Chapter Seven
Jack briskly walked behind the young Okapa leader, following a narrow trail into the nearby foliage. They soon reached a secluded spot where a small, round hut stood alone, a large torch stuck in the ground lighting the area.
He could tell that the villagers had gone to some trouble. There were exotic flowers adorning the doorway as well as beautiful wood carved dishes sitting on a wood table by it, filled with fruits and other foods that looked like breads or pastries. There was also a pitcher sitting next to the food, with two beautifully carved cups next to it.
Itama pulled the tapestry covering the entrance aside, revealing a cozy room with a large bed in the middle of the herbs-covered ground and with candles burning in strategic spots to provide muted lighting. She invited Jack to enter with a wave of her hand, but he hesitated, standing rooted to the ground, so she let the tapestry fall in place again, looking at him uncertainly. Then she just said, “May your first night together be fruitful.”
She had obviously decided her job was done and what may or may not follow was not her problem. She started to leave, but Jack called her back. “Itama… uhm… why is Sam like this? Is she going to be okay?” he asked.
The young woman smiled, then she explained. “She will wake up fine in the morning. I am afraid she will not remember much of your first night together, but you can make up for that later. It was necessary to give Sam more of the ceremonial drink than it is customary. We thought it would make it easier for her to accept her mates, in the event that Trone, Okan and Creb prevailed over you. I am sorry.”
Jack did not think she was sorry at all, but he just let it go. “Thank you for allowing this situation to be resolved without bloodshed. We want us to be friends,” Jack sincerely said.
“We already consider you friends.” She then looked at Sam, whose head rested peacefully on Jack’s shoulder, and told him, “Be good to your woman,” before she left him standing by the doorway holding the limp form of his Captain.
Jack looked down at the woman in his arms and he thought he could hear her humming something softly. Although she was technically awake, her mind was far, far away.
He shook his head, wondering if the Gods were laughing at his current dilemma, and entered the small hut. He went directly to the comfortable bed on the floor and deposited Carter on it, looking around for something to cover her with. There was nothing. It was rather warm inside the dwelling.
He then took one deep breath and sat back on his heels, finally allowing himself to really look at her without feeling guilty. ‘Wow!’ he thought, ‘She’s a real knock- out!’
He had known that, of course, but her usual manly attire had done much to conceal the soft curves that lay underneath. His eyes raked her beautiful skin until he shook his head, mentally chastising himself for allowing his weakness to momentarily win over his honorable intentions.
He went to lie down against the wall and tried to get comfortable on the ground, intending to sleep, but could not help himself and glanced at Sam again as she just lay there, unaware and helpless on the pallet. She now seemed to have drifted off to sleep, and her skin glowed golden in the dancing light of the candles.
Jack admitted to himself that he very much wanted to touch that soft skin, to give his hands free rein over those long limbs, over those beautiful… Argh!
It was too damned tempting! So he abruptly got up and left the hut to sit outside, by the entrance, his back against the wall and wishing for another cold dunk in the river.
He just knew that he would not be getting much sleep that night, either.
~*~
Sam was dreaming of flying. She could smell the flowers from the field below, and she could feel the cool air caressing her bare breasts. ‘I must be a bird in this dream,’ she realized.
She felt wonderfully carefree, unburdened, and decided to fly higher, seeking the sun. ‘It will warm me up,’ she thought, feeling a little chilled. She then heard the sun calling down to her in a booming voice, “Carter!”
“Caar-ter… Can you hear me?” insisted the annoying voice, now less booming.
Sam frowned, wanting to go back to her dream and wondering who was pestering her so early in the morning. She turned to her side, hugging herself. She felt cold, and then realized that she was awake, but still naked.
“What…?!” she exclaimed, sitting up in alarm. She covered her breasts self-consciously as she looked around, trying to determine where she was. She felt the flower garland hanging between her breasts and roughly took it off, throwing it aside irritably.
“Caaar-ter! Wake up!” she could hear Colonel O’Neill calling from outside the hut she had slept in. “Don’t make me come in there,” he threatened.
“NO!” she stood up, her arms tight around her chest. “Don’t come in… uhm… I’ll be out in a minute!” she assured her CO, trying not to panic and wildly looking around for something to put on.
