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Between Two Evils
Chapter 6
The opening into the mountain was carefully covered with brush. Had they not known it was there, the team would have walked right by it. Teal'c, Jack, and Sam checked the area for booby traps and warning sensors. Daniel and Casey kept close watch on the path, able to see it for several miles below them.
"There do not seem to be any hidden devices," Teal'c announced after searching for several minutes.
"It's well hidden. That might be all the Goa'uld thought they needed," Sam added.
"Okay, we go in. Slow and careful," Jack said.
The five team members stepped into the darkness of the narrow tunnel, adjusted night vision goggles on their faces. Teal'c took point, knowing what type of Goa'uld markings to look for which would signify whether or not there were alarm systems of any sort.
They moved slowly. Casey was beginning to feel the jittery results of her lack of sleep. They had left the SGC at midnight. Gamma time. Had arrived on the planet during the late morning, and had spent the day, and most of the night, hurrying to arrive here before the Goa'uld. According to her calculations, which could be wrong, given her state of mind, she had been awake for nearly forty hours. She was going to need rest soon. And Daniel was going to need a fix soon, as well. Perhaps when they blew this damned cavern up, they could go to that village and rest. Surely the people would welcome those who had killed the Goa'uld.
Teal'c had stopped. He was examining what looked like a metal doorframe that spanned the width of the passage. "I believe this is a device for detecting intruders," he whispered.
"So how do we turn it off?" Jack asked.
The tall Jaffa took the zat'nik'tel from where it hung at his waist, and fired at the center of the crossbeam above their heads. Blue arcs of electricity filled the air with their light and the sound of frying circuitry.
"Let's just hope we didn't just set of some sort of silent alarm," Jack said.
"I do not believe that would be possible. Any alarms would have been connected to this device. They have all been disabled," Teal'c replied.
"Okay, let's keep moving," Jack said.
The corridor opened suddenly into a room that seemed to be as large as the 'gate room on Gamma. Casey assured them that there were at least four other rooms and three levels that were identical.
"We need to find the support structures," Jack said, looking around. "If we can find the load bearing walls, that should help bring the entire thing down."
Exhausted, Casey found a corner and sat down, her intention to merely rest for a few minutes. She pulled her legs up, rested her arms on top of her knees, and her forehead on her arms. She was asleep within seconds.
"Leave her," Daniel said, when Sam pointed out that his Wife was asleep. "We slept for almost an hour. She didn't."
Sam nodded, hiding her smile at his protectiveness. Grinned when he eased the pack from her shoulders.
Daniel took the C-4 that she had been carrying, amazed that he could move her and dig in the pockets of her vest without her waking up. He frowned. Was she asleep, or was she getting another…visit? He took her hand, moved slowly toward her. She was so tired she wasn't even dreaming. Random thoughts moved by him, too quickly for him to be able to see them clearly. He backed away, planted a kiss on top of her head, gathered the C-4 and went to work.
Teal'c and Jack decided that two of the inner walls on each level were most probably part of the support for the facility. The C-4 was concentrated on them. Sam examined the computers that lined the walls of the room they had entered. With Daniel's help they began to pull crystals from the system, smashing each one that they removed.
When they were certain that they had done everything that they could to destroy the laboratory, and that the charges would do enough damage to render it completely unusable, they were ready to leave.
"Angel?" Daniel said softly. He kissed her forehead. Felt the Fire burning. Soon, he thought. I'll need her soon. "Case, we need to go."
She opened her eyes. "What?" She looked around, struggled to her feet. "I'm sorry!" she said, reaching for her pockets. Found them empty. Frowned when she realized that her pack was on the floor. She picked it up, was barely able to get the straps over her shoulders.
"It's all right, Case. You needed the rest," Jack said, smiling at her. "Ready to head for safety?"
She nodded. Then cocked her head to the side. "We'd better move fast. Toren is almost here. I don't know how he managed to get here so fast!"
"Let's go, kids," Jack said, motioning them toward the passageway.
They could hear the sound of the clinking Jaffa armor when they exited the narrow passage. A large stand of trees a few hundred yards from the opening in the side of the mountain provided enough cover for the team to hide, and allowed them to see who was coming up the hill beside them.
"Those are Toren's Jaffa!" Daniel hissed as the first of the armor clad men began to run past their hiding place.
"It's a race," Jack replied in a whisper. "Toren must have found out Dagon was here when he got to that village. Dagon didn't know that Toren was behind him. Which meant he wasn't moving as fast."
"So Toren just eased on by him," Sam whispered. She checked her watch. "The timers are set for five minutes. We'll at least catch Toren in there."
