The Sentinel Fic: The Walkers - Part 3: Circle of Fate (Cont)
This is fanfiction, meant only to be a parody. Warning! This is slash, Jim/Blair; it contains male/male sex, so don’t read if you are not an open-minded ADULT!
This is a TSBBS fix, because every TS writer needs at least one. It’s also an eventual SG1 crossover, ditto.
Sweet and sappy, with many silly devices. Canon, what canon? Shaman!Blair; bonding activity, mystical orgasms, messing with the Stargate, frivolous use of the Ninth Chevron. Even though it’s a SG-1 crossover, it remains Jim/Blair-centric (sorry, Jack/Daniel fans!) Mostly likely one-shot.
Dedicated to the many fine TS writers who have gone before. This is the final part.
THE WALKERS
Part 3: Circle of Fate (Continued)
It was, in fact, slightly more than four minutes when he lifted Sandburg into the bed again, under the gimlet eyes of the doctor and her crew. He let them re-position Blair to their satisfaction.
Once Blair was tucked back in bed, the injured man turned his wide blue gaze to Dr. Fraser, O’Neill, and Jackson. Jim had been on the other end of that gaze often enough to know exactly how it felt. It was like the lambent light of the moon suddenly flooding your brain. Sandburg could see a lot of things ordinary people never realized were visible.
“So, what do you want to know?”
Three voices sounded at once. The doctor wanted to know about the healing, Jackson wanted to know how he opened the gate, and O’Neill just wanted to know what the hell they were doing here . . .
“. . . . Damnit!” O’Neil’s voice trailed off.
Sandburg held a hand up, amused. Jim watched Blair organize the mob and have them under his spell. It wasn’t possible for a man rousing from near-death to have that much vitality. Jim squeezed the hand he held, harder, sure that some of the shine came from him this time. No one else had to know, that, though.
“To answer your questions, I don’t know why I’m healing at this rate. I mean, yes, I’ve studied yogic medicine and healing practices, and am a pretty good biofeedback artist,” he winked at Jim, “but for sure why? No.
“And I’m not exactly sure what I did at the gate.” Sandburg watched his audience carefully. “I have some ideas, of course. But it seems to me you people know an awful lot about these ring things which you could share. And who was chasing us? We didn’t like the look of those guys.”
Jim let Blair draw them out for a little while longer, all the while standing tall by Blair’s side. He projected all the confidence and watchfulness he could summon, which was considerable. The message was missed by none. Finally, Jim said, “Look, can you give Sandburg a chance to rest and eat something before you interrogate him?”
“I’ve not released him from my care, either, gentlemen. Maybe, maybe he’ll be ready to meet after a nap and some -jello.” She shot a swift apologetic glance to Sandburg. “If so, I will let you know immediately. So, out!” She shooed Jackson and O’Neill away familiarly.
But in fact, Blair went into another healing coma for the rest of the day, and it wasn’t until the following morning that he appeared ready to face more questioning. This time, they met in a large room with shuttered windows on one side. Having already seen what was on the other side, the odd echoes didn’t surprise Jim.
They were introduced to the crisp woman, Major Samantha Carter, and the man who smelled funny, a huge black guy wearing a non-regulation hat. He was introduced as “Murray.” Jim stiffened, his senses alert. There was something inside that guy! “Um, are you quite well?”
“I am fine, thank you, Jim Ellison.”
Oh, boy. Jim cast doubtful looks around the room, but no one was saying anything. They didn’t seem to be reacting to threat, though, so he looked to his Guide. Blair gave him the signal for “relax, chill out, I’ve got it under control.”
Blair greeted everyone volubly and happily. Jim had to smile at the delight and enthusiasm Blair brought to life. Although some of it was calculated behavior, like now, when he was trying to be charming, most of it was simply Blair’s personality.
The general started. “Dr. Sandburg, I’ve spoken to your partner, and now I’d like to hear from you. I’m going to ask you some questions, and I’d like some straight answers.”
Blair was properly respectful. “Yes, sir. And may I just say thank you, for saving my life. Your people were wonderful.”
“I’m glad you’re feeling better. In fact, let’s start with that. My doctor tells me that your wound has healed to a remarkable degree, and that you’re nearly ready to be discharged.”
