Read Online Stargate SG-1: Sacrifice Moon by Julie Fortune - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Julie Fortune
Ads: Link
nothing.
he next thing Jack knew, he was in pain. Yep. Pain. Lots of it.
Sharp spikes all up and down his body, an ankle that felt like it
might as well have been chopped off with a dull axe, and a throbbing
headache.
He tried to sit up, but something was holding him down. Daniel's
hand, flat against his chest.
Jack opened his eyes, blinked, and brought the world into focus.
First, a dim, dusty kind of sunlight, the wrong color, shading toward
blue. Second, a cold dry wind loaded with sand that stung his exposed
skin and made him involuntarily squint against it.
Third, the look on Daniel's face, which was somewhere between
terror and relief.
"Jack?"
"Daniel?" He looked pointedly at the hand pushing him flat.
Daniel removed it and slumped back into a sitting position. He
looked battered, but intact. The bruise turning purple along his cheek
and forehead was going to be a real beauty. "I don't think you should
sit up yet. You took a hell of a hit."
"Yeah, yeah." Jack not only sat up, he kept going. Daniel made
ineffective don't-do-that motions as Jack rolled to his feet - creaky,
infinitely slow, but still mobile. He got vertical with a sense of grim
triumph, which eroded some when he tried to put his weight on his
gimpy left ankle. Crap. Felt like somebody had taken a hammer and
shattered his bones into ground glass. "Carter? Teal'c?"
"Here, sir," Carter said from behind him. She was sitting down,
leaning against what looked like a ruined stone wall. Pale as milk,
with a drying smear of blood on her cheek. "We're both fine, sir.
Teal'c's having a look around."
Not a bad idea. Jack followed suit with a quick comprehensive
scan of the immediate area. One big circular Stargate, and steps they'd
probably tumbled down, which would account for all the bruises and sprains. One DHD, sitting off to the side.
His gaze swept it, stopped, and came back to contemplate it further.
"Captain Carter?"
"Sir?"
"I'm no scientist, but shouldn't we be, oh, dialing out of here?
Right now?"
Carter didn't move. Her voice was weary. "Yes sir. It looks like
somebody removed some of the control mechanism, probably a crystal of some kind. It's not broken, just disabled. I had a look around,
but if the missing part's here, it's hidden. Without it, the Stargate
won't dial."
"Peachy," Jack said. He kept going on the visual survey. Not a lot
to see - they were in some kind of an open courtyard, like the airport
concourse back on Chalcis, only this one was destroyed. Tiles broken
and buckled, walls tumbling into heaps, wind dragging grit around in
aimless drifts. "Daniel, what the hell just happened?"
"I don't know." The younger man sounded discouraged, not to
mention tired and depressed. "Jack, I'm sorry, I had no idea they were
going to attack us. Acton told his people to deal with us. But I thought
he meant dealing as in trading with us, not - "
"Daniel, you really need to take a class in political doublespeak.
Could come in handy if we ever get out of this alive." He tried putting
his full weight on his ankle and couldn't control a full-body flinch at
the immediate wave of protest. The ankle folded.
"Sir?" Carter was immediately at his side. "How bad is it?"
"I'm fine, Carter." He shook off her support and tried to focus on
something else besides the sickening throbs of pain. His neck itched.
When he tried to scratch it, his fingers banged into slick silver mesh,
and memory flooded back. Silver mesh around his throat, some kind
of white stone at the front. A sensation of choking. Doesn't go with
my outfit. He got his fingers under the silver mesh and pulled. He tried
pressing on the stone, the way he'd seen Acton do. Nothing. "Okay,
somebody want to fill me in about the jewelry?" Because now that he
looked, they all had them. Identical matching accessories.
"We can't get them off," Daniel said. "We've been trying."
"Oh, there's always a way."
"Okay," Daniel amended blandly. "There's
he next thing Jack knew, he was in pain. Yep. Pain. Lots of it.
Sharp spikes all up and down his body, an ankle that felt like it
might as well have been chopped off with a dull axe, and a throbbing
headache.
He tried to sit up, but something was holding him down. Daniel's
hand, flat against his chest.
Jack opened his eyes, blinked, and brought the world into focus.
First, a dim, dusty kind of sunlight, the wrong color, shading toward
blue. Second, a cold dry wind loaded with sand that stung his exposed
skin and made him involuntarily squint against it.
Third, the look on Daniel's face, which was somewhere between
terror and relief.
"Jack?"
"Daniel?" He looked pointedly at the hand pushing him flat.
Daniel removed it and slumped back into a sitting position. He
looked battered, but intact. The bruise turning purple along his cheek
and forehead was going to be a real beauty. "I don't think you should
sit up yet. You took a hell of a hit."
"Yeah, yeah." Jack not only sat up, he kept going. Daniel made
ineffective don't-do-that motions as Jack rolled to his feet - creaky,
infinitely slow, but still mobile. He got vertical with a sense of grim
triumph, which eroded some when he tried to put his weight on his
gimpy left ankle. Crap. Felt like somebody had taken a hammer and
shattered his bones into ground glass. "Carter? Teal'c?"
"Here, sir," Carter said from behind him. She was sitting down,
leaning against what looked like a ruined stone wall. Pale as milk,
with a drying smear of blood on her cheek. "We're both fine, sir.
Teal'c's having a look around."
Not a bad idea. Jack followed suit with a quick comprehensive
scan of the immediate area. One big circular Stargate, and steps they'd
probably tumbled down, which would account for all the bruises and sprains. One DHD, sitting off to the side.
His gaze swept it, stopped, and came back to contemplate it further.
"Captain Carter?"
"Sir?"
"I'm no scientist, but shouldn't we be, oh, dialing out of here?
Right now?"
Carter didn't move. Her voice was weary. "Yes sir. It looks like
somebody removed some of the control mechanism, probably a crystal of some kind. It's not broken, just disabled. I had a look around,
but if the missing part's here, it's hidden. Without it, the Stargate
won't dial."
"Peachy," Jack said. He kept going on the visual survey. Not a lot
to see - they were in some kind of an open courtyard, like the airport
concourse back on Chalcis, only this one was destroyed. Tiles broken
and buckled, walls tumbling into heaps, wind dragging grit around in
aimless drifts. "Daniel, what the hell just happened?"
"I don't know." The younger man sounded discouraged, not to
mention tired and depressed. "Jack, I'm sorry, I had no idea they were
going to attack us. Acton told his people to deal with us. But I thought
he meant dealing as in trading with us, not - "
"Daniel, you really need to take a class in political doublespeak.
Could come in handy if we ever get out of this alive." He tried putting
his full weight on his ankle and couldn't control a full-body flinch at
the immediate wave of protest. The ankle folded.
"Sir?" Carter was immediately at his side. "How bad is it?"
"I'm fine, Carter." He shook off her support and tried to focus on
something else besides the sickening throbs of pain. His neck itched.
When he tried to scratch it, his fingers banged into slick silver mesh,
and memory flooded back. Silver mesh around his throat, some kind
of white stone at the front. A sensation of choking. Doesn't go with
my outfit. He got his fingers under the silver mesh and pulled. He tried
pressing on the stone, the way he'd seen Acton do. Nothing. "Okay,
somebody want to fill me in about the jewelry?" Because now that he
looked, they all had them. Identical matching accessories.
"We can't get them off," Daniel said. "We've been trying."
"Oh, there's always a way."
"Okay," Daniel amended blandly. "There's
Similar Books
