Jack glanced out of the open hatch of the chopper, looking at the water
passing beneath them.
"Carter, ya think they could have done it?"
There was no need for her to ask what he was talking about. The entire SGC was wondering the same thing.
"Sir, it's highly probable that if Anubis' fleet was where Colonel MacKenzie said it was at the time of the explosion, and the explosion was strong enough to get them even after they'd entered hyperspace, it was wiped out. But we don't know enough about Anubis' physiology to say for sure whether he was killed."
"But his goons are gone."
"Probably, sir."
"And even if he's alive, it'll take him some time to build up forces again, if he manages it at all."
"Indeed, O'Neill." This, obviously, from Teal'c. "The System Lords will not surrender territory and supplies to Anubis so easily now that they know what he is capable of, and too many Jaffa are hearing the call of freedom for many to readily join his cause. If he is indeed alive, he must bide his time and rebuild his army of super-warriors."
"So we don't have to worry about him coming and kicking our asses for a while."
"We do not."
"Excellent. Maybe I can finally go fishing without being interrupted."
Sam looked at the floor to hide a smile.
"Whaddaya say, Carter? Just the fish, the water, a few beers, and complete relaxation. When's the last time you took any leave anyway? Other than the time the General forced you to?"
"Sir, your lake doesn't actually have any fish in it."
"Carter, it's not the fish that matter. It's the act of fishing."
Rabb Sr was waiting on the flight deck when they arrived, with Captain Ingles beside him. Jack, who had worked with the Navy in his Black Ops days, remembered one small bit of Naval tradition.
"Permission to come aboard, Captain?"
"Permission granted, Colonel. Welcome to the Patrick Henry."
"Nice boat you got here. So Hammer, where's this ship you guys stole?"
"Behind the chopper. Follow me. We picked up a Jaffa while we were there."
"Captain Rabb, Colonel MacKenzie said you picked up some naquadah?"
"I take it you want to play, Major?"
"I'd like to see for myself what amount we're actually talking about. And I'd like a look at the ship as well."
"Thought you might. Come on, I'll give you the grand tour. You want to come, skipper?"
"You think I'd miss a chance to see this? I'm right behind you."
The Guardian greeted Harm Sr affectionately when the small group boarded the ship. Ingles looked at it slightly askance.
"What in God's name is that?"
"That would be a creature from another planet. Closest we could get to a little green man. Trust me when I say you don't want it pissed at you."
"I'll take your word for it, Colonel."
Sam made her way through to the bridge. Aiax came to his feet as she entered.
"You must be Major Carter of SG-1. Your name and appearance are known to all Jaffa."
"Thanks, I think. You were one of Pan's Jaffa?"
"I was. But I chose the path of freedom when the Prophecy of the Liberator was fulfilled."
"The Prophecy of the Liberator?"
"It related to the one your people call the Hammer. The son, not the father. His arrival set my people free. We shall make a new life for ourselves out of the reach of the Goa'uld."
"Good for you." This from O'Neill. "Can you tell us what sort of state this piece of junk is in?"
"I am not entirely certain, I have not had a chance to check all the systems. Hyperdrive is functioning, but I had to perform emergency repairs to sub-light steering, and the anti-gravitational systems are not working."
"Any idea how we can get it off this ship and somewhere safe?"
"I would suggest you repair the engines and steering systems, then take it into orbit under cloak. From there you can transport the naquadah down to your base, then do what you will with the ship itself."
"Okay, Carter, Teal'c, get to it. We don't want to trespass on the squids' hospitality, do we?"
"Don't tell me Rabb finished a mission unconscious again."
"Uh Jack, this wasn't exactly a mission." Daniel scratched the back of his neck absently.
"Good point. Rabb finished a joyride unconscious. How's he doing?"
Mac looked up at this. "The doctor gave him a pint of his dad's blood, but he's still got less blood than they'd like. He's stable enough to be transferred back stateside any time, so we can get him to the mountain or the Academy hospital and keep people here from starting rumours. Just as soon as you're ready to get out of here, sir."