Teal'c motioned for silence. The topic of their conversation hurried by them, determination etched on his features.
Casey watched him. No attraction. None at all. She still didn't understand why she felt no attraction for him here, while on the astral plane it had been a battle against her body to keep from grabbing him and screwing him on the spot! Was it the fact that the Goa'uld was in control here, and on the astral plane it was the host she sensed? She shook her head. Decided she really didn't care. All she wanted was to be rid of him. If he wasn't killed, he wouldn't give up trying to get her, and trying to destroy Daniel.
Daniel was watching her, had seen her eyes follow Toren as he moved toward the entrance to the rooms inside the mountain. 'Angel?'
'Hmm?'
'Are you…all right?' He wanted to hear, needed to hear, that there was no emotional… attraction.
She glanced over at him. He had a slight frown on his face. 'Just contemplating the joy of putting that asshole's name on the Snake Memorial Wall.'
He grinned. 'I'll be glad to see that happen, myself.'
Her hand reached for his. She smiled when his fingers wrapped around hers, squeezed gently. She returned the pressure.
Two squads of Toren's men took up watch at the entrance. They spread out, which meant that until they left, or were taken out, whichever came first, SG-1 was going nowhere.
Jack glanced at Daniel and Casey. She needed more than fifteen minutes of rest, he was going to need a fix. Hadn't they said that when they were on the astral plane, it was the same as being here? He grinned. "Hey, Space Monkey," he whispered.
Daniel looked over at his best friend and CO. "What?"
"Why don’t you join Casey wherever it is you two go on the astroturf, and take care of…things…then she can get a few more minutes of sleep." He didn't eve bother hiding his grin.
He nearly laughed out loud at Jack's deliberate mispronunciation of the astral plane. But it was a good idea. "Yeah, maybe we'll do that," he whispered in reply. He looked at Casey. She was blushing. She'd heard what Jack had said. 'Wanna fool around?'
She bit back her giggle. 'You realize that what we do there will affect us here.'
He frowned. 'Meaning?'
'You'll get a hard-on, and come in your shorts. I'll definitely drench my bikini's.'
He knew that if that happened, the scent of their bodies would become…strong. His frown deepened. Jaffa had finely honed senses. Including the sense of smell. And, when Casey was making love, those incredible pheromones became stronger. They might not smell them…exactly, but it was possible that they would have some sort of reaction to them. Not to mention that Jack and Teal'c would be in direct proximity of them as well. That could become…well, uncomfortable. He tugged at Jack's sleeve. "Can't do it."
"Why not?"
"Smells. Pheromones."
"I don't get it."
"What we do there, will affect us here," Daniel explained.
Understanding filled Jack's brown eyes. "Well, it was worth a shot."
Daniel nodded. He wasn't giving up…not completely. 'Let me taste you, Angel.'
Her eyes went wide. 'What?'
'Just let me taste you. Maybe I can get my fix there.'
She nodded, closed her eyes, met him in that meadow.
She wrapped her arms around him, kissed him, felt his hands moving over her hips.
'Let's find out just how well this will work,' he said, trailing kisses over her jaw, to her throat.
'Considering the circumstances, and what might…um…happen…maybe we should just get to it,' she replied.
He laughed. 'Yeah, okay. Do…uh…do you want to come?'
She shook her head. 'I do, but I don't think I should. It might…well…'
He wreathed her face with his hands. 'I know, Angel.' He knelt down in front of her, lifted the skirt that she was wearing. She took it from his hands, held it up out of the way. He heard her gasp when his fingers brushed against her womanhood. He could only hope she hadn't done so out loud. He tugged the white thong down, let her step out of it. He pushed on her thighs slightly, she moved them farther apart, then he began to kiss them. He could smell her. Sweet, so damned sweet! But there was something not quite the same. His tongue moved over her folds. Again he heard her gasp, she grabbed at his shoulder with one hand, the other still holding her skirt up. He could taste her, taste that sweetness. But he didn't feel the rush of adrenaline that the sweet taste of her honey always caused in his body. They could make love here, would feel each other, taste each other, smell each other, but it wouldn't be the same. And it would do nothing for his addiction. He kissed her thighs again, then tugged her thong back into place.
'What's wrong?' she asked, pulling her lip between her teeth.
'We can make love here. It would be great. But…'
'It won't give you the fix you need.' She let her skirt drop back into place as he stood to his feet. 'I'm so sorry,' she whispered.
'Don't worry about it.'
She shook her head, wrapped her arms around her waist and turned away from him. 'It's all my fault! It would have been better for you if we'd never met…then you wouldn't be in this predicament!'
'Do you really believe that?' he asked softly.
