Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and its characters and its script 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.
Transcript; original additions are in italics.
Deep below Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado
The stargate spins. The giant metallic wheel rumbles, chevrons glowing, and shimmering to life.
�Incoming traveler. Incoming traveler,� reported a technician. �Clear the ramp.�
�Offworld activation.�
�Closing the iris.�
General Hammond hurried into the control room, worry betrayed in his voice.
�There�s no one scheduled to come back for 24 hours. Who is it?�
�It�s SG-1�s remote access code, sir,� stated the control room technician.
�What? They just went through.�
�Opening the iris,� noted the technician, responding to the code. �Standby.� His voice rose. �Sir, the gate is throwing twice the power as normal and it�s increasing.�
A figure was thrown through the gate. Daniel Jackson hit the ramp, bounced and lay still.
�We�ve got one.�
Another body was flung from the gate.
The system was crashing, power cables sparking, fuses flashing.
�System overload,� yelled the technician. �The wormhole is disengaged.�
Hammond was stunned. Only two. �Get a medical team in here, now,� he stated as he helped Teal�c sit up. �Teal�c, are you okay?�
�I am,� answered the huge alien.
�Where are Colonel O�Neill and Captain Carter?�
Teal�c looked around in surprise. �They could not have been more than 2 meters behind. I do not know.�
*Infirmary*
Hammond was confronting Teal�c, whose right arm was in a sling. Behind them, the young linguis-archeologist lay still on a bed, equipment humming quietly around them. �Dr. Jackson is still unconscious but Dr Warner thinks he will be all right. I need to know what went on back there, Teal�c.�
�We were under fire. Distant. Energy weapons of some kind, possibly goa�uld technology,� he answered in his always precise voice.
�So its possible Col. O�Neill and Capt Carter were struck by enemy fire?�
�I do not believe so. They were but a few meters behind me as I passed through the stargate.�
�How many hostiles were there?� Hammond continued.
�They were some distance away but we appeared to be surrounded. We were there only moments. Col O�Neill ordered us to lay down cover fire while Daniel Jackson dialed home.� Tealc paused. �General Hammond, I believe they should have made it through the gate. I don�t understand why they did not.�
A technician entered the room, handing a folder to the general. �Preliminary report on the Stargate repairs sir.�
�Repairs?� asked Teal�c.
�There was some kind of overload during transit,� Hammond explained. �We don�t know why.�
�I must return immediately,� said Teal�c, knowing his missing comrades were in trouble.
�Not with an army waiting on the other side,� ordered the general. �Sorry.�
�General, I suggest a second probe be sent through.�
�As soon as the stargate is working we�ll do just that.�
*Ice cave*
In an icy cavern, a gate that had stood silent, unmoving, frozen, for centuries suddenly came to life. The ice rumbled, shattered, shook. Chevrons glowed. Wheels spun. Plasma shimmered, surged, blasted forth in a controlled fountain, then receded to a shimmering web obscuring the center of the giant wheel. It held only a fraction of a second before shattering as it spit out two flailing human figures. Flung out of the gate with tremendous force, the bodies crashed into the icy surface with a sickening crunch of broken bone.
Silence returned, slowly as the ice cracked and the gate�s surface gave up its tremendous heat with a tick, tick, tick of cooling metal. The figures lay silent in the cold air.
Long moments later, one body moved, groaned, then jerked to its feet. Removing her helmet, Capt Samantha Carter revealed a shock of short cropped blonde hair over blue eyes. Stunned, she looked around, spinning in the dim light cast by the rapidly cooling gate. Ice. Ice everywhere. A cave? Above, below, behind and all around her, nothing but ice, the gate and the all too still form of Col. Jack O�Neill.
Carter was worried. It had been more than an hour since she�d awakened in the ice cavern. By her watch, the elapsed time since SG-1 had gone through to P44-781 couldn�t have been more than a few minutes, so she�d been only stunned momentarily. But the colonel was still deeply unconscious.
There was no sign of anyone else. Daniel Jackson and Teal�c were no where to be found. She�d shouted, called on her radio, tried O�Neill�s radio thinking her own might be broken, pounded on the ice walls and waited anxiously for an answer. Carter had searched nearby crevices, shone her flashlight around the cave�s perimeter, but she�d been uncomfortable about leaving the injured colonel.
He�d been unconscious far too long. Her initial concern was growing into a tight knot of worry in her stomach. Again, the captain checked O�Neill�s pulse. Steady. But he was hurt, no doubt about it. She�d realized that the moment she�d taken a good look at his crumpled form and the unnatural angle of his right leg, bent under him. Broken, even to her untrained eyes. She hadn�t wanted to move the injured man, but he was resting precariously on the icy slope, and if he came to and moved at all, well, he could just hurt himself more. And there were the additional dangers of shock from the injuries, and hypothermia in this cold. So she had resolved to move him, soon realizing that even sliding the colonel�s 190 lbs wasn�t going to be easy, not when she was trying to be gentle while scrambling to keep her own balance on the icy surface. She�d thought moving him would somehow bring him awake, elicit at least a groan or involuntary movement, but nothing. Carter had pulled off the colonel�s backpack, placed his thermal blanket on a relatively level spot and slid his inert form onto it. That would keep him warmer at least, less chance for shock, she knew with her limited medical knowledge.
Carter checked O�Neill again. �Colonel, can you hear me?� she asked hopefully, but he remained unresponsive. �I�m going to be moving around looking for the others. Call if you need me.�
God, why couldn�t that stubborn idiot wear a helmet? Mr. Macho, going through the gate wearing nothing but his favorite baseball style cap, brim bent at a jaunty angle and that maddening grin on his face. Stupid, it was stupid, when you didn�t know what you�d find on the other side, like people shooting at you.
The captain made another circuit of the small area. Nothing. No one. Silence except for her own footsteps. Please, colonel, wake up, she told him silently. �Sir?� she fought to keep the shiver from her voice. Just cold, she told herself, but deep inside her gut twisted. Alone in the cold and dark with only a badly injured, unconscious man, she found herself listening hard for O�Neill�s voice. How many times she had dreaded hearing it, but right now she didn�t care what sort of sarcastic, wry remark he made, how mad he could make her. She just wanted to hear his voice, one of his trademark pointed, barbed, wry but clever comments, even one directed at her for being a mother hen. For worrying too much. Anything, just not more of this awful silence. She checked his pulse again. No change on that maddening, iron jawed, hard edged, attractive face.
