Part 12 (2/2)
With a flicker of a smile, the colonel said, ”Go with 'admire'.”
Aedan's expression softened a fraction, but all he said was, ”Either way, if you seek out the Devourers you will end up dead.” He nodded to Teal'c and Sam. ”I will have your weapons ready for you topside. Elspeth will show you the way.” Then he walked away and Sam watched him until he disappeared down one of the other pa.s.sageways.
”Okay,” the colonel said. ”Let's grab our stuff.”
He headed back toward their sleeping quarters and Sam followed, Teal'c at her shoulder. ”Sir?” she ventured. ”Are you sure this is wise?”
”I didn't ask for your opinion, Carter.”
”No, sir,” she said as they entered the small room where Daniel lay looking sallow and fevered. ”But I just think the further we move from the gate the less chance there is of a rescue team finding us. And, sir, Daniel's really not well and -”
”I know!” He spun to face her, anger sparking in his eyes. ”I know Daniel's sick. I know.” He took a breath, calming himself. ”That's why we have to go. We have to get home today.”
”Sir,” she said carefully, ”our best chance of getting home is staying close to the gate and waiting for rescue.”
His jaw tightened in the way it did when he was biting back words and he turned around and started to pack up his gear. ”We have no idea if rescue's coming, Carter.”
”But it is, sir.” She tried another tack. ”Think about it: if you'd left the vicinity of the Stargate on Edora your radio wouldn't have picked up our signal and Teal'c would have died in that cave. You'd still be there.”
He didn't say anything for a moment, rolling up his bedroll with quick, angry movements. ”Three months,” he growled, stuffing it into his pack. ”I waited three d.a.m.n months on Edora, Carter. Do you think we have anything like that time?”
She didn't answer, couldn't quite think around that slap in the face. Didn't he know what those three months had been like for the rest of them, not even knowing whether he'd survived the fire rain? Not knowing whether all they'd bring home in the end was a body? She felt a swift flare of anger that she could barely control and dared not open her mouth to reply.
”G.o.d, Jack,” Daniel sighed from where he sat propped up against his pack.
No one spoke for a while. Sam, furious and hurt, moved to her pack and started shoving everything back inside. It didn't take long and she was done before the colonel, which gave her a bleak moment of satisfaction. Still too angry to risk speaking, she silently began to help Daniel.
”We have one day,” the colonel ground out. ”Twenty-four hours or we are so unbelievably screwed, you wouldn't believe it.”
Daniel frowned in confusion and Sam shared it. What was he talking about? But then Daniel's eyes widened in understanding. ”Because of me, you mean?”
The colonel didn't answer. ”You've got five minutes,” he told them, hefting his pack over one shoulder and stalking out.
The tension eased once he was gone, but Sam searched Daniel's face in concern. ”What do you mean because of you?”
He closed his eyes for a moment, then looked at her and said, ”I'm not doing so well, Sam. I need a doctor. Soon.”
”Okay,” she said, swallowing a sudden surge of fear. He didn't need to deal with her worries on top of his own. ”Okay, so we'll get you home.”
”That's the plan.”
Teal'c offered his hand to Daniel and between the two of them they got him onto his feet. Jaw set, he looked doubtfully at the pack on the floor.
”You cannot carry that, Daniel Jackson,” Teal'c said.
”No.”
Sam crouched and opened it up. ”Tell me what's important.”
”Ah, my notebooks, camera...”
”MREs, canteen, med-kit?” she suggested, pulling them all out. ”Spare clothes. Teal'c, do you have room for his bedroll?”
It didn't take long to redistribute most of Daniel's belongings between the two of them and her pack only felt slightly heavier when she swung it onto her back.
”Okay,” Daniel said, grim but determined. ”Let's do this.” With obvious effort, he started walking toward the door and Sam exchanged a worried look with Teal'c as they followed.
Bending his head toward her, Teal'c said in a low voice, ”Daniel Jackson is strong. He will endure this hards.h.i.+p.”
”I just wish he didn't have to.”
Teal'c didn't respond to that and she figured there was nothing he could say about her futile wishes. All that mattered now was getting Daniel home.
At least it wasn't raining.
