Chapter 22 – Adjusting
Sam growled, "Why couldn't someone have killed him!"
Hammond, Janet, and Jacob looked at her in shock but SG-1 was used to her gruff bluntness and knew that it was as much for show than anything, though they doubted she'd hesitate to kill him if given a reason.
Having lived on Nar Shadaa, she had adopted the defence of intimidation. If people were intimidated, then they were less likely to cause trouble. Unless they were stupid, which most of the occupants of the Smugglers' Moon were.
"It gets worse. We're pretty sure that the powers behind the CRDO have their hand in the grease that is the NID pie."
"Most of them," Daniel corrected. "There are a few genuine members of the council."
Hammond turned to Sam. "I know that your initial reaction is going to be to get them away or cover up for them, but there have already been several displays of an immense and supernatural power, and it's obvious that they're technologically advanced. Kinsey has somehow managed to get a hold of a lot of information, and we don't know how." Hammond paused before continuing gently, "He'll do his utmost to get access to all of this or at the very least, the aliens…we've seen it before, and he's had successes that we haven't been able to stop in recent years." Hammond paused again, letting all of this sink in. "It's your call, major…"
The skin around Sam's eyes tightened visibly at the use of her former rank, and she grimaced as she thought it over. "There's always the option of getting away from here, but to do that, we'd put you at risk…I doubt they'll give Jack command of the SGC, especially if they've got another person more sympathetic to their cause lined up."
Hammond nodded tensely. "They'd take the opportunity to put a civilian in power."
Sam stared at Jack for a moment, forehead creased in frantic contemplation. "I daresay Jack would have made General a long time ago if things had happened differently." She fell silent once more, chewing her lip sub-consciously. After a while, she nodded decisively. "We'll do this the diplomatic way. We'll brief them later, and they can make a plan of action to deal with this; I think Leia may just about be able to handle Kinsey."
Jacob frowned. "Are you sure about this? Remember that it will be you they're after too…I've seen you do some strange things recently…"
"Dad, Leia was a Princess of one of the most powerful and respected planets in the Galaxy. She faced down Darth Vader and defied the Emperor; the two most evil, and most powerful men in the Galaxy, she led the Rebel Alliance, and she founded an inter-planetary government in the after-math of a Civil war that caused the death of billions upon billions, including her home planet. I think she'll be fine."
Jacob glanced across at the small woman who was leaning against her husband; both of whom had a profoundly sad look on their faces. "I see."
"And make no mistake." Sam's eyes hardened and her voice took on a knife-like edge of steel. "If it comes down to it, I will get these people out of here if we have to knock out the entire base to do so."
"She will not be alone in her attempt," Teal'c informed them, glowering. He knew what it was like to be taken as an alien.
"Me three," Jack chimed in, the cheery comment at odds with his threatening tone and stiff posture.
"Me…four…" Daniel added.
Sam shot them a grateful smile. "Thanks, but I can't ask you to do that."
"Sam it's not optional." Jack caught her gaze and held it. "Where you go, I go."
Jacob narrowed his eyes at Jack and Sam but remained silent once again.
Sam nodded slowly. "Daniel stays with Janet, though. I'm not going to let any more families be split up."
Daniel frowned but nodded and caught hold of Janet's hand.
"Lets do this, then; the more we hold back, the more ammunition Kinsey has against us."
They reconvened at the table, and Sam looked down the table at the other Jedi. "We're going to tell all." Corran raised an eyebrow at her. "We have a situation with a not-so-nice faction of the government…we'll be briefed later. The crux of it, though, is that if we hold back then they'll have more to use against us."
Leia nodded in understanding. "If we hide anything and they find out, then they can discredit us."
Hammond nodded. "Then we'll begin." He hit the button on the remote again, and Sam spoke as if they'd just begun.
"Master Skywalker is the most knowledgeable about the Force and the leader of the Jedi, so I'll leave it to him to explain."
