Something jerks me out of unconsciousness. Nothing physical but something is tugging at my mind. A sound. Footsteps? No, something more terrible than that. What is more terrifying than footsteps right now? I feel my mind waking up, even though my body isn't responding yet. I struggle to listen for the sound that is so disturbing. A cough. Why is that bad? Memories of last night struggle to break through the wall currently keeping my thinking to a minimum. Sam. They changed her bandage. The infection was already spreading.
It was bad, even I could tell that. Had she gotten worse over the night? Was she struggling for her last breath? I remember dad telling me about some of the few things he knew she had gone through, and I suddenly felt the need to see her, to tell myself that she was alright. Another cough pushed me to action. It's funny, one little sound and your unresponsive body jolts upright. Maybe it's a conditioned response. Just like that experiment Pavlov did, we're the dogs, the cough is the bell, and as soon as we hear it we start moving, or in the dogs' case drool. I mentally frown at the thought of who would be on the outside controlling this experiment. Probably people like the Goa'uld, if what Daniel tells me is true. Uh oh. There's that cough again. Time to move. I open my eyes and look around for my sister. She's still right beside me, sleeping or unconscious I'm not sure which and I start wondering if there's a difference. Another cough. Well at least it doesn't seem to be coming from Sam. A quick glance shows dad isn't there anymore. I carefully slide out of the blankets and stand, stretching out cramped muscles.
"Sorry Mark. I didn't mean to wake you." I turn around and find Daniel with my dad. They were sitting next to the rocks and had the cooking thing out. As I got closer I could see what they were heating up. It looked like water.
"Don't worry about it Daniel. It was time for me to get up anyway." A quick look around revealed we were the only ones here. "Where's Colonel O'Neill and Teal'c?"
"They were up at sundown. The storm seemed to be breaking and they wanted to get the jump on the Jaffa before they broke camp. Hungry?"
"Yeah dad I am. What's for breakfast?"
"Unfortunately it's instant soup. Just add hot water."
"Sounds tasty." I sit down after I grab some bowls from the gear.
"Taste's like chicken you know."
"Everything the air force has tastes like chicken Daniel. I learned that one the hard way."
"Now, now boys. It might not be the best tasting thing in the world, but it will keep you going, and that's what we need right now." Dad was mixing the powdered soup into the hot water now. After he was done he divided it into four bowls. Four? That's right don't forget about Sam. She needs food too, maybe more than the rest of us. He hands me a bowl and then turns around and digs through the pack to find something. He emerges with the medkit. He opens it and pulls out a couple of pills. He hands them to Daniel with a firm "take it" before rummaging through again. This time he takes out a packet of something. He opens it up and puts some powdered stuff into one of the bowls of soup and stirs it up with the spoon. Then he stands up and heads toward Sam.
"What's that?"
"It's antibiotics. Jack and Teal'c tried to get her to take a couple of pills before they left, but she wasn't having anything to do with that. So we're giving her some powdered stuff in the soup. Hopefully she'll at least swallow it."
"Is she getting any better?"
"Better no, but she's not getting worse either, which is a good thing." Another cough. I turn my head back to Daniel.
"Hey, you okay?"
"Yeah, I think I just caught a little cold. Nothing to worry about. Let's go join them." I look back towards the other two and find that my sister is sitting up. Dad's right there next to her, but she seems stronger than she did the other time she was awake. Daniel and I head over there, grabbing the third bowl for dad.
"Hey Sam, how you doing?"
"Daniel?" Her voice was weak but it was music to my ears. "What are you doing here?"
"We came to get you out Sam."
"We?" She looked around for a minute before she settled her gaze on me. "Mark?"
"I'm okay Sam. Your friends came and got us out of there."
"Who else is here?"
"Jack and Teal'c should be back any minute. And then there's SG-2. Now you need to conserve your energy Sam. We're going to have a hard time getting back to the Stargate."
"Where are we?"
"That's enough questions for now kiddo. Eat some soup, get some rest and we'll talk about this later, okay."
"I'm not hungry dad."
"Try to eat as much as you can Sam."
"But dad..."
"No buts. You are going to eat that soup if I have to feed it to you myself is that clear Major."
