CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
On the way to the Stargate, SG-1 learned that the dark-skinned woman was named Mala and that the one with the reddish-brown hair was Neith.
They managed to make it to the Stargate before other enemy Jaffa arrived. They were met on the other side of the wormhole by five more female Jaffa, two on horseback.
"Welcome to Hak'tyl," Mala said.
"Independence?" Daniel asked Teal'c.
"Liberation," he corrected.
"Our dwellings are this way," Mala said, gesturing. "Please."
"Ah, y'know, we really should call home first," Jack told her, "let the folks know where we are. It's past our curfew."
"By all means."
Jack nodded to Sam. She dialed the SGC. They were several minutes past their scheduled check-in time, and Hammond said that he'd been concerned. Sam briefly explained what happened and gave the general the address of the planet they were on.
While this was going on, there was another tense discussion between Mala and Neith. Mala revealed to Neith that getting SG-1 had been their mission, and Neith wanted to know why she hadn't been told. Mala said it was because they knew she wouldn't agree. Mala told the woman to go tell someone named Ishta of the success of their mission. Neith mounted one of the horses, sitting behind the rider, and rode off in the direction Mala had indicated was the way their home lay.
After the gate shut down, the party began the trek to their destination.
"So, Teal'c, who are they?" Jack asked.
"My knowledge of the Goa'uld Moloc is limited," Teal'c replied. "However, I am unaware of any Goa'uld that would permit his women Jaffa to be warriors."
"They seem to be well trained," Daniel remarked.
"All females receive training. They are expected to defend their homeworld with their lives if their men are called to battle."
"I can't help but think of the ancient Greek Amazon mythos."
"Yes. Me too," Jack said.
"They were, um, female warriors who occasionally captured men from other tribes in order to mate with them."
Daniel didn't notice the glance Sam, who was ahead of them, gave him over her shoulder.
"Would often, um, would sometimes remove their right breasts so they could more easily fire a bow and arrow," he continued.
"I see neither bow nor arrow," Jack observed.
"No."
Jack had a thought. "Wait. You don't suppose that's why they want us, do you? You know, the three of us."
This time, it was Jack who was subjected to a look from Sam.
Daniel looked at him. "To, um, to mate with? No, no, I don't think so." Silently, he added, 'Boy, I sure hope not,'
"Cus you know me. I'm all for helping people."
"Oh, God," Sam laughed.
Jack looked at her, then at Daniel. "Of course, if they try that with you, Carter will probably kill them with her bare hands."
That statement made Daniel blush and ended Sam's amusement. She glanced at the archeologist, then faced forward again.
When they reached the encampment, they noticed that everyone there was female. There were children of various ages running around, which made Jack begin to wonder if his comment about these female Jaffa was right.
SG-1 noticed that some of the young children ran away from them, while all of the adults eyed them with mistrust.
"You must forgive them," Mala said. "For many of the young this is the first time they have seen men."
They met with a woman named Ishta, who was the leader of the female Jaffa. She appeared to have a great deal of respect for Teal'c and said that she asked SG-1 to come there to form an alliance. Jack was all for talking about it, but Teal'c was not.
"No alliance can be formed between the Tau'ri and those who would steal symbiotes from their brother and leave him to die," he stated, a touch of anger in his voice.
"He was no brother of mine," Neith spat. "Just a murderer of innocent children!"
"Shal kree!" Ishta chastised.
Neith folded her arms belligerently, but said nothing else.
Ishta returned her gaze to SG-1. "There is much to discuss." She gestured at a girl, who came up to stand beside her, head bowed.
"This is Synak. This morning, she lay on her deathbed. She reached the age of Prata three days ago."
"Hmm?" Jack said questioningly.
"Puberty," Daniel translated.
"Ah."
"Without the symbiote we procured this morning, she would be dead now," Ishta told them. She gestured at another girl, who came to stand on her other side. "This is Nesa, younger sister to Neith. She is next to reach the age. Without a symbiote, she will die."
