A/N: It's been a long minute hasn't it? Due to a lot of family issues, I had to take a break. But Offspring is back and I'll be posting regularly until the end of Part I. Thanks for hanging in there while I sort out life

Chapter 17

Jacob paced the small bridge of his Tel'tak, willing the blasted ship to go faster.

Jack is with her, Selmak reminded him for the tenth time. He's not going to let anything happen to her or their baby.

Jacob nodded, not trusting his own thoughts at the moment. Jack hadn't hurt Sam. That much Jacob knew with every fiber of his being. He was the one person in the entire universe Jake knew would never hurt Sammy that way, so as soon as Thor had named Jack as the father, Jacob had started demanding answers.

"A baby, Sel," Jacob finally stopped pacing and scrubbed his hands over his face. "My Sammy's having a baby." He took a deep breath and replayed his conversation with Thor in his head.

Despite the horrific way his newest grandchild had been conceived, Sam had decided to proceed with the pregnancy. Unfortunately, the Kisqua and the IOA had other ideas and were throwing a wrench into the works. Not on his watch, Jacob bristled. No way in hell.

His mission was crystal clear. While Thor was petitioning the Asgard High Council to defend Earth, Jacob was tasked with getting Sam and Jack to the Nox homeworld of Gaia. Thor had already consulted with Lya and Anteaus, who had agreed to provide sanctuary. They would not engage the Kisqua directly, which meant Sam and Jack had to find their own way across the galaxy, but they would provide shelter until the threat was eliminated. And that's where Jacob came in. He and Selmak were traveling to Earth to find Sam and Jack, and transport them to the nearest off-world Stargate. From there, they'd gate to Gaia while Jacob and Selmak rallied the Tok'ra's forces.

There was no doubt in Selmak's mind that the Kisqua would retaliate for the subterfuge, but she and Jacob were in complete agreement. The risk was worth it. Allowing the Kisqua access to the Ancient repository of knowledge was out of the question and they refused to give the Tok'ra High Council a chance to hide their heads in the sand. And that was something the Council would do in a heartbeat. Despite their superior attitudes, the Tok'ra were no more or less honorable than humans, a fact that alarmed Selmak greatly. For all their longevity, her brethren refused to evolve beyond their foolish pettiness.

We are within scanning range, Selmak told him, refocusing her host's attention to the task at hand.

Pressing a combination of buttons, a small panel of control crystals jutted out from the main console. Jacob carefully extracted a bright green crystal and replaced it with the Asgard device Thor had given him. It was programmed to locate those with the ATA gene, which should help Jacob pinpoint his daughter and Jack's location relatively quickly.

Closing the small panel, he placed his hands on the main control and intimated the scan. After a few moments, he growled in frustration. They weren't anywhere near the coordinates Thor had given him. Broadening the search, Jacob clenched his eyes shut. Leave it to Jack and Sam to make it difficult to track them, even with advanced alien technology.

"Dammit!" Jacob growled. "What if the Kisqua already found them?" He voiced his fear out loud.

Please relax, Selmak implored him. She didn't want to take over, knowing he preferred to be in control, but wouldn't hesitate if he was unable to focus. Our ship does not have the ability to scan the entire planet at once like an Asgard mothership. We simply need to target our scans. Now, think Jacob. If you were them, where would you go?

Jack rubbed Sam's back feeling utterly helpless as she dry heaved over the toilet. She'd been sick for the past hour. When her heaving finally ended, she sagged backward, allowing Jack to ease her against his chest. He looked down at her face and fought back a wave of panic. The skin under her eyes was sallow, marred by dark circles that made her face look even paler than before.

"C'mon," he lifted her easily, helping her to the bed in their motel room and setting her on the edge. The fact that she didn't protest his actions worried him more than anything.

Crossing back to the bathroom, he wet a washcloth with cold water before coming back to press it against the back of her neck. She shivered at the contact and mumbled thanks, closing her eyes as a wave of dizziness rolled over her.

