Caveman

Chapter 1

During their first mission on P3X-186, SG-1 had made friends with the locals and stayed for three days in the village. The Garrec'hs were a simple people, mostly farmers and merchants in a somewhat medieval society. Daniel had been eager to learn more about them as he insisted they must have Celtic, or perhaps Norse ancestors. At first, SG-1 had thought the Garrec'hs had nothing more than friendship to offer, but that was before they had use for their healer.

On their way back to the gate, Daniel had fallen from a little cliff, injuring himself quite badly and his friends had feared the worst, refusing to move him in case his spine was damaged. Jack had sent Teal'c back to the gate to contact the SGC and ask for a medical team to be sent through immediately, only to see the villagers gathering around Daniel and interfere! Jack had been very pissed when no one had paid attention to him, even less obeyed his orders to leave Daniel alone. Jack had considered threatening them with his P90 but Sam had managed to dissuade him to, directing his anger at her, but she knew better than to be scared of him.

Orbald, the village leader, had sent for the local healer, who ordered the villagers to carry Daniel to his place. Jack and Sam had been completely ignored by the locals after that, the villagers would only listen to their wizard. At least, that's what Jack called him, because there was no other word for what the guy had done and it fitted well with his appearance anyway. He had the typical blue robes and long white beard required for the job. Jack could have sworn they would find a pointed hat in his hut if they were allowed to enter, but of course, they had been asked to stay outside while Daniel was in. Jack had been angry and tried to force himself into the hut, but the villagers didn't let him. They were friendly, but quite resolute that no one would disturb the wizard, and Jack had joined Sam, who was sitting on a fallen tree at some distance. They had both been waiting there in silence, worried that Daniel would be dead, or paralyzed for the rest of his life because some ignorant people would have wanted to perform a magical ritual on him instead of providing modern medical care. After about one hour and a half, even before Teal'c had returned with the medical team, Daniel had walked out of the hut, exhausted but completely healed!

At first, Sam had believed they had a sarcophagus, but there was really not such thing on the planet. She could not sense a symbiote in the wizard, and when Teal'c returned, he assured Jack that the wizard had not even been marked, so a healing device could not do the tricks either. Daniel had not been able to help uncover the mystery, as he had been unconscious most of the time in the hut, and he could only remember being treated with plants and potions.

Back at the SGC the docs had nonetheless declared him fit for duty, so SG-1 had been sent back to the planet to learn more about the Garrec'h's medicine, offering an exchange of "students" for a month's period. Young Dr Jerry Thompson had volunteered to stay and learn from the wizard, while Nalwynn, the wizard's apprentice, visited Earth and learned from Doc Fraiser.

After the exchange period was over, SG-1 geared up and accompanied Nalwynn back to her planet, where they were happy to find that Dr Thompson had been in good hands and felt he had learned much from his "master" during his stay. He had many plant samples for the labs to analyze, and knew how to use them to heal injuries and diseases. He was quite excited to go home and to set to work! The village had invited SG-1 and Thompson for a good-bye banquet to celebrate the friendship between the two planets, and for the safe return of Nalwynn with new knowledge from Earth. The banquet had however been shortened by heavy dark clouds promising a violent thunderstorm. SG-1 and Thompson rushed back to the gate before it would break. The storm was upon them and lightning flashes were illuminating the sky when the rain suddenly began to pour. The path became slippery with mud in a matter of minutes. Teal'c reached the gate first and secured the area while Daniel dialed up and Sam sent the IDC. Jack sent his team through while he waited for Thompson who had slipped in the mud and was pulling himself up. Jack helped him gather his samples bags and they jumped in the blue pool just as lightning struck the gate.

"Oh crap..." said Jack as he stepped out of the gate.

"What happened Colonel? Where are we?" said a slightly disoriented Thompson on his right.

"Nothing to worry about Doc, we've been sent to the wrong place. Again.." dropped Jack.

"Again?!" Thompson panicked. "Does that happen often?"

"Every now and then Doc. No need to panic. We'll dial home" said Jack. He climbed down the stairs of the gate toward the place DHDs usually stand. Only it was not there.

"Or not..." he noted. "Ah. That could be a problem"

"A problem? What kind of problem Sir?" asked Thompson joining him.

"No DHD" he said, looking around. "Nope. I don't see it. Have a look around Doc, see if you can find something"

The young doctor did as he was told. Fear started to creep inside him. That was his first mission, his first trip through the gate, but he had heard many stories from the others at the SGC, about aliens attacks, torture, implantation, and many many more scary things. But Colonel O'Neill seemed to be completely relaxed and have the situation under control, which helped the young man to calm down. They looked in the surrounding dry grass, and a little further at the border of a lush forest.

"This is strange Sir. The grass here is dry like in the African Savannah, and all of a sudden starts a tropical forest reminding me of the Amazonian one"

"Been in Amazonia, Thompson?" Jack asked.

"Why, actually yes. I worked one year in a lab there. We were studying the plants and how the locals used them as medicine"

"Right. Found anything?"

"Eeeh... As medicine you mean?"

"No, actually I was thinking of the DHD" pointed Jack.

"Sorry Sir. Nothing"

"Nice. Then we are stranded. Again"

"Excuse me Sir but... does that happen often?"

"Not that often Doc. But for some reason I seem to always be along when that happens. Come on, we have to establish a camp. At least it's not raining here, so we'll dry faster"

They established a camp at some distance from the gate. Although there was no footprints other than theirs around, it was better to be safe than sorry in case some Jaffa would decide to go through the gate just as they were there. It had happened before... They didn't see any sign of hostile life around either, but Jack decided they would keep watch during the night anyway. They built a fire and ate MRE rations for dinner.

"If Carter doesn't find something to get us back in the next 24 hours, we'll have to go for water. Our canteens will not last that long" Jack informed.

"Yes Sir" answered the young man in a somewhat depressed tone.

"Hey! We WILL go home. Don't you ever doubt that. Is that clear?" Jack shook him up.

"How do you know? We don't even know where we are ourselves!" cried Thompson.

