nodded her toward him, but made no move himself. His fingers, Sam noticed, still held his weapon ready for use; he was stretched as tight as a tripwire.

  Picking her way through the brush, she soon saw that Daniel was studying a cracked stone that lay half exposed on the edge of a shallow crater. The site of the blast had slowly filled in with water, and the stone hung like a derelict diving platform over the muddy hole below.

  "Seems like we're in the right place," Daniel said, his fingers tracing a faint inscription on the stone. "I think we've found the origin to Teal'c's bedtime story."

  "On there?"

  He nodded. "Looks like it used to be part of a temple at some point - it probably housed the Stargate. Most of it I can't see, obviously. But this line," he tapped at the obscure script, "this is talking about the Thunder god being punished. Something, something... `tom asunder and thus rendered impotent'. And here," he indicated the next line, "`Fleeing to his father's home." He looked up when Sam didn't respond, sliding his glasses back up his nose. "Ashdod. Asdad. It's definitely here."

  "Question is," said Sam, watching Teal'c emerge from the trees and head toward the colonel. "Is the power unit here? If Baal's abandoned the fortress..."

  Daniel pushed himself to his feet. "Guess there's only one way to find out."

  As if he'd been listening, O'Neill beckoned them over. "Looks like we're not alone," he whispered as they approached. "Teal'c found some tracks, so keep your heads down. I'll take point; Teal'c, watch our six." Without further conversation he moved out silently through the trees.

  Sam followed close behind, Daniel at her heels. Slowly, through the mist, Baal's stronghold came into view. Windowless and gray, it stood ugly and industrial amid the shattered beauty of the forest. As they drew closer Sam saw black fissures gaping toothlessly in its side, and realized that the complex was crumbling. Her spirits rose - perhaps Baal had abandoned the place completely?

  Gradually the trees began to thin and O'Neill slowed his pace, eventually raising a cautionary hand and crouching low behind a fallen tree. Sam crept forward, stopping at his side. Ahead of them stretched a wide, ravaged expanse ofnothing. Blasted tree stumps and mud-filled craters pocked the barren landscape between them and Baal's looming fortress.

  "I remember it being bigger," the colonel murmured.

  "If there are Jaffa within the complex," Teal'c cautioned, "our approach across the expanse will be observed."

  "Fish in a barrel," Daniel agreed.

  Teal'c raised a curious eyebrow. "I do not-"

  "Never mind." He waved it away. "So what do we do?"

  Sam glanced over at the colonel. He'd pulled out his monocular and was scanning the complex. "I don't see any movement. Nothing on the roof or inside."

  Daniel shifted. "Teal'c? The tracks you saw - were they Jaffa? Maybe there's a native population here?"

  It was a good point, and Teal'c inclined his head in thought. "They were indistinct. I cannot be certain."

  "We're not here to make friends with the locals, Daniel." The colonel pocketed his monocular and slid lower behind the tree. "And I'm not in the mood for a picnic in the woods."

  "It would be safer to wait for nightfall, sir," Sam suggested carefully. "If we're spotted out there-"

  "The place is a ruin, Carter. Look at it! Nobody here but us chickens." The last comment prompted an odd, bitter laugh from him that was cut off almost before it began. He moved again, crouching with a wince and favoring his right knee. "Let's just get this thing over with."

  Daniel's eyebrows were climbing into his hair as he exchanged an alarmed glance with Sam. "Ah, Jack, is that wise? That's a lot of empty space and we're only talking about a few hours here."

  "I'm not hanging around in the woods to be-" He cut himself off sharply. "There's no one there." It sounded more like an affirmation of faith than anything else, and before anyone could object O'Neill had vaulted over the dead tree.

  "Sir, wait...!" Too late. He was already running.

  "Damn it," Daniel muttered, scrambling to his feet and heading after the colonel. Teal'c wasn't far behind, leaving Sam to watch their backs as they headed out over no-man's land, expecting the lancing blast of
a staff weapon at any moment.

  Sam cursed. One more stunt like this and she'd have to consider relieving him of command. For all the good that would do on a covert, unsanctioned and highly illegal mission. But at least it might keep him alive long enough to get home. Maybe.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  e couldn't stay still. He couldn't just sit there and wait for them to come for him, not this time. He had to keep moving. Crouching low, Jack skirted the edge of the trees until he spotted a rise of slightly drier land amid the mud-filled craters surrounding Baal's fortress. Gun clutched close, he darted out into no-man's land and waited for the shout or the weapons fire.

