Brotherhood (13a/27)
Title: Brotherhood ( Table of Contents)
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Nothing you recognize is mine. I gain nothing of material value from this.
Pairings: Gen
Chapter1 Chapter2a-- 2b Chapter3 Chapter4 Chapter5 Chapter6 Chapter7 Chapter8 Chapter9 Chapter10a-- 10b Chapter11 Chapter12 Chapter13a-- 13b
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To Hell and Back
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12 November 1999; SGC; 0500 hrs
Daniel felt like he'd only just gone to bed when he woke to the sound of alarms. He checked the time, groaned, and had almost decided to go back to sleep when he heard Sergeant Harriman's voice echo through the corridor outside: "Unscheduled off-world activation! Security team to embarkation room!"
No one is even off-world now, his mind insisted on informing him, despite his bleary attempts to try to ignore it and fall asleep again. No one except--
He snapped awake and launched himself out of bed, barely taking the time to scramble into work clothes and grab his glasses and ID tags. He was out the door before he remembered he should put on shoes, too, so he doubled back and then ran toward the nearest elevator. Was it possible that SG-1 had finished already?
When he stumbled into the periphery of control room, still knotting his shoelaces as he nodded politely to a frowning Colonel Makepeace, the iris was already opening, and his heart leapt. The general had a phone in his hand and was dialing a number, but he looked up as Daniel arrived and put it back down, which had to be a good sign, surely.
"It's them, sir?" he asked eagerly. "They're back?"
"Not SG-1," the general said. Daniel felt his whole bearing deflate a little, adrenaline from the sudden awakening still running through his limbs. "We've received the Abydos special code."
Daniel's eyebrows rose--Abydos had never initiated contact with them before, not unless one of their teams was there. Still, they had their code for a reason, and the iris was open, so Daniel gave a quick "yes, sir" and ran down the steps to the embarkation room.
"Security teams stand by," General Hammond said as he followed. "Be careful, Mr. Jackson."
They needn't have worried, though. Tobay appeared out of the wormhole, stepping tentatively and still looking at his GDO as if he hadn't been sure until then that it would really work.
"It's okay--he's a friend," Daniel said, perhaps unnecessarily, even as he started up the ramp.
"Stand down," the general ordered.
"Tobay," Daniel said, clasping arms with his brother as weapons lowered around them. Tobay's expression was serious, though, and more than a little anxious--he hadn't even taken enough time to throw formal robes on over his shendyt--so Daniel put aside any normal courtesies and gestured him down toward the floor. "What happened?"
Stopping in front of the general, Tobay glanced once at Daniel and said in urgent Abydonian, "A ship flew to Abydos. It is like the small ships that Ra used before the Rebellion."
Surprised, Daniel asked, "A ship? Where is it? Was anyone hurt?"
"It touched ground outside the chaapa'ai room. It has done nothing yet--it is not an attacking ship like an udajeet. We can see no one within through the window. The Guards are watching it now. We thought that perhaps Earth had sent it."
"Mr. Jackson?" the general asked.
"Some kind of small Goa'uld ship landed on Abydos, near the Stargate," Daniel said, frowning in confusion. "It's not a death glider. Apparently, it hasn't tried to do anything at all, and they don't know who flew it. General, I'd like to see what it is and why it landed there."
General Hammond nodded. "I'll have SG-3 go to assess the threat level and, if possible, recover technologies that could be useful to us. SG-5 will be standing by. You--" He paused suddenly, eyeing Daniel, who had still been delayed being reapproved for fieldwork a few days ago.
"Abydos is a special case, General," Daniel pointed out. He straightened, not wanting an argument but ready for one if it came to it. "I don't need a psych eval to explain the situation to my people."
To his relief, the general nodded. "Get ready. Colonel Makepeace--"
From the control room, Makepeace answered, "On it, sir. Jackson, be ready in ten minutes."
Daniel looked uncertainly at Tobay, then said, "The ship is not ours, brother; we do not know whose it is. Wait here--we will make preparations, then return with you to Abydos."
He took off at a run toward the elevator and rushed through preparations, alone in the SG-1 ready room for the first time. He stopped by the closest armory long enough to sign out what weaponry he was allowed, and he was still adjusting a leg holster as he half-ran, half-hopped into the embarkation room.
Makepeace was already there with one of the three others on his team, with Tobay standing anxiously beside them. "You know how to use that?" Makepeace asked gruffly, nodding toward the zat'nik'tel in Daniel's hand.
