Janet glanced around the infirmary again, grateful that not only were there a few guards, but General Hammond and SG-1 were there too. The gathering had started yesterday, just when she couldn't believe the sounds could get any worse. Then, it was just the everyday animal sounds; howls, snorts, sheiks, chirps, that kind of stuff. Now it was the sound of death. Cries of pain from man and beast alike, growls as terrified animals attacked their attacker, war cries as a different race ceremoniously killed all these innocent animals while being killed themselves. In a word it was chaos. A noise made her turn toward the door, while the guards straightened up and trained their guns there. More than once someone or something had tried to take refuge in the buildings. When General Hammond called for the final retreat, they had literally barricaded the doors once SG-1 was through. So far nothing had been able to break through. She just hoped the other building was doing so well. Once the sound at the door had gone, she relaxed a little and looked around the room. She and her nurse decided it would be selfish for both of them to stay here, so her nurse took some basic medical supplies and headed into the other building before they were locked in. That left her with the more serious patient, namely Sam. She was sleeping again, tossing and turning in time with the nightmare Janet knew she was having. Her fever was also returning, seesawing back and forth from dangerously high to almost normal and back up again. The members of SG-1 were crowded around her bed, a subconscious attempt to keep her safe. She just wished she knew when their own nightmare would end.



Daniel blinked groggily, unsure what exactly woke him. He turned to Sam, happy to see her sleeping peacefully for the first time in days. Peaceful. That was it. He turned to Jack. "Jack, wake up." he said, gently shaking him.

"What is it Daniel?" Jack murmured, then shot up straight at a thought. "Is it Sam? What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong Jack. Listen."

Jack listened for a moment. "I don't hear anything Danny." By that time General Hammond and Dr. Fraiser were both awakened by their conversation. Teal'c also opened his eyes from his meditation.

"Exactly Jack. I think The Festival is over."

Jack took less that a second to stand up, turning over to look at Hammond. "Sir."

"Permission granted SG-1. Go check it out."

"Thank you sir." Jack, Daniel, and Teal'c gathered their weapons before carefully slipping out of the building. They stopped outside. The camp was a mess, but there were no signs of any animals. Not even remains of dead animals. Nothing to suspect that the last few nights had even happened. "Teal'c, check out the other buildings, while me and Danny scout around some." Teal'c headed of in another direction while Jack and Daniel looked around. "Looks like not much survived." Jack commented when they found the supply tent, or at least the pieces of the supply tent.

"Probably everything that was out in the open was either trashed by the animals or trashed by the hunters."

"O'Neill, the two other buildings appear intact. I think we should secure the Stargate."

"I agree Teal'c. Let's move." They headed of towards the Stargate.

"Jack, do you think that we should tell the others?"

"No Daniel. I think we should let them come out in there own time. If their past few days have been anything like ours, they might shoot us if we come knocking." Daniel reluctantly agreed with Jack's logic. While he wanted to know if they were okay, the phrase 'don't shoot the messenger' kept popping into his mind. Finally they reached the top of the hill where they could see the Stargate. It was activated, but instead of things coming through they saw all the people leaving. They watched remorsefully as they saw some of the people being carried through the gate. Hdeon and his group were the last to leave. Before stepping into the wormhole, they turned towards SG-1 and bowed, before joining their people. "It's over, let's get back to camp."

They started heading back towards camp. A few hours later SG-15 carefully emerged from the other building. Given the all clear, the SGC personnel began the long clean-up process. They couldn't salvage anything that was outside. Fortunately, the third building had remained relatively unscathed. That left them with a few supplies. That would last them for a few days, but not for three weeks. SG-1 and Janet were in Hammond's office discussing options when an airman burst through the door. "Sir. The Stargate is activating again."

"Oh for crying out loud General. Who are we expecting this time? A guy leading a bunch of T-Rex's on a feeding frenzy?" They quickly assumed defensive positions around the gate, determined not to go through another 'festival' again. They were relieved and confused when they recognized a MALP coming through.

"So, are you guys ready to come home?"



SG-1 sat in the briefing room. They were told it took several hours to bring all the stuff to the planet. They pulled out in less than twenty minutes. It must have been a new record. Of course having most of their stuff thrashed had helped. By now most of the personnel were at home in their comfy beds, but SG-1 refused to leave until they knew how Sam was doing. Janet took Sam to X-Ray as soon as they got back. She discovered the Major did have some internal bleeding, which explained most of Sam's health problems on the planet. Janet took Sam into surgery right away, but promised to tell them as soon as she was finished. Although unwilling to leave her, they did settle for a compromise, they would take a shower, get some decent food, and wait for Janet in the briefing room. "I still don't understand. I thought we were banned for at least a month, not a week."

