Hi all, I'm sorry about the long periods of updates. It has taken me a long to time to write this up, but here it is. Hope you enjoy. x
Chapter Nine
Recap
"Whoa... Wait a minute. How have you got blue prints to a machine that doesn't even exist?" Mitchell spat.
"You know don't you?" Daniel looked over to Jacks expression. It was all he needed to confirm his thoughts were on the right page. "You told him. But not us!" Daniel's anger rose.
"I am sorry Daniel Jackson." Teal'c conceded. "Then Colonel Carter had made a plan B, should the first fail. And I could not reach her in time. Only she would be the one able to open it." Teal'c raised an eye to General Carter.
"But you did get to me in time and the information was still on it wasn't it." Sam's eyes lit up.
Teal'c was right there really was hope.
"And where is that crystal now?" Vala Asked.
Teal' looked at O'Neil, O'Neil looked at Teal'c.
"It's still on The Odyssey Isn't it." Sam stated, defeated.
"Yep." O'Neill confirmed, kicking the air in frustration.
"Well that's going to be a problem!" Carter mused. Realising this mission has got a whole lot harder.
20 hours 15 minutes after the event.
Sam got up from her spot on the log, without looking at her companions. She needed space, she needed to escape this nightmare, yet all around her was even more devastation. More than she could bare.
This is the first time she had stepped on Tollana since she had left Narrim behind, since with Narrim's help SG-1 thwarted yet another attempt on the billions of lives on the inhabitants of earth.
The debris all around her was plentiful. Broken structures, overgrown hedges and trees that melded within the ruins that survived, once beautifully laid paths and walkways lay rigid and distorted like a ripple of molten glass. Every where she looked was like she had stepped into a post-apocalyptic movie, where Mother Nature set to hide the devastation that tarnished its natural beauty.
She continued down a path walking slowly, glad that the others gave her the peace she desperately needed. Her thoughts running in her mind of the way Jack had found out she was pregnant, how earth was never again to be called home. Moving her hands to her stomach she caressed for her child; a child that no longer existed. Her eyes darted from all around her, images flashing before her of everything she held so close family she can never see again. A single tear fell down from her cheeks she fell to the floor with a thump to her knees, her grief turning to anger. A raw feeling bubbled inside painfully rooting to escape. Sam threw her head back tensing every muscle she could and let it out. She screamed for the lives she's lost, screamed her pain, her grief away.
Jack stood behind a large building, following her, keeping a close eye on her to keep her safe. He knew better than anyone she needed space, time and needed to release this anger. His heart broke hearing her scream, he wanted to run to her, he so wanted to run to her. Tears fell freely, not for his pain, but for that of his wife.
He heard movement behind him, hard footsteps. Turning his head he looked at his friends that have become family and motioned for them to stay back, his eyes pleading in the silence of his commands. They listened to him coming to a brisk stop just yard away from him, staring at him.
Daniel and Teal'c motioned to Vala and Cam to back off, leading them back towards the camp they had made.
"She's going to be alright." Daniel spoke with a heavy heart.
"That doesn't sound like a person that is alright Jackson!" Cam sighed.
"Daniel Jackson is correct, Samantha Carter is a formidable warrior," Teal'c stopped moving. "I have seen many of times Samantha Carter could have given up. Not once did she succumb."
"Yeah this is a bit different Teal'c." Cam stated.
"Indeed it is," Teal'c bowed his head in acknowledgement. "We must continue to treat her like the warrior she is, we need to remain strong for her."
"We've all lost something Cam." Daniel ran to close the gap between them. "We must stay strong for her, seeing us break down will only make it worse. She is the only one that can make that machine."
"Sam is always the one that has to bare the weight of finding the solutions to save the world, heck the universe!" Vala stood in front of the three men. "We need to come up with a plan to help her."
"And what do you suggest we do Vala Mal Doran?" Teal'c asked.
"We take as much of the load of her as we can, sort the supplies, the camp and not pressure her."
