Author: BadgerGater
Email: [email protected]
Rating: G
Season: Anywhen
Summary: SG-1 encounters hostility on a planet covered in purple flora.
Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, Gekko Productions; all the powers that be, not me; This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money exchanged hands. No copyright infringement intended. The story is the property of the author and may not be posted elsewhere without the author's consent.
He knew he would regret waking up. The ground was soft against his cheek, and the sun warm on his back, and for the moment, at least, most of his body was comfortably numb.
He knew it wouldn�t last. He was trying not to think of the warm blood he could feel trickling down his back, soaking into his shirt, and the pain that would blossom into full blown agony when he tried to move. He wasn�t trying to deny that it didn�t hurt right then already, a dull, burning throb that mirrored each heartbeat. He could handle this pain, this lying here in the grass going nowhere, doing nothing but breathing in and out, aching.
It would be so easy just to lie here and die.
But dumb, really, really dumb, O�Neill.
He could hear nothing more than the sound of some fly-like insect, buzzing around his body, attracted by all that blood, no doubt. He opened his eyes, squinting against the glare. All he could see were some weird colored plants a few inches in front of his eyes something that looked sort of like grass, if he ignored the purple tint.
He hated purple, he decided.
He sighed, knew he would have to lift his head to see any more and if he did that it meant he had decided not to die, and that meant it was going to hurt some more. A lot more. Damn.
His head was clearing. Vague memories were returning. Eggs for breakfast this morning, in the cafeteria. A last minute pre-mission briefing with General Hammond, and his reminder to be diplomatic with this new race they knew absolutely nothing about, except that they looked like humans, according to the pictures from the MALP. Before it went dead.
Dead.
That�s what he�d be if he didn�t do�.. what? Something. He vaguely knew there was something important he should be thinking about, should be doing, but what? His brain didn�t seem to want to work very well this morning. Might have something to do with all that blood that was leaking out of him and into the ground under those ugly purple plants that looked sort of like grass�
The grass, the purple grass, that was the first thing he�d noticed when he�d stepped through the gate, weapon raised, checking for signs of life around the gate. He didn�t see anything. Nothing at all, and then the others came through behind him, and people in purple flowered headdresses stood up from the grass, and Daniel was saying hello, we�re peaceful explorers from the planet earth. Smiles all around, Daniel tends to have that effect on people. He smiles, they smile. He had that puzzled look on his face, the one he gets when he�s concentrating on figuring out what culture he�s looking at, what language they�re speaking. It�s that sparkle in his eye because of the challenge, the one he gets just before the big light bulb perched over his head goes on and he's about to tell us, wow, we�re talking to ancient somebodies or other.
And then all hell broke lose. Running, fighting, shooting, screaming natives and billowing smoke and something punched him in the side and suddenly he was lying on the ground surrounded by purple plants.
Oh God, where were the others? Daniel? Sam? Teal�c?
That thought propelled him into motion. He tried to get up, tried to push himself off the ground with his good arm, to see above those damn purple plants, to see if anyone else was left. But that did nothing but awaken the pain and he bit back a scream, groaning at the effort, as fire tore though his side and shoulder.
From nearby, a soft voice, Carter�s voice. �Colonel?�
Carter, thank God, he wasn�t alone and Carter at least was still alive and maybe that meant the others had survived, too.
A shadow appeared above him. �Sir?�
�Carter?� he mumbled.
She bent down beside him. �Thank God, sir. I thought you were dead,� she said in an odd, shaky voice.
He groaned. �Not dead, not yet anyway. What happened?�
�They just started shooting at us. One minute they were talking to Daniel all nice and friendly and smiling and then they just started shooting.�
She was nearly sobbing. He wished he could. God, he hurt. It felt like half his body was on fire, and the blood was still oozing down his ribcage. He might as well get up, he thought. If he could. Maybe in a few minutes. �Where are the others?�
�Daniel and Teal�c got back through the gate I think. We were laying down covering fire for them and Daniel finished dialing and you ordered us all back through the gate��
�So then why are you and I still here?� he wondered aloud.
�I came back for you sir. I saw you get hit, go down��
�You shouldn�t have done that, captain��
�I couldn�t just leave,� she answered.
�You should have,� he whispered.