Luke rolled his eyes. "Thanks. The Force is life energy. It surrounds us and binds everything together. Certain individuals have an ability to access it and use it. Depending on the individual, there are many different skills, strengths, and inclinations. The Jedi are the protectors of the Galaxy and users of the Light side of the Force."
"Are there beings of the Dark side?" Janet asked.
"Yes, though there aren't many, and we do our best to stop people from falling to the Dark side."
"Our father, Darth Vader, fell to the Dark side and served the Emperor. Together, they very nearly took over our Galaxy, ruling with fear and hatred." The bitterness fled from Leia's voice as she made her next comment, a slight edge of pride creeping into it. "But in the end, he returned to the light and killed the Emperor."
Jack frowned. "Wait a minute, I thought Luke killed him?"
Luke shook his head. "That's just what the public think and say. No-one could believe that he could just turn on the Emperor. The Goa'uld in Derren turned to the dark side…when Sam killed him, the Dark-side energy in him was released, which is what caused the blue lightening effect. The same happened to the Emperor when he died, although he was falling down a shaft in the Death Star and his was much more powerful."
Hammond shook his head at the complexity of it and brought the topic back to what he needed to know. "So what exactly is it that you can do with the Force?"
"There are many uses, depending on the person." Luke grinned; he always enjoyed showing people for the first time and seeing the wonder on their faces. "Telekinesis, Sensory enhancement, increasing strength, split-second precognition in fights…there are a lot of variances and different uses for skills. We can sense other people's emotions unless they consciously block them out, we have enhanced healing; a lot of it is enhancement of natural abilities. One of the least common skills is the ability to plant images into the minds of people who aren't blocking them or aware of them."
Luke paused and Sam jumped in, "Another rare one is the ability to absorb energy and either use it or dissipate it…that's something that I'm particularly good at." Sam gave them a slightly proud smile.
Jacob looked at her sceptically. "How can we be sure that you can do this?"
Sam shrugged and resisted the urge to smile. With one hand, she gestured for her coffee mug to rise into the air and float over the table. Using the physical gestures that were almost habitual to her, she made the cup roll over, the liquid bubbling out in one large bubble that was reminiscent of a liquid in zero-gee. She played around with it for a few seconds before returning it to its mug and putting it back down. "Why not?"
Jacob turned to her with wide eyes before he lowered it, allowing Selmak to appear. "This is most unusual. Do you know what causes this?"
Sam shrugged. "The Force."
"But what is it that causes it?"
"I was going to ask the same question," Janet chimed in, a curious look on her face.
"We don't know…it just is."
"You have no explanation?" Janet was incredulous. "I'd like to run some tests if you don't mind?"
"No. Trust me Janet, thousands of years of research by Doctors and Medi-droids haven't uncovered anything; I very much doubt you will."
"But-"
"But nothing." Sam's voice was hard and all humour gone from her face. "If, after this malarkey with Kinsey, we're still here, then it's possible that – if they're willing – you might be able to, but not until then and not without permission."
Janet frowned and nodded. "Of course."
Luke and Corran shared a look; what was making Sam so protective over them? They were also wondering what she must have been like before that; with the exception of Daniel, Jack, and Teal'c, the people she knew were continually shocked by things she did, or said.
"So it's just Sam, Luke, Mara, and Corran who can use the Force?" Hammond asked.
"No, I have a little rudimentary training," Leia told him with a smile.
Jack waved a hand in the air a little. "Uh, I can, General. Kind of." Three sets of eyes swivelled disbelievingly at him. "Not much, though."
Janet pondered this for a moment before nodding in understanding. "That's why M-Sam could put you into a healing trance but not anyone else."
"Yup."
"So you can float things and stuff then?" Jacob asked.
"No…I'm not that good." He put the pen he had been flicking on the table and concentrated. It rose wobbily into the air and wove its way towards Jacob, attempting to draw a line down his face. It failed when Jacob cottoned on and swiped it out of the air, glaring at Jack.
"I think we can safely say that Jack can do it," he grumbled.
"I've only been learning two weeks, though, and I spent a lot of that time prepping for the assault on the 'gate."