There was a long pause as this information penetrated the minds of SG-1.
"As will all our children," Ishta concluded. She gazed at all of them. "Do you understand now?"
"We understand why you took the symbiote," Daniel replied. He could certainly understand why these women would go so far to save their children. "But why are you here?" He waved his hands about at the settlement. "Why all this?"
"There is much that you do not know. We will explain what is happening." Ishta turned to Sam. "Please join me in my tent."
"Whoa. Hold on there," Jack said in objection.
"You will remain here," Ishta told him firmly. She turned and headed back to her tent, followed by Mala and Neith. Sam gave Jack a glance and a little shrug, then went with them.
Within the tent, everyone took seats.
"Thirty years ago, Moloc decreed that only male children would be allowed to live," Ishta began. "Only they could strengthen his armies and lead him to victory in the war of the gods."
"Well, aside from the obvious immorality, that doesn't make sense. How do you sustain a population of any gender without women?"
"The Jaffa life span is longer than humans. This could go on for a hundred years. Any female child is to be sacrificed in the ceremony of fire immediately after they're born."
Horror filled Sam. "They're burned to death?"
"Yes."
Outside, Daniel, Jack and Teal'c waited for Sam.
"Well, this is . . . odd," Jack remarked in complaint. As team leader, he wasn't accustomed to being deliberately kept out of a discussion with possible allies.
"Maybe they just feel more comfortable talking to Sam," Daniel said.
"Why? Because we have penises?"
Daniel coughed in embarrassment. He held out the power bar he'd just opened. "Power bar?"
"Yeah, thanks." Jack took the bar.
It was several minutes later when Sam came out of the tent. She and her teammates went to the edge of the camp, near a small body of water. Sam recounted what she'd learned.
"My God. He's doing it again," Daniel murmured after she told them about the sacrifices. "Remember when I told you that, according to mythology, the worshippers of Moloch sacrificed their firstborn children? Well, I didn't tell you how. The children were placed on the hands of the idol of Moloch, which was a huge bronze statue with the head of a bull. The hands lifted the children to the statue's mouth, as if Moloch was eating them, and they'd fall into the fire that was burning before the statue." Daniel paused. "People would gather before the statue and dance to the sounds of flutes and tambourines to drown out the screams of the sacrificed children."
Sam felt even sicker than she had when she found out what Moloc was doing to the newborn female Jaffa. She thought of someone doing something like that to Danny, and it made her heart clench painfully.
Daniel was having the same thoughts. As an archeologist, he knew all about the barbaric practices of some ancient cultures and religions, but, now that he was a parent, the idea of any people sacrificing their own children sickened him even more than it did before. And, now, Moloc was doing it again. How many innocent babies had died at his command these past thirty years?
Sam told them the rest of what she had learned. Ishta was a temple high priestess. Part of her duty was to keep a record of births and to preside over the sacrifices. Mala and Neith were her seconds. The three of them were allowed relatively free access to the Stargates of the worlds under Moloc's rule, which was how they'd managed to save many of the children destined to be sacrificed. No one outside the camp knew that this was being done.
"What about the parents?" Daniel asked.
"According to Ishta, all but a few of Moloc's Jaffa are completely loyal to him," Sam replied. "Not even the parents can be trusted. The babies have to be taken secretly. And even questioning Moloc's rule is punishable by death."
"So, what do they want from us?" Jack asked. "To help them bring Moloc down?"
"That's what I thought, but Ishta was surprised that I even suggested it. I guess they didn't realize that we were in a position to even hope to do that. What they want are food, supplies and weapons to help them continue what they're doing."
"Stealing the symbiotes from their fellow Jaffa," Teal'c said disapprovingly.
"Actually, I offered them an alternative."
"Tretonin?" Daniel guessed.
"We've had success with it so far," Sam said.
"On all two test subjects," Jack stated with a touch of sarcasm.
"It hasn't been easy. Jaffa won't willingly give up their symbiotes, despite the fact it could ultimately free them."
"Jaffa believe they will be weaker without them," Teal'c explained.
