From Here to Alternity I: Canon minus A Major

by jennzabelle

Sam goes missing on Earth in Season Six and the rest of the SGC struggles to find her. They're cooperating with the NID for now but who are the bad guys, really? Spoilers through Paradise Lost.

8. The Finding Father

From Here to Alternity I: Canon minus A Major – The Finding Father

Disclaimer: See Chapter One for a complete disclaimer, but I make no money off this and the show is on hiatus till July, so… ;-) Please don't sue.

See author's notes below. There's also a set of parentheses around internal communication between a symbiote and host, which takes the place of other punctuation that didn't make it through the upload. I hope you can follow it. If not, sorry! I'll try to find a better method for later chapters.

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Previously, in From Here to Alternity:

Stargate Command

Downtime Day 11

Now George had to tell a very old friend that his daughter was in danger somewhere on Earth and they could do very little here to find out where and how she was living. Of course, there was at least a possibility that she was dead by now. He had no idea how General Carter, USAF (Ret.) would take that and he really didn't want to have to know. Maybe Selmak's mission would run la-

"Unauthorized Offworld Activation!" Lt. Simmons called from the Control Room.

Hammond made his brisk way down from his office with a sinking heart. No one was expected back this afternoon, so it was either a team in trouble or –

"It's the Tok'ra, sir," Simmons advised.

"Open the iris," General Hammond commanded as his heart sank somewhere close to his feet.

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Embarkation Room

Stargate Command

Downtime Day 11, afternoon

The balding man in a tan wrapped tunic sauntered down the ramp as the wormhole behind him winked out in a blaze of silvery blue. He took no apparent notice of the airmen lowering their automatic weapons at the command of his old friend. However, he was not alone in his mind. A whisper of non-speech echoed silently through his head as he proceeded down the ramp.

(Jacob.)

(Yeah?)

(Something is wrong here.)

The wry mental snort echoed through Jacob Carter's skull as he took in his symbiote's uncharacteristic uneasiness. (Something's always wrong when they call, Selmak. I wouldn't read too much into it.)

(Then why will none of the Tau'ri meet your eyes?)

Jacob gave no response, but he knew his headmate felt his wave of quashed alarm. He reached the bottom of the ramp and extended his hand to his old colleague waiting at the bottom. "George," he greeted jovially. "What new mess have you got for me?"

"I think we'd better take that up in the briefing room, Jacob." General Hammond's portly body seemed to weigh down his normally unflagging energy as he swept an arm towards the spiral staircase.

Jacob raised his eyebrows but made no comment until they were settled around the large wooden conference table. "This seems pretty official for the two of us, George. Which team has some new thing they need answers on?"

George sat wearily with his 'commanding officer' face on. "Jacob, I hate telling you this more than I can say. I want you to know we're doing everything we can to remedy the situation. He met Jacob's eyes with the air of a man who dreaded what he could no longer avoid saying.

Jacob felt the first frisson of true fear. Selmak stayed silent and sent a wave of reassurance tinged with millennia of bitter experience. Selmak of the Tok'ra had lived many lives over two thousand years and change, but that particular facial expression never preceded good news regardless of the planet or culture. Jacob Carter knew the subject of the next sentence with a parent's infallible instinct. He felt his gaze go cold as his face stilled.

"Sam or Mark?" he asked flatly.

To his credit, Hammond looked him right in the eye as he began to explain. "It's Sam, Jacob. She's missing and… it doesn't look good. Actually, Mark brought it to our attention. It seems that she was supposed to drive down to San Diego on her vacation, but -"

Jacob stared stonily in his old friend's face as the tale unfolded: overwork, long vacation, gone to see family, out of contact. But his mind wasn't nearly as calm as his expression suggested.

(Wait, Jacob! We cannot just charge down to this 'Grand Canyon' like an Unas through a crystal nursery.)

(Don't tell me 'cannot', Selmak. That's my daughter he's talking about! I'm not just gonna sit here and -)

(Proceed with the action that will be most beneficial to the search for Samantha? Think for a moment, Jacob.) Selmak sent a wave of exasperation-flavored calm at her host. (Hammond would not have contacted us unless he needed help only the Tok'ra could give. Did you not hear his comparison to the previous abduction?)

