Out of Time
Part 4
Infection Plus Six Years
"Can I have a dog?"
Jack saw Sam try to hide the exasperated look on her face, even as she kept it carefully focused on the computer screen in front of her. She had warned him the request had become a daily ritual and that no amount of explaining that pets weren't allowed in the compound would stop Jade from asking. She'd hoped that maybe he could get through to her.
"Of course," he replied, hauling her onto his lap and putting his arm around her. He risked a glance at Sam who had looked up from the computer now and was glaring at him. "But not right now," he added quickly.
The little form deflated right before him, her shoulders hunched down and her briefly brilliant smile sagged into a pout.
He pulled her closer so her head rested under his chin and wrapped his arms around her in a bear hug. God, how tall she'd grown since the last time he'd seen her! At least two inches, if he was any judge. But it wasn't just her size; she seemed so much older now, not even a little girl, more of a miniature adult. Which, considering how she spent her days, and with whom, was no surprise.
"Cassie said it was an earth rule—that every kid had to have a dog," she countered from the hollow of this chest.
"It used to be, sweetheart. But not anymore. Lots of rules got changed, and unfortunately that was one of them."
He wouldn't look at Sam this time. He didn't have to. He could feel her regret. Feel it because it was the same damn way he felt every time he saw his daughter. The things she would never know, the kind of life she would never get to live—full of kid-stuff, like dogs and ice cream and trips to the zoo. Regret because he knew she'd never have a future that wasn't bleak, at best. Regret because he had nothing better to offer her than this.
Finally he did look at Sam. She was watching him. In the glow of the computer he could see the tears in her eyes. She blinked quickly and looked down at her keyboard. He couldn't help the lump that formed in his throat. He felt the same way when he saw Jade and Sam together. His heart wanted to burst with joy and sorrow at the same time.
"Do you have to go away again, Daddy?"
Jack settled her more comfortably on his lap and brushed her blond hair out of her eyes. This at least he didn't have to disappoint her over.
"Nope. This time we all get to live together. I don't have to go anywhere any more. I get to stay here with the two of you."
"And Daniel."
"And Daniel," Jack added with a smile. The only way to get Daniel to Peterson with Sam and Jade had been to assure that he had a place to stay. Which meant that Daniel now was their permanent guest. Not like that was a whole lot different than it had been for the past five years.
"Where is Daniel?" asked Sam, looking up. "It's almost curfew."
"He said he wanted to go out and get some fresh air," Jack told her. A small look of disgust passed over Sam's face.
"Like there's much of that," she muttered. She checked her watch. "There's no way I'm going to get these calculations done before they power-down for the night. It's going to have to wait until tomorrow."
Jack nodded.
"Don't worry about it. I don't need them just yet."
She frowned at the screen.
"All it would have taken was one naquadah generator. But they requisitioned all of those for the ships. If we could get our hands on just a little naquadah…or even some naquadria…I could probably mcgyver something that would power the gate. But trying to pull it off the existing power grid…what with the huge gaps there are in it now…I don't know, Jack. It may not be possible."
"You'll work it out. I have faith."
Sam let out long, weary sigh and leaned back in her chair. Jack hadn't noticed before how tired she looked. And thin as well. Supplies at Holloman had been dwindling. Not that Peterson was much better off.
"At least the Council is finally listening. I thought you'd all but given up trying to convince them to use the Stargate again."
"Yeah. Go figure, huh?"
She threw him an odd look, but he managed to avert his eyes before hers made contact.
"I guess it became pretty clear that there were too damn many people to ferry back and forth on six meager ships," he added hastily.
Jade broke away from his embrace and looked at him excitedly.
"Are we going in one of Mom's ships, like Cassie and Uncle Mark?"
Time for another look at Sam. Only this time she didn't look his way. By the set of her jaw he could see she wasn't about to budge an inch on her position. God, she could be stubborn. When she got like that it was like dealing with two Jacob Carters—without Selmak to temper their disposition.
He hated fighting with Sam. Nothing ate at him quite so much as being on the outs with her. Which was why he usually avoided it. Not that they'd ever had much to fight about anyway. Or time to do it, for that matter. But the topic of the evacuation had turned into a touchy subject from the moment the first lists were drawn up. He wanted her and Jade on the ship. She refused.
Point of fact, she refused for herself; Jade she'd agreed to. She'd wanted to send her with Daniel and Cassie and Mark and his family, all of whom Jack had managed to get on the list. But she refused to go herself, no matter how much he argued with her.
"You'll need me, if you ever have a hope in hell of getting the Stargate open" she'd told him. Which was probably true. But he didn't like the thought of her staying behind. He wanted her off and away…to some nice green planet where there was food and clean air and not this ever-expanding terrain of death and decay that was transforming earth into the Planet of the Doomed.
But she was adamant. She wasn't budging. No matter how hard he argued, pleaded or threatened. She had that same damned set of the jaw she had now and that narrowed, icy gaze that meant she was pissed at him for even daring to suggest it.
The gate, though was just one reason. The other, he was sure, was because she simply would not leave him behind. She never said it directly, but he knew. Just as he'd have rather died that day on Apophis' ship rather than leave her trapped behind that force shield, he knew she'd never leave him behind on a planet where getting off depended on a handful of space ships making a return run or powering an intergalactic wormhole that hadn't been activated in nearly seven years. Even if it meant sending their daughter off with a sort of pasted-together family and taking the risk of never seeing her again.
