Title: Heart Of an Eagle
Author: Flatkatsi
Email: flatkatsi@optusnet.com.au
Status: Complete
Category:
Hurt/comfort
Pairings:
None
Spoilers:
None
Season: Two
Content Level: 13+
Content Warnings:
Jack whumping
File Size:
147kb
Archive: Jackfic,
Incoming Wormhole
Summary:
SG-1 get to observe a culture a little too closely.
Disclaimer: Stargate Sg-1 and its characters are
the property of Stargate (II) Productions, Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double
Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. This
story is for entertainment purposes only and no money exchanged hands. No
copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations,
and story are the property of the author. This story may not be posted elsewhere
without the consent of the author.
Author's Note: This was written for the Jackfic-a-thon
challenge - I've put the challenge at the end. Thanks to Dee for the whole
Jackfic-a-thon idea, Spanky for her support and
Nutty for her wonderful betaing work as always.
Heart of
an Eagle
Prologue
He was dead.
He knew that with an absolute certainty, born of unbearable pain.
There would be no last minute rescue this time. No alien technology waiting in the wings, stage
right, could replace what he had lost. No great hunk of gold could lure him with its
seductive power and cause his heart to beat again.
He was dead.
**********
This must be limbo—that in-between state where his soul was weighed. He wasn’t worried about the result. He’d done his best—always had. Sometimes his best hadn’t been good enough, but
he had tried his hardest, and as far as he knew, that’s what counted at
the end. Win a few, lose a few. The battles he’d lost were what made him what
he was, as much a part of him as the victories, and he had learnt from them,
used them to mould himself into the man he had become – unforgiving of himself
and others at times, but basically a decent person.
No, he wasn’t worried about the outcome. He would take the decision as he would have were
he still alive. With acceptance,
and he hoped, dignity.
**********
“You may take him now. We are not
inhuman. We respect and honor a warrior
such as he. Take
him home.”
Daniel stared at the High Priest, unable to speak, unable to vocalize his
hatred. It burned a path along his
chest, tightening with each gulp of air. For once he was at a loss for words, the horror
of the past few hours submerging everything into one mass of sorrow.
“Daniel.”
The sound of Sam’s agonized voice brought his attention back to what he
didn’t want to see, didn’t want to accept, but the sight in front of him
was real, there was no denying the stench of blood and fluids, the smell
of death.
No denying that all that remained of his commander and friend was that bloodied figure stretched out, and horribly limp, across
the altar, its surface thick with gore. Jack
wasn’t there any more. The essence
that was Jack O’Neill had been ripped apart piece by piece, at first in
silence, then, as the minutes past, in moans of agony, and finally in screams,
having reached the limit of his endurance in the face of such pain.
Daniel pushed away from the hands restraining him, shaking them off, and
moved to Sam’s side. Behind him he
knew Teal’c still fought his captors, the growls of anger all that broke
the silence. Hundreds of eyes watched them, hundreds of faces stared up
at them, here on this high stone platform above the crowd, and yet no one
spoke. No one protested the waste, the cruelty, or the
loss of a man. To the inhabitants
of this city such acts of barbarism were a way of life, accepted, and in
fact welcomed. They had honored Jack
by choosing him above one of their own.
As he reached his shaking hand over to close the staring eyes, Daniel shuddered.
Honor – where was the honor in this?
The tears tracked down his cheeks
unchecked. He lifted his hand again
to wipe at them, only to recoil in horror at the blood covering it.
Jack’s blood.
He looked down at the red puddle at his feet, still running into the drains
especially laid for this purpose.
So much of it.
The essence that was Colonel Jack O’Neill of Earth, draining
away on an alien planet.
He closed his eyes, knowing he was wrong.
The essence that was Jack was already gone—torn away when his heart was
ripped from his body and held up for the spectators to see.
And Daniel stood, acknowledging the blame, but not knowing what to do or
how to fix it. If he had listened,
done his job, this would never have happened.
If only he could turn back the clock and relive these last few days….
*********
Part One
“Do
you think I’m stupid, Daniel?”
Daniel
Jackson backed away from the furious man facing him.
“No,
don’t answer that, you obviously do.” Jack
O’Neill spun, throwing the boot he had just removed onto the floor. “Christ! I would have thought you knew me better
than that by now.”
Daniel
raised his hands in a calming gesture that was completely lost on the stiff
back he faced. “Look, I’m sorry Jack,
but you have to see it from our point of view…”
He
wasn’t given a chance to finish his sentence before Jack turned, interrupting.
“Our? So
Carter and Teal’c don’t trust me either? Damn!”
“No,
Jack!” Daniel raised his voice, trying
to get his point across. “I shouldn’t have said that. I haven’t discussed it with them. They haven’t
said anything.” He took a step forward,
but stopped when he caught sight of the look on the other man’s face. He was about to speak again when a sound from
the corridor distracted him.
Both
men turned to the open door as a young woman entered, her long green skirt
making soft swishing noises as she came towards them, her jet black hair
gleaming in the fire light.
