A/N: Lovely reviews! Kind reviews! Ahhh… thank you all so much. It's the reason I write – there's no point unless I know people are reading and connecting with it – so thanks!

I've added a few author's notes in the main text for this one… there are a few Australian things I thought should be explained immediately (although I get from the reviews that there are quite a few Aussies reading this – I really hope I don't contradict your own experiences/knowledge)

Extra special mentions (cos you're all special):
Flatkatsi: If Jack was going to be visiting anyone downunder, he'd be coming to my place first!
BookWorm37: You're a cracker… I'll tell you that. You're half right with your guess about the light…
Arrant Schemata: Ok. I'll finally admit it – I can't work it out. I'm asking…
Revvie: Patience… patience…

Enough of this – otherwise I'll have to start posting my author's notes as separate chapters! Here we go again!

Chapter VIII – Iridescent blue

Jack had had enough of this country, and he'd only been there for nigh-on 5 minutes. He looked at the Aboriginal man standing before him in disbelief. First, he'd been misled about how long it was going to take to get to Australia (try 20 hours, not 17). Then, he'd been misled about the climate: if it was this hot in the early evening, then it was obviously waaaaaay hotter during the day – and quite definitely not 'spring', but SUMMER. And finally, after being assured of the military nature of this operation, and of the fact that he would be in charge, it appeared that some cocky Aussie and his American bonehead of a contact had gone off and started the mission before disappearing from the top of Australia's most visited landmark!

"Whaddaya mean, disappeared!" He roared at Doug, who was now almost cowering on the spot. "WHY had they started the mission without us!" Feeling increasingly furious he started shouting at the top of his lungs, ignoring Sam's hand on his arm, trying to calm him down. "THIS IS NO JOKE! PEOPLE COULD GET KILLED! OUR PLANET IS IN DANGER AND SOME HALF-BRAINED IDIOTS THOUGHT IT WOULD BE A 'GOOD IDEA' TO HAVE A LOOK AT THE SITE WHERE WE'RE PRETTY SURE THERE'S SOME FUNKY ALIEN TECHNOLOGY!"

Jack stopped shouting and let his words sink in. His breathing heaved as he tried to catch his wind after the outburst and he let himself be calmed down by Sam, who had moved even closer to him. Doug, for his part, looked like he might faint with a mixture of fear and mortification.

"Sir, I agree they should have waited for our arrival," Sam gripped Jack's arm a little bit harder. "But none of us envisaged them discovering anything of value before we arrived with the proper instruments for the search." She didn't let her grasp of his arm relax, but thankfully felt the muscles in his forearm do so slightly at the sound of her voice. "The most important thing for now is to figure out where they've gone and how."

"It sounds like it might have been an Asgard device," Jonas interjected, seeing Jack was now a little more open to discussion. "We should go down there tonight and at least look at where they disappeared from." He looked to Doug, who still hadn't recovered from Jack's outburst. "Can we do that? Head down to the rock straightaway?"

It took Doug a moment to realise that they were once again talking in a civilised manner. He avoided Jack's eye, as he was still glaring, and looked directly at Jonas. "Of- of course. We can all go down in my truck, or I think there's an extra one if you want more room…"

"Thank you Doug." Sam smiled at him warmly, trying to reassure the poor man who was still quivering slightly. "We'll take both trucks, I'd like to bring some of our instruments with us – they may help in locating the missing men."

Doug looked nervously from Sam to Jack, who was still glaring at him.

"I'll travel with you if that's ok Doug," Jonas piped up promptly. "I'd like to talk to you about the possible links with your mythology and what's happening here."

"I will also accompany you, DouglasGoonagulla," Teal'c bowed at him. "I am very intrigued by your culture."

Doug almost fell to his knees in gratitude as he realised that he would not be spending a three-hour drive with Colonel O'Neill in the same truck. With a dizzying laugh he finally managed to pull himself together, motioning for them all to follow as they headed off the tarmac towards the sun set low in the sky.

