Chapter 3
Sam looked through the two-way mirror. The girl, Katherine, was sitting at the table, picking at her fingernails nervously. Sam felt some pity for her. This was going to be difficult for her, and comfort wasn't really Sam's area of expertise. She wished Daniel could do the interview, but given the girl's reaction earlier, that was obviously impossible.
Dr. Saperstein was standing beside Sam. They had just decided to release Katherine from the infirmary hours earlier, after the doctor had confirmed that she was who she said she was, but he wanted to continue to moniter her vitals from a distance. She was still wearing a heart moniter under the loose fitting SGC shirt she'd been given. The combination of zat-plus-sedative usually didn't leave any lingering effects beyond temporary drowsiness, but the girl was young and her body had been under strain for a while, so the doctor was being cautious.
"Just try to take it easy on her, Colonel." Dr. Saperstein shrugged. "She should be fine. I don't see any problem as long as you don't go 'bad cop' on her. Not that that should be necessary. After all, wherever she's from, she's definitely Dr. Jackson's daughter."
"Thanks, doctor." Sam pushed open the door and stepped into the interrogation room. Katherine looked up and then smiled when she saw Sam. Carter tried to return the expression with as much casual affection as Katherine was emanating, but she was a scientist, not an actor. Hopefully the gesture wouldn't come off as too false.
"Hey, Sam." It was un-nerving to be addressed by someone she'd never met as if they'd been friends for life. Still, she tried to remind herself that this girl had been through a trauma, and she should try to make her feel as safe as possible if they were going to learn anything about where she came from. "I'm sorry. I have to keep reminding myself that you're not my Sam. Is that weird if I call you that? Should I call you Colonel Carter? You are a Colonel, right? I think that's what they called you…"
"No." Sam shook her head. "Sam's fine. And yes, I'm a Colonel. But you don't need to call me that. Just whatever makes you comfortable."
"Oh. Okay." Katherine put her hands in her lap and looked around the room in what Sam thought was a loss for something to do.
"Katherine?" The girl's blue eyes snapped back to Sam's and Sam found herself shaken by her friend's eyes looking at her from a stranger's face.
"Yes?"
"I'm going to have to ask you to put your hands on the table. Standard interr--interview procedure. I'm sorry."
"Oh no. No problem. I understand completely." Katherine put her hands on the table.
"And you understand that this interview is being recorded for reviewing purposes by the senior staff of this facility."
"You mean Jack?" Katherine still clearly found it amusing that Jack was in command of Cheyenne Mountain. Sam had to admit to herself that there were days that she still found it amusing herself.
"Yes, among others."
"Yeah. That's fine."
"Do you need anything before we begin?"
"No. I'm fine." Katherine shook her head. "The guard who brought me in here got me some coffee," she gestured to the foam cup sitting on the table in front of her, "so at best, I may need another cup eventually. Oh! But I did want to know if I could ask you a favor."
"Sure." Sam smiled in what she hoped was a reassuring way.
"Could you see about getting my necklace back for me? I was… I was wearing it when they brought me in. It's like, it's a pendant on a leather string. The pendant has these… Well, they're really just ornamental designs on it. They don't mean anything or anything. The pendant itself isn't important other than that my mother gave it to me. She actually made it for me when I was very little and I've had it forever and I completely understand if you have to run tests on it or whatever, but I would really like it back when you're finished."
"I'll see what I can do." That seemed like a reasonable request for Sam. After the interview, she'd stop by to see if she could move the tests along any. It might help to make Katherine feel more at home and more secure.
"Thanks."
"So, I need you to state your name and age for the record."
"Sure. My name is Katherine Jackson. I'm 14, but I'll be 15 in just a few weeks. My birthday is on June 6, by your calendar, which would make me a Gemini as well." She grinned and Sam found herself smiling back yet again. This girl's smile was infectious. "I like dancing, horses, and the History Channel. Ooh! And The Discovery Channel. They have Shark Week." Suddenly uncertainty appeared on the girl's face. "They do have Shark Week don't they?"
"Yes they do," Sam laughed. "Are you interested in oceanography?"
"Not really. Just sharks." Katherine shrugged and took a sip of coffee.
"Fair enough. Where were you born, Miss Jackson?"
"Katherine. Or Kat, actually. That's what you always called me. You were the only one. And, I was born on Abydos."
