SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1 BURNING BRIGHTLY
Chapter 6:
Disclaimer: Stargate is not mine. If however MGM, Gekko, Double Secret and whatever get sick of it I'll be more than happy to take it off their hands.
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JACK:
I try not to yell at Daniel on our forced march back to the Stargate. I try not to bring up the fact that the cure for Sam was sitting right in front of his face and he let some little monk slip it back into his pocket and walk away. I try. I fail miserably.
"...you think the damn treaty is more important? Political games with this race of smug bastards who think this is a ploy to get their technology off them?" I say, eyeing our escort evenly as I effectively destroy interplanetary relations before our very eyes. I don't care. I'm pissed as all hell and I really don't care. "You know, that's always the way with you. You can go on for hours about burial grounds and ruins, but when it comes to the here and now you don't have a fuckin' CLUE -"
"O'Neill!" It's Teal'c who stops me. "Perhaps you should consider your words more carefully."
"I've considered them." I say, surprising even myself with the cold tone that I'm using. "Just never said it before. What is it about this afterlife thing that is so fascinating that you didn't even stop to think that-"
Daniel whirls on me, causing me to stop short and our escort to grind to a halt. "I thought about it, alright?" he spits. "I thought about grabbing the thing and sprinting. Anything is worth it -" his words are cut off by the order from Reichert up there to please keep moving. I continue to walk past Daniel, who catches me up and continues. "To save Sam. But just what did you expect me to do, hm? Belt up an innocent man for obeying his own laws? Knick him out, rob him and run? What do you want me to do?"
Keep walking O'Neill. You say anything more you're gonna regret it. Keep the mouth shut. It's not his fault. You know that. It's your own fault. Yours alone. You cracked that senator one in the jaw. You screwed up this treaty before it even got off the ground. And while we're on the subject, you allowed us to go to that stupid celebratory banquet in the first place, you thought that Altheum drink was safe enough to consume while on duty, you let Carter out of your sight while you were talking to Laius, and you did absolutely zilch to prevent her from getting into the state that produced this mess.
Oh, and lets not forget, you were speeding when you were taking Carter home.
The rest of the trek is spent in a brooding silence on my part. As we reach the gate, we're handed back our weapons as we dial home. The escort stands there waiting for us to leave, just in case we decide to double back and steal some plants.
~*~*~*~*~*~
General Hammond leads us into the briefing room with a face that matches our moods. There was no need to say anything as we returned. One look said it all.
"The treaty appears to be -" Daniel gives me a glance. "Its not good, sir. The Frevians have decided to re-evaluate their assessment of the Tau'ri due to... um..."
"'Contumacy of their laws'." I supply helpfully.
"They appear to be aggravated by Colonel O'Neills assault on one of their members of parliament." Teal'c says from across the table.
"I'd hardly call it an 'assault'," I object. "Sir."
General Hammond shakes a lowered head. "That wasn't in the mission report," he mumbles. "Doctor Jackson, Teal'c, would you wait outside, please?"
The two give eachother wary looks as they leave.
"Jack?" Hammond says. "I think we might have a slight problem here. Just what exactly did you do to these people that they are now refusing to help us with Major Carter's condition?"
"The usual." I say. "Fractured a senators jaw, you know... I won't bore you with the details..."
"This is a very serious matter, Colonel. I want to hear the full story. Now."
"I hit a guy who was taking advantage of Carter's intoxicated state, sir." I say, keeping my face impassive. "But the matter at hand is that they have something that could bring her out of this trance. We need to get it..."
"Im sure I don't need to remind you that the Frevian alliance is an important step in fighting the Goa'uld. I would hope that you apologised to the man in question and the Governor as well."
"He got her drunk on that stuff!" I say.
"Your personal relationship with Major Carter should in no way be clouding your judgement like this. I've let things go for now, but... Colonel, I hope you realise this could cost us greatly. You might easily have put our entire planet in jeopardy. We can't afford to make enemies, now or ever - especially not ones as technologically advanced as the Frevians."
"To be fair, sir, I don't think they had any intention of sharing technology in the first place. They see themselves as benefactors to the poor simple-minded Tau'ri." My personal relationship with Carter? Uh oh. "They wouldn't give us squat, and they're using this as an excuse."
