Warning: Some language, not too much though and some suggestive themes.
Chapter 6
Anika looked at Jack and Teal'c staring at her intently. "This may take some time to explain."
"We're not going anywhere for a while." Jack said as he looked over to Daniel and Carter.
"When my husband was alive, he was the magistrate of Ottawa."
"Otta-what?" Jack asked puzzled.
"Ottawa, it is the name of the town." Anika answered, a little angry for being interrupted so soon. "Anyway when my husband was magistrate, everything seemed so peaceful. We hadn't seen or heard of Jaffa for many generations. When our mines dried up the Jaffa left and we hadn't had contact with out god for many seasons."
"Ah excuse me Anika" Daniel cut in, getting up from his job of wiping Sam's forehead. "Which god did or do your people worship?" Daniel was now in his element, learning the history of a new alien people. He moved towards the table nudging Jack a bit, as he tried to lean against the table.
"My people worship Cronus, I however do not. We were a peaceful people until…" Anika's voice started to break up and tears started to fill her eyes, she suddenly got up and moved to the corner of the cabin, away from the others.
No one noticed Teal's jaw tighten and the look of anger that came over his face.
Daniel stood up and moved over to Anika, he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry we're bringing up such painful memories; but we need to know what happened, it may help us figure out a way to get home."
Anika wiped her eyes on her sleeve and turned around to head back to the table, with Daniel walking along side her with a hand on her shoulder. Jack got up and poured her some water in a cup. He relinquished his chair to Daniel so he could sit by Anika while she told her story. Jack decided to go and sit by Sam, on the edge of the bed.
"As magistrate Adam, my husband was in charge of running the town, he made sure laws were followed and handed out punishment if they were broken. As magistrate, he was also in charge of the objects of the gods, as those before him were. One of the objects was this." Anika pointed to the staff weapon.
"And the other?" Daniel asked.
"I don't know what it was called or how it was used, but it was in the shape of circle."
Teal'c raised his eyebrow, "the long range communication device Captain Carter mentioned she saw."
"That would be the one." Jack said, he felt the bed move and noticed that Carter was trying to move around in her sleep. He replaced the damp cloth on her forehead and tried to keep her from moving around too much.
"Do you know if your husband ever used the item?" Daniel asked.
"I never saw him use it, and he never mentioned using it."
"So what happened with your husband?" Jack asked.
"In our town, you earned the position of magistrate by having the people decide, once chosen, you held the position for life; unless it was proved you had broken the laws. When my husband was chosen, there was another man who also wanted the position, but did not have enough people on his side; he was very angered by the event. He tried for years to have my husband removed from his position; he studied the laws but failed. Then one night when we returned to our home, we found that some one had been there and gone through our belongings. The only thing missing was the round object of the gods. My husband was very upset, and could only think of one person who would do this. He waited until the next day to confront Martan, but he was too late. Martan had used the device to contact the Jaffa serving Cronus."
"Wait a minute, I thought you said the Jaffa had left and Cronus had abandoned this planet?" Daniel interrupted.
"They had, but one of the laws stated that the magistrate was to contact the Jaffa if anyone came who did not worship Cronus, and they were to be held until the Jaffa decided what to do with them." Anika informed them.
"So your husband didn't go along with this rule?" Daniel asked her.
"He never had a chance to, we never had visitors through the stone circle, but he did tell me that if anyone did come, he would talk to them first to see if they were a threat, if they weren't he would welcome them and allow them to leave; which is why I welcomed you here. You are obviously no threat, except maybe for that one." Anika smiled as she pointed to Sam.
Daniel smiled at the remark, and Jack let out a small laugh. "Yea she does seem to be the one doing most of the damage on this planet."
"May I ask why you travel with a Jaffa? Anika asked nervously looking at Teal'c
"Our people do not worship the Goa'uld as gods; we are actually fighting against them. On one of our missions Teal'c turned his back on his so called god and joined us in the fight against them." Daniel explained.