“Okay!” he readily agreed. “I’ll just wait here for you to come out.”
Sam thought he sounded suspiciously amused as she fingered the skirt she was wearing, wondering what had happened. ‘Oh, my God! Why am I wearing this?’ she was asking herself, already worried about the possible answers.
“Uhmm… Sir?” she stammered, calling out.
“Yesss, Carter?” he answered, and she could swear she could hear laughter in his voice.
“Ahh, well… I have a little problem,” she admitted.
A hand suddenly appeared through the doorway holding her jacket. “Would this solve your little problem?” her CO asked, merciless.
‘Oh, God!’ she screamed in her mind, closing her eyes in mortification. He knew she was naked. That meant he probably had seen her in her current attire. Had everybody seen her like this?
She was suddenly furious at Itama, remembering how the woman had encouraged her to drink more and more of that sweet beverage the day before. The Okapa woman had known what would happen!
Sam had been fine, pleasantly relaxed one minute, feeling Seema’s little hands run through her hair, and the next she had blacked out. She could not remember anything after that. ‘What the hell did they give me?’ she wondered, hastily putting on her jacket. ‘At least I don’t have a hangover this time,’ she gratefully realized.
“Ah… Sir? Would it be possible to get the rest of my clothes?” she almost begged, and she could have hit him when she heard him chuckle.
“Sorry, Carter, I don’t know where the rest of your clothes are. I only had your jacket in my pack. My guess is that Itama burned them. But your skirt is very becoming!” he complimented, outright mocking her now.
“Okay, have your fun, but I’m not coming out until you get me my clothes!” she retorted angrily, stubbornly sitting back down on the bed and still feeling naked.
“Okay, okay! I’ll go into the village again and see what I can do. Don’t go anywhere!” he wickedly advised, and she could hear him walk away, still chuckling to himself.
“I hate him!” she huffed, blushing furiously.
~*~
The Colonel was still smiling when he returned to the village. Daniel was expecting him, waiting outside with Teal’c and ready to depart.
“She won’t budge until we find her clothes. I think we’ll have to beg Itama,” Jack amusedly informed them, then proceeded to the older woman’s home.
The two men looked at each other, Daniel feeling a little sorry for Sam. He knew she would have a hard time getting over this one, especially knowing they had to write down everything that had transpired in their mission reports.
Jack returned within a few minutes with Captain’s Carter’s clothes in his hands. He handed them over to Daniel and ordered him, “Go ahead, take these to her. She’s not too happy with me right now. Just follow that trail and you’ll find a little hut decked out with flowers. Eat some fruit, by the way. There’s plenty. And make sure Carter eats something before she comes down, we’ll start out right away.” Then, ignoring the frozen archeologist, he turned to the Jaffa. “Come on, Teal’c! Let’s get you something to eat too.”
Daniel watched his two teammates walk away, leaving him with an armful of clothes. Teal’c was clearly not sympathetic. He had followed Jack without looking back, so the young Doctor had no other recourse than to start the short hike to the hut, worrying about the mood he would find the Captain in.
He found the shelter without a problem and approached cautiously. “Uhm… Captain Carter? I have your clothes!” he called.
Sam’s angry visage showed through the doorway, keeping the rest of her person out of sight. She wordlessly extended a bare arm and took her clothes from him in a huff.
“Uhm… Jack asked me to make sure you ate something. We’re getting ready to leave,” he informed his irritated teammate.
“He can go jump in a lake!” she answered heatedly. “He was laughing! Can you believe it? Laughing!”
He could hear her say a few other choice words under her breath, but decided not to comment. He just sat near the doorway and picked a fruit from the tray on the table. He peeled it carefully and gave it a tentative bite. He thought it looked and tasted like a mango. Yum!
“Tell me what happened last night!” Captain Carter abruptly demanded as she stepped out of the hut, startling Daniel and making him drop the fruit. He looked at it longingly for a moment, but then he picked another one from the tray without looking at her.
“Dr. Jackson! Are you going to answer me?” she asked, clearly infuriated and towering over him with an exasperated look on her face.
