CHAPTER 7

Over the next couple of weeks, Jack didn't gain much traction with his unofficial investigation. It was hard because he really hadn't seen much of her since Labor Day and not at all the past several days. Whenever he did, it was either in a briefing or eating with the guys in the commissary so they were never alone.

"Have you guys noticed anything weird going on with Carter lately?"

"Uh, no not really. She seems normal. What do you mean?" asked Daniel.

"I just haven't seen her around as much."

"And that makes you sad because..." prodded Michael.

"I'm not sad about anything."

"Are you sure about that? You've been pretty grumpy lately whenever she's not around."

"My grumpiness has nothing to do with her."

"She could be really busy. She's probably just holding herself up in her lab."

"I just get the feeling she's hiding something."

"Jack, not this again. I thought you two were getting along now."

"We were. We are," replied Jack as Teal'c raised an eyebrow towards him. "What?! I'm not accusing her of anything."

And that was actually the truth. After thinking it over, Jack had decided not to jump to conclusions and give Sam most of the benefit of the doubt until there was proof otherwise. That didn't mean he wasn't worried. Whatever she was caught up in was still shady and that had him concerned.

The next morning, General Hammond called SG-1 in for a last minute briefing. Jack was pleasantly surprised to see Sam already at the table when he arrived to the briefing room. Oh good, maybe I can catch her after this. He gave her a quick smile before taking his seat across from her.

"Good morning everyone. Let's get started," Hammond said as exited his office and gave a nod to Catherine to proceed.

"Yesterday, SG-5 returned from P6X-235 which they believe may be the home planet of the alien race from the laboratory SG-1 found on P8X-459. Major Peters, would you inform us of what your team found?"

"Yes, ma'am. The planet is called Soltaris, home to the Soltarans. When we arrived on 235, we found ourselves in some sort of museum where we met Artmos, one of the main historians there. Captain Mabrey recognized some of the writing on the walls and said that it looked similar to what Dr. Jackson found on 459."

"I've looked at the pictures Captain Mabrey took and I agree that these are the same people who set up the laboratory we found."

"Artmos took us to their government leaders where we explained who we were and what we do. They are definitely more technologically advanced than us; so we asked if they were open to the idea of sharing information and technology. They have agreed and would like to take talks to the next level."

"If they're so much more advanced than us, what could we possibly offer?" asked Jack.

"Stargate travel. They don't have a DHD and they've never been able to figure out how to use the gate without it. The Soltarans had to take us to a nearby planet for us to gate home."

"I've already informed the President who's given the green light. I'm assigning SG-1 and Dr. Carter to accompany SG-5 and head up the negotiations. I want to know if what they have to offer is worth our time to teach them about the Stargate. You leave at 0900 tomorrow."

"Yes, sir," Jack replied as he stood to attention. When he turned back around towards where Sam had been sitting, she was gone already.

Damnit. But Jack was determined. She couldn't have gotten too far. He tried to follow a logical path that she might have taken from the briefing room. After thirty minutes of roaming around the base, he gave up that strategy and figured by this time, she was hopefully in her lab.

Jack rounded the corner and thought it was promising when he saw her door open. He quietly approached watching her as she was concentrating down at her laptop. After a minute, his eyebrows raised when he realized she was actually staring at the flip phone Cassie had found in her purse. He studied her facial expression intently but couldn't quite decipher it. After another minute, he cleared his throat to get her attention.

"Jack!" Sam jumped in her chair. "You scared me," she said as she quickly closed the phone and put it away.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to. Everything ok? You seem a little tense."

"Tense? Me? I'm not tense. Wh...why would you say I'm tense?"

"Well for starters, you're not usually this jumpy and now, you're talking a mile a minute."

"I guess I'm just a little nervous about the negotiations with the Soltarans."

"What's there to be nervous about? I thought you'd be excited. Sounds like they have all sorts of fun toys for you to play with. This is, after all, what you came here to do, is it not?"

"You're right. It is. I am excited. I guess it's just a nervous excitement."

"You sure you're ok? You know you can—"

"Unscheduled off world activation!"

Jack glanced at his watch. Do we have any off world teams scheduled back right now?

"The only off world team is SG-7 and they're not due back until tomorrow afternoon," Sam answered reading his mind.

Jack groaned as he turned to leave. "We'll continue this conversation later." Maybe he'll have better luck off world with less interruptions.

