Section 22: Rabbit Holes
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The tension on Lo'la steadily increased the closer they got to the planet. Jack sat on the floor in the back with his team and Aeryn while D'argo and John piloted, monitoring as many as the Qujagan frequencies as possible for any sign of the warlord's soldiers. So far, Lo'la's invisibility had kept them under the radar. The earlier argument among the aliens had dissolved into an agreement to go to the planet and decide there. If they were detected and attacked, they would need all the help they could get.
Out the window the gray blue planet drew closer and closer until it filled up the view. "The stargate is in the main city?" asked D'argo when they entered a low orbit.
"In a huge junkyard in the bad part of town," Jack told him. He looked at the dazzling planet with trepidation. So far everything was fine. He just hoped it stayed that way.
They orbited the planet once to get in position for atmospheric entry, then descended. "So far so good," John muttered.
"There," said D'argo pointing to a buildingless patch in the city that grew larger as they descended towards it. Everyone crowded to the front looking for the black ring on the ground.
"Any sign of the Qujagans?" asked Aeryn.
"Nope, we're still in the clear."
"You guys see anything?"
"Wait. There," Daniel pointed. And there it was, lying on the ground just where they had left it.
"Alright campers, let's get down there."
Ten minutes later, the seven of them stood around the stargate, four with relief at returning to what was familiar, the others with a mixture of curiosity and loathing. "Neat," was the only comment John tonelessly offered for the three of them. Irked a little by their lack of reaction, Jack prodded everyone into action.
"Carter, let's hook her up."
With the help of John and Aeryn, Moya's resident mechanics, Carter connected the stargate to Lo'la's engines so they could power the gate. Jack, Daniel, Teal'c and D'argo helped out with the heavy lifting, but otherwise stayed out of their way. The colonel made the mistake of getting too close to where they were wrapping stripped cable wire around the leads to the stargate and ended up getting zapped by something or other. Carter immediately jumped up to make sure the precious cable was still intact, only belatedly asking him if he was okay.
"Well, I think that's it," Carter announced a few minutes later. "Let's try it out."
D'argo fired up the engines. The stargate began to hum and vibrate against the ground. Jack took the grin on Carter's face as a good sign. "Teal'c, Daniel, dial us home."
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It wasn't until the fifth triangle lit up on the stargate that John noticed the buzzing. Except it wasn't a buzzing so much as the sound of flight. Something big, like . . .oh frell. "I think we have a problem."
"What?" five people asked in unison. John ignored the eyes on him and looked up at the sky. The others followed his gaze to the cloudless sky above them, as they too listened.
"Aw, crap," Jack summed up. It was definitely a ship or plane that was coming closer to them.
"Can they detect that Lo'la's engines running, even if we're not in flight?" asked Aeryn.
"I have no idea," D'argo replied.
"Well let's not wait around guessing," Jack snapped everyone's attention back to the ground. "Come on, we've got two chevrons left and we're out of here." Quickly, the three male members of SG-1 put their backs into spinning the inner wheel of the gate.
"As soon as it's locked, stand back," Sam ordered the rest of them. A moment later John saw why as a huge jet of swirling wormhole shot out of the stargate into the air before settling into a shimmering blue pool like water. John was impressed in spite of himself. A stable wormhole on a planet, now that was pretty cool.
Above them the sound of engines intensified, and three rounded fighters came into view. They and their shattering weapons would be in range in moments.
"Let's go, people!" Jack shouted from the edge of the wormhole, waving a hand for them to hurry up.
"Guess we're all jumping down the rabbit hole," John commented as the rest of them gathered around grabbing hands to form a seven person chain. John was in the middle between Daniel and Sam. He took a brief microt to slow down his breathing and his thoughts before taking the final step.
"Now!"
Jumping through the stargate was nothing like John's previous wormhole travelling. For starters, he felt tingly and cold from the atomization of his body that Sam had described to him. John chose not to think about it too much. Instead he focused on what it sounded like. This wormhole was a lot smaller than he was used to and places echoed a little bit differently. As they sped along he stretched out his senses, searching for the right hum that resonated in time with the atomized people beside him.
Not quite sure how he did it, John pulled them along the wormhole. He could feel them getting closer and closer and then suddenly they were there. Without hesitating, he dragged them through. The edges of this exit were not quite like the others, but it sounded like Daniel sounded and smelt like Sam smelt.
Once free of the odd exit John felt a jolt as everything shifted, realigning his perception in this new wormhole. His 'time sense' suddenly stopped barraging his brain. But even without the complication of when to come out, John still felt too many exits. With no other choice, he simply guessed and hoped for the best.
Dazed and disoriented, John felt a rush as his body was put back together and spat onto the ground. Sandy dirt met his face and he resisted the urge to spew his guts up. All around he could hear shuffling feet and the clang of metal, but John was too focused on getting to his knees to care.
"Aw, crap!" Jack swore for the second time that day.
Shaking off the last of his nausea, John looked up. What he saw wasn't encouraging. SG-1 were all on their feet and unaffected by whatever had hit him coming out of the wormhole. And right in front of them were twenty big guys dressed in metal plate armor with black tattoos stamped across their foreheads. None of them were smiling. In fact, each one was pointing a weapon like Teal'c's at the group of travelers.
"Bad guys?" he asked.
"Bad guys," Jack confirmed as he lifted his hands in surrender.
************************************************************************
There! On the other side of the wormhole!