  Nothing. He ran on, and behind him he could hear the sodden footfalls of his team. A twinge of self-reproach snapped at his heels, but it wasn't enough to puncture the incessant need to keep moving, to keep in control. Last time he'd been fleeing through these trees... Alien memories of hitting the cold wet forest floor made him shiver, and he ran on. Ahead of him gray walls loomed high through the mist, but all on the ground was silence.

  Slowing as he approached a wide trench of black, sucking mud, Daniel caught him up. Teal'c and Carter were close behind. "Now what?" Daniel muttered breathlessly, glancing at the quagmire before them. "Through or around?"

  "Around." Who knew how deep that stuffwas? Last thing he wanted was to lose half his team in a swamp. "Keep low."

  The detour was long and soon the mud was creeping over the tops of his boots, its grasping, sticky fingers threatening to keep hold of his feet with every yank of his leg as he struggled on. Behind he heard no murmur of complaint, although he could sense a waft of disapproval in the air. Most likely either Carter or Teal'c were the source. He ignored them, and thanked all the gods he could think of that they weren't taking enemy fire; stuck in the mud as they were, they really would have been fish in a barrel. Or sitting ducks. Or any number of other threadbare cliches. A greenhorn lieutenant would have known better. Great call, O'Neill.

  But at last the ground began to firm up and his pace quickened. He led his team through the remains of the mired forest toward the shattered walls ahead. Lumps of rock scattered the ground now, providing some cover as they crept closer to the dark and silent fortress.

  He stopped, mud seeping coldly through the legs of his pants, and ducked behind a large chunk of fallen wall. The rest of the team joined him, all filthy and wary.

  "Doesn't seem like there's anyone there," Carter noted in a tone that hovered between rebuke and relief.

  "At least no one who's watching," Jack agreed, squinting up through the mist. Looking at the dark face of Baal's stronghold was easier than acknowledging Carter's guarded concern.

  Daniel cleared his throat. "Let's hope our luck holds."

  "Let us hope we do not need to rely on luck, Daniel Jackson."

  Teal'c's quiet reproof earned a wince from Jack. But he didn't comment, focusing instead on the obstacle ahead. He nodded toward a gaping hole in the wall to his left. "That looks good" And dark. He wasn't afraid of the dark. It was the white light that terrified him, over and over and-

  "Sir?" Carter was frowning, as if she'd had to repeat herself.

  Disturbed by his own lack of focus, he frowned back at her. "What?"

  "I said, we should be careful when we go inside. The structural integrity of the building must be shot."

  "Ya think?" He rose to his feet, ignoring the tight expression on Carter's face. "Daniel with me, Teal'c watch our backs." Carefully they moved out from behind their cover, edging closer to the cave-like entrance. "Daniel," he whispered as they began to scramble over the rubble, "does this look anything like the map?"

  There was a pause, the sound of feet slipping on loose rocks, and then, "Ah, maybe. I'll know more when we get inside."

  That was debatable, Jack thought, as he climbed over the lip of the opening and crunched down into the silent room beyond. Mist crept in after him, adding a damp opacity to the fire-damaged room. Slip-sliding down the debris behind him, Daniel came to stand at his side. He glanced up, eyebrows raised. "That doesn't look good"

  Above them half the ceiling was missing, and through the hole Jack could see up and up into darkness. No white light, no sign of life. Thank God. On the other hand, it seemed as though a stiff breeze could bring half the complex down on their heads. "Move out," he whispered, looking around for a door.

  "There," Teal'c offered, pointing with his staff weapon. He crossed the small room in two strides and began to examine the controls of a sealed door.

  Meanwhile, Carter scrambled over the wall and into the room. She was moving awkwardly, and Jack realized he'd forgotten the extra weight she was carrying in her pack. The device she'd constructed in her basement wasn't exactly portable. "You okay?"

  "Yes sir," came the standard response. And then, after a pause, "How about you?" There was a definite subtext of `Are you going nuts yet, sir?'

  "Just peachy, Carter. Nothing like a little nostalgia trip to bring back all those good times." Well, ask a stupid question... "Teal'c," he called in a low voice, "how's it coming with the door?"

