Under the Ice - 1998
Sam hadn't stopped digging for a single moment. She poured all her rage into the movement, finding a kind of therapy in it. The physical pain helped her forget the emotional one. However, Jack's voice eventually broke through her stream of thoughts.
"Soup's on," he offered, pouring the warmed-up liquid.
"Just a little more. I'm almost through," she replied, gritting her teeth, without looking up.
"Come on, now," Jack sighed. "You don't want it to get cold," he murmured, unsure whether he was talking about the soup or the atmosphere between them.
Sam came closer with a sigh. "Ah. I didn't know you could cook," she said coldly.
"I can't," Jack replied, still not understanding her attitude. "But my melted ice is to die for," he offered, hoping to break the ice between them.
"Thank you," Sam muttered, taking the mug from his hands. She remained silent for a moment, warming her bruised fingers on the cup, wondering if he cooked for Diane. "So, maybe I should take another look at you," she finally said.
"I'm fine," he exhaled. "Eat." He fell silent for a while, lost in his thoughts. He was desperate to find a way to get her back to Earth. She didn't deserve to end her life here when so much awaited her at home. He thought about Cassie, and his heart tightened at the thought of the girl becoming an orphan a second time.
"I've been thinking about how the Stargate might have malfunctioned," Sam continued, choosing to focus on a train of thought she understood, not realizing Jack wasn't listening.
"Yeah?" Jack asked, distracted by a fresh wave of pain.
"Well, we don't totally understand how it works," she continued, without looking up at him. "But the theory we have is that the Gate creates an artificial wormhole that somehow transfers an energized matter stream in one direction along an extra-dimensional conduit." She took a breath and continued, unaware that Jack's condition was deteriorating. "I think the matter stream between Stargates got redirected, like a lightning bolt jumping from one point to another mid-strike. Now, I figure it had to have been the attack on P4A-771. The Gate itself was probably struck by enough energy during the firefight to influence the direction of the matter stream before we reached the other side." She suddenly froze, noticing Jack's face twisted in pain. "Colonel?" she asked in a softer voice.
He looked up at her and frowned. "I'm sorry. I wasn't listening," he admitted.
"What I'm saying is," Sam repeated gently, "we must have emerged through a Stargate relatively close to Earth in the Gate network. Somewhere between P41-771 and Earth. Now, if the SG rescue teams reach the same conclusion, it could significantly narrow their search."
"That's good news," Jack breathed.
"Yeah," Sam agreed. She observed Jack's labored breathing and frowned at his face, which was suddenly contorted with pain.
They finished their meal in silence, and Sam cleaned up before resuming her digging around the DHD. The silence between them was heavy, and neither seemed willing to make an effort to ease the tension.
"Colonel!" Sam suddenly exclaimed, freezing at her discovery as she pulled away ice to reveal a Jaffa hand. "A serpent guard." She glanced around them. "I guess he didn't make it."
"You think?" Jack asked, raising an eyebrow in a way that would have made Teal'c jealous.
Sam resisted the urge to roll her eyes, and they resumed their work in silence, her movements sharp and precise despite the fatigue.
"Have you ID'd the seventh symbol yet?" Jack asked, coughing.
"Yeah," Sam replied, seeming to come back to reality. "This one has to be the point of origin," she said, touching the symbol she didn't recognize. "I've never seen it before." Her flashlight suddenly dimmed, and she looked down with a sigh. "Oh no. Batteries." She sighed again. "Guess it's now or never."
Jack looked up at her and got momentarily lost in her gaze. "I've always preferred now to never," he murmured softly. But before he could continue, he was overcome by a violent coughing fit, and blood splattered onto the ice.
Sam closed her eyes at the sight of blood on the ice. A deep terror gripped her; she couldn't lose him, not now, not ever.
"Here goes," she whispered, trying to focus. The faster she got him back to Earth, the sooner he could be treated. She pressed the symbols for Earth's coordinates and watched anxiously as the gate slowly activated. But no vortex formed, and the gate shut down. "Damn it!" she shouted, hitting the ice. "Damn!" She held back the tears threatening to fall.
"Did you dial the right address?" Jack asked, his voice thick with pain.
"Yes," Sam replied, hitting the ice again. "It has to be something as simple as the control interface," she thought out loud. "If we can just dig down to the panel on the DHD, I can fix it."
Jack wiped his mouth and sighed again in pain. "Negative," he announced.
"Sir, we gotta keep trying!" Sam said, frustrated.
"Of course we do," Jack breathed. "But we've been awake for a very long time." He lowered his head, suddenly struggling to breathe. "It'll be there in the morning." Jack doubled over in pain. "God."
Sam watched him silently and bit her lip. "What about you?" she asked softly. What would happen if he didn't wake up in the morning? What would become of her without him?
Jack looked up at her, sensing her distress. "I told you we're gonna get out of here," he said, inhaling slowly. "It's just gonna take longer than we thought."
Nodding gently, Sam lowered her gaze to the ice. "Yes, sir." She didn't believe a word of it but didn't have the energy to argue.
"Captain," Jack growled, forcing her to look up at him.
"Yes, sir," Sam repeated, adding a bit more conviction to her words.
They exchanged a long look, and she held back the tears threatening to fall. This wasn't the time to show any sign of weakness.