Incidents Series Part 11: The Rescue Mission Incident

Author: MaureenT
Rating: T
Categories: Action/Adventure, Drama, Angst
Content Warning: Mild Profanity, Violence
Spoilers: Stargate movie
Author's Notes: This is the 11th fanfic in the Incidents Series. I would highly recommend that you read the previous parts before this one, if you have not already done so, in order to understand the plot.

This story is told from three points of view: Daniel's, Jack's and Sam's.


CHAPTER ONE

Jack once told me that, as an adult, when I was dead set on a course of action, nothing and no one would stop me from doing what I thought I needed to do. I guess that's still true.

I'm sixteen years old now. My memories of foster care are finally all in the past, and I'm regaining my memories of college. From what I've remembered so far, I liked college a whole lot better than high school, even though I was one of the youngest freshmen at UCLA.

Now that I'm so close to being a legal adult, pretty much everyone at the SGC has stopped treating me like a kid. The problem is that, regardless of how people are treating me, I'm still not an adult, which means that I'm not allowed to do things that I would have been able to do if none of this had happened to me.

For instance, though General Hammond started allowing me to regularly help out the Linguistics Department once I turned fifteen, he restricted it to four hours a day, which has now been increased to five. It seems like just when I'm starting to really get involved in a translation, it's time to quit for the day. I know he set the limit because he believes it's for my own good, but it's still frustrating. There are lots and lots of kids my age who are working full time, and some of them are doing manual labor.

Another thing is that I still haven't been given access to any of the restricted information on the SGC's computers, things that I know I had access to when I was an adult. I guess it's the higher-ups who are responsible for that. What do they think I'd do with the information? I mean it's not like I can tell anyone outside the base. I'm not even allowed to leave the base.

That, of course, is another reason why I wish that I'd hurry up and get to adulthood. I was told that once I'm eighteen, I'll be allowed to leave the base for a few hours at time as long as one of my teammates is with me. I'll also be able to work full time, and it's possible that I might even be allowed to go off-world with one of the archeological teams, though that's probably just wishful thinking on my part.

But I couldn't wait until I was eighteen to do this. By then it would be far too late.

Sam and Teal'c had gone on a mission with SG-17. Jack couldn't go because he was still healing from his bullet wound. Five hours after they left, we got an emergency transmission from them. The situation with the native population had gone bad. They were pinned down and couldn't get through the gate. We lost contact when the gate shut down. We managed to contact them a while later and found out that they'd been captured and that some of them had received beatings. Every attempt to contact them since then had failed.

The video feed from the MALP showed that there were a few dozen natives guarding the gate, so sending a rescue team through was out of the question. The plan was to get hold of a Tel'tak so that a team could fly to the planet. The problem was that it would take three days for a Tel'tak to get there, and that wasn't counting the time it would take to get the ship. There was no telling what might happen to Teal'c, Sam and SG-17 in that time . . . if they were even still alive. I was so afraid that Sam and Teal'c were dead, that I'd lost them like I lost Mom and Dad. I barely got any sleep that night.

The next morning, I went to General Hammond, asking him to let me go through the gate to help rescue them. I knew that, with my abilities, I could help fight off the natives. I could lift over fifteen hundred pounds now, which would be more than enough power to toss around a few natives. I didn't want to hurt anyone. I just wanted to rescue my friends, my family. But General Hammond said no, that it would be too dangerous.

"Would you let me do it if I was an adult?" I asked him, getting upset.

"It would depend on whether or not a plan could be devised that would give the mission a reasonable chance of success. Even with your abilities, you would not be able to handle all of the natives that are in that village."

"But you're not even willing to let us come up with a plan because I'm only sixteen."

"Daniel, I understand how worried you are about Teal'c and Major Carter, but I simply cannot allow you to go. And you know that they wouldn't want you to risk your own life for theirs. I'm sorry, but that's my final answer."