“Huh? Last night?” he started to evade, but then he realized that she would not let him get away with it, so he plunged in. “Well, in short, Jack fought Trone, Okan and Creb at the same time. He won, so you can come back with us now. You missed a great fight!”
He was studiously peeling a different piece of fruit — this one more like a kiwi — and hoping she wouldn’t want to know any more.
“Is that all? What about…” she looked around, looking unsure of how to ask. “What about my clothes? How did I end up here without them?” she whispered uncomfortably.
Daniel still did not look at her, now biting into the new delicacy and finding that, indeed, it tasted a lot like a kiwi fruit. “This is delicious! Here, try a piece. You need to eat breakfast,” he invited, handing her a large piece from the tray.
“I’m not hungry! And I need you to answer me!” the Captain responded crossly. She kept staring down at him, her hands on her hips, until he finally gave up.
He looked up at her and said, “All right! You attended the ceremony dressed like every other woman in the village, and you looked beautiful, by the way. You should wear flowers more often.”
“Ooooh!” was all the poor woman said, sinking to the ground and covering her eyes with her hands. Then her fingers went into her hair and she found the flowers still clinging there. She started to pull them out angrily, tossing them on the ground as if they were ugly bugs.
Daniel felt sorry for her but, having lived in Abydos, helped a strange woman deliver a baby during one of his digs, and trekked along with numerous primitive people during his career, he could not see what was the big deal. “Captain Carter, there is no reason to…” he started to say, but her angry look stopped him.
“You were not the one parading semi-naked and high on drugs in public!” she cried. “Colonel O’Neill was already making fun of me, and I still have to face Teal’c!” This thought made her widen her eyes in renewed horror, as if just realizing the fact. “Oooh!” she groaned, letting her head drop into her hands again.
“Okay, here’s what I see,” Daniel straightened and now gave her his full attention. “Number one, you’re a beautiful woman that has absolutely no reason to be embarrassed by her body; number two, you’re a seasoned soldier that should be used to dealing with difficult situations already; and number three, you also are an intelligent woman who realizes that, if she lets things like this bother her so much, she will never make it in a team such as ours,” Daniel concluded, sounding very practical. “Forget about embarrassment! This is us! Your team, your friends, the people that will face many difficult obstacles along with you, Captain.”
Sam was still dejectedly looking at the ground, so Daniel grabbed her chin softly and made her look at him. “We’re just glad that we found you alive and well. We were really worried about you! Jack was probably just having some fun with you because he’s so relieved that you are okay, and that we’re all safe.”
Sam seemed to accept Daniel’s words and, at that moment, she gazed at him with outright affection. She smiled gratefully and said, “If all you said is true, then you need to start calling me Sam.”
Daniel smiled back at her and offered her the “kiwi” again. This time she took it and started to peel it.
“By the way,” Daniel added, absentmindedly picking another piece of exotic fruit. “You’re now supposed to be Jack’s woman, having spent your first night together in this hut, so try to act friendly when you see him or the Okapa will get suspicious.”
Sam dropped the fruit in shock, her hand frozen in midair.
~*~
Daniel was following his teammates on the long trek back to the Stargate later that morning. He was lost in thought, recalling all the details of the Okapa village and its people’s gentle ways. He had never encountered a matriarchal society such as theirs, and he thought everything about it was thoroughly fascinating.
He had spent the previous afternoon — while waiting for the ceremony — finding out as much as he could about them. He had talked to the young Itama for hours and realized, as Captain Carter had said, that these people had wonderful chemicals at their disposal. Everything they used came from the vegetation around them. Just as the jungles on Earth were providing valuable new medicines, it seemed this jungle had great potential.
Itama and her people were eager to trade with Earth, especially when Daniel explained to her how they could help the Okapa with medical advances that would make pregnancies and deliveries safe for women in almost every case. The young woman had also expressed interest in boxing lessons for the village’s young men, at her husbands’ insistence. Although the men were notably good-natured and non-aggressive, they thought boxing looked like fun.
Daniel thought no man on Earth would believe him when he reported how happy the Okapa men seemed to be in this society. They worked hard on the fields and mines in the area, and their women provided them with all the nurturing and comfort they could hope for. No one knew who had fathered a particular child in a home. It was not important. The children belonged to everyone in the clan and were loved, protected and provided for by all.
