Essential Business
Summary: What would SG-1 do during the COVID-19 lockdown?
Author's Note: Inspired by the Telecommuting episode of "All Rise," I thought it might be fun to get a glimpse into what our favorite explorers would do if COVID-19 was part of the Stargate storyline. Warning: based on Amanda Tapping's interview with Suanne Braun of Hathor Hosts, Sam and Jack are in an established relationship while she's commanding the USS Hammond. So, there will definitely be some fluff. Stay safe, physically and emotionally. - RS
Sunday, March 1, 2020
Colonel Samantha Carter sat at the desk in her quarters as she turned on her tablet and accessed the video call that was apparently for her eyes only. Lieutenant General Jack O'Neill's face filled the screen, and she couldn't help but smile. "General. Good to see you."
She half-expected some flirty personal message, but Jack's lips didn't lift in a smile. "Colonel, good to see you, too."
"What's the occasion?"
He looked to the side, probably rifling through some papers on his desk. "Colonel, how are things on board your ship?"
Sam tensed, sensing something was wrong. "We're good. Looking forward to our leave next month."
Six weeks of leave while the U.S.S. Hammond went in for some standard upgrades related to what the scientists had learned from the Asgard core on the Odyssey. She'd been dreaming of it ever since it had been put on the books. She intended to spend as much of that leave in a small Minnesota cabin as humanly possible.
The General sighed. "That's what I was afraid of."
Afraid? "General?"
He looked back into the camera. "What do you and your crew know about current events down here?"
Sam cocked her head to the side. "I've heard a few rumors about an unknown virus in China. Something we need to worry about?"
"It's on trend to become a global pandemic. It's already in a couple dozen countries, including the US. Washington state has declared a state of emergency after its first virus-related death."
Whatever enthusiasm she'd had for her upcoming leave fled. "That doesn't sound good."
"It's not. It's not spreading as quick as the Prior Plague, but its effects are similar. Rapidly progressing respiratory distress. There's some concern that we'll have the supplies we need if there is a full-scale outbreak."
Sam grimaced. "You think it's extra-terrestrial?"
He shook his head. "There's no evidence of that, though we're certainly investigating the possibility. No, I need you to give me a status report. How badly do you need these upgrades?"
Understanding dawned as she nodded. "I see. Um, well, I've been taking pretty good care of the ship, but that doesn't mean that I'd feel comfortable getting into another firefight with the Lucian Alliance right now."
"Send a report with all the necessary upgrades. If you could prioritize them by how necessary they would be to what you're seeing out there, that would be helpful."
"General?"
Jack leaned back in his seat, a sign that he was dropping the professional mode. "Sam, it's gonna get bad. The computer models everyone's looking at—cities and states are planning and implementing states of emergency and stay-at-home protocols. We're trying to assess what's most essential. Even I'm going to start working from home."
Her eyebrows shot upward. "Working from home?"
He nodded. "If we're not careful, you and your crew could get stranded down here with the rest of us."
She tried to hide her blush. "I mean, I'm obviously not happy about this new virus, but there are worse things, right?"
For the first time since the start of the video call, Jack chuckled. "You might finally have to find a life, Carter."
She grinned. "I might actually have time to learn the cello."
"The cello?"
She shrugged. "Yeah. I've always wanted to learn. Never had the time."
He shook his head at her, an expression of utter disbelief on his face that made her laugh loudly. "You're such a nerd. How are we friends?"
"I think we gave up being adversaries somewhere between you thinking my name was Samuel and being one of the six or eight people who could get us out of Apophis's prison."
He snickered. "Well, in my defense, Hammond buried the lede on that one."
She rolled her eyes, though she wasn't really sore about the incident. Sometimes, she even found it funny. "Oh, please. You assumed that because I was a physicist, the leading expert on the Stargate, and a Captain in the Air Force, that I was a flyboy. You're not the first, and you certainly won't be the last."
His good-humor faded, though he didn't seem angered by her teasing. "As much as I've enjoyed this trip down memory lane—"
She nodded, growing more serious herself. "Let me guess, you don't want to expose us to this new contagion if you don't have to."
"More than that, I don't like the idea of having one of our ships out of commission while we're scaling back ground operations."
She grimaced. The Lucian Alliance hadn't done much more than a couple of attacks here and there, but she shuddered to think what would happen if word of this new virus got back to them. "Understood."
There was something thinly veiled in Jack's eyes as he leaned forward. "That being said, I think I could get behind you getting ordered to get a life, Carter."
She crossed her arms to hide the shiver of anticipation that thrilled down her spine. "I'll get that report ready for you ASAP, General. Keep me updated?"
There was a faint smile on his lips which hinted at what he couldn't say on an official video conference call. "Always."
