Chapter Thirteen
Jack sat with his back leaning against one of the large trees that inhabited their glass sealed world. He had a small palm sized stone in his hand that he was running along the edge of a long thin stone that he had carved into a sharp point. He wasn't sure how long he'd been honing the primitive blade, felt like it had been years.
Ten feet away Sam was sitting right in front of the glass. She traced her fingertip in an endless and pointless figure eight against the clear barrier. On the far side a small alien child was staring at her. When the creature tapped on the glass Sam didn't react to the muffled sound. She just continued with her stereotype pattern motions, the first signs of a developing neurotic disorder.
Stepping up behind her Jack noticed that she had been rubbing the same spot on the glass for so long that she'd actually begun to damage it. He stared at her hand as the figure eight slowly began to turn red with blood as the skin on her finger finally degraded. Sam didn't stop even as the blood started to drip down the glass.
Gripping Sam by the upper arm Jack hauled her to feet. She didn't protest as he pulled her away from the gory glass. He brought her to the far side of the tree and released her. Once free she stared blankly at a spot a few inches to the right of Jack's face. Tears stung at his eyes, she never looked at him anymore, she never spoke, and if he didn't stop her she would quickly go back to the glass and her mindless tracing.
Jack reached out and brushed her cheek. Tears tumbled down Sam's face, but she remained expressionless. Jack ran his hand down her body and rested it on her stomach. There was no denying it anymore, inside the swell under Jack's hand a tiny life kicked at him. Disinterested in what was happening Sam pushed past Jack to return to the glass.
Grinding his teeth together Jack lashed out and caught Sam by the arm as she passed by. In one fluid motion he turned her around to face him and sunk the stone dagger he had carved into soft flesh where her ribs ended and her stomach began. It only to a quick upward jerk to pierce her heart, ending both of the lives that it supported.
Pulling the knife out Jack held Sam close while she quickly bled out. With the obstruction removed it only took a few seconds before she arched back in the relaxation of death. Gently laying her down on the blood soaked moss Jack turned his violence towards the aliens that were invading his territory. Alarmed by the murder they had come to subdue him only to quickly learn that their captive was far too dangerous to simply be calmed. For Jack the world turned to blood and chaos until there was the sharp crack of weapon fire.
For some reason the gun shot was not followed by pain. Jack jerked awake, panting heavily and dripping in cold sweat. He sat up and looked around, trying to return to reality after the vivid nightmare. The cold shine of the full moon was pouring in from the glass roof covering everything in an icy layer of blue light. Looking over Jack found Sam sleeping peacefully on her back, her stomach as smooth and flat as the ocean on a breathless day.
Dragging his hands through his hair Jack tried to erase the image of her laying dead in a pool of blood that he had spilled. After a few deep breaths he got up from his place in the nest like bed. Jack carefully made his way down to the pool and silently slipped beneath the surface. Laying on his back with just his face barely above the water he stared up at the silhouettes of the trees.
With his ears under the water all he could hear was the gentle roar of the small waterfall. It wasn't until he started to shiver from the heat loss to the tepid water that he brought his head up and found that he wasn't alone. Sam was sitting on one of the large flat stones that marked the edge of the pool She never dared to swim in the deep water. After her time spent in the tank Jack didn't blame her.
Swimming over to her Jack hoisted himself out of the water and joined her on the rock. The aliens had taken their hint and now both of them wore the tight fitting tank tops. Jack flashed her a forced smile, but she didn't return the gesture. Jack sighed and just stared at the moon's warped reflection bouncing off the water's surface. He was almost completely dry before Sam broke the silence.
"Want to talk about it?"
"Carter, being a woman you probably don't know this, however, those words strike more fear into a man's heart than 'Prepare to be castrated without anesthetics'."
"Really?"
"Really."
"So I'll take that as a 'no'?"
Jack chuckled and put his arm around Sam's shoulders. She wrapped her arm around his lower back and they spent a few more minutes in silence. As time went by Jack found himself with more of an urge to actually accept her offer to talk about what was bothering him. They had been in the terrarium for nearly three weeks and every night he'd had some variation of the disturbing dream.
"How's your sanity?" Jack asked suddenly.
"I'm doing fine."
"Good."
"What about you?"
"I'm not so sure." Jack sighed. "I keep having these nightmares that I kill you in some deranged attempt to free you."
"I've been having a similar dream."
"What?"
"Only I'm the one killing you so that you don't feel like you have to make the decision to murder me." Sam shrugged. "Usually it ends in me slaughtering enough of the aliens to force them into killing me."
