See disclaimer in part I
*************
Sam
didn't know how she found herself seated in the briefing room,
facing
General Hammond who had come from D.C. to take over command
of the
SGC in Jack's absence. Teal'c had also come immediately from
Chulak
upon hearing the news and was ready to join them in the
rescue
efforts.
"Colonel Reynolds has been conferring with the
rescue workers at the
site. Colonel what can you tell us?"
Hammond turned his chair to
face Reynolds.
Reynolds lips
tightened for a moment before he answered. "Well,
sir, the
blizzard is hampering all efforts we make to get to the
actual
crash site. Any aircraft is in danger of going down in the
storm
just like the plane that carried our personnel. One attempt
was
made to get aerial photos of the downed plane and the site
around
it, but only a few pictures were taken before they had to
abort
and come back down."
He
opened a folder and distributed the
grainy pictures showing a
small jet at rest atop a craggy peak.
The tail section was missing
and small fires of burning fuselage
surrounded the plane. The top
of the aircraft was completely
sheared off. Sam's vision blurred.
She felt a hand on her arm gave
Daniel a watery smile.
Reynolds
looked toward her, almost in apology. "As you can see,
there
is extensive damage. We'll continue to attempt to reach the
site,
but the chances of anyone surviving a crash like this…"
He
cleared his throat, obviously unwilling to continue.
Hammond
gave a short nod. "Thank you, Colonel. I want the rescue
efforts
continued until we know something definitively."
"Yes, sir, that's exactly what we intend to do."
"Thank
you for filling us in on the situation. We'll let you get
back to
work."
Reynolds nodded and got up to leave. He stopped by
Sam's
chair. "Colonel, if I may, I want to say that if anyone
could
survive a crash like that, it's General O'Neill. We`re going
to do
our best to bring him home."
Sam nodded and
wiped her eyes. "Thank you." Reynolds gave her a
short
smile and headed down the stairs.
"I concur," Teal'c
added quietly. "If O'Neill survives, he will
fight to stay
alive."
If he survives, Sam thought to herself.
"Sir,"
Sam addressed Hammond. "Permission for SG-1 to help out in
the
rescue efforts."
"Colonel, I know you all want to
help out, but I don't know if
that's wise until we know what the
exact situation is."
"General," Daniel broke
in, "I think we all know what the potential
outcome might be,
but it will be worse for us to hang around doing
nothing. We need
to take some action, keep busy, at least go to the
site and see it
for ourselves." When Hammond continued to look
uncertain,
Daniel added a heartfelt, "Please."
Hammond
looked grave, but eventually gave a nod of assent. "All
right.
You have a go. In fact, I'm going with you."
************
Sam
stared absently out the window of the van carrying them to the
foot
of the mountain near the crash site. The blizzard had not let
up,
and it was slow going in the almost white-out conditions. She
felt
someone take the seat next to her and knew without looking it
was
Daniel. He put an arm around her and held her to him. "How
ya
doin', Sam?"
Sam shook her head. "The last
thing he said to me was that he loved
me, and I wouldn't answer
him, wouldn't even look at him. I just
walked away." She
wiped a tear away and sniffled.
Daniel squeezed her a little
tighter. "Sam, I know you and Jack
were going through a rough
patch, but he knows you love him, and he
does love you."
Sam
leaned her head on Daniel's shoulder. "Thank you for saying
that
in the present tense. I was supposed to go with him, you
know."
"Yeah, I know, but Sam, you couldn't have
done anything even if
you'd been there."
"I could have been with him. We could have been together."
Daniel
shook his head. "He would have had to worry about you, too.
In
this case he knows that we're out here trying to get to him, and
he
knows with you working on it, he'll be rescued in no time,
right?"
Sam smiled briefly. "If there's still time."
***********
Something cold was being
sprinkled over Jack's face, but for the
life of him, he couldn't
make himself reach up and brush it away.
His right temple was
throbbing in pain, and his ribs felt like
busted kindling. He
tried to move his legs, but the left one just
wasn't cooperating.
He smelled something burning and cracked an eye
open to see what
it was.
It was the strangest thing. He was strapped into an
airline chair,
but he was sideways. The little window in the
fuselage was at his
feet, and if he looked up he saw darkened sky
with a heavy snow
falling onto the side of his face. He blinked up
at it for a
moment, then craned his neck to look behind him and
saw a hole where
the tail of the plane was supposed to be, and a
fire just beyond
that. This was weird. Was he dreaming?
A
low moan came from the front of the plane. "Who's that?"
Jack
managed to call out. There was no answer, then, "Major
Davis."
"Hey, Davis, Deja View. Are you hurt?"
Silence again, then. "A
few bumps and bruises, but other than
that I seem to be okay. You?"
"I'm pretty sure I
have a broken leg, and a few of my ribs feel
busted. Got a good
knock on the head as well. Can you see General
Vidrine or Captain
Parsons?"
"No, I don't see them around me."
There was a sound of scuffling
as Davis pushed himself upright. He
glanced at Jack, then moved
toward the cockpit. When he came back
he looked grim.
"The pilot and co-pilot bought it, right?" Jack guessed.
Davis gave a short nod. He crouched
down by Jack and looked him
over. "Yeah, you definitely need
a doctor."
"Yeah, cold places seem to hate me. Go
check on Vidrine and
Parsons, okay?"
Davis gave Jack's
arm a short pat and stepped over him to the back
of the plane.
"Uh, we seem to have a problem here."
Jack tried to
move himself around to see what Davis was seeing, but
he couldn't
do much. "Oh? Other than being in a crashed plane in
the
Rockies kind of problem?"
"Well, let's say in
addition to being in a crashed plane in the
Rockies kind of
problem. The entire tail section seems to be gone."
"Gone?"
"Yes, sir, as in ripped off completely."
"Uh, Davis, isn't that where the General and his aide were sitting?"
"Yes sir."
"Oh, crap."
"Yes sir."
***********
