Chapter Six: Confessional

"Good evening, my dear. Would you like a drink?" Alec Colson asked without turning around to see who was at the door of the room.

"Yes please, Alec. I think you might better get another one for Jack as well. He looks like he could use a stiff drink."

Jack was staring at the woman standing in the doorway in complete shock and disbelief. "Does anyone want to tell me what the hell is going on here!" he shouted.

Colson turned around and held out a drink to the woman with one hand and one to Jack with his other. Jack refused to take it, still too much in shock to move. Colson merely shrugged and took a sip from the crystal tumbler and sat down.

"Is anyone going to answer my question?" Jack demanded.

A very much alive Sam Carter glided across the room and took a seat in the armchair next to Colson. She smiled sadly at Jack, regret etched on her face. "It's pretty obvious, Jack... I'm alive. I wasn't even in that car, neither was Emma," she explained.

Jack couldn't believe what he was seeing or hearing. "But…I saw your body at the funeral. You were definitely dead."

Sam appeared calm and in control as she continued to explain, "It wasn't me. It was a cloned body…an empty shell if you will. CCT has been making huge advancements in the field of medical cloning. We can now clone vital organs, limbs…but I have to admit, this is the first time we have been able to clone a whole body."

Suddenly it dawned on Jack. "Wait a minute…the Asgard research…"

Alec Colson nodded in acknowledgment. "Yes, our scientists were finally able to figure out how the Asgard clone themselves and how to apply that knowledge to human anatomy. It's a complex issue, with many ethical ramifications…hence why we have never cloned an entire body before. But in this case, we thought it might be necessary. It turns out, we were right."

"So the body in the church…?"

Sam had the decency to look down at the hands clasped in her lap guiltily. She had never wanted to hurt him, but she had done what she felt was necessary. "I'm so sorry I put you through all that, Jack. The body was basically just a brain-dead organism, it was never animate; it never held my consciousness."

"But…why? Why fake your own death?"

"I had to, Jack," Sam insisted. "I know my death has hurt a lot of people…and if there had been any other way, I would have done it in a minute." She paused and then looked Jack directly in the eye. "Senator Fisher was the man on the list. He was involved in the Trust. He was the one who put a contract out on my life."

"Senator Fisher of the Appropriations Committee? The Senator Fisher who is currently running for president?" Jack couldn't believe what he was hearing. He had had several dealings with the Senator over the years. They had not always seen eye to eye, but Jack would never have suspected him of being part of the Trust…or for putting a contract out on someone's life. Fisher had always seemed to truly believe in the importance of the Department of Homeworld Security and its commitment to explore space.

Sam nodded. "Fisher knew that I couldn't sit by and let him become president. He has been using his position in the Senate for years solely for his own financial benefit and for the benefit of his major campaign contributors, most who have their own ties to the Trust. The Senator knew I was going to expose him."

She paused before added hesitantly, "And, besides…it was time to end it once and for all. They might have gone after you…or Cassie…or anyone else I care about to try and stop me."

Jack looked directly at Sam, finally grasping the reasoning behind her plan. "So, you took yourself out of the equation. Without you and Emma around to threaten, Colson could go ahead and come forward with the evidence."

"Exactly," Sam concurred. "Of course, they still could have gone after Cassie to stop Alec from taking action… but we made sure that she was safely here at the estate the whole time. They couldn't touch her."

Jack was curious. "Was bringing me here and telling me part of the plan?"

Neither Alec nor Sam answered. Instead, Alec got up and went to one of the bookshelves. He pulled on it and it automatically slid to one side, revealing a large safe. After punching in a numerical code, Alec placed his thumb on a biometric scanner and the safe opened. He pulled out a large manila envelope that had been safely tucked in the back of the safe.

As he turned around and handed the envelope to Jack, Colson explained, "This contains a copy of the computer files, as well as all of the documentation Sam and I have gathered over the years. There are also two signed and notarized affidavits describing everything Sam and I have been through in the past five years. It should be enough to bring down those who were connected to the Trust, including Senator Fisher. Of course, I will also be available to testify if necessary."

"So…the reason I'm here is so you can give me a copy of the evidence?" Jack asked.

"Yes," Colson acknowledged. "Another copy is being sent as we speak to Agent Barrett. We also have several more copies if something happens to you, or if the other copy fails to arrive on Barrett's desk. One way or another, we will get these people."

Jack suddenly looked confused, a question hanging in the back of his mind. "You didn't have to tell me you were alive, Sam. Colson could have just told me the whole story and then given me the envelope. Why did you?"

Sam smiled in amusement. "Would you really have stopped digging around and taken Alec's word for it that Fisher was responsible for my death?"

Jack thought for a minute and then shook his head. "No, I couldn't have ignored the whole seatbelt thing."

"And I knew you wouldn't. Having Carly tell Daniel about the seatbelt…it was a way of insuring that you would come tonight. I knew you would come…if only to find some answers."

"You're right," Jack noted. "I would never have come if not for that one question constantly pestering me."

Jack was still not satisfied with that answer. "Why was it so important that I know you were alive? I mean… you didn't ask Daniel or Hammond to come…"

Sam's smile faded as he asked his question. Her expression became decidedly serious as she stated, "Because there is something else I have to tell you…and just you. Why don't we take a walk, Jack…?"

TBC