Title: Peer into Tomorrow
Chapter 7 – Tomorrow Never Dies
Sam felt her anger surge, stopped in her tracks and pushed O'Neill up against the wall and glared at him angrily. "What do you mean, 'save us from ourselves'?" She questioned loudly.
"I…I can't tell you…yet…" O'Neill pleaded. "You have to trust me."
"I want an answer right now or we don't move from this spot."
"But…but they'll find us," O'Neill whispered in fear.
"I am counting on that. I prefer a straight fight to all this sneaking around. If they are waiting for us then tell me. If they aren't here then tell me, but why do I have to fear myself on tis mission? What is really going on here? Who are you?"
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"Is everyone okay?" Landry called out after they sustained another hit.
"Getting there," someone called out.
"Sir…we have incoming," Harriman called out.
"I know that!" Landry barked.
"No, on the Stargate Sir. Someone is trying to dial in."
"Which team?"
"Sir it's…it's Vala," Harriman said with a frown.
"Great time for a visit," Landry sighed. "Send a signal that we are under attack and…"
"I already did and she sent back saying she'd like to help," Harriman informed him.
Landry sighed and then looked at Harriman who just shrugged. "Another person to the party? Why not."
"Open the iris," Landry ordered. "Can she fire a gun?" He asked half-heartedly. As he watched the large silver disc disappear and the bluey waves of the Stargate come to life, he wished it was one of his two missing teams.
Vala stepped through the gate and immediately felt the cold air behind her as the silver iris sealed her in. She looked around at the frantic people before her and the blast marks. "What is going on here?" She questioned Landry as she walked down the ramp.
"We are under attack," Landry remarked.
"By who?"
"The friendly residents of Planet 495-XP," Landry told her in a sarcastic tone.
"Oh you mean the Pretorians?"
"No they are the ones we are trying to help," Landry replied slowly.
"Why would you want to help them? They are only bent on destruction and tell nothing but lies," Vala remarked slowly. "Where is Daniel?"
"Missing…what do you mean? The Pretorian's come from a peaceful world like…"
"Earth?" Vala remarked with a sideways smile. "Daniel is too trusting. Where is he?" She asked, trying to quell the worry in her voice for him.
"I…I don't know at this moment," Landry sighed. "You mean we've been tricked?"
"You aren't the first world? It probably started with a distress call right? One for help from an unknown world?"
"I don't really want to hear the rest do I?" Landry asked in worry.
"Not really," Vala remarked. "Now were is Daniel? On the planet of Pretoria?"
"You can't go there," Landry insisted.
"If I don't, he, and whoever is with him is dead."
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Daniel felt his heart starting to race faster as he helped Mitchell through the door after Scarlet. Once through it closed behind them and a click was heard.
"I don't like this," Daniel uttered to Mitchell as they slowly headed for the light before them.
"Where are we going Scarlet?" Mitchell asked in an angry tone.
"To a safe place. You want answers right?"
"Yeah because the ones you have given me so far have been so satisfying!" Mitchell snapped in frustration. "It feels like we are going in circles!"
And he was proved right once they stepped into the light and were right back where they started when they first entered the gate.
"I hate being right," Mitchell remarked.
"Well you wanted to escape right?" Scarlet hissed.
"What if we wanted to go back?" Daniel asked suddenly. "To Vermir?"
"What?" Both Mitchell and Scarlet asked at once and in surprise.
"What the hell do you mean go back?" Mitchell asked in haste.
"I was thinking about something you said earlier…how everything that has happened has been because we wanted it."
"And? How will going back prove anything?"
"What dimension is this?" Daniel asked Scarlet.
"What…"
"Stop lying and tell us," Mitchell argued back.
"You are in a world that you created," Scarlet resigned. "You answered the distress call and…"
"And when we got to the planet and saw the bodies we assumed that a war had taken place and…what…imagined that we were under attack and it came true? That's lame," Daniel remarked.
"You showed us the future right? A world that we created? Why, so that we wouldn't repeat it?" Mitchell questioned. "Pardon my ignorance but we humans do well at learning from our mistakes?"
"Are you sure about that?" Scarlet challenged. "You claim you live in peace and yet you are still mightily armed. You haven't…"
"If we disarm completely we leave ourselves open to…"
"To the possibility that other worlds might just pass you by without a fight?" Scarlet tried to reason.
"Hasn't happened yet and I don't see it ever happening," Mitchell responded.
"Unless…unless you want to show us our destruction because of something that we created?" Daniel asked.
"Huh?" Mitchell shrugged.
"We created the world we are in now by agreeing to a fight that in reality we didn't really believe in in the first place."
"We came here to solve this planet's problems," Mitchell argued. "Not to be part of it, and certainly not to start a war on Earth."