"So what? You know how many times I've been stranded? Well... I don't even know myself. I lost track. But we always made it back, ready for the next time. Carter will think of something"

"You have a lot of faith in Captain Carter"

"Yep. If someone can find us, it's her" Jack casually informed.

"Good" smiled Thompson. Besides the horrible stories he had heard at the SGC, he had also heard rumors about Colonel O'Neill and Captain Carter, and the faith the Colonel displayed for his 2IC showed definitely that something was up. Oh, nothing inappropriate, of course. But something...

"Go to sleep Thompson, I'll take first watch"

It had been three days since they had been stranded. They had found a furious river at some distance, where they had filled their canteens before heading back to the camp, but now it was time to move on. The area around the gate did not offer shelter nor supplies, so they left a sign for an eventual MALP to find, gathered their gear, leaving Thompson's plant samples there until they established a more permanent camp.

"Follow the yellow brick road!" Jack cheered up, leading the way toward the river. Thompson followed, hiding a smile. He liked the Colonel and his total lack of arrogance and pretense. He had a reputation of being an insubordinate hot head, fearless and sometimes foolish, but he and his team had also attained the status of heroes because they always saved the day. Despite that, the Colonel was very laid back, although he was clearly an experienced leader at ease in the field. His childish humor helped to keep the whole situation somehow casual. Well, as the Colonel had said, it was close to casual to him to be stranded, and he seemed to have full control, he was clearly in his element. It felt safe to be at such a man's side and the young doctor hoped the Colonel would not be disappointed by his own inexperience.

They had reached the river, which was raging its way through red and yellow rocks. Unable to hear each other, O'Neill made a sign that they should go upstream. They came to a fork and chose to follow the calmer of the two streams into a valley, which soon appeared to be a dead-end with the river falling from the plateau over in a beautiful waterfall.

"Looks like we have to head back" said Jack.

"Yeah... Unless you think we could use one of these caves as camp Sir?"

"Caves? What caves?"

"Look up there Sir" Thompson pointed. "There seem to be some openings in the cliff. I think these could be caves"

"Well done Doc. They probably are. But how do we get up there?" asked Jack.

"Point taken Sir" answered the young man disappointed. The openings were at least 10 feet up and there was no way to climb there. But the Colonel was not done yet, he was looking around for some other openings, taking mental notes of the floated trees laying around on the shore, of the direction of the sun, of the rocks on both sides of the river. Thompson didn't dare to interrupt the obvious calculations O'Neill was making and he was holding his breath in expectation until the Colonel turned to him and said with a smile:

"You know, as much as I would like to avoid crossing that river, I think our new house is over there" Thompson followed the finger pointing toward a big boulder on the other side of the river. At first he couldn't see it, but then he noticed a dark hole behind the boulder and became as enthusiastic as the Colonel. It looked like the big boulder was hiding a large cave! Now, they just had to cross over, and it was not that easy. Although the water was warm and nice in the pockets where the current wasn't raging, the center of the river was definitely deep with a strong undercurrent. They decided to take a lunch break while they were thinking the problem over.

"Sir" started Thompson "It looks to me like the river sprouts with so much force from the plateau and down, that there's a chance there's a passageway under the waterfall. What you think?"

"I think it's worth a try. That waterfall is definitely strong and bowing from the cliff. Let's go have a look" said Jack, jumping on his feet.

Walking on the rocky terrain was definitely not easy. They needed a good 10 minutes before they reached the fall but Thompson had been right in his assumption and they managed to cross on the slippery rocks to the other side of the valley. From there, the terrain was much easier to walk and they were at the big boulder in no time. But their happiness was short lived when they realized that although there actually was a cave behind the boulder, said boulder was so big that it covered the entrance completely and they could not reach inside.

"Damn!" cried Jack frustrated. "This place was just perfect! Oriented South, cozy and all! Why did that sonofabitch of a boulder have to be so ridiculously large?!"

"Well Sir, if we somehow managed to... I don't know.. detach a part of that boulder, or move it just a little... " reflected Thompson.

"Yeah sure. Have you seen how big it is?" growled Jack.

"Yes, it's big, but it is also a kind of schist. See how the grain is following parallel lines? You can see the edges of the boulder are quite neat because it breaks in flat sheets. I'm sure if we find a crack up on the top and manage to coil something inside, a whole, flat block would pop out of the boulder"

"You sure?" asked Jack interested. "Look, the cave does not open from the bottom, it's a good 4 feet above the ground. Do you think we could pop a 3 feet thick block out of that and use it as a front step?"

"Well, if we find a crack at that width on the top, it's definitely worth a try" answered the young man eagerly while he started climbing.

"So what you see?" asked Jack from the ground.

"I don't think we can make the 3 feet thick block, but there's definitely hope for a 5 feet one"

"Oh my! That just won't be the same!" Jack complained heavily. Thompson had the indulgence to smile.

"OK then" Jack continued. "We'll go for a 5 feet one! What you need?"

"A big pole would be nice but the crack is only 2 fingers width..."

"Would that rock be OK?" asked Jack, lifting a triangular stone which could set as a wedge.

They tried the wedge, they tried a pole, they both jumped and pushed and banged, the boulder was not moving and they were growing tired as the afternoon was fading.

"Okay, that's enough!" roared Jack. "Grenade!"

He placed a grenade securely in a crack at the bottom of the boulder, attached a string to the safety pin and sent Thompson to hide behind a rock at some distance. Then, from the end of his string, he pulled the pin out of the grenade and ran like hell toward Thompson. The explosion sent the detached block up, then it landed flat and slid further toward the river before it came to a stop some 20 feet away from the boulder. Unfolding his arms from his head, Jack cast a glance behind and was quite satisfied with that he saw.

"Well, so much for a front step, but at least we got a picnic table! Come, let's take a look inside"

The opening left by the explosion was large enough for the two of them to stand side by side. The rest of the block was acting as a wall which would protect them from wind and rain but the opening between the cliff and the top of the boulder would allow smoke to get out. Inside was a large room, although the roof rapidly sloped toward the back of the cavern. A fairly large fallen stone, about two thirds of the way across the place, divided the place into two rooms. The little room behind the stone was incredibly dark as the light did not reach so far in, but it could be a good place for a bathroom when the river would be too cold to shower in. The schist provided flat surfaces and with some work they would have shelves and plane areas to sleep on. That was just perfect!

