~Raido~

"It's been two days, sir."

"I can count, Carter." Jack's brusque tone mirrored that of the small rescue party gathered around a dying fire. The wind-chill factor outside the cloister of camouflage tents was bone numbing, and Sam didn't want to even think of how Daniel would be spending this night.

If, in fact, he was still alive.

The team had fallen into trouble a few days earlier when the Tok'ra had informed them of a possible archaeological find in a cave system on PL2-101. Besides the obvious question—what were the Tok'ra doing in the cave—Daniel was positively gushing at the small palm-sized stones the Tok'ra had presented him with. Each stone was covered in the angular and distinctive writing of the Asgard, and looked as though they might have belonged to a much larger relic.

"A device perhaps?" Teal'c had asked, arching one eyebrow questioningly at the Tok'ra operative, for which he got an expressionless and decidedly neutral answer. Once again, the Tok'ra were bearing gifts but not giving up any pertinent details.

The merits of venturing into an uncharted cave system were discussed, but Daniel was quick to remind everyone of the SGC's research mandate and the possible benefits of learning more about the Asgard.

Squaring his shoulders, meeting each member of the team in turn with a steely gaze, General Hammond ordered his team to be ready for an early morning departure.

Daniel was vibrating with anticipation, which Colonel O'Neill had countered with a heavy hand to his shoulder. "Steady boy, before you sprain something."

SG-1 had a go.

~oOo~

Sam pulled the collar of her thermal jacket up around her ears and cast a disparaging look at the brooding night sky. Thunder clouds rolled overhead from a point beyond the horizon, their dark spongy plumes heavy with rain. On the opposite side of the hearth, Teal'c sat in quiet kel'no'reem, the cold seeming to have no affect on his battered body. He sat with his hands on his knees and his head back slightly, eyes closed. A river of bruises washed from his right-side temple down his neck before disappearing under his jacket, and with a shudder, Sam found herself silently thankful his symbiote was taking care of his other more sinister injuries.

The collapse of the cave system had caught everyone by surprise. When they'd made their way into the mountain, the tether linking them together was their only reliable means of finding their way out, as the crude map provided by the Tok'ra had been nothing more than an approximation of the winding system of tunnels. The threat assessment of the planet was negligible and Daniel, having the most caving experience, took point. Sam had been second, the beam of her flashlight squarely centered on Daniel's back as they walked deeper into the mountain.

"It's dry in here," Daniel commented, as he moved his light in a sweeping arc from side to side. "These tunnels haven't seen water in a long time."

"Is that a problem, Daniel?" Sam asked.

"Not really, well… maybe. It depends on when the last time was these rocks saw water. Surprisingly enough, when rocks are very dry, they tend to split quickly under the pressure of water."

"They become more porous?"

He stopped and swung his flashlight in her direction and muttered, "Exactly," as though her answer had surprised him.

"Hey, what's the hold up?" Jack called from further back in the tunnel, tugging on the tether to get their attention.

"Nothing," Daniel called back, and went back to marking their way with light sticks.

The trek to the location the Tok'ra had found the Asgard artifacts was long, but thankfully uneventful, and with a sigh of relief, Sam silently praised herself for packing extra rope—the Tok'ra operative's method of measuring distance had proven inaccurate.

"This is…wow!" Daniel breathed, his voice bouncing off the sides of the small amphitheatre they found themselves in.

After nearly an hour of trudging through the narrow passage ways, the tunnel brightened and opened out into a larger chamber. Roughly spherical in shape, the area was crowded with stalagmites and stalactites jutting out from the ceiling and floor. A bioluminescent organism clung to the walls and bathed everything in dim bluish light.

"Well, water is getting in here somewhere," Daniel said, shining his flashlight at the roof of the cavern. "Maybe an overhead river or some other body of water."

"From the rock formations?" Sam asked, shining her flashlight over one particularly large stalagmite.

"That… and the sulphur scores pocketing the walls."

Jack wrinkled his nose and squinted. "Explains the smell."

They wound their way through the cavern to the far side, where the Tok'ra operative had discovered the relics. Set on a ledge, crafted crudely into one wall, was an arrangement of stones similar to the ones Daniel was carrying in his pack. Donning gloves, he took a brush from his kit and carefully cleaned away accumulated dust.

"Definitely Asgard," he murmured.

"I thought we knew that already?" Jack countered.

"One or two relics from the same race doesn't make it a definitive find, Jack. When archaeologists recovered ancient libraries in Greece and Sumeria, they quite often found objects belonging to other races among the debris. For all we know, this could be some long forgotten space pirate's hide out, and these stones were part of his haul. It's too early to be certain."

"Space pirates, ya' say? As in 'Yo ho ho'?"

