Search and Rescue
Jul. 14th, 2011 06:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stringertheoryTitle: Search and Rescue
Rating: PG
Fandom: Stargate SG-1
Characters: Samantha Carter, Vala Mal Doran
Word Count: 4442
Categories: friendship, humor, action/adventure
Spoilers/Warnings: None. Can be read as occurring anytime S10 or after.
Summary: Written for the![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
sg1friendathon: "Sam, Vala. Saving the guys."
Two hours into their expedition, Vala was fairly certain the team had tromped over at least half the planet in search of the errant energy pulse Sam kept picking up. The readings were strong enough to have piqued Sam's interest and frequent enough that she was able to extrapolate the general location of their origin. However, pinpointing the exact position wasn't possible due to the sporadic and varied nature of the pulses. Instead, they had to turn to searching the old fashioned way, legging it through miles and miles of forest and poking at every rock, bush, and tree along the way in the hopes of finding what they were searching for.
“Are you sure we haven't been here before?” Vala asked, studying a peculiarly gnarled tree that looked vaguely familiar.
“We've been circling the area where the energy signature is the strongest,” Sam answered, “tightening our loops as we go so that we'll eventually hone in on whatever is creating the pulses.” She threw a smile over her shoulder. “So, yes, we actually have been this way before.”
“No, no, it was definitely more like football,” Daniel said from behind her. “The 'soccer' kind.”
Vala and Sam glanced around to where Cam, Daniel, and Teal'c were following in their wake. Cam and Daniel had been in near continuous conversation since coming through the Gate, discussing the sport the team had discovered on their last off-world jaunt.
“I'm telling you, it was more like football, the American kind,” Cam argued.
“Except they couldn't use their hands,” Daniel countered.
“Exactly!”
“Which would make it like soccer.”
Vala looked at Sam and they shared an eye-roll. Cam's casual observation that the team rarely encountered sports off-world had opened the topic of discussion. Since then, Daniel had rambled on about the sports SG-1 had seen on other planets, the place of sports in the various Earth cultures that had bred the off-world variants, the history of sports, and so on. Cam, being Cam, had found enough of it interesting to stay engaged in the conversation, and so it had continued.
“Sports represent the solidification of the unity necessary to hold burgeoning societies together,” Daniel was saying. “Societies with sports have attained a level of unity that allows for both the playful and serious taking of sides as a means of entertainment and instruction. Sports provide an outlet for internal and external conflict resolution. They play a part in the stratification of society and in the preparation of youth for adulthood through activities designed to stimulate both physical and mental growth. Not to mention the ritual purposes of sport, from funeral games to being used as methods of selection for human sacrifice—”
Cam pinned him with an incredulous look. “Fun, Jackson. They're fun.”
“That, too.”
Sam took the opportunity to cut in. “I'm going to go check that area over there,” she said, frowning at the readings on her gadget and pointing off to their right. “Just stay here for a second.”
“I'll go check in the opposite direction,” Vala called after her.
Vala scurried off without waiting for a response, desperate to get away from the sports chatter for a few minutes. Checking under bushes and between tree roots as she went, she came to a small thicket some twelve feet across and about the same front-to-back. Squatting down, she carefully pushed aside branches, trying to see if anything might be buried in the undergrowth. To her surprise, the foliage fell away less than a foot in, revealing a pocket of sorts under the leaves—a pocket containing something that glinted in the few beams of sunlight her hole allowed in.
Vala circled the bush until she came across a small break in the branches. With a little bit of work, she cleared a path into the thicket and set about removing some of the overhanging limbs. Once the area was open to the sky again, she could see that there was definitely a device of sorts there. It made up the floor of the thicket, which seemed to have either been planted there deliberately, or had grown around the device over time. The top of the device was the color of old bronze, round and gently domed. Vala cautiously tested its sturdiness by bouncing a bit on the balls of her feet. Other than a few gentle creaks, it held firm.
Carefully making her way to the edge, she found footholds in the crooks of some of the thicket's lower branches and pulled herself up. Now head and shoulders above the leaves, she was able to see the others and be seen by them.
The boys were where she had left them, some fifteen meters away. Sam was about that same distance off to her left, though her position put her closer to thirty meters distant from the male half of their team. Vala drew in a breath and yelled across the space.
“Found something!”
Everyone turned in her direction, Sam shielding her eyes against the sun.
“Not enough room for everyone, though,” Vala called. “It's a bit cramped.”
There followed a quick round of charades as the two colonels communicated without being close enough to hear one another. Sam looked to Cam and pointed in Vala's direction, tilting her head in a questioning manner. Cam held up his hands and motioned her on, settling back against the tree stump he had found and turning to Daniel to pick up their conversation again. Daniel, however, was frowning.
“Are you sure you don't need help with translations or anything?” he called to Vala.
“I read Goa'uld just as well as you do, Daniel,” Vala reminded him. She saw him bob his head and mouth 'True'. “Besides,” she said, “I don't see any symbols or writing on whatever this is.”
That appeared to satisfy him and he nodded, relaxing again. “We'll just stay here, then,” he called back.
“That'd be great,” Vala answered with a grin. She dropped back behind the foliage as Sam wiggled her way into the thicket.
