When Angels Fall
Chapter
three - Escape
Sam’s head hurt. She didn’t know where she was, but she knew
she had escaped from someone, and she had blood on her dress and her
hands. Why was she wearing a dress? Suddenly remembering the concubine’s
quarters, she shuddered. The dress
didn’t look like something they had given her to wear, but that didn’t mean
anything, did it? And, where in the
hell was she? Finding herself in a
small dark room, she found a corner and slowly slid down the wall, whimpering
as if she were a wounded animal.
Wrapping her arms around herself, she began to rock slowly.
Soon she had calmed enough to pull
herself upright and slowly make her way to the door. No one was around, for it was dark, and she made her way
stealthily down first one corridor and then another. This looked like the Tok’Ra tunnels, but that couldn’t be
right. She was imprisoned in Gamtesh’s
stronghold. There was a ring
transporter here somewhere, she had seen them use it to leave the dungeons
where they left their prisoners to die and rot. Suddenly, she sensed it.
Moving forward, she barely managed to activate the rings before she
heard someone coming. They were yelling
in Goa’uld, so she didn’t understand more than Kree! and, a word that she now
knew meant stop.
Reaching the surface, she looked quickly
around. There was only sand and some
scrub, but there were some rock formations in the distance. She didn’t remember the planet looking like
this. She remembered trees. Had they taken her somewhere else? Why couldn’t she remember? She took off running toward the rocks in the
distance, and then realized she was leaving a very visible trail. Well, it couldn’t be helped for now. They’d be right behind her, but if she could
make the rocks, she could lose them, at least she hoped she could.
She had been walking for what felt
like hours. After reaching the rocks,
she had continued straight ahead after being sure to leave a trail going in a
ninety-degree direction.
She would have to find shelter
before the sun rose. If it was a desert
planet, it was probably hot, although it was cool at the moment. For a while, she had been able to hear the
searchers looking for her, but their voices had faded away, and she was very
sure she was alone.
Alone and unarmed except for this knife that she couldn’t remember
getting. Nor did she know, for sure,
where the blood was from. She
remembered a man entering and coming for her, and she thought she had stabbed
him. She just couldn’t think. She needed to rest, and she realized she
needed to find water. Well, if she was
going to die, she’d rather it was out here than in the prison. She had failed those poor girls though. She’d think of something tomorrow, for now
she needed rest and shelter. She’d just
have to keep walking until she found it.
Janet Fraiser made her way to the
chamber they’d put Sam in. She was very
worried after listening to some of the things Jacob had told her. It sounded like they were dealing with a
full-blown case of PTSD, at the very least.
She wasn’t ruling out other things, either. She could have a head injury that hadn’t shown up when they ran
the tests on her. Anything could be
going on. The sleep deprivation alone
could bring on some bizarre symptoms and actions. Janet hoped they’d managed to stop it before it reached that
stage. Entering the darkened room,
Janet tripped and fell.
She scrambled up and found what
passed for a light switch for the Tok’Ra, and the room was bathed in a soft
glow. She was on her knees beside
Martouf within seconds, kneeling in the spreading pool of blood. Ripping the tunic open, she found the stab
wound and grabbed the blanket on the bed.
Folding it, she pressed it against the wound to help stem the bleeding. She hoped Lantash was still aware and
helping internally. Hearing people
running outside in the hall, she yelled for someone to come in the room.
When they did, she said, “Get a
healer. Martouf has been stabbed, and
Major Carter is missing. Go, go,” she
urged, as she often did in the SGC.
Grabbing her bag with one hand, she moved her knee to hold the makeshift
dressing in place and used both hands to open and find what she needed. Finding the ampoule, she broke it and waved
it under Martouf’s nose. When he
started coughing and gasped a few words in Goa’uld, she was glad to know that
Tok’Ra responded to the stimulant in the prescribed manner.
“It was unnecessary to gas me, Dr.
Fraiser. I was about to take control
and talk to you,” Lantash stated firmly.
“Yeah, well, I didn’t know if you
were all right or not. Martouf
obviously isn’t. It’s a little harder
to tell with you.”
“You are correct, of course. Where is Samantha? Please tell me she did not leave the room,” He said somewhat breathlessly.
“She’s not here. We’ll deal with that in a minute. For now, I want you to tell me what damage
there is to Martouf’s body,” She instructed briefly and concisely.
“The blade missed anything
vital. I am attempting to stem the flow
of blood from the wound, but it is very jagged and extremely deep. I deflected it, and therefore it is more of
a deep puncture and slash, than just a puncture. What ever you are doing appears to be aiding me,” Lantash
explained quickly.
