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Chapter 23 – Into The Open

Daniel and Teal'c it transpired, liked Sam's sniper idea very much. She had filled them in early the following morning, before the sun had fully risen as they stood strapping on gear, in the dim early morning light that filtered through the canopy.

'Sam that's brilliant! Sorry.' he quickly apologised at her wince as he clapped her on the back. Teal'c nodded in acknowledgement.

'Not really Daniel. We would have thought of it sooner if we'd had silencers for the P-90s. Zats don't make sharpshooting very easy.'

'Now we just need to decide who does what.' Said Jack as he approached, snapping a clip into his P-90.

'Carter, I think you should be in support. That way if those in the open need to pull back you won't be doing any running. Well, more than you'll have to anyway.' He amended. Given the amount of resistance they were likely to encounter, running was probably the only way any of them would get to the gate. 'Daniel, you can dial. You're good at that. And ducking, you're good at that too.' Daniel gave him a withering look but Jack wasn't paying attention. 'T buddy, that leaves you and me. Wanna flip for it?' He patted his fatigue pockets. 'I'm not sure I have a quarter anywhere on me...'

'I will assist Major Carter in the forest O'Neill. You can assist Daniel Jackson.'

'OK.' he nodded. 'Are we ready?' Colonel O'Neill was all business now. 'Let's move out.'

They approached the ridge above the valley at a swift crouch which Sam found incredibly uncomfortable. Finally flat on their bellies, watching the movements of the soldiers around the gate and in the base camp by the roadside. There was no sense of urgency about them, which Jack found more unnerving than if they had appeared tense and paranoid.

Sam scanned the area that was not obscured by trees, adjusting the focus of her binoculars. She could see no sign of Hyden. She did not think it likely that he would mount a serious military defence without being close by to watch the proceedings. It was obvious that he took a close personal interest in the institute and matters pertaining to the Stargate. He would also have a personal grudge to settle. She had conflicting feelings about the governor. His arrogance disgusted her but at the same time, she pitied him. Her brief glimpse into his life was that of a very lonely man. Whether her pity would allow her to forgive him for what he had done to them, she was unsure. She doubted it, particularly when images of Daniel, coughing and weak came to mind. She glanced across the colonel's back to where Daniel lay in the grass, beside Teal'c. He looked pale and worried, but healthy- more so than she was. Thank God for modern medicine.

'OK.' Jack stowed his binoculars in his vest pocket. 'We're going to stay down, as far as that line of rocks and then follow that round until it meets the trees.' He pointed down the shale to a line of larger boulders than ran around the side of the valley which had clearly been deposited by the receding shoreline of water that had filled the basin centuries ago.

Sam gritted her teeth as the four of them crawled over the ridge and began the laborious descent into the valley they had been trying to reach for almost two weeks now. She had barely bent at the waist in days to avoid the inevitable pain. Now, she was irritated because minimising her movement had become habit.

They made their way, flat on their stomachs, weapons slung across their backs, until they could crouch behind the first of the larger rocks. Again Jack lead the way, moving at a swift crouch around toward the tree line, where they stopped again to regroup. No words were exchanged but Jack gave the appropriate signals for them to split up and enter the forest at several points, to avoid drawing attention to themselves.

They made their way in near silence through the trees, moving synchronously across the fifty yards of woodland toward the clearing where they had first made the mistake of trusting the people on this planet.

Teal'c chose his position carefully in order to neutralise as many of the marshals within the clearing as quickly as possible. Sam sat with her back against a tree, unclipped and primed her zat; hoping that the nearest guard, a few yards away would not react to the sound. She took a second to catch her breath, waiting for further instructions. Jack and Daniel prepared themselves. Jack scanning the clearing and then his team. They were all grim faced, but ready and waiting for his signal. He took a deep breath and raised his hand.

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A quarter mile away, the base camp was in chaos. Marshals ran in all directions, arming themselves and shouting instructions. Hyden stood in the command centre watching a computer monitor over Karn's shoulder.

'You see Governor. The first spike was recorded two minutes ago, at the edge of the forest closest to the eastern ridge. Since then, we've had several signals from motion sensors within the forest. They're definitely making a move on the ring sir.'

'Good. How many marshals do we have there?'

