Thursday, December 3, 2020

Jack pressed his fingers to his temples. Then, frowned at the screen. "Daniel, I think you're reaching."

Daniel frowned into the camera. "Yeah, well I guess I can see why you'd think that."

Sam shifted in the leather chair beside her husband. When Jack had asked her to join him on this video conference, she'd tried to tell him she didn't belong there. If the look on her face was any indication, however, he'd been right to invite her. "Daniel, let's pretend for a minute that you're right. This message really was from Vala. Why corn? Just so we know she's infiltrated the Lucian Alliance?"

Daniel shook his head. "She could have made that clear with any number of moves in the last few months. I think this was more specific."

Jack studied his wife. "Sam?"

She crossed her arms as she met Daniel's expression. "You think this was a warning about kassa."

Daniel shrugged. "Isn't it at least possible?"

She frowned, still puzzling over the mechanics of Daniel's theory. "But how? Our gate's in a mountain... Controlled by the military who know that kassa is incredibly addictive. And why? I mean, COVID-19 has definitely impacted our worldwide readiness for a threat, but what would the Lucian Alliance have to gain with even trying to get kassa to Earth?"

Jack couldn't help but smile as Sam seemed almost back to herself for a moment. She might pay the price later, but it was good to see her back in her element.

Sam looked over at him, her brow furrowing at his expression. "What?"

Jack just shook his head as he turned back to the briefing where Daniel, Mitchell, and Landry all faced the screen.

Daniel looked at his hands. "Maybe this isn't so much about selling kassa. I mean, the Lucian Alliance has been able to get to Earth before."

Sam stiffened, and Jack remembered how she'd reacted when Homeworld Security had been attacked by a cloaked al'kesh. How they'd nearly set off a naquadriah bomb in Washington, D.C. How she'd fallen apart when he finally was able to get back in touch with her. How tempted he'd been to make up some midnight meeting so that he could beam her down to their house, so he could hold her. Reassure her that he was real. Safe.

Mitchell cleared his throat. "Well, polluting the corn crop in the Midwest would be pretty easy."

Sam cocked her head to the side. "So, maybe this isn't about profit but about creating some addiction apocalypse that will have us ripping each other apart?"

Jack grimaced. "Now, there's a thought."

Daniel's expression was serious. "Worldwide, there's been enough commotion in the last year, that we're essentially a powder keg. Kassa could be the spark that lights the fire."

Landry clasped his hands in front of him on the table. "Any suggestions on how to combat this kind of threat?"

"The way I see it, we have two choices. Tell everyone about the Stargate Program—"

"Which will send the whole planet into a tailspin regardless of the Lucian Alliance's actions," Sam interrupted.

"Or we use a cover story to keep people from buying and using corn until we can determine the extent of the threat."

Sam leaned forward and stared into the camera. "Do you know just how many products are made with corn on our planet? Millions of farms and manufacturers who are already hurting from the financial impact of COVID-19, widespread civil unrest, and recent trade wars will be effectively shut down."

Daniel nodded. "Not to mention that conspiracy theories which are already running rampant will just go crazy."

Landry raised his hands in surrender. "So, what do we do? We can't just sit back and do nothing. We have to assume that if this message is from Vala Mal Doran, then it came with a certain amount of urgency."

"Seems like a fair assumption, given that she ran the risk of getting captured and incarcerated if we found her."

Daniel's expression was difficult to read as it went toward Jack through the camera.

Sam cleared her throat. "Actually, I might have a solution."

All eyes turned to her.

"You do?"

She managed a sheepish smile as she looked at her husband and then at the team members in the conference room at Cheyenne Mountain. "There's something about the alternate reality I went to that might not have made its way into my report."

"We're listening."

Sam shifted. "I told you that President Landry wanted me to take the entire planet out of phase."

Mitchell nodded. "You said all they'd relied on until that point was the chair in Antarctica. That it had been moved to Cheyenne Mountain."

Sam looked at her fingers. "What I neglected to add to my official report was that I did it."

Everyone else went silent, waiting for her to explain.

Jack raised an eyebrow. "Did what?"

Sam didn't bat an eye. "Used Merlin's device to take the entire planet out of phase."

Landry leaned forward. "Colonel Carter, are you telling us that you deliberately withheld vital, strategic information from your report?"

Sam didn't look at her husband. Just nodded. "Yes."

"And you're bringing it up now because—"

Sam looked at her husband for a brief moment, and Jack could almost read the apology in her eyes. He wasn't sure what it was for, but he had a feeling it was just another in the series of revelations they'd been exchanging in the last few days. "Because if we needed to, I think I could walk someone through how to do it again. It wouldn't be a persistent protection, but it could buy us some time. Or keep us from a more serious problem."

Jack studied her. "In order to use Merlin's weapon on such a grand scale, we'd still need to reveal the existence of the Stargate program."

She nodded.

"From what your report stated, that wouldn't be such a good idea."

"Pandemonium. Chaos. Not to mention the international fallout," Daniel quipped.

Sam swallowed. "That might be true, but we might also find that people band together after such a hard year. Alec Coulson didn't seem to think it would be the end of the world if people found out about the stargate program."

"Alec Coulson is living out his life on another planet because he was wrong," Jack reminded her.

Sam nodded. "It's a risk, but I think it's one we need to at least consider if Vala's threat is as real as we think."