“Finally,” Sam sighed, sitting back on her heels. “If I had to listen to their sports talk for another two hours, I was going to snap.” She eyed the device beneath their feet curiously.
“I know what you mean,” Vala said, crouching down beside her. “Though I have to admit I find it the slightest bit interesting. I am one of the 'alien societies' Daniel's talking about, after all.”
Sam fixed her with a look not too different from the one she had just given the unknown device. “That's true,” she said. “It's easy to forget that you aren't from Earth.”
Vala nodded. “We did have sports where I grew up. More like games than anything. You know that one with the hammer-like things and the little arches you stick in the ground?”
“Croquet?” Sam guessed, frowning slightly.
“That one,” Vala confirmed. “We had something like that. We used our hands and rolled the balls instead of hitting them, but it was very similar to your croquet. And we definitely used it to 'establish a social hierarchy,'” she said, using a phrase Daniel had thrown out earlier.
“And you were at the top?” Sam asked knowingly.
“Of course.”
They grinned at each other, then set to work divining the purpose of the device beneath them.
Sam had always shown respect for Vala's hard-earned and scrappy knowledge of technology, and was a very patient teacher in helping Vala fine-tune her skills. As such, Vala enjoyed helping her with projects, each teaching and learning in turn as they went along. Perched on the mystery device, they worked together in harmony, passing tools back and forth and sharing murmured comments about the readings they were getting. Every few minutes, one of them would half-rise from her crouch, head bobbing up above the foliage like a cork, to check on the rest of the team.
When Vala did so some twenty minutes later, she executed a sort of double-bob, then sank back on her haunches and shifted closer to the bushes. Peering through the leaves, she could just make out the other three-fifths of SG-1 being rounded up by burly, sour-faced men in long tunics and pants.
“Damn,” she muttered under her breath.
Turning to look over her shoulder, she whispered Sam's name. Sam glanced up and, reading her expression, crab-walked over, keeping low, to glance through the hole in the thicket that Vala indicated.
“Damn,” Sam sighed.
“That's what I said,” Vala replied. “It appears the natives are restless.”
As they watched, two of the men finished tying Cam's hands behind his back with thin leather straps. Vala couldn't quite make out his words, but Cam appeared to be rapidly transitioning from “this is all a misunderstanding” geniality to “let us go right now” hostility, if his fading smile and growing struggles were any indicator. Daniel and Teal'c were similarly bound, their upper arms firmly grasped at either side by more of the locals. Even from where she was, Vala could see Daniel roll his eyes. Teal'c looked exasperated in an “Oh, this again?” way that would have been humorous if not for the wicked-looking weapons the men had slung over their backs, some sort of combination of spear and battle axe. A few of them were examining the gear they had stripped from their captives with great interest. Thankfully, they weren't impressed by the guns, tossing them aside in favor of the knives, canteens, and lighters.
One man, standing slightly apart from the group, swept the area with a penetrating gaze. His eyes passed the thicket where Vala and Sam were, then flicked back, examining the bush more closely. Vala tensed and felt Sam do the same beside her. They waited with bated breath until the man continued his cursory search of the area. Apparently satisfied, he motioned to the waiting party and they headed off, guards frog-marching Daniel, Teal'c, and Cam between them.
Vala resisted the urge to jump out from their hiding place and attempt an ambush. Not only were she and Sam completely outnumbered, but they also had no idea whether more of the locals could be around. Beside her, Sam fumbled in one of her vest pockets and pulled out a compass. Peering back through the leaves, she took a quick heading as the last of the group disappeared behind the trees, then replaced the compass in her pocket and headed for the thicket entrance.
“What now?” Vala asked.
“We go after them,” Sam replied. “That party was headed due northwest and if we hurry, we should be able to follow them to wherever they're going.” She wriggled through the bush and turned to offer Vala a hand through. “Come on.”
“What about this thing?” Vala gestured to the device.
“I still have no idea what it is or if it's even operational,” Sam replied. “And we can always send someone back to check it out and negotiate with the locals. Right now, we have to rescue our team.”
She flapped her hand at Vala. Vala took it and crawled out of the thicket, standing up on the other side and brushing at her front. She followed Sam around to where the discarded gear was piled. Loading up with the weapons, they headed in the direction they had seen the locals take.
There were no discernible paths to follow, but they caught up with the group quickly enough, and the forest undergrowth gave them enough cover to keep the group in sight without being seen themselves. At times the undergrowth was dense enough to impede a clear view of the locals, which made tracking them much more dangerous. Nearly an hour into the slog, Sam almost stumbled directly into one of the rear-guard.
The sounds of a scuffle ahead slowed their steps, and they approached the noise with caution, unable to see what was happening. Ducking behind a couple of denser bits of vegetation, they attempted to figure out what was going on. From the sounds of it, one or more of their captured teammates had attempted escape. Cam, most likely, as the pitiful “Oww” that Vala picked up sounded like his voice.
