Chapter 8
Jack situated Kayla on the couch. The girl was trembling. Sam sat next to her. Jack grabbed a blanket from Sam's closet and covered her.
"Better?" Sam asked. Kaylia nodded.
"Sam…those people….they…they want you to believe they are someone they are not. They are angry and full of hate." Kaylia said, while another chill took over her.
"Shhh…it's ok….you're safe here" Sam said trying to reassure the girl.
"No Sam…we are not safe. Not till you return those people from which they came" Kaylia stated, but firmly.
"Kaylia…they have shown no signs of aggression towards us. They helped our people escape an attack" Sam said trying to understand why Kaylia was sensing what she was.
Just then Sam's door, chimed. It was Sheppard.
"Come in" Sam said. Her voice activated the doors and they opened. Sheppard looked around quickly.
"General" He immediately said. He wasn't expecting to see him there, but then he realized why Dr. Keller had been so secretive. He tried not to let it show, and just proceeded towards Sam.
"Sheppard…seems we might have a situation on our hands" Jack said, immediately putting Sheppard's attention on the current and not letting him linger as he saw him survey Sam's room.
"Sam…I don't know what it is. But just as I sensed the inner turmoil, you…you" Kaylia paused. She looked at Sam, and then at Jack. Jack just looked at her. "What?" he said. Kaylia placed her hand on Sam's heart.
"Sam…" she said, "you're so happy Sam…I can…I can…." Kaylia said, grabbing Sam's hand.
Sam suddenly realized Kaylia was sensing her "hidden high" that she was still on from the previous events.
Sam immediately tried to bring the conversation back to the situation at hand.
"Kaylia..you say they deceive us….how…how do they deceive us?"
Sheppard at this point, was confused, but he played along. He looked at Jack, and they both gave that face of "I don't know" but didn't say a word.
"I don't know Sam….but you need to go back to the planet…." Kaylia stressed.
"You must go back….the answers are there…" Kaylia said.
"Colonel I can have a team ready in 10" Sheppard immediately stated.
"Not so quick Sheppard. These people were firing at our teams. Why?" Sam said, wondering to herself.
"What if they weren't firing at you, but at the people you brought back with you?" Kaylia stated quite inquisitively.
Sam paused. She looked at Jack.
"Kids got a point…Sam" Jack said not realizing he used her first name in front of Sheppard.
"I want a MALP sent through first. See if we can make contact with them that way. Once we can confirm safe passage through the gate, take SG 6 & 7 with you. Report back to me as soon as you can" Sam immediately ordered.
"Understood" Sheppard said as he left her room.
"I'm sorry Sam..I never meant to cause trouble, or interrupt your time with Jack. It's just it was so strong, I was so scared" Kaylia said.
"Shh..it's ok….You possibly prevented a foothold situation, saving all our lives" Sam reassured her.
Kaylia smiled back at her.
Sam stood and pressed her Comm.
"Dr. Keller. Come in" she said.
"Dr. Keller here"
"Please have the Airmen, escort our visitors to our holding quarters. I want guards posted at their door" Sam said.
"Understood" Dr. Keller stated.
The visitors watched Dr. Keller walk over to the Airmen. They can tell they were becoming suspicious but how, they did not understand.
Dr. Keller made her way to them. "Hello, please follow these gentlemen. They will be taking you to our holding facility till we can better accommodate you" Dr. Keller stated trying to keep the conversation light without alerting them.
One visitor stood. The airmen immediately pointed their weapon towards them.
"We are not here to hurt you. You saved our lives. We are not sure why we are being treated this way" he said.
"you are not being treated in any way" Dr. Keller tried to relay to the visitor. Although she was lying, she tried to hide her distrust of these visitors as best she can.
"We are just trying to keep order on our facility. We will let you know as soon as we can accommodate you and your people" She said.
The visitor just looked at her. He made Dr. Keller very uncomfortable. She moved away from them, and let the Airmen lead them to the holding quarters. Something was definitely up with these people, and Dr. Keller had the feeling it wasn't good.
Several Days later …..Back at the Gate
It took several days to get a lock on the planet. It was almost as if someone had deliberately locked out the coordinates. But it was not match for Carter. She was able to crack the code. The MALP had been sent through.
