Chapter Three
Half an hour after their check-ups, showers and debrief, Sam Carter was back at her lab writing her mission report on P3X-566 and remembering with pleasure the kudos she had received during the debriefing session.
~*~*~*~*
“If Captain Carter had not been there, these three gentlemen would probably be laying dead in that pretty field right now,” Dr. Fraiser reported to General Hammond. “From what I’ve been able to gather from the test results, the flowers release an airborne chemical compound similar to nitrous oxide — laughing gas.”
“Laughing gas is not lethal, is it?” Daniel asked.
“Not normally. But I said it was similar, not the same, and this compound is a lot stronger, strong enough to be used as anesthesia. And I assume you all know how carefully anesthesia has to be administered. Too much, you die,” the Doctor informed them.
“How come Captain Carter wasn’t affected by this compound?” General Hammond inquired in a puzzled tone.
“That’s the most fascinating aspect of the compound yet. We are not sure why, but I think hormonal differences may be a factor. Ask me again in a week after we’ve been able to look into it further. My theory, however, is that she was just immune because she’s a woman,” Dr. Fraiser smiled at Sam.
“I guess being a girl isn’t always a disadvantage,” Sam commented, smiling smugly.
“How did you know you had to get them out of the field?” General Hammond asked her.
“Woman’s intuition, Sir,” she answered seriously, not missing a beat. Then she couldn’t help a chuckle, matched by one coming from Dr. Fraiser. “Sorry, Sir,” she quickly sobered, “I’m just joking. It just made sense to me. They started to drop like flies about one hundred meters into the field. Nothing but the flowers had changed around us.”
“Well, it was a good call. I believe you gentlemen owe Captain Carter a drink… and your lives,” her Base Commander remarked.
“To be fair, Sir, Teal’c deserves credit, too. He helped me with Colonel O’Neill. If he had not made it as far as he did to the edge of the field, I don’t know if I would have been able to get them all out of the danger zone in time,” she reported, smiling at Teal’c gratefully. Teal’c just bowed his head in acknowledgement.
“Well, I guess he deserves a drink too,” Hammond agreed with a small smile.
“It would be my pleasure to take Teal’c and Carter out for a drink,” Colonel O’Neill responded, shamelessly winking at her as she sat across from him, which made her blush. “Right, Daniel?”
The archeologist smiled and nodded, but Teal’c promptly informed them, “I do not consume alcoholic beverages.”
“Well, it’ll just be a lemonade for you,” her CO replied without missing a beat. “Oh, and thank you for letting Teal’c finally get some fresh air, Sir,” the Colonel added.
“He’s your responsibility, Colonel. I expect him to return with Dr. Jackson to the base tonight after dinner,” The General firmly reminded him.
“I’ll bring them back safe and sound, Sir! Is that all? I’d like to go home,” Jack asked, ready to depart.
“That’s it! You’re to recon P3X-595 the day after tomorrow. Rest up, everybody,” the General ordered as he got up from his seat.
~*~*~*~*
Sam still felt like her three teammates were avoiding her company, but she tried to convince herself that she was being paranoid. She had to learn to relax around them so that they would relax around her. She was tired, anyway, and she was looking forward to going home to rest as General Hammond had ordered. She had to be back early the next morning to start working on the adjustments to the dialing computer.
She was turning off her terminal, tiredly standing up from her desk, when she suddenly felt someone standing right behind her. She abruptly turned and gasped, startled, when she found her former fiancé, Captain Jonas Hansen, standing within touching distance of her.
“Hello, Sam,” he greeted her softly, a little smile on his lips.
“Jonas! You scared me!” she automatically replied, her hand on her suddenly racing heart. “What are you doing here?”
Sam was more than shocked at seeing Jonas so suddenly in her lab, of all places. She had not seen or heard from him in weeks, and she had not realized that he had clearance to be at the SGC.
“I work here now,” he evenly replied, a smug smile on his face.
“What?! Since when?” she asked, an uncomfortable knot immediately forming in her stomach. She suddenly felt extremely crowded.
“Now, don’t sound so excited, Sam. Aren’t you glad to see me?” he asked her, getting closer. There was a look in his eyes she did not like, and Sam automatically took a step backwards for every one Jonas took toward her. She didn’t want to be rude, but she felt anything but relaxed at having to face him so unexpectedly.
“What do you mean you’re working here? Doing what?” Sam felt it was better to avoid his taunting question and redirect the conversation to a more neutral territory.