Evening was falling, Thompson organized their gear in the cavern while Jack went for firewood and water. They dropped a flat stone in front of the cavern to act as front step so it would be easier to come in and out, which Jack's knees were thankful for. They decided to keep watch during the night as they hadn't had time to look for tracks in the area, and wondered if the explosion had been heard by anyone around, if the planet was inhabited.

"Aaaah... Gosh!" complained Jack as he woke up. "I'm not spending another night on this stone floor! I'm gonna get some grass first thing when we get back here this afternoon!"

"Morning Sir" smiled Thompson. "I'm not gonna ask you if you slept well, the answer to that is quite obvious"

Jack glared at him as he extracted himself from his sleeping bag and painfully stood up.

"Wait til you are my age, young man! Then we'll talk again!" he said on his way out to find a tree and relieve his bladder. When he came back, he had the nice surprise to find Thompson preparing a trout on their picnic table.

"Hey! Where'd you find that beauty?" he cried.

"I figured I could try some fishing during my watch this morning. It looks like there's plenty of those in the river"

"Excellent!" spouted Jack in his best Burns imitation. His aching back was instantly better as he went back to the woods in search of branches they could spear the fish on to grill it over the fire. THAT kind of breakfast was scoring way over MRE standards!

Their day was spent in organizing the camp, retrieving the plant samples from the gate and leaving the coordinates of their cave for the rescue team to find them, cutting grass for mattresses, gathering wood and trying to catch more trout for dinner. They had not encountered inhabitants on the planet, nor seen signs that there even had been any, except for the presence of the gate.

In the forests and steppes that surrounded them, Thompson would sample the vegetation and use his skills to determine which plants could be used for food or medicine. Jack would set up snares for small mammals and birds, occasionally shooting down bigger game with his bow.

Jack had divided the surrounding areas into six zones, named after days of the week, and they would explore each of them in turn. The gate was in the Wednesday area, so every Wednesday, they would take the 45 minutes trip to the gate and search for any sign that someone had been there. Except for bird footprints, they never found a thing, so they added a stone to the message intended for the rescue team, and left to explore the area further. On their Sundays, they would stay at the camp and deal with what needed to be done there.

After three weeks of exploring and working, standing watch and sleeping on the hard stone floor (even with grass mattresses it was still hard), they were tired. Jack decided that they didn't need to stand watch anymore, as they had encountered nothing they could define as a threat, and they both needed their rest. Thompson was amazed that the Colonel never seemed to tire. He, who was much younger, felt like collapsing on his bed when they came back to camp after a day exploring, while the Colonel went on skinning the animals he had killed and preparing dinner, getting more wood, carving spoons and plates for them both, well, he never stopped! He never seemed to loose hope either. He kept saying over and over again that Captain Carter would find them, he kept insisting on visiting the gate each Wednesday to check that the messages they had left were still there. He kept planning and talking about the future. Thompson didn't believe anymore that they had a future. In his head, he would die as a caveman on this planet and no one would ever know what had become of them...

"Sir... What is the usual procedure at the SGC when... you know.. someone goes missing?" asked Thompson.

"They are trying all they can think of to get us back" said Jack softly.

"No.. I mean... What are the procedures... Official ones I mean..?"

"Like when do they declare us MIA?"

"Yeah... And when do they tell... our... families...?"

"Ah" posed Jack. "Well, General Hammond is the one who decides when we are MIA. Depends on what they have tried, and how long, and how difficult the remaining options are"

"And when we are MIA, what happens?"

"Then, Hammond gives a call to your family to let them know... Anyone waiting for you?"

"My parents. They must be desperate to know what happened to me... That was my first mission off-world, I've never been missing before" said Thompson obviously distressed.

"No girlfriend?" asked Jack in an attempt to lighten his humor.

"No. I'm not dating girls... "

"What you mean? You gay?"

"Oh no, no.. What I mean is... I had someone, but she died last year in a car crash. I kind of feel like I could never look at someone else. She was the One, you know?"

"... Yeah..." Jack paused, a flash of pain in his eyes. "What's her name?"

"Alice" the young man said while a glowing smile illuminated his face, showing so much love at the memory that Jack hurt for him. "What about you Sir?"

"What?" Jack jumped, afraid he had let his emotions about his own "One" show.

"Anyone waiting for you?"

"No"

"You must be kidding me now Sir?! You have friends don't you?"

"Well yeah... I guess my team's waiting for me. Hammond too I s'pose. But no family" The way he pronounced the last words prevented Thompson from asking anymore questions.

The young doctor was silently poking at his dinner and Jack knew exactly what was bothering him. He had been stranded often enough to know how the mind worked in that case: the boy was tired, and he didn't think they would make it. Jack was tired too, and his faith in a rescue was faltering now and then, but he would rather die than let his companion know that. As a CO, it was his responsibility to keep his people up, and the kid needed a distraction from everyday chores, so he would quit thinking too much.

"So, what did Merlin teach you?" Jack asked suddenly.

"Merlin Sir?" the young man wondered.

"Yeah, the wizard, you know, with the beard"

"Ah... Master Albereic'h?"

"Yeah. Whatever" Jack smirked.

"Well.. he did show me how to identify plants and find out how to use them, then he showed me how to cure wounds and diseases with the plants from his planet. A little like what I did in Amazonia, but he brought it to a much higher level. A wizard is actually a good description of him, I would say" he smiled.

"Yeah? Why don't you show me?"

"Really Sir?"

"Yeah. Never know how handy that could come if you got sick or something"

"That's a good point Sir. I'll try to teach you how to test plants tomorrow on our trip, and you could also learn to recognize what we find. I'll go and get my "Friday plants". If you learn those tonight, you might be able to recognize them on our trip tomorrow. Would that be OK?" the young man asked, more alive than he had been in the last few days.

