Head Trip - Chapter 12

First was not pleased with the results of the first mind probe on Carter.

"I am disappointed in you, Fifth. What seems to be the problem? Have you lost the ability to obtain data from the prisoner? I thought your skills had increased to an admirable level. Do you want me to assist you?" The icy tone carried with it a hidden message.

He thinks I'm not good enough; I'm "too human", too weak. I'll show him – I'll show them all. I am much more powerful than they think.

Fifth returned his leader's stern look and assured him that he was about to return to the prisoner and, this time, it would be a productive session.

Carter had lost all sense of time. This could be her second or third day on the planet. The cubicle was sterile and cold, containing only the basic amenities for her physical needs. At least they allowed her that. Drinking water and what seemed to be a compressed protein bar were being delivered regularly through some type of teleportation device. At first, she was reluctant to try the food and water, but, as she realized that her plan to defeat Fifth would take all the energy she could muster, she started to consume what was placed before her. She found that the food bar was much more palatable than Thor's protein cubes, and nothing untoward had happened. Of course not, Carter – they want your mind first before they mess with your body. That thought only served to energize her more.

There were no doors or exits of any kind that she could discern. As she waited for her captor to return, Carter started to play with the physics of it all: Fifth's ability to move through concrete barriers at will and reconfigure himself on the other side. Was that really happening? Were these walls what they seemed to be? Yes, hard and cold to her touch, yet ...

Sam was beginning to doubt if her perception of reality were the truth. Perhaps her confinement here were another illusion, part of the game these Replicators played. Fifth had done that before to her, on Orilla, with the "farm in Montana". Did he leave an imprint of reality in her mind again? Was he keeping her here through a mental suggestion?

She realized that she would have to learn how to read Fifth's mind, literally, in order to save her own. And, in order to do that, she would have to gain his trust.

Besides, there was more at stake here than her own life. She needed to determine if this was, indeed, the Replicators' new command center.

What were they doing here? What were they planning now that their RepliCarter had failed her mission? Were they mobilizing for future attacks on unsuspecting planets? Were all the elders of this planet completely gone, transformed into human-form Replicators? Was this a laboratory of some kind? What was hidden behind these walls – that is, if "these walls" existed. Her mind was spinning with all these questions and concerns. How could she escape and get all this intel back to SGC?

SGC … Her mind stilled and images of Jack and Daniel and Teal'c broke the gloom. Her CO and her team - they had been through so much together. Was Jack safe? How did he manage to neutralize her Replicator self? What a horrible experience that must have been. What were they doing now? Did they realize what had happened to her?

She felt stronger as she realized that she wasn't alone. She would never be alone. No matter where they were, they were thinking of her. She knew this, in her mind and in her heart.

She never felt a more powerful connection to her comrades. She would fight this present evil, and live to see them again.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the shadow of Fifth looming over her.