“Colonel? I have washed your clothes. Can I help you with anything else?” She stopped, obviously waiting for an answer,
peering demurely up at the tall man.
For
a second O’Neill stood silently, before his glance flickered to the doorway.
Daniel followed his gaze and spotted a shadow
moving, giving away the presence of others outside the Colonel’s room. With a sudden change in attitude, Jack’s face
broke into a smile. “No thank you,
Hetah. Why don’t you
take a break? I’ll be ready for bed
in an hour or so.”
“Hour?” She frowned in puzzlement.
“A
little less than one of your cycles.” Daniel
interrupted, receiving a small smile of thanks. The girl bobbed her head and bent to place the
stack of laundry she carried onto the wooden chest under the window. “Thank you, Colonel. I will return then.”
They
watched as she left, closing the door.
Daniel
was the first to break the silence.
“Shit,
Jack, she’s young enough to be your daughter.”
“What’s
that suppose to mean?” Jack glared
at the other man, ignoring the fact he was half dressed, a towel slung around
his damp shoulders. “And would you
mind not shouting, I have the beginning of a headache.” His eyes shifted towards the doorway.
Daniel
lowered his voice, understanding that they were being listened to, but refused
to be distracted. “Come on, you can
see how it looks. For god’s sake,
she’s going to sleep in your bed!”
“And?” The voice was icy. “What exactly are you suggesting? I thought you of all people would understand.
I explained what Yetzolt
told me. If you can see any other
way to handle this, please feel free to tell me.”
Daniel
looked down, feeling somewhat embarrassed at Jack’s words. “I know, Jack, it’s just…it doesn’t seem right.
Surely there’s another way?”
“If
there is, I can’t see it.” O’Neill
finally sat, the tiredness obvious in every line
of his face and Daniel realised that this was the first time he had seen
his friend resting since they had arrived on the planet late the previous
day. ”It was made quite clear to me that if Hetah didn’t ‘please’ me she would be ‘discarded’ and a new
girl provided, and I don’t think ’discarded’ meant patted on the head and
sent home to her mother.”
Daniel
frowned, trying to reconcile what Jack was saying with what he had observed.
So far he had been treated with nothing but courtesy,
the leaders of this large city going out of their way to help him in his
investigations. The civilisation
here on PX2-906 was clearly descended from the Aztecs, and the library of
parchments at the palace was a treasure trove for the archaeologist. He and Sam had happily spent several hours poring
over old documents, the astrophysicist having found numerous large codices
relating to astronomical observations dating back hundreds of years, and
he knew she was still rather stunned at these people’s accomplishments technology-wise
since the Goa’uld dumped them here.
While
Daniel and Sam were at the library, Jack and Teal’c had been shown the city
by the Cihuacoatl, the equivalent, as Daniel had understood it, to
the Vice-President. They had returned
just before dark, in time to clean up before the lavish dinner with the
Cihuacoatl and his advisers.
It
was at the dinner that Daniel first realised something had changed in the
locals’ attitude to them. Whereas
before all of SG-1 had been treated equally, now Jack was singled out, seated
at the Cihuacoatl’s left hand, and personally served by a bevy of
slaves. Daniel had taken the opportunity
of a break between courses to try and work out why.
It
seemed that Jack, instead of doing the tourist act Daniel had expected,
while scouting the city, had spent the day talking to four generals—the
ruler’s chief advisers. Apparently
spending hours exchanging stories with the equivalent of the Joint Chiefs
had somehow caused them to see Jack as a fellow warrior, equal to them in
rank. He had even been granted a separate room and
a servant for the duration of his stay.
Daniel
hadn’t seen any harm in it—quite the opposite in fact. That was until he had noticed the girl trailing
along behind his friend, pandering to his every whim, and sitting on his
knee during the after-dinner entertainment. Being given a slave girl to turn down his bed,
and clean his shoes was a far cry from having one performing a lap dance.
The last straw for Daniel was watching Jack,
arm around her shoulder, leading the girl to his room and he had taken it
upon himself to follow them. Finding
Jack in his current state of undress had just added fuel to Daniel’s indignant
fire, resulting in what he now acknowledged were ill-conceived words.
“Surely
you don’t think that they would harm her?” He was still reluctant to believe that these
pleasant, friendly people had a darker side.
Jack
looked up, idly rubbing his wet hair as he did so, leaving it standing up
in short spikes. He lowered his voice
still more. “Come on, Daniel. Wake up and smell the crap! These are descendants of the Aztecs aren’t they?”
“But
they’re hundreds of years removed from their roots.
“That’s
as may be, Daniel, but how they treat Carter is hardly indicative of their
attitude to women as a whole. We’re
all being treated differently. We’re
being feted, given anything we ask for. You
must have noticed the average person on the street doesn’t look all that
well nourished or happy?”
Daniel
shook his head ruefully, turning his eyes away. “I hadn’t noticed. I’ve been in the library all day.”