“Oh, man, that’s great.” He tried a big Sandburg beam and bounce, but it was less than ordinarily effective on this bunch. General Hammond just looked at him expectantly.
“Okay, first, I really don’t know about the healing. I mean, sure, I’m healthy and I heal pretty fast. I’ve studied a lot of healing methods around the world, and I have good visualization skills, so I just sorta . . . shut down and let my body do the work. Kind of a concentrated healing trance.”
Jim frowned. They were never going to believe this stuff, true or not.
“Perhaps. But it is unusual. We tend to be suspicious of the unexplained around here, as I’m sure you’ll appreciate. Dr. Sandburg, this is a top-secret military base. I would like to know what you’re doing here.”
Damn, but the old man had a pretty good stare. Not many men intimidated Sandburg any longer.
O’Neill spoke for the first time. “You can also start with whether it was a coincidence that you were in that exact place in Arizona. Did you know about the gate?”
“As far as the ring thing goes-you call it a Gate? - it wasn’t a complete coincidence we were there. I mean, yeah, we were really just hiking, and camping-we didn’t know anything was there, but, you see . . .” He blew out a breath, eyeing his audience measuringly.
“Jim and I have been traveling, as you probably know, writing and studying the sacred places of the earth. Sedona is one of those places. We’d never been there before and decided to stop there before heading back to Cascade for a bit."
Jim had a sudden strong urge to be back home in Cascade, listening to the rain on the roof above their bed.
“So, it’s true, you’re a practicing shaman,” said Jackson. A bit too challengingly, in Jim’s opinion. He bristled.
Blair turned his gaze to Jackson, thoughtfully. “I’d have to say yes to that, Dr. Jackson.”
Jackson looked taken aback. “Have we met, Dr. Sandburg?”
“No,” Blair said. He gave Jackson a very direct look. “I think I would have remembered you.” Jackson flushed red to the roots of his hair. Way to go, Chief!
Blair turned his most earnest look on the rest of the group. “Honestly, I don’t know exactly what brought us to that cave, General. Jim and I have been dreaming about ring structures for years. I do know that when I saw it, I knew exactly what it was. A portal to someplace else. Maybe I’ve read too much science fiction in my life, but we certainly went--Someplace Else. Maybe you could tell us where.”
“I’m going to have to stress the secret nature of this project, Dr. Sandburg, Mr. Ellison. While you both have Top Secret clearances--”
Blair shot Jim a look at this. Oh shit, Jim thought. Did I forget to tell him about that?
“--if we tell you more, it will be necessary to have you sign non-disclosure paperwork before you leave here.”
Now they were getting somewhere! This was the first time that leaving at all had been mentioned as a possibility. Jim and Blair both gave their assurances they would sign whatever paperwork was required.
Carter leaned forward. “You see, Dr. Sandburg, we’re puzzled as to how you operated the gate at all. It’s not supposed to work that way. We’ve never been able to get it to work without an external power supply or a special dialing device, which you don’t seem to have.” She turned her large, intelligent eyes on Sandburg.
“I’m not exactly sure myself. Maybe it responded to the emergency? After all, I’d just been shot. An escape function, maybe? If I could learn more about the gate . . . .” He swung the wheelchair the doc had insisted on toward the windows. “Can you show me?”
Hammond signaled, and the shades covering the windows retracted. Jim stood immediately, putting the other man behind him as he assessed the danger. But Blair scooted around him and gazed out at the Stargate. As the younger man's eyes widened and widened, trying to take it all in, and Jim’s eyes quickly scanned every inch for threat, they finally got a look at the mystery that had haunted their lives.
“Wow, that is . . . really, really amazing,” Sandburg said in awe.
Neither man realized how much scrutiny they were under, when they both tilted their head in unison, and said, “Huh.”
“Huh? What, huh?” demanded O’Neill.
“Oh, nothing, it’s just--that symbol there.” Blair pointed. “It reminds us of something.” After a few more moments, Blair spun around suddenly. “You want to know who we are? How we got through your gates? I can’t tell you, really, but I can show you. You see, that symbol there” he pointed again, “is one we know as referring to Sentinel and Guide.” Here he goes, Jim thought, and braced his jaw. “That is what we are, Jim and I. And I would like to get closer, if you please.”
