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Chapter 3
His plan was simple. Hide his injured teammate from the hostiles, lead them on a wild goose chase, lose them, circle back, pickup a pissed off archeologist then run away with all possible speed. Easy enough, just like a momma bird; and like that bird he was unarmed, barefooted, naked and wounded. Piece of cake. O"Neill led off directly away from the path that they had been traveling. He had in mind to go back to the cave"s spring and use it to hide his footprints until it ran into the larger stream. If he could get far enough ahead of them, he could take their original trail back to the Stargate. ------- Sam Carter was proceeding on at her best speed. Her plan was simple. She was to get back to the Stargate at best speed, locate assistance from Teal"c or SGC, return to her teammates and assist their return. She was jogging back to the Stargate wincing over stones and cursing at thorny brush and trees in the cross-country trip. But her knife wound hadn"t bled since she cleaned it earlier this morning at the spring, she had eaten and drank her fill and she was determined to bring help to the Colonel and Daniel. The two men were more tired than she was and more severely injured. If she could get help this side of the gate, either by locating their missing teammate, Teal"c; or by encountering an SGC Search And Rescue team she would return and assist them. Not accomplishing this she would have to attempt to contact SGC via wormhole and get a message through without the benefit of a GDO. Sometimes things were just never easy. ------- Teal"c was heading back to the area where he had lost contact with his team. His plan was simple. He had gone through the four packs that had been left with him at the Chappa"i and he had removed any extraneous items from one of them to lighten the load. He kept the two zatniketels, two 9-MM pistols, a medical kit, and some of the food and water. Hoisting the pack on his shoulders and picking up his staff weapon, he started down the trail to the original village intent upon finding and assisting his missing teammates. Then they would return to the Stargate. ------- Daniel had disagreed with Jack"s plan to hide him and then draw the primitives off on a false trail. Though he knew that he didn"t have a chance in hell of outrunning the natives, he was not sure that Jack could do a successful marathon cross-country foot race either. The older man had been tired and sore this morning, even admitting to sleeping past his inner clock"s promptings. But the Colonel had been insistent and in the end, had won. O"Neill had helped him to a more secure hiding place. Then, before he left his friend, Jack had pulled Daniel into a quick rough hug. He had then left Jackson without a word. Daniel had lain quiet and hidden while the group of hostile natives were in his immediate area. But after about half an hour, he clambered to his feet and continued his slow, painful journey to the Stargate. ------- Jack hated the idea of leaving Daniel unarmed in the wilderness, unable to protect himself from any attack. But if he could get the natives to follow him long enough he knew that he could lead them far enough away so that his friend could make his way back to the "gate, Carter and safety. O"Neill had waited until he could clearly hear the enemy coming up the trail, then started out cross-country. The sharp, protruding rocks reopened the cuts on the soles of his feet, the thicker brush caught and scratched at his bare legs, but he continued pushing his way through the heavy foliage. The first three miles or so remained fairly level but then the terrain changed. He seemed to be heading uphill, the larger trees beginning to be farther apart with more of the shorter brushy varieties appearing. Then the loam soil became rock-strewn moving towards a rocky promontory. Once he topped the rise, the ground should drop back down into the brushy, forest that would lead back to the Katai Village. O"Neill didn"t know if he would find assistance there or if the village would be deserted. But he had to get their pursuers away from his helpless friend. He started up the rise that led to the crest of the promontory. ------- Sam had traveled several miles over the last two hours. It was almost noon. The lay of the land had flattened out and the flora had taken on a friendlier aspect. Though she was in good shape, her bare feet were beginning to bother her. The cuts and bruises that she had collected the night before had picked up dirt and she thought she felt one or two thorns embedded in the soles of her feet. But the only relief she would permit herself was to reach the Stargate. As she topped a small rise, she suddenly paused, then dropped to the ground. She had seen movement. Carter