Sam blinked as she came to that conclusion. If that was the case then she had been drawn once again into Daniel’s mind. But where was Daniel? More importantly, could she reach him before the inevitable conclusion of this playback?
Sounds reached her ear, familiar sounds of creaking chains and pulleys, muttered conversations of manual laborers, crinkling paper as the pair of Doctors Jackson consulted their diagrams of how the exhibit was supposed to go together. She took in the serious, distracted couple standing under the swaying coverstone, the bulky men in blue coveralls that supervised the proceedings and hauled some of the other pieces of the exhibit to their proper places, and lastly, the small blond boy standing just out of the way, looking with a familiar intensity at one of the busts near the center of the room.
A sharp pain of sympathy shot through the woman’s heart, knowing what was coming. But something inside her knew there was nothing she could do to change things. Daniel had tried when faced with the opportunity and hurt himself deeply. He had admitted as much when they had talked after their return. She could not bring herself to even consider hurting him that way.
So she decided to find out what had really gone on that day, and prepared herself to be there for her friend when the worst-case scenario actually happened. She walked over to where the boy was lightly brushing his fingers across the engravings in the stone the bust he was looking at was resting on. “Are you sure you should be touching that?” she asked gently, a slight hint of teasing in her tone.
The younger version of Daniel jumped slightly and jerked his hand back as he spun to face the unexpected voice. “I’ve touched it before,” he said somewhat defensively. “My parents found this in Egypt, and they let me look at it there. I won’t break it.”
“I know you won’t; I was just teasing,” Sam replied placatingly, letting her smile grow a bit wider. It was amazing how much of the adult she knew was visible in the boy before her. “I hope I didn’t offend you.”
The boy’s shoulders relaxed as he returned her smile. “No, that’s all right. You just surprised me. Are you here to watch my parents put together their exhibit?”
“You could say that.”
“This is really exciting. This is the longest I’ve spent in America ever.” He gave his companion a superior look. “I was born in Egypt, you know.”
Sam gasped theatrically. “Really?” she asked. “I was born here in New York City.”
Daniel giggled. “That’s neat, too. So what is it like here? Mom and Dad say we’re going to be spending more time here now that they finished their dig. I think I overheard them say they were going to try and get another grant from the museum. That’s why they’re doing the exhibit.”
“I’m not completely sure. I didn’t actually spend all that much time here. My father is in the military so we moved around a lot.”
“Oh. I can understand that.” The little face grew serious and he thrust out his hand. “My name is Danny Jackson.”
Sam shook the offered appendage. “I’m Doctor Samantha Carter, but you can call me Sam.” Her eyes couldn’t help but dart to the side to see how far along the coverstone was. She struggled to hide a shudder when she saw time was running out.
“You’re a doctor, Sam?” Danny asked with a touch of awe. “My parents are, too, but not medicine doctors. They’re archaeologists.”
“I’m not a medical doctor either. My doctorate is in astrophysics.” She managed to smile then gestured toward the bust Danny had been looking at in an attempt to keep his attention away from his parents’ imminent doom. “What is this, anyway? I only know what a good friend of mine has told me about Egyptian relics and artifacts.”
There was a strange flash of warmth in the baby blues that focused on her own before the child attempted to reply. But before he could say anything an odd squeal, and maybe some inner sense, caught his attention, dragging Sam’s along with it. The coverstone was swinging much more than it should have, and Melbourne and Claire Jackson were still directly underneath.
“Get out of there, Mom! Get out of there, Dad! No!”
Oh, God! Hearing the cry in the tones of the child he had been was so much worse than it had been when the adult Daniel had shouted out to his parents in the Keeper’s virtual reality. Sam’s eyes filled to overflowing as she stood frozen as the weak link in the chain broke and the large block succumbed to the laws of gravity, bringing the rest of the building down with it and on top of the two people that were the center of her friend’s world. Dust billowed out in large clouds, and after a moment of stunned shock, the crew of workers flew to the pile of rubble, totally ignoring the shell-shocked young man who stood amidst everything unmoving, staring wide-eyed at the metaphor for what his life was about to become.
Sam found she couldn’t move either, not until after Danny had numbly stumbled back into a corner and slid to the ground, his knees folding up against his chest and his arms wrapping themselves around his chest in a fierce self-hug she was more than familiar with. His eyes never left the ruins of the exhibit. The blonde woman wasn’t even sure he had blinked. But when she saw the raw pain that radiated out from the small figure, a pain that no one else seemed to have any time for, Sam could do nothing but go to her friend.
