Chapter 2

Carter opened her eyes, listening for what had awoken her. Minutes passed and she drifted toward sleep. Red light flashed through the large window at the foot of her bed and her eyes popped open. She sat up, staring into the darkness. She heard the distant sound of an explosion and then fire shot up from the ground, silhouetting the buildings between her and it. She grabbed the covers to throw them back when the window and wall exploded into the room. The blast threw her and the bed against the wall. The bed dropped on top of her, trapping her. Shrapnel rained down and a burning wood beam fell onto the bed, igniting the bedding.

"SAM!" Daniel called from somewhere.

"DANIEL! HELP!" she screamed.

She saw a shadow among the smoke and flames.

"HERE! I'M OVER HERE!"

The form moved toward her and Daniel appeared and crouched down. He grabbed the frame and tried to lift it, but the added weight of the beam made it too heavy to lift. He stepped back, looking around him.

"Frank can lift it."

"He's asleep."

"What?"

Daniel suddenly ran off and returned with a piece of charred wood. Leveraging it between the bed and floor, he pushed the bed up enough that Carter could scramble out from under it. He let it drop, grabbed her hand and the two ran into the hall and along it to the stairs. They started down when the ceiling fell through and dropped burning wood on the stairs. Daniel looked up at her, opening his mouth to say something. Light suddenly flashed in his eyes and Frank looked around him confused about what was happening.

"What the hell?" Frank asked.

'We have to get off these stairs, Frank,' Daniel told him.

Frank looked at the fire on the stairs. He suddenly dashed back up the stairs.

"FRANK!" Carter screamed.

"Wait there. I'll be right back," he called back, disappearing into the smoke.

Carter stared at the spot, not sure if she should listen or leave. She looked back at the fire creeping toward her.

"LOOK OUT!" Frank screamed.

Carter looked up and instantly plastered herself against the wall as a couch flew past her. Frank hauled back on the end, stopping it over the fire. He grabbed her wrist and leapt onto the couch using it as a bridge across the fire. Flames leapt up on either side of them, quickly consuming the synthetic fabric. They scrambled off the other end as it broke in half and with the stairs, fell into the basement.

The two didn't stop running until they burst out the front door into a world of mayhem surrounding them. Houses were burning everywhere, filling the night with light and thick, black smoke. The heat seared their skin but the smoke stole their breath away and burned their eyes. All around them, Jakisau were killing Jakisau. Frank grabbed Carter's arm, turning a burning glare on her.

"What have you and Daniel gotten me into?"

"Frank, we had no idea--"

They both dropped to the ground when a building nearby exploded. It sent bricks, timber, and pieces of terra-cotta showering everyone in the street. Frank grabbed her wrist as he stood, leaning close.

"I'm sorry," he told her. "You think getting the hell off this planet is a good idea?"

"A great idea!"

Frank turned to lead the way, right into the end of a rifle. The Jakisau on the other end narrowed his eyes, holding Frank's glowing ones. Carter laid her hand on Frank's arm, a silent plea for him not to react.

'Let me talk to him, Frank,' Daniel told him.

Frank and Daniel switched control. Daniel smiled.

"Uh... Hi. We're guests of Ambassador Havet and--"

The Jakisau moved his gun, the end appearing to be aimed at Carter. He fired three times over Daniel's shoulder and then ran off. Daniel spun, crashing into Carter. She stumbled, but her eyes didn't leave who the Jakisau had actually shot. A woman and two children lay dead in the street.

'I really hate wars!' Frank whimpered

"Sam, we have to go," Daniel pulled on her arm, but she didn't budge. "Sam."

Carter swallowed, looking into his eyes. "They're only children."

Daniel grabbed her face and turned it so she was looking at him.

"I know, and they're dead. We aren't. We have to go."

Carter nodded, letting him grab her hand and pull her into a run. With so much adrenaline in their systems, neither felt their feet being cut to shreds by the debris in the street. They came to a T and turned right. Daniel stopped short, staring at the Jakisau running toward them. Unlike the others, these were dressed in blue uniforms. They walked in seven lines six abreast, filling the street from sidewalk to sidewalk. The two turned to run the other direction. Soldiers in red uniforms were advancing toward them.

