The Space In Between

The sudden cessation of the noise assaulting Daniel’s ears was almost painful. Tortured metallic shrieks from the Goa’uld vessel as it was torn apart by the planet’s gravity were replaced by a muffled silence. The only sound to be heard above his own harsh breathing was the gentle susurration of air as the pod plummeted away from the stricken ship, its velocity taking it and him along a new path through the atmosphere.

Trying valiantly to calm his breathing, Daniel glanced around the confines of his confines.

Well done, Dannyboy. Another box. Great.

Well, he’d done this once before, he could do it again. Dredging up the never-to-be-forgotten memories of the trip to Netu, Daniel scanned the control panel set next to the doors in front of him. Thrusters, left and right, braking jets, stabilizers, check. Comm panel was green, pity there was no one to talk to. All he had to do was lean back and enjoy the ride. The pod’s sensors would detect the swiftly approaching ground and bring him down to a nice gentle landing.

Yeah, right. When has anything ever been that easy?

 He glanced ran over the control panels once more - everything green, plenty of air, a little light to see by, and it even felt like the pod was starting to slow.

With any luck the Jaffa will end up on the other side of the planet, I’ll land near some nice friendly people, they’ll take me to their Stargate and I’ll be home for dinner.

Daniel huffed a silent laugh at himself. He pushed down the pang in his chest at the thought of seeing his friends again, of being home, of being safe. Of being able to talk when he wanted to. On their own volition his fingers touched the silencer embedded in his throat, resisting the urge to pick at it.

Hope Teal’c or Janet know how to get this thing out.

The sound of air passing outside was increasing now, the denser atmosphere indicating the pod was getting closer and closer to the surface. Planting his feet apart, Daniel began to brace himself. The landing on Netu had been a bit rough, no telling what this one would be like.

Just my luck I’ll land on rocks or in a volcano or the sea… Crap, is this thing waterproof? Martouf never…

Bang!

A sudden violent shove sent Daniel into the wall on his left as the pod reverberated with the noise of an impact outside. Gasping, he attempted to straighten up only to be thrown to the other side as the pod began to shake and spin. Piercing alarms rang out, nearly deafening him in the confined space. The control panel was flashing red. Daniel barely managed to keep it in sight as he was bounced from one wall to another. One of the stabilizers was flashing red, the thrusters madly firing to compensate for the spin the pod had been forced into by an impact with something outside.

“Collision alert! Collision alert,” the voice of the onboard computer dispassionately advised him. “Left stabilizer non functional.”

Oh, no? Really? Daniel barely managed to bring his arms up in time to avoid imprinting his face into the doors. Reaching out his bound hands, he tried to stab at the panel to bring the stabilizer back up but was thrown backwards, then sideways, the pod beginning to spin even further out of control. Cracking his head on the back wall once more, he caught a heart-stopping view of what passed for an altimeter. Less than fifteen thousand cubits to go, that meant…. God, only four miles left.

Breath catching in his throat, Daniel attempted to prepare for what was going to be one hell of a rough landing. Pushing his feet as far apart as he could, he looked vainly about for something to hold on to. Nothing. Obviously the Goa’uld felt it would be weak to fit grab-handles in one of these tin cans.

As gravity spun an ever-increasing hold on the pod, his stomach lurched and Daniel found himself clenching his stomach muscles in time to the spinning. Scouring his memories for what to do when trapped in a tin can which was plummeting to earth, all Daniel could come up with was conflicting instructions from airline stewards about bracing for impact, and Jack and Sam arguing about relaxing all of one’s muscles before an expected impact to lessen the damage.

Daniel opted for half and half - bracing his legs against the side walls, he tried to relax his muscles as much as possible. Not an easy feat with the constant buffeting of the pod.

At this rate it’ll spin itself into the ground like a screw…

“Ten seconds until touchdown,” the bored voice announced in Goa’uld.

Desperation filled his mind; he was alarmingly blank on anything practical to do about his situation. His mother’s words took over.

I am he who is not driven back from the gods. Who then is this? This is Atum in his Disk, otherwise said, this is Ra when he rises in the eastern horizon of Heaven.

I am the phoenix which is in Heliopolis; I am the keeper of the register of that which exists.

As for eternity, it is the day, and as for infinity, it is the night.

