CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Closing his eyes, Daniel tilted his head up toward the sunlight that was peeking through the cloud cover.
"Good morning," said a soft, feminine voice.
Daniel looked down to see a pretty woman with light auburn hair. "Um, hello."
The woman smiled slightly. "I'm sorry, but you appeared to be upset, and I thought I could help."
"Thank you, but I'm pretty sure there's nothing you can do." Daniel smiled at her. "My name's Daniel."
"Leda. My husband went off and forgot his lunch this morning, so I was bringing it to him."
"Your husband? He works in the bunker?"
"Yes. You may know him. Jared Kane."
"Yes, we've met."
Leda's face lit with realization. "Are you Doctor Daniel Jackson? Jared has told me about you and the others who came through the Great Ring."
"Yes, that's me."
"I am pleased to meet you. I was amazed when he told me about what happened and what the Great Ring is. To think that your people have traveled all over the galaxy."
At any other time, he'd have been happy to talk with the woman, who seemed like a very nice person, but Daniel's mind was too burdened with what he knew was coming.
"Something is still troubling you," Leda said.
"Yes, but I'm afraid that the only person who can help is Commander Gareth, and he won't listen to me."
"Is it something to do with the trouble with the fundamentalists? It has been all over the news for weeks now. The news also says that there is a problem with Caledonia, but they have no details. Jared can't discuss it with me because of security, but I see the concern on his face when he comes home at night."
"Yes, it does, but I'm afraid I can't discuss it either."
"Well, whatever the problem is, I hope it's resolved."
Daniel said goodbye to the woman, watching her go inside. He went over to a café that was a few blocks away for a cup of the beverage that was this planet's equivalent of coffee.
As he sipped on the beverage, Daniel thought about what he was going to do. He could tell Gareth the truth about how he knew there was going to be an attack. It wouldn't be difficult to prove his abilities. But how would the commander react? While reading about the old religious beliefs of the people of Tegalus, Daniel had learned that there was a general mistrust of anything remotely resembling paranormal abilities. Such abilities were extremely rare and almost never believed by the general public. In the very few instances when someone was proven to have psychic abilities, that person was looked upon as a freak and shunned. Ironically, the only people who didn't react that way were the ones who still believed in the gods of old. To them, such individuals were looked upon as having been blessed by the gods.
If there was some way that Daniel could find Soren, he guessed that it would be very easy for him to have the man just about worshiping him as a messenger from the gods. He might then be able to convince Soren that what the rebels were doing was not the right way to go about things. Even if he couldn't, once he had the leader of the fundamentalists in his grasp, he could put an end to this.
But Daniel had no idea where Soren was. Having never met the man, it would be impossible for Daniel to track him down, even if he was right there in the capital city.
Finishing his 'coffee', the archeologist headed back to the bunker, deep in thought. He knew that he had to try again to convince Gareth that something was going to happen.
Down in the control room, Daniel found the commander busy getting reports from military units throughout Rand. He waited until the man was finished with that.
"Have they noticed anything?" he asked.
"There is increased activity among Soren's people in the cities he is controlling, and a few individuals known to be fundamentalist sympathizers have been arrested in other cities after being spotted acting suspicious, but that's all."
"Gareth, I wish you'd listen to me when I tell you that something is going to happen."
Jared Kane came up to them. "What is he talking about?"
"Doctor Jackson believes that something is going to happen that will trigger a war."
Kane turned his gaze upon Daniel. "Why do you believe that?"
"I was given a warning."
Kane looked at him suspiciously. "A warning by whom?"
Daniel gazed at the two men. "All right, I'll tell you the truth, but you're not going to believe me." He looked at Gareth. "Can we go to your office?"
The three men went to the commander's office.
"Okay, Doctor Jackson, what were you told and by whom?" Gareth asked.
"Nobody told me. I know because I saw it happen."
Gareth and Kane stared at him.
"What are you talking about?" the commander's chief aide asked.
"Okay, last year, something happened that, among other things, gave me the ability to see the future. I can't explain why or how this happened, but I'm telling you the truth. This morning, I had a vision that showed me the destruction of Rand and Caledonia. Millions and millions of people died."
