Chapter 2

The Colonel wakes me later. For a moment, I forget it's not a routine mission, and that I'm not going to trip over Daniel or Teal'c. It's completely dark in the cave, although there's some light from the moon outside. The Colonel seems to settle to sleep quickly despite the sound of the wind. It's less than it was, but still loud enough to keep a lot of people from sleeping. I'm probably the only person awake on this planet. It's a scary thought. When I think of how many nights Ernest must've lain just a short distance away, it gives me the shivers. For all I know I could still be here in fifty years. The Colonel's determined that we'll get home, and I'm trying to stay positive, but it's difficult. I'm a scientist. I'm trained to think in terms of possibilities, probabilities. And the probability that we're going home isn't high. But it's far from impossible. Finding another power source for the gate will be the key. We failed when we tried to access the power for the repository of knowledge, but we didn't really try very hard. Once the weather is clear and we can work without time being a factor, it might be possible. And possible is good enough.

I get up and walk out of the cave. I'm more than half way through my watch, and the sun is just rising. I walk just over to my left a little, sure that I'll be able to see the castle. That's not right. I move a little further over, but I still can't see it. I must be confused about direction. I was a bit out of it during the first part of our walk up here; I don't understand. I try the opposite direction from the cave entrance, but still, I can't see it. I can see a wide stretch of coastline from here, but not the castle. The light's getting better, and I walk back towards my original position. I take some time to scan everything I can see, and then I realise that there's a very good reason I can't see the castle; it's gone.

Even once I've realised it, it takes some time for me to actually form the words in my head. The castle is gone. And that means that it's likely that the gate has too.

For the first time, I feel the start of real despair. If the gate's gone, we're stuck here. Just a few months of doing a job I love more than I'd have thought possible - and it's over. I'm stuck on an uninhabited planet with no one for company but my CO. My very attractive CO who has no interest in me whatsoever beyond that of a junior member of his team. I'll never see my dad, my brother, my friends again. Everything I planned for my life …

I can't help it. The tears start to fall, and I drop to the ground. I'm desperate, but I'm silent. There's no way I want the Colonel to see me like this.

He finds me there later. I cried myself out, but I still feel the need to wipe my eyes when he appears.

"What's up, Carter?" he asks.

"The castle, Sir." My voice sounds slightly broken. I swallow.

"What about the castle? You can probably see it from h…"

"Yes, Sir. You can. What's left of it."

He shades his eyes and stares into the distance.

"Doesn't look like there's much left, does it?"

"No, Sir."

"Ok, Carter, we'll go and take a closer look once we've eaten. It's probably not as bad as it looks."

I don't know if he believes what he's saying, but I'm grateful to him anyway. I need to hope that he's right.

We eat another cold meal. There's something depressing about cold food - whatever we find, we need to get some firewood. Even if the day ends up as hot as I remember from yesterday when we arrived, a fire provides a psychological benefit that I really need just now.

I watch the Colonel as we eat, but if he's worried, he's not showing it. Of course, he's not showing anything at all.

When we've finished, we pack our gear and stack it at the back of the cave, taking only the basics with us as we make our way back down towards the ocean. It takes less than twenty minutes to get back - much less than it took us last night.

I try to picture the castle as it was before, but the truth is that I didn't actually see it much. Before the wormhole was lost, I hadn't been out of the castle at all - concentrating on finding a way to get us home. Then, after the wormhole collapsed, I was pretty much out of it - dazed. I did take a look after we got to the cave before it got completely dark. I remember a huge structure. Now, all I can see is a pile of debris.

The one thing I remember from the inside of the castle is that the repository was actually underground.

"Stay back," the Colonel warns as we approach, almost slipping on some loose rock.

"I think there's a route down this way," I answer.

"Be careful. First aid isn't my strong point."

"Yes, Sir. But I think I can get closer this way."

I scramble down the embankment, then move along to get a better view.

"Sir, I think we can get in here."

