* * * * *
|| Daniel Jackson ||
"This is Captain Warren calling Jadae... you there?"
"I'm right here," the Tok'ra answered testily, from where she sat a couple of feet away. Warren sighed and let the radio fall away from his mouth.
"Well, yeah, obviously. I'm just trying to make sure these things are working." The captain rolled his eyes and shoved the small box back onto his hip. "Which they are. And which then begs the question: where are O'Neill and Carter?"
"Perhaps they did not reach shelter in time," offered Jadae rather morosely.
Warren stood quickly and with an impatient air. "Watch it, Jade. You don't want to be too optimistic there."
She looked up at him with guileless black eyes. "I am simply being realistic."
"You go ahead and do that," Warren told her snidely. "Personally, I'd like to wait more than a half-hour before giving up on them."
I tried as hard as I could to ignore them both, standing at the lip of the overhang we'd taken refuge under, watching the last vestiges of rainwater trickle down the rock. Just behind me, Teal'c knelt on the ground, hunched over his staff weapon. The storm had been brief but violent, and although all of our electronic equipment seemed to be functioning again, he was worried about an energy buildup of some kind. Better safe than sorry, of course.
But were the others safe?
"I'm not giving up on them," insisted Jadae, her pleasant voice rising somewhat. "Let me remind you that I was the one to warn you of the dangerous rain to begin with."
At that, I looked back at her. "How DID you know, Jadae?"
The woman looked back at the ground, appearing to flush in the dim light. "I didn't... but Maretne had a... a bad feeling. This place is dangerous."
"All the more reason we should get out of here and find the Colonel and Major," insisted Warren anxiously. Jadae simply shook her head minutely, declining to answer.
Suppressing a sigh, I stooped down next to Teal'c and watched him work. Warren and Jadae were a mixed blessing, though there were times when it seemed more mixed and less blessing. Tony Warren could be argumentative, childish, and... annoying. Jack had assured me on more than one occasion that the captain would pan out, end up being worth all the hassle it was taking to 'rear' him, and it was true that Tony was generally a humorous, compassionate guy. He was just hell to work with.
Jadae was another story entirely. She was quiet, with an introspective attitude and benign manner. Her hair was raven black and fell in a thick braid halfway down her back. Her eyes were dark and long-lashed, perfectly complimenting her dusky skin tone. All in all, she was wonderful to look at, not bad to hang around... but there was also Maretne. The symbiote. Maretne was even more aloof, even more... antisocial. She didn't do a whole lot of talking; there were almost times when I forgot that there was someone else sharing Jadae's body.
Tony wasn't the only person who had a slight problem with a Tok'ra on base 24-7, and to be completely honest, I don't actually know why she was assigned to SG-1. Maybe because of Sam - or, more accurately, Jolinar -, maybe because we were the 'flagship' team... it was base politics, and what Jack didn't offer to explain I didn't try to figure out. All I knew was that neither Jack or Tony had been exactly thrilled about Jadae - and Maretne's - presence, and she'd never gotten exactly friendly with anyone but Sam. She was the token Tok'ra and we all knew that: a show of good faith between our two people and not much else.
Or something like that.
"How's it going?" I asked Teal'c, watching as he twisted something here, adjusted something there.
"I believe my staff weapon was undamaged," he answered, closing a small compartment on the handle and hefting it in his hands as he rose to his feet.
"Great," enthused Warren, pulling his radio off his belt again. "Jack? You there? It's Warren again... please come in."
Nothing.
Jadae stood, brushing off her pants and looking at the captain balefully.
He stepped out from under the overhang, glancing up only briefly to confirm that the acid rain had stopped. I followed, Teal'c just behind me, and Jadae tagging along. "Come in, Jack."
Silence.
"Any idea where we should start looking?" I asked Teal'c, turning in a tight circle, taking in our surroundings. Towering rock and more rock, laced with climbing ivy, all dripping onto the ground in a cacophony of running water. Ten minutes ago the sky had been dark and dour, arcing with flashing green lights, full of vibrating thunder and burning raindrops. Now, bits of blue were starting to peek past the sun-tinged clouds; the wind was sweet and mild once more.
*Things could change so drastically, so quickly.*
"Yo, O'Neill, pick up."
Zip.
And then...
Dreadful static. And a voice.
"Warren? That... you?"
Tony shot a triumphant grin in Jadae's direction. "That it is, Colonel. What's your position?"
"Above... cave... some kind of flash... electric shock..."
I looked back at Teal'c, trying not to notice how very worried he suddenly looked, trying not to realize how worried I suddenly was.
