Chapter 6
July 29, 1997
Stargate Alliance (SGA)
Cheyenne Mountain
General O'Neill isn't in his office when they arrive but there are dozens of other people occupying the briefing room even though no meeting is taking place, and as the two women make their way through the gathering, Sam picks up enough from the various conversations taking place around her to learn that the 'meeting' is really more of an impromptu 'get to know your colleagues' affair that was born out of the need of humans standing around, waiting on a fresh pot of coffee brewing.
Catherine leaves her alone for a few minutes to try and locate Jack one final time for the night, so Sam moves away from the group and takes a deep breath to steady her nerves. She can't explain why she's nervous; for all intents and purposes, General O'Neill sounds nothing like General West with regards to how he runs the Stargate Program and how he treats his staff, but Sam has also been around enough men, never mind Air Force personnel, who've been intimidated by her intelligence to know that the general's behavior towards others means nothing where she's concerned until she meets him for herself.
She knows that he was allegedly impressed by the iris and that he – also allegedly – wants to meet her, but Sam is a civilian in the middle of a top-secret military operation; she's a scientist in a world of gunfire and battles; and she's still a woman in what very much remains a man's world and while she can stand up for herself, she's unsure as to whether she will be accepted into the SGA by anyone other than Catherine, her godfather, and Sergeant Siler.
She tries not to let her doubts and insecurities win as she takes another glance around the room. There's a nervous excitement in the air that is impossible to ignore. It's electric and Sam feels the buzz as she continues to observe those around her; but she also senses the fear. Everyone in the room may be among some of the best individuals the world has to offer, but none of them have come across anything like this before. They are flying by the seat of their pants with no idea as to what they've really let themselves in for by signing up to the Program.
She moves to the large windows that overlook the gate room, but doesn't focus on the gate. Instead, she turns her back to it and leans against the glass, strangely fascinated studying the men and women, civilians and military personnel, all crowded together trying to establish some form of common ground and Sam's struck with the notion that it feels like a bizarre faculty meeting – either that, or the strangest mass blind date she's ever been on. She resists the urge to laugh at the analogy, only for the fact that she can't quite grasp the concept that she's here. She's part of the weirdness.
Suddenly, her skin starts to tingle and she feels someone's eyes on her. She quickly scans the room. Everyone is preoccupied with their own conversations, but she can't shake the sensation. Catherine's voice then interrupts her thoughts.
"All right everyone, let's clear the room. If you're not supposed to be working right now, take it to the Mess Hall instead." Her tone is firm, but then a smile breaks through. "Jack assures me there's cake."
This declaration seems to be the deciding factor they need to follow the order and the mention of cake makes Sam's stomach growl loudly, letting her know that it has been hours since she last ate.
"Catherine, I –"
She stops when she discovers her former mentor is retreating to the small office that's adjoining the briefing room and resists the urge to throw her arms in the air in frustration. She briefly closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. After a few seconds, she thinks about following Catherine only to notice someone standing off to her left, pouring himself a cup of coffee. He's wearing glasses and sporting floppy brown hair and Sam guesses he is around her age. He then turns slightly and it takes her only a second to realize who it is. She can't help but move towards him.
"Doctor Jackson?"
His head pops up at the address and he stares at her in confusion but accepts her outstretched hand. As she introduces herself, he smiles politely but it doesn't quite reach his eyes and a heavy silence soon falls.
"I, um, I'm sorry the mission didn't – didn't go well."
Sam winces at her bluntness as another small, sad smile escapes Daniel and he sits down in one of the high-backed leather chairs. He gestures for her to join him.
"It's all my fault," he sighs.
"With all due respect Doctor Jackson, you had no idea Abydos –" She trails off as the archaeologist shakes his head.
"I should have left the barricade up."
Sam frowns at his admission. "I don't understand."
He glances around before he meets her eye and Sam can see that among the grief and helplessness and exhaustion that mars his expression, she also finds doubt and even though Daniel has been through the Stargate and lived on another planet, she's reminded that the two of them are alike in some ways. He is still just a civilian; a civilian whose world has been torn inside out and fallen apart. Sam isn't sure what she can say to make things better, but then her companion starts to talk.