After I left the general's office, I tried to figure out what could be done. Even though I'm not a trained tactician like Jack, I attempted to come up with some kind of plan to get past those natives, but every idea I got came right back to me being there to help. I knew how I could do it. I had it all figured out. I could even manage to do it without anyone going with me, because I knew that, once I got on that planet, I'd have plenty of help . . . just not human help.

You see, it turns out that I was wrong. I am Doctor Doolittle. Okay, so that's not really true. I can't understand what animals are saying, and I can't talk to them like Doctor Doolittle does, but I can communicate with them in a way.

It was the day after we got back from Idaho that I discovered this. Rambo, the Rottweiler that saved my life when I was kidnapped, was brought to the SGC for one of my visits with him, and I decided to use him for an experiment.

Ever since that stuff that happened with the wolves, I'd been wondering about how they knew that I was in trouble. Jack thought that they'd somehow sensed my fear across the distance, but I wondered if it was more than that. So, while I was playing with Rambo on the mountaintop, I did my experiment. I made him sit and stay, then I went to a spot where he couldn't see me, closed my eyes, and called to him inside my mind. At first, it didn't look like it was going to work, but then he was suddenly there. I had to make sure that it wasn't just because he didn't like that I was out of his sight, so I did it again, moving away just a few feet the second time. Within just a few seconds of me calling to him in my mind, he came.

The next day, I tried it again, only not with Rambo. I went alone back to the mountaintop to see if I could get wild animals to come to me. I discovered that, when I mentally called to them, they came to me almost right away, but if I didn't call them, they either didn't come at all or took a lot longer.

I wasn't talking to them with words. Instead, I was sort of broadcasting what I wanted them to do with mental pictures and emotions. I mean, when you think about it, what good would it do to talk to them with actual words? They can't understand English, now can they. This is reality, not some silly movie.

I didn't tell anyone about what I'd learned. I was afraid that if I did, the bigwigs would rescind their agreement to end my virtual prison sentence when I turn eighteen. I knew, however, that this ability could make it possible for me to save Sam, Teal'c and SG-17. The natives guarding the gate had both horses and dogs, and I could use the animals against them. Between that, my telekinesis, and the rest of my plan, I figured that I had a really good chance of getting past the natives guarding the gate and to the village, which was where we believed everyone was being kept prisoner. All I needed to do was come up with a way to get through the gate.

I know that a lot of people would call me foolish for even considering doing such a thing, but I couldn't just sit and do nothing as two people I love were possibly being hurt. By the time the Tel'tak got there, it could be too late to save them.

I had to do it. I just had to. If I didn't and Sam and Teal'c died, I'd never be able to forgive myself. It would be my fault that I didn't do everything I could to rescue them.

Putting the first step of my plan in motion, I went to Sam's lab. On the table was a Goa'uld shock grenade. Sam had been studying it to see if she could increase the size of the area that it would affect. It was in pieces, but, thanks to what she'd taught me, I knew how to reassemble it.

With my back to the camera so that it couldn't see what I was doing, I put the grenade back together, then slipped it into the small backpack I'd brought. Then I began moving about the room, pretending that I was aimlessly wandering. I managed to slip an infrared scanner into my pocket.

I returned to my office and hung out there for half an hour, pretending to work. Then I went to the infirmary and tricked Janet into giving me what I needed from her. I felt bad about that, but I had no choice.

I gathered a few more things I'd need, then, after getting dinner, I went to my quarters to try and get some sleep, but all I ended up doing was staring up at the ceiling. So, instead, I practiced using my telekinesis. I'd be using it in ways I never had before, and that was just what I'd be doing to get through the gate. Once I was on the planet, there was no telling what I'd have to do.

Was I willing to kill someone with my powers? There was no question that I had the ability to do so, but the thought of actually taking someone's life made me sick. I knew that while I was on SG-1 I probably killed quite a few people, but that didn't make the thought of killing someone any easier to take.

