DISCLAIMER: All characters and property of Stargate SG-1 belong to MGM/UA, World Gekko Corp. and Double Secret Productions. This fan fiction was created solely for entertainment and no money was made from it. Also, no copyright or trademark infringement was intended. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. Any other characters, the storyline and the actual story are the property of the author.
Sam felt the clamp of steel across her mouth and the grip, as tight as a vice, around her arms. She tried to kick but realised that her feet were held tight too.
She could just make out Jack O'Neill's figure as she was dragged, slowly towards the side of the structure. A feeling of inadequacy, of helplessness rose in her throat and sickened her stomach. She tried to flex her body, to react in some way so that he would see where she was but the iron grip remained. She couldn't see a captor. Couldn't feel a presence near to her, and yet she was imprisoned, somehow. She had to get free, to tell him she was all right. She watched him look around for her. Even get to his feet and search near to where they'd been. She saw him draw his weapon and aim it at the shapes in the corner and she saw the energy surge in them as his anger increased.
"Okay, enough's enough. Quit with the games. Give me my officer back now!" he shouted, aiming his weapon directly at the two apparitions in front of him.
"Your anger grows.. Your anger is a manifestation of your concern. Your inability to help Samantha Carter concerns you. Your helplessness concerns you. Give in to it, O'Neill, give in to it."
"And you're really pissing me off," yelled the Colonel as he fired a round into the corner, directly where the shapes hung. The flare of energy around them was brighter than Sam had ever seen it before.
"You are a fool, O'Neill. You cannot harm us. We cannot die. We are eternal. Your weapon merely feeds our strength. We can keep you as long as it is necessary. As long as it takes, for you to die. Give in to it now. End it now."
"O'Neill, your anger consumes you. Soon it will become the only thought in your mind. Anger drowning compassion. Anger drowning fear. Then we will feed. Then your mind will be ours and your soul with it."
"Man, I wish you'd stop talking like that. Those kind of riddles you keep mouthing off. See, I don't buy into all this. You've taken my officer - for what?" he asked, his eyes narrowing. "I mean, what in hell are you going to do with us that you haven't already done?"
O'Neill's mind raced. "Hey, here's a thought. Why don't you just put us back together. I mean, guys, think about it. Together we'd give you more of your"- and he drew imaginary brackets in the air- "emotions", he said, shaking his head. "You know, for a so-called smart bunch of aliens you're looking pretty dumb right now."
Sam tried to try to wriggle free but the clamps tightened. She was frantic. She knew that he'd just played right into the aliens hands. If they hadn't thought about it before, they'd consider it now. Splitting them up had been a bad thing, but all they'd got from O'Neill had been anger so far. He was right, putting them back together, would give the aliens more opportunity to get what they really wanted. She knew what was going to happen and she closed her eyes in dread.
Daniel only just found a tree shelter as dark fell. He'd almost forgotten how quickly the night came down.
Slumping down against a tree, he gathered his jacket around him and reached into his provisions for something to eat. He was getting cold and tired, his eyes starting to ache, his body winding down to rest, and yet he couldn't sleep. He couldn't free his mind of what he'd seen some hours earlier. He feared for his friends, for their safety. For not the first time in the day, he wished Teal'c had travelled with them.
The screams started within an hour. He sat upright, his heart thumping. They'd never heard anything like it the night before. He rose to his feet and shone a light out into the night. Nothing. The screams stopped.
Daniel squatted back onto his haunches and rubbed his hands together, pushing the thought from his mind, that he wanted to know who the screams belonged to. He knew he was an easy target for the aliens. He made a promise to himself that this would be their last chance to get him. He'd get to the Stargate in the morning and get home, and no matter what it took and no matter how long it took, he'd be back for his friends.
"Do you not care, Daniel?"
Daniel heard the whisper. His eyes darted around him. Nothing.
