General Hammond stood in the control room while the technician dialed P8X628. The evacuation was ready to begin, but he had that feeling of impending trouble again. Maybe he was nervous about going offworld. After all, he had only gone offworld on a few occasions and had never stayed a night let alone a month. Maybe he was just concerned for the number of people who were going. He would never have let this many people go offworld at the same time without any real protection. Over thirty technicians or, scientists, as Colonel O'Neill liked to put it, with only three SG teams and a handful of trained defensive team members.
Having three SG teams was being optimistic. After all, SG-8 had three team members in the infirmary recovering from the organism. That left SG-1 and SG-15. Although he had just talked to Colonel O'Neill, Hammond couldn't shake the feeling that they were having problems. If that was the case, that would leave the task of everyone's safety primarily to SG-15. One functioning team was standing between this group of people and any possible threats on the planet. That would give anyone a headache.
"SG-15 you have a go." He watched while SG-15 went up the ramp to a new world. Even though the MALP said it was secure, there was no way he was taking the risk of it being a setup and the MALP sending back false images. It wouldn't be the first time. Once he heard the confirmation from SG-15 that the area was indeed secure he called for the evacuation to begin. He looked down to the Gate room to see people loading supplies on anything they could get their hand on. Food, clothing, tents, weapons and ammunition, medical supplies, and everything else they needed were being packed up and shipped to the new world. Pinpointing the cause of his anxiety, he reached for the radio. "SG-15. Have you met up with SG-1 yet?"
"I'm sorry sir, but it doesn't look like they are here."
Jack cautiously sat up as the earthquake subsided. It seemed that the ground had been shaking for hours, not just minutes, and he felt like a rag doll being thrown around. "Well that was fun." he muttered to himself as he looked around. He saw Teal'c picking himself off the ground. "Teal'c. You okay?"
"I am uninjured O'Neill."
"Carter, Daniel. Do you copy over?" Static. "Daniel, can you hear me?" More static. "Carter this isn't funny. Answer me." Still nothing.
He glanced over at Teal'c as realization swept over him. The caves! They were in the caves. Did they get out before the quake? Are they lying somewhere, injured, dying. "Teal'c, we have to get to those caves!" he shouted as he sprinted off, Teal'c close behind.
Oh man. Daniel blinked a few times, trying to remove the dirt from his eyes. He looked around and saw all the pictures of rocks. He slowly sat up while he tried to remember what was so special about rocks. Rocks were in the cave. He was in the cave. Cave. His eyes shot open as the pieces clicked. Caves. He was in the caves. There was an Earthquake. Then there was a cave-in. Sam pushed him out.... Sam!! He spun around so fast he thought his head would fall off. Rocks, rocks and more rocks. Then he saw her. She was buried by rocks. "Sam!" He weakly called out to her as he began to crawl over to where she was. "Sam." he called a little stronger. When he finally reached her, he quickly checked for a pulse. Thank God he thought as he felt a weak thump under his fingers. He quickly turned to the rock pile she was using as a blanket. He tried to move some of the rocks but he just wasn't strong enough. If only Teal'c was here. Teal'c! He quickly grabbed his radio. "Jack. Teal'c. Can you hear me?"
"Daniel is that you? Are you okay? Where are you? How's Carter?" Jack's questions came rolling out one after another. He was overcome with a feeling or relief when he heard Daniel's voice over the radio. Relief that quickly turned to dread as he heard his voice again. "Jack. We're still in the caves. There was a cave-in. Sam pushed me out of the way, but she's buried in the rocks. I think she's hurt bad. She has a weak pulse but I can't move the rocks to check for injuries." Daniel's voice was shaky.
"It's okay Daniel. You need to calm down. Stay with her. Me and Teal'c are already on our way. We'll get there soon, and we'll get her out. She'll be okay Daniel, but you need to calm down."
"Okay."
"Okay. Daniel listen to me. I need you to tell us exactly where in the caves you are." He listened as Daniel told them their location. "All right. We're almost there. Just hang tight Daniel."
"Just hang tight Daniel."
The words echoed through the caves. Hang tight. He could do that. That was about all he could do. Daniel looked down again at Sam. It was all his fault. If he hadn't insisted on going deeper into the cave she wouldn't be lying here right now. He again felt for her pulse, noticing how pale she had become over the past few minutes. He had to try something. He stood up and tried to move some of the rocks again, crying out in despair when they didn't budge. He was brought out of his frustration when he heard a small moan. "Sam?" He knelt down beside her as her eyelids began to flutter. "Sam?" he called again.
