The hike to the foothills of the mountains where the caves began was a quiet affair, each member of the team wrapped up in their own thoughts, their own concerns and worries.
For Daniel, every step brought him closer to his friend and the possibility that they might not find him alive. Hope was fading fast under the thick gloom of clouds hanging above their heads.
He tried to keep an ember alive, continually fanning it, keeping it burning, for once that tiny flame diminished there would truly be nothing left.
Peterson was quiet as he walked abreast of Daniel, the young man's face was dark and brooding and he made no effort to offer up his thoughts or feelings for conversation. If Peterson's thoughts were as dark as Daniel suspected, perhaps it was for the best that they didn't speak at all.
To Daniel's eye, it seemed little, if any, hope remained with him.
Teal'c's determination, however, burned bright as he led them forward, his feet sure against the broken ground, his course never straying, his stride never hesitating.
Jack was like that.
Strong.
Bold.
Sure.
He instilled faith and confidence in the men he led, which was ever more in evidence in the teams who had appeared in their doorstep early this morning. They were here to find Jack. In a certain sad way, finding the scientists had become a secondary goal, a secondary mission.
Jack would never have stood for that. For Jack, others always came first.
But even now, hiking as part of a rescue team in search of a wayward Colonel, Daniel's goal was clear and his motives personal. To him, they needed to find Jack—come hell or high water.
A raised hand from Teal'c made them pause. He tilted his head to the side, listening into the wind.
A few minutes passed before he waved them forward and Daniel picked up the pace until he was striding alongside his friend.
"What was it?"
"I am uncertain. The foothills of these mountains are concealing something."
"What?"
"I am uncertain," Teal'c said turning his head slightly and Daniel caught the hint of humor in his eyes. "They are concealing it."
Jaffa jokes, something he had yet to understand. "How much farther?"
Teal'c pointed ahead of them, past a clearing of trees. "I believe O'Neill began his search at the caves just past this rise. He is most methodical in his methods in instances such as these."
"You mean there's a method to his madness?"
This time Teal'c didn't pretend not to comprehend the meaning of his words, the backward jab at an absent friend. "I do not understand why you insist in tearing down O'Neill. Does not every word you use against him also fall upon you? Did you not choose O'Neill as a friend? Does not that speak badly of your judgment in the matter? You might be well advised to adjust your perception of him prior to his discovery."
"But I do trust—" Daniel began to say, but Teal'c increased his pace, leaving the archeologist speaking to himself. Time to continue this discussion, however, was over as the entrance to the caves came into view. Teal'c paused at the mouth off one of them, his staff weapon at the ready.
"Lieutenant Peterson, accompany Daniel Jackson down the passage on the right. Lieutenant Collins, you will accompany me."
Both of the Lieutenants moved quickly to comply while Daniel stood off to the side, watching the dance in a different way than he had before. He could see the decision of who to send with whom weighing heavily on the Jaffa, but that did not hamper his movements. Instead, it seemed to add a seriousness, a confidence that Daniel hadn't bother to look for previously. Was it the same with Jack?
"Doctor Jackson?" Peterson was standing at his side, a puzzled look on his face.
"I'm sorry," he said, realizing that Collins and Teal'c had already entered their designated search area after the young Lieutenant had parked the FRED at the mouth of the cave. "Was thinking about something. And please call me Daniel."
"Yes, Sir—eh, Daniel," Peterson stumbled over the words, but added a sincere smile at the end. "Sorry. Habits die hard."
"I know how it can be."
Switching on their flashlights, Daniel and Peterson entered the passage, their beams scanning the walls and the floor before them. Dust particles danced before their eyes, caught in the light, gracefully floating along the currents in the air.
Moving forward, they kept up a consistent pace, slow and steady, making sure not one inch of the cave was missed.
The sound of Sam's voice nearly made Daniel drop his flashlight. "Carter to search party, do you read?"
"Affirmative, Major Carter," Teal'c replied, his thick voice carrying loudly over the radio.
"The UAV is in the air and is heading toward the mountain range. It should be over your position in a few minutes. So far there is no evidence of any life signs."
"Understood."
"Any signs of the Colonel or the scientists?"
"No. We have only begun our investigation of the cave system. It is most disconcerting, however."
"How so?" Sam's voice held a hint of worry.
"I am uncertain as to the source of my discomfort."
"Daniel," Sam said, "have you found anything?"
"Nothing, Sam. Just a lot of dirt and dust. Nothing more."
"No weird feelings?"
"I'm an archeologist, we live in small places for most of our life. This doesn't bother me."
Her chuckle over the radio brought a smile to his face. "Understood. And, from the looks of things, there is an energy reading to your east, and it's pretty sizable. Nothing concrete, but it is out of the ordinary."
"We're going to head that way when we finish this passage. How far down is it from where we are?" Daniel asked.
"Hard to tell," Sam said, her voice hesitating and Daniel could see her squinting at the readout before her. "Several hundred yards, if not more. It has to be a big tunnel."
"We'll keep an eye out for it."