Landry sighed. "Then, I guess we all keep hoping that Vala can end this before it comes to that. Any idea where she is or how we can help her?"

Daniel shook his head. "I get the impression she was very careful to hide that."

Jack looked at the worn and weary faces with whom he was so familiar. "Then, until we have any other information, the only option we have is a cover story about contaminated corn. Carter will work with a team to see if using Merlin's device is an option, and I'll work with the President to make recommendations on how to reveal the Stargate program if that's our only option."

Jack could already see the protest in his wife's eyes, could almost hear her apology that she was currently on medical leave because she wasn't currently able to fulfill the requirements of being a U.S. Air Force officer.

Sam cleared her throat. "General, even if I weren't currently on medical leave—"

Jack raised an eyebrow. "Carter?"

She swallowed. "Given the current social distancing requirements, working with a team, even over video conferencing options would be incredibly difficult."

She seemed to notice that everyone was watching her, and she sat back in her chair and forced a strained half-smile. "But I'm sure I'll figure something out."

As Jack closed the video call, Sam studied him. "Jack..."

"Sam, you're gonna do fine. It was like old times right there."

His wife looked away. "I shouldn't have mentioned Merlin's device..."

Jack looked at her. "Yeah, you wanna explain that?"

"Why I brought it up?"

He shook his head. "Why you didn't mention it the first time."

She chewed on the inside of her cheek. "You think I didn't trust you."

Jack raised his hands in surrender. "The thought had occurred to me."

"I wanted to be careful about how to proceed with the information, so I didn't include it in my initial report. When we were in the White House, it was clear that Henry Hayes really only cared about protecting the planet against extraterrestrial threats." She looked down at her hands. "I knew you'd back me up eventually, but at the time, I was particularly protective of the world I wanted to raise my children in."

Jack sank into his office chair, thinking back to that lunch at the White House.

She'd nibbled on a couple grapes and managed to get down some of her turkey club. He'd eyed her closely. "Let me guess, morning sickness?"

She'd offered him a thin smile as she took a sip of water, then sank back into her seat as she gave up the pretense of trying to eat. "Probably... Although, the topic isn't helping."

He'd looked back at the door they'd entered. "You know, we can reschedule. President Hayes thinks you were exposed to an off-world pathogen. Might be a good cover until you want to let the cat out of the bag."

She'd shaken her head, resting one hand on her stomach. "Dragging this out is just going to make it worse."

He'd frowned, but she'd managed a small smile as she reached for his hand. "I'll be okay. This nausea is a little annoying, but when we get home, I'll get some rest, and I'll be better."

"You're sure?"

Her expression had grown distant as she looked down at her stomach, and she ran one hand affectionately over the spot that would one day proclaim her impending motherhood. "Does it ever worry you what kind of world we'll be leaving for our baby? Ori zealots and Lucian Alliance... Not to mention the mess we've made of our own planet."

Jack had chewed on the inside of his cheek. "Are you just asking that because of the debriefing?"

Sam had stripped another bite of turkey from the sandwich on her plate and nibbled at it, though she'd made a face and discarded the rest just a moment later. "Don't get me wrong... When Carolyn showed me the scan, I was overjoyed. This baby is the best thing to happen to me... To us, in a long time. I just haven't been able to shut my brain off since I found out. What about my job? How do I go off to other planets and fight the bad guys, knowing I might never see my child again? That I'm not just leaving you here but also—"

"Carter!"

She had fallen silent at his gentle rebuke.

Jack's lips had lifted in a small half-smile to try to lessen the impact of his interruption. "I've said it before. You think too much."

She'd offered him a look of chagrin as she finished the sentence at the same time. "I think too much."

There had been a knock at the door, and Jack found a White House staffer bearing the one thing Jack hoped would help quell Sam's anxiety and her queasiness. He'd grinned as he presented her with a cup of blue jello. "Now, if you're determined not to let me cancel the rest of the briefing until you're feeling better, at least try this?"

Her blue eyes had brightened as she took the cup and the spoon he'd offered with it. She'd even chuckled slightly as she nodded. "Yes, sir."

As he came back to the present day and caught the look in Sam's eyes across the desk, her memories had taken a similar turn.

"You almost told me outside the Oval Office, didn't you?"

She tensed. "I knew if I told you that you'd be responsible for telling the president."

"That hasn't changed, Sam."

She pressed her hands to the leather armchair. "I don't know what to tell you, Jack. If you need to bring me up on charges..."

Jack rolled his eyes. "Well, that's obviously not going to happen. At least, not by me. But Landry's another story. You might need to prepare yourself for any fallout that comes from sharing that particular tidbit of information today."

She trembled as she stood, but at least she didn't pull away when he came around to strengthen her. "Look, all I can say is that I did what I thought I had to do. If—and it's a big if—I can use it to help us avoid whatever the Lucian Alliance is planning, I can live with whatever happens."

He walked her out of the office and into the bedroom. "And if they try to use the technology to isolate us from the rest of the galaxy like you were afraid of thirteen years ago?"

Her smile was grim. "Then, I'll have to find a way to keep that from happening."

Something told him she wasn't above sabotaging the device to achieve her goals. She'd even laid the perfect defense for it. After all, she was on medical leave until she fully recovered from her COVID-19 symptoms.

A chill ran down his spine. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that."