"You honestly don't expect us to believe this," Kane said.
"I know this is hard for you to believe, but I'm telling you the truth."
"And do you have proof of this?" Gareth asked, his voice heavy with skepticism.
"I can't prove that I had the vision, but I can prove my abilities, if you will give me the opportunity."
The sound of running footsteps drew everyone's attention to the door. There was an urgent knock, and a man came in.
"Commander! We just got a report that there's been a major uprising in Marshad."
Gareth leapt to his feet and strode out of his office, Daniel and Kane on his tail. They all went to the control room.
"Where's Marshad?" Daniel asked Kane.
"It's a city on the coast. One of our biggest ports is there, vital to the importing and exporting of goods."
Daniel recalled the scene from his vision and knew that this was what he saw.
Gareth was talking with one of the military commanders in Marshad. It seems that troops loyal to Soren had sprung a surprise attack and were now in a heated battle with the military, trying to gain control of the port. They had somehow already gained control of the city's seat of government and were holding everyone inside hostage.
Gareth ordered troops from two nearby cities to help in the fighting, stressing how important it was not to lose control of the port.
Over the next several hours, everyone in the bunker listened to reports coming in from the besieged city. Daniel's sixth sense was clamoring a warning louder than ever. He knew beyond all doubt that there was more to it than this, that Soren was about to do something much bigger. He had tried several times to get Gareth to listen to him, but the man was too focused on what was happening in the costal city. Kane finally ordered Daniel to leave the bunker.
On the surface, Daniel began to pace. He didn't know what to do. No one was listening to him. There was a chance that, if he tried, he could get more information about what Soren was going to do, but what good would that do if nobody would believe him? Was there some way that he could stop Soren himself? The chances of that were remote, unless he figured out exactly where the man was.
With a sick feeling growing in his stomach, Daniel realized that, this time, his abilities could not help. They were not going to save the day. Millions of people were going to die, and he could do nothing to save them.
A voice deep inside cried in denial. There had to be something he could do!
Finding a place to sit, Daniel closed his eyes and yet again looked into the future. Again, he saw the destruction, the deaths of millions. And then he saw something else, a group of men attacking some kind of facility. The men, whom Daniel knew were Soren's, seized control of the building. An instant later, Daniel knew what that building was as he watched missiles launched into the air on a deadly course toward Caledonia.
Leaping to his feet, Daniel ran back to the bunker. But when he got to the security checkpoint, he was told that he was not allowed to enter, by order of Jared Kane.
"Tell Kane or, better yet, Commander Gareth that I have new information. It is absolutely vital that they listen to me!"
The man called down to the control room, speaking to someone there. He hung up a couple of minutes later.
"I'm sorry, sir, but the commander can't speak with you now."
For a brief moment, Daniel was tempted to knock the man out and force his way down into the bunker, but all that would do is label him a dangerous enemy.
The archeologist turned away. He would have to go back through the Stargate. There was nothing more he could do. The leaders of Rand wouldn't listen to him, and he had no idea where the missile launching facility was that Soren was going to take control of.
The thought of running away and leaving this world to its fate made Daniel feel both ill and furious. He didn't want to give up. He wanted to keep trying. But, if he stayed, he would most likely die along with everyone else. If it was his life alone that he'd be risking by staying, he wouldn't hesitate to stay as long as there was even the tiniest hope that he could do something to stop the war. But if he died, he would no longer be able to help fight the Goa'uld. A year ago, that thought wouldn't have even entered his mind, for he wouldn't have considered his contribution to matter all that much, but everything was different now that he had these abilities, abilities that he knew might help defeat the Goa'uld years sooner than what they could have hoped for, possibly saving billions of human and Jaffa lives.
With deep regret and feeling like he was betraying the people of Tegalus, Daniel turned back to the man at the desk.
"I need a ride to the museum."
Again, the man got on the phone. This conversation lasted longer.
"Sir, if you were planning on going through the Great Ring, I've been told that orders have been given to move it."
"What?! Move it where?"
"I don't know, sir."
