Part 2
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JACK
I watched Daniel and Sam playing like a couple of kids, siblings, if you will. Now that I knew there never really was anything between them but friendship, watching them together made me feel warm, like family surrounded me.
Okay, enough mushiness!
"Are you two ready to work now?" I drawled, my hands on my hips, looking cool in my sunglasses. The two looked at me, at each other, grinned and launched themselves at me. We rolled in the sand for a few minutes while they tried to pin me down. Sam's giggling, Daniel's laughing, and Teal'c is eyeing us with something like a smile.
"Teal'c! Help us!" Sam and Daniel were losing badly. I cheat.
"Please tell me, ColonelCarter, what is the purpose of this ritual?" He knew perfectly well we were playing, but he still likes to pretend he's an Earth newbie.
She stopped suddenly, breathing heavily, laughing and fell back to rest on her elbows. With her hair wild, face flushed and an excited grin, Sam was enchanting. "It's to have fun, Teal'c. The two of us gang up on Jack and he fights back. No one really gets hurt and we all have fun." All she got in return was a raised eyebrow and an indulgent look from the big guy.
We went back to our camp for Sam's equipment, which turned out to be movable, interconnecting panels to put around the insides of the hole, keeping the sand from falling back in, and a large device that looked like a big, honkin' vacuum cleaner.
"Wow, and I just thought you brought way too many clothes," I said as she unpacked the equipment. She sent me an "eat shit and die" look. My brain told my mouth, 'Smooth move, O'Neill.'
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DANIEL
Sam jumped down into the pit Teal'c had dug and signaled Jack to crank up the vacuum. She began using the vacuum to suck up the sand and pitch it about ten feet beyond the edge of the pit. This sure beat shoveling our way down to the ring room.
As the 15-foot wide pit got deeper, she instructed, "Slide the panels into the hole to keep it from collapsing." We jumped to fit the wall sections together.
She stopped after about an hour and climbed up the chain ladder. "I think we'll have to go down at least 20 feet, so we'll be at this for a while. It's fairly tiring, so we should take turns. Jack, you want to go next?" His answer was to hop down and pick up the vacuum.
She looked at the sky, at the sun slowly slipping toward the horizon. "Daniel, would you get the lighting so we can continue after dark?" I nodded agreement, so she continued. "I'll go start dinner. No MREs on this trip."
She and I trudged through the sand back to camp. Sam unpacked the portable lights and I trudged back to where Jack and Teal'c were making an appalling racket and raising a dust storm all of their own.
An hour or so later my radio crackled. "Daniel, grab the guys and come back. Dinner's ready."
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JACK
After dinner, we sat back from the large folding table. I joked, "And I thought she could just work miracles. Sam, how did you fit all this onto the FRED we brought?"
She just smirked and stood. "I'm heading back to dig some more. Daniel, want to join me? Jack and Teal'c can clean up here."
Figuring we got the better end of the deal, Teal'c and I put the leftovers in the small cooler and cleaned up. I shook my arms to get some feeling back in them. "My arms are still tingling from holding the suction tube. We're in for a long week, I can just tell."
Teal'c merely bowed his head in agreement and brought out a deck of cards.
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SAM
It was a long two days to reach and clear the ring controls, which turned out to be almost 40 feet down. I theorized that a dune must have shifted to cover them some time after installation. We worked in two teams, alternately digging and resting, digging and cooking, shoring up and sleeping.
I called up to Daniel, "I'm going to put the rings in maintenance mode. Dad said they aren't always close to the controls, so keep an eye out for them. Warn Jack and Teal'c, would you?"
The control crystals followed the familiar pattern of Goa'uld technology and I was able to tell the rings to rise up out of the ground where we could dismantle the set for transport.
Voov, voov, voov, I could hear the rings pop up.
"Hey, Sam! Tryin' to be a widow before we're married?" Jack's irritated voice came through the radio. "You almost got us with the rings." Daniel and I snickered at the thought of them hopping out of the way of the big metal hoops.
I sent back, "Sorry, guys. They're up now, so we can dismantle everything. We'll meet you there in a few minutes."
