SG1-25 Hostile Ground(80)

Not very long for them to find what they were looking for, but it would have to do.

They pressed themselves against the wall, weapons drawn, and followed the curve of the corridor.

“Look for a screen like the one we saw in the lab,” she whispered to Teal’c. “Hunter says it’ll show us the brig.”

After a few moments, they spotted another of the eerie yellow screens, this one emerging from the hull almost as if it had grown there. A quick check left and right, then she dashed forward, bracing her hand against the wall as she studied the screen. Once again she felt that awful sensation, that there was something alive within this ship.

Alive, but still rotting from the inside out.

She studied the screen and there it was — a collection of rooms almost identical to Hunter’s improvised map. The brig.

It swarmed with yellow dots.

“One of those must be O’Neill,” said Teal’c, and Sam prayed he was right, but her mind kept returning to the mawing hand that had been thrust against her chest, to the desiccated corpse of the nameless man on whom the Amam had fed.

“It’s no use; we’ll never make it through those sorts of numbers.”

“Major Carter…”

“I know, Teal’c! I know.”

The seconds ticked down. Somewhere along the corridor, the regular tread of heavy footsteps grew louder. The guards were returning, completing their circuit. Struck by a sudden idea, Sam thought back to the map she and Daniel had seen in the lab, conjuring the image back into her mind. Then she was moving again, down the corridor, a quick gesture to Teal’c telling him to follow.

She knew where they were going now, and it wasn’t to the brig.



Teal’c followed Major Carter along the winding lengths of the Amam ship’s hallways. They had fled from the approaching footsteps, finding a doorway through which to duck just seconds before the two guards had passed within inches.

Now they made their way to an upper level. They’d spoken little for fear of being heard by any Amam who might be close by, but Teal’c did not question the last minute change of plan. He trusted Major Carter and knew her judgment to be sound. Even in the most difficult circumstances, she never lost focus and was not prone to rash, emotional decisions. She took point now, her stride determined, though her manner watchful, while Teal’c covered their backs.

That was not to say that he was unconcerned, for her grim resolve held its own disquiet. This mission was fraught with danger and it was no exaggeration when Hunter had decried it as suicide. But they had faced worse and lived. And there was no question of them leaving Colonel O’Neill to whatever fate the Amam had in store for him.

The life-signs shown on the schematics panel were further cause for concern. During his watch in the forest, he had seen many of the small alien gliders return to the grounded mothership and he’d wondered if they’d been on patrol around the planet, or if they’d been engaged in battle with the Goa’uld on a larger scale than the dogfight they’d witnessed near Aedan’s camp.

Whatever the reason, it meant that there was now a greater enemy presence on the ship and every level swarmed with Amam. To find O’Neill and escape would present a significant challenge.

Footsteps approached, rapid and uneven. Teal’c glanced around and then pulled Major Carter by the elbow into the shadows of a run-off corridor. The Amam who passed them was not a guard. He was of the same slim build as the one whom they had rescued from attack, and who had subsequently summoned the ship that had captured them. But there was a marked difference between the two.

The Amam who had healed Daniel Jackson had carried himself as one who was in control, exhibiting a cold, commanding presence. The creature that approached them now moved in an unbalanced, erratic manner. He was no less menacing for it however. He passed by completely oblivious to their presence, more concerned with the object he held in his hands.

Major Carter gave a start, clearly recognizing the object at the same time Teal’c did.

O’Neill’s Beretta.

Even in shadow, Teal’c could see the expression on Major Carter’s face. She wanted to follow this strange Amam, for he must know something of O’Neill’s location, but she held back. This turn of events clearly did not alter her plans.

When the corridor was clear, they set off again, arriving shortly after at an intersection. Teal’c’s eyes were immediately drawn to a series of marks on the wall. He grasped Major Carter by the shoulder and gestured towards the scorch marks which were obviously caused by a staff weapon — his staff weapon.

The major nodded. She knew this was the corridor down which they had made their original escape from the ship, the corridor that led to the lab where O’Neill had been captured.