A/N: I cannot apologise enough for this massive delay. It was TOTALLY unforseen and I hope you all haven't totally forgotten about me in the meantime! I ended up on doctor's orders not to do ANYTHING for 4 days after I collapsed at work and ended up in hospital with exhaustion… I know BookWorm keeps telling me not to work myself to hard… ,but there are so many things to do that I don't tend to listen when people say things like that to me!
It SO wasn't serious and the whole hospital bit was a joke, but the end result was that I was BANNED from computers for a while. Then, of course, my enforced 'rest' meant that when I was allowed back into the world, I was WAY behind on all my schoolwork. I've only got up to date now… but at least it means I can post!
The most regrettable thing, though, is that this is the last chapter (sniff). It's a long one – but it's still only one. I hope it lives up to any expectations that may exist (god I hope not – I think it's ok, but after nearly two weeks of not writing at all, it was a bit of a struggle).
Thank you to EVERYONE who has reviewed up til now, and I hope you'll all review this one last time to tell me what you thought of the story over all – I can't believe it was this long! But enough of this dilly-dallying… here 'tis!
Chapter XXV – A moment in the sun
On top of Uluru, Stacey braced herself for the onslaught of questions as General Marty approached them at speed. Even though it was still dark outside, she could see his face pulsing red with the effort of continually half-descending and then re-ascending the enormous rock.
"Captain Hindmarsh!" He barked. "Status report! How did they bloody well end up somewhere on the East coast?" He came to a halt just in front of her, his cheeks puffing in and out as he caught his breath.
"Well sir, for starters," Stacey was cautious as she spoke. "We're not entirely positive that they're at the Minnamurra I know – but it's incredibly likely. I even think I know where they would be specifically; on Rangoon Island."
"What's that, some Aboriginal word meaning 'trapped US Air Force officers are here'?" General Marty surprised even himself with his sarcasm, but after dealing with the bozos in PR for the last hour or so, he had no strength left in him to be understanding.
"Uh… no." Stacey said, taken aback by her superior officer's demeanour. "It's the name of some ship that was wrecked there years ago – actually, I don't think that's even the real name of the island. But," she raised a finger, indicating she had a point. "There's no human interference on the island apart from some locals who swim out there occasionally and it's where all the birds in the area nest – hence the 'among the birds' bit from the markings on the cave that Doug translated."
"Well do we have anyone in the area who could check?" the General didn't understand why everyone was standing around with their hands in their pockets. Actually, no one was doing exactly that, but the lack of forward motion on this matter made it seem as if they were. "Could someone at least fly over to see if they're there? Don't we have that weird-arsed alien guy in orbit or something?"
"Um General?" Siler had just got off the phone to the SGC and overhead this last line. "We're still waiting to hear from Thor, but he said he was coming back anyway so he should be here soon. Otherwise," he smiled reassuringly. "Major Carter's father is trying to borrow a Tok'ra ship to come and help locate them."
General Marty was sure he'd understood at least some of the words said, but still had no idea why Sam's father would have anything to do with it, nor really what a Tok'ra ship would be – as far as he knew, a 'Tok'ra' was a high-tech walkie-talkie… "So what does that mean?" He asked in a manner that made Sgt Siler smile.
"Um, well for the moment it means that we're going to have to try and confirm their location, because at present there is no alien vessel in orbit able to do that for us." Siler explained patiently, now realizing why Colonel O'Neill and General Marty hadn't got on at first – there was a certain similarity to their style of command.
"Well don't they have normal radios?" General Marty appealed to Stacey again. "There's got to be a way to get to them that's not going to take endless manhours!"
"Unfortunately sir," Stacey was speaking more to the assembled audience that had gathered around them than to the General directly, "Minnamurra's in quite a remote location. It's going to take at least an hour to get anyone there. In a way it's a pity the store isn't at Booderee – that would've been way simpler."
"How come?" Jonas asked, puzzled by the comment.
