Yikes! This took a while sorry ya'll. I had to finish up another story I was working on. But I'm back now, so here's chapter 10. :) I hope you like it, and 'please' tell me if you do or what you think. Thansk to those who are reviewing! Enjoy. :)
Chapter 10
Jack called Sara, and they set a time to meet at a coffee shop near where both of them were. He was farther away, and knew she would probably already be there when he arrived. That was why he hesitated before opening the door. He hadn't seen her in years, hadn't really talked to her…it had been easier to wish each other well and then try to forget the other existed. Swallowing, Jack had to tell himself to quiet being a coward and go through the fricking door.
He stepped inside, and at first didn't see anything but the counter, the coffee machines, and the customers near the front, but then a movement caught his eye, and he turned his head and saw her. She was at the back, had already saved a table, and was waving to get his attention. Jack went that way, and she stood up as he approached.
Sara's figure hadn't really changed any, and the age had only slightly affected her skin. The giveaway was that her hair was starting to go gray—but just starting to. She's fared a lot better than he had, apparently. He been completely gray since about a year after the last time he'd seen her. Go figure.
Jack had thought he might have to force a smile, but suddenly he found it came naturally. It wasn't huge, but it was a smile, and it was genuine, and it was there. She was smiling too, and before he had really had a chance to register what she was doing, she was politely hugging him and he was returning it.
"Hi, Jack," she said as he let go, and she did the same.
Suddenly he was a little self-conscious about the whole hug thing—which should have been strange because she had been his wife once—and quickly sat down across from her as she lowered herself back into her chair.
"Uh, hi," he replied awkwardly. "So…how've you been?"
Sara shrugged. "Well, fine, once I got over you, but never mind me. Are you all right? You look stressed."
Okay…that was different. She'd never done that before, since Charlie had died, anyway—asking about him before getting out whatever she wanted to say. And usually what she had to say hadn't been exactly constructive, either. Not that whatever he'd had to say had been. Looking back now, he had to admit that neither of them had handled it very well at all. But it was too late to regret it now.
Jack blinked once or twice before answering. "Me? Well, you know, I'm fine, except for the fact that hundreds of millions of people disappeared off the face of the earth a couple of weeks ago." Not to mention a billion or so more on other planets, he thought. And with them every single young child on every single planet…
That part had hurt the worst, because he knew what it was like to lose a child, a young one. And right now it was looking like, from reports, among the disappeared, every child in the universe was gone. If what Daniel and Carter and Cassie had been trying to tell him was to be believed, there was a perfectly reasonable explanation for that. A lot of what they'd said made sense, actually…but it wasn't for him.
Sara leaned forward and folded her arms on the edge of the table. "What if I told you I had an explanation for that?"
Was there an echo in here?
Jack winced. "Uh…I would probably groan and say 'not you too!'"
"Why?"
"Because I was just talking to some of my friends here earlier today, and they think they have the explanation, but I'm not really in the mood for religious crap right now." It was a bit harsh, but it was the truth for him right now. He hoped it didn't offend her, though he couldn't really apologize if it did.
She sighed. "It's not about 'religion', Jack, it's about the truth."
"What? That we screwed up 'cause we didn't believe all that stuff and now we're 'left behind'? Are you believing it now to?" If she was, he didn't resent her for it. It just left him a little frustrated that everyone he knew who he'd always known to be smart, reasonable people, were falling for this. It couldn't really be true, could it?
"You've heard it all?"
"Yeah," Jack nodded.
"So what problem do you have with it?"
He opened his mouth to answer that, but then found that he couldn't--not exactly. He closed it again and shrugged. "What does it matter?"
Sara studied him. "Because it's important. I do believe it Jack. My parents took me to church sometimes when I was a little girl, and I had several friends at work who were Christians, and I went with them every now and then too. I knew all of it before it even happened, Jack. I'd heard the prophecies, and the passages, the warnings…and when everyone vanished I knew what had happened. I was scared out of my mind. I thought I'd lost my chance, that I was going to go to hell and there was nothing I could do about it. You have no idea how relieved I felt when I heard that we had a second chance. It's all true, Jack."
"And just how do you figure that?"
