Chapter 5 - Retreat
"First thing is to get these bags out of sight and take what you need from them as quickly as you can." said Jack. "Prioritise any emergency medical items and spare clothing, anything useful for survival. Torches, batteries, matches or lighters are good. Personal hygiene items - anything small. Hailey - you take whatever you need from Carter's bag. Grogan - any clothing from Daniel Jackson's: he was nearest in size to you. Take stuff from Teal'c or Sciortino's bags for me. Anything we can't walk away with in the next few minutes we'll burn. Fill this canteen from the stream over there. It's the only one we've got. OK, go!"
They set to, dragging the nine items away and ransacking them feverishly as the minutes ticked away, stuffing the contents into their own bags. Then they piled everything else together, awaiting O'Neill's return from his vantage point where he was checking that their comrades could get away successfully from the shore.
Jack had re-assembled the rifle to cover their retreat, and was rewarded for his foresight as two Andan motor boats appeared from around the headland, obviously in pursuit of the fugitives. He took his time in calculating the distance with the rangefinder, and selected the red-tipped tracer rounds to load into the magazine. By observing the tell-tale glow of the flight of each round, he could make the best corrections for the next shots against the moving targets. As quickly as he dared, he steadied his breathing and took aim at the first boat. At this distance of thirteen hundred metres, he couldn't be too specific about which part for the boat to hit, but he aimed for the motor anyway. He cursed as the first glowing tracer fell short of its target, and aimed a little higher before squeezing off the next round. As soon as he saw the flash of the bullet striking and the boat slow to a stop, he immediately transferred his attention to the other pursuer. Two more shots saw that boat also drop out of the chase.
As soon as he realised that Sam's boat was no longer being pursued, Jack dismantled the scope and replaced the rifle in its cover. He ran - or rather hobbled - quickly as he could to the nearby trees where Hailey and Grogan were waiting. They signalled him to the thicket where they were hiding, and he saw that Hailey was waiting with a box of matches to set light to some crumpled paper under the pile of baggage. 'I knew Daniel's notebook would come in handy one day.' he thought mischievously, and nodded to her. As soon as the fire looked like it was seriously taking hold, he picked up the bag they had packed for him and signalled for them to leave.
"I'll take point." he said, taking his compass from his pocket. "Grogan next, Hailey keep a lookout behind us. We'll stop every two hours for a break but we've got to put as much distance as we possibly can from here. The Andans aren't stupid and they won't give up easily. I hope you got plenty of sleep last night because we'll keep going until the second moon sets around midnight."
"Yes, Sir!" they chorused.
"One last thing for now." said Jack as they set off. "First name terms, no military ranks. I'm Jack, you're Jeff and you're Jenny. Try to think up a cover story before our first stop."
"Yes, Sir." repeated Grogan, at the same time as Hailey replied "OK, Jack." She liked the sound of that already, but joined O'Neill in a grimace at Grogan's nervousness. "Dimwit!" she hissed.
"Sorry, Sir, I mean Jen, Sir." he stumbled.
"D'oh!" muttered Jack.
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After asking a few questions to determine who the best swimmers amongst them were, Sam told Daniel and Sciortino to strip off and be ready to leave the boat as unobtrusively as possible some fifty metres from the shore. They had deviated from the direct course to the island and she fervently hoped that they would not be seen.
"Hey! I'm an action hero." joked Daniel as they slipped over each side into the water.
"Just add it to your archaeologist's resume. Good luck guys." said Sam quietly as they let go of the boat and fell behind as it pulled away. Teal'c steered them round to the main landing point, where fortunately they could detect no obvious extra guards. The five of them disembarked as nonchalantly as possible and started the walk up the hill to the Gate. The usual four Andan guards seemed in no particular anxiety about their presence, and Sam was beginning to think that they would make it out without opposition.
The loud buzzing noise from the Andan version of a radio in the guards' office soon dispelled that hope, and when the guard shouted to his fellows, they suddenly drew their stun weapons. Sam knew that these were miniature versions of the Goa'uld Zat guns, with a more vicious effect on the victims thanks to the increased power provided by the very item of local technology that they wanted so much. The SG personnel ran for cover, drawing their side-arms as they ran. Bolts of blue-green fire were exchanged for nine- millimetre bullets, and a temporary stalemate ensued, with no-one willing to risk exposure.