As he had observed already, the more fertile a woman and her daughters were, the higher the status that woman and her family enjoyed in the village. The Itamas were part of a long line of fertile women that had provided leadership to the Okapa for generations. The first-born girl always took the name of her mother and was expected to follow her footsteps.
The elderly were looked after tenderly. They were pampered and respected for their wisdom, and they concentrated their efforts mainly on the education of the children. He had observed a few older women sit with the kids for hours telling stories and teaching them how to make flower garlands, how to cook, and how to carve wood. They also spent a lot of time weaving, creating the colorful fabrics they used for their clothes and blankets.
The old men taught the youngsters how to make knives and other tools, as well as how to catch and salt fish. Everyone seemed to share in the hunting and the cooking as needed
The Okapa had lived on the planet for centuries without changing their culture much. Daniel was not sure where they could have come from, but he suspected this was a very old culture from the South Pacific that had been mixed with other cultures as different peoples came through the Gate throughout the centuries. He could not be sure either about the reason why this planet had been abandoned for so long, but he had a theory.
He thought, by listening to some of their stories, that someone had found this planet and used it to liberate human slaves from the Goa’uld, like an underground escape route. At some point, this someone had been caught or killed and the escape route had been lost. Who this person or persons were was a mystery.
When Daniel and the others stopped to eat lunch, he realized he had not thought of Sha’re in hours, and he initially felt guilty. But then he realized that she would not want him to feel that way. She would be happy that he could find solace in other matters and not dwell constantly on her loss.
For the first time since he had seen Sha’re as a Goa’uld, Daniel felt something akin to enthusiasm. He realized that, even if he did not find his wife in the planets they were about to explore, he could find meaning in the work he was doing. He looked at his teammates, sitting around him, and observed each in turn.
Jack had proven again that he was the tough leader he had known on the missions to Abydos and Chulak. This did not surprise him. He had expected no less. He trusted the man to help him find his wife, and he knew that Jack would give his life for any of his teammates’ without a second of hesitation. Despite Daniel’s own feelings of inadequacy as a warrior, he felt secure and capable in Jack’s presence.
He had to admit he felt the same about Sam Carter. Although the Captain was very much a woman — as it had been abundantly clear during recent events — he knew that she was capable of defending herself and her teammates if the need arose. They already owed her their lives. She had found the strength to drag them all to safety when it had been obvious to her that they were in serious danger, and he was still impressed with the physical strength contained in her feminine body, as he had been impressed from the start with her intelligence.
He then looked at Teal’c, who was calmly eating his rations while keeping an always-wary eye on his surroundings. He had hated the Jaffa at the beginning. Meeting him as the First Prime of Apophis and knowing his role in Sha’re’s fate, he had felt, for the first time in his life, the urge to kill. But his feelings had quickly changed.
He admired the man’s courage and determination. He had left everything he knew behind for a cause he passionately believed in. Daniel had to admire that. And, following Jack’s lead, he was determined to help the alien man overcome the obstacles he faced in his new home.
~*~
Sam sat in her lab, typing her mission report and trying to remember the details of the past two days. Although she still felt embarrassed by what had transpired, she had managed to get over it long enough to deal with her team in a normal fashion for the rest of the mission. Now, however, she was reliving her ordeal.
She had been nothing but a damsel in distress, and this fact made her feel like the weak link in the chain. She felt as if the “Goddess” had decided to remind her of her gender and what it entailed, something she managed to forget about most of the time.
She was feeling down and insecure. Therefore, the last person she wanted to see was Colonel O’Neill, the one person currently standing at her door.
“Good morning,” he greeted. “I figured I’d find you here, working on your mission report,” he said as he casually strolled into her lab.
“Yeah, I was too tired last night after we returned, so here I am…” she smiled uncomfortably.
“Yeah, well… the three of us decided to write ours last night and we thought you should read them before finalizing yours,” he said, placing the reports next to her computer. “You know… for consistency’s sake.”
Sam was surprised. At her confused look, Jack added, “You’ll understand when you read them.” He then smiled and winked at her, starting to leave, but Sam stopped him.