Janet nodded, and said, “I’m
applying pressure. Are you in pain?”
“Yes,” He ground out, “We
are.” Reaching into her bag, Janet drew
out what she needed and began to inject something into his skin around the cut.
“What are you doing?” He asked, a little breathlessly.
“I’m going to clean this out and
see what we have. Then, I’m probably
going to put in a few stitches, and you can finish the job yourself. Or your healers can.
“Unnecessary, Doctor, but thank
you.”
“Just lay still,” She said
tersely, as she started to work. “I
wonder why Jacob and Daniel haven’t come?
I’d have thought they’d have checked on Sam.” She wondered a loud.
“They have probably joined the
search for Samantha. From the snatches
of conversation I have been hearing, someone activated the ring transporter,
and they do not know who. Whoever it
was refused to stop and ran away when they reached the surface. I believe it was Samantha. I also believe she is confused and believes
she is still a prisoner of Gamtesh.”
“I agree,” Janet said, as she
worked steadily to clean and then suture the worst of the places that were
bleeding. “There, that should help you
out. Can you handle it from here or do
you need me to do more?” She asked.
“What you have done has helped a
great deal, Doctor. I thank you. If you would be so kind as to help me to get
up I would like to stand and go to see what is occurring,” he informed her.
“Yes, I’m sure you would, but I
think we’ll wait for just a little longer here on this nice comfy floor. You really need to do some more work on that
wound before you go moving around much.
I only put a few stitches in, they won’t hold if you start moving around
and you’ll be right back where you started.”
Sighing, he nodded at the
unpalatable, but good, advice. Janet
was startled when Martouf spoke to her, “I, too, wish to thank you, Dr.
Fraiser. I am feeling better, and
Lantash is working as quickly as he can to heal me. We must find Samantha. I
do not understand exactly what is happening to her, but she is very confused.” He spoke haltingly, but his voice was slowly
becoming stronger as he lie quietly on the floor allowing Lantash and the
Doctor to heal him. He would be no help
to his Samantha if he were weak, or dead.
“I believe she’s suffering PTSD,
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. It can
take days, weeks or months to surface, and it looks like in Sam’s case, it was
only days. I believe Sam’s is
acute. At a guess, I’d say flashbacks,
confusion, disorientation, anxiety, and depression. You name it.
Unfortunately, I think you were involved in a flashback. She thought she was there, she found the
knife, you walked in or turned, or whatever happened, and she reacted as if you
were one of them. Then she
escaped.” Janet paused for a moment,
and then said, “Sam probably hasn’t been sleeping at all, and that would
magnify the symptoms a great deal. She
hasn’t had near enough sleep yet to counter that emphasizing effect,
either. I should have checked on her
and given her another sedative to keep her asleep. I’m sorry.”
“It is not your fault, Dr.
Fraiser. I believe that Samantha has
hidden a great deal from you in the few days since her rescue. You could not have known how bad her
captivity was since she refused to talk about it. Something that we will have to rectify. Even our healers feel she must talk about what happened to her.”
“Well, it won’t be easy. Sam’s very self contained and private as a
person, for the most part.” Janet
frowned, and then said slowly, “She had bruises and open cuts from the torture. She hadn’t been in a sarcophagus recently
when you rescued her. I’m beginning to
think this may not all be PTSD. It’s
possible she had a head injury that is causing some of this. Maybe a lot of it. It wouldn’t necessarily have shown up immediately if it happened
right before you brought her out. If
that’s true, then we have to find her as soon as possible.”
“What the hell’s going on?” Jacob asked from the doorway, as one of the
healers pushed past him and went to kneel by Martouf. Removing the blood soaked blanket she began to use the healing
device on the wound.
“Samantha stabbed Martouf and then
fled to the surface. I take it they’ve
not found her yet?” Janet asked, as she
turned to look up at him from where she knelt next to Martouf on the floor.
“No, they don’t even know who they
are looking for. I went up top for a
while, but they have a lot of people searching. However, now that I know it’s Sam, I think I’ll rejoin them. At least I know how she thinks to a certain
extent,” Jacob said.
As he turned to go Janet stopped
him, “General, I think we may be seeing the result of a head injury on top of
the trauma stress. We need to find her
ASAP. If there is a head injury…”
Looking back at her, Jacob nodded
and headed out. “I’ll take Daniel,
too.”