"I agree but what if by our coming here," Daniel continued his heated discussion with Mitchell. "We put into motion events that wouldn't have started if we didn't answer the call in the first place. Maybe that's why this place looks so familiar…it's because it is here…Earth…just another time. I did translate the original message wrong, because I was pressured by time. The call sounded urgent; the people dying and we wanted to believe it was a cry for help that we answered. We wanted to be the ones to save the day as we always do."
"That's because we can't just do nothing," Mitchell insisted. "But…but…if we had waited and heard it was a warning we wouldn't have gone in the first place," Mitchell reasoned.
"And if we hadn't gone in the first place, none of this would be happening," Daniel concluded. "We are making our future and we are destroying ourselves…maybe that's what they wanted? Maybe that's why everything here looks like home only after it endured battle. Maybe we made this happen and they…"
"Well Scarlet…" Mitchell mentioned as he turned to get her approval on Daniel's conclusions. "Scarlet?" He asked, looking around and then back at Daniel. "Great she's gone…and so are our answers."
"I think we need to get back to Earth," Daniel frowned as they heard the door behind them starting to be pulled open.
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"My name is…"
"I know what your name is…I want to know what you are hiding from us! I have a lot of patience but it's running out. You came to Earth…you needed our help and we came here to help you. You brought a tracking beacon and now Earth is under attack because you gave in to a stronger force. Stop me when I am wrong. Are you related to the Jack O'Neill on Earth!" Sam just rambled off the last sentence, so desperate to know if this man was indeed her future son she forgot about the rest of her intended words. "Are you!"
"I…I can't tell you," he whispered. "I am sorry."
"I have to know," Sam pleaded.
"If I were to tell you would it change anything?" O'Neill questioned.
"It might," Sam urged.
"Colonel Carter," one of the men piped up. "We are running out of time. We need to act now."
"You must destroy this building," O'Neill urged.
Sam looked at him with a frown. "But the building so far is empty? What would be destroying if not…not for a secret you don't want discovered?"
"The enemy has their command post…"
"Not guarded? What enemy leaves a strategic command post unguarded?" Sam asked as she reached for her radio and called Teal'c. "Anyone in sight?"
"I have not seen anyone as of yet Colonel Carter. They could be in the inner chamber waiting for us," he mentioned.
"Get inside that inner chamber and…"
"NO!" O'Neill yelled. "It's…"
"What?"
"Rigged…to explode the minute anyone opens the door," he stammered in haste. "We know…we know because we set the charges ourselves our first time here."
Sam looked at him and shook her head. "Teal'c I want you back here now. We're leaving. We will finish this back on Earth. And when we get there you better pray I am in a better mood. We are moving out! There is nothing here but a trap – for us."
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"Think we'll make it…" Daniel huffed as they started across the open ground, the entrance to where the Stargate was waiting for them in their sights.
"I…I guess not…" Mitchell remarked as blaster fire started to whiz over their heads. "Daniel you can make it faster on your own. Leave me and…"
"I can't…"
"That is an order…get through the gate and tell Landry…well whatever it is you think is going on here. If this is our own twisted future then by him firing back is only going to prolong our demise."
"If I leave you here…
"Daniel if you don't we are both dead anyways… now GO!" Mitchell shouted as he fell to the ground in pain. "I can't take the pressure on my leg anymore."
Daniel looked up and saw Vermir push through the door with a few men behind him. As he stood up he turned to face the gate with a frown.
"Daniel go!" Mitchell shouted as he pushed at Daniel and then dove behind some nearby rocks.
Daniel wasted no time in charging for the gate.
"Stop him!" Vermir shouted.
Daniel inwardly cursed as he heard Mitchell yell at Vermir and then felt another shot barely miss him. But as he reached inside and raced for the gate he heard the unmistakeable click of a weapon being armed.
"So close…" the voice whispered to Daniel. "Too bad…"
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Sam raced back for the gate, her mind a frantic flurry of activity and wonder. She was convinced that this Charles O'Neill was the son her and Jack would have that she pushed aside any thoughts of falsity or a venire or lies on his part. But everything else just didn't add up.
"Dial us home," she ordered to one of her men. She turned to Teal'c with a frown. "What if all of this could have been prevented?"
"It might not be too late," Teal'c commented.
"O'Neill…when we…" she started and then turned to see that he was gone. "Where is he?" She asked frantically as the gate came to life.
"We do not have time to waste Colonel Carter," Teal'c reminded her.
Sam looked around in a dejected state. "What if he was my so…"
"Then you will see him again," Teal'c smiled.
"Maybe not…" one of the men with them remarked as they noticed a small group of men rushing towards them, staring to fire.
"Everyone through…" Sam ordered as she started to race for the gate. But as she just about went through she felt the searing pain of blaster fire rip through her. "Noooo…." she called out as she started to fall to the ground, inches away from her salvation.
Everything they had endured so far had been for naught…
Just one more chapter to go...please leave a review if you still like it...thx!
