Chapter 19
Markhen pointed to a door with a simple doorknob.
"That's it?" Sam answered incredulously. "No pass codes, no swipe card?"
Shrugging his shoulders, Marken stated, "We didn't need one. It is… it was hidden by the Environment…"
"This cannot be as easy as it seems, Sam." Janet asked.
"We do not know what is on the other side of the door, MajorCarter."
"That's true Teal'c…" Sam said, placing her hand on the knob and motioning for the rest of her entourage to stay behind. Before Teal'c had a chance to intervene…
"No… Major Carter," Markhen said, covering her hand on the knob with his own. "I wouldn't raise suspicions entering. If you enter, Ronar and his goons know enough about SG1 to be aware that you wouldn't be alone. You are going to be placing everyone here at risk, should you enter."
"What do you intend to do? Go in there and subdue a whole contingent of military men with one Zat gun?" Sam questioned.
"Yeahsureyabetcha," he replied. "But believe me, Major, there will not be a contingent of military personnel in there. Not yet… Ronar hasn't been able to gain full control, so he is managing with a handful of men. Besides Ronar, maybe two more men…" He stopped following Major Carter's line of sight. His face registered shock, then fear, finally setttling on resignation. Teal'c and Janet followed suit.
"Ronar is aware of our position, MajorCarter," Teal'c said, gesturing to the security cameras mounted in the ceiling, the red eye blinking.
"I'm guessing these security cameras were not part of the Environment, eh, Markhen?"
Carter jumped as the door was suddenly flung open. "Come in, come in," Ronar motioned with his hand. The military men who occupied the room with Ronar escorted them in, guns drawn. "Zat, please Major," Ronar asked, and Sam reluctantly turned it over, based on the amount of fire power pointed in their direction.
"Please take a seat. Get comfortable." He leaned over and shut the door. "The rest of your party should be here in a few minutes. I'm really not going to go into any type of explanation until everyone shows up. I hate repeating myself."
Ronar's eyes on the video screen, he began a countdown. "Five, four, three, two, one." When he reached one, he threw open the door. "Hello!" Leske issued a small yelp of surprise upon coming face to face with Ronar. "Welcome, Leske, long time no see. Colonel O'Neill, Dr. Jackson, welcome also. Oh, before I forget, weapons, please." Jack and Leske handed over their weapons and stepped towards the group already seated.
Jack struggled to suppress a smile. Even though the situation was desperate, SG1 was all together… actually all *together*. Jack opened his arms and declared, "Hail, hail, the gang's all here."
"I am pleased to see you and DanielJackson are well," Teal'c noted.
"Headache, Daniel?" Janet asked.
"Nothing a few aspirin or pain killers won't take care of. Staff wound Janet?" Daniel countered.
"A few stitches, a shot of antibiotics… I'll be good as new, thanks for asking."
Pointing to his head, Jack inquired. "Major, those thingies?"
"Neurofilters, Sir. Leske turned them off. Have your codes and the DaD in my pocket right here."
"Glad to hear it… wouldn't want it to go…"
"Okay…" Ronar replied with a slight smile on his face. God, these people were so entertaining. Even close up and personal, it was obvious why their adventures had been the highest rated…
"Boom, Jack. Wouldn't want your neurofilter to go boom."
"Thanks, Daniel."
"Okay, enough with the platitudes, everyone. This is the way things are going to happen." Ronar stated.
Jack leaned over and whispered in Carter's ear, "His Plan A, Major. Always need a Plan A."
"Pay attention, Jack," Daniel hissed, as he gave Jack a slight shove.
Ronar began, "In all honesty, SG1 and Dr. Fraiser… you want to go home, and I want to send you home."
"So far I'm liking his Plan A."
"O'Neill."
"Sorry, Teal'c."
"I'm waiting for the 'but'," Daniel countered.
