Author's Note: Wow, does it feel good to be writing fanfic again! . I had this vision in my mind that this month would be wide open and relaxing, and totally not at all busy. How wrong can a person be. Ack! But I am back to writing as promised, and I'll be making updates as often as I can. Woot!
A big thanks to all you wonderful people who hung in there so patiently. It's a new year, with new challenges, new changes, and new endeavors! So let's get this party going again, eh?
x.x.x.x.x.x
The next two days passed very quickly for Sam, mostly because she slept through them. The few times she had woken up someone had been there to push food on her, and keenly aware of how starved she felt, Sam had eaten as much as her body would allow. But then she'd just fall asleep again. She was sure Shella must have given her more drugs to keep her out, but she didn't care. Her mind had shut down in a depression she couldn't shake.
On a couple of occasions Sam had pulled herself out of her perpetual sleep in response to the sound of the Colonel's voice, but it was always short lived. Just long enough for her mind to confirm she wasn't dreaming before he would reassure her and order her to sleep again.
While she knew her body needed the sleep, her mind abhorred it. Her dreams were flooded with memories she wished she could erase. They would swim around her like sharks, becoming twisted as one memory after another played behind closed eyelids. And yet it felt so real that she had to separate what was reality and what wasn't every time she woke up.
She was coming out of one such nightmarish dream of her recent past when Sam realized she was alone in the room for the first time. Rubbing away tears, Sam sat up, alarmed to realize she was shaking.
Spotting a glass of water on the table next to the bed, she drank it down in several gulps, only slowing to finish the last bit as she struggled to clear the images still clinging to her mind.
With a heavy sigh, but no longer shaking so hard, Sam put the empty glass back on the table and twisted to lean back against the wall.
It was just her in the room, and while she already knew there was no lock on the door, Sam felt far too much like she was in some fluffly white prison cell. Pulling her knees up and hugging them tightly, she let her head rest on her legs, taking in deep slow breaths in an effort to calm her nerves.
They weren't leaving.
The thought still refused to leave her, and she had to swallow against the knot it formed in her throat.
The Colonel hadn't told her anymore as he had promised to, she doubted she'd been awake long enough yet to give him the chance, but Sam just couldn't wrap her mind around the idea that he wouldn't want to leave.
She stayed like that for some time before her body urged her to get up. Moving stiffly, Sam slipped out from under the covers and took the few unsteady steps to the door. Cracking it open, she peered out, finding the white hallway brightly lit and empty.
While she hadn't traveled far beyond her white cell, Sam had seen enough to realize that this wasn't like anything she seen on Bethro. There's been pieces of machinery around Galeka City, and Haken had had a slew of technologically advanced trinkets and tools, but nothing she had seen before would suggest this culture had harnessed the power of electricity for such large scale use.
This place looked so much more modern than the slave pens she'd been in before that part of Sam was convinced she must still be dreaming. It was at least better than her nightmares.
Making her way to the facilities and back again, Sam was surprised no one had shown up while she was gone. Unsure what to do, Sam had intended to just go back to her room and wait, but as she stood with her hand on the door, she hesitated.
For once, Sam realized she didn't feel tired. At least, not in a way sleep could solve, and it had felt good to move. Then there was the issue of the hunger pains growing in her stomach. Food had all but been shoved at her each time she'd woken up before. She wondered if it was because she had some sort of special status here, because that had been the impression she'd gotten through whispered conversations that had bled into her awareness. She was 'Jack's slave.'
Hearing it had shocked her and terrified her. Jack had status here, it was another thing that she'd picked up on, but that didn't make sense. From everything she knew, everything she'd endured, slaves with status had it because they did favors for the Okatans, sold themselves or their fellow slaves out. And that just wasn't the Colonel she knew.
But…they weren't leaving.
Shaking her head as if she could shake off the confusion, Sam put the thoughts away and decided right now it didn't matter. She was hungry, and if she could get food, she would…while she could.
Turning away from the door, Sam moved cautiously down the hall, soon coming to a cross section that offered nothing more than three other white halls. Nothing in Haken's House had been so bright, which made it hard to believe she was even still on Bethro, but while she might wish that were true, she knew it wasn't.
They weren't leaving.
