They exited the hyperspace window, and Jack felt his stomach lurch as the X-302 came to an abrupt halt. "Is it just me, or was that a particularly rough ride?" he asked his Second.

"Yes, sir," she replied, distracted. As she fiddled with the controls, he scanned the canopy looking for the large brown planet that had been their destination. He suddenly had a very bad feeling.

"Carter," he said, an edge creeping into his voice. "Where's Abydos?"

"Unknown, sir. It should be here." She paused and read her display. "It looks like we've been thrown off course."

He closed his eyes and tried not to swear out loud. "How far off course?" There was a definite edge to his voice now.

When she didn't answer, he took a breath in an attempt to reign in his growing sense of dread, unfortunately with little success. "Report, Major!"

"Far, sir." He could tell by her voice that the news was definitely not good. "According to the readings I have here, we're on the opposite side of the galaxy from where we're supposed to be."

"So plug in the right coordinates and let's try it again, shall we?"

"Well, that's just it, sir. Something must be wrong with the hyperdrive. I had the correct coordinates programmed when we left Earth, and we're still halfway across the galaxy. We went almost twice as far as we were supposed to go." She thought for a moment. "It must be the naquadria," she said to herself.

"Carter?"

"Sir, the naquadria powering the hyperdrive is unstable. If we try again, there's no telling where we might wind up."

"So, are you telling me that we're lost?"

"No, sir, I know where we are. So, not lost. Just off course. Way off course."

He couldn't keep the sarcasm out of his voice. "Well, I feel so much better then, Major."

"Sir, there's more. This was intended to be a one way trip. We're almost out of fuel. Even if the hyperdrive were working properly, we wouldn't have enough gas to make the trip to Abydos, or back to Earth for that matter."

"Perfect," he mumbled. "All right. I need options, Major, and I need them now."

"Well, there's a solar system nearby. There's a chance it may have a planet with a breathable atmosphere." She didn't mention that the odds were not good. In fact, they were infinitesimally small. Add to that the hope that one of the planets actually had a Stargate...well, that was bordering on fantasy.

"I thought you said we were low on fuel."

"We are, sir, but it would be such a short trip through hyperspace, we might just make it."

"Uh, Carter, I believe you said the hyperdrive was unstable."

Sam took a deep breath and gathered her thoughts. "Yes, sir. I've been thinking about that. I've hypothesized that the instability of the naquadria must be directly proportional to the distance..."

"Carter!"

She spoke quickly. "Since we're not going too far, I think we should be okay."

"So let me see if I've got this straight, Major. We're going to use the last of our fuel, which may or may not be sufficient, to take a short trip through hyperspace, which may or may not send us to our intended destination, which is a solar system that may or may not have a planet with a breathable atmosphere?"

She winced. "Yes, sir."

"And what's our Plan B?"

She paused for a moment. "Well, we could hope for the Asgard to swing by and beam us out of here before we run out of air," she offered. She knew that was borderline insubordinate and wondered if he'd call her on it.

But if he noticed, he didn't say anything. Instead, he let out a loud sigh. "Right, so Plan A it is, then. You know, of course, how much I hate Plan A, Carter. Our track record with Plan A has never been good."

"Yes, sir," she replied, this time with a half-hearted smile. "But the good news is that if Plan A doesn't work, we can move immediately to Plan B." He grunted at her.

She entered the coordinates. "Ready, sir."

"Right. Let's do this thing."

Sam punched the button for the hyperdrive, and a hyperspace window opened in front of them. Jack piloted the X-302 into the window, and they were momentarily thrust backwards against their seats as they entered hyperspace. In less than a second, they emerged on the other side, the aircraft coming to an abrupt halt for the second time.

Immediately ahead lay a medium yellow sun, surrounded by at least three satellites, the closest of which bore the familiar blue, green, and brown colors of Earth. Thick white swirls on the surface indicated the presence of an atmosphere. Sam gasped in astonishment as she looked at her display.

"Carter?"

"Sir," she replied, her voice full of wonder. "The sensors have detected sufficient oxygen in the atmosphere. The air is breathable."

"You're surprised, Major?"

"Well, yes, actually. The odds were pretty slim that we would find a habitable planet."

"Now you tell me this?"

Sam ignored him. "Sir, I'm picking up a concentrated heat signature on the far side of the planet. It might mean civilization."

"Which might also mean the presence of a Stargate, or at least people capable of interstellar travel. Let's head that direction."

"Yes, sir. I'm plugging in the coordinates now. And, sir?"

"Carter?"

"We're running on fumes."

"Understood, Major. I'll try to keep my foot off the gas."

"Yes, sir."

