“Italics – Symbiote-Host
or Telepathic Communication
Blood of My Heart, Beloved of My Soul
Chapter
39
Out
of Chaos – Harmony
Jack O’Neill sat at his desk and rubbed his face with his hands. God, he was so tired. In the three weeks since Lantash and Kataya had gone through the sevesh, it seemed as if his life had jumped a ride on a roller coaster. One that never even slowed down, let alone stopped for him to get off.
Carter, Martouf, Kataya, Daniel, and Merdwin had returned briefly for the marriage ceremony that joined Martouf, Lantash, and Carter as husbands and wife. Two husbands in one body. Jack shook his head as he thought about it. He shuddered and refused to let his mind go any farther down that road.
Carter had been a beautiful bride, though, and so happy it had shone from her like a beacon, especially when she was near Martouf and Lantash. And, Jack had to admit that it was obvious to everyone that they loved her more than anything, or anyone, in the universe. They’d do everything they could to make her happy, of that there wasn’t the slightest doubt, and the feeling went both ways. Jack really thought that Carter would go through the fires of hell for those two.
Jack sighed, again, and rubbed his eyes. General Hammond was in D.C. for a private meeting with the President. It was the third time in the last three weeks that the general had been gone for at least two or more days, and Jack had to take command. He’d been gone for several days this time, and during those few days, things had gotten even worse than they had been. Thank whatever powers that be, he was due back any time. Jack couldn’t wait to hand the reins of control back to him. And never again, would he do anything to cause him trouble. Well, he’d try not to do anything that would cause him trouble.
He missed Carter and Daniel. He missed Kataya and Merdwin. Hell, he even missed Martouf/Lantash. All five of them were on Avilion seeing to Carter’s training. They were due back today. Carter could take back the oversight of the marines. Daniel could play ambassador, intermediary, and general nursemaid to the Tok’Ra and the Katteri. Kataya and Merdwin could try to contain the Katteri Warriors, and he could get a full night of sleep.
No more calls at three a.m. complaining that the Katteri couldn’t sleep, and they had taken over the commissary. No more calls, saying that they were walking the halls and glowing, or that they were practicing manifesting and having contests to see who could change the fastest or growl the longest, at three in the morning. Didn't they ever sleep?
No more two a.m. calls because the marines thought the Tok’Ra and the Katteri were moving in on the females on the base and had started a fight, after spending the evening watching the female soldiers sitting and talking for hours to the Tok’Ra and the Katteri. No more four a.m. calls saying that the Tok’Ra were taking hour-long showers and using all the hot water, so the teams returning covered in sand had no hot water to shower in.
No more calls at two a.m. from the Tok’Ra because the marines had locked the locker room doors in the middle of the night, and they could not take their showers. No more one a.m. calls complaining that the marines had locked the restrooms, and the Tok’Ra and the Katteri could not use the facilities.
God, please, no more Tok’Ra waiting at his door at 07:00, to tell him that they would not tolerate the marines on the night shift disassembling all the training weapons the Tok’Ra were using and hiding the ammunition. Nor did they appreciate finding the linen cabinet empty, when they went to obtain clean linens for their beds, after they had stripped them and disposed of the unclean linens. If the Tau’ri expected them to conform to their system of doing things, then they must be given what they needed to do so. They also would appreciate it, if their uniforms would be returned on time for them to have clean ones. Surely, their laundry facilities were not that poorly run?
Please, please, no more marines waiting at 07:00, to tell him that they wouldn’t put up with the Tok’Ra calling them primitive, children, or inferior. Nor would they tolerate being treated as if they had just crawled out from under a rock, or were too stupid to understand a simple request. And if one more Tok’Ra looked down their supercilious nose and smirked at them, when one of the Tau’ri women choose to sit with them during a movie in the recreation room, or at a meal, they wouldn’t be responsible for what they did.