Daniel recalled when Teal'c himself believed that he was weaker because he no longer carried a symbiote. It had all been in his head, and it was the same with the other Jaffa. "That's centuries of Goa'uld brainwashing," he said.
"Will these women do it?" Jack asked.
"They're thinking about it," Sam replied. "They've suffered some horrible atrocities at the hands of the Jaffa who serve Moloc. It's easy to see why they don't have a problem killing a few of them to survive."
"A Jaffa is taught it is more noble to die than to kill another," Teal'c stated.
"Teal'c, these children have been genetically altered to depend on symbiotes and then had all access to them taken away. Their guardians believe that this is the only way for them to survive."
Teal'c frowned. "Then they will have to see that there is another way." He strode away.
"Give them the old Teal'c charm!" Jack called after him.
"Sir, what are we going to do if they turn down the offer of Tretonin?" Sam asked.
"That isn't up to me, Carter. A lot of people are going to look at this from the viewpoint that Ishta and her band are weakening Moloc's power by killing his Jaffa. And they could be valuable allies."
Sam looked at Daniel, whose gaze was focused in the ground. "Daniel? What do you think?"
"I doubt that what I think would make any difference to how this turns out, but I can't help thinking about what I'd do if it was Danny who was in the same position as those children in the camp. If I had to kill someone to save his life, I know that I would. I think that most parents would do the same. Yet to deliberately go out and slaughter others again and again. . . ." He shook his head. "What they're doing is wrong, even if they do have a good reason."
"Well, let's just hope that they decide to try the Tretonin," Sam said.
A while later, Daniel, Jack and Sam saw Ishta striding through the camp, looking angry. She went straight into her tent.
Teal'c appeared just a few seconds later.
"What happened?" Jack asked him.
"Things did not go well, O'Neill. I attempted to convince Ishta that using Tretonin was the correct thing to do. I told her that as long as the Jaffa require symbiotes, we will continue to be enslaved by the Goa'uld and that the symbiotes we carry are not a Jaffa's true strength."
"She didn't want to listen to you?" Daniel inquired.
"She did listen, but there was some contention between us."
"Some contention?" Jack repeated. "And was it this contention that gave you that little souvenir on your cheek?"
Teal'c touched the small cut. "Ishta wished to demonstrate her skills in battle."
"Uh huh."
"As we fought, she sensed that I did not carry a symbiote. Because I had not told her that I was taking Tretonin, she claimed that my actions betrayed my words. She left before I could speak with her further."
"And was she right?" Jack asked. "You did go through that time when you thought not having a symbiote made you weak."
"I was mistaken, O'Neill," Teal'c stated firmly. "On Erebus, I learned that a Jaffa's strength is within himself, within his own heart, mind and body, not within the symbiote he carries. I did not tell Ishta immediately that I carried no symbiote because I sought first to show her that I am still the same Jaffa I have always been."
"You didn't want her looking at you and perceiving weakness that wasn't there," Daniel guessed.
"Indeed. When I believed that the time was right, I would have told her, showing myself to be living proof of my claims."
"So, what do you think she'll do?" Sam asked.
"This I do not know."
Ishta came out of her tent about an hour later. Standing on the steps, she called out to everyone. All of the Hak'tyl, as well as SG-1, gathered before her.
"My sisters," Ishta began, "Teal'c has brought news that may save us all. The Tau'ri have a drug called Tretonin that enables a Jaffa to live without a symbiote."
There were murmurs of surprise among those assembled.
"No longer will we need to lose our sisters in battle. No longer will our daughters be dependent on symbiotes. Teal'c has taken the drug. He stands here before you as evidence. I am asking for four volunteers to travel with me to the Tau'ri to test its effectiveness."
The Hak'tyl all began looking at each other. Nobody volunteered.
"Is that a pin dropping?" Jack remarked.
"You must not go," Mala said to Ishta, stepping forward.
"Mala, I have made my decision."