"Your friends need you, Daniel. They suffer because you are not there with them. Come to them, Daniel. Come to them and their pain will end, and so will yours."
Daniel didn't reply. He knew the voices were lying. If he did go back to the spheres his chance of getting home were worthless. He doubted anyone would get released if he went there anyway.
Then his stomach churned.
"Come on Daniel, we need you. Sam needs you. I can't do this without you, Daniel. I need your help. Sam's in trouble, I can't help her alone."
Daniel looked up sharply. The voice was Jack's, of that he had no doubt. Whether it was a manifestation from the aliens, he didn't know, but he could guess. But what if it really was, somehow, Jack really telling him the truth? The thought lingered briefly. He shuddered for a brief second before shaking himself back to reality. What he did know for sure, was that neither Jack nor Sam would lure him back to the globe. Sam had been clear in telling him to get the Hell out of there. He wouldn't let them down, couldn't. He had to fight the aliens' mind games if he were to be of any help to them at all.
"Actually, if you just leave me alone then we'll get along fine," Daniel replied steadily. He swallowed hard. He was shooting dice here.
"But you are so interesting, Daniel," The voices laughed. Daniel could hear two different tones within the laughter.
"Are there two of you?" Daniel asked.
More laughter.
Daniel decided to try a different tactic. "Okay. Well, what are you called and how long have you been on this planet?"
"We do not have a name, Daniel. We have always been. Why would you be interested in us? You cannot comprehend us."
Daniel saw a slight movement in the dark, to his left. He shifted his legs into a more comfortable position. He knew his weapon was probably useless against them. When they'd been fired on before, it had been pointless. He'd almost caught a tone of surprise in the whispering when he'd asked their name. He wondered if any one ever got a chance to be curious with these aliens. He guessed they probably didn't. Too busy running in blind terror. Too busy running from an enemy which couldn't be defeated by ordinary weapons. Daniel saw an opening. A chance to keep his sanity. A chance to live through the night.
"I'm interested in all alien cultures. And I might understand you if you explain about your history to me," he replied.
The darkness shimmered slightly.
"That is doubtful, Daniel Jackson. We encompass many alien cultures. Many cultures, many species, have travelled here. We have searched their minds for knowledge and for truth. We are knowledge itself."
Daniel shook his head in the dark.
"To be pure knowledge is impossible. And anyway, what you're saying is based on your own concept of the universe, and the other cultures you've met. Out there, far out there, there are countless cultures, countless species which you've never even met. How can you say you are knowledge itself, when you don't know the extent of the knowledge available?" Daniel looked at the trees, hoping to draw the aliens forward. He wasn't disappointed.
Daniel was surprised at his own strength of mind. He no longer felt afraid of the two shapes which hovered in front of him, he was curious yes, and more he was interested. Yet he was still aware of the terrifying power they seemed to possess, even though he didn't understand how they'd come into being.
"We were right. Your mind cannot comprehend us, Daniel Jackson. We feel it. Your feeble mind cannot understand a species, which is so unlike anything you have ever encountered before. It is this uselessness, this inability to see beyond your own reasoning, which makes us the superior culture, the superior being. We possess more than your species could ever hope to know and ever will know."
"No one's that perfect," Daniel muttered as he shook his head at their complete arrogance.
"You are correct Daniel. We have not found perfection. We still seek. Knowledge is nothing without emotion, without feeling. Knowledge is powerless unless fired by spirit."
"So what do you want from people here? You can't feel emotion yourselves? Is that it? Why have you defended the Gate? Why imprison people here?" Daniel said, his interest piqued.
The laughter was hollow this time. Empty, mocking.