Thankfully, the Katteri and Tok’Ra males weren’t as possessive about their female counterparts and considering the graceful, sensuous walk and the come hither eyes, all Katteri women seemed to have been born with, it was a damn good thing. At least they were being discreet about their intermingling with the Tau’ri males, and so far, the Tok’Ra females had been as well, at least when they weren’t giving out black eyes and busted lips.
They had more airmen and marines in the brig, than they’d had in the last two years, and poor Lieutenant Simmons spent most of his time chasing down lost uniforms, missing sheets, ammunition, and extra keys to the facilities.
When the Lieutenant wasn’t doing that, he was explaining to airman and marines, with injuries like blacked eyes and busted lips, that female Tok’Ra had the added strength of the symbiote, just like their male counterparts did. Then he had to suggest that the next time they decided to try to kiss one, they should either be very sure the woman in question wanted to be kissed, or be ready to duck and run. And, as for the injuries pertaining to the Katteri women and the Tau’ri men, he refused to discuss, or even think, about that, and refused to give any advice at all.
Then there was the hot tub incident. Jack shuddered, remembering the look on the Lieutenant’s face, as he had stoically stared at the wall, as he explained to Jack that the Tok’Ra were used to using things like that without wearing clothes. He hadn’t known that, had joined them, and was actually in the tub, before he realized the women on either side of him were, well, naked. Completely. He had respectfully requested that he be allowed to requisition bathing suits and deliver them. Jack expected him to resign his commission at any time and avoided him whenever possible.
What time was it anyway? Weren’t they here yet? He was anxious to see Carter, to see how it had gone. Daniel and Lantash had been back and forth several times, but neither had been more forthcoming than to say that Artereos considered that Carter was doing well, a phrase that Merdwin had indicated, on his visits, was very high praise. Unfortunately, Merdwin had felt he was needed to help with Sam, so he had spent little more time on earth than Daniel and Lantash.
He heard the klaxon’s come to life and sprinted for the control room. Please, pretty please, let it be them. They only had five weeks left to pull their teams into some semblance of cohesive units, and all Jack could remember, was Kataya saying that the teams would have to work perfectly together if they planned to succeed. Their maneuvers, moves, thinking, doing, all needed to be in perfect harmony, as if they were one unit, not eight separate individuals.
Well, as far as he could tell, the only thing they were perfectly in tune about, was keeping him up all night. There were no cohesive units among them at all. Moreover, all the yelling he had done had worked wonders for one or two days at a time. Then it would all fall apart again.
He admitted to frustration. He couldn’t figure out what was wrong. The individuals in the groups weren’t having personality clashes, they’d made sure of that. So all that left was that they were uncoordinated nincompoops. How soldiers who were experts at what they do, suddenly became brain dead the minute you put them in the same group with a Katteri and a Tok’Ra was beyond him. Of course, he couldn't understand how a perfectly likeable Tok’Ra (and he admitted, but only to himself, that there were a few of those), one on one, suddenly became a jackass when he was put into the same group. And the Katteri just stood back and watched, as if it was a sideshow at a circus, and then went off and did their “energy-gathering thing”.
He was losing it, and he wasn’t sure how to get it back. He was really hoping that having Daniel back would help matters along. Daniel was good at reading people and situations. He just hoped it was them, rather than some new problem that he would have to try to solve. He just wasn’t ready to deal with a new problem.
“Who do we have, Sergeant?” He asked, as he entered the control room at a lope. “It’s SG1’s signal, sir.”
“Open the iris,” he called, although Sergeant Davis had already done so. With no one there to make the decision, he’d had to decide, as he often had before, and since they were expecting them, it wasn’t a hard call to make. O’Neill was already at the foot of the ramp, waiting impatiently.
He was unprepared for what he saw when the group came through. Carter and Kataya in full formal Katteri dress uniforms were certainly impressive. Carter would have been given her rank in the Furling military this morning, before they came through. He wondered if they did the carving thing on her, but he’d have to wait to ask her until later.
Merdwin, Martouf, and Daniel exited the event horizon after them. It was great to see all of them. He thought that maybe he could even kiss Lantash, well, at least Martouf. Looking back at Carter, he realized she didn’t look like Carter anymore. Until she approached him.