"That's interesting. I would have assumed—"
"The SGC? Yeah. No. Abydos. No hospital, no anaesthetic, and no way I'm ever doing that if I have kids. My mom was a trouper."
"So you grew up on Abydos?"
"I visited Earth frequently enough. In fact, one time I stayed long enough to get chicken pox, and had to stay here until we treated them. Not my favourite memory, but one of my longest stays here until I was contracted by the SGC when I was ten."
"Contracted?"
"It was like an after-school job, I guess. I didn't really go to school the way that Earth children do. I learned from my father. And since what my father knows is anthropology and languages, that's what I learned. Plus, growing up on an alien world, I spoke a few other languages that we didn't have. Particularly once the Goa'uld made moving to several Alpha Sites necessary." The girl's countenance darkened at the mention of the Goa'uld. Sam knew she'd have to ask more about that, even as she hated to make the girl any more upset.
"Tell me about the Goa'uld. When did they take your father?"
"They took him about… I guess it was about two years ago. He had been off-world with the team when it happened. They came to tell Mom and I and we had to take off. We ran and hid in a safe house that the SGC gave us. We couldn't go back to Abydos in case he hurt anyone who was hiding us. We also couldn't go anywhere simple like Jack's cabin or anything. We couldn't go anywhere that Dad's previous memories as Daniel would have taken him. And it worked. It worked for three whole months." Katherine took a deep breath, clearly steadying herself before she could continue. Sam could see tears forming behind her eyes.
"Do you want a tissue?" Sam looked around her to try to find the box of tissues that was usually available, but found no such thing. Katherine shook her head in gentle refusal.
"No, thank you. Not yet. I—I'm just going to try to get through this as fast as possible so that I can go lie down. My head is killing me and I'm still completely exhausted, so let me just say this next part and then we can move on."
"Okay."
"So, three months later, I was in the back yard of the safe house reading. I heard a staff weapon fired in the front of the house. I ran to the back window and looked in. That's when I saw him. That monstrosity that had taken over my father."
"And he killed your mother then?"
"Yes. He—he broke her neck. Like it was made of plastic. I heard it." Her voice's lack of emotion registered to Sam as the voice of someone who had told this story enough times to completely detach herself from the incident. It was upsetting to Sam that someone related to Daniel should suffer so greatly.
"Then what happened?" Sam touched the girl's hand, and Katherine looked her in the eyes.
"I ran. I knew that the monster that killed my father and, by then, my mother, would not hesitate to kill me as well. I went to a neighbour's and called Jack. He kept me safe until they were able to—fend off the Goa'uld. He retreated eventually. He didn't think that killing me was worth the inherent risk of being caught and killed by the SGC, so he left."
"And you stayed on Earth?"
"For a while. I stayed with Jack at his house, actually. He said it was the least he could do in the memory of what my father had been once. I was honoured by that. Besides, I think Jack liked having another person in the house. He never admitted it, of course." Katherine shrugged, the ghost of a smile coming across her face for a fraction of a second before disappearing again. "But then, that's when the Goa'uld armies started coming and we headed to Alpha Site."
"You evacuated Earth?"
"We evacuated about thirty times in the next six months. We headed from that Alpha Site to another Alpha Site, and then to several more, including Atlantis for a temporary period. That was the hardest. I kept thinking about how happy Dad would have been that I got to go to Atlantis, and we didn't have time for me to spend moping. We were at war."
"And that's how you found the Quantum Mirror?"
"I guess. Janet found it."
"Janet Frasier?" Sam quirked an eyebrow, and tried not to let emotion work through her. Janet's death last year had been hard for everyone, especially Jordan, but they had finally begun to move on. Sam wondered if they were ever going to completely move on. Especially when people seemed to keep bringing her up.
"Yeah. She found it and sent me through it. The Goa'uld were closing in, we'd lost a lot of people. She was going to send the other children through after me, and…" Katherine did start crying then. The tears were dripping down her cheeks, and Sam searched her pockets before coming up with one, lone tissue. She handed it over and Katherine took it with silent gratitude, sponging the tears off of her face.
"If you need a break—"" Sam let the sentence trail off, giving Katherine the opportunity to make her desires known.
"Actually, could we maybe do this part later? I'm sorry. I really thought I could do this, but it's… it's too soon, Sam, I'm sorry. Could we maybe just postpone? I'm not trying to be uncooperative. I'll talk about anything else you want. I'll even write it up in my mission journal so that you guys can transcribe it and everything, but I don't think I can talk about it just now. Everyone I ever knew is probably dead and—" She gestured vaguely and Sam decided that this portion of the interview could, in fact, wait a while longer.