(You mean the one nobody told me about?) Jacob shot back sourly.

(Yes, dear friend.) Selmak's quiet determination overlapped with the wave of love and calm she sent to her hotheaded host. (The kidnapping we could not have assisted in resolving. This one is different. We may yet be of great help.)

(I want to help. And the best way to do that's to jump the next transport down there and light a fire under their sorry asses!) If Jacob had said these things out loud, Hammond would have broken off the story to defend the SGC personnel on site in Arizona. Selmak just shushed him and directed their attention to Hammond's explanations. The symbiote had the patience of the nearly immortal to weigh against their combined concern for Jacob's youngest child.

"I didn't want to worry you until we had some idea of how serious the situation was. Now that we know, I need your help." Hammond's tired assertion was slightly softened by his obvious concern for his old friend.

"So what you're saying is that my little girl is out there somewhere and you didn't think I deserved to know that she's in danger?" Jacob's voice rose to a roar as he leaned menacingly towards the head of the table.

"We don't know that for sure," Hammond soothed. "We have videotape of her being taken from the park, but we have no indication that the kidnappers intended to harm her."

"Hunh. So I guess snatching tourists out of national parks is a new way to show you care. Kind of a welcome wagon from your friendly neighborhood felons." Jacob sat back and carefully folded his arms over his chest. It was as if he needed physical help to keep from grabbing the general's uniform and shaking it until Sam's location popped out of her CO's mouth.

George's sky blue eyes narrowed over the distinct purple blotches of exhaustion copious cups of coffee couldn't cure. "I understand that you're upset about this, Jacob. Hell, I'm not too happy about it myself. But it's my job to see the big picture here and you're just gonna have to trust that I have Sam's best interests at heart." Hammond leaned forward aggressively and stared his old buddy down. "From what we can see, she was alive and well as of eight days ago. Now, did you want to snap at me some more or did you want to see what we've got?"

"Sounds to me like you've got squat," Jacob growled.

"We're doing the best that we can!" Hammond snapped. He swallowed his defensiveness and went on after letting out a controlled breath. "I want – we all want to get Sam back as quickly as possible. I contacted you not just to let you know what's going on, but to ask for your help in case the Tok'ra have a better chance of analyzing the evidence than we do."

Jacob seemed lost in thought for a moment, which struck George Hammond as distinctly odd. He couldn't hear the fierce internal debate being waged between an irate host and his logical symbiote, but he sensed it in Jacob's neutral response. "What evidence do you have?"

George winced slightly. "More of it should be coming soon, but we do have the videotape I mentioned. I can play it for you, but… you need to brace yourself, Jake."

Jacob just gave a distracted nod as the lights went down.

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(Jacob, please remain calm. Remember that we cannot-) Selmak stopped instantly as the video began to play. She could feel Jacob's curiosity and anger warring with titanic impatience as his daughter walked off towards the overlook. Selmak sent patience, alertness and cool logic back as they both stared out of her host's eyes.

In most cases, either the host or the symbiote was in control, with a nodded head marking the distinct transition between the two. But Selmak was indeed among the oldest and wisest of the Tok'ra and she had had more than two millennia to discover the subtleties of blending. If the host was willing, the symbiote could experience the information coming through the host's senses directly rather than tapping into the synapses carrying sensations with the host's perception and personality already stamped upon them. It was mildly disorienting to both symbiote and host, but it gave them a surer way to triangulate the truth from two separate angles of perception.

And neither of those angles showed anything they wanted to see. Jacob's Sammy whirled through a distinctly unfair fight as the ex-host of Jolinar of Malkshur grimly dispatched her enemies. This double view of Samantha Carter had been one of the more unique experiences of this blending. The lines often blurred, of course, and Selmak had her own love for Samantha to subdue at this moment. Selmak could feel her concern giving way to an operative's analysis of the scene and a cool calculation of Samantha's odds of survival. She prepared to share her conclusions with her host when lashing waves of emotion battered her psyche.

Jacob's whirl of anger/fear/despair/revenge/concern/love/protectiveness/guilt almost overwhelmed them, but Selmak shared the burden of emotion with her host and tried desperately to lessen the intensity of his wordless wrath. A tornado of pain whirled from every part of their brain related to experiencing emotion.

