Author Notes: Comments are welcome and will help me to improve.

LEEWAY

"Carter?" She knows I don't like people moving around the campsite when they should be resting. They know if they can't sleep, they're expected to take extreme measures not to disturb their teammates.

"Big girl, sir."

Over time, this phrase has come to be her polite way of telling me to mind my own business without inviting reprimand.

We are supposed to be the flagship unit, the best of the best; the unit all others are measured by. If our superiors only knew how unruly the 'best of the best' can be. Being a little creative myself when it comes to spit and polish, I'm the first to give leeway; a lot, when it's called for. This bunch is all leeway so I don't force the issue unless safety is at stake.

Don't get me wrong, they're the only people I'd be caught dead doing this kind of job with. Actually, if it weren't for them, I'd have been caught dead doing this job many times over.

Teal'c understands command, accepts it, does what's needed. Carter understands command, accepts it, and does what makes sense. Daniel doesn't get the concept of command, isn't hampered by his ignorance and invariably does the right thing. I like to think that I don't so much command them; that would be next to impossible, as lead them. All that means is that I'm the one on the carpet when all that leeway doesn't work out.

This approach makes off-world assignments lasting more than a few hours a little touchy to handle. The longer they are away from the restraint of the SGC, the more leeway they eke out. Daniel's acceptance of command disappears first. It vanishes somewhere been the locker room and the Gate ramp. Carter's military training and background insure that her acceptance lasts longer. That is, until I order her to do something that crosses the line between the morally right and the necessity of action; then she lets me know 'with respect' that she thinks I'm screwing up royally. Teal'c accepts command as long as I am able to convince him by my actions that I'm fit for it.

These folks are not strangers. I know them. I know what makes each of them tick. I have learned where their limits are and what standards they set for themselves. From the first mission, I realized that they were fully formed personalities who weren't going to always snap to.

You have to understand that when I say 'I know them', I mean I think I can tell what they will do in any given situation. The fact that they continually surprise me puts the lie to that thinking. Like Carter wandering around the campsite in the wee hours. This is not what I'd expect. She sleeps like the well-known log. Now Teal'c, he's apt to be on his feet at every rabbit in the bush. But he rarely makes any sound loud enough to alert me, much less the rabbit. Daniel, well, I can't tell if he's sleeping or researching data stored away in that vault of a brain. He can lie like a rock, and still be on his feet between heartbeats wide-awake and composed.

It's probably only Carter wandering around but now I'm wide-awake. So there are two of us up bumbling around in the dimness before dawn. It won't be light for a couple of hours. There's no moon here but the sun never completely sets, creating a halo of light to break up the blackness. It makes wandering around at night possible. Not smart, just possible.

If I start now, I can get their reports from Monday read before daylight comes and they dump yesterday's on me. I decide to put this off long enough to find out what's got the Major up at this hour.

Now, approaching Carter when I've been warned off is not just rude, it's stupid. This is one of those times when command gets touchy. There is no military training that has equipped me for this and nothing in my male repertoire gives me a clue as to how deal with her as I approach the position she has taken up. I need to know what's bothering her to the point that she gives up perfectly good sack time. I need to let her know I'm intending to...pry, if you will. So I bail on protocol and take the practical approach.

"Sam, what's up?"

"Two people who are going get to this afternoon wishing they'd gotten a little more sleep."

Okay, I've charmed her past the point where she might have actually hurt me. She has a sense of humor; it's just not as near the surface as mine. Its flaw I've learned to accept. Not everyone can be razor sharp all the time.

"I know why I'm up, why are you up so early?" I'm genuinely concerned and want to appear casual but I don't do it very well. I come off shallow and nosy. I can see it in those eyes of hers, worlds are about to collide and I can't think fast enough to get out of the way.

Any conversation on an uninhabited world stands out. These few words have Daniel sitting up on his cot and Teal'c, the official morning fire starter, approaching the banked coals.

Teal'c offers his..."I believe that Colonel O'Neill is instituting the concept of reveille."

The fact that I hadn't the least notion of even attempting something so traditionally military goes without saying. But at the very idea, I am cornered by three otherwise sane people. Two of them are talking over each other in defense of sleep. Teal'c is nodding in agreement.

"Okay, okay, it was just and idea." I take the only path open to me.

Daniel and Carter retreat in supposed-victory to tidy up their cots. I zero in on Teal'c. "Why'd say that, you know I'd never do that. Stick to starting cooking fires."

"Would you rather have continued your conversation with Major Carter?" One eyebrow is raised for emphasis.

Okay, so they know me pretty well too. How to get around me that is. All this maneuvering doesn't disguise the fact that each one knows his job and does it. When we set up camp off-world for a survey, it has come to be routine what everyone does, where everything goes, how the elements of the set-up are arranged. I'd like to take credit for this well tuned drill, but actually it's a process that has evolved over time with a little tweaking now and then.

Teal'c and I select the most defensible location within easy range of the Stargate and never more than half and hour from a fishing spot. Carter and Daniel arrange the scientific do dads in a small tent. Everyone pitches in to get the 'kitchen' going and the other necessaries taken care of. SG-1 can set up a five-day campsite in less than two hours. And some SGC staff think we are just pretty faces.

We're here on this 'piece-of-cake' five-day mission to have a closer look at a Stargate not listed even by the Ancients. Both the Gate and the DHD appeared to be much older than others in the Gate system.

The Prometheus came upon this planet during an early mission or we would never have known about it. Daniel is here to study the unique form of writing on the base of the Stargate. Carter is to evaluate the power remaining in the DHD and survey for an off-world base. Teal'c is here to hunt. I am here to fish.

Base camp is on a flat low rise up an easy slope within sight of the Stargate. In the other direction, less than half a mile, there's a waterfall. Fifty feet behind the Stargate is a slow moving river about three hundred yards wide.

On the opposite side of the river, back from the edge about fifty feet, a rough stone wall rises. It cuts off any view of what's beyond it. Prometheus described the far side as a sandy plateau lacking life signs.

I'm at the edge of the river, behind the Stargate, watching the sunrise over the stone wall. Carter brings me coffee; unheard of, but a very nice gesture. Off-world, earth-side or any wide spot in the universe, the woman reaches me across the distance between 'sir' and 'Jack' without even speaking.

"Sir, requesting permission to break out the inflatable raft and have a look over there." She points toward the rising sun.

"That thing is almost ten feet long jammed into a backpack. Do you know what a hassle it is getting it back in the bag when it's time to go home?" Now I know what the coffee was for; to soften me up; get me to okay something she knows I don't want to do. Well, it won't work.

"If you want to see what's on the other side, take Teal'c and go find a place narrow enough to wade over. Or you might want to read the Prometheus' report on it."

