SG1-25 Hostile Ground(50)
“There’s no way to tell, sir.”
“Well, there’s one way…” He turned to Daniel. “Okay to keep going?”
A tight nod, not even a smile, was his only response. Daniel was in a bad way, but this could be it — their way home. They couldn’t stop now.
“Right,” Jack decided, “stay sharp. We’re gonna check it out.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Colonel O’Neill led them slowly down the steep incline toward the smoking remains of the crashed ship. He moved with his customary stealth, but more slowly than was usual in consideration of Daniel Jackson’s incapacity. Teal’c himself brought up the rear, his gaze roving between his teammates and the smoke curling black into the misty sky. He caught the acrid scent of burning flesh on the air and guessed that the pilot had not survived the impact.
High in the sky, he thought he saw more shapes darting in and out of the clouds. But they were too far away for him to be certain.
The terrain was rocky, as if some giant hand had scattered boulders across the landscape, which made it easy to conceal their approach. Here and there a few of the low, scrubby trees that populated the higher slopes also dotted the sides of the valley, and among those trees Teal’c thought he saw movement. He was about to alert O’Neill when the colonel lifted his fist to halt them, dropping to a crouch behind one of the larger rocks. He waved Teal’c closer.
Major Carter helped Daniel Jackson to sit down, and as he passed them Teal’c caught her eye. The look of sharp anxiety he saw there made him fear for his friend, whose skin now bore an unmistakable deathly pallor.
Preoccupied with his fears, Teal’c crouched next to O’Neill. His eyes were also fixed on Daniel Jackson, his mouth a tight line of concern. But when he looked at Teal’c all he said was, “I saw movement in the trees.”
Teal’c nodded, “As did I.”
Peering around the boulder, Teal’c scanned the crash site. It was now only a couple hundred meters away and he could make out a dark, wedge-shaped ship that was mostly intact. A long furrow of scorched, overturned earth marked its landing trajectory, the sharp nose having come to rest amid a small copse of trees close to the edge of the valley. Smoke was rising from the rear of the ship and Teal’c thought he could see what appeared to be an open canopy. Someone, perhaps, had survived. He also saw movement, on the far side of the wreck.
He ducked back down and let his back rest against the boulder. O’Neill’s face was closed and hard, his eyes once more fixed on Daniel Jackson. Major Carter was trying to persuade him to drink from her canteen, her expressive features unable to mask her distress.
“I believe,” Teal’c said in a low voice, “that we will not be the first to reach the crash site.”
O’Neill nodded. “We need whatever that ship uses to dial the gate,” he said. “At any cost.”
Teal’c understood his meaning. “We are well armed, O’Neill, and have the element of surprise.”
With a curt gesture, O’Neill beckoned Major Carter closer. “There are people,” he said, when she crouched down next to him. “Teal’c — go around to the nose of the ship, wait for my signal. Carter, you’re with me.”
“What about Daniel, sir?” She glanced back at him. “If we leave him here, he’ll be vulnerable.”
“Don’t worry about me,” Daniel Jackson said, opening his fevered eyes. “I’ll catch up.”
There was silence while O’Neill considered the question: Teal’c could tell he liked neither option. Daniel Jackson was too weak to fight, and they must move fast to keep other scavengers from taking or damaging the technology they sought in the downed fighter, but to leave him alone and unguarded also posed dangers. After a moment, O’Neill said, “Carter, once we’ve secured the ship, come back for Daniel.” He looked over at Daniel Jackson. “And you stay put.”
Daniel Jackson just closed his eyes. “You betcha.”
Major Carter merely nodded, her hands moving to ready her weapon.
“Okay,” O’Neill said, catching them both with one look, “I want this quiet, fast and with no fuss. Our only priority is the dialing mechanism — assuming there is one.” He crept to the edge of the boulder, peered around it, and after a moment signaled for them to move out.
In a low run, they moved from cover to cover, crossing the remaining distance quickly. Teal’c could now see people moving on the far side of the ship — they appeared similarly dressed to Aedan’s kin — and there was some commotion taking place in the trees beyond the crash site. As they drew closer, O’Neill signaled Teal’c to move left while he and Major Carter made their way around to the rear of the ship.