Chapter 9

By the time they reached the bridge, there was a level of tension permeating the air that was all too familiar to Sam. The sudden attack of an unknown enemy with unknown strength was something a commander never wanted to face.

"They're ignoring all attempts to communicate," the helmsman offered and Sam could hear the fear in his voice.

"It's the same MO," Sam said, strength returning quickly as she leaned on Jack for support. There was still pain, but the painkillers the doctor had injected prior to her leaving the infirmary had already begun to work.

"What'd you do?" Caldwell asked as the ship shook again.

"Shields holding," came the announcement from weapons control.

"We lost," Sam said with a frown. "I beamed my crew down to the closest planet with a known Stargate and tried to lead the ship away." Sam glanced out the forward viewscreen. "Their weapons were impossibly powerful but as soon as we got in a few good hits, we found the shield wasn't so strong."

Caldwell glanced at his helmsman. "Evasive maneuvers. Give them our backs and let them think we're turning tail."

"That can't be the same one that attacked us. We destroyed it," Sam said as she took a step forward.

"So there's more than one," Caldwell muttered. "Great."

Sam glanced sharply at Caldwell. "They're surprisingly maneuverable for their size."

Caldwell nodded. "I noticed."

The ship shook again and another announcement from weapons control reminded Sam eerily of a similar way this had gone down on her own ship.

"Transfer all available power to the shields and fire rail guns. Concentrate Asgard beams on their weapons systems." On the outside, Caldwell was sure and confident but Sam knew exactly how helpless he was truly feeling.

"I don't suggest we try and talk to 'em, Caldwell, seeing as they're fans of shooting first and asking questions later," Jack said, his voice laced with tension and just a bit of authority.

"Well, normally I'd agree with you -"

"I have to agree with the General," Sam said. And she did. She wasn't just agreeing with her fiancée. Caldwell was a bright enough commander to understand that. "They didn't seem particularly interested in talking last time."

The ship shook as weapons control announced, "Shields down to 75 percent!"

Caldwell nodded sharply and pointed toward the screen. "Fire at will. I repeat, fire at will. Target anything our sensors indicate to be a weakness in their hull."

"Have you radioed Earth?" Jack asked as he moved to stand behind Caldwell.

"Not yet," "Caldwell said. "We've been a little busy."

"Send an emergency transmission and give them our coordinates," Jack ordered and the communications officer's hands flew across his controls in an attempt to comply.

"We're days out from Earth. No one would get here in time," Daniel said as he hurried onto the bridge.

"Thanks for that encouraging comment, Daniel," Jack muttered. "At least they'll know where we went down if we don't report at our next scheduled check-in."

"We aren't that far out from Earth, how is it we don't know anything about these hostiles?" Caldwell asked no one in particular.

"We'd never had any contact with them until they shot down the Hammond," Sam said as the ship shook again. She grabbed the back of the helmsman's chair and grimaced. As much as she hated to show weakness, she was grateful to feel Jack's steadying hand at her back.

"Couldn't have anything to do with the destruction of Icarus, could it? These two incidents are suspiciously close." Jack's eyes narrowed at the beams arcing across the viewscreen.

"Maybe these beings lived on Icarus?" Daniel asked no one in particular.

"We were assured there was no life on Icarus before we built a base there," Jack said.

"Well how often are we wrong about that sort of thing?" Daniel challenged, eyebrows raised.

Caldwell pulled his attention away from the battle for a moment and squinted at each of them. "Wait a minute, are you telling me this could be a space-faring race blaming us for the destruction of their home?"

Weapons control interrupted with a, "Sir, Asgard beams have broken through their shields. They're moving away."

"Intercept them!" Jack ordered with a brief glance at Caldwell.

The Colonel nodded his agreement. "Do it."

"Target all firepower at their weapon systems and engines," Jack ordered. "I don't want them getting away." He turned to communications. "Contact Earth and have them send the Apollo out here."

"And keep sensors at maximum," Caldwell added. "I want to know if there are any more of these ships out there." He glanced at Jack and Sam felt grateful the Colonel wasn't upset that Jack had started giving orders to his crew. "We don't want to be surprised again."

There was a flash of light as the Daedalus maneuvered to chase and then the large ship was gone.

"Sir! They're -" the lieutenant manning weapons control said suddenly.

