Major Samantha Carter squinted her eyes to adjust them to the bright computer screen. Her lab was dark and the base was quiet. At three o'clock in the morning no one roamed the hallways, except the rare airman. Sam groaned and closed her eyes, letting her head drop onto her folded arms. She was getting nowhere with this highly advanced artifact SG-1 had found on P3X-920. She sat there in that position for an hour, drifting in and out of sleep, only to be jerked out of sleep by blaring sirens.
"Unscheduled off-world activation!" Sergeant Walter Harriman's voice boomed over the speakers. "Unscheduled off-world activation!"
Sam groggily looked at her clock which read 4:12 am. Saving what little progress she had on her computer, she hurried out of her lab and off to the control room.
"What do they want this early in the morning?" Sam asked yawning. 'Did I just say that? I've been hanging out with Jack O'Neill too much!' Sam thought.
"It's the Tok'ra," Walter answered.
Sam looked up at the pool of shimmering blue light. Suddenly Jacob Carter came through, with one arm helping Master Bra'tac down the ramp. Bra'tac was covered in blood. A heavy stream ran down the side of his face and onto Jacob's robes. Sam rushed down the stairs and into the gate room as she heard Walter call for a medical team. Placing one arm around Bra'tac, she lightened her father's load.
"What happened?" Sam asked. She saw her father dip his head and knew that Selmack was taking over.
"We discovered that both Tok'ra and rebel Jaffa operatives were sent on separate missions on the same planet," Selmack informed Sam, as Dr. Janet Frasier and a medical team rushed in and lifted Bra'tac onto a stretcher. "Master Bra'tac had been caught and was being tortured. Jacob insisted that we abort this mission in order to save him and get him through the stargate."
"I'm gonna call the Colonel; I'm sure Walter has already informed General Hammond. Are you alright, Dad?" Sam asked.
"I'm fine, maybe a bruise here or there," Jacob responded, "Hey, you alright? You look tired," Jacob said, concerned.
"Fine," Sam lied. Giving her father a kiss on the cheek, she went up to the control room to call the Colonel. It was always fun to wake Jack from his slumber. Punching in the number, she let it ring. It had rung 12 times before Jack answered.
"O'Neill," barked the rather tired and cranky voice of Colonel Jack O'Neill.
"Sir, we need you on base," Sam said holding back a smile when she heard Jack groan.
"Carter?" he asked.
"Sir," Sam said firmly.
"You need me on base now?" he asked.
"Yes sir. My father just arrived with a rather beaten up Bra'tac," she said.
"Fercrin'outloud!" Jack mumbled. "Alright, I'll be there in a half hour,"
"See you then, sir," Sam replied.
Sam heard Jack hang up the phone and did the same.
"Major," said a familiar voice behind her. Sam jumped slightly before turning to face General George Hammond.
"Sir," she greeted.
"What do you know?" Hammond asked.
"Nothing much yet, sir. Only that the Tok'ra and free Jaffa were, unknown to each other, on the same planet and that Bra'tac got caught. My father risked his mission to save him," Sam replied.
"Alright," Hammond said, "go shower, and have breakfast before visiting Bra'tac," Hammond's eyes traveled down Sam's bloodied uniform, which Sam hadn't noticed until now.
"Yes sir," Sam said, turning and heading toward the women's locker room and shower.
On her way, Sam ran into Teal'c who was heading toward the infirmary.
"Are you injured MajorCarter?" Teal'c asked concerned.
"No, I'm fine," Sam grimaced. "It's not my blood,"
Teal'c nodded his head solemnly.
"Master Bra'tac's?" he asked, but sounded more like a statement.
"I'll meet you in the infirmary in a bit," Sam said, before continuing down the hall.
It took Sam twenty minutes to shower and dress. She was heading out of the locker room, when she spotted Jack getting out of the elevator with five large cups of coffee.
"Carter, help me with these will ya?" Jack asked and Sam hurried over to take a cup of coffee he was balancing on the carrying case, where the others rested comfortably.
"Sir?" Sam questioned.
"That's yours, the rest are the gang's and Jacob's. I'm getting tired of the crap they serve here," Jack replied.
"I'm sure Dad will appreciate it," Sam said smiling and taking a sip of her own coffee, which was exactly how she liked it. She was stunned that Jack remembered her favorite coffee.
"I thought I told you to get some sleep," Jack said as they continued down the hall towards the infirmary.
