Chapter 12

Back on the Planet…..several weeks before

Kaylia had learned her route to the gate. She had loosened the floor boards in her room enough for her to fit through and escape during the night. She remembered her steps and every move she needed to make to get to the gate. At night she would study it, she study every part of it. She borrowed one of Elisa's fathers lights, and worked with that at night. The guards wouldn't guard the gate at night since they had a special device that would lock out the dialing device. This is what Kaylia had to figure out. It took her weeks. Every night she would sit and study. During the day she would run simulations in her head, and at night she would try to carry them. Night after night she would fail. At time she herself wanted to give up, but she knew she couldn't. Till one day, she tried a new simulation and suddenly realized she had unlocked the stargate. She had come up with her only way to communicate with a IDC code, and it was just the old Morse Code S.O.S. She knew it was earth's way of saying "Someone help me" she just hoped it wasn't used by other planets. She started to dial Atlantis coordinates. She knew this might her only chance. She pressed the last coordinate on the dialing device, and watch the gate spin. Could this be her chance, would Sam understand her S.O.S. and figure out how the gate worked.

Suddenly the gate swished open. This was it. She grabbed her rocks and tossed them in consecutive throws. Hoping it would hit the horizon the right way. It's all she could think of on how to get through. She knew they wouldn't open the gate's shield without an IDC Code, it was her only chance. She can only hope and pray that Sam would understand it some how some way. She waited, and the gate suddenly closed. She was worried she'd get caught so she hid in the forest, praying no one heard the gate activate or that there was an alarm she wasn't sure of. She found a small bush, where she just sat, and watched the gate intently. Nothing! Kaylia's heart sank. Will she ever get back home? Would she ever see the Sam again? They had become her new family. The tears just ran down her face. She knew she had to get back before sunrise, so she started her track home. She looked back at the Stargate one more time and said "Sam, don't give up on me".

She made it to the house, snuck back into her room from the loose floors boards, and cried herself to sleep. Although Elisa was there to keep her company, Kaylia had never felt so alone.

The guards would be at the gate sporadically. Since they had this new found friendship with Mr. Nin, Kaylia always knew when the gate wasn't being guarded, and it was those nights that she would continue the same ritual she had begun several weeks ago.

But one night she decided to throw an additional object through the gate. Whether it made it through or not, she just didn't know, but she had to try. This time though she wrapped one of the rocks, with a cloth she had ripped from some of her bedding. She had drawn the extra symbol on the rock, hoping somehow they would see it. She wasn't sure of anything at this point but, she was trying everything she could possibly think of to reach Sam.

Back on Atlantis, present time

"I still can't make it out. Try to filter out the subspace RF interference, and try to give me a clearer view on the video feed." Sam said.

Jack, had rolled over in bed, only to find the bed empty.

Sam hadn't left the control room. It what the middle of the night, and Jack was not happy.

He made his way to the control, only to see a very tired, but nonetheless, Samantha Carter.

"Carter?" He said. He almost startled her.

"Sir", although he had exclaimed his retirement, she still couldn't publicly call him Jack.

"Sir" she said again, " this is the 3rd incoming wormhole in the last several hours"

"All right, so it's the middle of the night, and you're still sitting in the same spot I left you, earlier this evening." He said to her. She can tell he was annoyed just by the tone of his voice.

She knew where he was headed. And all though he couldn't order her to leave, if he did, she wasn't sure how she would react. She was still the Commanding Officer of that facility, and she had a job to get done.

"I haven't left yet." She replied. There was a brief pause.

"Ya think?"

Didn't I tell you, you need to rest Carter?" He said, looking down at her belly and quickly back up to her eyes. Her pregnancy was still not public knowledge. She didn't want the scientist or her crew treating her any different. She needed there full attention on getting her teams and Kaylia home.

"Yes sir, you did, but this is a…" She said as she was interrupted by one of the scientist.

"Colonel, Colonel," one of the scientist came running to her. "The video feed, the video feed."

The scientist immediately ran over to the console that Sam was on and practically knocked her over. She got up only to not realize she had placed her hand over her belly, almost as if in a protective motion. She looked at the scientist then at Jack, and quickly moved out of the seat. The scientist paused, and gave Sam a brief smile, and then quickly pulled up the video feed.

They all stared at the screen. What they saw was a shot of a rock with a symbol wrapped around it.

When Carter saw it she knew exactly what it was. A gate symbol.

"That's symbol…that symbol is not on our database" she said, kneeling closer to the screen trying to make it out. I need everyone to start researching; we need to know where that symbol could possibly gate to. We need to narrow down the search to planets we've already visited." She said with excitement in her voice.

"Colonel…what I don't understand is, how were we able to gate to the planet before? " the scientist had a valid question.

"I don't know…maybe they bypass it for visitors. But for enemies, by including the extra symbol, it locks down the gate?' but we need to find out fast."

"This has to be Kaylia. This has to be" Sam said. She stood and stared at the gate.

"Hang in there Kaylia, wer'e coming, we're coming."