Time and Motion
Chapter 2
"Strong breeze, hey, Carter?" Colonel Jack O'Neill sneered sarcastically in reverence to the howling wind that had whipped SG1 from the moment they'd set foot on P7Y337, a planet Jack wholly intended to come up with a more user friendly name for.
Holding her diagnostic tool in front of her at just below eye level, Sam walked a slow circle, a small frown crossing her face as she took in the readings from the device. "MALP readings from the last few days did indicate a gradual build-up in atmospheric conditions, sir."
"Are we talking cyclonic here, or just your average day in the windy city?" Hitching his pack up high on his shoulder, Jack turned to seek out the rest of his team, finding Daniel standing amongst, what the archeologist had suspected, was the ruins of the building that had housed the Stargate at one time.
"I can't be sure, sir. Without setting up a long term weather station here I can only guess that this type of activity might be seasonal. The wind speed has definitely increased by five miles per hour since the last MALP feed over four hours ago."
"So we're safe here, right?" Jack now shifted his attention onto Teal'c, the fourth member of the team, as the big Jaffa walked a tight perimeter circle ever alert for any threats.
"If the increase in wind speed stays constant then I'd say we have at least two days before we'd need to retreat back to earth."
Two days, Jack thought. Was that going to be enough? The strong electromagnetic field that the MALP had detected had Sam and her science department drooling all over the readouts and practically begging Hammond for a survey mission. Jack wasn't all that convinced. In the end though, geology had won out when soil samples detected high quantities of Trinium and other SGC wish list minerals, making a manned survey mission to the planet all but inevitable. First though, Jack groaned inwardly, was recon, and who better to send than SG1 and its science twins.
"How far?"
"To the electromagnetic field reading, sir?"
Jack swung his P90 upwards, resting it comfortably across his left forearm. "No, to dinner, Carter," he mumbled, "yes, how far to this field thing of yours?"
"Ah, just under five miles," Sam replied, a small smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.
"Oy," Jack muttered, shaking his head and slinging his P90 across his jacketed arm, "Well round up the kids and let's get going before we all get blown to Oz."
~oOo~
If it hadn't been for her trusty diagnostic tool and the fantastic light show that was being bounced off the local vegetation, Sam was sure they would have missed the magnificent spectacle that lay before them. Six hours from the gate the team came across a gully nestled amongst two mid-range mountains. Perching themselves atop a small bluff, Daniel had been the first to spot the rainbow hue of the flora that seemed to change and bleed away as the sun made a gallant effort to break through the cloud-heavy sky. Following the spectacle to a point, the team had soon discovered the golden hue of a dome, its brilliant outer skin responsible for the kaleidoscope of colors that danced over the nearby plant life.
"It's a bio-dome," Sam announced, juggling her binoculars in one hand and the diagnostic tool in the other. "So perfectly formed it's barely visible, and if it wasn't for the light refraction from the sun and the obvious EM issues, I doubt we would have ever known it was there." Placing the diagnostic tool down, she inched further along the top of the bluff, taking a moment to scan the area around the structure before turning her attention back towards it. "This is just amazing. The power usage requirement to keep a dome this large in operation must be off the scale. Considering its size I'm surprised that the electromagnetic field it's giving off isn't much stronger. It could be in some type of power-down mode." Sam was sure she could feel the colonel rolling his eyes from behind her but shrugged off the annoying thought as she shifted her body again to get a better angle.
"I wonder how many redundant systems they're using and how their bleeding off excess power?" Lowering her binoculars she flipped over onto her back and sat up. "This is just amazing, sir"
"So you said, Carter."
"The technology level required to sustain and maintain such an environment is way beyond anything we have."
"And you can tell this from just looking at the thing?" Sam couldn't miss the sarcasm that crept into Jack's voice and raised her eyebrows, a small smile on her lips.
Lowering his own binoculars and rolling onto his side, Daniel asked, "Anyone we know, Sam?"
"Well," Sam paused, chewing on her lip, her brows knitted in thought, "it could be pretty much anyone. The Goa'uld are renowned for stealing and integrating technology into their own, and the Tollan and Nox are more than capable of producing technology like this."
"Asgard?" Daniel asked.
"Maybe," Bringing the dome back into focus, Sam murmured, "Could be technology indigenous to this world. It's seen a lot of years though. I can see scoring and broken panels on the outer shell."
"Well, kids, this is what we're here for. Let's see what Oz has to offer us!"
~oOo~
Sam and Janet made their way along the long, winding floor of the gully, pieces of foliage zipping past their bodies like missiles as the near cyclonic winds battered the landscape turning it into a war zone.
"Sam!" Janet hollered as she stumbled over an exposed tree root, momentum throwing her forward, launching her bulky pack over her shoulders and driving her head first into the ground.
Sam, having difficulty maintaining her own footing, had barely caught her friend's urgent call over the roar of the wind. Turning her back against the direction of the gust, she staggered her way back to Janet, hooking her hand under the strap of her pack and hoisting her to her knees. "You okay?" she shouted, holding onto Janet with one hand and running a hand across her friend's bleeding temple with the other.