It was midnight when I left my quarters. I went to the commissary to get some fruit to take with me just in case, as well as something else I needed for my plan. Fortunately, no one was in there, so I didn't have to answer any awkward questions about what I was doing.

After dropping the fruit off at my quarters, I went to the video monitoring room.

"Daniel," Airman Seagate greeted. "What are you doing wandering around at this time of night?"

"Can't sleep. I'm too worried about Sam and Teal'c."

"Hey, they'll get out of this. After all, they're SG-1, aren't they?"

I nodded and held out a cup of coffee. "I brought this for you. I remember you telling me that you sometimes get sleepy when you're on duty here at night."

He took the cup. "Hey, thanks, Daniel. I appreciate that."

I handed him some sugar packets and creamers. "I didn't know how you liked it, so I brought these."

"Thanks again."

I watched as he added two sugars and one creamer, then took a sip. "Well, I'll let you get back to work. See you later."

I left the room, hoping that Airman Seagate wouldn't be too terribly mad about the sleeping pills I'd put in his coffee.

I went back to my room and started putting everything in my backpack, including the food I'd gotten. I changed into black pants and a matching T-shirt. And then I waited.

After giving the sleeping pills an hour to work on Airman Seagate, I returned to the monitoring room and peeked inside. He was snoring away in his chair. Knocking him out meant that I wouldn't have to worry about him setting off the alarm when I carried out the next part of my plan.

I went down to Level 28 with my backpack. As quietly as I could, I crept up the stairs and looked into the control room. There were only two people in the room, which was what I expected. I was about to find out how good I was at using my telekinesis.

I tore off two pieces of duct tape from the roll in my pack, then made them float across the room, keeping them low to the ground. Preparing myself, I sprang my attack. The duct tape flew up and sealed shut the mouths of the two very surprised technicians. Before they could remove the tape, I telekinetically pinned their arms to the armrests of their chairs. I walked up to them, and, using some more tape, bound their arms to the chairs, ignoring the look of shock in their eyes. After apologizing to them, I rolled them away from the console. I'd come to the trickiest part of my plan to get through the gate.

I typed in the address of the planet my teammates and SG-17 were on. As the gate began to dial, I went down to the gate room. Before the guards could do anything, I snatched their weapons away and tossed the guns across the room. Then I pinned the men to the floor.

"I'm really sorry," I said to them. "I wish I didn't have to do this, but I have to help Sam and Teal'c. They might die if I don't. Tell Jack and General Hammond that I'm sorry I had to do it this way."

"Daniel, don't do this," said one of the guards. "You're just going to get yourself killed. The major and Teal'c wouldn't want that."

"I'll be okay. I've got a secret weapon that nobody knows about."

At that moment, the wormhole finished connecting to the planet. I took the shock grenade from my backpack and went most of the way up the ramp. Turning on the grenade, I threw a pitch that I knew would make Jack proud. I then went the rest of the way up the ramp, took a deep breath, and, for the first time in my memory, stepped through the Stargate.

Jack and Sam had both talked about what a trip through the gate felt like the first time you did it. I'd been hoping that, though I had no conscious memory of going through, my body would remember and not be affected by it.

Whether that was the reason or it was something else, I felt fine when I stepped out the other side. Any thoughts about the thrill of the trip didn't last long as I was faced with a couple dozen men armed with bows and arrows. In the light of the campfires I saw around two dozen more lying unconscious on the ground, thanks to the shock grenade.

Before they could shoot at me, I telekinetically shoved all of them as hard as I could. There being so many, I wasn't able to push them very far, but it was far enough. I ran like crazy toward the tree line, all the while sending a message to the natives' horses and dogs. I guess they got the message because the horses began going nuts, kicking, bucking, and running around as the dogs started knocking down everyone who was upright, snarling and barking the whole time. I heard a lot of confused yelling, but I didn't take the time to watch the show. Instead, I hurried toward the village, my eyes gradually becoming accustomed to the darkness. I knew that the distraction of the animals wouldn't keep those men busy forever. They would come looking for me. When they did, I'd have to be ready.