After a slightly raucous uproar, into which Sandburg shouted an abbreviated version of Sentinel 101, and the brass did their usual posturing, and the three geeks (for Major Carter apparently was an astrophysicist) conferred, the two travelers found themselves downstairs at the launch pad. They got a short briefing on the installation, and then everyone just stared at Blair.
Sandburg looked up at the gate, and up at the control room and said, “Wow, this must take a hell of a lot of power to run.” Jim could tell the conservationist in Blair was thinking about the power requirements, and calculating the environmental costs. Blair asked Jim to help him up, out of the chair, and kept hold of Jim’s arm as he approached the Gate. As soon as the young Shaman touched the massive device, it lit up. A loud humming sound emanated from the artifact.
“Whoa! What did you do?” exclaimed O’Neill. The guards stationed around the perimeter of the chamber grew noticeably more tense. Daniel Jackson and Major Carter crept up behind the Sentinel and Guide, fascinated.
Blair looked up at the control room. “So, you’re saying, you dial this remotely with the computer?”
“That’s right," Jackson said. "You mentioned a symbol. What symbol?” He sounded curious.
Blair pointed. “There. That one. Jim and I have seen it before. In Mexico, and in Egypt.”
The others exchanged confused looks. “What? Where?”
Jim looked up at the symbol, which clearly echoed the others he and Blair had encountered at the Temple of the Sentinels, and other places. “I don’t think they can see it, Chief.”
“Really? A symbol just for the use of the Sentinels and Guides. Cool!” Blair focused again on the rings, causing them to begin to rotate. Claxons began to sound, making Jim thankful for his control over the dials. Exclamations sounded and weapons were brought to bear behind them. The circles stopped moving, and three chevrons lit up as they locked on. The watery horizon appeared with a whoosh.
“That’s the way to the Arizona gate,” Blair said casually. Everyone else stared up at the gate in consternation.
“Look, he’s got the Ninth Chevron lit. How is that possible?" said O’Neill.
"Control room confirms we neither dialed the gate nor are powering it. Dr. Sandburg, again, how are you doing this?” Hammond wanted to know.
“I'm not really sure, General.” Blair and Jim stepped back away from the ring, breaking physical contact. The gate stayed lit. “I just know that’s the way to Arizona.”
Major Carter was looking at a hand-held display. “I believe Dr. Sandburg and Mr. Ellison are powering the gate themselves, sir. I have a major energy reading coming off them.”
Blair darted a look at his Sentinel, silently communicating that they could make a run for it now, through the Gate, if needed. Jim thought of that transition through the Gate from Here to There; thought of their walking sticks and other belongings upstairs, and replied with a negative look.
“Send a MALP through to confirm the destination. Radio our people in Arizona. Can you keep the gate open, Dr. Sandburg?"
“Oh, sure--it’s like keeping my foot in a door.”
While they made contact with their other team and prepared to send a mechanical device through the gate, Doctors Carter and Jackson questioned Blair on the address. “We’ve never been able to get the Ninth Chevron to do anything. How are you doing that?”
“Yeah, and we need the other eight to lock on before it’s a viable address.”
Blair looked thoughtfully at the gate. “Maybe it’s just meant for Sentinels and their Guides to use, then; a kind of short-hand.” He just shrugged. “I guess I need only three.”
Everyone in the chamber gazed at him in consternation and astonishment.
You got their number, Chief, Jim thought smugly.
***
After being escorted back to the infirmary, where Blair dutifully allowed himself to be bedded down, Sentinel and Guide were left alone, though under guard. Sure they were being monitored, they managed a whispered subvocal conversation under the guise of bathroom activities.
“Jim, I want to get out of here. This is all so big-it’s huge, man! I need some time to process.”
“Yeah, I’m getting that feeling, like I just want to barricade the door and bundle you up. Want home, Chief. Want the Loft. But I don’t see us walking out of here anytime soon.”
“I do,” Blair replied firmly. “That’s exactly what we’re going to do. Tonight, in the middle of the night.”
“But how’re we going to get out of here? In case you haven’t noticed, we’re in a Top Secret military installation. Guards. Guns. You can’t just go wandering around at will. I don’t want to have to kill anybody escaping. They’ve actually been pretty decent to us.”
