Chapter 20

Sam groaned against the morning light streaming in through the window. Her eyelids felt heavy as she dragged them open and blinked to clear her vision. The last thing she could remember was Jack carrying her away from a Stargate. A faint image of Jack's hands glowing flitted through her mind, but it was fuzzy and disjointed.

Beside her, a faint snore reached her ears at the same time her brain registered the heavy arm wrapped around her midsection. She froze at the distinct feeling of a warm body pressed against her side. Glancing to her left, she almost yelped at the sight of Jack's silvery head buried in the pillow next to hers.

What the hell had happened? She squeezed her eyes shut, willing herself to remember. Nothing. Blackness and fear for herself and their child.

Their child! Sam sat up suddenly. Was she still…"Sir?" Sam turned her head and met a pair of warm brown eyes.

"You're okay. You're both okay," Jack replied, pushing himself into a sitting position next to her on the bed.

Bed wasn't exactly the right word. There wasn't a mattress per se. It was more like a wide cot covered in soft moss.

"The Nox!" Sam exclaimed at the memory of Jack carrying her toward Lya's home and placing her on the alter.

"They healed you."

"You know that's not exactly true," Lya's voice came from the doorway. "Good morning, friends."

Shifting to his feet, Jack stood up. He was still dressed, except his boots. "Good morning, Lya," Jack replied, running a hand through his hair and over his stubbly whiskers.

"How are you feeling, Samantha?" Lya asked, coming fully into the room and resting her palm lightly on Sam's abdomen.

"I'm," Sam paused to assess her body. "Good." Her tone conveyed her surprise.

"The little one within you grows stronger," Lya smiled softly. "This is good," she added at Sam's concerned gaze.

"I remember—," she glanced at Jack, the feeling of being in his arms as he carried her flashing again through her mind. Even though she'd been dying, she'd felt safe. "I don't remember much," she amended, unwilling to elaborate.

"You were on death's door by the time we made it here," Jack explained. "Lya and Anteaus saved you."

"No, Jack," Lya shook her head. "We merely provided the conduit. You saved your mate."

Sam's eyes snapped to Jack's as her brain tried to comprehend both him saving her and being called his mate. Unwilling to think about the later right now, she focused on the former. "How did you save me, sir?"

"I honestly don't know," Jack shrugged. "There was a glowing light," he offered unhelpfully.

"Your mate accessed the dormant healing powers within him," Lya explained.

"How?" Sam asked again, her head spinning with questions.

"Like I said," Jack answered semi-impatiently, "I really don't know. I just sort of knew what to do."

"But—"

"You are healed," Lya interrupted, "that is all that matters. The how is merely noise that drowns out the truth." She turned to leave, pausing at the doorway. "The morning meal is ready. Join us, please."

Once they were alone, Sam swung her legs off the bed and stood up. She swayed slightly, but found her equilibrium quickly. She expected a wave of nausea to envelope her, but it didn't. Instead, calmness settled around her.

"How long was I out?" She asked when Jack just kept watching her intently, as if he also expected something more to happen.

"About 12 hours," he replied. "You scared the hell out of me, Carter."

The tone of his voice was rough and filled with emotion—more emotion than Sam had ever felt from him. His eyes were sincere, conveying something she couldn't quite accept. Something she'd thought had never truly existed and it scared her.

"I'm fine," Sam said, ignoring what was right in front of her. "Lya said it herself. We're both okay," she placed a hand protectively on her stomach.

Jack nodded once, a mask of good-naturedness settling on his face. "Come on," he motioned for her to follow him, "let's go eat. I remember the Nox had fairly decent grub, if you don't mind all the plants."

Daniel mumbled to himself as he dialed Jack's cell phone number for the hundredth time. It went to voicemail. Again. Growling, he slammed the phone back into the cradle. "Dammit Jack," he said through clenched teeth.

After having informed Woolsey of the original Kisqua plan, they'd immediately contacted General Hammond. But Hammond had not been able to locate Sam or Jack. The pair had apparently wasted no time disappearing into thin air. Daniel couldn't blame them, given the disturbing outcome of the negotiations, but the clock was ticking and time was running out for Sam.

"O'Neill would not ignore your calls unless he had good reason," Teal'c said from across the room.

"I know," Daniel sighed, "and that's what scares me the most. What if—" he trailed off, unwilling to voice his greatest fear.

"Had something happened to Colonel Carter, we would know," Teal'c replied.

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because O'Neill would burn everything to the ground in retaliation," Teal'c said in a low, deadly voice.

Daniel swallowed hard. Teal'c wasn't wrong. Jack would stop at nothing to end anyone or anything that willfully hurt Sam. Even their own government.

"You have not yet considered one other possible reason for O'Neill's silence," Teal'c said, interrupting Daniel's thoughts.

"What's that?"

"They are beyond communications range."

"Jack's phone has a satellite option, it works anywhere on Earth—ohh," Daniel's eyes widened as Teal'c's meaning became clear. "But how?"

"The Stargate is only one means of interstellar transportation, and both O'Neill and Colonel Carter have many friends."

"The one with child is no longer on Earth," Cholti's security advisor announced. "The tracking beacon Britony placed inside the female stopped transmitting three hours ago. And the transponder I planted in their gate room is still active."

"They didn't vanish into thin air!" Cholti began to roar, then reigned in his fury. Cholti was on Earth, in not-so-elaborate guest quarters that had promptly been "offered" after he'd sent Britony to speak with the one called Daniel. He knew dropping that particular piece of information would result in a veiled demand for him and his delegation to stay on Earth. Stupid humans.

"Did you scan for any ships in orbit?" Cholti asked his advisor.

"Yes, sir," the man responded. "There is one Earth vessel, but no life signs are aboard that match the woman or the Alteran. However, I did detect one Tel'tak ship. It's gone now."

"Life signs?"

"Unknown," the security advisor frowned. "The sensor detected one intermittent human life sign, but there was a symbiote present."

"Intermittent?" Cholti cocked his head suspiciously. "Why would a life sign be intermittent?"

"Unclear, sir," the security advisor shifted nervously. He'd already pissed off Cholti once. Doing so twice was akin to a death sentence. "But I've seen this once before when the Asgard used a disrupter device to block our scans."

"The Asgard," Cholti sneered, "always inserting themselves where they don't belong."

"But why would a human with a symbiote have an Asgard disrupter?"

"I don't know," Cholti growled, "but I intend to find out."