Memories of the Heart by Betty Bokor
Sam/Daniel. A mission goes horribly wrong while Sam's life is changed forever. Spoilers: All seasons, including 10 to the end.
Disclaimer: The Stargate original characters belong to MGM/Showtime, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Film Corp. This was written strictly for the purpose of entertainment. No attempt at copyright infringement has been made.
Memories of the Heart
Chapter 26
A.N. Hi. If you are enjoying the story, please, be kind and let me know. Thanks.
When on the first week of October an unscheduled off-world activation was followed by the I.D.C. they had given to the Nox, Sam was very surprised. She had not heard from them in many years and she was sure they did not have any interest on checking on Earth. Just as a precaution, she called the Marine unit of guards to the gateroom.
The familiar face of Lya was the first to appear through the gate, followed by two members of her race. Sam was thankful that the Nox had been kind enough to use the I.D.C., considering that they could have crossed through the iris without difficulty.
"Hello."
"Hello, Lya. Welcome to the S.G.C.," Sam greeted her.
"It is good to see you once again, my friend."
Sam invited Lya and her friends into the Conference Room and called SG-1 to the meeting. After everybody had been introduced, Lya asked Sam a question.
"When I met you, General Carter, you were a member of this unit you call SG-1."
"Yes, that's right."
"O'Neill was your commanding officer and Teal'c was part of the group, right?" She said as she acknowledged Teal'c with a gesture and a small smile.
"Yes," Sam agreed.
"But there was one more member that I do not see here today."
"You're right, Daniel Jackson, but," she paused for a second to be able to put it into words, "we lost him a long time ago. Almost three years now."
"Do you mean that he is dead?"
"We're not sure. He was kidnapped by another race and we haven't had any real news about him since then."
Teal'c looked at Sam and she saw that he was still concerned about her.
"I see," Lya said. "All right. We should explain the reason of our visit then. You may remember that, in the past, our race, the Nox, was allied with other three races."
"Yes," Cameron said, "the Ancients, the Asgard, and the Furlings, right?"
"That is correct," Lya confirmed. "You already have met the Ancients and you know that the Asgard no longer inhabit this Galaxy," she continued.
Cameron thought that was a very polite way to say that all the Asgard had committed suicide, but he remained quiet.
"But you are not acquainted with the Furlings yet, right?"
"Right," Sam said.
"Then I will have to explain this in more detail. There are different levels of existence ─to give them a name you would understand─ and you, the human race, exist in one of them. Ours is slightly dissimilar ─we use our minds in very different ways than you do─ and the Ancients have evolved into a higher level, abandoning their bodies completely. That's the process you call ascension and, if I am not mistaken, your Daniel Jackson achieved this level before."
Sam was not sure what the Furlings had to do with anything, but she liked that Lya kept mentioning Daniel. It gave her hope.
"Indeed," Teal'c interrupted her thought as he replied to Lya. "But he returned to us."
"I though so. All right. Let's get to the Furlings. They exist in another plain, we could say higher than the ascended, but, in essence, it is just very different. They still have corporeal bodies, but they leave them at will and transport themselves to wherever they want to be. It takes much training and energy to do so, but it gives them a freedom none of us have. Of course, they are subject to death like any of us or even the Ancients, but their existence is not guided by the same parameters ours are."
"Okay," Sam said, interested in the turn of the conversation.
"A few months back the Furlings detected another being in their same plain of existence, someone unknown to them, who seemed to be in grave danger and suffering great pain."
Everybody in the room remained quiet, imagining in which way that related to Earth.
"Though they have kept a policy of complete isolation from the other inhabitants of the galaxy, they broke it to communicate their discovery to us, particularly because the being in question happened to mention my name and those of my family members while communicating with them."
Sam contained a gasp and looked at Teal'c. She knew he was thinking the same.
"Aided by our intelligence, they decided to investigate and they came upon a race of individuals with advanced technology, but very different ethical codes than the ones Nox and Furlings have shared for centuries. We, The Nox, have maintained our policy of no interference as strongly as we have been able to do it, but the Furlings do not share such concerns."
"What do you mean?" Vala asked.
"When the results of their investigation showed the lack of mercy the new race ─the Odjods, as they called themselves─ showed to the prisoners they had acquired along their trips through the galaxy, the Furlings were enraged. Further research confirmed numerous other crimes against the freedom and the lives of many innocents. The Furlings determined the mere existence of the Odjods was a threat to the other races of the galaxy and stripped them of all their power and technology. It will take them many centuries to achieve the same level of development they had before."
"How is that possible? How did they Furlings do that?" Paul Davis asked.
"They have means far beyond what your race has."
"But they're not willing to share them with us, inferior races, right?" Cameron said.
"It is not a matter of inferiority. It is a matter of maturity, of capacity to deal with what power brings along."
"Why didn't the Furlings intervene when the Goa'uld or the Ori were also a threat?" Vala tried.
"They believed the other races capable of defeating such enemies and history has proven them right."
"In which way does all this relate to us?" Sam wanted to know. "Because you're telling this to us for a reason."
"Yes, that is true. One of the prisoners of the Odjods, as a matter of fact, the one who contacted the Furlings in the first place, belongs to your race. We have reasons to believe he is Daniel Jackson."