In the end, it was more than an hour before Mitchell and
Anderson made it to the debriefing room, but no one berated them for it.
They walked in together and Anderson, who'd been limping, painfully slid
into the closest chair. Mitchell looked just as bad; a fresh bandage
covering the gash on her forehead, and a gleaming white cast on her right
wrist, but she smiled slightly as she sat down in the chair between
Anderson and O'Neill.
"Sorry we're late, Sir," she said to Hammond.
"No problem, Colonel. Where is the rest of your team?"
Mitchell scowled, "Frazier wouldn't release them. Simmons is down for at least a couple weeks with a bad shoulder wound, and Williams was knocked out cold and is probably going to need surgery on his knee."
"What happened to your team, Colonel?"
"We were ambushed, Sir. Right after we came through the gate."
"Ambushed? By whom?"
"Jafar, Sir. A lot of them. I don't know if they were waiting for us when they saw the MALF or if they just happened to be in the right spot at the right time. Either way, they ambushed us and had us pinned down. We didn't have a chance."
"What happened?" Hammond asked.
"Well... some of the Jafar that were firing on us... began to disappear."
"Disappear?" Jackson, who had been quietly listening, suddenly spoke up in disbelief.
"That's what happened," Anderson said, shrugging. "One minute we're getting our asses handed to us, the next minute they're vanishing left and right."
"And then whatever it was that got them, got us," Mitchell said.
"What?"
Mitchell shrugged, "That's what happened. One minute we're by the gate, the next minute we're in the middle of some field in God only knows where."
"How did that happen?"
"We're not sure, Sir. Luckily we were sent there together, and without any of the Jafar. Simmons and Anderson both took hits in the initial ambush, and Anderson dropped his M-1 so we were short a weapon as it was. Not that we had a ton of ammunition left after the initial attack anyway."
It was Anderson's turn to scowl at the mention of losing his weapon, and Mitchell caught the look and grinned slightly.
"How did that happen?" Asked Hammond.
Mitchell shook her head, "We're not sure, Sir. We had a lot of time to discuss it on our way back to the Stargate, but all we have are theories, nothing more."
"Such as?"
"Maybe someone didn't want us near their gate, and they kicked us away."
"But the Jafar had time to setup an ambush, " Teal'c stated. "That means they were there at least a short time. Certainly long enough to be kicked away by these people."
Anderson nodded, as did Mitchell, who said, "Yeah, we came up with that, too. Doesn't make sense, does it? Another thing we thought was that maybe it was an automatic program, designed to keep people from firing weapons around the gate. If the Jafar were setting up an ambush, they weren't firing their weapons, which wouldn't have triggered the program." "Like Thor's hammer?" O'Neill asked?
"That makes more sense," Said Carter, who'd been listening intently. "How did you find your way back to the gate, though? I mean, you were zapped to God only knows where, without any reference points. How did you find your way back?"
"It was brilliant," Anderson said, before Mitchell could speak up. "The colonel rigged up one of the radios to monitor EM spikes, and then we just waited for someone to open the gate."
"I didn't do the work," Mitchell protested, "I just came up with the idea. Simmons is the tech-head."
"So you waited for someone to open the gate, then correlated the direction the EM wave came from and walked that way?" Carter asked. "That's brilliant." Coming from Carter, this was high praise indeed.
"Yeah, well.. like I said, it was my idea, but Simmons did all the work."
"How did you know the gate was going to open?" Jackson asked. Mitchell and O'Neill both snorted at the same time.
"There's no way I wouldn't have come looking for her," Jack said.
"Exactly," agreed Mitchell. "I knew if SG1 wasn't sent, someone would be, it was just a matter of time."
"Besides," added Anderson, "The Gould have those gate finder things and they'd be able to get to the gate and open it at least once before we did."
"Sorry we're late, Sir," she said to Hammond.
"No problem, Colonel. Where is the rest of your team?"
Mitchell scowled, "Frazier wouldn't release them. Simmons is down for at least a couple weeks with a bad shoulder wound, and Williams was knocked out cold and is probably going to need surgery on his knee."
"What happened to your team, Colonel?"
"We were ambushed, Sir. Right after we came through the gate."
"Ambushed? By whom?"
"Jafar, Sir. A lot of them. I don't know if they were waiting for us when they saw the MALF or if they just happened to be in the right spot at the right time. Either way, they ambushed us and had us pinned down. We didn't have a chance."
"What happened?" Hammond asked.
"Well... some of the Jafar that were firing on us... began to disappear."
"Disappear?" Jackson, who had been quietly listening, suddenly spoke up in disbelief.
"That's what happened," Anderson said, shrugging. "One minute we're getting our asses handed to us, the next minute they're vanishing left and right."
"And then whatever it was that got them, got us," Mitchell said.
"What?"
Mitchell shrugged, "That's what happened. One minute we're by the gate, the next minute we're in the middle of some field in God only knows where."
"How did that happen?"
"We're not sure, Sir. Luckily we were sent there together, and without any of the Jafar. Simmons and Anderson both took hits in the initial ambush, and Anderson dropped his M-1 so we were short a weapon as it was. Not that we had a ton of ammunition left after the initial attack anyway."
It was Anderson's turn to scowl at the mention of losing his weapon, and Mitchell caught the look and grinned slightly.
"How did that happen?" Asked Hammond.
Mitchell shook her head, "We're not sure, Sir. We had a lot of time to discuss it on our way back to the Stargate, but all we have are theories, nothing more."
"Such as?"
"Maybe someone didn't want us near their gate, and they kicked us away."
"But the Jafar had time to setup an ambush, " Teal'c stated. "That means they were there at least a short time. Certainly long enough to be kicked away by these people."
Anderson nodded, as did Mitchell, who said, "Yeah, we came up with that, too. Doesn't make sense, does it? Another thing we thought was that maybe it was an automatic program, designed to keep people from firing weapons around the gate. If the Jafar were setting up an ambush, they weren't firing their weapons, which wouldn't have triggered the program." "Like Thor's hammer?" O'Neill asked?
"That makes more sense," Said Carter, who'd been listening intently. "How did you find your way back to the gate, though? I mean, you were zapped to God only knows where, without any reference points. How did you find your way back?"
"It was brilliant," Anderson said, before Mitchell could speak up. "The colonel rigged up one of the radios to monitor EM spikes, and then we just waited for someone to open the gate."
"I didn't do the work," Mitchell protested, "I just came up with the idea. Simmons is the tech-head."
"So you waited for someone to open the gate, then correlated the direction the EM wave came from and walked that way?" Carter asked. "That's brilliant." Coming from Carter, this was high praise indeed.
"Yeah, well.. like I said, it was my idea, but Simmons did all the work."
"How did you know the gate was going to open?" Jackson asked. Mitchell and O'Neill both snorted at the same time.
"There's no way I wouldn't have come looking for her," Jack said.
"Exactly," agreed Mitchell. "I knew if SG1 wasn't sent, someone would be, it was just a matter of time."
"Besides," added Anderson, "The Gould have those gate finder things and they'd be able to get to the gate and open it at least once before we did."