“Jacob,” Martouf called to him as
he started to leave the room, “We will join you as soon as we can. I am sorry I was not more diligent.”
Jacob shook his head, saying, “You
had no more idea than we did. Just be
sure you’re recovered before you join the search. Hopefully, we’ll have her back here before they even have you
healed.”
“I sincerely hope so, Jacob.” Martouf replied, as he shut his eyes and
tried to relax. Even with Lantash and
the healing device, he was in a great deal of pain.
“Are you still in pain,
Martouf?” Janet asked, as if reading
his mind.
“Yes, I am, but it will pass soon,
I am sure,” he replied.
Looking over at the healer, Janet
reached into her bag when she nodded to her that it would be all right. Filling the syringe with a pain-killing
substance, she quickly injected it into Martouf’s arm.
Jerking back, he asked, “What have
you given me?”
“Only something for the pain. It will ease it for you, but have little
affect on Lantash. You may become
drowsy or fall asleep, but Lantash will not be affected that way. Other than that, it will cause you to feel
very relaxed and possibly euphoric, but the pain should be controlled.”
Martouf drifted off to the sound
of her soft voice, and Lantash took control to say, “I cannot say it has no
affect; however, you are correct, and it does not seem to be sleep inducing for
me. You are also correct in that it has
blocked the pain, which in one way will make it a little harder for me to heal
him; although in another way, it helps in that I no longer must also try to
mitigate the amount of pain he is feeling.
It does produce euphoria, which I am having some trouble combating; it
is not, however, an unpleasant sensation.
Once again, I must thank you, Dr. Fraiser.”
“You’re welcome, Lantash. I didn’t give you very much. I didn’t want him sedated any longer than
necessary for the healing to take place.
I’m correct in assuming it won’t take long with both the healer and you
working on it?”
“That is correct.” Lantash answered.
“Good, because I only gave you
enough for a couple of hours at most, and by then I imagine you will either
have healed completely, or be so close that there will be little or no ongoing
pain.”
“I agree.” He replied.
“Listen, I’m going to go see if I
can find out anything. You stay still,
all right?” Janet said to him.
“I was about to ask you to do
so.” Lantash admitted.
“I’ll go and check it out, if I
have your word you won’t try to get up or move around. Okay?”
Smiling slightly he replied, “As
you wish Doctor.” Seeing her wait,
looking at him, he continued, “I give you my word.”
Giving him a smile, she got up and
left the room.
Turning to the healer, he said,
“The Tau’ri women can be extremely stubborn, do you not think so?”
Smiling down at him the healer
said, in a soft voice, “I do not believe that trait is necessarily restricted
to the females of the Tau’ri, Lantash.”
Pushing firmly on his good shoulder, she continued, “You gave your
word. I will help you to keep it. Now, lie still and do not move as you
promised the Doctor.”
Sighing, Lantash used a phrase he
had often heard Jacob use when he had been over ruled, “All right,” he said, “I
give up.”
“The trail ended several hundred
meters in that direction. We have been
searching every small sheltered area.
The sun will be up soon, and it will be to hot to remain here for any
length of time,” the guard reported to Jacob.
“Trail? Sam wouldn’t have left a trail.
She’s a USAF soldier, special ops trained. There wouldn’t be a trail unless she wanted you to find it. You’re looking in the wrong place, damn
it. Where did this trail start,
Marius?”
“Over there,” he indicated with a
nod of his head.
“All right,” Jacob said, “the
trail ended at the rocks over there. My
guess is she made the false trail and doubled back to those rocks and took off
from there. She could be anywhere out
there. Daniel, you got any
thoughts? You’ve been with Sam enough
on missions you can probably second-guess her better than anyone.”
Daniel nodded and looking around
at the formations and the terrain, he said, “She knows this is a desert planet,
so she’s going to be looking for shelter, but she’ll also look for water. There seems to be more scrub and brush that
way as well as more cave like openings.
That way,” he indicated with a nod to there right, “it’s more barren,
less cover, less chance of water, but less chance we would pick that way to
look.”
“So, what are you saying?” Jacob asked.
“I think she’d have found water
first, then started for the more barren area hoping to hide again until dark
and then get more water. At that point,
she’d probably head for the gate.”
“You’re sure, Daniel? We don’t have much time.”
“No, I’m not sure. Sam isn’t exactly acting like herself,
y’know. But, if she was acting true to
form, I believe that is what she would have done. I suggest we cut our group in half, send some up there, and then
the rest of us head over that way.” He
responded tensely.
