Kernova – Chapter One
Note: Takes place in season 10, somewhere after Insiders but before The Quest. I've included Colonel Reynolds in this as I like his character and don't think he was used enough.
"Doesn't look like anyone's been along here for a while," Cameron commented as they followed the muddy path from the Stargate.
"Indeed," Teal'c was the only one to respond before the group fell silent again.
SG1 plus Vala had arrived on one of the planets that Baal had downloaded from the SGC computer. After much deliberation, General Landry made plans to send teams to the unvisited planets on the list in the hope of turning up something on the whereabouts of the weapon they were searching for. So far none of the teams had found anything, but there were plenty more still in the database and they had no choice but to try to beat Baal to any information, or even better, the weapon itself.
After an hour's walk they began to see indications of civilisation – crops growing in the fields, wheel tracks embedded in the dirt track and in the distance were buildings of some kind. As they drew closer to the settlement, Teal'c stopped abruptly, raising his fist and bringing the rest of the team to a halt.
"What've you got?" Cameron asked quietly, looking around warily, his grip on his P-90 tightening although he couldn't see any signs of trouble.
"Smoke rising from the village," Teal'c told him briefly. "And it appears deserted."
"You can see all that from here?"
"I can."
"OK, we proceed with caution. Teal'c, you and Sam approach from the west, Jackson, Vala, we'll take the east," Cameron instructed.
Checking to make sure Vala was with them, Cameron led the way to the far side of the village, taking cover among the buildings that stood on the outskirts.
"I don't see anyone," Daniel said quietly.
"No," Cameron agreed, standing up to move further into the village.
Half an hour later they gathered outside the last building that had been searched, all taking grateful gulps of the fresh air. There was no one left alive in the village. Everywhere they had gone they had found a similar scene: bodies dumped in piles and left to rot, homes ransacked and emptied of anything worth taking before they had been set on fire. The only reason the buildings were left standing was because of their unusually sturdy construction that made them look as though they had been standing for hundreds of years through whatever nature could throw at them.
"Well that was unpleasant," Cameron threw out to no one in particular.
"I've seen this before," Vala told them as she pulled out her water bottle. "It's the Alliance's form of revenge on those who won't do what they want. Word soon gets around and then they find everyone miraculously becomes co-operative."
"We have got to do something about those guys," Cameron couldn't hide his disgust at what people could do to their fellow humans.
"It has been several days since this occurred," Teal'c said. "I doubt we will find any of them still around."
"You know what I mean," Cameron rolled his eyes, before smiling ruefully as he realised Teal'c was joking. "There's a time and a place, big fella."
"Where's Vala?" Sam asked, causing everyone to look around for their missing team member.
"Vala, where the hell have you got to?" Cameron snapped into his radio, waiting impatiently for her response.
"I thought I saw someone in the trees," Vala spoke in hushed tones. "I'm north-west of your position."
"Stay where you are, we're coming to you."
Taking Vala's report seriously, they split into pairs and made their way through the trees but could find no sign of her.
"The ground has been disturbed recently," Teal'c reported from where he was crouched. "By several pairs of feet. We should go in that direction." He pointed to where the woodland began to climb and they followed his lead, eyes peeled for signs of danger or whoever it was that Vala was pursuing.
Cameron and Sam had just reached the top of the slope when the ground gave way beneath their feet. Before they had chance to react, they found themselves at the bottom of a deep pit with sheer sides of crumbly earth that would not allow them to gain any kind of purchase on it to get themselves out.
"Are you guys alright?" Daniel shouted down to them as he began to rummage in his pack for some rope.
"We're fine and dandy," Cameron yelled irritably. "Just get us out of here pronto."
The only response he got was a grunt and a couple of dull thuds.
"Daniel? Teal'c? What's going on?" Sam called anxiously when they heard no more. Almost immediately two limp bodies landed in the pit right in front of them. "Looks like they've been drugged," Sam said as she pulled a dart out of Daniel's arm, finding another two in Teal'c's back.
"Hey!" Cameron shouted to their invisible assailants. "What's going on? What do you want with us?" He received no reply but a few minutes later he could hear Vala complaining loudly.
"Hey, stop pushing. I'm going as quickly as I can considering I'm blindfolded with my hands tied behind my back. Who are you and what do you want with us?"
Again, there was no response from their so far invisible and unidentifiable captors and Vala joined the others at the bottom of the pit with a loud grunt as she landed heavily on top of the still unconscious Teal'c and Daniel.
"You alright?" Cameron asked as he and Sam untied her and helped her to her feet.
"As alright as I can be for someone who was just pushed down a thirty foot hole," Vala complained as she looked around, her eyes coming to rest on the two people who had provided her with a softer landing. "What about them?"
"They're going to be fine," Cameron said, taking her response as an indication she was unharmed. "And it's not thirty foot – that's no more than fifteen."
"Oh well that makes all the difference doesn't it," Vala sniped at him.
"What happened to you?" Sam changed the subject.
"When I got up here I was caught in some kind of trap, I didn't get a look at whoever it was as the first thing they did was to blindfold me before tying me up and marching me here."
"We've still got our weapons," Cameron observed, noting that Vala, Teal'c and Daniel were all minus theirs. "How about we see if we can get out of here? Sam, if you stand on my shoulders you may be able to climb out and lower down a rope."
Sam was reaching up to try to gain a hand-hold on the dry, crumbling edges of the pit when her body went limp and she fell to the ground, a small dart protruding from her neck.
"I guess that plan's not going to work," Cameron announced unnecessarily as he checked Sam for injuries, frowning as he noticed one of her arms was bent at an unnatural angle. "I think it's broken." He looked up at Vala, who immediately began rummaging through her vest pockets, producing first aid supplies.
"We're going to have to set it while she's still unconscious," Vala said, all trace of her normally flippant manner gone for the moment.
"Yeah, I know," Cameron pulled a face as he probed the injured arm, grimacing as he straightened it but relieved Sam would know nothing about it until she woke. "That's it, I think."
"What happened?" A moan from Daniel alerted them to the fact that he had come around, although Teal'c was still out for the count.
"You and Teal'c were drugged and shoved down here with us," Cameron told him. "Sam tried to climb out but she got hit with one of those darts and broke her arm in the fall."
"Oh." Daniel sat up slowly, rubbing his neck and shoulders to ease the tense muscles he'd discovered when he moved. "Please don't do that," he snapped irritably as Vala took over rubbing his shoulders.
"Okey-dokey, just thought I'd make myself useful," she grinned at him, back to her old self. "So, how are we going to get out of this?"
"You mean you don't have any ideas of your own?" Cameron asked disbelievingly.
"Of course I do, I just wondered if you'd come up with anything yet," Vala retorted, flicking her plaited hair back over her shoulder.
Cameron was prevented from responding to this as with a loud clang, something crashed above their heads blocking out the daylight and sealing them in the pit.
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Thanks for reading – hope you enjoyed it, please let me know what you thought.