"Major Carter! I will draw their fire if you can advance towards their positions!" cried Teal'c from a ditch on the other side of the road.
"Negative!" cried Sam, just loud enough for him to hear. "We'll wait one more minute for Daniel and Sciortino to see if they can outflank them. Await my next order!"
At that moment, they saw one of the guards suddenly twist around as he fell, screaming as his weapon spun out of his grasp. Sergeant Sciortino ran into view from behind the Stargate, his pistol aimed at the next guard. Daniel was running to keep up with him, but they saw to their horror that he was immediately enveloped in the bright blue lightning and he fell by the Gate without a sound.
The effect on the SG team was to concentrate their fire even more, most expending their first load of bullets already in the guns and reloading with the only spare clip that each was carrying. Another guard fell in agony before one of the two remaining ones screamed "Stop! We yield!" and he threw down his weapon. The last guard followed suit without hesitation.
"Teal'c! Get Daniel." said Sam, in full command. "The rest of you - see to the wounded guards. Find something to tie them all up with and Sciortino - you disable that radio. I'll dial the Gate."
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"We'll hide up in the jungle for a couple of days." said Jack as they took their first break, having checked that there were no visible pursuers. "We won't go too far, because unless you want to live like Tarzan and Jane for a while, we need to double back the other way to gather edible food and a change of clothing so we look less like tourists. I don't know the lie of the land in that direction, so we'll have to tread carefully. I'm betting that there has to be a major port somewhere near the capital city, and it's not in this direction judging from what I've seen of the coastline during the last two days. We need to observe how people live so that we can copy how they behave as near as possible. Now, who are we?"
"I thought of that, *Dad*." said Hailey, a smirk. "I'm your daughter and Jeff's your prospective son-in-law. We're looking for work and shelter, having lost nearly everything. I'm not sure quite how, though."
"That's good." said Jack. "I can answer that one - there are rebels fighting a guerrilla war against the government. They drove us out and torched our house. OK, that'll do for now." He turned to Grogan. "Jeff, I need you to take a turn with the rucksack. It's heavy because we've still got most of the ammunition, and I don't want to lose it just yet. Can you manage that?"
"Yes, Sir." he replied automatically.
"Jack." said O'Neill. "It's Jack, remember? Now start thinking about what our professions or skills are before the next halt. Let's go."
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"Major!" shouted General Warner. "You are bordering on insubordination! General Hammond has been called to The Pentagon for a meeting with the Joint Chiefs and the President and is *not* to be disturbed. I will *not* authorise an assault on such a scale through the Stargate when the negotiations with the Andans - on which I have been fully briefed - are at such a delicate stage. We have no evidence that the lives of our people are in immediate danger."
"But Sir!" Sam shouted back at him. "We can land without opposition now. Leave it any longer and they will have reinforcements..."
"That's enough, Major!" he cried. "The decision is made. Now get to the infirmary and report back here in one hour for debrief. That is all!"
Sam glared at him and gave a stiff salute, holding up her arm until he returned the gesture. She did a rapid about-face and walked quickly from his office. She'd often seen Jack in a bad mood in times past, when he had left meetings that had not gone his way. She'd put it down to his short Gaelic temper and had always told herself that she wouldn't behave like that in the same situation. Now she found herself kicking open her office door with a loud crash in *exactly* the same way he had done, and it never for one moment occurred to her that it was not the appropriate response.
As she sat at her desk, she reached for a small notebook in the drawer, and thumbed through it until she reached the number of an old friend from her days in Washington. Time to call in a favour or two, or all of them, damn it, if it got Jack back quickly.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
Exhausted though he was, Jack took the first watch when they eventually had to call a halt to the day's march. Carefully shielding a torch beam from the night, he'd found some pain relief cream in the medical supplies that they had plundered and applied it to his knee. The warm feeling it brought gave enough incentive to stay alert, and he stayed wide awake as his new 'son-in-law' and 'daughter' slept side-by-side on the ground, using the part-empty bags as pillows. His thoughts wandered between ensuring that they had covered the essential points for short-term survival, and memories of Sam's promise to him. He wanted to believe that she was being more than the professional soldier, but he couldn't risk the emotional damage of daring to hope for more. 'Not again, not in this lifetime.' he said to himself, and he really thought that he meant it. The fool.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
"First thing is to get these bags out of sight and take what you need from them as quickly as you can." said Jack. "Prioritise any emergency medical items and spare clothing, anything useful for survival. Torches, batteries, matches or lighters are good. Personal hygiene items - anything small. Hailey - you take whatever you need from Carter's bag. Grogan - any clothing from Daniel Jackson's: he was nearest in size to you. Take stuff from Teal'c or Sciortino's bags for me. Anything we can't walk away with in the next few minutes we'll burn. Fill this canteen from the stream over there. It's the only one we've got. OK, go!"