"I'm going to send the UAV around a few more times before I bring her down and then we'll meet you at the caves."
"If you see anything else let us know."
"Will do. Carter out."
"So, Peterson," Daniel said, turning to the younger man, "are you ready to blow this passage and head for the next one?" He was ready to move on, to check out that reading Sam had mentioned.
"Look at this, Daniel," Peterson said several beats later, the beam of his flashlight focused on something in the middle of the passage—a glint of metal in the dark lying beside a hunk of rock.
He kneeled down, his hands reaching for the hilt of the familiar blade as the queasiness in the pit of his stomach deepened.
Lifting the knife, it reflected the light from Peterson's flashlight, even covered as it was in a light coating of dust. But even as he took in all the details of the object he held in his hand—the well-worn hilt, the sharpened edges—something beyond caught his eye, trapped in the same light.
It looked like a rock, but as Daniel bent closer he realized it couldn't be, it had to be something else. A stalagmite, perhaps? But why was it so small?
He kneeled down, poking the hard substance with Jack's knife.
It moved, tipping over.
Daniel could feel his eyes widen as he looked closer at the small stalagmite. But even as he reached for his radio, another call came through, the harried tones of a nervous Jaffa.
"Daniel Jackson, do you read?"
"Teal'c, I have to show you something."
"Remove yourself from the caves immediately."
"What?"
"Do not hesitate. Leave now."
Glancing up at Peterson, Daniel realized his own horror had to be reflected in the young Lieutenant's eyes. For something to spook the Jaffa—
Without hesitation, Daniel climbed to his feet and ran.
He did not look back.
XXX
One last breath.
What if this was it? What if this was the last breath he would ever take?
Was he happy with his life?
He'd done some good, he knew. He'd saved some people's lives, but yet, he'd also taken many in his time—more than he wanted to count.
And the most recent was no better than a child.
Reese.
A child in a woman's…a robot's body. A child with a terrible past. A child who wiped out her own civilization with a toy.
A child who only wanted to be loved and accepted.
Daniel had bonded with her in a strange and terrible way. He understood what she was going through, the feelings of loneliness, of wanting to belong, of wanting to be loved—even once.
He'd been there before. He knew how much it hurt, the gnawing ache that grew inside and consumed all hope until it was mended.
What if Daniel had been right? What if she was going to shut down all those replicators?
Had he killed for no reason?
But even now, only a few breaths shy of his last, he knew in his heart that he'd done the right thing. Any hesitation on his part and things might have gone horribly wrong.
He had been standing on the edge. The decision was his to make.
And he had.
XXX
Sam leaned back and stretched, her eyes still fixed firmly on the monitor in front of her. The UAV was heading back for its final pass and she'd been able to put together the readings from each of the three passes to make up a much more detailed picture of the area.
Movement distracted her momentarily as a mug of coffee appeared at her elbow. She glanced up, flashing a smile of appreciation to Major Warren who returned it warmly.
"Anything?" he asked, gesturing to the monitor, the quiet sounds of conversation a comforting background.
She shook her head, sipping slowly at the mug warming her hands. "Not much. For the last pass I increased the altitude to see if we could get a better picture of the whole area. But, honestly, I don't think we're going to find them this way."
"It was a good idea," Warren said, pulling up a chair to sit beside her.
"But we ended up wasting time when we could have been searching for them on the ground."
"I don't think this was a waste of time. We know for sure that they're not off in the middle of the forest somewhere. They have to be in those caves. At least it narrows it down," Warren said, his reasoning sound, but Sam still couldn't shake the feeling that they were running out of time, that every second she sat in this chair was another chance that something could go wrong.
She sighed and glanced back at the monitor, checking the UAV's readings. Her eyes widened immediately and she sat up straight in her chair, shoving her coffee cup roughly to the side, drops crashing over the edge, spilling on the tabletop.
What the…?
"Major?" Warren asked, noticing her reaction, but she ignored him, concentrating instead on the screen before her, her fingers walking hurriedly across the keys, checking to make sure the readings were right.
Her left hand quickly snagged her radio, but before she could press the button Teal'c's voice came over the airwaves. "Daniel Jackson, do you read?" His voice sounded strained and if her readings were right, he had every right to be. But how did he know?
Daniel, of course, didn't hear, or didn't notice the stress she could hear in the Jaffa's voice. "Teal'c, I have to show you something."
"Remove yourself from the caves immediately."
Something had warned him of the danger.
"What?" she heard Daniel reply, something finally clicking with the archeologist.
Teal'c's voice was firm, unmovable. "Do not hesitate. Leave now."
"What's going on, Major?" Warren asked, the tension thick in his voice. With the volume up on the radio, it was hard to miss the conversation going on with the search party. And it was obvious that no one had missed it, the silence in the tent palpable.
Sam raised a finger to the Major, making him wait as she pressed the radio call button. "Teal'c? Daniel? Do you read me?"
She waited several seconds before trying again, the tension in her stomach a rock.
