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Author's Note: I want to thank all of the readers who have sent such wonderful feedback. Sam and Jack's journey is far from over... the upcoming chapters have more new discoveries and developments that I've been working hard to get onto paper and into the computer. I hope you enjoy the saga... :)
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"What did you do while I was asleep?" she asked curiously.
"This and that around camp. Played cards. Slept a lot. You made it look so inviting," and he gave her a quirky grin. "But mostly I watched you," he admitted and she looked uncomfortable.
'But mostly I watched you,' his words echoed silently in her mind as she pondered the flickering flames of the campfire.
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Ch 45: ORANGE WHITE
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As they slipped into their eighth week, Sam and Jack settled into life on P8X-539... they still couldn't agree on a name. Sam continued to regain her strength while Jack watched her every move. When she grew restless and started complaining about his oversight, he knew that she was just about back to normal.
Today, Jack was currently pottering around camp while Sam had taken the short walk to the 'Gate to check out their alarm system. Actually, he'd spent the past half-hour nervously watching the path from the 'Gate and checking his radio. This was the first time in over two weeks that she'd been out of his sight for any substantial length of time or purpose.
Mentally summing the numbers, he estimated a 10 minute walk to the 'Gate, a 15-minute look around and then a 10-minute walk back... total time – 35 minutes. So... give her an extra 15 minutes at the 'Gate clearing... and that brought the total to... 50 minutes...
"Jack?" came over his radio and he snatched it up.
"Sam?" he sent back quickly.
"Just checking in, how're you doing?" she replied.
"Fine, just fine," he returned. "When do you think you'll be heading back?" and he tried to keep his voice casual and nonchalant, but she wasn't fooled.
"Oh, another half-hour or so," she sent back.
"Whatcha doing?" he asked curiously.
"Just checking some stuff around the 'Gate," she sent back unhelpfully.
"Ah," he returned. "Need any help?"
"Not yet," she replied.
"All right, be careful," he couldn't help adding.
"Yes, Jack," she sent back and he could hear her 'eyes rolling' in her tone.
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Twenty minutes later and he decided to walk to the 'Gate and meet her. Either to drag her back for lunch, or to bug her until she decided to come back as the path of least resistance.
Five minutes down the path and he heard it.
He heard the 'Gate power up.
He started running and then came to a screeching halt just before the clearing.
Throwing himself onto the ground he peered out from the low bushes towards the 'Gate.
The 'Gate was lit up and the inner ring was moving sluggishly.
Grinding.
Without the explosive kawoosh.
No roiling tumbling ball sprang forth.
A simple event horizon snapped into existence.
Except it wasn't even that simple.
Because it was a glowing white...with a slight pale orange tint.
Definitely not the typical blue.
And then it snapped and disappeared.
The 'Gate powered off.
The clearing was quiet.
His eyes scanned for evidence of Sam, but she was nowhere to be seen.
Figuring that she'd ducked into the brush around the clearing, he spoke softly into his radio, "Sam?"
No reply.
The radio and the clearing were quiet.
He tried again, "Sam?"
"Jack?" came back clearly.
"Where are you?" he asked with his eyes scanning the clearing carefully.
"The other side of the 'Gate," she replied.
"Did anything come through the 'Gate?" he asked.
"No...," she replied, "It wasn't on long enough."
He watched the clearing for a moment as her words sunk in and then he slowly stood up, "You're OK?"
"Yes," she returned.
"Right - I'll be right there," he informed her as he stepped cautiously into the clearing, with his P90 ready... just in case.
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He found her sitting on the ground beside the 'Gate. "Hey," he greeted her with a questioning look.
"Hi," and her guilty expression told him volumes.
"So... let me guess... you figured out a way to get the 'Gate working... and you decided to test it without telling me?" he asked knowingly and with a slight undercurrent of anger.
"Sort of," she admitted reluctantly.
"Sort of?" he asked incredulously, "I saw it power up, Sam!"
"I didn't think anything was going to happen," she sighed.
"Then why did you try it?" he asked bitingly, still angry that she could have been hurt when he was back at camp unawares.
She sighed again and looked at him for a moment and then, "Jack, we can't stay here," she replied.
"We aren't staying by choice," he pointed out and she nodded.
"Look, after your fever and then your spill in the river... I realized... we can't stay here... not just the two of us... all it will take will be one infection... one bad injury that we can't fix... we don't have the medical facilities that we need. If we stay here, one of us is going to end up here alone," and she closed her eyes at the images.
He looked back at her, remembering his thoughts after the injuries of his tumble down the river. She was right. Eventually, one of them was going to get too sick for the other to heal... with either their dwindling medical supplies... or that green-glowy thing. One of them would die... and the other would be left alone. "So you figured something out...?" and he gestured at the 'Gate.
"More like remembered something," she confessed and then at his confused look, she continued, "All of our talk... our sharing stories... remembering the start of the Stargate program... and then that weird green-glow...," and she looked at him uncertainly and he nodded that he was -sort of- following her thoughts, "and I remembered something from just before I was pulled off the Stargate project and sent to the Pentagon," and her voice was thoughtful and her eyes were slightly unfocussed as she concentrated on her memories.
"One morning, I was down at the base of the 'Gate... working on some of the power connections, when I was distracted by some of the markings and panels on the side of the 'Gate – they looked like those," and she gestured up at the base of the stone plinth behind them.
"I started running my hands over the markings, trying to figure out if they had a functional purpose or if they were simply etchings and inscriptions that told a story or some such," and here she stood up and walked over to point at the engravings. He pushed himself up and stood by her side, inspecting the inscriptions.
