Daniel wasn't alone.It was a vague sensation. Something tickling the back of his mind- of movement, of sound, off his field of perception. Daniel whipped around, ducking behind a dead tree log, pressing his belly into the moist ground and lowered his head. Briefly, he wondered if he should hold his breath and almost grunted in disgust at the thought.
Although, Daniel thought as he saw shadows wavering up ahead the slope, you never know. Apprehensively, he watched as more shadows were creeping up the hill. Was it help? Daniel was wary of leaping out from his hiding place right about now. Could Davis have sent help that quickly?
Cautiously, Daniel began to raise his head, to try and get a closer look when he heard the spark of a walkie-talkie come to life. Quickly, he ducked his head. It sounded pretty close.
"All the windows are boarded up in the back."
"Only entrance and exit is the front door then."
Daniel nearly started as a voice replied low, so close to where he was. The person, in fact, was standing a few feet in front of him. Oh boy. Daniel now did hold his breath. Well, at least clamped his mouth shut.
The radio cackled back. "We sure about the coordinates?"
Footsteps shuffled in place. Daniel found himself hugging the ground, wishing the depression the sunken log made was deeper. He pressed his head close to the bottom of the tree trunk, breathing in air scented of damp wood and dry leaves. His nose began to itch. Frantically, he tried to stifle it, silently chanting don't see me, don't see me. The skin on the back of his hands crawled. Somehow, Daniel knew this wasn't the help he asked Major Davis for.
The person shifted position again, leaves rustling as his body brushed by them. The man was walking ahead again. He stopped and Daniel was sure he was looking at his surroundings. He felt exposed, his clothing too bright, even his head. Daniel held onto the dirt, not daring to move.
"Sir?" the radio crackled again.
After a pause—God, Daniel was positive he was looking this way! -the person responded back.
"Only structure around the location of that last phone call." The speaker paused, spitting out something. Daniel made a face. "Sighted some activity inside. Put on your infrareds."
The radio made a popping sound of static. "…our man certain?"
A short laugh. "Jackson called in and practically pointed at the map where they are." Another spit and the man continued. "Our guy's sure. He's been putting blocks around the wire taps so we get our info first. Fresh off the satellites. Jackson's call originated from here." Another laugh. "Beats pounding the haystack looking for the damn needle."
Daniel stiffened. Alarmed, cautiously he reached back and pulled out the cellphone. The light blinking indicated it was still on. He frantically shut off the connection. Daniel closed his eyes, pressing the phone to his forehead. God, what had he done? He thought…
"…think we spotted the jeep…Four hundred, maybe six hundred meters from where you are." The radio crackled, louder than the voices themselves. "…see someone…in jeep…readying to converge on your signal…"
"Okay." Any amusement vanished and it was back to business again. "We need to verify how many are in the cabin first. You sure you only see one in the jeep?"
"Yes, sir."
"Probably Jackson. Our man told him to stay put." A long pause before he spoke again in a brisk voice. "We have our orders- complete expurgation of all possible loose ends." A gun softly clicked in the night. Daniel ducked lower and stared at the crack on the tree log.
"Don't give them any warnings. Cut them down fast. No survivors. Do you read me?"
There was no hesitation. "Copy that."
Daniel turned his head, realizing he had to do something. His heart was hammering close to his chest as he looked at the phone in his hand. Cautiously, he raised his head. He could see the broad back, garbed in black, standing with the same type of rifle Jack carried on missions.
At the thought of Jack, Daniel's blood grew cold. The older man was in the cabin, most likely oblivious to the new danger. God, what did he do? Daniel rubbed his forehead against the rough bark of the log. His eyes widened.
"Hell, heard they even found some of those hologram devices. You know? The ones that made Carter look like you, me like an alien, no, make that the alien looking like me. They must have been swiping stuff for themselves for months."
Daniel remembered coming to, waking up to the reassuring gruff tones of Jack's voice, finding himself surrounded by a few dozen other men and women waking up.
"So Sam came in looking like—er…me?" Daniel looked around the infirmary uneasily. He rubbed his arm with a wince, remembering how the needle seemed to stab right through his arm before everything went dark.