Vala, a few yards to Sam's right, glanced over to share a sympathetic wince with her, only to catch sight of the guard standing just beyond Sam's cover. Sam was already in motion, rising to peer over the top of the shrubbery, and Vala thought frantically of how to stop her without giving her own position away. Thankfully, Sam's gaze drifted over to her at just that moment. Vala widened her eyes and made a slashing motion across her throat, shaking her head slightly. Sam frowned in confusion, but slowly lowered herself back to the ground. She threw Vala a questioning look, clearly trying to figure out what Vala's warning was for and what exactly she needed to do. Vala had no idea how to advise her of the situation. She once again made a mental note to learn the Earth military sign language she had seen Sam and Cam use. Making do with her own version, she pointed to the area just in front of Sam, held up one finger, and then drew it across her throat again. Then she made a motion with both hands as if pushing something down. Sam seemed to understand, as she gave a small nod and carefully crawled back into deeper cover.
A few minutes later, the group moved on. Vala kept an eye on the guard closest to them. Once he walked out of sight, she slowly counted to thirty before risking a peek to make sure that the coast was clear. She searched the area where Sam had disappeared and, unable to spot her, settled for a giving an “all clear” nod. Leaves shifted and a few branches pushed away and Sam crawled out from where she had hidden. She gave a silent whew of relief, which Vala echoed. Then they quietly set out after the group again.
Shortly thereafter, a trail swept into view through the trees off to their right. The group joined the path and continued to follow it deeper into the forest. Careful to keep their distance, Vala and Sam trudged after them. As they traveled on and the shadows grew longer, Vala could all but hear Sam calculating their growing distance from the Gate. It had been mid-afternoon when they found the device, but dusk was fast approaching by the time they approached the village that was their apparent destination.
The village was nestled in a shallow valley created by two large hills that rose precipitously out of the forest floor. The path they had been following sloped gently from the treeline down into the valley, branching into many roads and alleyways once it entered the village. All of the buildings were made of white clay and looked similar to the pictures of adobe houses Daniel had shown Vala. Some even had terraces on their roofs. As the group emerged from the cover of the trees and wandered down the path into the village, Vala and Sam ducked behind a large, fallen tree at the forest's edge. From their vantage point, they could see exactly where the guys were taken—a small building not far from the center of the town.
“What do you think?” Vala whispered.
“I'm not sure yet,” Sam answered, staring intently at the village.
Vala glanced around, noticing how the treeline curved from an apex where it met the village road—some distance from the village itself—to being almost flush against the buildings at the edges of the village near the bases of the hills. She tapped Sam on the shoulder and pointed to the hill off to their left, which was closest to the building where their teammates were being held.
“We should move over there,” she said. “Get a closer look.”
Sam looked in the direction she was pointing and nodded. “Good idea.”
Slinking back under the cover of the trees, they made their way around to the base of the hill. From the treeline there, they could almost look through the windows of the nearest buildings. One of the houses had a line strung from its eave to a tree at the edge of the forest. Pale robes made of the same thin material as the outfits the local men wore were strung up on the line, flapping gently in the breeze. Vala eyed the collection of P90s and pistols they carried.
“We should hide the boys' things here,” she suggested. “Can't waltz into a village armed to the teeth, it would give the wrong impression.” She patted the holster on her hip with a thin smile.
Sam glanced over her shoulder, back the direction they had traveled. “This area is the closest to the village, and we'll be coming back through here on our way to the Gate anyway, so this would be as good a place as any.”
Taking the extra handguns, they gathered up the rest of the weapons and tucked them behind a particularly wide tree, covering them with a few branches. Then they squatted at the treeline again, waiting for darkness to fall.
Once lights began to flicker to life in the windows, they set out. They kept to the edge of the village at first, working their way around to what Sam approximated to be the most direct route to the prison building. From there, they slowly drifted into the village proper. Vala kept a watchful eye, but they didn't meet anyone as they sneaked through the streets. In fact, they didn't have trouble of any kind until they reached the building they were searching for.
From their position in the shadow of an alcove, Vala took in the situation. There were only a few windows visible in the building's facade, and all but one at the front of the building were small and set high in the walls. There was only one door, and it was currently being guarded by four exceptionally large men. Vala and Sam shared a look.
“We won't get through them without a fuss,” Vala whispered.
“Which would wake up the entire town,” Sam agreed.
They examined the building, looking for alternate ways in or, at the very least, a way to distract the guards. Vala looked up at the roof and tugged on Sam's sleeve. She pointed up.
“The roof.”
Sam looked at where she was pointing and smiled. From where they stood, they could just make out the silhouette of a narrow rectangle at one corner of the roof, marking where there was access to the rooftop terrace from inside the building. Backtracking slightly, they cut down another lane that passed behind the building, scurrying across the roadway and back into the shadows.
Conveniently, there were no windows on the back wall of the prison. As Vala watched in bemusement, Sam pressed herself flush against the wall, an arm raised above her. Her fingertips were still about a foot or more below the ledge, too far for a jump—for Vala, anyway. Vala was contemplating how to get them both up to the roof when Sam shrugged off her pack and knelt in the alleyway to dig inside it. Pulling out a coil of dark rope, she looped it over Vala's arm, pulling it up to hang over her shoulder. Catching on, Vala grinned and nodded her understanding. Grinning back at her, Sam hitched up her pack again and braced one shoulder against the wall. She squatted slightly and cupped her hands between her knees. With the boost, Vala was able to get hold of the roof ledge and pull herself up onto it. There was nothing on the roof to use as an anchor for the rope, so Vala wrapped it securely about herself and lowered the end for Sam, who appeared at the roof edge a couple of minutes later.