"We could do that. Im sure the four of us can come up with something."
There train of thought was interrupted hearing another bellowing scream.
Looking at each other, a silent pact formed. They would do everything they could to take the weight of her shoulders.
"I hope she will be alright." Vala mussed.
"She will be, we must remain strong, we must act as normal as possible around her, it will guide her." Teal'c finalized and carried on walking the short distance to the camp.
Jack watched her, watched over her. He saw Sam's knees dig into the grass as she arched her body over, her arms and head tucked into the ground her fists outstretched upon the grass rested and still clenched. She had spent the past few minutes punching the long dark green grass until the single blades laid flat.
Jack took this as his cue. He walked towards her slowly as to not startle her. He couldn't see the beauty that Tollana held. He walked past the overgrown hedges and tall thick grass. His legs brushed past vibrant wild flowers catching a small sniff of the scent the flowers contained. His eyes fully transfixed upon Sam's shivering body whimpering as she tried to gain control of her emotions. Within moments he was near her within arm's length. Kneeling down closer to her he made his presence known, slowly moving his hand he gently placed it upon her back. Leaving his hand there for a while, waiting for her responsive, she didn't try to move or push him away. Silently telling Jack she no longer needs to be by herself.
"Com'ere." Jack whispered, wrapping his hands around her shoulders pulling her towards him. "I'm here Sam. It's alright."
"Ja-ack?" Sam's voice was barely even a whisper.
"Shh." Jack pulled her closer to his chest as he sat with her.
"I can't do this."
"Yes, yes you can Carter, you are not alone. We are here together. All of us is here to support you, support each other. You've pulled more idea's outta your ass, then anyone I've known. We can do this. Me and you remember. Always." He looked down into her swollen puffy eyes not dropping his gaze.
"How Jack, everything is gone." Sam cried.
"For now yes and im just as angry as you are. Believe me nothing would please me more than to send a couple of naqudah nukes through to those slimy good for nothing sons of bitches." Jack spat. "But, war is not the answer. We can get everything back."
"How."
"You are the smartest woman on the entire planet, hell the universe. You've created a whole time machine and went back fifty years into the past before, completely changing everything." Jack said softly. You survived fifty years in space, you did that. You created everything in order to survive that long. No one else could have done that, no one!" Jack paused, pulling her away from his chest. "We can use time and get everything back."
"If we don't get to The Odyssey and retrieve that crystal, if we don't find the Odyssey. Jack I don't have fifty years in me." Carter breathed a breath she didn't know how long she was holding.
"We will find it. Together we can both but the pieces together, you've just been informed of the mission and I remember some locations from their communications. We can find them, we can get that crystal. I don't want to tell you this no more, we can get everything back."
"Finding the Odyssey is just the beginning Jack. Do you even..."
"Aghh I don't want to hear it Sam. I can't do this without you. We'll take each step as we reach it. Okay. We got this together we can do anything. We have the best of the best we are SG-1" Jack pulled Sam up with him, not letting go of her arms. "Sam, we can do this together all of us, as one. We can get them all back, our child back. We haven't lost them." Jack said pulling Sam into a strong safe embrace.
"You really think we can do this?" Sam replied hoarsely, wiping her tears on her sleeves.
"Yes I do we just have to fight!"
Sam looks squarely in the eyes of Jack, not breaking her gaze. She wipes her eyes once more without saying a word she bows her head in a Teal'c gesture. Jack took her hand and squeezed it as though the power of their grip kept them strong and united. With a deep breath they walked back into camp.
Walking silently neither needing to say anything to each other, they shortly arrived at the campsite. The familiar sounds of clinking utensils rang through their ears. They were close. Brushing through the last of the over grown bush the remaining members of Earth, sat around a warm open fire tucking into something that smelled like overcooked military rations. Mitchell looked up to see Jack and a very puffy-eyed Sam hand in hand opening his mouth to talk he was briskly interrupted.
