*SAM*
Planning a wedding sucks. I couldn't believe the enormous amount of detail and work that goes into it. My estimate was that it took half the time and resources to complete the Manhattan Project than had gone into getting us to the altar. Jack and me, that is. There were six more weeks to go and I could hardly wait - to have it *over*.
Oh, don't get me wrong. I'd always fanaticized of marrying the man of my dreams in a flower-strewn chapel, with both of us deliriously happy. We'd planned for that, but it came with bridesmaid dresses and groomsman gifts, lunches, showers, fittings and ordering invitations. This latter was the easiest of all - just total up the number of people at the SGC, on Eden, plus a few alien friends and you knew how many to order. For security reasons, we planned to hold the wedding on Eden. I felt bad that my brother, Mark, and his family couldn't be there, but Jack and I had intended to see them for a few hours on our way to Maui. Jack might have finally gotten that endless beach and little black bikini he'd been imagining.
*JACK*
Sam was freaking out over this wedding thing, not that she wasn't getting loads of pressure over it from all sides; plus, doing her regular 28-hour per day job. I'd been through this once and, frankly, had way less to do in the planning than she did. It didn't help that she was incredibly busy catching up with the construction schedule and securing Eden from enemies without.
In the six months since the rebellion fomented by the NID, she had had an iris fitted over the Stargate, built a compound around the Stargate - guarded and staffed 24 x 7 - coordinated the retrieval and installation of two more sets of rings, found another set, and installed a radio repeater station between the two valleys for instant communication. With full sets of rings, including the platforms, they worked much more easily, less jury-rigging involved. We had ready transportation from the Stargate to base, to the future colony site and to the valley below the escarpment. What could I say? Sam was a wonder woman; always has been. It's one of a zillion and one things I loved about her.
The down side was that we hadn't spent much time together and I really missed that. The initial phase of building out the colony site was ramping up and several people had moved to Eden for the first construction projects. In addition to the forty or so US Army Corps of Engineers construction workers, I now had an assistant and six subordinates. They were mostly military or ex-military. The majority of the colonists would be ex-military themselves for security reasons, but we'd be a civilian government overseeing a civilian colony.
With six weeks to go before the wedding, I had a lot of work to do myself. Eden's nineteen-month year made for a long winter, but it was finally winding down. Spring was making a grudging appearance, green or purple shimmered on the edges of nearly everything, and there was a lot of work to do before I left with my brand new bride for an all-too-brief honeymoon. We had to lay foundations for at least the power and recycling/sewage plants. The bare ground that would become the truck garden for the embryonic community was just waiting for the bite of a tiller. Planting couldn't wait too long if we were to raise all of our own produce that year. The timetable set by the project plan was aggressive, to say the least. In four years, it said Eden Colony must be self-sufficient, come hell or high water.
*SAM*
I sighed as I finished an email to the US ACE commander regarding a section of the Stargate compound that hadn't met the specs, hit the Send key and moved on to the next item. It was another complaint from Sharon Adams, my new lab supervisor, about the ACE troops, one Private Jones in particular, who had been harassing her tab technicians - ogling the women and pushing around the men.
My shoulders slumped and I hung my head, thinking that I felt like such a bureaucrat. I never got time in my own lab anymore and, worse yet, hadn't seen Jack in five days. I needed a hug *so* badly, not to mention anything else I could use right about now. I hoped, wished, dreamed he'd be home that coming weekend. Jack had stayed most nights in the small working camp set up in the valley to the east, the location of the new colony.
I knew I was mentally whining, but, somehow, this wasn't how I'd imagined my life with Jack - sleeping alone, rarely getting out of my office or seeing my friends. My stomach let out a loud rumble and it dawned on me. I was suffering from low blood sugar. My gut was telling me that I needed to refuel my body. The clock on my PC said it was almost 1400 and I'd skipped breakfast when the first "emergency" collided with my day at 0600. Locking the screen, I stood, stretched until my spine popped and walked out of my office.
"I'm going to grab something to eat, Eric. Page me if something starts to burn down," I threw over my shoulder to my admin, Technical Sergeant Browne. Engrossed in an assignment I'd given him earlier, he grunted and waved absently in my direction.
Smiling at his intense concentration, I walked briskly through the open commons toward the science complex and the mess hall beyond. Had the afternoon been as gray and cold as those of the past six months, I'd have ducked into the complex and followed its series of interconnecting enclosed walkways. However, the sullen overcast of the morning was gone, leaving a glorious spring day. The scrawny twig-like trees planted around the perimeter of the large commons had telltale swellings along each branch, hinting at foliage to come. We'd taken samples of the indigenous flora from around the base to landscape the open spaces of our compound. Far be it from me to introduce inimical or predatory species to this world, so aptly named Eden. Fortunately, Jack and the-powers-that-be agreed with me wholeheartedly. It *also* had saved money by not importing plants from Earth. Not that I thought budgetary concerns had anything to do with the decision. Noooooo, not me. Command had made me cynical, like someone else I knew.
*JACK*
"Damn it! What else can go wrong today?" I ranted and stalked away from the cracked foundation Delia Jameson, my Sanitary Engineer, had just shown me. The ACE grunts had messed up another pour. I grabbed my radio and shouted into the innocent device, "Gregory!"
"Uh, yes sir?" sounded the weary voice of the colony project ACE commander.
"Major Gregory, you get your butt over to the waste plant *right now*!"
"May I ask why, sir? Is anything wrong?" His tone was wary. Things had gone badly for three days now and my anything-but-infinite patience was at an end.
"You might say that, Major. Mrs. Jameson will brief you when you get here. I expect to hear from her later that you've solved the problem. Am I making myself *perfectly* clear?"
Hoping for better news, I stomped toward the area under preparation for planting. The energetic walk helped my mood slightly. It was hard to stay too upset with the beauties of nature around me. The wide, open valley we'd chosen for the new settlement stretched for miles in all directions. The sky was a crystalline blue and reminded me of the eyes of the woman I loved. Down a gentle slope in front of me, about a mile distant, lay a fast-flowing, as yet unnamed river that beckoned to me, "Come fishing, Jack. You know you want to."
Unfortunately or, perhaps, fortunately for my ability to concentrate, a ten-foot wall was quickly forming a barrier between the burbling water and me. We'd designed the wall to surround a square, about a mile on a side, to provide the settlement with a barrier against the local mad, marauding herbivores. The settlement was right in the path of a large annual migration of the local herd beasts called Jackalopes. Some smartass nicknamed the mild-mannered animals after a mythical animal from the American Southwest and the name stuck. Somehow, I don't think the "Jack" part was for their jackrabbit ears. Sam thought it was hilarious. So much for posterity.
*SAM*
As I walked across the open space separating two of the lab buildings, a view of the ACE troops playing flag football in the field south of the mess hall rapidly opened up before me. My fatigue shirt dangled from my finger over one shoulder. The day was temperate enough that my quick pace made me too warm to wear the extra layer over my long-sleeved tee shirt. I reveled in the sunshine and the warmth it brought, missing only the presence of Jack to make it perfect.
I rounded the last lab structure and headed toward the promise of food. Just then, a body careened into me, spilling us both in a heap. A few seconds later, a hand appeared before my face offering me help getting up.
"Can I help you, lovely lady?" the smirking young soldier on the other end of the hand said.
The anonymous form that had hurtled into me sprang to its feet and turned to face me, contrite, especially when he recognized me. "Geez, I'm sorry, ma'am. Are you hurt? Can I help you up? Do you need to go to the infirmary?" he babbled, apparently afraid I'd pull his ticket.
The smirker shouldered the babbler aside and swaggered closer. "Just ignore my friend here, gorgeous. I'm a lot more fun," he schmoozed with an oily charm and extended his hand again. I ignored it and him, standing up under my own power.
"No harm done, gentlemen. I'll just be on my way and you can get back to your game," I said with a lopsided grin to indicate that there were no hard feelings. The babbler, one Corporal Forrest, looked immensely relieved and stammered his thanks. Nodding to him, I turned and started to step away, when a hand planted itself firmly on my butt and squeezed.
I jerked away, stunned, and spun to face the two men. The smirker, a young man about my height and about as wide, a pint-sized Arnold, was leering at me.
"Just what do you think you're doing, soldier?" I stood, hands on hips, in front of the quaking Forrest and the idiotically grinning private.
"Come on, sweetheart, you know you wanted me to touch you," the grunt asserted.
Forrest grabbed him and shouted, "Shut up, you idiot. Don't you know who she is?"
"Oh, don't tell me. You're Private Jones," I said, guessing he was the one bothering the lab techs.
"The one and only, darlin'. I see my reputation precedes me, and you just had to see for yourself if it was true. Am I right, honey?" Pursing my lips, I shook my head, wondering how someone this stupid could generate enough brainpower to move his mouth and keep his heart beating.
"Corporal Forrest, please escort Private Jones to Major Samuels' office and have him locked in a cell until I can drop by to swear out a complaint for assaulting a superior officer." The extremely annoyed corporal grabbed his fellow soldier by the arm and started hauling him away.
"Superior officer, just who the hell does she think she is?" Jones shouted, trying to pull away. Some of the audience that had gathered ran to help Forrest.
"She's the base commander, you *moron*! You just goosed the base commander!" Forrest hissed and used the palm of his hand to smack the wriggling carpenter on the back of his head. They hauled Jones away, shouting about women who f*d their way into positions of authority and then abused the power. His captors seemed to have no sympathy and one of them clapped her hand over his mouth. My face started to heat up at his insinuations.
As they walked, dragged, and generally manhandled the stocky young man away, I could still hear the corporal shouting at Jones. "You're too stupid to be believed. You'll be lucky if you don't end up cleaning latrines for the next 20 years over this little fiasco. I told you that you should stop being such a dick, but noooooooo, you had to grope a full colonel who's engaged to a general. In front of a million witnesses, too."
I glanced around at the faces of those who still stood staring after Jones. Not one contained a shred of blame for me as they looked back. Perhaps sensing my doubts, a stocky sergeant I recognized asserted, "No ma'am, we don't believe a thing he said. Most of us," he looked at his friends on either side, many of whom nodded, "have been here long enough to know you've more than earned your position."
"Thank you, Sergeant. That means a lot to me." I grinned gratefully and walked toward the mess hall, hoping there was still something left to eat. I mused, 'At least this will solved one of my nastier problems. Sharon will be happy over this turn of events.'
*JACK*
Kevin Jameson, Delia's husband and my chief botanist, stood to the side of the first five-acre plot under cultivation, supervising two of his men as they tilled the fertile soil.
"Hey, Kevin, how's it going today? Will you be ready to plant on time?"
"Lookin' good, General. We've added all the amendments and should have the tilling done today. After talking with Sgt. Bodine about his experiences gardening last year, we should have our first harvest in four weeks: greens." He grinned widely and I returned the gesture, pleased at his progress. We chatted for a short while and then I moved off toward the crew laying the foundation for the wooden fence.
The wall was well behind schedule. It wasn't anyone's fault; they'd just run into a large patch of clay that had to be dug out before the foundation in that section could be laid. At least the clay would come in handy later when we started making bricks for houses.
Frustrated by setbacks, I headed back to the camp tent we used as an office. My radio bleated and I heard the voice of Captain Kim Fredricks, my architect. "General, come in." I'd sent her and our geologist team searching in the hills to the northwest for a source of gypsum the satellite had identified.
"What's up, Captain?" She sounded keyed up, especially for someone who rarely became animated. She could out-stoic Teal'c.
"You've got to join us up here right away, sir. You won't *believe* what we've found!"
*DANIEL*
The news spread from the colony to the base and through the SGC like lightening. They'd found signs of an extremely ancient civilization on Eden. Jack's team had stumbled on the remnants of a barely recognizable stone wall. When turned over, faded carving covered the surfaces.
General Hammond had recalled me immediately from a dig on P4Z-223, where I'd been working for weeks with SG-7. The Stargate spat me out inside the new security compound on Eden, where I faced an array of P90s and M5 rifles until the lead SF recognized me.
"Welcome to Eden, Dr. Jackson. Colonel Carter expects you in her office right away. If you'll follow me to the ring platform, I'll have you there in just a few moments," stated the eager, young lieutenant as we hurried through a doorway. On the other side of the door lay a passageway with several openings on either side. A security station with an armed guard sat behind a bulletproof panel at the opposite end.
"Man, Sam's serious about not letting anyone take over again," I reflected under my breath, glancing around at armored soldiers and artillery pieces on display. Not that I blamed her, after the incident several months ago almost ended with the loss of Eden Base. As it was, over sixty people died, all due to infiltration and betrayal.
The lieutenant no longer seemed so young or friendly. "Yes, sir. No one wants that to happen again. We all appreciate the Colonel's concern for our welfare and our home."
After I signed in, the lieutenant led me through another door to a room that held the ring platform. The operator instructed me to stand on the raised area and then he pushed some buttons on the console before him. Seconds later, I stood in an octagonal closet, just the size of the rings. The door burst open and Sam stepped in, a huge smile on her face.
"Daniel, it's great to see you. Thanks for coming so quickly," she said as her arms embraced me for several seconds.
"Hey, I don't often get an excuse to come here. Now that you've found something interesting, I may get to see you more often," I joked.
"Now, we just have to find something for Teal'c and we'll have the team back together again." Sam grinned and pulled me out of her personal ring room, a hand on my arm. "I can hardly wait to get out of this office for a few hours. Hammond is giving me a brief reprieve from the life of a bureaucrat to escort you up there. I think he knows I've long since gone stir crazy and will run screaming out the door any minute now.
"Give me a minute to reprogram the rings and we can meet Jack at the colony site. I haven't been able to spend the time on the ring program that I'd like. Otherwise, it wouldn't take so long," she said contritely.
"Sam, you certainly have nothing to apologize for. I'm amazed at the incredible improvements you've made in transportation, in *everything* on Eden. Too bad it's not this easy to get to work back on Earth." I laid my head on her shoulder, eyes tilted up toward her face and teased, "Can I have my own set of rings for Christmas, sis?"
*SAM*
It was wonderful to see him again. I plopped a light kiss on his forehead and turned back to the ring console in my office. After a few more keystrokes, we stepped into the closet and the rings transported us to the matching platform outside the future northwestern 'gates of the colony site. We stood several hundred yards from the closest hole in the ground or partially completed structure.
"Jack said he'd meet us at his 'office'. Come on. It's over this way." I lead us at a fast walk to the cluster of tents in the distance. With each step, our enthusiasm grew. I couldn't wait to see this new discovery. I could only imagine how excited an archeologist would be.
"Sam, Daniel, what took you so long?" Jack quipped as he stepped up to us. My love swept me into his arms and our lips met for our first kiss in almost a week. After the first moment of shock at his sudden move, one hand slid behind his neck and the other slipped around his waist to pull him closer. God, I'd missed him, the scent and feel of him, the strength and taste of him.
"How can I have become addicted to you in such a short time?" I asked between fevered kisses, only half-joking. "I may have to have Janet declare you a controlled substance." Jack chuckled appreciatively and kept right on with his assault on my senses and my lips.
After several minutes of tactfully leaving us alone, Daniel poked his head back into the tent. "Okay, you two. Get a room, will ya?"
"If only..." I breathed against Jack's lips, feeling his curve into a smile in return. Jack grudgingly pulled back and we both turned to face our friend, arms around each other.
"Okay, Ned Flanders, let's look at the images Captain Fredricks sent of their find. Then we can get the heck out of Dodge," said Jack.
We three huddled around Jack's laptop to view the digital images. The first showed what looked like a pile of stones, half-buried and partially obscured by vegetation. Jack and I exchanged looks doubtfully.
"Witness if you will. rocks," quipped Jack sarcastically.
The second was a close-up of the pile, revealing more detail. Pictures of single stones from various angles followed and the handiwork of intelligent beings was now plain. The face of each showed intricate carving, although much of it had worn away, and the pattern was impossible to determine from each piece alone. One or two had bits of ancient color in deep grooves.
I glanced at Daniel and saw the light of joy and anticipation in his eyes. He was in heaven with a new race and culture to study.