“All right, it makes sense to
split up anyway. I just hope she
doesn’t run into any of the damn lizards that live here. They’re big, they’re nasty tempered, and as
far as we know all she has is a knife.
We didn’t think to ask if she had his zat, too.” Jacob rubbed his face tiredly. “Okay people listen up. Marius you take a group and head up there. Check every hole you can find that might
even remotely hold her. Daniel and I’ll
go in that direction with everyone else.
If you find her, don’t try to take her, just send someone for us. Oh, and we have to assume she’s armed, and
we know she’s dangerous. Let’s go.”
Three hours later, the sun was up,
it was getting hot, and they had found nothing, not a hint that she had been
anywhere near there. Looking up, Jacob
saw Martouf coming toward him. He
seemed none the worse for wear, except that he was holding one arm across
himself, and it was in a sling. In
spite of everything, Jacob had to grin at Dr. Fraiser’s handiwork. If the petite Doctor could make Lantash wear
a sling, she could do anything.
“Jacob,” he called, as soon as he
was within hailing distance, “Have you found nothing yet?”
“No, we haven’t. Not the first thing. She laid a false trail to throw the
searchers off and it worked. We haven’t
found her yet.”
“Jacob, we must find her
soon. The sun on this planet is much to
hot to be out here for long. It makes
it a perfect place for us to hide, but it is not meant to support life on the
surface.” Lantash stated.
“Lantash? Martouf.
I’m here, I’m over here.”
“Jacob, that was Samantha.”
“That way,” Jacob nodded in the
direction Daniel had already started in.
Running past him, Lantash called
for her, “Samantha? Samantha, my heart,
where are you? Keep talking so that we
can find you.”
“I’m here. Down here actually. I fell down a hole. I’m here.
I can’t tell where you are, there’s a lizard down here with me, and I
think, “she paused as her voice began to shake, and it sounded like she was
laughing, not crying, “I think he’s either going to have me for breakfast or
he’s in love with me. He-he keeps
licking my hand and my cheek.” Her
voice ended on a cross between a sob and a laugh.
“I am coming, my love, I am almost
to you. Samantha, do you have the knife
with you?” He asked breathlessly, as he
scrambled over the rocks toward the sound of her voice.
“Yes,” she answered, “but I think
I broke my arm when I fell, and I know I’ve got a sprained ankle. And, my head hurts, so I think I have a
concussion.” I can use the knife
though, I think. Why?” she replied, her
words running together as she spoke quickly.
“I am right above you, my
Samantha. Can you move back, very slowly
from the lizard?”
Looking up and seeing him leaning
over the edge of the hole she had fallen into in the dark, relief rushed
through her. Martouf had found her, not
whoever she had been running from. She
just hoped she wasn’t hallucinating.
Staring at him, she said quite firmly, “Well, no, does it look like I
can move back from him, er it?” Martouf
looked over the edge and almost gasped at the sight of the three-foot lizard
lying next to his Samantha with its head in her lap. Occasionally he flicked his tongue out and gently touched her
hand or cheek.
Jacob turned to the Tok’Ra who had
gathered around, saying, “Someone go back and tell them she’s been found. Stop the other searchers and bring the
rescue equipment we may need. It never
occurred to me that she could have fallen into a hole. His head snapped back as what he had seen
sank in.
“Is that one of your nasty
tempered lizards, Jacob?” Daniel
inquired. “He seems to like Sam.”
Jacob shook his head and watched
as Daniel stopped Martouf and began the climb down himself. As he fell the last couple of feet and
headed for Samantha, he began to talk gently to her. The lizard looked at him, blinking slowly.
“Sam, it’s me Daniel, and we’re
here to help you. Just stay where you are,
and I’ll come to you.”
“I’m not going anywhere soon,
Daniel, I can’t,” Sam replied, in a tight voice. “I have a broken arm, a sprained ankle and my vision is
blurred. I think I may have cracked a rib,
too. And Tashmar won’t leave me no
matter what I do. It even brought me
something to eat I think,” she said, as she nodded slightly toward a large dead
bug of some kind.
“Tashmar?” Daniel asked, as he reached her side and
took the knife from her. “You’ve named
it already?”
“Yes, I named him after Lantash
and Martouf. Tashmar. He’s cute too, huh?” Sam said quietly. “I think he loves me.
Tashmar, not Lantash and Martouf.”
Daniel sat down next to her and
pulled her into his arms. “Why didn’t
Martouf come down for me, Daniel? She
whispered, her eyes suddenly awash with tears.