"Wow...we are messed up." Jack shook his head.
"I don't think so. It's just a dream, and we are in an extreme situation."
"I guess." Jack said unconvinced.
"Have you also been having dreams that Daniel or Teal'c finds us, or even Ba'al?"
"Yeah."
"See? It's just our minds trying to figure a way out, by miracle or by death."
"And of course for years I've been having a reoccurring dream about being trapped in an elevator with a live turkey that's trying to peck out my eyes. I never though to have myself committed over that one."
Sam laughed and gave Jack a tight hug. He chuckled and hugged her back. She untangled himself from his arms and got to her feet. She wordlessly offered her hand to him and helped him to his feet. Sam started to lead him back to bed, but at the last minute she veered towards the top of the hill.
There was a flat area at the top of the mountain that had a thick cover of moss. Although the enclosure was all natural it was easy to see where they had gone to extra effort to make places where they would want to spend time. This was one case that had been successful, Sam loved to come up here at night and look at the starts and moon.
Jack laid down on the soft ground cover and put his hands behind his head. Sam laid down so that she could rest the back of head on Jack's stomach. Together they stared up at the pale moon that was almost directly overhead. There was a wonderfully cool breeze coming in from the open ceiling high above.
"I don't like this moon, it's too...blue."
"I'm sorry you disapprove." Sam smiled.
"I do. I also miss the bunny on the skateboard."
"What?"
"You know, the rabbit on the moon."
"Maybe I was wrong," Sam said sadly "maybe you have finally lost it."
"I most certainly have not,'" Jack said with mock affront "you can't lose something you've never had."
"Good point."
"Anyway, all those years you spent studying space and you never noticed the bunny on the skateboard in the full moon?"
"Can't say that I did. I've seen the man in the moon."
"Yeah, well if you tilt your head to the side there is an image of a rabbit ridding a skateboard."
"I suppose there is always more than one way of looking at things."
"Exactly." Jack agreed.
"Actually...perhaps we need to look at our current situation differently."
"Different than being unwilling captives trapped in a glass case for the curiosity of others?"
"On the other hand we're together, we're healthy, well fed, and no one is hurting us."
"You have a point." Jack said softly. "I couldn't do this alone."
"I didn't just survive, these aliens saved me...saved us."
"Are you saying we should be grateful for what they've done?"
"They've given us a chance to enjoy each other, a chance to get home. If left in that cage for another day we would be dead, and even if I'm a prisoner I am still glad to be alive."
"It helps me to hear you say that."
"You had doubts?"
"Yes. I was afraid that you might resent me for not ending your life when I had the chance."
"And end up missing out on some of the greatest moments of my life?"
"'Greatest'? Like what?"
Sam rolled over and pulled up on Jack's shirt. Jack cried out in a mixture of surprise and laughter as Sam put her lips to his exposed belly and blew a raspberry against his skin. Jack retaliated by reaching down and mercilessly tickling at her sides. Yelping Sam returned the tickle assault. They rolled and tussled like puppies at play. Eventually Sam got the upper hand, sitting on his stomach with her fingernails torturing the sides of his ribs.
"Ack!" Jack laughed. "Mercy, mercy!"
Breathless from the tickling herself Sam laid down on Jack's chest panting. He reached up and rubbed the mirthful tears from his eyes. Taking a deep breath Jack still couldn't keep from a quiet chuckling. He wrapped his arms around Sam and hugged her tight.
"Okay, I'll admit it," Jack smiled "things aren't all bad."
"That's the spirit."
Sam ruffled Jack's hair and pushed herself up for a quick kiss that ended up lasting far longer than she had intended. She giggled as Jack rolled over so he could pin her to the mossy ground. Nuzzling her neck he bit her gently. The amorous play would have continued if it was for a sudden chirping call that caused Jack to freeze.
"What was that?"
"Sounded like Ser'in." Sam said as she wriggled out of Jack's embrace. "What would she be doing here so late at night?"
"Particularly since she's been avoiding us." Jack grumbled.
"She certainly doesn't visit the way she did when we were still in quarantine."
"Jaa'ck? Sa'man'ta?"
"Up here, Ser'in." Sam called.
It took Ser'in a few minutes to find the pair, but she managed. She wasn't wearing her usual uniform, instead she had a more casual outfit on. Slung over her shoulder was a single strapped back pack. She stepped up to where Jack and Sam were still sitting on the ground and knelt down.
