The air on P9V-222 just plain smelled green. Fresh. Crisp. Just the
faintest hint of floral and something akin to pine. Maybe even fruit?
Berries, or something.
Kind of like that bottle of pink stuff Sam accidentally left in the locker room shower last week...
"The buildings shown by the MALP were North, correct, Major?" Jack asked, turning towards his 2IC, spurred by his own wayward thoughts.
"Yes, sir. Three clicks."
In silent agreement, the four members of SG-1 headed north, the only sound their strides through the tall grasses around them. From the images and readings the MALP sent back, Jack wasn't figuring on any technological breakthroughs on the planet, but at least it was warm and green while Colorado was typical January cold. As they walked, he scanned the horizon and tree line for anything that might send up a warning flag.
"Wow!"
Jack stopped mid stride and turned to Daniel. "What?"
Daniel was digging furiously through the pockets of his ALICE vest, finally coming out with his field glasses. He stared out over the horizon, and Jack followed his line of site, seeing the first up cropping of a stone structure a good two clicks away still.
"This is incredible! Look at the ramparts and crenellations, I mean, it has to be Medieval European. Possibly pre-Elizabethan, maybe later. But not by much. Even the Coat of Arms displayed on the tower depicts imagery prominent in Wales and Scotland after the 1600's."
Jack adjusted the shoulder strap of his P-90 so it sat against his torso, and used the weapon as a shelf to support his crossed arms. He squinted behind his sunglasses and glanced around the green landscape around them, not really listening to Daniel as he went on about King So-and-So and the Reign of something or other.
"Jack? Jack, are you listening?"
He spun back and adjusted the brim of his hat to better shield the bright sunlight. "What?"
"You're not even listening, Jack. I mean, this is huge."
Jack stared at Daniel, pretty sure that he didn't really care. Carter, who stood beside him, turned her back to Daniel as if she was checking out the surroundings.
"Goa'ulds were on Earth as late as the fifteenth century," she mumbled under her breath.
"Daniel, to you everything is huge," Jack said, waving his hand. "Come on. It just means the damn snakeheads were still being a pain in the ass as late as, what, the late fifteenth century?"
The look of total shock on Daniel's face was priceless. Jack popped up his eyebrows and grinned. In his peripheral vision, he caught Sam's expression as she did her best to suppress her smirk.
"Um, yeah..." Daniel mumbled, his eyes darting from Jack to the field glasses in his hand.
"Well, it's obvious..." Jack threw in for good measure and brushed past the silenced archaeologist and headed towards the... castle?... for lack of a better description.
Sam fell into stride beside him as they moved ahead, taking point. She shifted her P-90 in her arms, and they walked in silence for several minutes. Behind them, Jack heard Daniel explaining to Teal'c – in great detail – the feudal system of Europe.
As they reached the bottom of the steady slope, Jack heard Sam's muffled chuckle. He glanced sideways at her.
"Careful, Major. You'll give us away."
She laughed softly, almost a purr, and cleared her throat. "His face was priceless."
"I'm rubbing off on you, Carter."
"I don't necessarily consider that a bad--"
Sam stopped mid-sentence as a woman's scream ripped through the quiet morning air. Jack scanned the area as Sam pointed to the nearby copse of trees.
"That way, sir!"
SG-1 took off at a dead run, Jack leading the way. As they reached the treeline, another scream echoed around them. It was a cry of pain, there was no doubt in Jack's mind. He angled to the right, leaping over a small shrub and jerked to a stop to keep from stepping right on the woman they sought. Sam and the others fell in behind him as he went down on one knee beside the young girl who was quite obviously in labor, her hands clutching the sides of her rounded stomach.
"Holy Hannah..." Sam gasped.
"Help me!" she cried out in pain. "My baby! Something is wrong!" And again she screamed, throwing her head back as her body arched in the damp leaves.
Jack grimaced and looked up at the other members of his team. "Daniel?"
Daniel's eyes rounded and he stuttered out "What? Jack, what do you want me to do?"
Jack whipped off his hat and let his sunglasses hang around his neck. The shaded forest was dim. "Well, Daniel... how many babies have you delivered now?"
Daniel stuttered again, not really answering.
"By my count, at least three, sir," Sam interjected.
Daniel shot her a sharp look.
"And how many babies have the rest of us delivered? None. That makes you resident expert."