Huffing slightly but grinning just the same, they drew their guns and, sharing a quick look, inched their way down the stairs.
The short hallway leading from the stairs branched left and ran, as far as they could tell, from one side of the building to the other. Halfway down, it branched right into a short track that ended at the front door. There were heavy wooden doors running down the left side of the main hallway, each set with a small, half-moon shaped window that was barred. There were no guards inside the building that either of them could see.
“Doesn't look like anyone expected company,” Sam breathed.
“Good for us,” Vala replied.
They silently made their way down the hall, peeking into each room as they went. At the next to last door, Vala spotted three forms inside the cell that looked familiar. She nodded to Sam, who quickly picked the lock and eased the door open.
“Anybody order a rescue?” Vala whispered with a grin.
She and Sam stopped in the doorway and gazed, open-mouthed, at what the light from the hallway revealed.
Daniel and Teal'c were bound to posts that ran from floor to ceiling on either side of the room. They had been stripped of their vests and jackets, and they blinked owlishly in the sudden brightness. Well, Daniel blinked owlishly; Teal'c squinted disapprovingly. Between them, hanging upside down, was Cam. He was bound and gagged, and had also been divested of vest and jacket. He was also missing his pants. The glare he threw at them clearly threatened vengeance if they said a word.
Vala and Sam looked at each other and turned away quickly, stifling giggles. Biting her lip to hold back the laughter, Vala moved into the cell and untied Daniel, Sam doing the same for Teal'c across the way. Then, together, the four of them managed to get Cam down without dropping him on his head. Sam pulled the gag out of his mouth while Daniel cut his bonds.
“Always with the pants,” she muttered, smirking.
“Not another word,” Cam growled.
“I told you to keep your mouth shut,” Daniel said.
“And you should not have attempted to overpower their leader,” Teal'c advised calmly, helping Cam to his feet.
“It seemed like a good idea at the time,” Cam said sulkily. He turned to Vala and Sam. “How'd you gals get in here? When we showed up, there were five or six guys guarding the door.”
“Roof,” they responded in unison, pointing at the ceiling.
“Nice,” Daniel said.
“We thought so,” Vala replied. She pulled the spare guns from her belt and passed them to him and Teal'c.
“We should probably get going,” Sam pointed out. “There aren't any guards inside that we could see, which means they'll probably be in to check on things soon.” She looked to the guys for confirmation.
Cam nodded, rubbing at his wrists. “One of them comes by and peeps through the window every thirty minutes or so.”
“The last check was only minutes before the two of you arrived,” Teal'c advised.
“Good,” Sam said, handing Cam a gun. “That'll give us plenty of time to get out of here and make a decent head start before they realize you're missing.”
“Think we could find my pants?” Cam asked as they moved into the hall.
As they made their way up the stairs to the roof, Vala whispered to Daniel.
“Any idea what we did that made them so mad?”
“Something about sacred grounds and trespassing,” he answered. “I'm not exactly sure about the details; they wouldn't really talk to us, and I had trouble with their dialect. I do know that they found our attempts to communicate offensive, which is part of the reason that McTalks-A-Lot up there got strung up by his feet,” he said, gesturing to Cam, who was ahead of them on the stairs.
Vala smothered a giggle.
The team quickly made their way off the roof, back through the village, and into the trees. The boys recovered their weapons and they began the long trek to the Gate. Cam took point, mostly, Vala thought, to be as far away from the snickers she and Sam couldn't quite contain as anything else. Their laughter soon subsided, though, as they cautiously cut cross country in the pitch black night.
It was still dark when they finally returned to where their long day had begun, but daybreak was only a few hours away. The far horizon had that faint glow about it that spoke of daylight. Vala tilted her head back and took in the wash of unfamiliar early morning stars while Teal'c dialed home. Once the Gate was active, they hustled through and found General Landry waiting for them on the other side.
“Welcome back, SG-1,” he greeted them from the control room. “We were beginning to get a little worried; you're several hours overdue.”
Though he seemed at ease, Vala could hear the strain in his voice and she was glad they were bringing him good news.
Then, as if suddenly taking in Cam's appearance, he added, “And where are Colonel Mitchell's pants?”
“It's a long story, sir,” Cam answered. “Permission to dress before the debriefing?”
“Please do,” Landry replied. “We'll debrief in an hour.”
Cam stalked from the room, head held high despite his lack of clothing and the barely contained grins of the guards at the doorway. Daniel and Teal'c shared a look and followed after him. Vala and Sam fell into step at the back of the line.
“Well that was a bit of a wasted trip,” Sam said.
“I don't think so,” Vala replied. “We rescued the boys, which gives us one up on them, and Cameron lost his pants again—”
“Which means he owes me a steak,” Sam cut in with a wicked grin.
“Really?”
Sam gave a small shrug. “We had a bet going.”
