*****  Chapter 9 *****

Baths, Sam thought, truly were God’s gift to women.  Only a woman could properly appreciate the soothing effects of hot water and fragrant bubbles on frayed nerves. She lingered in the tub for a long time, indulging in a pleasure she knew she wouldn’t find in the middle of the Dakaran desert.

Dealing with Jack had been a monumental pain in the ass this week, stretching her professional reserves to the breaking point.  She was damned if she’d confront him about the way he’d left, though.  If he’d wanted to explain himself, he would have. As it was, she could only assume that whatever feelings he might once have had for her had faded beneath the weight of time and self-denial.  Still, she thought, it was disappointing to realize that he hadn’t even cared enough to say goodbye. 

As the water finally began to cool, and the few remaining bubbles disappeared one by one, she reluctantly climbed out of the tub.  Wrapping her still damp hair in one fluffy white towel, and her equally damp body in another, she pulled the plug, watching as the water drained away.  What a waste, she thought.  At one time she’d been convinced that she and Jack could have something special - so convinced, in fact, that she’d called off her engagement to a thoroughly decent guy, hoping for a miracle.  She scoffed lightly at herself.  Theoretical astrophysicists should know better than to believe in miracles.

Once she’d dried her hair and tidied the bathroom, she collected the few things she’d need for the next day’s mission.  The she put her pack by the front door and settled down with a book, determined to spend the remainder of her evening on completely mindless entertainment. 

Deeply involved in the latest Robin Cook novel, she almost didn’t notice the light tap at her front door.  Frowning, she looked at the clock.  Nobody she knew would make an unannounced visit at this hour.  She checked to make sure the deadbolt and safety chain were engaged, and then looked through the peephole.  A bottle of beer met her gaze, and then a very familiar eye.  Okay, so maybe someone she knew would make an unannounced visit.   

“We come in peace!”  He called through the door.

She considered ignoring him.  In a matter of hours she’d be safely off world.   A few days after that, he’d be gone again, most likely disappearing back into the fabric of humanity without a word, the same way he had before.  

He knocked again.  Louder this time.

“Carter!” He barked.  He was the only man she’d ever known who could speak in a manner that fit that particular verb. Even her drill instructors had never quite pulled it off.  “Carter, come on!  Let me in before your neighbors call the cops!”

She sighed.  They’d probably do exactly that.  She lived in a quiet neighborhood, and it was well-known that she lived alone. Her neighbors wouldn’t be impressed if a raving lunatic disturbed their rest, and bailing her former CO out of jail didn’t sound like something she wanted to be doing tonight. Reluctantly, she released the locks and opened the door.

“Sir!” she said.  “What are you doing here?”

“Drop the ‘sir,’ Carter.  I’m a civilian now.” 

He hadn’t answered her question, but she didn’t push – yet. Instead, she waited for him to step inside, then closed the door and turned to face him, arms folded protectively across her chest.  Something about greeting him in a fluffy white bathrobe and little else made her feel rather at a disadvantage.

He held up a six pack of beer.  “I brought a peace offering,” he said.  “Kitchen?”

She jerked her head slightly, pointing him in the right direction, but didn’t say anything else.  He’d been in her house before.  He already knew where the damn kitchen was.  Jack smiled a little weakly and headed off to put the beer in the fridge.  Meanwhile, she sat back down on the couch, tucking her suddenly cold feet beneath her. 

Jack came back, two beers in hand, and offered one to her.  She accepted it, but didn’t pop the top.  The coming conversation was better handled with a clear head.  She watched him take a long drink of liquid courage.

“Why are you here, Jack?”  His given name felt strange in her mouth.

He mulled that over for a few seconds, obviously uncomfortable.  She considered saying something to make this easier on him, but rejected the idea.  Let him squirm.  She’d made a fool of herself over him often enough already.  She thought back to the time she’d gone to his house unannounced and discovered him entertaining another woman.  No way was she going to set herself up for that kind of embarrassment again.

“Teal’c called,” he said, looking pleased. Only Jack would liken a wormhole transmission to a simple telephone call.

“Did he?” Maybe his reasons for coming weren’t what she’d thought they were. 

