"I think the cops are finally gone" - Mitchell said, with relief. He sat on his bed, pulling his socks off, and wiggled his toes. - "Man, I would think that being in their Air Force would at least give me SOME kind of a break from the endless questions. But no, every one of the deputies had to question me, and asking all of the same questions. Are you listening, Jackson?"

Daniel looked up briefly from his laptop, pausing his furious typing. Mitchell shook his head.

"Ok, nevermind that. What have you got?"

"Not much. I've asked Carter to check and make sure that SGC didn't "import" any creatures, knowingly or unknowingly in the past couple of months. She said that there are no reports or any creatures being brought from any off-world missions, save for some fruit-flies, but those have been neutralized two weeks ago due to the unfortunate…"

"Wait, you did what? You called Carter?" - Mitchell shook his head in disbelief.

"Is there a problem?"

"No, no problem. It's just that Carter will want to come and help, and next thing you know she is here, ruining out perfect all-boys weekend."

"I do believe that Carter's assistance may prove invaluable, ColonelMitchell, as we are up against an unknown creature that is killing the civilian population." - Said Teal'c, coming out of the bathroom. A thick cloud of steam followed him into the room.

"Yes, I get that. But don't you think we can handle this? Just the three of us? The boys? The pals? Tres Amigos?" - Mitchell said. - "Look, it took me months to plan this, do you even know the waiting list for this place during this time of year? AND I had to pull a couple of favors to boot. I'm just sayin'..."

"I don't think there is any cause for alarm, Colonel, I didn't ask Carter to come and she didn't offer. She did mention that she was preparing for an off world mission with SG-5, so it does appear that it's up to us. Unless we call for back-up from SGC." - Daniel resumed typing.

Mitchell was relieved. True, he wasn't planning on spending the weekend chasing a Yeti, but it's been years since he just had an all-boys "fun in the sun". He wasn't about to admit to SG-1 team, that he was simply terribly lonely, especially during his time off. His buddies from the Air Force would stop by once in a blue moon, but there was nothing to talk about.

Things of old, his service in the Gulf - all that was discussed to death, and most of it - wasn't anything that he wanted to dredge up anyway. And his present assignment - well that was nothing he could discuss with anyone. Being new to SG-1 was hard, harder than he imagined it would be, when he first signed up. He gave up on trying to fill O'Neill's shoes long time ago. Over time, he did come to think of the team as his friends. Teal'c, with his generous, but reserved nature, seemed to have no problem to draw people to him. It was strange, as imposing as he was physically, there was something about him that made people WANT to hang around him.

And Jackson, when he didn't have his nose buried in a book, a scroll,a tablet, or the other kind of tablet, was actually a pretty funny guy. Although Mitchell found him sometimes to be a bit of a bitch, when the doctor got tired of frustrated, Jackson was dependable, honorable, good natured, and easy to like.

So, to satisfy his selfish and child-like craving for friendship, he pulled all the strings he could, in order to book them a room in the Stark Pines resort - admittedly the best skiing spot in Colorado. Too bad that it also had to fall on the same weekend, when the Yeti decided to show it's ugly, yellow-eyed face.

"So, did you find anything useful, Jackson?" - Mitchell asked, stretching on the bed. His body ached everywhere.

"Right now I am cross-checking some information on Yeti fan sites."

"Yeti fan sites?" - Mitchell stifled a laugh. Personally, he always thought that the Yeti, the Abominable Snowman, the Sasquatch - was a lame monster. Even as a kid, he always preferred arachnids of at the very least - reptilian monsters.

"I doubt that we will find much information in the scientific community, however, the Yeti aficionados are quite meticulous and vocal about their supposed encounters with the creature. I have found at least two communities based here, in Colorado, that keeps a record of all reported sightings."

"Kind of like Men in Black checked the tabloids for news?"

"A most delightful film, Mitchell, we should watch it again in the near future." - Teal'c said, while tinkering with the coffee maker.

