“Look But Don’t Touch”
Chapter one
The explosion had left her ears ringing for a time and her nerves on edge, but otherwise she felt fine. She just wished they’d put both her and General O’Neill in the same cell. She knew he was injured, but she wasn’t certain how badly. She heard him groan, and she saw him push himself up to his feet. Then his body tilted sideways and he almost fell.
“Sir!” Sam watched in fear as Jack stumbled over to the bench, where he slumped down, holding his head in his hands. “They hit you pretty hard,” she told him from the cell next to his. “You probably shouldn’t try to get up just yet.”
“Yah, I got that. What happened, Colonel?”
“You don’t remember?” she asked, worried that he might have a concussion.
“No. Ow! Crap!” he cried as he touched the back of his head.
“They shot you with a sort of stun gun. You fell and hit your head,” she said, filling him in as she stood at the bars between their cells.
“No, I mean before that? What happened? Where are we and how did we get here?” he asked. He knew who he was and who she was. He just had no idea where they were or why they were locked up, although something about the place looked vaguely familiar.
“I was conducting an experiment on Merlyn’s time dilation device, Sir.”
“Merlyn’s what?”
“Time dilation device, Sir. It de-molecularizes matter and takes it out of phase. I think we ended up in another dimension…an alternate reality, if you will.”
“Great! And why were you fiddling with this time thingy in the first place?” He had no idea what she was talking about, but that was nothing new.
“I was trying to expand the range of the device, so I could hide our entire planet from the Ori, when you came in and touched it.”
“So this is MY fault?” How could she blame him, when she was the one playing with the time diluting thingamajig? He had no idea what it was, but it sounded like a dangerous thing to be fiddling with.
“Well, actually, yes Sir, it is. If you hadn’t touched that terminal, completing the circuit, the device never would have activated.”
Okay, so maybe it WAS his fault. He could deal with that, but what he couldn’t deal with was being locked up!
“So…WHERE are we?” He didn’t get it, and he really hoped he wouldn’t have to ask her again, because his head was killing him! “This sorta looks like the SGC.”
“It is, Sir. Well, I mean it’s one possible version of the SGC. From what I can gather, Sir, the people we know, including myself and General Landry, do not work here, and there’s something else.” If she knew the general, she knew he wasn’t going to like this next part. He wasn’t really a male chauvinist, but he DID prefer that some things not change, and the military was one of them.
“What?” He had a feeling she was keeping something big and important from him. He just hoped she wasn’t going to say they couldn’t get home.
“Well, Sir, it appears the base, and pretty much the entire world in this reality, is run by women.” She saw the look of disbelief on Jack’s face. She was having trouble believing it too, but she’d been asking questions, and all the answers pointed to one thing; this was a matriarchal society in the strictest sense of the word.
Just then three women walked into the outer chamber. Two of them carried the guns to which she’d alluded, and they were plainly dressed in some sort of uniform. The third woman was weaponless and wore an expensive looking pant suit the color of marigolds that shone like silk. It was she who approached the bars of Sam’s cell.
“I’m Chairwoman Jennings. Who are you?” she asked, directing her question to Sam. “You appear to be a citizen, but you don’t have any identification on you,” the tall, smartly-dressed brunette stated, her tone curious.
“My name is Sam Carter. I lost my ID,” Sam told her. She’d been questioned about not having an ID before, when she was first discovered, so she’d had time to think about what she would say if she was asked again. She’d also removed all identification from her coveralls, managing to toss the patches into the trash on her way to the brig where she was now being held, so at least she wouldn’t have to explain those.
“Sam? Sam is a man’s name!” the woman cried incredulously.
“Eh…sorry. It’s actually Samantha, but my father wanted a boy,” Sam said with a half laugh.
“He WOULD!” the woman exclaimed with obvious derision. “Don’t ever lower yourself to their level, Samantha! Why didn’t you report the loss of your identification card?”
“I didn’t have time. I didn’t want to be late for work…in the…ah…genetics lab.” Sam couldn’t tell if the woman believed her or not. She glanced quickly at Jack, who had a scowl on his face. She was thankful he was keeping quiet, although she didn’t think he’d remain so for long.
