Part 2 (2/2)

”Carter!” the colonel barked. ”What're you doing?”

She gritted her teeth against a flash of irritation. ”Leaving a marker, sir,” she said, without looking up.

”Well hurry it up. We're about to move out.”

”Yes sir.”

The question was how to make it clear to anyone who came looking that they'd been here? After a moment's thought she reached around and pulled her SG-1 patch from the sleeve of her jacket.

She stared at it, caught by the insignia, at what it represented, and glanced up at her team. Teal'c stood poised and ready to move, while the colonel was helping Daniel to stand. Despite his injury, Daniel was smiling as the colonel tucked his shoulder under his arm to help support him. She felt a pang of melancholy as she watched them, as if she was witnessing the end of things, as if something indefinable was s.h.i.+fting between them all.

Shaking off the dismal feelings - this planet, she thought, bred them in its cold, dank mist - she lifted a few stones and secured her patch inside the cairn. The top quarter poked out and anyone from the SGC would recognize it immediately. As long they kept within radio and visual range of the Stargate, they'd be able to open a channel to Earth as soon as they saw the MALP come through. And it would come through, she knew it. No matter how they'd ended up here, rescue would come.

Unlike Colonel O'Neill, she refused to forget that Stargate Command didn't leave its people behind.

CHAPTER FOUR.

As soon as SG-3 emerged from the wormhole, Makepeace could see that O'Neill and his team had run into trouble. Craters, obviously from heavy Goa'uld artillery, pocked the ground and the rocks around the gate were charred by staff blasts. There had been a battle here, but whether SG-1 had come out on top remained to be seen.

”Stay alert, people,” he barked as they descended the steps, weapons readied, boots squelching into mud. The only sound was the drumming of rain on the plastic of his camouflage poncho.

”You think they're still on this planet, sir?” asked Lieutenant Johnson, scanning the area through the sight of his P90.

”I guess that's what we're here to find out. By the looks of this place, they were under some pretty heavy fire. Let's sweep the perimeter. Wade, check out the DHD, see if they dialed out. Bosco, stay with him.”

Makepeace and Johnson headed for the tree line, splitting up to cover more ground, while Major Wade opened up the front of the DHD and plugged himself in.

It was Johnson who made the find. ”Sir, we got bodies!” Makepeace's stomach dropped, but when he reached the lieutenant it was the steely gray armor of a Jaffa that glinted dully in the undergrowth.

”There's another one over there,” said Johnson, nodding further into the wooded area.

That, at least, gave him some satisfaction. Whatever had happened to the team, they'd at least managed to take a few of the b.a.s.t.a.r.ds down beforehand. ”Well, let's see who SG-1 had a tangle with, huh?” Makepeace wedged his toe under the body and flipped it over. The dead Jaffa's sightless eyes stared at the sky, rain was.h.i.+ng the mud from his pale face. Hunkering down, Makepeace brushed away the remaining dirt from the corpse's forehead.

”You recognize it, sir?”

Makepeace pursed his lips and shook his head. The tattoo was unfamiliar, a horned circle with a strange looking cross underneath. He pulled the tiny camera from the side pocket of his BDUs and snapped a shot. Let the experts back at the base take a look at it and figure out who they were dealing with. If SG-1 were being held captive, they'd need all the intel they could gather, and if this was a new snake on the block, they'd need far more than that.

As they made their way back to the gate, Makepeace scanned the area. The place was a washout, the rain having spoiled any real chance they might have had of picking up a trail, but there were spent bullet casings everywhere. Whatever had happened, the team had obviously been b.a.l.l.s to the wall and Makepeace saw three possible outcomes.

First, SG-1 had been cut off from the gate and then taken prisoner by whatever snakehead had attacked them. If that was the case, then he didn't like the odds of finding where they'd been taken.

Second option: they'd dialed an address and made it through, but wherever they'd ended up it wasn't Earth. And given their current MIA status, they'd possibly landed in a situation that was just as hot as the one they'd escaped. Makepeace didn't much like that option either.

The last option was one he could work with: they'd dialed up, but had to take cover before they could reach the wormhole itself, which meant they were still in hiding somewhere nearby. But why not come out when the coast was clear and dial home?

He knew O'Neill and he knew what sort of a strategist he was. In fact, O'Neill and he were similar in many ways. Jack always sought the practical answer, not necessarily the one that conformed to the rules, but he was a man who got the job done, regardless. A fine leader and one for whom he'd always had a lot of respect. Who else could take a scientist, a civilian geek and a G.o.dd.a.m.ned alien and turn them into a formidable unit?

Makepeace also knew that he wasn't the only one who was watching O'Neill as a potential a.s.set - which just made it all the more important to get them back in one piece.

”Anything?” he asked Wade, who stood squinting at the handheld unit he'd plugged into the front of the DHD.

”It's the darnedest thing, sir. As far as I can tell, the last address dialed was Earth.”

”How is that possible? There was no incoming wormhole at the SGC.”

Wade shrugged. ”Maybe it skipped to another gate? Wouldn't be the first time. But if that's the case...”

Wade didn't need to finish his sentence. If SG-1 went through a wormhole that had skipped to some other random gate, they could be anywhere in the galaxy. How the h.e.l.l would they have any hope of finding them? And if a Goa'uld had them, then the clock was most definitely ticking.

”Okay, people,” Makepeace said, ”there's nothing more to find here. Let's move out.”

But as he turned to head up the steps to the gate his eye was caught by something lying in the mud. A USAF standard issue field dressing - and it was soaked in blood. Wherever SG-1 was, one of them was injured and bleeding badly.

The climb up the hillside was slow going. The mist made visibility difficult and often they had to backtrack on themselves after finding their path cut off by jutting rocks that had been hidden in the low light.

Teal'c took point, stopping frequently to ensure that Colonel O'Neill, upon whom Daniel Jackson was leaning heavily, had not fallen too far behind. Major Carter walked alongside Teal'c, taking regular soil readings.

”Radiation levels are dropping,” she said at last. ”Not much further and they'll be within safe parameters.”

”The temperature is also dropping. We must take care not to climb too high.”

Major Carter glanced behind her. ”Yeah, we need to keep Daniel warm especially. I'm concerned about the blood he's lost.”

It was true that their friend was looking ashen. The FastClot had stemmed the flow of blood from the wound, but he needed medical attention. Teal'c worried that his condition would worsen before they had discovered a route off this planet.

”Once we have established camp, I should return to the Stargate,” he said. ”The DHD may be buried beneath the rubble. My symbiote should prevent the radiation from affecting me.” Major Carter nodded, but Teal'c could see that the issue troubled her. ”You are not at fault for our current situation, Major,” he said.

She gave a humorless laugh. ”Try telling the colonel that.”

Teal'c frowned. It was true that O'Neill had been unduly harsh on her since arriving on this world, but this was just one more aspect of the strange mood that had fallen over their commander since his return from Edora. ”He is concerned. His words are not meant in earnest.”

”Maybe not,” she said, ”but I just... I feel like this has been going on for a while. Ever since he got back, it's been different. He's been different.”

”I too have noticed a difference in Colonel O'Neill. His behavior is not what it was.”

”You have?” Major Carter seemed relieved at this, as if glad that she was not alone in her observations.

”I have wondered what could have brought about such a difference. Perhaps his time on Edora changed him in some way?”

Teal'c did not miss how Major Carter's shoulders sank. ”Yes,” she said. ”That's what I was thinking too.”

”Rest a.s.sured, however, he has faith in your abilities and would not judge you over something in which you are blameless.”

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