Attractive? Where had that come from? Deep inside she acknowledged that any redblooded woman would see the colonel as handsome, and he could be charming to boot, when he wanted to be. But he was her commanding officer, and although no longer married, certainly still in love with his wife. Don�t be an idiot, Carter chided herself.
Unable to sit still any longer, Carter got up to roam once more around the cave. Maybe she had missed something.
Jack O�Neill came awake slowly, foggy at first, and then he tried to move and wished he hadn�t. �Oh God,� he breathed, grabbing his forehead, then his thigh and ribs, groaning, half sitting up but unable to move any further. �Agggh.�
�Colonel?� said Carter�s familiar voice, a dark figure coming at him, flashlight in hand.
�Carter,� he acknowledged, sliding back to a sitting position with a groan.
She reached out to touch his shoulder. �Try to stay put sir, I think your leg is broken.�
�No, my leg�s definitely broken,� he answered. Writhing once again, grabbing at the stab of pain in his leg, he forced himself to lift his head and look around. �What�s the bad news? Because unless they�ve redecorated the gate room, I don�t think we�re in Kansas anymore."
�Daniel must have misdialed.�
�Misdialed? You mean this place is a wrong number. For crying out loud." O'Neill looked around. "Where is he?�
�He�s not here, sir. Neither is Teal�c.
�He has to be.� O�Neill reached for his radio.
Carter�s hand stayed his. �I tried that.You�ve been unconscious for nearly 2 hours, sir.�
�They came through the gate before we did.� O�Neill looked around.
�I know that. I also know that we are alone here, wherever here is."
The colonel looked around again, touched the cold surface he was lying on. �Ice. Ice.�
�Yeah, I think we�re inside a deep crevice of a glacier as if there stargate has been overrun by ice possibly on a planet in the middle of an ice age. There is some light filtering through up there, and there are some fissures in the ice, but all of them too narrow to follow very far.�
�Okay.�
�We�re in trouble sir.�
�Nonsense. We�ll just dial home and straighten all this out.� The colonel looked around again. �Where�s the DHD?�
�Can�t find that either,� said Carter quietly.
O�Neill�s face sank. �Oh. So we�re in trouble.�
�We�re in trouble.�
*Gateroom*
Crews were working frantically around the gate.
�They�ve almost replaced all the superconductive interface elements sir. The old ones all melted. Its going to take some time to load test them, though� explained the control room tech, shouting over the noise of the repaircrews at work.
�Just tell me the minute we can send a probe through,� the general ordered.
�That�ll be 24 hours. General. Minimum,� said Sgt. Siler.
�Capt Carter and Col O�Neill do not have that long,� stated Teal�c.
�I�ll give you half that,� offered Hammond.
�No sir, it doesn�t work that way. Twenty four hours is the best I can do.�
�Then you better get back to it,� Hammond commanded.
*Ice cave*
Jack O�Neill knew what was coming and it wasn�t going to be pleasant. There was nothing to be done about it, and he would just have to endure it. It wasn�t something he was looking forward to, he thought grimly. Hell, his leg throbbed painfully already, stabbing pains with any shift in body position. But the leg needed to be set, and Carter�s inexperienced hands were all that was available. It wasn�t so much her hands he was worried about, actually, but he knew from personal experience that setting a bone was no fun for the person doing it, either, though he would rather be on that end than his own. But if Carter didn�t do the job like she meant it, well, it would be a painful experience to even less benefit.
Leadership was his job, and he�d damn well better quit putting off the inevitable and get with it. Carter wasn�t looking too enthusiastic about her end of the deal. She had taken a piece of the backpack frame to use as a splint, but first she�d have to straighten the leg, and she was looking at his already swollen limb with trepidation.
O�Neill could have sworn he was sweating despite the cold. He�d been through enough he wasn�t going to bite through his lip to cover up how much this was going to hurt, but he�d better warn the captain. She was tough, he knew, tougher than she looked, he admitted grudgingly, but this wasn�t going to be easy, for either one of them.
�Captain,�
She looked up at him, lips tight with concentration.
�One thing before you start, captain. No matter what I do, how loud I yell or if I pass out again, you finish what you start,� he told her sternly. �That�s a direct order. Finish what you start. Firm, direct pressure, pull and straighten.�
She nodded.
His howl of pain still took her by surprise as it reverberated through the ice cavern. �Aaghhh. Ow. Oh God.�
�I think it�s set,� she said tentatively, blonde head bowed in concentration.
O�Neill writhed, pounding one gloved hand against the ice, the other covering his face. �You think it�s set?�
�I�m positive. All we have to do now is put a splint on it and you�ll be good as new.�
�Just take it easy doctor,the colonel told her, breathing hard as he fought to hold back the pain.
�Wrong kind of doctor, I�m afraid.�
O�Neill thrashed against his blankets. �You wouldn�t think jagged bone digging into raw nerves would hurt but it does.�
�Sorry sir, but I�ve never done this before in my life.� She needed to distract him. �Is this your first broken bone?�
O�Neill�s tone was disbelieving. �Ah ah no. This would be, ah, ah, nine, if you count the skull fractures.� He coughed.
�How�d you manage that?� she asked, hoping to keep the conversation going, his mind off the pain she knew she was causing him, in any small measure she could.
�A little parachuting mishap over the borders of Iran and Iraq back in 80-ow!�
�Okay.�
Wrapping bandage around his leg she looked at his face, already contorted from the pain, and only figured it was fair to warn him. �Ok, this is going to hurt sir.�
�Ahh, I know, I know, I know.� he chanted, face contorted.
�So what happened?�
Exasperation in his voice now. �I hit the ground. Go figure. Ah, ah, ah, my chute opened a little late, and it hurt� just like that.�
"I�m sorry, colonel, I�m doing the best I can.�
�I know you are, captain. Can you just be done?� the strain filled his voice.
�So you hit the ground and��
�And they all lived happily ever after,� he finished hastily.
She was wrapping the broken limb again. �Almost there. Almost there.�
O�Neill�s patience broke. � No, you�re there captain. You�re there. That�s a great splint. Stop.� He ordered. �Stop.� He relaxed slightly as the pain eased, if only a little. �Ah, ah.�
�How long before you were rescued?�
�No rescue,� he said softly, his voice tired now, some of the fight gone out of his face and form. �It wasn�t exactly an official mission if you know what I mean. So I had to make it out on my own.. Nine days.�
�Wow.�
�What got you through it?� she asked, hopeful there was some words of wisdom her commanding officer could give her, could use again himself, while they faced this helpless situation.
