Our Legacy - Chapter 9
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.
"No." Sam said emphatically. "It's way too risky."
"It'll work! Just think about it, Mom must have known this was going to happen, and she knew we'd figure out a way to save her anyway, that's why she didn't warn us. It'll work because it already has done – we can't fail because we've already succeeded!" Beth argued.
"You know, you can only take that argument so far." Sam said, feeling strained.
"No, she's right." Jake said. "We know for a fact that this mission is a success, which means we have to do everything we can to try and complete it, even if the odds look bad."
Sam took a few steps away, thinking. She understood the argument, and knew she'd be making the same one in Beth and Jake's positions, but she felt the weighty responsibility of holding General Carter's children's lives in her hands, and was reluctant to take any risks with them.
On the other hand, they were right. And she could take steps to minimise the risk to them.
"Ok." She said after a long moment. "We'll do it. But – I'll be the one who goes down there. You two stay hidden up here with the transporter tablet, ready to get us out if it goes bad."
Beth and Jake looked at each other, and then nodded. "Ok."
"Go and hide, get out of sight, and keep that transporter tablet safe – if we lose that we're screwed, and all this will have been for nothing."
"We've got it." Jake said confidently. He pulled the transmitter injector from his belt. "Here. You'll need this."
He dropped it into her palm, and she tucked it safely away. "Go."
"Good luck." Beth said, and she and Jake took off, deeper into the building.
Sam took a deep breath, and headed back to the stairs. This was a very, very risky play – but she had to have faith in her future self's judgement, and trust that it would all work out.
The first part was arguably the most dangerous: getting down to the building's sublevels without being caught. She knew there were at least six or so guards left in the building – probably more. And at least one – probably more – was armed with a zat.
There were two ways down – the stairs or the elevator. The elevator was too risky. It was the dead of night, eerily silent, and anyone down there would hear the elevator coming. Which left the stairs.
She made the top of the stairs without incident, and proceeded downwards, quickly but cautiously, ready to defend herself if needs be. When she reached the ground floor, she breathed a sigh of relief, and peeked through the window in the door that led to the lobby. She would need to pass through it to access the staircase that led down into the sub-levels.
No one was in the lobby itself, but she could see on the other side of the lobby the door to the security control room was open, and there was activity inside – the guys Serena had knocked out had been found. She watched for a moment, trying to judge whether she could get in and out of the lobby without being seen.
The best she could do was a maybe.
Deciding that would have to do, she slowly, carefully, pushed the door open. When it was open enough for her to get through, she slipped in, and carefully closed it behind her. Then she edged around the corner towards the corridor that led to the basement staircase, forcing herself not to move so quickly that she'd catch someone's attention.
With every step she was sure she'd hear the tell tale sounds of discovery, but she made the end of the corridor without incident, and pulled the door open with relief.
There were guards on the stairs. Crap.
She ducked out of sight quickly, listening intently. They hadn't seen her. They were, however, blocking her path down. She looked around, trying to find another option.
Fortunately, dumb luck was on her side.
A male, British voice announced on their radios that the group of guards who'd been sent to check on the server level had failed to report in, and could this group go after them? They moved quickly up the last few stairs, passed her hiding place, and exited into the lobby.
Sam peeked around the corner once more, and was relieved to find the stairs now blessedly empty. Down the stairs, and she started looking for her next target – an air vent. She found an access point in a side room, and pulled a table under it so that she could reach. The screwdriver that General Carter had put in her utility belt suddenly made a whole lot of sense, and she grinned as she fished it out and used it to unscrew the panel.
Once the panel was off, she pulled herself up into the vent. It was a tight fit, but manageable.
Now all she had to do was find her way through the vents to General Carter's cell.
"How long has it been since they captured you?" General Carter asked Jack.
"They took my watch, but I would guess, about an hour."
"Won't be much longer then." She said. "Keep an eye on that air vent."
Jack looked around, and spotted the air vent in the ceiling. "Why, what's it going to do?" He asked warily.
"That, my dear Colonel, is the door through which our salvation will come. Just keep an eye on it."
He did.
Nothing happened.
After ten minutes of nothing happening, he looked at the General askance, wondering if she was having him on, as a means to entertain herself and pass the time. That's when he heard a muffled thump and a curse from directly above his head.
He stood, looking up at the air vent. "Hello?" He whispered.
There was a beat of silence, then: "Colonel?"
"Carter! We're down here!"
There was a scuffling sound as she wriggled and crawled the last few feet towards the vent, and then the sound of metal on metal – she was unscrewing the panel. He took up position, ready to catch it, and thanked their lucky stars that the commotion in the building had limited the guard-posts to outside the room, rather than inside as well.
She released the last screw and he caught the panel as it swung free. Her youthful face appeared in the hole.
"Hi sir." She grinned. Her gaze wondered over to the General. "Ma'am." The General snorted in unladylike mirth at the honorific from her younger self.
Sam wriggled around a bit, and then reached down to Jack, with something in her hand. "The injector." She explained.
Jack took it from her. He caught her hand before she withdrew it, and gave it a quick squeeze. "Thanks Carter."
She looked at him curiously at the uncharacteristic act of affection, and then propped herself up on her elbows. "I would think I should get out of here before we get caught, but as long as you get that transmitter into the General, it won't matter."
Jack nodded and headed over to the older woman, injector in hand.
"This is supposed to go in your upper arm." He said, gesturing to her long sleeved shirt.
"Fine." She sighed, and unbuttoned it enough that it would pull down over her left shoulder, displaying a bit more of her senior-citizen's body than he was entirely comfortable with seeing. The General smirked in the direction of the vent with narrowed eyes. "That's right, Major, this will be you one day."
He heard Carter clear her throat nervously and shift around uncomfortably, and he chuckled as he pressed the injector into the senior Carter's upper arm. "Be nice." He said.
The General took a sharp breath as the injector pierced her skin, and then it was done.
Jack withdrew, and the General did her blouse buttons back up. He looked between the two Carters expectantly. "So … that's it?"
"That's it." Sam nodded. She touched her ear. "Beth, do you copy?"
There was a beat of silence – Jack's communicator of course was no longer in any condition to pick up Beth's response, if there was one.
She obviously had responded though, because a moment later Carter continued. "The mission was a success, General Carter has the transmitter – we're ready to go."
Carter met his eyes again and nodded. He looked at his boots and breathed a sigh of relief.
There was a bright flash of light, and the three of them were gone.