A/N: Well had I known there was going to be such a fantastic and intelligent bout of reviews to the last chap, I would have made sure this one was written ahead of time! I've just started my new job for real and so don't have a great deal of time at my disposal. Although I can't post or read any fics from work, I CAN receive reviews and I want to thank everyone who brightened up my new office life with their opinions and theories!
Spamurai, you're the closest yet with your theory on what's going on… and I think I'll refer to your idea down the track somewhere… and I'm glad you like Stacey!
Bookworm, of course you are my fanfic rock… however the fact that you're worried about how I'm going to get this fic to its conclusion… well it worries me frankly!
Stc, I know where you're coming from with the whole S/J PDA thing… main problem though is that they spend almost this whole fic on base and I want some cheese in it! I've tried to keep them pretty professional in the presence of others… and I don't exactly think they'd bunk down in the same quarters if there wasn't some crazy alien gas crisis going on
LJQ, prepare to have your question answered…
Hopefully I can begin to answer these questions you've all been asking!
Chapter 9 – Never say die
The sensation of once again spreading throughout a race of people caused the Gas to rejoice as much as they were capable of doing so. The increase in power felt was something that they revelled in, thrived in, enjoyed – as much as they could enjoy anything. Not only had they managed to successfully incubate within the somewhat mediocre biological systems available, but their sheer superiority meant they would soon be able to move beyond the bounds of the insular military base they had awoken to find themselves in.
Concentrating their efforts on the rotund leader of the base, the Gas transmitted the latest message and listened to the reports coming from the peripheral members of the swarm. Those members had been trying to penetrate the last enclave of independent humanoids in the base for almost an hour now. The clocks on the desk indicated it was well into the day – almost 11am. If action was to be taken, it would have to be initiated soon in order to effectuate maximum penetration into this new and ripe planet. It was imperative that they neutralise the incompatibles.
All those with relevant hosts to begin manipulating the computing systems. The leading Gas within General Hammond commanded. Those with sufficient strength to the blast doors on level 16. We may not proceed until the threat of the incompatibles is quashed.
The Gas knew the importance of consolidating themselves before trying to expand beyond their bounds once more. Poor decisions had been their downfall before. This time they would proceed with meditated caution. This time they would not be defeated, relegated to hiding within the walls of a building. This time would be their time.
Jack knelt over Sam as Stacey worked efficiently around them. The instant she had fainted, Stacey had moved to secure her head, straighten her body horizontally on the ground while elevating her feet ever so slightly. Jack had managed to hold back while the young Australian worked, but was now kneeling beside the still unconscious Colonel, his right hand gently cradling her head on the ground as he stroked her hair out of her eyes with the other.
The familiar sound of wrapping being taken off a blood-sample test tube caused him to sharply turn his head, his expression awash with indignation as he anticipated what Stacey wanted to do.
"What d'you think you're doing, Captain?" He said harshly. "She needs to recuperate – not to be jabbed full of needles!"
"Sir," Stacey had kept her voice even, although she had subconsciously shrunk away from the Colonel in the face of his menacing glare. "Something in Colonel Carter is successfully fighting against the Gas. If we're going to beat them then we gotta act bloody quick."
"What about the litres of our blood you and Janet were looking at?" Jack had subconsciously moved slightly so more of his body was between Sam's unconscious form and the needle-wielding Aussie, protecting Sam.
"We did every test we could short of genetic profiling with no results." Stacey shook her head before looking straight into Jack's eyes, imploring him to see the wisdom of what she wanted to do. "Whatever we've got that they don't – it's almost certainly genetic." She saw Jack hesitating and so pressed her point further. "We don't have the technology or the time to do that sort of investigation – although if we manage to live through this I'm sure we'll start."
Jack looked back down on Sam, who seemed to be sleeping peacefully on the floor. He glanced back to Stacey and the needle before rolling back on his heels and sitting down on the floor, moving backwards to allow Stacey the access to do what she had to do.
