Wherein Lies the Evil

 

By: Traveling One

 

email: travelling_one@yahoo.ca

Website: http://www.travellingone.com/

Season: 5

Summary: The Tomb, missing scenes.

Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of MGM Global Holdings Inc, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Film Corp. I have written this story for entertainment purposes and no copyright infringement is intended. Any original characters, situations, and storylines are the property of the author.

Note: This story was written for the zine Stargate SG-1: Fragments, published by PyramidsPress and Stargatefan.com, May 2005.

Written December 2004, revised June 2006

  

---

 

"Yes, you go down the dark hallway alone, and I'll wait here in the dark room alone." Daniel tensed, shaking his head at the unorthodox manner in which these Russians worked. Watching each other's backs obviously was not a high priority, or was it just his back they didn't care about? They'd seemed strangely callous to the demise of Marchenko though, and he'd been one of their own.

 

Trying not to think of some symbioted creature wandering the passages and spewing ancient venom, Daniel tried to return to the wall and his translations once again.

 

But a much needed light source had been removed with Vallarin's departure, and each shadow that fell across the carvings had him sucking in a sudden breath. Hard as it was to move without casting such shadows, Daniel couldn't contain the jumpiness encompassing even the slightest of sounds: the stones scraping beneath his feet, the echoes of his own breathing.

 

"Damn." Daniel turned to face the open chamber. No one was there to watch out for alien creatures slithering silently across the floor or creeping down the walls, and he knew it was pointless to try working when all he could think about was what might be crawling up behind him. He'd given it a go, but the going wasn't getting him anywhere.

 

The sharp voice scared the daylights out of him. "Daniel?"

 

"Jack?" Daniel tried not to let the crisp edge of his disquietude be obvious over the radio.

 

"How's Tolinev doing?"

 

"She's still alive. Her pulse is weak." He could almost hear Jack nod.

 

"Got anything else for us yet?"

 

"Um… I'm taking a break until Vallarin gets back." Daniel cringed at the round-about lie.

 

The pause was tangible.

 

"Where the hell's Vallarin?"

 

"I don't know. He heard noises and went off on his own."

 

"Damn it." There were noises and he left you there? Jack fought the urge to lash out at the only Russian in his proximity, Zukhov, but knew Daniel would end up absorbing the backlash. "Stay put. I'll be there in five minutes."

 

"No, Jack. You need to find a way out of here. I'll be fine."

 

"Maybe you will, Daniel, but I put everyone in partners for a reason." Jack threw a look at Zukhov, hoping the man could read between clearly defined unsubtle blatant lines. Jack knew he'd left Daniel alone in that chamber earlier but that had been in ignorance, before they'd known that the thing had eaten an entire team and had a symbiote inside it. "I won't take the chance, Daniel."

 

Zukhov cut in. "I find it interesting, Colonel O'Neill, that you do not trust your own teammates."

 

"What the hell do you know about trust?" Jack spat. "It's one of yours who walked out on one of mine, Zukhov."

 

"Yet if you cannot trust your archeologist to fend for himself, why do you bother to have him on your team?"

 

"Coming from someone who didn't give a shit about your Marchenko dying back there, I take it safety in numbers means nothing to you." Or safety period, as your solutions include giving your teammates freaking cyanide tablets. "Just how well do you get to know your men, Zukhov?"

 

"Jack? I'll be fine, really." A little hesitantly Daniel uttered the words that would get Jack off the hook and allow the team leader to stay with Colonel Zukhov. He knew his CO really didn't want all the Russians wandering off on their own in this place and was aware that Jack didn't trust Zukhov not to set off the C4 the minute his back was turned. "We both know you have other things to do."

 

Jack wavered, knowing Daniel understood the situation only too well. "I don't like this, Daniel. Keep your eyes open and I'll be there as soon as I can. Let me know when Vallarin gets back."

 

"Will do, Jack."

