"Captain?!" called out Naylor. Ten minutes had gone by since the Colonel, Donnelly or Allison had made visual or vocal contact with him, and had found the radios inoperable... which the Colonel had blamed on the denseness of the forest.
"Blake?!" Donnelly yelled after allowing a moment for Blake to reply to the Colonel's call.
To Allison it seemed as though they'd been bumbling through the forest for hours, in the past few minutes before the Colonel had begun to be alarmed by Blake's continued missing state they'd all acknowledged the growing smell of smoke. At first it had just been a slight smell, but it had developed to such an extent that Allison had choked for a brief moment and that the smoke was visible... even in the blackness.
"God damn," said the Colonel waving his arms out vigorously in front of him to try and clear some of the smoke. "We were meant to be on a nice easy mission, just say 'hi' and get the drugs," he said. "But no..." he continued sarcastically, "It has to get dark!"
"Sir," came Blake's voice, it was muffled somewhat by Donnelly's coughing.
"Blake!" cried out Naylor rather shocked to discover his officer once again, as he'd given up hope of finding him alive after such a long absence.
"Yes sir," Blake said again now stood in front of the group brandishing a large wooden object, the end was on fire which illuminated the small area around it. Naylor, Donnelly and Allison all headed towards the light and within a few minutes had gathered around Blake.
"There's a settlement a few dozen feet that way," Blake said turning his torso slightly and pointing in the direction he'd appeared from. "Good work," Naylor said, he didn't want to harp on the fact his number two had disappeared without permission... Naylor knew Blake was under a lot of stress already and had a lot of things on his mind... so he didn't want to add anymore to Blake's heap.
"Have you made contact?" Donnelly asked rubbing his eyes, he was most obviously still in discomfort from the smoke which he now conjectured to be emanating from the settlement Blake had found.
"No," Blake said simply. "The settlement was deserted... though I found this," he said shaking the fire stick he held.
"Odd," said Naylor unsure what to really make of the situation. "Anyway," the Colonel continued not wanting to linger in the forest for any longer, "Let's get to this settlement and await the morning." Blake turned around, he knew he'd have to lead the team.
"Yeah," Naylor said pushing the thick fabric flap on the tent open, "It's definitely deserted."
The Colonel turned back around to face inwards towards the large fire which Blake and Donnelly had made in what appeared to be the centre of the settlement. Allison had gone into several of the tents in search of clues as to what actually happened, and why the people who would use this settlement normally were gone. She now stood, still clueless, near the fire watching Blake and Donnelly.
The settlement, if you can call it that, really more of a camp, was in a small clearing in the otherwise dense forest. It comprised of eight tents, all of which were much like those described in SG-1's mission report following their original visit to this world. The tents were set out so that there was a large central area, either for social gathering, or as Blake and Donnelly were using it... to assemble a light and warm giving fire.
"Have you checked all the tents?" asked Naylor with a lack of anything better to say, order, or ask.
Allison took a moment to reply, she was counted the number of tents she'd looked inside of in her mind. "Yes sir," he finally said.
"Well," said Naylor. "Looks like we got ourselves a decent enough fire going. We'll wait here for the night. And head out in the morning if nobody has returned."
As nobody said anything the Colonel assumed everyone agreed and he unhooked the backpack he'd become tired of carrying. He set it down a safe distance from the fire and headed back into the tent he'd just looked inside of. "We'll need some blankets," he said after he'd emerged carrying several rather thick looking lump of what was obviously animal fur. "Great," said Allison who was a convinced vegetarian and animal lover, "I get to snuggle up with dead animal bodies," she said discussed with the thought.
"You could always snuggle up with me instead," Donnelly commented, a cheeky grin creeping across his face as Allison gave him a playful angry expression.
"Do you think they are the gods? Returned to choose more?" Rindan asked, his face covered in a nervous sweat he'd worn every time he'd seen the gods come through the stone ring.
"They must be," his father, Edwar, said. "Who else knows how to use the stone ring?"
Edwar was the leader of the people of the land, the Eunani. One of the few peoples who hadn't been "chosen" or fled for the Walat mountain plateaus. He and his people had fled their settlement to seek refuge from the gods in the forests. They had always had a guard nearly the stone ring... and upon it's activation that guard would rush to their settlement and warn them of the god's approach.
"But they do not look like the gods father," Rindan said... Rindan was young and had always had a healthy thirst for exploration and the gathering of knowledge. But his curiosity had almost gotten him killed numerous times, and now in the time of the gods he was especially reliant on his aging father's wisdom.
"We can't stay in the forests all night father, the Sharman says there will be a frost tonight," Rindan trying to impress his belief that the new travellers were indeed not gods.
"And if they are the gods?" Edwar said his usual pessimism dominating his view, as always.
"If they are then they will simply kill us quicker than if we stay away from our camp and die of cold," Rindan said with an uncharacteristic show of logic and level thinking.
Edwar sighed, again he had been outmatched by his son. "Very well Rindan, may our lives be safe in your judgment." Edwar wanted to have trust in his son's judgement, but past experiences had taught him not to. Though on this occasion Rindan had used a fair mind and had proposed an idea Edwar had not. Rindan and his father had been observing SG-14 since their arrival in the forest. They were now in a position to easily observe all of them as the team made use of the things they found in the Eunani's camp. Edwar took the final decision to follow his son's words and rose from where he had been concealed whilst crouching. He strode confidently towards the settlement.