Her throat constricted as she once again pushed the persistent thought away, quickly picking a hall to explore instead. At last the sterile white ended and she passed by several very colorful and intricately designed wall hangings. They grabbed at the person's eye, drawing them into the weave of colors.
Reaching up, Sam felt the fine cloth, wondering at the stitch. It wasn't like the standard weave that occurred from using a loom. Then Sam felt the cloth of her clothes, realizing for the first time just how smooth it was, almost as if it were manufactured. Her previous clothing had been much coarser, made with a thicker thread and hand sown. Frowning with concentration, Sam again looked at the peculiar wall hanging.
A door opening behind her pulled Sam sharply from her thoughts, and the Major spun around to see a woman staring at her, equally startled. Sam opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. Then the woman hesitantly questioned, "Are you…Sam?"
Nodding, the Major finally blurted out, "I'm sorry. I was in my room, and no one came…" She trailed off as a slightly more familiar face stepped out of the room.
"Hi, Sam," Katha greeted with a warm smile. "Did you sleep well?" Sam nodded and Katha continued, introducing, "Sam, this is Rhia. We were on our way to the kitchen to get the afternoon snacks, would you like to help us?"
"Okay," Sam quickly agreed, figuring she could request something to eat for herself at the same time. She'd been afraid she'd just get sent back to her room, which oddly enough terrified her more than the hard labor she'd been forced into in Haken's House.
Katha's smile never faded as she led them through the halls, chatting the whole while. "I'm afraid I might have told a few people about you, Sam. I hope you don't mind. We all know each other here quite well. Rhia's from the Mines. It'll be her first baby." From the way Rhia looked, the woman was probably just starting her second trimester, Sam could barely see any bulge at all to the woman's stomach.
Rhia, unlike Katha, was considerably more muscular, but not ungainly so. As someone who works in mines, it wasn't to be unexpected, but she also didn't walk hunched, or seem to have any visible scars. Once again, not something Sam was expecting in a slave colony.
Rhia had been watching Sam's scrutiny out of the corner of her eye, but with a small welcoming smile, asked, "Katha says you're not from our planet?"
Sam was startled by the question. To even mention Earth had gained her either fear from the other slaves, or a solid whipping from the Okatans. "I'm from Earth," she hesitantly dared to say.
Katha grinned, saying knowledgably, "It's a world with only slaves, so no one's a slave."
That really wasn't the case, which made Sam want to correct them but when Katha added with a shrug, "Jack doesn't say much about your planet," Sam decided she shouldn't, either.
Looking at Sam with widened eyes, Rhia asked with amazement, "Then you don't know what it means to be a slave?"
Sam wanted to highly disagree with that statement, too. The last several weeks had taught her rather intimately what it meant to be a slave. Her face must have darkened, because Rhia suddenly apologized, "I didn't mean to offend you."
Forcing a smile on her lips, Sam replied, "It's nothing you did. Bethro is just very…different." Far too much for her liking. She looked around as they walked, her eyes taking in the many tapestries that hung from the walls, as well as the rugs that appeared on the floors from time to time. Each of them brightly colored, a sharp contrast to the sterile white of the walls. They passed by several rooms filled with laughter and noise and a glance inside revealed the colony's young children, though none seemed to be older than five or six.
And then they entered a room with four long table and benches low to the floor so kids so young could easily reach. On the other side of the room was a half wall counter that provided a clear view into the kitchen beyond where people worked.
Katha and Rhia went straight to the counter, greeting one of the men on the other side with wide smiles. Sam approached a little more cautiously. As she expected, everyone on the other side of the wall turned to look at her with curious eyes. One girl from Sam's first day practically bounced to the edge of the counter, exclaiming brightly, "Hello again! Remember me? I'm Nyath." Then before Sam could say anything the girl ran her eyes up and down the length of Sam's body and with twinkle in her eyes remarked, "I was right, you did wash up nice!"
Sam felt the flush on her cheeks, but it was more anger than embarrassment. Not sure how to respond, or what was allowed, Sam kept her mouth firmly shut. The only Okatan present was in the kitchen, perched on a stool and watching the exchange just as curiously as the rest of the slaves.
The young man standing next to the far too forward girl openly scolded, "Nyath! Aren't you supposed to be working on the bread?"
"Yes, Lanth," she replied meekly, but didn't look meek at all as she bounced back to her task, continuously looking back over her shoulder with a variety of grins.
