Blood of My Heart, Beloved of My Soul

                                                                                       Part VI - A


Speech> indicates telepathic communication
/Speech/ indicates symbiote/host communication
"<Speech>" indicates both speech and telepathic communication
.

 Major Samantha Carter was in the infirmary getting her leg checked and chatting with her friend, Dr. Janet Fraiser.
"It's looking good, Sam. It wasn't bad to begin with and since it wasn't infected, it's healed very quickly. You're cleared for
duty."

"Thanks, Janet. I'm ready to get off-world again. There sure isn't anything to keep me hanging around home. It's not like I've
got a killer social life."

"You could have if you wanted too. There are men all over this base that would kill to go out with you. Lieutenant Simmons isn't the only heart you've broken. Or," she drawled out in a teasing way, "You could go visit your father." She threw a sideways smirk at Sam. "I'm sure he'd love to see you. While you're there, you could-“

She was cut off halfway through her sentence by Sam. "Alright, Janet, I get the picture and the answer is no. I'm
clearer on my feelings in that direction, but I just don't know if I'm ready to bring it out in the open with him, er, them. I'm going to give it a little more time. Maybe next time they're here or we have an assignment there; I'll get to spend a little more time alone with him…them." She sighed in frustration. "You know what I mean. I'd like to see if I can get them to give me a little more than a `Lantash and I both care for you, Samantha'." She sighed. "Knowing me I'll blurt it out unexpectedly at a totally inappropriate time and scare him, um, `them' to death. If not that, then embarrass them, and myself."

Janet laughed at her. "First, let's agree that we can say `him' or `them' and mean the two of them. It will be simpler for both of us, even if it's not exactly grammatically correct. Second, I don't think he'd be scared, honey, or embarrassed. I'm not saying he wouldn't be a lot of things, but scared ain't one of them," she said in her best southern drawl. "Myself, I'd put money on relieved, excited, wildly happy, and walking on air. Now, you're finished but I have to take some reports to General Hammond. Care to walk with me?"

Sam jumped down from the table, reached for her BDU pants, and smiled at her. "Sure, why not? I need to go check on some stuff in the control room anyway."

"Okay, let me pick up my files while you get dressed, and we'll be on our way."The two friends left Janet's office and headed for the control room. Sam slanted a wicked grin down at her friend. "You know, since I'm supposedly leaving all these broken hearts in my wake, maybe you should go around and pick up some of the pieces. You know, do the gentle, soft, caring, sympathetic woman thing. What do you think?"

"I think you're a wicked, evil woman, Major Samantha Carter. Cold, heartless, unsympathetic, and unfeeling." She ruined her speech by starting to giggle at the idea of applying those words to her friend. "Besides, I know exactly what my ideal man is and he isn't on this base."

"Describe him," Sam demanded.

"He's tall, elegant, and darkly handsome. Kind and witty with an excellent sense of humor. He'd have an air of power, but he wouldn't be a bully. He'd use it for good. And, of course, the biggest of the big, he'd love me, honor me, and cherish me. Just me and only me." She paused as she cast a look over at Sam. "Pretty tall order wouldn't you say?"

"Yes, but not impossible. At least, I don't think so. I mean, look at Daniel. He's perfect. We just haven't had the good sense to fall in love with him. Or him with us for that matter."

"He only fits tall and handsome."

"Minor detail. A point for compromise."

Janet looked thoughtful, and then she brightened. "Ah-ha. What about Daniel's obsession with his work? His passion is spent on ancient artifacts and alien cultures. Not to mention that he speaks 20-something languages and you'd never know if he was making love to you or insulting you."

"You could tell by the tone of his voice and he'd teach you all the love words in the different languages." Sam grinned triumphantly and then relented. "I have to admit that there is some truth in the part about his work, but he fills the majority of your criteria." She ticked them off on her fingers. "He's tall and handsome. He's kind and witty with a great sense of humor. Most importantly, if Daniel loved you, he would love you, and only you."

She stopped for a minute and then waved her hand in a dismissive manner. "All that, however, is irrelevant. We've already determined that neither of us had the good sense to fall for him. Therefore, that still doesn't solve the problem of tall, dark, and handsome. Where are you looking for him?"

Janet laughed merrily and winked at Sam, "I'm waiting for him to come through the Stargate and carry me away, of course."

"Well I suppose that's better than `lookin' for love in all the wrong places'." Sam laughed and then continued speaking.
"Why don't you stop by the control room when you finish with the General and we can go have a cup of coffee or something? Maybe we can even entice Daniel to leave whatever dusty old manuscript he's presently enthralled with to come join us. What do you say?"

"Okay, I'll just pop into the General's office. If he isn't there, I'll just leave these files and come join you in a few minutes. If he's in, it may be a little longer."