The symbiote could shelter the host from physical pain with a conscious effort since it usually came via the spinal cord and gave the symbiote some warning of the neurotransmitters that needed to be blocked. Jolinar had done it for Samantha after the ashrak's attack, according to the major's memories, but the sheer intensity and duration of the pain had overwhelmed the symbiote's defenses and forced a choice between the survival of the host and the symbiote. Suppressing the host's symptoms preserved the host body but left the symbiote vulnerable to its own biochemical reactions. Such an overload was rare, especially if the pair had been blended for some time, but it was the intended result of a concentrated blast from a Goa'uld hand device. Even the unblended were killed in the same way, as the overload of pain receptors swamped their brain tissue with a sudden spike of neurotransmitters and high blood pressure that shut down crucial feedback systems. In other words, it fried their brains.

Emotional pain was much more complex, as it originated suddenly within the shared brain of the symbiote and host and the neurotransmitters unleashed in its wake could harm both if left too uncontrolled for too long. That was part of the reason Jacob's issues with his son had so irritated Selmak – the emotional turmoil was unhealthy for her and her host over the long term. It was also the reason behind the Tok'ra's seeming lack of emotion; thousands of years of memories forced a symbiote to distance herself from extremes of emotion lest the losses of a prior host doom the new pair forever. Seeing Samantha Carter beaten and stabbed didn't threaten her father's survival, but the whirlpool of his emotions had to be processed swiftly and completely for Jacob and Selmak to be of any use to their girl.

Selmak focused on managing Jacob's outrage with most of her mind while she prodded her host to respond to the general's increasingly alarmed questions. Jacob made no response, staring at the frozen screen in horror while searching desperately for something, anything that could help his child. His mind raced through years of bloody combat, trying to raid his memories for some indication that Sam's wounds weren't serious. While he was busy reviewing, his headmate suppressed the emotions dredged up by each instance and struggled to keep up.

Selmak grimaced internally and let her host's head rise as she took control. "Jacob is well, General Hammond," Selmak assured the other Tau'ri sitting at the table. "The images you have shown us were… disturbing. Once he regains a measure of calm, I will have him tell you himself."

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George Hammond started before accepting this change in personalities. Most of the time Selmak allowed Jacob to 'drive' while they were in the presence of the Tau'ri and Jacob returned the favor amongst the Tok'ra. Selmak's blazing eyes had faded to the clear white of his host again as Hammond spoke. "Can you give me any information on the Tok'ra's video enhancement or analysis technology? Or perhaps you saw something in the footage that my people missed?"

Selmak gave a metallic hum as she thought. "If the information has been entered into a compatible format, I can take it back to the Tok'ra base. It is possible that we may be able to discern details that elude your computers. Can you tell me what else has occurred in the search?"

Hammond noticed that Selmak didn't confirm or deny that the Tok'ra had better computer capabilities or modes of analysis. Despite the fact that he trusted Jacob implicitly and therefore Selmak more than any other symbiote, a small coal of resentment flared to life as the Tok'ra refused to give the Tau'ri helpful technology. Again.

Selmak winced suddenly. "General Hammond, could I prevail upon you for a sleep chamber for a period of time? I just returned from an exhausting mission and came directly here in response to your urgent summons. I have not been able to refresh myself or eat for some time and Jacob's emotions are… difficult to experience. I would appreciate the chance to eat and to have him sleep for a few hours."

"Of course," Hammond responded. He was slightly startled by the vulnerability Selmak was showing, but he had to be grateful for anything that delayed Jacob's verbal reaction to the tape. He summoned a waiting aide from outside the briefing room door. "Airman, could you please show Selmak to the VIP quarters and have the cafeteria send down some food? Thank you. Selmak, are you sure you don't need to take Jacob to the infirmary? I know you can heal him, but…"

"That will not be necessary, General Hammond. Thank you. Will you be available to speak with Jacob and me tomorrow morning?"

Hammond responded in the affirmative and watched his old friend depart. Now, how could he best use Jacob's resources in the search while keeping his friend from charging all over the Southwest with an alien symbiote in his body? He groaned. It could be a long night.

