CHAPTER TWO
Daniel entered the Quonset hut where Sam and Jacob were working. The two of them were hunched over a small object in a clamp on the worktable.
"So, how did it go?" Jacob asked upon seeing him.
Daniel sighed. "You know how we've sometimes had to deal with a Jaffa who, no matter how we reason with them, still keeps insisting that their Goa'uld master is a god?"
"No luck, huh."
"No, not much."
"They wouldn't listen to you at all?" Sam asked.
"Oh, they listened to me, but nothing I said made a bit of difference in what they thought or how they felt about me. But there is some good news. They don't think I'm a god. They all know that I'm human and very mortal. They also know that I'm not perfect or all-powerful."
"That is good news," Jacob agreed.
"Yep, they only think I'm a demigod," Daniel added with a tight little smile that was definitely not an indication of pleasure. "In a way, that makes things even harder. If they had thought that I was a god, I could have easily disproved that."
Jacob nodded, understanding. "But how can you disprove the belief that you are like something halfway between a god and a man when they know about the power you have?"
"Exactly."
"I wish I could figure out what to do about that, Daniel, but it may be that we're all just going to have to accept it."
Daniel sat down at the table and leaned back in the chair. "Unfortunately, you're probably right. There is one good thing that came out of my talk with them, though. The Tok'ra are going to have lots of help now in spying on the Goa'uld. The rebel Jaffa are going to keep their ears to the ground and watch for any indication that some Goa'uld has found out who I am."
"That's great, Daniel," Sam said, her concern over his safety easing a little.
"We could sure use the help," Jacob remarked.
"Oh, and something else," Daniel said. "I'm pretty sure that the Jaffa don't know about my ability to see the future or my 'sixth sense'."
"That's good. If they found out that you could see the future, it would elevate you even higher in their eyes. That's a power that the Goa'uld could never claim to have."
"Yeah." A frown creased Daniel's face.
"What's wrong?" Sam asked.
"Um, you remember those times in the past when I got a feeling that something was wrong?"
"Daniel, did you have a premonition?" Jacob questioned sharply.
"Sort of. I woke up with a bad feeling this morning, but I have no idea what it's about. I tried to find out, but I didn't have much success. I'm afraid that I have little control over my ability to see the future. It's pretty hit and miss and usually only kicks in when I'm not expecting it. The thing is, though, that the bad feeling got stronger when I arrived here."
"That doesn't sound good."
"I thought that it might have something to do with the problem with the Jaffa, but it hasn't gone away. Whatever it's about, I'm certain now that it has something to do with either the Alpha Site or someone who's here."
"Perhaps now that you're here, you'll have better luck finding out what the problem is," Sam reasoned.
"That's possible. I guess I could try again."
Daniel placed his hands flat upon the tabletop, then closed his eyes, quieting his mind. Unknown to him and the others, Ka'ter had just stepped into the hut, halting upon seeing Daniel's appearance. He watched with curiosity as the man his people had named Dan'yar appeared to slip into a trance-like state not unlike Kel'no'reem.
Unaware of the addition to his audience, Daniel sought to cast his mind into the future, to see what his senses were warning him about so urgently. A jumbled, nebulous mass of images flitted past his mind's eye, confusing and unreadable. But then, all at once, an image snapped into Daniel's mind, cold and hard-edged, like the ships that, even now, were bearing down on them.
With a gasp, Daniel snapped his eyes open, head jerking up to Sam and Jacob. "Anubis!" he shouted. "He's found out where we are and has sent an army to attack the base! They'll be here at any minute!"
Cursing loudly, Jacob darted for the radio that would connect him to Colonel Reilly, the base commander.
"Reilly! It's Jacob Carter. You have to order an evacuation of the Alpha Site immediately. An army of Anubis' soldiers is heading for us and could be here at any second."
"How the hell do you know that, Jacob?" the man asked.
"Never mind how I know. Just give the order!"
"Jacob—"
Seeing that the colonel needed a bit more to go on, the Tok'ra interrupted him with all the authority in his voice that he used when he was a general. "Daniel Jackson's here, and he saw what's going to happen. Now, you already know what he can do, so move!"
"Yes, sir!" the colonel snapped.
At that moment, Daniel saw Ka'ter standing just inside the door. 'Oh, just great.'
"Is this true?" the Jaffa asked in a tone of wonder. "You have the power to see what has not yet occurred?"
Knowing that now was not the time to get into a discussion about it, Daniel replied, "Yes, it's true, Ka'ter. Anubis' soldiers are on their way here. Go warn your people and help with the evacuation. There's not much time."
