The morning was sunny and the ocean relatively calm. The monsters of the night took a
back seat to the task at hand – going home. They tried not to leave too much evidence of
their ever setting foot on the planet. However, the thought of some future scientist
finding his graphite fishing pole in the midst of dinosaur bones just tickled Jack. They
filled the Styrofoam box with naquida ore and well as the one back pack they had. When
Jack tried to lift it he had to unload about half of the dense material. It was still close to
90 pounds.
The sound of the Zodiac motors brought Sam and Jack to the mouth of the cave. They chatted on the radios with their friends while they scanned the ocean surface for any sign of the nightly visitors. They hadn't looked at the beach because although in wasn't completely visible from the mouth of the cave they thought that the small raptors posed no threat to the well armed soldiers. When the rafts got closer to their location Jack heard Dixon say,
"I thought you said there was a relatively debris free sandy beach."
"Yeah. Don't you have the correct location? Do I have to send Carter out there with a red flag?"
"What the hell are all the logs?"
"Logs? Maybe they wash to shore last night. What the fu…"
His voice trailed off as he made his way down and around toward the beach. And there, sunning themselves, were some of the biggest crocodiles he had very seen.
Landing on the beach was definitely out and the creature didn't seem remotely interested in the rafts in the water. But O'Neill was sure that the minute he and Carter set foot in the water those crocs would all hear the dinner bell ring. After a brief discussion with Dixon it was determined that one raft would stay 20 yards off shore to keep an eye on the locals while the other got as close to the rocky outcropping as they deemed safe. Carter and O'Neill would climb through the rocks, the reverse of the way O'Neill had originally arrived and swim the rest of the way to the raft. There was no way they could carry all the naquida but to leave it all didn't seem like an option to Carter. O'Neill tied a rope to the back pack and placed it on one of the farther most rocks. From this rock Carter and then O'Neill slipped into the water and as silently as humanly possible swam to the raft and were pulled in gentle but swiftly by the airmen. One of the men gave the rope a yank and the bag splashed it the water. The man was unprepared for the weight of the pack and nearly went in after it if not for Teal'c grabbing him around the waist. The splash had two effects. The first was every crocodile opened its eyes and raised its head and second, O'Neill let loose with a stream of curses.
They managed to haul the back pack into the raft turn the raft around and glide up the river toward the Stargate. A few of the crocs slipped in the water to glide up stream along with the rafts, one or two of the actually swimming under the rafts giving them a subtle bump but nothing overtly threatening. The reptiles turned off a mile up stream and seemed to return to their companions. Thing seemed to be finally going right. They pulled the rafts in at the Stargate platform and unloaded. Dixon took command as he instructed his men to make sure to return the Zodiacs in one piece or there would be hell to pay – they all knew what a hard ass the General was about lost equipment. And so the men and the equipment went through the gate to the SGC. As O'Neill glanced back to this seemingly ideal world, warm and sunny with its peaceful gently flowing river, he noticed the damned back pack sitting where it had fallen when unloaded off the raft. He walked the 15 yards back to hoist it on his back while the last of the rescuers walked through the Gate. As he settled the weight on his back he hears the rustling in the bog.
Everyone was through but O'Neill. They expected the man to swagger through in his usual style but they heard him as soon as they saw him, hauling ass, screaming at them to shut the gate. On his heels was a creature, six foot tall, snarling, scaled, all fangs and claws. The wormhole dissolved and the iris slammed shut lopping off the last third of the creature's tail. The initial roar become a deafening screech the caused a moment of total inaction by everyone in the gate room but O'Neill.
"Shoot it. Shoot it." He could be barely heard over the horrific shrieks of the angry wounded monster.
Then at once every piece of ordnance trained on the creature let go, catching it mid air as it hurled itself at O'Neill. O'Neill was throwing himself on top of the person in front of him, Carter. His hand covered her face just as they both slammed into the concrete floor.
Blood, all she could smell was blood. It felt like she was drowning again, this time in blood. And the weight, she couldn't breathe with O'Neill on top of her and the last impact, it was like the building had collapse on them both.
The claw from the raptor's left hind leg impacted with O'Neill and hooked into his back as it fell dead on top of him. If it had fallen back instead of forward it would have ripped his shoulder blade from his body. Instead it left its talon deeply imbedded. Fortunately part of the creature was flung over the side rail of the gate's ramp. The airmen and medic rush to give aid, they slid Carter out but had to use a bonesaw to cut through the raptors middle toe to free the General.
SG1SG1SG1SG1
He lay in the infirmary bed while three nurses fussed over him. They had decided there was strength in numbers and Carter laughed form the doorway as he complained. They had him on his stomach while one cleaned and dressed the wound in his shoulder, another tended to the slightly infected slash on his back and the other checked his vitals and tidied up the bed.