“Don’t worry. No killing. I’ll take care of getting us out unseen. You figure out the best route and time.”
“They’re not going to let us go completely, Blair. Not forever; not when it looks like we’re valuable to them.”
“I know. And we never got the whole story of just what they’re fighting, either. But we love to be needed, don’t we?” The two shared a grin. “I want it to be on our terms, though, not theirs.”
So, later that night-at o-three-thirty in fact, the Sentinel and his Shaman began to creep through the halls of NORAD. Despite being fully accoutered with packs and their walking sticks, no one noticed them. The few people they passed in the hallways were either looking the other way or just looked right past them. The alarms went off as they passed through restricted areas and exit points-but no one seemed to hear them. Their progress was tracked by cameras and glowing monitors, but again those were simply ignored.
The crept along in a zone of silence and darkness, until they emerged into the cold pre-dawn a nerve wracking time later. Hiking to the highway, they managed to convince a trucker to take them as passengers for a stint, then caught a bus to Cascade.
Inside the loft for the first time in two years, the Sentinel took charge, and barricaded the door. Hustling his Guide to the bed, he kept him there for four days before he would let him up. Both Sentinel and Guide luxuriated in their haven and each other, knowing that the world would get along without them. For a while.
They left behind them a hornets’ nest of confused and angry servicemen. The first to raise the alarm was the night nurse who, checking on his charges at the 5 am bed check, was shocked to find only a piece of folded paper on the bed. After the alarm sounded (everyone could hear it now), O’Neill read the following:
Thanks for the hospitality, but we need time to process. Going home. You can find us there if you want to talk.
Jim and Blair.
O'Neill lifted his eyes from the paper in his hand and asked, plaintively, “Who were those guys?”
Fin
***
“Long ago there were two men, a warrior and a shaman, who were special protectors of the people. People called them the Walkers, because they carried special staffs carved with the images of predators. The warrior’s sight was as keen as the shaman’s staff was quick. They traveled among the Worlds and Time, lending their talents to the sick and the oppressed. They were bonded to each other for all eternity as watchman and companion. Some say they walk the Worlds still, looking for people in need.” Jaffa children’s tale.
This is a TSBBS fix, because every TS writer needs at least one. It’s also an eventual SG1 crossover, ditto.
Sweet and sappy, with many silly devices. Canon, what canon? Shaman!Blair; bonding activity, mystical orgasms, messing with the Stargate, frivolous use of the Ninth Chevron. Even though it’s a SG-1 crossover, it remains Jim/Blair-centric (sorry, Jack/Daniel fans!) Mostly likely one-shot.
Dedicated to the many fine TS writers who have gone before. This is the final part.
THE WALKERS
Part 3: Circle of Fate (Continued)
It was, in fact, slightly more than four minutes when he lifted Sandburg into the bed again, under the gimlet eyes of the doctor and her crew. He let them re-position Blair to their satisfaction.
Once Blair was tucked back in bed, the injured man turned his wide blue gaze to Dr. Fraser, O’Neill, and Jackson. Jim had been on the other end of that gaze often enough to know exactly how it felt. It was like the lambent light of the moon suddenly flooding your brain. Sandburg could see a lot of things ordinary people never realized were visible.
“So, what do you want to know?”
Three voices sounded at once. The doctor wanted to know about the healing, Jackson wanted to know how he opened the gate, and O’Neill just wanted to know what the hell they were doing here . . .
“. . . . Damnit!” O’Neil’s voice trailed off.
Sandburg held a hand up, amused. Jim watched Blair organize the mob and have them under his spell. It wasn’t possible for a man rousing from near-death to have that much vitality. Jim squeezed the hand he held, harder, sure that some of the shine came from him this time. No one else had to know, that, though.
“To answer your questions, I don’t know why I’m healing at this rate. I mean, yes, I’ve studied yogic medicine and healing practices, and am a pretty good biofeedback artist,” he winked at Jim, “but for sure why? No.
“And I’m not exactly sure what I did at the gate.” Sandburg watched his audience carefully. “I have some ideas, of course. But it seems to me you people know an awful lot about these ring things which you could share. And who was chasing us? We didn’t like the look of those guys.”
