"Where's Colonel O'Neill?" The portly General glanced once around the large mahogany table that all of a sudden seemed strangely empty. Dr. Jackson and Teal'c had seated themselves in their usual spots, unconsciously reserving the two seats opposite for their team mates. Dr. Fraiser, who had just breezed in a moment ago, quickly adjusted her notes in front of her and looked around at the faces in the room. It seemed strange that Sam's bright, intelligent face wasn't present.
It had become blatantly obvious to the shrewd and intelligent General that something was very wrong for Colonel O'Neill to have been exhibiting this type of behaviour. Special ops trained for stealth and control, he would have been the last person on the base the General would have expected to break down from the loss of a team mate.
Of course, he knew full well why the Colonel was cracking under the pressure. If it had been any other member of SG-1 lying comatose in that infirmary bed right now, Colonel O'Neill would be in full control. He'd be sad, worried and anxious, but ... he was usually the type of person who didn't allow his emotions to be plainly read for all to see. That was one of the reasons why the General considered him one of the best people to have in a crisis. There were no ifs or buts with the Colonel - it was his instinct translated into action in the space of a heart beat.
General Hammond sighed inwardly. It wasn't as if he didn't know about the feelings Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter had for each other. To him, it was plainer than the nose on a person's face. The more they tried to hide it, the more obvious it got. He had made the decision a long time ago to just let it go - as long as their mutual attraction did not interfere with their duties as leader and second-in-command, General Hammond was willing to cut them some slack for putting their lives on the line day after day. After all that SG-1 had been through, the General thought that was the *least* he could do.
He sighed audibly this time as the clock on the dull grey wall ticked away, marking every second that the usually punctual Colonel was late. What in the world was Jack doing?
Finally, to the collective relief of all present, Colonel O'Neill stomped into the conference room looking better than he had when Daniel had last seen him. His greying hair was damp from a shower and his hazel eyes seemed more focused. A little of the usually stalwart Colonel was evident in the way he sat at the table, shoulders barely sagging under the weight of worry.
"Sorry about that General."
"That's quite okay, Jack. Glad you could join us." The General said fatherly. General Hammond had ordered the Colonel to attend the debriefing only out of necessity. He had to find out exactly what happened on P2C 267 in order to brief the President on the situation. The loss, hopefully temporary, of the SGC's foremost expert on Stargate technology posed concerns for the continuation and well-being of the program.
"Now people ... I realise this is going to be hard." He glanced around the room, noting with some relief that Colonel O'Neill seemed much more sedate. The combination of some food and a hot shower must have brought some well needed relaxation to his battered body, if not for his mind. "I need to know what happened. Please ... take your time. I'm not going anywhere."
Daniel glanced at Jack, who appeared to have lapsed into another languorous state. He made no outward sign of having even *heard* the General, much less plan on answering him. Dr. Fraiser looked towards him, sensing the anthropologist's concern. Intense blue eyes met questing brown ones, as an almost oppressive silence descended in the conference room.
Teal'c looked steadily at Daniel, his expression curious. He was wondering how Daniel would handle Colonel O'Neill's apparent lack of response.
"Ah ... we went through to P2C 267," again he glanced at Jack, almost willing him to talk. "We saw immediately why the UAV stopped transmitting almost the instant it went through the gate. We assumed that it hit a tree or something, but actually, ah ..."
"Staff weapon fire." Teal'c jumped in at the appropriate moment, helping his friend in the difficult recounting. Daniel silently thanked him in return.
"Goa'ulds?" General Hammond asked, although he correctly deduced that there was no other satisfactory answer.
"Yes. It turns out that they had just taken control of the planet and were in the process of gaining control over the Stargate, as they usually do when they want to control a planet ..."
"To control it's traffic." The portly General again deduced.
"Right. Only we must've interrupted their preparations because when we got there, it was pretty much surrounded by jaffas ..."
"Serpent guards?" This time, the General seemed kerflummoxed.
"Horus guards - " Teal'c asserted, his baritone descending in contempt.
"Heru'ur." Daniel stated matter-of-factly. "We just *happened* in on one of his new conquests, so needless to say we were pretty much in trouble ..."
Daniel's voice drifted off within the dim vaults of his mind as Jack felt himself caught up with the memory, all too real to him in its consequences. He didn't want to think about it, didn't want to think about what happened, the steps that led to Sam ... He didn't want to second guess himself, that 'if only' he had done things a little different maybe Sam wouldn't be in this situation right now, lying on that bed in the infirmary fighting the hell for her life. Half a life time fighting in battle zones, pain and desperation moulding him into the man ... the soldier he was today. And for what? It hadn't equipped him with anything useful, hadn't helped him when he had needed it most. Hadn't helped him to get his team out of trouble. Hadn't helped because Sam was in a coma ...