I pulled out the infrared scanner and turned it on. As I continued through the woods, I kept checking the screen often. About ten minutes had passed when I saw that I had company. Seven people were on my trail.

I began gathering things from the ground, a rock here, a heavy limb there. And then I found a hiding place and waited. It didn't take long for the men to come into view. I waited until they were close enough, and then I attacked. The rocks and limbs went flying through the air to strike the men in the head. They all fell to the ground and didn't get up. I really hoped that I hadn't hurt any of them seriously.

I resumed my journey to the village, hoping that I'd be able to get there without something catastrophic happening.


I am going to kill that kid. Of all the foolish, lame-brained things Daniel has done, this tops them all, and that's really saying something. I thought for sure it would be impossible for Daniel to exceed the level of stupidity that he'd shown on a few occasions in the past when he was an adult, but I failed to consider that not only was this Daniel we were talking about, it was a teenaged Daniel, which would increase by a factor of ten the likelihood of him throwing out any common sense regarding his own health and welfare. You parents of teenaged boys probably know exactly what I mean.

I'm not the only one who's pissed. As part of Daniel's escape plan, he tricked Fraiser into giving him some sleeping pills, which she thought were for him. Instead, they ended up in Airman Seagate's coffee. I really don't think I'd want to be Daniel when she gets her hands on him for his next physical.

As for General Hammond, he didn't look like he was all that mad. He just looked really worried. I'm worried, too. Make that downright terrified. When I think about Daniel alone on that alien planet, surrounded by armed natives who would probably choose to just shoot him rather than capture him, it makes my stomach clench so hard that I almost feel sick. He's a sixteen-year-old boy who has no training and no knowledge that would tell him what to do in any number of dangerous situations he could encounter. All he has is a telekinetic ability that won't be nearly strong enough if he has to go up against a hundred or so natives. How can he possibly succeed and get out of this alive? For all we know, he might already be—

God, I can't think about that. It'll drive me insane.

Despite the fact that I'm royally pissed off at Daniel, I can't help but admire the way he managed to get through the gate. I wonder how long it took him to come up with the plan. Of course, without his telekinesis, it wouldn't have been possible. I have to admit that I'd love to have seen the look on the faces of those technicians when they suddenly found themselves gagged by duct tape that seemed to magically appear out of nowhere.

The shock grenade that the guards in the gate room said he tossed through the gate makes me feel a little better about whatever plan Daniel devised for what he'd do once he got on the planet. That grenade was a smart move and would greatly reduce the number of natives he'd have to deal with on the other side. But it wouldn't have taken care of them all. When Hammond and I first discussed the options for rescuing Carter, Teal'c and SG-17, we talked about using a shock grenade, but, according to the video feed from the MALP, the natives were spread out too far for the grenade to get them all. Only around half would be taken out, leaving at least a couple dozen to fill anyone coming through the gate full of arrows.

I knocked on the door of Hammond's office and heard him tell me to come in. Like me, he received the news of what Daniel had done via a phone call rousing him from bed. Also like me, he'd rushed to the base.

"What's the word on the Tel'tak, sir?" I asked.

"We'll be sending SG-3 and 11 to P19-736 to pick it up at dawn. Fortunately, that planet is closer to their destination than our original pick-up point was. It will take two days for them to get to M85-231."

"A lot can happen in two days, sir."

"I know, Jack, but, at this point, there's nothing else we can do."

"The Tok'ra?"

"Still no response."

I frowned at the news. "Have you come up with any ideas on what Daniel meant when he said he had a secret weapon? I've been trying to figure out what he could be talking about, but I haven't a clue."

"I'm afraid not." Hammond gave a sigh. "I feel partly responsible for this, Jack. I can't help but think that I should have agreed to let Daniel accompany a team through the gate. At least then he wouldn't be alone."