Jack and Teal'c stood off to the side waiting impatiently and patiently, respectively. Jack looked my way behind his sunglasses. God, he looked sexy in those shades. "What now, Dr. Carter?" I stuck my tongue out at him.
"Everyone grabs a side of a ring and we see how easily it moves." I put my hand on the edge of the top ring and it slid out of the stack and slowly settled to the ground.
"Cool."
"Indeed, O'Neill. Cool."
The rings were incredibly light for their size and we quickly had them back at camp. All that remained was to remove the control console and pack everything up. Then we could go home.
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JACK
The four of us and the FRED made the trip to Eden two days later. I was anxious to get home after five days on a desert planet, so we headed straight for the lake cabin. I looked toward Sam and saw her agreement.
"Yeah, I can hardly wait for a shower. You know how I love those sandy planets."
"Brrr, this is quite a change of temperature." Daniel was digging for his heavier coat. Despite the warm sunshine, it was still in the low 30s and some snow lingered in shady pockets.
Sam and I stepped forward, plumes of steam pouring from our mouths in the cold air, and she drove the cart southeast cross-country toward home. Daniel and Teal'c followed close behind in our accustomed SG-1 configuration. The trip home was as quick as we could make it. By dinnertime, we were relaxing in the living room of our compact cabin. As small as it was now, it'd grown substantially since Sam first saw it last summer.
Daniel stood mutely in front of the windows facing our lake, hands in his pockets, then commented, "This is really beautiful, Jack. It reminds me of a miniature Lake Tahoe. How'd you find it?" He turned his back to the spectacular view to hear my reply.
"When I first arrived, I made more than a few recon trips around the area. One day I was looking for some high ground from which to see more of the terrain and climbed up the ridge. It was just sitting there, this little jewel of a lake. I knew this was the perfect spot for us to live." I was gazing at Sam as I said this. She turned to me and kissed me lightly, then moved her hips so we were touching from shoulder to toes. It was making it hard to concentrate on the conversation, pun intended.
She purred in my ear, "I'm glad you found it before someone else did or we wouldn't have this retreat from the real world." She turned to our friends, grinning evilly. "And, guys, there's a whole shed full of lumber and windows outside, just waiting for good weather, so we can start the next two rooms of the cabin. I'm sure you'd just love to come help…"
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SAM
I didn't think Jack would last too much longer without our being alone together, so we made an early night of it. A shower, even a lukewarm one, was heaven. To conserve warm water, we shared the shower. Anyway that's the excuse we used. Clean clothes weren't too bad either. Jack was already in bed waiting for me.
"Hey gorgeous, alone at last." He waggled his eyebrows, which always made me laugh. I turned out the oil lamp and slid into bed beside him. Jack's arms captured me in the dark and impatiently pulled me across the space separating us.
I laughed softy, so as not to wake our friends. "In a hurry, Jack?"
"Only to have you where I want you, love. It's been a very, very long five days. Funny, it was never like this before I knew for real how good being with you would be," he whispered between kisses along my jaw.
We took our time, enjoying each other, prolonging the pleasure until it was almost too intense to continue. I can't believe the years we wasted staying apart.
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TEAL'C
Installing the rings was an untidy task. ColonelCarter thought the space underneath the cabin floor the best place for the rings and their control console.
"So Sam, why is it, again, that we're digging under the floor?" Daniel voiced the question on all of our minds.
She straightened up with a smile of great patience. "Because Daniel, under the cabin floor has several advantages. The temperature and humidity are more constant than out under the trees and there are fewer tree roots. We can leave and arrive in the comfort of the cabin. Martouf told me the controller powers itself by using the temperature differential between the ground a few feet down, where we'll install it, and the surface above to generate power. Since we don't have a remote control unit, I'll have to jury-rig something. Finally, with the controller under the cabin, I can run a line up into the cabin so we can operate the rings from there."
O'Neill had begun to fidget at the word "Because" and was digging with great enthusiasm. His shout was quite audible outside the crawl space. "Hey! Either of you gonna help here? Teal'c and I are doin' all the work."
ColonelCarter flashed her happiest smile and called, "Yes, sir!" She hastened to help distribute the dirt O'Neill tossed out of the hole.
