AN: With Daniel injured, it's left up to Sam to figure out how to find their teammates. References to Demons.

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Part 2 - NEARBY TO FARAWAY PLACES

Chapter 1 - Who Made The Ground Move?

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He caught his breath an instant after Carter did at the ugly sight. From a few inches above the knee to just below his waist, his thigh had become a raw-looking bluish-purple mass. There was some swelling around the scraped skin, but no bleeding.

"Yes. But without those -- ahh --crystals, probably nothing that elaborate or complex could exist here, structurally speaking." The young man leaned his head back against the wall, closing his eyes. He shivered as she probed gently at the protruding bone.

"I'm sorry, Daniel, but I have to know if it's a fracture."

Eyes remaining closed, Daniel swallowed visibly and nodded. "With exception to the Tok'ra, extreme sensitivity to brilliant sunlight or -ooww- contaminated atmosphere are usually indicative to those --ahhh-- situations, which… uh, if you notice, don't seem to apply here at all."

"Okay, I'm done," Sam informed him, pulling away.

He offered her an owlish look. "Good."

"Aside from deep bruising and scraping around the pelvic area, I think we can safely say you're still intact despite being -- side-swiped by a runaway gate."

Daniel grimaced. "You had to say that, didn't you?"

"I have aspirin in my pack if you'd like a few," Carter replied, "to get through the next couple of hours."

"Yeah, please." Daniel wearily fumbled to fasten his pants. "I guess I'll just sit here and rest for awhile…"

Sam dropped two white tablets into his open palm and watched him swallow. "Some form of advanced mining isn't out of the question," she offered, holding out the canteen before he could choke. "Historical society or culture is not my field, but the MALP gave us more of a thirteenth-fifteenth century European peasant atmosphere, nothing technical, as you can see from the courtyard."

Daniel shuddered. "As I recall, last time I saw a courtyard anything like that, a Goa'uld-possessed Unas lorded over the village. And if not a natural event," he remarked, taking another hasty gulp of water, "what or who made the ground move?"

Sam shrugged, glancing around the small, empty hut as if it would provide the answer. "It didn't have to be an explosion," she offered, absently picking up pieces of loose straw from the packed dirt floor. "You remember how the stargate's activation literally shook the entire mountainside before we had dampers installed?"

"Yeah, you're right," Daniel conceded, looking up to where to the roof showed thin gaps in the straw covering. "So… what, then? That was the last guy leaving on a primitive subway after he turned out the figurative lights?"

"Well, that's one possibility," Sam concurred, fastening the flap on her backpack. "Not one I would entertain." She briefly consulted her handheld device to find it once again dormant. "But then, I'm not entirely convinced the place is deserted."

Daniel smirked, straightening his good leg. "No, cause they're waiting at the subway platform downstairs." He laughed faintly. "Can't you picture Jack trying to get Teal'c to flag one down?"

"Uh, you're not cold, are you?" Sam wondered, rising to her feet, tossing her backpack loosely over one shoulder. "You know, that's one of the first signs that you're going into shock."

Daniel glared at her, annoyed by the condescending tone. "No, I am not cold!" he said testily, short of throwing his forearms across his chest. Instead, he let both limbs flop to his sides in defeat. "Look, I'll be fine in here. You did what you could, thanks, now go find Jack and Teal'c."

"All right, then I'll leave the backpack here," Sam decided after a few more moment's of uncertainty. "I won't go far, and-- Daniel, did you hear me?"

"What? Oh, yeah. Do that," he agreed absently, eyes fixed on the courtyard where the corner of the statue's platform could be seen to his left. "I'll sit here and figure what it is about that thing out there that's bothering me - aside, of course, from an aesthetically unpleasant rendering of a farm animal."

Sam shook her head, kicking more straw aside as she stopped at the door. "Goats and rams have been around since Biblical times," she reminded him. "You can't really label them farm animals. I doubt that these people did."

"That was presumptive, I guess…" Daniel admitted, sighing. "These animals were sacrificed as religious burnt offerings long before the Dark Ages worshipped them in ritualistic pagan black masses. I'd need a closer look to determine--"

"No, that can wait," Sam declared sharply, cutting him off. And when the archeologist blinked, but didn't give her a customary argument, her thoughts returned to locating the rest of their team.

The planet's distant sun marked no visible passage of daylight. It had seemed close to approaching dusk when they'd arrived. It didn't appear as if the fading yellow orb had any intention of lowering itself nearer to the underlying swath of milk-white clouds. No sound or feel of wind, no natural smells. Behind her, soft, slanted shadows fell across the village and curving, rock pathways like a still life painting of the Middle Ages.

Only the statue's presence in the village center felt out of the ordinary. But even from that emanated an overall pervading sense of desertion.

Unable to discern any relevance to the statue, Sam turned her back on it and keyed her radio. Click. Click. Static. "Stay ..ear… fire hydra… Carter… hear… saying?"

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Great Lakes military training compound - an office phone rings.

"Yes, operator, this is Captain Terry Ballard. I accept the charges for a collect call from County Down, Ireland."

"Hello, Terrance? This is Father Stuart Haggardy, an old friend of your dad's. I didn't catch you at bad time, did I?"

"No, Father Haggardy. I'm grading fitness reports and could use a break. Is everything all right? Have you seen him?"

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TBC