Eyes glowing as she walked briskly down the ramp, she came up to him and said, “Major Samantha Carter reporting for duty, sir.”
“Well, it’s about time, Carter. We’ve been expecting you all morning,” Jack said, as he grinned at everyone there. “Daniel, it is so good to have you back,” he said, as he threw his arm around his friend’s shoulders and squeezed him slightly.
“What’s wrong, Jack?” Daniel asked, at once.
“What makes you think anything is wrong?” Jack questioned innocently.
“Where’s Teal’c? Where’s Jacob? Where’s Lieutenant Simmons? Now, like I said, what’s wrong, Jack?” Daniel pointed out the obvious fact that, normally Teal’c and Jacob would have been there, and Lieutenant Simmons would have been in the control room. He also looked pointedly at the arm that was still wrapped around his shoulders.
“Can’t I just be glad to have you home?” Jack asked, as he removed his arm and proceeded to rub his hands together.
“No,” Daniel answered, bluntly.
Sam grinned at him, “Come on, sir, what’s going on?”
“Nothing really, I’ve just been bored while you were all away. No one to go talk to, no one to annoy and disrupt, no one to tell jokes to, no one to watch hockey with,” Jack rambled on while everyone looked at him, waiting for him to wind down and tell the truth.
Finally breaking under their combined stares, he blurted bluntly, “I have more marines and airmen in the brig than we’ve had in the last two years.”
“Problems with integration, Jack?” Daniel said, sardonically.
“Yeah, I guess you could say that,” Jack answered. “I’ve tried everything I know. Teal’c’s tried, Jacob’s tried. Something’s not right. The teams work okay part of the time, but they aren’t smooth. We’ve moved people whose personalities clash around, so we aren’t really having those types of conflicts. I was hoping you could run a little interference, Daniel. Find out what the real problem is. You’re good at the diplomacy stuff.”
“At least let us get settled in, Jack.”
“Hey, sure, great. See you in, oh, thirty minutes in the training area?” Jack sent Daniel a small disarming smile.
“Okay, Jack. We’ll meet you there.” Daniel crumbled in the face of his friend’s obvious need.
“Are the Katteri there, Colonel?” Kataya asked, quietly.
“Yeah, they should be. Everyone on a team is required to be there at this time of day,” Jack answered.
“Okay, I guess we go there first,” Daniel said, with a sigh, already knowing what was coming.
Nodding, Kataya said, “Then I shall go there first. Samantha, are you going to change first?”
“No, I think I’ll come with you. I want to see you in action other than with the swords,” Sam said cheekily.
“What makes you think I am going into action, as you call it?” Kataya looked over at her, as they both strode down the hall.
“Tone of voice. Right now, I’m glad I’m not a Katteri under your command,” Sam said, too softly for the others to hear.
“You should be,” was the succinct answer.
Stopping abruptly, she asked, “Colonel, is there an observation area?”
“Yeah, there is. It’s this way. The area we are using is very large. It needed to be, for this many people. I think it was used for heavy equipment or something. Whatever they used to store there, it must have been huge anyway.”
They had entered an elevator and upon stopping at what should have been the deepest part of the SGC, Jack turned to lead them down a flight of stairs and into a small viewing room. The area they were observing was indeed large.
There were at least sixty people in it, and they had plenty of room for maneuvering. The room had both open areas and areas that had been set up to resemble both the outdoors and the inside of a compound, such as they were expecting to find Bastet in. Since they couldn’t take a chance on any of the aliens being seen, they’d had no choice, but to build this inside.
From the observation area, they could both see and be seen, so Kataya allowed Jack and Daniel to step forward, but no one had noticed their presence. She watched closely and noted where each of her people were and what they were doing. She watched, as time and again, either Tok’Ra or Tau’ri made the wrong move, as her people watched. At last, she turned to Merdwin and held a very fast clipped conversation in their language.
“Colonel, they are using the intars?” Kataya asked Jack.