Hammond sighed and looked at his watch before using the remote to turn the video off. "I suggest you prepare for Kinsey's arrival tomorrow and get some rest."
They all rose to their feet and headed off, Daniel guiding them back to their rooms. Sam, however, hung back and shooed Jacob and Jack on.
"What is it m-Sam?" Hammond was really finding it hard to remember to call her by her given name rather than her rank.
"Sir, I'd like my Lightsabers back please, as, I suspect, would the others."
Hammond frowned. "Lightsabers?"
"Cylinders, about so big, press a button and they turn into big glowing sword-things…"
"I'm afraid not; you know I can't allow any weapons loose on base."
"General, I don't think you understand. My Lightsabers are a part of who I am…I train with them, I sleep with them…I haven't been without them since I made them."
"I can't allow that, Sam, I'm sorry."
Sam sighed. "General, please; I'm not going to run off and attack the base."
"It's too much of a risk."
Sam's face hardened. She could kill any one of the people on this base by simply cutting of their supply of oxygen to their brain… "It's not like I'm asking for an automatic rifle, Sir."
Hammond scrutinised her for a moment. It was obvious that she wasn't going to give up without a fight…and if the NID tried anything…"Very well."
"Of course, sir…they're simply a ceremonial trinket required to be worn by Jedi law."
"I'll have them sent to your quarters…they've been prepared and some of your belongings have been taken out of storage."
"Thank you, Sir." Sam gave him a big grin before leaving, finding her father and Jack waiting for her.
"What was that?" Jack asked as they fell into step beside her.
"Just asking General Hammond if we could have our Lightsabers back."
"Oh?"
"They'll be delivered to my door."
"Lightsabers?" Jacob interrupted in confusion.
"Weapons of the Jedi…I'll show you later." Jacob nodded slowly before shrugging it off. "So what are we going to do about Kinsey?"
Sam sighed… "I think have an hour or two's rest and gathering info before we meet in the VIP common area."
Jacob nodded. "You want me to relay that to the others, get Daniel on pulling some research? You look like you need to rest."
"Sure… I'll go find my…" she turned to Jack, "where are my quarters?"
Jack smirked, "I'll show you."
Jacob narrowed his eyes at them before waving his goodbye and heading off.
Boarding an empty elevator, Jack keyed the right floor, turning to Sam with a worried look on his face. "You okay?"
"Tired," she replied. Her restoring sleep had been interrupted rather rudely by Jacob's arrival, and she hadn't bothered to tap into the Force to replenish herself. That didn't include the emotional tiredness, either.
Jack pulled her close for a brief hug, lending her his strength for a moment.
When they arrived at her new quarters, Sam was surprised to find that some of her old clothes had been stored in there and there were a few boxes marked as 'Sam's book's' or 'Sam's stuff', all in either Jack's untidy scrawl, Daniel's semi-neat handwriting or Teal'c's precise script. A few were marked by either Cassie or Janet, too, she saw.
Letting the door click closed behind her, she wandered over to one box and opened it, pulling out a frame. Staring at the old team photo, taken at the Alpha site so many years before, she felt some of her recently stirred up emotions rise again, threatening to spill forth. Putting it down and picking up a new one, she stared in wonder at the image of Daniel in a dress-suit, with Janet in a beautiful white gown and Cass in an elegant lilac bridesmaid dress.
She smiled wistfully at it. "Wish I could have been there," she said, feeling Jack's hand rest lightly on her shoulder.
"So did we."
Sam put the photo down and turned towards him, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Thank you," she said, knowing that it would have been him who had put the photo in there.
Jack smiled. "No problem." He leaned in and shared a long kiss with her. "I thought you'd died," he told her quietly, when they pulled apart.
"So did I until I landed in the 'gateroom. Who sent the code?"
"Artoo, I think."
Sam smiled and leaned in for another kiss, this one turning rapidly more passionate, both of them oblivious to the people who were walking up and down the corridor outside. They were both surprised when the door opened and an airman walked in, shortly followed by another, carrying all of the lightsabers between them.
