Thanks for the prompt Zoser, forgot to post this earlier! (I'd better get chapter 4 finished now though...)
I don't own SG1, the Stargate or any of the characters, I've just borrowed them & promise I'll put them back when I've finished with them.
Rated M for later chapters, contains adult situations & noncon/dubcon later, please avoid if this is likely to trigger! x
Chapter 3
The team spent the next few hours investigating in the clearing. Teal'c stood sentry, but there was very little for him to keep watch for. There had been no signs of life, other than a few native birds and bugs around, and cloud cover still hung low in the sky, restricting the views of what were undoubtedly mountains around them. He remained on the alert though, knowing he was the first line of defence while the scientists were busy. Daniel was crouched, scrapping off bits of discoloured moss and muttering to himself, all the while flicking through the pages of various notebooks and furiously scribbling characters on the empty pages. Every now and then, there would be an exclamation of triumph as he identified a symbol or word, but more often, the sound of his pencil crossing out a previous memo to himself signalled the lack of progress he was making. O'Neill got bored of watching him at work and ambled over to Carter as she yet again tried to prise open the revolving panel on the stone pillar.
She grimaced as he got close and preempted his question, "No, I'm still no closer Sir," she said in exasperation, "yes, I have tried rerouting and shorting everything possible down there," She gestured towards the small panel of rock that she'd managed to open at the base of the tower before continuing, "I think these top sections are controlled by a central circuit somewhere else." She huffed slightly, and stretched, a couple of hours hunched over the lower panel, followed by another hour of so reaching over her head had made her shoulders ache.
"Daniel!" O'Neill called across the clearing. Teal'c looked up, instantly alert and O'Neill beckoned him over, Daniel however held up a hand towards the colonel whilst not breaking his gaze from the rock in front of him.
"Just a second!" he called distractedly before continuing to write in his journal.
O'Neill rolled his eyes, and looking over at the blonde major next to him said, "It's a good job I was only about to suggest a break, not warn him of imminent danger, isn't it?" She returned his smile, and his heart skipped a beat as he realised how much he'd missed that lately. "Come on Daniel," he called, "It's been hours, take a few minutes, okay?"
"Okay, okay," Daniel grumbled as he stood and made his way over to the others, stretching and rolling his shoulders as he went. He gratefully accepted the canteen of water from Sam, it wasn't hot on the planet and the air around them was damp, but he suddenly realised he'd not taken a break or had a drink since they'd dialled Earth with an update several hours ago.
General Hammond hadn't been surprised when the unexpected off-world activation had been SG1, they'd only been on the planet for a matter of minutes before the incoming wormhole initiated. "Colonel, report!" he'd announced as O'Neill's voice had come over the comms system in the control room.
"Seems like we set off some sort of scanning technology when we arrived Sir, no harm done as far as we can tell, but wasn't a pleasant sensation."
"Any indication who the technology belongs to? Or its purpose?"
"Daniel and Carter are looking into that now Sir. We've seen no signs of life, it may just have been left here when they went... whether they went... Sir."
"Do you require any backup or additional equipment?" There was a pause, Hammond assumed that Colonel O'Neill was checking with Sam if she needed anything.
"No thank you Sir, Carter thinks she's got what she needs and anyway, we'd rather not start the damn scanner off again if we can help it!"
"Understood. Keep me up to date,"
"Yes Sir," came the response and the wormhole closed shortly afterwards.
General Hammond turned back towards his office, catching Walter's eye on his way, "It's never simple with them, is it?" he asked, shaking his head slightly as he walked away.
"No Sir, it never is." Walter said quietly as he gazed down at the giant ring.
"Progress?" asked O'Neill, looking first to Daniel and then to Carter.
"Some," came Daniel's response. He looked quite hopeful. "I've managed to identify which symbols appear to be the vowels, well, some of them anyway, and from there I should be able to make out some of..."
"Should?" interrupted O'Neill, sounding a little exasperated. "I thought you recognised these little..." he cast around for a word, "squiggles on the MALP footage!"
Daniel looked slightly sheepish for a moment , "Well... so did I, I do know some of them... I thought it was based on the ancient Coptic alphabet, but it appears to be a subdialect or in fact, come to think of it, a sub-subdialect... it's fascinating really..." He was getting increasingly excited and thrust an open notebook towards O'Neill. "See? Obviously you'd expect the circumflex here," he jabbed at the page, "but to see the diereses like this," more jabbing, "well, it's an entirely different system!" O'Neill at that point turned away, rubbing a grimy hand over his brow as he did so, Daniel followed him like an overeager puppy. "Don't you see Jack! This is incredible! Had we found this on Earth, there is enough for a thesis or two!"