"You said you have mission journals?"
"I do." Katherine's small smile was full of gratitude for the subject change. "Dad kept them, of course, but after he was—taken, I felt awful at the idea of all of his life of research going for nothing, so I kept them up. They're electronic. Saved on a file in my backpack. I'm sure that your reality's…Daniel," the word was spoken with clear mental effort, "has already found them and is, undoubtedly, reading them as we speak." Sam opened her mouth to protest and Katherine raised a hand. "That's totally fine. You guys are, of course, welcome to anything that you find there and any assistance I can render with translation or alien anthropology. I have no problem helping an organization that has taken care of my entire family my entire life, even if it is in an alternate reality." Sam had to smile at the deep sincerity. Daniel was present in almost every word. She would have believed that this girl was Daniel's daughter even without the genetic confirmation.
"That's very generous, Katherine—Kat. Thank you."
"Sure. Do you have anything else right now? I really would like to go back to the infirmary and lie down. Even if it's just for a while. My head hurts like crazy."
"That won't be necessary, Katherine." Jack strode into the interrogation room, causing Sam to sit up straighter in her seat with more speed than she probably would have liked. He winced as he heard her back come into contact with the hard metal back on the chair. He rolled his eyes at Katherine before turning to address Sam. "As you were, Carter."
"Thank you, sir." Sam relaxed slightly in her chair, but not by much. She noticed Katherine watching the exchange with mild amusement, but also an apparently ever-present look of impassive observation.
"What do you mean, Jack? If you want to continue the interview that's fine, but I really would like to lie down for just a little. I'll agree to any kind of restraint or supervision—" Jack waved his hand, cutting her off.
"I meant, kiddo, you must be exhausted, and we've asked the important questions, so I think we can finish this up another time. We've got quarters for you on base, so ou can lie down there rather than going back to our infamous chamber o' pointy things. You can move around pretty much the entire base whenever you want, except the Gate Room, as long as you stick with the buddy system we'll be setting up for you."
"That seems more than reasonable to me." Katherine nodded. "I've had more than enough gate travel for one lifetime lately, anyway."
"Now, you don't have any weapons other than the ones you already surrendered, so we're all square, there. Major Brightman here will be your camp counsellor for this evening, and take you to your room. It is…" Jack looked at his watch. "A little after 1900 hours. I figure we can give you until about 0800 when we will wake you from peaceful slumber on our excellent standard issue mattresses to finish this little Q & A. Your room has all the amenities of your best POW camp including a bed, a desk, and yes, possibly even a bathroom. We've also got a couple sets of clothes that should fit a little better than Teal'c's shirt." Jack smiled. "We should be able to return your backpack and everything, minus your weapons, obviously, in the morning, providing that Carter and her army of super-brains don't find anything wrong with them." He winked. "Fortunately with you, I have an in there."
"Oh. Well, that's great. Thanks, Jack." Katherine smiled.
"Don't mention it. Oh. And a Sergeant will be bringing you a hot meal in a little while. If you're anything like your dad you're probably starving."
"I'm practically ravenous, actually. Thank you."
"You betcha. All part of the friendly service here at Chez Cheyenne." Jack gave Katherine a half-wave with two fingers."
"I'll be sure to recommend it to all of my friends." Katherine laughed. "So, I guess I'll see you guys in the morning, then?"
"Yep." Jack nodded. "So now I'm going to kidnap Colonel Carter here, and the doc is going to come in and remove the heart monitor so that you can go to your room."
"Thanks, again." Katherine stretched. Jack nodded in Sam's direction.
"Colonel? Come with me."
"Of course, sir." Sam nodded and, with a small wave in Katherine's direction, she headed out of the room with her commanding officer. She was not at all surprised when their path took them straight to the briefing room where Daniel was pouring himself a cup of coffee and Teal'c sat at the conference table reading a file that Sam assumed was Katherine's brand new dossier.
Sam waved to a frustrated Jordan who was playing on Jack's computer in the office behind the clear glass, and Jordan gave a sarcastic salute in return. She was ready to go home. Sam thought, with a grimace, that they all were.
"All right, campers. Looks like we have one hell of an interesting situation on our hands." Jack plopped himself down in his seat. "The question is, what in the heck are we going to do about it?"