JACK
All four of us piled into the control room, giving the sleepy tech. a shock. Muller seemed alive, a totally different man from the scruffy sleepy stranger that had questioned me with Jowell.
"This is what I want." he said. The tech glanced at me, and I nodded. He turned to his screen, and I was silently relieved that he still obeyed my orders. "Can you see everything in base with the security cameras?"
"Yes sir."
"And of course you have heat sensors."
"Yes sir."
"Okay, I want you to order everyone in the base to stand still. Then I want you to scan every room in the base for heat signatures, and compare it with the pictures from the security cameras. Once we find a heat signature, but no corresponding person, we have our man."
The tech. set to work. Muller turned to see us all staring at him.
"What?" he demanded.
"You remind us of someone." Daniel said.
"Major Carter." Teal'c explained.
"Oh. Thank you." he replied, a little thrown. So okay, he didn't look like Carter, but he sure as hell thought like her.
One by one we swept the rooms. Teal'c pulled out one of the TER's we used to track the Ree'tu and moved to the gateroom.
We'd swept practically the whole base, and still nothing. All that was left was the gateroom.
Muller leaned forward, watching the scene below with the intense gaze of a scientist.
We locked the door of the gateroom, and only Teal'c was left inside. Just Teal'c. But on the scanner, we saw two heat signatures.
"Teal'c!" I yelled. "He's on the ramp!". Teal'c turned to fire, but Nareem fired first, hitting Teal'c badly. The gate started to spin up.
"Stop the gate!" Daniel yelled.
"I can't." stammered the Tech. "It's preprogrammed."
"Then close the iris!" I told him.
"I'm sorry Sir, I can't do anything."
"If he's been here for months, he's had plenty of time to learn how to control your technology." Muller pointed out.
"Corporal, that man is responsible for the death of Major Carter! Stop him?"
"I can't! I'm completely locked out of the system. I can't even open the doors. The only thing that can stop him now was if an incoming wormhole blocked his."
Chevron five engaged, chevron six.
Then, the familiar whoosh of sound, the blue flash over the ramp. An incoming wormhole. We stared, eager to see who had such good timing.
A lone figure stood on the ramp.
Sam.
MULLER
Either my eyes were deceiving me, or our murder victim was very much alive. Mind you, I'd suspected this from the beginning. Without hesitation, I leaned forward to the mike and yelled,
"He's on the ramp!"
She lifted the heavy rifle she carried and scanned the ramp. There, revealed, stood a dark man in a silver suit, staring at Sam, as shocked as I was.
"I knew..." he stammered. "I knew, even in the darkest places of my soul, I could never harmed you."
"No." said Major Carter. "But you hurt the ones I love." and she raised her rifle and fired.
We joined her in the gateroom at a run, Jackson hurrying to hug her, Teal'c only a little behind. But Jack...Jack hung right behind, almost reluctant to join us.
"He's not dead." she explained, once Jackson had finally let her go, and introduced me. "His name is Nareem, and he's all yours. Do what you like with him."
"And you faked your death because....?" I asked, still slightly stunned at seeing my victim come to life.
"Because I had no other choice. It was the only way to draw him out. I had to provoke a reaction in everybody, get some outsiders in, panic him into leaving the shadows. He'd come very close to people I care for. He'd threatened my god-daughter, Cassie. If we hadn't done something drastic, soon, he'd have hurt her. I couldn't take that risk."
"I see." I nodded, turning myself to the problem of exactly how to prosecute an alien being for a homicide that never happened.
"Sir?" she said suddenly, her voice cracking, looking past me. I turned to the Colonel. He looked almost as devastated as he did after her death. He said nothing, merely turned on his heel and left.
JACK
I couldn't believe it. After all I'd been though, all I'd believed about myself, after I had come so close to the edge, it had all been a fake. She tricked me.
"Sir, can I come in?" she said nervously, hovering in the doorway. I wondered how long she'd been standing there. I wonder if she'd seen the tears of relief before they'd given way to feelings of anger and betrayal. I wonder if she even realised I'd cried for her. I nodded, reluctantly. She came in slowly and sat down opposite me. I didn't look at her, though part of me wanted to drink in the sight of her alive and breathing, to obliterate the haunting memory of her bleeding body.
