Fanfiction: The Damaged Trilogy - Part III

[rachel500]

For disclaimers and author's note see Part I.

 

Damaged Crystal

Teal’c carefully examined the package in its garish wrapping paper and raised his eyebrows at the smiling Santas.

‘Oh for crying out loud, Teal’c,’ Jack said, gesturing at him impatiently, ‘just open the da…’

‘Colonel.’ Janet’s voice whipped across the infirmary room where the team were gathered to exchange Christmas presents with Cassie. As Sam was still restricted to base, Janet had agreed to bring Cassie to them before she and the young girl flew to Janet’s parents’ home for the holidays.

‘…darn,’ Jack hastily corrected sneaking a glance at the petite doctor, ‘present already.’

There were giggles from the bed opposite. Jack glanced across and pretended to scowl ferociously at Cassie. He couldn’t hold the expression though at the sight of her on Sam’s lap, the two of them cuddling each other happily; he could almost believe the last few weeks hadn’t happened.

‘Open it, Teal’c! Open it!’ Cassie said cheerfully.

The Jaffa slowly untied the curly ribbon knot that decorated the gift.

Jack covered his eyes and shook his head in disbelief as Cassie giggled louder. Daniel circled the room with the video camera, zooming in on the happy child.

‘You want a hand there big guy?’ Jack asked dryly as Teal’c moved on to cautiously pull the tape away from the wrapping paper.

‘I do not.’ Teal’c said firmly. He finally managed to extract the slim flat box and lifted the lid. He opened it up and saw the framed picture of one of Cassie’s drawings as he had expected; they had all received one as a gift. But each picture was specific to the recipient and his featured himself with a woman and a child at a picnic.

Cassie wriggled off Sam’s lap and dived over to Teal’c. ‘See, Teal’c. It’s your family.’ She pointed at the young boy in her painting. ‘That’s Rya’c.’

‘I see.’ Teal’c confirmed with a lump in his throat. He bowed his head at Cassie. ‘I am honoured by your gift.’

She reached up and hugged him.

Jack realised he was grinning inanely along with the other adults in the room. He glanced over at Sam and saw her blue eyes were bright with unshed tears. He resisted the urge to cross the room and hug her. She’d gotten a little formal around him since breaking down in front of the team and Jack respected her need for a little distance; he didn’t like it but he respected it. He knew she was talking to Daniel; he’d eavesdropped on them when he’d stopped by the archaeologist’s office one day and found them together discussing the Tok’ra. His gut churned over.

He wasn’t jealous, he mused defiantly. She and Daniel had a completely different relationship, one not hampered with the restrictions of military ranks and positions. He was her CO; it wasn’t any wonder she wasn’t comfortable confiding in him. He understood it. He wasn’t overly comfortable with the idea of confiding in his CO no matter how much he liked Hammond personally. Daniel was a civilian and he and Sam had always clicked as people probably better than Jack and Sam had despite their shared military background. If Sam was confiding in Daniel then Jack was just pleased she was confiding in someone. Yeah, right, Jack thought derisively as he noticed Daniel slide onto the bed next to Sam and nudge her arm.

Janet stood and brandished her own camera. ‘OK, group picture and then we have to leave to catch our flight.’

Cassie’s dramatic groan had them all smiling even as she crossed back to the bed and climbed back up onto Sam’s knee. Jack moved swiftly to sit on the other side of Sam as Teal’c took a standing position next to Daniel.

‘Smile!’ Janet shouted.

They all dutifully grinned as the flash blinded them.

Janet lowered the camera.

‘Can I get a copy of that, Doc?’ Jack asked.

‘Me too.’ Sam said.

Janet held up a hand before Teal’c and Daniel could add their requests. ‘I’ll get you all a copy, I promise.’ Her dark eyes fell to the young girl she had adopted. ‘Now we have to leave.’

A flurry of hugs later and Cassie was gone taking with her the presents SG1 had given her and leaving behind a stack of torn wrapping paper. They started to gather the debris.

‘I do not understand.’ Teal’c murmured. ‘What is the purpose of wrapping the gift?’

‘It adds to the excitement, Teal’c.’ Jack answered before Daniel could provide the factual version.

Teal’c raised an eyebrow.

‘Actually,’ Daniel began earnestly, ‘the practice of wrapping the gifts only started in the…’

‘Daniel.’ Jack cautioned him. ‘I don’t want to know.’

‘But…’ Daniel’s twinkling blue eyes gave away that he was teasing the other man.

‘Ah!’ Jack held up a finger. ‘No history lessons. You’re banned for the next three days until after Christmas.’

Sam straightened and crumpled the wrapping she held in her hand. ‘You know you guys don’t have to stay here on Christmas Day.’ She said casually. It touched her that they had all opted to spend the day with her on base but a part of her felt incredibly guilty.

‘Where else would we be?’ Jack replied easily without looking at her.

‘It is my understanding that Christmas is a day to spend with family, Captain Carter.’ Teal’c added. ‘And are we not family?’

Sam smiled. Sometimes it seemed like her team were more of a family to her than her own flesh and blood. The conversation with her father confirming she wouldn’t be home for Christmas had been difficult. He had seemed unusually upset. ‘Yes, we are but…’

‘Colonel O’Neill, please report to the control room. Colonel O’Neill to the control room.’

