Chapter One
Heaven Can Wait
SG-1 was taking heavy fire and the enemy had them pinned down. They were a relatively advanced civilization, roughly equal to the technology of Earth's most advanced societies. Apparently the team had come at just the wrong time, in the midst of a global war that was on the verge of becoming a nuclear holocaust.
At the moment, there was no way back to the Stargate, and the only direction they could run was a dead end. The Air Force half of the team ran towards a clearing in the wooded area that Teal'c and Daniel had just made it through. The Colonel was almost across, trying to reach the cover of a large tree when he was hit. Major Carter was at his side in seconds, dragging him across the meadow. They made it to the tree, but O'Neill could go no further.
"Sir! Where were you hit?" There was so much blood already, soaking through his jacket, through hers, she could feel its warmth on her skin. He groaned, clutching his chest. It looked bad, very bad. Carter applied pressure to the wound, but blood continued to poor out.
"Not this time, Carter. Go. Get them out." His blood was everywhere. His very life was seeping out and she was helpless to stop it.
"We're not gonna leave you Sir!!" Not now, not here, not after everything… They still needed him… She still needed him…
"Go! That's an order!" He tried to shout, but only managed a hoarse whisper.
"No!" Her eyes blazed with unbridled passion and fear.
"Dammit, go NOW!" He roared. It seemed to sap the last bit of strength from him, though, and he collapsed in her arms.
"Sir! Hold on! We're gonna get you out of here! Just hold on-" She was cut off by a loud explosion, then swallowed up in darkness.
Sam came to in unfamiliar surroundings. She was in a bed. It was daytime. She was actually surprisingly comfortable. She was alone. She threw back the light blanket covering her, and discovered someone had changed her clothing, even cleaned her up. Looking around the room, she saw little furnishing. One door, the bed, a small table with a bowl of what appeared to be water, a small mirror. She took in her reflection, noting the bruises around her cheek and lower jaw on the right side, and a swollen left eye. She looked down at her apparel, taking in the simple white gown, the material soft and light.
She heard footsteps and tensed. The door opened and a young woman stepped into the room.
"Do not be afraid. You are safe here." The woman's voice was soft, her husky tone musical sounding. She wore a gown similar to Sam's, although hers seemed to have a certain iridescent quality to it.
"Where is 'here'?" Sam asked warily.
"Noggraa. Far from the battlefield in which you were found."
"Who are you?'
"My name is Chaela."
"I'm Major Samantha Carter… from Earth…" Sam paused for a moment. "I wasn't alone… I had teammates... Are they…?"
"Only one was found with you, Major Samantha Carter. He was mortally wounded." Sam's face fell as her heart plummeted. "Our curator is attending him now, but I do not know if they will be able to bring him back."
"Bring him back? What do you mean? Is he dead or isn't he?" Carter demanded.
"I'm sorry; I wish I could tell you more."
"Can I see him?" Sam tried to stand, but her legs wouldn't support her weight. She collapsed back onto the bed light-headed and woozy.
"It would be best for you to rest longer. You suffered a serious head injury in the explosion. It will take time to heal."
Sam leaned back into the pillow, closing her eyes and heaving a sigh of frustration. She needed to get out of this place, she needed to find the Colonel. She opened her eyes again. "Please, I need to see him," she pleaded.
"Rest now. I will return later with sustenance. Perhaps then you will have regained sufficient strength. Rest assured that your companion is under the best care possible." Chaela left the room, closing the door softly. Sam listened, but could discern no sign that she had been locked in the chamber. She sighed again, closed her eyes, and gave up the fight to remain conscious.
Sam woke up hours later, or, it could have been days, for all she could tell. The only things she knew for certain were that she was in the same room as before, and it was no longer daylight outside. As she fought to drag herself back to full consciousness, a sudden deluge of memories flooded her mind. The battle, the Colonel wounded, bleeding. Her strange host's words…Mortally wounded…I don't know if he'll be able to bring him back. Sam groaned and rolled to her side.
"Are you all right? Can I get you anything?" Chaela was at her side, brushing Sam's hair back from her eyes.
Sam's eyes fluttered open, and she slowly focused in on the face of the woman attending her. "The Colonel…Is he…?"
The woman closed her eyes, and Sam's heart fell. "I'm sorry, we did everything we could, but his injury was too severe."