"Yes, Dan'yar!" The Jaffa turned and hurried out.
Just then, the base alarm began to sound, followed by the order to evacuate. Daniel glanced outside and saw people rushing around. "Come on," he said to Sam and Jacob. "We need to get to the gate."
"We can't, Daniel, not yet," Sam told him. "I hadn't quite finished the upgrade to the power unit, and, once it's done, we need to upload the weapon design into the matrix crystal so that it can be reproduced. Then we have to wipe the computer memory so that Anubis doesn't get the information."
"Can't you finish the upgrade later? I don't know how much time we have."
"Finishing it will only take another minute or so, and we might need this weapon to fight off Anubis' soldiers."
"Sam, that weapon isn't going to do anyone any good if it never makes it off this base!"
The voice of Colonel Reilly came over the radio, telling them that Goa'uld ships had just been detected entering orbit.
"Crap!" Daniel cursed. His head abruptly jerked upward, eyes looking toward the ceiling. "Some Al'Kesh and a bunch of scout ships are coming. I can't stay here. I need to see what I can do to hold them off long enough for everyone to get through the gate."
"Go!" Jacob told him. "Sam and I will get to the Stargate as quickly as we can. Don't worry about us."
For a brief instant, Daniel met Sam's eyes, his gaze telling her that he loved her, then he dashed outside. The Stargate had been activated, and personnel were quickly escaping through it. Others, however, were arming themselves, preparing for battle. Daniel rushed toward a group of Marines and airmen.
"You can't fight them!" he told the men. "None of these weapons will penetrate the armor of Anubis' soldiers. They won't even slow them down." He saw a rocket launcher on the ground. "There are ships on the way. Try taking some of them out with that. It may buy us a little more time, but we still need to get everyone out of here. We can't save this base."
The men all looked at Daniel, hearing the ring of authority and conviction in his voice. Making a sudden decision, the captain in charge turned to his men.
"You heard what he said. Get all the heavy weapons we've got and target those ships when they come in range. Rivers, take four men and scour the camp. Make sure we don't leave anyone behind. Everyone else who doesn't have a rocket launcher in their hands, get to the Stargate and cover the people going through."
Doing as ordered, the men rushed away.
"Dan'yar!"
Daniel turned to see a large group of Jaffa running toward him.
"Anubis' forces are attacking?" one asked.
"Yes. We've got to evacuate everyone as fast as possible. There are attack bombers and scout ships on the way."
"We will stay and fight," another Jaffa said.
Daniel shook his head emphatically. "No, you can't win. You know that. You've seen and heard what his soldiers can do. You need to get out of here, escape to the Beta Site."
"And what of you?"
"I'm going to help hold off the ships and drones as long as I can to give everyone a chance to evacuate."
"Then we will stand by your side and fight with you," the first Jaffa declared firmly.
A faint sound in the distance made everyone look in that direction. Three small spots in the sky were quickly growing larger.
Daniel turned back to the Jaffa. "Look. I don't have time to argue with you. Just get as many of your people through the Stargate as you can!"
Not waiting to see if they obeyed him, Daniel ran out into the open where he'd have a better view of the Al'Kesh. He knew that he couldn't bring any of them down like he did the ship that attacked SG-1. If he did, he'd be useless to anyone afterwards. But he might be able to manage something else without "blowing a circuit," as he figured Jack would put it.
A loud, familiar noise to his right made Daniel turn to see someone fire off a rocket launcher. The rocket flew toward the closest bomber and struck it dead center. The ship plunged to the ground, crashing just outside the boundary of the base. A few seconds after the first rocket was launched, a second one went streaking toward another Al'Kesh but missed its target when the ship suddenly gained altitude.
At that moment, realization hit Daniel. He didn't have to blow up the entire ship to stop it, just one very important part. Focusing his attention on the cockpit of one of the Al'Kesh, he struck at it powerfully. The entire front section of the ship violently exploded inward, taking some of the controls with it and blowing the pilots out of their seats. The ship veered wildly out of control, almost hitting the other Al'Kesh, then slammed into the ground, blowing up on contact.
The all too familiar pain in Daniel's head told him that he'd used too much power, but he couldn't stop now. The other ship was almost on top of them, too close for him to bring it down. Before he could think of something else to do, it began dropping its bombs, the orange balls of glowing energy blasting twin lines of destruction through the camp.
