- - -
She didn't let her focus waver from where the light blue ribbon had ended.
'Just for a second?' he understood her proposal.
'Just for a second,' he acquiesced.
Cautiously they advanced the wormhole towards their goal.
She provided most of the focus, while he watched warily.
Closer, closer... closer...
And then, it connected.
Their glowing white ribbon stretched in a long graceful arc out and down and over to that distance point in space. The rippling of the two planes smoothed out as they too mimicked the long graceful arc of their wormhole.
- - -
- - -
Ch 53: PALE ORANGE
- - -
- - -
'Now we're done,' he thought firmly and she didn't object.
They broke the connection and then watched as the end of their glowing white ribbon relaxed and contracted while the two planes began gently undulating.
He could feel her excitement and satisfaction.
They had just made real progress.
After what seemed only a few moments more, the images faded and the connection ended.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
They both crumpled to the ground.
Disorientation and exhaustion overwhelming their systems.
"Whoa...," Jack groaned and Sam was silent. "Sam?" he finally managed as he tried to focus on her.
No reply. With his vision rapidly refocusing now on the physical world around the Stargate, he pushed himself up on one elbow and leaned over to her, "Hey, Sam, say something," and he gently laid his hand on her upper arm.
She was lying on her side, half curled up, and with her eyes squinched closed. He shook her gently, "Sam," and he couldn't keep the worry out of his voice.
And then she gave a small groan followed by, "I'm here... just got... a vicious attack of vertigo and exhaustion as we disconnected," and she opened her eyes to squint at him.
"Well, just lie back and relax, there's no hurry," and at his words she closed her eyes again and relaxed under his hand and he could tell that she was concentrating on taking slow, even breaths.
A few moments of silence passed and then without moving or opening her eyes, she asked, "How are you feeling?"
"Just a little tired," he confessed and continued his scrutiny of her.
She slowly opened her eyes and blinked up at him. "No vertigo?"
He shook his head negatively, "Only before that blue thingy, and you helped me out there. Wish I could help you out right now, but I'm not in your head anymore," he pointed out with a small smile.
She gave him an answering smile, "Guess I'll just have to hug the ground for awhile."
"Lucky ground," he muttered just below his breath and then slapped an innocent look over his face when she looked up at him questioningly. Ignoring her silent question, he shifted his gaze into the distance. He waited patiently for a few more minutes and then asked, "Feeling any better?"
"Actually, yes," she replied and he could hear the returning strength in her voice. Hearing her moving, he turned and helped her into a sitting position alongside him. He scrutinized her face. She looked tired and worn, but he could almost visibly see her mind begin to analyze their experiences of the past 15 minutes.
He didn't even try to hide his smile of bemusement when she finally refocused on him. "What?" she asked.
"Nothing," and he knew that his super-innocent tone would both annoy and amuse her.
And sure enough, she narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously at the same time that he could see a smile trying to tweak the edges of her mouth.
"So...," he invited her to make observations or conclusions about their latest session with the 'Gate.
"So...," she sent back distractedly as she had quickly drifted back to sifting through various possibilities and ramifications in her mind.
"That blue ribbon was pretty cool," he decided that a little more direction was necessary.
And then she couldn't contain her smile of amusement at his words, "Yes, it was," she agreed.
"And it was...?" he prompted, needing to hear it in words.
She looked at him thoughtfully, "Another wormhole... between two other planets..."
He nodded, "That makes sense," as it agreed with what he had concluded.
"And it gave us a concrete destination to direct our wormhole to," she continued.
"And we connected," he knew the answer to that, he'd seen it.
"Yes, we did," she confirmed, "Unfortunately, we have no idea to what planet... we could have connected to any one of thousands and thousands of Stargates scattered across our galaxy... or even to one in another galaxy."
He lifted his eyebrows and then dropped them, "We still need to figure out some kind of directory or internal map that we can use while we are connected."
She nodded, "I have tried recognizing the configurations of stars, but the shifting view between the two planes keeps me offbalance... and I haven't been able to identify anything that I can use as reference." With a thoughtful tone, she remarked, "The view stopped moving once we focused on the light blue wormhole...," and, again, he could almost hear her mind whirring through the ramifications and possibilities.
He gave her a few more moments and then, "Allright, we've done enough for today," and he saw the reluctance in her face, but she didn't try to argue. She knew that he wouldn't be persuaded to change his mind– not after collapsing and 'hugging' the ground after they'd disconnected.