"Fine!" Janet replied, looking off to her right, tilting her chin towards a nearby cluster of boulders. "Just need to sit down for a bit!"
Taking the hint and realizing suddenly how tired she was herself, Sam guided Janet towards the outcropping of rocks, grateful for the brief respite they afforded from the storm.
"How much farther, Sam?" Janet asked, taking a cotton swab from her pack and wiping it across her brow.
Sam shook her head, closed her eyes, and leant back against her pack. "I'm not sure. I've tried the radio several times along the trail but I haven't been able to breakthrough the atmospheric interference. I think I heard the colonel's voice at one time, but I can't be sure if it was him or the wind."
Taking the diagnostic tool from the pocket of her vest, Sam flicked on the screen and held it in front of her face. "I'm sure there is some rational explanation for this," she muttered, her face a picture of confusion as she attempted to make sense of the readings.
"Problem?" Janet pulled the plastic shield from the plaster on her forehead and packed it away in her pack.
"I'm not sure." Tucking the tool away in her vest, Sam let her self relax for a moment, lifting her hand to rub at the bridge of her nose, "I've been comparing the telemetry from the MALP plus my own readings against those that I took when Daniel triggered the puzzle. I'm not sure of the connection yet but the electromagnetic footprint is almost identical."
"Coincidence?"
"Normally I'd say yes but my gut is telling me there is something more going on here than we're seeing." Pausing, Sam shrugged off her pack, and unclipping the tabs, she rummaged through it and withdrew the small silver orb.
"What's that?" Janet leaned in closer, reaching forward to touch the shiny silver ball with her gloved hand.
"This is the orb Daniel touched." Turning the orb over in her hands, Sam took a moment to run her fingers across the fine inscription. "I thought it might help to have it if we have any hope of figuring out how to change him back."
Janet pulled her hand back involuntarily as though expecting to suffer the same fate as Daniel. "If the orb is an object of worship by these people, how did you get hold of it?"
Sam ducked her head low and placed the orb back in her pack. "I took it, Janet. Not my finest hour and not something I'm terribly proud of, but they left us with no choice. They wouldn't let Daniel go, and it was a hell of a battle to get him back."
~oOo~
Jack watched as Teal'c picked up Daniel, his small archeologist striking out with his tiny fists as the Jaffa's strong arms raised him off the ground and into his arms.
"Lemme go!" Daniel shrieked, his face a picture of fear and mistrust, tracks of tears dropping onto the long white robe the Lhavanian's had dressed him in. "Don't wanna go," he pleaded, little legs kicking against Teal'c's stomach in protest.
Jack tried his best to ignore Daniel's pained pleas, keeping his P90 firmly trained on Zahur and the small congregation of villagers that were determined to prevent his team from making their escape. "Sam?" he asked, chancing a small glance in her direction as she packed the orb in her backpack and shrugged it onto her shoulders.
"Got it, sir."
"Good, make sure the way is clear. Teal'c will be right behind you." Jack took a step towards the villagers, allowing Sam and Teal'c to move towards the exit with their unappreciative friend. "This will be a whole lot easier on everyone if you just let us leave peacefully," Jack announced, moving his weapon in a slow arc, encompassing the crowd gathered in the room.
Zahur, obviously not agreeing with Jack's interpretation of events, took a cautious step forward arm out in a sign of goodwill but his eyes mirroring a look of defiance. "You know we cannot allow you to leave with the boy. Surely it is obvious from his reaction to you that he does not wish to leave."
"Aht." Jack brought his weapon back to bear on Zahur. "I wouldn't take another step if I was you. Don't think I won't use this." Jack tapped the side of his P90. "You don't want to know what sort of damage I can do to you right now."
"Colonel," Zahur stopped in his tracks, his eyes darting between Jack and the weapon aimed squarely at his chest. "None of us wants to see anyone hurt. Just leave the boy and the rest of your team can go."
Jack tilted his head to the side, a small sneer tugging at his lips as he fixed a stare at Zahur so fierce he was sure the other man could feel a hole being bored into his head. "Let me make this perfectly clear, just so there's no misunderstanding. We are not leaving here without Daniel. I don't care what you think the kid wants; he's not yours to keep. You've lied to us from the start and I don't hand out second chances. Now," Jack took a step backwards towards the exit, "you can either make a move against us, in which case you're going to find out personally what I can do with this weapon, or you'll hold your ground, in which case no one is going to get hurt. The choice is all yours, but know this." Jack aimed his P90 at the ground, and moving his finger from the trigger guard to the trigger, let loose a short burst of fire several feet in front of Zahur. Watching the other man and his entourage leap back, throwing their arms up in defence, he smiled. "I will use this to defend myself, and my team." Jack moved back towards the door and offered his best predatory smile, "Are we all clear now?"
To be continued….