Jack was having trouble sleeping – too much to think about and absolutely no desire to rehash the problems he had no solution for. He appropriated a piece of Carter's precious paper. Well he was the one who found it in the first place. He thought he would leave these people something. No, they didn't deserve it. As far as he was concerned they deserved to be lined up against a wall and…no, that wasn't right either. He wasn't giving them a reprieve- no, not at all. Not a firing squad with 'projectile weapons', nope too messy. These fools had already made a mess of this place. He was thinking more along the line of three quick ones with a zat. No mess to clean up. He wondered a few seconds what happened to the stuff that was disintegrated. Didn't the "Law of Conservation of Matter" apply to everything in the galaxy? He wasn't a total dullard. He could ask Carter but thank God she was asleep.

So Jack got on with the original task. He wished he had stone tablets to engrave these simple words, then maybe they would remain after he was gone. Maybe their children would benefit or their children's children.

He wrote from memory:

"We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their creator, with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

On that note he decided to pursue some happiness and slipped into bed with Sam.

0o0o0o0o0o0

She'd wake up in the night to find his hand splayed across her ribs with his thumb between her breasts, or across her belly or holding onto her thigh. On some nights he'd just lie on his back snoring and she felt bereft of his touch. She'd poke him in the side and he would dutifully roll over away from her.

'How long was this man married?' she wondered.

Then she'd run her fingers down his spine just to hear a sleepy voice ask if there was anything he could do for her.

0o0o0o0o0

She wouldn't say the man was insatiable but he did have a hearty appetite for sex.

"Were you always like this?"

He just smiles for a while.

"I think I'm going to be in trouble no matter what I say."

"How about the truth"

"Say your hungry for a steak and all you every get served is salad and cottage cheese and occasionally a hamburger. Well if you're hungry enough, really starved, you might take a bite but it doesn't satisfy you. You still want that steak."

"So you're comparing me to a piece of meat?" She said trying to keep the laughter out of her voice.

"It's an analogy, Carter but if I had some A1 I'd pour it all over you."