Stargate Command
Colorado Springs, CO
January 10, 2000
Sam was listening intently as Catherine went into great detail about the naquadah generator she'd created with the help of an alien girl. She nodded in agreement when Catherine took a breath, even though the question had been rhetorical. Her own mind was going light-years a minute at the possibilities. Back at the Xenophysics Department she'd done her fair share of research but they hadn't had much experience with naquadah yet.
Of course, after everything that had happened since, Sam had additional knowledge. Knowledge that wasn't originally hers. Nevertheless, the history of the use of naquadah by the Goa'uld and how it became part of their physiology was fascinating.
"Has General Hammond approved your request for the in-depth analysis, Samantha?"
Her hand froze midair, the blue jello on the spoon wobbling dangerously. "Um, yes, and I've also been given permission to work this afternoon in spite of being on light duty. Hopefully, I can start working on it after lunch."
Catherine nodded in understanding and took a sip of coffee. "If I had known about your plans I would have changed my schedule. Unfortunately, Ernest and I have somewhere to be this afternoon. Perhaps we can discuss your findings later this week."
"I'd like that."
"Some days, I wish I had more time for research," she said, sighing. "But then, I look at you and your colleagues and know my work is in the right hands."
Sam smiled at the praise and ducked her head. The feeling was familiar and oddly comforting just like it used to be, but at the same time it reminded her how long it had been and how much she'd missed Catherine and the older woman's presence in her life.
"What are you ladies talking about?" Jack appeared at their table and gracelessly plopped down at the seat across from Sam, the coffee in his cup nearly ending up on his tray.
"Samantha's latest research project. Hello Jack."
He gave them his most charming smile. "Catherine. Sam."
Sam swallowed a bite of jello and returned the smile. "Hi. Did you visit Daniel?"
"Yeah, the Doc says it'll probably be a week before he's sprung."
"I saw him earlier this morning," Catherine said. "I know he would prefer to be released today, but I told him he should count himself lucky he was even here and not on Abydos."
Jack stopped poking at his meal and made a face at the realization. "The Abydonians wouldn't have been able to treat his appendicitis in time."
Reaching for his hand, Sam gave him a supportive squeeze. "But Daniel isn't on Abydos. He's in the capable hands of Doctor Fraiser and her staff."
"Still, I should stop by again on my way home," Catherine said, almost as if speaking to herself. "If only to remind him of how fortunate he is."
"He was looking forward to seeing Sha're and Shifu this week, but Fraiser probably won't let him go off-world for a while."
Catherine exchanged glances with Sam before turning a shrewd look to Jack. "Perhaps it's for the best that he's in the infirmary for the rest of the week."
"Why, so he'll stay out of trouble?"
Sam snorted at Jack's little joke, but she knew he was aware of what Catherine meant. Ever since his undercover mission – the one he'd undergone to bring her home – his friendship with Daniel had been strained. Jack had tried to mend fences in his own way, but she knew Daniel was still hurt over some of the things he'd said. She didn't know the specifics because neither man would tell her, but she had a pretty good idea. "It'll give you two some time to… talk."
He grimaced but it was clear he got the message. "Maybe I can drop by later today if I'm not too busy."
"You're both working this afternoon? Who is watching that adorable child of yours?"
"Colonel Dixon's wife," Sam said, noting the pleased look on Jack's face over Catherine's words.
The older woman smiled and patted Jack's hand in a grandmotherly gesture. "Oh, you have no idea how delighted I was for the two of you when Samantha told me. You deserve a second chance, Jack. And didn't I tell you once that you would like Samantha?"
The pleased look morphed into one of mild embarrassment and he coughed awkwardly. "Um, yeah, you did mention that. Once or twice."
"Of course, at the time I had no idea you two had already met," Catherine blithely continued, before casting a mischievous look at Sam. "Neither did I expect you to take our suggestion to have a good evening quite so literally after we finished celebrating the completion of that project back in Washington, DC."
"Catherine," Sam hissed, feeling her cheeks flame.
