Found - part 16

Sorry for the long gap. Life has been throwing many many time-consuming things at me in one go. Still, here is more. Let me know what you think!

Six people sat somberly around a rectangular, metal table. Two couples held their partner's hands tightly, white-knuckled, nerves strained to breaking point. The older of these two couples sat at the head of the table, ready to tell their story.

"You all know the … unusual circumstances behind Tally's birth?" Sam started, directing the question mainly at Teal'c and Haley, whom she hadn't told herself.

"We do." Teal'c answered – Tally had told him and Haley before Kennedy's attempt at kidnapping.

"What you don't know is that Nirrti's fetish for messing with people's bodies had more results than Tally's premature birth." Jack continued. "It also left Sam unable to bear more children."

Three sets of eyebrows rose in surprise and confusion.

"But then, how did Luke …?" Haley asked, frowning.

"Luke was not conceived or born naturally." Sam allowed this bomb-shell to settle before going on. "You know about the Ancients' lab in Amdra?" She checked. After receiving a handful of nods she continued. "At first we thought the lab was just some kind of observatory; the only piece of technology we'd studied was the system that emitted the sub-space distress call – the one which brought Nirrti to us – and the long-range sensors. However, Kollen's research into the texts from that era revealed that the Ancient, Rokezar, was actually rumored to have been involved in medical experimentation. We started to look at the technology in the rest of the room, and found that most of it was designed to restructure human DNA."

Haley looked at Teal'c uneasily. "And you're sure that this 'Rokezar' was an Ancient?"

"Yeah, why?" Jack asked.

"Well … to be honest altering human DNA sounds more like a goa'uld interest. Nirrti herself invested hundreds of years in altering human genetic coding to create the perfect host."

"But much of the technology she used to do it was Ancient in origin." Sam pointed out. Haley shrugged and nodded, conceding the point. "Believe me, we were a little more suspicious of Rokezar's intentions when we found out what the technology was for, but I don't think he had nefarious purposes."

"How can you be sure?" Teal'c asked.

"There were records, all written in Ancient, which documented his research into ascension." Jack answered.

"He was studying the genetic and physiological changes wrought by the process of ascension. He also had the means to study an individual subject's genetic code, and general health." Sam elaborated.

"We used it on Sam – we wanted to check she was okay after Nirrti had messed with her."

"Which is how they found out that Mom couldn't have any more children." Tally added. "They used it on me too a couple of years ago, to check if Nirrti had done anything to me when I was a baby."

"And?" Daniel asked.

"It said that physiologically she's fine, but I'm not a geneticist, so we're still not sure if Nirrti altered her DNA." Sam answered.

"Why did you wait so long to use the machine on Tally? I mean, wouldn't you have wanted to know she was okay back when she was a baby?" Haley asked.

"Would you want to put your newborn kid in an alien machine unless you absolutely had to?" Jack asked. Haley winced.

"No, I guess not."

"How did this lead to Luke?" Daniel asked.

"Believe it or not, that was actually an accident." Sam said. "It happened when Jack and I were down in the lab, studying a new machine."

"You were both studying the machine?" Daniel squinted at Jack skeptically.

"I translated stuff." Jack said defensively.

"Anyway," Sam cut them off before they could argue about it, "before we knew what it was, it had activated. At its top was a small cylinder, which started to glow a bright blue, and then scanned us in a very similar way to Thor's Hammer. Then the blue glow moved down the cylinder, into the machine, and the screen showed our 2 sets of genetic code. At that stage we figured it was just another way of studying human DNA. But then, we realized that the screen wasn't just displaying an ongoing analysis of our genetic coding, it was merging them."

"Merging them? You mean it was making Luke?" Daniel asked.

"Half an hour later, there was a foetus growing in a tank we discovered behind the machine's front panel." Jack finished.

Haley gaped at them. "That's incredible."

"I know." Sam agreed. "I couldn't believe it either."

"Half an hour? How did it do it so fast?"

"I'm still not sure. What's more, it only took two days for him to develop into a baby."

"How did you explain that to the villagers?" Daniel asked.

"With difficulty." Jack smirked.

"We told them the truth. Sort of." Sam said.

Jase frowned. "I was told that you had said the lab merely helped you to conceive the second child you had been longing for. It sounded as though you had meant it to happen, and that Luke was grown …" he struggled to find the words, "… in you, rather than a machine."

Sam nodded. "We were worried about how people would react if they knew the full truth. I may not have carried Luke myself, but he's still –" her voice cracked with emotion, "he's still my little boy."

Jack squeezed Sam's hand a little tighter, and ducked his head. Around the table, eyes were averted until Sam had regained her composure.

"When Luke was 'born', the machine didn't just turn off." Jack continued eventually. "He had a microchip in his body, which linked with the machine which had made him, and allowed it to monitor his health constantly."

"You could go down to the lab anytime, day or night, and the machine's screen would always be displaying his vital signs." Sam explained.

"When he went out with the hunters for the first time, Sam sat by that machine and stared at the screen. She was convinced he was going to get hurt." Jack told them with a small smile.

There was a pregnant pause.

"What does the machine say now?" Teal'c asked eventually, voicing his companions' thoughts.

Sam stared resolutely at the table, and so Jack took it on himself to answer.

"It doesn't say anything. When we got back from chasing the ship in the '302, the machine had turned off."

Teal'c and Daniel exchanged grave looks. "It was switched on, showing Luke's health status for fifteen years, and then it turned off?"

