A/N: Really not great with the scientific bits, but the planet is important. Please bear with me...
They stepped through the gate, rematerializing on a planet lush with vegetation. The gate itself stood in a small grassy meadow, bordered on all sides by dense forest. The broken remains of an elaborate stone hall filled the rest of the meadow, apparently having once housed the gate itself. Once through, Daniel immediately headed for the nearest tumbled pillar, searching for any writings that might help explain the unusual energy readings recorded by SG-12 on their initial mission through to the planet. Remaining next to the gate, Sam began calibrating her instruments to pinpoint the source of the energy readings, while Teal'c began a sweep of the meadow, searching for danger or anything else that might prove valuable to his more scientifically inclined teammates. It was a warm day on this distant world, and the three soon found themselves pleasantly engrossed in their tasks while enjoying the temperate weather and fresh air.
Sam stepped gingerly from the gate, aiming a carefully calibrated sensor in a slow, wide arc around the clearing. The readings never varied, as if the energy were somehow all around them, rather than emanating from a particular spot. Sam frowned at the instrument in her hand, repeating the slow, wide arc around the clearing. No change. She returned to her gear, exchanging the first sensor for another, more sensitive piece of equipment. This time, she physically toured the full border of the meadow, probing the edges of forest for some indication of a hidden power source. Again, the readings remained consistently high around the entire perimeter. Whatever was causing the elevated energy readings, it obviously encompassed a significant area. Sam grimaced. Unless Daniel came up with something in his search of the ruins, it was beginning to look as if they'd have to hike through the dense underbrush of the surrounding forest in order to find the energy's source.
"Teal'c," she called, drawing the warrior's attention. "I'm going to do a perimeter sweep a few metres into the woods, to see if these readings change any. You and Daniel stay here and see if you can find anything that might help explain this phenomenon." Teal'c bowed his head in acknowledgement, and Sam headed off, silently counting her steps until she figured she was several meters through the underbrush. Watching her instruments closely, she paced clumsily through the thick foliage, tracing a wide path around the perimeter of the meadow. Still, the readings remained unchanged. Sam frowned again, studying the deep vegetative gloom around her. These results didn't make sense. Whether naturally occurring or not, there should be some variation to the readings. There were none. Sam sighed, grudgingly trudging her way back to Teal'c and Daniel.
Stepping back into the long grass of the little meadow, Sam headed quickly towards her two companions, who crouched low over a broken pile of rubble. "Find something?," she asked as she neared their position.
"Sort of," said Daniel, waving her over. "There is an inscription here, only I'm not quite sure what it says." He grinned sheepishly. "It's written in the same script used by the Ancients, only it doesn't seem to be any dialect I've ever seen before. I can't make heads or tails of it," he confessed. Sam groaned inwardly. To her team she said, "All right. Let's document it for review and move on. Whatever is causing this energy field, it seems to encompass a fairly large area. I'd like to take some readings further into the forest. We'll contact the SGC now to let them know what we've found so far, and that we'll be out of radio range for a while. It looks like we're going hiking today," she said, forcing a measure of enthusiasm she didn't quite feel. Daniel gave her a strange look, and Teal'c raised an eyebrow, but neither said a word as they reorganized their gear in preparation for their trip into the woods. In the meantime, Sam dialled the gate, making a quick report to the SGC before rejoining her companions and taking point.
There was something extremely unsettling about this planet as far as Sam was concerned. In her eight years of Stargate travel, naturally occurring energy levels this high were completely unheard of in the galaxy. And energy levels of any kind remaining this constant over time and distance were equally unlikely. She fervently hopped they would reach the edge of the energy field sooner rather than later. She figured she'd relax some just knowing the extent of the phenomenon. Once it had borders, it would be definable. Right now, however, it was creeping her out.
It was slow going, moving through the thick underbrush. Despite the ruins around the gate, no other signs of habitation had been found during SG-12's initial survey of the planet, nor could they see any now. There were no trails through the woods, no further ruins hidden deep among the trees. Dim lighting filtering down through the thick canopy of leaves high overhead added another level of challenge to the task at hand, causing the three companions to trip and stumble over stumps, rocks and fallen debris as they made their way forward. An hour into their hike and Sam's readings still hadn't changed. Two hours. Five.
Darkness was closing in around them. Sam ordered a full stop for the night, helping her teammates set up a makeshift camp in the dense underbrush. To say they were all a little unsettled by her findings, or lack thereof, was an understatement. None of them slept well that night, a deep sense of foreboding haunting their dreams. As soon as dawn broke through the dense canopy, they set off again, Sam's instruments at the ready to pick up any fluctuation in the energy field.
The second day of walking was much the same as the first, slowly picking their way across the thickly veiled and uneven terrain. Again, the energy field remained constant. Around midday, Teal'c broke the silence, asking, "Colonel Carter, is it not possible that this energy emanates from the planet's core?"
"No," she said, matter-of-factly. "Not unless the core itself was a manufactured power source. A planet like this one should have a core of solid ore, with minimal energy of its own. Even if that core was wrapped in a sheath of a highly volatile molten element, it shouldn't produce energy like this."
"What about Naqueda?," asked Daniel lightly. Sam shook her head. "Nothing we've encountered so far could explain these readings, Daniel. Frankly, I have no idea what we're looking for." Both teammates stared at her in disbelief. Sam rolled her eyes. "We'll give it another day on foot, and if we're still no closer to having an answer, we'll head back to base for a UAV." Teal'c and Daniel exchanged a glance, then looked back to Sam, Daniel silently gesturing for her to lead on. Taking point, Sam led her team further still into the alien world, her skin prickling with apprehension as her gaze darted from the trees around them to the instrument nestled gently in her left palm, her mind desperately searching for an answer to this unfathomable puzzle.