“Yeah, why?” He asked.
“Are there more here, so that you and the others could arm yourselves with them also?” She questioned.
“Yeah, sure. They’re in a little storage room, up the stairs and on your right. It’s on the way into the training area,” Jack replied.
“Give one to Jacob, Teal’c, Martouf, and Daniel and set them near maximum. Keep one yourself, also,” Kataya said quietly, thinking rapidly about what she wanted to do.
“Why?” Jack asked.
“Because we are
about to become the
“What about you, Merdwin and Sam?” Jack said.
“We will use our swords, on a light energy setting. We won’t hurt anyone,” she assured him.
“Okay, what’s your
plan?” Jack asked, and Kataya told him
her idea. Jack, Martouf, and Daniel were
to go into the room and just wander around for a few minutes, as if
watching. They would alert both Teal’c
and Jacob to the plan, and be sure they were armed. Once they had all found a strategically sound
and defensible position, they would open fire on the unsuspecting
soldiers. Take out as many Katteri as
possible before they realized what was going on and raised shields. Any Katteri that did raise shields, the three
of them would take out. It would be the
same as if a patrol of
Kataya would handle the link, thus allowing them to converse with one another, so that they were working as a unit, another way to show the soldiers inside how it should work.
Shortly, they were ready. “Okay, let’s do it,” Jack said. Soon Jack, Teal’c, Jacob, Daniel, and Martouf were walking around, talking to the soldiers, none of which paid attention to the fact that their superior officers were carrying weapons, even though this was highly unusual.
Nor did anyone comment on the fact that Daniel and Martouf were back. The three waiting outside were grim.
It was going to be a slaughter. Glancing at Kataya’s set face, Sam knew that when the dust settled she, the Colonel, and her dad were going to be furious. As the last of the men inside found their places and stood negligently relaxed, Kataya watched as Jack suddenly armed his weapon, turned to the nearest Katteri and soldiers and said, “Hey, guess what? Surprise!” Then blew them away before rolling behind a barricade.
The amount of people they caught off guard was amazing. As soon as the five inside had made cover for themselves behind the makeshift barriers they were using in the training, Samantha gave the signal to go in and which direction each was to take. With their swords using energy bolts, the confusion in the room became complete.
When the dust settled, there were six Katteri left standing. Three pairs, and all of them fighting a battle for survival. Kataya had taken on her son, Lanwin. Gwennetha was locked in battle with her father, and Samantha was in combat with a young Katteri named Colwyn. When it was completely over, Merdwin, Kataya, and Samantha were standing. Jack and Teal’c were unscathed, also. Jacob, Daniel, and Martouf had come out with minor hits. Everyone else was down.
Kataya walked to the center of the room and stepped up onto an overturned box. Every one knew what she said, once the intars began to wear off. There would not be one more training session, where the Tau’ri and the Tok’Ra in their groups, did not know exactly what each of them was thinking, or where any of them were not protected by a shield. This was their responsibility, and they would attend to it.
At the end of two weeks, each and every team would be in perfect harmony, or they could all plan on being busted all the way to the bottom. If they were already on the bottom, they were back to being squires. They had volunteered for this assignment. It was perhaps the most important mission they ever had, or ever would be on, and they would not fail. A great deal depended on them, and she would not take into battle, a group she could not depend on in every way. They were Katteri-enti Warriors, and they had better start acting like it. End of discussion. From that day forward, there were no more late night eating sessions, hall wanderings, or midnight games.
Jack had his say next, and he was just as scathing. Every soldier was told exactly how things were going to be. It wasn’t to late for them to be replaced, and if they weren’t, and their performance didn’t get better, it wouldn’t matter, because they would be dead. He’d never seen such poor maneuvering and tactics. Their performance stunk, and they were a disgrace to their uniform.
Each and every one of them was aware of who their team members were, there was no excuse for not listening to the link and staying within the shield as much as possible. This wasn’t a game they were playing. They were going to battle a formidable enemy, against which they would need every advantage they could find. They’d damned well better stop fighting the link and their team members and start working as a cohesive group. It was a long speech for Jack. There were no more locked toilets, missing sheets, disassembled firearms, or fights over women.