So he'd given up. Not happily. Not even graciously, he had to admit. He was still angry at her for not going. But they'd agreed to not discuss it any further. And in the end they'd decided to keep Jade with them too. And Daniel. Who, when he found out they were staying, had also refused to go. Jack had thrown up his hands in frustration. Why the hell was he working so hard to get everyone off the planet if they all wanted to stay? But at least Cassie and Mark and his family would be aboard the Prometheus when it headed out with its first load of evacuees. And he knew Sam was grateful for that.
"Nope. We are not going on a ship." He tried grinning at her. He knew she had heard their argument a few days before. It was hard not to hear everything in these small quarters. Still, they were better than the tent city that covered most of the base. Even if having Daniel with them did make privacy almost non-existent. He half-suspected that's why he'd disappeared for a "walk" even though it was almost curfew—so the three of them could have some alone time. Had to love the guy. Really.
"Then we get to go through the Stargate?"
He could see the excitement in her eyes. They were brown like his, but in shape and downright meltability, they were Sam's. She looked at the moment like Sam did when she got her hands on some new doohickey. Or at least like she used to. The only time he saw her eyes shine anymore was as they had earlier. With tears. And because she was Sam, even those were few.
"Ya, sure, you betcha!" He plastered on the grin again, grateful that five year olds couldn't tell the difference between real smiles and pretend smiles. He saw his own grin reflected back at him.
"Sweet!" she exclaimed.
This drew a chuckle from Sam, and Jack looked up and caught her eye again. At least she didn't look so melancholy now. Her smile still didn't go to her eyes, but they were warm with affection. She'd told him how much like him Jade was, which he found strange, since every time he looked at their daughter all he could see was Sam. In any case, she'd sure inherited Sam's brains, not his. And tagging along with her mother everyday at the shipyard since she was old enough to walk probably hadn't hurt either. Throw in Daniel's tutoring and yeah, she'd be light-years ahead of him before he knew it. If she wasn't already. He grinned at her again. This time for real.
"Bedtime," announced Sam, shutting her computer down. "We've got fifteen minutes until Power Down. Brush your teeth and get in bed." The child scrambled off Jack's lap and disappeared obediently into the bathroom. "Daniel should be back," she said quietly to Jack. "It's not a good idea to be out so close to curfew. This isn't like Holloman was. It's not safe."
Before he could ask why, the door opened and Daniel walked in. He glanced briefly between the two of them, almost as if doing a threat assessment of his own, Jack thought. Apparently the coast seemed clear; Jack saw him relax and smile.
"Daniel—thank goodness. We were worried," Sam told him.
"She was worried," corrected Jack. "I never once doubted your ability to find your way back."
Sam's expression went dark. She was scowling at him and he hadn't a clue why.
"What?" he asked, shrugging.
He saw Daniel and Sam have some kind of wordless exchange. Something was going on. Something he seemed to be no part of. And now that he thought about it, this wasn't the first time either. Ever since he'd arrived this morning he'd felt…well, he'd felt out of the loop. Like an intruder.
"Would someone please tell me what the hell I said?"
Daniel hurried closer, sharing another meaningful look with Sam.
"Keep your voice, down, Jack. These are things Jade doesn't need to hear."
For some reason Daniel's admonition struck him the wrong way. It was completely irrational. Daniel was his friend. He'd stuck with him from Abydos, through the fires of Ba'al's hell to the Antarctic deep freeze. He'd bartered for extra rations for Sam when she'd been pregnant; he'd delivered Jade single handedly; he'd babysat and tutored and befriended his daughter from the moment she was born. He'd been there for her—for them—all the times when Jack could not.
And maybe that was the point.
Something green and molten stirred in Jack's chest. He could feel the bile in the back of his throat. Things he never thought it possible to even consider sprang to his mind. Things that made him feel sick to his stomach.
"Who the hell are you to say what Jade does or doesn't need to hear?" he spat out at last. "She's not your kid. This isn't your family."
Hurt flashed in Daniel's eyes. Good. Let him feel a little pain for a change.
"Jack…." Sam was on her feet now, coming between them. Jack shot her a look that stopped her dead in her tracks.
"Okay…look. I think I see what's going on here. Jack…I understand….." Daniel's voice was quiet. Jack glared at him again. The hurt was gone; in it's place was something like pity. The molten thing inside of Jack burst into flame.
"You don't understand anything, Daniel," he snapped. From the other side of the door he could hear water running in the sink. Vaguely it occurred to him that if he could hear her, she could hear them. At the moment, he didn't particularly care.
Daniel took a step forward, his hands held up in front of him….the same gesture Jack had seen him use a hundred times on missions.
"Actually, I think I do." Daniel's voice was calm, conciliatory; it only served to irritate Jack further. He wasn't some damned off-world primitive who needed to be cajoled. "And so do you, I think," Daniel continued. "You know I could never, ever take your place. She adores you, Jack. Me…" He shrugged, a rueful, half-smile coming to his face. "I'm just Daniel. But you—god! She lives for these times when you come home! Don't…." His eyes wouldn't leave Jack's now. "Don't go doubting what you already know to be true. Sure, it's been hard…hard on you…hard on her…hard on all of us. But don't misread anything here, Jack. You—Sam—Jade—you are my family. I'd never betray you in any way. And I know you know that."
The air hung empty for an eternity.
The green beast died away.
Jack felt the anger drain off as if someone had uncorked a plug. All the baseless accusations, the bitterness, the fear…gone. He was suddenly grateful for the dimly lit room so no one could see the flush of shame he could feel creeping across his face. He was a fool. A stupid son of a bitch. He couldn't meet either Daniel's eyes or Sam's; instead he looked at the floor.