“Yep.  Said he’d be glad to meet you at the gate tomorrow.” 

“That’s good news.”  Inane Conversation 101 she thought to herself.  Surely he didn’t come all the way over here to tell her something she could have found out in the morning briefing. 

When he didn’t say anything else, she uncurled her legs and stood up, thoroughly frustrated with his inability to communicate.  “It’s late, and I’m tired, so if you don’t mind…”

He stood as well, but he made no move to leave.  Something about the way he looked at her made her tighten the tie of her robe.  “Is something wrong?”

“Nope,” he said, and Sam would have sworn that he was nervous as well.  Now, there was an interesting thought. 

Tired of waiting for him to get to the point, Sam moved to the door, stopping beside it and staring pointedly at him.  “Is there anything else?”

“No,” he said at first.  Then, angrily, “Yes! Damn it!”

“Which is it?” she asked coolly.  “Yes or no?”

“Carter!”  He glared at her in frustration.  “Will ya just…?”

She held her peace, waiting for him to go on. 

Finally, he raked a frustrated hand through his silver hair.  “Look, I screwed up, okay?”

She snorted.  Yes, he’d screwed up, as he so diplomatically stated it.  No, it wasn’t okay.  Not by a long shot. 

“So what?” she asked bitterly.  “Is this where we’re supposed to share a couple of beers and pretend it never happened?”  She couldn’t do that.  He’d hurt her badly.  And it was going to take a hell of a lot more than a six pack of beer to make it right.

“Yes!”  He almost shouted the word.  Then, with a sigh, “No.”

She watched him as he finished his beer and set the bottle on a nearby table. There was something defeated about the way he moved, something that made her wonder, just for a second, if maybe she was being too hard on him.  Then she remembered the sucker punch feeling she’d had when she’d first heard about his retirement, and the faint stirring of sympathy faded as quickly as it had come. 

“Why did you do it, Jack?”  She spoke softly, the words barely making it across the room to where he stood.  “Would it really have been so hard to say something?”

“I just… couldn’t,” he said finally, his voice as soft as hers had been.

“The great Jack O’Neill, slayer of gods, couldn’t say goodbye?” 

She’d hit a nerve. Spinning abruptly on his heel, Jack grabbed the empty beer bottle and threw it towards the trash.  It hit the wall with a dull thud before dropping in.  Ordinarily, she would have applauded his aim.  Tonight, she just looked at him.  

When he looked back at her, his dark eyes were angry.  “You know, for a scientist, sometimes you aren’t too bright.”

“Excuse me?”  She felt defensive anger flooding into her system, adrenaline beginning to pump through her veins. 

“You heard me.”

“I think you’d better explain yourself.”

He walked toward her, his steps almost predatory.  Unaccountably nervous, she nevertheless held her ground.  

“Why do you think I left?”

He took another step towards her, so that now she could easily have reached out to touch him.  Instead, she clenched her hands into fists at her sides. 

“I don’t have a clue, Jack.”  She took a steadying breath.  “And frankly, I don’t give a damn.”

“Is that so?”  He smiled thinly, his eyes openly communicating his disbelief. 

She shrugged, trying to look nonchalant.  “I can only assume you’d had enough.”

“Close,” he said, “but not quite.”

Sam had to resist the urge to stamp her foot in childish frustration.  Why were they playing this game of cat and mouse?  All at once her emotions boiled up and out, bursting through the barrier of professional distance she’d so carefully maintained for so many years. 

“All I know is that one minute you were telling me you’d ‘always’ be there, and the next minute you were gone without so much as a single damned word!”  She snapped the deadbolt free, jerking the door open.  “And then you show up at the SGC acting as though nothing happened.”  She stood back out of his way. “Obviously I completely misinterpreted something somewhere, but then that shouldn’t be so surprising.” She fought for control, breathing heavily, as bitterness replaced anger.  “I am only a scientist after all.”

“Sam…” 

“Just…  Go, Jack.”  Suddenly all she wanted to do was to curl back up on the couch with Robin Cook and forget her personal problems.  At least in storybooks, relationships sometimes behaved the way they were supposed to.

“Damn it, Sam.  You don’t get it!” 

She looked at him, seeing the anger and frustration she felt reflected in his eyes.  “Then why don’t you explain it to me?”

