Shower of Sparks: Chapter 2:
Summary: Jack's anger turns to panic as he discovers Carter is missing.
Dear Readers, Thanks for the kind reviews. Your encouragement has inspired me, and thus the saga now continues...
He knew dawn was coming. It was an amazing thing that no matter what planet they found themselves on, no matter what the rotation period of the planet, there was always a pattern to the coming of day. All the little noises of the night that you would get accustomed to without even realizing it would fade into an expectant hush. As the nocturnal creatures tucked themselves into their burrows and nests, a new set of noises would begin. Crackling, chirping, twittering, squeaking from an entirely alien yet somehow familiar set of insect-like and bird-like creatures would build to a crescendo with the rising of that planet's sun.
Jack lay on his bedroll, not entirely comfortable but accustomed to sleeping outdoors on the hard ground. It had been a long night and he wasn't ready to face the new day just yet. He could hear the soft, deep breaths of Teal'c on one side and knew he was still asleep, and he could sense the empty space between himself and Daniel. He could hear the archeologist softly snoring like he always did, as his sinuses always acted up on away missions. He knew Carter was up and on watch, and he lay motionless listening for her. Usually he could hear quiet footsteps as she patrolled their campsite, or the quiet rustling of the fabric of her jacket as she turned to scan the surrounding area, or perhaps he'd be lucky enough to hear her humming softly to herself and he would know that she was content. But the predawn quiet was complete.
Where was she? He decided she had patrolled out farther than he could hear and rolled over on his side as he recalled the events of the night before.
What was it that had happened? They had been so comfortable around the campfire, just sipping tea. But when she had accidentally thrown tea on his hand and he had flicked that crystal out of his hand, something had happened when they had grabbed it together. Damn phallic symbol, his mind had filled with such passion for her that he would never allow himself to entertain normally. But worse than the electrical shock that passed between them was the tragic look she had given him afterwards. At first he thought he had offended her, but after a long restless night he remembered where he'd seen that look before, and he NEVER wanted to see it again on Sam's face. It was the same tragic look that Sara had given him at the hospital when they had lost Charlie. For a moment he was filled with grief for the family he had lost, but he squashed his feelings into the small place in his heart that he allowed for them.
Where was Sam? He should have heard her returning footsteps by now. The dawn chorus was starting to tune up, but it wasn't loud enough yet to mask her rhythmical footsteps. Maybe she had gone to get more water from the small spring they had seen yesterday on the other side of the mining ruins. Normally, Daniel was the one on the last watch and he would have been busily preparing coffee to satisfy his morning caffeine craving. It would be like Carter to thoughtfully start preparing for the morning ritual.
Jack rolled back on his back and flexed his knees experimentally. They felt pretty good today. It would actually be fun to go for a hike and look for some more ruins. He felt the emptiness beside him again and missed her by his side. They had gotten into a habit of putting all their bedrolls together for warmth and safety. Carter was always in the middle. It was a tacit understanding the three men had, to always protect her. But last night after his shift he had woken up Daniel and not her. He could tell she had finally fallen asleep and he wanted her to be well rested. They had all lain down when Teal'c took first watch but only Daniel had fallen asleep. Normally, Jack could make himself fall asleep under just about any circumstances. He'd developed the ability to survive on short naps during his black ops training, and would give himself the rest he needed to keep up his strength, but last night he had just lain there. She had curled up on her side with her back to him, uncharacteristically closer to Daniel, and that had made him irrationally jealous. He could tell she was awake and upset by the way she swallowed and sighed, and he had longed to gather her in his arms and comfort her, but instead he had just lain there. Finally, Teal'c had tapped his shoulder and he had been relieved to get up and take over watch duty. But now he missed waking up to her by his side. It was the only way to start the morning; her tousled blond head next to his shoulder, her clear blue eyes opening as he called her name, that lovely smile that she gave only to him...
Where was she? Had she gone off into the wooded area to relieve herself in privacy before they all woke up? She wasn't normally this long in her morning ablutions.