�Sara,� he said the name so softly she thought at first she�d misheard.
�Your wife?�
�At the time. I had to see her again.� O�Neill pushed those emotions away, unable to face them at this moment. Focus on survival, that�s what he knew he had to do. �Have you tallied our supplies yet?�
�Yes, sir. Supplies for three days but we can stretch that. We�ve got a little drinking water but�� she shrugged, looking at the ice walls around her.
O�Neill lifted his head and nodded. �Ice melts. Yeah.�
�And we�ve got our field cooking gear to melt it. Flashlight batteries are going to be a problem. We�ve got thermal blankets.�
�Good.�
O�Neill was rallying, the pain having receded to a heavy but bearable throb. �By the way, captain, we are going to get out of here. That�s an order.�
Tired, cold, exhausted, scared if she�d admit it, Carter looked away. �How�s the splint feel?� she said, changing the subject.
He wasn�t going to let her avoid the topic. This was too important. She had to believe they would be rescued. �Captain. You have to believe me.�
�I want to sir, I just don�t see how,� she admitted.
�Then we better start looking for a way because I�ll be damned if I�m going to die on some godforsaken block of ice a million light years from home.� His command voice was back. �Is that clear?�
�Yes sir.� Carter could do no more than nod. The colonel had to settle for that.
He picked up his hat, held out his hand. �Help me up.�
Carter was stunned. �I don�t think you should move��
�Probably not. But my butt�s freezing to the ground, Come on��
Carter took his hand, braced herself and pulled him to his feet, �oww, aahh�
But he was on his feet, that seemed better, though he felt shaky and weak and sick, he was alive and he wasn�t going to quit. Jack O�Neill didn�t know the meaning of the word. Leaning heavily on Carter�s shoulder, he took his first good look around their home, and the captain smiled as his sense of humor came back to life. �A little paint, a couple windows, a fireplace in the corner, just like home,� he opined. Carter grinned. But she might not have if she had seen the grimace of pain flash across O�Neills face.
*Infirmary*
Jackson, bandage on his forehead, opened his eyes, squinting against the light.
�Teal�c?�
�The stargate has malfunctioned. We came through the gate at too great a velocity.
�Jack and Sam?�
�They did not follow.�
�Yes they did I know they did. They were right behind us. That doesn�t make any sense.
�I concur. In a few hours a probe will be sent back in an attempt to determine their fate.
*Ice cave*
O�Neill was surveying the cave, looking up at the long icey climb to the brighter light above.
�You might be able to climb out of here, you might anyway,� he murmured.
�What?�
�I said you might be able to climb out of here.�
Suddenly, Carter began frantically wiping away the snow. �Colonel,� she said, excitement in her voice. �I found it!�
�Found what?� he asked quietly.
�The DHD. I figure the glacial flow must have separated the stargate from its dial home device. And it looks like it might be intact.�
Using his gun as a crutch, ONeill worked his way slowly across and up to where she was working. As he set the gun aside, leaning his weight forward to catch his balance with one hand, he collapsed against the ice, burying his face in his hands with a groan. �Ah god.� He needed a moment to catch his breath against the pain, clutching his side. �Ahh,� Breathe easy, he told himself. Simple thing. �Can we dig it out?�
�And if it doesn�t work we can use the chopped ice to melt drinking water.�
O�Neill dropped his face into his hands again, fighting the pain.
Carter stopped chipping at the ice. �What�s wrong with your chest?
�I think I cracked a rib, too� he answered defensively.
�Why didn�t you say something?�
He looked up at her. �I was afraid you�d try to put a splint on it. I�ll be fine.�
Chopping.
�I�ve been thinking about where Daniel and Teal�c might be.�
�Yeah?�
�So far, I count three possible explanations. One. Daniel misdialed and they�re here, somewhere we haven�t found.�
�I don�t see 'em.�
�Right.�
�Two. Daniel didn�t misdial. But for some reason the stargate malfunctioned during transit, don�t ask me how, I haven�t figured that part out yet. Anyway, they got sent back to Earth but for some reason we got sent here.�
�What�s three?�
�Three. The stargate malfunctioned. We got sent to this planet, Daniel and Tealc got sent to another one.
�What�s four?�
�There is no four.�
�It�s after three.�
�Not this time, Colonel.�
�All right, we�ll assume they made it back to Earth. They�ll start sending search parties.�
�To where?�
�To here, I hope.�
�Where would they begin, they have no idea where we are. With all the possible stargates a random search could easily take ten years.�
�Not if they look here first.�
�Even if all SG teams started searching right now, the mathematical probability of them even�
�Captain,� exasperation filled O�Neills tired voice.
Carter nodded. �I think too much.�
The colonel bent his head back to chipping at the ice, unable to keep the grimace of pain from his face. Chop ice, chop ice he told himself, push the pain aside, ignore it, box it up, put it away somewhere. There was no time to worry about it now, he told himself. He just wished he could make the old trick work. God, he hurt.
*Gateroom*
�Charging circuits mx 43 at 20 percent. 100. Circuit is holding. Reset and standby. She�s all yours general.
�Well done, sgt.
�You heard the man.�
�Yes sir.�
Wheel spins.
�Chevron one encoded,� said the tech. �SG-3 and I are ready and awaiting your orders, general,� Teal�c reminded the general.
�I won�t authorize this rescue mission unless the probe sends back the right pictures, Tealc.
�Chevron 2 encoded,� the tech noted.
�All defense teams stay alert. These hostiles may have both our addresses and our transmitter codes,� said Hammond.
�Chevron 3 encoded.�
�You don�t actually think they�d give up the transmitter codes to the enemy, do you?� asked Daniel disbelievingly.
�Not willingly, no.�
�Chevron four encoded.�
�I do not believe they would do so even under the duress of torture,� stated Tealc
�Chevron five encoded.�
�Tealc, in the event we find no enemy activity on the other side, you will coordinate with Maj Castleman on the rescue mission.�
�Chevron six encoded.�
�I understand.�
�Chevron seven is locked. The probe should reach the stargate of P48771 in five seconds. Four, three, two, now� finished the tech.