"It's not hard," she smiled. "What the Bible predicted is starting to come true. The people disappearing, the rise of one man into power calling for peace…and you've heard the news announcements about the upcoming peace treaty with Israel and the rebuilding of Solomon's temple, haven't you?"
Jack's eyebrows went up. "The peace treaty I heard about--but that'll fall through before they can do it. There's no such thing as peace in the Middle East. I should know--I've been there way more than I would have liked. The temple thing I didn't hear though. Wouldn't the Muslims start killing people if the Jews tried to touch that place?"
"Usually, yes, but they're claiming that the actually site of the original temple was found 'next to' the current mosque that's there, so it won't have to be torn down, and the Muslims seem to be happy with that. Carpathia's having that temple rebuilt."
"But that's…that's bull. All of it," he protested in confusion.
She shrugged. "Watch the news Jack; it's happening. It will be rebuilt, and that treaty won't fall through. The Bible predicted both things would happen."
Jack sighed. "Look, I'll tell you what I told my friends. I'm glad you've found something to make you feel better, but it's not for me."
Sara looked at him with genuine concern. "Jack, please a least think about it…"
"Is this the only reason you wanted to see me?" he interrupted, a bit annoyed now.
She looked at him for a moment, then shook her head. "No…I really did just want to see you again, if you were going to be in town anyway…."
Jack nodded slowly. "Okay…" He was about to continue when his cell phone rang in his pocket. Sighing, he pulled it out and glanced at the number. He grimaced. "Sorry, it's the office. I've got to take this." She nodded, and he flipped it open.
"O'Neill."
"This is Captain Baker, sir."
Jack sighed. Of course it was. "What is it? I'm kind of in the middle of something."
"You've just received an extremely important phone call, sir."
"And it couldn't wait until I got back?"
"But you won't back for several days, general!" the younger man cried, trying to justify himself.
"All right, all right, just calm down and tell me what it is. What kind of important phone call?" Jack asked, cutting him off.
He heard Baker take a deep breath. "Uh, well, it was the secretary-general's assistant, sir, a Miss Hattie Durham…but that's not the important part, sir."
Jack lowered his voice. "Well what is then? Why would Nicolae Carpathia's assistant be calling my office? Out of the corner of his eyes Jack noticed Sara react a bit strangely to that name-- she jerked a bit and her eyes widened, and now she was looking straight at him. Obviously she'd heard that much, anyway. He lowered his voice further. "How the heck does he even know that office exsists? And even though he obviously does he can't know what it's really for…"
"Uh, well, first off, sir, well, he does know…"
"Know what?"
"Everything."
"What--?!"
"It's not like that, sir," Baker said quickly. "The leaders of the countries who know agreed to tell him. He is the new secretary-general of the United Nations."
Jack huffed. "They've never told the U.N. anything before."
"Well, this is different. Mr. Carpathia is on a mission to lead this planet to peace, and it might be difficult to do that without knowing things like this…"
"Is that the reason the powers-that-be had for telling him?"
"Yes, sir. And it does make sense, doesn't it? Nicolae Carpathia is a wonderful man. Just think what he can do for the Stargate Program after he's dealt with things here."
"No thanks, I'd rather not."
"General?"
"The guy creeps me out, captain. He's making outrageous demands, and it's all too good to be true. What he wants will never happen."
"Well, sir I must admit that you're right to be a bit skeptical, but don't you think he can do it? After what happened…"
"Yeah, yeah, I know," Jack answered, looking at his watch absently. "Now are you going to tell me what his assistant called for, or not?"
"Yes sir, sorry sir. The secretary-general would like to meet with you."
Jack blinked in surprise for the second time in fifteen minutes. "Carpathia wants to meet me? What the heck for?" His voice wasn't quite as soft anymore, now that they'd gotten off the subject of the stargate, and Sara must have heard him again. The moment he reiterated what Baker had said, she started shaking her head.
"He's heard so much about you, and since you are the leader of the original SG-1, you were the commander of Stargate Command for a while, and now you're in charge of Homeworld Security…he would just like to meet you."
"Yeah, tell him thanks but no thanks." Sara relaxed.