"Well, well, I didn't know we were being quite so detailed when informing our friends about Ife's paternity, Sam."
She rolled her eyes at Jack's teasing and tried to ignore the smug looks on the people seated across from her. Over the weekend, she and Jack had discussed how and when to tell their friends that he was Ife's father. Once General Hammond had been informed and the DNA test proved paternity, it wouldn't be long before the news got out, one way or another. They'd prefer to be the ones informing those closest to them before it hit the grapevine. Sam had agreed that Jack would tell the guys and she would tell Catherine. "Did you tell Daniel yet?"
Jack beamed proudly at her, the rare smile showing off his dimples. "First time I've seen Daniel speechless."
"And it only took you five years to find a way," Catherine teased.
"The guy speaks twenty-three languages, it was quite the challenge."
Sam snorted at their banter and took another bite of jello. Jack had told her he was a little concerned about Daniel's reaction to his second attempt at fatherhood, but from the looks of things he'd been worried for no reason. Not that Sam had expected Daniel to try to change Jack's mind or anything. More than likely, it was Jack's own doubts that had come to the surface. She wasn't sure how to take them away and reassure him he'd be a great dad, but she'd damn well try. And Carters never gave up.
"Anyway, I told Daniel to keep it to himself for now," Jack said. "Teal'c is still off-world visiting his kid and I wanna tell the big guy myself."
"Well, look at the time," Catherine said, glancing at her watch. She started collecting her things and got to her feet, holding her tray and smiling at them. "You two make such a lovely couple. Remember what I told you, Samantha; after all of my stories Ernest wants to meet you. You two should come to dinner soon and bring Ife, too."
Jack winced but nodded at Catherine regardless. "Sure, soon."
Sam waited until Catherine had left the commissary to raise a brow at Jack. "You don't want to have dinner with them?"
"No, it's fine. I like Catherine. It's just… I'd rather spend my evenings with you."
He probably didn't mean anything by it other than that he enjoyed spending time with her and Ife, like a family. But heat flared in her belly at his admission, her mind immediately reminding her of how they'd spent their evenings the past couple of days. Kissing, touching… Making out like a pair of teenagers. The heat they created never really left her, it left her wanting and a little bit on edge when they said goodnight and went into their separate bedrooms.
"So, what's the research project?"
It took her a moment to gather her thoughts at his sudden question, "Umm, I'm getting ready to do a detailed analysis of the decay rate of naquadah within the reactor. It's really quite amazing that unlike plutonium, naquadah actually has a-"
"Ack! Not too much technobabble, please," Jack interrupted her in a teasing tone.
"Sorry." Sam raised an eyebrow, "I know I can get a little carried away sometimes. That used to happen all the time when I was still at the Pentagon."
"I doubt Catherine minded it."
"No, she didn't. But it was different before I joined her Xenophysics Department. You know how it can be," she said, shrugging. The reactions of her former CO's, military coworkers and the higher ups used to bother her a great deal, whether they were simply rolling their eyes, ignoring her or rudely cutting her off in the middle of an explanation. It was different with Jack. With everyone at the SGC, as she'd discovered the past two weeks. Sure, sometimes she was cut off but they respected her knowledge and experience. No one had dismissed her just because she was a 'geek'. Of course, she worked with a lot of 'geeks' as well and the other staff at the SGC were more often than not dependent on the ingenuity of her fellow scientists.
Jack looked at her with the same warmth in his eyes she'd been seeing more frequently lately, before glancing down to where his thumb caressed her hand. "I've seen you in meetings with the other eggheads here and you seem to be fitting in well."
"Yeah."
"No regrets?"
Her breath hitched and not just because of the feelings his caress elicited in her. After a moment, his gaze locked on hers, waiting. "No regrets," she breathed.
He smirked and let go of her hand, reaching for his coffee. "Good."
"So, you've been watching me?" She asked, trying to lighten the mood.
"Yup," he said, taking a sip. "You're kinda hard to overlook, especially when you're surrounded by a bunch of geeks."
