Jack and Sam entered a small clearing and found Teal'c examining a door in the side of the mountain. It was massive, and even Jack could tell that it had been altered at least since its construction. At some point, the mechanism which opened the door from the outside had been crudely chiseled off, and a large stone cross had been affixed to the lintel.
"It is of Goa'uld construction, O'Neill," Teal'c reported without turning around. "It is very old."
"Can you open it?"
"The mechanism is gone. It can only be opened from the inside."
"Can you blast it with your staff weapon?"
"No I cannot," Teal'c replied. "I have been attempting to communicate with Daniel Jackson, but he will listen to neither my calls nor my knocks."
"We have reason to believe that Daniel's not in any condition to open the door," Sam said. "Can I hot wire it somehow?"
Teal'c gestured to the hopelessly mangled remains. Sam looked at them apprehensively, and then fell to work. While she fiddled and cursed and prised at the fused control plate, Jack explained the latest development to Teal'c.
"Sir, I think I've got it," Carter announced after about fifteen minutes.
"Open'er up."
"I really don't know if that's a good idea, sir."
"Why not?"
"Doctor Fraiser can no longer be exposed to the sun, O'Neill. This cave faces southwest," Teal'c pointed out. "If we open the door, she will undergo Inferno."
"An if we don't, we're leaving Daniel inside with someone who will eat him," Jack replied a good deal less sedately.
"Sir," Sam said uncomfortably, "Daniel knew all this before he shut the door."
Jack made a face and kicked the door. The door was made of naquadah, Sam could feel her blood singing when she got closer to it. She could not feel Jack's toes at the moment, but she knew that they were in a significant of discomfort, none of which showed up in Jack's face.
"Fine," he barked shortly. "Major, the instant the sun is gone, open that door. Not one minute later."
Sam nodded and glanced at Teal'c. Teal'c understood her unvoiced question and nodded shortly.
"O'Neill, I believe we should return to the main path and wait for Major Griff. The trail is not well marked, and we wish for SG-3 to find their way with all speed."
Jack glanced at Sam, fully aware that he was being handled. He nodded and sighed, and went with Teal'c back towards the path. Sam stayed in the glade willing the shadows to lengthened and waiting for the darkness to come.
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Daniel couldn't move. He had never been in so much pain in his entire life. Vaguely, he recalled ribbon devices and torture sticks. Even passing through the wormhole was nothing compared to this. He was in a cave, but he could not remember why, or how he had got there. His head rested on something soft, something familiar, but he couldn't place that either.
"You are my sunshine,
My only sunshine."
The voice was thin in the darkness. Thin and weak and mad and infuriatingly familiar. Why would his brain not work? Why could he only ask questions and not find the answers? This was not how things usually were.
"You make me happy
When skies are gray."
There was an irony in that song. A cruel, horrible, aching joke which, if he'd had the strength would have made him laugh or cry. He hadn't and did neither. He could only dwell on how damn familiar the song was, and how he should know what it was.
"You'll never know dear
How much I love you."
A hand passed over his face. The hand was familiar as well, but strangely alien. Maybe this was hell for scientists, a place where there are only questions and never answers. The hand was covered with alien scarring, but he liked it. This was comfort. He remembered that much.
"Please don't take my
Sunshine away."
There were noises coming from the door. He remembered shutting the door, shutting out something horrible and wondered if he should be worried that it sounded like the door was going to open soon. He lost consciousness with none of his questions answered, and Janet, trapped in her own sedated hell of blood and darkness, prayed for light, for salvation. And for death.
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"Fire in the hole!"
Despite Sam's best efforts with technological tinkering, it was C-4 that finally got the door to open. Sam had been able to release the clamps by fiddling with the door mechanism, but it simply would not open. Jack had rigged the smallest amount of C-4 he could to the door, and they'd all held their breath during the explosion, trusting that the mountain would remain above their heads. Of course, there had been a significant delay, which Jack had chafed at and Sam felt personally responsible for. He had restrained from making any disparaging comments, which had only served to worry Sam more; Jack only shut up when he was really worried.
"Clear!" announced Major Griff from inside. "Crombie, you'd better get in here."
The medical team rushed into the cave, and SG-1 followed. The sight that met their eyes was not a pleasant one. Daniel's fire had burnt down to embers and when Abernathy rekindled it and light again filled the cave, Sam was not the only one who gasped.
Daniel lay on the floor, horribly pale even in the ruddy glow of the firelight. Janet sat leaning up against the wall. Jack could hear her humming softly as she stroked Daniel's face, and the light in her eyes reflected madness.
"Dr. Fraiser? Janet?" Alison said calmly. "I need to look at Dr. Jackson."
"Janet did not move as Alison knelt down and began to examine Daniel. Griff had looked to Jack for permission, and at the Colonel's reluctant nod, leveled his tranq gun at Janet. Just in case.
"Crombie?" Jack asked.
"He's lost a lot of blood, Colonel." Alison wrapped Daniel's wrist with a pressure bandage as she spoke.
"I was expecting Janet to be a little more...volatile," Sam admitted, quietly.
Janet had not moved since they entered the cave, though her hand continued to stroke Daniel's face. She had ceased humming when they began to talk, but she had not looked at any of them or otherwise made any sign that she was aware of their presence.
"I believe this may be the reason," Teal'c said, holding up a bottle. "It appears that Daniel Jackson has sedated himself."
He passed the bottle to Alison, who read the label and turned very pale.
"Colonel, we have to get them home immediately. We'll carry them on the stretchers, and we should probably restrain Janet in case the drug wears off, but we have to go now."
Jack knew when to defer to a lesser ranked authority, and he stepped back to allow the med team to assemble the stretchers.
"Wait," said Sam. "Can't you inoculate Janet here?"
"I can't, Major Carter," Alison said heavily. "Dr. Fraiser is allergic to penicillin. The treatment would kill her."
No one spoke for a few minutes as the med team put Janet on the first stretcher and SG-3 started for the 'Gate with her. Sam's mind was full of radiation and cures and sunscreen, all of which were useless to help her friend, and she stood like a stone in the centre of the cave. As Teal'c and Jack lifted the stretcher carrying Daniel, he moaned and Sam flew to his side.
"Janet?" he said desperately.
"It's okay, Daniel," Sam said, taking his hand and feeling guilty for lying through her teeth. "We've come to take you home."
"Can't...penicillin," Daniel rasped.
"We know, Daniel," Jack said gently as he and Teal'c moved to the carry position.
"Alternate...alternate..."
"Alternate what?" Sam asked, but Daniel's head had lolled to the side as he lost consciousness again.
"Come on, Carter," Jack said as he and Teal's lifted the stretcher. "He can tell us when we get home."
With the medical team preceding them, SG-1 came out of the cave and began their long starlit journey back to the Stargate.
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to be continued….