Plan B
Jack O'Neill was in the gym, the beating the daylights out of the punching bag. It had been almost 12 hours since they left P3X-471. No word from Carter, no approval to launch a rescue attempt. The MALP that had been left on the planet, that at last check showed 10 Jaffa and 2 cannons, had been destroyed by the Jaffa. They were going to send a UAV at 0800 tomorrow. He didn't know how he was going to wait that long. He kept going over his final, curt words to Sam. He was starting to doubt the wisdom of his actions and that made him even more frustrated: he rarely doubted himself, especially on missions. He continued to punch the bag, not hearing Teal'c come into the gym.
"O'Neill," the deep voice of his Jaffa friend resonated through the empty gym.
Jack stopped momentarily, then continued to hit the bag even harder, if that were possible.
Teal'c came in closer and stood beside the punching bag, which was beginning to have a large dent in the middle. "O'Neill, did you not tell me that this bag was to be used for making short, quick hits in order to improve one's dexterity? You do not seem to be using it for its rightful purpose."
"Yeah, well... it's serving its purpose... just fine... for me... right now," Jack continued to jab hard at the bag as he spoke. He was quickly running out of breath and steam. Teal'c thought it prudent to stop O'Neill's actions immediately.
"You must stop O'Neill. You must have your body well rested and have all of your strength should we be called upon to embark on the rescue mission for Major Carter."
Those words made Jack stop his assault on the punching bag. Lowering his arms to his side, he breathed deeply, trying to slow his racing heart. Jack slowly walked away from the punching bag and tore off the gloves he had been wearing. He tossed the gloves into a corner of the gym and looked up at Teal'c.
"Why did she do it T? Why would she disobey my direct orders and go and try to find some children who may or may not have been in the village?"
"I do not know O'Neill. Major Carter must have felt there was some reason to investigate the claims of Treyem of Kortaul. She has been known to go by her instincts before O'Neill."
"Yeah, I know, but never against orders. I'm starting to think I didn't make the right call here T. You know I would never leave kids behind if I knew about them, right?"
"Indeed I do O'Neill. But you are also a warrior and a leader who must make difficult decisions. Treyem did not know for sure if his children were taken to this meeting house. He just saw the children being led in that direction. They could have been taken to a holding area in the village or ringed up to a waiting ship. As you said yourself, we did not have sufficient information to go into the village and look for the children of Treyem. Were we not also under direct orders to return the defense device to Earth? If we had not, the SGC may have temporarily ceased to continue its operations. "
"Yeah, you're right T. I still wonder if I should have tried something different. If there just would have been more time..." Jack paused, reliving everything that had occurred on the planet. "I appreciate your directness though Teal'c. Thanks."
"You are most welcome O'Neill," responded Teal'c, bowing slightly toward his good friend.
"Let me get cleaned up and then we'll visit Daniel, see if he has any new information," Jack told his friend as they walked toward the locker rooms.
"I will wait for you out here O'Neill," Teal'c responded as Jack walked into the locker room for a quick shower.
Twenty minutes later the two men entered Daniel's lab and found him pouring through some books. He looked up as they entered the room. "Any news from General Hammond?"
"No," Jack replied. "How about you? Anything new from Treyem that might help us get Carter back?"
"Not much else that I didn't tell you before. The other gate is located a few day's journey south of the village. Treyem took his son Josef a day's journey in that direction a few months ago. He told Josef that it is located at the base of where four ridges come together. There are many caves around the area there, but the one that holds the other Stargate has a unique boulder in front of it. Oh, and Treyem mentioned that there was a smaller devise next to the gate, like the one in the clearing. I am assuming he is referring to the DHD."
"That's all well and good, Danny, but this won't really help us or Carter, will it?"
"Only if she actually finds Treyem's kids, gets them away from the Jaffa and thinks to ask about another Stargate," responded Daniel dejectedly. They all knew the chances of all of these things happening were remote at best.
Jack sighed as he ran his hands through his hair. "Okay. It appears as if we have to hope that Carter was able to lay low somewhere for a while and is waiting for the gate to clear. The gate we came through," he stated, looking directly at Daniel. "The best we can do right now is wait for morning and see what the UAV shows. General Hammond is also trying to contact the Tok'ra to see if they can help out. They damn well better – we went to retrieve that stupid devise on their insistence. They owe us!"
Daniel and Teal'c nodded in agreement. Jack and Teal'c left to see if General Hammond had heard from the Tok'ra. Daniel continued to study his books, seeing if he could find anything about a planet with two Stargates.