"Great, after a 20 hour flight, three hours in a truck on a crappy dirt road was sooooooo not what I needed." Jack grumbled as he and Sam sat uncomfortably in the LandRover. He sat discontededly in the corner of the car. "I feel like I should be driving.. sitting on this side of the car."

"Yeah, it's strange to be driving on the left side of the road." Sam mused, only half listening to what Jack was saying. "I guess it really wouldn't matter out here though – it's not as if there's a lot of traffic."

"Crazy Aussies." Jack sighed, focussing on the endless red country stretching as far as the eye could see.

Now fully dusk, it was difficult to distinguish between the sky and the earth. Sure, there was a clear difference between dirt and air, but the vibrant red colour of the sand seemed to dissolve seamlessly into the fiery orange sky of sunset. Even though Jack was looking out his window to the east, the sun's strength was such that even on his side there was what seemed like a veil of orange over everything. He'd been in deserts before, hell too many, but this was almost unreal in the true sense of the word. It had an incredible calming affect on him.

Mesmerised by the scenery, it took Jack a while to realise that Sam had said something. "Sorry?" He tore his eyes away from the scene to look back towards her, squinting slightly as the sun was blaring at him from behind the silhouette of her head.

"I was saying, apparently 'Aussie' is pronounced 'ozzie', not 'ossie.' " Sam smiled at Jack who looked like he'd been miles away. "Doesn't matter." She shook her head slightly and returned her eyes to the road – not that there was any need; there hadn't been any change of direction in the road for the past hour; they were heading due south.

"You were really trying hard not to think about anything on the way over, huh?" Jack grinned slightly as he looked to the road ahead, the billowing dust of Doug's truck a far-off sign of life in front of them. "You actually spent part of the flight looking at some file on pronunciation!"

"Yeah I guess." Sam was smiling too, glad Jack was relaxing after landing on what had definitely been the wrong foot back at the airbase. "It was actually a whole article on language differences – Jonas found it." She looked over to see a slightly apprehensive look on Jack's face, and couldn't help but laugh out lout. "Relax sir," she was still giggling, "I won't try to impose all my new found knowledge on you."

Jack felt as if he could kiss her. He turned quickly and grabbed at her upper arm with both hands. "Thank you!" He exclaimed with such exaggeration that it was almost comical: his eyes were wide, his eyebrows approaching the moon… Sam stopped giggling as his features relaxed, and held his gaze for a good ten seconds. Jack suddenly realised that unless he broke the contact, he actually would kiss her. Coughing nervously he released her arm from his grasp and indicated for her to return her attention to the road. "Much as I'm grateful, Carter, I think I'd like to arrive in one piece."

Sam was caught unawares by his words. She'd almost sensed something in that moment. Perhaps there wasn't really a divide between them… perhaps she'd been imagining it, creating it; or had at least misjudged his reactions. She quickly turned her attention back to the road in front of her – luckily nothing had changed and the truck was still perfectly on course.

"Sure thing sir." Sam settled back into the monotonous rhythm of driving towards the billowing dust of Doug's truck; this time contended in pleasant company. Glancing sideways she saw Jack was doing the same.

"Wow." Jack unfolded his tortured long legs gingerly as he got out of the car. "This is the rock, then?"

Rock was an understatement. As the small convoy of two trucks had passed over a long, gradual, ridge, the enormous phenomenon had suddenly become visible. The twilight made Uluru look almost purple as it contrasted against the deep red earth and the fading bluey-orange contradiction that was the sky.

Jonas didn't seem to have heard Jack. He, like Sam and Teal'c, was transfixed by the sight of Uluru. Only Doug had been paying attention. He looked on at the strangers with satisfaction. No matter how many times he saw Uluru, it amazed him. Beyond that, however, he loved seeing the reaction on people's faces when they saw it for the first time.

"Yeah, s'it arright…" he breathed, letting the words meld together, his wonder never abating. He had momentarily forgotten his fear of the Colonel. "Can't ya feel it's power?"

"Indeed I feel as if in the presence of something great, DouglasGoonagulla." Teal'c's eyes had widened, and the usually rigid structures of his face had softened. "I now further understand your culture's reverence for this natural wonder."

