Thanks again! heart_of_a_volunteer... you are the best:-) sorry it took so long to get this back here. I just get so busy living life that I can not seem to find my way over to FF very often. Thanks again folks!

Chapter 5

"Dear GOD…" Ortiz whispered. He swallowed hard as he walked in the door.

"Reilly!" Brody shouted as the first bony hand reached out and grazed his arm.

Madeline looked questioningly over at Piccolo who furrowed his brow in uncomfortable confusion. At the same instant the she and Piccolo darted towards the door. The smell or urine was only over powered by the smell of human defecation. She stopped and stared in complete horror at the sight in front of her. The hair on the back of her neck started to bristle as she felt the uncomfortable goose bumps rippling over the rest of her body. Hundreds of women had been jammed into the small cargo hold of the ship like animals being sent to market. She shook with fear as the woman cried out for help in languages she had never heard and couldn't make out. Madeline felt unnerving chills spread all through her body like a lightning bolt scurrying across a lightning rod. Her jaw fell slack as she let her eyes wonder over the conditions these traumatized women were living in. She could feel tears prick the inside of her eyelids as anger began boiling inside of her.

There was a noise to her left and she turned her attention to an emaciated woman who fell into her arms taking both women to the floor. She thrust a tiny wadded up piece of paper into her hands at the same time. Madeline looked at the tattered and wadded piece of paper and then back at the woman. All three men stood looking from side to side at the conditions surrounding them. The women were sharing a few single bottles of water, there were no beds to lie on and their bodily wastes were excreted into a few five gallon pails. Their living conditions were beyond ghastly.

"Commander!" Brody finally snapped his PAL up to make contact with the other team.

"Go ahead." Ford responded.

"We have a situation below decks. We need you here now!" The stunned officer snapped.

--

Ford looked around at the top deck and the broken down crates and pallets that littered the surface. He furrowed his brow at the urgency in Brody's voice. He could hear the wails of people over the lieutenant's voice. It was apparent that there was no time for explanations.

"Something's wrong." Wendy stated as she looked at Ford.

"Yeah, we're going below deck. The other team's found something." Ford responded.

"No… this whole situation." Doctor Smith shook her head and then rubbed her temple with her right hand.

"Doctor…" O'Neill grabbed the woman's arm and her waist as she started crumple from the intense emotions she was feeling.

Doctor Smith continued to rub her head and then squinting looked up. She took a deep breath as she found her footing again and then looked at Lieutenant O'Neil. "I'm fine, Lieutenant." She smiled nervously patting O'Neill on the arm. "Let's go."

The four continued to walk cautiously through the maze of clutter littering the vessel when something fell causing the team to look back.

"What the…" Ford watched as two men shot around the corner heading towards the edge of the vessel.

"Hold it!" Ford shouted as the men continued to run.

"Brody, we have company!" Ford shouted into his PAL as he, O'Neill and Dagwood ran after the fleeing men.

"Freeze or we'll fire!" Ford shouted again.

That time them men stopped in their tracks. Their hands shot directly up into the air. They turned slowly towards the men. One man muttered something to the other before the team took control of them.

--

Madeline Reilly sat on the filthy floor holding a woman bleeding from the head in her arms. The woman pleaded with her in what could have been Spanish.

"Por favor ayúdeme. Ellos hacen daño a mí." She whispered.

Madeline looked up at Tony who had walked over to help. He swallowed hard putting his weapon to his side and squatting down next to the two women. Reilly shook her head as she leaned in closer to the woman. Her face was a mess of cuts and bruises. Some looked to be bruises over other bruises. Her chocolate eyes were bloodshot and rimmed with violet and crimson. Reilly could see the broken blood vessels in her right eyes. She then noted the black and blue thumb prints on the woman's throat. She had been beaten and choked. There was no doubt in her mind that she had had other things done to her.

"Por favor... No quiero morir." The woman pleaded again; her words were barely audible.

Reilly shook her head as she leaned closer to the woman's face. She could feel her hot breath on her cheek. The smell of her rancid breath lingered in her nostrils. She lifted her eyes to Piccolo who only stared dumbfounded at the two.

