Chapter 10

The challenge comes sooner than I would've thought. We've barely made it back to the gate when it activates, and some poor bastards move close to it in the hope that it's a way to escape. Daniel tries to explain that it's death, but it doesn't go down well, and Vishnor jumps him.

I'm prevented from helping Daniel by someone trying to choke me to death. I'm just about holding my own, but I can't get free. I don't know where Teal'c is, but his help'd be useful right now. Vishnor's choking Daniel, and I know he hasn't got much time.

Suddenly, it's over. The last time I glanced at Daniel, I thought he was just about unconscious, the much larger Vishnor's hands strangling him, but now they're both on the ground. I run to Daniel, and I'm relieved to find a pulse, weak, but there. Vishnor's dead. It makes no sense at all, but at least Daniel's alive. He needs help, and there's only one place here where he's going to get that.

Teal'c and McKay appear, and take in the situation. Teal'c carries Daniel to Linea's den, laying him on the bed there. She places a few drops of … something in his mouth and declares that she can't do anything else, turning her attention to the new arrival, the reason the Stargate activated. He's blind, but with a drop of something in his eyes, he can see again. He takes one look at Linea and runs. Surprising, but maybe he thinks she's a witch or something.

Daniel wakes up then, confused as to what happened. He doesn't think he'd beaten Vishnor either.

"P2A-509," Daniel says suddenly.

"Little brain damage along the way?" I ask.

"No, uh-uh, SG-3 was scheduled to go on a mission to P2A-509. General Hammond said so in our last planning briefing. We rendezvous with SG-3, and we use their remote transmitters to get home."
"And this just came to you?"

"No. This came to me while I was suffocating."

"Then P2A-509 it is."

JJJJJ

We decide that the best time to proceed with our plan is to go ahead after the next meal delivery – almost a day away. We've got a plan. And now that we have, my mind goes to Sam. And I'd almost managed to forget that she's not waiting for me, that she's not out of her mind with worry. She blames me for what happened, and I get that – I blame myself to some extent, but I still think the biggest helping of blame belongs to Jolinar. Not that any of that matters.

The hours pass slowly while we wait for our time. We have to go through a ritual when the food arrives, with Danny doling it out since he 'defeated' Vishnor, but once everyone else's gone, we set to work.

On either side of the Stargate, we pile some of the weed Linea uses, and then McKay takes tendrils of it and loops it around the gate. Linea adds some of her activator, and we watch the light that generates travelling up the plant and into the gate. Teal'c does his thing, dialling manually, and the gate activates. We all rush through, not sure how long the wormhole will remain stable.

Stepping through to P2A-509 is a huge relief. Checking Daniel's memory, SG-3 is due to arrive within a few hours. It's peaceful close to the gate, so we hunker in and make ourselves inconspicuous until they arrive.

JJJJJJ

Finally walking down the ramp to the SGC, I can't stop my eyes searching for her. I finally spot her in the control room. She's not looking this way. Hammond comes down as soon as he sees it's us.

"Where in the name of heaven did you come from?" he demands.

"Prison, actually. We just broke out," I answer, oddly pleased that he's so surprised.
"Well, how? Your remote transmitters have been returned to us. SG-9 and I spent the last two days trying to negotiate your release. With no luck, I might add."

"Well, actually, we returned via P2A-509," Daniel explains. "I remembered that SG-3 would be there. Major Warren found us and let us borrow a transmitter to open the iris."

Hammond turns to Linea. "And if I may ask?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. General Hammond, this is Linea," I explain.

"It's only because of her activator and my scientific brilliance that we're here," McKay announces.

Linea acknowledges her introduction with a nod.

"Then we owe you a great debt, ma'am. Welcome to the SGC," Hammond says.

"I've never seen such a place. It seems so alien." Linea's looking around, taking everything in.

"So it was with me, but over time it has become … home," Teal'c explains.

"General Hammond, might I suggest that we offer Linea the hospitality of the SGC, such as it is. There's a lot she might teach us." McKay doesn't sound like he's suggesting so much as demanding. I give a minute shrug in answer to Hammond's unspoken question.

"I'll take that into consideration, Doctor. In the meantime, I'd like you all to report to the infirmary, including your guest."

Daniel and Teal'c move in the direction of the infirmary.

"Begging your pardon, ma'am, it's merely precautionary," Hammond apologises.

"I would do the same," Linea answers.

"We'll debrief after you've all had a chance to rest."

"Yes sir." I take Linea's hand. "Linea, thank you."

McKay insists he needs to spend time with Linea, and so avoids the debrief. Hammond assigns Sam to stick with them – much to McKay's irritation. We're working through the details as well as we can, when Major Warren of SG3 appears, a ragged-looking man in cuffs with him. I recognise him as the man Linea cured of blindness.

"I found him lurking near our base camp, Sir. You need to hear this."

"General, this is the…former blind man I was telling you about."

"The first thing I see: The Destroyer of Worlds."
"Excuse me?" Hammond asks.

"She created a sickness. The one you call Linea. She—the Destroyer."

"She told me that there was a plague and she tried to help," Daniel says.

"Not help. She started it."