"Hak'tyl needs you. You are our leader. I will go in your stead. It is my right as Kindra. You cannot say no."
Ishta came down the steps and stood before Mala.
"You are brave and true," she said.
One of the other Jaffa spoke up. "I, too, will go." She and two other women stepped forward to join Mala. Ishta smiled faintly, then looked over at Neith, who was with her sister, Nesa. Neith's eyes dropped to the ground. Ishta came up to them.
"Nesa is of the age," she said.
"She is a child," Neith objected.
"I am told it is not without risk, but if there is one among us—"
"Never!" Neith interrupted angrily. "That you would even consider this is an affront to all of us."
"Your words are disrespectful," Ishta said, remaining calm.
With a glare at SG-1, Neith stormed away, taking Nesa with her. The girl glanced back at them once.
Ishta turned back to everyone else. "I cannot force her hand." She stepped over to Mala. "I wish you well."
As the four volunteers prepared for departure, Ishta spoke with Teal'c, asking to be told more about the Jaffa rebellion. He decided to remain on Hak'tyl to talk with her.
"One of us should stay, too," Sam said to Daniel and Jack. "Ishta is going to want periodic updates on the Tretonin treatments. We could send the updates through the MALP."
"And it might be a good idea for me or Jack to stay for another reason," Daniel said. He looked about. "I get the impression that a lot of these women still don't trust men, and having one of us around might help."
Sam nodded. "That might be a good idea."
"I'll stay, then," Daniel stated.
"Nah, you go back to Danny," Jack responded. "I'll stay."
"Jack, this isn't meant to be an insult, but, between the two of us, which one do you think is going to do a better job of putting these women and children at ease in the presence of men?"
Jack didn't have to think about it. Obviously, the answer was Daniel. He had that gentle, non-threatening air about him that had, more than once, put people they met on missions at ease.
"Okay, so you're right about that," Jack admitted.
"Can you watch Danny for me? I'm sure that Janet's going to be pretty busy."
"Sure, no problem. It'll give us more time to hang out."
Daniel, Teal'c, Ishta, and Neith accompanied Sam, Jack and the four volunteers to the Stargate.
"Tell Danny that I'll be home as soon as possible, okay?" Daniel requested from Sam.
"I will. He's going to miss you, you know."
"I'll miss him, too." Daniel smiled. "I'm sure Jack will do a good job of entertaining him."
Sam took Daniel's hand for a moment, meeting his eyes. "We'll see you soon." She then dialed the gate, sent the GDO signal, and went through with Jack and the others.
Daniel, Teal'c and the two Hak'tyl women began walking back.
"This Danny you referred to is your son?" Ishta asked the archeologist.
"Um, no. I'm Danny's . . . guardian. His parents are dead."
"Yet, though he is not your child, you love him as if he is."
"Yes, I love him very much."
Ishta glanced briefly at Teal'c. "Then do you understand why we have done all that we have to save the children of my people?"
Daniel met her eyes as they kept walking. "Yes, I do. I can understand what lengths a person will go for the life of a child, even if that child is not their own. I know that, if Danny's life was at stake, there isn't much that I wouldn't be willing to do to save him. Yet I also know that there are lines that shouldn't be crossed, acts that shouldn't be committed, not even to save a child. I'm not saying that you should have let those children die when they got to the age that they needed symbiotes. I do understand your justification in getting symbiotes for them. But how many would you kill to save a single child? A hundred? A thousand?"
"I would kill a million to save my sister," Neith declared, glaring at him.
Daniel did not flinch from the look in her eyes. "Maybe you would, but would Nesa want you to? Would she think that a million lives for hers was a fair trade?"
Angrily, Neith stared at him for a moment longer, then she strode ahead.
"Neith bears deep anger and hatred for Moloc and the Jaffa who do his bidding," Ishta explained. "She has lost much. Though Nesa was saved, two other sisters were not."
"I'm sorry to hear that. I know how painful it can be to lose family. I hope that she'll come to see that using the Tretonin is the best choice for your people. With Tretonin, none of the children you care for will have to live with the knowledge that others died so that they might survive."
