We're going on a bear hunt.
We're going to catch a big one.
What a beautiful day!
We're not scared.
. . .
Sam thought that had been too close for comfort as she wrung the last of the water out of the rope. It felt like her heartbeat was just getting back to normal. Casting a look at the river, she saw it looked normal again and the only sign of the flash flood was the still browned water.
Underbrush crackled and she looked from beneath her cap brim to see Teal'c push through the willow-like trees back to where the rest of the team was waiting. Teal'c was in dry clothes now and carrying his wet field pack in one hand and still dirty staff weapon in the other.
"You okay Teal'c?" Sam critically eyed Teal'c with concern. The first aid she could offer Teal'c as the designated medic was small considering his enhanced alien constitution, but she would do what she could—and what he would let her.
"I am fine MajorCarter." Teal'c set his field pack down beside the pile hers, the Colonel's, and Daniel's field packs made. Kneeling, he opened up the field pack he had just set down and pulled out the cleaning kit.
"None of the dirty water got into your pouch did it?"
Teal'c gave a single shake of his head. "My prim'ta is unharmed."
"Good." Sam was relieved as she packed the rope away.
Teal'c settled onto the ground in a lotus-position with his cleaning kit in front of him. With quick economical movements he began wiping down his staff weapon.
Finished restoring the contents of her pack to their proper order she asked, "Sir? What about Teal'c's pack? It's going to be wet for a while longer and if he starts carrying it now, he'll just get his dry shirt damp and dirty."
"No help for that Carter," the Colonel said a bit regretfully, "but damp is better than soaking wet at least, hey T?"
Teal'c inclined his head in agreement.
Sam watched as his hands wiped down his staff weapon and ended the cleaning by triggering open the oval-shaped head to check the naquadah capsule. Even she could see the capsule was fine and he set aside the staff weapon to wipe down his zat.
"All done Teal'c?" the Colonel asked as Teal'c began packing the cleaning kit back together.
"I am O'Neill."
"Let's get moving then," the Colonel stepped to the pile of field packs. Hefting up her pack, he promoted for her to present her back by twirling a finger around.
Sam pulled the strap of her P90 over her head and turned around as promoted. Feeling the pack against her back, she reached over her shoulder with one hand and helped him snap the clips of her pack into her vest.
"Good Carter?" he asked as he snapped the last clip into place and released his hold on the pack.
Sam gave a small shimmy of her back to check that it was sitting properly. It was, so she slung her P90 strap back over her head. "Good Sir."
Turning around, she bent down and hefted up the Colonel's field pack and helped clip it into place on his vest when he presented his back to her. Both hands still on the pack, she adjusted it and asked. "Sitting right Sir?"
The Colonel rolled his shoulders underneath the field pack, nodded, and slung the strap of his P90 back over his head.
She turned her attention to the other two, she saw that Daniel already had his field pack on and was just starting to help Teal'c with his. Stepping up beside the two men, she took the clips on one side of Teal'c and left the other to Daniel.
"All set?" the Colonel asked as he looked them over once everyone was geared up and then put his sunglasses back on. "Good. Carter, you lead and get us on the right bearing again."
"Yes Sir," Sam gave a brisk nod and took the lead as ordered. Daniel took the left side again, the Colonel the right where she had been, and Teal'c now in the rear.
Pushing through the densely growing willow-like trees and shrubs in the riparian zone, in a short time they were amongst the more widely spaced white and black marked trunks of the trembling aspen-like trees that covered the slopes of the river valley.
Just as Teal'c had taken them into the river valley at an angle, she took them up and out at an angle. It was much easier cutting across the river valley slope then climbing straight up even if it a bit longer.
After fifteen minutes and covering a klick of ground, they reached the crest of the river valley and the flat prairie that stretched out to the mountains ahead. At the top of the valley Sam dug her instrument out of a vest pocket, and holding her hand up to the brim of her cap for additional shade from the sunlight, orientated herself.
"South-east now Sir," Sam announced as she tucked the instrument back into her pocket and pointed south-east to the alpine forest covered slope of the mountain the notched standing stone among the megalithic alignments had aligned with.
The Colonel stepped up beside her muttering, "Zag and zig, zig and zag. One would think Ziggy was in charge of picking our direction."