"Booderee national park is right next to the federal government's military base." Stacey explained quickly. "When Canberra was decided upon as the capital city of Australia, people thought it important to have a coastal aspect to the city, for military purposes. So there's a patch of federal land with a whole navy, air force and army infrastructure right there. Minnamurra, on the other hand," she sighed, thinking of the difficulty, "is only 100km south of Sydney, but the beach and island are completely inaccessible by any form of road transport – we'll have to get a boat or a plane there."
"How can a beach be inaccessible?" General Marty almost squealed, ready to order men from Sydney to the small village at that instant.
"The best way to get there, sir," Stacey continued patiently, "is by driving to the mouth of the river and crossing it."
"So… why don't we do that?"
A different, unfamiliar, and strangely smug voice answered him from behind. "Because then you'd just cause another media circus, right? Wouldn't want the public to know what's actually going on twice in one week…"
General Marty spun around on the spot to look at the woman who had spoken so disrespectfully. "Who the HELL let her in?" He roared to no-one in particular. "Has no-one heard of bloody NATIONAL SECURITY?No wonder the bloody Yanks are breathing all over us – we can't even keep a fucking reporter out!" No-one seemed to be able to find an answer, although about 100 metres away he could see someone running up the path from the communications tent, looking slightly apprehensive. He refocused his attention on the woman in front of him and asked her the same question, albeit more quietly. "Ms. Sully," his voice was strained, "I don't know how you managed to get past the ample security checks between the media and this spot…" he pointed to the ground with conviction. "…but I hope you will understand that I cannot allow you to be party to this conversation."
Sandra merely smiled enigmatically as she waited for her escort to catch up with her. The smile extended into a grin when he addressed the highly decorated General.
"General Marty, sir!" The man began, before handing over a crisp piece of paper. "Orders from the Prime Minister's office, sir!" Everyone in the group waited in silent anticipation while the General roughly opened the folded paper and read its contents.
"What does the little troll want now?" The General growled under his breath so that no one could hear. After what seemed like an eternity, he folded the paper back up and scrunched it into a tight ball, trying to make it disappear in his palm. "How can we be sure that you're the only one?" He asked Sandra quietly, his voice cold.
"Because I'm the only one he talked to." She said evenly, apparently unfazed by the cold stare boring into her. "The little grey one appeared right after he vanished – mid-sentence I might add… something to do with nak-wada? – and said that it wouldn't happen again. If you guys are so chummy, why don't you just ask him?"
"Of what are you speaking?" Teal'c spoke abruptly, causing Sandra to jump. She flinched a bit more upon seeing the gold mark embossed on his forehead. Not for the first time in the past hour, she was wondering whether she hadn't opened Pandora's Box by signing her life away to the national security clause.
General Marty wordlessly handed the piece of paper to Jonas, who was standing the closest to him and sighed, cradling his face in his hands, hoping to god this nightmare would soon be over.
Jonas read the paper quickly, and looked up, shocked. "You actually saw Baal?"
Jack still hadn't moved from the vantage point where they had sat, huddled together, watching the sun rise. He had barely moved a muscle, although his eyes were increasingly squinted together with the bright sunlight of early morning. The light zephyrs of wind that had played across his face had now fused together to form a constant though pleasant morning onshore breeze. He breathed in deeply, relishing the sensation of sea-air that he so infrequently was able to enjoy. He felt Sam stir next to him as she drew away and began to stand up slowly.
"I guess we should make a move?" He said quietly, unwilling to break the spell.
"We should be alright to swim to the beach now, sir." Sam said distractedly, scanning the water to the north. "I think the sun's high enough in the sky…"
"The sun?" Jack twisted around in his position to look at her. "I thought we were waiting for the tide!"
"Uh… ye-es." Sam dropped her head briefly, feeling culpable that she'd been caught out. "There was actually another reason we had to wait, but I think it would be best if we talked about it at the beach and not here."