He finally sat up and looked around the camp in the gray dawn light. The chirping and twittering had grown louder and was now accompanied by rustling and fluttering as the diurnal creatures began to get on the move. But he saw no movement of anything large, nor specifically the camouflage jacket that he was longing to see coming this way.
At his movement, Teal'c awakened instantly and executed a perfect sit-up to straight backed, alert posture. He looked at O'Neill questioningly, but Jack simply gave a little shrug of his shoulders. In his grave way, Teal'c nodded an acknowledgment and turned to his pack to retrieve fresh socks and put on his boots.
Jack leaned over and tapped Daniel on the shoulder, interrupting him mid- snore, "Hey, Danny-boy, rise and shine."
To his credit, Daniel awoke instantly as well. He rolled up on one arm and rolled his head around to crack his neck as he surveyed the camp. "Where's Sam?" he asked with a slight yawn.
Jack shrugged again, "Must be taking care of business," he said nonchalantly, but his worry was beginning to rise. He hadn't heard any sound of her since he had awoken several minutes ago.
The three men efficiently prepared for the day and put on their gear. Like clockwork, Daniel got the coffee pot going on the sterno stove, and pulled out breakfast bars to pass out to everyone. Teal'c stood stirring the fire and covering it with dirt to make sure it would go out. Jack rolled up both his and Sam's bedrolls and crouched by their backpacks to strap them on. He finished his first and remembered in time before flipping her pack over that he had set the crystal hurriedly on top last night in a desire to be rid of the thing. He didn't want to break her pretty bauble, not only because she wouldn't like it, but also because it might actually be something they could use in their war against the goa'uld. But the crystal wasn't on top where he remembered setting it. He checked the front pocket he'd seen her pull it out of the night before, but it was empty too. He scanned the ground around the pack, thinking it had slid down and hoping it hadn't broken, but again no sign of it. He stood and slowly pivoted in place scanning the camp for the crystal and with increasing irritation for Sam as well.
Where could she possibly have gone?
Teal'c picked up on his posture right away and leaned over to pick up his staff weapon that was on the ground nearby. "Do you hear something, O'Neill?" he asked as he alertly scanned the forest nearby.
"It's what I don't hear," replied Jack irritably. The semitropical forest was really starting to swing now with the music of the dawn creatures announcing themselves to each other. The rosy fingers of dawn, well, make that the orangey fingers of dawn were striping the sky and highlighting clouds on one side of the valley. It would not do to forget that they were on an alien planet. He was officially worried now. What if Sam had fallen on patrol? What if she had been hurt? Maybe there were bigger creatures out there than they had anticipated? What if they were predators? What if there were hostile people here on this seemingly deserted planet? He bit his lower lip to get himself under control. He needed facts, not what ifs and he refused to let his imagination get away from him.
The Colonel snapped into full military mode. The simplest explanation is always the best they had taught him at the academy, although working at the SGC had taught him that the most outlandish explanation often turned out right. Well, the simplest and most outlandish thing he could think of was that she was mad at him for last night and had left just to worry him and teach him a lesson. Carter wasn't normally so petty. In fact, he thought they had a pretty clear understanding with each other after that Zatarc incident that while they may care for each other more than they were supposed to in the military, their jobs at the SGC were too important to jeopardize, and they would only be friends. But something had definitely passed between them last night, even though he really didn't want to acknowledge his own feelings.
"Ja-a-ck?" asked Daniel in his long, drawn out voice meaning, I'm getting worried, what's going on.
"What happened when you woke her up for the last watch Daniel?" he demanded in reply.
Daniel stood up, glancing all around the camp with a worried expression on his face. "She looked pretty tired, but she got up right away. She said goodnight to me, grabbed her P-90 and stood over by the fire. I fell asleep pretty quickly. It was a really quiet night. I didn't hear anything unusual," reported Daniel.
"Any signs besides ours?" the Colonel asked as he turned to Teal'c, who was by far the best tracker of all of them.