"Please tell me you speak Spanish, Mr. Piccolo." Reilly pleaded with the man.

"Por favor... DIOS ... me ahorra..." The woman choked on something and her eyes rolled back into her head as a blood bubble exploded from her lips and her head rolled to the side.

"NO! GOD NO! OH PLEASE…" Madeline shook her head as the woman died, in her arms.

Madeline looked up tearfully as Commander Ford, and Doctor Smith walked in through the door.

Commander Ford's eyes were as wide as saucers as he surveyed the scene. He drew a deep breath in and instantly wrinkled his nose at the smell of utter filth. His eyes were soon drawn to the woman lying limp in Madeline's arms. He noticed the sores and bruises on her face coupled with the grime and muck spattered across her entire body. He felt almost sick as he could see her eyes as they continued to remain open as a ghostly reminder that she had once been alive and totally decimated by greed. He caught Madeline's eyes and let out a sigh as words suddenly escaped him.

--

Captain Nathan Bridger tensely sat in his chair in the Ward Room rubbing his head as he listened to Commander Ford.

"They have how many women?" He asked his voice almost cracking. "Where are they all from?"

"Over a hundred, Captain, I-I don't know. There are so many different languages coming at us all at once. O'Neill's getting the impression that they're from Asia, Africa, and even Spain. They were told there was work for them in America. My guess is that nobody bothered to inform them that the work was in South America and that it was slave trade." Ford stated dryly.

Bridger let out a breath of frustration as he rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"Did you find any crew?"

"Yes, Sir, we found two. They are saying the others are on shore lining up supplies."

"Supplies..." Bridger shook his head.

"They're being cooperative; but I'm not convinced of everything they're telling me." Ford replied.

"Do you need help, Commander?"

Ford sighed as he keyed up his PAL again.

"Yes we do, Sir."

"I'll be on my way."

"Sir, these women haven't been treated really well by men."

"What are you saying, Commander?"

"Sir, I think they need women to help them."

Captain Bridger shook his head in disgust. He was at a loss. He could never understand the desire for man to get ahead by destroying his environment or purposefully hurting his fellow man. He could feel a burning feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"Copy, Commander. Bridger, out."

--

Madeline breathed in and out trying to calm herself down. She slowly pulled the piece of tattered paper from her pocket where she had stashed it in a hurry. She un-wadded it and tried to make sense of the writing through all the tares and creases. It was ripped and torn in several places. It had been clearly been snatched from someone else and hidden. It was evident the woman wasn't aware of the initial intent of the trip. Perhaps when she had realized what was going on she was going to try stop and expose her captors. The writing on the paperwork was almost illegible but one words stuck out to her. Madeline felt the same goose bumps return as she looked at the word and then at the woman. Each time she lifted her eyes to look over at the woman lying on the floor under an old tarp her guts began to burn again. She could still see the infected sores on the dead woman's face. She could still feel her hot breath on her own skin. In the whole place she could smell nothing but decay and death. She could feel the uncontrollable anger in her boiling over. She stood up to walk out of the room for additional supplies from the shuttle and fresh air. She walked out into the long narrow corridor towards the stairs.

"Ships secure, Sir." Piccolo stated into his PAL as he stood on the top deck. He, Ortiz, and Dagwood had been sent to finish searching the vessel and then return to watch the prisoners.

"Copy, Piccolo, Lieutenant Reilly is heading out for supplies, give her a hand." Ford added.

"Copy, Sir." Piccolo responded clicking his PAL again and depositing it into his pocket. He was starting down the stairs to

"You need some help Lieutenant?"

"Sure…" Reilly sighed as she trudged on towards the stairs.

Tony watched her defeated gait as she climbed up the steep stairs leading to the deck.

"You alright, Lieutenant?" Piccolo asked slowly as they approached the top.