"And they told me this was going to be a damned vacation, maybe get in a little fishing."
The sound of the Zodiac motors brought Sam and Jack to the mouth of the cave. They chatted on the radios with their friends while they scanned the ocean surface for any sign of the nightly visitors. They hadn't looked at the beach because although in wasn't completely visible from the mouth of the cave they thought that the small raptors posed no threat to the well armed soldiers. When the rafts got closer to their location Jack heard Dixon say,
"I thought you said there was a relatively debris free sandy beach."
"Yeah. Don't you have the correct location? Do I have to send Carter out there with a red flag?"
"What the hell are all the logs?"
"Logs? Maybe they wash to shore last night. What the fu…"
His voice trailed off as he made his way down and around toward the beach. And there, sunning themselves, were some of the biggest crocodiles he had very seen.
Landing on the beach was definitely out and the creature didn't seem remotely interested in the rafts in the water. But O'Neill was sure that the minute he and Carter set foot in the water those crocs would all hear the dinner bell ring. After a brief discussion with Dixon it was determined that one raft would stay 20 yards off shore to keep an eye on the locals while the other got as close to the rocky outcropping as they deemed safe. Carter and O'Neill would climb through the rocks, the reverse of the way O'Neill had originally arrived and swim the rest of the way to the raft. There was no way they could carry all the naquida but to leave it all didn't seem like an option to Carter. O'Neill tied a rope to the back pack and placed it on one of the farther most rocks. From this rock Carter and then O'Neill slipped into the water and as silently as humanly possible swam to the raft and were pulled in gentle but swiftly by the airmen. One of the men gave the rope a yank and the bag splashed it the water. The man was unprepared for the weight of the pack and nearly went in after it if not for Teal'c grabbing him around the waist. The splash had two effects. The first was every crocodile opened its eyes and raised its head and second, O'Neill let loose with a stream of curses.
They managed to haul the back pack into the raft turn the raft around and glide up the river toward the Stargate. A few of the crocs slipped in the water to glide up stream along with the rafts, one or two of the actually swimming under the rafts giving them a subtle bump but nothing overtly threatening. The reptiles turned off a mile up stream and seemed to return to their companions. Thing seemed to be finally going right. They pulled the rafts in at the Stargate platform and unloaded. Dixon took command as he instructed his men to make sure to return the Zodiacs in one piece or there would be hell to pay – they all knew what a hard ass the General was about lost equipment. And so the men and the equipment went through the gate to the SGC. As O'Neill glanced back to this seemingly ideal world, warm and sunny with its peaceful gently flowing river, he noticed the damned back pack sitting where it had fallen when unloaded off the raft. He walked the 15 yards back to hoist it on his back while the last of the rescuers walked through the Gate. As he settled the weight on his back he hears the rustling in the bog.
Everyone was through but O'Neill. They expected the man to swagger through in his usual style but they heard him as soon as they saw him, hauling ass, screaming at them to shut the gate. On his heels was a creature, six foot tall, snarling, scaled, all fangs and claws. The wormhole dissolved and the iris slammed shut lopping off the last third of the creature's tail. The initial roar become a deafening screech the caused a moment of total inaction by everyone in the gate room but O'Neill.
"Shoot it. Shoot it." He could be barely heard over the horrific shrieks of the angry wounded monster.
Then at once every piece of ordnance trained on the creature let go, catching it mid air as it hurled itself at O'Neill. O'Neill was throwing himself on top of the person in front of him, Carter. His hand covered her face just as they both slammed into the concrete floor.
Blood, all she could smell was blood. It felt like she was drowning again, this time in blood. And the weight, she couldn't breathe with O'Neill on top of her and the last impact, it was like the building had collapse on them both.
The claw from the raptor's left hind leg impacted with O'Neill and hooked into his back as it fell dead on top of him. If it had fallen back instead of forward it would have ripped his shoulder blade from his body. Instead it left its talon deeply imbedded. Fortunately part of the creature was flung over the side rail of the gate's ramp. The airmen and medic rush to give aid, they slid Carter out but had to use a bonesaw to cut through the raptors middle toe to free the General.
SG1SG1SG1SG1
He lay in the infirmary bed while three nurses fussed over him. They had decided there was strength in numbers and Carter laughed form the doorway as he complained. They had him on his stomach while one cleaned and dressed the wound in his shoulder, another tended to the slightly infected slash on his back and the other checked his vitals and tidied up the bed.
"And they told me this was going to be a damned vacation, maybe get in a little fishing."