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icarusThe Walls of Jericho - 4 (from part 1 here)
by Icarus
The sky on the other side of the gate was a brilliant twilight blue, even though technically it was eleven o'clock in the morning, at least according to Jack's watch. The sun was up, as it was constantly in this polar region, a distant dime-sized white-haloed circle that washed the color out of everything like moonlight. A circle of jagged black mountains surrounded them, with no trace of snow.
It was the first sign that you were on an alien world, the light. A million different shades and colors of light, no two exactly like earth.
Jack breathed out a silvered mist as the watery glow of the stargate shut off, his team stepping around rocks beside him. There were no 'greeters' or 'tour guides' for this mission. The aliens lived in elaborately carved caves over a day's hike from the gate - a testament that there were no bad guys coming through on a regular basis. But they'd have to hoof it, and camp on the way.
Not for the first time Jack wished they could just drive a Humvee through the gate for off-world travel. Why not? They already cross-pollinated cultures just by meeting them.
A Humvee with heat, maybe a radio, a TV. And heat. Jack stamped his feet to keep warm.
"Jack," Daniel tapped him and pointed over his shoulder. "Look over there." Four brilliant stars hovered like a necklace on the horizon, outlined against the rich blue. Daniel was smiling, his lips and face carved out of silver-blue shadows. His blue eyes just blended into this light. "The natives call them the 'day stars,'" he said reverently. "They can navigate by the stars even when the sun's out for the warm season."
"Hunh." Jack gazed at the unfamiliar constellation which reminded him of Orion, and wondered what the names of the individual stars were. Or if he could pronounce them.
"I thought you'd like that." Daniel grinned.
Jack peered up at the sky, and the crystal clear canopy of much fainter stars. "You're sure this is the warm season?"
"It is indeed chilly, O'Neill," Teal'c affirmed.
Carter grinned at them. "It's a lot warmer in the caves. Almost tropical. Magma will do that."
Part V here
by Icarus
The sky on the other side of the gate was a brilliant twilight blue, even though technically it was eleven o'clock in the morning, at least according to Jack's watch. The sun was up, as it was constantly in this polar region, a distant dime-sized white-haloed circle that washed the color out of everything like moonlight. A circle of jagged black mountains surrounded them, with no trace of snow.
It was the first sign that you were on an alien world, the light. A million different shades and colors of light, no two exactly like earth.
Jack breathed out a silvered mist as the watery glow of the stargate shut off, his team stepping around rocks beside him. There were no 'greeters' or 'tour guides' for this mission. The aliens lived in elaborately carved caves over a day's hike from the gate - a testament that there were no bad guys coming through on a regular basis. But they'd have to hoof it, and camp on the way.
Not for the first time Jack wished they could just drive a Humvee through the gate for off-world travel. Why not? They already cross-pollinated cultures just by meeting them.
A Humvee with heat, maybe a radio, a TV. And heat. Jack stamped his feet to keep warm.
"Jack," Daniel tapped him and pointed over his shoulder. "Look over there." Four brilliant stars hovered like a necklace on the horizon, outlined against the rich blue. Daniel was smiling, his lips and face carved out of silver-blue shadows. His blue eyes just blended into this light. "The natives call them the 'day stars,'" he said reverently. "They can navigate by the stars even when the sun's out for the warm season."
"Hunh." Jack gazed at the unfamiliar constellation which reminded him of Orion, and wondered what the names of the individual stars were. Or if he could pronounce them.
"I thought you'd like that." Daniel grinned.
Jack peered up at the sky, and the crystal clear canopy of much fainter stars. "You're sure this is the warm season?"
"It is indeed chilly, O'Neill," Teal'c affirmed.
Carter grinned at them. "It's a lot warmer in the caves. Almost tropical. Magma will do that."
Part V here