First Contact, Last Encounter

by Jb

part two, of five

Listening to SG3's repeated unsuccessful attempts to raise any of SG2, Jack stared into the woods and tried to force himself into line. The last thing needed now was for him to give in to his emotions. An objective, analytical breakdown of the situation was called for, not the raging hissy fit he felt rising. But God, what a mess. He'd been stupid enough around the mistake with Coburn, all of them had... but shit, he'd been pretty much brain dead with the rest. Hadn't even occurred to him. And because of that, because he'd been such a frigging idiot, while they'd been incommunicado in the radiowave-damping caves rescuing and then dancing around Daniel -

Damn. Damn, damn, damn. And just for good measure, Goddamn it!

The radio suddenly went dead as SG3 gave up, only to blare into his ear again as new orders were relayed. Jack flicked his comm switch and acknowledged them quickly, signing off without comment. What was there to say? His questions would be answered when they got to the dig site, and until then he had other things to concentrate on. Without the static and voice in his ear, he became aware of his own breathing. In and out through clenched teeth, far too uncontrolled. He thought he heard a whisper from behind him penetrate the ragged whistling of air, but ignored it. Closing his eyes and tipping his head back, Jack made a conscious effort to regain his composure. He'd made a bad error, and he would have to answer to himself for that, but for now it was time to move on. Learn from it, and move on. They'd been given their orders, and now they had to get going and follow them. Even if those orders were the exact opposite of what he really wanted - no, needed - to do.

The whisper was repeated a bit louder, accompanied by rustling and shuffling. Loud enough now to be identifiable as Daniel asking what the hell was going on. Neither Teal'c nor Carter answered him. That was to be his job, damn it. Daniel would have to be told enough to ensure he behaved himself - because they really didn't have time for anything else but one hundred percent cooperation and effort on Daniel's part - but not so much that if he wasn't really Daniel there would be a problem. But first, Jack had to get all these raging body chemicals back into some semblance of order. He pulled air in through his nose, and slowly let it out through his mouth. There was more hoarse whispering from behind him, but this time he couldn't make out all the words.

"Daniel, no. No, that didn't happen." Carter's reply just barely preceded the sound of footsteps, and then Teal'c appeared at Jack's side in a silent signal that it was past time he got it together. He allowed himself one last vehement scrub of his hands through his hair, and turned around. Daniel stood looking at the ground, shoulders sagging as he weaved slightly in place. His legs were spread apart as if the wide stance was needed to ensure he wouldn't topple over. Carter had one hand resting lightly on Daniel's shoulder, and settled a mournful, anxious look onto Jack, obviously more than just a little uncomfortable with the whole situation. "Sir, Daniel's worried about SG11."

Jack popped his eyes at her. As a not so subtle prompt, which as far as he was concerned he shouldn't have needed to give her in the first place, it really must have sucked, because in response she simply widened her own eyes in silent entreaty. He bit back the urge to bark at her to go take point and leave him alone.

"Jack." Daniel's face had paled, and he wobbled dangerously as he turned to look at Jack. His tone was strained. "Sam said, casualties. I, I saw Loder just before I - It's the dig site, isn't it? There's something wrong at the site, isn't there?"

For a second, Jack wished Daniel would wobble right on down unconscious into the dirt, right onto that whitewashed face. It'd be easier to carry him than to deal with this. Daniel shook his head, looked around aimlessly at the ground, the trees, the sky, and then screwed his eyes shut. "God, I thought it was just Loder. I remember... I thought I heard the others... shouting..." His voice trailed off, the words ending with a soft, "Ohh, please."

Carter swiveled around and peered at him. "What do you remember, Daniel?"

Daniel cracked his eyes open. His jaw flapped a couple of times as he fished for either memory or words. Or both. "I... I don't... basically, just Loder shooting at it. He... it hit him. The shooting stopped and I thought I heard shouting, but... I don't know. It happened so fast. It blew right by Loder, onto me." Jack frowned as Daniel grimaced and raised his hands to beside one ear, and with a two-handed waggle indicated behind him. "Next thing I know I'm waking up somewhere else, laying in the dirt." The hands came forward to do a similar waggle in front of his face. "With this on."

"Oh my God. You were unconscious?" Her eyes widening, Carter gaped at Daniel momentarily, shot a quick, penetrating stare at Jack which seemed to have an edge of panic to it, and then appeared to get herself back together. She reached out to lightly touch the back of Daniel's head. He hissed and ducked forward as she palpated. "Pretty big bump here. Daniel, why didn't you say anything about this before now?"

She turned her big lamplights onto Jack, the 'sir you do know what this means' shining out of them in blue neon. He had an insane momentary urge to run and hide. But there was no escape from it. There never was.

"Colonel, this could be significant." Yup, there they were, the much anticipated and much not-loved Earnest Enlightenment and her shitty accomplice Knowing Nod. "Very significant, Sir. As I'm sure you're aware."

Jack considered sending out one of his own troops to do battle - perhaps Snarky the Comeback Kid? - but was distracted by a vocal, wordless query from Daniel. The disconcerted garble coming out of Daniel's mouth was paired with a thoroughly confused 'huh-what' look, Daniel's confusion and his concern for the mysterious casualties evidently eating away at both his linguistic and comprehension skills. Jack himself wasn't sure of exactly what she meant, but hey, that was expected, more or less. However, Daniel... seeing as normally Daniel was way, way smarter than him, Jack figured if it had Daniel flummoxed then either Carter was being more tangential than usual or Daniel simply wasn't all there. And oh shit, wasn't that just a really poor choice of words, Jack?

Okay, so one more pull through his hair wouldn't hurt. Dismissing Carter's cryptic message - whatever it might be - for the moment, Jack decided to concentrate on Daniel. Obviously Daniel was sick with anxiety that some of the people he'd been working side by side with might be dead because they'd tried to protect him from the Unas. Jack knew for Daniel that thought would be unbearable. This time Jack dragged his hand right down onto the back of his neck and gave himself a quick, fortifying massage. What of the situation to tell? How much, and when? Assuming Daniel was in fact all Daniel, they didn't have time right now to deal with the effect the truth would have on him, and doing a dump and run on the guy would be worse than cruel. Rothman had been his friend.

He made the only decision he felt he had room for right then. "Daniel, yes, it killed Loder, but no one else was hurt when it took you. Rothman told us you were dragged off." Damn. Selectivity sucked. Was it telling a lie if you told the truth, but not the whole truth? "Nobody thought to mention you'd been knocked unconscious. We assumed you knew, that you'd seen what happened at the camp. It killed Loder and took you. That's all."