"Sam, whatever you need. Anything you need we all are here. You are not alone." Daniel spoke.
"We are going to set everything right." Mitchell added.
"Indeed Samantha Carter. We are most fortunate that we are together." Teal'c said.
"As muscles said." Vala spoke with a mouthful of grub.
Looking round her team that has become family, she smiled weakly without word. Looking up at her husband, silently conveying that she's okay, she let go of his hand. Bending down grabbing a bowl and scooping up a small amount of the slightly tinged chicken and rice, handing Jack a bowl she sat down beside him on a nearby pillar.
"Right once I have some much needed food. Listen up, this is complicated." Carter said confidently with a fighting spirit.
Teal'c, Daniel, Cameroon and Vala looked at each other silently, not being afraid to show their thoughts and feelings. This didn't go unnoticed by Sam, although, she didn't make eye contact. She could feel it. Jack watched on seeing the looks in his friends, the look of shock and adornment fluttered within their eyes.
Jack couldn't resist a slight smile form, feeling proud of the strength his wife carried. No matter what she never, ever seems to give up! He thought to himself, how lucky he was to have her in his life, there was ample times he could remember where he wanted to give up. He had lost the fight. Yet this outstanding woman and the strength she carried kept him going. She's going to be an amazing mother to their child. "I hope this works, I pray this works oh please let this plan work." he said to himself over and over again in his mind like a soundtrack set squarely on repeat.
Sam burrowed her head in her food she couldn't look at the team right now. All her strength being focused on consuming this meal, this was the first step she needed to take. She toyed with the spork a few times moving her food in her bowl fighting the urge to fling the bowl as far away as her body's strength allowed.
Moments later after a long slow dinner where her thoughts travelled a mile a millisecond, running over the same line over and over in her mind. I am strong enough, I can do this, I am not alone. Placing her bowl on the floor, clearing her throat she began.
"Right what I am about to tell you is highly classified, even above your clearance level, in-fact so classified only four people knew about the mission two of which is sitting here."
"Wait what I thought we had the highest clearance?" Mitchell stated.
"Yeah, you do we just have a higher one." Jack remarked.
"Cam, nothing personal, the president ordered it." Sam gave a reassuring nod. "So, as I was saying. When we set up the Iccarus base and established the importance and level of technology that was aboard the Destiny. Given the reports, we determined that if knowledge of this ship were to fall into enemy hands, it would be catastrophic. From what we have learned and the regular reports we have been getting from Eli. We have determined that ship is the only thing keeping the stargate network operational."
"Wait what, how? Erm, that's not possible." Vala interrupted.
"We thought so too, at first. We suspected that Eli had been suffering from the effects of being isolated, the obvious, hallucinations and so forth. But looking through the data, and going over his findings I have determined that the network is receiving its updates directly from the destiny. We have found that if the destiny is to be destroyed, or the systems reprogrammed, it could mean the destruction of every stargate in the universe."
"But the gate system has been around for millennia. How can one ship be in that much control?" Daniel said exasperated, rubbing his fingers through his hair.
"I too find this hard to understand." Teal'c bowed.
"I know, It's a lot to take in, but it is what it is." Jack butted in.
"Eli has found that the Destiny was part of a group of exploration ships that operated in different galaxies, since then a lot of those ships have been destroyed or stopped functioning. These ships linked up to every stargate known in the universe. And now being what we believe to be the last surviving vessel The Destiny systematically calculates all the sub space drift and guidance errors which makes the stargates work. If the destiny were to be destroyed, gate travel will become non-existent eventually."
"So the Odyssey is travelling to the Destiny?" Cam asked.
"In a way, yes. Thanks to the Asgard's modifications on the ship, it made the most sense to dispatch it for the mission. Theoretically we hope that with the Asgard's modifications we can transfer the data over from the destiny, save the crew and the carry on the ancients work with the Stargate programme. The eventual collapse of the stargates could be explosive; Eli was working through the data to find out what would happen if we transferred the program over there has been some reference that when the stargates stop updating for a set period of time without being disconnected first, could well..."