Jacob took his turn and even if he hadn’t used English, they would have gotten the meaning, just by the tone and gestures. What in the hell was the matter with them? It was obvious they had been completely oblivious to what was going on around them. Since when had they become so careless, that they could be taken so completely by surprise? This mission could mean the difference between the Tok’Ra surviving, or being wiped out. They’d damned well better start thinking about that, rather than whatever else it was that was keeping their thoughts occupied.
The best chance they had was in co-operating and learning to function as if the group was a single entity. That meant listening to the link and doing what they were told by their group leaders. The words primitive, children, and inferior were to be wiped from their vocabulary. “If I hear one more Tok’Ra call one more Tau’ri any one of those three words, I will personally see to it that you’re hit with zat blasts every time the word comes out of your mouths.” The threat being made in English they were all aware of it. In turn, the Tok’Ra, too, became more cooperative and soon were part of cohesive fighting units.
Merdwin, Daniel, Sam, Martouf, and Teal’c stood back and watched. It was a lesson the units didn’t forget. Eight people had taken out over sixty armed soldiers and warriors. It was humbling. Of course, the attackers had their intars near max while the defenders were on a lighter level, but for practice, it had shown exactly where the problems were. And those problems were addressed.
It took about a week before the groups were working in harmony. Soon, they came to enjoy the sight of Kataya and Samantha walking around, giving pointers, working with them to make each group more cohesive and in tune. At the end of the two weeks, the two women were favorites, and there were many memories of laughter and fun, as well as hard work, sweat, and even tears.
Now, it was just practice until the day of the planned attack. Never again were they successfully taken by surprise. Mock battles were long and hard fought and many times neither side could seem to win. Often, Sam or Kataya would intervene to tip the balance to one side or the other.
The Klaxons blared, and the signal came through. It was SG10, and they were under heavy fire. Only two came through, yelling for them to close the iris. Staff blasts followed them, and an airman was injured. The iris closed, and they could hear the Jaffa, or their weapons fire hitting it.
Jack O’Neill and
General Hammond listened to the tale of a surprise arrival of
“Sir, there had been no instance of a system lord being there for centuries. Evidently, this one is trying to make a name for himself; he’s amassing long abandoned planets to build his power base without interference. When his army’s grown large enough, no doubt he’ll confront the System Lord he’s sworn allegiance to, whoever that might be. That’s what we overheard when we were scouting to see if there was any way to rescue Martin and Stevenson, the team members that have been captured,” Major Johnson reported.
“Do you know if they’re dead or alive, Major?” General Hammond asked.
“They weren’t dead, sir, they were very much alive, but they were being tortured. Ellen Stevenson was hurt pretty bad, and it looked like they were um, maybe going to, um,” the Major’s voice dwindled and he swallowed convulsively. “We really tried, sir, but there just wasn’t any way to rescue them without reinforcements.”
“I take it the four of you had split up?” Jack asked.
“Yes, sir, we separated into two teams. Martin and Stevenson were talking to the villagers, finding out about the history, where the ruins were, and what was in them. They were taken completely unawares. We, that is Lieutenant Harris and I, were doing some mineral surveys. Normally, Stevenson would have done that, but it had sounded like there was some stuff she should see. We happened to almost run into a small Jaffa patrol, and that’s how we found out that the other two had been captured in the village.”
“Request permission to mount a rescue mission, sir,” Major Johnson asked.
“How many
“I don’t know for sure, sir, but probably not more than sixty or so. The system lord was with them, and as far as we know they came by gate.”
General Hammond nodded, and said, “All right, Major, dismissed. We may need to talk to you later, so stay on base after you’re checked out.”
“Sir, we can’t just leave them there.” The two remaining members of the team looked appalled. “Surely there’s something we can do?”