"Yeah."
It was the best he could manage. He hoped it was enough.
"I'm ready."
Jade had emerged from the bathroom and stood there in her pajamas, looking at the three of them. By her small quivering voice he was sure she had heard everything. None of them seemed capable of moving. Outside a loud siren shrieked: the five-minute warning until Power Down. Somehow Jack managed to regain control of his muscles. He still couldn't bring himself to look at either Sam or Daniel. Instead, he walked over to Jade and took hold of her tiny, damp hand.
He hardly felt worthy to do so.
"Come on, sweetheart," he murmured quietly. "I'll tuck you in."
OOOO
"There are things about this place you don't understand. I told you—it's not like Holloman. It's…dangerous. And she's got enough to be frightened of. It's not like she needs anything more."
Sam's voice came to him in the darkness where he knew she was sitting up in bed, waiting for him. The small window in the room was of little use. The outside was so pitch black that the room might as well have been windowless, for all the good it did. He still felt like crap. He'd had no right to blow up at Daniel like that. He knew Daniel didn't hold a grudge, but he also knew that Sam still had a few unsaid things on her mind.
"If you're talking about the gang problem, I already know." He sat down wearily on the bed. "It's not just here. It's everywhere."
"It's getting worse. They don't care what they do…or who they do it to. Now that word about the lottery is out, people are panicking. They don't believe the ships will come back for them. They think the Council is lying."
Jack said nothing. The Council was giving lip service to the fact that there were at least a half dozen evacuation runs scheduled each year, now that the ships were ready. He hadn't bought it either.
"They are lying, aren't they."
He could tell from her voice that she wasn't really surprised. He couldn't tell her yes, but he wouldn't tell her no either. So he stayed silent. She understood. He could tell by the disgust in her voice.
"So they just intend to leave the rest of us here."
"We're a drain on resources. Any one who can't have kids isn't worth saving. It's as simple as that. That's why people with the ATA gene are on these first ships out. The survival of the human race is on their back. The rest of us are expendable."
Even in the dark he could sense her anger. Her whole body was tense and he could tell by her breathing that she was seething. He'd gotten over seething long ago. Now there was just a plan.
"They're not interested in getting the Stargate open, either, are they."
"No."
He could feel her looking at him; he imagined the look of disbelief she was giving him.
"Then what the hell have I…?"
"Because I don't give a damn what they're interested in. I'm going to open that Stargate if it's the last thing I do. I don't care if we get ten people through or ten thousand. We've got to give them a chance. We can't leave them here on this god-forsaken planet to die."
There was a tense silence. Pretty much as he'd expected. He knew she wasn't going to be happy with him for not telling her sooner. But he'd had his reasons.
"You've been planning this all along." Her voice was quiet. A very controlled quiet. He suddenly wished he could see her face. Or maybe not.
"Yeah. I have."
More silence. Somehow it was worse than having her be angry at him.
"You didn't tell me." It wasn't a question. It wasn't even quite an accusation. More a statement of fact. A fact he couldn't dispute. Even though he would have liked to, if only to not have to hear the hurt in her voice.
"No. I didn't. But believe me, Sam. I had my reasons. It was for your safety and Jade's. If any word got out about this, well…there are those on the Council who'd be happy to shut me up once and for all. And they'd use any means to do it. Not all the thugs are roaming the alleys of Peterson after dark, you know."
"You can't do this alone."
Just as he'd expected. He was ready for her.
"I'm not. I've got…people. A small strike force. Folks of a like mind, if you will."
"You'll need me."
Yep. There was the falling footwear he'd been waiting for.
"I do. I need those calculations."
He could hear her shaking her head next to him.
"That's not what I mean, and you know it.
Well, it had been worth a try.
"Sam…." But she cut him off.
"Don't 'Sam' me, Jack. You need me on that strike team because no one knows their way around the SGC better than the two of us. And no one knows those systems better than I do."
"We'll bring you in later. After the target's secured."
He heard her grunt in frustration. Oh yeah. Now he really was glad it was dark. He could feel the daggers shooting from her eyes even without seeing them.
"Stop trying to protect me."
"I'm not…"
"That bullshit, Jack. You are. And I understand why. I really do. I don't want to risk leaving her alone without parents either. But the hard truth is—if we don't get that Stargate open, we're all as good as dead. You. Me. Jade. So really, what's the difference? You stand a much better chance of success if I come with you, and you know it."
The bluntness of her words stung. They'd never actually talked about dying before. About what would happen to Jade if…. They'd had so little time together over the past five years—stolen moments whenever he could get to Holloman—that they'd tried to live for the moments they'd had and not dwelt on what the future held. But now it was staring them smack in the face. They couldn't hide from it any more.
Still, he thought he'd give it one more try.
"You can always get on that ship," he told her quietly. "Take Jade and Daniel and get aboard the Prometheus. There's still time, and there's still room. She can still have you and some semblance of a normal life. There is another choice, Sam."
From the sounds next to him in the dark he could tell she was even more agitated.
"Damn it, Jack. That's not fair. We already agreed on that."
"No…we agreed to disagree."
There was a sigh in the dark. It was soul-wrenching.
"Then I guess we still do."
Jack slid into bed. He felt spent. Next to him, Sam settled beneath the covers. He could feel the warmth of her body so near to his, but she did not touch him. In all the years since that first time at her house, they'd never spent the night together not wrapped in each others arms. He felt like he had a great, gapping hole in his side. He felt…alone.