Daniel, Teal'c, and Sam were standing with Michael and SG-5 in the gate room when Jack entered promptly at 0900 as the fourth chevron encoded.

"Wish I was going with you guys. I mean I'm practically 100% already," said Michael as everyone turned to stare at the boot he was still wearing. "This is just a fashion statement."

"Don't worry, Wong. I know diplomatic missions are your favorite, but you're not missing much."

"If the technology is anywhere close to what SG-5 described, this could be a huge opportunity."

"Are you telling us not to screw it up?"

"Of course not, sir, you've got three of the best people backing you up."

"So if we screw it up, it's my fault. I see. I think I should have a little chat with Fraiser later on putting you back on bed rest."

"I take it back, sir," Michael said putting his hands up in a surrendering pose. "Good luck, guys," he said turning his right hand into a half salute.

He watched as the other four sauntered up the ramp and into the wormhole with SG-5 trailing behind. When the group arrived on the other side, they were greeted by two men at the gate that was surrounded by a dozen guards.

"Welcome to Soltaris. Major Peters, it is good to see you and your team again," said the first man to the SG-5 leader before turning towards SG-1. "I am Artmos. Please excuse the security. After the arrival of SG-5, our leaders were afraid that others who were not as friendly would also come through."

"Not a problem. I'm Colonel Jack O'Neill. This is Dr. Daniel Jackson, Dr. Samantha Carter, and Teal'c."

"It is nice to meet you. This is Kashwin, our head scientist."

"Good day to you."

"If you would please follow us, we will head to the capitol building to meet with the High Council."

The group followed the two men through the museum and outside. The streets were loud and busy in contrast to the empty museum they just exited. There was more security and two large barricades creating a path to the street where two vehicles were waiting for them. On both sides, crowds started to form as people pushed their way to the front to catch a glimpse of the foreigners. It almost felt like they were a band exiting the venue after a concert.

"As you can imagine, we've never had visitors from another planet before. The news of your visit has caused quite the stir around the city."

As they made their way towards the capitol, they took in the feel of the city. Most of the buildings were made from a marble looking material and towered at least fifteen stories tall. Many of them had ornate carvings etched in the sides. From the exterior, it didn't look that much different from the large cities back home.

"These buildings are amazing. Do the carvings on the sides depict your history?"

"Thank you Dr. Jackson. Some are scenes from various parts of our past. However, most are just art for enjoyment and expression."

"I notice that your atmosphere doesn't seem to be affected with any smog or pollution. With the amount of energy needed to power a city like this, how is that possible?" asked Sam.

"Our city is powered by aquadrium, an element found in our oceans. Our generators are designed to filter the water to isolate the aquadrium and then return the rest into our filtration system. If you'd like, I'd be happy to give you a tour of one of our plants," replied Kashwin with a friendly smile.

"Yes! I would love that. Thank you."

"Your city is quite impressive. Yet you do not understand how to use the Stargate."

"You are correct, Teal'c. Long ago, there were actually two major cities on our planet, Soltaris and Lunaria. Although we had separate governments, we existed in harmony oftentimes sharing knowledge and technology as well as lending aid when needed. Lunaria had an Age of Enlightenment where they made leaps and bounds in advancement of technology, some of which they shared. It was only after the fact that our government found out that all of it was stolen from other planets. One day, Lunaria was attacked through the gate by the people from one of these planets in retribution. We took in as many refugees as we could, but the rest were completely destroyed and the gate was lost."

"Why wasn't Soltaris destroyed?"

"Whereas the Lunarians were mainly interested on developing weapons, our government focused our efforts towards developing and advancing defensive technology. By the time our planet was attacked, we had made great advances in the shield and cloaking technology that was shared with us and we were able to hide our entire region."

"Our cloaks do not simply just make the object become invisible; we are able to project and mimic anything we want in its place. In this instance, our ancestors projected the illusion of vast oceans so that the invaders would think that Lunaria was the only habitable part of the planet."

"That's amazing."

"Who were these invaders?" asked Teal'c.

"You think the Goa'uld?" Jack directed towards Teal'c.

"Goa'uld?" asked Artmos with profound confusion.

"Yeah, pompous overdressed war lords with weird voices and glowing eyes."

"I cannot be sure. These Goa'uld, they are a threat?"

