NOTES : Dream sequences are in italics; regular speech is in "double quotes", Morse code is in 'single quotes'
"Unscheduled off-world activation!"
"Close the iris!" Hammond called out as he ran from his office.
"Yes, Sir!" Sergeant Davis' finger was already poised over the button.
General Hammond arrived just in time to see the splash erupt from the gate, and the iris close.
"Sir, the coordinates: its the Nox home-world, Sir." He paused. " Sir, receiving SG-1's authorization code!"
Hammond stared at the gate. All GDO's were accounted for, as were all of SG-1. And, in theory, the Nox were their friends, even if they were so strange and superior. He also knew the iris wouldn't stop them. In less than a second he'd made up his mind. "Sergeant, open the —"
"Sir?" Davis said quietly.
The iris was still closed as two shapes emerged onto the ramp — one of them definitely not Nox.
"It looks like a —"
"Thank you, Sergeant, I can see what it is." Hammond stared in disbelief, as the gate shut down, at the tiger standing on the ramp, clearly looking back up at him, and the boy beside it.
"I am Nafrayu," the boy announced. He stood, quite calm, his hand resting on the tiger's shoulder. He spoke out clearly, "Do not fear her." Hammond watched the big cat. It never took its eyes off him as it yawned, its massive jaws spread wide, huge teeth bared. Nafrayu smiled and knelt at her side, whispering something too quiet for anyone to hear. The tiger purred a low rumbling purr that made Hammond shiver. The Nox boy stood, looking up into the control room. "Trust her," he said and nothing more before turning. The iris opened and the gate rippled quietly into life at his gesture, shutting itself down after he walked through.
They were at an impasse. A dozen men stood with their guns trained on an animal which ignored them and had made itself comfortable while it waited still looking up at him. "I'm going down there," Hammond stated.
The tiger was watching the blast-door when he emerged. It – she, Hammond reminded himself – watched him, lazily licking her lips in a way that made him hope she wasn't hungry. Slowly she turned her massive head, letting her gaze wander over all the men ready to shoot her, before tilting it to one side in a most human way as she looked back him.
Hammond had a whole host of welcome speeches he'd memorized to suit any number of occasions, but this one had him stumped. "Stand easy. Lower your weapons," Hammond said.
"Sir?" Davis' voice startled everyone but the tiger. "Message from Colonel O'Neill. Emergency in the infirmary, Sir."
"Some days," Hammond muttered, eyeing the tiger nervously as she rose to her feet, padded down the ramp and stood waiting at his side. "Well, if the Nox say I should trust you, I guess I don't have any choice." He looked around. "You and you," he picked out two of the less nervous looking airmen, "Go on ahead and clear the corridors. You and you," he picked out two more, "follow us. I don't need anyone panicking."
The blast-door was still open. Slowly the big cat padded forward after the two airmen. Hammond watched the cat's head swing almost lazily from side to side as she took the lead, satisfying herself that the way was clear. Ahead of them, one airman was holding his position at the first intersection, the second was moving ahead towards the elevator at the end of the corridor.
All Hammond could do was follow. The tiger moved with a grace that belied her 600 pounds, slowly enough that he could stay at her side, but with a sureness of where she wanted to go that made him wonder.
When they reached the elevator, she looked up. When the door opened she waited for the airmen and Hammond to precede her before she edged into the now-confined space. All three men squeezed into the corners as the big cat turned, and reared up on her hind legs. One huge paw struck at the controls, claws suddenly extending so that only one button got sliced almost in half as it was pressed.
A gruff purr echoed around the elevator as she dropped back down, as Hammond leaned over her and grabbed the emergency phone. "This is General Hammond. Order the corridors from the elevator to the infirmary on level 21 to be kept clear. I repeat..." The doors opened. The footsteps of a dozen people could be heard running away, but only one person was running in the wrong direction. "Colonel O'Neill! Hold your position! I thought I said —"
"Ah, you know me, Sir." O'Neill stopped at the displeasure on Hammond's face, took one look at the airmen with the rifles pointing at him, and only then saw what his mind was repeatedly telling him really shouldn't be there. "Fraiser ordered me out again," he said slowly. "Teal'c has the door; I couldn't stand still, Sir, I..." Conflicting emotions played across his tired features. "Carter's had a relapse," he finished quietly, staring at the tiger. "Ah, General, new pet?"
"She came with a young boy who called himself Nafrayu, from the Nox home-world." Hammond stood to one side as the big cat nudged past him. "Apparently we have to trust her." Hammond started after her. "And it would appear she knows where she has to go."
They rounded the last corner just behind her and just in time to stop Teal'c as he drew his Zat. At the same moment a haggard-looking Doctor Fraiser emerged from the infirmary. She saw the Colonel first and shook her head. "She's gone," she said quietly. "There was nothing I could do."
Teal'c eyed the tiger suspiciously, his Zat still drawn, as she continued to advance on the Doctor, still in shock and now paralyzed in disbelief, blocking the doorway.
"Warn your nurses, Doctor," Hammond said quietly as he caught up. "For once, we'll trust the Nox. Even if..." His voice trailed off as the tiger nudged him forward and butted the Doctor aside. The cries of the nurses weren't unexpected as the tiger pushed him into the room with her. They all heard the flat tone of the heart monitor, and there was the briefest glimpse of Major Carter, but none of them were prepared for the low growl and the glowing eyes as the great animal reared up on her hind legs. The nurses ran as she dropped down, slamming the door closed behind them with one paw even as she tripped the emergency power-breaker with the other. Hammond stood still and tried to remain calm as the tiger brushed against his legs, as she moved around him in the dark.