They set to, dragging the nine items away and ransacking them feverishly as the minutes ticked away, stuffing the contents into their own bags. Then they piled everything else together, awaiting O'Neill's return from his vantage point where he was checking that their comrades could get away successfully from the shore.
Jack had re-assembled the rifle to cover their retreat, and was rewarded for his foresight as two Andan motor boats appeared from around the headland, obviously in pursuit of the fugitives. He took his time in calculating the distance with the rangefinder, and selected the red-tipped tracer rounds to load into the magazine. By observing the tell-tale glow of the flight of each round, he could make the best corrections for the next shots against the moving targets. As quickly as he dared, he steadied his breathing and took aim at the first boat. At this distance of thirteen hundred metres, he couldn't be too specific about which part for the boat to hit, but he aimed for the motor anyway. He cursed as the first glowing tracer fell short of its target, and aimed a little higher before squeezing off the next round. As soon as he saw the flash of the bullet striking and the boat slow to a stop, he immediately transferred his attention to the other pursuer. Two more shots saw that boat also drop out of the chase.
As soon as he realised that Sam's boat was no longer being pursued, Jack dismantled the scope and replaced the rifle in its cover. He ran - or rather hobbled - quickly as he could to the nearby trees where Hailey and Grogan were waiting. They signalled him to the thicket where they were hiding, and he saw that Hailey was waiting with a box of matches to set light to some crumpled paper under the pile of baggage. 'I knew Daniel's notebook would come in handy one day.' he thought mischievously, and nodded to her. As soon as the fire looked like it was seriously taking hold, he picked up the bag they had packed for him and signalled for them to leave.
"I'll take point." he said, taking his compass from his pocket. "Grogan next, Hailey keep a lookout behind us. We'll stop every two hours for a break but we've got to put as much distance as we possibly can from here. The Andans aren't stupid and they won't give up easily. I hope you got plenty of sleep last night because we'll keep going until the second moon sets around midnight."
"Yes, Sir!" they chorused.
"One last thing for now." said Jack as they set off. "First name terms, no military ranks. I'm Jack, you're Jeff and you're Jenny. Try to think up a cover story before our first stop."
"Yes, Sir." repeated Grogan, at the same time as Hailey replied "OK, Jack." She liked the sound of that already, but joined O'Neill in a grimace at Grogan's nervousness. "Dimwit!" she hissed.
"Sorry, Sir, I mean Jen, Sir." he stumbled.
"D'oh!" muttered Jack.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
After asking a few questions to determine who the best swimmers amongst them were, Sam told Daniel and Sciortino to strip off and be ready to leave the boat as unobtrusively as possible some fifty metres from the shore. They had deviated from the direct course to the island and she fervently hoped that they would not be seen.
"Hey! I'm an action hero." joked Daniel as they slipped over each side into the water.
"Just add it to your archaeologist's resume. Good luck guys." said Sam quietly as they let go of the boat and fell behind as it pulled away. Teal'c steered them round to the main landing point, where fortunately they could detect no obvious extra guards. The five of them disembarked as nonchalantly as possible and started the walk up the hill to the Gate. The usual four Andan guards seemed in no particular anxiety about their presence, and Sam was beginning to think that they would make it out without opposition.
The loud buzzing noise from the Andan version of a radio in the guards' office soon dispelled that hope, and when the guard shouted to his fellows, they suddenly drew their stun weapons. Sam knew that these were miniature versions of the Goa'uld Zat guns, with a more vicious effect on the victims thanks to the increased power provided by the very item of local technology that they wanted so much. The SG personnel ran for cover, drawing their side-arms as they ran. Bolts of blue-green fire were exchanged for nine- millimetre bullets, and a temporary stalemate ensued, with no-one willing to risk exposure.