*JACK*
We hiked due westward, parallel to the river for about three miles until we looked down a gentle, tree dotted slope to a tiny lake. I looked at my companions and grinned at their expressions of peace, awe and delight. Time after time I'd witnessed this same reaction to this world we'd called Eden.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" I spoke and roused them from their reverie. Sam glanced my way and I saw intense tenderness in her azure eyes. It constantly amazed me that she'd given me her love. Our hands joined for a quick squeeze, after which I pointed to the right. "If we follow the shore north for a short way, we'll come to a stream by which the lake dumps into the river. It's only another four or so miles from there. Mostly up hill." I grinned, and Daniel and my desk-bound lady groaned.
"Jack, you couldn't have found some artifacts a little closer to civilization?" Daniel's acerbic quip started Sam and me laughing. It was like old times on SG-1. All that was missing was Teal'c.
*TEAL'C*
Drey'ac's symbiote was almost mature and she refused to accept one from another Jaffa. I shudder to think what might have happened had I not been here when this occurred.
"Wife," I harshly began my speech. Her face took on a hard stubbornness. It became apparent that ordering her, who alone had raised our son and born the shame of my betrayal of Apophis, would not be a wise act on my part. Sliding closer on the bench, I placed my hand on hers as it lay in her lap. "Drey'ac, my wife," I began again in a much more pleasing tone, "I do not wish you to die. If you will not take another's Goa'uld symbiote, I may have a temporary solution."
"Tell me what this unspoken solution is, my husband." Her tone was wary. Drey'ac had never been of an adventurous nature.
"While working with the Tau'ri, I have been to the world from which the Goa'uld sprang. I do not know if the primitive form of the parasite would serve to keep you alive, but I would happily procure one if you would accept it," I asked sincerely.
"Teal'c, I am not a small one needing to be told bedtime stories. Please do not treat me as such," she replied angrily. "A new prim'ta can only be obtained from the priests."
Dismayed, I answered, "You must believe me, Drey'ac. I speak the truth and genuinely do not wish you to die. I will take the one of the primitive symbiotes myself if it is the only way you will consent to taking a new prim'ta." My wife of decades searched my countenance as though she searched for the truth behind my words.
*SAM*
The day stayed sunny, but the temperature slowly dropped as the afternoon wore on. Our quick pace kept us warm as we wove across the steep hillsides and through the knife-blade valleys. Within a couple of hours, we were close to the site. Finally, we crested the last hill and stopped for a moment to gaze down as we had at the lake hours ago. The pocket valley seemed deserted, untouched.
"Jack, where did Captain Fredricks say she was?" Daniel asked, doubtfully.
"She and her group are at the higher, western end of the valley. She said to follow the brook up to a small waterfall. Someone will be there to meet us," the general answered, all business again. He stepped out and we followed, as always.
Deep in the narrowing vale, shadows reached for us as the sun sank in the west. Fortunately, the way was short from there and we reached the falls within 20 minutes. As we approached the pool below the spill of water, a man eagerly rushed toward us.
"Sir, ma'am, Doctor," Ivan Kovalev, George Masters' assistant, greeted us, smiling widely, and nodded to each in turn. "If you'll follow me, I'll take you to the camp where the captain and Doctor Masters are searching for more stones." Jack smirked at Daniel at the young student's choice of words. Daniel rolled his eyes and ignored Jack. I bit my lip to keep from laughing while watching their interaction.
"Lead on, Ivan," Jack quipped gladly. After walking several hours in the sun, it was getting cool standing under the shade of the large trees that took advantage of the abundant water.
By the time we'd covered the relatively short distance to the site of their discovery and happily divested ourselves of the heavy packs Jack provided, the sun was behind the mountains, leaving us in the twilight before full dark. We saw nothing of consequence that night.
*DANIEL*
I was quite pleasantly surprised to find that Captain Fredricks had preserved the site very well, thoroughly documenting everything on camera before moving anything. They moved only a few stones once Ivan recognized the carvings for what they were. Instead, the captain had directed the two geologists to search for more stones and had mapped several other possible locations. From their dinnertime descriptions, this could be a substantial site with outbuildings and an outer barricade of some kind.
If I hadn't been there for the changes in their relationship, I wouldn't recognize my two friends. Even after the better part of a year together, they were inseparable, touching constantly and managed to excuse themselves for the night about five minutes after dinner was over. Their tent was quite a way away from everyone else's, giving them plenty of privacy and us a buffer. As much as I loved my friends and was glad of their happiness together, nothing would make me less happy than to listen to them all night. Times like this always reminded me of how much I still missed Sha're, my lost wife. Rather than dwell on my loss, I glanced at Captain Fredricks, Kim, catching a smile as she gazed after the retreating pair.
"How could you work with them for five years if they were like this? I mean, didn't it drive you nuts with frustration?" she asked, grinning.
"Fortunately, they always maintained a perfectly professional relationship. Um, there was nothing acknowledged between them until." I trailed off, not wanting to go there.
"Until.?" Kim prompted eagerly.
"I, uh." I closed my eyes, and swallowed. "Until we went to the Dreaming World." I glanced at her saw that she wanted me to continue, her eyes soft as though knowing this was sensitive territory. At some level, I needed to talk about it.
"They, the people on the Dreaming World, gave us everything we'd ever desired. For Teal'c, he and his family were together and living on Chulak, free of the Goa'uld. My dream was to be together with my wife, Sha're, again." I drew a shuddering breath. She waited patiently. "For Sam and Jack, they were together, married, with three-year-old twins and deliriously happy. Well-meaning friends woke us from the dream too abruptly and it almost killed us. I certainly wanted to die, losing her all over again." My voice had sunk to a low mutter.
"It was hardest for them." I jerked my head in the direction of my friends. "They had to work side by side in a professional capacity after having so much together. I think if Sam and Jack hadn't finally managed to find each other again, it *would* have eventually killed them." I fell quiet and she discreetly let the silence replace our conversation.
Despite my excitement over the find, I was exhausted and fell asleep by the fire. Kim shook me awake and led me to a tent. I fell into the sleeping bag and knew nothing more until the delectable smell of coffee lifted my consciousness from a light, restful sleep filled with dreams of Sha're and a little boy with her smile.
*JACK*
The next morning I woke early feeling, despite only a couple of hours of sleep, incredibly relaxed and at peace. The body so casually draped over mine stirred, her hand skimming over my bare abdomen and hips.
"Keep that up, Sam, and we'll never get out of bed," I whispered in her ear, nipping the outer edge softly.
"Keep *that* up, Jack, and I'll never, ever let you leave me alone again," she purred back. I chuckled, planted a quick kiss on her lips and slipped my body free of the sleeping bags we'd zipped together the night before. I dressed quickly, while she watched me through hooded eyes.
As I moved quietly out of the tent, she called, "I'll be out shortly. Save me some coffee, huh, Jack?"
"Sure, sweetheart. See you in a few."
Usually the first up while in the field, I was surprised to see Ivan up and puttering about making coffee and oatmeal. I greeted him cordially and took the offered mug.
"Be right back. Someone needs this more than I do and, in this instance, colonel outranks general," I said, mock-seriously. He smiled and reached for another mug.
Returning moments later, followed by a happy Sam sipping her life's blood, I took my own mug from Ivan and sat by the fire. Just as we finished our coffee, a bedraggled Daniel crawled from his tent and grasped the cup Ivan offered as a drowning man clutches a life preserver.
"What's on the agenda for today, Dr. Jackson?" the young geologist asked.
"We examine the artifacts found so far, search for more and map the rest of the site. Um, Sam, what survey data do you have from the satellite?"
"I brought the remote comm device for the satellite so we can query it as much as necessary, plus I have some information on my tablet PC to get us started." Sam brought out the handheld doohickey and some memory cards, and then punched some buttons. I had to grin at her with her new toy. Just like a big kid. "I have a geological survey of the area immediately surrounding the find to a depth of 15 feet and a topo map of the valley. That should get you started, Daniel." She looked up and jumped back as he suddenly leaned over to wrap his arms around her.
"I have missed being in the field with you *so* much, Sam. No one is quite so well prepared or as innovative," Daniel said earnestly. She laughed and kissed him softly on the cheek. "Ya don't supposed they'd let you pull an Admiral Kirk, do you Jack?" he asked, half seriously.
"Yeah, like my knees would stand up to that kind of abuse, Danny," I replied. "I think my days of being on a front-line team are over." Somehow, I didn't mind either, especially after Sam turned my way with a huge smile just for me. I was the luckiest man in the universe.
*SAM*
Once Daniel was officially awake, he organized us into teams to clear and search the site. I figured it was pretty much to keep us out of his way while he studied and recorded the evidence. We hacked away at small trees and brush, hunting for more signs. Shortly after noon, Ivan found another portion of a wall, a corner that looked like it had been attached to a roof. Now that we knew better what to look for, other finds followed quickly and the map of the site started to form a picture.
What we'd called "anomalies" on the satellite scans now made sense in light of intelligent meddling with what we had assumed was natural. Daniel and I compared the digital scans with the map he was compiling. He grabbed the PC stylus and started sketching in on the screen the bits of ruins from his paper map.
"See here, Sam, and here?" He enthusiastically used the slender stylus to point out two more possible wall fragments and traced over them on the screen. "Extrapolating from these bits, we can almost make out the shape of two structures." We continued in this vein for several more hours, all the while the others brought us more bits and pieces of the puzzle. Daniel was almost giddy over a larger section of bas-relief that included carved glyphs around the rim.
"Given how much of this site is buried and is just now being uncovered by erosion; plus the wear patterns around the items we have found, I'd say it's been hundreds of millennia since people lived here, possibly longer," Daniel announced over dinner. "We've found no evidence so far linking this civilization to any known Earth-based culture. It may even be indigenous to Eden. General Hammond will definitely want to send a team to work this site."
"Do you think he'll assign you?" I asked, smiling, and reached my hand out to take his. "It'd be great to have you here."
"Well, he might if you two ask him." Daniel flashed that boyish grin that always had so many of the SGC women swooning.
"I think that could be arranged. We should make it an early night so we get back to Eden Base tomorrow in time to talk with Hammond about what we've found here." Jack turned toward our tent and I fell into step with him.
Lowering my voice, I voiced the worry that had been running round and round my brain all evening, "Jack, we're going to need to go over the satellite data for the whole planet again. If there's even a chance that an indigenous species is still here, we may have to leave Eden."
*JACK*
Her words chilled me. I tried to put the idea of leaving our new home out of my head, but sleep was hard to find that night. For what seemed like hours, I felt Sam tossing around next to me, unable to sleep either. Finally, needing her touch, I reached out and pulled her into my arms. Her thrashing stilled almost immediately.
"Sam?"
"Hmm?" she mumbled half-asleep.
I held her close, her head under my chin and murmured into her soft hair, "Promise me something. If we have to leave, we will, but we'll stay together. I can take anything, starting over, making a new home, anything, if I still have you."
Sam raised her crystal blue eyes to meet mine and said seriously, "Why would I even consider leaving you? I love you, Jack, more than I ever thought possible. Not even having to leave Eden would change that. Flyboy, you are *so* stuck with me." I could almost make out her sweet smile in the dim light shed by Eden's larger moon.
"How I ever got so lucky, I'll never understand, but I'm not complaining."
*DANIEL*
For once, I was up before my companions. My excitement over this find made my blood sing. Something about the carving had spoken to me and I longed to study it further.
Ivan was already up even though the sun was not. With a simple "Good morning, Dr. Jackson," he handed me a cup of his excellent coffee. Thankfully, he was silent until I'd finished it and was ready to interact on a human level.
"What's on the agenda today, Dr. Jackson?" Ivan repeated himself. He sat beside me on a log lying conveniently beside the fire pit.
"Well, Sam, Jack and I will return to base to contact General Hammond. He'll decide if the SGC will investigate the find any further, given the budget, personnel constraints and existing priorities." I stifled a yawn and gratefully accepted more coffee. The younger man stood silently for a moment holding the coffee pot.
"What can I do while you're gone? Since we found the gypsum deposits the general wanted, Dr. Masters and I don't have anything pressing going right now. I don't think Masters would mind my staying here until you have an answer," he offered.
"Hey, that'd be great. Any information you can get from comparing the scans and the map I started would be a real help."
"Let me take a short bio-break and you can show me what you want me to do." Setting down the coffee pot, he headed for the small copse of trees that stood beyond one of the brushy areas we'd cleared yesterday, leaving only tufts of knee-high grass. I watched him retreat, my mind elsewhere, until his first scream, "Help!"
My eyes focused on his location and he seemed. fainter, washed out somehow in the early morning sunshine. "Ivan? What's happening? Ivan!"
I ran toward where he stood, yelling for the others. Behind us, I heard the noises of our companions emerging from their tents sleepily asking what was going on. Leaping over bushes and rocks, I ran as fast as my legs would take me toward Ivan. He seemed caught, frozen in a web of light flowing from below him. As I skidded around his position to face him, I could see Ivan still in the act of taking a step, one leg raised, arms swinging at his side. Only his eyes still moved, the brown orbs expressing his sheer terror at what was happening.
My hand reached for his, but it never got to its target. My objective was simply. gone.
"Daniel, what's all the yelling about?" Jack shouted as he and Sam pounded up to me. How could they have missed it?
"I-Ivan. h-he he's gone!"
"What do you mean, he's gone, Daniel?" Sam asked softly, sensing I was in a sort of shock. She took my trembling arm and led me back to the fire. We sat down on the log where Ivan and I had so recently sat together.
"He was w-w-was walking into the woods to take a leak, when he suddenly froze and dis-disappeared."
"Daniel, are you sure he didn't fall into a hole or something?"
"No! He was there, frozen, then he disappeared, wasn't there anymore, poof, gone. What more can I say?" I yelled back at Sam, angry at their lack of action. Ivan was gone and they stood there arguing with me.
"We're just trying to find out what happened to Ivan," Sam said reasonably. I looked up to see Jack, Dr. Masters and Kim standing near where Ivan vanished, Jack and Masters both talking. Kim glanced away, not paying attention to the two men and started searching the ground near them. She stooped to look closer at something and reached out her hand toward it.
"No!" I shouted. Not her, too. I ran toward her with Sam just behind me. The two other men spun to watch us. "Kim, don't touch it!" I tried, but it was too late. She stood and turned to me simultaneously, a disk in her left hand.
Nothing happened. When I got to where she stood, the captain was still there looking at me as if I was a crazy man.
"I. think that's what Ivan stepped on. Before he vanished, that is." We all glanced down at the disk in her hand. It was so innocuous looking - about six inches across, dark gray, with a lighter gray rim. Characters of an unfamiliar script ran around the disk, just inside the lighter ring and appeared to have been hand lettered.
Sam offered one of the storage bags I'd brought with me and Kim gingerly placed the hockey puck-shaped object in the padded pouch.
Jack spoke for the first time, "I *don't* think Hammond is going to have a problem assigning people to this project now."
Sam interjected, "Jack, we have to get some people up here right away to search for Ivan. If he disappeared here, he may re-appear anywhere - hurt, or worse." Jack nodded his agreement and stalked back to his tent to pack.
*JACK*
While Sam finished the packing we'd begun last night, I used my radio to call the colony site. "Major Gregory, this is O'Neill." The reception was scratchy, but readable. "We have a missing man and need a search party up here, ASAP."
"Yes, sir. Should I bring Brutus, sir?" Brutus was the ACE mascot, an overgrown puppy of uncertain pedigree.
"He any good at search and rescue?"
"Yes, sir. We used him for that on our last job."
"Good, bring him. Dr. Jackson, Colonel Carter and I will be returning as soon as we can. We'll probably meet you on the way. O'Neill out."
*SAM*
It was nothing in particular and lots of little things, but delay after delay kept us from leaving that morning. As we finally shouldered our packs in late morning and walked from the camp, past the waterfall to the open valley, we saw the search party rapidly approaching the camp, Brutus in the lead.
Major Gregory, barely restraining Brutus on a leash, shouted from several yards down slope, "General, Colonel, you're still here."