"These panels are just like the ones on the base of our 'Gate..." and she took a breath, "And when I ran my hand over a panel that looked just like this one-," and her hand hovered over an engraving that looked sort of like an hourglass.
His hand grabbed hers and pulled it back. She looked at him questioningly. "Demonstration later, explanation first," he instructed knowingly and she just nodded.
"When I touched that... panel... the Stargate suddenly powered up," she continued. "I pulled my hand off immediately and it went silent again. Everyone else tried their luck, but nothing would happen."
"Until you touched it again?" he guessed and she nodded reluctantly again.
"We didn't have any time to follow up on it after that. No time for anything scientific. The project was being shut down in a few weeks and we were scrambling to finish the tests we had originally slated for the next several months," she sighed. "And when the project started up again, we were off to battle with Ra... or some other Goa'uld or some such... and I never had a chance to follow up on...," and she gestured at that panel again.
"I think I'd pretty much forgotten about it... I'd figured it was a fluke anyway... must have been some crossed wires that day or something... either that or one of the techs was having a bit of fun with a prank or some such...," she looked over and met his eyes and then shrugged, "But the past couple of weeks... with our walks down memory lanes... and I've had plenty of time to think of ways to try and get the 'Gate working..., and then I noticed these panels in the stone today...," and she shrugged again.
"You should have told me what you were going to do," he admonished.
"You're right," she admitted, "I'm sorry. I honestly figured it was going to be nothing. These panels aren't even in the Stargate itself, they are in the stone plinth that the 'Gate is resting on."
"Didn't look like nothing to me," he returned with one eyebrow raised at her and she winced apologetically again.
"Sorry," she repeated.
"You won't do that again without telling me, right?" he spelled it out for clarity.
"I won't do that again without telling you," she agreed and her tone was similar to that which Cassie had used in her early teenage years.
"Good," he took what he could get and then asked, "Was it light orange when you did it all those years ago?"
"No, we didn't get an event horizon at all," and her gaze grew thoughtful.
"Well, this time the 'Gate lit up and the inner ring started turning, but it was sluggish and jerky, and then this weird orange-white event horizon snapped into place. No kawoosh," and he pantomimed the watery explosion with his hand.
She nodded, still thinking, "The event horizon was green when the Atlantis crew gated to the Pegasus galaxy... but I don't know what an orange-white color means."
"What exactly did it do when you touched it before you were sent to the Pentagon?" he asked for clarification.
She shrugged again, "It powered up... but there was no event horizon... and the inner ring didn't spin... nothing moved... it just lit up, like it was getting ready to do something."
"Mmmm... so what's different this time?" he asked as they both pondered the possibilities.
"Well, for one, these panels are in the stone base... the stone must be made of special minerals... maybe to produce some kind of amplifying effect... probably some naquadah...," and at that they looked at each other knowingly, "And then there is the naquadah in my blood," she finished.
"But how were you able to get anything to happen 10 years ago? You didn't have naquadah in your blood back then," he stated.
She shook her head because she didn't know the answers, "No, I didn't have any naquadah...," and she kept thinking outloud, "But many things from the Ancients are keyed to genetics... maybe I just have the right combination of DNA?" she postulated.
"Maybe that explains the green-glowy thing too?" he proposed.
"Maybe...," and her voice trailed off as her scientific mind crunched through the possibilities and then she shook her head, "But we just don't have enough data to answer these questions, yet."
"So how about we get some more data?" he suggested and then stepped forward and laid his hand on the panel. She jumped forward in alarm.
But nothing happened.
The 'Gate stayed silent.
He pressed his hand flat against the stone etching and waited.
Nothing.
He heard her release her breath and he turned to see that she now had her eyes closed in relief. But then they snapped open and he received a full-force glare. "What did you think you were doing?" she demanded angrily.
"Isn't the pot calling the kettle black?" he returned with raised eyebrows.
"So it's not ok for me to do it, but it is ok for you?" she asked, although the glare lessened in intensity.
"Still sensing the pot and kettle thing here," he avoided a direct answer.
"Rhrhrhrh," and there was that growl again. Coming from deep in her chest.
A look of both surprise and amusement spread over his face and did nothing to lighten her mood. "Well, nothing happened anyway," he pointed out. "Looks like its still just you that makes the 'Gate light up, Sam," and he gave her a suggestive grin and she rolled her eyes.
She sighed and looked away from him and back at the hourglass etching. He could see the wheels turning again.
"Sam, let's get some lunch and talk about what we should do next," he proposed and kept his voice casual.
She looked up at him and then back at the 'Gate before acquiescing, "Yeah, you're right," and she turned and kneeled down to reset the 'Gate alarm before they left.
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At lunch, she argued that they needed to explore this new discovery. She argued that they needed to find a way to 'Gate home... and that this was the only current avenue with any potential.
He played devil's advocate, although he actually agreed with her - even if he didn't want to. He would have much preferred a scenario where he was the one who would be activating the 'Gate. He would have much preferred that he was the one in potential danger... and not her.
But he played devil's advocate so that they could run through everything that they knew. Think through all of the possible scenarios. Compare with all of their years of 'Gate travel experience.
She knew what he was doing. And she went along with it. They needed to run through it all. Make sure that they were as prepared as they could be. But she didn't tell him of one possibility that occurred to her. She didn't have any proof one way or the other of any similarities, but she knew that if she even broached the subject of the Latonans, then he wouldn't allow any further experimentation with the hourglass panel.
So they hashed through what they knew.
And what they didn't – which was too much.
Jack finally agreed to further exploration, but he first demanded that she take another week off from anything physical. They both knew that she wasn't yet 100-percent recovered from the effects of healing his injuries.
She didn't argue. A week would give her time to think and plan.
No scientist could argue with that.
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TBC
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