A/N – Oh, this is just another of my "oh so random" adventure stories with a healthy dash of Sam/Jack on the side :D And perhaps some Dan/Jan if a certain person pesters me into it (winks she knows who she is ) Anyway, this one is meant to have the ambiance of the "Resident Evil" movie, as you will see in upcoming chapters. And perhaps some Darkside!Sam Sorry if this first one isn't anything impressive, but I'm setting up the background, don't cha know….Hokay. here it is.
Chapter 1: Discover
The village was small, and reminded Sam of the many other eastern European style villages that they'd encountered on other planets. Peasants in brown clothes toted baskets around or pulled noisy animals. Children chased geese with sticks and occasionally someone rode by on a horse. People shot the four warriors from earth odd looks as they traipsed through the marketplace.
After a few minutes a portly man with a governor's sash came running over to greet them, his beady black eyes wide in amazement. It soon became apparent, however, that the village really held nothing of interest.
"We are a simple people, good sirs…and…" the mayor shot yet another disapproving glance at Sam, specifically her short hair, "lady. We do not posses great knowledge. The gods left us many seasons ago with only a few warnings to keep us safe."
"Warnings?" Daniel seemed to perk up a little. "What sort of warnings?"
"Animals to avoid, mostly…and never to travel to Abaddon."
Jack raised an eyebrow. "Abaddon?"
"It's either Hell or a ruler of hell, depending on who you're talking to." Daniel put in.
The mayor shook his head. "Abaddon is far to the south. It was once a city, long before our meager hamlet was formed. But something happened...and now everyone is dead. The gods told us to never go there for the danger is too great."
"Sir, if the Goa'uld don't want anyone going there, it might be our best bet to find technology."
"I agree, Carter," Jack nodded and turned to the mayor. "How far south is it?"
"Well, none of us know for sure because we've never been there," replied the mayor, clasping his hands together and looking down at his lap. "The old maps show it maybe two hours walk along the forest road. I would not be able to send anyone with you, it is forbidden."
"Of course…" Jack mumbled, then gestured for the team to stand up. "Come on, campers, next destination; Abaddon."
The mayor looked very much like he would want to stop them from traveling there, but then Teal'c gave him a stony look and he shrank back into his chair as the four walked out of his small office. It was drizzling lightly outside, the sky steely grey. Jack made a sarcastic comment about it being the perfect day for a walk in the woods.
A few minutes later they were walking single file down an overgrown path that led away from the village. The drizzle stopped as they passed through a few sad looking wheat fields, and the sun actually poked out from behind some clouds just as SG-1 entered the damp shade of the forest.
Here the path widened as it moved between trees with enormously thick trunks, so Jack told them to walk two abreast. There were no sounds in the forest; no birds, no little animals, only the dripping of rainwater off leaves. The absence of noise seemed to make everyone jumpier than if it had been present.
"Two hour walk my ass!" Jack complained as they finally sat down on a fallen log to rest and take drinks from their canteens.
Teal'c, who had continued walking a little ways up the path, suddenly shouted back to them. "O'Neill! Daniel Jackson! Major Carter!"
They all got up and hurried over to the Jaffa. They'd reached the edge of the forest, and the path took a steep dip down the side of a drop off. Stretching out below them was a bowl that resembled an abandoned quarry; except the loose stones laying about were obviously the remains of buildings.
"Oooh sinners lets go down, lets go down, lets go down…" Jack began singing quietly as they carefully picked their way into the bowl. "Oooh sinners lets go down, down in the valley…" He stopped suddenly, causing Daniel to nearly run into him.
"What is it, Sir?" Sam called from behind Daniel.
"I don't know…" Jack was squinting slightly, and his hands had unconsciously tightened on his P90. "I've just got a bad feeling about this."
Sam rolled her eyes. Over head the sky was once again covered in clouds, and a breeze had sprung up. Jack gave himself a little shake and continued walking.
They all stuck to what appeared to have been the main street of Abaddon. A strange, damp chill filled the air and Sam could feel the hairs on the back of her neck rising. None of them spoke; Abaddon held the same quieting atmosphere of a cathedral that was open to the sky.