Jack knew SG-1 were in a ton of trouble as soon as he stepped through the gate. Instead of unmolested wilderness like the second-long transmission that the UAV showed, he found several staff weapons shoved in front of his face attached to stern looking, disciplined Horus guards that Jack knew meant business. It was slight comfort to the seasoned Colonel that they hadn't actually fired on him, but one look towards his team drained him even of *that* comfort. Teal'c lay on the ground unconscious, presumably from a zat gun blast, but otherwise untouched. Sam and Daniel had similar staff weapons pointed directly at them, and it was apparent that Sam had put up a struggle before she had allowed them to disarm her, evidenced by the beginnings of an angry purple bruise on her forehead. Jack felt his heart stop for a split second as he contemplated the danger she had been in but she looked back at him steadily, her crystal blue eyes radiating a deceptive calmness as if to reassure him that she was okay. It helped, because he could actually *hear* his heart resume beating almost immediately ...
"Drop your weapons, or we will kill this Sholvar here." A harsh voiced interrupted his thoughts. He took a comprehensive look around to appraise their situation and felt his heart sink to his stomach. Horus guards were lined along the trees, populating the surrounding environment like an inexorable metallic forest. To attempt resistance in this situation was foolhardy, even for him. Jack sighed inwardly, berating himself for having gotten up that morning. He *hated* it when this happened.
"Yeah okay ... I *should* do that." The Colonel said, almost as much to himself as to his captor. Handing over his weapon was like getting stripped naked, except ... worse. Worse because he had no means to defend himself or his team properly. Worse because they were trapped in the midst of a gao'uld stronghold - with a whole battalion of jaffas making sure they didn't get 'lost'. He absent mindedly ran through all the times that they'd been captured - Ra, Apophis, Hathor ... hell, where did it end?
Why had he treated the threat so flippantly? With so much self-assurance, so much confidence? Dammit Jack, you were too complacent and it cost you ... it cost you *Sam*.
Jack's attention was snapped back to the present reality as he found four sets of concerned eyes looking directly at him.
"What? I'm sorry, I wasn't listening." His weak attempt at apology went by without comment. It seemed that everyone present in the room was not unaware of the Colonel's uncharacteristic reserve, and even General Hammond moved to make allowances for his best soldier on base. The General understood the trauma associated with losing a team member ... he himself had experienced it a couple of times which made him ready to sympathise with others in a similar situation.
"That's all right Colonel. I just asked for your assessment of how many jaffas you thought were stationed around the Stargate." He paused to let the question sink. "Daniel and Teal'c thought there were around fifty, sixty at most."
Jack vainly attempted to reel his mind in and concentrate on the question at hand. His mind was excessively sluggish, a curious combination of tension brought on by worry and drowsiness brought on by the hot shower he'd had just before the debriefing. What had the General asked again?
"Ah ... I'd say there were around ... sixty altogether. Fifty stationed around the Stargate on guard, around 10 actually setting up." He sounded surprisingly coherent to his own ears. Wow. Had that really been him?
"Right." The General seemed to visibly relax at Colonel O'Neill's accurate assessment.
Jack stared down at the solid mahogany table again, vaguely aware his reverie had been disturbed. What had he been thinking about? Something about P2C 267.
Sam is in a coma, dammit.
No, not that. Don't go there. He was thinking about ...
P2C 267. P2C 267. Something ... about getting caught ...
*Sam is in a coma*.
The Colonel abruptly stood up, making his chair fly backwards towards the back wall and disrupting Daniel's painful remembrance of the mission. Daniel and Dr. Fraiser stared at the harassed looking Colonel, nothing but concern apparent on their faces. Teal'c ever the observer, crooked a worried brow in Jack's direction while General Hammond protested somewhat gently,
"Colonel? Is anything the matter?"
"What?" Jack started. He stared at the room in confusion, sitting himself back into his chair. "Sorry Sir ... I just ..."
"It's all right Colonel." General Hammond paused, his silence telling in the arrested stillness of the room. He turned back towards Daniel. "Go on son."
"Yeah." Daniel gave Jack another worried, surreptitious glance before continuing with his debriefing. "They led us back towards their base ... It was more of a camp really ..." Daniel looked over at Jack again, as if to jolt him into helping him recount their tale.
"Anyway ... they took our weapons and locked us in some sort of holding room ... Ah ... I guess it was then that Jack suggested that we try for a chance to break out and get back to the Stargate."
Teal'c backed Daniel up in his recounting. "Colonel O'Neill voiced his opinion that it was our best chance of escape. He deduced that once Heru'ur was notified of our capture, he would take all steps to ensure our continued imprisonment. Hence the best opportunity of making our escape would have been before Heru'ur was notified of our capture, and we all concurred."
Jack was still staring off into space, although he was actually listening now. He forced himself to concentrate on the debriefing, otherwise General Hammond would court martial his butt. One outburst was bad enough for the second-in-command of the entire base, two would not be tolerated.
