The first step on a new road towards an uncertain future.
Authors note: I can't think of anything to write, other than thanks, again, to everyone who reviewed.

Chapter Four: Connections

The control room, nerve center of the SGC. Here , in the possession of the United States Air Force, lay the Stargate, a device that served to make wherever it lay a crossroads in the galaxy. As Colonel O'Neill had once said, 'It's our onramp to the intergalactic highway of fast, flashy lights and mean surprises.' She had always before held a sense of wonder and excitement when here, but the feelings current power now transcended any that had come before it. Her nerves were afire with anxiety and adrenaline had released itself into her bloodstream, making her about as tightly wound as she could ever remember being, but in a good way. At last, things were starting to go right.
"Major Carter, you may begin the dialing sequence."
"Thank you sir." Seated at one of the control consoles, Walter, the usual gate technician, at the other, Samantha Carter entered the sequence of seven symbols that would engage their wormhole towards a previously un-explored world where, and she not only knew this in her mind but could feel it in her bones, something wonderful awaited them. The great inner ring of the alien artifact known as the Stargate spun to life seeking the proper symbols to create their wormhole. Within moments, the first of the symbols was locked into place. "Chevron one, locked," she reported with audible pleasure.
"So, what are we looking to find here again?" Once again, her immediate COs imagination was running on overtime, probably dreaming of 'big honking space guns.' "Big honking space guns?"
She couldn't help but smile. He obviously had been itching to get to the Tollan home world and acquire one of their ion cannons. Maybe this trip would render that one unnecessary. "The Ancients were the most advanced race ever to live in our galaxy and they once helped a lesser race construct a weapon we eventually calculated to be over ten times as powerful as the Tollans ion cannons. While their weapons, or whatever they used to protect themselves, might not be along the same lines, they would definitely be worth whatever efforts we put into them." The second chevron locked into place. "Chevron two engaged."
"So..." Jack went on, "maybe?"
Again, she couldn't help the smile that came to her face. "Maybe, sir."
He smiled that smile that made him look like a kid in a candy store. "Sweet." He turned his attention back to the Stargate.
"Well, even if we don't find any weapons there, finding some sort of defensive technology may mean that we don't have to defend Earth by fighting the Goa'uld. Maybe there'll be some sort of special wide area shield," Daniel said.
"One can only hope, Dr. Jackson. The Pentagon has been trying for years to find a way to create a larger, stronger, planet-based version of the Goa'uld force shield but they haven't had any success." Hammonds thoughts on the matter were quite clear with that statement: the less soldiers whose lives he had to risk to keep earth safe, the better. She thought he might actually prefer finding such a shielding system over weapons if it meant that the Prometheus, their F-302s, and multiple SG teams didn't have to go out and actually engage their enemies.
The third chevron locked into place. "Chevron 3 engaged," she said.
"I agree, General Hammond. Any technology that can be used to defend Earth and other bases will be of great use in our fight against the Goa'uld." Teal'c sounded hopeful, and he had reason to be: such technology would mean that Earth might be able to commit forces to actually helping free his Jaffa bretheren instead of dashing about madly just to find something that might save their skins when Anubis attacked. Carter grinned a little; if even Teal'c were excited about this, maybe her contagious enthusiasm was a sign that she had finally found the jackpot.
Beside her, at his control console, Walter turned to face her. "Major, are you sure these symbols are correct?"
The fourth chevron locked into place. "Chevron four engaged." She turned her gaze to meet his. "Yes, why?"
"Because I've just gone through the list of all our compiled addresses. Your entry is in here, and it was added when the Colonel was temporarily in possesion of the knowledge of the Ancients."
Daniel moved to Walters console. "So, it was obviously hidden, unknown to the Goa'uld. That's great, that means Sams address was known only to the Ancients, meaning this is probably-" He broke off in mid-sentence, narrowing his eyes at the screen where Walters finger indicated. "Oh."
'Oh?' That didn't sound too promising. "What is it?" she asked. The fifth chevron locked before them. "Chevron five engaged."
"General," Daniel motioned the bases CO to the console where the Stargate addresses were listed. The Texan moved forward and stared for a moment at the screen, eventually letting out a sigh. It sounded like a dissappointed one. Before her eyes, the sixth chevron locked into place. "Shut it down."
"What?!" It came out somewhat louder than she had intended. Five heads looked at her strangely. "Why?"
