“You must
fight it.”
The rattle of
gunfire underscored the words echoing in Jack’s head as the cryo unit’s lid
slid shut, plunging him once more into the misty white world of the deep
freeze. Would the high-tech icebox be his
salvation... or his coffin?
He felt the
first tendrils of frost burn his skin with their icy caress while a tongue of
flame licked down his spine - the Goa’uld asserting its presence, wrapping
itself more tightly around his spinal column.
Jack’s body arched, a moan escaping unchecked as spurts of agony shot
along his nerves. His head banged
uselessly against his prison bed. Great tactic - knock yourself out,
O’Neill. That was not the way to
dislodge the enemy.
You must fight it.
Good advice
but fight it how? The Tok’ra had
neglected to pass along any instructions with her warning. Jack knew innumerable methods of physical
combat, but how could he battle an enemy inside his own head? Even the mind control techniques he’d
learned as part of his Special Forces training hadn’t been designed to thwart
this kind of alien invasion. If only he
could have broken the damn snake in two when he’d first grabbed it from
Hathor...
Hathor. She’d reveled in taunting him with his
impending possession, exulting in her plans to have Jack kill his teammates
once the joining was complete. What was
she doing to them while he lay trapped in this limbo? If ever he’d seen a cat at a mousehole, that was Hathor as she
looked at his team. Was she playing
with them? Torturing them?
He’d seen the
predatory way she’d ogled Daniel. Her
beloved - what a mockery she made of the term, reminiscing about the joys
they’d once shared in each other’s arms.
Jack had a different word for the “joys” she’d inflicted on Daniel, and it
was spelled r-a-p-e. Was she putting
him through that horror yet again?
Could his sensitive friend survive another violation at her hands? Jack was damned if he’d let that snakehead
witch perpetrate such an abomination.
Pain spiking
into his head reminded him he was now one of the snakeheads he so despised or
at least on the verge of becoming one.
He couldn’t do anything about Hathor until he’d taken care of her little
protege. Which brought him back to the
question of how. He couldn’t exactly
shoot it.
Shooting. Jack vaguely remembered hearing
gunshots. Had they been real or
hallucinations? He couldn’t be sure.
Could it be
the cavalry at last? Teal’c was the
only member of his team still absent.
Since the Jaffa hadn’t materialized in Hathor’s stronghold with the rest
of them, Jack had been hoping he’d somehow managed to escape their fate and
would return to rescue them. Teal’c
would never abandon them to Hathor.
Teal’c...
Teal’c had
provided Jack with his one previous experience of carrying a Goa’uld inside his
body. When Ma’chello’s device had
caused them to switch places, Jack had endured a nauseous interlude with Junior
keeping him company. Could the Kel No
Reem technique he’d learned then help him fight this new Goa’uld threat now?
At a fresh
surge of pain, Jack gasped a lungful of frigid air and clenched his teeth to
stop their chattering. He could tell
even his sweat was freezing, rimming his hair with frost. And he’d thought Antarctica was cold. He’d welcome a spell in that cozy ice cave
right about now, broken bones and all.
Hell, he’d take another of Carter’s splinting sessions over this.
Stow it, O’Neill. With an effort, he forced his wandering
thoughts back to the present. He needed
to concentrate. As long as he maintained
his own separate identity, he would resist.
He hadn’t let the hellhole of an Iraqi prison beat him; he wasn’t about
to let this mental prison succeed where that one failed. All he had to do was hold out until the
Goa’uld froze to death. Piece of cake.
How had Teal’c
explained it? Imagine the center of his
mind and focus. Eyes closed, Jack
directed his awareness inward.
He spasmed in
a paroxysm of agony as the Goa’uld countered his initial attempt at
control. Shivering from reaction as
much as from cold, Jack panted as the torturous wave ebbed. He tried to gather his shattered
thoughts. He had to do this.
A waking
sleep. That was how Teal’c had defined
the Kel No Reem state. A kind of
hibernation - Jack wondered if perhaps the cryogenic process would actually
help with that. He was supposed to
dream in harmony with the Goa’uld so their subconscious minds would be as
one. That would provide a way for the
snake to receive information - such as an order to get lost, Jack hoped. How could he get to that state? He recalled Teal’c’s steady voice telling
him to relax.
Yeah, easy for you to say, Teal’c. Junior’s not tap dancing across your nervous system the way this
snake’s doing on mine.
“You can do
it, Jack.”
“What?” Jack’s head thrashed from side to side, but
all he could see was opaque whiteness.
“Hang in
there, Jack. You can make it. You have to. I’m counting on you.”
There it was
again. It sounded like Daniel’s voice,
but it couldn’t be. How could he hear
it in here? The cryo shell effectively
shut out the outside world, muffling its sights and sounds as the cold was
slowly robbing him of his touch. He
felt wrapped in a cocoon of cotton batting, isolating his body from his senses.
“Look at me,
Jack. If you need something to focus
on, look at me.”
Twin blue
beacons sliced through the encompassing white.