Jack smiled and handed Daniel his rubbish. ‘It looks like I’m needed elsewhere.’

‘You set that up deliberately to get out of clean up.’ Daniel said accusingly, his eyes narrowing on Jack suspiciously.

Jack smiled and left. He made his way to the control room almost jauntily. He hadn’t arranged the summons but he couldn’t deny he was pleased to get out of the chore of tidying up. He practically bounced into the gate control room where Hammond was already stood staring out at the Stargate.

‘Sir?’ Jack came to a halt beside the older man.

Hammond sighed. ‘We have a situation.’

Jack sobered abruptly and waited for information.

The General gestured at the computer monitor where images were replaying of a MALP recording. ‘This is P2A108.’

‘The one we’re considering as an alternate Alpha site?’ Jack clarified. ‘Wasn’t there some issue with the gate using too much power when it dialled there?’

‘That’s correct.’ Hammond agreed, surprised that Jack knew about it.

Jack shrugged. ‘Captain Carter may have mentioned it.’ He’d stopped supervising her a week before and he already missed sharing a working environment with her on base. It showed the excellent progress Sam was making that she was being allowed to work without supervision, Jack thought determinedly, and besides, given his feelings for her it was maybe for the best they re-established some distance between them. He tuned back in as he realised Hammond had begun to speak again.

‘She was the one who spotted the problem with the power usage.’ Hammond noted. ‘Two days ago, Doctor Miznyk was able to establish an outgoing wormhole without the increased power outage by changing the dialling protocol.’ He gestured. ‘I won’t bore you with the specifics.’

‘Excellent, sir.’ Jack commented.

‘Yes.’ Hammond sighed. ‘I agreed to Doctor Miznyk’s request that he go through to P2A108 to find out what was causing the issue at their end. His theory was that there must be technology there that initiated the power increase. We were hoping we could utilise it to draw energy from incoming wormholes ourselves. It might help offset some of the huge electricity bills.’

‘I see, sir.’ Jack said.

‘SG2 and Doctor Miznyk left twenty-eight hours ago. We’ve heard nothing since then.’

‘They missed their check-point.’ Jack surmised.

‘We sent another MALP but all we got was this.’ Hammond gestured at the screen. ‘Thirty seconds of images before the device went dead.’

Jack watched the image with a frown. The Stargate was obviously located in a temple. The area in front of the gate seemed empty; no signs of struggle. He could clearly see a DHD. ‘There doesn’t seem to be any obvious reason for them not to have checked in, sir.’

‘That was my conclusion.’ Hammond admitted. ‘I want you to take a team to P2A108.’

‘Yes, sir.’ Jack nodded and placed his hands behind his back as he drew himself into a semblance of the ‘at ease’ position. ‘Sir, if this is a problem related with the gate technology on the other side,’ he met Hammond’s eyes squarely, ‘it’s going to need Captain Carter’s expertise.’

Hammond pressed his lips together as he mulled over Jack’s words. The same thought had occurred to him. He gave a sharp nod. ‘Very well. I’ll authorise Captain Carter to go with you on this mission.’

‘Thank you, sir.’ Jack said.

‘Get your team, Colonel and be ready to depart in thirty minutes. Dismissed.’ Hammond ordered, turning back to the Stargate.

Jack headed out to break the news to the rest of SG1; they were back to work.

o-O-o

‘Chevron six encoded.’

Jack checked around at his team-mates and placed the baseball cap securely on his head. ‘Everyone good to go?’ Daniel and Teal’c nodded and he turned his attention to their female team-mate. ‘Carter?’

‘Yes, sir.’ Sam answered a little nervously as the vortex mushroomed out before settling back into the usual blue shimmering puddle.

Jack saw a shadow cross her eyes before she shook it off. ‘Like riding a bike, Captain.’

‘Yes, sir.’ Sam replied absently. Her fingers clutched her MP5 a little tighter.

‘Let’s head out.’ Jack said firmly. He ushered his team up the ramp; Teal’c first, then Daniel, then Sam; he went last. He took a last look back at the control room where Hammond was watching anxiously before stepping into the wormhole.

He stepped out on P2A108. He skipped past his team who had come to a relaxed halt on the steps leading down and scowled at the sight of the SG2 leader walking towards them with the young Lieutenant on his team. ‘Ferretti. Lieutenant Corrigan.’

‘Colonel.’ Lou Ferretti saluted briskly as did Corrigan.

‘What’s going on, Ferretti?’ Jack asked. ‘You forget to put on your watch?’

‘No, sir.’ Ferretti shook his head. ‘The gate doesn’t work.’ His dark eyes shifted to Sam. ‘I can’t tell you how glad I am to see you, Captain.’

Jack waved a hand as Sam smiled back at the other officer appreciatively. ‘Did you just say the gate doesn’t work?’

‘Doesn’t that mean we’re all trapped here?’ Daniel added as he produced a large handkerchief and took off his glasses, rubbing the small panes clear of mist.

‘That’s right.’ Ferretti waved at the DHD. ‘Einstein figured out that it was bust DHD.’