Jack watched relief and regret pass one after the other across Daniel's face. As Daniel brought his bound hands up and pressed two fingers to his mouth for a moment in an unmistakable gesture of repressed distress and frustration, Jack couldn't believe this could be a snake. This just had to be Daniel. He felt vaguely guilty about the Rothman comment, but he had no intention of correcting the mistaken impression he knew it had created. They really had to get going back to the dig site. Not only did they have a situation to deal with, but the quicker they got moving the sooner they'd be in a better position to sort all this out with Daniel.

He reached back and pulled his knife from its sheath at his hip. Daniel could move a lot faster without that damned leash on. He was beside Daniel and Carter in four long strides. Daniel's strangled, "What are you doing?" and Teal'c's, "You must not, O'Neill," simultaneously arrived just as Jack grabbed the dangling end of the leash and touched his knife edge to the bundle of knots. He disregarded them both, and began to saw at the uppermost braid of leather. Teal'c's firm hand on his arm stilled the motion.

Jack pulled the knife away from the rope, turning toward Teal'c. "Oh, Teal'c, come off it. You know how much it'll slow us down. There's no point debating this..."

"Wh-wh-wh-wait! Yes there is." Jack glanced at Daniel and then looked away, deciding to studiously ignore him.

"No, you are correct, O'Neill. There is not."

Good. Great. Jack nodded and touched the knife to the rope again. Daniel pulled away, urging, "No, wait. You don't have to do that. You could just untie it -" but Jack quickly brought Daniel's hands back into place with a firm yank on the leash. He didn't cut, though, because suddenly the knife was moving in the wrong direction and his hand was left achingly empty. There'd be a bruise there on his thumb, for sure.

Teal'c reached out and tucked Jack's knife back into its sheath. "He must remain bound."

Jack disregarded the muttered, "Or not," which came from Daniel. He sucked on his thumb, wondered if he could possibly beat Teal'c to the draw, then quickly rejected the impulse as foolhardy.

Teal'c apparently approved of his decision. He gave Jack the barest nod before continuing. "Major Carter is correct in her assessment. We assumed at least some of these symbiotes were capable of sophisticated manipulation and mimicry of the host. There is no way to determine for certain, but we may have been in error with such an assumption; that may or may not be the case. In any event, we cannot afford to be deceived once more."

There was a indescribable squeak from Daniel. Jack looked up into alarmed, red-rimmed eyes. Daniel's second try was marginally better. "Wh-uaahhh... Jack?"

As the meaning of Carter's message and Teal'c's words hit him, Jack's guts churned wildly. Teal'c was suggesting maybe the symbiote in Rothman hadn't been an overwhelmingly efficient mimic after all. I would know it if there was a snake in my head. Ah, crap. Rothman. The memory stung worse than the sharp bile at the back of Jack's throat. Crap, crap. Could the anxious Daniel standing in front of him in fact be one hundred percent Daniel, and at the same time be a host and not even know it? If so, then even if this was just Daniel, it might not be just Daniel.

Headache. Bad headache.

"Considering why SG3's here, Sir, maybe we should do this Teal'c's way for now."

Well thank you, Carter. So nice to have you along to address all the indecision. Damn. But despite the sarcastic flea jumping around in his mind, Jack knew Carter wasn't out of line. He took a half-step back from Daniel, still holding onto the rope - the efficiently woven leather rope; far more elastic in its braided construction and possessing greater tensile strength than the nylon ties Hawkins and Rothman had snapped. Daniel stared at him. Jack looked at what he could see of Daniel's wrists, at the abraded skin there. The rope was darkly stained in the areas where it lay against the raw flesh. Okay, so the condition of Daniel's wrists looked unpleasantly familiar - only worse - but hell, it was natural Daniel would have tried to escape the bindings, be-snaked or not.

Daniel was still staring at him. And hey, about the bit with the knife... Daniel sure wasn't especially eager to be rid of the supposed artefact when he'd had an easy opportunity, was he? Surely, just as Daniel had said earlier, a snake wouldn't act like that. Would it? No. No, it wouldn't. Rothman's sure didn't. Jack wished Daniel would stop staring at him like that.

"Jack. Please, I have to know... What the hell is going on?"

Jack wished Daniel would stop doing that, too.

"Sir, our return will take us right past the last known location of Griff and Pierce."

There she goes again. Truthfully, though, she was helping. It was a good thought, one which made the order to return directly to the dig site asap without detour or delay a whole lot more palatable. Right. It wasn't much, but it was something they could do, at least. But... Daniel. Okay, so they'd need to keep Daniel away from the bivouac site until they could be sure the coast was clear, which meant they'd have to separate for a few minutes in order for someone to scout ahead right before they got there. Not exactly desirable, but Teal'c could handle that. He wasn't at risk of possession.

Jack looked at Daniel - really looked at him. This was either one very talented Goa'uld engaging in some damned well-refined and unbelievably thorough mimicry, or it was one chicken-shit devious son of a bitch Goa'uld capable of some artful manipulation of brain cells in order to lay lower than low. Generally Goa'uld symbiotes weren't known for their quiet reticence or subtlety, but the only ones who really knew how it worked - who'd know if it was possible for a snake to hide its presence from its host - weren't ones Jack figured he'd ever be sitting in interested conversation with. Wait. The Tok'ra would know... but hell, that didn't help much right now, did it? So as far as the Daniel problem was concerned, Jack figured he had no choice but to side with Teal'c and err on the side of caution. Not a very happy thing for Daniel to have to cope with, but a necessary evil.

It was time to move on. Jack gave Daniel one last top to bottom, quick assessment. The beleaguered, overwhelmed expression on Daniel's face was mirrored by his posture and unsteady stance, making it clear he was pretty much mentally and physically exhausted. No matter if the snake was centre spotlight or waiting in the wings, even if they double-timed it to where they'd left the others it was a two hour hike, and that'd probably be about as much as could be expected from Daniel all at once. And of course, no way would Daniel be double-timing anything in his condition.

"Carter at point. Teal'c, take our six." Without even thinking about what he was doing, Jack gave the rope a slight tug and started off toward where the dirt track entered the woods. "Daniel, you're with me in the middle." Daniel stared at him all the harder, and didn't move. Jack felt the pull in his hands as the rope stretched between them, and realised what he was doing. Carter's face was strained as she walked past him, an unspoken "isn't that going a bit too far?" in her eyes. Well, he couldn't argue with that one either. Grimacing an apology, Jack moved back over to Daniel and held him still with one hand on his hip while he tucked the length of the rope into Daniel's jacket, being sure to shove it all right on down in there as far as it would go. Daniel let out a grunt as he gave a little extra shove from both inside and outside, just to be sure it was well in there. Jack hastily looked up at his face. "What? That hurt or something?"

Daniel looked away. "No. Nothing, no. Are you going to tell me what's going on?"