"Thank you sir." Stacey said, moving swiftly to Sam's side. "I'm not going to take any more than I need – she's weak enough as it is."
Just as Stacey said those words and pulled the needle out of Sam's arm, pinching the skin to stop any blood escaping, they both heard and felt a weak cough. True to form, as soon as Sam had regained even the smallest semblance of consciousness she was trying to sit up. It was fruitless, however, as both Jack and Stacey firmly held her in place.
"Hey, take it easy." Jack said softly, his voice filled with warmth and concern. "You fainted, and then Doc-Junior over here just took a coupla gallons of blood outta you."
"But… I… fine." Sam tried to say while making a supreme effort against Jack to sit up.
"Ok… you wanna sit up?" Jack was chuckling at Sam's stubbornness and determination. "We'll go halfway, alright?" He slowly helped her rise up a couple of inches of the ground until she was half-lying, half-sitting, leaning against his body.
"Sam?" Stacey had safely placed the blood sample in a test-tube rack on the bench before returning to the centre of the room. "Can you tell me what you think happened?"
"I.." Sam thought back to the moment before her collapse as they'd been running away from the infected members of the base. "I just felt really dizzy. Nothing special."
"Has this happened before?" Stacey asked gently, her mind whirring with the possibilities.
Sam shook her head slowly, but was met with a sharp jab in the ribs from Jack.
"Uh-uh Carter," he tsk-ed. "That makes twice in the space of an hour this morning." He looked up to Stacey. "She nearly fainted just before you sounded the general alarm."
"I did not nearly faint!" Sam objected indignantly, hoisting herself up from the comfortable resting place against Jack, having now regained most of her strength. "You thought I was going to faint – there's a key difference."
"Ok." Stacey said precipitously before Jack could keep their childish argument going. "Have you been feeling strange in any other way? Nausea? A cough? Anything?"
Sam shook her head slowly. "Nothing out of the ordinary…"
"The ordinary?" Jack asked, suspicious that Sam was doing her classic playing down of symptoms. He knew it was almost impossible to get her to admit when she was feeling anything less than 150 per cent healthy – a result of having had to prove over the years that she was just as good as (and indeed better than) the many airmen she overtook while climbing the ranks to her current position within the SGC. "I suppose that actually means 'Yes Stacey, all of the above'?" he teased her gently, knowing her only too well.
"Sam?" Stacey asked again, patient but persistent.
"Well I was feeling a bit sick this morning," she began with a guilty look on her face. "But that's nothing out of the ordinary – I just eat something bland to settle my stomach!"
"You usually feel sick in the mornings?" Jack looked to Sam in disbelief.
"Well, just for the last little while…" Sam said defensively. "I thought it was just stress…"
Stacey seemed to be deep in thought and had returned to the bench. She was now busily diluting samples while turning various machines on in preparations for the tests Janet had taught her how to do during the early hours of the day.
Sam decided it time to change the topic, and looked over to the still unconscious Teal'c. "Has he come to?" She asked, turning around so she was sitting cross-legged, looking at Jack. When the latter shook his head. Sam's heart sank and she realized with quiet resolve what they had to do.
"Sir- Jack," she said, recovering from the auto-pilot moment of addressing him as 'sir.' She looked at him sharply and he pointed his thumb behind him with a questioning look, asking if he'd understood her properly.
"If they've taken control of the entire base…" Sam began with sadness.
"Then we need to stop them before they get out." Jack completed her thought and rose to his feet, holding a hand out to help Sam get up – a hand she pointedly ignored while rising to her feet without his help.
Stacey had heard this exchange and turned sharply to face the now determined Colonels. "Can you wait a couple of minutes? I've got an idea which won't take too long to explore."
"Captain, we could have minutes or we could have hours before they get out." Jack said, grabbing the discarded weapons from the ground and handing one to Sam as they prepared to move out. "For all we know – there could already be a breach. We can't wait."
"Well at least take a radio…sir." Stacey added the mark of respect at the last minute, realizing how out of order she was being. "If I can work quickly I might have some answers."
