Rascals - Chapter 17


"Shouldn't we stay in the room?" Daniel wondered.

"Nah, I'm not gonna sit there while they put in extra beds and move everything around." Sam finished tying her roller-skates and gingerly stood up. "Whoa!" She waved her arms frantically for a moment, then regained her balance. "Come on! Put on yours and let's race each other in the corridors!"

"Okay." Martouf said, grabbing his and sitting down to put them on.

Daniel shrugged and did the same. When they were all ready, they slowly, carefully - while grabbing hold of everything they could reach - made their way into the corridor. Going out, they met the group of soldiers bringing in the bed.

"Hiya, kids! Whoa! Careful!" The man grinned. "Looks kinda unstable!"

Daniel grinned back, then waved his arms wildly as he almost fell.

"Watch it!" The nearest soldier steadied him. "You guys sure this is such a good idea?"

"Absolutely!" Sam stated, then took off down the corridor.

"OK - suit yourselves!" The men shrugged and went on with their work. They smiled a little amongst themselves, as Daniel and Martouf slowly rolled off in the same direction Sam had left in. It was obvious neither of them had any experience with roller-skates, but equally obvious they were not going to admit it.

After rolling back and forth in the corridors for more than an hour - and falling several times - all of them had become quite proficient. They were currently engaged in a game of 'tag', when someone stepped out of the elevator, right in front of Sam.

She rolled straight into him, followed by Martouf, who was unable to stop as well. Daniel narrowly avoided the same fate, but the effort to do so destabilised him and he crashed to the floor seconds later. He immediately began crying.

"Sorry, sir!" Sam said, looking up to see Hammond. She quickly disentangled herself.

"Yeah, sorry. General." Martouf said, trying to straighten himself and move away from Hammond. In the process of doing so, he almost fell and ended up crashing into Hammond again. The General grabbed hold of the boy and steadied him, amused.

O'Neill had hurried over to Daniel, who was by now trying to get up, still sniffling a little. He helped him get up and made sure he was steady before he let go.

"Why don't you have any protective gear on!" Jacob exclaimed, hurrying over to Sam, to see if she was all right.

O'Neill looked between them. "Neither of you are wearing it. I explicitly told you no rollerskating without it!"

"Sorry, sir." Sam looked bashful. "Sorry, Dad!" She looked up at Jacob.

"We forgot." Lantash said, having taken over from Martouf. He was slightly better at keeping his balance on the wheels.

"Colonel. I thought I told you to make sure the kids didn't play in the corridors - or hurt themselves." Hammond said.

"Yes, sir. I did tell them." He sighed. "Making them listen is quite a different thing."

"Can I have a pair of those wheel-shoes also?" Anise said, excitedly. "They look like great fun!"

"They're called roller-skates." Lantash told her.

"You can borrow mine if you want to." Yosuuf exited the elevator after Anise. "I tried them once, and I cannot keep my balance. I do not think they are funny."

"Who are you?" Sam asked.

"Anise. Aren't you?" Daniel said. "Something went wrong when you examined the device."

Lantash nodded. "I think so also."

She nodded. "Yes. I'm Anise. The alien machine activated unexpectedly. I'm going to stay with you." She informed them.

"You're very welcome!" Daniel smiled widely.

"She needs toys too!" Sam suddenly said. She turned to Anise. "You should ask for LEGO. We need much more for our model of Anubis's lair."

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