“We found you in one of the isolation labs with this man,” she said, thrusting her chin in Jack’s direction. “What were you doing there?”
“He arrived with the last shipment of test subjects. He got away and was hiding there. I had just located him, when the guards came in to help,” Sam lied, building a story on things she’d heard them talking about when she first arrived.
While Jack had been stunned and rendered unconscious, she had been dragged into an interrogation room and questioned, which gave her a chance to learn something about these people and their society, or at least about the base. She deduced that it didn’t seem to be so much a military base, as it was a protected place for women and children to live. She’d seen girls of all ages here, and they were always in the company of an adult female. She hoped something that she’d learned would help her fit in, so that she could find a way to get back to the device that had brought them here. It was their only way home, and she prayed nothing had happened to it.
Jack had heard enough. He wasn’t about to let Carter get him out of this mess all on her own! And what was with this pack of lies she was telling? He wasn’t a test subject, for crying out loud!
“Hey, I don’t know who the hell you think you are, but you’ve got no right to lock us up!” Jack shouted as he launched himself from the bench. He hit the bars chest first and stabbed an arm through them, reaching toward the woman. She jumped back, obviously frightened of him. The two guards stepped forward, pistols pointed at Jack.
“No! Wait! Please, don’t shoot him! He could be valuable to us!” Sam shouted, running over to where Jack stood. They were only three feet apart, but separated by metal bars. Sam was terrified that they were going to shoot him again, and she‘d have to stand there watching as she had done before. That time she hadn’t been prepared for what happened, but this time she’d be damned if she was going to let them shoot him without putting up a fight…at least a verbal one.
“Stop!” the unarmed woman shouted, holding up one well-manicured hand.
The other two women lowered their guns, as Jack lowered his hands to his sides, but there was fire in his eyes that he couldn’t put out. That had been a foolish thing to do and he knew it, but he also knew he sometimes acted without thinking. He was just glad that Carter was here to save him from himself.
“Don’t try that again, or I will let them shoot you, MAN,” the elegantly dressed woman told him. Making a distasteful face, she stressed the word MAN as though it was a derogatory word like BITCH or CUNT. Then she shifted her attention back to Sam.
“You must be new here, or you would know never to go after an escapee without one of the guards to help you.”
“Yes, I am new. And I’m very sorry. It won’t happen again.”
“Alright. You are forgiven this time. Be sure to report the loss of your card to your supervisor. She’ll see to it that you get another one. Guard, let her out!” One of the female guards unlocked the cell door. Sam stepped out into the room and stood to one side, waiting.
“Go on. What are you waiting for?” the woman asked testily.
“I thought I would return him to the lab,” Sam said, trying not to sound too hopeful that he’d be released to her.
“I’ll see to it that he gets there…..in due time,” she said haughtily, as she stared at Jack with piercing green eyes.
Sam gave Jack a furtive look. He just stared into her eyes, hoping his eyes conveyed his feelings of appreciation for what she had done and what she had tried to do. And then Sam opened the outer door and left. He knew there was nothing else she could do right now, and he understood without having to hear the words, that she would do what she could, when she could. For now he was on his own.
Once Sam was gone, the woman’s demeanor toward Jack changed noticeably. Jack saw an almost feral look come over her face as she looked at him, her eyes roaming up and down his body, finally settling on his groin.
“Guards, unlock the door and restrain him on the floor, on his back. I want to see what he has to offer.”
Hearing her words, Jack jumped back, spreading his arms in a defensive posture. He was getting the feeling that she was hungry, and his dick was the only thing on the menu!
“Hey, I don’t know who you think I am, but I can tell you I don’t kiss on the first date,” Jack quipped.
“Careful now, Man, or they WILL shoot you.” All three women got closer, and then the guards grabbed his arms.
“If you cooperate, they won’t hurt you,” she told him. Then as if talking to herself, she said, “I wonder what our money has gotten us this time. He seems a little old. I hope the Consortium hasn’t sent us their garbage once again.”
She stood aside and watched as the two women did as she asked. One held Jack’s arm behind his back, as she pushed him to his knees with her boot in the middle of his back, while the other guard pointed her weapon at his chest. When he was kneeling between the two guards, one tied his hands behind his back, and then she pushed him to the floor face down, where she tied his ankles together. Using the toes of their boots the two guards prodded him, until he rolled over and faced his captors.
