Chapter 33 – MIA No More
John stared wide-eyed at the map before him. He had dimmed every little light that represented a planet and they still hadn't found anything. On the uninhabitable planets, the General had let them send probes to look for the two officially Missing In Action team members—which had turned up nothing, either.
Putting his head into his hands, the Colonel blinked slowly and yawned, having been searching nonstop for more than 24 hours. There was a sudden knock on the door, and the person outside didn't wait for the Colonel to respond before entering. It was Kate.
"Here, John, have some Whoosh. It'll make you feel not as tired."
"Thanks," he said as he kissed her. "I think I'm missing something here! I mean, there's gotta be a planet we're missing!"
"Don't worry. You'll figure it out."
"I probably won't, though. I mean, I'm here in The System because I'm responsible and can make decisions based on my team and the situation. Alex should to be here to figure it out…she's both the mechanic and the astrophysicist; but, alas, she is the one missing. I'm not as smart as all of you."
"John!" Kate said, pushing his shoulder. "Why do you do this to yourself?"
"Well, I—"
A klaxon began blaring, indicating that the Spacegate had started to suddenly dial in from off-world. Kate ran to the computers, John right behind her, bringing his glass of Whoosh with him, which he set on a counter.
"Alpha-Six encoded," Dude said over his comm, having run into the room before everyone else had and gotten to his station. "Alpha-Seven…whoa, that's weird."
The seventh Alpha didn't lock, but the entire Spacegate, and ship for that matter, began to vibrate violently. As suddenly as it began, it stopped, and the Spacegate's dialing lights shut off.
"What's happening?" the General demanded as he walked into the Dialing Room, his robe and pajamas on.
John looked over at Joseph, a light smile on his face. "Sir, we ruled out a world we shouldn't have," he said and walked rapidly back to the map he had been studying earlier. "Here," he said and pointed to the point in the exact middle—the planet that represented Tierra.
"What're you saying?" Hoffman demanded again, cranky from lack of sleep and intense worrying about his two MIA operatives.
"We've never explored Tierra fully because of its ice storms and the Ice Age. What if there's another 'Gate on Tierra that we don't know about? I mean, you guys all talk about how the connection jumped to another, so what if it jumped to one on Tierra?"
"Sir, dude, it's totally possible!" Captain Dude chimed in, seeing the logic. "Remember when we first found the Spacegates and Stargates? Whenever we dialed out or someone dialed in, they used to vibrate a whole lot. That's what I think happened here, even though now we have special holders that cushion it and absorb the shocks.
"Also, dude-man-sir, back on Old Earth, when you call yourself on your phone, what always happened?" He asked it while looking at Dagón. Realizing his mistake, he turned away from the confused alien while saying, "Wrong person." Then, looking at the General, he asked the question again. "What happens when you call yourself on the phone?"
"Well, I-I've never called myself before," the General confessed.
"Well, if you'd do that, sir, you'd get a busy signal. What if that happened to Alex and Daniel? I mean, they could totally have a different symbol for the point of origin, but it would be the same point, no matter what it was designated, and that isn't possible to do—just like we can't 'Gate to the two other SGB ships. It's a possibility, sir."
The General nodded. "Look at the seismometers on Tierra. See if any vibrating activity took place."
"Yes, sir," Dude and John said and they went over to a computer, the General and doctor crowding around behind them.
Dude began to type furiously, bypassing all security codes with ease. "You know, sir, this totally isn't supposed to be possible without authorization," Dude said as he typed, windows popping up and disappearing faster than anyone could blink.
The General folded his arms and nodded. "I know. That's why we have you, Dude. That's also why I'm turning the other way so I don't actually see you do it."
Turning around to grin at the General, the Captain saw Dagón walking towards them and waved. "There ya are dude! I was wondering where you were."
"Indeed, I am here, Rick. I could not complete my Monileek for worrying about DanielMatthewson and Major Croft."
"Sorry to hear that, my alien man. Almost there, sir," the hacker added, typing even faster now. Suddenly, a window popped up with the information coming from the seismometers down on Tierra, where the humans in The System had their base. "We're totally in!"
