"Her mind is lost in the interdimensional realm traversed by the wormholes. We could not reach her, but you may be able to," Lya returned empathetically.
"Because of our… connections with her?" Daniel asked and the Nox nodded quietly.
"So what do we do?" Jack asked again and the two Nox smiled gently at him.
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Ch 64: SEEKING
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"We will provide the conduit for one of you to search for her," Lya replied in her soft, soothing tones.
"Where do you want me?" Jack returned with determination and Daniel and Teal'c exchanged a quiet look which did not go unnoticed by the military officer. "Look, I'm the one who's been in there with her on those 'Gate sessions… I know what she… feels like…"
Daniel and Teal'c both raised their eyebrows at that, but it was Daniel who dared to say it, "What she feels like?"
Jack grimaced and sucked his breath in between his teeth, "I don't know how else to describe it…but when we were connected to the 'Gate… I could feel her there with me… there was this warmth, that I just knew was her," and he elaborated a bit on what he'd told them earlier about the 'Gate sessions. "And we could… sort of talk… to each other… in our minds…," and he took a breath here, "just feelings, intentions, simple questions… but we could definitely talk to each other." And now the two Nox were nodding with understanding while the other three Tauri looked politely dubious, Thor looked impassive and Teal'c looked curious.
"General O'Neill is correct," Anteaus spoke quietly, "His connection with Colonel Carter promises the highest chances of success. The connections between each of you is different, and the bond between O'Neill and Carter has grown and developed through the events of the recent past."
Daniel and Teal'c exchanged another look and then Teal'c nodded his agreement silently while Daniel spoke verbally, "OK, Jack goes first," the archeologist granted.
That hurdle passed, Jack turned back to the Asgard and the Nox, "So what do I do?"
"If you would lie down in the biopod," and Thor waved an arm towards the empty pod, "We will attend to the preparations."
Jack took one last look at Sam's placid face and then slid into the waiting pod. He stared upwards impatiently as Thor ran some baseline scans and measurements of Jack's current biosigns. In the meantime, Anteaus and Lya positioned themselves between the two pods. With their backs touching, Anteaus stood facing Jack and Lya faced Sam.
"You may begin when you are ready," Thor informed the Nox who nodded silently.
With their backs touching, Anteaus raised his arms and crossed them at the wrists over Jack's chest while Lya did the same over Sam. "General O'Neill, if you will close your eyes and relax…," and Jack did as he was told… at least the closed eye part… the relaxing part was more difficult to command…, "We will take you to the realm where Samantha's consciousness currently travels… you will have to seek her out and bring her back… we will await your return…"
Sighing at what he would normally classify as metaphysical mumbo-jumbo, Jack tried to relax… concentrating on searching out that feeling of her. Reaching out for that sensation of warmth that he knew was her.
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Daniel, Teal'c, Dragon and Jennifer watched silently as the solid forms of the two Nox wavered and became translucent. And then so did Jack's and Sam's. Thor monitored his readings carefully, but did not interrupt.
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Amorphous forms wavered fluidly inJack's mind. He recognized the rippling movement and then the images started to solidify and stabilize. The two familiar planes stretched out before him. Parallel to each other and canted askew to his current orientation. He slowly righted himself, placing one plane below his mental 'feet' and one above his 'head'. Giving himself an 'up' and a 'down'.
He looked around for the glowing thread of the wormhole, but could see no sign of it. He slowly turned 360 degrees, his eyes straining into the distance. But that shining white ribbon was nowhere to be seen.
He strained to pick up the distant stars visible in the narrow window between the two now-static planes. Faint pinpricks of light shone back wanly.
Again, he slowly turned a full 360 degrees, searching for anything… for any sign of her. But he saw nothing else. Just the two planes and the distant stars.
'Search within yourself,' softly spoken as if on a gentle breeze, and he knew that it came from Lya.
And knowing instinctively what the Nox meant, Jack felt for Sam again. Searching for that feeling of her presence as he turned slowly around again, letting his eyes travel over the endless vista.
And then his slow rotation stopped.
Of its own accord.
And he felt a soft gentle pull.
His eyes saw nothing but the endless plain below and the endless plain above, but he moved slowly with the pull, allowing it to tow him along.
The iridescent fibers of light caught and refracted the rainbow of colors back at him. Slowly streaming past, time passed indefinitely.
And then he felt it. A fuzzy warmth that he knew was her.
'Sam?' he tried.
But only silence answered him.
And then his movement slowed and a distortion in the plane above caught his eyes. He scanned the upper surface as it slid slowly towards him. The parallel fibers were distorted… there was… a tear in the glimmering surface. The opening between the torn edges was clouded with a rippling curtain comprised of a shifting milieu of colors, not unlike the shimmering of a multi-colored event horizon.
He reached out for her… and felt her warmth again.
She was in there.
He studied the shimmering curtain.
'Sam?' he tried again.
Silence answered him.
But he could still feel her.
And that magnetic pull was tugging him towards the shimmering puddle.
He scanned the area around him carefully.
Assessing the situation.
The two planes.
The view of the stars in the distance.
He reached out to check and feel for the connection back to the Nox.
And it was there… but faint. So very faint.
Just a mere soft breath in the distance.
He focused on the shimmering surface again. And he knew with certainty that when he went through, he would lose the connection back to the patient Nox… he would lose the connection back to his normal physical realm.
His gaze slid over the wavering pool. His objective was simple: 1) Go in, 2) Find her, 3) Lead her back through to here, 4) Return to their normal space.
So simple to state, and yet there was so much that he had no clue how to accomplish. Just for starters, he knew that she was beyond this shimmering curtain, but he had no clue what he would find, or how he would get them back.
Would he be able to reorient himself when he returned to this point?
Would he be able to feel that oh-so-faint distant presence from the Nox?
Or would he simply become lost in here, just as she was?
He had no way of knowing the answers to these questions.
Carefully, he focused on that feeling in the distance that he knew was the Nox.
Trying to let them know what he was about to do.
But the connection was too faint, too thin.
He couldn't communicate with them… he could just barely feel them in the distance.
Resolute however, he turned back to the gently rippling surface.
There was never any doubt in his mind about where he was going next.
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TBC
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