Jim let Blair draw them out for a little while longer, all the while standing tall by Blair’s side. He projected all the confidence and watchfulness he could summon, which was considerable. The message was missed by none. Finally, Jim said, “Look, can you give Sandburg a chance to rest and eat something before you interrogate him?”
“I’ve not released him from my care, either, gentlemen. Maybe, maybe he’ll be ready to meet after a nap and some -jello.” She shot a swift apologetic glance to Sandburg. “If so, I will let you know immediately. So, out!” She shooed Jackson and O’Neill away familiarly.
But in fact, Blair went into another healing coma for the rest of the day, and it wasn’t until the following morning that he appeared ready to face more questioning. This time, they met in a large room with shuttered windows on one side. Having already seen what was on the other side, the odd echoes didn’t surprise Jim.
They were introduced to the crisp woman, Major Samantha Carter, and the man who smelled funny, a huge black guy wearing a non-regulation hat. He was introduced as “Murray.” Jim stiffened, his senses alert. There was something inside that guy! “Um, are you quite well?”
“I am fine, thank you, Jim Ellison.”
Oh, boy. Jim cast doubtful looks around the room, but no one was saying anything. They didn’t seem to be reacting to threat, though, so he looked to his Guide. Blair gave him the signal for “relax, chill out, I’ve got it under control.”
Blair greeted everyone volubly and happily. Jim had to smile at the delight and enthusiasm Blair brought to life. Although some of it was calculated behavior, like now, when he was trying to be charming, most of it was simply Blair’s personality.
The general started. “Dr. Sandburg, I’ve spoken to your partner, and now I’d like to hear from you. I’m going to ask you some questions, and I’d like some straight answers.”
Blair was properly respectful. “Yes, sir. And may I just say thank you, for saving my life. Your people were wonderful.”
“I’m glad you’re feeling better. In fact, let’s start with that. My doctor tells me that your wound has healed to a remarkable degree, and that you’re nearly ready to be discharged.”
“Oh, man, that’s great.” He tried a big Sandburg beam and bounce, but it was less than ordinarily effective on this bunch. General Hammond just looked at him expectantly.
“Okay, first, I really don’t know about the healing. I mean, sure, I’m healthy and I heal pretty fast. I’ve studied a lot of healing methods around the world, and I have good visualization skills, so I just sorta . . . shut down and let my body do the work. Kind of a concentrated healing trance.”
Jim frowned. They were never going to believe this stuff, true or not.
“Perhaps. But it is unusual. We tend to be suspicious of the unexplained around here, as I’m sure you’ll appreciate. Dr. Sandburg, this is a top-secret military base. I would like to know what you’re doing here.”
Damn, but the old man had a pretty good stare. Not many men intimidated Sandburg any longer.
O’Neill spoke for the first time. “You can also start with whether it was a coincidence that you were in that exact place in Arizona. Did you know about the gate?”
“As far as the ring thing goes-you call it a Gate? - it wasn’t a complete coincidence we were there. I mean, yeah, we were really just hiking, and camping-we didn’t know anything was there, but, you see . . .” He blew out a breath, eyeing his audience measuringly.
“Jim and I have been traveling, as you probably know, writing and studying the sacred places of the earth. Sedona is one of those places. We’d never been there before and decided to stop there before heading back to Cascade for a bit."
Jim had a sudden strong urge to be back home in Cascade, listening to the rain on the roof above their bed.
“So, it’s true, you’re a practicing shaman,” said Jackson. A bit too challengingly, in Jim’s opinion. He bristled.
Blair turned his gaze to Jackson, thoughtfully. “I’d have to say yes to that, Dr. Jackson.”
Jackson looked taken aback. “Have we met, Dr. Sandburg?”
“No,” Blair said. He gave Jackson a very direct look. “I think I would have remembered you.” Jackson flushed red to the roots of his hair. Way to go, Chief!
Blair turned his most earnest look on the rest of the group. “Honestly, I don’t know exactly what brought us to that cave, General. Jim and I have been dreaming about ring structures for years. I do know that when I saw it, I knew exactly what it was. A portal to someplace else. Maybe I’ve read too much science fiction in my life, but we certainly went--Someplace Else. Maybe you could tell us where.”