“I’ve been assigned to head SG-9. All those black ops served me well when being considered for the Stargate Program. Aren’t you happy for me?”
Jonas was still approaching her, but her legs were now against a low table at the end of her lab. He stopped inches away from her, definitely invading her personal space.
“Of course! I’m sure you’ll do a great job, Jonas,” she replied nervously, trying to be polite despite her dismay at his news. “And I’d love to stay and catch up, but I really have to…” she was saying as she tried to walk around him toward the door, but Jonas would not let her escape so easily.
“Wait, Sam, we’ve barely said hello! What’s your rush?” he annoyingly asked, stepping in front of her and blocking her way out of her lab.
“I have to go, Jonas. Sorry, but maybe we can talk some other time over lunch now that you’ll be around. I’m very tired and need to go home,” she was insisting as she pushed lightly on his chest to get him out of her way and prevent him from getting closer.
“Too tired to exchange a few pleasantries with the man you at one time were going to marry? All I need is a few minutes, Sam,” he had taken a hold of her arm and he was no longer smiling. “Didn’t you ever wonder why I didn’t hound you after you broke up with me and got the orders for your new assignment?”
Sam could not tell exactly why, but she started to feel scared, and this made her angry. “No, not really,” she lied. “I figured you were being reasonable, for a change. Now, please get out of my way, Jonas.”
His hand on her arm, however, just gripped harder. “I knew where you were headed, Sam, because I was already interviewing for this position. So I just decided to bid my time. Now we can work on our relationship, start anew and get it right this time,” he suggested, and Sam was suddenly convinced that he had lost his marbles.
“Let go, Jonas!” she insisted. “I’m not interested any longer.”
“Come on, Sam! You’re still mad at me? I know I was being hard on you, but I promise I’ll do better this time,” he pressed on, getting so close that Sam thought he meant to kiss her.
“What are you doing?” she heard herself say, and hated the fact that she actually sounded spooked. She was looking into his eyes, unsuccessfully trying to make him let go of her arm and push him aside without success. She thought those eyes had changed into those of a stranger’s since the last time she had seen him.
“I believe you have been asked to let go, Captain Hansen,” they both heard her CO calmly but firmly state from the door of her lab, and her stomach lurched.
Jonas slowly turned and gave Colonel O’Neill an insolent look, but he stepped aside and released Sam’s arm. She automatically rubbed the muscle he had been squeezing and quickly stepped further away from him, uncomfortably looking at her Commander. She was mortified that now the Colonel would find out about her former relationship with Jonas.
“Yes, Sir,” Jonas replied, still sounding impudent. “As you order, Sir,” he saluted almost mockingly. He then turned to Sam again with a smile. “We’ll finish our conversation later, when you’re not so tired. Good night, to both of you,” he said as he calmly left her lab, stepping around her CO, who still stood at the door.
Watching her carefully with very dark eyes, the Colonel then asked, “Are you okay?”
Sam immediately answered, wishing to flee. “Yes, Sir. Thank you, Sir. I’m really sorry for the scene. I don’t know what’s with him,” she answered apologetically, gripping her hands behind her back self-consciously.
“You two seem to have history,” he commented after a moment.
“We… ah… used to be… engaged,” she admitted, now ashamed by the thought that he would believe she had had the lack of judgment to get involved with a controlling looser, which was the sad truth. So she gazed at the floor, trying to avoid his searching eyes.
“Ah!” he just said, raising his eyebrows in understanding. He seemed to ponder something for a moment, then stepped closer to her and looked into her eyes. “You don’t have to put up with anything like that again. I won’t tolerate any harassment of my team. Is that understood?”
“Yes, Sir,” Sam softly responded, still avoiding his look in mortifying embarrassment and now rubbing her arms, suddenly cold.
“I mean that. If he gets out of line again, I’m ordering you to inform me. Am I clear?” he told her firmly.
“Yes, Sir, I will,” she swallowed hard, now looking directly at him. “But I’m sure everything will be okay.”
She knew he could tell that she was embarrassed, so she was grateful when he let it go at that. Sam was also sort of pleased that he was trying to protect her.
His team, he had said. She knew he meant all three of them, the woman, the alien, and the geek. This kind of approach she had never expected from a man like him, and her respect for her boss was raised another notch.
“I stopped by to ask if you’d like to have that drink with us tonight. I know you ate with Dr. Fraiser, but you can just join us for a beer at my place later… if you want.”
Now he was the one sounding rather shy, and she was taken aback, surprised, but then shook her head with a smile. “Thank you, Sir, but I should go home. I’m very tired, probably from all the dragging I did today,” she chuckled. In truth, her muscles were sore, and she wanted a warm soak in the tub very badly.