Jack
dropped the wet towel on the bed, standing to pour himself a mug of water
from the jug set on the low table in the centre of the room. He spoke with an intensity
normally absent from his easy-going demeanour. “Well you’d better get your head out of those
books and have a damn good look around before you start espousing on how
marvellous these people are. They
tried to not let Teal’c and I see too much, but we did visit the markets.
They hardly have anything for sale, Daniel; nothing
but a few stalls of vegetables, and the queue for the butcher shop was lined
up around the block.” He looked Daniel
in the eye and the other man found himself feeling uneasy
“There are undercurrents here
that we’re missing. I want you out
on the streets with Teal’c tomorrow. Look
around, do your thing. Carter can
continue her investigations, and I’ll make nice with the
“Okay.
Ah…” Daniel
hesitated. “So I’ll get back to Sam
and Teal’c and let them know what’s going on.”
“You
do that, just be careful who’s around to hear you when you do.” Jack turned the richly woven cover back from
his large bed. “I’m going to try
and get some sleep. It’s amazing
how exhausting talking can be.”
Daniel
raised an eyebrow as he finally had time to look around the room. “You’ve certainly ended up in the lap of luxury.”
His gaze took in the gold masks adoring
the walls, the thick mats in rich reds and blues on the floor, and the overflowing
platters of fruit on the beautifully carved table. “Not that we have anything to complain about,
but our room looks pretty ordinary in comparison.”
“What
can I say?” Jack shrugged, yawning.
“They like me. Now, unless you have any other problems…?”
“No.
I’ll see you in the morning.” Daniel beat a hasty retreat; the fact that his
friend was still annoyed was not lost on him. The last sight he had as he shut the door was
Jack stripping his trousers off and sliding under the covers.
**********
Woken
by the sound of the door opening, Jack lay silent for a moment, letting
his tired mind process the information it was being given.
“Colonel?” He felt the bed dip as Hetah
slipped under the covers. He stayed
silent, hoping she would assume he was sleeping.
Crap!
Soft
hands pressed into his shoulders, massaging the rigid muscles, bare breasts
brushing against his skin.
He
flipped from his side to his stomach and buried his face in the pillow,
stifling a groan. There was no way
he could pretend to be sleeping now!
“You
are very tense, Colonel. Try to relax.”
The girl’s weight shifted, and Jack felt bare
legs straddling him as she bent forward, running her tongue along his spine.
“I
thought we discussed this.” He forced
himself to stay still, not lifting his head.
“Yes,
Colonel.
I know you said your ruler did not allow you
the pleasure of a woman while on duty, but you are not on your world now…”
One hand moved from his shoulder, lightly tracing
a line down his back to reach his waist. “And my orders are to ensure you are…” It snaked around, reaching under his shorts.
“…happy, and contented.”
Shit!
Jack flipped again, grabbing the hand as he did
so. He looked down, their positions
reversed, finding himself straddling a very naked, smiling, beautiful girl
who couldn’t be more than fifteen.
“No.”
He ground the word out from between gritted teeth.
“I’m prepared to pretend to be enjoying
your company, but no way, no way, is it going to go any further than that!”
He ignored the reaction of his own
body, knowing it hadn’t been missed by Hetah,
the small mocking twist of her lips making that much obvious. “Now, I’m going to let you loose, and you’re
going to turn over and go to sleep, no more than that. Is that clear?”
“But
no one would know.” Narrow hips wiggled,
sending waves of sensation straight through him.
“I
would know. Now stop that. I’ll make
it an order if I have to.” He glared
down at her, focusing resolutely on her face, refusing to drop his gaze
any lower.
“All
right, Colonel.” The smile turned
into a pout, suddenly making her look even younger. Jack shuddered, pulling himself off her, and
laid on his side once more, facing the wall. Weight shifted in the bed and a naked body pressed
up against him.
“Goodnight,
Colonel.”
Jack
sighed. It was going to be a long
night.
**********
Daniel
looked up at the huge structure towering above him with a feeling akin to
awe. The massive twin stone staircases stretched upwards
towards a large flat courtyard topped by two small building covered in what
Daniel could see even from this distance, was richly carved wood and bright
paintings.
“I
believe our guides wish us to continue.” Teal’c’s words brought him out of his musings,
and he saw the three nobles assigned to show them the city were already
moving off.
He
hurried to catch up with them, hopped in front and causing them to stop.
Their leader, a short, stocky white haired man
named Zomunatec, gave him a look of irritation,
so quickly hidden that Daniel almost missed it.
“What
is it, Doctor?”
“The
temple.”
Daniel turned and pointed behind them. “I’d like to see it.”
Zomunatec shook his head. “I’m afraid that is not possible. We have a full schedule, and a visit to the temple
would not fit into it. Now, if you
would follow me, we will attend a sitting of the local calpuli.
It is fortunate their annual meeting
coincides with your visit.”
Daniel
weighed up the prospect of sitting through a council meeting of small landowners
against a visit to the temple on the hill behind him, and found it wanting.
He tried to find the most diplomatic
way to approach the issue. The decision
was taken out of his hands with a suddenness that had him staring at his
companion in disbelief.
“Daniel
Jackson would rather see the temple, Zomunatec.
