AN: Stay or go. Will Jack trust Carter's device or rely on his own eyes for answers?
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Part 2 - ARC OF LIGHT
Chapter 2 - Tag It Or Pack It
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O'Neill wandered back into the open, still undecided if he should take his team beyond the wide expanse of the field. Or should he pack it up and just write off this world as insignificant? Instinct argued that he was missing something - besides the wall. He turned reluctantly to acknowledge what must be a high stone enclosure at the far edge of the field. From this distance it looked remarkably like a thick, albeit bumpy red-brown chalk line had been crudely drawn across the left side of the horizon.
According to Daniel, a long wall like that might be a timeless testament to life and easily outlast generations of their creators. Or it could stand strong like a fortress and protect its frightened inhabitants from heavy outside assault. You never really knew.
Jack turned back toward the gate, still half in thought. Yep, Carter knelt near the steps filling her vials, Teal'c stood a few feet behind her, dark eyes traveling over the horizon behind O'Neill with no show of interest. And Daniel was-- Oh, that's just great, the archeologist was nowhere in sight.
"Teal'c," Jack shouted, keeping most of his irritation in check. "Where's Daniel?"
The big Jaffa pointed beyond the gate and Jack realized that his view had been obstructed by one side of the massive ring. A moment later, Daniel's head bounced into sight, then disappeared again.
O'Neill shuddered. If there were indigenous life on the planet, sooner or later, it would find one overly-curious archeologist in stray-from-the-team mode. That Teal'c had assigned himself as sentinel only made him feel moderately better.
Okay. The colonel determined that he had had enough of PCX-388. Let another team do a follow-up mission. SG-4 had a new team leader since Major Sanderson had gotten himself nicely implicated by Makepeace in the NID sting. O'Neill couldn't recall the new guy's name, but it reminded him of a sporty car. Yes, this would be good field experience. He could clear the assignment through General Hammond with no problem and rack up another successful mission completed by SG-1.
Despite that, Jack deftly took stock. His team had their samples. Carter was satisfied. Daniel was intact. Teal'c looked bored. Nothing to survey and no local cultures to shun or observe. What was he missing?
"Okay, that's it, kids," O'Neill announced, approaching the short steps where his team was now gathering. "Tag it or pack it, I don't care. We are outta here."
"Sir, there's a stone wall about a quarter mile to the west," Carter injected at knee level, seeming in no hurry to follow his orders.
"Let the marines climb it. Come on, they enjoy all this dirt, grime and dust. As for me, I'm thinking the muscles could use a nice relaxing soak in a hot tub."
Obstinate Carter, however, opened her mouth and Jack's vision of a hot soak circled the drain in her logic. "Sir, I think the power readings are coming from there."
Of course they are, Jack groaned inwardly. "All this glitching goings on. I thought we already talked about that?"
'Yes, sir. We did, but I believe this might be worth investigating… while we're still on the planet."
"O'Neill sighed, grudgingly bowing to her reason. "You've got the glitch-o-graph. You don't think it's so random now?"
The major shrugged, climbing to her feet and brushing dirt from her knees. "Not really, sir." She took the compact device out of her pocket to consult it briefly. "Granted, they may still be random in occurrence, but it's unlikely that they were technically glitches. I am getting fairly strong energy readings of some kind, even now. Nothing that I can actually… identity though."
"That's because there's nothing here," O'Neill groused. He swept his arm out and wildly around. "Squat! Wasted space! No one the premises! Boarded up for the winter! Are you getting any of that?"
Carter stood her technological ground. "Sir, according to these readings, there is definitely a power source of unspecific variation around here somewhere," she insisted. She glanced toward Daniel for support, but he looked preoccupied, frowning as he scanned the sky.
The latest challenge, surprisingly, didn't come from Colonel O'Neill. "Perhaps your electronic device is malfunctioning as before, MajorCarter."
"No, Teal'c," she argued, "The MALP showed the exterior of a village setting about a quarter mile from our gate. Maybe that's what's behind the stone wall."
O'Neill pursed his lips, glancing undecidedly from his second in command to the dark-skinned Jaffa, then sighed. "Oh, okay. We go in. But if this turns out to be a case of random glitches on your graph, Carter, remind me to go on record as a vote in favor of Air Force honchos springing for a serious computer systems overhaul. We wouldn't want to lose any more planets, would we?"
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TBC