This time Jack asked Anika a question. "So if you don't mind my asking, what happened to your husband?"
"Martan had stolen the device, and used it to contact the servants of our god; he told them that the magistrate of our planet was welcoming strangers to our village who worshiped other gods. In no time, the stone ring was activated and many Jaffa came through; one of our friends was close to the ring and saw their arrival, he hurried back and warned my husband. Adam was more worried about me; he gave me the weapon and told me to hide. He was questioned by the Jaffa, but denied anyone had come through the gate, but Martan lied and told them a group had been there not long ago." Anika was visibly upset as she talked about her husband.
"Didn't the other townspeople speak up and tell the truth?" Jack asked.
"They were all too frightened, they had never seen Jaffa before, and feared they would be killed if they spoke up."
"Bunch of cowards." Jack interjected.
"The leader of the Jaffa said he would make an example of my husband, and killed him." Anika couldn't help but let out a sob. "He then turned to Martan and said that as his reward for reporting this, he would now be magistrate and handed him a weapon. The people were all shocked and now afraid of Martan. Whenever some one disagreed with him, he would threaten them with the weapon or the Jaffa. He had me banished from the town, which is why I live here; my husband and I used to come here in the summer to relax and get away from everyone. He used to spend hours just trying to catch fish."
Just as he heard the word fish, Jack's head popped up. "Fishing, I didn't see any water around here."
"There is a small stream on the other side of the field, through the trees."
"No Jack I don't think we have time to go fishing." Daniel said smiling at Jack.
"What? No, I wasn't thinking about going fishing…well maybe I was but…oh never mind. So Anika, no one comes here to visit you?"
"Well I still have some friends in town who come to see how I'm doing, and tell me what's going on. The people hate him but do what he says. They may fear him, but he knows that if he did anything to me, being a widow, he would have to face the laws and punishment himself. He is not willing to face any possible punishment, or the loss of his position, so he leaves me alone."
A few hours had passed when Jack came back in the house. "Well I haven't heard or seen anyone; it's going to be dark soon, so we should set up watches." He then went over to the table and accepted an MRE that Daniel had heated up for him. Jack felt apprehensive he really didn't think he wanted Daniel on a watch; he just wasn't sure if he could trust Daniel in such a capacity, and with Carter injured and out of it, that left just him and Teal'c.
Teal'c realizing what O'Neill must be thinking and added his own insight. "O'Neill, as a Jaffa I do not require sleep as you do. If I am able to get a few hours of Kelnorim, than I will be able to stand watch the entire night. I know that you and Daniel Jackson have not had any sleep since we got here."
"Yea Teal'c I am kinda tired, but I can't have you keeping watch that long." Jack said rubbing his eyes.
"As I said, I do not require sleep, only a few hours of meditation."
"Okay then, why don't you meditate now, and I'll keep watch. Daniel has Carter eaten anything?"
"Ah no Jack she hasn't really woken up yet."
"Have you tried to get her to drink anything?"
"Ah no again, for the same reason."
"Well why don't you try waking her, she needs to drink to replenish her fluids." Jack said getting a little annoyed at Daniel, as he got up to go outside and resume his watch.
Anika got up, went over to Sam carrying a cup of water, while Teal'c settled down on a chair, and began to Kelnorim.
Anika pointed out the lanterns and told Daniel to light one for the night. He did so and watched Anika try to wake Sam, she only roused a little but Anika managed to get her to sip some water. Daniel was getting the bedrolls out setting them on the floor close to the bed. Teal'c finished his meditation and was now ready to stand watch; he picked up his staff weapon and went out to relieve O'Neill. "O'Neill" Teal'c called for Jack in a loud whisper, before he knew it O'Neill was behind him with his gun at the ready.
"Hey Teal'c looking for me?" Jack said grinning as he lowered his gun. Teal'c just raised an eyebrow at him.