‘Einstein?’ Jack asked as he looked around the hall.

‘Doctor Miznyk.’ Ferretti expanded.

‘Where is Doctor Miznyk, sir?’ Sam asked. ‘I’d like to confer with him on his findings so far.’

‘He’s not in good shape, Captain.’ Ferretti said. He pointed at the DHD. ‘He pretty much lost it when he realised we were stuck here.’

‘We’ve been stuck before and made it home.’ Jack said confidently. ‘Any indigenous population for us to worry about, Ferretti?’

‘Doctor Yancy says this place was abandoned a while ago, sir.’

‘OK.’ Jack turned to Sam. ‘Captain, why don’t you start,’ he gestured vaguely at the DHD, ‘doing your thing.’

‘Yes, sir.’ Sam headed to the device.

Jack nodded at Teal’c. ‘Teal’c, you help Carter with the DHD.’

The Jaffa inclined his head understanding his role was to guard the Captain from danger as well as provide her with assistance.

‘So, give me a run down of what happened, Ferretti.’ Jack ordered.

‘Not much to say, sir.’ Ferretti said. ‘We arrived; secured the gate. Everything seemed fine.’ He sighed. ‘We began to get organised and I ordered Corrigan here to send the MALP back.’

Jack turned back to the Lieutenant. ‘Corrigan?’

The blond haired officer nodded. ‘I dialled Earth, sir, just like always and nothing happened.’

‘Miznyk took a look at the DHD and declared the crystal was damaged.’ Ferretti said. ‘He pretty much lost it. We implemented basic survival training; I ordered a search of the area. We found some ruins of an old village a couple of clicks from here. This temple seemed like a good structure to provide shelter for a prolonged period. We figured the SGC would send a MALP and hoped to get a message back to Earth at least warning them not to send a rescue party.’

‘But the second MALP malfunctioned.’ Daniel said.

‘I don’t know what happened to it.’ Ferretti said. ‘It had hardly made it through the gate when it just…died but the same thing happened to the original.’

‘Really?’ Daniel asked.

‘Yeah, we didn’t get much telemetry.’ Ferretti acknowledged. ‘We figured the MALP was defective and Hammond authorised the mission based on the fact that the telemetry we received back looked OK.’

Jack and Daniel exchanged a look.

‘I guess he won’t be doing that again.’ Daniel murmured as he admired the architecture.

‘Daniel?’ Jack said, peering at the ornate pillars and arches that had caught Daniel’s attention.

‘Looks Greek.’ Daniel said, placing his hands on his hips and staring up at the delicately carved marble.

Ferretti waved at the room they were in. ‘I’ll think you’ll be excited to see this place, Daniel. Yancy thinks there some deep religious significance in the writings on the walls in the other rooms.’

‘There’s writing?’ Daniel repeated.

‘You had to tell him?’ Jack muttered. Daniel shot him a look which he ignored. Jack motioned at Ferretti. ‘Why don’t you give us a tour?’

Ferretti nodded and gestured around him. ‘Yancy thinks this was the main hall.’ He waved at the central statue of a beautiful woman that adorned the centre.

‘It’s Hera.’ Daniel said, circling the large statue.

‘Exactly, Doctor Jackson.’ A thin brown haired man called from a doorway across the hall.

‘Doctor Yancy.’ Daniel gestured up at the nine foot tall marble. ‘This is incredible.’

‘You should see the ante-chamber.’ He waved him over and they followed him through the doorway into an ornate room.

‘Wow.’ Daniel spun around, his eyes travelling from one side to the other. The walls were plated in gold and inscribed with a complex set of symbols. ‘I don’t recognise this.’

‘Are you saying it’s all Greek to you?’ Jack quipped.

‘No,’ Daniel frowned at the symbols, only half listening to his friend. ‘No. It’s not Greek.’

Jack rolled his eyes as Ferretti sniggered.

‘It’s like no language I’ve seen before.’ Yancy said with satisfaction. ‘I’ve been documenting it since we arrived here yesterday.’

‘You have it on film?’ Daniel asked.

‘No, I’ve been concentrating on doing traces.’ Yancy admitted, his dark eyes shining with an eager passion that Jack recognised; he’d seen it too often in Daniel’s. ‘I figured we had time since we’re stuck here forever.’

‘You might want to get it on film.’ Jack pointed out to Daniel. ‘If Carter gets that gate working we could be leaving in a hurry.’

Daniel nodded as Yancy froze.

‘Captain Carter’s with you?’ Yancy asked worriedly.

Jack stiffened at his tone and he pinned him with a hard gaze. ‘Is there a problem, Doctor Yancy?’

‘No, sir.’ Yancy shuffled under Jack’s regard. ‘It’s just…I didn’t realise she would be able to come off-world so soon after her…experience.’

Jack held his gaze for another heartbeat before he turned to Daniel. ‘I take it you’re going to be busy here?’

Daniel nodded. The room was a valuable archaeological find.

Jack sighed. ‘That’s what I thought.’ He gestured at Ferretti. ‘Let’s leave the geeks to it.’

‘I heard that, Jack.’ Daniel said testily.

‘I know.’ Jack shouted over his shoulder.

Ferretti led the way back to the main hall and through a doorway on the opposite side. ‘We’re camped out in the next room.’

