A Long Hike

Sam made her way back to where the children were waiting and sank down next to them. "Everything OK here Josef?" she asked.

"Yes Major Sam, we are fine. Will we be going up to the Stargate now?"

Sam looked carefully at the trusting faces of the children. She had to word things cautiously here. "Not just yet. There are many Jaffa warriors surrounding the Stargate. They have some large weapons as well. I'm afraid that I can't get them away from there all by myself. I think we might have to find somewhere safe to stay for a while until either they leave, or some of my friends try and come back for me."

"There are many caves around the base of the ridge," Kellan said. "We could stay in one of them for a while."

"Good Idea Kellan. I know that some of the people from your village stayed in caves to the north of the Stargate. I don't want us to go there, though because the Jaffa are too close to that area."

Josef had been looking thoughtfully at the ground while Major Sam and Kellan were discussing the caves. He glanced to the ridge where the Stargate was hidden, and then looked to the south. "Major Sam," he interrupted the conversation with Kellan. "Do we have to use that Stargate to get back to your planet?"

"Yes Josef. The only way to get back to Earth is to use the Stargate. It is how we travel to other worlds."

"No, I mean, do we have to use THAT Stargate. Could we use another one?" implored the 15 year old.

Sam looked at Josef in puzzlement. "Well, technically, we could use any Stargate, but most planets only have one on them. Though we did find another one on Earth several years ago, we haven't found another planet with 2 Stargates since then. Why do you ask?"

"I believe that there is another Stargate on our planet Major Sam," replied Josef confidently.

"What? Are you sure about this Josef?" Sam had a hard time believing that there might possibly be another Stargate here. Why didn't the Tok'ra know about it? Why didn't they gate there? There were so many questions that she had. She'd better just stick to the basics and see if there was even the most remote possibility that this was true.

"My father told me about this other gate a few years ago. He went with his father to visit a village south of here when he was my age. They traveled for two days and came to a place when the four great ridges meet. At the bottom of the ridges, are many great and wondrous caves. One of the caves had a large, pointed boulder at its entrance. When my father and grandfather went to explore the cave, they found another great stone circle, just like the one up there," and Josef pointed up to where the other Stargate was located.

"Did your father or grandfather tell anyone else in the village about the other gate?" questioned Sam.

"I think they told the elders of the village. Since we do not use the Stargate, I don't think anyone thought it was very important. I don't know of anyone else who went to see the other gate." Josef looked at the other children. "Have any of you heard about this other Stargate from your families?"

The other children all shook their heads. They had never heard about it. They didn't even know much about the great stone circle that was close to their village, just that it was fun to jump through when your parents weren't around watching!

Sam carefully considered what Josef had been telling her. If he was right, there might be another way to get off of this planet and get the children back to Earth. "Josef, do you think you could find where this other gate is?"

"My father took me as far as the end of the valley once. It is a day's journey. From there, he pointed the direction to me and told me it was another full day's journey. You have to travel through a forest for a way but always can see the Wasling Ridge as you walk through the forest. There is only one place where the four great ridges meet. I think I could find it easily," responded Josef.

The children remained quiet as Sam contemplated this turn in events. Could the children withstand a two, possibly three day journey through the valley and over ridges to find this other Stargate? They were all wearing long sleeved tunics with leggings underneath. Their shoes were made of sturdy leather which should help them on their journey. The temperature was quite moderate so she didn't feel as if the elements would be a problem. She had the food she took from the meeting house, about a dozen energy bars and five MRE's in her pack. The stream seemed to travel along this valley for quite a while so water shouldn't be a problem. The smaller children might have a harder time, but she and the older ones could help them along. Her mind made up, Sam took a deep breath and addressed her group of seven.

"Okay, we are going to take a bit of a hike and try to find the other Stargate. It might get a little tough for us but I know that all of you can do it. We'll help each other out and take things slowly."

"Are we going to leave now?" asked Teegan. He was actually quite tired and didn't think he could walk much farther.

"No Teegan," Sam took his hand in hers. "It is getting too dark." She looked up at the setting sun, figuring they only had about 30 more minutes until it went behind the ridge for the night. "We'll find a cave to stay in tonight, then head out in the morning, OK?

"Good," the little boy replied. "'cause I am getting tired and hungry."

Sam laughed gently at the little boy who reminded her of Daniel. "I am too! Let's refill the canteen and head out. Kellan, do you know of some caves to the south of here? I think it will be safer than the caves up near the Stargate."

"Yes, Major Sam. There are some other caves around the bend of the stream."

"Great. Let's go troops!" Sam tries to interject some enthusiasm into her voice. She wanted the children, especially the younger ones, to think of this as a grand adventure! She stopped and refilled the canteen, dropped a water purification tablet into the container, and hefted her pack onto her back. The children followed Sam as Kellan led them to the south, away from their village and the frightening warriors who had taken them from their families.

The small group made their way down the stream and turned south as the stream meandered in the same direction. Kellan walked a few more meters, then stopped and pointed to the right. "There are 3 caves up there Major Sam. They are all big enough for us."

Sam looked at the cave entrances. Two of them were too far up to climb right now. The sun nearing ever closer to the top of the ridge and she didn't want anyone stumbling in the dark. The other one was easily accessible but she felt it was too easy to see should any Jaffa come patrolling the valley. "Kellan, are there any other caves close by? I was thinking about something that was a little more hidden from view, but not too hard to climb up to."

Kellan thought for a minute then smiled at Sam. "Follow me." He led them for another 3 minutes then stopped and pointed to his right. "Do you see that cave there?"

Sam looked carefully. All she saw were shrubs. Then, about 5 meters up, she saw a small dark opening, half of it covered by the shrubs. "Perfect Kellan," she smiled at the boy. "Let's head up there everyone!"

It was an easy climb to the cave's entrance. Sam shined her flashlight and looked around inside. It was a bit smaller than the briefing room with some ledges near the back. There appeared to be several grass mats on the ground by the ledges. Kellan came up to stand beside her as she looked at the mats.

"My friend Roan and I found this cave last year during the dry season. We came here a lot when we wanted to be alone," he stated quietly.

Sam looked at Kellan and noticed that his eyes were moist. She remembered that Treyem had told her there were 10 children in the village. She had seven of them, that meant 3 were missing, one of them obviously Kellan's friend Roan. Sam got the other children settled on the mats, handed them each a chuck of bread from the bag of food she had taken from the meeting house, and then led Kellan and Josef away from the others. She wanted to find out about the other 3 children from the village.

"Kellan, do you know what happened to Roan?"

"When I was being taken into the meeting house, I saw two Jaffa leading Roan and his sister Shayla to the courtyard. They stopped in the middle and some large rings came down. The rings went back up, and they were gone." Kellan began to cry silent tears. Sam put her arms around the boy and hugged him tightly. He pulled away, a bit embarrassed at his tears, and began to eat his bread.

"I saw the same thing happen to Shosona. She was a friend of Kiera's, also twelve years old," Josef added.

So, Sam thought to herself, there was obviously a ship in orbit around the planet. She wondered once again who these Jaffa were serving. She had been unable to get a clear view of the cartouche on their foreheads. They were obviously here for the same reason that SG-1 came to the planet, for the weapon. Unfortunately for the people of Kortaul, the Goa'uld had also acquired a few new hosts in the bargain. Sam thought sadly of the three missing children. She wished she could have rescued them as well. She shook herself from her thoughts; she had much planning to do before the start of their long hike tomorrow.

A/N: I'd just like to thank everyone for all of the wonderful reviews so far and hope you are enjoying the story. Get a good night's sleep, because the hike starts tomorrow!