Mine is a heart of carnelian, crimson as murder on a holy day. Mine is a heart of cornel, the gnarled roots of a dogwood and the bursting of flowers. I am the broken wax seal on my lover's letters. I am the phoenix, the fiery sun, consuming and resuming myself. I pace the halls of the underworld. I knock on the doors of death. I wander into the fields to stare at the sun and lie in the grass, ripe as a fig. The souls of the gods are with me. They hum like flies in my ears. I am one. I will what I will. Mine is a heart of carnelian, blood red as the crest of a phoenix.

Then there was nothing but white noise. Last minute instinct brought his bound hands up over his head, elbows clenched tight to protect his face.

Daniel screwed his eyes shut and held his breath.

Wham!

The pod hit the ground with all the force of a speeding train, bounced high into the air and slammed back down, this time impacting on the top of the vessel. It flipped again, soaring for eternal seconds through the air, then impacted once more - this time flat on the back of the pod. Unable to withstand such pressure, the pod doors burst open and its precious cargo was flung away. Encumbered by its own weight the pod rolled several times, then rocked to a halt in a cloud of dust and debris.

Daniel felt as if his knees had been driven into his stomach as the pod hit the ground. Through all the bounce and tumble he crashed from wall to wall, powerless to cushion the blows from all sides. A brief realisation of daylight connected in his mind, then he was out, flying through the air and slamming into the ground with a breath-stealing thud. His momentum carried him onwards, a tangle of legs and arms turning ass over teakettle until finally rolling to a halt in a cloud of choking dust.

Stunned, Daniel could only lay where he was, legs tangled beneath him, torso twisted in the opposite direction from his pelvis. His hands were trapped beneath him, digging painfully into his ribs. His face was planted into the fine dusty ground, little puffs rising up to choke him as he desperately sucked in one lungful of air after another.

As silence descended around him, he cautiously raised his head and concentrated on what damage had been done. Everything seemed pretty numb, particularly his legs. With a tremendous effort he pushed against his hands until he could roll over onto his back. The second he did so, his whole body convulsed as shards of pain lanced up his left leg, through his groin and set every nerve ending he owned on fire. Daniel opened his mouth in a silent scream of agony, eyes staring at the sky above him in disbelief that his own body could produce such torture.

Gasping for air he tried to raise his head to look down at his leg, but the instant he did so a surge of nausea swept all reason from him. Base instinct was the only thing that saved him from choking on his own vomit. Accompanied by another lance of pain, he managed to twist to one side enough to evict the contents of his stomach onto the unforgiving ground. Long moments filled with heaving and spitting passed until Daniel finally lay still, awash in the sensations pouring from his abused body.  As far as he could tell, his left leg was torn completely off, which considering the pain was a good thing - he’d bleed to death soon enough and not have to cope with the agony any longer. Dimly, he considered the rest of his body. Everything seemed to be intact, alternately pounding in protest or numb to any further consideration. If he just lay here, shifting his face away from his last meal and didn’t move a muscle, the pain was just slightly in the tolerable realm.

Consciousness swam around him but refused to flee completely. Daniel lay quietly, absorbing the few sounds that penetrated the pounding of his pulse in his ears. He lost all track of time and was attempting to just float away with the light-headedness creeping over him when a hand appeared out of nowhere, gently gripping his arm. Starting badly, Daniel pushed at the dusty ground beneath him and flopped over onto his back.

Astonishment warred with a renewed bout of dizziness and nausea. Daniel tried to focus his eyes and gaze up at the person bending over him. Instinct once again came to the fore – his confused mind identified only a Jaffa staring down at him – and he brought up his bound hands in a futile attempt to protect himself from the blows that would surely follow.

Nothing happened. Daniel tried once more to focus his tired eyes on the face floating disconnectedly above him. Concerned brown eyes peered out from an ebony face that was split by a white toothy smile. Other faces faded in and out of his line of sight. The chatter of many voices seemed to surround him. Unable to cope with so much input, he focused on the friendly face above him.

Not Jaffa then. Locals.

Huh. Take me to your leader?

For the first time in so many weeks, since that horrible moment when his last sight of a friendly face had been Sam unconscious, Daniel felt the stirrings of hope – hope for safety, for a way home, for an end to the bizarreness his life had become.

Å 

 Phoenix by Victor Haddad