Teal'c shook off the momentary coldness that always accompanied gate travel, as he stepped onto P3X-149. The rainstorm that had earlier raged over the planet was gone, leaving the sky clear, if overly chilled. Observing the immediate area, he saw nothing but rain-washed trees and soaked grass. Satisfied all was well, for the moment at least, he relaxed his hold on his weapon and moved aside to let his comrades pass through the gate. O'Neill came directly after him, Teal'c did not miss how he too sent a wary glance around the Stargate area. A few paces behind him followed Major Carter and Daniel Jackson, gate travel had apparently not interrupted their conversation, as they remained immersed in debate. Both maintained a loose grip on their weapons though, years of experience having made them cautious rather than careless. As it should be.

"Ah my favourite type of planet." O'Neill's voice broke into his musings. "Quiet!"

"A condition that would be better maintained if you were to lower your voice O'Neill." Teal'c himself injected, noting the somewhat smothered amusement of Major Carter and Daniel Jackson with satisfaction. O'Neill directed an annoyed but tolerant look in his direction, "Yes…Daniel, where is this holiday spot you and Carter wanted to check out?"

"About an hour or so…" Daniel Jackson consulted a map he had kept conveniently located in his front jacket pocket, and looking up, pointed northwards "That direction!"

O'Neill nodded and rapped out briskly, "Okay, Teal'c take point, Carter rearguard, Daniel…lead on."

Assuming his position at the front of the group, Teal'c established a steady pace, listening half to the light hearted banter of his teammates, and half to the stillness of the forest about them.

They'd been marching about a half hour or so before anything happened. The way was pretty straightforward so Daniel's only real job was checking the map ever so often against his compass to check they were still enroute. This left him lots of time to think, hypothesise, make suggestions to himself about what they might encounter. The novelty of travelling through the gate to 'meet and greet' had never really worn off for Daniel. He'd found the 50th mission as fascinating as the 1st. Even more so when it hadn't involved being kidnapped, tortured, killed etc.

Those missions were always the best.

His attention was suddenly drawn from his internal musings when he walked smack into Teal'c who had stopped stock still in front of him. His instinctive 'Ow!' was quickly smothered as he saw the hand Teal'c had held up. Beside him, he saw Jack and Sam quietly move into position, guns at the ready. But what was the cause for alarm?

Teal'c pointed to a mass of bushes and undergrowth ahead and to their right, "Over there." he informed them in his quiet but ever calming manner. Jack nodded and with a jerk of his head indicated Sam should follow him. They vanished into the greenery and Teal'c resumed his pace forward, in a far more noisy manner.

Guess they were the distraction.

Raising his voice he mused aloud, "The natives of Arro Giboni of course were supposedly among the most advanced of the east African tribes…" A short shriek and a scuffle from ahead, Daniel was considerably relieved to see Jack strolling out into the open with a more relaxed expression on his face. Sam followed him, half leading, half pulling along a kid, a girl of maybe twelve years old. Her dress could be from a century or two ago, well made, but smudged with dirt. The child herself was pale and a little too thin to be healthy. He could see what had given her away now, tied tightly around her wrist was a woven bracelet with small bells interlaced into it. Kind of hard to stay hidden attached to your own personal alarm bell.

"Daniel, Teal'c, I think we've just met the first of the locals." Jack said easily, turning to the struggling child, "and where might you be from young lady?" Jack crouched down as Teal'c moved to help Sam maintain a hold on the kid who was making a pretty good effort to escape. Probably terrified poor kid.

"Who are you? How can you come near me?" Well she spoke English, his services probably wouldn't be needed. Despite her obvious fear, she addressed Jack in a haughty manner Daniel had hardly ever heard in children her age. Jack threw him a questioning glance, he shrugged. Leave it up to him, he had way more experience with kids.

"We're from…a place far far away. Come to visit you. And why shouldn't we come near you? We don't bite honest."

Way to go Jack, give the kid more ideas. He was about to add something more reassuring to his friend's explanation when a grimace of pain passed over the child's face, and an almost desperate look appeared in her eyes.

"No! I must GO" and delivering a rather nasty bite to Teal'c restraining hand, she took advantage of the Jaffa's momentary recoiling to dig sharp nails into Sam's arm and twist away, vanishing back into the undergrowth, leaving nothing but the faint tinkle of bells on the air.

"Well that was odd." Jack O'Neill commented to no one in particular, more than a little bemused with the whole incident. "No, leave her," he said, seeing Carter and Daniel make a move to follow the kid, "I think we scared her enough. Besides, I think she made it clear she doesn't want to talk to us."

"That's never bothered you before." Daniel commented with a slight edge of amusment. Jack gifted him with a glare. "Daniel, didn't you get told as a kid 'don't talk to strangers? She was probably late for dinner or something."

"I don't know Sir," this from Carter, "she looked like she's been out here a few days. Maybe she's lost or something."

"Carter, do you really want to get another clawing from the kid?" Jack responded, looking pointedly at the vivid red graze on his second's arm. "I'm sure she's fine. If we see her again, we'll ask if she needs any help, but I think chasing after her might just result in another unpleasant confrontation. And next time, I might be the one getting bitten!" He glanced at Teal'c, the teeth marks of the girl were still pretty visible on his hand, she'd even drawn a little blood. Wow. "When we get to the village, we'll ask if anyone's lost her." he continued, seeing the look of uncertainty pass between Carter and Daniel, "for now, I suggest we get a move on? Only a couple of hours daylight left by my watch."

With a nods and a 'yes sir' from Carter, the group resumed their trek towards their destination.

I know, bad me, I haven't updated for ages! I promise new chapters will be more forthcoming from now on. Reviews make me write faster

Savin, Macisgate, iamadragonrider- Thanks, I'll do my best.

Sandy- I don't recall ever asking for flames. Negative criticisim is one thing, I find flames just plain unhelpful.

SJDM12- Good