Several days had passed. Carter wasn't sure if the gate was being monitored or not, or if the people were even still on the planet, until the MALP came under fire. Sheppard yelled through the comm in hopes they would hear him before the MALP was destroyed. Suddenly the firing stopped.
"Please we mean you no harm. We would like to come back and talk." Sheppard stating hoping he would get a response.
Suddenly a voice came from the distance. "Return our prisoners".
"Prisoners?" Sheppard asked. Looking at Carter, confused.
"Yes, prisoners. You are harboring escaped prisoners." The voice rang out.
Carter made a gesture of muting the Comm.
"We don't know who's lying her. I just think we need to try to see if they'll at least meet with us, before we go any further" She said.
By this time, a certain young girl, had made her way into the control room. She listened as Carter and Sheppard tried to strategize. Jack just stood there and let Carter think. He always loved watching the wheels in her head spin. From the corner of his eye, he could see Kaylia hiding behind a panel. She was small and thin, so it didn't take much to hide her physique. In his own stealthy way, he made his way to her area.
Kaylia was so in tune with trying to make out what Sam and Sheppard were saying she didn't even see Jack move closer to her.
"What you doin'?" he asked.
The young girl was startled. "Jack…I..ah…I" kaylia was at a loss for words for she knew she was not allowed in that area.
Jack knew the girl was curious, and that she needed to know what was happening, so he brought her out of hiding and to his side.
"It's ok. You can stay as long as you don't interfere" he said.
"I won't…." she replied, and gave him a slight grin.
"If we can get them to let us through the gate to talk, maybe we can figure out if what Kaylia is saying is true?" Sheppard said.
Before Carter could get a word out, Kaylia responded forcefully.
"It is true. I am not lying" she said.
Carter was shocked to hear her voice in the control room.
"So much for not interfering" Jack said.
"Kaylia…what are you doing here? Ja—Sir (remembering there was still protocol she needed to follow) she shouldn't be here" she said, looking at Jack with that all familiar face of "you know better"!
"Hey…she, came here on her own. I just found her" He said to his defense.
"Airmen, please escort Kaylia back to her quarters" Carter immediately stated.
"Please..no…Sam, please let me stay. The only way you are going to gain the trust of the people on that planet is by letting them know you have someone "ME" who can sense the visitors are not to be trusted. Let me go with Sheppard, and show them." Kaylia stated.
Carter had grown fond of Kaylia and couldn't think of sending her through that gate to the unknown of these people.
"Absolutely not, Kaylia. We don't even know if these people are going to fire at us the minute we walk through that gate" She said strongly, as a mother would to her child, who was putting themselves in danger.
"Please Sam….We know you are a women of risk….that is why you were and still are revered amongst my people" Kaylia said hoping to gain Sam's approval.
"Kaylia…" Sam was cut off by a familiar voice.
"Carter….a moment?" Jack said, shifting his head to the side, hinting to discuss the matter further but just the two of them.
Carter walked towards Jack, wondering what he could possibly say that could make Kaylia going through that gate an option.
Jack crossed his arms against his chest.
"Jack" Sam said softly. "You can't expect to let this girl, walked through that gate. Knowing what she's been through"
"Carter.. I totally agree with you. But all we have to go on is what Kaylia has told us. If she goes with Sheppard and the team, she is the only one that will be able to tell if they are lying or telling the truth. Hell, she just sat next to you and knew that inner "turmoil" (as he raised his fingers in the air, to create fake quotes) was gone. The girl practically knew what we were doing that night….." Jack said, with a small grin on his face knowing he was the one to remove the turmoil, and he was quite happy about it. He drifted for a moment thinking of that night.
"Jack…" Sam paused. Bringing him back to the present.
She knew he was right, but she still had fears of what this girl can endure, especially after what she had already been through. She looked at Jack, took a deep breathe, and where she wanted to lean in and kiss him for always having that way of bringing light to the table, when no other options were available. She refrained from doing so, but she did place her hand on his arms, that were still folded, and gave him a gentle squeeze.
She returned to the Control Room. Sheppard had gotten nowhere over the comm on the MALP with the people of the planet.
