11.

A/N. I should have mentioned in prior chapters that Everett Ruess is a real person, who really did die in Davis Gulch in the way described- which is, no one knows. I think I'm out of copyright issues, etc. due to the date, but seriously, this is a work of fiction, and not intended to harm or annoy anyone. Any take on the man's persona is totally mine.

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Sam watched, worried, as the guys headed out towards Davis Gulch. She really should be with them. The good news was that the Colonel hadn't insisted on evac-ing her out to Page, she was past the window for decompression sickness, and she was sure there were no broken ribs. The bad news was that the bruises were pretty ugly and predictably getting worse. They always did, second day.

The sun was raising over the canyon walls, creating mirrored reflections in the water, a glassy calm. It was going to be a glorious day, which would have been great if she'd been with her team. She wasn't. She ignored the beauty and walked… well… limped back into the main cabin and pulled out her laptop.

It was a waiting game, now. And if the guys didn't show in four hours time, she was heading the houseboat into the channel, come hell or high or low or narrow water.

Huh. She'd clearly been hanging around the Colonel too long.

At least she'd rigged up the speedboat so she could communicate with them while they were in it. Speaking of that…

"Sir?" She flipped on the transmitter.

"Carter, I'm piloting." He was clearly exasperated. "Here."

She waited and after some fumbling, Daniel picked up the device. "Sam, everything's fine. We're just turning into Davis Gulch."

"You're sure of the coordinates?"

Daniel didn't answer and there was static again.

"Carter, in case you've forgotten, because I haven't, I've been here before. Less than 24 hours ago. Even my senility isn't that bad. We'll contact you prior to heading into the water. O'Neill out."

OK, so maybe she'd jumped the gun. But she really should be with the guys. Jeez. She had to get a grip. They were on a mission. She should be glad that the Colonel finally recognized it as such and was in military mode. Instead, she was just annoyed that she wasn't with her team and no one was giving her a blow-by-blow.

She settled down determinedly onto the couch in the main area to wait.

Thirty minutes later she got a message.

"Major, we're heading into the site. Speedboat's docked at the same location as yesterday. O'Neill out."

He cut the connection before she could say anything.

OK, that was a wake up call. It was an op; she needed to stay focused. And apparently the Colonel also thought she needed a reminder that her team could handle things without her.

She hunkered down and watched the data coming in about the emissions. Nothing. There was nothing. It felt like she was staring for hours. She grimaced and got a grip.

She calculated their journey. Seeing as she was devoid of any real data, she had to rely on prediction and assumption. So, assuming that the Colonel dived immediately to the site, which he was sure to do, and spent the maximum ten minutes there, and then came up safely, slowly, the probable time that they were diving to get to the site and then back up again was 37 minutes, without swimming to the boat. So, 40 minutes at the earliest until they made contact; longer, if they didn't call her immediately for some reason. And if they didn't, the reason why could be anything, ranging from nothing to immediate disaster.

She waited, every minute ticking into her bones.

"Major."

"Sir?" She grabbed the transmitter. She checked the clock. It had been an hour since they'd left speedboat and headed down into the cave.

"We're headed back. ETA at 1100 hours."

"Acknowledged. Sir, you're late. What happened?"

"Hard to explain, Carter. We're all OK. O'Neill out."

She headed to the back of the houseboat and waited.

Again.

Waiting was really not her strong suit. She was worried about the guys. And, truth be told, she was annoyed with the Colonel for keeping her onboard, annoyed with herself for getting injured to begin with, annoyed with Teal'c for supporting the Colonel's position about her staying onboard, and annoyed with Daniel because he got to go on the mission.

She grimaced. They were all right. The Colonel had told her so. But she was… not good. She *so* missed her lab. Here, there was nothing she could do but wait.

And, as waiting apparently involved wallowing in what were, if she was honest with herself, unfair personal grudges, she needed to get a clue.

She could do better than this.

She contacted the SGC to see if Harris and Lee had detected anything, but they'd come up empty as well. Then she checked to see if Hoffman had decoded Ruess' message. Apparently, the woman was still working on it, but had confirmed Daniel's theory that it was a derivative of Hopi.

Just peachy, as the Colonel would say.

Yeah, there was nothing at the SGC, which just left her with sitting on the couch of the houseboat, waiting to hear what had happened on a mission she should have been on which just, yep, totally sucked, as the Colonel would say.