"Yeah well, best laid plans and all that. You made good time. Hey, Brutus," Jack crankily acknowledged the enthusiastic greeting offered by the young dog, jumping happily up on Jack. Suddenly sensing something irresistibly fascinating in the brush, Brutus jerked his leash out of the major's hand. Jack grabbed for it, just missing the bit of leather as it flew past. "I'll get him," Jack blurted as he whirled to follow the dog into the tall grass.
As I watched my almost fifty-year-old fiancée unreservedly chase a dog through a field, the sight brought several thought to mind. What a big kid. He misses having a dog so much, maybe I should get him one after we're married. Then a chill thought spoiled my enjoyment of the moment. He probably wants to have kids to go with the dog. I suppose we need to have *that* talk about whether to have children, assuming I can, that is.
The adolescent pair headed back this way as something distracted Brutus again. Suddenly, they froze. I mean really froze. Like the movie was on pause.
"Jack?" All I got in response was a long, drawn-out moan, made faint by the distance between us. "Jack!" I started to run in his direction. "Talk to me, Jack!" I frantically shouted as I raced to his side. Horrified, mouth gaping, I watched as he began to fade.
With a visible effort, he turned his stricken eyes toward me. "Sssaaaaaammm," Jack managed as he and Brutus vanished.
*TEAL'C*
When General Hammond's emissary reached me in the Land of Light, I had just returned from P3X-888 with a mindless, rapacious serpent to replace Drey'ac's symbiote. In my absence, her symbiote had matured to the point where my son, Rya'c, had to remove and kill it lest it take her as its first host. My wife was so close to death that I had no option but to give her my own symbiote to save her life. The sight of her in such a state made me realize how dear she had become to me.
"Father, you will die without your prim'ta," Rya'c anxiously exclaimed as I removed the creature from my pouch.
"I am aware of the consequences, my son, but your mother's life is too important to me to allow her to die when I might save her. The serpent in the vessel in my pack may be able to replace my prim'ta until another may be procured." I slipped the wriggling beast into my pouch, where it swam frantically for a few minutes in its agitation.
"B-but, Father, to take such a creature as your prim'ta." Rya'c's expression of disgust and horror at the blasphemy I proposed provoked a snort of amusement from me, a result, no doubt, of my years of close association with the Tau'ri.
"It will serve to keep me alive until another is found. Now, my son, I wish you to ."
"Teal'c, Teal'c, General Hammond needs you right away," shouted Lieutenant Foster as she ran into my home. "You're needed on Eden. Two people have vanished into thin air and one of them is General O'Neill." The young Tau'ri woman grabbed my arm and attempted to drag me with her as she gasped for oxygen.
I assumed my most proper aspect, raising an eyebrow at her presumption. "You will wait until I have assured the welfare of my wife and son. When that is accomplished, I will accompany you to Eden, and not before." She blanched at my words and stammered an apology.
"Rya'c, please stay here with Lieutenant Foster and attend to your mother until her new symbiote heals her. I must speak with Tuplo regarding Drey'ac's care." He attempted to object; however, I turned away, intent on my errand.
Within an hour, I returned, having assured adequate care for my spouse. I allowed the young lieutenant to lead the way as I retreated from my family once again.
*DANIEL*
I don't think I had ever seen Sam in such a state. Just as Jack began to vanish, she leapt toward him, screaming his name, although I'd never find out if it was to save him or join him. Fortunately for us, he faded and she passed through him to fall on her hands and knees, shuddering with shock. If she'd joined him, the human race as we knew it might never have come about.
On our way down to the colony, Sam spent almost twenty minutes on her radio issuing rapid-fire orders to her admin, from getting us a lab to notifying General Hammond to ordering up more search parties. By the time we reached the base carrying both of the puck-shaped devices, one for each of our missing friends, Teal'c had arrived from the Land of Light. The three of us sequestered ourselves in my assigned lab without even removing our tactical vests. Scientists and technicians passed by the door, peering in through the window in the panel, curious about what miracle SG-1 would pull off this time. Sam was oblivious to her surroundings; her pack lay abandoned between her feet as she perched on one of the lab stools.
I pulled Teal'c aside to ask, "Distract her while I try to decipher some of this text. Maybe it'll tell us something about where Jack went." He nodded curtly and turned to Sam while I listened with half an ear.
"ColonelCarter, Drey'ac, my wife, sends you her best wishes on your joining with O'Neill. She very much looks forward to attending the nuptials." He walked over to stand by her side.
"Uh, thank her for me, Teal'c," she replied absentmindedly. Shaking herself awake, Sam added, "How are Drey'ac and Rya'c?"
"Rya'c is well, although he chaffs against his mother's restrictions and longs to participate in the Jaffa rebellion. Master Bra'tac fills his head with outrageous stories of my exploits and of the rebels."
Sam gave him a watery smile. "And Drey'ac?"
His faint smile faded to an expression of deep concern. "She was quite ill when I left her side."
Sam really looked at him for the first time since we met that day. She placed her hand on his arm in sympathy. "Is there anything we can do to help, Teal'c?"
"I fear not, ColonelCarter, unless you can procure a new symbiote for her. It is a problem that will prove to be quite common among my fellow rebels as our prim'tas mature."
She gasped in shock at his news. "Teal'c, she's dying? You have to go to her."
"She is stable for the moment. My duty is at present here, with you. Rya'c will send word if her state deteriorates." Sam wrapped her arms around his shoulders and they took comfort in each other for a few seconds.
"Have you spoken with Bra'tac recently? How is his quest to gather more Jaffa to the cause going?"
Teal'c again subtly showed distress, "He has been very successful recruiting more warriors. However, this has led to an additional problem since the betrayal of our cause by K'tano. We no longer have a safe haven for Jaffa families and in which to train new warriors."
"Perhaps General Hammond can help you find another world," Sam mumbled, looking thoughtful.
"Perhaps you are right, ColonelCarter."
She briefly looked pensive and then pulled over the lab computer, typing rapidly for a few minutes. Looking up again with a slight smile on her face, Sam abruptly turned to me. "So, now that I've been kept out of your hair for a few minutes, Daniel, what have you found?"
"Not a darn thing, Sam. The script is unknown in any resource I can find. Do you have any idea of how this thing works? Guesses, anything?"
"Not a clue," she said, her face reflecting her frustration. She stood up from the stool and reached to pick up one of the "pucks." Her hands passed over the surface as she examined it carefully. Sam leaned over the lab bench to grab an instrument on the far side, the puck between her torso and the tabletop.
It clicked. Sam gasped. Her eyes grew round and she tried to say something as her head turned toward me in slow motion. Still extended over the table, Sam started to grow . filmy. Teal'c reacted faster than I could, but we both grabbed for her. I'm not sure what our instincts told us we could do, but instead of saving her, we all began to fade. In seconds, I could see through Teal'c to the formula-covered whiteboard behind him.
Then, the pain began. The swirling, disorienting, pain-filled cyclone of energy seemed to pick us up, shake us out and toss the three of us to the ground - hard. The final insult was a zat-like shock that left me dazed and incongruously wondering as I passed out, "Why is the sky purple?"
*JACK*
God, I hated being zatted! It felt just like a zat bolt. Even more, I hated the sensation of falling, especially without a parachute. When the puke-making spinning stopped, the falling started. Because of the momentum I had still carried from chasing Brutus, I started to tip forward, racing toward the densely leafed crown of a tree about 50 yards below where I materialized out of thin air. My stunned body refused to respond to my mind's desperate pleas to turn over and I continued to fall face first at a maddeningly slow rate. It seemed to me as though my little "trip" had changed the pace of time.
From my left, I heard a whimper-yip and guessed it must have come from Brutus. At least I wasn't alone. Assuming, that is, that we survived the fall.
Suddenly, my perception of time snapped into high gear and the tree below seemed to race toward me. We hit, smaller branches slowing our fall so that, when I smacked my ribs into the larger branch, I only felt agonizing pain. Lucky me.
I couldn't see Brutus as we each plowed a course through the tree, but I heard his yelps of pain as he ricocheted off several limbs. I bounced once off the bough and the ground came up to meet me with a whack that drove all air from my lungs.
After several minutes lying where I'd fallen, gasping for oxygen, I heard Brutus limp over to lick my face. Touched by his concern, I held up a trembling hand to pat his head. "Good boy, Brutus."
I then patted myself down to check for any broken bones or spurting arteries. "So far, so good, Brutus. Only a few bruised ribs," I spoke to him, more for the sound of a human voice than the need to comfort him. I used his closeness to do the same for him. Again, we were lucky. He yipped a couple of times as I touched bruises, but nothing seemed broken. This was one for the record books. In another of his lightning moves, the dog's head turned to my right, his nostrils flared and his lips pulled back in a snarl.
"What is it, boy? What do you smell?" Sitting up after that fall wasn't something I ever want to repeat in my lifetime. Ribs protested as my stomach muscles tensed to pull me up. It reminded me too much of the time my chute failed to open on a jump into enemy territory. At least this time, my leg wasn't broken.
I scanned the area around us for my human companions. There was no one in sight in the broad, summer-dried valley, so difference from the knife thin gorge we had left. Grabbing my radio from its shoulder patch, I tried to contact my party. "Colonel Carter, Captain Fredericks, Major Gregory, this is O'Neill. Over." In return, only static met my call. I checked the battery and antenna for damage, but everything seemed to be in order.
Brutus growled again, facing away from me. I staggered to my feet and limped in the direction of whatever it was that had upset him. We passed through a copse of the same type of tree that saved us. About a quarter mile beyond that sat a small house with a couple of outbuildings, surrounded by a low decorative stone wall. It looked remarkably close to the model Daniel had drawn the day before of his newest pile of rocks, only this place wasn't in the middle of a range of mountains and it was in *much better* condition. The house stood in a broad valley, miles from the low hills to the west. A fast-flowing stream ran close to the 'gates. Between the wall and our position lay the object of my furry companion's uneasiness.
Draped over a medium-sized, reddish boulder was Ivan, his back obviously broken. I rushed to him, but could see it was far too late to help. The young geologist was dead, probably from the long fall, and the abrupt stop. As I stared at his corpse in shock, he began to fade, until there was no sign of his life or death. Not a drop of blood or strand of hair remained. I reached out an unsteady hand and touched the surface where he'd rested. I noticed, to my great alarm, that my own hand was slightly translucent. Was I about to dissolve, too?
*SAM*
Luckily we'd only fallen a few feet and lay on the grassy crest of a small hill. With a groan, I sat up and looked around at the city that surrounded the hill. Spotting Teal'c, sitting up to my left, and Daniel, lying to my right, I crawled over to my surrogate brother. Daniel lay gasping for breath, having had his wind knocked out by our sudden contact with the ground.
"You guys okay?" I wheezed, a little winded myself.
"S'alright," Daniel whispered, giving me a watery smile of reassurance.
"Teal'c?" I asked, alarmed at his silence.
"I am injured, ColonelCarter, but it is minor and my symbiote will heal me."
"Tell me," I instructed the Jaffa briskly. As his one-time commander, I still felt responsible for his well-being. Especially since, he was here because of me.
"My wrist is broken. It will heal quickly, but you must bind it for me so it will heal straight," he replied, setting the bone himself with hardly a grimace. This man had once again amazed me with his stoicism and capacity for pain.
I thanked whatever gods looked out for this planet that I still had my utility vest and pack. The side pocket on my pack yielded a splint, dressings and some painkillers. The first two, I used on his arm and then forced the last on him, "I need you alert, Teal'c. You've taken these before with no adverse affects. Please." He gave in with his usual good grace and I smiled my appreciation for his cooperation. By this time, Daniel was standing at the very top of the round knoll, surveying the vast city. I stood and moved to his side in the early morning light. It had been late afternoon on Eden when we left.
"See anything telling us where we might be, Daniel?"
"No, not a thing, Sam. Do you still have the artifact?"
"Sure, it's right over where I hit the ground." My response seemed to reassure him for some unknown reason. "What are you thinking, Daniel?"
"That we've been transported to another part of Eden or, perhaps, another world. Does any of this seem familiar from the satellite scans you've studied, Sam?" He turned to face me, concerned, yet exhilarated. Despite the circumstances, it was good to be working with them again.
"Well, the sky at home sure isn't violet, though that could be caused by a slightly different atmospheric composition and densities scattering light at different frequencies." I stopped my lecture upon seeing a very Jack-like glazed look on Daniel's face. The poor man had gone through too much in the past few minutes for discussions of electromagnetic spectra.
Grinning, I continued, "The trees and grasses seem very like what we've found on Eden. But, then, so do those on most planets we've been to," I answered honestly. I pointed to a small shrub directly down the hill from us. "Although, that bush over there is one I've only seen on Eden. It yields a berry that we've found works quite well as a low viscosity lubricant."
"Okay, one point for and one against this being Eden. What else, Sam?" I slowly turned around in place to scan the vista below us.
"Nothing else seems remotely familiar. The terrain is flat to the horizon, where Eden Base is at the foot of a small range of mountains on the east and at the top of a very high cliff to the west. I can see what looks like a very large lake or small sea at the edge of visibility."
Teal'c spoke up to add, "That river to the south does not flow past Eden Base. Nor is there a space port on Eden." This last was as we saw a fireball race straight up from what we guessed was the southeast. Within seconds, a sonic boom broke over us as the ship disappeared into the sky.
"Hmm, several points for either theory of a different part of Eden or another planet altogether. Not much help, although I think we'd 've noticed a working space port on Eden. Perhaps we should flag down one of those people," Daniel pointed to a group of brightly dressed shapes standing in a small square several hundred feet to our south, "and ask for directions. Um, take me to your leader, so to speak."
I looked to Teal'c for his concurrence and, after receiving it, said, "Okay, you speak to them Daniel. We'll follow your lead for now." I stepped over to where I'd fallen and picked up the artifact, stuffing it in my pack.
*DANIEL*
Sam was in leader mode again, having gotten past her shock over Jack's abrupt and mysterious vanishing act. I, for one, was very happy about that.
The houses and businesses ringing the miniature plaza ran along familiar lines and configurations, suggesting southern European origins. The people appeared to be human at first glance, but as we got closer, I detected a rainbow colored sheen overlaying the lighter skin tones on their faces and hands. Perhaps they were of reptilian ancestry.
The gathering listened intently to a man standing on the steps leading down from a graceful fountain. He gestured emphatically as he spoke, obviously railing against something because his gestures and expression indicated intense disapproval. I saw similar strong emotions ranging across the faces of the audience members.
We approached the small crowd openly and slowly, not wanting to startle anyone into a rash act. I waited politely for the speaker to finish, trying to place the language he used. It was completely alien to any other speech I'd ever heard or read. When I glanced questioningly in his direction, Teal'c shook his head. Having no other choice than to memorize his speech, I gave it my whole concentration, blocking out all other stimuli.
Before I knew what was happening, Sam and Teal'c grabbed my arms, dragging me away from the gathering into a small side street. "W-what's going on?"
"He apparently didn't like the looks of us, Daniel. Let's get going. The last thing we need at a time like this is an interplanetary incident," Sam ordered.
We ran down the street, keeping a close watch on our back trail. Some members of the crowd rushed around the corner after us, the orator in the lead, but they hadn't spotted us yet. Sam directed us down a small alley and we ducked into a deep archway. I pressed myself back against the wooden door, its shiny metal studs stabbing me in the back, my teammates at my side. I pushed back even further into the shadow of the doorway as one man from the mob walked a short way into the alley, searching for us. My foot must have tripped an opening mechanism because the tall heavy door swung open behind us and we fell in graceless heaps into the chamber on the other side.
I picked myself up and then held my breath as I faced a young human woman brandishing a stave menacingly, seeming ready to bash in my head at the least provocation. She spoke sharply in words that sounded vaguely familiar, if only I could remember from where!
*JACK*
Not having faded into thin air in the past six hours, I felt slightly better about my situation. However, we had to figure out where we were so we could find a way home. The memory of Sam's face as I disappeared haunted me. I knew getting home to her was my highest priority.