Smiling, she took a bite of jello. Working at the SGC had always been her dream since working on Project Giza and while an SG team wasn't an option anymore, she felt good about the choice she'd made.
He followed her example, abandoning his plate and using his fork to dig into his red jello instead. "I mean it, Sam. You're in your element here. No pun intended."
"We-"
Suddenly, a bright light enveloped Jack and he disappeared right in front of her.
"Jack?" Her spoon clattered on the table and she jumped up, even though she instinctively knew he was gone. "Jack?!"
An alarm sounded over the intercom and when she looked up she saw someone rush up to her. "Captain? What happened to Colonel O'Neill?"
He looked vaguely familiar and it wasn't until she saw his nametag that she could place him – Major Ferretti, the former CO of SG-2. The one whose team had been supposed to accompany them to P3X-425, but injuries had prevented it. "Um…"
"Captain Carter?"
Shaking herself, she took a deep breath and focused on the man in front of her. "I'm not sure, Sir. We were just talking and suddenly this white light appeared and he just… disappeared."
Ferretti nodded in understand and touched her arm. "I already sounded the alarm. We have to report this to General Hammond."
"Do you know what happened?"
"I think," the Major said as he guided her to the exit of the commissary, "that it was the Asgard."
A weight was lifted from her shoulders at his words. She didn't know the Asgard – or Reenlokia, as they were known to Herit – well, but she knew they were the good guys. They'd built Thor's Hammer, the only known technology that could kill a Goa'uld without harming the host. Since getting back on light duty she'd been reading up on mission reports, allies, enemies, technology and pretty much everything she could get her hands on and she knew the Asgard had always been good to Jack and the rest of the SGC.
There was a flurry of activity in the control room and General Hammond was looking over a tech's shoulder at the computers. "Do we know what happened, Sergeant?"
"Not yet, Sir. All we know is that someone in the commissary hit the alarm," the balding man replied.
"Sir," Ferretti stepped forward. "I sounded the alarm after Colonel O'Neill disappeared from the commissary."
General Hammond looked from the Major to her and back. "Disappeared?"
Ferretti caught her gaze and gave her an encouraging nod. "Captain Carter was with the Colonel at the time."
"We were having lunch," she said, her mind still racing light-years a minute over all the possible reasons the Asgard would take Jack. "There was a bright white light all of a sudden and it enveloped Colonel O'Neill before he was… just gone. Major Ferretti said it was most likely Asgard technology, Sir."
"I'm pretty sure," he said.
General Hammond nodded, looking a little relieved. "For Jack's sake, let's hope you're right."
"That depends on what they want from him, Sir."
"True, Captain," he said, before turning to his technician. "Send a message through the stargate to recall Teal'c."
"Yes, Sir."
The General turned towards the spiral staircase leading up to the briefing room. Throwing a glance over his shoulder he looked at her and Ferretti. "You two, follow me."
Somewhere between Hammond calling the Pentagon, informing Daniel and meeting with the present SG teams and some of the SGC scientists, Teal'c returned from off-world. Ferretti cleared the room before Hammond started telling Teal'c what had happened.
"I think I witnessed Colonel O'Neill being transported out of the base by the Asgard," she added.
"For what purpose?"
The base commander shook his head, "We're not sure yet."
The words had barely been spoken when a holographic, three-dimensional image of Jack appeared in the briefing room. "Hello? Testing… testing… is this thing on?"
"Jack!"
"Sam!" He said, delighted, as he turned around and faced her. Then, his smile disappeared as he looked around. "Hi General, Teal'c… Ferreti, what are you doing here? You better not be trying to recruit T to join SG-3."
The General indicated for Ferretti to be quiet and took charge, asking Jack about what had happened since he'd disappeared from the commissary. Jack explained about the techno bugs – or Replicators as the Asgard called them – that had infested Thor's ship and started listing the explosives he'd need to blow them to kingdom come.
"What are you going to do?" Hammond asked with trepidation.
