"It's a wall."

"Yeah. I got that."

"Would it help if I said I thought it was old?" A strong wind was sweeping across the island and bringing with it a light shower of rain. Vala pulled up the collar of her jacked and zipped up the front, but it was barely holding back the cold and wet. "Daniel?"

"It's got to be here somewhere."

"You've been looking for half an hour now."

"It's here. I know it is." Daniel ran the beam of his flashlight around an indent in the wall, tracing out an almost perfect square. "Jammed or wedged. I don't know."

"And this problem isn't going to solve itself by morning. I'm tired, you're tired."

"Maybe, but if we don't get out of this weather we'll be a whole lot more than tired." Daniel turned the flashlight on its end and started tapping around the outline. After a few taps, the sound went from a thick thud to something more hollow. "Here," he said running his hand over a point on the wall. "Help me push."

"Really, Daniel-"

"Are you going to help me or are you going to stand here and complain until we're both hypothermic?"

Vala harrumphed loudly but got nothing but an angry stare from Daniel in return. She leaned into the wall and put her weight behind the spot he still held his hand over. "Is it too late to get a refund on this vacation?"

"Just push, will you?"

Daniel bit down hard on his lip as he put all the effort he could muster into pushing against the door. He ignored the sharp pain of broken ribs protesting his every move and the headache that had started to dull but was now back in full force. And yet despite his efforts, the door remained stuck. To his left, Vala had pulled away sharply, frustration etched on her face as she blew out her cheeks and turned to lean heavily against the wall. He thought about doing the same, even knowing there was no way he could offer up enough strength to match hers... when the side of the door they had been trying to move shifted inwards a few inches.

"Daniel?" Vala stepped back, turned around and grabbed the flashlight, shining it through the slight opening and into the darkness beyond.

"More," he urged and took up the strain again. A bright, white arc of lightning streaked down from the sky and hit the ground some way off in the distance, lighting up the entire area for a few brief seconds. In a flash, Daniel could see the small ravine they were in and the extent of the ancient wall. The stone moved beneath his hands, and then suddenly so did his balance as the door shifted on some unseen hinge and opened enough for him to fall through, with Vala stumbling in over the top. Her cry of surprise and a super bright flash of light was the last thing he saw as the pain in his chest erupted and sent him sinking into darkness.

~oOo~

"Honored Leader Taphir sends his regards this morning."

Cam put on his most sincere smile, but when it came to political niceties, he had a few more lessons to learn. He looked over the man standing before him, with his cap of perfectly groomed blond hair and piercing blue eyes that appeared to judge him, and tried not to groan.

"Mornin', " he said without further preamble, because right now that was all he had to offer.

"If you and the rest of your delegation would follow me to the-"

"You're not going to feed us again, are you?"

The man, who had introduced himself as Patha, tipped his head to one side and frowned. "Is it not the tradition on your world to great the morning with a breaking of the nightly fast?"

"Well, yeah, but-"

"Then it is good that we can share our morning bread and wine with you."

"Ah, about that..." Cam looked over his shoulder to where Teal'c and Carter were coming out of their shared room. "We kinda want to get on with looking for our teammates. If that's okay with you."

"Ah! The scholar and his good wife."

"Yeah... you know, I wouldn't let Jackson hear you call her that."

"They are not wedded?"

Cam heard Carter chuckle behind him. "That would be no. Getting hitched isn't high on our list of team bonding exercises."

"Oh. My apologies." Patha appeared to take the news in his stride. He stepped aside and swept his right hand forward to usher them towards the breakfast room. "Leader Taphir assumed from their social interactions that they must have been a wedded pair. It is not uncommon among our own people for couples to bicker in a similar fashion."

"The tension you may have witnessed between Daniel Jackson and Vala Mal Doran is a form of communication they have developed by which they are able to remain in each other's company," Teal'c added, when it appeared Cam was at a total loss for words. "I am sure they will be able to separately attest to their marital state once we find them."

"As you say," Patha said flatly. "If you do not require food then Leader Taphir has made a vessel and navigator available for you to use."

Cam clamped a firm hand down on the man's shoulder and smiled widely. "Now we're talking! Which way to the harbor?"

The last of the dark clouds from the night's storm were rolling their way over the horizon to be replaced by the two giant suns. The harbor was horseshoe-shaped and formed the outer edge of the peninsula that had sheltered the city from the tsunami. Off towards the direction of the Stargate, to the far right and start of the peninsula proper, a range of low hills blocked the view of the rupture from the earlier quake.

Cam checked the time on his wristwatch and then looked up to the first of the two suns. "We'll be overdue in about 2 hours."

"At which time the SGC should make contact," said Teal'c.

"Any chance the quake damaged the MALP?" Cam looked to Carter, who simply shrugged.

"No way to know without actually going there, which will take hours, assuming we can find a way to cross the rupture."

"I'm not about to suggest sailing there when the SGC can send through an S&R team."

They walked in silence through the city streets, nodding at but politely refusing the various market vendors who greeted them with their wares. Flags hoisted high on many of the buildings swayed softly in the light breeze while large seabirds circled overhead, their presence a sure sign they were nearing the harbor.

Clearing the last of the narrow cobbled streets was like crossing the threshold between two distinct zones. The city simply ended without fanfare and the ocean took front and center, pulling Cam forward by its sheer beauty. Boats of different sizes and shapes, colors and designs bobbed on the relatively safe waters of the peninsula. Some had sails unfurled and crews scrambling across their decks as they set out across the ocean, while others were piled high with wicker fish pots and delicate nets. The air was heavy with the familiar smell of sea, salt, fish and seaweed.

Patha led them down one of the many jetties that jutted out from a wharf that spanned the entire length of the harbor. Cam could see the water below through the cracked and splintered planks of the jetty. A group of young boys lined one side of the jetty, sitting with their legs dangling over the side, kicking back and forth while they fished with wooden fishing rods.

"Here," Patha declared as he stopped in front of a sail boat and nodded to one of the men standing at the bow. "This is Agela. He is captain of this vessel and will carry you to the island to search for your companions. I regret we are unable to assist you any further. Leader Taphir has called court to discuss yesterday's disaster and what needs to be done to repair the considerable damage done to the aqueduct."

At that very moment, dismay overshadowed Cam's sense of reasoning. Lives had been lost, entire families killed when buildings in some of the shanty areas of the city collapsed down on them. "What about the people you lost? Do they count in your discussions?"

"Our people are not your concern, Colonel Mitchell. When you have lived in the shadow of disaster for as long as we have, on a world that is unable to control its rage, you quickly learn that survival is not a war to be won but something to be endured."

"Okay. Well... little harsh."

"Good luck to you all. Agela will hold anchor in the bay and wait for your return." Patha turned on his heels and walked briskly back towards the city.

"Something I said?"

Sam rested a hand on his shoulder. "Doubt it, but we're definitely on our own here."

"Tell me again why we want to trade with these people?"

"Honestly, I'm not sure anymore."

TBC