"That would be very nice Doc" Jack agreed.

"Fine Sir, but then I would like you to teach me to set snares up and to prepare the skins of the animals you kill. I've seen you doing it but I would like to know more. I might have the use for that one day"

"You've got yourself a deal Son!" smiled Jack, shaking the young man's hand.

From that point, both men taught the other whatever knowledge they had about almost anything. One evening, Jack had just finished plaiting himself a hammock with creepers from the Wednesday tropical forest, and he was supervising Thompson who struggled with his own while the young man was teaching Jack how to prepare the ointment they used to protect their skins from the sun. They sat at their picnic table, chatting peacefully.

"Where did you learn all that Sir? I'm sure the survival courses the Air Force provides don't include how to prepare skins, use bladders as water pouches, plait hammocks, make soap bars from ashes, fat and... clay?, or use pine needles for tea, do they?" the young man asked.

"Well yeah, actually the pine needles tea is from the survival course, but the rest I learned from my grandparents. You see, I was pretty young when I lost my father, and my mother was working hard, she didn't have time to take care of me. She was afraid of what could happen to me if I kept hanging around with the bad guys on the Chicago streets, so she sent me to her parents. They lived in a small cabin in Minnesota. I'll take you there some day" Jack smiled, casting a sidelong look to the young man while he worked on mashing leaves on the stone table.

"You grew up in a cabin in Minnesota?" Thompson wondered.

"Yeah. It was a bit of a change for me to end up in the middle of the forest after a childhood in the busy streets of a big town, but I had my best boy years there. My GrandPa was a Norwegian, he was really a man of the outdoors. He loved hunting, fishing and making anything from wood. My GrandMa was from Mohawk descent and she knew all about cooking dried meat and fish, preparing soft skins and making clothes out of them. I loved running in the woods on moccasins back then"

"Really? That sounds like any boy's dream! But I thought you were of Irish descent?"

"Yeah, my father's father was. He had married a Scottish girl and they ran a hotel in Chicago. What about you? Where you from?"

"Ack... Nothing as exotic as you. British descent mostly, with one Irish grandmother"

"Hey, that makes us cousins!" Jack joked.

"Yeah sure" Thompson smiled. "So you grew up on dried meat and fish until you entered the Academy?"

"Nah! Come on Thompson! Growing up in a cabin doesn't mean being cut off from the world! We had a car, and later I got myself a bike. We used to go to town and sell what we made. My grandparents had quite a reputation in the area, and in the sixties that kind of knowledge was very popular. Once in a while, a flower-power-hippie-bus would bounce down the dirt road and the guys would ask my grandparents to teach them what they knew, before they went on and tried to live on their own in the Big Wild World. We had nice evenings chatting and singing by the campfire... I remember especially a nice couple who had stayed 2-3 weeks at our place. They left for Canada and several months later, we heard they didn't make it. That made such an impression on me that I learned anything I could about survival skills, no matter what..."

"Wow... do you know... what happened to them?" asked Thompson respectfully.

"Yeah. I know" Jack had no intent of telling more. The guy had been killed by a grizzly, and later on, the girl had starved for weeks before she killed herself by falling or throwing herself from a cliff. Their diary had been published in the local newspaper, along with a picture of the nice couple, smiling with flowers in their hair. He still had shivers when he thought about it.

Although it was very nice to have a companion, the two men were beginning to resent being stuck together 24/7. Thompson had definitely lost any hope of being rescued, and Jack was grumpy, at best. They were on their way to the gate for their Wednesday recon, when Thompson decided there was no point in doing that and insisted they explored another part of the Wednesday area. Jack wouldn't hear of it and they started arguing, until Thompson turned on his heels and made his way through the high grass, away from the gate.

"Thompson! Come back here this instant!" Jack yelled.

"Go to hell!" the young man yelled back.

"Come back here at once Lieutenant" Jack warned. Thompson stopped dead in his tracks and slowly turned back, clearly angry at the Colonel.

"You don't need to pull rank Sir. I respect you because you are a respectable man and I follow your orders because you have more experience than I have. But here we have been stranded for four months and I think ranks are a bit out of place in this situation. Colonel, Sir"

Jack was a big enough man to recognize when he went too far, and yeah.. the situation had not been a military issue and there was no reason to pull ranks, other than to force the other guy to do as he wanted.

"Right... I'm sorry. Look, why don't you call me Jack?"

"OK Jack. Call me Jerry" the young man agreed. He walked back to Jack, who was looking sheepishly at him.

"I guess we need a little space from each other, don't we? As much as I like your company, we are suffering from cabin fever here. I'll go to the gate and you... can go back to the camp do whatever you want, OK?"

"I suppose you are right, it would do us good to have some time for ourselves. But you know, I would really like to go and explore that area while you go to the gate. We've never been to that part of the tropical forest and I could find some new interesting specimens"

"I don't know Jerry, as you say, we've never been there before, I don't like the idea of you going there alone. Perhaps we'd better take alone time tomorrow, and I join you today?"

"No really Sir.. Jack. I'd like to go now, it'd be fun. I'll see you at the camp tonight"

"Alright. But come back before say... 4 o'clock OK? And take extra arrows with you" Jack said reluctantly, handing him arrows from his own supplies.

"Thanks. See you later" said Jerry as he resolutely walked away. Jack stood on the path until the young man had disappeared in the forest. Then he went to the gate, added a 16th stone to the pile showing how many weeks they had been stranded, and he visited his snares before he headed back to the camp, anxious that Jerry was alone on this unknown part of the area.

It was nearly five and Jerry hadn't showed up. Jack was worried sick and on his way to track the young man down. He reached the spot where he had last seen him, and ventured into the forest. It was one of those tropical kind of forests, high trees with bright green big leaves that stopped most of the light and gave the forest a cool and gloomy undergrowth. The soil was soft and nearly elastic, which made it difficult to follow Jerry's tracks. Luckily, further in, the vegetation creeping on the ground bore track of where Jerry's foot had torn leaves, broken sticks or disturbed the layer of dense moss over the black soil. Jack followed the track as fast as he could, calling from time to time, a very bad feeling creeping up his chest. Suddenly, the track stopped on the edge of a little cliff. Apparently, a piece of soil had collapsed under Jerry's weight and the kid would be down there. But it was too dark for Jack to see anything so he reached for his flashlight and directed it into the hole.

