CHAPTER 2

"Very well, but first the Tok'ra have a new power supply they'd like you to take a look at. It won't take long, but you will have to travel to their base to examine it. We couldn't convince them to send it here. Since your father died, they have been even more reluctant to share technology with us. Jacob's death was a great loss to us in more ways than one."

Landry hadn't known the man, but he had read all the reports concerning Sam's late father. The man had been a link to one of Earth's most important alien allies, and his death had struck quite a blow to the Earth/Tok'ra alliance. Maybe Jacob's daughter could mend a few fences. The Tok'ra knew her and respected her as a scientist. That should count for something, he thought.

"I would be happy to take a look at it. When do I leave?" She could do this, she thought. Then she could go back to her lab at Area 51 and hide her bruised ego under piles and piles of work. The fact was that Jack O'Neill just didn't want her. He was probably involved with some woman he'd met in D.C. by now, and had forgotten all about her. What was the General saying? Her mind had wondered, as it had been doing quite often since she'd arrived back at the SGC.

"Colonel, are you alright?" Hank Landry asked, guessing that the woman's mind was on something far, far away.

"Sorry, Sir! I'm fine. Will there be anything else?" Sam mentally kicked herself. She prided herself on clear thinking, and this place simply held too many painful memories.

"I asked if you would do me the honor of having dinner with myself and some big wigs. You know the type, Senators, Representatives and that sort. I need a date, Colonel. Someone decorative but also someone who can answer questions about the Stargate program. Consider it an assignment," he explained, when he saw her worried expression.

"I'll have a car pick you up at your house. The dress code is formal, but not your dress blues. We'll be dining at the Hilton in Denver. I hear it's quite nice," Landry added.

Sam nodded, thanking him for inviting her, before she left his office. She liked the idea of a night out on the town, even if it was to help the General entertain politicians. At least it would be a distraction from these damned memories, she thought irritably.

But before she could get ready, she'd need to go shopping! She couldn't very well complain, but he'd given her almost no notice. And it wasn't like she'd come to Colorado prepared to go to a formal function. In fact, she had no formal attire in her entire wardrobe.

Hell, she hadn't gone anywhere to need that kind of dress for so long, she couldn't remember the last time! She definitely need to go shopping. She wondered for a moment if the government would consider reimbursing her for a gown? Yeah, like that was gonna happen, she thought, chuckling to herself.

She found herself at Daniel's lab and decided to ask him if he wanted to spend the afternoon shopping with her. She could use some quality time with her old friend, and she figured a man's point of view wouldn't hurt.

"Daniel, want to go out to lunch and shopping with me?" Sam leaned into the doorway of his lab. She was dressed in civvies, her leather jacket in her arms. Daniel Jackson, Doctor of Archaeology and Linguistics, looked up from the artifact he had been studying for the past four hours and sighed with relief.

"Just the kind of invitation I've been hoping for! So what are we shopping for," he asked, turning off the lights in his lab and taking her arm.

"A dress. I've been asked to accompany General Landry to a formal dinner with some bureaucrats from Washington," she told him, wrinkling up her nose in disgust.

"Ooo, I'm envious. Not! But I'd love to help you look your best," he told her, grinning till his nose wrinkled. "And I'm starving, so where to for lunch? And please don't tell me you want to go to the food court at the mall."

He really hated the food at food courts. Thankfully, so did Sam, so they went to a little Chinese restaurant they used to frequent when she had lived in Colorado Springs.

They sat in one of the garish red booths, picking at their food with chopsticks, as they watched tropical fish swim around in a huge aquarium recessed into the wall next to their table.

Sam knew what was coming, and after about ten minutes of blissful silence, Daniel asked the question she dreaded.

"So what happened with you and Jack? I mean after all those years of flirting T and I really thought you two would get together."

"So did I, Daniel. So did I." She just let out a sigh and took another bite of her shrimp fried rice. She really didn't fell like talking about this.

"So did you two try...I mean did you...ah, hell, Sam, did you ever actually act on all of those pent up feelings?" He hated being so blatant, but he just had to know!

"No, Daniel, we didn't. He never...well, we never saw each other again after he left the SGC. I moved to Nevada, and that was that."

"Gee, that's weird. I know Jack really loved you." He stole one of Sam's shrimp and quickly popped it into his mouth before she could stop him.

"So, are you seeing anyone?" He had a strong feeling she would say 'no', and part of him hoped she and Jack would still get together. Maybe they just needed a little push. Or more like a big shove, he thought, chuckling to himself.

"Yeah, life doesn't always turn out the way you think it will, but you know that," she told him, patting his hand. Daniel had lost his wife to the Goa'uld. If anyone understood about the unfairness of life, it was him.

After lunch and much hushed talk about the alien devices he had found in recent months, they went to a large store inside the mall, where Daniel helped Sam pick out the perfect dress.

Three hours later, after a shower, a shampoo, a manicure and pedicure which she performed herself, Sam was ready to slip into the little black dress. She had opted to buy something she thought she might wear again, if the occasion ever arose that is. So instead of buying a floor length gown, this one was cocktail length, hitting her just below the knees.

The bodice was strapless and showed off just the tops of her creamy breasts. The waist was snug all the way down to her hips, where the skirt flared out, swirling around her slender thighs. Daniel said it was a good compromise, elegant yet provocative.

She also bought dangly earrings made of Austrian crystal which hung down almost to her shoulders. Sam thought the dress needed a necklace, but Daniel insisted that her cleavage was enough of a decorative touch and needed no enhancement. He had said it with a blush, and Sam had just hugged him. He was so damned cute when he was embarrassed.

Along with the earrings, Sam wore her mother's diamond watch. It had been something unexpected and cherished that she had found among her father's possessions after he died. Her feet were wrapped in silver, strappy, high-heeled sandals which added three inches to her already tall frame. At six feet she would tower over Landry and probably every woman in the dining room too. But that was just fine by her; she had gotten over her childhood embarrassment about being too tall when she'd entered the military.

Military life had been good to her, she knew, but was it all the life she'd ever have? She hated to think so. As she rode in the sleek, black limo, on the almost one hour drive to Denver, Sam contemplated her options. In less than five years she could retire with a full pension. Then she could do anything she wanted, but what did she want?

When she tried to think about her future, it all seemed so futile and hopeless. She was already too old to contemplate starting a family; at thirty-nine and with a questionable medical history, she probably couldn't get pregnant anyway. And then there were her feelings for Jack O'Neill. She couldn't get past the feeling that he had put a lock on her heart, effectively sealing it off from feeling anything even half as strong for someone else. Try as she might, she could not become interested in any other man; he was always there, in the recesses of her mind, and in her heart. She was always comparing them to him, finding faults with them that she knew were totally unfair.

Frustrated and angry, she chastised herself. She knew that if she was to ever have a life besides what the military offered her, she would have to get over him. But how to do that was the snag. She simply did not know how.

TBC

AN: Thanx to everyone who has already purchased my new book. You guys are awesome!