Chapter 7

Orbit around P3X-105

Present time

Three Days. It had taken three days to get to the planet. Three days for the people aboard the ship the think the worst. Three days of avoiding any conversation fearing it would take a turn for the worst. An agonizing three days hoping they would not be too late. Three days and there it was. The planet responsible for the mysteries that now haunted the mind's of SG-1. Finally they were there, and finally they could take action.

Teal'c gently brought the Tok'Ra ship into the atmosphere of the planet, as Jack came to stand behind him. He stared at the planet wondering what they would find. Without a word he turned away and prepared to begin his search for his wayward friend.

He passed by Sam who was also preparing for the track through the ruins, hoping that Daniel just simply forgot to come home. But the fact that the Stargate did not work proved quite clearly that that was not the case. Sam sighed loudly.

"Something on your mind major?" Jack asked responding to her sigh. Well duh there is sir Sam thought bitterly "Just worried about Daniel, sir" Sam replied, stating the obvious. The colonel stopped what he was doing and looked at his second in command. He stared into her blue eyes and also let out a sigh "Yeah, me too" he replied looking away and continuing preparing for the mission ahead of them. "We will find him Major" He continued without glancing back at her.

She did not respond. She certainly hoped that that was the case. right we will find him sitting in some chamber staring at some wall trying to translate, and when we come up to him he will look at us all confused and so something like "Jack, Sam, Teal'c, what are you guys doing here. "Yeah if only" Sam muttered to herself knowing full well that that was just wishful thinking.

"We have arrived" Teal'c stated as he entered the room to join the rest of his team.

Teal'c had landed the cargo ship just two clicks away from the temple where they expected to find Daniel. As they exited the Cargo ship the heat of the dessert hit them hard, but that was not the only sensation they had felt upon arrival. Jack led his team forward, and almost immediately he had felt it. A feeling, a strong feeling of dread. Almost as if a shadow were casting over him, and yet he couldn't see it. Sam followed the colonel out of the Cargo ship and she felt it as well, only she felt it more strongly.

It was different with Sam and Teal'c as they stepped out of Ship, they weren't so much feeling the dread, and they were more sensing a "presence", a presence of ill intent. "Do you feel that?" Sam asked aloud hoping that she was not the only one feeling this way. "Indeed" Teal'c replied as he looked at Sam. "As if an evil presence were lurking about," Teal'c continued.

Jack couldn't feel any kind of "evil presence", but he could not shake the feeling of dread that was pressing down all around him. Not wanting to ignore his evil radar Jaffa Jack decided it would be best to take a precaution or two. "Okay people; keep your eyes peeled for anyone, or anything. We have twenty people to locate. Let's move out. Teal'c, take point"

Teal'c led three fourths of SG1 towards the ruins in which they hoped to find their fourth. Before they had landed on the planet they had scanned the surface for any life forms, with their fingers crossed. It was sort of good news bad news. The good news was that the scan did detect something. The bad news was that twenty people were sent on this archaeology mission, and the scans only detected one life form. As selfish as it seems, everyone was hoping that that sole life form on this planet void of life was none other than Daniel Jackson. It had to be, because if it was not then that could only mean one thing and no one wanted their thoughts to go to that place of sorrow again.

They walked in silence, each of them hoping that their teammate would be alive and well, until they finally came upon the temple. "Well I can see why Daniel was so hot on this place" Jack stated as he gazed upon the ruins. Even Jack had to admit these ruins were a spectacular sight; the pictures he had seen in Hammond's office had done them no justice. Snapping out of thought he decided to focus on the matter at hand. His people could not get home for some reason, and it was time to finally find out why. "Alright people fan out, radio contact every ten minutes, and if you find anyone contact me. We will meet back here in an hour, and see what our search turns up" Jack said as he began walking into the temple itself, Carter took the right, and Teal'c went left.

Jack had chosen to go through the front entrance of the temple, which lead him through a massive court yard, if years hanging around Daniel taught him anything. The wind picked up, and with it brought a foul stench vaguely familiar to him. He turned to his right and caught sight of a smoldering heap. He changed course to investigate, but when he arrived at the smoldering heap, he almost regretted it immediately. Nine, Jack counted nine charred smoldering bodies. He knew they were personal form the SGC because a few feet next to the bodies were nine dog tags, hanging on a make shift stand almost as a grave marker.

"Carter, Teal'c" Jack said as he tapped at his radio, "I think I found something you guys aren't going to like." Jack finished as he squatted down to examine each dog tag, almost searching desperately.

Sam at hearing this made her way to where she saw the colonel go. She could tell by his tone of voice, that whatever he had found was not good news. As she made her way through the court yard she caught sight of what the colonel was talking about. Teal'c had beaten her there and was examining the charred bodies closely. She came up behind the colonel and saw him going through a mess of dog tags. Noticing Sam was right behind him he handed her the dog tags. "Here major." he said handing them over. "Nine dog tags, account for the nine bodies." He said as he made his way over to Teal'c.

"Eleven people remain to be found O'Neill, including Daniel Jackson." Teal'c simply stated. Sam let out a relieved breathe knowing that Daniel wasn't among the smoldering bodies. "Teal'c's right, we have eleven more people to locate." Jack finished looking back at the massive entrance to the temple. "Alright people fan out, and be careful, we don't know what went down here." With that the colonel made his way into the temple.

Sam pocketed the nine dog tags and looked at Teal'c who was also gazing at the Temple. "What do you think?" Sam asked aloud. "I think, Major Carter, it is most imperative to find the remaining members of the expedition to fully understand what has occurred." And with that Teal'c turned left and disappeared around the corner. With one last glance at the bodies Major Carter made her way to the right where she had caught sight of another entrance to the temple.

