Let's fix this.
Chapter 18: Stitches
"Like threading a needle…"
The leader of SG-2 took off his cap to wipe the sweat that had broken out on his forehead as Jack narrowly piloted the Ancient ship through the Stargate.
Louis Ferretti had kept his gaze trained at the back of O'Neill's head as the General took control of the ship, willing his superior into not crashing them into the side of the unyielding Naquadah ring.
The General landed the ship gently onto the middle of a mile long white sand beach, bordered by swaying palm trees. The only thing that marked the beach as alien was the unnatural hue of the water that the MALP camera had not picked up.
Daniel practically pushed SG-2 out of the ship with all their camping equipment, completely oblivious to his paradisiacal surrounding, far more interested in the promise of an Ancient outpost nestled somewhere at the side of a mountain.
Lou and his team were perfectly happy to hurry the process along, the men smiling knowingly at each other, all the while with the base commander sending their CO a warning look to behave themselves in his absence.
Daniel signaled for the General to get a move on, garnering him an amused smile from Sam who sat behind Ilana who rode shotgun. Once the hatch was sealed, Daniel hurried back to his seat behind Jack, and tapped him on the shoulder to let him know to take off.
Ilana reached over to the navigational controls and inputted their new coordinates.
O'Neill smiled at Ilana in gratitude, making Sam suddenly feel like the bottom had dropped out of her. The brief feeling of camaraderie she'd felt only a few minutes before faded and she suddenly felt left out once again. It used to be her that the General used to share smiles with. Now, he just looked at her with guarded eyes and weariness. Lately, she often wondered if she'd also lost his trust.
The Puddle Jumper made the steep climb up the side of the mountain in seconds. Ilana entered a code and what seemed like just vegetation vanished in an instant, revealing a rectangular landing pad at the bottom of a structure of Lantian design.
Daniel rose out of his seat to get a better look at what was below them. Even from the air, they could see the age of the outpost. Ivy and moss had manage to creep in despite the shield that protected it from environmental damage.
Jack set down the ship near the entrance to facilitate the unloading of their gear. Ilana had warned him that there wouldn't be any creature comforts, since the Ancients who'd occupied the place had shifted most of their focus to Ascension in the twilight years, and lived an almost ascetic lifestyle.
Since they were riding in style for the first time in a mission, they didn't bother packing light. Carter had three naquadah generators ready to power up the underpowered structure. Ilana had mentioned during the briefing that the ZPM was probably low on power with having to maintain the shield.
Another added luxury were the field beds they rarely ever had the privilege of using, as they were too heavy for use on almost all their missions that demanded hours of hiking. For some reason, which had become increasingly clear through the years, most gates were located outside of cities to protect the people within from not-so-friendly visitors.
Daniel, one to never pack light, seemed to have brought most of his lab with him. Thankfully, he'd skimped on the books, since he'd decided to digitize his most important books to avoid having to ferry a whole library on his back all over the galaxy.
Sam had her computers, and all the other doodads they'd often seen her use back at her lab.
Jack, of course, had his weapons and his usual gear strapped to his back in seconds. He was used to living rough and as far as he was concerned, his main purpose there was to gather intelligence and provide protection for the team. Something he was frighteningly good at and had done for most of his military life.
Apart from a small pack, Ilana had only brought herself and her knowledge to the mission.
Jack told them to leave the unpacking until they secured the outpost. He decided not to split them up since Ilana knew the lay of the land, and it would be far more efficient acclimating them to their new surroundings together with her than if they had divided up into teams.
"Carter, take point."
Sam fell into step with Ilana, with Jack taking the rear with Daniel somewhere in between.
Their resident archaeologist was way too preoccupied with his surroundings to be of any use as backup. The military contingent of the team would have to be responsible for keeping their wits about them should something unexpected happen.
"I will take you to the 'ZPM'," Ilana told the team.
Sam's head perked up, recognizing the single word she'd understood. She saw Ilana smile at her reaction, making Sam feel slightly uncomfortable with the other woman. Due to the language barrier, she and the Lantian barely interacted. She saw the General nod in acknowledgement and something clicked inside Sam's mind.
She narrowed her eyes at Jack, considering him carefully.