"Gone," Caldwell muttered with a curse. "We see, Lieutenant."

The communications officer turned to Jack, one hand on his headset, one on his control console. "General, I've got Homeworld on the line for you."

A tech came forward with a headset for Jack but he waved it off and motioned to the viewscreen. "Put it on screen."

General Vidrine's concerned face popped up in front of them and Sam was mildly amused to notice everyone, even Jack, stand up a bit straighter.

"Jack, what's going on out there? You radioed a request for the Apollo?"

"Yeah, seems we've got a problem out here, General," Jack began. "We were just attacked by the same kind of ship that downed the Hammond. We've taken damage and I want to make sure we have backup in case more of 'em come at us."

Vidrine's eyes narrowed at the succinct report. "Threat assessment, General?"

"To Earth and to us?" Jack asked, his gaze searching the room before falling on Sam. "High."

"I'll send out the Apollo. Don't leave the area. I don't want you to inadvertently lead a hostile enemy to Earth's doorstep. The Sun Tzu will remain in Earth's orbit and the Odyssey is on its way back." Sam watched as Vidrine nodded to someone sitting out of camera range. "Without the Ancient chair, Earth is more vulnerable than we'd like."

"Understood," Jack acknowledged with a curt nod.

"I'm also going to contact Atlantis and make them aware of the situation."

"Yes, Sir, that would be advisable," Jack agreed.

"Keep us appraised, General, Vidrine out."

Jack shook his head and pried his fingers from the state of the art molded plastic in front of him. "Charming man."

"Intense may be a better word for it," Daniel muttered, the only one on board besides Jack who was able to comment without fear of being charged with insubordination.

"So we're just going to sit here and wait for the Apollo?" Caldwell's XO asked with narrowed eyes. "When that thing probably made the jump to go get reinforcements?"

"Those were our orders, Major," Caldwell said but the look on his face was anything but happy.

"They're about two days out, less at max speed," came an update from helm control.

"Well then, we'd better get repairs underway if we expect to have to hold this ship, or more, off for two days." Caldwell said. "We'll be in the conference room if you need us." The Colonel motioned for Sam and Jack as he walked off the bridge.

****

Sam sank gingerly onto the bed with a scowl shot in the general direction of Jack and the doctor. He hovered nearby, almost inappropriately too close and his eyes were fixed firmly on her.

"I'm fine,' she hissed between clenched teeth.

"Let me be the judge of that, hmm?" the doctor said with a knowing look. She wouldn't put it past Jack to have revealed all of her secrets for dealing with incarceration in the infirmary while she was unconscious.

She glared at the hospital gown he held.

"I need you to put this on so I can examine you."

She knew what he wanted. She just didn't really want to go through this right now. When he glanced back at General O'Neill hovering behind him, the doctor misinterpreted her hesitation.

"Uh, General, I need to-"

Jack raised his hand in a dismissive gesture she was all too familiar with. "Get on with it then."

"Sir-" Doctor Franklin hesitated again, clearly hoping the General would get the hint.

Sam really hated to put him out of his misery. She'd clearly spent far too much time around Jack O'Neill. She'd taken to some of his more irritating traits like a fly to poo.

"It's fine, doctor," Sam said as she lifted the gown out of his hands with an annoyed huff and began to slowly remove the clothing she'd hastily thrown on in their rush out of the infirmary less than an hour earlier. "He can stay."

"Oh," the doctor's wide eyes focused on her face with sudden understanding before he turned away to finish prepping his examination tools. "Okay."

Sam carefully tried to keep any strain off her face but when she swung her injured leg up onto the bed, she couldn't keep the hiss of pain from escaping through clenched teeth.

Jack was at her side in an instant, helping to lift the injured leg. She shot him a grateful smile before he pulled his hands away.

"I'll take a look at that first," the doctor said as he slid the gown up her legs to bare the heavily bandaged thigh.

Sam winced as the doctor began prodding at the tissue surrounding the jagged cut. Jack hovered close to her head while the doctor worked and she was grateful for his presence, despite how it may look to anyone overly concerned with following protocol.

"You're going to have a good sized scar, but its already healing well," the doctor said as he began to re-wrap her thigh.

"Just another one to add to the list," Sam muttered and leaned her head back onto the pillow. She caught Jack's eyes as something she easily recognized passed quickly across his face before he'd squashed it away. She reached out and reassuringly brushed the back of her fingers against where his closest hand hung tense at his side.