"Right." Daniel gave Jack yet another look, but the Colonel kept his gaze resolutely fastened onto the table. "We waited until night fall ... Ah ... when the guards were being changed. Um, then we, ah, attacked." He paused helplessly to look around the table. Describing military tactics and manoeuvres were quite beyond him and at normal debriefings, Daniel would be the last person to have to outline them. But with Jack refusing to say anything, Teal'c being even quieter than usual and Sam ... well, with Sam not being there, the responsibility sat very uncomfortably on his shoulders.
The General seemed to sense the archaeologist's discomfort. "Colonel O'Neill, would you care to elaborate on what exactly happened?"
Jack frowned, and appeared to make an immense effort to meet General Hammond's gaze.
He rubbed his hand over his face, a weary, tired expression sweeping across his haggard features. "We waited until the guards had been changed. Teal'c's idea, something about religious meal times or something."
"Each jaffa is extremely disciplined. Their routine is to be followed strictly, since this promotes obedience and discipline." Teal'c interjected.
"Yeah that. Anyway we got Daniel to say a few words, lure them in. Teal'c and I were hiding near the doors. Once they came in we disabled them, took their weapons. We got ourselves out of that hole ..." Jack paused painfully, and Daniel could almost sense his own pain at the memory radiating from him. That was just before ... before Sam getting hurt.
He saw Jack sigh resolutely and pushed himself on. "We'd almost gotten out of the compound until we were spotted. We had no choice - we just ran for it." He swallowed slowly. "The terrain was mostly forest anyway ... we ran for the nearest one ... in the general direction of the Stargate ..."
Daniel closed his eyes, unable to keep the events from replaying themselves in his mind. After they had been spotted it had been useless to try to remain hidden. Jack had yelled, "Everybody to the trees ... *now*!!" and there had been no turning back from Daniel.
It was a fairly mad dash towards the forest. To his untrained eye the distance hadn't seemed all that great, but with every gasping breath the nearest cluster of trees seemed to be getting further and further away. In the distance he could hear the rumbling caused from staff weapon blasts as it connected with the soft, mushy ground, and the aggressive shouts emanating from the Horus guards, getting closer and closer. He ran and ran and ran, yet the trees didn't seem to be getting any closer. Daniel was faintly aware of Jack and Sam in the distance, the darkness descending upon them obscuring their figures and silhouetting them against the dark expanse of the forest. Teal'c was running just behind him - he sensed, rather than saw, that the jaffa was returning fire sporadically.
They were almost to the trees, and then ...
And then it happened. Almost as if in slow, agonising motion he saw a blast headed straight for Sam. He opened his mouth to warn her but even in that instant that Daniel took to register the threat Jack was there, shoving her to the ground and returning mad, desperate fire. But the blast hit the first of the trees bordering the forest, sending the tree toppling - and straight onto Sam.
"No!" That was all Daniel heard coming from his own mouth as he mustered his remaining strength and sprinted toward his fallen friend. At his cry Jack had turned around; he emitted no sound as he absorbed the sight of Sam nearly obscured under the pile of leaves and debris, lying still and unmoving.
And then all three of them were there, Jack first, trying maniacally to pull off all the debris single-handedly. Teal'c arriving at a full sprint, bending down to pull off layers and layers of splintered branches to uncover Sam's prone body. And Daniel ... he couldn't explain it, but he had instinctively known to take Jack's abandoned MP5 and fire off round after round, heedless of his own safety, the only thought reverberating around his mind was that maybe, he could give Jack and Teal'c enough time to get Sam to safety ...
"Danny we've got her - move out!" In mindless obedience he turned and ran into the depths of the forest. He didn't know how they were going to survive in there ... the trees just meant that they had more places to hide ... but there was no way the three of them could hold off a whole camp-full of Horus guards.
Daniel didn't know how long they ran - but suddenly, amazingly, all was quiet. As his astonished mind wondered how that could possibly be true, Jack suddenly slowed his break neck pace and rolled to a stop. Teal'c, his burden made heavier with the addition of Sam, slowed along with him.
The three of them stood in the eerie stillness of the forest.
"Maybe we lost them?" Daniel asked, unthinkingly. He didn't really care ... as long as they weren't there.
"Yeah." Jack replied shortly, breathing in short, sharp rasps. Tiredness and fatigue racked Daniel's body, making him half-stagger on the spot as he tried in vain to listen as Jack considered tactical possibilities. "We've got to get ourselves back near that gate ... by tonight. Dark's going to help us ... We need to keep moving, make sure we're not spotted." His eyes fell on Sam, unconscious and her head displaying an alarming gash. "No matter how long it takes us, right?"
Daniel had nodded grimly, but inwardly he had trembled. He really hadn't thought they were going to make it out of there.
But they had - just. His attention wandered back to the present, with Jack continuing his tale.
" ... just kept walking. Don't know how long. We got back to the gate ... Made it seem like we were going to hide out in the forest for a while before trying to get to the gate ... the forest was close enough to mount a surprise attack on the guards around the gate. We did just enough to get through ... *just*." Jack almost muttered the last few words out as he seemed to get lost in his own thoughts once more.
(c) Vivian Ngan January 2001
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