Chapter 3: I won't be left behind
"Uh, Jack?"
"Yeah?"
"Those deathgliders are getting very close, don't you think?"
"Yeah."
"Well, shouldn't we take cover?"
"Yeah. Run!" In true SG-1 style, Doctor Jackson threw himself to one side while Teal'c and Jack threw themselves on the other side of the blast, and Doctor Jackson ended up falling down a hill - almost a cliff - badly bruised and winded.
"Daniel!" His radio clicked. "Daniel!"
"I'm alright," he managed. "I just fell, that's all." He forced himself up and brushed the dirt off. The glider was nowhere in sight. "I'm not sure how to get back up."
"Well, we're under fire here."
"I'll circle around and get back to the temple some other way. You go."
"No one gets left behind."
"I won't get left behind. Go." Almost as soon as the acknowledgement came in he heard someone coming through the bushes behind him and skidding to a stop. He whirled. "Who's there?" He studied the thick underbrush carefully. "Who is it?"
A staff blast just missed him from the hill-top. He leaped behind a fallen log. "Great," he said to himself. "Just great." Then he realised the Jaffa weren't shooting at him. From his right came six thin blue blasts in quick succession with a strange sound. Up at the cliff-top, six Jaffa either slumped or fell down the way he had, bouncing sickly with limp limbs.
"Who's there?" he said. "Who are you?" He didn't raise his gun.
A moment later a tall woman stepped out of the thicket, a strange weapon in her hand. He blinked. She wore her own camouflage gear, which seemed to be brown overclothes with green stains, and had bronzed skin and incredibly thick wiry black hair tied harshly back in a bun, except for one thin braid on the left side of her face which hung to her waist. Rips, bloodstains and burn marks on her clothes testified she had been more than a bystander in this fight. She raised the weapon. He raised his hands.
"I'm Daniel Jackson. I'm from the planet Earth."
She frowned and said something in a language he had never heard before. He shook his head and tried Goa'uld. She shook her head and tried a different language. After that she shrugged, holstered her weapon - a belt holster, he noted - and stepped closer, then her head snapped around and she hissed.
The quick remark she made seemed laced with warning, and she started running. After a moment he joined her; he could hear Jaffa in the distance heading their way. "So you don't like the Goa'uld either?" he asked hopelessly. "You can't understand a thing I say." She gave him a puzzled look, hooked one hand around his elbow and started to sprint. If she weren't towing him, he'd never have been able to keep up.
They burst out of the forest next to a rocky series of cliffs. She nodded in satisfaction and gestured that they should climb. He blinked, then blinked again as she jumped her own height straight up with no visible sign of effort. She stretched a hand down and pulled him up just as easily.
As they climbed, he tried again to communicate with her while keeping watch for gliders, but no matter what languages they tried they couldn't make any headway. He recognised nothing she said, and she evidently recognised nothing he said. After a few minutes they ran out of languages and just climbed.
"Who's your friend?" Jack was waiting at the base of the ladder. Teal'c was looking at her with a warrior's appraisal. She looked at him, dropped one hand to her weapon, half-drew it and then relaxed.
"It's alright. He's on our side."
She looked blank.
"Are you alright?" O'Neill asked her.
She shook her head. "Sy'lathia ne'fedre' ma'shikweh?"
"What?"
"She doesn't speak English, Jack," Daniel explained.
"Alright, what does she speak?"
"I have no idea…whooof!" The tall girl knocked him flat just as a glider came in for a close pass and fired at exactly the spot he had been standing. It had come in undetected over the temple roof and done a tight loop.
"Hey!" Jack yelled.
"Jack…" Daniel had taken a rock splinter right through his thigh and was holding it tightly to control the bleeding.
"That's the last glider," Jack said tersely. "We can't climb up with that circling. Any ideas?" The girl drew a long knife from a thigh sheath and lopped off the thin braid, using it as a tourniquet on Daniel's leg and swiftly withdrawing the rock splinter, then ripping off a sleeve for a pad revealing a scorched white under-tunic.
"Made a friend?" Jack asked. She looked up, as if carefully gauging distances, watching the rope ladder swing in the breeze. Finally she nodded in satisfaction and pointed to the three of them, then the ground.
"I think she wants us to stay here," Daniel said dubiously.
"Well, we can't take it out with these guns, so unless Sam can get more weapons fast…" He turned to ask something, but the bronze-skinned girl was already thirty feet up the ladder and still accelerating.