"Destroy the ship."
The feeling of dread she'd felt ever since he disappeared right in front of her increased and Sam swallowed hard at the realization of his plan. She couldn't just let him blow himself up along with Thor and the ship! "Where is Thor?"
Jack looked over his shoulder, beyond what they could see of his hologram. "Oh, he's here. He's just not feeling too well at the moment."
"We can be ready in ten minutes," she said. "Thor can transport us up there to help you."
"That's not going to happen." A mix of emotions flashed over Jack's face before the familiar blank mask appeared again. "Thor's out cold. The bugs got him pretty good. But he did leave some instructions on how to run the toys up here."
That wasn't good enough. She needed to be there to help him. "So you can transport us up?"
He narrowed his eyes, then looked over to the General. "I could. But I'm not going to."
"What is your reasoning, O'Neill?" It was the first time Teal'c had spoken up and he looked as confused as she'd ever seen a Jaffa look.
"Anybody who comes up is not getting down."
She started to argue but Jack shook his head, told her to get the stuff he needed ready in ten minutes and pulled rank when she protested. She couldn't recall the last time he'd referred to her by rank and it rankled. "Colonel-"
Hammond interrupted her before she could finished, "He's right, Captain. I believe we've discussed this before; you will not be joining Colonel O'Neill on his mission."
"Wait!" She called out, just as Jack was about to sign off. "There's got to be some way we can help, even if it's from down here."
"Sam…" Jack sighed, looking pained. "You've got to stay safe for Ife."
"But what if we can find a way for you to get off the ship safely?"
General Hammond turned to her, surprised. "Do you have an idea, Captain?"
Her mind was going light-years a minute but her knowledge of the Asgard, their ships and enemy were too limited. "Maybe."
"Teal'c, see that the ordinance is in place in the gate room. Captain, explain."
"Well, we know the Asgard ships have sophisticated cloaking devices, so we can't even locate it in orbit to launch an air strike on it. Colonel O'Neill's approach to destroy the ship from the inside out is the best option we have. However, if we know more about the ship's specifications, Asgard shielding technology and how far the infestation of these Replicators has spread, we might be able to find a way for Colonel O'Neill and Thor to escape the ship before it explodes."
Major Ferretti cleared his throat loudly. "I believe you mean Colonel O'Neill, Thor, Teal'c and myself."
"Major?"
He shrugged, "With all due respect, Sirs," he glanced from the General to Jack's hologram and back, "Colonel O'Neill lacks the technical expertise that will most likely be required from Captain Carter's solution, especially if Thor can't help. Besides, if these techno bugs are as bad as he says, we've got to make sure to destroy them completely. I'm pretty sure the Colonel can use my help – and I doubt Teal'c would welcome us back if we did survive but didn't invite him to join us."
"Very well. Get geared up, Major. Captain, what do you need?"
"As much information as Colonel O'Neill can give me," she said, glancing at Jack. "And everyone we can spare from the Science Department for now."
"I don't know what I can give you," Jack said, throwing a look behind him. "Thor's pretty out of it and I can hear those creepy bugs in the walls."
She rubbed her forehead and tried to think it all through. "You said Thor left some instructions for you. Can you keep the line of communication open? The power it emits can't be enough to draw the Replicators if the life support hasn't done that already. You can step away once Teal'c and Major Ferretti get there, but you can't shut down the communications. We can't find the ship, so we won't be able to restore the link from our end if you do."
Jack exchanged glances with Hammond and, reluctantly, agreed. "Okay. So far, all of the instructions have been audio or whatever the Asgard variation of it is. Thor says you should be able to hear it once I turn them on. But the moment the guys are here we've got to engage the enemy and I won't be able to change stones to go back and forth between the information."
"Major Ferretti has the most technical know-how out of the three of you," General Hammond said decisively. "He will remain with Thor and stay in communication with us, while you and Teal'c engage the enemy and start planting the explosives and execute whatever else the Captain's plan requires."
