Chapter 14 : Camelot

WASHINGTON, D.C. - HOMELAND SECURITY - SITUATION ROOM - ODYSSEY BROADCAST

"General?" Jack looked up from the report he was reading, taking in the situation. He was wearing civilian clothes, a sign that he had been called back to headquarters at the last minute. He questioned his subordinate with his eyes. "General Landry is on the line from the SGC. We are receiving the first transmissions from the Odyssey. Colonel Carter's mission is about to begin." He nodded and accepted the coffee she handed him.

"Put everything on the central screen Lieutenant." Jack stood up, abandoning his coffee on the briefing table. He walked over to the screen. No tension, no feelings were visible on his face. Only those who knew him would have noticed the worried gleam in his eyes. "Hank." The tense face of his friend had just appeared on the control screen. The lieutenant pressed a few more buttons and the first radar images of the situation appeared. Silence fell over the room, all eyes were turned to the screen, each one analyzing the situation. Jack shoved his hands into his pockets. Burying his palms as far back as he could in the sandy mesh he had worn for his flight to Colorado Springs. He was about to take off when the Homeland had transmitted the information about the presence of a supergate. So he had immediately returned to Washington. A month. He had waited a month for this conversation and again ... the universe needed saving. And he wasn't there. Their fate was in the hands of SG1... And Samantha's.

KVASIR: "The coordinates are set. Are you ready Colonel Carter?

CARTER: "Ready as I'll ever be."

In other circumstances, he knew that she would have appreciated this little walk in space. As a child, she had dreamed of being an astronaut. She was more than ready for this kind of mission. However, the stakes were high, preventing a massive Ori invasion. He had faith in SG1, faith in her. He closed his fingers on a small object in the bottom of his pocket and inhaled deeply, waiting for the next step. His heart was drumming wildly in his chest. He hoped that his friends would save the Universe once again, without any loss.

KVASIR: "Initiating transport."

CARTER (RADIO): "Engaging magnetic lock. I'm removing the panel now. I'm putting in our control crystal. (SILENCE) It'll just take a few minutes to initialize... "

Everything was going according to plan for the moment, but when a radar echo appeared around the super door, Jack sensed that what happened next would not be so easy.

MARKS: "Sir, we're picking up increased energy output coming from the gate."

CARTER (RADIO): "Something's happening. I've lost my magnetic lock!"

MARKS: "It's an incoming wormhole."

EMERSON: "Get her out of there, now. (into radio) Sam."

EMERSON: "Sam, come in? SAM?!"

Only silence answered Emerson. Lt. Col. Carter had fallen silent. In the Situation Room in Washington, the phones began to ring as NORAD reported that a wormhole was forming on the Supergate. Everyone knew the invasion had begun. And Samantha's radio was silent.

"Lieutenant?" Jack's voice broke the commotion. "Put me through to the President." He clenched his fingers firmly in his pocket. Forcing himself to be calm. She was okay. She had to be okay. She was "relatively" safe, away from Earth, Jaffa or Tok'ra ships. He had to organize the defense of Earth, again, and perhaps for the last time, if the Ori could maintain their wormhole.

SPACE - NEAR THE SUPER DOOR

The brightness was extreme as the event horizon formed inside the supergate's canopy. Samantha was forced to close her eyes to shield herself from the brightness as the vortex formed. The "kawoosh" spread out from the door. Samantha's boots were no longer attached to the Supergate, she was drifting slowly, near one of the Chevron. She could only watch helplessly as the event horizon blurred, as the first ships passed through the wormhole.

"The invasion has begun." She whispered. She could only watch as the battle raged between the various Alliance ships and the Ori forces.

HOMELAND SECURITY - OFFICE OF GENERAL JACK O'NEILL - ODYSSEY BROADCAST

Jack was on the phone with the President of the United States. He would then have to inform the different "he" of the countries aware of the Stargate project. The President wanted to be kept informed of the progress of the battle that was raging somewhere in the galaxy. Jack wanted to be efficient and factual: the progress of the fleet, the possible damages, the risks of invasion of the Earth. His attention was entirely focused on the screen in front of him and the orders from the White House. However, when Emerson spoke again on the transmission, he marked a moment of silence in his conversation with the President.

EMERSON: "Can you reacquire Colonel Carter's signal?"

MARKS: "Negative, she's too close to the event horizon."

Sam ...

(...)

MARKS: "Sir, we're receiving a message from one of the Ori ships - text only."

EMERSON: "What does it say?"

MARKS: "And those who are proud and refuse to bow down shall be laid low and made onto dust."

(...)

MARKS: "They're powering up their weapons."

EMERSON: "Here we go. All batteries open fire."

(...)

MARKS: "Sir, we just lost sub-light engines."

EMERSON: "Redirect power to the engines. Begin evasive maneuvers!"

(...)

TEAL'C: "Apologies for my late arrival."

EMERSON: "Better late than never..."

TEAL'C: "Indeed."

EMERSON: "Forget the engines! Give them everything we've got!"

SOMEWHERE IN SPACE – NEAR THE SUPERGATE

Sam was still suspended in the air, helpless. She was witnessing the horrors of the battle, vulnerable to any explosion that got too close to her. She was drifting, everything seemed too violent, the Ori, their strike force. The Alliance was suffering a brutal setback. The Ori were demonstrating the superiority of their fleet and their ruthlessness. Samantha couldn't turn away from the carnage. She witnessed the destruction of another ship, pierced by enemy fire. The blast threw her further from the door. She drifted among the debris, powerless to save anyone, to save herself. When the Russian ship exploded, her thoughts were for Daniel and Cameron... A tear rolled down her cheek. What would be left of SG1 after this defeat by the Ori? And Jack ... Her thoughts flew to Earth. He should have been at her house tonight, to have that famous talk she had been waiting for ... for weeks. What would he tell her ? What would his reaction be when he learned that SG1... that Daniel, Teal'c, that she ... How would he react when he knew they were dead ? Another tear rolled down his cheek. What would happen to Earth now?

END SEASON NINE OF STARGATE SG1