Okay guys, here's part six--finally! I'll probably have the last part ready for you to read today too, so stat tuned!
Invincible Part Six
Rated: PG
Jack O’Neill stumbled out of the sarcophagus, groaning and nearly toppling over. He clutched the edges of the other sarcophagus to brace himself.
“Careful Jack,” MacGyver said, watching him. “The sarcophagus didn’t eliminate all the effects of the poison.”
“Yeah, this I noticed,” Jack said, wincing. He looked up at MacGyver, catching his breath, his lungs sore from straining. “I thought you fixed the damn thing.”
MacGyver glanced at the belt buckle inserted into the side of the partly functioning sarcophagus. “Not one hundred percent,” he said, flinching.
Jack also looked in the direction of the sarcophagus. “The belt buckle?” He asked. “Mac, I told you it wouldn’t work!”
“Hey, it worked well enough, or we wouldn’t be alive right now!”
“I thought you could fix anything!”
“Jack, I did fix it!”
“Not well enough.”
“Would you stop whining? Look, I’m not Magic Man, here. I do the best I can!”
“This was the best you could do?”
“Jack!”
Shuffling sounds in the ship’s corridor interrupted their argument. Jack shot MacGyver a warning look and gestured for him to be quiet, brushing his long index finger against his lips. MacGyver nodded.
‘Okay, I’m sorry I gave you a hard time,’ Jack said in his mind, still looking at MacGyver. ‘I must be cranky from the poison or something. Let’s just work on getting out of here.’
MacGyver smiled slightly. ‘You’ll get no argument from me on that,’ he said in his mind.
Jack motioned for MacGyver to follow him. Quietly, they crept toward the corridor, hiding behind the open doorway that led into the room where they were. A lone Jaffa was walking toward their direction in full armor, carrying a staff weapon. Jack sized him up and saw that he also had a zat gun attached to his belt. Licking his lips, he waited patiently for the Jaffa to approach.
‘All right,’ he said to MacGyver in his mind. ‘Just get ready.’
MacGyver nodded, also peering around the corner, watching and waiting. The sounds of the Jaffa’s steady footfalls grew closer, and both MacGyver and Jack held their breath, anticipating his movements. When the Jaffa was inches away, Jack grabbed him suddenly, wrapping his arm around his neck. The Jaffa struggled, and in Jack’s still weakened condition it wasn’t easy to hold him. Just as he was about to reach for his staff weapon, MacGyver lunged at him, punching him, knocking him to the floor. Jack quickly grabbed the zat gun on the stunned Jaffa’s belt and fired it once, sending him into unconsciousness. When he was finished, he threw the zat gun at MacGyver, and he caught it.
Jack looked at the motionless Jaffa and then back at MacGyver, grinning. “Teamwork,” he said. “It’s a beautiful thing.” He picked up the staff weapon.
MacGyver looked around the long corridor. “Now what, Jack?” He asked. “There has to be more where he came from.”
“There is,” Jack said, “you can count on it. That’s why we have these weapons. You remember how to work a zat, don’t you?”
“Yeah, I think so,” MacGyver said, studying the unusual, sleek weapon. “One shot stuns someone, right?”
“That’s right. Just keep that in mind and you’ll be fine. Now, come with me. We’re gonna smoke these boys out of their holes. Oh, and Mac?”
“Yes?”
“Don’t end your sentences with prepositions. You know how much I hate that,” Jack said, winking.
“Yes sir,” MacGyver said, saluting him and grinning.
***
“My lord Apollo,” Murdoc said, bowing ceremoniously. “As promised, I have delivered O’Neill and his cousin MacGyver to you. I expect a generous reward.”
The Goa’uld System Lord assuming the identity of the ancient Greek god Apollo stood before Murdoc, flamboyantly dressed with a laurel wreath around his head. He was attractive and young and projected his masculine virility to its full power and potential. It was almost exaggerated, typical of Goa’uld bravado, and even though Murdoc himself was a Goa’uld, he found the whole display somewhat absurd.