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Several floors above the general, the potentially renegade pair in question reclaimed their equilibrium as the images of Sam faded slightly. The hurricane of memory had subsided into separate storm systems of thought they could navigate around at will. Selmak still had to analyze the videotape and control Jacob's emotional reaction, but they were talking to each other again rather than shouting over the din.

(I'm not a baby,) Jacob pouted as his symbiote steered them to the assigned VIP quarters in the wake of a nervous airman. (You didn't have to ask George to send me to my room.)

Selmak sighed. (Jacob, your irrationality is fatiguing at present.)

It was less a rebuke than an admission of the Tok'ra's state of being. Jacob was too keyed up to hear it that way, however.

(So now I'm a nut case?) Jacob demanded. (I'm someone you have to handle with kid gloves? Is there anything else you'd like to share, Sel?)

The image of a bandy-legged cartoon rooster in boxing gloves challenging Foghorn Leghorn to put his dukes up startled the human into a snort of laughter.

(Whoops.) Selmak replied, deadpan. (Did I think that out loud?)

Jacob's emotions retreated further as he carefully constructed a mental desert scene complete with cliffs and mountains. A Road Runner with Jacob's face meep-meeped over a cliff's edge at a Wile E. Coyote holding a fuzzy pink anvil with 'Feelings' in a swirly, girly script in front of a T-shirt labeling him 'Selmak O. Tok'ra'.

(Cute, Jacob. Very cute.)

(I didn't even get to throw you off a cliff yet.) Jacob's humor laced his mental voice, but it hadn't erased his irritation completely.

(That will not be necessary.) Selmak's dry tone melted under a wave of concerned sincerity. (I meant what I said, dear friend. I am tired. You are tired. Our mission was successful, but long, and we have yet to refresh ourselves. I can feel the strength of your desire to assist with the search, but there is much to do before we have to argue about how to help. Again.)

(I'm not just gonna drop right off to sleep, Sel. You know how I feel about… what we saw.) Jacob avoided reliving the video as he continued. (I might as well see what I information I can dig up while we're here.)

(I will make a bargain with you.) Selmak offered. (You lay down and let me put you to sleep while I try to… process our memories and emotions. Once I believe you are sufficiently rested and fed, I will allow you complete control to inquire around the base and find whatever you can without alerting General Hammond. Once you are satisfied that you know enough to negotiate with your old friend and I am satisfied that I can dampen or relieve your reactions to what we find, we will decide what we can do to best help the search for your daughter.)

Jacob thought silently while Selmak pointedly ignored his deliberations. She had borrowed the image of turning her back and whistling to drown out Jacob's thoughts when he wanted a moment of internal solitude. He would do the same for her in sensitive situations, although they generally thought and remembered as one. It was an odd accommodation to the Tau'ri obsession with privacy, but it worked for them. Meanwhile, they had arrived in their room and sat down on the bed after Selmak dismissed the airman.

Jacob mentally tugged gently on ImaginarySelmak's tunic hem as he removed his real Tok'ra uniform and footwear from their body before crawling under the covers. (Hey, Sel? No dreams, okay?)

(None that you will recall,) she promised.

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General Hammond's Office

Stargate Command

Downtime Day 12, afternoon

It was late the next afternoon before Hammond had time to meet with Jacob Carter. A foul up in the chain of command had transmitted SG-1's transport orders after the security brief declaring the evidence classified went out but before the interagency agreement to relinquish that material was negotiated. With Hammond on one line and the heads of other agencies on others, Paul Davis finally hammered out a solution that accommodated all the interested parties while preserving the SGC's secrets.

Then an SG Team called in for an evacuation under fire and Hammond was stuck in the planning and execution of that operation. The waiting and hoping lasted till almost dinnertime, but every SG Team member came back alive. Some would be Doctor Fraiser's guests for a few weeks, but that was less important in the scheme of things than coming through the 'gate with a pulse.

Finally, Hammond got a minute to catch his breath and remembered Jacob and Selmak. He cleared his desk of all nonessential paperwork and called his old friend in. General Carter's characteristic swagger was back in force as he sank into a chair in George's office. They exchanged pleasantries and best wishes for the injured men before taking up Sam's situation.

"Okay, George, I'm back in the game. Sorry about yesterday. I didn't realize how much the last mission had taken out of me." Jacob began.