As the light reached the bottom, Jack heard a creepy rustling noise and perceived a metallic mass moving from the light, like millions of bugs... and as the bugs moved away from the light, Jack's heart sank in his chest when Jerry's body emerged from under them...

"Jerry!" he cried as he climbed down. "Jerry!"

He reached the young man, keeping the bugs away with his flashlight and searching feverishly for a pulse.

"Thank God!" he said when he found one. He tried to wake Jerry but he had obviously passed out. Jack pulled him up on his shoulders, keeping the bugs as far away as he could with the flashlight. A couple of them had hidden under Jerry and bit Jack when he reached under his legs, but apart from that they didn't attack. Jack struggled to climb back up to the forest with Jerry on his shoulders and he walked as fast as he could back to the camp. The fire was still going and he had warm water ready to wash Jerry's wounds. He then noticed that his ankle was broken too, which was probably why he couldn't manage to get out of the hole and had been overcome by the bugs. Removing Jerry's clothes, Jack was horrified to see that his body had millions of red, swollen bites everywhere. He reached for the ointment they used for insects bites, praying that it would be enough to heal his friend, although he feared the bites were poisonous, seeing how swollen and purulent they were. He decided to try different treatments on different parts of Jerry's body, then he mended his ankle before he tried to wake him up. Jerry obviously had a high fever and it was important to make him drink. Jerry woke up but was delirious and Jack could not get any help from him, neither to tell him what had happened nor to help with the appropriate treatment.

Comparing the results of the treatments he had applied on the different parts of Jerry's body, Jack ended up using a combination of their ointments for insect bites and sunscreen, and gave him brews to fight the fever. He worked through the night to keep his companion warm but not overheated, changing his dressings, mixing new plants for more ointments, waking him up regularly to be sure he was not in a coma. Jack feared he had internal bleeding but could not find the cause for that, as there was no apparent wound on his body except for the bites and the broken ankle. However, he displayed all the signs... In the morning Jack was exhausted and dozing when Jerry woke up. He was so weak that Jack was pained for his friend. He tried to give him water to drink but the young man smiled poorly.

"It's too late, I had too much poison, it's eating me inside, I'm not gonna make it"

"What are you saying kid! Your fever is down, you'll be alright!" Jack protested, panicking at the sight of a tiny blood drop leaking from the corner of his mouth.

"It has been an honor to be stranded with you Sir. I'm sorry I have to leave you alone now. I hope you find a way home. If you do, please, take my ashes back to my parents... Tell them... I had a happy life... I'll go to Alice now. Good luck Jack..."

"Oh God! Jerry no! No!" Jack cried. He lifted the head of the young man on his lap and cradled him, sobbing over the loss of the friend he had come to see as a son, and over the unbearable solitude his death was leaving him to.

After he had cried his eyes out, Jack was too exhausted and numb to act on the young man's last wishes at once. He removed his friend's dog tags and hung them around his own neck. Then he packed the body in a large skin Jerry had prepared to make himself new pants. He stayed at his side the whole day, then, toward the end of the afternoon, he managed to pull himself out of the cavern to go and gather as much wood as he could to build a pyre. The following day, he walked back and forth countless times, dragging branches through the wood or throwing them from the plateau down to the camp. As evening was falling, he finally laid Doctor Jerry Thompson on the top of the wooden pile, and ignited it. He stood, honoring his friend, until the pyre was consumed. In the morning, as the ashes had cooled down, he packed them up in a skin bag and wrapped the dog tags round the knot. Placing the pack in a dry place in the cavern, he could hear the Tin Man singing in his head:

"Just to register emotion, jealousy, devotion, and really feel the part

I could stay young and chipper, and I'd lock it with a zipper

If I only had a heart.."

Jack buried his head in his hands and whispered... "If I only had no heart.."

The following days were incredibly silent and lonely. Jack had grown used to Jerry's presence and help any time of the day. Now there was no one but absence. He had spared his friend's clothes and sleeping bag but they were as worn out as his own and he reckoned he would have to make himself new ones, as well as fill his food supplies in preparation for winter. He had no idea how cold it would be but in the 4 months they had been there, the seasons had followed Earth patterns for spring and summer so he could not expect to avoid a winter season. He would need less supplies and skins now that he was alone, but he would have to do all the work by himself and he would have to modify some of his methods. Hunting for example, had been easier when Jerry had stood in the wind to push the herds of antelope-like animals toward him. Now he would have to sneak up to them before he would be able to shoot them down. Of course, he had his P90 but he wanted to keep the ammunition for emergencies, so he decided he would only resort to it if he did not catch anything with his bow in the course of one week.

Days followed days, weeks followed weeks. He was now living, and looking, like a real caveman, he realized. His knife was not sharp enough to shave closely so he wore a 3-days stubble, and his hair had grown far past regulation cut. He was usually shirtless, as it was still quite warm and he spared his shirts and t-shirts for the cold season. His pants were completely worn out, so he had replaced them with skin leggings and loin cloths cut on the Native American model. He spared his heavy military boots for walking on the rocky shores of the river, and changed them for moccasins otherwise. The only remnants from his life as a 20th century Earth man were his sleeping bag, weapons and dog tags, plus the contents of his vest.

Time went fast with so much to do, and he kept himself busy to avoid thinking too much about his situation. Sometimes, he would despair, missing someone to talk to, and wondering if Carter would ever find him. But he realized that thinking of Sam was making things even worse as it bodily hurt to do so. He was missing her so much, even if nothing had ever happened between them he missed flirting with her, making her laugh, or smile, the way she looked at him, the connection he felt between them. She seemed to understand him without his having to explain anything, and they could communicate with their eyes. As time went by, he realized that Captain Sam Carter had taken a special place in his life. She was, as Jerry said, "The One", who made him feel he could never have this kind of connection with anyone else. Not that he had so many people to choose between on this God forgotten planet. Damn! He could even do with Hathor at that point! ... Or not... Nope... He was not THAT desperate yet.

