He was pretty sure that it was cosmologically impossible given the natural and ordered linear flow of time, but it seemed sometimes to Major Griff , especially now that he was getting older, 0400 came earlier and earlier in the morning. He was up 15 seconds before his alarm went off, of course, wide awake and completely prepared for anything the universe might throw at him, but that didn't mean he had to like it. He sighed, the sound doing absolutely nothing to fill his echoy base quarters. He wasn't that old, was he?

By 0415, Griff and the rest of the SG-3 Marines had gathered in the commissary for their traditional pre-mission breakfast together. All four of them had passed Dr. Fraiser's blood screening, and didn't have to take the allicin/penicillin concoction, but they were to wear the sunscreen, just in case. Captain Abernathy, Griff's scientifically inclined 2IC, was quite excited to examine the data about the Sandiem sun. Griff was not entirely certain if anything useful could come from a sun that had a tendency to turn people into vampires, but stranger things had happened.

SG-1 filed into the commissary around 0430, Dr. Fraiser with them. Janet immediately commandeered two entire pots of coffee. No one questioned why they might need so much. There was not much talk over breakfast, and if Daniel was a little more critical than usual as to what was on his plate, nobody elected to point it out.

By the time it was 0445, SG-1, 2, 3, 5 and 15 and a whole host of support staff had assembled in the 'Gate room. It was an odd assortment of personnel. There were physicists, archaeologists, marines, medics and regular officers to deal with the sun, the culture, the Sanoctem, the cure and any other eventualities that might arise. All told, about 40 people were preparing to depart.

In the Control Room, Sergeant Davis began the dialing sequence. At precisely 0500, the seventh chevron locked and the wormhole kawooshed into existence. Jack and Teal'c went through first, followed by SG-3 and SG-5. Sam and Daniel helped Janet and her team manoeuver their heavily laden FREDs through the 'Gate and then followed them. Janet ordered her teams through, and the rest of the soldiers brought up the rear. As Hammond watched almost half of his field officers and a good portion of base staff disappear, he sent his best wishes with them. Then the wormhole shut, and nothing else could pass through.

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Janet Fraiser did not get off-world very often. Whenever she did though, she was always surprised to rediscover that regardless of the years and physical distance between Earth and Where Ever, some things never changed. For instance, the Sandiem children invariably shuddered when she showed them the needle she was about to use to inject them. Then, they would cry and ask for their parents and Alison Crombie, one of Janet's nurses, would show them the stethoscope and have them listen to their heart beat, and Janet would give them the needle while they were looking the other way. Yes, some things never changed.

Janet and Daniel were largely responsible for the inoculations, though Daniel was currently serving as a file clerk. The others of SG-1 were spent their days scouting out Sanoctem camps. Daniel had told an abbreviated version of what happened to him every time someone questioned the validity of Janet's treatment, in Janet's opinion largely overplaying her role in it. In truth, Daniel had largely his own luck to thank, but to hear him tell it, she had personally worked a miracle. Still, it was nice to be appreciated.

Being appreciated by Daniel Jackson was still something she was coming to terms with. She assumed that Daniel had always appreciated her as a doctor, if only from the amount of time she had invested into keeping him in one piece. There was, however, a world of difference between the appreciation one showed one doctor and that which one showed after dinner, during moments stolen at work and while lying on the roof staring up at the night sky.

It had been a long three days since Janet had arrived at the Sandiem village. She had spent all the daylight hours inoculating the townspeople and organizing the SG teams to go out to the other villages. Often, she was up long past The Lighting, working on paperwork and manufacturing more of the vaccine in her makeshift laboratory. Daniel, who understood a great deal about such schedules, had brought coffee with him, and was always on hand to make sure she got at least four hours a night. Still, on the fourth morning, when the roosters crowed and the cathedral bells began to sing out to the morning, Janet had a hard time getting out of bed.

On the table beside her bed lay three things. The same three, in fact, as had been present every morning since her arrival, though she had yet to figure out how he was getting in it without waking her.

The first was a thermos, which she knew contained some of Daniel's carefully packed and jealously hoarded coffee. Jack had come into see her one day, and had smelled it in the air. When he wondered aloud where on Earth she'd got coffee, Daniel had turned slightly pink. Sam had explained afterwards that Daniel shared the coffee with absolutely no one, and that Jack was planning a lengthy interrogation when they all got safely back home.

The second was a basin of water, which went with the third object, the towel. This she knew had no hidden meaning. Water was water, even here. Spending only a few moments in indecision, Janet reached for the thermos and unscrewed the lid.

Her notes lay scattered around the room, covering the tables she had converted into lab benches and the crate of sunscreen which sat in the corner. As far as everyone else knew, no one was dependent upon the screen for protection for the sun. Janet, however, knew that there was one person who was both allergic to penicillin and susceptible to the radiation, and Janet was drinking her coffee. Accordingly, she had taken as many precautions as she could; limiting her exposure to the sun and applying the sunscreen more often than her own recommendation.

Janet set down the empty thermos and made her way to the basin. There were no mirrors here. Daniel had found that odd considering the circumstances. This made putting up her hair a challenge, but she supposed that her hairstyle was probably the least of her problems.

As she glanced down at the towel she was using to mop her sopping face, she realized that she was dead right.

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Daniel double checked his field kit, making sure that all of his gear was properly packed. He, the rest of SG-1 and Janet were heading out to look for a group of Sanoctem that SG-3 had been tracking for about two days now. Esser was going with them, partially because they needed a local guide, but also because Esser had spent much of the last four days in Janet's general vicinity and had become a competent field medic. The other SG teams were shipping out as well, each taking local guides and USAF medics.

"Daniel! Get moving already. We're on a bit of a schedule here," Jack yelled from the bottom of the stairs. "You too Fraiser!"

Daniel clipped his pack into place and headed towards Janet's room. The SG teams had been billeted out around the village and Janet had elected to set up shop in the attic of Aeronn's house. Daniel climbed the ladder up to the trap door and knocked habitually before pushing the door open and heaving himself through.

"Janet, are you almost ready? Jack's about ready to–" he trailed off and stared in horror at the pile of bloody kleenexes on one of the tables. "Janet?"

She blinked at him, uncomprehending, then realized what he was worried about.

"It's just a nosebleed, Daniel. Calm down. You know how it goes. Lack of sleep, strange planets, and whole world full of new allergies." Janet calmly picked up the pile and threw it into the fireplace. She hoisted her pack onto her shoulders, spent a few moments rearranging the various straps and took her hat out of her pocket. "Come on, Daniel. You know how the Colonel gets when he had to wait."

She brushed past him and climbed down the ladder without looking back. Daniel stood looking into the fire for almost a full minute before another bellow from below stairs jerked him out of his reverie and he too left the room.

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to be continued…