“We will, Major Johnson, but we aren’t just going to go running through the gate without a plan,” the general assured him. “Now, go get checked out, and get some rest.”
“Request permission to join any rescue mission, sir,” The younger man said.
“Yes, sir, I’d like to be part of that mission, too,” Lieutenant Harris spoke up.
“We’ll see what we’re going to do first, and someone will let you know. For now, though, you need to do as the general said. It was an order, not a request,” Jack said.
After the two men
had reluctantly left to get checked out, the General said, “Jack, I have SG’s 3
and 6 here. Everyone else is either on
downtime or off world. I can’t send two
teams into sixty plus
“Well, sir, we do have a team here, and I think they’re ready for action. In fact, I think it would be some of the best practice they could possibly get on the use of Tau’ri weapons and working together. Kind of a practice session that’s a little more real than we’ve had before.”
“You want to take the teams we’ve set up for the attack on Bastet? What if some of them get killed, Jack? How do we explain that to Artereos, or Garshaw?"” General Hammond pointed out the downside.
“Merdwin is here, and he can okay it for the Katteri-enti, and Selmak and Jacob can okay it for the Tok’Ra. I say we at least ask them. If they say no, then we just have to do it ourselves,” Jack replied.
“Okay, I’ll call a briefing,” General Hammond agreed, “but if they say no, we drop it. Agreed?”
“Sure, but I don’t think they will,” Jack agreed.
“You sure you want to do this, Mer? I mean, when I suggested this, I wasn’t expecting you to go. Are you sure this won’t give your presence here on earth away?” Jack asked, for what seemed to Merdwin to be the tenth time.
“I am sure, Jack. Please stop worrying. From what your people were able to tell us, it is definitely not Bastet or any of her underlings. I am going in dressed as a Tau’ri, using Tau’ri weapons, and speaking the Tau’ri tongue, as are the rest of our people. We have agreed that the Katteri will throw a shield up. Our people know how far or close they must be to stay within the shield. It is a good plan and it will work. It is an excellent idea to use the teams we have put together. This will be a good practice session. Stop worrying.”
“All right, if you’re sure,” he finally agreed. Looking at Kataya, he turned to Merdwin to ask, “What’s Kataya saying to Lanwin and Taesha? She’s been talking to them for the last few minutes, and they don’t look happy,” Jack said.
Looking over at them, and then seeing the mutinous look on Lanwin’s face, he straightened and headed over to them, without answering Jack. He wasn’t fast enough though; Lantash beat him to it. As he approached the small group standing to one side and talking quietly, he heard him say, “Lanwin, you will listen to your mother. If she says you are not to manifest, then you will not do so. She is your superior officer, and you will follow her orders.”
“I just want to know why we cannot if we need to. Surely, it would not matter in this instance. It is Bastet we do not want to alert to us, not this minor player.”
“And what do you
think the surviving
Lanwin nodded as he looked from his mother to his father, “You are correct, of course, and I apologize. I will do as you say.”
Taking a breath, Kataya said the words she really did not want to have to say, “Lanwin, I am going to overlook you questioning me this time. Do not ever do it again, for I will both revoke your rank and place you under house arrest. Do I make myself clear?” Her voice was stern and determined.
Looking at her,
Lanwin knew that by rights, she should have already done those things. He had challenged a direct order.
Nodding, she said only, “Find your position, we are almost ready to deploy.”
Bowing once more, he left to assume his position with his group.
Merdwin changed course and headed to the ramp. Climbing it, he addressed the Katteri gathered in the group, “We will go in using our armbands to draw energy and set up individual protective shields. We will use no weapons except the Tau’ri’s. If any of you have your ribbon or even your dagger, leave them behind. Hand any things you have over to Lieutenant Simmons, and he will keep them until we return. We cannot and will not tip off Bastet at this time and believe me, if anyone is discovered to be Katteri, she will know before first light on her planet.”