Hunting was taking most of his time. First he had to find the damned antelopes, then sneak up to them without scaring them, and shoot one down. He tried to shoot young animals, as they tasted better and he didn't like to shoot females having fawns anyway. They were also easier to carry back to the camp. When he missed, he would have to find his arrow again. It was too difficult to make them right that he could waste them, but he did not always recover them and as his supply was beginning to get low, he suddenly remembered that Jerry's bow and arrows were still in the forest. He decided to go and retrieve them on his next Wednesday trip to the gate.

When he arrived there, he was looking for a new stone to add to the 26 others, when he suddenly stopped dead in his track. There, just at the bottom of the gate's steps, stood a MALP! He couldn't believe it! His heart started pumping hard as he run to the beloved robot and started jumping, singing, yelling and dancing around it! Breathing hard, he calmed down to try and see if he could find some footprint around it but it looked like the SGC had not come so far as to send the rescue team. He was not sure the MALP had seen his signs so he moved it to aim the camera toward them, and he hung his tags there too, just in case. He wanted to sit there and wait for SG-1 to step in, but he knew it could take some days before Hammond allowed the rescue if they didn't see his signs. So he went on with his task of retrieving the bow and arrows from the forest, his spirits were lightened with the hope he would not need them much longer now that the MALP was there.

Once in the forest, it took him some time to find his way back to the bug rift. But when he did, he could not restrain a cry of stupor. On the other side of the rift stood a little, square pyramid. It was well hidden by the luxurious vegetation around, but there was no doubt it was a human made construction, a temple of some sort. The first and only sign so far that the planet had been inhabited at some point, beside the gate itself. Jack was really excited, and after retrieving Jerry's weapons from the rift, he climbed on the other side to explore the construction further. The place was solid but completely dark and Jack didn't have his flashlight so he regretfully postponed the exploration to the next day.

As he left the forest to return to his camp, he nearly bumped into a herd of antelopes running his way. He had had no luck in finding them lately so this was his chance of some fresh meat. In their panic, the animals were jumping in all directions and as one of them passed just under his nose, Jack took the chase up, running all out to catch a young calf, jump on it and slice its throat. Panting, he rose to his feet and reached for a leather string at his belt so he could bind the legs together and carry his catch easily. Then he walked back to where he had dropped his bow, and, satisfied by his day, he slowly headed back home, unaware that he was being watched.

Since Colonel O'Neill and Dr Thompson had been missing on their way back to Earth, SG-1 had made numerous attempts to understand what had happened to them, and then Captain Carter had noticed the dark spot on the gate, witnessing of the lightning impact on the fifth chevron of the Garrec'h's gate. She had then run as many simulations as possible to try and understand how the energy overload of the gate would influence the traveling of the men who had been unfortunate to step in when the lightning stroke. Her calculations had given them a large number of possibilities, as she assumed that the extra energy would have sent the wormhole to a planet far beyond the initially programmed address. Assuming the wormhole had kept its direction, she had run an algorithm that gave them a list of possible planets on the wormhole's line, and it had taken them many months to explore these.

Some of the planets had been inhabited, and the SG-teams had to make sure that the locals were not lying when they said their friends had not visited them. Many times, the SG-teams felt they had to make sure the two men weren't indeed prisoners or killed by the locals, some of them being very hostile cultures. Several members of the rescue teams had ended up in the infirmary during their mission, and after Captain Carter had once more nearly been killed, General Hammond drew the line. He declared both men MIA and refused to send any more teams through the gate as long as Sam had not completely recovered from her injuries. Senator Kinsey had complained that so many resources had been spent on only two men and pressed the President to order a return to normal operations at the SGC. Therefore, General Hammond had had to follow his orders and left it to SG-1 to find a way to save the missing men.

Daniel was absolutely pissed when he heard that. Sam was still in the infirmary after a staff weapon wound in the thigh, which would require several weeks of therapy for her muscles to recover completely. She was very frustrated to be forced to rest, and especially, that her wound would be the delaying factor in the rescue process. But Hammond could not allow them through the gate on rescue missions anymore. They had to come up with a plan to continue their quest without the Joint Chiefs questioning their actions. Daniel proposed that they would continue their negotiations with the Garrec'hs and lead rescue missions from there. After all, O'Neill and Thompson had gone missing after stepping through their gate... Six months after the men had gone missing, Captain Carter sent a MALP through the gate while she overloaded it by feeding the gate with an energy beam comparable to the energy from the lightning strike.

"We are receiving a signal, Captain Carter" said Teal'c.

"Telemetry readings indicate that the planet where the MALP has landed is not in the direction we expected" wondered Daniel while he surveyed the screen of Sam's laptop.

"Oh my God!" Sam cried. "The planet is at the exact same distance as between P3X-186 and Earth but on the diametrically opposite direction. It would appear that the lightning stroke reversed the wormhole instead of sending it past Earth! Why didn't I think about that!?" she blamed herself.

"We've got a visual!" exclaimed Daniel eagerly.

"It appears this planet is not inhabited" observed Teal'c soberly. "The DHD is missing"

"If the Colonel has been stranded on that planet, he couldn't have dialed home. That makes sense..." Sam analyzed. "Let's see if we can find any signs of their presence there. Daniel, could you drive the MALP around please?"

"Yeah, sure!"

After the regular sweeping of the area, Daniel tried to point the camera down to the ground and they found a pile of stones, definitely human made, together with a typical SGC distress flag. The three SG-1 members shouted in victory and hugged each other in relief! They had found them!

Daniel tried to drive the MALP around again to see it they could locate the men, but they knew the Colonel would have established a permanent camp somewhere else and did not worry further. They shut the wormhole down and dialed the SGC to return to Earth, report to General Hammond and prepare the final rescue mission.