  Irritation flickered over the Jaffa's face. "I believe I shall need your assistance, O'Neill." Not so long ago, when Junior had still been in residence, Teal'c could have probably prized the door open with one hand tied behind his back. Jack knew his friend found this human weakness difficult to bear at times, and so he resisted the urge to comment. Instead he silently crossed the room and set his hands next to Teal'c's, leaning all his weight back as he pulled. The doors cracked and Daniel wedged the butt of Teal'c's staff weapon into the gap, levering it open.

  Beyond was more darkness. Jack slipped through the narrow opening, weapon at the ready. Behind him came Teal'c, Daniel and then Carter. There was a muted quality to sound beyond the door, and when he flicked on his flashlight he saw that they were in a long, horribly familiar corridor. He froze, fighting a sudden urge to run. They all look the same. All Goa'uld corridors look the same. It didn't mean they were anywhere near his cell. Or the other place... He swallowed, hard. "Any ideas which way?"

  From his left came a rustle and a new beam of light joined his. "Uh, according to the map," Daniel said, "the stronghold is based on a design of concentric circles with interconnecting corridors - like a spokes on a wheel."

  "The power unit is likely to be at the center, in a control room," Carter chipped in.

  "So I guess we need to head that way." Daniel peered up and squinted at the flat wall ahead of him. "Uh, if we can find a door."

  "Maybe there's a ring device?" Carter suggested. "There must be, in a place this big. It could take us right to the control room."

  "If it's working."

  Jack glanced at his watch. Time was slipping by and they only had forty-eight hours before their scheduled sit-rep; if they failed to checkin, Hammond would be forced to start looking for them. The consequences of that could be very bad for him, them and Henry Boyd. He made a decision. "Teal'c, Carter - you go left. Keep in radio contact, and if you find anything - a door, a corridor - yell. Daniel, with me."

  With a nod of acknowledgement, Carter and Teal'c moved off into the shadows. When their footsteps had faded, Jack cast a cautious glance at Daniel. He was studying his boots, as if contemplating saying something he didn't quite know how to phrase. Jack forestalled him. "I still don't want to talk about it."

  The feigned look of innocence was almost comical. "Huh?"

  "Let's just find what we're looking for and bug out. Okay?"

  Daniel shrugged, pushing his glasses up his nose. "Suits me."

  "Good. Stay sharp." And with that they headed out, following the beam of his flashlight as it danced ahead of them like a treacherous will o' the wisp.

  Teal'c carefully measured his stride to keep pace with that of Major Carter, encumbered as she was by the device she carried in her pack. He had considered offering to relieve her of the burden, but he had learned long ago that Samantha Carter disliked any allowances to be made for
her gender. And in everything but brute, physical strength, no allowance was required. However, he did not wish to anger or embarrass her and so said nothing as they walked through the silent corridors of Baal's former stronghold.

  Had Teal'c been a man prone to open displays of emotion, he might have smiled; it warmed his heart to see anything Goa'uld reduced to rubble and dust. One day, he hoped, rubble and dust and the memories buried beneath would be all that remained of the species.

  "It's kind of creepy, don't you think?" Major Carter's words took him by surprise.

  "I do not," he told her truthfully. "The demise of any Goa'uld is a matter for celebration."

  "Except Baal's still out there," she pointed out. And then in a hesitant voice she added, "I was kinda surprised that the colonel didn't wait for nightfall to do this."

  He glanced over in time to catch the tight-lipped expression that accompanied her words. "His decision appeared rash. Even for O'Neill."

  She looked up, face strained. "Do you think he's handling it, Teal'c? Seriously. Maybe we shouldn't have let him come?"

  "If O'Neill did not consider himself fit for duty, do you believe he would have participated in the mission?"

  It was intended to alleviate her concern, but it did not. "To be honest, I'm not sure how clearly he's thinking. He's so intent on getting Boyd home, he might have underestimated the impact coming back here could have on him." She shook her head slightly. "We all might have done that."

  Her fears were disconcerting. "Perhaps," he said, "we should ensure that we spend as little time here as possible?"

  Major Carter nodded. "And I think we should try and find the power unit without the colonel needing to-" Abruptly she stopped. At first he did not understand why, but then she nodded further along the corridor. On the inside wall the remains of a door gaped open, but from within came a distant glow of golden light.