A reddish soil, shadowy world. Huge rock obelisks ringed the gate. Quiet. The MALP sat silent and alone.
�No sign of Jack or Sam. No evidence they got into a firefight either,� said Jackson.
Suddenly, energy beams began flying past the gate, sizzling through the air of the far off alien world..
�They were waiting for us. Close the iris,� the general ordered. �Disengage the stargate. SG-3, stand down. The rescue mission is scrubbed.�
�General??� asked a stunned Daniel Jackson. They couldn�t give up. He couldn�t let them give up.
*Ice cave*
�Soup�s on,� said O�Neill, pouring warm liquid from his field cooking gear into hers.
�Just a little more. I�m almost through.�
�Come on now. You wouldn�t want it to get cold.� Stretching to pick the kettle off the fire brought another groan from him. �Aggh.�
Carter worked her way down to where O�Neill waited, reclining on the blanket. �I didn�t know you could cook.�
�I can�t but my melted ice is to die for.� He handed her the container of soup.
�Thank you.� Concern showed in her look. He was hurting, badly, she could tell, though he was trying hard to hide it. The colonel�s usual graceful moves were slow, studied, his face stark, and he was unusually quiet. �Sir, maybe I should have another look at you.�
�No, I�m fine. Eat.� Carter found it hard to down her food, worrying about her commanding officer, noticing that he seemed to be having trouble forcing down his meager meal.
�I�ve been thinking about how the stargate might have malfunctioned."
�Yeah.�
�Well, we don�t totally understand how it works. But the theory we have so far is that the gate creates an artificial wormhole that somehow transfers an energized matter stream in one direction along an extra dimensional conduit. I think the matter stream between stargates got redirected, kind of like a lightning bolt jumping from one point to another in midstrike. Now I figure it had to have been the attack on P4417 the gate itself was probably struck by enough energy during the firefight to influence the direction of the matter stream before we reached the other side.� She suddenly realized the colonel didn�t seem to be listening. He wasn�t asking any questions. A stab of fear coursed through her. God, how badly was he really hurt? O�Neill always concentrated on what was being said to him, his demanding gaze boring through his subordinates. Attentive. Always. Even when he pretended not to understand some scientific concept being explained by Carter or Jackson, claiming the idea was way above his head but picking up intuitively perhaps, the heart of the subject. Or at least as much as he felt he needed to know.�Colonel?�
�I�m sorry, I wasn�t listening,� he told her quietly.
�What I�m saying is we must have emerged through a stargate relatively close to earth in the stargate network somewhere between P47781 and Earth. If the SGC rescue teams reach the same conclusion, it could significantly narrow their search,� she told him optimisticly for once.
�That�s good news,� he muttered tonelessly.
Carter�s heart lurched. O�Neill was finding it harder and harder to hide how badly hurt he really was, he was drifting, sinking and there wasn�t a damn thing she could do about it. Except get that damn DHD to work.
*Stargate command*
�Okay, so if they are not there and they are not here�.� mused Jackson, again studying the starchart.
��..it is possible they may have perished within the wormhole,� added Tealc.
�Yeah, in which case they�re gone, I know. I thought of that. But if they are alive, if there�s the least remote possibility that this malfunction sent them to a different stargate��
�Was it not Captain Carter who deduced the possible combination of stargate symbols numbered in the millions?�
�Yeah, well we have to narrow it down."
*Ice cave*
It was quiet in the ice cave, except for the sound of knife blades striking and chipping ancient ice. And O�Neills nasty, deep coughs echoing through the ice chamber.
�Whoa. Colonel. Serpent guard.�
He shown his light into the ice, revealing a frozen hand complete with the guard�s goa�uld jewelry. �Yeah.
�Guess he didn�t make it,� added Carter.
�D�ya think?�
*Stargate command*
Daniel stood again before the starchart. "Okay this is P48771 and this is Earth. The stargate shut itself down just after Teal�c and I came through,� he reviewed with the head technician.
�There was an energy surge,� reminded Hammond.
�Right. But what would that have done to the wormhole itself?�
�I have no idea,� said technical Sgt. Siler.
�Could it just disappear?� Jackson asked.
�No I don�t think so sir. It would have to discharge somewhere,� said Siler.
�Like, another stargate.�
�Yeah maybe.�
The tech turned to the general. �Sir, its all theoretical. We think the stargates are basically giant superconductors. Charged matter streams along lines of force between them��
�Positive to negative, like electricity,� interjected Daniel
�Except for the fact the whole trip happens outside our dimension, more or less,� the tech agreed.
Daniel was warming to his point. �What if it jumped? Re-directed itself here, or here, or anywhere along here.� he said, indicating points along the starchart.
�You�re suggesting we search all these worlds?� Hammond queried.
�Well at least we�ve narrowed an entire galaxy of stargates down to a handful of possibilities.�
�Assuming you�re right, why haven�t they used that stargate to come back on their own?�
�Teal�c and I were flung out of this gate at this end so fast I don�t even remember hitting the ramp,� Daniel reminded his boss. �Now they could be badly hurt in which case we will not have to search far from the stargates themselves. I think we owe it to them to try.�
*Ice cave*
Carter brushed the last of the ice off the top of the DHD.
�Have you id�d the 7th symbol yet?� asked O�Neill, coughing, greyfaced.
�This one has to be the point of origin. I�ve never seen it before,� she pointed out to him. Suddenly, her light went dim. She looked up at the colonel. �Batteries. Its now or never.�
�I�ve always preferred now�to never,� uttered the colonel weakly before a coughing spasm hit hard. He tried to cover his mouth but blood splattered starkly into the white snow as he continued to cough.
Carter tried to keep the horror from her face.
�Here goes.� Work she prayed silently, and began dialing.
The wheel spun, chevrons lighting.
A hopeful look crossed O�Neills exhausted, pain streaked face.
And with the seventh symbol the wheel slowed and stopped.
Despair. �Dammit. Damn,� swore Carter.
�Did you dial the right address?�
�Yes. It has to be something as simple as the control interface. If we can just dig down to the panel on the DHD, I can fix it.�
�Negative.�
She was disbelieving. �Sir, we�ve got to keep trying.�
�Of course we do. But we�ve been awake for a very long time. It�ll be there in the morning.� He shuddered with pain, clutching his chest, fighting for breath. �God,� he groaned.
