P4X639 hadn't changed much. Still red. Still dusty. Still too much sun.
"Doesn't there have to be a geomagnetic storm to get the altar working?" Daniel asked.
"We can cause one from the Tok'ra ship." Sam explained. "Anyone got some gum?"
Jonas handed her some gum from his pocket, and she stuck some in her mouth and began to chew.
"Why?" Jonas asked.
"She can't place the note in front of the gate, it'll be disintegrated when it opens. She'll stick it on some gum, the gum'll stick to someone's shoe, they'll track it back to the SGC." Jack explained.
The others looked at him incredulously, except Sam, who smiled to herself as she stuck the gum to the note.
"Hey, I do listen sometimes." He protested.
"There is someone at the altar." Teal'c told them. They looked up, and followed Teal'c to the altar.
A man stood there. His face peeled with sunburn. His eyes were dark and haunted, his hands jerked spasmodically round the altar, he was worn thin with anxiety, with need.
"Malakai?" Jack asked, unsure.
"Who's Malakai?" Jonas asked.
"The archaeologist who was here before. He was trying to turn time back so he could see his wife again."
"Why are you here?" Teal'c asked Malakai. "You cannot turn time back."
"I've had ten years to study my notes. I believe there is a way."
"You haven't got a geomagnetic storm." Sam pointed out.
"But I will have. You've caused one."
"You can't have known we were coming." Daniel told him.
"But I did! I've done this journey, so many times, here, alone, on this planet! You always come."
"And then...." Jack asked.
"You cause the storm. I've never got further. But I will today."
"But what's the point?" Jack cried out in exasperation. "We've been through this, Malakai. You watch your wife die, over and over again. Why?"
"I have a cure." Malakai said, excitedly. "The Aschen vaccine."
"The Aschen vaccine makes you sterile, too." Sam said gently. "They've destroyed whole civilisations, whole planets, with it. We have to stop them."
"I don't care! I want her alive again! You don't know what I'd do, you don't know the agony I've gone through, it's like having my heart ripped out, bit by bit, slowly, every day, you have no idea what it's like!"
"I do." Sam told him, stepping past Jack. "I do, I swear. I know what it's like to lose someone you love, I know how painful it is, and believe me, I know what it's like to want to turn back time to get them back." She stepped forward a little more, ignoring Jack's whispered
"Careful"
as Malakai raised his gun to her.
"I know, because I almost did the same thing. When I originally decided to come back here, it wasn't to save the universe. I'd just heard that the man I loved more than life itself had died, and my first thought was that I could come back here and bring him back to life. That was all I wanted."
Behind her, Janet stirred uneasily, and Jack stared intensely at her, so intensely she could feel his gaze on her back. Daniel moved round, to her side, nodding encouragingly at her.
"I wasn't even aware I could feel that strongly." She said, involuntary tears springing to her eyes as she remembered the sudden thudding, gut-wrenching pain. "I was torn apart."
"But that changed."
"He's alive."
"But my wife isn't!"
"He's alive, and I realised he wouldn't want me to do that for him. If I used this," she gestured at the altar "to bring him back from the dead, instead of using it to save millions of lives, then I wouldn't be the woman he loved. If you miss this chance to rid the universe of the Aschen, will your wife forgive you?"
Malakai looked round, at all the men and women around him, wanting him to give up his last hope, his obsession to save the woman he loved. Sam glanced back, towards Jack. he looked at her, his gaze astonished, and reassuring and loving, all at once.
"I know what happens to you all." Malakai said suddenly. "I've travelled in time. I've seen the other past. You don't want to live that life, believe me. You" he said suddenly, pointing at Daniel, "You die. Slowly. Painfully. You, Teal'c...your son becomes Ba'al's First Prime and will end up murdering you in a dusty room in a bar far away from Chu'lack, because he knows he cannot beat you in battle. You, Dr. Frasier, you catch a virus from a patient from another world, and infect your daughter before you die. Jonas, you are exiled from your word when you expose the real reason Daniel Jackson died...that's your fault, by the way...and you spend the rest of your life on Earth, never fitting in, never going home."
"And you two." He said, pointing at Sam and Jack, who'd moved to stand close together. "you think you'll end up together, living happily ever after? Because you won't. You , Colonel O'Neill, catch an incurable disease. She," he said, pointing at Sam, "will persuade you to be blended with a Tok'ra to cure it. Unfortunately, that Tok'ra will cause you to be tortured, over and over again by a Gou'ald. You end up broken by the experience, you have to retire, and you never forgive her for that. And you, Major Carter, you'll end up being dishonourably discharged from the Air Force after you lead a disastrous and unauthorised mission to rescue your father from the Gou'ald, a mission that ends up with the death of most of your team. You end up in an insane asylum, still trying to convince the world that aliens really exist.
Do you really want that reality, as opposed to this one?"
"If it's also a reality where Earth survives, where the Aschen have been defeated, then yes. I'll accept that future in exchange for that." Sam said, without a moment's hesitation. Jack looked down at her, with an expression she'd seen many times before on his face, but never recognised. She knew it now. It was pride.