"No!" The anguished cry burst from her lips without thought. She swallowed hard, choking back the tears. "Oh God…" She gulped again, desperate to reign in her emotions. "Can I see him? Please, I need to… I need to see him." She sat up slowly, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. Fighting back a powerful wave of nausea, she rose to her feet. Her legs threatened to collapse beneath her, and her host reached out to assist. With an arm draped around Sam's waist, Chaela gently led the weakened woman out of the room.
Sam tried to take note of her surroundings as they made their way through the corridor, but it was all she could do to stay upright. Her mind was in shock, refusing to believe that Jack O'Neill was gone. He was too alive to be dead. They had never even had a chance… She never told him… It was too late, he was gone. He can't be gone! Any moment, he'll pop out of one of these doors, crack a joke, smile that smile he saves just for her. He can't be dead!
They stopped at a set of double doors. Chaela turned to her with a concerned expression. "Are you certain you are ready for this?" Sam nodded mutely, not trusting her voice. The woman opened the door and led Sam in.
He was lying on a table, a sheet covering his body to the neck. His eyes were closed, he could have been sleeping, but he was too still, too at peace. Sam walked to his side, leaned heavily on the table. With one trembling hand, she reached out and touched his face. She jerked it back the moment she made contact with the cold, firm flesh. She could hold on no longer, it was her final breaking point. The tears began streaming down her face. She dropped her head down on his chest and sobbed her broken heart out.
After an eternity, when she had shed every tear her body could produce, Sam lifted her head. She hiccupped, sniffled, swallowed hard. "I'm so sorry, Sir. I… I should have been able to save you… I… I should have… I never told you… how I really feel. All these years, I always thought… we'd have time… somehow… someday… We… we never even got to go fishing… God, Jack, why did I wait so long? Why did we waste so much time?" She broke off abruptly as the tears threatened to overwhelm her once again. She let go of a long, shaky sigh, bent close to his face to whisper in his ear, "I love you, Jack O'Neill. I just hope… I hope you knew before…" She couldn't finish the thought, and again, the tears fell. She dropped her head down, her forehead pressing into his cold temple. For a long time, she laid there crying, overwhelmed with regrets, with all the should-have-been's that would now never be.
When this second wave finally subsided, Sam allowed herself to be led away from her commander and friend. Blinded by grief, she was aware of virtually nothing but her own internal pain. When they reached the room, Sam collapsed on the bed, and in moments, succumbed to the lure of unconsciousness.
Her dreams were haunted by images of Colonel O'Neill. First he was drowning in a river of blood. She fought desperately to reach him, but he kept slipping from her grasp.
Then he was in her lab, inviting her to join him for a weekend of fishing. And when she declined, he grew cold, hard, frigid, even. Then suddenly, as though flash-frozen and struck with a blunt object, his body shattered into millions of tiny shards which ripped through her body.
A moment later, they were in a Goa'uld cargo ship under heavy fire. Blast after blast rocked the tiny ship, and a sudden shower of sparks and jolting electricity ripped through the control console, burning right through the piloting Colonel. He fell back, one side of his face blackened beyond recognition.
Another sudden shift. They were on the battlefield, running through that clearing. She watched as time slowed to a crawl, helpless to stop the bullet from ripping right through the heart of her beloved leader and friend. She tried to run to him, but every step was like trudging through thick mud, her feet felt like dense, heavy bricks, She watched his blood spurting out of the hole in his chest as he slowly, slowly fell to the ground. An eternity later she reached his side, futilely trying to stop the blood flowing freely from his wound. She felt like she was swimming in his blood, there was so much, too much, he was dying and she couldn't stop it.
She woke up screaming his name.
Major Samantha Carter became but a shell of her former self. For days, she was virtually catatonic; each day began with a simple request to return to the Stargate with Colonel O'Neill's body. Each request was gently denied, as the Stargate remained under enemy control. She would speak no further after that, simply sitting on her bed, her knees drawn to her chest, her eyes staring blankly out the small window.
Chaela continued to nurse her to health, coaxing the shell-shocked woman to eat a little more each meal. Sam's physical injuries were relatively minor, except for the severe concussion inflicted on her by the blast that had exploded less than a couple of meters away.
After several days, Sam finally began to clear her head of the fog of grief that had so thoroughly consumed her mind. When Chaela entered with her morning meal, she found the soldier dressed and pacing the small room.