The dog and I'd carefully explored the little villa or farm or whatever it was. The house followed similar construction to that I'd seen during my travels in Spain. Made of dressed and plastered stone, some of it intricately carved and brightly painted. Although, on second glance, some of the paint was peeling and fading. Someone's weekend cabin, I guessed. How I wished I were at mine, with my beautiful Sam at my side.
Brutus had flushed a bird similar to some I'd seen in the river valley west of the base. It rose into the air, squawking and flapping madly, chased by an overjoyed dog playing his favorite game. I called his name sharply and he immediately heeled. His leash in hand, I finished my inspection of the empty home, returning finally to the main room.
Above the mantle, carved into more stone and painted to highlight certain features was a mural or map depicting what I hoped was the area around my location. I dug Sam's digital camera out of my pack where she'd stuffed it this morning, along with some of the MREs and energy bars we'd schlepped up the trail. She'd filled hers and Daniel's with carefully wrapped artifacts after I objected - mostly to tease Daniel - to carrying his "rocks."
I tried the radio again, but got the same response - static. With a fully charged battery at my disposal, I used the flash in the dimly lit room to take a couple of pictures of the map, figuring it might come in handy later. I used up a light stick to inspect the map as closely as possible for familiar landmarks. There wasn't a single thing I recognized on the map, but I had at least found a town that looked like as good of a first objective as possible. Something about the map set my Spidey senses tingling, but I sure couldn't figure out what it was.
The day was waning fast so we made camp in the main room. I gathered wood for a fire, aided by an enthusiastic Brutus, who thought carrying sticks around in his mouth was great fun. I cut and stacked some of the tall grass to make a nest for Brutus and me by the fireplace. My sleeping bag went over the top.
Despite the busy day I'd had, I wasn't too tired to spend time sitting on a stump outside staring at the stars. I searched the heavens for familiar constellations. For maybe an hour, I search in vain. Finally, facing northeast, I glimpsed the group of stars I'd dubbed The Sailboat. The lines were slightly changed, but recognizably the constellation I'd spent many a lonely night staring at before Sam came back into my life. Somehow, it comforted me that I was still on Eden. Based on the location in the night sky of the familiar collection of stars, I guessed the season was late summer instead of the early spring I'd left.
A huge yawn reminded me that I needed to get a good night's sleep. Before I lay down, I gently stretched my aching muscles, knowing they'd be infinitely more painful in the morning after the beating I'd taken that day. Brutus lay down and curled up against my back. His companionship and warmth was my bulwark against the loneliness of this place. Even though it was still early, sleep claimed me within minutes of lying down. My dreams were of Sam, an endless white-sand beach and certain black bikini.
Waking early, as usual, I made short work of breakfast and we were on the trail again before the sun was fully up. After studying the map, I'd decided that following the river would eventually lead me to my first destination, as well as provide food and water. Brutus was a constant source of amusement with his overgrown puppy enthusiasm, but my mind kept running in circles. My location, Ivan's demise and getting back to Sam as soon as possible were endlessly on my mind. As I had since landing here, I continued to try my radio. The answer was always the same - nothing.
A long day's walk brought us to the sprawling village about sundown. We entered through the unguarded 'gates and strode down a main street to what looked like a street market. As people began to notice our presence among them, the unfriendly looks and whispers became an almost palpable wave driving us back. Finally, a man, or alien, whatever, stepped into my path and gabbled something I didn't understand. His face, although a little red from his tirade, seemed to change color subtly as he moved; almost as though rainbow-colored scales covered his skin.
I muttered, "Where's my damned linguist when I need him?" One thing *was* clear, though. For some reason, they didn't welcome our kind here.
I tried to get my message across to him - that I was lost and just needed help getting home - but he lost patience quickly and practically pushed me back through the 'gates. At a loss where to go next, I stood there for several minutes. Brutus whined all of a sudden, staring behind me.
When I turned, the only person in sight was a small, human-looking woman furtively watching us from a hut outside the town 'gates. She studied me as though she wasn't too sure whether I was worth her time. Seeming to make up her mind, she approached and said something in a language different from what the man who'd run us out of town spoke. Except this time, I could get about five out of every ten words. She spoke the language of the Ancients; the language Teal'c and I learned last year in the time loop.
"You [?] not stay [?]. The [?] of this [?] are of the [?] of Belezok. Why haven't you [?] the others?" she asked obviously annoyed at my presence. Brutus sniffed at the hem of her ankle-length dress and licked her hand in greeting. The woman glanced down at the dog and frowned curiously as though she'd never seen one before.
It took me a minute to form a coherent sentence in the language I hadn't spoken in over a year. "Can you help me, please? I don't know how I got to this world and need help to get home."
My accent or pronunciation must have confused her for a few moments, but light dawned and she spoke more slowly, "Come quickly. I will go with you to the transport cradle. Those of our [?] in Vescada City may be able to help you if we can get there safely. Everyone else here has already [?]." She thought I was an Ancient. How had I found a world with people, admittedly only a few, who had disappeared from our galactic neighborhood millennia ago? Where the hell was I?
*SAM*
All I could think about was Jack. Where was he? Was he injured? Dead? The very idea made me physically ill. After the trials we'd been through in the previous year or two, I couldn't have faced a life without him. At least we seemed to have found an ally in the strange world the disks had brought us to.
Teal'c, with some help from Daniel, had been speaking for several hours with the woman, Tsula, and her native assistant, into whose home/place of business/classroom we'd literally fallen. From the periodic updates Daniel had given me, I couldn't tell if we'd gained any greater understanding of our situation. It seems she was speaking the language Jack and Teal'c had reluctantly learned during the months-long repeating day. For some reason, that thought tickled something in my brain as not being right, but my preoccupation with my missing fiancée kept me from following the thought through completely.
*TEAL'C*
ColonelCarter sat pensively keeping watch by the portal through which we had entered the sanctuary. DanielJackson brought her up to date on the conversation and relayed her questions to me as I spoke with our hostesses.
In our halting communication, Tsula told us that her people were no longer welcome on the portions of this world where the Sect of Belezok held sway. The man so ardently speaking in the square had been an adherent of that faction and had exhorted his followers to kill all non-believers, including us.
We inquired of Tsula if she had heard any news of O'Neill or Ivan, but she denied knowledge of any other person new to this world save the three of us. Her people had been evacuating this planet for some months; only 23 remained. These last were to leave on the final ship, scheduled to arrive a few days from then.
To satisfy her curiosity about ourselves, DanielJackson and I told her of Earth, of which she was unfamiliar. In return, she told us of her work on this world.
Later, ColonelCarter, DanielJackson and I sat together over a meal cobbled together from the contents of her pack and our vest pockets. Our hostess had left us some time ago to communicate with her leader. Her assistant, Gzzusa, watched us with barely veiled suspicion from the door to their private rooms. She had brusquely refused to join us, claiming to have just eaten.
"Teal'c, have you gotten any clues from Tsula about where we are?" ColonelCarter asked.
"No, ColonelCarter. She identified this world as Vesca, which is what the native people, those she refers to as 'the scaled ones', call it. There is a Stargate here, but it is under the control of the followers of Belezok, those who pursued us from the plaza. The Vescans know of the Stargate system, but the growing influence of the cult of Belezok has precluded its use. They believe it to be of demonic origin. While we appear to still be within our home galaxy, Tsula has never heard of Earth and the address was not familiar to her."
"Should it be? I mean, there are a few *thousand* 'gate addresses."
DanielJackson interjected, "Um, Sam, Tsula's an expert in Stargate technology. She's here on Vesca to teach the locals how it works." ColonelCarter's eyes lit with a passion I had seen there before at the possibility of learning more of the technology that had defined her life for at least the past 10 years. DanielJackson continued his explanation, speaking slowly, "Apparently, all of Tsula's people on Vesca are here to teach. That's what they do. Pass along their knowledge to other species. Sound like anyone we've heard of before, Sam?"
She gazed at him blankly for a few seconds, until she whispered, "The Ancients?" He merely nodded his agreement with her deduction. "H-how? They're all dead, millennia ago. Aren't they? Are we on an alternate Eden? Could the pucks be a form of quantum mirror? Does Tsula know what the pucks are?" The colonel paused to take a breath.
"Sam, Sam!" DanielJackson interjected to stop her flow of questions. "Tsula does research on off-shoots of 'gate technology for her people. This is just a sabbatical for her that they all take at least once. Sam, are you listening?" he asked emphatically as the point of his communication still evaded her.
"Yes, Daniel. What's your point?" She passed her hand through her hair, weary from lack of rest and her worry over O'Neill.
"To Tsula and her people, the Stargates are current technology, not something they found or inherited. Sam, these are the 'Builders of Roads'; the *original* Ancients." Exasperated at her continued dullness, he continued, "Sam, unless we've been transported to an alternate universe where the Ancients were never killed in the great plague - which I now very much doubt - we've been sent to the past - the very, very, *very* far past."
*JACK*
Ninovan, my friend from the village, had brought us to a small cabin several miles from the town. We had dashed from one hiding place to the next, clearly trying to avoid the Belezok fanatics that she seemed to fear. Thoughts of alternate realities and travel through black holes whirled in my stunned brain. The woman pulled a small device from the carryall she'd brought with her from the hut where we met and used it to open the gate in the fence surrounding the cabin. After we'd passed through the gateway, she closed it with a noticeable sigh of relief.
Turning to me, she started to say something when she gasped and uttered, "You. what are you?" I looked down at my arm and saw that it was flickering like a staticy video signal. Had I been about to disappear like Ivan? The thought felt like an icy hand gripping my heart.
"Ninovan, I'm a person, just like you, but I got here by accident. One minute I was walking along with my friends. The next I was falling from the sky along with Brutus." I pointed to the dog sitting by my feet. She frowned, as though thinking furiously, reminding me of Sam when she chewed on a particularly gnarly problem.
I interrupted her thoughts with, "One of my people disappeared this morning after he stepped on a flat, round device." I mimed the dimensions of the puck with my hands. "After I stepped on another device and found myself here, I discovered his body by a small villa in the hills. Within minutes, he disappeared again, but it was like he was dissolving this time."
Fear in her face, she asked urgently, "Do you have the device on which you stepped?"
"Uh, no. Sam. my wife-to-be, has it. She's a scientist." The last word was in English and brought a confused look to Ninovan's face. "She studies how things work - like the device. If anyone can figure it out, she can."
Her face now showing understanding, Ninovan said, "I may now know why you [?]." She searched in her bag and pulled out a dark gray puck-shaped device similar to, but slightly smaller than, the one Ivan found - the hard way - and held it up. "Your device, was it like this?"
"Yes, I think so." Not that I'd had that close a look at it yesterday. The geeks in our group had scooped it up and packed it away for study later. "What is it?"
"It is a device my superior, Degataga, has created using his knowledge of the star portals."
Star portals? "The Stargate? Big round, metal ring. Takes people to other worlds?" The words tumbled rapidly from my mouth.
"Yes. Degataga is the most learned [?] on the star portals. He was instrumental in the deployment of portals to many new worlds and has made much improvement in their function." Ninovan spoke proudly of his accomplishments. "He and his wife, Ama, are the architects of many worlds that may someday be sources of new members of our Confederation of Worlds." This statement confused me, but I let it pass for now.
"So, what does it do? How did it bring me here, and how do I get back?"
"Come, let us go to Vescada City. My [?] is there, waiting for my return with these," she held up the bag. "Degataga was forced to leave his place of private study too quickly and left them behind. The old [?] would not leave Vesca without them." I detected a hint of frustration at his stubbornness and squashed a grin. "I fear you will not get home without one, either." I no longer felt like smiling.
Ninovan opened the door to the hut and waved me in. I saw what looked like pallets piled against the far wall and a stone fireplace similar to the one I'd seen in what I guessed had been Degataga's villa.
"We will spend tonight in this place and proceed to the transport cradle as quickly as we may," she instructed while pulling two pallets from the pile and placing them in front of the fireplace. Over a meal made from her supplies and mine, we talked of her work and the colony of Ancients that had been on Vesca until driven out by the followers of Belezok. The planets she'd been to with Degataga and his party of scientists. I told her of Earth, SG-1, my upcoming marriage to Sam and the fight against the Goa'uld. It was like a sleepover.
Later, I sat in front of the fire, staring at, but not really seeing, the flames. My mind kept wandering back to Sam and the rest of my people. Where is she? Has she been caught up by this thing too? Will she be able to rescue me, yet again? Where the hell am I?
*DANIEL*
My words finally sank in and Sam slouched on her stool. "How long?"
"Based on the studies of the 'gate you and Jack found in Antarctica, and the woman discovered there this year, I would say three-million years, perhaps more." She gazed at me with eyes huge in a pale face.
"And, Jack could be lost at any time within that period." Sam closed her lids over tear-filled eyes and she visibly struggled to maintain her fragile grip on control.
"Yeah," I replied grimly. "On Earth, Australopithecus is at its peak; in another million years or so Homo erectus will replace the off shoots of Australopithecus." I knew I was rambling, but it helped me focus.
"When will Tsula be back?" she asked quietly.
"Uh, she implied that it may be tomorrow morning. Perhaps we should get some sleep, Sam."
She pulled herself together again after yet another blow and said softly, "Good idea. Teal'c will you please ask Gzzusa where we can sleep?" While he spoke quietly with the young native, Sam gathered her pack and vest.
"We may use the storage room behind Tsula's quarters. It has sufficient space for all three of us and is secure." Gzzusa led a tired trio of humans to the storeroom and we prepared for some much-needed rest. Sam glanced at Teal'c as he crouched down by the door to begin his watch.
"Teal'c, let me look at your wrist."
"It is doing well, ColonelCarter. You do not need to be concerned."
"Teal'c, let me look at your wrist, please," she repeated. Confused by her insistence, I studied the Jaffa until I saw what had alerted her to his difficulty. He cradled the injured arm without seeming to and it appeared swollen.
"Teal'c, shouldn't your symbiote have healed your wrist by now?" I asked.
"Indeed it should. However, my new symbiote does not appear to be as efficient as my previous prim'ta. It will be much better by tomorrow." Despite his protests, Sam was removing the splint. I gasped at the extent of the swelling and bruising. He paled as the splint no longer provided the support that his injured wrist needed so badly.
"When did you get a new symbiote, Teal'c?" I asked.
"Just before leaving The Land of Light for Eden. I gave my previous symbiote to Drey'ac whose prim'ta had matured fully and had to be removed."
Suspicious, I asked, "Where did you get a new symbiote? I was under the impression none were available." His jaw clenched with pain as Sam re-wrapped the splint to his wrist. "Teal'c?" I pressed.
"P3X-888."
"The original home of the Goa'uld?" He nodded silently. "How do you know that one of the primitive Goa'uld will work in the symbiotic relationship you require? You don't know, do you?" I accused.
"I do not." Unable to speak, Sam and I gaped at our friend. Could that day have gotten any worse?
*TEAL'C*
Despite my wish to shield my companions against the results of my folly, ColonelCarter's vigilance revealed that my injury was not healing as well as it should. While I had not experienced any other failure of my health, the primordial Goa'uld was either unable or unwilling to heal my broken bone.
"Is there anything we can do to encourage or help your symbiote heal your wrist?" DanielJackson asked, his face a portrait of concern.
"I am unaware of any such method."
"Do you know if it will serve as your immune system? I mean, even if it won't heal your wrist as fast as a real Goa'uld would, will it keep you from getting sick like you did when you gave your symbiote to Rya'c?"
"I do not know, DanielJackson. I suspect I am the first Jaffa to ever attempt to use a primitive Goa'uld in such a way."
*SAM*
Just what I need! A sick Jaffa with his snake on strike, I thought sourly. I shook my head and spread my sleeping bag over a trio of crates. I'd shared my resources with the guys, but they'd insisted I keep the bag. No sooner had I put my head down than I heard Teal'c gently telling me it was time to get up for my turn on watch. At least that's that way it felt.
Teal'c crawled into the warm bag as soon as I stepped away and was apparently sleep as soon as his eyes closed. I knelt to check his forehead for a fever and was relieved to feel its normal temperature.