"If it was Ziggy Sir, we'd be dealing with an ego the size of McKay's."
"What?"
Sam could tell he was giving her a blank look even with his eyes obscured by his sunglasses. Straight faced she answered, "Ziggy Sir, the artificial intelligence that runs the Project Quantum Leap."
The Colonel held up a finger. "Carter, I don't want to know anything about a project that involves the word quantum."
Daniel snorted behind them. "It's a TV show Jack."
"What?" the Colonel said again.
"Quantum Leap," Daniel answered as he moved up beside them, "it's a TV show and Ziggy is the name of a computer on it."
The Colonel wagged the finger he was still holding up at her. "Ah Carter, it is not fun to confuse your CO."
"Sir, no, Sir," Sam answered dutifully.
"That's better Major," the Colonel approved as he gave a nod for emphases. "Now, let's get going."
"Sir, yes, Sir," Sam answered as she stepped forward and passed him, and began walking through the knee high grass. Clear of his line of sight she let the grin she had been holding back split her face. It was so fun to confuse her CO.
. . .
Uh-uh! Mud!
Thick oozy mud.
We can't go over it.
We can't go under it.
Oh no!
We've got to go through it!
. . .
Sam strode through the tall grass and knew the team was making good time over the relatively flat terrain. Soon they would soon be able to turn directly south again. The bright sun continued to shine, the heat of it relieved by the light breeze coming off the mountain that waved the grasses about like waves. The only life encountered, beyond the birds along the river valley, was the droning and buzzing insects they disturbed while walking and the bugs had yet to show any interest in them.
Her eyes of course were open for any aurochs or bison that made these grasslands their home, but beyond the one wallow that Daniel had the misfortune to trip into, had not seen any evidence of them.
Sam lifted her hand to block the sun in the sky and tilted her head to the side. They had been on the planet for over three hours now, covered thirteen klicks—well Daniel and Teal'c only eleven—and had come through the 'gate in the late morning and the sun was now at the apex of the sky. Peeling the Velcro on her watch back she checked the time and noted it was two hours short of noon back at SGC.
She stuck the Velcro back down and paused in mid-step. What had she just stepped on? Behind the men drew up short as well, alarmed and cautious because of her suddenly tense pose. Holding her P90 steady she bounced lightly in place. She wasn't positive, but the ground seemed a little springy underfoot.
"Problem Carter?" the Colonel warily asked from his holding position to her right.
"Hope not Sir." Sam took half a dozen more cautious steps forward and bounced again. Then she walked forward another half a dozen steps and bounced in place for the third time. Yep, the ground was definitely bouncing a little like it was spongy.
"Carter?" the Colonel prompted, his voice shifting from wary to curious.
Sam figured his tonal change was from watching her step-bounce routine. She took time to examine the terrain around as she mentally evaluated the situation and formulated an answer. Knee high grass grew thick and vibrant before them and covered the ground in a concealing blanket. Lifting her gaze up, she studied the elevation of the land and the mountains beyond.
"I think Sir," Sam finally spoke, "we're walking into a wet meadow—a semi-wetland meadow which is saturated with water throughout much of the year."
"Ah, from what do you think?" the Colonel asked.
"Well, it could be poor drainage or this area receives large amounts of water from rain or melted snow," Sam answered, looking over her right shoulder to him. "Also, considering the terrain, prairie into mountain, there could be something unique about the geography and water has been forced to the surface from an underground source."
"Okay," the Colonel nodded as he took in her answer, "do you think there is going to be any standing water present?"
"Doubtful. Standing water in wet meadows is usually only present for limited periods during the growing season and judging from the growth of the vegetation we have seen, this planet is well into its summer." Sam looked forward and resumed leading, feeling the ground grow progressively springy beneath her feet. Behind her she heard the men resume walking forward as well. In time, even Teal'c's usually silent tread was audible in the increasingly damp and squishy ground underneath their combat boots.
Sam also hoped that there were no standing pools for two reasons. One: as the depth would be unknown and tricky to judge it would be safest to skirt the area and that would take up more time to do. Two: they were not of interest to the local insect life and she did not want to discover if they were to the taste of P3B-237's mosquitoes.
Though she supposed the mosquitoes would make the Colonel feel at home if what he said about Minnesota was true.
