Choices
Searching
A/N: This will show as chapter 2 on the site but is actually chapter 3. This is my first fanfic, so navigating the site is confusing to say the least. Please review and help me out on my first creative endeavor! Thanks!
"Chevron 7 looked and encoded sir," came the voice of Sergeant Davis.
"Very well, Sergeant. Get the MALP video relay system on line. We need to see if it is clear to head back to P3X-471 and retrieve Major Carter," replied General Hammond.
Four sets of eyes anxiously awaited the video feedback from the planet. Jack, Teal'c, General Hammond and Sergeant Davis were all dismayed at what they saw.
"Ah, crap!" Jack could be heard saying in the quiet of the control room. "Where did all those Jaffa come from?"
They were looking at an image of at least 8 Jaffa patrolling the gate. "There must be more on the planet than we were led to believe O'Neill," responded Teal'c.
"Do ya think?" came the caustic reply from the Colonel.
"I am sorry Colonel O'Neill, but I can not authorize a rescue at this time. I will not send you back into a possible ambush. We don't know how many more Jaffa are on that planet," came the grave voice of the General.
"But General, Carter is there by herself. If you don't think we can take out the Jaffa, how do you expect her to do anything by herself?"
"I'm sorry Jack. Hopefully Major Carter has found a safe haven until we can get to her or she can make it out on her own. We will not leave her there, but right now, we have to study the situation and make a clear plan, not run in there flying by the seat of our pants, which is what SG-1 tends to do a lot of the time," remarked the General gruffly.
Teal'c raised his eyebrows at this comment but said nothing. Just then, Daniel came running into the gate room. He had been helping the people of Kortaul settle into their temporary quarters on base. "How do things look? Are we heading back?"
"Not just yet Dr. Jackson," replied the General. "There are at least 8 Jaffa guarding the gate, who knows how many more are on the planet. It is just too risky at this time."
Daniel looked over at Jack and saw the anger and frustration etched on his face. Maybe he could help.... "I've just had an interesting conversation with Treyem," Daniel began. "It seems as if this planet has another gate located a few days journey from the village. Treyem and his father discovered it when Treyem was younger. It is hidden in some caves deep in a ridge. I wonder if we can use this gate to get to Sam."
"If there is another gate Daniel Jackson, why did we not go through that one instead of the one in the clearing," remarked Teal'c.
"I'm not sure Teal'c, but it could have something to do with the minerals in the caves. Maybe the composition of the minerals prevents the gate from receiving incoming worm holes. What I am hoping is that it can produce outgoing ones. Maybe Sam could find it and get home that way."
"How is she going to find it Daniel?" Jack growled. "She doesn't even know that it exists!"
"Treyem has told his son about the other gate. If Sam manages to find the boy, he could help her locate it. It's all I have right now, sorry Jack." Daniel truly did look sorry. He was not the only member of SG-1 worry about Sam.
"Could we not send a radio message to Major Carter and tell her of this gate's existence?" said Teal'c.
"No." Jack looked at the video display again. "We can't risk having the Jaffa hear the message and finding Sam. Let's come up with a plan. The sooner we do the better chance we'll have of getting Carter back here, so I can ring her neck!"
The other men looked at Jack with surprise and concern. They knew he was worried about Sam, and that he was also angry with her for disobeying orders. All hoped that when Sam returned (no one thought if), he would show more relief than anger upon her return.
"Okay people. Let's get on this. Dr. Jackson. I want you to talk some more with Treyem and find out what else you can learn about this other gate. The rest of us will try to come up with a plan of action that won't endanger too many more lives."
Meanwhile, back on the planet, Sam was creeping along the base of the ridge. She had to go slowly as the ridge had much loose rock and shale that tended to shift about, taking her with as she went. She had seen more Jaffa come into the clearing as she made her way up the closet ridge and back down to the bottom. She knew she couldn't take out all those Jaffa by herself, so concentrated on finding her way to the secret tunnel.
The sun was starting its slow descent in the sky as Sam came to the base of Blasling Ridge. She knew it had to be the right ridge as she saw signs of homes and habitation up above. She strained her eyes to find a tunnel entrance in the ridge. There, about 20 meters up, was a dark entrance. Having it that hard to locate could come in handy, Sam thought to herself. She made her way up the ridge at a diagonal, hoping to keep her footing and disturb the rocks and shale as little as possible. After another 15 minutes of climbing, she reached the tunnel and pulled herself inside.
