Part 2
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JANET
I sat and re-read the test results for a fourth time. I couldn't put it off any longer. General Hammond had to know. There was no doubt; someone had murdered SG-11. The medium was their energy bars; the poison came from mushrooms only found in extremely remote locations in North America. Gathering my wits, I called my superior to ask for some of his time.
"Of course, Doctor Frasier. Come right now, if you have the time." I was once again grateful for the extraordinary support the general had always shown me. I piled the autopsy reports into a folder and made my way to his office.
"Well Doctor, what can you tell me about the deaths of SG-11?"
"The reports I got back from the pathologist indicate that they were murdered," I baldly stated.
His eyebrows rose. "Tell me what you have." And, so I did. The report listed the poison administered to the team members, the failure of the liver and kidneys, the build-up of toxins, and the ultimate causes of death. His face grew longer with each sentence.
After a few moments of silence, the general asked, "Is there any hope of finding out who did this, Doctor?"
"I certainly hope so, sir."
"What will you need?"
"With your permission, sir, I'd like to bring in a forensic investigator."
"Of course, Doctor. I'll find one with the appropriate level of clearance. Is there anything else you'll need?"
"Free access to every department, every person and thing within the SGC will be crucial. Plus, we may need to destroy every uneaten energy bar in stock. The toxins were terrestrial in origin, meaning that someone in the SGC or at the manufacturer planted the poison for the express purpose of killing people."
"Whatever you need is yours, Doctor. I want to know who is responsible for killing my people. Dismissed."
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JACK
After thoroughly kicking myself for being such a jerk, I settled back into my now accustomed - lonely - routine. Daniel graciously accepted my emailed apology – thank goodness for the wireless networks and email systems our network engineer set up between the camp and the SGC - and kept me up to date on the achievements of SG-1. They completed one successful mission after another. Sam was a great commander, as I knew she would be. Simms continued to make himself valuable to the team and soon became the de-facto fourth member of SG-1.
Time passed and summer was in full swing at Eden Camp. We completed all of the log cabins and the dormitories. The tents were abandoned in favor of more comfortable quarters and the US Army Corp of Engineers team constructed a larger, more permanent mess hall as the population of the camp grew. When we passed 100 people, I declared a holiday and we re-christened Eden Camp as Eden Base. Some were even starting to call P3J-299 Eden.
Not too long after the holiday, I took some time for myself. Loaded up with fishing gear, lunch and a bottle of the cook's homebrew, I headed out. One of the sentries greeted me as I left the base.
"Off to your lake for some fishing, sir?"
"Sure am, Johansen. I can't wait to put my feet up and cast my line into that water. See you later." I waved goodbye and set off along the trail that wound toward the eastern valley where we'd start the colony next summer. Turning off, I climbed the steep hill along the faint trail my semi-regular trips to the small lake had left.
Cresting the top, I looked down into a cup holding a small lake and reflected, "Too bad
Sam can't see this. She'd finally agree to go fishing with me." Shrugging away painful thoughts of lost opportunities, I started down to my homemade dock and settled myself into the broken-down chair appropriated from an office. The shortened legs allowed me to lounge on the dock and cast in comfort.
For once, fishing didn't work its magic to free my mind and the various tasks waiting for me at the base kept repeating themselves like a looping video tape. With the arrival of several scientists, my duties had more than doubled. We had yet to begin construction of the office and lab complex, so they were working out of their cabins, in tents, or wherever they could set up equipment. They got in the way, complained about the working conditions, and generally pissed off the longer-term personnel.
"I'd get so much more done if only I could clone myself." The light of a brilliant idea struck me. "Why can't I? Damn!" I quickly rounded up my gear and almost ran back to the base to send an email to Hammond. My brainstorm could solve all my problems at once.