The girl screamed again, and it seemed to be enough to thrust Daniel into action. Even Teal'c obliged in obeying the orders and instructions Daniel gave as he knelt between the young girl's knees. With each scream, Jack winced, remembering the day Charlie was born despite his best efforts not to.
It was obvious after several minutes, even to Jack, that something was wrong. No matter how Daniel coaxed, and the obvious strain on the young woman's features, nothing was happening. The child wasn't coming out. She looked pale and exhausted, falling back against Teal'c after each contraction as he did his job to support her.
Jack caught Sam's expression as Daniel fought to bring the baby into the world. She looked nearly as pale as the young mother, her blue eyes wide and her lips a bright red in contrast to her cheeks.
"Oh, Lord have mercy on me!" the girl cried out through her sobs. Her dark hair was slicked back from her forehead, clinging damply to her cheeks and neck with sweat and tears. "Please! Please! Save my child!"
"I'm doing the best I can," Daniel said through gritted teeth.
"Why the hell is she out in the middle of nowhere having a freakin' baby to begin with?" Jack asked no one in particular.
"One more time! Push!"
The girl bore down, her body curling forward and her face flushing dusky red as she cried out with such agony it stopped Jack's heart in his chest. With one last gush of air, she fell back into Teal'c arms, and a new sound took over.
The soft, quivering cry of a baby.
Jack released his pent up breath.
"The blanket, Sam," Daniel said as he lifted the naked and wet child from beneath her mother's legs and set her in Sam's waiting arms.
Jack did his best to help, feeling pretty much useless. He handed Daniel the tiny set of medical scissors that were included in their first aid supplies, and Daniel snipped the umbilical cord. For someone who claimed he barely knew what he was doing, Daniel seemed to be doing a damn good job of it. Sam had regained her color, and quickly bundled the newborn in the blanket she had retrieved from one of their packs as soon as Daniel nodded his head that it was okay.
Well, not exactly the mission he planned on...
"The mother is weak, but she still breathes, DanielJackson," Teal'c said as he touched the woman's neck.
"We need to get her to a town or something, Jack. She lost a lot of blood. If we can find her family, her husband, and maybe the equivalent of a midwife... I don't know... but there'd be a chance."
Ice-cold fingers grasped Jack's wrist and he looked down at the new mother. Her cheeks were ashen and sallow, dark rings forming around her eyes, and her skin still glistened with sweat.
"Please, M'Lord. You must take care of my baby."
Kind of like that bottle of pink stuff Sam accidentally left in the locker room shower last week...
"The buildings shown by the MALP were North, correct, Major?" Jack asked, turning towards his 2IC, spurred by his own wayward thoughts.
"Yes, sir. Three clicks."
In silent agreement, the four members of SG-1 headed north, the only sound their strides through the tall grasses around them. From the images and readings the MALP sent back, Jack wasn't figuring on any technological breakthroughs on the planet, but at least it was warm and green while Colorado was typical January cold. As they walked, he scanned the horizon and tree line for anything that might send up a warning flag.
"Wow!"
Jack stopped mid stride and turned to Daniel. "What?"
Daniel was digging furiously through the pockets of his ALICE vest, finally coming out with his field glasses. He stared out over the horizon, and Jack followed his line of site, seeing the first up cropping of a stone structure a good two clicks away still.
"This is incredible! Look at the ramparts and crenellations, I mean, it has to be Medieval European. Possibly pre-Elizabethan, maybe later. But not by much. Even the Coat of Arms displayed on the tower depicts imagery prominent in Wales and Scotland after the 1600's."
Jack adjusted the shoulder strap of his P-90 so it sat against his torso, and used the weapon as a shelf to support his crossed arms. He squinted behind his sunglasses and glanced around the green landscape around them, not really listening to Daniel as he went on about King So-and-So and the Reign of something or other.
"Jack? Jack, are you listening?"
He spun back and adjusted the brim of his hat to better shield the bright sunlight. "What?"
"You're not even listening, Jack. I mean, this is huge."
Jack stared at Daniel, pretty sure that he didn't really care. Carter, who stood beside him, turned her back to Daniel as if she was checking out the surroundings.
"Goa'ulds were on Earth as late as the fifteenth century," she mumbled under her breath.
"Daniel, to you everything is huge," Jack said, waving his hand. "Come on. It just means the damn snakeheads were still being a pain in the ass as late as, what, the late fifteenth century?"
The look of total shock on Daniel's face was priceless. Jack popped up his eyebrows and grinned. In his peripheral vision, he caught Sam's expression as she did her best to suppress her smirk.