Teal'c walked slowly in a spiraling circle studying the ground, but the Colonel knew he wouldn't find anything. It was impossible that something or someone had come into their camp without her giving an alarm. After a few minutes, Teal'c looked up at him and shook his head.
The Colonel shrugged on his fatigue vest and toggled the radio that they all had positioned on the shoulder. "Carter, report." He waited a moment. "Carter, come in." But there was no response. What was she playing at? Leaving your post was a serious offence. She knew better than to leave the camp and them unprotected when she was supposed to be on watch. She should have woken him up. Fine, if she was mad at him, she could have woken up Teal'c. What could possibly be so interesting that she would go off on her own like that?
Suddenly the answer was clear to him. Crystal clear. "Do you see that crystal thingy anywhere?" he asked the other two. They all moved around looking around and under all of their gear. Carter's pack was still here, but she seemed to be wearing her vest and had taken her gun. Well, at least she hadn't taken leave of all her senses. "I think she's gone to get more crystals," he declared angrily.
"If she was in a cave that could explain why she wasn't getting our radio signal," offered Daniel scientifically.
"But did she not caution you herself about the danger of going into such old mines?" asked Teal'c looking at O'Neill with concern.
"Damn right, and we had a plan for obtaining more in a few days. What's she in such a hurry for," exclaimed the Colonel.
"Jack, you don't know for sure that's where she is," cautioned Daniel.
"Well, she's supposed to be on watch right here, and if she had stepped in the woods for a bit of privacy, she still would have her radio on," he snapped back. He ran his hand through his hair in frustration, and then gestured to their packs. "Let's move out and find her," he ordered tersely.
They had camped a little ways up the valley so they had a view of the land below them. While the sky was filled with early morning light, the sides of the valley blocked the direct rays of the sun and it was still in gray shadows. As they walked into the clearing they looked for movement up ahead. They paused at the stargate on their right and Teal'c studied the ground looking for signs of anyone having come through its portal beside themselves. It seemed virtually impossible that the gate could have been activated without them hearing it, but the Colonel was not about to assume anything in making a thorough search. Again Teal'c silently shook his head indicating no other footprints were there and they moved on toward the ruins of the mining buildings.
"Sam!" Daniel began calling loudly as they approached the buildings. "Sam!" he called repeatedly.
"Major Carter!" Teal's voice echoed among the empty ruins.
The Colonel walked up to the first obvious mine shaft and called into it, "Carter!" He tried his radio next, stepping just inside the dark, dank smelling opening. "Come in, Carter," he toggled the switch hoping any radio interference might be minimized now.
They searched the area for some time, the valley filling with light backwards from west to east as the rays of the sun made their way over the valley walls and illuminated the greenery that was slowly encroaching and covering over the ruins. The dawn chorus had reached its full crescendo and so did Jack's patience.
"Major Samantha Carter, where the hell are you!?!" he roared into the valley and all the native creatures were shocked into silence.
As usual, it was Daniel who had the insight in what to do next, "Teal'c where's that old trail you saw yesterday?"
Teal'c quickly led them away from the mining ruins and to the left angling down the valley. Wildflowers and weeds filled the path with larger trees still some ways off on either side. It had to have been a wide road at one time. Without a careful eye it would have been hard to distinguish from a boggy field, but the trees marched away in too straight of lines to have grown naturally.
"Did you go far on it yesterday, Teal'c?" queried the Colonel.
"I did not," intoned Tealc' gravely, "I merely noticed its presence."
The Colonel pointed to some broken weeds that seemed to make a trail into the tall grass, "Carter?" he asked hopefully.
"Indeed," agreed Teal'c.
"What was she doing way out here in the dark? How did she find it even with her flashlight?" wondered Daniel, but obviously no one answered.