�What about you?�
He raised his head and put every ounce of strength he could muster into his voice. �I told you we were going to get out of here. Its just going to take longer than we thought.�
�Yes sir.�
�Captain?� He wasn�t going to let her give up.
�Yessir.� For him, she wouldn�t. She would find a way.
*Stargate command*
�Dr. Jackson?� The general asked. Daniel was glumly placing sticky tabs on the starchart.
�We�ve just received probe telemetry from P5C 11 and 12. Neither have a breathable atmosphere anymore if they ever did.�
Hammond looked at Jackson a moment, then stated quietly, �I�ve formally reported Col O�Neill and Capt Carter as missing in action.�
�Why?�
�Missing in action doesn�t mean we stop looking, son,� he said gently. Daniel wasn�t military, and he didn�t understand, the general knew. He wanted to soften the news, if he could.
Jackson turned away from the departing base commander, brow furrowed. �Missing. I�m missing something.�
Ice cave
The cave was lit only by the soft glow from the huge wheel.
Coughing hurt, thought O�Neill groggily. He coughed again. �Captain,� he whispered to the sleeping form snuggled against him. �Captain� As much as I might� otherwise think this is nice�
�Shhh, go to sleep.�
�You moved over to me..�
�You were exhausted, you passed out. I thought we had to combine body heat or we wouldn�t make it through the night,� she explained.
�That�s fine. Its just.. very hard� to sleep� with broken ribs when someone is lying on you.� He coughed again.
�Sorry.� Carter shifted, taking her weight off his chest.
He took a tentative deeper breath. �Ah, ah, better. That�s better.�
�Sleep for a few hours and I�ll fix the DHD.�
�Okay. �Night.�
��Night.�
�Umm, Colonel.�
�It�s my sidearm, I swear.�
Carter giggled.
�No giggling, please.� A shadow of a grin crossed his pain etched face.
�If we don�t make it, I won�t have any regrets. You?�
�I�ll regret dying.�
*SG command*
Daniel couldn�t sleep. He prowled the control room, coffee cup in hand, waiting for the next report. Not more bad news, he prayed silently. He had to be right. They were out there, somewhere, his friends, needing his help, needing medical help, needing rescue. What had he forgotten, what had he missed. If he failed, they would die.
Wearily, he stared at the gate, willing them to be found.
Above, Gen. Hammond was in the conference room staring too at the silent gate.
O'Neill and Carter, they were irreplaceable. Not just in the way that all lives were precious. But Carter�s brilliant scientific mind, and O�Neills coolness under fire. SG-1 as a team was unique and irreplaceable and vital to what he was doing. And hard as it was to admit, they were people he liked and admired, even if all too often they drove him crazy with their impertinence. He saw so much of his younger self in O�Neill, and yet something more in the brash colonel. Maybe it was because O�Neill had nothing to lose. He was a soldier, a throwback, an old fashioned do or die hands on warrior, not in it for promotion, not wanting to be behind a desk. He�d retired once already and would do it again if they tried to force him to do something against his principles or his stubborn nature or his own unflinching personal code of justice.. O�Neill lived for this work, and thought Hammond somberly, he might be dying for it.
Hammond paced, rubbing his eyes, exhausted but unable to sleep.
Hours dragged past, valuable hours when two soldiers were out there, needing rescue, and a whole galaxy to search through.
Feretti and SG-2 came back through the gate, shaking his head negatively. Another world crossed off the fast shrinking list.
*Ice cave*
�God, why won�t you work?� wailed Carter.
�Carter,� came softly over the hand radio.
�Colonel?� She scrambled to where she had left the semi-conscious man wrapped in their thermal blankets. He looked even worse than before, if that was possible. He was shivering, from cold or fever she couldn�t tell. The whole right side of his face was darkly bruised, the only color against his otherwise gray skin, his dark eyes sunken but still bright.
�I�m usually the first one up,� he said weakly.
�You�re bleeding internally, I don�t know how badly. Your broken leg may already be frostbitten, I can�t tell. I�ve been trying to warm it up with the last of our cooking sterno but that�s about had it.�
�What�s the bad news?� He whispered. �Help me up.
�No sir you need to heal. That�s an order.�
�I give the orders around here.�
�Doctors orders.�
Carter took the mess kit from where it had been warming on their field stove. �I want you to drink as much of this as you can. When that sterno dies we won�t be able to thaw anymore.� She had to lift his head and he was able only to drink a few swallows. Carter�s frustrations shown through again. �I should have gotten you out of by now.�
�You will. You will.�
�I�ve been working on the control panel for the last 12 hours. I don�t know why it won�t work. It should work. I�m missing something.�
�Captain,� his voice was a mere whisper.
�Yes sir.�
�It�s time to go to plan B.�
�What would plan B be?�
�You, you take the rest of the supplies and climb out of here. Take your chances up on the planet. Head towards daylight.�
�If I can�t get that stargate to work, we will both go.�
�Right. I�ll race ya. Now captain, make it work.�
�Yes sir.�
*SG command*
This time the news was worse than no one found. Teal�c carried a bleeding soldier down the ramp
�Major castleman requires medical attention.
�Medical team to the embarcation room. Put the iris on save
�What happened?
�We were exploring a cave not far from the stargate. He fell several meters from a rock ledge. There was no sign of captain Carter or Col O�Neill,� answered the big alien.
�Are you all right?�
�I am ready to embark again,� Teal�c offered.
�I�m calling the search off.�
�What?� asked Jackson.
�This was the last of the planets that fit your theory, doctor.�
�It�s been what, a few days? What if we stopped just short of finding them?�
�I�m sorry.�
*Ice cave*
�Ok. Convert the intake. Oh god, reset. Reset, why didn�t I think.� Carter raised her voice. �Colonel, I�m going to shut off the power and turn it all on again.�
O�Neill was silent, unresponsive.
She tapped the panels. The DHD went completely dark. Work. She breathed. Again, the wheel started, then once again ground to a halt on the 7th sign. Shaking snow from the roof, falling all around her silently.
*SG command*
In the gate room in Colorado, Daniel Jackson felt the room shake. Behind him the chevrons glowed. But there was no incoming travelers there was no one using the gate. What was happening?
�Daniel Jackson?� asked Tealc, seeing the doctor was staring at beakers on the table.