Interference - from what? Where? - sputtered again, masking just enough of Jack's words to make the hair on the back of my neck rise. "Knocked out... and.... woke up... Carter's... hurt..."
Tony ground his teeth together, searching our surroundings in the same way I just had as though he could see Jack and Sam waving at us from some rocky spire. He took a couple steps back in the direction we had come, and the interference suddenly cleared. Jack's words were as clear as they were horrible.
"We need to get her out of here, NOW."
* * * * *
|| Jack O'Neill ||
No sooner had I urged Carter to return to me than the cave filled with a horrendously shrill scream; it was coming from the beams, I was certain. Against my will, I dropped hard onto my knees, and then my stomach, hardly noticing the bright white flash that burned everything else out of existence.
I couldn't remember passing out, but I must have, because the next thing I remembered was waking up. The piercing squeal - loud and high enough to send every dog in the universe into a tizzy - was gone, and behind my closed lids, all seemed dim again. Unwilling to open my eyes, I tried to position my hands underneath my body, to give me some leverage with which to lift off the ground. My muscles protested dramatically, burning even worse than they had outside in the oxygen-depleted atmosphere, which was alarming. With a grunt, I dropped back onto my belly. Darkness swam.
And the first thing I saw was myself.
My initial - and not ridiculous - thought was that I was dead, and was having some out-of-body experience, but an instant later I realized that was impossible. I was surrounded not by the cavern, but by the cool, discerning walls of the SGC. And the 'me' I was looking at was dressed, not in BDUs, but in dress blues.
It lasted only a second, and then I was opening my eyes -- against my better judgement, I might add. I saw the uneven walls of the cave, and the long, low beams, dark and silent once more. And in the midst of them, exactly where I'd last seen her stand, was Carter.
Groaning, I pulled myself to my hands and knees, and then to my feet, stumbling over to her with all the grace and dignity of a newborn giraffe. I ignored the beams and the hazard they could still cause, and collapsed next to her clumsily. She'd fallen onto her stomach, as I had, and with still-shaky hands I rolled her over onto her back, searching for burns or abrasions: anything that would explain why she hadn't woken up as I had. There was a small red mark from where her head had connected, unchecked, with the hard ground, but other than that, she didn't have a scratch on her.
A strange sound, like spilling sound or pebbles, erupted behind me, and I jumped. Static, I realized a second later, my thought processes seemingly as stilted as my movements. The radio must have come loose when I'd gone down... Daniel, Teal'c, Warren, and Jadae... Had to get help for Carter...
"Jack? You there? It's Warren again... please come in."
'Again'? How many times...
Shaking my head - it wasn't important - I lurched back across the room, where the small black box lay. "Come in, Jack."
I picked up the radio in trembling hands, dropped it, and cursed, casting a glance over my shoulder at Carter. She was HURT, I knew it.
"Yo, O'Neill, pick up."
More carefully now, I retrieved the plastic box and held it to my mouth, returning to the Major's side as I spoke into it. Couldn't leave her alone. "Warren? Is that you?" Can't be too careful, I reflected.
"That it is, Colonel," the Captain responded, sounding more than a little relieved. "What's... position?"
Damned static. "Probably somewhere above you. We found a cave; might be a Gou'ald lab. There was some kind of flash. I think it was an electric shock."
On instant, I put the back of my hand against Carter's forehead. She was HOT, I realized, panic flooding through me. Dammit, she'd been too near the beams... why'd I let her get that close?
"We were knocked out," I continued, hoping the others attributed the unsteadiness of my voice to static. "And I don't know what the fuck happened, but I just woke up. Carter's still unconscious." I swallowed hard. It was going to be hell getting her back out through that passage if she didn't wake up. "And she's hurt. We need to get her out of here, NOW."
* * * * *
|| Teal'c ||
We ran.
Captain Warren took the lead, with Daniel close behind him. I pulled my pace to stay near Jadae, who was not nearly as fast or as motivated, but I made certain that we kept the others in view and earshot.
The captain held the radio, communicating with Colonel O'Neill as best he could through the intermittent static. O'Neill provided directions to the cavern he and Major Carter had found themselves it, where they had found themselves attacked by what they surmised to be Gou'ald technology.
I had never heard of this planet, never visited the world designated P2C-260, but I had not been privy to the plans and schemes of Apophis - or the other System Lords - for a great deal of time. I shuddered to think what this assault could mean.