"Colonel, I don't care." Hammond's voice rises slightly into the danger zone. "The point is, you've offended them, and now as well as not helping Major Carter, they're planning to re-evaluate the treaty."
George, I don't care. "Politics can be sorted out. We can figure something out to save the treaty. Sam - Major Carter needs help NOW. We need to go back. I need to go back."
"No, Jack, and that's final. Major Carter is very important, and it pains me to have to say this. But it's entirely up to me, and this is a decision that affects the entire planet. Based on the fact that it hasn't even been proven that she is in a trance, and that she might emerge from the coma by herself at any point in time, there is simply no way we can place the life of one individual over something that may affect the lives of billions. Do you understand?"
I stand up so abruptly that my chair topples to the floor. "No, sir." I say. "I don't understand how everyone can be so concerned about a goddam piece of paper when someone's life is at stake."
"Sit down, Jack."
I ignore him, heading to the door and wrenching it open.
"Im sorry, Jack." he says softly to my turned back.
Yeah. Bet you are.
DANIEL:
Jack doesn't spare us a glance as he slams the door and stalks off down the passage. Teal'c and I share raised eyebrows. "Guessing that didn't go so well." I say sadly. I lean my head back against the wall.
Hammond disturbs us, opening the door and motioning for us to enter. We take our seats silently. Hammond looks pale.
It's a while before any of us speaks. It's Hammond who takes charge first. "Did you know anything about this... incident?"
"Neither of us were aware of Colonel O'Neill's fracturing a man's jaw." Teal'c supplies. "We did not witness it, nor did he tell us of it."
"But he hinted." I add, unable to keep my misery out of my voice. "That's one of the reason he was so eager to go on this mission - he knew we'd run into trouble over it."
Hammond sighs and rubs his temples. "Im going to have to send in another team to re-negotiate." he says finally. "I can't stress how important it is that we keep these people as allies." He looks up, at each of us, searchingly. "But I need to make it clear that in no way am I dismissing Major Carter's state."
I nod slowly, seeing the pleading look in his eyes. He's under a lot of pressure from this, I can tell. And the decision rests with him. It must be an incredible burden to bear, and I wouldn't relish the job for a second.
"The greater good must always have precedence over personal attachments." Teal'c inclines his head.
Oh, I hate this. Sitting here discussing Sam like this. It's like... it's like choosing her coffin. God.
"Jack..." I say, but have to swallow against the dryness in my mouth.
"I know Colonel O'Neill will try to return to P3X 925. I'm ordering a security detail on high alert posted in the gate room round the clock."
Good lord. That seems a little extreme. But then again, given that we've collectively defied orders and managed to activate the Stargate any number of times in the past, I guess I can see why.
"I also have to point out that although I'm willing to give you a few more days on this, your downtime ended officially yesterday. I simply can't spare SG-1 for much longer. With or without Major Carter."
I hate this.
JACK:
I stare at the elevator walls as if they're the cause of all that is wrong with this world. As if the blank grey metal caused Daniel to stand around idly while his eager-to-please priest friend waved Sam's cure right in front of his nose. As if they caused Hammond to suddenly care more about interplanetary politics than an important member of his command. The numbers flick downwards, and I can feel the waves of anger rising. I lash out. It's the walls fault, if anything, for not preventing this from happening. So I punish them accordingly by ploughing a fist as hard as I can into them. Followed by a foot. And another fist.
The doors slide open at level one, and I step out calmly not looking at the airman who step in behind me and look curiously at the dented panels on the back wall.
My eyes smart with the pain in my jarred wrist. Janet isn't going to be happy, but it feels good. Wakes me up. Reminds me that I still feel it. I need to be reminded. I grit my teeth and welcome it.
Planning to head back to the hospital, like a good boy. Get some rest. Maybe Janet will let me go home tomorrow. Maybe I'll bum out on the couch and watch some movies and maybe I'll have a steak for dinner.
It's dark out here, sometime in the late evening. A few guards stand stand, others patrol the entrance, a few other people move here and there in the shadows. I walk across the car park, footsteps echoing slightly. I pass Sam's car.
In all that's happened, the fact that her car is still here escaped everyone's notice. Such an ordinary thing seems sort of ... surreal. In the faint lighting it is almost shadowed, and I walk up to it. Try the door handle; still locked. Rest my hand on the roof for a while and wonder what the hell I'm doing here.
