by Dream Painter
Title: When the Sky Stops Falling
Spoilers/Warnings: Reference to 3x17: "A Hundred Days"
Disclaimer: Don't own 'em.
Summary: Lost and separated, the members SG-1 must find their way back to the gate... and each other.
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It had been one of those uneventful missions. The locals were friendly and hospitable, the weather was just right, and there were plenty of things for the wonder twins (aka Daniel and Sam) to geek out over. It was ideal. In hindsight, Jack would realize that he should have taken that as a warning. Alas, in their reprieve from the typical "run-from-the-bad-guys-and-avoid-getting-killed" routine, he'd grown careless and had thought nothing of the fine weather and nice accommodations. Jack would later regret that, but by then, it was too late for paranoia.
"This is great," Daniel was saying, "I mean, these drawings could date back hundreds of years. There's even a change in art styles..." So early in the morning and already Jack's head felt like it had taken a beating. Maybe he should have had more coffee. He appreciated art as much as the next guy, but Daniel had already spent two or three hours staring at scribblings on a cave wall, for crying out loud. Granted, Carter's "Adventures in Soil Collecting" probably wasn't all that more thrilling. Why must he be surrounded by people with such... such boring hobbies?
"Daniel," Jack addressed his teammate. "You ready to go yet?" For his part, the man had tried not to sound bored out of his skull, but considering the fact that he'd been asking the same question every ten to fifteen minutes, the archaeologist wasn't fooled.
"Yeah," Daniel replied as he jotted something down in his notebook, "just let me get my stuff together." Jack jerked his head up to stare at him incredulously.
"Really?" he asked. "You don't need more time to translate or something? Don't you usually spend days looking at this sorta stuff? Why don't I have to drag you away? Are you really Daniel?" The younger man smiled. Jack did have a point.
"Don't get me wrong," Daniel told him, "it's very interesting. I just don't have all the materials I need to analyze it as well as I'd like. I mean, I have several books in my lab I could reference, not to mention the lighting's kind of bad. There really is a lot to look at—for instance, I'm not entirely sure this cavern occurred naturally. We really need to come back with more equipment and a research team."
"Does that mean you're done for the day?" Jack questioned, still unconvinced.
"Well, yes," his friend responded, adjusting his glasses. "Why—did you want to stay longer?" His expression clearly stated that he thought Jack was starting to lose it.
"No, no," the older man answered hastily. "Let's go. Providing we can drag Carter away from whatever she's looking at, we might be able to make it back in time for the MacGyver marathon on television tonight."
Daniel had packed up his things and walked over to where Jack stood. "You watch MacGyver?" he blinked in surprise.
"Yes," answered the colonel. "You think I shouldn't?"
"No, just... it's a far cry from the Simpsons, isn't it?"
"Not true—Marge's sisters love MacGyver."
"I see..." They stood there for a moment.
"Carter, Teal'c," Jack spoke into his radio as he started downhill, "you there?" Daniel fell in step beside him.
"Indeed," Teal'c's low tone answered in response. "Major Carter seems to have discovered something of great interest."
Sam came over the radio. "That's right, sir. I still haven't figured out what the device is supposed to do, but I doubt it's something the Goa'uld might have left behind."
"I thought you said it looked like Goa'uld technology," her CO pointed out.
"Well, it does, in a way," the woman responded, "but I found some writing on it. It doesn't appear to be like any Goa'uld dialect I've ever seen. Teal'c's never seen it before, either. I think Daniel might recognize it, though."
"Jack..." Daniel began, but Jack cut him off with a gesture.
"Shoulda DVR-ed it.." he muttered to himself, then said, "Alright, Daniel and I are gonna swing by the village one last time, then we'll come take a look at the device. We should be there within the hour."
"Yes, sir," Carter replied. "See you then."
"Alright. O'Neill out." Jack blew out a breath. "All this walking—remind me again why we split up?"
"Because Sam wanted to check out the energy reading she picked up on last night and I wanted to look around this cave before we left," Daniel responded. "You thought if we did both at the same time, we'd still be able to return on schedule. That, and they are in opposite directions."
"Right. Well, Carter and Teal'c were saved some walking, at least." Whatever response Daniel might have made was lost in that next moment as something sped by overhead, crashing somewhere in the distance behind them. The two men halted in their tracks.
"What was that?" Daniel exclaimed.
"Carter, Teal'c," Jack radioed the other members of his team. "You guys see that?"
"Yes, ..ir. I thin... ..t was a met..." Carter's voice crackled back.
".. do not ...ieve it was .. .ip, O'Nei..." Teal'c added.
"You guys are breaking up," their CO told them, but there was no further response. He turned to the man a few feet behind him. "Daniel, what's going on?"
Daniel was looking the other way. "I can't be sure, but remember what happened on Edora?"
"Wouldn't we have detected something like that?" Jack demanded.
"Well, we weren't exactly looking," the archaeologist responded, turning to face him.
"Why the hell not?!"
"Do you really want me to answer that?" Daniel asked. Jack thought about it for a moment.
"No," he decided, "actually, I don't."
"Good, because I think the forecast is calling for showers," Daniel's tone was tense as he motioned for Jack to look behind him. A sinking feeling settled into the pit of Jack's stomach as he slowly turned and looked skyward to see streaks filling the clear blue sky. And they were multiplying.
"Aw, crap," Jack muttered, but it was drowned out as a meteor struck the ground a short distance away from them. There was a bright flash of light... and then the sky began to fall.
--
To be continued...