"I'm sorry I couldn't tell you Sir. I wanted to, but we had to make sure that whoever it was really believed I was dead, and we needed you to react properly."
"Really?" I said ironically. "I seem to remember you getting rather angry when I said the same thing."
"This was different." her voice flared up. "Lives were at stake. Cassie and Janet and...yours.".
"Mine?" I asked, in surprise.
"He'd started making threats against you too. Poison your drinking water, tamper with your ammo...there were a thousand things he could have done."
"You could have told me. You could have trusted me.".
"It was never a question of trust." she said, almost pleading. "It was a question of safety. It was bad enough that Janet and Hammond had to know. If he'd suspected, for just one moment, that you knew I was alive....".
I said nothing. I still didn't look.
"Look, I'm not very good with words...not non-scientific ones." she admitted, slowly. "So, I got this from Tollana last time we went."
"What is it?"
She placed a small silver object on the table between us.
"It records emotions." she said. "I've recorded three moments. The one when I realised that there was no other way out but to ...do what I did, the moment when Hammond told me you were a suspect, and the moment I saw you again. Just press that symbol there. I'll be with Janet."
And she left.
I just sat there for along time, staring at it. I didn't want to know what she felt. I didn't want to sympathize with her, feel for her, LOVE her again. I just wanted to hold onto my anger. It was clean and clear, and uncomplicated. Anger was safe. Love wasn't.
But eventually, I reached for it. I pressed the button.
I was overwhelmed by a sudden feeling of desperation. I felt trapped, and there was only one way out. I hated what I had to do, yet I was absolutely certain it was the only way. I just felt utter and complete desperation.
Then panic, disbelief. Anger....but no sense of accusation. At no time had she believed me guilty. Total belief in my innocence.
Then...shyness? Uncertainty. But most of all, an utter, overwhelming love. Love.
I made my way to Janet's office. I stood in the doorway while Sam explained to Muller that she had never guessed it was Nareem. Then Daniel saw me, and cleared everyone out. She stood there, slightly nervous, waiting.
"Major Carter." I said quietly. "I love you."
She said nothing, but only smiled.
All four of us piled into the control room, giving the sleepy tech. a shock. Muller seemed alive, a totally different man from the scruffy sleepy stranger that had questioned me with Jowell.
"This is what I want." he said. The tech glanced at me, and I nodded. He turned to his screen, and I was silently relieved that he still obeyed my orders. "Can you see everything in base with the security cameras?"
"Yes sir."
"And of course you have heat sensors."
"Yes sir."
"Okay, I want you to order everyone in the base to stand still. Then I want you to scan every room in the base for heat signatures, and compare it with the pictures from the security cameras. Once we find a heat signature, but no corresponding person, we have our man."
The tech. set to work. Muller turned to see us all staring at him.
"What?" he demanded.
"You remind us of someone." Daniel said.
"Major Carter." Teal'c explained.
"Oh. Thank you." he replied, a little thrown. So okay, he didn't look like Carter, but he sure as hell thought like her.
One by one we swept the rooms. Teal'c pulled out one of the TER's we used to track the Ree'tu and moved to the gateroom.
We'd swept practically the whole base, and still nothing. All that was left was the gateroom.
Muller leaned forward, watching the scene below with the intense gaze of a scientist.
We locked the door of the gateroom, and only Teal'c was left inside. Just Teal'c. But on the scanner, we saw two heat signatures.
"Teal'c!" I yelled. "He's on the ramp!". Teal'c turned to fire, but Nareem fired first, hitting Teal'c badly. The gate started to spin up.
"Stop the gate!" Daniel yelled.
"I can't." stammered the Tech. "It's preprogrammed."
"Then close the iris!" I told him.
"I'm sorry Sir, I can't do anything."
"If he's been here for months, he's had plenty of time to learn how to control your technology." Muller pointed out.
"Corporal, that man is responsible for the death of Major Carter! Stop him?"
"I can't! I'm completely locked out of the system. I can't even open the doors. The only thing that can stop him now was if an incoming wormhole blocked his."
Chevron five engaged, chevron six.
Then, the familiar whoosh of sound, the blue flash over the ramp. An incoming wormhole. We stared, eager to see who had such good timing.