They stared in disbelief.
"Uh, Jack?"
"Yeah?"
"Those deathgliders are getting very close, don't you think?"
"Yeah."
"Well, shouldn't we take cover?"
"Yeah. Run!" In true SG-1 style, Doctor Jackson threw himself to one side while Teal'c and Jack threw themselves on the other side of the blast, and Doctor Jackson ended up falling down a hill - almost a cliff - badly bruised and winded.
"Daniel!" His radio clicked. "Daniel!"
"I'm alright," he managed. "I just fell, that's all." He forced himself up and brushed the dirt off. The glider was nowhere in sight. "I'm not sure how to get back up."
"Well, we're under fire here."
"I'll circle around and get back to the temple some other way. You go."
"No one gets left behind."
"I won't get left behind. Go." Almost as soon as the acknowledgement came in he heard someone coming through the bushes behind him and skidding to a stop. He whirled. "Who's there?" He studied the thick underbrush carefully. "Who is it?"
A staff blast just missed him from the hill-top. He leaped behind a fallen log. "Great," he said to himself. "Just great." Then he realised the Jaffa weren't shooting at him. From his right came six thin blue blasts in quick succession with a strange sound. Up at the cliff-top, six Jaffa either slumped or fell down the way he had, bouncing sickly with limp limbs.
"Who's there?" he said. "Who are you?" He didn't raise his gun.
A moment later a tall woman stepped out of the thicket, a strange weapon in her hand. He blinked. She wore her own camouflage gear, which seemed to be brown overclothes with green stains, and had bronzed skin and incredibly thick wiry black hair tied harshly back in a bun, except for one thin braid on the left side of her face which hung to her waist. Rips, bloodstains and burn marks on her clothes testified she had been more than a bystander in this fight. She raised the weapon. He raised his hands.
"I'm Daniel Jackson. I'm from the planet Earth."
She frowned and said something in a language he had never heard before. He shook his head and tried Goa'uld. She shook her head and tried a different language. After that she shrugged, holstered her weapon - a belt holster, he noted - and stepped closer, then her head snapped around and she hissed.
The quick remark she made seemed laced with warning, and she started running. After a moment he joined her; he could hear Jaffa in the distance heading their way. "So you don't like the Goa'uld either?" he asked hopelessly. "You can't understand a thing I say." She gave him a puzzled look, hooked one hand around his elbow and started to sprint. If she weren't towing him, he'd never have been able to keep up.
They burst out of the forest next to a rocky series of cliffs. She nodded in satisfaction and gestured that they should climb. He blinked, then blinked again as she jumped her own height straight up with no visible sign of effort. She stretched a hand down and pulled him up just as easily.
As they climbed, he tried again to communicate with her while keeping watch for gliders, but no matter what languages they tried they couldn't make any headway. He recognised nothing she said, and she evidently recognised nothing he said. After a few minutes they ran out of languages and just climbed.
"Who's your friend?" Jack was waiting at the base of the ladder. Teal'c was looking at her with a warrior's appraisal. She looked at him, dropped one hand to her weapon, half-drew it and then relaxed.
"It's alright. He's on our side."
She looked blank.
"Are you alright?" O'Neill asked her.
She shook her head. "Sy'lathia ne'fedre' ma'shikweh?"
"What?"
"She doesn't speak English, Jack," Daniel explained.
"Alright, what does she speak?"
"I have no idea…whooof!" The tall girl knocked him flat just as a glider came in for a close pass and fired at exactly the spot he had been standing. It had come in undetected over the temple roof and done a tight loop.
"Hey!" Jack yelled.
"Jack…" Daniel had taken a rock splinter right through his thigh and was holding it tightly to control the bleeding.
"That's the last glider," Jack said tersely. "We can't climb up with that circling. Any ideas?" The girl drew a long knife from a thigh sheath and lopped off the thin braid, using it as a tourniquet on Daniel's leg and swiftly withdrawing the rock splinter, then ripping off a sleeve for a pad revealing a scorched white under-tunic.
"Made a friend?" Jack asked. She looked up, as if carefully gauging distances, watching the rope ladder swing in the breeze. Finally she nodded in satisfaction and pointed to the three of them, then the ground.
"I think she wants us to stay here," Daniel said dubiously.
"Well, we can't take it out with these guns, so unless Sam can get more weapons fast…" He turned to ask something, but the bronze-skinned girl was already thirty feet up the ladder and still accelerating.
They stared in disbelief.