Out of desperation, Daniel turned his power upon the bombs themselves, detonating them before they could strike their targets. Standing fast as the Al'Kesh headed straight toward him, he was aware of nothing except the ship and the bombs that were seeking to kill the people he was determined to protect. The pain in his head grew steadily worse as he continued destroying the bombs. He felt the heat as one of them detonated directly above him, the concussion from the explosion buffeting his body.
As the ship flew past him, Daniel saw that it was aiming toward the Stargate. All of the personnel who were in the process of evacuating fled as the bomber bore down on them. Knowing that he couldn't chance any kind of explosion near the gate, Daniel did not detonate the bombs that fell toward it. Instead, he stopped them in midair. Stunned, the people all around the gate stared at the four bombs that hung motionless over their heads.
As the Al'Kesh completed its bombing run and lifted higher into the air, Daniel realized what he could do to stop it. He took hold of the four bombs he had captured – and threw them at the ship. They flew straight and true, striking the Al'Kesh simultaneously. A horrendous explosion ripped the ship apart, and it plummeted to the earth.
The sound of cheering broke through Daniel's attention. He turned to see some of those who had been in the path of the bomber letting out shouts of triumph.
The celebration was short-lived, however, as a different kind of shout sounded out, one of warning. Daniel spun around and saw eight supersoldiers heading toward them. While everyone was distracted by the bombers, the scout ships had landed.
Knowing that they'd run out of time and had to get through the gate right now, Daniel glanced around for Sam and Jacob. Where were they? Looking toward the Quonset hut that their lab was in, Daniel felt his heart plunge into his stomach when he saw the damage to its left side caused by one of the bombs he had not destroyed. And one of the drones was heading straight toward it.
"Sam!" he screamed, rushing toward the building and praying that the woman he loved was still alive.
Jacob coughed, his throat clogged with dust and smoke. Rising to his feet, he waved his hand through the air in an attempt to clear it. "Sam!" he called.
"Here, Dad," came a voice behind him. Jacob turned to see his daughter rising shakily to her feet. There was blood on her face. Jacob rushed forward, grasping her arms.
"Sam, are you all right?"
"Yeah, just a little scratched and bruised. I'll be fine." She winced as she gingerly probed at the cut in her scalp. "What happened?"
"I think the place got clipped by one of those bombs. Thankfully, it wasn't a direct hit. Come on. We have to get out of here."
What was left of the doors was suddenly blasted full of holes. Sam and Jacob dove for cover. A supersoldier strode in a moment later. The prototype weapon in his hands, Jacob stood and fired at it. It collapsed to the ground.
"It worked!" he shouted.
The drone abruptly rose back to its feet.
"Not good enough!" Sam responded.
Jacob was just about to fire again when it was as if the supersoldier had been grabbed by an invisible fist. Arms pinned to its sides, it struggled vainly as it was lifted into the air.
Daniel appeared in the doorway, eyes alight with rage, determination and fear. When he saw Sam and Jacob, the fear vanished.
"If you're going to shoot it, Jacob, do it now," he said.
Taking aim, the Tok'ra shot the drone a second time. Daniel released it, and it fell to the floor.
"Come on. Let's get out of here,"Jacob said.
They all dashed toward the Stargate. Another of Anubis' soldiers was there, firing upon those escaping through it. It was under heavy fire from the personnel guarding the gate, but their weapons had no effect.
At that moment, the supersoldier fired its energy weapon directly at the center crystal of the DHD. The crystal exploded with a shower of sparks, and the Stargate instantly winked out.
"Damn!" Jacob cursed. "We're not getting out that way. We'll have to make a run for the hills, hide out until help arrives."
Daniel did not reply. Driven by anger, he mentally struck at the drone that was again firing upon the helpless people gathered around the gate, sending it hurling a hundred feet through the air. More soldiers were approaching, and he hit all three of them with a psychic blast that threw them back thirty yards.
Fighting to remain upright as the pain in his head went up several more notches, Daniel told the people to run. He closed his eyes against the sunlight, nausea and dizziness threatening to bring his breakfast back up.
In the next instant, the pain in his head was overwhelmed by a sudden lance of agony burning through his left shoulder. Crying out, Daniel fell to the ground.
"Daniel!" Sam called out, going to her knees beside him.
Jacob and the two scientists looked up to see the supersoldier Jacob had shot striding toward them, his weapon aimed straight at them.
A warrior cry rang out as seven Jaffa appeared out of nowhere and began firing upon the drone with their staff weapons.
"Run, Dan'yar!" one of them called.
