hathor_girl | Fic, Chance Meetings, Rosha/Jolinar/Martouf/Lantash, Sam/Jolinar/Martouf/Lantash, PG-13, 2/4

Jack POV

"You said you had a special job for me, sir?" I ask.

"Yes." General Johnson nods in the direction of the other man in the room. "I believe you know Colonel Jenkins?"

I look at the man, and smile. "I do, sir. We were in the Gulf together."

We shake hands. "Good to see you again, O'Neill." He smiles, but his smile doesn't reach his eyes. I wonder what is bothering him?

"This is not strictly a job for the Air Force, but we've taken an interest when Colonel Jenkins contacted us about it." Johnson says. "It's about Jenkins's nephew... but I believe Jenkins should explain himself."

"Yes, sir." Jenkins take a deep breath. "I had an older brother, who died in an accident a couple years ago. He had a couple kids - a son and a daughter. The son - Jeffrey - he took his father's death really hard, and took to drinking and dropped out of college. Then, about six months ago, his sister called me. Turns out he's joined a cult."

"A cult?" I raise my eyebrows.

"Yes. Someone called Seth. Has about 50 followers on his compound, somewhere upstate Seattle. He brainwashes the kids!" Jenkins sounds desperate. "I can't leave Jeffrey there, but I don't know what to do! I've talked to others who has lost kids to that maniac!"

I grimace. This Seth sounds like a real piece of work.

"The Air Force can't do anything officially, but I thought maybe you, and maybe a couple others, could see if you could help Colonel Jenkins?" Johnson asks.

I nod. "Sure. I'd love to help." I think of Charlie, and how I would feel if he ended up in a cult in a few years. "With your permission, I'll talk to Kawalsky and Ferretti."

Johnson nods. "Good choice. Well, good luck then, guys!"

Jolinar POV

We have spent three days in the city of Seattle. It is a huge city, with many hundreds of thousands of people in it. That is strange, and most of us cannot stop ourselves from feeling uncomfortable here. Yet, we know that there are cities that are even larger on this world.

We have managed to get some more information on Seth. It is definitely him, and his compound is the one we located about 13 iteru north of here. There exists a group of parents, mostly, that are trying to free their children from Seth and his 'cult' as the humans call it. If they only knew that it is not merely a human 'cult' leader their children have been seduced by!

Seth has apparently about 50 brainwashed followers, and they are very well armed, and the place well defended. We will not be able to just walk in and capture him, but Goa'uld compounds usually have secret underground passages, so the Goa'uld can escape if there is danger. That entrance we must find.

It would be easier if we could send in someone to infiltrate the place, but none of us can go. Seth would sense us within 50 feet. It is too bad we have no human allies we can send in!

However, we have to take a closer look at the place, so we start take a 'buss' - a kind of public transportation - in the direction of Seth's compound.

Friday evening

Sam POV

The holiday cottage is a huge place. I wouldn't call it a cottage, more like a mansion! No wonder Talia hosts these parties here - there's room for many more people than those invited!

I feel self-conscious in this summer dress. It's fairly modest - at least compared to what some are wearing, but I am just not used to wearing clothing like this.

It looks as if all the people from the department is here - and more. Talia has invited some other friends too. People seem to be getting along fine. I feel like I am the only one left out. The good looking colleague of mine has a girlfriend, of course. She is beautiful.

Just my luck!

I take my drink and go stand over in the corner. When I turn I almost bump into a man with glasses and a woolen vest.

"Oops, sorry!" I say, narrowly avoiding pouring my drink over him.

"It's okay. I wasn't paying attention." He says.

He's actually pretty good looking, but the vest is atrocious. Even I can see that. "Isn't that warm?" I ask him.

Nice, insult the man as the first thing you do! Way to go, Sam!

"Uh, well, yeah. Yeah, I guess it is..." he admits. "Ah, I'm Daniel, by the way. Doctor Daniel Jackson."

"Hi." I smile at him and shake the hand he sticks out. "I'm Doctor Samantha Carter."

He nods. "So, what are you a doctor in?"

"Astrophysics." I nod. "You?"

"Archaeology."

"Archaeology?" I raise an eyebrow. "Interesting. How do you know Talia?"

"She's the sister of my boss. My new boss." He grimaces.

"Problems?"

"Uh, not sure." He frowns and throws a look at a group of people standing about half-way across the room. The group consists of a young woman, dressed very provocatively, and three men who clearly appreciates her outfit. He lowers his voice. "She's, uh, over there..."

"Well, it looks like she's having fun." I say, feeling part jealous and part outraged.

He nods. "Yeah. Also married."

"Not to you, I'm assuming?"

"No. No. I'm just... her date. Not that there's anything going on between us. Just...she needed someone to accompany her, and her husband travels a lot, I think." He sighs. "Never mind. Her name's Alesha Jenkins."

I nod. "You just started a new job?"

"Yeah."

"Me too." I take a long drink. I'm not usually this talkative with people I don't know. Particularly not men... and a fairly attractive one even. I like him. Weird thing is that it feels more like he could be a close friend, than anything else. Well, I'd take a close friend too! Haven't had many of those. I smile at him. "I need some more to drink. What about you?"

