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.
"Teal'c, from what you've told me about Feldos and these aliens, I'm not sure how we can get Jack and Sam out," Daniel said unhappily as they trudged across the landscape towards the spheres. He'd hoped to get all the answers he needed once he reached someone from SGC, and he felt disheartened after hearing all that Teal'c had told him about Feldos and its dark history.
"We must try, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c replied slowly.
"Yes, Teal'c, I want that more than anything, you know that. I just want to know how we get rid of pure energy forms, or at least get the others out from their clutches. I mean, I didn't see a way of us getting into the sphere once the entrance shut, and I still don't, but I would like you to look at it."
"I will do so," Teal'c replied, his eyes concentrating on the horizon in front of them.
"Do you know what condition they were in when you last saw them, Dr Jackson? Janet Fraiser asked as she moved alongside.
"I'm not sure. Sam was pretty much out of it the last time I saw them. Jack seemed fine. Well not exactly fine. I mean not himself. After all, he wouldn't normally knock his friend out just to get her inside somewhere, would he? I'm more worried about what they're doing to their minds right now," he answered squinting at the sun and frowning
"I've got a full medical evac set up back at the gate and limited portable equipment and supplies in the pack," Janet said indicating the somewhat large pack on Teal'c's back. "I think I can stabilise almost any injury in the open, but I'd need to get anyone who's seriously hurt back to the Gate immediately," she added.
"Let's just hope we don't need to do that," Daniel said with feeling, his heart lurching at the words.
"We must use the hearing impairment devices as we near the aliens, doctor," Teal'c reminded her.
"They're positioned in your helmets. Put them on as soon as we know the hostiles are around. Don't take them off unless you're sure it's safe and remember to try not to look at anything they might conjure up," Fraiser warned. "From what Teal'c has told us, it's important to stay focused on the task ahead and not be distracted by anything the aliens might throw at us," she added.
"How's the arm?" Janet asked, glancing at Daniel.
"Oh, that? Um...fine," Daniel muttered absently. His mind was focused on Jack and Sam, on what they were going through, and on the fact that he wasn't with them.
"Guess if I had been with them I wouldn't have been able to lead you guys to them," he mumbled almost incoherently and without thinking that he was speaking aloud.
"That is correct," Teal'c replied without turning. He was relieved to have found his friend and to know that there was a chance of getting the other two out alive. He wasn't sure how, he just knew they had to try and that gave him hope.
"What's that?" Fraiser said as she put her hand to her eyes to shield them and pointed at a large black cloud some distance from them.
"It's near the spheres. Some sort of energy surge?" Daniel speculated, his eyes narrowing.
"We must increase our speed, Daniel Jackson," warned Teal'c as he started to trot ahead of them.
"Teal'c? What's up?" asked Daniel as he ran to catch up with him.
"I believe it to be the energy source the Goa'uld sought to steal from the Feldori. It is told that this energy source is a part of what the Feldori are. That they take their very being from it and replenish it with that which they take from their prey." Teal'c replied, his face darkening.
"And this would mean..."Daniel said, looking at his friend with interest but muted dismay.
"The tales are not complete, Daniel Jackson. What is said is that when the energy source sends a darkness into the sky, the Feldori are feeding on their victims, increasing their own energy. We must get there before it is too late for Colonel O'Neill and Captain Carter."
The three broke into a run at that point, their eyes fixed on the sphere which was coming into view, a dark cloud of energy flowing upwards and outwards into the sky. As darkness began to cover the sky, it was mirrored in the eyes of the rescuers as they neared the sphere.
"God, Sam," O'Neill muttered as he gently turned the ashen face of his friend over. Her lips were turning a shade of blue he'd rather not see. He gingerly touched her neck for a pulse and felt it weak and thready, her breathing shallow. She flicked her eyes open for a second, pleading silently for him to stop the pain which she felt, and then they closed. To his dismay he watched a thin line of blood slip from the corner of her mouth.
"You life sucking, blood sucking parasites," he shouted at the alien forms, which had grouped around him and were watching intently, their eyes gleaming at his distress, eagerly feeding on his compassion.
"Is this what you wanted? Is this what it was all about? To watch us grieve over people we care about? Is that all you can't have? Well here, have it," he said as he pulled himself to his feet.
And then he turned his gun and fired. Not at the aliens, not at their bodies, coursing with an energy he couldn't destroy. He fired instead at the only thing which seemed real, having substance, vulnerable to outside attack.
Hidden from sight, through the years, away from the eyes of the afflicted who had stood in the chamber and met their deaths there. Now the Cragsh'a stood vulnerable. The law which had forbade its use for millennia, broken.
It glowed silently in the corner. A monument to greed gone wrong. A monument to a species, evolved so far that their basic needs had swallowed them back into the abyss of a past life.
O'Neill's weapon fired round after round, his anger and grief cascading around him as he watched the bullets fly across the chamber.
The result was immediate. The pedestal's surface swung the bullets back immediately. They bounced off the strange, almost metallic walls and passed through the aliens, causing them no damage. Only one bounced back in the wrong direction and to the horror of the aliens it cracked the dark stone. The stone, the Cragsh'a, the centre of the energy source, its protection never dreamt of, its vulnerability never in question, forever protected from the tormented eyes which had stood before its masters, and now exposed.