I'm thinking that dedicated as she is, she won't go for hiking and wading when she has a DHD to play with. "There is plenty to be done right here before we go home. Let's take care of that first. Don't you think that makes more sense?" That's what command is all about; getting up ahead of them.

She presses the issue. "Then if we finish up here with a day to spare, you'd OK the raft and a little more exploring?"

I can't catch her eye. When she won't look me square in the eye I ought to know better than to agree with her. But I'm a flexible guy. Besides I know there's no way Daniel will be finished and ready to leave one minute before we have to go. "Sure, why not?"

Now she's looking me in the eye. "The DHD will need a new power crystal in about a hundred years and Daniel says that the markings on the Gate steps indicate that it was meant to be placed in a neighboring solar system. He thinks who ever put it here must have literally put it in the wrong place then forgotten where they put it. We couldn't have locked onto it if planetary drifting hadn't finally put it near the place where it was originally meant to be." She gets it all out in one breath, pauses and smiles that 'gotcha' smile. "It was in our reports for yesterday."

I gotta keep up with those daily reports. "You should have told me yesterday." I shout in her direction when she takes off back toward camp calling Teal'c. I know I'm somehow going to be required to issue leeway...and grind through the re-packing of the unwieldy deflated raft.

"Someday you'll have a command and I hope there's a Carter on your team!" That's telling her!

With absolutely no intention of having any part in the business of the raft, I gather up my fishing gear and head off for more sensible pastime. The creek has been running a little on the shallower every day.

Now, fishing is an art form that requires continuous serious study. It isn't something that bears interruption especially the tree-shaking, bush-thrashing, stomping yelling approach that comes my way a few hours later. At the top of her substantial lungs, I hear Carter Colonel-ing me and Daniel's 'Jack, Jack, Jack.' Now, this is the sound of leeway approaching, I just know it. They have discovered something they believe is important. They aren't subtle. I will be forced to get the message. The message they don't get is that I got a few hours of quiet fishing study in while they were off doing something I don't like to do anyhow.

Daniel breaks through the undergrowth a half step ahead of Carter. "Jack, you've got to see this," he's convinced I'm interested.

"Colonel, there's evidence on the opposite side of the river of human habitation." Carter cuts directly to the heart of exploration. This may not be an uninhabited world.

There goes the quiet study, "Of course there is," I feel like I'm being set up by a couple of grinning elves.

Daniel pulls at my arm to get me on my reluctant feet and committed to action. Carter gathers up my fishing gear and heads back to camp. Oh yeah, I'm definitely being set up for something. Either one of them alone is usually more than I want to tackle; combined, I just cave in. Whatever it is that they want, they've got it...but I'm gonna make 'em work for it.

The video recorder that Daniel never leaves home without is plugged into a monitor in the science tent. The view is impressive I have to admit. Laid out on the screen is the image of a dry plateau. There is an arrangement of stones creating a pattern on the dry ground. Its proportions are such that it could be a drawing in the sand made by a giant child on an endless beach. Prometheus must have set down in the dark to have missed it.

Carter babbles on about arid conditions and metal rocks, Daniel waves his arms rattling about South America. I'm pretty cool when they get like this; just standing there with my arms crossed looking at first one then the other. Finally I've had enough of their excitement. Enough to tell me that what they've found probably is important. That's all I really need to know. If they both think it's important, experience tells me, they are probably right.

With both hands raised in self-defense, I stop the descriptions, definitions and pleas for further study. I was convinced back at my fishing spot. I let them think their educated arguments have convinced me that more equipment and time are required.

"Carter, open the Stargate and report to General. Hammond. Request the UAV with remote-control box, rations for two more days and whatever else you need to do a proper mineral survey. Get the preliminary survey done this afternoon, no sense wandering all over creation over there dragging all that heavy equipment around."

It is truly marvelous how a couple of simple commands can turn chaos into order. How those same commands can condemn me to two more nights away from the comforts of home, a couple of beers and delivered Chinese make a day perfect. Well, that's not going to happen this evening.

The afternoon heats up sending everyone into the shade. Carter is in the science tent going through the mineral survey kit. Daniel is scanning the images he took of the opposite bank making notes. Teal'c is at the edge of the forest skinning something for dinner. I forgot it was his turn to cook. Mostly I can eat anything I can name. I'm wondering if I can name what he's working with.

"Teal'c, What's for dinner?"

He holds up a long-eared half-skinned brown-furred six-legged creature. "Its ancestor was either a rabbit or a raccoon or possibly both. I am unsure of its pedigree."

"Can't we just have something simple, six legs are to too many legs for me to handle. And who's going to be that hungry in this heat?"

"I have prepared many meals O'Neill and no one has ever refused to eat or become ill." He defends his considerable aptitude at the cooking pot. "Once I have prepared it, it will be quite tasty, the sauce is my own creation."

If they'd left me alone, we could be having something that looked like trout.

"Carter," it's my turn to shout. " Let's get that preliminary survey done before dark."

She looks up at me across the few samples in the survey kit she and Daniel brought back earlier. Her mouth is moving but she isn't saying anything. Her head is nodding in all directions at once; she's shrugging her shoulders. All of these parts moving at once intrigue me. Clearly she is upset by the prospect of following my order, but her adherence to military protocol keeps her silent.

"For cryin' out loud, now what." This is not a flighty woman, she is firmly planted on her own two feet, and she knows what she wants and is smart enough to get it. A couple of hours ago she was working her way around me to get to the opposite side, now she's dragging her feet about getting to go again.

"Gear up Major, enough of this nonsense. That's an order." I'm on shaky ground here, there is definitely something wrong, but as long as she won't tell me what it is I can only go on with the mission. She can be ready at a moment's notice to go off world for any length of time but here she stands rooted at the prospect of a quick mineral survey?

An hour later, we are paddling the raft toward the opposite bank. The water is moving slowly and progress across is easy. I can't see the river bottom beneath the raft even though the water seems to be clear. I prefer creeks and streams for my fishing, but I'm wondering what might be in here.

"Sam, what's going on?" This is the second time today I've tried to get her to open up. Maybe I'll have better luck now. No particular reason to think so, just that there are some times when we can talk and this might be one of those times. Her behavior will become an issue if she won't confide in me.

Shaking her head, over her shoulder she admits, "There is something here, something on this planet, or in this river, something that makes me uneasy. It's as though there were gou'ld everywhere. I know there aren't any, but the feeling comes like a wave washing over me, drowning me in the sensation. This morning was like waking from a nightmare encounter with millions of gou'ld engulfing me."

"Do you sense it now?" I need to assess the danger to her and to the team.

"No, it isn't all the time. I felt it the first night we were here and then again this morning. It doesn't make sense, unless I'm losing my mind." Her voice breaks. This woman does not scare easily and she's scared now. It's not like her to be afraid of something she doesn't understand; more likely she'd become obsessed by it.