He is an archaeologist and anthropologist – he
studies other cultures, particularly their religious rituals, and the temple
is of great interest to him. Please
give our apologies to the calpuli.” Teal’c bowed his head regally, and turned, beckoning
Daniel to follow.
“Ah…”
Giving the three men an apologetic look, Daniel
followed, almost trotting in his effort to catch the
“It
is obvious we are being prevented from visiting the temple building. O’Neill ordered us to investigate anything that
looked suspicious, and that is what I am doing.”
A
quick glance behind showed Daniel the three men rapidly running to catch
up, the two younger ones clutching their obsidian knives tightly where they
were sheathed beneath their brightly feathered cloaks.
“They
have every right not to let us enter the temple. It’s probably a religious taboo, just like some
religions on Earth. We shouldn’t
be forcing them like this.”
“Doctor! Please stop!” Zomunatec’s angry voice
cut across Daniel’s. Grabbing Teal’c’s
arm, Daniel brought him to a halt, shaking his head.
As
the other men caught up to them, he whispered a few quick words. “This isn’t the way to do this. Let me try. Okay?”
A
grudging nod was the only response he got.
“I
apologise for Teal’c’s enthusiasm.” He
smiled as sweetly as he could, portraying a naive misunderstanding, gesturing
towards the looming structure ahead of them. “Please, you lead the way.”
“You
cannot visit the temple. It is not
permitted.” The youngest of the trio
tugged on Daniel’s sleeve, forcing him to turn, his grip digging into the
shirt-covered arm.
**********
Why
hadn’t he insisted? Why had he let
himself be turned away, carried off to
sit through a meeting about the number of goats allowed to graze on a piece
of land, and what crops were scheduled to be planted?
Daniel
paced behind the solemn procession heading for the gate, bearing Jack’s
body. It had been wrapped in a cloak of brilliantly
iridescent feathers and laid on a wooden board, carved with serpents and
demons and gods and wonders that normally Daniel would be aching to investigate.
Now he just saw them as more clues he had missed,
ignored because he refused to believe.
***********
Sam
stumbled, and caught herself, regaining her balance without pausing. The pace was slow, the bearers careful not to
trip on the uneven ground, but she still found it hard to keep up—her mind
constantly returning to earlier that day. Her cheek throbbed, and she knew it was badly
bruised, but she ignored it, considering only a down payment for her inability
to do any thing to save the Colonel. Her
protests had been short lived, brought to a sudden halt by a hard backhand
across the face from one of her guards—the same guards that marched beside
them, flanking the procession.
Colonel
O’Neill’s face showed above the greens and blues of the cloak he was wrapped
in, the cuts lining it marring his normally handsome features. She knew there were more cuts, hidden by the
cloak. She had watched as each one
was inflicted, unable to turn away, as they covered his body, the priest
slowly dragging the large ceremonial knife down each limb, across and up,
down and under, etching his torso, his hands, his feet, his genitals, even
his scalp with gashes, some shallow, some deep—all deliberately placed,
as if to a set pattern, each drawn out as long as possible, as if crafted
with love.
There,
beneath the terrible injuries, beneath the concealing blood, were clues,
clues she should have seen before it came to this.
Before
the Colonel died.
**********
Part
Two
Sam
closed the large codex, shutting her eyes wearily. Three hours of reading and she had barely managed
to scratch the surface of the works lined up on shelves stretching to just
below the high ceiling.
Damn,
what she wouldn’t give for a cup of coffee!
Fascinating
though they were, she was beginning to wish it were Daniel who had been
ordered to continue investigations in the library, rather than her. She blinked, seeing the bright sunshine through
the window above the main entrance. It was a lovely day. At least, she thought it was—she had barely seen
a few minutes of it. She glanced
at her watch. Lunchtime.
Teal’c and Daniel were probably sitting
at some equivalent of the local outdoor café, lapping up the sun, and the
Colonel….
Sam
pursed her lips, frowning as she thought of the morning. Now that had been a shock. She wanted to give the Colonel the benefit of
the doubt, but the glimpse of the naked servant still asleep in his bed,
had almost had her questioning his command.
Almost.
No.
She stood, easing the stiffness out of her legs.
She trusted the Colonel. He had proven over and over that he was an honourable
man. Daniel had explained the reason
for his actions, but she had seen nothing to confirm the Colonel’s suspicions,
nothing to indicate that these people were anything other than they appeared—pleasant
and friendly. So far. That didn’t
mean it wasn’t there to find.
Sam
headed for the door, the lure of daylight too much for her.
“Captain,
can I be of assistance?”
Setztuml’s cheerful round face peered up
at her enquiringly. The library assistant
looked like a beach ball, his colourfully stripped robe wrapped tightly
over his rotund body. Sam couldn’t
help smiling.
“I
was going to take a walk outside. I
thought I’d go look at the market Colonel O’Neill mentioned yesterday, and
buy something to eat.” She paused,
considering her next words, but decided to continue. “Would you like to join me? You could show me the best food stalls.”
