Disclaimers: Still don't own 'em. Love any and all reviews…let the adventure continue!!!
The wind swirled down from the mountain, blowing playfully through the Stargate, ruffling the hair of the three figures lying quiet at the foot of the stairs. The sudden caress caused Sam's eyes to blink open, slowly realizing where she was. Her head was pillowed on Colonel O'Neill's chest, his arms wrapped protectively around her. She could see the heels of Daniel's boots and the rest of him, she surmised, was laying face down a few meters away. She sat up, the sudden movement causing her head to spin slightly and Jack's eyes to pop open and move his head so he could look around. "Ahhh," he groaned, as the movement caused bright darts of pain to arc throughout his body. He quickly shut his eyes. "What truck hit me and where did it go?" He sat up slowly, braced his elbows on his thighs and rested his now aching head in his hands. "What happened, Carter? I thought this was supposed to be an easy mission!" He fumbled in his pockets for the packet of aspirin that he always kept. Finding it, he quickly swallowed two and drank from his canteen.
"I don't know, sir," she replied as she made her way over to Daniel, who was beginning to stir. "I think we may have passed through a gaseous wave coming from a star going supernova, causing a disturbance in the wormhole and giving us a roller coaster ride. I thought it might happen, but I didn't think it would be so bad," this as she helped Daniel sit up. "Daniel, are you ok?" she asked looking around for his canteen. She picked it up and handed it to him. "Here, drink some of this; it might make you feel a bit better."
Daniel took the proffered canteen, unscrewed the lid and sipped the water slowly. "Thanks," he said. After putting the cap back on, he stretched his arms up above his head, popping his back in a few places. "Ok, that's better," he said, standing up and giving Sam, who still looked concerned, a smile. "So, which way?" he asked Jack who was scouting the area around the Stargate, while trying to comprehend Carter's wormhole lecture. Jack reached into his pocket and pulled out a map.
"Well, according to the Neckties In Denial map," at this, Daniel chuckled, "the "vein" of Naquaada should be along the western side of a valley about two clicks west of the gate. Leaving now should give us enough time for Carter to take her mineral samples, you to set up camp and for me to find a nice spot to cast my lure before the sun goes down. We can follow the creek almost all the way there. It looks like it veers away from the meadow next to the gate, passing through the trees and towards the valley we are looking for. Let's go, campers." Jack took out his sunglasses and put them on. "Carter, take point."
"Yes, sir," she replied, heading out in a westerly direction as Daniel followed behind.
The sun on P4X-223 was not overly bright. It's light, filtered through shade trees, was warm. Through the screening trees, Daniel could see a bright blue sky, dotted with clouds that were scudding along at a fast pace. Must be some kind of disturbance in the upper atmospheres to make them move so fast, he thought. "Sam," he said, picking up his pace a bit to walk beside her. "Do you think that there is a storm coming? Those clouds are moving awfully fast."
Jack, who had paused momentarily to examine a deep pool in the stream, caught up to them in time to hear Daniels' last statement. "Storm? What storm? You didn't say anything about a storm, Carter."
Sam stopped and looked up at what she could see of the sky through the trees. "No, Daniel, those are just cirrus clouds. They form in higher elevations and generally just tell which way the wind is blowing. You are thinking of cumulus clouds. They form when…" she stopped as Jack sighed loudly.
"Carter, can we talk while we walk? I'd like to get there some time today," Jack said, "and we haven't come that far, yet."
"Yes, sir, sorry, sir," Sam replied, beginning to walk again as Jack took point. "You see, Daniel…" Sam continued her explanation to Daniel as Jack tuned them out. Sometimes, he thought with grudging admiration, she seemed to know something about everything.
After walking for about an hour at a steady pace, Jack took stock of their location. They had covered more than 2/3 of the distance to their goal. The creek seemed to be running faster and deeper as they neared the edge of the valley. Suddenly, a cracking noise sounded in the bushes to the left. Jack motioned Sam and Daniel to halt. The rustling noises continued as a small, deer-like creature burst out of the underbrush quickly followed by her young. The female stopped a few meters away and stared at the three humans that had dared to invade her domain. With an elegant toss of her head, she cantered off towards the creek, nimbly jumping it and disappearing into the bushes beyond, her offspring following quickly behind.
"Wow," Daniel breathed, "she wasn't scared of us at all. Maybe she's not even seen something like us before."
"That was amazing," Sam said, her eyes sparkling, "I don't think I've ever seen anything quite so beautiful."
Even Jack was stunned. He merely nodded his head in agreement and began to walk again.
As they came the edge of the woods, the creek split off into two directions, one winding its' way east towards the snow covered mountains on the horizon, the other rushing westward, down into the valley. The meadow, covered in seemingly countless purple and yellow flowers, spread out into a wide valley, surrounded on one side by tall, granite-like cliffs. Small groves of trees flourished along the base of the western cliffs, nourished by the rambling creek. Following the stream, Jack noticed a wide rift in the cliff wall face. He stopped suddenly. Sam, who was admiring the flowers, almost ran into him, followed by Daniel, who was wiping his glasses. "What is it, Sir?" Sam said, before looking up to see what had stopped him so suddenly. "Oh!" "Oh, man," Daniel, his jaw agape, said, "I can't believe it." Tucked deep into the rift and seeming to grow out of the cliff wall was a beautiful gray stone castle, complete with open drawbridge. The three of them stood still, shocked into silence, until Jack broke the silence. "Lucy, I'm home!"
TBC