Impossible. The sirens have never lasted so long.
"Jack, something has to be going on," Sam whispers to her husband, trying to keep the tone something that isn't going to let the kids pick up on the fact that something is horribly wrong.
"I know," he says.
"Well, maybe you should go see what's going on," she suggests.
"Sam, I can't risk going to the resistance now. The risk of exposure is just too great."
"I wish Janet was back," Sam says.
"I'm sure she's fine, just waiting it out somewhere," Jack assures her.
"It's just… what if this goes on forever?" she asks.
"Emergencies never last forever," Jacks says.
-0-0-0-
"Open this door, or it will be knocked down!" a voice shouts on the other end of the door.
"George?" Sam asks before she realizes that this isn't probably the wisest thing to say. His voice is firm, and she realizes with horror that George might not be alone.
"Open the door," he repeats.
She flings the door open, and is relieved to see only George. She shuts the door behind her.
"What's going on?" she asks in a whisper.
"Apophis has claimed this planet. I'd wouldn't go so far as to say 'conquered', there wasn't much of a battle. But he still wants to show his power. He's demanding door to door inspections. He didn't tell us what we are supposed to look for. I think it's just a way of terrorizing people," George says.
"Who is Apophis?" Sam asks.
"Another Goa'uld," he says, as if she is particularly foolish.
"You mean a servant of Ra?" she asks.
"No, I mean a god of another section of the galaxy," George says.
"I don't understand what you are talking about," Sam admits.
"I think I do," Jack says, walking into the room behind him, "It's the thing that I've been afraid of all along. How many of these gods are there?"
"Well, the system lords are only a loose group. There are maybe twenty of them. Some are more powerful than others. And they have countless servants. But you shouldn't count the servants out. They turn on their masters all the time. These creatures are not to be trusted, even by each other," George says.
Sam's head is spinning. She isn't used to this kind of thinking. But Jack seems to digest the new information quite quickly. "And these other galaxies? They are full of people?"
George nods.
"How many?" he asks seriously.
"Well, most of the planets have far less people than this one, but there are so many planets that… I really couldn't say. You would have to talk to someone in the livestock department."
"Do they know who did it?" Sam asks.
"They don't know who did it or how it was done," George admits.
"Well…" Sam begins to explain.
"Don't explain it to me, dear. I may be asked questions, and it's probably better if I don't have to lie in my answer," George says.
"Are we going to be in lockdown forever?" Sam asks.
"Only until all of the houses are searched. I need to move on to the next house now. Can you toss this room up a bit, and make it look like someone else has done it?" George asks.
"Of course," Sam says as she opens the door for him.
Jack knocks their belongings to the floor with more force than is strictly necessary.
"Jack?" Sam asks gently, putting a hand on his arm.
"It was all for nothing. My whole life. This whole fight. It was all for nothing," he says.
"It's not all for nothing. Jack, you killed a god," she says.
"No, I killed one royal in a large family. There are more where they came from. This war is never going to end."
"It took you one night to kill the whole of Ra's army. I don't know why you think it is impossible to kill a few more armies," she says.
"Sam, this worked because they didn't expect it," he says.
"George says they still don't have any idea what happened," Sam explains.
"That just means that it is going to work a couple more times. But it's not going to work forever. They are going to figure this out before too long, and then we aren't going to be able to make any new headway," Jack says.
"Well, I guess your wife is just going to have to figure out the next big surprise," she says.
He smiles at her. "So we keep hoping."
"And we keep saving the planet," she says.
"Mama!" Cassie says, holding her arms up.
"But first we change a diaper," Sam says.-
-0-0-0-
The sirens turned off that night, and life turned back to normal. There were different Jaffa of course, and any high ranking officer had to take an oath but nothing else changed.
One night a week later Sam and Jack were having dinner together. Janet was working that night.
"Walter broke up with his girlfriend," Jack informs his wife out of the blue.
"I didn't even know that he was dating," she says absently.
"Do think Janet's ready?" he asks.
"Why do you insist on setting all of your wives up with him?" she asks.
"I was hoping that you would do it. Talk to her about it, I mean," he says.
She sees that Charlie has run out of meat, and so she stabs a piece off her own and cuts it up to slide onto his plate. "And why would I do that?" she asks her husband with a raised eyebrow.
"Well, with you, I didn't ask if you wanted it first, so I figured I wouldn't make that same mistake again. I also figured it would be better coming from you instead of me."