"Yeah…" Jack was uncharacteristically affected by the sight of Uluru, and was struggling to get his mind back to the task at hand. "Wow." He couldn't take his eyes off the rock, and stopped trying. "Dougie, how long before we get there?" he said, almost as if in a trance.

Doug started slightly at hearing Jack use his favourite nickname, but when he turned to look at the Colonel he saw nothing but genuine concern on his face. He ignored the apparent contradiction between this business-like man who stood next to him now, and the frazzled military hard-ass who had bounced off the plane not two and half hours earlier. Jack O'Neill just might not be that bad after all.

"It should only be about 40 minutes from here to the site where the guys are waiting for us, Colonel." Doug answered promptly.

Captain Stacey Hindmarsh had seen the approaching trucks from a long way off. The lingering light showed the billowing dust clouds emanating from both of them long before she could see the vehicles themselves.

"Hey guys!" She threw her head back as she shouted, her frizzy brown hair flinging out in all directions, just as the trucks became audible across the silent desert, indicating they were probably only a minute or two away. "We've got company – looks like the Yanks have arrived!"

(A/N: For Aussies, "Yank" is just a generic term for American – it doesn't have any regional connotation. It's NOT the same as saying "Yankee"… which of course is specific!)

"I bet they're pissed off." Sergent Bruce Mayne, a likeable looking man of about thirty with light-blond hair and even features, moved next to where Stacey was standing and spoke into the evening air. "Mission's hardly started and we've already lost the two best men we had to offer."

The two trucks had come to a halt about ten metres away from where they were standing and the doors were now opening. "Hey, We didn't lose them…" Stacey hissed to Bruce, "They disappeared…"

"In a flash of white light, right?" Jack had heard the last words out of Stacey's mouth and was already moving purposefully towards her. He saluted lazily, nodding at the welcoming committee. "Colonel Jack O'Neill, US Air Force."

Everyone who had been waiting for SG1's arrival immediately snapped to attention. As the most senior-ranked officer, Stacey spoke. "Captain Stacey Hindmarsh, sir! Royal Australian Air Force, Sir!"

Jack suppressed the urge to giggle at the formality of it all. "At ease Captain – it's good to meet you." As he continued with the introductions, he looked at the Australian officers in front of him carefully. They all looked afraid; afraid and overwhelmed. "I know how this must all seem to you guys." He addressed them once everyone had done saluting and shaking hands. "First I want to assure you I don't think anything bad has happened to Major Fletcher and Colonel McGregor." He looked sideways at Sam who nodded for him to continue; they'd discussed possible scenarios during the long drive. "We've seen alien technology able to transport people before, and it sounds like it might be one of those cases."

"Wot, loik sumethin beamed 'em somewhe-a!" Bruce's accent was so strong Jack could hardly make it out. "Wot is this, bloody Staa Trek!"

(A/N: That should be my first and last attempt at transcribing an "ocker" Australian accent – it looks ridiculous. I hope you all get the idea… for Bruce, think Crocodile Hunter… for the others, think Nicole Kidman or Heath Ledger if you've ever heard them speak with their normal accents)

"Exactly…" Jack nodded at Bruce, once he had deciphered the man's sentence. Provided they got an interpreter, he had a feeling they'd get along exceedingly well. "Well, not exactly like in Star Trek – no weird sound effects or miniskirts – but basically it's the same idea."

"So, where have they gone? Sir?" Stacey was finding it difficult to match Jack's relaxed stance. The pure hell of the past 20 hours – seeing the two men disappear right before their eyes, waiting in agony for the arrival of these galactic travellers, not to mention the threat of some hostile enemy coming to Uluru – was almost too much to bear.

"Actually," Sam spoke up, her eyes level with Stacey, who was about the same height as her. "we're hoping they've been transported to exactly where we want to go." She glanced at Doug, apologetic for the fact that they were essentially talking about violating his cultural heritage. "Our real concern is why they haven't come back."

