Chapter 11: Keep Smiling
All too soon, they were on Starbase 83 again, waiting for their runabout to be cleared. Runabout, Daniel thought, was kind of a patronizing name for the ship given their circumstances. It was as if they could do little more than "run about" the galaxy searching for things that weren't there. But that was true. He just didn't like to think about it.
Jack backed Daniel into a corner away from the swarming Starfleet personnel waiting for their ships to take off and whispered, "I think the Neutral Zone is off-limits to Federation ships, Daniel."
"I assume that's why they call it the Neutral Zone," he agreed. While Daniel had to agree that he'd had better plans than this one, he also knew that there wasn't really a better option at the moment. "But the planet we came to first was in the Neutral Zone. I'd like to go back and give it a more thorough look-over. Any problems we run into, we'll handle when we get to them."
Jack shook his head. "Look, I'd normally be all for sticking it to the Romulans… or whatever it is we're trying to do, but runabouts aren't exactly ships of war."
"Good thing we aren't going to war, then," Daniel said. "Look, Starfleet was kind enough to give me a runabout to go where I pleased without having to wait for one of their starships to get around to it. We'll be joined by a few research teams once they can get them together and we won't have to worry about it anymore. But, because of that, this is my only chance to get a good look at anything in the Neutral Zone. And, like it or not, I don't have anywhere else to start."
Jack paused a moment and finally nodded that he understood. "You're saying that we should break the law now while we have the chance."
"I wouldn't put it that way, exactly…" Daniel said slowly.
A computerized voice spoke over the comm above their heads. "Doctor Daniel Jackson and Jack O'Neill, the runabout U.S.S. Muru is ready for launch. Doctor Daniel Jackson and Jack O'Neill, please report to the runabout U.S.S. Muru."
Daniel looked up at the ceiling as though he could see who was talking up there. He looked at Jack and then picked up his case of books and research. He had the brief wish that Sam were there to pilot it, and looked down the expansive hallway to where Sam was waiting to catch a ship on the way to Earth so she could be dropped off at the Utopia Planetia shipyards. And Teal'c was on the Enterprise.
"God, I can't believe we're going to be on opposite ends of the galaxy," Daniel said quietly.
"We'll give them a call as soon as we have a free minute," Jack told him wandering off toward the runabout Muru with his own bag of clothes and a fishing pole. Even though Daniel wasn't sure what he was going to use that for. "Though I don't know when we're going to find the time. Thrilling as this is going to be, and all."
Daniel sighed with a smile, shouldered his backpack, got a tighter grip on his bag, and followed. This was going to be a long trip to the Neutral Zone…
Sam heard the announcement for Daniel and Jack to get to their runabout. Any minute now, she could look out the window and see the little spaceship chugging away at impulse until they got far enough away to warp. Then they would be gone. "Good luck," she whispered, even though they'd already said their good-byes and good-lucks in person. Daniel had wished her luck twice, which was good: she was going to need it.
She wasn't used to failure. Not like this. Sure, she'd had some close calls in the past, normally involving the imminent destruction of Earth. She had, though, always managed to pull through with a solution, even if it was at the last second.
She pulled the PADD out of her small travel bag and scrolled through the sensor logs. Nothing obvious presented itself to her. The map that she'd downloaded, marked with planets whose names she remembered from home, seemed completely normal. Nothing was missing. Nothing was different. So what was going on?
She put the PADD back and let her mind wander away from that problem. Maybe someday, in her quarters at the shipyards, she'd wake up one day and realize what she'd been missing. Maybe being able to see Earth as a tiny little star on the horizon would be an inspiration to never stop trying to get back home.
But maybe not.
The Borg were a formidable adversary that she was sure they could beat with the Federation's level of technology and the warning that they were on the way. She couldn't ask for better odds under the circumstances.
Did she want to stay here just because it seemed easier to her? Impossible. She had been doing hard things since she was young, climbing the ranks of the Air Force, making her way in a man's world. And she'd made it, and continued forging ahead against incredible odds.
This wasn't going to be easy, she knew. But it was going to be worth it. Unlike searching sensor logs day after day for what wasn't there.