But it was cold, a dank kind of chill that crept into your bones. c.r.a.ppy planet, Jack thought, squinting up at the white roof of cloud that served as the sky. Maybe the sun never shone here?
A few of Aedan's people had gathered to see them off, Elspeth among them. An older woman stood talking to Daniel, who was resting on one of the rocks and catching his breath after the climb out of the caves. In the daylight he looked even worse, dark circles under his eyes and skin like dirty snow. G.o.d only knew how he was staying on his feet; Jack knew plenty of soldiers who'd have given up by now. The woman put her hand to his face, shaking her head in a manner that reminded him of Fraiser - he figured she was the doc, or medic, or whatever they called her. Shame she didn't have more than a few herbs to work with.
”O'Neill.” Teal'c called his attention away from Daniel and toward the iron door to the caves. It stood open as Aedan Trask and a couple of his men emerged holding all their weapons. Thank G.o.d for small mercies. They lay them carefully on the ground and stepped back.
”Thank you,” Jack said, crouching down to examine their stuff. Their weapons looked untouched and he picked up one of the MP5s, turning it over in his hands.
”That's mine, sir,” Carter said, holding out her hand for it. They all had their preferred weapons, the ones they'd check out of the armory first if they had the choice. His had a little nick on the forearm that was the result of a close encounter with the side of a cliff-face one dark night. Carter's had a scratch along the pistol grip.
He handed over her weapon without comment and she took it without thanks. Better that way, he figured. He'd let things get too friendly the previous night, too normal, and it was time to cool off. But it had been hard to resist that unexpected moment of camaraderie between them all, lying in the dark and feeling more-or-less safe for the first time in days. Maybe he shouldn't have let it happen, but he was getting so tired of the whole jacka.s.s routine and he missed his team, he missed the bond that had drawn them so close - especially now, when it felt like everything was going to h.e.l.l. He wasn't too proud to admit he needed them.
Another twenty-four hours, he told himself, and he'd call it off. If they weren't home by then, the Tollan mission would be a bust anyway, and he wasn't keeping up this charade for a moment longer than absolutely necessary.
He picked up his MP5, slipped the strap over his head and cinched it tight, then holstered his Berretta. Better. He felt much better armed. Carter was doing the same and Teal'c was hefting his staff weapon with obvious satisfaction. Daniel hadn't moved, so Jack picked up his handgun and handed it to Teal'c; Daniel wasn't in any condition to fight and someone should make use of the weapon. Just in case.
So, this was it. They were ready. The question was, ready for what?
He glanced up, but the sky was empty. He figured they'd head for high ground and stay out from under any tree cover, looping back toward the Stargate. If there were some flesh-eating Goa'uld flying around up there, they'd get a good view of them and hopefully come close enough that Teal'c could take them down. If not, then maybe Carter would be right and they'd find a MALP at the Stargate and SG-3 scouting the area. Crazier things had happened.
It wasn't a great plan, but it was a plan.
After their final farewells, Aedan's people watched in silence as they left. The only one showing any kind of agitation was Elspeth. She was fidgeting next to Aedan, looking from him back to Daniel, and up at Aedan again. Jack couldn't figure out if she was his sister, girlfriend, or just another member of the gang, but in the end she didn't say anything as Jack gave the order and his team moved out.
He took point, leading them back up the valley along a shallow incline. There was a ridge along the top that was nice and exposed and would give an easy view down over the valley and back toward the Stargate. He kept the pace slow because of Daniel, who walked with Carter. Teal'c brought up the rear. No one was talking. Specifically, no one was talking to him. He could hear Daniel's slow, breathless voice behind him and a few curt replies from Carter. He couldn't hear what they were saying, for which he was grateful. Eavesdroppers never heard anything good about themselves and he was quite sure he didn't want to hear Carter's opinion of her CO right now.
He kept his eyes on the sky as they walked. The clouds were high, a thin misty layer of darker cloud running fast beneath the impenetrable ceiling of white. Once he thought he saw something, a dark flash that was gone before it was there, but he couldn't be sure. It could have been a bird. ”Teal'c,” he said, glancing over his shoulder, ”did you -?”
He broke off when he saw a figure running after them - one of Aedan's people.
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