Their laughter continued to echo down the hallway until it was cut off by the elevator doors.
Rating: PG
Fandom: Stargate SG-1
Characters: Samantha Carter, Vala Mal Doran
Word Count: 4442
Categories: friendship, humor, action/adventure
Spoilers/Warnings: None. Can be read as occurring anytime S10 or after.
Summary: Written for the
sg1friendathon: "Sam, Vala. Saving the guys."Two hours into their expedition, Vala was fairly certain the team had tromped over at least half the planet in search of the errant energy pulse Sam kept picking up. The readings were strong enough to have piqued Sam's interest and frequent enough that she was able to extrapolate the general location of their origin. However, pinpointing the exact position wasn't possible due to the sporadic and varied nature of the pulses. Instead, they had to turn to searching the old fashioned way, legging it through miles and miles of forest and poking at every rock, bush, and tree along the way in the hopes of finding what they were searching for.
“Are you sure we haven't been here before?” Vala asked, studying a peculiarly gnarled tree that looked vaguely familiar.
“We've been circling the area where the energy signature is the strongest,” Sam answered, “tightening our loops as we go so that we'll eventually hone in on whatever is creating the pulses.” She threw a smile over her shoulder. “So, yes, we actually have been this way before.”
“No, no, it was definitely more like football,” Daniel said from behind her. “The 'soccer' kind.”
Vala and Sam glanced around to where Cam, Daniel, and Teal'c were following in their wake. Cam and Daniel had been in near continuous conversation since coming through the Gate, discussing the sport the team had discovered on their last off-world jaunt.
“I'm telling you, it was more like football, the American kind,” Cam argued.
“Except they couldn't use their hands,” Daniel countered.
“Exactly!”
“Which would make it like soccer.”
Vala looked at Sam and they shared an eye-roll. Cam's casual observation that the team rarely encountered sports off-world had opened the topic of discussion. Since then, Daniel had rambled on about the sports SG-1 had seen on other planets, the place of sports in the various Earth cultures that had bred the off-world variants, the history of sports, and so on. Cam, being Cam, had found enough of it interesting to stay engaged in the conversation, and so it had continued.
“Sports represent the solidification of the unity necessary to hold burgeoning societies together,” Daniel was saying. “Societies with sports have attained a level of unity that allows for both the playful and serious taking of sides as a means of entertainment and instruction. Sports provide an outlet for internal and external conflict resolution. They play a part in the stratification of society and in the preparation of youth for adulthood through activities designed to stimulate both physical and mental growth. Not to mention the ritual purposes of sport, from funeral games to being used as methods of selection for human sacrifice—”
Cam pinned him with an incredulous look. “Fun, Jackson. They're fun.”
“That, too.”
Sam took the opportunity to cut in. “I'm going to go check that area over there,” she said, frowning at the readings on her gadget and pointing off to their right. “Just stay here for a second.”
“I'll go check in the opposite direction,” Vala called after her.
Vala scurried off without waiting for a response, desperate to get away from the sports chatter for a few minutes. Checking under bushes and between tree roots as she went, she came to a small thicket some twelve feet across and about the same front-to-back. Squatting down, she carefully pushed aside branches, trying to see if anything might be buried in the undergrowth. To her surprise, the foliage fell away less than a foot in, revealing a pocket of sorts under the leaves—a pocket containing something that glinted in the few beams of sunlight her hole allowed in.
Vala circled the bush until she came across a small break in the branches. With a little bit of work, she cleared a path into the thicket and set about removing some of the overhanging limbs. Once the area was open to the sky again, she could see that there was definitely a device of sorts there. It made up the floor of the thicket, which seemed to have either been planted there deliberately, or had grown around the device over time. The top of the device was the color of old bronze, round and gently domed. Vala cautiously tested its sturdiness by bouncing a bit on the balls of her feet. Other than a few gentle creaks, it held firm.
Carefully making her way to the edge, she found footholds in the crooks of some of the thicket's lower branches and pulled herself up. Now head and shoulders above the leaves, she was able to see the others and be seen by them.
The boys were where she had left them, some fifteen meters away. Sam was about that same distance off to her left, though her position put her closer to thirty meters distant from the male half of their team. Vala drew in a breath and yelled across the space.
“Found something!”
Everyone turned in her direction, Sam shielding her eyes against the sun.
“Not enough room for everyone, though,” Vala called. “It's a bit cramped.”
There followed a quick round of charades as the two colonels communicated without being close enough to hear one another. Sam looked to Cam and pointed in Vala's direction, tilting her head in a questioning manner. Cam held up his hands and motioned her on, settling back against the tree stump he had found and turning to Daniel to pick up their conversation again. Daniel, however, was frowning.
“Are you sure you don't need help with translations or anything?” he called to Vala.
“I read Goa'uld just as well as you do, Daniel,” Vala reminded him. She saw him bob his head and mouth 'True'. “Besides,” she said, “I don't see any symbols or writing on whatever this is.”
That appeared to satisfy him and he nodded, relaxing again. “We'll just stay here, then,” he called back.
“That'd be great,” Vala answered with a grin. She dropped back behind the foliage as Sam wiggled her way into the thicket.