He looks at his glass. "Sure."

We go to get more to drink. I have a feeling we might become great friends. Suddenly this party doesn't feel so awkward and unpleasant anymore!

Jack POV

It's late Friday afternoon. Jenkins, Kawalsky, Ferretti, and myself have just talked to the sheriff in the small town near this Seth-fellows place. Seems like he's well known around here, with all kinds of weird rumours going around. Glowing eyes and whatnot! I'm not interested in superstition. I hate cults. We'll find a way to get into the compound and free Jenkins nephew, Jeffrey.

The Sheriff is driving in his truck up ahead, so we're just following him.

He drives up the road until we get to a perimeter fence. The entrance is closed off. The sheriff gets out, and so do we.

"This is the place. Main building's about ¾ mile up that drive. I sure hope you can shut these guys down. I've had a lot of parents come in my office…they've lost their kids to this nut. I haven't got the manpower or the, what you call probable cause, that you Federal types do."

"Well, we'll do what we can, Sheriff, appreciate you letting us look around." I tell the Sheriff.

The Sheriffs radio makes a signal, and he goes aside to answer. I hear a crackling voice saying there is a fire breaking out down at someone called Earl's place. The Sheriff returns to us after a few moments.

"Duty calls. Looks like you don't need me getting in your way now. You give me a call if you need me, huh?" he says.

"Will do." I tell him.

As the Sheriff drives away, a man hurries across the road to meet us. On alert, we all turn to him.

"You people with the FBI?" he asks.

"Nope. Who are you?" I ask.

"Name's Jason Levinson. Been camping out here the past month hoping to catch a glimpse of my boy Tommy, at least to know if he's still alive. Been in there nine months now. You folks deprogrammers? Better be good…guy I hired got shot in the leg trying to get in there."

"So he's got some armed guards, is what you're saying." I say.

"Lot of em'. And what's that damned small-town Sheriff do about it? Nothing. Not a damned thing." Levinson sounds really bitter. I can't say I blame him.

He looks at us all.

"Any of you got a kid in there?" Levinson asks.

We all shake our heads, but Jenkins hesitates. "My nephew is in there. We're here to get him out."

Damn! I mean, I sympathize with Levinson, but I don't want any civilians here. If they get involved it can get really dangerous really fast.

"How much would you tack on to get my boy out the same time as his nephew?"

I sigh and make a decision. "You help us, we might be able to help you."

"I'm with you Sir." Levinson looks relieved.

"That won't be necessary, but we could use any information you might have. What your guy did, where he went in, where he got caught, that kind of stuff." I say.

"You got it. The fence is in the wide open, as is most of the property. But I'll show you brush cover… if you want to go in."

Phew, he doesn't insist on going with us! This could be to our advantage, then!

Levinson starts walking towards the perimeter fence and we follow him slowly.

Kawalsky nudge my am. "Colonel... we're being surveyed."

"Yeah, I saw them. It's probably FBI, maybe ATF."

I look in the direction of the observer. It's a man, dressed as a telecommunications engineer and standing on a raised platform. He is watching us through a pair of binoculars.

Jolinar POV

We have bought suitable, camouflage clothing in a store in the town, as well as some provisions, and now we are approaching Seth's compound. The area is wooded, so for now we can move reasonably securely, but it looks more open up ahead. The compound is surrounded by a fence, so we cannot just walk in.

"Someone passed here recently." Martouf tells me in a low voice.

I look at the tracks, and nod. We all stop as we here someone some distance away. We hide behind some bushes and observe them discreetly.

It's five men. Four of them are wearing identical, camouflage clothing, and probably belong to this country's military of some kind. The fifth is a civilian, I think.

A grey-haired man lights a small charge of some kind, which burns through the metal bars of the fence.

We all peek our ears and listen. The civilian wants to come, but the military men doesn't want him. I agree. I think the military should stay out too. Seth - like any Goa'uld - is dangerous, and these people do not know what they are dealing with! Having someone else involved can give problems!

Rosha reminds me that it can also work to our advantage, if the others distract Seth and his people. Maybe we can make our move meanwhile. She is right, of course.

The humans have removed the piece of fence they have cut, and are sneaking inside. When they are far enough ahead, we follow.

We continue for some time, through a wooded area, keeping our distance to the humans. They have not noticed us. When they stop, so do we. They are at the edge of the woods, and they are surveying Seth's compound. I wish we could get closer and see what is going on!

I signal Martouf to sneak closer, as he is the most stealthy. He makes it to the edge of the forest, some distance from the humans.

Jack POV

There are armed disciples patrolling the compound. It does not look good.

"AK47s, couple of Uzis. Anyone think they observed the requisite 15 day waiting period for those weapons?" I say.

"Sir, their side-arms." Ferretti notes. "What do you think they are?"

I look through my binoculars and sees that the cult members are armed with a weird type of handgun. Looks a bit like a snake? Never seen them before. "No idea." I tell Ferretti.

"It looks like they have a pair of 50 cals." Kawalsky observes.

