0959

Lieutenant Colonel Greer oversaw a quick earpiece check with the nine men around him as the Gate began to spin up. Perhaps SG-13 had the luxury of not using radios on their long-term mission, but he didn't. He had a ticking clock. "As soon as the Gate's clear, we split into our two-man teams. You all have your UAV images. Any sign of our team, radio in with your location."

As the men around him chorused "Yes, sir!", Cam looked at Teal'c and spoke under his breath. "I know there are ten of us, but they are covert ops. It's their job. And we're supposed to find them?"

"It is fortunate that we have been paired together," the Jaffa answered, just as quietly, though that smile that always made Cam nervous spread across his face. "I have no intention of finding them."

"What?"

He was spared from answering when the Gate burst to life and a man on either side of it tossed two shock grenades through. Moments later, the MALP rumbled jerkily up the ramp and through the wormhole. After a moment for Landry and Sergeant Harriman to receive the images, the general announced, "You have a go. Good luck."

SG teams 5 and 12 (and half of SG-1) stepped quickly through the Gate, ignoring the dozens of unconscious Ori followers around the steps. So much for guards, Cam thought. SG-12 remained behind to return the MALP before they awoke, and the other six headed into the forest.

The pace Teal'c set was brutal, leaving Cam literally scrambling to keep up with him. It was difficult to keep his bearings, track the map they'd been given, and not fall on his face, but he was doing a passable job. Until... "Hey, aren't we supposed to head that way?"

"Indeed." The Jaffa neither slowed his pace nor changed direction.

"Okay, then what are we doing?" In looking at the map, he missed a tree branch and tripped. By the time he recovered and got to his feet, his 'partner' was nearly twenty yards ahead. "Teal'c? What are we doing? Teal'c!"

~/~

1205

Landry had been right about one thing: the work the Pentagon had sent over was good for Jack. Mostly, it – and the fact that he was going to have to get glasses soon to be able to read it all – irked him, which kept his mind off the sleeping woman next to him. And off the fact that she'd slept very, very late, even through the visit from the nurse who'd carefully peeled back the shoulder of her gown and taken blood through the central port they'd put in the day before. If her veins were weakening, they'd said, it was better to poke once and leave it than dozens of times.

Okay, so maybe the paperwork wasn't quite distracting enough. He made a mental note to ask Walter about the science labs. Whatever was going on down there always boggled his brain.

And reminded him of Carter. Damn.

"Headache?"

The blue eyes were sleepy, but she'd clearly been watching him for awhile. "A little. Eyes aren't what they used to be."

A smile curved at her lips. "Did you get any sleep, old man?"

"Yeah, some." He couldn't help but smile back. "You should've seen Mitchell standing next to all the gung-ho infantry guys. It was hilarious."

"Eight years ago, you'd have said the same about me."

The grin grew. "Eight years ago, I did say the same about you. Just not where you could hear me."

She raised an arm to smack him lightly... and then remembered how bad an idea that was. Awkwardly, she put her hands back in her lap and started picking at her thumbnail again. "How about Daniel and SG-8?"

"They've already sent back all kinds of stuff from the crystals and around the site. The whole med staff is here running it."

"I'm sure they are. Pull the drape, Jack."

"What?"

He'd clearly heard her, so she just waited for him to process the request and the implications of it, then do as she'd asked. Cocooned off, he sat back down and settled his elbows on the bed. "What's going on?"

Her voice was soft, cognizant of the thin divider. "They're dead, aren't they?"

"Who told you that?"

The look she gave him was wilting. "Where are they, Jack? Even if this were contagious, there's no reason to keep SG-16 isolated from the people already infected. You found them a long time ago and just didn't tell us. Because whatever this is... it already killed them."

Not entirely trusting his voice, he just nodded.

"When?"

"Around two or so."

It wasn't what she was asking, and he knew it. "When?" she asked again.

"They'd been dead at least a day."

"God. That's, what, five days from exposure?" She was already on four.

"Six. And none of you were on that planet as long as they were," he pressed. "None of you are that sick. We're gonna figure this out. But you need to... What are you doing?"

"Hand me my clothes," she ordered, tossing back the sheet to sit up.

This would be so much easier if he were still her CO, if he could verbally smack her back into bed and keep her there. "Not a chance. You're not going anywhere." But he couldn't touch her, so he settled for looming over the bed.

"I'm gonna take a look at the samples they brought back. Maybe they're missing something. I need to help them."

"No, you need to rest," Jack insisted.

"I'm fine." Her eyes met his, fierce. And terrified. "I can't just sit here and wait to die. I have to do something." And with that, she pushed off the bed to her feet.

With any luck, it was just that she'd stood up too fast. Or low blood sugar from missing breakfast. But more likely, it was the low platelets and early onset anemia that sent her pitching off balance and into him as her knees gave out. He caught her as gingerly as one could possibly stop someone from hurtling toward the floor, carefully letting her wilt instead.

He could get her back into bed himself, or he could do it gently, but he couldn't do both. "Tell me again how fine you are," he murmured into her ear before turning his head. "Nurse!"