Daniel watched as the Jaffa fired repeatedly upon the supersoldier, knowing that they could not defeat it. Even as he thought that, one of the Jaffa fell to the drone's weapons, followed by another.
"No!" Daniel cried in denial, struggling to his knees. Enraged by what was happening, he mentally attacked the supersoldier, sending it crashing through one of the Quonset huts with such force that the whole front wall collapsed, burying the drone beneath steel beams and corrugated metal siding.
"Go, Dan'yar!" one of the surviving Jaffa shouted. "We will hold off the soldiers of Anubis while you escape."
With Sam and Jacob's help, Daniel managed to get to his feet. "No!" he cried. "You're throwing your lives away! Come with us!"
"We cannot. Our lives are pledged to saving yours." The Jaffa smiled at him. "We die free, Dan'yar."
There was no more time for thought or discussion as the supersoldier Daniel had thrown into the Quonset hut got free of the wreckage and resumed firing, felling a third Jaffa. At the same time, another soldier in the distance opened fire on Daniel, Sam and Jacob.
"Daniel, we've got to get out of here!" the Tok'ra yelled.
Nearly dragging the archeologist with them, Sam and Jacob fled toward the forest. Pushing the pain into some deep place in his mind, Daniel ran alongside Sam and her father, trying not to think of the Jaffa who were sacrificing their lives for him.
The trio was about forty yards from the tree line when energy bolts began zipping past them. Looking over their shoulders, they saw that two of the drones had followed them.
Jacob separated from the others. "Keep going!" he shouted. "Get to the trees!" Then he turned and fired at the supersoldiers with the prototype weapon. They both fell, but one didn't stay down. Realizing that the weapon simply wasn't powerful enough, Jacob spun around and made a mad dash for the forest, seeing Daniel and Sam up ahead a few yards.
The two humans were almost to the tree line when an earth-shattering explosion seemed to rip the very air apart. A violent concussion struck them, tossing them into the air. Daniel's last thoughts as darkness closed over his mind were of Sam.
Jack and Teal'c came hurrying into the control room, the sound of the klaxons ringing in the air. In the gate room below, several technicians were preparing a MALP to go through the gate.
"What happened?" Jack asked.
"Approximately thirty minutes ago, Colonel Reilly at the Alpha Site ordered a sudden evacuation. Shortly after that, several Goa'uld ships entered orbit around the planet."
"Wait a minute. Reilly ordered the evac before the ships showed up?"
"There is some confusion about what went on since the colonel is presently among the missing, but he apparently received advance warning that ships were on their way."
"Advance warning?" A thought occurred to Jack. "Sir, Daniel was there. Do you think it's possible that he saw something?"
Hammond nodded. "That is a possibility."
"How many people got out?"
"Casualty reports are still coming in from the Beta Site, but at least thirty-five people are still missing."
"What about Daniel, Carter and Jacob?"
"I'm afraid that they are among the people unaccounted for."
Jack exchanged a worried look with Teal'c, then returned his gaze to the general. "I thought the location of the Alpha Site was secret."
"That was the belief. The gate was brought there in a Tok'ra ship, making it a completely new address."
"Yet, evidently, the Goa'uld have somehow discovered its whereabouts," Teal'c stated.
When the MALP was sent through to the Alpha Site, they discovered that the Stargate was apparently lying face down on the ground. It was impossible to tell what kind of damage had been done to the base. Receiving a go from Hammond, Jack and Teal'c went through. What they found was a huge blast crater, which Teal'c guessed was caused by the base's self-destruct, most likely detonated to prevent the base from falling into enemy hands.
Jack looked around at the terrible destruction, his stomach clenching. Anyone caught in that blast would have been killed instantly. They couldn't possibly have survived. The only hope that someone made it through this alive was if they managed to get out of the blast area before the self-destruct went off. And that's what Jack was going to assume happened with Daniel, Sam and Jacob. There was no way in hell that he was going to believe they were dead.
"Do you believe that Daniel Jackson and Major Carter still live?" Teal'c asked, apparently thinking the same thing Jack was.
"Absolutely. They both have a knack for getting out of seemingly impossible situations. We're going to find them, Teal'c."
A short while later, SG-3 arrived.
"So, we'll split up, search for survivors," Jack ordered.
"Who could have survived this?" Reynolds asked.
Giving him a glare that would have melted steel, Jack said, "Start with the tree line there."
"Copy."
"Move out."
Jack and Teal'c headed out as SG-3 went in the opposite direction. As the two members of SG-1 walked past the smoldering remains of the base, both men were hoping that Jack was right and they'd find their missing teammates alive.
