I watch as Colonel O'Neill gently treated my sister's wounds. We had been running for about two hours before O'Neill decided it was safe to rest. Now it was just me, dad, and the group of people known as SG-1. The other guys started to scout around, looking for a safer place to hide. They had left the medkit and he gave Sam a shot of morphine. She was finally asleep and they were using that time to clean and dress her wounds. He had just finished when the other men returned. "Report."
"The Stargate is heavily guarded by Jaffa, sir. We managed to find Roberts and Johnson so we're back to full strength. And we did find a nice little cave that seems to be just what the doctor ordered."
"Alright, let's move over there." Dad again picks up Sam as we started to follow the other group of men. Soon we're at the cave they were referring to. It's nestled in the side of a mountain, high enough to give a good view of the surrounding area, but still low enough to be easy to reach. We quickly get inside, two of the soldiers move off to check out the cave just to make sure nothing was living in it while O'Neill checked over my sister's wounds one more time.
He gently rolled her onto her stomach to make sure that none of the bandages had fresh blood on them. Satisfied she wasn't going to bleed to death in the next hour or so, he gently probed the other marks and bruises on her body, stopping when he came to the infuser.
"What's this?" He turned to me for an answer.
"I don't know. Whoever kidnaped us in the first place put it on. Sam thinks it's something to administer drugs."
"Well that doesn't sound good. Let's take it off." Colonel O'Neill began to pull at the infuser just like I did, with the same amount of luck. When Teal'c came over and tried to remove it, it still wouldn't budge.
"Damn. I guess Doc will have to take it off when we get home." He continued his inspection and gently rolled her onto her side, putting a blanket over her still form. When he was satisfied Sam was as comfortable as she could be he called the other men back.
"Okay, what is the exact situation with the Stargate?"
"The last we saw it was guarded by ten maybe fifteen Jaffa. They were building some sort of canon, but it looks like it is pointing towards the Stargate, not the forest."
"Teal'c?"
"That would be a likely assessment O'Neill."
"What about the Jaffa?"
"It would depend on how many Jaffa she would have been able to gather. There will be a large force guarding the Stargate, and several scouting groups hunting us." O'Neill was about to ask another question when Daniel interrupted him.
"Teal'c, you don't know that though. Maybe she doesn't have that many Jaffa. Maybe the ten or so at the gate is it. She has been gone for a while and it takes time to get an army together."
"Daniel Jackson is correct. It depends on the number of Jaffa she has been able to amass."
"Alright. Daniel, how much more daylight do we have here?"
"According to the preliminary scans done, it is just a little bit longer rotation than earth so I'd say four or five, maybe six hours depending on their dawn."
"Alright, Ferretti you and your men secure the area. Streams, rock formations, places where the ground will suck you in, I want to know everything about this area. Maintain radio silence and report back here in four hours. Understood?" With a quick nod from their leader SG-2 left.
"Jacob, I know you have other things on your mind right now, but we need your help with this. We need to go have a look at the Stargate and see what were dealing with. Okay?" Dad gave a quick nod and Colonel O'Neill glanced in my direction before turning towards the other man.
"Daniel, I need you to stay here and take care of Sam and Mark. Show him how to use a zat just in case. Okay?" Another quick nod.
"Let's move out then. Oh, and Daniel. Don't use your radio. They might have a way to track the signal. We'll be back before the sun sets." And then they took off, leaving me with Daniel.
"So now what do we do?"
"Now we wait for them to come back. You hungry?"
"Actually now that you mention it, I am."
"Well I think I can scrounge up a field ration for you. It's not the best food in the world but it is food." He began looking through the packs while he was talking. He pulled out some kind of cooking thing and began to warm up one of the packets.
"Hey, do you mind if I ask you a question?"
"Shoot."
"Back there when we were getting rescued Colonel O'Neill said you were a civilian."
"Yeah. I guess I should introduce myself. I'm Dr. Daniel Jackson."
"A doctor?"
"Not a medical doctor. I'm an anthropologist and the team linguist. Basically, I'm the culture expert."