“About that… thanks,” he seriously said, and she just smiled wider and nodded in acknowledgement. “If you’d rather get together some other time, that’s fine with us. You know where we’ll be, if you change your mind,” he added, turning to leave with another shy little smile.
“Okay,” Sam replied in turn. Before he could exit, however, she added, “And Sir…” she smiled gratefully, “Thank you.”
“Yeah, sure, you betcha!” he answered in a heavy Minnesota accent.
~*~
The next afternoon, on P3X-595, Colonel O’Neill gladly complimented his Captain. “Much better, Carter! Good job on those adjustments!” he sincerely said as they finished stepping out of the alien Gate and onto a green, damp planet.
“Thank you, Sir. Stepping onto a planet does feel much better than bouncing onto it,” she responded.
The site of their second mission as SG-1 was very lush. The previous Stargates had all stood on clearings, but not this one. This Gate was overrun by verdant vegetation and dwarfed by tall, thick trees. The underbrush was dense and dark, and the ground was spongy, thick with wet leaves and other debris. Ferns grew wildly around them and the moisture in the air was heavy.
They could tell that the wormhole had disintegrated a lot of the vegetation in front of the Gate, where they now stood, or they wouldn’t have been able to walk out so easily. Daniel was commenting on how glad he was that they had all applied some insect repellent before the mission, no doubt recalling some of his adventures in Central America.
“This is quite tropical,” the archeologist commented further. Dr. Fraiser had given him new, stronger prescriptions for his allergies hoping that they would help with his sneezing. His eyes did not look at all watery, and that was a good sign, but Jack watched him in amusement as he reapplied his nose spray for good measure.
“Teal’c, what kind of Gate is this one, you think?” the Colonel asked despite already knowing the answer as he tried to peer through the dense foliage.
“It appears to be another abandoned planet, O’Neill,” the tall man responded, still standing at the top of the steps and intently spying his surroundings. “However, this planet seems inhabited.”
His three surprised teammates turned to him as one. There was no sign of civilization that Jack could readily tell.
“Why do you say that, Teal’c?” his Captain asked, looking around again to see if she had missed something.
“I smell smoke,” the former First Prime stated confidently, “From that direction,” he added, pointing South of the Gate.
“Well, I guess we have a goal, then,” responded Jack. “Teal’c, you take point,” he ordered, “I’ll watch your six.”
He glanced around once more before following his teammated into the surrounding jungle, pushing away plants as they walked.
~*~
“I wish I had a machete,” Daniel commented, no doubt referring to how difficult the walk had become.
“What is a machete?” Teal’c asked as he pushed away branches with his staff weapon, which had been quite helpful in opening up some walking space, but Jack agreed that a machete would have been much better.
They had been walking for almost an hour, but had not found any sign of intelligent life. There were plenty of lizards and insects, however.
“It’s just a very long knife, T. Very useful to chop away at undergrowth,” Jack helpfully supplied. “Are you sure that what you smelled was smoke?” he the asked, looking at Teal’c with a frown.
“I am positive,” Teal’c answered with complete conviction. As if to prove him right, they unexpectedly tripped over a little clearing with a recently doused fire among the bushes.
“Yes, this is what I smelled,” Teal’c said, kneeling close and adding, “It was put out in a hurry. And I see footprints. There are two males, wearing shoes of some kind and about Dr. Jackson’s weight, running in that direction.”
Jack did not doubt the Jaffa, but he could not see anything through the dense plant life in the direction Teal’c was pointing, so he approached the closest tree and started to climb. He had only reached fifteen feet up when he pulled out his binoculars to scan the area.
“I see movement, all right,” he yelled down to them. “Let’s follow. They may be heading toward a settlement,” he was saying as he climbed down effortlessly.
“Maybe they saw us and got scared,” Daniel suggested.
“What would two people be doing in the middle of a thick jungle all by themselves? Hunting?” Sam speculated.
“Most likely,” Teal’c replied, “Although they have not been successful yet. There is no blood or remains around the campsite.”
“Maybe they are gatherers, not hunters. They may be picking plants,” Daniel contributed as they followed the Jaffa.
“Who cares what they’re doing?” Jack impatiently said. “All we need is to find them and figure out what kind of inhabitants we have around here. What they like to do alone in the jungle is their own business,” he added. “Let’s pick up the pace!” he ordered, and the Jaffa obeyed.
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 ]