Jack looked at her, not understanding at all what she was getting at. Her guilty demeanour made him wonder if she was really so worried about the rules or not, but the way she kept glancing at the water chased those thoughts out of his mind. Now alarmed, he also glanced at the water, as if he would see the signs of danger that she was apparently seeing. When nothing came to mind, he looked back up to Sam, expectantly.
"Well sir, just keep in mind we know nothing about these waters, so it could have been a completely erroneous precaution." Sam began gesturing for calm with her hand.
"But…" Jack cocked his head and raised his eyebrow as he waited for the clincher.
"But it's never really a good idea to go swimming at dusk or dawn…" Sam took a deep breath before completing her sentence. "… because that's the time that sharks generally feed."
Jack snapped his eyes away from hers and this time surveyed the blue ocean in front of them with a more critical eye – although doing so didn't really help him at all, he still couldn't see any danger in the water.
"Are you sure?" he asked, not taking his eyes off the water.
"That sharks feed at dusk and dawn?" Sam asked, "Yes. That there would be any sharks in this particular area?" She continued, "No. I just figured that since there's blood on my clothes and we're wearing shiny things like dog-tags and watches, it might be an idea to play it safe. Also," she added, upon further contemplation. "I know for a fact that the beaches around Sydney have to be netted because of sharks, and since we're definitely on the east coast of somewhere – probably Australia – I'd say it's safe to assume that shark sightings aren't all that uncommon."
"So we waited here because of sharks and not because of the tide?" Jack looked at her, slightly miffed that she would bend the truth. "We have guns you know, I think we'd win in a fight with some overgrown fish! Why didn't you tell me before?"
"Sir, would you have accepted the possible danger of sharks as a reason to wait around?" Sam challenged, knowing full well that he would have discounted the danger. "Besides, in a shark attack you wouldn't exactly have time to reach for your P-90 – not that it would work too well under water anyway."
"You know me too well Carter." Jack grinned at her holding his hand out for her as he hoisted himself up from the rock he'd been sitting on. "But for the record, I'd bet on me against a shark any day."
Sam clasped Jack's hand and helped him steady as he stood up, vainly trying to conceal the snort of laughter that escaped from her lips. "I'll keep that in mind if there's ever a pool going around the SGC."
"Oh Carter, there's already a pool going around the SGC about me – it's just got nothing to do with sharks." Jack replied enigmatically, keeping his expression calm.
Puffing his cheeks out as if he hadn't uttered that last sentence, he looked around with feigned interest and settled his gaze on the beach, which suddenly seemed quite a distance away, before turning to Sam and saying pleasantly: "Feel like a swim?"
Teal'c snapped his attention from generally surveying the scene around him to fixing his gaze on the blond reporter who was now standing on the edge of their large circle. Jonas' words had had a similar effect on everyone, who were now waiting to hear if she really had, as the statement said, seen the infamous Goa'uld.
"Uh-huh. I saw Baal if that's what his name is." Sandra nodded, thinking back to the complete and utter shock she'd received when the weird-voiced man had just appeared in front of her in the Channel 10 tent, looking like a character from a Broadway musical. "It was right after the whole alien technicolour light show… oh sorry," she added sarcastically, "Terrorist bomb diffusion…" She rolled her eyes again when thinking of the cover story. "You know no-one honestly believes that don't you?" she asked no-one in particular.
"As long as no-one questions it too much the public will believe what you tell them, Ms. Sully, and that's all that matters." General Marty replied gravely, not at all appreciating this development.
"Bloody government and their stupid scaremongering…" Sandra mumbled. Thankfully General Marty didn't hear her, but she saw a female officer nod in understanding at those words, which gave her pause: maybe they weren't all as bad as she had thought in the military.
"What was it that Baal wanted with you, Sandra Sully?" Teal'c said gravely, inwardly satisfied at the startled jump his words elicited from the woman.