"Blake?!" Donnelly yelled after allowing a moment for Blake to reply to the Colonel's call.
To Allison it seemed as though they'd been bumbling through the forest for hours, in the past few minutes before the Colonel had begun to be alarmed by Blake's continued missing state they'd all acknowledged the growing smell of smoke. At first it had just been a slight smell, but it had developed to such an extent that Allison had choked for a brief moment and that the smoke was visible... even in the blackness.
"God damn," said the Colonel waving his arms out vigorously in front of him to try and clear some of the smoke. "We were meant to be on a nice easy mission, just say 'hi' and get the drugs," he said. "But no..." he continued sarcastically, "It has to get dark!"
"Sir," came Blake's voice, it was muffled somewhat by Donnelly's coughing.
"Blake!" cried out Naylor rather shocked to discover his officer once again, as he'd given up hope of finding him alive after such a long absence.
"Yes sir," Blake said again now stood in front of the group brandishing a large wooden object, the end was on fire which illuminated the small area around it. Naylor, Donnelly and Allison all headed towards the light and within a few minutes had gathered around Blake.
"There's a settlement a few dozen feet that way," Blake said turning his torso slightly and pointing in the direction he'd appeared from. "Good work," Naylor said, he didn't want to harp on the fact his number two had disappeared without permission... Naylor knew Blake was under a lot of stress already and had a lot of things on his mind... so he didn't want to add anymore to Blake's heap.
"Have you made contact?" Donnelly asked rubbing his eyes, he was most obviously still in discomfort from the smoke which he now conjectured to be emanating from the settlement Blake had found.
"No," Blake said simply. "The settlement was deserted... though I found this," he said shaking the fire stick he held.
"Odd," said Naylor unsure what to really make of the situation. "Anyway," the Colonel continued not wanting to linger in the forest for any longer, "Let's get to this settlement and await the morning." Blake turned around, he knew he'd have to lead the team.
"Yeah," Naylor said pushing the thick fabric flap on the tent open, "It's definitely deserted."
The Colonel turned back around to face inwards towards the large fire which Blake and Donnelly had made in what appeared to be the centre of the settlement. Allison had gone into several of the tents in search of clues as to what actually happened, and why the people who would use this settlement normally were gone. She now stood, still clueless, near the fire watching Blake and Donnelly.
The settlement, if you can call it that, really more of a camp, was in a small clearing in the otherwise dense forest. It comprised of eight tents, all of which were much like those described in SG-1's mission report following their original visit to this world. The tents were set out so that there was a large central area, either for social gathering, or as Blake and Donnelly were using it... to assemble a light and warm giving fire.
"Have you checked all the tents?" asked Naylor with a lack of anything better to say, order, or ask.
Allison took a moment to reply, she was counted the number of tents she'd looked inside of in her mind. "Yes sir," he finally said.
"Well," said Naylor. "Looks like we got ourselves a decent enough fire going. We'll wait here for the night. And head out in the morning if nobody has returned."
As nobody said anything the Colonel assumed everyone agreed and he unhooked the backpack he'd become tired of carrying. He set it down a safe distance from the fire and headed back into the tent he'd just looked inside of. "We'll need some blankets," he said after he'd emerged carrying several rather thick looking lump of what was obviously animal fur. "Great," said Allison who was a convinced vegetarian and animal lover, "I get to snuggle up with dead animal bodies," she said discussed with the thought.
"You could always snuggle up with me instead," Donnelly commented, a cheeky grin creeping across his face as Allison gave him a playful angry expression.
"Do you think they are the gods? Returned to choose more?" Rindan asked, his face covered in a nervous sweat he'd worn every time he'd seen the gods come through the stone ring.
"They must be," his father, Edwar, said. "Who else knows how to use the stone ring?"
Edwar was the leader of the people of the land, the Eunani. One of the few peoples who hadn't been "chosen" or fled for the Walat mountain plateaus. He and his people had fled their settlement to seek refuge from the gods in the forests. They had always had a guard nearly the stone ring... and upon it's activation that guard would rush to their settlement and warn them of the god's approach.
"But they do not look like the gods father," Rindan said... Rindan was young and had always had a healthy thirst for exploration and the gathering of knowledge. But his curiosity had almost gotten him killed numerous times, and now in the time of the gods he was especially reliant on his aging father's wisdom.
"We can't stay in the forests all night father, the Sharman says there will be a frost tonight," Rindan trying to impress his belief that the new travellers were indeed not gods.
"And if they are the gods?" Edwar said his usual pessimism dominating his view, as always.
"If they are then they will simply kill us quicker than if we stay away from our camp and die of cold," Rindan said with an uncharacteristic show of logic and level thinking.
Edwar sighed, again he had been outmatched by his son. "Very well Rindan, may our lives be safe in your judgment." Edwar wanted to have trust in his son's judgement, but past experiences had taught him not to. Though on this occasion Rindan had used a fair mind and had proposed an idea Edwar had not. Rindan and his father had been observing SG-14 since their arrival in the forest. They were now in a position to easily observe all of them as the team made use of the things they found in the Eunani's camp. Edwar took the final decision to follow his son's words and rose from where he had been concealed whilst crouching. He strode confidently towards the settlement.