"ColonelCarter, what would you like me to do with the soil?" I asked, holding up a bucketful.
"We already have enough over here to fill up the hole after the controls are installed, so Daniel, fill these buckets with the extra dirt. Teal'c, let's take them over here, where this big dip is and fill it in. By spring, there'll be no sign that the dip was ever there.'
"Making changes to my landscaping already, Sam?" O'Neill's head popped through the door to the crawl space.
"No, Jack. Just filling in the mud puddle I step in every time it rains."
"Oh."
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JACK
We dug down about 10 feet. Sam said we needed it to be deep enough for the temperature to be fairly constant. After she finished remodeling our yard, she went inside to get the control box. She brought it out in a large Styrofoam crate left over from some of the construction at the base.
"Jack, switch places with me so I can set up the controller at the bottom of the hole." I climbed out and stood back, ready to hand her the box. She set it down and fiddled with some of the crystal thingies inside until some of them lit up. I heard her mutter, "Sweet." and had to smile. Danny was right. I was rubbing off on her already. Sweet.
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SAM
Now, for the fun part; getting it to work. I tested, reconfigured, re-tested and fiddled until my head was spinning. It just refused to come out of maintenance mode.
"Come on, Sam. You're exhausted and dinner's almost ready. Take a shower, eat something and go to bed. You can play with your new toys tomorrow." Jack practically had to drag my shivering body from the muddy hole. "Okaaay, let's make that a hot bath." He picked me up and carried me toward the door.
I have to admit my teeth were chattering, but I still had my pride. "I can walk, Jack. I'm just cold. Put me down."
"No way am I lettin' you track all that mud in the house. Daniel, fill the tub. Teal'c you'll find some rocks in the firebox of the stove. When the tub is full, drop a few in to heat the water. Yell when it's hot." In the bedroom, he set me on my feet. I have to admit I looked like a mud monster. Throwing a towel on the bed, I sat and began to take off my soaked clothing while Jack took off my sodden boots. It made me feel about six years old.
"I can tell I'm going to need to assign you a minder when I'm not around, Sam." I could feel my face getting red, but his loving smile took much of the sting out of his words.
The bath warmed me and knocked me right out. Jack must have put me to bed, because I woke up there the next morning.
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JACK
The guys had to leave the next day, so we walked them to the gate mid-afternoon and returned to the base. I muttered from the door to my office, "It's frightening what can happen to your in-box when you're away for a week. Thus begins the workweek." We toiled through as much as we could and broke for dinner.
It was the following weekend before Sam was able to get back to her pet project. We lugged tarpaulins back to the cabin to line the hole around the control box. She was totally absorbed by the challenge and I saw little of her from dawn till dusk those two days.
Just as I was about to go collect her for dinner Sunday, I heard, "That's it! How could I have missed it?"
I poked my head through the crawlspace door. "Sam? You okay?"
"I'm fine, just a little dense. It's so obvious. Go back inside and tell me if the rings deploy," she ordered.
I scampered back inside and waited in the doorway, not knowing where they'd pop up. All of a sudden, voov, voov, voov, the rings were floating in the living room. "Sam, you did it. Come up and see."
My muddy-faced beauty poked her head in the door, a smile practically breaking her face in half. "Yes!" She disappeared, and shortly so did the rings.
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SAM
I could hardly wait for each weekend to go test the rings. Because the destruction of the Tok'ra base buried the ring platform too deeply for us to retrieve, we had to learn how to target the rings. The first test was to send a radio to the approximate location of the base. We searched and triangulated for several hours before we found the radio by its signal.
"I found it, Sam. You were about a mile off in your calculations." Jack's voice spoke the message that sent a thrill through me. Sweet success.
"Okay. Put it back where you found it and I'll bring it back here, then try again."
"What then?"
"You find out where it lands and tell me the distance between the two spots. Next, I make some adjustments and send it again. You find it and tell me the distance again. From this data, I can gauge how to make the proper tweaks to get us where we want to go. Simple."
"Yeah, but it isn't your feet and knees trudging cross country, up and down hills. Why do you think I retired from SG-1?" he whined.
"I kinda thought it was so you could marry me," I teased.
