Breathing Space

 

Chapter Four

 

Room to Breathe

 

 

“Hey, kiddo, how ya doin’, and where are Lantash and Martouf?”  Jacob asked his daughter, as he entered the room she’d been given.  He’d been off on a short recon mission, so hadn’t been here when she arrived on her visit.  He thought she looked pale, and her smile wasn’t as bright as usual.  He wondered what was up and hoped there was nothing wrong between her and Lantash, her and Martouf, or both. 

 

“Hi, Dad, and I’m doing fine, thanks.  No more morning sickness, and the food cravings seem to have leveled off, for the most part, other than for chocolate, but that’s a constant anyway.  How have you been?”

 

“I’ve been good, Sam.  Ah, where are Lantash and Martouf?”

 

“Oh, sorry, I forgot you asked.  They had a long mission, and I was bored, so I came by myself.  Don’t you want to see me without them?”  Sam asked, and something in her voice warned her father to be careful.

 

“I want to see you with or without them, kiddo, you know that.  I’m just surprised they let you out of their sight alone that’s all.  They must have finally figured out that you wouldn’t fall apart, or have something terrible happen to you if you were left alone for a few days.  I’m glad they finally backed off.  I know they were becoming obsessive about something happening to you, and I was afraid they were going to drive you crazy.”  Jacob had walked across the room to take a seat, so was surprised when he turned around to see tears running down his daughter’s face.

 

He immediately headed back to her and took her in his arms.  “Sam?  Honey, what’s wrong?”

 

“Oh, Daddy, it’s been, they’ve been, I can’t --.”  She stopped and gulped, before blurting out, “I’ve run away from home.  They don’t know where I am, and I don’t want them to find me yet, so don’t tell them I’m here, and I miss them so much I can’t stand it,” she managed, before she started crying in earnest. 

 

Jacob led her to the sleeping platform and sat down with her, taking her in his arms, and rocking her slowly while she cried.  As her crying quieted, he said, “I take it they didn’t get over it.  How bad did it get?”

 

Sam laughed slightly, shaking her head before answering, “I should have stayed and tried again to make them understand.  I knew it would hurt to leave them, but I didn’t realize it would hurt this much.  I miss them so much, I just want to turn around and go back.  The problem is that I know what will happen if I do.  I’ll be trapped there and never get away.  I’ll start to resent them and everyone else, and I’m afraid of what the resentment will do to my love.  I don’t want to end up losing them, Dad.  I love them both more than I thought it was possible to love anyone.  As for how bad it got; it was bad enough that I’m here instead of there.  So I guess that’s the answer; bad enough.”

 

“Why don’t you start at the beginning and tell me what happened.  Maybe you’ve blown it out of proportion because you didn’t have anyone to talk to.”

 

Sam nodded, saying, “I thought of that, too.  I didn’t even have Janet.  She – She’s part of the problem.  In fact, there isn’t anyone on the base that isn’t part of the problem, or if there is, I haven’t found them.  Not even, not even Daniel, Dad.  Even Daniel wasn’t there for me this time.”  She sighed before beginning to explain to her father what had been happening. 

 

It took her quite a while, but she finally came to the end of her story, only to repeat some parts of it.  It was as if now that she finally had someone who was truly hearing her, she couldn’t stop talking, “I know its because they all care for me so much, and they all want to be sure that nothing happens to me, or the baby.  But, I feel smothered by it.  I can’t breathe, I can’t go anywhere alone, and I can’t leave the base for fear of being kidnapped.” 

 

“The few times I did leave, you would think I had committed a huge crime, but that isn’t what stopped me from doing it.  I realized myself that I probably wasn’t safe, and that it was a foolish thing to have done.  So I did realize, but the thing that actually stopped me was the fear in their eyes when they found out.  They are so afraid for me, Dad.  And not just because of the NID or the Goa’uld, but everything.  They are afraid for me, and they are afraid for the baby.” 

