Storytime with Rachel F Hundred

“I’m confident.”

Janet Fraiser looked around the make-shift infirmary at the Alpha site with a sense of disbelief. The structure was solid; metal frame and outer shell with plasterboard cladding inside. A wooden base kept the structure off the ground and the linoleum flooring looked shiny and new. There were rooms; an operating theatre to the back complete with equipment and sterilisation unit; an office for the doctors; a locker room for the nurses, two isolation rooms and four separate wards. There was a pharmaceutical store filled to the brim. The final touches were underway; beds were being made, cupboards were being stocked. It was impressive that so much had been done in such a short space of time.

The only other structures were two massive supply stores; a library hut which housed key reference books on everything from medicine to farming; the kitchen with an adjoining mess; a small command hut and a primitive set of toilets.

There was no housing; no barracks. There had been no time for the construction. The five hundred people who had been evacuated from Earth would have to make do with tents. Sanitation was going to become a problem, Janet considered as she continued to inspect the infirmary. There was a fresh water lake nearby and she knew the engineers were already working on a way to provide a continuous supply of drinking water. Barrels had been set up to catch rainwater for bathing. It was going to be basic.

At least they were alive.

Don’t think about it, Janet instructed herself sternly. Don’t think about the fact that within minutes Earth would be destroyed; billions of lives gone in a blink of an eye; her parents, her sisters…their families…General Hammond. Janet blinked back tears and focused on the clipboard she held.

She was lucky. She and Cassie were lucky. They had been on the evacuation list. They would survive along with many others. She had to focus on that. She swiped a hand under her eyes surreptitiously not wanting her staff to see her crying. Most of the evacuees were going to suffer survivor’s guilt and bereavement. She should discuss that with the resident psychiatrist…a Doctor Kate Heightmeyer. The SGC’s resident psychiatrist, Mackenzie, hadn’t made the list; another colleague Janet would lose.

Her radio crackled. ‘Doctor Fraiser, this is Ferretti. We have a situation at the library; could you please come over.’

Janet felt her breath catch in fear. Cassie, her adopted daughter, was at the library. She had offered to help Nyan sort through the books. She reached for the radio. ‘On my way.’ She grabbed her medical kit on her way out and hurried across the muddy encampment to the library building. She was barely aware of the military men and women running backwards and forwards, completing vital tasks.

The library was cold. It didn’t have the internal protective plasterboard padding that helped retain heat. The metal walls were grey and uninviting. Janet scanned the space urgently, trying to locate her daughter.

Ferretti walked over to her with Major Tennyson, the leader of SG5. ‘Doc.’

‘What’s the emergency, Colonel?’ Janet asked quickly.

Ferretti shoved a hand through his dark thinning hair. ‘Cassie overheard a couple of the Marines talking about SG1.’

Janet’s heart sank. ‘What did they say?’

‘They may have let it slip about SG1’s cargo ship crashing into the asteroid.’ Tennyson said grimacing.

Ferretti sighed heavily as Janet closed her eyes in despair. ‘She yelled at them some; knocked one of them off his feet – she has a great right hook by the way – and ran out.’

Janet’s eyes snapped open. ‘Which direction did she go in?’

‘I sent Hailey after her.’ Tennyson said briskly. ‘She said they’re on the far side of the camp by the kitchen.’

‘Thanks.’ Janet didn’t waste any more time. She made her way across the camp. She caught sight of the two girls sat on an overturned crate near to the back entrance to the kitchen. Lieutenant Hailey had her arm around Cassie who was crying. Their conversation drifted over to her.

‘They’re not dead.’ Cassie sobbed.

‘Maybe you’re right.’ Hailey comforted gently. ‘But we don’t know for sure and…’

Janet took the last few strides towards them. Cassie sprang up as she saw her and Janet dropped her bag as the young girl launched herself into her arms much as she had done when she’d been little.

‘Mom.’ Cassie sobbed onto her shoulder. ‘Is it true? Are they dead?’

