There was no ambush. Either the Jaffa that had been there had decided that
SG-2 wasn't coming back, or they'd decided that if SG-2 did return, they'd
return with enough force to make an ambush unwise. Especially since there
was no way they'd be able to surprise a team after ambushing them twice
before. Whatever the reason, the teams didn't meet up with any threat when
they came through.
"Clear, Jack." Mitchell said from the left, where her gaze (and sidearm) was focused, looking for anything that was moving that might be a perceived threat.
"Clear here, too, Sir," Carter called from the right.
Anderson was with Daniel, and they, too, waved an all clear from their forward position.
"They appear to have vacated the vicinity, O'Neill," Teal'c said from beside Jack. He nodded, and stepped down off the Gate platform.
"Carter, dial home and send the MALP back. Let Hammond know we didn't get ambushed and we're heading for the pyramid."
He beckoned Mitchell and Anderson over.
"Which way?"
Mitchell and Anderson both pointed towards a far away stand of trees. The ground between there and where they were seemed to be fairly flat. In fact, it looked a lot like Kansas to Jack.
"It took us most of a day to get here from there," Mitchell said, as she handed Jack's Beretta back to him. "But we were slowed by our injuries. It shouldn't be more than ten hours or so for us, now."
"Do we have that much daylight?"
The two looked up at the sun, and shook their heads.
"No. You're looking at four hours of daylight before the sun goes down, but the nights last a little longer here than they do on Earth. Days do, too."
Jack nodded. It was helpful that the two of them had spent so much time on the planet. They'd already made observations that Jack could use to decide how much traveling they'd do each day, and the two knew what dangers were lurking around them, because they'd faced them. And with far less gear than they had now.
He watched as Carter returned the probe, and then gathered his little band to let them know what he wanted.
"We've got four hours of daylight, kids, so we'll walk until we can't see, then we'll set up a perimeter and camp for the night. The night's are..." He looked at Mitchell.
"Roughly fourteen hours long."
"Fourteen hours?"
She nodded.
"Fourteen hours long, so we'll have plenty of time to get settled."
"Could we not travel in the darkness?" Teal'c asked.
Mitchell shook her head. "We tried it, but there's a lot of rough ground between here and the trees and it's dark enough that you can't see where you're going. I can't count how many times we tripped and fell. Of course, we didn't have the luxury of flashlights by then. Our batteries were long dead."
"We'll see what happens when it starts to get dark," Jack said. He wasn't anxious to lose so much travel time, but he wasn't going to risk letting someone fall and break something in the dark, either. "We're heading for those trees," O'Neill said, pointing. "Teal'c, take point with Anderson."
The big Jaffa and the young Major set off. Jack would use Anderson as a gauge of how far to go before calling for a break. SG-1 was in fine shape, but Mitchell and Anderson weren't recovered yet, and though he knew neither of them would say a word to complain, Jack wasn't going to drive them into the ground to get them someplace he had a week to get to.
Daniel fell in beside Mitchell as they started walking. The Archeologist had a million questions about the pyramid he wanted to ask. Unfortunately for him, Jack had a lot of questions of his own, and they took precedence.
"Melony? You and your team didn't see anything that could pose a threat?"
"Nothing, Jack." She said, giving Daniel an apologetic look. "There're bugs, but they don't even bite. We didn't see birds, or any animals, but we heard things moving in the dark, that might have been nocturnal animals. Nothing came after us, though."
"Perhaps they were afraid of the fires you lit?" Daniel suggested.
"We didn't have any wood when we were out here, Doctor Jackson. There's nothing to burn but grass, and it doesn't burn, it just curls up and goes out. By that time we didn't have any fuel for out sternos, either. We just set a guard and hoped for the best."
"Well, we're going to do a little better than that," O'Neill said.
"Good. Not that I'm afraid of the dark, but it's fairly spooky listening to things moving around in the night and not having anything but a gun you're afraid to fire."
"I bet."
~*~
They walked the entire four hours that Mitchell gave them. Anderson was holding up better than Jack had expected, and Mitchell hadn't said a word in complaint, even when Jack asked her directly if she was getting tired. She just shook her head, and continued walking. O'Neill decided that if they were able, he'd keep them going until dark, then let them rest while SG-1 set up camp. The ground was rough, like Mitchell had said. Even in the daylight Jack had tripped a couple times, and Daniel had went down once, cursing at whatever it was that had tripped him up. Jack could understand what SG-2 had went through trying to take that route in the dark, and could understand Mitchell's reluctance to try it again.
When he called a stop, he set Carter on watch, and ordered Mitchell and Anderson to take a break while the rest of them got everything set up. It was a measure of just how tired they were that neither of them even raised a protest. They just took off their packs, and flopped down. Mitchell sprawled completely, using her pack as a pillow, and Anderson wasn't looking much better. He found a rock and leaned against that, closing his eyes and sighing.
"You two all right?"
"Yup."
"Yes, Sir."