�Tealc, did you see that?� The liquid in the beakers was vibrating slightly.
�Why are you here?�
�I couldn�t sleep. I was thinking that I must be missing something and now I just realized we ruled out a world we shouldn�t have.�
*Ice cave*
�I guess it didn�t work,� murmured O�Neill weakly. His face was grey, bruised, eyes dark, breathing shallow.
�I�m sorry.�
�Not your fault.� Every word was a struggle.
�I don�t understand why it won�t work.�
�Captain, plan B. Go.�
�No sir.�
�Sam, I�m dying. Follow my order. Please��
Her heart was breaking. �Sir.�
�Please.�
�Yes sir.� She nodded, unable to speak, wiped her face, placed his radio in his hand, picked up her gear and began to climb.
*Stargate command*
�How many earth based cultures have we encountered from other worlds from periods both before and after we think the stargate was buried?� asked the archeologist.
�Several, I take it,� answered the general.
�Right. And we�ve probably only scratched the surface. So far we�ve tried to account for these discrepancies with various theories of parallel evolution.�
�What�s your point doctor?� Hammond cut through.
�What if there�s a second stargate here? What if this energy surge caused the wormhole to jump from one stargate to another? Here.� said Jackson, pointing to the center of the starchart.
�On earth?�
�Yes.�
Hammond brightened, running with the idea, with any possibility his soldiers could still be found alive. Turning to the big alien, he asked, �Tealc, would the goa�uld have put more than one stargate on a planet?"
�If the first became lost to them, it is possible.�
�Remember, the one that Ra put here might not have been the first. The goa�uld didn�t build the stargate system.�
�Then where is it?�
*Ice cave*
Part way up the ice slope, she paused to catch her breath. �Colonel, I can�t see the surface yet. It looks like it just keeps going up.�
�Sam��
�Yes sir.�
The voice was so shaky and low she would barely have recognized it. �It was an honor serving with you.�
�Yes sir.� Determination. She would get help and get back and save her commanding officer. He was too good a man to die like this.
*SGC*
�It would have to be in a remote location or it would have been discovered by now. It could have even been buried until recently otherwise the goa�uld would have continued to use it.�
�Let us hope it is not still buried,� interjected Teal�c.
Hammond ordered the technician, �We�re looking for radio transmissions on SG-1�s emergency frequency. Coordinate with our military listening posts around the entire globe.�
Jackson had another question. �General, when we first opened our stargate it used to shake. A lot. I mean the ground, the whole facility, everything.�
�Since then we�ve installed frequency dampeners that limit that to only a slight vibration.�
�Okay but what if the second gate doesn�t have those?� asked Jackson. �Would it shake enough to indicate its location on a seismometer?�
�Damn right it would.� Hammond turned to the control room tech. �Run a search for all recent seismic activity worldwide. See if any coincide with the time of our stargate malfunction.�
�And check around 4am local time,� Jackson added. �I was here I thought someone was trying an offworld activation but nothing happened except for the chevrons glowed and their was a slight vibration,� added Jackson.
�Captain Carter and Col O�Neill?�
�What happens when you dial your own phone number?� Jackson asked Tealc, then realized �wrong person to ask.� He turned to the general. �What happens when you dial your own phone number?� �You get a busy signal.�
�Exactly. What else could cause a vibration like that unless they were trying to dial home? They couldn�t get through. I mean even if their 7th symbol looked different the coordinates of the 2 gates would still be exactly the same.�
*Ice cave*
Carter was digging her way out. �Colonel, I�m almost there. I�m going to try to bring back help, sir. I want you to hold that thought.� He did not answer. She was away, clear, and he could let himself believe that at least she would be saved. That was okay. He closed his eyes.
She climbed out, looked all around. No oh no. Despair filled her. Snow and ice, nothing but snow and ice all around, everywhere. Everywhere.
There was no where to go.
SGC
�We got it,� shouted the computer tech triumphantly. �Antarctica. The timing is to the second.
Including the event that Dr. Jackson experienced a few hours ago.�
�Latitude and longitude?�
�Yes sir. Its only about 50 miles outside of M
cMurdo!�
�Permission� echoed Tealc and Daniel. ��granted,� said Hammond. To the tech, �order McMurdo to being a search of those coordinates now.
*Ice cave*
Carter climbed back inside, her voice defeated. �Colonel. It�s an ice planet. That�s all there is as far as the eye can see. No chance.� He wasn�t answering. God, she needed to hear his voice. Needed someone to share this with, someone to push back the despair and the fear. The colonel always knew what to do. He would know. But she knew that was false hope. He was dead or dying, even his gallant heart able only to take so much. �Colonel? I�m coming down.� She started back down the icy slope, then lost her balance and slid back down to O�Neill, pulling herself half under the blankets. He was still breathing, shallowly, slowly.
�Colonel? Colonel?�
�Sara,� he whispered, so faint she wondered if she�d actually heard the word.
It was one last comfort she could give him. �I�m here Jack.�
� So cold. So cold,� his voice barely audible.
�I know. It�s all right. You can sleep now.� He sighed, relaxed, he�s letting go, she thought sadly. �It was an honor serving with you too colonel.� God, maybe it was too late and he hadn�t heard her, she�d never told him how much she admired him and respected him.
Choppers overhead.
�McMurdo, this is rescue team Charlie. We�ve found them. over.�
*Ice cave*
�How are they?� asked the voice on the radio.
�Both are alive,� reported the rescue team. �Captain Carter seems to be suffering exposure, exhaustion, some minor injuries but Colonel O�Neill is in a bad way. We need that evac chopper in here now. He needs medical help stat.�
Arriving with the medical team were Hammond, Jackson and Teal�c, smothered in giant parkas, but crackling with excitement. Sam and Jack were still alive. The rescuers had the sg-1 pair bundled into slings, IV�s already running to restore fluids.
�Sam, Sam. Come on. She�s going to be okay. You�re going to be okay,� Jackson said in a rush.
�As is Col O�Neill,� said Teal�c in his always calm voice.
�Lets get them in the chopper,� ordered Hammond.
�The colonel, he�s bleeding internally,� Carter said weakly.
