"How long?" Jack said.
Sam looked up. "Until what?"
"Anything." Jack was lying on his back on an empty cargo crate, staring at the ceiling. Time was passing infuriatingly slowly, and playing with the strap on his watch was fast losing its charm.
"Well, we've been in here about two hours," Sam said. "So... I guess that doesn't really help us."
Jack rolled off the crate and onto his hooves, stretching his neck and walking a lap around the cargo hold. His team were dotted around, looking equally bored. Sam was lying on a crate on the other side of the hold, and Teal'c was standing in the corner staring stoically at nothing in particular. Daniel, despite having been offered a turn sleeping, was sitting on the floor looking at some photos of the temple that the Jaffa hadn't bothered to confiscate.
"Ugh," Jack said. "I miss being shot at."
Daniel looked up, adjusting his glasses. "Not sure I can say the same thing."
"You know what I mean. At least if I'm being shot at I've got something to do. In here… I'm a caged bird, Daniel. I need to sing."
Sam laughed. "I'm happy to be out of that firestorm," she said.
"Yeah, on that we agree," Jack replied. He looked up at the ceiling. "Do you think it's still going?"
"No," Sam replied. "From the sound, I think it let up about ten minutes after we arrived. Maybe it stopped once it was clear we were safe."
"You think this was another attack?" Jack said. "Bit of a stretch, don't you think?" Sam shrugged.
"No, I agree," Daniel said, getting up and walking over to the colonel. "It doesn't make any sense."
"Thank you," Jack said, but Daniel shook his head.
"Not with you," he said. "I've been going over the inscriptions again, trying to find anything that matches what we've been seeing. But for the ancient Equestrians this world was a paradise, ideal for pony life and safe under the protection of Ra. It wasn't a tidally locked planet half-covered in desert and prone to wildfires."
"I agree also," Teal'c said, joining them. "This does not resemble the Tau'ri of Jaffa legend. As Daniel Jackson said, it does not make sense."
"It's almost like we're on the wrong planet," Daniel added.
Jack raised an eyebrow. "You think we are?" he asked, but Daniel shook his head.
"If we are, then the temple is too."
There was a faint rushing noise from outside the ship. The four of them looked round at the bulkhead; it rattled slightly, but showed no signs of giving way.
"Another firestorm?" Jack asked.
"Sounds like it," Sam said. "The ship's hull's designed to be able to withstand atmospheric entry, so it should hold up for a long time, even if the storms keep coming this frequently."
"That's good news, then," Jack said, turning and walking around the room again, stretching his wings out and giving them an idle flap. "I guess we can just sit out whatever's going on out there in here, and wait for our new friends to take us home with them."
"Take us back to Zipacna?" Sam said. "So he can imprison and torture us?"
Jack shrugged. "We've escaped from prisons before. Hell, we've escaped from being imprisoned and stranded in another galaxy before. I think we can handle old Zippy."
"Fair point," Daniel said, going back to where he'd been sitting. "Although I'm not sure what I should take from the fact that both those times we were 'rescued' by evil mass-murderers."
"Also a fair point," Jack replied. "But at least we should be leaving soon."
He turned and started to walk back to his cargo crate, figuring he might as well claim his turn for a rest break. Their captors had been quiet up front – they hadn't even come in to gloat yet – and they weren't showing any signs of taking off, so for all he knew they could easily be here for a long time.
It was beginning to look like he'd have to declare their original mission a bust, though. They hadn't found any sign of their objective, and now they were under attack and imprisoned by enemy forces. It was a small consolation that he doubted Zipacna would have any more luck than they had.
"Alright," he said, "I'm going to get some shut-eye. Wake me if anything interesting happens."
But just as he sat down, the door opened; the team got cautiously to their hooves, and watched as the young unicorn Jaffa – Koresh – entered the hold. He closed the door behind himself and walked into their midst, a self-satisfied smile on his face.
"Now when I said I missed being shot at…"
"SG-1," the Jaffa said, looking round at them. "Warriors from Earth, and sworn enemies of the Goa'uld."
