They stared at each other, waist deep, in the cold, for a very long time. The cell was identical to the one in which Jack had been dropped by Ra, all those years ago. He remembered Kowalski, asking "where's Daniel?", and how his own silence had answered the question.
Teal'c is dead.
It was finally Sam who broke the silence.
"Do you think any of those crocodiles are in here?"
"Crocodiles?" Jack repeated. He didn't know if it was what she asked, or the grave voice in which she asked it which set him off, but he started to laugh. Daniel joined in, and finally Sam was chuckling as well.
"Well, I don't know," Jack managed between guffaws. "Ra didn't have any in his dungeon."
"Probably not," chuckled Daniel, "The water starts to...oh hell, its a slow torture why shorten it with crocodiles?"
A metallic bang sounded from the grated access hole in the ceiling of the cell. A Jaffa soldier struck the grate with his staff and peered in at them.
"Come on down!" called Carter, splashing water up at him, "Can't you hear, we're having a party!"
"Woo hoo!" Daniel whooped, and it echoed off the stone walls.
The Jaffa made some unintelligible noise of disgust, and walked from the grate.
"Oh, you're no fun!" called Carter.
Their insane giggling slowly subsided. Carter went directly into tears.
"I'm sorry Colonel. Damn unprofessional of me."
Teal'c is dead.
"I started it. I shouldn't have laughed. It's all right. We're all a little over the edge right now."
"I just can't believe--what they did," she said. "And this--planned desecration of the body..." She shuddered. "What is that?"
"You remember the scribe, Apophis' host. The Egyptians believed the soul required a home--the body, or a statue it would recognize as itself, to find its way in the afterlife," said Daniel.
"You think Teal'c believed that too?"
"I don't know. He no longer believed the Goa'uld were his Gods; I don't know if that means he no longer believed in his Gods."
"And thats why you prayed for him, back there," said Jack.
"More a wish than a prayer. I figured it couldn't hurt."
"You sure annoyed that thing in Margaret."
Daniel was suddenly quiet.
Teal'c is dead.
"Daniel?"
Daniel shook off his thought. "I think Klorel has just lost."
"What?"
"I think Klorel has just lost," Daniel repeated.
Jack suddenly had to remind himself that his collegue was a dweeb. "Daniel, have you noticed--Teal'c is DEAD? We are in a dungeon?"
Daniel continued, grimly. "Yes. And they may kill us. But Teal'c showed every admirable trait the Jaffa aspire to--strength, bravery, stoicism, fearlessness, even loyalty--to us--and Klorel has discarded all of it, in front of his men. They are not stupid. Even if we do nothing more for these Jaffa, this event has changed the way they view Klorel. Even the other Goa'uld sees it."
"You think the Jaffa will help us?" Sam shivered.
"I don't know. They might not be brave enough to follow Teal'c's example. Or they might not be ready to go that far, just yet." Daniel's eyes were on the grate above. "I don't think he realizes their power. He doesn't pay much attention to what they think."
In the lull of conversation, Jack could hear the squeek of a boot on the floor above, near the grate, then a walk moving away.
"Stirring the pot?" Jack asked.
Daniel shrugged.
"I hope so," said Sam, "Cause right now I feel like we're the crud on the bottom thats about to get burned."
| Back to Fan Fiction | Turn the Page |
