PHX-513 Night world
By Kelly Moreland
Jack O'Neill had stretched his legs out comfortably on the ground and sat propped against a rock soaking up the warmth of the twin suns. PHX-513 was uninhabited, and had been for a long time. Daniel and Sam were both busy with some kind of odd device that was attached to the DHD, it was so technologically advanced they weren't sure what it was. That left Jack and Teal'c with nothing to do at the moment.
Jack had taught Teal'c the game 'Mancala' and they had collected stones and dug pits in the dirt to make a game board, and now sat there in the fifth round of heated strategic competition.
Jack was losing badly, and happened to glance up just in time to see Daniel go flying backward.
"Daniel!" He yelled, jumping up.
"Daniel, are you all right?" Samantha Carter was asking him.
Daniel didn't move. He didn't answer.
Jack went to where Daniel lay in the grass and checked his pulse. It was strong, but seemed a little erratic. But what the hell, he had just been hit by who knows how many volts of electricity.
"Dial home," Jack said to Carter, as Teal'c approached and squatted down.
"Can you carry him?" Jack asked the big Jaffa.
"Indeed I can," Teal'c replied and scooped Daniel up in a fireman's carry.
Carter punched in the last symbol and nothing happened.
"Carter?" O'Neill said, "what's going on?"
"I don't know, Sir," she said, "The shock that hit Daniel may have damaged the DHD."
"Can you fix it?"
"I'm going to try," she said.
"Try?" Jack's voice had a sharp edge to it.
"Yes, Sir," Carter answered firmly.
Jack helped Teal'c lower an unconscious Daniel to the ground and tried to make him comfortable. There was a distinct burn on one of his palms, and the toe of one boot was smoking slightly. Entrance and exit of the electricity, Jack thought. Jack tore the sleeve off his shirt and wrapped it around Daniel's hand to act as a bandage.
Carter was already opening panels and examining the circuits on the DHD, trying to troubleshoot the problem. Teal'c had opened his pack and pulled out his first aid kit. Together he and Jack removed Daniel's boot and sock and found a burn mark on his big toe. Jack wrapped it in gauze and taped it up just as Daniel started to wake.
"Jack?" He said, his voice groggy.
"Take it easy, Daniel. You did an impression of a human lightning rod. Just lie there and we'll get home as soon as we can," Jack said calmly.
"How? Why?--"
"Just rest DanielJackson," Teal'c said.
"Carter, how is it looking over there?"
"I'm working on it, Sir." she answered, without taking her eyes off the device. Jack could see she was, literally, elbow deep in the DHD and if anyone could fix it, Carter could.
Two hours later she was ready to try again. She punched in the home address and pressed the big red button in the center. There was a whirring sound from the Stargate, but nothing happened.
"Damnit!" She said, throwing a wrench on the ground in frustration.
"Still no luck?" Jack asked.
"No, Sir and I've tried everything I know of."
"Keep trying, Carter," Jack said, "I've got faith in you."
"There isn't much daylight left, but I'll try a few more things."
"Teal'c and I will set up our tents, you just keep trying."
"Yes, Sir," she nodded.
Jack and Teal'c took just minutes to set up the four small tents, each just big enough for one person to sleep in, but compact enough to easily fit in their backpacks. Daniel started to get to his feet.
"What are you doing, Daniel?"
"Going to gather wood, we'll need a fire tonight."
"Sit back down," Jack said, it wasn't a request.
Daniel settled himself back down on the ground looking like he would fall over at any second.
"I was just going to help, Jack."
"I know, but you need to stay right there. Talk to Carter, between the two of you you might come up with something new to try."
Two hours later Jack and Teal'c had gathered a large pile of wood, and Carter was still working on the DHD.
"Take a break, Carter," Jack said. "Take a few minutes to eat then you can go back to it."
The four of them gathered around the fire and ate MRE's from their backpacks.
"Any idea what happened?" Daniel asked Carter as they ate.
"There was a power surge through that device and it hit you hard, but it also hit the DHD. I haven't been able to get the DHD back on line since."
"Maybe the device is a surge protector," Daniel said.
"If that's the case it did a real fine job," Jack said sarcastically.
"Or a back-up power supply," Daniel suggested.
Carter stopped eating and looked at him.
"You might just be on to something and if it is a back-up power supply and it overloaded, then surely there is a reset switch on it somewhere," she said.
"I'd be careful about pushing any buttons on that thing," Jack said.
"I will sir, but we are already four hours overdue, Hammond will send another team soon, then they will be stranded right along with us."
"I'm well aware of our situation, Major," Jack said tersely.
"Yes, Sir, sorry. I'm just a little frustrated."
"Well we will start on it again tomorrow," Jack said, "meanwhile it's late, the suns are setting and it's getting cold. We'll take watch in two hour shifts and keep the fire going.
They finished their meal and packed away their trash. They watched as first one, then the other sun set about fifteen minutes apart. As they went down the temperature dropped rapidly similar to a desert climate.
