Chapter 2

It made sense. Like an inkblot that had suddenly resolved itself into a recognizable shape, he had found the answer.

Daniel continued deeper into the heart of the ruins, a familiar excitement building as he realized that he was on the brink of discovering just what this "little Stargate" was. Teal'c followed along behind, characteristically stoic but occasionally raising an eyebrow.

"I can't believe I didn't see that before!" he exclaimed, gesturing expressively as the familiar rush of discovery took hold. "I knew something seemed familiar about that rune. I've just never seen those particular marks in that combination before."

Teal'c strode along behind, his thick lips pulled into a frown. "What does it mean, Daniel Jackson?"

"Well, I kept thinking that I knew the function of that sentence, but this changes everything. It wasn't a warning, Teal'c, it was a message. Pale people hidden within the small Stargate. Beware...." He paused, and his expression slowly grew even more excited. "Teal'c...it's a directions. Kind of a 'Here there be dragons' sort of instruction, but regardless! This should lead us right to it."

Daniel's eager gaze swept across the tumbled buildings and streets overgrown with weeds, looking for clues as to where this small Stargate could be found, even as Teal'c responded, with a wary frown, "Perhaps the hidden people prefer to remain hidden..."

Daniel gave a vague smile to acknowledge Teal'c's comment, but his curiosity was not yet assuaged. "This doesn't make any sense. There's got to be more here...A clue of some kind..."

Daniel trailed off as his interest in the conversation evaporated. He stared, perplexed, at one of the few buildings that had not yet fallen in. He had almost missed it, lost in the mess of weeds and creeping vines that covered it. "Teal'c...That is what the message was talking about. But...how? It's just a building..." He trailed off, obviously musing more to himself than to Teal'c.

"Daniel Jackson, I believe that we should contact Colonel O'Neill and inform him of our whereabouts," Teal'c suddenly remarked, sternly, but Daniel had already tuned him out as he circled the house. For a moment, he stared at the building in puzzlement, before glancing to the Jaffa with a distracted look. "Hm? ....Oh, yes. Yeah, I'll do that in a minute. Teal'c, does something look strange about this building?"

Teal'c frowned, standing back with his hands folded behind his back while Daniel scampered about the place, cautiously pulling back vines. "The building seems to be more...solid than the others."

"It should be falling to pieces, but here it stands," Daniel agreed, in a voice full of wonder. "Have you noticed that it doesn't have a door?" He walked around the building, leaving Teal'c's field of vision for a moment as he searched in vain for an entrance. "There ought to be a way to get in here somewhere..."

Teal'c raised an eyebrow at this, but followed Daniel at a more sedate pace. "Perhaps you will have to force entry..."

By the time that Teal'c rounded the corner, the linguist was no where to be seen. Calmly, the Jaffa picked up his walkie-talkie, and pushed the button, even as his eyes scanned the area for signs of Daniel. "Colonel O'Neill. Come in." he spoke into the device, and then waited patiently.

"I swear to god, if he's just wandered off again, I'll shoot him in the foot," O'Neill grumbled as he stalked down a path to rendezvous with Teal'c.

Carter trotted along behind, her brow creased with worry. "Sir, he promised that..."

She was cut off mid-sentence by O'Neill's snort, as he covered his own worry with dry humor. "He always promises, Carter. And he always, and I mean always, wanders off."

As they finally reached the spot where Daniel had disappeared, they were greeted by the solemn form of Teal'c standing in front of a weed-covered building. Without hesitation, the colonel called out in his best 'commanding officer' voice, "Dr. Daniel Jackson! Wherever you've snuck off to, get your butt back here! That's an order!"

In the ensuing silence after the echoing command, the members of SG-1 only grew more nervous for their missing teammate. Carter glanced around, betraying her anxiety by fidgeting with her gear. Teal'c gripped his staff weapon, ready for action, while O'Neill paced around the building, just to be sure the archeologist wasn't too engrossed in some fancy carving to answer his call.

After a long enough pause to be sure that Daniel wasn't going to answer, the colonel looked at his other two teammates with a scowl. "Right. Here's the plan. First, we search the nearest buildings. Teal'c, you head south, Carter and I will head north. Check in on the radio every five minutes, and not a second later, got that?" he asked, receiving only a nod from the Jaffa.

"Right, then. Move out!"

Daniel knew he was in trouble the moment he felt his fingers depress some sort of button underneath the vines he'd been pulling away from the wall. He immediately pulled away, but it was too late.

The moment the button had been pushed, he found himself surrounded by a bright, pure white light. At first, it seemed pleasant, and he felt himself compelled to move forward. As he did, he could see shadows around him, odd shapes of things that he could just barely see beyond the reach of the light.

As he walked, the light grew ever brighter. Still, that strange compulsion drew him forward, even when the light grew so bright that he had to cover his eyes or be blinded. Somewhere in the back of his mind, a voice screamed at him, Go back! but listening to that voice was no longer an option.