Jack’s eyes scanned the room carefully. SG2 had set up at the back of the room. There was a clearly identified sleeping area, operations centre and a cooking and eating area.

‘Nice.’ Jack said.

Ferretti pointed back at another door. ‘That leads to the outside. Taylor’s guarding the entrance now and we posted a watch last night but this place was abandoned a long time ago.’

Jack glanced down at the accumulated dust and dirt at his feet. ‘Or your housekeeping is really bad.’

Ferretti grinned. ‘My wife would agree with you, sir.’

o-O-o

Sam sat back on her haunches. She unwrapped the ration bar and bit into it chewing thoughtfully. She had opened the DHD up and she stared at the contents of its inner workings as she ate. She glanced over at Teal’c who was standing by the edge of the steps. It was standard protocol to have someone stay with her, Sam told herself. The Colonel hadn’t ordered Teal’c to stay with her because he didn’t trust her; she doubted she would be on the mission at all if the Colonel didn’t trust her. She pushed the thoughts aside. She had a problem to focus on, she reminded herself. Her focus should be on how to fix the gate not whether the Colonel trusted her.

‘Is something troubling you, Captain Carter?’ Teal’c asked.

Sam looked up surprised. ‘No.’ She denied. ‘I was just thinking.’ She finished her snack and headed back to the DHD. She frowned at her laptop and tapped on the keyboard bringing up the latest readings of the monitoring equipment she had set up. She glanced up at the sound of approaching footsteps and got to her feet as Ferretti and Jack approached.

Jack nodded in acknowledgement to Teal’c before turning to Sam. ‘Captain?’

She gestured at the guts of the DHD. ‘There is a crack in the control crystal, sir, but that isn’t our problem.’

‘Why do I get the feeling I’m not going to like this?’ Jack sighed and plucked his baseball hat off his head to look at her fully.

‘Even though the control crystal is damaged, I’m not sure it would prevent us from establishing an outgoing wormhole. In theory, we should be able to link the power from the DHD directly to the gate,’ Sam explained, ‘and dial the gate manually.’

‘Like you tried back when we went to rescue Ernest.’ Jack said.

‘Exactly.’ Sam would have smiled at him but the situation was too serious. ‘Unfortunately, we can’t do that here.’

‘Why not?’ Ferretti demanded.

‘Because there is no power.’ Sam said. She knelt in front of the DHD column. ‘You see this here?’

Jack glanced at the panel and wiring blankly. ‘What am I looking at, Carter?’

‘Someone rigged this section of the DHD as a power buffer.’ Sam gestured at it. ‘It’s the reason why our power usage at the SGC for dialling here was so high originally. The whole system has been Macgyvered to draw energy through the incoming wormhole and store it here. It’s ingenious really…’

‘I’m sure it’s fascinating, Carter,’ Jack said cutting across her, ‘but what does this have to do with us having no power?’

‘Well, in theory, sir, I think the system was designed so that the energy needed for an outgoing wormhole would be drawn directly from an incoming wormhole.’ Sam hurried out. ‘So you see what I’m saying, sir.’

‘No.’ Jack replied honestly.

‘When the SGC limited the power usage at our end, the system here wasn’t able to draw enough power to sustain an outgoing wormhole for us to depart.’ Sam expanded.

‘You mean we marooned ourselves.’ Ferretti stated with a sigh.

She nodded. ‘I think I’ve also figured out why the system was rigged that way.’

‘Well, don’t keep me in suspense, Captain.’ Jack said sarcastically.

‘Something seems to be affecting the electrical energy in this area.’ Sam said.

‘That’s why our MALPs failed?’ Ferretti whistled.

Sam nodded again. ‘I think so. So far, my laptop and the radio transmitters seem fine but I don’t know how long for.’

Jack pinched the bridge of his nose. ‘So we need an alternative power source.’

‘It’s not that simple, sir.’ Sam said firmly. ‘Even if we found another power source for the gate, it would become useless very quickly if we brought it into this area.’

He looked at her steadily. ‘Options?’

‘It’s likely that the SGC will attempt to send another MALP when we fail to report in tomorrow morning, sir.’ Sam said. ‘If I can restore some power to one of the MALPs here, I may be able to program a message to be transmitted automatically back to the SGC when the Stargate is activated asking them to dial here again but not to limit the power usage at their end.’

‘So the system gets enough energy so we can dial out.’ Ferretti beamed at her. ‘That’s a great plan, Captain.’

‘If you can restore power to the MALP before the SGC dials here in,’ Jack checked his watch, ‘approximately twenty-two hours. Can you do that?’

‘I don’t know, sir.’ Sam admitted. ‘And even if I do restore power, I’m not sure it’ll work for long.’

Jack rubbed his head. ‘Is there another option?’

‘We try to find the source affecting the power and reverse it somehow.’ Sam said. ‘But that may take days.’

Jack turned over the options in his head. He sighed. ‘Let’s call that plan B. We’ll try and restore power to one of the MALPs.’

‘In which case, sir, we should make the attempt as close to the window when we think the SGC will dial back in as possible.’ Sam said.

Ferretti cleared his throat. ‘It’s going to get dark here real soon, Colonel.’