"All very well Daniel, but do you know what the scanners were doing?"
"Erm... not yet..."
"Or if they did us any damage?"
"No..."
"Or who built them in the first place?"
"Well... erm..."
"That one I think I can help a little with Sir," interrupted Carter, smiling slightly at the grateful look Daniel shot her way. "I've not been able to access the scanners themselves, but the technology in the base of the column is reminiscent of some of the Tok'ra devices we have encountered."
"Which are surprisingly reminiscent of the Goa'uld devices we have encountered, right? A little too closely encountered, I might add."
"I guess, but there are subtle differences Sir. The Gou'ald tend to instruct their Jaffa or whichever race they have enslaved to do the manual labour for them - Tok'ra do it all themselves, these devices have been built with precision Sir, by someone who knows what they are doing."
"So... Tok'ra scanny things?"
"Erm... I can't say for sure, but I don't think they are Goa'uld," She hurriedly continued as O'Neill rolled his eyes at her, "it's not Ancient, Asgard, Tollan or any of the other societies we've encountered so far. Maybe it's Tok'ra or maybe someone entirely new, it's not like they've signed their work! ...Sir." She tacked on the last word almost as an afterthought, she was still feeling unnerved by the earlier scan and didn't like not having the answers.
"Ok," sighed O'Neill, "how about we do a little recon further afield? Look for the central circuit place you mentioned. We're not learning much here, are we?"
The rest of the team reluctantly agreed, and after choosing a suitable location for their camp amongst the low lying bushes, they ate MREs while deciding their next steps.
"We'll cover more ground in pairs," O'Neill announced, "Teal'c, you and Daniel head West, see if you can find any thing other than trees & clouds. Carter and I will go East." He checked his watch, "Meet you back here at fifteen hundred hours. Eyes open and stay in touch, I want updates every 15," he waggled his radio.
Teal'c inclined his head in assent and rose from the tree stump he'd been sat on, gazing around for any signs danger. Daniel struggled to his feet from the grassy floor as Carter grinned and gave him a hand up.
"See you in a couple of hours!" he called jovially as he started to stroll away.
"Daniel..." called the Colonel after him.
"I know, I know, don't get into trouble, don't touch anything, and always listen to Teal'c!" came the reply without any need for prompting, and the archeologist waved his hand dismissively.
"Think I'm finally getting somewhere!" O'Neill said proudly as he swung his weapon over his shoulder and turned towards his second in command. She smiled at the guys' interaction, SG1 had spend so much time under pressure lately, it was good to see they had retained a sense of humour. The last few missions had been lacking the 'fun' element, and despite the scan and threat of smiting, there seemed a slightly more relaxed atmosphere amongst the team. "East it is," the colonel declared and started off towards the gently climbing slope.
After less than 15 minutes walking, Carter spotted a stone structure, slightly higher up the side of the valley and just visible between the tree line and the ever present bank of low cloud. Checking in with the others, they discovered Daniel and Teal'c had spotted a similar structure and were on their way towards it. "Guess the cameras on the MALP glider missed it among the cloud," she declared.
They were only a couple of hundred metres closer to the target when Colonel O'Neill noticed his companion grimacing. "You ok?" he asked with concern, it hadn't been a tough climb and her fitness could often outstrip his.
"Yeah," she replied through gritted teeth, "just a headache," and she shook her head as if to clear it. They continued on, but after a few more minutes, O'Neill could tell something wasn't right. He turned and closed the gap, reaching out and grabbing Carter's left arm as she swayed alarmingly. The colour drained from her face and she raised her right hand to her forehead, her delicate features now scrunched in pain. He gave up attempts to hold her up-right, lowering her slowly to the ground where she knelt, clutching her head and whimpering slightly. O'Neill was at a loss, he'd seen her withstand G'ould hand devices and pain sticks with less reaction.
"Carter?" he said softly, the anxiety coming through in his voice. He knelt beside her and, forgetting their ranks for a moment, gently rubbed his hand on her lower back. Sam instantly let out a cry of pain and collapsed to the ground, out cold on the rocky hillside. Feeling for a pulse with one hand, he reached for the radio with the other, "Teal'c? Daniel? Come in!" he barked.
Teal'c voice came clearly over the radio, "O'Neill, we have a problem. DanielJackson appears to be unwell."
"Same here, Carter just collapsed!"