Sorry I took a whole week for this! Things have been crazy around here getting ready for a friend of mine to visit. She's staying for a couple weeks. Don't know if I'll be able to update during that time or not. I'll get one more chapter up before she gets here though. Chapter 30 begins part 3, so don't miss it. :) I hope you like this chapter, and please tell me what ya think. :) Thanks!
Chapter 29
"So what about everybody over there?" Daniel asked finally. He'd had to give Jack a few minutes after he'd broken the news about Cassie. It was hard to believe it had been two or three days since the earthquake. It had all been one long, stressful, sleepless blur, waiting for communications to open again so they could find out if their friends were all right.
He heard Jack swallow hard. "Uh…well, you know the three of us are ok…and Rayford's all right. He doesn't know about the rest of his group in the states yet. But…Amanda and Baker are gone."
Daniel glanced at Sam, who bit her lip and gulped. He had the speaker phone on here in his office, though it was just the two of them. Vala had declined sitting in on the call once they had heard that the phones were working again. Carpathia sure was quick, that was for sure.
He sighed heavily himself. "I'm sorry…"
"Yeah…thanks. Ray's pretty messed up. Keep us both in your prayers, would ya?"
Daniel nodded to himself, and he saw Sam nodding, too.
"We will," she answered.
Jack sighed. "I just wish we could be there."
"I know you do, Jack…but we'll be okay. If you ran off now it would be way too suspicious," Daniel reminded him.
"Yeah, yeah…"
"Just be careful over there," Sam insisted.
After that the direction of the conversation changed. Daniel brought up something he and Sam had been discussion in the past day or two.
"Jack…you realize that this leaves the Trib Force SG-1 with just the three of us, right?" he asked.
"I get that, Daniel," Jack answered gruffly. "But what are we supposed to do about it?"
He exchanged glanced with Sam. "Well…Sam and I were thinking that maybe it's time to induct two or three new members."
O'Neill didn't respond for a moment. "Okay, I'm game. Who were you thinking of?"
"The other three original SGC believers," Sam filled in. "The others who were with us watching the treaty signing."
"Carolyn, Reynolds, and Siler?"
"That's them," Daniel nodded. "It makes sense; we're already relatively close to all three of them. We know we can trust them."
Jack took a deep breath and let it out. "Well, it sounds good to me."
There wasn't much more to say after that. They all knew who was all right and who wasn't, and they couldn't stay on much longer, anyway. There were too many at the SGC trying to get calls out to friends and family to check on them. And it was late in Iraq, well past time for Jack and Sara to be sleeping. They certainly needed it.
Daniel hung up the phone when they were done and looked at Sam. "Well, at least Jack and Sara and Gavin are ok…"
She didn't say another word, just took a step and hugged him. He held onto her for a moment, until she broke away again. "I guess I should try to call the church now that we can," she suggested. Though it was probably more to find out of Simon was okay. But that was fine, too. He hoped the pastor was all right.
He sighed. "Yeah…and see if we're having church tomorrow night."
Sam nodded. "Okay," she sighed.
Sam hesitated before opening her cell phone in her lab. It really was amazing how fast Carpathia had gotten work teams out all over the world, sticking up temporary cell towers all over the place on oversized telephone poles. They weren't as tall as the regular towers, of course, but with so many of them it still worked. She should be able to get through to Simon--and if he was alive, he would probably be at the church.
Quickly she dialed his cell phone number, but hesitated before punching call. What if he didn't answer? What if a stranger answered and told her he was dead? Could she take that? After Cassie, and Amanda? But God promised in His Word that He would not give his children more than they could handle without His help. Please Lord…if it's your will, let him be all right…
She hit the 'call' button and held the phone to her ear, eyes closed and hoping. She'd been going insane for over two days, wondering.
"Hello? Samantha?" an anxious voice answered. When he was worried or stressed, he reverted back to using her full name, sometimes without even realizing it. It was one of the things she liked about him. It was cute.
"Simon," she sighed, sinking into her desk chair in relief. "Thank goodness you're all right. Where are you?"
"At the church. I assume you were at the base when the quake occurred?"
"Yeah…I was, and I'm still here. None of us wanted to go too far until communications were back up. Daniel and I don't even know if our houses are still standing. How bad was it where you were?"