Jack nodded. ‘Let’s clear up. We’ll try the plan in the morning.’

They tidied away the gear; Sam put her laptop and measuring equipment back into her pack. Sam mulled over the Colonel’s reactions in her head as she cleared away. She got the impression he had been disappointed with her findings, with her. It had taken a while for her to prove herself to Colonel O’Neill and it upset her to think she might have lost his approval and his trust. She couldn’t blame him for having doubts, Sam thought. She wasn’t sure herself if her experience hadn’t damaged her abilities. Who was she even trying to kid? She wasn’t sure her plan to restore power to a MALP would work, she mused. There were so many variables and the timing was going to be critical. She sighed and started to go through it in her head again. She started to follow the Colonel to the other room when the statue of Hera brought her to a surprised halt.

‘Wow.’ She said looking at the half-naked woman.

‘It adds something to the place.’ Jack said standing beside her. ‘Don’t you think?’

‘I’m not sure I’d want one in my living room.’ Sam muttered as she rolled her shoulders. There was a nagging sensation in her head as though she’d seen something similar before. She frowned up at its beautiful but cold visage.

‘Sam! Jack!’ Daniel ran up to them excitedly. ‘You have to see this!’ He snagged Sam’s arm and tugged her after him. Jack exchanged an amused look with Teal’c before they followed his team-mates. Daniel led them back through the room where Yancy was busy videoing the walls and into a short corridor. He pressed down on a panel and a doorway slid open in front of them.

‘Cool.’ Jack said. He motioned for Daniel to lead the way. They ended up in a small dark room lit by old torches Daniel had set alight.

‘Cosy.’ Jack remarked.

‘Indeed.’ Teal’c said as he ducked his head to enter.

‘Look at this!’ Daniel gestured up at the mural on the walls. It was crumbling in places and covered in dust. ‘You see what this means.’

‘Why don’t you tell us anyway?’ Jack said wryly.

‘Well, it’s the story of this planet. It was ruled by Hera, Queen of the Greek Gods. I think we can assume she was another Queen Goa’uld like Hathor.’ Daniel mused out loud. He pointed at the mural. ‘Anyway, Hera had a reputation for being jealous and vindictive. There were a group of scholars who angered her so much she transported their entire village to the planet through the Stargate and told them they were imprisoned here until they had shown her one thousand years of remorse through their worship of her. An envoy of Hera’s appeared every year at the same time to assess their progress.’

Jack found himself unwilling interested but he knew he needed them to focus on getting home. ‘Is any of this going to help us get out of here, Daniel?’

Daniel glared at him for a moment. ‘So how did the envoy leave every year?’ He asked passionately gesturing at Jack.

Jack stared at him uncomprehendingly.

‘You’re right.’ Sam said excitedly. ‘There has to be a mechanism that returned the power to the Stargate for the envoy to leave. If we could find it…’

‘We could use it.’ Daniel concluded.

‘OK,’ Jack acknowledged, ‘that we could use.’

‘Indeed.’ Teal’c added.

‘So where is it?’ Jack asked Daniel.

‘Well…’ Daniel began.

‘You don’t know.’ Jack surmised from the archaeologist’s sheepish expression.

Daniel sighed. ‘I’ve only been here a couple of hours, Jack.’

‘Well, keep at it.’ Jack ordered, waving at the room. ‘Otherwise we’ll go with Carter’s plan in the morning.’ His eyes flickered to the Captain. ‘Carter, stay and help Daniel. Teal’c and I are going to go help SG2 organise dinner.’

He made his way back into the main hall, the Jaffa beside him. Ferretti greeted them, his dark eyes glancing at the doorway with curiosity. ‘What’s going on?’

‘Daniel found a secret room.’ Jack said mildly.

‘Oh.’ Ferretti blinked. ‘He doesn’t change much does he?’

Jack hid a smile. ‘It looks like there might be a mechanism that turns the Stargate on hidden somewhere around.’ He explained. ‘Daniel and Carter are working on finding it.’

‘Have I told you how happy I am to see you guys?’ Ferretti said grinning.

Jack clapped a hand over his shoulder. ‘That’s good because you’re cooking.’

o-O-o

Jack accepted the square tin filled with the stew Ferretti had somehow concocted from their rations. He frowned at the brown mess and sighed as he dug in with his spoon. He’d forgotten just how bad a cook Ferretti was. He looked up briefly as Sam and Daniel arrived back with Taylor. Both of them were covered liberally in dust and Jack sneezed as Sam sat down beside him, Daniel on her other side; Teal’c was outside keeping watch.

‘Sorry, sir.’ Sam gave Jack an apologetic smile as Ferretti handed her some stew.

‘No problem.’ Jack said, gulping down a mouthful of the mixture. His eyes lingered on Yancy and Miznyk. They sat across from SG1, staring at Carter. ‘How’s it going?’

Daniel hurriedly swallowed his stew and waved his fork. ‘We’ve discovered a section that tells the story of how the scholars studied the Stargate hoping to learn its secrets so they could leave.’

‘We think they created the power buffer to draw enough power so when the envoy arrived, they could immediately dial out.’ Sam continued.