“Sir?” she called him back, and he halted to turn around and face her, waiting for her to continue. “I… uhm…” she clumsily started. “I guess… I’d like to apologize for what happened,” she managed to say, swallowing hard.
Her commander stepped closer with a puzzled frown on his face and asked, “What are you talking about?”
Sam realized he truly did not know what she was referring to, so she tried to be clearer. “I… I feel like I put the team at risk by letting myself be captured. I walked too far from the camp. It was my mistake,” she admitted, looking down and not knowing what else to say.
Her CO looked at her for a few moments, then he answered. “Yesss, I guess you did walk too far away from camp in search for a bath, now that you mention it.” But Sam could tell he was just teasing her. “Look, Carter,” he added seriously now, “What happened to you could have happened to any of us.”
“Maybe… but it happened to me!” she responded in frustration. She closed her eyes, but Jack grabbed her shoulder and shook it, making her look at him.
“Hey! Don’t do this to yourself! Nobody thinks you did anything wrong. These missions are dangerous, and we have to count on each other to get through them in one piece. This time we helped you, but the previous time it was you who saved our butts, remember?”
Yes! She had indeed forgotten about the previous mission. She looked at him gratefully and said, “Yes, Sir,” with a little smile.
“Now, just read the reports and stop feeling sorry for yourself. That’s an order!” he admonished jokingly. He then smiled and started to leave again, but then turned to her as if remembering something. “Oh, yeah… I almost forgot! Today is Friday, and we’re definitely having some beers at my place tonight. We still owe you that drink. Can we count on you?”
Sam was not sure she was ready for that level of intimacy after this mission, but forced herself to say, “Sure! I’ll be there. I love beer!” She even smiled at him to convince him that she was now okay and no longer embarrassed by what had happened.
“That’s my girl!” Jack said, then goofily corrected himself, clearing his throat. “Person! I meant soldier… person,” he smirked again. “See you later,” he said, finally leaving.
Sam smiled at his back, then glanced at the reports curiously and picked up Colonel O’Neill’s first. As she quickly skimmed it, she realized that the man could write well enough to convey his feelings, and that he had been deeply worried about her disappearance. But what really impressed her the most was the fact that he had left out the embarrassing details.
He had written generally about the Okapa’s desire to keep Captain Carter as a member of the tribe, and his role in securing her release, but never mentioned her losing her clothes, getting high on drugs, or spending the night with her in the hut.
She quickly read the other two reports and realized that her other two teammates’ accounts were consistent with her CO’s. Daniel had obviously helped Teal’c write his, since they both sounded very similar. Teal’c’s was less wordy, more concise, just like the man himself.
She smiled, her feelings for her team warming up considerably. She was going back to her own report in order to delete the portions she did not need to include and which she had found so difficult to write when she heard someone clearing his throat at her door. It was her former fiancé.
“Jonas!” she exclaimed, already feeling apprehensive.
“Hello, Sam. Sorry to interrupt you. I promise this won’t take long,” he said, keeping his distance. “I just wanted to stop by and apologize for the other day. I realize I made you uncomfortable, and that wasn’t my intention.” He actually sounded sincere, but Sam was still wary, and she wondered whether her CO had had a private conversation with her ex.
“It’s all right, Jonas. It’s just that… well, we’ll be running into each other around here, and I wouldn’t want our previous relationship to color our professional one,” she tried to explain.
“I understand, and I promise I’ll stay professional. Like I said, my fault,” he acknowledged, raising his hand in apology. He started to leave, but then turned to her again and said, “It’s just that… I have to admit that I was hoping for a warmer welcome from you. But I am clear now on what you think of me, Sam. I guess I let my feelings about that show.”
He paused, but then he continued, “I know I have to prove to you that you’re wrong about me, and I didn’t start well. But, you’ll see,” he warned her cryptically. “Some day you’ll see that you misjudged me, and maybe you’ll change your mind and give us another chance,” he added. “See you around, Sam,” he finished, then turned and left without giving her a opportunity to respond.
Sam was left to ponder what Jonas could have meant, and she could not help but feel somehow threatened by what he had said. He had changed, more than she had ever imagined. She just hoped that he would be okay.
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 ]