[Scott] Phoning Home

[starborn_scribe]

Who: Scott, Ami, NPCs Ripley, Sam Carter, Paul Forrester
When: Day 47, afternoon
Where: The root cave, NW of Camp Crash
Invited: NPC Sam Carter (Will eventually merge with Off Island: Meetings)
Status: Incomplete

An almost deja vu washed over Scott as he and his wife entered the root cave. A little over a month earlier he, Ripley, and Ami had

Comments

[NPC Carter]

[lost_mckay]

This was absolutely amazing. While the 'phone call' was a little later than 'expected', not that there was any pre-arranged check in, the blonde scientist was up and 'together' quickly.. like the soldier she was. She was trained, obviously, in rapid deployment, and her things were ready; -that- list had been made some time back.

Now?

Sam took Paul's hand, but not before wiping a suddenly sweaty palm on the side of her pants, and giving the man a tight-lipped, slightly nervous (and apologetic) smile, stepped through. She was momentarily surprised; the interface was nothing like stepping through the stargate, nothing like being teleported.. either by rings or by an Asgard teleportation.. There was no sense of dissociation, no sense of disequilibrium... It was almost peaceful transition.

While dressed in the dark BDUs (and jump boots), and the fact that her carriage identified her as an obvious military officer, there were no other trappings; no rank, no insignia of any kind, and she was unarmed. The mission was purely scientific-- coupled with the fact that there were enough weapons -outside- the sphere. Mind, there were no thoughts, random or otherwise regarding the technology-- the concerns, at this juncture, were purely for their safety. After all... hadn't they said after a few minutes, it becomes unstable, and after that... 'not good'?

Focusing, finally, on the pair.. pair? across the small distance, Sam offers a wave, though without letting go of Paul's hand. It's a little self-conscious, sure, but she was aware that every second in there now counted.

"Hi. You must be Scott." She looked at Ami, and smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry.." before, "I'm Sam Carter. I'm working with your father to get you all home."

[Scott]

[starborn_scribe]

The soldier *waved* of all things, and said something. Scott couldn't translate the sounds into words; his head was reeling from adrenaline and the memories his father had pushed.

Escorted to a gray SUV. Teal'c. Jaffa. Alien symbiote. O'Neill had lost a child. Safe house--

/Scott./ The empathic command behind Ami's thought earned her his complete attention. /Focus. That's it. Process that later. We need to work with Carter and your father now. To get home./

"Home," Scott murmured, blinking. Ami squeezed his hand and smiled encouragement. Now that he was calmer he felt her emotions: wariness and tentative hope.

Ami turned to the soldier, grinning. "Sam Carter! Brilliant! Rodney's mentioned you. He said you'd understand these." Scott watched in bafflement as Ami pulled a few sheets of folded paper from her purse. She handed the papers to Carter, adding a bit sheepishly, "I'm Ami Ja-- Anderson." She beamed up at Scott, then looked to Dad. "We got married," Scott and Ami said simultaneously.

[NPC Carter]

[lost_mckay]

Sam's brows rose quickly in the greeting from... ah.. okay. Ami. Yes. She immediately liked the younger woman, and the smile turned to a grin. "Yes, hello.. and whatever else he might have said, I'll need to clear first for accuracy. The computations.. that I can pretty much trust, though."

Reaching over for the papers, there was a touch of... bemusement? behind those blue eyes. Sam really didn't want to know what else McKay might have said about her. Good ol' McKay.

"Oh.. and congratulations?" She wanted to be sure she'd gotten that in before getting down to work.

Scanning the papers, though she wasn't clear of contact with Paul, her head tilted and shook her head. "This isn't right.. this couldn't be.." Sam looked over her shoulder, though there wasn't anyone there who could even begin to clarify.. or to just toss ideas off of. Besides, there wasn't any time, and she checked her watch to be sure.

"Ami. Tell Daniel that we're getting closer.. to hang tight. Tell McKay that we're on the same page, but our corrections and variances are off by about .002. These'll be a huge help, and it'll give me the chance to make adjustments on our side."

"Oh!" Sam juggled the papers given to pull at her backpack and drop it. "I packed a few things on the off-chance that physical items could actually be transferred." She smiled sheepishly at that. "I've seen some pretty amazing things when it came to psychics, so I thought I'd at least give it a shot. If not, that's okay." It's a bag of mil-spec items made with high EM shielding, shock and vibe tested hardware..

She grinned again, and offered, "Tell Daniel I couldn't get them to let me give you all a generator." Even Jack put the kabash on a naquada generator.

[Ami]

[fikgirl]

Sam seemed nice enough - for a soldier. She also seemed excited and sincere, and plenty of other adjectives that Ami wouldn't subscribe to soldiers with hostile intent. While she certainly wasn't going to trust the woman with her deep secrets, and it was clear from Paul's information dump to Scott that Kevin hadn't either, Ami would trust the woman to get them off the island.

"Rodney says that you're the only person nearly as brilliant as he is," Ami told the other woman as she reached to accept the few items that she could in her free hand, only to be intercepted by Paul.

/Welcome to the family./ The thought was filled with warmth and genuine acceptance, and very little in the way of surprise. Before Ami could respond to that, her new father-in-law spoke aloud, "We don't have any idea how or even if a transfer between the spheres will work. It would probably be better to push them out rather than carry them."