raised herself to her elbows peering through the tall grass, trying to see what had caught her eye. As she watched breathlessly, she could see what appeared to be a large, dark, mottled shape freeze and blend with the surrounding landscape. Squinting into the bright sunlight, she recognized the profile. She gratefully rose to her feet and started in his direction, waving at him to get his attention. ------- Teal"c had been striding down a faint path watching the ground for sign, when he saw a light-colored flash in the distance. He stopped and stepped back into the sheltering trees. Then he saw the woman raise up from her hiding place and trot down the slope to him, her blond hair shining in the sunlight. She was limping as she ran and was wearing little clothing, a few scraps of the BDU uniform and no boots at all. "Majorcarter." He greeted her warmly; supporting her as she gratefully sank down to a sitting position to catch her breath. "What has happened? Where are the others?" "I left them to get back to the Stargate and hopefully find you. We escaped from a village of hostiles." She replied smiling at him in relief, accepting a drink from his canteen. "Daniel has an injured leg and the Colonel is helping him along, but we"re pretty much intact." Her breathing was returning to normal. Daniel thought we were about to be sacrificed to some local deity so we decided to leave instead. What happened to you after the attack?" "I remember nothing after the initial attack on the Village. I and several of the Katai were rendered unconscious by a gaseous vapor. When I awoke, I was bound hand and foot and laid in front of the Chappa"i. Our equipment was also there." She looked at him excitedly. "Our weapons too?" At his nod she smiled again. "Yes," He replied. "I am carrying two Zatnikatels and two pistols. I also have medical supplies and some little food." He reached into his BDU pocket and handed her an energy bar. She eagerly took it from him and started to eat. "The Colonel and Daniel are up the trail about four miles. We escaped last night after dark. We spent the night in a small cave." She took another swallow of water from Teal"cs canteen. "We need to get back to them so we can help them get to the "Gate." The warrior nodded. "Is Danieljackson seriously injured?" Teal"c asked. "Well, it"s a deep knife wound on his upper leg. He can"t walk by himself and I"m sure it"s infected by now." She accepted the 9-MM pistol, tucking it into what was left of her pants waistband. "The Colonel had to carry him out of the camp last night, so they"re both pretty bruised and banged up." "I see." He looked her over carefully, seeing some minor injuries that she had failed to mention to him. "And yourself?" "I"m fine." Carter replied truthfully. "I"m tired, scraped up a bit and my feet hurt, but pretty intact considering." Teal"c drew his knife and started to cut one of the flaps off the backpack. He glanced at his teammate"s feet and started to cut it into two smaller pieces leaving longer strips on the sides. She watched him, confused. "What are you doing?" She asked as she swallowed the last of the food bar. He knelt down in front of her. "Your feet are injured, yet you must continue to run. These covers will give you some protection." He gently picked up her left foot and placed it on the heavy canvas material then began to shape it around her and tie it together in strategic areas. She watched curiously as primitive footwear began to take shape. "Wow, moccasins." She said as the second piece of footwear took form. When he had finished, she stood up. "Is that not better?" He asked as she glanced up at him gratefully. "Much better, thank you." She smiled at him. "I"m am pleased to be of assistance. Now we can go on." He shouldered up the abbreviated backpack and the two of them turned back to the forest. ------- Daniel had waited a half an hour after the primitives had passed him. He had lain hidden in his leafy den as they passed within five feet of his location. They had been talking amongst themselves, complaining that these sacrificial victims were causing a lot more trouble then they would probably be worth in the long run. Evidently, besides the man that Jack had killed, another of their tormentors had died after they had left. But the Shaman and the Chief were determined that these Great Warriors would impress the hell out of the gods and they wanted SG1 back by tonight, the full moon. After a few minutes, they had passed on out of his hearing in pursuit of Jack. O'Neill had given him instructions to wait full thirty minutes before attempting his solo journey to the Stargate so it was time for him to leave. Daniel really wanted Jack to return but he knew that the Special Operations trained military man was trying to draw them as far away