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Sam's legs were still feeling a little rubbery as they continued downhill towards the river. Their progress was slow but steady. The surrounding forest was virtually silent - not even any insects buzzing - probably, she reflected, because the weapons fire from their most recent battle had frightened everything away. At least, she hoped so. She only had one magazine left, and Daniel looked like he was starting to struggle. She moved a little closer to the archeologist, positioning herself to be able to help him in case he started to stumble.
When they came to another fallen tree trunk, Teal'c assisted again by allowing them to use his back as a step. This time, Daniel didn't pretend to protest, and when Sam's turn came, she sat down on top of the trunk to slide down the side instead of jump.
Unfortunately, by the time they started seeing and hearing indications of the river ahead of them through the tangled vines and trees, she was starting to feel sick again, and she seemed to be having trouble catching her breath. Her heart was pounding. She wondered if it was the gravity, or maybe a bizarre reaction to the oxygen deprivation they'd suffered on the ship. She thought about asking the others if they were experiencing the same thing, but decided she didn't want to hear the answer if it was "no." If she was honest with herself, it was more than a little frightening.
It came as a bit of a shock to acknowledge that she was scared. She didn't understand what was happening to her, and her whole body hurt… the situation didn't make sense, and she wasn't in control… not of anything it seemed… not even her own body…
"Sam?" A hand on her shoulder made her jump, and she looked up into Daniel's concerned face. "Are you okay?" he asked.
She looked around dazedly, realizing she had no idea of what had happened the past several minutes. Teal'c and the Colonel were far ahead. She swallowed, fighting sudden tears and the urge to confess everything to Daniel, confess how scared she was by the pain and confusion. But that would make her appear weak, perhaps even a coward. She shook her head. "Yeah."
Daniel frowned. "Sam?"
"I'm fine," she insisted. She just had to concentrate. One foot in front of the other. One step at a time. One step closer to the Stargate. One step closer to home. One step closer to her bed. One step closer to Schrödinger purring beside her as she drifted off to sleep.
They continued on, side by side now, and some part of her was distantly aware that Daniel's arm had somehow slipped around her shoulders, and his quiet voice occasionally spoke in her ear though she didn't understand the words. His close presence was a steadying influence, and she tried to match her breathing to his.
At some point she came to realize that they had stopped walking.
"I don't think she can make it by herself, Jack," Daniel was saying. He sounded tired.
A hand waved in front of her face. "Carter?"
Sam blinked, belated focusing on the blurry face of her commanding officer.
"You with us, Carter?"
"Sir?"
"What's the speed of sound at sea level?"
Sam tried to remember. "I…" She frowned. She should know that…
"Captain?" the Colonel asked impatiently.
"I can carry her across, O'Neill," Teal'c said.
Carry her? She looked around, surprised to see they had reached the top of the steep bank of the river. A fallen tree stretched across the current to the narrow beach on the other side. Though moss covered and branchy, the tree had been a safer route of passage than trying to swim the muddy river.
"As I recall, it barely held your weight the first time," the Colonel said.
"I did not intend to use the tree," the Jaffa said.
"What? Swim? I don't think so!" the Colonel said. "God only knows what kind of Jaffa-eating… things… live in there."
"Alligators," Daniel said, pointing downriver. "Or maybe crocodiles… Hard to tell… You can only see the eyes…"
"I intended that to be a rhetorical question, Daniel," the Colonel said.
"It wasn't really a question, Jack," Daniel said. "And I thought since we were discussing options you'd want to know…"
Sam took as deep a breath as she could, trying to slow her racing heart. She was NOT going to be carried across the river like a useless sack of potatoes. "Seven-hundred and sixty one," she said.
They looked at her.
"Seven-hundred and sixty one miles per hour," she clarified. "The speed of sound at sea level. On earth, at least." She smiled in relief. "I can make it across on my own, sir," she said, fairly certain she was speaking the truth. At least, if he let her go now, while she was feeling somewhat lucid…
"Look, Carter, I don't know if I can trust you. You're hurt, and you've been zoning in and out on us since…" He made a face and waved in the general direction of the ship. "I can't risk you passing out half way across the river. We'll come up with something… Where the hell is the rest of our rope?"
"Sam's pack," Daniel said. "Or was that supposed to be a rhetorical question?"
Sam winced as the Colonel cussed. It was one thing after another. They didn't even have enough rope to do a safety line across because she'd left her pack behind. No wonder he didn't trust her. Sam fought a wave of despair at that thought. He doubted her, doubted her abilities. Doubted her truthfulness. He'd asked her to carry her own weight back to the gate… ordered her to, in fact, and she was failing miserably. But much though she just wanted to curl up in a tiny ball and blissfully pass out, she knew she could cross the damn river if he'd just let her. "I can carry my own weight, sir," she said with a touch of desperation. "Just… let me go now..."