He stood up slowly and dusted himself off. "You stay there and rest a bit longer," he ordered as he made his way over to the camera. "I'll bring your doohickeys to you."
When he returned a few moments later, she was propped up against the base of the 'Gate. Handing her the camera and the laptop, he let her take care of downloading the latest sequence of pictures while he began an inspection of the area around the 'Gate. Looking for anything out of the ordinary... or anything that may have changed while they were connected to the 'Gate and unaware of their surroundings. He was still decidedly uneasy with this set-up that required that they were both essentially defenseless for seven and a half minutes. Unfortunately, he had yet to think of a viable alternative, so he had to continue to rely on the fact that this planet had yet to present them with anything that might pose a significant danger for the few minutes that they were connected.
- - - - - -
Fifteen minutes later, he returned to find her leaning back, with her eyes closed. Both the laptop and camera were powered down and sitting quietly by her side.
"Hey," he spoke softly as he approached.
She opened her eyes and gave him a wan smile, "Hey back."
"You look bushed," he assessed critically.
"Yeah, that last session took a little extra out of me... I think it must have been the connection to the other Stargate," she postulated.
He crouched down by her side and looked her straight in the eyes, "Sam, I need you to be 100-percent honest with me. You're tired... anything else?" and he waited expectantly.
She shook her head negatively, "No," and at his look she added, "I promise!" And then she gave him another small smile, "I think a good night's sleep will take care of it," she proclaimed with sincerity.
He stared at her hard for another few moments and then relented, "Well, you just stay here while I pack things up."
She opened her mouth to protest, but the reproving look on his face stopped her and she acquiesced- but then muttered just below her breath, "Yes Ja-ack," and then slapped an annoyingly familiar look of innocence on her face as he narrowed his eyes at her.
- - - - - -
When they returned to camp, Sam crashed in the tent for a nap without argument. Jack put things away and policed the camp before deciding that a nap was exactly what he wanted as well.
- - - - - -
Jack awoke to mid-afternoon light. She was cradled comfortably in his arms. He knew that he was getting too comfortable sleeping with her in his arms. If they did figure out how to get home, his nights would be decidedly lonely back in his old bed in his own home.
Unknowingly, Sam's thoughts were wandering along similar lines. She was lazily drifting just below full consciousness, unwilling to let go of the warm drowsiness. She lingered in the feeling of his embrace. His chest spooned against her back. His arm curled around her waist, and her arm snugged up against his.
He focused on her breathing, as he'd done countless times over the past few weeks. Slow and even. Healthy, full breaths. He felt reassurance warm his heart.
He knew when she woke up. He felt the slight hitch in her breath and then felt it settle back down again. "Hi," he offered quietly.
"Hi yourself," and he knew, without seeing her face, that she was smiling.
"How do you feel?" he asked.
"Much better, thanks," she returned quietly. "How do you feel?" she returned the question.
Smiling into the back of her head, "I actually feel pretty good," he admitted, "but I think it's not as much due to the nap as it is to the company."
He felt her chuckle more than he heard it, and then she pointed out, "It's not like you have a lot of choices on that front," and there was a warm humor in her tone that belied the harsh reality of her words.
Her words, and their meaning for both of them, sunk in though and he pulled back from her. Sensing his change of mood, she turned to look at him, "Jack?" she asked softly and with concern.
He gave her a weak and apologetic smile as he slid out from under the covers and focused on putting his boots on. She watched him silently, unsure of what to say or do.
"I'm going to... take a look around outside," he finally spoke up and then ducked out of the tent.
- - - - -
She watched him leave and then flopped back down.
Uncertainty flooded through her.
Their relationship had always been so complicated.
So multilayered.
And now they were friends.
And she knew that she was falling in love with him.
Or had already.
His words to her constantly confused her.
Always dancing around the edges of actually saying something concrete.
But that was nothing new.
That's where their relationship always seemed to be stuck.
In the multi-layered comments and looks.
She realized that as their friendship had deepened here on this planet... that she had learned to understand Jack O'Neill, the man. She could see below the multiple layers of galactic superhero. He was still all that, but she also realized that it had helped that he hadn't actually had to save the galaxy in the past three months!
She now had a strong affection for him that was deepening into love.
What she didn't know was whether or not he felt the same way... and whether or not she would be his choice simply because there were no other choices here on this planet.
- - - - - -
He paced the clearing outside the tent.
Glancing over at the tent every now and then.
Mulling over her words.
She was afraid that the affection that he had for her was because she was the only woman around ... and therefore his only choice.