"What is it?" Sam had been more ready than Jack to leave the room, but now was lingering, intrigued and almost excited by what Stacey was saying.
"With all due respect Ma'am," Stacey said cautiously, hoping Sam would leave it. "I wouldn't want to get your – I mean our – hopes up. It could be a false-lead."
Sam looked at Stacey, wondering what was going through her mind. Usually she would have insisted that someone tell her exactly what was going on – Janet would usually tell her – but something kept her mouth shut. Maybe it was the way Stacey had addressed her – saying 'Ma'am' – or maybe it was how she had initially said 'your' instead of 'our' hopes.
Thinking of the symptoms she had observed over the past couple of days – especially during her 'recovery' from infection by the Gas, Sam had started to wonder about the cause for how she was feeling. She had an idea, but didn't dare tempt fate by verbalizing it. Instead, she nodded quickly to Stacey before turning towards the door. Effectively taking charge from Jack who had watched the brief interchange between the women with a look of sheer bewilderment on his face.
Jack and Sam found themselves on the other side of the door leading into the biotech lab, confronted with a difficult task. They could hear movement on either side of the two blast doors at each end of the corridor and knew that Gas-infested members of the SGC were doing all they could to get through the tough barriers.
"You fixed the computers, right?" Jack asked, confirming his faith in Sam. "I mean, the security stuff – they can't get through that way?"
"I hope so." Sam said distractedly. "Either way, I'm sure they'll manage to get through eventually through brute force.
"Let's go then." Jack said quickly, powering down the corridor to the hatch against the wall that led to one of the many escape shafts around the edge of the base.
They climbed swiftly down the ladder in the darkened space, Jack ahead and below Sam as they progressed. He kept slowing briefly to check that she was going ok and hadn't been taken by any other dizzy spells.
"Jack, I'm going to fall over you unless you stop doing that!" Sam scolded him in a fierce whisper as yet again she almost stepped on his head. "I'm fine, really."
"So how many times is it now that we've had to set the self-destruct?" Jack said lightly as they restarted their descent, only to be greeted by Sam silently rolling her eyes.
Before he expected an answer, however, he stopped next to a hatch and listened intently for any sign of noise on the other side. Sam kept perfectly still and quiet, in the knowledge of the fact that their entire task could be foiled before they even got anywhere near the manual self-destruct should they be discovered.
Jack listened for a full two minutes before looking to Sam and signalling quietly that they were going to go ahead. With one smooth moment, he opened the hatch, hauled himself out of the shaft into the corridor and pulled Sam through, closing the hatch just as quickly as he'd opened it. The corridor seemed to be deserted, but neither of them took any chances, moving quickly to their left, taking position on either side of the corridor ever time they approached a corner.
At the third of these intersections, the silent hum that accompanied two Gas infested beings as they communicated wordlessly filled the space and Sam and Jack froze, the approaching footsteps causing them both to hitch their breath before retreated to one of the adjoining rooms. Jack found an open door first and pulled Sam into it, managing to close the door just as Jonas and Janet rounded the corner.
Walking in unnerving unison, the two of them moved down the corridor silently, their eyes fixed ahead. Completely unaware of the two 'incompatibles' hiding behind the door on their right.
Sam heard the footsteps moving away from them and turned in the cramped space to look at Jack. "Janet and Jonas?" She whispered, silently asking if he'd seen them as well.
"I know." Jack said without emotion, mentally distancing himself from what had happened to his friends and colleagues. "Let's go."
They reached their destination without encountering any other compromised SGC members – or anyone at all for that matter. Both of them slowed perceptibly as they moved into the room and took up positions on either side of the large device in the centre of the space.
They paused, looking at each other, their hands hovering over the keys of the keyboard. This wasn't the first time it had come to this. Supposing they somehow miraculously avoided destruction this time, it probably wouldn't be the last time either. Wordlessly a conversation took place between them, acknowledging what was at stake and how they felt. Jack grimaced slightly as he saw the sad look in Sam's eyes, but didn't waver. She gave him a sharp nod and they both began typing the required sequence.