"That's perfectly alright, Jacob. I can't imagine watching that tape without a similar reaction. Now, Doctor Fraiser has analyzed it to the best of her ability and she's fairly certain that the stab wound to the major's stomach was not fatal." George winced slightly at the murderous expression in his friend's eyes. None of this was easy to hear or to say, but he had the advantage of several days to process Sam's disappearance. Jacob had come into this blind.

"They'd better hope not, whoever they are," Jacob growled. He took a deep breath with unfocused eyes, probably Selmak's influence if not an internal conversation with his symbiote. "Anyway. I've spent the day listening to the grapevine on base and doing a little digging. I take it we don't have the who or the why or the where yet?"

"You know me better than that, Jacob. If I had anything at all on this I'd have let you know first thing."

Jacob pushed his hands through the air palm down as if squashing some amorphous blame onto the general's desk. "I know. Sorry. It's just that this thing is so unbelievable to me. I know Sam's come to my rescue before and I know she has a dangerous job – hell, she's the one who hooked me up with the Tok'ra – but I never expected this on Earth. I mean, out there among the Goa'uld, sure, I worry about her. But not here at home. This is supposed to be where she's safe. And…" He shook his head angrily as if warding off further emotion. Blending with Selmak had smoothed out some of his rough edges, but it still wasn't enough to let him show his bewilderment and anxiety openly to an old colleague. They were tough guys, after all.

"Believe me, I know. Even though Major Carter was taken captive before here on Earth, once we eliminated Adrian Conrad I thought the danger to her was over. Somehow, car accidents and muggings and things like that aren't allowed to happen to my people. They take so many risks every day to keep the rest of the Earth safe that Earth should do the same for them." Hammond's bulldog expression went well with his full cheeks and determined eyes.

"I gotta tell ya, George, I'm not happy that I hadn't heard about this previous kidnapping until now." Jacob laced his fingers over his belly to keep from clenching his hands.

"It wasn't my story to tell, Jacob. Once SG-1 brought her back safely, I thought it was Sam's place to tell you or not as she wanted to. It's not as if the Tok'ra could've helped." Hammond replied reasonably.

"I'm not just a Tok'ra." Jacob said quietly. "I'm her father."

"I know," Hammond apologized. He'd known the Carters a long time and he'd seen the distance Jacob and Mark's forceful personalities had wedged into their relationship. Sam had always taken enough after her mother to bridge the gap between them, but by the time she was working on the Stargate project she and her father had entered a long rocky patch of their own. Jacob loved his kids with his whole heart, but affection and 'I love you's had always been his wife's job. Some outdated habit of self-protection must have kept Sam from confiding in her father, but George didn't know anything more than that and he didn't want to. General Hammond had happily stayed out of Carter relationships after Jacob joined the Tok'ra and mended his fences with Mark. Hammond's last interference had done some good and he was eager to retire with that track record.

"Well, I haven't heard from SG-1 in a couple of hours," George offered, hoping to change the subject. "I expect them to call any minute now."

Jacob eyed his old friend shrewdly but made no demands as to what George had not said. Luckily, the phone rang at that moment as if prompted by George's remark. The two generals made their way into the briefing room and put Colonel O'Neill on speakerphone.

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Author's Notes:

First, an ENORMOUS thank you to everyone who has reviewed, especially those who offered to beta this puppy! I really appreciate your enthusiasm and affection for this story and I love that you've told me what you think of it. Your comments inspire me to write further and faster. (Yes, I could be slower with updates. It's physically possible. Kick my muse into action – review! )

First, middle and last, My Everlasting Gratitude to technetium, who has offered time and sage advice as my first ever beta reader. Several of the coolest phrases and the existence of this particular chapter come from her suggestions, and it would be a much slower, sadder effort without such excellent input. Also thanks to my hardworking Editrix, who will never access this site but needs a shout out anyway. Any errors or awkwardness are solely my fault.

I also owe an intellectual debt to David Weber's "Honor Harrington" series of books and the character of Nimitz as well as Neuropsych and the character Talon from "The Mitchell Files" series here on ffnet.

I have several chapters of this percolating on my hard drive and I'll try to update more frequently until that material runs out. I hope you like it – let me know what you think and what specifically makes you think so. ;-)