He sighed. "I assume you've heard the radio reports--that there were several epicenters to the quake. That means it was worse in some areas than others. Colorado Springs wasn't near one of the epicenters, so it was actually relatively mild here. Many of the older, heavier brick buildings collapsed, but most of the houses I've seen are still intact, mostly. A tree damaged a corner of mine, but the room is in a corner and I just sealed it off. I can have it repaired later--if there's even any point. In less than two years all of us will become fugitives."
"Right…" Sam agreed. "Well I'm glad you're ok. What about the church itself?" He was silent. "Simon?"
"That's why I'm here," he admitted quietly. "I'm rescuing what I can. I'm afraid it didn't make it. There are a few inner walls standing, but most of it's down."
Her heart jumped into her throat. "Oh no…"
"It was just a building, Sam," he reminded her gently.
"I know," she answered, twisting the tail of her shirt in her hands. "It's just that it's the only church I've ever had any real connection to, and…"
"I understand. But we are still the same church. We can meet anywhere. Tonight, we will meet here anyway, in the parking lot. I've cleared it as best I can so we can have a short service. I didn't want to change the location, because I know there will be plenty who won't get through on the phone to check. Soon we'll have to find another place."
"Well, we could just meet in the park down the road until we find another building--or if we find another building," she gulped.
"Yes, I had thought about that--both things. The park would probably do for the time being, and again, we might not be given the chance to find another place. It depends on how quickly the Antichrist tightens his control of 'religious' activities, as they say."
"Right…so anyway, come tomorrow night as usual?"
"Correct. And Sam…if you can get here a little early I would like it very much."
Sam couldn't help smiling a little. "I'll be there half an hour before anyone else."
Sam came back for a moment after making her call to tell him Simon was all right and give him the news about the church, then retreated back to her lab. They were all still working on cleaning up their own spaces from the devastation of the quake. Daniel worked in his office the rest of the day and into the night. Vala wandered in once, bored, wanting to do something, but soon realized he wouldn't be taken away from straightening, and decided to just help him for a while, before going again.
By late that night the office was almost in working order again. The tables and unbroken shelves were all back in place and stocked with their original contents, though there was neatly piled stacks of books here and there that didn't have a home yet, because the shelf they'd been on had splintered. But it was neat. He didn't have another computer yet, but the old one had been disposed of sans the hard drive, which sat on his desk where the PC had been. Hopefully he could get his files off of it and onto the new one, whenever the SGC replaced the damaged ones.
The next job on the list, which he and Sam would probably tackle tomorrow, was asking the prospective new members of the SG-1 Trib Force if they wanted to join. Daniel headed for Sam's lab to check on her progress, and passed Seargeant Siler in the corridor. The two men only nodded at each other in passing, but Daniel still noticed that the sergeant had a smear of something on his forehead. He'd probably been working all day too.
He found Sam finishing up in her lab, straightening a rack of technical binders and other such paperwork.
"Hey," he called in greeting, leaning on the door frame.
She turned. "Hey. You finished already?"
"Yeah, Vala helped me some," he admitted sheepishly.
"Well, I'm almost done," she said, surveying her work. "What do you think?"
Daniel resisted a chuckle and came into the room. "I think Siler's not the only one doing a dirty job today."
She raised an eyebrow at him. "What?"
"He had oil or something on his face when I saw him a minute ago; you've got something on your forehead too; come here," he answered, taking hold of one of her shoulders to keep her from moving and licking his other thumb. He started to bring it up to her head, but she batted his arm away and squirmed out from under him.
"Eww! I'll get it myself, thank you," she smirked.
Daniel just shrugged and let her rub at it with her sleeve once she'd straightened. When she dropped her arm it was still there.
"Did I get it?"
He shook his head. "Nope."
She sighed and rubbed at it again, more vigorously this time. "Now?"
"Uh…no," he frowned. That was a little odd.
Sam looked at him. "Hey. You're one to talk. You've got something on your face too," she scolded.
"I do?" Daniel blinked in surprise.
"Yeah, right…there," she told him, poking a finger into the middle of his forehead. He reached up and rubbed at it. "Still there."
