A/N: I've been meaning for the last… oh five chapters lol to give you all a little update on things. My boys (Sam and Dragon) are not precisely boys anymore. Lol, yep, got them neutered the week before Christmas, poor babies. A friend at work recommended her best friend, a vet at another clinic, who quoted a figure at least $400 less than the $1000 figure I'd been originally quoted. And to boot, I rather liked her and I think I'll switch. So Sam had his hernia repaired, and Dragon got a chest x-ray and EKG, which came back normal. Their fur is growing back nicely. Aside from a rough first night, healing went smoothly (poor Sam bought himself an e-collar when he refused to leave his tummy alone, which caused him to freak, and he got into the litter box and got wet clumping litter caked all over his backside, and I had to wash him off. He was crying, I was crying, it was awful, but after that they both settled down and went to sleep. Thankfully, no more problems after that.)
My upstairs is starting to look like a room again, actually three rooms now! New sheet rocking is almost done, and the new bathroom upstairs is almost ready to be sanded and painted, then the fixtures installed. After that, its onto the new downstairs bathroom and kitchen. Should be done in a couple of months… (sigh)
Some of you may have also noticed the other story I'm working on, Moo X-treme. Don't let the crossover scare you off. Basically, an online friend of mine a few years ago (before I met him) created a drawing of a stick horse that says moo (it's a little confused). Surprisingly, the little drawing took on a life of its own, and now has a following of people that enjoy each other's company online and adding their own embellishments to StickHorsie and its story… There are stories, poems, games, and an entire wardrobe for Horsie. One story, by Horsie's creator, has Horsie stepping into some machine, and going off to somewhere unknown. Never finished, I couldn't resist the thought of "What if it was a wormhole? Could a drawing come to life?" So if you get bored one day, and want something a little bit different, and a lot of fun to read, take a peek at Moo X-treme.
Anyway, here's the latest chapter, and I'm already working on the next one, as well as actually having a plan for the next several chapters, so with any luck updates might come quicker, but no guarantees. Writers block and life have been striking me at the oddest moments… I hope you'll enjoy this chapter, for some reason there was a lot of opportunity for Jack's sarcastic wit in this one and the next, which I shamelessly took advantage of.
Daniel took a deep breath. "The way to reverse the machine is on the bottom of the device, the one side we can't get to."
Chapter 6: A Small Problem
"Well that's a problem." Jack O'Neill muttered, breaking the silence that had followed Daniel's announcement.
"Sir. We can just send an email to General Hammond, explain the situation." Carter was already heading to the keyboard.
Jack blinked. "I knew there was a reason we kept you around Carter. Good thinking." She flashed a smile over her shoulder as she climbed to the keyboard again, and Teal'c was already pushing the mouse over the correct program icon. Jack shook his head, and hid a grin, then looked to the keyboard with a sigh. "Here we go again," he muttered under his breath and went to join his second. Not needing to study the text on the screen, Daniel joined them, taking the middle section.
They got started "typing" out the email, briefly debating over the subject line. Jack unilaterally decided on "Honey, I shrunk SG-1" and refused to be argued with. The others gave in, knowing when best to let him have his way. They did however refuse to allow him to type the words "help me" repeatedly into the email. Or to include the words to "It's a Small World." Or allow him to request that Stuart Little be shown as the next base movie. They also wouldn't let him extend an invitation to come visit them in "munchkin land." His request that they ask to have the theme song to Smurfs played over the base's loudspeakers was blatantly ignored, although they did glare when he started to sing it under his breath.
With Carter and Daniel offering most of the real suggestions, the email was quickly ready. "I think that should do it sir," announced Carter. Jack waved a hand over to Teal'c, who moved the mouse pointer over the send button. The others watched his progress. Teal'c reached up and pressed the mouse button with a click. Immediately, the computer shut down and all the lights in the roomflicked off with a pop, plunging the room into darkness.
In the sudden silence that followed, Jack could be heard to remark, "Wow. Never had that happen before, and I thought I'd experienced every computer problem known to man." Within seconds of the lights going out, the green emergency lighting flickered on, casting an odd glow in the room. Jack squinted into the gloom, trying to make out the rest of his team.
"Sir, that wasn't anything we did." Sam started picking her way across the keyboard in the dim lighting, looking around and up at the ceiling as if the darkened lights would provide some clue. "They must have cut power to my lab."
"Behind on the payments again, are we Major?" Jack didn't need the light to feel the heat of her glare.
Responding before Sam could say something she might regret, Daniel added his own observations. "Jack, they must be taking precautions, the device likely let off a surge of energy, and when we disappeared…" he trailed off. They all knew the drill. An unknown power surge, four people missing. Procedure was to cut power and do damage control until the problem could be sorted. Jack sighed.
"Perhaps our email was delivered, O'Neill." Teal'c had abandoned the now useless mouse, and come to where his companions could see him better. Fortunately, the emergency lighting provided enough light for them to see their immediate surroundings reasonably well.
"Well kids, looks like we wait here. Why don't we grab a bite?" The colonel sat down on a nearby pen and rummaged in his pocket, pulling out a slightly squished candy bar. "Let's see. You can have a power bar… or a power bar. What'll it be?"
Sam unsuccessfully hid her smile as she joined O'Neill on the impromptu seat. "I don't know, sir. I think the power bar sounds good, what about you Daniel?"
Daniel grinned, joining in. "I would actually rather have the power bar myself."
"Indeed. The power bar would be most satisfying." They grinned at the man's rare display of humor, and Teal'c neatly caught the power bar that Jack tossed his way. Quickly, they shared out the few bars they had been carrying, eating in companionable silence.
After their small meal, they spread out to explore the tabletop, with a quick admonishment from the Colonel to stay nearby. Unfortunately, there wasn't much left on the table of any interest, most everything having been blown to the floor due to the energy wave. Carter shook her head in dismay, there had been a stack of files on her desk she had spent the morning organizing. Without much to distract them, the four members of SG-1 eventually drifted back to where they'd eaten their meal.
Soon bored, Jack started up a game of I Spy, and the others joined in, not having much to do without the lights on, or anything to look at. The game was simple enough that Teal'c grasped it right away, but they were limited to objects in the nearby vicinity due to the dim lighting, which left a rather small number of potential objects to spy. The restriction had little effect on O'Neill enthusiasm for the game however. On the other hand, it made the objects in question rather easy to guess.
After guessing for what seemed like the thousandth time, that the Colonel had spied the computer, Carter sighed in frustration, glancing at her watch. Over an hour had passed since their aborted attempt to email the General. He should have seen the message by now, as she had marked it priority. "Sir, I don't think anyone is going to come check up on us."
Daniel nodded in agreement. "Jack, I think we're going to have to try and get someone's attention."
"And just how do you propose we do that? In case you haven't noticed, we seem to be having a bit of a small problem here." Jack's voice was sarcastic as he motioned to their bodies.
Teal'c cocked his head to the side. "I concur with Daniel Jackson and Major Carter. We must leave this room and find another way to alert the base to our current predicament."
Jack sighed again. "Yeah, ok. Plan B. Any suggestions on how we get out of here? I don't think even any of us could fit around the door."
"Sir." Carter caught his attention. She was looking up, towards the corner of the room. About a foot, maybe less, from the table stood a shelf. But she wasn't looking at the shelf, rather above it. Jack followed her gaze and frowned. Sensing his hesitation, Carter quickly spoke again. "It's the only other way out of here sir."
Jack kept frowning, but unfortunately had to agree that the Major was right. It looked like they would be going for a little stroll in the air vents, whether they liked it or not.
