Our Legacy - Chapter 8
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters nor profit from their use - I merely toy with them for my own amusement.
Summary: A gate accident strands Jack and Sam in the year 2034, when the SGC is under the command of General Samantha Carter. But all is not as it seems, and to get home, they first need to save the world.
"Sam? You have to get out of there, you've got incoming." Serena's voice came over the comms.
Beth looked up at her with panic. "I'm not done yet, I need another five minutes."
"How many?" Sam asked Serena.
"Five – no, six. Oh crap, and two more are coming my way."
"Get out of there right now. Get clear of the building." Sam ordered her.
"I'm going – Sam, they're coming up the stairs – you don't have an escape route."
"Let me worry about that, you just get out, you hear me?"
"Ok, I'm going now. Be careful, and good luck."
"You too." Sam turned back to Beth. "You need five minutes?"
Beth nodded.
"Ok, I'll try and buy you some time. Once you're done, activate the transporter and get us out of here. We'll have to regroup and come up with a new rescue plan."
"Mom, you can't face them on your own!" Beth protested.
"I'll be fine, just keep working."
She went back to the door, and opened it a fraction. She could hear the men in the distance – they'd made the top of the stairs.
She closed the door behind and crept along the corridor, taking up position behind a door a little way further along, adrenaline rushing in her ears. She waited until their footfalls were right outside, and then pushed the door open with an explosion of energy. It impacted one of the men with a bone-jarring thud, and she flung herself round it to send a right hook into the jaw of another.
He fell, but another had reacted too quickly, and seized her from behind. She sent an elbow back at his face, but he twisted and she missed, the momentum sending her falling to the floor. There were still four men up on their feet, and all their attention was now on her.
Well that's just fine. Sam thought. As long as they focus on me, and don't go looking for Beth.
She shoved herself backwards, away from them, and then leapt to her feet, adopting a fighting stance. Two of them rushed her and she dropped and rolled out of the way, coming up to the side and slamming a fist into the kidney of the closest man. He grunted and dropped to his knees, and she dodged out of the way as the other lunged for her again. The other two were on her now though, and the three of them cornered her.
They hesitated though, and she grinned. "What are you waiting for boys?" She taunted.
They looked at each other in confusion, and she suddenly realised what was rattling them – she bore a startling resemblance to their ageing prisoner downstairs.
She took advantage of their hesitation and attacked, kicking the rightmost man and seizing his arm to throw him sprawling to the floor, before leaping over him and making to run away. The others recovered too quickly though and she was tackled, landing hard on the floor on her stomach.
She struggled, but the remaining men were both on her now, and the one she'd kicked was back on his feet too.
Sam had lost.
"Call for backup." The one on top of her ordered.
One of the goons reached for his radio, but it was abruptly kicked out of his hand.
Sam looked up in shock as Jake sailed over her head, knocking out the two guards on their feet and then pulling the other one off of her. He kicked the man in the stomach and then punched, and he dropped, unconscious.
Jake offered Sam a hand, and she took it gratefully, regaining her feet.
"Thanks." She said.
"No problem. Are you ok?"
"I'm fine. Why haven't you been answering your comms?"
"I lost my communicator, it fell out of my ear when I was running from the ambush. They caught Dad –"
Sam nodded. "We know. Serena saw them take him. Her position was compromised though, so she's had to get out. We're blind."
"Where's Beth?"
"Back in the server room. She needs a few more minutes to finish the file download, then we're going to get out of here."
"But what about Mom?" Jake asked urgently.
"The mission's blown Jake, they know we're here. It's only a matter of time before they send more guys up here after us, and those will have zats, or worse. We're unarmed, we can't take them."
"We can't just leave her here, the whole point was to rescue her."
"We'll regroup at the safe-house and come up with a new plan."
"But this one was supposed to work! She planned it, and she's done all of this before!"
"Well something obviously went wrong. We have to get out with the evidence while we still can."
"Hey!" Beth's voice suddenly came from behind her. She jogged towards them, closing the laptop bag as she went.
"Are you done?" Sam asked.
"I've got it." Beth said, patting the bag. "But we can't leave yet."
Sam sighed brusquely. "We don't have a choice, we've been made."
"I know, but I've got an idea. I know how we can still save Mom."
Jack sat leaning against the wall in the cell, side by side with General Sam Carter.
"So … I have a question." Jack started.
"Just one?" The General asked teasingly with a smile.
"Why no weapons? A zat, or even a knife, would have come in very handy."
"They have weapon detection systems." She answered. "Your cover would have been blown instantly."
"Carter thought that would be the reason." He admitted begrudgingly. "Ok, another question. Why not stipulate in the plan that I take the transmitter injector thingy? I could have just injected you with the transmitter right now, job done."
"They'd have found it on you when you were captured. Didn't they frisk you?"
"Oh … right." He thought for another moment. "Well, why didn't you inject yourself before they captured you in the first place?"
"They scanned me for transmitters when they captured me. They cut out the official one I had in my arm." She said, pushing up her sleeve and showing him a red scar on her forearm.
"Ouch." He said, sympathetically.
"Yeah, that wasn't fun." She said with a wince. "Plus, these transmitters are special. I coded them to only work with the transports I pre-programmed into Beth's tablet. It's the most secure means of transporting us all out possible, and can't be traced, blocked or hijacked. I didn't want that falling into the wrong hands."
"There's the Carter I know." Jack smirked fondly.
Sam smiled at him, a wide, genuine, open smile that startled him. She was looking at him like she knew him better than he knew himself, and loved him anyway. It was the smile of a woman who'd been his wife.
He looked away, feeling awkward and a little disturbed. "Sorry." He said, not sure what he was apologising for.
"Don't be." She said, and her tone made him look back at her. The steel shutters had come down behind the General's eyes again, blocking that glimpse he'd had of Sam.
"So … I have to ask. Why on Earth would a woman like you marry a chump like me?" He asked lightly.
Sam chuckled. "You have your moments."
"Ah, so I tricked you."
She laughed. "You couldn't if you tried."
She met his eyes then, a serious expression on her face. "She loves you. She has done for a long while, and she will do for the rest of her life. You'll marry her, and you'll have two beautiful children, and you'll be happy. But –" she held up a finger, "you have to wait for it. You have to win the war first."
"Win the war?" Jack repeated. "You mean with the Goa'uld?"
General Carter just smiled sagely. "Don't break the regs, and don't quit before the job's done. Earth is still more important. Just take comfort in the knowledge that you'll get what you want eventually."
Jack looked at her for a long moment, feeling a little shell-shocked. "I can do that." He said eventually.
"Good." She said, leaning her head back against the wall and closing her eyes tiredly, and in the dim light of the room the dark stain of dried blood stood out starkly on her temple and cheek against her fair skin and dyed-blonde hair.
"How are you doing?" He asked.
"I'll be fine. This is far from my first concussion."
"Just … keep me posted. Let me know if it starts getting worse."
She reached out and patted his knee, with her eyes still closed. "Don't fret Colonel. Neither of us die on this one, I promise."
He blew out a tense breath and chuckled ruefully.
"Whatever you say, General."