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” she murmured as she sank to the floor beside the now-orphaned boy and put her arms around him gently. He didn’t even think to resist as she pulled him to her and laid his head on her shoulder. “If I could change things I would, I really would. But all I can do is say I’m sorry.” Her voice cracked on the last word, and she could do nothing to stop the tears that began flowing down her cheeks and into the fine, light-colored hair she burrowed her face into.
“They’re dead, aren’t they?” Danny asked in a barely audible whisper.
“Yes,” Sam replied simply, unable to think of any other way to respond.
The boy’s body began to shake. “I don’t want them to be dead. I want them to be alive and show me around America like they said they were going to.”
“I know. I want that, too.”
“But they aren’t,” he said brokenly. “They aren’t, and they’ll never get to show me anything anymore.” Tears started streaming down his cheeks. “They left me all alone!”
Sam squeezed her eyes shut at the heart-rending wail, only able to tighten her grip around his shoulders as she began to cry in earnest for her friend. “You won’t always be alone,” she managed to choke out into his hair. “I promise.” I won’t let you be alone again, she promised herself silently. Never again.
The only response was Danny burying his face into Sam’s shoulder and bursting into a full-blown crying fit, his arms instinctually going around her waist and squeezing tight. The woman maintained her tight hold on him, keeping her face buried in his hair, absorbed in her sorrowful sympathy for the sensitive young man to whom she was so close. Not even his lessening sobs or calming demeanor drew her out of her thoughts.
It wasn’t until she felt his warm breath against her neck and heard his age-deepened voice that she raised her head and opened her eyes, completely startled. “I almost wish you’d really been there for me, Sam. I could have used a shoulder to cry on and a sympathetic ear. Thank you for not letting me be alone.”
A warm shudder traveled through her thanks to the combination of Daniel’s cheek against the soft skin of her throat, the vibration of his voice she could feel in her bones, and the familiar weight she was used to supporting as he allowed her to continue to comfort him. She blinked away the surprise that was just as much a result of the new feelings as it was from the sudden realization that Daniel had returned to his adult self while she’d been lost in her thoughts. “There’s no need to thank me, Daniel,” she murmured, not completely trusting her voice quite yet. “I’ll always be here for you when you need me, as long as I’m able. You know that.”
She could feel him smile. “Yeah, I do.” He sighed and sat up. Sam immediately missed the feel of him against her. “So do you know why I got us both caught up in another one of my memories? This isn’t exactly a trend I want to see continue.” He paused for a moment, a look of confusion transforming his expression as another thought crossed his mind. “Even more importantly, how did we both get stuck in my memories? What’s going on, Sam?”
“I was going to tell you last time, I promise, but you fell asleep before I could.” She looked at the archaeologist with a critical eye. “How are you feeling?”
“Actually, now that you mention it, better. Much better than last time. Lethargic, but I’d have to say it’s not because of something that’s wrong with my body. So what’s going on with my mind?” His bright blue eyes flashed with a quick sparkle of panic.
The physicist frowned. “Well, the first thing you should know is that there’s most likely a device attached to your head that has linked your mind to a computer. It’s our theory that the people that kidnapped you were hoping to use it to get information about you and your people.”
“My people?”
“When the colonel and I translated what we could of the monolith, we figured out that your wide hand gestures you use when you’re excited about something signaled that you were our leader.” Sam shrugged.
Daniel blinked at that. “Let me see if I’ve got this straight. First, I was kidnapped from our camp site by people who thought I was the leader because I tend to talk with my hands.”
“Actually you talk with your whole arms, sometimes your whole body, but that’s neither here nor there,” the blonde major interjected with a smirk.
“Funny.” The linguist took a deep breath to allow himself to return to the original subject. “Second, at some point before now, these people attached some sort of device to my head that connected it to something like a computer so they could access the information.”
“It looks like a set of headphones, and it attaches itself to the soft flesh behind the earlobes like the Tok’ra memory devices. They’re wireless, so they must run on some sort of radio-like frequency.”
Daniel caught the change in pronouns and pounced on it. “They? You mean there’s more than one in use right now?”
Sam blushed at that. “Well...”