“Finally,” Sam sighed, sitting back on her heels. “If I had to listen to their sports talk for another two hours, I was going to snap.” She eyed the device beneath their feet curiously.
“I know what you mean,” Vala said, crouching down beside her. “Though I have to admit I find it the slightest bit interesting. I am one of the 'alien societies' Daniel's talking about, after all.”
Sam fixed her with a look not too different from the one she had just given the unknown device. “That's true,” she said. “It's easy to forget that you aren't from Earth.”
Vala nodded. “We did have sports where I grew up. More like games than anything. You know that one with the hammer-like things and the little arches you stick in the ground?”
“Croquet?” Sam guessed, frowning slightly.
“That one,” Vala confirmed. “We had something like that. We used our hands and rolled the balls instead of hitting them, but it was very similar to your croquet. And we definitely used it to 'establish a social hierarchy,'” she said, using a phrase Daniel had thrown out earlier.
“And you were at the top?” Sam asked knowingly.
“Of course.”
They grinned at each other, then set to work divining the purpose of the device beneath them.
Sam had always shown respect for Vala's hard-earned and scrappy knowledge of technology, and was a very patient teacher in helping Vala fine-tune her skills. As such, Vala enjoyed helping her with projects, each teaching and learning in turn as they went along. Perched on the mystery device, they worked together in harmony, passing tools back and forth and sharing murmured comments about the readings they were getting. Every few minutes, one of them would half-rise from her crouch, head bobbing up above the foliage like a cork, to check on the rest of the team.
When Vala did so some twenty minutes later, she executed a sort of double-bob, then sank back on her haunches and shifted closer to the bushes. Peering through the leaves, she could just make out the other three-fifths of SG-1 being rounded up by burly, sour-faced men in long tunics and pants.
“Damn,” she muttered under her breath.
Turning to look over her shoulder, she whispered Sam's name. Sam glanced up and, reading her expression, crab-walked over, keeping low, to glance through the hole in the thicket that Vala indicated.
“Damn,” Sam sighed.
“That's what I said,” Vala replied. “It appears the natives are restless.”
As they watched, two of the men finished tying Cam's hands behind his back with thin leather straps. Vala couldn't quite make out his words, but Cam appeared to be rapidly transitioning from “this is all a misunderstanding” geniality to “let us go right now” hostility, if his fading smile and growing struggles were any indicator. Daniel and Teal'c were similarly bound, their upper arms firmly grasped at either side by more of the locals. Even from where she was, Vala could see Daniel roll his eyes. Teal'c looked exasperated in an “Oh, this again?” way that would have been humorous if not for the wicked-looking weapons the men had slung over their backs, some sort of combination of spear and battle axe. A few of them were examining the gear they had stripped from their captives with great interest. Thankfully, they weren't impressed by the guns, tossing them aside in favor of the knives, canteens, and lighters.
One man, standing slightly apart from the group, swept the area with a penetrating gaze. His eyes passed the thicket where Vala and Sam were, then flicked back, examining the bush more closely. Vala tensed and felt Sam do the same beside her. They waited with bated breath until the man continued his cursory search of the area. Apparently satisfied, he motioned to the waiting party and they headed off, guards frog-marching Daniel, Teal'c, and Cam between them.
Vala resisted the urge to jump out from their hiding place and attempt an ambush. Not only were she and Sam completely outnumbered, but they also had no idea whether more of the locals could be around. Beside her, Sam fumbled in one of her vest pockets and pulled out a compass. Peering back through the leaves, she took a quick heading as the last of the group disappeared behind the trees, then replaced the compass in her pocket and headed for the thicket entrance.
“What now?” Vala asked.
“We go after them,” Sam replied. “That party was headed due northwest and if we hurry, we should be able to follow them to wherever they're going.” She wriggled through the bush and turned to offer Vala a hand through. “Come on.”
“What about this thing?” Vala gestured to the device.
“I still have no idea what it is or if it's even operational,” Sam replied. “And we can always send someone back to check it out and negotiate with the locals. Right now, we have to rescue our team.”
She flapped her hand at Vala. Vala took it and crawled out of the thicket, standing up on the other side and brushing at her front. She followed Sam around to where the discarded gear was piled. Loading up with the weapons, they headed in the direction they had seen the locals take.
There were no discernible paths to follow, but they caught up with the group quickly enough, and the forest undergrowth gave them enough cover to keep the group in sight without being seen themselves. At times the undergrowth was dense enough to impede a clear view of the locals, which made tracking them much more dangerous. Nearly an hour into the slog, Sam almost stumbled directly into one of the rear-guard.
The sounds of a scuffle ahead slowed their steps, and they approached the noise with caution, unable to see what was happening. Ducking behind a couple of denser bits of vegetation, they attempted to figure out what was going on. From the sounds of it, one or more of their captured teammates had attempted escape. Cam, most likely, as the pitiful “Oww” that Vala picked up sounded like his voice.