"That goes for me too." Jack said. He bent down, and whispered in her ear "I love you. That'll never change."
"I also agree." Teal'c said, though he looked grim.
"Fine by me." Jonas told him.
"Yes." Janet said, even though she looked pale and shaken.
"Daniel?" Sam asked.
"I don't have to answer. I've already chosen." Daniel said.
"What?" Jack asked.
"I'm really did die in the ambulance." Daniel said, and Sam noticed that Daniel was almost...shimmering. His outline seemed blurred. "I ascended."
"Ascended?" Jonas asked.
"You became a white glowy thing? Like Oma?" Jack asked.
"I did."
"But you're not white and glowing." Sam pointed out.
"They let me take on human form until I'd finished this. Jonas was right. All those bizarre coincidences were not coincidences. I caused them. And Malakai isn't really here."
Malakai faded.
"What the hell's going on?" Jack demanded.
"A test. I'm sorry, this wasn't my idea, but they had to be sure your motives were pure. They had to be sure you'd make the right choice. They had to know that you would choose the safety of millions of people over your own happiness, your own security. And you did."
"Why? Who was testing us?" Sam asked.
"Why? Because things are going to happen to you, things we want to be sure you're right for. I tried to make them take my word for it but..."
"Who?" Jonas asked, again.
"The Ancients. They wanted to make sure you were worthy to use this device."
"So you're one of the Ancients?"
"No, I just work for them. Go ahead and do it, Sam. Your plan will work. And remember this...your journey's just beginning."
Daniel faded into a white cloud, which slipped way into the atmosphere.
"My life just keeps getting stranger and stranger." Jack murmured, but no-one heard him.
Sam moved to the altar. The magnetic storm was at its height now, and the altar had begun to move, the stones moving up and down. Sam made some adjustments, and turned the switch, then she stepped off the altar. Jack wrapped his arms around her.
"It'll be ok." He reassured her. "Didn't Daniel just say we were chosen.?"
"There's gum on my shoe!" Jack complained loudly. "How the hell did I get gum on my shoe on an alien planet, for cryin' out loud!"
"There's something stuck to the gum." Sam pointed out, reaching out and grabbing the note.
"Do not go to...... Why not?" Daniel asked.
"I have no idea. Why do these things keep happening to me?" Jack grouched, as they left.
"Obviously you are chosen, O'Neill."
"Huh." Jack grunted, as he followed Carter down the locker room. Dammit, he was still thinking about that kiss.
But still, what harm could one kiss do?
"Doesn't there have to be a geomagnetic storm to get the altar working?" Daniel asked.
"We can cause one from the Tok'ra ship." Sam explained. "Anyone got some gum?"
Jonas handed her some gum from his pocket, and she stuck some in her mouth and began to chew.
"Why?" Jonas asked.
"She can't place the note in front of the gate, it'll be disintegrated when it opens. She'll stick it on some gum, the gum'll stick to someone's shoe, they'll track it back to the SGC." Jack explained.
The others looked at him incredulously, except Sam, who smiled to herself as she stuck the gum to the note.
"Hey, I do listen sometimes." He protested.
"There is someone at the altar." Teal'c told them. They looked up, and followed Teal'c to the altar.
A man stood there. His face peeled with sunburn. His eyes were dark and haunted, his hands jerked spasmodically round the altar, he was worn thin with anxiety, with need.
"Malakai?" Jack asked, unsure.
"Who's Malakai?" Jonas asked.
"The archaeologist who was here before. He was trying to turn time back so he could see his wife again."
"Why are you here?" Teal'c asked Malakai. "You cannot turn time back."
"I've had ten years to study my notes. I believe there is a way."
"You haven't got a geomagnetic storm." Sam pointed out.
"But I will have. You've caused one."
"You can't have known we were coming." Daniel told him.
"But I did! I've done this journey, so many times, here, alone, on this planet! You always come."
"And then...." Jack asked.
"You cause the storm. I've never got further. But I will today."
"But what's the point?" Jack cried out in exasperation. "We've been through this, Malakai. You watch your wife die, over and over again. Why?"
"I have a cure." Malakai said, excitedly. "The Aschen vaccine."
"The Aschen vaccine makes you sterile, too." Sam said gently. "They've destroyed whole civilisations, whole planets, with it. We have to stop them."
"I don't care! I want her alive again! You don't know what I'd do, you don't know the agony I've gone through, it's like having my heart ripped out, bit by bit, slowly, every day, you have no idea what it's like!"
"I do." Sam told him, stepping past Jack. "I do, I swear. I know what it's like to lose someone you love, I know how painful it is, and believe me, I know what it's like to want to turn back time to get them back." She stepped forward a little more, ignoring Jack's whispered
"Careful"
as Malakai raised his gun to her.
"I know, because I almost did the same thing. When I originally decided to come back here, it wasn't to save the universe. I'd just heard that the man I loved more than life itself had died, and my first thought was that I could come back here and bring him back to life. That was all I wanted."