"All right," the doctor stood and reached for the part in the front of the gown. "This gash wasn't as deep but it was a lot closer to vital organs."

"I was falling away when the claw slashed at me," Sam said with as much emotional detachment as she could force into her voice. She would never forget the feel of tearing skin or the sound of Jack's voice as she was enveloped in that live-saving Asgard beam.

"It probably saved your life," The doctor said as he cut the bandages away and began to poke and the red, puckered skin. "These will, unfortunately scar as well."

Sam nodded and closed her eyes as the doctor continued to work.

His fingers ghosted gently over the bandage adhered snugly to her side and she found it difficult not to tremble at the touch. The Ori staff blast was healing well, but it had left a nasty scar. She had so many from her time with the SGC that it was difficult to shake that self conscious feeling every time Jack helped her change the bandage.

A soft sigh escaped her lips when those deliciously long fingers trailed along the bottom edge of the bandage to wrap loosely around her hip. She slowly slung her leg up over his and twined her arms even tighter around his neck.

It had been like this ever since he'd arrived. He'd had to be near her, touch her in any way that was allowed and she knew it was to just assure himself that she was alive. She recognized the signs. They'd just only recently begun to comfort one another in ways previously forbidden by Air Force regs.

"Jack," she whispered when his mouth moved to her neck and began to suck gently on that oh-so-sensitive patch of skin.

She could feel the rumble of his response shoot straight down her spine. She squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep, steadying breath.

He instantly lifted his head and her eyes fluttered open at the loss of contact. "Hurt?"

"Mmm," she whispered non-commitedly as she slid her fingers through his close-cropped hair.

Her insides liquefied when he dropped a quick kiss to her lips and resumed his previous exploration of her neck. She relaxed and let him have his way, wondering just how far he would go before he decided he didn't want to hurt her.

Her hips arched sharply off the bed when his fingers dipped between her legs. His head snapped up instantly when a sharp gasp escaped her lips.

"Pain?"

"Only when you don't warn me first," Sam said, breathless. Now her side had begun to ache and her insides were burning for more.

Jack pressed a gentle kiss to the corner of her mouth and resumed his delicate touch. "This okay?" he whispered so softly she could barely hear it over the pounding of her heart.

Her eyes fluttered shut when his fingers plunged slowly inward. Her muscles parted easily and she shifted her lower body to a more comfortable, accessible position. "God, yes," she murmured.

Her body began to tremble as he expertly worked through the sensitive folds. Before long she was panting, hips rising to meet each thrust of his long, dexterous fingers. When his thumb dropped to her most sensitive spot and began to rub gently, she quickly covered his hand with her own and forced him to move harder.

"Sam . . ." His voice was rough with arousal but Sam couldn't concentrate on anything else right now. Almost instantly, every nerve ending fired and she trembled hard in his arms.

She moaned loudly as she tightened her grip in his hair and rode out the waves of pleasure arcing down her spine.

When she came down from the euphoric high, her head lolled to one side and a sleepy smile crossed her face. "Thank you."

"I've always been told sex is the perfect painkiller," Jack grinned, eyes twinkling.

Sam snuggled close and let her eyes droop, thinking that when she woke up she would trace every one of his scars with the tip of her tongue – doctors orders be damned.

Sam blinked herself out of the pleasant memory when the doctor pulled the pieces of her gown back together.

"You've got almost as many battle wounds as me, Carter," Jack joked, but beneath it, Sam could see the guilt in his eyes. "This isn't a race, you know."

Sam smiled and curled her little finger around his as a way to silently offer some measure of comfort that she was okay.

"I'd like you to stay here for another 12 hours," the doctor said as he made notes in her file. "Keep weight off that leg and give the stitches more time to bind everything together. Then – short walks."

Sam bristled but it wasn't anything she wasn't expecting to hear. "Doctor, with all due respect, we've got an unknown number of hostiles out there. I think I'm needed elsewhere."

"I'll make sure she stays put, Doc," Jack said without looking at her.

Sam's eyes narrowed suspiciously but she held her tongue.

"Thank you, General," the doctor finished making his notations and grinned at her. "I'll have some pain meds delivered every six hours until you can believably function without them."