She looked over her shoulder at him. 'It's true!'
'That it would have been better for me to never have met you?'
She pulled at her lip, nodded slowly, willed herself not to cry.
'I don't. The best thing that ever happened to me was when you fell in love with me. No, the best thing was when you fell into my arms,' he said. He put his arms around her, pulled her back against him. 'As for being addicted to you, well, Angel, I don't mind at all.'
'Gets damned inconvenient on missions!'
He laughed. 'True. But Angel, I can't give you up…I won't give you up. I'll give up going on missions. I'll stop being The Chosen if that's what it takes. Besides, I kind of like being addicted to you.'
She turned slightly in his arms, looked up at him. 'Why?'
His grin was full of mischief, and not a little glee. 'Because it means you never turn me down. It means I get to make love to you at least once a day. More often if I'm lucky.'
She smiled. 'You're insatiable.' She glanced around them. 'We have to go!'
He kissed her forehead, then hurried away, moving gently, but quickly.
The ground beneath them was shaking as the C-4 inside the mountain exploded. The Jaffa near the entrance tried to run inside, only to be pushed back out by a cloud of dust, smoke, and flames.
Casey couldn't help but give a quiet sigh of relief. Toren was gone. She wouldn't have to worry about that Goa'uld. The sound of approaching Jaffa opened her eyes. She watched with her teammates as Dagon and his Jaffa ran toward the now crumbled opening.
"Jaffa, Kree! Pa'kree? Shak'ti'qua?" Dagon shouted. Toren's surviving Jaffa refused to answer. He raised his hand, caught one of them with the ribbon device. [What is going on? What do you think you're doing?]
"Dal jaffa mel!" the Jaffa cried out, just before he collapsed onto the ground. [I die true!]
The other Jaffa knelt down in front of Dagon. He accepted their surrender. With a wave of his hand, his men killed them. The Goa'uld began to pace in front of the now inaccessible corridor. He looked up. There was still a way in. He frowned. More than likely this laboratory was completely destroyed as well. He cursed as he continued to pace. Toren had sent his Jaffa to destroy the last place where the Undead Soldiers could be created! Where there was already a small army of them waiting! He stopped suddenly. No. He never would have done that. He would have come here…
Dagon turned around slowly, his eyes scanning the area around him. "Jaffa, kree! Search the area! There are others hiding somewhere. When you find them, bring them to me!"
Five hearts began to pound with fear. Jack counted quickly. He could only see twenty. Okay, four to one odds. They'd faced worse. He moved his P90 into position, flipped off the safety. Didn't have to see to know that his team was doing the same.
When a group of seven Jaffa continued to move toward them, they opened fire. Those seven were taken out immediately. The others ran to where their brethren had fallen, staff weapons firing toward the trees.
"We gotta move, now!" Jack hissed.
The team slipped out of their hiding places and began to run through the forest. They each took a turn at firing toward the Jaffa who followed them. Jack was leading them back toward the rope bridge. If they could get across it, they could cut the damned thing down, and make it back to the 'gate. With luck, they'd get rid of the Jaffa who were chasing them long before that.
The screams of two Jaffa filled the air. Two more down. Eleven still following them. He turned and did a quick count. No, only five. That meant that six must still be with the snakehead. He ducked behind a tree. Out of the corner of his eye he saw that Sam had done the same thing. Teal'c would have noticed as well. Now, if Casey and Daniel would just keep running, keep the assholes following them…Another scream filled the air. Casey's. She was down, staff blast to the leg.
Jack jumped out from his hiding spot, firing his weapon, the sound echoing around him. Two more P90's were being fired as well, splitting the quiet air with their echo. The Jaffa dropped. The one who managed to escape death was now running back the way they had come. The team CO ran to where Casey sat on the ground, Daniel beside her.
"It's not bad," she said, looking up at her CO. "I can still move."
He smiled at her. Kid was as brave as Daniel. Just as stupid sometimes. No way could she run on a leg that badly burned. He'd rather just sit down and wait until her Quickening healed the nasty-looking wound. But they didn't dare. There would be Jaffa all through these woods in just a matter of minutes. They had to keep going.
"I will carry her," Teal'c said, already pushing his P90 to his side and reaching for her.
The older man nodded his approval. "Let's go campers. Before this place is crawling with Jaffa."
Daniel ran his hand over her cheek as the giant of a man, his best friend, lifted her into his arms. "Love you."
She smiled. "Love you."
Daniel and Jack fell back, covering their six, Sam led the way, Teal'c right behind her, Casey held firmly in his arms.
The sound of staff weapons filled the air. Within minutes, all of the SG-1 team were on the ground, dead…or dying.
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