"Sir yes sir." She followed her last statement with a quick, mocking salute before she picked up the spoon and started eating. After a few bites her hands were shaking so much that she couldn't hold the spoon still anymore. Dad reached over and took the spoon from her, her hand falling to the ground with exhaustion. He started talking to her as he was feeding her.
"So you're going to make me do this the hard way huh?"
"That's my job."
"It's in your job description to make my life a living hell? I thought your job was to get me out of hell, not put me there."
"We'll have to check that when we get back home, but I'm pretty sure it's in there somewhere." Dad paused when she starts coughing a little. As soon as she was finished he starts again. "Why do you think Colonel O'Neill has grey hair now?"
"I was actually thinking that was Daniel's job. Come on Sam, just a few more bites."
"So where are we dad?"
"We are in a forest. Just one more bite please Sam." She managed to take one more bite before she sunk back to the rock she was leaning on. "That's good Sam. Why don't you lie down again and get some sleep."
"No, do you think I could just stay here. The ground is really hurting and it's comfortable here."
"You sure? That doesn't look more comfortable than the ground?"
"You're right. I just want to sit up okay."
"Sure thing kiddo." He grabs the blanket and drapes it over her. I take off my jacket and bundled it up so she could use it as some sort of pillow. She gives me a little smile before letting her head fall into the makeshift pillow. "Just let us know if you need anything okay." She gave a little nod at the same time Colonel O'Neill and Teal'c came back.
"Jacob, how's she doing?"
"I'm doing fine sir." He jumped at the sound of her voice, clearly he thought she was still down for the count.
"Carter. Don't do that. You about gave me a heart attack."
"Don't do what sir? Speak up now or get kidnaped in the first place."
"Both. They both are very bad for my health, not to mention yours."
"I'll try to remember that sir." She gave him a little grin but it was obvious to everyone she was using the last of her energy to do so. He matched her grin with a small one of his own before becoming serious again.
"You do that, but right now you need to get some rest. And I need to talk to Jacob. We'll be right back." Colonel O'Neill all but pulled my father back toward the opening. I look up and see that Teal'c and Daniel are joining them. I want to follow, but don't know if I'm allowed to. When Daniel looks back and beckons me forward I jump at the chance.
"What's going on Jack?"
"Osiris has captured SG-2. The Jaffa are taking them back to the palace right now."
"My God. Are they alright?"
"It looks like they are just unconscious, but you never know with snakeheads."
"It is likely that Osiris will use them to try to get ourselves to surrender to her." Teal'c spoke grimly, obviously not overjoyed at the thought of watching another one of Osiris's torture sessions.
"That's my thought too. And I don't even want to think about how she's going to go about doing that. We've got to get them out of there and fast. Any thoughts as to how?"
"Jack, this may be the break that we need."
"How so Daniel?"
"Think about it. She has no idea how many people came through the Stargate so she'll probably keep searching the woods and the mountains for awhile right Teal'c."
"I believe so."
"That means that she'll have to divide her resources again. She'll have to take some men from the Stargate or from the search teams to guard SG-2."
"Still not following Danny."
"Well, how many people do you know who would walk into a prison. The Jaffa guarding SG-2 should be pretty easy to overcome. If we can take them out fast enough they'll never know what hit them. Then we go to the Stargate. It should have less Jaffa guarding it and we should be able to take control, at least long enough to gate home."
"One small point about your plan Daniel. We're in the forest. The palace isn't in the forest. And what the hell are we suppose to do with Osiris?" O'Neill turned expectantly toward Daniel.
"Well, point A we would have to get back to the palace. And point B... we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."
"Sounds like a plan to me Jack."
"Thank you Dad." O'Neill responded sarcastically before turning to Teal'c. "Teal'c what do you think."
"Daniel Jackson's plan could be successful."
"What about the Jaffa in the forest?"
"They are young, poorly trained. We should have no problem avoiding them."
"Well one things for sure, we have to get back to the palace. So unless anyone else comes up with a better plan before we get there we'll go with plan A."
"What's plan B Colonel?" I couldn't stop myself from asking.
"Plan B is to run back to the forest and think of a plan C."