“We will go through first and throw a shield in front of the gate for those emerging and then you will use individuals as they make their way to their groups locations. You will throw illusionary shields that will mask the presence of the symbiote in the Tok’Ra, for it is just as important that it is not discovered that they are amongst us. Those Katteri that are not in the advance guard, but are going in with your group; you will throw and maintain the shields for your group before you enter the Chaappa’ai, and you will maintain it.”
“The High Priestesses among us will be helping with the shields, so they will be somewhat stronger than they will be on our next mission. You all need to be making mental notes of what works and what does not, so keep in mind that the shields will be somewhat weaker in the next mission, and take that into consideration when assessing how things are working. We will have a group wide meeting after this exercise to discuss this type of thing.”
“Stay in formation
as much as possible, but you must act as if you are Tau’ri, which means that
you must look for something to shelter behind if possible. Standing and letting their weapons fire hit
your shield is not something that would pass unnoticed. That goes for all of you, Tok’Ra, Katteri,
and Tau’ri. You must not act as if you
are behind a shield, for we do not want them to realize that. We will hope that we are able to take out the
guards at the gate before the rest of you come through, however, I am fairly
sure that there will be more
“Once everyone is through the Chaappa’ai, those of you that are in the advance guard will rejoin your team and continue to keep the shield intact. Seconds are, as they know, responsible for the link. Do not drop it, no matter what. Are you all ready?” At their nods of agreement, he ordered, “Katteri, attack position three and five. Center post - take position. Left post - take position. Right post - take position. Form left flank . Form right flank.” Walking back to Kataya, he and she stood in the very center of the group he had formed into a semicircle with his few terse commands.
Turning to O’Neill, Kataya said, “Katteri contingent is in position and ready to deploy, Colonel. We will advance on your order.” She turned and faced the circle of the Stargate. Once the wormhole was established, they would be the first ones through.
Jacob faced the people that had suddenly seemed to remember who was in their team and moved into position within their own group. He smiled grimly. They realized this was something of a practice run for them, and their performance today would tell what they needed to work on, and what they were doing well. “Okay, listen up. No ribbons, if you’ve got them with you, give them to Lieutenant Simmons, and pick them up when we get back. Use your zats and your Tau’ri weapons.”
“Listen to the link, and follow all orders given by your group leader and the Colonel. You heard the previous instructions. We don’t want them to know we’re shielded. And for heavens sake, if you’re going in with the host in control, don’t look up if or when you change over.”
“Remember that there will be a meeting afterwards to go over the mission. Make mental notes on what worked right and what went wrong. You know who your team members are and how you’re supposed to function together. I expect to see you all doing it and doing it right. All right, let’s get it done.”
Jack stepped up onto the ramp to add his take on the mission and to give any last minute instructions he might have. After looking over the groups assembled before him, he said, “Okay, people, you heard what’s been said. There’s gonna be a shield around you. It’s not foolproof, and we don’t want it to be obvious. Don’t depend on it entirely; You’re all well trained soldiers, so use your skills to avoid being hit. Once the gate’s cleared, we head for the house we know they were holding our people in. Stargate Special Force teams 1, 2, and 4 will work to get our people out. Teams 3, 5, 7 will secure and keep the gate unless needed elsewhere. Team 6 will use the launchers to pin down what you can to keep them away from the gate and us.”
Turning to the two officers who were new to these groups, but still wanted to help rescue their teammates, he said, “Johnson, you and Harris stay with team 3. Kataya set your link, don’t let it worry you, and whatever you do, don’t fight it. Remember what she explained; no one is entering your mind, but any thoughts you have that you send out, especially if it is attached to emotion, can be read. All you have to do is let the information come to you, and if you need to say something, send it outward, and someone in your team will hear you. Is that understood?”
“Yes, sir, Colonel,” they responded, in unison.
Moving his attention back to the rest of the groups, he asked, “Did everyone get their orders and understand them? Good. Let’s do it people.” Jack nodded to the control room, the Sergeant input the symbols, and the gate sprang to life. They watched as the order was given by Merdwin to ready their weapons. At his nod, they entered the event horizon. When the others came through behind them, they were surprised to see the Katteri, while having taken what cover they could, were still in a semi-formation and Jaffa were falling as if they were targets on a practice range.
