She's here!

Chapter 2: So Where is She?

"The UAV did not show any signs of life larger then a rabbit, sir." The captain laid the report on the General's desk.

"Thank-you. Please ask SG-1, 5, and 8 to report to the briefing room in half an hour."

The captain nodded at the directions and left the General's office. The eleven SG team members were waiting when the General entered the briefing room.

"I'm sending all of you on a search and rescue. Your objective is to find Colonel Carter and return her safely. As the report shows, neither the UAV nor SG-1 found any signs of inhabitation by sentient beings, but the fact is Colonel Carter is missing and the only place we have to begin a search is the planet from which she disappeared. Any questions?" No one at the table moved. "You leave in twenty minutes."

--

They'd been on the planet for fifteen hours. There was no sign of Sam and all indications of SG-1's recent visit were gone. Teal'c couldn't find any old boot prints and the ash from the campfire was gone.

That was the biggest clue they had so far. Someone or something must have cleaned up behind them. They all agreed that could be the same person or people responsible for Sam's disappearance. General Landry found the news encouraging but he wanted more.

--

Sam had traveled enough to not let the purple skin tone, webbed fingers, and third eye of the Draknars distract her. Their slight hunch made her height stand out in a crowd but she was use to being the tallest female in the room and this wasn't much different. There were a few Draknars who stood taller then her, even with the curve of their spine.

Sam was staying with Malton, a Draknar scientist who ran one of the military research stations. He had a large house complete with a wife, son, daughter, and two pets. Sam didn't know what exactly the pets could be compared to on Earth but it was obvious from their actions they liked Malton and lived in the house.

Malton's daughter Snarie played with the pets, and his son Athrop studied, while his wife Folan made dinner. Sam was surprised to see both children had a blue skin tone instead of the purple shared by both of their parents. She assumed there must be a genetic explanation and decided she would ask later. Malton gave Sam a tour of the house. She found herself asking several questions about the large portraits hung on the walls along the staircase.

"That is my great uncle. He is shown here beheading a tronulve, a fierce beast often hunted for sport. My great uncle is one of few men who has killed a tronulve by hand."

"I guess that explains the blood on his hands." Sam winced slightly. The painting was very graphic and gory. It would have fit in better as part of a horror movie than as a household decoration. Sam paid close attention during the tour and noticed several sculptures and painting were dedicated to very brutal and bloody scenes.

Dinner was colorful and tasty. Sam had feared finding the lumpy food distasteful and was pleased to be proven wrong. Athrop, acting like many Earth teenagers, was sullen when the meal began. He and Malton exchanged whispered but heated words several times. Athrop finally left the table in a huff.

"Please forgive my son. Blood passion runs strong in the young and it takes time to learn to control it."

"Blood passion?" Sam queried the term as she lifted her glass to sip the sweet fruit drink served with dinner.

"Our ancestors were more violent then we are today. Our young still feel the pull in their blood but we train them over time to control this passion." Malton took a bite of his dinner and wiped his chin.

"My people were also more violent in our past. Part of raising the young is teaching them to live by and respect our laws. The hard part is the laws are different depending upon where you live."

"All of our people share a common set of values and my son is quickly learning to live by them. His roar is loud but he is tame."

Sam nodded her head in understanding. "We have a similar saying, his bark is worse then his bite. It refers to animals on Earth called dogs. Dogs are pets who make lots of noise, called barking, but who rarely bite."

Malton laughed. "I think we will find our people have a lot in common."

After dinner Sam went to her room. She used her laptop to write a report of the day before settling down to sleep on a large and luxurious bed. She looked up at the wall opposite the bed. The light from the three moons spilled in the window and illuminated the large painting hanging on the far wall. It appeared to be a much younger Malton using a large sword to pierce a huge beast. Blood was squirting out of the beast's wound and covered Malton, who was smiling victoriously. Sam rolled towards the window, refusing to let the bloody image haunt her dreams.

--

The moons were still high and shining through the window when Sam abruptly awoke. She wondered what had disturbed her slumber. She rolled over away from the window, trying to recapture her lost contentment, when she heard a scream. Sam sat up and listened closely. It happened again. The screams were far away and muted but the soldier in her recognized potential danger.

Sam slipped out of bed, picked up her handgun, and quietly left the room. She glided down the hall towards the large staircase. She slipped downstairs. The screams were getting louder. She made it to the kitchen without being detected. The screams were occurring less often. They sounded like they were just below her. She searched the kitchen and then the pantry. She found a staircase at the back of the pantry behind a shelf of food.

Sam slowly walked down the stairs, pausing often to examine the weapons hanging on the wall. All of the weapons were sharpened and light from the recessed floor lamps glittered off the metal. Sam saw stains on a couple of the swords but she refused to make any assumptions about the origins of the rust colored spots. As she reached the bottom of the steps she heard Malton speaking.

"Relax boy. This won't last much longer." Malton sounded frustrated or angry.

Sam peaked around the corner. Malton gripped a long, wide, slightly curved piece of metal by its long handle, dipping into a fire. The metal began to glow as it heated. Once it had reached a deep orange color, Malton removed it from the fire and placed the scorching metal against his son's arm. The boy's head fell back and he screamed. Sam gasped. Malton turned towards her. The boy's scream subsided when Malton lost his concentration and allowed the hot metal to fall to the ground.

"Forgive us if we woke you, Colonel Carter. I would have warned you if I had known Athrop would require mistah tonight." Malton's eyes blazed with pent up rage, a look Sam recognized. She knew he was angry about her intrusion but he was holding it in.

"Let me help Athrop." Sam kept her weapon at her side and hidden from Malton's view.

