The Road to...
Chapter 4
...A Trap...
They walked for most of the day. Jack and Teal'c had come prepared with machetes, but it was still pretty rough going. It drizzled off and on all day and the heat had not relented. SG-1 all felt grimy with mud and sweat. Daniel had tripped over a root, so was covered in the most mud.
Suddenly Jack, who was no in front, saw something silver move between the trees up ahead. He only got a glimpse but it was dull silver and definitely looked out of place...and sickeningly familiar. Before he could react, he saw another dull silver shape just before it disappeared behind greenery. It was a Jaffa staff weapon.
He raised his fist and crouched down. The rest of SG-1 followed his order. O'Neill signaled that he was going to creep forward to look at something. Stealthily moving to hide behind the huge buttress of a tree, in one smooth motion O'Neill latched his machete to his belt and took out his monocular. He sighted through it for a moment, and then passed it to MajorCarter.
She looked, then handed the monocular to Teal'c and said quietly, "It's a Jaffa patrol. They seem to be walking very slowly."
Teal'c watched the group of about eight Jaffa—there might be more behind that huge fern-thing—for a moment.
"It is a hunting party, MajorCarter. The Jaffa in the front, his black half-cape marks him as the Master Tracker." Teal'c observed.
"Are they tracking some kind of big game, like a safari?" Daniel asked.
"No." Teal'c answered, frowning slightly at the "culture-buff".
"Jaffa do not hunt wild game with staff weapons. To do so would be a desecration of the gods' blessed lands. They are likely following a fugitive or a rebel or traitor."
"Well, they look pretty lost to me." O'Neill said in low tones.
"Indeed." Teal'c agreed.
Meanwhile, the band of loyal Jaffa never noticed that they were being observed and slowly marched off to the northwest, quickly disappearing among the wild forest-growth.
"Should we go back, sir?" Carter asked.
Jack had been thinking. "I doubt they were searching for us, but they almost did find us. For once, we have a chance to avoid getting involved with the Goa-uld before they are shooting us. Before they even know we're here." he said.
"But, Jack, doesn't that also give us an opportunity to get close and see what is going on? We can find out where they came from and who they serve before they know we're here!" Daniel argued, though he really just didn't want to give up on finding El Dorado.
"Is that worth the risk? We don't know how many Jaffa there are out there!" the colonel said, clearly not convinced that he wouldn't be putting his team in the line of fire by not heading back to the Stargate right now.
"Sir, Daniel does have a point." MajorCarter spoke up. "Think of it as recon. We can hide in the forest and gather intelligence. If they aren't looking for us, then it's likely they won't find us if we're stealthy, sir."
Jack looked into the green distance overhead. 'They did just walk right by us. And I don't need anyone to tell me the value of some intelligence over the snakes."
Daniel looked excited.
Teal'c inclined his head. Gathering intelligence on Goa-uld activities seemed to him a much better mission than looking for an ancient city.
Seeing that they all agreed, Jack said, not quite reluctantly, "We'll continue this way close to the direction the patrol came from. Night will fall soon and we need to find some shelter, especially with Jaffa around. Tomorrow we'll walk and see what we see."
"Yes, sir." Sam took point and started in the direction the colonel had pointed.
Jack followed, then Daniel, who started saying, "We could still find El Dorado. What if that's what the Goa-uld, who sent out that patrol, is looking for? Or where it is? After all, remember how we found the gate co-ordinates on a—"
"Now we are stealth recon. That means silence." Jack informed him tersely.
Taking up the end of the line, Teal'c walked along as stealthily as he had been trained. He kept his dark brown eyes open and alert for any danger; treacherous terrain, enemy Jaffa, or veloceraptors. He may not have seen Jurassic park, but he had watched the Discovery Channel.
AN: So, you likey? Tell me what ya think! I'm doing good posting more, aren't I?