The answer is nothing. I'm doing nothing. And the crazy thing is, I'm pissed at everyone else for doing nothing. The only alternative is to do something. So why aren't I doing it?
Okay. What I need to do is go back there and find the priest. Get the device. I can do that. Will do that.
I turn on my heel and stalk back past the security checkpoint, ignoring the looks from the various airmen. As I wait for the elevator I realise that its not just my demeanour that has them gawping like stunned fish - my knuckles are streaming with blood. I think I left some skin on the elevator wall.
I head down to the armoury. There's four guards outside the door that give me wary looks, and I pass by with a nod. Four? I continue on my way innocently, pretending I didn't even notice the uppage in security. You've got to be kidding me. All this for little old me? George must be getting paranoid.
He's not paranoid enough.
I open the door to my office and step inside idly. Car keys. I left my car keys. I rummage through the draw, then throw a few things around the desk. My eye catches a glimpse of what had at one stage been an in-tray, which had at some stage changed to a pending tray, and now a pitiful conglomeration of comic books and chocolate bar wrappers. And a memo from Carter, labelled and stapled, her neat hand-writing unmistakable.
I pretend to read it, turning my back to put my body between the security camera and the desk. Set the memo down (can't make out what she was talking about anyway) And slide the draw open... ah yes, here it is, my faithful Walther PPK. Check the clip: good, collect the spare clip, slip it into the pocket and oh, here are my car keys. Turn to show them to the security camera. See guys? Found 'em.
Now for the difficult part. If Hammond thinks I'm going to go for the armoury, he's also probably got the idea that I'm gonna try to hop the Stargate. Meaning he'll have a security team on standby, ready to stop me.
I walk briskly to the elevator, then head down. As the doors open, I see two airmen waiting to board. I step past them as they move into the car, and I'm down the corridor before they can say anything.
I round the corner and bump smack-bang into Hammond.
"Jack." he says.
"Im going back."
"You know I can't authorise that." He holds up his hands.
"I know." Dammit, I know. "But sir-"
"There are no buts, Colonel. If you persist, I'll have to have you escorted off the base."
"I don't think you want to try that right now." Let me passed, George. I don't want to have to knock you out or something.
"Give me the gun..."
"No, sir." How did he know I had a gun, dammit?
"Colonel, I gave you an order!" he spits, his face reddening. "I expect you off this base within the next ten minutes or I'll..."
"You'll what? Have me court martialled? Right now I couldn't care less about anything than damn regulations!" I'm yelling now, yelling right in his face. "Do your fucking worst, General! I'm not going to sit there and watch while one of the most brilliant people in the world loses her mind to some alien influence!"
"Major Carter is in a coma, Colonel." he restates. "Other people have recovered from worse..."
"Correct me if I'm wrong, George, but other people don't usually have alien drugs in their systems when they're thrown down a mountain in their superior officers car." He doesn't back up an inch under my tirade, and I turn and start to walk away down the corridor. But not back toward the elevator. Oh, no, I'm heading for the control room.
"COLONEL O'NEILL!" he shouts.
"I LOVE HER!" I whirl on him and bellow it at the top of my lungs. We've gathered an audience of stunned airmen, gawping at the spectacle of Jack O'Neill finally having lost it, and, probably, collecting the outcomes of long-standing wagers. "I love her."
Officially having stunned everyone within hearing range, I turn on my heel and continue my march for the control room. "Consider me retired, General Hammond, sir. I'd like to request permission to go through the gate one last time. If ya don't give it to me, hell, you're gonna have to shoot me, sir."
~*~*~*~*~*~
I don't have a reputation for being great with technology. In fact the only thing I use my computer at home for is sending chicken joke emails to Teal'c. But you don't hang around Carter for years and not learn something about the system - and besides, we're all given some basic training in how to work the dialling system. I'm Hammond's 2IC. I get privy to a few of the lock-out codes.
Hammond stands at my shoulder, completely silent while I effectively dismantle the security measures he put in place. He's ordered the armed guards to stand down, but they seem very edgy.
The last chevron locks into place and the wormhole spews into existence. I give Hammond a last glance.
"Try not to make too much of a mess, Colonel." he says.
"Will do." Make a mess, I mean. Preferably involving a certain senator.
I duck down the stairs and into the gate room. The guards watch me, and I can feel Hammond's gaze on my back as I walk up the ramp. I don't look back in case he has second thoughts and decides to give the order to shoot me.