from him as he could. If he waited any longer, he might interfere with Jack"s "time schedule". So, Daniel painfully clambered to his feet, and using his makeshift walking stick limped with all due speed down the rough "trail". Daniel had been traveling all morning when he noticed birds taking off from a copse of trees that he was approaching. He hobbled off to the side, painfully kneeling next to some underbrush, peering myopically at the tree line. Damnit, he hated losing his glasses at anytime, but this could very well get him killed. But when he finally got a clear look at the cause of the disturbance he blew out a sigh of relief and collapsed the rest of the way down on a tuft of soft grass. Sam and Teal"c had seen him and were coming for him. The two had been following the trail that Sam had come down on and when they saw Daniel they had immediately zeroed in on him. He looked up at them from where he was sitting, smiling wanly. "Daniel, what happened? Where"s the Colonel?" Teal"c immediately presented him with a canteen of water. Sam asked worriedly, checking him out physically. After only a moment, she retrieved the medical kit and started unwrapping his injured leg. He watched her as she pulled the makeshift bandage off his leg, the cloth sticking and reopening the wound. "I don"t know." Daniel replied. "He heard somebody coming after us. Jack made me hide and he led them away. He said he"d lose them and come back but, well, I haven"t seen him since then. Either he had to take them a long way or...." Teal"c, who had started making Jackson a pair of the canvas backpack moccasins like Carter"s, finished his thought. "Or O"Neill has been recaptured." "Yea, well, there"s that possibility." He grimaced as Sam packed a clean gauze dressing on his leg wound and started to rewrap it with an ace bandage. "Thanks, Sam." "It"s getting infected." She looked up at him. "We need to get you back to the gate." "No." He corrected her. "You need to go find Jack." Daniel took a bite out of the energy bar that Teal"c had given him. "I"m in no danger. I"ll just keep going back by myself. You and Teal"c can backtrack me and see what happened to Jack. I"ll meet you at the gate." "Daniel, your wound is pretty bad." She informed him. "It"s been bleeding again, and you"re getting weaker." She put a hand on his cheek. "You"re already feverish." "Sam, I"m okay!" He argued. "Give me some Motrin and point me in the right direction to the Stargate." He caught her hand and held it, making his point. "Go find Jack. He should have been back two hours ago. If they"ve got him, well, the full moon is tonight. The mightier a warrior the better fitting a sacrifice he"ll make." He looked at Teal"c for support. "I can walk, well, sort of anyway. But Jack maybe running out of time." "Daniel, we can"t just leave you here defenseless..." "Okay, leave me one of the guns." He was beginning to get angry with her. He looked at the big warrior. "Teal"c, please go! If you find him on the trail then you can come back and get me." "Very well." He finished Daniel"s footwear and nodded at Carter who stood up. Teal"c handed the younger man one of the pistols and belt. "Major Carter, I must agree with Danieljackson. We cannot risk delaying our search for O"Neill." "Okay." She thought for a moment. "Daniel try to get back to the Stargate and wait for us there." She unfastened her GDO from her wrist and gave it to him. "We"ll backtrack and locate the Colonel. If we don"t return by tomorrow, contact SGC and have General Hammond send reinforcements." Finally satisfied, he nodded. "How far is it?" "It"s about eight miles. You should reach it by nightfall or a little later." Daniel nodded grimly. She handed him a small container of Motrin. He slowly got to his feet, leaning heavily on his walking staff. He fastened the web belt and holster around his waist then picked up the canteen and clipped it to the belt. Teal"c handed him two more energy bars. "Fine, meet you back at the gate." ------- O"Neill wasn"t completely sure what had happened, either a root handhold had torn loose or a foothold had collapsed under his weight. One minute he"d been climbing down the rough rock face of a cliff, the next he"d been falling. And as the joke went, it wasn"t the fall that hurt, it had been the landing. On impact he felt his trick knee buckle under him. When he managed to get to his feet, his leg would no longer support his weight. It was only a matter of moments before his pursuers were upon him. During the scuffle that ensued, he believed that he had injured and possibly killed several of the Primitive natives. At any rate, he had done nothing to endear himself to his captors and they showed their dislike by beating him almost senseless, dragging him back to their village and tying him back to