It was odd how shifting out of hyperspeed was getting to be as normal as applying a brake on a car.
But the door opening… that was weird. They'd been stuck in the barren storage room of the Goa'uld mothership for hours, prisoners of Apophis and, worse yet, his former and now apparently re-born First Prime. Teal'c had been brainwashed to believe that Apophis was still his God, and that his years of service side-by-side with his fellow SG-1 members had been nothing more than a cruel sham.
The massive door to their room had opened only part way, like a stuck elevator. Daniel stared at it, as did Jack, Sam and Jacob. Wondering… a trick? A malfunction? Would they be cut in half if they dared sneak out?
Click-click-click. A lone replicator crawled in under the door.
"Oh oh." That was Jack, making the understatement of the century. Replicators were not solitary creatures; they were an intergalactic scourge of killer biomechanoid cockroaches that were almost impossible to kill.
An armarda of the evil insect-like things crawled down the corridor and past the door where Jack knelt. Big ones, little ones – all on a single-minded quest to overtake and assimilate the Goa'uld mothership.
Sam was saying something. "… got control of the primary systems." Jack was agreeing. Perhaps. Daniel wasn't sure as his attention was definitely elsewhere. The single replicator that had entered their prison was now skittering along the wall, making its way unerringly toward Daniel. It was downright unnerving.
Unbidden memories swelled up in his mind, of Jack and Teal'c trapped on the doomed Blackhawk; the mission accomplished, Jack ordering Daniel to blow the submarine, as well as himself and Teal'c, to smithereens. The horror in his eyes as a horde of angry alien bugs began to swarm over him…
The replicator skittered closer. It hissed, or made some kind of noise and Daniel was out of there, shooting quickly across the floor, his fears allayed not one bit by Sam's clinical assessment that "it won't attack unless you threaten it." Yeah, well, maybe they should just leave!
Jacob led them to the storage area where Apophis' Jaffa had stored all the weapons. The military amongst the group instantly went for the weapons, while Daniel noticed and pointed out how the sole replicator had arrived. Stashed among Apophis' precious property, the creature had easily chewed its way out of a crate. Stupid. Everybody was taking up arms, plotting strategies to escape to the cargo ship. Lord help them all if the cargo ship was infested. They couldn't leave Teal'c behind, despite what they'd all witnessed with their own eyes. Daniel found it hard to forget the feral glint that now consumed Teal's eyes. Jacob handed Jack one of those hideously painful sonic grenades that the Jaffa had once used on the team. Jack's eyes narrowed and darkened as he realized he might have to use it on the man he called a friend.
Sam and Jack had gone off to find Teal'c, to somehow bring him back to the fold, even if it meant they'd have to drag him back kicking and screaming. Daniel and Jacob went to the cargo ship to ensure their mode of escape was viable. They'd both breathed a welcome sigh of relief to find it replicator-free. Why bother with a tiny appetizer like that when you had a huge banquet on which to feast?
It had seemed like an eternity before Jack and Sam returned with an injured and unconscious Teal'c slung between their shoulders. Jack passed him on to Daniel, remarking "Here you go," as if handing over a bag of groceries. "He's been shot." Daniel couldn't think of anything else to say as the bullet holes in the Jaffa's chest continued to ooze blood. Jack's laconic "He resisted a little" sent a shiver down Daniel's spine. Jack had shot Teal'c… but the holes were high. There was no damage to the symbiote that would heal the damage.
Then, damn, the ship lurched back into hyperspeed. With Teal'c securely tied up in the back of the cargo ship, they'd had no other option but to go back into the main ship to stop the hyperspeed.
The largest problem was that they couldn't let the ship re-enter into their galaxy. They could not risk the replicators gaining a foothold anywhere.
Sam had come up with the plan, almost an instant replay of the scenario that had sent an Asgard ship screaming in flames into Earth's atmosphere, something Daniel had only truly read about in reports. Was this the hell the rest of SG-1 had gone through while Daniel had been stuck back on Earth, victim of an errant appendix? There was no time to worry, only to act, to destroy the enemy and survive.
They'd made it unmolested to the engine room. If there were any live Jaffa remaining on the ship, they were certainly not concerned with a few heavily armed Tau'ri running loose with thoughts of mass destruction on their mind. A hideous, undulating mass of dark replicators surged and consumed a wall in the room. Daniel stared at it in horror, his mind reeling at the enormity of the monstrous creation that almost seemed to be breathing. "That is one big bug," muttered Jack.
The plan worked. Sam deftly pulled out the large panel, exposing the fragile crystals that were necessary to slow down the ship. The ship left hyperspeed as it reached its destination, and Jack obliterated the crystals by blasting them liberally with his weapon.
The bugs were not happy.
Within seconds, the huge creation dropped off a massive chunk of itself, which then mutated into huge and tiny replicators alike. SG-1 was now the prey.
Running, shooting, reloading… running, shooting, reloading.
There was no time to think of the horrors of their previous encounters with the bugs as they ran down the long corridors, pursued by the creatures. Daniel had no idea what Sam and Jack were thinking, but Jack's past cry of "I don't want to be eaten alive by these DAMN bugs!" screamed through his mind like a torturous mantra as he blew away one bug after another.
Run, shoot, reload!
Shooting, shooting, can't stay too long or they'll get me. A movement out of the corner of his eye catches his attention. Daniel ducks down as the incredibly fast bug rebounded off the wall above his head. It's blown to bits by Jack's well-aimed shot.