�We know captain, don�t worry. He�s going to be all right.�
�General, you came through the stargate for us.�
�Not exactly captain.� Always down to business, Hammond informed the McMurdo search squad, �a team from the SGC will be arriving within the hour to secure this area. In the meantime, lets get these people home.�
*McMurdo Station, Antarctica*
Dr. Janet Fraiser was exhausted. For the past three days, since they'd left Cheyenne Mountain for McMurdo, it seemed she had hardly had the time to close her eyes. They had barely arrived at the base before she'd found herself performing hours of emergency surgery on Colonel O'Neill in the base's tiny but well equipped operating room. The first 24-hours had been touch and go for the colonel, with internal injuries, hypothermia, exposure, a head wound and a broken leg. Frankly, it was a minor miracle the man was still alive, Fraiser thought wearily, as she stepped out into the tiny room they had rigged up for the colonel's intensive care needs. Teal'c was sitting impassively by the colonel's bedside, as Janet stepped around the curtain to check on her other patient. Capt. Carter was doing well, sleeping soundly, vitals good. Fraiser sighed. At least one bit of good news she could tell the general, she thought.
Fraiser and the base surgeon, Dr. Wildes, had been on-call around the clock since O'Neill and Carter had been brought in. McMurdo wasn't equipped for this kind of invasion, SCG personnel, the team sent to secure the second gate, the rescue team, and two patients, one gravely injured, were testing the remote base's capacity to the limits.
Fraiser sighed, stepped back into O'Neill's cubicle, noted the slow but steady beeping of the heart and BP monitors. Remarkable, really, she thought, the colonel was making slow, steady progress. Well, really, it was something she should have expected-- she was familiar with O'Neill's extensive medical history, and the man was a survivor, that was for sure.
"I'll stay for a while, Teal'c," she told him. Really, there was barely room for two people in the cramped space around O'Neill's bed. With a stately bow, the huge Jaffa left, "I will be nearby if I am needed," he promised.
"Thank you." Fraiser checked over her patient again, then sat down, and found herself dozing.
It was several hours later when she heard stirring on the other side of the curtain. Capt. Carter, pale faced came around the barrie..
"Sam?"
"How's the colonel?"
"You shouldn't be out of bed."
"I needed to see..." a pained look crossed her face at the sight of O'Neill. The colonel was deathly pale and still, surrounded by medical equipment. The only color on his face was the livid bruise which covered the right side of his face.
"I know he looks rough, but he's doing as well as can be expected, better really."
The captain shook her head, stepping over to the bed, looking down.
"Neither one of us expected to wake up," she said softly. "He didn't tell me how bad he was hurt, he tried not to let me know" she choked, remembering his quiet plea for her to leave. "He was dying and he asked me to leave, to leave him there alone to go save myself. I shouldn't have," she said, looking up at Janet.
"Well, he didn't die, and you didn't die," the doctor answered. "Now you need to go back to bed."
Carter looked down at her CO again, touched his still hand, comforted by the warmth of it. "Has he been awake?"
"No, Sam, and he won't for a while, we've kept him heavily sedated. But it's okay to talk to him, I believe a patient can hear what we say, perhaps only subconsciously..."
Carter touched his hand again. "We made it sir, just like you said."
Just four days after the rescue, the SGC personnel were on their way home. It was sooner than Dr. Fraiser wanted, much sooner, but a weather front was moving in, and it was either take off during the lull in the weather, and get the colonel back to civilization, or risk being stranded for days, maybe weeks, in the Antarctic. The still unconscious O'Neill tolerated the trip well, and Dr. Fraiser breathed a huge sigh of relief when she got him settled into a private room at the Air Force Academy Hospital.
*Colorado, Air Force Academy Hospital*
Colonel Jack O'Neill
Whatever this place was, it wasn't hot enough to be hell, or painless enough to be heaven, as if I'd ever be going there. So I must be alive, which meant this would be-- oh, good, another hospital.
I opened my eyes, above me an unfamiliar, stark white ceiling, yup, had to be a hospital. I moved my right hand, felt the tug of an IV line, the pinch of that little clip on my index finger-- confirming my conclusion, yeah, a hospital.
I laid there a long time, my mind fuzzy, trying to remember how I had gotten here, what had happened to me this time. Closed my eyes again and drifted off.
It was quite a while later, I think, when I opened my eyes again. Nothing had changed. I was still in a hospital bed, faint noises around me, monitors and beepers. Tried to lick my dry lips, suddenly realized there was something in my mouth, something choking me. Tried to sit up, my hands clutching at my face, to tear away the gag--
"Colonel, easy, easy, Colonel O'Neill."
Slid my eyes around to focus on an earnest familiar face that had materialized above me. I was heaving for breath, and that was making my chest hurt, and....
"Sir, don't fight it. You've got a tube down your throat, to stabilize your damaged lung." She turned away, said "get more sedative into that IV, now." to someone I couldn't see."
She still gripped my hands, stared into my face. "Colonel, don't fight it, don't. Relax, easy."
I felt the drug hit me, start to soften my panic, but I didn't want to go back to sleep. I needed, something, needed to know something, looked at the doctor, that was it, Dr. Fraiser that's who she was, I thought triumphantly. Still staring at her, tell me, I pleaded silently, though I didn't know what it was I so desperately needed to know.
"Easy, colonel, easy. It's okay. You're okay."
Tried to mouth the words past the obstruction in my throat.
She looked at me, smiled, catching what I was trying to say. "Your team is all fine, Sam, Daniel, Teal'c. They're all okay, don't worry."
Yeah, yeah, that was it. My team. Okay, they were okay, umm, I can sleep now.
It was hours later before I woke once more. Again, I laid quietly a while, taking stock, my chest felt tight and uncomfortable and my right leg seemed heavy and immobile. I could sense someone nearby and when I opened my eyes it was Daniel sitting in the chair by my bed. I moved my hand, reaching to touch his arm lying on my blankets.
A smile crossed his face. "Hey, Jack, you finally woke up. Well, Janet said you were awake before, but they wouldn't let us in to see you then."
I tried to put a question into my eyes, all the questions I needed to know the answers to.
He didn't get it.
God, this was frustrating. Oh damn, awake, Jack, stay awake, but the darkness won and I slipped back into sleep.
"Colonel O'Neill?"
My eyes popped open, looked up into Dr. Fraiser's face.
"Hey, good, you're awake. How are you feeling?"
I hate people asking questions when I can't answer, tried to speak past the tube, made little fluttering motions at it with my right hand.