When they stepped through the gate, they rushed to the distress flag to find the message O'Neill had left them. They hid their gear in nearby bushes, keeping only their personal backpacks on for the walk. Teal'c noticed many footprints around the gate and Daniel pointed out that the MALP had been moved. Sam noticed the dog tags hanging in front of the camera, and her heart jumped with joy when she read Colonel O'Neill's name on them. They began their trip toward the coordinates indicated on the message, and after only a few minutes, they scared a herd of antelopes which run away from them. Observing the graceful animals, SG-1 discovered the planet was inhabited by a primitive people. They had spotted a man hunting down the animals, catching one of them after a short and wild chase. The man was athletically build, his tanned chest showing strong muscles. His skin leggings and moccasins-like shoes made him look like a Sioux, although his hair and beard were brown. After he had secured his catch on his shoulders, he walked back to retrieve his bow and arrows, then, he slowly walked away.

"Wow. That was impressive... Did you see how he caught that deer?" Daniel exclaimed.

"Yeah... He certainly was a sight. Do you think he was alone?" Sam asked her companions.

"I can not see any one else, Captain Carter. I think it's safe to continue our journey, although we should beware of the hunter. It looks like he went in the direction indicated on the message" Teal'c pointed out.

"Do you think Jack and Thompson would have settled in a local village?" Daniel wondered.

"Yeah, it's very likely" Sam reflected.

As they suddenly caught sight of the hunter again, Sam signaled them to hide. Unfortunately, Daniel stamped on a branch, which cracked under his foot. The hunter made an immediate 180° turn and arming his bow, he scrutinized the forest edge for long minutes before he resumed his walk.

"Sorry 'bout that" Daniel whispered. Sam made a sign for him to remain silent for a good five more minutes, until the hunter was out of sight.

"It's not your fault Daniel, but I'm sure this guy is a wonderful hunter and he would spot us at once if we are not careful. We'll stay put until dark. Lets move over there so we are not on the path anymore, and we can have a snack while we wait. Keep quiet, in case other hunters come back the same way"

Jack had heard a crack in the forest he had just left. He took his time to study the vegetation to see if anything moved. From the sound of it, the branch that had been cracked was relatively thick, which required an animal of a certain size to crack it. Jack found it strange that such an animal would stay put while he walked by. But when nothing moved, he decided that perhaps, a rotten branch had fallen down, and he resumed his walk, although he kept his senses on alert.

Once home, he opened the animal's belly to empty the rumen and the guts. Then, he carefully skinned the beast and put the main part of the meat to dry while one of the legs was roasting and potato-like tubers were cooking under the ashes. The night was falling and he became suddenly alert. There was something wrong going on: the forest, which usually was filled with singing birds at dinner time, was completely silent tonight... Feeling observed, he continued to prepare his meal, although he moved the meat aside so it would not burn in his absence. Then, he grabbed his bow and pretended to leave the camp by climbing up to the plateau. Jerry and he had managed to make a rope ladder from creepers, and from the plateau, he would be able to see any intruder, and take them from the rear if necessary.

As night was falling, SG-1 sneaked up toward the hunter's camp. They could see his fire, and observed him working on his catch in the twilight of the evening. After a while, a soft breeze brought them the delicious smell of grilled meat and all of them thought with frustration that their own dinner would consist of cold MRE rations... Suddenly, they lost sight of the hunter, until Teal'c spotted him climbing up the cliff at a surprising speed. When they were certain that he was gone, they crept carefully to his camp, hoping to find the Colonel and the Doctor there, probably prisoners in the cave where they had seen the hunter disappear several times while they were watching him. Sam led the way and Teal'c watched their six. Everything was silent and Sam's heart was pounding hard as she wondered if they had come too late. The cave was at the exact coordinates indicated on the message... And true enough, they found SGC sleeping bags and weapons in the cave. There was no doubt that their friends had been there! But where were they now, and what kind of relationship did they have with the hunter?

From his hiding place on the plateau, Jack couldn't believe his own eyes. Down at his camp, three silhouettes were approaching his cave, holding weapons looking very much like P90s and moving very much like Earth soldiers. The first one had strikingly light hair. And the last one had the unmistakable stature of a big Jaffa. Could this really be his team? Was SG-1 really there? Or was he losing his mind to hallucinations from too much loneliness? He had dreamed this moment for so long... He could not make himself believe it was true. His heart was pounding hard at the sight of the beloved silhouettes creeping up to his camp. He decided to take the chance to rely on what he saw, and began a frantic run down to the valley. When he arrived, the silhouettes were nowhere to be seen, so Jack made a careful approach, sneaking up to his cave. He heard voices from inside and felt his legs turn to jelly. He took a moment to regain his spirits, and walked up to the entrance.

There was Teal'c, keeping watch, although he was looking inside and did not see him coming before he was just in front of him.

"Teal'c" said a shivering but known voice. Teal'c turned suddenly and came face to face with the hunter. In the dim light, he could not make out the facial features, but the intense eyes were enough to confirm what the voice had told him.

"O'Neill" he said. Sam and Daniel rushed out of the cave and gaped at the sight of the hunter.

"Jack?" Daniel uttered, uncertain.

"Sir!" Sam confirmed, reaching for him. Jack grabbed her in a hug, soon joined by Daniel and Teal'c. Overwhelmed by his emotions, Jack was both laughing and sobbing while he hugged his friends with all his strength.

"Guys... You really here?! I can't believe it!" he said between sobs. Both Daniel and Sam were crying too, gently patting his back, and Teal'c did his best to keep his eyes dry.

When everyone had come to his senses, Jack put the meat back on the fire, added some more tubercles under the ashes and they updated each other with the events of the past six months while they waited for dinner. Late in the night, they decided it was time to get some sleep. As Jack assured them there was no need to stand watch, they all sacked out in the suddenly small cave, but Jack wouldn't have traded the feeling for anything in the world. Between the sleeping platforms with dry grass and the hammocks, there was plenty of room anyway. From his hammock, Jack couldn't make himself close his eyes, afraid that it all was a dream and that his friends would be gone in the morning.

