[PTeppic]

Reel 1

The members of SG-1 all looked in concern at Teal'c as he continued, "I have come across stories amongst the most loyal Jaffa of a place such as this. The planet is called Stan'es'tam.

"The location of this planet is known only to the highest ranked System Lords. Upon discovery of a shol'va in their midst, instead of immediate death, they may be despatched to this planet. As a demonstration of the power of the System Lords, the shol'va would then be tracked down and hunted for sport upon this world."

"Are you saying this is some sort of giant hunting ranch for Apophis and his pals?" asked Jack.

"In all my time among the Tau'ri, O'Neill, I did not determine that such a practice was in use upon your world."

Daniel interjected: "Ah, no, Jack means that we used to hunt animals this way - it's called a safari."

"Indeed?"

Sam spoke. "Well if we're the game, where are the hunters? There doesn't appear to be any sign of Goa'uld activity at the moment. Maybe there's nobody home?" She looked back at the DHD. "I don't know how much a runaway Jaffa would know about D.H.D.s, but I may be able to figure out some way to bypass the missing glyph to dial out."

Jack nodded, "Get to it."

Sam moved down to the DHD, and knelt down, removing a panel at the base of the plinth. A few moments later she was deeply engrossed in the innards of the dialling device. Daniel turned to Teal'c, "So I guess we are safe here as long as the System Lords don't know we have been trapped?"

"That is not so, Daniel Jackson. There are many ways in which the System Lords would lure the shol'va to this planet. Most often they are lower ranked Goa'ulds. A Jaffa would normally be tortured and then killed."

"Present company excepted of course," cut in Jack.

"Indeed, I have caused Apophis and the other System Lords great offence by joining with the Tau'ri," said Teal'c.

"Nice to feel wanted."

"Indeed. If a Goa'uld was attempting to undermine the System Lords, they would lay false trails describing a wealthy planet that was not yet under Goa'uld control. When the shol'va arrived, they would find themselves here. The System Lords would then arrive with only their most loyal retinue, for the hunt. It would commence only when the quarry arrived."

"So, you're saying this place detects when the hot-head snake-head arrives?" asked Jack. "Aren't we okay - we're not Goa'uld..."

"Ah, Jack - Teal'c's larval symbiote is!" Daniel reminded him.


"However, I believe no person arriving here would escape detection." He pointed into the grass about 30 yards away. The others looked, but could not see anything. The puzzlement was evident on their faces. Teal'c lowered his staff weapon, and clicked it open. Before the sizzle of energy had ended, a shot burst out and destroyed a patch of grass-land at the end of his gaze. Sam looked up from below the DHD. "What's up, Teal'c?"

"As you can see, Major Carter, our presence has not gone undetected."

The smoke settled, and on a short, slim stand was a device looking similar to a Goa'uld communications ball. It was entirely undamaged. Teal'c pointed at several otherwise indistinguishable patches of grassland in a circle around them. "There are six other devices around the Stargate. There can be no doubt that our presence has been discovered."

"Especially now you destroyed that one!" yelled Jack. "You could've just pointed!"

"On the contrary O'Neill - these devices absorb the energy from Goa'uld weapons. It has not in fact been damaged. Any Goa'uld who arrived on this planet would undoubtedly possess a ribbon device. This device must withstand such an attack."

Sam interrupted before the clearly annoyed Colonel O'Neill could speak. "Do you know which System Lord will be monitoring these sensors?"

"I do not. The location of this planet is a closely guarded secret. Only the most powerful System Lords such as Sokar, Heru'ur, Cronus and Apophis would know of its existence."

"Oh great," muttered Jack, calming down, "all our old friends!"

Daniel looked at Sam. "Why didn't the M.A.L.P. or U.A.V. pick up these things? Aren't these the sort of things it's looking for?"

"Probably for the reason we didn't see them, Daniel. If these devices operate in a passive mode, and only transmit when life signs are detected, neither the M.A.L.P. nor the U.A.V. would have found any signal worth reporting. The high levels of naquadah in the soil could also have masked their presence."