"Carter!" Jack whistled sharply at Sam, who promptly tossed him the bag holding the round coppery colored disk. He waggled his brow at Daniel. He unzipped the plastic bag and held up the item between his thumb and index finger. "Watch this. Really cool if you think about it." He attached it just under his collar bone and-
"Wow!" Daniel blurted out as he stared at Jack, no, himself, in the checkered shirt he kept in the lab for when he changed out of his fatigues. Amazed, he poked at Jack and watched his own face grinned.
"Colonel O'Neill!" Hammond's voice made both of himself jump. "What in God's name are you doing with those things out of quarantine?"
Daniel bit his lower lip. Was it really Davis he spoke to on the phone? Jack did mention the rogues had a few of them in their possession. What if it wasn't just them? The entire base was infiltrated that time. Daniel's eyes blurred as he thought of how many of those devices were left behind when the aliens escaped. How many were scavanged from the aliens' bodies?
No time to think about it. Daniel observed the shadows with their hunched backs, creeping up ahead towards the cabin. All that mattered was he screwed up, called for help, and the wrong person answered.
Daniel could hear small cracking sounds of twigs breaking, footsteps in growing numbers fading from his left and right. They were circling to the front of the cabin. Desperate, Daniel checked his options. He can't make another call. He didn't know who was in the base any more to trust. Sam…should he try call Sam again? No, last time, Davis, or someone sounding like Davis, had intercepted the call. Daniel gritted his teeth. He couldn't go back to the jeep because they're getting ready to surround that, too.
He looked down on the phone he held. He was tempted to bash the device on the ground. No, wait…
Eyeing the slope inclining below him, Daniel tested the weight of the phone in his hands once more. Then, his jaw set, Daniel threw it down as hard as he could in an angle, keeping his head down.
The phone sailed for a distance before finally crashing off to the side, cracking as it struck rock. The LED light up for a moment followed the sound of crystal breaking, a bright square in endless shades of black, then fluttered back to darkness.
Almost immediately, the person in front of Daniel was speaking into his phone. "Tango one, did you hear that?"
The walkie-talkie snapped back to life. "Saw a light, maybe six, eight meters seven o'clock."
"Everyone stay your position. Do not approach the cabin yet."
Daniel curled up as tight as possible, praying the tree and its surrounding brush was concealing him as footsteps hushed past him. After a few moments of silence, Daniel edged up the log and looked around. No one was around. The person with the radio was gone, too.
Daniel sagged against the log, but only for a moment before he straightened up again. He stared at the cabin, closer now, light from between the boards beckoned him.
He have to hurry.
Turning at the call of her name, Sam saw Siler jogging up to her down the corridor. Like her, the engineer had a rumpled appearance, clothing looked slept in if there was any sleep at all, a definite lag of pace in his trot. Siler looked how Sam knew many felt right now- tired, yet too wired to really sleep.
"Tech finally got reports back on all the calls made from Doctor Jackson and Colonel O'Neill's phones," Siler explained.
Sam leafed through the paperwork, nodding as she saw Siler and Simmon's reports on their findings from the cellblock were included. Nothing of real importance, nuts…no activity on Daniel's number recently…Sam sighed. After the last check they made, there had been a call, over a day ago. She had hoped- Her shoulders slumped.
"Major?" Siler was still standing there, waiting. Sam grimaced. Seemed like all they could do was wait.
"Thanks," she murmured. Siler silently bobbed his head, excusing himself before he left. Sam glumly gave Teal'c the paperwork. "Nothing of use here."
Teal'c tipped his head, reminding her in a quiet voice. "The shards." There was no reproach in his tone as he gestured towards the bag she still held in her hands.
"Oh geez," Sam muttered. "Come on." Giving the stack of paper a regretful glance, she headed towards the elevators. As she slid her ID card in the reader and waited for a car, she spared another glance at the paperwork. Silently, Teal'c handed them over. "There has to be something here," she murmured to herself. She refused to think with all their resources, they couldn't find a single clue.
Sam didn't even realize the doors had opened. It took a steady hand from Teal'c, guiding her into the compartment before Sam realized they were already in the elevator. As the doors closed, she still had her eyes glued to the reports, desperately searching for anything.