ENCHANTED
Chapter one
Four little furry critters ran along the cool, damp forest floor, until they came to a large open area where the sunlight reached the ground. Feeling chilled to the bone, they wanted to warm themselves in the sun’s rays while they waited, but they were too afraid of being seen, so they hid in the tall grass at the edge of the clearing, their noses twitching excitedly.
The four men they’d seen earlier came walking by, heading in the direction of the stargate, which stood in the center of the sunny patch of ground. One of the men ordered another to dial the gate. As he did so, the men were distracted by the motion and the noise the gate made, and they didn’t notice the four small rodent-like animals running toward them.
Hiding in a foot-high clump of blooming plant life at the base of the DHD, the eager animals waited impatiently. And when the wormhole formed and the four men walked into it, the four small creatures ran after them.
Once they were back at the SGC, the leader of SG-3 reported to the base commander. No one noticed the four fuzz balls escaping detection by running down the side of the gate ramp.
“We checked their last known location, but no one was there, General,” Colonel Reynolds stated, showing just the smallest sign of emotion.
“Any idea what happened to them, Colonel?”
“No, Sir, but I’m sure they were there. There were boot prints in and around the temple, but the jungle around it was just too dense to allow for tracking, Sir.”
“And there was nothing to indicate where they went from there, or why they left?” Hammond asked, still hopeful that he’d find his premiere off-world team alive and well.
“No, Sir, not a clue.” Reynolds had been with the SGC long enough not to be surprised by this turn of events. He just hoped Jack and his team would be okay.
“Okay, Colonel. You and your men go get checked out and cleaned up. We’ll discuss our options at zero seven hundred tomorrow.”
George didn’t want to admit it, but he needed time to figure out what to do. Should he send another team, or maybe two, to search for SG-1? Or should he list them as MIA, lock out the gate address to P2X-090, and continue on with business as usual? He didn’t feel right about doing that just yet, but he knew what his superiors would say about wasting time and money on just four people. To them people were considered necessary but expendable commodities, like bullets or K rations, but he just didn’t think it was right to give up on SG-1, unless there was absolutely no chance of finding them, dead or alive.
George huffed out a sigh of weariness and agitation, wishing for the umpteenth time that he had retired last June, when he’d reached his fortieth year in the service. But he had allowed President Hayes to convince him to stay on at the SGC for a while longer. George shook his head. He had always been an easy target for someone with the gift of persuasion, and that silver tongued devil, Hayes, had been at his best. He had reminded George that the Goa’uld were almost wiped out. It wouldn’t be much longer, he had said, before Baal was defeated, and then they both could rest easy knowing they’d accomplished one hell of a feat. So George had agreed to stay two more years, and now here he was once again, with the lives of four of his best people on his shoulders.
“God, I hope they’re alright. Because if they’re not, I….” He didn’t finish, because at that moment he heard a commotion coming from somewhere outside his office. George stood up and went to the doorway. There was no one in the briefing room or the outer office, and he quickly realized the shouting was coming from down below in the control room.
When he reached the foot of the stairs, he was shocked to see gate technicians running to and fro, while talking and gesturing excitedly. As he watched in disbelief, they scrambled around looking under the equipment, lifting up chairs, opening and closing cabinets and drawers, and making a lot of noise in general, until George shouted for them to stop.
“Enough! People, what on earth is going on down here?!” he barked incredulously. He had never seen these people acting so strangely before. When George entered the room, Sergeant Harriman had been on the floor under the counter where the dialing computers were located, and his butt had been the only part of him that George could see.
Upon hearing his CO’s voice, Walter stood up and turned to face Hammond. “There’s an infestation of rats, Sir,” he stated calmly, but his face was flushed and he was clearly embarrassed to have been caught on the floor on his hands and knees.
“Rats? Are you certain?” As far as he knew there had never been an infestation of rodents, insects or anything else, although they did occasional have a water bug in toilets.
“Yes, Sir. There’s a bunch of ‘em. They came running up the stairs,” Walter affirmed, darting his eyes toward the metal staircase.
“I just heard something over there,” a civilian technician interrupted, pointing a shaking finger toward the cabinet that housed the power relay control panel. The two people standing nearest the cabinet stepped away and stared at it anxiously.
“Call maintenance, Sergeant. The rest of you get back to work,” George ordered sternly. Then he watched as the three other people in the room walked back to their assigned stations, darting looks here and there, as though they expected something to jump out and attack them at any moment.
Figuring that maintenance could take care of a rodent problem, if there really was one, George went back upstairs to his office to contemplate the problem of his missing team.
TBC
DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognisable characters, settings, etc, are the property of their respective owners. Any original characters and plots are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended. ... [ read more ]