“And why can’t I stop crying?”
Daniel watched in amazement as
Tashmar flicked his tongue out, licked the tear off Sam’s face, and then
nuzzled her hand slightly, as if asking for something. He stopped when she started to stroke his
head.
“Martouf was injured, Sam, and I
don’t think he can climb yet. He’ll be
with you as soon as he can.” He said as
he pressed her head into his shoulder.
He heard her sniff weakly.
“I’m so sorry, Daniel. I can’t seem to control my tears. I don’t understand it. Something has happened to me, hasn’t
it? I woke up here in this hole, and I
don’t even know where I am. At least I
know who I am.”
“Yes, Sam, something very bad
happened to you, and your mind is trying to cope, I think. I also think you might have a head injury
that’s causing you to act a little, um, strangely. That’s all. Please don’t
try to remember, Okay?”
“If it’s bad enough you don’t want
me to remember, I think I’ll take your advice, at least for now. What happened to Martouf?” She asked.
When she got no answer, she pulled back slightly to ask, “Daniel?”
“He was, uh, stabbed,” he finally
replied. He felt her tense in his arms
and knew that a memory was coming to the surface. Damn, he hadn’t wanted that to happen yet.
“I stabbed him, didn’t I,
Daniel? That’s what you meant by my
strange behavior? That I attacked
Martouf?”
“You didn’t know it was Martouf,
Sam, you thought it was someone else.
Someone that was going to hurt you. He isn’t angry at you.”
Her head fell forward onto his
chest. “Oh, God. Did I hurt anyone else?”
“No. No, Sam, you didn’t, you just tried to escape, thinking you were
running away from the people that wanted to hurt you. Now stop thinking and relax.
We’ll have you out of here in a little bit.”
Hearing small pebbles falling onto
the ground, Daniel looked up to see Martouf working his way slowly down into
the hole. When he jumped the last
couple of feet to the ground, Daniel watched as he stopped and regarded the
large lizard that was beginning to stir.
It walked over to him, licked his hand, and moved back onto Sam’s
lap. He heard Sam gasp, and say,
“Tashmar likes you, Martouf.”
Martouf walked to them and
squatted down in front of Samantha. Reaching
out he slowly caressed her face with the backs of his fingers. “I love you, Samantha. Come to me, my heart?” He asked softly.
Hearing her catch her breath, Daniel looked down and loosened his arms from around her. Moving slowly back from her, he allowed Martouf to slip into the spot where he had been sitting. Catching Martouf’s look, he nodded, once, decisively and turned to walk the short way to the wall at the other end of the hole. Looking back at them, he saw Sam relax, and a small smile begin to grow on her lips. Martouf wasn’t leaving her in any doubt of his feeling this time. There would be no more fond of’s or strong affections.
Tashmar, bored with the love talk,
got up, and after a long look at Martouf, wandered over to lie by Daniel’s
feet, evidently content with the way things were going.
“By the powers of the Universe,
Samantha,” Martouf was whispering, “Never have I been as frightened as I have
been so often these last two weeks.
Never again will you ever have to wonder if I care for you, love you,
and wish you to be my mate. Your father
informs me that affection is for one’s dog? And fondness
is for french fries. I am not
sure what those are, but I think I understand the inference.”
Reaching up with her good hand,
she touched him lightly and then noticed the blood on her hand. She hadn’t gotten it all washed off in the
small pool of water she had found. She
shuddered, realizing that the blood was from Martouf.
Leaning back and searching his face
she said, “I’m so sorry for attacking you.
I don’t remember why I did it, but no matter what I thought, it’s
indefensible of me to have done it. I
just hope that you can forgive me someday.
I know I’ll never forgive myself.”
She told him, as she shuddered in his arms, thinking of what she had
done.
“My Samantha, look at me,” he
requested softly. “There is nothing to
forgive. Believe me, you did not know
who I was. It was dark, and you had
awoken not knowing where you were, and thinking you were still being, well,
just thinking you were being held against your will. When I re-entered the room, you did what you could to escape, and
I do not blame you in any way. I am
glad to know that even now, you would continue to fight for your freedom. Please, do not feel guilty for something
that is my own fault. I was aware that
you were not thinking clearly, and I should have been on guard more. Please, my heart, do not give it another
thought. Lantash has fixed us up as
good as new.”
“That’s why you have a sling
on? And, why don’t you have it around
your arm instead of just hanging around your neck?” She asked skeptically.