“I
would enjoy that very much, Captain.” Setztunl managed to look both pleased and disappointed at
the same time. “But I was
wanting to show you this.” He
held out a very old, surprisingly small codex, its cover crumbling at the
edges. “It is one of our most precious
works, and I just obtained permission for you to read it. I’m afraid it
must be back in the temple three cycles before sunset. Perhaps, I could send for some food, and we could
go over it together?”
Sam
moved closer, lured by the scent of old parchment and time. The little librarian opened the volume, turning
the thick pages, giving her tantalising glimpses of star charts and gods
riding winged serpents across the dark void of the sky. Sunlight forgotten, she followed the man back
to her table, already caught up in the thrill of discovery.
**********
“Carter!
We were wondering when you where
you were.” Colonel O’Neill made his
annoyance at her tardiness obvious by looking pointedly at his watch. “Now that you’re here, we’ll begin.”
“Sorry,
sir.”
Sam slid into a chair beside Daniel, grabbing
a handful of nuts from the bowl in the center
of the table as she did so. “I got
involved in my research and forgot the time.”
“I
hope it was valuable research then, Captain.” Jack couldn’t help replying with a shortness he knew Carter didn’t deserve. His instincts were screaming at him that there
was danger surrounding them, yet none of his team seemed to believe him,
treating his concerns as if they were minor. There was an undercurrent here, as if something
was hidden, as if something was building—to what he didn’t know.
He
rubbed the bridge of his nose and took a sip of the water Hetah
had poured for him before he sent her from the room.
“Let’s
get on with this shall we? Teal’c—check the corridor.” He
waited until the
The
“What?”
Daniel interrupted, frowning. “I didn’t see any soldiers.”
“They
were not intending to be seen. Never
the less, they were there.”
The
Colonel held up his hand as Daniel trying to speak again. “Go on, Teal’c.”
“Several
times the route we took was longer than necessary. I can only speculate that this was to prevent
us from seeing something the authorities did not wish us to see.”
“Maybe
it was because the road didn’t go straight. Maybe the path was blocked by something, like
a building.” Daniel jumped in, obviously
irritated.
“Daniel,
please! You’ll get your chance to
give your report. Don’t interrupt
again.” The Colonel glared at the other man, angered
by his stubbornness.
“Perhaps
the detours were necessary.” Teal’c
continued. “However, I do not believe
this to be the case. For example,
we skirted the temple several times, yet came no closer than four blocks
from it. I noted what appeared to be a large number of
people heading for the building, and yet we were kept well away.”
Daniel
opened his mouth, but shut it again at a look from Jack.
“There
were many more soldiers than citizens on the streets, all heavily armed,
and I did not see a single child. In
fact, there seemed to be very few inhabitants of this city, despite its
large size.”
“Your
conclusions?”
“The
city is suffering the effects of a severe famine and is under martial law.
The authorities are attempting to prevent us
from seeing this, for reasons I have yet to ascertain.”
Colonel
O’Neill nodded. “That fits in with
what we saw yesterday in the market. Daniel—your turn.”
“I
don’t see how you can come to that conclusion.” Daniel folded his arms, and sat back, his whole
posture defensive. “I didn’t see
any evidence of it. The lack of children
on the street could be easily explained by them being in school. At no time during the meeting of the landowners
did the subject of famine come up, and as for the temple…” He looked slightly apologetic. “I’m sorry, Teal’c, but they are quite within
their rights to stop us from going anywhere near it. We are outsiders. They know nothing about our beliefs or customs.
Let’s face it, we wouldn’t let some
aliens just walk into one of our cathedrals without making sure they weren’t
going to do anything disrespectful, would we? Maybe they’re just checking us out, getting to
know us better, and having Teal’c try to force his way into the temple is
not the best way to get them to trust us.”
“Okay,
so we have two completely different interpretations of what’s going on.”
Jack shifted in his chair, trying to ease the
tension from his muscles, but not succeeding. ”Carter, do you have anything that could shed
some light on the problem?”
Sam
hastily finished the mouthful of nuts she was chewing, washing them down
with some of the juice from the jug on the table. “Yes, sir, I think I do. It seems like the old religious beliefs of the
Aztecs have changed over the years. They
still worship the gods—I found references to Xipe
Totec, Quetzalcoatl, Huitzilopochtli, and several others—but
the practise of human sacrifice died out centuries ago. According to a document I was given permission
to view, they now use a technique that’s described as a sort of dream reading.
The High Priest, rather than killing a person,
now sends his energy to the gods. I
assume that’s what the people were doing at the temple. It seems quite harmless and in fact, it’s an
honor to be chosen to do it. This time of year is when the earth goddess,
Teteoinnan, is worshipped
to ensure a good harvest.”
“And
you’re saying that none of this involves human sacrifice, Carter? None of that cutting out of hearts and eating
them stuff?”
Sam
shook her head, laughing at the Colonel’s words. “No, sir. They’ve moved on from that. I don’t think we need to worry. I did find some fascinating references to the
early years of their civilisation though, and I don’t doubt the Goa’uld
played a major role in their religion, but there is no record of the gods
visiting for hundreds of years, and the old practices have died out.”