Sam shared a small smile with Jack when the General headed down to the control room to give his technicians instructions. An announcement was made over the intercom to call the scientists to the briefing room. "This room is going to get crowded pretty soon."
Jack didn't react, he simply took a deep breath and looked at her as if it might be the last time he could lay eyes on her. "Sam…"
"Don't," she said, shaking her head. "You're not going to say your goodbyes here, because we will find a way to get you and the others back home safely."
"I just want you to know-"
"Damn it, Jack! Don't you dare," she threatened, as she felt tears burn her eyes. "You're going to kick those Replicators' asses, save Thor's life and come home to Ife and me."
He chuckled softly, although the intensity in his dark eyes hadn't left yet. "You won't have it any other way, will you?"
She grinned, hoping it didn't appear as tremulous as it felt. "Damn straight. This time, you're going to let me save your ass. I've done it before, remember?"
"Yeah," he said with a fond smile. "I'm sure you'll be able to pull something brilliant out of your, er, six."
General Hammond returned to the briefing room before she could reply and turned to Jack. "We've almost got everything in place. Teal'c and Ferretti are gearing up, the available scientists will join us soon, I've recalled Doctor Langford and Major Davis is on his way from the Pentagon."
"Thank you, Sir."
"Godspeed, son."
Sam mouthed 'good luck' to him just before he stepped off the hologram's platform and disappeared, fervently hoping this wasn't the last time she'd seen him. She turned away from the empty hologram, her mind already going over different simulations. "General, we'll probably need NORAD and possibly NASA to cooperate with us on this one."
"I'll see to it, Captain."
Through the window overlooking the gate room a white flash was visible and when she stepped closer, she saw the gateroom was deserted. "I guess that was the explosives and Teal'c and Major Ferretti."
General Hammond's eyes softened when he came up to her side and looked at her. "If anyone can do this, it's Jack, Ferretti and Teal'c. With your help, Captain. I have faith you'll do whatever is possible and previously thought impossible to make this happen and get our people home safely."
"Yes, Sir," she said softly.
Once all the scientists had arrived and Hammond explained the situation, she turned her back on the window and looked at the group of brilliant minds in front of her. Somehow, they'd find a solution. There was no way she'd go pick up her daughter tonight and tell her that Daddy wasn't coming home.
General Hammond had reached the end of his speech and waved in her direction. "Until Doctor Langford has returned to base Captain Carter will be in charge of this… meeting. And keep in mind that the connection to the Asgard ship goes both ways," he added as a warning.
"Major Ferretti will appear there," she gestured at the hologram of an Asgard console, "shortly to share Thor's instructions with us and be our contact between Thor, Colonel O'Neill and Teal'c. According to Colonel O'Neill, the instructions were very specific and technological and there were quite a lot of them."
After she'd given everyone instructions and specific areas to focus on, they all got settled in. Some of the scientists scurried back to their labs or offices to collect research materials or notebooks. A few of the SG team leaders also joined them, to help plan a strategy to defeat the enemy if they could avoid destroying the Asgard ship. The General's aide ensured there were enough whiteboards, seats, workspace, notebooks, pens and coffee for everyone as they waited for word from the Asgard ship. Meanwhile, General Hammond was in talks with NASA to see if a shuttle could pick up the team and Thor.
Soon, Major Ferretti appeared in holographic form in the briefing room and everyone gathered around the table. "Colonel O'Neill and Teal'c are doing a recon of the ship since these bugs have disabled the sensors that can detect them and we have no idea how bad the damage is right now. We've managed to get our supplies to a safe area, but we lost two of the spacesuits and a box of explosives to the nasty critters, General."
"How is Thor doing, Major?" General Hammond asked, concern etched on his face.
"Not well, Sir. But he's explained how to work his console, so I can stay in contact with SG-1 and Earth at the same time. You should be able to hear any communication with the team."
The General nodded in understanding. "Very well, Major. Captain Carter?"