 

Damn it. This was so not good. Even in partners, Carter had not been able to fend off the slimy creature, and Lieutenant Tolinev had paid the price. Jack knew all it took was a moment's glance in the wrong direction, and Daniel would have a flow of venom running through his veins faster than a snake could hiss. Every instinct was screaming to get back to Daniel ASAP, but the other side of his conscience was telling him not to give Zukhov any opportunity to set off a grenade or C4 and bring this structure down on top of all of them. Stupidity was not something he tolerated well.

 

And Zukhov was still arguing about blasting a hole in that damn wall. They'd better find a more feasible way out of here soon.

 

It had now been five minutes, and still Daniel had not checked in. "Daniel? You okay?"

 

Caught off guard again, Daniel sucked his breath in sharply. That would never cease to jar his nerves, no matter how long he was alone in here. Alone with a dying woman and a skeleton in a sarcophagus, that is. And hopefully nothing else. "Yes, Jack. Still fine." But thanks for checking anyway. Nervous as hell, not to mention jumpy as a frog at a fly fest.

 

Daniel had tried standing, his back to the wall, scouring the room constantly. But even that didn't settle his raw nerves, as his vibrant imagination saw images crawling down the wall from the ceiling above him, quietly aiming for his head and neck. And then he'd jump, whipping around and leaving his back vulnerable to the room behind him.

 

Just fine, Jack, he muttered to himself.

 

He'd never thought of himself as a coward and despised the fact that this was coming in full view of the Russians. The last thing Daniel wanted was for Jack to have to put up with harassment for a teammate's uncourageous behaviour. He'd been alone in ruins before, and they had never unnerved him like this. But there had never been some ancient alien creature strolling around at leisure with a Goa'uld in its brain.

 

Daniel took a breath, calmed his quickly beating heart, and forced himself to return to his translations. He'd be alright, even without anyone watching his back.

 

_____

 

"Colonel O'Neill?"

 

Jack and Zukhov had continued wandering this maze when Carter's call came through. "Go ahead." Keeping an eye on the Russian colonel, he listened to the major.

 

"Sir, we've found the creature. It's dead."

 

A moment's relief almost had Jack smiling. "That's good news." Or maybe not; Sam's next words spoiled the short-lived sense of satisfaction. The symbiote was gone.

 

Damn.

 

That meant only one thing, something potentially more deadly than a possessed venomous carnivore. The symbiote was now inside the body of a human -- one of them. One of Zukhov's men, or one of his own. Chills reached Jack's abdomen.

 

"Sir, as you know, Teal'c's body is incapable of sustaining a symbiote as long as he's carrying a larval Goa'uld. And he doesn't sense a presence in me, so, that leaves Daniel, Major Vallarin and, well, the two of you, Sir."

 

Oh crap.

 

Facing each other with weapons held steady, Jack knew full well the thing wasn't in him. Zukhov seemed certain that it wasn't him, either, and while Jack knew he could not trust the word of a Goa'uld, the other guy wasn't acting Goa'uld'ish. Not to mention they hadn't seen or heard anything come into the chamber. Jack was not going to take any foolish chances by letting this guy go free, but he was almost convinced Zukhov was not the Goa'uld.

 

And that only left Daniel and Vallarin.

 

His blood chilled.

 

"Get back to the main chamber. Check on Daniel and Vallarin." Wherever he may be. "We'll see you there in a bit."

 

"Roger that, Sir."

 

No gunshots. Had Daniel even been wearing his gun? Damn. If he had his back turned he'd be way too vulnerable. Deep in some hellish part of himself, Jack was afraid to admit that he thought the victim had to be Daniel. Vallarin would have been on sharp alert if he'd been prowling around, his gun aimed and ready. They would have heard at least a single shot, if nothing else. Jack was already fearing the worst, the loss of a member of his own team on this godforsaken mission.

 

And mistrust of this bastard in front of him was what had kept him from getting to Daniel half an hour ago. Still facing one another, weapons aimed at each other's chests, neither Jack nor Zukhov made a move. If anything's happened to Daniel and that gun's still aimed at me, I swear I won't hesitate to shoot you, Zukhov.