Jack fired the engines. As they drew closer to the planet, their hope of finding an advanced civilization dwindled. They detected no electricity, radio waves, or satellites, nor could they see any cities or other obvious signs of civilization.

As they entered the atmosphere, Jack hit the reverse thrusters in an attempt to slow the aircraft. Several alarms sounded in the cockpit at once. He flipped the switch that shut the auditory warnings down.

"That's it, Carter. We're out of fuel. Hang on – this landing could get a little bumpy."

Jack grabbed the stick and piloted the aircraft as best he could, the X-302 largely unresponsive and fighting him the whole way. As he came through the substantial cloud cover, he saw that there weren't many places he could safely put the plane down. Though he was aiming for a relatively open grassy clearing, he realized he was going to fall short of his intended destination.

At the last minute, he executed a maneuver that kept them away from the heart of a dense forest, but not before clipping some trees, one of which struck the canopy, causing it to shatter. Fortunately, the friction of the brush hitting the speeding craft helped to slow them substantially, so when he finally put the X-302 down on the grassy field, he was able to bring it to a full stop before hitting any other piece of the landscape, including several large stone monoliths that stood in a circle on one side of the clearing.

"Well, it wasn't the prettiest landing, but at least we made it mostly in one piece." Jack waited for a response from his Second and got none. "Carter?"

"Sir," she replied, her voice weak and thready.

Jack was out of his restraints in record time. He raised the hatch and cringed as shattered glass rained down around them. As soon as he was clear of the canopy, he leapt onto the wing and looked into the seat occupied by his Second. What he saw caused his breath to hitch.

Sam was still strapped into her seat, a large piece of broken glass lodged in her abdomen. She was covered in blood, and aside from her obvious wound, it was difficult to determine where it was all coming from. Her face was deathly pale and her eyes were glazed.

"Damn it, Carter. Stay with me," he spoke to her as he removed her helmet and unfastened her restraints. Once he had her free, he was uncertain what to do next. He needed to get her out of the plane to examine her wounds, but it was a long way down from the cockpit, and he was fresh out of airmen with tall ladders.

At that moment, Jack heard the unmistakable sounds of a large group of people moving toward them. "Get ready, Carter. Here comes the welcoming party."

Though Jack's initial instinct was to hide and observe before engaging the locals, he wasn't about to leave his Second behind. Plus, there was the possibility that they might be able to help her. Against his better nature, he opted for the direct approach.

"Hey, over here!" he yelled, waving one arm in the air.

A large group emerged from the forest, and upon seeing the imposing spacecraft and the tall man in the strange suit sitting on top, several immediately turned and ran, screaming, "The Morrigan! The Morrigan!" Others, however, stood where they were, trying to make sense of the scene before them.

"We need your help!" Jack pleaded. "My friend is hurt!"

The largest of the men spoke up. "Who are you? Where do you come from?"

"We're travelers, from another planet, called Earth. We had to crash land, and my friend was injured. I need to get her down."

"Are you one of the Morrigan's men?"

Jack squinted down at the man. "Who?" Instead of responding to Jack, the man faced the remaining members of the group, and they began talking amongst themselves. "Screw it," Jack muttered and turned his attention to his Major. "Carter, can you move?"

Her voice was no stronger than a whisper. "I'm not sure, sir."

Jack bent down and put his hands under her arms. "I'm going to pull you up, Carter. It's going to hurt like hell. I need you to try to push with your legs if you can."

"Yes, sir," she whispered.

"On three. One, two, three!" And with that he lifted her with all his strength, and she came free of the cockpit, crying out in pain when he laid her on the wing. "I'm sorry, Carter," he said softly, brushing her hair out of her face and letting his fingers trail down the side of her face.

"S'okay, sir," she replied, her face even paler than before.

"Aye!" The man's voice brought Jack's attention to the side of the plane. "Lower her down, and we'll catch her." Though Jack wasn't thrilled with the prospect of handing his Major over to this group of strangers, he couldn't see any alternative. Carefully, he put his arms under hers and lowered her down the wing of the plane to the men below. As soon as he handed her off, Jack slid down himself, wincing as the impact of the ground jarred his already injured knee.

Now that he was off the plane, Jack could fully appreciate the impressive size of the man currently holding Sam. A few inches taller than Jack, and twice as large, the man was a behemoth. Jack prayed that he was friendly. "I'll carry her," Jack said, using his best command voice.

The man simply laughed. "Don't be foolish. You are not in much better shape than she. Come, we will take her to see the Crone. She will know how to help her." The man took off toward the wood, with Sam in his arms. The others followed, including Jack, who again could see little alternative.