"We can send him back now. There's no paperwork concerning how he got here, few crewmembers have seen him. Carter brought that transport device we got off Osiris with her. Janet can be sticking needles into all three of you in just a couple of minutes."
Janet sent Harm Sr away after only a few minutes, confident that he only needed to rest for a little while to get over the transfusion. She had run some basic blood tests as SOP, but nothing unusual had come up. Reading over the chart she had made for Colonel MacKenzie, on whom she had also run the standard blood tests, she allowed herself a small smile. It wasn't often in her job she got to be the bearer of glad tidings.
"Colonel. Captain, how are you feeling?"
"Like I got run over by a truck, Doc." His voice was weak, but there was discernable humour in it.
"Well, that didn't quite happen, but I wouldn't be surprised if it does, one of these days. I never thought I'd say this, but your team are worse for strange injuried than SG-1 is."
"We try."
"Well, despite your interesting new use for blood, and the lasting effects of the last few days, there's nothing seriously wrong with you. I'd like to keep you here for a couple of days to keep an eye on you, but I'm not expecting anything to come up. Colonel MacKenzie, however, is gonna need to take things easy for a lot longer than that. Something showed up in one of her blood tests I think you should know about. Congratulations, Lieutenant Colonel. You're pregnant."
Mac stared at her in astonishment. Harm, however, gripped her tightly by the hand, forcing her to look down at him. He smiled at her. Not his fighter-jock grin, a smile more personal and affectionate than that, but nonetheless a smile full of male pride.
"Told you I always keep my promises, Marine."
THE END!
FINALLY!
A big thank-you to everyone who's kept reading this far. I didn't mean this to be this long. Honest. I just wanted Harm to get a chance to yell at the Admiral, and things spiralled out of control from there.
A specially big thank-you to the people who've sent me encouraging feedback, even the ones who threatened me with grievous bodily harm after some of the cliffhangers. I expect I'll write some more JAG fanfic in the future, but for the time being I'm going to focus on an idea I've got for an original novel.
"Carter, ya think they could have done it?"
There was no need for her to ask what he was talking about. The entire SGC was wondering the same thing.
"Sir, it's highly probable that if Anubis' fleet was where Colonel MacKenzie said it was at the time of the explosion, and the explosion was strong enough to get them even after they'd entered hyperspace, it was wiped out. But we don't know enough about Anubis' physiology to say for sure whether he was killed."
"But his goons are gone."
"Probably, sir."
"And even if he's alive, it'll take him some time to build up forces again, if he manages it at all."
"Indeed, O'Neill." This, obviously, from Teal'c. "The System Lords will not surrender territory and supplies to Anubis so easily now that they know what he is capable of, and too many Jaffa are hearing the call of freedom for many to readily join his cause. If he is indeed alive, he must bide his time and rebuild his army of super-warriors."
"So we don't have to worry about him coming and kicking our asses for a while."
"We do not."
"Excellent. Maybe I can finally go fishing without being interrupted."
Sam looked at the floor to hide a smile.
"Whaddaya say, Carter? Just the fish, the water, a few beers, and complete relaxation. When's the last time you took any leave anyway? Other than the time the General forced you to?"
"Sir, your lake doesn't actually have any fish in it."
"Carter, it's not the fish that matter. It's the act of fishing."
Rabb Sr was waiting on the flight deck when they arrived, with Captain Ingles beside him. Jack, who had worked with the Navy in his Black Ops days, remembered one small bit of Naval tradition.
"Permission to come aboard, Captain?"
"Permission granted, Colonel. Welcome to the Patrick Henry."
"Nice boat you got here. So Hammer, where's this ship you guys stole?"
"Behind the chopper. Follow me. We picked up a Jaffa while we were there."
"Captain Rabb, Colonel MacKenzie said you picked up some naquadah?"
"I take it you want to play, Major?"
"I'd like to see for myself what amount we're actually talking about. And I'd like a look at the ship as well."