OOOO
"Sir…we've received confirmation from the Phoenix that all passengers from the Australian continent are now on-board."
"Is that everyone then?" General Highmore asked, throwing a glance at the tech who'd given him the report.
"I think so, sir. Our connection to the Korliev is sporadic. But at last count, all ships reported ready for lift off," the tech replied.
Highmore nodded. Jack wished to hell he could wipe the smug smile off the bastard's face. He was the architect of this evacuation sham. He and his damned NID buddies. And it was a sham, down to the last detail. It had taken five years to build the ships. Five years, when it should have taken two…three tops. Jack had fought for every resource, every scrap, every worker he could get for Sam, but every time he turned around the rat-bastard Highmore had blocked his way.
It had taken Jack a while to figure out who was pulling the strings. For all of Highmore's altruistic lip-service to saving all the people of earth, he'd really only been concerned with the ATA carriers. And then, only a subset of those: any man or woman…or soon to be man or woman…who could father or conceive a child. Anyone else who turned out to be too old, or too ill or shown to be infertile, over the five years had somehow managed to be rotated off the first-run evacuee list. In their place a whole lot of upper echelon brass—especially those with close NID ties—and their families, as well as a few surviving leaders from the various ruling council countries were added under the rationale that when the ships arrived at P5X-244, or "New Earth" as Highmore had dubbed it, they'd have their governing body with them.
It had smelled of a bug-out to Jack, even then, Then he'd actually seen the orders; orders that hadn't been meant for his eyes because he was still the biggest pain in the Council's collective asses and they knew he'd raise hell. Which, when he found out the ships were one-way only, he had.
And that was when the threat had come. The anonymous memo had appeared on his desk—how screwed up was a world where people killed each other daily for food but he kept getting memos—Cassandra Fraiser: Denied; Mark Carter: Denied. Mark's wife and their two children were also listed…with "Denied" in bold red letters behind their names. And then:
Dr. Daniel Jackson Denied; Colonel Samantha Carter: Denied. Jade Carter (minor): Denied.
It had made Jack's blood run cold. He was no saint; he didn't deny he'd pulled every string he could to get the people he and Sam cared most about on the Prometheus. And then he'd all but sold the rest of his soul to secure spots for Daniel, Sam and Jade. Three spots which were now occupied by a woman and her two children whom Daniel had befriended back at Holloman.
But the threat had worked. He'd shut up about the evacuation and for the second time in recent memory pretended to toe the party line. The final evacuation lists had come out and Cassie and the others were on it. Which was all he'd been waiting for. After that, he'd gone to work.
It had taken some doing. Months of cautiously finding those who felt, as he did, that screwing over the rest of the planet just because they lacked a certain gene amounted to little more than mass murder. Gradually he'd put together a strike force: John Sheppard, who should have been on the transport, was the first to volunteer; Cameron Mitchell—one of the pilots shot down in the Antarctic battle with Anubis;. Evan Lorne, who liked to paint, Jack had discovered, but who'd proven himself to be quick-thinking in a crisis when the compound he'd been assigned to had broken out into a riot.; Patrick Bishop, Laura Cadman and Aiden Ford—all cool headed, smart and dependable. And now Carter.
Carter. He'd made himself think of her this way as far as the mission was concerned. His brilliant and capable 2IC. She couldn't be Sam now. Not his friend. Not his lover. Not the woman who, under any other circumstances, he would have married years ago. Not the mother of his child. Just…Carter. It was the only way he could handle it. The only way he trusted himself to handle it.
And now they were good to go. Carter had done her calculations and the news had been unexpectedly good. Assuming they were able to get to and hold the SGC, and assuming that their inside person at Power Management was able to flip the right switches, they'd be able to power up the Stargate twice a day for nearly two months. Of course, getting people to it…and then through it…was a different matter. He had plans for that too. But first things first.
"Mission is a go. Resume countdown." Highmore's voice intoned. Jack risked a glance in Sam's direction. It had been her stroke of genius to suggest that NORAD be used as mission control. It gave them both access to Cheyenne Mountain and with the proper clearance. Just knowing the Stargate was a mere 28 floors below him, almost made Jack giddy. Whether or not it was having the same effect on Sam, he couldn't tell. She was focused on the task at hand, headset on, watching the monitor feeds of the six ships as the countdown neared zero. Sham or not, these ships were her babies. Her design, modified as best they could, to run off the model of the Prometheus. Half the systems she'd reversed engineered herself, and the other half…well, Jack didn't understand a third of it even when she went into a long, Sam-speak explanation. Four had Asgard hyperdrives, that much he knew. The other two were Sam's own creation. In the simulations they had worked. In a few moments they'd find out if the simulations had been right.
"We have main engine start in five, four, three, two, one…" the tech reported. Jack's eyes were still on Sam. She was nodding as she was listening to her headset, her look intense. It was quite possibly the happiest he'd seen her in a long time, all things considered.
"Prometheus—main engines are on-line," she reported, a slight smile on her face. "Daedalus—check. Korliev—check." She finished the list: Odyssey… Apollo… Phoenix…all on-line. "We're good to launch, sir," she informed Highmore.
For a moment Jack thought Highmore was going to make a speech or something, but then the general seemed to think better of it and simply said:
"Go for launch…and Godspeed."
George Hammond's favorite send-off caught Jack off-guard. He saw Sam wince slightly too and just for a moment she looked his way. Then it was back to the headphones.
