Chapter 61

Sam closed her eyes and rested her head against the back of the co-pilot's seat on the tel'tak. Everything was quiet. It was a refreshing feeling after the last few hours of impassioned arguments attempting to formulate a sensible plan that would outwit Kinsey and allow Sam to safely stay on Earth. When she had left the cargo hold, they had come no closer to a solution and she was too exhausted to think of anything new. Her body still felt weak and a bit disjointed from the physical trauma it had been through the last few months.

In the pilot's seat, her father kept the ship on course. Even with her eyes closed, she could feel his gaze occasionally fall on her. She understood his worries, but her course was set. She was no longer concerned that being branded as a traitor would lead to her execution. She had too much knowledge tucked away in her mind. Knowledge her government would need to keep the Goa'uld at bay. More likely than not she would be relegated to a cell in Area 51 and milked for the last bit of knowledge she contained then locked away in some underground lab to work on whatever they deemed important. Kinsey would not get her head, but he would get her freedom. Sam wasn't a fool. There would be severe repercussions to coming home alive instead of dead and in a pine box. Kinsey would insure it.

She opened her eyes at the sound of the cargo bay doors opening. Jack exited and walked up to Jacob placing his hand on the older man's shoulder he indicated with a nod of his head his wish to trade places. With a glance at her, her father activated the autopilot and relinquished his seat to Jack then headed back to the cargo bay giving them the privacy it was obvious they would need.

Jack settled into the seat, she watched him waiting for him to speak his mind. Earlier he had been "hell no" and "over my dead body" on the subject of her returning to Earth, but all his bluster did not change her mind. She countered all their arguments with reasonable logic and the unavoidable truths of the consequences of them going back without her. When they saw she would not change her mind they fell to formulating plans to keep her out of Kinsey's hands or how to get her off-planet should the worst happen and she is condemned to death. Exhausted with the whole thing, Sam had left them to it and had come out her to rest.

"Kinsey will not be satisfied until he makes an example of you." Jack began.

"Jack stop," Sam cut him off gently. "Our time together is limited and I would rather not spend these next few days dwelling on a bastard like Kinsey." Sam turned to face him and smiled faintly, "You know what I regret above all else?"

"What's that, Carter?"

"I wish I had taken you up on your offer to go fishing with you."

He gave a slight smile of his own, "You would love the cabin. Of course, you would have to deal without any of your doohickies…"

Sam gave a harsh laugh and felt her eyes fill with tears. How in the world could she go the rest of her life without hearing Jack's voice every day? Go without his awkward attempts to make her smile or just drive her crazy because he liked to see her irritated with him? He was a vital part of her existence. The thought of being caged away from him for the rest of her life… She closed her eyes in an attempt to keep the tears from falling, but when she felt two strong hands surround her shaking ones she could not stop the tears from escaping. She did not have to open her eyes to see him crouching before her holding her cold hands in his large warm ones. His presence was a physical thing to her, always close, always strong.

"Ah, Carter," Jack whispered.

She felt him pulling her from the chair and into his arms, but instead of calming her, she felt panic grip her. She couldn't do it! She could not spend the rest of her life buried in a dark hole with nothing, but a computer and the 'doohickies' the government would force her to work on. She would go crazy without Jack and the rest of those she loved. Her chest tightened painfully and she felt her breath hitch as she tried to draw breath, but breathing hurt. It was too much! Did she survive the nightmare of Sekhmet just to walk into another of Kinsey's making? She tried to steady herself by taking several deep breaths. Jack's arms tightened around her silently giving her strength, she wrapped her arms around his waist burying her face in the crook of his neck and letting his warmth penetrate her fear and ease her shaking. When she felt more herself, she raised her head and gave him a shaky smile. Dark eyes searched hers in concern. He brushed a long strand of hair away from her tear-stained cheek. Cleaned from all the blood and gore of her battle with Sekhmet it drifted softly along with his fingers as he tucked it behind her ear. His fingers linger at the ends caressing the last few inches, "I remember when the duplicate you came through that alternate universe mirror thing. She had long hair and I remember thinking it looked wrong. Carter should have short hair." He smiled slightly, "I was wrong, it wasn't the hair that was wrong, it was the Carter. On you, long hair is beautiful."

Sam smiled at his words. She would never forget the alternate Sam. Her doppelganger had been married to her own Colonel O'Neill who had died the same day she had passed through into their reality. It had been exciting and more than a little weird talking with the other Carter. She had only known the Colonel a few years at that time and their relationship had been perfectly professional and yet it had bothered her to see the Colonel drawn toward her duplicate.

A frown creased her features, "You kissed her."

His lips quirked at her cross tone. "She kissed me." His arms tightened around her waist, "and she wasn't you." Lowering his head, Sam felt his lips touch hers, soft and light, wonderful. Her arms slipped from his waist to wrap around his neck, her fingers found their way into his short-cropped hair and for the first time, Sam felt like she was finally free from the nightmare that her life had become. Her worries fell away. Earth, the SGC, Senator Kenzie all faded from her mind. She felt whole. Complete.