"Lets get this survey completed then I'm sending you back for a complete physical. No discussion, that's an order." There is comfort in command. As little as she will allow me to do for her; I can, and always will, protect her whenever possible.

For another few minutes, we paddle, reaching the riverbank and easily beaching the raft. This bank is higher above the water line than the other side, so we bring the raft fully onshore.

About fifty feet back from the water's edge as far as we can see in either direction; a rough rock face rises like a wall above our heads. I can see where Carter and Daniel made their way up this morning. They were lucky; they went up in the cool part of the day.

At the top of the wall, as far as I can see right left and ahead is a level plateau, not a rise to mar its surface. Not a tree, or a blade of grass, can be seen. The ground is covered with glistening shards and stones the size of my fist. The pattern Daniel photographed stands out clearly as the setting sun creates long shadows.

A hundred yards out on the plateau, Carter begins gathering samples of the loose material on the surface. "Sam, it could wait a minute you know, until you feel a little better."

"No sir, no need, I think this is what I've been feeling. These stones out here, aren't stones, they're mostly nodules of naquada, some are of iron, pure if I'm right. This much naquada might be what's bothering me. Those shards look a lot like trinium. You know what this means?"

She knows I don't usually get it, but I'm nodding 'yes'. I get this. It's here, just for the picking up. Everything Earth needs for all those space toys. We are standing on the mother lode and no one knows it's here but the SGC!

With the mineral kit bulging, we climb back over the rock wall. Back at the river's edge, the routine piece-of-cake mission evaporates. Without so much as a murmur or tremble, the river has drained away. We take several quick steps back from what was the water's edge only an hour ago. A dry ravine drops away in front of us. The slow moving river has become a trickle several hundred feet below.

The smooth sides of the ravine are not natural. There is no visible foothold or natural unevenness of any kind. Mother Nature didn't build this.

Now it's my turn to interrupt someone at peace. "Daniel, Teal'c, respond!" I'm on the communicator. The full impact of the missing waterway didn't take more than a split second to dawn on me.

"Yes, Jack," Daniel, a bit bothered. "Teal'c says supper is ready and getting cold."

"Don't just stand there O'Neill, this dish should be served hot."

"Will you guys just come down to the riverbank, I want to show you something." I figure it will be easier to show them than to tell them. They wander at a leisurely pace down to a spot on their side of the river just opposite me. The missing river has Daniel excited and gesturing while Teal'c studies the empty ravine.

I shout at them over the communicator, "Get hold of Hammond and tell him SG-1 has stepped in it again."

Daniel and Teal'c get a fire roaring on the opposite bank to keep us oriented to the campsite. I'm wishing we had some of that wood for a fire. Very little of its light reaches across the ravine, but we feel connected by its light.

Carter walks to the edge of the ravine and looks down as though the answer to the question is somewhere down in the dark. For some reason, it bothers me that she's just standing there, so I wander over to see what she's looking at. There's nothing down there but bottomless blackness now.

"Carter, come on, we'll figure it out. It will just take some doing." I'm saying things I always say because this seems so incredibly impossible; I can't think of anything else.

Backing away from the edge she lets herself drop to the ground at the rock face. Why isn't she jabbering a mile a minute about what and why and how? She's just looking at me. Normally I like it when she looks at me without talking, but this isn't normally.

"What are you thinking?" I just dive right in.

"That this may be that time when it takes more than we have. I'm sensing the strong presence of gou'ld."

We sit silently watching the glimmering spot that is the fire on the opposite bank.

"The UAV can be modified to drop food, water and building materials." Her voice is strained. It ruffles the silence, startling me and I twitch. She's laughing at me for being caught off guard. I knew she was thinking. I just knew it. Even when she's not at her best, she's thinking.

Teal'c and Daniel have packed it in. There just isn't anything to be done until the UAV arrives at daylight. We have eaten the rations I brought and are still hungry but we have been hungry before. The pressing quiet settles over us like a blanket, so complete that we can hear only our own breathing.

The nights on the opposite bank were alive with creatures and critters I don't care to even try to identify much less eat. The silence on this side is hard to hear. Our ears keep straining for a sound, any sound.

In the cool of the evening, I move to be sitting close enough to feel her warmth. "This is kinda nice," And I thought comfort was a few beers and Chinese. Still, I know what I like. And I like sitting anywhere I can reach around her and have her resting against me.

"Yes sir," she nestles in closer and agrees with me, I can tell by her voice.... I think.

"Sam?" My timing has always been bad, a product of military living it seems; but people around me have gotten used to it. "I haven't asked for a while...would you still say yes?" She knows what I mean; we've been here before.

The last time I asked she answered 'yes' almost right away. This time, there is a long silence. Too long for me to be comfortable. I have to accept that some day the answer may be different.

"I'd still say yes, but not yet." She hasn't changed her answer.

Her head is on my chest so I can't see her face. I wish I could know what's in her eyes right now. The 'not yet' I can continue to live with; the yes makes me smile at my own skillful handling of the question.

"Jack"

"Huh"

"Are you smiling?"

"Yeah!"

"Cut it out." Now, how does she know that? She can't see me but she knows what I'm doing.

When the fire on the opposite bank burns down, we lose touch with time and distance. The rock face behind us could be on a world galaxies away from the Stargate. Knowing we won't be left behind, that we have been in tougher spots than this, doesn't count for much in the dark cold hours waiting for dawn.

Morning comes with a sky so overcast that it's hard to tell when dawn actually dawned. The cold of last night hangs on. We aren't going to warm up anytime soon.

I'm usually the first one up of a morning but this morning, a blonde head on my shoulder and an arm across my chest have me pinned down. She's sleeping, making up for yesterday. There's no reason to wake her. How often do I get to just listen to her breathe?

Across the river, the Stargate spins to life in advance of the arrival of the UAV. That's our wake-up call.

Gently, I nudge her, "Wake up Major," someday I'll get to say that again under happier circumstances. "Sorry to wake you, but we have a rescue to plan."

She sits up rubbing her eyes and combing her hair with her fingers. Some day, yep, someday.

There's Daniel on the communicator from the other side "Jack, Sam, the UAV is here. We're sending some breakfast using the rocket attachment. You may have to pick it up over the wall. The release is a little sticky."

Breakfast drops precisely at our feet. Something finally goes right.

The UAV under Teal'c's remote handling continues on upstream along the ravine looking for a bridge to bring us home. There isn't one, but there is a narrowing about forty miles north of the Stargate. Forty miles is thirty-nine miles too far for my stiff back and knees to even go look at. A narrowing would only be good if there was water.

Daniel believes we are on an 'island' that was intentionally created. He believes the ravine/river may be man-made. We can't know for sure until the UAV is able to follow the ravine farther along.