 

“They want this baby so much.  I think that kept me there longer than anything else, knowing that if I left and something happened to me, or to the baby, they would never forgive me.”

 

Jacob sighed.  He had been afraid of this happening.  It was so rare for a symbiote and host to father a child, or for a female host to have a child that when it happened, it was almost looked on as a miracle.  Two hosts never had a child, of course, and so rarely did a host have a non-host mate that children were rare indeed.  Lantash and Martouf were so afraid that something would go wrong, or happen to Sam, that from the moment they had found out she was pregnant, they had been in a constant state of anxiety unless they were with her. 

 

“I was at the point of not knowing what to do.  It didn’t matter what I said, they didn’t hear me.  I told them over and over that I wanted to come here, but they just kept saying it was my hormones, and that I didn’t really want to come here.  Then they would tell everyone to be less obvious in their surveillance of me for a day or so before everything went back to status quo.  When it got to the point that someone was even following me to the bathroom, I decided I had to get away.” 

 

“Dad, I came out of the shower and found an airman waiting to be sure I was okay.  As soon as they saw that I was okay, they said they’d be right outside if I needed anything.  It’s to the point that now I have a guard outside at night while I sleep whenever they are off world just incase something happens.  I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to leave, and if I hadn’t given them a direct order to stay at their post while I went to the control room to check some diagnostics I was running, they would have gone with me.  I had to sneak into the locker room to get my things and it’s a good thing I had packed some things a couple of weeks ago or I would have arrived here with nothing but the clothes I was wearing.  And I feel guilty for leaving.  I know they are only doing it because they love me so much, and they want the baby to be born healthy.”

 

“Sam, are you sure someone was actually following you to the bathroom, or are you just getting paranoid?”

 

Sam sighed and asked, “Does it seem logical to you that the same airman is always in the same hall every time I go to the bathroom?  Or that as soon as I leave, they turn their back, and key their radio to let the next person on my route know that I am on my way?  They would fail covert ops, and I have to admit, I think this is one of the Colonel’s plans, not Lantash and Martouf.  But it wouldn’t surprise me to find out they know about it.”

 

“They were going to take turns staying on base while the others went on missions until they hit on the idea of Nyan staying with me while they were gone.  And I couldn’t hurt Nyan’s feelings by telling him I’d rather be alone.  He’s too nice a young man to do that to, and it isn’t his fault; I’m sure it is the council of SG1 plus Janet that decided it for him.  Teal’c’s the only one that doesn’t treat me like I might break at any minute, but he doesn’t say much.  And I don’t want to catch him in the middle, so I just don’t say anything to him about what is happening.  I won’t divide his loyalties.”

 

Sam swallowed hard, and then looking up at her father, her eyes swimming with tears, she whispered, “The worst part of this is that I feel so guilty, for doing this to them.  I’ve hurt them so much by doing this that now I wonder if they will ever forgive me.  They should have been here by now.  Their mission should have been over two days ago.  What if something happened to them?  What if they are hurt and need me and I’ve left them, and they feel they have nothing to live for?  What if I’ve killed their love for me by leaving them like that?  I’m scared of what I may have done to our bond, our marriage.  I don’t know what to do now.  Now that I’ve been away from it for a while, I can see it for what it was; it was overwhelming love of me and our baby.”

 

“Sam, the only reason you can see it now is because you are finally away from that atmosphere.  If they had only let you come here and visit, it would probably have kept you enough on an even keel that you would have taken all of the other stuff with a grain of salt and a shrug of your shoulders.  Now that you are away and have room to breathe, you feel better.  I’ll tell you what, how about I go to the SGC and see how things are going?  Make sure they are all right, that nothing terrible happened to them on their mission, and they are still in love with you, missing you, and looking for you.”  Jacob frowned, and asked, “What makes you think they should have been here?  I thought you didn’t tell them where you were.”