"Sir, I'd have given Daniel the same answer. You couldn't have known that he'd do this."

"No, I suppose not. I just pray that we're not going to lose him because of it."


I stared at the village from my hiding place at the edge of the forest. I'd had to deal with two more groups of natives along the way, all of whom got the same treatment as the first batch. I knew that I'd been lucky. I'd caught the people at the gate off-guard. They couldn't have anticipated that a lone person would come through and somehow manage to get past them.

Seeing that the way was clear, I left the trees and crept up to the outskirts of the village. I was glad that there was no moon out.

I wasn't sure what time of night it was, but I could see that there were still people wandering around. That could be both a good thing and a bad thing. If I could manage to disguise myself as a villager, it would be a good thing since I could then walk around freely, and no one would question why I was out and about.

I peeked in a few windows until I found a house that looked empty. I slipped inside, glad that this society apparently wasn't big on locking doors. I found a hooded cloak and put it on. After stuffing all the things I thought I might need in my pockets and the pockets of the cloak, I hid my backpack and started looking for some kind of jail. This was the weakest part of my plan. I really had no idea where my friends were being kept. In the quick radio message that Sam had been able to broadcast after they were captured, she said that they were in a cell inside a building in the village, but that didn't mean that they hadn't been moved since then. I didn't know what I was going to do if they'd been taken somewhere else.

I wandered around the village, moving casually so that I wouldn't attract attention. I tensed up when I saw some armed men who appeared to be searching for me. I didn't know if any of the guys who were at the Stargate got a good enough look at me to be able to identify me, so I kept my face turned away from them. As I passed by them, I overheard what they were talking about. All the natives I'd knocked out had been found, and no one had been seriously hurt, which was a major relief to me. Some of the men had said that they'd seen rocks and branches flying through the air as if under their own power before they were knocked out. This coupled with what happened at the gate was apparently making some of the natives feel a little spooked.

I didn't relax until I was well beyond the sight of the searchers, then I picked up my pace.

I'd covered what I guessed was around three-quarters of the village and was starting to get worried when I saw a building with guards standing at the door. Unlike most of the other buildings, which were built with wood, this one was made of solid brick. That had to be it. The question was where inside that building were my teammates and SG-17?

Cutting through a side street, I went around to the back of the building. I noticed that there were very small windows with bars up at the top of the wall. The windows were around sixteen inches long and eight inches high, way too small for anyone to fit through, even if there weren't any bars. But they were big enough to see through.

I stood beneath one of the windows. Making sure that no one was around, I used my telekinesis to lift myself up. I'd done it before for fun, so I'd gotten pretty good at it. Once I'd reached the window, I took a quick peek inside. The cell was empty. After lowering myself to the ground I went to the next window and did it again.

I checked four cells that way. Some were empty, others had one or two natives in them. And then I got to number five. I almost cried out when I looked inside and saw Sam. She was alone, and I wondered where the others were. I decided to check the next cell over and found them there. Their captors must have separated Sam because she was a woman.

I heard someone coming and quickly hurried away from the jail. I hid in a doorway until the two people were gone, then I went back to the prison.

From what I'd seen, there were no guards outside the cells, but that could change if the guys searching for me decided that, to be on the safe side, they'd better increase the number of people guarding the prisoners. I would have to work fast. Thankfully, a whole lot had changed since the last time I attempted to do something like this.


For about the hundredth time, I went to the bars of my cell and looked out, hoping to see someone I could try reasoning with again, though I seriously doubted that it would do any good.

We had all thought that the meet-and-greet with the natives was going well. Teal'c and I had joined SG-17 because intel indicated that there was some advanced technology in the village, and General Hammond wanted me to take a look at it to see if there was anything worth trading for or if it was just junk. The latter proved to be the case. It turned out to be useless bits and pieces of things most likely left behind by whatever Goa'uld had brought the ancestors of these people to the planet.

