Cliff Simon Factoid: Cliff was 1.74 meters tall (5 foot 7 inches). He was very athletic, and one report said he weighed in at 76 kilos (167 pounds).
SAM
Joph takes the tank, my backpack, and equipment down the path that leads to my ship. Jannelle stands watch and hangs back along the sidewalk across from the treeline just watching to make sure no one has followed him.
Itsak and I take our normal nightly walk. I am incredibly nervous. He is nervous too. Tonight he may be reunited with Mara. I am very happy for them. Soon I will also be reunited with my love. At least I hope.
I wonder how he will react when he sees me? Will he be happy? Will he be surprised? Will he think I got pregnant here? Will he just think that this baby is not his? So many questions are going through my mind. But the thoughts end abruptly.
As we round the corner which leads back to Carilyn's house, we see Mardi and Rybak. Great. I squeeze Itsak's hand harder in mine. I really don't want to talk to them tonight. Mardi has plastered a smirk on her face.
"Brother. Samantha. So nice to see you," she starts. I just smile.
"Hello, Mardi. Rybak," Itsak says.
I don't let go of Itsak's hand, and I lean into him a little more.
"What are you two doing?" she asks.
"Taking our nightly walk, of course," Itsak replies.
I feel Rybak's eyes on me, but I don't look at him.
"We would like to join you," Mardi says.
I watch Rybak put his hand on Mardi's arm. He turns his body and head to her, and kisses the top of her head.
"Mardi, we have plans with the magistrate. Come. Or we will be late," Rybak says.
Mardi rolls her eyes and almost looks uncomfortable. I look at her inquisitively. I try to meet her eyes, but she doesn't give me the opportunity. I wonder if she is in trouble. Rybak takes her by the arm and leads her off towards the center of town and the magistrate's house.
"Itsak, is she OK?" I ask.
"I think so. Mardi has always been a bit, how do you say, off?" he says with a smile.
"We would call it eccentric," I smile back. Still, I am worried for her.
"We should wait a few moments before moving towards Joph. Let's go sit on that bench over there," he motions with his hand.
We sit down and I don't really know what to say. We sit in comfortable silence before Itsak asks me something that I don't know how to reply to.
"So who is your Match? Where you come from, of course."
I pause, trying to find words.
"Um. Well. His name is Jack. I work with him, if you can believe that. We shouldn't have been together physically like we did. But, I guess you could say we were orbiting each other for so long, that our gravity finally pulled us together," I say with a cheesy smile.
Nice analogy, Sam. I am such a dork.
"What is he like? Why are you so drawn to him?" Itsak asks next.
I am silent again. Why am I so drawn to Jack? Is this really just a mistake that happened between us? Or is there something there? Something important? Something to try to hang on to?
I look up over the rooftops to the darkened sky above. The stars are so different here.
"Well, I don't know, I've never really thought about why. Where to start? He is strong both physically and personality-wise. He has a way to touch my insecurities. He finds a way to give me courage when I can't find it myself. Under all of his gruff exterior, he is the kindest man I know. And smart. He pretends that he is not, but I see right through him. He is gentle, yet stern when I need it. And sometimes I do need it!" I laugh.
"What do you mean?" he asks.
"Oh, sometimes I can be very hard-headed, but he sees through that," I say softly and bashfully. I look back up to the foreign stars wondering if anyone has heard my Morse code messages.
"He had a son, but his son tragically died. He doesn't even know he is going to be a father again. He loves looking at the stars. He is trained to know how to kill people with his bare hands. And yet, his hands are gentle enough to make this," I say, touching my baby with both hands.
"That is beautiful, Samantha. He sounds like the perfect Match for you. I hope that you are reunited with him."
"What about you?" I ask, turning my head to look at him sitting next to me. "What is Mara like?"
"Oh Mara is beautiful. I have already spoken of her beauty. She is strong, but kind. She tells me I am right, even when we know that I am not. I usually figure it out, and she looks at me like she knew the whole time.