“Fine!” 

And suddenly his arms were around her, pulling her so tightly against him that the open collar of his shirt brushed against her neck and sent an involuntary shiver down her spine.  She opened her mouth to ask him what was going on, but before she could speak he took her lips in a kiss that made all higher level brain activity come to a screeching halt.  And then, for a long time, there was no thought at all, just the touch and taste and smell of him.  And while her first reaction might have been surprise, it only took a heartbeat for her to give in to the explosion of feeling that rocked them both to the core. 

When he finally eased the kiss to gentle end, and she wobbled slightly on weak knees, he held her until she steadied herself enough to pull away. 

“That,” he said softly, “is why I left.”

And that was it.  Before she could gather her scattered wits enough to respond, the door clicked softly shut and he was gone.

*****  Chapter 10 *****

There was no time to talk to him the next morning and, if the truth were told, she doubted she would have been able to carry on an intelligent conversation anyway.  Whatever they were going to say to each other next was going to have to wait until after she got back from Dakara.  In the meantime, she had a mission to accomplish, and no matter how jumbled, confused, and upside down her personal life was at the moment, that had to come first.

Something of her mood must have communicated itself to her friends, because on the hike out to the site, Daniel dropped back to walk beside her. 

“You okay?”  He asked, concern clear in his eyes.

She glanced over at him, unsure of how much to say.  Then again, Daniel was her friend, and a pretty insightful guy.  “Jack stopped by last night.” 

Daniel raised an eyebrow.  “Oh?  As in stopped by your house?”

“Yeah.”

“I see.”

Sam almost wanted to laugh at that – would have if she hadn’t been so muddled just now.  He probably did see, all too clearly.

“And,” Daniel was choosing his words carefully, picking his way through a potential minefield.  “What did he have to say?”

She shrugged.  “Mostly that he was sorry.”  It wasn’t what he’d said that had Sam so edgy.  It was more what he’d done, but she wasn’t yet ready to talk about that part.

“Really.”  Daniel sounded pleasantly surprised, and she looked over at him.  “He apologized to me, too.”

“Wow,” was all Sam could think of to say in answer to that. 

They were both quiet for a few minutes as they considered the implications of Jack O’Neill apologizing not just once, but twice on the same day.

“Was that it, then?” Daniel said at least.  “Just dropped in, said he was sorry, and left?”

“Mostly.”  She so was not going to go into details.

“Odd timing, that.”  He spoke under his breath, almost inaudibly.

“Excuse me?” 

“Well…” He hesitated.  “It’s just that…” Then rushing ahead in typical Daniel fashion, “Why didn’t he just come to your lab?  Why the trip to your house?”

Sam ducked her head, pretending interest in the dusty landscape in a desperate attempt to hide the blush she felt creeping up the back of her neck.  She sensed him watching her, could almost feel the sudden intensity of his gaze, but she remained stubbornly silent. 

Several minutes passed before he said anything else.  Then, “So, did you?”

She blinked.  She’d lost track of the conversation.  “Did I what?”

“Did you forgive him?”

“Oh.”  She kicked a rock out of her way.  “I guess so.”

“You guess so.” 

“Well… Yeah.  I mean, what’s not to forgive?”  Other than that kiss, which was a conversation for another time – like in a hundred years or so. 

“That’s good.”

She smiled at him.  “Yes,” she said.  “It is.”

It was mid afternoon by the time the three of them stood at the edge of the cliff once again.  The scene had remained undisturbed since their last visit, and it didn’t take long for Daniel to rappel down the cliff face.  Sam settled on her stomach again to watch the descent.  She signaled Teal’c when Daniel had arrived safely on the ledge, then watched him drop his pack and take out his brush and a small pick.

“Daniel!” She called good-naturedly, “No button pushing!”

He grinned up at her.  “Not to worry.  I leave the truly insane work to you.” 

She laughed at that and rolled back to a sitting position, watching Teal’c while he secured Daniel’s belay line. 

“So, Teal’c,” she said conversationally.

He tied off the line and turned to her, eyebrow raised in his polite interest.

“How goes the nation making business?”

