Shower of Sparks
Summary: Reflective piece as Sam sits around the campfire with her three best friends.
The fire crackled as a log broke in two sending a shower of sparks flying into the air and drawing Sam's eyes up the patterns of brilliant stars in the sky. Totally different patterns than from her childhood. She grinned to herself with satisfaction. Sometimes she still was surprised by her own job. Seven years. Seven years she had been doing this, going to other planets, meeting new people and all too often fighting with them or the goa'uld who had brought humans from Earth to populate these planets and be their slaves. Or worse still, to be their hosts. But today had been a good day. They had found no one.
The stargate had emitted them into high mountain valley with only the remains of a mining operation long since abandoned. They could have gone home, back through the stargate, back to Earth, and back to the SGC, a concrete bunker deep under a mountain. She was glad the Colonel had decided to spend the night on PXC 513. It was like being on leave and finally getting out except they were together. All too often now they split up when they got leave, but it felt like the old days when they were first starting out as a unit together. She glanced around the campsite at the three men sitting comfortably around the fire and felt a deep contentment that made her sigh. This was her real family.
"Sam?" said Daniel to her left, looking at her questioningly with his expressive deep blue eyes. He meant, are you okay, but they had long since needed to actually talk to communicate. The tall, lanky archeologist had come a long way over the years and she valued his knowledge and trusted his moral judgment over just about anyone. He was like a brother to her.
She gave him one of her rare but trademark radiant smiles and he responded with an infectious grin of his own. "Pass the tea," Sam responded, although she really didn't need any more. Mundane tasks were their way of showing all was well. They were all too often responding to life and death crisis's not only for themselves but sometimes for a whole planet.
"I too shall have some more," rumbled a deep voice across the fire.
Sam turned her attention to Teal'c. The large black man with the golden symbol of Aphophis branded on his forehead, and an immature goa'uld in his abdomen should have been their enemy. He was a fierce and cunning warrior and one of the most honorable men she knew, and she trusted him with her life. Like an overprotective uncle, Teal'c would always watch out for her safety, but her satisfaction came in knowing that he trusted her to do the same for him. The first time he had turned midnight watch over to her and had actually gone to sleep had been a more satisfying accomplishment than even finishing her doctoral dissertation.
Daniel rolled up onto his knees and reached for the pan sitting on the small sterno stove. After boiling their MRE ration packs to heat them for dinner, they had made tea in the left over hot water. He carefully decanted some into his own cup first and then into the cup Teal'c held out to him. "Pass your cup, Sam," he instructed.
As she held out her cup to Daniel, he squeezed the side of her hand and patted his hand gently along hers until he scooped the cup out of her own. His solid warmth reassured her and the relief she had felt when they had found him alive again washed over her anew. The grief that had swelled as she stood by his deathbed after he had been exposed to a lethal dose of radiation had never completely faded even when she realized that his spirit was ascending to another plane of existence. She shook her head to herself at the irony of the result. The Ancients had punished Daniel for interfering with human affairs when he tried to save the people of Abydos from the evil goa'uld, but their punishment was her idea of a reward. They sent him back to them, completely healed and whole again, and she was grateful.
"Hey kids, save some for me," joked the third man around the campfire, and Sam looked to her right to study him. Who was this man, Colonel Jack O'Neill? She watched as he passed his cup to Teal'c. To Teal'c he was O'Neill. The man he had forsworn all previous allegiances to in order to follow. She was there when it happened and still didn't really understand what it was in his look that Teal'c had responded to. One minute Teal'c was their enemy, First Prime of Aphosis ordered to kill them and all the innocent people that had been rounded up for host selection. O'Neill had stood up to the advancing Jaffa and said, "I can save these people. Help me," and he had looked right at Teal'c as he did so. The next minute Teal'c was firing on his own men and throwing a staff weapon to O'Neill who began firing it instantly and unerringly even though it was the first time he had held one in his hands. Warrior to warrior they had bonded and Teal'c had chosen to follow O'Neill to try to win freedom for his own people.
Daniel filled the cup and leaned over the side of the fire to hand the cup over. To Daniel he was Jack. Jack delighted in teasing Daniel like the big brother he'd never had since Daniel had grown up as the orphan child of two archeologists. But when it counted, Jack loyally stood by Daniel backing him up in his seemingly wild theories that almost always turned out right. For his part, Daniel was the only one who teased Jack or even dared to question his orders. They shared the give and take that only best friends could, both praising and criticizing each other and so making each other better human beings.