"Never saw it, actually." - Daniel said.- "But in our case, yes, the kind of information that can be useful to us is coming from the least "scientific" sources. It appears that there have been a 300% increase in the number of sightings of the creature in the mountains in the past two months. Even better, there is a map, recording where the sighting occurred."

"No freakin' way! I tell you, those nerds keep better records than the CIA." - Mitchell whistled, getting off the bed. He crouched over Daniel and his laptop.

"As you can see, a large number of those sightings have occurred within five mile radius of the resort. There is a section that also mentions and cross-checks the recent attacks and the location of the sightings. There actually have been 4 killings in the general area (within a couple of miles) of a sighting in the past month alone."

"Holy cow. So, the creature, or creatures are obviously hunting. The resort is a nice place to start - lots of food, none of it is armed. A perfect feeding ground, if you ask me. Well, at least we know where to start."

"We do seem to have a general area to start searching, but I would suggest requesting for backup. The creature you have described is agile, strong, and is able to move above ground." - Daniel noted.

"Every creature needs a nest. It can't just hang in the trees all the time, right? It must sleep. At least we know that it's not nocturnal." - Said Mitchell. - "That is already one thing that's in our favor."

"That's true, most of the sightings are recorded during the day. Then again, logic dictates that people usually don't wander the forest at night, so for all we know, the creature is more active in the dark."

"That does make sense, DanielJackson. But the creature's fur was white, from what I could tell. Would it not need to conceal itself in the snow? A nocturnal creature would not need such camouflage. If this indeed is a Daikhon, they are indeed day-time hunters. " - Teal'c said thoughtfully, pouring hot chocolate powder into a steaming cup. - "Although, Daikhon's are cowardly creatures, they stay away from other large animals, especially humans. They were hunted in great numbers for their pelts by the Goa'Uld."

"Well, Daikhon or a Yeti, we still don't know why or how these things appeared in Colorado." - Mitchell said sleepily. The activity of the day worse him out, most of all he wanted to pull the blankets over him and go to sleep.

He listened to Daniel and Teal'c quietly argue about the possible origins of the creature, but was soon lulled to sleep.

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Mitchell took Jackson with him back to the SGC base. They explained the situation to Gen. Landry, who, albeit hesitantly, approved them to investigate the situation and capture the creature if at all possible. All things considered, the last thing that they wanted is local vigilantes and self-proclaimed monster-hunters flocking to the forest and getting themselves killed.

Mitchell picked up a few more weapons, and some of the other gear, like the binoculars, night-vision and heat-seeking goggles, and enough tranquilizer darts to take down a herd of Unas. Carter had already departed to an off-world mission with another team, much to Mitchell's relief. He opted to not bring more men for the "sake of not drawing undue attention to the area and themselves". General Landry agreed, but ordered them to take no risks. If they cannot apprehend or eliminate the creature - they were ordered to do as much recon as possible, so that an SGC extraction team could be sent in.

When Mitchell and Jackson finally arrived at the resort, they met up with Teal'c.

"Anything new?" - Mitchell asked him.

"The resort's guests have not seen or heard anything unusual. The staff was un-forthcoming as well, I'm afraid."

"So, even though most of the attacks have been not far from the resort, either this is the first time a tourist was snatched, or the staff simply wants to keep things quiet."

"It is a likely assessment. I would imagine the news of a murderous predator in the area would drive off much of the business. Have you been able to procure the supplies that we needed?" - Teal'c asked, looking over the suitcases and bags that the two men were carrying up to the room.

"We sure did." - Mitchell grinned. Maybe this Yeti diversion is even better than just skiing. After all, he was always better at bonding with people during the worst of circumstances.

Mitchell had Daniel print out the map on the local office printer (which cost a whole two dollars, as the doctor begrudgingly told him). The map was not very detailed, but Cam decided that it would do. It gave a clear enough indication where the concentration of the sightings was happening, and it pointed to the isolated mountain ridge off to the north-west of the resort.

"Well, rest-up and gear-up, boys. We are going Yeti-hunting!" - Mitchell couldn't hide the childish glee.