She listens as he unwittingly confirms what she already knows about the first mission to Abydos. She smiles when he tells her of Sha're and Skaara and how they welcomed him into their family. She grieves with him while he reveals just how badly the last mission finished. She tries to comfort him when he finally breaks down.
In the end, she doesn't know what she says to Daniel – or if he is even listening – but it allows her to regain some control of her emotions and gives him the time he needs to regain his composure.
"I'm sorry," he finally says, "you didn't need to hear any of that."
"It's okay," she smiles. "I wish there was something I could do to help."
"You've already helped," he says seriously before a self-deprecating chuckle escapes. "Although I'm guessing counselor isn't part of your job description."
It's Sam's turn to chuckle.
"So, what are you doing here?" Daniel asks a moment later, seemingly keen to shift the attention away from himself.
She gestures in the direction of the windows.
"I was studying the gate technology for two years before you made it work, Doctor Jackson, and before you and General O'Neill went through."
"You weren't here when we established a connection," he frowns. "I don't remember seeing you around."
"No. I might be the foremost expert on the Stargate, but the Air Force had other ideas," Sam smiles ruefully.
He grunts noncommittally, then gives her a shrewd look. "You're not going through the gate now either."
It's a statement, more than a question, but Sam answers anyway. "No, I'm not."
"So, I'll ask again. What are you doing here?"
She shrugs because she's been asking herself the same question on and off over the past forty-eight hours. "Catherine brought be back. She thought I could help."
"Yeah, Catherine's good at that," he smiles fondly, and Sam's confusion must show because he adds, "she's the reason I got involved in the first place – and probably the reason as to why Jack is still here."
The revelation is only slightly surprising to Sam. She knows Catherine; knows her well and over the years Sam has benefited from having her as a mentor, friend and confidant. She also appreciated the woman's motherly tendencies and how she was there for Sam if she ever needed her, but she is left wondering about the impact Catherine's had on these men's lives too and files the thought away for a later time.
"She's right, though," Daniel says as he studies her, "maybe you can help."
Sam nods earnestly. "Anything I can do."
He pushes his glasses up his nose and leans forward, his elbows resting on the table.
"When I was on Abydos I started exploring – just the area around the town and the pyramid at first. Then, after about a month, I found this place inside the pyramid."
Sam straightens in her chair as Daniel starts to warm to his subject.
"I tried to translate the markings I found but I quickly realised that it didn't say anything."
"It didn't say anything?" she frowns.
"Well, uh, actually it was sort of a chart. More of a… map."
"Of?"
"Well, I hadn't been able to analyze all of it. It would have taken my whole life," he adds quietly.
"What was it a map of?"
"I have video I can show you," he says, "but the cartouches seemed to be separated clearly into groupings. Each grouping was attached to the others with a series of lines and each grouping of glyphs contained seven symbols. So, you can see where this is going, of course."
Sam's eyes widen at the possibilities as Daniel continues.
"All of the symbols were on the Stargate in the Abydos chamber. I'd also managed to chart some of them in the Abydos night sky, or at least pretty close. Doctor Carter, I think it was a map of a vast network of Stargates. Stargates that are – are all over the galaxy."
"Uh, I don't think that can be, Doctor."
"Why not?" he blinks.
"Well, because after Colonel O'Neill and his team came back, my team tried hundreds of symbol permutations using Earth as the point of origin, and it never worked."
"I tried the same on Abydos and it didn't work either. I figured the destinations I tried were either destroyed or buried but, um, I mean some of them somewhere must still exist?"
"I don't think so."
"Then where did your Ra lookalike come from?"
"Uh –"
"Look, Doctor Carter, I don't pretend to know anything about astrophysics but couldn't the planets change? I mean, uh, drift apart or something like that, to throw the map off?"
And just like that, the pieces of a puzzle start to click together and she smiles. "I knew I'd like you."
"You mean… I'm right?"
"According to the expanding universe model, all bodies in the universe are constantly moving further apart –"
"– so, in the thousands of years since the Stargate was built –"
"– all the coordinates could have changed."