Sam stood up to catch Ferretti's attention. "Can you play us Thor's recordings, Sir? If possible, we'd like to start with the explanation about the Replicators to see if we can come up with a way to destroy them, before we have to take more extreme measures and blow up Thor's ship."
"Will do, Captain."
A moment later, Thor's voice sounded. "The Replicators were discovered on an isolated planet in our home galaxy some years ago. The creators were not present. The Replicators were brought aboard an Asgard ship for study before the danger could be fully comprehended…"
At some point, Major Davis from the Pentagon joined them and asked for a sit rep. Sam and General Hammond updated him on the knowledge they'd acquired and the ideas they'd discarded, like the shuttle plan. By the time Ferretti had told them about Thor's condition and why using his medical pod to heal him wasn't an option, Catherine had arrived and about half of the staff had left the briefing room in defeat or to fulfill other duties.
"Thor says the little buggers haven't landed the ship yet because they want to grow their numbers first," Ferretti said.
"Do we have an ETA?"
Sam shook her head at the General's inquiry. "The Replicators have taken over navigational control of Thor's ship. We have no idea how much power is left and whether they can alter the speed of the engines once they're ready to move."
"And even if we knew at what speed they can fly the ship," Catherine said, "we still don't have a current location for it and thus we'd need to guesstimate, since we also don't know where they would prefer to land on Earth."
"The Asgard cloaking device is preventing NORAD from even picking up a signal from the ship, let alone pinpoint the location."
Hammond nodded at Davis' statement. "I see you've done your homework, Major."
"General, all I do all day long is read up on the Stargate Program."
The two men retreated into the base commander's office and Sam and Catherine rejoined their fellow scientists at the table. Major Robert Bennett and Doctor Gary Meyers, with whom they'd both worked at the Xenophysics Department, were discussing a variety of computer simulations they'd made and Meyers called Sam over for extra input.
"What is it, Gary?"
The Doctor shrugged helplessly, "Well, you know I don't want to be a pessimist, but we're trying to determine how long we have until the Replicators stop feeding on the ship and decide they want to have an Earth buffet."
"According to Thor their odds of survival in a new environment depend on numbers," Major Bennet said.
"Basically, we need to know how much raw material is left for them, which means that Teal'c and Colonel O'Neill will have to do a more thorough reconnaissance of the ship," Gary said.
Jack had reported that the Replicators seemed to be mostly concentrated in one area of the ship, where the most power – and presumably the best alloys – was but some were also moving along the corridors and behind the walls. According to him, it almost seemed like they were patrolling the area and unless feeling threatened, they hadn't attacked – yet. She sighed, "Well, if they're feeding off the ship up until hull integrity becomes a problem… Oh! That's it!"
"What are you thinking, Samantha?"
She grinned at Catherine, before turning to the applied physics expert. "Do you think the ship can withstand an uncontrolled reentry into the atmosphere?"
Major Bennet shook his head, frowning. "No, according to the information Thor gave us the heat from the friction would cause the ship to burn up because in order to reflect the subspace field of the phase generators-"
"It would destroy the ship!" Gary exclaimed, drawing the attention of the other people in the briefing room.
"I will inform General Hammond and Major Davis," Catherine said. "Samantha could you relay our idea to Thor through Major Ferretti?"
Thor informed them it was only possible by regaining control of the navigational computer on the bridge – which was right in the center of the Replicator invasion as far as SG-1 could tell. Jack told Ferretti to guide him and Teal'c to the location by using the ship's monitoring sensors to find a safe path there so they could investigate.
Sam – and the others – waited with bated breath as Jack and Teal'c slowly made their way through the ship's corridors. It was slow going as there were more patrolling Replicators the closer the two of them got. And Thor and Ferretti were limited in the help they could provide because the mechanical bugs had tampered with the ship's system.
"The door up ahead leads to the bridge," Ferretti told SG-1 over the comms.
All conversation in the briefing room came to a halt as everyone waited for the two men to get closer. In the background, they could hear their footsteps.