Now he was frowning even deeper. "Wait…let me see that." He put a hand on the side of her face to keep her head still and looked closer at the smudge on her skin. After a moment, he could see that it was actually a shape.
"A cross," he breathed.
She frowned too. "A what?"
"A cross!" Daniel exclaimed excitedly. "The smudge on your forehead is shaped like a cross!"
It was still late Tuesday in Colorado, but at that moment it was around 7:30 in the morning in New Babylon. Jack was at the sink in the tiny bathroom of his and Sara's room at the temporary GC headquarters, getting ready for the day. He was off active duty and couldn't walk around a whole lot, but he didn't feel like sleeping any longer. Sara was still in bed and he was finishing brushing his teeth when there was a knock on the door.
Jack made it to the door, painfully, and opened it. Rayford Steele and Mac McCullum came in quickly and closed the door behind them.
"This is where we were going?' Mac asked in confusion, before Rayford could even say anything. "I didn't know you two knew each other."
"Long story, Mac, but yeah we do," Ray answered quickly. Then he turned to O'Neill. "Jack, you'll never believe what's happening."
Jack looked at the two pilots groggily and sank down to sit on a chair in the entryway of the small quarters. "If you mean not believing that both of the Antichrist's pilots are standing in my front hall at seven thirty in the morning, yeah, I don't believe it. What's going on, Ray? And keep it down, will you? Sara and the baby are still sleeping."
"Well wake her up. She needs to know this too."
"Are you sure…?"
"What is it, Jack?" Sara asked, coming in from the bedroom. They were both still in their nightclothes, and she had thrown a robe over hers. "And what are you doing up and around? You should still be in bed yourself," she scolded, sighing.
He shrugged. "According to Rayford, there's something we need to know."
Sara looked at him. "What is it?" She didn't need to question what they were doing there in the first place. It was early enough in the morning that no one else would ever know they had been there. Not to mention that if anyone ever did see them talking, it would be easy to explain now that everyone was living under the same, huge roof underground.
"Look at our foreheads, and look at each others'," Ray answered immediately. McCullum found the light switch, and turned on the lights in the alcove around the door.
Jack and Sara looked at each other. When he looked at her forehead, he saw a strange smudge there. Quickly he glanced at Rayford and McCullum, and saw the same type of black mark on theirs.
"Okay….and? What in the world is it?" he frowned.
Sara came closer to her husband. She took his face in her hands and looked at his forehead closely for a few seconds. Then she gasped.
"It's a cross, Jack!"
Jack looked up at her head more closely, then glanced at the other two men there. She was right. The black smudge they all shared was in the undeniable shape of a cross.
"A cross?" Sam questioned. She peered at his head for a moment, before her eyes widened. "It is. but…what is it?"
Daniel started talking, words tumbling out of him in excitement. "In the Bible, in Revelation it talks about this--about God sealing his own on their foreheads. That must be what this is! We had no idea when it was actually going to happen or what it would look like. We weren't even sure if it was literal or visible, but here it is!"
She grabbed his hand and pulled his over to the side one of the machines, with its flat metal surface that could act like a mirror. She peered into it, but didn't see anything on her forehead.
"Where is it?" She could see Daniel's on his forehead in the reflective surface, but nothing on her own head.
Daniel looked closely at himself. "Hey, I don't see anything on my forehead either…" They looked at each other. She could see the mark clearly on his forehead.
"It's there," she assured him. He looked back at the metal.
"I can see yours in there, and when I look at you, but I can't see my own."
"Same for me," she frowned. On impulse, she went to the door. A young airman passed by and she called out to him. He lifted head, saw her and snapped to attention.
"Ma'am?"
"At ease, airman. Just tell me--do I have anything on my forehead?"
He looked at her strangely for a moment. "No ma'am."
"Thank you. Continue on." He left, and she turned back to Daniel. "Well?"
His brow was furrowed in thought. "He didn't have one. Maybe unbelievers can't see the mark."
"Either that or we're just crazy."
"No. no, we're not crazy. I saw Siler on the way over here too, remember? He had something on his forehead. That must have been it. The believers have the mark, and we can see each others', but not our own, and unbelievers can't them at all."
"Convenient," Sam answered skeptically.