Blue tried to meet blue as Daniel stared at his friend. “You’re wearing another device, aren’t you? That’s why we’re able to talk like this, and why Jack and Teal’c aren’t here. What were you thinking, Sam? What if these things do something permanent to our brains? We can’t afford to lose your intelligence and insight at the SGC, Sam. And I’d never want to see you hurt like that.”
“We can’t afford to lose you either, Daniel,” the major said quickly, suddenly meeting his gaze. “And I didn’t realize the headset was anything more than headphones and a microphone when I put it on. I found about the connection with you afterward.”
Daniel sighed. “I’m sorry, Sam. I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions. Although I still think you might have activated the headset even if you’d known.”
“Maybe,” Sam conceded, the corners of her mouth twitching.
“Okay, where was I?” the younger man asked, bringing the conversation back on task. “Oh, yes, third. You and Jack translated the monolith? How did you manage that?”
“Hey, you make it sound like that’s a physical impossibility!”
“Maybe not impossible, but you have to admit, it’s highly improbable. Especially in Jack’s case.”
Sam shrugged. “Okay, I’ll give you that. The side opposite the gate was written in a language similar to French. Close enough that we could translate it. Fortunately, it’s also pretty close in its spoken form so we could communicate with the local inhabitants.” She met his gaze once again with a look that pleaded for him to understand what they were going through. “You were gone, Daniel. You had said how important the rules were on the obelisk so we had to figure them out before we got kicked out for doing something stupid and avoidable.”
Daniel looked at her, confused. “Why are you trying to justify yourself? I’m actually quite proud of the both of you.”
“I’m sorry. I’m just scared. We’re doing everything we can to find you, and we’ve managed to track you to Pendemente, but we’re still not all that close to actually getting you back. And if I’m reading the innuendo in Governor LaRoux’s letter right, there’s something dangerous about these headsets. Even if I figure out what that is and fix it in mine, I don’t have any way to help you.” Sam’s eyes filled with tears again.
The brown-haired man gave her a small smile and reached out with a gentle hand to brush away the lone tear that had escaped the pools. “While I don’t completely understand what you’re talking about, I do know this. You, Jack, and Teal’c will do everything in your power to help me in any way that I need you to. I’ve been taken; you’re tracking me down. I’ve had a piece of alien technology attached to my head; you’ll figure out how to turn it off and disconnect me from whatever mainframe I’m logged into. I need to go home; you’ll find a way to get me there. You always do. I have faith in you, Sam, in all of you. Have some in yourself.”
Sam’s breath hitched in her throat as a brief chuckle blurted out past her quivering lips. “Oh, Daniel. For you, anything.” She leaned over and hugged him fiercely, the embrace immediately returned with equal fervor. “Do you have any idea where you’re being held?” she asked, her voice somewhat muffled by Daniel’s shoulder as she let herself revel in the feel of him in her arms and vice versa.
“I didn’t even know I’d been taken. To be honest, I have a feeling I’m not really awake. This kind of feels like lucid dreaming.”
The female half of the duo pulled back and looked her partner in the eye with a curious expression. “Lucid dreaming? I suppose that is what this communication is like.” She glanced at their surroundings. “And it would explain why we’re now sitting on the floor in your office.”
Daniel started at that, looking around for himself. “Whoa. I’d been thinking about home and how much I wanted to be there. I guess my mind fulfilled that desire.” He cocked his head to the side and returned his attention to Sam. “So why is it only my mind that seems to be controlling our mental communication? If we’re both hooked up, shouldn’t you be able to influence things as well?”
“That may have something to do with that fact that you initiated the link all three times we’ve done this. Maybe the person that activates the connection controls its direction. Otherwise there could be a lot of confusion as two minds that couldn’t agree on things tried to maintain a link.” Her brow furrowed in thought.
“That make a lot of sense. I must have reached out for you on a subconscious level, though. I certainly don’t remember doing it.” The archaeologist’s expression became concerned. “I didn’t cause any problems for you, did I? I don’t know how being pulled into the link affects someone, but if you were in the middle of something and suddenly fell unconscious...”
“No, no, I’ve been fine...” Sam’s voice trailed off as she realized what had happened to her as the most recent link had been established. “Oh my God. The colonel and Teal’c! I probably just collapsed in front of them and they won’t know why! I need to let them know I’m okay...”
Daniel reached out and gripped her shoulder reassuringly. “Sam, calm down. Try to open your eyes. I’ll try to keep our connection active. Call it an experiment.”