"Yes, very much so. But we're working on that," answered Daniel.

"That is actually one of the main reasons we use the gate to explore the galaxy in search of new technology that might help defend our planet and eliminate the Goa'uld."

"Yes, well I do hope you are able to convince the High Council to agree to this partnership. I feel there is much we can learn from you and we have much to offer in return."

"Artmos, why are the Soltarans all of a sudden so interested in using the Stargate now?"

"When Lunaria was destroyed, it left almost half our planet uninhabitable. We have tried to revive it for farming and resources, but it is completely desolate and dead. With the Lunarians that we took in, our population has grown exponentially for hundreds of years. It has taken awhile, but we are at a point where our resources cannot continue to sustain our growth. So we sought to colonize other planets."

"Around that time, the gate was discovered and unburied. We knew that it could give us faster access to planets so our scientists tried to figure out how to make it work but were ultimately unsuccessful. It was declared inoperable and placed in the history museum instead. Since then, we have had to implement restrictive population policies. However, it was too little too late. The people grow restless and our leaders see the Stargate as an opportunity to expand outwards."

"We have arrived at the capitol. Please this way," directed Artmos.

SG-1 exited the vehicle and Jack instructed SG-5 to hang around outside for now. Artmos led the rest of them into a very tall and long building with the most elaborate carvings. They were taken into a large empty room that was very similar to the U.S. Capitol on Earth. As they followed Artmos towards the front, five people filed in taking their places at the main table that was raised above the rest of the room.

"Good day. I am Minister Lora, current head of the High Council. These are the others ministers, Chelo, Portma, Nikas, and Wordell. We are honored to have you here and we hope that this will be a successful visit."

"Thank you, Minister. The honor is ours," replied Daniel.

"So where do we begin?" asked Jack wanting to skip all the pleasantries.

"I believe that you requested to visit some of our facilities to see more of our technology and how it works."

"Yes, Dr. Carter is one of our leading scientists and we'd like for her to assess for specific technology that would be most beneficial for our planet."

"Of course. Kashwin is here to accompany her while the rest of us can get started with the negotiations."

"This way, Samantha."

"Alright. Daniel, you and Teal'c stay here. I'll send Peters and Mabrey in and take Jeffers and the new guy with Carter. Stay in radio contact. We'll convene and update each other at night."

When they gathered in their guest quarters that night, they gave each other a recap of the day. While the lead agrarian scientist took the SG-5 members to the agricultural plant, Kashwin took Sam and Jack to one of the aquadrium plants where he walked them through the whole process from isolating the element to supplying it to the generators. Sam was amazed at the amount of clean energy it was able to provide with very little of the actual element. She told Daniel to definitely include access to aquadrium in the negotiations.

From Daniel and Teal'c's side, it seemed that so far the Soltarans were only reluctant to share any information on their shield and weapon technology. They feared that doing so would allow for Earth to develop the means to get around those shields and therefore leaving them vulnerable. Daniel was optimistic that he could get them to agree to share at least one piece of weapon technology. He asked Sam to figure out if there was a particular one that would be most worthwhile targeting. In exchange, the Soltarans were asking for all the knowledge on how the Stargate worked including creating a dialing computer and a list of the gate addresses. Jack expressed reservations on giving them access to every address especially if their only purpose of using the gate was to set up a few colonies. Daniel agreed and said he would add that to the discussion tomorrow.

Their second day included a tour of the Soltaran science and technology institute. Jeffers and the new guy, whose name was Portis, were sent to the chemical engineering department, and Kashwin introduced Jack and Sam to Karina, one of the scientists who was overly excited to tell Jack all about her research on one of the aquatic plants they recently found. She pulled him away to her lab while Kashwin took Sam to his lab to examine the cloaking technology. Not only was it able to cloak entire cities, but it was also engineered to be portable in the form of an orb about the size of a baseball. A tracker was embedded in every cloaking orb and could be enabled so that the people or objects could be tracked if desired with the master device. Sam asked how remotely they could be tracked. Kashwin said it was intended to be short or mid range situations.

The last stop was to the weapons department. Most of the weapons were guns of varying sizes. The most interesting one was a plasma gun that was powered by the aquadrium and enhanced by a mineral called molta. Apparently, Soltaris was a planet enriched with powerful substances. It became evident to Sam that perhaps they did not need the exact designs of the weapons but instead access to the elements and minerals found on the planet. She made a mental note to bring that up in their debriefing tonight. Sam was in a corridor jotting down her final notes when Jack came around the corner.