"Because we won't get a lock, that's why. Do it." Walter nodded and moved his hands to enter the code to stop the dialing procedure. Before he could get there, however, Carters hands flew over her own console, locking the controls and halting the inner ring in mid-dial. "Major? I ordered the dialing procedure canceled. Is there a problem?" His tone indicated that there had better be a damned good reason for her to violate his order.
"Sir, we're seconds away from dialing the address, why would you assume it wouldn't work for no reason?" Hammonds eyes narrowed at her, indicating she may have stepped over the line. When he spoke, she was sure of it.
"Major, my trust in you and SG-1 is rock solid. I would hope the same would go for your trust in me?"
"Yes sir, never occured to me that it shouldn't be." Jack responded promptly like the military officer he was.
"I wasn't addressing you, Colonel."
"Oh. Sorry. Reflex." His eyes, too, fell on Carter. She fidgeted a little under the combined scrutiny of the two most high-ranking officers in the SGC. Daniel and Teal'c also regarded her strangely while Walter looked miffed at having been cut off in the midst of his duties. Not a lot of people on her side all of a sudden.
"Of course, sir. It always has been, no exceptions."
"Then you trust me to make the best decisions not only for this command, but for Earth as well, correct?"
She wasn't liking where this was going. What WAS on that console anyways? She didn't dare move to look at it presently, though. "Absolutely sir. I just don't-"
"Do you think I would EVER give an order around here, particularly regarding the Stargate, without a damn good reason?" Yep, no mistaking it, he was angry. Rightfully so, too; she would probably be even MORE so in his position. Whoa boy, this was definitely not looking good.
"No sir, of course not. I just don't understand why-"
"Take a look at the address in the list, Major." His tone made it quite clear that it was not an invitation so much as an order, one she didn't dare put off. Speaking not a word, she opened up the address list, dreading finding something that she felt she should have seen coming. Finally, she got there, and disappointment and defeat welled up in her like a dark, oppresive storm cloud. The address WAS in the list under the section of destinations attainable using the combination of symbols O'Neill had provided with the help of the Ancient database. The address had been scheduled for dialing just over two months ago, right before her mission on the Prometheus.
The address had been dialed. No connection had been formed, though. It was a dead end.
"Shut it down, Major. Major?" She didn't hear him, though. Inside her, turmoil raged: an overwhelming despair fought with an iron-clad certainty in the veracity of her choice. It HAD to be right, it HAD to be there. But if it was, they couldn't get to it. It was over, her last shot at finding out just what the hell her feelings had been driving her towards for these past few weeks was gone. The urge to cry out in anger and despair was almost overwhelming; if she hadn't been so shocked by what she was seeing, she might have done just that. Instead, she simply looked at the data appended to the address: 'Attempted 2/15/04. Connection failed. Attempt rescheduled for 3/30/12, time allowing.' The automated dialing program had put off the attempt for another eight years! By that time, they'd all be dead or enslaved by the Goa'uld. It couldn't be, she couldn't believe it, it just COULDN'T be true!
"Major!" The sound of the generals firm and angry voice shocked her out of her bout of self-pity and disbelief to face him. "Release the controls for the Stargate and disengage the dialing sequence, now!"
"Carter?" Jacks voice caught her attention, not because he dared interrupt what was going on or because she felt the need to concentrate on someone else besides the imposing Texan general before her. It was his tone, a pondering and curious one that forecast some piece of information that might help in the current situation. Whether it was information she wanted, though, that was another story. "Didn't we run into something like this before?"
That caught General Hammonds attention. "What do you mean, Colonel?"
"Well, that time we went to the Amish planet-"
"...Amish?"
"Uh, I think he's talking about the K'Tau system, where we accidently short circuited their sun," Daniel interjected.
"Right, that one. Anyway, we had trouble dialing the first time, so Carter decided to override some protocol or other. Maybe that's what we need to do here."
"Colonel, those protocols were put back place and never again overridden to ensure that we never again caused such a near-catastrophe as the one we nearly visited on that planet. Are you recommending abandoning such safety procedures again?"
While the Colonel was thinking this over, an idea occured to Sam. 'Of course, why didn't I think of that before?' "Sir, the colonel is right, but not the way he was thinking." The silence she got from the general encouraged her. "The reason we couldn't get a lock was because we would have passed directly through K'Taus sun, violating one of the safety protocols. Now we never again disregarded those safety protocols for fear of causing another such accident. However, if this is a similar situation, and there's no reason to think it isn't, the position of PFR-444 will have changed relative to its sun. The star would no longer be in the way, meaning we could go ahead without fear of any ill effects."