There was a single camera feed. On the monitor Jack saw the Prometheus begin to rise off the ground, blowing debris and dust in all directions and causing the image to shake violently with the vibrations. He had to admit, Prometheus had never been his favorite ship. Too many bad things had happened to it in the past, from the time it was stolen by the damned NID to when he thought he'd almost lost Sam those four days the ship went missing. Still…it was the prototype…the one off which all the others had been based. So that had to count for something.
Prometheus rose slowly, looking for all the world like it would never get off the ground, as huge as it was. It was ungainly, and downright ugly, as far as Jack was concerned. He'd never told Sam that. Of course she hadn't had much to say about its external structure; the guts of the thing were her brainchild. But it looked for anything like a fat angular goose that just couldn't get its butt out of the water.
But then it rose. And the farther up it went the more flight-worthy it started to look. The camera panned with it, zooming in as the ship reached greater heights until the zoom capability had maxed out. After that it became an ever diminishing speck against a gray sky. And then it was gone.
Jack felt eyes on him. He turned and saw Sam watching him. Only he would know from the way they were glistening that there were tears there. She was thinking of Cassie and Mark, he was sure. He gave her a slight nod and a smile. At least they were safe.
"General! The Korliev is reporting an unidentified ship has just dropped out of hyperspace." There was a pause. Jack felt his blood pressure ratchet up a few notches. This was a surprise. He hated surprises. "Attempts to communicate with them have been unsuccessful."
"Is it a goa'uld mothership?" asked Highmore, tensely. The tech relayed the question.
"No sir. The design is not in the database."
"Replicators?" asked Jack. If those damned bugs….
"No, sir. Not replicators either. The Daedalus is reporting sir…they said the markings on the ship are consistent with the language of the Aschen."
"The Aschen?" repeated Highmore, disbelief in his tone. "Here?"
"That's inconsistent with how they do things," interjected Sam. "They prefer stealth over blatant attack."
"So…what…they're here to see if we're all dead yet?" Jack asked. Sam shrugged.
"May be, sir. It's been a few years."
"Get me Colonel Pendergast," ordered Highmore. The tech pressed buttons and nodded at the general.
"Colonel Pendergast…this is General Highmore. I want that Aschen vessel neutralized. Do I make myself clear? Take out that ship now. That's an order."
"Are you nuts?" exclaimed Jack, stepping toward Highmore. "They can't take on the Aschen! They need to get the hell out of there now!"
Sam too was on her feet.
"Sir—the Prometheus' shields are at minimal levels! If they Aschen return fire, the Prometheus won't withstand more than a couple of hits!"
"They won't have to, Colonel. From what we know of the Aschen, fighting isn't much their style."
Jack saw the color start to rise in Sam's face.
"With all due respect, sir…we really don't know a whole hell of a lot about the Aschen…and I think it's naïve to assume that, just because we've never seen one of their warships, they don't have them…or aren't capable of using them."
"I'm sure that the Prometheus is more than a match for them," Highmore replied with confidence.
"Oh for cryin' out…." Jack's frustrated exclamation was cut off by the tech.
"Sirs….Odyssey is reporting that Prometheus has opened fire on the Aschen vessel." There was silence. Everyone seemed to be holding their collective breath. "The Aschen are returning fire…."
Jack could tell it wasn't good news by how pale the technician suddenly went. He swallowed hard, muttered "Confirm again, Odyssey" and then nodded absently. He looked up at Highmore, drained of color.
"Sir…Colonel Emerson reports that the Aschen scored a direct hit on the Prometheus. The ship is destroyed…with all hands."
Jack saw Sam sit down abruptly, barely finding the seat. She was ashen, glassy-eyed.
Cassie…Mark…the kids…hell, even Walter.
Jack swallowed. He battled the urge to go to her, to comfort her. And he thought he would be sick. Something vile and bitter had risen in the back of his throat. Oh yeah…now he knew what it was. Hatred. This urge he let come.
He had Highmore by the throat in an instant.
"You stupid, sonofabitch!" he yelled in his face. "You sorry piece of shit! You couldn't just let them jump to safety, could you? You had to put on one last show! Prove that our balls are bigger than theirs? Do you know what you just did? Do you have any idea what just happened? One sixth…one sixth!…of the future of our people just got turned to space dust! I oughta just…."
A hand rested on his arm. Through the red fury that had possessed him he managed to pull his eyes away from Highmore's purpling face. It was Sam.
"Sir…no. Don't." Her voice was eerily quiet. It reached through the screaming tirade inside Jack's head to some place rational. But he still didn't lessen his grip. The hand on his arm squeezed slightly. "Jack…please."
Almost involuntarily Jack felt his hand release. Highmore began to cough and sputter. Normal color began to return to his face. He glared at Jack, who had no doubt that the feelings of hatred he felt for the man were now mutual.
Sam was still holding his arm.
He found himself vaguely wondering why he wasn't already in cuffs. Assaulting a superior officer, even in this screwed up chain of command, was still a major no-no. He expected to hear pistols cocked in his direction any second.
Except he didn't.
Finally Highmore found his voice. It was raspy. Jack took some satisfaction in knowing he was the cause.
"Take General O'Neill into custody," he ordered, rubbing his throat where Jack could now see the imprint of his own hand on the man's neck. On his own arm he felt Sam's grip tighten protectively.
Oddly, no one in the room moved. Not one of the techs or even the guards that Highmore went everywhere with budged an inch. It was as if they had all been frozen. Except they weren't. Jack could see furtive glances being exchanged between them. He had a feeling he was missing something. Something big.