"Sam?" Daniel prodded her forward when she failed to follow Ilana who had paused to wait for them. She quickly averted her eyes and walked briskly to catch up with their guide.
Ilana led them to a familiar looking room, that resembled that of Taonas, complete with a control chair and glowing platform. The only thing that differed was a control console on one side of the room.
Ilana confidently approached the console and with a simple touch, the entire thing lit up with an electric hum. Her hands flew around the displays, her actions too quick for any of her companions to track.
Jack's natural wariness made him suspicious of her actions, but he resigned himself into trusting her, since he really had no choice.
Sam had watched the familiar expression pass through her CO's face, and it made her feel infinitely better. His distrust was something familiar and she knew how to deal with.
Ilana let out a frustrated sigh. "This 'ZPM' only has a quarter of its power left. When I was here last, it was new. As I had suspected, maintaining the shield and auxiliary systems depleted the energy." She went through another sequence of commands, and the entire console powered down.
"Is there anything else worth salvaging here?" Jack surveyed the room with a critical eye, thinking they could at least get something out of the trip so it wasn't a complete bust.
"There are more 'gateships'. As well as personal weapons. This outpost has never needed to use its defensive weapons. The drones should be salvageable."
"Sir?" Sam didn't like being out of the loop, and his fluent use of Ancient had startled her, but she hid it well.
"The ZPM is at twenty-five percent. It sucks, I know. But they have a full compliment of those drones that took out Anubis's fleet, so that's definitely a bonus. Plus a few thingamajigs I'm sure you can get excited about… Oh, and gateships. Can't forget about those."
"Anything else,sir?" Sam couldn't quite hide the smile threatening to break out. It felt good to be on familiar ground with Jack.
He looked over at Ilana questioningly, not bothering with the pretense of translating what Carter had said.
She didn't disappoint. "There are tunnels. Built in case of attack. They were meant to be used as a means of evacuation. It is not for certain but there may be ships and other salvageable technology at the evacuation point. However, these escape tunnels are not on any map in the system - for security, should the system be compromised."
"Then how do we find them? Or know if they even exist?" Daniel asked Ilana with a hint of scepticism.
"They exist. They were necessary in the event of a Wraith attack."
"Those, uh, those aliens that are native to the Pegasus galaxy," Daniel recalled Jack's report. "Did they manage to get this far?"
"Not to my knowledge, but it is unlikely. If they had, the Goa'uld would not be your primary concern."
"Good point." Jack suddenly felt pained. The prospect of another galactic bad guy hell bent on enslaving them was not something he relished. The current war had already stretched far too long and claimed too many lives. "I guess this means we snoop around," he remarked to no one in particular.
"I don't suppose you have a library or a database I could take a look at?" Daniel asked Ilana in English, clearly catching on to Jack's suspicion that she could now understand them perfectly.
She cast him an indulging smile and canted her head towards the right. "I will show you."
Jack pretended to look around for a moment, suddenly feeling the awkwardness return now that he was alone with Sam. He had told her that there would be no problem working with her, and he meant it. He had to forget about their differences and see her only as a soldier if he was to survive her presence mentally intact. So with his best nonchalant expression plastered on his face, and his voice carefully modulated to casual, he used his P90 to point at a direction. "This way, Carter."
"Any particular reason, sir?" Sam asked curiously, her tone friendly, but respectful.
"We have to start somewhere. The opposite direction to Daniel is always a good bet."
Sam couldn't stop her grin. "Of course, General."
"Standard recon. Bust the doors open, check out what's inside. Once we know the place is secure, we'll send for reinforcements to help move the whole kit and caboodle back to Earth and have more eyes looking for these tunnels that Ilana is so sure exist."
"Did she at least give any clues as to how they accessed these tunnels?"
"We didn't get that far into the interrogation, Carter."
"Sorry, sir. I didn't mean to make it sound like I was complaining."
"Look. We have every reason to be suspicious of her, but I'm under orders to treat her as an ally and was explicitly told to tread very carefully and not piss her off. It's not every day we find a friendly superior being willing to share their knowledge with us. Even our best buddy Thor hasn't been so forthcoming without at least some form of favor in return. There's a good chance that what we find her can finally turn the tide of the war, so for once, as much as it pains me, I'm gonna play nice with the alien."