And now she was having conversations with herself, imagining what the Colonel would say. So… not.. good.

On the other hand, some of this … dithering on her part was the Colonel's fault.

What could be so hard to explain that he couldn't give her three sentences so she could mull over the ramifications of their expedition instead of sitting here… waiting?

He was totally unreasonable. Impossible.

Her CO.

Ah jeez. He had every right to decide when a debrief occurred and who was assigned to a mission. She was totally out of line and if he was just … wrong, she should just … deal. And yet…

Jeez, she really, really hated waiting without any data to analyze. It meant she had to think about things she normally ignored, like personal stuff. She wasn't good at it, but she didn't think she was oblivious.

For example, the Colonel was being erratic. One day he sets up a vacation for her; the next, he talks about her next CO and tells her to tone it down. And then he got her out of that godforsaken cave and checked her injuries. He'd been completely cheerful, then cranky, then thoughtful and now cranky again. It was totally unlike him to switch so quickly without a clear reason.

What was going on?

Not to mention that he'd ignored the mission at first and now was in full Colonel mission mode.

She groaned. She really hated waiting. It'd happened too many times – like Edora, but there at least she had something to work on.

Here…

It was really bad for her health, not to mention the possible insubordination charges that she might ensue and ruin her career if she actually said what she thought when they finally got back.

If nothing else, she had to make him understand that he couldn't just go…play … without her along. CO or not. And her injuries… okay, maybe he had a point. But he could least give her some damned data to think about while she worried.

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Jack jumped off the speedboat and grabbed the ropes from Teal'c to secure it to the back of the houseboat. He stopped, short, when he saw Carter's expression. There was no other way to describe it – she was glowering at him.

Again.

Huh. Maybe he should have evac-ed her to Page. "You alright, Carter?"

"I'm fine. What happened?"

Okay, that was pretty testy, even for Carter in possible pain. He stared at her suspiciously.

Daniel finally answered. "There was nothing there."

"What? Really?"

Jack broke in because it looked to him like she was possibly going to annihilate anyone in sight, especially Daniel, if she didn't get more intel. "It was all gone, Carter. All of it. There was no ruin; no evil entities outside the cave; nothing. Even your tanks were gone. There was literally nothing there."

Carter stared at him. "That's not possible."

"I know. That's what I said." He headed in towards the main area to deposit his gear, Teal'c and Daniel following.

She followed in after them. "Did you check the -?"

He interrupted. "Yeah, of course."

Teal'c broke in. "We followed your instructions carefully, Major Carter. There were no energy readings."

Jack started breaking down his equipment. "Anything at the SGC or here?"

"No." Carter flopped down on the couch, clearly disgruntled. He shrugged, and headed into his quarters. There'd be time enough for discussion.

She was still on the couch, lost in thought, when he returned from changing out of his wetsuit.

He sat down next to her, silent, and watched as Daniel came in from stowing the air tanks at the back of the boat.

Daniel grabbed some water and sat down across from them. "It was amazing, Sam. If I hadn't seen the film, I would never have believed anything was there. It was totally empty; not even a rock out of place. In fact, if we hadn't seen what we have seen on other planets, I'd be convinced you two were pulling our legs with some sort of elaborate hoax on the film you brought back."

He paused, thinking. "It could be the Asgards."

Jack shrugged. "Hammond's trying to reach Thor. He'd have contacted Carter if he was successful while we were gone."

Carter broke in. "It can't be the Asgards. It's something or someone else that must have similar technology. The energy emissions weren't Asgard signatures, and anyway, Thor would have told us if there was some sort of device on Earth when he gave us the monitoring equipment."

"Great. So, we've got nothing." Disgruntled himself, Jack headed to the fridge for a beer. "Carter? Daniel?" He gestured to each to see if they wanted one, but no one answered. They were both lost in thought.

"We have the tape. Did Hoffman send back anything, Sam?"

"She agrees that it's probably a derivative of Hopi, but no one at the SGC can decipher it yet. She did say that she has been able to lip read the sounds."

"Huh. I better call in, but it's not going to be easy. No one at the SGC speaks Hopi, let alone a derivative. You know, it's not far from here to one of the Reservations. We could check with the locals."

Jack broke in. "Or not. Classified, Daniel."

Daniel shook his head. "Of course. Sorry. It's just that it's our only chance to understand what was said." He paused. "Or maybe not."

Carter cocked her head, intrigued. "What are you thinking, Daniel?"