"She compliments me, and she lets me compliment her. She does not yet know her worth. But I know what she is worth. We have been apart for so long. We call 391 days a Cycle. It is the time our planet takes to go around our sun. So it has been over one half Cycle or so since I have been able to hold her. She was stuck just before you arrived with us."
"Our planet takes 365 days to orbit our sun. We call it a year. We call the sections within our year Months. I think I have been gone for about eight months or so, which is about 240 days, give or take," I say, touching my baby.
"My people will have already declared me missing, or even killed in action," I say, looking down at my hands on my baby.
"I have no idea what will happen when I get home. I don't even know if I still have a house to live in. I know I don't have anything at all for the baby. I'm going home with nothing. I will just have to start over and buy new things," I say.
Itsak turns his head to look at me. I feel him reach over and take my hand in his. This isn't a romantic touch. This is a friend reaching out to a friend. Kind of like what Jack has been doing for me all of these years.
I realize then, for the first time, I haven't allowed myself to let these thoughts sink in. If they did declare me KIA, what would happen? Did Dad and Mark go through my estate as I have laid out in my will? My car, my motorcycle, my house, all of that would have gone up for sale as per my wishes.
Now I have a baby coming and no place to live and no baby items. Not even a diaper. I'm going to need help.
How is Jack going to feel about this? He doesn't even know I'm alive, let alone that he fathered a baby. But I know Jack. He will want this child. He will want to help me with our baby.
And my job. Once I went MIA, they'd have probably refilled my spot at work. Everyone is replaceable, I know. But I'm alive. They'll just do paperwork to reinstate me. But, then where do they put me?
Is going off-world as a single parent a good idea for me now? Heck, both parents of this child would be going off world. Does one of us stay behind now?
I look back over to Itsak to stop these thoughts.
"I am sorry that the two of you have been separated. Let's go and see about getting us both back to those we love," I say to him, giving his hand a little squeeze.
He stands first, and offers his hand to me to help me stand up from the bench. We make sure no one is in the area around us, then we make our way to the tree line, and start walking the path that would lead to my ship.
On the Path to the Tel'tak
Itsak and I arrive where Joph is waiting.
"What took you guys so long?" he asks.
"We had a little run in with Rybak and Mardi," Itsak says.
"Come. I can lead you the rest of the way," I say.
Itsak takes the backpack from Joph and carries it for him. Joph rolls the tank and equipment along the leaf-filled path.
I lead them along the path further into the woods trying to find my ship. It has been a few months since I have been out here. It's dark, and there is no way my yellow tie is still on the tree. Not that I'd be able to see it at night. Dammit. How am I going to find my ship?
Then I turn right into it. I fall backwards to the ground on my butt. Itsak is at my side immediately, and extends his hand to help me up. Joph comes behind me and also helps me up off the ground. I can't imagine what a huge, pregnant lady looks like trying to get up.
They both look at the space in front of us with wide eyes. The ship is still cloaked, so it looks as if nothing is there. They both reach out their hands and feel the ship in an otherwise empty space. Theo moths are agape, amd I hear Itsake gasp.
I smile as I run my hands along the side until I find the notch that opens the door. The door hisses and materializes in front of us. Joph jumps and takes a step back.
I walk inside and inhale deeply. There is nothing quite as unique as the smell of the inside of a spacecraft. If outer space had a smell, I would equate it with the inside of my Tel'tak.
I uncloak the ship. I walk back outside to find two sets of eyes that are wider than mine were when I first saw the Stargate. Joph's mouth is hanging open in surprise. Itsak's eyes are moving quickly along every angle and portion of the ship. I smile at both of them.
"This is how I came to your planet. It's been here this whole time. Let me show you where the metal needs to be attached. It's around the back," I say, and they both follow me around the back.
I will be going home soon.