It was damned uncomfortable laying on his arms like this, but soon Jack forgot about that discomfort as he was faced with another one. While their leader smiled and watched with interest, the two guards undid his trousers and pulled them down below his crotch, along with his boxer shorts.
“Hey, stop that!” he shouted at them, trying to squirm from their reach. But Jack gave up when he felt the cold air hit his genitals. At first he was appalled, but then when he saw the awed smile on the woman’s face, he thought that maybe he should be glad that she was impressed by the size of his dick. Maybe, he reasoned, his big dick could get him out of the fix he was in?!
If you’re planning to fuck your way out of here, I think you’re about ten years too old for that, his alter ego taunted, reminding him that he wasn’t a young man anymore.
You might be surprised, you naysayer! his libido replied.
“Very nice! I can see why they wanted you in the genetics lab!” the woman exclaimed, staring openly at Jack’s groin.
“Eh…I didn’t sign on for any genetics experiments, but I’m sure you and I could come to some sort of arrangement,” Jack offered. He’d fuck her, if it meant getting out of here.
“Quiet!” she yelled as she kicked Jack in the ribs with the pointed toe of her shoe. The response he got was not what he’d hoped for, the kick in his side coming as a shock to him both physically and mentally.
“Hey! Don’t damage the merchandise!” Jack yelled, and then he gritted his teeth against the pain she’d inflicted. For a split second he wondered if she’d broken a rib or two, because it hurt to breathe.
“Shut up! Take him to my quarters and restrain him on the bed. You know how I like them,” she told the two guards, and then she left the cell and Jack was hauled to his feet.
~*~
Sam knew she needed to figure out a way to get back to the room where she’d been conducting the experiment, but she couldn’t do that easily unless she was given free reign to move about the base. So she decided to try and fit in as best she could, and the first thing she needed to do was go the lab and pretend to be a new employee.
What Sam found there, or rather who, shocked her and made her want to jump for joy at the same time. Spouting out orders as though she owned the place was one petite brunette that Sam was thrilled to see. They had been close friends in her reality, and Sam still missed her terribly. The shock came from the fact that her friend had been dead going on three years now. It was none other than Dr. Janet Frasier!
“What are you doing, Prather? Get that sample to the OR now! There’s no sense in using sperm that’s already lost its motility,” Janet told a white-coated assistant. The woman blushed and stammered as she hurried out of the room through a door at the back of the lab. Several other women were working in the room too. When Janet yelled, they all smiled to themselves, but they kept their eyes on their work. Just then the doctor turned and saw Sam standing in the doorway.
“Yes? What do you want?”
“They said you needed help. I’m it,” Sam told her, hoping no further explanation would be needed.
“Good golly! You mean the Consortium finally listened to my pleas? I can’t believe it! Well, don’t just stand there; come on in! Where’s your ID badge?” Janet Frasier asked, as she scanned Sam’s chest for said badge.
“I lost it trying to catch a runaway. I just got into a load of trouble with Chairwoman Jennings over it.”
“Oh, her! Don’t let her high-handed methods scare you. She’s a small fish around here. The one you’ve really got to watch out for is General Taylor,” Janet told her, apparently unconcerned that the other women could hear her. “So what should I call you?”
“Samantha. My name is Samantha Carter…Doctor Samantha Carter,” she braved. Sam figured that being a doctor would probably give her even more leniency when it came to her movements, and that’s what she would need, if she was to get herself and General O’Neill out of here.
“A doctor! Wow! I must really have impressed someone with that last letter I wrote. Okay, Samantha, let’s order that new ID badge, and then we’ll see what you can do. If I don’t succeed soon, I’ll be sent to the mines!”
Sam had no idea what they were trying to do in this lab. She just hoped that no matter what it was, she’d be able to blend in and then use her free time to figure out a way to get home. In the meantime, she hoped that Jack was not being mistreated by Chairwoman Jennings.
TBC
Author's Notes: You can read the entire story now on my website, www.stargateforever.com.
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 ]