“Your Dr. Fraiser can be quite
adamant about some things, and it is easier to simply give in than to
argue. It was not necessary. However, that reminds me of your broken
arm. How bad do you think it is?” He asked, as he prepared to call to Daniel.
“I’m guessing it’s only a
fracture, not a complete break, but I don’t know for sure. Why?”
She asked.
“I am going to see if I can take
care of it for you,” he said, and raising his voice, he said to Daniel,
“Samantha’s arm and ankle could be healed if we had a healing device. Would you ask Jacob if they brought theirs?”
“Sure,” Daniel answered, as he
turned back to Jacob and raised his voice enough to be heard by them. “Martouf wants to know if you have your
healing device, Jacob?”
“Yes, and I don’t know why I
didn’t think of it. I’ll be right
down,” he said as he prepared to climb down and join them in the hole. Once there, he went straight to his daughter
and gingerly took her arm into his hands.
Selmak came forward, and said, “It is fractured, Samantha, I can take
care of it in very short order and then I will take care of the ankle and the
ribs.”
“Yes, I think they’re cracked not
actually completely broken.”
“Painful, nevertheless,” Selmak
replied, as he drew the healing device out of the pouch he wore. “Broken and fractured bones are some of the
easiest of injuries to heal.” He said,
as he fitted it onto his hand.
Hearing her in drawn breath, he
looked at her to see her staring at the healing device on his hand. “They kept breaking my bones and then using
that on them to heal me, so they could have the pleasure of breaking them over
again. Sometimes, they just continued
on until I died, and then they put me in the sarcophagus and started over,” she
whispered, as she stared at it. “And
sometimes they just used me for, for,” she choked on her words and didn’t
continue speaking; she just continued to stare at her father’s hand with the
healing device on it. Suddenly shaking
her head, and then moaning as it hurt, she let her head fall back onto
Martouf’s chest, and said to Selmak, “Please go ahead, it’s over, the memory is
gone. Please, just do it, please,” she
said, as she closed her eyes against the sight.
Selmak set to work and put as much
energy into it as he could, so that it worked as quickly as possible. Hearing a slight noise, he looked over to
see Daniel standing with his arms wrapped tightly around himself, staring
straight ahead at the wall, a tear slowly moving down his cheek. He was feeling Sam’s pain as if it was his
own, Selmak knew. That young man was
almost too sensitive for this life, and how he managed to live in the world he
inhabited Selmak would never understand.
/Daniel Jackson is stronger than
is apparent on the surface. He feels
things deeply, but he has the fire of a reformer and a savior to sustain
him. Don’t worry about Daniel./ Jacob
said to Selmak, as he worked on Samantha.
/I know, Jacob, I just find it
difficult to understand why he remains in a situation that brings him so much
pain./
/Daniel absorbs the pain of those
around him. It wouldn’t matter where he
was, he’d absorb pain from others because he cares so much./
“Selmak, they are returning. They should be here within a few minutes,”
Marius had joined the group from the other searchers.
“I am almost finished. I am going to finish her ribs before we try
to move her.” The sound of a group arriving
was a relief to him, and he looked up into the anxious face of Janet Fraiser.
“They said she was injured,” she
called down to him.
Finishing the last of the bones,
he called up, “She had a fractured arm, a sprained ankle and cracked ribs. I have taken care of them.”
“Good. Her body doesn’t need to be trying to take care of anything else
right now. Come on, lets get these
people out of there,” she called to someone Selmak could not see. No wonder Lantash had been wearing a useless
piece of cloth around his neck. She was
like a little forceful general. Who was
that short little man that was in Jacob’s memories? Ah, yes, Napoleon. So,
they had their own little Napoleon, and her troops appeared to be following her
orders to the letter.
He heard Jacob laugh as he pictured Janet Fraiser dressed as
Napoleon. He smiled with him for a
moment and then turned his attention to the woman who was the reason for all the
activity. She lay pale and still in
Martouf’s arms, so pale that her skin looked almost transparent. She was very thin, too, he realized with a
frown. They were not out of the woods,
as Jacob would say. In fact, he thought
that perhaps they were just beginning the start of a long uphill battle to
which the outcome was not at all assured.
He watched as her eyes flew open, and she looked at him and then at
Daniel, “Please, don’t forget
Tashmar. Please, I want him with
me. He stayed with me and wouldn’t
leave me, so I don’t want him left here.
Promise?”
Selmak looked into the large blue eyes of his host’s
daughter, his daughter now, and then at the newest addition to the Tok’Ra
base. He sighed. “I promise, Samantha,” he said.