"It sounds as though there are Replicators inside," Teal'c said in a low voice.
"Watch yourself." A strange swishing sound followed Jack's warning and Sam figured that had been the door opening. "Forget that! The place is swarming with bugs!"
Disappointed murmurs rose up and Sam could see the disappointment on the General's face as well even though he remained silent. Sheets of papers were ripped out of notebooks and thrown away, someone erased the writing on his whiteboard and Gary was muttering to himself as he furiously typed away on his laptop.
It was Jack who was the first to speak up. "We're back with Ferretti. We need a new plan, Sir."
Hammond stepped towards the hologram, even though there was no one on the platform and they wouldn't be able to see him at all. "We figured as much, Colonel. Give our people some time."
"We might not have it. Thor's not being a particularly cooperative patient and his health is deteriorating fast."
"He is probably worried that his medical pod has been tampered with by the Replicators," Catherine said.
Major Davis, ever the diplomat, cleared his throat. "Supreme Commander Thor I can understand your hesitation and excuse me for being blunt, but if you are dead you won't be able to be of any assistance either."
Thor's voice was a testament to his weakened condition as he spoke. "As I have said, if O'Neill succeeds in destroying the ship we will all die."
"And as we've said," Jack countered, "we might have a way off this ship."
"Wait a minute, that's it!" Sam cried out as an idea struck. "Thor, you said there are dampening fields inside the ship that prevent explosions. What about outside the ship?"
There was a momentary pause before Thor replied. "There are shields around the ship, but they would not protect against a weapon already inside the force field."
Sam could feel a rush of adrenaline swoop through her body in excitement. This was it! She had a way of saving them! "Okay, now, there was a specific engine in the information recordings," she said, going over her notes. "It controls reentry."
"The deceleration drive," Major Bennet replied immediately.
"We brought an explosive device that's enhanced with elementary naquadah. Would that be enough to destroy the deceleration drive, Thor?"
Sam briefly wondered about whether Asgard were capable of facial expressions when it sounded like Thor was smiling as he spoke, "This plan could work."
Jack was the one to ask the question she could see on many faces around her. "Plan… what plan?"
"Please explain, Captain," Hammond added.
"Sir, the bugs are going to land the ship themselves eventually. The BF-8 might just be enough fire power to blow the deceleration drive."
She heard someone clear his throat and wasn't surprised when Jack once again spoke out. "Might?"
"If we blow it at the right time we can alter the reentry path."
"The ship would accelerate out of control and burn up in Earth's atmosphere," Bennett finished.
Not surprisingly, Teal'c was the first one ready to take action. "What needs to be done then is to place this explosive outside of this vessel."
Sam winced when seemingly all pairs of eyes in the room turned to her and confirmed, "Someone is going to have to go out there."
Jack, Teal'c and Ferretti briefly argued about who would go out there and eventually it was Teal'c, as his symbiote would offer additional protection against prolonged exposure to radiation. Everyone in the briefing room was nervously awaiting Teal'c and Jack's report as they went down to an airlock to prepare Teal'c.
Daniel entered the briefing room and defiantly sat down next to Sam and Catherine, even though pretty much everyone at the SGC knew he'd just undergone surgery and needed to recover. Doctor Fraiser would not be pleased that he'd snuck out, but Sam could understand his motivation. He simply wanted to be there to support his teammates.
"General," Major Davis spoke to the base commander in hushed tones, "we're going to DEFCON 3. The Russians have gone on alert as a response. The moment the Asgard ship attempts to land, the President had decided to let the rest of the world know what we know."
"Let's give SG-1 and Major Ferretti a reasonable chance, Major."
Davis nodded, although he didn't look too pleased. "Yes, sir. I'll try to define "reasonable" to the Pentagon."
The Major had just retreated into Hammond's office again when Jack alerted them to Teal'c exiting the ship.
"Say something."
"One small step for Jaffa."
Sam snorted at Teal'c's reply but her amusement was short-lived when Jack announced he could hear Replicators approaching. The tension in the briefing room went up a notch when Jack called for Ferretti to override the damn airlock controls after Teal'c had returned.