‘Unfortunately, that’s the bad news.’ Daniel said, concentrating on his food.

‘Why is it bad news?’ Teal’c asked.

‘Because if they needed to create something that allowed them to leave, they obviously never found the mechanism that the envoy used to restore power to the Stargate.’ Daniel rushed out around a mouthful of dinner.

‘Is there any good news?’ Jack asked as he stirred the stew listlessly.

‘We’ve only uncovered a small proportion of the room’s mural.’ Daniel said. ‘It’s possible there’s something else there.’

Jack sighed and nodded at Sam. ‘I guess we’re still going with your plan in the morning, Captain.’

‘Yes, sir.’ Sam nodded and tried to look confident.

‘Exactly how do you intend to restore power to the MALP?’ Miznyk asked snidely. The small man was huddled in a blanket although the temple remained at a comfortable temperature.

‘My laptop battery seems unaffected by the power drain.’ Sam said. ‘I should be able to connect the transmitter on the MALP to it.’

‘It won’t work for long.’ Miznyk pointed out.

‘No,’ Sam allowed, ‘but it should work for long enough for us to get a message to the SGC.’

‘So you say.’ Miznyk muttered.

Sam flushed and looked down at her stew.

‘Hey!’ Jack snapped his brown eyes glaring at Miznyk. He stabbed a finger at the scientist. ‘No party poopers allowed.’ He put his stew down and checked his watch. ‘We should turn in soon. We have an early start tomorrow.’

‘I think we should continue with the mural, Jack.’ Daniel suggested. ‘It’s possible we’ll discover something.’

‘Yancy can help you.’ Ferretti nudged SG2’s archaeologist. ‘You’re all finished with the gold room, right?’

‘Well, the room Doctor Jackson’s examining is quite small, it would be a tight fit with three of us. I’m sure he and Captain Carter would do better alone.’ Yancy avoided looking at the blonde Air Force officer as he spoke.

Jack stiffened and he saw a flash of distress in Sam’s eyes before she looked down at her meal.

‘There’s plenty of room for all of us.’ Daniel said blithely, seemingly unaware of the undercurrents.

‘Really, Doctor Jackson, I think…’

‘Perhaps you should assist Daniel, Doctor Yancy, rather than myself.’ Sam said, interrupting the man’s stumbling explanation. She met Yancy’s surprised gaze challengingly. ‘You’ve got the correct skills and expertise after all.’

Daniel suddenly looked up at Sam as though the subtext of the conversation had just become apparent to him. ‘I’d appreciate your help, Sam.’

‘Carter’s right, Daniel.’ Jack stepped in. He gestured at Yancy. ‘You and Yancy can continue with the room. Carter needs to be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed to work on her plan tomorrow.’

Daniel looked as though he was about to argue but at Jack’s hard stare, he shoved in another spoonful of stew and kept silent. Sam set her stew down; she’d barely eaten more than a couple of mouthfuls but the tension around the small group had robbed her of her appetite.

Jack fought the urge to sigh heavily. ‘Ferretti, why don’t you and your team take over the watch from Teal’c. I’ll take the end of the rotation.’

Ferretti cleared his throat. ‘Yes, sir.’

Sam frowned. ‘Sir, I can take a watch…’

‘Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, Carter, remember?’ Jack said lightly. ‘We need you alert tomorrow to save our collective asses.’

‘Yes, sir.’ Sam said quietly.

Miznyk snorted. ‘Like that’s the real reason.’

Jack and Daniel both glared at him.

Sam got to her feet. ‘If you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll get some air before I turn in.’ She didn’t wait for Jack’s permission but immediately headed out of the temple.

‘You’re an idiot, Miznyk.’ Jack muttered. He caught Daniel’s arm before the younger man could move. ‘I’ve got this.’ He headed out of the main hall and down the narrow corridor that led to the outside.

o-O-o

Sam breathed in deeply as she stepped outside before she wrapped her arms protectively around her stomach.

‘Are you alright, Captain Carter?’

Teal’s low voice rumbled over to her and she turned her head to nod at him, plastering a patently false smile on her face. ‘I’m fine, Teal’c.’

He raised an eyebrow.

She sighed. ‘It’s just…I’m just worried about tomorrow.’ She rammed her hands into her pockets and stared out at the night sky.

‘I have every confidence that your plan will be successful.’ Teal’c said, firmly grasping the staff weapon as his eyes continued to scan the area.

‘You’re the only one who is.’ Sam blurted out.

His eyes snapped to her and she looked away.

‘Sorry, Teal’c.’ She waved a hand at him. ‘Forget I said anything.’

‘You believe the others do not consider your plan to be achievable?’ Teal’c pressed gently.

Sam sighed and didn’t answer him.

‘Colonel O’Neill has expressed faith in your plan.’ Teal’c said, trying to reassure her.

Sam shuffled, struggling with the desire to confide in someone before giving into it. ‘I know he said it but I don’t think he meant it, Teal’c.’ She rubbed her arms. The Colonel might have opted for a plan but it was obvious he would prefer to find the power mechanism to switch the Stargate on that Daniel had discovered in the mural story. He was obviously uncertain of her given his decision about the watch. ‘I don’t think Colonel O’Neill has faith in my ideas or in me anymore and why should he? I’ve been possessed by a Goa’uld.’

