A/N: Plot bunnies! AH! Everywhere! Well, no, only one, and I'm pretty sure he's just been hangin' around for a while but got lost behind the toilet or something…
And what happened to my usuals? Please tell me you haven't given up hope on me macisgate, Coz.
And PLEASE, Anonymous Shadow – Have Faith!
It was a little over a week later when Daniel was given the clear by the Infirmary to go offworld again. The nurses, and perhaps even the occasional airman, were still slightly nervous around him, but he could deal with that, after all, he deserved it.
This morning he walked into the briefing room for SG-1's scheduled mission brief. General Hammond was seated at the far end of the table as usual, Sam on the left and Jack on the right, as usual. Teal'c, who just sat anywhere, was situated between Jack and Hammond. Daniel sighed and mentally sucked in all of this normality.
"Nice of you to join us Doctor Jackson," Hammond greeted him somewhat stiffly.
Daniel took his seat beside Sam.
"Alright SG-1. This mission is purely a chance for you to complete your re-con work. I still want to know if there is any civilisation on the planet."
"Sir, what if we are attacked by the reptiles?" Carter asked him.
"You will fire only if you have to. You will not, I repeat, you will not split up at any given time. Is that understood?"
"Yes Sir," they answered.
"Sir, I want to study these creatures more closely," Daniel told the General.
"Do you really think that wise, Dr. Jackson?"
"Well, I can't see any reason why not General, I mean, they only attacked me because I was in their territory."
"That is what you have come to believe."
"It's the best explanation we have General," Daniel cut in.
"Permission denied," Hammond said firmly. He didn't want any more disastrous attacks on his people.
"General-" Daniel started.
"My answer is no Dr. Jackson. That is final. You will go to this planet, scout for civilisation and resources ad return to base on schedule. Is this understood?"
"Yes General," Daniel resigned.
Hammond paused for a moment, and then told them, "You have a go-ahead for 11:30. Dismissed."
Hammond rose and left to his office, leaving SG-1 standing in the room.
"Jack, I have to see those animals," Daniel turned to the CO.
"Daniel you heard the man, re-con only," he said to Daniel, "Now, we have a little over an hour before we leave, so I suggest you all find what little doohickeys you might be needing and get them."
They left quietly and went to their respective quarters, from which they each emerged 40 minutes later, before they got equipped and checked out.
They left Cheyenne Mountain right on schedule, and being the middle of the day on P2X-726, the weather was deceptively clear. The sun was shining, the sky was blue, the clouds were white, it was poetically perfect. There were even small animals that looked like glass butterflies gliding about, and birds could be heard from within the forest. O'Neill couldn't help but get a bad feeling.
They quickly scouted the area and walked over to where they had previously set up camp. There was nothing there except patches of uncovered dirt where they had lit a fire. They moved on down a narrow, overgrown path that led south. It soon led into the forest but stayed within a few metres of the tree line. There were branches, leaves, vines and shrubs cluttering the track. They stayed on their guard but nothing happened and eventually they emerged onto an open flat piece of land that was completely covered in ankle-high soft, green grass. As they started walking through it however, they noticed tiny, grub-like things squirming their way through the grass around their feet. They glistened gold from the sun reflecting on them. O'Neill's stomach writhed inside him, adding to his feeling of unease.
They crossed the field and found themselves standing side by side on the top of a cliff, looking out on an incredible sight. There were houses, made from clean-cut wood, situated in blocks, much the same as on Earth. They could see the entire town, pushed together in a neat little square. On the outside of this grey and brown box were farmlands surrounding it on all sides.
Carter spotted another track that traced the edge of the cliff and led to the bottom. They made the gradual decent and after only walking for five minutes they were actually on a path that jutted out from the cliff face itself. They kept walking and the track led them right to the edge of the town.
O'Neill led the way down the gravel street, void of vehicles of any kind, flanked by Daniel and Teal'c, with Carter bring up the rear. The street was empty and just as O'Neill's gut flipped again a curtain rippled to their right.
"It's just like an old western movie," groaned O'Neill. He was getting sick of these cliché worlds.
"Sir," Carter got his attention and nodded toward a being standing in the front fenceless yard of what must have been his house.
O'Neill opened his mouth, then shut it again. Daniel stepped forward. Teal'c raised his gun. The animal staring at them was identical to the one they had killed, spare a strange red pattern that crossed its stomach. O'Neill switched the safety of his P-90 but Daniel stepped in front of him.
"Hello," he said and the creature blinked and flinches from being startled, "We are peaceful explorers from the planet Earth."
The animal just stared at him.
"Daniel! What do you think you're doing?"
"Jack, I don't think they speak English."
"Have you ever known any civilised animal we have run into to speak English?"
"We haven't run int-"
"Daniel!" Jack cut in, "We need to get back to the gate. Safely. In one piece."
"Actually, I don't think they speak at all," Daniel pondered.
"Have you been listening?" O'Neill was getting impatient.
"Sir, maybe we should split up," suggested Carter.
"No! No way, not a chance in hell!"
"Well, we need to get back to the gate and radio General Hammond."
"I realise that Major, thank you," Jack turned to Daniel again, "Daniel! We need to get out of here!"
"OK Jack," Daniel waved to the animal, who started again, and turned to leave.
When they arrived back at the gate Carter radioed Hammond while O'Neill and Teal'c walked a perimeter. Daniel, however, sat down and started drawing in the dirt with a stick.
"Sir, we've found civilisation," Carter replied Hammond's query of what news they had.
"OK, have you made contact yet?"
Sam paused, "Sort of Sir, you see, the animal that got Daniel? It was one of a civilised race."
"What are you telling me Major? That these people keep them as pets?"
"No Sir, I'm saying that these creatures are nearly as advanced as we are. They have built a large town and have a farming community from what we can tell."
"You made contact?"
"Well, we kind of just wandered in…"
"Major, where is Colonel O'Neill?"
"With Teal'c checking the perimeter, Sir."
"Very well, you are to tell him that you are to return to base ASAP."
At this point Daniel jumped alive and appeared on the video telemetry behind Carter.
"General," he said, "These animals are civilised. They have built a society for themselves. Do you really think we should just leave? Now? We could still try and befriend them, learn about them."
"Doctor, you should know more than anyone that they are dangerous," said Hammond.
"Yes Sir, but that doesn't mean that they weren't simply protecting their territory, or we may have even been at a sacred site of theirs,," Daniel protested.
"Yeah," O'Neill and Teal'c walked up, "That's happened before."
Hammond considered the situation for a minute, before asking Teal'c's opinion, "Teal'c, you know the most about different races first hand, what do you think?"
"I believe it would be unwise to leave at this point General Hammond," Teal'c replied and Daniel grinned, "I also believe that we should approach them with good intentions as allies," Daniel grinned even more, he could see Hammond starting to break, "But we should practice extreme caution."
The General broke and agreed to let them try and make a treaty with the race, but they were ordered to return to base within 36hours. He was not willing to trust the animals to be courteous.