“See,
Jack. I told you there was nothing
to worry about.” Daniel smiled at
Sam, showing his pleasure at her confirmation of his conclusions. “Now maybe I can get back to the library tomorrow?
I’d love to look at these documents
Sam found.”
“I
wish I could take the credit, but it was Setztunl
that showed them to me. I don’t know
how much I would have found without his assistance, there is just so much
to go through.”
“With
my help we can get through a lot more.”
“That
would be great. You can handle the
cultural side, and I can get back to the astronomical records. I found some very interesting references to travel
between stars. I think there could
be some gate coordinates hidden amongst the information, maybe ones we haven’t
recorded before. I’ll show you tomorrow.”
Carter stopped, and turned to the Colonel, looking embarrassed. “That’s if it’s okay with you, sir?”
“I’m
not sure…”
“Oh,
come on, Jack. We’ll be careful.
It’s not like we’re doing anything dangerous,
and we’ll keep an eye out for anything suspicious.”
“You
did not tell us what you did today, O’Neill.” Teal’c broke into Daniel’s words.
Jack
thought for a second. What had he
done? It seemed that the day had gone by in the blink
of an eye.
“I
talked with the Grand Chihuahua, but we didn’t get a lot of negotiating
done. He had some meetings, so he left me with the
generals again. They were pretty
closed mouthed about things. We mainly
compared training notes—they have very rigorous standards, made me glad
I didn’t go through their boot camp.”
Truth
be told, Jack knew he had been given the run around whenever he asked awkward
questions, but there had been little he could do about it, and had hoped
for more information from his team. Perhaps
his instincts were wrong for once, perhaps there was nothing more here in
the city than first appeared.
“Okay,
Carter, you and Daniel can play together tomorrow.” He raised a finger. “But keep your eyes and ears open. Don’t take anything at face value. Okay?”
**********
She
hadn’t believed him really. Everything
seemed so above board and open. Looking
back, it was obvious to Sam that Setztunl had
carefully manoeuvred her into looking at the codices he wanted her to see,
away from any that might expose the truth. She
had thought she was better trained than that, that she had learnt enough
from the Colonel to not blindly accept what she was shown.
Obviously
not.
And
now she wouldn’t have the chance to learn anything more from him.
**********
Part
Three
“Tell
me about yourself, Hetah.”
“What
do you mean, Colonel?” The girl stopped,
the knife she was using to cut up the fruit, dripping with juice. She looked across at him, clearly puzzled. “There is nothing to tell.”
“How
did you come to work here?” Jack
took another slice of the pink fruit on the tray, resting leaning his chin
on his hand, his elbows on the table. “Were
you always a slave?”
“No.”
Hetah gave a small
laugh, smiling. “My parents sold
me when I was five to pay debts. I
am pleased they did. It is an honor
to work here at the palace.”
“An
honor? How
is it an honor? Wouldn’t it be better to be free?”
She
laughed again, shaking her head. “No,
Colonel. Here at the palace I have
plenty of food and fine clothes to wear. And now, since you have arrived, I have the honor to serve both you and the gods. I am very happy.”
The
soft flesh of the fruit felt cold on Jack’s tongue as the sweet juice ran
down his throat. “How does serving
me serve the gods?”
There
was silence and Jack looked up from the plate, just in time to catch a glimpse
of something in Hetah’s brown eyes, but it was
gone before he could recognise it, her face breaking into a broad and open
grin. “You are a great warrior, Colonel, and serve
Huitzilopochtli, the god of war. He
watches over you, and sees that you are being properly treated and is pleased.
My greatest wish is to serve the gods well.”
The
girl’s voice rang with a fervour that Jack found disturbing. God of war? He could live with that—it actually seemed quite
appropriate. He’d have to remember
to ask Daniel if he had seen a picture of this god, or read a description.
Bet he had glowy eyes,
and a really bad attitude. It would
have to wait until morning. Right
now he was so exhausted he could hardly keep his eyes open. He finished the last piece of fruit, taking a
drink of water to wash it down, and wiped his hands on the cloth Hetah had placed beside the plate.
“You
look tired, Colonel.” Hetah put the knife down and rose, moving to his side, her
hand stroking along his arm. “Come
to bed. Tomorrow it is the rite of
Tlaxochimaco. Your
tonalli must be strong for the morning.”
“Tonalli?” Jack blinked, wondering
if he was hearing her words properly. Half of what she said went right over his head.
He needed Daniel to translate.
“Your
life force.
There will be much celebration and you need to
be rested.” She slipped a hand under
his shirt, undoing the top button, pushing his hand away as he weakly protested.
“Together, we will give our lives to the gods,
helping them in their tasks. When
his life force joins with yours, Huitzilopochtli will shine upon our city,
and Teteoinnan will
wear my skin, allowing the goddess to visit with us and bestow a bountiful
harvest.” She pressed against him,
almost kneeling on his legs, taking his lolling head in both hands. “I am so happy to give my life to serve the gods.
We are truly blessed.”