"Well I don't really know." Sandra admitted reluctantly. "He started talking about how he was a God and that he'd come to Earth to claim his rightful place as our ruler – a bit dramatic I thought." She added slyly, satisfied to see that at least a couple of the American Air Force officers seemed to appreciate this characterisation. "He then mentioned something about Turra… um… mulli?… and that nak-wada stuff. He was harping on about how I was his insurance in case he got screwed by the government." She concluded, shrugging her shoulders. "Can't say I blame him with all the secrecy going on up here."
"I'll have you know, Ms. Sully," General Marty's face again progressed through a couple of shades to reach a deep red hue. "The reason we've had to keep all of this secret is because that maniac who appeared before you was threatening to blow up the entire planet!"
"Why?" Sandra asked, ignoring the signs of danger in the General's voice.
"That is not of your concern, Sandra Sully." Teal'c said evenly, all the while stepping closer to her, making his presence felt. "Suffice to say that this false-god is responsible for the torture and death of many of my people – such a fate no-one could wish on your world, and nor should you."
"Oooo-kaaaaaay." Stacey said brightly, trying to bring everyone away from the random interruption of having a reporter in their midst. "I guess since you've got clearance," she nodded to Sandra, "we should just continue with the task at hand – sir?" She looked to the General for confirmation, and took a small nod from him as being such. "Right. So we think they've been transported to Minnamurra – and I'm pretty sure they would have appeared on the island just off the coast. Permission to get some planes in the air for a fly over sir?" She turned to the General, who seemed disoriented by their sudden return to the mission.
"Uh yes Captain." He fought to recover, still eyeing the TV reporter carefully. "Get in contact with the base. I want some kind of sea-vessel heading there too – whatever's the closest. I take it we couldn't exactly land a plane nearby?"
"No sir." Stacey confirmed. "I'll run down the ComTent and see what we can do. In any case," she added. "If we're going to retrieve the naquada we'll have to figure out a system of transport that avoids showing the public what we're doing – and an offshore vessel would be ideal."
Just as she turned to head off down the hill, she caught the General's eye, who seemed to be trying to indicate something. She saw his line of sight flit momentarily to Sandra Sully, and understood immediately. "Ms. Sully," she said brightly, "would you care to accompany me in organising this? We could use your help in ensuring that the media doesn't get a whiff of what's happening." What Stacey had said wasn't entirely untrue, but she had a feeling that the General wanted to discuss some details that shouldn't be heard by the reporter – no matter how much clearance little Johnny Howard had given her.
Jack would never admit it to anyone, but as they swam steadily towards the shore, he found himself looking around constantly for a sign of any sharks – a strange ripple in the water, a shadow, a fin. He noticed Sam looking around at him once or twice and forced himself to stop acting like a scared kid.
They weren't swimming particularly fast, but their pace was constant. At first they had been able to wade out from the island, but they must have taken a longer trajectory than the natural sandbar as the water was now above their heads – but only just. It didn't really matter, as he could feel the current pushing at him from behind, propelling him closer to the sure with the pleasant feel of the now warm sunshine on the back of his neck.
He couldn't believe how clear the water was. The only other time he'd been swimming at a beach, the water had been all churned up and murky even from the waves. But here, well it was like a swimming pool. If the sand had been blue tiles, he wouldn't have known the difference. They were fast approaching the beach, and he saw that the trees that lined the sand were actually quite tall. They had seemed to be loose scrub from the distance of the island, but now he realised they towered into the sky, albeit in a haphazard manner.
"Weird trees." He said quietly, respecting the comfortable silence they had enjoyed for much of the swim.
"Hmm. Gum trees." Sam nodded as she swam. "It's a good sign – means we're still in Australia." She continued swimming, but effortlessly detached her pack from her back and turned around in the water to give it to Jack. "Mind holding onto this for a sec?" Before he could even really respond, she had disappeared from the surface of the water and dived underneath, opening her eyes to the clear vista in front of her. As far as she could see, lightly ripped white sand. As she looked up from near the sea bed, she could see Jack treading water, holding onto her pack, and the calming rhythm of the wind playing across the surface.