To Sam's surprise, the man, Lanth, gave Sam an apologetic smile, and then asked, "So you're Jack's slave?"
Sam had to bite her tongue to keep from saying the first thing that came to mind, and with a furtive glance at the watching Okatan, replied, "Yes, I'm Sam."
"Lanth," he returned, adding to Katha, "Here for the afternoon snacks?" She nodded and he moved off to get them, or so Sam assumed. He returned with several plates of sliced fruits and vegetables. Sam was just about to dare asking for something for herself when their countenance suddenly changed.
Sam turned toward the door to see the Colonel stroll in. His eyes brightened when he spotted her, but then he suddenly stopped, looking around the room with a frown.
"Sir?" Lanth asked, uncertain.
"Has this kitchen always been here?" the Colonel asked, joining them at the wall.
"Yes, sir," he answered.
The Colonel 'uhmed' confusing them all, but with a shrug he turned to Sam and greeted warmly, "It's good to see up. How do you feel?"
"Better," she automatically answered.
He smiled, saying briskly, "Good. Let's go have our talk."
"Yes, sir." But Sam looked longingly at the wall that separated her from food as she followed the Colonel out. Taking one last deep breath of the tantalizing smells, Sam focused instead on where he was taking her.
Food would be a small price to pay to get some clear answers, and while her mind had a hard time dealing with the little she knew, her gut trusted the Colonel, and always would. He led her out of the glaring white halls, between two Okatans standing guard at a doorway and into the marble halls of a palace. It threw her for such a shock she came to a halt.
The Colonel turned, and seeing her shock, stepped back, guiding her forward with a hand on the small of her back as he murmured in her ear, "I know you have a lot of questions, Major, just wait a little longer."
She nodded, finding relief in his touch, and biting her lip in shame because of it. This House was easily the same size as Haken's, but there was a higher quality to it, once again giving her the impression that this House was decades ahead, if not centuries. It was likely because everywhere she looked seemed to have electricity running through it. In Haken's House, only his private rooms were powered.
The slave pens had been messy, degrading, barely livable by any human standards. Everything here was clean, tidy, almost modern. They passed by many slaves as Jack led them through the halls, all of whom made way and looked at the Colonel with deep respect. It was as disturbing as it was reassuring. With another shameful blush, Sam realized as 'Jack's Slave' that these slaves were stepping aside for her as well.
The few Okatans they saw, Jack had them stop and bow till they passed, but it wasn't the stooped bow she'd been forced to do before. It was the smaller, nod of the head type of bow, and a couple even nodded back at the Colonel as they went by. It was almost more than Sam could take.
Thankfully, they passed less Okatans than slaves, which in itself was another conundrum. Then they stepped into a hall filled with shelves and she could see a door leading outside. She yearned to bolt through that door, not that she knew where she would go, or think that her body was up to running, but it was still hard to force herself not to just move towards it.
"Here, put on a pair of sandals. The Fifth should be all out right now, so these should be extra. I don't think they'll mind us borrowing them at any rate," the Colonel stated, looking around for a pair for himself.
She didn't understand what he was talking about, but did as she was told. And as she tied the sandals up, she couldn't stop herself from asking, "Are we going outside?" The unspoken alone hanging wordlessly in the air.
He looked at her easily reading her weary face. "There's a wall up around the complex." Then he sighed, saying firmly, "I will get you out of her, Sam. I promise."
She didn't respond, she couldn't. They weren't leaving.
She followed him out the door, blinking back tears as they stepped into the afternoon sun. They had left a palace and entered a world rich with plants. A vast garden lay on one side with an orchard of various trees on the other. The Colonel led them towards the orchard, but then turned, heading to a field beyond that contained a sizable herd of horses grazing and a row of barns.
By the time they had reached the far end of that field, bypassing the barns and going straight out to another, more empty field, Sam was exhausted. It had felt good to stretch her legs and move around, even better to be outside where she could pretend at least for a moment that there wasn't a collar around her neck, but she was heaving in breaths by the time they finally stopped. She sank down on the grassy field next to the Colonel with relief, wondering if her body would betray her and fall asleep again.
Then she felt his hand on her arm and Sam was just as suddenly wide-awake again. "How are you? Really?" He asked with heavy concern.