Through a narrow furrow - carved by time, water, and traffic - we ran, stopping short when confronted with a massive stone slab split by what seemed to be little more than a narrow rent, probably the result of geological activity in the area. Daniel and Jadae - the smallest members of the team - immediately offered to retrieve the Colonel and Major, and without another word slipped into the tapered shadows.
Leaving Captain Warren and myself very little to do but stand there, anticipating their return.
And worrying.
* * * * *
|| Samantha Carter ||
Crossing my arms, smiling in deep satisfaction, I watched my son lope across the park's green grass, throwing himself at the swings with a elated laugh. I was home so seldom that when I WAS around, nothing made me happier than to see HIM enjoying himself. Sara always voiced her disapproval, saying that he should be spending time with his father, bonding with me... but this was even better.
Besides, we had plenty of time to bond.
Only we didn't.
There was the swaying, queasy sensation of hands gripping me, of being lifted; I tensed and gasped. "Charlie!"
The hands stopped.
Sick from grief and the headache that seemed to set my very mind on fire, I pushed away from the hands that held me. At first I panicked, terrified that the blazing flash of light had blinded me, and then I realized that I was simply squeezing my eyes shut.
I looked up into the face of Jack O'Neill.
He looked vaguely surprised, quite concerned, but beyond it all was abject relief. "Good, you're awake. That'll make this a lot easier."
My lower half and all my extremities felt light and tingly, and when the Colonel pulled me into a standing position I was forced to lean heavily on him. "What happened?" I wheezed, my head still swimming.
"Big noise, bright light," he told me cryptically, letting me catch my breath. "How you feeling?"
"Numb," I admitted. "Weak."
"Hot?"
I frowned at the question. "No."
"Huh. You remember everything, right? Name, rank, etceteras?"
"Yes, sir," I assured him. "No amnesia." If anything, I reflected, I was remembering TOO much.
"Good." He put his arm around my back and slowly, stumblingly, we began to shuffle back towards the opening of the cave. "Because I wasn't looking forward to having to explain the Stargate to you."
"What's the Stargate?"
O'Neill stopped and stared at me in what could only be called horror. I grinned back at him, and realizing I'd been joking, he scowled. "That was SO not funny, Carter."
There was a flurry of motion at the opening and I sucked in a deep breath, one insensate hand going to my weapon, still slung across my chest. Spots danced merrily in my field of vision, and it was several seconds before I recognized Daniel and Jadae. "Took you guys long enough," complained O'Neill. "Now just... stay right there." He nodded down at the inactive beams. "I'm not sure what wakes these mothers up but I sure as hell don't want to trigger another one of... whatever that was."
Jadae nodded, looking us up and down quickly before vanishing back into the darkness. Daniel remained, looking grateful to see us both in one piece, waited until we cleared the area of crisscrossing gold before following. Only one person at a time would be able to fit through the crevice.
"You first," instructed the Colonel, supporting me as much as possible until we reached the fissure. "You can do this, right?"
"I can do this," I confirmed, flexing my fingers. The feeling was already beginning to return to them.
"Carter..."
I glanced back at O'Neill, well aware of the caution in his voice and the way it was mirrored as confusion on his face. Well, why the hell shouldn't he be confused? I had just, for no apparent reason, called out the name of his dead son. "Sir?" I asked dutifully, knowing full well what was bothering him and half hoping he'd bring it up.
But a good soldier can bury just about anything sentimental, anything that doesn't pertain exactly to the here and now. And Jack O'Neill was one of the best soldiers I'd ever met. "Nothing," he told me. "Don't worry about it."
I nodded, and stepped into the abyss. O'Neill followed.
A few seconds later, the automatic lights in the chamber behind us turned themselves off, plunging us into total blackness.
His hand gently touched my back, and then curled around my waist.
I led us out into daylight.
* * * * *
|| Janet Frasier ||
One of these days, I reflected, watching Sam Carter hobble down the ramp - followed by an only slightly more steady Jack O'Neill - SG-1 was going to run out of luck.
It was a joke around the base, and only a handful of us - the ones that had been here for any length of time - knew that it was nothing to laugh at. Every other team - 2 through 16 - had lost at least one member over the course of years, through accident or attack. Only SG-1 had managed to weather it all. Only SG-1 had managed to add MORE people to their team. In the broad, mortal scheme of things, they were extremely talented, capable and, when it came right down to it, lucky. But one of these days...
Tony Warren made the initial report to Hammond like a veteran, Teal'c looking on, while Jadae and Daniel accompanied the Major and Colonel across the room. "What'd you do to yourselves this time?" I asked, doing a quick once-over and seeing nothing immediately wrong.