"Um, yeah..." Daniel mumbled, his eyes darting from Jack to the field glasses in his hand.
"Well, it's obvious..." Jack threw in for good measure and brushed past the silenced archaeologist and headed towards the... castle?... for lack of a better description.
Sam fell into stride beside him as they moved ahead, taking point. She shifted her P-90 in her arms, and they walked in silence for several minutes. Behind them, Jack heard Daniel explaining to Teal'c – in great detail – the feudal system of Europe.
As they reached the bottom of the steady slope, Jack heard Sam's muffled chuckle. He glanced sideways at her.
"Careful, Major. You'll give us away."
She laughed softly, almost a purr, and cleared her throat. "His face was priceless."
"I'm rubbing off on you, Carter."
"I don't necessarily consider that a bad--"
Sam stopped mid-sentence as a woman's scream ripped through the quiet morning air. Jack scanned the area as Sam pointed to the nearby copse of trees.
"That way, sir!"
SG-1 took off at a dead run, Jack leading the way. As they reached the treeline, another scream echoed around them. It was a cry of pain, there was no doubt in Jack's mind. He angled to the right, leaping over a small shrub and jerked to a stop to keep from stepping right on the woman they sought. Sam and the others fell in behind him as he went down on one knee beside the young girl who was quite obviously in labor, her hands clutching the sides of her rounded stomach.
"Holy Hannah..." Sam gasped.
"Help me!" she cried out in pain. "My baby! Something is wrong!" And again she screamed, throwing her head back as her body arched in the damp leaves.
Jack grimaced and looked up at the other members of his team. "Daniel?"
Daniel's eyes rounded and he stuttered out "What? Jack, what do you want me to do?"
Jack whipped off his hat and let his sunglasses hang around his neck. The shaded forest was dim. "Well, Daniel... how many babies have you delivered now?"
Daniel stuttered again, not really answering.
"By my count, at least three, sir," Sam interjected.
Daniel shot her a sharp look.
"And how many babies have the rest of us delivered? None. That makes you resident expert."
The girl screamed again, and it seemed to be enough to thrust Daniel into action. Even Teal'c obliged in obeying the orders and instructions Daniel gave as he knelt between the young girl's knees. With each scream, Jack winced, remembering the day Charlie was born despite his best efforts not to.
It was obvious after several minutes, even to Jack, that something was wrong. No matter how Daniel coaxed, and the obvious strain on the young woman's features, nothing was happening. The child wasn't coming out. She looked pale and exhausted, falling back against Teal'c after each contraction as he did his job to support her.
Jack caught Sam's expression as Daniel fought to bring the baby into the world. She looked nearly as pale as the young mother, her blue eyes wide and her lips a bright red in contrast to her cheeks.
"Oh, Lord have mercy on me!" the girl cried out through her sobs. Her dark hair was slicked back from her forehead, clinging damply to her cheeks and neck with sweat and tears. "Please! Please! Save my child!"
"I'm doing the best I can," Daniel said through gritted teeth.
"Why the hell is she out in the middle of nowhere having a freakin' baby to begin with?" Jack asked no one in particular.
"One more time! Push!"
The girl bore down, her body curling forward and her face flushing dusky red as she cried out with such agony it stopped Jack's heart in his chest. With one last gush of air, she fell back into Teal'c arms, and a new sound took over.
The soft, quivering cry of a baby.
Jack released his pent up breath.
"The blanket, Sam," Daniel said as he lifted the naked and wet child from beneath her mother's legs and set her in Sam's waiting arms.
Jack did his best to help, feeling pretty much useless. He handed Daniel the tiny set of medical scissors that were included in their first aid supplies, and Daniel snipped the umbilical cord. For someone who claimed he barely knew what he was doing, Daniel seemed to be doing a damn good job of it. Sam had regained her color, and quickly bundled the newborn in the blanket she had retrieved from one of their packs as soon as Daniel nodded his head that it was okay.
Well, not exactly the mission he planned on...
"The mother is weak, but she still breathes, DanielJackson," Teal'c said as he touched the woman's neck.
"We need to get her to a town or something, Jack. She lost a lot of blood. If we can find her family, her husband, and maybe the equivalent of a midwife... I don't know... but there'd be a chance."
Ice-cold fingers grasped Jack's wrist and he looked down at the new mother. Her cheeks were ashen and sallow, dark rings forming around her eyes, and her skin still glistened with sweat.
"Please, M'Lord. You must take care of my baby."