As she came back up for air she slicked her hair back and turned her face to the sun, as if the UV rays were imbuing her with energy. "Thanks." She managed to say as she caught her breath. "I love swimming." She added when she saw Jack's confused expression. "I just couldn't resist." She grinned as he still didn't move a muscle on his face. As they treaded water there, she could still feel the current slowly taking them into shore. She leaned forward and lightly kissed Jack on the lips as she took her pack back, which he had hardly been holding on to. "Shall we keep going?" Before waiting for an answer, she slipped the pack onto her arms again and started swimming lazily towards the shore. She turned around so she could see Jack, who seemed to have finally reconnected the synapses that linked his brain to his muscles, and was now moving.
As they swam the rest of the way in, she kept a couple of metres ahead of him, but swore she heard him whisper to himself: "It's not a dream… please tell me it's not a dream…"
Lieutenant Max Alexander was fast approaching the target site in his fighter jet. He didn't know why this fly-over had such a massive priority – after all, it was only two US officers who had somehow managed to get themselves lost on a remote beach. How they managed that, the base wouldn't say – all he knew was that the people who were tyring to find him were in the Northern Territory. Weird. He shrugged inwardly as his co-pilot issued instructions for a course correction and got on with the job. It wasn't often he got details or explanations about the missions he undertook anyway – usually it was just 'go here' and 'patrol this.' Not exactly the excitement he'd been promised when he signed up… but then at least it was better that flying Sydney-Melbourne for Qantas a gazillion times a day.
"Coming up to Minnamurra Beach." He heard his co-pilot's voice in the earpiece. "We'll be in radio range for about 3 minutes. I'll start trying in a couple of seconds."
Max just kept his course steady as he listened to his co-pilot attempt contact. He wasn't exactly holding his breath – if these people were really that lost, there's no way they'd have working radios. Besides, it was an extravagance to send a fighter jet to check on them considering there was a town just a couple of hundred metres away from their alleged position. Surely the big-wigs would have been better off getting the local police to check it out?
He'd so convinced himself that their mission was doomed to failure, he nearly lost all concentration when he heard the coarse American accent boom into his ear. "Yes! This is Colonel Jack O'Neill of the US Air Force. I'm here with Major Samantha Carter – we're both safe and we sure as hell read you loud and clear!"
Max overcame the initial shock to take over the communication link. "Colonel, this is Lieutenant Max Alexander. I have orders to patch you through to General Marty at Uluru, sir."
"Patch away, Lieutenant." Came the cheery reply. "And just for the record, airman, we're sure glad you found us!"
"Of course Colonel." Max smiled and shook his head slightly… every American he'd ever met had been slightly insane, and this Colonel O'Neill didn't sound any different. "Patching you through now – but you've only got about 2 minutes before we're out of range."
"He's patching us through." Jack was grinning in such a goofy way that Sam couldn't help but smile. She knew the instant he had made contact with General Marty as the goofy smile extended into an all out grin.
"General sir!" Jack declared merrily. "Yes sir… yes sir… Yes we've found the naquada sir – but you'll need Captain Hindmarsh or myself to access it… yes… Oooooooohhhh… that's what the 'plenty of fish' was all about…" he held his finger up to stop Sam from interrupting. As much as the aboriginal link was interesting, they hardly had enough time to go into it. "A boat sir? Why don't you just… oh right, the media… ok. What about Thor?" Sam had just mouthed the words to him and he relayed the question. "Oh, ok. So still no contact…. A Tok'ra vessel? Oh I wouldn't be holding your breath sir, they…" he stopped from completing the sentence as he saw the reproachful look on Sam's face. "Uh no don't worry sir, I'm sure they'll get here if they can." He briefly drew the radio away from his mouth to look at it before speaking into it again. "I think we're about to lose the link sir." He said quickly. "Yes sir, she heard you. Thank you sir. O'Neill out."
