Even as the Mok continued to purr, Mitchell turned to Sheppard, pulling her hand away from the soft fur.

"We'd better start heading back, Major. I want to come back here, though, when it's daylight outside. This thing has to be able to go outside, so this tunnel must lead out – and we're not going to check it in the night time."

In the light from her flashlight she could see him nod, and he pulled his hand away as well, giving the Mok a final pat. It made a disappointed sound, but didn't move closer like it had the first time. Instead there was another rumble from further back in the tunnel, and the creature turned its head to look behind it.

"Another one coming?"

They're social animals, Talon told her, still sounding as excited as if he'd discovered America. There could be an entire flock of them

Flock?

Whatever you call a group of them

Mitchell relayed what Talon said as she and Sheppard gave the creature another look, and then turned and headed back, watching over their shoulders to make sure it wasn't going to follow them. Which was the last thing they needed.

"So they're extinct everywhere else?" Sheppard asked.

"Talon says they are. Probably hunted for their fur, since it's the softest thing I've ever felt."

It wouldn't be the first time a creature was hunted out for its pelt, after all.

"As friendly as it is, it probably wouldn't have taken much."

She nodded her agreement.

"I imagine. It didn't look like a creature that lives in tunnels all its life, though, so chances are I won't be finding Mok fur in my blankets."

"Or Mok crap on the bottom of your shoes."

"Even better."

"What makes me wonder, though, is how you and Kale missed them in your flybys."

She shrugged.

"We didn't check out the entire planet," Melony admitted. "Once I found the lava tubes, I mainly focused on them. I figured we'd do a more thorough survey once I had a Jumper here, since there was no way I was going to ask Kale to fly around the entire planet."

"Maybe we should do that tomorrow?"

"Once we see where the Mok tunnel leads out at," she said. "We'll put up a marker that we can spot from the Jumper, so we won't have to search for it."

"Good plan."

She smiled, "I get them occasionally."

They talked of their plans for the rest of the walk – which was a bit faster than the trip down had been, since they now knew there weren't any major obstacles in their path that could possibly injure them, and they could walk with more confidence – and were soon back at the river.

"What did you find?" One of the Marines asked as Melony and John started undressing for their swim.

"You'll never believe it," Sheppard called, stuffing his clothes and firearm into his pack and chucking it over to the others, who caught it easily, and a moment later caught Mitchell's when she repeated the process.

The men picked up the end of the first rope, and Sheppard gestured for Melony to go first. Going back was a lot easier than the swim across, because really, the men just pulled her across, and all she really had to do was hang on.

"Should have brought a towel," she said as she scrambled out of the water and started unbuckling the harness, shivering, while the men picked up Sheppard's rope to haul him across as well.

"If we'd been thinking, we could have gone back for one while you were gone," Peterson said as Sheppard jumped into the water with an audible gasp. It was just as cold as it had been the first time.

"I'd have been sorely upset if something had chased me and the Major back up the tunnel only to find the three of you gone," Mitchell said, drying herself off with her shirt as well as she could before putting it on.

"Yes, Ma'am."

None of them wanted to upset her.

You're such a bully

I am not. I just want to remind them that there's a reason for the orders they're given, and that they're expected to be followed.

He mumbled something about military dictators, but Melony ignored him – although she was smiling slightly as the men pulled Sheppard from the water, looking like a drowned rat.

"Pleasant swim?"

"It's one way to wake up, I suppose."

She waited for him to unbuckle the harness, then handed him his pants.

"Come on, Major. I'll buy you a cup of coffee before bed."

OOOOOOOOO

"Amok?"

Mitchell shook her head.

"A Mok. Two words. One Mok."

"What's that?"

"A fuzzy black cow with water balloons hanging off its neck," Sheppard said.

They had returned to the main cavern to find it mostly deserted. McKay had sent everyone off to get some sleep for the night – they were, for the most part, sleeping in the tunnel that led to the ravine. There were a couple of guards on the Jumpers, just in case something unexpected happened, and a few people sleeping on them as well, but for the most part it was blankets on the hard floor.

The only people left in the cavern when they returned were Carson and McKay, who were sitting and drinking coffee while they waited for Mitchell's group to return, and a pair of Marines who were on standby in case Mitchell's team had found something dangerous and had needed backup.

Melony had sent all of them off to get some sleep, and she and John had joined the other two on the crates in the corner where they'd eaten their sandwiches earlier that evening. There they told them what they'd found once they'd crossed the river, and what they planned on doing the next day.

"A cow?"

Mitchell shrugged.

"It kind of looks like a cow – although Talon says they eat meat, too – he compared it to a bear."

"And you touched it?" McKay asked, shaking his head. "Are you nuts?"

"It purred." Sheppard said, shrugging as if he'd intended to pet the thing from the very beginning and hadn't been against the whole idea when Talon had suggested it.

"Maybe it hadn't been a purr," Rodney said. "Maybe that was the noise it makes before an alien pops out of its stomach and devours its prey."

"Maybe, but you'll have to see it to believe it. This thing is cute."

He made a slightly pained face.

"Does that mean you want me to go with you tomorrow when you go looking for it again?"

"Not unless we build some kind of bridge over that river," Sheppard said. "Neither of you swim well enough that we'd risk losing you in that current."

"Well, that's a relief."

Mitchell smiled, and shook her head, finishing her coffee.

"I'm going to go take a look around and then get some sleep. I suggest you guys do the same."

"I'll walk with you," Carson said, standing up.

She nodded, and the two of them headed down the tunnel that led outside, carefully avoiding any of those who were camped out on the floor. Behind them they could hear McKay asking Sheppard if they were going to build a bridge.