"I'll ask her, just don't talk to Walter yet," she says.
"Thanks," he says.
"I'll miss her, if she wants this," Sam says with a sigh, "But she deserves this," she adds, giving her husband a kiss.
"Well, she probably won't be leaving for a while, even if she does decide to look into marriage," he says softly.
-0-0-0-
"Janet, have you ever thought of getting re-married?" Sam asks softly the next day, as the two women sit next to one another rocking children to sleep for naptime. Sam has Cassie, and Janet has Sam's son Jeremiah* on her lab.
Janet looks up at Sam sharply, "You guys sick of me already?"
"No, Janet, that's not what this is. I'd rather you lived with us forever. It's just… I'm really happy. I want you to have a chance to be happy too. Jack isn't the only good guy out there, you know. And Jack knows some of them if you want to meet them."
Janet pauses so long that Sam thinks she's offended her friend. Then Janet looks at her, "I'm really happy, too. This whole thing that… you need a man to make you happy, it's crap. Men never make me happy. My work makes me happy. My family makes me happy."
"That's great," Sam says. Then, after a pause, she continues, "As long as you are really over-the-top completely happy, and not just settling. I don't want you to avoid men out of fear. But if this is really all you want, then great."
"Well, there is something more I want," Janet says.
"What?"
"No, I'd decided that I was never going to mention it."
"Why not?"
"Because I know that it's not something that I am ever going to get," Janet says softly.
"Try me," Sam says giving her a smile.
"I want one of these," Janet says.
"You want to adopt another kid? Let's wait a couple years, huh?" Sam says with a laugh.
Then Sam looks at her friend. "No, no," Sam says staring to cry despite herself, "You're in love with Jack!"
"No," Janet says firmly. "I'm not in love with your husband. I respect him. I admire him. But not love, never love."
"You just want to have sex with him," Sam says bitterly, wishing that she could get up and walk away right now. Slamming a door would be even better. But the almost-asleep baby on her lap makes all of that impossible.
"Trust me, honey, I have no interest in sex. I would be perfectly happy never having sex again," Janet says with a laugh.
"I'm sorry," Sam says. She can't imagine it sucking that much. Sex, in her experience, is wonderful.
"I don't want you to be sorry. Listen, there is a way to have a baby without sex. In this case, you and Jack, or just Jack... now I'm really wishing I hadn't gotten this far into the details. Anyway, someone would secure… ah… the baby-making materials from him. You'd put in a container and bring it to me. Then I can insert it into myself."
"That works?" Sam asks with raised eyebrows.
"I know of a few people who have met success with it, yes," Janet says.
"It seems like such a… poor substitute for the real thing. Children without sex, without love," Sam says.
"It's not without love," Janet says with a big smile, "There are all kinds of love. And… I thought you of all people would be able to understand this. You know, Sam, when you had Charlie and Cassie, it was great right. You weren't even trying to have another kid," Janet says, looking down at Sam's son in her arms.
"No, I wasn't."
"But it's different to have your own, right?" Janet asks, looking up at Sam with a question in her eyes.
Sam nods, "Don't misunderstand. I love all three of my kids the same. But there is something special in looking at a tiny creature that… your body made. You know, something that never could have come into existence without you."
"It's stupid of me to still want that. I mean… my body's been through hell, Sam. There is a good chance that I'm never going to be able to have one of my own. Perhaps… it's stupid to keep hoping. Maybe, if I gave up, I'd appreciate these kids you were good enough to share with me a whole lot more. Don't get me wrong, I am grateful for them. More grateful than you'll probably ever know."
Sam reaches over to put a hand on Janet's knee, "It's ok to want more. That's what this conversation started with. I want you to be happy. I just don't know how Jack is going to feel about this."
"Right, well, maybe I can get some material from whomever you and Jack were planning to set me up with," Janet jokes.
"That would be a great first meeting discussion," Sam says.
"Hey, a lot of babies are made the first time a husband and wife meet," Janet teases. Then her face grows serious, "But I want it to be Jack's. I promise it's not some secret love thing. It's just… I know him as a father, and I want him to be the father of my kid."
"I get that," Sam says, standing up softly, "Well, this one is out like a light. I think I'm going to do some work on the next great project to save all of our butts, if you don't mind watching Charlie."
"No problem, I'm not due at base for a few more hours," Janet says.
*So I looked back to see what I named the kid, only to discover I never did. Oops! Well, now you know what the name is.