‘Oh, honey.’ Janet stroked her hair softly.

Hailey pointed to the library, indicating without words that she would leave Janet with Cassie alone.

‘Are they?’ Cassie demanded. She inched back and glared at her mother.

Janet stroked Cassie’s bangs away from her forehead. ‘We don’t know what happened to them, Cassie. That’s the truth.’

‘The dumb Marine said they crashed onto the asteroid.’ Cassie sniffled.

Janet nudged her back to the crate and they sat down. She took hold of Cassie’s hand. ‘The satellites indicated that they were approaching the asteroid too fast to make a safe landing but there was no evidence of a crash. It’s all speculation. General Hammond was hopeful.’

‘But if they had survived, they would have gone through with the plan.’ Cassie said subdued. ‘They would have destroyed the asteroid and we wouldn’t be here.’ She was pale and Janet held her tightly. Earth would be the second home Cassie lost; she wasn’t sure her daughter was going to endure it.

‘Maybe something else happened.’ Janet said softly. ‘Maybe they couldn’t deploy the bomb. We just don’t know.’

‘So they could have survived.’ Cassie said, brightening. ‘Right?’

‘Maybe.’ Janet didn’t want to raise her hopes too high. She looked away briefly and caught the glimmer of a shining blue wormhole on the other side of the clearing. The Stargate had been activated. Maybe they were trying Earth; seeing whether anyone had survived…

‘I mean, if anyone could have survived it’s them, right?’ Cassie continued oblivious to her mother’s thoughts.

Janet hugged her gently rather than replying. If Cassie was right then SG1 would show up within a month; Colonel O’Neill had been ordered to take command of the Alpha site. She hoped he did; the current CO, Colonel Sumner seemed like a good man – more formal than either Hammond or Jack though and Janet preferred to have someone she knew in charge. ‘Come on.’ She picked up Cassie’s other hand and winced at the grazed knuckles. ‘Let’s go get this fixed.’ She pinned her daughter with an admonishing look. ‘You’re going to have to apologise to the Marine you knocked down.’

Cassie rolled her eyes but nodded.

‘Who taught you that move anyway?’ Janet asked as they got up. She picked up her discarded bag.

‘Teal’c.’ Cassie smiled. ‘He’s going to be so proud of me.’

‘I don’t think he meant for you to be using it on innocent people, Cass.’ Janet sighed inwardly.

‘They insulted SG1’s honour, Mom, so…’

‘Can I have everyone’s attention please?’ The tannoy rang out loudly with the confident tones of the Colonel. ‘We have just received word from General Hammond.’

Janet and Cassie stopped abruptly in the middle of the clearing.

‘He has confirmed that it is safe for us to return. Our exit orders are hereby in effect; please follow them as previously instructed.’

Janet’s knees went weak and she hugged Cassie to her hard. Earth was safe and everyone she loved who had remained on the planet was safe. Her eyes closed briefly as she took a deep breath. Everyone was safe. Her mother and her sisters; their children. She opened her eyes and blinked hard against the sudden press of tears.

Cassie looked at Janet, her eyes shining with glee. ‘SG1 saved us, right?’

Janet smiled widely as she nodded. If anyone had saved them it had to be the flagship team Cassie so adored. ‘I’m sure they had something to do with it.’ She smoothed Cassie’s hair back over her shoulder as several people ran past them, whooping and hollering. ‘Let’s go home.’

“Me too.”

General Hammond watched as the control room staff took their usual places. It settled something inside him to see the first sign of normality returning to the SGC. Of course, the control room personnel were amongst the last to go and the first to return. They would have to coordinate the return of all of the evacuees over the next couple of weeks; not to mention the supplies and equipment.

People first, Hammond thought as he patted Walter Harriman on the shoulder and absently welcomed him back.

‘Sir.’ Major Paul Davis grinned at him. ‘Reporting for duty.’

‘Good to see you, Major.’ Hammond smiled warmly.