"Is it not possible, MajorCarter," Teal'c ignored the obvious rise in tension among the Australian contingent as his low voice filled the silent vacuum of the desert, "that Major Fletcher and Colonel McGregor are merely unfamiliar with such technology and therefore unable to adequately manipulate the device?"

"Teal'c's right." Jack took control of the mini-meeting that was taking place out in the open. "If you can't contact them by radio it probably means they're too far underground. We've brought some alien doohickeys that should work better."

"Um, better? Sir? You mean you're going to try and disappear like them!" Stacey's expression had gone from curious reserve to unabashed horror. "But you don't know what- You can't just-"

"Hey Stacey?" Jonas stepped forward and touched her lightly on the arm. "You need to trust us on this. We don't have any time to waste – and we need to get to this naquada. They told you about that in your briefings, right?" His voice was soft and reassuring.

Stacey found herself calming down as she realised finally that she was no longer responsible – she could hand over to the Colonel and his team. She smiled weakly at Jonas in gratitude and looked over his shoulder to Jack.

"I apologise Colonel." She said matter-of-factly, "That was out of line."

Jack merely closed his eyes and waved his hand absentmindedly in the air, as if in a brushing motion. "It's forgotten, Captain - gone." He looked at her straight in the eye, serious again. "We've all got the same concerns – hopefully they're unfounded."

Satisfied they'd all been properly introduced and reinjected with morale, Jack's thoughts turned to the mission. Turning towards Sam he realised she'd already had the same thought and was actually unloading the trucks.

"Right. I guess there'll be no sleep for us any time soon." He mused to himself before clapping his hands together and surveying the people in front of them. "Ok mates," he emphasised the oft-quoted Australian stereotype, glancing coyly at Sam who giggled at his use of the word. "Let's move out – we need to find out where these guys are, and how they got there."

"So Carter," Jack was gasping for air as they continued to climb up the long spur of Uluru. It didn't help that he'd had to step on it catch up to Sam, who had been walking ahead of him with Jonas for the previous 20 minutes. Fit as he was, this was not the proverbial 'walk in the park'. The frequency of large clouds of air exiting his mouth with every breath against the rapidly cooling air of the desert night attested to this. "So," he continued, now that he'd properly caught up to her. "How'd I do with my use of the word 'mate' back there?" he nudged her playfully with his elbow.

Sam smiled at the sound of his voice, but kept her concentration on the task at hand – namely not falling off the path and down the increasingly steep side of Uluru to the ground, which was further and further away. It didn't help that the path was very well lit – the others having installed makeshift lighting the night before – as this meant that all around was an sinister inky blackness contrasting with the narrow passage of light they were walking/climbing along.

"You sure you want me to answer that question, sir?" She asked playfully, between laboured breaths as she kept pace with the determined Australians up ahead of them.

"On second thoughts, maybe not." Jack glanced at her quickly. "I was that wrong, huh?"

"In a word sir? Yes." Sam knew she was using a tone of voice that never would have been acceptable beforehand in her career. It probably never would be again. But then, the rapport she had with Jack O'Neill had never been like any other with a superior officer. She'd never teased a superior officer before meeting him; but then, her superior officers had never bantered so playfully with her either.

"Well, that's why I've got you brainy-types watching my six." Jack said humbly. "To tell me when I'm wrong."

Before she could react, Sam suddenly found herself much closer to Jonas than she had been before and she realised with a start that the people-train had stopped. With a jolt she lurched forward as Jack bumped into her – obviously he hadn't been concentrating as she had. She felt his hands grab onto her shoulders to stop her from falling. She let herself be pulled back towards him as he clung her to his chest, reassuring himself that she was ok.

"Shit, sorry Carter." Jack grimaced as he thrust his arms out to steady her, pulling her back against him. "Wouldn't want to lose you…" he added more softly, reluctant to let go of her now that he could feel her shoulders resting against his chest.

"You right there Major? Colonel?" The moment was lost when Bruce's not-so delicate voice roared towards them at high volume. "Thought you were gunna go A over T for a minute there!"