"O'Neill, I have come to relieve you, so you may rest."
"Yea thanks Teal'c; it's been real quiet out here, except for some animals."
"I shall be ever so diligent in my duties." Teal'c bowed his head at O'Neill as O'Neill returned to the cabin.
O'Neill entered the cabin and noticed Daniel and Anika sitting at the table drinking from cups; from the smell he could tell Danny had broken out the coffee. He approached the table and took the cup Daniel offered him. "So I think it's time we hit sack, gonna be a long day tomorrow." Jack looked at the two bedrolls on the floor and then to Anika. "Ah Anika we could move Carter to one of the sleeping bags and let you have your bed back."
"Oh don't be ridiculous, I couldn't do that to her, besides the bed is big enough for two. I think it would be best if one of you shared the bed with her. It would be best if someone she knew was beside her in case she wakes during the night."
With that statement, Daniel and Jack looked at each other nervously. "I think you should take the bed." They both said at the same time. "Ah Jack you know how clumsy I am, I'm afraid I might move the wrong way and hurt Sam."
"Yea, about that Daniel, I'm sorry I came down so hard on you, I know you didn't mean it, and it was an accident. I guess I was just a bit irritable."
"A bit." Anika chuckled. "I'd say you were down right cantankerous. Anyway Jack, Sam showed that she trusts you, so I think you should take the bed."
"Yea Jack, I agree you should take the bed. Anika you can use one of the sleeping bags."
"Okay, okay, now that that's all settled we should all go to bed…I mean to sleep, yes we should all go to sleep, get some shut eye, we're going to have a busy day tomorrow." With that, Jack went around to other side of the bed and crawled in; he tried to keep as far away from Carter as the bed would allow.
Jack was on a beach, lying on the sand feeling the heat of the sun bearing down on him, he felt himself getting hotter; he started to strip off his Simpson's t-shirt, then his trousers until he was just in his boxers. He looked out towards the water and saw someone out there, swimming towards the shore, and then starting to walk out of the water. He saw she had short blonde hair and was wearing a black bikini top; the water cascading off her body glistened in the sun. As she walked further out of the water, he saw more of her well-muscled body. He took a deep breath and close his eyes for a moment, when he opened them again, the pictured had changed, something was wrong, that beautiful well-toned body was now covered in dark bruises and blood. "No! Stop! Stay back!" What was she yelling?
Jack jerked awake, and shot up. It took a few moments to remember where he was and what was going on. He couldn't figure out why he was so hot, then he heard mumbling coming from Carter next to him "No. Stop. Stay away." He reached out to touch Carter's forehead; she was burning up and in the midst of a nightmare. He immediately got out of the bed, and took the covers off her.
"What's going on?" A sleepy Daniel asked getting up, and moving towards Sam.
"She's burning up Daniel; can you go get some water? Get it from the well it will be colder."
"Okay Jack, I'll be right back." Daniel said as he hurried to get the bucket and ran out the door.
Anika was by Jack's side in a flash. "This doesn't look good Jack; she's in the fever's grasp."
"Got it!" Daniel said as he hurried over to the bed, making sure not to spill it this time.
Anika went to fetch some cloths, and returned to the bedside.
Sam was thrashing about, fighting those who were trying to help her, her eyes were open but not focusing. Jack held a wet cloth to her forehead while trying to restrain her movements with the other. Anika undid the buttons of the shirt Sam was wearing, and had Daniel use the cold compress on her neck and upper chest. Daniel had protested at first but Anika had insisted, telling him they had to cool her down, while she applied the cool cloths to Sam's stomach.
"No get away you bastards!" Sam managed to say, the anger in her voice evident.
Daniel looked at Jack puzzled by Sam's comments. Jack saw Daniel's expression, "its okay Daniel, she doesn't know it's us, or where she is."