They both fell asleep before camp was set up, and Jack didn't bother to wake them to eat. He just covered them both with blankets, and went out to take a watch. They could eat when they woke up.
"Clear, Jack." Mitchell said from the left, where her gaze (and sidearm) was focused, looking for anything that was moving that might be a perceived threat.
"Clear here, too, Sir," Carter called from the right.
Anderson was with Daniel, and they, too, waved an all clear from their forward position.
"They appear to have vacated the vicinity, O'Neill," Teal'c said from beside Jack. He nodded, and stepped down off the Gate platform.
"Carter, dial home and send the MALP back. Let Hammond know we didn't get ambushed and we're heading for the pyramid."
He beckoned Mitchell and Anderson over.
"Which way?"
Mitchell and Anderson both pointed towards a far away stand of trees. The ground between there and where they were seemed to be fairly flat. In fact, it looked a lot like Kansas to Jack.
"It took us most of a day to get here from there," Mitchell said, as she handed Jack's Beretta back to him. "But we were slowed by our injuries. It shouldn't be more than ten hours or so for us, now."
"Do we have that much daylight?"
The two looked up at the sun, and shook their heads.
"No. You're looking at four hours of daylight before the sun goes down, but the nights last a little longer here than they do on Earth. Days do, too."
Jack nodded. It was helpful that the two of them had spent so much time on the planet. They'd already made observations that Jack could use to decide how much traveling they'd do each day, and the two knew what dangers were lurking around them, because they'd faced them. And with far less gear than they had now.
He watched as Carter returned the probe, and then gathered his little band to let them know what he wanted.
"We've got four hours of daylight, kids, so we'll walk until we can't see, then we'll set up a perimeter and camp for the night. The night's are..." He looked at Mitchell.
"Roughly fourteen hours long."
"Fourteen hours?"
She nodded.
"Fourteen hours long, so we'll have plenty of time to get settled."
"Could we not travel in the darkness?" Teal'c asked.
Mitchell shook her head. "We tried it, but there's a lot of rough ground between here and the trees and it's dark enough that you can't see where you're going. I can't count how many times we tripped and fell. Of course, we didn't have the luxury of flashlights by then. Our batteries were long dead."
"We'll see what happens when it starts to get dark," Jack said. He wasn't anxious to lose so much travel time, but he wasn't going to risk letting someone fall and break something in the dark, either. "We're heading for those trees," O'Neill said, pointing. "Teal'c, take point with Anderson."
The big Jaffa and the young Major set off. Jack would use Anderson as a gauge of how far to go before calling for a break. SG-1 was in fine shape, but Mitchell and Anderson weren't recovered yet, and though he knew neither of them would say a word to complain, Jack wasn't going to drive them into the ground to get them someplace he had a week to get to.
Daniel fell in beside Mitchell as they started walking. The Archeologist had a million questions about the pyramid he wanted to ask. Unfortunately for him, Jack had a lot of questions of his own, and they took precedence.
"Melony? You and your team didn't see anything that could pose a threat?"
"Nothing, Jack." She said, giving Daniel an apologetic look. "There're bugs, but they don't even bite. We didn't see birds, or any animals, but we heard things moving in the dark, that might have been nocturnal animals. Nothing came after us, though."
"Perhaps they were afraid of the fires you lit?" Daniel suggested.
"We didn't have any wood when we were out here, Doctor Jackson. There's nothing to burn but grass, and it doesn't burn, it just curls up and goes out. By that time we didn't have any fuel for out sternos, either. We just set a guard and hoped for the best."
"Well, we're going to do a little better than that," O'Neill said.
"Good. Not that I'm afraid of the dark, but it's fairly spooky listening to things moving around in the night and not having anything but a gun you're afraid to fire."
"I bet."
~*~
They walked the entire four hours that Mitchell gave them. Anderson was holding up better than Jack had expected, and Mitchell hadn't said a word in complaint, even when Jack asked her directly if she was getting tired. She just shook her head, and continued walking. O'Neill decided that if they were able, he'd keep them going until dark, then let them rest while SG-1 set up camp. The ground was rough, like Mitchell had said. Even in the daylight Jack had tripped a couple times, and Daniel had went down once, cursing at whatever it was that had tripped him up. Jack could understand what SG-2 had went through trying to take that route in the dark, and could understand Mitchell's reluctance to try it again.
When he called a stop, he set Carter on watch, and ordered Mitchell and Anderson to take a break while the rest of them got everything set up. It was a measure of just how tired they were that neither of them even raised a protest. They just took off their packs, and flopped down. Mitchell sprawled completely, using her pack as a pillow, and Anderson wasn't looking much better. He found a rock and leaned against that, closing his eyes and sighing.
"You two all right?"
"Yup."
"Yes, Sir."
They both fell asleep before camp was set up, and Jack didn't bother to wake them to eat. He just covered them both with blankets, and went out to take a watch. They could eat when they woke up.