Jack watched as Daniel put his feet up on the coffee table, rubbing two fingers together as he thought through the problem.

"Honestly, I'd completely forgotten about it until we started talking about hoaxes."

Jack interrupted. "No one was talking about hoaxes except you."

Daniel stared at him, clearly annoyed. "That's not the point. Or rather, it is the point."

Jack stared back, annoyed himself. "Could we actually get to the point?"

"I have a colleague who's an archaeologist that-

"Well, seeing as you are one, that useful to hear."

"Quit being an ass, Jack, and let me finish."

"Ah jeez. Go ahead." He flopped down on the couch and put his head back, waiting.

"Thank you. Saunders was an expert on the Navajo and Hopi cultures, as well as the Anasazi. It was back in the late 70s, I think, when he was completely discredited. I'd almost forgotten about it."

"What happened, Daniel?"

"He claimed that the Anasazi had returned, but they weren't human. They were aliens walking among us, and that he had proof. He showed a video. People thought it was an elaborate hoax and that he was doing it for the publicity and the press. Needless to say, he was drummed out of academia after that."

"Yeah, well, it does sound like he had a few loose screws."

"Of course it does. We all know that archaeologists that claim there are aliens on Earth are nuts."

Jack sighed. "Point taken. But I still don't see why you're bringing him up."

"Jack, he's still alive, working in the southwest somewhere. He speaks Hopi and he's already discredited. As we all know, no one believes discredited archaeologists. We can use that to our advantage. We can have him sign a disclosure agreement, but even if he talks, people will think it's just more of the same… craziness he spouted in the 70s."

Carter broke in. "What if he really did have proof? He might know something we don't, sir. Someone needs to check him out."

Teal'c came in from showering. "I agree, O'Neill. It is a lead we must investigate."

Jack sighed. "All right, but I still think it's a waste of time. Daniel, you and T can check it out, but you're not to take the film itself. Whatever Hoffman has in terms of sounds is going to have to be enough. Even that's dangerous. Sandman's not to know where the tape originated."

"Saunders."

Jack rolled his eyes, irritated that Daniel hadn't gotten the joke.

Daniel got up, completely missing Jack's annoyance and headed toward Carter's command center on the lower level. "I need to talk to Hoffman and see if she can get me an address."

"I will prepare the afternoon meal." Teal'c wondered off to the fridge and then to the upper deck.

Which left Carter and him. He took a sip of beer and decided to take the bull by the horns, so to speak, although Carter would shoot him if she knew he was using that particular analogy, even in his head.

"OK, Carter, spill."

"I don't know what you mean, sir."

He took another sip of beer, cocked his head, and waited.

She finally broke. "If left behind on a mission, I would appreciate being more fully informed of your progress, sir."

"Pissed that you weren't in the middle of the action, huh?"

"I – no, sir. That's not it. "

He stared at her knowingly.

Her color rose but she held firm. She swallowed and looked away. "I admit that I think I should have been on the mission, sir. But that's not what concerns me."

"Then what?"

She swallowed. "I understand your decision. There were only three sets of tanks. One of us needed to stay behind to monitor progress and set up a SAR if necessary. I was the target once, and I was injured. I understand why you left me out of the recon."

He tried again. "Then what?"

She swallowed again and said firmly, "I don't consider 'it's hard to explain' being fully informed. Sir."

OK, that was annoying. She was totally out of line. He called the shots. "Major, I don't have to explain when or what I choose to explain or not."

He couldn't believe he was having this conversation. She knew perfectly well how they operated; she'd been his second for three years.

He stopped suddenly. Three years where she had never been the one left behind. Different team dynamics. He swallowed, suddenly envisioning Carter sitting in the houseboat, waiting, with nothing to do. She never had nothing to do. It must have been … really, really irritating, not to mention that she'd probably been worried about them. And, of course, she was still sore from yesterday's little excursion. No wonder she was annoyed. Not that he should care about that, but… he did. Different team dynamics. He needed to adjust.

"I know that, sir. I apologize."

"What?"

Oh, yeah. He'd just reamed her out for mentioning that she wanted additional information when he hadn't delivered.

"There's nothing to apologize for and don't ever do it again, unless you've killed me or something, and then you probably will have done it for a reason and I won't care anyway because I'll be dead."

"Sir?"

For crying out loud, where was he?