Behind her, Janet stirred uneasily, and Jack stared intensely at her, so intensely she could feel his gaze on her back. Daniel moved round, to her side, nodding encouragingly at her.
"I wasn't even aware I could feel that strongly." She said, involuntary tears springing to her eyes as she remembered the sudden thudding, gut-wrenching pain. "I was torn apart."
"But that changed."
"He's alive."
"But my wife isn't!"
"He's alive, and I realised he wouldn't want me to do that for him. If I used this," she gestured at the altar "to bring him back from the dead, instead of using it to save millions of lives, then I wouldn't be the woman he loved. If you miss this chance to rid the universe of the Aschen, will your wife forgive you?"
Malakai looked round, at all the men and women around him, wanting him to give up his last hope, his obsession to save the woman he loved. Sam glanced back, towards Jack. he looked at her, his gaze astonished, and reassuring and loving, all at once.
"I know what happens to you all." Malakai said suddenly. "I've travelled in time. I've seen the other past. You don't want to live that life, believe me. You" he said suddenly, pointing at Daniel, "You die. Slowly. Painfully. You, Teal'c...your son becomes Ba'al's First Prime and will end up murdering you in a dusty room in a bar far away from Chu'lack, because he knows he cannot beat you in battle. You, Dr. Frasier, you catch a virus from a patient from another world, and infect your daughter before you die. Jonas, you are exiled from your word when you expose the real reason Daniel Jackson died...that's your fault, by the way...and you spend the rest of your life on Earth, never fitting in, never going home."
"And you two." He said, pointing at Sam and Jack, who'd moved to stand close together. "you think you'll end up together, living happily ever after? Because you won't. You , Colonel O'Neill, catch an incurable disease. She," he said, pointing at Sam, "will persuade you to be blended with a Tok'ra to cure it. Unfortunately, that Tok'ra will cause you to be tortured, over and over again by a Gou'ald. You end up broken by the experience, you have to retire, and you never forgive her for that. And you, Major Carter, you'll end up being dishonourably discharged from the Air Force after you lead a disastrous and unauthorised mission to rescue your father from the Gou'ald, a mission that ends up with the death of most of your team. You end up in an insane asylum, still trying to convince the world that aliens really exist.
Do you really want that reality, as opposed to this one?"
"If it's also a reality where Earth survives, where the Aschen have been defeated, then yes. I'll accept that future in exchange for that." Sam said, without a moment's hesitation. Jack looked down at her, with an expression she'd seen many times before on his face, but never recognised. She knew it now. It was pride.
"That goes for me too." Jack said. He bent down, and whispered in her ear "I love you. That'll never change."
"I also agree." Teal'c said, though he looked grim.
"Fine by me." Jonas told him.
"Yes." Janet said, even though she looked pale and shaken.
"Daniel?" Sam asked.
"I don't have to answer. I've already chosen." Daniel said.
"What?" Jack asked.
"I'm really did die in the ambulance." Daniel said, and Sam noticed that Daniel was almost...shimmering. His outline seemed blurred. "I ascended."
"Ascended?" Jonas asked.
"You became a white glowy thing? Like Oma?" Jack asked.
"I did."
"But you're not white and glowing." Sam pointed out.
"They let me take on human form until I'd finished this. Jonas was right. All those bizarre coincidences were not coincidences. I caused them. And Malakai isn't really here."
Malakai faded.
"What the hell's going on?" Jack demanded.
"A test. I'm sorry, this wasn't my idea, but they had to be sure your motives were pure. They had to be sure you'd make the right choice. They had to know that you would choose the safety of millions of people over your own happiness, your own security. And you did."
"Why? Who was testing us?" Sam asked.
"Why? Because things are going to happen to you, things we want to be sure you're right for. I tried to make them take my word for it but..."
"Who?" Jonas asked, again.
"The Ancients. They wanted to make sure you were worthy to use this device."
"So you're one of the Ancients?"
"No, I just work for them. Go ahead and do it, Sam. Your plan will work. And remember this...your journey's just beginning."
Daniel faded into a white cloud, which slipped way into the atmosphere.
"My life just keeps getting stranger and stranger." Jack murmured, but no-one heard him.
Sam moved to the altar. The magnetic storm was at its height now, and the altar had begun to move, the stones moving up and down. Sam made some adjustments, and turned the switch, then she stepped off the altar. Jack wrapped his arms around her.
"It'll be ok." He reassured her. "Didn't Daniel just say we were chosen.?"
"There's gum on my shoe!" Jack complained loudly. "How the hell did I get gum on my shoe on an alien planet, for cryin' out loud!"
"There's something stuck to the gum." Sam pointed out, reaching out and grabbing the note.
"Do not go to...... Why not?" Daniel asked.
"I have no idea. Why do these things keep happening to me?" Jack grouched, as they left.
"Obviously you are chosen, O'Neill."
"Huh." Jack grunted, as he followed Carter down the locker room. Dammit, he was still thinking about that kiss.
But still, what harm could one kiss do?