He smiled slightly and tilted his head.  “It is not without its difficulties, Colonel Carter.”

“No,” she said.  “I imagine it isn’t.”

Teal’c sat down with his back to the rock, turning his face up to the sun. 

“How’s Bra’tac?”

“He is well.”

“Ry’ac?” 

“He is also well.”

Sam gave up.  One of these days she’d learn not to try to engage Teal’c in small talk. She took a drink from her canteen, recapped the bottle, and leaned back against the rocks, closing her eyes.  She’d not slept well the night before, and the warmth of the sun, combined with a light breeze and Teal’c’s calm presence relaxed her into a light doze. 

Sometime later, she was startled into full wakefulness by a sudden shaking of the ground beneath her.  Stones rattled off the edge of the cliff, and Teal’c, instantly alert, already held Daniel’s belay rope in his hands.  Sam scooted to the edge of the cliff on hands and knees, keeping her center of gravity as low to the ground as she could. 

“Daniel!” she shouted.  “Are you all right?”

The tremor stopped, but when Daniel didn’t answer right away she started to worry.  “Daniel!”

She breathed a sigh of relief when she finally heard his voice on her radio. 

“Yeah, Sam.  I’m fine,” he said. “You’ve got to see this!”

Sam keyed her own radio.  “Daniel, what the hell just happened?”

“Oh.”  There was a guilty pause.  “Umm... Yeah. That was sort of my fault.”

“Your fault?”  Sam and Teal’c exchanged a puzzled glance.  Daniel caused an earthquake? She hadn’t known he’d learned that from the Ancients.

“Well, actually, it was the device.”

“Daniel,” Sam said, a note of warning in her voice.  “Did you push buttons?”

“No!” 

His response was way too quick, and his next words confirmed her suspicions.

“Well,” he said.  “Yes.  One.”

Sam rolled her eyes.  Jack would have expected that.  He never would have let Daniel loose down there alone. 

“We were right, Sam!”  The guilt was gone as fast as it had come.  “There’s a panel here that opens!”

Lovely.  Aladdin and the Forty Thieves, here we come.  She only hoped he hadn’t tried telling the thing to ‘open sesame.’ She shot an inquiring glance at Teal’c, and received a slight nod in reply. 

Sam keyed her radio.  “Daniel?  I’m coming down.”

“Great!”  He was excited again.  “You really need to see this!”

Sam pulled the extra harness and rope out of her pack and buckled herself in.  “You sure you’re okay with this, Teal’c?  If there’s another tremor…”

“I will be fine, Colonel Carter.”

“But with both of us down there?”  Left unspoken was her concern that he wouldn’t be able to haul them up quickly enough or, worse, that he’d be forced to choose between the two of them.

Teal’c didn’t bother answering her.  Instead, he merely continued making preparations to support her trip down the cliff.

“Teal’c.  If anything happens… I want you to pull Daniel up first.”

He looked at her calmly.  “Colonel Carter.  If another earthquake should occur, I will pull both of you up together.”

Oh.  Yeah.  He probably could do that.  She turned her attention to getting down the rock wall without mishap.

On closer inspection, the outside of the device did indeed look like a doorway or portal of some sort.  She glanced briefly at the mechanism on the outer wall.  It was very similar to the one Daniel had shown her on the Internet, albeit in significantly better condition.  Below the mechanism was a circular inset with a series of switches arranged much like the slices of a pie.  The markings on the switches were meaningless to Sam, but Daniel had obviously figured out how to use them to open the door.

Once activated, the door itself had apparently slid down into the side of the cliff, explaining the tremor she and Teal’c had felt.  The resulting opening was barely big enough to squeeze through.

“Daniel?”  Sam called quietly, peering into the darkness.  “You in there someplace?”

“Here, Sam.  It’s safe.  Come on in.”

She stepped inside and waited for her eyes to adjust to the dim light.  A cloud of dust drifted down from the ceiling, and she blinked, peering through the haze. 

“What’ve you got, Daniel?”

“Over here.”

The floor of the alcove was smooth, she noticed, and level as well, so the area had most likely been hand crafted for its purpose.  Able to see better now, she moved across to where Daniel stood looking at an entire wall of switches, knobs, and dials with a befuddling array of symbols inscribed above and below each one. 

