Sometimes General Hammond envied his Gate teams. They were the last of the true explorers. They got to experience the thrill of being somewhere that nobody from Earth had ever been, or at least not since the planet had been settled by those stolen from the planet so many years before. They had the adrenaline rush of battle even if it came with a gut-wrenching fear. But most of all, he envied that they were not the ones standing safely in a room waiting for news.
He had Walter fire up the Gate again to check in and relief flooded him as the camera turned on and Dr. Jackson came into focus. The man looked beyond weary, but he was alive and breathing once again. Clearly he had more lives than an entire litter of cats.
"Glad to see you're alive and well, Dr. Jackson. We thought we'd lost you."
Daniel's face was partially obscured by the radio and he couldn't tell if it was shadows that made the circles under his eyes so dark or if it was his earlier flatlining. "To be honest, General, I don't really remember much after yelling at you. Sorry about that, by the way."
At least, Hammond thought, the man had the decency to look slightly ashamed at his behavior. "That's alright," he assured him. Hey, the man died yet again. He could cut the guy some slack. "Is there anything else you need?"
"My glasses," Daniel was quick to supply. He did a mental tally. What do we have, what do we need. Food and water. Small comforts like clean socks and pillows. "And uhm, supplies. Looks like we're not going anywhere for a while. Oh and that little remote computer thing I couldn't make work before."
"I'll send it through immediately. Where's Colonel O'Neill?"
Daniel wasn't sure. He looked behind him and spotted Loran standing there, watching with a fixated look. "I'm not sure. I'll find out."
It didn't take long for the SGC personnel to assemble the requested items and Hammond sent them through. As soon as they arrived, Daniel shoved his glasses onto his face and grabbed for the device.
"Guys! I've figured out how to…" He stopped as he entered the light room and found all three members of his team standing perfectly still, focused on the light once again.
With a frown, he held the device out and pressed a button, careful not to look up at the light show.
The light cut out and dissipated, sliding down the walls and disappearing into the air.
They each turned to him, first Sam, then Teal'c, then Jack slowly turning with a look of longing. "How did you do that?" Sam asked.
Daniel held up the device. "Remote control."
"I thought that thing was broken," Jack pointed out.
"Yeah, you were right," Daniel said with a lift of his eyebrows. "It was the batteries."
Jack let out a quiet huh sound. "I was right?"
"At least, I think it draws power from something in the room itself. That's why I couldn't get it to work back on Earth."
Jack shifted uncomfortably. Now that he was moving, he could feel the subtle protest of his knee at being still for so long. "How long were we standing here?"
Daniel shrugged. "I'm not sure. General Hammond sent some supplies and Loran and I figured out how to translate the writing on this thing so…" The words 'a while' were left unsaid.
"That long?" Jack asked, aghast.
"Yeah well, perception of time is one of the first things to go when you're… high." Daniel slightly balked at the use of the word, but it was the only one that fit. It brought back bad memories of the last time he had fought an addiction after the incident with Shyla and her father's sarcophagus. "From what I've been able to translate so far with Loran's help, the Goa'uld used to use this place as some sort of opium den. The only difference is that their symbiotes must have kept the host's mind chemically balanced once they left."
Teal'c pointed out "Then it is most likely I will be able to leave this planet."
"Oh how nice for you," Jack replied.
"Wait a minute," Carter cut in. "If you turned it off, how come I'm not getting depressed?"
"Perhaps," Teal'c offered, "it will take some time to feel its effects."
Jack let out a quiet sigh. "Well then, let's take advantage of that time," he decided as they left the room with the deactivated device and headed back to the Gate room.
The kid was sitting on the edge of the Stargate platform where Jack sat next to Daniel earlier. "Loran!" he snapped to the kid.
"Jack!" he replied, all too chipper.
"Alright," Jack asked, arms crossed over his chest. "Where exactly did your parents actually go?"
"Far far away from here." Loran suddenly looked a little uncomfortable, his face falling.
"How far?" Jack asked, "Which direction?" he demanded. Loran just looked away, his mouth working like he was trying to figure out what to say. He refused to meet Jack's eyes and Jack threw up his arms in frustration and turned away from him. "Kid's hiding something," he said quietly. "Teal'c, Carter, with me."
Daniel watched Loran as the kid watched Jack walk out.
The decor outside of the palace was just as gaudy and tacky as the inside, Jack thought. The main building was shaped like a stone sphinx surrounded by what Jack could only assume were pharaohs or something. Random statues with animal heads scattered among the buildings.
The trio walked along a muddy beach made of a mix of mossy grass and a thick sandy dirt. Waves lapped against the edge and some sort of birds swept overhead, reminding Jack of seagulls.
Jack fell back to keep pace with Carter who had started to fall behind. Teal'c kept up his pace ahead of them.
"What?" Jack prompted as gently as he could.
Sam couldn't help but think about her brother. She'd just recently sent him a card for his upcoming birthday. He'd probably do his obligatory call to her to thank her and she wouldn't be there for it. It wasn't as much the fact that she wanted to talk to her brother as the fact that she might never have the chance to again that weighed on her mind. "I guess the reality that we may never go home is starting to set in." For some reason, it was weighing heavily on her mind.
"Oh, Hammond'll keep up supplied with everything we need until we can figure this out," he offered adding, "It's a nice beach."
Carter fought the urge to roll her eyes at him and his lackadaisical attitude about it all. "It'd be a good excuse for you, wouldn't it?"
Jack peered at her. "Huh?"
She kept her gaze forward, but he saw the narrowing of her eyes. "To do nothing for a while."
They took a few more steps as Jack let the words roll through his mind. "What?"
Carter shook her head. "Forget it," she muttered.
"That would be, 'Forget it, sir,'" he snapped back.
"Oh please!" she grouched back. "You think I'm keeping that up if we're stuck here forever?"
"Listen, Major," he started, cut off by her glare.
"No way!"
Jack felt a flash of anger rise within him at her insubordination. They might be stuck for the time being, but they were still on a mission and he was still her commanding officer. "That's 'No way, Colonel'!"
It wasn't like Carter to argue with him, but she raised her voice, almost tripping over her words. "I'm supposed to just accept that? That's the way it's going to be?" she demanded in a voice higher pitched than usual. He was infuriating. She couldn't believe she had ever thought she could be close to him. He was just another testosterone-laden jackass military man who wanted to talk down to her because she was a woman and she was sick of it.
"That's the way it is!" Jack snapped back. Carter started to shout back at him again and he stopped, grabbing onto the front of her jacket and pulling her to face him, the motion a bit more violent than intended. "Carter!" he shouted over her whining, getting her to finally stop her tirade before it became an all out fist fight. "You're in withdrawal!"
"Oh, I'm in withdrawal?!" she yelled.
"Yes!" Jack said, stunning her into silence. "So am I!"
She stared at him, taking inventory of her emotions. They stood there staring at each other, breathing in and out until they started to calm down.
"O'Neill! Major Carter!" Teal'c called out to them. They hurried over to where he knelt in the sandy ground before two stacks of stones at the head of what were two skeletons that were partially unburied. "I believe I have located the parents of Loran."
Teal'c swept some of the dirt covering the skeletons away. They'd clearly been there for quite some time and despite the buzz that was grating at the back of his mind, Jack was starting to understand more about Loran and his presence on the planet.
Please note: I'll be gone for a couple of days so won't be able to keep up my chapter-a-day. Please let me know if you have any feedback so far and if you have any suggestions on the next episode to tackle, let me know that too!