"Good." The General seemed relieved. "We can't be detected messing with this, right?"
"No sir. It believes that I'm an authorized member of its personnel. We'll have no problem."
"Good. Find what we need."
"Yes, sir," Dude said and he and John began to read.
The hours ticked by before Alex stirred. Opening her eyes slightly, she saw a familiar face above her and slightly smiled. "Daniel?" she asked, her voice weak.
"I'm here," the handsome face said, and she smiled wider, falling asleep again.
Daniel looked down at her, feeling the familiar strange sensation in the pit of his stomach again as he held her close. He had only held her this close twice—once when she was hurt, the other when they had kissed.
Remembering that memory of a few weeks before, he smiled at the feelings he had experienced and looked down at the woman he had shared them with. Wondering if she thought of him differently than just a friend, he leaned down and kissed her softly, gently on her lips. At that moment, he realized for the first time that he thought of Alex as a closer friend, and the weird feeling in his stomach was actually a like so strong for her that he would die to save her.
Stirring as if by cue from his kiss, Alex opened her eyes once again and smiled, shifting a bit in Daniel's arms.
"You're all right now," she said in a sleepy whisper. "How do you feel?"
"Grateful," he said and hugged her close, surprised when her arms wrapped around his neck and clung to him. "Thank you," he said into her hair as he held her to him. "I don't know what would've happened had you not healed me. I thank you for being so stubborn."
Alex began to laugh and they both fell into a fit of laughter, holding onto one another as they broke down. After a while, both just sat there in the other's arms, content just to do nothing.
"You know," Daniel said, looking down at her, "I've been reading Daniel Jackson's journals…and if I remember correctly, this is very similar to what happened to Major Carter and Colonel O'Neill when they were trapped in complete solitudes. O'Neill had gotten badly hurt, and their DHD—their version of a DOC—was missing in a huge thing of ice."
"What happened to them?" Alex asked, hope filling her weak voice. She was still exhausted from all that she had exerted while healing the linguist.
"The rest of SG-1 found them," Daniel said simply.
"Oh," the Major replied, and they fell into their thoughts.
"Do you think they'll find us?" Alex finally asked, breaking the companionable silence they had shared for a long time, shivering for the millionth time from the cold.
"I'm not sure," he replied. "I want to believe that they will…but then again, I'm not so sure. I mean, if they find a way to 'Gate to here, the swirling of the shield as they make the connection will melt away all of the ice that had fallen around it…but they have to find the right planet first. I'm not sure they'll be able to find us.
"I think we are to die here." Daniel understood that that was a bad thought, but he knew that if he were to die, he was happy to know that he was dying with Alex.
"I think so," she agreed solemnly. "We're blocked into this cave. We could probably make a hole to get out of here, but that would take a lot of time and we're running out of food. We need to ration it a bit stricter now that you're not injured anymore. But let's not try it now. I'm too tired."
"Then rest," he said, and pulled the blankets around them tighter, giving her more of them.
"You need to, too," she said, and he relented to her orders, laying her down and then sliding down to lie next to her after he had taken off his glasses. Facing her, he smiled slightly and felt her take his hand.
"They'll find us," Daniel murmured before sleep took them both.
"Sir! We found one!" Dude called from the computer. "Its timing to the vibrations we felt is to the second! It came from the other side of the planet from where the colony is."
"All right, let's go. Dagón, will you tell the pilot to get the ship there?"
"Indeed I shall, General Hoffman."
"Good. Go at it! Time lost here might make the difference between life and death of both of them!"
The ship rapidly began to descend downward, Dagón taking the General's advice. With the aid of a computer, the pilot—Tim—was able to find the place where the seismic activity had taken place and landed the ship, opening the door of the Karma for the first time in a very long while. "We are here, General Hoffman," Tim said over his comm.
"Thanks, Tim. C'mon, let's go!" the General said, and he, John, Dude, and Dagón met outside to where they thought Alex and Daniel were. "Can you move the snow?" the General asked.
"Indeed, General Hoffman," the alien responded. "It will be, as you humans say, 'A piece of cake.'"