A short time later, it looked like she would have to recant her earlier statement about the possibility of standing water being present was low considering it was summer. Intermingling now with the prairie grasses were small bunches of reeds that indicated the ground here was wet enough throughout the year to support the perennial reeds. The further they walked, the more reeds she saw in the grasses until she was seeing small pools or seeps of water in thinned out spots of vegetation.
Sam cast a critical look ahead but the thick grass and reed cover continued over the horizon and she could not see anything ahead that suggested there were larger open areas of water like a slough. No evidence of water fowl either.
The ground underfoot was getting even spongier though. Checking her back trail she saw that the ground did not spring back into place now as the imprint of her combat boot was left pressed into the ground and filled with water.
"Ah!"
The loud squawking yelp to her left had Sam twisting her torso as her heartbeat jumped in alarm to look at Daniel. He was giving them all a rather sheepish look as he gave his right leg a good yank, which the ground released with a muffled slurping pop.
"Sorry. Didn't mean to alarm you all," Daniel apologised abashed. "Boot got stuck there for a moment. Thought I was going to lose it."
A snort from her right had her turning to look at the Colonel to see the corners of his eyes crinkling up around the frame of his sunglasses and an amused quirk to his lips.
"Well, if you laced them up properly you won't have to worry about that," the Colonel chided.
"They are laced up properly," Daniel protested.
"Then why did you worry?" the Colonel needled. "These boots aren't like rubber boots—you can't lose them in mud."
Sam smiled as a childhood memory sparked at the Colonel's words. "That ever happened to you Sir?"
"What?" the Colonel turned his face towards her.
"Losing a boot while playing in the mud as a child?" Sam asked. "I remember one time in spring playing in the mud of the garden with Mark and one of my boots got so stuck that I had to wait for the garden to dry out to dig the boot out."
The Colonel chuckled. "And how did you get out if you had to wait for the garden to dry out?"
"Not sure really, I don't remember that part." Sam frowned as she tried to remember and then shrugged. "I probably walked out on my bare feet."
"Well," the Colonel grinned, "I never lost a boot like that but yeah, I've played in quite a few mud puddles in my time. You Daniel?"
"Not really," Daniel shook his head.
"I find that hard to believe," the Colonel interjected, "you digging in the dirt all the time."
"Dirt is not mud," Daniel said firmly. "And while yes, a few excavations in the States and South America got rained on, most of my work was done in Egypt as you well know."
"Sand, pah," the Colonel dismissed with a hand wave. "Come on, you mean to tell me you never played in the mud as a kid?"
"Okay, once or twice," Daniel confessed as he reached up and started to push his glasses further up his nose. As the nose pads touched the bruised area he winced in surprise, having evidently forgotten his injury for a time. "In the foster homes we did splash in mud puddles and make mud pies."
"Ha, I knew it," the Colonel crowed.
"You consumed mud as a child DanielJackson?" Teal'c inquired.
"What? No!" Daniel denied with a head shake. "It's a childhood pastime to make pies of mud."
Teal'c frowned. "Would it not be more productive to make a pie from nourishing sustenance?"
"For fun Teal'c, kids don't actually eat mud pies," the Colonel explained. "Kids just have fun making them and playing with them."
"I see," Teal'c answered.
Sam gave an amused shake of her head as she turned away from the men's banter to resume walking. Teal'c's tone of voice said quite clearly that he did not understand and was just putting up with the foolish foibles of Earth humans.
. . .
Squelch squerch!
Squelch squerch!
Squelch squerch!
. . .
Not long after Sam started leading the team forward again, the spongy squishy ground grew increasingly mucky underfoot and every step they made was accompanied by a distinctive squelch squerch sound. Reeds dominated the plants now and water beetles skittered on top of the water between the stalks as the symphony of frogs serenaded them.
"Daniel," Sam directed her voice over her left shoulder, "I don't remember mud being one of the trials Bjorn recounted when talking about his grandfather's adventure."
"There were trials?" the Colonel asked sharply. "You didn't mention there being trials Daniel."
"If you had stayed to listen instead of guarding against cows," Daniel chided, "you would have learned that Bjorn's grandfather mentioned overcoming trials, like the river we forded."
"So, they're not booby-trap trials? Just obstacles?" the Colonel questioned.