Sam nodded and took a few deep breaths. When she was in control of herself, she concentrated on reconnecting with her conscious mind while not letting go of Daniel. As she sensed her success, she was struck by the oddest sensation...
* * * * * * * *
Jack sat in an overstuffed chair next to the bed he and Teal’c had managed to get Sam into after she had collapsed just inside the door. He’d set himself up for a vigil he normally only needed to use back at home in the infirmary, and the worst part about it was that he wasn’t sure if there was really anything wrong. He had a feeling his second in command had just gotten pulled into another communication with his missing archaeologist, but her reaction was anything but reassuring.
The silver-haired man looked over to the other side of the bed where Teal’c sat cross-legged in a state of Kel’no’reem. How did he do that? Jack wasn’t foolish enough to believe that the Jaffa had shrugged off his emotions regarding the two youngest members of the team, but that made the fact that he could sink into the deep meditative trance all the more amazing. He almost wished he could do the same. Of course, he’d had a difficult enough time the first and only time he’d needed to do so, and he’d even been in the body that was used to the experience. Jack shuddered as he remembered the incident with Machello’s body swapping machine. It was definitely not something he ever wanted to live through again. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to stop Teal’c from shaving his head a second time.
When he refocused on the woman in the bed, he nearly jumped a foot off the chair in surprise. Carter was looking at him! And she looked alert and coherent. Better and better. “Hey, Carter. You doing all right?” he asked gently.
She smiled, pale blue eyes flickering to the left when she caught Teal’c standing in response to the colonel’s words on the edge of her vision. “I’m fine, sir,” she replied softly. “Daniel initiated another link, that’s all. It was a little overwhelming.”
“We noticed,” Jack drawled, a relieved smile lightening his features. “Is he all right?”
“Physically he’s doing better. He just hasn’t woken up.”
“Is this not a sign of injury?” Teal’c asked.
Sam shook her head. “I don’t think so. I think he had a mild allergic reaction to the powder on top of his pain medication that kept him unconscious longer than normal, and now that his body has recovered, whatever the headset is doing to connect him to the network is keeping him asleep. He said our communication felt like lucid dreaming to him.”
Jack narrowed his eyes at the blonde physicist. “That’s quite a jump in logic there, Carter. That sounds more like something Daniel would come up with.”
“What is lucid dreaming?” Teal’c inquired, silently agreeing with his team leader.
“Normally when we dream, our subconscious produces random thoughts and memories with no logical order or structure, usually without the conscious mind being aware of them. That’s why when strange things happen in real life that don’t seem to have any logic to them we say they’re dreamlike. Lucid dreaming happens when the conscious mind becomes aware of the dream state and can influence what happens.” Sam looked from one man to the other, watching for understanding.
“So it’s like being awake while you’re dreaming,” O’Neill clarified.
The woman nodded as she sat up. “Basically, sir.”
Teal’c nodded his understanding. “Interesting. And Daniel Jackson feels this is occurring in his mind?”
“Yeah, Major, what did the two of you talk about? Does he know what happened to him?” Jack leaned forward, eager to hear what was going on with his missing friend.
Sam stared at the both of them for a long moment, the odd sensation of being in two places at the same time interfering with her concentration. A subtle, mental nudge had her blinking and shaking her head as she returned to the here and now. “Um, no, sir. Daniel didn’t even realize he’d been taken, and since he can’t wake up he doesn’t have any way to find out about where he is now. Sorry about that.”
Jack’s brow creased, first from the odd pause and then from the intonation of Carter’s last phrase. It sounded just like how Daniel would have said it. “Don’t worry about it. We knew it was a long shot.” He considered how to put his next question. “Is it just me, or do you just seem... off? I mean, you don’t normally lose track during an important discussion. Is everything okay?”
“Are you still in contact with Daniel Jackson, Major Carter?” Teal’c added.
“Yes, to the last two questions,” Sam said with a distant smile. She blinked again and her eyes completely focused. “I’m sorry, sir. With the link still open it’s like I’m in two places at once, and my concentration can fluctuate between them. I’m doing my best to stay with you.”
An odd look crossed Jack’s face. “So if you’re still linked to Daniel, does that mean he can hear us right now?”
“If I concentrate on it he hears it like an echo,” the Air Force major confirmed after a moment.