I watch as Itsak sets up the fuel tank and the welding apparatus. He is being very meticulous with his work. I could do it. I've welded before. But I will sit this one out. I trust the work that Itsak does. There is no reason for me to doubt him, or anyone I've been in contact with since my arrival. Well, except Mardi and Rybak. And any other Aschen.
I grab my backpack and then kneel down before taking a seat on the ground next to Joph. I can see his face through the light created from the welding that Itsak is doing on my ship. I smile at him. He has never been a man of many words, but he is a very dedicated family man. He loves his family and would do anything for them.
"Thank you," I say to him.
I see him nod his head as he stares off in Itsak's direction.
"Jannelle invited me back at some point. I would like to come back to check on you all to see how it's going with the pale ones."
He keeps staring at my ship. He is quiet for a moment.
"You are proof that there are others out there," he says, pointing up to the sky. "We have lived for so long with the pale ones that we have never sought others who may be living out there. In many ways, you are a miracle for our people."
"In what way?" I ask, very curious to what he means.
He inhales deeply and looks down at the ground as if gathering his thoughts.
"We were once such a great people. I know you have spoken with Jannelle on many occasions and she has told you of our people. Did you know that we used to put chemicals into large tubes and send them into the space above," he said, pointing a finger to the sky. His eyes looked up as he paused before speaking again.
"We were about to put people into the tubes. But once the pale ones arrived, it all stopped. So you can imagine how advanced we were over seventy years ago. Thankfully we have kept records in the beneath, or we would have lost it all."
He stops talking and looks like he is in deep thought about his past. He is talking about rockets. They were on the verge of becoming a space-faring people.
"Some of us saw through them. The Aschen. Especially Jannelle and others with the Sense. We started putting records, weapons, tools, and sometimes even people in the tunnels so they would not be found or killed. Everything that we are," he said, pointing to his heart, "All that we have ever known. It's in those tunnels. But we are so afraid to go open the boxes and drawers out of fear of being discovered."
He pauses, and lets his words hang in the air between us. I continue to watch Itsak. He is over half way through the weld now. He's good at what he does. The blacksmith should be proud of him.
"We don't know what is going to happen. We don't know how long it will take Tierden to infiltrate the pale ones again. We don't know if fighting will start in the villages. But what we do know is that we will not continue to allow our planet to be taken like this. They are destroyers, Samantha. That is all they know. Consume and destroy. Some of us may have an extended life expectancy now. But that also means we have more time to fight against them," he says with a flash of confidence and something else in his eye. Revenge, maybe?
"We cannot help you fight your war, Joph. We may be able to help with strategy and ideas. But I would very much like to come back to see how things are going. As soon as things settle down for me," I say, rubbing my baby with both of my hands.
"You see that I can make my ship disappear. I can come check on you and no one will ever see me unless I want them to."
I hear him let out a little laugh. I feel him shift in his seat on the ground. He turns to me, and I can see his eyes reflect from the light of the welder's torch.
"Samantha, even if you were to remain invisible, your life energy would still find us. Thank you for helping us. We hope it will be enough," he says, then touches my shoulder as he stands up and goes to check on Itsak.
I stay seated and let his words settle inside of me. I do like the Odeni, and I find myself missing them already. My backpack is to my left. With nothing more to do, I take out the radios and begin transmitting. May as well send some more signals out before I take off. This time I'll let them know I'm on my way home.
JACK
I am done sulking in the back of the ship. I make my way to the ring room and find everyone but Matta gathered there. I give them all a half smile, and a nod of my head.
"Hey," I say.
They all give me some sort of a salutation, and Doc Fraiser scoots over to make room for me to sit on the ledge next to her. I am told we are about an hour out from the coordinates sent by Carter. Now all we can do is wait.
I grab a bottle of water and sit by Fraiser. Daniel is talking about things he might find when we arrive. Doc Fraiser keeps reminding everyone that we might not find Carter how she left us.
I can see Jacob squirm in his seat at her words. He and I stare at each other. We share a look that says we both recognize that Carter may be injured. Or worse. But, she has been transmitting.