"Blow themselves up!" Jack butted in whooshing his hands simulating a massive explosion.
"Why would the ancients do that? Aren't they supposed to be peaceful?" Vala argued.
"Actually, there has been evidence that before they managed to ascend they were in the process of protecting their technology so it wouldn't fall into more primitive hands, nor their enemies." Daniel explained.
"Enemies like the Ori." Teal'c added.
"Yes , Teal'c. In fact Dr Weir witnessed this first hand, well the original timeline version of Dr Weir. When she managed to travel back in time and was able to convince Janus of their intentions, and help her save the expedition and the city of Atlantis. Also the case with the Ark of Truth, if it wasn't for Merlin, that technology would have been lost. It was him that preserved the technology in secret away from the others." Daniel concluded.
"The good ol' Ancients, weren't all they cracked up to be." Jack moved his feet in the ground needing something to fiddle with.
SG-1 fell eerily silent, trying to digest all this information at once.
"Well this has got a lot more complicated." Mitchell stood up and made his leave back to the ship.
"Just a tad more complicated." Vala mentioned.
"Jack."
"Daniel."
"Whose bright idea was it to have Sam's time device kept with the Odyssey?"
"Don't look at me, Daniel I didn't even know it existed." Sam threw up her arms in defence.
"Look Daniel, it was only me and Teal'c that knew about the crystal. I thought, given the complicated," Jack air quoted to emphasise his point. "Situation with the stargate programme, if anything was to happen then Colonel Davidson had a massive advantage.
"Advantage?" Daniel asked.
"Yes Daniel, like if they were to, I don't know. DIE!" Jack spat.
"Okay boys, Let's call it a night we are all beyond tired. Let's come up with a plan tomorrow?" Vala insisted, she stood and held out her hand for Daniel to take to follow her.
"I shall stay guard." Teal'c confirmed.
Jack looked to Sam, Sam looked to Jack, this news went better than they had expected. They had after all hidden this information from the rest of their friends, their family.
Teal'c motioned to his favourite couple and bowed a good night, as they got up and left for the confines of the tent. Something Jack thought would be a good idea, although, he's regretting it now.
Snuggling into the small confines of the tent, he made earlier with the help of Teal'c he snuggled in to the sleeping bag, trying to get himself comfortable before Sam joined him.
"You know, they took that rather well. Don't ya think?" Jack grunted.
"Cam didn't take the information lightly." Carter replied unravelling her hair.
"Perhaps not. We need to keep a closer eye on him."
"Yeah he's not coping to well. He never has with things like this." Carter moved the covers to get in the sleeping bag.
"Yes, well. I'll talk to him at some point." Jack pulled himself up to see Sam fully. "I am so proud of you Sam." He said seriously with love in his voice.
Sam didn't say anything. She shuffled over and nuzzled her head comfortably in Jacks embrace, squeezing him with her arms.
"What do you think Jack said to Sam?" Vala asked Daniel.
"I don't know. Er, why do you ask?" Daniel shouted over towards the bathroom were Vala is.
"Well, She was catatonic, with everything that happened with the Asherah."
"Well they have both been through a lot over the years. They have always kept each other strong. Jack has always been there for Sam. You know He was the only one that could get her past a lot of the ordeals that happened over the year, and it was the same for Jack."
"They have such a strong bond." Vala said pulling the covers over her getting into bed beside Daniel.
"Yes, well they have always had that connection, but were never allowed to show it. What you're seeing, is them, how they have always been. I've known them a very long time. They have always been this way." Daniel replied sleepily.
"I hope one day our relationship becomes as strong as that." Vala whispered.
"Huh, me too," Daniel yawned. "Get some sleep we have got a long few months ahead of us."
Vala turned allowing Daniel to hold her tight.
Thanks for reading, I will update as soon as I can. Chapter 10 heads back to the Asherah and the meeting with Sam and Jack.