"Well, yes, obstacle might be a better choice of word. Bjorn's grandfather told of crossing a raging river, travelling through a mighty forest, and braving a fierce storm of snow," Daniel recounted. "That would explain why the tale doesn't have anything about mud in it Sam. The journey sounds like it took place in winter and this area would have been frozen."
"Then why was the river such a big deal?" the Colonel asked. "If it was winter, the river would have been frozen too."
"I don't know, maybe because the river is open during the winter?" Daniel suggested.
Sam opened her mouth to respond but snapped it shut as she went to take a step forward and found she couldn't. Shooting a disgruntled look down at her combat boots in the muddy ground, the water swirling a few inches below where her pants were tucked in, she jerked her left foot and confirmed, yep—it wouldn't budge.
Shifting her weight more to her right foot, and hoping it wouldn't get stuck in the mud too, she made a second attempt to yank her foot free. The mud held fast and she didn't feel the suction release one iota.
The squelch squerch sounds of the men's boots in the mud behind her grew louder as they tromped closer; still walking even though she had been forced to stop.
"What's up Carter?" the Colonel asked as he came up to her right shoulder.
"I'm stuck Sir," Sam was forced to admit, ducking her head in an attempt to hide her flush of embarrassment beneath the shadowing brim of her cap.
There was a long, delicate pause.
"Say that again Major?" the Colonel finally asked.
"I am stuck, Sir." Sam forced herself to repeat clearly through her mortification.
"Major, you're telling me that this big bad mud puddle decided to eat your boot?"
Cheeks still burning hot and eyes downcast, Sam nodded.
"Okay Carter, I expect this sort of thing from Daniel—" there was a strangled protest at the dig from the man in question at her left shoulder "—but not you Major."
She did not know how to respond to that so stayed silent in her humiliated misery.
"I know," the Colonel snapped the fingers of one hand together, "what we need are some bars of smelly yellow soap."
"Bars of smelly yellow soap Sir?" Her brow furrowed in puzzlement as she stared at the muddy ground. Trying to work out the teasing lilt to the last few words that meant the Colonel was referring to something but she was unable to deduce what.
"Yeah, Major, big bars of smelly yellow soap that would chase this mud puddle away," the Colonel teased.
The words of the children's picture book clicked and even embarrassed Sam couldn't resist responding to his teasing as she lifted her eyes to his finally. "Across the grass, over the fence, and never come back?"
"Exactly Major," the Colonel approved, "but seeing as we don't carry smelly yellow bars of soap I suppose we'll have to come up with Plan B."
"We always have to use Plan B Jack," Daniel objected.
"Not always," the Colonel cast a glance at Daniel, the same teasing lilt to his voice. "Sometimes we have to use Plan C through Z."
Sam straightened out her expression by the time the Colonel looked back at her, humiliating situation or not she always enjoyed his humour, and knew from the amused curve to his mouth that he knew somehow she was amused. Shifting his P90 to his other grip, he held out his closest forearm theatrically like a gentleman offering his arm to escort a lady.
"Here Carter, try again."
"Thank you Sir," Sam murmured quietly, adjusted her P90 against her chest, and closed a hand around his forearm. Gripping firmly, she tried using his arm for leverage while putting her left leg muscles into yanking on her stuck boot. The effort was as futile as the first three tries.
"Huh," the Colonel grunted.
Sam felt the muscles of his forearm that he had been using to brace her relax. She stopped trying to pull her boot free and lifted her gaze again to his face, mostly inscrutable because of the sunglasses he wore, but fine lines on his forehead were beginning to crease into a frown.
"Your boot really is stuck," the Colonel remarked and then the frown lines smoothed out as the corners of his mouth kicked up with amusement. "We goin' to have to wait for the ground to dry out to dig you out, like you did for your rubber boot as a kid?"
Sam reminded herself that rolling one's eyes at one's commander was technically insubordination. "Digging, or a shovel anyway, may help Sir."
"What?" the Colonel gave his patented puzzled frown at her. "How?"
"It is possible to use the shovel as a leverage to apply force to release the asymmetries of the intermolecular forces between the surface molecules—"
"Carter."
"Sorry Sir. Using a shovel as leverage may break the suction."
"See Major, simple words, simple concept. Teal'c, go help Daniel get his shovel out and then come here to help me."
