A/N - This is short, only three chapters, all of which I hope to have posted by Halloween. I haven't had time to send to my beta, so let me know if you catch any mistakes. Enjoy!

Chapter 1

Sam walked into the gate room and noticed immediately that her commanding officer was already there waiting, tapping his foot on the metal grating of the ramp. Not a good sign, she thought to herself. Jack had little patience for diplomatic missions, and the peaceful, agrarian society they were visiting today promised little chance for excitement.

Daniel had yet to make an appearance, but Teal'c was present, as was all of SG-13, which currently consisted of Colonel Dave Dixon, Lieutenant Colonel Tom Balinsky, Major Candace Clark, and Airman Simon Wells. Though Jack thought it completely unnecessary, Hammond had insisted that they bring the other team along. The unit had been through the wringer on their last trip through the 'gate, with Clark and Balinsky both winding up in the infirmary. She assumed Hammond was giving them this cakewalk to ease them back to full mission readiness, as well as to quash the quickly spreading rumors that the team truly was unlucky.

Dave Dixon grinned at his fellow colonel. "Anxious much, Jack?"

"The sooner we can get this snooze of a mission over, the happier I'll be," he replied.

"Yeah, well, let's not move too quickly. I'm hoping this little excursion gets me out of trick or treat duty tonight."

Sam had completely forgotten that it was Halloween. But then, she rarely remembered most holidays, since she didn't have kids to keep her accountable.

Teal'c raised an eyebrow. "I do not understand the purpose of allowing children to threaten their neighbors with vandalism and other nefarious activity in the hope of procuring confections."

Sam was about to respond, when she was cut off by Daniel, who had just entered the 'gate room. "Actually, Teal'c, the custom dates back to..."

"It's fun," interrupted Jack. "Nice of you to join us," he added for Daniel's benefit. "Walter, dial us up!" he shouted toward the control room, ignoring the pointed look Daniel gave him.

The 'gate spun slowly, the familiar thunks followed quickly by a large kawoosh that ultimately resolved itself into the glowing, blue event horizon.

"Let's head out, kids." Jack motioned for the group to follow him, then walked straight into the wormhole. Sam watched as SG-13 and Daniel followed, she and Teal'c bringing up the rear. She smiled as she stepped into the event horizon and thought, not for the first time, how fortunate she was that she was able to travel the galaxy in such a manner.

The moment she stepped out on the other side, however, Sam knew something had gone terribly wrong. Instead of the sunny, green planet she was expecting, she was surrounded by darkness. For one panicked moment, she thought she had emerged into the void of space.

She quickly realized that she was standing on solid ground, and as her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she saw that she was surrounded by some sort of oily, black rock. It was cold, and as the event horizon winked out of existence, she noticed that there was no light other than that coming from the faint stars overhead. Sam shivered. Something about the planet felt wrong.

The absolute silence was shattered by Dixon's voice. "What the hell? Did Walter misdial?"

Jack activated the light on his P-90 and swept the immediate area, revealing still more black rock. "I don't know, but this place gives me the creeps." He pointed the light at the DHD. "Daniel, let's dial home. We'll double check our coordinates and try again."

The archeologist walked up to the DHD and began inputting the coordinates to Earth. However, when he punched the large orange crystal in the middle nothing happened. He tried to dial again, with no luck.

"This is not good," Dixon sang, summing up the situation succinctly.

"Carter?" Jack nodded toward Sam, and she got down on her hands and knees to open the panel on the bottom of the DHD, and Jack tried his best to keep his attention focused on the DHD rather than her all too perfect six.

Sam examined the control crystals, then replaced the panel and stood. "All of the crystals are present, and none appear to be damaged, sir."

"And yet, no love," replied Jack, with a wry smile. "Any ideas why it's not working?"

Sam pulled out the handheld sensor she had adapted from Asgard technology and began taking readings.

"New tricorder, Carter?" Her commanding officer gave her a smirk, which she returned in kind.

She turned slowly in a half circle. "There's an electro-magnetic signal of some kind being emitted from a source about ten klicks in that direction," she said, pointing away from the Stargate. "It's possible that it's interfering with the interface between the DHD and the 'gate."

Jack thought for a moment. "All right. No point hanging out here. Let's go check it out. Hopefully we can find it, disable it, and get home. If not, we'll regroup at the Stargate in 24 hours and wait for check-in. Hopefully, Hammond will realize the problem and start working it from his end, too."

The group headed in the direction of the signal, with Sam leading by use of her sensor and Jack providing lighting for their path. All military personnel likewise had their lights on and continuously swept their surroundings looking for potential danger. However, the light seemed to be absorbed by the rock, rather than bouncing off of it, which kept the group in relative darkness despite their substantial candlepower.

Fortunately, there was some sort of path that allowed them to navigate around the rock, rather than going over it. Sam, though, wasn't so sure this was a good thing. She was feeling increasingly claustrophobic, the larger rocks obstructing their view and preventing them from going in a straight line toward the source of the signal.

