Chapter V
The Dogs began to bark as they neared they neared the tall hilltop cave in which the Stargate was situated and O'Neill and Carter were standing outside of, both members of SG-1 watched in anticipation of Dimat finally stopping so they could take from him what they wanted. Captain Gordon was oblivious as to what was going on with his teammates, all he knew was they were acting a little peculiar "shouldn't we be trying to find Doctor Jackson?" he treaded gingerly down the stone steps and strode across the snow to stand beside them at the mouth of the cave.
"We all ready know where he is, Captain" Jack replied without turning around, it was unfortunate that Gordon was there for he was just another person that would eventually vie for Dimat's attention so he could receive more of the water. He'd just have to go thirsty.
"Okay…so shouldn't we be leaving here to go and find him th…?" when he realised Sam and Jack weren't going to move from their spots her moved past them to stand outside, indicating that he thought they should get going.
The Colonel looked at him, the younger man was really irritating him…well he usually did but now even more so. He yanked the Captain back by the collar "we're staying right here."
As Jack let go of him he slid on a patch of black ice and fell backwards and landed heavily on his back "what the hell did you do that for?" the usually mild mannered Captain cried out angrily. Then as if suddenly remembering he was a subordinate added "Colonel, what's going on?"
"Couldn't we have left him back at the SGC?" Carter wondered out loud as her gaze lingered on Dimat, he was almost there, she could almost taste the delicious water that he hopefully had an abundance of.
The Colonel shrugged. "Well he is part of the team," he didn't sound too pleased about that fact "I'll wager Hammond sent him along to baby sit…well finally" both SG-1 members walked outside and began traipsing down the snow covered hill, along the same path that Teal'c had cut two days before. Dimat had now stopped and the dogs had gathered around him yapping and shaking their tails, the man threw them tidbits of an unusual black looking food that resembled charred meat. "Oh we're so happy to see you" Jack called across sarcastically. They needed Dimat; they didn't want him to be around. Captain Gordon pushed himself to his feet and followed them outside, the stretcher in his hands, though right now, he had a feeling O'Neill and Carter weren't that bothered about their injured friend.
"Who is this guy?" Gordon eyed Dimat with uncertainty, feeling sure he was the reason his teammates weren't acting like themselves. He stood beside Sam, and O'Neill was stood next to her with Dimat and the dogs in front of him. "Are any of you going to start answering my questions?" Jack rolled his eyes in apparent frustration; a Zat that he had kept hidden was now revealed and as Captain Gordon turned to the right to see the Colonel, he shot him.
Gordon's eyes widened in shock as he fell back into the snow, O'Neill looked at Sam wordlessly and she nodded before kneeling down to open the pack she had brought. In it were the usual things such as food supplies, and a travel med kit. But just as an extra there were handcuffs, thinking ahead O'Neill and Carter had guessed they would need them eventually to stop Captain Gordon from going anywhere. As he was irritating them so much with his persistent questioning, the Colonel had decided it would be better to use them sooner rather than later. Dimat took a step back, the effects from drinking the water had progressed a lot faster in these people than it had on the planets original inhabitants, though of course I have tweaked the experiment a bit after the dreadful results of last time but still, this is amazing. Perhaps their system is also different so that would account for how rapidly this has affected them, for instance the woman and Jaffa feel far more weary after drinking the water than their teammates Dimat quickly thought, then stopped his thinking when he saw O'Neill's enquiring gaze.
"You crave more?" he questioned. Just how else will this change them? At Carter and O'Neill's nod he continued "you must come with me, there is more." At the same time that he was telling them this he felt an overwhelming desire to cease the experiment, after the catastrophe of last time he had felt terrible and so had stopped and gave up. But when the visitors had come it was simply too good an opportunity to pass up, Dimat shook himself. "I will give you more" Captain Gordon heard them speaking but couldn't do a single thing about it, Carter had cuffed him to the sled and as they began treading through the snow he had no choice but to follow.
*
"How did you find me?" Daniel was inside a sled, a thick fur covering him and keeping him warm, his injured leg stretched out in front of him. He had to shout in order to be heard over the dogs barking as Miasa drove them onwards, they had been travelling for only ten minutes but had already covered quite a bit of ground, or at least more than they would have done had they been on foot.
Miasa began to slow them down and the sled turned to the left and on down a slope beside a river that had frozen over long ago. "I have been here since you arrived and long before that, Daniel" the Archaeologist glanced back at her. She seemed older, well she was obviously, but it seemed as though she was also wiser somehow. But she looked terribly troubled too and he had no doubts that it had something to do with Dimat "and of all the planets you could travel to, you had to visit this one." By this time the sled had stopped completely "this is the home that I told you about when we first met."
"Yeah, we know how to pick them" keep talking and you'll forget about the water, just keep talking, take your mind off the water Daniel continued the mantra but at the moment it was only working a little bit.
"We must find your other friends, they left but you said they should have returned by now. If Dimat finds them he will take them to his lab" Miasa knelt down in the snow and stroked the dogs, they gathered around her panting tiredly "you think you are feeling bad now but your friends have drank more of the water than you. From Dimat they will get more and their situation will worsen, the effects may have changed from the last time but probably not by much" the young woman explained. "At first those who drink the water will simply begin to crave more, like some of your potent drugs, if they are left for a prolonged length of time without it they will turn violent – as you saw from the way the Jaffa, Teal'c acted."
She looked away from the dogs and faced the Archaeologist "last time the people split into small groups, the strongest banding together with those that would not argue with them, and they shared the water. But as it began to run out the individual groups began to fight amongst themselves, they felt it was no longer safe to share the water and so they killed anybody that got in their way" Miasa turned away from him and wiped her hand over her eyes. "Dimat, the creator of this poison, and I were the only survivors. Your friends are progressing along much faster than my people did" she finished with a long sigh.
"Which means we don't have much time. Teal'c and I were already starting to argue, luckily you were there to intervene but Sam and Jack don't have anybody to help them" he steadily began to grow frantic, though part of it was due to the water messing with his head "well lets go" Daniel waited expectantly.
Miasa smiled in amusement, his people were always in such a rush. "It is another three hours before we reach Dimat's lab" she told him "and I am waiting for your Jaffa friend to catch up to us."
Daniel looked at her strangely, as though he believed he had just heard her incorrectly "why would we wait for him?" thoughts of Teal'c only reminded him that he had the water the water, I need the water. No! Stop thinking about that stuff! His mind was jumbled up and he couldn't even begin to try thinking straight, all his thoughts were racing along at full speed and confusing him. But the water is so good!
Seeing Daniels mental battle, Miasa nodded and stood "we can continue on" she agreed, perhaps the ride would keep his mind off Dimat's treacherous experiment. "So Daniel, tell me what became of your grandfather…" now this conversation topic should keep him occupied for a while.