Sam looked around carefully at the entrance to the tunnel. Not seeing anything amiss on the ridge, she motioned to the children to follow her. Kellan carried the bag of food Sam had retrieved from the room and Josef hoisted her pack onto his back. She was amazed at the willingness of these children to shoulder some of the work load. After all, they must all be frightened and a bit unsure about what might happen next. She sure was!
Sam took them the same way she had come up, walking a diagonal course in order to prevent as much slipping on the loose rock and shale as possible. Behind her, Anya slipped in the rock and landed on her knees. Sam turned around, ready to go and pick up the little girl, but saw that Josef had beaten her to it. He picked Anya up off the ground, wiped off her leggings, and grabbed her hand, ready to continue down the ridge. Sam smiled thankfully at Josef and continued the trek down the ridge.
When they came to the bottom, she led them to a spot that was fairly hidden. There were large boulders resting in a half circle with several scraggly shrubs and trees around them. There was also a small stream within a few feet; Sam would need the water to clean up her wound and refill the canteen. The children sat in a half circle behind the boulders, shielded from view from the top of the ridge. Anya climbed into Kiera's lap and rested her head against her the older girl's chest.
"You have done a great job so far," she said, looking at each child in turn. "I am so proud of all of you! We're going to rest for a few minutes, then I'll tell you about the next part of our adventure." Sam took her canteen off of her belt loop and passed it around. "I want each of you to take 2 swallows of water, then pass it to the next person OK?"
Josef took the canteen and passed it to Kiera so she could help Anya first. Then he looked at Sam's arm. "What about your arm Major Sam? It doesn't look good," he stated as he looked over the red area on her upper arm.
"I'll be all right Josef. The blast barely touched me. Don't worry." Sam took off her vest and long sleeved jacket, which now had a nice hole in it. Instant air conditioning, as the Colonel had been known to say! She took a bandana out of her pack and walked to the stream where she proceeded to wash off the wound. She gasped as the water first hit her wound; it hurt more than she liked to admit. She glanced at the children and smiled reassuringly at them. No sense in making them worry any more than necessary.
After cleaning the area, Sam dipped the bandana in the stream again and wrapped it around her arm. She came back to her pack and sat down, taking out a roll of gauze. "Jalia, can you help me wrap this around my arm please?"
"Yes Major Sam," replied Jalia, getting up from the ground and coming over to Sam. "Major Sam? Are you going to die?", she asked as she helped wrap Sam's arm. The other children looked at Sam and anxiously awaited her answer.
"No Jalia, I am not going to die. It's only a small wound, like when you burn yourself if you get too close to a fire."
"It's just....I saw some people in our village get hit by the fire stick. They didn't get back up," Jalia said in a very quiet voice.
"Oh Jalia, I am so sorry you had to see something like that," and she hugged the girl closely to her. "I promise you...all of you...that I am just fine. We will get through this together OK?"
The children nodded at Sam and tried to give her small smiles. After Jalia had finished helping Sam wrap her arm, Sam was ready to share the next phase of the plan with them. She felt that they should know as much as possible about what would happen. It would hopefully help to lessen their anxiety.
"I am going to go up the next ridge to see if the Stargate is clear so that we can bring you to my planet, Earth. I need all of you to stay here and remain quiet OK? I shouldn't be gone more than 15 minutes. Josef," she turned to the oldest boy, "I am going to give you this Zat gun. I don't think you'll need it but we need to be safe. Shoot it once if you see any Jaffa. It will knock them out until I get back." She didn't want to tell him about shooting it twice. He didn't need to worry about the ramifications of killing someone, even if it was a Jaffa.
"I will guard the rest of the children Major Sam. Don't worry."
"I won't Josef. OK, I'll be back soon. Remember, stay down." With those final instructions, Sam was off, keeping hidden by the rocks and trees in the valley. She came to the ridge that led up to the Stargate and quietly made her way to the top, going a bit further west to make sure she skirted any sentries who were out.
Sam came to the top of the ridge and stopped to catch her breath. She was moving faster than normal as she didn't want to leave the children alone for too long. After a minute, she grabbed her small binoculars, turned around and slowly peeked around a large rock at the top of the ridge. Oh Crap! She whispered to herself. There, in front of the Stargate, were 10 Jaffa and two staff canons. The MALP stood near the gate, burnt and blackened from a staff blast, no doubt. Sam sank back behind the rock and hung her head. Now what? There was no way on Earth, or P3X-471, that she could take out 10 Jaffa and 2 canons on her own. Time to go to Plan B. Problem was, she didn't have a Plan B at the moment. She'd think of something, she had to. There were seven innocent children depending on her and she would not let them down!
TBC soon – very soon!
