I'm sorry it took me so long to repost my old story, but I finally have the whole thing on the board. Here's part one.

A Little Problem Part One

Rated: PG

“Jack, I can’t believe I agreed to go through the Stargate with you again,” MacGyver said, squinting against the bright sun of the planet they were exploring.

“Come on, Mac, where’s your sense of adventure?” Jack O’Neill asked. “This place is great! Carter checked it out before we left. No signs of life, hostile or peaceful, no Goa’ulds or spider web thingies, and no torture—it couldn’t be any safer!”

“Yeah, that’s what you said the last time.”

“Well, this time I mean it. This place is gorgeous! Just look at those trees! They’re huge!”

MacGyver looked up at the unusual foliage that towered over them. The “trees” were long and slender and didn’t have any branches. Rising to an even greater height than the so-called trees were enormous umbrella-like plants that looked a lot like giant flowers, their colorful petals spreading out, creating a wide canopy and providing shade to the ground below.

“Jack, I don’t think these are trees,” he said.

“All right, so they’re alien trees,” Jack said. “We’re on another planet, after all. Use your imagination!”

MacGyver rolled his eyes and they continued ahead, walking through the dense forest.

“I’ll tell you one thing,” Jack said as they walked, “these trees are way cooler than the same old damn pines I see on every other planet. I’ll take these over them any day. Finally, some variety! I think I’m gonna like this planet!”

As Jack continued to jabber on about trees, MacGyver carefully observed his surroundings. He searched the bizarre forest for signs of the other SG-1 members—Sam, Daniel, and Teal’c. It had been hours since they all stepped through the stargate together, and he hadn’t seen them since. Something wasn’t right. A deep feeling of foreboding filled him.

“Jack, I hate to interrupt your little speech about trees,” he said, “but where are Sam, Daniel, and Teal’c? I haven’t seen them since we stepped through.”

Jack looked around curiously. “Well, they were with us earlier,” he said.

"Yeah, when we first got here. Where are they now? That was hours ago. They were walking with us, and now they just vanished.”

“Well, you know how Daniel is. He’s probably looking at rocks. Carter’s studying the atmosphere or whatever. And Teal’c…well, he’s just being good old cautious Teal’c. We came here to study this planet, so that’s probably what they’re doing.”

“But we lost them, Jack. I don’t see them anywhere.”

“You worry too much, Mac. We’ll find them. In the meantime, just enjoy the scenery.”

Without warning, a loud buzzing noise that sounded like a jet engine roared over their heads. The sound was deafening, causing the earth beneath their feet to vibrate.

“What the hell is that?” Jack asked, covering his ears with his hands.

They looked up toward the source of the blaring noise and saw the most terrifying, unearthly thing they’d ever seen. It was large and black, coated in heavy, shiny armor, what looked like twenty legs dangling from its body. It had a massive wingspan and was flying right over them. They stared at it, half frightened and half amazed.

“Is that an attack vessel of some kind?” MacGyver asked, shouting above the humming of the strange creature’s wings.

“No Mac, it’s a bug!” Jack shouted. “A huge, ugly, bug!”

“What should we do?”

“RUN!”

Jack and MacGyver ran through the forest, desperately trying to escape the buzzing of the gigantic beetle. Occasionally, Jack turned to fire at the creature, not listening to MacGyver’s shouts of protest. The beetle zipped and zagged through the forest, chasing them, its humming growing louder and more agitated. They could see its jagged pincers working and its antennas seeking them out for a meal. Jack turned and fired at the beetle again. This time, he lost his footing and tripped on a boulder, falling over backwards and sliding down a steep hill.

“Jack!” MacGyver shouted after him, watching him fall.

He ran towards where Jack had tripped and looked down, not caring if the beetle caught him or not. He saw his cousin lying there, completely unconscious from the fall.

“Jack!” He shouted again. “NO! Jack, come on! You have to wake up!”

The loud buzzing from the beetle stopped. MacGyver looked up and saw that it was gone. When the ground began to shake, he understood why. At first, the tremors were faint, but they grew stronger and stronger until he could barely stay on his feet. It felt like a strong earthquake, and MacGyver tried to brace himself as much as he could to stay steady. He had to get to Jack before rocks tumbled on him and crushed him. Following the tremors came the sounds of laughter. It sounded like a child’s gleeful laugh, but it thundered and echoed through the forest eerily, like a storm. What normally should have been the harmless sounds of playful, childish laughter seemed much more sinister on this planet.

A dark shadow spread over the forest like gathering storm clouds. MacGyver looked at the shadow closely and saw that it resembled the shape of a human being. It didn’t seem possible. The shadow was much too large, more than ten times the size of a normal human. It swallowed up much of the forest where both he and Jack were. Either he was imagining things, or his cousin Jack O’Neill was right. They were on another planet, so everything was alien. That meant anything was possible.

Looking up, he saw the figure of a little girl, but she was anything but little. She towered over the landscape, dwarfing him. Compared to her, he was the size of a small doll. He could hear her breathing loudly, and he felt completely vulnerable and defenseless in her presence. She could easily crush him. He stared up at her with a mixture of horror and wonder and carefully hid in a thicker patch of forest, even though she hadn’t noticed him. He was too small for her to notice. He thought Jack’s tiny size in comparison to this giant child would protect him, too, but he saw the girl’s hand scoop his limp body off the ground, cradling him as if he were a mouse.

All he could do was watch helplessly, remaining hidden so she wouldn’t pick him up and claim him as her plaything, too. His only chance at rescuing Jack depended on his ability to stay out of this child’s clutches. He watched, terrified as the giant creature lifted Jack off the ground and stared down at his unconscious, tiny body, smiling. He had never encountered something like this, and he didn’t even know where to begin, but he knew he had to find a way to rescue Jack when the time came. For now, all he could do was hide and watch as the girl placed Jack inside what looked like a glass jar. She began to walk away with her tiny prize, leaving behind tremors in the ground as she went. MacGyver watched, feeling completely powerless.

***

Ellie was amazed by the small creature she found. Originally, all she wanted was that beetle. But she had collected enough beetles. This strange new creature was a far better addition to her collection. He looked just like any other inhabitant on her planet, but he was so much smaller. She had never seen anything like him. With his gray hair and handsome, dignified appearance, he reminded Ellie of her uncle Ted, who was always joking with her and making her smile. She tapped on the jar, trying to wake the little man, but he didn’t stir. She hoped he wasn’t dead, but she saw his tiny lungs working, and she felt relieved. He was just sleeping. He wore strange clothes and had stranger accessories attached to those clothes that she didn’t recognize. She knew he was hurt, but she’d take care of him. He’d love the new home she was going to make for him.

To be continued…