They continued to find signs of trampled grass until they reached a little rise in the valley where the walls made a turn from due south back towards the east. They scrambled up and over the rocky area and looked down on a breathtaking view. "Wow," breathed Daniel. The high narrow valley they were in broke and spread out in a series of tumbling cliffs into a wider valley below that undulated gracefully in verdant greens to a sparkling blue ocean below. The rising sun sat surrounded with layers of brilliantly colored clouds, seeming to look down majestically over its eden like realm. It would have been perfect if there had been four, not three of them gazing down on the splendor of PCX 513.
"O'Neill!" Teal'c exclaimed pointing to a darker green bundle down the slope.
The jolt of adrenaline sent his heart pounding and Jack began scrambling down the hill heedless of his own danger. He slid on some scree, coming dangerously close to a cliff, but checked his speed using his hand to brake. His hand dripped blood from the deep scratches he acquired but he was oblivious to the pain and continued climbing down to where the tumbled boulders met a surprisingly smooth path winding down into the valley. He crouched down and touched Carter's vest gingerly. She had been here. Here was the evidence. But why? And where was she now? Had she fallen? But then why would her vest be here?
Jack heard Teal'c and Daniel coming down behind him as he looked fearfully over the edge, afraid he would see her broken body below. But rocks and tenacious grasses were all that he saw. His relief was only short lived when he heard the tone in Teal's voice.
"There are other footprints here, O'Neill. And some kind of wheel rut."
He turned slowly and made his mind focus on the markings Teal'c was pointing to. Two tracks were pressed into the thin soil that could only have come from a wheeled vehicle and it must have been recent or the wind would have blown the dirt around. Faintly he saw the impression of the Major's boot, the army issue tread pattern a dead give away and right beside it a nondescript flat impression of some kind of sandal. Maybe it was just some friendly natives, but she would have brought them back to him. He knew without a doubt that they had somehow lured and kidnapped her away from him.
"Daniel, go back to the gate and tell General Hammond what's happened. Get another SG team as back-up. Send the UAV out and get some reconnaissance. Radio me as soon as you're back," the Colonel ordered. "Teal'c and I are going to follow this track and try to rescue Carter."
Ice filled his veins at the thought of his Sam being hurt, or possibly even captured by goa'uld. He was not going to let that happen, ever.
Summary: Jack's anger turns to panic as he discovers Carter is missing.
Dear Readers, Thanks for the kind reviews. Your encouragement has inspired me, and thus the saga now continues...
He knew dawn was coming. It was an amazing thing that no matter what planet they found themselves on, no matter what the rotation period of the planet, there was always a pattern to the coming of day. All the little noises of the night that you would get accustomed to without even realizing it would fade into an expectant hush. As the nocturnal creatures tucked themselves into their burrows and nests, a new set of noises would begin. Crackling, chirping, twittering, squeaking from an entirely alien yet somehow familiar set of insect-like and bird-like creatures would build to a crescendo with the rising of that planet's sun.
Jack lay on his bedroll, not entirely comfortable but accustomed to sleeping outdoors on the hard ground. It had been a long night and he wasn't ready to face the new day just yet. He could hear the soft, deep breaths of Teal'c on one side and knew he was still asleep, and he could sense the empty space between himself and Daniel. He could hear the archeologist softly snoring like he always did, as his sinuses always acted up on away missions. He knew Carter was up and on watch, and he lay motionless listening for her. Usually he could hear quiet footsteps as she patrolled their campsite, or the quiet rustling of the fabric of her jacket as she turned to scan the surrounding area, or perhaps he'd be lucky enough to hear her humming softly to herself and he would know that she was content. But the predawn quiet was complete.
Where was she? He decided she had patrolled out farther than he could hear and rolled over on his side as he recalled the events of the night before.
What was it that had happened? They had been so comfortable around the campfire, just sipping tea. But when she had accidentally thrown tea on his hand and he had flicked that crystal out of his hand, something had happened when they had grabbed it together. Damn phallic symbol, his mind had filled with such passion for her that he would never allow himself to entertain normally. But worse than the electrical shock that passed between them was the tragic look she had given him afterwards. At first he thought he had offended her, but after a long restless night he remembered where he'd seen that look before, and he NEVER wanted to see it again on Sam's face. It was the same tragic look that Sara had given him at the hospital when they had lost Charlie. For a moment he was filled with grief for the family he had lost, but he squashed his feelings into the small place in his heart that he allowed for them.