"Major Carter! I will draw their fire if you can advance towards their positions!" cried Teal'c from a ditch on the other side of the road.
"Negative!" cried Sam, just loud enough for him to hear. "We'll wait one more minute for Daniel and Sciortino to see if they can outflank them. Await my next order!"
At that moment, they saw one of the guards suddenly twist around as he fell, screaming as his weapon spun out of his grasp. Sergeant Sciortino ran into view from behind the Stargate, his pistol aimed at the next guard. Daniel was running to keep up with him, but they saw to their horror that he was immediately enveloped in the bright blue lightning and he fell by the Gate without a sound.
The effect on the SG team was to concentrate their fire even more, most expending their first load of bullets already in the guns and reloading with the only spare clip that each was carrying. Another guard fell in agony before one of the two remaining ones screamed "Stop! We yield!" and he threw down his weapon. The last guard followed suit without hesitation.
"Teal'c! Get Daniel." said Sam, in full command. "The rest of you - see to the wounded guards. Find something to tie them all up with and Sciortino - you disable that radio. I'll dial the Gate."
XXXXXXXXXXXX
"We'll hide up in the jungle for a couple of days." said Jack as they took their first break, having checked that there were no visible pursuers. "We won't go too far, because unless you want to live like Tarzan and Jane for a while, we need to double back the other way to gather edible food and a change of clothing so we look less like tourists. I don't know the lie of the land in that direction, so we'll have to tread carefully. I'm betting that there has to be a major port somewhere near the capital city, and it's not in this direction judging from what I've seen of the coastline during the last two days. We need to observe how people live so that we can copy how they behave as near as possible. Now, who are we?"
"I thought of that, *Dad*." said Hailey, a smirk. "I'm your daughter and Jeff's your prospective son-in-law. We're looking for work and shelter, having lost nearly everything. I'm not sure quite how, though."
"That's good." said Jack. "I can answer that one - there are rebels fighting a guerrilla war against the government. They drove us out and torched our house. OK, that'll do for now." He turned to Grogan. "Jeff, I need you to take a turn with the rucksack. It's heavy because we've still got most of the ammunition, and I don't want to lose it just yet. Can you manage that?"
"Yes, Sir." he replied automatically.
"Jack." said O'Neill. "It's Jack, remember? Now start thinking about what our professions or skills are before the next halt. Let's go."
XXXXXXXXXXXX
"Major!" shouted General Warner. "You are bordering on insubordination! General Hammond has been called to The Pentagon for a meeting with the Joint Chiefs and the President and is *not* to be disturbed. I will *not* authorise an assault on such a scale through the Stargate when the negotiations with the Andans - on which I have been fully briefed - are at such a delicate stage. We have no evidence that the lives of our people are in immediate danger."
"But Sir!" Sam shouted back at him. "We can land without opposition now. Leave it any longer and they will have reinforcements..."
"That's enough, Major!" he cried. "The decision is made. Now get to the infirmary and report back here in one hour for debrief. That is all!"
Sam glared at him and gave a stiff salute, holding up her arm until he returned the gesture. She did a rapid about-face and walked quickly from his office. She'd often seen Jack in a bad mood in times past, when he had left meetings that had not gone his way. She'd put it down to his short Gaelic temper and had always told herself that she wouldn't behave like that in the same situation. Now she found herself kicking open her office door with a loud crash in *exactly* the same way he had done, and it never for one moment occurred to her that it was not the appropriate response.
As she sat at her desk, she reached for a small notebook in the drawer, and thumbed through it until she reached the number of an old friend from her days in Washington. Time to call in a favour or two, or all of them, damn it, if it got Jack back quickly.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
Exhausted though he was, Jack took the first watch when they eventually had to call a halt to the day's march. Carefully shielding a torch beam from the night, he'd found some pain relief cream in the medical supplies that they had plundered and applied it to his knee. The warm feeling it brought gave enough incentive to stay alert, and he stayed wide awake as his new 'son-in-law' and 'daughter' slept side-by-side on the ground, using the part-empty bags as pillows. His thoughts wandered between ensuring that they had covered the essential points for short-term survival, and memories of Sam's promise to him. He wanted to believe that she was being more than the professional soldier, but he couldn't risk the emotional damage of daring to hope for more. 'Not again, not in this lifetime.' he said to himself, and he really thought that he meant it. The fool.
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