To her he was the Colonel. More often than not she simply called him Sir. He was like a brother in the way he teased her and minimized her scientific explanations. He was like an uncle who protected her fiercely above everyone else. He was like a teacher who had shown her the proper way to think independently. He was like a commander who could order her into the line of fire to accomplish their goal, and then be like a doctor whenever he field bandaged her after the firefight. He was like the class clown when he made flippant remarks in the middle of a tense situation, just to ease her nerves. He was like a child when he petulantly complained about working with the Tok'ra while she patiently explained for the umteenth time why they needed that alliance. He was like a lover, that week they spent as miners when they had been given false memories on the ice planet was still precious in her memory although they had done nothing more than hold each other against the cold during the night. But to the Air Force, he was her commanding officer and she was his second in command. They were trapped in that defining relationship and so he could only be the Colonel.
"Major?" he asked in the same tone of voice Daniel had used only a few minutes before. Sam started and realized she had been staring at the Colonel while he had drunk his tea. His eyes glittered in the firelight with understanding and silent communication. He knew what she had been thinking just as surely as if she had spoken her thoughts aloud. But he also knew that their job didn't allow them the luxury of a personal life anymore, and he gave her a little smile and sighed with acceptance. "Show me your bauble again," he ordered.
Sam took the breath she didn't realize she had been holding and snapped back into her military mode again, "Yes, Sir." She pulled her pack over and rummaged through a front pocket to pull out an oblong crystal about 20 centimeters long. It sparkled and glistened in the firelight except along a dark crack on one end. She scooted over towards the Colonel and held the crystal out flat in her hand. He carefully picked it up by one end, so that they never actually touched hands with each other. Her hand ached with emptiness longing for the touch of reassurance that he couldn't allow himself to give her. She quickly withdrew her hand and picked up her tea again to cover her embarrassment.
"So this is like those Tok'ra crystals you can build tunnels with?" the Colonel asked.
"Actually, it's more like the memory crystals used in the computer core," Sam responded. "The Tok'ra actually manufacture the tunnel crystals so that they can specify different shapes, and certain of the energy conduit crystals in their drive mechanisms can also be manufactured, but the memory core is different. Dad had to give me a crash course in crystal technology while we were repairing the drive to Aphophis's ship that one time." She began warming to her subject and falling into her role as scientist allowed her to relieve the tension she had felt building. She looked over at the Colonel but he didn't interrupt so she continued on, "He said they reused crystals over and over and that they rarely needed to replace them. In fact, the crystals somehow act synergistically so that the more you have, the better the information is stored and retrieved. They resonate with each other to echo and amplify stored..."she trailed off as she saw his eyes glaze over.
"The goa'uld also use these crystals," Teal'c remarked. "There is much trading done when one must be replaced but I have not heard of a mine such as this."
"Judging by the decay of these remaining buildings, maybe the crystals were mined from here long ago until the crystal vein played out," Daniel hypothesized.
"When we get it home we can have the composition and structure analyzed. Perhaps we can manufacture some ourselves," proposed Sam.
"Then maybe we will have something of value to bribe the Tok'ra with," the Colonel remarked dryly.
"I don't know, Jack. Their technology is more advanced than ours. It's unlikely that these crystals can be manufactured that simply or they would have made them themselves long ago," cautioned Daniel.
"Well, maybe we should look for some more unbroken ones in the morning" decided the Colonel holding up the cracked one in his left hand.
"I wouldn't trust any of these old mineshafts as far as safety goes, Sir," advised Sam in her role as 2IC.
"I observed a faint trail heading down out of this valley," offered Teal'c.
"Really? Teal'c, why didn't you say anything earlier? Jack, maybe there's another site nearby with some old writings that we can get a look at and figure out who and when someone used this mine," exclaimed Daniel.
"Look, all these maybe's are getting us nowhere in the dark. We'll check in with the SGC in the morning and get a mining crew lined up to shore up this place, then we'll go on a brief exploratory hike. Brief , Daniel," decided the Colonel. "Let's all get some shut eye. Teal'c take first watch," he ordered. Teal'c immediately stood, picking up his staff weapon and walked out into the darkness that surrounded their fire to check their perimeter. Daniel turned to his pack and busied himself with his bedroll.
It was Sam's turn to clean up the little cooking stove they had and she reached for the other cups of tea to toss the remaining contents on the fire. The Colonel stood up with the crystal in one hand and his tea cup in the other and held them out to her at the same time. He flinched with surprise as she accidentally flung tea on his hand and the crystal. In slow motion, the crystal flipped in the air as little droplets of tea cascaded around it twinkling in the fire light. They both grabbed for the crystal to save it from smashing on the ground, and caught it simultaneously. Their hands overlapped each other with the glistening crystal between them and a jolt of electricity shot through both of them. The fire crackled sending a shower of sparks skyward again and their eyes locked together. For a brief instant, they were on a beach, the roar of surf beside them, entwined in a passionate embrace. Then Sam let go of the crystal in a panic, but the Colonel clutched all the more desperately.
Who was this man?
He was the father.
The father of the children that she could never have, and Sam's eyes filled with the tears for her family that could never be.