"There you are, Carter! Time to meet up with Daniel and Teal'c."

"Ok sounds good," she said tucking away her notebook and standing up to meet him. "After that, Kashwin wanted to take me to see the ocean tonight."

"As in a date?"

"Don't be silly. The aquadrium has luminescent properties, and he wanted to show me at night."

"Sounds like a date to me. I've seen the way he stares at you and doesn't even notice my presence." Sam blushed. "I'm just saying that if I were trying to woo you, I know where I'd take you and it would also be to 'show you something at night,'" he said with air quotes.

"You've thought about wooing me?" Sam asked raising her eyebrows as a teasing smile crossed her face.

"Um...well...I mean, not you specifically, just like in general," stuttered Jack as Sam's smile turned into a frown. He quickly corrected himself, "Oh c'mon Carter, you know that half the men on the base have thought about wooing you."

Sam's cheeks were starting to turn from soft pink to bright red which made Jack grin wider.

"The Gamma Site," she blurted out.

"Huh?"

"There's this phenomenon that happens four times a year at the Gamma Site where the star dust from a nearby nebula enters the atmosphere and the chemical reactions create quite a light show. Now that would be woo worthy."

"That's not asking for much," teased Jack.

"You thought it would be easy?" Sam said with a playful smile.

"Look, I'm all for you getting a boyfriend Carter but going out alone is out of the question."

"Jack, you're being ridiculous."

"Maybe I am, but the answer is still no." After seeing the genuine disappointment on her face, Jack sighed and slightly rolled his eyes at himself as he relented. "Fine, if you really want to see these glowing lights, I'll tag along. We'll debrief with the guys afterwards."

"Great! I'll tell Kashwin. Thanks Jack," Sam said now with a smile back on her face. "How was your time with Karina?"

"I never want to see another algae looking plant again for as long as I live," replied Jack which made Sam laugh.

The sun was setting when they got to the edge of a cliff on the outskirts of the city overlooking the ocean. The beach was deserted and there were no signs of civilization for miles. When Sam had told Kashwin that Jack would be joining them, he invited Karina along as well saying that she would enjoy the opportunity to tell them how the aquadrium interacts with her plants.

As the sun disappeared, the water began to glow, faint at first but gradually growing brighter as if someone was controlling it with a dimmer switch. The movement of the water coupled with the flow of the luminescent energy made the ocean look alive. Most of the lights were a bright fluorescent blue that made it look like a huge event horizon. However, there were some streaks of purple, green, and yellow.

"What makes it change colors?" Jack directed the question to Sam. He immediately regretted that they weren't alone when Karina answered taking his arm and pulling him away from the others.

"Oh it's actually quite fascinating. So the aquareous rosa, or water rose as I like to call it, is the plant that I'm studying that I told you all about this afternoon..."

As Karina went on and on about the life cycle of another plant, Jack couldn't help but look over his shoulder frequently to get a glimpse of Sam and Kashwin. They seemed to be having a much more intimate conversation, and he flinched every time he heard her laugh. He tried not stare and just plotted in his mind an excuse to get them out of there. He never caught any of the glances she threw his direction almost just as frequently.

Before they were done, Kashwin insisted they go down to the water for a closer look. He had pulled Sam along in front of Jack and Karina and reached the water first. Jack was relieved when he heard Sam calling him over to her.

"Jack! Hurry! You've got to see this!"

When he caught up to her, she was on her knees playing with the glowing water in her hands. She looked at him with a huge smile on her face. Not wanting to risk Karina barging in on his questions meant for Sam, he gave her a look that silently asked her to explain what he was looking at. Receiving the message, she motioned with her head for him to come closer. He knelt down beside her and held out his hands.

"When the aquadrium is attached to the water molecules and then exposed to a protein called allumiferase, it releases energy in the form of light."

"It looks almost like the same glow jellyfish have."

"Actually it's almost exactly like it. Different molecules and proteins of course, but essentially the same type of reaction. But look," she said gesturing at the water in her hands. "When you expose it to more oxygen, the chemical reaction takes longer and you can actually see it happening which gives the illusion that the light is moving on the surface!"

