Off world communication was limited to the once weekly transmission of a report and a distress beacon. Three days ago, the report had been sent and the Gould had struck thirty minutes after. Viciously killing all of the occupants of the research outpost, and stealing back what was theirs.
Except Kara. She had been sealed into her quarters and hidden as the Gould attacked. The beacon had failed to activate until now... she had been alone in the dark; the distant echo of the perimeter alarms the only reminder that she was still alive.
The all-encompassing dark that cocooned her, suffocating her… blinding her. Ever grateful that she was at least in her quarters, she curled up on her bed, hugging the teddy she had procured for her unborn child some months previously. As she drifted in and out of consciousness, she prayed for rescue. She was unconscious again when the generators cycled up and the rescue team began their search...
The distress signal came in about three am earth time. But Daniel hadn't been able to sleep, and happened to be in the gate room. His sleepy brain suddenly jumped into full consciousness with an almost painful jolt and his heart skipped a beat as the coordinates of the distress signal were displayed.
"Oh dear god, no!" he hissed and bolted out the door.
Major Hammond was briefing the rapid response team as he skidded into the gate room…"And as we are unsure of the nature of the emergency, or even the layout at present, extreme caution is advisable,"
"I can help with the latter," Daniel said, "I would like to…"
"Belay that Dr Jackson. You are off duty," the SG3 leader told him kindly, and then ordered his team through the gate, behind the scout. SG8 followed.
"Colonel Hammond… if I may…"
Hammond turned and looked at him and said, "What exactly is the problem Dr Jackson?"
"My friends work on that base. Charisma Elgin and Michael Edwards…"
"Oh?" he asked.
"I'd like to go and search with SG3 sir… If they are dead, I'll be able to ID them there and then." Daniel began to feel a hollow sensation in the pit of his stomach. He was beginning to wonder why he bothered getting close to people…
"Dr Jackson, get…Summon SG1 to the briefing room and get kitted out," he sighed as the all points alert sounded.
"Incoming transmission" Daniel listened with growing dismay as the report of the destruction of the base and the apparent death of the base personnel by Gould fire.
He ran to get Teal'c and Sam. Jack was already there.
"We are organizing a base wide search and secure of the area so that we can examine exactly what happened." Daniel was fidgeting impatiently, "Dr Jackson is one of the people most familiar with the base, so as usual, SG1 will take the point,"
Soon after they were dismissed and headed down to the gate room: Daniel practically ran down to the gate.
"He's really upset about this isn't he?" Sam asked, sadly. She had briefly met Charisma and Michael some eight months earlier and had genuinely liked the young woman who seemed to brighten Daniel's day up. The only problem was the aftermath of this…
"They were his friends" Teal'c intoned solemnly. "I would be sad too," he added.
Just as they were about to cross the threshold of the Stargate, SG7 brought through a stretcher and the Doctor rushed into the gate room.
"She's alive!" the team leader shouted, and then ran through her vitals. Daniel gasped and looked closely. But it was Sam that asked, "That's Kara isn't it?" Daniel nodded dumbly.
"I didn't…. I haven't seen her since last year…" he mumbled as she was whisked to the isolation chambers.
"Wow!" Jack said. "I thought they weren't allowed to have families off world." Kara was very obviously, heavily pregnant. She held a teddy in one hand and a notebook in the other. Sam sighed. Kara had said as much to her the last time they had met up: Sam had gotten involved after Daniel had acted like a male pig and tried to patch up their relationship. Kara had said that she suspected she was pregnant: two months after the night with Daniel…. A month after that, a personal note came through from Michael announcing their imminent marriage and inviting them…The SG1 team to it. Daniel had been livid and never mentioned either of them again.
Sam had not decided to pursue it…
"It was a long term thing… That's why they got married." Daniel mumbled, and they passed through the gate.
Major Hammond walked into the briefing room, closely followed by Dr Mitchell. Daniel and Jack exchanged a glance and Daniel looked at her expectantly.
"Your friend is fine Daniel. A little tired and a lot dehydrated, but fine. She's sleeping at the moment."
Sam piped up, "And the baby?"
"Obstetrics aren't my specialty, but everything seems fine," she smiled. Daniel breathed an internal sigh of relief.
"Does someone want to tell me what is going on?" Hammond demanded, trying not to smile at Daniel's discomfort.
"Kara was my university Professor's daughter: we've been friends for years. And her…um…husband, Michael, was a friend of mine at said university. I knew they'd gone off world on research, but…. well, I haven't seen her since before Christmas, so…" he shrugged, then realized he was babbling.
"Any ideas why they were attacked?"
Sam Carter shook her head, and then glanced at Jack O'Neil and Teal'c.
"It appears that something was stolen from Dr Edward's lab. The damage is centered around there,"
"And her field of specialty?"
"Not hers, his. She handled biotechnology and paleontology. He was the one analyzing Gould technology and…from both their notes that we retrieved…he'd made some sort of breakthrough that morning."
After the briefing, Daniel stopped by his quarters to pick up some paperwork, then headed straight for the sickbay. But Dr Mitchell stopped him at the door.
"She's sleeping Daniel. It's what she needs at the moment, more than anything else,"
Daniel nodded. "I know…I just want to sit with her…in case she wakes up,"
Dr Mitchell nodded, after considering it. "If she does, try and keep her calm. She's got quite a few injuries and…. well, it probably isn't good for the baby if she's upset,"
A ghost of a smile traced across Daniel's lips.
"I've had to sit at her bed side before. I know the drill," he smiled, more broadly: it was different from the first smile, less secretive, more…Daniel.
Carter and O'Neil grabbed a coffee and began writing up their paperwork. Only Teal'c was confused.
"This lady and Daniel…they know one another?"
Major Carter smiled, "They dated a while ago Teal'c, remember?"
Teal'c though hard, then it dawned on him, and he smiled, "Yes. Charisma…Her name isn't Edwards though."
Jack laughed. "No, it wasn't. Daniel forgot that she's married…I think. I was sure they got married eventually."
"Michael Edwards… That was one person I really didn't like. Not that I speaking ill of the…" Jack stopped, then said, "What body count did we have?"
Sam looked back over her notes, but Teal'c said automatically, "23 buried here, 15 buried off-world."
Jack frowned, then said, "That base was manned by 50 people,"
Teal'c smiled humorlessly. "We are missing one body."