Where was Sam? He should have heard her returning footsteps by now. The dawn chorus was starting to tune up, but it wasn't loud enough yet to mask her rhythmical footsteps. Maybe she had gone to get more water from the small spring they had seen yesterday on the other side of the mining ruins. Normally, Daniel was the one on the last watch and he would have been busily preparing coffee to satisfy his morning caffeine craving. It would be like Carter to thoughtfully start preparing for the morning ritual.
Jack rolled back on his back and flexed his knees experimentally. They felt pretty good today. It would actually be fun to go for a hike and look for some more ruins. He felt the emptiness beside him again and missed her by his side. They had gotten into a habit of putting all their bedrolls together for warmth and safety. Carter was always in the middle. It was a tacit understanding the three men had, to always protect her. But last night after his shift he had woken up Daniel and not her. He could tell she had finally fallen asleep and he wanted her to be well rested. They had all lain down when Teal'c took first watch but only Daniel had fallen asleep. Normally, Jack could make himself fall asleep under just about any circumstances. He'd developed the ability to survive on short naps during his black ops training, and would give himself the rest he needed to keep up his strength, but last night he had just lain there. She had curled up on her side with her back to him, uncharacteristically closer to Daniel, and that had made him irrationally jealous. He could tell she was awake and upset by the way she swallowed and sighed, and he had longed to gather her in his arms and comfort her, but instead he had just lain there. Finally, Teal'c had tapped his shoulder and he had been relieved to get up and take over watch duty. But now he missed waking up to her by his side. It was the only way to start the morning; her tousled blond head next to his shoulder, her clear blue eyes opening as he called her name, that lovely smile that she gave only to him...
Where was she? Had she gone off into the wooded area to relieve herself in privacy before they all woke up? She wasn't normally this long in her morning ablutions.
He finally sat up and looked around the camp in the gray dawn light. The chirping and twittering had grown louder and was now accompanied by rustling and fluttering as the diurnal creatures began to get on the move. But he saw no movement of anything large, nor specifically the camouflage jacket that he was longing to see coming this way.
At his movement, Teal'c awakened instantly and executed a perfect sit-up to straight backed, alert posture. He looked at O'Neill questioningly, but Jack simply gave a little shrug of his shoulders. In his grave way, Teal'c nodded an acknowledgment and turned to his pack to retrieve fresh socks and put on his boots.
Jack leaned over and tapped Daniel on the shoulder, interrupting him mid- snore, "Hey, Danny-boy, rise and shine."
To his credit, Daniel awoke instantly as well. He rolled up on one arm and rolled his head around to crack his neck as he surveyed the camp. "Where's Sam?" he asked with a slight yawn.
Jack shrugged again, "Must be taking care of business," he said nonchalantly, but his worry was beginning to rise. He hadn't heard any sound of her since he had awoken several minutes ago.
The three men efficiently prepared for the day and put on their gear. Like clockwork, Daniel got the coffee pot going on the sterno stove, and pulled out breakfast bars to pass out to everyone. Teal'c stood stirring the fire and covering it with dirt to make sure it would go out. Jack rolled up both his and Sam's bedrolls and crouched by their backpacks to strap them on. He finished his first and remembered in time before flipping her pack over that he had set the crystal hurriedly on top last night in a desire to be rid of the thing. He didn't want to break her pretty bauble, not only because she wouldn't like it, but also because it might actually be something they could use in their war against the goa'uld. But the crystal wasn't on top where he remembered setting it. He checked the front pocket he'd seen her pull it out of the night before, but it was empty too. He scanned the ground around the pack, thinking it had slid down and hoping it hadn't broken, but again no sign of it. He stood and slowly pivoted in place scanning the camp for the crystal and with increasing irritation for Sam as well.
Where could she possibly have gone?
