Light-years away, Jacob Carter stepped out of the wormhole onto the latest Tok'ra planet, which looked just about like any other Tok'ra base they'd been on since he'd joined them. Basically, miles and miles of desert sand, dry and barren. He felt the small hand of his daughter clutch his own tighter, and sensed her small body pressing up against his as the wormhole behind them closed.
Gently, he pulled her along; the knapsack Jack had provided slung over one shoulder. He had to slow his steps to match Sam's much smaller ones, and again found himself marveling at the changes wrought in his daughter. It was as if she'd been lifted right out of a moment in time, some thirty years ago, perfectly preserved. If not for the naquadah, he'd have suspected a time ship like he'd read about in legends of the Ancients.
He felt the tingling in his spine moments before the scouts appeared from hiding, and so was prepared. Sam however drew up against him in fear when the group of men and women appeared out of nowhere and surrounded them, whimpering and burying her face in his sleeve. He placed his other hand on her head comfortingly.
"Identify yourselves," ordered the man in front.
"I am Jacob Carter, host to Selmak. This is my daughter, Samantha, former host of Jolinar." He wondered belatedly if they'd believe that this was Sam, since most of them knew Sam as an adult, and knew that it was exceedingly rare for a Tok'ra to take a child as a host. But he also knew he needed to explain the naquadah they'd be able to sense in her blood.
Fortunately, it seemed Anise had spread the word. "We know of the reasons for your coming. You may proceed, Jacob and Samantha Carter."
"Thank you." The guard fell back into a flanking position, and Jacob tried to pull Sam along but she was still shaken up and stood rooted to the spot, so he lifted her into his arms instead. They were escorted to the transport rings, and Jacob gave Sam a little bounce. "Watch this, you'll like this," he said cheerfully, hoping the rings wouldn't scare her.
She jumped as the rings flew up out of the sand. Before she could decide if she should scream or cry though, the light had engulfed them, and they were inside the tunnels. Sam stared at him in amazement. "Whoa!"
"Pretty cool huh?" She nodded, eyes wide, and he put her down, her hand automatically finding his again. At least he wouldn't have to worry about her wandering off for now. He led the way to Anise's lab. Sam stared around at the tunnels in amazement as they walked, arriving outside the lab a short time later. They found the Tok'ra bent over several instruments, leafing through her notebook on a table.
She looked up as they entered. "Ah, you are here. We can begin."
Jacob frowned. He really couldn't say much for Anise's bedside manner. He felt Sam pressing against him again. He tugged her over to the table. "Okay kid. Up you go." He lifted the little girl onto a clear space.
"Please don't touch anything, some of the equipment in here is very sensitive." Sam giggled as Jacob rolled his eyes over Anise's words. The scientist looked at them curiously having missed the expression and Jacob just looked innocent, which only made Sam giggle more. He felt Selmak chide him and told the symbiote to loosen up.
Anise decided to ignore it and approached, carrying a small device. "I will start with some baseline bio readings." She moved to place the device on Sam, frowning when Sam shrank back.
"This won't hurt Sam," Jacob reassured her, tugging at her t-shirt. Trustingly, Sam lifted her shirt and allowed Anise to place the reader on her chest, watching as the lights swirled then started to blink.
"Cool, it's like my shoes." Sam kicked her feet against the table leg, setting the little lights off in demonstration. Jacob hastily stilled her legs as the table jostled and Anise frowned again. Anise ignored them and made a few notes in her notebook from the readout on the screen that went with the biosensor.
She picked up another device. "I believe we should obtain a sample for blood analysis."
Sam smiled. "Does this one blink too?"
"No," Anise answered shortly.
Jacob sent the annoying woman a warning look, which no doubt went over her head. It was too bad that the Tok'ra's host was such a push over. Freya would probably have done much better dealing with Sam. "This one is going to hurt Sam, but only a little bit. You've had blood samples before. It's like a little needle, but not as bad. You'll just feel a little prick." The Tok'ra had at least perfected a slightly better method in procuring blood and tissue samples.
"Do I have to?" Sam looked at the device dubiously. Jacob nodded. "Ok." Sam agreed reluctantly and Jacob helped her take off her over shirt, and roll up her t-shirt sleeve. Then he held his arm around her like a hug, both hands holding her to help her hold still just in case.
"Ouch!" Anise was done quickly, and Sam couldn't believe there wasn't any blood, because she always needed to have a Band-Aid when she had blood drawn. "Do I get a sticker?" she asked hopefully.
Jacob smiled apologetically. "Sorry kid, I don't think Anise has any stickers, but maybe we can get you some when we get back." Sam nodded, her eyes locked on Anise as she busied herself with the sample at several pieces of equipment.
The next several tests were just various scans, and took up the next several hours. Some of them were interesting, as they had various blinking lights or made interesting sounds, or needed to be placed on various parts of Sam's body. Others were boring. Sam gradually grew restless and fidgety. Anise was irritated that her test subject refused to remain still during one procedure despite repeated promptings to do so and kept turning her head to track the progress of the scanner, and Jacob finally called a halt to the latest test.
"Look, I think we need a break. She probably just needs to stretch a little, get something to eat and work off a little excess energy. Can't you run some analysis or something for a little while? Just for half an hour."
Anise looked annoyed again, but her head bowed, and Freya spoke. "I apologize for Anise's impatience. You know how she is, she gets so focused on the problem she forgets sometimes what she is dealing with. Please forgive us Jacob, and take Samantha out for a break. We have enough data to be able to start some preliminary analysis by the time you come back refreshed."
Jacob smiled. He was relieved to have been spared an argument with the strong willed symbiote. Freya didn't show up very often, Anise's personality being so dominant, but when she did, it was usually with impeccable timing, and generally to apologize for her symbiote's behavior. He was glad that Selmak and he shared a much more even relationship, feeling stirrings of amusement and agreement from his own symbiote at his thoughts as he lifted Sam off the table and helped her put her over shirt back on.
He led Sam out of the lab into a nearby open chamber. There was a collection of water fountains, and Sam was mesmerized by the reflected colors for several minutes. While she was distracted, he dug open the knapsack, grinning at the choice of snacks Jack had provided. They hadn't had these sorts of prepackaged things when Sam and Mark had been growing up, but remembering her eating habits, he knew immediately that she probably got a kick out of the PB & J with crackers do it yourself kit. He waved the package in front of her face to get her attention, and she took it, turning around and plopping down on the crystal made bench. He speared a straw into one of the juice boxes and set that down next to her, watching while she very carefully applied peanut butter to one cracker, then jelly to another, before putting them together to eat happily. She was putting her meal together with the same attention she used to build a naquadah reactor. He found himself grinning at the thought. She put another together and offered it to him. He took it, deciding that Selmak had never had peanut butter and jelly before. They ended up needing to open a second packet of the cracker snacks, but it was ok, since Jack had packed several. Jacob wondered how long he'd thought they'd be there, and whether he'd thought they didn't have food here of something.
After they'd eaten, he took Sam to the Tok'ra equivalent of a bathroom, which for some reason Sam found highly amusing. He wasn't sure why, maybe it was just because it was different than what she was used to. He also used the opportunity to wash up sticky face and fingers. They returned to the chamber where'd they'd eaten and he let Sam walk around the room, exploring. She jumped up on the benches and peered into the various pools, and marveled over how cool her light up shoes looked in the Tok'ra tunnels. Jacob just spent the time marveling over her.
A/N: I've been spending a lot of time the past few days watching coverage of the aftermath of Katrina in the south, and my heart goes out to the people affected by the disaster. My thoughts and prayers go out to anyone who has been personally affected or has family affected by this tragedy.