She looked out the window for the ship that she knew was coming for a stopover on its way to Earth. The Nebula-class ship was now full of scientists and engineers on their way to Utopia Planetia to help figure out how to fight the Borg, too. As far as Sam knew, she was the only one who had any real combat experience, since the last war the Federation was involved in was apparently a long time ago.
Not that her combat experience would mean anything in this century.
And, yet, she knew it did.
"Major Samantha Carter?" an unfamiliar voice asked from behind her.
Sam turned around and saw a woman about her age with brown hair. "I was coming to the Enterprise to try to convince you to work at Utopia Planetia when I got the message that you had already decided. I'm Doctor Leah Brahms; I'm a senior design engineer there."
"Oh!" Sam said, smiling. "Nice to meet you. I'm… an astrophysicist." She decided it would be better to abridge her list of accomplishments to the one that might turn out to be useful here. Not that it would be incredibly useful. "I'm really looking forward to getting to work there."
"The Palm Bay will be here in about twenty minutes," Doctor Brahms said. "Why don't we sit down? I'd like to hear about some of your ideas…"
Sam's mind raced. She didn't have any ideas yet. Here she was, talking to a brilliant starship engineer and all she could think about was Jack, Daniel, and Teal'c. Were they all going to be okay? Would Daniel be able to find what he was looking for? Would Teal'c be alright on the Enterprise? What in the world was Jack going to do on a runabout for a few weeks?
"Yeah, of course," she said with an effort. Keep smiling. "I have a few."
"Agh!" Teal'c shouted and thrust the bat'leth in the face of the skull-headed alien creature. It jerked back, its manufactured neck broken, and quivered on the ground at his feet. Teal'c could still only barely grasp that he was in a ship speeding away from Doctor Jackson, Colonel O'Neill, and Major Carter, even while they were on their own ships speeding away from him.
He thought he was alone on Earth. The only Jaffa. Now not only was he the only Jaffa in the universe, but the people he was closest to in all the universes he knew of were gone as well.
He dropped the bat'leth and heard it clang on the fabricated stone walkway. He could only practice with this program so much, only practice with the small and comparatively weak security team on the Enterprise for so long. They would learn, eventually, he told himself. They needed time and practice, and he had taught them all he could with their current expertise.
The Enterprise had offered little challenge for his skills, and there were few things that Teal'c thought of as a greater waste of time than simply exploring for no reason. Surely there was a people out there, like his people, that were in need of his help. Sam had found the Federation needed her help. Surely there were a people like the Jaffa who needed Teal'c's. Surely there was technology anywhere that Teal'c could learn about for use back home.
Inspired, Teal'c left the holodeck and went to find Worf. "Computer," Teal'c said to the panel in the wall beside him. "Locate Lieutenant Worf."
"Lieutenant Worf is in Recreation Room 7 on deck 13."
"Thank you," Teal'c said, and headed in that direction. One turbolift later, Teal'c walked into the recreation room unbidden, interrupted Worf in a mok'bara session. Worf did not seem to see that Teal'c had even entered, however, and continued in his Klingon form of martial arts as though Teal'c were not even there.
"Lieutenant Worf," Teal'c began. "You are a warrior."
"Yes," Worf agreed.
"As am I. Do you ever feel that the Enterprise does not allow you enough practice? Enough challenge?"
Worf stopped his practice and stood full length. "No."
Teal'c began to pace. "I require more," he said. "I cannot be satisfied with patrolling the ship waiting for something to happen." He looked up and said, "I must find a planet in your galaxy that needs me."
Worf thought about this seriously. "I would be… displeased to lose your expertise, Teal'c."
"My friends have gone to places where I would not be useful," Teal'c admitted. "I cannot go home to rescue my own people from the enslavement they are in. I must help someone and the Enterprise is not in need of my help."
Worf sighed and then said, "The United Federation of Planets has been putting pressure on a species called Cardassians to withdraw from the occupation of a small, inconsequential planet called Bajor. I have heard of terrible reports coming from Bajor of the mistreatment of the Bajorans, and of a resistance movement." He shook his head. "You may find that they are in need of a warrior with a hundred years' experience."
Teal'c nodded. Bajor. "How would I get there?"
"Bajor is very nearly on the other side of the quadrant."
Teal'c face fell. "How long until we return?"
"Perhaps three Earth-months," Worf answered.
"I will bide my time, then," Teal'c agreed. "Tell me of Bajor."