“I’m going to have to stress the secret nature of this project, Dr. Sandburg, Mr. Ellison. While you both have Top Secret clearances--”
Blair shot Jim a look at this. Oh shit, Jim thought. Did I forget to tell him about that?
“--if we tell you more, it will be necessary to have you sign non-disclosure paperwork before you leave here.”
Now they were getting somewhere! This was the first time that leaving at all had been mentioned as a possibility. Jim and Blair both gave their assurances they would sign whatever paperwork was required.
Carter leaned forward. “You see, Dr. Sandburg, we’re puzzled as to how you operated the gate at all. It’s not supposed to work that way. We’ve never been able to get it to work without an external power supply or a special dialing device, which you don’t seem to have.” She turned her large, intelligent eyes on Sandburg.
“I’m not exactly sure myself. Maybe it responded to the emergency? After all, I’d just been shot. An escape function, maybe? If I could learn more about the gate . . . .” He swung the wheelchair the doc had insisted on toward the windows. “Can you show me?”
Hammond signaled, and the shades covering the windows retracted. Jim stood immediately, putting the other man behind him as he assessed the danger. But Blair scooted around him and gazed out at the Stargate. As the younger man's eyes widened and widened, trying to take it all in, and Jim’s eyes quickly scanned every inch for threat, they finally got a look at the mystery that had haunted their lives.
“Wow, that is . . . really, really amazing,” Sandburg said in awe.
Neither man realized how much scrutiny they were under, when they both tilted their head in unison, and said, “Huh.”
“Huh? What, huh?” demanded O’Neill.
“Oh, nothing, it’s just--that symbol there.” Blair pointed. “It reminds us of something.” After a few more moments, Blair spun around suddenly. “You want to know who we are? How we got through your gates? I can’t tell you, really, but I can show you. You see, that symbol there” he pointed again, “is one we know as referring to Sentinel and Guide.” Here he goes, Jim thought, and braced his jaw. “That is what we are, Jim and I. And I would like to get closer, if you please.”
After a slightly raucous uproar, into which Sandburg shouted an abbreviated version of Sentinel 101, and the brass did their usual posturing, and the three geeks (for Major Carter apparently was an astrophysicist) conferred, the two travelers found themselves downstairs at the launch pad. They got a short briefing on the installation, and then everyone just stared at Blair.
Sandburg looked up at the gate, and up at the control room and said, “Wow, this must take a hell of a lot of power to run.” Jim could tell the conservationist in Blair was thinking about the power requirements, and calculating the environmental costs. Blair asked Jim to help him up, out of the chair, and kept hold of Jim’s arm as he approached the Gate. As soon as the young Shaman touched the massive device, it lit up. A loud humming sound emanated from the artifact.
“Whoa! What did you do?” exclaimed O’Neill. The guards stationed around the perimeter of the chamber grew noticeably more tense. Daniel Jackson and Major Carter crept up behind the Sentinel and Guide, fascinated.
Blair looked up at the control room. “So, you’re saying, you dial this remotely with the computer?”
“That’s right," Jackson said. "You mentioned a symbol. What symbol?” He sounded curious.
Blair pointed. “There. That one. Jim and I have seen it before. In Mexico, and in Egypt.”
The others exchanged confused looks. “What? Where?”
Jim looked up at the symbol, which clearly echoed the others he and Blair had encountered at the Temple of the Sentinels, and other places. “I don’t think they can see it, Chief.”
“Really? A symbol just for the use of the Sentinels and Guides. Cool!” Blair focused again on the rings, causing them to begin to rotate. Claxons began to sound, making Jim thankful for his control over the dials. Exclamations sounded and weapons were brought to bear behind them. The circles stopped moving, and three chevrons lit up as they locked on. The watery horizon appeared with a whoosh.
“That’s the way to the Arizona gate,” Blair said casually. Everyone else stared up at the gate in consternation.
“Look, he’s got the Ninth Chevron lit. How is that possible?" said O’Neill.
"Control room confirms we neither dialed the gate nor are powering it. Dr. Sandburg, again, how are you doing this?” Hammond wanted to know.
