Title: And These Valleys Unknown
Author's LJ/DWJ: nandamai   nandamai
Categories: Sam, Jack, Friendship, AU (from "It’s Good To Be King"), Angst
Warnings: None
Author's Webpage/Fic list: nanda's lament
Link to story: And These Valleys Unknown

Why this should be read: What if the Ancient time ship malfunctioned during the episode "It’s Good To Be King" and stranded Sam and Jack in an unknown time? This is really Sam's story as she (once again) experiences all the pressures of being the only one who can possibly find a way to get them home. Both of the character voices are very believable. Simply written and full of rich detail, I could almost feel the claustrophobic atmosphere of the humid planet. About 2,475 words.

“It took you a month to save me from my last vacation with Maybourne.” Sam’s heard this before. “Three months the time before that. I figure ten days here, two weeks tops.”

He’s gone for half an hour and he brings back a lizard. A still warm lizard that he calls lunch.

“Oh, boy,” she says, dropping her wrench on the metal casing as he shows off his trophy.

“You ever eaten snake, Carter?”

“Yes, actually,” she says. “I got food poisoning from it.”

He stills, his eyes about as wide as they ever get. “Are you serious?”

“No.” She grins at him, then sneezes and rubs her nose. “I’ll start the fire.”

“Nah, I’ll take care of it.” This makes her tense up, for some reason.

“It’s okay,” she says. “I need a break anyway.” She does, too. She’s already rerouted the entire power system three times today, and she’s starting to wish for a minor electrical burn even more than she wishes for a shower.

She suddenly remembers the time she and Mark, each unable to wimp out on a dare, found themselves so high in a tree that the fire department had to help them down. Her father laughed, but her mother was mad at all three of them for a week. And every once in a while, Sam still thinks of what she should have done to win.