"But she has been transmitting a message. She can't be hurt too bad, right?" I ask, not taking my eyes from Jacob.
"That is a good point, but we really don't know, sir. Trauma affects us all in different ways," Doc says.
I look around the room at everyone as I drink my water. A few seconds later we hear Matta call Jacob. Jacob goes up front to see what is going on. I sit down again just as Jacob yells at me from the flight deck.
"Jack! You need to get up here! Now!" Jacob yells.
I put the cap back on my water bottle and set it down. I slowly walk up to the flight deck to see what is going on.
"What's going on?" I ask.
"Sir, I think she is transmitting again," Matta says.
"OK, great. We know she is alive then," I say.
"No, sir. She is transmitting right now," Matta says.
My stomach drops out of my body, and my mouth goes dry, even after drinking some water.
"How do you know?" I ask.
"It's our frequency, sir," Matta says, tilting his head to me with a big smile on his face.
I run to my backpack and get a piece of paper and a pen out. I run back to the flight deck and sit down next to Matta. My knees are shaking under me. I hope no one can see my nerves. Everyone else fills in the space behind us.
"Alright, let's hear it," I say.
We hear the noises of the airwaves surrounding us in the Tel'tak. It is mostly just regular radio noise. I can't hear anything else.
"I don't hear anything," I say.
"She must have taken a break in transmissions. If she is consistent, more will come. And something was different at the end," Matta replies, looking over to me.
He must have paid a lot more attention to the reports and the information on the thumb drives. Maybe I should start reading reports. About a minute later, there are breaks in the static.
"That's it!" yells Matta.
"Alright, alright, let's get transcribing," I say excitedly.
I give Jacob a look that must be too familiar because he glows his eyes at me and crosses his arms in front of him as he leans back against the ship.
I write the message down. It is the same message as all the other messages, coordinates and all. Matta is right. There is more.
"OK, there is more, Jack," I hear Daniel say.
"Ya, got it. Got it...
S-H-I-P-SPACE-F-I-X-E-D-SPACE-I-SPACE-A-M-SPACE-C-O-M-I-N-G-SPACE-H-O-M-E-END."
Holy shit.
"What if we got here too late? What if she's gone already?" I ask, looking at Jacob.
Jacob seems to just smile at me.
"Either way, O'Neill, SamanthaCarter will arrive back on Earth. We will be reunited with her," Teal'c says.
We all hear the message repeat again, and then again for three or four more times. I lose count. She is alive and she is well enough to send messages out. That's all I need to know.
"Where is the signal coming from?" I ask.
Jacob leans over my shoulder and presses some buttons. Our trajectory displays on the screen in front of us. A dot over on Matta's side is flashing, and our trajectory will take us straight there.
"Her signal is coming from that planet," Jacob says.
"How much longer?" I ask.
"Twenty minutes," Matta says.
I lean back in the seat and take in a deep breath. I'm trying to keep myself together, but everyone in this ship, except Matta, knows me too well. They know damn well how I feel about Carter. And some of them know we have become much more.
I am too nervous to sit here for the next twenty minutes. I slowly stand up and rub my palms against my shirt in an effort to smooth it down. I feel my hands shake as I do. I quickly put my hands in my pockets as I turn to go back to the ring room to get my things ready to leave.
No sooner have I buttoned the last button on my outer blouse than I hear an exhale behind me. I turned to find Daniel standing in the doorway.
"You OK?" he asks.
"I'm fine."
"I've known you too long, Jack. I can see you are nervous. No matter what happens down there, time has passed for both of you."
"I'm not nervous," I say, hoping I really wasn't. But I really am.
"Right. I guess we just want you to know that no matter what happens, we will all still be here for both of you," Daniel says.
I put my tac vest over my outer blouse, then put my hands back into my pockets.
"Thanks," I tell him. I nod my head at him, then sit down to wait for the rest of the journey to the planet.