"So now we've all said that," continued Jack, "why don't we just get outta here before the bad-guys show up?"

"I do not believe that will be possible, O'Neill."

"Yeah well - we've been through places like this before! Carter - how're you doing with the DHD?"

"Could be a while, Sir - I'll have to re-configure the dialling glyphs so that one of the unused ones acts as the point of origin. It's not something we've ever considered before."

Daniel chipped in: "Sam - why don't we just use the stored charge to dial out manually - like you did on the Beliskner to escape the Replicators?"

"It wouldn't work Daniel - only the charge from the outgoing wormholes builds up like that. That's why we couldn't just dial out manually from Hadante prison."

"So get back to the DHD, Major - we've got guests coming." Jack took charge again.

"I'm on it sir." She returned to her work below the DHD, and was again quickly enveloped in the alien device.

"Teal'c - how long do we have before our visitors turn up?"

"I do not know. The Goa'uld are most likely to travel by Teltac. This will provide greater manoeuvrability during the chase."

"So that gives us what - maybe a couple of hours?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Daniel - use the gate, figure out the point of origin for Carter. Teal'c!" He pointed to the F.R.E.D.

As Daniel began examining the Stargate, decoding the address for the return journey, Jack and Teal'c began checking the stores on the F.R.E.D. The mission had been equipped for reconnaissance and a mineral survey, though military prudence had still included sufficient armaments to set up a suitable defensive position. They un-shipped the inventory of Claymores, grenades, and spare clips for the MP5s and M9s. Whilst doing so Teal'c continued the conversation.

"Colonel O'Neill - will not General Hammond attempt to make contact if we do not report back within 12 hours?"

"Yeah - that's normal procedure. The mission brief is six hours, add six for emergencies, so about twelve hours - yeah. Why?"

"Then should we not await General Hammond's communication."

"If I only had a brain, Dorothy!" Jack exclaimed suddenly, slapping his own fore-head. "Even if Carter can't fix the DHD we can still get home with a Naquadah reactor! As soon as Hammond dials in, we ask him to send us a reactor and we can power our own way outta here! All we have to do is hang on for another..." he looked at his watch, "eleven and a half hours."

Pulling an indeterminate expression he cocked his MP5, swung round and lined up on the exposed detection device. Pulling the trigger Jack let of half a dozen rounds of automatic fire, startling Daniel and Carter. Teal'c merely looked puzzled. Jack smiled, as they realised the device was now in fragments. Yet again the more primitive ballistic weapons of the Tau'ri were superior to Goa'uld energy technology. He broke into a grin, "Superior technology, hah! Strike one to the away team!"

Daniel interrupted his reverie. "Er, Jack, Teal'c - you might wanna look at this." He was standing behind the Stargate, looking worried. As they approached he pointed at the back of the gate. There were several ragged holes in the outer casing of the gate, deep burn marks seared into the metal of the gate itself. Several sections of what could only be the gate's mechanism were clearly missing.

"Holy...! Oh Carter," called Jack, "you'd better get up here!"

"Sir?" she replied, getting back to her feet, and walking towards the others, looking excited. "I think I've got it. Whoever disabled that DHD didn't know too much about what they were doing - I should have it working again in about an hour... oh!" She stopped, shocked, reaching the others.

"Whereas whoever did this had no idea at all?" asked Jack.

"Er, no sir. I'm guessing that's the part of the mechanism for dialling out that's been damaged. The sabotage is very specific. It would have to allow the gate to function correctly for incoming wormholes, but prevent outgoing ones. The changes to the DHD only needed to be superficial. Sir, even if we had a power source, this gate cannot dial out!"

Jack looked at Teal'c. "I don't suppose there's going to be a second gate somewhere on this heap of rock?"

"That is most unlikely, O'Neill."

"Okay campers - what've we got? MP5s, zats, Claymores, grenades, and a couple of hours head start on the hunters, assuming they are coming. Ideas?"

"Er, Jack - it had better be fast." Daniel interrupted, pointing away to the distance.

As they watched, two specs grew larger in the pale crimson sky, until they were clearly visible. Death gliders.

[ ADVERTISEMENTS ]