Ishta gazed at him intently. Though she would always believe that what they did was right, there was wisdom in this human's words that she could not deny.
"We have heard much about the Tau'ri members of SG-1," she said thoughtfully. "We have heard that O'Neill is a great leader, one skilled in the strategies of battle. We have been told that Major Carter is a brave and skilled warrior and a woman of great intelligence and learning."
Daniel smiled slightly. "I'm almost afraid to learn what you've heard about me."
"That you are a scholar, a man of great knowledge and intelligence, a man of peace who fights alongside his brethren in order to destroy the Goa'uld. I see that you are also a man of wisdom. I hear what you are saying, Daniel Jackson, yet, in my heart, I know that what we have done is what we needed to do. If your Tretonin works, then I will agree to its use, but, if it does not, I will not stop procuring symbiotes for the children in our care. I have vowed to save the lives of the children that Moloc would murder, and if that means that I must kill his warriors, then so be it."
Nothing more was said for the rest of the journey. Once they got back, Teal'c went off with Ishta, leaving Daniel on his own. He wished that he had some of his books along to read.
Finding a place to sit, Daniel decided to do some writing in his journal. He began putting down his thoughts on the Hak'tyl, his observations on how they were like and not like the Amazons of Greek mythology.
Daniel had been at it for about forty minutes when he heard a childish giggle, he looked up to see two little girls around six years old staring at him. They whispered to each other and giggled some more.
"Hello," he said, smiling.
"You are a male," one of them said, a child with straight black hair.
Daniel's smile broadened. "That I am."
"We have never seen a male before," the other child told him, a girl with curly, light brown hair.
"Yes, I know. You don't have to be afraid, though. Sure, I look a bit different on the outside, but, on the inside, I'm mostly the same as girls. Well, mostly the same as human girls, that is."
"We have never seen humans before either," responded the black-haired girl.
"Well, as you can see, I have two arms, two legs and one head, just like you. We're really not all that different, not nearly as different as some aliens I've seen."
The two girls came a little closer.
"What are you doing?" the curly-headed child asked.
"I'm writing in my journal. It's a book that I write my thoughts in."
"Thoughts about what?"
"Oh, the things I see and hear, the stuff that I've learned. Right now, I'm writing about your people."
"What did you say?" asked the black-haired girl.
"Lots of things, actually."
The two children came up to him the rest of the way.
"Tell us," requested the one with brown hair.
"How about if I tell you a story instead, about the Amazons, a legendary race of female warriors?"
"Like us?"
"In some ways, yes."
As the two children sat down beside him, Daniel began his story. As he spoke, gradually more children came over to listen, along with several older teenagers and even a few adults. Within half an hour, he had added quite a few people to his audience. The little girl with curly brown hair had apparently lost all fear of him and climbed up onto his lap. He occasionally brushed a hand through her soft curls, looking down into eyes that were almost as blue as Danny's.
At one point, Daniel caught sight of Neith glaring at him in the distance. He didn't let it bother him, though.
By the time he was finished with the story, everyone listening was totally immersed in the tale.
"The Amazons were great warriors," one of the adults observed, a woman Daniel knew was named Ka'lel.
Daniel had decided not to tell them that the Amazons were mythical. There were real female warriors in Earth's history, however, upon which the legend of the Amazons had most likely been based.
"The Tau'ri are not like the Jaffa," another said. "Your women fight alongside your men."
"Some of them do," Daniel responded. "Earth has a long history of women who were warriors, though there have always been far more male warriors than female ones. Not all cultures on Earth believe that women should be allowed to fight in battles. The one that I come from does, though it wasn't always that way."
"Do you look upon your women as equals?" Ka'lel asked.
"Again, that depends on where you are on Earth. We have many different cultures. In some, women are treated as equals. In others, they aren't. As time passes, more cultures are changing their viewpoints on women, coming to accept their equality, but we still have a long way to go before all women are treated as being equal to men."