"Yes," Daniel said defensively, because he'd just put up what he felt were respectable scores on his test for both handgun and zat'nik'tel. "Where are the others?"
The last two members of SG-3 walked in then. Major Warren, formerly of SG-2, spotted him and gave him a quick nod in greeting. Makepeace turned to the control room to say, "We're ready, sir!"
The general nodded to Sergeant Harriman, and the Stargate began to turn.
"Heads up," Makepeace said to all of them. "Jackson, have the locals stay back, in case something goes wrong. We don't know who's in that ship."
The vortex whooshed outward and settled into a stable wormhole. Daniel dialed his IDC, waiting for the automatic acknowledgement from Abydos. "Iris open," he called. Makepeace nodded and waved them all toward the portal. Daniel waited for Tobay to enter first, then ran through.
...x...
13 November 1999; Nagada, Abydos; 0515 hrs
A small crowd had gathered near the Stargate on Abydos--or, rather, the crowd was outside, in the desert that surrounded the Stargate chamber. Daniel picked out Kasuf first. "Elder, please stay back," he called as loudly as he could, listening with half an ear as Makepeace snapped orders to his men."Everyone, stay away from the ship until we know what it is!"
"Return to your homes," Tobay was shouting. Kasuf heard and was starting to do the same as well, so Daniel left them to it, following behind SG-3 instead as the Abydons began to disperse.
Makepeace glanced back when he approached, scowled, but didn't make him leave. "Let's take a look," he said, pointing at a small ship perhaps thirty meters away.
"That looks like a Goa'uld cargo ship, sir," Warren said as they reached the ship and spread out to examine it.
Daniel frowned, squinting against the sun at the dull, metallic shape. "Cargo ship--Major, that's the same thing as a teltak, right?"
The only one of SG-3 who'd worked with Daniel in the field more than once or twice, Warren nodded easily, not deterred when Makepeace made a face at the interruption. "Yeah, why?"
"Martouf said he and SG-1 were going to take a teltak to Netu," Daniel remembered, peering more closely at the ship and inching around to join Captain Johnson in looking carefully through the windows. The bridge looked empty, from what they could see, but without lights inside, the glare of the sun was drowning out any sight. "Do you think...?"
"There are probably thousands of cargo ships in the galaxy," Makepeace said, examining the panel by the hatch. "What are the chances this one has anything to do with SG-1?"
"What are the chances that one would land on Abydos?" Daniel countered, itching to run forward now and open the door and run in. "Who else would fly a cargo ship here?"
"Then why hasn't one of them come out, if it's them?" Major Castleman asked.
Which, Daniel had to admit, was a good point.
Makepeace, though, was the one who answered, as if in concession, "Could be injured. Or it could just as well be a trap. Warren, open the door. You and I'll check it out. Everyone else, watch your backs out here."
SG-3 spread out before the door, guns pointed in that direction. Daniel primed his zat but held it low. Makepeace nodded at Warren, who pressed a standard entrance sequence into the teltak controls. The door slid up, and Makepeace shifted to check the interior, his light mounted on his gun. Warren did the same in the other direction. Daniel watched until they were out of sight, readjusting his grip.
Sand crunched from behind. Daniel whirled around, zat raised, as the two other members of SG-3 did the same.
"Na nay!" Tobay said, hands raised in alarm.
Daniel blew out a nervous breath and lowered his weapon. The rest of the guns dropped to point at the ground again as well, as Tobay gave them an odd look but moved to stand warily beside them. Daniel squinted inside the ship and wished the lights would turn on--
"All clear," Makepeace's voice called. "No one's in here."
Daniel holstered his weapon, pulling a small flashlight from his vest instead. The rest of SG-3 entered first. "Tobay," Daniel said, "you said it flew here, but there is no one inside. Did it fall, out of control?" It didn't look as if it had crashed, although Daniel didn't know very much about Goa'uld ships and what kinds of protections they might have from crash-landings.
But Tobay shook his head. "It flew as if someone were guiding it. The Guards have seen no one leave the ship since it first touched ground."
Stepping inside the teltak, Daniel said, "Colonel Makepeace, Tobay says the ship flew and landed as if someone were at the controls, and no one has left. Could it have been...programmed to fly here on its own?"
"Autopilot," Warren filled in for him.
"Then someone meant for it to come here," said Johnson.
"SG-1," Daniel said again. "It must be. Martouf said they were going to use the four descent pods to get to the surface of Netu--"
This time, Makepeace said, "You might actually right." He pointed to the wall where four empty spaces were visible, just big enough to fit a person inside. "That's where escape pods would go; someone used these. So what's it doing here? If SG-1 sent it, they must've been trying to get our attention."