"Then go at it," John exclaimed and they watched in amazement. Dagón, crouching down, closed his eyes and extended his hands so that he was touching the ground where they thought the two were. Then, as if by magic, the snow and ice began to part from where his hands touched them and piled along the two sides, making a huge crater as they separated.
"We are nearly to our goal," Dagón grunted as he sustained his power, and the snow kept moving, Dagón determined to get to his friends.
Daniel thought he heard something above where he and Alex were, but he wasn't sure. It sounded like talking, but, while listening again, he didn't hear any more of it. Mentally shrugging, he went back to sleep again.
After a while, however, he was half-awoken again by the sound of soft voices.
"Hurry it up! They need to get back to the ship!"
"Yes sir!"
"Dude man, they're totally okay!"
"Let's get them outta here!"
Half consciously aware of the people above him, Daniel felt himself being lifted onto a kind of hospital bed. Regaining some consciousness, he weakly asked, "Sir?"
"We're here, son. You're safe." The General looked down at the man before him and smiled. "You're going back to the Karma."
"What about Alex?" the linguist asked.
"She's going to be fine, son. She needs rest, as do you. Go back to sleep."
"Thank you, sir," Daniel said, and fell asleep again, not remembering anything else about the trip home.
Alex awoke in the hospital bay again, not remembering anything after Daniel told her to sleep. Her heart monitor beeped in a syncopated rhythm and she could feel the bite of an IV drip in her arm. Looking around, she saw Daniel sleeping in a hospital bed to her left, though no one else was there.
"Oh," Alex moaned softly, putting a hand to her woozy head. Working to sit up, she finally reached her goal and stretched her arms over her head, sighing. She felt normal to herself, but she knew that Kate wouldn't let her out unless she deemed her ready for active duty again.
Looking around, she thought she heard voices coming from the doctor's room. Straining, she confirmed that theory and identified Kate's and a male's voice in there.
It must be John's voice, Alex thought as she lay back in her bed. Who else would talk that quiet with her behind closed doors?
Beside her, Daniel began to laugh quietly, and she knew that he was only pretending to be asleep.
"What is it?" she asked in a whisper. "What's going on in there?"
Daniel opened his eyes and turned towards her with a smile. "They're talking about how he came up with the thought that another Spacegate could be on Tierra," he whispered back. "She's saying that he shouldn't say that he isn't as smart as he really is and that he shouldn't put himself down all the time."
He turned his head to face the ceiling again and closed his eyes, concentrating for a bit. Then he smiled. "He's kissing her right now," he breathed as he looked back at her.
Alex smiled and coughed loudly, trying to get the attention of the two in the room. Daniel, grinning at that, concentrated on the two and gave them the suggestion to move into the medical bay.
"Pretend you're asleep," Daniel murmured to Alex, and both of them closed their eyes so that they looked closed, but were so that they could still see out of slits. A minute later, the two lovers came out of the other room, kissing the other intimately. John backed her into a wall where they continued to kiss. The two people in hospital beds tried hard not to laugh, and succeeded—but just barely. Even though it was funny to Alex, she still thought highly of the Colonel treating her cousin with respect and admiration, putting her on a pedestal and worshipping her with the love he felt towards her. Alex admired that in a man and wished that she, too, someday would be able to experience what her cousin was.
After a while, Alex sighed, and the doctor yelped. "She's awake," the Major heard Kate say and the two of them instantly stopped. "You'd better go," Kate breathed to John.
"I love you," John whispered into her ear as he hugged her close.
"I know," Kate replied quietly with a smile, and after a final kiss, he was gone. Kate appeared by Alex's bedside a moment later.
"Hey, sleepyhead," the doctor said softly with a huge smile. "How're ya feeling?"
Alex smiled sleepily. "Groggy, but otherwise good," she said just as quietly. "How's Daniel?"
The doctor looked over at him. "He'll be all right. You did a pretty good job of healing him. He just needed a bit of extra mending—he's fine now. Let him sleep a little longer. I think the both of you can leave here later today."
"Great!" Alex said and Kate left. After a moment, Daniel opened his eyes and looked over at the Major.
"Getting out of here later today sounds great," Daniel whispered.
"Yes it does," Alex said and the two smiled at each other, glad to be back home again.