“I'm not really sure, General.” Blair and Jim stepped back away from the ring, breaking physical contact. The gate stayed lit. “I just know that’s the way to Arizona.”
Major Carter was looking at a hand-held display. “I believe Dr. Sandburg and Mr. Ellison are powering the gate themselves, sir. I have a major energy reading coming off them.”
Blair darted a look at his Sentinel, silently communicating that they could make a run for it now, through the Gate, if needed. Jim thought of that transition through the Gate from Here to There; thought of their walking sticks and other belongings upstairs, and replied with a negative look.
“Send a MALP through to confirm the destination. Radio our people in Arizona. Can you keep the gate open, Dr. Sandburg?"
“Oh, sure--it’s like keeping my foot in a door.”
While they made contact with their other team and prepared to send a mechanical device through the gate, Doctors Carter and Jackson questioned Blair on the address. “We’ve never been able to get the Ninth Chevron to do anything. How are you doing that?”
“Yeah, and we need the other eight to lock on before it’s a viable address.”
Blair looked thoughtfully at the gate. “Maybe it’s just meant for Sentinels and their Guides to use, then; a kind of short-hand.” He just shrugged. “I guess I need only three.”
Everyone in the chamber gazed at him in consternation and astonishment.
You got their number, Chief, Jim thought smugly.
***
After being escorted back to the infirmary, where Blair dutifully allowed himself to be bedded down, Sentinel and Guide were left alone, though under guard. Sure they were being monitored, they managed a whispered subvocal conversation under the guise of bathroom activities.
“Jim, I want to get out of here. This is all so big-it’s huge, man! I need some time to process.”
“Yeah, I’m getting that feeling, like I just want to barricade the door and bundle you up. Want home, Chief. Want the Loft. But I don’t see us walking out of here anytime soon.”
“I do,” Blair replied firmly. “That’s exactly what we’re going to do. Tonight, in the middle of the night.”
“But how’re we going to get out of here? In case you haven’t noticed, we’re in a Top Secret military installation. Guards. Guns. You can’t just go wandering around at will. I don’t want to have to kill anybody escaping. They’ve actually been pretty decent to us.”
“Don’t worry. No killing. I’ll take care of getting us out unseen. You figure out the best route and time.”
“They’re not going to let us go completely, Blair. Not forever; not when it looks like we’re valuable to them.”
“I know. And we never got the whole story of just what they’re fighting, either. But we love to be needed, don’t we?” The two shared a grin. “I want it to be on our terms, though, not theirs.”
So, later that night-at o-three-thirty in fact, the Sentinel and his Shaman began to creep through the halls of NORAD. Despite being fully accoutered with packs and their walking sticks, no one noticed them. The few people they passed in the hallways were either looking the other way or just looked right past them. The alarms went off as they passed through restricted areas and exit points-but no one seemed to hear them. Their progress was tracked by cameras and glowing monitors, but again those were simply ignored.
The crept along in a zone of silence and darkness, until they emerged into the cold pre-dawn a nerve wracking time later. Hiking to the highway, they managed to convince a trucker to take them as passengers for a stint, then caught a bus to Cascade.
Inside the loft for the first time in two years, the Sentinel took charge, and barricaded the door. Hustling his Guide to the bed, he kept him there for four days before he would let him up. Both Sentinel and Guide luxuriated in their haven and each other, knowing that the world would get along without them. For a while.
They left behind them a hornets’ nest of confused and angry servicemen. The first to raise the alarm was the night nurse who, checking on his charges at the 5 am bed check, was shocked to find only a piece of folded paper on the bed. After the alarm sounded (everyone could hear it now), O’Neill read the following:
Thanks for the hospitality, but we need time to process. Going home. You can find us there if you want to talk.
Jim and Blair.
O'Neill lifted his eyes from the paper in his hand and asked, plaintively, “Who were those guys?”
Fin
***
“Long ago there were two men, a warrior and a shaman, who were special protectors of the people. People called them the Walkers, because they carried special staffs carved with the images of predators. The warrior’s sight was as keen as the shaman’s staff was quick. They traveled among the Worlds and Time, lending their talents to the sick and the oppressed. They were bonded to each other for all eternity as watchman and companion. Some say they walk the Worlds still, looking for people in need.” Jaffa children’s tale.