"Dali." Ser'in sighed.
"Don't say you're sorry," Jack said irritated "just get us out of here."
"Jack, I'm sure it's not that simple."
"She knows all the codes to the doors, it is just that simple."
"Greais ne ha, jen'ra lasin me hano."
Ser'in opened the backpack and pulled out a large handful of papers that had a plastic sheen to them. She handed the stack of papers over to Sam and encouraged her to look through them. Sam didn't understand any of the writing however the photos embedded into the document were clear enough. Sam looked at a photo of when Jack had first been 'rescued' and couldn't believe how thin he had been. She smiled as she came across a picture of Jack's content look as she slept in his arms on the floor of their old cell.
"It looks like a research paper about us." Sam said as she showed Jack the photos. "Looks like she's documented everything."
"Oh joy, a scrap book."
"It means she's at least trying to prove our intelligence."
"Right now I'm more worried about their intelligence." Jack huffed.
"Ser'in," Sam tapped the pages and then up at the opening in the roof "are you trying to help us get out?"
Ser'in looked up and then rotated her head clockwise.
"She always makes that same motion whenever we ask any questions."
"No, I've noticed that sometimes it's clockwise and sometimes counter." Sam noted. "I'm fairly certain clockwise means 'yes'."
Ser'in reached out and took the papers from Sam. Laying the stack down she gestured towards the glass in a sweeping motion and then picked up the first page and tore it into shreds. Hanging her head she started to cry.
"No one believes her." Sam translated sadly.
"Why the hell not?"
"Maybe they just don't want to."
Ser'in pulled the back of her scaled hand across her face to brush away the tears. Reaching into the bag again she produced some metal disks that had symbols stamped into them. There were five different sizes, each with unique markings. She placed a few of them on the ground. Sam picked one up and inspected it.
"Looks like money."
"Great, maybe there's a soda machine around here."
Ser'in reached out and touched Jack's shoulder and then dropped a larger amount of the coins onto the ground between them. She looked at Jack and Sam anxiously. Jack looked down at the mental disks and then back at Ser'in.
"I''m sorry," Jack said "I don't understand."
"I think she's trying to tell us that we are worth a lot of money to the zoo."
"Peachy."
Sam smiled sadly and pushed the coins towards Ser'in. The pink dragon collected them up and placed them back into the bag. She put the papers away as well and then retrieved a small book. Bound in what looked like blue glass Ser'in handed the book to Sam. She opened the surprisingly light weight book and started leafing through the pages.
"It's blank." Jack noted.
Ser'in produced a thin stylus and demonstrated how the sharp end burned a mark into one of the empty pages. She gave the pen to Sam and got to her feet. Ser'in forced an awkward smile.
"I guess we're supposed to fill the pages."
"With what?" Jack asked.
"Anything we think might help us get home."
Ser'in walked over to medium sized stone and turned it over. Sam and Jack watched as she dug a small hole, being careful to throw the dirt far from the stone. Walking over she took the book back along with the pen and placed then in the hole and fit the rock back on top. Ser'in pointed up at the moon and lifted the rock again to give the items back.
"I take it she wants us to keep it a secret." Jack said.
Ser'in looked around nervously and gathered up her book bag. Slinging it over her shoulder she turned to leave. Sam gave the book to Jack and got to her feet. Before Ser'in could leave Sam caught up with her and stepped in front of her. Ser'in made a quiet noise of surprise when Sam wrapped her arms around her in a quick hug.
"Thank you, Ser'in...uh...gala, thank you."
Ser'in's blue eyes dilated and she purred. She looked around to see if anyone was watching. When she decided that they were alone Ser'in reached out and hugged Sam back. It was an awkward embrace and a little too hard around the ribs for Sam's comfort, but she appreciated the gesture anyway.
After Ser'in left Jack stepped up behind Sam with the gifts in his hands. She took the book and the pen and sat down. Jack sat down behind her so that he could support her back and read over her shoulder. Instead of writing Sam started placing dots in what appeared to him to be a random order.
"What cha doing?"
"It's the major stars as seen from Earth."
"Are they going to know that?"
"No."
"Then why bother?"
"Because I don't want to forget them."
Jack reached around Sam's waist and stole the pen from her. Down in the far corner he drew a small circle and inside it he drew a shape. He handed the pen back to Sam and she studied his drawing for a moment trying to figure it out.
"The bunny in the moon." Sam smiled.
"Yup, I don't want to forget to show it to you when we get back."