Jack O'Neill was in the gym, the beating the daylights out of the punching bag. It had been almost 12 hours since they left P3X-471. No word from Carter, no approval to launch a rescue attempt. The MALP that had been left on the planet, that at last check showed 10 Jaffa and 2 cannons, had been destroyed by the Jaffa. They were going to send a UAV at 0800 tomorrow. He didn't know how he was going to wait that long. He kept going over his final, curt words to Sam. He was starting to doubt the wisdom of his actions and that made him even more frustrated: he rarely doubted himself, especially on missions. He continued to punch the bag, not hearing Teal'c come into the gym.
"O'Neill," the deep voice of his Jaffa friend resonated through the empty gym.
Jack stopped momentarily, then continued to hit the bag even harder, if that were possible.
Teal'c came in closer and stood beside the punching bag, which was beginning to have a large dent in the middle. "O'Neill, did you not tell me that this bag was to be used for making short, quick hits in order to improve one's dexterity? You do not seem to be using it for its rightful purpose."
"Yeah, well... it's serving its purpose... just fine... for me... right now," Jack continued to jab hard at the bag as he spoke. He was quickly running out of breath and steam. Teal'c thought it prudent to stop O'Neill's actions immediately.
"You must stop O'Neill. You must have your body well rested and have all of your strength should we be called upon to embark on the rescue mission for Major Carter."
Those words made Jack stop his assault on the punching bag. Lowering his arms to his side, he breathed deeply, trying to slow his racing heart. Jack slowly walked away from the punching bag and tore off the gloves he had been wearing. He tossed the gloves into a corner of the gym and looked up at Teal'c.
"Why did she do it T? Why would she disobey my direct orders and go and try to find some children who may or may not have been in the village?"
"I do not know O'Neill. Major Carter must have felt there was some reason to investigate the claims of Treyem of Kortaul. She has been known to go by her instincts before O'Neill."
"Yeah, I know, but never against orders. I'm starting to think I didn't make the right call here T. You know I would never leave kids behind if I knew about them, right?"
"Indeed I do O'Neill. But you are also a warrior and a leader who must make difficult decisions. Treyem did not know for sure if his children were taken to this meeting house. He just saw the children being led in that direction. They could have been taken to a holding area in the village or ringed up to a waiting ship. As you said yourself, we did not have sufficient information to go into the village and look for the children of Treyem. Were we not also under direct orders to return the defense device to Earth? If we had not, the SGC may have temporarily ceased to continue its operations. "
"Yeah, you're right T. I still wonder if I should have tried something different. If there just would have been more time..." Jack paused, reliving everything that had occurred on the planet. "I appreciate your directness though Teal'c. Thanks."
"You are most welcome O'Neill," responded Teal'c, bowing slightly toward his good friend.
"Let me get cleaned up and then we'll visit Daniel, see if he has any new information," Jack told his friend as they walked toward the locker rooms.
"I will wait for you out here O'Neill," Teal'c responded as Jack walked into the locker room for a quick shower.
Twenty minutes later the two men entered Daniel's lab and found him pouring through some books. He looked up as they entered the room. "Any news from General Hammond?"
"No," Jack replied. "How about you? Anything new from Treyem that might help us get Carter back?"
"Not much else that I didn't tell you before. The other gate is located a few day's journey south of the village. Treyem took his son Josef a day's journey in that direction a few months ago. He told Josef that it is located at the base of where four ridges come together. There are many caves around the area there, but the one that holds the other Stargate has a unique boulder in front of it. Oh, and Treyem mentioned that there was a smaller devise next to the gate, like the one in the clearing. I am assuming he is referring to the DHD."
"That's all well and good, Danny, but this won't really help us or Carter, will it?"
"Only if she actually finds Treyem's kids, gets them away from the Jaffa and thinks to ask about another Stargate," responded Daniel dejectedly. They all knew the chances of all of these things happening were remote at best.
Jack sighed as he ran his hands through his hair. "Okay. It appears as if we have to hope that Carter was able to lay low somewhere for a while and is waiting for the gate to clear. The gate we came through," he stated, looking directly at Daniel. "The best we can do right now is wait for morning and see what the UAV shows. General Hammond is also trying to contact the Tok'ra to see if they can help out. They damn well better – we went to retrieve that stupid devise on their insistence. They owe us!"
Daniel and Teal'c nodded in agreement. Jack and Teal'c left to see if General Hammond had heard from the Tok'ra. Daniel continued to study his books, seeing if he could find anything about a planet with two Stargates.