"Always nice to meet a fan," Jack replied.
"And you are Colonel O'Neill." Koresh turned to face him. "For your crimes, all Goa'uld wish to see you dead."
"Well, isn't that nice," Jack said. "I imagine you do too, after our little tangle earlier. How's your head?"
Koresh scowled.
"Careful, Colonel," Sam said.
"Oh, don't mind us, Major," Jack replied, glancing at her from the corner of his eye. "I'm just making friends. Isn't that right, Korra?"
"Koresh!" the Jaffa growled. "Do you make a habit of mocking your captors?"
"Oh, yeah, he does it all the time," Daniel said, but koresh ignored him, staying focussed on Jack.
"I would kill you myself," he said, circling around the colonel, "but my reward will be so much greater if I leave that honour for my lord. Your lives are safe for the moment."
Jack raised an eyebrow. "So what brings you in here? Come to offer us room service?"
"No, I have come to observe you. If you had your enemy under your control, would you not study them?"
Jack took a small step back away from the circling Jaffa, watching him carefully. Behind the usual smugness, there was an odd look in Koresh's eyes; something about him seemed familiar, but he couldn't quite place it.
"You're going to try to get information out of us?" Sam asked.
"Yeah, that's not going to happen," Jack said. "We won't tell you squat."
"Of course you won't," Koresh said. "Weaker ponies than you have remained loyal even under torture. I simply wish to understand you."
Jack squinted at him, confused. "I'm flattered, but—"
Koresh stopped suddenly, staring intently, inquisitively at him. "Your name is legend among the Jaffa. You have faced thousands of Jaffa and survived. You fight against gods, and still you live. How?"
Jack shrugged. "Luck, mostly. I've got a pretty good team, though."
Koresh looked round at the rest of the team, who were watching the conversation with curiosity. "Yes," he said, "without them you would certainly be dead, no doubt."
"Well, I wouldn't go that far," Jack said. "But yeah, I..." He stopped and returned the Jaffa's stare. "What's this all about? Where are you going with this?"
Koresh took a few steps back away from the colonel. There was something almost respectful about his stance.
"We are both warriors," he said. "I wish to see how you fight. I challenge you."
Koresh gave a bow. Jack took a few steps back himself.
"Teal'c?" he said. "Is this normal Jaffa treatment of prisoners?"
"It is not," Teal'c replied. "But if he has issued a formal challenge, it would be a sign of great disrespect to refuse. He may decide to kill you out of spite."
Jack stood for a moment, staring at the bowed Jaffa in silent consideration. While he did enjoy disrespecting the enemy, the peculiarity of their situation was stirring his curiosity.
"You're not seriously going to do this, are you?" Sam asked. Jack shrugged.
"I've done stupider things," he said. "Besides, he already said he wants me alive."
He stepped forward again, Koresh standing up again as he approached.
"Alright," he said. "I'm going to have some stern words with your supervisor later, but sure."
"My money's on the Jaffa," Daniel said.
"Indeed," Teal'c replied. Jack gave the two of them a disparaging look, then turned to face his opponent.
"No wings, no magic, first to draw blood," Koresh said.
"Sure, whatever," Jack replied, shrugging.
"Colonel," Sam protested, stepping toward them, but Jack waved her back.
"It's fine, Major," Jack said, turning to look at her. "Believe me, this isn't the worst I've—"
He spotted Koresh out of the corner of his eye, lunging across the room at him. It was too late to dodge, but he managed to deflect the Jaffa's hooves away from his face and use his momentum to throw him across the room. Koresh rolled to a stop and sprung up again, the two of them staring each other down across the circle of the ring platform.
"I wasn't ready," Jack said.
"What better time to attack?" Koresh replied.
The two of them moved slowly around the rings, eyes fixed on each other. Jack watched the Jaffa for any slight movements, making sure he didn't miss any more surprise attacks.
"You won't make any friends with stunts like that," he said. He took a swipe at Koresh, but the Jaffa jumped back, watching his hoof carefully.