‘And you, sir.’ There was an edge of desperate relief to Davis’ words and Hammond nodded understandingly.

Although he had confirmed that the danger had passed as soon as satellite imagery had pinpointed the asteroid on the other side of the Earth and moving away from them, there had to have been a short space of time when the Alpha site would have thought Earth had been destroyed.

‘Do we know what happened, sir?’ Davis asked as he fell into step beside Hammond as they took the stairs to his office.

Hammond shook his head. ‘All we know is that the asteroid was picked up on the other side of Earth. The Pentagon is theorising that it was placed in hyperspace during its transit through the planet.’

‘SG1?’ Davis inquired delicately.

‘We don’t know for certain.’ Hammond admitted. He hoped so; believed so. If there was something he had pinned his hopes on during the long days and nights of the previous weeks it had been that SG1 had never failed them. One of the worst moments of his life had been when it had been assumed that the cargo ship had crashed on the surface of the asteroid. It seemed impossible to him that SG1 wouldn’t make it. He still fervently believed that SG1 had played a part in the asteroid miraculously passing through the planet without harming it. ‘We’ve been unable to raise them.’

He tried to hide his fear that SG1 had saved them at the cost of their own lives. If they had pulled off a miracle but had somehow died in the undertaking…he couldn’t think like that, he told himself brusquely. He had to remain positive. They had survived other impossible situations before.

Davis nodded as though in understanding of Hammond’s unspoken thoughts.

Hammond handed him a folder from the briefing room table. ‘Major, you’ll be in charge of debriefing the civilian evacuees returning from the Alpha site.’ He sighed. ‘As you know that will include several families of military and civilian personnel assigned to the SGC.’ It had been an easy decision to allow the families of the men and women assigned to the Alpha site to take their immediate family. Expecting them to take sanctuary while their loved ones died would have been untenable.

‘Yes, sir.’ Davis started to flick through the file.

‘You will need to remind them of the confidentiality agreement they signed before leaving for the Alpha site and the penalties for any of this being released to the media or spoken about with other close family or friends.’ Hammond’s pale eyebrows lifted. ‘It’s not going to be an easy job, Major.’

‘I understand, sir.’ Davis grimaced. ‘Is the President still determined not to go with a cover story?’

‘He is.’ Hammond motioned at Davis. ‘He believes that while we could get away with that when Apophis tried to invade us a few years ago, the sheer scale of the evacuation this time suggests that we can’t hope to keep containment that way.’

Davis nodded. ‘So we’re hoping a more honest approach will make people more likely to keep everything secret and…’

‘Sir.’ Walter shot Davis an apologetic look. ‘General, we have an incoming transmission from SG1, sir.’

Hammond and Davis looked at each other with surprised delight. Hammond hurried after Walter, vaguely aware of Davis following him. They clattered down the steel staircase. Hammond moved to the radio swiftly.

‘SG1, this is Hammond.’ He said clearly.

‘Good to hear your voice, sir.’ Jack O’Neill’s careless drawl had the control room cheering.

‘As you can hear, we’re pleased to hear from you.’ Hammond responded. ‘What’s your situation?’

‘I’m afraid our cargo ship is toast.’ Jack replied. ‘Carter can explain it in more detail when we get back but it seems our asteroid isn’t really an asteroid. We couldn’t deploy the bomb – which, by the way, is incredibly poorly made – and had to come up with a different plan.’

‘We noticed the asteroid is on the other side of Earth.’ Hammond noted. ‘I take it that was the plan?’

‘Yes, sir.’ It was Major Carter who responded. ‘We managed to extend the hyperspace window from our cargo ship to surround the entire asteroid.’

‘Excellent work, SG1.’ Hammond said proudly.

‘Thank you, sir.’ Jack replied. ‘The Tok’ra are providing us with a lift home.’

Hammond motioned at Davis. ‘We’ll notify Petersen and warn them of your arrival.’