 

“I told them that once they began to believe that I knew what I was saying, and I meant what I was saying, they would know where to look for me, and to come for me as soon as they could hear me, hear what I was saying to them.  And I told them if they really couldn’t figure it out to ask Daniel because he is very astute, and he would be able to.  I practically spelled it out for them, Dad.”

 

“Well, they still may not have figured out where you are.  Or, they may be trying to come to terms with the fact that they can’t continue to smother you.  It’s possible that they realize they are being overprotective, but don’t trust themselves to be able to let you live without being watched over constantly.” 

 

“Sam, to them, this baby is a miracle.  It’s such a rare thing to have happened that to Martouf and Lantash, it’s simply extraordinary.  Something they never expected to have happen, and now that it has, they are scared to death.  I don’t know what they would do if something happened to you or that baby.  Lose their minds, probably.”

 

“I know,” Sam whispered.  “I better go back.  I’ve already caused them too much pain.  I can’t do this to them, Dad.  I’ll just have to learn to live in a fishbowl, and stop worrying about making my own decisions.” 

 

She smiled slightly, saying, “I told them I wanted to move back here to the tunnels, but they couldn’t survive that, could they?  At least on Earth, they feel like we are half-way safe.  If we were here, they’d constantly be afraid.  That’s the real reason they didn’t want me to come here.  They know that the System Lords are constantly looking for your bases, and they are afraid we’ll be here during an evacuation and be killed.  At least Earth is in the protected planets treaty, so they feel better when we are there.”  She sighed again, “I’ll go get my stuff.”

 

“No, Sam, don’t.  I’ll go to earth, and see how things are.  I really think they are going to have to come to terms with this fear of theirs.  I know what you are saying is true, but you, and they, can’t live your entire lives in the halls of the SGC, either.” 

 

“At the very least, you need to spend time in both places.  This baby has three parents and three cultures.  It is part Tok’Ra, Sam.  While it is true that Lantash is asexual and didn’t contribute sperm as such, we really don’t know that much about the affect the symbiote has on the host’s body and reproductive system.  For all we know, there may be some subtle change in the sperm that we don’t know about.  This is no doubt another reason that the NID would love to get a hold of you.” 

 

“Lantash is very aware of that, too.  No, the baby isn’t going to be a symbiote.  We know that, we don’t know if the DNA of the host is altered at all by having the symbiote controlling all of his body systems.  I guess that is something they should look into.  And this baby, whether you like it or not, should be studied to see what traits, if any at all, are passed on because of some subtle changes that come about because of the symbiote.” 

 

Sam closed her eyes, and then opened them to look at her father, as his words sank in.  What he said was true.  They would need to do some studies on this child.  But, she still wouldn’t have it turned into a lab rat.  There was a limit to what she would allow.  “I agree up to a point, but I will never allow either the Tok’Ra, or the doctors on Earth, to make this baby, or the next one, into a lab rat.  I agree it probably should have tests run, so that we do begin to understand whether the symbiote has any affect at all on the child, but I won’t allow them to study it excessively.”

 

“Neither will I, Sam, but just like they study exceptional children on earth to understand them, this child will be studied to try to understand it.”

 

Sam nodded.  Of course, it would have to be.  It would be up to her, Martouf and Lantash to see to it that it had all the love and acceptance that was possible though.  It would no doubt blend someday.  It only made sense.  She found herself wondering if it would be a better candidate for blending because one of its parents was a symbiote.  An interesting question. 

 

“So, if I go to Earth and check on everyone, will you be okay until I get back?  Have you spent any time with Tashmar, Jacarta, and the brood?  Did they tell you that Tashmar swiped all of Martouf’s desert hats to make a nest for Jacarta’s eggs?”