His eyes narrowed. He was short on options, and she knew it. Finally he jerked his head towards the river and the fallen tree. "Go." He grabbed her arm as she walked past. "Don't make me haul your ass out of that river, Captain."
She nodded, too breathless to speak. Crap, crap, crap. She could do this. She had to do this. Teal'c was not going to have to swim across alligator infested waters with her sorry corpse in tow.
A little more than two thirds of the way across, she started to feel faint again. She stopped, clutching at the flimsy support of a narrow, dead branch. She would not pass out, she thought angrily, fighting it with every fiber of her being. She would not pass out.
"Move it, Captain!" the Colonel shouted at her from the bank. "Get your sorry butt across the damn river before I come kick it in person!"
Responding instinctively to his command, Sam moved. Determined not to fall into the murky water swirling below, she maneuvered her way across the rest of the tree, stepping down onto the beach even as her vision began to gray.
She didn't dare to look back at her CO. She knew she needed to secure this side of the river, so she staggered to the sloping river bank and collapsed in a position to scan the forest, weapon ready. After doing a quick survey, she saw nothing to cause any concern. Relieved, she closed her eyes… for just a second, she promised herself… just a second…
"…all over the place, Jack," Daniel was saying.
"That can be one of the aftereffects of the device," Teal'c said.
"Why didn't you tell me this before?" the Colonel snapped.
"I believe I did, O'Neill," the Jaffa said calmly. "However, as you recall, I did not have sufficient information to predict if she was likely to be affected in any specific way."
"Dammit, Teal'c…"
Aftereffects? What device? Were they talking about her?
Sam opened her eyes. She was on her back on the bank, staring up at a patch of dreary sky beyond the tree canopy beside the river.
"Carter?"
Tree canopy, river, securing the scene… "Sir!" she said, trying to sit up, remembering what she was supposed to be doing. "Oh, God," she groaned in pain and dizziness from the abrupt change in position. Blinking back tears, her gaze drifted to two dead crocodiles - or animals that looked vaguely like crocodiles - on the edge of the beach. They each had multiple staff wounds on their backs. "Oh God," she breathed, heart sinking with the realization that she had failed spectacularly once again. She was supposed to secure the area, not become croc bait by passing out. "I'm so sorry, sir… I was…" She trailed off, unable to attempt any excuse for what was an inexcusable dereliction of duty.
The Colonel followed her gaze and frowned.
Sam fought another round of nausea, starting to shake again. Daniel was kneeling next to her, holding her wrist. She pulled her hand away so she could hug herself in a futile effort to stop shivering.
Had he been taking her pulse?
"How are you feeling, Sam?" Daniel asked.
"I…" She shook her head, overwhelmed by emotion. Being eaten by lizards might have been a more pleasant alternative. Quicker, certainly, and less humiliating than this slow disintegration of what used to be her life and a promising career.
The Colonel handed her a canteen. "Drink," he said.
She did as ordered, unable to meet his eyes.
"Hard to protect yourself when you're passed, out," the Colonel said.
"Yes, sir," she whispered.
"You're not passing out on purpose, are you, Captain?"
"No, sir!"
"Then don't worry about the crocs. Teal'c had you covered," the Colonel said.
Surprised by his calm tone of voice, she looked up at him.
He smiled wryly. "You're hurt, Carter. It's okay. It's…." he waved his hand, searching for the right word, "…shock. I've seen it before, and you're going to be fine. We'll get you home."
Sam blinked, trying to process an abrupt shift in perception - from being certain that her CO would be furious with her for failing to keep the area secure, to the realization that he was actually trying to comfort and reassure her, make her feel safe…
Of course, this made a certain amount of sense since she was no doubt visibly upset, and having a hysterical and nearly incapacitated Captain on his hands was not going to make things any easier getting back to the gate. It didn't actually mean he meant a word of it. Except the getting home part. Of that, she had no doubt. The Colonel had a Special Ops background, and Special Ops didn't leave their people behind…
"Carter?" the Colonel said, his voice tinged with exasperation.
"Yes, sir," she said.
He stared at her as if trying to read her mind. Finally, he sighed. "What's Avocado's Law?"
Sam frowned. "You mean Avogadro's Law?"
"Whatever. Just tell me what it is."
"Equal volumes of gases at the same temperature and pressure contain the same number of molecules regardless of their chemical nature and physical properties."
"Well, apparently you're doing fine for the moment," the Colonel said, taking back his canteen. He nodded at Teal'c.
The Jaffa grabbed her hand and helped her to her feet, holding her shoulders until he was certain she was going to stay up.
"Thanks, Teal'c," she said, grateful for the big man's assistance.
The Colonel looked at Sam. "Let us know before you pass out again if you can, Captain."
"Yes, sir," she said.
TBC