They had traveled about six klicks when suddenly the hairs on the back of Sam's neck began to rise. "Sir?" she asked.

"Yeah, I feel it, too, Carter," he replied, his eyes darting around their location.

"Hey!" Wells yelled. "I found something. Over here!"

Simon Wells stood at the entrance of a cave slightly elevated above their walkway. A faint green light emanated from deep inside. Finding a path, the others made their way to the opening.

"Think we should check it out?" the young airman asked, excitedly.

"No," replied Jack.

"Yes," responded Daniel at exactly the same time. Jack glared at him.

"Look," Daniel began. "We're here. We might as well figure out who else lives here. Exploration is supposed to be one of our goals."

Jack sighed. "Carter, any chance that signal is coming from inside of the cave?"

"No, sir," she responded. "However, I am getting some strange readings from in there. I think it's worth a look, sir."

Jack rubbed his hands over his face and head, making his hair stick out in all directions. Sam smiled to herself. She loved it when he did that. The look reminded her of an overgrown schoolboy. She found it charming, though she knew that was the last thing she was supposed to think of her commanding officer.

"Okay. I don't like it, but if you all are so dead set on seeing what's in the scary cave, far be in for me to stand in your way. Wells and Clark, you're with Daniel, Carter, and me. Teal'c, Dixon, and Balinsky, you hold the entrance. Let us know if you see any sign of trouble."

"I believe this entire planet is a potential source of trouble, O'Neill," Teal'c deadpanned.

"Right," Jack replied. "Just let us know if you see anything new, then." The Jaffa inclined his head toward Jack.

Jack shined the light on his P-90 into the cave. "Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work we go." And with that he walked into the narrow entrance of the cave, the others close on his heels.

They hadn't walked more than a few dozen feet when something blipped on Sam's sensor. "Sir, I'm getting life signs. They're faint but straight ahead, another 500 feet."

Sure enough, the glowing green light became brighter the deeper they went into the cave. When they rounded the corner, Sam had to stifle a gasp. In front of her were row after row of what appeared to be giant egg cases, a sickly green light coming from each. Thousands lined the walls of the cave.

"What the hell are those things?" mumbled Clark.

"More importantly, what do you think laid them, and is it still around?" Jack began sweeping the cave with his light.

Wells had approached the nearest egg case and was examining it closely. "Hey, guys. They're transparent! I can see something moving in here." With that, he began tapping the egg with the tip of his P-90.

Daniel sprung toward the young officer. "No, Simon! Wait! Don't!"

But it was too late. The tapping quickly turned into a cracking sound, as the egg began breaking apart. Against all reason, Wells leaned in for a closer look. "This is amazing," he whispered.

Without warning, the egg casing shattered, and with an unearthly screech something large, gooey, and very much alive sprung forward and immediately attached itself to Wells' face. The airman began screaming and grasping at the creature that was now wrapped around his head.

"Shit!" Jack swore, raising his P-90.

"Wait!" Sam yelled and pulled her zat from its holster. She fired immediately, and Wells stopped screaming and fell to the ground.

The others approached slowly. "God, what is that thing?" asked Clark, barely restrained panic evident in her voice.

Sam knelt next to the unconscious Wells. The creature was covering his face, its long appendages wrapped around the back of his head, holding it in place. Sam touched it with the muzzle of her P-90. It reminded her of some sort of sea creature, like an octopus, maybe. It oozed a viscous substance.

By then, the rest of their party had joined them, Wells' screams having drawn them from the entrance to the cave. Jack turned to Teal'c. "Have you ever seen anything like this before, T?"

"I have not O'Neill. But it would seem prudent to attempt to remove the creature from Airman Wells' face."

Balinsky joined Sam, kneeling on the other side of Wells. Sam opened her pack and tossed him some gloves. As their respective team's field medics, it fell to them to try to assist.

"Is it alive?" Balinsky asked.

Sam prodded the creature tentatively and got no response. "I think it's unconscious. If we're going to do this thing, we should do it now."

Balinsky nodded at Sam and together they attempted to remove the creature from Wells face. It proved more difficult than they expected. First, they pulled its tentacles off of the back of his head, one at a time. Then both reached under its main body and wriggled their fingers between the creature and Wells' face to try to pry it loose. Sam wrinkled her nose at the smell the thing was emitting.

"Easy, Carter," Jack warned. He did not like his Major so close to what was clearly a very dangerous and unpredictable creature.

"Got it!" Sam exclaimed, as the creature finally came loose, strands of the sticky substance clinging to Wells' face as she pulled it away. But as she stood with the creature in hand, she noticed that a long proboscis was lodged in Wells' throat. Balinsky began pulling it out.

The proboscis finally came free with a loud pop. Instantly, the creature let out terrible screech and twisted in Sam's grip, apparently in an effort to attach itself to her. In a panic, she flung it to the ground, but it immediately propelled itself back toward her face.

Clark screamed, and Sam was frozen in horror as the proboscis stretched toward her slightly opened mouth.