The leak of energy was immediate. It cascaded from the stone and reached the floor, swallowing the surface as it edged outwards in a roar of thunder.
The screams of creatures who knew their fate was sealed, reached the roof of the chamber and expanded outwards.
O'Neill covered his ears and bent forward to shield Carter from any fallout.
He glanced across towards the pedestal and saw the black flow of energy, begin to dissipate, slowing until it crawled to a stop and shimmered momentarily.
O'Neill put his head down as he felt the rumble. The chamber started to shake, a crescendo of energy blasting from what was remaining of the pedestal and finding its way to the stars and beyond. He moved closer to his stricken friend and tried to cover Sam's body with his own. She stirred slightly and then lapsed back into unconsciousness. O'Neill waited, his hand resting lightly on hers, willing her to live, willing her to hold on until help could arrive.
Then silence. Then a breeze.
He looked up and sat back on his heels. The chamber had gone. Its disintegration complete. The only thing remaining was the pedestal, the heart of it no longer visible. He looked around for the aliens. There was no sign.
O'Neill pulled himself away from Sam and started to feel for her injuries. With the aliens gone, even if it was temporary, his priority was to stabilise his friend and give her a half-decent chance of surviving long enough to get her to the gate.
"Damn, what I wouldn't give for a good med-kit right now," he muttered half to himself and half to Sam, willing her to regain consciousness.
He put his face to her lips and felt a faint breath, cold, unsteady. Her pulse was hard to feel, her forehead bruised and cut. He felt gingerly along her limbs, gently checking for the signs of broken bones. As he touched her lower leg she moved and gasped for breath.
"Easy, Captain," he murmured as he brushed her hair back from her forehead and watched her eyes open slowly, the haze clearing slowly as she squinted to look at him.
"Colonel?" she whispered.
"Yeah, it's me, Sam. It's me," he said gently.
"The aliens?" she asked, swallowing.
"Gone. For now. I think we beat them, Captain. I think we beat them. I just can't be sure," he said.
Sam put her hand across her stomach and winced. Then she coughed and paled, wiping her hand across her lips, a red stain lingering on her fingers.
"Take it easy," O'Neill said quickly, his heart sinking at the sight.
"Get to the gate, sir," she said, her eyes closing as she spoke.
"'Fraid that's not possible, Captain," he replied as he watched her lapse back into unconsciousness once more.
The silence was broken by a faint sound behind him.
O'Neill swung around.
"O'Neill. It is over for you now. We have tasted your compassion. We have tasted Samantha Carter's embrace of death. You cannot escape. We would seek more from you now."
O'Neill rose to his feet and stood in front of Sam.
"Not had enough?" he said steadily and raised his weapon to waist height. His mind raced. He couldn't see the aliens but their voices were clearer somehow.
"Where the hell are you?" he said as he turned around and around trying to find them.
"We are right here, Jack O'Neill" the voices chimed.
O'Neill turned to see the two shapes glide from behind the pedestal. Their eyes no longer gleamed, their movements slower, more laboured. Their bodies seemed to phase, becoming at times almost invisible.
"Persistent, aren't you?" he taunted, his mind racing.
"The Cragsh'a is destroyed, O'Neill. We need to survive. You have destroyed our future, we will not survive long."
"Well forgive me if my heart doesn't bleed too much," he answered, glancing at Sam who was motionless next to him.
"You owe us life, O'Neill. Your companion, Samantha, dies as we speak. Your emotions are clear. Your own death would be a welcome relief if she dies."
O'Neill shook his head in disgust. "Parasites," he muttered angrily.
"Your payment for destroying the Cragsh'a is to sacrifice yourselves for us, O'Neill. Your destiny is tied to ours."
"If you ghouls think I'm about to sacrifice either one of us for you.." he said.
"Your dead bodies would become our vessels. We cannot survive without the Cragsh'a to replace our energy levels. Your bodies would serve us well. All your emotions, all your thoughts would feed us. It is our desire and it is our right. With your bodies we could rebuild the Cragsh'a."
"Well, this might come as a surprise, but I don't think so," O'Neill said shaking his head at them, his finger resting lightly on the trigger, his mind in turmoil. He had no shelter, no way out. Sam was injured and in no state to travel with him, and the two goons in front of him were about to use them both for some sort of vessel.
"It is not your decision, O'Neill. It is ours."
The shapes swung towards them slowly, their faces now visible, the features clear. They hovered closely and then moved above them.
O'Neill sucked in his breath and bent to protect his friend, bracing himself for the final onslaught, whatever that might be. He knew in his heart that he'd run out of ideas, and he knew in his heart that he'd run out of luck. There was nowhere else to turn.
Sam's whispered voice in his ear was weak but steady.
"Colonel?"
"It's okay, Captain. We've made it," he lied as he saw her nod slightly and close her lips, her eyes recognising the lie for what it was. She moved her fingers to squeeze his hand.
"Thank you," she managed weakly before the shadow darkened above them.