If for no other reason than to ensure some cooperation, Jack knew he had to give Daniel at least something. He also knew that wasn't the primary reason his mouth was opening and the words being reluctantly shoved out. "Daniel, we bivouacked by the water last night, and only found out this morning a couple of guys with us ended up as snakebait. It wasn't pretty." He held up his index finger as Daniel's mouth opened. "No. Not another word. That's it for now. There are men missing, Daniel, and the damned planet is crawling with Unas and symbiotes. Hell, for all we know there could already be a whole mess of practicing Goa'uld-wannabes walking around in SGC uniforms out there. We have to go."

Jack stepped away to follow Carter, but Daniel remained where he was. Immobile. No sign of the cooperation Jack needed from him. For a second, Jack was almost sorry he'd tucked the rope away out of reach, but then Daniel spoke. His shaky voice broke part way through as he choked out, "I'm... I'm not one of them, Jack."

Jack walked back to him and placed his hands on Daniel's shoulders. This time as the thought this was Daniel crossed his mind, he felt the truth of it. He was talking to Daniel, and only to Daniel. He squeezed Daniel's shoulders as he voiced it. "I know it's you I'm talking to here. I believe you."

Trouble was, all things considered there was no joy in the knowledge the being interacting with him was in fact Daniel, only worry and apprehension over just how to figure out if his friend really was as alone in there as Daniel himself thought. Jack let go and briefly brushed one hand across Daniel's chest, giving him a small pat. "Look, we've been ordered back to the dig site. I've already made a couple of serious mistakes this trip, and I can't afford to make any more. Let's just go, okay? Get you home."

Daniel slowly nodded, giving in. Jack knew there was a good chance he'd need to throw Daniel a bigger bone than that before this trip was over, but hopefully it'd be later rather than sooner. As they all set out into the woods heading back in the direction of the previous night's bivouac, Jack prayed they'd encounter what - or who - they needed to there, and not stumble upon anything they definitely didn't want Daniel exposed to just yet.

They couldn't afford the delay.

A disgustingly bruised hip, leaden legs, myriad aches and pains. Oh, and blisters. Can't forget the blisters on his feet. His feet, going 'ouch' over yet another tree root, 'ow' into yet another irregular depression on the rough trail. Right. The trail. In the midst of one of the ever more infrequent moments of blurry awareness that there might be anything else other than discomfort and exhaustion in his world, Daniel foggily recognised the path they were following to be the same one he'd been dragged along by the Unas. The upcoming sharp bend to the right was very familiar. But that made sense, didn't it? SG1 had to have found the cave system by tracking him and the Unas, and gosh look at that, Cha'ka sure was easy enough to track. Daniel could see the impressions of his big clawed feet even now, a full night later, and if he could do it anyone could - gee look at that really clear one there and was that his own boot print right next to it? - and since they were apparently retracing their steps then of course they'd be traversing familiar ground, and was mental babbling necessarily significant in any way?

It probably signified what he already well knew - he was about one scattered thought and one staggered step away from collapse. Okay, make it two. He stumbled badly on his second step and gave up, allowing his momentum to carry him right off the edge of the path and shoulder-first into a large tree to his right. The hike had started out all right, he'd managed not to limp too badly nor hold everyone back despite the grueling pace, but as they'd emerged from the deep woods onto the wide, scrubby dirt path, things had gone downhill. Or, uphill, actually. Which was, of course, in large part why he'd so rapidly gone downhill. He wasn't certain just how near to the bivouac site they might be, but it really didn't matter because there was no way his legs were going to carry him any farther without a rest. A nice rest. Daniel slumped against the tree and sniggered softly. Gr-rrr-rrrest.

"Oh, hell. Not yet, Daniel."

Sure, Jack. Just a quick second. Be right with you. Daniel's knees faded in and out on him, feeling as if they were trying to flex in ways never intended for a human joint. He snickered to himself again as they gave out entirely and he slid untidily down the tree. Apparently, he was about to gr-rrr-rrrest whether Jack agr-rrr-rrreed or not.

Daniel stayed slumped against the base of the massive tree in the same position he'd ended up in as he'd slithered down its trunk - head bowed, his legs curled awkwardly underneath him and his bound hands in his lap. There was nothing but leafy green undergrowth in his field of vision, and only discomfort on his mind. He was peripherally aware of a conversation going on over his head. And slightly to his left. No, to the right. No, someone must have moved again, as the hushed voices now seemed to be coming from... from... whoa. A turn of his head only brought more of the long, slat-like leaves into view, but these twirled and spun, winding themselves into a hurricane of intersecting, overlapped fronds with a motion all too reminiscent of the way the leather trailers had flapped with every yank on the rope from his captor.

"Damn. We're going to have to re-think this. It's what, Teal'c, about another forty minutes from here?"

"At the pace we have managed thus far, that seems a reasonable approximation. However, I can make it in considerably less if I proceed alone."

"Daniel?" Fingers held his chin, helping him to aim his gaze, and he saw that it wasn't the leaves but his perceptions which were doing all the dancing. Sam's head swam and looped, her eyes and nose undecided as to where on her face they belonged, her lips doing quick figure eights as she spoke to him. "Hey? Are you with me?" She turned her head, quickly looking away from him over her shoulder. With that movement, her hair performed a disorganised, rather sickening parody of Miss Clairol's latest and greatest proof that their hair colour was in fact the be all and end all of beeeootiful hair.

"Sir, I don't think he's feeling very well." Daniel choked back a 'gee, you sure?' along with bile, as the tree behind him seemed to slip sideways and tilt backward in the same movement. Sam turned back to him, and he slammed his eyes closed against the vertigo when he was once more assaulted with the visual nightmare of chaotically free-flying hair. He felt her fingers move gently against his jaw, and her voice was soft, full of worry. "Hey Daniel, what's wrong? Tell me what's going on."

"S'okay. Just..." Ohh, just dizzy. Very big, big dizzy. "It's just a bit of vertigo, Sam." He breathed deeply through his nose, feeling a stab of pain from every bruise on his chest and back each time his lungs fully expanded. He chose to ignore it in favour of getting as much oxygen in as controlled a way as he could. Fingers touched his throat just under his jawline, lingered momentarily, and swept just as briefly across his forehead, finally coming to rest cupped around the back of his head protecting the soreness there from the rough bark of the tree. Daniel leaned back into her hand, eyes closed, grateful for the support.

"That's too far for any of us to go alone. We can't do that."

"I will be fine. You can follow once Daniel Jackson is rested."

"Daniel, when's the last time you ate anything? Uhm, Colonel, could you..." There were footsteps, followed immediately by crinkling sounds. "Oh, wow. Thanks, Sir."