"Irrelevant," Koresh said, giving a return kick, which Jack just managed to avoid. "If I am in battle, then my purpose is to destroy my enemy."
"Then I'm glad you're not planning to kill me," Jack said. He gave another kick, but Koresh pre-empted it and grabbed hold of his hoof, twisting it round hard. Jack grunted in pain, and had to let his body move with the hoof to stop anything breaking. His wings shot out reflexively, trying to steady him, and he landed hard on his side in a tangle of feathers.
Koresh was on top of him moments later. He pulled his wings in and kicked upwards at random to try and block the Jaffa from hitting him.
"You attacked in the ruins... while I was distracted," Koresh grunted as he tried repeatedly to make contact.
"I guess we're even then."
Their hooves caught each other mid-swing, and Koresh was knocked backwards with a clang of horseshoes. Jack rolled out from underneath and jumped up; Koresh was already standing up again, and Jack lunged for him, knocking him over sideways. The two rolled across the floor, until Jack brought them to a halt with himself on top. He lifted his forehoof, lining it up to hit Koresh in the nose, but then felt the Jaffa's hind legs close around his tail and pull hard. He froze, wincing from the pain, and Koresh immediately wrapped his forelegs round Jack's torso, pulling him over and rolling into the centre of the hold.
Regaining his senses, Jack stuck a hoof out to stop the roll, then butted Koresh in the head, knocking the Jaffa back onto the floor. He dropped his body weight down on top of Koresh's hind legs, and tried to get a hold of the Jaffa's forelegs as well so he could get the fight over as quickly as possible.
"Nice stunt," Jack said, "but what was the point? You're still not in control."
Koresh smiled. "Yes I am."
The comment caught Jack off guard; he tried not to let it distract him, but in that brief moment as he wondered what it meant, Koresh pulled his forelegs free, and used one to hit a device strapped to the other. Jack then saw what the Jaffa meant; he had rolled them into the middle of the room, right onto the edge of the ring platform.
Jack jumped up as the covering panels slid back; Koresh rolled out from under him just in time, but Jack was too slow and the rings caught him in the side of the head as they burst out of the floor, throwing him across the room. He slid to a halt by the door, his cheek stinging, and his head spinning, and when the rings cycled through and filled the room with light he thought for a moment that he was blacking out. But then they descended back into the floor and the cargo hold went quiet again. He stood up, massaging his bruised cheek, and felt a drop of blood running down his muzzle from his nostril.
"Ow," he said.
"Colonel, are you okay?" Sam called, cantering over to him.
"Yeah, I'm fine, nothing's broken," he said. "Don't try and put a splint on me."
Jack walked over to the young Jaffa, who was also picking himself up off the ground.
"Now we're even," he said. "Nice trick with the rings. I'll have to remember that one."
Koresh looked silently at him, confused.
"What's wrong?" Jack asked. "Never received a complement before?"
"Not from an enemy," the Jaffa said. Jack laughed.
"Well, I did just hit my head pretty hard," he said. "But yeah, you're a good fighter. I'll watch out for you when we get round to our escape plan."
"You still think you can escape?" Koresh said.
Jack shrugged. "It's what we do."
"So what now?" Daniel asked. The two of them looked round as the archaeologist walked over toward them.
"Careful, Danny boy," Jack said. "He might decide to fight you next."
"No, seriously," Daniel said, looking at Koresh. "Did you really just come in here to pick fights with us? What's going on?"
The door to the hold opened again, and everypony looked round as the second Jaffa entered. He stood in the doorway, staring sternly at them.
"You are correct, Doctor Jackson," he said. "My name is Ro'shur, and I wish to speak to you all."
Teal'c stirred in the corner, and walked over to the new arrival.
"I recognise you," he said. "You were once first prime to Lord Zipacna. I have seen you at his side and in battle."
Ro'shur stiffened up, his feathers bristling, as Teal'c approached. "And all Jaffa know who you are, Shol'va," he said. "You are the one who betrayed your god and joined with your master's enemy. I assure you that the only reason I allowed you onto my ship in the first place was for the reward I would receive on giving you to Lord Zipacna, and I would not be standing before you now without very good reason."