The colonel’s expression settled into one of cautious relief. “And can he respond?”
“At the very least I can repeat what he says.” Sam watched the older man carefully. “Are you okay, colonel?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Or at least I will be in a minute. I need you to concentrate, Major, if you would please.” Jack waited for the blonde’s nod, signifying that she was ready. “Hey, Daniel, you okay?” he asked a touch hesitantly.
“I’m fine, Jack,” Sam replied after a beat. “At least, as long as you guys are.”
Jack shared a quick look with Teal’c. “How can I be sure it’s you saying these things and not what Carter thinks you’d say?”
A flash of irritation zipped through the astrophysicist’s pale blue eyes before she answered the man’s question. “As much as I’m sure Sam would like the excuse to tell you off, it’s really me. Ask me a question only I would know the answer to. And I’d suggest it be something you don’t mind either Sam or Teal’c knowing,” Sam finished after a beat.
“Not a bad idea. Now let’s see...” The silver-haired man thought for a moment then smiled. “I think I’ve got something. Daniel, on the first mission to Abydos, what happened when you tried to gather up all the books that Ferretti had scattered all over the dune?”
The next flash that quickly appeared then disappeared in the blue eyes that gazed at the two oldest members of the team was one of distant panic. “Wasn’t that in your mission report?” Sam asked, the corners of her mouth twitching upward.
“Nope, not a word of it. There were lots of fun little details I left out because they weren’t important or changed because they were. Now answer the question.”
“The things I’m forced to do...” Sam grumbled, her amused expression totally at odds with the tone of her voice. “I ran into a mastage and approached it. When it took off running, my foot got caught in its lead rope and it dragged me across the sand I don’t know how far. And I’m still not telling you where I all found sand later, so don’t bother asking. Are you satisfied?” The woman began chuckling as soon as she finished speaking.
Jack took note of Teal’c’s raised eyebrow and slight smile before grinning himself. “Yeah, Daniel, I’m satisfied. It’s you. Glad to have you with us, at least kind of. Are you sure you can’t wake up and tell us where you are?”
“If I could do that, I would have already done it. I’ll keep trying, of course, but I don’t think it’s going to be happening any time soon.” Sam looked surprised at how quickly the words came out of her mouth. What happened to the time you needed to hear the echo? she thought in Daniel’s direction. You surprised me with that fast a response.
I surprised me, too, Daniel replied. I don’t think we should do this too often. It’s starting to feel like we’re being pulled a little too close together, if you know what I mean.
Yes, I do. Do you think we should turn the link off altogether?
Wait a minute. The last time I activated it, you collapsed and fell unconscious, right?
Well, yeah.
And you scared Jack and Teal’c. Let me try something else. Maybe if we can make the link inactive without shutting it down we can reach out and communicate with each other without taking the chance of knocking you out and still put some distance between our minds so we don’t get scrambled together... or something like that.
It’s worth a try. Sam’s eyes came back into focus as Daniel’s presence faded to the back of her mind and reenforced her individuality.
Jack was directly in front of her, their noses practically touching. “Carter? Daniel? One of you say something. You’re freaking me out here.” His tone was just this side of hysterical.
“I’m here, sir,” Sam said as she drew back, catching herself on her arms outstretched behind her.
“What of Daniel Jackson?” Teal’c asked from his seat on her immediate right. Experience with the Jaffa told her he was as panicked as the colonel.
“He’s still here, just... withdrawn. We noticed that it felt like we were starting to overlap, and thought it best to distance ourselves before something bad happened. Daniel thought he’d try to make the link inactive instead of shutting it down. Apparently it worked.”
Jack looked at her, confused. “Why not shut it down?”
“It knocked me out the last time he activated it. What if we were in the middle of the West Quarter when it happened again? Or some other important or dangerous situation? This way we should be able to reestablish the link without it overwhelming me.”
“Should? You’re not sure, are you?”
Sam sighed. “No, sir, I’m not. And neither is Daniel. But it’s worth a try, don’t you think?”
The colonel considered it for a moment then nodded. “Yeah, I guess it is. Well, then, since whatever the two of you have done seems to be working, why don’t the three of us grab dinner then head out for the West Quarter? The faster we find Daniel, the faster we can get the both of you home and cut off this link for good. Something tells me the sooner we do that the better.” Sam and Teal’c merely nodded their agreement.
Go to part five
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