I settled on my haunches by the storeroom's flimsy wooden door, my side arm cradled in my hands and thought back over the past 36 hours. The man I loved most in the universe is missing. Two of my best friends and I are lost ourselves - possibly so far in the past that it boggles the mind, even of a theoretical astrophysicist. One of those friends has exchanged the parasite that keeps him alive for an archaic version that may not be able to heal his arm and serve as his immune system. To top it off, the reason he'd risked his own life - and possibly ours - was to save the life of his wife who had lain near death.
Compulsively twisting the diamond ring Jack gave me when I agreed to marry him, I wondered, where is that little cottage with the white picket fence and 2.3 children Jack and I are supposed to have? Do I really want that or am I merely burnt out on constant disasters and life or death situations? My desire for Jack isn't in question, but the rest? I certainly don't know.
Unconscious of its significance, I watched the blue-white central diamond sparkle with each turn. Finally, it dawned on me that the room had been dark until just a few moments ago. I looked up and noticed a small window high in the wall. Climbing quietly over the sleeping men, I stood before the opening with my arms folded on the sill, my chin on my arms. The view was of a narrow, foul smelling alley. A glow drew my eyes upward from the squalor toward a slender slice of night sky.
The small moon, in its fullest phase, showed me a face I recognized. It was the moon Jack and I had gazed at on many a romantic moonlight walk on Eden. I wondered what moon was in his sky right then.
*JACK*
We left the hut very early the next morning and walked for three or four hours through moonlit fields, detouring whenever possible into whatever cover was available. Ninovan led me on an indirect route around another walled village. She pointed out signs that the cult of Belezok was here already, making it unfriendly territory for us.
Finally, near mid-morning we approached another fence, although this time it surrounded a gazebo-like structure. As before, Ninovan opened the lock with her "key" and we gratefully closed the gate behind us.
She stepped up to a miniature version of a DHD, as tall as the average, but with a much smaller top. It stood in front of what looked like a cross between a Stargate on its side and a Tilt-a-Whirl car. I paid close attention to the address she entered - just in case. We stepped onto the car and sat on the cold metal bench inside. The DHD-like device shimmered for a second, then settled down.
As soon as the world was stable again, my companion stood and gestured for me to follow her through the exit. It was a twin to the one she'd unlocked just moments and who know how far ago. Ninovan watched as Brutus and I flickered again, this time for almost a minute.
I saw alarm in her eyes again. "The [?] is progressing much faster. We must get to Degataga as soon as we can or you may be lost forever." She grabbed my arm and we hustled through several narrow and filthy alleys, all of which emitted an odor thick enough to swim through, if anyone really wanted to. We stopped at each turn to scope out the next smelly thoroughfare. After almost two hours of this type of skulking, we stepped up to a stout wooden door covered with brass studs and Ninovan scratched furtively on the panel.
It was jerked open violently by a young native woman who said something in a language that sounded suspiciously like what the man in the village yelled at me. My guide spoke back urgently in the same tongue and we hurried inside.
*DANIEL*
Tsula rejoined us late the next morning as we were repacking our meager belongings. Having a pack full of artifacts was less than useful in our current circumstances. I had been entertaining myself laying them out on the table in Tsula's classroom.
"What do you with these stones, Daniel?" our hostess asked after hanging her cape on a hook by the door. She sat on a stool across the table and stared at my "puzzle."
"Um, I'm trying to figure out the pattern that was originally on these stones."
"For what purpose?" Tsula moved a stone into a spot I'd been unable to fill.
"They came from a very old building near where our friends disappeared. I hope that if I can put the picture back together, I might find some clue as to where it came from and maybe find our lost friends."
She frowned at the picture that was taking place, trying to make sense from a collection of stones that had been buried for millions of years before being uncovered in our time.
"Can you make out the pattern?" I asked, intrigued by her expression.
"It seems . familiar, somehow, as though I've seen its like somewhere before..." She continued to look for a few seconds and then seemed to push the mystery out of her mind. "I have news of one of your friends."
*SAM*
When Teal'c and I walked into the main room carrying my pack, I found that Tsula had returned with word that one of her people had brought in a stranger this morning needing help. As soon as she said she was willing to take us to him, relief rushed over me like a wave, causing a momentary feeling of weakness, almost nausea.
"Which of our friends was it? Did she know his name?" I asked, nervously.
"No, his name was not given to Tsula," Teal'c translated for me.
Despite feeling as if I was betraying Ivan, I prayed for the refugee to be Jack. I barely remember the hurried trip through the odorous, trash-strewn alleys and side streets. Those people really needed to get a clue about sanitation.
As we made our way through the town, the natives cast hate-filled glances in our direction and I longed for my P-90. Fortunately, they never made any hostile moves and, after some hours of stealthy travel, we reached our destination. Another massive door, so common in the architecture of Vescada City, faced us as we waited anxiously on the wrong side of the door. After what seemed an age, an irritated native woman, this one dressed in robes much finer than those Tsula's assistant wore, answered Tsula's repeated soft scratches. Daniel translated for me as they spoke.
"What do you here again so soon, Tsula? Has my husband summoned you? And who are these, more refugees late come to the emigration?" She pointed to us rather rudely, her arrogance causing a stiffening of Tsula's spine.
"Mistress Ama, I bring the companions of the man Ninovan delivered to you. They are here to rescue him themselves," she said as humbly as gritting teeth would allow.
"Well, I suppose you must bring them in then. Do not dally, girl." Ama turned abruptly and her exotic perfume wafted toward us in an expensive cloud. She stalked away, only to spin on her heel to face us as we stood in the packing crate-filled entry hall. Many of the boxes lay closed but many more were open, pale wiry packing materials hanging from the open tops.
"And now, I suppose you wish me to interrupt my work further to take you to him." At Tsula's nod, Ama sniffed and spun again to lead us further down the long hall, toward a door at the very end.
She imperiously flung the door curtain open and threw over her shoulder softly, "My mate will not appreciate your disturbing his concentration while he works on such intricate matters. Make no noise until he recognizes you."
We entered the room, obviously a laboratory, and stood quietly by the doorway while Tsula pulled the curtain over the opening gently. She motioned for us to remain silent while she moved into the field of vision of the man and woman intently working on something hidden from us by their bodies. She waited patiently for one of them to recognize her while we shuffled impatiently by the door. We waited for what seemed hours until Teal'c's patience was apparently at an end and he stepped up behind the man. Tapping him on the shoulder elicited a violent start on his part and the pieces of equipment in his hand crashed to the table.
"Ohhh, my dear, how many times have I asked you not to startle me like that. I could have broken this device beyond repair anywhere on this benighted planet of yours," the white haired scientist exclaimed in his cranky, tenor voice. Carefully placing the remaining parts on the table, he turned to Teal'c and gasped in shock at seeing a stranger. "Oh my, *you're* not my wife."
"Indeed, I am not. You hold a friend of ours. May we see him?" Teal'c responded with his usual self-possession and assertiveness.
The unknown woman stepped forward and bowed slightly, giving us the most cordial greeting we'd encountered since arriving. "I am Ninovan. I found your friend. You must follow me quickly if you wish to see him. There isn't much time left." As Daniel translated for me, I felt my heart sink into my boots.
*TEAL'C*
"With my master's approval, of course." The Ancient woman turned to the man as if asking permission and received a nod and wave of dismissal before her turned once again to his work. "Come quickly, this way."
The woman, Ninovan, pulled aside a curtain covering another doorway and preceded us through it. In the dimness beyond the curtain, I saw her retrieve a faintly glowing ball from a shelf to her right. She passed her hand over the orb and the light brightened a hundredfold, illuminating the short, cramped hallway. The ceiling was low and my shoulders brushed the walls to either side.
Ninovan strode rapidly to the end and pushed aside another curtain to reveal another dimly lit laboratory filled with machines of unknown purpose. She placed the ball in a wall sconce and suddenly similarly placed orbs around the room lit up as well. Before us, we saw leaning against the wall a row of tall tubes of a clear material that allowed us to see the contents. Only two held inhabitants - O'Neill and the dog - seemingly asleep.
A gasp from ColonelCarter drew my gaze. She displayed the first signs of deep despair I had seen since joining my friends on Eden yesterday.
*SAM
I approached the tube holding my love, placed a hand on the clear surface separating us and asked, via Daniel, "Is he alive?" My voice began to crack, as did my control.
Ninovan stepped to what looked like a control panel and stared at it for a few seconds. "He lives for now in stasis, but is barely held in this time. If you wish him to live, we must find the [?] which brought him here." Daniel, Teal'c and I stared at each other blankly. What did she need?
Daniel, never one to stand idle when needed, stepped closer to the woman and introduced us. At my name, Ninovan flinch and faced me. "You are his . what did he call you? Ah, wife to be. Yes?" I nodded after Daniel translated. "Yes, it is most sad."
"Can you save him?" I asked. My voice again betrayed my anxiety.
"If we can find the [?]." at our blank looks, she elaborated, "The device which brought him here. Perhaps, then we can save him. Otherwise, he will eventually disappear as his other companion did." I scrambled through my pack for the bag holding the disk that had transported us.
"Is this what you're looking for, Ninovan?" I held the device out to her and she needed no translation of my words.
Her face lit up and then she frowned slightly. "You are sure this is the exact same device? It must be the same one or his transportation to this time will not be complete. You see, each device has a memory of every trip it makes. He could not complete the transition because the device did not come with him to reintegrate him fully into this time. If we attempt to use another device, it will merely erase him or send him to another time. Our . our tests of this have been inconclusive." She looked away, seemingly embarrassed by her lack of knowledge or unwilling to tell of their failures.
Worry filling his voice, Daniel inquired, "Um, how can we tell if this is the same device?"
"If my master will agree, he can query the device's memory pod. It should have the data we seek. Come." She marched back the way we had come, taking the orb as she passed the doorway. Teal'c and Daniel followed her back through the cramped hallway to the first lab.
I stayed behind for just a moment to place my hand again on the surface of the tube holding Jack. "I *will* save you, my love. I swear it against everything I hold dear." I backed away from him and just caught the flick of another curtain to my right. Someone had just stepped away from the room holding Jack and Brutus. From the scent left behind, I guessed it was the woman Ama. I didn't know it but her motives would become quite clear very soon.
*DANIEL*
Degataga stood up this time as we entered the room. "Good, you're back, Ninovan. We must continue to prepare this sample device. It may help to stabilize the stranger. But, then again, it may not." He cackled like a slightly demented hen. Luckily for him, Sam wouldn't have understood his unfortunate statement had she been there to hear it. Teal'c looked angry enough for all of us at the scientist's callus words.
Ninovan hurried up to her master to take his hand, perhaps to keep his attention focused on her. "Master Degataga, these strangers bring a time device that may be the one we need. If you will agree to read the device's memory, we can ascertain if it is in truth the correct device." Her voice was pleading, but displayed an undercurrent of excitement. She really wanted to save Jack, or, at least, figure out the puzzle he presented them.
Degataga muttered, annoyed at the interruption, "Why do you bother me with this Ninovan?"
She sighed in the manner of one long suffering, "Master, *this*," she held out the puck at his eye level, "is most likely the disk which brought the man and beast here. If you can read the memory pod, it may have the data you seek."
He appeared to ponder her words for several seconds. "My dear." he began, but the entrance of his wife cut off his words. Ama haughtily stared at Ninovan, who still held Degataga's hand. The Ancient woman reluctantly let go of her employer, her jaw clenched and nostrils flared in resentment.
"Come husband, it is time for you to rest. There is time enough for this tomorrow," Ama's voice oozed as she lead the elderly man gently from the room. Her parting gaze toward Ninovan and the three of us was venomous.
I glanced at Sam, who was obviously frustrated with her inability to understand the conversation. Turning to our friend, I asked, "Ninovan, so you have any type of translation device that Colonel Carter can use? As our leader, it's not right that she is left out of the discussions; besides, she is a brilliant scientist."
Exclaiming at her lack of courtesy, Ninovan rushed to a wall of niches and searched for a specific one. Exclaiming again, this time in triumph, she grabbed a container of button-sized disks and stepped over to face Sam. She smiled, lifted her hair to show one of the same buttons behind her own ear and silently asked for permission to touch Sam. My friend returned the grin and nodded her consent.
"What is that you have there, Ninovan?" Teal'c inquired.
"It is the translation device that we use when first contacting a new species or living on a planet not our own. We all wear them on Vesca." She took one from the container and placed the tiny button on Sam's neck behind her right ear. It stuck as if Ninovan had glued it there, but didn't seem to cause Sam the same pain as the Tok'ra memory device. "It will take some time to collect enough information before she will hear my speech as her own."
"Can you do any work tonight without Degataga?" Sam asked through me.
"No, I am afraid my knowledge is not sufficient to transfer the data. Please accept my apologies." She lowered her head in shame.
I hurried to reassure her, "No! Ninovan, please don't say that. You've been more than generous and helpful. We really appreciate your efforts on our behalf." Her smile was brilliant and somehow I doubted she received thanks very often with the combination of personalities living in this place.
*SAM*
Ninovan fed us local dishes that seemed based on a combination of fresh fish and vegetables I recognized from our time on Eden, but the spicing made everything taste exotic.
I'd missed much of the conversation over dinner because the device she'd put on my neck grabbed all of my attention. Within minutes, it had begun placing single words in my mind. The first few startled the heck out of me. I flinched several times, gaining Teal'c's attention. I grinned at the Jaffa, tapped the button on my neck and received a raised eyebrow that told me of his amusement at my antics.
Later, she guided us to a small guest room where we could sleep. We spent the night in the dormitory-style room and rose early. Before we left to share another meal with Ninovan, I re-checked Teal'c's wrist and was pleased to find the swelling down slightly. The translator had almost fully integrated English and, to my delight, I was able to understand ninety-five percent of the exchange over breakfast. She explained that Ama and Degataga ate their morning meal separately, so the first time we saw them that day was in the lab. Ninovan began laying out the instruments necessary for the day's tasks and we situated ourselves off to the side where we were out of her way.
Ama and Degataga entered the lab at his slower pace, her face a picture of self-satisfaction. Ninovan stood from her stool and bowed slightly toward the pair. "Good morning, Mistress Ama. Master, we are ready to assist you."
Haughtily, Ama addressed her mate's assistant, "There has been a slight change of plans, Technician Ninovan. My dear husband has decided that this Earth is the ideal place for our next joint project. Therefore, all of his attention and mine will be devoted to locating their world and creating the necessary genetic matrices." She paused for affect and passed her gaze around to each of us. "That is, unless we had the coordinates and some genetic samples from which to work; just an insignificant measure of the seeds of life."
Ninovan behaved as if appalled at her superior's words. "Mistress Ama, surely you cannot ask that of these, who came to ask our help."
Her face set in a mask of innocence, the Vescan woman replied, "But we must, Technician. If we are to devote the resources necessary to rescue their comrade, an exchange is only reasonable. Our time here is very limited and we must make of it what we can."
"But my dear ." Degataga began, only to have his spouse interrupt him.
"Yes, Degataga, I, more than anyone, realize the gravity of our request, but it is only just that they assist as they can since you are sacrificing so much of your valuable time," she replied firmly overriding his unspoken objection.
For the first time, I spoke up. "What is it you're asking from us?" Their translators gave them the meaning of my words.
"A reasonable question. In order to circumvent the need for months of manual work, I require the seeds of life from your body."
Daniel interjected, aghast, "Do I understand that you want Sam to give you some of her ova?"
"Yes, that is exactly what I . we need to preclude the work required to create the genetic substance from raw materials."
"If that's what it takes to get Jack back safely, I'll do it. You can have some of them," I stated, trying to keep my voice from shaking at the very thought.
"All of them," Ama resolutely stated. Cold fear stabbed my heart and wormed its way into my gut. I gaped at her.
"Wh-what are you going to do with the 'genetic substance' once you get it?" Daniel demanded.