"Yes…..well, I was trying to make some headway with the artifact we found on P3X-920," Sam said sheepishly.
"Carter that can be done during the day you know," he replied, looking down at her disapprovingly.
"Yes, sir," she answered.
They arrived at the infirmary to see Dr. Janet Frasier standing over Bra'tac. She looked over at Jack and Sam and smiled.
"Colonel, I hope one of those coffees is for me," Janet said yawning.
Jack looked sadly down at his own coffee.
"Yeah, Doc. Pick a coffee, any coffee," Jack said.
Janet thankfully took a coffee and took a large swallow.
"Thanks, Colonel. Come see Bra'tac," Janet invited.
Bra'tac was lying unconscious on the hospital bed. The blood had been wiped away, and his wounds had been either stitched or bandaged. Jack frowned down at him.
"He gonna make a full recovery?" Jack asked.
"He will indeed, O'Neill," Teal'c said from were he sat by Bra'tac's side.
"Any more info on what happened?" Sam asked.
"Only what I told you; we still don't know why Bra'tac was on that mission," Jacob said coming over and taking a coffee from Jack. "Thanks, Jack,"
"And we won't know why 'till Bra'tac wakes up, right?" Jack said frowning down at the coffees.
"Right," Daniel said coming into the room and taking a coffee from Jack.
"Thank you, O'Neill," Teal'c added taking his own coffee.
Jack sighed looking down at the coffeeless drink holder sadly. Sam smiled and handed him her half-finished drink.
"You want the rest, sir?" she asked.
Jack's smile could have lit up the room.
"Thanks, Carter," he said sipping it and closing his eyes to enjoy the taste.
Jacob Carter looked at them disapprovingly, obviously not happy with them sharing saliva. Bra'tac groaned and opened his eyes, causing the room's occupants to turn toward him. Janet hurried across the infirmary to Bra'tac's bedside.
"How are you feeling Master Bra'tac?" she asked.
"I'm fine," Bra'tac reassured her with a small, pained smile.
Janet gave him a disbelieving look, before turning away to get a pain reliever. As Janet walked away, Jacob/Selmack turned to Bra'tac.
"How're you doing?" he asked.
"I am well," Bra'tac replied. "I am in your debt for saving my life,"
"Ohhh, no. I did it, because that's what friends do for each other," Jacob assured him.
"Okay," Jack said suddenly, "can we just skip all the I'm-your-friend-and-that's-what-friends-do triteness so I can ask one small question?"
"What's that?" asked Jacob as Bra'tac slipped out of consciousness again.
"What was the mission about?" Jack asked curiously. Jacob sighed.
"I'm not sure this is the right place to discuss this," he said. "Perhaps we should call a briefing."
"Master Bra'tac will not recover in a short period of time," Teal'c informed the others. "Unless we want to exclude him from the meeting, we will have to have it here or postpone it indefinitely." Jacob nodded reluctantly.
"Alright," he said. "Our operatives have discovered that Anubis is building a new superweapon."
"Another one?" Jack asked in surprise. "How many superweapons does this guy need?"
"One that hasn't been destroyed," Jacob said simply.
"Ah, good point there!" Jack replied.
"I was part of the team sent to the planet," Jacob explained. "Although our orders were to destroy the weapon at any cost, I ordered the mission aborted when we discovered they had Bra'tac. I knew how important he was to the Jaffa Rebellion…and to you guys, of course, so I rescued him and brought him here."
"What about the rest of the team?" asked Daniel. "Have they been captured by Anubis?"
"Hopefully not," Jacob answered. "They're under orders to gate back to the Tok'ra base as soon as they can and report what's happened."
"Why didn't you go back to the Tok'ra base and report it yourself?" Jack asked.
"We couldn't risk the Jaffa soldiers seeing the address for the planet," Jacob explained, "so we reasoned that, since you have an iris, it wouldn't hurt if they saw the combination."
"So what happens now?" Sam asked. "Are you still going to destroy the weapon?"
"Of course we are!" Jacob said immediately. "We cannot allow Anubis to complete it. If the rest of the team reports back, a representative of the Tok'ra High Council will be sent here. The weapon is…closer to completion than we thought and much harder to destroy. With the assistance of the Tau'ri, we will stand a much better chance."
"Okay," Jack replied, "but we're going to need General Hammond's approval."
"And you have it," a voice said and they all turned to see General Hammond walk into the room. "If this weapon is as powerful as Jacob says it is, we clearly cannot allow Anubis to finish it."