We were on our way back to the gate when, suddenly, we were attacked by people with whom, just a short while ago, we'd been conversing cordially. Though we managed to make it to the DHD and dial out, we were pinned down by enemy fire and couldn't get to the gate.

We had very little cover, and there were a whole lot more of them than there were of us, so we had no choice but to surrender.

Since then, the natives had been demanding that we tell them where something called the Istriall was. We had no idea what they were talking about, so we couldn't tell them. All of the guys had received beatings, though nothing severe yet. Because I was a woman, the natives hadn't harmed me, but I knew that would soon change.

I wished that Daniel was here, the adult Daniel, that is. Chances are that he'd have been able to get everything straightened out, and we'd all be home. He had a way with people that I always admired. So many times in a crisis, he'd managed to make someone see reason or even forged a friendship with somebody who had been an enemy, like he did with Chaka.

A sound drew my attention to the back wall. I frowned when I saw cracks in the bricks, almost certain that they hadn't been there the last time I looked. My eyes widening, I watched as the cracks got bigger, spreading out in all directions. And then the bricks began bulging inward, chunks breaking off. Soon, there was a hole completely through the wall. I gasped as a face peeked in through it.

"Hi, Sam," said a smiling Daniel.

I hurried up to the wall and knelt down. "Daniel, what are you doing here?" I whispered harshly. "I can't believe that General Hammond let you do this."

"Um . . . we can talk about that later. I need to hurry up and get you guys out. Someone could come at any second."

Daniel quickly made the hole big enough for me to get through. He then got to work on the wall of the cell holding Teal'c and SG-17. I looked around, wondering where the rest of the rescue team was. I came to the conclusion that they must be keeping a lookout for approaching natives.

Teal'c and the others were as surprised to see Daniel as I was, but wasted no time in crawling through the hole.

"Where's everyone else?" asked Major Humboldt, the leader of SG-17.

"Uhhh . . . there isn't anyone else," Daniel replied. "I sort of . . . did this on my own."

We all turned to him in shock.

"You came through the gate all by yourself?" I nearly shrieked, keeping the volume down with an effort. "What were you thinking? I can't believe you could do something so foolish, Daniel."

Daniel launched into a hasty explanation that also sounded like a plea for understanding. "They wouldn't let me come to help rescue you, but they couldn't send a team without me because there were too many natives guarding the gate. They were going to send a Tel'tak, but it would have taken three days to get here, so I . . . so I decided to come myself."

I was so tempted to tear into Daniel right then and there about how colossally stupid his actions were, but this was neither the time nor the place for it. But oh was he going to get it when we were back on Earth.

"Come on," I said. "Let's get someplace out of sight."

Just then, we heard a shout coming from inside the jail.

"I believe our escape has been discovered," Teal'c remarked.

We hurried away down a street as an alarm began to ring. I was desperately wishing that we had our weapons. I figured that the odds of us making it to the gate were a thousand to one.

Not even ten seconds later, I revised that estimate.

Three armed men appeared in front of us. Before they could so much as lift their weapons they went flying through the air to slam against the side of a building.

"Holy cow!" said Lieutenant Weisberg, his wide eyes going to Daniel. As for me, I was beginning to get some idea on how Daniel had managed to get here.

"Okay, I think we must be near the edge of the village," I said. "I'd say our best chance is to get to the forest, then circle around the village to the gate."

Daniel handed me something. "Here. I brought this. It kind of came in handy." I saw that it was an infrared scanner. I didn't ask where he got it. I knew it must have been from my lab.

The men retrieved the bows and quivers of arrows from the unconscious natives, though I doubted that any of them had much experience firing a bow.

We made our way to the edge of the village, keeping a lookout for natives. We had to deal with several more, most of whom were quite handily taken care of by Daniel. Maybe there was a chance that we'd get out of this after all.