Surprised, she answered, "Why, we will use it to populate your benighted planet. My husband will place a star portal there. I will take the ova and use it to create the genetic foundation of a race worthy of inhabiting a planet graced with a portal."
"Could you not use sperm instead of ColonelCarter's ova?" Teal'c asked, some emotion I couldn't identify thickening his voice.
She shook her head, "No, my procedures require the structures inside her . ova, as you call them. You must choose soon. We leave this world in one, maybe two, days. It will soon be too late to rescue your friend."
"Mitochondrial DNA? You need her Mitochondrial DNA to make the changes to the proto humans." Daniel muttered as of to himself.
While they spoke, my numbed brain had pondered her "offer." What will he think when he knows what I've given up to save him? Will he still want me? What's my alternative - let Jack die? That's not acceptable. I'd rather sacrifice all hope of children than give him up.
"I'll do it," I blurted to stop the wrangling. "Daniel, Teal'c, give Degataga the coordinates to Earth." Of course, they both protested, but I overrode them as Ama had done before. "We know there was a Stargate on Earth at least three-million years ago. Daniel, what were our ancestors at this time? Barely walking upright? It seems this was meant to be." I paused and pulled in a ragged breath. "Let's get it over with."
I strode toward a very smug Ama and gestured for her to proceed me from the room. They followed me, arguing vehemently. I ignored them and followed the mad doctor to her lab.
*TEAL'C*
We quickly determined that ColonelCarter's resolve to make this sacrifice for O'Neill was firm, regardless of any arguments we raised. She would save him, no matter the cost to herself. I offered to stay with her during the procedure. Her expression of profound gratitude was very humbling. At a condescending command from Mistress Ama, DanielJackson excused himself from the room, explaining that he went to assist Degataga and Ninovan.
While I faced away from her, my friend removed her garments and lay down on the table indicated by Mistress Ama. When I once again faced her, Ama had draped her in shimmering cloths, exposing only her lower abdomen. I took my friend's wilted hand in mine.
The woman Ama finally spoke, her tone cold and uncaring. "I am ready. The procedure will be quite painful. I will administer a sedative, but can do no more without more knowledge of your physiology." Ama touched a small pen-like device to the area of ColonelCarter's jugular and my friend's eyes fluttered closed.
"May I administer some of the analgesics we carry with us?"
"No. I do not know the affect this would have on my procedures or the ova." Ama busied herself with various instruments and what I assumed were monitoring devices, oblivious to my concern for her subject.
"How will you remove the ova? Will you be required to cut her?"
"Nothing so crude is necessary to remove the seeds. Watch and you will see." Mistress Ama bent over and placed two white, half-spheres the size of a chicken's egg on the colonel's exposed skin. A wave of her hand over them produced a low, pulsing glow that increased gradually in frequency and intensity.
After a few seconds of this behavior, the glow suddenly increased dramatically and the pulses abruptly stopped. With no warning, ColonelCarter's eyes flew open and a piercing scream of agony escaped her, followed by another and another. She gripped my hand with all of her strength and thrashed about. I demanded, "End this now!"
"You need not worry yourself, warrior. I am finished." She removed the "eggs," revealing reddened, bruised skin, and turned away. My friend's screams trailed away into soft moans and she appeared to be unconscious. Ama continued, "You may let her rest here for a short time, but *you* must leave now so I may continue my work."
Astounded and more than a little apprehensive, I used more cloths to cover the shuddering form of ColonelCarter, and then stepped through the doorway to obtain pain relievers from the colonel's pack.
*DANIEL*
As soon as I walked back through the curtained lab doorway, Ninovan swung into action. While her hands pried open the disk, she fired question after question at me. "What symptoms did you notice while making the transition?" "When you arrived here, did you fall any significant distance to the ground?" "How much does each of you weight?" What are the portal coordinates of your world?"
Jack had told her about his experiences and I answered her as best as I could while she tinkered with the mechanism. After some minutes, she gingerly removed a marble-sized sphere and placed it in a tiny berth that seemed made for it.
"The memory pod is ready for you, Master Degataga." Ninovan hovered by the old man until he laid down the tool he'd been using. The Ancient man shuffled along the bench and cupped his hands over the memory "pod." He stood stock still, eyes glazed, for perhaps five minutes until I thought he'd fallen asleep standing up.
Finally, his eyes focused again and he mumbled, "It is the one. You may use it."
I glanced at Ninovan and raised my eyebrows asking for an interpretation. She smiled faintly and replied, "He says that this is the correct device. It contains the memory of O'Neill's trip here and will integrate him into this time." I breathed a huge sigh of relief. "And, with luck, it may return you all to your own time." My relief turned to joy.
"How long will it take to revive and reintegrate Jack?"
"Removing the beast from stasis and reintegrating it will take approximately 30 of your minutes. If it suffers no ill affects, we can do likewise with your comrade."
"Let's go now," I prompted. She grinned indulgently at my enthusiasm as she replaced the memory core and closed the "puck" with a sharp snap.
We made our way to the back room and the stasis containers. Ninovan spent some time adjusting several controls on the container holding Brutus until a grayish mist pumped into the interior where he lay. Almost immediately, the dog began to move and tremble. Within ten minutes, he was scratching at the clear cover for us to let him out.
After glancing at Ninovan for permission, I popped the top. The dog erupted from the box and, yipping happily, attacked me with his tongue as I crouched before him. While I held him still using his collar, Ninovan placed the puck on his back for a few seconds, during which Brutus flickered in an out of focus. She passed another device over him as though scanning, then smiled and announced, "He is well and fully one with this time. We may now awaken your friend."
*SAM
As soon as she touched the pen to my neck, I started to experience hallucinations. I could tell they were hallucinations because the jewel-toned flowers growing on the ceiling told me so. They were chatty little things, but not very interesting. I tried to ignore them and concentrate on what Ama was doing to me, but due to their off-key singing and a sudden intense weariness, my concentration wasn't what it should have been.
Ama certainly hadn't been kidding when she said the procedure would be painful. I'd been injured many times in sports or combat, even undergone torture on occasion, but nothing had ever prepared me for that agony. My insides felt like my tormentor was ripping them out through my belly button. Thank god for Teal'c. I clutched his hand like a lifeline. Much later, I guessed that the drug coursing through my veins made the experience more extreme.
I must have passed out once the hurting stopped. Awareness returned slowly, but the flowers, in clashing strident colors, were talking again in overlapping singsong sound tracks. One of them dropped to my side and performed a quick soft-shoe on my aching belly.
What they had to say was vile, cruel, and powerfully disturbing: Now that my ability to procreate was gone, Jack would find me disgusting and, sooner or later, discard me like a piece of old fish; I was maimed and no longer fit for the company of any decent man; I was better off dead than living like I was. It went on and on, repeating the same terrible refrain. Only when Teal'c returned with some Ibuprophen and I was hustled out of the lab clutching my boots and vest, did the voices recede.
"Are you well, ColonelCarter?" the Jaffa asked, his voice soft as I crouched in the hallway to Degataga's lab to tug on and lace up my boots.
I pondered the question through brain cells saturated in Ama's medication. My flowering friends followed us, skipping gaily like creatures from a Merry Melodies cartoon. My heart ached as much as my body. Rather than trusting my voice, I merely nodded curtly and turned to follow Teal'c into the next room.
A sudden wave of nausea and dizziness caused me to stumble. Teal'c was immediately there to support me to the guest room. He laid me down gently and I barely remember his pulling a blanket over me before my eyes closed.
*JACK*
I crumpled weakly to my knees as the stasis field released its hold. Brutus licked my face ecstatically and a familiar hand appeared in front of my face to help me up. Gasping from the effort of breathing for the first time in who knew how long, I grasped the hand like a lifeline and it pulled me to my feet and into a hug that threatened to squeeze out my hard-won breathe. Hands pounded my back, making breathing even harder.
"Whoa! Guys! Let me breathe," I wheezed happily, as I glanced around at Daniel and Teal'c, searching for someone. "Where's Sam? I know if you're here, she will be." An uncomfortable silence met my question. A stab of fear sliced my heart.
"She's resting, but should be here any minute. Uh, I'll go see if I can roust her," Daniel mumbled, avoiding my eyes. I thought it strange that she wouldn't be there when they revived me.
"Teal'c," I said sharply to get his attention away from a seemingly fascinating piece of equipment. "What the hell is going on here? How did you guys get here, and what's up with Daniel and Sam? Is she hurt?"
"She is not injured, O'Neill. You must ask *her* to determine if she is well. I can not speak for her." Curiouser and curiouser; Teal'c being evasive was not something I had expected.
"Well, at least tell me where we are and what the heck brought us here," I asked grumpily. Teal'c, succinct as ever, updated me on the events I'd missed in a few short sentences. My head was spinning from the enormity of the situation in which we found ourselves - typical SG-1 luck.
"Jack!" I millisecond after I heard her voice she was in my arms, barely controlled shudders wracking her body. I held her close and awkwardly stroked her hair, not knowing what else to do.
Ninovan stepped through a curtained doorway and smiled warmly to see us together. "It is time for you and your friends to depart, Jack O'Neill. Degataga has expressed his interest in monitoring your departure. However, our transport off this world will arrive in two days; we must have all of our equipment dismantled and packed by then."
Sam shyly pulled away from my embrace. I missed her presence already. She and Ninovan began discussing the minutia of our upcoming hockey-puck-powered trip through time.
Degataga shuffled into the room with the puck nestled in a clear box, muttering orders and Ninovan leapt to begin the monitoring process. He mumbled something at her again and she eagerly turned to us. "Please move together; we're almost ready."
I gathered up Brutus' leash and my pack; Sam hefted hers to her shoulders and SG-1 huddled into a circle. My hand slipped around Sam's. Unexpectedly, she flinched at the contact and turned haunted eyes toward me. Before I could ask what was wrong, Ninovan paced toward us, the puck carefully balanced in her hands. She placed it nervously in Daniel's hands.
"You must all be touching the device or each other," Ninovan instructed. Sam's hand slipped out of mine as she reached for the disk. I placed my hand on Brutus' head and the other on the disk next to Sam's. Teal'c reached for the device last and we were all in place, ready or not, for the next step.
"There's no place like home. There's no place like home," I muttered as the scene around us faded.
*SAM*
Although I longed to throw myself back into Jack's arms and stay there forever, I couldn't face him. The drugs Ama gave me had distorted my sense of what was true, plus my imaginary companions had taken up their refrain again, and I was sure Jack would never want me, maimed as I was. I didn't understand why he hadn't pushed me away in disgust. What I didn't know was that Teal'c hadn't told Jack of the price for his rescue. He didn't know that I wasn't whole any longer.
The hands of Ninovan and Degataga flew swiftly over the consoles of their monitoring equipment, until she turned and nodded to Daniel. My surrogate brother passed his hand over the face of the transportation device and pressed the center, just as Ninovan had shown him.
The same pain, disorientation, spinning and nausea assaulted me as last time. They'd warned us of the possibility of a rougher ride this time due to the larger group, but it was much worse this time. I prayed that our host had solved the problem of the altitude difference between now and then. Nothing would spoil my day more than to materialize inside the ground under Daniel's lab.
As expected, just before dumping us into the lab from which we'd left days before, a strong jolt passed through me, numbing my senses. As it turned out, numbness was a good thing. Degataga had solved the problem of our materializing inside the ground, but his aim was a little off. We popped into existence just under the ceiling of the lab and fell, like bags of cement, the six feet to the floor. Fortunately for me, but not them, Jack and Daniel were there to break my fall.
A gasp met our rather . dramatic entrance. The lab was rather crowded with the addition of four adults and one large dog. The two SFs rushed toward us to help untangle us from one another. They immediately began asking Jack about his disappearance and how we'd returned from wherever it was we'd been. One of them was on his radio seconds later, spreading the word of our return.
With them distracting my friends, I slipped out the door, anxious to get away. Not that I had a destination in mind, but I was desperate to be gone, to leave Jack behind. He was better off without me and I didn't want to see the disgust in his eyes once he knew.
My feet took me to my office and the rings. Inspiration hit and I programmed them to whisk me to the Stargate complex. Before I hit the Enter key, I picked up my radio and switched to the frequency used by the guards in the Stargate compound.
"Carter here. Let me speak with the 'gate technician," I said into the microphone.
"Yes, ma'am. Sergeant Collins speaking."
"Please dial Earth, Sergeant, and make sure the GDO signal is already sent. I'll be there in a few seconds and need to leave with no delays." I paused, unsure of the wisdom of my next step. "Oh, and Sergeant, as soon as I'm through the 'gate, please take the DHD off-line for a thorough diagnostic on the control crystal. I've noticed recently that it has a distinct hum when it's in use and there have been events in the logs that concern me."
"Yes, ma'am," he repeated crisply. "I'll take care of it. And, ma'am, we're all glad you're back okay." Good news still traveled fast it seemed.
Truly touched, I replied, "Thanks, Sergeant. I'm rather glad to be back myself."
I hit the last keystroke and stepped into my ring room. The rings wrapped themselves around me and a flash of light signaled my transition to the corresponding room down the hall from the 'gate. I greeted the ring tech and the SFs on guard casually, and strode quickly down the corridor to the 'gate Room. The event horizon filled the concrete enclosure with a blue glow. I raced toward the puddle of energy and entered the vortex followed closely by my tiresome singing flower buddies.
*JACK*
The SFs, after they got over their astonishment at the way we dropped in, had a million questions, all of which I knew could wait. Eventually, one of the pair used a brain cell and called his commander for instructions. Within minutes, the place was crawling with guards, lab personnel and anyone who was remotely curious about what was going on.
"Sam, don't your people have anything better to do than bug weary travelers?" I turned toward her, only to find her gone. "Daniel, Teal'c, where's Sam? She did make it back, right?" Panic shot through me like a dose of salts.
"Yeah, she fell on us, remember," Daniel replied, rubbing his shoulder and grimacing.
Anger replaced fear. "Then, where is she, Daniel? What the hell is going on and why aren't you two answering my questions?" His eyes glanced around the room at the now quiet well-wishers. "Okay, everyone out. Now!" I yelled. The room quickly cleared and the three of us were alone again. "Well, I'm waiting."
"Uh, Jack." Daniel looked down and ran his hand through his hair.
"There was a price for your safety, O'Neill," Teal'c interjected. "ColonelCarter was required to give of herself to pay for Degataga's cooperation."
"I don't understand, T. Give of herself?"
"Jack, Sam was asked to give Ama all of her ova," Daniel said, embarrassed. He laughed humorlessly. "Actually, it's rather funny. Ama and Degataga plan to populate Earth using Sam's mitochondrial DNA to manipulate the genes of proto-humans. Sam will be the mother of the entire human race, but won't be able to have children of her own."
My stomach fell and the urge to hurl assaulted me like a bad case of Beavis and Butthead
*DANIEL*
"Crap!" was Jack's only comment as he raised his hand to scrub at his face. We were all exhausted, running on little sleep for the past few days.
"We have to find her, Jack. She's in pain from the procedure and probably still under the effects of Ama's drugs. She won't be thinking straight."
"Where would ColonelCarter be most likely to go?"
"If she's in pain of any kind, she'd head straight for Janet," Jack replied as he shucked off his pack and grabbed Brutus' leash again. He jerked the door open only to find a couple of dozen people in the hall, probably listening through the door. Pinning the SF commander with his best command expression, Jack ordered in a voice I'd heard him use to frighten hardened combat veterans, "You've probably already heard, but Colonel Carter has been drugged and may not be in her right mind. If she is on this planet, I want her found and brought to safety." The man blanched at Jack's precise enunciation of each word and hurried to obey. He would have anyway because Sam was so well liked, but Jack had provided that little extra incentive.
Teal'c and I glanced at each other and raced to follow our former leader. He headed straight for her office. Eric hadn't seen her, but found an entry in the ring control log of a trip to the Stargate. He used his access code to send us after her.
As soon as the rings rose, Jack hopped off the platform and ran down the hallway to approach the 'gate technician on duty. "Has Colonel Carter been through here recently?" he barked at the unfortunate man.