The two of them stared at each other. Teal'c raised an eyebrow.
"I take it you're Koresh's master," Jack said, walking up and pushing in between them. "You make a habit of letting your subordinates beat up prisoners?"
"You seemed willing to allow him," Ro'shur replied.
Jack shrugged. "I was bored."
Ro'shur laughed. He closed the door to the hold behind him, then went further into the room, walking round among them.
"Under other circumstances I would have left you here to rot," he said. "However, my student was insistent that he—"
"Do not criticise me again," Koresh snapped. "It's only because of your order that—"
"Your reasons are not important!" Ro'shur shouted, raising a hoof to silence his student. Then he turned to Jack, lowering his voice again. "I chose to let him because I was curious to see what you would do. On your own it seems you are a fair match for Koresh, but as a team you could easily have overpowered him and used the rings to escape."
"You actually wanted us to escape?" Sam said.
Jack looked round at her and shook his head. "No, we all know what the rest of the planet's like. We were probably lucky to last four hours out there last time." He looked back at Ro'shur. "He wanted to see how stupid we were."
"Indeed," Ro'shur replied. "My suspicions have now been confirmed. It would seem that we have something in common."
"Of course," Sam exclaimed. "You're trapped here as well, aren't you?"
Ro'shur nodded. Jack looked round, confused.
"Major?" he said.
Think about it, Colonel," she replied. "Given the way their ship was stuck in the ruins, they must have crashed here. I haven't heard any engine noise either the whole time we've been on board, which must mean that the reason they haven't taken off to take us back to Zipacna is because they can't!"
Ro'shur nodded. "She is correct," he said. "We arrived in this system approximately a week ago, but no sooner than we had reached the planet, a solar flare hit our ship and destroyed most of our vital systems. We still have heat and air, but…" – he waved at the rear of the ship, at the door behind which the ship's engines were housed – "…our engines are beyond repair. We were able to land using emergency thrusters…"
"But you won't be taking off any time soon," Jack said.
"We lost long-range communications as well," Koresh added.
"So, no calling for a rescue," Daniel said.
Jack looked round at the ship he had been assuming would be their way out of here, getting that annoying sinking feeling of watching a viable plan evaporating before his eyes.
"This is all fascinating," he said, looking back at Ro'shur, "but so what? Did you just want us to know exactly how screwed we are?"
"Not exactly," Ro'shur replied. "You have on multiple occasions since we captured you stated your intention to escape. Tell me, how do you intend to do this?"
Thrown by the fact that somepony was actually taking his jokes seriously, and unnerved by where this might be going, he looked round at the rest of his team for support. Sam and Daniel just shrugged unhelpfully.
"I figured something would turn up," he said, looking back at Ro'shur. "It usually does."
"Indeed," Ro'shur said. "Your luck is also legendary among the Jaffa. You have been captured, surrounded and outnumbered numerous times by Goa'uld forces."
"They killed us once, too," Jack added proudly.
Ro'shur gave him an odd look. "And yet, here you stand."
"To give you and your team even a chance to escape would result in severe punishment," Koresh said.
"But in this case," Ro'shur added, "our only other option is certain death."
Jack just managed to resist the urge to laugh out loud. "You can't be serious," he said. "You want us to help you escape?"
"Would you rather just wait in here to die?" Koresh asked.
"Okay, you've got a point there," Jack said, "but let's say for the sake of argument that we do miraculously find a way off this planet, and we decide to take you with us. What's to stop you just turning round and capturing us again?"
"Would you not do the same?" Koresh replied.
"He's got a point, too," Daniel said.
Ro'shur gave a nod. "You are right," he said. "You have no reason to trust us to aid you. That is why I wish to offer you an exchange."
Jack gave him a sceptical look. "What on earth do you have that we could want?" he said. "You've already told us you don't know how to get out of here."
"They do have our equipment," Daniel said, but Jack shook his head. They still had nowhere to go. Having their guns back would only allow them to fight their way out into a firestorm.