"Women will never be thought of as equal by Moloc and his warriors."
Daniel wasn't quite sure how to respond to that. "Moloc is evil. For centuries, he was worshipped as a god by some of the people of Earth. During that time, he was responsible for the sacrifice of thousands of babies, both male and female. They were killed in the same way that your sisters are being killed."
"We did not know this," a third woman said. "Then your people have been made to suffer at his hands as well."
"That was thousands of years ago, before the Goa'uld left Earth. But, yes, the Tau'ri have suffered at his hands, as well as those of other Goa'uld."
Ka'lel stared at him piercingly. "And what of you personally? How do you feel about women? One of your team is female. Do you look upon her as being less than your male counterparts?"
"Absolutely not," Daniel said emphatically. "I have more respect for Sam than I could ever say. She is an amazing person in every way." He smiled. "As for her fighting skills, since she could probably lay me out flat on the ground in the blink of an eye, I'd be pretty stupid not to respect them."
The remark earned some laughs.
"Don't let Jack O'Neill know that I told you this, but there was one time during a hand-to-hand combat training workout when Sam snuck a punch in under his guard, and he went right down, pretty hard, I might add."
"Truly?" asked a girl of about sixteen.
Daniel grinned. "Oh, yes. Poor Jack's ego was bruised even more than his butt was."
That made everyone laugh.
"Are most men on your world like you?" a young woman asked, searching his face.
"In what way?"
"You are not like what many here have said about men. They say that men look upon women as lesser creatures, not worthy of respect and honor."
"What's your name?" Daniel asked gently.
"Tenat."
"Tenat, most men are not like that. I know that, with the Jaffa, the viewpoint about women can differ from the way it is among a lot of humans, but even among the Jaffa, there is respect for women, even if they do not allow women to fight in battle alongside men. I know that Teal'c has great respect for women. He holds Sam in high regard and gladly fights at her side. As for humans, we're all different. Some men are like me, other are not. Some willingly fight with women at their side, while others think that women should not be allowed to fight. Even in my own country, there are men who believe that women should stay at home, taking care of the house and children. Thankfully, that attitude is the exception rather than the rule there, but it does exist."
There was a long moment of silence as everyone absorbed Daniel's words.
"You have given us much to think about," Ka'lel finally said.
"Will you tell us another story?" the little girl on his lap asked. She was snuggled under his chin, looking up at him with her big blue eyes.
Daniel smiled down at her and caressed her cheek. "Maybe later, De'la. Right now, I need to stretch my legs a bit. You should go and play with your friends."
Much to his surprise, De'la planted a kiss on his cheek before hopping off his lap. Everyone wandered off. Daniel went in search of something to eat besides a power bar. He found some fruit in a basket and asked if he could have some. Being given permission, he took something that looked a bit like a pear and went for a walk.
Sam sat talking with Mala. They'd just begun her first treatment. Her symbiote was being kept alive in a small tank, as were those of the others.
"I noticed the way that you looked upon Daniel Jackson," Mala said. "Is he your mate?"
"Not yet. We're dating."
"Dating?" the Jaffa woman inquired in puzzlement.
"It's a form of courtship. But I already I love him very much, and I know that he loves me."
"I have often wondered if I would ever have another man to love. I was once a temple handmaiden. I fell in love with a young palace guard. Our relationship was forbidden because of our stations. When it was discovered that I was to have his child, Moloc sentenced my beloved to death and sacrificed our daughter before my eyes."
"I'm so sorry."
"That is one of the reasons why I am so determined to save the other children who would be killed."
"I understand how you must feel. I know that, if I had a daughter, I'd do anything in my power to save her."
"Who is this Danny about whom Daniel Jackson spoke?"
"Um, that's a bit complicated. I'll just say that he is a little boy Daniel is the guardian for. He is very special, and we all love him dearly."
"If you and Daniel Jackson marry, you will be Danny's mother?"
"In a way, I guess." Sam smiled. "It's a nice thought."
"You are fortunate to have that chance."