The sun begins to warm up the place enough that we can move around comfortably. Carter is drawing in the sand. It doesn't look like anything I recognize but I watch, waiting for her to do her magic. She rubs it out and starts again.

She rubs this one out too.

"Carter?"

"The distance is just too great, sir," her voice is steady but there is no hope in it. "A bridge of any material that we could manage would sag under it's own weight. A bridge isn't the answer for us; it will be the answer for a mining team. We just don't have what it takes to construct a bridge a thousand feet long.

"Well, think of something else."

"I'm trying sir, but the closeness of that much naquada..." She doesn't need to finish her statement, I can see that something is affecting her again but I believe she's probably the best chance we have of getting out of this one.

"Keep at it." That's what I say out loud, only because I'm supposed to.

"Teal'c, What's the status of the UAV?"

"Batteries are charging, O'Neill; 52%."

Command is about getting a job done. Leadership is about getting people to do the job. Without realizing it, I have come to depend on my people to get the job done without my actually having to do much. I have trusted them to know what needs to be done because they have always done 'what needs to be done'. They may go about it with shrugging shoulders and deep quietly disgusted sighs, but they do it in their own way without my having to issue many orders. Only rarely do I have to remind them that it says Colonel on my uniform.

I've been standing with the warming sun at my back looking down at the tiny river at the bottom of the ravine. Without realizing it, I've stepped to within a few inches of the edge. Dizziness builds behind my eyes. Something about this place is dangerous. It has more hidden snags than a mountain stream. I have to get away from the edge.

Dropping to my knees, I literally crawl to where Carter has curled up at the base of the wall. She's alert but unable to focus her attention. She reaches for me like a child reaches for the comfort of a parent. I'm supposed to know how to keep her-all of them-safe and the best I can do is to cradle her in my arms.

With the wall at our backs and the ravine out of sight, the dizziness begins to fade. The lingering morning chill has burn off and Carter seems to be feeling better; it's time to get up and busy.

"O'Neill, the UAV battery is at 100%." Teal'c jerks me all the way back to reality.

"We need some sort of barrier over here to keep us from walking off the edge. Cut some stakes, enough for fifty feet of fence. Get the SGC to rustle up some barbed wire."

"Jack?" Daniel: always curious. "Is there something happening that we can't see?"

"Crazy as this is going to sound, and you've got to believe me, there is something over here that seems to be compelling us to step over the edge. Carter believes she is being affected by the huge amount of raw naquada just lying around over here. I'm not sure what's happening to me. We become weak, dizzy and disoriented. The sensations come and go."

"And you think a fence is going to keep you from stepping over the edge in spite of some outside driving force?" Daniel sums it up and asks a question all at once. He charges on knowing the answer will not help, "The pattern of stones in the sand out on the plateau is an image. Its size probably indicates that it was a signal or a message to the gods. I'll have to get to my library to get anymore details. There is an area in the pattern where the stones have been scattered. Probably where the Prometheus touched down."

"DANIEL!"

"Jack?"

"How does that get us across a thousand feet of thin air?" I'm a little testy, but with good reason.

"Well, it might if you'd listen without yelling."

He's right--but in his quest to educate me beyond my need, he shortens my well-known patience. "Daniel, for cryin' out loud, be brief."

"Plains of Nazca." Is all he says before his communicator goes silent?

The silence lasts until Daniel is convinced I'm ready to reasonable...by his standards.

"Please, go on." I say pleasantly. What I say when the communicator clicks is a bit less civil. I wouldn't trade him for all the archeologists in Egypt, but somedays...

"Okay. The Plains of Nazca are in southern Peru, where there are huge images made around 1500 years ago. There are hundreds of them in a 200 square mile area. Animals, lines, and designs that look like landing strips. These patterns on Earth were made by assembling stones and pebbles in double lines to create the shapes. The same method we are be looking at here."

"Daniel!" I really want him to get to the part where the rescue fits in.

"Huge shapes mostly visible only from aloft." He continues without missing a beat, ignoring my need for haste.

"So!"

"How did man get aloft 1500 years ago?"

I'm waiting with my customary patience. "Okay, I give up, HOW!"

"Hot air balloon."

"We don't have a hot air balloon." I know what's in the SGC materials store and there is no hot air balloon. I'm not thinking clearly and I know it but I'm not giving up.

"But we can get one." He's right of course, if the SGC could acquire the use of the space shuttle; a hot air balloon won't be a problem.

"Okay, send a request through the gate...make sure you get directions and a pilot if possible."

At this point it looks like we could be drifting back to camp within a few hours but we are so far past Plan A, I'm winging it. "I still want that fence."

I'm done taking chances for the sake of exploration. I know I'll get over it, but for now SG-1 has met that mission goal of finding stuff Earth needs. Now all I want is to get my people, all of my people back together and home safely.

Teal'c has piloted the UAV downstream as far as it's battery will take it and then bring it back.

"O'Neill, this landscape goes on unchanged for many miles. To explore further, we will have to launch the UAV in stages, recharging the battery where it lands."

"Let's hold off on that until the balloon gets here. Just as backup in case we have to stay over here another night, get those fence posts over here."

I'm not thrilled to be pounding fence posts in the heat, but having something physical to do seems to be helping Carter fend off the effects of the naquada. Even if we float off and leave it half finished when the balloon arrives; this fence will be worth every drop of sweat and mashed finger to get her back to functioning.

We get the fence made, great engineering it isn't but to get to the edge, we will have climb over 3 strands of barbed wire. Somewhere in there will surely be a wake up call.

Carter gets a lean-to rigged up to get us out of the sun while I report to General Hammond by way of Teal'c. By this time tomorrow, SG-3 will be here. The SG-3 Marines are coming to rescue SG-1! I'm wondering how they intend to do that!

Usually by the time the Marines land with engineers and scientists SG-1 is long gone on the next mission. It's pretty embarrassing; the flagship team getting stuck in a sandbox.

We doze away in the afternoon heat. The sun has begun to set when the hot air balloon arrives. We have been here for an entire day. We were feeling better in the heated afternoon than we are with the cooling evening. As the day cools the physical weakness and mental confusion set in again. All in all though, we are in better shape than we were yesterday. We have realized that the uncomfortable physical effects are somehow related to the weather.

By the time the sun is fully set, we feel well enough to build a fire and have a hot meal. It's been a long exhausting day but tomorrow we will get the hot air balloon up and get back to camp.

Carter hears it first, or rather senses it. I'm sleeping, dreaming. She's shaking me, not the gentle shaking in the dream; a rougher more urgent handling. "Colonel, wake up," she doesn't say 'Colonel' in the dream either. "The river, its back."

There's a moment between sleep and awake when dreams and reality blend. The blend is doomed to fade into full reality, but I hang onto it as long as her insistence will allow.

"What?" I don't mind rough wakings, but the babble about the river doesn't fit.