Other than one bite of an energy bar? That was a good question. Suddenly the scrunches and crumples were music to his ears, and Daniel bravely hazarded slitting his eyes open, pleased to find the dizziness already abating somewhat. Sam looked more or less just as stationary as she probably really was, crouched right beside him. He was equally pleased to see what she held in her hand. Not a crummy old 'mmmm' energy bar, but a large 'Mmmm' of his favourite brand of dark chocolate, the stamp of the European manufacturer delicately inset right into the bar in swirls of fine lines and curly embellishments. He raised an eyebrow at the unusual field ration, and a quirky smile teased the corners of Sam's mouth as she whispered with false confidentiality, "The colonel brought it for you."

"No, Teal'c. It's out of the question."

"It is the most expedient plan, O'Neill."

Sam thrust the chocolate into his hands. "Here. Let's see if boosting your blood sugar might help some, okay?" There was an awkward moment as Daniel stared at the dark bar, feeling it begin to soften under the warmth of his fingers, trying to reconcile Jack's forethought in having packed the chocolate with his team's current doubts about him An inner voice snarked, 'but that was then, and this is now'. He grimaced and shelved the hurt as quickly as he could. It wasn't helpful. And hell, he had the chocolate, so why waste time dwelling on whether or not the gesture still stood as originally intended?

"No, it isn't. We'll go; you stay. Carter..."

Daniel took a big bite of his treat as he watched Sam join Jack and Teal'c. Jack glanced at him, and Daniel directed a small wave of the bar at him. A thank you, which to Daniel's dismay prompted not the 'yah, yah, welcome' nod he'd hoped for, but a look more indicative of grim doubt than anything else.

"Sir?"

"You and I are going to continue on to last night's bivouac, Carter. Watch each other's six, check out the area while we wait for them to catch up. Keep an eye out for signs of SG2, and... well, you know what else to look out for." Jack scanned the scrubby areas immediately lining the dirt clearing, then waved a hand in the general direction of the woods behind Daniel and his tree. "Teal'c, I want you and Daniel back there under better cover. Give Daniel a bit of a rest, and start out after us. We'll check in with you every fifteen minutes."

Sam was fiddling with her radio. "We should switch channels, Sir. Avoid chatter on two."

"No, leave it." Jack reached up and pulled his radio from its pocket. "You stay on two and monitor for SG3. Teal'c and I will go to four."

Daniel sat head back against the tree, eyes closed, savouring his chocolate. He knew Jack wasn't ready to fill him in, so there wasn't much he could do here except go with whatever Jack laid out. No point in trying to join the conversation. He took another bite of the bar. His lips brushed against his fingers and he was startled to realise he was already pretty much finished; there was just a small piece left. As he tossed it into his mouth and stuffed his fingers in right on after it, intending to suckle them clean, he also realised the strategy session going on over his head had stopped. He opened his eyes to find himself the subject of unwavering scrutiny from all three of his team, and felt a faint blush rise on his face as Jack dryly observed, "You're only supposed to eat the chocolate."

Teal'c was at his side in a couple of strides, placing one hand under his upper arm. Time to get up? Oh, right. Okay. Regretfully, Daniel gave his chocolately fingers a quick suck and removed them from his mouth. Standing up was easier said than done, though; pins and needles flared in his legs as he moved them, surprising him. How long had he been sitting here?

Confused, Daniel glanced at his uncooperative legs, and then stared up at Teal'c. "My legs are asleep..."

Jack was there with a hand under his other arm before Daniel even realised the man had moved. Between the two of them they hoisted him to his feet, holding on while he tried to work the intensely prickly sensation out of his legs. As soon as he was relatively stable, Jack let go and motioned to Sam. "Every fifteen, on four, Teal'c. If Carter hears from SG3, we'll pass anything you need to know along to you."

At Daniel's side, Teal'c nodded. "Take care, O'Neill, Major Carter. Do not venture too near the water."

Jack and Sam turned and moved away at a good clip, but just before they veered off to the right and out of sight around the bend, Jack stopped and jogged more than halfway back. He peered at Daniel. "You need to be able to move in twenty minutes tops, Daniel. Teal'c, make sure he drinks some water before you set out."

Daniel frowned, shifting his weight on still rubbery legs, pretty sure not a whole lot was going to change for the better in just twenty minutes. Clearly reading his mind, Jack offered a terse explanation. "You've been sitting there sucking up chocolate for close to fifteen as it is, Daniel. It may not be enough, but it's all we can afford." Jack gave him one last up and down, and abruptly turned and jogged back to where Sam stood waiting. They were around the bend and gone in an instant.

Close to fifteen minutes? He'd zoned out, then... no doubt a combined end result of not having slept nor eaten anything but the chocolate bar for well over twenty-four hours, and involuntarily being dragged for almost a full day through the forest while scared out of his gourd. Teal'c gave a slight tug on his arm, drawing him toward a small copse of trees with low-hanging leafy branches, surrounded by a mixed border of low-lying scrub and thigh-high brush. He led Daniel into the taller bushes, stopping in a small, one-person-sized bare area beside a fairly decently sized tree, and stood back as Daniel settled to the ground at its base. From his seated position Daniel could see through gaps in the surrounding undergrowth, but was fairly certain it would take a concerted effort on the part of anyone outside to tell the difference between his camo BDU's and the foliage.

Daniel closed his eyes and tipped his head back against the tree behind him. His limbs were dead weights, his stomach rolling. Despite the analgesic tablets Sam had given him having dulled the pain in his hip, he felt wretched. He knew he needed at least a solid couple of hours downtime, not just a crummy thirty-five minutes, before he could move on at a decent pace for any appreciable distance. However, he wasn't indifferent to the need to cooperate as best he could. There was obviously something very wrong going on with the other teams. Although he didn't have the details the urgency was clear, the concern and tension written large on Jack's face and in his body language. Whatever it was had happened, it had shocked Jack, and that in of itself was pretty nerve-wracking. He'd have to do the best he could to keep up and not be a burden, sufficient rest or not.

There was something else in Jack's manner, though, kindred to Teal'c's steadfast attempts to distance himself from Daniel and Sam's eggshell waltz around him. Despite all the current evidence, past experience, and common sense to the contrary they were still concerned about Goa'uld possession, which didn't make any sense to him at all. He was missing something. And not knowing what that 'something' could be was starting to actually frighten Daniel just as much as the Unas had. He forced himself not to think about it any more. Tried not to think of anything in particular, and found himself drifting off. Which was bad, of course, because for him inadequate cat-napping was just about the worst thing he could do. It'd suck him dry of any remaining energy he might have. He sagged against the tree and resolved to stay awake. Sleep was good, but ten minutes of sleep in place of eight hours was bad. Very bad. It was a very bad... it was... he needed to...

