Stargate SG-1: Lost and Found

Two

    Author's Note: Hey guys, I didn't update as quickly as I'd like to, but it's been a busy couple of days! Anyways, I hope this chapter isn't too boring and I hope it serves a believable backstory for our beast. Enjoy!

      

     Sam gasped. Beside her laid one small, dragon-like creature, covered in amniotic fluid. Another laid it's head on her waist, just barely breathing. She squeezed her eyes shut for a second, expecting to be devoured. When she opened her eyes and realized that she was still alive, she pulled what was left of the sac from the smaller creature's head.

     They were about two feet long, and about as skinny as could be. Sam swore that she could see ribs poking through their slick, gray skin.

     The second little creature let out a shriek, and Carter lifted it up, hoping that would calm it down. She glanced outside the cave in search of the mother, but she saw nothing. She laid down once again, taking a deep breath, and allowed the little youngsters to get comfortable.

     She laid there in silence, thankful for a moment's rest. She still wasn't quite sure of how long she had been stuck in the cave, but she hadn't seen the creature for some time, and was beginning to wonder what happened to it after its young were born. The cave was quiet with just Carter and the little creatures, and they snuggled next to her in a warm little ball, purring as they slept.

     She was startled by them at first, but as the hours passed, she began to pet them, and they would sometimes purr, and sometimes shriek. They were rather inactive, as it was, and Sam couldn't help but fear for them; they were the only things she had left to care about.

     Despite the fact that she had distracted herself with the two creatures, she was still wounded, and could do little more than sit up against a wall of the cave. She had eaten what food she had shoved in her vest pocket, and she drank all of the water from her canteen days ago. She tried administering basic first aid to herself, but she couldn't stop shaking, and what little equipment she had diminished quickly.

     Little by little, she wondered how much longer she would have to wait for her team. She hadn't tried escaping because she knew that she'd never get far, and she feared that the moment she tried, the creature would swoop down and capture her again. When she was feeling discouraged, and she began to doubt that she would ever get rescued, she reminded herself that she had probably been here only a few days. She was then able to convince herself that her team would find her, save her, and bring her home.

     Carter couldn't understand what kind of heartless, sick creature could leave it's young in such a state. She knew that many Earth animals left their young at at certain age, and baby sea turtles made their way to the ocean by themselves. But this was different. These creatures were dying without a mother, dependent on a weak, wounded human to care for them.     

     As she watched the creatures day by day, she thought of what animal they might be closely related to. They looked like some form of reptile, but the back of their necks and their wings were covered in pale, pink feathers. Their eyes were glossy, and they had no eyelids, yet they carried such emotion, so much more than their shrieks and cries. The instincts of the mother-beast were like that of a cuckoo bird, a species which lays its eggs in the nest of other birds. The expecting mothers were then forced to raise one that was not of their own kind, while their own babies would die.

     Carter continued to watch the little ones every day, still hoping that her team would come. There was little activity between the inhabitants of the cave; they were all too weak to even stand. But every day, Carter would wake up, immediately think of the creatures, and glance down to make sure they were still alive. Every now and then one would give a reassuring cry, and Sam let out a sigh of relief.

                                                                                               ***

     Jack stomped around the Gateroom, about as angry as ever. Rather than being a part of the search party for Carter, he was stuck on a mission to help the Tok'ra. He knew that the mission was important to the alliance, but he couldn't help but feel concerned for the lost Major, who had been gone for nearly a week.

     SG-1 had fully intended to continue their search for Carter, but when a Tok'ra base was destroyed by the Kull warriors, Hammond had made the hard decision to postpone in the team's search for the Major. Luckily, a Tok'ra guard had received a head's up on the attack, or it could've been much worse, but without Carter's weapon, there was no way they were getting any further with the battle against Anubis' warriors.

     Therefore, Hammond had decided that SG-9 and SG-10 would search for Carter. SG-1 would be busy helping Jacob recover other Tok'ra operatives, and relocate them to a different Tok'ra base. The Colonel highly doubted that moving from one base to another would help, but at the moment, it was their only option.

     Jack knew that he wasn't the only one itching to look for Sam. Daniel had repeatedly tried to convince General Hammond to let him and Teal'c help Jacob, but Hammond insisted that Jacob needed the whole team. Teal'c had also seemed greatly concerned with Sam's well-being, especially after Daniel finally figured out what kind of animal they were up against.

     He said that the beast was named the Quetzal, after the Mesoamerican snake god. It was believed that the Goa'uld themselves created these creatures, then used them for many different purposes before the creatures were deemed too dangerous. When the Goa'uld began using the Jaffa to further their race, they would subject them to the Quetzal's torture as punishment.

      None of the team knew why the Quetzal had inhabited PX3-285, but after reading what it could do to a Jaffa, they knew they'd better get to Sam quickly, before it was too late.