"Daniel, do you read? Teal'c? Lieutenant Collins? Peterson? Someone please respond."
The next few moments were agonizing.
Before she signaled again, however, Teal'c's voice cut through the silence. "We are fine, Major Carter. Have you discovered something?"
"You could say that, Teal'c. Somehow—and I don't know how—but according to the reading that I'm getting from the UAV that entire mountain is alive."
XXX
It was kind of annoying.
He had been enjoying the peace and the quiet of finding a measure of calm before he met his maker. He'd more or less resigned himself to the fact that it was happening.
But then, he had an itch on his nose.
And as soon as he realized that small point, other sensations started cropping up.
The ache in his knees.
The burning of various scrapes and scratches all over his body.
The sensation of a crust covering every part of him.
He could feel things again.
He couldn't move a muscle, couldn't even blink his eyes, but he could feel every single grain of dust and dirt on his skin.
He'd tried to move, but nothing responded to his commands, like his mind was disconnected from his motor functions, as if someone had short-circuited his wiring.
He liked it better the other way.
Much more peaceful.
Instead, he'd be able to feel everything—every ache, every pain—until he finally died.
And all he could do was wait for it to come—one painful second at a time.
XXX
Standing outside the mouth of the cave, Daniel shook his head in disbelief when he heard Sam's comment. "Alive? You're kidding."
"On the contrary, Daniel Jackson, I believe Major Carter is speaking the truth."
Daniel turned to the Jaffa, his eyebrows drawn together. Lieutenants Collins and Peterson, he saw, were wearing similar expressions to his own. "It's a mountain. It's natural to find living creatures in caves. I'd be surprised if we didn't find anything alive in there."
"No, Daniel Jackson, Major Carter spoke of the mountain itself being alive and I believe it to be true. When we were exploring the passages my symbiote became agitated, much as it had once before when it was forced to neutralize a poison in my system. There must be something within the caves that emits a poison. My symbiote has only now begun to dispel it from my body. You, along with Lieutenants Collins and Peterson, have no such ability. It is not safe for you to enter these caves."
It was difficult to argue with Teal'c when he got that tone of voice, and Daniel didn't have the energy. He was too worried about Jack. He had to be in the caves, but where? And if the only way to find him was search every one of these passages, he wasn't going to let a little poison stop him.
But there was something else. It was nagging in the back of his head. If he was right, they might have even less time than he originally thought.
"Teal'c," Daniel said after several moments of thought. "I saw something in the cave when I picked up Jack's knife. It was a small rock or stalagmite…something like that. But it looked strange, not normal."
"I shall retrieve it for you," Teal'c immediately responded, moving toward the mouth of the cave. "Where was it?"
"About 200 or 250 yards in," Peterson replied and Daniel was grateful for the response since he hadn't been paying attention to where exactly they were in the cave, trusting the Lieutenant to do that.
The Jaffa nodded once and entered the passage at a run.
Daniel pushed the call button, radioing back to the camp. "Sam?"
"I read you, Daniel. Everything okay?"
"We're fine. Teal'c ran back into the cave to grab something I saw. Once he gets it we'll return to camp. Sam, by any chance do we have any hazmat suits?"
"I don't know," she responded, her voice hesitant. "I don't think they're part of the standard supply, but I'll take a look. Why?"
"I have a hunch, based on something you and Teal'c said. I'll know more in a few minutes. Daniel out."
"Carter out."
"What are you thinking, Doctor?" Collins asked, stepping closer, the young man obviously uncomfortable.
Daniel turned to Peterson who's face held a thoughtful expression. "Did you see the same thing I did?"
Peterson nodded slowly. "I think so." Daniel gestured for him to continue. "We discovered the Colonel's knife next to what looked like a rock, but when Daniel turned it on its side, it looked like there was something inside of it. It didn't look right."
"Exactly," Daniel commented, offering the Lieutenant a smile. "Once Teal'c brings it out we'll know for sure if we were just seeing things. And that should be right about now." He glanced down at his watch and sure enough, sounds of footsteps were echoing out of the cave, which were quickly replaced by the appearance of the running Jaffa.
"Was this the item to which you referred?" Teal'c held out the medium-sized object to the archeologist, and Daniel recognized it immediately.
"That's it," he nodded, reaching for it, but the Jaffa pulled it back.
"It is unsafe for you to carry. I shall bring it back to the camp."
Daniel nodded and dropped his hands.
As they started their trek back, Daniel's mind kept turning over possible scenarios—none of which ended positively.
He sure hoped there were hazmat suits in the camp because if he was right, Jack and those scientists might not have much more time.
XXX
He was hungry.
Trapped like a fly in a spider's web, and he was hungry.
If he could laugh, he would.
Hell, if he could scream he'd do that, but parts of him were still not in working order. It was frustrating, actually. Being able to think, to comprehend everything that was going on, but to do absolutely nothing about it.
The muffled groans and creaks of the cave above his head reached his ears, reminding him of exactly where he was, of how screwed he was.
They're never going to find me.