She couldn't meet his gaze, plucking a leaf of grass instead and answering as nonchalantly as she could, "I'm okay." But a moment later the emotions threatened to strangle her and she turned to him with a burst of anger, "Sir, why aren't we leaving?"
"You always ask the tough questions first, Carter. Do you know that?" But he sighed, and instead of answering her, asked a question of his own. "Did you ever come across anyone with a gun while you were…you know, out there?"
"What?" She frowned with confusion, trying to put her emotions aside to think. And once she actually managed to get her thoughts to make sense she realized she never had. But at the time, that hadn't seemed so unreasonable. Bethro didn't seem to have much more than the barest grasp of technology. And because of it, she'd automatically reasoned that their bits of working machinery were likely relics or items leftover from a previous technologically advanced race. But that wasn't true, was it. "No." She finally answered, struggling to understand why it mattered.
"That's what I figured," the Colonel replied with thin lips, but she had an idea he was talking more to himself than to her. Then, drawing her gaze, he stated, "This entire complex is built on top of a buried Ancient Ship. Aside from Omila and probably Rakel, no Okatan knows about it. She uses the technological advances the ship has given her family to maintain power on this planet without the other Okatans knowing about it. What I can't figure out is how the Gould figure into this."
"The Goa'uld?" Sam repeated, still shocked from his first revelation. But her mind was rapidly filling in answers to questions that she hadn't even thought of before.
"Ya, we found a book written in Gould by Omila's great great great several times over grandfather, or something like that. He's the guy who first found the buried ship at any rate, but other than that I haven't really seen anything Gouldish."
She had to think about it, and thinking was seriously becoming overrated, but she did remember something. "When I was at Haken's House," and she said the name with great disgust, "there was a room with several artifacts in it. I think I remember seeing a statue that could have been Egyptian, but I'm not sure. I didn't really see much besides the pens or the kitchens." Suddenly she found the blade of grass in her hands interesting again.
The Colonel reassuringly squeezed her arm, telling her gruffly, "You're not there anymore, Sam. No one's going to hurt you here."
But his words only brought her emotions to the surface again like a flood, and she found herself asking the one question that had plagued her most within her twisted dreams. "Are they expecting us to breed?"
"What?!" The Colonel practically exploded next her in shock.
But Sam wasn't comforted by his reaction, and vainly pushing at the overwhelming fears continued, "They call me 'Jack's slave.' And everyone in those…those rooms are pregnant. They're breeding slaves, aren't they?"
"Oh gawd, no, Carter, no," he exclaimed sounding horrified, but she couldn't meet his gaze, tears brimming in her eyes as the fears refused to be refuted. "Sam," he said gently, saying again when she didn't look at him, "Sam. Come on. It's me. I would never do anything like that even if they threatened me."
Sam rubbed at her eyes, wiping her wet hands furiously on her pants. "Yes sir, I know, sir." But after what she'd been forced to do, what she'd been put through, she realized she really wasn't so sure. "It's just…" and once again the tears were flowing. They hadn't come in her entire captivity at Haken's, she hadn't dared, but here, with the false safety of the Colonel being there she couldn't keep them under control.
Then turning to look at him, her face filled with as much anger as it was full of fear and pain, and she bit out, "I don't think I can do this anymore. Not if we're not leaving, not if there's no plan."
"I told you-"
She cut him off, "I won't leave without you, sir."
He regarded her silently for a moment, and then sliding closer suddenly put his arms around her, pulling her to him as he murmured, "I know, Sam, I know."
And that was one more thing she just could deal with. Sam didn't even try to hold back the tears, full heartedly sobbing into his chest, her hands gripping his shirt tightly as he held her close. "It's not fair," she cried out. "Why can't we leave? I know I could find a way to break these collars. I almost had it once. I know I can get it. We don't belong here!"
"I know," he murmured, but he didn't release her, holding her tightly.
Sam wasn't sure how long she had cried, only that the emotional drain had made her exhausted and the sun hung low in the sky, as if it were as tired as she.
"Sam?" the Colonel softly questioned and she leaned back, almost too tired to stay upright, but her eyes had run dried and she looked up at him with a mind once again numb.
