Chapter Two: E F G H

E is for Elderberry

"Aw, come on. It's my gran'maw's recipe. I made it myself." Mitchell looked around the group, pouring himself a glass of the wine and raising it to his team.

Each slowly raised their glass.

Vala was beaming, "Really?"

Grinning proudly, Cam nodded. "Yep, she got the recipe from her gran'maw."

Sam stared at the dark liquid in her glass, a distasteful grimace well controlled. "Oh?"

"I swear. It's like nectar and too much'll make you drunk as a billy goat." Gesturing with his glass he encouraged them to drink.

Teal'c took a sniff, brow raising way too high. "ColonelMitchell, I am unsure of what an Elderberry is."

"Well these I picked last time I was home. They grow wild."

Daniel nearly spilled the wine when he flinched. "You picked them! And then brought them here? And then you...made this?"

"Yeah, I've been drinking it since I was sixteen, best damn drunk I ever had." Cam walked around clicking each teammates glass. "Bottoms up!" He downed the liquid in his glass and smacked his lips. "Damn! Now THAT'S what I'm talkin' about!"

Vala drained her glass as well. "Yummy, Cameron. More please?"

Sam politely took a sip. "Nice." She emptied her glass, cocked her head and held the glass out for more.

Daniel mentally 'held his nose' and gulped it down. "Okay, not bad." He set his wine glass on the table and pointed with a nod.

Teal'c obligingly took a hefty swallow. "Good color, full bodied, not too sweet." Finishing the wine he too presented his glass for a refill.

"I made six bottles." Cam laughed as he completed pouring the second round.

Later Teal'c poured the last of the wine evenly into his and Vala's glasses.

"Muscles?"

"Yes?"

"Should we just leave them where they are?"

"I am sure ColonelMitchell has blankets and pillows we can make them more comfortable with."

"Daniel only had three glasses full." Vala sipped at the last of her wine, her gaze on the archeologist who was passed out in his chair.

"ColonelCarter had four." Teal'c carefully straightened Sam's head from its uncomfortable looking angle over the back of the couch.

Licking the rim of her glass Vala looked over at Cam who slouched half on the floor and half on the ottoman. "And Cameron six."

"I believe I hear the horn of the taxi cab. Shall we go?"

"Of course, I'm certainly not going to be here when they wake up in the morning!"

"Indeed."

F is for Fishing

Teal'c slapped his neck then eyed his hand and the remnants of the mosquito. His gaze went back to the dark still water where his fishing line disappeared.

Jack gulped down half a beer and grinned and a brow rose on the Jaffa, but he refrained from commenting.

Lifting his eyes from the book he read, Daniel twisted around in his chair taking a quick glance towards where Vala lay on a blanket, in a black bikini, eyes shaded with huge dark sunglasses. He whipped his head back around when she lifted the glasses to catch a look at him.

Cam, having caught the exchange, shook his head and cast his line again, this time tangling it with Carter's.

Sam was oblivious the fishing pole in her hands. Her eyes were closed, faced relaxed, and a huge smile graced her lips.

The click and whoosh of a beer tab popping open got Cam's attention and he turned to find a cold beer close to his face. Taking it from Jack, Cam nodded his thanks.

Laying the book open on the grass beside him, Daniel leaned forward with a wanting look and Jack reached to the bottom of the cooler and hiked a beer his way. Catching it one handed, Daniel grinned and flipped the tab open.

Before he could reach for his book with the other hand he found his lap occupied by Vala. Facing forward, she crooked her head around and handed Daniel a bottle of suntan lotion and appropriated his beer for herself. Obligingly he began to smear the goo over her back.

When Sam stood and stretched, Daniel, Cam, Teal'c, and Jack turned their gaze her way. Her two piece swimsuit, while not as small as Vala's bikini, still held their interest. She reached into the cooler and grabbed a bottled water and sauntered off towards the blanket Vala had been lying on. As she passed behind Jack, she nudged his neck with the icy wet plastic, giggled lightly, and went to spread out on the blanket.

Jack turned to the other three guys and pointed quite emphatically ahead. They complied immediately. Holding out another beer towards Daniel got Jack a shake of the head and two lotion lathered hands raised from the archeologist.

The warm sunlight, the smell of new mowed grass, and a gentle breeze lulled them all into a lethargic relaxed state. Not a word was uttered and the only sound was cicadas singing in chorus, and the occasional popped top, with a refreshing whoosh, accompanied by a periodic slap of bug squashing and the infrequent plop of a line tossed into the pond.

