Murphy's Physics

Murphy's first Law: "If anything that can go wrong, it will."

O'Neill stood behind the central control pillar, staring forward at the swirl of pseudo-clouds and specter that flashed past the scout ship as it hurled itself though hyperspace. Though it did not show on his face, a close observer could have noticed by his eyes that the Colonel's thoughts were flying faster than the ship was hurling toward its destination

His thoughts were not on the mission ahead, nor on the shapeless colours that danced before him. He was not paying attention to the conversation between Carter and Daniel, standing in the cargo bay bickering playfully about the significance of recently documented cases of Goa'uld technology that have been retro-engineered from Tau'ri designs, while they packed their gear. He wasn't watching the Tok'ra So'len as he guided the ship through the æther; Teal'c was riding second seat, discretely watching his every move.

Jack had issues with the Tok'ra, but he had to hand it to them when it came to stealing spaceships. When he and his team had embarked, he had teased the pilot that the Tok'ra should open an intergalactic strip-shop, and get out of the Goa'uld-fighting business altogether. That statement had earned half-hearted laughter from his team and a puzzled stare from So'len. Jack had let it drop, then.

That was another problem the Tok'ra had: no sense of humour.

He stared, not at the tangle of space through which they flew toward their objective, but rather at the space through which this was visible. A window, without glass or mineral, separated them from the void; a thin, invisible force kept death and oblivion at bay, shielding their fragile craft and defying the abyss.

'Why', he asked himself, 'when the engines or systems failed or were damaged-- as was so wont to happen on these zany, fun-filled interstellar trips-- did that particular force-field never fail?'

Jack whispered the thought to himself, as if mentioning this paradox might bring attention to the oversight. Jack O'Neill was an USAF officer and a modern man, but he was also Irish, and that imbued him with more than a little instinctive superstitious paranoia.

After all, Murphy was Irish, too.

The Goa'uld al'Kesh was waiting for them. It couldn't have been more than a few moments after they exited hyperspace before they were enveloped in bursts of angry fire. The shields had begun to scream in protest, and the hull shuddered as if they had been kicked. Jack grabbed for the pillar and missed, sprawling on the floor as the vessel rocked.

"We really need to put a chair back here!" he muttered into the floor before he picked himself up. Another blow to the ship sent him down again. "Or maybe just softer floors." He rolled over and crawled to the pillar, pulling himself up and hanging on. "What's going on?"

"We have been fired upon, O'Neill," came Teal'c's response. His large hands moved gracefully over the controls of the weapons console. "A Goa'uld attack vessel was waiting for us. I suspect that the covert nature of our mission has been compromised."

So'len the Tok'ra was fighting with the controls, trying to evade the still-incoming fire spitting at them from the al'Kesh. "Impossible!" Jack could hear a note of panic in the reedy voice of the symbiote. "Our mission is a heavily guarded secret! Only the Council knew of our objective and destination. This has to be a coincidence."

"Well," Jack injected as the ship shuddered again, "we are about to 'coincidentally' get our asses kicked if you don't get us out of here! Doesn't this ship have a cloaking device?"

"The cloaking mechanism has been damaged. We cannot cloak at this time, and our shields are failing. All we can do is try to outrun them."

"No, that isn't all we can do. Teal'c, blast that bastard out of the sky!"

"I am endeavoring to do so, O'Neill." Teal'c stroked the panel and was rewarded with a direct hit on the aggressive vessel. The craft veered toward them, spouting brilliant yellow and red explosions along with chunks of metal as it spiraled out of control.

Straight toward them.

"Brace for imp--" was all the warning So'len managed before the vessels collided. Their shields flared, narrowly managing to deflect the majority of the damage, but as the al'Kesh burst into its final death, the shrapnel tore through the scout ship in several places.

Jack picked himself up again, wiping blood from his forehead. All the lights had flicked out aboard ship except for the blinking warning lights, of which there were many. Too many.

So'len pulled himself back into the pilot's chair. "Hull breech! I'm sealing off the rear compartments!" His fingers flew over the controls to close the heavy doors.

"Wait! We've got people back there!" Jack threw himself back toward the cargo bay, assisting Carter and Daniel as they scrambled out of the room. "Now!" the doors sealed, and Jack became aware of an urgent whine somewhere near the roof of the command room. "Sounds like we've got a problem in here, too!"

"A minor breech," So'len intoned, his attention focused on the controls. His fingers were white on the stick, straining to keep the vessel in control. "We have no shields and no power, and our course is taking us toward the planet. Shortly we will be pulled down by the gravitational field. This ship cannot survive an uncontrolled reentry."

"Do we have time to fix it?" Daniel asked, clutching the back of his head. From their roughed-up appearance, they must not have fared much better than the Colonel during the attack.

"There's no time! We need to get the shields and thrusters back online, or we will burn up in the atmosphere."

Sam leaned over Teal'c's shoulder, clinging to the large man's back as she read the controls. "Sir, if we can divert power from the weapons and unnecessary systems, we can--" she broke off as the ship shuddered violently again, tossing everyone down not sitting down across the compartment. Jack, Daniel and Sam landed together in a tangle of limbs.

"You kids okay?-- oof!"

"Urg..."

"Sorry, Sir."

"I've bypassed the power from weapons. We've got shields, but it's not enough to give us control." So'len fought with the console. "Colonel, I recommend that you and your team take the escape pods. If I bypass the life-support, I can gain the thruster and maybe save the ship."

"Daniel! Carter! Into the pods! Teal'c, you too."

"What about you, Jack?" Daniel asked as he wedged himself in the coffin-like cubicle."

"I'll help Sullen bring in the ship. I don't want to live on this rock if it hasn't got a Stargate."

"But, Sir--"

"Colonel O'Neill, you must use the last escape pod! I can sustain my host for a brief time on low life-support, but you will not survive. Use your transmitters to locate the beacon once you land. I will endeavor to preserve the ship."

"Alright!" Jack slapped the controls next to Sam's escape pod, sealing the door on her protests and fearful expression. He hit the release button on her pod, then Daniel's and Teal'c's as well. The fourth and last pod stood waiting for him, but as he moved toward it, the ship bucketed sharply toward the bow.

The last thing he saw was the clear view of the planet, rapidly growing in size, as he struck the force field that kept the bad space out and the good space in.

It might have been invisible, but it was solid enough to knock him out.