Teal'c picked up on his posture right away and leaned over to pick up his staff weapon that was on the ground nearby. "Do you hear something, O'Neill?" he asked as he alertly scanned the forest nearby.
"It's what I don't hear," replied Jack irritably. The semitropical forest was really starting to swing now with the music of the dawn creatures announcing themselves to each other. The rosy fingers of dawn, well, make that the orangey fingers of dawn were striping the sky and highlighting clouds on one side of the valley. It would not do to forget that they were on an alien planet. He was officially worried now. What if Sam had fallen on patrol? What if she had been hurt? Maybe there were bigger creatures out there than they had anticipated? What if they were predators? What if there were hostile people here on this seemingly deserted planet? He bit his lower lip to get himself under control. He needed facts, not what ifs and he refused to let his imagination get away from him.
The Colonel snapped into full military mode. The simplest explanation is always the best they had taught him at the academy, although working at the SGC had taught him that the most outlandish explanation often turned out right. Well, the simplest and most outlandish thing he could think of was that she was mad at him for last night and had left just to worry him and teach him a lesson. Carter wasn't normally so petty. In fact, he thought they had a pretty clear understanding with each other after that Zatarc incident that while they may care for each other more than they were supposed to in the military, their jobs at the SGC were too important to jeopardize, and they would only be friends. But something had definitely passed between them last night, even though he really didn't want to acknowledge his own feelings.
"Ja-a-ck?" asked Daniel in his long, drawn out voice meaning, I'm getting worried, what's going on.
"What happened when you woke her up for the last watch Daniel?" he demanded in reply.
Daniel stood up, glancing all around the camp with a worried expression on his face. "She looked pretty tired, but she got up right away. She said goodnight to me, grabbed her P-90 and stood over by the fire. I fell asleep pretty quickly. It was a really quiet night. I didn't hear anything unusual," reported Daniel.
"Any signs besides ours?" the Colonel asked as he turned to Teal'c, who was by far the best tracker of all of them.
Teal'c walked slowly in a spiraling circle studying the ground, but the Colonel knew he wouldn't find anything. It was impossible that something or someone had come into their camp without her giving an alarm. After a few minutes, Teal'c looked up at him and shook his head.
The Colonel shrugged on his fatigue vest and toggled the radio that they all had positioned on the shoulder. "Carter, report." He waited a moment. "Carter, come in." But there was no response. What was she playing at? Leaving your post was a serious offence. She knew better than to leave the camp and them unprotected when she was supposed to be on watch. She should have woken him up. Fine, if she was mad at him, she could have woken up Teal'c. What could possibly be so interesting that she would go off on her own like that?
Suddenly the answer was clear to him. Crystal clear. "Do you see that crystal thingy anywhere?" he asked the other two. They all moved around looking around and under all of their gear. Carter's pack was still here, but she seemed to be wearing her vest and had taken her gun. Well, at least she hadn't taken leave of all her senses. "I think she's gone to get more crystals," he declared angrily.
"If she was in a cave that could explain why she wasn't getting our radio signal," offered Daniel scientifically.
"But did she not caution you herself about the danger of going into such old mines?" asked Teal'c looking at O'Neill with concern.
"Damn right, and we had a plan for obtaining more in a few days. What's she in such a hurry for," exclaimed the Colonel.
"Jack, you don't know for sure that's where she is," cautioned Daniel.
"Well, she's supposed to be on watch right here, and if she had stepped in the woods for a bit of privacy, she still would have her radio on," he snapped back. He ran his hand through his hair in frustration, and then gestured to their packs. "Let's move out and find her," he ordered tersely.
They had camped a little ways up the valley so they had a view of the land below them. While the sky was filled with early morning light, the sides of the valley blocked the direct rays of the sun and it was still in gray shadows. As they walked into the clearing they looked for movement up ahead. They paused at the stargate on their right and Teal'c studied the ground looking for signs of anyone having come through its portal beside themselves. It seemed virtually impossible that the gate could have been activated without them hearing it, but the Colonel was not about to assume anything in making a thorough search. Again Teal'c silently shook his head indicating no other footprints were there and they moved on toward the ruins of the mining buildings.