‘Thank you. We’ll see you soon, sir.’ Jack signed out and the transmission ended.

Hammond breathed out slowly. SG1 was safe; the Earth was safe. He shook his head as the control room continued celebrating around him. They had done it again; saved them again. Sometimes he questioned whether it was right to keep them together still; whether they were too close but the events of the last few days had cemented his belief that they were needed as a team.

SG1 saving the world; everything was definitely on its way back to being normal.

“As am I.”

‘Where?’ Cassie complained, leaning down and squinting through the telescope. ‘I can’t see it.’

Sam smiled. ‘Look over to the right. See that tiny speck?’

‘That’s the asteroid?’ Cassie sighed and straightened. ‘I thought that was a fly.’

Jack rolled his eyes at Sam expressively. He reached over and tousled Cassie’s hair. ‘And for that, you’re not getting any marshmallows.’

Cassie poked him in the ribs with her good hand. Her other hand was bandaged. She was inordinately proud of her injury even though Janet had reprimanded her for using violence. SG1 hadn’t exactly followed the parental line; Teal’c had praised Cassie for defending their honour, Jack had winked at her, Sam had given her advice on how to prevent the bruising in future and Daniel had sympathised over how much pain was felt when knocking someone out with a fist. Sam was fairly certain if Janet hadn’t been completely snowed under with the evacuee medicals, there would have been words.

Sam stared up at the night sky. It was a beautiful clear evening. The Colonel had invited them round to star watch and Sam had accepted eagerly. She loved the observation deck up on the roof of her CO’s house. It was cosy and comfortable; on some weird level she didn’t want to think about, it felt like home to her.

She yanked her thoughts from that path. It was just that a love of astronomy was something she and the Colonel shared as an interest; that was all. Nothing more. She hugged her knees to her chest tightly. Sure. And denial was nothing more than a river in Egypt.

‘Where is that hot chocolate anyway?’ Jack asked with the plaintive tones more suited to someone of five years old than a man in his forties.

Sam found it adorable anyway. She got to her feet hurriedly. ‘I’ll check on Daniel and Teal’c, sir.’

‘You sure?’ Jack asked. ‘I can go…’

‘It’s OK, sir.’ Sam smiled at him reassuringly. ‘You stay with Cassie, I’ll go.’ She made her way to the ladder and glanced back at her CO.

He was leaning over to point out a constellation to Cassie. Sam could remember her own father doing much the same with her when she had been small. She shook herself and started down.

It was all because they’d come so close to dying, Sam thought defensively. They had thought they only had two hours to live. It had just stirred up old feelings; that was all. She sighed. OK, so maybe, just maybe, for a moment, a millisecond, she had wanted to tell Jack how she felt before they died; to tell him nothing had changed for her and she still loved him. Not to force him into untrue return declarations or to make him feel badly; she had just wanted him to know. She hadn’t wanted a lie between them in their final hours.

Sam rubbed her hands off as she got to the bottom of the ladder. Maybe it had been prompted by her own experience a few weeks earlier, Sam considered. The Tok’ra symbiote Lantash had let her know how much he loved her when they had both been trapped in a Tok’ra tunnel as the Goa’uld attacked Revanna. She hadn’t wanted to hear the words at the time but since returning home, she had realised it had given her a measure of peace to know how he felt. He had died comforted by the thought that she knew of his feelings even if she couldn’t return them. She had wanted the same between her and Jack if they were to die; peace and honesty.

She didn’t know if she was pleased or disappointed that Jalen had turned up before she had attempted her confession. Pleased, Sam told herself tartly. She was pleased. If she had said anything the Colonel wouldn’t have had a choice but to have asked for her to be reassigned. After the events where she had been possessed by a computer entity they had both made efforts to reinstate their professional boundaries and move on from their more personal feelings which had no place given their working relationship and military ranks. It hadn’t worked for her. She had resolved to bury her feelings and focus on her career. But the Colonel had moved on, had dated since, even if she hadn’t.