"No problem. What I have to do shouldn't take long but I can always find things to putter with on the computers. I'll wait."
Uttering those words, Sam headed towards the control room.
~
Jack O'Neill sailed his twenty-fifth paper fighter at the target. Dang! He'd come extremely close that time. He reached for
another piece of paper. Maybe he should read it first? It might be an important memo. Nah, not likely. Number twenty-six coming up. He sighed to himself. He really should be working on the few reports he has left. They had been placed on stand-down for the past week while Carter's leg healed. He'd actually caught up with most of the paperwork that always seemed to pile up on his desk. He just couldn't seem to settle today. He felt `itchy, tense and unsettled, like something was about to happen. It had been unusually quiet around the SGC for the last few weeks. Perhaps he was just being paranoid. He needed something active to do. That's probably all it was. He just wasn't used to being cooped up in an office.
Maybe he should go see Daniel. Yes, now that sounded like a plan. He got up and headed toward the door. He crumpled the memo in his hand into a ball, turned at the door, and shot it toward the waste basket. His right arm pumped the air. Yes! Three points!
~
Daniel was quietly enjoying his coffee and the ancient manuscript that SG-10 had brought back two days ago from P34-257. It appeared to be in an old earth dialect related to Welsh. He was confident that he'd be able to translate it as soon as he had just a few more of the unusual symbols and letters figured out. It shouldn't take him more than a couple of hours as long as Jack didn't turn up.

Jack. Crap, what time was it? Oh, no. Jack should be turning up anytime. It was almost 10:35. Having been in his office for a couple of hours, Jack would be climbing the walls by now, ready to look for distraction. Daniel sighed. Maybe he could find Sam and see if she'd like some coffee and maybe he could talk her into distracting Jack for him. Yeah, that sounded like a plan. Daniel headed for the door, hoping he could make it out of there before Jack caught him.
~
Jack looked around Daniel's office. Daniel wasn't there. Where was he? Daniel was always in his office at this hour when they were at home. Jack frowned. Maybe he had run out of coffee and went to
get some. He would wait. He wandered around Daniel's office picking up things, examining them, and misplacing them. He looked through a stack of magazines. Archeology Today. No way. Jack skimmed Daniel's numerous books, deciding to read something while he waited. Reading the titles, Jack knew they'd only increase his boredom by a factor of ten. He didn't
need a nap; he needed something fun to do. He sighed. Where was Daniel? It was
10:45. Maybe he'd go see what Teal'c was doing, have a few rounds of boxing or something. Setting the two statues he'd been looking at down on the wrong tags, he left the room. Daniel would just have to miss his scintillating presence this morning. He wondered if he should check the mess, first, but decided not to. He'd just head straight for Teal'c's. Maybe Daniel was at Teal'c's too. He thought about that for a moment. Nah.
~
When the knock sounded on Teal'c's door, he automatically answered it. He had forgotten that they had been earthbound for a week, and that his friend would be roaming the SGC halls by now looking for relief from his boredom. O'Neill was a warrior of great strength and cunning, and Teal'c admired him immensely. However, O'Neill, in full boredom mode, was something even Teal'c would avoid if he could. This time, he'd made an error in judgment. He'd answered the door.

"Hey, Teal'c, Whatcha' doin'?"

"I was watching the History Channel, O'Neill. They are dedicating numerous shows right now covering the events of June 6,
1944
. It was a great undertaking, was it not? An enormous army built from the forces of different countries. The Americans, Canadians, and British were the major contributors in the D-Day Operation, were they not?" O'Neill's eyes were beginning to glaze already, so Teal'c continued. "Over three years in the planning. America was fighting a two-front war. Did you know-" Teal'c began only to be interrupted by the Colonel.

"Uh, yeah, Teal'c, fascinating. I didn't know you were interested in History."

"This has become my adopted world, O'Neill. I believe it helps me to better understand the Tau'ri if I understand their history. Do you not agree?" Teal'c smiled slightly, as he looked quizzically at O'Neill.

"Sure, great idea, Teal'c. Hey, I just stopped by to see if you've seen Daniel. I stopped by his office earlier and he wasn't
there. You know," he said in a somewhat confiding manner, "He'd be a better person to discuss this stuff with than me. Why don't we go see if we can find him?"

"An excellent idea, O'Neill." Teal'c turned the TV, which had been tuned to the Sci-Fi channel, to off, as unobtrusively as he
could. At least he had muted the sound before he answered the door. Sometimes duplicitous tactics were necessary. Smiling to himself, he quietly followed his friend from the room. Once in the hall, he
questioned, "Where do you think we should look for DanielJackson, O'Neill?"

