Cello Suite No. 1

Cello Suite No. 1

“Kahlen?” Kahlen shifted on her branch and glanced up, into the darkness, to where she knew Sam was, a few branches above her.

“Yeah?”

“How long are the nights here?” she asked, curiously.

“Well... My guess is that the days are about sixteen hours long and that the nights are about twice as long. I'm not sure how it can be like that, but that's the conclusion that I've met.” She could hear shifting above her. “When it's dawn, I'll show you the berries that we can eat, ok?”

“Yeah, that'd be good.” The shifting above her stilled and Kahlen allowed herself to fall into a slight doze, awaiting the dawn.

~

Atlantis was simply buzzing with the news that Colonel Carter had disappeared, too, along with Colonel Sheppard's sister; so far only Teyla, Rodney and Ronon knew anything about her. John was walking still walking around tensely, but he was approachable now and had taken back his duties over mission reports back and was almost always found in the science labs.

When the news came about Sam's disappearance, all of the information and reports had been sent along with it. Atlantis' scientists – well, Rodney, really – was put on the project, doing his best to not yell at their linguists as they tried to work together. Currently Rodney was working on a theory that a two scientists at the SGC had thought about – it looked promising if Rodney's agitation at being distracted was anything to go by.

“For the last time, dammit, would you shut up, you Neanderthals?” Rodney shouted at a pair of scientists who had started to argue over some piece of equipment. The two instantly quieted and retreated from the lab – apparently all of the scientists knew it was better to flee for now instead of agitating Rodney.

“So, find anything?” John calmly drawled, trying to sound as easy going as he could. Rodney's eyes snapped up to his face and back to his computer so fast, John was sure that he was imagining things.

“I think so.” Well, that was something.

“Care to share with the class?” he asked after a few moments of silence. Rodney looked up this time, meeting John's. He seemed hesitant.

“I don't want to get ahead of myself with this one.” John raised an eyebrow, surprised. For the first time that he could remember, Rodney didn't want to boast loudly about his theories and how moronic his staff was that they didn't think of it.

“Rodney, more often than not, your theories about technology are right.” John tried to reassure him.

“Yes, yes, I know that.” he waved him off, “But I just don't want to do that this time. Please.” John let out a deep breath and nodded.

“Yeah, ok. If you do figure out something that you can't help but go on about, let me know, ok?” Rodney nodded as John wandered away from the science labs, his feet taking him towards the gym, hoping either Ronon or Teyla would be there to help him distract himself.

~

“Sam, come on. We should eat quickly.” Kahlen helped Sam get down from the tree, her new companion nodding.

“Yeah, I know. We should cover as much ground as possible during the day.” The two of them started walking, stopping here and there to pick at the berries, eating them slowly.

“If we come across another stream or something, I'll catch another fish. I haven't been able to start a fire to cook the meat from them, but I found that eating the meat raw isn't as bad as I thought it'd be, but it's better than just these berries.” Sam nodded, looking at Kahlen's still bloody arms.

“Did you hurt yourself when you were fighting that, uh, creature?” Kahlen looked at her arms, too.

“No, my arms are just sore from trying to hold him away from my neck. I might have some bruises on my legs and stomach, though, from where his legs were.” Sam nodded.

“Yeah, I'd guess you would be. Thanks, by the way.” Kahlen smiled brightly at Sam.

“No problem.”

For the better part of four hours, the pair walked together in silence, broken only by the sound of twigs breaking underneath their feet and a few leaves crunching into the ground. While the two had been walking, they had spotted a few of the deer-like creature and Sam, too, had been impressed at the size of their antlers. When they finally found water, it wasn't like the creek or stream that Kahlen had found on the other side of the meadow – this was a lake. The shore line was desolate, brown sand embedded with pebbles. The two of them were alert as they slowly walked onto the open sand; both keeping an eye out for any sign of danger.

Around the shore line, the forest was lush with green bushes and plants. Kahlen crouched down in front of the water and looked into it – it was crystal clear, giving her the ability to see straight to the bottom.

“D'you think it's safe to drink?” Sam shrugged.

“Since we don't have any testing equipment with us and I haven't seen the right tools to make a fire with – and even if we could, what would we put the water in? – there's only one way to find out.” Kahlen nodded.

“Yeah, that's what I thought, too. Would you like to do the honors, or should I?” Sam shrugged.

“Doesn't matter to me. We're both the same rank, so it's not like we could order each other to do it.” Kahlen smiled.

“Yeah, I know.” She sighed softly. “Guess I will, because I mean, after all, I was here first.” Before Kahlen leaned down to drink some of the water – no, she wouldn't use her hands, she hadn't washed them yet – she wondered if she could name the planet 'Kahlen-ania' or something. Maybe she could make a flag.

~

Elizabeth Weir was in a meeting, via video transmission, with Stargate Command on earth. She was currently talking to General Landry, with the rest of SG-1 in the background, keeping them updated with the progress being made with the translations and the video footage that the linguists and scientists – well, Rodney – were working on.

“General, I'm not entirely sure about what you're hoping for us to find. So far, there hasn't been much progress in any direction, only assumptions that haven't been able to be backed up by -” it was at that moment that Rodney decided to burst into the room, forgoing all politeness in knocking.

The statement he made left both Elizabeth, General Landry and everyone behind him start in shock.

“I think I know how to find them.”