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SAM
About four months after our mission to P3J-299, I received an email from Colonel O'Neill inviting me to spend some time at Eden Base. He supposedly had a way around the regs which had kept us apart for so long. Daniel had already passed along his apology for being such an ass, but I wasn't disposed just yet to be forgiving.
My reply to the invitation was a polite refusal, short and to the point. There was nothing and no one there I cared to spend time with. Anyhow, that's what I told myself. Janet encouraged me to go, if for nothing else than to finally close out that part of my life. She was so busy on some hush-hush project; I barely had time to mention it before she dashed away again.
Not too long afterward, Daniel started mentioning what a nice place Eden Base was and wouldn't I enjoy a little time away from work.
"Not really, Daniel. I have a ton of work to do and not enough time to do it in as it is." Teal'c remained stoic throughout our friend's sales pitch.
"But, Sam, you know you really ought to visit. Jack's made incredible progress according to his emails. See, I got this picture of the new buildings and he sent me the plans for the science labs."
"No! Not interested." I glanced at Lt. Simms for assistance and, holding his hands up, palms out, he wisely kept out of the discussion. "Well, I have a meeting now. See you later, guys." I made my escape, at least for the moment. Daniel's assault on my determination continued for several days, until I finally started to consider Colonel O'Neill's offer – just to get away from my annoying "brother".
One morning at breakfast, Daniel's campaign began again. "Ah, come on. You know I won't quit until you give in," he asserted, grinning at my reaction.
"I could order you to, Daniel," I mumbled around a bite of toast.
"Well, if you're going to put it that way…" He flicked his eyes toward Teal'c, who nodded so slightly I wasn't sure I'd really seen it.
"ColonelCarter, you would benefit from a period of rest. Why not spend it on Eden. I am sure O'Neill has many beautiful places to show you."
"You, too? It's a conspiracy," I moaned, my forehead in my hand. "What's next? You'll have Cassie send me email advice on how to get a love life?"
He seemed to consider the idea seriously for a moment. "I am sure CassandraFrasier could impart considerable wisdom on the subject. Perhaps we should enlist her assistance, DanielJackson."
I threw up my hands and said, a little too loudly, "Whatever! I give up. You win. Make the arrangements and I'll go." Heads turned from all around us and stayed turned to watch me stalk from the mess hall.
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JARED
There was no way in this universe or the next I was going to let her go there alone – to be alone with him. He was her past; I was her future. Daniel planned to tag along, so I had an excuse to join the happy party as well.
I would allow no more interference when I was so close to having my heart's desire. In fact, the more I thought about it, the better this opportunity looked. Everything necessary was in place already, thanks to all the milk runs and errands to Eden Base I had run for Hammond. I was ready to put my plan into motion. With luck, within a few days, we would be together - forever.
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JACK
I was so nervous. Not since I got married to Sara had I been this panicky. I hoped to persuade Sam to move to Eden to take the job of running the base and science station. That would leave me free to resign my commission – or not - and take over the designing, building and running of the colony. No reporting structure in common, voila, no problem with the regs.
It took some time to convince Hammond, but once on my side of the argument, he made it happen. I'd asked him to send the new orders with Sam, so I could offer them to her personally.
As five-star hotels went, the new dorm was rough, but at least she wouldn't have to sleep outside or in a common tent this time. I paced the room reserved for her, inspecting each little item and piece of furniture for the third time.
I'd worked so hard since my brainstorm to have everything ready. There was still so much to do before she got here. Did I mention how nervous I was?
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JANET
Ivan Stafanko, the forensic investigator General Hammond finally found, was a wonder and a holy terror. He and his team cut a swath through the storerooms, carting off every MRE and energy bar received before SG-11 left for their last mission. They wiped clean the quarters of all four members of SG-11 and took everything out of their lockers and packs.