"Your human mind can only see what is before its eyes. You believe that the travel mechanism is important to us, as it is to you. It is of no consequence. It has always been here, a relic of a civilisation long gone from this place. These travel devices are useless to us. We are energy. We do not possess a weak frame as you do. A container to be discarded so easily. To be diseased, and torn apart. To die. We exist. We have no need for such mechanisms, and no need to defend them. This is our world. We cannot be harmed. We will exist here forever. "
"Why are you telling me all this? I thought you wanted to kill me back there?" Daniel said rising to his feet. The whole explanation from the aliens amazed him. Aliens of pure energy. But if the aliens didn't travel, what was the Goa'uld connection with the gate? If there was one, he realised soberly, remembering Teal'c's disappearance. His heart sank. He quickly pulled himself together. The aliens seemed to feed on any strong emotions. At the moment they were distracted. He had to will himself to think only of what they were saying.
"You are mistaken, Daniel Jackson. Killing is a disease of mortals. We do not kill."
"But..." Daniel started to interrupt. If they didn't kill, why did they keep threatening him, threatening the others? He didn't get the chance to ask.
"We are tired of talking with you, Daniel Jackson. Your mind holds many emotions. You would conceal them from us. We wish to taste your mind, Daniel."
"Wait!" Daniel said, his hand in the air. "No one tastes my mind. If you can't hurt me, then I'm walking out of here."
"Fool," hissed the voice. "Your mind - the electrical pulses - feed us, give us the taste of humanity, the taste of mortals which we crave, which we need to make us what we need to be. Your emotions are all that we do not have and need. We will take them."
"Listen. You said you couldn't kill. Why should I be afraid of you?" Daniel carefully lifted his pack and weapon. He was poised, ready to make a run if he had to.
"There are worse things than dying, Daniel." The chilling response sent a shudder through him. Suddenly fear became his companion, and he pulled his jacket around him, as though the protection from its flimsy cloth would keep the aliens at bay. Just as a child pulls the bedcovers over their head when they're afraid of the dark. Daniel remembered with a chill, Sam's words about childhood fears.
The shrieking which the aliens made, echoed through the trees and beyond, until he put his hands to his ears and bent his head with the pain.
When he raised his head, the shrieking had stopped. A single voice rang out. The words adding finality to his determination to get back to the Stargate.
"We thought you different, Daniel. So different. And yet you do not understand. But you are weak, as the others. You will suffer, as the others. For now, we tire of you. For now we have others to tend to. But we shall return. Your fear will grow. Your fear will consume you, as it has others. We can wait.
Remember this, Daniel. We never have to kill. Never have. Victims die at their own hands. We will wait for your fears to consume you, Daniel. Then we will feed."
"General Hammond, I wish to join SG1 on the planet Feldos," Teal'c requested solemnly, as Hammond looked at him incredulously.
"Teal'c, you know that's impossible. Dr Fraiser told you your larva will die if you travel there," Hammond replied shaking his head.
"I know you want to get there, Teal'c, but it's impossible," Hammond added.
"Actually, it's not," Fraiser said, walking into the room. "Permission to speak, General?" she added.
"Go ahead, doctor," Hammond motioned to her.
"I've been testing a form of shielding armour on Teal'c and his Goa'uld larva for a few months now. I knew we might need it one day, since the larva is linked to Teal'c so specifically, and we might need to protect it," she said, folding her arms and looking at Teal'c.
"The doctor speaks the truth, General," Teal'c said.
"This shielding. How do you know it will work to protect him against the machine on the other side?" General Hammond asked.
"We don't," admitted Fraiser. "What we can do is make sure that Teal'c only reaches the perimeter and that the gate is left open this end in case he needs to return quickly as before. The worst that could happen would be that he felt the same discomfort as before. The best that he could actually reach the planet unaffected. He'd have to remove the armor soon after arriving, it's too heavy to walk around in."
"Doctor, you haven't tried anything like this before. Teal'c could die, you said so yourself when he returned." General Hammond said frankly. "I can't sanction a risk like that, whatever Teal'c feels."
"It does carry risk," Fraiser admitted, but I think you should hear Teal'c out before you make a decision.