From the shelter of a building, we looked out across the meadow that we'd have to cross to get to the forest. There was a large corral full of horses off to the right, but no sign of any humans. Unfortunately, that soon changed. A party of around twenty men suddenly appeared. They spotted us and began to fire their bows at us. Under a hail of arrows, we hurried away down the street and out of the line of fire, but we knew that the natives would soon come after us.

"Daniel, can you handle that many men?" I asked.

"Not for very long, not long enough for us to get to the trees."

"Then we have no choice but to cut through the village," said Major Humboldt. "We'll encounter more resistance, but it may be in smaller pockets."

"No, there's another way," Daniel said.

I turned to him to ask what he had in mind, but fell silent when I saw him close his eyes. A few seconds later, I heard the sound of horses neighing loudly. There was a crashing sound, like something made of wood being knocked over and broken apart. And then there was another sound, that of dozens of running horses. The sound grew steadily closer, and I felt the ground begin to shake.

At least sixty horses came barreling around the corner, heading straight toward us. They stopped around ten feet away. My mouth hanging open, I watched as Daniel ran up to them and rubbed a few noses. He turned to us.

"I hope all you guys can ride bareback," he said, then proceeded to get up on the back of one of the horses as if he'd done it a hundred times.

It being our best chance of getting out of this situation, the rest of us followed suit.

With us clinging to our mounts and crouching low over them so that we'd be harder targets, the entire band of horses took off down the street, thundering through the village like a moving earthquake. People ran in alarm from our path, armed and unarmed alike. The unmounted horses had surrounded us, their bodies acting as a solid wall of flesh between us and the men who'd shoot us if given an opening. There could be only one explanation for the horses' actions: Daniel was somehow controlling them. This was way beyond anything he'd ever done before.

In a very short time, we'd made it to the other side of the village. And then we were out in the open. The moon had come out, and, in its light, I saw that a group of mounted natives was after us. I called to Daniel and pointed over my shoulder at them. Seconds later, every one of the horses ridden by a native came to a very abrupt stop. More than one man went flying out of his saddle. I couldn't stop the smile that came to my lips.

Far faster than we could have made it by foot, we reached the Stargate. My heart sank at the sight of at least fifty men there. I wondered how we were going to get past them.

As we got closer and closer to the gate, the horses showed no sign of slowing down. I glanced over at Daniel and saw a look of determination on his face. Whatever it was that he had planned, I had a feeling that the natives would not be prepared for it.

Not swerving, the horses plowed into the midst of the natives, the men scattering to avoid being trampled. We came to a stop at the DHD, our equine protectors forming a barrier all the way around it and us as we dismounted.

As I hurried toward the DHD, I glanced at the MALP and, to my horror, saw that it was smashed, the video and audio equipment destroyed. I no longer had my G.D.O., and neither did any of the others. The natives took them along with everything else after they caught me talking to Stargate Command on my radio. We had no way to contact the SGC and tell them that it was us, which meant that they wouldn't open the iris.

"Daniel, the MALP has been destroyed, and we don't have a G.D.O. We have no way of sending the IDC to Stargate Command."

"It's okay. I have my radio. I brought it just in case." He pulled it out of a pocket and handed it to me.

The radio was given to Daniel by Colonel O'Neill when he was ten. The two of them had fun radioing each other from different spots on the base, pretending like they were in a mothership, surrounded by Jaffa and in search of a Goa'uld they'd been sent to take out. I joined in after a while, and even Teal'c got in on the fun. Lieutenant Colonel Ferretti had volunteered to play the part of the Goa'uld and performed a very dramatic death scene when Daniel 'shot' him. Though the radio was government property, I now realized that we never got it back from Daniel. It was a good thing that we didn't.

Somewhere beyond the horses protecting us, I could hear the natives yelling and trying to get to us. A few human cries of pain led me to believe that the horses were objecting. And then I heard a cry of pain that did not come from a human. I looked at Daniel and saw his eyes widen in horror. Then, before any of us could stop him, he ran off into the midst of the horses.