"Cute."

"Needs work?"

"Like you wouldn't believe."

Jack peered over Daniel's shoulder, sweeping his flashlight across the ledge. "But those are definitely Asgard?"

"No doubt about it."

"Cool!" He tapped at the radio on his chest. "Think this will work this far in, Carter?"

Sam frowned, momentarily confused. "Sir?"

"I want to let Teal'c know we're coming out."

Daniel collected the stones and wrapped them in a cloth, carefully putting them inside his pack. "We're leaving? Already? But we only just got here."

"We found what we came here for, Daniel, and to be honest, this place gives me the creeps. Gather up your rocks, let's go."

"Jack-"

Jack held up his hand, forestalling further debate. "We got here late and the sun would have set by now. I don't want us trying to work our way back to the surface in the dark."

"Ah, sir?"

"Carter?"

"We're already in the dark," she said, tapping the side of her flashlight for effect. "Can't get much darker."

"Not the point," Jack returned. "Teal'c is up there in the dark, and you know how that scares him." His tone was lighthearted, but he made it clear the conversation was over.

"What if there's something here we haven't found yet?"

Jack squinted at Daniel through the glow of the flashlight. "Ten minutes," he said tapping the top of his watch. "Ten minutes and then we're out of here."

Fate gave them barely five.

They hadn't heard the rumble at first, as the mountain moved restlessly beneath their feet. Daniel noticed it when the light from the flashlight he held between his teeth picked up fine particles of dust dancing on the surface of several unearthed stones.

"Anyone feel that?" He swung the light out into the cavern in the direction of Sam and Jack.

Jack shielded his eyes and shook his head. "Feel what?"

As if motivated by Jack's words, the floor groaned under their feet, followed by a steadily growing rumble that worked its way from the tunnel side of the cavern to the far wall.

Like slow motion, the walls seemed to yawn and the stalagmites quivered threateningly above them.

"Move!" Jack stumbled, struggling to stay upright. "Leave everything and run! Teal'c!" he screamed into his radio, tumbling to his knees as another tremor flowed through the cave churning up everything in its path.

Dust choked the air, rocks bounced and skidded across the floor and stalactites that had hung for centuries cracked and broke, showering the team with sharp slithers of calcium carbonate.

"Teal'c!" Jack's voice barely rose above the roar of the tremor.

Sam pulled on her rope, gathering it in until she could feel the weight of Daniel on the other end. Arms straining, she tried to find him through the swirling dust but the sway of the rope was the only indication she had that he was still tethered.

Behind her, she could just make out the colonel clawing his way towards the tunnel entry. He slapped one hand out again the wall and flipped onto his bottom, fumbling for the rope around his waist. Looking up, he squinted at her through the dust falling on his face.

"Carter!"

"I can't see Daniel!"

"I'm reeling you in."

Time slowed down. She could see the colonel take up the slack on his line as he over-handed it in until she felt herself being pulled towards him. On her end, the rope was tight to the point of straining and she still couldn't see Daniel. Suddenly she was being pulled in two directions.

"Sir, I think Daniel's stuck!"

But he wasn't listening. The look of concentration on his face, the determination with which he was reeling in the line, made it clear his focus was elsewhere.

In a split second of time she was falling backwards, arms flailing as the rope she was holding onto flew back at her, smacking her in the face and shoulders. She could just see the end of it as it whipped across her chest: it had been cut.

The force of the landing knocked the breath out of Sam. She flipped onto her stomach, inching slowly towards the colonel as the floor lurched again, sending a fresh plume of dust and debris into the air.

"I have you, Major Carter!" Strong arms grabbed her and pulled her forward into the tunnel. She couldn't breathe. Dust coated her face and seared its way down her throat to settle in her lungs. Every attempt, every chance to draw breath caused her more pain.

"I can't—"

Her words died in the air as a damp cloth smothered her face and dragged its way down her throat, wiping away the thick silt with it.

"Are you able to breathe now?" Teal'c's strong voice was like an anchor in the dark, reassuring and safe.

"Colonel O'Neill?"

"Beside you. We must leave."

"No, we can't! Daniel!" Sam reached for the rope still tied around her waist, gathering it in and hoping she'd imagined the end being cut. There was nothing. The end was clean, barely starting to fray from the rough cut that had severed Daniel from the rest of his team.

Another tremor rocked the mountain, louder and stronger than the first few. Sam felt herself being picked up and propelled along the writhing tunnel to the surface. The walls cracked and fractured, following the course of the tremor like a wave breaking the shore. The light sticks they'd left to mark their way, barely registered through the debris. Stumbling, crawling, they eventually broke the surface as the tunnel collapsed behind them, catching Teal'c as he lunged for the opening.

To be continued…