He spent days in his temporary labs on Peterson AFB, testing, sorting, searching, and analyzing. I spent hours each day with him, theorizing, reading analyses, answering questions and theorizing some more. It was painstaking and extremely slow, mostly due to security concerns. I interviewed everyone who had any contact with the team before the mission. Ivan stayed behind a one-way mirror and fed me questions. I felt like a detective and, if not for the circumstances of the investigation, would have enjoyed myself immensely.
One day, I walked into my office to a flashing light on my phone – voice mail. Ivan's voice told me to call him right away. His tone of breathless excitement told me he had something of importance for me. I dialed his number anxiously and waited three rings for him to answer. Just when I thought we were going to play phone tag, he answered, out of breath.
"Ivan, it's me, Janet. You have news?"
"Yes! We found how it was done - how the toxin was introduced into the food bars."
"Please, don't keep me in suspense," I begged.
"You know that we found a wrapper stuffed deep inside a pocket in Lt. Marten's pack containing a small portion of the food bar that killed her. One of my people did a microscopic scan of the wrapper. In the crimped end of the wrapper, there was a tiny tube in the crimp made by slipping a hypodermic needle between the two sheets of plastic. Our killer introduced the poison through the needle and into the bar.
"That's an amazing piece of detective work, Ivan. Now, do you know who did it, why and when?"
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SAM
General Hammond had given us a week of downtime. After the past few months of uninterrupted missions and work, SG-1 more than deserved it. He'd even asked me to take a packet of paperwork to the colonel, saying mysteriously that I'd get to read them after Colonel O'Neill had.
Not surprisingly, Jared decided to come with us. He wanted to do some rock climbing along the escarpment and get in a little hiking. It was beyond me what would persuade him to do for fun what we do for a living, but then, I still didn't know what Colonel O'Neill had planned for me either.
I walked ahead of Daniel up the ramp, with Jared just behind and to my left. Just as I was about to step into the event horizon, Daniel seemed to stumble and fall. Simms shouted something and a hand on my back propelled me through the Stargate. De javu.
As I exited the wormhole on P3J-299, I spun to check on my teammates. Lt. Simms was there with me and grabbed my shoulder as though to support me. I felt a sharp sting in my neck and the world went away.
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DANIEL
As Sam started through the gate, Jared said something I didn't hear and his hand swept out to push me back as though from danger. I was off balance from his shove and my glasses fell off as I tumbled to the base of the ramp.
I scrambled to my feet quickly, grabbed for my glasses, and tried to hurry through before the gate shut down. Just my luck, it closed as I approached the shimmer of blue.
"Re-dial P3J-299, Sergeant," I yelled to the control room technician.
The Stargate spun and chevrons glowed, but the tech's voice answered, "Sorry, Dr. Jackson, incoming wormhole. You'll have to wait until this one closes before I can dial out again."
So, I waited impatiently while the gate finished its combination, the gate "flushed sideways," and the incoming traveler made the transit. It turned out to be Jacob Carter, Sam's dad and Earth's liaison to the Tok'ra.
"Hey, Daniel. You here to greet me because my daughter's too busy for her ol' dad?"
"Actually, I was just leaving with her and Lt. Simms for some downtime at the beta site. I'm sure she'd love to have you come along," I blurted before my mind caught up to my mouth. Dad + Sam + Jack "Oh shit," but it was already too late.
"Glad to, Daniel. Sounds like fun and I haven't seen your beta site yet."
"Uh, Sergeant, would you dial up P3J-299 again, please?" I shouted lamely to the smirking tech. The trip was uneventful this time and we exited into a glorious morning.
"So, where's Sam? By the way, isn't Jack O'Neill in charge of this site?" Jacob asked oh- so-casually.
"She must have gone ahead with Jared, and, uh, yeah, he is. The base is this way." I skimmed quickly over the answer he already knew and continued on in silence. We walked the flat trail, which was quickly becoming a full-fledged road, between two bands of colorful foliage. The wood of young trees, sporting leaves of every hue, continued for the 20 minutes until the base came into sight around a corner. I stopped to gape at the raw scar in the earth from which new buildings sprang. "Wow, Jack's made a lot of progress in the past few months. When we were here last, it was a couple of tents and a few log cabins."