The team sat around the fire in silence, each lost in their own thoughts.
"Daniel, can you take the first watch?" Jack asked him.
"I don't think it will be a problem."
"If you don't feel like you can pull a watch, then say so."
"No, Jack. I think I'll do fine."
"Carter, you take second, Teal'c, you take third and I'll take the fourth one. The rest of us should turn in. Daniel, if you need anything yell," Jack said.
"I will," Daniel answered as Jack, Teal'c and Sam went to their tents.
As the air around him cooled, Daniel noticed a mist rising from the ground. Thick and tendril like it snaked between the tents and covered the tops of his boots. Daniel couldn't ever remember seeing a mist like this before, not this thick, as if it was made to hide something in. Daniel stoked the fire higher hoping it would drive back the mist, but to no avail. To his alarm he began to see shapes moving in the mist. What looked like a six legged deer stepped out of the mist only to disappear a minute later. He heard a bleating sound from where the deer had been and he wondered if a larger predator had gotten it.
He debated on waking Jack and finally decided that yes, he should.
"Jack?" he hissed, from right outside his tent. "Jack?" He was trying not to wake Carter or Teal'c.
"What is it, Daniel?" Jack asked, sticking his head out of the tent.
"There are things in this mist. Big things."
"What are you talking about?" Jack climbed out of his tent as he asked.
"I saw what looked like a deer with six legs then I think I heard something attack it."
"You think?"
"I'm pretty sure. Jack, there's something out here."
"I'll pull watch with you," Jack said, thinking Daniel had just had a really bad day and was tired.
They sat across from each other at the fire and said nothing. Jack found out Daniel was right. You could hear things in the mist, just outside the glow of the campfire.
They begin to hear something that sounded like hoof beats, a lot of them. Soon they could not only hear it, they could feel it shaking the ground.
"What the hell?" Jack muttered out loud.
"See what I mean." Daniel stated.
Jack hushed him with a wave of his hand and cocked his head to one side to listen better.
The trembling of the ground gradually faded away in the distance only to be replaced with new, stranger sounds. Whistles and deep sounds echoed through the night air, making the mist seem even more eerie.
Cries of birds, or bird-like animals filled the air. Jack found it odd that they had seen no animals or birds during the day, but apparently the planet was nocturnal, coming alive at night.
"Daniel," Jack said after a while of listening to all the noises of the night, "Did you notice and animals or birds today, during the day?"
"No, nothing, now that you mention it."
"Two suns, twice as much light, so everything lives underground and comes out to play at night?"
"Sam would be the one to ask, but I think you've got it."
"We really need to get out of here." Jack said, stating the obvious.
"I couldn't agree more," Carter said, startling both men.
"Can't sleep?" Jack asked her.
"Not with all that noise going on," she said, gesturing toward the darkness.
"I want you back to work on that thing at first light," Jack said to her. "The last thing I want is to spend another night out here."
A loud cry cut through the night, the kind of sound that made your skin crawl. The kind of sound that automatically put fear in your heart on an instinctual level. It was followed by roar that sounded much like a lion or a tiger.
"I really am starting to not like it here," Daniel said, looking around uneasily.
"I can see why," Sam said as the sound of wings cut the air over head. Large wings that beat the air and actually sent a cool breeze down on the three of them.
"I'm pretty sure the fire is keeping them away, it may even be blinding to them if they are truly nocturnal," Daniel said, staring into the darkness overhead.
"I think so," Carter said, also staring overhead. "Sir, whatever that was had to have a very big wingspan."
"I noticed that too," he answered her, keeping his P-90 close.
More noises came to them all through the night. Teal'c eventually joined them when it was time for his watch. But no one slept. This place had seemed so pleasant during the day, seemed so sinister now at night. As the first light of dawn came Carter went back to work on the DHD and the alien device. If the device had a reset switch, that could solve all their problems.
She carefully looked it over and found a button surrounded by the symbols Daniel had been deciphering the day before.
"Daniel, can you take a look at this?" She called to him.
He came over and looked at the symbols.
"It says something about power, or the power. Then it says something about the gate. Sam, I think this is it. I think you found it."
"Step back and let me try it," she said.
"Hold on!" Jack called from across the camp.
Carter stopped what she was doing and waited as Jack approached.
"How do we know it isn't going to shock you too?" he asked.
"We don't, but I'm willing to take the chance to get us out of here."
Jack couldn't argue with that logic and motioned for her to go ahead.
She carefully pushed the button and the alien device begin to hum.
She went to the DHD and punched in the seven symbols for home, watching happily as the wheel turned and the chevrons locked in place. When the crystal blue event horizon appeared they all felt relief.
"Let's break camp and get out of here," Jack said.
It took about fifteen minutes for the four of them to break down the camp and make sure the fire was out.
"Ok campers, let's head home," Jack said.
No one disagreed with him.
The End