I cautiously look around the stream we are waiting at. We have been traveling for the most part of that day, resting only when Sam looked like she was going to collapse. She was still awake when we left and insisted that she could walk, so we let her walk. I pretty much stayed by her the whole time. At first it was me and dad, until Daniel suggested that we make a ruckus in the woods. I guess he thought that if we made it known we were still there, Osiris would send out more Jaffa to find us.
Colonel O'Neill, Teal'c and my father all agreed with that tactic and the Colonel and Teal'c left us to go make some noise. That left my dad in charge of our trek back to the palace. Daniel wanted to help support Sam, but he was worried that he might give whatever he had to her. That really wasn't a good thing right now. So it was basically me helping her out for the whole trip.
Now we were waiting at a stream where the Colonel and Teal'c said they would meet us at. Dad is getting something out of the medkit for Sam, while Daniel is using the stream to cool down with. His coughing is getting worse and he's getting a fever, not quite as bad as Sam's, but still troubling. A faint rustling of the leaves is all the warning we get before our two companions join us at the stream.
"Any luck?"
"It appears so. Five more Jaffa have been dispatched to the forest. I believe our deception is being paid for."
"What Teal'c is trying to say is that they're buying it. And hopefully there is only about five Jaffa guarding the Stargate now. Hey there Danny, you okay?"
"Fine Jack. Just a little hot."
"Okay. We're almost to the palace now so here's the plan. Daniel, as much as I would love for you to come with us so you can die again we need stealth on this one. Your coughs would give us away in an instant. So you get to stay in the forest and cover our escape route. Think you can do that?"
"Yeah Jack. I can handle that."
"Carter and Mark are going to stay here with you, so you'll need to keep them safe too."
"Sir, I can't believe you're saying that. I'm fine and..." Her protest was cut off by one very angry Jack O'Neill.
"Stop Carter! I am only going to say this once. You are not fine. Your back is severely wounded, your wounds are infected, and you have a fever. Not to mention the amount of pain your in. I am not, repeat not, going to let you follow us into that place so you can become Osiris's play thing again. Is that clear?"
"Yes sir." She said it so quietly that I almost missed the relief in her voice.
"Jacob, Teal'c, and I will go in and free our guys. Mark you stay here with Daniel. Carter you stay too. No objections. Danny?"
"Got it Jack."
"Good. Let's move out." We silently approach the edge of the forest. Colonel O'Neill finds a good spot for us to watch at. As we settle in they head towards the palace. I watch as they move toward the building. It feels like an eternity while we sit there, waiting. Now I know why my sister wanted to go with them. They knew what was going on, we were just waiting for them to come back. I wonder if this is how my mother felt all those times when dad had missions. Then something happens. We hear gunfire. That's not a good sound. I'm no military expert, but I don't think they were supposed to shoot their guns. That means something is wrong. I look over toward Daniel and Sam. Daniel's face is pale with understanding, while Sam is trying desperately to get up. It doesn't look like she will though, she's just not strong enough yet to stand without help. I think about asking if we should go in there, but to my utter surprise I answer my own unspoken question. No. And not because I'm afraid either, because I am terrified. It's 'No' because I would have no idea what to do, and my two companions are still hurt. The best thing to do would be to wait out here and hope they get back outside where we can cover them.
Looking over at Daniel I see he has come to the same conclusion. There's nothing we can do but sit back and wait. Well, maybe not sit back. More like look from side to side and jump from every little sound and wait. Hours, minutes, maybe only seconds pass before we see movement. Unfortunately it comes from the forest. Oh shit. Osiris. I look over to Daniel to see if he see's her. From his expression, he does. She marches up to the palace with four Jaffa. Just as she reaches the door she stops. She looks around for some time before bellowing out commands to the Jaffa and looking in our direction. Seconds later there's another brilliant flash of light and oblivion takes me again.
Darkness. That's the first thing I recognize as I try to get past the fuzz that is currently where by brain should be. Blinding darkness. Blinding. That doesn't sound to good. At least it's only temporary. Wait, how do I know that. This has happened before, hasn't it. This is what got me into this whole mess to begin with. Maybe it was just a dream. Maybe a car really did hit me and my mind went haywire. I mean other planets, aliens, Stargates, those things only happen on TV. Well I guess there's only one way to find out. That's to open my eyes and see. I start to open my eyes when I remembered the blindness that followed. Maybe I should wait for a minute for the blindness to pass. But it looks like my moment of peace is over. My mind starts letting in the voices that have been calling, and apparently my aborted eye opening is enough to get their attention. My name. They're calling my name. I can hear my father, the Colonel, Teal'c and a couple of other voices I don't know the names of. So much for the car theory. I completely open my eyes this time, thankful that I can start to see outlines of objects. I recognize my father's face and mumble something about being okay. I turn my head now and I see Daniel on the ground beside me.
"Is he okay?" Dad answers as he helps me sit up.
"Yeah Mark, he's going to be fine. The shock grenade can't kill you, just render you unconscious. It just hit Daniel harder because he's sick."
"What happened?"
"We have no idea. We got inside and managed to free SG-2 like we wanted to, but the Jaffa were waiting for us in the hall. They had us pinned down for hours. Then they just got up and walked away. We have no idea why." I looked around again. They people I thought were SG-2 had various wounds on their body, Colonel O'Neill also had some kind of bandage across his chest. Even Teal'c and dad were showing signs of the firefight. It must have been pretty bad.
"Where's Sam?" I ask when I realize who is missing from our little group.
"I don't know. Teal'c and I already checked the palace and the surrounding woods. She's not there. We're hoping she followed all those Jaffa to the Stargate."
"Dad, she couldn't have done that. She couldn't even stand up."
"I know Mark. Can you stand. We need to move fast."
I nod. Reaching out my hand so dad could help me stand up. Teal'c bends down and picks up Daniel, while Colonel O'Neill helps one of the other soldiers who has a nasty looking burn in his leg. We followed a path that has been used recently. It leads to a valley that had a giant stone ring. As we stand on the path leading down to the valley we can see a bunch of the Jaffa standing together.
The ring starts to spin and I hear Colonel O'Neill say something about them getting away. That makes no sense to me, they were in the middle of the valley, where could they go. But apparently it made perfect sense to dad and the other people who were walking because we start running towards them. As we neared the group of Jaffa something clicked into place on the ring and a giant circle of blue water splashed out towards me. The Jaffa had noticed our approach and were aiming their staff weapons in our direction.
They were getting ready to shoot when a voice called out to them. A voice I know very well. The voice of my sister. Only it wasn't her voice. It was distorted and wrong and evil. I stop when I saw her emerge from the group of Jaffa. It was her, only different. She looked directly at us and said something to the Jaffa. One by one they left until it was only her and two guards. She turned her back on us and rose up the steps to the blue puddle thingy. Just as she was about to go through she turned and looked at us again. This time her eyes flashed. She held our gaze for another second before she turned and stepped into the blue light, the two Jaffa following her.
As whatever that was shut down I look over to my companions. They were all pale and standing there staring at the ring. It looked like they had all seen a ghost. No, not a ghost. Something far worse. Something that terrified these men to their core. The silence was broken by a simple question from Colonel O'Neill.
"Anyone see the address?"