"I need to talk to Gareth now," Daniel said in a hard voice. "I don't care what Kane's orders are."
Something in Daniel's eyes must have told the young man that he meant business. The soldier quickly got back on the phone.
"You can go down, sir," he said a few seconds later.
Daniel didn't waste any time going to the control room.
"Kane, what's going on?" he asked the commander's aide, who was approaching him. "I was told that the Stargate is being moved."
"Rebels have seized control of many of Rand's major cities, and still more cities are under siege. At the present time, this city is secure, but it's only a matter of time before it, too, is attacked. The Stargate is being moved into the bunker complex for security purposes."
"What are the Caledonians doing?"
"They are saying that, if the situation gets any worse, they will have no choice but to fully deploy and prime their missile systems. If that happens, we will do the same. It would be best if you go back to your own world as soon as possible."
Daniel thought of something. "The DHD. They're bringing that, too, right?"
"Yes."
"What about the MALP?"
Kane frowned in puzzlement. "The MALP?"
"The robot that came through the Stargate first. It's what we use to communicate with Earth."
"No, I do not believe that it is being brought."
"Please ask them to bring it, too."
Gareth got in touch with the crew that was working on transporting the gate and the DHD and told them to bring the MALP as well.
It took a long time for the thirty-two-ton Stargate to be moved from the museum to the bunker. As that was being done, the situation with the fundamentalists got progressively worse. Every major city was now in their hands, and fighting had begun in the capital, the city Daniel was now in. By the time the Stargate had been lowered into the bunker through an opening in the ceiling, sections of the capital had been taken control of by Soren's troops.
Daniel had told Gareth that one of their missile control sites was going to be captured by Soren, but the man didn't believe him. The archeologist found out that there were several control sites scattered all over the country. He had no idea which one it was that he saw taken over by the fundamentalists. Daniel used his abilities once more in an attempt to see more details, something that would tell him which facility would be taken, but it was useless. All he kept seeing was the death and destruction.
As the men assigned to setting up the gate and the DHD worked on stabilizing the massive ring in its new stand, Daniel was in the control room, helplessly witnessing what he knew would most likely be the end of both Rand and Caledonia. As the Caledonians had warned, they had primed their missile systems, and Rand had done likewise. Gareth was now talking to Minister Treydan, who had just called.
"Commander Gareth, we've been monitoring the situation in your country. We are most concerned," the minister said in his cold, emotionless voice.
"I understand, Minister. However, rest assured we are close to reclaiming vital areas—"
"Now is not the time for rhetoric, Commander. Our reports indicate large elements of your military are on the brink of mutiny. Your civil unrest has become a civil war. Should any of your weapons systems fall into the wrong hands, no one in my country would be safe."
"That will not happen. I can promise you," Gareth assured him.
But Daniel knew that it would happen. His vision was going to come true, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.
"Just as you promised our scientists full access to the Stargate," Treydan said, his message clear. "First, you hide information about the alien device, and, now, you deny your country has slipped into chaos."
"We respected the guidelines of our treaty to the letter. Our report to you on the Stargate outlined everything we know. . . ." Gareth's voice trailed off at the sound of a distant explosion.
The person manning the radio handed Kane a piece of paper as Treydan responded to Gareth's statement.
"Except what you deemed advantageous to your national security."
Seeing the look on Kane's face, Gareth told Treydan to hold on and gestured to the radio man to stop the transmission.
Kane came up to him, leaning in close. "Rebel forces just detonated a large explosive device near one of our missile deployment facilities," Kane announced on a low voice. "As of this moment, we understand the facility to be compromised."
His expression clearly revealing his worry, Gareth gestured to the man controlling the radio to resume transmission.
"Minister, forgive me. I must cut our conversation short."
"Commander, my intelligence advisors have just informed me of a massive explosion near one of your missile facilities. Is this true?"
"We are still gathering information. We will contain the situation—"
"The time for containment is long past, Commander," Treydan said. "We cannot allow your missile facilities to fall into Soren's hands."
"Treydan, give us time. This need not escalate."