Sam looked around carefully at the entrance to the tunnel. Not seeing anything amiss on the ridge, she motioned to the children to follow her. Kellan carried the bag of food Sam had retrieved from the room and Josef hoisted her pack onto his back. She was amazed at the willingness of these children to shoulder some of the work load. After all, they must all be frightened and a bit unsure about what might happen next. She sure was!
Sam took them the same way she had come up, walking a diagonal course in order to prevent as much slipping on the loose rock and shale as possible. Behind her, Anya slipped in the rock and landed on her knees. Sam turned around, ready to go and pick up the little girl, but saw that Josef had beaten her to it. He picked Anya up off the ground, wiped off her leggings, and grabbed her hand, ready to continue down the ridge. Sam smiled thankfully at Josef and continued the trek down the ridge.
When they came to the bottom, she led them to a spot that was fairly hidden. There were large boulders resting in a half circle with several scraggly shrubs and trees around them. There was also a small stream within a few feet; Sam would need the water to clean up her wound and refill the canteen. The children sat in a half circle behind the boulders, shielded from view from the top of the ridge. Anya climbed into Kiera's lap and rested her head against her the older girl's chest.
"You have done a great job so far," she said, looking at each child in turn. "I am so proud of all of you! We're going to rest for a few minutes, then I'll tell you about the next part of our adventure." Sam took her canteen off of her belt loop and passed it around. "I want each of you to take 2 swallows of water, then pass it to the next person OK?"
Josef took the canteen and passed it to Kiera so she could help Anya first. Then he looked at Sam's arm. "What about your arm Major Sam? It doesn't look good," he stated as he looked over the red area on her upper arm.
"I'll be all right Josef. The blast barely touched me. Don't worry." Sam took off her vest and long sleeved jacket, which now had a nice hole in it. Instant air conditioning, as the Colonel had been known to say! She took a bandana out of her pack and walked to the stream where she proceeded to wash off the wound. She gasped as the water first hit her wound; it hurt more than she liked to admit. She glanced at the children and smiled reassuringly at them. No sense in making them worry any more than necessary.
After cleaning the area, Sam dipped the bandana in the stream again and wrapped it around her arm. She came back to her pack and sat down, taking out a roll of gauze. "Jalia, can you help me wrap this around my arm please?"
"Yes Major Sam," replied Jalia, getting up from the ground and coming over to Sam. "Major Sam? Are you going to die?", she asked as she helped wrap Sam's arm. The other children looked at Sam and anxiously awaited her answer.
"No Jalia, I am not going to die. It's only a small wound, like when you burn yourself if you get too close to a fire."
"It's just....I saw some people in our village get hit by the fire stick. They didn't get back up," Jalia said in a very quiet voice.
"Oh Jalia, I am so sorry you had to see something like that," and she hugged the girl closely to her. "I promise you...all of you...that I am just fine. We will get through this together OK?"
The children nodded at Sam and tried to give her small smiles. After Jalia had finished helping Sam wrap her arm, Sam was ready to share the next phase of the plan with them. She felt that they should know as much as possible about what would happen. It would hopefully help to lessen their anxiety.
"I am going to go up the next ridge to see if the Stargate is clear so that we can bring you to my planet, Earth. I need all of you to stay here and remain quiet OK? I shouldn't be gone more than 15 minutes. Josef," she turned to the oldest boy, "I am going to give you this Zat gun. I don't think you'll need it but we need to be safe. Shoot it once if you see any Jaffa. It will knock them out until I get back." She didn't want to tell him about shooting it twice. He didn't need to worry about the ramifications of killing someone, even if it was a Jaffa.
"I will guard the rest of the children Major Sam. Don't worry."
"I won't Josef. OK, I'll be back soon. Remember, stay down." With those final instructions, Sam was off, keeping hidden by the rocks and trees in the valley. She came to the ridge that led up to the Stargate and quietly made her way to the top, going a bit further west to make sure she skirted any sentries who were out.
Sam came to the top of the ridge and stopped to catch her breath. She was moving faster than normal as she didn't want to leave the children alone for too long. After a minute, she grabbed her small binoculars, turned around and slowly peeked around a large rock at the top of the ridge. Oh Crap! She whispered to herself. There, in front of the Stargate, were 10 Jaffa and two staff canons. The MALP stood near the gate, burnt and blackened from a staff blast, no doubt. Sam sank back behind the rock and hung her head. Now what? There was no way on Earth, or P3X-471, that she could take out 10 Jaffa and 2 canons on her own. Time to go to Plan B. Problem was, she didn't have a Plan B at the moment. She'd think of something, she had to. There were seven innocent children depending on her and she would not let them down!
TBC soon – very soon!