 

Sam laughed shakily, saying, “Yes, I’ve seen them, and I had planned on spending some more time with them.  Tashmar still likes to put his head in my lap and be rubbed.  He helped me so much, Dad, I’m glad you’ve kept him, Jacarta, and the babies.  As for the hats, he used to hiss every time Martouf wore one.  I told Martouf it was his fashion sense making a statement, and he obviously didn’t like them.  Jacarta did though.  She would follow him around when he wore them.  I always figured Tashmar was jealous.  No wonder they used them for a nest.  Between the two of them, there was no better choice.”

 

Jacob agreed, and then asked, “So, if I go to earth for you and talk to Martouf and Lantash, you’ll be okay till I get back?”

 

“Yeah, I think so.  I feel a little better.  Tell them I’m sorry, please.  And tell them I’m ready to come home, if they still want me.”

 

Jacob sighed, hearing the quaver in her voice that said tears weren’t far from the surface.  “They will want you, Sam.  Trust me on this.  They love you too much to turn away from you over this.  I think they will understand why you did it, and as I said, I believe that is the reason they haven’t come after you.  They want to be very sure they can be with you without driving you crazy.  Sam, honey, once they realize they really are hurting you by being this way, they will do whatever they have to do to overcome it.  I’m sure of it.”

 

“I hope so, because I don’t think I want to live without them.  I never realized how hard it was for you when mom was killed.  I understand now, Dad, and I’m sorry for everything.  I missed my mom.  But you lost your mate, and there is nothing that can match that pain.”  She paused for a moment before saying, “I never gave it much thought before but moms been gone a long time.  If you ever meet someone, you know, with the Tok’Ra, or on earth, that you could love, please don’t hold back.  Take what love is offered.  You deserve to be loved, Dad.  You’re a wonderful man, and some woman would be very lucky to have you.”

 

Jacob smiled at his daughter.  He hadn’t really given much thought to taking a mate, although he wasn’t exactly celibate.  There was someone he found attractive, but he doubted she’d look at him, as she was much to young for him.  Those thoughts ran swiftly through his mind before he answered her, saying, “Thanks, Sam, I appreciate you saying that, and I can promise you that if I ever find a woman that would live up to what I had with your mom, I wouldn’t hesitate.  I don’t mean I want someone like your mom, just that what we had together leaves a pretty high standard for someone to live up to.  If it ever happens, you’ll be the first to know though, okay?”

 

“And speaking of the other, Sam, I think there might be a loss that would be just as painful as losing a mate.  I’ve never lost a child, but I think that pain would be as bad.  You aren’t supposed to outlive your children.”

 

Sam nodded.  That was true.  And Lantash and Martouf were afraid of losing both.  She let the feeling of losing them and this baby enter her and felt what they had been feeling.  She would return to them soon now, or they would come to her.  It was time to acknowledge this fear and talk about it.  Maybe then, they could move forward.

 


 

The klaxons were going off as the General walked into the control room.  “Do we have a code, Sgt.?”

 

“Yes, sir.  It’s the Tok’Ra.”

 

“Open the iris, Sgt.”

 

“Yes, sir.”

 

The general headed for the gate room and arrived at the end of the ramp, as Jacob stepped through the event horizon and walked toward him.  Seeing no one but George waiting there, he frowned.  “Where is everyone, George?”

 

“Daniel took Martouf and Lantash off world on an archeology expedition yesterday morning, very, very, early.  Jack and Teal’c are probably in the gym, or the cafeteria.  Those seem to be their favorite places.  I’m afraid I can’t tell you where Sam is.  She’s taken a vacation, but she didn’t tell us where she was going,” the General said, hoping his friend was here because he did know where Major Carter was, and if he wasn’t, and didn’t, he hoped not to alarm him.  He almost expected an outburst, but it didn’t come.

 

“Let’s go to your office,” Jacob stated bluntly.  If, as he suspected, the base was already rife with gossip, he didn’t want to fan it any farther.  He wanted privacy.