"BACK!" Now I'm awake.

Without a second thought or a word of instruction, we both head for the edge. We work our way over the barbed wire without noticing the scratches.

I can't raise Teal'c or Daniel on the radio; just static.

We have the raft launched into the dark water and begin paddling. It was easier coming over than it is going to be getting back. In the night sky's reflection of the sun's halo we can see that the water that was clear yesterday has become cloudy with mud. The current is stronger. Within few yards of travel, we are paddling for all we're worth. Where there was no current yesterday, there is now a definite flow.

As the current picks up; we are no longer drifting. In a quick change, what was a slow moving river becomes a torrent of tumbling churning water now carrying debris. The raft is tilted and bounced in a swirling whirl of water; a fishing float in a typhoon. The paddles are gone; we couldn't use them anyway. We are hanging onto the raft with wet slippery hands.

Carter is shouting something but the noise of the water whips it away before I can hear it. She's pointing, hanging on with one hand; the tangle of water hurls her out of the raft. I get a glimpse of a rock face racing at me in the moment before the raft bucks and flips onto a tangle of floating tree branches carrying me headfirst into the rock face.

When the confusing haze around me clears, I can sense that it's dark, a real darkness without the sun's halo on the horizon. I no longer feel the violent motion of the water. My eyes are open, but I can't see anything. I'm lying on a low table. It's hard, but still not uncomfortable. My arms and legs won't move. I think I'm awake but maybe it's just another dream that won't let go. My eyes begin to get used to the dark. I can make out candles on a table but only one is lit. Am I dead? There is sheet and blanket over me. They don't put blankets on dead people. My hair is wet; I hate that. Not dead evidently. I need to clear my head, get up, find out where Carter is, and figure out where we are.

Why don't I sense danger? Why don't I feel the usual uneasiness at the unknown? There is a window in the ceiling. Why is the window in the ceiling? I can see the sky; that strange glow that means night here. Its still night. How much time has passed? It's a skylight. There is a buzzing in my head, why is this so comfortable. Drugged? It must be drugs and they are wearing off.

"Carter" I think I'm calling at the top of my lungs but I only hear myself whisper.

Again, "Carter," this time its more like a croak than a shout. I move my arm; bumping something. I think she must be lying on this table next to me.

I hear her draw a ragged coughing breath. "Sir, where are we?" Her voice is scratchy and deeper than usual.

"Someplace dry and alive," is my assessment from the command level.

Neither of us can move. We pool what we can remember; the sudden re-appearance of the river, the changes in the current, the debris, the rock face. We don't remember anything after the raft was capsized by the tangle of branches.

"Sir, have we been drugged?"

"Not by choice!" I don't like the idea that I've been handled.

"We need more light." Carter gets the job. She seems to be recovering faster than I am. "Get to that candle and light some of the others. I can't get my legs to move."

She struggles to sit up, and then to stand with weakened muscles on shaky legs. She takes one step toward the candles and I'm a drowning man. The only thing that saves my career is that I still can't move but I can talk.

"Carter"

"Sir"

"Blanket!" Concentrating on getting her muscles to support her weight, she hadn't noticed there was nothing covering them.

The room that materializes in dim candlelight is irregular in shape with rough stone walls and a smooth stone floor. There seems to be no doorway and no window other than the opening above our heads. Yes, a skylight, I can see it clearly now? Two tables a couple of chairs and a cabinet. Nothing else.

Finally able to move, barefoot, I'm dressed in a sheet and Carter is her chic self in a blanket. We begin searching the room for something, anything that will tell us where we are, how we got here and how we're going to get out.

Carter is up to the challenge and I am secretly relieved when she begins to speak. "Someone rescued us, brought us here; wherever here is. Someone civilized enough to see to our comfort."

I correct her. "My comfort does not include being drugged, mugged and robbed of every stitch."

"Maybe it did. We don't know what shape we were in when whoever they are found us." She is very generous.

I am not. "I know I had a radio, a watch, and a few other things that, trust me, I don't have on me at this moment."

This kind of information swapping never gets me anywhere, but it vents a little pent up steam. Team members let me get away with it, so I let them get away with the tolerant looks, raised eyebrows and patient sighs. I don't want to know what they are really thinking. Like as not, I wouldn't understand if they tried to explain.

" Carter, I'm open for suggestions on how to get out of here." If I ask first, it sounds more like I'm in control than I really am.

"Sir?" She tries to turn my question into her own question.

"I asked first."

She comes through, "We're underground, not too far underground but definitely below ground level. Even though we may feel warm, the walls are cold and have a dampness to them. As soon as the drug wears off, we'll be cold too. We might be able to get to the skylight, if we can build a ladder of some sort. It's only about fifteen feet."

"Okay, it's not the best plan I've ever been part of, but at least its doing something. If it doesn't work, there is always Plan B."

"Colonel, there is no Plan B."

A woman wrapped in a blanket does not intimidate me. "There will be if we need it."

"Sir, if you have another idea, let's try it," She's not intimidated by a man wrapped in a sheet either.

We stack up every piece of furniture in the room, making plenty of noise hoping to alert that 'civilized' person who stuck us here. No luck there but we do finally hit our stride. We walk the cabinet out under the skylight, then use the two tables to get on top of it. A chair atop the cabinet puts our feet within about eight feet of the skylight. This stack is far from stable.

We are going to have to jump one at a time to grab the skylight ledge of the opening and that will topple the chair...then hope we can pull ourselves up, one at a time, far enough to scramble through the opening. We need something to break the skylight. I stand on the cabinet and thrust the chair into the glass. It falls in chunks, not shattering as I'd expected.

Now I face one of those command decisions that the book, experience and common sense doesn't cover. Who goes first? It's not a question of height, or agility. It's a question of decency and strength. We aren't exactly dressed for this kind of exercise. It doesn't take me this long to make most decisions, but this one can be, let's say delicate. In the end though I decide that decency doesn't matter strength does. I'm already up on top of the furniture. I go first.

"Sir." Now what can she want? I was just ready to jump.

"For crying out loud WHAT!

"Tuck up your sheet, sir."

"Carter?"

"Sir?"

"Are you smiling?" I'm pretty sure she is.

"Yes sir."

"Cut it out."

I pull myself through the skylight on the first attempt. It is embedded in a stone plate about ten feet back from the riverbank.

Once on the surface, the cool air wipes away the last traces of drugged warmth. Expecting the disoriented dizziness, I'm grateful that it holds off. We are on the right side of the river. It's like coming home after a long time away. It can't have been more than a day and a half. There's no time for nostalgia.

Carter jumps up to the skylight ledge and I pull her to the surface by one arm as she claws at the skylight with the other.

Optimist that I am, it still crosses my mind that if I drop her, I'll be going back down. Once I have her safely on the surface, my arms securely around her, there is no way I'm dropping her.