'Eighteen Sir and several units now on their way. It's lucky we got prior warning. They might have been able to take the guards on duty by surprise but even these aliens aren't skilled enough to overcome fifty of our best.' Hyden nodded, his face anxious, though Karn could not understand why.

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Half of the guards around the gate were taken down in the first assault. The others were able to return fire once or twice before they were also hit. Daniel swore loudly as a blast hit the tree he was crouched behind, showering him with splintered wood and leaving a smoking stump behind. Teal'c sent several zat bursts toward the marshal responsible. One of them found it's mark as the man let out a yell and fell backwards against the steps to the Stargate.

Jack shot off a couple more rounds and then ducked back behind his tree. There was the sound of one last zat coming form Carter's direction and then silence. He glanced left and right. Through the smoke, his team seemed to be unscathed. He stuck his head out again, prepared to pull back at any sign of movement from within the clearing, but there was none. He dropped his zat onto the ground and pulled his P-90 round, checking the clip, before signalling to Daniel, and leaving the protection of the forest. Teal'c nodded across at Sam and the two moved to new positions, to maximise their cover fire.

Daniel made immediately for the DHD and laid his zat on top. He scanned the symbols. There was one which he did not recognise and took to be the point of origin. Jack glanced back from his position at the end of the track, leading to the road.

'Daniel!' He growled, 'you do remember the address for Earth don't you?'

'Yes Jack, I do.' He called back, already punching in the first of the symbols. 'I was finding the-' Jack didn't hear the rest of his sentence as gunfire erupted from Sam and Teal'c positions and Jack swung back to the track where energy weapons blazed from behind almost every trunk. He aimed at the bursts of light, firing relentlessly for several minutes. There was ringing in his ears and he became almost unaware of his actions as adrenaline took over. His P-90 swung back and forth as he gazed along the sights, seeing darkness full of noise and flashing lights.

Soon, he was forced to fall back as far as the DHD, behind which Daniel was bobbing up and down, trying to dial between dodging the shots flying close to him, though honestly, even if he managed to dial and send the IDC, there was no way they could make it to the gate without being hit. They were pinned down. Jack arrived at a run, landing on his knees beside Daniel and immediately resumed firing.

After a moment, Daniel reached up again to dial but as his head rose above the plinth, he dropped back down almost immediately, sparks falling over him as one of the shots from the path hit the DHD. Daniel was shaking from the near miss, but he went up on his knees again. His heart dove into his stomach and he flopped back to the ground, his ears ringing form the bedlam surrounding him. Shit!

'Jack!'

'Just dial Daniel!' Jack did not take his eyes from the trees or his finger off the trigger.

'Jack! They hit the control crystal! It's gone, we're stuck!'

'Dammit!'

From behind the tree line, only Teal'c could see the reason for the delay. He had seen the shot hit the DHD and seen the look on Daniel's face as he ducked back down and shouted to his commander. From the other side of the clearing, Sam's view was obscured by the gate. Her whole body was tensed as she pumped round after round along the trail. For a while, the amount of opposing fire seemed to have dropped but she could dimly see more people moving into position. How had so many arrived so fast? If Daniel didn't get the gate open soon they were going to be overrun. She paused long enough to replace her spent clip, her breathing loud in her ears. When she spun around again, in her prone position, to face the gate again, Sam felt the shock wave shake her as a grenade detonated in the entrance to the trees.

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Jack had huddled behind the DHD with Daniel, who lay panting, with a nine mil in his hand, preparing to return fire, though it would do little good.

Jack caught hold of his arm. Daniel turned back to him. Jack gave clear 'duck' gestures and tugged the pin from the grenade he was holding. No need to be told twice, Daniel dropped down and covered his head. Jack stood, threw the grenade hard into the trees and dropped to the ground.

He felt the explosion but did bother to look.

'Daniel, run!' Daniel was white but if they were going to get out from behind the DHD, it was right now. The colonel caught him by the collar and heaving both of them off the ground, pulled him into the open.

Within two strides, Jack's back erupted in pain and he fell to his knees, hitting the grass and dragging Daniel with him as he fell.

AN Well, I was not a big fan of this chapter. I had trouble figuring out what was going to go in it. But reviews are loved, so if you enjoyed it, let me know. Next chapter is when things start happening. )

And for those of you waiting for news, I have done quite a bit of work on the next chapter of Colony so that should be up within the next few weeks.

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