"Uh, uh, yes, sir, about 15 minutes ago. She went through the Stargate in a huge hurry; even called ahead to have it open when she got here."
"Okay, I want you to dial Earth for us as quickly as you can."
"Uh, sir, I can't do that. Colonel Carter ordered me to take the DHD off line for diagnostics," the sergeant replied and swallowed nervously.
"Crap! She's just too damned smart for her own good," Jack snapped angrily. "How soon can you get it back on line and connected to Earth?"
Collins swallowed compulsively again and spoke up, "Thirty minutes, sir. That's the least amount of time to refit the control crystal, calibrate."
"Ah, ah." Jack cut him off with a shout and a gesture.
He used that gimlet stare to freeze the young man, "Just get it working, Sergeant. The colonel needs our help, badly." Collin's mouth formed an "O" of surprise and consternation.
I stepped forward and grabbed Jack's arm. "Let's let him get started, Jack. There any food around here, Collins?"
"I-i-in the commissary, other side of the building." He pointed us in the right direction and Teal'c and I practically dragged a frustrated Jack toward the food we all needed.
*TEAL'C*
Once more, I availed myself of the pain killing and anti-inflammatory medicines of the Tau'ri. My new symbiote had made some small progress in healing my wrist, but the pain was an unnecessary distraction at that time.
O'Neill's impatience and nervous energy grew as the thirty-minute mark approached. Food served only temporarily to distract his attention. We were required to restrain him physically to prevent his rushing to the control room and strangling the unfortunate Sergeant Collins. At last, an airman cautiously approached our table with news that the repairs were completed and the Stargate would open momentarily.
"At last," breathed O'Neill. He lunged past the hapless young man and ran toward the Stargate. DanielJackson and I raced to catch up.
*SAM*
The voices kept telling me I was maimed, unfit for any man's attentions. I fought it, but the disorientation and confusion got worse as the pain throbbed in my abdomen. General Hammond met me at the base of the ramp, welcoming me back just as he had always done. I've always been amazed at how fast word travels around this place.
"Welcome home, Colonel. It's good to see you safe again." He looked up the ramp, his face concerned. "Where is the rest of SG-1?" It felt so good to have him call us SG-1 again.
"General O'Neill is taking care of some things on Eden. They'll be along in 30 to 40 minutes, sir." Just about as long as I figured it would take them to undo my sabotage. "Permission to proceed to the infirmary, sir?"
"Granted, Colonel. I'd like to debrief your team about this, um, *unplanned mission* as soon as you've all been cleared by Doctor Frasier."
"Of course, sir," I lied. I had no intention of being here any longer than I had to to get rid of the pain and the voice of Ama's minions. I was sure she was behind this. It was getting harder to think clearly around the clamor in my head.
The infirmary was busy with two teams and Janet's nurses were busily painting the moaning, scratching men with a pink liquid. Janet was nowhere in sight. I slipped into her office and slumped in the desk chair to think. As I so often did when I thought about important things, I began to turn my ring around and around, watching the facets catch the light with flashes of color. I stopped the repetitive motion and stared at the symbol of Jack's and my promise to each other. If the promise had been broken, the ring was no longer mine to wear. I slipped the gold band and its wealth of blue-white diamonds off my finger.
Making up my mind all of a sudden, I placed the ring carefully on Janet's desk. Again, I slipped past the nursing staff unseen and hurried toward the elevators. I needed more time alone to think, more time for the drug Ama gave me to wear off.
*DANIEL*
We burst out of the 'gate at a full run. Jack barely slowed down as he waved to the general and yelled to me to explain what was going on. Teal'c left the room more calmly, but in no less a hurry.
"Doctor Jackson, what the hell is going on here?" the exasperated general demanded.
"Uh, sir, can we go to your office, please?" I asked, annoyed that I'd been left to clean things up yet again. At his nod, we made our way up the two flights of stairs to his office.
"Now, Doctor Jackson, would you care to explain the rather strange actions of General O'Neill, from whom I've come to expect this sort of behavior, and Teal'c, from whom I do not?"
"Sir, when we were three-million years in the past and Jack was dissolving, Sam was . well, drugged by an alien scientist, operated on and she's not thinking too clearly."
The general sighed. "I think you'd better start at the beginning, son. It sounds like a long, convoluted story."
*JACK*
I raced to the infirmary, barely giving a gaping Hammond time to grant his permission. The way from 28 to 21 had never seemed so long before, not in all the years we'd come back from missions hurt, limping, snaked or otherwise impaired. Airmen and technicians scattered at my approach, knowing my moods after so long.
"Doc," I yelled anxiously as I rounded the last corner into her domain. My eyes passed over the infirmary, taking in the occupants of each bed, the beeping monitors, nurses halted in their duties by my shout.
"Sir, you're back," was her calm reply, since I did not seem to be in dire need of her services. Hands clasped lightly at arms length, she waited serenely for me to spit out whatever it was I wanted.
Slightly abashed, I demanded, "Have you seen Sam? She came through the 'gate and I was sure she'd come straight to you."
"Please come with me, sir." She spun on her heel and marched to her office, never looking to see if I followed. She shut the door after I entered and turned to face me.
"She's been here, sir, though I never saw her. Until a few minutes ago we were occupied by two returning teams, several members of which managed to pick up something like Poison Ivy." Her snort of annoyance would have amused me if I weren't so frantic over Sam.
"Then how do you know she was here?" Wordlessly, the doc reached to pick up an item from the corner of her desk and held it out to me. It was Sam's engagement ring. Numbly, I slipped it into a pocket. Before either of us could speak, Teal'c appeared in the doorway.
"She is not in her laboratory or her quarters."
"Doc, if you weren't available, where would she have gone? Home?"
"I suppose it depends. Why was she looking for me? Was she injured?" Janet asked, becoming concerned.
"You might say that. Teal'c will explain. I need to find her," I blurted and skedaddled before she could stop me.
I knew where Sam sometimes went to be alone and followed what I hoped had been her path. The guard topside saluted, which I returned sloppily, and he passed me through the exit without comment. I took the path leading to the favorite viewing spot of SGC and NORAD personnel, but it was empty on this fall afternoon. The path continued for another quarter-mile and split in two, the left-hand lead around a sub-alpine meadow, and the other, often used by couples, wound through an area wooded with spruce and a few hardy Aspen.
Standing at the fork, I pondered which way to go. Would she seek distance from others or a place to hide? The faint sound of a sniff from my right decided the matter. As quietly as I could, I moved step by step down the red gravel trail, listening for other clues to her location. The next sound was a barely audible clicking off the trail to my left. I followed the noise into the trees cautiously, not wanting to startle her into running again. I pushed aside the wispy branches of a spruce and saw her sitting, arms around her knees, rocking herself back and forth, back and forth, face empty of any expression. A stick clicked each time her boot touched it.
"Sam," I whispered, crouching by her side. Her eyes had dilated despite the bright afternoon light. There was no response except a low murmuring and an occasional moan.
"It's not real, it's not true. It's not real, it's not true," she kept repeating.
"Sam, we need to get you back inside where Janet can check you out. Can you stand up okay?" I put my hand under her elbow to help her, but she pulled away.
"Don't look at me. I'm disgusting," Sam said, shying away and hiding her tear-stained face from me.
"Sam, why would I ever think you're disgusting? I love you." I put my finger under her chin and turned her face back to me. "To me you're the most beautiful, desirable woman in this universe or any other."
"I can't give you what you want. You'll discard me like he." she trailed off. I wasn't sure which statement to respond to first.
"What is it you can't give me that could possibly make me discard you?" Daniel's words came back to me. "Sam, Daniel told me the whole story of what that witch did to you. Are you worried that I'll leave you because you can't have children anymore?" She nodded, scrunched her face and then shook her head violently as though to clear her mind.
"Sam, look at me." She reluctantly raised her head. Her haunted expression hurt me as nothing ever had. I knew then if Ama hadn't been so long dead as to be dust, I would have gladly killed her. "Sam, I can't say I'm unhappy that you saved my life, but the sacrifice *was* a little above the call of duty. Thank you. again for saving my sorry ass." I paused to gather my thoughts. "When I asked you to marry me, I had no thought of our having children, unless you really wanted them." She looked into my eyes, hers unfocused and disbelieving.
"But, I thought you wanted to be a father again," Sam whispered, her words slightly slurred, her eyes unfocused and sliding away from mine.
"I've had my child . Charlie. Hey, I've felt the testosterone rush of knowing that I'd made *my* wife pregnant with *my* child." That got a small smile, but I could see she wasn't convinced yet. "But, I'm on the wrong side of fifty to be doing the poopy diaper, 0200 feeding thing again." Another watery smile and a snot-filled sniff came from Sam.
I dragged my crumpled handkerchief from a pocket for her and continued, "Our lives are too busy, with too much time spent away from each other for the next year or two to have room for a baby. Plus, there's the whole no-kids rule on Eden for the first two years. The beta-site project plan never counted on children so early in the process of making Eden our home. And later, well, I'm not getting any younger."
I sat down next to her and wrapped my arms around her shivering shoulders. It wasn't that cool yet, so the drug and her "injury" must have caused her chill. I pulled her head down on my shoulder and kissed her hair. "I would be ecstatic if you got pregnant, Sam, but I would be just as happy to spend the rest of my life having you all to myself. The way I figure it, you and I are working to make Eden a place safe for children to grow up, not necessarily populating it ourselves. We'll have plenty of opportunities to have kids in our lives. Hell, in five years, we'll be up to our hips in toddlers at the colony. Just think, in ten years, I can have my own peewee hockey league." That got a chuckle and a sigh. Her head settled on my shoulder.
"Do you think you could stand to live with a broken down old soldier for the next thirty or forty years, kids or no kids, Sam?"
She lifted her head to look me in the eyes, hers huge and still haunted. "If you'll have me as I am, I'll have you." I have to admit, my heart performed back flips at her soft words.
*SAM*
Despite my apparent acceptance of his reassurances, I still felt inadequate and unworthy of him. I could tell he knew it, too. The flowers had finally faded away since the affects of Ama's hallucinogen had worn off, but he voices remained as strong as ever. I feared they'd never leave and I would slip into madness from the constant din.
"I need you, Jack," I continued in the same subdued voice, not looking at him. "Make love to me." It was a test. He knew it. I knew it.
I raised my eyes to his, almost afraid he would finally say what I feared to hear, that I would see the rejection in his eyes. Instead, his sable eyes held nothing but love and acceptance. My hand drifted tentatively up to caress his stubble-roughened cheek. He smiled softly and turned to kiss my palm. The feeling of his lips on my sensitive skin was wildly erotic. I pulled in a ragged breath and slipped my hand around his neck to pull him down to me as I tilted my face to meet his.
At first, the kiss was hesitant, shy, but it quickly flared with passion and deepened. Arousing passion between us had never been a problem, rather the opposite. For the first time in hours, the voices couldn't penetrate my consciousness.
*JACK*
I had to admit I was a little shocked at her request, at the deep insecurity it revealed about our relationship. However, while I'm not the most articulate guy in the universe, one thing I can do well - so I'm told - is express myself with my hands, lips and body.
Sam responded so eagerly that it took all of my willpower and persuasiveness to slow things down. The last thing I wanted to do was worsen the damage done to her by that monster, Ama.
Later, we lay snuggled closely in a small hollow, my jacket over us both; I noticed a small disk on her neck, just behind her ear. "Sam, what's this?" I touched the button and she turned in my arms to face me.
"It's a translator that Ninovan gave me so I wouldn't be the only one who couldn't understand them . Damn!" She shook her head, squeezed her eyes shut, and pressed her fingers to her temples.
"What's the matter, Sam?"
"Ever since Ama drugged me, I've been hearing voices. I hoped when the hallucinations faded they'd go away, but they never seem to stop."
"Maybe we should go see Janet. She might be able to help." Sam nodded. Her fingers picked at the disk until she slipped a nail under the edge. It was stubborn and refused to budge. I slapped her hand away and ordered, "Here, let me."
I grabbed the disk firmly and tugged. "Ouch! That hurts, Jack!"
"Okay, if I don't get it this time, we'll let Janet take it off," I muttered as I grasped the button again and peeled it back in one sharp motion. Unfortunately, her skin came with it and it left a bright red spot behind. "Damn! Sorry, Sam." I stared at the disk in my hand, disconcerted. She was silent; not even a hiss of pain or annoyance at my boneheaded move. "Sam?" I looked over at her face - eyes closed, mouth slack - she was out cold. "Crap!"
*JANET*
Sam was conscious by the time the general brought her into the infirmary, already protesting that she could walk by herself. He laid her gently down on the bed and started babbling about voices in Sam's head, mad scientists and sticky things on her neck.
"Sir! Calm down." I began enclosing her bed in curtains. "Now, General, if you will please leave us, I'd like to examine the colonel." I pushed him out of the space, a hand on his chest, and turned to Sam.
"Um, do you know.?" she asked, embarrassed. I nodded and her face crumpled as more tears slid down her face.
"Teal'c told me about what happened. I'm so sorry, Sam." My arms slipped around her and she held on for fear life. "Will you let me examine you now, Sam? I need to find out how much damage she caused." Sam nodded, sniffled and started taking off her stained BDUs.
Two bright red patches the size of an orange marred her abdomen. I ordered tests, performed my examinations, gave her something to help her sleep and settled my best friend down for some much-needed rest.
*DANIEL*
General Hammond called us all, the four former members of SG-1 and Janet, into a debriefing the next morning. The sense of déjà vu was almost overpowering as I glanced around the table at my former colleagues. Despite the circumstances, everyone else seemed to be thinking the same.
Just like after a real mission, we each ran through the story for General Hammond and Janet, filling in the details I'd left out the previous day and the particulars of Jack's part of the adventure. Sam seemed particularly affected by the last part of the story, not that anyone would blame her. Jack's hand slipped into hers at this point in the story and she smiled gratefully at him.
I was amazed at the pictures Jack had taken of the villa and the mural over the fireplace, as well as shots of the world he'd passed through with Ninovan. Never before had I had the advantage of actual pictures of a site from the past. It was almost . spooky.
"Doctor, your report on the health of SG-1, please," Hammond ordered. It felt pretty good to hear us called that again.
"Yes, sir. General O'Neill and Doctor Jackson are in good physical condition, no injuries to report, nothing out of the ordinary. Teal'c has suffered a broken wrist, which appears to be healing, if somewhat slower than I would expect for a Jaffa." She paused for breath and Sam spoke up.
"Sir, that would be because he no longer has a Goa'uld symbiote. He now has a symbiote from P3X-888, the world on which the primitive form of the Goa'uld evolved."
Teal'c merely sat, stoic as ever, eyebrow raised, while Janet and both generals gaped at him. At his continued silence, I filled in the missing bit of information.
"He, uh, gave his Goa'uld symbiote to Drey'ac when hers matured and she would have died without it. The primitive symbiote was his only alternative without sacrificing another Jaffa." Teal'c nodded in agreement with my assessment. "Unfortunately, we didn't know this until he'd broken his wrist during our . arrival at Vesca City."
Janet blinked a couple of times in amazement at the ongoing saga of SG-1 and continued her report. "Otherwise, Teal'c is in good health. I would, however, like to keep a closer eye on him over the next few weeks to make sure his new . symbiote is fulfilling his body's needs." She paused as though gathering her courage and looked down at the folder in front of her, as though reading from her notes.
"Colonel Carter has sustained significant cellular damage in her abdomen due to the method used for extraction of her ova. There are hundreds of micro-tears in her ovaries, abdominal wall, the surrounding tissue and her epidermis, apparently caused when The Ancient woman, Ama, removed the colonel's ova. Fortunately, these tears will heal, leaving no permanent tissue damage. The unfortunate part is that there are no ova left. Ama took every one. I'm sorry, Sam." I could see that Janet was near tears. Not unexpectedly, it was Sam who went to her rescue. The two women hugged and exchanged wan smiles.
"It's . really no worse than I expected," Sam said, her face a blank slate.