They ran back into the previous street and found civilian Jakisau running toward them, chasing soldiers in blue uniforms. Carter grabbed his arm, pulling him toward a door that stood ajar. The two ducked inside as Jakisau opened fire on each other. The two climbed over rubble, cutting their hands, arms, and legs. Carter stopped, turning.

"What?" Daniel asked.

"Shh."

Daniel listened. He heard it now: a high-pitched whine getting louder. Carter grabbed him and pulled him onto the rubble. Something exploded on the roof of the building. Daniel and Carter looked up, for a second watching the ceiling caving in. They scrambled to their feet, trying to run. Groaning and crashing, the roof dropped on them. The rubble quickly buried them and then quieted. Outside the house, the civil war raged on.

The gate room was full of carts of supplies and people prepared to embark to the Jakisau planet. In the control room, Walters was dialing the gate, a repetitive procedure that he rarely thought about unless something went wrong.

The last chevron locked. Walters glanced back when Landry walked up behind him. The chevrons lit up and then the light faded and the gate spun down. In the gate room Mitchell, Teal'c, and the other personnel looked up at Walters. He felt Landry's hard gaze on the back of his neck.

Sheepishly he said, "Let me try that again." Walters started the dialing procedure again.

It began spinning as he initialized it. One by one, the seven chevrons were entered on the computer and locked on the gate. The seventh locked and the same thing happened. Walters stared at the gate.

"What's the problem?"

Walters looked up at him. "The off world gate is gone."

"Gone? It was there twelve hours ago."

"It's gone now."

"Try it again."

Walters did but the same thing happened.

"Walters, what's wrong?" Mitchell asked.

Landry leaned on the counter. "Why would the gate be gone?"

Walters looked him in the eye. "It's either been moved or destroyed, but, sir, it's gone."

Landry leaned into the microphone. "Stand down. Mitchell, get up here."

Walters looked back at the gate. Although, he couldn't explain how a gate could just disappear in twelve hours if it was on a planet.

Dawn over the city was a sickening sulfur yellow. Fires had burned through most of the houses and fighting was still going on. An armed Jakisau walked through the street, holding a short wand device in one hand and a pistol in the other. He wore camouflage clothing and a red patch with a symbol of a cross over a triangle was sewn onto his sleeves. Along the bottom of the triangle was the word 'DASEX.' With the wand device he scanned one body, and then other. The devices had three LEDs on it and one button, and the red LED kept lighting up when he swung the device over a body. He stopped a street corner, solemnly looking at the bodies in it. He tensed, turning his head. He heard footsteps coming toward him. As graceful and silence of a panther, he slipped into the house near him and made his way across the rubble toward the back.

He started to crouch down by the wall that had collapsed at the back when he glanced at the device still in his hand. The green LED was shining brightly at him. He looked at the rubble, seeing a hand. He looked up at the sound of a terra-cotta tile breaking. Soldiers in blue uniforms were making their way down the street; guns raised and prepared to fire. The Jakisau slipped into the shadows of the house but where he could still see the street through a broken out window. He put the device in his pocket and readied his weapon. One of the soldiers was shot and he looked toward the source.

He couldn't see the sniper, but he realized the sniper had been there the whole time. The sniper must have been one of Havet's soldiers or he would have shot him when he was in the street. The Jakisau pulled out the device, aiming it toward the hand. It shone green again. He leaned to the side a little, seeing a head. No, two. The Jakisau looked back at the street when a fight suddenly broke out. He adjusted his seat, setting his weapon in his lap. He slid his right sleeve back, revealing a device on his arm. He tapped it.

Very quietly, he spoke into the device. "Point to LC."

"LC," a female answered, "Report."

"I've come across wounded, sir. I'm currently pinned by fighting. Secure or continue, sir?"

"Condition of wounded?"

"Unknown. Forces meters away, sir."

"Secure until we get there. Aid wounded as soon as possible."

"Affirmative, sir. Point out."

The soldier picked up his weapon again and rested his head against the wall, waiting out the fight.