CHAPTER 34 – GINA'S DARK

She didn't see John in the dark abyss, thought it was hers to occupy alone. But like John, she saw the threads, the connections and knew that while he had completed what he set out to do, there had been consequences. It had been engineered that they would meet – Callandra. But Callandra had not foreseen that this had been the larger picture anyway. Smokescreens and subterfuge. She saw them, just as John had done. But she did not have the clarity that John had from his ancient gene so confusion wound it's insipid fingers through her head and she simply floated, lost – in this dark abyss.

She heard the sound of a dog barking and felt her forehead wrinkle slightly in this vacuumless place. A dog? A tiny sliver of memory flittered just on the edge of her consciousness and for just a brief moment she recollected a small white dog … with wings? Angel? Who was Angel and why did that name suddenly seem so important?

The barking grew louder and she looked around her dark area frantically now, sure that the dog was near. She felt something soft brush up against her leg and reaching down with one hand she felt the soft fur of an animal and the barking became more frantic, more excited. Angel? The name crept into her mind again and she struggled to pull on the tenuous strings that floated past, knew that they were somehow important... but she was so tired. She didn't know if she had the strength to either pull on those strings or find her way out of there.

But Angel did... again, the thought came unbidden to her and suddenly there was another voice in her mind. Aunt Jen. Her father.

"Follow Angel, Gina – she will lead you out of the dark."

"I'm scared Aunt Jen? I don't know where I am. The last place I remember is the waterfall... John was leaving – John left! Oh God, he's gone, hasn't he?" She pulled his picture into her mind and felt more than just a little unease when she saw that her mental picture of him had become blurry and indistinct. "I can't see him clearly – is something wrong with him? Why is he no longer clear?"

Jennifer's voice seemed to come from a great distance but she took comfort from it anyway. "John went back to his own timeline, but there are problems. The portal has closed – we did not foresee this. He completed his task and it had been preset that it would not open again – one form of fail safe to make sure that people from the future did not go back and forth unnecessarily to cause ripples, and vice versa. Also, his connection to you. It weakens – he took part of your life thread back with him and it is stretched too tightly. You need to get to his timeline immediately or your life thread will snap. That is why you do not see him clearly anymore..."

"Tell me what to do Aunt Jen. Is Dad there? Can he hear me? I wanted to be able to say goodbye, I didn't want to leave like this..."

"I know Gina – you are so brave and I am so proud of you..." this was her Dad's voice now and there was a hitch in it as it caught and she knew he tried to keep his voice strong for her and not portray the fear he must also be feeling. "Frank's here too – we moved you to Jen's house – you collapsed at the waterfall, you're lying peacefully on the bed. I wish..."

He didn't get to finish. Angel was barking loudly now and she felt the nip of small teeth at her ankles and knew that she had to follow her dog. Her dog? But needed these last moments with her family.

"My dog is here... my dog? Did anyone know that I have a dog... she's here, her name is Angel and I think she is here to guide me out of this dark. I'm trapped between timelines at the moment, aren't I? Because my thread is too thin for either time line?"

"Good girl – you are beginning to understand. Though even your university degree couldn't have helped working out this one... it's a doozy sweetheart!" Her dad's voice held amusement in it.

"Frank?" She needed to talk to her brother, needed to know that he was ok.

"I'm here squirt... you ok?"

His gruff voice made her giggle. He always pretended to be so tough, but just like their dad, he was really a big old pussy cat. "I'm going to meet your son soon... any words of wisdom for him?"

"Always the wiseass Gina... some things never change. Miss you kid... tell Sheppard if he doesn't treat you right I'll find that damn rift in time, squeeze through and find him. And wring his damn neck."

Gina did laugh now, her brother could always make her laugh... and cry. "I'm sure he's shaking in his combat boots Frank. Somehow, I don't think there's much that scares the Colonel. You may be a pussy cat dear brother... John? Pure steel..."

"Ok Gina, so did not need to hear that..."

She felt their love come through and knew also that somehow she would find a way to let them know that she was all right. There would be a way and she would do her best to find it.

Angel was pulling now and she bent down to pick up the little dog and hug her tightly. "You never forgot me, did you Angel... something happened and you were no longer there, I remember you now which means something has been fixed. Take me to him little friend... time to go..."

She closed her eyes now, no longer afraid of this dark, this time between times. Her feet moved through the molasses, thick and cloying and she kept her eyes closed but felt when the dark became light. A rushing feeling, then something was squeezing her tightly and she held her breath, not sure if she would fit or her bones would simply be crushed, then with a slight popping noise the air changed and she lay in the cold, on a hard floor. The air crackled and hissed around her, and there was purple light that pulsed on the edges of her tightly shut eyes, then silence.

She cautiously opened her eyes. The little dog struggled to get down but she held her tightly, not wanting to release this one connection to something that she knew. The floor beneath her was cold and hard and she put out her free hand cautiously to touch it. It felt like marble and in the darkness of the room that she was in, she struggle to make out shapes, struggled to give them clarity through the absolute darkness.

She had no idea where she was.