"Daniel. Teal'c. What happened to them? Did they survive the blast? Did they make it through the Stargate?"
Chaela offered her a warm smile. "It is good to see you alert. I was growing fearful you wouldn't recover from the shock." She set the tray of food down on the small table beside the bed. "I am not certain what happened to your other companions. I do know that the… the Stargate, as you call it, was activated a few hours after we recovered you and your Colonel. But I do not know anything more."
Sam frowned as she walked around the bed. She sat down beside the table and began eating. Only when she finished the meal did she speak again.
"My equipment, where is it? My friends may try to contact me through the Stargate."
"I'm afraid that wouldn't be possible. The Zigarans have blocked the Portal, and neither people nor transmissions can pass through their barrier."
Sam turned to look at her hostess, and stared wide-eyed as though only seeing her fully for the first time. "You're not human!" Chaela was humanoid, certainly, but most definitely not human. Her skin was lavender; her hair was crimson red, coarse, thick and wiry. Her eyes were almost cat-like, and striking in their crystalline, emerald coloring.
"Human? Is that your race?"
"Yes, we're from Earth. Most of the planets we've visited through the Stargate are inhabited by humans who were kidnapped from Earth by the Goa'uld thousands of years ago. It's rare that we've encountered truly alien races."
"The Goa'uld?" Chaela frowned, her eyes narrowing. "They have not been near this system in many generations. Are your people enslaved to them?"
"No, our ancestors were able to defeat the Goa'uld, and we've only recently come back under their radar, so to speak. We kind of ticked them off when we killed Ra. And Apophis…and Hathor… and a few others."
"You have conquered the Goa'uld? You must be a very powerful people."
"Well, I wouldn't say we've conquered them so much as held them at bay. We've had some help, thanks to our alliance with a few advanced races, such as the Asgard. Do you know of them?"
Chaela thought for a moment before replying. "Yes, I believe I've read of them. They were allies of the people who saved our planet from Goa'uld invasion a thousand generations ago. The Furlings."
Sam's eyes widened. "You know the Furlings?"
Chaela shook her head. "We have not seen or heard from them for several centuries. Most of our scholars believe the race may have become extinct. However, the Goa'uld have not attempted to retake our world since our alliance with them. It has been our hope that they believe the Furlings still protect us."
"You said the…Zigarans control the gate. Were they the ones who attacked us?"
"Yes. I'm afraid you chose the wrong century to visit our planet. A hundred years ago, we'd have rolled out the welcome wagon. But then, that was before we knew of the Portal's existence.
"When archaeologists discovered it, the political powers in control at the time tried to conceal its existence from the world as they debated how best to use the device. Only, they couldn't keep it secret for long, and a few short years later, the entire world knew we could travel across the galaxy in moments through the Stellar Portal. Instead of the global panic they feared would destroy societies, though, the world embraced the opportunity.
"Still, the political powers fought furiously over the use of the device, and more importantly, the control. Smaller countries allied themselves with larger ones, and soon the entire planet was divided into two factions battling for control of the Portal, and the universe of resources it offered. One side wanted to use it for scientific study, research, and peaceful exploration. The other sought weapons, natural resources, anything and everything they could exploit for power and wealth. Within two decades of the Portal's discovery, we were embroiled in a bitter world war, with the Portal the pivoting point. You literally stepped into the middle of the hottest bed in the war-zone."
After taking a moment to digest all that Chaela revealed, Sam asked, "How long have the Zigarans had control of the portal?"
"Only since you stepped through. They took advantage of the distraction your arrival presented and overwhelmed our forces in a surprising show of technology. We did not have any such defenses as they had, and they had periodically managed to slip small groups through on weapons and technology raids. Our leaders are beginning to think that it is time to surrender. We simply haven't the means to compete with what they have begged, borrowed, and stolen."
"I need to get through the Stargate. Can you help me?"
Before Chaela could reply, the ground began to tremble beneath them, then a sudden shockwave ripped through them, knocking both women to the ground.
"We are under attack! We must retreat to the bunkers below ground! Hurry!" Chaela ran out of the room, struggling to keep her footing across the heaving earth beneath them. Sam tried to follow, but before she could reach the doorway, the entire building collapsed on top of her. Once again, Sam was swallowed up in darkness.