"Sam, I know it's hard. And I can only imagine what you went through, but this place, it's not like the rest of this planet. Omila," he hesitated, but then confidently told her, "I don't fully understand her yet, but I don't think she wants to actually hurt these people. I just keep thinking if we can figure out what really happened, how the Bethrons became enslaved in the first place, then maybe we can convince her to let them all go…or something."
Her brows furrowed together. "That's at least several hundred people."
"Well over a thousand, actually."
"We can't help everyone," she almost pleaded with him.
He didn't reply and gazing at him she knew he'd made up his mind. As her CO, that made up her mind, too, but it was hard. Pulling away from him, she turned her attention back to the grass, struggling to regain control, to even just think clearly. "What…what do you want me to do?"
He sighed heavily. "I don't know yet. I wish I could take you down into the ship, but it's a restricted area. Hell, I can't even get you to help me with these stupid reports I have to do. I become a slave and they have me do paper work. How uncool is that?"
She was sure he was trying to jest with her, but her mind refused to think. Everything just seemed too confusing at the moment for her to even care.
He put a hand on her shoulder and the Colonel gently asked, "Do you think you might be up for one more stop? Have you eaten?"
Eaten? She had completely forgotten about being hungry, and after crying she wasn't sure if she dared, but she took his offered hand and started the trek back in silence.
They weren't leaving.
x.x.x.x.x.x
Daniel stood listlessly in the dinner line. It moved forward, but it took a nudge from Opith behind him to get him to notice. Daniel couldn't help it. He was looking over the heads of those already there…just in case.
He hadn't seen Jack or Sam and while he'd questioned members of the Fourth every night about 'Jack's slave' he knew he wouldn't be reassured until he actually saw Sam for himself.
"Come on, Daniel," Opith complained, nudging him again.
Having finished his scan with no viable results, Daniel finally grabbed a plate and began filling it up. "Sorry Opith," he automatically apologized. "I just wish Jack would drop by with more information." Or with Sam.
And then he saw a flash of black, and stepping quickly back to get a clear view of the door Daniel's heart skipped a beat. Like a wish come true, there they were. Daniel took in Sam's appearance at a glance, noting immediately just how drawn out and exhausted she looked. He ditched his plate on the serving table and bolted straight for the pair. "Sam!"
She turned at the sound of his voice, her face registering surprise before he enveloped her in a huge hug. And then just as quickly he backed off, holding her arms as he anxiously questioned, "Did I hurt you? Are you hurt? They said you were in the White Rooms, are you okay?"
"Yea, I'm fine," she quietly replied, but to Daniel she didn't sound fine, and he thought he saw her eyes glistening with tears, but she smiled at him and he smiled back in immense relief. He hugged her again, relief flooding through him, especially when this time she hugged him back.
"Sam, I'm so glad your okay. I've been so worried about you!"
Jack cleared his throat and Daniel finally relinquished his hold on Sam. He looker her over one more time to make sure she was okay, because honestly, she didn't look okay. She was much thinner than he last remembered for one thing, and more worrying that that was the pain in her eyes, even as she smiled.
Then, as soon as he knew for himself that she really was there, and she really was, at least for the most part, okay, he turned to Jack and hit him hard on the arm.
"Ow! What was that for?" Jack cried out, rubbing at his arm and leaning slightly away from Daniel as if he might hit him again.
"Two days!" Daniel exclaimed. "Two days, Jack! In all that time you couldn't even stop by for what, one minute, to tell me she was okay?!"
"It's been busy," Jack protested, looking like an injured child. Daniel glared at him, wondering if he would hit the Colonel again. He knew the whole room was watching them, knew he'd get chewed out later for striking a First, and if it were anyone other than Jack he was sure the couple of Overseers present would have long since activated his collar.
But right then, Daniel didn't care, only holding himself back because Jack was giving him such a pitiful look he was too exasperated to do more than exclaim, "Two days!"
"I'm sorry, Daniel, really I am," but Jack didn't look sorry, and with a frown, the Colonel suddenly asked him, "Are you working out? That really hurt."
"I might be," he ground out, but then Daniel noticed that Sam was looking around with confusion and even fear and all his frustrations at Jack vanished in a heartbeat. "Sam?"
She didn't answer, and Jack said, "I thought she could eat with you guys tonight." Any trace of his previous petulance gone, replaced by the authority and concern he carried as the head of SG1.