"I said, take General O'Neill into custody!" repeated Highmore, more fully voiced now.
Still, no one moved.
"Damn it! Didn't anyone hear…." Highmore was cut off by one of the technicians. The guy who had been on the phone with the Odyssey.
"Yes, sir. We heard you. And no sir. We refuse." The technician gave a slight nod and before Highmore could even protest, his two guards had come up behind him and taken him by the arms.
"Wait…what is the meaning of this?" he demanded. "What are you doing? Let me go!"
"Inside his jacket pocket," one of the guards said. The technician stood and walked over to Highmore. Reaching into the general's pocket he pulled out a small device. Jack recognized it as something goa'uldish. Other than that, he didn't have a clue.
The tech laid the device on the table and they all stared at it.
The shock of the past several seconds finally wore off.
"Forget that!" Jack ordered. If Highmore was out of the picture, for whatever reason, then he was in command.. "We've got five more ships up there. Order them to jump to hyperspace now…tell them to get the hell out of there!"
The technician gave Jack a curt nod and went back to his post, relaying the message. For several long moments no one said a word. Not even Highmore. Which was a smart move as far as Highmore was concerned, Jack thought. He'd have had a fist in his face if he'd so much as uttered a peep.
The technician began to nod as obviously something was coming in through his headset. He then pressed some buttons and listened some more. Finally a tight smile appeared. He pulled the headset off and looked up at them.
"Sir…the remaining five ships reported they had activated hyperdrives and the orbital tracking station reports that all five ships have now entered hyperspace. They're gone."
Jack nodded grimly. At least they'd averted a worse disaster.
"What about the Aschen vessel?" asked Sam.
"It's still in orbit, Ma'am. It did not pursue any of the other ships."
They'd deal with the Aschen in a minute. The device that they'd taken off Highmore was sitting on the table.
"What the hell is that thing?" he asked, pointing.
Sam's grip on Jack's arm loosened as she made to reach for it. There was a slight crackle of ozone as the device shimmered momentarily and then vanished.
"What the…?" he muttered. Sam swept her hand through the space the device had just occupied.
It's some kind of homing device," she said. "It had to be."
Jack wheeled on Highmore. The urge to inflict serious harm was coming over him again. Bullets were too hard to come by. He pulled out his knife.
"Just who are you? A goddam Aschen spy? Was that thing supposed to tell them where you were so they could beam you up to their ship?"
Highmore struggled, but the guards had him too tightly pinned. He eyed the knife in Jack's hand warily, but seemed unafraid.
"I don't think so, sir." Sam interjected. "That was a goa'uld device of some kind. The Aschen's technology far surpassed the goa'ulds. I highly doubt they'd use anything that primitive."
"So…you're saying what…he's a goa'uld?" spat Jack. He hadn't had a goa'uld to be pissed off at in a long time. It would make for a nice change of pace.
"I'm no damned goa'uld," sneered Highmore.
"General Highmore has very close ties with the NID, sir," spoke up the technician. "There's a group of us who've been keeping an eye on certain members of the Council for quite some time. Not unlike yourself, we've suspected all along that they had their own agenda. And a means of getting themselves off the planet, once the evac ships had left."
"Osiris' ship," said Sam suddenly. She looked at Jack as if it all seemed to suddenly make sense. Jack wished it did. "Sarah…Daniel's friend," Sam explained. "She said the ship was cloaked and in orbit. They must have figured out the device worked to get on-board."
Jack could tell from the self-satisfied look on Highmore's face that Sam had hit the nail on the head. He waggled the knife closer to the general's face. The self-satisfied look disappeared.
"So…why now? Why wait until the evacuation? Why didn't they just take off when they had a chance?"
Highmore snorted.
"Think what you want, O'Neill…but really, we do want the human race to survive."
"Yeah. I'm sure you do. Which is why ninety-eight percent of the rest of us get to stay here and rot."
"You could have been on that ship, O'Neill. You've got the gene. It's your own fault you decided to stay behind. Though I know you had your reasons."
Highmore's eyes strayed ever so briefly to Sam. Jack couldn't help himself. He pressed the edge of the knife against Highmore's throat and a thin line of blood appeared.
"You sonofa…."
Sirens drowned out the last of Jack's words. Seconds later an unsettling vibration rippled through the room. Chairs rattled. Lights flickered. Pens rolled off tables to the floor.
"Carter?"
Sam was at the controls in an instant. Before she could report, a second wave shook them. This time they swayed where they stood.
"Earthquake?" Jack asked. Sam shook her head. She looked up at him and the terror on her face sent chills over him.
"No, sir. Aerial bombardment. It's the Aschen ship. It's firing on the planet. They're targeting Peterson, sir…."
OOOO
Either the Aschen had terrible aim or they had been too concerned with hitting as many of the populated areas at once to care about precision strikes. Peterson had been badly hit, but not completely destroyed. And since a person couldn't turn around anywhere in the compound without hitting a refugee, the casualty rate had been high.
Jack knew he should feel worse about it than he did. The tent cities were the hardest hit. Those who weren't killed by the impact blast were incinerated by the ensuing fires which had spread rapidly. No one knew for sure how many people actually lived in the makeshift city, but the estimates were that at least near ten thousand of the population had died. The barracks and the housing units had also taken damage, but not nearly on the same scale. Another two thousand had been lost there.
The numbers rolled off Jack like so much rain. There was only one number he cared about. Okay…two. And he and Sam had found them both alive and well, trying to help those who had been less lucky.