And he too, was afraid that her feelings towards him were a product of the same situation... because she had no other choices.
And neither of them wanted to take advantage of the other's lack of choices.
Great! And he silently cursed their situation.
He paced and muttered for another half-hour. Finally spent, he focused on the quiet tent. Steeling himself, he walked over and unzipped the tent. Sticking his head in, he saw her looking back at him. "You don't have to stay in here," and he kept his voice non-confrontational.
She eyed him uncertainly, "I'm sor-,"
And he interrupted gently, "So am I," and he gave her a small smile. "C'mon, let's start getting stuff ready for dinner. We missed lunch."
She watched him for another moment and then gave him a very small, hopeful smile and a nod. "I'll be out in a few minutes," and she started rooting around for her jacket and boots.
- - - - -
They quietly worked around camp. Taking care of camp chores and dinner preparations didn't require much discussion. They each knew what needed to be done and pitched in on whatever task needed to be completed next.
After dinner, their conversation focused on their experiences during that last session with the 'Gate. By unspoken agreement they mutually agreed to temporarily postpone further discussion of the topics almost broached this afternoon... which proved that even intergalactic heroes could be cowards in some facets of their lives.
Sam brought up the sequence of digital stills and they stepped through them carefully, watching for any changes.
"There!" Jack pointed at the screen and Sam stopped the frames from advancing.
She scrutinized the event horizon but did not see what he was looking at. Seeing her quizzical expression, he gave her a small, knowing look and pointed at the side of the screen – where they were standing in the photo. "There," and he pointed at her hand.
Following his direction, she focused on the picture of her hand on the 'Gate and... then looked up at him in surprise, "Sharp eyes," she commended and then turned back to the screen... where a faint green glow was leaking out from between her hand and the 'Gate.
He shrugged, "You just weren't looking at yourself," he commented knowingly.
And that made her pause... because he was right. She hadn't been watching herself very carefully in the photos. She'd concentrated on the 'Gate, the event horizon... and the images of him. Watching for changes in his posture or facial expression. Ruefully, she realized that he'd been doing the same thing... except he had been watching her posture and facial expressions.
Tilting her head in acknowledgement of his observation, she began slowly stepping though the photos again. Next, they saw the event horizon ripple and then there was the characteristic sideways flushing before it settled back down to the rippling vertical pool. Also of note, the glowing white intensity of the event horizon was dampened and it was now a more definite cool pale orange. Checking back at the image of her hand, the faint green glow appeared to have remained constant; neither increasing or decreasing in intensity.
And then a few frames later, the event horizon wavered, faded and then re-established with its more familiar orange-tinted white glow. But that only lasted a few seconds and then it too faded, the 'Gate powered down and the two of them crumpled to the ground.
Sitting back, they both pondered the data and their experiences.
"Well," she broke the silence, "I would say that we definitely established a connection to another Stargate... to which 'Gate?... on which planet?... I can't even guess..."
He nodded his agreement, "And now we know that it takes more out of you to do it," he assessed critically.
"At least it doesn't work completely like the Sentinel," she stated and then clarified. "We are operating it by a combination of man and machine, but it doesn't require the complete assimilation of the 'human component'."
"It's a damn good thing too," he stated warningly and then added, "You're not the only one willing to follow someone into the afterlife to kick their ass," and he raised both eyebrows to punctuate his sentence.
She blushed and looked back down at the screen. "I think we should set up one of the laptops to broadcast a continuous signal during our next session. I could use one of the SGC encryption codes and we could send a repeating, coded message that would include the designation of this planet, our names and a short sentence stating that the DHD here doesn't work."
He thought that through and nodded, "If anyone else receives the signal, they won't know who we are unless they can decode the signal. It's a calculated risk... we'll only be in danger if they decode the signal or have the equivalent of 'star-six-nine' and want to dial an incoming wormhole to us after our 'Gate shuts down."
She nodded silently. They both knew that if anyone dialed in to this 'Gate immediately after they'd disconnected, then the two SGC officers would be completely vulnerable. Jack might be able to regain his senses before the visitors figured out that the two Tauri were over by the side of the 'Gate, but Sam wouldn't be much help at all, if today's experience was anything to go by.
"What are the odds that we're going to be able to connect with a 'Gate on a world where there are SGC personnel around who will recognize our type of transmission?" he ventured.
She shrugged and then sighed, "Very small," she admitted, "But I don't see any other options."
- - -
- - -
TBC
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