His eyebrow rose a little further. ‘Perhaps it is not Colonel O’Neill’s faith in you that you doubt but your own.’

Sam winced at the accuracy of the Jaffa’s statement. ‘Maybe.’ She admitted. ‘I’m not sure my plan’s going to work. There are so many things that could go wrong; I might not be able to get the MALP to power up, or the message sent, and the timing…’

‘I have seen you perform the impossible many times, Captain Carter.’ Teal’c said comfortingly.

‘But that was before.’ Sam muttered even though his words warmed her. ‘I just feel like I’m missing something, that’s there’s something obvious I haven’t thought about or considered.’ And Miznyk was clearly waiting to see her fall flat on her backside, Sam mused.

‘Perhaps you should rest.’ Teal’c suggested.

‘You’re probably right.’ Sam said.

There was a sound behind them and they both turned to see Jack emerging from the doorway.

His shadowed eyes fell on Sam. ‘Everything OK, Captain?’

‘Yes, sir. I was just about to turn in.’ Sam said formally. She reached over and squeezed Teal’c’s arm. ‘Thanks, Teal’c.’

The Jaffa inclined his head.

Jack watched her disappear back inside. He rubbed his eyes and turned to Teal’c. ‘Tell me honestly, Teal’c, is she OK?’

‘Were not you listening to our conversation?’ Teal’c said mildly, looking over at his team-leader.

‘Well, I…’ Jack stuttered. He looked sheepish. ‘You realised I was eavesdropping?’

‘Indeed.’

‘But you didn’t say anything?’

‘To do so would have humiliated Captain Carter.’ Teal’c said.

‘Yes.’ Jack said slowly. ‘Yes. It would.’ He looked at his friend gratefully. ‘Thanks.’ He sighed deeply. ‘I’ve obviously screwed this up enough already if Carter’s questioning whether I have any faith in her.’

‘Captain Carter is questioning her faith in herself.’ Teal’c corrected gently, his expressions softening. ‘She is not unaware that her presence here has not been welcomed by all.’

‘She should be able to talk to me about it,’ Jack winced at the bitterness of his tone; the jealous edge, ‘about the whole thing.’

‘I believe she is worried that to do so would alter your perception of her abilities.’ Teal’c said.

‘It wouldn’t.’ Jack denied immediately.

‘Perhaps you should have this conversation with Captain Carter.’ Teal’c murmured pointedly.

Jack sighed again and shoved a hand through his hair sending the short strands askew. ‘Yeah, maybe I should.’ He patted Teal’c’s arm and headed inside.

He glanced briefly across at the dining area where Ferretti was playing cards with Taylor and Corrigan; Miznyk had retreated to his bedroll. Daniel and Yancy weren’t present and Jack assumed they were back in the secret room. He walked over to the sleeping area he and Teal’c had set out earlier for SG1. Sam was already in her sleeping bag, curled up tightly into a ball. He could barely make out her mop of blonde hair. He hesitated wondering whether to check she was asleep and decided against disturbing her. He could talk to her in the morning, he determined as he shucked off his own jacket and lowered himself to the floor.

o-O-o

‘Jolinar!’

The shout had her turning back as other people, people she knew and cared for, rushed by her. There was a general air of panic and fear around her. The ground beneath her feet and the walls of the tunnel she was in rocked. Something was happening; something bad. A Jaffa blasted a staff weapon near to her…

A slim built man with short brown hair and blue eyes ran up and her heart jumped at the sight of him. Love swamped her along with a feeling of security and safety even though she instinctively knew that they were in a lot of danger.

His eyes warmed at the sight of her but remained serious. ‘You have to activate the Chappa’ai. Quickly, Jolinar!’

She hurried to the DHD; the glyphs lit up with each new symbol she pressed. The sound of the Stargate activating filled the chamber…

Sam woke abruptly, gasping for air. The dream faded as quickly as it had come leaving her only with the faint edge of remembered panic. She rubbed her hands over her face and looked around.

Teal’c sat cross-legged with his eyes closed at the far side of their sleeping area; both Daniel’s and Jack’s sleeping bags were empty. She checked her watch. Daniel was probably still working away in the mural room and the Colonel must have begun the last watch. A snore from a member of SG2 travelled across the room and Sam crawled out of her makeshift bed. She picked up her jacket as she made her way out of the temple desperate to feel the air on her skin. She breathed in a lungful of fresh air as she made it outside.

‘Captain?’ Jack kept his voice low not wanting to alarm her or wake anyone.

Sam turned to look at him slowly. He sat on the top step of the temple. ‘Sorry, sir. I couldn’t sleep.’ She was surprised when he nodded understandingly and patted the ground next to him.

‘Make yourself comfortable, Captain.’

She moved over to him cautiously, lowering herself into a sitting position before wrapping her arms around her knees and staring up at the purple sky.

They sat in silence for a long while.

‘You want to talk about it, Sam?’ Jack asked eventually.

She started at his use of her first name. ‘Sir?’

‘Your nightmare.’ Jack said gently. ‘You want to talk about it?’

‘Not really, sir.’ Sam said.

