Heart's Desire (27 page)

“I'll start working on that platform,” Siler said.

“Do that.” Walter was already on the phone, and Hammond headed back to his office to call down to the infirmary.

“Dr. Fraiser, we believe we've located SG-1, and we have plans underway to extract them by helicopter. I'd like you to ride along in case they're in need of medical attention.”

“Yes, sir,” Janet said, sounding greatly relieved. “By helicopter?”

“We'll make it work,” Hammond said.

“I'm sure we will,” Janet said. “I'll be ready when you are.”

D
aniel Jackson returned more quickly than Teal'c had expected, but from his expression as he was manhandled down the stairs by one of Reba's men, it was not because he had been successful in his search.

“Reba got impatient,” he said after the man had shoved him inside the cage and locked it behind him. “She thinks her people can find the device more quickly than I can.”

“Was it not at the coordinates you determined?”

“It wasn't.” It might have been taken away, or… I don't know, maybe I made a mistake in the translation. Of course, I can't check now, because Reba won't let me see the tablets again. She's not a very patient person.”

“It is also possible that there is no device.”

Daniel Jackson adjusted his glasses without speaking for a moment. “That's possible,” he said finally. “If so, I'm not sure Reba's going to take it well.”

“And if she is successful in locating the device without your assistance?”

“I've assisted,” he said. “Hopefully she'll keep her part of the bargain.”

That seemed unduly optimistic to Teal'c. “And if she is not inclined to do so?”

“Well, she still doesn't know how to use the device.”

“Nor do you,” Teal'c pointed out.

“No, but I'm going to say that I do. Look, all we have to do is keep stalling for time. If that was Sam on the radio, then they can't be far behind us. In the mean time, if Reba finds the device, or if she changes her mind and lets me go look for it again, we can see if it works, and maybe even find out where Amonet hid Sha're's son.”

 
“You are certain that is your heart's desire?”

Daniel Jackson frowned. “What do you mean?”

“The device is said to grant one's heart's desire. I merely wonder if finding the boy is really the thing you wish for most.”

“Of course it is. Besides, I already said I think the whole ‘heart's desire' thing is just poetic license. There must be some way to communicate with the device, to let it know what it is you're actually looking for.” He frowned again. “Why would you think I would want something different?”

Teal'c hesitated, unsure of how to answer. He knew that his friend wished to find the child because the boy was Sha're's son, and that he was determined to do so because she had asked it of him with her dying breath. He was only unsure that obligation was the same thing as desire. It had been his first duty to serve Apophis even after it had ceased to be his greatest desire.

“Look, obviously if it were possible the thing I would want most is Sha're back,” Daniel Jackson said, the words coming a little too fast, as if he thought that if he spoke quickly enough he could outdistance his own feelings. “But that's not possible, so this is what I want most that I can actually possibly have.”

It was difficult for Teal'c not to take the words as a reproach, whether or not they were intended as one. “As you say.”

Daniel Jackson slid down to sit with his back to the bars. “At least it's warm in here.”

They waited some hours, the time seeming longer because their captors had not bothered to offer them food since the night before. Eventually Reba came downstairs, shaking snow from her hair. She stood considering them both, her expression hard to read. “Bring them up,” she said.

“Did you find anything?” Daniel Jackson said.

“You know the answer to that,” Reba said, and her voice was sharp enough for Teal'c to suspect that her expression was barely leashed fury.

They were prodded up the stairs by men with zats, and backed against the rail. Teal'c looked around the deck, wondering if there was any chance of overpowering Reba's men. That seemed unlikely, as none of them were foolish enough to stand where he could reach them before they could fire. It might be possible to go over the rail without taking more than a glancing shot, though, and that would not knock him unconscious. He might scale the superstructure and make his way far enough down the rope by which they were anchored to jump without injury.

He was less sure that Daniel Jackson could do the same. If the man were hit by a zat going over the rail, he might well fall. Better to wait for now and count on Reba's knowledge of their value to the Goa'uld.

“You lied to me, Daniel,” Reba said.

“I didn't lie. If we haven't found the Ancient device yet, that doesn't mean
—”

“Do you think I'm a fool?” Reba snapped, glaring at them. “You knew it was likely that the treasure had been found already. You invented this tale of a fabulous device to delay me, to make me lose precious time in this detour.”

“You believe there may not be time now to trade us to Asherah,” Teal'c said.

“I meant to approach her at the temple where I served,” Reba said. “I'm known there, and it's always one of her first stops. That would have been easy. Now I'll have to hunt for her party among half a dozen smaller temples, or go back to the capital where they're no doubt hunting
you
—”

“Sorry about that,” he said with a half-smile that Teal'c felt was unwise.

“You should be! Because if you've lost us the time I needed to bring this Jaffa traitor to Asherah, he's of no further use to me.” Reba armed her zat, pointing it squarely at the middle of Teal'c's chest.

“You could still trade us back to our own people,” Daniel Jackson said quickly. “General Hammond will reward you handsomely for our return
—”

“I was promised a treasure greater than anyone could desire,” Reba said. “A handsome reward doesn't sound that impressive anymore.”