"Is the concept of overkill mean anything to anybody? Let's fall back to the RV point." I say.

We need to think about this. We can't just take them, clearly.

As they reach the fence, they are confronted by a group of armed men, who have their weapons aimed at SG1.

"Lower your weapons." The leader tells us.

"Was wondering when you folks were gonna show. We got bets. I say FBI, they say ATF." I say.

"Special Agent James Hamner. ATF." The leader says.

"Damn." I says.

Jolinar POV

"The humans were taken by another group of humans. As for Seth's minions... well, they are heavily armed. Several types of Tau'ri weapons, in addition to zat'nik'tels." Martouf tells us.

I nod. Then make a decision. "We cannot enter this way. We should find another entrance. As you know, Goa'uld compounds will usually have one."

"Perhaps we should also determine what the humans are doing?" Martouf suggests. "We do not want them to interfere, but whatever action they take may work as a diversion...if we know what they intend to do and when."

"Very true. We should try to find out where they were taken."

It took us little time to follow their tracks, and soon we find a small camp. Martouf sneaks up to it and listens for what is going on inside.

He soon returns.

"What are they planning?" I ask.

"The new group of humans wishes to surround the compound, negotiate, and get Seth and his people to come out peacefully."

I snort. "As if that is going to happen!"

"No, they obviously do not know what they are dealing with." Whilan says.

"How could they?" Korra says. "They do not know of the Goa'uld."

"True enough. What did the other group of humans have to say?" I ask.

"They seem to fear Seth will kill his followers, especially since the man that joined them, Levinson, believes he is brainwashing his followers." Martouf says.

"Very likely... and he probably uses nishta to brainwash them." I say. "So the first group does not favour a direct assault?"

"No, they would prefer stealth, and had intended to sneak inside. However, they seem to be getting convinced a direct assault is better in this situation." Martouf says.

"Fools." I observe.

"However, it may be the diversion we needs. If we can locate Seth's secret entrance to his compound, we may be able to take him out while his followers are occupied fighting the humans." Korra suggests.

"Seth will sense us." Whilan points out.

"Yes, but he will be one against all of us." Martouf reminds him.

"I agree. It could work." I say. "We have our zat'nik'tels. One shot with those should reverse the brainwashing in Seth's followers, and almost certainly make them uninterested in protecting him."

"So we search the perimeter outside Seth's compound to find his underground escape tunnels, and then when the humans attack, we go in through the tunnels and capture Seth?" Martouf suggests.

"Yes, that is exactly what we will do. Most likely the humans will attack when it gets dark in a few hours. We should see if we can find the tunnels before that." I tell them. "We have our scanners to help, and since there is likely naquadah technology involved, we should be able to sense them too."

Sam POV

"It's really a nice place." I tell Talia.

"Thanks." She smiles. "I like coming here, since we always went here with my parents, but it's a bit expensive to keep, and since I use it so rarely I kind of wish I could sell it."

"Really?" I say, surprised.

"Why can't you?" Daniel asks. "I mean, the location is great, and it's in good condition... a bit big, but..."

Talia shakes her head. "That is not the problem. No, you see, no one want to live her because of the neighbors."

"The neighbors?" I ask, frowning.

She nods, grimacing. "Yeah. About half a mile away lies the compound of Seth, the cult leader."

"Seth?" I wonder.

"Never heard of him." Daniel adds.

"Really?" Talia sighs. "Well, he's the leader of a cult. He's been there for many years now. People say he's brainwashing their kids. My sister's husband's nephew, among others. There's a lot of people in there, and the few I have seen seem very... well, as you would expect in a cult. Well armed too. The police can't do a thing."

"Creepy." I shudder. "Sorry... about the kid Seth's brainwashed, I mean."

"Cults are an interesting phenomenon." Daniel begins, then clearly thinks better of it. "I understand why it would...affect the neighborhood - and the house prices."

"I think it sounds interesting - and a little dangerous! I mean, don't get me wrong, cults are bad, but it does give the area a certain...touch of the exotic, don't you think?" Daniel's boss, Alesha Jenkins, says.

That's a bit tasteless, considering Talia got family, sort of, that's trapped by the maniac!

Talia grimaces again. "Well, if you really want to, you can see the fence - and often some of the guards too - if you go a bit past the hedge over there." She points to the edge of her ground.

Alesha giggles - she's a bit drunk, I think. "Well what are we waiting for? Let's go check it out!"

"Uh, it's getting dark outside. I don't think now is a good time...I mean, with the armed guards..." Daniel says.

I totally agree! Is this woman crazy?

"Aw, come on! We're only visiting tonight! Nothing interesting ever happens!" Alesha pouts. "Well, I can go there myself!"

"I...don't think that's a good idea. Not when it's dark." Talia says. "The guards are very twitchy - you don't wanna get shot!"

Alesha snorts and continues towards the garden door, walking on unstable legs. I get a very bad feeling this will end badly!

"Um, I can't let her go out there alone." Daniel says. "I promised I'd keep her company."

I sigh deeply, and nod. "I'll come with you." I decide.

I must be crazy! We're all crazy! I just hope this won't end badly!

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