'I'm a long time travelling here below,
I'm a long time travelling away from home,
I'm a long time travelling here below...
To lay this body down.'
"Long Time Traveller" ~ The Wailin' Jennys
Balmy up-swells of air from the hot springs below made the rain forest both wet and pleasant. A few more footsteps and the path ended at a sheer drop off into emerald rapids below. The sun and moon shone at the same time, as if they were competing with each other.
Rain and condensation became one entity, their love child dripping off a pale philodendron.
Its path to the ground was hypnotic, suspended. The droplet hovered a moment in the air and waters below froze.
Every living thing in the rain forest silenced.
Suspended animation, that's what this was called. Sam knew this one. She wanted to raise her hand, but there was no one around for miles.
Isn't that what you did, raise your hand to answer the test?
Or, no, that was 'be silent while taking a test.' Raise your hand to answer a question.
Weren't tests full of unsolvable questions, though?
"Colonel Carter..."
But she had solved this. She'd solved them all.
"Sam."
Hadn't she?
"Sam, wake up!"
An earthquake shattered the suspension. Sam lurched.
The sight of water droplets seemed so fitting that it took Sam ten whole seconds to realize she wasn't dreaming anymore.
Carolyn knelt before Daniel's guest bed (the only place Sam could sleep now) lab coat rumpled and cheeks red like she'd run up the stairs. She ducked her face.
More droplets plinked to the cement floor. Her shoulders were an earthquake too, heaving in tandem with high pitched, siphoned breaths.
Sam, bleary, frowned at her. "Carolyn?"
The sight of the stoic doctor weeping for all she was worth seemed more unnatural than the suspended rain forest.
"I was wrong," gasped Dr. Lam. "So wrong. The naquadah synthesis isn't just confusing O'Neill's primary senses. It's…"
Sam sat up, with the help of Carolyn's hand. She glanced at the clock.
"Carolyn, it's three in the morning."
The doctor nodded. "I know. I wouldn't have woken you otherwise. But I finally realized what the drug is doing to the cell samples we're testing."
"Well, then let's go." Sam swung her legs to the floor. "I want to have a look at how they're—"
"Colonel."
Sam, in the process of tying her boots, stopped when something shifted in the air. Carolyn's lips worked. She shook her head.
"Sam," said Carolyn, "the cells are dead."
This moment quivered. Fragile to the point it was beyond repair even though it hadn't broken yet.
"No," Sam whispered. "That can't be right. We injected those cells less than three days ago."
Carolyn hid her face again. Sam's gaze, vacant, was lined. Her spirit had never been so old.
Absurdly, she remembered a lullaby her mother used to sing. It talked about lying down after a long journey—dying. The melody was heavy, an incense of tired warmth.
"Lay this body down…"
Sam wondered if this wouldn't lay the four of them down in the end. Especially Daniel and Jack. They'd been outrunning death since they opened the 'gate.
They would not outrun this one. Sam suddenly knew it with agonizing clarity.
"You're sure?" asked Sam.
Carolyn composed herself with a long inhale. "The drug isn't designed to kill but with the quantities O'Neill's been taking, it is lethal. Someone used this like a long term poison. What an awful way to die."
"How long does he have?"
"Sam, I'm not sure—"
"How long, Carolyn? Your best estimate?"
Carolyn's grief was so strong it looked like anger. Her eyes pinched and then opened again. "Twenty four hours. Maybe."
Lay us down.
"Unscheduled off world activation!"
"Colonel Carter?" Steel Hughes poked his head in. He looked uncomfortable and avoided eye contact. "The stargate is activating. I don't know how he could tell from one chevron, but Walter seems to think it's Dr. Jackson."
The two women bolted out the door. Though shorter, Hughes' younger legs kept pace behind them.
Airmen flattened to the wall while they ran by, wearing grave, furrowed expressions.
Sam bounded up the control room steps in two strides. The stargate had already engaged.
"It's Daniel," said Walter, voice tense. "I've been keeping him calm."
Sam snatched the radio. "Daniel?"
"Sam! Sorry it's been a few hours since my last call."
"Hours? Daniel, it's been two days since I talked to you."
"What? I didn't…that explains the wooziness…haven't…slept."
Her heart skipped at her friend's pained tone. "Are you okay?"
"Uh…depends on your definition. By the way, is there an artery on the side of your thigh? It bleeds a lot. Oh, and I found Jack. Actually…I lost him again."
There was no opportunity for anyone in the control room to flip out, thanks to a chorus of bullet fire in the background.
"Daniel," Sam barked. "Get through the 'gate. Now."
"I would," Daniel panted, "but crawling towards the 'gate would attract attention. Like, black ops with guns kind of attention. They shot my hand too when I dialed the 'gate. Had to run. Now I can't…get…up. I think I'll stick to hiding."
"That's a good plan," said Sam. "Stay put and we'll come to you. I'm getting back up."
With her free hand, Sam snapped her fingers without looking. An airman ran off to page a team.
"How's the drug testing going?" asked Daniel. "Found a cure yet?"
Carolyn's face fell. She turned away. Hughes had gone very still.
Sam's throat worked with the effervescent constriction of a garrote. "Daniel, we only have twenty four hours. It's killing him."
Silence. Utter, concussive silence. Indigo light shimmered off their faces.
"But…you guys can find an antidote, right? We'll bring him back and…"
Everyone looked to Carolyn in a desperate bid. She shook her head.
"There is no cure," said Sam quietly. "I'm sorry, Daniel."
"So that's it?" Even light years away, bleeding, sleep deprived, and hungry, Daniel had fight left in him. Sam almost grinned. It was traditional Daniel Jackson. "We're settling for bringing him back in a nice coffin? Hope that nothing else kills him before the drug does?"
"I'm sorry, Daniel."
"You've been saying that a lot lately."
"So have you." Sam watched Carolyn retreat to her lab. "If I had any other options I would tell you. The most we can hope for is justice—Daniel?"
"Aaahh!"
Everyone within earshot physically jolted. Daniel's cry wasn't pained so much as fearful—a fearful Daniel Jackson was almost unheard of.
"Grab him!"
"Get the cuffs! Shut that feed off!"
These cold, unfamiliar voices were the last thing Sam Carter heard of her friend.
"Signal's lost," said Walter, tuning the dials. "They destroyed it. We're not even picking up a GPS indicator."
Sam vibrated into action. She pointed at Walter. "Keep that 'gate open as long as you can. I don't want these men shutting off the connection and taking Daniel somewhere."
"I can only keep it open for thirty eight minutes," said Walter.
"That should be plenty of time. I'm going."
"You?" Walter shot her an incredulous look. "Teal'c can get to the SGC in five hours."
Sam paused. Teal'c and Cam weren't employed anymore, currently off on a side investigation.
"We don't have that long," said Sam. "This is a surgical extraction. The less people, the better."
"If I may…" Hughes stood to his feet. "I am trained as a medic. I can treat Doctor Jackson until we get back, since Doctor Lam shouldn't be away from her research."
They stared at him.
He coloured. "I…I went into software engineering later. Found the medic thing too much."
"You remember your Air Force survival training course?" asked Sam.
Hughes nodded.
"Good. Suit up, and quickly."
Hughes ran off. Sam and Walter exhaled in unison.
"I hope you know what you're doing," said Walter.
Sam quirked a wry, tired, quietly hysterical brow. "So do I."