"So your not in the military?"
"No. I wouldn't even dream of joining. It's all to strict and formal for my tastes."
"Isn't it a bit unusual to have a civilian in a military operation?"
"No, not this time. What exactly have they told you?"
"They told me about the Stargate and about the Goa'uld."
"Okay, then I guess it won't hurt to tell you a little more. We use the Stargate to explore other worlds. Sometimes the worlds are populated by people, usually descendants of various Earth cultures, the Mongols, the Romans, Egyptians, Vikings, and other such groups. Because of this, they try to have a linguist with each team. More often than not the linguist is a civilian. And then there are the people who work in the mountain itself who never go through the Stargate. Lot's of civilian scientist from every branch."
"So is there a civilian with that other group of men?"
"SG-2? No. They're all military. The civilian members usually don't go through when it's a strict combat mission."
"Then why are you here?"
"Because Sam was in trouble."
"She means a lot to you doesn't she?"
"She's like the sister I never had." He glances briefly in her direction before focusing on me again.
"What do you mean?"
"I was brought up in foster care, and for a long time, I was on my own. Then I came here. This team is my family now." He hands me a bowl with some brown stuff in it. "It's supposed to be beef stew. I'd eat it now. It really tastes bad when it cools down."
I give him a quizzical look as he hands me a spoon and starts making another one. I remember eating these as a kid. From what I can remember I hated them. But this one is actually tasting good. I must be hungry. I watch as he finishes making the second one. As he grabs a spoon I'm thinking he is going to join me. I'm surprised when he starts making his way over to Sam. I look over in her direction. She's awake and looking at Daniel as he moves toward her.
"Hey Sam. I know you hurt and are tired but I need you to eat something, okay." She weakly nods and he helps her sit up. He sits behind her so that she is leaning on his chest instead of the rock wall. Her hand is shaking so much that she can barely hold the spoon she was reaching for.
"It's okay Sam." He covers her shaking hand with his steady one and begins to feed her. I watch as he gently forces her to eat everything before laying her back down and covering her with another blanket. I glance down at my own bowl, surprised to find that I had eaten everything. I look back at Daniel. He was still by my sister's side, talking gently to her, their hands still entwined. After a couple of minutes he gently puts her hand back beneath the blankets and tucks her in snugly.
"Is she okay?"
"Yeah Mark. Just had a bad dream." He quietly comes back to the place we were talking. "Jack wanted me to show you how to use a zat gun." He pulls out a weapon that looks a lot like the one that strange man pulled on me. He tells me how it works, shows me how to fire it and let's me take a few practice shots on a nearby rock. I'm amazed as the rock vanishes before my eyes.
"I never thought I would even fire a gun, let alone hold an alien one. I don't know if I'll be able to shoot."
"I know what you mean. The first time Jack thrust a pistol in my hands I thought he was crazy. But it's surprising how quickly you'll pull the trigger if your friends are in danger."
"You don't strike me as one of those 'shoot first ask questions later' people."
"I'm not. Trust me when I say I always look for the peaceful solution. But if there is one thing I've learned, it's that sometimes there is no other way. People won't listen, or they don't care, or they want to fight, or any million other reasons. Sometimes they just don't give us the choice."
"Are the Goa'uld like that?"
"The Goa'uld are evil. They enslave thousands of world, millions of innocent people, just so they will be worshiped. They have no value for life whatsoever. To them, humans are little more than guinea pigs. Anyone who opposes them are brutally wiped out, some worlds devastated for no reason. They're not interested in peace, only conquest." He said the words so coldly that I involuntarily shuttered.
"That's what dad is now?"
"No. He's a Tok'ra."
"What's the difference?"
"Well, there's no real physical difference, they are the same race, but there is a mental difference. The Goa'uld are like Hitler, the Tok'ra like Roosevelt. It's probably not one of the better comparisons but it pretty much sums up their mentalities. If you still have questions, ask Jacob. He knows the Tok'ra best." He suddenly holds up his hand, signaling for quiet, and moves to the cave entrance and listens. I join him and soon we both hear the footsteps.