"IF, and it's a very large if, Major, that is the case, then I would have no problem authorizing a go ahead. However, you have no idea just what is preventing the connection. Even IF your theory about it being the position of the planet relative to the star were correct, that star could be massive and the planet close or far away enough to have a short or long enough orbit that two months might mean the planet has barely moved at all or that its already gone around and is back in roughly the same position it was in previously. It's most likely, however, that the gate is just buried, like God knows just how many others, in which case this is a waste of time and energy that we can't afford. Have you thought of ANY that?"
Indeed, she hadn't. Every single word he spoke ran true to her; all perfectly logical and not only plausible but quite likely. Still, she had to do it. They HAD to find this place. She was out of justifications and excuses, though. Only one course left. "Sir, I know it seems like a long shot, but given the possible rewards, isn't it worth just this one attempt? If EVERYTHING we've ever sought is out there, just waiting for us to engage that last chevron, isn't it worth the extra minute and megawatts of power just to try?"
There wasn't a sound in the control room except for the steady humming of the computers. All eyes were on General Hammond, who was gazing at the Stargate. For a long moment, he didn't speak, didn't move, did nothing. She barely realized it, but she was holding her breath. "Sir," Hammond looked at her, expression unreadable, "please?"
He heaved a heavy sigh. Fear and anger built within her, ready to burst forward and consume her should this last chance vanish. Earth certainly wouldn't last eight more years with Anubis out there, getting ready to strike. They needed this, SHE needed this. A last, desperate thought of resuming and locking in the dialing sequence before he could say no, no matter the consequences, flew through her mind. She would have acted on it had he not spoken: "Very well, Major. Finish the dialing procedure."
Several people, Carter included, let out the breathes they had been holding. "Yes sir." She turned back to her console and unlocked the controls, then reactivated the dialing procedure. "Chevron six is already engaged."
The inner ring spun, rolling towards the symbol of Earth, their point of origin. No one spoke; the tension was tangible, an invisible cloud descended to the depths of the mountain, smothering them all. Sam felt it most of all. It had to happen, it had to be right. She didn't know what she would do if the connection didn't occur. She closed her eyes and, for the first time in years, prayed.
Seeing her preoccupied, Walter took up the duty of watching and monitoring the connection status. The seventh chevron finally slid into place. "Chevron seven..." he trailed off.
"Please," she whispered.
A familiar sound echoed through the silence of the bottom of the mountain: a locking sound. "...locked," Walter finished.
She opened her eyes in time to see wormhole burst into creation. Relief flooded through her, warm and refreshing. "General?"
He didn't waste one moment. "Send the MALP through." Within moments, the treaded robot made its way up the ramp and through the event horizon. Visual, audio, thermal, spectrographic, and atmosphereic data began streaming back instantaneously, revealing a world of wide open plains with small, rolling hills in the distance. The sky shone red under cover of clouds that obscured what was likely light from a red giant. A quick rotation of the camera revealed the DHD, the Stargate, and not much else.
"Looks all right, sir. No dangerous radiation or toxin readings and the air is breathable. Can't see any sign of hostile activity, Goa'uld or otherwise. It's all clear."
"Right. SG-1, suit up, you leave immediately."
"Yes sir. C'mon campers, let's get a move on." Jack beckoned them all to the locker room. "Time to find us some space guns!"
Sam got up, following Daniel and Teal'c out of the room. She stopped, however, when she felt a hand on her shoulder, making her turn around. It was General Hammond. "I'm glad you were right, Major. Next time, however..."
She nodded and swallowed at the same time. "Yes sir, I understand; it won't happen again."
"Glad to hear it. Now get going."
"Yes sir." She turned to leave, pausing at the doorway. "Sir?"
"Yes Major?"
"Thank you, sir, for believing in me."
"I always have Major. You've never let me down before, I've no reason to believe you'll start now."
She smiled at him, then left to join the rest of SG-1 to suit up for the trip to PFR-444.

"Daniel, I told you, those glasses aren't yours, they belong to me. And don't tell me you bought a pair just like mine, because yours appeared just days after I lost mine."
"Yes, thank you Jack for admitting what really happened: you lost yours."
"Yes, because you took them. I lost them to your thievery."