Whoa! Okay, okay. He was awake. Not thinking about anything specific was obviously a big mistake. So, all right then, concentrate on something, only make it something not so scary as his situation. He felt the presence of the rope around his wrists, and focused on that, and on the Unas. On his success in establishing rudimentary communication with it... err, him. A major breakthrough. Okay, so, Cha'ka. First heard in the form of a chant, then again later as a single utterance more in the context of general acknowledgment than anything else, and finally seeming to be a kind of vocal gesture of kinship or inclusion. So it was obviously unlikely to be the Unas' name - that didn't fit the context of usage at all. But, wait. He'd already considered a possible interpretation of the 'ke' part of 'ke-ka' as being a verb form for a state of existence. What if he applied that theory to this? Then, Cha'ka might be interpreted as a generic reference distinctive to tribe, or possibly to a related state of being or existence? After all, like he'd thought before, it was entirely possible he was mispronouncing Cha'ka -

Daniel started in surprise as he felt something solid rap him on the shoulder. He opened his eyes, squinting in the light. Teal'c lowered the end of his staff weapon from against Daniel's shoulder, and tossed an energy bar into his lap. "Consume this, and then we must leave. It is past time."

"What? Why now?" Daniel unwrapped the bar, and obediently took a bite. "Is something wrong? Jack said twenty minutes, Teal'c. It hasn't even been fifteen; he hasn't checked in yet." Hey, this one was caramel. Good. A healthy portion of it disappeared into his mouth.

"He has." Teal'c raised an eyebrow at him. "Twice."

Uhh... no. Daniel frowned. He hadn't heard - oh, geez. Twice? A water bottle appeared in front of his face, and he accepted it with arms which still felt far to heavy to support even that light weight.

"We have been here for thirty minutes, Daniel Jackson. It was clear you required the additional time."

Oh. Uh oh. He aimed a rueful look at his friend. "I'm sorry, I didn't realise... uhh, well, thanks, Teal'c." Daniel stuffed the rest of the energy bar into his mouth, hastily chewed and swallowed, then took a sip of the water. He followed it up with a large gulp as he realised how thirsty he was.

"You must drink sparingly. We have many hours of travel left, and we cannot replenish our water supply until we meet up with SG3 at the excavation site."

That seemed a bit silly. "No, there's no reason we can't take water from local sources, Teal'c. Besides, the lake isn't the only option. There are plenty of streams." And in any case, it wasn't as if the symbiotes were completely undetectable or anything. Daniel squinted intently at Teal'c, as if his own concentration somehow would help Teal'c understand. "We know they're there now. As long as we keep our eyes open and don't take long, we should be fine."

Teal'c surveyed the area around them, his head moving constantly as he focused his gaze everywhere but on Daniel as he answered. "That is imprudent." There was a dismissive harshness to his tone which set Daniel's teeth on edge.

"No, going without enough water on a day long jog over rough terrain is what's imprudent. Like I said, we don't have to get it directly from the lake; there's lots of creeks and..."

Teal'c swiveled suddenly and pinned him with a hard stare. "You would have us venture down to the water? That is not going to happen. Speak of it no more." Teal'c abruptly turned and walked away, out of the higher brush toward the wide dirt path.

Daniel's temper flared, and he struggled to his feet, stumbling through shin-high brush as he followed Teal'c away from the refuge of his tree, letting out his frustration in a burst of passion. "Oh, come on! Please, give it a rest! Fine, so we avoid the lake, that's all. The dig team was here for three weeks, and I've been here for the last ten days of that, and all our water - cooking, bathing, drinking water - has come from the creek by the camp." Daniel raised his arms and stabbed a finger in the general direction of the lake he was pretty sure they were heading toward. He dropped the water bottle and it bounced into a thicket beside him. "The very same creek that obviously outlets from that lake, Teal'c, and nothing happened." The leash flapped and swung as he vehemently gestured first across the woods, and then at himself. "It's fine! We're all fine! Nothing happened. We did repeated water runs every day, and..."

"Kree'tah!" Teal'c abruptly leaped toward him and yelled, leaning forward invasively, his staff waving in the air punctuating his words. "Do not tell me nothing happened! It did happen! We now know what occurred, and we and SG11 have paid the price!"

"Teal'c!" Daniel staggered back at the unexpected lunge and violent outburst, and for a moment was actually afraid of Teal'c until he stepped away and turned his back on Daniel... until the reduction in Teal'c's physical aggression allowed the words to filter through Daniel's shock. The certain implication that something to do with the primitive symbiotes in the lake had in fact happened to SG11 hit Daniel hard. A chill washed over him, and his gut twisted to the point he thought he might cry out with the sudden stab of pain. His knees wobbling, Daniel allowed his feet to slide out from under him. The twang in his hip as he hit the ground was strong, but not strong enough to distract him from his steadily rising dread. Jack had said a couple of people on the rescue team had been taken, but this was different. Daniel realised with complete horror that this was in addition to that. This, this was... oh, God, no.

He could hardly think straight, could hardly breathe due to anxiety, and only barely managed to choke out the question, "What? What are you talking about?"

Teal'c's voice was indistinct as he softly spoke without turning back around. "It is too high a price even now, Daniel Jackson, and we are not yet aware of the full extent of it. I fear we will pay further." Teal'c turned, looking Daniel square in the face. "I fear that you will pay. That you already have, but simply do not know it yet."

Daniel stared incredulously at Teal'c, then had to turn his head away, appalled as it all suddenly fit together. Oh hell, so that was what Sam and Teal'c were implying with all that about his having been unconscious. Oh, God! No, there was no way! He'd know it if he had a symbiote inside his head; he would know. They were totally huge, physically, for one thing. Surely he'd feel it there. And Goa'uld symbiotes didn't work that way, even in their most advanced neuro-biological state... did they? But even if the Goa'uld could somehow do it, which they'd never seen evidence of before, how could these lesser developed -

"I understand, O'Neill." Daniel jerked his head up to see Teal'c had walked a few steps away and was now standing in the low border of scrubby undergrowth right by the path, with one hand on his comm switch as he spoke into the radio. "We shall start out immediately." Short of breath, his chest tight with shock, Daniel could only blink in response as Teal'c signed off and advised him, "O'Neill has ordered that we leave here. Now."

The hard, expectant look on Teal'c's face left no doubt. Daniel was to jump to, with no questions asked. He once again struggled to feet, more than willing to leave if Jack had said it was necessary, but as for the last part, well, screw that. He gave himself a quick moment, steadying himself while gaining control over his breathing, and then moved toward Teal'c. "Tell me what's going on, Teal'c." The Jaffa didn't answer, instead simply hefting his staff weapon, subtly pointing it in the direction they were to travel as Daniel waded through the brush and came up beside him. No. This wasn't good enough. Daniel stopped and set his feet, squaring his shoulders, letting his body language speak for him.

Teal'c gave him a quick once over. Daniel caught the faintly resigned expression which flitted across Teal'c's face as he brought the staff back to his side, resting its base on the ground. "You are a stubborn man, Daniel Jackson."