"Thought you might. Come on, I'll give you the grand tour. You want to come, skipper?"
"You think I'd miss a chance to see this? I'm right behind you."
The Guardian greeted Harm Sr affectionately when the small group boarded the ship. Ingles looked at it slightly askance.
"What in God's name is that?"
"That would be a creature from another planet. Closest we could get to a little green man. Trust me when I say you don't want it pissed at you."
"I'll take your word for it, Colonel."
Sam made her way through to the bridge. Aiax came to his feet as she entered.
"You must be Major Carter of SG-1. Your name and appearance are known to all Jaffa."
"Thanks, I think. You were one of Pan's Jaffa?"
"I was. But I chose the path of freedom when the Prophecy of the Liberator was fulfilled."
"The Prophecy of the Liberator?"
"It related to the one your people call the Hammer. The son, not the father. His arrival set my people free. We shall make a new life for ourselves out of the reach of the Goa'uld."
"Good for you." This from O'Neill. "Can you tell us what sort of state this piece of junk is in?"
"I am not entirely certain, I have not had a chance to check all the systems. Hyperdrive is functioning, but I had to perform emergency repairs to sub-light steering, and the anti-gravitational systems are not working."
"Any idea how we can get it off this ship and somewhere safe?"
"I would suggest you repair the engines and steering systems, then take it into orbit under cloak. From there you can transport the naquadah down to your base, then do what you will with the ship itself."
"Okay, Carter, Teal'c, get to it. We don't want to trespass on the squids' hospitality, do we?"
"Don't tell me Rabb finished a mission unconscious again."
"Uh Jack, this wasn't exactly a mission." Daniel scratched the back of his neck absently.
"Good point. Rabb finished a joyride unconscious. How's he doing?"
Mac looked up at this. "The doctor gave him a pint of his dad's blood, but he's still got less blood than they'd like. He's stable enough to be transferred back stateside any time, so we can get him to the mountain or the Academy hospital and keep people here from starting rumours. Just as soon as you're ready to get out of here, sir."
"We can send him back now. There's no paperwork concerning how he got here, few crewmembers have seen him. Carter brought that transport device we got off Osiris with her. Janet can be sticking needles into all three of you in just a couple of minutes."
Janet sent Harm Sr away after only a few minutes, confident that he only needed to rest for a little while to get over the transfusion. She had run some basic blood tests as SOP, but nothing unusual had come up. Reading over the chart she had made for Colonel MacKenzie, on whom she had also run the standard blood tests, she allowed herself a small smile. It wasn't often in her job she got to be the bearer of glad tidings.
"Colonel. Captain, how are you feeling?"
"Like I got run over by a truck, Doc." His voice was weak, but there was discernable humour in it.
"Well, that didn't quite happen, but I wouldn't be surprised if it does, one of these days. I never thought I'd say this, but your team are worse for strange injuried than SG-1 is."
"We try."
"Well, despite your interesting new use for blood, and the lasting effects of the last few days, there's nothing seriously wrong with you. I'd like to keep you here for a couple of days to keep an eye on you, but I'm not expecting anything to come up. Colonel MacKenzie, however, is gonna need to take things easy for a lot longer than that. Something showed up in one of her blood tests I think you should know about. Congratulations, Lieutenant Colonel. You're pregnant."
Mac stared at her in astonishment. Harm, however, gripped her tightly by the hand, forcing her to look down at him. He smiled at her. Not his fighter-jock grin, a smile more personal and affectionate than that, but nonetheless a smile full of male pride.
"Told you I always keep my promises, Marine."
THE END!
FINALLY!
A big thank-you to everyone who's kept reading this far. I didn't mean this to be this long. Honest. I just wanted Harm to get a chance to yell at the Admiral, and things spiralled out of control from there.
A specially big thank-you to the people who've sent me encouraging feedback, even the ones who threatened me with grievous bodily harm after some of the cliffhangers. I expect I'll write some more JAG fanfic in the future, but for the time being I'm going to focus on an idea I've got for an original novel.