Reilly didn't respond to the question. She wiped her forehead with her hand as the warm sea air lapped at her dirty sweat beaded skin. She reached for her dark sunglasses to pull down over her eyes and then realized they weren't there. She had lost them somewhere, possibly below deck. She squinted and looked up at the sun for a moment and then over at the Seaman. He seemed genuinely concerned, but she didn't have a response for him. At least not one she wanted to share. She screwed the tight lipped smile she used to project when she was married in place, nodded her head, and walked on. The two started across the deck when she noticed the men who were caught trying to flee. She stopped dead in her tracks and looked over at them. Miguel Ortiz was standing watch over the men. She changed her direction and headed over to them.

"Uh, Lieutenant, the shuttle's this way." Tony shouted from behind her gesturing the other direction.

Madeline didn't hear him. She couldn't hear anything. All she could see was the faces all around her. She could still hear the woman speaking, pleading with her in the foreign tongue. She couldn't even comfort her. She could feel the bristling anger in her shoulders and neck. She narrowed her eyes in anger and balled her fists as her long legs carried her ever so swiftly across the deck.

"What the hell do you people think your doing, huh? Does it even matter to you that these women were down there dying? Did it occur to you that a woman just died down there? I bet it doesn't even matter to you!" Madeline rushed towards the men screaming at the top of her lungs at them.

"No, Lieutenant…" Tony rushed in behind the officer grabbing her around the waist pulling her back towards him.

Madeline could feel the arms of the slightly shorter, but defiantly stronger man tugging on her. She could also feel the rage boiling over inside as she was ready to annihilate the men responsible for the mayhem and death below decks.

"Lieutenant Reilly, NO!" Tony continued to tug desperately at the woman who continued to fight him.

Ortiz stepped in front of the woman also attempting to deflect her attack of the men.

"Reilly, stop! Stop it now. These men aren't worth throwing your career away on." Ortiz shouted the officer as she finally stopped. "Hey, their not worth it…" He whispered. She could feel tears welling up in her eyes as she looked into Ortiz's face. He blinked his dark eyes as he watched her struggling inside. He kept his hands planted firmly on her shoulders while Piccolo continued to hold her around the waist.

Madeline shuddered and took a breath as she pushed Ortiz's hands from her shoulders and clawed at Piccolo's grasp. "Get off me!" She snapped. She continued to glare at the men being held as she ran her hand over her forehead. She closed her eyes and then turned and exhaled sharply while walking away. Piccolo opened his mouth to say something that wouldn't come out to Ortiz. He then turned and headed after Madeline. It was when the two had finally gotten back to the side of the ship that Piccolo was finally able to catch up to her.

"What the hell was that all about?" Piccolo snapped.

Reilly leaned against the wall of the deck. She ran her hands over her face as she leaned forward. She balled her hands into fists and struck the side. She gritted her teeth as she wanted to jump into the water and just let herself sink to the bottom so she would never have to think about her shattered past again.

"Answer me, Lieutenant. What the hell was that? I mean you almost created a headache for yourself and me."

She shook all over as she could feel the hands on her throat choking the life out of her.

--

"Liam, I didn't." Madeline pleaded through tears.

"Really, Madeline? Why don't you explain to me why I was called into my CO's office to explain your little accident to him?"

Liam Reilly lunged towards the woman who sat propped up on the floor in a mess of broken dishes and food. She sat terrified, tears flowing down her face. Her lip was split in two places. Her hand was cut from pushing herself up through broken glass. Her brown military dress shirt was ripped at the collar and blood smeared carelessly across it.

"I didn't tell anybody..." Madeline pleaded holding her hands over her face which already bore the bruises of a previous day's abuse.

The man reached down and grasped the woman around the neck and pulled her to her feet. He squeezed mercilessly cutting off her valuable oxygen. She couldn't hear anything any longer. She started to loose focus on the world around her as she clawed at the hands stopping her breath. She struggled to swallow but couldn't make anything happen. She fought desperately to suck in a breath but nothing happened. She could see the mist of darkness closing in on her as she started to close her eyes and slip into obscurity.

--

Lieutenant Reilly, hey… come on, Reilly…"

"I-I thought he was gonna kill me, Tony… I thought he was gonna kill me…"

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