"Don't do it." A third voice suddenly cut through the poignant silence of the room and both Jack and Sam instantly pointed their weapons to where the noise had come from.
"Hey – I'm not in corporeal form!" Daniel exclaimed hastily. "And you'll just alert the Gas to my presence if you shoot…"
"Daniel!" Sam breathed, relieved to see it was him and not one of their enemies.
"Oh for crying out loud!" Jack hissed at the same time. "You've gotta stop sneaking up on us like that Danny!"
"What do you suggest I do Jack?" Daniel asked, an infuriatingly innocent look on his face. "Send you a memo first? We both know you don't actually read anything that crosses your desk."
"Well I dunno," Jack pouted insolently. "Maybe use you weird and wonderful powers to warn us before you beam in or something."
"Oooo…kayyy." Daniel said slowly, choosing eventually to ignore what Jack had said.
"Can you help us Daniel?" Sam was the only one who seemed to have remembered that they were on the brink of destruction and not having a pleasant drink down at O'Malley's.
"Well, you know I can't…"
"Yeah yeah, no interference… just complete annoyance." Jack rolled his eyes, interrupting an increasingly frustrated Daniel.
"Yes Jack." Daniel sighed. "But you can't set off the self-destruct before you know something – before you give Stacey a chance to complete her tests."
"Daniel we don't have the luxury of time here!" Jack said quickly, pointing towards the ceiling. "There's an entire planet out there that could be overrun by an evil cloud of gas if we don't do this!"
"What's this all about?" Sam took a step towards Daniel, ignoring Jack for the moment.
"You know it in your heart Sam," Daniel took a step closer to her. "You've seen the clues in the records recovered from their home planet… you know what they fear in the human race… you know what your body's been trying to tell you. Listen to your subconscious."
"Daniel." Jack moved towards both of them, decidedly irritated at this point. "Get to the point. Some of us haven't figured it out, some of us don't have subconsciouses."
At that moment the radio jumped into life and Stacey's voice came crackling over. "Colonel O'Neill? Colonel Carter? Please respond."
"This is Carter," Sam grabbed the device before Jack could. "What have you got Captain?"
"You should come back Ma'am." Stacey's voice sounded excited. "I've got some really promising news."
Stacey kept talking, but Sam wasn't listening. Her eyes had widened and a mixed look of joy and apprehension washed over her face. She caught Daniel's eye and felt tears forming in her own as she asked him: "Is it really true?"
Daniel nodded slowly, smiling widely.
"What?" Jack appealed to both of them feeling like he was suddenly stuck in a bad foreign movie without subtitles. "What is true? What's going on?"
Sam looked to Daniel again and saw him nod at her. At the same time, his voice filled her head: This is why the Gas' hosts weren't allowed to reproduce – but more importantly, this is what you've always wanted. Congratulations. She beamed back at Daniel, her heart filled with renewed hope and what could only be described as unimaginable joy.
"It's the hormones isn't it?" she was only half asking Daniel. In truth, she was running through the logic in her head. "They can break through the blood-brain barrier… the elevated levels must be toxic to the Gas."
"Carter!" Jack wasn't angry, but he was most definitely exasperated. He had now placed his body between Sam and Daniel and had grasped both Sam's arms, silently demanding an explanation.
"I…" Sam didn't know if she could say it. "I'm pregnant."
To be continued…
A/N: Ok I know everyone had kinda figured out the pregnant thing, but it's the SIGNIFICANCE that is going to be important. Congrats to Bekki though as she was the first to get the general idea…
I couldn't just leave all of that to you to figure out over the next week (I'm trying to be realistic, I may not get to post until then) which is why I put in Sam's little tentative explanation… but a fuller one is coming, I promise!
Just don't forget, it's not over… something to do with a fat lady etc… the main problem is how to proceed from here…
Please let me know what you think… I'm trying to keep things to a standard but it's been a busy week so I hope I haven't wavered!