Daniel couldn't keep the hurt exasperation from colouring his tone. "Yeah, but you don't even accept I am Daniel Jackson any more, do you? That's why you're treating me like this, like I'm, like - that's why you won't give me the time of day."

"It is mid-morning. And I accept many things. I accept that you may be Daniel Jackson, free of infestation. I also must accept the possibility this is not the case. And if it is not, then it is irrelevant whether you are speaking with me of your own free will unaware that a symbiote lays in wait, or are already subjugated and being elaborately, falsely represented."

"Agh! Teal'c, please..." Daniel reached out, pleading. "I don't understand how you can even think that. In all your years with the Goa'uld, have you ever seen forced possession work that way? I am me, Teal'c. And I can be much more of a help to us if you trust me!"

Teal'c's reply was brutal in its honesty. It hit Daniel like a hammer between the eyes. "No, you are wrong to ask this of me. Of the ones we encountered who were taken as hosts, with the second one the deception was so efficient that had it not made a slight error, we might all be dead now instead of having been forced to take that life as well as that of the first. No matter both your and my own wishes or hopes, I must assume the worst and act accordingly, for the protection of us all."

Daniel tilted his head back and closed his eyes, his limbs flushing with sudden heat even as his gut turned to ice Of SG11, it wasn't just Loder who'd died. Two other men from SG11 were dead - oh God, who? - having been brutally possessed. Violently taken, because there couldn't be any other way for that to occur, there couldn't be... then killed just as violently, because no, there wasn't any other way for that either. This couldn't be happening. Couldn't be. But it was. Three men he'd worked side by side with for the last ten days were dead, and now his own team thought... they thought -

No! This was ridiculous. He'd know if he was a host. Anything else was inconceivable, impossible. Wasn't it? Startled by a tug on his wrists, he jerked his eyes open and his head down to see Teal'c gathering up the rope which bound him. The resulting loose coil was shoved into his hands, and he stared dumbly at it. The tightly plaited strands of leather were still damp from the previous day, and filthy, mud and soil deeply imbedded into the lines of weaving. Small, dark bloodstains dotted the portions in direct contact with the skin of his wrists.

He suddenly wanted it off. Needed it off. Gone. Right now! He could hardly breathe, he wanted it gone so badly. Daniel twisted his hands, pulling, sliding, pushing. He wasn't inhabited by a Goa'uld. He wasn't. It was impossible. Wasn't. This wasn't happening. He stared at the rope, saw how it snaked around and hugged his wrists possessively as he twisted in its grasp. He tried to make it go away, barely aware of the sting of roughened leather and dirt rubbing at already raw flesh. Oh God! It wasn't coming off. He tried again, harder. He needed it gone. It was choking him, wrapping tightly around, penetrating... choking -

Oh, help. Please help. He was suffocating. It wasn't coming off... it wouldn't - Off! Off! Get it off!

"Stop!"

Daniel was drawn back to full awareness with a jolt. Teal'c had his forearms held in bruising grips, pinning his arms down across his belly, stilling his frantic efforts to twist and pull his hands out from their prison. "You must stop. You are harming yourself."

Daniel suddenly realised his hands were balled up into achingly tight fists, fingernails digging into his palms. He looked down at them, and felt an insane giggle rising. He was obviously 'round the bend, because he'd have been just as successful with pulling Floyd the Budgie through a keyhole, as with what he'd been trying to do. Chinese finger traps had nothing on him. God. Goa'uld possession. Three men dead. The near hysterical urge to laugh vanished immediately. His wrists burned under the ropes, and there was a moist sensation. He opened his closed fists, letting his hands go limp, and stared at the small amount of bloody serous fluid trickling from under the bindings, tracking down over the back of one hand.

No, it wasn't true. He wasn't a Goa'uld. He knew it He wasn't. He was himself, complete, a free man. Before he could recover enough to stop himself he heard a cracked, almost inarticulate plea coming out of his own mouth. "Oh God. Please, help me. Please take it off. I'm not a Goa'uld."

Teal'c's voice was surprisingly gentle, but the strength of his grip on Daniel's arms remained constant. "Listen to me, Daniel. Will you hear me?" With an effort, Daniel focused on Teal'c, nodding his head. Teal'c grunted an acknowledgement. "Good. There is danger here. SG8 guards the Stargate while SG3 is to retrieve us and SG2, as today in the pre-dawn hours of this planet a Goa'ulded member of SG11 arrived at the SGC through the Stargate. There was damage done, lives lost. SG3 advised Colonel O'Neill of this when we were contacted back at the caves. They advised that Major Coburn was found seriously injured a short distance from the encampment. As you rested here, it was reported to Major Carter they have now also found Sergeant Heath of SG2. He is dead."

Daniel felt his gorge rise, his arms and legs go cold with shock. Oh, no no. Not just the three lost here. How many Goa'ulded, how many dead? Tom Heath. He was so young... Daniel gagged on his own spit. He tried to do a mental head count of the dig team but his brain betrayed him, instead producing the sounds and smell of gunfire, the image of Loder being catapulted across the clearing as a snarling mass clubbed the other man aside and bore down on him. In frustration, Daniel yanked against the ropes holding him, hissing as discomfort from raw skin momentarily flared. Teal'c's hands tightened on his arms, and Daniel forced himself to take a deep breath, telling himself to calm down, just bloody well stop, because no way was this sort of thing going to help anyone.

"There continues to be no response from Captains Griff and Pierce of SG2 to radio communication. We must leave here, rejoin O'Neill and Major Carter, and continue on to rendezvous with SG3. Do you understand?"

Daniel brought his chin up, and slowly nodded. "Yes, I understand." He tried to keep the trembling he felt in his gut and limbs out of his voice. "Thank you, Teal'c. Thank you for telling me what's going on."

Teal'c gazed at him with an intensity which was unnerving. "There is one more thing."

Oh, please. Please, no more. Daniel gazed right on back, rubbed his lips together, and reluctantly, silently, steeled himself for the rest of the bad news.

"In his most recent communication with me, O'Neill advises there are dangerous indigenous creatures in the woods - hunters similar to Earth's larger felines. We are advised to remain on the path as much as possible. You must stay close to me."

Oh, well, yeah. Sure. Perfect. Wild man-eating lions, tigers, or whatever. Great. Why not?

"As much as I may wish it, I cannot remove your bonds, Daniel Jackson."

In a sudden moment of absolute clarity, Daniel understood. He hadn't grasped what was going on, what his team had been through and what their perception of the risks was based upon. And suddenly now he knew, in an almost blinding flash of insight, it wasn't Teal'c or the rest of his team who needed to have some trust and faith. It was him. He hadn't been taken by a symbiote - he couldn't have been... God, wouldn't he just have to know if he had? - but even so, still it wasn't the rest of them who ought to bear the weight of trust. They'd seen things he hadn't, knew of things he didn't.