Sam's plaintive "Oh God!" when she'd finally spotted them had ripped into his heart. She'd taken off at a run, with him close behind. By the time he'd caught up, Sam was on her knees, her arms wrapped around their daughter. Jack had sunk to the ground next to them and held them both. He thought his heart would pound out of his chest. Jade loosened one arm from around Sam's neck and wrapped it around his, pulling their three heads close together. It was the first time he'd allowed himself to look into Sam's eyes since they'd left Cheyenne Mountain. They'd had no idea what they'd find when they got here. He hadn't wanted to add to her fear by letting him see his own. And he wasn't sure he could take the grief that had been written all over her face. Now her eyes brimmed with tears of joy, mixed still with the pain of near loss. They had come so close. So very close.
Too damn close. Jack pulled the two of them even tighter to himself. The Prometheus. If he'd insisted that they go…if Sam hadn't been so damned stubborn…he'd have lost them both. Another near miss. He didn't want to think how many he was entitled to before fate scored a direct hit. He pushed the thought away and kissed Jade's hair. He'd just be grateful for what he still had.
Daniel was there too, although he looked like hell. Not from the bombing but from the aftermath—trying to help those who'd lost someone…or everyone. It was already taking its toll on him, Jack could see. He had a shell-shocked look to him.
"We've got to get out of here," Jack told them, standing up and looking around. There did appear to be some order to the relief process. Everything wasn't completely in chaos. Good. He could get back to the matter at hand.
Daniel blinked at him.
"Jack…these people need help. We can't just leave them."
"Yes we can, Daniel. You're not the only angel of mercy here, you know. Others will pick up the slack. We've got to get back to the mountain."
Sam had stood up and was carrying Jade.
"You're going to go back and open the stargate," she said. Jack nodded.
"What? Now? What about the strike force…the…you know…the raid?" asked Daniel.
"Don't need them. Not any more. The mountain's ours We just have to get that big honkin' blast door off the elevator shaft."
"And the power up and running," Sam added. She looked around. She wasn't letting go of Jade, but she'd definitely switched back over to mission mode. "I don't know how much damage these blasts might have caused the power grid. We'll have to see if we've even got enough to get the lights on now."
"And then what?" asked Daniel. "You can't just…."
Jack turned to Daniel.
"Just what, Daniel? Just leave?" he snapped. He couldn't help it. He was raw around the edges. Too much had happened too quickly. Crazy as the world had become, the past hour had just seen it tilted on-end one more time. Suddenly the rules were different all over again. He was having a hard time keeping up. Daniel wasn't helping.
"We have no intention of leaving, Daniel," Sam intervened, looking between the two of them. "We just have to see if we can get it to work. If we can, we'll start by sending all these people through the gate…and as many as we can after that until we run out of power. That's been the plan all along."
Daniel seemed to be turning this over in his thoughts. Yeah. Fine. Whatever. Jack was in no mood to debate or cajole. He loved Daniel like a brother, but if the guy was going to futz around, then he could just stay here.
"Look, Daniel. Come. Don't come. Whatever you want to do. The three of us are heading back. You're welcome to join us. If you don't want to, then…see you around, huh?"
"Jack…." Sam said warningly, giving him that "you're going to blow this let me handle it" look. She turned to Daniel. "He's right, Daniel. There's nothing you can do here. Come help us get the Stargate open. You'll do way more good getting people off the planet than you will putting band-aids on cuts.
A small part of Jack was relieved to see Daniel nod. Considering what had already happened that day, though, it wasn't really enough to make him care.
"Fine," he said brusquely. "Let's go, then. I think there's enough gas left in that truck to get us back to Cheyenne. If not, we're going to have to walk. And that's something I'd rather not have to do, especially after dark." Jack looked at his watch. They were going to be cutting it close, even if they did have enough fuel. And just when he thought the day couldn't get any better.
He looked at Sam. She was busy brushing Jade's hair back and smiling at their daughter's dirty face. It might have been the simple gesture of any mother with her daughter and the ordinariness of it in the midst of this apocalyptic nightmare caught Jack off-guard. A lump formed in his throat like someone had shoved a fist down it. How could something be so right and so wrong at the same time.
So maybe they had no future. Sam had told him Jade did not carry the ATA gene. That Scottish doctor from the aborted Atlantis expedition…Becker…Beckham…Beckett… Beckett had discovered that the gene was recessive. Since Sam didn't have it, Jade couldn't. Their daughter was the last of the line of Carters and O'Neills. That in itself didn't bother him, as much as the fact that, even if they did find a sanctuary somewhere else in the galaxy, the damage was already done. Jade would never know the love of a child or be able to hold her daughter the way Sam was holding her. In the end, Jade would be alone.
And that's what broke Jack's heart.
Except he didn't have time for grieving now. Not when there was work to do. The Aschen weren't going to be satisfied until every last person on the face of the earth was dead.
So they needed to get off the face of the earth. They had to get off this hell hole. And they had to get off it soon.
-o-o-o-o-
Time Incursion #9
Infection Minus Fourteen Days
"You still don't believe me, do you. You think I'm making this up."
"Sounds like a whole lot of disaster movies I've seen. All we need is an alien ship blowing up the White House."
"Actually, they took out the Capitol first," she replied calmly. "Then the White House. And Parliament. And the Kremlin. Every major seat of government was hit."
"By who?"
"By whom," corrected Jade automatically. "And it was the Aschen."
"Why would the Aschen attack earth if they'd effectively wiped us out anyway?"