She was pleased that since her abduction by Adrian Conrad, that she and the Colonel had rediscovered their friendship. She treasured it; maybe they couldn’t be lovers but his friendship was important to her; meant something to her. It also meant that it was better for the team overall. They had reinstated team nights together like the one they were enjoying. It must have been hard for Daniel and Teal’c while she and the Colonel had readjusted their boundaries, Sam mused. She figured she owed them both a huge thank you for being so patient and for not saying anything to bring the whole seething mess into the open. It was just a shame she’d had to get abducted for her and her CO to work out an acceptable balance.

The thought of her abduction had her shivering as she stepped into the house. She was pleased Adrian Conrad had been found and captured. Some would say that it was enough punishment that he would live out his life as the host of a Goa’uld but there was something reassuring to Sam personally that it would be a life behind bars. In many ways Conrad’s capture had enabled her to finally put the whole thing behind her. The emotional scars would be with her for a long time; she knew that…but it was really, finally, totally over.

She heard the murmur of Daniel’s and Teal’c’s voices as she approached the kitchen. ‘Hey.’

Daniel was leaning casually against the kitchen workbench which held all the necessary items for making hot chocolate. His arms were crossed over the heavy grey cable knit sweater he was wearing. He looked over at Sam as though he’d forgotten she was there.

Teal’c inclined his bald head in greeting and the artificial light glinted off the Goa’uld brand on his forehead.

‘So’s how the hot chocolate coming?’ Sam asked gesturing at the mugs behind Daniel.

Daniel looked back over his shoulder and blinked. ‘Oh. Right.’ He smiled sheepishly. ‘Sorry.’

Sam nudged him over and filled a small pan with the milk carton Daniel had evidently gotten out at some point. ‘What are you guys talking about anyway?’

‘I was informing Daniel Jackson of a new rebel Jaffa leader that has emerged.’ Teal’c said.

‘Oh?’ Sam turned back to Teal’c interested.

‘His name is Kytano.’ Teal’c informed her. ‘Master Bra’tac speaks very highly of him.’

‘Wow.’ Sam turned the stove on under the milk and spooned the hot chocolate mix into the mugs.

‘Teal’c’s asked General Hammond for permission to join Bra’tac at one of Kytano’s rallies.’

‘Alone?’ Sam questioned, turning around to dart a worried look at the Jaffa.

Teal’c raised an eyebrow at her. ‘I must see for myself if Kytano is worthy of an alliance.’

‘Of course.’ Sam exchanged a knowing look with Daniel; the Colonel wasn’t going to like Teal’c going off on his own to meet a rebel Jaffa leader. The last time it had happened, Teal’c had been betrayed and it had been a miracle that he had survived. ‘Does the Colonel know yet?’ She guessed not seeing as he was in a good mood.

‘I thought it wise to wait until tomorrow.’ Teal’c said, his dark eyes twinkling.

‘Indeed,’ quipped Daniel.

Sam smiled. She turned back around to stir the milk. She frowned. It was going to be another few minutes. ‘Teal’c, do you want to head up and tell the Colonel and Cassie that the hot chocolate is on its way?’

Teal’c bowed at her and he made his way out of the kitchen clutching a large bag of popcorn.

‘He’s hoping that we’ll all agree to watch Deep Impact later.’ Daniel confided once they’d heard the front door closing.

Sam laughed lightly. ‘I hated that movie. It was just so inaccurate and…’ she stopped at the indulgent look on Daniel’s face. ‘Sorry.’ She held up the spoon. ‘I know; I shouldn’t nitpick.’

‘I don’t know,’ Daniel mused, nudging his glasses up his nose, ‘if you hadn’t nitpicked about the gravity on the asteroid we could have blown up Earth.’ He wrinkled his nose at her.

‘I guess.’ Sam shrugged. ‘I’m just pleased everything worked out.’

‘You did an incredible job, Sam.’ Daniel’s praise had her blushing.