 

_____

 

Carter and Teal'c hastily retraced their steps through the dark ancient corridors. Vallarin or Daniel, Colonel O'Neill or Colonel Zukhov. If the colonels had been involved in the creature taking one of them, Sam was certain there would have been shots fired. No way would Colonel O'Neill have been caught off guard and allowed Marduk to get away, and she was almost convinced that a Goa'uld in either Zukhov or O'Neill would have taken the C4 and blasted a hole in the wall by now.

 

So.

 

That left Daniel and Vallarin.

 

Trying not to worry too blatantly, pushing her fears aside, Carter couldn't shake off the impending horror of finding out that the snake had found its way into her teammate. But if it had, she was almost certain that Vallarin would already have shot the archeologist in self-defense. And that meant that Vallarin was the snake and had probably injured - if not already killed - Daniel, defenseless as he sat with his back to the room, absorbed in studying the wall.

 

God, don't let it be Daniel. Please let him be alright. The mantra played through her mind, as she crept along in semi-darkness, Teal'c cautious and subdued at her back.

 

Keeping silent, the strong Jaffa at her heels, Sam sucked her fear-inducing theories deeply into her chest and crept on as stealthily as possible. No way did she want to tip off the Goa'uld to their presence. And no way did she want to have to shoot Daniel, should she find out that the new predator was him.

 

Yet deep inside, in a place that she refused to acknowledge, resided the fear that that was just what might have to go down.

 

_____

 

What the hell was taking them so long?

 

Fine, so maybe it had just been a few minutes, but the wait seemed to last forever. And while he wanted to know, needed to know what fate Daniel Jackson, Jack was almost afraid to hear from Carter or Teal'c. Afraid the Goa'uld was Daniel. Afraid that one of his teammates would have no choice but to shoot the other, just to keep the rest of them safe in a closed-in cell of a ziggurat. He'd rather the Goa'uld be the man standing in front of him now, weapon still aimed at his own heart. C'mon, Carter. Tell me, just tell me it's not Danny. Jack shifted his weight impatiently onto his other leg.

 

"Colonel Zukhov?"

 

"In here."

 

The two colonels turned as Vallarin entered the chamber, and within moments Jack had no more need to hear from the other members of his team. The inner relief he felt was for his archeologist and friend.

 

Daniel was alright.

 

For the Goa'uld was definitely in here with him.

 

As he was flung viciously to the ground, the gun now aimed at his head, Jack prayed that his death would only be the second-to-last of this mission, and that his teammates would find a way to reduce Marduk to ashes.

 

_____

 

Sam and Teal'c finally reached Daniel... standing there, all alone...

 

He was alive at least, but Sam forcefully stopped herself from rejoicing just yet. Facing the wall as he worked, seemingly so preoccupied and oblivious, Sam's heart melted at the thought of some ancient malevolent predator invading this dedicated, intelligent man. Would a Goa'uld waste time reading ancient wall writings? Perhaps, if it needed information on the world outside - or how to escape - and she wasn't about to assume all was well.

 

Her tentative voice bore a poor imitation of hope. "Daniel?"

 

The look of shock in Daniel's eyes as he turned to see his own friends holding a weapon on him tore at Sam's last shred of protectiveness.

 

"Whaa -a!" Daniel half froze, his next words coming out in the slow time warp that had his brain on stand-down and his heart jammed in his throat. The surreal fright at turning around to see Teal'c and Sam aiming their weapons at him, momentarily forced him to think they had somehow become Goa'ulds themselves, his enemies, and terror strained to break through his outward calm. "Hey... what's up?" Not clear enough of mind to realize that Teal'c's symbiote would not allow him to become inhabited, and afraid of being shot by his own teammates, it took moments for Daniel to discover that they thought the Goa'uld might be in him.

 

He hadn't even known the symbiote had left that alien creature.

 

The tense moments before Teal'c proclaimed Daniel clear felt like an eternity to Carter, and the relief was overwhelming...

 

...until she realized what that meant for Colonel O'Neill. If the Goa'uld wasn't in this room, then it was most probably with...or in... their CO.