Summary: Reflective piece as Sam sits around the campfire with her three best friends.
The fire crackled as a log broke in two sending a shower of sparks flying into the air and drawing Sam's eyes up the patterns of brilliant stars in the sky. Totally different patterns than from her childhood. She grinned to herself with satisfaction. Sometimes she still was surprised by her own job. Seven years. Seven years she had been doing this, going to other planets, meeting new people and all too often fighting with them or the goa'uld who had brought humans from Earth to populate these planets and be their slaves. Or worse still, to be their hosts. But today had been a good day. They had found no one.
The stargate had emitted them into high mountain valley with only the remains of a mining operation long since abandoned. They could have gone home, back through the stargate, back to Earth, and back to the SGC, a concrete bunker deep under a mountain. She was glad the Colonel had decided to spend the night on PXC 513. It was like being on leave and finally getting out except they were together. All too often now they split up when they got leave, but it felt like the old days when they were first starting out as a unit together. She glanced around the campsite at the three men sitting comfortably around the fire and felt a deep contentment that made her sigh. This was her real family.
"Sam?" said Daniel to her left, looking at her questioningly with his expressive deep blue eyes. He meant, are you okay, but they had long since needed to actually talk to communicate. The tall, lanky archeologist had come a long way over the years and she valued his knowledge and trusted his moral judgment over just about anyone. He was like a brother to her.
She gave him one of her rare but trademark radiant smiles and he responded with an infectious grin of his own. "Pass the tea," Sam responded, although she really didn't need any more. Mundane tasks were their way of showing all was well. They were all too often responding to life and death crisis's not only for themselves but sometimes for a whole planet.
"I too shall have some more," rumbled a deep voice across the fire.
Sam turned her attention to Teal'c. The large black man with the golden symbol of Aphophis branded on his forehead, and an immature goa'uld in his abdomen should have been their enemy. He was a fierce and cunning warrior and one of the most honorable men she knew, and she trusted him with her life. Like an overprotective uncle, Teal'c would always watch out for her safety, but her satisfaction came in knowing that he trusted her to do the same for him. The first time he had turned midnight watch over to her and had actually gone to sleep had been a more satisfying accomplishment than even finishing her doctoral dissertation.
Daniel rolled up onto his knees and reached for the pan sitting on the small sterno stove. After boiling their MRE ration packs to heat them for dinner, they had made tea in the left over hot water. He carefully decanted some into his own cup first and then into the cup Teal'c held out to him. "Pass your cup, Sam," he instructed.
As she held out her cup to Daniel, he squeezed the side of her hand and patted his hand gently along hers until he scooped the cup out of her own. His solid warmth reassured her and the relief she had felt when they had found him alive again washed over her anew. The grief that had swelled as she stood by his deathbed after he had been exposed to a lethal dose of radiation had never completely faded even when she realized that his spirit was ascending to another plane of existence. She shook her head to herself at the irony of the result. The Ancients had punished Daniel for interfering with human affairs when he tried to save the people of Abydos from the evil goa'uld, but their punishment was her idea of a reward. They sent him back to them, completely healed and whole again, and she was grateful.
"Hey kids, save some for me," joked the third man around the campfire, and Sam looked to her right to study him. Who was this man, Colonel Jack O'Neill? She watched as he passed his cup to Teal'c. To Teal'c he was O'Neill. The man he had forsworn all previous allegiances to in order to follow. She was there when it happened and still didn't really understand what it was in his look that Teal'c had responded to. One minute Teal'c was their enemy, First Prime of Aphosis ordered to kill them and all the innocent people that had been rounded up for host selection. O'Neill had stood up to the advancing Jaffa and said, "I can save these people. Help me," and he had looked right at Teal'c as he did so. The next minute Teal'c was firing on his own men and throwing a staff weapon to O'Neill who began firing it instantly and unerringly even though it was the first time he had held one in his hands. Warrior to warrior they had bonded and Teal'c had chosen to follow O'Neill to try to win freedom for his own people.
Daniel filled the cup and leaned over the side of the fire to hand the cup over. To Daniel he was Jack. Jack delighted in teasing Daniel like the big brother he'd never had since Daniel had grown up as the orphan child of two archeologists. But when it counted, Jack loyally stood by Daniel backing him up in his seemingly wild theories that almost always turned out right. For his part, Daniel was the only one who teased Jack or even dared to question his orders. They shared the give and take that only best friends could, both praising and criticizing each other and so making each other better human beings.