"Yes, yes of course. Sam?" Daniel tried again, reaching out and touching her arm with unveiled worry in his eyes.
She looked back at them, momentarily looking so lost Daniel's heart jerked. "What do you want me to do?"
Daniel wasn't sure why, but Jack almost looked guilty when he told her, "Stay with Daniel and his group till I come get you, okay?"
"Yes, sir."
Daniel had never seen Sam like this before, so despondent, so…lifeless. Even after she'd lost the Tok'ra, Jolinar, Sam had been heavily traumatized, but it wasn't anything like this. He realized at once it was a form of depression, but unsure just how he should handle it Daniel looked to Jack. The Colonel's eyes were filled with concern, but he kept his voice light as he told her, "I'll see you in a while, then. You'll like Daniel's friends."
Taking his lead, Daniel added brightly, "There'll be music tonight." But she just nodded, uninterested.
Then Jack was leaving back out the door with a final word of 'later,' and Daniel stood for a moment feeling just as lost as Sam looked. "Have you eaten?"
She shook her head so he pulled her to the dinner line. It wasn't very long now and soon Daniel was prompting her to take different foods he personally considered his favorites. He found his plate still on the table where he'd abandoned it and grabbing it, pulled Sam with him to the table where Opith and the others were waiting.
As they passed the rest, conversations dropped down to whispers, but the words 'Jack's slave' were too prominent to miss. Daniel glanced at Sam expecting a reaction, but she looked like she barely heard, and aside from her eyes darting nervously around the room he didn't think she was even fully aware of her surroundings. His face tightened in anger as his imagination wondered at what had happened to her to affect her so much.
As soon as they reached the right table, Opith predictably demanded, "Daniel, tell me you didn't actually hit Jack?"
"He deserved it!" Daniel proclaimed and there were a few gasps of shock from those in hearing range.
"Daniel," Opith reprimanded with full disapproval, but Daniel refused to be cowed on this matter.
Guiding Sam down to sit next to him, he quickly introduced Sam to the group. Sam nodded, and even smiled faintly in greeting, but it wasn't with the usual open friendly curiosity Daniel was used to.
Then Eglish, with his usual lack of tact bluntly asked her, "So you're Jack's slave?"
Bristling with anger, Daniel opened his mouth to correct the young man, but stopped in shock when Sam calmly answered, "Yes."
Daniel sharply looked at Sam, a knot forming in his stomach when she didn't look back. Lips thinning he firmly told Eglish, "Her name is Sam."
Realizing he must have said something wrong but not sure what, Eglish's eyebrows furrowed and the young man looked ready to argue, but Opith quickly stepped in, smoothly saying to Sam, "You'll have to forgive us. We're not used to a lot of changes. And since you people from Earth came here, it seems that's all that keeps happening."
Sam's face took on a perplexed look. Daniel wanted to ask her about it. He wanted to ask her a lot of things, but he was afraid to incase it pushed her further into her depression.
Opith, likely sensing both her displacement and Daniel's stress, kindly chided both of them into eating. "Food does no one any good on the plate."
Sam responded automatically, Daniel a bit slower as he watched his friend closely. She really looked far too thin, and it was a testament to how hungry she must have really been when she cleaned her plate and even glanced back towards the kitchen as if thinking of getting more.
She hadn't said much while she ate, answering only to direct questions, which thankfully weren't many, keeping her answers short. While people around then had continued to stare and whisper, Daniel's group of friends had gratefully refrained from asking Sam about herself, keeping their conversation light and mundane.
After a while, Daniel felt Sam slowly begin to relax beside him. There was even a point he thought he saw her lips twitch in a genuine smile, but it was gone a second later. Then it was time for the group to head to their rooms for the night and all at once she tensed up again.
"It's okay," he quickly reassured her. "Jack said to stick with us. Its just time for us to go to our room."
"And then what happens?"
Her question threw Daniel for a loop. From the expression on her face he didn't think she was concerned about when Jack would show. "Ah, well, most people like to get cleaned up." She tensed even more so he rushed on, "There's some board games, knot working, and we'll have Circle later. Rhyon's trying to teach me some music." There really was nothing for her to worry about so he couldn't understand why she seemed so nervous.
Then Kheta took Sam's hand and said with a kind and understanding smile, "The House of Oketena is not like the other Houses. No slave has the right to force themselves on another. There is no danger here."
