Chapter 2
….
Daniel groaned. His head hurt and he was freezing. He took in the sight before him. He was in a coffin, a space coffin. Or at least the backseat of a 302 drifting in space felt like it. He rubbed his face and winced at a sting on his forehead. He pulled his hand back to look it at. Blood. 'Just great.' He muttered inwardly.
"Cam?" he croaked.
No answer.
"Cam!" he yelled finding a strength to his voice he didn't think he'd have.
An answering groan came from the seat in front of him.
"Five more minutes." Cam mumbled.
Daniel shook his head to clear the fog but instantly regretted it. After the swimming sensation subsided he called out to Cam, "Cam, you need to see if this thing will still fly."
After a string of muttered curses, the back of Cam's head came into view above the front seat. "Alright, alright. I'm on it."
Cam flicked at switches and pressed buttons. "Yeah, we took quite a hit. Looks like all systems are functioning, some just barely, like life support. But she should still fly."
"That's good. But what about communications?"
"Yep. They're good."
"Then how about we radio Sam and Teal'c, make sure they are alright as well?"
Cam didn't answer, just hit the com link. "Sam? Teal'c? Vala? You guys alright?"
Silence.
"Sam. Teal'c. It's Cam, do you read me?"
Again silence.
A feeling of dread was settling in the pit of Daniel's stomach but he pushed it aside. It was likely their coms were just scrambled. Suddenly a flash of memory hit Daniel.
…
"Move. Move, move!" Cam yelled as they ran to the 302 bay. As they approached the 302's, Daniel tripped and was hauled to his feet by Cam who shoved him in the direction of the closest 302. Daniel scrambled up into the passenger seat as Cam landed in the pilot's seat. Vala had taken the backseat to Teal'c and Sam was closing the top to her own 302.
"Punch it!" Cam commanded. Daniel didn't have time to brace for the sudden acceleration and his head snapped back and plastered to the seat.
First Cam and Daniel, then Teal'c and Vala and finally Sam emerged from the crippled Deadalus class ship moment before it exploded. They were all caught in the blast.
Daniel remembered flashes of things. Blood trickling down his face, the squelch of the radio. Sam's voice.
'What did she say?' He tried to drag the memory out of his mind, tried to focus on it. For a moment it alluded him. His eyes opened wider in terror as her words came back to him.
'This is Carter can anyone read?' 'If you can hear me my ship's been badly damaged and I'm in a decaying orbit around the planet. I'm going to see if I can bring engines back online.'
The next communication had come moments later.
'If anyone can read me, I got engines partially online running intermittently, but it's no use I'm falling fast. Estimate impact in five minutes.' He remembered blackness surrounding him as he lost consciousness. The last time he heard Sam's voice she said, 'Mayday, mayday, mayday, I'm going in. I repeat, I'm going in. Shit!'
…
"Cam!" Daniel yelled.
"Jackson! I have the worst hangover ever. Keep the noise level down will ya while I get my head screwed on straight?"
"Cam, Sam crashed on the planet."
Confusion washed over Cam's features even though no one could see them. "What? How the hell do you know?"
Daniel's face was anguished, but he wouldn't give up hope that she survived the crash. "I heard her Mayday over the radio before I passed out. Her ship was damaged and she was in a decaying orbit around the planet."
Cam's heart rate sped up. He knew all too well what a crash like that will do to a person. He hit the comlink again. "Sam! Sam! Do you read me?" Silence. "Teal'c!" he tried. Nothing.
Just then another 302 appeared in front of them, Teal'c at the helm. Teal'c pantomimed that his radio was down.
"Have you seen Sam?" Cam asked.
The Jaffa shook his head.
"Jackson believes she crashed on the planet. Are you able to land?"
A nod.
"Good, We'll do a surface scan and see if we can find her." "You land near the gate and see if the crew is still there."
Teal'c signaled his approval and moved off. Cam did likewise.
…..