Baker swallowed. "Uh, sir, it's not optional."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"I have orders from the president that you're to meet with him. So far Mr. Carpathia has not met with him, but the president wants the United States on the secretary-general's good side, so he's ordered that you take the offer."
Jack rolled his eyes. "For cryin' out loud….whatever. When?" Sara started shaking her head again.
"There will be a plane waiting for you at the Air Force Academy strip in the morning."
"What? Wait a minute, what about my days off?"
"You can still have them, sir. This trip will only take tomorrow. Once you've met Mr. Carpathia in New York the plane will fly you back to Colorado."
"Fine…" Jack sighed. He asked for the specific time and place to be to get on the plane, and the captain informed him. "Thanks, Baker."
"You're welcome, sir. Have a safe trip."
"Yeah, thanks." Then he hung up, and pushed phone back into his pocket. Sara was looking at him with an expression that was almost horrified.
"You're meeting Nicolae Carpathia?" she asked incredulously.
"I guess so. Apparently I don't have a choice," he shrugged.
"But you have to have a choice. Jack…you can't get anywhere near that man."
He squinted in confusion. "Why not?"
She sighed. "Did your friends tell you anything about the Antichrist?"
Jack thought a moment. "I know they mentioned that there was supposed to be one…some guy or something…but not much else."
Sara looked at him. "Well, there will be an Antichrist--there is an Antichrist. He may seem good and wanting nothing more than peace for the world, but in reality he is pure evil. Later he will even be indwelt by the devil himself."
"Okay…what does that have to do with Carpathia?"
"We're pretty sure it's him."
"Who's we?" he questioned.
"Me and the others left behind from my friends' church, though I guess it's my church now," Sara answered, smiling a bit.
"Okay, and you think Carpathia is evil? I mean really, he's pretty misguided, but not evil…" Jack trailed off, not sure what else to add to that.
"He fits the bill, Jack. He's from the right part of the world, the way he came to powers fits, and he's the one who instigated the peace treaty. The Bible predicted all of that. There's no one else the Antichrist could be."
"I told you: that treaty will never go through."
"It will, and then the Tribulation will begin."
Jack sighed. "The Tribulation? That's supposed to be like…seven years right? I thought we were supposedly already in that."
"Not exactly. Technically it doesn't start until the seven-year peace treaty with Israel is signed," Sara corrected.
"Whatever…"
"Jack, just promise me you'll be careful."
He looked at her for a moment, saw the genuine worry on her face, and nodded. "All right, I'll be careful. But it'd be nice if I knew what I was being careful of."
"Of being tricked. The Bible also says that the Antichrist will rule, and he will rule with deception. Most won't see that he's really evil until it's too late. But those that trust God will see him for what he really is, like I do."
Jack sighed. "You really o believe all this stuff, don't you?"
She smiled again then. "Yes, I do. I hope you will too."
"Sara…I respect you and all…but don't count on it."
Jack called Daniel once he'd left the coffee shop to tell him where he would be the next day, and the moment Jack hung up and Daniel set his own phone down, he grabbed the phone book and started searching for the number to the church he and Sam had gone to a couple of days before. While there, they had also heard some about the Antichrist, and since then he had read more. He wasn't sure, but Carpathia definitely seemed like the prime suspect, and even if he wasn't, the idea of Jack meeting with the guy still disturbed him.
It didn't take long to find the number, and thankfully Simon Dockett was in the office. Within moment the secretary had handed the phone over, and he was talking with the deacon-turned-preacher. He re-introduced himself, found that Simon did indeed remember him, then quickly ran over the problem with him--everything about Jack's position, and now his meeting with Nicolae Carpathia.
Daniel found that Simon was much more certain than he was that Carpathia was the Antichrist, and once he'd heard his suspicions from someone else, he decided for himself that Simon was right--it had to be Carpathia.
"So what are we supposed to do?" Daniel asked, referring to himself, Sam, and Cassie. "I don't really like the thought of my best friend talking to the most evil man on the face of the planet." Anything could happen. He'd heard the prophecies about the Antichrist. Carpathia could pull jack into his web of deception, and then they might never have a chance of reaching him. And if Jack ended up in hell, Daniel would never forgive himself.
Simon only had one point of advice to give. "The only thing you can really do, Daniel, is pray. Pray for him, and don't stop."