"Sir," Castleman called, looking at something on the floor. "You should see this."
Sam must have been carrying duct tape with her, because the word 'BRIDGE'was taped to the floor of the ship in messy block letters.
Daniel was already back at the bridge before he remembered he had no idea how the controls worked. "Warren," Makepeace said, "do you know how to use this?"
Warren grimaced but stepped up to the bridge. "Where's a Jaffa when you need one," he muttered under his breath, but Sam had taken care of that, too--there was another duct tape arrow pointing to one of the buttons, and he pressed it as the rest of them leaned in closer.
"November twelfth, 1836 Zulu," Jack's voice said in a harsh whisper. "This is O'Neill. We need you to relay this to the Tok'ra. Sokar's fleet is ten times bigger than they thought, and he's in position to defeat six major System Lords. The attack is scheduled for less than a week and a half from now." There was a break in the transmission, and then, even quieter, "Also, Apophis is here, acting as First Prime to the Goa'uld in charge of Netu, but Apophis just killed him, so there's a revolt, and... Ah, hell. It's gonna get messy. We're...ah...working on the whole getting out...thing. Tell everyone...well, good luck. SG-1 out."
"Shit," Makepeace swore.
"November twelfth, 1836 Zulu," the recording started again. "This is O'Neill. We..."
"They don't have a way out," Daniel said hollowly, replaying the last part in his mind again and unable to find any other way to interpret it. "Naturu, he was about to say good-bye."
Makepeace's finger tapped the bridge controls. "Someone got a recorder on him?"
Daniel opened the pocket of his vest and fumbled with the buttons of his tape recorder. "Colonel, we need to get this to the High Council on Vorash now," he said, quietly, so it wouldn't interfere with the recording.
"Yeah, and do you know those coordinates offhand?" Makepeace said.
"Of course I know them," Daniel said. "SG-1 went there." And they're still my team, even if I didn't go to Netu, he added mentally. He waited impatiently for the loop to finish before shutting off the recorder and rewinding.
"All right, dial us in and stay here," Makepeace told him. "Tell the Abydons what's going on."
"We haven't updated the Abydos iris codes in too long," Daniel pointed out, "and I don't think SG-3's new code is in there, so you'll need my IDC if you need to get back here."
"Then just give us your code for now." When Castleman frowned at that--IDCs were never to be shared amongst SGC personnel, unless the code was meant to be assigned to an entire team--Makepeace added, "We can change all our codes afterward. Jackson, we're on the clock."
For someone normally as unyielding about rules as Makepeace was, the order came as a surprise. Then again, Makepeace had spent years running frontline combat and support, and he'd led enough search and rescue missions--some of them inevitably failures, through no fault of SG-3's--that he perhaps he simply knew when the time came to bend a rule to save a life. Surely that was what he meant.
But this was Abydos. Daniel knew how to bend, too, sometimes, but there were some things on which he never would.
"Um," Daniel said. He glanced at Warren, but no one seemed about to point out that the suggestion itself had been a security violation. No one spoke up to reinforce the order, either, so he continued, "I can't. Sir. It's, uh...against protocol. I--I know we're in a hurry. The fastest way is to take me with you so I can let you back through to here."
Clearly unhappy, Makepeace said, "Fine. We'll go to Vorash and get this to the Tok'ra. Johnson, go back to the SGC as soon as we're gone and report to the general."
"Dan'yel," Tobay said, exasperated, having understood perhaps half of what was going on as they all took off back toward the Stargate. "There was a message from O'Neill, yes? What is happening?"
"This ship is no danger to our people," Daniel said, "but tell the others to leave it alone. It belongs to...a powerful ally who will likely return soon to retrieve it. O'Neill sent very urgent information that we must take immediately to our allies." He hesitated, looking at Tobay. "Can you tell Kasuf for me? I will return and explain when this is over."
Tobay still looked confused, but he nodded agreement and broke away from the group and started toward the village as they dialed Vorash.
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13 November 1999; Vorash; 0600 hrs
"...so there's a revolt, and... Ah, hell. It's gonna get messy. We're...ah...working on the whole getting out...thing--"
Daniel stopped the tape. "That information's almost a day old by now," Makepeace said to Aldwin, the Tok'ra who had been sent up from the tunnels to meet with them.
"This information concerning Sokar's attack against the System Lords may prove invaluable," Aldwin said. "I will consult the High Council and return shortly with a plan of action."