 

And that thought was too terrifying to dwell on. Focus; Daniel was saying he had found something, evidence of a ring transporter, and they might all be able to leave this place.

 

It didn't take long before they'd found the ring platform. They had a way out - or into some other temple, at least.

 

"We've got to tell the colonel."

 

"No, not until we're sure he's not a Goa'uld." Saying the words out loud stung, but avoidance wouldn't change reality. They all knew the possibility existed, and while Sam and Teal'c had been helping in the desperate search for the transport rings, Daniel had tried to conceal his deep and extreme fear for the leader of their team. For now, having established that the Goa'uld was not in this room, Daniel's fear for Jack had skyrocketed. The options were dismal; either Jack had a Goa'uld inside him, or he was with the man who did. Either way, Jack needed their help.

 

Why hadn't Jack checked in on him again? Admitting it now to himself, he knew something was already very, very wrong.

 

The distant blast scared the last of his already fragile composure from his soul.

 

_____

 

And then Jack was there, his face etched with as much concern and relief as their own. Daniel raced forward, having to see for himself that his CO and friend was alright. Jack reached out, the deep fear in his eyes visibly melting. Teal'c's voice from behind startled him, momentarily triggering a renewed sense of dread.

 

"I do not sense the presence of a Goa'uld."

 

"Well, good. And I'm fine, by the way, thanks." Exaggeratedly patting Teal'c's shoulder relieved some of his own immediate tension. Jack had a team to take care of. "How's Tolinev?"

 

"She'll be okay if we get out of here soon. Where's Zukhov?"

 

"He didn't make it. One thing left to do here."

 

_____

 

Grenades and C4 took care of that ziggurat along with the Goa'uld inside Vallarin, and the ring transporter dropped SG-1 and an injured Lieutenant Tolinev into the darkened room of a distant temple before casually disappearing. Depositing them in this long-abandoned ruin, the golden-white lights dissolved and the Earth travelers were left once again in blackness, trying to slow the breaths now working in concert with their racing hearts.

 

Sitting on the cold stone floor, SG-1 used the momentary quiet of a long locked temple to ease their tensions and regroup. They were safe, but the lieutenant needed medical help asap. There had been far too many casualties for Jack's liking, and he felt thankful and lucky for the fact that his teammates had not been amongst them.

 

"You okay, Jack?"

 

In the beam of a single flashlight, Jack could see his teammates staring at him in concern. "Yeah. You?"

 

Daniel nodded, the movement of a man belonging to himself. No slave to a snake, no occupant inside his head. Jack caught himself in those morbid thoughts, fear finally subsiding once and for all. He'd taken a long satisfied look at Daniel in the beam of his light back in that now demolished ring room, before Teal'c had startled the heck out of him by approaching from behind.

 

"I wasn't caught in a grenade blast, Jack." Daniel's own relief at seeing Jack enter that main chamber alive and Goa'uldless was just beginning to abate. For several anxious, strained moments after the explosion they had had no response from Jack, and Daniel - all of them - had feared the worst.

 

The colonel shrugged self-consciously. Given a moment, he realized his leg was infuriatingly throbbing, as was the shoulder he had landed on in the blast. Nothing to complain about though; he was alive, and that counted a whole hell of a lot more. "How do we get out of here, Daniel?"

 

The walls surrounding them were covered in glyphs, and the temple's ceiling rose into blackness farther than the single beams could clearly discriminate. Daniel stood, aiming his light into the farthest reaches of the room.

 

"Oh-oh."

 

"Daniel?"

 

Daniel hesitantly pointed towards the rear of the chamber. "Look."

 

The three teammates quickly realized just what it was that Daniel was glumly staring at.

 

Secluded in the corner, its stony metallic substance glinting in the dull illumination, was a sarcophagus.

 

"Oh hell." Who, or what, was enclosed in that one? "Let's just get out of here." Apart from a few weapons and their flashlights, SG-1's supplies had been left at the demolished ziggurat. They had no explosives, no first aid kit.

 

"Uh, Jack?" The archeologist's earnest gaze focused directly upon his CO. "If it's empty and functional, we should put Lieutenant Tolinev in there."

