Part 2 (1/2)

”On the planet?”

”In this location, sir.”

”Because... ?”

She grimaced, like she was afraid to give the bad news. ”I'm reading dangerous levels of radiation in the soil, sir.”

He closed his eyes for a moment, absorbing the latest piece of c.r.a.ppy luck to come their way. ”You have got to be kidding me, Carter...”

”I'm sorry, sir, I know it's not what you want to hear. But we can't stay here, it's not safe. And the more we disturb the soil, the greater the risk we run.” She glanced down at her clothes, dusty with dirt where she'd tumbled out of the Stargate. ”I think we're standing in a fallout zone, sir. Not a recent one, but at some point in this planet's past it looks like the Stargate was nuked.”

”That would explain the absence of the DHD,” Teal'c said.

”And the birds.” Jack scratched a hand through his hair, shutting down his frustration and fears and focusing on the problem in hand; when circ.u.mstances changed, you changed your plans. He peered through the fine snow toward the hills. They were maybe two klicks away. ”We'll head for higher ground,” he decided. ”There'll probably be less fallout acc.u.mulation up there.”

”Yes sir,” Carter said. ”And if the gate was close to ground zero, which is likely, then the further we get from it the better.”

It made sense, except... He looked over at Daniel and Carter's gaze followed his.

”We've got no choice, sir,” she said quietly. ”We have to move him.”

”I know.” But that didn't make it any easier. G.o.d only knew how Daniel would manage the hike; he should be in surgery already.

Jack rubbed a weary hand over his face. Just how much more c.r.a.p was the universe going to throw at them today? In the pit of his stomach, the anxiety that had been churning since the first Jaffa attack tightened into a fist of fear. They should be home by now. Daniel should be safe in the infirmary, and he should be figuring out how to bring down Maybourne's nasty little off-world operation before Earth's allies abandoned them entirely. But instead they were stuck in the a.s.s end of nowhere, with no way home - again - sucking in radioactive dust with every G.o.dd.a.m.n breath. ”d.a.m.n it, Carter,” he growled. ”h.e.l.l of a time to screw up.”

She stared. ”I didn't -” But then she stopped, taking it like the officer she was. ”Yes sir. I'll help Daniel get ready to move out.”

And then she was gone, stalking past the Stargate to where Daniel lay wrapped in the foil blanket and propped up on Jack's pack.

”We do not know that Major Carter misdialed the gate address,” Teal'c pointed out, disapproval chilling his voice as he crouched to pull up the tent stakes and refold the tent. ”Indeed, it is more probable that an error occurred while we were in transit.”

Jack didn't respond; he knew Teal'c was right.

”It is unlike you,” Teal'c persisted, ”to lay blame where it is not due.”

Uncomfortable beneath Teal'c's scrutiny, he kept his gaze on the tent as he started repacking it. ”Perhaps you don't know me as well as you think you do.”

Another silence as Teal'c stood up. ”I do not believe that is true, O'Neill. But whatever the cause of your ill humor, Major Carter does not deserve your anger.”

”Yeah? Well maybe you should keep your opinions to yourself.” He made his voice hard, angry, and didn't look up as Teal'c walked away in silence.

It hurt, deceiving his team like this. It twisted a knot of guilt in his gut. But, from the moment the Asgard and Tollan had laid down their highhanded ultimatum, his choice in the matter had been swept aside. Until Maybourne's SGC mole was uncovered, Jack was a puppet dancing to their allies' tune - and that p.i.s.sed him off monumentally.

From beneath the bill of his cap, he watched Carter kneeling next to Daniel, encouraging him to drink some more water, touching her fingers to his throat and checking his pulse. He hated undermining her, it felt deep down wrong, but this wasn't the first time the job had demanded he walk a fine moral line.

The problem with Carter was her loyalty. She was the last person to believe him capable of deliberately contravening Air Force regulations and stealing technology from the Tollan. Yet somehow, in just a few days, he had to make her buy it without question. He couldn't afford to have her raising doubts because, if Maybourne's mole got a sniff of a set-up, the whole mission would fail. And then the whole planet would be up the proverbial creek without a paddle.