A lone figure stood on the ramp.
Sam.
MULLER
Either my eyes were deceiving me, or our murder victim was very much alive. Mind you, I'd suspected this from the beginning. Without hesitation, I leaned forward to the mike and yelled,
"He's on the ramp!"
She lifted the heavy rifle she carried and scanned the ramp. There, revealed, stood a dark man in a silver suit, staring at Sam, as shocked as I was.
"I knew..." he stammered. "I knew, even in the darkest places of my soul, I could never harmed you."
"No." said Major Carter. "But you hurt the ones I love." and she raised her rifle and fired.
We joined her in the gateroom at a run, Jackson hurrying to hug her, Teal'c only a little behind. But Jack...Jack hung right behind, almost reluctant to join us.
"He's not dead." she explained, once Jackson had finally let her go, and introduced me. "His name is Nareem, and he's all yours. Do what you like with him."
"And you faked your death because....?" I asked, still slightly stunned at seeing my victim come to life.
"Because I had no other choice. It was the only way to draw him out. I had to provoke a reaction in everybody, get some outsiders in, panic him into leaving the shadows. He'd come very close to people I care for. He'd threatened my god-daughter, Cassie. If we hadn't done something drastic, soon, he'd have hurt her. I couldn't take that risk."
"I see." I nodded, turning myself to the problem of exactly how to prosecute an alien being for a homicide that never happened.
"Sir?" she said suddenly, her voice cracking, looking past me. I turned to the Colonel. He looked almost as devastated as he did after her death. He said nothing, merely turned on his heel and left.
JACK
I couldn't believe it. After all I'd been though, all I'd believed about myself, after I had come so close to the edge, it had all been a fake. She tricked me.
"Sir, can I come in?" she said nervously, hovering in the doorway. I wondered how long she'd been standing there. I wonder if she'd seen the tears of relief before they'd given way to feelings of anger and betrayal. I wonder if she even realised I'd cried for her. I nodded, reluctantly. She came in slowly and sat down opposite me. I didn't look at her, though part of me wanted to drink in the sight of her alive and breathing, to obliterate the haunting memory of her bleeding body.
"I'm sorry I couldn't tell you Sir. I wanted to, but we had to make sure that whoever it was really believed I was dead, and we needed you to react properly."
"Really?" I said ironically. "I seem to remember you getting rather angry when I said the same thing."
"This was different." her voice flared up. "Lives were at stake. Cassie and Janet and...yours.".
"Mine?" I asked, in surprise.
"He'd started making threats against you too. Poison your drinking water, tamper with your ammo...there were a thousand things he could have done."
"You could have told me. You could have trusted me.".
"It was never a question of trust." she said, almost pleading. "It was a question of safety. It was bad enough that Janet and Hammond had to know. If he'd suspected, for just one moment, that you knew I was alive....".
I said nothing. I still didn't look.
"Look, I'm not very good with words...not non-scientific ones." she admitted, slowly. "So, I got this from Tollana last time we went."
"What is it?"
She placed a small silver object on the table between us.
"It records emotions." she said. "I've recorded three moments. The one when I realised that there was no other way out but to ...do what I did, the moment when Hammond told me you were a suspect, and the moment I saw you again. Just press that symbol there. I'll be with Janet."
And she left.
I just sat there for along time, staring at it. I didn't want to know what she felt. I didn't want to sympathize with her, feel for her, LOVE her again. I just wanted to hold onto my anger. It was clean and clear, and uncomplicated. Anger was safe. Love wasn't.
But eventually, I reached for it. I pressed the button.
I was overwhelmed by a sudden feeling of desperation. I felt trapped, and there was only one way out. I hated what I had to do, yet I was absolutely certain it was the only way. I just felt utter and complete desperation.
Then panic, disbelief. Anger....but no sense of accusation. At no time had she believed me guilty. Total belief in my innocence.
Then...shyness? Uncertainty. But most of all, an utter, overwhelming love. Love.
I made my way to Janet's office. I stood in the doorway while Sam explained to Muller that she had never guessed it was Nareem. Then Daniel saw me, and cleared everyone out. She stood there, slightly nervous, waiting.
"Major Carter." I said quietly. "I love you."
She said nothing, but only smiled.