Chapter 4

Daniel awoke with a start early the next morning. A dull, heavy sunlight was creeping across the edge of the cave. There was no sound from outside. Whoever had sent the two assailants during the night hadn't followed to see what had happened to them.

Daniel's head felt woolly and sore, his throat dry. He pulled the bottle of water towards himself and took a swig from it. It was less than a quarter full. A lot less.

Vala was propped up by the entrance, eyes closed and head drooping. The sunlight was creeping slowly towards her across the floor of the cave.

"Hey, Vala!" hissed Daniel. There was no response. "Pssst!"

Still nothing. A dreadful premonition stole over the archaeologist – he dragged himself across the ground to where she sat.

Her face was flushed, skin hot and dry to the touch. In fact, her whole body was hot and dry to the touch. Trying to stem the panic that was rising in his chest, Daniel tipped some of the sandy water onto his hands and trickled it onto her face.

"Ow." Whispering, Vala turned her head to the other side, eyes still closed. "I hurt. Everywhere."

Daniel took her pulse – it was racing. He strongly suspected a mixture of heat stroke and dehydration and dreaded to think what her temperature was. She needed help – right now. He held the bottle of cleaner water to her lips.

Vala took a small sip before seeming to rouse a little more. She shook her head. "No." Pushing his hand away feebly she pressed her lips together. "The SGC needs it's archaeologist….more than - more than – an - an ex-space pirate." She finished on barely more than a whisper.

Daniel froze. Vala had said the same thing the night before. Oh gods. Has she been letting me drink all the water? Has she been giving up her own supply? People died of heatstroke. She'd sweated so much yesterday as well, going out into that horrible sunlight.

Panicking suddenly, he shook her hard, trying to rouse her, and held the bottle to her lips. "Drink!" he patted her face until she opened her eyes. "That's an order, dammit Vala! Drink!"

She sipped a little more, some of the water running down her chin. Daniel dragged her away from the entrance, further back into the cave, to get her as far away from the heat as possible. At least the earth was fairly cool further back inside, even if the air wasn't.

Laying Vala carefully down on the dark floor of the cave, Daniel hoped that it would at least alleviate some of the heat currently raging around her body. Tipping up the bottle of sandy water, he soaked as many tissues as he could find and laid them across her forehead, neck, chest and arms. She whimpered once or twice, but didn't move.

Daniel, trying to keep down the wave of panic that threatened to burst out of him, moved slowly towards the cave entrance and scanned the valley outside. The sunlight was different today – opaque, woolly, smothering. When he looked up at the sky however, the archaeologist felt the first faint twinge of hope. Thick cloud cover spread as far as the eye could see. Heavy, grey-white and oppressive. It made the atmosphere even more humid, if that was even possible, but he could live with that, if those clouds brought rain later.

Please, Daniel closed his eyes, lifting up some kind of prayer to anyone who might be listening. Please, please – make it rain. Soon, before it's too late.

Rain did come, but not until the evening. Fortunately for the two lost team mates, Dr Lam and a team from the SGC arrived first.

- o - o - o - o - o -

Vala thought she was being burned alive again. Her body seemed like it was on fire, her head almost bursting with a heated, cutting pain. She could hear her heart pounding, racing inside her chest. Her throat felt as if it was made of sandpaper – she couldn't make her voice work. She was aware of Daniel talking to her once or twice – he dribbled water over her body once or twice, and held the bottle to her lips.

Vala wondered if she'd died and was in hell already. Was Daniel dead too? That didn't seem right – he was too good a person. She tried to open her eyes – everything swam before her, making her feel dizzy and sick.

Then, without explanation, everything changed. She could hear other people talking – she recognised their voices, but couldn't quite place them. Somebody took hold of her left hand – there was a sharp, stabbing sensation for a moment. Vala was too delirious to attempt to pull away. She felt – ah, bliss! – something cool being tucked under her arms and behind her neck – there was water, cool water, being poured over her and a breeze ruffled her hair away from her face.

"Try to rest," said one of the voices – a female voice – what was her name?

"Carolyn," murmured Vala, eyes closed, lashes spread like fans.

"That's right." A gentle hand on her forehead. "Go to sleep."

Vala awoke much later. She was still in the cave, lying down, looking up at the roof. Her head felt slightly woolly, the skin on her arms stung a little and her stomach was rather queasy but other than that she felt more or less normal. Turning her head to the left, she saw an IV infusion up on a stand, and was mildly surprised to realise that the other end was attached to her. That must have been the sharp pain from earlier.