*
************************************************************************ ************************************************************************
The tension on Lo'la steadily increased the closer they got to the planet. Jack sat on the floor in the back with his team and Aeryn while D'argo and John piloted, monitoring as many as the Qujagan frequencies as possible for any sign of the warlord's soldiers. So far, Lo'la's invisibility had kept them under the radar. The earlier argument among the aliens had dissolved into an agreement to go to the planet and decide there. If they were detected and attacked, they would need all the help they could get.
Out the window the gray blue planet drew closer and closer until it filled up the view. "The stargate is in the main city?" asked D'argo when they entered a low orbit.
"In a huge junkyard in the bad part of town," Jack told him. He looked at the dazzling planet with trepidation. So far everything was fine. He just hoped it stayed that way.
They orbited the planet once to get in position for atmospheric entry, then descended. "So far so good," John muttered.
"There," said D'argo pointing to a buildingless patch in the city that grew larger as they descended towards it. Everyone crowded to the front looking for the black ring on the ground.
"Any sign of the Qujagans?" asked Aeryn.
"Nope, we're still in the clear."
"You guys see anything?"
"Wait. There," Daniel pointed. And there it was, lying on the ground just where they had left it.
"Alright campers, let's get down there."
Ten minutes later, the seven of them stood around the stargate, four with relief at returning to what was familiar, the others with a mixture of curiosity and loathing. "Neat," was the only comment John tonelessly offered for the three of them. Irked a little by their lack of reaction, Jack prodded everyone into action.
"Carter, let's hook her up."
With the help of John and Aeryn, Moya's resident mechanics, Carter connected the stargate to Lo'la's engines so they could power the gate. Jack, Daniel, Teal'c and D'argo helped out with the heavy lifting, but otherwise stayed out of their way. The colonel made the mistake of getting too close to where they were wrapping stripped cable wire around the leads to the stargate and ended up getting zapped by something or other. Carter immediately jumped up to make sure the precious cable was still intact, only belatedly asking him if he was okay.
"Well, I think that's it," Carter announced a few minutes later. "Let's try it out."
D'argo fired up the engines. The stargate began to hum and vibrate against the ground. Jack took the grin on Carter's face as a good sign. "Teal'c, Daniel, dial us home."
************************************************************************
It wasn't until the fifth triangle lit up on the stargate that John noticed the buzzing. Except it wasn't a buzzing so much as the sound of flight. Something big, like . . .oh frell. "I think we have a problem."
"What?" five people asked in unison. John ignored the eyes on him and looked up at the sky. The others followed his gaze to the cloudless sky above them, as they too listened.
"Aw, crap," Jack summed up. It was definitely a ship or plane that was coming closer to them.
"Can they detect that Lo'la's engines running, even if we're not in flight?" asked Aeryn.
"I have no idea," D'argo replied.
"Well let's not wait around guessing," Jack snapped everyone's attention back to the ground. "Come on, we've got two chevrons left and we're out of here." Quickly, the three male members of SG-1 put their backs into spinning the inner wheel of the gate.
"As soon as it's locked, stand back," Sam ordered the rest of them. A moment later John saw why as a huge jet of swirling wormhole shot out of the stargate into the air before settling into a shimmering blue pool like water. John was impressed in spite of himself. A stable wormhole on a planet, now that was pretty cool.
Above them the sound of engines intensified, and three rounded fighters came into view. They and their shattering weapons would be in range in moments.
"Let's go, people!" Jack shouted from the edge of the wormhole, waving a hand for them to hurry up.
"Guess we're all jumping down the rabbit hole," John commented as the rest of them gathered around grabbing hands to form a seven person chain. John was in the middle between Daniel and Sam. He took a brief microt to slow down his breathing and his thoughts before taking the final step.
"Now!"
Jumping through the stargate was nothing like John's previous wormhole travelling. For starters, he felt tingly and cold from the atomization of his body that Sam had described to him. John chose not to think about it too much. Instead he focused on what it sounded like. This wormhole was a lot smaller than he was used to and places echoed a little bit differently. As they sped along he stretched out his senses, searching for the right hum that resonated in time with the atomized people beside him.
Not quite sure how he did it, John pulled them along the wormhole. He could feel them getting closer and closer and then suddenly they were there. Without hesitating, he dragged them through. The edges of this exit were not quite like the others, but it sounded like Daniel sounded and smelt like Sam smelt.
Once free of the odd exit John felt a jolt as everything shifted, realigning his perception in this new wormhole. His 'time sense' suddenly stopped barraging his brain. But even without the complication of when to come out, John still felt too many exits. With no other choice, he simply guessed and hoped for the best.
Dazed and disoriented, John felt a rush as his body was put back together and spat onto the ground. Sandy dirt met his face and he resisted the urge to spew his guts up. All around he could hear shuffling feet and the clang of metal, but John was too focused on getting to his knees to care.
"Aw, crap!" Jack swore for the second time that day.
Shaking off the last of his nausea, John looked up. What he saw wasn't encouraging. SG-1 were all on their feet and unaffected by whatever had hit him coming out of the wormhole. And right in front of them were twenty big guys dressed in metal plate armor with black tattoos stamped across their foreheads. None of them were smiling. In fact, each one was pointing a weapon like Teal'c's at the group of travelers.
"Bad guys?" he asked.
"Bad guys," Jack confirmed as he lifted his hands in surrender.
************************************************************************
There! On the other side of the wormhole!
*