"What do you mean, we can't get home? How is that possible? I didn't think we'd come that far!" He ran his hand through his hair, struggling to think of a way to get his team home.
Sam shrugged helplessly. "Well, Sir, neither did I. I guess we were all so intent on getting to Daniel, we didn't realize how far we'd gone."
Jack turned to Teal'c. The big Jaffa always knew where they were, and was always able to find their way back for them. He was the best tracker they knew. "Teal'c, ya think you can get us outta here?"
Teal'c studied their three directional choices, uncertainty written on his normally blank face. "I am unsure, O'Neill," he admitted finally. He pointed at the tunnel on the very right. "I know that that is not the way we came, but the other two could be."
O'Neill sighed. He hated to do it, but it was obviously necessary. "Okay, gang, it looks like we've got to split up. Sam, Teal'c, you can take the middle tunnel. Daniel and I will take the one on the left." He didn't say it out loud, but he wanted the archaeologist near him, where he could make sure he didn't run off again. "Mark your way with those glow sticks." Which is what we should've done in the first place. "Keep in radio contact. If you find the gate, give us a buzz, we'll find you. Stay where you are once you've found it. Check back every 15 minutes." He looked at Daniel, hoping that whatever had happened to him wouldn't happen again. "Okay, let's move out!" His team split up, making their way through their designated tunnels.
Sam cracked another glow stick, the sound echoing through the caverns. She threw it down on the floor as she continued to walk with Teal'c. The big Jaffa had been silent throughout their exploration. "Teal'c, what do you think was wrong with Daniel?"
Teal'c thought that over. It had appeared as though Daniel Jackson was following some sort of vision. "I am unsure. There is a word for what he was following, lelteck. Among Jaffa, when a warrior becomes dehydrated and delirious, he begins to see things in the distance, beckoning him. When he gets there, it has disappeared."
Sam looked surprised. "Teal'c, we have that among humans, too. It's called a mirage."
"I see."
She looked around, deciding to take the lead. "Teal'c, I'll take point. Let me know if you think we're getting close." She walked on ahead of him, scouting their way.
Five minutes later, she turned around to tell Teal'c that it was time for them to check in with the colonel and Daniel. The big Jaffa was gone.
"Teal'c!" Sam yelled, forgetting stealth and silence, remembering how Daniel had just taken off. She cracked a glow stick to mark where they'd been, and took off down the tunnel, yelling Teal'c's name all the way.
The music engulfed him, making his forget all his cares. He followed the sound, and the woman in front of him, not thinking about how she had died from a sickness when her symbiote had matured. It was just enough that Drey'auc was there to lead him home.
"Colonel O'Neill, come in! I repeat, I think that whatever was wrong with Daniel, Teal'c has it too! Colonel! Jack! Come in! Daniel, are you there? Where are you guys!" Sam gave up on shouting into her radio at them. It was obvious that whatever was happening to Teal'c had already happened to the both of them, too. It looks like Daniel was wrong, she though grimly. The Sirens aren't just a myth. And they only affect the men, not me.
She wondered what she would do when she caught up with Teal'c. She rounded a corner, and, having finally caught up with him, quickly decided on a course of action. She zatted him, and tied him up. "Sorry, buddy," she whispered to her unconscious friend as she stuffed earplugs into his ears. "This is for your own good." She made sure the ties were secure, and ran off back the way they'd originally came. She needed to get to Jack and Daniel before they ran off a cliff or something.
Sam ran back to the crossroads, and followed the guys' glow sticks. They ended right in front of an impassable crystal wall. Since she knew Jack would have picked up his markers and replaced them somewhere else once he'd found out they were walking down a dead end, she knew that this was not the route Jack and Daniel had taken. Someone had moved the sticks. She turned around to go back the way she'd came, but the glow sticks had disappeared. Whoever moved them didn't want Sam to find her friends. And, once again, Sam was lost.