Daniel was outraged at the mere suggestion, but seeing the relief flood Sam's face he was too shocked to say anything. Taking Sam's other hand and squeezing it in reassurance he was glad to feel her squeeze back.
And then Eglish blurted out, "And besides, you're Jack's slave."
"Eglish!" Opith immediately chastised, going so far as the rap the man smartly on the head.
"What?"
But Sam didn't seem concerned with Eglish's comment and moved timidly, but willing, with the group as their Overseer guided them out of the dinning room and across the estate to their rooms.
Daniel was still frowning with worry when they went in, the expression falling away only when Sam stopped, her eyes widening slightly as they took in the large common room and the doors leading to their bunk rooms beyond.
"This is where they keep you?" She finally asked, confusion once again lining her eyes.
"Ya. The doors lock electronically so there's no Okatans in here. You can pretty much do what you like," he told her, thinking that was part of her confusion.
But then she whispered, "It's so big in here."
"Well, between the Third and the Fourth there are at least a hundred of us."
She looked at him, blinking in confusion, and then suddenly she laughed. But the laugh only made Daniel that much more worried. It wasn't the good kind of laugh, but one bred from unbelief.
He moved automatically, hugging her tightly and hoping their friendship had survived the traumas she had obviously been through. "Sam, I'm sorry," he apologized, not really sure what he was apologizing for but wishing she had been the one bought with Jack instead of him. "I can't even imagine what you've been through. But you're here now. You're safe here."
She clung to him and he knew her mirthless laugh had turned to tears. Then, in a broken voice she asked him, "Did you know we weren't leaving?"
Daniel's gut clenched, feeling like he'd just received a blow to his stomach. He'd known, but hearing her say it, suddenly he knew why she was so depressed. He had no idea what Jack had told her, or why she would be so convinced they were trapped her indefinitely, and while his own mind had told him much the same thing, Daniel still believed there was a chance they would make it back home one day.
"Come on, Sam, do you really believe that?" She didn't answer and he persisted, "Do you really think Jack would allow that? That he would want us to give up?"
She didn't reply but he felt her move her head in the negative, and holding her even more tightly, he reassured her, "It may take a while but we'll get home. I'm sure of it." He squeezed the growing tears from his own eyes, pleading softly, "Don't give up, Sam, please don't give up."
They stood there for a moment, oblivious to the curiously watching people around them, even Daniel's friends who had knowingly pulled away from the two to give them a semblance of privacy. Then, with a faltering hitch in her voice, Sam quietly promised, "I won't."
She pulled back, and Daniel looked at her, seeing life in her eyes for the first time. It was faint, and she looked ready to collapse, but her looked more like herself, if just that little bit. She even laughed, flushing in embarrassment as she wiped her cheeks dry. "I must look like a mess."
Daniel smiled back, telling her, "No more than the rest of us. The bath are in the back," and seeing the look of alarm on her face quickly retracted, "But who needs a bath. Come on, I'll show you the instrument I'm learning. It's a flute of some sort. They call it a zenfo. I think I've finally mastered 'Mary had a Little Lamb,' too."
She smiled again, a fleeting smile, but at least this time it seemed to reach her eyes.
x.x.x.x.x
Omila moved about her private garden with leisure, taking her time as she pruned one plant than another. She knew she should have the Fifth tend to the sizable garden, but this was her private domain, and she liked the feel of doing something with her own hands from time to time.
She both detested and relished in the solitude the gardens gave her. It'd been just her in the Oketena House for many years now; so long she barely remembered what it had been like before.
Of course, even here, she wasn't really alone. "Rakel, could you fill that sprayer up again," she requested, handing her Chief Guardsman the empty bottle. He wordlessly did as she asked. She watched with an admiring smile that grew even larger when he noticed her gaze. He handed the bottle back and she turned back to her plants.
She didn't mind him being there, which he almost constantly was. By this point in the night the estate would be shut down and only the nightly Guardsmen would be on duty. Sometimes she wondered how much her Guardsmen really understood about the workings of this House. Certainly, they never asked about the technology, the doors that opened or didn't open, and not one ever dared inquire about the Blue Rooms. They had seen enough, she was sure, for them to know the advances her House had were in a large part due to the slaves she kept. But they never asked, and they never pried.