Jack and Sam broke off and turned towards them in surprise, Sam raising an eyebrow at them.
"Uh…General Hammond sent us with the things you wanted, Ma'am, Sir…" they stuttered, obviously surprised, as they carefully deposited the Lightabers on the top of the nearest cabinet.
"Thank you, Dismissed," Jack ordered, arms still around Sam's waist. As soon as they'd left, Jack let out a groan. "The whole base will know a version of that within about ten minutes," he groused.
"So? It's not as if I'm your 2IC any more."
"Hmmph. Doesn't mean I want everyone to know about it."
"You're worried about that? By the time it reaches Dad, we'll have been having wild Wampa sex on the 'gate room floor."
"Aw crap!"
Captain Hailey knocked timidly on the door to the quarters that had been assigned to Major Carter. "Ma'am?" she called when she received no reply. She really didn't want to go in there just in case she found anything strange, but she had drawn the short straw for it.
No-one had seen either her or Colonel O'Neill for over two hours, not since the two airmen walked in on them doing apparently unspeakable things. She knew better than to believe what had obviously been an exaggerated story, but nonetheless, she didn't want to be the one to catch them in a compromising – and potentially disturbing – position. Especially when it was a person that they had all given up hope on. They thought that she was dead. They'd still held out hope for the rest of SG-1, who hadn't been gone quite as long, but after seven years, they'd grieved and moved on.
The return of a lost compatriot did wonders for moral, though, especially one as well liked and respected as Major Carter.
After several more attempts and failures at receiving a reply, she braced herself, setting her jaw forwards before opening the door, making as much noise as possible.
"Hello, Ma'am, Doctor Jackson sent me to get you to-uh, hello, sir." The two officers were lying spooned together on the bed and Colonel O'Neill had his arm wrapped around Major Carter's waist, resting in a precarious position. Fully clothed, to her relief.
Lifting his head from the curve of the Major's neck, where it had been smushed into her hair, the Colonel looked blearily up at her, squinting into the light.
"What?" he barked. The confused, sleepy look on his face could only be described as 'cute'; not something she usually associated with the ex black-ops Colonel.
"Uh, Doctor Jackson sent me to tell Major Carter that it was about time they started their brief now."
"Oh. Right." He leaned towards her and mumbled something at her. She mumbled back and he looked back over at Hailey. "How bad are the rumours?"
"Excuse me, sir?" Hailey frowned, not understanding what he meant.
"'Bout Doctor Carter and me?"
Hailey squirmed and grimaced. "You hadn't made it as far as the bed," she told them grudgingly.
"Captain, you're witness to the fact that for once, I am right, and Sam is wrong."
"Sir?" First, he'd made a point of calling her Doctor, and now he'd relapsed into Sam?
"She thought we'd be having…what was it?"
"Wild Wampa sex on the gateroom floor."
"Right; Wild Wampa sex by now."
Hailey gaped, floored by the openness and friendly humour shared between them; something she hadn't seen before in 'perfect little major' Carter, though it was almost to be expected from the Colonel.
The colonel turned back the short distance to the still prone form of Carter."What is a wampa, anyway?"
"Big, hairy, grumpy thing that lives on Hoth, likes to eat people."
"Oh. Eat people?"
"Luke."
"Ah."
They must have suddenly seen that she was still standing there as the Colonel redirected his gaze to her and waved her off. "Thanks, dismissed."
She started to leave and then turned back to them and, taking a deep breath, said one last thing. "Major Carter, Ma'am, on behalf of every one of the members of the SGC who have been here long enough to remember you, I'd like to say that were glad you're alive and that you're back."
Without waiting to see her reaction, Hailey snapped a salute, spun on her heel and walked out.
As soon as she was halfway down the corridor, she let out a breath that she hadn't realised she'd been holding. That was the reason that they hadn't simply delegated the task to a lowly airman.