Jack placed the radio down on the sand next to him and both he and Sam looked to the sky as the sound of the fighter jet receded into the distance. They had arrived at the beach only a couple of seconds before the radio had started squawking at them. While speaking, Jack had continued removing everything from his pack and laying on the smooth white surface to dry. He was sure that everything would get sand all over it whether it actually had contact with the grains or not – that was the nature of the beach – so it didn't really matter that they were speeding the process.
Having totally unpacked, Jack unclipped his jacket and vest and shrugged them off his shoulders, laying them down behind him like a beach towel. He dispensed of his soaked shoes and socks and leant back on his elbows, surveying the truly blissful scene in front of him. Across at the island, he could see the flocks of seagulls congregating, leaving in small groups across the sky to settle on nearby calm stretches of water. There were a couple of pelicans flying low in the sky that landed, feet first, to swim just behind the waves of the beach. With all this serene nature, there wasn't one artificial sound, although from what General Marty had said, there was actually a town really close by. The direction of the wind sheltered them from any human intervention, however, and they were free to enjoy a moment in the sun – something he couldn't remember doing in a very long time.
"You comfortable sir?" He heard the slightly ironic tone of voice coming from Sam and glanced sideways at her, cocking his eyebrow in mock hurt.
"Are you mocking me, Major?" he said playfully. "Can't a man enjoy the few hours he has left before half the Australian Air Force and Navy arrives?"
"You're forgetting Thor and my Dad." Sam pointed to the sky. "We have no idea when they could show up…"
"Yes, well…" Jack propped himself up on his side and looked at Sam suggestively, patting the ground next to him, smoothing the sand out in an attempt to make it look inviting. "Since when have they ever been on time? C'mon Sam…" he pouted slightly, making a valiant attempt to do 'puppy-dog-eyes'. "We've got three hours max before the rest of the world comes crashing down on us – let's enjoy them!"
"But what then?" Sam said quietly.
"I don't care." Jack replied instantly. "I want to be with you, and I'm not going to let anything get in the way of that." With those words, he lost the thin strand of patience he had been clinging to and reached his hand out to Sam's, pulling her towards him as he settled back on the warm sand. He tasted the salt water on her lips as they kissed and smiled again – it was going to be a great morning.
FIN
A/N: Factual thing first up: Minnamurra is NOT a netted beach, and just a couple of months ago a guy died from a shark attack there. Mind you, I've been swimming there for years without having ever seen one. That being said, everyone knows not to go into the water at dusk or dawn, if you've been bleeding, or if you're wearing anything sparkly or shiny. Also, if you see fish being herded into the waves, get out - because something bigger is herding them (although the only time I've ever seen this it was dolphins and not sharks). Just some friendly advice ;-)
Before you all shout at me – there MAY be an epilogue… if you ask VERY nicely… But the fic has to end here… otherwise it will just become the "thing that never ends." That isn't to say there won't be some kind of sequel… but it'd have to have it's own distinct story (that I haven't thought of yet…) so it won't be immediate. I kinda want to bring Stacey back to the SGC though, so it's brewing away in the back of my mind somewhere.
And I know there are threads left untied... but that's just the way it is. Life goes on even after the end of one story, and there are many others. I wanted to portray certain conversations that were relevant to the "end" of this particular story, but couldn't ignore what I saw as being important surrounding things... hence the Sandra Sully bit, the impending arrival of alien ships.. the actual retrieval of the naquada. Some bits may be addressed in an epilogue... but certainly not all.
So thank you all so much for reading and reviewing! I've loved writing this… Now I've got to get back to my long-delayed fic "Past Legacy"… I started writing it in FEBRUARY but put it on hiatus because I wasn't too confident about how it was going (plus it had way fewer reviews that this, dammit!). But now I've got a couple of other fics under my belt, and some more confidence, I'm going back to it.
Please have a look and let me know what you think if you haven't read it before now… I'm looking to inject it with some new life as I continue. Just remember it was the absolute first thing I ever wrote, so there are probably some cringe-worthy bits!