Apollo sneered at Murdoc. “You displease me greatly,” he said, his voice a low, deep growl which was also familiar to the Goa’uld, indicating that the symbiote was speaking and in control, not the host. Murdoc also found that voice ridiculous, since his original voice had long since fused with that of his symbiote, making them sound the same.
Murdoc remained calm. “Why, my lord? Because my host and my symbiote share an equal relationship?” He asked.
Apollo looked disgusted. “Yes,” he said. “The host should not be allowed any control. They are lesser beings. I find it completely repugnant.”
“Well, perhaps you do,” Murdoc said, “but my host is an efficient killer, as am I. Our cooperation with one another has produced not only a major nuisance to the Goa’uld in Jack O’Neill, but has brought you his cousin as well. Both are descendents to the Ancients. Surely, that is valuable to the System Lords and cannot be underestimated.”
Apollo smirked. “Yes, well, we shall see what benefits you are to receive for this capture,” he said. “The System Lords will indeed be grateful.”
“Thank you, my lord.”
Suddenly, noises in the ship’s corridor grew louder. Shouts and staff blasts echoed. A terrified Jaffa ran into the room where Apollo and Murdoc stood.
“My lord!” He shouted, kneeling quickly and then standing. He was out of breath.
“What is it, Jaffa?” Apollo asked.
“We’re under attack!”
Apollo raised a golden eyebrow. “By whom?” He asked.
“O’Neill and his relation! They’re alive!”
Murdoc’s eyes grew wide. Apollo looked at him angrily.
“No, it’s impossible!” Murdoc said.
“You told me you killed them before delivering them to me!” Apollo shouted.
“I did! I…I don’t understand. They can’t be alive!”
“They are,” Apollo said. “We must find them. Jaffa, kree!” He shouted at the Jaffa, who nodded and ran out, returning to fight off Jack O’Neill and MacGyver.
***
MacGyver and Jack O’Neill continued rushing down the long, winding ship’s corridors, blasting away at the throngs of Jaffa warriors who came toward them. Jack used the staff weapon, and MacGyver fired off several good shots with the zat gun. Despite all of the turmoil and chaos inside the ship as they battled, Jack still managed to glance back at MacGyver occasionally, impressed with his handling of the weapon. He knew his cousin felt uncomfortable about using guns, but he was still a crack shot with the zat. He wished he could be on the SG team permanently, but he knew MacGyver felt more comfortable and stable on Earth. In a way, he couldn’t blame him, especially as the Jaffa assault grew more intense, glowing staff and zat blasts arcing overhead, some of them barely missing them.
‘Well Jack, what do you suggest we do now?’ MacGyver asked in his mind.
Jack could feel his adrenaline soar, along with MacGyver’s. Both of them were physically exhausted from the remainder of the poison in their systems, and he didn’t know how much longer they could fight off the Jaffa.
‘There’s an escape pod bay near here,’ Jack said in his mind, trying to remember all he knew about the structures of Goa’uld ships. ‘We just have to get to it.’
“Jack, look out!” MacGyver shouted out loud.
Just in time, Jack managed to duck, crouching as another staff blast raced by him. It burrowed into the side of the ship and exploded.
‘There’s too many of them! We’re pinned down, Jack!’ MacGyver said in his mind again.
‘Hey, where’s that old MacGyver optimism?’ Jack asked in his mind.
‘It’s wearing thin.’
‘We’ll get out of here. Trust me.’
Just as another wave of Jaffa rushed into the corridor, prepared to strike, a white, blinding light surrounded both Jack and MacGyver. Bewildered, the Jaffa stopped and watched, their weapons still armed and pointed in their direction. Seconds later, the light disappeared, along with Jack O’Neill and MacGyver. They had vanished.
To be continued…
"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer."
--Henry David Thoreau
brains+brawn+beauty+personality=MacGyver