"Sorry sir, I understand you want that thing out, I know it's uncomfortable, but we need to give your damaged lung a little more time to heal." I reached for her hand, squeezed it. "Do you need more painkiller?" shook my head no. "Ah, you want to know what happened?" She checked my chart, came back in a moment. "We got your right leg set and cast, it will heal just fine. The blunt force trauma from the impact of hitting the ice broke three ribs. One punctured your right lung, triggering the internal bleeding. The cold actually saved your life, sir, slowed your metabolism, slowed the bleeding. We repaired the damage surgically. You've also got a mild concussion. I know all that sounds bad, but it could have been a lot worse."
I cocked an eyebrow at her. Doc smiled. "Yes, worse. Captain Carter did a good job of keeping your extremeties warm, there was no damage from frostbite, shock or hypothermia. You've had pneumonia but the antibiotics are clearing that nicely, . You're very lucky, colonel."
I didn't feel very lucky, at the moment. Closed my eyes, and when I dragged them open again saw Doc's still concerned face.
"You're still sleepy because we're keeping you sedated, colonel, we need to keep you intubated another 24 hours, then we'll be able to let you wake up a little more, cut back on some of the other meds, too. Okay?" She checked my pulse, patted my arm. "You rest some more, sir."
Being a good soldier, I followed her orders.
It was dark outside my window when I woke the next time, not sure if it was that same evening or the next one.
"Colonel O'Neill has awakened,," Teal'c said, and then Daniel's face appeared in my field of view. What, I mouthed at them, what happened? Puzzled looks, so I tried again, got the same result. Frustrated, I could hear my BP monitor picking up.
"Jack, easy, take it easy, you shouldn't get upset." What did they expect, I was upset, damnit, I needed to know what had happened, how I got here, wherever this place was. I looked around, spotted my chart lying on the bedside table, pointed at it. Daniel looked, "Jack, you don't need to see that--- oh." Understanding dawning suddenly, he grabbed a blank sheet from the bottom, sticking it under the clip, gave me the pen from his pocket. He held the clipboard for me while I wrote, in script so shaky I could barely read it. Carter?
"Sam is fine. She's home, Doc made her go home a couple of days ago."
I was confused, days? How long, since?, I wrote.
Daniel read it, nodded. "You've been here, at the hospital, for six days, we spent four days at McMurdo before that...."
Impatiently, I grabbed the clipboard back. Explain. Timeline???
"Oh, well, you were in the ice cave for three days before we found you, just in time Janet said, a few more hours and you'd both have died. And then we flew you to McMurdo, kept you there four days before you were stable enough to be flown back here."
Here is.... Where? How?
"Oh, this is the Air Force Academy Hospital, Jack." I nodded. "They felt the facilities would be better for you here than back at Cheyenne Mountian."
How? I underlined the word.
"Well, they used choppers..".
No, I thought, exasperated. Wrote again, Who rescued? How?
"Oh, right. Well, this may come as a surprise, Jack, but you were on earth." I cocked the eyebrow again. "Yeah, took us a while to figure it out. See, the power surge from the weapons caused the wormhole to jump during the transit, and it jumped to the nearest gate, in Antarctica."
I wrote, "South Pole?"
"Yeah, close enough. When you dialed home, see, it was like you were dialing another extension on your own phone line, you know, so the call wouldn't go through. But it triggered our gate, it tried to activate. So we figured we just needed to look for the signs of an unbalanced gate activation. Showed up on a seismograph, and we found you." Daniel grinned.
Thanks, I penned.
He smiled. "you're welcome. But it wasn't just me. Sam's getting the gate to work was the key. And Siler and the gateroom crew worked like mad to get it repaired. And then...."
He must have noticed how I suddenly couldn't keep my eyes open any longer. "Jack, I think that's enough for tonight. You rest. We'll talk more tomorrow, okay."
I managed to pry my eyes open long enough to give him a nod before drifting off again. Earth, damn, all that time we were on earth.
Once Doc removed that nasty tube and they began backing off on the sedatives, I began to get restless. I'm not very good as a patient, okay, okay, I'm downright awful as a patient. I've just never been any good at sitting, much less lying, still. They brought me in a TV, with round the clock sports on cable. Teal'c, Daniel even the general stopped by to visit. Captain Carter I didn't see, though we did have a brief talk on the phone. She was visiting her dad, she explained. She was just fine and would see me in a few days.
I awoke sometime in the night. The hospital was quiet. Carter sat by my bedside.
�You okay captain?� I asked startling her.
�Fine colonel.�
"Strange visiting hours. She shrugged. "Just got back, from visiting my dad."
We looked at each other, suddenly unsure what to say.
�I just came to see how you were doing, sir.�
�I�m doing fine,� I told her, grimacing as I shifted on the bed, unsure if it was my leg or my chest that hurt worse. Toss up, actually.
�Captain-Colonel� we both started at the same time.
�You first,� I ordered.
�Ladies first?� she asked.
�Nah, pulling rank,� I answered with a grin.
She looked hard,� Sir, I�m sorry I let you down, that I didn�t get us out of there, sir.�
I shook my head. �But you did.�
�No sir, it was Daniel who figured it out.�
�As Daniel explained it, he figured out how to find us because we tried to open the gate. If you hadn�t accomplished that, we�d still be there. Frozen solid, still there.�
�Sir�
�Don�t sweat it, captain. You did good. We�re both still alive. And that�s all that counts.�
�Thank you sir.� She didn't look at me again. "I should go, colonel, it's really late. I'm glad you're doing better, sir." She turned to leave, then turned back. �Ah, colonel, what was it you were going to say?
�Just good job captain. And Sam, I meant it, it�s an honor to serve with you."
She looked away. �Same here sir."
�I know, captain. I heard you the first time.�
Two more interminable weeks Doc kept me at the hospital, then sent me home, warning I'd have another six weeks at least to recuperate, if I followed her instructions, longer if I didn't. It sure felt good to be on my feet and home. I get around pretty good on crutches, what with all the practice I've had over the years. And, the minute the cast came off, I was in the gym, rehabbing as hard as Doc would let me.
Ten weeks after our ill-fated trip to P44-781, I stood again at the bottom of the ramp, watching the wormhole activate. I turned to my team, Carter, Daniel, Teal'c, "let's go kids" and stepped once more across the threshold of the universe.
It was good to be back.
<><><>FINIS<><><>