"General. Colonel O'Neill and the others have been on Feldos for nearly thirty-six hours now. The unit, which you sent to search for them, has not finished disabling the gate's defences. I believe that you must allow me to scout the planet alone for them. They do not know what Feldos is. I know all that there is to know of Feldos. I do not believe that they will survive for long if they are still alive. They may need my help." Teal'c said quietly, his mind made up.
Janet raised her eyebrows at the General and nodded.
Hammond looked from one to the other.
"It's against my better judgement. Doctor Fraiser, is there any extra precaution we can take?"
"I think he should be escorted across in case there's any problems. He can come straight back if the suit doesn't work," Fraiser suggested. "General, I'd like to be in the escort. I can take some equipment which might help SG1 if we find them alive," she added.
"Teal'c?" Hammond looked across at the Jaffa.
"Yes, General," Teal looked at him, his face registering no emotion.
"You really want to do this?"
"Yes, General."
Hammond scratched his chin thoughtfully. The Jaffa stood tall in front of him, his eyes fixed on the General's face.
"Very well. You'll go to Feldos with Dr Fraiser. When you get to the other side, tell the team to continue to work on disabling the gate's defences, and wait for you both to return from scouting the planet surface. You may need their help when you return to the Gate."
Hammond got to his feet and paced across to look through the glass at the Gate itself. It stood, a silent grey wheel. The iris was closed. Hammond could only imagine what his team was suffering out there.
He paused silently for a moment and then looked back at Teal'c.
"Teal'c. If SG1 can't be found, or if you find that something has happened to them, I want you all to get the Hell out of there and blow the gate, is that understood?"
Janet looked down, her face registering the emotion she knew Teal'c would also be feeling.
"It is understood, General." Teal'c repeated.
"Good. Now people, let's go get SG1, " Hammond said and folded his arms across his chest.
Sam felt the lightness immediately. The heavy clamp, which had held her for what had seemed like ages, released suddenly. She scrambled quickly across the fifty feet towards O'Neill, the movement startling him.
"Carter! Glad you could make it," he said with pleasure as he saw that she was unharmed.
"Colonel. I heard everything they said to you. They're really screwing with our minds here. We've got to get out of here before..." O'Neill put a finger to her lips and hushed her.
"No giving out secrets, Captain," he whispered and indicated with his eyes the two shapes moving towards them.
Sam nodded her agreement with a slight movement of her eyes.
"Well, well. The two goons want to play. Howdy there, folks. Come to watch the side-show?" he mocked loudly.
"Colonel, I don't think...." Sam saw O'Neill shake his head imperceptibly, his indication that he had everything under control.
"O'Neill. You think you are so clever. Your words mask your true feelings. Your fear hangs in the air as does Samantha Carter's. You believe that you could fight us and that you would win. You know nothing. We do not fight. We watch. You are slowly disintegrating within yourselves. Soon the taste of what you feel before you die will be ours. We can wait, O'Neill. We can wait."
"Jeez, you sure are sore losers," O'Neill quipped shaking his head. "Don't you think, Captain?"
Sam nodded her agreement. The game was O'Neill's and he was playing it.
"See, this is how it is, people. We aren't going to die. Not here. Not outside. Not alone. Not together. Not on this charming little planet. So you might as well let us go. How about it? A little trip to the outside of this damn contraption you got us in here? Outside would be more fun. More..." O'Neill paused to think and looked to Carter with a raised eyebrow.
"A little help, Captain?" he whispered.
"...more light, sir," she answered, wincing and looked sceptical.
"Real helpful, Carter.." O'Neill hissed.
Sam looked sheepish. She wasn't sure what he was trying to achieve, but she was ready to go along with almost anything right now.
"O'Neill. We have Daniel Jackson."
The words struck a chill into O'Neill's heart.
Sam looked down, her eyes cold and dark. Their last chance. Gone. Finally gone. Sam dropped her eyes and allowed the dark images to play there.