Sam lowered her head, slightly ashamed. Here she was getting her nose out of joint for nothing. If she was being perfectly honest with herself, Ilana's behavior hadn't raised any flags so far. The Ancient woman had been extremely forthcoming with her team, and the reason Sam felt put out was because she was the only one aside from Teal'c who couldn't communicate with the Lantian directly. For once, someone on her team - heck, the entire SGC - knew more than she did, and that unfamiliar feeling of ignorance rankled just a bit.
Jack had moved ahead and was prying doors open with his KA-BAR knife. They couldn't afford to waste the precious juice from the ZPM, so everything was powered down.
Sam suddenly felt like a moron. With all her distracted dwelling, she could've already done something to help her team without speaking a word of Ancient. "Ah, sir?"
"Yeah, Carter?" Jack said in a slightly strained voice as he wedged open another sliding door.
"Why don't we go back to the power core and hook up the naquadah reactors we brought over? That should at least make opening the doors easier."
Jack dropped his arms to his side and gave her a relieved look. "That's why you're the genius in this contingent."
"I apologize, sir. It should've occurred to me earlier."
"Geniuses are allowed the occasional slow day."
They doubled back to the power core and Jack helped Sam hook up the generators without her asking.
Sam surreptitiously tracked his movements, slightly worried that he was doing it incorrectly, but to her surprise he hooked up the second generator confidently without hesitation. She noticed his hand pause and when she looked at his face he was staring at her knowingly.
Sam blushed and looked away, focusing all her attention on her own generator. She'd been caught spying and the only way it could get worse was if she hooked up her own gizmo the wrong way. She'd never live it down.
From her peripheral vision, she saw him stand up easily from his crouch and step over to where the control crystals were located. "Would you like to route the primary power source from the grid or do you trust me enough to do it?"
Sam cleared her throat in embarrassment. "I apologize, sir…"
Jack suddenly sighed. "Shit," he swore softly. His expression morphed into one of contrition. "Sorry, Carter. Didn't mean to tread on your territory."
"It's fine, sir," she was quick to dismiss his apology. "I appreciate the help. Really."
"I mean it, Carter. You're the best we have, and all this stuff floating around my head due to some unfortunate win in a genetic lottery doesn't make me an expert like you."
She turned even redder at his high praise.
Jack stepped back from the open panel where the crystals lay exposed. "Do your thing. I'll do a brief perimeter check."
By the time the power had been re-routed and the primary systems of the outpost were running on the naquadah generators, Sam had managed to compose herself enough to face Jack without feeling like her face was going to burst into flames.
Their relationship was far from what it used to be, and this was a good litmus test of whether the two of them could function on a professional level after the very intimate bombs they'd dropped on each other. The mission had started smoothly enough, until her doubts and curiosity had set them back several paces from where they'd started. Now she would have to reconstruct that easy camaraderie they'd established earlier on before she had let her suspicions get to her.
They marched through the complex, taking a quick survey of what was inside each doorway they entered. Most of the quarters were mostly empty, with the occasional personal effect and bits of technology Sam tagged for closer examination by another science team.
Jack checked the panels and walls for hidden doorways without any luck. If the passageways did exist, the Lantians had hidden them really well.
They searched thoroughly the last room of the wing they'd chosen and came up with nothing to show for their efforts. "Anything?" Jack asked Sam when she exited the room she'd been inspecting.
"Sorry, sir. I think our best bet is to ask Ilana."
Jack let out a frustrated breath. "Yeah. She was kinda vague with the location."
Sam tried to lighten up the situation. "I did find some fascinating new equipment."
" 'Fascinating', you say," Jack tried to sound interested. It had been a long day, and their fruitless searching promised to make it seem longer.
"It's OK, sir. I won't do a Daniel on you."
Jack looked relieved, and leaned sideways against the dead end of the corridor. "Thank you, Colonel. That's incredibly gen-"
Whatever Jack was about to say was abruptly cut off when he suddenly melted into the metal wall he'd been leaning on and began to disappear. Sam reacted instinctively and made a grab for her CO, but his greater mass pulled her forward instead of her pulling him back.
It seemed that they'd found those tunnels after all.
Working on the next chapter already, so an update should follow soon enough. Feel free to give some encouragement ;-)