"I'm really impressed. Who knew Jack had the talents to actually build something," Jacob joked. I looked at him trying to figure out his point.
"Yeah, well, he's a man of many talents. In fact, there he is. Jack!" I yelled to the graying head bent over a worktable. To either side were two large structures in the process of assembly. The head lifted to reveal a genuine smile.
"Hey, Daniel, Jacob! Did Hammond send you with the orders?" He strode up to us like a whirlwind
"Orders? I didn't get any orders. He must have sent them with Sam or Jared." Jack's smile faltered slightly at the lieutenant's name. "Where is Sam? They should have been here almost half an hour ahead of us."
Jack turned to a P90-toting SF. "Hey, Yatchenko, seen anything of Colonel Carter or Lt. Simms this morning?"
"No, sir. Dr. Jackson and Mr. Carter are the first visitors we've had all day."
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JACK
I knew immediately something was wrong and turned to my second, Major Grace. "Get together some search parties. We need to cover the region around the Stargate. Have some maps printed so each leader has at least the area their party is searching. Break out the spare radio batteries and the survival gear. We don't want anyone else going missing."
"Jack, is that really necessary?" Daniel asked, confused at my assumption that Sam and Jared were in trouble.
"Daniel, there's no place to go on this planet except the base. If they wandered off the trail for some reason, one or both of them may be injured. As peaceful as Eden is, it's not without dangers." Grace finished speaking into his radio and I instructed, "Contact General Hammond about searching the nearby planets with Stargates in case they were kidnapped or misdirected."
As much as I wanted to be on the ground searching for Sam, I stayed at the headquarters running teams. We quartered the area for a couple of miles around the Stargate, from the east side of the base to the escarpment in the west; north beyond the river that ran straight to the cliff; south to the big slide. There was no sign of them anywhere.
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DANIEL
Jack worked far into the night and the next day on the search for Sam and Jared. He never rested, barely stopped for food and became less communicative as time passed. General Hammond's news about the death of the last member, but one, of SG-11 had hit us all pretty hard. Jacob and I filled in where we could, running errands, getting coffee, manning the radios, even joining search teams when people came in too tired to go on.
Around mid-afternoon, I finally convinced Jack to get some sleep. Teal'c had arrived some hours earlier, recalled from his downtime with Ry'ak. He coordinated with the SGC on the off world search teams. Jacob had left in the wee hours to get something or other from the Tok'ra.
Freshly showered, Jack showed up again after only a couple of hours of sleep. He grunted a greeting and jumped right in. "What's the progress, Grace?"
"I'm sorry to say, nothing so far, sir. We've covered almost the entire search zone, some areas multiple times. There's no sign of them. General Hammond sent word just a little while ago saying that he had to call off the off world searches."
Jack closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath. This obviously wasn't what he wanted to hear.
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JANET
Ivan and I had just finished reading the lab results. There was no longer any doubt of who the killer was. I don't know why it hadn't come as a surprise to me. We waited impatiently to report the findings to the general until his aide said we could enter.
"Well, Doctor, Mr. Stafanko, do you have all the answers to our mystery?" he asked soberly after we seated ourselves.
"Yes, sir." I gestured to Ivan that he should have the honor of telling the details.
"The person responsible for the deaths of your team is their fellow team member, Lt. Jared Simms. He tainted the rations of his teammates, as well as his own, most likely before their last mission. The latter was done, no doubt, so he could point to that as proof that he would have died too if he'd eaten with them that last night."
"How can you be so sure he's the guilty party?" The general faced each of us in turn.
"General, my team found a microscopic sample of the lieutenant's DNA on the inside of the wrapper of one the unopened bars. He quite cleverly used a hypodermic needle to thread between the layers of plastic covering the energy bars, and probably used sterile gloves while working on the bars."
