"So…, I'll either have a different position of some sort… or I'll retire…maybe do that civilian consulting gig… but either way… regs shouldn't be an issue anymore… and I should have the chance to ask a certain Lt. Colonel out for that date…"
A slow blush and smile stole onto her face, but without breaking his gaze, she replied, "I guess that's just more incentive to get that 'Gate connection working…"
And he couldn't hide the answering fire in his eyes.
- - -
- - -
Ch 56: SLIPPING
- - -
Day 35; 77th DOP (89.8ED); WK 13
During the first session of the morning, they made two connections and held each of the wormholes connected for just over a minute. Sam was tired, but not enough for Jack to stall their next attempt.
The second session started 'normally', with Sam placing her hand on the now-so-familiar hourglass etching and closing her eyes. The 'Gate powered up and the inner ring moved slowly, although smoothly now, and not with the uncertain pace of 3-4 weeks ago.
The images of the wormhole and the two planes appeared quickly and she easily held them still and calm while awaiting Jack's arrival.
Jack watched the familiar sequence carefully, watching both her and the 'Gate and his stopwatch. When his chronometer read 40 seconds, he gently lay his hand on her forearm and let the familiar sensations of electrical-fizzing followed by a pleasant warmth wash over him.
The two planes and the wormhole appeared before his eyes and he scanned the configuration while he got his bearings. He could feel her waiting patiently. Next he scanned the view of stars in the distance between the two planes. As usual, he didn't recognize any familiar constellations. Finally, he let her know that he was ready and he felt her answering assent.
Slowly she pulled back from their current view.
Pulling the two planes apart.
Widening their field of view.
Searching for familiar constellations and/or an operating wormhole connection.
Some time passed and they found nothing new.
Time was difficult to measure here.
They scanned in companionable silence for recognizable star configurations.
Nothing… and no new wormhole connections appeared.
Neither of them grew discouraged yet. As difficult as time was to perceive in this realm, they both knew that their session would end after only 7 and a half minutes. Not truly enough time to be realistically discouraged if they didn't find anything.
And then their field of view slid sideways and away from their control. He could feel Sam's puzzlement as she tried to pull the planes back under control. But the view kept skidding sideways and then the two planes pitched downwards in a vertigo-inducing arch that made both of them pull back as they were swept uncontrollably over the waterfall of iridescent light fibers.
The view between the two planes rotated and twisted as it continued to slide sideways. Jack felt for her reactions and he didn't feel fear or frustration, just pure concentration as she focused on bringing their realm back under their control.
And then everything jerked to a stop.
They each froze and stared, waiting to see what was going to happen next.
He felt her take the mental equivalent of some deep breaths as they both watched the now quiescent scene.
'You ok?' he asked.
'Fine,' came back with a warm reassurance. 'You?'
'Peachy,' he sent back and hoped she could envision his smirk. And then a feeling like a warm, bubbling chuckle washed over him, and he knew that he'd succeeded.
'What happened?' he asked and he could feel her mental shrug as she answered.
'I don't know.'
They spent a few more moments watching the two quiet planes, the silent wormhole and the slowly drifting view of the distant stars.
'Ready to try again?' she asked.
'Tired?' he countered.
'A little,' she admitted, knowing that he could feel her fatigue, 'But I'm fine,' and he felt her send him a challenging grin.
'Alright, we try again,' he acquiesced but then qualified it with, 'But we stop if something like that wild ride happens again.'
He felt her agreement and then she was panning their view out and scanning slowly over the distant stars. They both returned to their inspection of the star configurations while also keeping an eye out for any light blue ribbons of light.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Two weeks and a half weeks passed and they fell into a pattern of working with the 'Gate for one day followed by 3 days of resting and working around camp. Their sessions with the 'Gate yielded results that ranged from no wormhole connections to as many as 3 connections in one session. During Session 3 of Day 47, they experienced another loss of control as the two moving planes and the view of stars between them slid and skidded around in a disorienting tandem that caused them both extreme bouts of vertigo.
Their permanent shelter was taking shape as the simple one-room log cabin that they were intending. The floor was complete and they were trimming and notching thin logs for the walls. With just the two of them, they were not attempting to fell large thick trees, and were culling out thinner, younger trees that were lighter and easier for them to manage. Planning to overlay their roof with woven and interleaved branches and fronds from native plants, their goal was a water-proof structure that would shelter them from future rain and/or wind. While their finished cabin would not withstand a hurricane, it should protect them from most other storms.
On the personal front, while they had not vocally pursued their conversation of two weeks ago, they had allowed themselves to show their affections more overtly. They sat next to each other at the campfire. He would hold her not just as they went to sleep each night, but he would also hold her while they were relaxing on the river bank. He'd fish for awhile and then when he'd had enough, or caught enough, he'd sit down next to her and prop himself against the same tree trunk she was dozing against. Then he'd gently pull her over so that her upper body was resting against his chest. And then he'd doze off with his arms wrapped around her loosely.
Today, as he slipped her over and onto his chest, he watched and listened as she mumbled something incoherent and then settled down again.
Smiling, he allowed himself to feel this moment.
To feel this time and place.
To be here with her in his arms.
The river rippling by below them.
The light and shadows playing through the trees and reflecting off the water.
His thoughts mused over their days and weeks on this planet.
Just the two of them.
And the pattern and routine of the past few weeks.
Days of work and days of rest.
Times of gritty reality and times of dreamlike serenity.
The dichotomy of building a life here punctuated with the surreal days spent groping with the 'Gate for a way home.
They both knew that they had to find a way off of the planet.
They needed to find a way home.
And yet, at the same time, they needed to plan for the possibility that they would be here for years… or even longer.
And how would their lives unfold if they returned to Earth?
Neither of them knew the answers.
He was certain of some things, uncertain of others.
The depth of affection and feelings that he had for her.
Of those he was certain.
And he knew that she had feelings for him.
But what would they be able to make a reality back on Earth?
Earth. As he held her comforting warmth in his arms, he wondered what his two other teammates would think of the new tenor to the relationship between Sam and himself.
Earth. And, his thoughts drifted to the melee of politics and struggles that were ongoing without them. And he knew that there was a lesson there. He closed his eyes and allowed himself to feel her in his arms.
Earth. And now his thoughts drifted to wondering about the SGC and who the CO was now. And, as both Sam and Jack had speculated many times, he wondered what Daniel and Teal'c were doing. If they were assigned to different SG teams? …Or if they had a new member or two of SG-1? …Or if they were still searching for the two missing officers?
Jack knew that the SGC could not still be continuing any extensive searches for them as they had been MIA for a little over 15 weeks… almost 4 months. On the other hand, he knew that both Daniel and Teal'c were tenacious and he could envision the two men arguing persuasively for them to be allowed to continue searching even after all other SG teams had been returned to their regular mission schedule.
They were SG-1 after all.
A team of the most unlikely combinations.
A burned-out special ops soldier with a knack for getting the job done, no matter what.
A geeky archeologist with a compassion and understanding of people that was unparalleled.
A military scientist and aviator detoured from the astronaut-track.
A Jaffa who was strong enough to rebel against thousands of years of culture, tradition and religion.
He had to grin at his woefully inadequate synopses. Each of them was so much more… brave, loyal, brilliant, steadfast, competent, trustworthy, valiant, self-sacrificing…And that, he knew, was why they worked together as a team. Because in spite of their disparate backgrounds and personalities, they had the same core values.
They were SG-1. And he knew that even if the Daniel and Teal'c were only allowed to search between regularly assigned missions… he knew that they were still searching.
- - -
- - -
TBC
- - -
- - -