 

George nodded, and they headed for the office.  As soon as the door was shut, Jacob turned to the General, and said, “She’s fine, but she’s missing them badly and wondering why they haven’t followed her.  I’m assuming Daniel’s field trip is to occupy them, so they won’t go running after her before they can come to terms with their fear?  At least, I’m hoping it’s because they were afraid they couldn’t do as she asked, since that is what I gave to her as the most logical reason for their non appearance.” 

 

“The other possibility, I didn’t mention to her; the one where they’re too angry to go to her for fear of saying something that would be unforgivable.  I’m hoping you will tell me that isn’t even in the running.”  He was again blunt in his statements.  He and George Hammond went back a long way.  They could cut to the chase with one another.  He saw the surprise on George’s face at his last statement.  So, evidently anger hadn’t been the uppermost of their emotions.  That, at least, was a very distinct relief.

 

“They were both so angry at us, for not immediately recalling them and starting an immediate search, that they spent all their anger on that, Jacob.  By the time they read her letter, they had begun to understand what had caused her to leave in such a way, and they were terrified that she was somewhere unsafe.  I’ve never seen either of them so strung out.  They were so brittle, I was afraid they would shatter into a thousand pieces,” George answered his questions both asked and unasked.  “They admitted before they left that right now the fear they have for her and the child is simply stronger than they are.  I have to admit, I never would have expected her to go to the Tok’Ra.  I assumed she would expect them to look there for her, so she wouldn’t go there.”

 

Jacob nodded, replying, “And yet they didn’t look there, George.  They, like you, assumed she wouldn’t go there, for that very reason, and yet she practically spelled it out in the letter.  So, she was correct in one of the things she said.  It is as if they can’t hear what she is saying to them.  She told them she wanted to go to the tunnels quite plainly, and she told them in the letter that when they learned to believe her and trust her, they would know where she was.  Should I assume by what you’ve said that none of you figured it out?”  He asked, incredulous.

 

“They don’t know where she is, and as far as I know none of the rest of us figured it out, either.  I got the impression from what Martouf said, before they left, that he believes that Daniel knows where she is.  He told me that Daniel feels that when they come to terms with everything, they will realize where she is, and that when that happens, they will be ready to go get her and either bring her home here, or take her to the tunnels, if that is truly her wish.  He said that Daniel thinks that they will stop hovering quite so much.  Perhaps never completely, but at least they won’t smother her.  Hopefully, the rest of us will learn the same lesson,” he sighed.

 

Jacob nodded his agreement.  “I understand their feelings, their fear, and panic, George.  I have to admit that without Selmak’s input I might not have.  It is such a fact of life for us.  You grow up, you get married, you have babies, or you adopt.  Most of us, anyway, although not everyone wants or should have children, and I have no problem with that.” 

 

“My point though, is that this is not the normal life cycle for the Tok’Ra.  For them, mates are usually both blended, so there are no children.  This is so rare that to Lantash and Martouf this truly is almost a miracle, something they never thought would happen.  Add to the rarity of it happening, the fact that both the System Lords, and the NID, would love to get a hold of this baby, and you have a recipe for out and out panic.” 

 

He paused before continuing, “They love Sam so much that I don’t know what they would do if something happened to her, but the truth is that they have to come to terms with it.  Because Sam is in a line of work, just as they are, where any or all of them could be killed at any time.  Sooner or later, they are gonna have to face that fact and come to terms with it.  I hope it’s sooner for everyone’s sake.”

 

George nodded, saying, “I know, Jacob, and we probably haven’t helped matters any.  We’ve all been as overprotective as they have.  I can’t take the blame for any of the things they’ve done, but when she tried to talk to me, I brushed her off with a bunch of rot about enjoying being coddled while it lasted, which makes me just as guilty.”

 

“Not quite, George.  You couldn’t know how bad it really was becoming.  Did you know they had someone following her to the bathroom, waiting in her room while she bathed, and standing guard outside their quarters at night when they were off world?”