"We are targeting your missile sites only. If you do not wish a full-scale war, you will not retaliate."
"Minister Treydan!" Daniel cried, trying one last ditch effort to stop the war. "You have to listen to me. If you launch your missiles, Soren will retaliate. Please don't fire!"
There was no reply from the man.
"Commander, we've detected multiple launch signals from Caledonian positions!" the radio man announced.
A computer-generated map on the wall showed inbound missiles from Caledonia heading for Rand. Daniel knew beyond all doubt what was going to happen next. A few seconds later, he was proven right.
"Sir! Missiles are launching from a number of our sites!" the radio man shouted.
"It's Soren," Daniel said. "He's launching the missiles."
"He's going to kill us all!" Kane exclaimed. "Caledonia will respond with a full-scale attack."
Gareth turned and met Daniel's gaze. In the commander's eyes, the archeologist saw realization and regret. Too late, Gareth had realized that he should have listened to Daniel's warning.
Just as Daniel already knew would happen, upon detecting the launch of Rand's missiles, Caledonia responded by launching more of theirs. In turn, more of Rand's were sent on a course for Caledonia.
It wasn't long before the first missile struck Rand. The explosions were distant, hitting missile silos that were already empty of their contents, but it was still felt in the bunker. Not long after that, missiles began hitting the capital city, shaking the bunker more violently.
"This is insane!" Daniel cried.
"Soren's forces are moving in on this facility," Kane told him. "I can get you to the Stargate, but we have to go now."
The two men left the control room with a military escort. They were approaching another door when Daniel's sixth sense sent a sudden warning. A second later, the doors were blasted open from the other side.
Everyone took cover behind stacks of sandbags and aimed their weapons. As rebel forces began pouring into the room, guns firing, and Kane's men returned fire, the archeologist gathered his power and struck at the rebels. The men went flying backwards, striking the walls hard and falling senseless to the floor.
"What's going on?!" Kane yelled. "What did that?"
Before Daniel could answer, more rebels came rushing in. He was about to strike at them, too, when a sudden vision flashed through his mind. He saw Soren, frustrated by his inability to take the bunker, send a missile right at it, destroying it. There was a bright flash of light, then the vision ended, leaving Daniel shaken at the realization that he'd just witnessed his own death, as well as the deaths of everyone else in the bunker. By preventing Soren from taking this place, he was making things worse, not better.
A gasp of pain drew Daniel's attention to Kane. The man had been hit in the leg. Daniel grabbed him and pulled him out of the line of fire, shielding them both from bullets with his telekinetic abilities.
Kane struggled to his feet with Daniel's help.
"This way!" he yelled.
Knowing that he could not save the bunker from falling to Soren's troops, Daniel hurried with Kane down a side corridor.
They stopped at a steel door that looked much like the door between compartments on a military ship.
"Here. Through that door," Kane said.
On the other side of the door was a damp, dimly lit tunnel that looked like it was used to access the water and power systems for the bunker. The commander's aide was limping badly, and the archeologist had to support him as they ran down the tunnel. They were soon at another door, which led outside.
They were no sooner out the door when there was the sound of an incoming missile.
"Get down!" Kane yelled.
Kane dove to the ground, followed a second later by Daniel, who heard the missile strike. Even as he sought to protect them from debris, there was a sharp, searing pain as something struck his head, and then he knew no more.
Daniel was an hour overdue with his check-in. Normally, off-world personnel being just an hour late was not cause for undue alarm, but this was a different situation in Jack's mind. It could be that Daniel just had his nose in a book and lost track of the time, but Jack was getting antsy.
"Dial up Tegalus," he ordered.
Not questioning the order, the technician did as he was told. Sam came in as the fourth chevron was encoding.
"Not waiting any longer, sir?" she asked.
"Nope. I don't care if he calls me a mother hen. I haven't liked this whole idea of him being there by himself."
As soon as the wormhole formed, Jack started speaking into the microphone. "This is General O'Neill with Stargate Command." He knew that there was always a military detail at the Stargate, who would reply through the MALP.
This time, however, there was no response.
"This is General O'Neill. Is anyone there?"