There was a smile in his voice when he answered. "Okay, ya got me there. Let me know when you're ready."
"Move back. I'm sending the rings now."
It took me five more tries, fine-tuning the settings before I sent the radio to our office at the base. Admittedly, it landed on the shelf in the coat closet, smashing the closet door and destroying two coats, but it was success nonetheless.
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JACK
Sam was like a kid with a new toy. She had the closet rebuilt to accommodate the rings and we had a landing pad. The crew thought she was bonkers. I heard one muttering unpleasantly about 'the colonel's private sauna.' It took her another weekend to rig a remote control that would reliably send a signal for the rings to pick us up and yet another to test it to her satisfaction before we could use them.
We were standing in her office, outside the "arrival" closet after her latest test. The base was eerily quiet on this Sunday afternoon. We'd seen only the guards making their rounds. But then, we weren't looking for anyone either and it made our "secret" testing that much easier if no one was around.
"So, when do you plan to introduce this to everyone else, Sam? So far, no one but the two of us, Danny, Teal'c, and General Hammond know about the rings."
"I have a briefing planned for the research and survey teams in two days. I plan on a dramatic entrance using the rings." At my look, she said with a self-mocking grin, "I know, it's immature, but I want some fun out of this. They'll be over the moon with the opportunities for improved transportation, and just think what this will do for your construction next spring."
I took the opportunity to pull her into my arms for a celebratory kiss, which deepened quickly. She pulled back to murmur softly in my ear, "Let's not waste any time getting home, Jack. Let's use the rings." And, so we did.
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SAM
The winter dawn was still hours away when Jack and I stood, arms around each other, inside the circle I'd drawn on the living room floor. Jack used the remote to summon the rings and they whisked us to the base commander's coat closet. I'd timed it so we would arrive five minutes late for my meeting.
Jack opened the door for me to make my grand entrance. Stepping into my office, I expected to see the surprised faces of my department heads. Instead, the barrel of several P90s swung toward me and a voice I recognized with dread rang out.
"Stop right there, Colonel. We have you covered and won't hesitate to shoot you, if necessary; although, I have no idea why you've suddenly decided to stop hiding in the closet."
I stood rooted to the spot for several seconds, and then moved forward into my office. The voice was that of Dr. Morris, Jack's, now my, nemesis. An airman recently put on report for lax attention to duty grabbed my arm and pulled me roughly away from the closet door. As I passed round the edge of the door, my foot moved out to push it closed, hiding Jack from their view. I prayed to whatever powers there were, 'Please let him get away.'
"What's going on here, Dr. Morris? I assume you're the ringleader in all this. Why are you holding guns on me and where are my people? They should be here for a meeting." At least my voice was firm, unlike my knees, which were almost literally knocking.
"Your people are awaiting my pleasure. How they react to this little … change of administration will determine how I deal with them." Dr. Morris was enjoying strutting and showing off for his followers, a group of young men, all of whom I knew by name. Morris was holding forth with his grand plan to make this a paradise.
I quickly tired of his ranting and looked around at his muscle. The good doctor had gathered quite an interesting cross-section of airmen and technicians: a cook's helper, two SFs, a sanitary engineer, an electrician and a lab assistant. The latter two were looking more than a little nervous holding their guns and I noticed the safety was still set on George Weatherby's P90. He was the electrician I'd worked with to retrofit two of the labs when some new projects brought new requirements.
I turned to him and spoke softly. "George, why are you here? What have Colonel O'Neill or I ever done to make you do this?"
Nervously, he whispered back. "We had no choice ma'am. It was this or he'd hurt our wives. Besides, Morris says there's gold and diamonds like yours all over the hills and you two are keepin' 'em secret from us."
"That's ridiculous, George. The mineralogical survey showed that a gem this size was a fluke. There are no diamonds, at least not that we've found so far." A hand swept out of nowhere to strike me to the floor, stopping our conversation. My mouth filled with blood from a cut where lip collided violently with tooth.
"Lt. Colonel Carter, you will direct your comments to me or not at all. I will not tolerate your subverting my people."
Déjà vu, all over again, as my love would say.
Continued in Part 3
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Please review. Pretty please. With chocolate Jacks on top…