They are coming this direction, but the metal clanky sound they're making makes me think they're not the good guys returning. Sure enough out of the forest comes three people. They're dressed in the same manner as the guards from the prison. Daniel quickly ducts down, pulling me down with him. He crawls over to some rocks where he will be able to see them without having them see us. When he crawls back his face tells me everything I need to know.
"They're coming up here aren't they?"
"They split up. One is heading back to the forest, one heading off to the other mountains, and one is coming up here."
"Do you think we can hide from them?"
"No. Give me the zat." I give it to him and we hide ourselves in the rocks. After what seems like an eternity I hear the footsteps outside the entrance. For a second he just stands there and I'm hoping he will just go away. At least until I hear him enter the cave.
As he rounds the corner, Daniel shoots him and he drops to the floor writhing in pain.
"There's some rope in the pack there. Can you get it for me?"
"You're not going to kill him?"
"No. That wouldn't accomplish anything. When he fails to check in other Jaffa will come here to find him. Even if we disintegrated his body it's obvious we've been here. We need to get going as fast as we can."
"Going? Going where?"
"Anywhere but here. Come on, we don't have much time." He finishes tying up the Jaffa and starts to put things back into the pack. "You carry Sam, I'll take the pack. SG-2 should be around here somewhere. Hopefully we'll run into them." I nod as I bend down to pick up my sister. She stirs but thankfully doesn't waken.
I turn back toward Daniel and we head towards the cave entrance.
"You do know what you're doing, right?"
"Not exactly, but it's better than waiting for him to wake up. Besides, Jack will find us." With that Daniel begins to climb down the mountain. I carefully follow him. We head into the forest. Daniel says there are more places to hide there. I glance up at the sky. The sun is setting. That means dad should be back soon.
After walking for a couple hours Daniel stops, says we should take a break and asks me if I want to switch. I tell him no, that I'm okay, and look down at Sam. I don't know why I told him that, Sam is getting heavier by the minute and the pack would be a welcome change. I think that I just need to hold her, make sure she's alive. To be completely honest, after what this Osiris did to her, I don't think that I'll ever be able to let her out of my sight again. I glance up when I realize that Daniel is holding something out to me. I nod in appreciation as I take the canteen and take a few gulps of water. As he takes the canteen back I watch as he lifts up Sam's head and helps her take a few sips. As he signals the end of our break it starts to rain lightly.
He rummages through the pack and finds some sort of rain poncho. He hands one to me while he drapes the other one around Sam. After we're taken care of he says we should start moving again. I ask him about his poncho and he tells me there were only two. Says he'll be fine until we find shelter. We start walking again and an hour later we find the perfect shelter. By this time the light rain has turned into a downpour and we are happy to find some shelter.
A rocky outcropping forms a ledge overhead, while some dead trees have fallen against it, making a kind of makeshift tent. And in front of it are some big bushes , practically hiding the entrance. Daniel says it's perfect, that with the wind and the rain the Jaffa would walk right past without even noticing. I have my doubts, but we push through the bushes into the 'tent'. Daniel's right, it does keep out the rain and the wind is down to a small breeze. But it's very cold.
I carefully lay Sam on the ground. The blankets she was covered with are damp, but the poncho managed to keep them from getting completely soaked like Daniel. I just about jump when I hear her voice. It's so quiet I have to lean down to hear what she says.
I look to Daniel when she says she's cold. He tells me that we can't risk a fire. Then he tells me to climb under the blankets with Sam so that we can share body heat. I'm a little uncomfortable with this at first, but I do what he says. I climb under and position myself so I'm on my side with one arm flung over her chest. She's unconscious again, but I can see her shivering. I'm about to tell Daniel, to ask him what to do next, when I notice that I'm starting to feel warmer. I didn't even know I was so cold. I look at Sam again. Her shivers are almost gone. I look up and realize Daniel has been watching us the whole time. He tells me to get some sleep and he'll take first watch. At the mention of sleep I realize how tired I am. I mumble something about waking me up so he can sleep before drifting off.