"We do not have much to offer," Ro'shur said, "but we can give you information. We can tell you everything we know about this planet and what has trapped us here. I will not hide anything, and if I know something which may help, I will tell you."
‘You'll tell us everything?" Sam asked, looking at him quizzically. "Just like that?" Ro'shur nodded.
"Aiding the enemy is treason," Teal'c said. "You are willing to betray your god?"
Koresh spun round to face Teal'c. Jack knew the look on his face well, and half expected the next word out of his mouth to be "Shol'va".
"It was our god who sent us here!" he shouted. "He did not order us here to die! If we do not return as he commanded us, we will have failed him anyway!"
"Koresh is correct," Ro'shur said. "It is our duty to return to Lord Zipacna and give him the information we have gained here. If there is any possibility of us doing so and we refuse, then we will have betrayed him."
"That's a fairly relaxed interpretation," Jack said uncertainly, "but okay. That just leaves one more thing."
"What happens to you?" Ro'shur asked. Jack nodded, and waited as the Jaffa considered the question, fully expecting them to say something vague or just lie about offering their freedom, but the response he got took him by surprise.
"If we escape," Ro'shur said, "then you will be given over to Lord Zipacna."
Jack stared, taken aback. "Wow."
"I am proposing a temporary alliance," Ro'shur said, "nothing more. Even so, it would be counterproductive to lie to you."
Jack closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead, considering the options. The Jaffa's proposal still felt a bit one-sided, but the fact that they were willing to even consider working with their prisoners indicated that they really wanted to get off the planet. That made Jack think that it was probably in his team's best interests to find a way to leave as well for the same reasons. Better to be imprisoned somewhere where there were only Goa'uld trying to kill them, and the planet itself. In any case, these two Jaffa seemed to be willing to trust them. Perhaps they should do the same.
"We might as well," Daniel said, walking over.
"It can't be any worse than where we are now," Sam added. "Plus, I'd be interested to know what Zipacna knows about this planet."
Jack nodded. "What about you?" he said, turning to Teal'c.
"As you say, Colonel O'Neill," he replied, "any harbour in a maelstrom."
"Okay then…" Jack turned back to Ro'shur. "I guess I must've hit my head pretty hard, because I'm going to say yes. What can you tell us, then?"
Ro'shur led SG-1 into the cargo ship's forward section, Koresh following close behind. The firestorm had let up, and Jack could see the ruins and the perpetual evening sky again. He had no intention of going out there though – there were safer ways of finding out how frequent the storms were – but the increased feeling of freedom was still comforting.
"Where's our equipment?" he asked, looking round.
"Locked away," Koresh said. "You do not need your weapons."
Jack looked over at him. "You're okay with all this as well, are you?" he asked.
The young Jaffa looked quizzically at him for a few moments. "I have no wish to die here either," he said.
"That's not exactly what I meant," Jack said. "Ten minutes ago you wanted to beat me up, and now…"
"Uh, I hate to break this up," Sam said, "but we've got a lot to talk about if we're ever going to get out of here."
"Yeah, okay," Jack said. The peculiar group sat down in a circle on the floor, looking cautiously round at each other.
"So, where to begin," Jack said.
"Why did you come here?" Daniel suggested.
"Yeah, let's go with that."
The two Jaffa looked wordlessly at each other, then Koresh nodded and turned to address the group.
"Lord Zipacna sent us here to determine if this world was safe for recapture," he said. "We were to find out if the risk once posed by the artefact still remained."
"I'm guessing the answer to that one's a resounding 'no'," Jack said, and Koresh nodded.
"Wait a minute," Daniel said. "What artefact?"
Another sideways glance between the Jaffa. It was plainly obvious that they were uncomfortable with their new position, and Jack wondered how long they'd be able to keep it up.
"It is a relic from this world," Koresh explained after a few moments, "from the time of Ra, or perhaps even before. It is said to have contained enough power with in it that the pony who controlled it could rule the galaxy. But when he attempted to seize its power, he was rewarded for his arrogance with death."
