06 - Siren Song Read Free Page A

Teal’c, Jack met the eyes of each of his
team in turn as they stripped off their weapons and gear. No way in hell were
they boarding that ship. Once they were inside the hold, there was no guarantee
they’d be able to make it out again before it was too late. Besides, they still
had no idea what the bounty hunter wanted them for, and all of Jack’s instincts
screamed that this was a disaster in the making. He motioned to Carter and
Daniel to move out, then followed with Teal’c at his side. Aris was behind them,
not too close, but close enough.
    He couldn’t shoot them both in time.
    Jack and Teal’c moved apart a few steps. At Jack’s unspoken signal, they made
their move. A turn and a leap… and Jack found his nerve endings on fire. All
his limbs stopped cooperating; he sprawled on the ground, shaking and twitching.
It was ten times worse than being zatted. He gasped and gritted his teeth,
trying to ride out the pain.
    Somewhere nearby rose the muffled thud of a body hitting a personal shield— that would be Teal’c, Jack’s brain helpfully supplied—and then Teal’c
was on the ground next to him, flat on his back. Jack’s hands and arms spasmed,
and his spine was melting. After a moment, the white fire racing around his body
died down to intermittent sparking, and he took a deep breath. So much for the
brilliant escape.
    “Teal’c. I’m disappointed in you,” Aris said, leaning over him.
    “It is, as you say, business,” Teal’c replied. He sat up and reached out to
Jack, who waved away his concern.
    “I’m all right,” Jack breathed, though his muscles were still trembling.
    Aris leaned in and wagged the point of his blaster at Jack. “Just so you
know, I’m trading you first.”
     
    Jack lay on his back on the floor and looked up at the ceiling. He drummed
his fingers against his chest, tapping out the opening bars of “Smoke on the
Water”. “Slo-ow motion Wa-alter,” he sang under his breath. The ceiling looked
familiar. Just like the ceilings of all the tel’taks in his life, swirly
brushed metal and random intersecting arcs. He pretty much hated tel’taks, he decided, slapped his hands down on the floor beside him and ended with a
loud, “That fire engine gu-uy!”
    Daniel’s head jerked up from his chest. Teal’c raised an eyebrow. Carter
glanced over her shoulder and went back to futzing with the door controls.
    After unhooking his glasses from the collar of his shirt, Daniel slipped them
on one-handed and peered at him. “Who?”
    “Slow motion Walter,” Jack answered. Lifting his head, he waved a hand. “You
know, the fire engine guy.” When Daniel’s lips pursed and his eyes narrowed,
Jack sighed and let his head fall back against the floor. “Are you telling me
you never listened to Deep Purple?”
    “Smoke on the water,” Teal’c said. “Fire in the sky.”
    Jack rolled his head to look at Daniel and aimed a finger at Teal’c. “See?
The alien knows Deep Purple.”
    A self-satisfied expression crept over Teal’c’s features as he closed his
eyes and went back to being a statue.
    Carter’s yelp and a shower of sparks cut off whatever Daniel had been about
to say. “Damnit!” she hissed and sucked the ends of her fingers while she walked
in a tight circle, ending up back at the door panel.
    “You okay?” Jack craned his neck to look at her.
    She took her fingers out of her mouth long enough to say “Yes, sir,” and went
back to glaring at the panel.
    Through the door they could hear Aris Boch laughing. The intercom switched on
with a click, and Aris’ laughter was in the aft cargo space with them. “You
break it, you’re going to owe me. These things aren’t cheap, you know.”
    “If you open the door and let us hit you on the head with something heavy, we
won’t have to break anything at all,” Jack pointed out reasonably.
    “Except his head,” Daniel corrected him.
    “Yeah, except that.”
    After a pause, Aris gave a rumbling