News of Sam Carter's return had spread like wildfire, as had the rumours about her being able to fly, stop bullets with her hand, and to kill a person with blue lightening. Everyone knew that these were exaggerated, but they also knew that anything was possible at the SGC and the truth might be just as amazing, if only in a different way.
When Hailey returned to her lab, she found several people gathered there, including her CO, Colonel Reynolds, who was looking at them all as if they were mad.
"Sir? What can I do for you?"
"I just came by for some information on our last mission…what are all these people doing in your lab, Captain Hailey?"
"Uh…"
"Bearing in mind that half of them ran when I arrived."
"Well, Doctor Jackson asked us to send someone to tell Major Carter to meet them for their briefing, and I drew the short straw, sir."
"Right…?"
"We decided to let her know that the SGC was glad she was okay, Sir," Major Pilman cut in. "It was my fault sir, I told her to do it." He stepped forward, jaw set and willing to take the blame.
Reynolds stared at them for a moment, a glimmer of humour lighting up his eyes. "Now I know Captain Hailey is not someone who usually gives two damns about rumours and gossip…the rest of you, however, I'm not so sure about. This didn't have anything to do with the rumours that have been flying around over the last two hours, did it?"
Everyone in the room with the exception of Hailey and Reynolds shifted uncomfortably.
"I thought so." He looked around the room sternly, the glimmer in his eyes still there. "Next time, try and be a little more subtle." He broke into a small smile. As long as the rumours weren't detrimental to the 'victims,' then there was nothing wrong with them…they did wonders for base moral and inter-team friendships.
"Uh, yessir," Pilman replied, slightly taken aback. Hailey grinned; she knew what her CO was like and hadn't been at all worried.
"I'll come back for those files later, Captain."
"Yessir." She resisted the urge to laugh as he left, and everyone tried to salute him all at once within the confined room.
As soon as he was gone, they all crowded impatiently around her central workbench, looking at her expectantly. "What?" she asked.
"Captain…spill," Pilman ordered her with a smile.
She shrugged. "I told her we were glad she was back."
"Not that!"
Hailey sighed; she hated gossiping, but they wouldn't leave her alone till she 'spilled'.
"Nothing to tell, really. Colonel O'Neill was there, but they were asleep on the bed."
"Together?"
"Yes."
"So they were sleeping together in the bed?"
"No…they were sleeping together on top of the bed, fully clothed." She smiled a little. "It was…cute."
"Never thought I'd hear Hard-ass Hailey use the word 'cute'."
Hailey levelled her gaze at the back of the group, where she was sure the voice had spoken from. "Then maybe you would be better off not listening to rumours and gossip." She pointedly began typing up a report on her latest experiment, disappointed when no-one left. She looked up at them and raised one thinly arched eyebrow.
"Did you find out anything else?"
She sighed in frustration. "Only that Major Carter jokes more and she…I dunno, I guess she's not the 'perfect little major' anymore. Happy now? Then go!" she shooed them away impatiently, wondering why she'd let herself get roped into this. Although she had relaxed a lot since she first joined the SGC, there were certain things that would still wind her up to no end.
"Howdy, Campers!" Jack called as he sauntered into the room. "We bring gifts," he added as Sam followed him in, holding up a Lightsaber and silently asking whose it was. Luke held up a hand, and Jack threw it to him, passing the second one to Corran. Sam passed Mara and Leia theirs.
"We're allowed these?" Luke asked as he clipped his to his belt.
"Yup, they're, uh, ceremonial, and required to be worn by Jedi law."
Mara snorted. "Of course they are."
Sam cast her eyes over the room. Everyone was here except for-
"Jacob?" Jack exclaimed as the Tok'ra stalked into the room, cocking his head to one side and reaching out with the Force.
"Jack O'Neill, are you sleeping with my daughter?" Jack could sense that Jacob was somewhere between anger, irritation, and amusement.
"Well, that depends what you mean by slee-" the trace of amusement that he had previously sensed vanished in an instant. "I can honestly say no, I am not and I never have." Yet, he silently added.
Some of the tension seemed to seep out of Jacob's shoulders, but most of it remained.