Taking a few moments to catch her breath and take a drink from her canteen, Sam looked around the tunnel. It had definitely seen better days but, as far as she could see right now, it wasn't tumbling in on itself. She would need to use her flashlight as she made her way in the tunnel. Sam looked out at the sky. There appeared to be about 2 hours of daylight left. She'd better get moving. Not one to plan on good luck during any mission, Sam never the less breathed a silent plea that she would find Treyem's children and be able to get them out of here.
Sam made her way down the dark tunnel. She could feel the incline start to rise after she had walked for about ten minutes. Hopefully this meant she was near to the meeting house, Sam thought to herself. Abruptly the tunnel ended. Great, now what? Sam flashed her light all around the dead end. Breathing a little easier, she saw an opening to her left, about four feet off the ground. This must lead into the meeting house, Sam thought to herself. The opening looked to be a bit too small for her to fit through with her pack on. Sam took her pack off, tucked her Zat into a loop on her pants and her canteen into another loop, grabbed her flashlight tightly and hoisted herself up.
Crawling as soundlessly as possible, Sam made her way through the small tunnel. It reminded here of the vent she had crawled through on the Prometheus during the whole television documentary fiasco. After crawling on hands and knees for another 5 minutes, Sam came to a fork in the tunnel. It led off in two different directions. Which way to go? Sam shined her light down both ways. There appeared to be a faint light coming from the tunnel to the left. That could be either good or bad news. She decided to take it as good news and headed down the left side of the passageway.
Sam crawled another 15 meters or so when the tunnel came to another end. This time there was no where else to go as a grate covered the end of the tunnel. She tested the grate; it was quite old and moved easily. Sam was able to pull the grate away from the opening. She held still for several seconds, listening for any indication that someone was aware of her presence. She heard nothing so looked carefully into the room.
There was a large tapestry hanging just to the right of where Sam now crouched in the opening. In the dimness of the room, she could see a large table in the center, surrounded by several chairs. Along the walls were several benches and on these benches were dark figures, huddled together as if for warmth and security. There were no Jaffa in the room or on the outside of that far door, for which Sam was very thankful. She jumped lightly to the ground and stepped behind the folds of the tapestry.
One of the huddled figures heard the jump and the slight rustle of the old fabric. He slowly stood from the bench he was resting on, making sure not to disturb the other one who was with him. He made to way to the tapestry and stopped short. A woman in green fatigues stepped out as well and regarded him carefully.
TBC
Cliffhanger time! Thanks again for reading. I have this entire story in my head, it is just a matter of getting it written and posted!
Searching
A/N: This will show as chapter 2 on the site but is actually chapter 3. This is my first fanfic, so navigating the site is confusing to say the least. Please review and help me out on my first creative endeavor! Thanks!
"Chevron 7 looked and encoded sir," came the voice of Sergeant Davis.
"Very well, Sergeant. Get the MALP video relay system on line. We need to see if it is clear to head back to P3X-471 and retrieve Major Carter," replied General Hammond.
Four sets of eyes anxiously awaited the video feedback from the planet. Jack, Teal'c, General Hammond and Sergeant Davis were all dismayed at what they saw.
"Ah, crap!" Jack could be heard saying in the quiet of the control room. "Where did all those Jaffa come from?"
They were looking at an image of at least 8 Jaffa patrolling the gate. "There must be more on the planet than we were led to believe O'Neill," responded Teal'c.
"Do ya think?" came the caustic reply from the Colonel.
"I am sorry Colonel O'Neill, but I can not authorize a rescue at this time. I will not send you back into a possible ambush. We don't know how many more Jaffa are on that planet," came the grave voice of the General.
"But General, Carter is there by herself. If you don't think we can take out the Jaffa, how do you expect her to do anything by herself?"
"I'm sorry Jack. Hopefully Major Carter has found a safe haven until we can get to her or she can make it out on her own. We will not leave her there, but right now, we have to study the situation and make a clear plan, not run in there flying by the seat of our pants, which is what SG-1 tends to do a lot of the time," remarked the General gruffly.
Teal'c raised his eyebrows at this comment but said nothing. Just then, Daniel came running into the gate room. He had been helping the people of Kortaul settle into their temporary quarters on base. "How do things look? Are we heading back?"
"Not just yet Dr. Jackson," replied the General. "There are at least 8 Jaffa guarding the gate, who knows how many more are on the planet. It is just too risky at this time."
Daniel looked over at Jack and saw the anger and frustration etched on his face. Maybe he could help.... "I've just had an interesting conversation with Treyem," Daniel began. "It seems as if this planet has another gate located a few days journey from the village. Treyem and his father discovered it when Treyem was younger. It is hidden in some caves deep in a ridge. I wonder if we can use this gate to get to Sam."
"If there is another gate Daniel Jackson, why did we not go through that one instead of the one in the clearing," remarked Teal'c.