"Sam!" Daniel began calling loudly as they approached the buildings. "Sam!" he called repeatedly.
"Major Carter!" Teal's voice echoed among the empty ruins.
The Colonel walked up to the first obvious mine shaft and called into it, "Carter!" He tried his radio next, stepping just inside the dark, dank smelling opening. "Come in, Carter," he toggled the switch hoping any radio interference might be minimized now.
They searched the area for some time, the valley filling with light backwards from west to east as the rays of the sun made their way over the valley walls and illuminated the greenery that was slowly encroaching and covering over the ruins. The dawn chorus had reached its full crescendo and so did Jack's patience.
"Major Samantha Carter, where the hell are you!?!" he roared into the valley and all the native creatures were shocked into silence.
As usual, it was Daniel who had the insight in what to do next, "Teal'c where's that old trail you saw yesterday?"
Teal'c quickly led them away from the mining ruins and to the left angling down the valley. Wildflowers and weeds filled the path with larger trees still some ways off on either side. It had to have been a wide road at one time. Without a careful eye it would have been hard to distinguish from a boggy field, but the trees marched away in too straight of lines to have grown naturally.
"Did you go far on it yesterday, Teal'c?" queried the Colonel.
"I did not," intoned Tealc' gravely, "I merely noticed its presence."
The Colonel pointed to some broken weeds that seemed to make a trail into the tall grass, "Carter?" he asked hopefully.
"Indeed," agreed Teal'c.
"What was she doing way out here in the dark? How did she find it even with her flashlight?" wondered Daniel, but obviously no one answered.
They continued to find signs of trampled grass until they reached a little rise in the valley where the walls made a turn from due south back towards the east. They scrambled up and over the rocky area and looked down on a breathtaking view. "Wow," breathed Daniel. The high narrow valley they were in broke and spread out in a series of tumbling cliffs into a wider valley below that undulated gracefully in verdant greens to a sparkling blue ocean below. The rising sun sat surrounded with layers of brilliantly colored clouds, seeming to look down majestically over its eden like realm. It would have been perfect if there had been four, not three of them gazing down on the splendor of PCX 513.
"O'Neill!" Teal'c exclaimed pointing to a darker green bundle down the slope.
The jolt of adrenaline sent his heart pounding and Jack began scrambling down the hill heedless of his own danger. He slid on some scree, coming dangerously close to a cliff, but checked his speed using his hand to brake. His hand dripped blood from the deep scratches he acquired but he was oblivious to the pain and continued climbing down to where the tumbled boulders met a surprisingly smooth path winding down into the valley. He crouched down and touched Carter's vest gingerly. She had been here. Here was the evidence. But why? And where was she now? Had she fallen? But then why would her vest be here?
Jack heard Teal'c and Daniel coming down behind him as he looked fearfully over the edge, afraid he would see her broken body below. But rocks and tenacious grasses were all that he saw. His relief was only short lived when he heard the tone in Teal's voice.
"There are other footprints here, O'Neill. And some kind of wheel rut."
He turned slowly and made his mind focus on the markings Teal'c was pointing to. Two tracks were pressed into the thin soil that could only have come from a wheeled vehicle and it must have been recent or the wind would have blown the dirt around. Faintly he saw the impression of the Major's boot, the army issue tread pattern a dead give away and right beside it a nondescript flat impression of some kind of sandal. Maybe it was just some friendly natives, but she would have brought them back to him. He knew without a doubt that they had somehow lured and kidnapped her away from him.
"Daniel, go back to the gate and tell General Hammond what's happened. Get another SG team as back-up. Send the UAV out and get some reconnaissance. Radio me as soon as you're back," the Colonel ordered. "Teal'c and I are going to follow this track and try to rescue Carter."
Ice filled his veins at the thought of his Sam being hurt, or possibly even captured by goa'uld. He was not going to let that happen, ever.