Dr. Braden was the zoological equivalent to Daniel's archeological/linguistics academic background. She was an expert on exotic animals that lived on this planet and after four years at the SGC, she was becoming the world's only expert on alien animal life. Jack sat back in his chair waiting for a simple answer to the question he had asked at least a dozen times in the last two hours. What the hell was that thing?
The good Doctor was doing her best to explain her theories and ideas based on what she had gleaned from the video, but someone had forgotten to tell her that she needed to use non-scientific words when talking to him. Jack had tried to stop her, but the doctor apparently wasn't as perceptive as Carter was; who knew just by the look on his face when to stop the techno-babble. He was far too polite to come right out and tell Dr. Braden to shut up, so he sat there, spinning a pen between his fingers waiting impatiently for her to stop talking so that he could ask questions to get the answers he needed in plain English.
It took awhile, but the Doctor finally stopped talking and sat back in her chair with a pleased look on her face. Jack hated to burst her bubble, but he needed to find out exactly what his people were dealing with. "Thank you doctor," he said politely. "Now if you would be so kind as to translate that into plain English?"
Dixon gave Jack a relieved look, while Dr. Braden glared at him. "It's a carnivore," she began again, stopping when Jack held up his hand.
"In English," he reminded her.
"A meat eater," she amended. "From what I could see on the monitor, it looks like an extremely large boar, but the length of the legs and the size of the jaws indicate that it's definitely canine. Dr. Carter was very astute in her description of the animal," she added.
"The speed in which the animal moved supports the canine theory. It also seems to be an intelligent being - notice how it lowered its head as it decided on its prey," she continued, pointing to the monitor. "It appears to be debating on who would be the best target. And it chose the man on the edge of the group, the one that was farthest away from the rest."
"How do we stop it from targeting my people?" Jack asked. "Colonel Carter said it was too fast for our weapons."
"I have no idea," the good Doctor told him. "That's your department."
It was Jack's turn to glare at her. "I see," he said quietly. He stared at her in silence, wondering if he would be justified in firing her based on the fact that he had decided he didn't like her. "Let me rephrase my question," he continued, his voice reflecting the cold anger that had taken over. "What characteristics or traits does the animal have that we could use against it in order to protect ourselves?"
"I would have to study the animal to get a better understanding of its traits and characteristics," she said. "As I mentioned, it appears to be canine and very intelligent. That's about all we know of the animal right now."
Jack turned his attention back to the monitor to get a better look at the beast that was causing him fits as he worried about his friends. He could see why both Carter and Dr. Braden compared it to a wolf. Its jaws and legs were long and lean, the tail hanging low. The body, however, was stout with short, bristly hair. Whatever it was, it posed a danger to his teams and Jack was determined to find out how to help his people deal with it.
"Tranquilizers may prove effective if we can get them into the animal," Dr. Braden told him, apparently deciding to try to be helpful.
"It's worth a try sir," said Dixon.
"Perhaps you could use someone as bait to have the animal come near enough to inject the tranquilizer into it," Dr. Braden added.
"Sure," Jack said calmly, despite the anger that was surging through him. "Perhaps you would like to be the bait?"
The Doctor stared back at Jack, her anger finally showing through the façade she had been keeping up. "General O'Neill, I'm sure you realize that I am at a disadvantage here in determining anything of value about that animal. I can only speculate on its tendencies and vulnerabilities at this point in time. You are asking me to make a judgment on an animal that I have only just become aware even existed."
"I am asking you to help me save those people out there!" Jack fired back at her. "You're supposed to be the expert on wildlife, are you telling me that with the vast amount of knowledge you claim to have on this subject you can't even come up with even a morsel of advice? What good are you to us?" This last question was asked out of pure frustration on his part and Jack wished he could recall the words the moment they were spoken.
Dr. Braden didn't respond right away. The look on her face indicated the intense anger she was experiencing. She brought herself up to her full height and threw her shoulders back before saying, "I am the best in my field, General O'Neill. But if you think you can do better, than by all means…" She stopped, glared at Jack, then picked up her reports and left the room.
Jack sat there in the stunned silence, feeling extremely guilty. The others were staring at him and he shrugged his shoulders before saying, "Was it something I said?"