Hetah pressed her lips to Jack’s, ignoring
his low moans of protest. “The juice
from the grua fruit will relax you while the preparations
are made, but do not worry, the effects will wear off by the morning and
you will be able to feel the ecstasy as you become cuauhtecatl, the eagle man and fly to meet the gods.”
Jack could do nothing as the
blood seemed to freeze in his veins, even his voice now stilled. He felt hands lifting his unresponsive body,
taking it to the bed, and realised that he and the girl were no longer alone.
Low chanting had him turning his eyes to the
left, finding the High Priest Yetzolt standing
alongside him; his tall feather head dress bobbing as he sang. Then his vision was filled with Hetah’s face, and once again she slipped her hand into his
shirt, undoing the buttons and deftly tugging it from his body. He felt the featherlight
movements of her fingers on the buckle of his belt and tried to protest,
only to have the protest die unspoken, unable to move at all. Minutes later, cool
air breezed across him, and he knew he was naked, lying there, surrounded
by people, completely helpless.
He had let his guard down and
now he was paying the price. But
what was the price? What did they
want with him?
One thing he did know—he was
so going to kick Carter and Daniel’s butt when they got home. Friendly. Harmless. As if!
And finally the juice of the grrrr
plant, or whatever it was called, hit his brain and he dropped away into
nothingness.
*********
Teal’c
was not taken by surprise. He could
count the number of times he was taken by surprise on the fingers of one
hand, and this was not one of them. It
was, however, not a situation he could resolve to his advantage.
Daniel
Jackson was already subdued, and Captain Carter, although valiantly fighting
overwhelming odds, would soon join their teammate
in the hands of their attackers. Teal’c
had been unable to reach his staff weapon, set upon as they were just as
they stepped through the door into the large room they all shared. Sensing something amiss, he had managed a warning
shout, but not much more, the bulk of the attackers concentrating on him.
The sheer number of the warriors
soon had him held fast, leather bindings twisted around his forearms, tying
them to his body. Each movement he
made only served to tighten the leather further, but although it was futile,
he could not help struggling against his captor.
“Why
are you doing this?” Daniel Jackson
looked dazed, but defiant as he questioned the men. “What’s going on?”
“Let
us go!” Captain Carter added her
voice to the protest, and he felt a surge of anger at the sight of a red
handprint, vivid across her face.
It
had been no use. Their protests ignored,
they had been locked away until the morning, the whereabouts of Colonel
O’Neill their main concern.
They
had their answer soon after dawn.
**********
The
guard holding Teal’c’s left arm grunted as he swung an elbow towards him,
just managing to avoid the blow. They
were weakening, these cowards that held him, refusing to fight.
O’Neill
was being carried near him, carried by more of these deceivers. He struggled again, pulling towards the bier,
but couldn’t reach it.
The
High Priest, Yetzolt, walked at the head of the
procession, his cloak swinging around his knees. For a moment Teal’c stilled, remembering.
***********
The
High Priest nodded, and Jack was tugged forward, struggling against the
hands holding him, forced to his knees at the base of the steep flight of
stairs. Yetzolt’s fingers grabbed
hold of the short hair on his head, and he found himself being pulled along
towards the first step. The pain
as his scalp was stretched was sharp and sudden, and he barely had time
to register his being taken by each limb and dragged, his knees painfully
bent, scrapping the edge of each step as the whole entourage climbed towards
the top of the structure.
They
reached the top, and Jack’s hair was released, freeing him to turn his head.
Standing, several feet away at the edge of the
small group of spectators here atop the steps, were his team, their faces
horrified. Teal’c was bound, tight
rawhide digging into his flesh, a warrior on either side of him. Carter and Daniel were free, but also guarded,
a knife held to Carter’s neck. A
large red mark, already bruising on the Captain’s face testimony to her
attempts to escape.
It
looked like Daniel was finally getting to see the temple.
Instead
of the fresh breeze he expected this far above the buildings, Jack smelt
a stench immediately bringing to mind a slaughter-house, acrid smoke filling
the air from several torches burning around them.
“No!
You can’t do this!” Daniel voice
broke the silence, and the High Priest turned, smiling benignly.
“It
is a great honour, Doctor. The Colonel
will become a cuauhtecatl, his
spirit will join Huitzilopochtli in the sky, and he will sit at his right
hand. I envy him.”
Raising his arms, the priest beckoned to waiting slaves,
and they carried a long heavy cloak forward, letting it unfurl as they draped
it over his shoulders, using a large gold clasp to hold it in place at his
neck. Thick black hair hung in glossy
strands from the narrow top, flowing down the priest’s back.
As Yetzolt moved towards
him, a raw smell of rotting meat emanated off the cloak in waves. Jack stared at it, trying to not see the obvious,
to not accept the evidence of his own eyes, but as the bile rose in his
throat, Jack knew he could deny it no longer, the birthmark staining the
human skin crossing over the other man’s left arm. The same birthmark he knew had been echoed on
Hetah’s upper arm, and he fought, redoubling his struggle,
the image of a beautiful young girl, full of life, making him scream his
defiance.