"I don't know. I checked his office and he wasn't there. We know he came in today, we all had breakfast together," he responded. He thought for a moment. "He might've gone to the mess for some coffee, I suppose. Think we should look there first, Teal'c?" he asked.

"That would probably be a wise first choice, O'Neill," Teal'c answered. Suddenly, the klaxons were blaring. "Unscheduled Off-
World Activation." came over the speakers. "Or then again, perhaps not." Before he had finished speaking the two men had turned and headed for the control room.
~
As Sam entered the control room, she noticed General Hammond standing by Sgt. Davis and Lieutenant Simmons. He was staring at the Stargate and he seemed preoccupied.

In fact, he was deep in thought. Things were quiet at the SGC. It was running like a well-oiled machine. It was functioning exactly as it was supposed to. Yessiree, Bob. Things were ticking right along. Nothing out of the ordinary happening. Nothing bizarre had happened for over three weeks. Smooth as glass. Teams were leaving and returning right on schedule. No injuries except for Major Carter's leg over a week ago now. No little gray aliens showing up, keeping the iris open, and springing surprises on them. Yup, picture perfect. All the i's dotted and the t's crossed. Yeah sure ya betcha,
things here at the SGC couldn't have been better.

It just wasn't right. All hell was going to break loose. He could feel it coming, which was why he was prowling about outside of his office. He was waiting for something. He just wished he knew what.

Janet Frasier had just stepped into the control room to let him know she had left some files on his desk and to let Sam know she was ready to go get coffee. Daniel was with her. He'd been looking for Sam to see if she wanted to go get some coffee, and incidentally, distract Jack for him. The three friends were just getting ready to leave when it happened. They headed toward the observation window.

"Unscheduled Off-Word Activation."

"Do we have any teams off world, Sgt.?"

"Yes, sir, but we aren't receiving an IDC. And the iris won't close."

General Hammond leaned over and bellowed, "Defense teams to the gate room. Move it, people. Get that iris closed, airman."

"Yes, sir, I'm trying sir."

Lt. Simmons stood to allow Major Carter to slip into the chair next to Sgt. Davis.

"Thank you, Lieutenant," she murmured as her fingers flew lightly over the keys. "It's not a malfunction on our end, General. It's being held open by whoever is coming through. I can't close it. Energy signature is the same as it is when Thor uses the gate." She stood up and stepped back to stand between Daniel and Janet.

 

"But we haven't lost power like we do when it's Thor," Lieutenant Simmons stated as he resumed his post.

"That's true, Lieutenant," she murmured.

Jack and Teal'c entered the control room just in time to hear the General respond. "In that case, we have no choice but to wait and hope it's Thor."

It wasn't.

All eyes were on the Stargate as a group of people stepped through the event horizon. Three men and three women, wearing the black and gold uniforms of the Katteri-enti walked sedately down the ramp, stopped near the end, and stood at attention.

Before General Hammond could ask them to identify themselves, four more people stepped through the gate, carrying various cases and boxes of what appeared to be luggage. They carried no weapons. They made their way as far forward as they could without crossing the invisible line made by the guards.

"Looks like someone's planning on a long visit," Jack remarked under his breath.

Another couple followed closely behind the four attendants. The woman carried a large ornate cushion on which lay a beautifully crafted sword with a jeweled hilt. They, too, walked calmly toward the end of the ramp, stopped, stepped to the side and turned to face the gate expectantly.

A tall, handsome man with an air of power about him was the next to step through the event horizon. Sam and Janet both choked off gasps of disbelief. He was everything Janet had described to Sam earlier about her perfect man. Sam looked down at Janet and whispered, "I guess you were serious about the gate." Janet appeared to be speechless. She was however, emitting a few gurgling sounds and shaking her head in denial. They heard a strangled gasp from Daniel and turned to him. He was staring at the ramp with a shocked, stunned look on his face. They turned to look back down at the ramp.

Only Sam knew what he was seeing. A woman stepped through, wearing a dress of deep sapphire blue, just like in Daniel's dream. The gate shut down. She looked up at the control room and her gaze locked with Daniel's. The moment seemed to stretch to eternity, but it could only have lasted a few seconds. She smiled slightly, and walked down the ramp.

The officers and soldiers of the SGC were startled and bewildered. A medieval painting had just come to life on their ramp. These people could have stepped from the pages of T. H. Whites' `The Once and Future King'.

The woman looked at her guards and ordered, "Katteri guard, defenses down, at ease." Her guards left their defensive positions and moved to form a column on her left. There was now nothing between her and the people in the gate room.

Kataya lifted her head and looked directly at General Hammond. "Do I address General George Hammond of the SGC, planet Earth, home of the Tau'ri?

"You do."

"I am Kataya of Cadwaellon. I believe you have been expecting me?"