"We need to move," she said, sucking in a breath through her nose and shifting her weight forward to stand up.

"Ah," Jack applied a light pressure to her shoulders to keep her sitting. "What you need is to stay put and rest."

"I've been resting ," she seethed the word as if it were blasphemous. "We need to get to Colorado."

Jack frowned, his mouth forming a thin line. She wasn't wrong, they needed to keep moving. But at the moment, he wasn't sure she was capable of it. Even with the most recent six hours of sleep, she looked bad. Really bad. Whatever was happening to Sam scared the shit out of him because he knew it wasn't right. She needed medical care, but to seek it meant letting the IOA know exactly where they were.

"Sir," she growled, forcing herself to her feet. She wobbled once, reaching out and grasping Jack's bicep to steady herself. "I'm good. Let's go."

"You're not good," he countered, warring with himself over what to do. "You need medical care."

"I'll be fine," she bit out, forcing herself to put one foot in front of the other. "I'll rest more in the car."

"Carter—" Jack started to protest, but there was a knock on the door. "Bathroom," he ordered her and drew his sidearm from the holster on his hip as she did the same. Once the bathroom door closed, he crossed to the motel room door as the knock turned into a bang.

"I know you're in there, Jack!" a familiar voice called. "Open the door!"

"Jacob?" Jack looked through the peephole before jerking open the door.

"I swear, a needle in a haystack is easier to find than the two of you," he growled, trudging into the room. "Would it have killed you to stay put in Minnesota?"

"Dad?" Sam asked as she opened the bathroom door.

"Hey, Sammy," Jacob's tirade instantly ended as he crossed the small room and pulled her into a gentle hug. "A little gray friend of yours said you needed some help."

"Thor?" Jack asked, reholstering his weapon after closing and bolting the door.

"What other little gray friends do you have?" Jacob quipped almost snidely before reigning in his attitude. It wasn't Jack's fault Sammy was in trouble.

"Point taken," Jack replied smoothly, ignoring Jacob's attitude.

"You look like hell, kid," Jacob told Sam after taking a good look at her.

"I'm fine," she bristled.

"No, she's not," Jack refuted. "She needs a doctor."

"I need to get off-world," she snapped back before slapping a hand over her mouth and darting into the bathroom. The sound of her dry heaving made both men wince in sympathy.

"Debbie was sick during both her pregnancies," Jacob sighed.

"It's more than that," Jack shook his head. "Something isn't right," he added in a low voice.

"What do you mean?"

"She's too sick," Jack tried to explain. "It's happening too fast. I don't know how I know, I just do." He said helplessly.

Jacob nodded, accepting the assessment without commenting. "I'm supposed to get you both to the nearest Stargate, which is about a three hour ride away in my tel'tak. The Nox have offered sanctuary."

Jack let out the breath he'd been holding. "Thor came through."

"He did," Jacob confirmed. "He's also currently rallying the troops, but his plan depends on me getting the two of you to Gaia without the Kisqua finding out."

"That's going to be a problem," Jack scowled, "Carter needs help."

" Carter will be fine," Sam snapped at him, exiting the bathroom on wobbly legs. She took two more steps before listing sideways into Jacob, who immediately caught her against him.

"Easy there, kiddo," Jacob steadied her, casting a worried look at Jack over her shoulder. "My tel'tak is cloaked just behind the building. Let's get you both on board and go from there."

Sam nodded, then closed her eyes to ward off the suddenly spinning room. Something was definitely going on, but no hospital or doctor on Earth was going to be able to help. She'd already figured out that the Kisqua had done something to her pregnancy. It was the only thing she could think of to account for the severity of her symptoms. Her body felt like it was beginning to fail, much like when Niriti had altered her DNA, but she wasn't about to tell that to Jack or Jacob. She just needed to make it to the Nox. Surely they'd have the ability to help her and her baby.

"C'mon Carter," Jack stepped close to her left side, allowing Jacob to support her right. "Let's get moving. The sooner we get to Gaia, the better."