Sam listened to Teal'c moving about behind her with loud mucky sounding footsteps. For as soft footed as Teal'c was, his weight was greater and had made his footfalls noisy in the mud and muck as he went to Daniel's side. The noisy steps halted and glancing to her left, Sam could see that Daniel and Teal'c were now side by side and Teal'c handed his staff weapon to Daniel to hold while retrieving an entrenching tool from Daniel's field pack.
Daniel handed the staff weapon back to Teal'c and accepted the folding shovel with a frown. "Jack, why do I have to be the one to dig?"
"Because that's your profession," the Colonel said glibly.
Sam suppressed a chuckle as she saw Daniel roll his eyes and knew it was probably because the archaeologist felt like he had walked right into that.
"Okay Teal'c, while Daniel works on loosening Carter's boot, we'll pull," the Colonel instructed as he shifted his forearm and directed her hand into the gloved palm of his.
Teal'c inclined his head, and manoeuvring around Daniel, came to stand before her like the Colonel was on her left side. He offered the hand that was not holding his staff weapon and Sam grabbed onto it with a friendly smile of thanks.
"Ready Daniel?" the Colonel asked.
Sam glanced down to her left foot and saw that Daniel had crouched down, careful to stay above the mucky water and had sunk his shovel into the mud almost parallel with her boot.
"Ready," Daniel answered has he pulled on the shovel handle like a leaver.
Sam looked back at the two men she was holding onto and squeezed their hands as a signal she was ready. Muscles bunched and strained and Sam tried again to yank her stuck foot from the mud. The straining was in vain again and her boot remained stuck fast.
"Enough," the Colonel barked with obvious annoyance as he relaxed his pulling.
Sam released a huffy breath of annoyance at the fourth failed attempt as Teal'c followed the Colonel's lead.
"What now Jack?" Daniel asked.
"Now, you and I switch places," the Colonel instructed as he pulled his hand from hers and began working on stripping off his gloves. Gloves off and tucked into a vest pocket, he moved around her to take Daniel's place.
"You think you can do better than me? Didn't you just say I was the professional?" Daniel taunted.
"One that needs to go back to dig school obviously," the Colonel snapped, moving his P90 to the side of his body as he crouched down on her left side and wiggled and pulled on the entrenchment tool in the mud.
Sam was disappointed that using the shovel hadn't worked and knew it was because the tool hadn't been able to get leverage in the mud. Once the Colonel yanked the tool from the mud, he stabbed it back into the muck an arm's length away, and to her surprise, started untying her bootlaces that were an inch or so above the mud.
"What are you doing Sir?" Sam looked down at him in puzzlement. It would be impossible to unlace her boot entirely, enveloped as it was in mud, to get her foot out so she had no idea what he was up to.
"Getting a better grip Major," the Colonel answered without looking up at her. Laces untied, he wedged his fingers between her boot and her leg in the front and back and gripped. "Okay, Daniel, Teal'c, ready?"
"Minute," Daniel hurried to stand in front of her and offer his hand for her to grab. "Okay, ready."
"Then pull," the Colonel ordered.
Sam once again pulled back on her teammate's hands as they pulled forward, straining her left leg at the same time in the attempt to pull her foot free. The Colonel at her foot pulling directly on her boot; the force alternating between hands in a jerking motion.
Squelch squerch!
The muck released her boot noisily and the sudden give of suction had her letting go of the boys' hands in surprise. Off balance, she stumbled forward a few steps before being caught and halted from a forward plunge by Teal'c.
"Are you alright MajorCarter?" he asked solicitously as he set her upright.
"Yes, I'm fine." Sam said gratefully, flushed from exertion. "Thanks guys."
"Wow," Daniel remarked, "what did you do Jack?"
"What we used to do as kids to get rubber boots free," the Colonel answered as he casually pulled the set-aside shovel from the ground and straightened up from his crouch. Stepping forward to stand where they were, he held the mud encrusted tool out to Daniel. "You wiggle the boot as much as pull."
"Thanks Sir," Sam expressed her gratitude again as she leaned over to lace up and retie the top of her boot, tucking her P90 against her body so it wouldn't swing forward on its strap.
"Don't fret it Major," the Colonel patted her on the shoulder in her leaned over position. "I'm going to milk this for a long time to come."
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