"Well, that was unexpected," Daniel's voice sounded from off to Jack's left. Jack sat up painfully from the dust covered floor of a dark, damp place.
"Is everyone all right? Sam, Teal'c?" said Jack groping for his cane with one hand and the flashlight that he had tucked into his pocket with his other.
"I am unharmed, O'Neill," said Teal'c from four o'clock to Jack's right. Jack picked up that they had been transported in more or less the same positions that they had been in on at the campsite.
"I'm okay," said Sam at Jack's eight o'clock.
"I'm sorry guys," said Daniel's distressed voice at twelve o'clock. "I was expecting an opening of some sort, maybe a cave or even a hole opening up in the ground, not a slam and dunk 'em transporter," he said the last with more than a small hint of pain.
"Are you okay, Daniel?" Sam's voice called out laced with concern. "I think their damned transporter might need a few adjustments done to it."
"Just a few bruises," said Daniel, "Um, I can't find my torch – has anyone …"
Just as Jack got his torch turned on a series of lights began to glow above them. Jack flicked off the torch absently and tucked it back into his pocket. They were in a small cave cut out of solid rock. A stargate stood between two pillars and a larger than normal DHD thickly covered in dust sat to the right. Other than that the room was bare except for a few long tree roots dangling from the cave roof that were now lit up by the two ceiling lights.
"Oy vey," murmured Jack. "I don't see any sort of exit out of here, people."
Daniel did a hasty 360 spin and Teal'c caught at his arm as he staggered. "Oh crap, guys," he said with his voice a half octave higher in pitch.
"No need to panic, Daniel," soothed Jack as he watched Sam head straight for the DHD. "If there's a way to transport in, then there's a way to transport out."
"Using the controls of what transporter, exactly?" said Daniel. "I can't see anything except the Stargate and that oversized DHD."
"That's still no reason to panic, Daniel," said Jack reasonably. "It's probably just hidden. Those Ancient folk just loved hiding things, remember?"
"I remember, Jack," said Daniel, moving to feel at the walls. "But have you noticed that this cave is not very big with, as you pointed out: no exit and that there are four of us breathing in this rather stale air and I think I might have gotten us into some serious trouble here?"
Jack's teeth clicked together. It had been a while since he'd been on active duty but even for him he was slow on the uptake today. Threat assessment used to go along with breathing for him. He was getting soft in his old age; that and having nothing to worry about but lawn bowling scores all day long. He had to get out of that damned retirement village more often before it turned his brain to complete mush. Jack took a deep breath and ordered his brain to start functioning. It helped that this little bit of excitement was making his heart rate pick up.
"Yeah, the air is a little stale," said Jack. "But we still have a great big Stargate with a DHD sitting right here. If things get uncomfortable we can always Gate over to the Alpha site."
"They have an iris over that Gate too now, Jack. And I didn't pack a GDO to open anything … ." Daniel took a deep steadying breath and rubbed at his temple where a headache was forming. "But you're right, Jack. We can use the Gate. Maybe go to Chimmera or visit the Land of Light again. We can call the SGC from somewhere else and send a radio message through. At least I remembered to pack one of those."
"No harm will come to us on Durass – the new Jaffa home world," added Teal'c. "I will in fact be expected there in a matter of days. They keep a GDO there."
"Well, the DHD seems to be in perfect working order," said Sam sitting up from beside the machines service panel. "All the crystals are looking good, but the reason it's such a large DHD has to do with extra crystals. There are a lot more set up in there than I've ever seen. Teal'c have you seen an arrangement like this before?"
Teal'c strode closer dropping his make shift pack down beside the DHD and ducking his head into the service access. "No, I have not seen such an arrangement before, General. Perhaps they are simply backup crystals."
Sam shook her head doubtfully. "No I don't think so, Teal'c. Backups are usually stored in the insulated compartment at the back. I don't think I've ever seen spares set up around the main crystals before. Maybe …," she frowned. "Daniel, did you see the writing on the side of the pillars there? Maybe it can tell us something about this set up."
"Writing?" said Daniel. He left the wall that he was examining and strode over to the pillars supporting the Gate. Jack, for want of something better to do, followed him.
'Um, Gate address for Annwyn here," said Daniel reading the symbols carefully. He coughed out stale air into his sleeve and read on. "Plus there's a note to say that the Gate is aligned with Annwyn alone."
"Annwyn alone?" said Sam. "Does that mean we can't dial anywhere else?"
Jack shared a worried glance with Daniel. "Well, there's one way to find out," said Jack. He coughed and made his way across to the DHD. "Alright, I'm dialling the address for the Land of Light …" Jack frowned. "And nothings happening."
Sam stood up beside him and watched him key in the address again. The symbols on the DHD glowed as usual and Jack leaned hard on the red activation key in the centre but nothing happened.
"Only one of the symbols has lit up on the Gate," noted Teal'c softly.
"I'm guessing that's because it's also part of the address for Annwyn here," said Daniel.
Jack coughed again. "It's getting harder to breath in here already people and unless you think you can reset the DHD to take us to somewhere familiar, Carter, then it looks like we have no other choice but to go to this Annwynny place."
Sam pulled her makeshift backpack on to her shoulder. "I don't know, sir ... um, Jack. We've only got our own gear here. No tents, only a few snacks and water bottles and no weapons except for a couple of knives and a spade or two. We don't know what could be on the other side either. It's been centuries since the Gate was used, the place could be overrun with hostiles, or the atmosphere could be all wrong or …"
"Do you think you could get the DHD fixed before we run out of air, Car … Sam?"
Sam looked back at the array of crystals sitting inside the DHD. "I'd estimate less than half hour of breathable air in here at most. If I started now … . No sir. I don't think we'd have nearly enough time and if it's more than just the extra crystals that's wrong then we're going to die before I can put everything back together again."
"Then we have no other choice," murmured Teal'c. "We must travel through to this Annwyn."
SGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSG
Well, there you go - making up for a short last chapter. Hope you liked it