"Then why the hell does most of the SGC seem to think you are?"
"Ah…well that's just…you know what the SGC's like for gossip."
Jacob narrowed his eyes. "All of the gossip is based in some kind of truth."
"Uh, yes, of course it is," Jack replied awkwardly.
Sam rolled her eyes and decided to cut in, pushing back the anger that had tried to rise at Jacob's angry question. "Two airmen walked in on us kissing, that's all, Dad."
"Kissing? You were kissing Jack!"
Sam folded her arms across her chest and raised an eyebrow at him. "Yes, and?"
"And…he's Jack!"
"Gee, thanks," Jack interjected sarcastically.
"Yes, I know," Sam replied fluidly.
"And…you're my baby girl," he finished weakly.
Sam locked eyes with him. "Hate to break it to you, but I haven't been your baby girl in a long, long time." He held her gaze for a long while before finally breaking it off.
"No, you're not, are you." It was a statement, not a question, said quietly and sadly.
Someone coughed and they jumped into action, Daniel sneakily walking up to Jacob and muttering in his ear, "That doesn't mean she isn't your daughter any more."
"Daniel, you filled them in on Kinsey?"
"Yeah, he sounds like Fey'lya," Han answered, giving them a wry grin.
Jack grimaced. "Yeah, that's what we thought."
"Leia, I want you to do the diplomat stuff. Kinsey's going to try everything he can to discredit us, make us seem like the enemy, and eventually gain the right to make us test subjects for the CRDO. He has no scruples and he'd just as well see sentient experimentation that anything else. He'll try and force us to give technology that can be used for weapons and the like…most of all, he wants power."
Leia gave her a wry grin. "Sounds like a senate meeting. I won't let any of you down."
Dentralla growled a comment, which Threepio dutifully translated. "Mistress Dentralla respectfully asks what we will do if Mistress Leia is unable to talk her way out of the situation."
Sam's face turned grim. "Then we'll dial a safe planet and get out of here, without using lethal force. That includes taking out General Hammond; he can't be implicated in this."
"Sam…how are we going to do that?" Corran asked sceptically. "If this Kinsey's anything like Fey'lya, then he'll use it against them anyway."
"That's what this briefing is about…the rest could have been done easily."
A few hours later, they had a plan laid out, carefully engineered so that none of those who were staying behind would be implicated in any way.
Sam, Jack, Teal'c, Corran, Luke, and Mara had taken the lead of this, with the occasional insight from Major Gelk or Pelari as they were the key tacticians and knew most about the SGC procedures and the like.
Sam slumped back in her chair, running a tired hand through her hair.
"You okay?" Corran asked her, giving her a worried look.
She nodded. "Just tired…only had a few hours sleep." She yawned.
Corran nodded in understanding. After that long in a healing trance, she'd need fifteen or sixteen hours' sleep to catch up, rather than the meagre three or four that she'd managed.
Over the few hours that they'd been figuring out the plan, he'd noticed that she wasn't as distant with them as she had been earlier. She wasn't quite as close as she usually was, but she was building up her trust in them.
"It's not that I don't trust you," she told him quietly, eyes still closed. "It's just that I let myself get close to you, and it hurts that you didn't trust me with it."
"I'm sorry, it's just…"
"I know, but you can do that and expect me to just bounce right back straight away."
Corran nodded and gave a wistful smile. "If Mirax knew about this, she'd have given me an earful," he told her.
"I'm sorry…we'll find a way back." She wouldn't let herself feel guilty; it was entirely the fault of the Goa'uld and she had no illusions about that.
Corran snorted, not believing that it would be possible. "One thing at a time."
They were started out of their quiet reverie when Dentralla lifted a table and sent it flying, growling furiously at Threepio.
"Oh my! I apologise, I didn't mean to offend you-ahhh!" Threepio went flying as the large Wookie clouted him on the back of the head.