�With all due respect colonel, no sir, I couldn�t. No one gets left behind. That includes you too, sir.� She was looking hard at him, seeing for the first time how his shirt was soaked with blood and his face was white and his mouth was set in that determined line that meant he was trying not to let the pain show, but he was losing. She reached out and touched the dark stain on his shirt, her hand coming away glistening red with his blood. Her face went white. �How badly are you hurt, colonel?�
Ah, he thought, I guess she didn�t think he was lying there on the ground taking a nap. �Bad,� was all he could tell her, and tried again to push himself into a sitting position. It didn�t work, as agony raged along his side and he started to fall back with a moan. She caught him and he cried out against the pain, and let her strength pull him into a sitting position. The world tilted, swayed, and he thought he would pass out again. Don�t let the pain win, he told himself, don�t. Closed his eyes, concentrated.
�Sir. Are you all right?�
�No,� he answered her honestly. �No I�m not.� He wanted to throw up is what he wanted to do, but not in front of Carter. He wanted to go, go back through the Stargate, back to earth and the infirmary and the healing hands of Dr. Frasier and those nice, comforting, peace giving drugs she�d give him that would take the pain away. So why were they sitting here and not going back? Simple solution. He was a colonel, she was a captain. So give her an order. �Dial us home, Captain.�
She looked blankly at him. �I can�t sir, I can�t,� and she held up her arm and showed him where weapon�s fire had singed her arm, and strapped to it, the blackened lump that had been the GDO.
�It doesn�t work sir, I tried and it doesn�t work.� There was despair in her voice.
�The MALP?�
�We sent it back, sir, remember?�
Yes, he remembered now. But Hammond would send it back, he thought, and hoped. The general would realize something was wrong and form up a rescue party, and the first thing he�d do would be to send a probe back through to assess the situation and they�d see them sitting here, him and Carter, and they�d be rescued. So yeah, maybe he�d have to put up with some snide remarks from Makepeace�s SG-3 jarheads, but even they wouldn�t leave him here bleeding to death. He could last, he told himself. He knew how to survive, one minute to the next, if he didn�t bleed myself dry before those slow-as-mud Marines showed up.
�We need to hold on until they send the MALP back, sir,� Carter said, pulling out her canteen and offering it to him. He sipped gratefully, gagging on the warm liquid but getting some down his throat. �Go easy on that, colonel, it�s all we�ve got.�
He looked around. �The natives?�
�All gone, sir. They just left us lying here.�
He looked again, for the first time saw blood on her hands. �Are you hurt, captain?�
She shook her head. �Just a few scrapes.� She looked down at her hands suddenly, �that�s your blood sir. I tried to stop the bleeding and I couldn�t� and oh, god.�
He couldn�t handle her despair. Not on top of his own. �We�ll get out of this, captain. We�ve beaten the odds before.�
�I know sir, I�� The gate began to spin. Carter�s face turned from grim to hopeful. �They�re sending a rescue, sir.�
�If it�s not the goa�uld,� he suggested, ever the pessimist.
�No chance, sir,� she smiled.
Matter spewed forth, withdrew into the circle. A MALP trundled out of the gate, onto the platform and down onto the purple tinted plants. Carter started to rise in greeting. And the firing began. Shots poured from the trees around them, over him, past Carter, searing the MALP, turning it into a smoking, shapeless hulk.
Carter was on her face in the grass, if he could call it that. �No no no no.�
�I don�t think they like that thing,� he said dryly.
He could see Carter�s eyes dance as her brain was rounding up an idea. �That�s it sir, that�s when they started firing on us before. When the MALP moved.�
�Okay, so they killed another MALP,� and then the implication hit him. �Oh for crying out loud, you mean they weren�t shooting at us, they were shooting at the MALP? And hit me? Aliens poking me full of holes again because they�re bad shots? Oh that�s perfect.� He�d have laughed, if just the thought of it hadn�t sent burning pains streaking along his damaged side.