"Then, why did you find the DNA in the wrapper?"
"I don't know if we'll ever find out for sure, but my guess is that his sterile field wasn't as complete as he hoped and a bit of epithelial invaded the wrapper while he was working on it."
"Why he would do such a thing?"
"I can only say that the psychiatric examination after he's caught will have to determine his motives. We can only determine the facts of the case, not the motivation."
"Can you tell me if he's likely to try it again?"
Ivan paused, "I would have to say yes, he would, if put into whatever situation triggered his actions. Why do you ask, sir?"
Pursing his lips in anger, General Hammond answered as directly as Ivan's clearance allowed. "Because we received word late yesterday that Lt. Simms and Lt. Colonel Carter went missing between here and our remote base. I've had four teams searching possible destinations since then and Colonel O'Neill has his entire base out searching. There's been no sign yet."
I gasped, afraid for my friend, "He has Sam? How did he get to be… there alone with her, sir? Wasn't Daniel supposed to go with them?"
"Yes, but I've just been show recordings of the gate room in which he quite cleverly pushes Dr. Jackson down the ramp to keep him from going through with them. I was just about to contact Colonel O'Neill with this information when you called."
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DANIEL
Major Grace's radio bleated for attention. "What's that, Captain? Thanks, I'll tell him right away." Turning away from the device, Major Grace excitedly relayed to Jack, "They found the colonel's cap, sir. Captain Jessed has it, over by the Stargate."
Jack leapt up and grabbed his gear. "I'm going to join the search. You all have everything under control; you don't need me." He clapped me on the shoulder, "Daniel, go get some sleep. You've been up longer than I have and even you can't go forever on caffeine."
I watched him race off to the west, chasing the first bit of evidence that our missing friends had ever been on this world. Teal'c approached the command tent from the direction of the mess hall, all the while talking into his radio.
"Yes, General Hammond, this is most unpleasant news. I will tell Colonel O'Neill without delay." Teal'c replaced the radio on his shoulder and turned to me. "DanielJackson, General Hammond has just relayed to me the results of the investigation into SG-11's deaths. Dr. Frasier now has proof that Lt. Simms is responsible for their demise. General Hammond also confirmed that Lt. Simms prevented you from going through the Stargate with them. I must tell O'Neill."
Shaken by his revelation, I stuttered, "Uh, yeah, he's, uh, out looking. Jessed can tell you where he is." I ran my hands through my hair and walked randomly through the base for a some time, berating myself for having ever trusted Jared and being so easy to ditch.
Finally done with self-pity, I decided to put my energy to better use doing what I could to help find her.
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SAM
My head pounded with the rhythm of my heart. I was cold and in a lightless place. With some effort, I struggled to sit up and almost lost whatever was in my stomach when my head swam. Nausea, dizziness, headache, and my mouth certainly tasted like the Academy marching band had been through at least once. Did Janet make Daiquiris again?
I felt around where I lay for clues to my location. The rough rock floor told me I wasn't in Kansas or the SGC any more. Taking inventory was a distressingly short task. My jacket, vest, cap, boots and pack were all missing, accounting for the chill that I felt.
Greatly daring, I tried to stand and almost decapitated myself when the chain attached to my neck jerked me back onto the floor. I followed the chain from the leather band on my neck to the stub of rock it'd become tangled around. A small box on one side of the collar seemed to hold the band closed and refused to yield to any tinkering.
Untangling the chain took most of my remaining strength. Based on the pressure in my bladder, it had to have been at least a day since… whatever happened. I traced the chain again, this time all the way to the very heavy eyebolt embedded securely in the wall. At least I had some mobility, but I didn't know what good it would do me.
My team! It finally struck me that I hadn't heard or seen anyone else. I stood again and shouted, "Daniel, Simms, answer me if you're there. This is Colonel Carter. Are you there?" Nothing answered, not even an echo. I tried again. "Is anyone there at all?"