"I believe I can explain, Dr. Jackson." General Hammond strode into the room and took his place at the head of the table.

"What did the President say sir?"

"The President found it rather hard to understand. To put it mildly, he didn't believe me when I told him all the paperwork was destroyed during the festival."

"Didn't believe the dog ate your homework, huh sir."

"O'Neill, I do believe you are misinformed. There were several species of wolf on that planet, but I did not recognize any type of canine."

"No Teal'c, it was just a phrase. Ask Daniel about it sometime."

"Anyway gentlemen, because the reports were destroyed, we need everyone involved to right as detailed a report as they can." Hammond stopped and looked at the three men, watching until each one nodded. "As to answer your first question Dr. Jackson. It appears that Dr. Warner came up with an idea on how to pump the air out to make the vacuum. They opened the Stargate and sent the air to another planet. That enabled them to cut the time required significantly." He stopped his speech when Dr. Fraiser came through the door. "Doctor, how is Major Carter?"

"She'll be fine sir. There was a small amount of internal damage, which we were able to fix up nicely. Lucky for her it was nothing major, but it was what was causing her high fever and low BP. Her knee probably will need some physical therapy, but I'm going to wait until she's stronger to do anything. All in all General, I'd say she'll be off her feet for the next couple of months."

Hammond nodded. "The Pentagon still wants us to go through with the upgrade. With that in mind, SG-1 you are given two weeks leave. Have your reports finished by the time you get back. Dismissed."

Sam slowly surfaced from the drug induced oblivion. She could hear sounds, the beeping of a heart monitor. For some strange reason that comforted her. She kept her eyes closed, listening to the quiet beeping until she heard footsteps. Opening her eyes she saw her friend walking towards her.

"Hey Sam. How are you feeling?" Janet asked in a quiet voice.

"Like I had a mountain fall on me."

"Well it's nice to know you haven't lost your sense of humor."

"Are we home?" Janet nodded her head as she began to check her vitals. "I thought you said we'd be stuck on that planet for a while. What happened?"

"Sam. It's a..."

"Another long story. Yeah, I get it." She closed her eyes for a moment while Janet finished her examination. "So what's the prognosis Doctor?"

"I think you'll live. Your fever is starting to drop. Hopefully in a couple of days it will be back to normal. We'll still need to work on the knee, but let's hold off on that for a few days." Sam opened her eyes to look at her friend.

"So when can I go home?"

"Ask me in a few days, okay."

"So I take it tonight is out of the question?"

"Definitely."

"Had to ask." She looked around the infirmary and saw the guys sprawled out on the beds for the first time. "Janet, how long have the guys been here?"

"Since you got out of surgery. Don't worry, they're just exhausted."

"Why don't they go home?"

"They wanted to make sure you were okay first."

"But they hate the infirmary."

"I know. Funny thing is they did the same thing on the planet. What happened out there?"

"Ask me in a few days, okay."

"Deal. Now I need you to get some sleep. They'll still be here when you wake up."

"Okay." Sam closed her eyes again and soon exhaustion claimed her and she fell into a peaceful sleep. The next time she opened her eyes, she saw Colonel O'Neill and Daniel playing a game of chess on the next bed. Teal'c was standing next to them, watching them play. "Hey guys. Did ya miss me?"

"Carter, you need to think of something more original, you know that." Jack grinned as he hopped of the bed and stood next to her. "Welcome back Carter."

"Not quite back yet, but I'm getting there."

"Doc says you'll be fine Sam."

"I know. I already had a little chat with Janet." She looked closely at her teammates. It looked like they hadn't slept for a week. "You know, you guys look like crap."

"Look who's calling the kettle black."

"You should go home and get some sleep sir."

"Make you a deal. We'll get some sleep if you do to."

"Deal." Sam closed her eyes and within minutes she was asleep. The guys just stood there watching her for a minute before Jack was pulling them away

"You heard the lady. Off to bed with us." As he reached the doorway, he glanced back at the figure on the bed. Sam had survived. Everything would be all right. SG-1 would be all right. With a smile on his face he followed Daniel and Teal'c out of the mountain to a well deserved sleep.



The End