CHAPTER NINE: Time Is a Valuable Thing

A/N: Eeek I seriously meant to post this…but you know Christmas, New Year…writers block hehe! Plus I've been away for the past 2 ½ weeks!! Lol!! Am I sounding like I'm making up excuses now!?

This chapter is for James cos he came up with half the story and he's a good friend :D!

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Sam sat in the infirmary watching the chaos going on around them. The nurses were running around trying to bring Hammond, Siler & Janet back to consciousness. Jack was standing the corner looking pretty helpless as one of the nurses dabbed some ointment that stung onto the gash in her forehead. The strange feeling in the pit of her stomach still hung there as she looked around the room.

Her eyes rested on McKay.

She was sure that his Goa'uld had no Naquadah in it. Maybe she was just imagining things. She'd felt it earlier on that day but passed it off as nervousness about the whole situation.

Her eyes fell on Jack at the same time he looked at her. He smiled.

Suddenly she felt a different king of feeling in her stomach. What if they didn't get out of this alive? What if they died without even telling each other…

"Where's the General!?" a Lieutenant shouted running in the room.

Everyone looked at him stirring slightly on his bed.

"The President's on the phone! Earth's just been attacked!" he announced.

The room fell silent.

Everyone in it knew this was it.

It was their turn to protect their planet.

Or die.

~*~*~*~

Daniel looked up to see Teal' walked up behind them. He could have sworn that there was something subdued about him…but it was Teal'c and kinda hard to tell.

"I was unable to establish contact with Earth," Teal'c replied.

"Why?" Daniel asked.

"It seemed as if Earth's gate had no power…" Teal'c replied.

"Why?" Daniel asked.

"I do not know…I was unable to establish contact…" Teal'c repeated.

"Well we discovered that this device can be set on different levels. Like we can set it to work only in this island…or just this planet…or just this solar system…" Daniel said.

"Or we can set it to the entire galaxy…" Jonas finished.

"But what of other creatures with Naquadah in their blood?" Teal'c asked.

Jonas and Daniel both looked lost for an answer.

~*~*~*~

"Carter."

Sam turned around to face her CO. Everyone around them was rushing somewhere. She wasn't exactly sure where they were going…probably the control room. She'd sunk into another world. She felt as if she'd drunk too much or something. Everything felt…not real.

"Carter? You OK?" Jack asked after she didn't reply.

"Sure…aren't I always?" Sam replied, not really giving him an answer.

Was she OK? Of course she wasn't OK! The world was ending and there was nothing she could do about it. Someone was besides McKay was a Goa'uld and the power was still on minimum. Not enough to power the Stargate, therefore leaving Daniel, Jonas and Teal'c stranded on some planet.

"There's been multiple strike reports," someone shouted as they ran past.

Then the hallways were empty, except for Sam and Jack who were left standing there.

"This is it isn't it?" Jack said.

"It seems pretty hopeless doesn't it, sir?" Sam sighed. "But we've gotten through this before…"

"Have we?" Jack asked.

The sentence rung throughout the corridor. The answer was obvious to them both, but neither dared to speak.

"There'll be things I regret," Sam suddenly let out, looking up and meeting Jack's eyes.

"Me too," he replied, holding her gaze.

They remained there for a minute, staring into each other's eyes. Neither speaking the words they both wished they could.

"We should go, help…" Sam pointed in the general direction of the Gateroom.

"Yeah, we should," Jack said.

Sam turned and walked quickly in the direction of the Gateroom. Jack sighed and followed.

Just then a set of alarms went off.

"GOA'ULD SHIP APPROACHING!" came the familiar voice calling an unfamiliar sentence.

~*~*~*~

Jacob Carter landed the Tel'tak on the airstrip nearby Cheyenne Mountain. A squadron of Air Force patrolmen came running up, guns aimed right at him.

"Get out with your hands in the air or we'll pulverise you," one of them shouted.

Jacob walked out of the craft hands raised.

"I'm not a Goa'uld, put you're weapons down. I'm retired-General Jacob Carter of the USAF, I need to talk to General Hammond," Jacob said.

"If you're here to warn us the Earth's about to be attacked…you're too late its already started…"

Jacob's hopes fell.

If the attack had started his warning wasn't much help.

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A/N: Sorry!! It's so short and it's been so long! But I FINALLY found the info that I needed to get me onto the next chapter!! The next chapter will contain a spoiler for the s7 episode "Fallout"

Please review I'm so so sorry!!