Ami nodded with understanding. "I could grab a stick. Plenty of those lying about."

"That's right, this experiment might not work." Sam fumbled in her bag a bit more and pulled out a small digital camera. She switched it on, unfolded the paper and held it out to Ami, "I just need to get some footage of this, just in case?"

"Carter, this isn't a sight seeing tour. We're burning daylight, or dome light or space time temporal light or something." An unidentified male voice came from outside of the dome. It sounded familiar and gave Ami pause.

"I know that, sir," Sam called back, "But McKay wrote out some equations. I need to get a visual record of them in the event that a cross-matter transfer through the temporal displacement and isolated shared pocket space doesn't work."

"Yeah. I knew that." The half-familiarity of the voice tugged at the back of Ami's head, even as she obediently held the paper aloft for Sam to videotape it.

Beside her, she felt Scott's rising panic again, and tried to soothe him as much as she could.

[NPC Carter]

[lost_mckay]

"Nearly, huh?"

Sam didn't seem too put-out as her grin turned to a more bemused smirk, and her tones turned... a little on the wry, sarcastic side. "High praise." She won't say anything about the man's shortcomings, not to anyone who might actually rely on him to do what needed to be done. They all needed to be able to trust Zelenka and McKay, including her.

Who said there was no faith in science?

Carter was prepared for most everything, like a Boy Scout. She'd taken a page from Daniel's book regarding the small camera, and she fully expected a comment on it later.. over a tray of Monday night Meatloaf in the Mountain. "We're almost done, sir!" Sam called out once more before she looked to those within with her.

"Thank you, Ami." Here, the soldier/scientist addressed the pair, though her regard settled more on the young woman than on Scott, simply because he seemed a little more shell-shocked and potentially not really registering everything she's saying at the moment. "See.. not to quote a really bad movie or anything, but we think that anything that actually moves through the temporal bubble from one side to the other would be like being flash frozen... Think.. 'Back to the Future' but only.. moreso. Just try not to pay attention to the physics."

With the videotaping complete, Sam replaced it quickly, and stepped aside. "I've got everything I need. Those items may actually survive the crossing, if given a chance to thaw without being jostled too badly. McKay and Zelenka will know what to do."

The officer smiled again, encouragingly. "We're close. I've got a schedule in there," she gestured towards the pack, "of what to do, when."

[Scott]

[starborn_scribe]

Between Ami's and his father's efforts Scott finally got his wits about him. He was glad that Ami had taken the initiative with the soldier. Their time in the co-locator's shared space was limited.

Dad gave Scott an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry to have surprised you with the, ah, abrupt introduction. I wanted Sam to have every second possible to gather data."

Although the sight of a (downright hot) soldier in the energy dome still gave him pause, Scott managed a smile. "It's okay." He turned to Sam. "I-- we are grateful for the help. The sooner we're off this damned island, the better. And you're right about the flash freezing. I kind of found out the hard way."

[NPC Carter]

[lost_mckay]

Sam offered a bright smile as Scott seemed to loosen up a little. Granted, she knew why he was a little 'put off', as it were, but there were times when she (and the team) relied on the fact that she wasn't quite so imposing as the others. It didn't mean that she was any less-- good at what she did. She just didn't have the muscle, though she had the ability. Those who underestimated the LtCol. usually only did so once.

"I have to agree, which is why we're doing what we can-- taking help from avenues that we never had access to before." There was a touch of a chide there, but it was gentle. "Pack your bags, and tell the others to do the same. Don't be surprised if I see you in the flesh soon."

Twisting around at something 'off camera', Carter nodded, her tones shifting only slightly-- the sound of a soldier talking to their superior officer. "Yes sir.. almost done here."

She looked to Scott and Ami once more, her manner turning a little more personal. "When you get out, we'll give you a real honeymoon on us, and it won't be to the tropics. Promise."

Made for good relations, yes?

[Scott]

[starborn_scribe]

Scott barely heard Carter's promise of a non-tropical honeymoon. Her words about packing their bags echoed in his head.

Ami's joy and anticipation matched his. "Getting us home is more than enough," she beamed.

Carter's attention turned to a hand-held gadget she'd dug from her bag. Ami and Scott focused on Dad. /Dad, you're okay? Where are you? And where's Mom?/

Dad smiled, amused by the rush of questions. /We're both fine. The Air Force has been true to their word so far. We're in Colorado Springs. Your mother is in Sydney with Adam./

Scott blinked, surprised. /Sydney, Australia?/

Dad nodded, and Ami giggled. /It's good to have Tomorrow People friends,/ she quipped.

Although he kept an eye on Carter, who was busy with the gadget, Scott pulled Ami close and kissed her temple. /A wife's even better./

Dad beamed at them both. "Congrat--"

The energy dome shuddered, then shrank a full foot. Dad broke the uneasy silence. "Time to go." He glanced at Carter, who stowed the last of her gear in her pack, then turned back to Scott and Ami. Hope and love shone in his blue eyes. He drew them into the best hug he could managed while maintaining physical contact with Carter. "See you soon."

OOC

[starborn_scribe]

fikgirl and lost_mckay, do your characters have anything to do or say before the dome collapses? If not I'll add on to my last post.

Re: OOC

[fikgirl]

Nope, nothing to add. I'm good here.

Re: OOC

[lost_mckay]

Nopers. I'm good.