Blood
of My Heart, Beloved of My Soul
Part VI - A
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/Speech/ indicates
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"<Speech>"
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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?"