Janet cleared her throat and drew a deep breath before continuing. "The voices that tormented the colonel so badly were a product of the translation device. Ama must have programmed it to replay her words for some sort of sick revenge or harassment. We may never know her motives. I would recommend counseling . for both Colonel Carter and General O'Neill." Jack groaned and dropped his head to lie in his hands. "This injury affects them both profoundly and both will have to cope with the effects to themselves and each other."
"I agree, Doctor. Please make the arrangements," General Hammond replied firmly, staring pointedly at Jack.
*HAMMOND*
At least I had some good news on which to end the meeting. I glanced around the room to be sure of everyone's attention, and then faced Colonel Carter.
"Colonel, I received an answer regarding your last request before you all left the base so precipitously."
She asked, her body tense, "What was the answer, sir?"
"The President and the project management have agreed to your request, with a few stipulations, of course." She nodded her understanding. "I've already briefly discussed the idea with General O'Neill while you were in the infirmary and he enthusiastically concurs. Why don't you tell your teammate about your idea?" I offered. She threw a brilliant smile at her fiancée and turned to Teal'c
"Teal'c, you said the Jaffa rebellion needs a home base now that K'tano betrayed your other base to Yu," she said.
"Indeed," intoned our Jaffa friend.
"Well, I would like to offer you and the rebels the valley north of the base as a home for your families and a place to train. It's large enough to provide space for several times the number of families and Jaffa soldiers that we saw on Cal Mah. What do you think of the idea?"
For the first time since I'd known him, Teal'c looked genuinely moved. "I . I am honored by your most generous offer, ColonelCarter. I believe I may safely accept on the behalf of Master Bra'tac and the other rebel leaders."
The colonel beamed at him happily and then turned to me. "Sir, you mentioned stipulations."
"Yes, I don't think you'll find them onerous, Teal'c. First, in case of any attack on Eden, we require that all Jaffa on Eden participate in the defense under the command of General O'Neill or Colonel Carter."
"That is a quite reasonable requirement, sir. I agree." I smiled at Teal'c.
"Second, we require that you use another planet for staging any attacks on the Goa'uld rather than leaving directly from Eden. We hope to keep Eden a safe haven for humans, Jaffa and their families. Does that pose any problem?"
"No, General Hammond. This also is a wise precaution and will not be opposed by the rebel leadership." We discussed the logistics for a few minutes and I dismissed everyone, slightly happier than when we'd begun.
*SAM*
The next four weeks were frantically busy with twice-weekly appointments with MacKenzie, preparations for the wedding and my regular workload. To top it all off, I hadn't been sleeping well. When Jack wasn't there to hold me, nightmares filled with singing flowers and mad scientists plagued my sleep, so I spent half of my 18-hour days in an exhausted haze. Finally, General Hammond, bless him, sent me another assistant, a Major Julia Grayson, to supplement my staff and I was able to cut my workday down to 16 hours.
Jack's streak of bad luck with foundations at the colony site had ended, and both the power plant and recycling plant were well under way. With things going well, he made a real effort to be home at night more often.
Teal'c had spent all of his time with the remaining rebel leaders and their families, preparing for the move to Eden. We communicated details and updates periodically. Our offer had generated quite a lot of excitement in their followers, even a little hope.
Daniel was like a kid in a candy store. Hammond put him in charge of the excavation of the villa. I had directed my tech staff to begin a new planetary survey using our satellite. Collecting and analyzing the data was the work of months, so an answer to whether Vescans still lived there was still a long way off at that point. The project was supposed to have been secret, but such secrets are fleeting, at best, and soon most of the base personnel were aware of the possibility of Vescan natives. Speculation was rife about whether we'd have to leave if they were still here.
My sessions with Doctor MacKenzie were actually quite helpful once I got over my initial aversion to the man. He never quite got on as well with Jack, unfortunately. Gradually, the ache in my heart lessened with work, and a lot of help from Jack and my friends.
With my team's help, I was able to download the data from the translation device and translate much of it into English. Under hypnosis I was able to recite back Ama's story and the things she implanted in the recording. It went something like this. "You will have no more luck with your love than I had with mine. Despite being the love of his life, his feeling for me lasted no longer than it took for him to learn that I was barren due to an illness in my youth. The man I had lived for sold me to the streets and took another wife who could give him children. It took me many months to gain the eye of a man of my mate's race and prove to him that I was more than an ignorant native. He took me as his mistress while I learned everything I could about their science. I took his discoveries in genetics and presented them to Degataga as my own. The fool immediately married me to keep the knowledge from his competitors."
A sad, cynical story, not that it made me hate her any less. At least MacKenzie had helped me look at the whole thing more dispassionately. By the week of our wedding, I had almost forgotten about my "disability."
*DANIEL*
Along with a select few of the wedding guests, I arrived at the base a day ahead for the pre-wedding festivities. With two of my best friends getting married to each other - finally - there was no way I'd miss a minute of the fun, even if I did have to wear a tux for the ceremony.
I arrived in time to meet Janet and Cassie at the Stargate, bearing a huge load of boxes. Both greeted me enthusiastically. I couldn't believe how grown up Cassie was at eighteen. Having by now driven a few of the electrical carts myself, I escorted the Frasier women and their goods to Eden Base.
"It's still pretty muddy from all the rain we've been having," I explained as we drove the mile or two. The maintenance crew refreshed the roughly paved road periodically with tar and gravel, but the shoulders of the "highway" were strips of mud and vegetation. The plant life was slowly returning to life after the extended winter on Eden, something I didn't look forward to in 12 months or so.
Cassie pointed out some of the early flowering plants enthusiastically. "Has anyone investigated the medicinal properties of these plants, Daniel? My biochemistry teacher would kill to get his hands on these."
"I'm sure Sam has people working on it," her mom responded, grinning at the girl's single-minded focus on her favorite studies.
"Well, I'd sure like to work with them. Think she could get me a summer internship here before I go off to college, Mom, Daniel?"
"We'll see what we can do, honey," Janet said patiently as she rolled her eyes and turned to me. "Daniel, is everything under control here for the wedding? Neither of them panicking yet?"
"Not so far, though Sam is nervous enough for two brides with all the brass and dignitaries coming. Thor, half the Joint Chiefs, some of the Tok'ra, including Jacob, Teal'c's family and Bra'tac are all coming, plus a representative of half the allies we've made over the years. Somehow, their simple wedding has turned into an intergalactic diplomatic event." I glanced at Cassie and Janet and added, "She'll be very happy to see you two."
*JANET*
Sam was very much in need of a little female support. Being the base commander didn't make it too easy for her to find close friends among her subordinates. Cassie and I quickly settled into the BOQ room they assigned us. An airman was available to show us to Sam's office. I walked in to find her, very harried and surrounded by people, all demanding bits of her time.
"Stop! Stop what you're doing right now. Colonel Carter has things to do that are more important than anything else is. Shoo, get, go!" I waved them off using my years of experience as a doctor to intimidate the group into leaving. A couple of supplicants for her attention threw angry looks my way, along with a grin or two from the two women in the group. They helped herd the men out and closed the door behind them.
"Well, I can see it's a good thing we got here when we did. They'd still be harassing you right up the aisle if we hadn't chased them out."
Sam grinned and stood to embrace us both. "I miss you both so much. Sure you two don't want to move here? With Daniel here, you could have a full time job, Janet." I grinned back, remembering many of the times when he had taxed my medical knowledge and instincts.
"Very sure. You have a very competent physician in Doctor Ferris. Now, we have a ton of things to do for tonight and tomorrow. Let's hop to it," I snapped.
"Yes, ma'am!" my friend, the colonel replied, grinning broadly. The three of us worked all afternoon on the decorations for the reception, flower arrangements and final details on our dresses. Gradually, other women - airmen, lab techs and scientists - joined us until the office filled and we overflowed into Eric's office. Someone brought a few bottles of wine and the party was under way.
The party that night was less congenial, but there was certainly a lot more flirting. There's nothing like a wedding to put people in the mood for romance. However, Sam and Jack had eyes for only each other. They held hands all evening and slipped away as early as possible, under the amused eyes of Generals Hammond and Carter.
"Mo-om! Shouldn't we separate them tonight? It's the night before their wedding after all," Cassie urged
"Sure, you go right ahead; try to pry that pair apart. Cassie, they're special. The rules can't always apply to them." She nodded, almost sadly.
*CASSIE*
The day of the wedding started awfully - rainy, the sky filled with angry gray clouds, ready to deposit their surplus of H2O on the festivities - stupid weather. On Hanka, we had always held weddings in summer time, when we could almost guarantee the weather would be perfect for a celebration outdoors. Tau'ri always expected the universe to conform to their desires. For once, they, we, weren't disappointed. By mid-morning, the leaden haze lifted and the periwinkle sky of Eden held its own against the attempts of the weather gods to be party poopers.
The base common was festooned with tons of flowers brought from Earth, the Land of Light and two other worlds. The native trees had even put on a show for the event. They boasted clumps of blue and purple flowers on their spindly branches. Rows of chairs of varying sizes and shapes to accommodate the various physiologies of the wedding guests flanked the center aisle up to the old-fashioned bandstand that cleverly disguised the base ring platform.
Mom, Sam and I, along with half a dozen other women who wanted to help send off their commander in style, fussed and primped, tugged and pinned until the three of us were, by consensus, declared perfect. She was a goddess in her cream satin gown with its short train and modest lace veil. Mom was gorgeous, too, in her green version of the same design, minus the train and veil. The neckline draped gracefully like a Grecian gown; the waist was high and flowed down to mold itself against every curve. The bride was a cross between a Greek goddess and a Hollywood starlet of the '30s.
Her golden hair, longer than in her field days, was pinned up, a silver cord held the curls back from her radiant face. Jack was a goner, no doubt about it. When he got one look at her glowing face as Jacob walked Sam down that aisle, there was no other woman in the universe for him. We just didn't exist. I hoped someday that a man would love me that much.
Jack was pretty yummy himself, despite his age. Hey, I was only eighteen; what did I know? The black tuxedo molded itself perfectly to his broad shoulders and chest, narrow waist and hips. For once, he outshone the oh-so-handsome Doctor Jackson as he and Teal'c stood beside Jack, watching us march toward them.
They used traditional vows. Much of the entire celebration was traditional, in part I thought, because of all of the extra-terrestrial guests, in part, too, because of their non-traditional lifestyle. I suspected that they yearned to be the picture perfect couple with a white picket fence, a dog and two flawless children. That ceremony was as close they could get.
They exchanged diamond-studded wedding rings. The stones had come from the leftovers from her engagement ring. Jack had confided to me that there was enough left for at least ten years of anniversary gifts.
*SAM*
Well, it was official. We were finally married. I was married to the man I'd been in love with for over six years, and he looked kinda happy about it, too. We walked hand in hand from the common to the mess hall, where I knew Sergeant Bodine and his team had been working miracles.
Flowers and flowering plants softened the normally echoing room. Starched white table clothes made the utilitarian tables elegant. A huge cake graced the main table. Bodine had promised me chocolate and, boy, had he delivered - chocolate genoise cake alternately layered with chocolate espresso fudge and raspberry fillings, wrapped in white chocolate. Spun-sugar flowers decorated the top and sides and surrounded the two military action figures on top. The very best part was that the confection was incredible, scrumptious, and addictive. I told Jack to remind me later to put the man in for a promotion, maybe even a medal.
We danced almost every dance together. Jack glared fiercely at every other man who came anywhere near us, except my father and General Hammond. One got a little too persistent and Jack planted a hand on the man's shoulder, pushing him away. He growled, "Mine! Go get your own girl." I must admit I found the whole thing incredibly endearing.
The cake cutting was predictably messy with Jack involved. The champagne was expensive and worth every cent. Even Thor tried some. He pronounced it "a praiseworthy beverage."
The evening wound down toward the much-dreaded speeches. Most were mercifully short. My father, however, took his time, telling embarrassing stories of my childhood and summers spent at the beach. Finally, he came to the point.
"I am very honored that my friend George Hammond and the President of the United States have allowed me to present their wedding gift to the newlyweds." Jack and I exchanged wary glances at this statement. "The hard working, some may say over-achieving, pair have allowed themselves a measly week for their loooong awaited honeymoon." This got hoots of laughter from a few of the longer-term SGC members, especially a slightly tipsy pair. Daniel and Sergeant Siler whispered and giggled loudly about having the share their winnings in the wedding pool. Dad shot a glare in their direction and continued. "So, in order that they might have a decent honeymoon, General Hammond has extended their time off by two weeks."
Jack and I both opened our mouths to protest, but were cut off by our commanding officer. "Don't worry, we've arranged for you to be covered while you're gone. Life on Eden will go on without you."
Smirking widely, Dad continued, "And, since they only have accommodations reserved on Maui for one week, the President has arranged with a friend of his for the honeymooners to stay in a private beachside cottage for the remaining two weeks." Amid some rather embarrassing comments thrown out by guests and lots of loud applause, I stood to hug my beaming father and commander.
*JACK*
Yes! The black bikini was *so* worth waiting for, even though I'd seen the whole package before with nothing on. A pretty spectacular package it was, too. What was it about two little scraps of cloth covering the most interesting bits on a woman that so intrigues men?
Our time on Maui was magical. We hiked past dramatic sea cliffs and lunar landscapes of bizarre rock formations, through tropical forests of bamboo, under waterfalls and canopies of guava trees. On a couple of days, we rented bikes and toured the back roads of the island; others, we prowled the art galleries of Paia, snorkeled off the coast or paddled kayaks near the "cottage."
"Jack, do we really have to go home? Can we just stay here, on the beach, for the rest of our lives?" Sam asked as we lounged by the pool, sipping cool tropical drinks delivered by the housekeeper.
"Tempting, isn't it? Think Hammond would balk if we FAXed him our resignations?"
"I think he'd send a squadron of Marines after us." She laughed, one of my favorite sounds in the universe.
"There any tropical areas on Eden, maybe an unspoiled beach or two?" I rolled to my side on the lounge chair to face her, a sappy grin on my face, the same grin that always seemed to appear when I looked at her these days.
Sam stood up gracefully, yards of gorgeous legs and luscious body barely covered by the colorful Hawaiian print wrap she wore, and walked over to sit on my chaise. I scooted over so she could recline next to me on the narrow surface. She reached behind the chair and, suddenly, we were lying flat after the chair back collapsed.
"Whatcha doing, Sam?" I asked, half-seriously, as she wound herself around me, her hand stroking some very interesting places, long legs intertwining with mine.
Between heated kisses, she replied, "Having my way with you. I *am* on my honeymoon, after all."
My brain was barely functional, but I managed to choke out, "Um, what if the housekeeper comes out here?"
Her breath was breathy and deep as she whispered in my ear, "Let her get her own guy. I finally got mine."
Story Notes: Eden 05: Spoilers: General knowledge of the show, Children of the Gods, The First Ones, Window of Opportunity, The Fifth Race, Frozen, vague references to events mentioned in Solitudes, and The Warrior.
Warnings: Mildly naughty language, violence, sexual references and situations (They are, after all, engaged.), multiple POV.
Status: Part five of the Eden series: "It's a Small World", "Dream World", "Eden Obsession", and "Garden of Eden"
Timeframe: Sometime post-season six, if things had happened differently.
Author's Notes: [?] Indicates words Jack can't translate. Feedback is always much appreciated. Profuse thanks to my excellent beta reader Fulinn and to San Brontecook whose eye for inconsistencies is legendary IMHO. Any remaining mistakes are my own.
Warnings: Mildly naughty language, violence, sexual references and situations (They are, after all, engaged.), multiple POV.
Status: Part five of the Eden series: "It's a Small World", "Dream World", "Eden Obsession", and "Garden of Eden"
Timeframe: Sometime post-season six, if things had happened differently.
Author's Notes: [?] Indicates words Jack can't translate. Feedback is always much appreciated. Profuse thanks to my excellent beta reader Fulinn and to San Brontecook whose eye for inconsistencies is legendary IMHO. Any remaining mistakes are my own.
DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognisable characters, settings, etc, are the property of their respective owners. Any original characters and plots are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended. ... [ read more ]