She huddles down against the cold waving me to the broken skylight to retrieve her blanket left caught on the edge. I'm of two minds here, but I go.

From behind me I hear her. "Are you smiling?"

I was born male, not stupid. "No."

She was born female, not stupid. "Liar."

"That would be 'Liar, sir'," I remind her.

It's not going to be daylight for a couple of hours, but we can't stay here. The mass of angry water is gone. Right now, I don't care where it went. We need to get back to camp. Carter will puzzle it out but I'm no one to bounce scientific theories off. I know she's thinking about it, but she gives up trying to engage me in her mental exercise. I have my own mental work to do.

Another one of those command decisions that somebody has to make. We just have no idea how far we are from the Stargate. I haven't spent much time looking at the star pattern since our arrival here or I might have some idea. Deciding to put the forest on our left and the empty ravine on our right, we begin following it back toward camp. I have no idea how far we have to go.

Once Teal'c and Daniel realize that we are missing, they'll send up the UAV. By staying close to the riverbank, we will be easy to spot. If they can recognize us. We don't exactly look like the SG-1 they last saw.

Barefoot, we are more stumbling than hiking.

"Sir, I've been thinking...

Yep, she's back.

...We need to find out who took care of us."

"Why not just leave that to the SGC people who sort these things out?" I'm cold, I'm hungry, and I'm dressed in a ragged sheet. In the dark, I have stepped on a thorn or rock or something and she wants to go out and meet new people.

"Carter, in case it's escaped you, who ever 'took care' of us also took our stuff then left us drugged and naked in a dark hole. These are not folks I want to socialize with.

Weak daylight finally seeps through heavy clouds. That means that the UAV will be flying dangerously low. Even so, I'm sure that Teal'c and Daniel will get it airborne as soon as they miss us. We'll hear it, and hopefully we should be able to spot it. I haven't figured out how to get its attention. We don't exactly have anything we can wave at it; we'll just have to cross that bridge when we come to it.

Full daylight comes under heavy clouds but we can see where we're going and begin to make better time. I don't want to stop to tend to my foot but it's getting worse and will soon begin to affect our progress.

Carter catches sight of the bloody footprint just as I make the decision to stop. On the ground, my back braced on a tree, I prepare to let her doctor my foot. She's really no good at the doctor stuff; I'd rather have Daniel. Being Carter, she can't help but begin an analysis.

"Sir, it looks like wood, just a splinter, but a big one. It should have come out sooner. It's embedded. What am I going to use to get hold of it?" This last, she says more to herself than to me, but I don't let it go.

"Your fingernails, maybe!" Okay, I'm a little testy...again. I've always known that as a rule, it's bad form to cuss the cook, but lets face it, sometimes my mouth gets me into touchy spots.

She tackles my foot with a dedication seldom seen in real doctors. I'm wondering why she didn't give me a stick to bite on. After she's turned the splinter around under the skin three times, nearly broken my big toe and knotted my arch, out comes a 2x4 about 3 feet long. The deep throbbing has stopped but my foot will hurt for a long time. She tears a strip off the bottom of her blanket and wraps it several times around my mangled foot.

"That might not have been a good idea, shortening your...uniform." I need to make peace with Dr Schweitzer here and I'm not saying I'm sorry. "Your uniform is already pretty brief." It works she smiles and pulls me to my feet. I'm the one with the sore foot but there are tears in her eyes.

In a split second, the fate of SG-1 hangs in the balance. Of all the situations the team has ever found itself in, this is probably the most dangerous, the most threatening to its continued existence.

On my feet, she has steadied me. I have held her before, to comfort her, to restrain her, to rescue her. I've never held her just because I could. Until now.

"Carter, we're in real danger here." It's a whispered statement when it ought to be a shouted warning. I've always been the one in command of these 'situations'. Until now.

Her eyes are all that moves; they search mine. I've heard that the eyes are the windows to the soul. That kind of mystical stuff has always gone right over my head. Until now.

I'm waiting for her to get us out of danger this time. She isn't moving. I remember thinking only two days ago, that she was a woman who stood on her own two feet, who knew what she wanted. I know what she wants, but that isn't permission to break rules we've spent years obeying. Until now.

We could end up paying for this with SG-1's existence, our careers and our reputations. There isn't enough leeway in the universe to make room for the way I'm going to kiss this woman.

"O'Neill! Major Carter! You are well!" a familiar voice closing on our position followed by a firm hand on my shoulder, postpones the day of reckoning for SG-1.

In the awkward moment it takes reality to return, Teal'c chooses only to see my wrapped foot, "You are injured."

"You're out of uniform," Daniel observes, emerging from behind Teal'c, one eye squinting, always the diplomat. "The UAV spotted people dragging the wreck of the raft along the ravine about five miles from here. But they were dressed...differently."

I need to divert their attention before this unexpected reunion takes on a decidedly non-military tack. Abruptly changing an uncomfortable subject is a privilege of command. I exercise it.

"Let's get back to camp. Teal'c, take point." We string out behind him like a lazy parade. It didn't take long for military form to disintegrate on this mission. Now that there is a human threat to our safety, I have to get it back. Inhabited worlds pose dangers beyond the natural threats of the uninhabited, not to mention that we can be our own worst enemy.

Accurate threat assessment is how I decide what course of action to take or not take and it requires information. "Daniel, how many people did you see? Where did they come from? Where did they go? We didn't actually meet them."

Daniel begins with his usual introductory statement, "When you didn't answer the radio at daylight, we re-launched the UAV. On a sweep down the ravine, we saw the raft and other people on this side. We didn't see you but figured you had to have been with the raft, so we continued to sweep for a far as the UAV had power.

I let him ramble...for a moment longer. I'm sure he said something important but I can't imagine what.

Carter always gets caught up in these narratives. "During the night, the river rose in the ravine. We launched the raft and were trying to make it across when turbulence carried us downstream and debris capsized the raft. From that point, we have no recollection of what happened to us until we regained consciousness; trapped in a stone enclosure. Once we escaped, we headed back pretty much as you found us."

"How does she do that?" I ask no one in particular. I'm always amazed at how she can turn our-lives-flashing-before-our-eyes, confusion and terror into twenty-five words or less.

I still need data. "Teal'c?"

"There were two humans apparently unarmed. They first came into view moving along the ravine dragging the raft. When they saw the UAV, they ran for the cover of the forest."

There it is again. Something important going unsaid. In an effort to focus on what needs to be done now, I attempt to pin him down, "And?"

I catch him looking over his shoulder toward Daniel; there is a glancing exchange between them. It's subtle. They do that to me a lot. They think I don't see it. I see it; I just have to wait for the next shoe to drop to find out what they're up to. In this case, they are trying hard not to tell me something. Whatever it is, I bet I won't like it and they both know it. This silent dialog between any of SG-1 signals a time coming when leeway will be required.