SAM:
Somehow my subconsciousness managed to dredge up the memories from the celebration on P3X 925 and set them out before me. Or maybe it was those guardians poking through my mind - I don't know. The pain in my leg is back with a vengeance, coupled with a headache, making any kind of thought hard to form or follow.
"Are you still there?" It's worth a try.
"We are still here," comes the reply.
"Tell me what to do next."
"We cannot tell you. You must find your own path."
"Okay, so what is it that you've shown me so far? And why those memories, those images?" Why the forest scene, the lab, the celebration?
"Usually that which has been eluding us is something we have known all along. The challenge is to acknowledge it."
"I can't acknowledge it if I don't see it!" I call through gritted teeth. "There is no correlation between them. They're just... randomness."
As if on cue, I find myself standing in a long, high-ceilinged chamber. I recognise it as a tomb, part of a ruined temple we found on P2Y 441. The far end of the room has long since collapsed, so that we can see the surrounding plains and distant mountains. This had been one of our more - restful - missions, an uninhabited planet on which the most danger to be found came from the annoying bites of the mosquito-like insects. Daniel had been entranced by the ruins, and some of them were pretty impressive, and Hammond had given us three days to let him decipher the scripts in the main chamber 'in case there is anything about the planet that might yield an answer as to the mysterious disappearance of its inhabitants.' The reason was apparent by the extent and type of damage; they had been mercilessly wiped out by the Goa'uld, and Hammond was only using this as a cover for keeping our resident linguist in good spirits after having forced him to abandon so many important anthropological finds on other planets. In any case, it had given us a lot of free time - that is, when not standing sentry, and when not helping Daniel.
I run my hands over the stone, which is ancient and worn, warm with the heat of the day. This place had been old when the Goa'uld hit, but had most likely only fallen into disrepair after they were gone, Daniel had said. I could understand his excitement, feeling the ancient surface beneath my fingers and wondering who had built and tended this place so long ago.
"Bit airy for my taste." Jack says from behind me, squinting up at the gaping holes in the ceiling and walls. "But, I could live with a skylight."
I pause, bringing my hand back to my side.
"Something wrong, Carter?"
"This is a memory," I say, leaning back against the wall. "Maybe a dream created from memory, seeing as how this environment seems to shape to fit what I say and do. I'm lucid here, not bound to play it out the way everything actually happened. Is this some sort of interactive tool? Something you use to communicate with me? Then what do you want to say, what are you trying to tell me?"
"Nothing." Jack looks confused. "You okay?" he comes a bit closer. In the heat he's removed his jacket, and is wearing his black T, which is clingy with perspiration. I realise that I must look similar, having decided earlier that it was worth putting up with the insect bites for the sake of feeling a little cooler.
"No, not okay at all." I say, slumping down against the wall, hard stone grazing my back. "My leg hurts and I can't think." I close my eyes, bringing my knees up to my chest. I want to go home.
"You're just tired."
I jump when his voice sounds from right next to me. I lift my heavy eyelids to look at him, crouched beside me and looking concerned. He pats my shoulder. "Relax." he says. "Come on."
An arm encircles my shoulders and coaxes me to lean into him. I pull away, but with no real effort. I let my head settle on his shoulder and relax into his arms. My eyes close involuntarily until the little part of my mind that will never sit down and shut up jerks me to wakefulness once more. I pull away, trying not to feel regret as Jack looks wounded.
"This isn't real, and you're not you." I struggle to put some distance between us. "Which is probably why that just happened."
"Probably." Jack replies sulkily.
I look around the place, and for the first time notice the subtle differences. Some areas of the chamber looked slightly fuzzy, as if out of focus. The far wall is an indistinct blur, and the light is tinged with a faint red that I don't ever remember having been there. It's as if by recognising that this is not real I have broken the illusion.
Jack stands up, dusting off his clothes, and looking at me expectantly. Only he no longer looks quite like Jack. He's taller, younger, his hair darker. He holds out a glass full of golden liquid. "May our spirits be guided on the right path," says Senator Melabinsan.
I take a step backwards, only to find the wall of the audience chamber right behind me.
"You seem distracted, Samantha." he says silkily.
The room is now populated with dozens of people.
And I'm going crazy.
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Poor Sam. I know the feeling.
Three more chapters to go!!