Without warning, he sensed the light around him grow dim, and he cautiously uncovered his eyes. He found himself in a black room, so dark that his strained vision couldn't see anything. Gradually, his eyes adjusted, and he could see a nebulous, faintly glowing mist or fog. He squinted, trying to get a better look, and as he watched the mist continued to solidify until it was a clearly visible amorphous column of gas.

His natural curiosity taking over, Daniel stepped forward, eyes and mouth wide at the sight. It was so beautiful... Suddenly, before his eyes, a face appeared in the mist, a clear reflection of his own expression of curiosity and wonder.

There was just enough time for a startled gasp to fall from his lips before he felt a heavy pressure in the back of his head. Fireworks exploded in front of his eyes, and he descended once again into blackness...This time, the dark of unconsciousness.

The atmosphere on the planet the next day was one of anxiety and frenzied activity. O'Neill was coordinating the search effort, but so far they had found nothing.

That evening, the remaining members of SG-1 settled down to a necessary meal, and took advantage of that time to compare notes on what they had found.

"I have found no recent signs of intruders anywhere in the city," Teal'c was explaining. "If Daniel Jackson has been kidnapped, it was by use of technology far more advanced than anything I have ever seen. It is as though he simply disappeared."

Carter poked at her MRE with no enthusiasm. "I can't see how Daniel could have been kidnapped, sir. Not right under Teal'c's nose like that, in a completely abandoned area..."

O'Neill lifted an eyebrow, and glanced at Carter. "This is Daniel we're talking about here."

Carter nodded her head in reluctant agreement, and with some frustration, dug the plastic fork into her meal, in spite of a distinct lack of appetite. "Frankly, sir, I think he's still in the ruins," Carter admitted, with some frustration. "Teal'c said he was studying something about a 'small Stargate'. That building has no doorway... and we haven't been able to cut our way through. I'm not sure anything short of explosives is going to work on it, and...sir, I don't see how, but I think Daniel might have found what he was looking for."

O'Neill gave a solemn nod, but for once refrained from complaining about Daniel's impulsive tendencies with his research. "Tomorrow, I'm going to divide our efforts," he announced, suddenly. "We'll send the marines out to comb the forest. Carter, you and the scientists focus on that building. I have a hunch it's the key to finding Daniel, I want you and your team to figure it out."

With that, O'Neill passed the last of his meal to Carter, leaving the leftovers for anyone who might want them, and retreated to the shadows. Without a word, the team understood that O'Neill would be taking first watch.

For the rest of the meal, Carter was painfully aware of the silence that would usually have been filled with Daniel's chatter about his work. Before long, she realized that she wasn't any hungrier than her commanding officer, and she picked up both MREs to dispose of them. "I'm going to try and get some sleep," she murmured.

She could tell by Teal'c's raised eyebrow that he had seen through her bluff. There would be little sleep for any of the remaining members of SG-1 until they knew that Daniel was safe and whole.

Just before she ducked into her tent, Carter glanced back to see Teal'c, backlit by the fire and staring in contemplative silence at the encroaching shadows.

Major Carter drank down half a mug of coffee in one long draught, and then forced her tired body to get back on its feet. Little rest and much worry had left her drained of reserves, but she wasn't yet ready to give up. Determined, she walked along the path that lead to what she had begun to think of as "Daniel's" building, where the archeologists had been working around the clock to try and decipher the symbols they had found carved into the wall.

As she approached, she noticed a flurry of activity. Concerned, she caught one of the members of the backup team by the arm as he went bustling past. "What's going on over there?" she asked him, sternly.

"They've found Dr. Jackson! I'm supposed to be going on ahead to warn the doctors that they've got a new patient."

Carter's eyes went wide, and she blurted, "What? Where? Is he okay?" A dozen horrible scenarios flashed through Carter's mind, and she had to stop herself from asking a dozen more questions, forcing herself to give the poor man time to answer.

"He was just lying on the ground," the man explained. "None of us saw where he came from, but I know I checked that path this morning. I swear to god... It's like he just appeared out of thin air!"

In spite of her continued unease, she waved the man on to fetch the doctors. Unwilling to waste any more time, she ran toward what seemed to be the source of the excitement, and the crowd seemed to part for her. What she saw caused her to come up short. To all appearances, Daniel looked perfectly fine. Why on earth are they sending for a doctor?

"Daniel!" she exclaimed, with wary relief. She looked around, and caught the eye of O'Neill with a meaningful glance, before looking back at Daniel, "You're looking...good."

The linguist's eyes brightened as he saw the Major. He seemed incredibly excited about something, but when he opened his mouth, Carter's jaw dropped at what came out. "Perfect blanc el abuelo, portez mes a vous white light."

For a moment, Daniel looked hopeful, but as his blue eyes met Carter's shocked gaze, the hope died into pitiful frustration.

As the realization of what she had just witnessed dawned on her, Carter looked back to O'Neill with a horror-filled gaze. By the worried look the colonel gave her, she knew that what she'd heard was not her imagination.

"Holy Hannah..."