She pointed the spoon at him, droplets of milk splattering across the Colonel’s kitchen floor. ‘So did you.’

Daniel shrugged. ‘All I did was read books and sit around. You were the one who fixed the ship.’

‘You and the others helped.’ Sam argued. ‘And, besides; it was your plan that saved us.’

‘You worked it out too.’

‘Only when you mentioned how the Goa’uld had to have used hyperspace to bring the asteroid to our solar system.’ Sam said. She frowned at him. ‘It was your idea.’

‘Maybe.’ Daniel looked away from her.

Sam put down the spoon and placed her hand on his arm. ‘Hey, are you OK?’

‘Me?’ Daniel tried smiling at her. ‘I’m fine, Sam. Really.’

She looked at him concerned. She didn’t think he was fine but if he didn’t want to talk about it, she didn’t want to push him. ‘You know I’m always here if you need to talk, right?’

Daniel did smile at her then. He picked up her hand and tugged her into a brief hug. ‘Thank you.’

She slipped out of the hug to check on the milk. She stirred it thoughtfully. ‘Do you think Anubis could be behind the asteroid?’

‘Maybe.’ Daniel admitted. ‘Sarah did tell the System Lords at that Summit that Anubis had some kind of plan to wipe us out.’

Sam registered the bitterness in his voice with a wince. ‘Maybe the Asgard will believe us now.’

‘Maybe not.’ Daniel argued back. ‘The Asgard will probably claim that they can’t prove that it was the Goa’uld who brought it to our solar system.’ He gestured at the milk which was in danger of bubbling over and she hurriedly turned off the stove.

‘You’re probably right.’ Sam murmured. ‘I mean, the Colonel’s diplomatic skills notwithstanding, and I know we have the treaty to consider, but they didn’t exactly rush to help us out.’

‘The treaty has helped the Asgard protect a number of planets for a long time.’ Daniel countered. ‘If they’d helped us, it might not have been our planet the Goa’uld attacked in retaliation. It could have been Cimmeria or K’Tau. As much as I agree with you, I guess the Asgard have their rules for a reason.’

Sam poured the milk into the mugs focusing for a moment on her task. She didn’t think it was all that simple. The Colonel had noted once that the treaty was a huge bluff. Given the Asgard’s fight with the Replicators there was no way they had the ability to stand against the Goa’uld if they decided to test the treaty. Maybe Anubis knew that or had at least decided to push the Asgard into showing their hand.

They added marshmallows to the overflowing mugs before making their way back outside. Daniel held the tray of mugs while Sam carried each one up the ladder carefully. Eventually they all sat squashed together in the small space around the telescope.

Cassie snuggled up against Teal’c and Jack gently plucked the mug from her hand as she fell into sleep.

‘Poor kid’s exhausted.’ Jack commented.

‘It has to have been fairly traumatic.’ Daniel said quietly. ‘She gets evacuated because Earth might get hit with a meteor and before she can come to terms with losing her second home, she gets sent back because it’s all fine.’

‘You would rather we hadn’t saved the world?’ Jack asked caustically.

Daniel glared at him. ‘You can be such a pain in the ass.’

‘I know.’ Jack said proudly.

‘It wasn’t a compliment.’ Daniel complained huffily as he shifted position, stretching his long legs out.

Sam exchanged a wry look with Teal’c at the usual interplay between their team-mates before her gaze dropped to the girl sleeping on Teal’c’s shoulder. ‘Cassie’s a tough kid. Look at the way she punched that Marine out.’

‘It was impressive.’ Teal’c confirmed smugly. ‘She executed the punch competently.’

Sam felt her lips twitch and took a gulp of her drink. ‘She’ll get through this.’

Jack poked a marshmallow back into the murky depths of his hot chocolate. ‘I’m confident.’

Daniel wrapped his hands around his own mug. ‘Me too.’

Teal’c raised his eyes to the stars as though he could see past the darkness to the asteroid moving away from Earth. ‘As am I.’

fin.