(A/N: 'A over T'means 'arse over tit'… people in my family at least actually use that expression… dunno about other Aussies. Oh but we say the letters, not what they stand for)

Jack let go of Sam so abruptly she had to fight to steady herself again. "We're fine Sergeant!" he growled back at the man, hoping they hadn't had an audience for those precious seconds leaning against each other.

"Good!" Bruce was still shouting from the other end of what appeared to be a small viewing platform on the trail. "We're here!" He added, somewhat redundantly

"Jeez Sergeant," Jack hissed as he strode passed Sam, Jonas and the others towards the Aussie larrikin. "You want the whole country to hear you!"

Before Bruce could answer, Stacey intervened. Suddenly finding herself at the spot where the others had disappeared from made her extremely nervous. She'd been dreading returning to the site ever since they'd raced down the side of Uluru at full speed, the night before. Now she just wanted to leave as soon as possible. The sooner they began, the better.

"Excuse me sir," she motioned behind her to the left, Jack's right. "Right near that those rocks over there. That's where they disappeared from."

Sam immediately precipitated towards the area indicated, as did Jonas. Teal'c started to do the same but Jack stopped him.

"Whoa there T." He cautioned. "Remember what happened last time you were unexpectedly transported by an automatic Asgard device?" Jack was thinking of the time that 'Thor's Hammer' had identified Teal'c as a foe and had nearly resulted in his death, not to speak of eternal entrapment in an underground dungeon where the only way out was for the symbiote to be killed.

Teal'c didn't say anything, but merely acquiesced to Jack's concern, with a nod of the head. The remaining people stood awkwardly on the spot, not speaking, while Sam and Jonas investigated.

"Sir, there seems to be an energy output from the general area." Sam was looking puzzled, her face contorted with concentration. "But it's not uniform; there are sporadic bursts of activity from different places. Oscillating frequencies." She looked up. "I don't understand it at all."

Jonas stood up from where he had been crouched with difficulty. "There's nothing here to indicate any transportation device." He turned his palms upwards in exasperation. "No engravings, not discernible pattern or structure to the distribution of various rocks…" he turned around full circle again, looking at the ground. "There's not even a clear indication of where the transportation area begins and ends!"

"Hmpf, great." Jack had just known this wasn't going to be a simple mission – even without the mystery disappearance of their contacts. For one, he never liked it when Sam didn't know the answer to a problem. Strange energy readings were nothing new – but usually she knew what they were all about. He moved towards the supposed 'transportation site' and crouched down to look at what he considered to be just another collection of rocks and dirt. Absentmindedly he brushed his fingers along the ground, feeling the coarse dirt, when suddenly he felt something quiver beneath his touch, a small vibration. He stopped still, not a muscle moving in his body. The vibration stopped. Slowly, deliberately, he started to curl his fingers into his hand but as soon as he flinched the slightest amount, he felt the vibration again.

"Sir! The energy readings are becoming more coherent!" Sam's voice was excited now, and coming closer to him. "Sir I'm reading a surge in power from your vicinity, you should back off!" Her voice now harboured the signs of concern.

Jack couldn't hear her. He was intrigued by the power he seemed to have over whatever force was beneath the surface, within Uluru. Every effort he made to move away only caused vibration. With an almost psychic revelation, he decided to see what would happen if he pressed his palm into the ground.

"Sir NO!" Sam lunged towards him and tried to stop him just as he pushed his hand into the ground, causing it to glow an iridescent blue. It was too late.

TBC

A/N: So how's that for a cliff-hanger? Where have they gone? What will they find there? Exactly WHO has been transported? What kind of device works from contact like that? If any of you have any thoughts, I'd be interested to hear them (although I already know what's going to happen – you never know when I may be influenced!)

I'll be trying to update this as soon as possible, but have another thesis draft due in later this week – that's why I worked to get this bit out there as soon as possible (I hope you were all impressed with the fast update)!

Please keep up your great reviews… they make my day!

PS. Just a pre-emptive note to Questionablelight: I know, I've put in a stereotypical Aussie character when I said I wouldn't (even worse, his name is Bruce)… but I'm not using anything that I haven't used or heard myself so hopefully that'll keep everything within the realms of reality.