"We also cannot allow so many free Jaffa to die at the hands of Anubis," a gruff voice said. Everyone turned to see that Master Bra'tac had awoken again.
"Why do you speak of free Jaffa?" asked Teal'c.
"A Jaffa told us that he had gathered a large army on a distant planet in support of our cause," Bra'tac explained. "However, he was liar and a servant of Anubis. When we went through the gate, we were immediately captured and overwhelmed by his forces. We were many, but they were more."
"How much more?" Jack asked curiously.
"I did not endeavor to count their numbers," Bra'tac explained. "I only knew that they were so many that we did not stand a chance. Teal'c, we must return to the planet with the Tau'ri and free our Jaffa brothers and sisters."
"What does Anubis want with you all anyway?" Sam asked curiously.
"He is forcing us to build a new weapon that will increase his power among the System Lords," Bra'tac explained. "We must free them and destroy this weapon!"
"Uh, I don't mean to be negative here," Jacob said, cutting in, "but it may not be possible to rescue the Jaffa before we'll be forced to destroy the weapon."
"You would sacrifice over a hundred free Jaffa you have had the courage to turn against the false god they were forced to serve?" asked Bra'tac. Jacob blinked suddenly and Selmack took over.
"We, of course, do not wish to destroy anyone opposed to the Goa'uld," he said, "but we may have to make some sacrifices. We simply cannot allow Anubis to complete this new weapon."
"Teal'c," Bra'tac said, breathing heavily, "your son Rya'c is among the Jaffa captured."
"Is the life of one Jaffa worth more than the billions that would be killed by Anubis' new weapon?" asked Selmack.
"Well, we should at least attempt a rescue," Daniel interjected. "I mean, the Jaffa are one of our best allies against the Goa'uld."
"No one's denying that," said Jacob, who was back in control, "but what should we do if it comes down to a choice between saving the Jaffa and destroying the weapon."
"Well…" said Daniel, who was always uncomfortable making this kind of choice.
"We'll just cross the bridge when we come to it," Jack said brightly. Everyone looked at him and he smiled slightly.
"That we will," General Hammond said. "I want a mission plan by the end of day."
"Yes, sir," Sam said.
"I'll get on that right after I wake up fully, sir," Jack replied.
The General smiled and left the infirmary. Jack stood there a moment, before turning and heading for the door.
"I'm gonna go get some food," he called over his shoulder.
"I'll come with you," Daniel said following him out of the infirmary.
"You going to be alright, Bra'tac?" Sam asked placing her hand on his shoulder.
Bra'tac smiled and covered her hand with his, patting it gently.
"I will," he said softly, looking as if was about to fall unconscious again, "and I thank you for your concern and strong willingness to help our cause,"
"As do I, MajorCarter," Teal'c added.
Sam smiled before placing her arm around her father and walking out of the infirmary with him.
"How long can you stay after this is solved?" she asked her father.
"Not long," Jacob said glumly. "Only a few days; I'm sorry,"
"It's alright, Dad, I understand," Sam said trying to mask her disappointment.
"I'm sorry kiddo, if I could stay here for a month you know I would, but I can't," Jacob said reading her ineffectively hidden disappointment.
"Dad, really, it's fine," Sam reassured him.
Jack and Daniel stood in the breakfast line waiting to help themselves to food. Jack didn't take anything until the got to the desserts section.
"Um…Jack? You're having cake for breakfast," Daniel pointed out as Jack helped himself to a large piece of chocolate cake.
"Good observation, Daniel," Jack said sarcastically, as he took his cake and coffee back to their table and sitting down, "I hadn't noticed!"
"I'm just saying that maybe you wouldn't be so grumpy all the time if you had a well-balanced and nutritious breakfast," Daniel commented, pushing up his glasses as he followed Jack and sat down across from him, with his own toast and fruit breakfast.
"Daniel!" Jack said, "I don't really care."
Jack took a large, happy bite out of his chocolate cake and downed his coffee, making a face and shuddering. Daniel watched him, somewhat amused.
"Jack?" Daniel asked suddenly.
"Daniel?" Jack said looking up from his food.
"Would we really purposely cause the deaths of hundreds of rebel Jaffa just to destroy one weapon?" he asked.
"A superweapon," Jack reminded him.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. But would we?" he asked
Jack thought for a second before answering.
"Yeah," he said simply, before looking down at his cake, stabbing it with his fork, now feeling not so hungry.