"Hey look." Daniel said quietly after about fifteen minutes of walking. They'd nearly reached the other side of the bowl, and could all see the double doors set into the rock face a hundred yards ahead of them. Getting closer they could see the doors were made of metal and inscribed with a few lines of Ancient script, which Daniel immediately set about translating. "The dialect is a little different than what I'm used to, but…It says something about great and dangerous secrets."
"I like the sound of that!" Jack's voice was full of bravado. "Can we get them open?"
Daniel gave the doors a push, but they didn't budge. Teal'c tried as well with much the same results. Then Sam noticed a spot on one of the doors where moss filled an indent in the metal. She carefully cleared the moss and dirt away, then pushed at the indent. The doors swung outwards, causing the four members of SG-1 to jump back slightly as they were hit with a blast of musty smelling air.
Jack signaled for them to move forward and they did; guns ready, muscles taught. But the place was empty.
They found themselves in what could only be described as a huge laboratory, and it was quite obvious why the Goa'uld hadn't wanted anyone finding this place.
"It's like whoever ran it just…left…" Sam said, walking over to a counter where several test tubes held some sort of powder. A notebook and pencil lay next to it, as well as something that might have once been rubber gloves. Looking around she spotted many computer consoles, their screens blank, keyboards bearing the strange letters of the Ancient alphabet.
"Guys, I found another door!" Daniel's voice echoed strangely in the large room. Sam and Jack walked over to where Daniel stood.
Jack squinted up at more Ancient writing. "What's that say?"
"Uhhm…" A faint frown line creased Daniel's forehead. "Vacuum, I think…emptiness…something like that."
There was a large handle in the middle of the door and before anyone could object, Jack had grabbed it and turned it. There was a whoosh of air being sucked into the room, and the door opened to reveal yet another large, darkened room. Jack shone his flashlight around, and Sam let out a gasp.
The walls were lined with shelves upon shelves of specimens and bottles and vials, all preserved perfectly for God knows how long in the giant vacuum-sealed room. A desk stood in the middle, covered in stacks of notebooks and it was towards this that Sam and Daniel hurried, despite Jack's best efforts to stop them.
"They're research notes…" Daniel said, picking up one of the notebooks. "It'll take me a while to translate these, but…"
Sam was peering over his shoulder. "Those are chemical diagrams…" she murmured before walking over to a huge rack of jars near the door. "Sir, we should probably bring some of these back with us and try to figure out what they are."
"Ok, but I don't want any of you touching anything without a HAZMAT kit," Jack said as Teal'c walked over. "Lets head back to the gate. We can get all the proper doohickeys and bring this back for you to study."
Sam nodded and they all turned and started walking out of the room. As she reached the door Sam thought she heard a noise behind her and so she spun around, but there was nothing there. Chalking it up to the strange ambiance of the place she turned back to follow her teammates, closing the heavy door behind her.
No one noticed the small vial that had been pushed to the edge of a shelf by Sam's P90 when she turned, or that it crashed to the floor when the door slammed shut. A pale blue liquid spread across the stones of the floor, and while SG-1 gated back to the SGC, the liquid had already turned to a vapor, permeating the air in the room.
It was sunny when SG-1 returned with the appropriate kits for transporting possibly hazardous materials back to the SGC. The bright light filtering down into Abaddon seemed to take away some of the fear and strange atmosphere, and the whole team seemed a little more cheerful as they tramped over to the huge laboratory, followed by the small supply truck.
Sam took point and pushed open the door to the vacuum room as Jack helped Teal'c unload the truck.
She knew something was wrong the moment she stepped inside, and immediately regretted their decision not to wear the full Hazmat suits.
Daniel stopped just short of entering the room when Sam fell to her knees, gasping for breath. The archaeologist propelled himself backwards, pulling for his gas mask and shouting for the others to do the same.
"Carter!" Jack ran forward, still pulling his mask on.
Sam had fallen to the floor. A strange tingling sensation was running up and down her limbs and it didn't really seem to matter anymore that she couldn't breath. Her eyes slid shut just as Jack reached her side.