Daniel was less of a problem, of course. They'd locked horns over the Stargate Program's purpose enough times that Daniel already believed him capable of almost anything. Daniel might not like it, but this wouldn't be the first time they'd been on opposite sides of the moral line. And it wouldn't be the first time Jack had disappointed him.

As for Teal'c, while he might not agree with Jack's actions, he'd understand that the end sometimes justified the means. And he understood frustration. h.e.l.l, why else had he turned his back on his own people for the chance to fight back?

But Carter? They were both Air Force and she knew exactly how much that meant to him, because it meant just as much to her. So if he was going to make the story stick then he needed to damage Carter's faith in him. And the way to do it was by ruthlessly undermining her trust.

Didn't mean he had to like it, though.

But he'd make it up to her. Once they were home, and the whole Maybourne screw-up had been squared away, he'd get things back on track with his team. Maybe he'd even invite them up to Minnesota, do a little fis.h.i.+ng. No harm in that.

He s.h.i.+vered suddenly, a chill breeze picking up the snow and swirling it in harsh eddies. He didn't like this place. It was time to get moving.

Janet Fraiser finished writing on the clipboard in her hand and smiled at the young airman who was reb.u.t.toning his pants in the infirmary while trying to avoid her eye. The newbies were always like this after receiving their standard inoculation shots and routine checkup. As if baring their a.s.s to a female doctor was the most embarra.s.sing thing they'd ever done.

I was a cadet once too, son, she often wanted to say. I know what happens on leave.

But mostly she just smiled in what she hoped was a motherly way or made a joke to alleviate their awkwardness.

Right now, though, her heart wasn't quite in it. She cast yet another glance at the clock, the clipboard and airman forgotten for the time being. Thirty-five minutes past due and still not a single word. Despite General Hammond's rea.s.surances, it was hard to convince herself that there was nothing wrong. Probably because she'd known there was something wrong before the team had even set their boots on the metal of the ramp.

This mission, their first since Colonel O'Neill's return, was always going to be a tough one, but something just hadn't sat right with her, as if the entire team were going through the motions. And now she wondered, if something had gone wrong, whether SG-1 were in any shape to deal with it.

”Will that be all, ma'am?”

”I'm sorry?”

She turned toward Airman Wallace, who watched her expectantly. ”Am I done? Y'know, with the shots?”

”Oh, yes. Yes, I'm sorry. Dismissed.”

The young man sped from the infirmary, but stopped short by the door to snap a textbook salute to the man who entered.

”General Hammond,” said Janet. She cast a glance at the coffee cup in his hand, but made no comment. By his expression, she suspected he needed it. ”No word?”

He shook his head, worry and something deeper etched into every line on his face. His earlier confidence that everything was okay had clearly dissipated. ”We sent a MALP, but the area around the gate is deserted. There's worse too. From the telemetry, there's evidence of a firefight close to the gate. Doctor, I'm going to order -”

The klaxon sounded. ”Unauthorized off-world activation,” declared Harriman's voice, and even over the loudspeaker Janet could hear his antic.i.p.ation. Both she and the general took off, speeding down the corridors until they reached the control room.

But Harriman looked crestfallen when they arrived. ”I'm sorry, sirs. It's SG-3's IDC.”

”Open the Iris,” ordered Hammond.

Janet followed him down to the gate room, where Colonel Makepeace and his team were starting to hand off their weapons to the waiting SFs.

”What's going on, sir?” asked Makepeace.

”SG-1 are missing, Colonel,” Hammond said. ”I want SG-3 mission ready again within thirty minutes. You're going to P5X-104 and you're going to find our people.”

Crouching close to the Stargate, Sam studied the small cairn of stones she'd built. It was off to one side, out of the path of the erupting event horizon, but close enough that a MALP would spot it immediately.