Joy filled her as Jack deepened the kiss and she moved the last few inches separating them closing the distance giving herself over to the wonderful feeling of being in Jack's arms, sinking into the feeling of his lips on hers.

Reluctantly, Jack pulled back and rested his forehead against hers. "The second we get back to Earth you and I are heading to my cabin."

Sam laughed, "To do some fishing, sir?"

He chuckled, "Nope, but if we are lucky at this time of year we might get snowed in." He touched his lips to hers in a lingering kiss, "Snowed in for weeks and weeks."

Sam smiled against his mouth. "Weeks and weeks, I like that."

Another kiss sent her thoughts flying away and she lost herself in the moment. Nothing existed except the man kissing her, holding her so close she could not begin to see where he began and she ended.

"Ahem."

The sound of someone clearing their throat registered somewhere far away in Sam's mind, but she did not care and ignored it.

"Uh, guys?"

"Go away, Daniel," Jack growled against her lips. She could not help but smile at his surliness toward their friend. Daniel had the worst timing of anyone she knew.

"Okay," Daniel continued, "but in less than a minute Jacob will be coming this way."

With an irritated sigh, Jack slowly lifted his lips from hers. "Later?"

Sam nodded her head then gave him a radiant smile.

Slowly they parted and looked toward Daniel. The young scholar gave them a half-smile when Jack's hand wrapped around hers weaving their fingers together.

Jack gave him a mock glare, "You guys finish working out the details, yet?"

"Yep."

Sam looked at Jack, "Details?"

"We have a plan, Sam." Jack began. "We all know that we can't simply return to Earth with you. Kinsey has spies in the SGC and will have you arrested the second you step through the gate and once he has you he will make sure you disappear."

Sam knew he was right. Senator Kinsey would bury her so deep that it would take years for her friends to get her freedom back. There was also every chance that Kinsey would simply have her killed and she was really getting tired of people trying to kill her. She looked at Jack, "All right, what's the plan."

...

"That is the worst plan you guys have ever come up with." Sam stood before the group of men in the cargo bay of their tel'tak shaking her head at them. "Without something of huge value to offer, Kinsey will laugh at what you are proposing."

"Sam," Daniel began "if our allies come together with a combined demand that you be exonerated of any allegations of treason or lose their support then Kinsey…"

Sam shook her head at him, "Kinsey does not give a damn about our allies. He would love any excuse he could to shut down the Stargate program and never see any of them again. With his influence as a Vice President, he would finally have the pull to do it too. All he would need is a good excuse and such a strong-arm tactic on the part of our allies would give him the chance. He would view it as an aggressive move and a threat on the part of alien entities against the United States' right to dispense justice as it sees fit." She looked at Jack. "Am I right?"

Jack let out an irritable sigh, "Yeah, you are."

"The last thing the Stargate Program needs is for the new President's first exposure to it to be a negative one. If Kinsey is able to gain a strong influence over this man's decisions, it will be a nightmare. We cannot give him any ammunition to do so." Sam looked at the scholar, "Sorry, Daniel but all Kinsey values is power and our allies do not give him any."

...

Daniel slammed the notebook with his notes and observations on the monolith from P87-251 closed. It was an exercise in futility trying to read them. He had hoped that maybe if he could lose himself in another problem or in this case a mystery that perhaps a solution to Sam's situation would come to him. Of course, nothing came because he could not concentrate on the Ancient writings long enough to make heads or tails of any of them. He gently bumped his head back against the cargo bay wall where he sat in frustration.

"Daniel?"

Daniel looked up to see Sam standing at the cargo bay doorway.

He smiled sheepishly at her, "Think if I hit my head harder it might shake an idea loose?"

Sam came over at slid down the wall to sit next to him. She gave him an apologetic smile. "Sorry for being such a wet blanket. I know you guys are trying to help, but as much as I do not want to be branded a traitor I will not sacrifice you guys or the Earth to a nasty piece of work like Senator Kinsey."

Daniel understood, he really did, but her team felt the same way about Sam, especially Jack, and Daniel knew that if they could not resolve this then none of them would be returning to Earth. Whether Sam agreed or not there was no way in hell they would allow Kinsey to take her. Daniel had given up his life on Earth before when he stayed on Abydos. He could do it again. The same could be said for Teal'c and definitely for Jack.

Jack…and Sam, he smiled to himself as he thought of them earlier. "Sooo…going fishing, are you?"

He laughed when Sam's face turned crimson and bumped his shoulder with hers. "Eavesdropping, Dr. Jackson?"

"Nope! Purely professional curiosity, I am convinced Jack is practically a fossil." He laughed again at the look of chagrin on Sam's face. "I am joking, Sam. I think you guys are perfect."