Vala, a few yards to Sam's right, glanced over to share a sympathetic wince with her, only to catch sight of the guard standing just beyond Sam's cover. Sam was already in motion, rising to peer over the top of the shrubbery, and Vala thought frantically of how to stop her without giving her own position away. Thankfully, Sam's gaze drifted over to her at just that moment. Vala widened her eyes and made a slashing motion across her throat, shaking her head slightly. Sam frowned in confusion, but slowly lowered herself back to the ground. She threw Vala a questioning look, clearly trying to figure out what Vala's warning was for and what exactly she needed to do. Vala had no idea how to advise her of the situation. She once again made a mental note to learn the Earth military sign language she had seen Sam and Cam use. Making do with her own version, she pointed to the area just in front of Sam, held up one finger, and then drew it across her throat again. Then she made a motion with both hands as if pushing something down. Sam seemed to understand, as she gave a small nod and carefully crawled back into deeper cover.
A few minutes later, the group moved on. Vala kept an eye on the guard closest to them. Once he walked out of sight, she slowly counted to thirty before risking a peek to make sure that the coast was clear. She searched the area where Sam had disappeared and, unable to spot her, settled for a giving an “all clear” nod. Leaves shifted and a few branches pushed away and Sam crawled out from where she had hidden. She gave a silent whew of relief, which Vala echoed. Then they quietly set out after the group again.
Shortly thereafter, a trail swept into view through the trees off to their right. The group joined the path and continued to follow it deeper into the forest. Careful to keep their distance, Vala and Sam trudged after them. As they traveled on and the shadows grew longer, Vala could all but hear Sam calculating their growing distance from the Gate. It had been mid-afternoon when they found the device, but dusk was fast approaching by the time they approached the village that was their apparent destination.
The village was nestled in a shallow valley created by two large hills that rose precipitously out of the forest floor. The path they had been following sloped gently from the treeline down into the valley, branching into many roads and alleyways once it entered the village. All of the buildings were made of white clay and looked similar to the pictures of adobe houses Daniel had shown Vala. Some even had terraces on their roofs. As the group emerged from the cover of the trees and wandered down the path into the village, Vala and Sam ducked behind a large, fallen tree at the forest's edge. From their vantage point, they could see exactly where the guys were taken—a small building not far from the center of the town.
“What do you think?” Vala whispered.
“I'm not sure yet,” Sam answered, staring intently at the village.
Vala glanced around, noticing how the treeline curved from an apex where it met the village road—some distance from the village itself—to being almost flush against the buildings at the edges of the village near the bases of the hills. She tapped Sam on the shoulder and pointed to the hill off to their left, which was closest to the building where their teammates were being held.
“We should move over there,” she said. “Get a closer look.”
Sam looked in the direction she was pointing and nodded. “Good idea.”
Slinking back under the cover of the trees, they made their way around to the base of the hill. From the treeline there, they could almost look through the windows of the nearest buildings. One of the houses had a line strung from its eave to a tree at the edge of the forest. Pale robes made of the same thin material as the outfits the local men wore were strung up on the line, flapping gently in the breeze. Vala eyed the collection of P90s and pistols they carried.
“We should hide the boys' things here,” she suggested. “Can't waltz into a village armed to the teeth, it would give the wrong impression.” She patted the holster on her hip with a thin smile.
Sam glanced over her shoulder, back the direction they had traveled. “This area is the closest to the village, and we'll be coming back through here on our way to the Gate anyway, so this would be as good a place as any.”
Taking the extra handguns, they gathered up the rest of the weapons and tucked them behind a particularly wide tree, covering them with a few branches. Then they squatted at the treeline again, waiting for darkness to fall.
Once lights began to flicker to life in the windows, they set out. They kept to the edge of the village at first, working their way around to what Sam approximated to be the most direct route to the prison building. From there, they slowly drifted into the village proper. Vala kept a watchful eye, but they didn't meet anyone as they sneaked through the streets. In fact, they didn't have trouble of any kind until they reached the building they were searching for.
From their position in the shadow of an alcove, Vala took in the situation. There were only a few windows visible in the building's facade, and all but one at the front of the building were small and set high in the walls. There was only one door, and it was currently being guarded by four exceptionally large men. Vala and Sam shared a look.
“We won't get through them without a fuss,” Vala whispered.
“Which would wake up the entire town,” Sam agreed.
They examined the building, looking for alternate ways in or, at the very least, a way to distract the guards. Vala looked up at the roof and tugged on Sam's sleeve. She pointed up.
“The roof.”
Sam looked at where she was pointing and smiled. From where they stood, they could just make out the silhouette of a narrow rectangle at one corner of the roof, marking where there was access to the rooftop terrace from inside the building. Backtracking slightly, they cut down another lane that passed behind the building, scurrying across the roadway and back into the shadows.
Conveniently, there were no windows on the back wall of the prison. As Vala watched in bemusement, Sam pressed herself flush against the wall, an arm raised above her. Her fingertips were still about a foot or more below the ledge, too far for a jump—for Vala, anyway. Vala was contemplating how to get them both up to the roof when Sam shrugged off her pack and knelt in the alleyway to dig inside it. Pulling out a coil of dark rope, she looped it over Vala's arm, pulling it up to hang over her shoulder. Catching on, Vala grinned and nodded her understanding. Grinning back at her, Sam hitched up her pack again and braced one shoulder against the wall. She squatted slightly and cupped her hands between her knees. With the boost, Vala was able to get hold of the roof ledge and pull herself up onto it. There was nothing on the roof to use as an anchor for the rope, so Vala wrapped it securely about herself and lowered the end for Sam, who appeared at the roof edge a couple of minutes later.