To her he was the Colonel. More often than not she simply called him Sir. He was like a brother in the way he teased her and minimized her scientific explanations. He was like an uncle who protected her fiercely above everyone else. He was like a teacher who had shown her the proper way to think independently. He was like a commander who could order her into the line of fire to accomplish their goal, and then be like a doctor whenever he field bandaged her after the firefight. He was like the class clown when he made flippant remarks in the middle of a tense situation, just to ease her nerves. He was like a child when he petulantly complained about working with the Tok'ra while she patiently explained for the umteenth time why they needed that alliance. He was like a lover, that week they spent as miners when they had been given false memories on the ice planet was still precious in her memory although they had done nothing more than hold each other against the cold during the night. But to the Air Force, he was her commanding officer and she was his second in command. They were trapped in that defining relationship and so he could only be the Colonel.
"Major?" he asked in the same tone of voice Daniel had used only a few minutes before. Sam started and realized she had been staring at the Colonel while he had drunk his tea. His eyes glittered in the firelight with understanding and silent communication. He knew what she had been thinking just as surely as if she had spoken her thoughts aloud. But he also knew that their job didn't allow them the luxury of a personal life anymore, and he gave her a little smile and sighed with acceptance. "Show me your bauble again," he ordered.
Sam took the breath she didn't realize she had been holding and snapped back into her military mode again, "Yes, Sir." She pulled her pack over and rummaged through a front pocket to pull out an oblong crystal about 20 centimeters long. It sparkled and glistened in the firelight except along a dark crack on one end. She scooted over towards the Colonel and held the crystal out flat in her hand. He carefully picked it up by one end, so that they never actually touched hands with each other. Her hand ached with emptiness longing for the touch of reassurance that he couldn't allow himself to give her. She quickly withdrew her hand and picked up her tea again to cover her embarrassment.
"So this is like those Tok'ra crystals you can build tunnels with?" the Colonel asked.
"Actually, it's more like the memory crystals used in the computer core," Sam responded. "The Tok'ra actually manufacture the tunnel crystals so that they can specify different shapes, and certain of the energy conduit crystals in their drive mechanisms can also be manufactured, but the memory core is different. Dad had to give me a crash course in crystal technology while we were repairing the drive to Aphophis's ship that one time." She began warming to her subject and falling into her role as scientist allowed her to relieve the tension she had felt building. She looked over at the Colonel but he didn't interrupt so she continued on, "He said they reused crystals over and over and that they rarely needed to replace them. In fact, the crystals somehow act synergistically so that the more you have, the better the information is stored and retrieved. They resonate with each other to echo and amplify stored..."she trailed off as she saw his eyes glaze over.
"The goa'uld also use these crystals," Teal'c remarked. "There is much trading done when one must be replaced but I have not heard of a mine such as this."
"Judging by the decay of these remaining buildings, maybe the crystals were mined from here long ago until the crystal vein played out," Daniel hypothesized.
"When we get it home we can have the composition and structure analyzed. Perhaps we can manufacture some ourselves," proposed Sam.
"Then maybe we will have something of value to bribe the Tok'ra with," the Colonel remarked dryly.
"I don't know, Jack. Their technology is more advanced than ours. It's unlikely that these crystals can be manufactured that simply or they would have made them themselves long ago," cautioned Daniel.
"Well, maybe we should look for some more unbroken ones in the morning" decided the Colonel holding up the cracked one in his left hand.
"I wouldn't trust any of these old mineshafts as far as safety goes, Sir," advised Sam in her role as 2IC.
"I observed a faint trail heading down out of this valley," offered Teal'c.
"Really? Teal'c, why didn't you say anything earlier? Jack, maybe there's another site nearby with some old writings that we can get a look at and figure out who and when someone used this mine," exclaimed Daniel.
"Look, all these maybe's are getting us nowhere in the dark. We'll check in with the SGC in the morning and get a mining crew lined up to shore up this place, then we'll go on a brief exploratory hike. Brief , Daniel," decided the Colonel. "Let's all get some shut eye. Teal'c take first watch," he ordered. Teal'c immediately stood, picking up his staff weapon and walked out into the darkness that surrounded their fire to check their perimeter. Daniel turned to his pack and busied himself with his bedroll.
It was Sam's turn to clean up the little cooking stove they had and she reached for the other cups of tea to toss the remaining contents on the fire. The Colonel stood up with the crystal in one hand and his tea cup in the other and held them out to her at the same time. He flinched with surprise as she accidentally flung tea on his hand and the crystal. In slow motion, the crystal flipped in the air as little droplets of tea cascaded around it twinkling in the fire light. They both grabbed for the crystal to save it from smashing on the ground, and caught it simultaneously. Their hands overlapped each other with the glistening crystal between them and a jolt of electricity shot through both of them. The fire crackled sending a shower of sparks skyward again and their eyes locked together. For a brief instant, they were on a beach, the roar of surf beside them, entwined in a passionate embrace. Then Sam let go of the crystal in a panic, but the Colonel clutched all the more desperately.
Who was this man?
He was the father.
The father of the children that she could never have, and Sam's eyes filled with the tears for her family that could never be.