Several hours of nothing passed. The tedium broke suddenly when the man returned, followed by several other guards. Everyone stood up, even Sam who only wavered slightly. The two sets of guards looked at each other, ignoring the prisoners' reactions.
The man spoke. "Talquin wants them all this time."
She waited for one of the guards to respond in disbelief, or a simple outright refusal. But instead the one who was apparently higher in rank merely raised an eyebrow. Then he shrugged dismissively before taking the keys from his belt and unlocking the cell. SG-1 stood where they were, eyeing the scene.
"Hurry up," the man said gruffly. He gestured with his gun. With nothing else to do, they filed out. The four guards following the man flanked them, and they were lead out of the room.
Sam immediately recognized that this was not the same direction they had taken her before. But she couldn't be sure what that meant. Other guards passed them in the hallway, but none took any interest in the scene. The further along they went, the more certain she was that they were headed towards the garage. So the moment of truth had come, and she prayed for an answer.
By the time they enetered the garage, they hadn't seen another guard in a while. No one was there, either. At least, that was what Sam thought until she heard one of the vehicles start. She jumped at the suddenness of the noise, but the man and his colleagues were unphased.
"Quickly now."
"Just like that?" Daniel wondered.
The man looked puzzled. "They will notice your absence at any time. We must leave before they lockdown the building."
"Just like that," Jack answered with a shrug. They all hopped into the back of the large truck.
This was too easy, even for them. Sam was all but certain. But what could she do then? Certainly, real or not, the rest of her team wouldn't just let her take off. And all that awaited her at that moment was the cell. That option didn't appeal to her, real or not. For the moment all she could do was watch and wait.
Everyone was quiet as they pulled out, afraid that they'd somehow give themselves away. Only when the vehicle had made it a fair distance away did anyone dare to speak.
"So you're the 'Believers', I take it," Jack said.
"They are," the man affirmed.
"If you are not one of them, how was contact so easily attained?" Teal'c asked. It was something that Sam was curious about as well. A group like theirs wouldn't be able to last long if they weren't well hidden.
He smiled at the question. "My brother has been with them for years. I did not hold the same faith, for either side. But of course I could not turn in my own brother. When I saw your weapons, your clothing, it was then I realized he had been right all along. It was he who contacted them."
"I'm not sure where to begin," Daniel said. He clearly had a whole slew of questions.
"We don't really have time for you to play twenty questions right now," Jack responded.
"He is right. But we will have plenty of time when we reach the camp."
Sam's eyes widened in surprise. Jack and Daniel responded at the same time. "Camp?"
"Yes," the man responded simply. "The Believers have numerous small, autonomous camps."
"But will not their first destination be to secure the Matellan?" Teal'c pointed out.
"Most likely."
"We need to get there first," Jack said. He pulled up the canvas to look outside. It was dark, the middle of the night, with little light coming from the stars and a half moon. They had left the city, but their course was parallel to the woods beside them.
"They are expecting you," the man said.
"Look, we really appreciate what you've done, but if we don't go now, there may not be a second chance."
The man was shocked, surprised by Jack's insistence. Sam wondered how he couldn't have expected it. They weren't prepared to enforce their edict, their weapons holstered. Jack noticed this too, and she saw that Teal'c had also caught on. Knowing what was going to happen next, Sam had to act first.
Swallowing hard and taking a deep breath, Sam steeled herself, and dived out the back of the truck. Shocked cries followed her out the flap.
Leading with her shoulder, she tucked as she approached the ground quickly. She let the momentum pull her into the roll. But even so the landing threatened to steal her breath. The truck was going at a fair clip, meaning it was going to hurt like hell no matter how well she executed the maneuver. The rocky ground bit at her body, and guilt at leaving her team behind knotted up the rest.
She tried to tell herself that at least she provided them a significant distraction to make their own move. But if she had waited for them, there would have been no chance of her slipping away. Because at the moment all she knew was that she couldn't go through the stargate. Not until she was sure what was going on. What was real.
It took several moments for Sam to steady herself and get to her feet. The distance between her and the truck opened quickly. And as the engine noise started to get quieter, she could hear faint alarms from down in the city. Not only would her team be out soon, but Talquin's men would be on them quickly enough. Having wasted enough time, Sam took off for the treeline.
She thought she heard distant thumps of flesh hitting earth, but didn't bother to look back. A few more seconds and she'd be in the cover of the forest. While she held no illusions about being able to outrun them on a clear track, she hoped to simply lose them in the maze.
"Carter!" The distant cry pierced through the night air, almost stopping her in her tracks.
The trees blocked out most of the light, making it even darker within the forest. A blessing and a curse. It made her nearly impossible to see, and it made it nearly impossible for her to see. There was no way to keep her hurried pace, not unless she wanted to slam face first into a tree. Sam slowed to a modest jog, still barely able to make out the obstacles before her.
Her head started to pound in time to her pulse. Harder and harder the further she went. The sound of her own heartbeat drowned out everything else. She forced herself to keep moving. Knowing that her team was somewhere behind her. Hoping they'd give up and go for the gate before they managed to find her, as foolish as the notion may have been.
And Sam realized how stupid she was being. They weren't just going to stop looking for her. She certainly wouldn't stop looking for any of them. She was going to get them all recaptured, by one side or the other. As much as she may have doubted it, she still couldn't be sure that this was just another illusion.
With trembling legs Sam dropped to her knees. She gasped for air, her pulse still racing. What the hell was she supposed to do? Her breathing was so loud she thought she could be heard from a mile away. Should she hide? Let them find her? Usually so logical, she cursed herself for not thinking this through better. Not that she really had had time to.
Now she felt herself covered in a cold sweat. She tried to steady her breathing, to no avail. Holding her breath only worked for a few moments, and then she was gasping twice as hard.
"Carter!" the subdued call was practically on top of her. Sam started to rise to get away, but a hand grabbed her arm. It was unnecessary, her limbs to shaky to hold her up.
"At ease, major. What the hell was that?"
She tried to pull out of the grasp, and failed miserably. She started to feel dizzy.
"Sam, what's going on?" Daniel asked. The spinning confirmed what she had feared, making Sam whimper in dismay. Her head still throbbed violently, and her body shook.
Even as the distant quality started to take everything, Sam spoke. But not to her imaginary teammates.
"Don't do this. Don't do this."
She tried to listen for the voices, but there was only the fading ones of Jack and the others. Was there anyone there this time? Her body was far less responsive this time, she couldn't even open her eyes. Her body shook, her head throbbed, and her stomach knotted. Those involuntary acts were all she could do.
"How can this have happened again?"
"I... I don't know."
Her stomach spasmed causing her to vomit all over herself. The rest of the conversation was lost to her.