"Stay away from him!" Sam's yells were getting stronger as was her movements. Without knowing what she was doing, Sam got her left arm free and managed to strike one of those, who were holding her down.
"Ow, geez Carter." Jack said as he rubbed his face from where the unexpected strike came into contact with his face. He saw the next one coming and managed to catch her wrist before it made contact. Then he pushed her back down on the bed trying to keep her still so she wouldn't hurt herself. She kept thrashing about and the only way O'Neill could think of to stop her was to lay his weight on top of her. Daniel was trying to hold her legs down to keep her from kicking. They heard her yell out in a foreign language as she continued the struggle. "Daniel see if you can find a sedative in the med kit!" Jack didn't want to use a sedative but given the current situation, he didn't see any other choice. As Daniel moved to get the kit, Anika took his place trying to keep Sam from kicking. Daniel returned to O'Neill's side and showed him the vial. "That's the one." Jack said. "Draw up 1cc, and inject it into her arm."
Daniel looked at Jack in surprise. "I told you Jack, I'm not that kind of doctor!"
"Neither am I Daniel, but my hands are kind of full right now. Just do it!"
With that prompting Daniel filled the syringe and anxiously went to Sam's left side looking for a spot on her arm.
"Just make sure you get it in the right arm Daniel!" The last thing Jack needed right now was to be injected with a sedative. He watched as Daniel plunged the syringe into Carter's arm and then withdrew it. Daniel sat back on the edge of the bed as they waited for it to take effect. Her movements stilled and then Jack could feel her relax. Jack lifted himself off of her, and wiped his forehead with his sleeve. He and Daniel exchanged a worried look. They looked down at Sam who had now eased into a hopefully peaceful drug induced sleep.
"How did you get her calm down so fast?" Anika asked.
"We have all kinds of medicines that can do a lot." Jack answered.
"Did you hear what she said Jack?"
"Of Course I heard her, she said it almost right into my ear."
"What I meant was; did you realize she could speak Arabic?"
"Well Daniel I hate to burst your bubble, but what Carter said, almost everyone who served in the Gulf knows those words and expressions."
"Really, I'm just surprised to hear those words coming out of Sam; and why would she be speaking Arabic to us?"
Jack shook his head; theses questions were beginning to annoy him. He tried to explain to Daniel again, as he was once more applying cold compresses to his 2IC. "Daniel she's burning up with fever, she's not in her right mind right now, she could be dreaming or reliving an experience from the war."
"That didn't sound like too good of an experience." Daniel said with a concerned voice as he joined Jack in trying to get Sam's fever down. He had to admit he was now getting used to seeing Sam undressed and it didn't bother him as much anymore.
"Yea, well Daniel not all memories of Iraq are good ones." O'Neill said trying to shake away his own nightmares of his time in Iraq.
Once again, their attention was brought back to Sam, as she started to talk in her sleep. "Get away from him. Mike get down!" "No!"
Teal'c entered the cabin, looking over at the trio that surrounded Captain Cater. "What is going on O'Neill? I heard the shouting from outside."
"Its okay Teal'c, we were just having a bit of a hard time calming down Carter; her fever spiked."
"Do you not have anything in the med kit for such a function?"
"Yes Teal'c we do, but she hasn't been awake enough to take the pills."
"Could you not crush them and mix them with water, thus making it easier to give to her?"
"Oh, why didn't we think of that?" Jack said as he looked at Daniel, who just shrugged his shoulders. Jack got up and retrieved the med kit, he looked for the aspirin, he knew the usual dose was two, but thought this situation called for a little more, he took three out and put them in hanky he carried, then he took out his knife and used the handle to crush the pills. He then put the powder in a cup and filled it with water, using his knife to stir the concoction, then headed towards Sam. He and Daniel helped her sit up so she was leaning against Daniel's chest. Then Jack put the cup to her lips and tipped some of the liquid in her mouth. Her first reaction to the bitter tasting liquid was to spit it out; unfortunately, it was in Jack's face. Daniel had to stifle a chuckle as he saw Jack's reaction. Jack just glared at Daniel, and tried again. This time Sam wouldn't open her mouth, and Jack had to think back to when his son wouldn't take his medicine and use the same tactics. He pinched Carter's nose shut until she open her mouth to take a breath, then he poured some of the liquid in, then held her mouth shut until she swallowed. He continued this process until all of the liquid was gone, then nodded to Daniel to let her back down.