He pauses for a moment before explaining. "Our island states were at war, she created a sickness, one she couldn't get herself. A terrible sickness."

"Go on," Hammond encourages.

"Half our people died. She came, promised to save the rest. By then it had spread, island to island. By the time they caught her, she had destroyed half a world."

The klaxons start then, and we race towards the control room. Someone's activated the gate and managed to seal the room. McKay's there, getting up from the floor. Sam's unconscious. I leave others to try to work out what's happening, rushing to Sam's side.

"What happened?" I demand.

"She … Linea … she must've knocked us out. I just woke up as you came in." McKay sounds aggrieved.

I check Sam's pulse – it's fast but strong – and I get on the phone to demand a medical team.

"Where's Linea?" Hammond demands.

"When I came to, she was gone."

"Wormhole has been activated," the technician states. I don't know her name – she's new since Sam and I got stranded, and I haven't seen her before.

"You were unconscious?" Hammond demands.

"Only for a few minutes," McKay insists.

Sam's pulse remains fairly strong as I wait. I just hope she'll be ok – it – whatever it was – certainly doesn't seem to have done McKay any harm.

"The abort command is not responding, Sir," the tech. warns.

I hear the unmistakeable sound of the blast doors rising, and then Hammond's voice ordering someone to step away from the gate. I assume his order is ignored when he then orders the technician to shut the gate down.

The medical team appears then, and I'm pushed out of the way so they can work.

I allow my attention to drift back to the others, while keeping an eye on Sam. The self destruct's been set, and nothing anyone is doing is making any difference. McKay's just looking aghast, and the technician is obviously trying everything she can think of, but nothing's working.

"Try shutting the whole system down," Hammond suggests.

"We can't, Sir," the technician informs us.

I look down to see Linea walk to the event horizon just as the computer informs us we've got ten seconds. There's nothing we can do.

"The codes have been erased," someone says. I don't even know who it was.

As the countdown ends, the gate disengages. We wait for the explosion, but it doesn't happen.

"Redial those coordinates," Hammond orders

Before anyone can move, the system goes down, leaving us in darkness.

"The entire system just crashed," The tech. tells us.

"Well, get it back up!"

"Colonel?"

I go to what McKay's staring at. A message is displaying on the screen.

Thank you for your kindness. All debts have now been paid.

"We let her out; the Destroyer of Worlds," Daniel states.

Something to think about, not that we get the chance to do it in peace.

"General, with this cockamamie system, it'll take hours to get everything back," McKay informs Hammond, but my attention's on the gurney that the medics've just loaded Sam onto. I leave the geeks to their computers.

I follow Sam down to the infirmary. I know she won't want me here, but I don't care. I can't just turn off my feelings for her, damn it. They transfer her to a bed, and Janet gets out her stethoscope and gets her linked up to various monitors.

"What happened?"

"I don't know. She and McKay were rendered unconscious, but he's fine."

She completes her initial checks.

"She seems ok," she concludes.

"Then why's McKay in the control room being his usual irritating self while she's …"

"I don't know, Colonel, although it could just be Sam's general state of health. And Jolinar left … some things behind. Her blood chemistry has changed, and there's a protein marker … I have no idea whether either of these are going to change her reaction to stimuli of any sort. And, I don't think she's been sleeping."

Her and me both.

Just then, I spot her eyes flickering. I don't think, I just rush to her, touching her face.

"Sam?"

"Jack. You're back. I thought … I dreamt …"

"No, I'm back. What happened?"

"Not sure. Linea …"

"She's gone. She played havoc with the computer system, let us think we were going to be blown up, and left. McKay's trying to sort it out now."

"McKay?" she asks, a look of incredulity on her face.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Don't let him near the system. It'll take weeks …" There's actual panic in her voice, and she's trying to get up.

"Sam, I'll stop him. But on one condition."

"What?"

"You do as the Doc. orders. Ok?"

She collapses back into her pillow. I make a call, conveying Sam's lack of confidence in McKay's ability with the system to General Hammond who, fortunately, has already asked McKay to leave the system to the technician and has called Sandy Joyce in to help.

I go back to Sam's bed. She hasn't sent me away yet.

"I'm sorry, Jack," she says, softly. There're tears in her eyes. Instinctively, I want to wipe them away, and I do just that when they escape to run down the side of her face towards her pillow.

"What for?" I ask.

"For sending you away. For not talking to you properly. I … we need to talk."

"Shhh. Not now. Get some rest. I'll be here when you're ready," I promise.

She seems to drift off to sleep then. Janet does another check and nods with satisfaction.

"She's just sleeping. I don't think she has since you've been gone, and I'm pretty sure she hasn't had much sleep … well, since Jolinar."

I feel my jaw tense at the mention of his name. Janet smiles gently, and gestures me towards her office.

"She's going to talk to you then," she offers when we get there.

"So she says."

"Good. She's been miserable, you know."

"Of course she has. She … lost the baby."

"I know, but it's more than that. She's dealing better with Jolinar's memories now, and she will deal with the aftermath of the miscarriage in time. But she's been missing you."

"She sent me away," I remind her.

"I know. I … just hope you don't hold that against her. She was confused. Just … listen to what she says. Can you do that?"

I nod. For Sam, I can do that.