 

And save a single member of the Russian team.

 

Jack sighed; was there any choice? It could be a long haul back to the gate. "Right."

 

All available weapons were aimed at the sarcophagus as SG-1 approached cautiously, Jack in the lead. Extending his arm, he stopped Daniel from coming any closer. "Stand back. We're not getting up close and personal with whatever's in here." Shooting a cold look at Teal'c he commanded, "if this opens on anything other than a skeleton, shoot it."

 

This sarcophagus seemed to be working, the tension in the room palpable as the lid's center seam slowly began to part at Teal'c's second tug. With his rifle aimed and ready, Jack knew there was no way anything would have time to get past him and into either of his two scientists. No option, no casualties. Not while he was fully in charge.

 

Daniel couldn't help but notice the cohesiveness in the way that SG-1 worked. What a difference from earlier in the day, when battles had seethed under the surface and one team fought to outrank the other. He would trust Jack over anyone else any day, and couldn't comprehend how the Russians managed to forge any loyalty whatsoever amongst themselves, given what he'd seen of their commander. Perhaps their concern was kept hidden for the sake of appearances, but he'd still rather know outright that his teammates and commanding officer cared for his life.

 

"God!" The creature shot past his shoulder, too quick and close to be fired upon by any of his teammates, and Daniel dropped to one knee, heart somewhere in his throat.

 

"Damn!" Jack was shooting the walls out now. "Where the hell did it go?"

 

"O'Neill!" Jack barely had time to shove Daniel back to the floor as Teal'c's staff blast blew the rubbery thing into multiple splatters on the rough temple bricks.

 

More blasting, and everyone turned.

 

Carter was firing into the open sarcophagus, the being within covered in bullet holes and blood, a snake halfway out of her neck and riddled with rips.

 

Starting to rise, Daniel paled at the sight. "Oh God. She was still alive."

 

"All these years going through that, and she dies from a bullet." O'Neill grimaced at the visions playing with his brain. "Jeez." Was this planet meant to house all the Goa'ulds too evil to be spared a normal death? What was with these temples, anyway?

 

Jack nodded a thanks to Carter, and rested a palm on Daniel's shoulder, helping him up. Close one, buddy; way too close.

 

As thudding hearts slowed to safer rhythms and breathing fell back to normal, echoes of the weapons fire fading in their ears, Teal'c broke the ensuing stillness. "We must endeavor to use this sarcophagus."

 

Yeah, right. What a mess.

 

But they had to save the Russian woman.

 

Screwing up his face, Jack made the first move. Reaching gingerly under the former Goa'uld's head, he shifted position several times before grabbing the symbiote's remains and tossing them across the room. Teal'c reached for the corpse's feet, and Daniel reached under the bloody torso. Holding his breath, he responded to Jack's count to lift, and together they laid the body on the ground at their feet.

 

Muttering an apology to the lieutenant, for the interior of the sarcophagus was still covered in blood, Jack prayed that the machine would do its job quickly and flawlessly. He only hoped that while healing, the device did not retain and transfer any memory of emotions and devastated souls, for this had been a terrible existence and fate for the individual inside, even for a Goa'uld.

 

_____

 

The four teammates and Lieutenant Tolinev stood outside the temple, pondering the direction that would lead them to the stargate.

 

"Daniel? Did your notes say how far away this was, exactly?"

 

"Um, no."

 

"So we might wander for days."

 

"Sorry, Jack. I could try to decipher these walls, but I'd need time."

 

No, no more time. Jack was ready to say goodbye to this planet once and for all, leaving behind its memories of death and destruction. "Nevermind, Daniel. We were walking west earlier, into the sun, so judging from its position I'd say we head that way. We'll take our chances."

 

No one challenged his decision, Jack realized, and he knew it was because his team trusted him. Smiling and reaching out to clap both Daniel and Teal'c on the back, Carter following behind with Lieutenant Tolinev, he inherently knew that this was how it should be.

 

They'd get home sooner or later, and his team was comfortable with that.

 

---

back home

 

comments