"I'm not sure Teal'c, but it could have something to do with the minerals in the caves. Maybe the composition of the minerals prevents the gate from receiving incoming worm holes. What I am hoping is that it can produce outgoing ones. Maybe Sam could find it and get home that way."
"How is she going to find it Daniel?" Jack growled. "She doesn't even know that it exists!"
"Treyem has told his son about the other gate. If Sam manages to find the boy, he could help her locate it. It's all I have right now, sorry Jack." Daniel truly did look sorry. He was not the only member of SG-1 worry about Sam.
"Could we not send a radio message to Major Carter and tell her of this gate's existence?" said Teal'c.
"No." Jack looked at the video display again. "We can't risk having the Jaffa hear the message and finding Sam. Let's come up with a plan. The sooner we do the better chance we'll have of getting Carter back here, so I can ring her neck!"
The other men looked at Jack with surprise and concern. They knew he was worried about Sam, and that he was also angry with her for disobeying orders. All hoped that when Sam returned (no one thought if), he would show more relief than anger upon her return.
"Okay people. Let's get on this. Dr. Jackson. I want you to talk some more with Treyem and find out what else you can learn about this other gate. The rest of us will try to come up with a plan of action that won't endanger too many more lives."
Meanwhile, back on the planet, Sam was creeping along the base of the ridge. She had to go slowly as the ridge had much loose rock and shale that tended to shift about, taking her with as she went. She had seen more Jaffa come into the clearing as she made her way up the closet ridge and back down to the bottom. She knew she couldn't take out all those Jaffa by herself, so concentrated on finding her way to the secret tunnel.
The sun was starting its slow descent in the sky as Sam came to the base of Blasling Ridge. She knew it had to be the right ridge as she saw signs of homes and habitation up above. She strained her eyes to find a tunnel entrance in the ridge. There, about 20 meters up, was a dark entrance. Having it that hard to locate could come in handy, Sam thought to herself. She made her way up the ridge at a diagonal, hoping to keep her footing and disturb the rocks and shale as little as possible. After another 15 minutes of climbing, she reached the tunnel and pulled herself inside.
Taking a few moments to catch her breath and take a drink from her canteen, Sam looked around the tunnel. It had definitely seen better days but, as far as she could see right now, it wasn't tumbling in on itself. She would need to use her flashlight as she made her way in the tunnel. Sam looked out at the sky. There appeared to be about 2 hours of daylight left. She'd better get moving. Not one to plan on good luck during any mission, Sam never the less breathed a silent plea that she would find Treyem's children and be able to get them out of here.
Sam made her way down the dark tunnel. She could feel the incline start to rise after she had walked for about ten minutes. Hopefully this meant she was near to the meeting house, Sam thought to herself. Abruptly the tunnel ended. Great, now what? Sam flashed her light all around the dead end. Breathing a little easier, she saw an opening to her left, about four feet off the ground. This must lead into the meeting house, Sam thought to herself. The opening looked to be a bit too small for her to fit through with her pack on. Sam took her pack off, tucked her Zat into a loop on her pants and her canteen into another loop, grabbed her flashlight tightly and hoisted herself up.
Crawling as soundlessly as possible, Sam made her way through the small tunnel. It reminded here of the vent she had crawled through on the Prometheus during the whole television documentary fiasco. After crawling on hands and knees for another 5 minutes, Sam came to a fork in the tunnel. It led off in two different directions. Which way to go? Sam shined her light down both ways. There appeared to be a faint light coming from the tunnel to the left. That could be either good or bad news. She decided to take it as good news and headed down the left side of the passageway.
Sam crawled another 15 meters or so when the tunnel came to another end. This time there was no where else to go as a grate covered the end of the tunnel. She tested the grate; it was quite old and moved easily. Sam was able to pull the grate away from the opening. She held still for several seconds, listening for any indication that someone was aware of her presence. She heard nothing so looked carefully into the room.
There was a large tapestry hanging just to the right of where Sam now crouched in the opening. In the dimness of the room, she could see a large table in the center, surrounded by several chairs. Along the walls were several benches and on these benches were dark figures, huddled together as if for warmth and security. There were no Jaffa in the room or on the outside of that far door, for which Sam was very thankful. She jumped lightly to the ground and stepped behind the folds of the tapestry.
One of the huddled figures heard the jump and the slight rustle of the old fabric. He slowly stood from the bench he was resting on, making sure not to disturb the other one who was with him. He made to way to the tapestry and stopped short. A woman in green fatigues stepped out as well and regarded him carefully.
TBC
Cliffhanger time! Thanks again for reading. I have this entire story in my head, it is just a matter of getting it written and posted!