Huffing slightly but grinning just the same, they drew their guns and, sharing a quick look, inched their way down the stairs.
The short hallway leading from the stairs branched left and ran, as far as they could tell, from one side of the building to the other. Halfway down, it branched right into a short track that ended at the front door. There were heavy wooden doors running down the left side of the main hallway, each set with a small, half-moon shaped window that was barred. There were no guards inside the building that either of them could see.
“Doesn't look like anyone expected company,” Sam breathed.
“Good for us,” Vala replied.
They silently made their way down the hall, peeking into each room as they went. At the next to last door, Vala spotted three forms inside the cell that looked familiar. She nodded to Sam, who quickly picked the lock and eased the door open.
“Anybody order a rescue?” Vala whispered with a grin.
She and Sam stopped in the doorway and gazed, open-mouthed, at what the light from the hallway revealed.
Daniel and Teal'c were bound to posts that ran from floor to ceiling on either side of the room. They had been stripped of their vests and jackets, and they blinked owlishly in the sudden brightness. Well, Daniel blinked owlishly; Teal'c squinted disapprovingly. Between them, hanging upside down, was Cam. He was bound and gagged, and had also been divested of vest and jacket. He was also missing his pants. The glare he threw at them clearly threatened vengeance if they said a word.
Vala and Sam looked at each other and turned away quickly, stifling giggles. Biting her lip to hold back the laughter, Vala moved into the cell and untied Daniel, Sam doing the same for Teal'c across the way. Then, together, the four of them managed to get Cam down without dropping him on his head. Sam pulled the gag out of his mouth while Daniel cut his bonds.
“Always with the pants,” she muttered, smirking.
“Not another word,” Cam growled.
“I told you to keep your mouth shut,” Daniel said.
“And you should not have attempted to overpower their leader,” Teal'c advised calmly, helping Cam to his feet.
“It seemed like a good idea at the time,” Cam said sulkily. He turned to Vala and Sam. “How'd you gals get in here? When we showed up, there were five or six guys guarding the door.”
“Roof,” they responded in unison, pointing at the ceiling.
“Nice,” Daniel said.
“We thought so,” Vala replied. She pulled the spare guns from her belt and passed them to him and Teal'c.
“We should probably get going,” Sam pointed out. “There aren't any guards inside that we could see, which means they'll probably be in to check on things soon.” She looked to the guys for confirmation.
Cam nodded, rubbing at his wrists. “One of them comes by and peeps through the window every thirty minutes or so.”
“The last check was only minutes before the two of you arrived,” Teal'c advised.
“Good,” Sam said, handing Cam a gun. “That'll give us plenty of time to get out of here and make a decent head start before they realize you're missing.”
“Think we could find my pants?” Cam asked as they moved into the hall.
As they made their way up the stairs to the roof, Vala whispered to Daniel.
“Any idea what we did that made them so mad?”
“Something about sacred grounds and trespassing,” he answered. “I'm not exactly sure about the details; they wouldn't really talk to us, and I had trouble with their dialect. I do know that they found our attempts to communicate offensive, which is part of the reason that McTalks-A-Lot up there got strung up by his feet,” he said, gesturing to Cam, who was ahead of them on the stairs.
Vala smothered a giggle.
The team quickly made their way off the roof, back through the village, and into the trees. The boys recovered their weapons and they began the long trek to the Gate. Cam took point, mostly, Vala thought, to be as far away from the snickers she and Sam couldn't quite contain as anything else. Their laughter soon subsided, though, as they cautiously cut cross country in the pitch black night.
It was still dark when they finally returned to where their long day had begun, but daybreak was only a few hours away. The far horizon had that faint glow about it that spoke of daylight. Vala tilted her head back and took in the wash of unfamiliar early morning stars while Teal'c dialed home. Once the Gate was active, they hustled through and found General Landry waiting for them on the other side.
“Welcome back, SG-1,” he greeted them from the control room. “We were beginning to get a little worried; you're several hours overdue.”
Though he seemed at ease, Vala could hear the strain in his voice and she was glad they were bringing him good news.
Then, as if suddenly taking in Cam's appearance, he added, “And where are Colonel Mitchell's pants?”
“It's a long story, sir,” Cam answered. “Permission to dress before the debriefing?”
“Please do,” Landry replied. “We'll debrief in an hour.”
Cam stalked from the room, head held high despite his lack of clothing and the barely contained grins of the guards at the doorway. Daniel and Teal'c shared a look and followed after him. Vala and Sam fell into step at the back of the line.
“Well that was a bit of a wasted trip,” Sam said.
“I don't think so,” Vala replied. “We rescued the boys, which gives us one up on them, and Cameron lost his pants again—”
“Which means he owes me a steak,” Sam cut in with a wicked grin.
“Really?”
Sam gave a small shrug. “We had a bet going.”
Their laughter continued to echo down the hallway until it was cut off by the elevator doors.