As she entered the smaller door to the east she found herself in a dark corridor. Pausing a moment she turned on her flashlight, and continued her trek down the corridor. It only took her a few minutes to come into a small chamber. The chamber contained cots, and fire pits. It looked as if the team had set camp in this chamber. Most of the equipment was stored in boxes stacked in corners. Sam had come across an abandoned camp. "Colonel, come in."

"What's your status Major" rang the colonel's voice on the radio.

"Sir I think I found the base camp." Sam said as she completed her scan of the chamber. "and, I found someone."

"What's your location Major." The Colonel asked.

"Through the East entrance sir, first chamber." She replied as she crossed the room to the figure hunched in the corner.

"Alright Cater hold your position we will be there momentarily."

"Copy that sir." She responded as she squatted down to investigate the figure hunched in the corner. As she treaded closer to the figure in the corner the figure jerked up at hearing her approach. Sam stopped just in case she was frightening him. Now that she could see his face she recognized the man to be Sgt. Klingman. "Sgt. Klingman?" She called out softly to the man staring at her. When she got no response she tried again. "Sgt. Klingman, where is the rest of your team?" She asked as she inched closer.

Suddenly Sgt. Klingman tore his gaze away from Sam and went into a seizure. Sam rushed to his side trying to prevent the man from harming himself as his body convulsed. When the seizure had passed the Sergeant thrusted up wards knocking Sam hard to the ground, caught off guard. The sergeant stood up and strode awkwardly towards Sam with a murderous look written all over his face.

Sam scooted backwards trying to get away, trying to reason with the man. "Max, Please I am here to help I don't want to hurt you." She pleaded, but the man continued on course towards Sam. Sam had been pressed up against the wall, and began scrambling for her gun. Pistol aimed, but indecision prevented her from firing.

In the silence a single shot rang out, and Sgt Klingman stopped in his tracks not two feet away from Sam, and fell over unconscious, with a bullet wound in his left shoulder. behind him standing at the other end of the chamber stood Colonel O'Neill with a smoking gun.

"Major?"

"I'm Fine sir." She responded as she got up from the floor and walked over to where the colonel stood.

"Good." He responded scanning the room. "Now would you like to tell what just happened." At that moment Teal'c came barreling into the room.

"What has transpired?" Teal'c asked seeing no immediate threat present. Both Teal'c and Jack looked to Carter to answer their question.

"I'm not exactly sure. The sergeant went into seizure, and when he came to he attacked me." Sam answered.

Jack nodded at Sam, the turned to Teal'c, "right, tie him up. We don't want him attacking us when he comes to. We need to finish our sweep of the temple. Teal'c why don't you stay here with the good sergeant while the major and I finish up." Jack said as he holstered his berretta.

"Major" Jack gestured towards the doorway leading north.

Sam led the way through the dark tunnel with Jack bringing up the rear, leaving Teal'c to investigate the camp. Cautiously they made their way through the tunnels not quite sure what to expect or if another team member would jump out and attack them. They had been travelling for quite some ways when they noticed a faint light up ahead.

"Turn off you light and step softly." Jack commanded as they were casted into complete darkness walking towards the faint light, weapons primed and ready. They got to the end of the corridor which dumped them into another chamber. This chamber was a smaller than the previous on and at the far side against the wall sat a flood light lighting the entire wall, growing dimmer.

Cautiously they made their way over to where the light sat, when Carter kicked something, nearly tripping. Turning her flashlight on, she searched for what she had tripped over, and when she saw what it was, her heart stopped in her throat.

"Sir." She called out, motioning at the forsaken item on the ground. Jack turned and saw what had made the Major's voice a little shaky. There in the darkness laid Daniel's Journal, the very Journal that was normally attached to his side.

Sam slowly bent down to where a piece of Daniel laid. Why did he just abandon his journal here on the temple ruins? That was very unlike Daniel. Sam didn't want to think the worst had happened to her friend but the thought still came. She gently placed her hands upon the pages that Daniel had obviously been working on while he was here, before he became separated from his Journal, hoping that some answers would lie within the pages Daniel had taken the time to write.

Sam turned to his last entry and saw that it was dated two days ago. She cursed under her breathe.

"Carter?" Jack asked not liking what he was hearing.

"Sir, the last journal entry was two days ago." Cater answered

"Damn." Jack said as he turned away from her.

Sam turned her attention back towards the pages that would hopefully hold some answers, and read aloud

"today was suppose to be my last day, but I was due back approximately 10 hours ago. An incident occurred and nine members of our expedition broke into seizures then turned violent. Colonel Darnic believes it to be the work of some contagion, so he and I were to go to the gate and apprise the SGC of our situation, but Colonel Darnic fell ill and became violent, and all I can say now is what I told everyone else, the Stargate is no longer an available option.

I believe that colonel Darnic was wrong. I don't think that it is a contagion that is effecting the behavior of everyone around here. This morning before the incident I had discovered an inscription that could possibly hold the secrets behind these walls.

After I got back from the gate, Dr. Berman and I continued our translations hoping to find the answers. The answer we found, unfortunately it is the solution we have failed to come across, and as Bruce said, this is no contagion we are dealing with here. The inscription tells a story of a war that has been raging on for many centuries between two dimensions, which began when a meteor crashed into the planet creating a dimen."

"What? Why did you stop?" Jack asked

Carter turned the page looking for more but, "That's it." She stated

"Sir, do you think Daniel has something to do with the Stargate not working here?' Carter asked.

"Who knows, Major, grab this stuff and let's head back to Teal'c and see if he has found anything." without another word Jack turned down the corridor they had just come through and made his way back to the camp.

Sam closed the book and clasping it so she would not lose it she chased after him.