Sam was immediately on her feet, rushing forwards and grabbing the Wookie's arms in a loose, comforting grip. "Hey, calm down 'Tralla." Dentralla roared at her but at least stopped beating the defenceless droid. Sam coaxed her into calming down, comforting her quietly as the SF's who had come rushing in found themselves held back by an invisible barrier.
"Have you been stuck in here the entire time?" she asked her quietly.
Dentralla huffed a forlorn affirmative, sitting heavily on the large sofa.
"Thought as much," Sam muttered.
"Sammie, what is it?" Jacob asked, warily keeping his distance.
"Wookies are tree-dwellers. Their homes are built in huge trees that stand tens of kilometres off the floor, and they don't like confinement, particularly underground. 'Tralla's particularly bad, because she's been deprived of freedom for so much of her life, and she was locked in a tiny cage between work years ago." Everyone had surprised looks on their faces; they didn't know any of this. Sam had only found out after one long trip across the galaxy when Dentralla had started going crazy on board the Peacemaker. Han and Leia had noticed that Chewie would become irritable on long trips, but he had got used to travel on ships years ago.
Sam glanced over the rest of them, scanning them with her Force-sense as she did it. "I guess you're all getting a little fed up of this room." She paused for a moment before looking at Daniel. "You know when Kinsey arrives tomorrow?"
"Uh, afternoon I think."
"Good." She glanced at Dentralla for a moment before beckoning her to come with her. She silently beckoned Jack to join them as she informed the others that she'd be back shortly.
"What are you up to?" Jack asked her as soon as they'd passed the SF's that were guarding the door, Dentralla loping sullenly along beside them.
"If we meet with Kinsey with 'Tralla and Chewie like this, it's only going to be trouble. Besides, it's not fair on them, so I was thinking a little off-world trip." She ignored the looks that they were getting from people they passed.
"Ah. Where?"
"Uh…depends where it would be daylight at the moment, or nearly daylight."
"Right…the-"
"Major Carter!"
"Oh God, Felger."
"He's still here?"
"Unfortunately."
"Major, you're really alive," he exclaimed breathlessly as he caught up with them. He moved as if he was going to hug her, but stopped when Jack coughed pointedly.
Sam smiled for a split second. "Felger."
"Oh wow…we all thought you were dead, and there was this beautiful memorial, but now you're back and you're…you…and you have a giant alien friend…wow…"
"Is there a point to this? We were heading somewhere," Jack interrupted.
"Oh, no...well yes, but no. I just wanted to say that I'm glad you're back." He moved forwards again, as if to hug her, and Sam held up a hand. Felger bounced back off of the Force wall she had raised and rubbed his nose. "Heh, I'b oday, I'b oday…jusd hurd by dose."
Dentralla, who had been fidgeting and shifting from foot to foot finally got fed up of the delay and roared in his face, telling him precisely what she thought of him before grabbing him by the shoulders and lifting him bodily out of the way. She deposited him none to gently behind them, allowing them to carry on walking.
"Uh, bye!" he called as they continued down the corridor.
Sam shook her head as they walked. "He means well and all, but he's just so…"
"Creepy? Weird? Obsessive?"
"I was going to say accident-prone, but that works too."
They continued without interruption to Hammond's office and, seeing him talking irately on the phone, they waited outside.
After about ten minutes, he waved them in, a sorrowful and pained look on his face, echoed by the angry pain that they could sense rolling off of him.
"Sir, I'd like to request that we be allowed off-world overnight," Sam started, deciding that discretion was the better part of valour. She felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach when Hammond shook his head at them.
"I'm afraid I can't allow that."
"What, why not?" Jack demanded as Sam laid a calming hand on Dentralla's arm.
"Colonel…" Hammond warned, not liking the Colonel's tone.
"Sorry Sir, but there's no reason-"
"General, this isn't just some whim, 'Tralla's going to go-"
"If you'll let me finish," Hammond cut in icily. "I've just been ordered to place the two of you under arrest."
"What!" Jack bellowed. "Why?"
Hammond shook his head. "For breach of the anti-frat regs…you'll be facing court-marshal in two days."