"No, perfect," Daniel grinned. "It's perfect. God designed them, didn't He? He knows what He's doing, Sam. This could help us out a lot now, maybe, but so much more in the future, when things get more dangerous. He knew that!"
Rayford and McCullum told them what they had discovered about the marks that morning, when Mac had burst into his room to tell him that he had accepted Jesus as his savior. It had only added to the happiness.
"So unbelievers can't see the mark?" Jack asked.
Mac grinned. "Nope. Works out great, doesn't it?"
"And that's not all," Ray added. "I heard from Buck about half an hour ago. He, Chloe, and Tsion are all alive. Chloe's in the hospital, but she should be all right, we hope. They just have to get her out of there."
"Out? Why? Doesn't she need to recover?" Sara asked.
"Yeah…but Carpathia knows Buck's a Christian now, and…some other things. We're afraid the GC is trying to hold her to get something from Buck," Rayford winced.
"Uh oh," Jack agreed.
Sara nodded worriedly. "I hope they get her out all right."
"Me too." Rayford held his concerned expression for a moment before shaking it off and indicating Mac. "But for now, we have a new brother to encourage. He's not going to let anyone outside know about it, but all of us should still be careful. Mac and I work together anyway, and now that everyone knows you and I, Jack, have 'met' each other at least, since we're all here, I guess we could feasibly convince everyone that we 'did' just meet and are starting to become friends. That way we wouldn't have to be so exclusive. But even that we'd have to keep toned down, just to be safe."
"Agreed," Jack nodded. "What do you think?" he asked, looking to his wife.
She nodded in return. "It makes sense."
Ray nodded. "Great. But for now, Mac and I should get to breakfast before we start looking suspicious."
Jack called back not long after that, and while Daniel talked to him, Sam answered her own phone--it was Simon. He had discovered the marks as well, after seeing a few of his believing neighbors once he'd gone home. Soon, on the base, the believers were gathering in the corridors and in each others' work spaces, gawking at their marks in excitement. It was causing a buzz across the entire Christian community.
It still hadn't calmed down by the next afternoon, when Sam left before the others to get to the church--or what was left of it. Simon was there as he'd said he'd be, parked at the edge of the lot and pacing around his small car. As she pulled in she saw what he'd meant. Practically the entire building was down, except for half of a few of the inner brick walls that were still standing. But even they were crumbling. The fallen trees at the edges of the parking lot didn't help the scene look any better.
Sam pulled into a spot beside him and jumped out, running to him and throwing her arms around his neck. He hugged her tightly in return. After a moment, he kissed her, and then they were just holding on again, just happy that they were both alive. Both of them were silent for a few moments, and it was Simon who broke it.
"You know…sometimes I almost feel guilty."
She pulled back and looked at him. "For what?"
He smiled a bit. "For being in a relationship when I have a congregation to take care of."
"There are plenty of married pastors out there," she reminded him. "There's nothing wrong with having relationships or family."
"No…and I have prayed, and the Lord hasn't told me not to be involved with you…but there's always the human side of me that wonders, sometimes, if I'm doing the right thing, especially in a time like this."
"I know what you mean," she sighed. She often had similar thoughts, wondering if what they were doing made any sense at all. Then she quirked a smile. "This is a really strange time to be having this conversation, though."
Simon smiled at her again then. "I know; I'm sorry. But I've prayed more today than I have in a long while…and unless you have any other concerns, I don't see the need for more conversation."
Sam raised an eyebrow at him. "What do you mean?"
He hesitated. "I mean…that this earthquake, these marks…it's all reminded me that we have so little time left." He paused again, and she looked at him, her arms still entwined with his, until he spoke again. "And whatever remaining time God may give us, I want to spend with you."
She smiled. "Are you sure about that?"
"As sure as I could be…if you'll have me."
On impulse, Sam kissed him again. "Of course I will," she told him confidently. Simon's response was to grin and pull her lips back to his.
Disaster had struck again, but they had to trust that it was all part of His plan. They knew it was to get the attention of those who would not believe, lest they die without Christ--for that was the worst of all. Their mission was to stand against the Antichrist and reach as many of those people as possible in the years to come.
Sam knew now that they would do it together.
