Teal'c emerged in a deserted gateroom on Earth, immediately collapsing onto the hard metal ramp leading away from the Stargate. There was an eerie silence in the dimly lit, grey room. Where were the SFs with their weapons at the ready, preparing to fight the unauthorised entry through their Stargate? Where were the control room technicians, gazing down at the gate through their heightened and plate-glass protected perch? Nothing was as it should be.
Teal'c's mind reeled with the possibilities. This room should be crowded with people. It was not. Had the Tau'ri Stargate program been discontinued? If so, why was the iris not in place to protect the planet against invasion? Teal'c slowly raised himself to a sitting position, weak and fatigued. His vision blurred slightly, but cleared again quickly. Everything was as he recalled, the only notable exception being the mysterious disappearance of the SGC personnel. The gateroom was pristine, not a trace of dust or debris to support the theory that the Stargate program had been shut down at some point since his departure for Dakara.
How long ago had that been? Teal'c could no longer remember, nor was he sure when he had last heard from any of his friends at the SGC. Heart pounding in his chest, Teal'c forced himself unsteadily to his feet, stumbling towards the doors leading from the gateroom to the rest of the complex. Surely he would find someone on base to answer some of his questions.
Walking down the long, concrete halls was a slow and painful process. Teal'c pressed his hand gently against the rough wall to his right, using it to steady himself as he tottered onwards, searching for any signs of habitation. The unnatural silence pervaded throughout the once active base. Teal'c could not understand how this could be. Why had his friends not told him the program was to be shut down? More importantly, where were they now?
Hours passed in agonizing silence as Teal'c carefully searched every hall, every room on base for some evidence of human activity, or at the very least, the reason for the desertion. It could not have been long since the base had been abandoned. All the furniture, desks, chairs, beds, and lockers, was as it should be, as orderly and functional as it had been all the years Teal'c himself had spent on base. Nothing was out of place. Surely the SGC would have been cleared of everything of value had the program been terminated. There was something very wrong here. Teal'c hurriedly made his way towards the surface, preparing for the worst.
There were no guards patrolling the main entrance. As a top-secret military complex, there should have been guards whether there was anyone else on base or not. A deep sense of foreboding stole over the old Jaffa, making his skin crawl at the implications of his findings. What had happened to the Tau'ri? Had there been an attack?
In the fading light of day, Teal'c could find no evidence supporting such an hypothesis anywhere around the exterior of the complex. There were no blast marks, no damage of any kind. The entire mountainside was completely unscathed. Yet there were no people anywhere around, which simply did not fit with what Teal'c knew of his Tau'ri friends.
Finding an abandoned Jeep, Teal'c climbed unsteadily inside, grateful even through his mounting unease to be comfortably seated for a time. Starting the engine, he quickly pulled away from the former SGC, winding his way down the darkening mountainside towards town. If no one was to be found on base, then he would have to search elsewhere. Speeding up, Teal'c raced towards the home of his closest friend, and the last known commander of Stargate Command. If anyone would know what was going on, he was certain it would be General Jack O'Neill.
Turning sharply into his friend's driveway, he brought the vehicle to an abrupt halt, barely taking the time to stop the engine before he jumped out of the Jeep and ran awkwardly towards the front door. It had by no means escaped his notice that there had been no other vehicles on any of the roads between CheyenneMountain and the General's home. Nor was he unaware that the homes he had passed had all be dark and lifeless in the growing gloom of night. Pounding on the door, he waited impatiently on the step, contemplating whether he should just break in and search the house, or search the property first for clues.
Unsurprisingly, no one came to the door. Teal'c began searching the property, the fading light dramatically hindering his ability to do so effectively. Admitting at least partial defeat, he moved on to the house, breaking the door in with a few blunt strikes of his foot and shoulder. Switching on the lights, he found the house in much the same state as the base: precisely as he remembered, only with no one in sight. Panic rising, Teal'c quickly pushed his weak and aching body back outside, climbing stiffly into the Jeep and racing towards Colonel Carter's home.
As with O'Neill's home, Colonel Carter's house was completely deserted. There was no evidence of a hasty withdrawal, or any sort of struggle, however, the house, the whole neighbourhood in fact, seemed to be entirely lifeless. He moved on, driving across town to the home of Daniel Jackson. Again, everything was as it should be, except for the conspicuous absence of Doctor Daniel Jackson himself. As a matter of fact, all of Colorado Springs seemed to have been abandoned. There were no lights on in any of the homes, no vehicles driving along the roads. Teal'c had never felt more unsettled, nor more alone, in his entire life. He had come to the Tau'ri for help, and instead, it appeared that they may need his help even more.
Climbing back into the Jeep, Teal'c left the deserted home of his friend in favour of finding a newsstand. He needed to know what had transpired on this planet, and he needed to know right away.