"Keep the door closed," commanded an all-too familiar voice, albeit with a resonance which was far too deep. "Let no one in."
"Now just a dog-gone minute," Hammond started. "You tell me what's going on and just who you really are!"
"To understand the truth is to face yourself and not turn away," the voice replied in a whisper.
"And just what," Hammond persisted, albeit uncertainly, "is that supposed to mean?"
"Tao k'o tao, fei ch'ang tao," the voice almost sang the strange words.
Hammond blinked. Although there was no proper source of light, his eyes were adapting to the dark, and what he was beginning to see he didn't like at all.
"Ming k'o ming, fei ch'ang ming," the voice laughed.
What had been the tigress turned to face him. He could see the shadow of her form crouched low over Major Carter's body. He could see her red tears by the glow of her eyes, just as he could see the blood that fell from her ears and the smear at her lips, crimson over white teeth as she grinned a feral grin. He watched, spellbound, as she turned back to the Major; unable to turn away he saw her lean closer, he saw the blood flow and mingle as she breathed into Sam's body.
For a moment they were both still, and for a moment that lasted too long Hammond was unsure of what he truly saw as the great tigress came again into focus before the glow of her eyes vanished. At last he heard a great sigh, and could only look on in surprise as her shape changed again and he saw the glowing wraith – and he would never find another way to describe it – of the ascended. And yet again she changed, smiling warmly as she descended to the form of a human child and stood before him.
"Understand that your Major Carter lives again," the small girl said. "Understand that for now She travels your way, the way of the chappa'ai," she continued. "Understand that soon, as you reckon Time, understand that Her path will be the way beyond."
"You mean she will ascend? Like you?"
The girl shook her head. "Oh no, we are not of their kind," she laughed. "As I stand before you, your Major Carter will live as you live," she said. Hammond regarded her curiously, and glancing over her shoulder he saw the Major sleeping peacefully.
"You alone will remember me here, now, which is as it must be," she pre-empted his next question. "You are a most wise man, General Hammond; when the time comes, Hers will be the truth." She took his hands in hers. The lights suddenly flashed on; Hammond blinked and he found himself back in his office. "When the Time comes, you must trust the Nox again as you have trusted me."
"Sir?" Davis' voice from the open doorway startled him. "Message from Colonel O'Neill. Good news from the infirmary, Sir."
The young girl stood as quietly and as patiently as she could.
There was still nothing worse than other people making a fuss. She was quite capable of bathing herself, of dressing, of applying the minimal amount of make-up she still preferred to wear despite... There would always be the last of the cultural differences, no matter how hard she tried. Even amongst family, and especially amongst friends.
She'd made her mock complaints, put up her mock struggles, if only to remind herself that she was still just an ordinary person. First, she was an Air Force Major and she could never forget that, she didn't want to forget, it had once been so much of her life and so much more than a duty.
Yet there were only so many times she could go through the stargate before the hurt became too great. It was her duty to serve her country, to sacrifice her life, to give up all that she could ever hope for and in return receive nothing but pain.
She had seen it in the death of the ancient philosopher – she had seen the truth of the way beyond. Beyond humanity, beyond immortality, beyond the stargate and hunger and suffering and death.
But she was still learning, still young, still naïve.
This was the twilight that came before the long dark, where there was still the separation of self, where the yin and the yang had yet to join after the sunrise of the new day.
Far away a chime sounded. She knew there was little time left, but she also knew there was no need to hurry. They had all the time the universe had to offer. This was her Eden. She'd defined it, created it, nurtured it. She'd brought life to it, and love and happiness.
She regarded herself in the mirror, carefully, critically, delighting in the contrast between her blonde hair, the exquisite silk she'd been dressed in and the design newly painted again on her fair skin.
This was the Dreamtime.
"Mother!" The young girl tugged at her sleeve. "Father is waiting for us!"
This was the end of the beginning. Sam followed her daughter through the maze of low corridors, to the world inside, to where her husband and consort waited.
Now her heart sang with the love that had taken her to the way beyond, where hope and joy lay side by side. Yet still her heart spoke of a love that she would always know, that had once consumed her, overwhelmed her, almost destroyed her. Little more than an imprint would be left, nothing but the heartache of day-dreams and night-wishes that could never come true. Of a man...
"Where does the dreaming end and the illusion begin? When I wake will I remember you? When the sun sets will I still be by your side?"
Sam woke, crying, her breathing ragged, tears filling her eyes. She lay still, the last of the vertigo stealing all her energy. Reality always bit when she was the least prepared to embrace it.
She opened her eyes, squinting against the brightness, forcing a smile. "Colonel."
"Hey, Carter," Jack grinned back at her. "Glad to have you back."
The dream had passed her by, but it had not left her empty. Somehow, she knew that this was just the beginning...
A/N : This completes the first part of the Way Beyond trilogy.
For those who are curious, Tao k'o tao... begins the first lines of the Tao Te Ching. They have been translated many ways. My favorite begins :
'The way that can be taken is not the enduring way.'
'The name that can be named is not the enduring name.'
More of the journey will be revealed in the second part of the trilogy, Never::Dawn of the Dragon, Night of the Tiger.