“You still think the treasure's down there,” he said, still talking fast. “You expect that this will persuade me to tell you where it is, but I don't know anything more than I've told you. If you'll just let me go look for it, if you'll just
listen
—”

“No more stalling,” Reba said. Two of her men were covering Teal'c, moving in so that there was no chance of escape. “You've wasted my time, and you don't seem to believe that I mean business. Maybe losing your friend will teach you some respect.” Her fingers tightened on the trigger.

“He's not my friend,” Daniel Jackson said sharply. Reba hesitated, the zat still pointed at Teal'c's chest. “You think that killing him is going to be some kind of punishment for me? You'd be doing me a favor.”

“You don't seriously expect me to believe that.”

“Believe it,” he said, his voice cold. “This is the man who killed my wife.”

R
eba hadn't disarmed her zat, but she was hesitating, and Daniel had to keep talking. The story had to be good, or she'd shoot. He could imagine it all too clearly, Teal'c falling as Sha're had fallen, crumpling to the deck before Daniel could make a move. He kept his eyes on Reba, unable to risk glancing at Teal'c.

“I told you she was taken by the Goa'uld. Teal'c is their enemy, and when we found her, he wasn't willing to try to capture her, to see if we could remove the symbiote. He killed her in front of me.” He didn't dare stray too far from the truth, relying on the pain in his voice to give weight to the words.

“And you still work with him?” Reba sounded skeptical, but she was still listening.

“I have to. Only a few people on my world know about the Stargate. If I'm going to fight the Goa'uld, it has to be as part of SG-1. I promised…” He nearly said
Sha're
, and forced his thoughts a little farther from the truth. “I promised our commander that I wouldn't take revenge on Teal'c except in an honorable duel.”

“What's stopping you?”

“We have to wait, I… I'm still in mourning for my wife. The customs of my people say that I can't fight a duel until a year after her death. But believe me, you'd be doing me a favor.”

He wondered for one heart-stopping moment if he'd made a terrible misstep, if Reba might shoot Teal'c as a misguided way of earning his gratitude. Instead, she lowered the zat ever so slightly.

“Is this true?” she demanded of Teal'c.

Daniel thought he could see Teal'c's jaw tighten, but his expression didn't change. “What Daniel Jackson says is correct.”

Reba glanced at Daniel, a hint of skepticism still in her tone. “You didn't seem to like the idea of me trading him to Asherah,” she said.

“She'd torture him for information, or sell him to someone who would,” Daniel said. “However personally satisfying that might be, I still don't want my world's secrets in the hands of the Goa'uld.” He shrugged. “Besides, at the time you were talking about trading me to Asherah, too.”

Reba let out a frustrated breath. “So tell me, treasure hunter, how do you suggest I motivate you to find my treasure? I could always just fetch a knife and cut off anything that you don't seem to have a use for.”

“I need to go back and look,” Daniel said. “You said yourself it's probably too late to sell us to Asherah. The option of ransoming us back to our own people isn't going anywhere, and for that matter neither is the option of throwing us overboard. We've still got hours before it gets dark. The device may be very near where I was looking. Just let me try to find it.”

“We looked,” Reba said, but she lowered the zat. Daniel relaxed a tiny bit, and risked a glance at Teal'c. His face was entirely impassive, the stern mask he'd worn in the service of Apophis.

Surely Teal'c could see the game Daniel was being forced to play, he told himself. He couldn't possibly have believed there was any truth behind Daniel's story. Daniel was almost entirely certain of that.

“So we'll look again,” Daniel said. He was aware that he wasn't going to have much time, even if she let him go back down to the ruins. He was missing something, he thought, something he should have noticed. He couldn't afford to make that kind of mistake, not now.

“One more look around,” Reba said. “But there's nothing there.”

“Perhaps I may be of some assistance,” Teal'c said.

“That's not necessary,” Daniel said, hoping he sounded convincingly irritated by the idea. Reverse psychology seemed to be working so far.

“You'll both come,” Reba said. “That way if you don't find anything, you'll spare me the trouble of dumping both of you over the side. I'm starting to get tired of you both.”

She brought two of her own men as well, and insisted Daniel and Teal'c climb ahead of her, which gave them little opportunity to attempt to break away and make a run for it down the slope. They stopped below one of the steepest pitches, where he'd found it impossible to climb before without a rope.

“I can ascend if you will give me a rope,” Teal'c said.

“Thanks, but I'd rather not trust to your rope,” Daniel said. If they could get Reba ahead of them, and get her distracted—

“It's a shame when crewmen fall out,” Reba said. She strode past them, but one of her men drew his zat and stepped forward to guard her as she worked her way up the rocks. There wasn't much chance to make a run for it, not unless one of them wanted to be zatted at point-blank range.

Making a run for it seemed like a bad idea anyway. There was no real path downwards, just a steep slope patched with loose rock that might be climbable or might slide away under their feet. They didn't have their radios, and he was fairly sure that without shelter, night in these mountains would be killing.