A way back home von yumi_san (SG1/The Tribe) ================================================================================ Kapitel 4: Search and rescue mission ------------------------------------ Disclaimer: I own neither Stargate nor The Tribe or anything associated with it. A/N: I'd like to thank ToBetasered for betareading this Chapter ****************************************************************************************************************************************************** It was three hours later and so far they had nothing. Sam had gone to the Survivors but neither Lori nor Mark, who were the only ones at their base, had any further information. "This is Tango-India-Foxtrot-2-1-9. Jack O'Neill, I have found us a guide. MollyTribeless has offered to guide us to the Traders in exchange for food and water." Teal'c's voice said over the radio. Switching to his radio's command channel, Jack spoke to the rest of SG-1. "Everyone, team meeting in 10 minutes at the alpha site." They knew that they were not invulnerable and that they might not be able to protect their base, so they had started their very own alpha site where they hoarded extra resources like a few MRE's, some water, medicine and spare ammunition. They thought about hiding weapons as well but thought it to dangerous a risk if some of the children found the base. Jack was the first there and began to dig up one ration of food and a bottle of water before once again burying their hidden cache. *'*'*'* He was not a moment too soon, as Teal'C and Molly arrived only seconds after he was done followed by Sam. Daniel was the last too joined them. Looking at the girl, Teal'c had brought in, Jack addressed her, "Molly? This is your food and water. You'll get it as soon as we've verified that your information is correct." He said, pointing at the bottle and the MRE Sam was packing into her backpack. The girl, looking every bit the street urchin with her dirty cloth and unkempt brown hair, watched the bag hungrily and sneered. "As long as you make sure you keep up old man. I've got no intention of waiting Gramps." Saying this she stormed off with SG1 following behind, trying to memorise the way they took them some time to reach what Molly called the 'Native Forest' the outskirts of which they followed until they could see a camp in the distance. "That's the Traders camp. The big tent with the foxtail on top of it belongs to Jake. He's a cheating son of a bitch." The young woman bit off with a snarl. SG1 nodded, clearly aware from the girl's agitation that Molly had some personal history with this Jake. *'*'*'* Sam entered the forest in an attempt to sneak closer to the camp using the trees for cover and remaining unseen. In the meantime Jack was nursing a headache. He had always thought that he got along great with kids, but Molly was obviously the exception of the rule as she got on his nerves, big-time. Molloy eyed Daniel lecherously, "Yo Geeky. Ever had a hot mouth on…" Jack put his hand over her mouth. Enough was enough... "Listen Molly," He said in a strained tone, "I can imagine that this is boring for you and realize that time on the streets hasn't done your vocabulary and behaviour any favours. But please behave a little less like a whore and more like a fifteen," "Sixteen" Molly said, clearly unhappy about being thought younger. "Sixteen year old." She looked at Jack, before she turned around to glare at a red faced Daniel and a stoic looking Teal'C. "Don't get your knickers in a twist Gramps." Jack rolled his eyes and hoped Sam wouldn't take too much longer. He got his wish when only a few minutes later Sam came back and confirmed that Kathy and Holly were among the slaves at the camp. As a result, Molly was given the MRE and her Water and send on her way. They had Teal'C follow her discreetly for a while to make sure she didn't suddenly change her mind and decide to warn the slavers. In the meantime, while Teal'c was gone, the rest of SG1 was planning the best course of action to free the slaves. *'*'*'* They were hiding among the trees waiting for the sun to set. With a look at the rapidly darkening sky Jack gave a quick signal at Sam and Teal'C who began to sneak near the slaves, trying to avoid the campfires. In the mean time Jack and Daniel waited, ready to act should something go wrong or to welcome the slaves should everything go right. Jack looked through his night vision lens, alternating between focusing on the slaves and watching on the guards positioned by the fires. Then he saw Sam cutting the shackles on the last slave. Already the other captives were running in their direction as quietly as possible. Looking at Daniel he saw that the first girl had arrived and was being lead further into the forest, when he suddenly heard a short scream. Looking back at the camp he saw that Kathy had fallen and was now helped up by Holly. Acting fast he threw a smoke grenade into the middle of the camp to make it impossible to find the slaves with the light emitted by the fires. The camp itself was in bedlam as all hell broke loose and it wasn't long till everybody there was awake. A brutish looking man, or perhaps a boy, raced after the escaping slaves only to meet Carter who stopped him by breaking his leg with her rifle. Turning around she stunned a young woman, who was trying to throw a torch at her, with her Zat. Seeing the grass catching fire, Sam ran over to extinguish it, while cursing the stupidity of the girl. Teal'c in the meantime had taken two Traders by surprise and knocked them down from behind. *'*'*'* Holly and Kathy were the last to arrive in the forest and Jack