Chapter Seven
Visions of Friends in Odd Places
"Samantha Carter," Sam answers her phone early Saturday morning.
"Great, you're home," smiles Aliana. "Listen, I need a few items."
"Ali? How are you? Are you doing all right? You haven't gotten hurt have you?" Sam presses.
"So many questions," Ali says. "Yes, good, yes and no. I need some help though."
"What do you need help with?" Sam asks startled.
"Getting me some items," Aliana replies. "I'm going to wind up working a very complicated spell for my brother and I need some things you can only get at the SGC."
"Like what?" Sam asks.
"Got a pen and a piece of paper ready?" Aliana asks.
"Got it," Sam pulls a pad of paper towards her.
"I need you to give me some of your blood," Ali starts. "I'm sending a bowl to you, and I need you to let yourself bleed until the mark on it, by cutting yourself with the knife I'm sending."
"Why me?" asks Sam as a knife and small bowl appear on her coffee table.
"You're blood has the necessary properties I need," Aliana replies. "I'm going to need a few items from the artifact room a healing hand device." She swiftly lists of six or seven items that are necessary to the spell and tells Sam which code to write on the requisition forms.
"Daniel's worried about you," Sam comments.
"You haven't told him what's up have you?" Ali asks.
"No," Sam replies. "Jack's wondering where you are as well."
"Jack wonders where I am if I use the rest room," Ali shrugs. "He doesn't seem to trust me that much."
"He trusts you," Sam counters. "It's just he's not fond of secrets."
"You mean he's not fond of secrets he doesn't get to be let in on," Ali replies. "By the by, if I survive I'm bringing a sarcophagus with me as well as canopic jar that used to hold a Goa'uld."
"Really?" asks Sam. "Where did you find them?"
"In the vaults at my Uncle and Bro's work," Aliana replies. "Sam, you would be having a field day here."
"Why don't you tell me where you are so I can have a field day," Sam suggests.
"Because I still like you alive," Ali replies. "Although I may bring my brother's girlfriend, the one I'm trying to save out to visit you. She's a theoretical astrophysicist too."
"Sounds interesting," states Sam.
"You can't recruit her," Aliana warns. "She's their scientist."
"I figured that much," Sam replies. "Are you having fun?"
"Do you mean that literally or do you mean am I fighting demons a lot?" Ali questions.
"Both," Sam replies.
"Yes I am having fun and no I'm not fighting too much," Aliana says. "It feels like almost a vacation. If one considers working in an evil law firm a vacation from fighting evil."
"I've said it before and I'll say it again," Sam grins. "You are a weird girl."
"I know," Ali replies impishly. "So how are things at the MIB?"
"Proceeding normally," replies Sam. "I've increased efficiency in the Naquadah generators almost fifteen percent."
"Excellent," Ali nods. "And how is the translation Danny was working on for PCY-348?"
"He finally finished it," Sam replies. "He says that your hunch that it was a derivative of both Assyrian and Gaelic was dead on."
"Well, we all have to be brilliant some times," declares Aliana.
"Hammond says to finish what you're doing as quickly as possible. He's got three dig sites you need to go to," Sam says. "One off world and two on."
"Which ones? I can start my research on the on world ones from here," Aliana states.
"One in Mexico and another in Greece," Sam replies.
"Okay," Aliana nods. "They show signs of being Goa'uld or alliance?"
"The Mexican one Goa'uld, and the Greece one alliance," replies Sam. "You're sounding more British than usual."
"Well, I've been hanging around my Uncle and brother for the past week," Aliana claims. "They sound very British. Both have lived in the states for at least eight five years and neither one has dropped the accent at all. Wes has dropped the stuffiness and Unc never had it to begin with but…" She laughs.
"You love them a lot," Sam observes.
"You go through what I've been through with them and you can't help loving them," Aliana replies. "They've stuck with me through thick thin and grossly slimy."
"Ah," Sam nods. "So are you planning on coming home anytime soon? You know this is eating your vacation time down to nothing."
"No, it's getting put under family emergency leave," Aliana counters.
"Ah," Sam nods. "So when are you coming home?"
"If you can get me the items I've requested, I'll be home in a month," Aliana replies. "This spell is going to take me a while."
"Don't overdo it," Sam orders. "We happen to like you in a non comatose state."
"I know," laughs Aliana. "I'll be careful."
"You had better be," Sam replies. "You're going to need to be awake to go to the digs. It's a good thing you're so well known at the digs and had the propensity to go to different digs all the time. It's made finding the Goa'uld artifacts so much easier."
"I know," Aliana replies. 'I don't know what you did without me."
"Did things the hard way," Sam replies.
"How are my fish?" Aliana changes topics. She really wants to ask how Daniel is but is a bit embarrassed too.
"The fish are fine, swimming around comfortably," Sam replies. "Daniel's taking care of them."
"And how is he?" Ali asks softly.
"Angry at you, missing you terribly," Sam replies honestly. "You're going to have to tell him sometime you know; especially if you want your relationship to go any further."
"I know," sighs Aliana. "It's just…"
"He's a big boy," Sam says. "He can take it."
"I just don't want him getting hurt," Aliana states. "I do want him to know. It's just that know puts him at risk to die and I don't want him to."
"He can take care of himself in a fight," Sam points out. "And it would be better if you tell him rather than him finding out about it on his own. He's already feeling betrayed that you told me about what you are doing and not him. You're going to be doing some serious groveling when you get home you know."
"I figured that much," Aliana replies. "It's just I love him too much to get him hurt."
"Don't tell me that, tell him," Sam says. "Can I tell him you said hi?"
"No," Ali replies. "That will just raise the hope that I'll survive this mess. I have to go; I'm dragging Wes off to eat."
"Bye," Sam says. She clicks off the phone.