Which Way is North by Northwest?
Created | Updated Nov 10, 2005
Daniel moved the paper clip again to see if he'd got the directions right. He frowned. No matter which way he looked at it, they were lost. He heard footsteps, put down the paper and raised his P-90. He lowered it when he saw who it was, Major Paul Davis and Dr Janet Fraiser. Janet tossed Daniel a freshly-filled canteen of water.
'That should keep us going for a while, any luck?' she asked. Daniel shook his head regretfully.
'No, I can without a doubt say we are most definitely lost.' He shrugged. 'Sorry, map reading is not my strong point, which is why Jack probably sent me on this exercise thing.' Major Davis sat down beside him.
'Why the hell did he bring me along? I'm not even a member of the SGC', he grumbled.
'Yes, but you are starting to accompany teams offworld more now. The colonel probably wants to see if you can stand up under pressure', replied Janet, reaching into her rucksack and taking out a package of sandwiches. They were made of wheat bread and turkey. Daniel reached over and prepared to snaffle one. Janet slapped his hand away playfully. 'Get your own.'
Colonel Jack O'Neill had been put in charge of the SGC while General Hammond was on a month's vacation with his daughter and grandaughters. He'd decided, as things were quiet, that he'd begin a programme of exercise manoeuvres 'to sort the men from the boys', as he put it. Basically, he was sending scientists and pen-pushers out into the field with members of various SG teams to see what happened, and it was not making him popular. The scientists and the medics were plotting to infect him with something that would need a course of very painful shots, the pen-pushers were threatening to seize up his supply lines and the words 'Bligh' and 'Bounty' had been muttered in the locker room.
Davis looked at the map. He turned 90 degrees and pointed out something to Janet.
'Do you think those ruins are the same ones we passed on our way to the stream?' he asked. Janet thought for a minute.
'Could be.' She showed the map to Daniel. He groaned: he'd had the map the wrong way up the entire time. They were less than a mile from the rendezvous point.
'Come on,' he sighed.
They started to make their way through the trees. Daniel became aware of a sticky substance on the branches of the trees. He touched his fingers together — definitely sticky. His fingers felt like they were covered in crazy glue.
'Janet, can you get a sample of this sticky stuff on the trees?' he asked. Janet started to get a pot out of her bag and collected a small amount.
"Looks like a resin of some description. I'll have some tests drawn up for it', she replied.
They were now in open ground. Major Davis was in the lead and Janet was bringing up the rear. Suddenly, Davis held up his hand for them to stop.
'Shh, do you hear that?' he asked. Daniel cocked his head to one side and listened.
'No, I can't...' He stopped. Janet was staring with eyes wide open. She pointed.
'Al'kesh!' she shouted. They turned to see the Goa'uld bomber coming straight for them. They started running. It seemed like a scene from the film North by Northwest. The Al'kesh flew low; the three of them hit the ground, feeling the vibrations flow through them as the energy blasts hit. The Al'kesh passed, then banked, ready for another run. Daniel and his companions were running back to the trees. He grabbed the radio out of his pocket as he ran.
'This is Daniel to RV point, Daniel to RV, do you copy? We are under attack from a lone Al'kesh, we are in a small wooded area about a mile from your position, over.'