"Nothing," answered O'Neill sullenly.
"We're fine," Sam assured me at the same time.
I sneaked a glance at Daniel and found him smiling. "I'll be the judge of that," I informed them both, extending an arm towards the elevator.
* * * * *
"Well, sir, I can't find anything wrong with them. No more than usual, that is. We conducted a CAT scan and an MRI on both of them, just to be on the safe side. One: they're not Gou'ald, and two: their brains are functioning normally."
"Good to know," said Hammond, trying not to snicker at my jab. "Major, you said you thought the cave was some kind of Gou'ald laboratory?"
"Or part of one," agreed Sam eagerly. "It could be that the cavern was some kind of anteroom, and the beams were a type of weaponry used to stun attackers."
"We've seen that before," Daniel reminded us. "Those shock-grenades on Apophis' ship."
Sam nodded emphatically. "If we can figure out how to turn it off, well, who knows what could be in that place. Technology, weaponry -- "
"Or maybe more of this," Daniel interrupted, holding up a small slab of engraved stone. "Sam found this in the cave. It's Gou'ald, an obscure dialect. Teal'c doesn't even recognize it," he added, looking over at his friend. "But I've been able to translate a couple of words. So far, it seems like it might be a journal of one of the Gou'ald scientists, maybe describing how he came to invent something in that lab. Other than that, it mentions 'Su'lin'ie' a couple times... which roughly means 'the ruined place'."
"I have heard variations of that word meaning 'irreparable' and 'extinct'," Teal'c provided.
"Sounds about right," quipped Warren.
"That pretty much describes P2C-260, sir," agreed O'Neill, fiddling absent-mindedly with his ballpoint. "We didn't see a soul and we didn't find any signs of a native civilization."
"Of course, to be fair, we didn't cover that much of the planet," Sam reminded him. "Although that rain... I sure hope there WASN'T a native population."
"That would be unfortunate," concurred Jadae. "However, I doubt that the Gou'ald would have taken the trouble to transfer a population to the planet if they simply meant to utilize it as a testing ground for their experiments. I personally see no reason to return. Maretne feels similarly."
Hammond nodded as he looked around the table, weighing opinions, observations, and arguments, and I took the time to scrutinize the team. Even if their luck did run out, they would remain a certain legend. Not simply for staying alive so long in the face of danger and atrocity, but for being so damned CLOSE. The members of the other teams were friends, unquestionably, but seemed to realize that the best thing for all concerned was to maintain a professional distance. As far as regulations went, SG-1 kept this distance as well, but in most ways they had become closer than I considered healthy. As their friend, I valued and marveled at the camaraderie that had sprung nearly unbidden between four people so unlike, and the easy way they had taken Jadae and Warren into the fold. As a doctor, however, and an officer in the armed forces, I knew that such friendship could be as potentially disastrous as it was beneficial. If one or two were lost - as Carter and O'Neill certainly could have been on this mission - what would happen to the others? Would they simply mourn and move on? Having witnessed O'Neill's spectacular reaction to Daniel's 'death' a couple of years ago, I felt not.
Still, their connection was... a wonderful thing to behold, and it was easy to be a little envious of it as well. I was a friend, yes, but not a member of SG-1. That simple trifle of designation made all the difference in the world.
"Provided the sky is clear," announced Hammond, waking me from my reverie, "I'll send SG-12 through tomorrow to scout for evidence of an indigenous population. Barring that, Major, we'll send some of our scientists through to try and find that lab's 'front door'."
Sam smiled. "Thank you, sir."
"Sweet," decided Jack at the same instant.
The two of them looked at each other warily.
"Dismissed," declared Hammond, not feeling the sudden tension, and the Colonel and Major fairly fled the room.
* * * * *
END
Coming soon... The Anger
The more feedback I get, the more I write... it's a vicious cycle...
Story Notes: Title: The Accident
Author: Alli (alli@ecis.com)
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: Fire and Water
Category: Future story, SJR, angst
Archive: SJA and Heliopolis
The Andromeda Series
1. The Assignment
2. The Aide
3. The Afterglow
4. The Arising
5. The Allusion
6. The Attack
7. The Accident
Author: Alli (alli@ecis.com)
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: Fire and Water
Category: Future story, SJR, angst
Archive: SJA and Heliopolis
The Andromeda Series
1. The Assignment
2. The Aide
3. The Afterglow
4. The Arising
5. The Allusion
6. The Attack
7. The Accident
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 ]