the same damned tree that he had worked so hard to get away from the night before. The other Katai captives that had been taken at the same time as SG1 were also still there, also awaiting their respective fates. As evening arrived and the shadows lengthened, the indigenous natives began what could only be described as a party with food, drink and musical accompaniment. The drums had started early and soon whistles and chanting joined in. As the shadows lengthened into the evening celebrations seemed to continue to rise in crescendo. When darkness had fallen and bonfires lighted the party, the main event began. One by one the prisoners were cut down, stripped of their clothing and forcibly pulled away from their fellow captives. As each one was taken to the group gathering, a roar came from the crowd. Within a few minutes, the victims had started to scream. From his area, O"Neill couldn"t see what was happening but the sounds were pretty self-explanatory. As the hours wore on, their numbers were depleted and he was only one of a very few captives left. Jack recognized the chief, and the medicine man of the friendly Katai. The others remaining must be the upper crust of the tribe and they were all being held for the big event at the end of the evening. Jack could appreciate the mental suffering that these tribal leaders were going through. He was glad, at least, that he saw no sign of his team. The others had either escaped completely or been killed outright, hopefully the former. He was fairly confident that Carter and Daniel were free, but he hadn"t seen Teal"c since their initial capture. But the big Jaffa was pretty hard to kill. Both of his "kids" would grieve for him, but they could go on together. O"Neill regretted his own death at this particular time in his life. He would have liked to continue to fight back against the Goa"uld, to try to protect his planet, but he did feel some satisfaction that "his" two geniuses, Daniel and Carter, would continue the battle for him. Finally, the "priests" came for him. When they cut him down from the tree"s support, his leg again folded under him. His captors spent a few minutes beating on him with short sticks before they finally realized that the only way he was getting where they wanted him to go was to drag him. Not that he didn"t try to fight them but he didn"t have much strength left to argue with them either. He was unceremoniously stripped naked of his few remaining scraps of clothing and hauled away by four of the natives. They held him by his arms and supported him, dragging him from his tree, through the fire lit area and into a large field that looked like something right out of Dante"s inferno and it"s seventh level of hell. There were stone blocks, four foot by four foot standing three feet high, littering the field in a pattern resembling a gothic meadow of headstones. On each of the stones, a sacrificial victim was laid over on their backs, their arms and legs stretched down to the ground and secured, laid out in a gruesome altar-like display. Most of the Katai were still alive, some of them moaning some crying. All of them were bleeding profusely, scored with long knife slashes down each of their limbs and across their abdomens. Jack was pulled to the prominent front tier of the field and jerked over a stone, its rough surface scraping his skin on his back and buttocks. His guards roughly pulled his arms above his head, extending his body over the arch of the rock and tied him to some anchorage on the corner by the ground. He could feel his feet and legs being secured in a similar manner. He managed to kick out, knocking one of his tormentors off his feet, but a second later he was tied securely, helpless to defend himself. After a few minutes of respite, He saw one of the high religious leaders, this one wearing a carved, wooden mask, raising his arms above his head and singing in the guttural language. The "priest" was wielding a sharpened flint rock blade and chanting to the fierce rhythm of the drumbeats. There was a dreamlike quality overlying it all, as if he were watching it happen to someone else; he could see the blue moonlight shining on his own pale skin, the whites of the priest"s eyes glinting through the mask"s large eye-sockets, his teeth shining in the moonlight as the man chanted. He could smell the stench of the blood in the damp night air. Then the shaman lowered the knife blade to O"Neill"s belly and the burning pain brought him back to reality as he was cut from throat to groin. He could see the black flint blade separating his skin on his arms, then on his thighs. He could feel his hot blood trickling away, down his ribs, down his arms, down his legs. Then, he could hear his own voice screaming...
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