Jack tried hard not to feel disappointed. ‘Yeah, I wouldn’t want to talk about it with my CO either.’

Sam offered him a small smile and his spirits rose a little. ‘It’s not that, sir.’ Her lips twitched again at his patent look of disbelief. ‘Well, maybe a little,’ she admitted, ‘it’s more…I don’t really remember it.’ She finished in a rush. ‘All I remember is that I was in danger and I was…’

‘Scared.’ Jack supplied as her voice trailed away.

‘Yes, sir.’ Sam didn’t look at him.

Jack looked over at her and glanced back at the doorway to the temple. He debated for a moment before giving in. ‘C’mere.’ Before she could protest his arm was around her. She breathed in the scent of him and snuggled a little closer, her hands resting lightly on her knees. A warm feeling stole over her as she rested her head on his shoulder; his arm was tight around hers. She felt so safe and secure, she mused, like nothing could ever hurt her again. She hated the idea that she might disappoint him.

‘I don’t think my plan’s going to work, sir.’ Sam admitted, without raising her head from his chest.

Teal’c had been right about her doubting herself, Jack realised. ‘It’ll work.’ He said confidently.

‘How can you be so sure?’ Sam wondered, raising her head to look at him.

‘Because I have faith in you.’ Jack answered truthfully.

The sincerity shining in his brown eyes took her breath away for a second. ‘What if I make a mistake and ruin it?’ Sam asked.

Jack held her gaze. ‘Then you’ll make a mistake. We all do make mistakes, Carter, even you.’

She nodded and dropped her head back on his shoulder.

‘Besides, this isn’t such a bad place to get marooned,’ Jack said lightly, ‘nice sunrises,’ he waved at the one beginning in front of them, ‘decent temple. It kinda reminds me a little of Argos…’

Sam sat up abruptly startling Jack. ‘That’s it!’

‘What?’ Jack asked.

‘You’ve done it, sir.’ Sam jumped to her feet.

‘Done what?’ Jack asked as he rose to follow her into the temple. He entered to see her waking Teal’c. Jack hurriedly woke Ferretti for him to assume the watch before he followed his team-mates into the main hall to find Teal’c ushering Daniel back into the room. They all stood in front of the statue.

‘What’s going on?’ Daniel asked Jack.

‘An excellent question.’ Jack noted. He looked at Sam. ‘Captain?’

‘What does this place remind you of?’ Sam asked excitedly.

Jack looked at her blankly before their conversation outside filtered back to him. ‘Argos.’

‘Exactly.’ Sam beamed at him. ‘I knew the statue reminded me of something yesterday but I couldn’t work it out. This hall is laid out exactly like the one at Argos.’

‘You’re right.’ Daniel said looking around.

‘So you see where I’m going with this?’ Sam asked delighted.

Jack and Teal’c both looked at each other bemused; Daniel clapped his hands and pointed at her. ‘The statue was hiding a transmitter that controlled the nanocytes.’

‘Exactly.’ She gestured up at the statue. ‘What if this statue is hiding a transmitter that controls the power to the Stargate?’

Jack frowned. ‘That would be quite a coincidence, Captain.’

‘No, I think she might be right, Jack.’ Daniel said. ‘The mural depicts the envoy making some kind of religious intonation to the statue. It’s possible he was providing it with some kind of password to alter the setting.’

‘Sir, if I’m right then we can find the transmitter and shut it down. That should remove whatever’s affecting the power.’ Sam said confidently. ‘If we do this now, we’ll still have enough time to try the other plan if I’m wrong.’

Jack considered her words before he looked back over at her with a sigh. ‘Let’s do it.’

An hour, one toppled Hera statue and one fixed alien transmitter later, Sam fiddled with a power cable and smiled as a steady orange glow returned to the DHD. ‘Power’s on, sir.’ She confirmed happily.

‘Dial her up, Carter.’ Jack said.

‘That crystal is damaged.’ Miznyk muttered as he adjusted his pack. ‘It will never hold up.’

‘Have a little faith, Miznyk.’ Jack said cheerfully, his brown eyes twinkled at Sam.

She nodded and dialled the Earth address; she held her breath as she pressed down on the control crystal. The Stargate activated with a satisfying whoosh and the entire group beamed at her.

Daniel dived through the blue puddle; Teal’c followed him.

Ferretti ushered his team and Doctor Miznyk up the steps. ‘Hey, we’re even going to be home in time for Christmas.’ He winked at Sam before he stepped through the wormhole.

Jack caught Sam’s arm. ‘Good job, Captain.’ He said proudly.

‘Thank you, sir.’ Sam smiled.

‘Looks like that damaged crystal withstood the pressure after all.’ Jack noted, placing his baseball cap on as they walked up the steps together. ‘All it needed was a little faith.’

‘Yes, sir.’ Sam’s lips twitched.

He had a sudden thought and he looked over at her as they came to a stop on the top step. ‘Carter, you do know I’m not talking about the crystal, right?’

‘Yes, sir.’ Sam admitted. ‘I got that.’

Jack acknowledged her words with a nod. ‘Shall we, Captain?’ He invited her into the wormhole with a wide sweep of his arm.

She smiled at him and stepped into the blue horizon. He grinned and followed her home.

fin.