During this time Anika just stared at their strange behaviour, how could they show such care for Sam one moment, and treat her that way the next. "I don't understand you people, how can you treat Sam like that?"
"Ah Anika we have medicine that can help bring Sam's fever down, if she was more lucid, she would take it herself; but since she can't think clearly right now we have to do what's best for her. I know it looks like we were being rough with her, but it had to be done to help her." Daniel explained using a very gentle voice with her.
Anika nodded and looked back at Sam. "So how long will it take for your medicine to work?"
"Well it should take twenty minutes to get into her system, but I'm not sure how much the fever will go down." Jack answered, as he and Daniel continued to apply the cold compresses.
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It was another unbearably hot day in the desert, but Sam didn't have to worry about the heat, soon she'd be in her F-16 soaring over the desert. She and her REO were due to depart in an hour.
She had been in the air about half an hour; she enjoyed the feel of the planes' controls in her hands. Just being able to manoeuvre such a machine at such speeds was really exhilarating. "Hey Mike how is it going back there?"
"Everything's clear, nothing in sight for miles."
"Yea just another boring day on the job right?" Sam laughed. Then she heard the radio come alive. 'Blue Angel this is control, do you read?'
"I read loud and clear, go ahead. Over."
'We have reports of ground troupes coming under fire, change your heading to co-ordinates coming up on your screen, and see if you can help out."
Sam saw the new heading appear on her screen, "Roger that control. On our way." Sam banked left and headed towards the new direction.
As they came closer to the new co-ordinates, Mike saw the enemy aircraft appear on his radar. "We have two bogies ahead"
Sam saw one of the enemy aircraft firing at the ground, where the troupes must be. She got the plane in her sights and started firing on it. It pulled away and tried to escape, but Sam followed and kept firing, she saw the plane get hit, and start to go down. "Control, this is Blue Angel, one bogie down, repeat one bogie down, there's another around here somewhere, will keep an eye on ground troupes until reinforcements arrive. Over."
'Very good Blue Angel, keep in contact. Control out."
"Sam! The other bogie, to the right!"
"I see it Mike." Sam put the plane in a dive, then pulled out doing 8 G's. She saw the plane heading towards the troupes again. Whoever they were, these guys really wanted them. Sam couldn't think of firing a missile at the plane, it might cause them to crash into the ground troupes. She fired her guns, hoping they would change their course. When they didn't she tried another manoeuvre. She would use the force of the wind under his wing to change his direction. She dove at him that when she came close to his wing, it would be forced up causing him to veer off course. It worked, however, in a few moments he was on her tail.
"They have a lock on us Sam!" Mike called out.
"Yea I see it Mike. Control this is Blue Angel. We have a bogie locked on us. Will try to lose it." Sam tried to lose the plane, banking hard right, then left, pulling up hard pulling so many G's she wasn't sure how many they were. But she was unable to shake them. She changed course towards the allied border, bringing the enemy plane away from the ground troupes.
"They fired!" Mike screamed.
To her horror Sam saw the lock on her computer, there was only one option, she pulled the canopy release and then ejected their seats. They cleared the plane just as it blew. She could feel the heat of the fire as they were thrown up into the air at such an incredible force it would cause most people to vomit. Then the parachute opened and slowed her descent. She kept an eye out for Mike's parachute as she descended. She wasn't sure, how far from the border they would land; only they better get running once they did land.