Daniel licked his lips, and ducked his head in dismayed surrender. "Yeah. Okay." It occurred to him Teal'c was just as upset over all this as he was, and deserved better than that evasive acknowledgement. He brought his eyes up again, forcing an assurance he knew he'd have to try hard to come to terms with from his lips. "I know you can't, and that's all right. It has to be. Teal'c, I tr-"

No! A gut-clenching barrage of noise, Teal'c's eyes snapping wide open in surprise, his fingers on Daniel's arms spasming into rigid claws, his body pitching forward in a rough lurch.

Daniel tumbled backward under Teal'c's bulk into the low-laying brush, his neck painfully snapping back then forward as they fell and Teal'c's shoulder slammed against his face, driving the back of his head into the ground. Pain blossomed, and in amidst it all he thought he heard a gut-wrenchingly sickening thwack. Blinking wildly in an effort to clear the rainbow of spots blooming in his vision, it became clear to him his head didn't hurt quite enough for that awful noise to have been him, and that he was pinned to the ground. Daniel yelled Teal'c's name and struggled to get out from underneath the bigger man, simultaneously becoming acutely aware that another rapid-fire volley of shots had erupted. Miraculously, the second burst of gunfire seemed to go wide, sending up sprays of dirt and small stones as the rounds dug impact pits into the ground a good five feet to the right of his little patch of green. Teal'c was a dead weight on top of him, unresponsive to both Daniel's shouts and frenzied shoves.

Using his knees to push at Teal'c, bucking his own upper body forward and up, Daniel managed to flip Teal'c off him just as the second barrage silenced. He threw himself to his left, biting back a cry of pain as he rolled over something hard and lumpy and the bad thing in his left hip erupted just as shockingly as the sudden weapons fire had. Gasping, he completed his roll, and incapable of doing anything else curled into a ball on his right side. He shifted to press his hands down onto his hip, and after an initial flash of increased pain the pressure seemed to help slightly. Lifting his head, Daniel saw Teal'c laying on his back next to him, unmoving. There was a decent sized hole high in Teal'c's left shoulder, spilling blood over his vest and the side of his neck. The sight was a timely reminder of the situation. They needed better cover. Doing his level best to avoid being equally as good a target as Teal'c and he had been just seconds before, Daniel moved as quickly as he could to straighten himself out and crawl close enough to reach out to check Teal'c's carotid pulse. He was relieved by its steady presence.

Daniel twisted at the waist to look around, to locate the closest better cover, wondering why whoever shot Teal'c had stopped shooting. Or, not. His knee crunched onto the dropped staff weapon just as a third attack was launched. The aim was improved this time, and dirt and leaves flew up into his face as the rounds came perilously close to hitting them. Grabbing the staff, Daniel acted upon a hunch and scuttled quickly away from Teal'c, and sure enough their attacker was targeting just him now. He fell back into a disorganised crouch as one leg jerked back sharply and he felt a burning sensation along the outside of his thigh. A slight graze, hardly more significant than the scrape on his face. But God, oh God, that was too close!

Daniel snatched up the staff and rolled farther from Teal'c, gaining his knees with a grunt and swinging the staff weapon around, trying to reach back with one hand to thumb it to life. Damn! No! He lost valuable seconds as he was forced to rest the base of it on the ground behind him and slide both hands back along its length to activate it. The shooting stopped just as abruptly as it had before, and he breathed a sigh of relief. To assume anything, though, would be foolish; he knew he had to get organised pretty damned quickly. Uncooperative fingers fumbled on the shaft of the staff weapon in an attempt to hold it solidly enough and at the right angle to aim and fire, without shooting at the tree tops instead of in the general direction of the origin of the gun fire.

The long staff tipped and swayed in his awkward double-handed grip, the balance all wrong. He'd be lucky if he managed to support it upright well enough to shoot anything below the horizon, never mind something only six feet above the ground, but he didn't dare try to stand up. He heard noises in the brush across the other side of the clearing, and just as the weapons chatter began anew, on the verge of outright panic Daniel thrust his arms up, holding the staff high into the air as horizontally as he could manage, and desperately let off a volley of shots of his own.

He kept right on blazing away, indiscriminately returning fire, the muscles in his abdomen and arms clenching with effort and stress as he repeatedly hit the firing mechanism while fanning the staff in a wide semi-circle just above his head.

Carter stood hunched over beside him, her hands on her knees and her head down as she took a moment to recover her composure. Jack didn't blame her; he wasn't exactly nerveless right now either. He had been certain he'd heard and sensed something on their flank for the last five minutes or so of their jog along the trail, and they'd diverted into the woods off the clear path in order to have ready access to cover should they need it. Stupid thing to have done, really. The pair of animals stalking them - big four-legged, thick-hided, oversized cat-dog-jackal kinds of things, as it turned out - clearly were much more at home hunting amongst the trees than they were out in the open.

They looked very much like the animals drawn on the cave walls, and Jack had chastised himself over not having anticipated their actual existence as he'd run away at top speed. Using the noisy P90's was best left as a last resort considering their overall circumstances, and it had been a flustered and anxious mad dash through the trees back to the beaten path until Carter had managed to wrestle the zat free from her holster while at a dead run. He looked at the carcasses which lay just in the bushes close to the edge of the trail, and fingered his radio.

"Good thing they didn't like the idea of coming out onto the path." Carter straightened up, not so delicately reminding him of his error in judgement. "It was only because they hesitated that I had enough time to target them."

Yeah. Why the hell hadn't they seen or heard any of these things before now?

"You know, Sir, the pictographs in the cave roughly resemble these creatures. If the Unas depict these animals as being Unas prey, and obviously from the presence of these traveled pathways we're right into the middle of Unas territory, maybe that's why we haven't seen them before now."

Yeah, okay. As good a reason as any, he supposed. Jack depressed the switch on his comm and hailed Teal'c. There was a prompt reply, and a short conversation during which it became clear Teal'c and Daniel were still right where he and Carter has left them, despite it being long past the time they should have gotten moving. So... Daniel. Dammit. Their chances of making it back to the Stargate before nightfall were looking pretty slim, if Teal'c felt it wise to give Daniel twice the recoup time they could really afford.

"Sir!" One of Carter's hands gripped his arm tightly. "Wait!" Her other hand went up to her earpiece, and she frowned in concentration. Then she quickly reached down and depressed the send switch, speaking urgently into the radio. "SG3 niner, this is SG1. Radio silence. Radio silence. Unknown user on this channel, can you repeat? Unknown user, can you re-send? Over."