Daniel frowns. "But why does it still work between Abydos and Earth?"
Sam purses her lips. "Abydos is probably the closest planet in the network to Earth. I mean the closer they are, the less the difference in relative position due to expansion – the further away, the greater the difference. In a few thousand more years, it won't work between Earth and Abydos either."
"Unless you can adjust for the displacement," he says suddenly as he jumps to his feet and Sam follows.
"If you have a record of this map as a base, that should be easy. All we have to do is correct for Doppler's Shift, then I should be able to arrive at a computer model that can predict the adjustments necessary to get the gate working again."
"So, the Stargate can go other places?"
Sam nods excitedly, then pauses in horror as the realization of their discovery hits home. "Oh," she whispers and her gaze drifts down to the Stargate below. "The aliens could have come from anywhere."
"Where do we even begin to look?"
She takes his question for what it is and decides not to give him the probabilities. Instead, she turns to face him and with renewed determination, says, "We'll get them back."
Sam has never been one to give people false hope but there's something about Daniel that makes her want her words to be true and she believes that with his help they might be able to do what she says. They will find their people. She releases a breath when Daniel nods and, for the first time since they've met, offers her a smile not tinged with sadness. Yet she doesn't want to get ahead of herself, so she adds: "For now, though, you need to rest, Doctor Jackson."
"Oh," he says with a wave of his hand, "it's Daniel."
"In that case, you can call me Sam… but you still need rest."
He laughs, then nods in agreement. "Fine, Sam. With all due respect, you look like you could do with some rest too."
Despite herself, Sam chuckles. "I'm just waiting for Catherine to let me go."
"Huh," he says. "Well, I'm actually waiting for Jack. He's offered to let me stay at his for the night, rather than here."
"That's… a nice thing for him to do."
"Yeah," he replies carefully. "Jack – he's… different."
"What do you mean?" Sam presses a moment later but Daniel shakes his head, then regards her for a moment.
"Nothing. It's... nothing. You haven't met him yet, have you?"
"Who haven't we met?" asks Catherine as she reappears and crosses the briefing room to join them.
"Jack."
Catherine smiles. "Ah."
Sam's nerves start to return as she glances between the two of them to see them sharing identical smiles and she feels self-conscious. "Am I missing something?"
Seeing her expression, Catherine smiles and places a hand on her arm. "Sam hasn't had the pleasure yet."
She can't discern the noise Daniel makes in response and frowns.
"You've nothing to worry about, Samantha," Catherine adds, "Jack's a good man."
Sam nods and tries to tell herself everything will be fine. Truthfully, she has no plans to get to know her boss beyond the face and name, rather preferring to do her work and do it well so he will see that he can leave her the hell alone to get the job done.
"You'd be surprised how much you can have in common with someone completely different from you," supplies Daniel, as if he's reading her thoughts.
"But this can all wait until tomorrow," Catherine says. "I don't want to see you on base before nine, Samantha."
"Oh. I thought General O'Neill –"
The older woman shakes her head and Sam notices the troubled look that flits across her expression before it disappears and when she smiles, Sam suspects her mentor is hiding something from her.
"Something came up," she finally answers.
Daniel's gaze drifts over Sam's shoulder again and the tingle that had permeated and settled along her spine earlier suddenly returns. Before she can turn around, Catherine places a hand on her arm.
"Come on, I'll drive you to your hotel."
She's too tired to put up a fight now that she can, finally, clock off for the night, so she decides to ignore Daniel's confused look, quickly saying goodnight to him instead, and follows Catherine out of the briefing room. At the last moment, however, something makes her turn back and she looks up just in time to see a tall, muscular man with brown hair standing in the doorway of the briefing room and adjoining office.
Brown eyes meet blue and the tingle suddenly morphs and is replaced with an unexpected jolt of electricity that courses through Sam's entire body. It takes her a moment but she forces a smile and hope it looks genuine.
His expression remains neutral, yet his eyes are dark and calculating, and Sam has the distinct feeling that she spots disapproval there too. She tries not to let it sting as she turns around and leaves.
Next up, the meeting you've been waiting for… ;)