Daniel reached out to touch one of the symbols, and Sam caught his arm, visions of disaster cascading through her mind.  “Daniel.  Don’t.”

“Sam…”

“No. We don’t even know what it is yet.”

“Sam…”

“I mean it, Daniel.  At least let me run some tests first.”

“Sam will you just shut up for a minute?”

 She dropped her hand, startled by his vehemence. 

“Sorry,” he said.  “It’s just… They’re stone!”  He lightly traced the outer edges of one of the switches, then another, and when he finally turned back to meet her eyes again his sparkled with enthusiasm.  “The entire thing has been carved right out of the side of the cliff!”

“Are you sure?”  She asked.  “The technology required to do that would be…”

“Incredibly advanced, I know.”  He threw her a teasing look, and for a split second she was tempted to stick her tongue out at him.

“Exactly,” she said instead.  “If whoever built this was that advanced…”

“Ancient, you mean?”

“Yeah.  Maybe.  Anyway, if they were that advanced, we need to be very sure of what we’re doing before we start messing around.”

“Agreed.”

“Give me a few minutes to get some readings.  I can at least find out if there’s any kind of energy source here.”  She pulled off the pack she’d brought down with her and rummaged inside for some of her tools.

“While you work on that, I’ll see if I can figure out any of these symbols.”

The two of them, long used to working together in unusual conditions, slipped easily into a comfortable silence punctuated now and again by a comment from one or the other about something they’d found.  Every fifteen minutes one of them would check in with Teal’c, but beyond that their concentration was focused entirely on their work.  Nearly three hours passed before they felt they had even a vague idea of what the device did. 

“We’re sure about this, right?”  Sam said.  “They desperately need it, but if we’re wrong…”

“I know.”  Daniel nodded.  “There’s always the possibility that we’ve spent all this time chasing a dead end, but we won’t know for sure until we try.”

“I agree.”  Sam put away her voltmeter.  “But it bothers me that I’m not getting any energy readings in here.”

“Is it possible that it somehow generates its own power?”  Daniel asked.

“It’s possible, but it’d still need something to kick start it.”  She stood up and turned back to him.  “The same way a car won’t start if it has a dead battery.”

“Maybe there’s a way to start it manually?  You know, like how they used to crank start cars in the old days.”

Sam considered that, and then studied the panels again.

“Wait a minute.  Let me see your notes.”

Daniel handed them over and waited patiently while she compared what he’d written to the dizzying array of switches on the large panel.  When she finally spoke again, there was excitement in her voice.  “I think you’re right, Daniel.  I think if I do things in exactly the right order…”

“It’ll start?”

“Either that or it’ll self destruct.  There’s only one way to find out.”

Daniel wasn’t entirely sure he liked the sound of that.  “Check with Teal’c.  See what he wants to do.”

She nodded and keyed her radio.  “Teal’c, I think we may have good news.”

“I am listening, Colonel Carter.”  His deep voice bounced hollowly off the walls. 

“As near as we can tell, this device controls an underground water source of some kind.  If we can get it turned on, we think you’ll be able to successfully irrigate several thousand kilometers of farmland.”

“That is good news indeed,” Teal’c said.  “Are you able to activate it?”

Sam looked at Daniel, who shrugged.  “Maybe,” she said.  “We’re going to try.”   

“I await news of your success with great anticipation.” 

“So.”  Sam said, turning to Daniel.  “You should probably head back up.”  She didn’t see any reason for both of them to risk their necks in this venture.

“You go.  I can handle this.”

She shook her head.  “No way.  I need to do this in exactly the right order, or else…”  

“Sam…”  There was worry in his dark eyes. 

“Daniel.  Don’t make me make it an order.”

He sighed in resignation.  “Teal’c,” he said into his radio.  “I’m coming up.”

Teal’c’s calm voice answered immediately.  “I am ready, Daniel Jackson.”

Daniel moved back to the entrance and checked to see that his harness was still secure.  “Be careful, Sam,” he said.

She smiled reassuringly.  “See you in a few minutes.” 

With a last glance her way, Daniel signaled Teal’c that he was coming up.

**************

Continue to Part 5

 

 

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