Daniel was asleep, just beyond the IV equipment.

"Hey," turning her head, Vala saw Mitchell, sprawling close to her, against the wall of the cave. "How you feelin', Princess?"

"Mmm - okay. I think." She struggled to sit up. "But I need to tell you, Cameron darling, that I'm never, ever coming back to this horrid little planet ever again. So there. You can fire me if you like, and Daniel says that you can fire him too. It's vile, and the people are beastly horrible, and even the sunshine is spiteful and…."

"I get it!" Mitchell gently slipped his arm around her shoulders and helped her settle into a seated position. "We know all that. Why do you think it took us so long to get back to you?"

"I have absolutely no idea." Vala handed him one of the cool packs that had been under her armpit. "But your excuse had better be a good one, Cameron!" She frowned at him.

At that moment Carolyn ducked in through the cave entrance. Her hair and shoulders were damp, she shook droplets of rain off of herself as she knelt, smiling, beside Vala.

"Is it raining?" the alien ran her finger down the doctor's slightly soggy BDU. "I don't here any thunder – is there any thunder?"

"No thunder," Carolyn shook a thermometer and popped it into Vala's mouth, preventing further speech. "Just rain. A lot of rain. It's died down a little now, but it was coming down in sheets earlier."

"That's why we're still here," Mitchell tugged at one of Vala's extremely scruffy pigtails. "We couldn't get out and back to the gate without getting practically washed away. It's too dangerous to try and climb the cliffs when the weather's like this."

"It's good to see you awake, by the way," Carolyn wrapped a BP cuff around the alien's arm and began to pump it up. She frowned at her friend. "And next time you and Dr Jackson are stuck on a planet that resembles the inside of an oven, make sure that you drink your share of the water!" The doctor glared ferociously at Vala.

Vala removed the thermometer and looked as if she was about to launch into one of her full length rants.

"No!" Carolyn looked more forceful and angry than either the alien or her CO had seen her in a long time. "You could have died, Vala! Quite easily! You were severely dehydrated by the time that I arrived! Your temperature was 105 degrees! Do you have any idea how serious things could have been? Don't you ever pull a stunt like that again!" She finished abruptly, cheeks pink and eyes hard.

Daniel turned onto his other side, roused by Carolyn's voice, but he remained asleep.

The doctor glanced briefly at him, when she looked back at Vala the alien was wiping her nose on the back of her hand, a single tear slipping down her cheek.

"Hey," Mitchell slipped one arm around his team mate and squeezed. "C'mon now."

Carolyn sighed, and also moved closer to her patient. "I'm sorry," she said, more softly. "But you know why I'm so angry?"

Vala shook her head, mutely.

"Because you mean a lot to everyone at the SGC, even if you don't realise it. Daniel told me – about you not drinking enough water. Some crazy idea about archaeologists being worth more than space pirates. That's absolutely not true, Vala. You are worth every bit as much to every single person here, and especially to your fellow members of SG-1. Poor Daniel was close to panicking by the time that we arrived – do you think that that's the behaviour of someone who doesn't view you as equal to himself, and a true team mate?"

Vala shook her head again. She wiped her nose once more with the back of her hand.

Carolyn passed her a paper handkerchief. "Come on, now. I don't know how SG-1 manage to do it, but your team always fall on your feet." She popped the thermometer back into the other woman's mouth.

Vala's lips were trembling just a tiny bit. She held the little stick with her fingertip.

Carolyn felt mildly remorseful for telling the other woman off quite so brusquely, but someone had to talk some sense into her. The doctor thought that she might have got through for once - the alien was looking thoughtful, as if she might have actually been listening to what was said to her.

"Thermometer." Dr Lam held her hand out, smiling at what she read there. "Good. 99 degrees. Slightly high, but you'll live. And your BP is fine. Are you hungry?"

Vala shook her head. "Not really."

"Okay." Carolyn handed her a bottle of fresh, sand free water. "Drink your way through that, rest for a while, and then you can try a light bite to eat. Looks like we're stuck here until tomorrow – even if the rain stops now, the cliffs are still too damp and dangerous to climb once it's dark."

Vala held up her hand that was attached to the IV. "What about this?"

"Once you're eating and drinking I'll take it down." Carolyn plumped up a small pillow which she had miraculously produced from her medical supplies. She laid it on top of a groundsheet, settling Vala down onto it. "Now, rest. I mean it."

"Yes Carolyn," Vala said, obediently. She took a few sips of the water, and watched Daniel for a few minutes, but when Mitchell next looked over at her, she was fast asleep.

TBC...