G is for Goa'uld

"Wrong. It's definitely 'he who speaks of war while sleeps as a babe'."

"DanielJackson. I believe I know Goa'uld better than you. It is most assuredly 'he who wages war while children sleep'."

"Well, you're both wrong! I'm the Goa'uld here, I should know. Daniel, you know the words and not always syntax, though you speak and read it quite well. And Muscles, while you've spoken the language a hundred years longer as a Jaffa, you were not invited into the private speak of system lords. You're both way off. It simply states "He who wars with his sleeping children. It's like the opposite of 'taking candy from a baby', referring the difficulty in dealing with Jaffa." Vala flounced her hair and grinned.

Daniel studied the text again, while Teal'c raised a brow in interest.

"Really. The jar probably held a symbiote some system lord had yanked out of a naughty First Prime. Like your Tau'ri English, Goa'uld is not always word for word..." Vala looked from Daniel to Teal'c, "...you know, Muscles, things like 'wild horses couldn't drag me away'...those sorts of things. Well, anyway, I'm off to help Dr. Lee unscramble some wavy pattern thingies in that funny looking device SG-14 found on PR2-8Q3 that the rogue NID left behind. Everyone thinks it's some kind of communication whatever..." Vala laughed, "...have you seen it!? It looks like a tool I once saw a slave use to open a jug of wine. Then I have to give a BORING class on recognizing the difference between tiny inconspicuous weapons and Goa'uld jewelry...gahhh, I hate that!"

Daniel brought the object closer and pulled out a magnifying glass. "I can see the words, but the bottle opener? She's kidding, right?"

"I do not think so."

H is for Help!!

I'm not sure how long it's gonna take, seein' as how I'm not sure where the rest of my team is and they sure as hell don't know where I am. I know Jackson took out after some pile of rocks that looked like a funeral pyre. Vala was supposed to stay by the Stargate, and the big guy was gonna take a look around the perimeter. Me? I wandered off towards the spot the UAV had landed.

The problem is... well one of the problems is, I changed my direction when I heard somethin' rustlin' around in the bushes. At that point I guess you could say I sort of went off on a wild goose chase. Literally. At least it kinda looked like a goose.

I wasn't being careless. Hell, it took us three weeks to get the mission goin' since so much has happened over the years. They sent two MALPs, three UAVs and studied data for two weeks. Nothin', not a twig out of place. They even ran some kinda sonar on one UAV to check things out.

We've been lookin' for a nice new off world base for a year. And this one seems to fit the bill.

So back to the problem at hand. I was eyein' that goose for a possible dinner guest...but the son of a bitch had a gaggle about the size of a crowd at a Memphis tractor pull. The honkin' and sqaukin' was loud enough to wake the dead. They rushed me soon as I came into a clearin'. I'm a good runner, damned good. And I can run backwards near as fast as forwards. Though, it's harder to see what's behind you. I toppled over into a crevice and landed on a ledge no wider then my butt.

Some might say that's plenty wide enough, but if you could see the endless drop below me, you'd get why my heart won't stop pumpin' an over abundance of blood through my body. I feel like my heads gonna explode any minute. 'Course that could be from the baseball size knot at the base of my skull.

I tried sittin' up. Only managed to lose my breakfast. My eyes crossed, my head did the Linda Blair spin around and I was out about twenty minutes.

For some darn reason I can't yell for help. Believe me I tried. My throat keeps closin' up. That's annoyin' as hell.

Radio? Ha! Who knows, guess it took the dive of death over the ledge. I think I remember pullin' it out, but not sure I got the button pushed before my hand started going numb and the thing disappeared.

Funny thing is, that's not THE problem. There's this bird thing. You know the kind, huge and ugly as sin...a beak like the jaws of life, beady eyes, cousin to the Pterodactyl, that's eyein' me the way I was the goose. I'm a goner soon as I pass out again, and that's any minute now. Somethin' is buzzin' in my ears. Sounds weird. Okay, I'm goin' now, closin' my eyes and...

"Mitchell! Mitchell!?"

"We will have to make a harness. I shall climb down and stay with ColonelMitchell until the rescue team arrives."

"Be careful Teal'c, and make sure he's not broken his neck or something."

"I will DanielJackson."

Vala rushed up, out of breath. "They're on their way, right behind me."

"Jackson? Could ya shot that bird?" Cam's hoarse whisper was faint.

"Bird? What bird? That little sparrow-like one sitting there watching you? You expect me to shoot it!?"

~TBC – I J K L