Jack stared at the scenery on the other side of the wormhole through the monitor. All was quiet, too quiet for his tastes. He wanted to see people out there, SG-1 in particular. Where are they, he worried as he continued to watch the monitor.
He had gotten reports from the team that was left behind to secure the Gate that they had received radio messages from both SG-1 and SG-3, but those messages were sporadic and often interrupted by God only knows what. At least they were alive and able to try to communicate, Jack told himself to calm his anxiety.
The waiting was getting to him, with nothing to do but to stand there and worry. He had just about decided on what he was going to do to his friends as retaliation for all this worry, when he heard a message coming through the link.
"SG-5, this is Colonel Carter. Do you copy?
"Carter, this is Stargate Command. What is your position?' Jack asked before anyone else could say a thing.
"Sir, I will have to speak quickly to get this message through," Carter said. There is something in this atmosphere that is hampering our communication efforts. I haven't quite figured out exactly what it is, but it appears that there are sound waves that are interfering with our radio transmissions. Daniel keeps telling me that it has something to do with smoke on the water, but we can't be sure what he is trying to tell us. He's not doing too well sir," she added quietly.
"Can you get back to the Gate?" Jack asked, as memories of his conversation with Daniel just the day before floated through his mind. They had talked about that song…
"We must be close sir," Carter replied. "This is the longest conversation we've had via the radio since we arrived here. It's hard to tell, as we keep running into batches of thick fog."
"Get yourselves back here," Jack demanded. He'd had enough of this crap. He didn't have this much trouble when SG-5 had gone to the planet earlier, why is it when SG-1 goes there as a team that everything goes to hell in a hand basket? "Any more Bigfoot sightings?" he asked.
"By Bigfoot, I take it you mean the animal that attacked Daniel?" Carter responded. "We've only seen it once since then and by chance we've discovered that it is afraid of the fog."
Ha, take that Dr. Braden! Jack thought viciously. The victorious feeling faded away though, as he realized something. "Carter, there's no fog by the Stargate, at least none that I can see. Harper," he called out to the leader of SG-5, "how far away is the fog from the Gate?"
"There is no fog sir," Harper replied. "It's still daylight here sir and there is none whatsoever."
Damn, that means they were still a long way from the Gate. "Carter, get your ass to the Gate. Now Colonel," he commanded, resorting to demands in hopes of gaining control of the situation.
"Yes sir," she said. "Are the Jaf…"
Jack was getting used to the silence that followed. "She did it again!" he exclaimed when he realized the communication was cut short. "She did it again," he repeated, turning to Dixon, who was standing next to him. The worry and aggravation was getting to Jack and he really wanted to find something to punch. Too bad Teal'c wasn't here to become his sparring partner.
Instead, he turned back to the monitor hoping, by some miracle, to see every member of the three teams standing in front of the MALP cheerily waving at him. "Any signs from SG-3?" he asked Harper.
"None sir," came the response.
"Here sir," Reynolds voice said over the communication link. "Do you copy?" he asked almost as an after thought.
"We copy," Jack replied. "We've made contact with SG-1 and they are attempting to return to the Gate. I want you to do the same Colonel," he added.
"Roger that," Reynolds said. "Although the fog is…."
Jack didn't dare say anything at that point. The irritation brought on by the continued interruptions of the communication between him and his teams brought back the anger he had felt earlier, only this time it was ten times worse. He stood there with clenched fists, trying desperately to calm himself, to not take his anger and frustration out on the people in the control room, but it was extremely hard.
He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, struggling valiantly to calm himself. It took a moment for him to realize that the silence in the room meant that his people were all trying to make themselves as inconspicuous as possible, and this eased his tension somewhat. They knew him all too well and the look on his face must have been thunderous.
"Colonel Harper," Jack said, having calmed down quite a bit. "I want those teams back at the Gate as soon as possible before any more Jaffa show up. Bring them home Harper." He turned to Dixon and said, "I am going to go make a visit to the gym and beat the crap out of the punching bag. Keep me informed the minute any of those teams show up at the Gate."
"Yes sir," Dixon said with a grin. "Better that bag than me," he added. Jack found himself smiling as he walked out of the control room.