"I have not heard of this artefact," Teal'c said, and Ro'shur shook his head.
"Nor had we, until Zipacna himself told me of it. It is orak—"
"Unspeakable," Daniel said, just before Jack could ask.
"Yes," Ro'shur said, nodding. "It does not even have a name. The Goa'uld do not speak lightly of something which once killed one of their own."
Jack and Sam glanced at each other. If this artefact existed then it was the best candidate they had found yet for the superweapon they were supposed to be looking for. This meant, of course, that they once more had orders to fulfil – orders that could get a bit awkward if their new allies had already completed their mission.
"So," Jack said cautiously, "did you ever find this artefact?"
The Jaffa paused, but the discomfort this time seemed deeper than just their choice of conversation partners.
"Yes and no," Koresh said.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Jack asked.
Ro'shur stood up, walking back and forth behind the circle. "We did not find any evidence of an artefact," he said, "though we have not have much time to search. However, I am certain that we have seen what killed Ra."
"You've seen it?" Daniel said. "What do you mean? If it's not an artefact, and it's still here… what is it?"
Ro'shur stopped pacing and looked down at him. "You have seen it too," he said, "and you have felt its presence. We were all attacked by the firestorm."
"So that was an attack," Sam said, looking sideways at Jack.
"It's attacked us in other ways as well, actually," Daniel noted. "But that still doesn't answer my question. What is it? Where is it?"
Ro'shur raised an eyebrow. "Doctor Jackson," he said, "you are a linguist, are you not? Tell me, do you know what the Ra'shek is?"
Daniel stood up. "Uh, for one thing, it's a myth," he said. "It's either Ra's trapped spirit, or the force which killed him, although what could have stayed alive here for eight thousand years I don't—"
Ro'shur held a hoof up, silencing the doctor. "That is what the legend says it is," he said, "but that it not what it is. What does the word itself mean?"
Daniel blinked, then started pacing back and forth, thinking.
"Okay," he said, "it's a compound word. 'Shek' can mean many things: spirit, ghost, usually malevolent; on some worlds it's even synonymous with the minions of Sokar. 'Ra' is obviously a name, but it's also passed into common usage to mean—"
"Daniel?" Jack prompted him. He stopped pacing and looked up.
"Ra'shek," he said. "Sun demon."
Koresh shifted uneasily at the phrase.
"As I said," Ro'shur answered. "You have all seen it."
"Wait, wait," Sam said, getting to her hooves as well. "Are you seriously telling me that we're under attack from the sun?"
"It makes some sense," Jack said, standing up next to her. "I mean, solar flares, fire storms…"
"Mind control?"
"Okay, yeah, that is a little odd," Jack sat down again, deciding to let the astrophysicist handle this one.
"Major Carter," Ro'shur said, "when I first stepped through the Chappa'ai, I did not understand it. The thought that my god had the power to send warriors across the sky with a single step seemed impossible to me, but I knew it to be true."
"Yeah, but that's completely different!" Sam replied. "I know how the Stargates work! They do make sense! What you're telling me isn't just nonsensical, it's physically impossible! A star can't be alive; the heat would destroy any coherent structures too quickly!"
Ro'shur looked over at Koresh. "Show her," he said. Koresh nodded and stood up, closing his eyes in concentration and summoning his magic.
"Show her what?" Jack asked, but as he did a holographic screen appeared in front of them showing an image of the sun, its light filling the room.
"Bright," Daniel said, raising a hoof to shield his eyes. "Could you turn it down?"
Koresh nodded. His horn pulsed, and the image faded until the glare disappeared, leaving behind a clear image of the sun's swirling surface.
The room fell completely silent. Jack and Teal'c stood up, and the four of them stared in shock at the image in front of them.
"What—" Jack said, but he couldn't think of anything more to say that did the sight justice. There in front of him, clearly outlined in the patterns of currents and sunspots dotted across the sun, was the unmistakeable image of a pony's head.
Daniel gave his glasses a wipe, putting them on and walking up towards the ghostly image. "What is that?" he said. "Who is that?"