Having gotten nothing that way, I walked in stocking feet straight out from the wall, slowly letting the links of the chain out one by one. There was no use strangling myself… yet. About 15 feet from the rock wall, I reached the end of my tether and started walking the diameter of my new world. Rocks tripped me as I shuffled along and stubbed my toes every few inches.
The rock wall abruptly stopped any further progress around the circle, so I followed the wall to the opposite end of my small domain. Once there, I found something that made my heart beat faster – an energy bar and a half-full canteen. Having skipped breakfast before leaving the SGC, I gobbled most of the bar and a few sips of the water before stopping myself. I had to ration my supplies for as long as possible. I had to believe that somewhere, someone was looking for us.
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JACK
The walk from base to the Stargate calmed me slightly and used up some of the raw energy raging through me. I stalked up to the captain running the search operations in this area. "You found her hat, Captain? May I see it?"
He handed me the cap and I just barely resisted the urge to put it to my face to smell her scent again. I ignored the look of pity that flickered across his face. Word must have gotten out that Sam was here on a personal visit to see me. Before either of us could speak again, the Stargate began to turn. Within seconds, the wormhole connected and Jacob Carter ran out, followed quickly by another Tok'ra, Aldwin.
"Jacob! What's that?" I pointed to the huge box strapped to his back.
"It's a satellite. The Tok'ra agreed to let me 'give' it to the colony. It should help find Sam much faster, assuming she's on this planet at all." I held up her cap for him to see. "That hers?" I nodded.
"How long until you get it in orbit and get some intel back?" I asked.
"A few hours, if nothing goes wrong."
"A few hours," I shouted in dismay. In a few hours, Sam could be dead.
Taking pity on my obvious distress, Sam's father said, "Jack, that's cutting a whole day off the normal time to get one of these babies working. I want her back at least as much as you do, but there's only so much we can do."
Jacob seemed to consider whether to finish what he had to say, so I exclaimed, "Spit it out." He at least had the grace to look embarrassed.
"Jack, I'm afraid this 'gift' squares all accounts with the Tok'ra. It was a huge concession on their part to give up such a valuable piece of technology."
I shook my head and spat, "Whatever. If it finds her, it's worth any price. Isn't that right, Dad?" He looked embarrassed again and turned back to the road. They loped away carrying the equipment boxes as though filled with air.
Appearing suddenly from the wood, the chubby, middle-aged head cook, Master Sergeant Bodine, ran up to us waving a BDU jacket, puffing heavily.
"Sir, we just found this. It's Colonel Carter's," he got out before stooping with hands on his knees to keep from collapsing.
"Where did you find it? Show me," I gruffly ordered. The man nodded and turned back the way he'd come. We walked northwest toward the escarpment for about 25 minutes. I gave him enough time to get his breath back before asking the questions plaguing me. "Tell me all about how and where you found this, Sergeant."
Now that he had enough air left over to speak, his Arkie twang was more evident. "Two o' my men were searching the south river bank walking toward the cliffs, when they found this half in and half out o' the water. There was drag marks like the colonel pulled herself into the water or got pulled."
"Have you checked downstream?" I seriously dreaded hearing the answer.
"Yes, sir. While I ran back with the jacket I sent my men downstream, though there wasn't too much downstream left, if you get my drift." He chuckled at his own pun until he saw my face, and then cleared his throat. "Uh, yeah. The waterfall over the cliff was only about 100 feet from where we found the jacket and they reported that there was no exit marks found anywheres on either side of the stream. I'm sorry, sir."
We arrived at the small river several silent minutes later. We heard his men and followed the noise until, without warning, the panorama of the valley opened in front of us and the cliff fell away at our feet. To our right, the river tumbled over the edge. To our left, a man stood watching another rappel down the rock face. At our feet, the cliff fell away abruptly.
Continued in Part 3