He follows, quickly catching up with me as I stop, taking in the remains of what was the gate room. There's almost no floor. From where I am, I can see the water below. It's shallow and clear, and it's churning around various rocky outcrops. The gate is nowhere to be seen.

I know the Colonel can see as well as I can. Both of us are silent for a while, taking in the devastation. At last, he breaks the silence. "Anything worth taking with us?"

I scan the area. "If we left anything, it's gone."

"Right, Captain. No point in waiting around here. Let's head back to the cave. We need to find some firewood, dig in up there. Once we're settled, we'll talk about the next step."

"But, Sir, we …"

"We will get out of here, Captain. But it's going to take a while. We need to dig ourselves in while we work out where we go from here."

"Yes, Sir."

"Let's move out, Captain."

He's all formality. I know he's right, that he's perfectly correct to address me like that, but it seems cold. He uses my name - Carter - so often, and that always sounds so much better than my bald rank. But then he's human. I'm struggling to cope with our situation. It must be hard for him too, and maybe it's just his way of coping.

"You get some firewood. I'm going to look for food. According to Daniel, the fungus that Ernest's been living on grows on rock. I'll try to get some of that. Apparently, there're fruit trees around too, but they're a couple of hours away. We'll need to check that out, but not right away. There's fresh water somewhere too. Ernest survived for half a century, and he seemed healthy enough, so we should be ok."

"Yes, Sir."

It takes a while. The trees are pretty sparse around here, and without anything sharper than a knife, I've got to rely on what I can pick up off the ground. Still, after the wind, there's a fair bit of dead wood and after a couple of hours, I've got a reasonable stack. I pile it outside the cave to dry, keeping the driest separate for now. Once that's done, I drape our still-wet clothes outside too. The day has warmed up substantially, and by the time I've finished, I'd love a shower. Not going to happen, though. A short while later, the Colonel comes back with water and samples of fungus.

"Doesn't look appetising, does it?"

"Can't say it does."

"Well, Ernest's been living on it, so how much harm can it do?"

He breaks a bit off and puts it on his tongue. He chews it slowly.

"What's it like?"

"Bland. Doesn't matter. I'll rig up a fishing line tonight. There's a stream over there that looks promising."

He actually sounds pleased at the prospect.

"So, is any of that wood dry enough to burn?"

"Some of it. I piled it separately, closest to the cave."

"Good. I'd kill for a coffee."

The hot coffee warms me more than it should. We're both deep in thought as we drink, and when we've finished, we quickly wash up our cups. The Colonel banks the fire so it'll burn low for a while, then gets up.

"What d'you say to a look around the area? Maybe get some of that fruit if you're up to a walk?"

"Yes, Sir." I agree.

"We'll talk about our options later, but we might as well use the daylight while we've got it."

The fruit trees are closer than we thought – only an hour from our cave. There are several types, and the fruits range from something not unlike apples to others that are closer to plums and mangoes. We gather a selection and head back to the cave. Throughout, we see nothing remotely threatening – not even any large wildlife.

We eat again – this time, with hot water, we can have some hot food, and we follow it up with a little fruit.

"So, Captain," he starts as we finish cleaning up. "We need a Plan B."

"Plan B, Sir?"

"Plan A was finding a way to use the Stargate. I know we hadn't worked out the details, but …"

"Well, if the gate's intact, we can expect the SGC to try to contact us."

"So, if the gate's intact but in deep water, what'll happen?"

"They'll send a MALP through, but all it'll tell them is that there's water this side. Next step'll be to send through a remote sub. They might try to contact us through that - use it like an aquatic MALP. They'll know that we don't have access to a DHD, so if they send through a manned sub, they'll have to include a means of dialling out without the DHD."

"Ok, Captain. Timescale. How long should that take?"

"Well, Sir. To make contact with us? I'd think a couple of days, maybe longer."

"Remember you're not there. Have pity on mere mortals. Be generous."

I grin at that, and he smiles back.

"For the rest? That's harder. The computer system for the dialling computer's huge. But before we came here, I was working on a smaller, limited version that could be run from a laptop. That's probably just about ready – at least for just dialling a single address. The hard part will be generating enough power, or at least, getting a generator small enough to travel on a sub that'll fit through the gate. Maybe a couple of weeks."