When he was stretched out, his bare back against the
hard rock of the altar stone, a roar of approval rose from the crowd below.
Every inhabitant of the city was
there, every citizen, every slave, all come to see the warrior from beyond
the stars give up his life force. Yetzolt had taken great care to explain it to him as they
had washed his body carefully, anointing it with fragrant oils. Like their ancestors of old, they went willingly
to their doom, rejoicing as they gave their life for the gods, as Hetah had done. Jack
would join her soon.
But there was one major difference between Jack and
Hetah - he would not go willingly.
And as the priest held the obsidian knife to his face,
and carved the first of many lines into his skin, Jack cursed him with every
breath he took.
Until Yetzolt tore his heart
out.
**********
The
priestly procession left them several miles from the gate, telling them
that they needed to return to the temple - many others were waiting patiently
to give their life that the sun might ride across the sky. SG-1’s packs
were handed over, but their weapons were missing, giving them no chance
for vengeance. It was made quite
clear that they were to leave immediately, and although Yetzolt
farewelled them as if they had been honoured guests, the soldiers’ threatening
looks were not lost on them. Untied,
Teal’c bent and lifted the Colonel’s body, cradling it as they walked away,
not looking back.
Going
home.
**********
Part
Four
They
turned a corner of the trail, finally out of sight of the soldiers standing
watching them. They had been followed
to this point, as if to be sure they did not try and return to the city,
although that was the last place any of them wanted to visit again, but
now, at last, it seemed they were to make the rest of the journey alone.
Daniel could barely put one foot in front of
the other, his exhaustion overwhelming. The
walk to this point, the emotional turmoil he was in and the lack of sleep
all combined to numb both his mind and body. There was no hurry. No need to rush. No point in one of them racing ahead to request
a medical team be ready.
Teal’c
didn’t look any more tired than he had when he first woken the morning before,
even carrying Jack’s body, but Daniel knew that the determined
He
found his gaze held by the pale hand he could just see hanging from where
it had escaped Teal’c weakening grip, the gashes etched down each finger
running slow drops of blood that splattered onto the lush undergrowth beneath
their feet. He looked down, realising
he was treading on a trail of red, and took a step to the side to avoid
it.
Jack’s
blood.
**********
The
knife had been sharp, designed especially for this work, its handle the
shape of a crouching god, eyes painted gold against the black. His assistants had held Jack down as the High
Priest had carved slowly through the skin, holding him still, not because
he struggled, but because, by the end, he shook uncontrollably, shock sending
messages to his overloaded nerves. They
had placed a piece of wood between his teeth when he began to scream, dulling
his cries down to whimpers, but the slice deep down across his belly made
him arch his back, the force throwing off one of the younger priests, the
one holding his left leg. And, even
as far gone as he was by then, he had lashed out, almost knocking a smoking
torch from its stand.
They
held him firmer then, as the priest continued his ritual and his team had
watched on, repulsed by the brutality of it.
His
blood had flowed freely into the drains.
**********
Jack’s
blood!
Daniel’s
head snapped up and he pushed himself forward, catching up with Teal’c in
a few strides. His teammates
stopped, looking at him in puzzlement, but he didn’t say anything – just
held out a trembling hand and pulled aside the feathered clock, holding
a finger to Jack’s neck.
Daniel
gasped. It couldn’t be, but it was
there – a faint pulse throbbing against his fingers, confirming to him that
a man still bleeding after several hours could not be dead.
“Oh,
god!
He’s alive.”
“He
can’t be.” Sam shook her head, stepping
up to put a hand on Daniel’s arm, her eyes brimming with unshed tears. “Daniel, he can’t be – we saw Yetzolt …” She stopped, obviously unable to continue.
“Look!”
Daniel pointed to the blood dripping
onto the ground. “He is. Jack’s alive.
I don’t know how, but he is.”
Sam
looked down, seeing the evidence for herself, at
the same time as Teal’c dropped to his knees, placing the Colonel on the
ground. All three stilled for a fraction of a second,
before Daniel wrenched the cloak open, exposing O’Neill’s chest. The gaping hole they expected to see wasn’t there;
instead they found a wound, one of many marring his body.
“I…I
don’t understand….”
Teal’c
yanked his pack off his back, pulling out a medical kit. “I do not understand it either, Captain Carter,
but I do know that we must tend O’Neill’s injuries or this miracle will
be for nothing.”
Grabbing
a pressure bandage, Daniel pressed it to Jack’s abdomen, holding it in place,
but his eyes roamed over the figure beneath his hands. “Where do we start? We’ve got to get him home.”
“I
know, but Teal’c’s right, we have to stop the bleeding first. We’re still several hours from the gate.” She wound a bandage around the Colonel’s leg
as she spoke. “We should get off
the trail. I don’t think Yetzolt
would be very happy to see the Colonel was still alive.”
“I’m not too sure about that, Sam. Look at how shallow most of these cuts are. I think they’re designed to cause the victim to bleed to death over a long period of time. Maybe the longer he takes to die, the more life force f