Teal'c stops walking, turns and faces me. Squaring his shoulders, he is at attention. This is going to be bad. When he assumes the subordinate roll, it's really bad. But, we are all here and alive; how bad can it be?

"Colonel O'Neill, I regret to inform you..."

Yep, it's bad.

"...The UAV has been lost."

With both hands up in a desperate attempt to fend off this information, I tell him how much paperwork each lost piece of Air Force equipment will require, how much I think it cost and that I will be on the carpet for this once we are home. He is glaring past me down toward Daniel.

"Never mind, we'll find the wreckage and take it back. Carter can probably fix it." I don't know this for a fact, but it helps me get past the moment.

Carter and Daniel are trailing along behind at the edge of the ravine, mumbling among themselves about water and trees, leaving Teal'c to bear the brunt of the wrecked UAV.

A nudge deep in my brain bothers me about them. That little prickle in the back of my mind is sending up a warning. They are lagging behind, out of range of the protection we have as a group. There may be no danger here, but leadership can't rely on maybes.

"Close ranks, kids." It's not exactly an order but they comply.

If Carter and Daniel had hesitated, they could have been cut off. A split second later we are quietly surrounded by what could be any group of curious humans dressed in tin foil. Their loosely draped garments of shimmering silver would be reflecting if we had any sun shining. Not exactly camouflage. They don't seem to be carrying weapons, but I suspect that they have a couple of P-90's, a Zat and enough additional explosives from two utility vests to blow us half-way to Sunday.

"Daniel, you're on."

"We're peaceful explorers, we mean you no harm." His brevity here comes as a welcome surprise.

From outside the group surrounding us a voice answers him. "It is we who should be assuring you that we meant you no harm. The rain in the mountains filled the reservoir. When this happens we regularly release the water into our irrigation channels. Your craft was caught in the flow filter."

I'm listening but not ready to believe just anything so smooth.

"When we found your damaged craft in the filter, we began searching for you. We found you nearly drowned, so drugged by the water that you were no condition to explain your presence. To protect ourselves, we removed all of your possessions and put you where we would all be safe until we could determine your motives. We never thought that you would revive so quickly much less manage to free yourselves."

I'm not inclined to buy this but I can see that Carter is putting the pieces together to see if it works.

"We were able to follow your footprints and catch up with you." This I buy; Carter and I traveled like a couple of buffalo, not bothering to conceal our trail.

Carter doesn't catch the drugged part any sooner than I do. "We were drugged by the water?"

Their leader motions a small woman in the group forward to answer Carter's question. This is leadership I can relate to.

A thin voice tells us, "During the heavy rains there are often landslides up in the mountains. A certain kind of tree, whose bark is normally used by our healers, may find itself cast into the flow. Enough of these trees being tumbled by the flow will contaminate the water. It can affect you by way of a cut or swallowing a little. We use it to bring warm sleep on the coldest nights."

Okay, so we weren't drugged on purpose. I'm looking at Carter to confirm this, she shrugs, willing to accept the information and move on. I'm not yet willing to move on. I want my stuff back; all of it. "Return our things, some of them can be dangerous if mishandled."

Their leader smiles as he speaks but I get his meaning, "Those aren't things you will need while you are our guests."

I'm ready to launch a contradiction when Daniel steps in doing his exchange of culture bit and making otherwise bland noises. "Maybe we can find a place more suitable for exchanging information than here."

While this diplomatic exchange is taking place, Carter and I each have one of those shimmering dresses dropped down over our heads.

I've never worn a dress, don't know how to act wearing one, but its more comfortable and a lot less revealing than bed linens. Under no other conditions than nearly naked and in public would I be found wearing a dress.

Our hosts are preparing to escort us to their compound. This doesn't sit right. I need to know more about someone before I trot off to his kingdom in the woods. I don't want them in our camp either.

I make a noise, which Daniel ought to recognize as a warning to be cautious. I don't want them near our stuff. If he screws this up, new dress or no, I'll beat the crap out of him.

He's saved by the Stargate. We all hear its activation. Our hosts are not alarmed by the sound but they yield a little ground. We are no longer surrounded.

"They know the Portal?" There is a murmur among them.

"Yes." Daniel confirms. "It's how we came here.

" You say you are explorers. We will show you this world but do not believe that you could easily take our home away from us; we know it better than you do." Their spokesman remains friendly but firm. "You may explore here and we will share what we have fairly with you as family should, but this place has been our home for many generations. So, you see, you will gain nothing carrying your weapons while you are among us."

Just when things look like they are going my way the cavalry comes charging over the hill bristling with weapons of every caliber.

The Marines have landed.

Never let it be said that the SG-3 Marines were a timid bunch. They are down on our position between heartbeats. There went our peaceful explorer status.

"SG-3, STAND DOWN!" They may not recognize the figure in the silver dress, but they don't ignore the command.

With SG-3 brought to heel, it was up to Daniel to smooth the ruffled native feathers. The boy knows his stuff. Everyone agrees to meet at the Stargate in two hours. It's closer to our camp than I'd like but Daniel assures me that the area around the Stargate was the best option.

The natives move off down the ravine. As they go, I'm trying to extract a promise that they will bring our vests and weapons when they return. They are smiling and waving at me. In the interest of peace I try not to imagine what they may really be thinking.

"Teal'c, help SG-3 set up some kind of canopy or shelter next to the Gate." A drizzling rain has started up. I head for my tent to trade the dress for the more comfortable uniform-of-the-day.

Passing her on the way, "Carter, get into uniform. Then get back to the SGC infirmary." I bet she thought I'd forgotten. "Vacation is over."

A few well-placed commands get things rolling and serve to distract SG-3 until I can get into a uniform. It's time to get this mission back on track. Enough of these non-military doings.

Carter is headed in my direction with that cat-that-ate-the-canary look. She's discovered something.

"Major?" I use her rank by careful design. She will follow my lead. She understands what's important to both of us.

Carter's "Colonel," rings a strange bell, this once familiar sound. So much has happened since she last spoke to me in military terms. We'll have to sort that out later, but for now, there are larger issues brewing.

Carter the scientist tells me, "Your dress is made of trinium. I'm almost certain of it. Metal processed and worked to the texture of fabric could revolutionize..."

I cut her off. I don't care what gets revolutionized. "First, Major, it isn't mine and since I'd never wear a dress it must be a toga or chain mail or.... well something. Cloth made out of trinium, isn't that a bit over-the-top for this year's line? I assume you are..."

She cuts me off, "I'm sure of it, sir. Do you..."

I cut her off, "Of course I realize the significance of a trinium deposit. Especially one lying on the ground waiting to be picked up."