Turning the corner, they confront a hellish swarm of bugs approaching from the other corridor. Sam saying it's their only way out. No choice, no time to think. They charge ahead, shooting and shooting.
Within seconds the battle looks lost, as more and more bugs come from both sides. They're not going to make it to the cargo ship. But Sam remembers the rings, level 2, and lets Jacob know their new course of action. They'll make it if their ammo lasts. They're all running low, and Daniel can hear Jack curse Apophis to hell and back for this mess.
It worked!
There's no time to fall to his knees and kiss the replicator-free floor for being alive. Instead they dash from the ring area of the ship into the control room. Jacob was at the controls, his face a grim mask.
Fate was conspiring against them. The replicators were fast learners and the doors to the cargo bay, to their galaxy and freedom beyond, were slowly closing.
No time to think of another plan as Jacob aims the cargo ship toward the rapidly dissipating opening. "We going to make it?"
"I don't want to say, Sam." Jacob's voice was tense. No jokes. Life or death, this was it. The small cargo ship threaded through the shrinking opening. Everybody grabbed hold of whatever was available when the left wing struck the door, sending a horrendous screeching vibration through the hull.
They were free.
The ship spun around, beneath was Sokar's old home world and now Apophis' new base.
The Goa'uld mothership was a pinpoint in the distance as its massive burden headed unchecked toward the atmosphere. A blue spark, then a massive light of incredible destruction erupted, the tendrils of its brilliance greedily touching the black space around it.
Daniel shut his eyes, relief radiating from every pore. The rush faded, adrenaline evaporating like mist in a scorching hot desert. He leaned his head forward, rubbing his hand over his face, shaking his head. Alive.
"I'm going to check on Teal'c." Oh God. Jack. He'd had to shoot his friend.
Jacob turned away from the ship's controls. "Jack, you got his body back," he said. His voice darkened. "Getting his mind back may not be as easy."
There was no response.
Daniel shook his head, breaking his gaze off Selmac at the difficult words, offering a quick glance at Sam, who looked down at the floor, keeping her thoughts to herself.
They'd survived, but at what cost?
Jack went to the back room of the tiny ship to see Teal'c. The two men, both out of the line of sight, began conversing. Nothing good. Teal'c had obviously been subjected to Apophis' most current course offering on how to worship evil false deities and kill your former friends.
Daniel nearly laughed. He was starting to sound like Jack, but he knew he wasn't like Jack. His knees buckled and he slowly slid down the secondary control post to a seated position on the floor, his legs spread out. God, his hands were both numb and sore from the constant weapons fire. Holding them out, he noticed a fine tremor radiating up his arms, and sporadic rivulets of blood ran down from where bits of ricocheting shrapnel from the walls and replicators had struck him. He didn't even feel the injuries – the numbness that was that encompassing. He tucked his hands under his arms, hoping the tremors would soon pass.
"You okay?"
Sam was kneeling beside him. Her hair was a mess and the acrid smell of heavy gunfire permeated her clothing, but to Daniel, she was a wonderful sight – she was still alive.
"Fine," he muttered, annoyed that his response came out more as a croak.
She laid a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Might as well catch a nap. It's gonna take a little while to get home." She squeezed his shoulder in reassurance and went back to her father.
He could hear Jacob talking with Sam about rendezvousing with a Tok'ra vessel and from there, a side-trip back to Earth. Daniel had no idea how long it would be; that part of the discussion faded out as he rubbed his temples. Even his ears rang from the echoes of the confined gunfire.
Daniel's mind wandered back to the expansive blue brilliance that devoured the Goa'uld mothership. Apophis was dead, incinerated in the tremendous flare of energy. There'd been nowhere to go with the mothership literally overrun with replicators. He'd seen no sign of the Goa'uld 'god' ringing out, but where would he ring to – the planet? Surely if there had been a surge of energy it would have shown on the control displays, and he hadn't heard Jacob make any comment.
No, Apophis was dead, dead, dead. His reign of terror and cruelty over thousands if not millions of beings had come to an end. Daniel darkly hoped that the replicators had found the Goa'uld before the explosion, inflicting torment and agony upon Apophis before the ship exploded.
A pang of regret ran through Daniel. And what of the host? The terrified Egyptian man who had been abducted so long ago? He prayed that when Apophis had died while at the SGC, the host had truly found everlasting peace. They'd returned the body at least half an hour after Apophis had died. The Goa'uld may have survived the ordeal thanks to Sokar and his sarcophagus, but Daniel hoped that what he knew of medical science meant the host's mind was gone, and that like Sha're, his soul was free to find peace.
A nudge against his shoulder pulled him from his thoughts. Sam had sat down next to him. Fatigue radiated from her. "You are okay?" she asked again, her blue eyes gazing in worry at him.
Daniel just nodded, too unsure of his voice to answer.
A movement in the other room caught his attention. Jack had sat down. He was barely visible around the corner of ship's inner wall.
The face that looked back at him had aged in the time since Teal'c had supposedly died on the planet's surface. Bleak. It was the only word Daniel could think to describe how Jack looked and no doubt felt. Sorrowful brown eyes returned his gaze only briefly before Jack leaned back against the wall and stared at the floor. Watching Teal'c. Making sure his friend didn't try to escape and murder them all.
Daniel blinked as exhaustion hurried to claim him. Feeling no resistance when he leaned against Sam, Daniel shut his eyes, welcome for the brief respite from their ordeal.
He had no idea how they would bring back the old Teal'c, but he knew they would.
© 2001. 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.