"You don't understand. I am helping him. Please retire to your room, and I will explain all in the morning." Malton kept his eyes on Sam as he placed the metal back in the fire.

"I won't let you keep hurting him." Sam stood tall as she spoke.

"Do not interfere. You do not understand our ways. I am his father and it is my duty to help my son reach adulthood." Malton lifted the glowing metal from the fire and moved it back towards Athrop.

"Stop!" Sam lifted her gun and pointed it at Malton. Malton tensed slightly but stopped moving.

"Don't hurt my father! I need him to do this! Please!" Athrop screamed.

Sam looked from father to son. "I don't understand."

"This is part of the maturing process. I am helping my son shed his youth. You are welcome to stay and watch if Athrop agrees, but you may not interfere." Malton looked to his son.

"She may stay."

Sam lowered her weapon and stepped further into the room. Malton placed the glowing metal against his son's arm again. Sam winced as the boy screamed. She could hear his skin sizzling and it made her nauseous. Sam watched in horror as Malton removed the metal and placed it beside the fire. He took a long strip of moist towel and wrapped the boy's burned arm. Sam noticed his other arm, torso, and both legs were already wrapped in similar strips of cloth.

"Go lie down." Malton pointed the boy towards a high wooden table. Athrop slowly moved to the table and fought through his pain to climb up and lie down. Sam stayed back near the entrance.

"Most youth will do only part of their body each day but my son has decided to do everything all in one night. This was a very brave decision, and one I hope he will not regret by morning." Malton moved towards the table. He placed several buckets on the floor. Sam stepped closer as he began to unwrap the boy's right leg.

The site and smell of his burned flesh renewed Sam's desire to vomit. She swallowed several times.

"If it makes you ill, you are welcome to leave." Malton glanced over his shoulder at Sam, who was getting noticeably pale.

"I'm fine. What are you doing now?"

"I am removing his youth." Malton dropped the cloth in one bucket. He took a long sharp knife from a sheath on his belt and sliced into the boy's leg. Athrop didn't react. Malton began peeling back the burned skin. Sam stepped closer. The skin under the burn was a light purple, very different from the blue skin he'd had at dinner. Sam glanced up at Athrop's face and noticed he was asleep. Malton saw the direction of her eyes.

"It is a tiring process. I also suspect he hasn't been sleeping well for several days. When it is time to shed one's youth it can be very irritating. This probably also explains his recent poor behavior, such as what you saw displayed at dinner. I should have noticed the warning signs but I have been very busy getting ready for your visit." Malton removed more burned skin from the boy's leg. The skin underneath looked fresh and unharmed.

"He's molting? You're helping him molt?" Sam's brow was creased as her brain processed the sight before her.

"Do your people not need new covering as you go from childhood to adulthood?"

"No. Our skin lets us grow continually."

"I did not realize this would be so new to you. I apologize for not warning you. I did not know until after you had retired that Athrop would need to…molt as you say…tonight."

"How often do you have to do this?" Sam stared at the boys fully exposed leg as Malton moved to his other side.

"Only once. In old days this process took weeks. It was very uncomfortable and most youth hated being seen as it occurred. Now we know we can use heat to speed the drying process. It increases the pain of the process but reduces the time to a day or two. Not all youth choose this route but my son apparently has agreed to take a young lady to a school function in three days. He did not want to be blue and purple when he arrives to pick her up."

Sam smiled. The reasoning behind the painful molting process seemed very human. She thought about all the girls who under go painful waxing processes before the prom and realized that although this seemed more barbaric the reasoning was the same. Sam put her handgun in her pocket and stepped all the way up to the table.

"I myself have participated in painful rituals in order to look good for a member of the opposite sex." Sam smiled at Malton who placed another section of burned skin in a bucket.

"Wooing has always been about putting oneself in positions of vulnerability and potential pain. I suspect that is true for all people."

"Can I help?" Sam offered her assistance as Malton finished the second leg and began unwrapping the boy's torso.

"It would go faster if you assisted me. Are you sure this doesn't offend you?"

"Positive. I'm just glad I didn't shoot you before you told me what was happening."

Malton smiled. "And I am glad I decided to explain the process instead of severing those delicate looking blood vessels in your neck."

Sam rubbed her hand across her neck and smiled. "Then we agree…again. Waiting for the whole story was the best choice, for both of us."

--

"I'm calling off the search." General Landry sat heavily in the chair at the head of the briefing room table, waiting for the men of SG-1 to protest.

"You can't!" Daniel stood and screamed. "She's out there somewhere! We know someone covered up all signs of our time on the planet. Those same people probably have Sam!"

"I understand that Doctor Jackson, but until I have some way of figuring out who those people are, this search can't progress. Neither the UAV nor the search teams have found any evidence to lead us to these people. We left a FRED behind so if Colonel Carter reappears on P5X-642, she will be able to dial in and speak with us. I have no choice, Doctor Jackson. I'm sorry." General Landry left the room, preemptively ending any fight.

--

General Landry reached out for the phone. His fist tightened around the receiver. He hated making these calls and it was tougher when you were calling an old friend, even if that friend did understand the risks. The phone rang twice before being answered.

"Hi Jack. It's Hank. Got a minute?" General Landry's sullen tone tipped Jack off.

"This doesn't sound like a social call."

"It's not. I'm officially listing her as MIA."

Jack sighed. He'd really hoped it wouldn't come to this. "So what did you find?"

"That's just it. There's no trace of her. There's no sign anyone has ever been on that planet, including SG-1. No one has been able to explain it."

"So what happens now?" Jack's question was the one question Landry wished he could either avoid or answer.

"I don't know, Jack. I wish I had an answer but I don't."

Thanks again to the best beta ever – Tricia. I refuse to tell you her login name because I don't want any of you to steal her!