Ignoring the ranting of her teammates, Carter finished fishing her gear out of her locker. Strapping on her flak jacket and combat vest, she checked the Beretta M-9 in the holster at her hip: 15 rounds, a full clip. She slapped the magazine back in and loaded the pockets of her vest with several extra clips. Then she ran through the same routine with her P-90, letting the automatic rifle hang from her shoulder by the strap. From the ammuntion locker, she took four fragmention grenades and hung them from the hooks on her vest. Sliding the Bowie combat knife into its sheath on the back of her combat belt, she reflected that, instead of the usual casual preparedness that had been drilled into her by the Air Force, something deeper, more primitive, was impelling her to arm herself as best possible. It was chilling, slightly, to think that whatever had forced her to act on some hidden instinct in the belief that such actions would lead to wondrous results also failed to alert her to some fundamental danger awaiting her. Was it possible these...feelings were driving her into the jaws of some unknown danger?
"So," O'Neill's voice cut into her thoughts made her jump a little, "everyone ready for another exciting excursion into the unknown?" The smile O'Neill was wearing was infectious, but she forced herself not to smile anyways. Still, she had to wonder what made him sound so happy.
Fortunately, she didn't have to inquire; Daniel asked the question for her. "You're in a good mood, all of a sudden Jack. Did you take your ritalin for once?" He ducked as Jack swiped at his head, smiling michieviously. THAT she had to grin at; six years of working with Jack O'Neill had started to rub off on Daniel Jackson.
"Space guns, Danny," he said as he followed Teal'c out of the room. "We may be finding space guns today!"
"Riiiight," was Daniel's response. As soon as the two warriors were out of the room, he turned to Sam. "So, big day."
"Yeah," she agreed. His silence engaged her curiosity and she glanced at him. Those deep blue orbs were starin intently at her, knowing what was coming. Still, it didn't make facing it any easier.
"Sam, you didn't actually get that information from any of my artifacts, did you?" When she hesitated to respond, he pressed further. "What's going on anyways? I'll support you no matter what but, if you want my help in this, it'd be good for me to know what's going on. I can't just-"
"Daniel," she cut him off, "you're right, I DIDN'T get the information from your artifacts. The source I got it from was even more reliable." This only seemed to confuse him. "Trust me, whatever questions you have will soon be answered, if not by what we're about to discover then by me. I promise you, everthing will be explained soon." She waited for his response. Several uncomfortable moments went by while the man she thought of as a brother seemed to ponder her words. "Hey," Sam put her hand on his shoulder and squezed, which he responded to by meeting her gaze again, "I'm thankful for your support, believe me, you have no idea how much. Still...just a little while longer? That's all I ask." Finally, he sighed and nodded his head. "Thanks, Daniel." With that, she left to follow Colonel O'Neill and Teal'c to the Gate room.
She and Daniel arrived as the dialing sequence was halfway through. O'Neill was polishing his sunglasses and Teal'c was, as always, looking stoic. Perfectly normally beginning to God knows what sort of mission this would turn out to be. "Nice of you two to join us," O'Neill commented conversationally. "So, Carter..."
"Sir, for the last time, I don't know if we're going to find any weapons systems."
"Just checking." They went back to staring at the spin Stargate. "But there's a chance, right?"
"Always is, sir." 'I just hope it's not pointed at us.'
He seemed to mull this over, then shrugged. "That'll work for me."
Before them, the seventh chevron locked into place. A voice issued from the control room, "Wormhole engaged," at the same time as the event horizon materialized. The turbulent symmetrical blue plume of energy rippled into existance, then stabilized in the flat vertical pool they had become so familiar with.
"SG-1, you have a go to PFR-444," General Hammonds voice filtered down into the embarkation room. "Good luck."
"Thank you, sir," O'Neill responded. "Okay, campers, time to raid the alien tech store." With that, he and Teal'c plodded up the ramp towards a new, unexplored planet over 40,000 light-years away. Sam followed, trailed a couple feet back to her right by Daniel. Of all the trips they had been on, all the feelings she had experienced before those plunges through space/time, no previous mosaic of emotions could compare to now going through her head. Glancing at her teammates, she knew they were excited too, but that seemed to be about it. There was no trace of fear, doubt, or anticipation of danger. Her corresponding feelings weren't anywhere near what she had been feeling as little as two hours ago. Still, there was that gnawing sensation of uncertainty inside of her, making her wonder just what it was that was pointing her in this direction. Just what was beyond this wormhole, anyways?
As Teal'c and the Colonel walked though the event horizon, Carter steadied her nerves. 'Well, it's about time we found out the answer to both those questions.' Inhaling and exhaling one last breath just two feet from the event horizon, she stepped forward and plunged into the cosmos towards destiny.

TBC

Magnets, review magnets. My many review magnets are pulling the reviews from you. Very powerful, do not resist the urge.