"I'm working on it," Ferretti replied frantically.
"Oh, God!" Sam's heart skipped a beat at Jack's exclamation. "His tank just blew!"
Teal'c sounded as panicked as she'd ever heard a Jaffa. "O'Neill!"
"Ferretti!"
"I'm trying to use the transporter to beam him inside but it's not working," he reported.
Bennett grabbed one of the engineers' notebooks and browsed it until he'd found what he was looking for and looked up at Sam. "The transporter array on that side of the ship must have been knocked out by the bugs."
She glanced at the schematics he pointed out and realized there was a good chance the transporter array on the other side had also been disabled. But the airlock couldn't be opened either and Teal'c's oxygen would run out any second. "We can still do this but Teal'c is going to have to push off."
"What?!"
"Trust me, Jack," she said. "The other transporter arrays can pick him up but only if he's far enough away from the ship."
Without hesitation, Jack relayed her instructions to Teal'c over the radio linked to his spacesuit and then he yelled at Ferretti to beam him the hell up once Teal'c was far enough away.
A few frantic seconds later, Ferretti called out triumphantly, "Got it!"
"Colonel O'Neill, what is Teal'c's status?"
"He's fine, he's fine," Jack answered after a tense moment. "We're gonna join Ferretti and Thor again."
Everyone in the briefing room visibly relaxed and someone even whooped at the news. Well, almost everyone. Daniel wasn't looking too well. He was pale and appeared to be in pain, which wasn't strange considering he shouldn't have left his infirmary bed.
General Hammond had also noticed and walked up to him. "Doctor Jackson, are you okay?"
"I'll be fine," he replied.
Catherine reached out to squeeze Daniel's hand. "You don't look well. Why don't you go back up to the infirmary?"
The General nodded in agreement. "I promise you I will notify you as soon as there is any news."
"Sir, I know that there is no reason for me to be here. But I just…I feel like I should be here…that's not totally true. I feel I actually should be out there with them."
"Now you know how I feel most of the time," Hammond replied, with a ghost of a smile.
Catherine had just helped Daniel out of the briefing room when Jack reappeared in holographic form. "So, um, we set the charges and now we wait to blow the bomb at the right time. Ferretti put Thor into stasis after he passed out, so now we just… wait."
Sam's nails dug into her palms and her heart ached at the sight of him. In the distance, she could hear Major Bennett explain the exact moment when they had to detonate but her mind was preoccupied. There was nothing she could do to get him back to Earth in one piece. Not without the transport beams and the shuttle wasn't an option either. He would burn up in the atmosphere along with the ship. They had finally run out of time. There was not going to be a day that they would finally be together, in every sense of the word.
The realization that she wouldn't get to tell him that she loved him was like a blow.
Oh, God.
Ife would grow up without her father…
"Captain?"
She looked up to find Hammond's concerned eyes on her. Oh, great. "Sir?"
"Colonel O'Neill asked you a question."
"Think you could fix that beam down thing?" Jack said – apparently for the second time – when she turned to him.
Sam shook her head and got to her feet, pacing along the window overlooking the gate room. "Not from here and definitely not without Thor's help, Sir."
"Thor was correct, we are going to die," Teal'c stated from somewhere behind Jack.
"Aww, come on, Teal'c, lighten up!" Jack turned around to face his teammate. "We've been in these situations before."
"No, Sir, we haven't," Ferretti chimed in.
Something flashed over Jack's face as he looked at her, before glancing away. "We haven't?"
General Hammond grimaced. "I'm afraid not, Sir."
Unable to stand the tension, Sam came to a standstill in front of the window. Behind her, people were throwing ideas around in the hopes of finding a solution to bring the team back. But she knew that wasn't possible. There was no way they could fix the transporter beam and the Asgard didn't believe in escape pods. She sighed and narrowed her eyes at the gate below her. If only… Oh! "I have an idea!"