Daniel’s eyes stared into his, unblinking, unwavering. Opening his own eyes wide, Jack saw Daniel’s
face swim into focus out of the mist.
“Daniel?” Jack blinked, half-expecting the motion to
dispel the apparition, but the face remained.
“Oh, I get it. You’re part of
the dream, right? This is a good sign. I must be getting into Kel No Reem.”
“That’s right,
Jack. I’m here to help you.”
“I could use
it, thanks. And you helped... back
there... too.” Jack remembered Daniel’s
steadfast regard while the Goa’uld entered him. His friend never once looked away, supporting him in the only way
he could through the ordeal. Daniel was
a lifeline, then and now, leading him away from the alien invading his body
back to his humanity.
A new voice
drifted into his mind. “A foolish
illusion. Nothing can help you
now.” Jack’s own echoing tones mocked
him. Another face took shape in the
swirling vapor, and he saw another pair of eyes glowing at him - from his own
familiar features. He realized he was
looking at a vision of his Goa’ulded self.
“This is your
future,” his mouth formed the ominous words.
“You cannot escape.”
Jack
groaned. “I can. I will.
You must think so, too, bucko, or you wouldn’t be bothering to persuade
me.”
Incandescent
eyes gleamed menacingly. “It amuses me
to do so. I can also communicate thus.”
A shaft of
fiery pain arced along Jack’s nerve pathways, eliciting a strangled sob. How much more of this could he take? God, had Skaara gone through this? Had Kawalsky? No wonder the parasites prevailed over the hosts. Human flesh wasn’t designed to take this
kind of torture.
As if to
emphasize the point, the Goa’uld sent another jolt cascading through his
body. Jack’s mind screamed protest at
the abuse.
“You can make
it stop. All you have to do is accept
me.” The resonant voice modulated to an
insidious purr. “It’s that easy.”
“No.” The hoarse reply whispered past dry
lips. “I won’t... make it easy... for
you.”
Jack writhed
silently at the creature’s next attack.
He had no screams left. He knew
his fortitude was wearing thin. He
couldn’t do this alone. He needed help.
“Jack. I’m here, Jack.”
Slowly the
soothing voice washed through his mind, beating back the alien presence. Daniel.
The scholar might look harmless, but his gentle friend had a core of
pure titanium. Together they might have
the strength to hold the Goa’uld at bay.
Together... he
extended a hand.
With a
startled cry, Daniel snatched his hand away from Jack’s touch.
“Daniel?” Confused, he reached out again and grasped
the hand firmly. “It’s okay. We need to do this together.”
“Jack,
no.” Tugging in vain at the hand locked
around his, Daniel slowly sank to his knees.
“C-cold,” he stammered faintly.
“F-freezing m-m-me.”
In
consternation, Jack stared at the hand trembling in his own. No, not his hand... the Goa’uld’s. Horrified,
he tried to uncurl his fingers, but the iron grip would not loosen.
A cruel laugh
issued from his lips. “You see how easy
it will be to kill the weak fools you call friends?” The grip tightened, and he watched the captive shudder in
response.
Daniel bent
over, pressing his free arm against himself as if in an attempt to conserve the
heat draining from his gradually freezing body.
Jack’s mind
clicked automatically into tactical mode.
Something about this image wasn’t right. The cryogenic process hadn’t harmed the humans; it had preserved
them. The cold should only be deadly to
the Goa’uld according to the Tok’ra. It
was the Goa’uld who should be freezing.
This scenario should be working the other way around.
At Jack’s
realization, Daniel straightened.
Ceasing to pull, he instead appeared to concentrate on the linked hands.
Jack saw his
own hand begin to shake as the freezing effect reversed to flow the other
way. A look of alarm replaced the light
of triumph in the glowing eyes.
Yes! They’d found the key to beating it. Now he knew how to fight back until the cold
finished it off.
It couldn’t
last for too much longer. Jack could
feel the glacial chill invading his dream state, freezing him into the
cryogenic sleep. Had that snake turned
into a Goa’uldsicle yet? He couldn’t be
sure. With the last threads of his
weakening perceptions, he reached out for his friend, weaving his vision into a
bond powerful enough to withstand the Goa’uld’s onslaught.
As he slipped
into unconsciousness, Jack knew the battle was over - one way or the
other. When he woke up - if he woke up
- would it be as himself or as a snakehead?
As he drifted over the edge, Jack gazed at the fading image of two pairs
of eyes - one glowing with hate, one shining with an azure light of hope. He’d bet on the blue.
Originally published in the zine Gateways 2
© December 1999 The characters mentioned in this story are the property of Showtime and Gekko Film Corp. The Stargate, SG-I, the Goa'uld and all other characters who have appeared in the series STARGATE SG-1 together with the names, titles and backstory are the sole copyright property of MGM-UA Worldwide Television, Gekko Film Corp, Glassner/Wright Double Secret Productions and Stargate SG-I Prod. Ltd. Partnership. This fanfic is not intended as an infringement upon those rights and solely meant for entertainment. All other characters, the story idea and the story itself are the sole property of the author.