"Because the found out they hadn't wiped us all out. This wasn't about taking over the planet and using it's resources as they did with the Volians. This was about revenge. When Colonel Carter handed over those gate addresses, the first one on the list was a black hole. They were a little irked at that."
Barrett was writing some more.
"So…what happened next?"
"Like I said, even before the Aschen showed up in their ships, everything had pretty much gone to hell in a hand-basket. Resources dried up fast. Animals didn't reproduce; plants didn't reproduce. Food became scarce. Water became tainted. Power, fuel—it was all rationed. Communications systems were erratic. The military tried to keep things under control. In some instances they tried too hard. There was a backlash. A kind of mob mentality broke out. A lot of the laws of what you'd consider civilization went out the window. It was every person for themselves.
"The only truly safe havens were the military bases; they had stockpiles of food and water, some fuel, generators, heat. They took in as many people as they could without compromising the safety and well-being of everyone. Every spare inch of ground was covered by some kind of make-do shelter. Tents. Lean-tos. Crates. Even boxes, in some cases. The bases became an armed fortress. Either you were in or you were out. And trust me…you didn't want to be out.
"By then a plan was in place to evacuate as many people off-world as possible. The Air Force already had the Prometheus and the Daedalus; next in line were the Odyssey, the Korliev and the Apollo. They also built a sixth ship: the Phoenix. Half-the systems were reverse engineered from Asgard and goa'uld technology. They were pretty amazing considering the conditions under which they were built."
"And all this was managed without the help of the Asgard, you say."
Jade couldn't help a small smile.
"Yeah. Us humans can be pretty resourceful when we need to be. It also helps to have one of the best minds on the planet working on it." She allowed herself a brief glance at the forms watching her from the darkened room on the other side of the observation window.
Fortunately Barrett did not notice.
"Why didn't one of our allies assist us? The Tok'ra…the Asgard?"
Jade couldn't help it. She snorted derisively.
"I think you've had a little experience with Anubis. With our attention on our own problems, it didn't take long for him to defeat the other system lords and dominate the galaxy. The Tok'ra were all but exterminated. There are a few in hiding, but not many.
"As for the Asgard…the Replicators pretty much finished them off. In my time, even if humans do survive…it's just a matter of time before we're either taken over by the Replicators or enslaved by Anubis. It's hardly worth surviving for."
She hadn't meant to let out that bit of editorial comment. She'd vowed that she'd stay unemotional through this…that she wouldn't betray her own feelings. But the discussion had taken her unexpected places; places she'd been unprepared for. It was time to get a hold of herself; if she gave too much away…well, she'd give too much away.
"Go on," Barrett told her. He was writing again. She shifted position in the chair. It felt like she'd spent a lifetime in this same seat. For all the technology the SGC had possessed at this time she'd have thought they'd have had chairs that didn't date to the 1960s.
"When the ships were ready, they began evacuating people. First on the list were the people with the ATA gene. At least what was left of them."
"What happened to them?"
"When it was first discovered that some people weren't afflicted by the weapon, there was an attempt to determine what made them so unique…they were rounded up and 'encouraged' to undergo testing to see why they were so special…and how maybe what made them special could be used to save the rest of the population. It was an internment camp. No one ever wanted to call it that, but it was. And in spite of their efforts to make sure it was well kept, the simple fact was, with no food and limited resources people began to get sick. Being able to have kids didn't make them immune to some of the more common communicable diseases. I think they lost about forty percent before they realized that maybe their plan hadn't been such a good idea. And that number didn't take into account those who had been attacked outside the camp."
"Attacked?"
"Look…I said it got ugly. And violent. And it brought out the worst in people. Use your imagination. I'm sure you can figure it out."
She swallowed, too many memories from her childhood threatening her composure. She hadn't thought she'd have to go this deeply into it.
"But you were able to evacuate some." Barrett's voice brought her attention back to the room.
"Those who were deemed worthy—yes. By then some other forces had come into play. Some of your friends at the NID had worked their way into power, either directly or indirectly. The evacuee lists were trimmed to only those who could be sure to propagate the human population on some other planet. Anyone else was conveniently left off. It made room for more of the NID's people. Oh...and not to mention the fact that they had their own secret means of getting out as well."
"The stargate."
She shook her head.
"No. They still refused to open the stargate. They didn't want the rest of us to get off the planet…wherever we went we'd be a drain on resources…a burden to whomever took us in. Burn up a lot of that intergalactic good-will, so to speak. We were dead anyway, so they were happy to leave us behind. Actually, they had a mother ship…one some goa'uld names Osiris had left parked in orbit under cloak. They'd figured out how to get onto it and were waiting until the evac ships left before taking a powder themselves. A lot of them got away too. But not all of them."
"So…when did they open the stargate? Or did they?"
"Oh they got it opened all right. After the Aschen attacked and the top leadership bailed, those who were left behind got it opened pretty damned fast. It sucked a lot of power—something there wasn't much left of by then—but they got it up and running. They evacuated people for almost two months, activating the gate twice a day. It didn't save everyone—it couldn't. But it was better than nothing."
"And you yourself got out through the stargate?"
She nodded, determined not to glance at the observation room.
"My parents and I were some of the last to go through."
"More of that luck, you seem to have," he commented, dryly.
The remark cut her to the quick. If he only knew.
"Yeah. Must be Irish," she retorted before slumping back into the chair. She shouldn't have let him get to her like this, but she couldn't help it. They were running out of power to make these incursions. The Commander was getting impatient.
Looking at Agent Barrett's carefully practiced smile, she had to admit, she was too.