"How is Jack handling his new training?"
"He is working hard," Rakel responded noncommittally and she turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow. "I am sure he is trained in combat, but he acts as if everything they show him is new."
"And do you think we'll have further problems?"
"No, not since the duel. Hyron is pushing him hard. He believes as I do, that Jack is still hiding his abilities," but Rakel talked with a note of respect in his voice.
Omila frowned, more from curiosity than from displeasure. "And what of Jack? Does this mean he will try to leave again?"
"I don't think so. Especially not since you bought him that slave."
"The only other slave to come from 'Earth,'" Omila remarked, thinking on how strange that felt to her. Like Rakel had said so long ago, these people did not act like slaves. "I noticed he took her beyond the viewer's reach today."
"Should I separate them?" Rakel questioned, a look of concern flashing across his eyes. She knew he still did not trust Jack, not really.
Smiling in amusement, Omila shook her head. "We will wait to see what they do." She moved on to one of her favorite plants, it's small blue flowers only now coming into bloom. She also had much more pressing issues on her mind than to worry about the foreign slaves. "There's been much talk about Okata of late. Rumors of war on our ancient home planet."
"War?" Rakel exclaimed, his face creasing with concern, but Omila had found the news interesting, not worrisome.
"Yes. Apparently three Houses fell just recently. Word is, Okata is talking of burying their gate."
A scoff of disgust pulled Omila away from the blue flowered plant she was tending to look at her Guardsman with raised eyebrows. "They put too much on that prophesy of theirs," Rakel stated with open scorn.
"Do you not believe it, then?"
"If I did, would I be on Bethro? Where there are slaves?"
"True," Omila agreed, and thought that most Okatan who lived on Bethro held no value in the ancient prophesy. She barely understood it herself, but knew from her business through the gate that the Okatans of Okata treated it as a strict religion. She couldn't imagine anything other than business governing one's life.
And business was what would be affected most if the two planets were to be cut off. "I imagine the gate will be the subject of the upcoming House Council."
Surprising her, Rakel suddenly stepped up next to her, catching one of her hands in his. "Omila, I do not think you should have the Council here."
She was both shocked by his forwardness, and touched by his concern. Part of her agreed with him, her mind automatically running back to the tragedy of the last time her House had hosted the Council. But it was the price she had paid for Jack's slave, and she had no intention of going back on her word.
Smiling at him, both in reassurance and because of the warmth of his proximity, Omila confidently replied, "I know you will protect me."
"With my life, but that doesn't mean it's worth the risk," he adamantly answered and she was pleased to find he made no motion to pull away.
"Do you trust your men?"
"All the Guardsmen are loyal to the House Oketena, my Lady."
So formal, he was always so formal. Giving him an impish grin she stated as if that finalized everything, "Then there will be no problems!"
She could almost hear the sigh on his lips. He did pull away this time, and she contemplated pulling him back, but refrained. Behind him her eyes caught on a flicker of movement, and pulling herself up straight questioned with the full command of her authority, "Yes, Jack?"
"I'm sorry to disturb you," Jack replied, sounding contrite, but leaving off her title as he usually did and flickering a glance at Rakel's now angry face before he continued, "I was wondering if I might request that Sam be allowed in the restricted areas."
Resisting her urge to outright deny the outrageous request, she asked instead, "Why?"
He hesitated, but then blurted out much to her surprise, "Because Sam is the smartest person I've ever met, likely smarter than any of the Seconds, and she's of no use to you if she can't go anywhere."
Omila frowned. Of the little she'd seen of the new slave, the woman had shown no signs of being anything other than an ordinary slave. And if she was as Jack proclaimed, than it would be more dangerous to Omila to let the woman have free reign as the First do.
Pushing his case, Jack added, "Look, I don't know what it is you're looking for down on that ship, but if anyone's going to find it, it's going to be Sam."
She shook her head, but told him, "I'll think about it. Now leave."
He nodded, bowing slightly when Rakel gave him a threatening glare and then disappeared back the way he had come. She waited till she was sure he would be out of hearing range before she really allowed herself to think.
"It's too dangerous," Rakel stated, as if reading her thoughts.
"Dangerous," she murmured, thinking he seemed to be saying that a lot lately. "Everything is dangerous to one who's lived their life behind walls."