Sam exhaled an annoyed puff of breath through her teeth. Apparently, Jack had taken it upon himself to inform the doctor of the more O'Neill-like qualities she exhibited during an enforced, extended infirmary stay.

"I'll be back to check on you in a few hours, then," the doctor added before disappearing through the drape surrounding the bed.

Sam took a moment to compose herself before turning narrowed eyes on her fiancé. Before she could speak, he raised a hand, silencing the protest poised on the tip of her tongue.

"Don't even say it. I know you're needed. We'll bring your doohickies to you."

****

Caldwell was pacing the bridge when Jack and Sam entered. He raised an eyebrow at Sam's slight limp but said nothing. Jack, on the other hand, had had plenty to say when after only six hours lying in the infirmary with a laptop balanced on her legs, she'd announced she wanted to go to the bridge.

A short, hushed argument later and Sam was here, flanked by her Jack O'Neill sized shadow.

"I recall the doctor ordering bed rest, Colonel," Caldwell said with as much authority as he could believably exert while standing in front of a man that outranked him by several stars.

"He also ordered light exercise that included walking," Sam retorted with a smug smile. It had been the same excuse she'd used with Jack.

"Yes, well, don't plan on being here for long. I know Franklin and he'll come chasing after you up here and blame me for your little detour," Caldwell muttered and she could easily detect the annoyance in his voice. That tone was full of respect when he shot a quick nod to Jack. "General."

"She won't be here for long," Jack said in a tone that in no way caused her to think he wouldn't sling her over his shoulder and carry her cave man style back to the infirmary if she refused to go when he deemed it time.

"Well, since there hasn't been much of anything new in the last few hours, I wanted to make sure you weren't holding out on me," Sam challenged, an edge to her voice.

"Nothing, Sam," Caldwell stopped his pacing and turned to face her. "You've got all relevant data on the encounter."

"Which isn't much," Sam said with a frown. "The design of their ship isn't anything we've ever encountered before."

"It looks cobbled together, though," Jack offered with a shrug.

Daniel walked in and with a scowl directed toward Jack, which caused Sam to instantly grin, he turned his attention to her. "Aren't you supposed to be in bed?"

Sam shrugged. "My butt fell asleep."

Sam resisted the urge to grin when a lone eyebrow rose high onto Daniel's forehead and he grunted an inaudible reply. Daniel shook off the far too Jack-like comment fairly quickly and held up his data pad.

"Jack's right, though."

Jack's eyes darted toward Daniel. "I am?"

"The ship does look cobbled together. Its design is a mix of a multitude of races that we've encountered over the years."

"And that helps us how, Daniel?" Jack asked with a raised eyebrow of his own.

"Don't tell me we've found another race of Goa'uld'ish thieves," Caldwell said with a snort.

"God, I hope not," Daniel said quickly. "These ones are far more deadly and capable than the Goa'uld ever were."

Jack turned his full attention on Daniel and with a sarcastic quip, added. "We hadn't noticed, Daniel."

A tech looked up from a console on the far side of the bridge. "Repairs are almost fully completed."

"Good," Caldwell said with a nod. "At least we'll be able to hold out for more than a few minutes next time."

"With any luck," Jack began and Sam had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, "We've seen the last of these. . ."

Before Jack could finish, several bright holes began to expand through the darkness of space, indicating multiple arrivals from hyperspace.

Before any of them could ask, a report was called out. "Multiple bogies behind us, Sir, all have shields raised and weapons armed."

"Raise shields," Caldwell ordered and returned to his seat.

Daniel stared at Jack. "You just had to say something, didn't you?"

Sam stared out the forward viewscreen, eyes wide, as a ship so wide it seemed to stretch the fabric of space hurtled out of the hyperspace window. "That one is as large as Atlantis."

"I have a very bad feeling about this," Daniel muttered, just as the bridge was flooded by a blinding white light.

"What is that?" Caldwell demanded as he covered his eyes.

"They're scanning us, Sir!" came an answer from helm control.

"Block 'em!" Jack ordered sharply as he felt the familiar tingle of a transport beam. "Uh, guys . . ."

The light vanished as quickly as it appeared and as Sam glanced to the empty space beside her, she, as well of the rest of the bridge, noticed they were missing one very imposing General.

Daniel's head snapped back to the viewscreen and his words echoed Sam's immediate thought. "Uh oh."

TBC

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