Chapter 30- Explanations and Ambush

The weather wasn't terrible, but Laura was already starting to feel her skin burn. Apparently her Goa'uld DNA didn't stop severe sunburn. If anyone else was suffering they didn't say. By the time night fell Laura was more than relieved to be out of the sun. Laura ate her macaroni and cheese that her father had given her from one of the MRE's he carried with him. It tasted awful, but Laura was hungry enough to be grateful for the food.

"This tastes like chicken," Daniel said after finishing a mouthful.

"So, what's wrong with it?" Carter asked.

"This is macaroni and cheese," Daniel said.

"I knew that it tasted funny," Laura said as a siren went off.

"Perfect. If any little rocks sneak up on us, we'll have plenty of warning," Jack said, with his usual sarcasm.

"So, any indigenous lions, tigers, and bears I should lie awake worrying about?" Sam asked as Connor sat down at the campfire.

"The plant life's all that seems to live very long in the sun," Connor said.

"Now, how could something like this actually happen?" Laura asked as she set her empty macaroni and cheese container down. "I mean the SG teams are supposedly made up of well-trained professionals," Laura said, getting to the reason for their mission.

"Well, when we first met the cave dwellers, they immediately bowed down to us. Thought we were gods," Connor said with a bittersweet smile.

"That's a fairly common phenomenon. I mean, it happens," Daniel said.

"Except Hanson didn't deny it. Told us it might be safer if we allowed them to believe he was their god for a while. Said it was the system of government they needed to retake their world," Connor said.

"And you were okay with that?" Laura asked, arching one of her eyebrows skeptically.

"Frakes was our anthropologist. He agreed with Hanson that it might be safer. But the longer we stayed here, the stronger they believed. In our fourth or fifth week here, a young child wandered out of the caves. Must have gotten lost. Hanson went out after him. He was gone for two full days before he came back, carrying the child, barely alive, in his arms," Connor said.

"The cave dwellers must have loved him for that," Carter said.

"Yeah, they did. He wasn't the same after that," Connor said.

"Are you saying that's what sent him over the edge? The sun?" Carter asked.

"It wasn't any one thing. If it was, me and Frakes, we could have seen it comin'. Done something about it before-" Connor trailed off.

"Before what?" Laura and Teal'C both asked.

"There were a few cave dwellers who got the idea that Hanson was just a man, like they were, thanks to Frakes and I. He had them tied to stakes and left out in the direct sunlight. If they lived seven days, they were allowed back into the caves," Connor said.

"A number of significant biblical events took place over the course of seven days," Daniel interjected, using his knowledge in history.

"By then, they were blind. Giant, bleeding burns all over them. Just took them a little longer to die. Personally, I'd rather eat a bullet," Connor said, stunning them all.

"I'll take first watch," Jack said, patting Laura's knee gently as he stood.


Laura woke to the sound of rustling and opened her eyes blearily. Connor was walking to her father. "Hey, Colonel. I'll take watch now," Connor said. Before Jack could say anything a creepy howling filled the air. Laura straightened from her sleeping bag as silhouettes of people ran.

"Dad?" Laura whispered.

"Shhh!" Jack silenced her, holding up his hand. He went to Teal'C who was busy with Kel No Reim and shook him. He then went to Daniel. "Let's go. We have company," Jack said, shaking Daniel awake.

"Are you sure?" Daniel asked, pulling off a mask that keeps out the sun and slipping on his glasses. Something that looked like a tranquilizer hit the tree beside Daniel's head.

"Pretty sure," Jack said as they all stood and someone growled and an alarm blared. Jack fired his machine gun. The creatures ran away as soon as a tree exploded in front of one of them.

"It appears they are gone," Teal'C said.

"Yeah," Jack said.

"Connor? Connor? Dad, where is he?" Laura asked, looking around and everyone noticed that Connor had disappeared. Jack went to the native they had just shot and they all looked around wordlessly.