Daniel was eager to explore the temple Jack had found before heading back to Earth. Jack packed his stuff. Then they met up at the gate for the scheduled radio contact with the SGC. When Jack's picture showed on the screens of the control room, a roar of victory from Earth came through the MALP and made SG-1 smile.

"It's good to see you well Colonel" said Hammond soberly after the personnel gathered in the control room had calmed down.

"Good to hear you too Sir. I'm looking forward to going home"

"I can understand that Son. How is Dr Thompson?"

The smile vanished from O'Neill's face, then he answered. "He didn't make it Sir. He asked me to take his ashes back to his parents"

There was an odd silence in the room before Hammond answered: "I'm sorry to hear that. You will tell us all about it when you are back. When can we expect you?"

Captain Carter took over: "Colonel O'Neill found a little temple 15 minutes from here. It is apparently the only sign that the planet was once inhabited, aside from the presence of the gate itself. We would like to explore it before we leave Sir. We expect it to take no more than three hours. Then, we have to connect the portable DHD and hopefully it will work at once"

"Fine Captain. We will keep the lights on for you. Hammond out"

The temple was indeed very small. A short corridor led to a single, simple room, which was infested with the same bugs as those who had killed Jerry. Chasing them away with their flashlights, SG-1 looked for any signs from the temple builders, but didn't find any.

"That's very strange Jack!" said Daniel. "I've never seen a temple without at least the name of the god it's been built for on it. It doesn't make sense..."

"Well yeah, I'm sorry Daniel, it looks like the people who built it were all for the minimalist style. Can we go now?"

"I must agree with Daniel Sir, it doesn't make sense to build a temple and leave no sign about its function" Sam agreed.

"I have never seen such a thing O'Neill" the Jaffa supplied.

"All right all right. Let's have a look on the outside then, but you know, on Earth there's many buildings and temples without writings on them. It should be OK to stumble upon one of those when we are off-world too" said Jack on his way out.

The external walls were heavily carved with square motifs that reminded Jack of the Mayas. Or the Incas. He could never tell the difference. He just knew it looked like the one in Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. He could only hope this one was not booby trapped.

Daniel was getting frustrated. He couldn't make sense of this joke! Sam had noticed a strange stone in the middle of the tile floor inside the temple, but they didn't find any mechanism to lift it, and it didn't seem to be connected to anything else. The carvings outside didn't explain anything either, and Daniel just knew Jack would call an end to the mission any moment now.

"Danieeeeel! I haven't had cake for SIX months. Let's go"

"There! I just knew it!" cursed Daniel under his breath. Some things never changed...

"Oh come on now! We've been here for 2 hours, and we didn't find shit. Let's go back to the gate! You can come back here whenever you want to study that damned temple! In the meantime, you can sit in your lab and think of something to open that tile in the floor, you can even find an explanation in one of your books, but let's go back NOW!" Jack argued.

"All right all right..." dropped Daniel, giving in. "I've got it all on tape anyway.. We can go"

"THANK YOU!" said Jack, turning his heels to him and making his way toward the gate.

"Sir" Sam called. "I suppose you have explored all the area around here. Is there any other... tropical forest?"

"Nope, only this one. Why?"

"Well, don't you think it's strange, this rather humid kind of vegetation in the otherwise quite dry area?"

"Yeah, Thompson mentioned that too. Probably an underground spring or something like that"

"I wonder if the temple has something to do with it..." Sam reflected. "And I find it very strange that the DHD is missing from the gate. I've looked around, there is no sign that there ever has been one"

"We didn't find anything of the kind either" Jack agreed. "We have to assume that the people who left it here had some other means of dialing the gate up"

"Mmm.." Sam answered. "That is just so strange... Like nothing we have seen so far"

"I agree Captain, but now I want to go home. Show me your stuff!" Jack smirked. Sam smiled back and began to connect the portable device to the gate.

After the MALP and the cart carrying their gear had disappeared into the blue pool, Sam closed the weatherproof case containing the portable DHD, and the four of them stepped through the gate. On the other side, they were welcomed by a cheerful applause from all SGC personal. In his Native American outfit, Jack made a strong impression on his fellow airmen and officers, as it said more than any word about the life he had lived in the last six months. Respectful silence fell in the room as SG-1 walked down the ramp and Jack presented General Hammond with young Thompson's ashes. Flags were raised, all the men and women saluted, and Taps played in the background.

First thing after Doc Fraiser had released him, Jack had showered in warm water, with soap and shampoo, shaved with shaving foam and a sharp razor, dressed with fresh clothes, and got himself a hair cut. He felt like a new man! They still had two hours before debriefing, so there was time for CAKE and COFFEE! What more could a man ask for... Well, he knew exactly what more he could ask for, and that's what he was on his way to do when he stepped into Sam's lab to ask her to join him for lunch. She looked up and smiled before she said yes, and now Jack was perfectly fine.

"Excellent!" he cried out happily.

"It's good to have you back Sir" she indulged. "We've missed you"

"Well, I missed you too Carter. You have no idea..."

They smiled knowingly to each other and made their way to the commissary.

After a long debriefing, General Hammond dismissed SG-1.

"You must be eager to go home Jack. Your report can wait until tomorrow" he said.

"Thank you Sir, but there's still something I need to do"

"And that would be?" the General asked.

"I must talk to Thompson's parents Sir. I made a promise"

"Of course. You can use the phone in my office"

"Thank you Sir. Has everything we came back with been decontaminated yet? There's some of his stuff in there too, that they should have"

"I will have it checked out while you make your call"

"Thank you Sir"

It was never an easy task to make that kind of phone call, but it was a part of the job as a leader in the Air Force, and more than that, Jack had made a promise to a friend and he intended to keep it. Thompson's parents were of course devastated to learn about their son's fate, but they were happy to know someone had been there for him, and to learn about his last months stranded on "an island in the Pacific", of his smiling last words to them, and that Jack had brought the ashes back with him. There would be a military ceremony, and Jack would give them the items Jerry had carved for them. When he dropped the phone back in its cradle, Jack felt that both Jerry's parents and himself had found peace at last.

TBC...

Thanks to Schatze8210 for helping correcting my mistakes!