 

“Are you sure, Jacob?  That doesn’t sound like something Martouf and Lantash would do.  I mean they were instrumental in being sure she ate well, and slept when they thought she should, things like that.  They did agree that Nyan should spend time with her when they were off world, and they didn’t argue with Dr. Fraiser about her going through the Stargate, but I just can’t believe they would have someone following her to the restroom.”  George Hammond was obviously surprised.

 

“Well, Sam did say it seemed more like something Jack would do.  But, I’d really like to find out who caused it because it was the last straw.  When she came out of the shower, found the airman in her room, and then realized there was a guard on her door at night, she knew that if she didn’t leave soon, she would never get the chance.  She was feeling more and more trapped.  I would like to find out if Lantash and Martouf knew about it at least.”

 

George Hammond picked up the phone, “Have Colonel O’Neill come to my office.  ASAP.”  Turning to Jacob, he said, “I think we’ll have an answer to that question shortly.”

 

“I just hope Sam was right, and it was Jack, and not Martouf or Lantash.”

 

“It sounds to me like it has Jack’s signature all over it, Jacob,” George said sardonically.

 

They looked up as Jack knocked lightly on the door and the General told him to enter.

 

“Jacob?  Was that you earlier?  I thought it was probably Daniel and Martouf coming back,” Jack said, as he came into the room.  He suddenly looked uncomfortable, as he realized that Jacob might not know that Carter was missing.  He didn’t look particularly upset, so it kind of looked like he might not.  Jack glanced at General Hammond.  Surely, he had told him his daughter was missing.

 

“Jack, come on in, I have a couple of questions for you.  It seems that someone was assigned to Major Carter as a bath attendant.  Do you know anything about that?  In addition, it seems that an airman was assigned to stand guard on her at night?  I don’t remember issuing those orders, so do you know who might have made those assignments?”  George asked, every inch the General.

 

Jack looked like his shirt was suddenly too tight around his neck, but since it was unbuttoned at the collar, it couldn’t have been that.  Uncomfortable would have described his expression.  “I suppose I might know a little about that, General.”

 

George Hammond sighed deeply and shook his head, “Jack, what were you thinking?  Do you have any idea of the damage you may have done to Martouf, Lantash and Sam’s relationship?  I should allow him to tear you limb from limb when he returns.  I am assuming he was not aware of these extra, er, precautions you decided to take?”

 

“Well, we discussed it, but at the time, we shelved it as not being needed.  That was a couple of months ago.  With her getting so far along, I was afraid she might slip in the shower or something.  If she had an attendant, they would know when she took a shower and could be sure she was okay.  And, since we were gone off world during the nights sometimes, I just thought that if something happened and she went into labor early or she fell or something, then if there was someone outside the door, they would be there if she needed anything.”

 

“So Martouf and Lantash didn’t know anything about it?” the General reiterated.

 

Jack shook his head.  No, this had been done solely by him, he admitted.

 

Jacob crossed his arms, leaned back in his chair, and looked at the man standing before him.  “You might be interested to know that the reason Sam left, was because she got tired of having people follow her to the bathroom, being in her room while she bathed, and guarding her at night.  It was the last straw, Jack.”  He shook his head at the appalled look on Jack’s face, before relenting.  “She might have left anyway, Jack, so don’t look so appalled, but you shouldn’t have interfered.  I won’t stop Martouf and Lantash from tearing you apart, if they end up blaming you.  I don’t think they will, as I’m sure they know that they are to blame as well, so consider yourself lucky that they are fairly reasonable and that Lantash can control Martouf.”

 

It finally dawned on Jack what Jacob had said.  “You know where Carter is?  Is she home?  She’s back?  Where is she, I’m gonna kill her myself for scaring us like that,” he said suddenly.  His face first paled and then flushed as he allowed all the emotions he had kept firmly penned up to come bursting forth.