"Carter, the point is that I'm not going to change. You won't get a blow-by-blow from me if you're not there because that's not how I operate." He stared at her. "And you know that. It's not how anyone in command should operate. It's distracting."

"Understood, sir." She was clearly upset, but accepted the reprimand. He grimaced, annoyed with himself, not her. He hadn't explained his position correctly.

"No, you don't, because I agree with you. While I won't do it, it is a legitimate request. There's no reason why we couldn't have contacted you and given you specifics once it was safe. In the future, I'll give Daniel the comm so you can get an update asap and then you can… think about things."

She looked surprised at his concession. Huh. To be honest, he was a little surprised he'd agreed to it himself.

But this was Carter, not Kawalsky. She needed to keep her mind busy. Of course, Kawalsky wouldn't have cared to begin with and would never have requested data immediately. He gave it up. The comparison between them that he kept trying to make was rapidly going downhill fast. In fact, he was pretty sure it had already hit rock bottom.

Different team dynamics. Carter was different from any second he'd had. And his annoyance today was unlike any he'd ever had related to a second. He tried to put himself in her position. What would he have done if left behind with no data?

Well. That was easy. He'd have grumped at the whole Powers that were in a really snarky way. Carter was a master at it. She was actually polite, not snarky. He felt proud as her CO and horrified at the same time. A really, really good second, which she was, would save his assets when necessary but would be tough to deal with when they didn't agree. At least that had been true in the past. He mentally revised his earlier thought that she'd never been left behind before, remembering the time that Thor had beamed him up for what he thought was a suicide mission and she'd beamed up with the explosives, going over his head to get Hammond's approval. Yeah, hell on wheels.

Different team dynamics. Yeah, he was pretty sure that was a mantra he needed to keep in mind, not that he believed in mantras. But hey, whatever worked.

"You ok, sir?"

He looked up from his beer, and there it was. The classic Carter smile, the one she only directed at him, as far as he could tell. It washed over him like the sunshine outside today, somehow making the issues between them light and bright rather than the complicated cold and grey of the day before.

"Yeah, fine."

"Thank you, sir."

He grinned back. "You're welcome." He gestured between them with his beer. "So, we're ok, here?"

She grinned again. "Definitely."

He turned as Daniel suddenly headed into the room, head down, looking at some data. "Jack, I – oh. Sorry to interrupt."

"You didn't. What did you find out?" If it came out more cheerfully than he intended, well... not his fault.

Daniel glanced at him suspiciously. "Are you OK?"

He grimaced. Daniel was always a pain. "Yes. What?"

Daniel grabbed the chair opposite the couch and stared at him for a moment. "Okay, that's better. "

"What?"

Daniel grinned. "I have the data on Saunders. He lives in the Four Corners area, in fact close to here. Down by Bluff, Utah. Apparently, it's unknown how he makes a living these days, but the rumor is that he hunts pots."

"He does what?"

"Hunts pots. There's a huge black market for Anasazi pottery. And yes, Jack, I know you don't want to hear the detailed history of the Anasazi so I'll stop for now. But there's a connection to what we've seen and the Anasaz story. I'm sure of it. And I bet Saunders is involved somehow."

Jack sighed. "Of course you are."

"It's important."

"I know you think that. How far is it?"

"Three hours maybe four, after we get back to Bullfrog."

"Okay, so we can't leave the area until Hammond gets another team in to continue surveillance. That will be late tomorrow morning at the earliest. After the SGC shows, we can head back to Bullfrog and you and T can take the jeep to Bluff and then catch up with Carter and I at the Butler Wash site. Maybe something will turn up there."

"Why wait?"

"What?"

"It's only 11:30 now. Teal'c and I can take the speedboat up now and catch Saunders at dinner."

"Carter and I might need it if we need to head into Davis again."

"Well, then give us a ride to the Marina. It can't be more than an hour at the speed that thing goes. Teal'c and I can spend the night in Bluff and meet you tomorrow at the Butler Wash site."

"I—". Jack stopped dead in his tracks. He couldn't say what he was thinking; that it was a bad idea to spend the night alone with Carter on the houseboat. Just saying it would raise a red flag he didn't want raised. They were on a mission. It was completely normal for two teammates to wait out surveillance together while the rest investigated something else. At least it was when they weren't on Earth.

The location changed everything, and yet it shouldn't. And that was impossible to explain to anyone, including himself.

He sighed. "Alright. Get your gear."