Exasperated, Ronar replied, "Dr. Jackson, in actuality, there is no reason for us to kill you. If you wanted to get technical, we were… are all part of Leske's little resistance in some form. We needed the gate control out of Talin's hands and placed into ours. What better way to do it than to show the scene in the control room with Dr. Jackson, Colonel O'Neill and Talin? Show our world how mentally unbalanced Talin actually was."
"The cameras were running?" Daniel asked, his face paling.
"Everywhere, even the bathroom. With the cameras rolling, the tide turned and audience began to root for SG1 and Dr. Fraiser to return home, away from Talin the madman, away from here, back to where they belong. The military will get the backing of the people if we assist you home. The cameras are rolling now, in the gate room, just waiting for me to give the order to enter the symbols for earth. Then you will… what's the saying? 'Ride off into the sunset?'"
Jack had a bad feeling about this… about this being too easy, but at this point, there was no way out. They were prisoners on this planet, just without the walls and bars… and they were being given an opportunity to leave, hopefully safely.
"Leske. What about her? What about Markhen?" Daniel asked. "Jack…no one…"
"I know Daniel, no one gets left behind."
Ronar turned to Leske and Markhen. "I'm sorry for what had to be done before, the decision to stay or go is yours. Though I will say that the military is in dire need of your expertise."
The indecision was evident on their faces. "I cannot speak for Markhen, but this is my planet, my world. I need…I want to stay here to see things through," Leske replied with confidence. She then turned to look over at Markhen, who was staring pensively into space, chewing on the inside of his lip. "Markhen?" she asked, getting his attention. He jumped a bit and looked at her, taking a step toward her to whisper something in her ear, all the while glancing warily at Ronar.
"Leske, we can't stay!" Markhen whispered, his voice tense. Leske's small smile began to fade and she grabbed his arm. She followed his line of sight to Ronar's hard face and leaned back toward her friend.
"Why?" she whispered harshly, pulling him a few steps away from the group. "Excuse us, for just a moment," she said hurriedly and louder for Ronar's benefit. He nodded. Markhen continued.
"Leske, we know all about what happened here. We know too much…we can go to the public with our knowledge. We're not military… he doesn't need us for anything. I mean, he has been lying to us all along." He glanced over at the Base Commander once more, for emphasis. Leske did the same, sighing.
"You're right, Markhen. You know, you're too smart for your own good," she said, giving him a weak smile and resting her hand on his shoulder. They walked back over to Ronar and SG1. "Ronar, Markhen and I have decided to go back to Earth with SG1. If that's alright with you, of course, Colonel," she said.
Jack smiled. "The more the merrier. Be glad to have you both along." Leske and Markhen smiled their thanks.
"Fine," said Ronar, moving toward the dialing console. Sam made a none-too-subtle move to watch him dial, making sure he had the right coordinates before following the rest of their group into the gateroom.
The seven tired people walked through the door and into the huge room housing the two-story stone ring just as the event horizon settled back into it's hypnotic blue pool and assembled at the bottom of the ramp.
Jack sighed contentedly as he looked over at Daniel, who was carefully punching the IDC into his GDO. It beeped back at him and Daniel looked over and nodded to his friend. Jack smiled and gestured grandly toward the gate. "Let's go, kids. Earth awaits."
Carter smiled at him and took the first steps toward the event horizon, followed closely by Janet and Teal'c. Leske took one last look up into the control room and moved up the ramp, as well, Markhen a step behind. Jack sauntered over to Daniel and clasped his shoulder, urging him on.
In the control room, Ronar sighed, as he fingered the communicator in his hand. He frowned and cursed his superiors. And Markhen. He just *had* to convince Leske to leave. If they'd stayed, things would have been different, but now… now they were a security risk… and he had to follow his orders.
Jack and Daniel had taken about two steps, when Jack heard the familiar sound of the blast doors on either side of the room opening. He spun around only to see several well-armed men flooding into the room. He also caught a glimpse of Ronar frowning harshly at him. Jack suddenly realized with sickening clarity that Ronar had little to no intention of sending them home. Instead, he'd gotten them all in one place, huddled together on the ramp. It would be like shooting fish in a barrel.