Sam nodded. "Yeah."

"What does that mean?" Haley asked.

"It either means he's out of range, or …" Jack couldn't finish the sentence. Sam didn't trust herself to speak at all. They all knew what the 'or' was.

"There was a debris field, not far from Amdra. It might be the remains of the goa'uld ship which took Luke." Jack said hoarsely after a moment.

"If the '302 was operational, could you not have travelled to the nearest world with a Stargate and continued your search from there?" Teal'c asked.

"There isn't a planet with a Stargate within a three month trek in the '302." Sam answered. "And before you ask, we know because I programmed the lab's long range sensors to detect the combination of elements and sub-space disturbances which indicate the presence of a Stargate."

"And I presume the hyperdrive doesn't work anymore?" Haley asked.

"Nope. That was toast pretty soon after we got here." Jack answered her tiredly.

"The naquadria was too unstable to use after the crash." Sam filled in. "If we'd tried back then, the ship may well have exploded. Now it's too late to even turn the drive on. We harvested too many parts from it back when we arrived."

Silence reigned in the small room while the inhabitants digested the new information.

"Sam, I hate to say this, but …" Daniel started uneasily.

"There's still a chance, Daniel. I know the odds don't look good, but I can't just give up and accept that my son is dead."

"Neither can I." Jack agreed.

"So what do we do?" Tally asked.

Haley took a deep breath. "I don't think you should go back to Earth." She said.

Sam and Jack stared at her in shock. "What?"

"We need Earth's help to find out what happened to Luke." Sam protested.

"Guys, back in the Milky Way, we're in the middle of a war with the Ori. President Kinsey agreed to loan us this ship only because we didn't take a crew, and we agreed to be back, with you two, within two weeks. I convinced him we could use your expertise." Daniel told them. "He's not going to be willing to expend resources looking for Luke."

"Well we sure as hell can't go back to Amdra!" Jack retorted.

"We've pretty much burnt all our bridges in Amdra. Karelle tried to help, but really there's only so much weight a woman's voice can carry there, despite being a village elder." Sam explained.

"We've got nowhere to go." Tally summed up.

Teal'c stood suddenly, and moved to look out of the large window at the starry expanse of space. "Perhaps there is an alternative."

The O'Neill's looked up at him, expectantly. The old jaffa turned to face them.

"I am no longer a member of the SGC. There is no reason why I should have to return to Earth. Perhaps, Major Haley and Daniel Jackson could return to Earth with Major Kennedy in the Gemini, after leaving the rest of us on a planet in this galaxy with a Stargate." He suggested. "From there, we could continue your search for Luke."

"But you don't have any gate addresses." Haley pointed out. "How will you know where to look?"

"I know the addresses to a great many worlds, from which we can gather information." Teal'c said. "That, is not a problem."

Daniel looked out the window at the stars. He wasn't sure what to do. On the one hand, he wanted to be there for his friends, and help to find Luke. On the other hand, he knew he couldn't. The Ori were growing in strength everyday, and Earth still needed him – he had unique experience that could help in the ongoing struggle against them.

"Let's head back to the Milky Way. We may as well start on familiar territory." Jack said. "But I want Tally to go with Daniel and Haley."

"No! Dad –" Tally protested.

"He's right, baby." Sam said soothingly. "You need to take care of yourself now. You'll be safer on Earth."

"I'm not going to just sit on my hands while you two are off looking for Luke. I want to help. I can help."

"I'll go with them." Jase told her. "Don't worry, we'll find him. And we'd all be much happier knowing that you and the baby were safe."

Tally scowled at them all. "What am I supposed to do on Earth?"

Sam and Jack exchanged looks. "Learn. Earth is way ahead of Amdra technologically, and then when you're caught up they're bound to want your help. You're smart Tally, and it sounds like the SGC can use all the help it can get right now." Sam answered.

Tally sighed in resignation. "I really don't want to let you guys go without me."

"I know sweetheart. But we need you to sit this one out." Sam got up and put her arms round Tally from behind. "We'll be okay. This is what we're good at."

Daniel looked at his two old friends critically. "Guys, no offense, but that was a long time ago. You're a little older now."

"Gee thanks, Daniel." Jack retorted, but shifted uneasily. He was over sixty, and suspected that Daniel might be right.

"I'm fine." Sam argued. "I'm 51, and I'm still perfectly capable of handling myself in combat."

"Okay, but Jack …" Daniel looked nervously at his friend.

"I'll be fine, dammit. I'll try to avoid situations where I might have to run a lot." Jack shot back, irritated.

Daniel stared at him unhappily for a while longer, and then spoke again.

"So, Haley, Tally, Kennedy and I will take the Gemini back to the SGC. We'll drop Sam, Jack, Jase and Teal'c off at …"

"Chulak." Teal'c filled in.

"Chulak." Daniel nodded. "What shall I tell Dr Weir?"

"That we left without telling you, and you couldn't stop us." Jack said unflinchingly.

"But Jack, if I say that …"

"We'll be in trouble when we finally get back to Earth." Sam finished. "It's okay Daniel. For the moment it's more important that you're not in trouble. We'll need you in the clear so you can tell them about Kennedy."

Daniel nodded.

Silence descended the room. There was nothing left to talk about.

Jack stood up. "Alright, let's do it."

Please please please review! It will make my month! What do you think of the decisions they made?

Beka