"Ok, Captain. Your job for tomorrow: think it through. If the SGC makes contact, then any ideas you can give them might shorten our stay here."

"Yes, Sir. And what'll you be doing?"

"Fishing. Tomorrow, we'll have some fresh fish."

It goes quiet again then. I'm watching the flames in the fire, finding them strangely hypnotic. My mind's busy already. The problem is that Plan B assumes that the gate is usable but under water. Considering the amount of debris that fell from the castle and the strength of the wind, I'm not sure that'll turn out to be the case. There are too many other possibilities none of which increase our chance of getting home.

"Sir?" His attention comes back to me.

"What about Plan C?"

"Plan C?"

"Yes, Sir. What if the SGC doesn't make contact? If the gate's gone, what do we do then?"

"No point in worrying about that yet, Carter."

"Sir, I don't agree. I think there's a very real chance that the gate has been damaged or buried where we won't be able to get to it."

"Ok, Plan C. We can see if there's a tidal system around her that'll give us access to the gate. And if not?"

He pauses, thinking.

"Then, we go explore."

"Explore? I thought Ernest said there was nothing here?"

"I know, Carter. But Ernest's a scientist."

"So am I, Sir."

"I know, but you're not just a scientist. Daniel was reading his diary. Do you know how far he got from the castle?"

"No. I didn't hear that."

"A day's walk. All that time here, and he never got more than a day's walk from the castle."

I think about that. I even understand it. Leaving the castle behind would be frightening. He must have been expecting rescue, but he had no idea how long it'd take. Leaving the Stargate behind would be the last thing he'd want to do. He didn't even have any information on the likelihood of the planet being occupied. Without knowing about the Goa'uld, why would anyone expect so many planets to have human civilisations?

"You ok, Carter?"

"Yes, … no. Sir, I'm not ok."

"Scared?"

"Yeah, a bit."

"Me too."

"You?"

"Sure. It's unknown. We're going to get home, but we don't know how long it'll take. And we don't know what'll happen before then."

I shiver, although I know it isn't that cold yet.

"Come here," he says quietly. He's leaning against a wall, his arm raised, offering me contact. I immediately move towards the offered comfort. It's only once I'm settled beside him that I realise that it's a sign of how much I trust him. I can count on one hand the number of men I'd trust in this situation. I feel safe. And I really need some human contact. Maybe he does too.

"This ok, Carter? I don't want to make you uncomfortable."

"No, Sir. It's fine. I don't know how Ernest did it. Alone for all those years. I don't think I could…"

He just nods. We sit there and watch the fire until it's full dark, and I find myself nodding off.

"I'll take watch, Carter. Sleep."

I agree, pull off my boots and climb into my sleeping bag. It takes me longer to fall asleep than it did last night. It's surprising. I'm normally pretty good at just switching off and sleeping when I get the chance when we're off world. It's just … it felt so good just sitting with him like that. He meant it innocently, I know that. It was just comfort, offered by a friend. So why am I imagining how it would feel to kiss him? And why am I even thinking about something so trivial when we're in a mess like this?

I admire him. It's not necessarily a given. I've had a number of superiors in my time in the Air Force I couldn't say that about. Colonel O'Neill has earned my respect but it's more than that. SG-1 has gelled so well that we were fast becoming more family than just people who work together. But I know there's always been something different about the Colonel. He's physically attractive. That was one of the first things I had to admit to myself about him. I realise that if I'd been stranded with, say, Daniel, it would be simpler. I like Daniel. Very much. And while I can see that he's an attractive man, I've never been drawn to him in that way. On the other hand, if it was just Daniel and me, I wouldn't feel so safe. It's not that I can't look after myself. I can. But Jack's experience is valuable. He's less likely to take risks based on emotions than Daniel, and while I understand why Daniel acts like he does, sometimes even agree with him, right now, it's Jack's survival skills that we need.