Chapter 1 - A Crossroads of Dreams
Lost in the results glowing on her tablet, Sam barely noticed the Pentagon's bustling halls
as she headed to her office. Another bi-monthly meeting done, another stack of problems to
solve.
It had been five years since she started working at the Pentagon, and despite taking a few months
off after Grace was born, her hard work had earned her a high-ranking position tied to Area 51, all
while allowing her to remain living in Washington. It wasn't exactly what she wanted yet, but it had
brought her closer to her goals and gave her regular access to the technologies she was
passionate about.
Snapping back to reality as she arrived at her office door, Sam was surprised to find someone
waiting for her.
"Catherine!" she exclaimed, unable to hide her joy at seeing the woman she considered her
mentor, even though their areas of expertise were different. "Did you come to get lost in
Washington?" she asked after sharing a brief embrace.
Catherine Langford smiled and took the opportunity to observe her protégé during the hug.
"Samantha, I'm happy to see you too," she teased.
The two women entered the office, and Sam carefully closed the door to shield them from prying
ears before moving to her desk to set down her tablet and notes.
"Can I get you something to drink?" she offered as she headed toward a water carafe she kept
nearby.
Catherine nodded and scanned the room silently until Sam placed a glass of water in front of her.
"How's Gracie?" she finally asked.
The astrophysicist's face lit up at the mention of her daughter. "She's doing wonderfully! She's
grown so much since the last time you saw her." Sam paused, grabbing her phone to show a
video of Grace and Liz taken the night before. "She's begging me to start school this fall—I think
I'll have to give in before she exhausts all my knowledge."
Catherine watched the video with visible affection before handing the phone back to her protégé.
Sam put the device back in her pocket, and her face suddenly turned serious. "Not that I don't
love seeing you—far from it—but what brings you here, Catherine?" She circled her desk and
settled into her chair. "I doubt you came all the way from Colorado Springs just to see photos and
videos of my daughter."
Settling into one of the chairs across from the desk, Catherine reached into her briefcase and
pulled out a file, which she placed on the astrophysicist's desk, carefully positioning it at an angle
where the cameras couldn't record it.
The file was rather thick and bore the simple "SGC" emblem on its cover. Immediately recognizing
what it was, Sam looked up at Catherine, raising an inquisitive eyebrow. Her mentor nodded, and
Sam opened the file, quickly skimming the first few lines.
"I'm retiring, Samantha," Catherine said softly, her voice carrying both finality and pride. "And I
want to pass this on to someone who will make the most of it. Someone who already has."
"And you want me to work on this file?" the astrophysicist asked, flipping a page to examine a
detailed
sketch
of
a
Naquadah
reactor.
"I've
already
reviewed
several
of
the
files
you've
transferred to me, but I don't see what you expect from me with this one," she added, turning
another page that this time contained a transcription of Catherine and her team's work on the
Stargate.
"Not quite," the older woman replied with a sly smile. "I've come to offer you my position,
Samantha," she added calmly.
Crossing her arms in front of her, the younger woman closed the file and remained silent for a few
seconds, analyzing the situation. "There are probably people more qualified than me for this
position."
"Allow me to doubt that," Catherine replied with a small laugh.
"I'm not military; I left the Air Force a few years ago," Sam added.
"I've never been military. General O'Neill is perfectly fine with leaving the position to a civilian."
Catherine picked up her glass of water and took her time drinking a sip.
Sam's mind seemed to race. "I've heard he hates scientists," she continued, recalling the rumors
she'd heard about the gruff general who led the military base.
Catherine smiled, a glimmer of mischief lighting up her eyes at that moment. "I'm sure you and
Jack will get along just fine."
Uncrossing her arms, Sam took a deep breath. This position was everything she had ever
dreamed of, what she had worked tirelessly for from morning to night and what had kept her
enduring her clueless boss here for the past five years. Yet now that it was being handed to her on
a silver platter, she was filled with doubt. Working at a military base with access to alien planets
and soldiers in active combat left her paralyzed with doubt. Wasn't it too dangerous? And being a
single mother would probably "prohibit" her from going through the gate; she loved her daughter
more than anything in the world but didn't want to merely touch her dream without being able to
fully grasp it. And what would happen to Grace if something happened to her? She couldn't
possibly ask Liz to move with them to Colorado Springs, especially without being able to explicitly
tell her the nature of her work.
Sensing her protégé's wheels were turning and glancing briefly at her watch, Catherine slowly
rose from her chair and placed a card on the young woman's desk. "I don't want to rush you, but
I'll need your answer by tomorrow. Take the time to think it over and call me at this number when
you've decided." She gave Sam one last smile and left the room, already hurrying to meet the
vehicle waiting to take her to her next appointment.
The rest of the day passed in a kind of ambient fog. Sam attended her meetings and completed
her tasks, but her mind was entirely focused on Catherine's proposal. Did she have what it took to
head the scientific department of the SGC? Her résumé already included numerous top-secret
projects, but this was on a whole different level. Sam had worked on the Stargate multiple times
before, but always from a distance.