Actually I don't have time to stand around in a borrowed dress with company coming. "You are on your way to the infirmary Major. See Daniel with this information before you go."

She gets that 'I'd-rather-not-follow-that-order-look but she is military. She goes.

Two hours later, our hosts arrive without bringing our missing property. To keep relations workable, Daniel corners me out of their hearing before I can express my disappointment.

"Jack, give up on the vests, they don't know what they have. Their whole technology is based on trinium, wood and stone; any other metal or material is alien to them. They're probably just interested in what the things are made of. They don't have anything comparable, they're just curious."

I can be flexible. "Okay, let 'em have the vests, but for cryin' out loud, get the ordnance and explosives back." I've got to draw the line somewhere in this rush to friendship. "Its not that I don't trust these folks, but they did take everything we had, left us drugged and in a captive state, if not actually captured. They can explain it anyway they choose. But their actions were hostile. I don't care how innocent a face they put on it, I know when I've been stripped and stranded."

We are approaching the Stargate in the misty rain. The local ambassadors are gathered at the edge of the ravine with SG-3. I count the visible weapons. They are all in the possession of the Marines. I send SG-3 to scout into the edge of the woods with instructions to secure any weapons of any kind. Anyone found armed and lurking in the woods will put an end to this friendship.

Daniel is waving me into silence. I can tell he thinks I'm about to jeopardize the harmony he wants to surround this meeting. I can be diplomatic with the best of them and Daniel is the best so I hush, for the moment. With the possibility that a P-90 is pointed at the back of my head I become really diplomatic.

Sometimes, I admit, I don't practice diplomacy and tact isn't really important in my line of work. Daniel is right; this could be an important alliance so I put on my neutral face. That's the best I intend to offer until I get all of my stuff back.

Teal'c, Daniel and I sit, stand and pace around under the canopy, out of the rain for over an hour. Each time I threaten to leave, Daniel comes up with another politically correct reason why I shouldn't been seen abandoning the meeting place.

It seems we are waiting for a special ambassador to arrive before we can even greet each other. At last, the fourth member, followed by a Marine, emerges from the forest. With this added voice, the local ambassadors head for the cover of the canopy followed by the Marine and some pretty heavy rain.

I am in the process of returning the Marine to his mission in the forest when the Stargate activates. "For cryin' out load! Now what!" I really want to get this over with.

Daniel is off at a trot to greet the four men accompanying Carter down the gate ramp. Four suits carrying brief cases. SG-19; they don't even look like an SG team, but they have brokered some great deals for Earth. I'm thinking SG-1 is off the hook on this one.

SG-19 and Daniel group up in one corner of the canopy, the locals in another. This negotiating stuff seems to follow the same rules everywhere. It's Okay to be rude if you apologize later.

I'm out of it. Free to take care of business. "Carter, what's up? What are you doing back here?"

Her eyes light up at the opportunity to explain something technical. I'll be lost after five words but I let her have at it, there's always a chance she may say something important before my eyes glaze over.

"The naquada found here is different. Much like uranium 235 is different from uranium 236; different isotopes. The difference is that this naquada is stable as long as the temperature remains stable and within a given range. When the temperature drops or raises as when the sun comes up or goes down there are properties in this naquada that respond to those changes. These unique properties are absent in the element we've had so many problems with."

She is on a roll. "Is there enough of the stuff here?" I want to know if we've really finally found something.

I should know not to get in her way. "If our preliminary calculations are anywhere near correct, less than a gram of this naquada infused in as much as perhaps ten pounds of the mineral we have been using will be enough to make a predictably stable and therefore safe power source."

It surprises me that she's actually explaining this in English.

"This instability was responsible for my discomfort at dawn and at dusk when there were significant temperature fluctuations. There is so much naquada here that I reacted with the trace amounts Jolinar left in my blood."

"Why didn't it bother you this morning?" I really did make sense of all that.

"This morning, it was so overcast that the temperature range wasn't affected enough to create the sensation. I don't feel it now because with the clouds and rain, the temperature has probably been pretty much constant since sundown yesterday."

"I was out of it yesterday morning, just like you and I don't have anything in my blood."

"When you get back they'll be wanting to take a look at your foot and you're scheduled for a brain scan. The doctors seem to think that what you were feeling is different. They want to take a look for any trace that may have been left behind after your...blending. It could be hidden in brain tissue."

"I don't have a trace of anything in my head. They can just leave me alone. The idea that there could be something in there is ridiculous after all this time." Doctors always want to poke around in unlikely places.

She's smiling at me, I guess that means she agrees.

Timing an order is an important aspect of command. The excitement is passed. The cold rain has made life here miserable. I notice there is no resistance to my order to pack up our stuff. With SG-19 here to negotiate and SG-3 to baby-sit, our mission is complete. We can leave a lot of off-world equipment behind for them. It's a relief not to have to break camp.

Shutting down our part of the operation will be light duty and with any luck we will be warm and dry at home in a few of hours. Moving in that direction, I have Carter and Teal'c start packing up what's left of our equipment. Re-packing is a lousy job in under the best of circumstances. In this rain, it's a messy, unbelievably sloppy job. Makes me glad I'm the one in command.

They don't even try to re-pack the shredded raft. One of them is going to have to shepherd the ragged piece of Air Force equipment back through the gate. They know better than to even suggest leaving it behind. I remember how badly they wanted it.

I've decided to leave Daniel with SG19 for the time being. If I put him to work breaking up camp, he'd just be wandering over to the canopy every five minutes. No point in not giving him the leeway he would take anyway.

The rain is annoying as much as anything. Finally, I take shelter in the science tent to pack up a ton of unfinished paperwork. As slack as some may think I am about Air Force record keeping, I do take it seriously. Most of it I seriously take to the shredder but equipment is another matter.

I'm running through the list of items this mission has made me responsible for. One item I'm responsible for, I never saw. When he passes within earshot, I think to ask. "Teal'c", where's the hot air balloon?"

"I regret to inform you that the item was lost."

Ouch! More paperwork. "How?"

"Daniel Jackson and I secured it to the rocket clamps on the UAV in preparation to send it across the ravine to you early this morning."

"AND!"

"The clamps were not strong enough to hold the balloon."

"Dare I ask, was there a pilot with it?" I'm being sarcastic I know but the list of lost, missing, abandoned, stolen and just plain trashed equipment on this mission continues to grow. "Do you need to be reminded that this stuff belongs to the Air Force? I have to account for all of it." I want to remind him at the top of my lungs, but the presence of negotiators probably would make that a bad idea.

The UAV, the raft, the balloon, two utility vests, two P90s, two Zats, a couple of .45s, assorted explosives, primers and remote detonators, two complete uniforms, a survey kit, and a roll of barbed wire. If it weren't for the naquada and trinium find, there wouldn't be enough leeway on earth to get me off the carpet.

Mission's End
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