Aldwin ringed down to where the Tok'ra were living underground, leaving Daniel and SG-3 still standing in the open next to the transport rings.
"He's not even thinking about the team; he only cares about Sokar," Daniel said bitterly, noticing he was pacing when he looked up to see a large boulder several feet closer than it had been before. "They could all still be alive there."
"We'll see," Makepeace said.
"We'll see? Aren't you Tau'ri the ones who always say you never leave anyone behind?"
"Yes, Jackson, we'll see!" Makepeace repeated, folding his arms over the top of his weapon as the two majors shifted, uncomfortable or impatient. "Did you hear the part about Sokar? We don't know what they're gonna decide, and we need them, so shut up or I'll send you right back home. Is that clear?"
Gritting his teeth, Daniel exhaled and tried to calm himself enough to think rationally.
The rings activated, and he turned as Aldwin reappeared. "The uprising of Apophis presents a key opportunity," Aldwin said. "Sokar will take his mothership into orbit around Netu to restore order. I am to return to Netu and launch a weapon into one of the holes on the moon's surface and into the core. The moon will explode, taking Sokar's ship with it."
"And anything else on the moon," Makepeace pointed out.
"Yes. However, we require the teltak that Lantash and SG-1 used."
"That's not a problem," Makepeace said. "It's still on Abydos, but look, we've still got people on Netu, and so do you."
"The Tok'ra would not do this unless there was no alternative," Aldwin said firmly. "I am not unconcerned for our friends' lives, but Sokar cannot be permitted to rise to a dominant power; it would end our chances of ever overthrowing the Goa'uld."
"But SG-1 must have a communications device, since they left the transmission," Major Warren spoke up. "We understand about Sokar, but you'll at least try to contact them, right?"
"I will try if I can," Aldwin said, "but timing will be critical, and Sokar cannot be given any advance warning. I am charged with my mission first. The weapon is being prepared even now--I will retrieve it and return. Your team may remain with the Tok'ra until we know the results of the operation, Colonel Makepeace." He ringed down again.
Daniel looked at Makepeace, and an idea sparked.
Jack was going to be so mad.
Then again, if it worked, Jack and everyone else would be alive, so maybe he wouldn't be. Either way, Daniel didn't care.
"Colonel," he said as soon as the Tok'ra was gone, "I can escort Aldwin through to Abydos if SG-3 is staying here to wait for word, or if you need to report to the SGC."
Makepeace glared suspiciously at him, making him remember that his past actions with the SGC weren't secret and that there were definitely people who disagreed with his general presence in the Mountain, not to mention his level of involvement. "I swear to God," he warned, "if you screw up his mission or put one toe out of line, Jackson..."
Daniel frowned in feigned confusion, glad that Makepeace didn't know him as well as another commander like Jack or Ferretti might have. "He needs my IDC, sir. It's not like I know anything about Goa'uld ships; what exactly do you think I'm going to do? I need to let my people know what's happening, anyway, which might take a little time to explain."
Apparently, this seemed reasonable, because Makepeace said, "All right. You report back here as soon as you're done."
"Yes, sir, as soon as I'm done," Daniel promised.
He wasn't even lying; he'd definitely try to return to Vorash once they were done and had SG-1, Jacob, and Martouf with them. He had no illusions about this--willful misunderstanding was still disobedience, and lies of omission and implication were still lies, but he was pretty sure Makepeace wouldn't get in too much trouble if he'd been unaware of what Daniel was going to do. There was nothing irregular about letting him report back to Abydos, and SG-3 would be blocked by the Abydos iris anyway, at least until it was too late to stop him.
Aldwin reappeared, a box in his hands. "We must return to the teltak immediately. We do not have much time. Colonel Makepeace, your team will be transported to our tunnels below."
"You need my code or you'll be killed on the Abydonian iris," Daniel told Aldwin before the rings could send him down. "I'll go with you."
Makepeace confirmed, "Major Castleman and I will stay here to wait for word; Major Warren will go with you to the Stargate"--Daniel's stomach dropped--"and return to Earth while Jackson escorts you to Abydos." Daniel breathed again.
As they walked toward the DHD, Daniel took extra care not to meet Warren's sympathetic glance. He'd never done anything wrong, exactly, while the two of them had been on Ferretti's team, but he couldn't take the risk that the major was familiar enough with his mannerisms to notice anything. There was no room for error. He sighed in relief when Warren and Castleman both stepped aside at the Stargate to let him and Aldwin go through first.
Daniel adjusted the zat'nik'tel at his side before leading the Tok'ra to Abydos.
Continued in Part b...