In the same split second, Ronar spoke a calm "fire" into the microphone in front of him, and Jack shouted a panicked "run!" The group on the ramp collectively turned their heads and ducked as several alien projectiles missed their marks.
Reflexively, Carter grabbed Janet's jacket and hauled her through the Stargate, Teal'c on their heels. Leske did the same, gritting her teeth and grabbing Markhen's shirt, running headlong after them. Jack and Daniel ducked low and scrambled to the gate, stumbling every few steps, trying to dodge the bullets whizzing by. Then finally, after a slow-motion eternity, Jack felt the stinging cold of the wormhole.
* * * *
Leske stumbled as she was propelled out of the wormhole, her legs stinging from the hard impact on the ramp. Her hand was still tightly gripping the shoulder of Markhen's shirt as he panted loudly beside her. "Markhen? You okay?" she asked, turning him to face her as Jack and Daniel rolled out onto the ramp. Markhen nodded, with a slight smile.
"Close the Iris!" Sam yelled, and Leske sighed in relief as the trinium barrier slid into place over the event horizon, effectively closing the door on her past. The blast door to their left slid open as the wormhole disengaged, and General Hammond walked into the gateroom, barely containing his grin. He waved his hand in a silent order for the SF's to stand down, and let his eyes roam over his lost children, taking in every detail as they plodded wearily down the ramp.
When he got to Markhen, however, his eyes widened, and Leske felt the hairs on the back of her neck bristle with unease. Something was wrong. She frowned and stared into Hammond's eyes, then followed his line of sight to a growing stain on Markhen's shirt. The blue fabric just below his sternum was turning a vibrant shade of purple. Leske gasped and caught him just as his legs gave out.
"Oh my God," Janet breathed as Leske eased the young man to the cold concrete floor. "Get a med team in here, now!" Janet shouted up to the control room and rushed over to Markhen's side. She knelt down and pulled his shirt up, unveiling an ugly looking hole in his abdomen
Leske fought back a wave of hot tears as her emotions twisted between anger and grief. She bit back a sob as she felt Markhen's hand brush against her own, finding her, and then grasp it tightly. Like her hand was a lifeline to keep him on the ground. He stared up at her, trying to smile, and Leske winced as she tasted a salty tear on her lips.
All around her, people were hustling about. The blast door had re-opened and a medical team barged in. Janet was taking Markhen's pulse and Sam was applying pressure to his wound. Leske was also vaguely aware of Daniel's hand on her shoulder, but in an instant, her universe had narrowed itself to include only Markhen and herself, to allow her to feel only the pressure of his hand grasping hers and the tracks that her tears made as they fell slowly down her cheeks.
"Don't be sad, Les. I finally did something important with my life," he said, with surprisingly strong inflection and a genuine smile. Leske tried to smile back, but could only manage a sniffle and a squeeze of his hand.
"Yes you did, Markhen. You did something very important, and I'm so proud of you," she said.
"Too bad Dad wasn't there to see it," Markhen breathed.
"I'm sure he knew, baby. He was always proud of you," Leske whispered back. Daniel's hand tightened on her shoulder. Markhen nodded and his eyes began to roll back.
"Let's get him on the gurney, people!" Janet shouted as a group of medics elbowed their way in closer to the patient. Daniel gently pulled Leske away, and Markhen's hand fell limply away from hers as the EMT's lifted the lifeless body onto the gurney.
"Doctor, I've lost the pulse!" one of the nurses shouted. Janet and Leske's eyes widened in perfect synch.
"Charge the paddles and get me a heart needle with adrenaline…" Janet ordered, but trailed off as Leske sunk out of Daniel's grip and stepped toward her, placing her hand on the doctor's shoulder.
"No, Janet. He's already gone," Leske whispered. Janet stared at her, then slowly began nodding her head.
The room was silent and still as the EMTs rolled Markhen through the blast door and Leske finally fell into Daniel's pro-offered arms sobbing for her brother's loss.