Jack felt the strong tug at his heart that formed a huge grin on his face as he watched the light radiating from her. She probably would've said it was just from the glow of the water, but Jack knew better. He had seen it before. Whenever she found something that gave her pure joy and excitement, Sam Carter beamed brighter than any chemical reaction could cause. When he thought his heart couldn't take it any more, he playfully splashed the water towards her which only made her giggle and splash him back. In that moment, he forgot about everything else except for the fact that she was beaming at him. If Kashwin hadn't interrupted saying they should head back to the city, he might not have been able to stop his body from reacting to his heart's impulse.

The mood remained light and playful as they made their way back to the city. They parted ways with Kashwin and Karina and headed back to meet up with Daniel, Teal'c, and SG-5. After their daily debriefing, Sam went out on the balcony that overlooked the city. She stared at the many surrounding buildings that were lit up by the aquadrium similar to the ocean. It was a busy night, and she let sounds of life floating up from the streets wash over her thoughts. A few moments passed before Jack joined her leaning on the railing and taking in the sight.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?"

"It is," he replied looking at her.

The blue glow from the city was shimmering in her eyes similar to the event horizon. There was a light breeze that ruffled her hair. When he saw her shiver just slightly, he instinctively took off his jacket and draped it over her shoulders. Her face fell and he frowned back thinking he upset her with his gesture. However, instead of protesting, she pulled the sides closer to her body wrapping herself in the warmth he left behind.

"Can I ask you a question?" asked Sam breaking the comfortable silence they had fallen into.

"What's on your mind?"

"Have you ever had to lie or keep secrets from the people closest to you?"

Her question shook Jack back to reality from the mental fantasy that he had been walking in since the beach. He turned to look over at her. She wasn't looking back at him, but rather staring up into the sky.

"I was black ops before, remember?" She nodded in understanding.

"How did you do it?"

"Do what?"

"All the secrets and lies. How did you live with it?"

"Well, I guess you just focus on the mission and hope to God you don't hurt anyone."

"How do you do that without driving everyone around you away?"

He frowned at the direction the conversation was headed and paused to think about how he should respond. This was the opportunity he had been waiting weeks for. Her guard was down and he could have led her deeper into a subtle interrogation, but he opted for the truth.

"The ones that matter always stay. They choose to see the best in you despite everything else, even when you don't deserve it."

"Why?"

"Because they know that's who you truly are even when you don't believe it yourself."

His surprised honesty caused her to turn her gaze to him. He couldn't take it anymore. He reached for her hand.

"What's going on Sam? Talk to me. I'm worried—" The sudden opening of the balcony door cut Jack off.

"Sorry to interrupt. Sam, Kashwin is here to see you," said Daniel as he flinched under Jack's fierce glare.

"I need to speak with Samantha privately."

Jack and Sam looked back at each other and sighed as the last glimmer of their shared mental fantasy faded. Jack dropped her hand and nodded acknowledging the fact that the opportunity had passed and the topic would likely not come up again. He brushed past Kashwin as he stepped inside and disappeared into his room.

All members of SG-1 and SG-5 attended the last of the discussions in the morning that were mostly formalities. At the conclusion of their negotiations, an exchange program was agreed upon. The SGC would assist in setting up a dialing system as well as provide the addresses to a handful uninhabited planets that would serve well as new colonies for the Soltarans. They would also provide information on the Goa'uld and the threat they pose. In exchange, the Soltarans would share their cloaking and agricultural technology as well as samples of aquadrium and molta to study. Each planet would send representatives to help the other understand the information and technology.

As they gathered their gear to head to the nearest planet to gate home, Minister Lora came down from the elevated platform followed by the other ministers. She was carrying a figurine about a foot tall made of the marble material with the same ornate carvings as on the buildings. At the top was a miniature Stargate with conjoining hands at the base.

"Please, take this as a token of our friendship and symbol of what was forged here."

"Thank you, Minister," said Jack as he accepted the statue. "I wish I had known we were going to exchange gifts."

"You will be giving our people a future to grow. That is gift enough, Colonel."

Jack nodded in acceptance and handed the figurine to Sam to put in her bag. When she put it down and opened it, Jack caught a glimpse of two baseball sized spheres inside. He grimaced as he felt his stomach turn over. The benefit of the doubt was slowly fading as all the warning bells in his head started to become too loud to ignore.