wasted no time to guiding them further, following the tracks Daniel and the others had created, while Sam and Teal'C did their best to destroy the trace without using their flashlights. They could only hope that it was enough. "Who are you and why did you help us?" One of the girls asked, obviously not believing that someone would risk their lives without at least hoping to gain an advantage doing so. "They are the Tollan." Kathy told eco-girl as Jack had, based on her clothes, titled her in his mind. "I don't know those two" She pointed at Jack and Teal'C "are but these are Sam and Dan." Feeling the need to add something Holly said "They are friends!" "I'll trust you….for now." Looking at each of them she added "I'm Rose of the eco-tribe." Jack nearly snorted in laughter. "Jack of the Tollan. My big buddy over there is Teal'C" Daniel in the meantime was busy asking Holly how the two of them had been caught. "They told me they had information about my sister, her names Ivy." Daniel got the feeling that she wanted to say more about it and gave her a sign of encouragement to continue. "She was on a class trip during the outbreak of the virus. The installation of quarantine sectors kept her from returning home...I haven't seen her in over one and a half years." "Tell me about her." Daniel, having lost his wife first to the Goa'uld and then to death, knew how it felt to have a loved one missing, not knowing if they were still alive; not knowing if they would ever be reunited. "She was 14 and really excited about the class trip. Our parents...they, they loved plants and Ivy inherited that." A sad smile graced her lips as she told Daniel what happened back then… "She was all for the rights of plants and stuff. I used to make fun of that, called her Poison Ivy. After that Batman villain, you know?" Daniel nodded; he had read the comic as a kid. "She would have turned fifteen on the trip, and we had a surprise party planned for when she returned. But then the virus hit and she didn't come home, the military didn't allow anyone to leave or enter the city. Mum…she was the first to die." Holly sighted "I promised her I would find Ivy, that I would protect her…" She looked down on her feet as if they where the most interesting thing in the world. Eventually, Holly turned her perceptive eyes on Daniel "Who did you lose…" She asked softly. "My Parents, when I was a boy. My wife, I lost her first to Terrorists and when we finally freed her… she died." He gave her a sad smile as he picked a bit of wood out of her long blond hair. "You'll find her." Daniel promised, "One day, you'll find her." As the children were in no condition to return to their Tribes or the City centre Rose offered to take them to her tribe, as it was located nearby. Her tribe leader 'Eagle', she said, wouldn't mind when she heard the story. For a moment Jack played with the idea of a Xena-style Amazon tribe but from what Rose had told them about 'Pride', who was her teacher, he guessed that this was not the case. They wandered for a time, along a small river that lead, as Rose explained, towards an artificial lake. Jack was impressed with the foresight this bunch of city kids had shown when they choose this place as a new home. Daniel and Sam obviously thought the same, as he could hear them talking about something Daniel called a "back to nature" development. "O'Neill. There is a settlement in south-southwest, half a klick from our position." Teal'c said, having scouted ahead. "What's a Clic?" Kathy, who was walking behind Jack, asked. "Klick is a military distance measurement method. It equals a kilometre or 0.62 miles." Jack said while looking for Rose. "That your tribe or someone else?" He asked. "The Eco's are the only tribe this far into the forest. Other tribes like the Traders only frequent the outer parts." Rose replied. Jack squinted at her, "That means Yes?" "Yes!" The young woman snapped. O'Neill smirked, "Good" *'*'*'* Sam smiled as she heard the small dialogue. Jack and Rose would either get a long great or hate each other with a passion; she wasn't sure which one it would be but guessed that she would find out soon enough. After all Jack was never subtle when he hated someone, Kinsey and Anise where the best example for that. "Rose, you and I will go and meet this Eagle." Rose looked at Jack with what could only be described as a 'huh?' expression. "We could of course overwhelm her by storming in there as a group but I thought that maybe.." He started but was soon interrupted by Rose. "First of all, who died and made you boss?" She said hotly. He grinned at her like a cat that caught the canary. "So you'd rather.." "No!" Rose turned around and walked towards the eco camp "You coming?" Jack, still grinning, gave a sign to the rest of his Team. "Teal'c, you'll follow discreetly. Carter, you and Daniel watch over the group. Wait till Teal'c contacts you before acting. " Teal'c nodded signalling his approval. "Yes Sir." Sam said, "But may I suggest taking Daniel with you? Not to be disrespectful but he is a better Diplomat." "Either Jack or Daniel" Rose screamed as she continued walking away from them. Well if you could call it walking because she had slowed down as much as possible to wait for Jack without actually to be waiting. "We don't want to startle them." Jack rolled his eyes "Do your thing Daniel." Tipping his hand against his radiohe added "Check in every 15 Minutes" "You're wasting battery's on that?" One of the kids asked flabbergasted. "Correction, we're using batteries on that." He said it in a tone that allowed no objection. Hosted by Animexx e.V. (http://www.animexx.de)