 

“No, she isn’t here, and no, I’m not telling you where she is.  That isn’t your concern.  And I am telling you that if she does return here, you are to allow them to manage their own lives, and you will not confine my daughter in any way.”  He frowned before adding, “Except to keep her from leaving the base.  Even I am aware that the NID is not to be trusted and if she was kidnapped, I would tear this place apart myself.”

 

General Hammond nodded his agreement.  “You will keep this information to yourself, Jack.  I don’t want one word to leak out that Jacob knows anything about Major Carter, if Martouf and Lantash come back.  We will tell them in our own way and time.  Dismissed.”

 

“Yes, sir.  General Carter.”  Jack acknowledged them and his orders.

 

“Later, Jack.  Maybe I’ll calm down by tomorrow,” Jacob said quietly, by way of a dismissal.

 

Turning to George after Jack left, he raised an eyebrow and then grinned.  “It seems Sam knows Jack pretty well.  She didn’t think it was Martouf and Lantash, she just wasn’t sure they hadn’t gone along with it like they seemed to do everything else.”

 

George shook his head as, he said, “Well, I find it hard to believe that even Jack would do something so very over the top, but he admitted it, and I can’t dispute his own word.  I knew the guys, excepting perhaps Teal’c, were obsessing about this, but I didn’t realize they were as bad as Martouf and Lantash.  I’m beginning to think perhaps there isn’t a thing to choose between them.” 

 

Standing, he said, “What do you say we go get something to eat, Jacob?  I don’t have any idea when to expect Martouf and Lantash back.  Daniel and I agreed that he would keep them there as long as necessary.  He thought it could take a few days for them to realize they could function not knowing where she was or what she was doing.  Once they realized they were capable of allowing her that space, they would realize they could allow her what she needed, and it would dawn on them where she went.  Are you going to stay until they come back?”

 

“I’m not sure.  If they come back sometime within the next couple of days then probably, yeah.  I need to send a message to Sam to let her know they aren’t angry, and they do understand.  She needs to know that they are trying to come to terms with her needs and theirs, and that they are all right and with Daniel.  That alone will make her feel better.  She trusts Daniel to take care of them.  You’d think it would be the other way around, and that she would expect them to take care of Daniel.  I suppose she does in a physical way, but in an emotional way, she knows that Daniel will help them.  So it will relieve her mind to know they are with him.”

 

“No problem, Jacob, let’s go by the control room first and get your message sent.  Then we’ll eat.  You want to stay on base tonight, or go home with me?”  George asked him.

 

“Do you think they would come back tonight?  Is the world they went to on the same day/night schedule as earth, or is it coming on morning there where they might suddenly turn up tonight?”

 

“I think it is similar to what we have on earth.  Off set by several  hours ahead though, I think.  Seems to me it is already fairly late evening there.  I know they left here very early in the morning hours, and Daniel said it was already after sunup there.”

 

“Then I can safely go home with you this evening.  I would like to leave instructions to call me at once if they return early though.”

 

“Not a problem, Jacob.  I’ll tell you what.  Let me leave the message with the tech and turn the base over to Jack, and we’ll leave now, go out for a good meal and head home.  How does that sound?  Good food, good scotch, and good company?”

 

“That’s one of the best propositions I’ve had in a long time.  I accept,” Jacob agreed.  George watched as color washed Jacob’s face.

 

“Selmak reminding you of another proposition you’ve had lately, Jacob?”  He smirked.

 

“Yeah, you know sometimes having a permanent house guest can be annoying as hell.  Especially when said house guest has an excellent memory.”  He smiled and said, his voice taking on a softer more gentle tone, “But other things outweigh the drawbacks.”

 

“Yes, so I understand.  Remind me after we eat, and I’ll tell you about a conversation I had with a symbiote and host recently that was a revelation to me.”

 

“You’re on, George.  I’ll hold you to that.”

 

TBC

 

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