She picked up Grace from daycare on time and suddenly returned to reality as her daughter
bombarded her with new questions about freshwater fish. Yet Catherine's proposal kept looping in
her mind.
Grace, seated in her car seat, didn't seem to notice her mother was lost in thought. "Mommy, do
fish talk to each other to figure out where to swim?" she suddenly asked.
Sam chuckled softly as she parked in front of their house. "Not really, pumpkin. They have other
ways of communicating: movements, vibrations in the water… It's like they have their own secret
language."
Grace was quiet for a moment, her face taking on a very serious expression as she watched her
mother unbuckle her and help her out of the car. "Like you and Auntie Liz when you whisper
things I'm not supposed to hear?"
Sam smiled, feeling her mind calm as her daughter inadvertently offered a solution to her
problem. A conversation with Liz would help her gain some clarity. "Exactly! Except Liz and I don't
make vibrations in water."
Grace pouted a little, then ran to the house, seemingly forgetting the topic already. Sam closed
the car door and quickly followed her.
The evening passed without incident, but soon enough, the young woman found herself lost in
thought again, barely registering the questions her roommate asked during dinner. She remained
fully present for Grace's stories and questions, but as soon as her little whirlwind was tucked into
bed and fast asleep, Sam slipped right back into her thoughts.
Returning to the living room, Sam paused in the kitchen, the faint hum of the refrigerator
grounding her as she poured two large glasses of wine. The cool glass felt steady in her hand as
she carried them to the sofa. Liz was seated on the couch, busy working on a design for a client,
but as soon as she saw the astrophysicist, she set her tablet down on the coffee table and
accepted the glass of wine with a smile. She stayed quiet for a moment before finally turning to
her friend.
"Alright, Carter, spill it. You've been on the moon all evening—and not the astronaut kind."
Sam gave her a genuine smile. Though she was no longer surprised by Liz's uncanny ability to
read the emotions of those around her, she still appreciated how her best friend played such a
vital role in her life.
"It's classified, Liz," she said, taking a sip of her wine. "But basically, my mentor came by today
and offered me the job I've been dreaming of for years."
Liz nodded. "Okay, so why aren't we celebrating?"
"It's a much more dangerous job than what I'm doing now. And it's…" the astrophysicist sighed.
Liz interrupted her. "Classified, I know. You don't have to explain yourself, Carter." She finished
her sentence as she stood up to grab the wine bottle from the kitchen, sensing it would be
necessary for their conversation. "Tell me exactly what's holding you back."
Sam took a deep breath. "It's the position I've been working toward for years. But it's in Colorado
Springs, it's dangerous, and I don't know if I can handle leaving you, managing all this as a single
mother, and…" She paused, downing her glass in one gulp. "I think I'm terrified of putting my
dreams ahead of Grace and being selfish."
Liz accepted the silence that followed, refilling her friend's glass while she processed what Sam
had just shared. "Okay. What would make it easier for you to handle the situation?" she finally
asked. "You're not like your father, moving every year, Sam. You just want to move to follow your
dreams. Having a kid doesn't mean abandoning your dreams, you know."
The two friends exchanged a knowing look. Liz took a moment to sip her wine before adding,
"Colorado Springs, huh?" She picked up her tablet from the coffee table and typed for a few
moments. "Josh has been wanting to buy my shares of the shop for months. I didn't mention it to
you because with your job, I didn't think it made sense to suggest moving. But now…" She turned
the tablet toward Sam, showing her an offer Josh had sent a few weeks earlier to purchase her
shares. "I can open a shop in Colorado Springs, Sam. I don't care where we live. If it reassures
you and Munchkin, I'll come with you. And I've got investors who'd be happy to back me for a
new project—they even want me to work on several conventions abroad."
Sam felt her throat tighten with emotion. She stared at her friend's tablet in silence and downed
another glass of wine in one go. "Liz, I…"
"Nothing, Carter," Liz interrupted with a smile. "Take your phone, call Catherine, and tell her you're
accepting the job."
"And Grace?" the astrophysicist asked with a sigh. "This job could put her in danger. I don't want
that for her."
The two women sat in silence for a moment before Liz finally shrugged. "We all know the magic
you can work—whether it's in tech or with people…" She slowly untied her braid and ran a hand
through her jet-black hair. "Take the job. Leave Grace out of the files. You're not alone in this—I've
got your back."
Sam stayed silent, Liz's words sinking in like a lifeline. Her mind raced, piecing together
possibilities—then, as if a switch flipped, she stood abruptly, her decision clear. "Be right back!"
she announced, already pressing her phone to her ear.
Liz chuckled softly. "Say hi to Jacob for me," she said as she returned to her tattoo design on the
tablet.
Sam made a quick call to General Carter before heading to her desk, pulling Catherine's business
card out of her pocket as she paused by the window to watch the activity on the street below.
"Catherine?" she asked, waiting for confirmation from the other end of the line. "I'm accepting the
position. But there's one condition," Sam said, pausing as she bit her lower lip before continuing.
"Grace stays out of my file. No one knows she exists—ever. I've already made the arrangements."
