SG1-25 Hostile Ground(25)

He raised an eyebrow in surprise at her confidence. “You expect us to be recovered quickly then, Major Carter?”

“Yeah,” she said, starting to rummage in her pack and pulling out a tripod which she erected over the fire. “Someone has to stay positive.”

Unsure how to interpret the slight edge to Major Carter’s voice, Teal’c decided not to comment. Although he had every faith in the Tau’ri, it was by no means certain that rescue would come soon. Or even at all. It was, after all, a very large galaxy. “I will make a circuit of the area,” he said, reaching for his staff weapon that lay on the ground tucked between the flysheet and inner tent.

“Good idea,” she said, pulling her scanner from her pocket and walking over to the tarpaulin in which she had collected snow. “Oh,” she added, in afterthought, “Daniel thinks he saw someone last night, watching us. It might just have been the fever, but… keep your eyes peeled?”

He simply inclined his head in agreement and made no comment on the macabre eye-peeling idiom.

Staff weapon in his hand, he left the camp and headed down and to the left, following the path they had travelled the previous day. He could see their tracks clearly: his own long stride, Major Carter’s close behind, followed by Daniel Jackson’s limping gait and O’Neill’s footsteps next to him. He crouched for a moment, to make sure that no other tracks were imposed over theirs, but he was confident that no one else had passed that way.

After walking down and across the hillside for five minutes he stopped. The trees were behind him now, and his view over the valley below was uninterrupted. The Stargate sat at its far end, close to a wide-mouthed bay cluttered with rocks and debris that might once have been buildings or other manmade structures. He could hear the distant rush of water, taste a slight salt tang in the air. Strange, without the accompanying cry of seabirds.

On the other side of the valley rose more hills, a green blush halfway up mirroring the tree line on his side of the valley. But all between was desolation, a bleak and colorless landscape. Whatever battle had been fought here, it had happened long ago and this planet had done its best to scour away all evidence of the ordeal. But life had yet to return. He stood for a few moments, scanning the valley and hills for movement. There was none.

Turning right, he moved off parallel to the slant of the slope. His feet crunched over stone and he used his staff to help him balance on the rugged ground. Eyes and ears open, he heard nothing but his own footsteps.

After ten minutes he turned again, heading up the slope and back into the trees. He smelled coffee in the air as he passed level with their camp but did not stop, pressing on higher into the trees to complete his circuit. Even here there were no birds, although there was evidence of life. He crouched again, turning over small animal droppings with his fingertips — perhaps something like an unat? They would have food, at least, if their stay was longer than Major Carter anticipated. He also spotted rocks protruding from the dirt that were too square and regular to be naturally shaped. Bricks then, which meant that, at some point in the past, this area had been inhabited by humans — or some other intelligent species.

It was as he crouched on the slope above their camp that he heard the sound — a subtle movement, the careful tread of careful feet. He held himself still, breathed shallow and silent. He could see little, so relied upon his ears alone.

Footsteps, more than one set. Light, balanced. A hunter, further into the trees, stalking prey. A soft hiss, barely a sound — wood against wood, perhaps? And then a low whistle and a solid thud. A scrabbling of movement to his left, away from their camp, the death throes of some small animal. Then silence.

Carefully, Teal’c rose to his feet. There was a tree to his right, broader than most, and he moved silently toward it. From above, he could hear the footsteps again. Less careful now, and with them came a whisper of voices. Two men.

Teal’c ducked behind the tree as the hunters cut across his path, heading downhill toward their kill. They did not see him, but he had plenty of time to observe them. Young men dressed raggedly, capes of patched furs hanging from lean, rangy bodies. These were hungry men. One had an animal dangling from his hand — as Teal’c had surmised, it was an unat. The Tau’ri would call it a ‘rabbit’. The animal looked as skinny as the man who had killed it. The other man held only a bow in his hand, a couple of slender arrows tucked into his belt.

Something fluttered in the trees above, the first bird Teal’c had seen in this place. But the effect on the two men was remarkable. They both dropped to the ground in fear, eyes scanning the sky. Neither moved until the bird broke cover, flapping off and higher up the hillside. Then one of the men laughed, nudged the other as if embarrassed, and said, “Ah, only a skua”, before they climbed back to their feet and continued down the slope. Teal’c wondered if there was some species of predatory bird on this planet.