Sam smiled at him the joy on her face eclipsing the cuts and bruises that still marred her fair skin. It made him even more determined to keep her out of Kinsey's hands. "Sam, there must be something we can do about Kinsey."

Sam's smile faded as she shook her head at him, "Let it go for a bit, okay? We have a week of travel before we get to a planet with a Stargate we can use to gate home and I would love to just forget all about it for a little while." Daniel nodded his agreement. "Thank you, now what are working on?"

Daniel perked up some at the idea of sharing what he had with someone. "My notes on the monolith on P87-251, I was able to record quite a bit before the Jaffa showed up and we had to leave." He glanced over at Sam to see if she was upset at the mention of the planet where she had picked her fight with Jack. She grimaced a little but then motioned with her hand to keep going. "The markings are definitely Ancient in origin but seemed to have deviated from the classical form of Ancient writing to something more obscure. I have been trying to work it out. Some of the words are familiar while others are proving difficult to decipher."

"There was another smaller standing stone in the nearby forest, did the Colonel mention it? "Sam mentioned. "I got a good look at it. It was much more advanced than the one at the gate, definitely alien technology in origin. It could have been Ancient as well."

"I did not read the mission report he turned in. The SGC was in a bit of an uproar for a while and it was weeks before I looked back at my notes from that mission."

"It's a pity we did not have time for me to look at it before Marcreat wiped my mind I might have been able to help," Sam said. "I…"

"Daniel!"

Jack's raspy bellow echoed in the cargo bay making him jump and drop the notebook. "What?" He yelled back in irritation.

"Get in here!" His friend responded just as irritably.

"Why?" He responded loudly.

"Damn it, Daniel! Just get your linguistic backside in here. I need you to translate this stuff for me."

"Now?" Daniel smiled at the sound of Jack stomping toward the cargo bay.

Sam laughed quietly, "He is gonna kill you," she said as he got up from the floor.

"Maybe, but not today," Daniel looked down at her and felt a wave of affection for her. "We missed you, Sam. I cannot begin to tell you how much."

Sam blinked a couple of times, "I missed you guys too. It is good to be home."

"Soon Sam, we will figure this out and then we can all go home."

Jack entered the cargo bay clearly annoyed. Daniel put his hands up in placating gesture and walked to meet him. As he walked away, he heard Sam's soft voice, "I am already there."

...

Sam watched Jack and Daniel leave. She bit back a laugh and instead let out a sigh of contentment. Jack's muttering about 'high maintenance geniuses' faded and the room was quiet again. She glanced down at Daniel's notebook and wondered if she would be able to understand any of it anymore. Curiosity won out. She picked it up and let it fall open to the middle.

She glanced over the page, Daniel's scrawl was easy to read. She looked at the symbols he had copied with his notes.

Yep, just as she thought, nada.

She traced her finger over one of the strange glyphs and frowned. She stared at it, something about it was tugging at her memory as she continued to trace over it with her finger. After a few moments, it clicked and she knew why it stood out to her. It had been on the smaller pillar in the forest of P87-257. She stared at the symbol, something about it bugged her, pulled at her mind something just beyond her consciousness and flitting in the background. It was extremely annoying.

She flipped to the front of the notebook and glanced over Daniel's first entries regarding the monolith near the Stargate. Thinking back she knew it was what drew them to the planet in the first place, but what prompted them to check it out in the first place? The designation of P87 was used for planets that were not on either the Abydos cartouche or the gate addresses that Jack entered when he downloaded the Ancient database into his brain. P87 was used for miscellaneous Stargate addresses picked up randomly when they went on missions. A few pages into Daniel's notes and she found her answer. The address was found on a tablet by SG-4 a few years back and was in storage until recently when Daniel found it and began working to translate it. She remembered Daniel had been really excited about the planet and wanted to go. General Hammond gave the okay, a M.A.L.P. was sent, and off they went. Sam flipped back to find the information on the planet where the stone tablet was found by SG-4. It took a few minutes, but she soon found it and was reading over Daniel's notes. The tablet was found on a deserted planet. No signs of human inhabitants could be found and certainly nothing of Ancient origin. The presence of the tablet was an anomaly, to say the least. It was written in a lesser-known version of Ancient so at first, the only thing discernable was the gate address within the text. The M.A.L.P. was sent to P87-257 before Daniel completed his translation, as a matter of fact, it looked like Daniel never did translate the text. Sam looked at the copy he had made of the tablet in his notebook. The symbols kept tugging at her brain, poking at her memory. It was immensely frustrating because she was sure that less than 24 hours ago she would have had no problem reading it. She scoured her memory, but all the ancient knowledge was scrubbed clean. So maybe it was not Ancient knowledge or at least not something she had ever seen before. Then it occurred to her, "Of course!" She jumped to her feet and began searching through the cargo boxes in the hold. The second one held what she was looking for. She opened the small rectangular case and pulled out the small circular object and with a grimace pressed against her temple. "Now let's see what I am missing."