As the groups began to help, it soon became obvious that Merdwin had been correct in his suspicion, and there were now more than sixty or so Jaffa. Evidently, there had been reinforcements during the time it had taken them to organize, just as he had expected. The Katteri had stood their ground, and soon the teams set to get the captives out were advancing, while the others remained behind to hold the gate, and it was obvious the links were functioning extremely well. So far, there had been no mistakes.
It didn’t take Jack
and the others long to realize that the Katteri had set up and were maintaining
shields around each individual person at this point, just as they had been
instructed to do. Staff weapons fire, rather
than appearing to be stopped by something simply appeared to be missing its
targets. Jack almost laughed aloud at
the expressions on some of the
This was their first real battle situation, and he was almost overwhelmed with the information that was being channeled constantly. Seeing his problem, he heard Kataya tell them to stop the chatter and send only pertinent information. Then he watched as she and Sam worked together. It was almost as if they were one entity, knowing exactly what the other was about to do.
He sent the
information of where he wanted his group to be both by link and hand
signal. The ground was littered with
Once the groups had
started to move away from the gate, the Katteri had thrown up group shields,
which were not so hard to maintain as the individual ones. It didn’t take them long to reach the
village. Jack’s team made its way into the
house, as the other two teams secured the perimeter and assured no
The noise of the
battle had pulled all available
Turning to Jack, he said, “They are both unconscious, and as badly as they are hurt, I do not advise bringing them around. Let us get them back to the gate. I hope that moving them will not aggravate their injuries. I do not believe it will, but I can guarantee that they would both be in agony, if they were brought to consciousness.” Teal’c picked up the limp form of Ellen Stephenson, while Merdwin picked up Sergeant Martin.
Suddenly, Jack stopped, “Where is Kataya?”
“She will be finding and disposing of the System Lord,” Merdwin said, calmly. “I will find her and tell her to hurry.”
“Where are you?”
”Up the stairs and first room on the left.” Suddenly, they heard the sound of a body hitting a wall and sliding down it, followed by three zat blasts, and then Kataya was coming down the stairs.
Jack looked into Merdwin’s eyes, then turned to Kataya as she indicated Ellen Stevenson’s partially naked body and said, “Here wrap her in this, and then let us go. We should head back to the gate with the injured, and we cannot leave all of these bodies for these poor villagers to deal with either.”
“What do you suggest?” Jack asked tersely.
Lifting her zat, she disposed of the guard’s bodies. Shrugging, she looked into O’Neill’s eyes, and said, “I suggest we clean up after ourselves. It is either that, or send a team through to clean up and help the villagers.”
“We’ll send a team through,”
Jack said, after giving it some thought.
He supposed she was right, and the villagers were probably in shock and
needed some help. They headed back
toward the gate where they could still hear sporadic weapons fire. It appeared to be a few stray
“Dial us up, Daniel. Let’s get these people home,” Jack said, as they reached the gate. The teams had performed in an almost perfect harmony, and the captured team members were alive and on their way home. All of the teams were present and accounted for with a few injuries, none of them truly serious. One more system lord had bitten the dust. It had been a good day.
He’d think later about the
killers he had seen in Kataya and Merdwin’s eyes. Jack O’Neill shivered, and realized that he
had seen the true Katteri-enti today, even without the manifestation, but not
only that, he had seen himself reflected there.
It brought the first
conversation he and Kataya had ever had back to him. “We, too, are elite killers,” she had said.
“Do not be so hard on yourself.
Without us, the universe would be unbalanced. No matter how much we abhor what we have had
to do, what we have witnessed, and what we will do in the future, we both know
that we are the best defense our worlds have.
Knowing this, we will continue to kill.
Any way we have to.”
She and Merdwin had taken one look at Ellen Stevenson and what had been done to her and Sergeant Martin, and she had quietly left and hunted down the system lord responsible. And that system lord was now dead: as dead as Bastet would be.