The Virus

Chapter Two

..

Sam walked silently down the aisle between the tents. Things had been set up in typical military fashion – two long rows of tents. There were multiple fires set up down the middle where she was walking and various cooking utensils lying around. She saw the odd piece of clothing, blankets and even a teddy bear. It was all incredibly depressing. The villagers had no space in their small houses for the people of Earth. Sam was surprised they took them in at all as she knew their last crop had not been a good one. She only hoped that those that had arrived from Earth could help them produce more food or they were in big trouble.

"Major Carter," she jerked her head up in surprise. She had been lost in her thoughts again and hadn't realized she had already reached the end of the tent rows and she was standing in front of General Hammond. The restless sleep from the past two weeks was definitely catching up on her. She rubbed a tired hand over her face and greeted the General. He gestured to a large log by a fire and she sat down sitting stiffly her eyes following his every move. Please say yes. Please let me go today. "I've decided it would be safe for you to travel to one of the other planets now." She leapt to her feet but the General gave her a stern look so she quickly sat back down.

"Thank you Sir," she gave him the biggest smile she could muster.

"You will need to take a team. If anyone is infected there… you will not return." Butterflies danced her stomach. It was a huge risk. Cassie would be left alone. She would break her promise to one of the people who meant the most to her. She swallowed a rising lump in her throat and nodded.

"Yes Sir," she licked her lips nervously. Now to tell Cassie.

..

Telling Cassie was not as hard as she expected. Cassie wasn't stupid and she would have foreseen something like this happening. She gave Sam a tight hug and simply told her 'You will be back, I know you will.' Sam found walking away from her and towards the team she had gathered… one of the hardest things she had ever done in her life.

"OK, are we all ready?" She snapped back into military mode the moment she picked up her firearm. She was not screwing this up. If this mission went well – and if she didn't find Jack on this planet – she would hopefully be allowed to continue searching. She had told General Hammond she was looking for all of SG-1 which was true in a sense… it was just that Colonel O'Neill was currently her highest priority. It wasn't really a lie, just not the whole truth.

"Yes Ma'am." She looked around at her team. Captain Gregory, Captain Maize and Major Samuel's all saluted her. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes and strode towards the gate. She dialled in the sequence and rolled her shoulders back as she watched the gate initiate.

She took one last look over her shoulder and stopped in her tracks. General Hammond stood at the edge of the tents and Cassie stood next to him. She was standing ramrod straight and had the most intense look on her face. Maybe Cassie wasn't as positive about Sam returning as her earlier words had portrayed. She gave Cassie a wave and a reassuring smile before stepping into the wormhole.

..

The first thing she heard when she arrived on the other side of the wormhole was yelling. She immediately found herself on high alert and took in her surroundings. It looked almost exactly like the planet we had left except that…

"SAM!" She dropped her gun and it banged hard against her hip making her wince.

"Daniel!" She called back. He ran up the stairs and she stood frozen to the spot. His arms wrapped around her and she immediately returned his hug. When he finally let her go she took a step back to take in his appearance. He looked okay, but as tired as she felt. "I am so glad to see you Daniel." She told him seriously.

"Teal'c? Jack?" Daniel asked immediately his smile falling when she shook her head.

"I came looking for Ja… them…" She stumbled over her words, nearly slipping up and saying his name.

"He's not here." Daniel gave her a knowing look and she ignored the flutter in her heart.

"It was hard enough convincing General Hammond to let me come here." She closed her eyes briefly. She knew deep down it was never going to be that easy to find Jack.

"This is Daniel Jackson," she introduced the young man to her team and the five of them headed down the stairs leading from the Stargate and into the camp.

"There are a few people I'm sure you would like to see." Daniel gestured for them to follow him into the camp.

Sam's feet felt leaden as she followed Daniel around, greeting those she knew and introducing herself to those she didn't. She was dazed and hardly aware of the words that came out of her mouth. There were less people on this planet and though Daniel had told her Teal'c and Colonel weren't here, she still kept hoping to see their heads pop out of one of the tents… for them to suddenly stride from the trees – Teal'c with his staff weapon and the Colonel with his lopsided grin that he kept just for her.

TBC…