Jack reset his radio to the standard channel just in time to hear a barely audible series of faint sounds waft through his earpiece. He covered his other ear and listened closely. It wasn't loud enough to be decipherable, but it was a voice. Soft, strained, more like an intermittent whisper carried on laboured breaths than anything else. He strained, closed his eyes for a moment, and thought he might have heard an identifier. He spoke into his comm. "Unknown caller, this is SG1-niner. Can you repeat identification? Please confirm. Over."

And there it was. Carter's eyes rounded as she heard it too. Jack thumbed his radio switch again. "Right, we have you, Captain. Stay on this channel. Repeat, stay on channel two. SG3, transfer to channel one and confirm with Major Carter." Carter nodded at him in acknowledgement and switched over her comm as Jack spoke once again into his. "Griff, stay on your present channel and leave your comm switch set. We'll locate you on RDF. Confirm if able, buddy, but don't worry about it if you can't. Just leave the channel open. Over"

There was a faint gasp of acknowledgement. Carter dug the powerful tracker they'd used with the UAV out of her pack, and handed it to him. She watched over his shoulder as he set it for the proper signal, extended the antenna, and slowly turned in a circle. He heard her gasp at precisely the same moment he felt all the air leave his own lungs in a rush. They were right on top of Griff. He was right here... somewhere, right... where? There! Carter was one her radio advising SG3 even as they both broke into a jog in the indicated direction, Jack calling into his own comm to let Griff know they had a lock on him.

He practically dropped the tracker in alarm when he heard sudden, distant gunfire.

"Sir!" Carter had her P90 up, despite that they both recognised it wasn't close enough that they were in danger. He lurched to a halt, but before he could identify the direction it came from, the weapons fire stopped. Carter's expression was grim as she turned to him. "SMG of some sort, Sir, set on full repeat fire. Can't tell from here if it sounds like a P90 or not... could be a - "

Before she'd even gotten it all out, another muffled burst dotted the air with staccato discord. Jack looked from Carter to the tracker in his hands, to the woods surrounding them, then to back the way they had come. Back to where they'd left Teal'c and Daniel. Carter was checking with SG3, and before the short conversation had even ended she was glancing over to him with increased confusion and worry on her face. So no, it wasn't them doing the shooting, then. Crap! Jack hopped from one foot to the other, only just barely suppressing the urge to run pell mell back up the path the way they'd come.

Carter was changing the channel on her radio even as she shook her head slightly. "Still, it may not be anywhere near there, Sir. I can't tell. I don't hear any return fire, and Teal'c has his staff."

She spoke into the radio, hailing Teal'c. There was a pause during which she bit her lip, and Jack knew Teal'c hadn't answered. Damn! God damn it. He turned his attention back to the tracker, and set off at a jog as she tried again. They weren't sure where the gunfire was coming from or what it was all about, but they did know the rough whereabouts of Griff, and from the sound of his voice he wasn't feeling so hot. First things first. Find Griff.

The tracker had Griff... whoa, right over there. Close by, very close by. Really strong signal. They must have run right past him on their way back to the pathway. A third volley of shots erupted in the distance. Jack tried to push aside his rising anxiety as Carter's calls to Teal'c obviously went unanswered, and instead concentrated on the RDF signal from Griff's comm. Suddenly Carter surged up alongside him, pointing into a clump of thick brush to their left as she whispered, "There! I see something, right there." Satisfied that she had her weapon at the ready as she slowly approached the bushes, Jack slung the tracker's harness over his shoulder and did likewise. The firing in the background stopped just as Carter called out a challenge to the dark form hidden in the brush.

A bloodied, dirty hand poked out from amidst the heavy growth and erratically waved them over. It was followed by an arm and a shoulder, then the rest of Griff tumbled forward out of the clump of bushes just as they reached him. Carter knelt down next to him, releasing her backpack and grabbing it as it fell to the ground. The man was obviously in worse shape than he'd been when they'd last seen him. Jack frowned at the sight of bloodstains where there had been none before, and at the pain and fatigue etched on Griff's face. He tried to talk to them, but Carter shushed him, digging around in her pack and pulling out her medkit.

Jack was just about to hunker on down next to them when he heard the next round begin, and... shit! No! No, no, no! It was all too clear exactly where the shooting was coming from. He froze in place as the unmistakable sound of Teal'c's staff joined with the submachine gun fire. One, two, three, four... he lost count of the rapid staff blasts almost right away. Whoever - or whatever - Teal'c was facing, it sounded like they weren't about to go down without putting up a hell of a fight.

He stared down at Carter and Griff, the SG2 major looking like death lightly warmed over. "What's his situation, Carter?" His voice came out hoarsely strained. Rough, gravelly. Didn't even come to close to how he felt. The gunfire and the staff blasts continued, each whoomph of the staff feeling like a direct blow to his gut.

"Shot, Sir. One through and through the thigh, one to the left flank. Other than the glancing staff wound from before, I can't find anything else obvious." Griff's face was distorted with pain as he clutched at her arm, nodding that she had it right, seemingly barely hanging on to consciousness. Carter was pulling various and sundry supplies out of the kit; gloves, pressure bandages, antiseptic, tape.

The SMG cut off, but the staff was still firing. Thank God it wasn't the other way around. But... why was the staff still firing? Just what was Teal'c up against?

Carter looked up at him from rummaging around further in her pack. "We'll be all right here, Colonel."

No. That was out of the question. There were... snarly things... hunting in these woods. And Unas. And the stinking snakes. But there was also someone or something shooting at his friends, dammit. Carter was back on channel four, the same wavelength as Teal'c, so... Jack switched his comm over to channel one. "SG3, this is SG1-niner. What is your location?"

His gut twisted further as he listened to the reply. Oh, not nearly good enough. They were only two-plus hours sunnyside of the SG11 base camp. Barely halfway from the dig site to the bivouac site, which was at least a twenty minute jog down the path from where he, Carter, and Griff were right now. Hey... come to think of it, why was Griff here, cave-side of the bivouac, anyway? No, never mind. Not pertinent right now. The important thing was that SG3 was hours away from being useful.

The staff blasts stopped, and a split second later he heard Carter on her radio, again calling to Teal'c. Once. A pause. Twice. Then a third try. She caught his eye, patted Griff on the shoulder, and stood up. "Sir, those animals probably risked it only because he was injured."

Yeah. Nice rich-smelling blood and all that. An easy target. But shit, Carter, who really gave a flying f-

"The point is, Sir, I'm here now and he can manage a zat if need be." Her eyes urged him even more urgently than did her tone of voice. "We'll be just fine on our own, if you decide you have to go."

Shit. Bad headache. Very, very bad headache.

Go on to part three

Feel free to contact the author...

Return Home

Within the context and limitations of the site Disclaimer, Any and All original characters, situations, story line, dialogue and narrative © March 15th, 2002, the author