"Who are you?" someone asked.
"Like I already said, I'm General O'Neill of the SGC, on Earth. Who are you?"
There was no reply to the question.
"Bring up the camera feed," Sam told the tech. A moment later, a static-filled image came onscreen, but it was not the one they were expecting to see. Instead of a view of the museum courtyard that the Stargate was in, they saw a room with concrete walls and no windows.
"What the hell's going on?" Sam questioned. "Pan right."
As the camera turned, they saw an armed man in the room. The figure was barely visible because the image was so bad. Sam suspected that the camera had been damaged.
A moment later, another man came in, but the picture on the screen had gotten so bad that they couldn't really see him.
"Can't you do anything about that picture?" Jack asked, covering the microphone with his hand.
"I'm afraid not, sir," the technician answered. "The camera was apparently damaged."
At that moment, they lost the picture completely.
"I am Soren," said a voice, most likely that of the man who had just arrived.
Sam gasped, knowing what this meant.
"General O'Neill," Jack said. "Would you care to tell me what's going on over there?"
Jack and the others in the control room heard the muffled sound of an explosion.
"The war that will put an end to the unbelievers is being waged," Soren replied. There was another explosion. "The sounds you hear are missiles striking into the heart of those who chose to abandon the true faith. Rand and Caledonia will be cleansed with fire, wiped clean of their sins, and we will rise anew from the ashes to serve the gods and await their return."
A horrible, sick feeling welled up inside Sam as she realized what Soren was saying. "Oh my God."
Jack was getting scared, too, but he fought to control it. "One of my people was there, a Doctor Daniel Jackson. Do you know where he is?"
"No. There is no one by that name here in this bunker . . . not alive anyway. Many of those who defended the bunker died in the fighting. If your man was here, then he is dead, for he is not among the prisoners. If he was outside when the war began, then he is probably also dead. The city is in ruins. Few have survived."
'God, no,' Sam's mind was crying. 'This can't be happening!' But it was happening. The war that they had all worried about had taken place, and Daniel had been trapped within it, now probably dead.
Bracing himself, Jack asked the question that he knew he had to. "If I gave you his description, would you be able to tell me if he was among the . . . the casualties in the bunker?"
"Yes, I believe so."
Jack gave the man a detailed description of Daniel, knowing that his clothing and Stargate Program patches would be the most recognizable items of identification.
"There were no men here with such clothing and identification," Soren said right away. "This I know for certain. Only members of the Rand military were here."
Jack relaxed slightly. The fact that Daniel hadn't been killed at the bunker meant that there was still a chance that he was alive.
"I would like to send a team over there to talk with you. What is your situation?"
"Such a thing would not be possible now. In a few days, the missiles will no longer be striking. We can speak of this then."
"Look. We want to go searching for our missing man. A delay of a few days could cost his life."
"Even if he still lives, you could not search for him while the capital city is still under attack. Contact us again in three days. As I said, we will speak of you coming here then."
They heard the sound of the door opening and closing.
"Dammit," Jack cursed softly. He ordered the gate to be shut down.
"How could this have happened so fast?" Sam questioned, trying to regain control of her emotions. "When Daniel checked in last, he said that everything was pretty much the same as it had been."
"I don't know, but we're going to find out. I knew I should have ordered him to get his ass back here."
"I shouldn't have let him stay there alone," Sam whispered. "I should have gone to Rand."
Jack said nothing in reply, guilt hitting him hard. He was the one who allowed Daniel to stay on the planet alone. It was his call, and he'd made the wrong one. Maybe if Sam or Teal'c had been with him, they would have made it to the Stargate before everything went to hell. Knowing Daniel, he probably waited until the last minute, hoping that he could still help the people of Tegalus, even as they were going to war with each other. Sam or Teal'c would have had more sense, insisting that they leave.
But even if they had insisted, Daniel might not have gone, and there was really nothing they could have done to force him to go. No, that wasn't true. If they had refused to leave without him, therefore, risking their lives as well, it might have been enough to convince Daniel to go.
Jack went to his office, praying that his decision had not cost the life of his best friend.
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