Slowly, she opened her eyes. "Daniel?" Her voice was quiet, barely over a whisper, But Daniel heard her clear as day.
"It's okay Sam. I'm here." He reached out and gently touched her face for reassurance. "Don't try to get up." he added when she started moving about.
"What happened?" Her voice was stronger now. That was a good thing, right?
"There was an earthquake and it caused a cave-in. You pushed me out of the way but you got caught by the rocks. How are you feeling?"
"Dumb question. What about the Colonel and Teal'c?"
"They're fine. They're on their way over here to get you out. They should be here soon. You just need to hang tight." Sam nodded her agreement.
Jack and Teal'c were out of breath by the time they reached the caves. They had made good time, Jack just hoped it was quick enough. Cautiously they entered the caves, keeping an eye out for falling rocks. Man this place was like a maze. Let's see. Daniel said right, right, left, then was it right or left at the fourth turn? Oh forget it. "Teal'c, can you track them in here."
"Indeed I can." Teal'c stated as he headed deeper into the caves. Jack took off after him. After what seemed like an eternity, the pair finally found their teammates.
"Oh God!" Jack quietly spoke as he saw the scene. Sam was literally buried with little more than her head and left arm sticking out. Daniel was valiantly trying to move some of the smaller stones, but there was no way he could move the bigger ones. Quickly brought out of his shock he headed toward the pile. "Here Daniel, let me and Teal'c help you."
"Sir?"
He looked down, surprised to see a pair of scared, slightly dazed blue eyes looking up at him. "Carter. How you doing?"
"Peachy, sir."
"You just relax. We'll have you out of here in no time." Jack immediately joined Teal'c, who was using his staff weapon as a fulcrum to move the bigger rocks. "So Carter, what hurts?"
"Nothing really. Well I do have a pretty big headache, but other than that I'm kinda numb." Jack froze as a disturbing thought came to him.
"Numb as in neck injury?"
"No. Numb as in numb. Don't worry, I can still feel my arms and legs. I've just been lying around so much they're starting to go numb." She suddenly gasped out in pain.
"Alright guys, we must be getting close to her. Take it slow and careful. We don't want to hurt her anymore." He turned to Sam. "This part might hurt a bit Sam."
"That's okay sir. I can hardly feel a thing." Jack would have believed her if her face hadn't gone even whiter and she wasn't clenching her teeth so tight. He quickly turned back to the pile of rocks. He didn't want to hurt her, but they had to get these rocks off her. He again joined Daniel and Teal'c in removing the rocks, his heart sinking as he recognized the red stain on some of the rocks. Blood. And way too much of it for his liking.
"Daniel." They almost had Sam free. She was on the verge of passing out. Jack silently wished she would, desperately hoping to spare her some pain. "We're almost done here. Where's your equipment?"
"It must be buried too."
"Okay. I need you to go to the opening of the cave." He quickly held up his hand, stopping the protest he knew Daniel was about to make. "All of our equipment is at the mouth of the cave. You know the caves better than we do. We need the first aid kit. I need you to run and get it, along with anything else we might need. We'll hopefully have her out by the time you get back. Hurry." Daniel nodded in understanding and made a mad dash for the entrance, wishing he could run faster.
General Hammond looked around at the make shift camp. His home away from home for the next month or so. He had only been on this planet for about three hours, and things were going better than he thought they would. Immediately after everyone was through the gate he ordered Colonel Webber and SG-15 to survey the area, looking for any possible threats and any clues to whether or not SG-1 had been there. Meanwhile, Captain Williams, Dr. Fraiser, and himself were beginning to organize the camp.
Much to their surprise and relief they found that most of the main research buildings were intact and they decided to make their camp right next door. Dr. Fraiser quickly claimed one of the buildings as her new infirmary and began setting things up for the few patients she still had. A second building was commandeered as a command center, while the last building was quickly being turned into a storage shed. He was even impressed by the professional attitude of the technicians. After a few moments of 'Oooh and Awww' they had quickly began to set up tents, unload carts, and everything else that needed to be done for their extended stay on the planet. Maybe things would work out after all. Now if only SG-1 would join them.