The landing was a hard one, but she made it out okay; she pulled out her pistol, (too bad, there wasn't enough room in the cockpit for a machine gun.) and headed in the direction she saw Mike land. It seemed like it took forever for her to reach Mike, trudging through the sand in the hot sun. She finally found him, but what she saw made her skin crawl. Mike was standing with his hands up, staring at the barrel of an Iraqi sub-machine gun. There were two soldiers, one holding Mike at gunpoint the other in the drivers seat of a jeep. Sam had no cover, but went unnoticed by the soldiers, then to her horror; the first soldier cocked his gun ready to fire. Sam drew her pistol firing at the first Iraqi, and yelling at them, "Stay away from him you bastards!" She continued to fire. "Mike get down!" Then to her horror, the second Iraqi fired and shot Mike point blank. "No!" she cried as she saw Mike go down. She continued to fire at the second Iraqi, as he fired back. She felt a burning sharp pain in her left side, but ignored it as she fired her pistol again and again into the Iraqi soldier, until he finally went down. She pushed herself to make it back to Mike's side. "Mike I'm so sorry."
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Jack looked at his watch, it had been thirty-five minutes since Carter had taken the aspirin, something should be happening by now. Then he heard her mumble "Mike I'm so sorry."
Jack shook her left shoulder gently, "Come on Carter time to wake up. You've been sleeping long enough now." He saw her eyes flutter, and open slightly.
"Mike?"
"No, it's Jack, but you can call me colonel."
She looked at him puzzled, not understanding what he just said. "Colonel?"
"That's right Carter, welcome back to the land of the living."
Still hazy Sam reached for her left side feeling the pain, lifting her hand looking for the blood. "I've been shot."
"Ah actually Carter, that's about all that hasn't happened to you."
She looked around the room at the three faces looking down at her. "What?"
"Come on Carter, are you with us?" Jack moved to help Carter sit up, and Daniel placed the pillows behind her.
"What's going on?" She looked at their faces and could see their concern. She felt hot, yet also felt a draft. She then noticed that the shirt Anika had given her was wide open, and she had wet cloths on her. Feeling a little self-conscious, she tried to pull the shirt closed with her left hand, only to have the colonel stop her.
"Look Carter your fever spiked, its come down a bit, but it's still high, we need to keep you cool." Jack said as he lifted a wet cloth and reapplied it to her forehead. Then he brought two pills and a cup up to her face. "I need you to take these, they're antibiotics and you definitely need them."
Sam reached for the proffered pills and put them in her mouth, then took the cup with water and washed them down. Then went to hand the cup back to O'Neill. "No Carter, you need to drink all the water, you've lost too many fluids, from blood loss and the fever."
"Hey Sam" Daniel said with a big grin on his face. "How you feeling?"
"Oh just great Daniel. Just a little sore and very warm." She tried to smile at Daniel, but he could see sadness behind her eyes, that he hadn't seen before. Then she noticed Daniel reach for the cloth on her chest, he wet it again then wiped her neck and shoulders before placing it back on her chest. She gave him an astonished look. "Look Daniel, Sir; I appreciate all you've done for me, but I'm fine now. I think you can stop."
"Look Carter we've been doing this for half the night, Daniel's gotten so used to it he's stopped blushing. See?" Jack said pointing to Daniel's face, which was no longer red. "We need to keep your temperature down, so we will be able to move out in the morning and try to figure out a way home.
'Well at least I still have my pants on' Sam thought to herself. Although someone had removed her boots and socks. 'Thank God I didn't paint my toenails pink; I'd never hear the end of it'
"So Carter how are you really feeling?" Jack asked looking her in the eyes.
"Like I told Daniel Sir a little sore and kind of hot, and a bit thirsty still." Jack put his arm around her shoulders so she could sit up a bit more and held the cup of water to her mouth for her to drink. He saw her eyes drift shut, but this time he knew she was just falling asleep. "Sleep Carter, sleep. You deserve it." Jack said quietly.