Chapter 34

"It's a girl, congratulations."

"Emma Kathrine Flynn," Kate said proudly before Mike bend over and kissed her softly. Twenty minutes later they left the hospital with smiles on their faces.

"Now that we do know the gender, we could start buying things instead of just looking."

"Sounds like a plan."

Mike drove them to a baby store and followed Kate around while she decided what to get. After over an hour of shopping, they walked out of that store with six bags of baby clothes.

"Do you think our daughter got enough clothes?"

"Some of these go up to three years old, Mike."

"I know," he nodded. "Where to now?" He asked as he placed the last bag in the car.

"The mall."

"Ok." they got back in the car, and Mike drove them to the mall. After spending a while looking around they finally decided what to get, they bought it and walked to a café. Kate sat down, and Mike placed their bags on the floor next to them.

"What would you like, Kate?"

"Strawberry milkshake and something sweet."

"Ok." He grinned before he went to get her the things she wanted.

Kate sat back in her chair looking down at her expanding stomach; she smiled when she felt their daughter kick under her hand. She let out her breath and looked up to see an elderly couple looking at her with smiles on their faces.

"Emma is active," Kate said as Mike lowered the tray to the table. He placed his hand on her stomach and smiled

"She must be hungry."

"I guess she is," Kate told him kissing him before taking her milkshake.

"I spoke to Commander Marshal yesterday; he has a temporary Captain for November through next year."

"At least you gave him plenty of notice," Mike smiled.

"Yeah, he also wants to know what we are having."

"Who doesn't want to know, Mike?"

"Yeah, that's right." He agreed.

"I think we should keep it to ourselves."

"You mean not tell them the gender of our baby?"

"Yeah, keep everyone in suspense," Kate said smiling as she picked up her doughnut.

They talked for a while before leaving to take their shopping back to the car. Once the bags were in the car, they both got in and Mike drove them home. Once home, Kate sat down on the couch with her legs popped up on a footstool while Mike took care of the bags and dinner.

The next morning, Mike dropped Kate at Watson bay for the day. Then he went into town and brought the paint they talked about and used his free day to paint the nursery. In the afternoon, he went to pick Kate. He parked the car and waited outside and smiled when he saw her walking towards him.

"How was your day?" He asked as he kissed her.

"Busy. I see you've been painting," Kate pointed to a pink spot on his hand

"Damn! I thought I got it all," He whispered before opening the door for her.

"I promise I won't look until you are done."

"I hope you do."

"How is the painting coming along?" Kate asked as they started moving towards her home.

"Good, I've managed to do one coat today. Next time we got few days off,

I'll come and finish it."

"Sounds good to me, and what about your place?"

"I'll work on that, don't worry."

"Ok," She leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes.

The next day, Mike gave Kate a hug and kiss before she drove to work. He sighed, he was going back to Cairns that afternoon, and the goodbyes weren't any easier than they were before. But with five hours to spend and a lot to get done, he started the task of giving a second coat to the nursery. Later that night, Mike called Kate.

"Hey, how was your day?" Kate smiled

"Good, you are home?"

"Yeah, I got in ten minutes ago." She sighed then said.

"Any idea how long your next patrol is going to be?"

"Six weeks, then a week off. After that, a month patrol and as soon as I get back, I'll fly there to be with you until next year."

"Are you going to tell your family?"

"No, I'm going to wait until she's born."

The next morning Childers left port for its six-week patrol.

"What did you do on your free time, sir?" Charge asked as the crew was sharing what activities they did.

"I went down to Sydney to spend it with Kate."

"How is she?"

"Good. She's teaching at Watson bay until November."

"Do you know if it's a boy or girl?" Mike smiled as he turned to Charge

"It will be a surprise," Charge looked at him just as Buffer walked onto the bridge.

"Sir, Charge"

"Hey buffer, how was your shore leave?"

"Good. Yours?"

"I spend it with Jamie and Amy. Jamie is joining the navy as an officer."

"Good on him! You must be proud, Charge," Mike said

"Yeah, I am. Amy's going to be joining in a couple of years when she finishes high school."

"A family affair, it seems," Buffer added.

"Yeah, we won't be seeing each other much cause of timing, but at least we send each other e-mail messages and letters."

"It's good to know that you are still keeping in contact with them," Mike said.

"Yeah, it is, sir."

Over the six weeks, they attended to some mayday calls as well boarded several boats including FFV. Mike managed to e-mail Kate twice a week to let her know how things were.

Kate smiled with each email in which Mike told her how things have been and the jokes been played on the crew when nothing was happening for too long. She replied and told him about her days and how Emma was moving and growing.

In Colorado, Jack sat in his office when the alarms went off. With a sigh, he stood up and walked to the control room

"Walter, who's calling?" He asked.

"Receiving IDC, sir. It's from the beta site."

"Open the iris," Jack ordered before walking towards the gate room. He stopped at the end of the ramp, and a figure came through the gate stepping on the ramp at same time, Jack recognized him as one of the free Jaffa who came to the SGC with Bra'tac.

"Rak'nor, this is a surprise." He greeted him with the Jaffa handshake.

"General O'Neill, I've come here for your help."

"My help?" he frowned. "Where's Bra'tac?"

"Master Bra'tac and three other free Jaffa have been captured. They are now on a planet called Erebus, and they are working as slaves."

"Slaves for what?"

"The planet is used for the constructions of Ha'tak vessels and the purification of Naquadah to build them. Every slave in Erebus is there to work until their death."

"Rak'nor," Teal'c said walking into the gate room.

"Teal'c."

"Why are you here?"

"It's Master Bra'tac, he and three others have been taken to Erebus."

"That's Ba'al planet."

"Yes, they went there to free the Jaffa. They were caught by a trader in the camp."

"Why didn't you send other Jaffa?"

"They went by ship, General O'Neill."

"Why not by the gate?" Jack asked with a frown.

"There's a shield like yours over it."

"How do you know of this?" Teal'c asked

"From the free Jaffa in Ba'al ranks."

"Spies?" Jack asked

"Yes."

"And why exactly are you here?"

"Your ship, General O'Neill. You can help them escape." Jack rubbed his face, by then SG-1 had joined them in the gate room.

"Jack, what's going on?" Daniel asked. "Hi Rak'nor."

"Let's take this to the briefing room," Jack said, and they all walked there.

Once seating, Rak'nor explained to them Master Bra'tac's plan and how they got caught.

"Do you know if Master Bra'tac got hold of the device to turn the shields off?" Sam asked once he finished.

"All I know is that they reached the Stargate and dialed the alpha site."

"When did this happen?"

"About a month ago." Rak'nor answered and Sam frowned before she stood up and walked down to the control room.

"She thought something," Jack explained before he followed her. "Sam?"

"Aha!" she said after a while of typing quickly. "The Alpha site said the Stargate was activated, but nothing came through. They checked with the computers and found an unknown signal."

"Bra'tac must have sent the deactivation code for the shield," Daniel said

"Yes, he must have, and then he and the others were caught."

"Sam, can you use the same signal to turn the shield off?" Jack asked

"Yes"

"How long?"

"Twenty minutes, are you going?"

"Yeah," then he turned to the others.

"Teal'c gear up, we will take the ship. Rak'nor tell me more about this planet while Sam sorts out the shield signal."

Twenty minutes later, Sam was still in the control room, but now she was watching as Teal'c, Rak'nor and Jack entered the ship before the door was closed.

"Dialing Erebus," she announced through the PA system as the inner ring started moving. Soon the wormhole was formed. "Sending signal...now, good luck."

"Keep the lights on," Jack said as he cloaked the ship managing to make Sam smile.