Carter did not look amused. �This means no rescue team, sir, they won�t let anyone come through into enemy fire and they couldn�t have seen us. The MALP never got its camera turned this far before they fried it, sir.�
No rescue, he thought, no rescue and I�m lying here bleeding to death, my red blood soaking in to feed some ugly purple colored plants. He irrationally hoped the stupid purple things would wither and die from it. Yeah, right. That will make me feel better as I die. Think of something O�Neill, he ordered himself. �Carter,� he asked softly, �you were walking around out there a couple of minutes ago��
�Yes sir.�
�And they weren�t firing at you, right?�
�Right sir, they never did. I could see some of them watching me while I was searching for you.
They ignored me and you.�
�Until the gate opened and the MALP came through.�
�Yes sir.�
�So they don�t like the MALP��
�It doesn�t make sense, Colonel��
�Who said anything on any planet had to make sense, Carter?�
She nodded. �Maybe they�re afraid of it because they�ve never seen a machine before. Or maybe they�re afraid because they think it�s a goa�uld creation.�
�So they were shooting at it and we just got in the way. So they wouldn�t care if we get up and walk over there and went back through the gate��
�But we can�t sir, no GDO.�
Right. We�d go splat on the iris and be dead anyway. �So they�ll send another MALP through,� when they can find one. They would keep trying, he was sure. They left no one behind. Hammond wouldn�t. Daniel and Teal�c wouldn�t let them.
�Eventually they�ll figure it out,� she said hopefully. But her look at him said it would be too late.
He knew he didn�t have much time, didn�t have time to wait for them to figure it out, if he was going to survive. Carter had that look of concentration on her face. He knew she was thinking, furiously, considering alternatives and possibilities and probabilities and a dozen different things he wouldn�t even have names for. Come on Carter, he thought, use that brain and save us again.
Her face lit up. �Sir, I�ve got it sir. The code, our iris code, it�s numbers, just numbers.� And suddenly, she was up, moving around, picking up rocks.
Rocks, that�s Daniel�s job, he thought a little fuzzily, picking up rocks and calling them artifacts, so how are we going to use a bunch of plain old rocks to get us home? Or has Carter been out here in the sun too long? He shook his head, trying to clear it, push back the pain long enough to think what it was she was doing. He could hear her counting to herself as she picked up stones and sorted them into tiny piles. When she had seven neat stacks of rocks on the steps of the gate, she moved back to him.
�Sir, I�m going to open the gate and toss the rocks through. They should recognize the signal and open the iris for us.�
�What signal?� he asked fuzzily.
�Our signal, sir, SG-1�s iris code. It�s just seven single digit numbers. For the number four, I toss through four stones. For the number seven, seven stones. Simple.�
He shook his head. �What if they don�t get it?�
�Then we�ll never know, sir.�
�Don�t Carter, there�s no need for you to go through��
�I�m not staying here either, sir. The natives may change their minds about us�.� She began dialing.
He watched the wheel spin.
Matter whooshed out.
She looked at him, then tossed the rocks in, deliberately, one at a time, then ran back to her CO. �Come on sir, we�re going home.�
It took all her strength to pull him to his feet. He thought he would pass out, right then and there, pain screaming along flayed nerves in his side. He couldn�t breathe, couldn�t draw in enough air, and he thought he would die and for a split second wished he would and get it over with, but he knew help and safety was there, just on the other side of the gate and he could make it that far.
They staggered to the gate, and fell through, and only then did he think of what would happen if no one on the other side had recognized the signal.
_______
They fell out of the gate. Hit the ramp, facing armed Marines, their weapons raised, and he realized the only sound was someone moaning, and that it was him and he�d better shut up.
�Medical team,� Carter was screaming, at the guards, at General Hammond and Daniel and Teal�c and everyone there.
And then Dr. Frasier was at his side, soft voice and gentle hands, and he knew he was safe, even before she said the words.
�Good to see you Doc,� he whispered.
�Glad you�re back colonel. Hold on. We�ll get you to the infirmary.�
�Hurry up might be nice,� he said. �It hurts just a bit.�
�I know. I know.�
___ ____ ____
That was all he knew for he didn�t know how long, until he woke, this time in a soft bed, on clean sheets, to the antiseptic smell of the infirmary and its bright lights and a whisper of conversation in the background. An IV drip in his arm took care of the pain. And he knew he would live, with a few more scars, but alive to fight another day.
He only hoped a few of those damned purple plants died from his good red blood.
He smiled, and fell back asleep.
FINIS