Carter chimed in. "If you please….regarding the "prisoners" as you call them, if you would allow us safe passage through the gate, we would just like to discuss a matter that has come up as of late, that we believe would concern you. That is all we ask" She said.
"How do we know you will not harm us. You killed some of our men?" they stated.
"Your men were shooting at us. We had to defend ourselves" she replied back.
"Only because you were allowing our prisoners to escape.." they stated, with anger in their voice.
Carter again gestured to mute the comm.
"Kaylia…can you sense anything from here….anything" Carter asked in hopes that she did not have to send the girl through the gate.
"I'm sorry Sam..I must be in close proximity to sense the individual" Kaylia said.
Carter nodded. "Please all we ask is to meet, you have our word that we will not harm any of you, as long as we have yours" Carter said, hoping to get through to these people.
"When our people met, they stated that they were prisoners, but that you were holding them captive against their will. We were only trying to do what was right."Carter said.
A brief pause came over the Comm. They all just stood there hoping it meant they'd at least meet.
"Fine…we will meet. The gate is guarded. So any attempts to sabotage the meet will be thwarted." They said.
"Thank you. We will be sending a team through" Carter said. She didn't want to mention Kaylia. If Kaylia was going to read/sense them, she did not want them prepared.
"Ok..let's head out. Sheppard, I want you to guard Kaylia. Any sense of retaliation I want Kaylia back through that gate." Carter said showing concern.
"Understood." Sheppard knew Carter had grown close to this girl.
"Kaylia….i need you to listen to me" She knelt down to the girl, and placed her hands on her arms. "This could be dangerous. So I need you to be focused and aware. You will sense danger before any of them can, so I need you to relay anything you sense to Colonel Sheppard." She said, looking intently at the girl.
"Sam..I'll be ok…please don't….." suddenly Kaylia paused. She looked at Sam, and just stared at her. She then looked up at Jack.
"Kaylia…are you all right?" Sam asked as she looked up at Jack wondering if this was the right decision.
Kaylia smiled. "I'm fine Sam…I'm fine….Yes, I promise to be careful. I will not leave She—" "John…you can call me John" Sheppard interrupted. "I will not leave Johns side" she said.
"Sam please don't worry. I need to do this. You've done so much for us already. Please let me do this" Kaylia begged. She can sense Sam's hesitations.
"Ok…." Sam said placing a small kiss on her forehead.
Sam stood up. "Move out" she instantly said.
John had Kaylia by the hand. Before they reached the gate, Kaylia ran to Jack. She made him kneel down so she can whisper something in his ear.
"Jack… take care of her. She's going to need you now more than ever." She said softly.
Jack just looked at Kaylia. He had no clue what she meant.
"Always kiddo, Always" is all he was able to conjure up.
Kaylia grabbed Johns hand and into the wormhole they entered.
Sam stood watching them disappear into the gate. She can only hope and pray, she'd made the right decision.
She moved towards Jack.
"What was that all about?" she said, wondering what Kaylia had said to Jack.
"Oh….nothing…just how she thought I was awesome, and how much you love me…." Jack said sarcastically, not quite sure what Kaylia meant, so he figured not telling Sam, cause her wheels would start turning, and he knew she needed to focus.
Sam just looked at him. She gave him that grin she always did.
They stood their waiting. She did not want to disengage the worm hole till she knew the team was not going to be met with opposition.
They waited. What seemed like hours was only minutes. She was about to send a message via the MALP, when suddenly the wormhole disengaged on it's own.
"What the hell" Sam yelled. She turned to the control room.
"What the hell happened?" both her and Jack ran up..
"Mam..the gate it just closed..." the controller said.
"Gates just don't close..."Sam yelled, situating herself on one of the computers, trying to run a diagnostic.
"Dial back now" she yelled.
"I've tried, Ma'm it won't let me" the controller was frantically trying to re-dial again.
Sam fingers were running a mile a minute on the computer keys. Jack just stared at the gate.
He rubbed his face with his hands, wondering what did he just do. He was the one to convince Sam to let Kaylia go. Now did he just send her to her death? What were these people going to do? Why and how did the gate disengage, and most importantly, would they get there people back?